mkayahara

I had a batch of bacon ready today, so I tried out this suggestion for smoking it. I put the wet chips in a foil pouch and put them in the grill over low, right on top of the heat diffusing plate. After 45 minutes, I had some wisps of smoke, so I put the bacon on the side of the grill that was turned off. After 2 hours, the bacon was up to temp, but I never really had more than a wisp of visible smoke. It's starting to pick up now, of course. I'm thinking a hybrid of the method I was using and the method I tried today would be good: either mixing in some dry chips and keeping the heat low, or using all wet chips and starting the heat higher, then dropping it once I get some smoke. Obviously, the ideal situation would be to have the wood in a separate compartment, so the heat driving the wood smoldering isn't also cooking the meat. I guess that's what a real smoker does. This smoking stuff isn't easy! Clearly I need more practice...

Does anyone know of any really great drinks that feature tequila and orgeat?

WOW - thanks for the research! Isn't it a great idea though? Like tomato paste in tubes! Sometimes a little dab will do ya. ← My life changed the day I discovered tomato paste in tubes. I did tell Nestle that it's a product I'd like to see. I imagine they won't do anything about that unless there's a sudden surge in interest in this product.

A quick search online showed that Nestle carries condensed milk in tubes in various other countries, so I called Nestle Canada and the woman I spoke with said they no longer carry any condensed milk at all here. She referred me to Smucker's, which carries Eagle Brand in Canada, but there's no evidence of tubes on their site. Based on what I've seen around the web, it looks like some of the major Asian brands (like Longevity) produce tubes, but I've never seen them before. I'll certainly keep an eye out from now on, though! I could definitely find uses for condensed milk in tubes.

Koh Kae Tom Yum-flavoured peanuts! And you can never go wrong with wasabi peas, pretzels, or chips.

The way I understand it, Cherry Heering is a liqueur. The term "cherry brandy" sometimes means a dry eau de vie like Kirsch and sometimes means a sweet liqueur, depending on who's talking and when. The same problem exists with apricot brandy, only worse because Kirsch is a much more widely known term than Marillenbrand. In some cases, like the Singapore Sling, the debate still exists as to whether kirsch or cherry liqueur is intended. Sometimes you end up having to try both and deciding which you like better!

I'm thinking I should have asked some of these questions before I began this process! I'll give your suggested approach a try next time. And if I end up having to make more andouille, so be it! By the way, I'm assuming I can freeze the andouille now, right?

I frequently soak wood ships overnight, so it should not be a problem. They will just become completely saturated, which I would think would enhance the smoldering action. Did you have your grill set as low as it would go, with only one burner turned on? 45 minutes is a really short smoke. ← Thanks, I'll try leaving the chips for a bit and see what happens. The approach I've been using is to mix the soaked chips with some dry ones, so the dry ones start smoldering right away and then the wet ones catch once they dry out. I definitely had only one burner on, but it was set to medium or medium-high. I'm always worried that the chips won't actually smolder if the heat is too low. Am I wrong on that? If I can keep the single burner on low and draw out the smoking process, I'd really like to. As you say, 45 minutes is a really short smoke, and I'd like to smoke things for a lot longer, if I can. (I have some bacon that should be cured by Sunday...) On the other hand, these sausages still smell pretty good!

I didn't end up doing them last night, because life got in the way. But I needn't have worried anyway: I fired up the grill this morning, and after 45 minutes, the sausages had already overshot 150F. I'm a little worried they won't taste very smoky, but I guess we'll see. If they don't, I'll just have to buy (or make) a dedicated smoker! Because I was expecting this process to take a little longer, I now have a bunch of extra wood chips soaking in water. Can I leave them there for a few days, or do I have to use them pretty soon?

I smoked them at a very low temp this last time (170 F) so it took a LONG time, something like 8 hours. What temp are you smoking at? That's what will govern how long it takes. ← Thanks, Chris. I'm just smoking with chips in a foil pouch on a gas grill, so I'll be lucky if I can keep the temp down around 200F. Sounds like I could probably give it a try tonight!

I have a question for those of you who have made the smoked andouille: how long did you end up smoking them for to get them to the recommended temperature? I have a batch that I'm just about to stuff, and I'm wondering whether I'll have time to smoke them this evening, or if I should wait until tomorrow morning. Thanks!

I haven't seen any movement on the Facebook group or the website.

I'd love to hear what the "remix" factor in "Oyster and Pearls, A Remix" is. Sounds intriguing...

Remove the rings/screw bands and wash the sealed jars to remove leaked jam. If you can pick up the jar by the edges of the sealed lid using your fingertips, your seal is good. Shelf storage should be fine and you will look at the contents when you open the jar to enjoy your jam. What kind of jam did you make? I've made three batches of Boozy Floozy Peach Jam and still have half a lug of peaches looking at me. ← Thanks for the reply. I washed the jars pretty shortly after they had cooled down, and only then realized that I probably should have separated out the ones that had visibly leaked. In any case, none of the lids came off when I tugged on them, so I'll just check for mold when I open them! (And warn anyone I give them to...) Oh, and it was straight-up damson plum jam that I made. Next week is grape jelly!

Perfect, thanks!

How do you know if the seal is good after the jars have leaked? Do you just use the same tests you normally would, or is there a more rigorous test you can use under these circumstances? I just had some jars of jam leak while they were being processed, and I'd like to be sure they're safe to leave on the shelf. Thanks!

Yes, there was one in the July/August 08 Imbibe. There, Haigh recommends "spicy ginger ale or ginger beer," and I've seen other references to using ginger beer for this drink. (I like to think of it as a Dark and Stormy made with Scotch instead of rum.) What kind of ginger ale did you use, Erik?

It isn't the recipe for the black sesame version, but you can see the technique here.

I picked up a bottle of Suze the other day, and mixed up a White Negroni tonight. Fabulous drink. I thought the proportions sounded kind of odd on paper, but the balance in the glass is spot-on. That said, I'm going to run out of Lillet before I run out of Suze. Any other drinks people know of that use this bitter? For that matter, is there anything I need to know about storing it, or can it just sit in the liquor cabinet alongside everything else?

I've only ever seen references to using dried fruit in bitters. Fresh fruit would have a greater water content, so of course you'll be diluting whatever spirit base you're using, at which point it would make sense to start with a higher-proof spirit. I'd think the method advocated by Jamie Boudreau - macerating each ingredient separately and then blending them to produce the final product - would be a good place to start. But then, I've only ever made one batch of my own bitters. When it comes to peach bitters in particular, is the flavour derived from the fruit or from the kernels?

This is incorrect. C. botulinum requires anaerobic conditions for spore outgrowth and toxin formation. Also note that many varieties of tomatoes are low in acid. Unless the tomatoes are sufficiently acidified pre-canning they cannot be assumed to be acidic enough to prevent C. bot outgrowth. ← That's a really good point: even if the jars did seal properly, you can end up with botulism in tomatoes if you didn't add some kind of acid (or at least make sure there was enough acid naturally present). That said, I assume what annecros was saying is that there are other kinds of nasties that can grow if there's too much air in the jar. Mostly molds, I would guess. But at least mold is visible.

How was it? ← We ended up going to the Belfry, and it was quite good. The service was very attentive at first, but fell off as the restaurant filled, to the point that we had to flag down the server to place our dessert order so we could make it to our show in time. For food: as a table, we shared the Yukon Gold fries, which were good but not the epitome of what a fry should be. The piquillo ketchup, on the other hand, was extremely tasty. We also shared the vindaloo lentil and paneer dish, which, although not as spicy as I would have expected, was extremely tasty. The only other dishes I can personally attest to were the sticky rice with barbeque pork, the octopus with sassafras glaze, chorizo and piquillos, the duck confit with jerusalem artichokes and pineapple gastrique, and the 24-hour pork belly with squid "chips." The sticky rice was fine, but no better than what I've had in dim sum restaurants, except that the pieces of pork were bigger. The octopus, on the other hand was superlative: complementary, bold flavours and good texture. The duck confit was also great, though the jerusalem artichokes were a little undercooked for my taste. I had only a taste of the 24-hour pork belly, but it was also really tasty. I'd have no problem returning here.

I've most often seen this in the context of tiki drinks, where 151-proof rum is usually used, though I imagine everclear would work at least as well. Just make sure you keep the bottle well away from the plate when you're lighting! I'd love to know what the goal is here: visual effect? Producing an aromatic smoke? Something else entirely?

By "bar sugar," are you referring to superfine sugar aka fruit sugar? If so, then I don't see any reason you couldn't just take some regular granulated for a spin in the food processor. Alton Brown did just that to make Mint Juleps on an episode of Good Eats.

I've been wondering about rinses in general for a while now. Does a rinse have a different effect on the resulting drink than, say, a dash would? I mean, once you pour the other ingredients in the glass, everything just mixes together anyway, right? Could you get a similar effect by spritzing the glass with an atomizer - or even spritzing the top of the cocktail, like you do with a twist?