prasantrin

Thanks for the pictures! I definitely have a lot more time to go, then. Right now mine is the colour of perfect toast, and even when at less-than-room-temperature, a spoon definitely wouldn't be standing in it. Hopefully by midnight tonight!

Thanks! And please thank Señora Obregon for me, too. Even though this is taking forever and a day (or at least a day), it's kind of fun watching the changes, and I will definitely be making it again! I was thinking I shouldn't have started the process using milk straight from the fridge, especially since our fridge runs a little cold. So I'll definitely do as Señora Obregon advises and start things out in the microwave. I was also reading what you wrote in the crockpot thread And I think my cajeta might be closer to being ready than I think. When I put a little in a less than room temperature dish (our house is pretty cool--around 16 or 17C), drops will keep their shape (although two drops close together will usually run together) and will slowly drip down if I tip the dish. So it's still thinner than honey, but not so much thinner. I don't think it will mound up on a spoon at room temp at this point, but it's getting there! I'll give it a couple of more hours and then add the additional milk.

Yet another update. I was too lazy to stand by the stove at 7:30ish this morning, so I turned the crockpot back on high. It took about 2 hours for it to get up past 160F, and I've been playing with it ever since. I'm not stirring every 15 minutes because it's still too watery. It has definitely caramelised and is a tan colour, though not as dark as I associate with cajeta. It doesn't leave a trail when when I run the spatula through it, so it likely needs several more hours. It has started to get too hot (up to 190F), but the temperature drops below 150F on low, so I alternate an hour on high and an hour on low. I am definitely hopeful that it will eventually turn out right, but I'm really really hoping that I won't have to take this till tomorrow morning. As it is, the crock pot was on about 17 hours yesterday and so far 8 hours today--that's 25 hours total, and it's not ready. Another thing, I think maybe because the temperature gets too high, a lot of foam develops, except it's not really foam, and it won't stir back into the mixture. Fortunately, this stuff often sticks to the spatula when I stir, so I get to lick it off after (don't worry, I wash the spatula every time!). Even though my cajeta isn't the right texture yet, it sure does taste good! My crock pot sucks. This explains why my caramelised onions were such a failure a year or so ago. What a waste of butter that was (and butter is about twice as expensive in Japan than in the US or Canada!).

The "boil a can of condensed milk" method is quite common, but I'd rather do it from scratch if I can. But that cheesecake idea is fabulous! Really? Nothing else needed? The cheesecake doesn't get too hard when refrigerated?

It's now after midnight and the temp is 160F, and it has reduced by maybe 1/4" or a little less. But I'm too sleepy to wait around, so I'll turn off the crock pot and start again tomorrow. I think, however, that I'll start it on the stove and then transfer it to the crock pot once it gets to 160F-ish. It has been 17 hours since I started, and although it has reduced and is a little browner in colour, it's still pretty watery. I wonder if the quality of the goat's milk makes a difference. I'm using pasteurised goat's milk, but it's just regular goat's milk (not skim or anything). It's the only goat's milk available in this area, I think.

I forgot about Chef Pride. I had registered for the site with the intention of buying stuff (they have a lot of hard-to-find ingredients like frozen fruit purees, etc.), but I never did. I was never really sure if it was a wholesale site or if anyone could buy from them. They have some beans (but not a lot), dried fruits, etc. Great selection of meats (lamb, fowl--including some freshly killed small birds still with feathers!), horse, etc.), too, but those don't really fall under the dry goods category. . . http://www.chefpride.co.jp/

Thanks! I think it might have been a mistake for me to double the recipe given the low temperature of my crockpot. The last time I took the temperature of the milk was about 3 or 4 hours ago, and it was still about 135F (I think it was 137F), which was the same temperature as when I added the baking soda/water (so it had been cooking for 12-ish hours total and it had been 8-9 hours since the addition of the baking soda/water), and the same temperature two hours before that, and a couple of hours before that. But in the last 3 or 4 hours, I've lost another half inch so it's reducing much more quickly now that there's less of it. And I just checked the temperature, and it's now at 150F, so it's getting hotter! So my temperatures have looked something like this: 7:00am--start--about 55F--about 3" in depth 10:00am--135F 11:00am--still 135F, so I added the baking soda/water 1:00pm--about 135F 4:00pm--about 135F--reduced by maybe 1/4"-1/2" 6:00pm--about 135F 7:00pm--about 135F--reduced by about 1" 10:00pm--about 150F--reduced by about 1 1/2" total I'm going to start checking on it more frequently, and hopefully in the next two hours it'll be ready for the last two cups of milk. If not, I'll turn it off and finish it off tomorrow. I think it's been reduced by about 50% at this point, so it's coming along, just very slowly! I don't have enough goat's milk for the last two cups, so I'm adding my remaining goat's milk (maybe 1 cup or so) and using half-and-half for the rest. I hope it works!

I'm moving my questions here rather than keep them in the crock pot thread. . . I hope you find me! So I doubled the recipe and started with 670-ish grams sugar and 6 cups of goat's milk in my 5.5 qt crock pot. It took forever and a day (3 or 4 hours) to get it to 135F, and since I got tired of waiting for it to hit 140F, I added the water/baking soda mixture. Now, roughly 10 hours after the addition of the water/baking soda, the mixture has reduced by about 1 inch, but I think it has plenty of hours to go until it gets thick as it's still pretty watery, though it has a slightly less white colour to it. My crock pot has high, low, and auto choices for temperature, and it's on high right now. I'm thinking I can last maybe 2 more hours or so before I need to sleep. It will have to continue thickening overnight, but I'm concerned about it reducing too much while I'm sleeping. At high, the mixture has been pretty stable at 135F, give or take 1 or 2F, and I'm not sure how low it would go if I used low temperature. Questions: Would it be better to turn off the crock pot, and then continue cooking it tomorrow? Or is it OK to continue cooking it throughout the night? If I leave the crock pot on throughout the night, should I leave it on high or reduce the temperature to low? I would not be stirring every two hours, and I'm a little concerned about that.

Expensive, but once you factor in shipping to Japan, Kikuya is probably your cheapest option unless you can get people to buy stuff for you and then ship it more cheaply. I used to do that sometimes.

I think my crockpot is one of the not-so-hot temperature-wise ones. It took about 3 hours just to get it up to 135F and stayed there for more than 30 minutes, so I just put the baking soda/water mixture in, anyway. I have the feeling I'll be up very late before it gets to the consistency I want. I'm going to assume all Rival crockpots with dials have similar temperatures. Do Hamilton Beach ones generally run hotter than Rival?

@onrushpam--could you tell me what the model number is? I looked on both the Canadian and US Hamilton Beach websites, and can't find any slow cookers with interchangeable bowls. It sounds perfect! eta--oops! found it! I was looking at the "stay or go" page thinking all the slow cookers were there, but there's a separate "slow cooker" page. It's called the 3-in-One Slow Cooker.

Have you tried Kikuya? I bought stuff like raw almonds and sunflower and pumpkin seeds through them, plus I'm pretty sure their dried apples and apricots were unsweetened, though they may have had sulfites. No beans, though.

Thanks! I have everything ready to start today, but I think I'll start tomorrow morning so I can make sure I'm up long enough for it to reduce.

Would one be able to double the recipe without any problems? I have a larger crockpot (5 1/2 qts, I think), and just 4 cups seems like an awfully small amount for such a large crockpot. Another question--my crockpot only has high, low, and auto temperatures. Should I just use low instead of medium and just allow that it will take a lot longer to cook down? ETA--I was thinking if I make a double recipe, I'd start it out on the stove and then transfer it to the crockpot after I've added the water/baking soda mixture. That way it wouldn't take as long to reach 140F. Does that sound like at OK idea? Or a recipe for disaster?

I think to be considered a pastry chef, you should be adept at all aspects of being a pastry chef. I just watched Kings of Pastry the other day, and in France, pastry chefs seem to have to be able to do everything--chocolate, cakes, wedding cakes, sugar work, etc. While they may be better in one aspect than the others, they have to be able to do it all. Not only do they need the technical skill, they need creativity--not only in mixing flavours, but also in design. The sugar sculptures created by the chefs testing for MOF status were, in no uncertain terms, works of art. If any of those chefs were told at the last minute to make a dress out of chocolate/sugar/cake/whatever, I bet they would and could do it, despite not being schooled in the art of pattern making or clothing design. Contrast the skill and knowledge of those French pastry chefs to those contestants appearing in "Top Chef: Just Desserts". I think Sethro is right in referring to himself (and perhaps others) as cooks and not chefs. It's silly of the producers to be throwing challenges meant for real pastry chefs at people who seem to be (or behave as though they are) merely cooks. It may make for good TV, but it's really just a way to make fun of people and humiliate them. Or maybe humble them? Back to an earlier comment I made, in Kings of Pastry (spoiler involved--stop reading if you don't want to know), one of the featured chefs broke his sugar sculpture shortly before it was to go on display. Without a sugar sculpture, he believed his chances of receiving MOF status were wiped out. After four years of planning and practising his work, he was physically and emotionally drained, and he broke down and was on the verge of giving up. The judges encouraged him to salvage what little he had left of the sculpture and to add a few more elements (he had some time left). The sculpture he put out was no where near the original in terms of complexity, but he completed the task. And wouldn't you know it, out of sixteen candidates, he was one of the four who received MOF that year. Although his sugar sculpture didn't receive high marks, his scores in other areas were high enough to allow him to pass. But had he not persevered and completed the sculpture, he would not have received anything. Like I said, you never know what you're capable of doing until you try.

Never heard of carrot cake? Tourte de blettes? Sweet potato pie? Pumpkin pie? (pumpkin is technically a fruit, but it's primarily used as a vegetable in most cuisines) I've seen a few bakeries that specialize in using vegetables (typical ones like carrots, but also cabbage, etc.) in their baked goods. The cabbage cake I've seen actually looks like half a head of cabbage, too. They're supposed to be healthful.

To which comment are you addressing your reply? I don't recall anyone saying anything that demeans pastry chefs here. I, for one, recognize the hard work and creativity that goes into the profession (and I did even before watching Kings of Pastry last night).

Sarabeth's poppy seed scone recipe has already been published in Bon Appetit. It may be different from the one in the book (the BA recipe is from 1995), but for those who can't or don't want to wait for the PR department, it's readily available at the link.

I use the free version of VSO Image Resizer. It's very easy to use, and you can do a few other things with it other than resizing your pictures. The only thing I don't like is that every time I open it, I get the little pop up asking me if I want to continue with the free version or upgrade. But I suppose it's a small price to pay for something that's free.

Buy something like this camera case and cut your own slots. This one is 21" long. This one is even bigger(25" long), and it has wheels and a retractable handle! The pictures don't reflect it, but I think cases like these usually allow you to cut the foam to suit your own needs. You might want to check some out at a camera store first to make sure.

Given the number of people and the make-up of the group, I'd go for Jack Stack. It would be easier in terms of logistics. But I'd make sure about the price point. I would imagine they would treat your group as a private party which means catering. Looking at their catering menu, http://www.jackstackbbq.com/images/art/JSBBQ_PrivateDining_Menu.pdf , that's a minimum $15 for food, plus beverages are charged per beverage (soft drinks are $2), plus there's a 20% service charge and tax charged on top of that. You'd also have to put down a deposit, and arrange something for the vegetarians of the group. But hopefully they'd be willing to arrange something cheaper for your group since they're high school students.

I like LC's, but I don't remember it being large enough to accommodate 100 people. Or maybe you could just do take-out and eat on the bus? If you were to do LC's or similar, definitely call a day or two ahead to find out if they'll even have enough food to feed that many people at once. Maybe order it to go and bring it to the students at the convention center?

A great chef can make something wonderful from fantastic ingredients. A truly gifted chef can make something wonderful from mediocre ingredients. A failure won't even try when confronted with challenges. The above pretty much applies to any profession, or any situation in life, not just cooking. I would bet the most successful people in life will do their best regardless of what they are given. They don't let hubris get in their way. I wonder if any of professional chefs involved with judging would actually hire any of the participants on this show, and which they wouldn't (and the reasons why).

I don't think it needs to be relaxed. You have options--sign it or don't. Not signing it doesn't make you any less ethical a person than if you sign it. Problem solved.

If you roll the container (think toothpaste tube) rather than just squeeze it, and make sure the tip is fully submerged, you should be able to get enough soy sauce in with just one go.