1821 replies to this topic

[mkayahara]

To those of you who have done the aerated mango sorbet: Are you all using chamber vacs for it? I just tried it with my Foodsaver (placing the jars in a canister) and couldn't get the sorbet base to expand at all. I'm wondering if the problem is that the Foodsaver doesn't pull a strong enough vacuum, or I didn't whip enough air into the base in the blender... or something else entirely.

[nolnacs]

Has anyone tried making the pregelatinized starch paste on 4.29? After cooking the tapioca and water, I ended up with a hard, not quite translucent rubbery mass. It didn't resemble the picture in the book at all. I tried blending it with the rest of the water in my blendtec which worked to some extent, but now the consistency is closer to a syrup than a paste. Any thoughts about what I did wrong?

[nolnacs]

I tried the starch paste a second time. This time I made sure that the solution was evenly spread out across the bag so that I didn't end up with huge clumps. It ended up looking much clearer that way and but the end result was the same - consistency of thick syrup. Is the 400 grams of water too much? I blended the water with the cooked "paste" in my blendtec - can you over blend the paste?

[LoftyNotions]

To those of you who have done the aerated mango sorbet: Are you all using chamber vacs for it? I just tried it with my Foodsaver (placing the jars in a canister) and couldn't get the sorbet base to expand at all. I'm wondering if the problem is that the Foodsaver doesn't pull a strong enough vacuum, or I didn't whip enough air into the base in the blender... or something else entirely.

I use a chamber sealer for the mango sorbet. I don't think the Foodsaver pulls a strong enough vacuum. While I don't specifically watch the vacuum numbers when I make it, if I remember correctly it ends up in the 95 percent range. Aeration and very cold temperatures also seem to be important. It seems to me that if the sorbet gets to the point that it's boiling when I pull a vacuum that the resulting sorbet falls again.

I've only done it twice, but there seems to be an "art" element in making it. I also had better results when I froze my jars.

Hopefully others will weigh in with their methods. It's really nice when successful.

Larry

[lesliec]

To those of you who have done the aerated mango sorbet: Are you all using chamber vacs for it?

I've tried in my FoodSaver. Complete failure - it just doesn't have the suck, to coin a phrase ...

[mkayahara]

Thanks, Larry and lesliec for confirming my suspicions. Time to open a new savings account for the chamber sealer, I guess!

[Msk]

I haven't had a chance to try my foodsaver, I will next time. I used my chamber vac too. However, I can't seem to get this to work with any other fruit other than mangoes yet.

Mike

[LoftyNotions]

I haven't had a chance to try my foodsaver, I will next time. I used my chamber vac too. However, I can't seem to get this to work with any other fruit other than mangoes yet.

Mike

I vaguely remember reading somewhere that this works with mangoes because of their high pectin content.

Larry

[LoftyNotions]

Larry

ETA: Sorry, MSK I see you were part of that original conversation. I didn't help a bit.

Here are some links for others like me who don't remember it the first time around.

Posts Here, Here, and here.

[FoodMan]

July 4th MC Barbecue



I made pretty much everything from MC for the 4th of July barbecue. I've been smoking ribs, brisket and pulled pork on my smoker/griller for years so I had a good base of comparison. In a nutshell, everything was fantastic. The MC method of smoking for a long time at a low temperature for a long time (7hrs) and then cooking sous vide for a few days (48-72 hours) is an excellent approach. I had tried SV then smoking a while back, both for shorter periods of time than MC and the result was good, but not as great as this time around. The long smoking time infuses tons of smoke flavor into the meat without cooking it. Then the wet SV cooking environment makes for exceptionally moist and juicy bbq. You can certainly see the thick smoke ring on those spare ribs. I would say that this is by far my favorite way of cooking ribs now.
Here's a list of all the recipes I made:
- Spare Ribs
- Pulled Pork
- Lexington BBQ Sauce (the one with a bit of ketchup), for the pulled pork
- Kansas City BBQ Sauce, for the ribs. Everyone loved this peppery tomatoey sauce.
- Pickled red and pearl onions, used mainly in the potato salad
- White Coleslaw. This is so easy, light and refreshing. Adding tart apples to the savoy cabbage works brilliantly with the pulled pork. I did let the cabbage sit in the salt a bit longer than they recommend and then squeezed out excess moisture
- Potato Salad. This is so damn good that I could eat it all by itself. Fingerling and small red potatoes, 65C egg yolks, creme fraiche, pickled onions...seriousl, seriously good. Even our picky neighbor loved it although I am not sure she knew exactly what were those lovely creamy yellow half-orbs she was eating.

The main downside is the capacity of my sous vide tub. The ribs and 4 lbs (in 2 pieces) of pork shoulder do not fit at the same time with enough "wiggle" room. So I had to do the pork first, remove it and then do the ribs. That's a lot of planning ahead effort.

[Anna N]

Can anyone confirm that there is NO LEMON/NO LEMON JUICE/NO LEMON ZEST in Sous-Vide Lemon Curd (p. 304 of Kitchen Manual)? PLEASE?

[Anna N]

July 4th MC Barbecue
. . . .

Thanks for sharing - I am astounded that you managed to do so much from MC.

[mkayahara]

Can anyone confirm that there is NO LEMON/NO LEMON JUICE/NO LEMON ZEST in Sous-Vide Lemon Curd (p. 304 of Kitchen Manual)? PLEASE?

Nope, none. Just the citric acid and lemon essential oil.

[Anna N]

Can anyone confirm that there is NO LEMON/NO LEMON JUICE/NO LEMON ZEST in Sous-Vide Lemon Curd (p. 304 of Kitchen Manual)? PLEASE?

Nope, none. Just the citric acid and lemon essential oil.

But the lemon essential oil is an optional ingredient!

[Paul Kierstead]

I made pretty much everything from MC for the 4th of July barbecue.

I hate to pick on what is basically a typo, but on the upside everytime I read this I get a big smile. At over 2400+ pages and a lot of recipes, that is quite the accomplishment!

On a more serious note, that is some great looking stuff. What smoking technique/gear are you using to stay that low? Its the only thing holding me up right now from those recipes...I currently have only a WSM which isn't a 150 F kind of smoker.

[blackp]

On a more serious note, that is some great looking stuff. What smoking technique/gear are you using to stay that low? Its the only thing holding me up right now from those recipes...I currently have only a WSM which isn't a 150 F kind of smoker.

I am very new to smoking and after a lot of research I purchased a Bradley Original Smoker (the non-digital kind) with the Cold Smoker attachment. I use my Sous Vide Magic controller to control the element in the smoking cabinet and plug the smoke generator directly into the power. I was able to successfully hold the cabinet temperature at 25C (77F) for a few hours to cold smoke some salmon and some cheese. Obviously the ambient temperature plays a part at such low temps, but it's winter here so day time temps are around 20C.

I'm sure you'd have no problem holding 150F with the same set up as the ambient won't be a problem unless you live in Death Valley.

Cheers,

Peter.

[mkayahara]

Can anyone confirm that there is NO LEMON/NO LEMON JUICE/NO LEMON ZEST in Sous-Vide Lemon Curd (p. 304 of Kitchen Manual)? PLEASE?

Nope, none. Just the citric acid and lemon essential oil.

But the lemon essential oil is an optional ingredient!

Yes, that does seem a bit odd, doesn't it? I assume it's because they note in the instructions that other essential oils can be used instead of lemon.

[Anna N]

Can anyone confirm that there is NO LEMON/NO LEMON JUICE/NO LEMON ZEST in Sous-Vide Lemon Curd (p. 304 of Kitchen Manual)? PLEASE?

Nope, none. Just the citric acid and lemon essential oil.

But the lemon essential oil is an optional ingredient!

Yes, that does seem a bit odd, doesn't it? I assume it's because they note in the instructions that other essential oils can be used instead of lemon.

Perhaps that is the reasoning but I find it somewhat wanting in logic! When I see an ingredient listed as "optional" I assume that leaving it out would not seriously affect the outcome! In this case, it most certainly would. Thanks for responding to my question.

[FoodMan]

I made pretty much everything from MC for the 4th of July barbecue.

I hate to pick on what is basically a typo, but on the upside everytime I read this I get a big smile. At over 2400+ pages and a lot of recipes, that is quite the accomplishment!

On a more serious note, that is some great looking stuff. What smoking technique/gear are you using to stay that low? Its the only thing holding me up right now from those recipes...I currently have only a WSM which isn't a 150 F kind of smoker.

Maybe I am being exceptionally dim today, but what is the typo?

I use a grill/smoker with a side fire box, this one specifically. I've had it for over 8 years now and it works great. What I do is put an aluminum pan filled with ice and water next to the food and replenish it periodically. It does a very good job of keeping the environment humid and helps with keeping the temp low. I do monitor the wet bulb temp, by a wet paper towel wrapped around a thermometer's probe and I use another one to monitor the dry bulb temp. Works pretty well without much fuss.

[Paul Kierstead]

Maybe I am being exceptionally dim today, but what is the typo?

It implies that he made everything from MC, all for 4th of july. That is a lot of recipes to make :) Ok, maybe its just me that reads it that way. I'll admit my reading comprehension is odd some days.

I'm thinking a Bradly smoke unit hooked up to something via pipe with a hot plate or the like controlled via my PID. Hmmm. Might get away relatively cheap, even.

Many thanks for the suggestions.

Edited by Paul Kierstead, 13 July 2011 - 09:29 AM.

[NY_Amateur]

So... I have finally got my copy of MC and I am making broccolli and Mac and Cheese tonight. One thing has me a bit worried however, after I made the sauce and let it cool I tasted it and it tasted grainy. i had thought the sauce would be very smooth at this point but that was not the case, is this the expected outcome or did I futz something up? I followed the directions exactly but scaled it up to use all the gouda I got, I made it with extra sharp cheddar and aged gouda. Was anyone elses cheese grainy at this stage but ok for the final product?

[Kerry Beal]

Made the 'lemon curd' that has no lemon in it. Excellent texture - beautifully smooth and good thickness. I'm going to try again using lemon juice in place of the water called for to make the syrup and see if the resulting curd is a little more lemony. I'm also going to try a version with melted butter - just to see if the result looks a little more typically curd like rather than lemon cream like.

[NY_Amateur]

So... I have finally got my copy of MC and I am making broccolli and Mac and Cheese tonight. One thing has me a bit worried however, after I made the sauce and let it cool I tasted it and it tasted grainy. i had thought the sauce would be very smooth at this point but that was not the case, is this the expected outcome or did I futz something up? I followed the directions exactly but scaled it up to use all the gouda I got, I made it with extra sharp cheddar and aged gouda. Was anyone elses cheese grainy at this stage but ok for the final product?

So it turns out I didnt emulsify the cheese sauce enough, I probably was in too much of a rush when I made the sauce. I made it again with just the left over cheddar, took more time to actually add it slowly and it turned out great! The broccoli was extra delicious and is definitely something I will be making again soon.

[lame username]

Goodness Kerry Beal;
Your "stained glass" basil with the back light bouncing off the tabletop (and is that subtle drops of water from the herbs bath showing through?) is making the angel's chorus sing through my mind.

[Gee I hope that's basil I'm getting rhapsodical over!]

[Robert Jueneman]

Yesterday afternoon my highly-anticipated PolyScience Anti-Griddle arrived. Fortunately or unfortunately, we attended a cooking class at Sipapu Ski Lodge outside of Taos that evening, so I haven't yet played with it much, except to check that yes indeed, it does go down to at least -29F.

I have seen some interesting recipes elsewhere, such as the Anti-Griddle Blue Cheese Foam (http://www.molecular...griddle-recipe/). I tried that one with the dry ice and cookie sheet technique, and am looking forward to doing it "right" tonight, but I thought I'd look around on eGullet, as well as in MC, to see what other ideas were lying around.

Surprise! The Anti-Griddle isn't even listed in the MC Index, although there is a photo of one in their lab/kitchen.

So maybe it's no surprise that no one has mentioned one in this thread.

Am I missing something? Is there another forum or thread that discusses it somewhere that I've overlooked? (Same question re the Thermomix, BTW.)

If not, should I start a new thread, presumably in the Cooking forum, perhaps with a Modernist tag?

Chris?

Bob

[Kerry Beal]

Bob - unless you are looking for TMX with specifically molecular uses there are quite a few threads on eG - just search 'thermomix'.

Here's one.

[mcdiarmid]

So I have made the Kansas city BBQ sauce. I really liked it, as did my 6 y.o. who douses his food in chili flakes but my 4 y.o. found it too spicy. I would like to try another BBQ sauce from mc and wondered for those of you who have tried a bunch of them which you would suggest that my 4 y.o might appreciate a bit more.

[lame username]

So I have made the Kansas city BBQ sauce. I really liked it, as did my 6 y.o. who douses his food in chili flakes but my 4 y.o. found it too spicy. I would like to try another BBQ sauce from mc and wondered for those of you who have tried a bunch of them which you would suggest that my 4 y.o might appreciate a bit more.

I found the East Texas BBQ sauce not too spicy, but with a nice vinegar kick. You could blend it if you need to hide the diced onions. However, I haven't tried a bunch of them.

Edited by lame username, 20 July 2011 - 12:17 PM.

[Robert Jueneman]

Although I've skimmed all 43 pages of this thread, including a lot of the early ones about the Mac & Cheese, I don't recall any discussion of what "wheat beer" is best for the recipe.

If I didn't have to go to the grocery store to get some aged Gouda, I would probably try my favorite, Guinness, but I might as well do it "right" the first time.

What do people recommend?

[nickrey]

Guinness is a stout made from dark malt. Wheat beer is, not suprisingly, made from wheat. It is often called "witbier," which translates to white beer. This is probably related to its pale colour. My suspicion is that Guinness would not be a particularly good substitute.

Edited by nickrey, 20 July 2011 - 03:12 PM.