paulraphael

It's not even that simple. Look at something like a hollandaise sauce. The sabayon is going to cook at a set temperature, but you're always using a pan that's much hotter than this. Beginning cookbooks tell you to use a cooler pan (like a double boiler) which means whisking for a long time, with relatively little risk of screwing up. More exprerienced cooks work on fairly high, direct heat, which allows the sabayon to whip up faster and to a much airier consistency. In both approaches, we're concerned with heating power, not pan temperature. And in both, the correct power will be determined largely by the size of the pan and the quantity of sauce you're making. I don't see how a temperature metric would be of any help. In these cases, the vague language of "low heat" and "medium high heat" may be the best thing we have. The distinction of foods that bake in the pan might be a good one. Those are cases that argue for ranges with thermostats.

Right, but even there, we're not cooking with a thermostat. Heat enters the pan, heat leaves the pan (through radiation, conduction to the food and air, and through evaporation of water). The rate of heat entering the pan vs. these other processes determines the final pan temperature. Suppose you crank the fire as high as you can on a high powered range (as you would for sautéing). If you don't put any food in the pan, the temperature will climb to the point where your oil will incinerate. But putting in the food bleeds off heat immediately, dropping the pan surface down into the right range for browning. There are some cooking processes where you could use temperature, with the right equipment. Like crepes or pancakes. Here an electric griddle with a thermostat works fine. But without a thermostat, I find it tricky to work like this. I like my to cook crepes at 375 to 395°F, but if I get a frying pan that hot (using an IR thermometer) and drop batter into it, the temperature immediately drops 20 degrees and takes a long time to recover. More time than it takes to cook the side a crepe. So I start with the pan hotter ... how much hotter depends on the pan and god knows what else. In the end, I find it easier to skip the IR thermometer and just eyeball the fire.

Yeah, it's true. High on a typical home range like mine would equal medium-low on 30,000 BTU commercial range. That's no exaggeration. Temperature isn't a solution, because we're not actually talking about temperature ... we're talking about power, which is the rate of energy transfer. A stock pot full of water will only get to 100°C whether it's on a hot plate or a monstrous commercial burner. But it will get there in a fraction of the time on the latter. We could use BTUs (but I don't think it'll happen). We're stuck, unless major player in the industry, and cookbook authors, could agree on a simple, power-based standard. I don't see it happening. We can't even get cookbook publishers use weight measurements.

For good steaks I don't like anything that could be considered a condiment ... sauces with strong, contrasting flavors. I like options that enhance or harmonize with the flavor of the meat without overshadowing it. Options include -salt & pepper -compound butters (particularly beurre maitre d'hotel) -veal stock and wine-based pan sauces, particularly ones that include mushrooms and / or shallots. I serve all sauces on the plate separate from the meat, so you can choose bite by bite how much, if any, you want.

All fruit is high in carbs. Exceptions are the ones we don't think of as fruits ... like cucumbers, tomatoes, etc.

The trouble is, the rules governing the Organic designation are so complex and replete with loopholes, and conversely, of such narrow scope, that it's almost impossible to generalize. Some of the organic rules are good. Some aren't. Some are potentially good or bad, depending on context and other factors. In the end, it's very hard to codify good and responsible farming practices. The organic designation is an imperfect and extremely incomplete attempt. There is delcious, ecologically responsible produce that is raised both organically and conventionally; likewise there is terrible, ecologically disasterous produce that is raised both organically and conventionally. I'd say that your odds are a little better if you go with the orgnic label, all else being equal. But that's not a resounding endorsement. GMO is a different sort of issue. I think you're right that its potential to feed underfed nations is huge. I also think it's irresponsible to dismiss the concerns. There is a difference between conventional breeding and genetic modification. The ramifications of altering the genome of a plant simply can't be known without experimentation and observation over a long span of time. At the very least, GMO food should be labelled. People not willing to take a completely unknown risk would be free to avoid it. Braver people, including those who face the very known risk of malnutrition, would probably make the opposite choice.

Darienne, your own experience is your best guide (although it sounds like ice cream doesn't stick around for too many minutes at your house ...) -33C is a mighty cold freezer. I've been taught that below -25C, ice cream is completely stable and that ice crystals simply won't grow (because 100% of the water in the ice cream, at least in any kind of normal recipe, will be frozen). If this is correct then your ice creams should last weeks and weeks without getting icy. But I can't vouch for this with personal experience.

That should read "asparagus" in both places, not "garlic". Gotta lay off the mid-day hooch.

I used to live next door to a insane person who also happened to be an ice sculptor. His setup for creating clear ice blocks used some kind of circulator that kept the water in motion while it froze i the molds. Somehow this kept air out of the ice and prevented imperfections from forming. His blocks were at least a couple of cubic feet and were clear as glass.

I've had stringy, flossy thin garlic before. But this is unusual ... generally I prefer the tenderness and the flavor of thin garlic. I'm curious to know why it's sometimes stringy, and if there's a way to tell before you buy it.

Next time I'll probably just juice the buggers.

So, I decided to make some sorbet with these beautiful Meyer lemons I found, and ended up with a bitter pill to swallow. This might have been the mistake: instead of just juicing the lemons, I peeled them and then pureed and strained them. I didn't think this would be a problem, since this has worked well with oranges, and since meyer lemons can be mild enough to eat whole. The puree itself had a fairly bitter taste to it. I went ahead anyhow, thinking maybe the sweetness would ameliorate it. No such luck. Basic proportions: 1000g total; 5 pureed lemons (270g after straining), 2 of them zested. Everything is great as far as texture, tartness, sweetness, etc., but the flavor tastes like grapefruit with extra helpings of pith. I don't have much experience with Meyer lemons. Was it a mistake to puree rather than juice, or might I have just gotten some nasty ones?

I usually make sorbet with strawberries, but I can tell you how I'd put together a strawberry ice cream recipe. First, look up online and find out the water and sugar content of the berries. Reduce your recipe's sugar and milk accordingly, based on whatever portion of the berries you plan to puree. Then add nonfat dry milk to the recipe. I'd try between 20 and 40 grams per KG of your recipe. For the berries that don't get pureed, I'd macerate them in a portion of the recipe's sugar overnight. This will suppress their freezing point. Add them right at the end of churning.

Amen.

Russ Parsons' How to Pick a Peach is a great resource. In many cases, especially with fruits, I'll use fragrance as a tie breaker. If there are two varieties of plums that look good, I'll let my nose decide. Probably not infallible, but it beats guessing.

I'm with Shamanjoe. My DW and I vastly prefer thin asparagas - but it does need to be fresh. Agreed! I like the thin stuff. For one thing, it's more tender so you don't generally have to do any peeling.

It starts with an idea, then the exploration of how to do it. Some ideas are so similar to what I already know that this part is trivial. Like, using rosemary in recipe X instead of thyme. Other ideas put me on new ground entirely. In these cases, like If I don't know enough about the ingredients and techniques involved, I do research. This may or may not involve using existing recipes for reference. Finally I'll put together a recipe based on what I've learned. In the case of something technical, like ice cream, a certain amount of math will be involved. Then I'll make it: version 1.0. Try it. If it's perfect (unlikely) I'm done. If not, I study the variables and decide what changes to make for version 2. Eventually I get there. I'm no good at guessing which ideas will be quick and easy to nail, and which will turn into long battles. Every onece in a while i'll come up with something that piques other people's interest. In those cases I'm the beneficiary of guinee pigs. This is great, because I can see how resilient the recipe is when confronted by other people's ingredients, habits, ovens, climates, etc... Sometimes, for example, I'll be lucky enough to get a tester who lives a vertical mile higher than I do, who can provide feedback on necessary altitude adjustments to a cookie or cake.

The plating is thick; your egg whites won't know the difference between a plated penny and a solid copper penny. It would take a lot to disolve the plating off. Certainly more than a few hundred dips in meringue. Both copper and zinc are essential nutrients in low doses, and toxic in high doses, although you'd be better off swallowing an old penny rather than a new one. If you're concerned about pennies leaking zinc (I'm not) you could make sure you use pennies from 1982 or earlier.

They cost a fortune. You can get the same results by throwing a few untarnished pennies into the bowl, along with a pinch of acid like cream of tartar. It's important to not use acid if you're using a copper bowl ... it will disolve way too much copper into your whites, which will taste bad and potentially be toxic. But you can use this same phenomenon to extract a reasonable amount of copper ion from the tiny surface area of few coins. I keep a bag of pennies in the kitchen because I think they're the best pastry weights.

What kind of permit? In most states, as far as I know, there's no official permit required. But insurance companies will sometimes throw a hissy fit (and if you don't tell them about the installation, which may violate fire codes, you void your insurance). Many commercial equipment sellers just refuse to do home deliveries or installations. They're afraid of potential lawsuits. The biggest costs are that the installation of the 3/4" gas line, the commercial hood (absolutely required), and the masonry firewall behind the range (absolutely positively required). these will generally more than offset the cost savings. That said, the performance advantages might be worth the price and hassle, depending on your outlook. Don't let anyone tell you that the quasi-commercial ranges (wolf, blue star, dcs, etc.) are similar to their commercial brethren in performance. They're not even close.

A great accessory would be a walk-in fridge that you could roll the whole thing into!

In the impractical category, I would love a commercial fridge. Not a lowboy or walk in, just a standard upright model, with racks for sheet pans instead of shelves. Such a superior design to home fridges. And no space wasting features like vegetable crispers and butter cozies.

That's hardcore. What size?

Commercial plastic wrap deserves its own shrine. And I'm embarrassed to say I've never bought any. But every time I leave my butcher shop or a restaurant kitchen I resolve to rectify this. Of the many commercial doodads I like, sheet pans are the most indispensable. I have a pile of half sheets and have recently discovered the 1/4 sheet. Surprisingly useful. Baking pans are also up there ... the 14 gauge, straight sided aluminum ones. Big stockpots: no reason to buy anything but commercial beaters. And little stuff: tongs, fish spats, pallet knives, etc... I've never found use for hotel pans at home. Maybe someone can enlighten me.

Missing the point. The chicken is presumed contaminated. Rinsing does nothing to decontaminate it, but is very effective at spreading the bacteria all over the kitchen. Cooking is what actually gets rid of the bacteria.