Okanagancook

After my email to PolyScience, someone phoned to tell us that the "LLO" is short for "local lock out" and it is a safety feature of the machine. If you hold the selector knob in for 15 second it locks the dial so it can't be moved. To remove the lock simply hold the knob in for another 15 seconds. The PolyScience person was very nice and noted that in the manual it is documented in section 5.9.....We didn't see it while we were searching. I was very impressed with the service. My husband was trying to set the temperature for the first time and he must have held the knob in longer that I have done in the past. Our pork loin chops turned out so very good.....currently trying some of D. Baldwin's recipes from his new book. The cabbage/onion/apple saute that went with the pork was perfect.

It finally started working again. Don't know what happened. I emailed Polyscience with the problem so we'll see what kind of response I get.

I have a new Polyscience Sous Vide immersion circulator 7306 model and it has been working well until now. When I depress and turn the 'select/set knob" to change temperature I get this messsage in the display "LLO". This message is not listed in the manual nor on their website. Anyone run across this? I have tried everything I can think of.

I seared them after the bath and then rested them.

Did these awhile back and you're right. Sorry got my notes mixed up with the rack. It was 36 hours, duh. I'm new to sous vide.

We are off this weekend and have never been to Bellingham. Looking for some seafood fair and good local beer. Any suggestions out there? Thanks

Next up were lamb shanks. One per bag and they were about 22 mm thick. Did them at 54.5 degrees C for 1:40 (1hr/40min). They were fork tender and still nice and pink.

Also tried lamb rack last night. It was 35 mm thick at the big end. Did it at 50 degrees C for 1:36. Seared in a very hot pan for 2 minutes a side then rested in foil for 5 minutes. It registered 122 degrees F on my Thermapen when it was ready to serve. It was quite rosy and I would have preferred it a little more done. I think I'll try 51 degrees C for the same time.

Sorry, here is the picture

Mis, I just tried my first brisket, a little over 2 lbs. First I used the Jaccard machine to tenderize it; then brined it in a solution of 40 g Kosher salt, 30 g sugar, 2 litres water; 1 Tablespoon coriander seed, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 2 sprigs fresh thyme, 2 bay leaves for 6 hours. Cooked it at 57.2 degrees C for 72 hours. Here is picture and it was fork tender.

I have two lovely lamb shanks that I want to sous vide but haven't been able to find a time/temp recommendation for shanks. I'm thinking 134 degrees F for 36 hours. Anyone tried shanks?

This is a very good reference if you haven't seen it before.....there are instructions for cooking beef of various thicknesses to various degrees of doneness. http://amath.colorado.edu/~baldwind/sous-vide.html

PedroG Thanks for the alternatives to covering the bath with the provided lid. I'll have to experiment and also find a place in my small town that stocks that many ping pong balls

I'm surprised that storing coffee beans in a vacuum may be detrimental. I found this information at www.kindredcafe.com/basics.htm: "After roasting, coffee produces seven times its volume in inert gases, mainly carbon dioxide. As this gas is produced, it binds with and carries coffee oils (and coffee's fresh taste) into the air as aroma (aromatics). This CO2 envelope naturally protects the coffee from oxygen; its taste assassin, however, 90% of this gas is released within 3 days after roasting. After the gas is gone, oxygen readily penetrates and oxidizies the remaining oils on contact. It is at this moment that coffee develops its characteristic bitter taste. It takes five days for all the gas to escape naturally from whole roasted coffee beans. Grinding accelerates gas discharge to 3 hours - due to greater surface area. Brewing accelerates discharge to 15 minutes - heat accelerates the reaction. The taste of fresh roasted coffee cannot be preserved! The notion that packaging preserves freshness is false! Sufficient gas is produced by fresh roasted beans to explode conventional packaging, hence the popular use of degassing, metal canisters, vacuum bricks, and bags with one way valves. A bitter taste is the first sign that coffee has gone stale! The market is primarily supplied by companies using a centralized roasting infrastructure with distribution times that range from one week (at best) to two months (on average). " When I open the vacuum canister the coffee certain smells as fresh as the day I opened the Kicking Horse Coffee bag (which is packaged with a vent). I'll have to try freezing as is suggested and then compare with the vacuum canister coffee....next time I open a new bag.

jk1002, thanks for your help. The difference in positions is about 3/4 of an inch. I'll run mine mostly with the lid off because the condensation on the power outlet was my biggest concern. Then for longer times, the hand made cover seems like a safer idea. cheers

I just got my Polyscience sous vide equipment but have a question about mounting the circulating pump on the plastic bath container. If I mount the pump so its side bolts rest on top of the cover of the bath then the attachment screw at the back has only part of the rim to latch onto. In addition, it is hard to get the lid off the insert food. First Picture. When I operate the equipment like this there is a large amount of steam that comes up and condenses on the front of the circulator as well as on the back near the power plug. If I mount it underneath, see next picture, then I have a firm place for the screw to latch onto the bath but the circulator seems lower yet near the water and it is hard to get the lid to slide out. Iam I missing something or should I just operate the thing with the lid off......does that cause too much temperature fluctuation? Help!

I use the vaccum canister than came with my foodsaver. They are amazing at keeping the coffee fresh. You can buy extra canisters also.

Heidi, I have also used our young merlot vine leaves. Blanched in salted water and then I put them in brine in a canning jar....my freezer is full. I think I got the recipe from the internet. They are lovely...not tough like the ones you can buy. I stuffed them in Greek style: rice and lamb.

Thomas Keller, in "Under Pressure" says he uses an all purpose 0.003 inch thick bag that is rated for use with food products and safe at boiling temperatures, 212 degrees F. I checked various websites to try and find the thickness of Food Saver Bags but could not find a reference to the thickness.

Read Taubes. If you can refute the substance of his points, I'd love to know about it... I consider anyone who hasn't read that book to be completely uninformed as to the current state of nutritional science, and yes that includes cardiologists, professional nutritionists, etc. It is at least as essential a read for foodies as anything by Pollan (who blurbed it prominently, by the way). Here's the opinion of a well known obesity researcher: http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/bray-review-of-gcbc.pdf

I lost 15 pounds eating a balanced diet with exercise. How come athletes who eat a higher carbohydrate diet aren't all fat? What's up with that??

Any diet that provides less energy than you use will result in weight loss. It really is a matter of energy balance (energy-in less than energy-out) rather than avoiding certain foods. Pick a way of eating that provides you with satiety (lower glycemic index foods will help http://www.glycemicindex.com); that you can maintain and that is reasonably balanced in terms of nutrients (take a multivitamin to be sure). Add in some physical activity for an extra edge in the "energy out" equation.

I have my Cadco on order, can't wait for it to arrive from a supplier in Toronto, thanks andiesenji for the information. I like it because it runs on 120 volt so no need for electrical work before I can fire it up.

I asked a friend who has been a tree fruit farmer for years here in the Okanagan....he said that you can't tell just by looking at the peach but he noted that free stones are usually ripe later in the peach season. He also said that they don't travel well after picking so you don't see many in the grocery store....much of them go for juice. He thought your best bet for acquiring free stones is at a farmers market.

So, Melissa, tell us how much you made of everything and whether you were in the "hockey rink" of what they ate.