gfweb

As an unwilling buyer of crap, I partially disagree. You can look at plywood and see the flaws. You can only rap on the cowling of a KA mixer, not take it apart for an exam. You can even check CR for ratings, but IIRC there's no mention of plastic gears etc in that review. Maybe a diligent web search will give info, but maybe not. And even then, after you figure out that KA mixers ain't what they used to be, what is the high quality alternative? The problem as I see it is that the manufacturer wants to sell a lot of product. To do that they must be in the big stores. To be in the big stores they must meet the store's price points...which are probably too low to make a good product and still make a profit. One solution is to accept that appliances are disposable items, which offends me, but that's what the data says. Vacuum sealers, for example. After tossing two failed high-end sealers, I'm just buying cheap ones now. Probably time for me to get a spare back-up unit, my current one is getting old enough to give out soon.

Why does the amount of vacuum matter? The liquid in the bag will conduct the heat to the protein just fine.

Thought I'd bump this old thread up. I've been fooling around with potstickers lately. Besides the usual porky/shrimpy fillings, I've made a pretty darn tasty Reuben filling (corned beef + kraut + Russian dressing)...a cheeseburger filling (cheddar, beef, ketchup) and a jalapeno/tuna salad filling (tastes much better than it sounds), and a breakfast sausage and cheese potsticker. Potstickers have turned into a way to dispose of a small quantity of meat in a tasty way. Anybody have novel dumplings they'd like to share?

Deep fryers are another example of retail units just being a POS. Long discussion here http://forums.egullet.org/topic/109874-deep-fryers-for-the-home-kitchen/page-4?hl=%2Bdeep+%2Bfryer#entry1944450 I've had several and not one would reach 375F even though the literature said it would.

Advances in computer stuff have nothing to do with the chiseling that goes on with appliances. When even the highest-end mixers use cheap components eg plastic gears...in order to meet the price point set by retailers, there's problem with quality. Of course, most people who get a plastic KA mixer never stress it enough to see the shoddy assembly fail. So the market will never work to correct the problem. Solution is for those who use the heck out of an appliance, to buy a professional model which (I hope) would be up to the job.

American shad. Click Shrimpy

Husband has a pretty good deal too.

Isn't that a hickory shad?

Indeed I believe that the tinned lining of copper pots is to protect the pot from corrosion, not the user.

Perhaps useful. http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/how-to-make-an-old-copper-pot-safe-to-cook-in/2012/11/05/5eecebcc-236d-11e2-ac85-e669876c6a24_story.html

The unanswered question is how effective is washing it yourself at home. I'd bet not very. And how cleansed are the salads at a restaurant? I'd bet not at all.

Pancetta is cured like bacon, but then air dried and not smoked.

The red color comes from nitrate in the cure of the bacon. Acts as a preservative and kills botulism spores. Same reason that corned beef and pastrami are red.

I believe that the vent is not for the oven but for the burner that heats it. In a gas oven the burner is beneath the the oven floor and it heats the air around it which has to escape somewhere. My oven has no vent, but the burner area is kind of open, and the oven is an ancient restaurant unit.

Pretty! Was there nitrate in the brine?

I'd heat it first on the stove and then put in the IC unit when its near temp and turn off the burner. You don't want to risk frying the IC with heat that comes up around the pot.

Maybe add chicken liver pate?

My suspicion is that many restaurants do not train or hire as well as you do. In many places there would seem to be no standards at all.

Anyone feel up to dealing with the incorrect usage of au jus?

Thing about botulism is that it gets reported (if its diagnosed). Patient ends up in a hospital invariably and hospitals report. Unlike the usual food poisoning...nausea, vomiting...must've been something i ate...better in a day or two (unless it isn't) and never gets seen by a doc.

I haven't been able to find one at a reasonable price. Started looking after I made a frigging mess on my Weber with a dry chem FE. Believe that CO2 requires servicing semi-regularly, so there's that cost as well. If I spend $300 it'll be on steam boy. ETA...but wait http://www.ebay.com/itm/15lb-CO2-fire-extinguisher-Current-Hydrotest-Ready-to-be-filled-As-Is-/121218547226?pt=BI_Security_Fire_Protection&hash=item1c39303e1a

I thought you were anti-soups? :-) But I suppose this one is "thick enough" for you? Looks tasty. What mushrooms were they - the "standard" white mushrooms or something else? Consider mixing in several types of fresh mushrooms next time. Well, this was a thick soup. They were standard white mushrooms with a handful of rehydrated shiitakes mixed in.

I braise short ribs at 300F x 2.5 hrs and the veg caramelize a little. You could always do them separately at higher temp. I like HBs low temp roast...almost sous vide.

Arancini served with marinara Jambalaya from the Prudhomme Family Cookbook. Lasagna Mushroom soup made with mushrooms so fresh the gills were still pinkish. I buy them from one of the zillion growers here at a dollar/pound. They taste very different when this fresh (and keep almost two weeks in the fridge) Scallops in apple-cream sauce(with a hint of dijon), risotto, warm lightly pickled cauliflower

An early spring classic. Shad running where you are?