jeremyn

I brought it to 175 this last time (I am using a double boiler) rand it still set up a little loose. I don't think upping the temperature will give me a firmer set (is that actually correct?), so I'll try some of the alternatives people here recommended... more butter, gelatin, etc.

Does anyone know, roughly, what maximum temperature I can bring my lemon curd to before it begins to scramble? I'm hoping to make my lemon tart set a little more firmly. I'll start experimenting today, but can anyone give me any estimate for this first (measured) experiment? 170-180F? The proportions are roughly 1/2 cup lemon juice to 2 eggs + 2 yolks.

Quiche is awesome since you can make it a few days ahead and serve it cold, hot, or at room temperature.

My hunter friend gave me a venison backstrap that is thawing right now. If I understand correctly, this is the NY Strip equivalent on a deer. If it was a beef NY Strip, I'd grill or roast it to rare. However, this thing is so skinny that I'm afraid it won't brown before it's fully cooked in the middle. Any recommendations on an effective technique to cook this thing? Flavor affinities?

I use the ebay seller "vanillaproducts." Good selection and amazing prices. http://myworld.ebay.com/vanillaproducts/

When people refer to london broil, in most parts of the country it is top round. Top round is, without question, the best cut I've tried for making beef jerky.

We hadn't been to Frasca since November of 2007, so we finally made up an excuse to go back last night. It wasn't as magical as our first visit, but it was still very good. Some things that have changed since 2007: 1) It does indeed feel like they are trying to churn tables. We had an 8:15 reservation and our table wasn't ready for half an hour. This seems common based on the threads above. 2) Free wine when we got to our table. Maybe it's because we had to wait half an hour, as above, or maybe it's just a common thing now? 3) 4-course menu format. You're still able to get things individually, but you get a little discount if you get the full menu, which they really push. 4) Maybe it's because we are younger than the typical Frasca crowd, but it was hard to get any information out of our server. I asked about the sauce on a sausage dish, and she told me "it's a special broth." When I prodded further to ask what made it so thick and dark, she would only say "that's just the way they make it." I gave up. It was even sort of condescending. All in all, it was very tough to get any information about what we were eating. Another server that occasionally came by was more helpful in explaining the dishes, but he only stopped by twice. 5) No major complaints about the food overall. My wife's secondi course was a tuna dish that honestly tasted like a hamburger grilled over a grease-fire. I can't imagine that this was intentional, but we didn't say anything. The rest of the courses were extremely well-done. Dessert was good but not great. The experience overall was very good, but for the price, it was no better or worse than what I paid for.

The figures I quoted were actually the same ones as yours, after roll bonding, but converted to millimeters. 0.036" of copper = .91 mm, etc. Yeah, it is interesting that the picture shows the aluminum much thicker...it's possible that this isn't the exact process that they use.

I seem to have found the patent under which All Clad describes its copper core production. Copper Core Patent It seems to indicate a total thickness of 1.83mm with a copper core of 0.91 mm, total aluminum thickness of 0.2mm, and stainless thickness of 0.71 mm. Assuming this is the actual process they use, it looks like our guesses were about right (at least for the copper layer).

Just thought I'd give an update. In researching various cookware lines, I got the specs of the Scanpan Fusion 5 and Fusion CS5 pieces (directly from Scanpan). The Fusion 5 line is fully clad aluminum with an inner layer of 0.8mm 18/10 stainless, a middle layer of 1.4 mm aluminum & aluminum alloys, and an outer layer of 0.8mm 18/0 magnetic stainless. The Fusion CS5 line has an inner layer of 0.8mm 18/10 stainless, a middle layer of 1.4 mm aluminum & aluminum alloys, and an outer layer of 0.8mm copper.

I thought it was good, but I eat ribeyes so rarely that I'm probably not a great judge. I'd say it's definitely worth a try.

This is my first post on the dinner thread! We just got back from camping this weekend, so here's our first night's meal: Grilled polenta with fontina, Sally Schneider's "fried onions," and balsamic syrup (and some squash) Good, but I am never able to get that super-crisp yet creamy polenta texture. Whether it's pan-fried or grilled, it is always just barely crisp, and it often loses that crispness a few moments after it's taken off the heat... But Sally Schneider's fried onions are always fantastic. Ribeye Also good, but at only 1" or so, a bit thinner than I would have liked. Costco was selling cryovac Prime Ribeyes for $9/lb, so I decided to try them out despite the thickness. What are your all's thoughts on the ideal Steak thickness?

Hey Dave, Are you able to measure the total thickness of those All-Clad Stainless pieces? The article says that the Stainless pieces have about 2mm of aluminum, so if this method indicates that, then we can assume it is pretty accurate.

Just from eyeballing it, it looks like the copper layer is about 50-60% of the total thickness. If the total thickness is 1.9mm, there's about 1mm of copper. Can someone confirm that the total pan thickness is only 1.9mm? That seems really thin to me, but I don't own any copper core pieces.

I agree... the handles are shaped differently, the exterior styling is different, etc. All of these little things will have more of an effect on the weight than a difference in density between aluminum and copper over a 1-2mm thick surface. I do think that the blow up image would provide a reasonable guess (though not perfect).

I agree. A high-res photo of the lip would be the best. Can somebody who owns a copper core piece take a picture? If we're only starting with 1.9mm (are they really that thin!?!?), we're not going to end up with much. My dilemma is that I really like the design of certain All-Clad Copper core pieces (for example, the 12" fry pan with side handle). However, I'm reluctant to buy one if I'm going to sacrifice TOO MUCH performance over, say, a Falk or Mauviel piece with a lot more copper. 2.3mm of copper vs 1.7 and I might be able to deal with it...

While investigating the question of the copper thickness in All-Clad's copper core line, I came across a picture on the All-Clad website that indicates that the interior copper layer is visible on the cookware rims: Copper Core interior I'm guessing that this is the true interior thickness. Manufacturing a pan with a varying thickness of interior materials seems like it would not be worth the extra cost (especially if the sole purpose is to INCREASE the visible copper layer at the rim, where it will not be of any thermal benefit). I don't own any copper core cookware items. Would anyone who owns one of these pieces be willing to give an approximate measurement? Do you think that this is just a trick, and that the inner copper core is thinner than this visible strip?

I've been following this thread for a while and have a couple of questions. Where can one find lids for Falk copper pieces? I'd like to find some high-quality, heavy stainless lids that really fit well. Is there a go-to source that has the proper size or do you just need to bring your pans to cookware stores and hunt around until you find something? Do we have any estimates on the composition of All-Clad's copper core line? Their website seems to indicate that the copper core is sandwiched between a layer of aluminum, which could further improve the performance. Do we know just how thick the copper and aluminum layers are? Alternatively, can someone compare the thermal performance (capacity, responsiveness) of the All-Clad Copper Core and Master Chef/LTD lines?