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For cleaning surface/airborne mold and bacteria UVC lights might be useful. UVC kills a lot of things. The bulbs are now a lot less expensive than they used to be and there are a number of small consumer products with UVC lights. A person might be able to sanitize their fridge by putting a bare UVC bulb inside for some time (do not look at the light or reflected light or let light hit your skin). UVC kills bacteria and doesn't discriminate. There are small air cleaner with UVC lights integrated that don’t emit light outside of the unit (for safety reasons) that a person might be able to put in their curing box to keep air moving and kill any airborne nasties. I saw one for less than $50 at Sharper Image http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/catalog/...s/sku__SM317BLU but I am sure there are others. For those DIY types UVC bulbs are available in various forms. Many small bulbs can be found intended for pond, aquarium or water purifiers. You can also find larger ones intended for air ducts. Just be careful. UVC is harmful to eyes and skin with very little exposure. I know I’d much rather switch a light on than scrub every inch of a fridge with bleach or some other harsh chemical.

Do a search on the internet for a Johnson Controls A19AAT Thermostat. This is a $50 - $60 items that essentially bypasses your refrigerators thermostat. The unit has a socket that you plug your fridge into and a probe that you insert into the fridge. You set the temp on the unit and when the temp rises above your temp it will turn your fridge on and lower the temp. It works in a range of 20 to 80F or -7 to 27C. Also, for about $20 you can get a digital temp and humidity gauge with a probe so you can tell the humidity without opening the fridge. I haven't tried this, but you might be able to use any of the dry desiccant products like Indicating Silica Gel dry boxes. If you see the humidity climbing you could throw one of these in the fridge for a while. They can be dried out in the microwave and reused. ← Unfortunately I live in Indonesia, the utility power is 220 volt. also the number of companies in the US willing to trade with anybody located here is very low due to the high rate of credit card fraud! I will keep looking and I am sure I will be able to find something eventually! Thanks for your suggestions though, I was planning along those lines. Best Regards, Richard ← Ok. Search for "Ranco Electronic Temperature Controller". It's the same sort of product and it does 220. Try ebay. Maybe you can use paypal to get around your issues.

Do a search on the internet for a Johnson Controls A19AAT Thermostat. This is a $50 - $60 items that essentially bypasses your refrigerators thermostat. The unit has a socket that you plug your fridge into and a probe that you insert into the fridge. You set the temp on the unit and when the temp rises above your temp it will turn your fridge on and lower the temp. It works in a range of 20 to 80F or -7 to 27C. Also, for about $20 you can get a digital temp and humidity gauge with a probe so you can tell the humidity without opening the fridge. I haven't tried this, but you might be able to use any of the dry desiccant products like Indicating Silica Gel dry boxes. If you see the humidity climbing you could throw one of these in the fridge for a while. They can be dried out in the microwave and reused.

I buy the agave syrup at Whole Foods. It's a syrup made from the Agave cactus. It's a bit like honey, but with a more neutral flavor. It also has a low glycemic index.

I like agave nectar syrup and a little vanilla.

The way you fill it is you pull maybe 50cc's into the bare syringe (removed from the tube) then expel into the supplied dish. You then attach the syringe to the tube and to the main unit and pull the plunger which pulls the liquid into the nozzzles, but not into the body of the unit. If you pull too much liquid in you fill the body of the unit and this would be hard to clean. You then just have air in the syringe and the body of the unit, but the nozle tubes contain the liquid. You then push the air in the syringe to make 96 drops at once. Now that I have one of these things I can see how I can improve it. I have a few different ideas for making volumes at once. One is this method and the other involves a single nozzle, but uses a small motor to oscilate the nozzle while a stream of fluid flows. The oscilation breaks the stream into equal size drops and at fast rate and hopefully distribute evenly into the calci without colliding and making odd sizes.

For anyone interested in the caviar making tool I posted earlier. The item is a "Vaccu Pette /96" from Scienceware If you search Google you can find them cheaper than Chef Rubber. I haven't used it yet and am going on a business trip for 10 days so I'll have to report back later if this things works. I can say that its design does not allow for an easy cleaning. I'll probably end up taking a dremel tool to it. The body with the droppers is glued together so the only way that liquid is getting in or out is through the little holes. Hmm.

I would modify AB's instructions I bit and take your milk to 180-185F before letting it cool down to maybe 115 before adding your culture. The reason isn't pasturization completely, but there is a change in the milk that leads to better yogurt in my experience. If you use Fage as a culture so use their temperature of 40 °c which is lower than most cultures want. I do yogurt at 109F for instance. 115F/40c with the Fage culture might not produce the right flavor. The way it works is that different bacteria like different temps and you generally put the temp in between both ideal temps. Too high on one and you might kill it or it wont grow to low on one and it wont activate and grow. I would encourage you to try making yogurt. It really is so much better...

Chefrubber.com has alginate for $7.75 for 100g (~3.5 oz). They also have 500g (17.6 oz) of Calci for $17. I ordered some, but haven't received it yet so I can't say anything about the product etc. Price seems ok.

Is the green due to nitrite burn (oxymyoglobin) or from hydrogen peroxide accumulation? Lactic acid in the meat reacting with excessive nitrites can cause oxymyoglobin or lactics reacting with oxygen to produce hydrogen peroxide turning the meat green. So, maybe the cure or cleanliness and temperature issues? I'm no expert though. Maybe someone can make a more educated guess

If you are worried about Salmonella know that the bacteria is normally only present on/in some .03% of all eggs produced in the states per year. The shell is normally a hermetic seal to the egg inside. The bacteria may get into the egg through small cracks in the shell. Just look at your eggs shell before cracking it. If it shows some hairline cracks or whatever keep it for cooking. Don't separate your eggs in the shell. This can contaminate the egg. Crack eggs into a bowl and remove the yolks with a clean hand (washed with soap after cracking the eggs). Salmonella is only deadly in a small number of cases. 95% of people recover without even visting a doctor. 0.05% of all cases result in death. Driving is far more risky than eating olive oil gelato you make in your own kitchen in my opinion. Ok, lets see some pictures

Fage Total is cow's milk. No sheep or goat milk. They do have a product called "Authentic Greek Sheep's & Goats milk yogurt" that does contain sheep and goat milk. The sheep yogurt is not strained of whey. The Fage Total is strained to give it the thick texture. Fage is building or has built a US facility in NY. I expect that it wil be easier and easier to find. If you must have it you can find it at amazon. You'd probably have to buy a few to make the shipping cost justified. You can get the 18ounce tubs for $4.50 each. Trader Joe's sells Fage, but don't know if there is one near you. http://www.traderjoes.com/locations/search/PENNSYLVANIA.asp You can mail Fage to find out where you can find it in your area. info@FAGEUSA.com Making Yogurt is not hard or expensive to do, but it is more involved that say pealing the top off a tub of Fage and kicking back on the couch with a spoon. I think if you posted that you wanted to make it at home you would want advice on how to actually do that. Take a look at the yogurt thread. Next time you get some Fage save a few tablespoons to get the exact lactobacillus bulgaricus and streptococcus thermophilitus strains that give Fage the flavor you like. Us that as your starter culture for making yogurt. Follow all the directions for making plain yogurt and keep it at 40 °c for 5-6 hours. The long incubation will give you the tanginess. Then strain the whey out in the fridge using cheese cloth or a comercial yogurt cheese making tool. These are cheap. The reason you may not be very successful with straining store bought yogurt is that most contain gelatin or lots of pectin to make them more solid. This helps hold onto whey. Good luck.

Gelato does have egg yolks. Lots of them. I'm still experimenting with bases. Gelato uses milk instead of cream in my experience.

I had a post deleted from this thread by accident so I'm adding it back here for reference. I picked up one of these guys will provide a review after I do a little spawning...

WD-50 does maple caviar with French toast.

I think there is very little calcium in butter.

In honor or Mothers Day I've added my grandother's Rhubarb Custard Pie to RecipeGullet. I also like a very simple Rhubarb sauce. I cube up maybe 8 cups of Rhubarb and mix with 2 cups of sugar and a little water and cook on the stove until the sauce sheets off a spoon. This goes great with yogurt, icecream or pork chops etc. You name it. Good stuff. I just wish the season was longer.

Rhubarb Custard Pie Serves 8 as Dessert. My grandmother used to make this pie for me in the spring. I am copying it here from my late Grandmother's hand written recipe card. It's one of my favorites and I try to make as many as I can every season. Rhubarb Custard Pie 4 c Rhubarb (Diced) 3 Eggs 3 T Milk 1/4 c Flour 2 c Sugar* 3/4 tsp Nutmeg *Use less sugar depending on your preference and tartness of Rhubarb. . Beat Eggs lightly and add the milk. Mix and stir in the sugar, flour and nutmeg. Mix in Rhubarb and pour into 9" pie crust. Bake at 400F for 50-60 minutes. . I generally try the get Rhubarb from the first part of the season where it is still thin and dark red. This helps with the look of the pie as Rhubarb from later in the season may not have as much color and your pie might look more green than red. I have made this with Rhubarb that has been frozen raw. It tastes just as good, but I find the texture better with fresh Rhubarb. Keywords: Dessert, Pie ( RG1711 )

It's my understanding that Grits and Polenta are actually different. True grits come from white hominy. Polenta is generally from yellow corn.

You might try putting your slurry under vacuum to remove the bubbles. If you got some canisters with your vacuum machine you can put the mix in a cup and put it in one of the canisters under vacuum. I've made plastic molds in the past for sculpture and modeling and put the mold mixture under vaccum to remove the air whipped in by mixing. I had more vacuum than a Tilla machine can pull, but it might work.

How about a PacoJet? You need one. http://pacojet.com/

Hehe. You sound like you are fom California now. Like, totally. Where I'm from cubed potato's fried to crispy and soft on the inside are called "home fries". Not sure why. I know hash browns as a sort of mound of shredded/grated potato fried into a pancake shaped object that is crispy on the ownside and soft on the inside. Then again I guess you can also call those things you get at the clown or in the frozen food section that look like pucks hashbrowns. I think the type of potato makes a big difference in additon to pre-cooking before frying. I personally like red potato's, but I'm sure others have more professional opinions based on starch content etc. I cube my red potato's and boil then with salty water until I can stick a fork in them with a slight bit of effort. I drain them and chuck them in a hot pan while covering my face . I use olive oil. Don't use too high of a temp. You have to find the sweet spot. Don't move them around too much and turn them only when they are brown and crispy on the pan side. I use tongs or a fork to flip each one to make sure I crisp each side. It takes some time to do right and you may use a bit of oil. You may also need to add a bit of oil along the way. I don't add salt until the very last second. I throw the salt on and then toss the taters around in the pan. If you cooked the potato's too long in the water they will fall apart during the frying, but I sort of like the crispy bits of over fried tater with the big chunks. Also, adding some onion can be nice. I add rosemary sprigs to mine and server with a grilled salmon steak often. Let us know how it goes, KitchenQueen.

I once glued my fingers together with superglue. I would hate to glue a lung together. Freaks me out. Spend the .25 on a dust mask at least so we can see some more pics Rebel. Chicks dig scars. Lung adhesion is not hot.

Thanks. Hmm. For anyone that actually consumes these things can you confirm? The ones I have a pretty mushy in the mouth. I might even like them if they were a bit more solid. For the pickled walnut connoisseur, what is the better brand?

A European food import company near my house had an outlet sale this weekend and I picked up some interesting things I hadn't tried before. Among the interesting jars was Pickled Walnuts in Malt Vinegar. I had heard of pickled green walnuts before, but hadn't seen them until now. I popped open the jar as soon as I got home and tried some. Hmm... tastes like malt vinegar with some texture. I couldn't really taste the walnuttiness. I tried soaking a few in water for a few minutes, but really I don't think I'm experiencing pickled walnuts properly. So what are pickled walnuts supposed to taste like? Are they all looks (round and black) or did I get a sub par brand my first time out?