jmolinari

I agree....my family and I did a back to back Sally's/Pepe's, and EXCEPT FOR CLAM PIE, Sally's wins...hands down. Add Zuppardi's to the mix, and for clam, it's even better than Pepe's. They hand shuck the clams when you order. It's amazing. Other pies, Sally's still wins.

that's an interesting idea...

Hey, to each their own

Sounds like the Biscoff spread, which is basically ground up biscoff cookies with oil...revolting.

Can you share this recipe? Looks great.

Would Luhr-Jensen chips work, or are they too coarse? I've been using hickory sawdust from Butcher Packer for hot smoking in a Luhr Jensen Big Chief. http://www.butcher-packer.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=31_132 Nope, butcher-packer dust is one i tried. It's too coarse. You could probably put it in a blender and made it finer and it would work.

I spread the salt/sugar mixture on the meat side of 1 fillet and vacuum packed.

I've got to try the vacuum technique. In the old days we were taught to weigh down the salmom in the brine using a can of beans! The dry cure technique works well in a zip bag too but i've found that in a vacuum bag everything stays cleaner, no chance of leaks and i'm sure that the cure mixture stays in proper contact with the meat without having to turn the bags. I cure my meats the same way. Salt and vac pack.

It's very simple. You light the end of it, and it burns like a giant mosquito coil:) Looks really convenient. So do you just restock it with wood chips each time you use it? How much does a unit like that cost? Seems easy and probably economical for smoking for those who don't want a big unit like I'm using. Yup. It burns for about 10-12 hrs making heatless smoke since it just smoulders. The unit is abuot $20 + shipping (the ProQ comes from England...i think its about $30 shipped). The A-Maze-N is a very similar design and made here in the US and costs about the same. It was $30 very well spent for me. Cold smoked ribeye steak for 1 hour, then grilled is crazy good. The hardest part is finding wood "dust" that works...it isn't easy honestly to find some that isn't rediculously overpriced, thoug the A-Maze-N dust should work as well. It has to be just right. Too coarse and it doesn't burn and too fine and it doesn't work well either.

It's very simple. You light the end of it, and it burns like a giant mosquito coil:)

Thanks...and SO easy to make. The hardest part is being able to cold smoke. With products like the A Maze N smoke generator and the ProQ you can place this maze type smoke generator in any enclosed area to cold smoke. They generate smoke for several hours depending. A certain amount of air circulation is needed and will effect how fast they burn Yup, i use a ProQ. It's fantastic.

Thanks...and SO easy to make. The hardest part is being able to cold smoke.

Copper river lox on everything bagel.

Sorry guys. I should have been clearer. My % are relative to the weight of the fish. No brine. Just salt and sugar. Applied evenly to the salmon. Vac packed and then left for a couple days. I've done a LOT of research as it pertains to brines and the science behind it is very vague. Absorption rates, pickup %, fat levels in product it's all a big guessing game between brine concentration and how long to leave the meat/fish. I don't like it. The beauty of dry curing the item using an equilibrium method is that you can't over salt it. You add as much salt by weight as you want the item to have. That's it. Then leave it long enough for the salt to equilibrate in the item.

I made lox following Modernist Cuisine's parametric recipe. I used a copper river salmon fillet (from last season, vac packed and frozen waiting for cooler weather). 3% salt, 1.5% sugar, vacuum packed it for a couple days to equilibrate. Took it out of the bag, quick rinse, pat dry with paper towel and cold smoked with mixed hardwood for 4 hours. It's fantastic. Next time i'll add some spices to it, but i wanted to keep the flavors clean with the copper river fillet.

I've made fresh pasta from matzoh "flour". Eggs and ground matzoh, maybe a tiny bit of oil and water. It actually works. It's certainly better than no pasta Boil and serve as pasta.

Has anyone tried using greek yogurt in Jeni's frozen yogurt recipes instead of straining regular yogurt? Seems like it would save time, but i wonder why she calls out specifically to strain regular...

Ch. 9 yesterday afternoon had a segment on it that stated Safeway/Vons and Costco were cancelling it and Ralphs was "considering" it. Costco, and Publix, were some of the few which never used pink slime. I'm all for technology to improve efficiency and reduce waste, but this grossed even me out. I think it was the ammoniation stage that did it.

This may be heretical, but bread freezes very well. I would fully cook the whole thing in loaves that last you 2-3 days, let them cool to room temp, freeze. Then take a loaf out of the freezer every couple of days.

My country ham this year is from The Hamery in Tennessee. I've been slicing it like prosciutto. It's amazing.

I'm liking V3....another request. Why not make the logs in the cooking journal green as they are "achieved" so we can tell at a glance what the step that just occurred was and what step is next....

Ascorbic acid inhibits the formation of nitrosamines. Do a google search for "ascorbic acid nitrosamines" and you'll see many university papers on it. Having said that, i don't know how it links to the use of celery juice in cured products, which i find to be ridiculous, and really pisses me off.

I'm quite sure the bird chilies are MUCH hotter than the long peppers. I have been able to find some long peppers here in Atlanta. I don't know that they are thai long peppers, but they look like a giant bird chili, and they are much milder. they don't really taste like a jalapeno. I would say they taste like a mild bird chili, so maybe teh best substitute is a bird chili from which you've removed the seeds/membrane?

One way to avoid this is to hydrate the beans in salted water (let's say a 5% brine). Then change the water and cook on high pressure for 20 minutes. Pretreating with salt results in a firmer, "fudgey" interior texture rather than a looser, creamy interior texture. But this is a texture I prefer for many preparations. More to the point, it solves the problems of splitting skins and bean mush from slight overcooking. And the beans are salted throughout. Thanks, i will try this for sure! Last time i added some calcium chloride which solved the problem as well...too bad i didn't write down how much i added.

Looks awesome Paul. Do you think 1/8" is enough to retain heat? I like the idea of a massive piece for heat retention, cast iron style.