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Great topic...Hope it goes much much further.... I have been trying to find some curry spices that are similar to the stuff that the Brits sold pre made in cans 15 years ago or so,,,I probably have the spices in my rack , IF I could get a suitable recipie... keep it going.... Bud

The older leaves seem to have more flavor than the current years. Bud

I have air dried it on a screen outside for years with good results. You might pick the older leaves, only, rather than this years , there is a difference in flavor Bud

I have a Pellaprat from 66. that is still very useful. I got it new.. Bud

The famous(?) door county fish boil thing??? don't remember the place... much rigamarole for some boiled fish however.. Bud

I looked up sodium triphospahe: "In foods, STPP is used to retain moisture. Many governments regulate the quantities allowed in foods, as it can substantially increase the sale weight of seafood in particular. Many people find STPP to add an unpleasant taste to food, particularly delicate seafood. The taste tends to be slightly sharp and soapy and is particularly detectable in mild-tasting foods. The increased water holding properties can also lead to a more diluted flavor in the food." Does your wild caught Gulf shrimp contain salt? scb ← Its coming bulk, out of the seafood case, so there is no fed copy with it. I assume (hopefully ) that its just as they caught it.. Bud

The bag I just looked at from china has 450mg per 85g...It says "sodium triphosphate added to retain moisture" I stopped buying the asian stuff and only buy the "wild caught US gulf "stuff.. Bud

Is this what they are selling as "boneless short ribs???

stuff is good, (and cheap) enough, to make vinegar.

I found this smoker attachment that claims to "cold smoke" HERE There is not much info about how it really works so I am hesitant.. Anyone Have any ideas on this or have possibly used it??? Thought it might be a nice cold smoke addition to the Kamado, with much less hassle... Bud

No but my cat likes it...makes him crazy...

Well actually,,, THISwebsite (italian) has smoking(afumacare) as "possible".. its down the page a bit. My tyrolian dialect is a bit rusty Bud

absolutely the best,,,,They will do what ever it takes to make you happy... Bud

On every seal on the f/s , after it stops .I slide thebag out an 1/8" or so and re seal. seems to help...The seal line is very narrow. Bud

As mentioned above, you cannot smell CO. If you can smell gas . Shut the valve off...It should be accessable, per code. You get enough gas in a room and a spark----I will spare you the description....Get the gas Company to look at it...SOON!!! Bud

I use cornmeal on a wooden paddle. The trick is to not use to much, and as you are making the pie, shake it gently , a few times to make to make sure its not sticking to the paddle. I get very little residue. I haven't measured, but probably use less than 2 tsp for a 13" pie.a few small sharp shakes to get the pie to "float" on the meal is required to get it in the oven.. Bud

I buy a 100# of flour every few months. Todays was $50. the one three months ago was $33. the one 3 months before that was $26. $50 is still a real bargain, considering it works out to about $.6o per loaf... Bud

I haveCI from the first issue in 93 (I think) until about 3 or 4 years ago. The last few years were same old stuff, and aimed for the pure novice. so I passed. As I did with Fine cooking. The predessor to CI was Cooks magazine , which I have from 80 until it was bought, and folded, by Gourmet, in 90. It was by far the better of the two, aimed at a more advanced audience. I assume Kimball had a non-compete so there was nothing from 90 to 93. But if you have a couple years, you don't need any more , because it's the same old stuff.. Bud

Ok, here are the directions from calaphon. " After each use, wash hard-anodized surfaces in hot, sudsy water using a nylon scouring pad - we recommend Scotch-Brite™ dark green scour pads. If you still see hazy or dark areas after it dries, scrub the dry pan (don't wet it) with a dry Scotch-Brite™ pad and rinse thoroughly. That often works best. If the pan was used for frying or has baked-on grease or food, wet the pan, sprinkle Ajax®, Comet®, or Soft Scrub® with bleach on the surface, scrub it thoroughly with a Scotch-Brite™ pad and rise thoroughly." Here is the discription of the recomended scotchbrite pad. "Heavy Duty Scour Pad For your most difficult tasks – both indoors and out. Use them to clean your most challenging kitchen messes, or anywhere you need abrasion" I agree its sandpaper, as in "anywhere you need abrasion" ...I use it to sand finishes on various furniture I build... It will not take off the anodizing I have used it many times. did not remove the anodizing... Bud

Ummm. It doesn't sound like the anodisation is breaking down. Might even be building up... "Irridescent" colour is an immediate indicator of "interference" colours, produced by films so thin that they bear comparison with the wavelength of light - commonly seen with a drop of petrol/gasoline on a puddle of water. "Anodisation" is the production of a hard alumina surface by electrochemical means. If the steamer insert was *not* aluminium (maybe stainless?), then with conductive (salted?) liquid in the pan, you'll have some electrochemistry going on. Hopefully not very much though. As the pan boiled dry, so the mineral concentration in the water would increase, eventually hitting the limit of solubility - saturation. If the electrochemical conditions were depositing stuff on the aluminium side, it could have built up a really thin layer of new stuff, incorporating stuff from the saturated solution... In short, the appearance of the irridescent colour indicates a new, thin, (more or less transparent) layer that isn't exactly the same as what's underneath it - making an interface in the solid, from which light could be reflected, interfering with light reflected from the top surface. Hence, I think its possible that your boiling dry with a steamer insert may have *deposited* a new (very thin) layer of anodisation - rather than "breaking down" what was there before. If the new stuff is stable (doesn't come off when cooking or cleaning) then I doubt its going to do any harm. However, if the swirls are changing when you scrub at them, it'd indicate that you were removing material from the new film layer, and changing the interference patterns... So, if you really are sufficiently determined, you might still be able to work this around to an argument justifying replacement... ← Finally!!! Someone who knows what he speaks of! The dark gray color was the dye Calphalon used when they initially made the pot. Normally the anodized layer would have been colorless or slightly cloudy but "silvery". Unless someone scrubbed the pot with steel wool, really vigorously, there is no indication that the anodized layer has disappeared. Ray ← Question about the anodizing...Calaphon recomends that you clean their pans with Scotchbrite pads. They are basicly sandpaper. I have cleaned some of mine several times and the grey color remains as new. How or what do they do to get it grey?? My only experience with anodizing is I was going to anodize a dough hook and got the whole set up arranged and it would not anodize....Duh! it was zinc pot metal,,, Shows how much I know... Bud

That is a geat idea!!!!! Thanks... Bud

If you use "canning and pickling" salt, and "ultrafine bakers" sugar,(both very fine), you don't need to do any heating. They will dissolve nicely, in cold tap water... Bud

It depends on what your taste is. I like 3 to 3.5%. that would be 30 to 35 grams of salt per kilo of weight.. Bud

Thanks to Derek I could build my own cold smoke room. And it works! I'm planning on cold smoking my own salmon. Farmed I'm afraid. it's almost impossible to buy wild and if you can it costs an arm and a leg. But how long would you salt a half a salmon (approximately?) I have recipes varying from 1 to 36 hours! And again, how long do you smoke it for? I can sure use your expertise! I'm aiming for the traditional Scots smoked salmon. ← When I smoke salmon, I weigh it, and calculate the % amount of residual salt I want in the fish. Then use that much salt, and leave it until all the salt is absorbed by the fish. That way you dont get a suprise of way to much, if you dont take it out soon enough... Bud

Since I got an electronic scale, I have given up on sifting entirely. 4 oz. (by weight) = 1 C (by volume). For anyone who does serious baking, a scale with a tare function is much more useful than a sifter. Jim ← I don't have a dedicated sifter, and use a strainer on the rare occasion I need to use one. And a scale is essential for baking, as well as for Charcuterie.etc. However, I find most conversions of weight are 150g flour = 1 Cup... not 4 oz (113g). But...There is probably no real "correct"answer to that.. Bud Bud