mgaretz

Jumbo lump crab cakes (baked) and cole slaw with my horseradish slaw dressing.

If you have a sous vide setup, or can jury rig one, hold them for 4 hours at 125f or so and sear them in a hot pan or broiler to finish. You could also put them in a low temp oven at 225f or so until your internal temp is 125f then sear. You don't want to take them past medium rare or they will be tough.

I made a foil "tray" to hold it in the smoker. I started by putting the cauliflower in a plastic bag and adding spices and some olive oil. Shake well and dumped into my foil tray. It went in the smoker with chops - which took about 1.25 hours at 225F. The cauliflower was still a little crisp when the chops were done, so I put it in covered dish with some butter and into the microwave for about a minute and half.

Smoked pork loin chops with smoked cauliflower. The cauliflower was tossed with olive oil, granulated garlic and onion, salt and pepper then finished with a little butter.

Shrimp scampi (of sorts) with pureed peas (some peas left whole).

Another smoked pork tenderloin. This one was just seasoned with salt and pepper. (I cooked it at the same time as the one I posted a few days earlier, but that one had rub on it.) Served this one with a cherry/port reduction. Tart cherries, ruby port, a touch of balsamic vinegar, a little sugar, salt, pepper, almond extract and butter. Side is cauliflower in ghee with crushed roasted/salted cashews. Dessert was "crust-less cherry pie" - tart cherries with a toasted coconut topping.

Just me last night so I made something easy: Sirloin steak, baked potato and salad.

Smoked pork tenderloin. Served with roasted carrots and salad.

Last night I made beef stew with sirloin tip that was on sale for less than stew meat. Beef, onion, carrots, celery, peas, red potatoes and barley. Chicken stock, tomato paste, red wine, a touch of soy sauce, cream sherry, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, bay leaf. 16 minutes in the pressure cooker (carrots for last 6).

One also has to remember that back when appliances lasted longer, there wasn't the emphasis on energy efficiency that there is today. That means smaller, lighter motors and components and the appliance capacity has actually increased. (Was that 30 year old dishwasher a deep tub? Probably not.) So appliances have to do more work with less energy and lighter weight components - they just aren't going to last as long. Also, front load washers are not a new thing. My grandmother had a front load washer 70+ years ago and all commercial size washers are front load. Now energy efficient, low water using front loaders are another story, but they have improved a lot. I sold a ton of them back when I was in the appliance game. We got one recently to replace our old top loader and it made a huge difference in our energy bill and it does a better job on the clothes. Last, all dryers are front load.

It does sound like you've received a decent life out of it, although the hardness of your water shouldn't have any effect on the electronics, which has been the failure mode of your machine.

Haven't posted in a while, but I have been enjoying everyone else's dinners. Recent dinners include Belgian Beef Stew for my wife's birthday, made two ways: One per my recipe with Kriek and the other for my daughter who is on a special diet and couldn't have any added sugar, flour, alcohol and most other carbs (but fruit and fruit juices are OK). So for flavor, sweetness and to thicken the sauce, I pureed an apple along with some boiled potato (most of which went into make mashed potatoes) and some of the cooked carrots from her stew and added that back into the sauce. Worked nicely. She also wanted cioppino, which I have never made, so I cobbled something together with the seafood selections she wanted: Crab, shrimp and scallops. Normally I would have served this with some rice, but that and noodles are not allowed, so I added some red potatoes to the mix. Came out good.

I'm with Norm. I smoke mine at 225f but shoot for an internal temperature of 203f. Takes between 10 and 12 hours.

I do.

Doubt your four hours will do much to soften the gristle but maybe. Now if you want to really see what sous vide can do, get a thick chuck steak (boneless roast, really), season lightly and bag it. Cook at 125-130f for 24 hours. Save the bag juices to make jus by reducing and thickening with some butter. Sear the steak and slice. The tricky part is slicing across the grain, you'll have to separate the muscles and slice individually. Then serve with the jus and sides (sautéed mushrooms in butter and cream sherry is my favorite). This will be as tender as prime rib or ribeye steak, but with much more beef flavor and half (or less) of the cost. When I buy chuck for SV (on sale), I season it and vacuum pack it and freeze. It goes straight from the freezer into the bath.

I'm with Weedy and gfweb - lower temp and rub after SV but before searing. Be sure to pat dry after SV and before the rub. I sear mine on the gas grill.

I get similar results by cooking at 450f for 70 minutes in my pellet grill. Oil the skin first, no need for rests, etc.

I forgot about my Cuisinart stick blender. Bought it on sale at Costco- still in the box.

No, just that I end up hand slicing most things I'd use it for. It still has some specific uses, but it doesn't get used that much.

I buy whole loin from Costco and cut my own chops. I usually cut it into thirds, vacuum pack and freeze them. From there I can make chops or roast.

Food processor.

I don't know about "live without" but the ones I use the most often are my Breville Smart Oven and my vacuum sealer.

What do you do with leftover meat from Thanksgiving and the day before? Make fried rice of course! I had a lot of leftover ham, so I cut it up and dry-marinated it Char Siu mix powder, then baked it at 400F for 15 minutes followed by a five minute broil. Combined that with leftover turkey and pulled pork. Other things in the rice are eggs, green onions, peas and carrots.

Many years ago I used to get them from Ratto's in Oakland. Not sure if they are even around any more.

So what we need now is a special clamp or clip that would take the place of the metal plate and hold the bag closed while you seal. I'm thinking of the application where you SV something, cut open a corner of the bag to remove the juices (say, to make gravy), and reseal the bag to keep the meat warm while you prepare the gravy. The clamp goes on the bag, leaving your 1/4" edge exposed. Hit it with the torch, remove the clamp and the bag goes back in the bath.