paulraphael
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Posts posted by paulraphael
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On 10/24/2018 at 8:28 AM, keychris said:
I think perhaps you just need to find the right brand and blend for your palate.
This. Not all fine chocolate is fruity. And while I love fruity chocolates, I agree with the OP on Scharffen Berger. It tastes like cherry cough syrup to me—one-dimensional, unbalanced fruitiness.
If you read reviews, you'll find mention of chocolates that emphasize bass notes ... cocoa bitterness, caramel, leather, smoke, wood, spices. Chocolate variety, processing, and roast level all play a part in this.
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Cool to see this. Too bad that you sacrifice 30% of the max power when you use non-ferrous pans. I'll guess that this is due to some fundamental physics and not an engineering compromise ... anyone know?
A workaround would be to use ferrous pans for the high-heat stuff, like searing and boiling pasta water. 2500 watts should be more than enough for saucemaking.
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On 9/1/2017 at 8:33 PM, dcarch said:
350 watts and 22,000rpm would be a fun tool in the kitchen. You can really do a lot with that kind of power and RPM.
Do consider this:
A stick blender typically uses what is known as a universal motor. A universal motor needs a lot of ventilation to dissipate heat build up.
The physics law of energy conservation applies. 1 watt = 3.412 BTUs.
Unlike most other mechanical devices, a stick blender cannot ventilate heat buildup because it needs to be water proof. So 300 watts, at full load (blending thick stuff) 300 x 3.412 = 1023 btus of heat.
It can get pretty hot to hold on to.
dcarch
I don't think consumer immersion blenders are designed to work at full power for long stretches, as you might with a Vita Prep.
Commercial versions with similar ratings are usually bigger, heavier, and with more ventilation, like this:
I don't know about about this one in particular, but ones I've seen in the flesh are clearly meant for use in big pots and would be pretty unwieldy for the kinds of things most of us grab a stick blender for.
I like the idea of high rpms for some uses. I don't think I need the thing to be excessively burly. If I need to blend a big volume of something thick I'll use a countertop blender.
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11 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:
If it helps my beloved BioSpec Homogenizer comes with a Bamix engine. The stand is counter top, not wall mount. I suspect it is a regulation issue Bamix stand. Not much space required:
That's interesting. Do you think the pricing difference between this and a regular Bamix is largely because of different markets? Like the way there was no such thing as a sub-$1000 immersion circulator before the companies discovered cooks?
Or is there something inherently expensive in a rotor-stator mechanism? Or does the motor itself need to be much more powerful?
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On 10/2/2018 at 12:29 AM, weedy said:
the real question is whether something anaerobic has a chance to grow into something dangerous in 2 hrs below 130F.
Check out this study: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.622.5104&rep=rep1&type=pdf
I've only just glanced at it, but think you're safe with a few days to spare. Just chill that meat quickly, and keep it on ice.
(This study was designed to look at the effects of higher temperature cooking on c.botulinum germination time, but they also an uncooked sample as a control. The uncooked sample is probably the one to look at, since your 72 hour cook will probably be lower than any of their test temperatures. Check out the chart on p. 1784)
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On 10/1/2018 at 10:01 AM, AlaMoi said:
temp to kill salmonela 131'F;
listeria 158'F;
botulism 240'F pH>4.6;
e-coli 160'F;
tapeworm 125'F
trichinosis 137'F;
campylobacter 158'F
Beware simplified information like this. All bacteria have a temperature / time curve for pasteurization. Salmonella, e-coli, campilobacter, and trichinella are killed to pasteurization standards at 130°F in under 6 hours. In 72 hours they'd be dead dead dead. I don't have listeria data handy.
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6 hours ago, LWB said:
Another question if you don't mind - I'm having problems generating overrun (using an ICE-70). Do you have some ideas on inducing more overrun via ingredients or technique? My recipes are low-fat (6-7% fat, ~10% NFMS, 36-39% TS) and I also use lecithin, LBG and guar in appropriate 0.20-0.30% amounts with otherwise great results. I recently bought some mono- and diglycerides to experiment with as I read they help with aeration, but my last two batches with them seem to prove the opposite. I can't rule out other factors but they feel more dense with faster meltdown. I have tried pre-whipping the base and folding in one meringue'd egg white but have not noticed appreciable differences. I'd rather add a special ingredient or tweak my technique than add more fat or TS, if possible. TIA
My first question is if you're thoroughly chilling the base before spinning it. This makes a huge difference. Consider that much of what you're doing is making whipped cream in the ice cream maker; the milk fat needs to be partially crystallized. 8 hours below 38°F usually does it. Although 6–7% fat is pretty low and probably adds to the challenge.
If this doesn't get you anywhere, you could try skipping the lecithin and glycerides and using polysorbate-80 at 0.02% to 0.04%. I haven't used this stuff, but its reputation as emulsifier is that it's especially effective at improving foam structure. A jar of this would last close to a lifetime.
Does the ICE-70 tend to produce dense ice cream? If it's a slow spinning machine that favors low overrun, and you're going for a very low fat recipe, this could be challenging.
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4 hours ago, LWB said:
As implied I've been using unflavored casein and whey isolate powders instead of nonfat dry milk to bring my NFMS content into the 9-10.5% range, cooked sous vide to 167F. What I'm questioning is the ratio of casein:whey for best texture. I typically use around 70-80% casein to 20-30% whey to mimic the composition of milk, but wondering if more whey would be better. I understand whey denatures better than casein under heat, just not sure what the textural trade-offs are between "too much" casein on one end and "too much" whey on the other, if that question makes sense.
These are great questions, and they're way beyond any research I've even skimmed. My personal experience is with plain old skim milk powder. I've written a bit about the functional differences between casein and whey, but when it comes to what the specific effects of monkeying with the ratios, or of denaturing whey proteins to one degree or another, most of this knowledge is probably locked up in the commercial labs at companies like Haagen Dazs and General Foods.
One person you might try contacting is Dr. Cesar Vega, who's one of the world experts on ice cream science. He's on Twitter at @CesarVega76
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1 hour ago, mgaretz said:
I wish there was a non-dairy (or lactose-free) alternative to the nonfat dried milk.
You could probably leave it out of these recipes entirely. There's already such a high level of solids form the chocolate and cocoa. The textural difference should be small.
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8 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:
I wish I liked chocolate ice cream.
Ha. I know people who wish they didn't. Maybe you can work something out.
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I just finished a post on chocolate ice cream.
This was a long time in the making! 15 prototypes.
There are two recipes; one that uses both couverture and cocoa powder, which I think represents the best compromise for right now.
An one that's 100% cocoa, for when we can get our hands on really good single-origin cocoa powders.
I think that day is coming. Some of the big manufacturers are advertising them (but I don't know where to find them), and many small makers are selling them now (but they don't seem able to mill the powder fine enough yet). But I'm hopeful.
I may slightly update these recipes with some tweaks to the stabilizer blend, but I think they're very close.
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I'm compiling a list of single origin cocoa providers.
If anyone wants to add, please do. Right now this only includes brands with US distribution; I think there are a few who distribute only in Europe.
Callebaut / Bensdorp
https://bcfmpreview.barry-callebaut.com/products/single-origin-powders?segment=cereals
http://www.bensdorp.com/natural-são-tomé
(many regions including a sau tomé natural)
Askinosie
https://www.askinosie.com/single-origin-natural-cocoa-powder.html
(tanzania)
KYYA
https://www.kyyachocolate.com/products/cocoa-powder-4-oz
(ecuador)
Omanhene
http://omanhene.3dcartstores.com/Cocoa-Powder-Natural-Cocoa-Powder_p_5.html
(Ghana)
Map Chocolate
https://www.mapchocolate.com/holiday-baking-supplies/craft-cocoa-powder-sampler-set
(Honduras)
Match Chocolate
(warns that grain size is too large … not smooth)
https://www.matchchocolate.com/current-offerings/
(several origins)
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On 9/18/2018 at 11:39 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:
I never said the Kwality flavors contain no eggs. My son said the ice cream didn't contain eggs. And the sign said the cakes did not contain eggs. If you told me what I ate was rich with golden yolks I'd just as soon believe you.
Probably @mgaretz is right. If I ever visit Kwality again I should politely ask. Worst they could do is throw me out and tell me never to come back.
Here's the Indian version:
milk solids, sugar, vegetable fat, glucose, emulsifier E471. Stabilizers: E407, E412, E466, water and artificial vanilla flavour
http://www.kwality.ae/product/vanilla/
Dr. Parekh is probably making something a little closer to his roots. But I wouldn't be surprised if it's eggless. He's a food scientist, so he should know how to get any texture he wants without eggs.
The Times article shows that he gets the importance or lower sweetness ... that's encouraging.
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23 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:
Any thoughts on how they do it? My best efforts at high fat eggless ice cream have been OK, sort of reminiscent of whipped cream, but they melt fast and don't store well at all.
I'd start with an added emulsifier, like lecithin (find a brand that doesn't have a strong taste. Like WillPowder). Then a bit of stabilizer. I like to mix my own. For eggless ice creams, sometimes a little extra lambda carrageenan will give the same custardy mouthfeel as egg yolk.
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20 hours ago, Okanagancook said:
In terms of getting a softer ice cream, Alton Brown instructs to use Vodka...around 2 T per batch to help make ice cream soft. I tried it and it doesn't help. Can't comment on the rest as I am relatively new to ice cream making. I did find this website very helpful and I think the fellow has posted on this thread.
Vodka will definitely soften the ice cream ... ethanol has enormous powers of freezing point depression. But I don't think adding alcohol is the best solution, because you'll trade hardness for iciness. Alcohol will increase the amount of unfrozen water in the final product, without doing anything to control that water.
The most elegant way I know to control hardness is with sugars. Adding dextrose to the mix allows you to control hardness and sweetness independently. Fructose or invert syrup will offer even more control. I've written about this here.
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11 hours ago, kostbill said:
So I made some chocolate sorbet with the Valrhona P125 (https://inter.valrhona.com/en/our-products/couverture-chocolate/p125-coeur-de-guanaja/bag-beans).
For a first experiment, I just omitted the cocoa powder.
That's an interesting product. It appears to have about 70% the fat content of regular Guanaja. I wonder if other companies make similar versions of their couverture.
Here's a sample recipe on Valrhona's site using that chocolate: https://inter.valrhona.com/en/by-your-side/chocolate-recipes/glace-au-lait-p125-coeur-de-guanaja
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On 9/15/2018 at 12:23 AM, btbyrd said:
All this talk and I still have no idea what one would do with such a contraption.
If I understand the thing correctly, it would be ideal for precision cooking anything liquid. The stirrer would mean you're circulating the food, not just the heat transfer medium.
So it would work great for making custards, tempering chocolate, pasteurizing small quantities of anything, and the killer app for me ... cooking ice cream bases.
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On 9/13/2018 at 8:41 AM, gfweb said:
A magnetic stirrer hotplate.
Basic Lab ware since the 60s except it uses induction
Hard to see what's novel and unanticipated after reading the claims.
I'm amazed it got a patent.
I don't know about unanticipated. I've been anticipating such a thing for a while, but without any luck.
What's unclear to me is the design / purpose of the vessel. Seems like the thing should work with any induction-capable pot on top.
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No idea how the upper part of this thing works, or if they'll ever make it. But in principle it's what I've been begging for:
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Our many decades-old black + decker dumb oven finally burst into flames, so it was time to act. I picked out a couple of great looking sub-$50 toaster ovens by Toshiba and Hamilton Beach, and we were about to pull the trigger, when my girlfriend spotted deep in the reviews that they have mechanical timers that make a ticking noise while toasting. I thought "who cares?" She thought "I'd rather die." So we descended back to the lower basements of the internet for more research.
And what did we find but a smaller, less smart smart oven by Breville. The interface is straightforward and pretty intuitive. It has annoying presets ("Pizza") but you can ignore them and just use toast, bake, broil, etc. There's no convection feature, and I don't care. This will be used 90% for toast, and the rest of the time for reheating, for broiling things like croque monsieurs, and maybe for warming plates. I don't need to roast a cornish hen or bake a cake in my toaster.
The thing is about halfway between the size of our old toaster oven and the full size ones that will fit a 12" pizza or full chicken. About right for us. The 1800 watt quartz elements cook toast evenly and reasonably quickly. Haven't used it for anything else yet. I'm especially impressed by the design of the crumb tray. Trivially easy to pull out and clean. Its biggest weakness so far is a complete lack of insulation. You could probably make pancakes on the top surface
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13 hours ago, BenA said:
I was reading the formula for calculating the amount of powder milk solids in the base. But I had a hard time comprehending the reason behind the lower part of the formula....see pic attached . I understand the upper part where the recommended amount of solids is subtracted with the amount of calculated solids in the serum. But then this is furthermore divided by the percentage of solids in skim milk powder minus the percentage amount of solids in liquid skim milk. ...there it gets a bit confusing. I'm guessing it's assuming that the amount of solids calculated in the upper part of the formula is not purely milk solids (without fat) so it's to get the right ratio ....but why subtract the percentage amount of solids in liquid skim milk in the Bottom half? Anyone else looked at this? Thanks
I spent some time with this book when it first came out and found quite a few head-scratchers that I suspect are editing problems. I don't remember that exact formula. Have you worked out the math and then analyzed the results, to see if they match the intention?
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Cheap alloy aluminum pans sit on 30,000 btu/hr burners in restaurants all day long. The worst thing that ever happens is they warp. I'd maybe worry if we were talking about magnesium.
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5 hours ago, scott123 said:
I would take a page out of the teflon coating handbook and rough up the surface a bit with sandpaper prior to seasoning. That will help the seasoning stick (aluminum is a bit harder to season).
I'd be interested in people's experience with surface treatments. I have an old aluminum griddle that I've seasoned like cast iron, with no special surface treatment. As could be expected, the seasoning flakes off pretty easily. A griddle gets rougher treatment than a pizza steel, but I'd still be curious about ways to improve the durability, either physical or chemical.
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45 minutes ago, adrianvm said:
That was an interesting read. I wonder if there are other things that would inhibit erythritol crystallization.
Certainly dextrose. Not sure about other non-sugar or non-caloric options. I've never done battle with sweetener crystallization.
Interesting multipurpose device in kickstarter- Master Sous
in Kitchen Consumer
Posted
"A slightly kitchenized lab stir plate" is what I've been begging the universe for. Generally I'm pretty cautious about crowdfunded manufactured goods ... there's so much that can go wrong for early adopters. But I'll keep an eye on this gizmo.
It seems to me the killer app for this kind of thing is liquid foods that need to be cooked to a precise temperature ... custards, ice cream bases, etc.. You could maybe temper chocolate in it. Cooking liquids sous-vide is often a guessing game with regards to timing, because the liquid in the bag is not getting stirred, and we don't have any good thermodynamic model for convection and conduction of goopy liquids in a floppy ziploc.