Tri2Cook

Thanks! I'm not actually having any spoilage issues, that was entirely a curiosity question. It popped into my head while reading the discussion so it had to be asked. That's just how my head works. Once the question is in there, it usually won't leave me alone until there's an answer in there as well.

So basically if the Aw is good, all is well? I was thinking of the air itself having a direct effect on shelf life, whether in regards to spoilage or flavor loss. A potential effect on the Aw never even crossed my mind.

Of course, the direct approach is sometimes best. As my mom used to say, sometimes you gotta tell people they're being an ass or they may not even know. A variation on that could apply to this situation. Maybe just state outright that it's out of temper and see what the reaction is. Then you'll know if it's even worth pursuing further. The texture may or may not be something the person can do anything about depending on how they're making the chocolate. If they don't have the proper equipment (or if they don't want the equipment, depending on what their goal is, maybe they're going for the rustic thing), then it is what it is.

I feel like we've already discussed what I'm about to ask regarding this usage of PdF but I couldn't find it via search and was unwilling to read 100 pages to try to find it so... is there any consensus or theory on the effect of the air being incorporated into the PdF during pureeing as far as shelf life goes?

I'm probably gonna fall in a minority here but honestly, I think offering unsolicited advice is a bit out of line unless you know the answers and can show them what they're doing wrong, why it's wrong and how to try to correct it. A polite "there appears to be some tempering issues" or similar would be fine and sending them here would be perfect if they're willing to listen but I don't think attempting to teach them is the way to go if you don't actually know how to do it yourself. It sounds like your heart is in the right place but it's usually pretty easy for me to tell when someone is just throwing information they had to go look up at me and isn't speaking from actual knowledge.

That's for my Holy Thursday dinner (I'm not particularly religious but anything that inspires me to cook something special for the occasion is ok by me)… but if we're keeping it simple, most of the things mentioned so far are less work than that one.

I was thinking that but I think I'm gonna do grillades and grits instead... or maybe just make some pancakes and call it done.

That would be awesome but I'm still pretty darn impressed that there's a dedicated rubber ducky store... and a dedicated store for rubbers sans ducky.

Me too... I'm ok with straight off the shelf Fig Newtons so anything that improves on that theme is a bonus.

I can see it clearly in some areas and less clearly but still there in other areas. I strongly suspect lighting and angle are key components when viewing or photographing the results of this technique but I see more there that's encouraging than discouraging.

I made some Cajun chaurice sausage a couple weeks ago and stuck it in the freezer while I decided what I wanted to do with it. Finally came up with a plan this weekend. Onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic and green onion in the pot... Added diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, thyme, parsley and seasoned with salt, pepper and cayenne to get a Cajun style tomato sauce. Mixed the chaurice with cooked rice, did some assembly and oven time and... Yep, Cajun cabbage rolls.

We're thinking pretty close to alike today. I made Mississippi Mud cake with a brownie base. The picture is accurate, it is some mighty pale mud. The brownie base is dark and rich so I decided to sacrifice some traditional accuracy for better balance and used less than usual chocolate icing. That combined with swirling it a bit left it looking a bit anemic for mud.

And now I've had today's portion of "you learn something every day". I just assumed sweet = dessert which, as you've just clarified, is not a valid assumption to make. I really do know better. I do like bread pudding so if that's the general territory we're in, consider me even more convinced.

You're going to convince me yet. I still can't quite wrap my head around the sweet noodle dessert, which I find odd because I'm generally pretty open-mined and adventurous, but you keep posting them and they keep looking tasty. I'm going to break at some point and at least make a small one.

Not sure if I'm understanding what you're asking but commercial colored cocoa butter is not liquid at room temp.

I understood what you meant, I just wasn't very clear with my response. By thick, I didn't mean what one would normally think of as being thick. A clear coat/wax job amount would be what I'd consider thick in this instance. The words cocoa and butter together sounds like something that would taste amazing but in reality, not so much. It's noticeable from decorating with colored cocoa butter if the decorating gets too heavy handed. I wouldn't call it offensive, just noticeable. But even if there was a way to get a layer thick enough to look like the chocolate was encased in glass to be completely clear, which it wouldn't be, that amount would definitely mess with the taste.

I think once you tasted your chocolates with a thick layer of plain cocoa butter on the outside, you'd be less enthusiastic with that hope.

Had cheeseburger for one. Burger and candied jalapenos on a soft pretzel that was toasted and spread with jalapeno cheddar whipped cream cheese. If you're looking for fancy, it wasn't here. The candied jalapenos wasn't the best decision. They're tasty and spicy but the sweetness was just a little off in this setting. Pickled jalapenos would have been better.

Great... more for the "things to try" list that's probably not going to be cleared in my lifetime as it is.

I wonder how they'd be sans the chips? Most people I know think my opinion that chocolate doesn't make everything better is a silly one but they usually feel the same about my opinion that bacon and/or cheese does not in fact make everything better either.

The mess can be prodigious until you figure out your own system to minimize it based on your workspace and equipment. If you're seeing a lot of actual waste in the videos you're watching, you need different videos. There's generally very little excess chocolate in the molding or dipping process that can't be reclaimed in some way.

Congrats Chiefs. No matter what team you're a fan of, if you're a fan of the game, you have to recognize that Mahomes is something special. On another note, we had the cheeseburger sliders and some oven potato wedges at game time with plans to do the Cajun chaurice sliders at halftime. Neither of us was hungry enough to eat more by halftime so I have 2 lbs of fresh-made chaurice to find a use for. Probably will just toss it in the freezer for now.

Yeah, what she said. I very rarely eat eggs just as eggs. I mainly buy them for use in recipes, which almost invariably call for large. Since there is zero chance that I'm going to weigh the equivalent of the large eggs called for from the larger eggs that have a better yield/cost ratio and save the remainder for another use when cooking/baking at home, I would either be adding extra egg to the recipes or discarding the remainder. So, for my specific purposes, there is no value gained by using larger eggs.

My minion/Oompa Loompa (daughter) requested cheeseburger sliders. That wasn't even on the edge of the radar for ideas I was having but having made no real plans still, I decided to go with it. So sliders in the style of White Castles are being joined by sausage po boy sliders using a batch of Cajun chaurice sausage I mixed up today. Burger sliders will be beef, onions, cheese (yes, the processed stuff) and mustard on some (purchased) nice soft slider-sized rolls. The chaurice will be joined by an aioli made from mayo, garlic and cayenne hot sauce along with lettuce and tomato on the same rolls as the burgers. Pickles on the side for both. I briefly considered some form of chicken slider as well but punted that one right away. Probably will do some form of fries or potato wedges to go with the sliders because the kid will eat that as well. Unless I decide to do a dessert, which is doubtful, that's the entire menu.

I'm a Saints fan... they didn't make it. I'm not particularly a Baltimore fan but I was sure they were going... they didn't make it. I could cheer for the Titans, as a diehard Bama fan of more years than I'm gonna put a number to, I'm a Derrick Henry fan... they didn't make it. So I'm gonna have to pull for the Chiefs. Not because I'm a fan but I can get behind pulling for Mahomes. He was exciting to watch through his college career and he's carried that same excitement onto the big stage. My game menu is usually written in stone by this point... it currently sits at zero other than a few jotted down maybes. I really have no idea right now what I'll end up doing but I need to get it figured out soon.