paulraphael
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Posts posted by paulraphael
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On 5/28/2022 at 12:45 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:
Most of my Falk pieces are from the Classic series but as much as I prefer the look of the Classic rondeau with iron handles, I went with the Copper Coeur rondeau so I could use it with induction.
Sad, I know, to give up 0.4mm of copper for the privilege.
I wish someone would make 2.5mm clad copper with a thin carbon steel disk welded to the bottom. Or if some genius could figure out a way to do this as an aftermarket mod.
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On 5/25/2022 at 10:54 AM, cdh said:
He's not wrong that its the R&D that you're paying for... Traditional alcohol-based spirits have about 1000 years of prior art to draw on and use to optimize processes and predict what you're going to get. If n/a spirits have a thousand year run, they'll naturally come down in price as the body of usable knowledge fills in.
An added expense with the non-alcoholic concoctions might be short shelf life. For my personal cocktail making, I stick mostly to spirits, so I don't have to worry about expensive fresh things going bad.
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3 hours ago, EatingBen said:
I’ve never found a silicon brush I liked, marinade never sticks to it so you can’t get the damned marinade from the bowl to the cooking meat. BBQs I use a few squares of paper towel rolled up and kinda jagged like as a brush then throw it away once it’s done.
Huh. I've never used a brush with marinade. The only things I'll brush on the surface of roasting or grilling meats are fat-based, and those stick to a silicone bristle.
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I recently got a few of the silicone brushes (some obscure Amazon brand) to replace the bristle brush I'd been using (probably unwisely, maybe disgustingly) for everything sweet & savory for the last 10 years. My assumption was that bristle brushes are probably better ... at least more precise, if you need that. But you can never truly clean them, so you have to keep them segregated for specific uses. No one wants the sponge cake you glazed with the bristles that basted the suckling pig.
I chose easy ... silicone goes in the dishwasher, so I can just grab whatever brush is on top. So far no regrets. They look like they'd be ineffectual and imprecise, but I don't find a practical difference. I'm not using them for anything where I have to worry about extreme evenness or visible brushstrokes. If you do that kind of thing, maybe get bristles just for that, and don't let anyone else use them.
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I weigh water for most things, but for rice have taken to using the volume markings on the zojirushi. I'd prefer to do it by weight, if for no other reason than right now, my survival depends completely on not losing the rice cooker measuring cup.
But it would also be good to have some more control over the process.
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Using less water seems to be the simple solution here. We used about halfway between the white and brown rice amounts and it got a thumbs-up from the boss. Probably will do a bit more refinement.
The Rice Factory site is interesting. Suggests that the rice we're getting is probably not completely unmilled (RF says you have to work up to truly unmilled rice to improve your tolerance to such a fiber bomb. No thank you!)
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On 8/27/2021 at 1:27 PM, andrewk512 said:
I use it a ton for ice creams, I have a freezer-bowl machine so I take the pre-frozen bowl at -18C from my main freezer and cool it to -36C in the blast chiller. I then churn my base and stick the base in the blast chiller to rapidly bring down the temp. It is nice for this.
I'm surprised this works! I use the freezer bowl attachment for a KA mixer, and chill it in the regular freezer (kept at around -20C). This gives a residence time of 7 to 10 minutes (total time of churning, down to a drawing temperature of -5 to -7C).
Once I tried using the "quick freeze" feature on our freezer ... a button you can push if you have to put something big and not fully chilled into the freezer. It drops the temperature down to around -26C for a few hours. When I did this, the mix froze so fast that dasher completely jammed. It has a spring-loaded clutch to keep the mixer from ripping it to shreds, which is exactly what would have happened without it. I could not turn the dasher even a millimeter with my hands. This was a failed experiment!
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13 hours ago, FlashJack said:
Have tried this from time to time. Just doesn't feel right to me.
It's worth getting used to, if you insist on steeling. You'll be able to hold a more consistent angle, and apply more consistent pressure. When you hold the steel pointed out into space, it's moving all over the place, because you're not a robot.
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For the most control with a rod, plant the tip vertically on the cutting board with one hand and very gently arc the knife downward on each side.
The tv-chef methods are mostly good for frightening Bugs Bunny when he's tied up in your cauldron.
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In today's wirecutter: recommended nonalcoholic cocktail fixins.
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20 hours ago, DocD said:
What type of griddle do you mean, panini-press type, stovetop, electric or gas countertop, or what?
I've looked into this myself a little before, I have a love/hate relationship with my aluminum Calphalon stovetop griddle LOL The practical aspects of the engineering make it increase rapidly in cost, depending on what you require from it - this is a much more difficult range to work in compared to cooling electronics. What would people be willing to pay for a griddle that heats a lot more evenly? Even just a 1/4" sheet of plain copper 12x24" would cost $750 - and that's without handles or any particular finish, and it still wouldn't be as evenly heated as something with heat pipes. 1/2" aluminum would cost $250 and not work as well as copper.
I was thinking of of big commercial griddles, or the similar ones built into fancier consumer ranges. But if the technology could scale down, I'd welcome it in a stovetop version. I recently bought 3/16" thick 2-burner stovetop griddle. It's about a 20 lb slab of steel that's lots of fun to cook on, but it doesn't actually conduct heat very evenly. Between its huge size and relatively week conduction of steel, you can't use the whole surface for things like pancakes.
I probably wouldn't pay $250. Unless it were an upcharge on a $7,000 range, which would make that kind of money seem cheap.
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12 hours ago, FlashJack said:
After honing on the stones I use a ceramic rod that was super cheap from IKEA.
I suspect this is helping remove the burrs you raise on the stones. But it's a very aggressive way to do so, and it may be undoing some of your progress. If you stick with the rod, I'd suggest using the lightest possible pressure ... less than the weight of the knife. There are also gentle techniques you can use with the stone itself, or with a piece of hard felt, or even with a wine cork or scrap of wood.
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On 4/27/2022 at 2:35 PM, Duvel said:
If not done yet, I‘d suggest to gradually lower the water amount. Contrary to popular opinion, brown rice is usually processed and the amount of bran removed makes a significant difference to the amount of water absorbed. If rice adsorbs too much water, the grains swell, split and starch will leak out resulting in mushy rice.
Thanks Duvel. I think we'll try this first. We were going to try medium-grain, but she tells me the restaurant's rice looks short grain like ours. And your solution is easy and free.
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18 hours ago, haresfur said:
I haven't read up on honing and stropping of straight razors but that might be more akin to what could be done with a low angle single bevel Japanese blade.
I bet you won't find anyone using a honing steel on a straight razor (at least not more than once!)
But stropping straight razors is pretty standard. Traditionally people would use unloaded leather, which I think mostly served to remove burrs. Now people also use leather as a medium for very fine abrasives, as a final stage of sharpening. You can get powdered diamond or boron that's the equivalent of 20,000 or higher grit stone. This lets you put a very refined and polished edge on a razor, with some ability to deburr, and without as much need for precision as you need on a hard stone.
I found this works less well on knives. For years I used a leather strop loaded with 0.5 micron chrome or diamond abrasive for finishing and touching up my gyuto.
Then Jon Broida at Japanese Knife Imports convinced me to stop doing this. I went to him looking for a new knife because my Tadatsuna gyuto dulled too quickly. He said the problem wasn't the knife; it was me. And the OCD sharpening techniques I learned from the internet. He wanted to sell me a new finishing stone, not a new knife—a 6000 grit japanese stone to replace my 10,000 grit one and the strop.
And he was right. My edges don't feel as much like a straight razor anymore (because I'm not sharpening them like one) but they perform great and hold on to that performance for days instead of hours. That super-polished straight razor-like edge was amazing for about 20 minutes. But for whatever reason it didn't last. The slightly lower grit edge doesn't push-cut quite as well right off the stones, but actually slices better. It slips through things like the skin of a soft, ripe tomato even after several days of use.
I sold my years-old 10K stone to someone for the same price Jon sold me the new one. Probably to someone who's serious about shaving! The only thing I miss is that the strop was pretty convenient for touch-ups. But using the stone for touch-ups isn't too bad. Jon got me to try microbevels, which are very fast to create and touch up. It's more of a hassle than honing a European knife, but I only have to do it every couple of weeks, and that's if I'm cooking every day.
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My partner loves this stuff, but has declared that what we get from the cheap local Chinese restaurant is better than what we make.
We get the stuff from the bulk bin at the local food coop. Type unknown. Cooked on autopilot by Zojirushi.
She says the Restaurant rice is chewier, heartier, less mushy.
Should we be looking for a specific variety of rice? Maybe from an Asian specialty market? Recommendations?
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1 minute ago, heidih said:
A whisper of cardamom as they bake - transformative.
That would be brilliant.
And I should have added the obvious ... no need to stick with pears. Peaches, apples. Any fruit that won't fall apart.
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I don't have one favorite, but this is high on the list. I love that it's so simple and imprecise (unlike some of the concoctions I get into). It's a James Peterson idea.
Roasted Pears
-Peal, halve, and core some pears
-Put them on a skillet or roasting pan. Sprinkle with sugar and throw some pats of butter on top.
-Cook in a 400° oven til they're soft and the sugar starts browning
-Plate the pears. Put the pan on the stove and deglaze with some cream. Throw in some cognac or Poire William if you're feeling sassy. Reduce a bit. Strain if you're feeling fancy. Sauce the pears and serve.
Not as simple as Mitch's strawberries and cream, but I promise you can pull this off even if you're nearly too drunk to walk. It's always good.
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On 1/15/2018 at 4:10 AM, Rho said:
It seems like pans and commercial griddles would be improved by adding heat pipes to spread heat throughout and avoid hot or cold spots.
A griddle would seem like the killer app for this, if there was a fluid that could work at the range of temperatures you'd need. Even with commercial power, it's hard to get a griddle to heat evenly and to have quick temperature recovery.
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21 hours ago, haresfur said:
Isn't that the idea of honing as opposed to sharpening?
This is what we were all taught, but it's not true. In practice, knife edges don't typically roll over in a way that can be straightened. Techniques like stropping and honing just remove damaged metal and create a new bevel (typically a microbevel).
Using a steel does essentially the same thing as using a pretty coarse stone, but without much precision. We usually use a steel at an obtuse angle, so the result is a fairly rough microbevel. If you have a polished smooth steel, you can get results that are more like microbeveling with a finer stone.
Here's an interesting 2-part explanation by a guy with an electron microscope.
This kind of edge can be useful. I like it on my big German chef's knife and Forschner utility knife. And I love how quick and easy it is. I think I had to put those knives on the stones once or twice in 15 years ... steeling just does the job.
My thinner bladed Japanese knives don't go anywhere near a steel. There'd no way to use it to get the kind of refined edge I want. But more importantly, those are sharpened to such acute bevel angles that honing would just shred them. You can't put that kind of lateral pressure on an edge when you've got 7° to 10° angles.
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6 hours ago, andrewk512 said:
Dave Arnold has been obsessing over it in his podcast the past year; from what I recall it has also been described in Modernist Cuisine/Bread but I've never read it. He is actually using it partially to get the bread more crispy as the idea is getting rid of all that moisture prevents subtle crust sogginess. I'd never seen it described elsewhere so I was shocked to see Anova mention it but they've really captured all the subtle pro secrets (like hydrating doughs) in their recipe guide.
Dave A. is buddies with the Anova folks. Their lead product designer has been a guest on his podcast.
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10 hours ago, weinoo said:
Also @paulraphael - this place is in Long Island City - I've ordered other stuff from them and had very good luck, and it's quick and very fairly priced...
Great prices at this place. Thanks for the tip!
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Last few batches I've bought have been terrible. I don't even know how to describe the flavor.
Any thoughts on where to get good ones?
I admit I've been looking for bargains, and trusting online reviews. Lesson learned.
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On 4/18/2022 at 2:09 PM, AAQuesada said:
-sugar (raises the temperature for coagulation)
Don't know if this helps, but it seems there are several scientific papers on the subject as well
It doesn't explain it, because what's at issue here is when the sugar is added. There's the same amount of sugar in the solution whether you add it first to the eggs or to the milk and cream.
We'd need a hypothesis that a high concentration of sugar added directly to the yolks causes some kind of change that later makes them coagulate at a higher temperature, even at the same final sugar concentration.
I can't find anything in the scientific literature that talks about this.
Edited to add: it would make sense that this would help if you're adding eggs to hot liquid. But if it helps when you add them to cold liquid and then bring the whole mix up to temperature, I don't know what would be going on. I'm a bit skeptical.
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Many cooks have learned on something like a King combination stone. You'll probably never need anything better. You may someday want something better. By the time you wear this thing out, you'll have opinions about what you like and don't like. It's under $50.
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High-end Cookware - What you get for the money
in Kitchen Consumer
Posted · Edited by paulraphael (log)
I've had the 12" Mauviel version of this since the 1990s (no lip, 2600 grams). It's one of my 2 or 3 favorite pans. Just a great compromise of heat retention and responsiveness. Very even heating, even on a crappy stove. A big enough bottom to work as a traditional saute pan, but a good shape for tossing food as well (if you don't mind the workout.
And it will probably last forever. I knocked it off the counter once and it went flying. My heart sank. But there wasn't even a mark on the pan. The floor was the loser in this transaction.