scott123

Who has the best deal on this type of product? I've been looking at veggie dicers in chef's catalogs/stores for years hoping that I could find an inexpensive one. They always seem to be in the $100+ range. That's too much money for something that may/may not make my life easier. It's takes me a pretty solid half hour to dice 6 lb of onions. Anything I can do to shorten that time/reduce the effort would be fantastic.

Which brand did you purchase?

I don't get tired of eating fauxtatoes, but I sure as heck get tired of making them. Soupy fauxtatoes is a pet peeve of mine, so I go through a couple of extra steps to extract as much water as possible. It's ends up being a lot of work. There is one thing I never ever get tired of. Taking a red hot frying pan, glugging a load of oil or scooping a mound of fat into it, and then a pile of diced onions. The ability to fry onions in a ton of fat makes me giddy. And if it's beef fat, pork fat or butter... all the better. To be able to do that and lose weight- it's a beautiful thing. For that reason alone, I will never go back to a low fat way of eating. I never get tired of deep fried chicken strips with a carbalose breading. Never. I have a tendency to eat about 10 in one sitting, so I don't make it very often, though. I have a few desserts that I never tire of. I make a brownie that's better than any high carb brownie I've ever had/made. My crust needs work, but my pecan pie kicks some serious behind. If I overdo it, it makes me gain, so I have to eat it in small amounts/infrequently, but I never tire of Dreamfields pasta. I made a sausage lasagna that was amazing. I also always look forward to dreamfields with bacon alfredo. I don't think there's a better sauce on this planet than bacon alfredo. Dreamfields with lc meatballs is wonderful. If I could eat Dreamfields and lose, I'd eat it every day. But I can't, so it's something that I look forward to about once a week. What I really need is the time to sit down and develop new dishes. I've got a few Indian dishes mulling around in my head that, in theory, are sublime. I've got all the necessary research done for layer cake. Laminated doughs/croissants. I've helped 10s of clients make superb lc ice creams, but until I get an ice cream maker, I'm not able to enjoy the fruits of my labor. My pizza dough is 90% of the way there. Pound cake is calling out to me. Jerky might be nice. As much as I like the food I eat now, I really look forward to the new creations waiting to break free of my imagination. They've been incubating for ages and are ready to hatch, it's just finding the time to get into the kitchen and making them a reality. I know one thing- I don't ever want to see cottage cheese again for the rest of my life. And almonds. I eat almond so much when I'm hungry that my conditioning is such that, even if I'm not hungry, eating almonds now makes me hungry.

I'm contemplating jerky. Nothing fancy- just sliced beef, marinaded in salt, sugar and spices, dried on a rack in a medium hot oven. I plan on storing my jerky in the fridge and consuming it within a few weeks. What does a dehydrator bring to the party? And Nitrates (other than color and preservation)? The way I see it, mankind has been drying salted/seasoned meat without a dehydrator or curing salts for thousands of years. For those that do jerky in the oven, do you have any tips? I'm guessing multiple racks (if possible) is a good idea to maximize surface area, correct? Does ground beef work for jerky?

There is a LOT of money to be made if they can be up and running before the holidays (especially before Thanksgiving). A LOT of money.

Expensive, really? What makes you say that? Willpowder xanthan gum: $64/lb Whole Foods xanthan (Bob's Red Mill): $20/lb

Your tandoor doesn't sound like it's reaching a high enough temp for naan. The hotter the better. The intense heat triggers a large amount of steam/oven spring, that, in turn, creates a super fluffy interior with a chewy exterior and excellent level of char underneath. Neopolitan pizzas work in a similar fashion. All purpose flour should work fine, just make sure it's on the stronger side of the spectrum rather than the weaker. For the maximum amount of gluten formation, I'd avoid adding any fat to the initial dough (other than fat that's in the milk).

Check with a local bakery, chances are they'll sell you a block.

Cooked bacon has so much salt/preservatives in it that it lasts forever in the fridge. Just make sure you cook it well- the less residual moisture, the better. Freezing cooked bacon doesn't work that well- because of the thin slices, it's got a huge amount of surface area. The more surface area you have, the easier it absorbs freezer odor and develops off flavors.

I grew up with 4C parm (a step up from kraft, imo) but for the last... 8 years or so I've been only buying/using Parmigiano Reggiano. About a month ago, I noticed Walmart had a phenomenal price on the 4C parm, so I gave it shot. Nasty!! I still have it in my fridge- at some point I'll just toss it as I'm sure I'll never use it.

Cheddar v. stilton--differences in taste? Feta v. brie--differences in taste? Apples v. oranges--differences in taste? They're two completely different cheeses. They're both hard cheeses. Beyond that, there is no similarity.

Jack Frost cane sugar does not use bone char. Domino's does, but only in certain plants. The breakdown can be found here: http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/printthread.php?t=3736 When you leave the dairy realm, one important aspect you're losing is the emulsifying effects of the dairy proteins. Emulsification is key to ganache. The smaller you can break down the fat particles, the smoother the mouthfeel will be. Coconut milk is relatively stable, but if you heat it too much, it will break. Even if the coconut milk doesn't break, it can still be a little lumpy when chilled. The addition of a stabilizer is very helpful. Xanthan or guar gum is effective in this role. If you don't want to get xanthan or guar, a little corn starch might help. The additional of an emulsifier might be helpful as well. Soy lecithin is vegan. You'll want to be careful how much you add, though, as lecithin has flavor issues in large quantities. The cocoa portion of chocolate is an emulsifier/stabilizer as well. If you can handle a stronger tasting ganache, adding cocoa might help.

Bulk section - some decent deals on flours, but not on nuts/dried fruit. Dairy - very little markup compared to other grocers 365 brand - competitive but not cheaper than TJs for the same products Wine - a decent sale now and then, but never cheaper than local discount stores This is a miniscule subset of the store, though. Here is how the rest of the store breaks down: Rest of the Grocery department - whole paycheck Cheese - whole paycheck Frozen - whole paycheck Health and Beauty - whole paycheck Meat - whole paycheck Seafood - whole paycheck Prepared Foods - whole paycheck Bakery - whole paycheck Produce - whole paycheck Coffee - whole paycheck A supermarket should be more than a small handful of good deals. Good deals that you have to spend a few hours in the store in order to track them down. Whole Food's bread and butter is the customer who buys into the false belief that expensive equals better. By attempting to market themselves as being competitively priced, they're not only throwing advertising dollars down the drain but they're potentially confusing/alienating their core customer base. They can run ads until they're blue in the face but nobody with half a brain would ever go to Whole Foods seeking out deals. It's laughable. The massive growth of Trader Joes is obviously causing some alarm for Whole Foods. And well it should. If Trader Joes continues to grow at this rate, in 5 years there will be no Whole Foods. When this occurs, I, for one, will not be shedding any tears.

Bigbrowncow, where did you get your clay from? What factors played in your decision to choose that particular type of clay? Are the cracks getting any worse as you continue to use it? Are any shards breaking off?

In theory, yes, 1 t. will thicken a cup of liquid, but in practice... you'd end up with a gloppy stringy slimy mess. Commercially, xanthan is almost always used either in small amounts or in conjuction with other thickeners. It has an especially good synergy with guar. I always combine the two. ← That's what I'm reading in the Food Product Design articles -- that the best effects are usually achieved with mixtures. I'm very much interested in hearing anything you want to say about how you have used these gums, singly or in combinations, and the successes and failures you've had. I'm curious in particular whether you've experimented with using these in ice creams. ← I haven't used gums in ice creams personally, but I've developed gum based ice cream formulas for a few clients and they've been extremely happy with the results. From what I understand, gums limit ice crystal formation in two ways. 1. As dissolved solids, the gum particles get in the way of ice crystals attempting to grow. 2. By increasing the viscosity of the base, they help incorporate more air (overrun). The air bubbles in the foam are another barrier to ice crystals. Overrun also helps weaken the overall structure of the ice cream and creates a more scoopable end product. The smaller the ice crystals, the smoother the mouthfeel in the end product. Other than ice cream, my favorite use for xanthan/guar is as a stabilizer. I add it to Thai coconut milk based curries to help prevent them from separating. I also use it in cheese sauces to prevent curdling.

Unless you're dealing with an very acidic sauce, pH balance is not a factor with xanthan. i stand corrected ← The literature on xanthan seems to play like a broken record when it comes to xanthan being the best choice for low pH environments/xanthan being the most acid stable thickener on the market. What isn't spelled out in black and white, though, is whether or not additional amounts of xanthan are required as the pH drops. Acid stable, yes, pH dependent, perhaps. When I posted earlier, I felt like the literature implied pH independence, but now that I think about it, I could have bean reading too much into it. So, with this in mind, I may be the one in error.

In theory, yes, 1 t. will thicken a cup of liquid, but in practice... you'd end up with a gloppy stringy slimy mess. Commercially, xanthan is almost always used either in small amounts or in conjuction with other thickeners. It has an especially good synergy with guar. I always combine the two.

Unless you're dealing with an very acidic sauce, pH balance is not a factor with xanthan. http://www.skidmore-sales.com/whatsnew/new.../summer2001.pdf Xanthan happens to be one of the most acid stable thickeners available.

There's a Patel grocery in Parsippany? Where? The only grocer I'm familiar with is Subzi Mandi on Littleton Rd.

So, by the same logic, does cooking meat in aluminum pans -- which I've seen done numerous times -- also create off flavors? ← Yes, it does. The time that the fond (or meat) spends in contact with the pan plays a big part and it may not be a huge impairment in taste, but for those with a discerning palate, an aluminum pan fond has a different taste than a s/s one. Salt and acids react with aluminum. It's better to roast with either stainless steel or enamel coated steel/iron. ← Not arguing, as I know aluminum is reactive -- with acid foods IIRC -- but in my experience, the vast majority of restaurants use aluminum pans and the more expensive stainless steel coated pans are a rare sight -- in restaurant supply shops too. Of course I've never worked in restaurants at The French Laundry level, so I don't know what they use. ← Salt (sodium chloride) in an aluminum pan creates aluminum chloride. There are those people who feel that aluminum chloride causes alzheimer's, but I'm not one of them. Aluminum chloride, as far as I'm concerned, isn't a safety issue but an issue of taste. Take an aluminum pan, add some salt/water, let it simmer for a few hours. Taste it. The very noticeable, very disagreeable taste (beyond the saltiness) will be aluminum chloride. Restaurants cut corners all the time. They use inferior ingredients like shortening, frozen meat, excessive amounts of msg, and cook/bake with aluminum. Also, if a particular pre-prepared dish doesn't move well for a few days, instead of tossing it, they'll often recycle it into another dish. Am I talking about all restaurants? Of course not. Generally speaking, though, most restaurants are not the model for ideal food prep. It's money first, food second. Aluminum - cheap. Stainless steel - expensive. The home cook can, if they so chose, raise the bar and spend the extra money for the superior attributes of stainless steel.

http://www.foodproductdesign.com/ Do a search for 'xanthan' and read the articles. It'll tell you all the do's and don'ts.

So, by the same logic, does cooking meat in aluminum pans -- which I've seen done numerous times -- also create off flavors? ← Yes, it does. The time that the fond (or meat) spends in contact with the pan plays a big part and it may not be a huge impairment in taste, but for those with a discerning palate, an aluminum pan fond has a different taste than a s/s one. Salt and acids react with aluminum. It's better to roast with either stainless steel or enamel coated steel/iron.

Which restaurants?

Three things. First, meat gives off moisture while it roasts. These juices collect in the pan and then evaporate, creating some steam. How much steam? Definitely not enough to 'steam' the meat. Meats will roast fine with a little liquid in the roasting pan. As long as the meat isn't touching the liquid, you're fine. Check on it every once in a while and when the liquid is evaporated, add some water. Two, glass is a very poor conductor of heat, but at the same time it's transparent allowing radiant heat to pass through it. If you're got the pan on the bottom shelf and it's close to the electrical element, you're basically broiling the juices every time the oven cycles on. You can remove the radiant heat entirely from the equation by either putting a cookie sheet on the shelf below or by placing the glass pan on a piece of foil. Three, I would definitely not recommend lining the pan with foil. Foil has a tendency to crinkle, making it extremely difficult to scrape off the fond. If you use foil and don't extract every bit of fond from it... that's culinarilly unforgiveable. Also, there's some naturally occuring sodium in meat which is released in the juices. This sodium reacts with the foil to create off flavors.

What does Mr. McGee have to say about this? I'm curious... Ian ← I thought for sure that Harold was part of the typical food scientist pro-brining camp. He completely blew me away when when he wrote otherwise in a Q&A a while back. From the eGullet Q&A with Harold McGee