Paul McMichael

Still going strong - did 50# of venison summer sausage and about 3 times that of various pork sausage this winter. That will get us through the summer.

Two PID controllers responding to the same variable are less stable - this might not be enough of a problem in this application. If you need the extra heat, just set one controller a degree cooler than the other. If extra mixing is what is needed - set one controller at 0 that will solve the power limit.

A beer cooler works for me - I have never had a problem with any tank.

The Waring laboratory blender is expensive, but they have small blender jars (500 ml.) and the semi-micro stainless jar holds about 40 ml. for a full batch.

Thinking about pumps - all you need is mixing. My first try was with a plastic tub sitting on an old magnetic lab stirrer - worked fine until I found a lab circulator on ebay for $30 (needed some leaks fixed.)

Let me add another vote for the NT $99 grinder. I have been using one for several years for venison and pork sausage - works great. Save your money and buy a vertical crank stuffer (5 pounds is a good size.) The $99 NT stuffer is good. They also have regular coupons and sale pricing up tp 20% off.

Check out http://www.sealerbags.com/ they are cheaper and I find that they seal better than original foodsaver bags. Paul

Must agree with Larry. I have been using an original Bradley with PID control for several years. Yesterday we had a gathering of 80 of our closest friends and pulled pork was the star of the day. Rubbed 4 whole butts on Friday - Started smoking with pecan pucks at 7 p.m. Saturday at 210 degrees F.- Wrapped in foil at midnight and dropped temperature to 190 and served at 1 p.m. - Rats - almost no leftovers again. Paul

Don't know about your machine - I use a cuisinart. I use a similar formula and heat the water bath to 178°F and put the base in a quart mason jar. The mix reaches temp in about 30 - 40 minutes. I hold the cream till the end and whip it to soft peaks then fold it into the cooled base. Seems to work like a charm. Nuts and chocolate chunks are added after the mix starts to thicken in the machine. Paul

Just finished putting a large bztch of short ribs into the freezer. Started with 3 hours of smoke at 133°, bagged and then 45 hours at the same temperature in the water bath. Medium rare and fall off the bone tender - cannot ask for anything better. Paul

David, I have not had good results with beef or lamb fat - I can use pork. You might try a soft fat such as duck, that should blend smoothly. Check out Len Poli's site for more ideas. Paul

Far from being overkill, I find it easier to do a custard (defined broadly) by the SV method rather than in the traditional ways on the stove top or in the oven. Wouldn't it be overkill to purchase a thermomix or a new kenwood for this when a SV set up does the job just fine? May I add that SV more generally is not unnecessary, not overkill, not more than is needed to do the job for the simple reason that it is often the best way to do the job. I sv'd custard once for ice cream, and it was the best batch of ice cream I've ever made. Only complaint is how the bag fills with air unless you have a chamber vacuum...what would be handy are bags with one way valves so the air can escape, but I think that'd be overkill Yeap. Certainly not overkill! I have not made ice cream custard base on the stove top in a long time. SV is just ideal. I use the Pulse feature to get more or less a perfect air-free seal using the FoodSaver and I cook at about 82 C per the instructions in Under Pressure. I think my favorite part, in addition to how simple the whole thing is, is that the sealed bag is not pasteurized and can rest in the fridge for quiet some time until I am ready to churn. I was talking more about how the bag fills with air while you SV it...I released it twice, was afraid it wouldn't cook evenly if I didn't since it displaced so much space. I have been using the SV water bath as a heat source for ice cream base for the last few months - works great. I messed with bags just once. I now use a quart jar with a plastic storage cap. Simple and easy. After the custard thickens (about an hour) the jar can go into an ice bath if I am in a hurry or just into the fridge to churn the next day.

I just discovered Mario Batali's carbonara - leaving the yolk whole reallly improves the creamy texture.

There is little doubt that a rice cooker or crock pot with a pid controller works, but there is an advantage to an immersion circulator. My analog circulator normally sits in it's 11 liter bath, which is a great size for a few chops or steaks. When I want to do more, such as a brisket, I can move it to a 50 liter foam cooler - still works fine. I also use it in the cooler set at 4 degrees C. to thaw pork butts or turkeys. The analog controller is OK for most SV functions +/- 0.2 degrees C. It is easy to use. My foodsaver is adequate most of the time - if I were to upgrade something else, a better vacuum sealer would be it.

Bella, Use this part of the address: http://home.pacbell.net/lpoli/ select formulations scroll down to Chorizo Paul