Chris Hennes

So, operating on the premise that one would like to learn to appreciate the differences, what are the sorts of tastes that you look for in chocolate? How do you describe them? I found that when first starting out trying wines, a red was a red and a white was a white. As I learned more about what to look for, I began to notice the differences more. I imagine the same is true for chocolate. I have six different E. Guittard bars at home right now that I have been meaning to try, but I don't know the language of chocolate appreciation!

Wow, that sounds like a lot of work! How much time did it take you to do a batch?

Wow, those look fantastic! I always have trouble getting such nice square edges on things... I don't know about the "fastest way" but it sure looks like you've got the "right way" .

Nicely done Chris. You'll be buying a coating pan next! ← Thanks - next on the list is still caramels (these were just to tide me over until I have a little free time) -- I've got some stainless steel rod on order to make a frame with, since I wasn't happy with my makeshift wooden one from the habanos. Thanks - one of the biggest challenges of these was taking the photos, since a lot of the process is time-sensitive (you don't want to risk burning the almonds!).

I made the Almond Dragees today (more photos here): These things are pretty tasty - I don't know what they are supposed to look like, but I figure this must be pretty close, since he says that they are supposed to be somewhat rustic (not shiny like panned coated almonds, etc.)

My Italian is a little weak (OK, a lot weak) but it looks to me like Tortagel is not gelatin at all, but rather a clear starch medium designed to glaze things like fruit tortes. This would explain why it did not gel up properly. Of course, I could be reading the product page completely wrong!

Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking of. I don't think it matters if washing your hands removes 99.999% of bacteria and wearing gloves eliminates 99.9999% -- I want to know the actual impact on sanitation practices. If that 0.0009% difference doesn't actually have any tangible affect, then does it matter? In a hospital situation is one thing, weakened immune systems, etc. But in a home kitchen? Dunno... I am obviously not an expert in the field, but I have been trained to question assumptions...

I treat my flour-sack towels the way you treat paper towels, but instead of throwing them away they get washed -- I consider them one-time-use items to avoid any kind of cross-contamination, and to make sure I am always using a dry towel. I use them to dry wine glasses and maybe my standards aren't as high, but I have never had a lint problem. Where do you get your micro-fiber towels?

The proportions one these last few cocktails seem to be all over the map---any thoughts on what would make a well-balanced cocktail?

I do the same thing, but I go through massive numbers of towels, so I end up having to wash them a couple times a week. The longest they might hang there is a week, and I have never had a problem with odors (and it gets pretty humid here in the summer).

It's possible, but I'd love to see some research to back it up. A lot of things that seem like common sense fact end up being false upon closer inspection.

Even measuring appropriately, I do wonder how you determine whether the temp is "right" -- have you tried cooling it way down, then sampling it every couple minutes as it warms up, to evaluate the effects of temperature change? We need tables! And figures! What kinda science is this, anyway?!

I'd buy that - but I wouldn't buy that the State of New Jersey cares...

Just being foolish, I supposed, but I was operating under the (perhaps mistaken) assumption that if NJ has a law requiring gloves, they had some reason to believe that gloves were more sanitary. While I totally understand many of Chris's reasons for wearing gloves (better grip, less likely to get capsaicin in your eyes, no purple hands after slicing beets, etc.) I cannot understand the sanitary implications. I suppose I may just cook different cuisine, but I very seldom have more than two proteins, so that means washing my hands three times (once before, once after the first, and once again after the second) - not that big a deal. Once they are prepped I use tongs. In addition, I find that when I take gloves off I am as likely as not to actually end up touching the "contaminated" area of the glove with either my hand or arm while taking it off, so I end up having to wash my hands anyway.

What is the sanitary purpose of gloves? Are they actually superior to hand-washing in any quantifiable way? Or are they meant to be used *in addition to* hand washing (in an industrial and/or commercial setting)?

I have taken to using gloves when hand-coating chocolate truffles, but otherwise I just arrange my prep so that the meat goes first, then I wash my hands, then I never touch it again. No sense adding even more garbage when it seems to me to be completely unnecessary (cooking with chiles, OK, but what exactly are you protecting yourself or others from not touching raw meat? Just wash your hands!)

I'm sure there are others who know better than me the "true" difference, but when I make vanilla pudding it is much thinner than when I make pastry cream. I wouldn't use a pudding to fill a cake, for example -- at least using the recipe I have, the pudding would end up squishing out of the cake, whereas the pastry cream is firmer. Of course, that's just about the proportion of starch: puddings, custards, pastry creams, all seem to fall on the same continuum, the main difference in my mind not the ingredients per se, but their relative ratios and thus the texture of the finished product.

I sense some resistance to ground beef: in its defense, I am using chuck roast that I grind myself, so I don't think there is anything intrinsically wrong with it. The ground chuck has a good beefy flavor that stands up well to aggressive mexican-style seasonings. It also freezes and reheats quite well. While I love pork (hey, that's a pork belly I'm hugging in my current avatar), and chorizo is excellent, I don't want to discount the ground beef if the only resistance to it is that the pre-ground crap at the supermarket is essentially inedible (I won't argue with that...).

I think your definition of "pretty good" and mine are different! If I got the phenomenal-looking ganache centers you do I would be thrilled. That's the level of uniformity I'm shooting for -- I don't want them to be "machine-made," but some of mine are a really, umm... "rustic".

I thought it was funny! ← You lost me at beef puree... I think I'm going to be sick now... Mmmm....bacon fat. Now *there's* and idea worth considering. I have been playing with the idea of swtiching up the meat - maybe to something like carnitas. But I need something I can reasonably make large quantities of in advance and freeze.

I appreciate all the compliments! I too had a very difficult time cutting the ganache. I thought the key would be getting the lines marked out evenly, but that wasn't the case. Once they were marked I used a gently-heated paring knife to cut along the lines, but the friction of the knife still cause the ganache to deform. I totally understand the necessity of a guitar in a professional operation! This took a long time and didn't result in very clean cuts. I get the feeling that my dipped chocolates would have looked better if I wasn't starting out with so many nooks and crannies in the ganache, so I am going to work harder at this next time. I bought some thin-gauge wire, but didn't get around to trying it because I couldn't think of a way of making it go all the way through to the bottom. I have an idea on that now (of course! after I needed it...). I also have one of those cheapo wire cake slicers that I bet I could get it to work like a one-stringed guitar if the ganache was relatively soft. I am thinking of placing the ganache slab on two pieces of plywood separated by about a millimeter, with the crack between them aligned with where I want to cut through. Time consuming, but I'm hoping that the action of the wire will deform the ganache less. What do you think?

Yeah, I think careful chocolate selection is key - I think it has to be a relatively mild-flavored milk chocolate, and the coating needs to be as thin as possible. I like the idea of toasting the marshmallow before enrobing to complete the flavor profile.

The ginger snap sounds good... I have been thinking about trying to concoct some sort of "s'more"-type confection with a marshmallow and graham cracker enrobed together, but they don't exactly make round graham crackers. Ginger snaps might be just the ticket. I think after the habañero-mango truffles turned out so tasty today, I have pretty free reign with the flavors. As most of the product ends up at our offices (who can eat 50 chocolate-covered marshmallows?) my anatomical analog possibilities are somewhat limited...

Aha! I couldn't believe there were no previous threads on the topic of the world's greatest late-night snack - wonder why that one eluded my search?

True, but there is little challenge to making homemade mayo... I know not everyone cares for cooking challenges, but it seems to me that the folks around here are more interested in them than most .