Paul McMichael

A couple of years ago, My wife I went to Tuscany for gnocchi lessons. It is an art. Noella at Aiole insisted on old potatoes, steamed then dried on her special board. Not much flour in the dough, but lots of flour on the board. I have a photo on My Webpage

There is no water connection ergo no way to raise humidity and no drain ergo no way to lower humidity. The cooling system does have the advantage of not drying the air by forming ice around the chiller then in the frost free cycle draining that water to a pan outside of the box. Their pan seems to be inside the box. I would use the term "salesmans puffery" to be trusted as much as a used car salesman's claim that this is the best used car ever! Paul

The low energy cooling unit does not dry the air as much as regular refer. There are no humidity controls. The salt water plus salt still sounds like a good idea. Paul

Thanks for the replies -- I think I will try bribing my butcher with a small (as small as possible) sample in exchange for use of his slicer. Paul

I have given up on collagen on anything smaller than summer sausage. Even hog rings get pushed off the end. Natural sheep casings are the way to go. I liked the texture obtained with the large die. This is the main reason that I bought the Northern Tool grinder instead of replacing my broken KA grinder attachment. Paul

I have been making sausages for many years. This book has led me to try some solid meats -- starting with bacon. Question -- What seems to work as a bacon slicer?