Chris Hennes

Ah, yes, that would explain it: a thin veneer of maple would not be able to build up enough internal stress to damage itself.

I had a much more successful roast today (the third time I've tried). The first roast was under-done because I was afraid of burning the beans. The second roast was overdone because I was waiting (and waiting, and waiting) for first crack, which didn't come until the beans were much too dark. This time I ran the heat gun much much closer to the beans, so they heated up much faster. This got me to first crack in about five minutes, and the beans were still beige-ish at that point. Byt the time I got through first crack they had darkened to a fairly typical City+ roast. Of course I don't know how it tastes yet, but the key for me to getting the roast inline with my expectations about how the process worked was to roast hotter and faster. I think this goes along with Matt's theory about the effect of wind, too.

I can only take so much brisket: two lunches was plenty for me! I'm going to have to eat vegetarian for a week to recover as it is. Jeff, the flavor of all three briskets was excellent, I wouldn't choose one over the other on that basis, especially considering the dramatic textural differences.

Once cured nearly all epoxies are food safe: they are completely inert. Nevertheless, I'm with boilsover, I simply do not understand how else one could make wood not respond to these extreme changes in temperature and humidity. If it is not sealed, it's going to change dimensions. If you use very carefully selected lumber, probably quarter-sawn, you can probably get a good matching set that will change very little, but eventually the internal stresses will still build up, since no match will ever be perfect.

Here is a photo of the eggs in a standard-sized egg carton:

I've never heard of a dishwasher safe wood cutting board: do you know what kind of wood it's made of? Is it endgrain? I'm intrigued, wood typically warps substantially under high temperature and high humidity, I'd love to know how dishwasher-safeness was accomplished.

A friend just gave me a dozen Chukar eggs: I'm looking for interesting uses for them. Ideas?

Personally, I don't really care what the lineage of the animal was if it meets with my expectations for marbling. If the meat with the "kobe" label has that, then sure I'll pay.

Hit two East Side King places tonight: the one outside The Greckle, where the ramen was very good, and I'm writing this from the one at Liberty, where the deep fried Brussels sprouts and curry buns were awesome. Pics of the places to come when I get home.

I just returned from Smitty's and Kreuz, having eaten at Franklin yesterday. Judging BBQ is a pain in part because there is so much variability in the quality depending on things like wind direction and speed. It's fascinating to read back through this topic to see where others' experience has been the same as my own and where it differs. Franklin had the best texture of the three, in my opinion, but I have a preference for brisket that has been broken down just to the point of falling apart: this is not the style at Smitty's or Kreuz. Unfortunately, I found the bark to be much too salty at Franklin. At Smitty's I thought they cooked the brisket too hot and too fast, it was borderline tough. Kreuz, our last stop, split the difference and was our clear favorite. I like Smitty's sausage the best because it took real advantage of the smoke flavor. None of the sausage had a particularly good texture, but that's the norm for this sausage style it seems. I did not sample the ribs, pork, etc. at any of these places.

We ate at Taco More for lunch and G'raj Mahal for dinner yesterday---both were fantastic. Sorry, no pics yet, I'm posting this from the (very long) line at Franklin BBQ.

I'll be in Austin for a couple days coming up here, and from what I've read elsewhere it sounds like there are a lot of excellent food stand/truck options. In particular I'm looking for places to eat when the BBQ has run out, late night places, bonus points for being centrally located and/or selling beer. Thoughts on Taco More, G'Raj Mahal, and El Naranjo? What else should I look at?

I do the same, but only if I'm having issues. When I do several dozen in a row I feel like I get into a groove where I can press it pretty evenly on the first go and not have to do it again.

My input is: go, and give us a full report! It sounds like a great opportunity to me.

Looks like North Carolina to me, though apparently Cheerwine does have a wider distribution than I thought.

I buy bags of fresh masa.

I'm a food-obsessed eG denizen: I like to argue . I'd still love to know if there is anything anyone can come up with that meets GlorifiedRice's original request: "Are there any questions we can pose to him to prove he's a REAL CHEF? like things only CHEFS know?" I just don't think there is anything: the thing that separates a real chef from a wannabe is skills, not knowledge.

Sure, but to be clear, what sculptor said was "[foodies] know more about food and cooking than 95% of the Chefs out there...." which I don't take to mean they those foodies are "real chefs", or are better cooks. Quite the opposite in fact: while us internet foodies are off acquiring knowledge, the real chefs out there are out acquiring skills. Very different things! But it means that no knowledge test is ever going to out GlorifiedRice's nemesis as a "fake chef": fake chefs are pretty good at knowledge tests. It's the skills test they can't pass.

Im sorry, but statements like this really piss me off. Im not trying to be an ass or anything, but just because you (or anyone) read a book doesn't make you a "chef." I think that's the whole point. Of course I'm not a chef: I have a tremendous amount of culinary knowledge that I've gained because I am reading the internet while the real chefs are cooking. This means that it's basically impossible to come up with some kind of "knowledge test" that a "real chef" will pass and that us fake chefs would fail (which was the original poster's goal I think). In fact, the fake chef is probably going to do better at that sort of test than a real chef would! You want a test to separate a real chef from a fake one? Put them both in charge of a kitchen during a Friday night dinner rush. You'll find out pretty quick.

I use a pyrex bowl with a side towel in it, wrapped over the tortillas.

Time to bump this topic back up, I think. For dinner tonight I made a dish from Giuliano Bugialli's Bugialli on Pasta Papardelle ai peperoni Pappardelle with chicken in sweet pepper sauce I thought it was interesting that Bugialli wants the papardelle cut with a scalloped edge, and that he ask that it be cut 2" wide (I only cut mine about an inch and a quarter). I am used to papardelle (or at least, the pasta labelled as such around here) as having straight edges. Is this normal? I cooked the chicken sous vide at 140°F rather than baking it, but otherwise pretty much followed the recipe as written.

The burger buns in Modernist Cuisine were superb as well.

That seems more likely: in retrospect my theory doesn't make much sense.

No, I think it's acting as a leavener in that case: the 3hr brine gives it time to work its way into the skin, and then when it gets heated it forms carbon dioxide, which puffs the skin up somewhat. At least, that's the impression I get from the discussion of baking soda in the frying chapter.

Crispy Cauliflower (pp.5•281–5•283) Marcona almond, Anjou pear, chaat masala, tamarind pudding The base of this dish is a large slab of deep fried cauliflower, surrounded by a bunch of little florets, dusted with chaat masala. It includes two sauces: a marcona almond butter and a tamarind puree. I personally preferred the tamarind, it has a bright acidity that is great with anything deep fried. It also has a relatively dense cauliflower foam: it's a different temperature and texture than the rest of the plate, but the same flavor as the main component, so I could take or leave it. It was fun to make, however. Next time I make this I think I will dispense the foam into a bowl and plate it with a spoon, though. I'm not very adept at using the siphon. I liked the flavor of the preserved pears, but my pears were overripe: I'd suggest choosing quite firm pears for this application. Finally, I found plating to be a challenge, in part because I didn't have a good sense of what the final textures of each component were going to be. Does anyone have any ideas or advice for the plating next time?