Vision

225f in a smoker on a rack, heat from the bottom. The bottoms must come out great because they are being self basted.

I'm salting skinless chicken thighs on both sides overnight and low roasting them for 4 hours. They come out great but have one issue, the top side develops a thin dried out leathery surface and the bottom comes out perfectly. Anybody have an idea what is going on and if there is a work around? Thanks.

Hi all, I made basic salmon sushi yesterday, salmon on top of rice pillows. Picked up wonderful looking, fatty, farm raised salmon from an great asian grocery. The rice came out perfect but the salmon was bland boarding on tasteless. Even the belly. Disappointing. I could have purchased wild salmon but find it hard to believe every low end purveyor of sushi who turns out tasty salmon sushi uses wild caught salmon. So I'm wondering why is every generic salmon piece I get from cheapo grocery store or happy hour taste great. If I go to a local supermarket and spend $5 on a 6 pack of salmon sushi setting in the refrigerator case for a few days, why can I taste the salmon and richness of the fat there but not yesterday? Are they cutting strips of salmon and seasoning them ahead of time with msg?

Just so it's said, BBQ is more soul than science. BBQ is the opposite of sous vide. Many of your questions aren't productive. Try to enjoy. 1. Does having a pellicle on the meat enhance the smoke uptake? Is this enhancement of the flavour, of pink ring, or both? Note that it is entirely possible to have a wet pellicle; the presence of a pellicle does not (contra)indicate the amount of surface moisture. Not enough to worry about it. If you want more or less smoke you'll use the correct amount and type of wood. Each wood has it's own flavor and strength. Beginners usually over smoke. You'll get a better smoke ring with cold meat. A wet surface helps the smoke ring but isn't necessary IMO. 2. At what RH % does bark start to form at a reasonable pace? With all due respect forget this question. 3. Is there a significant advantage to bark growth if a pellicle is formed on the meat before it goes into the smoke? Rub will help bark form. People usually put meat on after it's wet from rub. 4. Why does the stall need to be broken? In sous vide cooking, the meat (typically) never goes over the usual stall temperatures. Is it because the bark won't form unless the surface is completely dry? The stall is your meat losing moisture. When it loses enough the temperature will being to rise again. You want to get through that period as fast as possible. 5. Given that meat with more surface moisture takes on smoke better than meat with less surface moisture (Blonder), how long should the meat stay wet through the smoke? First 2 hours? First 4 hours? You don't need to keep the meat moist. Actually you'll probably want to focus on not getting the meat too smokey. 6. Is it possible to completely dry the surface of the meat during baking/smoking, without breaking through the stall? Forget this question.

Give it a try. I've done a 24-48 hour brine on brisket before. It was lots of work. The problem was the end product cooked much differently than a normal piece and it turned out overcooked. But what was there was tasty.

I'm interested in doing something creative with goat cheese. What flavors do you think pairs well? I find something strong flavored and possibly acidic can be great such as red onion, black pepper, vinegar, garlic, stronger herbs...

Infuse with bacon. Just google it.

Anyone have a good recipe? Am looking for combinations of herbs that infuse well together in oil. Where the sum becomes better than the parts. My favorites are rosemary, sage, garlic. Basil, red pepper, and garlic.

Yes, the weight before, and then the trimmed weight. The humidity was 55 - 75% on average. I had two 120mm fans in the small fridge so that might have been way to much air movement. It also could be 4 weeks is too long for tenderloin. I'm wondering if it would help to let it form a nice crust for a week and then cyrovac the primals in to prevent more mosture loss.

Well, I just finished up my first experiment with dry aging beef. It worked...and it didn't. I rigged up a small fridge with fans for air movement, sponges to keep the humidity as high as possible, and a control for the temp. Aged a 10lb choice tenderloin for 4 weeks at 34f. Good news, it produced a NICE piece of meat. Bad news, 70% to 80& loss. I'll literally get two or three meals out of it. Never expected the loss to be that much. I know aging a tenderloin by itself is usually not done, but...I love filet, what can I say. Wish I could get a saddle or some cut with a protective covering on the meat. Anyone have an idea on how the waste can be reduced to the usually 20% or less? I didn't use towels to cover the primal, as some sites suggest; just cut it in half and put it on a rack. Maybe that would help. Wonder if wrapping it completely in raw bacon would act as a protective cover.

Being a Maryland boy I grew up with it; it's made in Hunt Valley which is about 20 minutes away. I even use it on lobster.

The organisms are characterized by their straight, slightly curved, Gram-positive, motile, anaerobic rods, which produce heat-resistant spores. The spores become activated in a low acid (less than 4.6), anaerobic environment with temperatures ranging from 40°F to 120°F, http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FS104

Well after one week of the in and out of the fridge treatment, the oil was infused, smelled good, but did not have the robust taste. Will leave it in the fridge for a month and check back.

Botulism as I've read, grows from 40 to 140f.

Hi everyone, first post here. I've worked in a few restaurants including a high end Italian one, which brings me to... The cooks would make this garlic and oil pasta for us which was unbelievable. Nothing complex, but the chopped garlic used was held in olive oil, all kept in a bucket in the walk in. Do you know what it tastes like when garlic starts to develop that richness of flavor? When you first cut and saute it in oo, it's not all that flavorful. But...at some point after sitting in oo it develops this wonderful, rich, rounded, pungent taste which I can't get enough of. You can't get it from infusing oil with garlic. And there's all these warnings about keeping garlic in oo and botulism. But how can it be? At this restaurant, besides the bucket, each table got a bottle of oo with garlic cloves and herbs in it. They would change the garlic/herb mix every month or so, but always kept the oil. Nobody ever got sick, and the oil was great. I once asked the old Italian chef/owner about Botulism and he had no idea what I was talking about. So my questions are, does anyone know the taste I'm talking about? Does anyone know how to create this flavor? So far I can't do it; must not let it sit long enough. Right now I've got a bulb chopped and sitting in oil. I leave it out for a few hours a day and keep it in the fridge at night and during the day. What do people with experience think off all the botulism warnings? Overblown? It has to be. Some of these warnings even say to not keep garlic in oil in the fridge; but botulism spores only grow above 40 degrees. And haven't you see bottles of oil containing entire cloves in it?