budrichard

Sadly most Japanese beer in the USA is now 'Imported' from Canada except for Kirin which is made by Budweiser in Los Angeles. I have three 1 liter cans of Asahi 'Super Dry' made in Japan left. After they are gone no more in the USA!.-Dick

We have our Harsch 20l crock full of pickles and after 3 months the pickles are oustanding. Next will be kraut. The design and water seal preclude the constant cleaning of scum. http://www.simply-natural.biz/Harsch-Crock-Pot.php -Dick

With 100% combustion you get CO2(Carbon Dioxide) and H2O(Water). Even binchon charcoal does not have 100% combustion no matter how your percieve its burning. CO2 will kill you if it displaces the O2(Oxygen) content in an enclosed space. Anyone that uses or advocates the use of such a device indoors had best visit thier local Fire Department and have them explain the local Fire Codes and dangers inherent in burning indoors. The Korean restaurants that use charcoal tableside have large hoods and large fans removing the products of combustion.-Dick

I use Japanese flours in my Japanese recipes. I don't have any measuring equipment but it seems like the Japanese flours are much finer ground than say US Flour.-Dick

" is $400 enough for a GOOD knife kit? or is $400 going to get me 6 entry level knives?" Depends on the amount of hand work you want in your knife. Frankly, I would not start at the high end especially with a traditional Japanese blade. For a Western style blade, it just depends on how fancy you want to get because I don't think there are any high end Western Style blades made. Its going to be a learning experience and it may take a number of styles/makers to decide on what you like. Good luck.-Dick

As suggested, a big cooler and lots of ice are required to bring the king crab home alive. There are large ones and some kinds that look smaller. Anyway don't have the store break it down for various reasons. Get a pot large enough to handle the whole crab to boiling and cook the crab judging the time like a lobster for weight. Run under cold water or an ice bath to stop the cooking until cool enough to handle. The shells are useless and DO NOT make a good stock. Remove the legs and use a shears or special seafood shears to cut and remove the meat. Remove the apron under the crab body and either remove the top shell from the bottom structure or using a large heavy knife cut the crab in half and remove the parts. White meat is edible and remove from the body cavities. Feathery stuff is gills, discard, and light colored stuff is commonly referrred to a 'crab brains' but is reallyliver/roe. Save and use in a sauce for pasta. Chill the meat and either eat as is or use in a recipe. If you purchase a standard sized king you will have meat for a couple of meals.-Dick

State Street is at the East end of the UW campus. A stroll down State will show a number of restaurants including ethnic ones that you can chose from reasonably priced. Ripon is out of the way and the only place I have eaten even near Ripon is Chili Johns' in Beaver Dam which makes great chili (what else) and burgers along with home made meals. As far as driving 2 hours for kringle, its certainly not worth it. I live south of Racine and I NEVER eat the stuff.-Dick

Elton Brown's method produces excellent 'sliders'!-Dick

Boos sells a food grade mineral oil conditioner which is what we use.-Dick

If my menory serves me correctly, there was a swordfish 'scare' about 1970 in the US but after testing museum specimens, the consensus was that the levels had always been high. I found this reference for Tuna http://www.youngsseafood.co.uk/web/cr_policy_html.asp?id=12 but don't have a link to the actual study. It may be that these large similar species have always had a high mercury content but that doesn't mean the mercury poisoning in not a serious affair. The best is to be moderate in your consumption and limit consumption for the young and pregnant females.-Dick

I have a Boos end grain countertop that developed a crack. Boos supplied a replacement that sits in my garage waiting for installation. This one sits over a dishwasher which may have something to with the crack as the other countertops have no problems at all.-Dick

Commercial equipment meets NFPA http://www.nfpa.org/index.asp?cookie%5Ftest=1 Commercial Fire Codes and is not designed for Residential Fire Codes and installation. Problems may range from loss of Insurance coverage due to fire to loss of life. Check with your local Building Inspector and Insurance Agent.-Dick

I thought Tienda http://www.tienda.com was the driving force behind the importation?-Dick

On Wusthof the handle sizes match the blade length. Purchase and use the handle size that fits you, if possible try side by side.-Dick

Basically the higher the wattage, the thicker the waffle web. Without a commercial model you just can't get a thick waffle. I purchased a Kitchenaid Pro-Line and while it makes a thicker waffle than the cheaper models, it still does not compete with a commercial model.-Dick

I finally located a revised copy of McGee's book. Its a lesson in not believing everything that's in print or drawing assumptions from what you read. I quote " on trips that may last weeks". Certainly for comercial fisherman that provide IQF products but not for even wet pack product. The word 'may' is key and does not mean all scallops sold are weeks from harvest and in fact Rod Browne I believe actually started the 'Day Boat' fishing in Maine in an attempt to provide the best quality scallops. Order from Browne Trading and the scallops are delivered 2-3 days after being fished. Because McGee discusses the conversion of amono acid glycine and glycogen a portion of which he says is converted in glucose, how one can make the assumption that one must look for scallops "that are fresh, but not that fresh" is beyond me. Anyway, the scallop market has changed a lot in the last 15 years from a situation where only wet pack was availabe to most consumers to present day where in what I assume is a backlash to the wet pack, IQF (I don't know if they are any good because I have never tried them), dry pack from many sources among them Maine 'DayBoat', Dry pack Nantucket and some very good Sea of Cortez dry pack that we have been getting anually are available. These scallops don't spend weeks at sea after being fished and don't need to age to be sweet.-Dick

You will have to cook and taste and determine of you like it. Just because a butcher sells you 'dry aged' beef, doesn't mean the butcher knows what he is doing and the steak is going to be good. I don't think you mentioned the USDA grade. It's an iterative process, you purchase a steak, cook and make decision. Most of the time when I try a new source that someone tells me about its not what I want. I stick to one purveyor of USDA Prime dry aged and one purveryor of Waygu/kobe beef but that was after years of searching. For USDA Choice, the local Pick n Save does as good a job as anyone at decent prices.-Dick

What would be the rested temp here? Are you saying to do atleast a 4 bone roast? ← Resting temp is room temp foil tented. Cannot be done with a least half a rib roast or at least 4 ribs if from the large end. You need an accurate meat thermometer because all ovens cook differently. MGLloyd is right on except I go to 100F interior and for a full rib roast, minimum of at least an hour for rare. You can keep the thermometer stuck into the roast and monitor as you wait.

Boilermaker anyone?-Dick

There used to be a Canadian site that had great unpastuerised cheese but the Food Nazi's put an end to that. In fact the Food Nazi's put an end to most good French cheese here in the US-Dick

Geez, I thought we went through this before! Anyway, as mentioned USDA Prime is the first requirement and dry aged if possible. Cannot be done correctly with at least greater than 1/2 a full rib primal. Object is to transfer heat into roast so it slowly makes it way into interior and results in an even temperature distribution through as much of the rib as possible. For the non-technical, heat transfer requires a heat gradient to work so obviously the outside will be cooked more than the interior. How to accomplish is endless number of way but why not do it the simpilest? Start at 450F or so to get a nice crust, after crust(about 45 min) turn down to 350F until interior gets to 100f to 105F. Remove from oven, tent with foil and rest for at least 45 min. guaranteed perfect, simple whatever. Pepin has a nice seasoning that includes paprika, tyme, salt and pepper that enhances the browning. Goof luck.-Dick

As someone born in Boston who spent summers in Maine now living in the Mid-West, there is NO WAY I would hold Maine lobsters for two days that have been shipped to the Mid-West without being in proper lobster pound. After two days in your fridge they will be dead or close to death. That's a total of 3 days out of water. Being in a lobster pound is not a problem as that's what your source in Maine does. If you think the lobsters that are shipped to you always come striaght from the ocean, think again. Call one of the Sendik's in milwaukee if truly desperate and pick them up New Years Eve. The Walmart in Lake Geneva also has a lobster pound.-Dick

Its basically like cooking a whole pig, brining is not needed and in fact I think detracts from the end product. I don't think you have to cook it looooong and sloooow as it should have sufficient fat to cook at 300F but at the end turn up the heat to get a nice crust on it. You simply can't hurt it!-Dick

Other than the score, how was your trip?-Dick

Order your lobsters from Maine. Have them arrive Saturday, costs a little more but worth it. By big if you mean 2&1/2#'s, poach in fully boiling water for 8 minutes and promptly insert into ice bath to stop cooking. When cool, shell the claws and tail while collecting the tamale and roe seperately. Discard all shells where the bacteria reside that will spoil. Lobster meat will keep until New Years eve but note that the tail is not fully cooked. Slice tail into medallians at cooking time and warm lobster meat in unsalted butter along with tamale and roe which is used as a garnish. No problems at all, been doing this for years when I want to hold live Maine lobster for a couple of days. I lived in Madison for 9 years so I know it can be a wasteland for some items. We are in SouthEastern Wisconsin now, so lobsters usually come from the Chicago city ethnic markets. Happy New Year!-Dick