paulraphael

The thing to consider with bamboo boards is that they're a kind of engineered wood product. Which means by volume and by weight there's a LOT of glue. I don't know how you'd ever find out what kind of glue a manufacturer uses, but many of the glues are much harder than the bamboo itself, and also harder than what makes for a knife-friendly surface. There are also ecological issues. Bamboo is a fantasically green renewable resource. But many of the glues used in making the composits are not. You can read discussions about this in regard to bamboo flooring; some studies suggest that air polution from the glues during manufacture is a significant problem.

Any possibility that someone will do for vacuum sealers what they did for immersion circulators (make a fully functional one for 80% less money)?

Some good news ... I think food processors are better than stand mixers for pastry dough. They're great. They work so quickly the butter won't melt, and they give you a ton of control over the size of the butter pieces. Stand mixers do bigger batches, and may be better for pastry styles that blend the fat into the dough (pate sablee, etc.)

I've used safflower and sunflower oils to good effect. I don't know how they compare to flaxseed oil, but both are very high in polyunsaturated fats and it polymerize easily and durably. I've used them to get longlasting results on several cast iron pans, a huge carbon steel wok, and an aluminum griddle. I wasn't sure if they would work on the griddle ... that was an experiment ... but now the thing is black as night, even, and durably stick-resistant. I usually use safflower because where I shop it's a lot cheaper. People may be having problems with sticking because polymerizing is only part of the process. You actually have to burn the oil a little. The resulting carbon soot mixed in with the polymer gives the stick resistance. Pure, clean polymerized oil is sticky. I like to buy brands like Spectrum, that print the smokepoint on the label, and then set my oven to 25° higher. I prefer the oven to the stove because it heats the whole pan evenly. Then it's just what everyone's saying: very thin coats wiped on with a paper towel, cook until smoky, repeat. You can put a bulletproof coating on anything in under an hour. Just don't expect miracles. "Seasoning" isn't teflon. If you're cooking eggs you still need good technique and a lot of attention.

I usually get some crystals. I suspect it means some of the sugar hasn't inverted. It's never been a problem.

The food question that sends me to the interwebs more than any other is ... how much water? It's a bit different for every kind of rice, and varies a bit with cooking techniques. And then theres quinoa, couscous, and all the other rice analogues that cook in similar ways. Does anyone have a one-stop source for all this info? Prefereably an accurate one?

You're right, the Chinese cleaver is its own category. And I know people who don't use anything else, even when they're making meat loaf. I'm sure I've left out whole cultures. Someone's going to mention the Italian Mezzaluna, and I have no idea what's traditional in Iran or Thailand. Maybe I should have left out the traditional Japanese knives, and just focussed on families of knives made in European-derived shapes for Western cooking.

This subject comes up often, and I realized people are practically speaking different languages when it comes to knives. Unlike 25 years ago, when all the knives available in the West were European-style and fairly homogenous, we now have four distinct families of knives, with different materials, designs, intended markets, and associated techniques. There's room for all of them. But chosing a family is more than a matter of price or esthetics. You're also choosing a set of appropriate techniques, for cutting, sharpening, and basic care. Moving from a Wustoff to a Suisin will not guarantee that you'll cut better, even if you believe (as I do) that the Suisin is the superior knife. Trying to use techniques that work on the former will trash the latter. I think of a knife as a platform that's designed to support a set of sharpening and cutting techniques. A high-end knife will support a higher lever of these techniques. So its potential is higher. But out of the box, and without any additional education, it may not be better at all. And after a few weeks of incorrect use, it may end up an expensive desk ornament. It's best to understand the potential, and the costs, associated with each family of knife. Here's a very brief breakdown of the knife families. My descriptions should be undersood as unreasonably broad generalizations. If you dig into each knife company's catalog, you'll certainly find many exceptions. Finally, I'm listing brands as examples, not specific recommendations. That could be the subject of a hundred other threads. 1. Traditional European Knives: (These are the only knives most of us knew about until 20 or so years ago) Examples all the Solingen German knives Sabatier French knives* Forschner Old American brands (Chicago, Lamson, etc.) Pros: -Very durable. -Can handle a reasonable amount of abuse. -Work with the European techniques taught in most cooking schools and most online courses (like the eGullet course), or with no technique at all. -Chefs knife designed as a jack-of-all trades, so it cultivates a very economical set of techniques. You can do 95% of everything with a chef’s knife and paring knife. -Very easy to maintain on a steel Cons: -Soft steel and fat edge geometry limit these knives’ performance, and require forceful technique to cut well (rock-chopping, etc.) 2. Japanese Crossover Knives: (these are knives made in Japan for Western consumers. They are designed to be used by people used to European style knives, with little adaptation) Examples Shun Global Wasabi Pros: -Higher performance edge geometry and metalurgy when compared with Euro knives -Close to the durability of Euro knives -Can handle a reasonable amount of abuse -Can be sharpened with their factory edge geometry, for use with traditional European techniques, or can be modified with a higher performance geometry, for more refined Japanese techiques. Cons: -Metalurgy and edge geometry is still lower performance than professional Japanese knives -Some of these knives are a pain in the ass to sharpen. They are harder than European knives, and while softer than professional Japanese knives, sometimes use proprietary allows that resist sharpening stones (especially Global). -Price/performance ratio is often disappointing Japanese Professional Western-Style Knives: (these are knives made in Japan for cooks proficient in Japanese cutting and sharpening techniques, and who prepare Western-style food. The category could also include hand-made or small production knives made in other countries in this style). Examples Masamoto Aritsugu Suisin Misono Mizuno Tanrenjo Tojiro Hiromoto Kikuichi Sugimoto Takeda Mac Sakai Takayuki Ikkanshi Tadatsuna Hattori Ryusen Fujiwara Kanemasa Glestain Shigefusa Some non-Japanese hand-made knives in this style (This list is U.S.-Centric only because of my ignorance) Carter Kramer Devin Thomas Harner Cut Brooklyn Pros: -These tend to have superior metalurgy to European and crossover knives -Edge geometry varies from robust profiles similar to crossover knives, to extremely thin and high-performance -Will generally take a sharper edge and keep it longer than Euro or crossover knives -Allow a range of more refined and efficient cutting techniques. Allow different approaches to prep (if knives are sharp, herbs and fruit will not discolor or lose flavor for many hours after cutting) -At the lower end of the price range, price/performance ratio is fantastic Cons: -general-purpose knives (like the gyuto) are more fragile than Euro and crossover knives. They require more delicate technique, and more specialization (you’ll need a heavy knife, like a German chef’s knife or westerd deba, for heavy cutting). -You’ll also need sharpening skills. Don’t even consider these knives if you’re not willing to invest in waterstones (or an edge-pro system) and the skills to use them. Most of these knives don’t even ship with a sharp edge on them. -Below a fairly high price point, the fit and finish of these knives is often crude. They are seen as utilitarian tools for cooks. A $100 gyuto will probably look a lot cheaper than a $100 German knife, belying its better performance. -It’s hard to get educated on the skills to use these knives. Good information is scarce. The best sources are chefs who have trained in Japan but who cook Western food. Some of them have made instructional videos. -They are habit-forming! Your spouse and your therapist have a limited attention span for your new knife hobby. Traditional Japanese Knives (These are single-edge knives designes specifically for Japanese food preparation. They are the most sophisticated and specialized of all kitchen knives. Their utility in preparing Western food is questionable, but some cooks use them as a matter of pride and because they enjoy learning the precise and relatively unforgiving techniques.) Same brands as above. There are literally dozens of different traditional knife designs, but the primary ones are the usuba, wich is designed for cutting vegetables and is the most challenging knife to use correctly; the yanagi (what we often call a sushi knife), for slicing protein, and the deba, which is a thick, stout knife for filleting and butchering fish. Pros: -highest performance knives available Cons: -most specialized knives available. They are designed for very specific ranges of techniques, many of which have limited relevance to Western cooking. -the learning curves are steep. Many online videos are available on subjects like using a deba to butcher every imaginable fish variety. But it won’t be easy. And if you want to learn to use a usuba correctly, you will probably want some one-on-one, and a few bushels of daikons, and some internet bandwidth, and some bandaids. *Sabatier knives are hard to generalize, because they are made by so many companies. The best among them, like the carbon steel K-Sabatiers, have excellent steel and very thin edge geometries. Their performance is closer to that of the professional Western Japanese knives than to other Euro knives.

Quaternary Ammonium sanitizers are fine for dishes and silverware glassware. There's no bleach (which can pit stainless steel). Most of them are made with wetting agents, that keep the solution from beading up on the surface, so it dries without leaving spots. They're the standard for a final rinse in hand washing. Dunk your plates and wine glasses in the quats and let them dry. You're done. They're sanitized and they dry without spots and streaks.

Vinegar's better than nothing, but there's a lot it doesn't kill.

That product uses ionic silver, not colloidal silver. It's new .... I don't see any tests besides the manufacturers. It may be good stuff, but by the company's own description, it's for "hard, non-porous environmental surfaces (painted, glazed tile, plastic, non-porous vinyl, metal, glass)," which would not include wood.

I may end up doing that, but it would be 4 offending legs, since 2 of the 6 are too long. I'm trying some other things first. Amazon's cheapest 18" pipe wrench is on the way.

Everything I've read suggests that colloidal silver is an obsolete antimicrobial. It's become a trendy miracle substance in blogs and natural health articles, some of which advocate uses that the medical community considers unsafe (ingesting it!). Here's a rundown on sanitizers that are common commercially.

The torch is actually my first choice! I have one, and it's a hundred times easier than unloading everything from the table and flipping it upside down. No luck after first try with torch, though. My vice-grip pliers just aren't strong enough. No matter how tight I get them they slip.

Thanks Darienne! I must say, my heart sank at the "turn table upside down" intro. This thing is so big and my space is so small. It's a bit like "start by capturing and anesthetizing tiger." Was Ed's impression that it is indeed a levelling foot?

The cutting board thread resurfaces ... I've had a maple Boardsmith board now for five years, and love it. I prefer it to my giant maple countertop, primarily because cleaning it is easier. The endgrain construction also resists getting marked up, and is supposedly easier on knife edges. Dave's advice is to get the biggest board that you can clean in your sink. For me that was 16x22— I had a restaurant pot+pan sink in my kitchen. I've downsized now, and can use the new sink (a more pedestrian 16 x 21 home sink) with just a bit of awkwardness. I'm still happy to have the big cutting board but sometimes use a small one for small tasks. Some thoughts on nice endgrain boards: -get a bench scraper. It's the best tool for cleaning as you go, and for keeping the surface smooth. Sanding is required for removing serious damage (I haven't had to do this). Never use a wire brush. -a good board conditioner will preserve the looks and health of the board. A new board will be incredibly thirsty for the stuff; eventually you may only need to wipe some on every month or two. Board conditioner contains mineral oil and wax (usually bees wax, sometimes some carnuba wax). Dave sells his own, or you can make it, or you find other brands. I've made my own, and am now using Howard brand, which seems a bit better than my homebrew and is pretty cheap on Amazon. -sanitizer solution is a good idea, especially if you cook for strangers and don't know who might be immune compromised. Sanitizing comes after washing; it's not a substitute. You can't sanitize a dirty or oily board. The idea is to kill most of the last remaining microbes. Bleach solutions aren't very good on porous or semi-porous surfaces like wood. They're actually ineffective here. They also smell, irritate mucus membrains, and will spot your clothes and disintegrate your towels. Vinegar / lemon juice is also ineffective ... there's a lot they won't kill, including viruses like norovirus. The best thing I've found is restaurant sanitizer that contains quaternary ammonium compounds. They're odorless and non-toxic and don't irritate skin or damage fabrics. Just spray a dilute solution and let it dry. The same stuff is used in rinse water when hand-washing dishes. You can pick it up at any restaurant store. -These cutting boards are not for use with a heavy cleaver or serrated blades. By heavy cleaver I mean ones used to break joints and behead fish and poultry. These will hack up the surface of anything, so use a cheaper board. People disagree with me on the serrated blade part. It is ok to use, say, a good scallop-edge bread knife if you're very careful with it. Just keep in mind that a serrated knife is a saw, and it will carve grooves in your board if you use any pressure at all. I don't want to have to sand my board every month just to keep it sanitary, so I use a different board for bread (the only thing I have a serrated knife for).

My super awesome 8 foot stainless steel table, originally from some restaurant in Providence, more recently from my darkroom, is moving to the kitchen. I just fitted it with a maple top and noticed that it's nowhere near level. Like, it's an inch higher on one side than the other. The feet look like some kind of levelling foot (see pic). I could not get them to budge with my vice-grips. It's not surprising that they could be frozen with some gunk, but I don't want to get a giant pipe wrench if the things don't actually adjust. Does anyone recognize this kind of foot? Is it indeed a levelling foot, and if so, does it just screw in or out? And is there a more elegant solution to unsticking one than a pipe wrench? Finally, if I can't adjust the feet, any thoughts on another solution? I'm thinking something plastic with a divet in the middle to stick under the short legs, maybe something I can pick up at the hardware store.

I just got my first not-dumbphone and am wondering what's good. The CIA's Professional Chef appp looks amazing, but a bit steep for me at the moment ($50) A really good app with volume to weight conversions would be perfect. Also something with a library of ingredient facts, formulas, etc. etc.. Thoughts?

Ice cream makers with a bowl that you freeze in the freezer can also work well. I find that the icre cream attachment of a KA mixer, if used with a well-designed formula and frozen in a 0°F freezer, will freeze a 1kg batch of ice cream in 9 to 12 minutes. This is for a drawing temperature of 23°F. I absolutely agree that inexpensive compressor machines are a problem. The best choices are freezer bowl machines are or high-end, high-$$ compressor machines.

Another caveat: don't bother with arrowroot starch. It's nasty in the presence of dairy in any detectable quantity. I didn't believe this warning, so had to find out for myself.

It was! If invited back next year I'll look for oysters.

Xanthan is unafected by temperature, so it will have equal thickening power when the ice cream is frozen as when it's melted. So it will have a strong effect on the texture of the melted ice cream in your mouth. The right amount can add a nice amount of body, without the greasiness you can get from huge amounts of cream, or the egginess and other flavor-masking qualities of huge amounts of egg custard. But if you overdo it, the xanthan will give you unpleasant textures. Xanthan-thickened liquids are thixotropic, which means they thicken more at rest than when the fluid is in motion. This is useful until the concentration is high; then you get textures reminiscent of snot. And in the frozen state the ice cream can get chewy or elastic. Gelatin's thickness is highly dependent on temperature. It's much thicker when cold. Once the ice cream is melted in your mouth, it doesn't have very much effect. But the actual melting qualities of gelatin (the transition from thick to thin) are very pleasant. Gelatin melts right around body temperature, and gives the same kind of melting sensations as butter. But without greasiness. If you overdo it, though, the ice cream can get too chewy in its frozen state, and can even get sticky in its melted state (like an over-reduced meat and bone stock). The idea is to balance the melting qualities of the gelatin with the unmeltable qualities of the xanthan, while avoiding any of the ill effects of too much of either. The right amounts will depend on the cream content and any egg custard content, and also on other factors, like flavor ingredients that include water or fruit pectin.

Thanks for all the advice, everyone. The trip was amazing. We stayed in an old house that used to belong to the painter Fairfield Porter (my friend's grandfather) and his brother Eliot, the photographer. Kitchen facilities were less rustic than promised: a pair of propane fridges, a propane cooktop with three burners, and a giant old wood-burning range. We ended up making two pasta dishes, one with assorted dry mushrooms, and one with a tomato sauce made with steamer clams we harvested from the beach. The clam sauce was great for the experience and tasted pretty good, but the mushrooms (dry porcinis, black trumpets, and morrels from NYC) stole the show. We also had some sauteed veggies and ice cream made with rosemary, basil, and thyme from my garden. The house had those ice cream-making soccer balls that you load up with ice and rock salt and give to people to kick around until everything's frozen. Amazingly, the things actually work. The freezers weren't cold enough to actually harden the ice cream, but it was still delicious glopped on top of sliced strawberries. Another highlight of the trip was local lobsters, which gave me the chance to anesthetize them with clove oil, according to Dave Arnold's methodology. After trying this once, I will never kill lobsters another way.

I'm off to Maine for 10 days, to an island with virtually no electricity or contact with the rest of the world. There is something of a small refrigerator, and a wood burning oven and a couple of gas burners. I've been told to not expect much temperature control. There will 14 of us. I'll be responsible for dinner on one of the nights. All shopping will have to be done ahead of time. The ideal meal would be delicious, manageable with the rudimentary stove, and not too heavy on ingredients that need refrigeration. Any brilliant ideas?