paulraphael

I generally feel that a dishwasher is an enemy of the clean-as-you-go ethos, because for me the whole point is that I'm going need all this dirty stuff again, probably in 5 minutes. That means, cutting boards, pans, prep bowls, machine attachments, etc, in addition to work surfaces. Unless you're lucky enough to have a commercial Hobart that runs a load in 90 seconds, the dishwasher is like locking your tools into a vault. When I cook at my parents' house I practically have to put a lock on that thing to keep people from imprisoning my stuff. The dishwasher is fine for dishes ... after everyone's eaten. But this is called cleaning after you stop.

Probably this or something similar. If you really mean biggest and baddest! The catch is that it requires 3-phase 208V power, which can be very expensive to have wired into a residence. But there's no other way you're going to have 6 truly big/bad hobs. 3.5KW times 6 equals 21KW, Equals 3-phase power, 208V, 60 Amperes.

I haven't heard anything bad about Bluestar, besides the price tag. They'd probably be my 1st choice all else being equal. Definitely the open burners. The biggest concern with any high end brand is if you get service for it locally. But I'm sure there's service for everything in NYC where Mitch lives. Strange about the cost of running 220V. I'd think you could have have it rigged straight from the breaker box. They just take two 110V circuits that are out of phase and combine them. But don't hire me as your electrician.

It's easy to demonstrate. If you take an unseasoned carbon steel pan, oil it and heat just to the point of polymerization, you'll get a translucent brown coating. And everything will stick to it tenaciously. The blackness that we associate with a seasoned pan, and the slippery qualities, both come from the soot.

You certainly don't, but if the coating is pure polymerized oil you'll have the stickiest pan you've ever used. What makes the coating slick (and black) is carbonized oil embedded in the polymer. You get that from burning some of the compounds in the oil.

100% always. Lose my mind otherwise. I don't even want help in the kitchen from someone who isn't cleaning as they go. I end up cleaning up after them and it would be faster if they weren't there. "The best way to help mommy," as they say, "is to stay out of her way. Edited to add: cleaning as you go can end when you've plated the food, assuming you're eating with everyone else (and not diving into making the next course). There's no point in letting the sauce congeal on the plates as everything gets cold because you're obsessively scrubbing the last pan of the evening.

Homemade magic shell?

Smoke point has more to do with the level of refinement than the kind of oil. I usually used a refined safflower oil, marketed as "high heat." It's what I use anyhow for sauteeing, it's not expensive, and it's very high in unsaturated fats, so seasoning things goes quickly. I don't actually know how big a difference smoke point makes. To properly season a pan you have to go beyond the smoke point. If you're not carbonizing some of the oil, the finish will be sticky.

Drying oils are also the ones responsible for the dangerous reputation of oily rags. As the oils oxidize and harden, they give off heat. In a cabinetmaking shop, where a messy worker might throw used rags soaked with linseed oil into a pile, that pile can offer enough insulation for heat to build up and cause spontaneous combustion. Maybe not so likely in the kitchen.

I'd probably go with Matfer, just because they've been doing this a long time and I've never heard of anyone having problems. In general I'd prefer to shop for these pans in person at a restaurant store. Carbon steel pans come in a range of weights/thicknesses, and can be hard to know what's what based on descriptions. Generally, if you have a more powerful your range, you can benefit from a thinner pan (more responsive). If you have a weaker consumer range, you need more thermal mass. Preseasoning will save a few minutes of your time on a product that will last a hundred years. I wouldn't consider it a serious benefit. I've never heard of a restaurant seasoning these things; they just throw them on the fire and start cooking.

Huh. I make a dessert with pears, cherry, cognac, goat cheese, and cardamom. I think the flavors are great together.

I'm having a hard time getting a sense of those textures from the pictures. The top looks maybe firmer and shorter, the bottom softer and more elastic. Can you describe what you're looking for vs. what you're getting? Also, what emulsifier are you using?

I'm not sure I've ever met a flavor that didn't go with cardamom. It's one of my not-very-secret weapons. Putting cardamom on it around here is like putting a bird on it in Portland.

I think the real advantage of the mortar and pestle is that it allows a consistently coarse texture that's hard to get with a blender. Blenders usually go all the way to smooth, or else fail on consistency. It's a matter of preference if you want the traditional rustic texture or not, but if you do, the old gizmo's the best way to get it.

I should add that the trickiest part of this operation might be finding a snap-ring plier that's the right size. Most of the ones online are made for cars and bigger appliances; they're too big for the KA. The people at the parts sites might be able to point you in the right direction.

That can be repaired. You need to replace the planetary assembly. This happens when there's a defect in the press-fit between axle and the cast part of the assembly (the part that fell off). Usually that connection lasts forever, but occasionally it fails. I think the whole assembly costs around $30 on Amazon or on the various appliance parts sites. Just make sure you get the one for your mixer (and in your color!) Are you reasonably handy with tools? There are videos online that will walk you through this. You'll also need some degreaser, some new grease (don't get the horrible KA grease; get a nice synthetic like superlube), and a new gasket for the gear cover. If your mixer is an old model with a plastic gear cover, it's a good time to replace with the magnesium one. And see if any gears are badly worn. Most of the parts cost $10 to $20. The only special tool you need is a snap-ring plier. I think these machines are pretty fun to take apart and work on. If you make these repairs the mixer will be better than new.

I'll swap sherry vinegar for maple syrup. As long as the shipping doesn't make it crazy.

If the budget is $50 I'd go with Jo's advice and get a mortar and pestle. A bit more work, but will give a nice rustic texture that's great for this kind of thing. Just mince ingredients to a fairly small size first. Some coarse salt can work as an abrasive and help the pestle dig in. I'd be afraid that a super cheap food processor or blender would disappoint. In my early days buying kitchen stuff, I got a cheap blender at k-mart; it died the first or second time I used it (frozen cocktails). I returned it and got another one. It died just as quickly. After the fourth one broke, I gave up and got my money back. Eventually I picked up a used commercial blender at a restaurant store ... it lasted 15 years, but it cost more than $50.

I'm ok with the remote stuff (which isn't to say I have a use for it; but I'm ok with the company experimenting. You never know what feature will seem indispensable tomorrow even thought it's laughable today). BUT—I'll be extremely cranky if the fluff features get in the way of day-to-day usability. No touch screen on my cast iron skillet, please.

I'll use whatever's handy, but since a pie is usually in a glass or metal pan, I won't use a sharp knife (like a chef or slicing knife). I don't ever use that kind of cutlery on plates or hard surfaces. Probably my favorite thing for pie is a palette knife ... not even a real knife. But super thin, and it can then be used as a spatula to serve the slice. They're useful for a million other things; I always keep a straight one and an offset one around. And they cost around $5 . image by Ateco USA

I haven't used this model, but the wheel sounded like a good idea. Do you hate the wheel in principle or just in its implementation? I remember the Anova rep who used to hang out here talking about the tradeoffs with the touchpad. One was durability. I haven't heard of specific problems with it, but Anova's warranty on v.1 doesn't include the touch screen if the circulator is used commercially. Generally I'm ok with the touch screen, but would much rather have a keypad version that doesn't force you to cycle through all the digits. Reminds me of a digital watch, circa 1980. Or the infamous clock on the VCR.

I'm going to take the position that aircraft engineering takes, which is that every pound of weight takes energy both to take off from earth and to maintain airspeed. Even if the road you were on were perfectly flat you still have to expend energy to combat air drag. Add in even minor changes in elevation as you travel and that adds to fuel consumption. It does add to the fuel costs to carry extra weight in vehicles. This isn't an accurate analogy, because it takes a ton of energy to keep mass in the air in an airplane. But the efficiency of a refrigerator's insulation (and the energy losses) have basically nothing to do with the mass of the contents. It does take significant energy to cool the contents in the beginning, for sure. But the mass just stops being an important factor after that. You open the door and cold air flows out and warm air flows in. If I have just one bottle of water in the fridge the temperature change from the warm air would be more than one bottle of water can absorb. This is still presuming that the amount of energy that goes into cooling the warm air that's come in is significant. It's in fact hardly anything compared with the heat absorbed through the insulation on all sides that has to be pumped out. If you opened the fridge door every 5 minutes in perpetuity, it would only make a small difference in energy used, regardless of the fridge being full or empty. But the bottom line may be that it really doesn't make much of a difference either way. This.

Dave Arnold addressed a related topic on a recent Cooking Issues podcast. He was addressing steak cooked sous-vide, in vacuum bags (like me, D.A. almost always uses ziplocs; this only applies to vacuum-sealed meat). Meat cooked in a vacuum bag, especially if it's purchased in cryovac packaging and cooked in that same bag, of if it's transferred directly from the store-bought cryovac to your own vacuum bags, tends to appear more rare than it is. He points out a number of ways in which color is an imperfect indicator of doneness, because factors besides temperature affect the color. He suggests letting the meat breath ... ideally, pre-sear it, and let it sit out for a while before vacuum bagging it. You'll lose a shade or two of blood-red with a medium-rare steak. It's about the reactions of oxygen with myoglobin. When meat is its normal raw-red, you're looking at oxymyoglobin. When it turns the ruby-purple-tinged, Tarantino crime-scene red of vacuum-packed meat, that's deoxymyoglobin. And when you're looking at the grey-brown of overcooked (or overoxidized) meat, that's metmyoglobin. We can probably come up with other ways to exploit this phenomenon.

This is adapted from Gilles Bajolle's chocolate marquise, which was his signature dessert at Taillevent in Paris in the 1980s and 90s. I make a different version now with a more intense chocolate flavor ... I've eliminated the eggs entirely and use more modern ingredients to get the texture. But this version is more classical, and everyone's always loved it. I'm not including the sauce recipe. It's just a creme anglaise. Bajolle always flavored it with a pistachio paste. I've used different things, but especially fruit / herbs. My favorite is probably peach and basil. My preference is for a lighter creme anglaise (mix of milk and cream, not too many eggs) since the marquise itself is so rich. But you can go in whatever direction you like. 1 Quart feeds 8 to 10 pan that holds 1 quart--anything that's about the right size, wider than it is tall. Ideally use a 6" round cheesecake or springform pan. Bajolle used a loaf pan. 250g / 9oz chocolate:* 150g / 5 oz bittersweet 100g / 3 oz unsweetened 125g / 4-1/2 oz (1 stick plus 1 TB) butter 310g / 1-1/3 cup heavy cream 6 large egg yolks / 108g 2 large whole eggs** / 100g 85g / 1/4 cup plus 3TB sugar 25g / 1/4 cup cocoa, sifted 1.5g / 1/4 tsp salt (752g) *Use good stuff. My standard for this recipe was 100g / 3.5 oz Valrhona Guanaja (excellent, dark, bittersweet), 50g / 2 oz Valrhona Manjari ( brighter bittersweet with more aroma) 100g / 3.5 oz / Valrhona Cacao pur Pate (unsweetened). I've mostly switched to Cluizel chocolates, like Vila Gracinda and Le Noir Infini. **Ideally, use pasteurized eggs. You're serving them uncooked. ***** -chill pan in fridge while preparing the ingredients -melt the chololate and butter together in a bowl over hot water. ideally, melt chocolate first, then, with heat very low, stir in butter. when butter is almost melted, remove from heat and allow residual heat to complete the melt. you should have a glass-smooth ganache. -whip the cream to soft peaks and set it aside, keeping it cold -beat egg, yolks, sugar, and salt until smooth. do not incorporate enough air to significantly increase volume. Use a stiff whisk, a hand mixer, or the flat beater of a stand mixer on medium speed. -when chocolate has cooled a bit, beat it with the egg mxture for one minute -beat in cocoa for 5 minutes by hand, or 3 minutes by machine. goal is smoothness and some thickening, not increased volume. final texture should be like a ganache icing. this is where you earn your dessert if you're not using a mixer. -fold in cream, gently. make it homogenous, but work it as little as possible to keep it from deflating -If it deflates too much, or if there are lumps from unincorporated cocoa, scoop the whole mess into a mixer a whip on high speed with the wire whip. It should fluff up and smooth out. Don't go longer than needed. -fill pan -thump it hard on counter to remove air bubbles. cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours; preferably overnight. -to remove from cheesecake pan, warm sides with hair dryer or a towel soaked in hot water. set bottom on a sturdy glass or bowl, and push sides down. -to remove from a solid pan, partially immerse in warm water to loosen it. Wipe of all the water from the outside of the pan, and flip it over onto a plate. if you're lucky, it will come out. if you're like me, you will do a lot of pounding and yelling, and maybe even resort to running a knife around the outside edge (and repairing the damage later--think stucco. yes, I prefer a cheesecake or springform pan) To serve, slice the marquise. a round pan gives wedge shaped slices that i set upright like pieces of cake. I like to ladle the sauce onto the plate first, and set the marquise slice in the middle of this.

Specifically what's going on is that when you have a lot of thermal mass, losing X amount of energy results in a small temperature loss. If you have less thermal mass, losing that same amount of energy results in a larger temperature loss. Which is why the full fridge stays cold longer when the power goes out. But it's the same amount of energy being lost in either case. Since it's temperature and not energy that triggers the thermostat, the only real difference you'd expect is the frequency of the compressor cycling on and off. Theoretically you might see differences in efficiency due to longer / shorter compressor cycles, but in practice this doesn't seem to make much difference. Anyone have tips on how to clean a decade of cat hair off a fridge that has coils on the bottom? I think this will make a difference ...