KennethT

You can, but it creates a different kind of caviar. The alginate kind have a solid shell and contain liquid and will burst when chewed. The agar will be solid and won't burst. The other problem is that agar needs to be heated above 180degF for a few minutes to hydrate which will completely change the flavors of either raw basil or tomato. Some people have had success in hydrating the total amount of agar in a very small amount of water, and then adding that to your basil or tomato liquid so as not to cook out those flavors. Typically, the agar spheres are dropped into a neutral oil, but since your flavors would probably work very well with it, you could use olive oil.

looks a little like chinese broccoli - only without the thick stems...

I would think that cooking something so thin should use a higher temp - at least 375 so that the crust browns while the inside cooks through...

That leg of lamb looks fantastic! I wonder what would happen if you put a pan of potato cubes or something in the bottom of the roaster so that it would still be in the path of the IR, but would catch some of those great drippings?

this is a tough problem... especially if you don't know what he likes to eat... I second rotuts... When I first started cooking for myself, I started with simple things - pan roast chicken breast with sauteed greens or salad, pasta, etc... something not too hard to really mess up and cause discouragement.

All of book 1 is about food safety... All the charts and tables are there... That being said, I'll reiterate that the forums here and Douglas Baldwin's site have just about all the info you'd ever need. I'm another one who joined Egullet because of the original sous vide thread.

Sorry for getting off track... I agree - if I had any outdoor space whatsoever, I would get this in a heartbeat! Seems like a great inexpensive and more convenient tandoor - something that I had considered building - if I only had some outdoor space or at least a kitchen that I owned with a big hood that actually vented outside. I don't know about using it as a wok burner - it seems like its been designed so that most of the IR is directed inside the cooker (like a tandoor). The heat coming out the top is probably not nearly as intense.

That is basically the "Black Body Radiation" theory. What I don't understand (yet) is how the screen can reflect the IR energy, perhaps the screen's perforation size is such that the wave length of the IR ray cannot penetrate, just like the screened door of a microwave oven can prevent leaking of microwave energy. dcarch Right... I wondered the same thing about the screen - I just sort of assumed that it was made from shiny metal so that a percentage of IR energy would be reflected (albeit in random directions).. Sort of the reverse of how shade cloth works in a greenhouse. The screen need not to be shiny. It is very possible to have efficient reflectivity in antenna design with very perforated reflectors, it all has to do with wave length. IR is exactly like microwave and radio wave, except the wave length is shorter. dcarch Microwave antenna http://antennasystems.com/Merchant2/graphics/rfsworld/APL-3T.jpg I don't know if I necessarily agree... what works for microwaves doesn't necessarily work for all EM waves. You can use waveguides to carry microwaves, which won't work for higher frequency spectra.. antennae are used to braodcast microwaves - which won't work for IR... So while it doesn't matter for microwave, your bathroom mirror is shiny for a reason... For all intents and purposes, IR is closer in wavelength magnitude to visible light than visible is to microwaves - let's say IR is 1-2 orders of magnitude away from visible, whereas microwaves are 4 orders of magnitude away from visible.Anyway, since I don't own the product - I'm not sure if the screen is shiny or not- but I have enough experience to say that when I wear a black shirt in the sun I feel warmer than when wearing a white shirt, given the same ambient air temp. and humidity. I feel pretty safe in saying that a matte black screen will absorb IR and allow it to pass through with very little reflected - while a shiny silver screen will reflect and allow to pass through while absorbing very little. ETA - unless the black screen in absorbing the IR and re-radiating it (very possible), which changes the argument completely.

That is basically the "Black Body Radiation" theory. What I don't understand (yet) is how the screen can reflect the IR energy, perhaps the screen's perforation size is such that the wave length of the IR ray cannot penetrate, just like the screened door of a microwave oven can prevent leaking of microwave energy. dcarch Right... I wondered the same thing about the screen - I just sort of assumed that it was made from shiny metal so that a percentage of IR energy would be reflected (albeit in random directions).. Sort of the reverse of how shade cloth works in a greenhouse.

the polymerized cooking spray (or other oil), when darkened, will emit IR more efficiently - so it will work better and be "hotter" over time. From looking at the manual, it doesn't seem like there's a temperature control - but IR doesn't really work that way... they said that if you add teh included top screen, it will get hotter inside since the screen reflects IR - they recommend you run the machine after use for 10-15 min with the screen on to burn off any gunk from cooking - like you might for a barbeque grill.

You can google it to get to CharBroil's website, and download the instruction manual. It is very descriptive. The cooker comes with a screen type lid that reflects IR which intensifies heat inside. They also recommend that the inside be seasoned, like cast iron, and over time, the cooker will get even better as the seasoning will emit IR more effectively as time goes on. So, it is not baking (as baking refers to hot air doing the cooking) but roasting in the traditional sense of cooking with IR. It looks like a great device - if I had any outdoor space whatsoever I would consider getting one... as much as I don't like to follow rules, I think I would follow their constant advice (read warnings) as to not use indoors!

I have seen calamansi at Fairway - probably a couple of months ago... But they were ripe, the rind was bright orange. Typically, they are used green in SE Asia cooking. I have never seen them sold this way in NY.

Right - and as far as stovetop smoking goes - I have the same situation (I actually never use my vent since it just blows air back around - the filters are there to trap grease more than anything but they're not that effective) - I have good results using a Cameron Stovetop smoker - it's inexpensive, works pretty well and doesn't release tons of smoke into the kitchen as it's pretty well sealed. It's good for short smoking jobs - not necessarily long ones though.

Is that shiso with the liver?

Not everything needs to be pasteurized if you are to consume immediately (or within 4 hours). Whole muscle cuts of beef, like steak are fine - as long as you give it a surface sear which will kill all surface bacteria. The theory is that the interior of whole muscle cuts (meat that hasn't been punctured) are considered sterile, but the surface may be contaminated. BTW - while doing this, I would recommend searing before SV - as many times, low temperature baths for rare steak are like incubators for bacteria - so you'd want to kill any surface bacteria before hitting the bath. Some people drop the bagged steak in boiling water for a short time... but personally, I'm a fan of the pre and post sear. Pre for bacteria, post for flavor/color.Other foods, like poultry, should be pasteurized regardless of when you plan on consuming it.I think the rule of thumb with pasteurization would go along with whether you would consider eating the same item raw. So steak, for instance, can be eaten as tartare, so you wouldn't need to pasteurize other than the surface. I don't know anyone who would ever consider eating raw chicken. Just a couple of comments. The Japanese have a number of raw chicken dishes. And more importantly one needs to be aware that steaks are now frequently jaccarded (pierced all over with very fine blades to cut the muscle fibres) prior to sale to tenderise them. This is not always obvious but it suggests that one needs to know the provenance of one's steaks before assuming that they don't require pasteurization. Right - I thought about explicitly mentioning the industrial jaccarding, but didn't - I alluded to it when I mentioned "meat that hasn't been punctured" but I should have been more explicit, so thanks for pointing that out. With regards to the chicken, while I know there are a few cultures that eat raw poultry, I'm not sure if they're doing that at home, or only in restaurants that know exactly when and how the chicken was slaughtered, gutted, etc to minimize the chances of bacterial problems. And I have no idea how popular those dishes are - do people eat them all the time or is it only once in a long while? Just like with sushi - you can't just go to your local market, pick up a piece of salmon fillet or something and assume it is sushi grade and safe for raw consumption. Nothing is impossible, but I have a hard time believing that people are going to their local market, picking up some chicken that may have been sitting there for a few days, and consuming it raw.Regarding the question about pasteurization time - the pasteurization time is a constant for a given core temperature and bacteria type. What varies is the amount of time it takes the core to get to that temperature - which varies primarily by thickness/shape. Douglas Baldwin makes it easy by incorporating pasteurization time into some of the tables - but I think early-on NathanM posted a table of pasteurization times by temperature that you could add to the time it takes to reach core temperature. If you have an iOS device, I would highly recommend downloading the SousVideDash app - designed by an EGullet member and fellow sous vide enthusiast Vengroff. It is not expensive, and it makes the problem of cooking times, pasteurization, etc. a non-issue as the app calculates everything for you. All you need to do is enter in the type of protein, desired core temp, bath temp, food shape and thickness, and you're ready to go. ETA: Yes, shape matters. I don't believe NathanM went into detail about it in the early tables, but if memory serves, it was address in Modernist Cuisine. It is also addressed in the Sous Vide Dash app. The early nathanm tables assumed an infinite plane of a certain thickness (like a slab) - which is the worst case scenario. If you are using the same bath temp as core temp, then this is a good figure to use at will ensure that the core is what you think it is. Other shapes will reduce the need for as long of a cooking time to come to temp. Shape becomes much more critical if you're doing gradient cooking - your core temp is lower than your bath temp. Some people prefer this method for certain foods that they don't want to be 100% even... personally, I do that when I cook fatty fish - like salmon. I use a bath temp of 115F, but shoot for a core temp of 102F - it comes out just how I like it every time, plus it makes the cooking time quite a bit shorter. But that is much trickier to figure without the app. Cooking multiple bags does not affect anything so long as you have decent water flow around each of the bags - they shouldn't be stacked up touching each other. As long as your water can flow around each bag, and your heater can remedy the initial temp drop in a short amount of time it's fine.

Not everything needs to be pasteurized if you are to consume immediately (or within 4 hours). Whole muscle cuts of beef, like steak are fine - as long as you give it a surface sear which will kill all surface bacteria. The theory is that the interior of whole muscle cuts (meat that hasn't been punctured) are considered sterile, but the surface may be contaminated. BTW - while doing this, I would recommend searing before SV - as many times, low temperature baths for rare steak are like incubators for bacteria - so you'd want to kill any surface bacteria before hitting the bath. Some people drop the bagged steak in boiling water for a short time... but personally, I'm a fan of the pre and post sear. Pre for bacteria, post for flavor/color. Other foods, like poultry, should be pasteurized regardless of when you plan on consuming it. I think the rule of thumb with pasteurization would go along with whether you would consider eating the same item raw. So steak, for instance, can be eaten as tartare, so you wouldn't need to pasteurize other than the surface. I don't know anyone who would ever consider eating raw chicken.

Thanks all for the thoughts. I realized after I posted (and left the apt with no access to a computer) that once the pressure is reduced, the pot is no longer sealed. With that in mind, however, it is still a covered system, keeping evaporative cooling to a minimum, so it does cool very slowly, even without any insulation. The shiny metal pot is a poor radiator of heat, and heat losses due to air convection is low also since the airflow in the kitchen is poor unless the vent is on. So, yes, it does take hours to even get to 160 deg F, let alone 130-140 deg F which is still a temp too high for bacteria to multiply. To get an exact figure, I'd have to run cool down tests and check temp every half hour or so. I know it's not completely exact since every time I open the pot, I get evap cooling, but it would give me a more conservative figure.

I had a question about food safety and pressure cookers about this specific situation: I make a stock that sits at full pressure for at least an hour, which is then naturally cooled. For how long can I keep this on the stove-top with the lid undisturbed without having a huge problem? Theoretically, the contents of the pot are basically steralized, and since it's a sealed system, no new bacteria can enter. I wasn't planning on having it sit for days, but I was hoping I could make stock in the morning, then turn off the heat before leaving for the rest of the day and coming back in the evening. Granted, in my pot, it takes over an hour just for the pressure to reduce to atmospheric to open the lid, and it stays probably over 180F for another hour or two... I just don't know how long it would be sitting in the "danger zone", and if the DZ even applies in this case....

I've done this before - it works great with some modifications. First, in a pressure cooker, I make an intense chicken stock with ginger, garlic, shallots, etc. added. For the best results (especially with the skin, I'll take a whole chicken, do the whole salt scrub thing, then plunge into the boiling stock (which then turns into simmer and kept that way) for about 10 minutes, then plunged into ice water. This chicken is then cut up into parts, and pieces are individually bagged with some of the intense stock, and cooked SV at 140F (for the white meat), or 150F or so for the dark meat. The dark meat is cooked for a few hours, while the white meat can be done just to pasteurization. Some of the resulting stock from the bags is used to make the rice, while any extra is recycled. Over time, your stock becomes more and more chicken-y, although it will need to be topped up with water and more aromatics as time goes by.

The biggest problem with all of this is, like Anna said, the maintenance. I used to have a spreadsheet with the contents of my 2 freezers... The problem is that you have to update it every time you take something out or put something in - which is a task easily forgotten, or put off to the future and then forgotten. In no time, the inventory means nothing anymore. Honestly, I don't have a good solution to the problem, which is why I've stopped keeping an inventory altogether. A ridiculous answer would be to put small RFID tags on everything that you buy, and enter the contents of each tag into a database. As long as you keep adding tags (and related dbase entries) to new acquisitions, keeping track of inventory is easy since you would just need to wave your RFID reader across the face of the freezer.

I'm fascinated by this... can you go into a little more detail about how/why you got into that habit? Where did you learn it from? What is the purpose of doing it? Does it result in a better texture or flavor, or do you do it for other reasons?

I think salting it for 48 hours was at least part if not all of your problem - depending on how much salt you added before aging, it is basically a cure. That would surely result in the firmer texture you experienced. I find salting even a couple hours in advance can cause a noticeably firmer texture. Out of curiosity, why did you salt it prior to aging?

So I usually don't write about NY restaurants often, usually because I rarely feel compelled to do so... But this evening is one of those odd times. First I'll say that this place just opened recently, and this was our first time there... But wow... The food really blew us away. Unique flavor combinations, really well executed. Everything we had was cooked perfectly, from a squid ink and black garlic pasta with crab and chiles, to an ocean trout with small pieces of cauliflower and some kind of sausage. The menu said nduja, but the server called it andouille... Didn't taste like andouille, so I'll assume the menu description... Vegetables are done really well, as was the sucking pig. The service needs a little bit of fine tuning, but they were very enthusiastic, friendly, and eager to please. I will certainly be eagerly returning....

I've looked to do this for a long time but never did it. I love how pigeon tastes in France, mostly because it is hung post slaughter, as opposed to US ones which are not. I was always told you shouldn't do it at home though, even though I never was able to get a proper reason as to why... I'm definitely very interested in your results!

Depending on how big the roast is, it may be quite dangerous to SV a whole roast as the center may take a very long time to come to temp. Personally, if I were planning on eventually turning the roast into steaks anyway, I would divide raw and cook them SV as steaks.. I would not season until pre-sear... lately, I've been gettnig much better results cooking meat unseasoned - I like the texture better.