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I am trying to get a charcuterie program going at our restaurant and we're having a bit of trouble setting up a suitable drying chamber. I'm hoping the experience of some of the contributers here might shed some light on a road block we're hitting. We have an old upright two-door freezer modified to run at higher temperatures. It holds temperature just fine, but after the cooler unit runs, the humidiy inside the unit spikes to near 100%. It takes a half hour or so for it to settle back down to a workable range that can be managed with a humidifier to hold at the desired point. Then, maybe ten minutes later, the cooler comes on again, and we have the same problem. I am assuming that with the humidity running far too high for most of the day, our salami/pancetta/etc. will not properly dry, and we'll run into problems with microbial infection and rot. My guess would be that this is this a common issue with cooling units in which the condenser is located inside the box. Would this be an accurate assumption, or is there something we can have done to it to stop these humidity spikes? With the layout of our restaurant, we don't have a closet or room that we can dedicate solely to this effort, so we really need to figure out how to set up something self-contained like a refrigerator. Would we be better off just purchasing a few used home refrigerators and using a temp./humidity controller plugged in between the fridge/humidifier and the outlet to maintain the right conditions? I really appreciate any advice you folks can offer. It looks like you're doing some great quality charcuterie and I'd love to join the club.

I had a prep guy years ago at an Italian restaurant who I cought throwing handfuls of oregano into a soup that was not supposed to have any. When I asked him about it, he said, "It's oregano. It goes in everything." The next morning I sent him downstairs to put an order away and steeped a whole bunch of oregano in his coffee. When he returned, he took a sip and spit it all over himself. I guess it really doesn't go in everything after all.

Hopworks Urban Brewery in Portland, OR is making some great organic beers. hopworks urban brewery

Hand chopping seems a little overboard, and even with the sharpest knife it would be tough to chop your ingredients finely enough to resemble what we would think of as pesto without badly bruising the basil. For a more coarse, rustic version, chopping would be just the thing though.

yesterday an Abyss from Deschutes... bottle, 2008. stored @ 57 degrees since purchase in january. the beer has really come together nicely and the warmth mellowed significantly over the past few months. an amazing beer. i've got some of this year's Dark Lord on the way, so we'll have to compare.

I would suggest you check out the forums at pizzamaking.com. They have a large membership of people who are truly crazy about pizza. You'll find tons of info/recipes/techniques on everything from the simplest, most convenient pizzas to spirited debate/experimentation/etc. from people who are making pies at home that rival the best pizzerias in the world. If you're into pizza, check it out.

Hmm.. that's odd. the 6th edition Pro Chef states, "Be sure that the roux and liquid temperatures are different - hot liquid and cold roux or cold liquid and hot roux - to help prevent lumping." It would seem the CIA now approves of something that it clearly thought was wrong less than ten years ago. I wonder what they understand now about fat, flour, and water that elluded them for so long. From Larousse, "To avoid lumps forming this must be poured boiling onto the cold roux. Use a whisk and heat gradually while whisking constantly. (Alternatively, the cold liquid may be whisked gradually into the warm roux.)"

hot/cold or cold/hot is the proper method. no hot/hot or cold/cold. i have never heard of any debate on this issue. it's pretty fundamental. onion peel adds a pretty nasty flavor when simmered in liquid. save some onion peels and try it. even in small amounts, why would you want to add that flavor to your food?

hah.. tyler florence, on his food network thanksgiving show this year poured hot stock into hot roux to make his gravy... oh, and he put onion peel in his stock. ever tried onion peel broth? not much fun at all.

Lived in Burlington for a year and change. The well known Vermont micros were all pretty mediocre. MacNiel's beer from Brattleboro can be found in bottles statewide. Some are excellent, but they're pretty inconsistent. The Shed is pretty good. A few really nice beers/some just good. No distribution, so you have to go to the pub in Stowe. The best beer we found in Vermont was at a brewpub called the Alchemist in Waterbury. The food is not bad either.

Well, Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, of course! The holiday spirit, though, doesn't go beyond the labeling and release date, so no spice or pumpkin or anything. It's one of the best American IPA's out there. We lived in the Southern Tier for a few years. I remember Post Road Pumpkin Ale being our favorite of the NY-made pumpkin beers.