kayb

Can I cook better than Schwan's? In most cases, yes, although I will yield to them on their mini corn dogs, which are a perfectly seasoned, perfect ratio of corn to dog, and I love them dearly. Do I always have time? No. Did that make Schwan's an attractive alternative when I was feeding starving teenagers whose work and sports schedules meant no one ate at the same time? Definitely.

My purely unscientific interpretation is that everyone's body differs as to what impacts them most. From a decades-long yo-yo with weight gain and loss, I know that fat intake has little effect on me, while carbs and sugar do, so I happily eat bacon and butter and put cream in my coffee.

Now THIS sounds like it has potential. I found at Sam's today an upright propane smoker for $108; would prefer an electric, but would take propane. I'll watch there the next several months, as they rotate their spring merchandise in. I've just ordered Ruhlman and Polcyn's Charcuterie, and I think the chamber smoker will be more useful for that, but I would like to have the small one just for things like you mention -- dips and such. Also going to look into how to build a cold smoker, and let my son-in-law the welder do that for me for my birthday. Thanks, everyone, for your input.

@BonVivant, I really want to come have dinner with you.

Thanks, @Smithy and @gfron1. On reflection, it appearing I can get a small chamber electric smoker for close to the same price, I think I'll go that route.

Their convenience foods were great when I had teenagers in the house. I like their bags of frozen fruit and vegetables, and some meat. Didn't care as much for their prepared entrees -- a question of seasoning preference. They seemed to season everything with the same seasoning blend.

Watching a cooking show on TV tonight (I lead a very exciting life), and this guy is using a hand-held smoker to smoke vegetables for gazpacho, which, on the face of it, sounds like a pretty intriguing idea to me. So I betook myself to amazon.com, to see what such a creature might cost, and it's about $100, which is not out of reach but more than I want to spend knowing no more than I do about it. Do any of you have any experience with such a device? Worthwhile? Not worthwhile? Does it work? I will confess that my confidence level is not increased by the fact the host of this show looks like he could be the brother of the guy who used to paint the "happy little trees" on the painting show on Saturday mornings. My children used to cry to watch "happy trees."

I've discovered one can make a wonderful CF steak (beef; I haven't tried venison, but it should work) by salting and peppering and sous viding the beef for about four hours first, then breading and frying as usual. Fork-tender!

I saw the Kenji recipe for caramelized onions, and was thinking of trying them. I typically have done them in the slow cooker, but you almost have to set them outside because the smell gets seriously pungent about Hour 6 (they take 18 hours on low) I've been pleased with the results.

Made another batch of yogurt last night. Same kind of milk, same settings on pot. Used YoGourmet culture. Worked just fine. Go figure. Guess I'll stick with using the culture.

Interesting thread (that I'd somehow missed). I subscribe to Kenji's daily emails, and have cooked a few of his recipes. I've contemplated getting this, and just haven't done it yet. I may wind up doing so. I do love Shirley Corriher's book, but to me, the very best cookbook for a relative kitchen novice, particularly one who likes a "method" or basic recipe with lots of potential for adding on/branching out, give me Mark Bittman's "How To Cook Everything." I habitually give that book to young couples as a wedding gift.

i'd absolutely use the legs for confit. If the goose doesn't have enough fat for confit, get you some duck fat. The rest, except for the organ meats, I'd made some goose gumbo. If one can make duck gumbo, one ought to be able to make goose gumbo.

Second the idea of using in baking bread. Have also read it makes a good additive to smoothies, due to the protein content. My pug loves it on her dog food, too.

Gave mine another four hours. Still nothing but milk. Guess I'll stick to the culture. Sigh.

Huh. Interesting. Wonder what another eight hours in the pot will do? In any event, i'll be prepared to do another batch with starter tomorrow. Just have to go get some more milk. @Shelby, I use YoGourmet, because I can get it at the natural food store here in town. Two-day Prime shipping is wonderful, but when you're as impatient as I am....

Ok, all you Instant Pot yogurt-makers out there -- I have a question. I made yogurt, using a powdered culture and a quart of milk, a week ago. Worked perfectly. So, when I set about to do the same last night, I upped the milk to a half-gallon and decided to use the remaining yogurt I had (a bit less than a cup) instead of a culture. Steamed and cooled my milk, stirred in the yogurt. Set the pot and went to bed. This morning, after it had been fermenting about 9, 9 1/2 hours, I turned it off and let it cool a bit; then I popped the lid off and started to strain it. Imagine my surprise when I found it had created only about a tablespoon of curds, and those curds did not taste very tart at all! I am, needless to say, puzzled. After contemplating the bowlful of -- well, milk -- that remained, I put it back in the pot and set it to yogurt again. I'll see what another cycle does for it. Does anyone else have any experience with this? Do I need to just resign myself to using a commercial starter every time I make yogurt? I guess I can do that. I'm just curious.

Thanks! I'll put it on earlier than I'd planned.

Brunswick stew in the Instant Pot tonight. Meh. Acceptable. Not the IP's fault; just not crazy about the recipe. Which is unfortunate, because I have a boatload left.

Quick SV question, and as I came to this thread more quickly than any other SV thread -- I'm going to make beef stroganoff tomorrow night. I've laid out a couple of top sirloin steaks, about 1.5 lbs total; they're cut about 3/4 inch thick. They're from my grassfed, farm-raised steer, so they tend toward being a little tough, so I thought I'd SV them for a while before searing them and going ahead with the regular SV prep. Suggestions on temp and time? I will have plenty of time I can SV and then chill, or SV and take them straight out of the bath and add to the skillet, either one. I'd thought of 125 to keep it rare to start out with, and count on the pan cook to raise it to medium rare. Too high? Too low? Suggestions? Had also thought in the neighborhood of two hours to break down connective tissue and make the meat good and tender. Yes? No? Longer? Shorter? All assistance appreciated!

See Shelby's first blog for a detailed explanation of butchering, etc.

Akin to punching the button on the coffeemaker and walking away, forgetting to put the carafe underneath.

I want details. And pictures. And samples would be nice....

@HungryChris -- Lusting after those crab legs. @Kerry Beal, the pa jun looks pretty wonderful, too, as does the teriyaki.

Breakfast for dinner: Yogurt made in the Instant Pot, granola I made today, a drizzle of honey, some cut-up grapes. Because I was too hungry to let the Brunswick Stew finish cooking. I can eat it tomorrow.

One of my favorite drinks to keep in the fridge is a pitcher of water with sliced cucumbers and limes. Needs no sugar.