ElsieD

Josh71, how did you end up doing the ribs and how did they turn out?

Thanks, Heidi. I just read it.

I just read this whole thread trying to get an understanding of pimento cheese. There seem to be a lot of different recipes, the only constant being that it must contain mayonnaise. The cheeses differ, the peppers/pimentos differ, the seasonings differ, etc. Also, I am not familiar with "sharp"cheese. Is that the same thing as an aged cheddar? Or is "sharp" cheese a processed cheese?

KoB, it looks as though the flour is not evenly dispersed or is it the light that makes it look like that?

I have never heard of putting pimento cheese on a bacon and tomato sandwich. Is this cheese something you buy? (Clearly, I don't get out enough.)

Glad you like it but for me, 4 1/2 teaspoons of sugar per can is too sweet. I realize I am probably in the minority but it sure would be nice if some of these Iced tea drinks came with less sugar. If they did I'd line up to buy them.

I just had a look at this. While the MSRP is $2,995, it can be pre-ordered for 2016 shipping for $1,495. Way out of my league but it sure looks like a mighty fine machine.

Thanks, everyone. I followed the hot water in a pot suggestion and it worked fairly well. I started it at a temperature of 138 F figuring it would drop to 132 F fairly quickly and all would be well. As it turned out, the water stayed above 132 longer than I thought it would and the meat was a bit past medium rare. It was given a fast sear on the grill and devoured. Perhaps if Mr. Pinot Grigio, the sipping wine, not been involved, I might have caught the higher temperature earlier. All in all though, for a makeshift fix, I was pretty happy with the result.

Help!!! I did some beef short ribs this week to bring with me to my niece's in Syracuse. I just got here and realized that I had forgotten to bring my circulator which I meant to do so I could properly re-heat them. Any ideas on how I can best re-heat them? They were cooked to 132F. Thanks!

http://www.cameronsproducts.com/smokers Here is the link to the smokers. I have two of these, the regular and the mini. They work on gas, electric and induction. When we lived in the house I did not have a fan above the stove and you could smell a mild smoke smell for a few days after use. I used mine yesterday in the condo with the fan on and there is not a hint of smoke in the place. The fan vents to outside. I had forgotten about them until Josh71 posted his question which is why I thought to dig it out and cook the ribs last night as per the post above. Now that I have been reminded I will start using it again. For those interested, it also does a superb job on fish and seafood.

Last night I did a rack of baby back ribs in the Cameron. They were seasoned only with some salt @ pepper. I used 1 1/2 tablespoons of their maple wood chips and used a medium heat setting. I started timing when I saw the first wisps of smoke come out. These were left on for 45 minutes and left in the pan for another 15. I transferred them to a foil lined baking sheet, slathered them with BBQ sauce and baked them uncovered for 30 minutes in a 350 oven. They were perfect, nice and tender with a touch of smokey flavour. If you like a stronger smoke flavour, try using 2 tablespoons. I hope this helps.

The main oven will go as low as 170F and the Breville 120F. Both are convection. I thought 185 was the right temperature based on what I read but are you saying I should go lower? Are you suggesting that I use a fan in lieu of or in addition to the the convection setting?

Update on the jerky: I had been feeding my husband warm bits of jerky during the drying process and he said it wasn't jerky. It has since cooled down and when he tried it he said "now that's jerky"! So he says it's really good and he's happy with it. Just need to slice it thinner next time to improve the texture.

Thanks, but not very practical as I live in a condo. I have room to set it up but then storage becomes an issue. Course, the same could be said for a purchased dehydrator but as it happens, the oven worked well.

Yes, post # 429 is from Chris_s. I still don't see the reference to the fact that oil in the bag will cause sharp points to not press into the plastic. Must be there somewhere if you can see it but I can't find it.

Are you saying that if I add oil or butter or some sort of fat that will take care of the sharp edges? I went back to Anna's post # 411 (429 is not hers) and scrolled through the linked piece and while it talked about adding fat nowhere did it say anything about it having an effect on sharp points. I must be missing something and if you could clarify what that is, I'd appreciate it.

I too was conflicted about using two bags until I had to throw out those beautiful beef short ribs. What I paid for them would have purchased a lot of bags.

Back in post # 90 I told my sad story about having to throw out some beef short ribs due to a leak. Ever since, whenever I cook something that has bony pointy ends that can puncture the bag I double vacuum bag them. Right now I have some beef short ribs going that will be finished at 5:00 today and they are double bagged.

Not having a solar oven, I used the microwave to do the initial 4 pieces. They took forever, and was a serious hands on operation what with the turning, blotting, etc. DH said it was tasty but "very chewy". Today I did the rest in the oven at 185F with a spoon stuck in the door so moisture could escape. Picture below, missing are the microwave ones which I did not include as they look the same. DH said it was really good but "not jerky". He thinks, and I agree, that it should be thinner. So I will try this again but I will stick the meat in the freezer first to really firm it up, and then slice it thinly on the electric slicer to something shy of 1/4" unless someone tells me otherwise. I am thinking I might try eye of round. I realize it is not as "beefy" tasting but I think it would make nice thin slices. I will use the oven again (205 F with the spoon stuck in the door brought it to about 185 F) and we shall see how that goes. If it turns out really well, I may spring for a dehydrator. Hard to believe this was 1 1/2 pounds of flank steak.

Thank you both. I have read both articles and so I will split the batch and dry half in the microwave and the other half in the oven. It would seem that the MC method and the MC@H methods differ in several aspects according to the article Deryn linked to. MC says to cut with the grain 5 mm thick. MC@H says to cut against the grain, 12 mm thick. The MC@H also calls for the following additions to the marinade: maple syrup, Worcestershire sauce and cayenne pepper. I wonder if the difference in thickness is related to whether the meat is cut with or across the grain? I know when I was cutting it I wondered if it wasn't too thick, but then, I have never tried making jerky before, so what do I know? One comment I found interesting in the oven dried article - someone suggested pinning the strips to the oven racks with clothing pins. Might be a cleaner way to dry this stuff, especially if you line the oven floor. I am thinking of trying this although my pins are plastic so am not altogether sure that's a good idea. In any event, I will post the results here in case someone else comes along and is interested in following this particular recipe. It sure is expensive to buy the stuff already prepared.

No, it is in my "to make" file, one of, um, many.

http://svkitchen.com/?p=4674 Does this help?

Thanks for all of your suggestions. I am still sitting on the fence, so to speak. This afternoon I was going through Modernist Cuisine at Home when I saw a recipe for Microwaved Beef Jerky. As I wanted the dehydrator mainly for jerky making purposes, I asked if anyone had followed this method for making jerky on the Beef Jerky thread. I'll be curious to see what, if anything, gets posted.

I was flipping through the pages of Modernist Cuisine at Home when I came across a recipe for Microwaved Beef Jerky. Has anyone tried making jerky using this technique?