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budrichard

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Everything posted by budrichard

  1. "There is no REQUIREMENT that one be wedded to a SPECIFIC brand or type of soy sauce for a specific dish." I NEVER SAID THERE WAS! Now that we have a reply, we can get rid of the caps also. You are reading conclusions into my Posts that are not there. Comment on what I actually Posted. If you have another comment that my Post does not make or reference, don't quote my Post in your Post. Quite simple.-Dick
  2. budrichard, on 18 Apr 2014 - 09:55 AM, said: I use a soy sauce from the country whose cuisine I am preparing. I, on the other hand, mix-and-match to my heart's content, so long as it does not actually conflict with what is being cooked. :-) And your point is?
  3. Tempest in a tea pot! I have a full line of Falk copper, never a pit, never a problem in about 20 years of ownership. While my degrees are in Nuclear Engineering, my Master's study and research was in Metallurgy. Salt(sodium hydroxide, NaOh) is corrosive. Stainless steel (SS) can corrode/stain/rust given water and oxygen. Salted water should have no effect on a stainless lined pan/pot in normal usage. What has been posted about impurities and inclusions in stainless steel coming out of China is correct. I wouldn't give the matter another moments thought.-Dick
  4. Never use powder. Best I have found is granulated garlic and minced garlic from Penzey's. http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeysgarlic.html We do not use Chinese garlic powdered or fresh. Fresh is always best in my opinion.-Dick
  5. There are as many types of soy sauce (shoyu in Japan) as there are cuisines. I use a soy sauce from the country whose cuisine I am preparing. Most notably, Pearl River for Chinese, an organic Korean for Korean cooking and for Japanese we use organic aged in cedar vat Japanese shoyu for sushi/sashimi and Kikkomen reduced sodium US or Japanese for dishes.(Note Japanese Kikkomen sold in the USA has alcohol added as a preservative). The cedar vat aged shoyu is VERY expensive and hard to find. I get it at Mitsuwa Chicago when it's in stock.-Dick
  6. There are many on-line resources provided by both State and Federal Agencies for Food Safety Standards. I would consult those as the providers have the expertise and have conducted testing on Safety Standards.-Dick
  7. I would venture a guess that your older Al Clad was made in the USA whereas the new All Clad is made off shore. All Clad has become more of a marketing company over the years and they claim 'Proprietary' information when you ask them for technical details. I don't own any but they are substantially lighter than my Falk.-Dick
  8. On a Viking, 'Simmer' is just to the LEFT of 'High' and you turn the knob to the Right or Clockwise for OFF. Are you sure you weren't in the Simmer position?-Dick
  9. budrichard

    Saganaki

    Flaming Saganaki originated at the Parthenon restaurant in Chicago in the early 1970's. it's still served there. As you found out in can be problematic to make. Over the years I have found out what works for me. First, no wedges as the geometry makes for uneven melting. You need a flat rectangular piece cut about 1/2" thick, dipped in water and floured put into a pan with melted butter and then heated until you see signs of melting, I then put into my Viking under the broiler(very hot) , pull out, flame with brandy (be careful!) and then lemon, serve immediately. I only use Kasseri but anything similar would work, it's really the shape of the cheese that matters and it should be a rectangle.-Dick
  10. budrichard

    Fish Sauce

    From an Australian review of Megachef: "Ingredients: Aside from anchovy extract and water, Megachef contains sugar and fructose" Red Boat lists 'Anchovy, Sea Salt' as the only ingrediants. 500ml Red Boat 40 is $10 direct from Red Boat + shipping which is how we purchase. Have not seen local sale of MegaChef but 200 ml from Amazon is $16.99 USD. Red Boat is Vietnamese and MegaChef Thai. From my reading the best sauces are only anchovy and salt. MegaChef does not seem to available in the Chicago area but if I find it, I will try blind tasting to compare. I also can not acess the MegChef website to verify ingrediants.-Dick
  11. "I heard on a recent food story on the radio that medium-sized hen's eggs usually come from younger birds, and the large ones from older, so the smaller ones are better quality. Anyone know if that's true?" Not everything your hear or read is factual, in fact much is incorrect. Certainly younger hens give smaller eggs but why should smaller be better? Doesn't make any sense and I can detect no difference. In fact there is no quantifiable difference that we can determine in factory eggs versus the farm eggs we purchase. One would have to do blind testing with a number of testers to try to determine if a tester can find a difference and then whether the tester prefers factory or farm is still subjective. Often what we prefer is what we grew up with or our predisposition to find farm eggs better. We don't purchase farm eggs for the taste but for hopefully the better feed and care of the hens. -Dick
  12. budrichard

    Fish Sauce

    The Red Boat sauces are the best I have ever used. The '40' is used for soups and cooking and the '50' for dipping sauces. There just is no other sauce comparable, available to to those of us in the US.-Dick
  13. Blah, blah is right! Reads like mostly hype to me. I don't go to Farmer's Markets, I go directly to the farmer's and establish relationships. In SE Wisconsin i pay $2.50/doz for XL(sometimes with double yolks) from hens that are not caged and fed corn that is grown locally and ground by the farmer himself to keep costs down. No hype on the carton's which are recycled. As with anything, Farmer's Markets have become a place for the hucksters etc. Ask the seller's where they get thier wares, most tell me that they purchase locally and when pressed, do not have anything to do with production. Caveat emptor.-Dick
  14. Your typical spiral sliced 'city'(water injected and cured) ham requires no cooking, is seasoned and smoked and only requires heating. Throwing it in foil onto a grill for smoking and cooking does nothing for the ham except over cook the ham as you found out. If you want to do it yourself on your grill, purchase a fresh ham, season and smoke slowly on your grill or smoker for 4-6 hours until tender.-Dick
  15. There are many varieties of clams. what you have been using is hardshell clam that goes under many names according to it's size, from the biggest to the smallest it's Quahog, Cherrystone, Littleneck, all are the same type. The term 'bellys'' usually refers to the soft shell steamer clam which is also the clam used for New England fried clams. Somewhat unique, it has a skin on the neck that is removed after cooking and is never eaten raw. Razor type clams are deep water and comprise the 'clam strips' you see for sale and are sometimes found fresh. The West Coast Queyduck is a giant clam that is often used for sashimi and sushi. No matter what the type, if cooked too long, a clam becomes tough, and i never use them on pizza but if I were, I would find out how to open and purchase the correct equipment which includes a mesh or kevlar glove for safety. Forget the legend of feeding the clams to cleanse themsleves, doesn't happen and as Posted most water is Chlorinated and will kill the clams.. Cleanliness is what you require, so scrub your clam just before opening or cooking. Should be very little other than clam inside and the grit comes from the exterior. The dark, mealy section is merely where the clam digests its food and is eaten with a hardshell clam. We eat lot's of clams and it's worth learning the types and how to properly deal with them. I would open them raw for your pizza reserving the liquid for a 'Clamato' cocktail!-Dick
  16. Be aware that most 'lump charcoal' these days is really mill tailings from wood manufacturing' We use Nature Glow which is Royal Oaks institutional line.-Dick
  17. "I had good success with pork liver some years back, and I suspect deer liver would work as well. " The only similarity between deer and pork liver is the word 'liver'. Venison liver is totally devoid of fat. Cut into1/4" slices, saute in hot butter quickly so it's just cooked and serve and eat immediately. Prolonged cooking will result in rubber and eating cold will enhance the gamey taste. I have friend in Northern Wisconsin that shoots as many deer as legally possible (It's how they eat). B He boils the hearts, chills and serves thinly sliced with salt. Works quite well.-Dick
  18. As Posted H Mart is a Korean conglomerate and Mitsuwa is a Japanese oriented MegaMart. I shop at both frequently in the Chicago area. H Mart specializes in Korean made goods and foostuffs along with Chinese and a few Japanese products. Just because a pakcage says its shoyu, Mirin or whatever doesn't mean its the same thing. Korean manufactured is quite bit more expensive than Chinese for the same product namely because Korean label thier products and some are organi and HAACP compliant. I have found the quality to be excellent and on a par for the most products similarly made in Japan items. But note: Even in Mitsuwa, you mus read the country of origin because much of what i sold is from China to reduce costs. We don't purchase any foodstuffs of Chinese origins (PRC) because there is no regulation. The same type of product from Mitsuwa or H Mart will have different flavor profiles which is why they sell to certain Nationals. The biggest difference I have found between the stores is the quality of the fresh fish and shellfish. Mitsuwa has better quality dressed fish. But H Mart has live tanks for crab, lobster, fish and the value is certainly there at that 's where we obtain our live items. The other weekend, they were breaking down a whole bluefin at H Mart with nary a sole in sight. the same event at Mitsuwa draws a jostling crowd. TheDeprtment head cut me a nice loin piece of about 4#'s and even trimmed the blood groove and gave me a discount. Great bluefin. My last foray to Mitsuwa was a zoo and a bidding war for the bluefin at double the price but it was very good. In summary, for Korean cusine its H Mart and Korean products, for Japanese cusine it Mitsuwa and Japanese products.-Dick BTW, I'm a Nuclear Engineer with the latest in Canberra detection equipment that i purchased personally after the Fukushima accident My equipment is not the Soviet era equipment you find on eBay or antiquated Cival defense detectors but the latest sophisticated handheld scintillation and alpha/beta surface contamination detectors.. So far I have found zero radiation contamination coming from Japan in foodstuffs. The Japanese also screen at the local level to assure the food supply is not contaminted and if you know the Japanese, its; not a cusory screen. I have no problems consuming Japanese foodstuffs imported to the USA.
  19. Your NXR looks like a clone of our Viking. Not a bad thing. As to commercial ranges and ventilation. Commerical ranges do not meet NFPA Residential Fire Codes and if installed residentially must be to commercial Fire Codes and your local building inspector plus your insurance company should approve of the installation. As a former Fire Marshall, that is the reason I have a Viking and not a Vulcan. Now onto ventilation. Ventilation is as much about heat removal as removal of odors and vapors. I installed a Viking two fan hood with a 18" ducting to the outside. 4x15K burners and an oven produce a lot of heat. As to an Engineer saying "it shouldn't be a problem", the Engineer should have some sort of certification and should provide you with a documented and signed statement to that effect. I'm an Engineer and and trained Fire Marshal and I know I wouldn't provide you with any approval for a commercial range in the space you describe as "tiny".-Dick BTW for a 24" Garland with 33Kbtu burners, I suggest you look at the combustible wall clearances on the Garland spec sheet! http://www.garland-group.com/docs/uploaded/gar/products/g_gmd_ss_gseriesrange_g24.pdf
  20. Me experience with French Turbotiere's is dismal. I have returned two for inadequate tinning which resulted in small holes in the tin and other imperfections. Since the shape is odd, it cannot be made by other than hand and must be tinned on the interior rather than stainless clad as modern copper is . Any imperfection, especially a hole in the tin will result in an area that food acids will preferentially attack and eventually lead to a through hole penetration of the copper. As I said, I returned two and then gave up. I use a large rectangular light roasting pan which a grid on the bottom. A properly trimmed large Turbot fits ( all fins removed as well as tail fins),a nd after poaching the grid allows the Turbo to be lifted out in one piece.-Dick A picture of the dent would help for evaluation but be cautious that the dent could lead to seperation of the copper-tin. If the dent is not too noticeable, you could just leave it. Other then poaching large flat fish, I don't know what else it's sutable for because of its shape.-Dick
  21. The top steak houses purchase Primals from commercial supplers that they personally inspect before purchase. I wouldn't term the suppliers commercial butcher shops but just commercial suppliers because they don't break down the carcasses to indivdual cuts. The loss/waste comes from two factors, as mentioned, water loss but also the outside aged, dried portions must be trimmed form each steak. I have been in the aging room at Burke's and have watched as my steaks were cut and trimmed at local retailers who specialized in dry aged Prime. There is a lot of waste/trim. Breaking down to individual cuts for other steak houses or grocery stores is either done at the retail level or at the large Packing Houses for grocery stores. The top steak houses then age the Primals in house. When ordered, the steak is cut from the Primal, trimmed, cooked and served. None of the Steak houses I know of use liquid smoke. One can find retail butcher shops that do thier own aging of Primals and cut to order. You just have to look. There are two in the Chicago area that I use. I have never heard of anyone using balsamic vinegar on a steak for carmelization? Black pepper on a properly coooked steak is not scorched, so no problem with black pepper. We grill to 100F internal and then let rest depending on the original thickness. We eat when ready but certainly not just above room temperature. Cold steak is not for me. At the retail level in most grocery stores what you are getting, no matter what the USDA Grade, is beef hung to minimum time, cut trimmed and boxed at Packing House and then shipped for final wrapping at the retail level. Some cuts are in fact wrapped also and have an overpressure of co2 to increase the visual shelf life. This packaging can be ascertained by bulging wrap. The lower tier steak houses (chains) purchase thier steaks. cut and enhanced for potion size control and artifical palatablity. Find a Commrecial supplier website and investigate the options, quality of beef, portion size, mechanical enhancing as well as chemical enhancing and in the case of 'Prime Rib'(I use the term loosely) au jus supplied. There are still Grocery stores that purchase Primals that are higly trimmed and cut thier own steaks and will cut to order. The steaks are usually in the USDA Choice range. In my experience purchasing USDA top Prime from butcher shops perfomring thier own in house dry aging and then properly cookking said steak is not comparable to a place such as David Burke's. Doesn't stop me from trying but every once in a while, it's back to Burkes.-Dick
  22. "Do you find that freezing has any effect on the beef? " To answer that question quantatatively we would have to perform blind tasting with beef from the same carcass unfrozen and frozen then thawed and both prepared the same. To answer that question qualitatively, no. When thawing, the beef has practically no moisture that is in the wrap. My son who does the grinding of the trim says that the trim has very low moisture compared to an unfrozen round of factory sirloin that we would purchase and grind. Burke's has the ability to put the best crust I have ever experienced on a steak whether with just with a commercial broiler or finished in a salamander, I don't know. I cannot prepare a steak at home on coals or in my Viking with its ferocious broiler as god as Burke's. Go to Burke's, order nothing but steak. You will be happy.-Dick
  23. Grass fed beef in Wisconsin. Last summer I put in an order from a farmer about 4 miles west of us who I had been buying pigs from and had gotton to know fairly well. He raises steers also and has some very good looking animals grazing. I ordered a small 1200# steer. In our discussions, he and other farmers I have talked with locally made it very clear that you cannot raise strictly grass fed beef in Wisconsin, you have to supplement. One farmer about 40 miles away has a very extensive website extolling the virtues of his grass fed beef. Whether or not you believe the hype is up to you. The local processor would only hang 21 days as the local inspector doesn't want anything longer. We settled on how to cut and package, no ground beef, trim packaged so we grind our own, steaks 2", roasts 3# and the list goes on. We have used this processor for about 40 years, Animal weighed 1157#, a couple of cents above market price. Processing, over $400 at this time. It's been over 10years since we last bought a steer and the processing price certainly had changed. The beef has the cleanest taste I or other family members have ever experienced, it's really astonishing how good it tastes. Now it was partially grass fed and fed corn raised on the same farm. We decided to go back to purchasing whole animals because of the contamination problems occuring at large packing plants and the unknown source of feed for those animals. We will purchase a local lamb at the 4H Auction as we had done many years ago. Anyway, the farmer wanted to know what we thought of the beef. He also asked about marble and whether I wanted the next one fed corn longer. I would describe the beef as USDA Choice. While I would like Prime,my wife likes the beef the way it is. We will see. In tems of aging, hanging with the Primals still within the carcass, doesn't do to much. The processor does not dry age the Primals once removed from the carcass. For the next beef, I am going to speak with the Inspector about dry aging the Primals. I'm not sure what his jurisdiction is after hanging and processing but it seems like the dry aging I am familiar with in both restaurants and butcher shops, is all done in house so to speak. So at least here in SE Wisconsin, 100% grass fed beef is not possible, Prime as we already know is a hard target to hit which is why Luger's selects which Primals they Dry Age. Dry Aged beef from a local processor doesn't look possible but I need to do some more investigation. The beef we purchased exceeds our expectations but there is a trade off between a Choice 21 day hanging steak and a Prime Dry aged steak. In my case, I want to avoid factory beef as much as possible and only source my beef, pork, lamb, fowl locally. So I think for the future I will confine my Dry Aged steak eating to David Burke's Prime House.-Dick
  24. Until we know what is meant by 'mediocre', we can't really help, but. I mostly disagree with the above. Discounting real Kobe beef which requires an entirely different cooking process, USDA Prime, Dry Aged and cut to your specs while you wait is the best beef for grilling in the world. I find a supplier and have dry aged steaks cut a minimum of 2" and for more than two people, three inches. The butcher should show you the dry aged Primal and tell you the number of days to allow you to make a decision on whether you want a steak or not. After that it's simple really. Lump charcoal sold these days is mostly mill tailings from wood manufacturing. We use Nature Glow, Royal Oaks commercial line. Use a chimney starter, not lighter fluid and get the coals red hot. Season your steak with salt & pepper simply. Sear one side at a time amd don't flip back and forth, be prepared for flare from fat with a water bottle. Cook internally unitl 100F and then rest 20 to 30 minutes depending on the initial thickness. You want a nice char but not burnt crust and a proper rare is a nice pink, blood rare is not rare but raw. I would not expect a great steak your first try nor for a while until you develop what is best for you and what you like. Sam's beef is the lowest of the USDA Choice and can make a good steak but not an exeptional steak.-Dick BTW if in the Midwest, get yourself to Burke's Primehouse and order a dry aged Rib steak to set the bar.
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