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Cooking higher than the desired temp will overcook the outer parts of the meat to some degree.

So tomorrow I'm going to dig back through old pics and online reviews to jog my memory. I thought that I was the only one who does this. I have a few written recipes, but photos of everything. If I can see the dish, I can remember how I made it. I know, I know, this isn't how its done. But it works most of the time and, lazy sod that I am, I'm not good at keeping this sort of thing organized. I do save recipes that look good in magazines/online and annotate them. And I have trusted cookbooks with annotated post-its. But most of what I cook isn't through following a written recipe.

In other words, they get hot

I get mushrooms direct from the growers. Buck or two a pound and really fresh.

Bet it doesn't. Freeze dried medical stiff with albumin still foams annoyingly if rehydrated carelessly.

You will fit in just fine! Welcome.

You also need to decide who the audience is. A beginner will need lots of explanation of routine techniques eg fold vs whip vs beat....how to cook eggs without burning...why a dish is placed in a pan of water. The whys are very important.

Clear recipes with annotations about things that aren't necessarily obvious for a novice cook. Substitutions for hard to get ingredients. Photos are wonderful.

Out of respect for Rotuts...no links for you. Just go to Amazon and search "steam oven".

Home steam ovens have had a spike in choices. Six months ago I searched steam oven and combi oven and only got Steam Boy, a defunct Sharp model a built-in Electrolux, and commercial stuff. Now there are another 4 table-top models, two ranges and wall models to choose from. I give Rotuts the credit.

Thermador has a new steam/convection 48" range for about 14K. Woof! http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/PRD48JDSGU.html?mv_pc=gg&utm_source=google&utm_medium=adwords&utm_campaign=pla&utm_term=&gclid=Cj0KEQjw1s-gBRCKwOKQ1sWonvsBEiQA8qALFc79YDAAf9z6hpLK8UVSFJgq04w-AtUeevlcaGQkiwcaAg6w8P8HAQ

Who knew till the plate got there? Place had been great under its eponymous prior chef. Now its tweezer-town and I've not been back in a few years.

Ruhlman and I had a little argument on his website after he published that piece on leaving stock on the stovetop for prolonged periods (that DDF cites above indirectly). His premise was that he hasn't died yet and all that science stuff is just being a worrywart. I guess his transformative experience at CIA didn't include food safety.

The problem with putting it in the fridge is that it will warm up the whole refrigerator. A lot. The refrigeration units aren't made to handle this kind of load. When a refrigerator is at room temp it takes a couple of days sometimes to get back down to temp.

They are pretty, but eat badly. Little pieces cool quickly.

Here are some photos from Lacroix, which charges big bucks for cold half plates. http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.phillymag.com%2Fimages%2Fuploads%2Fgalleries%2F1296_gallery_image.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.phillymag.com%2Frestaurants%2Fdisplay%2Fthe_philly_mag_50_restaurants_1_to_20%2F%3Fgallery_idx%3D65%26row_position%3D0%26photo_idx%3D1296%26thumbnail_num%3D2&h=406&w=315&tbnid=694NcO9zvUm1lM%3A&zoom=1&docid=A4IoYiWb_SLyWM&ei=RlUTVNKYBs-YyASem4KYAQ&tbm=isch&client=firefox-a&ved=0CCcQMygJMAk&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=413&page=1&start=0&ndsp=21 http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.anidori.com%2Fxx%2F892_1005.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fphiladelphiarestaurants.com%2Fphotogallery.cfm%2Frestaurant%2F892%2Flacroixattherittenhouse&h=400&w=600&tbnid=BtSrGMlXMbhUIM%3A&zoom=1&docid=oAGFLNIRlqdgmM&ei=RlUTVNKYBs-YyASem4KYAQ&tbm=isch&client=firefox-a&ved=0CCQQMygGMAY&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=459&page=1&start=0&ndsp=21 http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia-cdn.tripadvisor.com%2Fmedia%2Fphoto-s%2F02%2F65%2Fbf%2Fb0%2Flacroix-at-the-rittenhouse.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tripadvisor.com%2FLocationPhotoDirectLink-g60795-d433446-i40222640-Lacroix_at_The_Rittenhouse-Philadelphia_Pennsylvania.html&h=450&w=252&tbnid=PSy4690Knx_G0M%3A&zoom=1&docid=dZF0bZ_kxcZa3M&itg=1&ei=z1UTVKDJLtS3yATYioLYAQ&tbm=isch&client=firefox-a&ved=0CBkQMygRMBE4ZA&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=631&page=5&start=100&ndsp=28 http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fassets3.thrillist.com%2Fv1%2Fimage%2F674032%2Fsize%2Ftl-horizontal_main%2Frittenhouse-tavern-fond-and-lacroix-team-up-on-epass&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thrillist.com%2Feat%2Fphiladelphia%2F19148%2Fwill-byobs-collab-dinner&h=434&w=640&tbnid=aOnPpeJXxVCBSM%3A&zoom=1&docid=RqGOI9DSoBa5RM&ei=91UTVKqwOM6iyAToqYCIAg&tbm=isch&client=firefox-a&ved=0CCAQMygYMBg4yAE&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=3311&page=9&start=213&ndsp=28

High heat will tend to overcook the outside, so I sear in a pan and then oven roast at 300 to 350 depending on the meat. Tough cuts I braise or SV cook.

Its on a vacuum flask, right?

The empty spot is properly used to hold potatoes. Lots of them. The plating I hate is the tweezer jobs with little bits of food and technicolor schmears. Cools off quickly and looks like dessert. No entree should have a blue sauce. Lacroix in Philly does this and charges a mint for it. It is an intelligence test.

I'm on the board of a big Retirement/Assisted Living/ Nursing Home. We have a first class chef who worked at the best local restaurants...had had it with the life...and now works at the NH. Everyday food is great (within the taste limitations of the age group) and the food he serves in the "restaurant" dining room is better than anything available for many miles in real restaurants.

Looking from the outside, it seems to me that there are two approaches to new techniques. Either a restaurant uses them quietly alongside classic methods to make a better product, or they get all wrapped up in the new thing and make a big deal of it to the point where the method gets more attention than the food.

Agreed. Pregrated cheese is never as sharp as the best crumbly stuff sold in blocks.

cole slaw goes well with pulled pork

Freezing point of EtOH is about -115C. LN2 could freeze it, but the Freeze Girl couldn't hold it there. I believe it would boil off rather than sublimate. The volatiles in wine that contribute to what you smell would have to be lost by the process I think.

Re FD wine...I bet a lot of volatile flavor would go off too. When I lyophilized stuff in the lab (decades ago) , I would always freeze it first with LN2 or dry ice/acetone. This Freeze-Girl (relative of Steam Boy) seems like it takes a long time to get to frozen; why not pre-freeze?