85 replies to this topic

[teonzo]

Anyhow to cut a long story short it took a bit longer than I thought but I whacked up the full index on my blog this morning - both article index and index by individual recipe (nearly 200 of 'em).

Great, thanks a lot!



Teo

[Franci]

Hope you enjoy!

J

Thank you Jon. Really great job!

[gingerpeachy]

Am planning to make the slow roast rib of beef for Christmas dinner, and confused on timing. The Guardian printed a recipe that called for 5 hours cooking and one hour rest, but I see elsewhere 20 hours of cooking called for.

Is it the case that cooking the beef at such a low temperature means that once it's reached a certain point, it can be held in the oven almost indefinitely?

It would be so much easier to stick in the oven on Xmas eve, as that way we could eat at something approximating lunch time.

Also, for those who have tried this, any tips on serving? I have some concern about plate temperature vs meat temperature. Many thanks.

[ChrisTaylor]

20 hours? It takes between 3 and 5 hours to hit the specified temperature. Go by temperature, not time. That 3-5 hour thing? That's a guide. It will not take 20 hours. After 20 hours you'll be a fair way towards biltong. If I was serving it for lunch I'd put it in the oven, after the sear, at about 8am.

Edited by ChrisTaylor, 19 December 2012 - 01:47 PM.

[gingerpeachy]

Thanks - would have been awful to ruin a great piece of meat. My timing issue was really about having it up to room temp before putting in oven. Maybe I'll leave a not for Santa :)

[inductioncook]

20 hours? It takes between 3 and 5 hours to hit the specified temperature. Go by temperature, not time. That 3-5 hour thing? That's a guide. It will not take 20 hours. After 20 hours you'll be a fair way towards biltong. If I was serving it for lunch I'd put it in the oven, after the sear, at about 8am.

What temperature are you aiming for and what temperature are you cooking at? With multihour cooking, you should be able to adjust the time to begin from a cold state if that's better for you.

[gingerpeachy]

Recipe calls to cook at 60C and pull at 55C

[inductioncook]

If you have an iPad, there is a nimble calculator/timer for low temperature cooking app by Polyscience that would help you calculate time based on both room temperature and refrigerator temperature.

[gingerpeachy]

I do and I shall look that up. Many thanks - I'll let you know how it goes.

[inductioncook]

Best of luck!

[jmolinari]

If you have an iPad, there is a nimble calculator/timer for low temperature cooking app by Polyscience that would help you calculate time based on both room temperature and refrigerator temperature.

Wont help. The software is based on a product immersed in water which has a very different heat transfer rate than air in an oven.

Edited by jmolinari, 19 December 2012 - 06:50 PM.

[inductioncook]

"Wont help. The software is based on a product immersed in water which has a very different heat transfer rate than air in an oven."

True, but it will give an approximation and an idea of the asymptotic curves involved. And if it's a steam oven the results, over a long time, will be very close, and over many hours in a conventional oven that will develop high humidity the results should not be so far off. And since it's also a timer, one could check the temperature as it goes along and adjust based on the difference between what it projects and what has actually happening.

[gingerpeachy]

Argh! Just went to calibrate my meat thermometer and discovered that my lowest oven setting is 170F, when I needed to put the beef in at 140F (60C).

From reading around, I understand this may mean I can't achieve the Blumenthal result. Anyone have any ideas?

[Keith_W]

Yes, get an oven thermometer. Prop the door of your oven open. Adjust the heat of your oven until the oven thermometer gives the desired reading. Note that there may still be hot and cold spots in your oven.

[gingerpeachy]

Yes, get an oven thermometer. Prop the door of your oven open. Adjust the heat of your oven until the oven thermometer gives the desired reading. Note that there may still be hot and cold spots in your oven.

OK. And keep the door propped open for the whole cooking time?

[Keith_W]

Yes that's right. In reality you CAN slow roast at 170F (75C) ... your meat will just be done sooner. As long as you monitor what's going on you should be fine.

[ChrisTaylor]

I'd also shift and rotate the roasting pan several times during the cooking process to ensure the meat roasts evenly.

[gingerpeachy]

Thanks for all the advice. I ended up roasting it with the oven door propped ajar with a mitt and babysat it closely for five hours. Alas, my meat thermometer turned out to be less than accurate and after pulling at 60 and resting for an hour, the meat was still raw.

As I had used the resting hour to cook all the sides, I just cranked up the heat and gave it 15 mins. Was delicious, but I could have achieved the same result with far less fuss. oh well. The bone marrow sauce that accompanied was the real star.

[jjahorn]

I'm making a broth right now, and am going to purify it like Blumenthal shows with freezing it and letting it thaw. I guess it could be called 'ice filtration'

Anyways, I have done this once before, and remember that I was surprised by the amount of gelatine and elements left behind, and by the strong smell of it.

 

My question -

Has anyone come up with some good suggestions to use this 'leftover'? It seems a shame to just thrown it away.

Edited by jjahorn, 24 February 2013 - 05:26 AM.

[Denadar]

I am also a member of a couple of U.K. food forums and and we had a running topic on Cooking with Heston at Home.   We found some of the amounts and sizes were wrong so contacted the Publishers "Bloomsbury" who were great and contacted Heston and his team.    The problems were sorted out for us.    Bloomsbury also said that the next edition would have these changed.    I wonder if anyone on here had the same problems, one of which was for the lemon tart (page 310 in my copy) - here's my query - (5) The lemon tart on page 310, which serves 10-12 didn't work with a 20cm x 2cm deep tin.   Maybe a larger one should be specified?  

 

Their reply - A bigger tin should be used – 26cm wide x 2.5cm deep.

[Honkman]

I am also a member of a couple of U.K. food forums and and we had a running topic on Cooking with Heston at Home.   We found some of the amounts and sizes were wrong so contacted the Publishers "Bloomsbury" who were great and contacted Heston and his team.    The problems were sorted out for us.    Bloomsbury also said that the next edition would have these changed.    I wonder if anyone on here had the same problems, one of which was for the lemon tart (page 310 in my copy) - here's my query - (5) The lemon tart on page 310, which serves 10-12 didn't work with a 20cm x 2cm deep tin.   Maybe a larger one should be specified?  

 

Their reply - A bigger tin should be used – 26cm wide x 2.5cm deep.

 

Do you have a list of the errors you identifed in the book and the replies by the publisher ?

[Sidney]

Heston is typical of celebrity chefs when it comes to writing cookery books,they just take the money and are not interested in accuracy.When the likes of GOURMET had their test kitchens a different culture ruled.Now any thing goes take the money and to hell with the mug that bought the book.

[Denadar]

Hi Honkman, yes I do have a list and was going to paste it here, but read the rider at the bottom and I think I would be going into a copyright situation, so will paraphrase.   

 

The ones that were going to be corrected in the next edition were the lemon tart (above) and the other was the chocolate ganache (page 332) the amounts should be halved and the ramekins should be 7cm wide and the ring cutter (for the ganache) should be 3cm wide.

 

I found the replies from the Fat Duck team rather offhand and curt, almost to the point of being rude.   As if we should not have dared to query anything.    I also queried the mushroom cream recipe (but the recipe was right) but said it would have been helpful to have known the size of the glass.    I was told a Pousse cafe glass, which I'm afraid didn't really help me.    By the way, it was really delicious and my guests were really impressed.    Took a long time to make though and although really delicious I'm not sure I would do it again.

 

We also queried the amount of thyme in the parfait alcohol reduction (page 103) as the recipe stated '15g sprigs of thyme'. The person who was making it said she had just gone into into the garden and cut a handful of sprigs of thyme and counted and weighed them. 15 sprigs weighed 3 grams, 75 sprigs of thyme would have to be used to arrive at 15g and it did seem rather an overkill of thyme - we were told it was the right amount and that supermarkets sold 20g packets of thyme for about a £1.00.   (Yeah right, people who buy this book don't know you can buy herbs!!!!)

 

We also queried the amount of Bois Boudron (page 267) and were told Heston had said in the intro that it was good for the BBQing and could be halved.

 

I think after the tone of the reply we just gave each other tips.

 

Everything that we made though was fantastic and I am still glad I have the book and will continue to try the recipes.    Have decided that when I make the mushroom parfait though I won't add all the thyme at first. it will be a taste as you go recipe.

[ninagluck]

Denadar, I did the mushroomparfait and did not follow the instructions, just used the thyme that was around. turned out amazing

[Denadar]

That's good to know Ninagluck, we thought it was too much thyme - your comment gives me the impetus to make it now.   His recipes do taste amazing don't they, well the ones I have made do.    I keep meaning to blanch the garlic clove in milk as he suggests, but I don't often have milk around, maybe one day.

[ninagluck]

you won't regret it and serve it with the apricotchutney as he suggests, perfect combination.