scott123

If you've got a thin tall cooking vessel, cooking a couple of tablespoons of sugar to a soft ball stage is no problem. I spent a lot of time finding that vessel because of the amount of experimentation I do with candymaking.

Anyone make marshmallows without a machine? I'm in the process of developing a recipe with specialized expensive ingredients and need to make small amounts at a time. A few tablespoons of marshmallow won't whip well in my KA.

Polydextrose is a "byproduct of the petroleum and wood-pulp industry?!?" Do you have proof of this? ← And why would that matter anyway? ← It would matter because 1. The statement is false 2. The statement maligns polydextrose If Lee is going to slander one of my favorite sugar free confectionary/baking ingredients, I'm going to ask for proof of his outrageous claim. That's why it would matter.

Neither maltitol or sorbitol are artificial sweeteners. Both are plant derivatives.

Erythritol is a LOT better than 'somewhat better.' It's in an entirely different class. It's small molecular size causes it to be absorbed by the stomach and then release through urine. If it doesn't reach the intestines, it can't cause gastro-intestinal effects. Period. The smaller the molecular size, btw, the better the freezing point depression. This make erythritol an ideal candidate for sugar free ice cream. It does have crystallization issues so I'd recommend using erythritol in conjunction with a crystallization inhibitor, such as polydextrose, or, if you can handle the sugar, a little corn syrup. Isomalt is slightly less laxating and lower glycemic than maltitol. A combination of erythritol and isomalt might work nicely. I use/love polydextrose in just about all of my sugar free desserts. It's far less laxating than sugar alchohols, far cheaper, and lower in carbs.

Polydextrose is a "byproduct of the petroleum and wood-pulp industry?!?" Do you have proof of this?

A root beer reduction was recently discussed. That might help your plight. Both the liability and the research/testing/development should be reflected in the fee. I would make this very clear to your client right off the bat. At our place, we'll do just about anything a customer wants, but we bill accordingly.

The gloves, from my experience working with food, are less about cleanliness and more about the appearance of cleanliness. For many of my co-workers there was this unwritten agreement that as long as you had the gloves on/followed the rules, just about everything else would be okay. Scratching yourself, sneezing, wiping your nose- if you've got the gloves on, no problem. Technically, we were supposed to put on a fresh pair of gloves for each customer, but in practice, this almost never occured. We had a sink for washing hands, but I was the only one that ever used it. The scariest part of the job was at night all the stainless steel cabinets would get a liberal spraying with the nastiest petrochemical stainless steel polish imaginable. The next day the gloves would go on and the handles/cabinets grabbed. If people weren't wearing the gloves, they'd know they're getting nasty crap on their hands, but with the gloves on, there's a desensitization occuring. "Ooh, could get just a little more petrochemical residue on my sandwich? Just a dab?"

Is 104 f. sufficient of a temperature to dissolve all the crystals? From the Scharffenberger website: http://www.scharffenberger.com/howto.asp#temper Shouldn't tempered chocolate both hard/snappable and shiny?

I've been thinking about confit lately and how the duck begins surrounded by fat, but, over time, it releases it own juices so that the top of the pot is always cooking in fat, but the very bottom layer, to an extent, stews in it's own juices. Has anyone noticed the bottom layer, the layer below the water line, tasting any different from the top? Anyone notice a difference in texture?

Hmmmmmm... I don't know about a reduction. Some of the cola's flavor compounds might be volatile. I'd also be careful, because, as the water boils away, the residual sugar will cause the boiling point to rise. So, in essence, you'd be exposing the extracts to higher temps than 212. If I were to do it, I might pour the cola in a glass lasagna pan and bake it on a very low temp (150) until most of the water had been evaporated. A sheet pan would be ideal, but the cola would wreak havoc on the aluminum. Btw, once you lose the fizz, it becomes very sweet/not that flavorful so I recommend boosting the flavor a bit with some lemon/lime zest.

Speaking of 'bitching profanely,' don't get me started on shrinkwrapped cheese. $10+/lb. for cheese and I have to cut off 1/4" on all sides because of the off taste from the film. Same thing for bulk chocolate. GRRRRR! I'm not a violent person, but if I ever happened across the person that invent Borden Food Service Seal Wrap (with it's greasy rancid non stick coating) I would definitely kick their ass. As far as the special order pork belly is concerned... Chris, having worked at Whole Foods, I can say that the butchers I worked with had a tendency to be incredibly nice guys/gals, but not the sharpest tools in the shed. Even if they did happen to know what was going on, they had surprisingly little decision making ability- most of their thinking was/is done for them on a regional level. This isn't just for meat either, but for all the departments. I'd give the regional meat person a call: North Atlantic 125 Cambridge Park Drive Cambridge, MA 02140 617.492.5500 617.492.5510 fax There's no guarantee that the regional person will know their stuff, but your chances will definitely improve.

Fud, I'm not sure how much additional time/energy you want to put into this, but if you feel that the manager failed to sufficiently address your issues, I'd see if you can obtain the contact information for the owner and write/speak to them. Also, if you do have any further communication with the restaurant, I would bring this thread to their attention. It will give them a chance to give their side of the story (if they have one), but, more importantly, I think it will give them a better perspective as to the extent of your disappointment.

Did the waiter know of your interest in fried bananas prior to giving you the dessert menu. Is that the only dessert that takes time to make? How much time was there between leaving the restaurant and calling in the order? Having worked in the food industry, I have witnessed firsthand the evershifting tides of ingredient availability. Besides running off to the store for a particular ingredient, it's not uncommon for items to get temporarily misplaced in the walk-in. It usually starts with either a busy or lazy employee who does a cursory check and says 'nope, were out,' only to be followed by a more conscientious individual who performs a more rigorous search. As far as the acceptability of lying... Although I normally go to great lengths to please every customer I come in contact with, I have, on certain occasions, encountered exceedingly rude customers with such outlandish requests, that, rather then tell them to go f themselves, I've replied "let me go ask the chef." I then went into the kitchen, stood there a few seconds, came back and said "I'm sorry, but the chef says 'no'." If a customer is rude but the request is simple, then that's no problem. If the customer is really nice/apologetic and the request outlandish, again, I've gone above and beyond to fulfill their needs. But rudeness combined with outlandishness, nope, I'm not going to go the extra mile for that customer. In instances such as that, I think lying is okay.

Partially hydrogenated oils are usually only a concern insofar as they have been a marker for trans fat content. But shortening made with the new fully hydrogenated oils contain essentially no trans fats. As jgm poins out, the new Crisco is probably the closest thing to what you're looking for, a fat that is solid at room temperature like butter. ← Wouldn't a fully hydrogenated oil be completely solid//hard/unspreadable?

Btw, I don't know if this has been posted here or not, but I recently stumbled onto Wylie's recipe for gellan based fried mayonnaise: http://www.starchefs.com/chefs/rising_star..._dufresne.shtml

this is not correct if you would apply strong sheer forces to a gelatin aka "jello" it would simply melt and reset. this doesnt happen with gellan, once set you can only remelt it with large amounts of heat ;-) ← Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think most people here, Nathan included, understand the impact of shear on gelatin. Nathan's statement inherently implies that it's a 'form of' jello put in a blender. A form of jello comprised of gelling agents that produce fluid gels when exposed to shear. At least that's how I read it

Nice chart Patrick!

If this were my first time with schnitzel, I would make that the adventure and keep the sides somewhat familiar- you can't go wrong with mashed potatoes. As far as cabbage goes, given the choice between sauerkraut and either braised or sauteed cabbage- I'll take the latter anyday. For me any form of cabbage would be better than sauerkraut. Creamed cabbage might be nice. Speaking of creamed cabbage, a bechamel might be nice for a sauce for both the schnitzel and the mashed potatoes.

I took 6 years of French in high school. I don't think I could have made a bigger mistake considering I live in an area that should be referred to as "New Spain" (Nuevo Espana?) I have around 50 Latin Grocers within a 20 minute radius, with the larger stores on the East (Elizabeth) and West (Dover) perimeter, respectively. A few years back, when I was looking for fresh bitter oranges (naranja agria), I think I went to just about every one of them. The largest grocer, Twin Cities in Elizabeth is as large as my A&P. It's kind of scary, though. I have to shop quickly for fear of having my car stolen while I'm inside. I know the chances are small, but all the same, it's one scary neighborhood. I don't think Señora Fresser would spend much time in there. They have some amazing deals, though. The bulk spices are especially inexpensive, and, for the most part, very fresh.

The flavor of thighs just doesn't work with my wing recipes. I've tried buffalo thighs, teriyaki thighs and bbq thighs. I love thighs on their own with some salt/pepper, but not with the sauces I put with wings. The flavor is just too strong.

I live for chicken wings but they are just too freakin expensive. I can sit down and eat 3 lbs. of wings (weight before cooking) and still be hungry. That doesn't work for my budget. I've been pondering ways of cooking breast meat in such a way that it will be more wing like- fatty, tender, succulent. From what I understand about deep frying, the 375 temp is recommended so that the meat doesn't absorb grease. What if absorbing grease were to be the goal? Would drastically lowering the deep frying temp, to say, 200 degrees, achieve a wing-like piece of breast meat? I don't have chicken fat on hand presently, but I can start collecting it. In a way I guess I'm contemplating a modified confit. No marinade, no aging, though. I know that the breast muscle is more utilized than the wing, so my process will only give me so much tenderness, but I'm wondering if it might be worthwhile.

Ummm, when you cook chopped raw protein, it does have a tendency to naturally stick together. Anyone here familiar with a hamburger? If tg was utilized, would it have to be in the ingredients? Do enzymes have to be listed? It's an interesting idea, but I'm not running out to buy any. These come out to about 16 bucks a pound for what look to me to be pretty small shrimp. And although they are butterflied, I can't help but wonder how well they're deveined.

Chickpeas don't contain that much starch. Even with the little starch they do contain, when you cook chickpeas in water, unless you cook them forever, very little starch is released. Definitely not enough starch to have any impact on the texture of a sauce. Not to mention that chickpea water has already been boiled substantially so whatever starch may be present has swelled/absorbed as much water as it's going to absorb. I think Julie recommends adding chickpea juices not for texture but for flavor. Does Julie specify that the simmering pot be covered? If so, then the thickening occurs when the vegetables (primarily onions and tomatoes) break down into smaller pieces. These smaller pieces create a thicker consistency. There's a little bit of starch in onions but the thickening comes mostly from broken down particles of fiber.

I've got 3 digital timers. A polder with 3 timers incorporated into it that all can be run simultaneously, a cheap super simple ekco that I got from walmart and a taylor probe thermometer w/ timer. None of them have a ten minute button. The taylor probe thermometer has one time setting feature that I like. If you hold down the minute button, the value increases- quickly. I just timed it. It takes about 7 seconds to go from 0 to 60 minutes. The ekco, on the other hand, takes 40 seconds. A 10 minute button would be great, though. It's amazing how many of the foods I cook/bake take 40 or 50 minutes.