ray goud
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Posts posted by ray goud
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The first time I tried quinoa it took forever to cook to a tender state. So I threw out that package and bought another brand, which cooked to doneness in one third the time. I suggest you cook a small portion your first time to get a feel for how it will respond when you need it for something important.
Since then, I don't care enough about it to search it out.
Ray
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I recently purchased a book, “Easy Japanese Pickling”, by Seiko Ogawa. It was written, translated into English, and printed in Japan. One of the ingredients which figures prominently in at least seventeen recipes is “nuka”. It is a bed of rice bran, which is typically made at home in a time-consuming process. After being established, one buries the vegetables to be pickled into the nuka bed, where they are pickled and become nukazuke. The book mentions an “instant” nuka (greatly shortening the time to get the nuka ready for pickling), called “nuka-doko”, or “nukazuke no moto”. Apparently these may be brands of the instant nuka available in Japan. Unfortunately the book gives no sources of supply in the USA. Googling the nuka was fruitless for me. I learned a lot about the home-made nuka bed, but no sources of where to get the instant product. Does anyone know of a reliable source? Has anyone done business with a specialty Japanese market called Mitsuwa in Edgewater, NJ ?
Thanks,
Ray
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Beside the technical issues, all of which could be addressed and resolved, the main problem to me would be:
What do you do when you want to have running AT THE SAME TIME a crock pot, a deep fryer, a pressure cooker, etc., for that holiday party or whatever? You then would need to have several of that multi-purpose appliance.
And, when that one appliance goes on the fritz, you can do NOTHING, because that's all you thought you'd need, so you bought nothing else.
So, what's the point, other than reducing used-up counter space, and cabinet volume?
Ray
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Is it possible to have a cast iron frying pan that is too smooth? I got a tiny frying pan at the local goodwill that I basically use for frying garlic in butter. When I got it, it was the mess that used frying pans typically are, so I sanded the crap out of it. When I finished the bumps had all sanded off, and it was as smooth as can be. It hasn't taken a seasoning, though for frying garlic this doesn't really matter. My girlfriend has a steel wok (not cast iron). The surface is super smooth as well. I tried seasoning it the way I seasoned my large cast iron frying pan, but the seasoning just flakes off. It seems like you need a little roughness, but then weren't machined cast iron frying pans extremly smooth as well? Anyway if smoothness is an issue, maybe all the sanding on your frying pan made it too smooth.
While we're talking about seasoning, has there ever been a scientific examination/explanation of what actually happens when frying pans are seasoned? I hear a lot of theories, but it all sounds like educated guesses to me.
Some people say the pores are opening and absorbing oil, I've heard others say this is not true. If it is true, why not fill the frying pan with a centimetre of oil and heat it on an element? Surely this would saturate it. Also, it's not like metal absorbs a lot of oil anyway. Surely any oil absorbed would be released when it was heated again?
I've also read that seasoning is just oil burned on the surface. This makes more sense to me as frying pans that are too smooth wouln't have anything for the oil to grip to, but then why does cooking at too high of a tempurature burn off the seasoning? And what tempurature is right? Do you want if above or below the smoking point of the oil to season properly? Will an oil with a low smoking point season at a lower temperature than a high smoke point oil? Will this the low smoke point oil seasoning burn off at a lower tempurature than a high smoke point seasoning? Is a thin layer of oil neccesary to burn it on, or can you just dump a cup of oil in the frying pan and let it cook for 6 hours?
Although many have seen the info on the following site, others may glean some knowledge from it. It is not the last word; there isn't one. However, these guys make the utensils:
www.lodgemfg.com/useandcare.asp
Also, I'm not home right now, but there may be some more info in Harold McGee's book on food science. I'll check when I return.
Ray
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I use the oven method with Crisco, but at 500 degrees. I start off with the skillet upside down on the top rack with aluminum foil underneath. Flip it after 25-30 minutes, give it another half hour or so and it comes out black as night. We clean and reason in much the same way as Octaveman's recent post.
When I first got my skillet I tried the lower temp baking method but it just resulted in a caramel-colored tacky (in all senses of the word) coating. It eventually turned black but the seasoning kept flaking off. Eventually I took it all off with a flat head screwdriver and started from scratch with the higher oven temp.
Edit: There was a post some time last year in the Yahoo "Good Eats" group where a poster tried accelerating the aging process on his skillet. As part of this process he sanded his skillet down but the action did not appear to have any detrimental effects to the seasoning process.
Another mistake I made in my earlier baking-seasoning attempts was to use too much Crisco. I use a really light coat now, and the side benefit is very little smoking. The skillet actually has not been fully re-seasoned in about 2 years because it's held up well and gets a decent amount of use.
Larrylee is correct about not needing animal fat; vegetable oil of almost any type (but not olive oil-it smokes too easily) will work fine. His high temperature of 500 degrees may be a little too high, but nduran's low temp. of 300 is way too low, and too low is the wrong direction to be in when one is seasoning a pan.
I have used both Pam (!) and canola oil to season cast iron, at about 400 degrees. Both result in a surface more slippery than the old-style teflon, but not quite as good as the new super-hard coatings. Also, I didn't bother to turn my pans upside down; that way they didn't drip in the oven.
Ray
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WOW!
I wish this had been available when I bought an Extech unit for my pizza/bake oven. This unit you mention seems to be just the thing. Thanks!
Ray
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My favorite, OF ALL TIME, (and I am 61 years old and have been stir-frying for thirty years) is the electric wok by Cuisinart. It IS non-stick, and I don't care if it start to flake in the future because I know my chemistry. It hasn't begun to flake yet after a year, and I don't expect it to. I use wooden tools exclusively. It plugs into a dedicated outlet, it heats stupendously quickly, and I LOVE it! I gort mine from Amazon.
Ray
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Now that you have a nice, inexpensive and adaptable baking system for your indoor oven (and I am SUPER happy for you!), let me know if you want to try an outdoor pizza oven; I built mine a few years ago, and if you think your indoor oven/quarry tiles are nice, the outdoor one is fantastic.
On another note, perhaps you might enjoy the videos which have been released of Julia's first TV cooking shows. I have a few, and they are great.
Ray
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Ok my bottom oven rack is lined with quarry tiles and I want to bake a pizza ....do I need to season them or do anything at all to them I just wiped them well with a damp cloth and stuck them in there ...
just preheat well and toss the pizza on them???
No sealing, no prep, just cook.
Happy tasting!
Ray
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There's a reason why it's hard to find -- if it worked, all the brick & mortar home stores would carry them, all your friends would have one, etc. But, it doesn't work well, and that's why everyone I know has a Weber...
And using a charcoal grill for a small amount of food is not wasteful, IF you remember to close the vents (starve the oxygen) on your Weber when you're done cooking. Those coals can be used again.
A double agreement to you, Joe.
Ray
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I've been using a stone for years. When I'm not doing breads or pizzas, I usually put the stone on either the lowest shelf in my oven or on the floor. Using the stone causes my oven to maintain a much more even temperature. If I have to open the door to check on the food, the oven temperature returns to normal much quicker. The only downside is that I have to remember to turn on the oven AT LEAST 30 minutes before I need it. And if I'm baking breads at 450-475 deg F, I turn it on a full hour ahead of time to let the stone heat to the right temperature.
I don't know that I would suggest a particular brand, but I would stay away from the stones with the handles -- you're giving up precious surface area. I've also used both round stones and rectangular stones. Round stones are great if you are doing pizzas or a loaf or two of bread, but again, you are limited by the actual surface area. I'd go with a nice rectangular one that fits in your oven.
One last piece of advise -- and this is more for bread making. If you do water injections to create steam, be careful not to hit the stone ... it could crack. An instructor I once had actually used unglazed quarry tiles instead of a stone. They were dirt cheap, and if one happened to crack -- eh, no biggie -- she'd just replaced the one that cracked.
I have always, and only, used the unglazed quarry tiles, because Julia told us to, many years ago! Seriously, they are very inexpensive and can be cut to fit your oven (generally they come as squares measuring about six by six). I love them, and they never crack, despite a glassful of ice-cubes & water in the oven when I do my bread. The ONLY complaint I have is that they sometimes move around if I am sloppy, and leave small gaps between unless I push them back together. But that is a very tiny downside.
Ray
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The Food Network has evolved into a bunch of shows designed to appeal to 17-25 year old male gamers who have two-minute attention spans, who love super-jittery-close-ups of people putting food in their mouths, all the while uttering "awesome" and "fabulous". That there is ANYTHING of value still on it (Alton?) is an anomoly. We must all wait until those "viewers" lose their patience and move on to something else, before we can hope for any improvement to the FoodTV line-up.
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....I was disappointed to see them dedicate a show to a low calorie cheesecake this last weekend. It's like making a tofu T-bone
...what's the point?Yeah, what's up with that? I DVR a whole lot more ATK than I watch, but I still manage to catch most of the shows every season. I like the new set a little, but I'm distraught about Adam's facial hair. What the hell is wrong with this guy? He looks like he just barely made bail in time for the taping.
Give the guy a break - he's a Vermonter!
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Lora Brody.
"Slow Cooker Cooking"
'nuff said.
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By the way, Lee Valley is an excellent mail-order house.
I just received a magazine with an ad for the device listed here:
http://www.adjustabench.com/about.asp
I haven't seen it in person, but it's another possible solution. Might not add to the esthetics of a designer kitchen, though...
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I've been waiting for what seems to me forever for Sara's new cooking show to begin on PBS. Does anyone (an insider?) know when PBS intends to start airing it? Has it finished taping? Sara, are you there?
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This might be just the thing, if you are willing to pay for industrial quality:
McMaster Carr company,
mcmaster.com
has tables with adjustable height and top slope. Their catalog number is 6103t6, and they have three different sizes. Use that link to get to their site and type in that cat.#. I can recommend the company without reservations, provided you accept the price premium for quality and having stuff in-stock.
Good luck
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Thanks, I'll have to check that kind out. Would it be dangerous though to put hot liquid in the dessert whip or is it just "not recommended" because ISI wants me to buy another product? Anyone with experience?
The reason is Boyle's law: the gas pressure will increase with the higher temp., perhaps to the point of danger. They had to design it to some internal pressure keeping in mind cost, and higher pressures are harder to contain.
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I get it, without any surprise at all. Tony Bourdain is in the business of selling himself (as are many other foodie celebs), so having exposure through Oprah only makes sense. I don't think it is a bad idea, regardless of how I feel about him. It is simply typical for people on the rising side of the escalator to do. I hardly ever watch him any more because he seems to crave attention through doing sensational things.
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I was a manufacturing and design engineer for thirty years. The other thirty I spent keeping my eyes open and learning. One wants rivets for strength and durability. Welds are for saving money. That's it.
Ray
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Do more research, please. Especially of the effects that salt curing has on ALL bacteria. If one limits themself to the Internet as a source of information, they deserve the danger they expose themself to.
The most important aspect of this discussion, not yet mentioned, is what might happen to the hams AFTER they are done curing. That is the time of most risk of being re-infected with any bacterium. The surface gets cleaned off of excess salt, and may be cut using unclean appliances. I would prefer buying the whole ham, or portions cut by people familiar with food safety, like my local Italian deli.
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This thread has really turned me on to soapstone (not that I'll be anywhere near building my own kitchen in the next several years)! I was just curious if anyone had pictures of a well-used counter? All the pictures I've seen so far have been new countertops, and I think it would be useful to see what a "lived-in" counter looks like.
My countertop is now two years old and I don't think it looks any different than the day after it was installed. One would need a camera with a very good close-up capability and acute side-lighting to be able to see any of the little scratches and divots. That's because those defects instantly disappear with mineral oil. You might want to google Rod Zander who installs countertops and masonry stoves, and installed my counter. He has a soapstone counter of his own and he might have pictures to share.
Ray
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I am a fan of Jamon and have the first order for the Jamon Iberico from Tienda. But until the producer of the country ham produced in this country certifies that thier ham is fit to consume raw, it would be folly to do so.
Listeria occurs even in imported Prosciutto from time to time with frequent recalls so the matter is not academic. It is easy for writers and others to say the product is safe raw but the producer needs to stand behind his product with the USDA at his side. Say what you want about USDA standards about raw milk products and other items, but they have done a good job in food safety.
You are correct in saying that Scotts uses no nitrates or nitrites for that matter which is why we use thier products but not raw.-Dick
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo..._g.htm#symptoms
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/recalls/prelease/pr052-2002.htm
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/1....2002.tb08742.x
Pay particular attention to the last reference, "Therefore, the survival of L. monocytogenes on country-cured ham represents a risk."
You left out the previous sentence, that the inoculated hams were positive for the listeria after following enrichment procedures at the end of the aging process. What did they mean by "enrichment procedures"? Does that have anything to do with the real world?
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This thread should be helpful-it was to me when I was doing my kitchen. I had the exact same concerns and tastes as you and went with soapstone. The one thing I would caution you about, and you'll read about this in that thread, is that it does chip and scratch easily. Much easier than I was led to believe. We still love it, though. If I was to do it again I would look more into honed (non-shiny) granite or slate-slate has that same look but when it chips, the chips are the same dark color as the surface. When soapstone chips it is chalky white, so it's very noticable.
FYI, mineral oil doesn't "seal" soapstone. Soapstone is non-porous. People oil the stone to speed up the oxidizing process-turning it from that dull grey to black. It makes it look really nice and new. Even if you don't oil it will still turn color, it will just take longer. Also oiling makes the scratches less noticable, since it oxidizes the newly exposed surface.
Soapstone doesn't really stain-I say doesn't "really" because there is one spot where my husband sets his used coffee filter every day, and over time that spot shows a little brown. But we've never actually made an attempt to get the brown out, since it's not very noticable. If you're concerned that you will spill tumeric during cooking, and that it will stain before you clean up, don't be. The stoneyard can give you a sample of the stone so you can try that-we took ours (un-oiled) and spilled wine and all sorts of stuff on it. It didn't stain.
Re: veining and mottling: We saw lots of different patterns and variations in the stone warehouse, and we picked the exact ones we wanted (we liked veins). If they don't have a look you like, ask when they will get more in, or keep looking at other vendors. It is of course a crapshoot-you might describe the look you like to the stone vendor, and ask how commonly they get that look in. I never saw any soapstone that had no veins or mottling (these are obvious even before it's been oil treated). If you love that look, consider slate-it sounds like it has exactly the look you want.
Sorry, but soapstone does not "oxidize" at all. Oxidation is defined as something chemically combining with oxygen, and soapstone doesn't do that. Adding oil to the surface merely changes the optical properties, making it appear darker, and it DOES seal it to the extent that it is LESS likely to absorb any other solvent, such as water. And the mineral oil does not oxidize readily at room temperatures. As a corollary, adding oil to wood does not immediately oxidize the wood, but makes it look immediately darker because it changes the optical property of its surface. Interestingly, soapstone resists just about every acid one is likely to have in a kitchen (and most chem labs). My soapstone counter is now two years old, and though I love it, my wife is unhappy about it being easy to scratch, even though the the scratches instantly disappear with a little oil rubbed into them.
I recently tested soapstone for its resistance to turmeric (for a relative) and it was totally unaffected by the spice in either hot water or hot oil.
Ray
Homemade Mayonnaise: Technique, Troubleshooting, Storage
in Cooking
Posted
When in doubt, consult the expert for us foodies who are not pro chefs: Julia Child. On page 117 in her and Jacques Pepin's book "Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home", is the most foolproof method, with a food processor. And if you can get them, use pasteurized eggs to be safe. Pasteurizing does not affect the eggs' ability to make an emulsion.
Ray