dougal
-
Posts
1,279 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Posts posted by dougal
-
-
I was wondering exactly what you were comparing against.
Just how small is "too small"?
Because things like
http://1st-line.com/machines/home_mod/capresso/560565.htm
ought to be able to handle quite a lot of volume for you.
I'm sure there are heavier duty machines available at a higher price,
EDIT for example http://www.1st-line.com/machines/home_mod/mazzer/index.htm
but any adjustable conical burr grinder would be a huge step up from any whirling blade type grinder.
-
... But at the beginning of the thread, she said she was simmering it on an induction burner, not in a slow cooker. The carrots in the crockpot in chicken stock were fine. Otherwise, I'd agree with you.
My old induction hob ('cook-top') would control to a very very gentle simmer. One of its strengths.
You could even melt chocolate in a cast iron pan instead of needing a double boiler.
It could actually give more gentle cooking than a slow cooker!
-
What coffee grinder are you using?
Serious coffee-heads seem to get MUCH more fussed about grinding than do spice-lovers ...
-
Sound advice from Devlin, as so often. Get Dan Lepard's 'Handmade' when you are ready to explore the world of bread possibilities.
But I think the best advice here is from Bunly Goodness
When you are getting started, pick a simple recipe with just flour, water, yeast and salt. Use a scale and document your weights and your procedure. If you don't get the results you want, change one variable at a time till you get it where you want it. Keep making it over and over again. Once you get consistent results, then you can start playing with other recipes or modified procedures.But I'd stress starting with white ('bread') flour - preferably not brominated - and plain 'instant' yeast (by which I mean not a 'bread machine' cocktail with improvers and additives). Instants will have a trace of stearate (to promote its rehydration), and Vitamin C (aka Ascorbic Acid or Ascorbate) can only do good, not harm - avoid yeasts with other additives.
"Fresh" yeast is just a factory product with a VERY short shelf life.
Instant is better - particularly for newbie domestic bakers.
Note how Bunly Goodness says "use a scale". Weigh the flour and the water. Its easy, its precise, and that puts you in control. Its important.
And know what you did. So you can tweak it in particular ways next time. You simply cannot do that if you don't know what it was that you did last time.
Mix the instant yeast, dry, with the dry flour.
Use water that is at blood heat - test it like a baby's bath. I mean it! Not cold, not hot, not even 'warm' - you want a totally 'neutral' temperature.
And don't put the dough anywhere fancy to rise.
A high shelf in a warm room is just fine.
Yeast really doesn't like it too hot.
If its a bit cool, it'll just be a little slower -- but that ain't a problem! Even if its 'under-proofed', that's OK - its much better for the bread than over-proofing. So don't push for hotter faster rising.
And remember, the slower the rise, the better the bread's flavour.
Patience is an important ingredient in bread baking!
Get that lot working before you try anything else. Don't gad about with very different recipe concepts (ciabatta, whole wheat) - get a reliable basic loaf in your portfolio before exploring alternatives.
-
I suspect the answer may be the crockpot one - too low a temperature to cook the carrots.
From the sous-vide thread, carrots want something like 80/85C. Your meat can be "falling apart" at a much lower temperature.
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...dpost&p=1563564
The longer time to thicken and evaporate down the sauce would also seem to fit with the idea that the temperature was a little lower than expected.
-
Dog food should be no salt and no onion.
Maybe that accounts for the low taste score?
-
Just went to a Shun presentation. If you have a Shun steel just below the handle ( I think it is called the hauzel) there is a round on which there is a flat spot. If you hold the steel vertically and put the back of you knife against the flat spot it will give you a 16 degree angle. Just draw the knife 4 or five times on each side. Don't press too hard.
The rep said if you send it to the factory for sharpening you only pay postage one way. They return it free of charge. Customs might have another thought.
Sorry, I don't understand that.
The angle that you get when raising the spine by a fixed amount will depend on the height of the knife (from edge to spine), and consequently you would get rather different angles with say a santoku's tall blade and a much less tall boning knife.
Also, I hope all eGullet readers are well aware of the difference between using a steel and sharpening.
Personally, my collection of inexpensive knives have been utterly transformed by my Edge Pro Apex.
I'd advise anyone considering buying expensive knives to postpone the new knives until you've made the most of what you have.
And that means 'in-house' sharpening.
Similarly, for those considering their options for maintenance of more expensive knives, I'd also suggest doing it yourself. But yes, do practice and learn on things that are less important before having a go at your pride and joy.
The Apex makes it really easy for a clumsy clot like myself to put a very good edge onto a knife. If you are as clumsy as me, then you can just tape over the knife sides to perfectly preserve its cosmetic appearance against your over-enthusiasm!
But if you are the type that likes the Zen of hand skills stuff, then sure, just get some stones. The Apex simply provides much more immediate satisfaction!
And over the lifetime of ALL your knives the cost of an Apex is quickly amortised ...
-
Abebooks has a copy for $68.
For those that don't recognise the name
are a service on which all manner of booksellers from all over the place can list their stock.
If it ain't there, its VERY VERY rare!
Maybe worth noting that you deal with the bookseller (unlike via Amazon's marketplace).
Its very useful when searching for oddities that are out of print!
-
...
that's exactly what I was getting it: the mantra of "get an oven thermometer, the thermostat in your cooker is rubbish" seems to be so ubiquitous that it seemed everyone just accepted it as the truth without questioning if the oven's own workings may actually do what they are meant to.
There might have been a time when it WAS near-universally true.
As advice goes, this is only bad advice nowadays IF it is given without qualification.
And there's plenty other out-of-date (or even nonsensical) kitchen advice given out.
-
Just got to wondering why we all seem to accept that we should get oven thermometers instead of trusting the dial on the oven itself?...
I think what I'm getting at is that unless you have a calibrated unit which you KNOW is right, why assume your oven's thermostat OR your separate thermometer are correct?
Its wrong to think there's any universal rule!
If you have a good, modern, high accuracy oven with an electronic control to the nearest 1°C, then believe it until the results force you to question its accuracy.
But if you have an antique with a mechanical switching thermostat that seems to require different cooking times or temperature settings as compared to what your trusted recipes state, then question it, check it against ANY plausible reference and adjust to improve (or get someone in to do it.) Cheap 'oven thermometers' may not be super accurate, but they will likely be more accurate than many people's oven thermostats.
Particularly in the kitchen, before accepting ANY advice being offered blindly (such as by tv chefs and others unaware of your individual knowledge, kit, circumstances or experience), its well worth asking yourself if that advice really applies in your specific case.
-
How do you plan to apply typography to a cake?
Practice ?
http://www.caketoppers.co.uk/index.asp?Pag...tions--62705630
And practice some more ...
http://www.deco.uk.com/content/view/99/135/
-
...
While it does have an integrated circuit board, it is nothing more than a timer and a digital readout of the time left, or heating setting. I'm quite certain the switch is mechanical. I would have absolutely no qualms about pulling the cord out while the unit is set to low or hi. It won't remember the time, but in this case I don't care.
...
The absolute essential is that it remembers the heat setting - or defaults to something you can work with.
The external PID will be "pulling the plug" every couple of seconds or so ...
PS - also important is that powering on/off rapidly should NEVER confuse the "integrated circuit board" - like thinking 'time left is now zero, so I'm switching off'.
Simple is what's needed!
-
How do you plan to apply typography to a cake?
I'd guess that one could make the design on paper (printout even) and 'prick through' to transfer the design as guidelines ... (isn't that how frescos were painted? OK, not the printout bit!)
I have great respect for people that can do this stuff. My skills must lie in other areas!
-
...
I will suggest that you research USDA regs on trichnosis, and follow them to the letter...Wild pig is much different than domestic when it comes to that...
...
Butchering it and then freezing the joints for about a month wouldn't be a bad idea!
And that would give you plenty time to source a temperature controller for your curing chamber.
Enough wet salt and a small fan from a scrap computer (for occasional air circulation and uniformity) ought to take care of basic humidity control.
-
Actually, most PID '3-term' controllers only control from one side -- like only applying heat, not cooling as well.
Don't know whether you've done this, but autotune stands more chance of getting things close if the temperature is already pretty stable, and pretty close to target.
So, fill your bath with 2/3 boiling water, 1/3 cold and leave it for 10 minutes to warm the bath, (cooling the water) and even out (just stir it occasionally) - and then try the autotune with a set point of very close to the actual temperature at that time.
If you want to fiddle with the P, I and D values, then it should make sense to start from the values that the 'almost there' autotune gives you.
-
...
How do you know your Thermapen is accurate, short of sending it in to a professional calibration facility?
...
IMHO, the Thermapen is good enough for home sous vide use, but I'd like to see something better for professional use.
Those that are concerned about such things might be interested in the "high accuracy" variant of the high speed Thermapen - which comes with a calibration certificate (against traceable standards).
Its also on 'April special' at $74 ...
http://www.thermoworks.com/products/therma...hite_hiacc.html
Note the spec BTW - reading to a precision of 0.1°, it is said to be accurate to ±0.8°F (or ±0.4°C for that version) over its entire range. Recognising that precision and accuracy are not the same thing is an important foundation of understanding.
Incidentally, I learn that calibration adjustment of the regular thermapens can be performed reasonably straightforwardly - the principal difficulty being the accuracy of the temperature standards...
http://www.kamado.com%2Fdiscus%2Fmessages%...ation-14348.doc
While mention is made of altitude, no mention is made of weather!
The reason boiling point varies with altitude is because of the drop in air pressure with increasing height above sea level. But air pressure varies constantly even in the exact same place - and therefore, so too does the boiling point of water.
What needs to be done is to correct for your actual current atmospheric pressure - not merely your altitude!
This should be useful http://www.csgnetwork.com/prescorh2oboilcalc.html
-
... although I haven't read any of the HAACP standards, I certainly HOPE that they call for periodic calibration of thermometers and/or circulators using NIST-certified reference thermometers. ...
But you have to admit that, over the last ten days or so, the rather 'limited' response from pro kitchens boasting about their use of traceable calibration standards would seem to indicate some basis for my earlier contention!
Perhaps there is (or should be) an opening for a new service industry?
However, for home kitchens, I don't think that many question the accuracy of ANY measuring instrument - not even their fridge, freezer or oven thermostats. So, I wouldn't expect to see much of an uptick in reference thermometer sales, based on domestic buyers.
-
I had boring reliability (and fun) with a de Dietrich induction hob.
However, when installing it, I was extremely careful to observe the under-counter ventilation and clearance instructions. My guess would be that 'cooking' the electronics might be a real risk if ventilation were ever to be obstructed.
-
I would say not really, provided to achieve proper 5/6d reduction times maintaining an intact surface isn't really a concern. in fact given adequate temp and time, a sv burger would be considerably safer then a regular grilled burger.
How does that work for Clostridium botulinum?
Isn't that the major worry (in terms of seriousness of outcome) with any 'comminuted meat' product in a low oxygen, non-acid, environment at these 'warm' temperatures? And where the centre is not going to benefit from post-sv searing?
-
Isn't any sort of sv 'burger' (or other ground/minced meat product) a rather bad idea from the food hygiene standpoint?
-
... I own the DLX (as well as an older Kenwood Major which is the larger version of the Kenwood Chef mixer).
I've owned the DLX for about 2 years now but have never fallen in love with it's bread making capabilities. I'm a professional baker and have used just about every kind of mixer home and away there is.
... I find I have to continually put my fingers or a spatula into the mixing process to move things along.
The dough hook which many have found to be underwhelming is excellent for incorporating ingredients into biscotti etc. but it sure didn't do much for moving bread dough in an efficient manner.
...
I don't think the DLX is perfect, but I do think its the best home mixer for large domestic quantity dough mixing that I've come across.
Its rugged.
But it does pretty much demand an odd technique.
Contrary to all normal dough making practice, one should start with all the liquid in the bowl, get it turning, and then progressively incorporate the flour.
This seems un-natural, but its the best way to use the DLX.
Its the method that the capable lady demonstrator uses in the demo video -
http://www.everythingkitchens.com/electroluxvideo.html (a couple of minutes in, after the factory scenes, she demo's each attachment sequentially, starting with the roller, then the hook.)
I've found the roller to be best for small quantities of dough (where one might not even bother with a mixer) - but the roller does get trickier over about 500g (roughly 1lb) of flour. And equally the dough hook comes into its own with larger quantities - I think it needs 700g (say 1.5lb) of flour before it gets going properly. I haven't explored the upper limits of its capacity, but see no reason to question the manufacturer's claims (15lb of dough) - it'll handle a LOT of dough by domestic standards! And its a mixer that can be picked up and put away in a cupboard (by one person!)
I've acquired the meat grinder accessory, and can confirm that it is impressively serious (and effective) compared to the KA and Kenwood attachments.
-
...
What kind of thermometers are professional chefs using to calibrate their equipment, and how often is that being done?
Robert, I'm not even sure that many "professional chefs" would even have heard of the concept of calibration, let alone against traceable standards.
-
...
It is indeed possible she quizzed the chef about the sourcing of the meal, but at a high level banquet it is probably safer for her just to leave the meat rather than risk a resumption of the 100 years war.
Personally, I am unaware of ANY foie gras production that is approved by ANY UK animal welfare organisation.
If anyone can cite specific approvals, I'd be very interested to learn of them.
Then we might consider the matter of presidential caterer's actual selection!
Ethically-sourced Ortolan, anyone?
Regarding the general matter of information as to the detail of diplomatic banquet menus, my understanding (based on readings such as the autobiography of a former UK Ambassador to Washington) was that Embassy staff would be expected to research such matters well in advance - particularly since Mrs Brown seems to have long held her opinions.
But if they did, they'd also have to mention that Rose Veal is almost unknown in France, and certainly regarded less favourably than the whitest of white.I see the Times didn't actually attempt to make their article balanced:Peta says that veal calves are plunged into dark crates and denied mother’s milk until their flesh turns white from anaemia, while foie gras is created from geese that have been force-fed so that their livers expand painfully to eight times their normal size.No mention there of humanely raised rose veal (even if this time it wasn't they should still mention it), ...
PETA can usually be relied upon to take an extreme and confrontational position!... and this is the first time I've seen it suggested that the problem with foie gras is that the livers expand painfully: I wonder what evidence Peta think they have for that. To my amazement the Daily Mail report of the same dinner seems much more balanced.Always good for a quote!
I think the line taken by the RSPCA seems reasonable -
http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/Satellite?...d=1170848190362The RSPCA is opposed to the production of foie gras due to the many serious welfare problems it causes for the birds involved. Force-feeding prevents birds from carrying out their normal feeding behaviour, and the pipe used can damage the bird's throat and oesophagus. The handling involved during force-feeding can also be stressful. Force-feeding may additionally impair liver function and greatly increases the level of duck mortality (deaths). We also have major concerns about the keeping of birds in small, individual wire cages which do not allow the birds to stand, walk, preen or stretch their wings properly, and do not allow access to water for the birds to carry out water-related activities such as preening.The RSPCA would urge all retailers not to stock foie gras, and for restaurants not to have it on their menus.
From that page they link to a (June '08) PDF giving more detail on the subject.
http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/BlobServer...application/pdf
... Foie gras is not produced in the UK, and would be illegalunder animal welfare laws due to the welfare problems involved and the unnatural nature of the feeding
technique. ...
Due to the force-feeding, the birds’ livers may become 6 to 10 times the normal size, with liver function
impaired. Studies comparing the mortality rates of force-fed birds with normally-fed birds have shown that
death rates can be 10 to 20 times higher in the force-fed birds during the two weeks prior to slaughter. This
greatly elevated mortality rate is possibly due to the compromised liver function, an increased incidence of
bone fractures, damage to the oropharynx, and/or the stress caused by the force-feeding process. ...
Useful publications
European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare (1998): Welfare
Aspects of the Production of Foie Gras in Ducks and Geese: The report highlights many welfare problems
associated with the production system, and concludes that “force-feeding, as currently practised, is
detrimental to the welfare of the birds.”
Council of Europe Standing Committee of the European Convention for the Protection of Animals Kept for
Farming Purposes (1999): Recommendations Concerning Domestic Geese, Muscovy Ducks, Domestic
Ducks and their Crossbreeds: In these recommendations, the Committee points out that it is “aware of the
welfare problems connected to certain practices in the production of foie gras which do not meet the
requirements of the Convention.”
http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/BlobServer...application/pdf
-
This is slightly off-topic because it relates only to duck foie gras production in New York, but it shows at least that not all f.g. is raised in a way that most meat-eaters would find objectionable.
http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-02-18/new...e-gras-torture/
That article specifically states that those US ducks are force fed.
Force-feeding, according to the RSPCA, would be a criminal offence here in the UK.
Spice Grinder for large quantities
in Kitchen Consumer
Posted
No. After looking at such things a couple of years ago (here in the UK), I decided to continue enjoying my less committed coffee-making! The Capresso was recommended on an eGullet grinder thread in the Tea and Coffee section. Mazzer is a known make from cafés, etc.
But I can tell you that a 'doser' is a ground coffee portion dispenser. You don't want one! You probably want your ground spices to exit directly into your own chosen container (or into a simple hopper).
I'd expect that you might be concerned about ease of cleaning if you were grinding individual spices or multiple different blends. Coffee people don't like old coffee bean bits going nasty in their grinders - they should be designed for simple cleaning!
I hope this is a fruitful direction for you to explore!
Sadly, I can't tell you about throughput rates or duty cycles.