tim

Hi, I think that some of the criteria are far too difficult for what I consider to be skilled non-professional cooks. Specifically, Level Number 3 should be revised to read, "incapable of making a Sandra Lee menu." Tim

Hi, It sounds like the Solaire and Turbo infra red grills cannot be used with the grill cover down. Can you lower the heat and roast a chicken (spatchcocked or whole) with the cover down? Tim

Dave, Let me take a guess that a wine fridge might have a bit too much humidity for curing sausage. Just a few degrees cooler and a wine fridge might just be perfect for fermenting a batch of lager. Who make one that will hold a 5 gallon carboy with an airlock? Tim

Hi, TEC's infrared burners appeared about 10 year ago. Since then, TEC has developed a second type of infrared burners. 1. The original infrared was a ceramic burner with hundreds of small holes (kind of like a perforated oven stone, that become separate gas jets. 2. TEC is not selling a radiant glass infrared burner with the gas jets fully covered. This is just a heated glass surface with a grill placed on top to hold the food. I can't imagine the performance is the same with both burners. The new glass burner prevents flare-up. (Silly me, I thought that small flare-ups resulted in that grilled flavor.) A comparison would be interesting. I also find it funny that Steven Raichlin touts the benefits of searing, saying that, "It forms an impermeable membrane on the outside of the meat that holds in the meat's juices." I'll continue searing my steaks on the hot lump charcoal with a finish with wood chips in a smoke filled and closed kettle. Tim

John, It's all a part of the trend to add sophistication to our language, similar to the "ization" of every noun imaginable. Momofuku obviously has a restaurant consultant with an MBA. It would be just as easy to say the restaurant adopts the new culinary standards or patterns. But that would be too easily understood. Tim

Hi, There are excellent pictures at the University of Nebraska's Porcine Myology website. Each of the pictures may be rotated. Loin Back (baby back) Ribs St. Louis Style Spare Ribs Pork Spare Ribs - untrimmed Tim

Doc, A real butcher will call it a hanging tender. Ask to speak to the butcher who breaks down the carcass. The hanging tender "hangs" from the 12th(?) rib across the diaphragm. If you shop gets halves, there is a 50/50 chance of finding the hanging tender. If this is perplexing to your butcher, you might want to visit a meat processing plant. Good luck, Tim

Jaymes, My guess is that you know the answer, and that it wasn't long enough. Tim

Hi, I will never forget my first visit to Sam's Wine and Liquor. We parked under the ell tracks just East of the store in total darkness. Our friends, from St. Louis, were more than slightly frightened. We walked West past some seedy storefronts and entered the store. There were lots of liquor bottles and a neighborhood customer was purchasing a half-pint of their finest and tucking it into his topcoat. The store was empty and a cardboard sign alerted us to the WINE DEPARTMENT with a downward facing arrow. It was obvious that the street level store included many wines but most of these had a 20% alcohol content. We walked past the wooden checkout counter with the large display of half pints ready to be inserted into brown paper bags. At the entrance to the WINE DEPARTMENT, there was a long metal wheel conveyor ramp which ran down the stairs to the WINE DEPARTMENT. The stairwell was narrow due to the conveyor ramp which had some whole cases of wine at the bottom. The WINE DEPARTMENT was a catacomb of small cellar rooms that must have extended past the boundaries of the wino emporium on the first floor. Each room was dedicated to one genre of offerings. While the rooms were not labeled, each stack of cases was topped with a paperboard sign denoting the provenance of the wine. There was a roomful of French Burgandy, a roomful of Bordeaux, a room of California whites, a room of Italy, Spain, Germany, New World. It was heaven and the prices matched the decor - PERFECTLY! Our friends did not appropriately understand Sam's cleaning crew which worked each room's corners as we perused the fine wines. These cockroaches were kind enough to let us search the cases without interfering. We carried our wonderful catches (at prices 30% less than expected) to the street level checkout. The staff was sparse, well informed, helpful and sold wonderful wines at bargain prices. We carried the wine to the darkness under the ell tracks and drove off toward a high-end Northern Italian restaurant. ALAS, WE WERE STOPPED BY A CHICAGO POLICE OFFICER WITH HIS WHOOPERS AT FULL SONG! He announced through his LOUD-speaker, "Mr. Granzeau, are you lost?" We pulled over and he explained that we were in an undesirable neighborhood for a resident of Springfield, IL. (High tech police equipment at its best.) We explained our visit and stole off into the night. I have visited Sam's dozens of times since that first time in 1982. As you can guess, they moved to their fancy quarters in the mid-1980's. I always find something wonderful, mostly wines but also calvados, limoncello, framboise, rainwater maderia, pastis, and just two weeks ago their VERY last case of Argiolas Costamolino Vermentino for my son's wedding rehearsal dinner. It is a treasure and will never approach the wonderful atmosphere of cockroaches and cabernet. A fond farewell, Tim

Hi, But, WHY DO THEY HAVE TO BE MONSTERS? I would love a new gas grill. I think that 30" wide (or less) would be just about perfect. I will admit that a lift up shelf on each side would be nice. I would even accept a 12" infrared burner that could double as a side burner or steak incinerator. I also want a smoke box that in precisely on top of one burner. I would also like to block all the extraneous air flows to force the smoke to linger with my food. I would like non-magnetic stainless THROUGHOUT and stainless long lasting burners. A rotisserie with its own infrared burner would also be acceptable. I do not want two extra wide shelves. I do not want to grill 64 hamburgers at the same time. I do not want to simmer a sauce outside - I may want to infrequently deep fry outside. Why do you not make a small but high-performance model to fit these specs? Tim

Hi, I love, love, absolutely love crispy fish skin. I fry fish skins and sage leaves in butter to garnish the fish.... I always scale my fish, but is that really necessary? Tim

Hi, What objective source considers the Stainless line to be superior to the MC2? Actually the stainless pans are about 2.5mm thick with about 0.9mm of lining. That nets 1.6mm of aluminum. The MC2 pans are about 3.4mm thick with about .44mm of lining. That nets about 3mm of aluminum or close to double the thickness of the conductive material. I agree with your logic on the performance advantage of the MC2 pans. All-Clad claims that all of their pans perform equally well and tout the cleaning advantage and beauty of the Stainless line. The All-Clad representatives understand that the Stainless line is the one that is being sought by new cooks. Their representatives are telling their merchants that the Stainless pans actually outperform the MC2 pans because of their lower mass and heat retention. (Really, a store owner told me the whole story!) They point out that inexperienced cooks tend to burn foods when they cook with a pan that heats up quickly and retains heat. If you believe this, you should really want to buy some of those paper thin Regal aluminum pans. Tim

Hi, Maybe this is why Jacques Pepin is sooooo slow cutting an onion! Tim

Hi, I usually separate bones from meat. Simmer the bones to fully draw collagens, maybe 6 hours. Then add meat for a two hour simmer to add that flavor. Never salt the pot IF YOU WILL BE REDUCING THE STOCK. Tim

Hi, I'd suggest crayfish butter. Tim

Chris, If each sheet of caul fat is packed separately, it only takes one minute to defrost in water. You can defrost a block of caul fat in running water for a few minutes and remove individual sheets. Place the remaining sheets back in your freezer. Tim

Binky, Yes, you have a treasure. It is incredible dusted on shipped cream over berries. You can also dry small chunks of maple sugar in an oven and mix this with double cream. It is a wonderful garnish for pumpkin/squash/sweet potato soup. Use it in almost any type of custard instead of regular sugar. Maple creme brulee, maple creme caramel, maple ice cream, etc. Roll an ice cream cone in dried maple sugar for a candied cone. Add to meringues or dust a meringue with maple sugar. Cook a ham with a savory glaze and dust with maple sugar when you remove it from the oven. Just don't store it near you tablespoons, you might just eat it straight! Tim

Jenny, Get a copy of Jame Peterson's excellent book "Sauces" and go wild! Tim

Chris, I think that the alkalinity of dishwasher detergent damages/removes the anodized surface of aluminum cookware. Natural aluminum may become stained for the same reason. In my experience, a dishwasher with an effective rinse cycle will not damage natural aluminum. Tim

Rover, Flat iron is one of the more tender steaks and has wonderful flavor. You may cook it pretty much like any other steaks with a few caveats. The grain runs the length of the flat iron steak while most other steaks are cut across the grain. This means the steak will puff up while cooking, caused by the grain shrinking. A 3/4" flat iron will cook like a much thicker strip steak. The grain running the length also means the steak will retain moisture better than a typical loin steak. A good sear on each side followed by a short roasting period is a good method to cook this or any other steak. Slice your flat iron across the grain for service. Good luck, Tim

Paul, Darcie has a regular electric cooktop. She uses cast iron on her induction hob. Darcie also has beautiful cookware purchase when copper was cheap and the US$ was expensive. She liked it so much, she bot a copper sink. Tim

Hi, Consumer Reports current issue has an article on the Most & Least Reliable Brands. In Refrigerators, the most reliable brands are GE, Kenmore and Whirpool for both side-by-side and top-freezer models. For bottom freezers consider Amana and Kenmore. In ranges the most reliable brands are GE, Hotpoint and (electric) Whirpool. The least reliable include KitchenAid and Viking. Tim

Ray, I purchase caul fats from a local meat processor. You can get the name of local processors from your state agriculture department. I had to ask for Hog Diaphragm and provided a picture of caul fat for them to understand what I was looking for. They got approval from the State Ag inspector before selling the fat to me. Pauline Market in Chicago is now selling thin slices of fat back labeled "caul fat". Tim

Yup. Not counting prep time it takes a couple of minutes. If it takes much longer the airiness of the sauce will probably be compromised. If you don't have a decently responsive pan and heat source, this will be difficult to do without curdling the eggs. otherwise it's pretty straightforward. turn up the knob and whisk like crazy. when it starts to thicken it will pull together and the bottom of the pan will start showing. keep going for a few seconds, and then pull the pan off the fire, continuing to whisk for 15 seconds or so. then you can drop the heat down and incorporate the butter. ← Hi, James Peterson's book "Sauces" explains the technique of making hollandaise over high heat in less than two minutes. I have used the method for years with no failures. It is also a great way to mightily impress your chef friends. Tim

Bob, Do yo have opinions about the mass produced knives, both Japanese and German. What would be a good knife among these brands. For the accomplished cook? For Mom - you know, cutting the carrots against her thumb? For the beginning but enthusiastic cook? Thank you for your expertize. Tim