MGLloyd

And yet you tease us by not posting the recipe? Please do or email it to me! I am not ashamed to go public with my love of fruitcake.

Bearing in mind that your raw stock is sweetened blackberry juice (presumably without the berry pulp), I would heat and reduce it until thickened, and then stir in some butter and some nice port. This should give you a nice, shiny glaze. If I had any whole frozen blackberries left, I would add some of those for texture.

That episode is most memorable for Apu and Manjula having octuplets, and to keep this food related, Apu 'chilling his loins' in the Quickee Mart ice cream freezer when trying to impregnate Manjula. The Simpsons works on so many levels.

I am reminded of the Simpson's episode, 'Eight Misbehavin', where the family goes to shop at SHOP, a thinly-disguised takeoff of Ikea. Homer is thrilled to discover Polpenlugen listed on the FUD menu in the cafeteria, and tells the server 'and don't forget the doodlemunch!'. I like the Ikea cafeteria at the store in Renton.

Excellent idea, since I work just down the hill from SCCC.

I am acutely embarassed to report that when I go up to BC, I can never keep the name of this chain straight. I keep calling it 'The Wet Spot'.

A bottle\can of Guinness, a large scoop of a nice french vanilla ice cream, and a double shot of my home-roasted Liquid Amber espresso. A Deschutes Brewing Obsidian Stout also works well.

Irwin, not to beat a dead horse, but there are two Value Village stores in Snohomish county: one in Lynnwood on Highway 99 and one in Everett on Evergreen Way (the old Highway 99). Both are on the west side of the highway and adjacent to other stores. As a way of orientation, the one in Everett is not far from Pacific Kitchen, an excellent kitchenware supply store and is close to a Rite Aid. The one in Lynnwood is next to a Burger King. I am guessing that you were up at the Everett store, and I should be looking on Evergreen Way?

Read the heatgun/dogbowl coffee roasting primer elsewhere in this forum, or for a version with pictures, go to Heatgun/dogbowl primer. This is an excellent method that you may want to investigate.

I recently posted a similar message in seattle.eats asking for opinions on where to get a good Reuben sandwich. So far, my favorite is still the one I make at home. Many people (myself included) spoke highly of the Reuben's at the McMenamin's taverns. A couple of people recommended the versions at the Hilltop and the 74th Street Alehouse. And Irwin, where is this place on Highway 99 in Everett with the pastrami sandwich? I live in that neck of the woods and would be most interested to check it out.

Over on coffeegeek.com, there has been a lot of experimentation lately to resurrect an older method of coffee roasting. Yes, you too can roast your own coffee quickly and cheaply with some very basic tools: a heatgun and a steel dogbowl. This method is probably the cheapest method available to the homeroasting community to produce significant quantities in a short amount of time. I have written a primer for the coffeegeek community and also post it here for the eGullet community. Unfortunately, the pretty pictures did not paste over, so this is the text only version. This does presume some basic roasting experience, such as first crack and the like. If you don't have that experience, try it anyway and see how it works for you. If anyone has any questions or comments, please post here and I will be happy to help. Happy roasting! Regards, Michael Lloyd __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ Heatgun\dogbowl roasting 101 Pros: Entry costs are low Excellent control over roast Capable of large batch sizes (5 to 16 oz.) Necessary equipment is simple and robust Easy to monitor the roast Able to immediately halt roast at any point Can roast 2-3 lbs. per hour Even roasting Quality of results dependent on operator technique Rapid learning curve Allows user to determine a range of fluid bed (hot air) to drum roasting conditions and results by varying airflow and length of roast Easy to roast small amounts for blending Cons: Must be done outside due to smoke and chaff Not a ‘set and forget’ method More difficult to precisely reproduce results at every roast Requires separate cooling method Difficult to monitor roast temperature Requires holding the heatgun and stirring for 10-15 minutes Quality of results dependent on operator technique Basic equipment needed: Heatgun Roasting vessel Stirring utensil Metal colander or other cooling method The earliest mentions of using a heatgun and a roasting vessel to roast coffee go back to the early 1990’s on the Net and in the alt.coffee Usenet newsgroup. Attaching a roasting chamber filled with coffee beans to a heatgun muzzle goes back even further. This technique, developed by Michael Sivetz to roast coffee samples, uses the Wagner HT 775/Milwaukee 750 heatgun still available today. Since the last quarter of 2003, this older method has become more popular. Why the sudden upsurge in interest over the heatgun? Theories abound, but one possible reason is a backlash against expensive and unreliable roasting appliances that often do not work well out of the box and can require juryrigging to obtain good results. By contrast, the heatgun method has low entry costs and the equipment is simple and robust, producing a significant throughput of a quality roast. It combines elements of both an air fluid-bed and conduction roast. Roast times can be controlled to produce a quicker, brighter roast or a slower, fuller roast. Thus one simple and inexpensive equipment setup can replicate either an air roast or drum roast. This method is probably the cheapest means of producing significant batch sizes at nominal costs. The closest competitors are the HotTop at $ 600 and roasting nine ounces, the AlpenRost at $ 290 and roasting eight ounces and BBQ grill roasting drums at $ 125-210 and capable of roasting up to four pounds on your existing gas BBQ grill. Through the efforts of an intrepid group of experimenters at Coffeegeek.com, to include Martin Lipton, Jim Liedeka and Michael Lloyd as the early adopters, the heatgun method has recently undergone a great deal of refinement and some recommendations are presented here on equipment and technique. Michael Lloyd is the originator and author of this primer and any mistakes are entirely his. As with all methods of coffee roasting, the heatgun method involves high temperatures and care should be taken to avoid personal injury and property damage. Equipment The heatgun The most important piece of equipment for this method is the heatgun. For those unsure of what a heatgun is, think of a handheld hair dryer capable of reaching temperatures of 250-1100 degrees and powered by electricity. Heatguns are commonly used for stripping paint, bending plastic, plumbing, electronics assembly, arts and crafts and can be found in the paint department of most hardware stores. Heatgun prices typically range from $ 25 for light-duty home use models to $ 175 for industrial models. Work is still ongoing to find which models of heatgun are suitable for coffee roasting. Preliminary data from user reports indicates that the heatgun should be capable of at least 500 degrees Fahrenheit and have an air velocity of at least 14 cubic feet per minute (CFM) in order to achieve sufficient heat transfer to reach roasting temperatures. The higher the wattage of the heatgun, the more efficient it is for roasting. Some users report that an adjustable temperature allows them to better ramp the roasts. A cool setting may be useful to both cool the beans and prolong the life of the heating element. At this time, the following models have been used with success: Makita 1100 250-1100 degrees 8-14 CFM 1500 watts $ 75 Wagner HT775/Milwaukee 750 500-750 degrees 19-23 CFM 1680 watts $ 60 Wagner HT 1000 750-1000 degrees CFM unknown 1200 watts $ 30 PitBull CHIGH0012 700-920 degrees CFM unknown 1500 watts $ 15 Milwaukee 1220HS 750-1200 degrees CFM unknown 1200 watts $ 25 One user felt that the Porter-Cable heavy duty heatgun had too high an air velocity (27 CFM) which blew too many beans out of the roasting vessel. The roasting vessel The original roasting vessel used in this method is a stainless steel dogbowl, but other bowls and containers are used as well. Other potential roasting vessels are mixing bowls, saucepans or a round cake pan. The most commonly-used type of dogbowl (the classic) looks like this in cross-section: \_____/. Here are some pictures of classic dogbowls: Another type of dogbowl (the non-tip or non-skid version) looks like this in cross-section: /\_______/\. This type of dogbowl is recommended if you use a BBQ grill as a supplemental heat source. This is described later in the primer. Here is a picture of a non-tip\non-skid dogbowl: A key element of success in this roasting method is to match the size of the vessel with the batch size. If the vessel is too small, the depth of the bean mass will be too great, and an uneven roast and spillage will occur. If the vessel is too large, the depth of the bean mass will be too shallow, and the surface area of the bean mass too large, leading to difficulty in reaching roasting temperatures, overly-long roasts and uneven roasts. There is a ‘sweet spot’ of bean mass surface area and depth that will retain heat to sustain an endothermic reaction and reach first and second crack in an appropriate amount of time. No matter what diameter is the roasting vessel, it should be at least 2.5-3.0 inches deep to avoid blowing the beans out of the vessel. The recommended shape is round, so that beans do not get trapped into corners and roast unevenly. Recommended sizes depend upon the batch size and the diameter and depth of the roasting vessel. A good rule of thumb would be to use a vessel with a capacity at least four times the volume of green beans used. Using a classic dogbowl as a typical example, a 32 oz. bowl accommodates one cup of beans by volume; a 64 oz. bowl accommodates two cups; and a 96 oz. bowl accommodates three cups. Although weight per cup is only approximate and depends upon the specific bean type, a good approximation is one level cup by volume weighs on average 5-5.3 oz., two cups by volume weighs on average 10-11 oz., and three cups by volume weighs on average 15-16 oz. The material of the vessel is important too. It has to be heat-resistant, have a smooth interior surface, easy to clean and not subtract too much thermal energy from the bean mass. Using cast-iron, heavy-gauge metal cookware or cookware with a clad or sandwich metal-core bottom can create hot and cold spots. The mass of the metal acts as a thermal sponge to absorb heat unevenly resulting in prolonged and uneven roasts. It is not known at this time if a glass, Pyrex or ceramic vessel would give satisfactory results or be safe to use. Stainless or carbon steel or aluminum would be good materials for a roasting vessel. If you are using a saucepan or cake pan, make sure the pan is uncoated, since some non-stick materials will not tolerate the high heat of a heatgun and may release toxic fumes. For all of these reasons, and cost, a stainless steel dogbowl, mixing bowl, cake pan or saucepan is recommended. These items may already be in your home or can be purchased very cheaply at thrift, discount, pet or department stores. As an example, at a national chain of pet stores, a 32 oz. dogbowl sold for $ 5.49, a 64 oz. dogbowl sold for $ 6.99 and a 96 oz. dogbowl sold for $ 8.99. Stirring utensil A heatproof stirring utensil can be used to stir the bean mass throughout the roast. A long wooden or metal spoon or length of doweling works well. Technique A sample roast is presented here using a Wagner HT 775 heatgun and a 64 oz. classic dogbowl. Of course, other types of heatguns and roasting vessels can work equally well. This description presumes you have some experience with roasting. Begin by assembling all the equipment and pour two cups (by volume, approximately 10-11 oz. by weight) green coffee beans into the bowl. The sample roast shown here is Liquid Amber from SweetMaria’s. Outside the house or in a covered and very well-ventilated area (this method does produce copious amounts of chaff and roasting smoke), put the dogbowl on a heatproof surface, start up the heatgun on the low setting (side louvers open at 500 degrees), and holding the muzzle of the gun approximately 1.0 -1.5 inches from the surface of the beans, begin playing the heated air evenly over the surface of the beans. If the airflow of the heatgun is not sufficient to stir the beans, then periodically stir the beans with a heatproof utensil while continuing to play the heatgun over the surface of the beans. After approximately four to six minutes, the beans will begin to smell grassy and turn a light tan in color. Close the side louvers of the heatgun (changing the temperature to 750 degrees) and move the heatgun muzzle to within approximately 0.5 to 1.0 inches from the surface of the beans and continue playing the heated air over the surface of the bean mass. As the roast progresses and the beans become lighter, you will often be able to stir the beans solely by the airflow of the heatgun. Be sure to stir the beans throughout the roast. Do not be alarmed if chaff blows off the surface of the beans and catches fire. It will quickly self-extinguish. Move the muzzle closer or further from the surface of the bean mass as dictated by how fast the roast is progressing. At approximately 8 minutes or so, you should reach first crack, and second crack at about 9 minutes. When the roast is complete to your liking, quickly dump the beans into a metal colander or cool the beans in the usual fashion. This technique should give you approximately three cups by volume of roasted beans. If the heatgun has a 'cool' setting, turn the heatgun to cool and let it run for a few minutes until it is cool to the touch. This will extend the life of the heating element in the heatgun. The time to complete a roast also varies by volume; a one cup roast typically takes about seven minutes, a two cup roast typically takes about ten minutes and a three cup roast typically takes about 13-15 minutes (these times do not include cooling). These times are also a function of this author’s roasting experience and preference: I like a slower and ramped roast to replicate a drum roast profile. Other people who prefer a brighter roast, like those produced by poppers or the FreshRoast, may like to do a two cup roast in five or six minutes. Decaf coffees will generally roast in less time for the same volume of coffee. The total time is very dependent on volume, heatgun used, the roasting vessel used, ambient temperature and operator technique. If you are roasting in very cold temperatures, the roast time may be prolonged or you may want to put the roasting vessel into a heatproof box or other container to help retain the heat. The best guide to the roasting process will be your eyes and ears as you monitor the roast. Another technique adopted by some users is to use a gas-fueled BBQ grill to serve as another source of heat during the roast. A non-skid/non-tip dogbowl is commonly used since the skirt acts to retain heat under the bowl surface. The BBQ is lit, generally set on medium and allowed to pre-heat for a few minutes. The dogbowl with beans is set on the grill and the heatgun is used in the typical fashion. Proponents of this method feel that the grill allows for a more controlled roast and more reproducible results. Conclusion: Heatgun/dogbowl roasting is a quick, simple, and inexpensive way to produce quality roasted coffee. The entry costs are low and the method very forgiving. This is one of the most cost-effective ways to roast significant quantities of coffee for home use. Further resources: The Home Roasting Talk forum at www.coffeegeek.com and “Home Coffee Roasting” by Kenneth Davids are excellent sources of information on roasting coffee in general. Contact the author: If you have any suggestions or changes to this document, please contact the author, Michael Lloyd, at millcreek2010@yahoo.com.

Very impressive. Now come on back to Vashon and set up something next to the Thriftway. Everyone on the island goes to Thriftway.

The county where I live, Snohomish county, just north of Seattle, has recently been devoting a great deal of effort to persuading NASCAR to build a racetrack here. From the articles in the local paper, it would apparently have a significant economic impact. To date, NASCAR has not been particularly enthused; one of the reasons is that there is no other NASCAR racetrack for several hundred miles, so the drivers and officials would be coming a long distance out of their way. But the county remains hopeful, particularly if another NASCAR track could be built elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest.

I could not agree more with this statement. I would only add buckets and buckets of money. Top Pot, are you listening?

Both Rainier and Hamm's disappeared from the Pacific Northwest many years ago. They were victims of various mergers and acquisitions in the brewery industry. Another very popular local brew, Olympia, is also gone.

Noting your comment as to most of the thermostabilized products being made to your specifications, does that mean that NASA has a particular vendor that either manufacturers or packages flight menus? This is not done in-house by NASA staff?

I know exactly what you mean. Like the time Homer rode the shuttle, opened the potato chip bag and the chips flew everywhere in the cabin. (You fool! They'll clog the instruments!) In a homage to 2001, a space odyssey, Homer gracefully flew about the cabin to the strains of the 'Blue Danube Waltz' munching the chips. And then, the ants escaped.....

I suspect that is when the astronauts pull that case of MREs out of the trunk and start drawing straws for who eats the unpopular ones first: Jamaican pork chop, pasta with alfredo sauce, etc. Plan B is 'who gets voted off the shuttle at tribal council'.

Approximately how long was it on the night you were there? When I've gone, it's taken as much as 30 or 40 minutes. If they've pared it down significantly, that would be a positive step. When we were there on the 9th, the D&P took 13 minutes, and we were out of there by 10:45. Now mind you, we were yakking with the other couples at the European table, and if we had wanted to get out quicker, we could have been gone by 10:15 or so. The last time we were there was back in the early summer (Rogue Reds and Pirate Booty), we ate on a Sunday so dinner started at 6 pm, the house was full, and the meal took five hours.

I'll be darned. My wife and I were there the night before you to celebrate my birthday. We were at the European table, and the night was also noteworthy for about half the restaurant being empty. Excellent menu, and we were both particularly fond of the duck foie gras and the squab. I wish I could get the recipe for the black truffle sauce served with both the foie gras and the squab. We also stayed at Willows Lodge on Friday and Saturday night, and ate Saturday night at the Barking Frog. I had the duck while my wife had the scallops; very good but certainly not to the level of the Herbfarm. This was the second time we had been to the Herbfarm in six months.

Owen, when I first looked at the website and saw the one group Linea, my first thought was LaMarz had finally rolled out the consumer-level machine that Mark had tested and written up on coffeekid. I did not notice, as you did, that it requires 220V service and is not a pour-over. I wonder if I can remove it from my cart before it hits the UPS truck! I kid, I kid. I love my Pasquini Livia and really don't ever anticipate upgrading from it.

This occurred to me, but I couldn't figure out what temperature to use. The expert consensus is that oven-roasting in a household oven can only be successfully done in a gas oven or an electric convenction oven capable of reaching a minimum of 500 degrees. The key to even roasting with this method is the air currents circulating through the oven; a conventional electric oven does not generate sufficient air movement to achieve an even roast. As also mentioned later in the thread, SweetMarias has details. Kenneth Davids book 'Home Coffee Roasting' has a lot of detail on this method. The other key factor to success is using a perforated pan. A solid cookie sheet blocks too much of the heat to allow even roasting.

That would be me, Martin or Jim at Coffeegeek. Martin and I have posted to the sweetmarias list on this, and all three of us have made many postings on www.coffeegeek.com in the home roasting talk forum. The specifics of our technique can be found on the coffeegeek site, but it is a technique that should be done outdoors, primarily due to chaff blowing everywhere. Martin, Jim and myself have many years of homeroasting experience and many dollars invested in various coffee-roasting appliances. All of us are enamored with the simplicity, low cost and quality in the heatgun technique. Jim and I seem to be the ones roasting mass quantities, and we are very pleased with the quality and the throughput of this roasting technique. While we are on the 'old-school' methods, there is also a lot of talk on coffeegeek about using a stainless-steel perforated drum in your gas grill to roast coffee. This is a method for people who wish to roast anywhere from one to four pounds at a time.

Hmm. I home-roast about 90% of the coffee we drink in the house. The quantity roasted depends on whether it is for drip or espresso. My wife drinks a lot of drip coffee, so I usually have more of that on hand. I try to roast quantities that will be used up within a week, bearing in mind that my favorite espresso blends (Malabar Gold, Liquid Amber, Moka Kadir) generally need to age about 3-4 days for optimum quality. I store all of our coffee in air-tight clamp-seal glass french preserve jars that I buy at Cost-Plus World Imports or Pier One. We go through a one-liter jar of drip coffee per week and about a 0.25-0.5 liter jar of espresso per week. I store the jars in the freezer. Whether I am grinding for drip using the KitchenAid whirly blade or for espresso using the Rocky doserless, I pull the jar out, grind the beans frozen and put the jar back. The jar is out of the freezer for all of a minute. I have to say that so far, Rocky or the KitchenAid have never choked on a frozen bean. The issue of bean quality by freezing or room storage temperature has been debated endlessly. My personal opinion is that there are so many other variables that have a bigger impact on taste that if you use small quantities within a short period of time, freezing or not probably has a much smaller impact than, say, grinding whole beans at the time of service versus buying coffee pre-ground. My $ 0.02 USD.

Noting that the drum is made of wire mesh pencil cups from an office supply store, my old chemistry and healthcare background prompts me to ask if you know what the mesh and the coating is made of? My only concern is if the materials are food-safe and most particularly if the coating of the wire mesh does not degrade with heat and agitation to release toxic byproducts which would end up in the coffee and subsequently in you.