Human Bean
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Posts posted by Human Bean
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HB, Just in case your stones get loaded up, kerosene works pretty well in cleaning them.
Thanks; no matter what method you use, you want to keep your stones clean; don't let steel dust and rubbed-off stone particles linger on the surface of the stone.
Since I've switched from oilstones to waterstones, I've found that a mildly abrasive cleaner (Bon Ami, Comet, Bar Keepers Friend; take your pick) and water will clean the stones after I'm done. Kerosene (possibly with a mild abrasive) would do the same for oilstones, but, according to oilstone theory, you'd want to oil it again after cleaning.
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I've always used oil and it was interesting to read about sharpening dry. [...] I'd be interested in hearing from others who have used oil for many years and have now decided that dry is the way to go.
I'm not Chad; I was a borderline knife nut for awhile and lurked on the board he mentioned (and others), but anyway...
My dry-sharpening epiphany occurred many years ago with a carpet installer. Cutting carpet is a very demanding task for a knife, and he was sharpening his hooked carpet knife dry. I asked him how come he wasn't using oil, and his reply was something along the lines of, "Why bother, you don't need to." Well, if he didn't need to use a lubricant, maybe he might be right - he's a pro, and all I ever wanted was a knife that would consistently be shaving sharp.
More-or-less since then, I've never used oil or water on a stone. I have some sympathy with the idea mentioned in the lesson that the lubricant merely distributes steel and stone particles over the edge, and doesn't really help things. Is it true? I don't know, but don't feel that I've got worse results using the stones dry.
Chad said earlier that (at least in the case of the Edge Pro waterstones) that they cut faster when wet. Maybe, I don't know, but I still get fantastic results without the water, and it's much less messy.
If you get great results with lubricant, fine. If you get great results without it, equally fine. I don't want to disagree with Chad, who has provided an excellent lesson that all can benefit by, I can only say to go with whatever works best for you.
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Has anyone found a simple and easy way to re-flatten and true them up? Preferably without spending 75 bucks for a flattening plate? I read somewhere you can do it on a cinder-block. Haven't had the nerve to risk my stones trying it though.
Edge Pro provides a bag of fine sand and instructions for this - I'm sure it's not as good as a flattening plate, but should suffice for most non-critical uses.
The sand is approximately the size of 150 grit sandpaper (VERY rough estimation; I don't have any sandpaper at hand to verify), and he suggests taking a small amount of the sand, spreading it on a flat concrete surface (garage floor, for example) and rubbing the stone on it - it should be fairly easy to tell when it's flat.
I've never had to do this with my Edge Pro stones yet, but in my younger days, I used to flatten my Arkansas stones using sandpaper in a similar fashion.
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Chad, one thing I was curious about... would you consider the "stones" in the Edge Pro set to be "waterstones" per your descriptionm, or do you suggest they be used dry?
I use mine dry all the time - seems to work okay, and avoids the abrasive slurry mess. It's something I've always meant to ask Ben Dale (Mr. Edge Pro) about, but haven't ever done.
When I'm done sharpening, I clean the stones with a paste of Bon Ami and water, then rinse and dry them.
I'd also be interested in Chad's opinion when he takes his next break from brochure writing.
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Re. the earlier mentions of dicing mangos: I also dice mangos the way demonstrated in the lesson, with great success, but with one minor variation. I'm probably just paranoid, but I don't cut the crosshatches in the mango while holding it in my hand, I put it on a board first. The mango may rock a bit on the board; it would be more secure and faster in the hand, but I do keep my knives very sharp, and my paranoia suggests that I might cut right through the mango into my palm without even realizing it at first.
I'm probably wrong about that though.
[bTW, made a tomato-mango-habenero salsa last Friday that received raves from some friends. No recipe, sorry, but it's main flaw was that in my efforts to keep people's heads from exploding, it wasn't really hot enough. We now return you to back to the topic.]
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Meta-comment:
Having only seen episodes 3 and 4, I've been wondering if maybe we're too harsh ("brutally honest" as a cast member said earlier) about this show. Maybe with the knowledge here about restaurants, both as customers and for some, as employees, we're judging it unfairly.
No.
It's not a documentary, it's a "Reality TV" show. Several producers and story editors have reviewed hundreds of hours of documentary footage, and sometimes re-created scenes to create a dramatic production that is only slighty related to reality as those of us non-TV people know it. There's a story arc, both within episodes, and throughout the whole series.
What if it were a "Reality TV" show about the opening of 'Rocco's Hardware Store,' where the people here might not have any special expertise about the operation of hardware stores?
While we might not know about the details about 8/32 screws, the product placement and dramatic manipulation would still most likely be immediately obvious.
It's crap. It's commercial TV; what did you expect?
My congratulations to those that can parlay their fifteen minutes of fame into something better. Even Rocco. My apologies to anyone that thinks that "Reality TV" has any relation at all to reality. I suppose that they are the people that will rush to the restaurant because it's been on TV.
Will -the restaurant- itself survive long past the TV show? I don't know, not being familiar with the NY area. Obviously they'll be some tourist business at least for awhile, but I suspect that the restaurant itself doesn't have sufficient merits to survive on it's own, unless it fills a particular niche. There seems to be plenty of Italian restaurants in the NYC metroplex, and this one will ultimately have to find it's place among them, if it actually has one. On the other hand, never underestimate the power of TeeVee.
It's a TV show, not reality. Vive le difference.
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Another tidbit from the NY Post/Yahoo article:
[...] signed deals for free loans of an SUV from Mitsubishi and a trendy Italian scooter from Vespa [...]So not only was the Vespa just more product placement, it wasn't really even his to give to the disgruntled bartender.
Sheesh.
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One of the more egregious examples of non-reality from episode 4:
Seemingly in mid-service, Our Hero goes to the kitchen to help get them back on track. While he's demonstrating his mad cooking skillz, the ENTIRE rest of the kitchen staff just STANDS THERE slack-jawed, amazed by the prowess of Our Hero.
Rocco must have cranked out a couple hundred dishes during that time, since nobody else was doing anything except watching.
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Ice Cream Truck memory: I grew up in the NY/NJ area, and the Good Humor trucks made regular rounds. My favorite was the strawberry/vanilla pop with the pink and tan cake crumbs on the outside. They still make it (though here it's sold in vending machines and supermarket freezer cases) and I'll occasionally have one and think of long ago.
And today, there still seem to be ice cream trucks around, though I usually just hear rather than see them. They seem to go by too fast to catch them. Back in the day, you'd be outside playing with friends, you'd hear the approaching ice cream truck jingle, dash home to locate a parental unit, beg for and obtain money, then back to the street to get the goods. Now, they seem to go by too fast for that process to work. Do pre-teens routinely carry cash now?
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I remove it 'cuz it's slightly icky, and for the possibly dubious reason of allowing better penetration of brine/rub/smoke.
I use needle-nose pliers to grab a piece and pull; perhaps not the most efficient way, but fun.
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We buy the 365 stuff at Whole Foods. It's a mix of oak, maple and hickory, by-products of flooring and furniture making. I think it's $5 for 9 lbs.
Interesting; this seems identical to the charcoal I described above, at Wild Oats, carrying the Wild Oats brand. Same price too; maybe I was too clever as describing it as $6 for 4 kilos; 8.8 pounds just seemed weird.
A quick search suggests that Whole Foods and Wild Oats are not related in a corporate sense; maybe they both buy the charcoal from the same supplier(s).
And yes, it starts VERY quickly, and burns hot and fast. After a few small trials, I like the stuff - it doesn't seem to impart any flavor at all, which is good and what I expected - chips/chunks add the flavor.
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Dear FDA,
Two words: "Anal leakage."
Ewwwww.
Your pal,
Human Bean
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I just got back from Wild Oats (Natures) in Beaverton, and lump charcoal is all over the place - you can hardly walk 5 feet in the store without tripping over a bag of the stuff. It's made from an assortment of random hardwoods (oak, hickory and maple are listed), and at $6 per 4 kilo bag, it might be a bit expensive to roast a whole pig, but that's up to you. I'd expect that the other local Wild Oats stores would also have it.
I bought a bag of it to try, and it's interesting stuff - rather than rustic random chunks of carbonized tree carcass, these appear to be made from furniture/woodworking scraps. The pieces are not all the same size and shape, but an abundance of straight edges and flat surfaces seem to suggest the wood's origin. Rather a clever idea actually, to turn what might otherwise be thrown away into a useful product.
Although I suggested buying a bag of wood chips for flavor, a moment later, it was obvious that you want chunks, not chips, considering the size of your project. I usually buy mine at Home Depot. They usually have mesquite and hickory; of the two, hickory is probably the better choice for pig; maple or apple might be better, but I don't know of a local source. If you could find it, alder might be an interesting, if eccentric (but Northwest) choice.
Finally, you might want to post a link to this thread in the PNW forum; someone else locally may have better suggestions.
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Do any of you have suggestions for type of charcoal--no lighter fluid and I would prefer hardwood to whatever is in the other stuff. A particular flavor? Does brand matter? I am in Portland, OR and see Lazzaro (sp?) in gourmet stores. Also, I would love to buy wholesale if anyone has a good source for me.
Dunno about wholesale at all; since the time is short, you'll have to buy locally, and your options are somewhat limited. Try your local home-improvement megastore (Home Depot almost certainly, or maybe Lowes). OTOH, I got a bag of lump mesquite charcoal from my local Thriftway once. I saw bags of house-brand lump charcoal at Natures (now Wild Oats) in Beaverton once; dunno if they regularly carry it, but I'm going there today and will take a look.
I don't think that the type of wood in lump charcoal really matters in terms of flavor; the wood has been turned into chunks of nearly pure carbon, and little or no volatile flavoring compounds are left. Buy a bag of wood chips for flavor; hickory is a bit strong but works with almost anything.
You probably already know about the no lighter fluid part - go to Home Depot and get one of those big-ass chimney starters; actually you might want to get two at least ($$, unfortunately) and/or borrow some to get the fire going, depending on the size of the pig and how long you're willing to wait to get a full-sized fire.
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Thanks; looks interesting, and reasonable prices too. Think I'll pass on the octopus though.
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Has anyone tried the new Peruvian place yet?
What new Peruvian place? What's Peruvian cuisine? Do they serve coca leaves in the place of after-dinner mints??
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The Cantonese phrase for sausage is 'lop chang'.
Sorry to nitpick, but the more usual transliteration (at least around here) is 'lop cheung'. The 'cheung' has the rising-falling tonation (I think).
I'm not particularly fond of them due to their high fat content, but used more as a seasoning than an ingredient as such, they're tolerable.
Edit: Add opinion of them.
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Considering that pellet-based wood stoves have been available 'round here for quite awhile, this seems like a perfecly reasonable extension of the concept.
Can't say I'll rush right out and buy one, but the concept sounds interesting. Would the binders (glue, basically?) in the pellets have any effect on the finished product?
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[Obligatory disclaimer: this is posted without the knowledge or consent of the eG Management. They run a totally above-board, ethical website, and would in no way condone the following; this just a suggestion that you shouldn't follow, from a non-entity.]
Quite recently, a link was posted to an latimes.com story. Many links are posted to nytimes.com stories.
These (and other mainly news-related sites) have a "free registration required" policy to view their content. That is, you need a username and password to read the article. That is fine, and their right; they're interested in gathering demographic data for their advertisers. Everyone on eGullet is obviously fabulously wealthy, interested in the finer things in life, and has lots of disposable income. This is just what the advertisers want to hear, so why bother with individual "free registrations"?
So, for "free registration required" sites, register as 'egullet' (without the apostrophes of course). Password 'egullet', again no apostrophes. Demographically, you're at least reasonably well off, and a desirable advertising target. If they need an email address, use a hotmail (or generic equivalent) address. Try the user/pass first; one may already exist.
This already works for that big NY paper about the times, and possibly the LA paper as well. If you create a "free reg required" identity of egullet/egullet, you'd be doing all of us a favor, and helping those advertisers reach their target market. Win/win, right?
Edit: My evil twin sister posted this; I don't know how she hacked into my account, but I've already changed my password, so it shouldn't happen again.
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Also does not the cold-smoked versus hot-smoked dichotomy have some validity?
Certainly - take a hunk of cheese, cold-smoke it at under 100F, and you have a hunk of smoked cheese. Hot-smoke a hunk of cheese at over 200F, and (at best) you'd have a puddle of goo in the bottom of the smoker.
Neither one is barbeque though.
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And now for something completely different: does anyone have a really fast way for peeling shallots?
Just be sure to cut the shallots in halves or quarters before peeling.....that way, the skin will usually come off each half or quarter fairly easily, often in one piece.
Sounds like a winner, thanks, I'll give it a try.
And as for PaulaDR's suggestion for chipotles in everything, in general, I'd agree. Wild sockeye salmon is on sale here, and I was pondering whether chipotles might be good with salmon. I'm a little concerned that they might overwhelm the salmon, but am willing to give it a try anyway.
But as for good with EVERYTHING, I'm highly doubtful that they'd enhance my morning Raisin Bran - anyone willing to convince me otherwise?
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Well, it appears that Jason, DVSDave, and maggie ARE trojan shills for DQ, and unable to answer my question.
Again, WTF is a DQ Blizzard?
[Full disclosure: After thinking about it, I HAVE seen TV ads for it. But not within the last five years or so. I skip ads on commercial TV, and I don't even have a tivo. BTW, as long as I'm digressing, History Detectives ROCKS. But nevermind, they haven't discussed food yet on H.D.]
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Dare I ask to go back to basics here? I have a DQ in the general vicinity, but have never had this blissful Blizzard, nor have I seen commercials for it.
What is it? My impression is that it's ice cream with stuff in it, yet not quite ice cream, but more than a milkshake with stuff. Soft-serve with stuff??
I assume that there's a non-trojan non-shill for DQ
here that could explain exactly what it is, and why I should seek it out... -
Use 2 metal bowls for best results. They should be about 8 inches in diameter for every head of garlic [....] You can peel this way much faster than using a cleaver or pretty much any other method that I am aware of.
Well, YOU can peel faster with the bowls than whacking with a knife; I think my cleaver works pretty well, and I don't have to wash two extra bowls when I'm done.
And now for something completely different: does anyone have a really fast way for peeling shallots? The whacking technique doesn't work well at all compared to garlic. [Hmm, maybe I should put the cloves between two metal bowls???
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Q&A -- Knife Maintenance and Sharpening
in The eGullet Culinary Institute (eGCI)
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I think that's (nitpick) Cook's Ill (/nitpick), and I have a major disagreement about their knife tests. I don't know about Forschner, don't have any of them (yet), but they seem to be good knives from what I've heard.
My disagreement is that they seem to place lots of importance in their tests to NIB (New-In-Box) sharpness. If you're competent at sharpening (and ONLY if you're competent), how sharp it arrives doesn't matter. You'll most likely want to touch it up anyway, and possibly even want to change the factory edge angle.
If you're NOT competent at sharpening, don't do it; you're likely to make it worse.
Everyone that cooks on a regular basis should be competent at keeping a knife sharp; it's essential for pros, and still important for home cooks.