budrichard

It appears that your Rotisserie mounts where the Weber handles go. The Weber Rotisserie has 8" or so high collar that mounts on the bottom half of the Weber and that collar supports the Rotisserie allowing one to cook with the cover on or off. With the cover on, its quicker and will eliminate flare ups. If Weber made a Rotisserie for their 'Ranch Kettle', I would have one in a flash.-Dick

I have a Weber with Rotisserie that I spit roast chickens and pork shoulders over hardwood charcoal and hickory wood chunks. The grill has a vertical collar that sits on the grill holding the spit and then the cover can be put back on making for an enclosed space. The only problem is that it cannot handle a 30# pig as the spit is just too small. For ribs we use a rib rack that holds the rib sections almost vertically and works quite well. What make of grill is pictured?-Dick

In answer to your first question, no. Recipes for canning whether boiling water bath or pressure canning are developed by Federal or State Agencies with the resources and laboratories to insure safe results. You don't have a lab to test your results for safety. In answer to your second question, you would need a certified lab to determine whether or not your recipes and processes are safe. Remember that every few years that even among commercial canners there are instances where pressure canned items are recalled for safety. I always use an approved recipe. There is a recipe going around called 'Annie's Salsa' that uses a minimal amount of vinegar and is touted as being safe for pressure canning. I will not use the recipe as I can't find any approved source for this recipe. Most salsa recipes are only for pints. I use a recipe for quarts and pressure canning from the National Center for Home Preservation called Mexican Tomato Sauce which is actually a nice salsa type with low vinegar.-Dick

Obtain a rack of lamb ribs, season and grill until done. You will have your lamb fat and lamb meat in a delightful combination!-Dick

When you reach the boiling point of a liquid its temperature will not increase. It takes heat energy to transfer from liquid to vapor during boiling and that need for energy keeps the temperature constant during boiling process. For a mixture of two liquids such as alcohol and water, since the alcohol boiling point is lower than water, the alcohol begins to change state at a lower temperature keeping the bulk liquid at that temperature until the alcohol or most of it is gone. I'm not a distiller but that is why one can separate alcohol from mash(mostly water) in a distillery. I would think that for dilute solution of alcohol and water as in cooking, one could easily supply enough heat to cause the water to boil along with the alcohol and in the process convert both alcohol and water to vapor at the same time, thus getting rid of the alcohol faster.-Dick

For splitting live or cooked lobster as well as crabs or really just about anything else including bones, I have a 13" Wusthof 'Bone Splitter". No chips on the blade.-Dick

I have a custom made Deba and never use it. I much prefer the Western approach which I think is cleaner. The Deba and its use is a result of Japanese knife manufacturing which does not make or use flexible blades. I just purchased this book http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Kitchen-Knives-Essential-Techniques/dp/4770030762 and I will be using the book to increase my Japanese knife skills and will give the deba another try.-Dick

The Jet Stream is listed at 1500watts which is almost the capacity of a normal 15amp household circuit. What type of oven do you have? If its electric, its a simple matter to compare wattage to get an idea of how much heat is generated. In any event the 1500 watts of energy has to go somewhere and that somewhere is your unairconditioned house.-Dick

I suggest this reference guide and this canner both of which I use. http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/ http://www.allamerican-chefsdesign.com/Product-Detail.asp?hProduct=34 -Dick

The surface area for evaporation of a pressure cooker versus an uncovered pot/pan is quite smaller in a weighted cooker where the movement of the weight releases pressure as it controls the internal pressure in the cooker. I would expect that the evaporation of alcohol would be much less in the pressure cooker but how much less, I can't even begin to make an educated guess. Best would be to cook for a while with the cover off to evaporate as much alcohol as possible and then continue with pressure cooking.-Dick

From a heat transfer perspective this is a three dimensional problem in heat flow and transfer which is not readily solvable without computer analysis. To make the problem somewhat simpler a cube could be used to approximate the shape of the bird and one could assume a constant surrounding external temperature. Looking at one extreme of a very small cube, the time temperature curve would vertical as the time difference would not matter. at the other extreme, if the cube were very large, the time temp curve would be horizontal as the cube temp would never change. An actual curve would be somewhere in between but without any idea of the specific heat capacity of the cube(bird), heat transfer coefficient at the surface, I wouldn't have the slightest idea of how to calculate this. Best way would be to determine experimentally for your oven which of course does not solve the problem or answer your question. Why not just use a temp probe?-Dick

Boiling water bath canning is for high acid foods ONLY! As previously mentioned botulism cannot be killed by the boiling water bath method. The only method approved for low acid foods is pressure canning where the foods are taken above 240F to kill the botulism spores. You mentioned that you canned beets in a boiling water bath, was it an approved recipe for high acid? If not, your beets are NOT safe to eat. USDA, as already mentioned, has a whole section on canning and recipes that should be used and followed to the letter. There are also many State sources. Recipes that you find Posted by non-professionals should be avoided. I have used the water bath method for many years and have recently purchased an 'All American' Pressure Canner. While expensive, its a well made product from Wisconsin and the weighted pressure control is just about foolproof in maintaining the correct pressure. I suggest you obtain some definitive works on canning or peruse some Governmental websites and not make up your own recipes. Good luck! BTW, your recipe looks more like a 'Refrigerator Pickle' than a canned /processed pickle.-Dick

Frozen rabbit is available in many ethnic groceries. It ALL comes from China. I don't touch it. You have to search for domestic rabbit. If you have a local live market, they often have rabbit which is where I procure mine from.-Dick

A subject near and dear to my heart. To rate/analyze the cooking of a scallop, one needs to have benchmarks, either fresh in the shell scallop or dayboat from a source such a Browne Trading. I purchase day boat scallops by the gallon can from Browne. When they arrive they are suitable for sashimi applications and simply the best I have ever had. Once in a while I can find scallops in the shell from a reliable source and they are very good but you have to know the source. Taylor Bay can be had in the shell in bags but they are small and we treat them more like an oyster but they are very very good. I have purchased frozen unadulterated scallops from various sources including Mitsuwa and that is what I assume I am eating in any usual sushi bar that serves hotategai. They are good but do not even approach day boat scallops from Browne. Now we do freeze some of the Browne scallops for up to 6 months, its not flash freezing and the quality is related to the duration of the freeze. But being in the MidWest is like being in Oklahoma. so its the best we can do. I have local sources for scallops such as Bay of Cortez, Nantucket Bay and they can be very good and the purveyors know the difference between 'wet' and 'dry' scallops. Any time I happen to purchase a 'wet' scallop' its a shame because its essentially tasteless.-Dick

Before proceeding further, contact your local Building Inspector, and ascertain the local Codes, whether or not you require Certification to do the work you are contemplating. You may have to take an exam to obtain Certification. Your Fire Insurance may not be valid if the work is not done to Code by a Certified installer and you may be at risk from incorrect installation. As a Power Plant Engineer, I leave electrical installation to an IBEW installer and insure the work is done to Code.-Dick

Alas I stare at my last bottle of 1961 'Les Malconsorts' in my cooler. Whether or not it is palatable is any one's guess as the last bottle went down the drain. A magnificent wine when we first purchased cases of it but now the cost of today's bottles coupled with a wholesale change in vinification, makes this a wine not be ever found ever again readily. I hope the book meets your expectations but the wines have simply become over priced in the US and we have turned to other sources.-Dick

Just got my copy from my library. Skimmed the book yesterday and have not made any recipes. But, this is the perfect type of book if one wants to learn the culture and spirit of a type of cuisine. As Posted there are specific Izakaya's and recipes included and if you can't get to Japan, you can certainly get a feel for the cuisine and culture. But I always believe that you must get calibrated at a specific restaurant or cultural area along with reading a book. The closest Izakaya to me is in Chicago but I have no ides how culturally authentic it will be when I get there or will it be like most of the sushi restaurants in the US, completely devoid of the original essence of the culture.-Dick

" but I don't think it's that far fetched to theorize the possibility that sub glowing materials of sufficient heat and conductivity might put off enough radiation to brown bread" What is your training in physics and heat transfer? I'm not trying to be condescending but I would suggest you acquire texts in heat transfer and basic physics and try to understand the fundamentals involved. Unfortunately without a knowledge of Calculus, you will have to take the fundamentals as truth without any derivations. I encounter this type of problem all the time. Individuals not founded in the fundamentals of science trying to understand how the world works is like the ancient Greeks attempt to divine the world by just thinking. I've given you the facts as Science understands them today, if you chose to argue them or theorize without understanding them, go ahead but I can't change the facts to suit your theories.-Dick

I wish Weber made a rotisserie for the 'Ranch' kettle!-Dick

"For instance, for the sake of argument, if I take 1.25" thick firebrick and the identical heat capacity quantity of steel slab and heat the two to the same temp, will food the same distance beneath them brown in the same amount of time? Simple answer is yes. Thickness does not enter into the calculation. Or will steel's superior conductivity cause it to radiate energy faster?" The simple answer is no. Radiation depends on the absolute temperaure of the material and the surface area and is described by the Stefan–Boltzmann law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_radiation. Obviously there are materials that will not survive the temperature that a ceramic or a steel will and they of course will not work, period.-Dick BTW a broiler does not depend on heat to do its broiling but temperature, that's why for electrical ovens, a broiler consists of electrical elements near the food and for a gas oven the broiler consists of a gas flame near the food, obviously the gas flame will be much hotter than any electrical element giving rise to the superior performance of gas broilers over electrical boilers.

Falk, http://www.falkculinair.com/ ,makes the best copper cookware. I have a complete set. Michael Harp is easy to work with. Most Falk is 2.5mm which is the minimum copper thickness you want for cooking, all the rest is presentation stuff. Falk is Stainless Steel lined. They unfortunetaly don't have fish poachers or turbo tierra's which are tin lined and you have to get them from Mauviel. I ordered a turbo tierra(Mauviel) but the tinning was badly done and i sent it back, they are very expensive.-Dick

Very nice!. I will have to make an oxtail terrine! I love rabbit rilletts also. I either use a wild bunny I shot or get one from a Live market. Most of the frozen rabbits for sale come from China. Nothing better than rilletts, cornichons and crusty bread with red wine!-Dick

Any Supermercado will have them and many Chinese groceries. I pickle although I like pickled hocks better-more meat), I also slow braise in stock, debone for either a French stuffed 'trotter' or a Chinese recipe. They are excellent, but it all depends on your source and your taste, they are somewhat of an acquired taste for some.-Dick

If you are new to terrines, as suggested, concentrate on the simple first. It's a shame to take whole foie and mush it up into a pate. Whole liver is termed foe gras and the mushed up type is pate de foie gras. Purchase a good foie, clean as directed, find a suitable terrine mold, season and put the whole foie in the terrine mold in a water bath in the oven until done. Over cooking results in fat and little foie. A terrine of ox tail would have to have pre cooked ox tail because I sure don't know how to get meat off a tail without long slow braising. Then you will need some sort of binder, either fat or the reduced ox tail liquid if it has enough gelatin to bind. I haven't done this type so I really can't suggest a binder except the ox tail reduction and hope it gels or add gelatin. Good luck.-Dick

One of the local produce growers lets me pick my own from his pickle patch. You are really taking a possible larger pickle but then the other small pickels get the water from the plant so I don't really think you are lessoning the crop. In any even it takes a LOT of small ones to make a couple of quarts of cornichons. Its a labor of love. Pepin has a good recipe in one of his books that I use. BTW some French suppliers are having the cornichons produced some where other than France, you must look for the definitive 'Made in France' these days to assure the products origin.-Dick