Chef Bradley

First off, quimiq is 1% gelatin. We had the corporate chef demo some for us a few weeks ago, stuff is insane! He made hollandaise in an ISI can and it never broke. Said you could keep the can in a warm water bath all through service and not have any issues. Apparently, you can toss the unused sauce can in the cooler unopened and reheat it the next day! Pretty amazing stuff. I made a veggie terrene with it with no weepage.

Thank you for all the info, this thread has been really helpful! Upon doing some research, I stumbled upon this thread about the upcoming "FreshMealsMagic" which combines the best of both worlds, a bubbler to keep the water moving and a device that creates its own heat, thus using any vessel to sous vide! http://www.sousvidecooking.org/tag/freshmealsmagic/ I think I may hold off and see how much this bad boy is going to cost. If its too costly, Im kicking around the idea of grabbing a Presto Kitchen Kettle to play with for under 50 bucks like was mentioned by a previous poster, at least until these home machines come down in price a little.

So, are you saying that I can use a rice cooker to sous vide? I saw one for sale on fresh meal solutions web site for arounf 80 bucks USD. I may have access to the magnetic stirrer with heat plate for under 50 bucks USD, if this is the case, what sort of vessel could I use to cook with this item?

Has anyone tried this yet? This sounds like a great alternative, especially for a home user on a budget. Question is, I guess, would be if this were done, do you have to use a glass beeker or can you use any sort of container (ie stock pot, or even a pyrex soup pot?)

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Crazy at work! So, as you can see, its pretty sturdy aluminum with a hole in the back and casters. Id be able to move it any where I want, which is nice. I love all the ides Ive received! Im considering doing either a couple electric burners down below the box for the times I need heat, and an off-set smoke box for my smoke. I still need to check out everyone's links for ideas, but I appreciate everything!

So, about 6 months ago, I started an Executive Chef position at a country club. We were doing some cleaning up and I came across this old hot box/ proof box. It's a little beat up and so far, Ive only been able to use it to hold junk! I dont want to toss it in the trash, so, I figured since I like to smoke my own bacon and such, I'd love to be able to turn this thing into a nice tall all purpose smoker. Offset would be ideal with some sort of temperature control. Anyone know of a site where I could get building plans for this project? Perhaps you've done this and had some success? First of all, it is all aluminum and has a latching door, very heavy duty as well. Thanks in advance for any help!

So, I built the macro studio with a box, some tissue paper, poster-board and a couple cheap lamps from Ikea that was mentioned. Check out these results. They were taken at work with an over head florescent light on the ceiling and the two lamps on on each side of the box. I can say that it looks a lot better than before but Im sure they could look better. A couple more practice pics...

Thanks so much. Very useful info!

Wow, that is some amazing information! I'm relieved to know that my camera has what I need to do this book. I was concerned that I would have had to buy a new camera to get the best pictures. David, did you use photoshop to tweak those photos? If not, what did you use? Do you use pluggins in your program? If so, which one(s)? I'll check out my camera manual to see if I can tweak the white balance. I love the idea of making my own macro photo studio with a box and some tracing paper! That's right up my alley, lol. Thanks so much for the info everyone, Im looking forward to putting them into practice! Will keep you posted.

Here are a few I've taken playing with different natural light forms. I've not used any flash (which has been suggested to me a few times) except once in front of a carving station in a dark room. I am using a Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6 for all my photos.

So I'm putting together some photographs for a cookbook Ive been working on and Im just not pleased with my pictures. After an extensive search for information, I see that many food photographers use these cool expensive setups costing a few hundred/ thousand dollars! Surely there must be a cheaper way to setup a decent food photography area in my kitchen where I can take awesome pics, eh? Anyone have experience with this? Any links or tutorials that you prefer? I appreciate the help.

I think I will go with drying my stresa in the fridge. I wonder, however, if I will get any off flavors from my fridge? Has this been a problem for anyone?

ok, that sounds like the deal then. I decided to go with the flat pancetta for my first try and cut the recipe in half. That way if, for some reason, it goes bad, I only lost a 2.5 pound piece instead of a 5 pounder. With that curing salt it kinda puts my mind at ease anyway.

With the recipes Ive read it states that the room has to be 60F with about 60% humidity. The coolest area in my house (besides the fridge) is a spare bedroom and the coolest that gets is about 70F. Is the temp that important? I'd hate to waste 5 pound of pork belly, that stuff's not cheap!

I love the cheescloth idea. Seems most people are using twine, do you see a difference between the cloth hanging and the string hanging? Great looking pics too. Thanks.

I just scored a 12 pound pork belly and am about to embark on a bacon making frenzy. I plan to take about half of that to make a pancetta. I found a great tutorial and recipe online today but just wanted to hear any stories, good or bad, and maybe some of your favorite recipes that you might want to share. I plan to blog this ordeal so Ill keep you posted. Thanks!

I, as Im sure many, of us specifically heard spike (or whatever his name is) say that he doesnt know how to make mayo and doesnt even know whats in it. If he was being snarky, he was sure being subtle.

Jeesh, so do I

I thought the mini smoker was awesome, I must get one! (Actually, if I remember correctly, back in "the day" I think I remember a buddy having something like that to assist in the inhalation of certain herbs, but I may be mistaken. Didn't they call it an electric bong? (scratches chin). Any who, I thought his use of smoke as a flavor enhancer was genius. Being as our noses and tongues are connected when eating, the smell of smoke would set you up for something yummy. The plastic wrap thing, yeah, a bit tacky, but very functional and the judges didn't seem to mind.

I too thought that Tom was incorrect when he said that the chicken should have just been floured and egged, the words "Francese" popped in my mind but thought nothing of it not thought to check into it. Good call man. I agree with everyone, that jacked up, cuss mouth Andrew dude that didn't know how mayo was made HAS to go (he didn't even know what the ingredients were!). I am glad that the whiny one that was sent home is gone though, much relief. I think this season will be a pretty good one. Plenty of ammo to fill my blog, lol.

So, the wife and I were watching the newest episode of Iron Chef America (ICA) "Battle Elk" last night. This is one of the best (of 2) shows that Food Network is offering these days IMO. If it wasn't for ICA and Good Eats, I may not turn to that channel at all, to be honest! How much "Bam", "Yumm-O" and "Hey Ya'll" can a dude handle!!!!! Ah, I DO miss the old days before those living bobble-head dolls were so rich and famous, but, I digress... Any-who, so we're watching this and after they get us all excited about the competitors (The Rathbun Brothers - bad-asses, I might add), the Iron Chef that will be battling them (Bobby Flay) and, of course, the secret ingredient (Elk, as I mentioned before), they were onto the inevitable intro of the judges. Up there on the judges table, next to two respectable and well-known judges (Ted Allen and Alexandrea Guarnaschelli) there was rapper "Bone Crusher"! HUH??? WTF was THAT all about? I was a bit shocked but thought, MAYBE, this dude was a hidden foodie hiding behind a rapper persona. Maybe, just MAYBE, he was like a culinary grad or a chef-gone-rapper or something. Boy, that couldn't have been farther from the truth! He was just some fat rapper dude that was, somehow, asked to judge this great show. Food Network, what're you DOING? Is this the beginning of the end? First, you fill our screens with fat gray haired southern belles eating butter strait off the stick, then under mind your viewers with a dye-blond spike haired douchebag in a bowling shirt and now this!? Jeesh man! As a chef, I'm a bit offended. Isn't this channel supposed to be for food lovers, people who make this stuff out of love and passion, people who have invested their entire lives for that instant gratification of feeding people with their artful nosh? When did Food Network decide that they needed to appease the can-openers and take-out eaters to increase their ratings? Yeah, it's all about money, I know. Ratings are important, yes, but when the channel starts looking in their couch cushions for spare change, I think it's time to stop and remember where you came from, remember who got you to be so big! It wasn't, necessarily, Mr. or Mrs. Home-Maker or Uncle Joe who burns his chicken on the grill, or cute li'l Johnny making bar cookies with his mommy, it was the professional CHEF! The people that look everywhere for inspiration, someone who shares their passion and their dreams to help make what they do better. Someone who allows them to hone that God given skill that most people aren't even born with! I remember when Emeril wasn't all bloated and could see his own pee-pee! When Tyler's Ultimate was part travel show and part cooking demo. When Ming Tsai was on there doing some awesome stuff on a sweet portable wok (with the Alaskan mountains behind him or something)! When my man Anthony Bourdain was smoking 3 packs of reds an episode showing us how the Chinese did it. And, let's not forget, when Bobby Flay was grilling on the streets of NY telling us not to play with the fish! Man, those were the days! So, you may find it odd that a fat rapper dude saying stuff like, "I don't know if I like this dish, but I don't hate it. It's good – kind of." or "I don't like raw meat but this was bangin' ", or the only time he was speechless was when Bobby Flay offered up a Texas-Style Elk Burger, showing his approval with a greasy Thumbs-Up, could send someone into a tirade like this. Maybe I'm too sensitive and could probably find better things to worry about, but jeesh, I just couldn't help it. Food Network has gone too far man, honestly.

I wasnt aware of the deadline being extended AGAIN! Man, maybe Ill have a better chance of getting a call, lol. (fingers crossed). Anyway, yeah, with millions of applicants, youd think for sure theyd be able to find 25 people.

Given his work experience, I'd say he has already cut stuff for "a real anal chef"--several of them, in fact. I was looking at the Top Chef website and I read, for the first time, Hung's bio and q&a. I only got to watch the first few episodes, but I still don't understand why people really believe he cooked "without soul" or that he was as much of an a**hole in real life as on the show. His q&a answers certainly make him seem much less arrogant than made out to be on the show. And with fish sauce, lemongrass, and sugar as three of his four go-to ingredients, Vietnamese cooking is very much a part of his heart...or soul... From The Times Union (bold print is mine) ← I didn't mean for that to sound like I was discounting his skill level, I was just stating the fact that anyone that has any sort of skill in any sort of kitchen should have knife skills like that or close. His knife skills were just above average, thats it. I know people that do things with a paring knife that would make you blush, lol. But, Hung obviously has a lot of practice.

Knife skills, yeah, above average. But, for anyone working in "the biz" you should be able to tap tap tap out a few pounds of onions or squash at least as fast as that. If he were cutting stuff for a real anal chef, he'd catch shit, lol.

I watched it last night. Was typical. Though, I must say, the two host lady's, Padma and Gail, were mighty fine lookin' last night