JeffGC

We will figure this out together!

As I mentioned in a previous post, my plan is to go through all of my saved recipes/websites. I've looked at many more but many were terrible. These are the keepers: https://buutocxu.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/caneles-canneles-de-bordeaux-the-recipe-the-madness-the-method/ https://jasonyehmd.wordpress.com/ http://www.ironwhisk.com/2017/08/caneles-canneles-de-bordeaux/ https://www.baking-sense.com/2019/11/08/caneles/ https://partylicious.net/french-canele-recipe/ https://tasteofartisan.com/canele/ https://www.theperfectloaf.com/canele/ http://www.paula-wolfert.com/recipes/canele.html https://kitchenprojects.substack.com/p/kitchen-project-99-canele https://www.tasteatlas.com/canele/recipe

ElsieD-What you are doing is great but it might provide some misleading info. Some websites mention the drastic drop in oven temperature when the canelés are placed inside. Baking one at a time would doubtfully have any effect on the temperature. Placing 12 might.

7 September 2023 Thinking about the mold coating process. The new burner seems to work very well since it’s thermostatically controlled. I did notice the molds cooling during the coating process. I just ordered 1/8 sheet pans which I’ll use for mold warming. I’ll remove from the oven in small groups of three or four molds and coat immediately. I’m certain this will result in a more even 50/50 coating.

I've been away from this project for a while but now I'm back to it. Last weekend I reviewed eleven recipes and plan to produce each of them. I know keep a detailed diary; I'll cut and paste to post as I work through them. 27 August 2023 Reviewed every recipe I’ve saved. Aggressively cleaned every mould with the goal to start at the beginning, with initial seasoning. Made a list of every seasoning method/material: beeswax, butter, vegetable oil, vegetable shortening. Decided to go with beeswax, preforming multiple times. The best description of the process is Kitchen Project. After this is completed, the plan is to prepare, carefully following each recipe. And carefully document! Molds were seasoned with 100% beeswax. 400F oven, repeated three times (total of four seasonings). Notes regarding portable burner: When initial seasoning, I melted on 5 and the reduced to 3. When I did normal coating. I melted at 3. Went slow but will use only 3 in the future. Standard coating is 50/50. Molds pre-heated in 170F oven. The first few seemed thin. I will monitor release at baking. 6 September 2023 Buutocxu recipe https://buutocxu.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/caneles-canneles-de-bordeaux-the-recipe-the-madness-the-method/ Yielded about 1000g of batter. Filled by eye instead of weight. 8 at a time. Followed recipe exactly, including turns. Molds with light 50/50 coating were marked for review. Baked the full 45 minutes, without checking earlier. Rather pleased with the results. No discernable difference with the release from the lightly coated molds (on left). A few had minor cul blanc but all were acceptable. Next coating, I might increase 50/50 to setting 4 and see if it produces lighter coating. Also on next bake, I will remove the wax spot at the bottom of the molds. Second batch (7) made the same way. Thinner 50/50 coating on left, with no noticeable difference. A few didn’t release well from the molds and one was a liquid mess. A few minutes more in the oven and they released easily. This recipe has a much more custard-like interior. Different. Aside from the few CB, I am impressed.

Pete Fred - The linked article is incredible.

Pete Fred - Thank you! I’ll review the linked info. My research continues. Jeff

CookBot-Was planning to do an evenness test and plain white bread was already on the list. Please explain measuring temp in each quadrant. I have an IR temp gun.

I have not. I am,at this moment, researching Wolf convection modes.

Good points

I don’t know. Pan was a room temp but I did have a layer of aluminum foil on it. Gap? Molds were frozen for a couple of hours. Oven was preheated for 90 minutes.

Yesterday’s test: Wolfert 450/350 Convection (fan) steel. Four were perfect. Five were slight CB. Three were a total mess. Conclusion: Wolfert recipe is not suitable for high/low method. Also, I am less fond of the Wolfert recipe since it lacks a strong vanilla flavor (Uses extract). Next test (Final?) is my original recipe with the Wolfert mold prep.

Cul blanc is a French term for when the top of the canelé is white. The literal translation is "White Ass." It is caused by the contents rising and then not settling back into the mold.

I have a number of tests planned. Today, I used the Wolfert (modified) recipe but baked high/low (550/375). This was completely unsuccessful with all canelés having complete cul blanc. Next test will be similar but with a baking steel and slightly lower temperatures.

Pete Fred - Thanks for your detailed response. Every recipe I’ve previously used started very high and the dropped the temperature for the reasons you stated. The Paula Wolfert recipe is VERY different, the actual recipe and the baking technique. I have two more tests to do: High/low without baking steel and high/low with a baking steel. I’ll do both convection (fan).

Do it!

CookBot-Your post made me laugh! I reached your conclusion when making macarons.

Margaret-Interesting comment. My initial recipe produced a more cake-like interior. The Wolfert recipe is more custard like. Both are good but different. Regarding exterior, I’ve used both butter/beeswax and safflower oil/beeswax. Not much difference.

The elusive goal is to have the exterior of each Canelé and even dark brown. A white spot on the top is a flaw. The French even have a term for this: “cul blanc”. Basically, white ass.

Not aware of a bubble. I fill to 60gr so I’d see a bubble if it were taking up a lot of room. Your image makes be laugh! My Scottish Terrier will hear the crunch of a Canelé and come running.

I realize there have been a number of other threads about Canelé. One is 14 pages long and begins in 2002; the last post is in 2020. I've read it twice and it includes a lot of good info. Please forgive me as I start a new conversation. I fell down the Canelé rabbit hole in April 2022. I'm normally in Paris a couple of times each year. This past April, I bought a set of 35mm canelé molds at E. Dehillerin (About USD 175). After using these a few times, I realized that I should have bought 55mm molds. The best price was Meilleur du Chef, in the south of France (With Fedex shipping, about USD 175 for 10 molds). Then I read, somewhere, that a baking steel was really helpful (USD 129 from Amazon). Then, due to recipe size, I decided to purchase 2 more molds (USD 40 from French Copper Kitchen, on Etsy). Then I realized that I really needed a total of sixteen molds, requiring the purchase of four more molds from French Copper Kitchen (USD 74.99). I am consumed with the perfection of the canelé. After reading countless articles about baking canelé, two websites stood out to me: Taste of Artisan (https://tasteofartisan.com/canele/) The Perfect Loaf (https://www.theperfectloaf.com/canele/) My recipe (attached) is a blend of these two. Basically, the recipe from Taste of Artisan and the baking method from The Perfect Loaf. I am continually plagued with cul blanc (white butt) and have been unable to figure it out. Unfortunately, I did not start keeping notes until this past September. My most recent notes are attached. I had a long conversation with a local pastry chef (Cordon Bleu-trained) regarding my issues. He mentioned that the batter was soufléeing (New verb - to souflée) which prompted me to review and test the Paula Worfert recipe, which does not include egg whites. Also, some people indicated that cul blanc was caused by too much white oil or butter/beeswax in the bottom of the mold. I don't think this is true, due to my most recent test. While better (less cul blanc) the problem continues. Today, I made 12 Canelé following my modified Wolfert recipe. 6 were perfect. 3 had petit cul blanc and 3 had grand cul blanc. I have attached the following: My Basic Canelé Recipe.pdf (referenced above) Wolfert Modified Canelé Recipe.pdf (converted to weights and different mold coating technique) Canelé Testing Notes.pdf (my notes IMG_3717.jpeg (today' batch) Any help will be greatly appreciated. Jeff Chosid My Basic Canelé Recipe.pdf Wolfert Modified Canelé Recipe.pdf Canelé Testing Notes.pdf

I had a rather lengthy conversation with someone at American Association of Meat Processors. Nelson suggested “The Meat Buyer’s Guide (North American Meat Institute).” The restaurant is misrepresenting the product. Thanks to everyone for responding. Jeff C.

I should have done that!

This question is for someone that knows their way around a cow. Twice, at the same restaurant, I received a bone-in ribeye steak with rather strange-looking bones. Instead of a single rib bone, there were a number of smaller bones. What was this? I'm a bit familiar with a rib primal, which should be rib numbers 6-12. 1-5 is chuck. Were these steaks actually chuck with part of the blade bones? Thanks. Jeff

St. Louis. Mo.