mtigges

I would feel guilty if I didn't contribute to the first new topic here in years. I'm not an expert at all, but I've been going to Lin Shan Dong quite a bit in the last couple of months, as I work somewhere near by. I'm hoping to have lunch there again today actually. I love this place, absolutely delicious. And their dumplings are fantastic too. I will have to try the other places you mentioned.

I like Andrew Morrison's work in the west ender.

One thing no one has mentioned is my habit. If I'm prepping for a larger meal I reach for my gyuto, but if I'm just slicing an onion and some garlic for something smaller like a leftover then I reach for my smaller cutting board. Any time I use it, I have to reach for my santuko. I have two, but in this case, I'm talking about my Shun Sumo santuko. Heavy like a bigger knife, but short enough that it's easier to handle for smaller amounts of prep on my smaller cutting board. I think that consideration of knife to use is determined somewhat (but not trivially) by the surface your using it against.

Not sure about goose, but duck can be found at many locations. Off the top of my head, Armandos at GI, Gourmet warehouse, Sebastian & Co. I'd be willing to be that Market Meats has it. edited to fix the name of Sebastian & Co.

I use this. I bought it after my 20 yo foodsaver died. There's a discussion in this forum on vacuum sealers in general. I use it for much more than packaging food for SV and I absolutely love it. I highly recommend it.

Lobster is on my shortlist of things to try, so thanks for this post. My question is, why does everyone stick to just the tails. Is there a particular reason why the claws aren't used as well? What did you do with them since you didn't use them. I suppose you could use them in a salad, and include the meat in the legs via AB's extraction method. But is there a reason the claws aren't mentioned in the same breath as SV?

I use it in C and as Larry said, setting resolution is .5 degrees. The reason that the setting resolution is coarser than the measuring resolution is that it has to be if PID control is going to work. If it needs to maintain to a tenth of a degree, then it needs to be able to accurately measure to withen hundreths of a degree (maybe not that good, but the main point remains). It can't properly maintain to a tenth if that is its measurement resolution limit as it cannot understand the rate of change well enough; you would incur significant oscillation around the set temperature. Increasing the measurement resolution would greatly increase the cost. I have now done several animal proteins and fish in this thing, ranging from 60 C (140F) to 63 C. I would love to see the person that can accurately discern the difference between a duck breast cooked at 60 and one cooked at 60.5. Measurement resolution would become more important at temps below 60 C, but I don't plan on going lower. So, I for one don't care. M.

Confit. It's perhaps a little late, but as the person that brought up the contentious confit, let me explain. I would never suggest that people would be absolutely crazy to not make it themselves. If there is not oil or vinegar available, you have to buy dressing if you need it. If there is no duck (or whatever protein) you want available, you would have to buy confit. It is however falacious to equate those two at the same level of stapledom merely because the assertions follow the same sentence pattern. I was really mentioning stock. As it had been mentioned, I suggested that were one to buy whole ducks for said stock ... make confit, you'd be crazy not too. I'd be willing to bet if a home cook is buying whole birds to break down to make stock, they know what confit is. I wasn't suggesting that people who could barely put together a salad dressing attempt to break down a duck and make confit. To argue otherwise is assinine. I think this is a great topic, but also that it's unfortunately gotten bogged down a little by different notions of what it should be. I personally don't think that those items you'd be crazy to not make yourself need be easy. There's all kinds of different reasons you should do something; as above, you happen to have a couple of duck legs that you have to do something with. (NB: making pedestrian confit is much easier than a braised duck leg dinner imo.) M.

I was going to say stock. But after MaryMc, I will say Duck Confit (after buying a whole duck, breaking it down for breasts, stock and confit).

Too bad one of the plants burned down yesterday.

My wife and I never party go out. We just stay in and have a nice dinner. Here's my plan. 1. Goose oyster I went shopping yesterday for third course and saw they had an extra goose, so I'm breaking it down, and the oysters will sous-vide, then seared and then served with a small amount of reduced stock, probably mounted with a touch of fat, heh heh. 2. Coho collars. I'll marinate them and broil them. These are still left over from a midsummer fishing trip. Not sure what the side will be yet. 3. Short ribs. They went in to the water bath yesterday. Sous vide for around 2 days. Then seared on one side, and sauced with a little over goose gravy from xmas. I know that won't be the best saucing, but we have quite a bit of left over gravy. I'll make a leek risotto for the side. 4. Cheese. ------ Chris ... what is Mexican coke?

That right there is the salient point. For me, there is a single dish that alone makes it worth it. My level of devotion to short ribs is without bound. The idea of being able to achieve medium rare, meltingly tender short rib is by itself justification enough to spend this money. What makes it worth it, is how much you value what you can do with a sous vide setup that you cannot in any other way. Somewhere I read about what happens to potatos cooked at the right temperature, they cook but something else doesn't break down resulting in something very unique. I can't remember anymore what it was (because it doesn't interest me that much), but no doubt, that idea makes someone salivate. The point is there are things you can do with sv that are simply not achievable any other way. What's it worth to you? Changes for everybody. Damn I wish I had a huge stone hearth.

This topic has dropped the radar, but I thought I would revive it. Last night I was just about to start cooking dinner when Mr. UPS knocked on the door. Heh Heh, my xmas to myself arrived. Not that I was ignoring what I read here from happy customers, but I pulled the trigger when Ruhlman talked it up on his site last week. So, I dropped a duck breast in there at 63C for about 40min. Various souces (the internet, Under Pressure) told me 60.5C for 30 minutes. For safety sake I went with what the SVS book says about duck breast, but I ignored the fact that they say 2 hours (holy CYA). Absolutely amazing. I'm totally blown away. I seared the breast skin side down after it was done in the SVS. Possibly the best part about this, is I ended up with a thicker layer of unrendered fat . This morning I did an egg at 62.5 for 1:15. Gorgeous. Tonight, it's a double bone Kurobata pork chop. I've wanted to dive into SV for a very long time. But call me silly, but the aesthetics of a rice cooker, or slow cooker with a pid sensor snaking into it through the lid turned me off just enough to not bother. So, despite the extra cost, I opted for this thing, and thus far I don't regret. And don't think I will. It's fantastic.

The water on this side of the mountains is soft, so the crust will never mineralize to that perfect, crispy-chewy char. Pfffft, silly excuse. Brewers change the water profile depending on the style of beer they're brewing.

GOOSE!!! I'm a member of german family, and it has been our traditional christmas dinner. If you can get a good local goose you absolutely must do goose. If you like duck you should love goose. I know at least one person on this thread says they prefer duck, but I suspect that is the minority. A friend I used to work with looked at me sideways when I told her that we always ate goose. She's a little bit of a fussy eater, but knowing I like to cook asked me to roast one and show her what the fuss was. Now, I had once roasted a duck the german way (stuffed with apples, garlic and sundry dried fruits), and had helped my mom a few times, but I was still a little hesitant. It's really not a big deal. We got one from Armando on GI, organically grown in the Fraser Valley. Just stuff the bird, poke the crap out of the fat, salt and pepper, sew up the cavity, roast! Poor off the fat every 20 minutes and poke it some more. Keep roasting until the legs wiggle nicely. My friend was over the moon, it was two years ago, and she still talks about it, she wants it again this year. And, while you're plating it make sure to snack on those luscious crispy fatty bits around the back end, mmmmmmmmmmm. Also, as mentioned, save the fat, buy some local ducks and use the fat for confit. You should get around a litre of fat. Edited to add: If you're thinking of goose, decide soon and order it. Don't count on getting a good one last minute.

Fun topic, the obvious ... Swap out iceberg for your choice, perhaps romaine. Don't make mayo, 3 parts fat to 1 part vinegar, enough to make a dressing with the egg yolk & with salt and pepper, dijon, perhaps a little hot sauce. Make bacon bits. assemble tasty salad. Oh, and use the bread to make some croutons. m

I believe that for systems built out of insulated vessels like slow cookers or rice cookers circulation is almost irrelevant. Systems like the PolySci immersion circulators bring water in one tube heat it, and squirt it out another, or immerse the heating element and squirt the water around. They are meant to be clamped on the side of a large tray. There are two problems with that design. First, because this tray has no heater at the base of it like the aforementioned cookers there is no convection, second, because of the high surface area (compounded by the fact that there's no lid) the efficiency is ridiculously low. If you're using a vessel with significant convection and insulation you don't need to circulate. It will help a PID reach target if the water is circulating but not that much, and once you're stable you absolutely don't need to circulate. The main reason for doing it with an excellent immersion circulator is convenience. Particularly, it allows techs (or cooks) to insert and remove multiple trays (or bags of food) at (and for) different times. In the home that's just not nearly as large a consideration.

On Saturday, I bought two ducks, portioned them to breasts and legs, made confit, ate a breast and froze the rest, made stock, a pot of rillete, and today plan on making a nice noodle soup with the stock and the left over picked off meat. My plan was to make my regular noodle, one egg, white flour, whirred in a food processor, rest, then # 5 fettucini on a marconi. I'm willing to be encouraged to refine this noodle. Due to my wifes recent bread making obsession I have just about every flour you can imagine, even spelt, but I don't have rice flour (I don't think). So, any suggestions on what kind of noodle?

Well, the topic search function in the new eG is now very less useful than it should be, so I have no idea (unless I read every post in this thread) if it's been mentioned. I visited Market Meats on 4th at the top of the hill beside Seven Seas. Absolutely first rate, totally comparable to Armando's, and better in some respects. Mark.

I luckily enough got invited on a fishing charter this summer. No one wanted the salmon bellies or collars. I ended up with a ridiculous largess of these best parts of the fish. The sheers are in use to trim the fins before grilling. I couldn't get them off any other way. If I had a heavy duty chinese cleaver I could probably hack them off, but they're tough buggers. Otherwise they usually only get used for extracating the spine of chicken.

My standard is about 300 ml of good apple juice, then a handful of frozen blueberries, and a couple of frozen strawberries. We buy those fruits by the pound in the spring and summer and vacuum pack for use all year especially for smoothies. If we let a hand of bananas go to long, I'll throw a slice in. My wife likes some yoghurt. But, I really don't like water. It tastes much better with good apple juice. And on the blender side, I have a l'equip. It has a tachometer Faithfully serving me smoothies for many years now. Best blender I've ever had (but I've never owned a vita mix).

Find a homebrewer who is willing to make a pre-prohibition classic american pilsner for you. Two problems though, first, it takes at least one month, and that's an absolute bare minimum, more like two. Second, it's a very difficult beer to make well. Unfortunately, I don't think there are any commercial examples anymore. cap You cannot make that beer without a mash, regardless of what that link purports. It's a great beer.

I haven't played with the machine yet as much as Andiesenji has, I've only packed the shelling peas from our garden. So my joy with this machine is just due to it's obvious quality. It feels right. It is obvious to me that I can now do liquids. My old Foodsaver was so old that it was one of the original models that you had to slip the bag over a little nozzle. There was no way to do liquids at all. I haven't used a newer Foodsaver, so my exuberance might have been tempered if my old machine were more modern. One specific difference from my old machine is the seal on the bag. The element on the BCU pro produces a seal that is about half centimetre wide. Not sure about newer foodsavers, but my old one made a seal about one millimetre wide, and these somewhat frequently failed. The old adage here applies, it's rarely worth it to skimp on quality when you're buying a tool. My 25 year old foodsaver is the exception. The BCU is solidly constructed, simple & foolproof to operate and engineered well.

I have recently done what andiesenji did, replace a foodsaver with a BCU pro. I have posted previously on this thread about my foodsaver. Inherited from my parents ... it is probably 25 years old. It did one bag this year of peas from our garden, and then wouldn't produce a vacuum. The pump runs, but there is probably a loose seal somewhere that I couldn't find. I had lusted after those BCU pro's and I can justify it for the amount of hops that I pack each year, so I said a eulogy for my moms foodsaver and got out my mastercard. slkinsey severely understates the matter. The difference between these machines is akin to the difference between an 8bit sinclair and the computer you're reading this with. I hate to sound like a shill, I loved my food saver, and got a lot of great use out of it. But this is a whole 'nother world. It is a proper machine. Like the difference between a tonka and the real thing. There are multiple posts on this thread of people who have experienced poor reliability on consumer grade devices like the foodsaver. I can now honestly say that anyone considering buying a sealer should spend the extra money.

While I'm not sure what exactly you mean by "regular" be aware that botulism spores are commonly found throughout soils in North America. It should never be assumed that anything harvested from your garden is free of botulism spores.