jmolinari

I agree w/ Dougal. NitrAte is to be used only in long cures, where it ungoes reduction to nitrIte, which keeps the food safe longer. I was also under the impression that the cures are not just nitrI/Ates mixed with salt, as that would lead to possible uneveness in the mixture, but instead the salt and NitrI/Ates are dissolved together in water, and then re-evaporated, basically "joining" the salt and NitrI/Ate molecules, and guaranteeing that they are always evenly distributed per the ratio when used. Nitrosamines and cancer is still up in the air as well. Not that i fry stuff that i used nitrAtes in...but it seems to be a point of contention as to whether they actually have any harmful effect. I guess better safe than sorry though! Adding to what Dougal said, to beat the proverbial dead horse, i personally woulnd't trust an Ebay $20 scale to measure ACCURATELY/PRECISELY such small quantities of nitrates. you'd have to get a scale that goes to 1/100 of a gram, and then you introduct all kinds of measurement issues with air turbulence etc.etc. Just but cure #1 and #2 and use as appropriate:)

I wouldn't recommend using straight sodium nitrate becuase measuring the quantities would be REALLY difficult. if you use about 25g for 25lbs of meat of cure #2, cure #2 is about 6% nitrate or so, you'd have to measure 1.5g of pure nitrate per 25lbs of meat. Since most of us don't make that much at a time, you can see why measuing nitrate for our batch size (8-10 lbs) would difficult to do accurately. I say just bite the bullet and order the Cure #2 and #1 from online. It's better to spend $8 in shipping and to know you're going to be safe, and not give anyone nitrate poisoning.

I made latkes this year following CI's recipe that calls for shredding on the processor disk, then taking 1/2 of the shreds and processing them to a fine mixtures, which seems to be what Fat Guy is advocating. I fried mine in 50/50 duck fat / peanut oil. All i can say is: WIN.

Into the Vietnamese Kitchen has a really good stir fried shrimp in tamarind sauce.... you could take a look there. I don't hav the book in front of me so i can't send a recipe.

' CaliPoutine, is the CI reicpe you use the one from 1997? "Thick and Creamy Potato Latkes" ? thanks

Can you post some pictures?

That's exactly what i do too....always try to have at least 2-3 servings on hand...

It sounds like a restaurant walk in works very differently than a home fridge. On a home fridge the turning on of the compressor to cool, leads to a drying of the air...opposite to what you're seeing. Since i'm not familiar with teh layout of the cooling system in a walkin, i don't think i can help. soryr,

The prices are a touch deceiving... by the time you get a burger, side, and a drink it's $20 to fill up. But the food is mighty tasty.

Tiger blowfish at Yasu Japanese Bistro

Could you describe it? I will definitely give that a try next time: 72 degrees is an easy number to get to! ← The flavor is more "relaxed" as far as the acidity goes. When i fermented at higher temps i always seem to get some flavors in there that i didn't care for. Hard to describe...sometimes they reminded me of plasticky/oxidized flavors

Looks nice Chris. I've found i prefer the flavor of salame i made using a cooler fermentation (72 F), and a longer time (48 hours). The difference is quite noticeable.

thanks Reignking. i'll have to give it a try. though it is hard to pass up Yakitori Jinbei when i'm there:)

Kitchenaid now has standard size wall ovens (regular 36" or whatever the standard size is), that have steam injection. Remember you need to have a water supply line going to the oven, it can't use a tank.

Reignking, is that the BBQ place in the same shopping center as Yakitori Jinbei? I've wondered how that place is. Is it any good?

Weight loss with a pancetta is very different than with a salame. For a salame i use weight loss as an indicator of readyness. For a pancetta, it's more based on time. (keeping an eye on the weight loss too)

My pancette are always stese. I cure them in the fridge for about 10 days, and then hang for anywhere between 3 weeks to 6 months. Take a look at my blog. My latest post was on pancetta.

It's almost time to replace my ooooold foodsaver....is there any place that i can see how each foodsaver model differs? I can't seem to find a comparison chart on Tilia's web site.

Was it just me or if the foreword from Mcgee say something along the lines of "you can cook short ribs medium at 135 for many hours...." but then in the safety section they stress never to cook anything for longer than 4 hours below 140? i'll check the book when i get home tonight, but i remember reading that.. Edit to say: Yup, in the foreword, Mcgee says "you can cook a short rib medium rare (135) for 48 hours...." Interesting how there is that much of a disconnect!

The way he made mayonnaise this past week was worth watching the show all season for! Holy crap, i was able to make mayo for my tuna salad at 7am before i left for work in less than 2 minutes...

When i make my salami i'm careful, but not as careful as you detail. I wipe counters down with some cleaning solution, clean the grinder, clean the stuffer, and really that's about it....

I find it pretty convenient. I load up the cooker the night before (fuzzy logic cooker), with oatmeal, water, dried fruit, pinch of salt, cinnamon and vanilla, and set the timer to have it be ready when i wake up. When i eat it i thin it with some 1/2 and 1/2. Tasty!

Your pork is way way safe from trichinea. The USDA has the following time/temperature tables for pork and elimination of trichinea: Deg F. Deg C. Time at temperature 120 49.0 21 hours. 122 50.0 9.5 hours. 124 51.1 4.5 hours. 126 52.2 2 hours. 128 53.4 1 hour. 130 54.5 30 minutes. 132 55.6 15 minutes. 134 56.7 6 minutes. 136 57.8 3 minutes. 138 58.9 2 minutes. 140 60.0 1 minute. 142 61.1 1 minute. 144 62.2 Instant.

1) no. They are not interchangeable. #2 contains nitrates that over time break down to nitrites to keep the sausage safe over the period it cures/dries. #1 only contains nitrites. 2) Sorry, can't help. 3) yes. They work fine.

Chris, i mix about 1.5g of the M-EK-4 in about 30g of water, let it sit for a couple of hours, then dilute that into about 400g of water, which is more than enough to spray quite a few salami.