tim

A which of these schmucks are better than JC?

Hi, One of our local grower raised seven mangalitsa hogs last year and finished them on pecans. They had a huge volume of fat with wonderfully marbled red meat. The Chicago restaurants who received the pigs thought there was too much fat. The pigs were very friendly and they became more friendly as they matured. Too friendly was the description. One of the finest multi-course dinners ever in my experience. Tim

I roast any chicken parts that will be used for gravy, on an elevated roasting rack. This replicates the conditions for roasting the whole turkey. Better browning on all sides of the parts and lots more fond in the pan. More fond = more flavor. Tim

Hi, I have always allowed for a pan underneath to hold ice for humidity and to catch drippings, none. I have rotated once a week for longer aging. I have never experienced any off-odor or any transfer of odor. Tim

Hi, In my experience, a stuffed cornish hen can result in dry meat; the same problem complicates cooking a stuffed turkey. An excellent solution is to serve boneless stuffed cornish hens. While it takes some time, you can remove all of the bones (leaving the drum stick) without cutting the skin, a skill I learned watching Jacques Pepin. The method is kind of like removing pajamas (the skin) from the neck down to the tail. The bird is then reversed and stuffed. In my experience a lighter fruited stuffing (farro, pearl couscous, bulger) works best. After stuffing, tightly truss around the perimeter with twine to puff up the breast and hold the shape. Roast at 400 degrees breast down (support with celery to preserve the skin) for 20 minutes. Finish breast up for another 20 minutes or to temperature. Your guests will be delighted by the easy carving boneless cornish hen. With today's larger birds, you may cut the bird in half and easily remove the bones. Each half may be stuffed and roasted in a skillet or heavy roasting pan. Tim

Hi, We have been doing this for years, and I can't remember where the idea came from. We also will use this method for a reverse sear following a low, slow and smoky time in a kettle. In that case, about one minute per side provides a nice char. This does not work on a dry aged steak. Dry aged steaks cook very fast and a heavy char does not complement that dry exterior. We also used to place steaks directly on the charcoal. This results in some extra crunch, yes from charcoal pieces. Tim

Hi, The Technivorm glass carafe and thermal carafe machines use the same brewing mechanicals; therefore the coffee comes out at the same temperature. The thermal will keep the coffee much warmer. There had been some issues with reliability on the Technivorm thermal carafe seals compounded by elusive warranty service. This may have been addressed since they have expanded their distribution. Tim

Hi, The equation for dishwasher detergents is changing; new laws limit the amount of phosphorus. All the manufacturers have reformulated their products. Cascade has dominated Consumer Reports' ratings for a long time. In the current issue, Finish Quantum and Powerball Tabs now are rated higher than Cascade Complete. There are no bargains among the top ten products. Tim

Hi, I made limoncello from inexpensive filtered 151 proof vodka, from New Hampshire. The extraction was quick. I adjusted the ratios to achieve 30% alcohol. The cost was less than half of previous batches. There is no harshness and the resulting limoncello is excellent. Tim

Hi, I have never had any allegiance to fast food restaurants but fell prey to Popeyes. What's not to love about beautifully spiced chicken pieces that are never overcooked. Two pieces of spicy dark chicken with a nice bisquit for $1.99; my wife loves the mashed potatoes and I go for the red beans and rice. As you cans see, I was captured as a customer. The worst thing is that the restaurant is clean, the people are friendly, I love the zaydeco music, and the wall paper is worth studying. My only disappointment was when they stopped serving the wonderful gumbo and the crawfish etuffee. Those dishes were incredible! Tim ps: Full disclosure requires me to admit that little Dicky Lynch grew up in my back yard. He became their Marketing Manager two years ago, long after my love was perfected. He was an incredibly sweet 5 year old little brother of my best friend and a wonderful and decent person as a marketing executive. I wish him and his company all the best.

Chris, A few thoughts on improve stock: Pack in as many bones as fit and add enough water to cover. Do that second run; it only takes 5 minutes to set up. Brown fresh chicken parts on a roasting rack in your oven. This creates a large amount of fond with beautiful flavor and color. When reducing, pull a sample every 30 minutes and compare it to the flavor 30 minutes later. This will help you decide when to stop reducing. Tim

Some thoughts on the Big Steel Keg, This egg style cooker uses double wall steel with insulation to hold the heat inside and maintain a cool exterior. The cost is significantly less than a ceramic egg and there are some construction and performance differences. Using light weight insulation implies lower thermal mass than a ceramic egg. That may translate to faster changes in heat levels with airflow adjustments. I wonder if it is possible to quickly cool the internal temperature. (This is very difficult with the ceramic eggs.) If so, it would be possible to sear prior to slow cooking a roast. I'd appreciate thoughts. Tim

Hi, I have questions and would appreciate opinions: Is there any experience with cheap ($16/fifth) 151 vodka for limoncello? It has to be better than Everclear. Does steeping more than two weeks ever leave a bitter aftertaste? This is definitely the case with orangecello made from very fresh naval oranges but I don't know why. Is it important to steep the peels in the dark? What is the best time of year to get fresh lemons at major grocery chains? Thanks for your thoughts. Tim

HI, I have been looking for a coconut sherbet/ice cream recipe. Andie Paysinger has a nice recipe for coconut sorbet in RecipeGullet that uses coconut milk, condensed milk and heavy cream/Mexican crema. Link to Coconut Sorbet I have a few questions about the recipe and would appreciate your thoughts. The recipe calls for boiling the coconut milk and condensed milk. The cream is added just before placing in an ice bath. What is the purpose of the heating? I do understand that heating the dairy products is done to denatu;re proteins but don't know the effect on the coconut milk and condensed milk. Would it be appropriate to substitute sweetened coconut cream (Coco Lopez) for the condensed milk? Are their any other recommendations for this ice cream/sherbet? Thanks, Tim

Hi, If the grill has a porcelain coating, I may be cleaned by a nice long soak. In that case, I'd use a grill cleaner or ammonia and place it in a garbage bag for a few hours. If the grill is natural cast iron, heating on high with aluminum foil topping the grate will burn the carbonized food off. Tim

Hi, We also sunk our full size refrigerator into the wall to provide for a counter-depth look and lots of extra space. By removing the plaster, lath and shifting the studs, we picked up 6" of extra depth. The full size refrigerator was actually cheaper than the same counter-depth model. The net cost was nil. Tim

Kathy, We add it to sweet/sour salad dressing to kick up the flavor. We also now make our own sauce using the ingredients listed on the bottle. Tim

Is this not obvious? Tim

Hi, These are delicacies??????? Tim

Peter, We made maple syrup when I was in grade school. Boil forever in a tall stockpot. I do remember getting a lot of maple sugar from the sides of the stockpot; this is probably the result of inadequate stirring. I understand that current practice is to us a very wide pan that is only filled to about three inches with constant refilling. Is that your technique. Do you boil to 219F? Tim

But have you talked to many restaurant owners who have been contacted by yelp?

Darienne, While I have never heard of using butter in maple candy, I do have the following thoughts. 1. It seems to me that you made maple cram/butter spread by cooking the syrup to 234F. Maple cream gets stiff when cool and is then packed into containers. It is used as a spread. 2. It is difficult to make maple sugar or candy when you have high humidity. The hot syrup will absorb water as fast as it evaporates the water. 3. When humidity drops, you can reheat the sugar to 244F. to 246F to make maple candy. Stir as the temp drops to 200 degrees then pour into molds before the temp drops to below 170 degrees. You may also complete the dehydration in a convection oven. This method makes it difficult to judge the specific gravity; you won't know if it is maple sugar or maple candy. It also changes the texture that is achieved by pouring the hot maple sugar into molds. Good luck, Tim Tim

Scoop, Your technique sounds wonderful. We'd love to see the details... Tim

Ader, I have dried basil many times in a convection oven at 150 degrees. I then crumble the herbs, seal them in glass jars and freeze. The flavor does not deteriorate and in significantly better than dried herbs from spice companies. Tim

Hi, I am highly reluctant to enter this conversation but just may have a few points to clarify the discussion. Actually, the cost differential can be significant. How about over $200 for an All-Clad or Calphalon straight guage 8 quart stockpot, that is not very thick (2.5mm) and is not that tall/narrow shape? But sometimes they do give the thinner Calphalon anodized aluminum pans away for less than $70. The important point is that extra-thick disc. They can be hard to find and the vast majority of stockpots have thin 2.5mm discs; this includes All-Clad's disc bottomed stockpots. The Sitram Profiserie line has a 12 quart tall/narrow stockpot with that 8mm aluminum disc for just over $100. Stiram Stockpot Good luck, Tim