llc45

Thanks - I never thought to bring the yogurt to room temp but that makes a lot of sense.

I found that my yogurt got both thicker and less sour when I lowered the temperature. I take a big soup pot, fill it with a water bath at 105°, put in my Mason jars of milk and starter (also at 105°), stick the whole thing in a small cooler, and walk away. ← Do you not heat it to 180F first? I started the first few batches using my crockpot but they turned out kind of slimy. I then read some threads on Chowhound where it said you needed to bring the milk to at least 180 to denature the protein, otherwise the texture is stringy and slimy. I now have using one bowl and the microwave but always make sure to reach 180 and haven't had the problem since. Could there be another reason for the texture issue? ← I did heat mine to 180 F but still a little slimy. Also, after boiling mine keeps forming a skin on top. Do you just skim it off? ← Try going a few degrees higher. I use a candy thermometer to make sure temp between 180 and 190 and not had the problem since. Just skim off the skin.

I found that my yogurt got both thicker and less sour when I lowered the temperature. I take a big soup pot, fill it with a water bath at 105°, put in my Mason jars of milk and starter (also at 105°), stick the whole thing in a small cooler, and walk away. ← Do you not heat it to 180F first? I started the first few batches using my crockpot but they turned out kind of slimy. I then read some threads on Chowhound where it said you needed to bring the milk to at least 180 to denature the protein, otherwise the texture is stringy and slimy. I now have using one bowl and the microwave but always make sure to reach 180 and haven't had the problem since. Could there be another reason for the texture issue?

That sounds so good I may have to make it while I'm on vacation next week because I am not sure that I can wait until I get back. Hoping my rental condo has enough kitchen equipment. ← Finally made it, sprinkled with mexican cheese blend left over from my daughter's spanish class cooking project, YUMMMMM!!!

I have been making consistenly for the last two months - much cheaper than Fage and feel like I am making my contribution to the environment by not throwing out a yogurt container every day. I started trying to make in my crock pot but it didn't reach a high enough temp - resulting in slimy yogurt. Then I switched to heating in a pot on the stove and finishing by putting it in my oven with the light on. Now, to save dishes, I just microwave it until it reaches proper temperature (in my microwave - 1/2 gallon=18 minutes), then cool, add yogurt from last batch, and stick in the oven. I started my first with Fage but found I actually like Stoneyfield better as a starter. Normally, I just use the end of the last batch but sometimes it all gets eaten before that happens. I have been straining to get the thickness I like but am going to try adding powdered milk (since I make using skim milk). Hoping it will thicken without compromising the flavor.

That sounds so good I may have to make it while I'm on vacation next week because I am not sure that I can wait until I get back. Hoping my rental condo has enough kitchen equipment.

The pork was incredibly moist and flavorful. I didn't even have to do anything to it. I just scored it and put garlic in the slits and added salt, pepper, rosemary. I don't think I would have needed to add anything. Then I slow roasted it for about 10 hrs. It looked like an I Love Lucy Episode. Since it came frozen, I couldn't cut it. So I put the whole thing in a giant roasting pan and the leg and part of the body still stuck out. So I just put foil down and put it in the oven - which just barely fit. I did manage to figure out what the jowl was and am going to take a stab at making guanciale.

Oh my goodness, I may have bitten off more than I can chew - literally. I ended up with a 17 lb portion that includes a jowl and is frozen. I have never cooked more than 3-4 lbs of pork in my life. For my first attempt, I was planning on slow roasting it tomorrow for my mother's bday dinner but I don't think it will be thawed on time. Slow roasting would allow me to really taste the flavor of the meat before I try barbeque. Can I slow roast it on Sunday and then divide it up and do several different things with it, including freezing portions for future meals? We are only a family of three! The jowl is interesting - the farm said I could use this to make pancetta. I know it is normally used to make guanciale. I have salivated over many of your posts about Ruhlman's charcuterie. What should I do with the jowl? Hopefully, I can figure out what it is when the meat thaws and comes out of the cryovac. If I didn't have a hectic week next week, I would really be tempted to hack a piece off when it thaws and try to make sausage. Unfortunately, I wouldn't have time until next weekend and I don't have a means of cutting a piece while frozen to wait until next week. Peter = I think I am going to start calling it zsa zsa!

I was reading the NYTimes dining section online yesterday and saw this article about the Mangalita pig, a heritage breed from Hungary that was has recently been introduced to the US. I only clicked on the article because the pig had curly fur and looked so darn cute. Imagine my surprise when I realized that they are breeding them in NJ at a farm one town over, right next to a goat farm I go to sometimes to stock up on goat milk soap and farm raised chickens. So I called and they sell to the public. Since I already was having my mom's birthday dinner tomorrow night anyway, I am headed over this afternoon to pick up a pork shoulder. Right now, they only had in stock the shoulders in a Mangalista/Berkshire cross. In the pure Mangalista, they have bone in legs and loins. Has anyone else tried this yet? I see pancetta and numerous barbequed butts in my future. I have been dying to try pancetta after reading the numerous posts on egullet but will have to wait to they have bellies available.

Hi all - We will be in Orlando for spring break with my teen and her friend. We are meeting my husband's aunt in Melborne for a dinner one night. It's halfway between where she lives and where we are staying. Does anyone have a restaurant rec? My family is adventurous and loves good food but daughter's friend would need a kid's type meal (e.g. chicken fingers or plain pasta). Thank you so much-

Thank you so much for the recommendations. I'm excited because many of the recommendations correspond to some of the beans I know I ordered. I have always wanted to try cassoulet! The Venetion Bean recipe is perfect for the cranberry beans I ordered, having no idea what to use them for. The red beans and rice recipe sounds incredible. I live in rural NW NJ and have a real hard time getting decent chorizo and andouille but have never looked for smoked ham hocks. Do they carry that in supermarkets? I think I'll start with the Giada recipe for cannelini beans because I already have them cooked up in the freezer. If nothing else, my family will be quite happy. One of things I remember ordering just because it looked pretty was Christmas Lima Beans. Any suggestions? I tried to order mostly small beans thinking they would have less of the gushy texture I know I can't deal with. Having only used beans out of a can until recently starting with cannellini beans, can you cook beans al dente like I have been doing with lentils? Prasantrin - Glad I have some company in the bean-hater department. I'll let you know how it goes....

Hi everyone - Even though my daughter and husband love beans, they get them very infrequently because I have never liked them and I do all of the cooking. When I make Chile, I divide it and add beans for them. I have learned to like hummus but thought that the whole garbanzo beans and olive oil we were served all over Italy were just OK. I have started making falafel also. That's about it. Since we have been eating less and less meat, I really want to like beans. We do eat edamame beans and love them. I also have started eating lentils, but they have to be the small french ones cooked al dente. I think maybe it is a texture thing. I just ordered a bunch of beans from Rancho Gordo and am really going to try a bunch of types. Suggestions and recipes are very welcome. My family loves refried beans and baked beans but just the thought of making them makes me shutter. Any ideas for a non-bean lover?

I am due for a new crock pot and I see that I can now buy one with a digital temperature control. Does anyone know if I can use this to make yogurt also?

Just wanted to thank everyone for the wonderful suggestions. We just got back and the restaurant recommendations were spot on. Therese - we had lunch at both of the places you recommended and they were exactly what we were looking for. Andrew - we liked Antico Arco so much we ended up eating there three times. As soon as we arrived, we met an American couple who were both professors. They spend their summers in Rome and always stay in Testaccio. The first thing they told us was that their favorite restaurant in the area was Antico Arco. My daughter is still talking about the lasagna with homemade noodles. Volpetti was also a real treat. I won't even mention how many times we were there!! When (not if) I return, I can't imagine staying anywhere else in Rome but Testaccio. It was so nice staying in a residential neighborhood and eating like a local and getting to experience the culture. The first night we got there, Italy was playing Spain in soccer. They set up a big screen in a nearby park and everyone in the neighborhood was there to watch. In Trastevere, my favorite thing was finding the Innocenti Biscotti bakery. For about five euro, the wonderful baker gave us a wonderful assortment of cookies that pretty much included all of the cookies in the bakery. I highly recommend finding this bakery if you happen to be in the area.

I just got back from 2 weeks in Rome and Tuscany. We ate at Coquinarius wine bar for lunch one day in Florence and it was wonderful. Great salads and pastas plus the starters were great. It was also very reasonable. Wish I knew about the gelato place - next time!! In Siena, we only spent one day and we just got pizza on the Piazza while watching them set up for the Palio. The pizza was great although I don't remember the name. We typically ate dinner closer to where we were staying in the Chianti region.

Maureen and Kevin - Thanks for the input - I greatly appreciate it. That is so good to know. When we were in Paris a few years ago, I kind of felt like I offended a few times in some of the restaurants and then started ordering differently than I would at comparable restaurants here in the US. We really like to try a wide range of foods and restaurants from cafes to more high end. I just remember trying to understand how the French stay so thin when they eat so much! That only lasted until we got passed several days in a row during our walking tours by some pretty elderly people. The market, Volpetti, and nearby eateries are the reasons we ended up staying in Testaccio. We are so eager to try so many varieties of cheese, prosciutto, etc. We live about an hour outside NYC in the countryside so the thought of getting all this wonderful food is making us salivate. Maureen - I have been reading your website religiously about what is available in the market at Testaccio. I have also spent a lot of time scouring the web and guidebooks for bakeries, biscotti, gelati, and every other possible foodie type of place in the area. However, I didn't know about the organic market - thanks for adding another destination to my list!

Many thanks - we love antipasti! It's good to know that about the traditional restaurants also. Thanks again.

We are renting an apartment in Testaccio in the end of June and then heading off to Tuscany and Umbria. While I have found excellent recommendations in this forum for Rome in general, as well as the other two areas, I am thinking we will be eating a lot of our dinners close to our apartment since we will be traveling with our daughter and tend to not stay out too late. We chose Testaccio because we don't want to be in a tourist area and want to experience as many true Roman experiences as possible. I can't wait to shop at Volpetti and the outdoor market, as well as the flea market and Biscotti place across the river in Travestere. I have found recommendations here and elsewhere for Remo pizzaria, Checchino, Da Bucatino, and Da Felice. That said, we tend to eat lighter than the types of restaurants getting the most recommendations in the Testaccio area (more vegetables, salads, fish, chicken). While I am sure we will enjoy trying a meat dish on one or two nights, I am looking for some alternatives beyond pizzarias. Are there any restaurants in this area that are more vegetarian or "alternative" focused that anyone can recommend? While it looks like there are plenty of places where we can find this for lunch, I am looking for some special dining spots for dinner. Maybe a place that focuses more on pasta? Is it possible for me to order a salad or contorni and then a pasta instead of a secondi at some of the more traditional restaurants without offending? Other than not being big eaters or liking to eat too much red meat, we are very adventurous and like all types of food. If not in Testaccio area, are there any suggestions for these types of restaurants in other parts of the city? Thank you so much for any suggestions. Also, does anyone know of a great place for gelato in Testaccio? It is our 20th anniversary and I can't tell you how much we are looking forward to it! Thank you so much!

Hi. The crumb of your bread is going to be different because of the high protein content. It has more elasticity and so you can get better hole structure. Try it in comparison and see which you prefer. When you bake with Bread flour make sure you increase the water to keep your dough slack! Let me know what you think! Zoe ← Thanks Zoe! So I would get similar results with the King Arthur Flour also?

Is there any advantage of using bread flour instead of AP flour?

Wow -I was only on vacation for 5 days and look what I missed out on! For those of you who didn't see my post early on, try the Brioche!!!! I can't begin to say how wonderful it is. Before x-mas, I also made the brioche with chocolate ganache. I am now getting requests from all my friends. At this point, I pretty much always have the basic loaf on hand, modified to add some whole wheat. In addition, I have started to keep the Brioche on hand and have recently been cutting off hunks of dough to send home with friends since I have not been able to keep up. My husband's beer fridge is slowly being overtaken. I ordered books for a number of my friends for x-mas and now have put in a second order for additional friends and coworkers who have tried the bread. I am alway trying to get the people around me to cook more and I think this finally did the trick. Still waiting to find the time to attempt something similar to the seven grain loaf that I like for breakfast. My first attempt very early on (before I had the book) did not turn out so well. At Zoe'ssuggestion, I am going to try and soak a variety of whole grains rather than adding more whole wheat flour. Maybe this weekend...

Hi. Thanks for trying the bread and sharing it with so many people! The reason we put the honey and oil in the whole wheat recipes is to tenderize the bread. We were finding that a bread with straight whole wheat was a bit dry and if we added an amount of fat and/or sweetener it helped the texture. Having said that I have made the bread with White Whole Wheat Flour from KA with great results. It is both lighter in flavor and color and seems to not dry out quite as much. I increase the hydration to about 83% when I do this bread. The other thing to play with are soaked grains that will add some moisture to the bread. I'm testing some doughs right now. Let me know how it goes. Hope this answered your question? Zoe ← Thank you so much. If I understand you correctly, I will start to leave the whole wheat at one cup and then add some soaked grains. I already learned the hard way before I got the book that adding too much whole wheat really didn't work.

Hi Zoe - I am so happy you are participating in this forum. I've had the book since before x-mas and also bought it for several people on my shopping list. I made lots of brioche over the holidays both with and without the chocolate ganache - it was delicious. I am hoping that you can provide suggestions about how to increase the amount of wheat flour in the basic bread. I see that the recipe with more whole wheat calls for honey and milk. While I haven't tried it yet, I am assuming that it will have some sweetness. Can I add 25% more water, would this be enough if I want to try to achieve something like a seven grain bread? Thank you for your advice.

That's my favorite thing of all. We haven't gone a week without pizza and stromboli since I first started making the dough. My go to before that for a quick dinner was Boboli pizza crust but I will never need to resort to that again!

I think the directions are misleading as reprinted many times - the 40 minute rise is for freshly made, unrefrigerated dough. I believe that the correct direction should be to add 60 minutes to the rising time for refrigerated dough. If anyone has the book and can confirm this, it would be much appreciated! ← I have the book and I think it is a little confusing there also. They go into detail over the master recipe and say to let it rise for 40 minutes. Later on, they say to refrigerate the remainder. So they never really discuss the rise for the refrigerated dough for the master recipe. However, after I started trying some of the other recipes, I saw that an hour should be added to the rise if the dough was refrigerated first. I then starting letting the basic recipe rise for 1 hr 40 minutes and have had much better results.