paulraphael

I have a lot of old (early 1990s) calphalon, and the anodizing has largely worn away on the insides of every piece. I haven't seen colorful swirls ... just a lightening of the gray and then silver peeking through. I use the pieces the same as always. Even though there's the possibility of acidic food leaching aluminum from the thinned parts, it hasn't been an issue in practice. No off flavors or colors. I do find it annoying, considering how much they boasted about the invulnerability of the anodizing. It's just not a very robust surface. I should add that the pans haven't been abused. They've been cleaned and handled according to the company's recommendations. I'm pretty certain the wear is chemical, not physical. There is no hint of wear on the outsides of the pans wear they get banged and dragged over cast iron stove grates. In the final analysis, I give the company a thumbs-down. Because of the impermanence of the anodizing, the unknown permanence of their newer surfaces, and my growing preference for stainless steel, I plan to replace these pieces with other brands when the time eventually comes.

Speaking of Julia, didn't she have a hamburger recipe with an egg mixed into the ground beef (along with other things)? This is how my mom always made them, and they were delicious. We always had them medium rare, but maybe the egg would help keep a well done burger moist.

I might be inclined to try some meat glace ... or even more ideally, some reduced stock made from unbrowned bones. Classical demi has a ton of flavor but not a huge amount of gelatin ... I'd be looking for the opposite. Anyway, I'd think that the right amount of fat (20% or so?) and some added gelatin might make for a juicy well-done burger.

I have no problem at all with paying for bread and butter. Partly because I hate seeing all the waste that's encouraged by free bread baskets. Partly because I get the economics, and would rather see it as an option than an assumption. Partly because I am weak, and when there is free bread in front of me, I eat it--all of it-- even when all that belly space should be reserved for the piles of good food coming shortly. But the bread and butter had better be good. Really good.

I wonder if there's an uncontrived way to add gelatin.

That's a mischaracterization of what's being discussed. Those who are concerned aren't demonstrating that they're somehow blind to the suffering of creatures sold dead at the supermarket. The issue is that in this case, we are doing the slaughtering ourselves, so we are in a position to make choices about how to do it. The questions being asked are reasonable. The current lack of solid, scientific answers to the questions doesn't change this. On the other hand, many of the dismissals of the questions strike me as smug, baseless, and strangely defensive.

That flat beater looks exactly like the coated beaters that ship with the lift-head KA mixers. In my experience, standard flat beaters work just like the one demoed in his videos. When adjusted right they have about 1/2 mm clearance on the bottom, and several mm clearance up the sides of the bowls. They're not capable of scraping the sides and fully incorporating everything in the bowl.

Beaterblade: http://beaterblade.com/ Sideswipe: http://www.sideswipeblade.com/ Scrape-a-Bowl: http://pourfectbowl.com/index.php?page=sho...emart&Itemid=28 Anyone used these or seen them in action?

If you review the scientific literature I think you'll find a lot of scientific speculation, but very little evidence supporting strong conclusions, on either side. So we're in the realm of educated guesses. Personally, when I see reactions that look just like pain reactions from other creatures, I'm inclined to think they could be evidence of pain.

James Peterson's Fish and Shellfish book shows how to split the lobster's head with a single insertion of the knife right before dunking into the boiling water. Of course we don't know for sure that this is a painless (or more painless) way to kill a lobster, since we don't even know for sure if pain is an issue, or how the creature's nervous system works. But it seems to me like a pretty good bet. I don't think It's completely anthrocentric to guess that a quickly severed central nerve would lead to less pain than being boiled alive. Until I learn something that contradicts these assumptions, this would be my method of choice.

Ok, here's what it looks like: The black, cancerous looking blob is just a wad of open cell foam. It just pushes the white plastic doodad down. This is what depresses the lever that pushes the button that lets the machine run. Normally the white plastic doodad doodad would get pushed down by the plunger assembly. The foam lets you use the machine without the plunger blocking the food chute. I was planning to use closed cell foam (easier to keep clean) but this was all I had.

You could be right that a lobster isn't conscious, but by asserting it you're presuming to be more certain than any researchers in the field of animal cognition. It's an immature science, and a difficult one practice. At any rate, there are a number of recent studies that support the idea that lobsters feel pain. Some focus on the presence of opioid receptors in the lobster, others examine response to trauma. Like this one: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=A...ac7081b826bde99 None of these studies is conclusive. In fact no one currently knows how to conduct a study on the topic that would be conclusive. That includes you and me!

The above post suggesting we discuss "suffering" instead of pain might on something more relevant. We know their nervous systems are completely different from ours, so it's unlikely that they experience pain the way we do, but we don't know if they experience something equally negative in response to certain kinds of trauma. This isn't a topic as fundamentally inaccessible to science as the existence of a soul, but it's nevertheless a very, very difficult one to investigate. People on both sides of the issue ... those proposing that lobsters don't suffer, and those proposing ways to ease suffering ... are operating almost entirely on conjecture. No, this isn't helpful if you're trying to figure out the most humane way to eat something.

It's a problem in New York City too. At the bigger grocery stores in the outer bouroughs the cachiers robotically double and tripple bag everything, and divide the the smallest loads into more bags than anyone can carry. I try to bring a backpack to my local ghetto supermarket, but half the time security makes me check it, and pick it up on the way out--which completely defeats the purpose! Whole foods does it right: they single bag as a matter of policy, ask you how many you want, and their bags are excellent. They're the ones I reuse for all kinds of things around the house. I like the idea of a tax on bags. Something like 20 cents ... just enough to force people to consider if they really need that lemon double bagged.

My understanding is that the Michelin star system revolves around this issue. no stars: no touching one star: friendly touch by your server on the arm or shoulder two stars: warm embrace by the head waiter three stars: firm ass-grab by the chef de cuisine And I've been told that truly great chefs, like Thomas Keller and Feran Adria, will grab so hard they actually lift you off the floor.

I've had good luck reducing just to the point where the flavor is right, and then adjusting the consistency with arrowroot starch (starting with 1/2 tsp per quart, made into a slurry with a bit of cool water. It thickens the sauce after a low simmer for a minute or so. Be sure to test consistency by drizzling onto a cool plate. For my last couple of batches of demi, I've moved away from the reduced espagnole method, and experimented with modern methods that are really an update of 17th and 18th century meat coulis. Time requirement is about the same, and food costs are lower. I like the results much more. The technique is appropriate for a glace that has a distinct meaty flavor; it will not always substitute for more neutral glaces (reduced veal stock, etc). Recipe is here: http://recipes.egullet.org/recipes/r2081.html

There are a million ways to roast a chicken. In my experience the only really good ways are ones that address the different cooking temperatures of light and dark meat. I put together a recipe (more a of a tutorial, really) for my friends who wanted to know how to duplicate the chickens I fed them. Similar to chrisamirault's. Anyone interested can download it here: www.paulraphaelson.com/downloads/roast_chicken.pdf

I like ceiling racks for all my pans. They hang from stainless steel hooks. And I'm lazy, so pans sometimes get hung up when they're so hot I have to hold them with a towel.

I've been window shopping for these things on ebay (don't actually need one). the 10 and 20qt mixers seem like a bargain, if you can manage the shipping or local pickup. They barely go for more than the 5qt N50 mixers.

I made a huge batch of the brown butter muscovado cookies four days in advance of needing them. Kept in a sealed plastic container they stayed completely fresh. I like them better at four days than I did right out of the oven.

Cool, thanks for the report. I'm glad they worked well! For some reason they really improve a lot with a day of aging ... both the flavor and texture. I see how this can be hard to test with hungry customers/kids/friends around. That's helpful. My altitude suggestions were made up based on things I've read (I used to live at 6000 feet too, but didn't bake anything back then). Maybe I'll change the suggested adjustment to reflect what you did.

Cool. I made my first couple of trials with dark muscovado. I felt that the molasses flavor dominated the butter flavor more than I wanted, but they were still tasty. Can't wait to here what the customers have to say.

Great! glad to hear they worked so well for you. If anyone else wants to try (minus the getting sick part) I'd love to hear any feedback or suggestions.

I've been looking for specifics on the New York State health code and restaurant inspections, and can't find any reference to NSF certification. I've also seen restaurants using equipment like Mauviel and Bourgeat pans that to my knowledge aren't NSF certified (they arent' stamped with the seal). NSF is a private organization, not affiliated with any government. It seems strange to me that governemnt agencies would use NSF's certifications as the basis for health codes. Does anyone have hard facts about this?

I'm having computer problems at home ... I'll try to post a picture soon.