OliverB

is there something like a savory smoothie, or would that be called a cold soup? I don't have a sweet tooth, I might have had two smoothies in my life. I'm also not big on fruit, unless I bbq them or cook them in a pan with butter (yumm!). But I could imagine there are recipes that include some vinegar, or curry powder, or hot sauce, maybe even cheese? Curious....

I'm sure it could be awesome (and it better be expensive! If I find I could have gotten an ipad AND the book on it for the same price as the book I'll have to pack my knives and kitchen torch and make a trip up North! ) but Alinea is one single book with not that many (if any?) cross references, not what MC seems to be, a gigantic encyclopedia. Maybe it's just me, but I'd be way more tempted to click on a link and get lost for hours on an ipad, than getting up and getting the other book(s) referenced if I'm just reading a recipe or chapter. Ipads are very neat, I'd just wish they support all web applications and sites (flash) instead of fighting some nerdy sandbox brawl (with Adobe). Or do they support flash now? I don't even like flash websites, but I'd like my computer even less (a mac) if I could not see a site I want to visit. Of course, that's an other discussion for a different forum. I just don't have use for one, I'm almost always close to this laptop here, I'd just have to carry two things around. It would be interesting to have MC virtual, if there are also videos and demos included. Then I would probably consider getting a softcopy of it as well. Actually, a single use code to an online version would be nice to get with the book!

while I don't have it yet, I'm not sure it would work well on the computer or ipad, I think it would be way too easy to get completely lost by following all the links and cross references, wondering 4hr later what it was you were gonna cook. At least that's what often happens to me on wikipedia, where I'm sometimes not quite sure what it was I looked up to begin with

I have the Demi and love it. I was hesitant to go into SV cooking, did I really want to spend $1000 on cooking a steak by walking away from it, or should I maybe perfect my steak by hand cooking instead? (which I did :-) Prices came down and once the $199 deal was offered I jumped on it. A smaller machine, nice to look at, all in one package. Easy fits on the counter and can sit there for a couple days w/o getting in the way. Light and easy to store in the pantry when I don't need it. I was a bit concerned about the smaller size, but so far I found it plenty big for my family of 4. I would not have had use for a larger unit so far. (parties are either a huge bowl of pasta or a roast in wet winter or something from the bbq/smoker, so cooking SV for a party is not an issue for me) I have been completely convinced by the benefits of SV though, I can prep a piece of meat after lunch, drop it in the bath, and no matter when we come home from kid's errands or if my wife is a bit late from work, I can have a perfectly seared steak/chicken/pork on the plate in minutes! That's really the main advantage to me right now. No matter the kids running in circles around me, I'm prepping some side dish while the pan heats up, 30 sec on each side and a short rest on the cutting board is all I need for my meat. Of course, that the meat turns out fantastic doesn't hurt either. I'm just editing two posts to my blog that will revive that sleeping dog, just have to add some photos. So, the demi would definitely be worth it's full price to me, it's my most used "gadget" next to the sealer. Them fluctuates about 1.5 degree F once you put something in, then pretty much stabilizes quickly and stays in the +/-1 degree range, I can't imagine the SVS is more accurate. Temp is measured with a probe along the inside wall. Just make sure to fill it as full as you can w/o making it run over once you add your food. If I were concerned about size, thinking I need larger pots, I would follow Pedro's recommendation above, instead of getting the SVS. Largely for counter space and storage reasons, and the extra flexibility, you can practically cook SV in your sink with that setup. And it's cheaper than the SVS. I have a large kitchen, but not one of those show kitchens you find in newer houses, the Demi fits perfect and doesn't look out of place. Once the kids get older and start eating two steaks at a time, I'll get the SVM or what ever might exist then. Same if I should decide I "need" two units, though that has not happened so far. With a bit of planning you can easily make several things ahead of time and then warm them up at dinner time.

Lofty, interesting, thanks!

Food saver is enough for Sous Vide (you remove the air so things don't float, not to remove oxygen) but it's not super consistent and I would suspect it's less than 90%. My guess would be that if you want a real 100% vacuum you need to invest quite a bit more money than the machines discussed here, if I remember from science class (granted, a long time ago) that's very hard to achieve. But I also don't see why that would be necessary. From the video it seems that the new smaller machine is up to commercial standards of food packaging. How do these machines and the outcome adjust for where you live? At the ocean or 7000 feet up somewhere should make a difference in pressure on what's in the bag, or am I looking at this wrong?

Just got a reply from the Kahuna people: Thank you for contacting us. Both burners have the same burner element and regulator which produces 65,000 BTU's. The Portable Kahuna burner will take up to an 18 inch wok or a 30 qt cooking pot. While the Big Kahuna burner will take up to a 22 inch wok and a 36 qt cooking pot. Both burners adjust and are stored the same way. so aside of the frame work and parts on top it appears they are the same, in which case I'd decide for the 18 inch version, plenty big for my purpose. I'm still waiting to hear back from the turkey people and will post what they say.

one other question came to mind: some here use the kahuna which supposedly has some 65k btu, I think Chris A. said his has 50 or 55 and he never turns it up all the way, infenoo on the other hand now seems to have something close to 200BTU. Now, if I consider that all of these are running on your regular gas grill propane bottle, I'm confused. I don't know anything about gas burners, but that a bbq side burner brings 35k BTU and an other burner can bring 200BTU seems a bit outlandish to me. I can see that different nozzle designs and more or less openings and other such things make a difference, but can it be that much? A bbq probably has exactly what is needed to do a bit of side cooking, keeping a sauce warm, boiling corn, etc. No need for more heat. But can you really get that big difference out of different burner setups when you attach the same gas bottle with the same gas and pressure inside? And, how much heat/btu could we agree on being above enough for wok cooking? Chris A seems very happy with his, Chris H. the same with the Kahuna (do you turn it all the way up?) and I'm wondering if I should get a Kahuna or a turkey fryer that costs half or less and comes with a pot for the turkey and some other things to maybe make a big prawn cook out or something like that. Seems a nice extra option, and who knows, I might even fry a turkey (or something else) in it some day. Thanks for insight!

well, as I expected, I just got bumped into late April, Early May, but that's fine with me, I'd not mind to get the book on my birthday in May, I kind of prematurely ordered it for that occasion anyway Maybe I'll actually cook something from my other 250+ book in the mean time

Sweet Myrtle and Bitter Honey about the food of Sardinia is great, as is My Calabria about the food, well, made at the southern end of Italy. Both very regional with lots of fun stories. I'm surprised the Silver Spoon has not been mentioned here, supposedly one of the Italian classics since 1950? I don't own it, but was tempted just because it's supposedly such a classic. I'd probably also suggest something completely wrong here, Jamie Oliver's Italy, which I've looked at several times. Not written by an Italian, but based on a trip around Italy and all the recipes I've ever made from the books of his that I do own always turned out great. Probably not 100% authentic, but easy to repeat and great tasting, that's what I'd expect from this book. And his writing is usually pretty fun to read. Splendid Table is excellent as well. But I doubt you could have one book that covers all of Italy well, it seems like the cooking doesn't only differ from region to region, but from town and village to town and village, if not from street to street. Which is why it's so much fun to travel there :-) (on that note, if you can ever do so, go on a week or two week organized bike ride in Italy, you'll see so much more and get to taste all the great local food (and drink) of a compact area, I highly recommend that. Try to find an organization in Italy (we booked through Germany) as the ones that offer these things here in the US charge outlandish prices).

if you think you'll eat it within the next weeks, why not just vaseal chunks and put them in the fridge? They should be keeping a lot longer that way and you avoid the freeze dry effect. Or even cut into weekly ratios already sliced and vac sealed?

why do they have so many refurbished units? That seems odd. And longer warranty than on a perfectly fine new one? Of course, if it were a vitamix I'd probably have jumped on it, but I don't like those foil buttons (too many failed on me) and have no use for program settings, I like the analog turn-me-and-I-speed-up button, just a personal preference of course, one could argue for these foil things that they're easier to clean. Not that I need one, every time I get sucked into the blender thread I'm on the websites ready to buy, but then I realize that I use my perfectly fine blender maybe twice a year I actually want to need one, any excuse is good for a new cooking gadget (currently exploring outdoor wok burners - again) but I never crushed ice in my life (except on frozen lakes and ponds), don't make juices and generally prefer watery over blended soups (though my blender handles any soup I've ever thrown at it just fine). Just can't justify $500 (or 250 for that matter) for something I use so rarely. What do you all do with them? In particular, what that a good standard blender can't do? And makes it worth the price? I've sat in front of the "buy" button many times, but never got past that question. I'll probably end up with a vitamix down the road, if my current osterizer ever dies. (Actually my wife bought that in college or something like that.) But that aside, thanks for sharing the link! I got my Sous Vide Supreme Demi $100 off via a shared link here, shows you that this site can lead to savings, even if it mostly leads to a longer wish list on amazon

I only make sure on big tickets or if I buy lots of one thing on sale, Safeway is pretty good there, I don't shop often at Whole Food, mostly because they don't have everything else for the household and I like one stop shopping, but also do check on items I buy on sale. Same at Trader Joes. Sometimes they go and check, sometimes they just take my word and change it. For some reason I generally do not notice mistakes when they're in my favor though, don't know why

so it comes out like it was shrink wrapped? The meat and also cheeses are sealed tight all around I can't figure out how that can be done with even more than one sealing wire, since the items are of odd sizes. Is there a vacuum and shrink wrap machine out there? I guess there's also some kind of ultrasound sealing, like what you see with salami etc that's sliced and sealed tight all the way to the meat (I actually hate those), super tight and close to the product being packaged.

thanks! The one you link to on Amazon is the "portable" one, good for woks up to 18 inches. Certainly big enough for what I think I'll ever use, but it's hard to figure out tech specs for this one and compare it to the big one. Is the burner the same? Just a smaller/more portable stand? I'd be happy with that. I just sent them an e-mail, of course they're closed already on the East Coast. Edit to add: I'm also considering the Bayou Classic turkey fryer set, which costs less, comes with a pot and all kinds of inserts to do different things. They say it delivers about 55.000 BTU and I can't tell from the photos if a wok would fit on there w/o suffocating the fire or something? Curious if anybody here uses that setup. I would guess that the heat is plenty, especially since most here seem to never turn their kahuna all the way to full power. I'm interested in blacksmithing and glass blowing, but not on a cooking unit

Eastman Outdoors also offers a burner and wok set with an 18 inch wok. It seems to be a smaller burner too, but I'm not sure. Says it goes to 65k btu somewhere, though technical data is sparsely spread around the web on these. Would this smaller unit make sense, or would I hate myself for not getting the larger one? I doubt I'll ever need a 22 inch wok, nor do I have a clue where I'd even store this, maybe it'll make a great sled in winter? I'd probably even try to season and use it, but it's certainly beyond what I'll ever need. Makes me wonder, can a wok be too big for what I'm cooking? Meaning, would I burn a one person meal to crisps, or does the larger one simply allow me to cook for 10 if I have to, but also allows me to cook for one or two or four? I have two tanks sitting around from my old gas grill and am contemplating building a nice rollable table for my big green egg where I could see having a side burner built in as well - a jet engine side burner :-) Seems like the big kahuna by itself is not available but as a set you can find it in several places for about $180.

I'll probably get one of these eventually, but the food saver works fine enough for me right now, I so far had no need to seal any liquid. Of course, once MC arrives that (as so much) will most likely change but I'm curious now, seems these machines still seal in a bag, just better. How is commercial sealing of meats and cheeses done, where there's no "bag overhang" for lack of a better word. Like the corned beef from Trader Joe's (similar at safeway etc) where there's a chunk of meat plus marinade/sauce/brine vac sealed in plastic, but sealed just around the edge of the meat (or cheese bricks etc)? Not to take this off topic, but I'm curious how that's done. All that overhang of the bags sometimes gets in the way of 'just perfect' placement in my SV machine. By the way, Kodiak has a nice video on their site showing how this machine works. Though he only seales an already sealed piece of cheese

Funny, I was just about to start a "no shopping for a month" thing like we did here last year! I was gonna start March 1st, but life (and shopping) came in between. But as of today, I'll be using what's in my tiny side by side and my chest freezer in the garage. I won't shop for anything but fresh things like fruit, salad, bread. No condiments, sauces, canned things, frozen or fresh and to be frozen things (better stay away from costco) so the last thing that went in there is the octopus I got at the market yesterday. I think I'll turn the contents of my chest freezer upside down if I get around to it, there are things in there that are probably edging on two years, though all vac sealed and should be fine still. Today we'll finish the corned beef (Trader Joe's which turned out excellent) and Tue I'll start cooking something from the freezer and/or pantry!

I must say the spherified pea is so silly that I'd actually want to taste one! Take a sphere, work it for hours and then make a sphere. I do think it could be interesting in ways though, like the French Laundry carrot soup, where each spoons is the extract of at least one carrot. Intenify the pea-ness and sphere it. Could be interesting. While I've yet have to make a sphere, I have the chemicals and plan more on doing the unexpected like something that looks like a pea but tastes like bacon, goofing around in the kitchen basically.

If you keep poking, you'll loose some juice, but it's not like you're bleeding a live animal. I actually use one of those bbq thermometers on a wire with a small wireless sender and receiver unit. The probe goes in before the meat goes in the bbq and stays in it all the way trhough. Mine has a small display on the sender so I can see the internal temp right there, or on the remote receiver in the kitchen or where I may be. Doesn't work for the 100ft advertised but works well enough for distances I'm at. I often actually leave it in during resting too, just to see the temp change as a nerdy scientific observation on the side. I also have a digital probe that I use sometimes (not a thermapen though, find them too expensive) and I sometimes leave that in if something is in the frying pan, I just make sure the plastic part is hanging off to the side. (don't do that on a gas stove though, I think you'd melt it and create a terrible mess.) Mostly I think the loss of juices is remedied by the searing that locks in the juices. Or - probably more true, it should be put aside with that old wives tale Unless you poke 50 times to calculate some temp average, one little hole won't do anything bad to your meat. The not using a fork might make more sense, if you flip something often. If you flip it once, I doubt it makes a difference. Just as me using tongs does not squeeze the meat or the juices out.

I'd scramble them with butter or maybe a bit of truffle oil, sprinkle some parsley and/or chives on and eat with buttered toast. Maybe a touch of nutmeg or smoked paprika too. Haven't had one in decades though. jealous!

edge or the flat inside of my mixing bowl, or the cutting board/counter if dirty already. One handed only if someone is watching But usually I crank some nice hard rock or metal in the kitchen, so I'm left alone. Doesn't work as well as it used to though, now the kids come in with song requests! :laugh: The trick to use the shell halves to fish out the occasional piece of shell is one of the most useful kitchen tricks I've ever come across by the way, works like a magnet!

If technology is soul less, I guess the most soulful food then is a piece of meat held over a fire with a stick? I love that approach, but I'm just as happy using my SV machine which frees me up to do other things and even allows me a lot of flexibility with when we'll eat, something very useful with kids and different schedules. If my meat swims a bit longer than necessary, it really doesn't matter. As with in art, use any tool available to you, I'm sure the old masters (in art and cooking) would have done the same, had the tech existed. A lot of modern stuff seems more related to artful and unusual presentations, which I personally think is great, brings art (like painting and sculpting) into the kitchen and allows for some stunning delicious food display. Is it a bit gimmicky to make a sphere out of something? Sure, but so is the old thing of carving potatoes into little oval things (I forget the tech term) and a lot of other things. I'm looking forward to my books (Amazon still says they'll ship between yesterday and Monday, though I seriously doubt that). Mostly for learning and the photographic art on display. Will I get a chem lab setup? I don't know. I have the things to make spheres, never got around to play with them, and just got a little bag of meat glue, with no clue what to glue, but have to come up with something soon or it'll go bad. It's fun to play with food. To me it's as much fun to heat up a hot fire and cook something on it, roast some veg next to it and serve it on a wooden cutting board, eat with hands, as it's fun to style something up for the heck of it. What I actually see the most use for in my case, is that you can make things appear as something they are not (caviar with the spheres etc) and thus create fun taste surprises and toy with expectations. That's why I'd love to eat at Alinea some day, for the optical and taste surprises. For extreme high quality more "traditional" food I'd love to go back to the French Laundry some day. Once I stop getting a giggle attack when I think of the tip alone that I left there, lol It's funny to see what a "heated" debate this set of books is causing!

What an interesting turn of events here! I thought Ruhlman's article was one of low quality, it did not seem to me that he read much of the books. Granted, if he has to put out a "timely" article, it's impossible to read it all unless he had access to the online version or otherwise got his hands on it. (or is he sour about not getting a free copy?) But recently I'm wondering where he's heading, I follow him on Facebook and get a bit too much of advertisement for kitchen gadgets at times. And that's just something - IMO - a critical food writer should not be doing. It tastes too much of a George Forman grill or a "set it and forget it" late night infomercial. Just my opinion of course. And as far as I know he is not nor has he ever been a chef, does he really use that title? That would be very disappointing. And I remember him being here, why is he so sour about this site? I have not seen one single post in the areas I frequent that would have "had it in" for him in any which way, that's just silly. Why so insecure? Odd. I'll have to read what Alton had to say, but I agree with a post above, Alton is an entertainer. And he's quite good at what he does. But who knows what he actually knows, the show is scripted and written by a team and it lives though his quirkiness and odd camera angles (through the oven/fridge) and gimmicks like hands coming out of nowhere to deliver the next piece of equipment. He's in the end just the talking head. Very funny show, I enjoy watching it and learned interesting things, but his books are a layout nightmare and completely useless to me. Unless I want to show around a good example on how not to produce an easy to use book. Quite unfortunate actually, I was looking forward to them, but colored fonts in 5 sizes on colored pages are fine in pulp fiction, but out of place here. Well, to me. But then, in the end, I don't care what anybody thinks about the books except me, I'm hoping it's not all "order $5000 worth of new kitchen equipment" first, I hope - and believe - that I can use it just fine with my pretty well equipped kitchen. And I expect to learn a lot of interesting facts, and see some of the best food photography ever. Actually, if they'd put out a book with just the photos, I'd buy that too. All I've seen so far are stunning, setting new benchmarks for food photography.

thanks, was just curious. I thought it's mostly fat, hence my wondering if it might melt or render away.