paulraphael

Even if you don't account for fraud, the organic rules are like the tax code—complex, illogical, full of compromises and loopholes. They're perfect fodder for savvy companies that want the labelling, but have no interest in the spirit of the law. There are some industrial farms churning out middling produce that earns the organic label. Meanwhile there are fanatically quality-conscious small farms selling great produce with no label, often because they can't afford the certification process. Funny story ... several years ago I ordered a bunch of lamb loins from a Pennsylvania farmer with a great reputation (I found his name on several Michelin-starred NYC restaurants). He asked me if I wanted organic or conventional. I asked the difference. He said "$4.50 a pound." As he explained it, it cost a small fortune to get land certified organic (they have to do lab tests of soil samples in several locations). He decided to pay for getting half his property certified, and putting a fence down the middle. Essentially the same pasture, same soil, same grass, same sheep. But the ones on that side of the fence cost more. He decided to pass the cost of certification on to the consumer. I ordered conventional.

Or you could send to Kyiv. A whole family could shelter behind it.

Yeah, looks like it. To confirm, see if the thought of dropping it on your toe arouses mild panic. The company makes smaller ones with the same construction. There are similar options by some other companies on webrestaurantstore.

That's got to be a problem with any double-sided griddle. Any coating ... non-stick or even just seasoning ... is going to burn off the side facing the fire. I wouldn't want to be in a room with that much incinerating teflon.

I have one of the heavy griddles by King Chef (2 burner, 7 gauge). It's huge (covers 2 burners on a big domestic or actual commercial range) and quite heavy. The carbon steel surface is perfect ... durable, seasons easily, and nothing sticks to it. It does not heat very evenly. 3/16" is pretty thick for steel, but not thick enough to spread head efficiently several inches. So for pancakes, you have to learn how it heats, and work within those limitations. Either don't take advantage of the full surface area, or don't expect photoshoot-perfect evenness. One approach that works is is using the center portion (between the burners) for keeping things warm rather than for cooking. You still have enough surface for 4 big pancakes at once. I would not get a nonstick griddle. The surface is too short-lived (I don't care if it has a lifetime warrantee or if you baby it ... if you cook at griddle temperatures, it will lose its stick resistance over time). My ideal material would be 3/8" aluminum. You can actually season the surface of bare aluminum if you want. You won't get a durable finish, but it works. And it would warp. But you'd get much better heat distribution, with no weight penalty.

I'm so sorry. What a humiliating defeat.

@Btbyrd, this is interesting. So many pro cooks seem to raving about induction. But I can't imagine them liking it if their ranges had all these problems. Do you think they're using better technology in the high-end commercial market? (it looks like mostly high-end kitchens adopting it right now)

Looks like you can listen right on the Heritage Radio site.

A couple of old kitchen habits it took me years to kick ... Tempering egg yolks when making a creme anglaise or custard or French ice cream. There is no point to this. I spent a long time trying to rationalize this step, since every pastry chef on earth repeats it. I came up with nothing. So now I throw the yolks in with all the other cold ingredients and just heat until it thickens. Preheating pans when doing things like sweating onions. You're not browning them, so why bother? When I make something like tomato sauce now, I use the sauce pan as my prep container. Diced onions go right into the cold pan. Add olive oil, cook on medium-ish heat until they've softened up.

When my grandmother died in 2005, part of my inheritance was an unopened bottle of Wooster sauce. 10 oz size. It followed me across town when I moved in with my girlfriend. We finally finished it a year or so ago. And I like the stuff!

Not sure if this was mentioned upthread ... Dave Arnold hosted one of the Precision Oven's engineers on his podcast last year. Discussion is interesting, and includes explanations / remedies for some of the oven's problems. They also get into the history and technology of combi ovens and c-vap ovens. Dave considers the APO the Muhammed Ali of reheating pancakes and fried food.

Buttermilk was one of those ingredients that I never used because I never had it around (you can usually only buy it by the quart, and I've needed that much). Then I discovered powdered buttermilk—and now I never don't have it. Does this matter for fried chicken? I still have no idea. But it has revolutionized my pancake making.

If I don't need to tame the enzymes, I just give a light whack with a knife or bench scraper. Just enough to crack the shell so it slips off. Not a fan of smashing. I find the traditional technique of smash and rock-chop-to-death isn't any faster than just mincing, and doesn't give much control or consistency. So I'll often treat garlic just like a little onion. With a sharp knife you could also get slices as thin as Paulie's but in a fraction the time. I've just haven't yet needed transparent garlic slices.

Kinda related to this tip ... sometimes I blanche or briefly steam garlic cloves. I do it for some concoctions where the raw garlic gets pulverized by a machine, and I want to cut the pungency a bit. The brief heat partially deactivates the enzymes that make all the harsh sulphur compounds. As a bonus, the shells slip off pretty easily after you do this. I've been doing this for the chana masala I like to make (has a lot of pulverized garlic). I don't find it necessary when making a vinaigrette with a stick blender. It's also handy if you ever want to put a garlic clove into a sous-vide bag. Completely raw garlic risks turning the whole meal into a tire fire, but a little preheat can tame it nicely.

I think the question is if typical pressure cookers constitute a sealed environment ... they use a relief valve to maintain pressure. It might be more of a hybrid kind of environment. It likely has to do with why Dave and Nils got significantly different blind taste test results with stocks made in different types of cooker (the winner being a type that maintained a true sealed environment). I'd assumed the difference has to do with aromatics getting out, but it makes more sense if it's about boiling vs. not boiling.

Sourdough apple pancake.

If you do it carefully, you should be able to keep it to a low simmer. Easily if you have a more sophisticated pressure cooker, like a Kuhn-Rikon.

Here's the basic idea. My earlier versions used more water and needed some reduction; this is an attempt to eliminate or mostly eliminate that step. Pressure-cooked meat coulis / jus de viande 1250g / 100% Water. 200g / 15% (approx) additional water 800g / 65% Ground Lean Meat Divide in half. (to save time, grind meat coarsely in food processor) 400g / 30% meaty bones, thinly cut on band saw. for beef, ideally use shin 200g / 15% Yellow Onion, thinly sliced 120g / 10% Carrot, thinly sliced 80g / 6% Celery, thinly sliced 10g / 0.8% Parsley leaves and stems Lambda Carrageenan (final measurement should be based on actual weight of jus after cooking and straining: measure to 0.35% Xanthan Gum (final measurement should be based on actual weight of jus after cooking and straining: measure to 0.07% Day 1 -brown ingredients / make reduction. preheat oven to 450°F / 230°C. add bones, half the ground meat, and all vegetables to roasting pan. Cook until well browned (about 45 minutes). It’s ideal to blacken the onions. -transfer ingredients to pressure cooker. Pour off fat. deglaze pan on stovetop with half of the small portion of water. reduce until it dries and browns. deglaze with the remaining water. reduce to make a light syrup. add to pressure cooker. -pressure cook. add the raw ground meat and main portion of water to PC. seal lid and let pressurize to 1 bar. turn down heat for minimum venting. cook 2.5 hours. -depressurize under running water. let cool. gently strain bones into a temporary container with a coarse chinois. as much as possible, use tongs or skimmer or slotted spoon to place bones and veggies into the chinois; don't dump it all in and don't press; let gravity do the work. It’s also possible to remove all but the last of the stock with a siphon. -strain again with a fine strainer / chinois, or better, with a superbag. chill overnight in fridge. Day 2 -defat, reduce, thicken -skim fat off top of container -Reduction: (Is there significantly more than 1L liquid? If not, skip this step). In a saucepan reduce 100ml to a dark brown glaze, then add another 100ml, scrape sides and bottom, reduce until total volume of coulis is about 1L. -turn off heat -add cold unreduced coulis to the saucepan -thicken. weigh final coulis; measure and stir together the gums (if you skipped reduction, heat it enough to liquefy the gelatin) -disperse gums with a stick blender -optional: heat on stove to deflate any foam that formed. Or (more work, but better for large quantities): -place coulis in blender. blend at a speed that makes a vortex and doesn’t splash. pour gums into vortex. cover and blend on high for two minutes. mixture will now be a light-colored foam. -pour into saucepan. heat over low flame to deflate foam. -chill. -package, store: strain again with chinois, measure into ziplock bags. refrigerate or freeze.

That's how I still do it. I like the quality of sear more. And by making it happen so much faster there's less chance of overcooking. For us, steak is a special occasion kind of thing so I don't mind the extra step. If we cooked it all the time I might look for shortcuts. I salt before the final sear. Not sure what it would take to get corned beef flavors from salting too soon ... but I'm fine with the flavor of salting right at the end.

Just play it like all the chefs in the 2000s and put "martini" in scare quotes.

I like Plymouth too. Haven't tried the Navy Strength recommended in the article. Which version do you prefer?

I had no idea. Reality these days is making it very hard to do satire.

The distillers will probably start verifying their bottles with NFTs. And when this takes off, they'll start selling the NFTs without the bottles. Everybody wins! Who wants to buy my authentic digital Pappy?

One of the tricks to getting traditional confit flavor is to do cook / chill, and open the bags before chilling (you can reseal them). Apparently that signature confit flavor comes from the fats oxidizing a bit, which you won't get much of in a sealed bag.

They tell you not to put the jars in the dishwasher. There's a bearing cartridge in there that's sealed against smoothies but not dishwasher detergent. I find them effortless to clean just by blending some warm soap water. Fill it about 3/4, put in a drop of dish soap, and pulse it to high speed 2 or 3 times. Rinse. Spray with sanitizer if you like. For getting every drop of food out of the bottom, ISI makes a narrow silicone spatula that's perfect for this. It's designed for getting everything out of their whipping siphons, but works perfectly on a vitamix. Also perfect for most mason jars. Last I checked these were out of stock everywhere ... I hope they're still making them.