Chris Amirault

I fully realize that I may be shot for writing this, but: FedEx just dropped off my Amazon order. So now I have two. On a brighter note, deliveries have begun for all!!

Yeah, I'd say 2-3h cold does the trick, but, honestly, I don't time it. Cheese isn't that delicate when it's 10F and the smoker is under 50F.

I hereby volunteer to do the research. Someone pass a hat. Kidding! Seriously, though, can anyone figure out the range of the vacuum on this? I can't find it on the site.

Uh oh: Sous Vide Supreme just released a chamber vacuum sealer for 800 bucks.

OK, I think I get the caution part. I'm utterly terrified, in fact. So now the question is whether there are things that are cool/interesting enough to try using the stuff. Those of you who have used it at home, what did you do with it?

What's a bite?

Jeebus: that UC Davis report is pretty sobering, especially the pix.

What proportions of egg white to the whole crust?

That is so obvious yet so ingenious!

I think that I'm going to try to score some liquid nitrogen. My use of the verb "score" should indicate the level of thrill-seeking risk I imagine. Whatever those pleasures, I also don't want to be silly about something potentially dangerous. I know that the Modernist Cuisine book, which I haven't got handy at the moment, has a section on this, but I can also imagine that others here have experience, techniques, cautions, and the like.

HungryC, in that approach, what binds the elements of the crust together?

Mostly structural: the crust collapses when cut. I don't have the recipe handy but can check tonight. It's Rose Levy Beranbaum's.

To my great pleasure, my wife has been experimenting with banana cream pie lately, and the biggest issue, by far, is getting the graham cracker crust right. When I was thinking -- ok, day-dreaming -- about it this morning, I realized that I've rarely had a graham cracker crust that was nearly as good as it should be. Surely there are some tips I can glean on this subject from those more expert than I on matters crusty.

I've always thought it was 2 oz per person, but I have no idea how that piece of information got into my brain....

Try spraying them with water instead of soaking them.

Why the kappa carrageenan? I don't have the book handy, but I'm pretty sure the iota and kappa are very different.

Tried this with some tweaks based on what I had on hand: 2 oz Jura Superstition scotch 1/2 oz Martini & Rossi sweet vermouth 1/2 oz Lustau PX San Emilio sherry 1/4 oz Fernet Branca 2 dashes BIttermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters Second (and third) sip indeed. A complex cup, and one that works well with these ingredients -- though I think that Carpano Antica Formula would stand up better to this onslaught than M&R.

With finely ground salt and sugar, ras al hanout makes for outstanding spiced nuts. For a while, ras al hanout seemed a guarantee to make it through at least half of a "Top Chef" season. I'll bet a seared scallop with balsamic gastrique that there are a few recipes on that website.

Indeed! Even has a hole for hanging.

I'm increasingly finding myself frustrated by the school rulers we've got around the house, and I'm hoping that someone has an idea for a perfect kitchen ruler. This has been maddening to find, and I turn to you for help. The ideal ruler will: -- be thick enough to use as an edge for cutting pasta or dough; -- have both metric and imperial units; -- be dishwasher safe; and -- start its measurement at the edge of the ruler itself, not a millimeter or two inside the shorter edge (like this one). I am unable to find something that fits this bill. Cork backs, inches only, non-stainless metal... there's always something. Please, someone, help me.

Just to be clear: this problem has been happening since summer, even when buying fresh onions direct from farmers at the farmers markets. It's not merely a seasonal thing, at least around here.

All great tips, Paul. Do you cut into every onion you buy? That's been part of the problem for me: my otherwise trusty onion-quality senses, which have been just fine for a few decades, fail me now.

If we're talking about sipping whisk(e)ys, right now I've got Rittenhouse BIB rye, Handy rye, Four Roses Small Batch bourbon, Talisker scotch, Jura Superstition scotch, and Bulleit bourbon. Wish I had a Macallan cask strength and one of the Laphroaig expressions around.

Where do you live? We've settled into stable Rittenhouse distribution here in RI for a year or so now.

Yep: post-brine (see below), you repackage and SV the meat at 64C/147F for 2h. The book doesn't talk about the vodka brine in particular (that I can find), but earlier in the frying section it discusses the effects of alcohol in batters. Reading that, I surmise that, because the alcohol in the brine evaporates at a lower temperature than water, you both dry out the surface of the meat more effectively and keep the interior from overcooking.