FauxPas

This link won't work for me as it is. Not sure why, this is another attempt: Nordicware

rotuts, just noticed that the Cuisinart's Recipe Booklet has a recipe for Peaches, maybe that's what made me think of doing the nectarines though I do like to cook fruit now and again, anyway. The steam oven is lovely for cooking any type of braised dish, of course. I did a beef 'rouladen' stuffed with spinach and asiago cheese, slow-cooked in a tomato sauce. The steam oven requires less sauce/liquid, less chance of boil-over, easier clean-up. And of course generates less heat in the kitchen which is nice as we get into warm weather. I have cooked salmon in the oven also, but just used Steam Bake. I am going to do some fresh sockeye fillets tomorrow and plan to try the Broil Steam function - for some reason, I don't think I have used that setting yet! Salmon is lovely in the oven and I could see playing with a couple of functions and temperatures for that fish. Halibut and scallops and other seafood also.

I do not have any specific sous vide equipment although I know I can do quite a bit with a pot of water and a good thermometer. Or a beer cooler, right? I was seriously considering the Anova and then heard about the new one being developed now. I missed the good Kickstarter prices, but don't mind buying once they are commercially released. I started to read the Sous Vide thread several times but always got sidetracked. So, the answer is that I have started to look into it, but have not clarified the things I should try to do.

Oh, I think I see what you mean - the fish falls apart into pieces because of the slashes? So you can't neatly pull the top fillet away? Is that it? I'm not even the best person to answer this question, because I don't cook whole fish that often. When I do, I don't make slashes. I just put some lemon slices or whatever in the centre of the fish and fold it back together and cook it. I am usually cooking whole salmon and that's a fairly firm-fleshed fish, so maybe that's part of the issue? Do you need to do the slashes? I should let someone else answer at this point though!!!

I really want to try and replicate those, now that I have read about them! Still not sure about the best combo of ground meat, patty size, steam temp and cooking time. I am very much looking forward to reading about your adventures in these areas!!! I did steam a couple of patties once - they were decent-enough ground beef patties from the meat dept at local grocer, but I would like to use my own. The ones I did were probably cooked too long, but they were still tasty. I seared them in a hot pan after steaming, but you wouldn't do that for the CT-style ones, is that right? Also, tried steaming a steak, followed by searing. I overcooked it a bit so it wasn't as rare as we would have liked but it was nice to have a steak that was so evenly cooked. Some people might prefer the standard grilled steak with pink centre and seared edges though. I need to try these things again and perfect them!!! I tend to do other things while I am cooking and don't often write things down, which makes replication or perfecting a recipe or procedure difficult. I should be more careful about noting what I am doing, temps and times, etc. Edited to add: I should mention that I was trying to do fairly low-temp steaming with the burgers and steak - I think I was steaming at 140F for the steak and 150F for the patty - but those temps, combined with a fairly long and hot sear, resulted in a bit of overcooking for our tastes.

What type of knife do you use? Filleting knife? Are you looking for something different or more detailed than this: http://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/how-to/article/how-to-fillet-and-serve-whole-fish

The skin was delicious! Crispy but not dried out, if that makes sense. May have started to blister, but I covered it with tin foil toward end of cooking. Not sure that this was necessary, to be honest, as steam may have kept skin from over-cooking. The steam oven will definitely be my first choice for cooking chicken in future. The above bird was about 1.7 kg but oven could easily fit a slightly larger one - 2 kg or 4.5 lbs or so. Also, wanted to say that I used the oven on a fairly warm day and was pleased that it generated so much less heat than the big oven would. I use it for reheating food all the time. Steam Bake between 200F and 300F. Leftovers are lovely with a bit of steam. Reheated some fried rice for lunch and it was perfect. Also used it to steam eggs in shell instead of boiling in water (Steam only @ 210F for about 10 mins) - egg yolks were still just a tad soft. Also, steamed some fresh sliced nectarines - nice way to intensify flavour and keep fruit from drying out. Would be very nice with a few drops of Grand Marnier and some pecans or hazelnuts (I have a few hazelnut trees), maybe with ice cream. Have also used Super Steam to cook rice. Their recommendation in book is to use a ratio of white rice to water of 2 cups to 2.25 cups. I used about 2.5 cups of water and it seemed just right to me. Used a 1.8L Corningware casserole dish with a slightly loose-fitting glass lid. I followed their instructions for temp of 300F. I used Bake Steam for roasting some tomatoes for a sauce - I think i followed their suggestion of 450F but they weren't big tomatoes and I think they were done in about 10 mins. Lovely outcome with those! I ate one before it got to the sauce.

I made some low-sugar raspberry-blueberry jam from last summer's frozen berries, which of course cried out for some bread to keep them company. (Also thought I would throw in a pic of the mango chutney that I made at the same time, Very tasty with bread and cheese!) Four Hour Baguettes cooked in Cuisinart steam oven on the Bread setting. I've made a few batches of this bread in the steam oven. All have turned out quite well, with a nice chewy crust. I don't do a lot of bread-making so not a lot to compare this to, but it was quickly eaten. I used the lowest Steam setting (100F) for proofing a couple of times.

Whole roast chicken - about 1.7 kg - so, almost 3.75 lbs. Not a great pic of the uncooked bird, I basically followed the cookbook suggestion. Made a paste with crushed garlic and some herbs (fresh rosemary and oregano, dried thyme) and black pepper - rubbed the bird with it and let it sit overnight. Sprinkled salt and lemon juice over bird and put onion and lemon piece in cavity (does this really do anything, I just always do it). Cooked at Bake Steam at 425F (the manual suggests 450F) for around an hour. Meat was well above minimum temp as both husband and I like rare beef or even pink pork but we hate pink chicken. Final meat temp was 175F or so. I used a bit of tinfoil toward end as bird was browning nicely already. Pic looks darker than reality. Even with meat cooked to this temp, the bird was moist and lovely.

Finally located some of my pics (moved from one house to another, just switched to a new laptop, etc): Pork tenderloin cooked at 150F with Steam only (for about an hour?). When meat was a little above 140F, seared it in a hot pan for a few minutes. Meat was a little above 150 when served, I believe. Still had a lovely little bit of pink (not sure how clear the pic is) and meat had a lovely texture - so easy to dry pork out, but this stayed moist. Probably best pork tenderloin I have made! I thought I also had pic of final presentation but details are meat sliced and served over fresh baby spinach, fresh chopped mushrooms. Blueberry-onion sauce served on top. Some fresh sliced Campari tomatoes on side.

rotuts, thank you so much for your complete write-up and photos! I hope you'll share your future 'experiments' also. Really happy to hear that you have finally had a chance to try out the Cuisinart. One question: When you say (above) that you used Full Steam @ 400, do you mean the Super Steam setting?

I also liked the write-up that accompanied that image on the Web page: http://www.genuineideas.com/ArticlesIndex/combi.html Nice little discussion about how humidity can improve the cooking process - and very interesting comparison of using the Cuisinart Steam Oven for cooking chicken!

I've been using the oven so much that it requires topping up every few days. Instead of just adding more water, I rinse it out and occasionally add a bit of vinegar to the rinse water before refilling with tap water. I don't think I'd leave it sitting for more than a week or two without rinsing and refilling but maybe the steam function itself makes this unnecessary?

There is the Sharp SuperSteam Microwave Convection but it's a bit pricier: http://www.sharpusa.com/ForHome/HomeAppliances/Microwaves/Archives/AX1200S.aspx Amazon reviews here: http://www.amazon.com/Sharp-AX-1200K-SuperSteam-Multi-Purpose-Black/dp/B001QFYDRE

I don't work with chocolate so I can't speak to the specific tools and equipment you might have. I'm no expert on organizing either, but I like the challenge of creating good work space so I'll throw out a couple of general ideas. Your tables take up most of the lower wall space and it looks like have you already have filled most of the space below those tables. However, there are inexpensive plastic units with sliding drawers (in various sizes)if you wanted to put some smaller items together and still keep it below the tables. That might help organize a few things. It looks like you have used lower wall and floor space around the edge of the room. That leaves upper walls (where there are no windows), the ceiling and the middle of the room on the floor. If your space allows it, you could have some kind of central island (making use of the middle of the room/floor) - can't tell if the room is large enough for this, though. You could use the ceiling to suspend something like a pot rack or baskets. You have some single shelves above the tables - it looks as though those shelves would fit below the windows and you could then use this space for cabinets which could hold more than a single shelf. This does mean buying some cabinets but home stores usually have less expensive ones for storage. But as I said, I don't know your working materials and tools very well, so these types of storage may not suit your needs!

I have an LG fridge with separate digital temp control for fridge and freezer also, but i have never tested to see how accurate the interior temps are compared to the settings. I suspect that you may have done so - if so, wondering how they matched up? Or maybe I should get one of those little Thermoworks ones and find out! :-) Also, your dog story made me laugh, especially filing down the dog bite marks.

I recently bought the Cuisinart Combo Convection Steam Oven and it has a Super Steam function recommended for rice cooking. I just tried it and was very pleasantly surprised. It's very easy - I just used a Corningware casserole dish, put in rice and water, covered and let it steam cook at 300F for 25 mins. The rice was almost perfect (I'd probably use a tad more water for my rice than what they recommended.) Although I occasionally thought about buying a rice cooker, I just kept using the stovetop. Most of the time, the results were OK but the Cuisinart is far easier!

Anna, I completely understand that you don't want more countertop appliances! But if you could find the space, I would love to see what you do with the steam functions of the Cuisinart!

They tell me that the middle upper element has a lower wattage than the others and its function is to help balance the heat in order to create a more even baking/toasting outcome. It's not required for broiling.

I find it really useful. Keep an eye out for sale prices!

I have been using this little oven quite a bit and really feel that it was a good purchase. I've made mini-baguettes, reheated a lot of leftovers, steamed a lot of veggies and used it more and more for basic cooking. I steamed a pork tenderloin the other day which turned out wonderfully. Steamed at 150F and then pan-seared and it came out with just the slightest hint of pink in the centre and not at all dried out. It's a great little oven to use for cooking for two. In warm weather it is a great alternative to a full-size oven as it doesn't require much or any preheating and the room stays cooler. I have a few pics that I took but can't find them right now. I'll try posting them later. In the meantime, I have a question for other owners. There are two elements in the bottom of the oven and three in the top. Four of the five elements heat up and illuminate or turn orange/red at high heat but the centre upper element never does get that hot. I was wondering if this was a defect in my oven but when I emailed the support site, they replied and said it was working properly as is. Still, I'd like to check with other owners - do all five of your elements heat right up or just the same four as mine? Also here is a blog devoted to cooking with the VZUG Combi-Steam oven. Because it has some unique settings, not all recipes are easily translated but it looked like there might be a few ideas: http://combi-steamqueen.blogspot.com.au/ And here's a web site that has similar intent but I think the content is different. (Sorry, only had time to quickly glance at them, but thought they might be relevant to this thread.) http://steamcookinguk.net/

Apparently not all of the Chicago Metallic bakeware is made in the US; some is made in China. Some items still get good overall reviews, but the quality may vary and I don't think they identify the gauge. Some of these are lower-priced items. For example, see the first review on this Amazon product: http://www.amazon.com/Chicago-Metallic-26639-Nonstick-Petite/dp/B00134LXB2 And from the Chicago Metallic website: While there are consumer pans that bear the brand name Chicago Metallic, there is only one Chicago Metallic that carries the Bundy Eagle and offers pans that are made exclusively in the USA. http://www.cmbakeware.com/ I believe the bakeware that is made in the US will have the Bundy Eagle and state "made in the US". When they sold the rights to a Chinese company to use the name Chicago Metallic, I think they excluded the Bundy Eagle. Can someone correct me if I am wrong on this, please?

rotuts, the Chicago Metallic is 16 gauge, made in USA. I did see the ones you linked to and wondered about them, as they seem to get very decent reviews overall. I suspect they are made in China and gauge is a mystery, but might be worth a shot at that price.

Amazon has an individual one of the Chicago Metallic 41800 listed, sold by Drill Spot. It's not inexpensive though - $11.88 + $6.77 shipping, US. I don't see the same one on the Canadian Amazon site and not sure about shipping costs to Canada. It's only 16 gauge but that may be the best available? I wish more of us lived closer together because I think it would be easy to find six of us who each wanted a couple of these pans! Chicago Metallic 1/8 sheet pan

French is not my first language and I do struggle with correct translations. Google will translate but it's not perfect, as Tri2Cook says. Here's what I get running it through Google Translate: I do think that the translation of 3 cl to 3 cups of water is wrong. I think it's more likely that it should be 3 cl or 3 centiliters which is 30 ml or close to 2 Tbsp. Can anyone else comment on this? Also, as jmachaughtan says, they are basically just meringue and French buttercream, so you can always search for techniques for making these individual items as well. For example, here is a nice little post on how to make French buttercream - I liked it because it shows something going wrong and how to correct it. http://www.joepastry.com/category/pastry-components/buttercream/french-buttercream/