dougal

Recommended for inspiration http://www.amazon.co.uk/Real-Fast-Vegetari.../dp/1843580071/ Available from Amazon US also - but there are reviews on the UK site - supporting my contention!

Or has anyone encountered ANY source of vegetarian sausage skins, at all?

Pork and Sons struck me as being very 'softcore' indeed. Mrs Grigson's excellent (indeed classic) book may take a bit of getting into, but there is an awful lot in there. Just a quick warning though - the liberal quantities of saltpetre she indicates may be historically accurate, but they certainly wouldn't be recommended (or allowed) today!

AFAIK the Pyrenees area isn't exactly well known for saffron growing. I think the main areas are way away from the French border. So, not quite "the source". And in our almost borderless Europe, there's no tax, duty or cost - other than transport - to ship Spanish agricultural produce to France. And transport doesn't make up much of the cost of Saffron. Buying cheap Saffron, in Spain or elsewhere, usually seems to mean buying "cheap 'Saffron' " ... Regarding the earlier questions about growing Saffron, its perfectly true that there used to be a fair-sized Saffron industry just 50 miles (North and slightly East) from London. The town still called "Saffron Walden" was one of the centres. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ptJ-uRD...num=5&ct=result But it became commercially non-viable about 250 years ago... Climatically, that's one of the driest parts of the UK. Particularly in summer. Light winter frost is pretty common, but snow unusual, and usually gone in a few days. So, I'd guess it might come down to where in Canada one might be. But plant lots - you need thousands of flowers to get an ounce of dry Saffron... There's a pretty good historical/botanical resource at http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Croc_sat.html with plenty more links too -- and further drums in the message that

Another day, another country, another menu... The boring menu is given at the end of the Times' article http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_...icle4144784.ece Salmon, Pea Soup, Roast Beef, then Trifle. I suspect Ms Bareham may be aiming for the next Honours List. An OBN from Private Eye at the very least... I'd guess that Mme Sarkozy might be more interesting company than Mrs Gordon Brown...

And having randomly flipped through your blog, Jude, I've ordered it. If you think it looks useful, I'll take your word for it!

Diplomatically speaking, what sort of wines should be served if both Heads of State should perchance happen to be teetotal and therefore non-participating? Oh... right...

Inventive, but maybe not a good idea! Ever seen the stickers on new fridges about letting them stand for a while after delivery before connecting/running them? Its so the refrigerant fluid can settle after the jostling of transport - if you get liquid (rather than gas) into the compressor, it just stops working, likely permanently. AND when a fridge starts, it can briefly draw quite a large surge current, so for a full-size fridge, you'd probably need quite a sturdy inverter... Better to pack the beast in ice in an old bathtub (or disfunctional chest freezer) for transport I'd suggest. To get fancy, you could rig up a facility to drain off the meltwater at occasional stops...

My thinking was that, unlike a curing chamber (where you want to ensure there are no damp spots to go mouldy), with a tall storage chamber you'd need to make sure that the top wasn't warmer than the bottom. If you have a big old a/c fan, it'll mix everything up pretty well, but with ice it could be a significant temperature difference. I'd think you should aim to mount the ice high, so the cold air can fall naturally. To stop the cold air collecting at the bottom, I was suggesting a fan and duct to take cold air back to the top... so it can fall once more! Particularly with ice, humidity is going to be rather high. Hence I'd suggest bagging or boxing ice blocks so they and their meltwater don't add to the humidity. Condensation on the outside is moisture from the air, not the ice, but you need to drain it away (or sponge it up) to get the humidity down. You have to extract that excess moisture somehow! However, I doubt humidity is going to do much harm to the pig in a few days at decently cool (<6C?) temperatures. My guess would be that 10C would be too high for comfort. The colder the pig is to start with, the better. And a fresh killed pig is somewhat warm, and is usually said to need to be chilled down as quickly as possible. Can you arrange for it to be chilled before you collect it?

I haven't been quite there, so these are just observations! What temperature do you plan to set? And will your aircon go cold enough? (Fridges, freezers, aircon, and heatpumps generally use a refrigerant "gas" that is chosen to nicely straddle the operating temperature range. "Forcing" it colder with an extended range thermostat might not be successful (or maybe good for the equipment?) I'd suggest - securing the structure to a wall to ensure it cannot tip over or buckle when it gets its payload - how about making provision for boxes of ice inside the locker (a cheapish and easyish source of extra coolth) - and a (low voltage) miniature fan (computer scrap?) plus a bit of plastic pipe to circulate air from bottom to top to help keep the whole beast at a similar temperature - and include a thoughtfully positioned internal thermometer probe - with an +external+ display - so you don't need to open the door (and spill cold air) just to check. And don't forget drip tray arrangements inside the locker and good draughtstripping on the door... plus you need to ensure that you are protected against insects and vermin being attracted to your treasure! Good luck!

It depends what type of product you (or rather your boss) want to produce. A sourdough loaf sold by Poilane would remain good for days, while a classic baguette from a typical Parisian boulangerie simply does not stay fresh from one meal to the next. And in my local supermarket, I could buy a packaged, sliced loaf that resists staling for a week or more, thanks to the cocktail of chemicals it contains. Its a suicide mission to compete against supermarkets on their chosen ground of chemical bread. But producing an "Artisan" product means staying away from the pusher's candies... (And having written that, I can't get "White Rabbit" out of my head...) But by simply reducing the quantity of yeast (and thus extending the rise times - with inevitable consequences for production routines) the bread will resist staling for longer. "Going stale" is partly drying out, and partly continuing (bio)chemical processes. However, the use of "acceptable" products like Soya Milk (as all or part of the dough liquid) can give a product whose crumb stays softer, longer. Soya Milk's combination of positive effects is explained here http://www.danlepard.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=11127#11127 (with the recipe at the beginning of the thread)

Almost a month later... BUMP!

Check out Leon. An interesting enterprise. http://www.leonrestaurants.co.uk/

My guess would have been that Hong Kong would be a great place to shop for electronic gadgetry like a probe thermometer! Just an incidental 'heads-up' that there seems to be a cheap model Thermapen - the "Eco-Thermapen". The normal Thermapens, and the Thermapen "FR" for fast reaction time (due to the slimmer probe, etc), are about £45 (inc VAT - our sales tax) in the UK (and more for the more precise versions), This other thing seems to be discounted to about 1/3 of that price, about £15... However, it has an on/off switch (rather than working from the hinge) and a slower (unquantified) response time. But it does have a max/min function (overriding the timed auto-off) and is (internally) user-selectable to F or C. And it runs on an ordinary AAA battery. I'm tempted, but what I really want is a Thermapen FR...

All too true. Cheesemaking and basic physics/mechanics seem to rarely run together! The pressure is what matters and any weights are going to refer to a specific pressing arrangement only. The pressure is just force divided by the area its applied to. And for a round piston (or "follower") the area is of course π r squared. So, multiply the radius by itself, then by 3 (rough approximation for π). Thus for a 3 inch internal diameter mould, the radius is 1.5 inches, so its area is 1.5x 1.5x 3 = about 6.75 sq inches. But it gets even more murky when one realises that some people use a "Dutch Press" - where a weight is attached to a lever - when there is a force multiplication factor to consider as well. If the weight is attached to the lever 3x as far from the pivot as the piston, then the piston will exert a force of 3x the weight used! So, if we hung 11 lb on such a dutch press, we'd exert a force of about 33 lb, and applying this to our 3 inch diameter mould, gets us close to a pressure of (33 divided by 6.75) about 5 psi on our cheese. (Which I think is the right ballpark to be in.) The design of presses specifically for cheese is such that the force (and hence the pressure) doesn't drop right off as the cheese compresses. The force must follow the shrinking cheese. So, if using a press intended for some other purpose, you need to be mindful of this and try to build in rather a lot of elasticity! Stilton pressing is an interesting special case in that it is just "pressed" under its own weight, frequently flipping it over, so that both ends are 'pressed' equally. Edit: fixed the typo I spotted late!

Lots of restaurants in Deal, none, AFAIK, remotely in the Sportsman/Granville league. Tell me what you find! The Bluebird is a lovely little tearoom (in the old Coastguard building) close by the Dover Patrol memorial atop the cliffs at St Margrets. Should be a vigorous walk along the clifftops from the Walmer end (or drive round). Just beware the odd opening hours! The Coastguard (pub at the bottom of the cliff at St Margrets) has done decent fish (but think more of chips rather than sous-vide in a nage of mussel broth, etc). Spotted a local paper advert for lots of staff vacancies there recently, dunno why. But for fish & chips the standout has to be The Pilot - all the way along at Dungeness (strangely bringing to mind photos of Scott's Antarctic hut...)

Suggest you get a combination microwave/grill/fan oven and a basic electric hot ring or two. These will plug into any standard mains socket, don't take much space, and give you amazing versatility. You could go for new and high end, or used and local paper small ads. You could spend hundreds on a deDietrich/Neff/Siemens combo oven (and build it into your new kitchen) or collect a local £15 bargain. For the electric rings, you just might be interested in checking out the 'induction hotplate' offerings for something you'd want to keep and even use in the new kitchen (but do check your pan bases with a magnet - for induction compatibility - first!) In a former life, I "camped out in a sort of a building site" for a couple of years, suffering cooking in a Panasonic combi oven and on a bizarre (Czech?) pair of electric rings. Happiest time of my life probably. Menu planning for entertaining did have to be considered quite carefully though! On the other hand, my student memories of a Baby Belling were, um, rather more limited... PS - don't part with the old fridge until the new one is actually usable...

The Granville was very pleasant for an unplanned snack just before Saturday lunchtime last food orders, (2pm) this past weekend. Not full, just busy. Tables in the garden extend the capacity. Seriously bloody good asparagus risotto, by the way. AFAIK The Granville is/was a Harris family venture. I didn't ask but it seems that Stephen Harris's brother Phil might have returned to Seasalter, leaving The Granville in the hands of sister Gabrielle. Lots of familiar dishes on the menu. For really good food, (and affordability too), you shouldn't be disappointed. If you don't know The Granville, its a couple of miles outside the City of Canterbury (its actually right on the road to Hythe). Rather than come off the A2 and slog through Canterbury (the A2 exits are an oddly incomplete set), you might think of coming off at Bridge and navigating through the lanes to the pub. Head straight in to Canterbury to pick up the Canterbury/Margate road. On the other hand, if you know The Granville and are looking to explore pastures new, you might try The Goods Shed in Canterbury - its interesting all right, but, IMHO not as good, and not as good value, as in its early days a few years back. The Dove at Dargate is much closer to the Thanet Way, but while a nice country pub that does good food, it ain't as special as The Granville. The Dog (at Wingham) ought to be good, but for me personally, too many combinations just simply didn't work properly. The Razor Clams in my starter were about the most positively memorable aspect. I haven't rushed back, but it might possibly appeal to a more metropolitan palate! (And wallet!) My suggestion: book for The Granville to make sure.

However the UK cost of those pucks is a big disincentive over here... Especially if contemplating long duration smoking. (But I was under the impression that the intense smoke of the Bradley could mean shorter cold smoke sessions - even if it was a matter of smoke/mature/smoke until satisfied, with perhaps two hour sessions at daily intervals?) I'd think that demounting the generator seems a better idea than using ice - I'm thinking that condensation (and even humidity) is unwelcome for cold smoking. My own DIY tinkering is around the use of an aquarium pump to provide a constant (not fire-dependent) flow of, and the entirety of, combustion air, thus giving a constant fire. You don't need much airflow (100 litres/hr seems plenty), but the air *pressure* requirement seems to be linked to the grain size (actually its the permeability which comes from the grain size) of the fuel. My pump (just about the smallest) could do with a bit more pressure for the sawdust that I have - but it'd probably be fine for chips. And chips would probably burn slower, too. Controlling the airflow in this fashion does allow a tiny fire to smoulder steadily, with no attention, for hours. Because I can get 90 minutes completely unattended smoke between refills with my crude arrangement of small tin-cans of sawdust, a larger capacity (facilitated by a higher pressure pump or larger particle size fuel, or both) could plausibly give many hours of gentle unattended smoke. For one only semi-DIY approach to pumped smoking, people might be interested to see the offering on this (USA) website http://www.porkypas.com I've come across another similar offering, but can't currently locate the site address. My tin cans may look very different, but the approach of using a pump to absolutely control the supply of combustion air is similar, though independently arrived at.

Thanks for taking the time and effort. This seems to indicate that a typical FS leaves at least couple of psi of residual pressure in a bag, and I am pretty sure that a chamber vacuum machine leaves less. No, please, no! Surely this has been done to death? A bag has almost no rigidity - if there's a pressure difference between one side of the plastic film and the other side, the film will just flex and stretch to relieve the pressure difference. The only way a pressure difference between inside and outside the containment can exist is if the containment can resist the force resulting from the pressure difference. A bag simply can't. However, a "rigid" container can. Inside a flexy bag, the pressure is going to end up at atmospheric - regardless of the pump. However, a stronger pump will more quickly/effectively/completely pump out air that is 'trapped' and which only has tiny channels to escape through (to the pump). Also a stronger pump will be able to produce more stretching of the plastic film, so that it fits more tightly around the food, but the pressure difference while pumping is going to be relieved rather quickly by the bag stretching as a result of any (temporary) pressure difference. And thermoplastics 'creep' faster still at 50C and above ... And a stronger pump (volume as well as pressure) should cope better with leaky sealing lips on te machine... What you want to end up with is the smallest practical volume of residual trapped air. A stronger pump will help a bit, but mostly the limitations are going to be seals and technique, rather than a 5% or so difference in maximum sustained pressure difference. (Note that the U-tube manometer testing above was using the 'accessory connector' and not the bag nozzle with its imperfect sealing.) "A handful of glass beads" sounds like a lot of buoyancy, a lot of remaining air. Doc, your problem could be that your pump isn't sucking properly. But it could equally well be that the soft 'lips' that seal the bag to the pump (and away from the room) aren't effective enough at preventing/restricting 'new' air leaking from room to pump (for whatever reason - wear, dirt, misassembly, whatever). Or that you are using inappropriate bags (the textured ones evacuate more completely more easily). Or, hey, it could be technique... One technique to try is sealing as you do now, but then following that by snipping off a corner (small as you can), and re-introducing the pump nozzle through this small hole, re-evacuating and resealing. The bag will look kinda strange, but usually much better evacuated. One cheapskate technique is to use just a strip of the (more expensive) textured plastic inside a plain bag, arranged so as to provide a pathway for air from the food area to the neighbourhood of the pump nozzle. Hopefully, some of that will make some sense and be some help... !

I understand that Foodsaver's claim is that their machines can pull to a pressure difference of (about) 24 inches of mercury. (Which seems to be abbreviated, in the USA at least, to "24HG" - Hg being the chemical symbol for Mercury.) Expressed differently, that means reducing sea level atmospheric pressure by 5/6, ie to 1/6. "Standard" atmospheric pressure is taken as 760mm of mercury. 1/6 th of that is 126.6 mm. The temperature at which the vapour pressure of water reaches 127mm of Mercury is just below 57ºC (ie 134ºF) - see http://intro.chem.okstate.edu/1515SP01/Database/VPWater.html All of which I interpret as meaning that a Foodsaver (rigid) canister could see water boiling at no less than 134F (at sea level).

Skirlie (not a skirlie) is just basically fried oatmeal. Fried so its lightly toasted. The basic concept can be developed with other additions, choice of frying fat, etc. http://www.scottishrecipes.co.uk/skirlie.htm White "mealie" puddings would usually contain onion and rather a lot of fat. My family never fried them. Most popularly they'd be poached (whole) in a pan with the minced beef and carrots - rather like cooking dumplings in a stew. http://www.scottishrecipes.co.uk/white_pudding.htm A very similar mix to the mealie pudding would be used as stuffing for chicken, but skirlie would be austerely plain medium oatmeal... and not served for breakfast. Smoked fish, oh yes. Porridge of course. But fried oatmeal of any sort? Not for breakfast. Now this may be particular to my family, or the North East of Scotland, or to roots further back in Shetland or elsewhere... But I have read that fried white pudding for breakfast is much more an Irish breakfast thing. Now then, what about some Butteries? Ideal for a Scot's breakfast, (or for a 'piece' at any time of day). http://www.scottishrecipes.co.uk/butteries.htm As an incidental, its worth noting that British bacon is cured with very little (or no) sugar - certainly less sugar than the amount of salt. And its not cooked at all until it hits your own pan. It is bought either cured and raw (sometimes called "green" bacon, but more usually "unsmoked") or else cured and *cold* smoked (ie smoked without cooking). And, for the avoidance of doubt, tea would, of course, be served hot, to be drunk with a little milk (and optionally a lot of sugar).

Me neither, and I have been known to enjoy a nice mealie pudding with my mince and tatties... (and skirlie has been served at other times, but not breakfast-time) ... ... however including "white" pudding in a fried breakfast does indeed seem to be a particularly Irish speciality.

However, it seems that nanotubes just might not be quite as benign as people had supposed... Today on the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7408705.stm (And there's a nanotube primer on that page for the bemused... )

Point taken about the investment in attachments directing you towards staying with KitchenAid. However, what about fixing the current one? This site offers parts for sale (my guess is you might need a $20 replacement "planetary" assembly) AND a *free* download of a service manual... http://www.mendingshed.com/kitaidparts.html Now, if only the same was available for Kenwood...