UnConundrum

C, Did you ever get to try the no-knead focaccia? I was wondering how you made out.

Well, we're here, and ran out to Zen tonight around 6:00. Couldn't get over the crowds on the streets of Northampton. We drove around for 15 minutes looking for a parking spot. We found Zen to be fine, great in fact when compared to what's available to us locally. My son had the sushi taco which is served on a lettuce leaf. For $5 it had to be the best bargain in town. We had 4 other rolls that were fine. One was a special Hawaiian roll with mango, roe, cashews, and honey. My son really liked that one too. I thought it was different, but I wouldn't get it again. I really enjoyed my rainbow roll... We'd go back.

I've yet to find a really GOOD knife roll. I have 6 really fine custom made knives, and I don't want the blades clanging against each other. I have knife guards on the blades, but they're a bit of a pia. Seems like they're designed to cart average knives from place to place, but not for really good quality knives

Well, I resolved my storage issue. I have some 1 cup ball jars sitting around, so I put the "reduced stock" in there, and used my chamber vac to seal a lid on each, and then froze it. I assume that if I re-establish a vacuum on the jar I'm using, after each use, it will keep in the fridge for a while. Other than mold and/or an off smell, any other way to tell when it's spoiled?

Well, I guess I'm not up on the proportions.... I'd say I have about 2 -3 quarts at this point.... so that's a 10 - 1 reduction I guess.... Is the glace down to about 20 - 1? BTW, can you reconstitute and use demi and/or glace anywhere you would use stock? I realize there are uses for these where stock would not work, but what about visa-versa?

I baked about 50 loaves of bread yesterday, and I was worried about the temperature in the room, so I put a pot of chicken stock on to cook overnight (worked wonders on the temperature), about 26 quarts. I chilled it overnight, removed the fat, and decided to reduce it to a demi. Problem is that I've never made it before. For my stocks, I put it in 1, 2, and 4 cup quantities, and freeze in vacuum pouches which works great. A cup of demi would seem to be overkill though..... So I was wondering how you store your demi. Does it have a good shelf life in the fridge? If I freeze in 1 cup quantities, will the defrosted cup last a month or two in the fridge? Other suggestions?

Quality of the meat is such a variable.... there seems to be a total lack of consistency. Dealing with the same butcher, I had 6 or 7 stupendous rib roasts in a row.... been making them for years, and then the last one, from the same butcher, made the same way was just trash. I had 10 people for dinner, and I was so embarrassed. Fortunately.... no idea why, but I had a 30# chuck roll smoking on the BGE, that saved the day. I think I put it on just to show them what it was like... not something I'd normally think of for a formal dinner..... but I was quite happy it was there.... No question we're at the mercy of the cow gods.

While I'm generally a fan of the low and slow, there is a lot to be said for both methods. I've done a lot of ribs over the years, and one this past weekend that was just terrible. Hate to admit it.... but gotta be honest. There are issues that are out of our control. This was just a bad piece of meat. Bought from the same butcher 6 or 7 times... all just wonderful. This time... yuk. Low and slow gives you a little more leeway with regard to meat quality. If you get stuck with one a little lower in quality, the time will give the collagen a better chance to dissolve. Also makes it a little harder to overshoot your desired temperature. The high temps, on the other hand, give you a wonderful flavor and crust. I think next time around, ..... may try a low and slow, let it rest for half hour, and then crank the BGE to 800 or so, and do a 2nd cook for about 5 minutes, just to build the crust....

Just beautiful... Can't say more.

Another vote for just throwing them in the oven.

If you have quality knives, this guy outside Philadelphia is the ONLY place to send them. He does mail service and will hand sharpen your knives on waterstones should you so request. Unless you have a Murray Carter knife, I'll assure you the knife will come back sharper than new, and probably last longer. You can reach Dave at http://drsharpening.com/

Is TJ Buckleys the place in a caboose? If so, I ate there a few years back with my wife when we made a rambling trip up to Montreal. Had a great meal there

My adult son and I will be traveling to Holyoke for a week in the beginning of January. It's going to be a bit of a boring trip, and we both enjoy quality food. Could you suggest some upper end restaurants to brighten the trip? Anything we shouldn't miss? We'll need at least one sushi suggestion if possible

We make a dish we call beef genovese. Cook off some rigatoni. While the pasta is cooking, cut several onions into 1/8ths. Season the beef with salt and pepper and let sit a bit. Saute the onion in a good bit of olive oil till tender and broken apart. You're not looking for totally limp. Remove the onions from the heat, and saute the beef in the same pan over relatively high heat. You're looking to put a bit of a crust on the beef while keeping it relatively rare inside. When the meat is done, remove the beef from the pan, and return the onions to the pan. Deglaze the pan with white wine. (sometimes if I want more "sauce" I'll add some chicken or better yet, veal stock). Add the cooked rigatoni to the pan, and toss to mix, adding in any juices that collect around the beef. Adjust seasonings; I like a good bit of coarsely ground black pepper. Plate the rigatoni, and top with the beef. Use a vegetable peeler to sliver a good quality hard cheese over the beef.

I'll take a shot at your questions C 1. I think the answer is no, although, with time, you could develop a feel for it. Hydration is based on bakers' percentages, and the "feel" will be different with different doughs. I have a recipe on my site for pumpernickel raisin bread, (Recipe here) where the dough seems rather dense given the hydration. With the rye flours, the gluten content is lower, and the overall feel is very different. As applies to your focaccia, and the goal of larger air pockets, you want to add more water to make a rather soft dough, that does not become too sticky. 2 I like to use instant yeast, and activation/proofing is not required. I like to avoid any temperatures over 100 for yeast. Since you're using active dry yeast, I'll defer to others. 3. Since there's no way to measure the gas, this is tuff to answer. It's a feel thing again. I've found that with my no-knead breads there have been no problems. Generally speaking, pat it down a few times, and you're ok. (In the no-knead situation, you don't really degas, you just stretch, until you turn the dough out for pre-shaping. ) I basically pat the dough into the shape I want for folding, and fold. I have some folding pictures in the pumpernickel recipe with the link above that might help you, but once again, this was a dense dough that does not develop those big bubbles. In the focaccia recipe, I've had new bubbles rise up as I'm stretching the dough into the baking sheet.

We're still working on the site, and will have a button to convert from weight to volume shortly. There is a conversions page where you can convert each ingredient, one at a time. To help you out: Flour 10 3/4 cups Water 3 3/4 cups Salt 5 teaspoons Oil 5 tablespoons Yeast 1 1/4 teaspoons By the way, I use grapeseed oil because it has a high smoke point and it's a healthy oil. You can substitute olive oil if you like, or vegetable oil... Also, I do a lot of things to taste. The amount of herbs you sprinkle with, or the amount of olive oil you dribble over the top is entirely up to you, within reason. You don't want it swimming in olive oil, nor do you want a layer of herbs.... Same is true with the salt you sprinkle on top.... to your taste. I can't overstate how nice the maldon sea salt is if you have some. It adds a nice crunch

I agree with a lot of what Tino said, with one caveat. The no-knead focaccia I've posted is designed to replace the poolish or pre-ferment. I've tasted baguettes, one made with a poolish, and one with the no-knead method side by side and there was virtually no difference. You'll note that the yeast volume is rather low, and allows for a slow fermentation and flavor development. Furthermore, Using a mixer with a poolish results in greater oxidation of the dough which tends to decrease flavor. The no-knead doughs trade some fermentation time for the reduced oxidation resulting in near equal results.

Working on a new recipe for Pumpernickel Raisin bread. Here's my first attempt. I've adjusted the recipe a bit more, adding a little more salt, and more water. If you're interested, you can find the recipe and step by step pictures at http://www.recipesonrails.com/recipes/show/532

LOL, right... in part. Many of the measurements are my own, and others the result of web research. We have tools for an admin to add new items/weights if someone wants to submit something that is missing. Any one of us could measure a teaspoon (or whatever) of garlic powder 5 times and get different results each time. That's the frustration with volume measures, and there is no real standards. Most of my own recipes go by weight, which is much more accurate. Unfortunately, there is no gold standard for the conversions, and we're doing the best we can. We're aware that there are more possible conversions (British Tablespoons, drops, smidge, firkins, and gills, etc), and we know the web serves the world. On the other hand, we have to start somewhere, and can't meet everyone's needs right away. This is a start, and like I said, we're welcoming any comments. If we get feedback that a conversion to firkins would really be used by many visitors, we'll do it Gills and smidges and koku, oh my!

I know this was a recent thread, so I decided so see if we could make a contribution. We've put together an ingredient conversion calculator, and I'd appreciate any comments/suggestions. I know that "a pint's a pound the world around" but there's plenty of room for discussion when you work with teaspoons and tablespoons. We're using grams in a cup for our foundation, and going from there. Please play with it, and let me know if you have some suggestions. You can find it at: http://www.recipesonrails.com/conversions

Thanks for the quick reply. I did see that in the course, but also noticed the comment that consomme is usually made in a narrow stock pot (marmite ? ). The first few ladle fulls would be easy as shown in the picture, but seems it would be another story as you're reaching into the pot. You also talked about the raft being a sponge. For some reason, it's just not clicking for me how you get those last ladle out, or are they just sacrificed in favor of a clear consomme?

As proof these courses are great and live on, here I am reviewing one three years later Thanks for a great course. I do have a question if you're still following the course. I'm still somewhat confused about the final steps of decanting the consomme. I take it you can't just pour it into a strainer, yet you don't remove the raft either. Could you review how you do this last step with a little more detail for dweebs like me? thanks.

I believe mixing, stretching, and kneading to be three different processes. If you're asking whether gluten starts to develop when you start mixing, I'd have to agree with you. In fact, it starts to develop as soon as you add water. I can assure you that the results from my recipe are not "cakey" and the gluten is well developed. I believe you can tell that from the sheen given off by the walls of the holes. Did you look at the picture?

With all the talk about stock, pressing and cloudy results, could someone explain the process of using egg whites to clarify a stock? Do you beat the egg whites before you add them? Do you stir the egg whites into the stock? How many egg whites do you use? When do you remove the "raft"?

Chris, if you're interested, I came up with a no-knead version of focaccia that turns out really great. Doesn't require overnight fermentation. You can find pictures and the recipe HERE