UnConundrum

Nathan, 55C for 24 hours? Weren't they rather tough yet? Has anyone noticed an "off" taste with the longer cooks....48+ hours? I've tried some 72 hour briskets, and noticed this taste that a friend has described as a "blood" taste. Anyone else notice this?

Dr. Susan, IMHO, once you've decided on the cut and quality, the most important thing is taking your time. I do a lot of beef in my smoker, but when I cook indoors, I still keep the temps down to about 225 F, and let it take as long as it takes. Quite frankly, for those tuffer cuts of beef, even lower temps are fine. Beef has a lot of collagen in it, and that's what makes it tuff. If you cook it fast, the collagen contracts, and squeezes out some of the moisture. On the other hand, if you cook it real slow, the collagen can disolve/melt, and it actually adds to the mouth feel. I believe collagen will start to disolve at around 130 F (from my sous-vide experiences), but stops at about 170. When you smoke a piece of meat, the internal temperature can actually drop slightly, as the chemical reaction that causes the collagen to melt takes place. But, it's best to not rush it, and just give it time. The down side to the low temps is that it takes much longer to finish the roast.

I want to prepare an appetizer with risotto, but I can't be giving it the attention I normally do. I figure most restaurants that serve risotto, pre-cook it to some degree, and finish it to order. What's the best procedure to follow if you can't do all the cooking at once?

Well, I gave it a shot. Made a duck risotto using the stock I made from two batches of duck confit. I never really tasted the stock, but the risotto was wonderful I sauted some onions in duck fat, add the rice, sauted some more, added some wine and then the duck stock. Near the end I added some sauted mushrooms.... Served a little duck confit with the risotto. Life is good.

Just got done making a batch of duck confit following Culinary Bear's great thread , and I put the picked meat up in jars as he did. Now I'm wondering if it's worth my time to make a stock out of the remaining bones and scraps. Any thoughts?

Sorry, no idea what to suggest with that model

John, I can't see your picture.... but below the digital readout, do you have an arrow that points down? On mine, the digital readout gives the current temperature. You have to press that arrow, while turning the knob, to establish the desired "set" temperature. When you let go of the arrow, the digital readout returns to the current temperature. I'm guessing that you have your "set" temperature too high, or at least, higher than the safety (the little knob below).

I've got a question for any of you who have done long (72 hour) beef cooks. Have you noticed an "off" taste? I've done about 5 long cooks as of this point, short ribs, chuck, and several briskets. On all, I've noticed a slightly sour taste, not necessarily unpleasant, but there. A buddy of mine, who competes in brisket barbques likens it to a "blood" or metalic taste. I have a brisket sitting in brine right now to see if that draws out any blood, but I'm thinking it may be more of a bacterial thing, like in sourdough bread, due to the long cook times... Anyone else observe this?

That's an interesting thought Nathan, fresh shucked corn and a glob of butter, and out comes pre-buttered corn on the cob What would you guesstamate for corn? 100C is boiling, so 95C ? Half an hour?

Johnder, What was your opinion of the veggies? I've found that the sous-vide does nothing for them. Nathan has suggested higher temps (like 82C), but I haven't gotten around to trying that yet.

I store my knives handle up on my magnetic strips. If you reach for one, and bang the one next to it, it might drop, and I don't want my hand/arm in the "fall zone". Not that this happens very often, maybe once or twice a year, but it can happen. Also, I just don't like the idea of a knife pointing up. What if someone stumbled or fell near the strip. Natural tendancy is to flail your arm out, and with knive points sticking up there, it could be an issue.

CharityCase, you beat me to the punch. I was just going to suggest sous-vide. Did veal chops last night, about 3 hours at 55C (130 F) and then 2.5 minutes per side in a hot oiled pan. Set the steaks aside, and made a pan sauce..... Served about 10 minutes later.... Best darn chops we've ever had, and we've eaten at some might fine steak houses I'm also a big fan of what we call the T-Rex method. Described in detail with pictures here. And, there is a T-Rex video HERE. In essence, you sear the steak over very hot heat for about 90 seconds a side (depends on thickness of the steak) and then you let the steak rest for 20 minutes before you finish in a 400 oven. The idea is that during the sear, the muscle contracts, then relaxes during the 20 minute rest. It does not contract again during the final cook, so it's more tender. I always rest the steaks another 10 minutes or more, wrapped in foil, after the final cook. The web site gives detailed instructions on doing the steak on a Big Green Egg. I have an Egg, and use it often, but I have done the sear and cook on my range with equal results (as to tenderness that is, no smoke taste). I'm a big fan of the T-Rex method, which is 2nd only to the sous-vide approach.

Does anyone have an idea on the shelf life of a beef stock that is kept refridgerated? I used to think that a thick layer of fat on the top would protect it for a good while... but following the online course, we remove virtually all the fat. So.... let's say I plan to make soup tomorrow, and I take a quart of frozen beef stock out of the freezer and put it in the fridge. Tomorrow comes, and I get distracted, forgetting to make my soup. Is the stock still good a week later? The following week?

Have you ever picked through packaged chickens and found some of them with the cryovac or plastic bag tightly tucked in around the chicken, and others, in the same bin, with the wrap ballooned out? I always pick the tightly packed ones, even if the dates are close to the end of the sell-by, and NEVER buy the ones that are ballooned out. To me, that means they've been poorly handled, and are giving off gas, probably from bacteria. With chicken pieces, which have been packaged by the supermarket, it's harder. They've been known to rinse off older product, and re-package it. So then, you have to go by smell. If you smell clorox, they've been rinsed and re-packaged... be very careful. If you smell a hint of rotten eggs, I'd say they're iffy. If you clearly smell rotten eggs or some other off odor, pitch them.

ISI recipe for Zabaglione 4 egg yolks (pasturized) 7 oz. heavy cream 5 oz Marsala or white wine 6 Tbls powdered sugar 1 - 2 oz cognac Stir all ingredients until the sugar is completely disolved. Pour the mixture into ISI whipper. Screw in one charger and shake vigorously. Serve well chilled with amaretti as garnish. But I haven't tried it. I was wondering if anyone else has.

Has anyone tried the ISI version, using a redi-whip whipper and not cooking?

I'm not a good gift recipient. I buy whatever I want/need, and rarely have I been given a food related gift that I truely enjoyed. It's usually something that gets put on a back shelf, never to be seen again...... On the other hand, when we entertain, I always bake bread, and bake enough that we have a loaf to give to every guest couple

I think he did. Remember, you need a relatively short period to make the meat "safe" at 131F, but the additional time will contribute to tenderness. I believe in the times article it indicated that he did the lamb chops for 10 hours. At or about 130, the collagen will disolve/melt, but very slowly. Consequently, while the meat may be ok to eat in less than an hour, it might not be as good as it could be... Sous-vide is all about slow cooking....

I have my sous-vide station set up... I bought a lauda water bath unit, and didn't like the idea of just putting it in a pot because I'm looking forward to some long, 72 hour cooks. So I bought an ice chest designed for under a bar. It has about an inch of insulation on all sides, a drain, and I cut out a piece of styrofoam board as a lid to keep the evaporation down, and heat in. Here's a pic with the lid off (three porterhouse steaks in there for dinner tonight, and a brisket that's got 48 hours on it.... planning to use it tomorrow )

Your assumption that the implication that it's healthier seems flawed to me. While I agree Hebrew National did a great job years ago with their advertisements that "We answer to a higher authority", you forget that it may be an attempt to cater to Muslim patrons, who care less about it being Kosher, but want to make sure it isn't Pork. Most Jews are well aware of the difference between Kosher and Kosher style.

The recipe is Reihart's from "Baker's Apprentice. Start with 4 oz. of barm and 4.5 oz of bread flour plus a little water. Then let rest/ferment until doubled (often longer than 4 hours) and put in fridge overnight (sometimes two days) Let warm up to an hour. and create final dough (20.25 oz of flour and about 1.5 cups of warm water. I stand-mixer kneed for 5 min., let rest 10 min. and kneed another 5 min. Let rest until doubled. Form loaf and let rest another couple of hours. Bake at 450 until internal temp is around 200. ← Well, there's experts far more knowledgable than me here, but here's my observations.... While the 20 oz. of flour and 1.5 cups of water is about 60% hydration, I'm concerned about the 4oz of barm, 4.5 oz of flour, and a little water. I'd like to see that "little water" be just over 5 oz. to maintain the 60% hydration. As to the 1.5 cups (12 oz ?) of "warm" water, how warm was it? Wild yeast is more delicate that store bought, and temps substantially above 100 F will kill them. After you formed the loaf, how far did it rise? Did it double again? Did it appear as if it reached full proof? Lastly, temperatures are far more important than the degree of attention demonstrated by your recipe. You should be using an instant read thermometer and adjusting the water temperature to meet your final dough temperature. IOW, if your flour is 60F and your room temp is 60F, you probably need water of 90F to reach a final dough temperature of 70F (subject to the friction resulting from your mixer so really maybe 85F) The barm may not have reached room temperature after an hour......

Nhumi, any chance you're a linux fan? If so, there's a pretty good free program called KRecipes. Sorry takomabaker, it requires KDE which is a bear to get running on a mac

Is your wild yeast developed enough?

I've checked MANY of the existing threads about foams, and there don't seem to be that many real recipes. They talk about the use of gelatin or cream, and whether or not the "trend" is dying, but very few recipes, and virtually none for savory foams. I, for one, would be interested in more specifics, if anyone cared to share.

If you can add just a little bit.... consider a Big Green Egg. I don't believe there are many dealers in Canada, and you could save a good bit if you buy one south of the border and brought it home (ask the dealer to demo it for you and then it's used when you take it home). I was never a grill person... but I LOVE my egg. We cook in it year round and make everything from steaks to brisket to chicken and burgers. With a little practice you can achieve a temp. range from 200 F to 1000 F, really a flexable tool. I think I paid about $600 US for mine. There's also a great forum here where the members are very anxious to help.