howsmatt

I don't have a space yet so I can't be sure how much it will cost to get the vent outside etc. Perhaps a better question to start is... If I don't have a fryer can I just get a hood or do I need a fire suppression system for a grill or other items? If I don't need one then a used autofry would be cheaper than a suppression system and fryer.

Can anyone help me figure out the cost comparison between getting a regular hood and ventless fryer OR getting a hood with fire suppression system (installed) and a regular fryer. Any advice is also welcome.

ya, that website was the only one I found. My source tells me that the item is usually very expensive, so I'm not sure that is what I'm looking for. It is the secret ingredient in a 100 year old recipe I was given-- sorry can't say more about this. Thanks for your help, I'm still looking. Matt

Does anyone know where I can find vanilla butter powder? I am in Montreal Quebec if anyone knows of any Canadian distributors. Thanks.

Note that the smaller the vessel the lower the need for circulation. The pot has excellent insulation properties. Astounding actually. ← I started my SV cooking with a similar device. The problem is exactly what you stated, too much insulation-therefore harder for the PID to adjust quickly and lose temp when it overshoots. I suspect that like me you will soon want to do a few more items and certainly larger ones. If you have to wait 48 hours for short ribs, may as well cook 2 batches and freeze one for later. I don't think you could even fit one of the american cut short ribs that I buy. I went out and bought this http://www.blackanddeckerappliances.com/product-304.html Cost $30 Can at walmart (although I'm sure your wife won't like walmart shopping either). The rice cooker works great with the PID settings. I also bought an 18 quart cooker which is good too but obviously slower up and down in temp. Best of luck.

I would test drive expensive motorcycles and cars on my way to testing the world's finest restaurants. I would dictate my findings to someone who would write the article for me.

I taught high school before moving on to working in a kitchen. I'm currently trying to open my own place. If you want the kids to have fun and remember you, make sure you get your points accross with colourful stories. Make it gross or exciting or have it sound like Kitchen nightmares or something. On the positive side (which some stories should illustrate) you could point out all the options availble to those who work in food. How it has become popular/famous and that this will open many new doors in the future. How food is love and everyone has great memories of family food and reactions to smells. (again bring in something that smells great to prove your point here). Talk about how satisfying it can be to work and create art with your hands. Mention how rich some restauranteurs and chefs have become. Talk about El Bulli and places like that. Show off some high tech food stuff. Talk about the environment and its destruction due to food choices and how how organic and local choices can save the world. Talk about nutrition and how better understanding food is important for health both short and long term. High school kids don't need to know that working in a kitchen is another low paying 9-5 option, they can figure that out later. I would focus on what a kid with vision and drive just might accomplish in this world. I could obviously go on (guess I haven't lost all my tecahing skills) but the key will be bring in something to touch feel smell. Bring stories that shock and excite. Don't preach or stand still and monotone. I'm sure you'll do great.

"how's that tasting" suggests you are eating cow's tongue and that it might be tasting you. I would stick with non verbal, "to your liking" or "anything else I may offer you" or something like that.

Souvlaki using lamb shoulder cooked 131 for 48 hours then seared is amazing (oregano and mint before searing). Short rib is great but really requires the right sauce. Chicken breast at 141 then seared is really tender and anyone can immediately appreciate the difference. Fish is good but I've found that every fish needs a different temp. and if you're over (as always with fish) it's no good--perhaps not the best choice for a first try. Good luck and welcome. As for the burgers: You can get a nice compressed burger with no filler cooked medium. The downside is that it seemed the burger released a lot of flavour into the liquid. Perhaps a panada would be required. Still not sure I can get results better than classic cooking. Matt

The menu is coming together but I could still use some help. 1. I will be doing an open face steak sandwich. It will have a nice 7 oz. piece of steak. I considered the usual cheddar cheese and chipotle mayo type stuff. I'm trying to think of something a bit more memorable and interesting (yet still flavour and cost as very important) 2. If I can find a purveyor of tuna tails I might do a tataki sandwich. Any thoughts on a good filler (and other condiments-veg etc.) that will still allow the tuna flavour to come through. 3. I would like a trio of bugers out of the following: black bean, turkey, chicken, beef, crab/shrimp, lamb. Which would you choose?

I have a sous vide magic setup with a 15 cup rice cooker and 18 quart rotisserie oven. I could use 4 of these setups for the price of one industrial version but some items I would like to cook are big (think 16 English cut short ribs) and might not fit in the rotisserie (again I'll have to see). I also want to make sure there is sufficient space for water to move around the food--at home I'm not too worried but in a restaurant I don't want problems with food inspectors. I did the brisket (not corned) for 40 hours. Still not great. My understanding is that a burger heated to 131 within 4 hours (realistically 1-2 hours for safety) should be safe. Searing for flavour is important but shouldn't be required from a bacteria standpoint. My curiosity here would be focused on how long and longer cooking times might affect the texture. Guess it's time for more research.

What is the maximum size pot I could use with an immersion circulator? It would be for a restaurant so getting up to temp time is not important--I just need to keep it steady all day/night. Obviously the more prep I can do at once the better. Thanks again. BTW the xanthan did a great job with the sauce. Matt

Did pork tenderloin at 131 then seared. It was no more pink than I normally cook it. Personally I wouldn't go above this temp-although I am more adventurous than some. Good result-quite juicy. Needs flavour in the bag though, sauce on top isn't enough. Next time I will add fat and jalapeno pepper jelly to the bag. N.B. Jalapeno pepper jelly on a pork roast (done in my little rotisserie) is awesome, sweet, spicy, sticky gooey, with fatty pork...MMMmmmmm. Has anyone tried a turkey, chicken or regular burger with SV? Matt

Did a brisket. My usual 40 or so hours at 131. Good-not great. Lamb shoulder and chuck steak still tops. The lamb I put into wonton wrappers after searing with mint and oregano. Pan fry the wrappers which are Folded like a tortellini. Filled with tzatziki, tomato, purple onion and cucumber. This is a big hit-crunchy, savory, fresh. If I sear a piece of meat on all sides what's the lowest temperature I can safely cook it for 40 hours or so? Is it still 131 (aka over 127.5)? I would like the beef to be a little more rare.

Thanks guys. I was not referring to scum but to the fact that the sauce (which I did not dilute much) once it got cold turned into jelly. Obviously I could dilute but the flavour was good and fast to make. I didn't think about xanthan, that might be a great double purpose item. Which corolase would you suggest for sauce made from poultry or beef? "The only way to not have this fat is to trim it out, preferably before cooking. If you can get your hands on some Activa, you could trim out most of the hard pockets of fat and re-bind the meat before cooking. I've done this with a chuckeye roast." Sadly that's what I figured, but sometimes you guys have answers out of left field. I really like chuck eye for a potentially super cheap steak frite. I'll have to see how much the Activa would add to the cost per plate. Do you use the powder or liquid?

More results: Short rib 24 vs. 48 hours. The 24 hour ribs were good, tender but still with resistance similar to a NY or rib steak. The 48 hour ribs were much better and the texture was between a NY and a filet. Still working on a good sauce though. Think I need something mexican-perhaps chipotle and something. Needs spice though. NOW--I like the texture of 48 chuck or short rib at 131, but I don't like the fat. Could I cook them at 131 for 40 hours then a few hours at a fat melting temp and keep the texture I got from the gelatin formation? What is the lowest temp to melt the majority of the fat in tough beef cuts? Thanks.

I think the key to inexpensive good food is to shop for it daily/weekly. If you are not trapped by a menu you can save a great deal of money on veggies, fruit and sides by only buying what is on sale. Even the meat market goes up and down--braised meats are more expensive in the winter--opposite for tender cuts.

To start off, once again THANKS. What a great place this is. I haven't opened and I already have 2 customers. The circulators allow me to cook very cheap items and have them come out better than classic braised-particularly in the texture and repeatability departments. At my current restaurant we make a great short rib, but every 4th or 5th batch someone doesn't do something right and it comes out flat. The turkey dish for example will cost me around $2, only $1-1.25 for the turkey portion. I can also make a chuck steak for a steak frite for $2, that is mignon tender. It also allows me to trust the other cooks I will need one day. I will use the circulator bath to keep my meats at the temps I want, therefore no need to use a burner to reheat just sear and serve. The combi oven is definitely a good idea-I wish I had more first hand knowledge. I will certainly look into it though. I'm looking at about 32-40 seats.

I have no equipment, because I have no kitchen yet. I'm creating a first draft of my menu so that I can have my accountant examine costs and so I can start testing the recipes (I plan to take some time for this). That being said it is most likely I will have the following: 6 burner with convection oven. Fryer Maybe an electric grill (not flat top) or Bar-b-q outside just to grill stuff quickly for flavour 2-3 immersion circulator setups Yesterday I found out that even without a fryer I would need a commercial hood--even with a 4 burner residential stove--Because it is based on seats not equipment. So if I have to pay 6-10k for a hood, may as well have a fryer.

OK, just to avoid confusion, I will give an example of the full description of one of my items. For the "hot turkey sandwich"---it will be turkey thigh braised sous vide for 18 hours, green peppercorn sauce, pea and lima bean puree with mint (perhaps another herb classic to thanksgiving-but I know this works) and dried cranberries soaked in booze (haven't figured this one out yet). So no need to mention I need to "spice it up". But thanks none the less, it is important. NOW... I will serve breakfast, but probably not all day. In fact I'm worried about this. I don't want to be a breakfast place that is open until 3. My best dishes are really hot lunch items like the one above. I want to be a lunch place open until 6 that also serves a good breakfast for those who come by. The ideal would be to have a few diners for breakfast and lots of coffee-muffin take out. A jammed lunch and a few snacks at 3-5pm. Perhaps on the weekends I would do all day breakfast. I have a grilled cheese on the menu. I've actually been thiking about soups that might go well with it. I agree, good potatoes are key. I'm not sure yet if I will have a fryer. I want one but with all the safety stuff it may crush my tight budget. On the other hand good fries are filling-good and make a lot of money. thanks again all. Matt

As I metioned above, these are simplified descriptions. It would obviously be an onion soup au gratin with a slight twist. The thing about doing zucchini-pear soup or beet and corn with tonka beans or whatever is that it doesn't fit my mission statement. I feel it's important to have this identifiable trait because there are TONS of restaurants in Montreal in the area that I'm looking at that do this type of food already. I'm also hoping to come in at a very resonable price point. As for flavour that's the one thing I'm confident I have covered. Thanks to all already for the ideas. I had thought bar-b-q of course, but not so much picnic, nice idea. Nice drinks will be great-just hope I can get a license.

I'm in the early stages of opening my first restaurant. I'm working out the menu so that I can cost it. My place will be breakfast and especially lunch. The mission statement of my food is "the loving comfort food your mom would make for you if she attended cordon bleu." Basically I want reasonably priced items that are homey but a little done-up and modernized-creativity added. I also need things that can be assembled resonably quickly to suit a lunch rush. Here are some of the things I have already: - chicken pot pie - short rib -steak frite -lasagna - gnocchi - hot turkey sandwich - tuna salad sandwich - grilled chicken sandwich - pork tenderloin sandwich -smores -caesar salad -potato salad -onion soup -kettle corn -burger (or perhaps a trio with beef-turkey-black bean) Although the descriptions above are simple, I will be making adjustments to the classic versions. My point is... What foods did you have as a kid that might be added to such a list? Also, I'm having a real problem coming up with summer items that are comfort food.

Spread souffle batter all over the bathroom.

I would put AC in the kitchen. No reason to crank it up-just turn it on when it's hot outside and keep people comfortable.

Without a doubt keep nagging. Minimally I strongly suggest only working with good-great chefs in good-great kitchens, especially if you don't need the money. In 12 months we have hired and fired at least 15 cooks. For the most part they are no good because they learned the wrong things and now can't be re-taught. My other suggestion--when a chef asks you what you are good at it's better to say "nothing, but I'm ready to learn" than "everything" and then not cook to his/her liking. Best of luck.