scott123

Ahr, are you sure that Atkins is using only one type of sweetener? I'm pretty sure he was pro-combining before any else was. If more than one sweetener was used, then 1/2 C. sweetening equivalent could possibly translate into 1 cup, which wouldn't be that far from 1 1/4.

TurtleMeng, I'm not sure if all TJs carry the same cream. Mine is Garelick and comes in a pint (2 cup) container for $2.99. I haven't come across the 'raw cream' of which you speak. My whole foods carries Welsh Farms - very comparable with the Garelick, but more pricey. A specialty supermarket in town (Kings) carries the Welsh Farms as well. All in all, I'm grateful for my options. With the number of cream distributors that have gone UHT, though, I don't sleep very well at night. Good luck with your oversized creme brulee. Are you calling Guinness? ;)

I agree about soy. It makes it's way into a lot of commercial formulations due to it's cost. It also makes it's way onto george stella's show because it's widely available. From a taste perspective, though, it falls way short. Over and over I come across people that hate the taste of soy flour. Soy protein isolate, on the other hand, is supposed to have very little 'soy' taste. I haven't tried it, though. As far as white flour substitutes, soy flour is the bottom of the barrel. Almond is superior, as it WPI/Gluten, carbquik (for some applications), insoluble fiber (wheat, oat, corn) and soluble (xanthan, guar, etc.). Even whey protein, which I'm not a big fan of is better than soy.

MarketStEl was the member that mentioned the A&P Cheddar. I agree with both of you. I've had Pathmark, America's Choice, Shop Rite and Stop & Shop New York extra sharp cheddar, and, as far as I can tell, they're all exactly the same, and... all excellent cheese - better than Kraft. Obviously for more money there's better cheeses out there (I like Dubliner from TJs/Farmhouse Cheddar from Whole Foods), but as far as it's price range, it's in a class by itself.

I'm one of those people. Ultra pasteurized cream is a scourge. If I happened across the numbnut that sold cream distributors on this idea, I'd throttle him/her. The most frustrating aspect of UHT cream is that, because of the high fat content, the non UHT stuff almost NEVER goes bad. I've used non UHT cream that was 4 months old and it was flawless. A little lumpy perhaps, but nothing a good shake didn't resolve. UHT is purely aesthetic - it doesn't lump. People freak out when they see lumps. There is no culinary trend that makes me sadder than the shift towards ultra pasteurization. Spilled milk may not be worth crying over, but this stuff definitely is. Stick with the Trader Joes heavy cream. And don't sweat the date. Just smell it - you'll know when it's off. It will get lumpy - that's perfectly normal. Celebrate the lumps. It means that you haven't been cursed with a substandard product.

Calorie reduction. Thanks. ← I can't help you with calorie reduced recipes, but I can give you a ballpark formula for replacing the sugar in the recipes you've got. For each cup of sugar, use: 1 C. PDX (scoop and level measure) 2 T. erythritol 2 T. xylitol 1/3 C. sweetening equivalent of liquid splenda You might need a drop or two less or more of liquid splenda (probably less), but from a textural perpective, this should be right on the money. Just a take a recipe you like and incorporate this mixture. One catch. PDX has some assimilation issues. If you try to cream it with butter, you'll get rocks, due to the butter's moisture content. I have found that either mixing it in with the dry ingredients and then adding it to the wet works well, as does hand blending it with the eggs. The last and most foolproof method is to utilize a recipe with either warm liquids or liquids that can be warmed and then cooled/incorporated.

I tried stevia and I apparently got some bad stuff - it was horrible!!! And let me hasten to say that I have not ventured out into any kind of sugar-free baking. This thread however is very eye-opening. Nullo, is there a good brand of stevia??? ← Actually, I do happen to know a little bit about stevia (I was in a rush before). From the 20-30 stevia users that I've talked to, there appears to be three brands that get a lot of favorable nods: Sooolite (from NuNaturals) SteviaPlus Now brand white stevia powder Where most brands isolate the steviosides, sooolite uses a special process to isolate the rebaudiosides, which are supposed to have no bitterness. They have a sample pack for $1 so I gave it a shot. The sample pack was phenomenal. Better than liquid splenda. Better than even sugar (a 'cleaner' sweetness if that's possible). My third sweetener was in place (along with liquid splenda and erythritol), the synergy was through the roof, the quality, superb. All my artifical sweetener angst had passed. Life was good. When I ran out of my sample, I trotted on over to Whole Foods and picked up a box. It took me a couple of uses to figure it out, but the stuff in the box was bitter :( My heart was dashed against a stone. I traded a few emails with the company only to find out that these were from two different batches, and that although they agreed that the second batch was inferior to the first, it was close enough for them. Bottom line, consistency issues. That was about 6 months ago. I haven't gone near stevia since. I highly recommend trying the samples, though. Even the bad batch was quite a bit better than your average brand of stevia. And the bitterness wasn't an anise/licorice note, but more of a slight burning sensation on the tongue. If they ever get their consistency issues worked out, I'll be praising their name once again.

TheFoodTutor, I like your combination of sweeteners. The one suggestion I would make would be to decrease the ace K a bit and increase the splenda. Ace K has a phenomenol synergy with splenda, but at the same time, it has a pretty wicked aftertaste. Because of this, it's good to keep it to very small amounts. Next time, I'd suggest trying 7 packets of splenda and 1 packet of ace K. I think that works out to be a better ratio. Also, cheesecakes don't tend to suffer too much from the lack of sugary texture, but for other applications, I highly recommend either increasing the xylitol (or other sugar alcohols, if you're not sensitive to them) or obtaining some polydextrose.

Marcia, are you sensitive to sugar alcohols (i.e. the sweeteners used in the vast majority of sugar free chocolates)? If you are okay with them, then you're sweetening formulation options are huge. If not, then your options are fairly limited. I tend to run into a lot of people who are sensitive and also a lot of people baking for others that may/may not be sensitive. Because of this I generally stay clear of the non erythritol sugar alcohols when I make recommendations. For 1 cup sugar: 3/4 C. polydextrose 1/2 C. splenda (or more preferably, the liquid splenda equivalent) 2 T. erythritol 1 T. ace k (sunnett/sweet one) Erythritol has some crystallization issues that prevent it from being suitable for all applications. For those times, it's either a good brand of stevia or succumbing to a little sugar alcohol use (xylitol, sorbitol, maltitol, etc.)

Josette, I can point you towards a few really top notch low carb recipes that use polyd. Are you interested in polyd from a perspective of calorie reduction, carb reduction, increasing fiber, eating sugar free or something else?

Sebastion, thanks for the very informative post. I was aware of erythritol's cooling effect but I wasn't aware of polydextrose's 'heating' effect. Fascinating. I am well aware of PDX's hygroscopicity. I've been working with a friend to try to develop a PDX meringue cookie that's crispy. So far the results aren't looking good. I'm guessing that a PDX solution probably attracts a similar amount of water that corn syrup does. I think a crispy corn syrup meringue would be equally difficult. Are you familiar with levoglucosan? The PDX I buy is from 0-4% levoglucosan. When I do a search, a ton of links come up, but nothing points me in a direction as to how this classifies as a carb/the extent to which it digests/metabolizes in the body.

Nullo hit the hammer on the head with his answer to your high intensity sweetener question and Sebastian hit the ball out of park with the regulations on labeling :) The only thing I'd add is that erythritol, because it crystallizes easily, can't be used in every application. For instance, I made a polyd/erythritol brownie yesterday that, when out of the oven, had a smooth, fudgey texture. After refrigeration, the E reverted back and now I have crunchy sugar-like granules. The brownies are still phenomenal, but had that crystallization occured in something more delicate, it would be a different story. Also, the quality of stevia can vary tremendously from brand to brand. If you do go the stevia route, get a good brand (talk to Nullo). And lastly, ace k (acesulfame potassium) has a phenomenal synergy with splenda, but it's pretty nasty on it's own. Definitely use the Ace K, but keep it to a minimum (less than 5% of the sweetening mix). I can't stress enough the importance of using multiple sweeteners. It's the only way of recreating a carbon copy of the taste of sugar and it cuts your sweetener use to a fraction due to the synergy. It's the best of both worlds - you save money and you get the best flavor.

Forno, thanks!

FornoBravo, why don't the rectangular ovens do a good job with pizza?

Btw, I'll second Nullo's glowing assessment of polydextrose. The stuff is amazing. Although similar results can be achieved by using sugar alcohols, polydextrose is cheaper, has a lower glycemic value, less carbs and less digestive issues. Not to mention all the beneficial fiber. Even when combined with the necessary high intensity sweetener to match sugar, it's still cheaper than any sugar alcohol out there.

So far, one of the only retail sources I've been able to come up with for polydextrose is Honeyville Grain. This is definitely not something you find at your local supermarket. You'll find a boatload of products that contain polydextrose, but not pure polydextrose itself.

Like Patrick said, granular splenda is a mixture of splenda powder (sucralose) and maltodextrin. As to why it isn't polydextrose... that's a very good question. I'm guessing that maltodextrin is probably cheaper. From a perspective of glycemic index, polydextrose (close to 0) and maltodextrin are night and day. I would sincerely hope that maltodextrin, having a GI of 137, isn't being utilized as way of spiking blood sugar/creating cravings in order to sell more product.

I really despise dried oregano in tomato sauce and have equally strong feelings about dried basil. Fresh basil, on the other hand, is magical. Out of the regions that do a traditional tomato based pasta sauce, how common are dried versions of these herbs?

Psychadelics 101: Set & Setting If you're on a bad trip, pot will only help to magnify it. A change of scenery probably would have helped. Nature (trees) used to help me get my head straight.

Hello Monica! Welcome back! :) I can't wait to hear more about Chef Qureshi.

You've got a real talent with a camera. I guess you're artistry isn't confined to any one area ;) It's like a cyber coffee table book.

I like pork butt for some sausages but when I'm looking for a more delicate flavor, I go with a boneless rib end loin and add about 30% ground fat with that. It's very subtle, almost like veal, but a LOT cheaper than veal.

Actually, as of 1/1/04, white chocolate technically *is* chocolate, at least in the united states. It's in the Code of Federal Regulations - prior to 2004, there was a proposed standard of identity for it, which meant that you had to petition the gov't for permission to call it white chocolate. Not any more. From a technical and legal perspective, white chocolate is indeed chocolate. Of course, it's not the nice brown *chocolatey* chocolate... ← Okay then :) That's good to know. The next time some SSB kicks in with their "white chocolate isn't technically chocolate" whine, I'll point them in that direction.

What's the difference between white sauce and lobster sauce? Anyone have a recipe for lobster sauce?

Sausage meat should be able to be piped with a pastry bag, I would think. How about a caulk gun? I've always been meaning to convert a caulk gun into a cookie press - far superior torque/control than the presses you find out there. Take an empty caulk tube, wash it carefully, and then fill that with sausage meat.