OliverB

I never scaled out my curing mix, I go with Ruhlman's instructions of basically making sure I cover the whole thing and rub it in. The 1/4 cup of mix always is plenty. Since it's bacon, and will be in the fridge (where the pork belly could reside just fine for 5-7 days w/o any cure) you're really not in much danger here IMO. I do test if it gets hard, if not it stays an other day, as R mentions. Then I usually rinse it and put it on a plate in the fridge for at least a couple hours, if not an other day, then in the smoker at about 200-250 degree until internal temp is reached - no matter how long that takes. Then out it comes, and some nice thick slices are eaten right away with a piece of bread, the rest cools and then gets used as bacon would Personally I think the absolute exact amounts of cure are really important with things you want to hand and dry for long times, but for bacon I almost see it more as a long brine for seasoning. I do cut it it into 4 pieces of so once done and vacseal and freeze them. Your marshmallow fat, you might just have caramelized things, I think 350 is a bit high for cooking the bacon, I'd go with 250 next time and wait until it's at temperature. You more or less roasted it. Still tasty though, I'd guess! (I'm gonna get a piece of bacon made of porkbelly from Berkshire pig finished with nuts, supposedly has a very different flavor, I'm looking forward to tasting it!)

Unless they have some antiquated inventory system I can't imagine they'll send out new units to fill too many orders for refurbished machines, any smart modern system would simply say out of stock once the lot of units is gone. Of course there's no real definition of refurbished, it could be a machine that was used once and returned, cleaned, tested and repackaged, it could be a machine where some electronic burned out and got replaced, could be a brand new unit where they used the motor of an otherwise broken returned machine, who knows. In any case I'm sure they would apply a new serial number, otherwise they might end up with two customers out there having registered the same unit. It might even be a legal requirement to give a new serial number. That aside, a refurbished unit has to look brand new as far as I know, at least I've never seen one sold that didn't. Damaged units (scratches, cracks, etc) can be sold too as long as they're safe, but they'd not be refurbished, they'd be slightly damaged/show signs of use but carry full warranty as well. Similar to open box items at Best Buy etc, somebody returned it, they checked if it works and pack it somehow (in a bag, taped into the old box, etc) at a discount. But really refurbished is just as fine as brand new, doesn't mean you have to scrape dried sauce out and wipe off finger prints. It's just smart inhouse recycling of returned parts. That they offer a longer than usual warranty is interesting and somewhat odd, if I'd have bought a new unit I'd request the same warranty, but other than that there should be no difference between a fresh of the line machine and one that was repaired or built with cannibalized parts. But a company that would accept more orders for refurb units than they have, and then has to send out new units to fill orders would probably not be around for long. If they can't manage simple inventory issues like that, I'd not trust them much further than I could throw such a blender Now I'm looking forward to some recipes here! I'm most likely gonna get me a VitaMix later this month and am especially interested in soups, savory juices, making flour, things like that. Happy blending!

I use them at art supply stores (40% off an item can be quite a lot of savings) but never at the grocery store. The ones I see are for crap I'd never buy, and even if, I have no intention of keeping track of these things and their expiration date so I can save 50 cent. I do use the safeway card, couldn't care less if they track what I buy (and do get the occasional free sandwich or $10 off). If they track it with my safeway card or with my credit card, what's the difference? it's not like I'm stocking up on illegal weapons or drugs or anything like that, at least not at Safeway, LOL. (I actually like advertisement targeted to me. Ads are a necessity, I'd rather see some I find interesting, than some I could not care less for) Costco is nice, they send out the coupon book which I immediately throw away, but once there they have all the coupons at the register and swipe them anyway :-) But the piles of ads and coupons in the mail and the paper go immediately into the recycling, I wish I could turn that flood of paper off.

never thought about using this to get salt or anything in, but I use my tool on leaner cuts and it works very well. I read somewhere (here? I think?) that even places like Ruth Chris run their meats through a machine that does this. I've never been at a steak house, but maybe somebody here worked there and can shine some light? I'd not have used it on that fine cut above, but thanks for experimenting for us One concern seems to be that you push any possible surface contamination into the meat, and if you cook it slow and to rare or med rare, you might create a heavenly edible petri dish that might make you quite sick. That has not happened to me (and I'm certainly not Mr Clean in the kitchen, or anywhere else) but it seems to make sense.

glad they figured out what was going on! It might be a good idea to put a sticker or even print on the boxes TO BE OPENED BY END CUSTOMER ONLY in the future. Still odd, don't they unpack and then shelve things? Would be obvious that there's not a pile of kitchen manuals in the box. Hopefully the ones that only got the manual will now be set up with the rest of the set. I guess some people also only got the books, but not the manual, that would then probably be the rest of those shipments. What a mess, but in a way understandable, as it was not all that clearly marked on the box. The price should have given them pause, but there are books with outrageous prices and who knows if the packers even look at that stuff.

A bag of Cheetos might feed some village somewhere, but that's not the issue here, nor do I care in this case. The school serves Pizza, chicken fingers, burritos with who knows what in them, and similar garbage (or college food if you will). Of course my 7 year old would love that junk! He'd be happy with a bowl of chips and a can of root beer, maybe a candy as dessert. But it's a no go for me, no matter how cheap. I'm lucky to live in a relatively wealthy town and in a great school district, but the food they offer is terrible. Yes, there are fruits and salads, but show me a 7 year old that would pick that over some fried food or a pizza. Certainly not mine, despite of what he knows about food. Heck, I used to eat a bag of gummy bears for lunch in college at times. If the school would manage to offer some good quality and tasty AND kid friendly food, I'd be more than happy to pay 2.50 or even $6, as I think it would be a good experience for the kids to walk to a counter and select among some tasty and healthy things, but that's just not the case here, and I can't imagine it's the case in less affluent areas of the country. (Note: I'm not among the rich here, not by a far shot). While I agree that it's certainly not my business if some parent wants to "feed" their kids on junk food and snickers, the idea to forbid me to make a nice lunch for my kids is simply not flying with me. While the bbq on the parking lot was a joke, I would see that I am there at lunch time each day and my boy comes out for a picknick, I would NOT allow him or myself to be locked into the junk they serve there. Sure, the kids would be delighted if Ronald McDonald would be catering (hey, there's even some crap from China in the bag!) but it's not right and for a school to impose on the parents what the kids eat is outrageous. And certainly not comparable to school uniforms, clear don't-bring-your-gun-to-school book bags or any other behavioral restrictions a school imposes. And yes, allergies can be severe, one of my boys friends is so allergic to peanuts that I don't invite him over, since I have no clue where my 3 year old might have dropped some peanut. And the parents know this and are perfectly fine with it. But that a whole school can't have peanut because of one or two kids is still overkill IMO. They don't rip out certain blooming trees some other kid might be allergic to either. Luckily my kids are not allergic to anything so far, and I totally understand the concerns of parents that have to deal with this, and the lunch room is a crazy turbulence of wild cats feeding, but there are many schools that deal with these things in smart ways, supervising those children with known allergies, offering "allergen free" tables where they sit with their friends. I'm just allergic to being told what to do in every instance of my family's life. Of course the constant budget cuts schools have rained down on them probably make stupid things like this a necessity, sad as it is. As for the mom that gave up "her fight" - sorry, but that's the wrong approach. What's next, a Porsche for the 16th birthday? It's not a fight, it's setting family rules that make sense. Eat it or have an apple or banana, but we won't have chips for lunch or dinner. Well, we sometimes have chips, but you know what I mean. Anyway, just my take on this silly thing, nobody has to agree, aside of my kids,

Once it's wrapped in foil it won't loose much moisture, if any. You could put some good bacon on top of course, but I'm not sure you'd want that bacon flavor to cover what I'd expect to be a very different pork flavor. An other way to make it could be in a covered roasting pan in the oven, nice and low. You could bed it on some onions and garlic cloves, maybe some carrot. I have no idea how lean it is, but maybe you can get some fat back, slice it and put it on top? Good quality fat should not add any overpowering flavor

bbq is a religion with many churches it seems, every one of them praying to the one and only correct god Personally I see low and slow as bbq, and I might or might not add smoke, but the lid stays closed. I don't really like smoked chicken for example, I'm happy with the smoky flavor I get from the lump charcoal (which I think it the only one you should use, really). I use my Big Green Egg for that kind of cooking. It's not cheap, but I use it so often, sometimes every day, that the investment was well worth it to me, and it'll last a lifetime (or will be fixed/replaced under it's lifetime warranty). For grilling I use my weber, it's a bit easier to have a two zone fire in it and I love it just as well. And here the lid stays open safe for some odd happenings where I want to keep the heat in a bit. But that's rare. I also used it for smoking before I had the bge, it works fine, but you can't really walk away. Grab your favorite drink, a book or a couple magazines and watch the temperature. Easy to adjust, but you will have to adjust it. Not so with the BGE, a set it and forget it kind of thing. Of course, it seems that once you head South and ask around, not even they guys in the next town (or next door) know how to do it right AND use the wrong meat! I never get that stubbornly set on anything, and as long as it tastes good, it doesn't really matter what you call it, does it? I'm surprised how expensive the bullet is in AU! They cost around $300 here. Nobody makes something like this in AU? From what I read, it works very well, I almost bought one, but the versatility of the BGE sold me (from low and slow to 650+ degree, from smoker to pizza oven) I love to cook on fire, if I had the cash and space I'd build a medieval kitchen somewhere, and a couple of the contraptions from the 7 fires book! I will get a fire pit with cooking ability in the near future and I might build a brick oven as I have a pile of bricks just sitting around.

I'd probably just rub it with s&p and then put it in my Big Green Egg at about 250-300F, add wood for smoke early on and then let it finish. I'd be trying to not overpower it's flavor with intense rubs or sauces, or too much smoke. Since it's wild, it's probably not very fatty, and might benefit from an oven finish or at least wrapping it in foil half way through?

check your bookstore or library or poke around on Amazon. There are quite some slow cooker books out there that have very nice recipes, not a one using any canned campbell or other such things in them. I recently made a corned beef in mine, worked like a charm. Also make beans in it. check out a couple books called Not your mother's slow cooker or something like that, they're full of nice recipes. I don't use mine often enough actually, every time I do I'm quite happy that I prepped dinner somewhere after lunch and could go run errands, drive the kids around to activities, and come home to a pretty much ready dinner.

haha, if our school would have the nerve to tell me what my kids are going to eat (and charge me for it) I'd just set up a bbq and/or my wok burner in the parking lot and cook things right there! My boy loves nothing more than a thermos with heated up left overs from the night before, or a nice sandwich, whereas the school sells the usual crap. There's no real full kitchen on site as far as I know. It's enough that they forbid peanut butter! Sorry to those kids and parents of kids with allergies, but that's really not my problem, and to ban something to all 500+ students to protect a small handful of kids is already overstepping things IMO. Not a big deal since my kids aren't really into peanut butter, but if they were, that's what they'd get. Sue me, LOL. The kids with allergies know quite well not to share a PB&J sandwich, and if they are extremely allergic to something the school is aware as well and can provide an allergen free food only table for those kids. And I'm sure their friends would be happy to sit there with them and eat something else because they're friends and the parents know of the allergy and know each other. Or so one would hope. Of course, parents that send in a bag of cheetos and a soda should probably have to talk to social services and get their head examined, see if something's in there. That's just outrageous.

any of the Dizzy Pig pork rubs are really good, I use those often. A different thing is to use Tamarind paste as the base for a marinade. Sometimes with curry, sometimes just as is, with some s&p. You might have to add some water, as the paste tends to be very thick. Has a delicious sour taste and turns everything very dark mahogany. I use it on chicken as well.

Go and get some Lambic ale next time, works very well and is sold in single bottles. Trader Joe's, probably Whole Food and definitely a good booze store like BevMo has it. Many come with a cork and wire cage like a bottle of champagne. I made that years ago and it was very tasty. If I recall correctly, the beer was more on the sour side, made a great broth. I've been craving mussels lately (lol, typed muscles first, which I'm craving too, but can't find in any store!) and might just have to make this dish again, I think the kids are old enough so they would eat it now.

Ah, every time this comes up I'm ready to pull out my wallet :-) I have an old Hammilton Beach with lots of different speed buttons, works quite well for what I do with it, which is soups. I am always intrigued by the idea of making soup right in the blender with one of the power tools mentioned here, I'm partial to the vitamix, as I really don't like those foil buttons, I want physical buttons that move, that I can turn. But that's really just a silly preference. I just saw that Costco in Concord CA will have the vitamix people back end of this month, I might just have to go and get one. I'm trying to start a healthier living thing this week, and while I don't care much for sweet things, the idea that I can whip up a veggie juice or even a nice hot soup with fresh stuff from the market, w/o making much of the kitchen dirty, it always intrigues me. But the OP is looking for a bar blender it seems, and you'd probably not make a spring garlic and onion soup in that one, so you'd at least need a 2nd jar. But IMO this might be better than getting a bar only blender, at least you can use a regular vitamix in the kitchen AND in the bar just fine, a bar only machine might not work as well? As a side note, does anybody have the extra jar for grinding nuts and grains? Does it work better than the regular jar? The idea of making my own flower appeals to me, and considering how expensive a little grain mill is, this might be a cheaper solution. If you decide for a Vitamix or a Blendtech you will have a machine that will pretty much work for ever, I'm sure you'll be happy with either. Look at the models, BT is a bit more 'digital' with those foil buttons and set programs, VM is a bit more on the analog side, which I prefer (but could never explain you why either, LOL)

more like getting hosed by one! Amazing books, I've only read in the first volume so far, so much interesting info, I love all the history, so neat to have it all in one place! Can't wait to dive into the other volumes!

butane? I doubt that? But I've been looking at this machine and the penguin one for a while. I don't like water, but bubbly water is fine, and going through all these throw away bottles is a waste. I like the SStream because you can see what happens, more fun for the kids. good to read the experiences here, I might just have to go and get one soon! did you ever have to replace a bottle, break one, have one explode after long time use?

who'd have expected all this added drama to the tension and waiting! This is really weird, some sick late April's fool joke? Are there sets w/o kitchen manual on ebay already? Hidden camera in the bushes? That Amazon.ca charged full price is just ridiculous, there's something seriously wrong here. I sure hope that you guys get your books or at least a SUBSTANTIAL discount from Amazon. They can't ship you just one out of 6 books at full price, that's fraud. And since they are packaged in one box to be shipped as is, there's no way this was a packaging or clerical error in any way. What, here's your Ferrari steering wheel, sorry, that's all we had to ship? Very weird, good luck to all that are still waiting!

this makes no sense what so ever, none at all. How much were you charged? It's impossible to just order the manual, it does not have a price! I'd get on their case by phone, and really quick and really hard, something very wrong is happening here. Don't let the first (or second) level dodo send you away, escalate until you reach a supervisor that can help. This is just ridiculous. I can't imagine somebody stealing the main part, but if the manual came in an Amazon smiling box, somebody really unpacked things and repackaged them. This is not right. It's actually more like ordering a TV and only getting the remote in a box.... Do update us on what's going on, but this is the craziest thing I've ever heard happening at Amazon. So sorry for both of you, hopefully it doesn't happen to more! But Amazon should have fire breathing down some warehouse manager's back by now, this is not a case for lame excuses, not at all.

Oh, Kerry, that pastrami looks great, how long did you smoke it for, and at what temp? I'd probably just have finished it in the egg at about 200 degree, haven't really thought about the option to SV something after smoking, might have to try that too. Maybe with some fish? Hmmm..

Made a nice Angus beef brisket from Trader Joe's this weekend, only my 2nd attempt at this cut. Last time I hit a plateau for over 2hrs and had to finally take it off a bit before time, as it was after 8pm and kids were starving. Still was tasty, but this one turned out much better. Used a Dizzy Pig rub (love all their rubs, really no reason to mess around with my own) and it came up to temp a lot faster. Eventually wrapped it in foil and after an other hour or so took it out and into a small cooler to keep it warm. Came out delicious! Tender, juicy, wonderful bark. We ate some of it last night on seeded baguette with some cheese - sort of a play on Philly Cheese Steak, also wonderful, and there's some more of it in the fridge. Made 6 quail earlier this week too, and a whole chicken and 4 partridge are waiting in the freezer. Trying to use up some of the odd things, before my half lamb shows up ;-)

sorry cookman that this hapened to you! That really makes no sense! What price did they charge you? that volume isn't even available all by itself, not does it make any sense to sell it separate! How would they come up with a price? You can't even get at it, without opening the factory packaging, which is intended as shipping box to your door. I'd get on their case some more.

wow, already the stuff of nightmares! Hopefully it'll arrive all ok! As for the kitchen manual separate, that is really really strange and makes no sense. The whole thing comes from China packed in one box, as far as I can tell. At least the box has a big sticker on the side about what's in it (and how much it costs, not so great if you get it delivered while at work....) and once you start unpacking you get the kitchen manual. I can only imagine that maybe somebody dropped a couple boxes and Amazon (or the shipper) is trying to salvage a manual here, a set of books there? Otherwise I don't understand this at all. Maybe it has to do with customs, that they unpack it? As it is, it's like ordering a TV and getting the remote in a separate shipment, I'd call them again to find out. The way I got mine, if you unpack the kitchen manual the rest of the books will have room to bounce around in the box, and the inner box that holds the books is not good enough for shipping IMO, as it's missing all the protective packaging. Very strange.

yeah, it arrived! After 7:30pm, latest UPS deliver I've ever gotten, usually they get here before lunch, but it made it! I was almost too tired to open it, but around 10pm I just had to take a peek, make sure everything is ok, and it is! Insane packaging, which I'll keep around for a while. Did not have time to read more than the introduction and page around in book 1 for a bit, but this afteroon I'll be diving right in :-) It's as gorgeous as I expected, truly a milestone in culinary books, it's fun to have been following it's creation! Well done, thank you Nathan and friends!

PS: doesn't matter where the damage occurred, the return an item has several options to choose from. Always worth a try, saved me a lot of grief and money over the years.

contact Amazon, I've gotten discounts on several books that were damaged but not currently available to replace. One book has a list price of $250 and I ended up getting it for $75 (I think Amazon price was around 125 or so). Asking is free, just go to their contact page and send them an e-mail that this very expensive set of books was damaged, see what they say. Note that you'd prefer a replacement, but would be willing to accept a good discount offer. If they think they can get a replacement to you, returning the damaged book is free, you just have to put it back in it's packaging (or the boxes of the replacement, if you already discarded the box). Return window is 30 days, which can be extended via communication if a replacement takes longer. You just print a return label form a provided link and bring the box to any UPS store. Pretty easy and painless. Just go to your orders listing and click on the "return an item" option, it'll walk you through the rest. Or go the contact us way, where I'd suggest an e-mail instead of a call. They are really good at handling problems like this. And yes, it is a museum piece :-)