IndyRob

This is exactly it. The idea is to get a nice crust all around while not overdoing the inside. That is why many roasting instructions say to start with high heat, and end with low heat (or low, then high). But what I wanted to add is that this assumes you are starting with a tender cut (rib roast, tenderloin, and similar things). If a recipe is for a 'chuck roast' or 'pork shoulder roast', then they don't really fit the same definition of (dry) 'roast' referred to above. So that mirepoix is okay here (typically after a searing step). They are what are typically referred to a pot roasts. And with these you want to bring water moisture because there are a lot of connective tissues that need to be broken down over a long period of time. I think there's more to be said about fat juiciness versus water juiciness, but I think I'll just leave it with my opinion that fatty variety is better for flavor in a plain meat situation - if there's a choice - all other things considered. It get's complicated beyond this point because it's not just about ingredients, but ways in which water, steam and fat actually become cooking vessels with different properties.

Our stove has two regular burners, a 'power burner', and a simmer burner (just a smaller burner with a smaller radius, and lower volume of gas). I've never used such a device with any of them. I just checked the bottom of several various pans from my kitchen and they're all pretty pristine underneath (well, except that one that has experienced several boil-overs). If you're getting good results topside, I wouldn't worry about it. Presumably, you're simmering a volume of liquid which is dispersing the heat pretty well. But I might be persuaded to use one if these things for very specific low heat, high viscosity applications like hollandaise, melting chocolate, or maybe a cheese sauce. But that's not really what the simmer burner was designed for. A double boiler, or even the microwave, are better candidates for these.

So I can make 1-2 servings of hollandaise and all I need are an egg yolk, a pat of butter, some lemon juice, white pepper and a $1,000 machine? LOL indeed. I pride myself on the fact that I've made hollandaise in a tiny saucepan over direct heat, but this sounds like a better way - if it works - the butter to yolk ratio seems a bit low. But I'll be trying this soon.

4. I've read that you want hold the meat at 180 degrees (F) for 30 minutes to break down the connective tissue. I believe the stall occurs at 160-something, so you need to get past that. I think that the connective tissues will break down at lower temps, but you need more time. Far more time than you'd want to expose meat to dry heat for - unless you're making bark-beque.

It's more about toasting than cooking, isn't it? I think my ideal toast would be done quickly, with the heating elements as close to the surface of the bread as possible. Ideally, the inside of the toast would remain soft and moist while the outside is nicely toasted.

I somehow remembered this thread today and decided to do another internet search. There appears to be some more experience now.... http://www.foodnrecipe.com/articles/2066/20120822/molecular-gastronomy-recipe-foodnrecipes-tom-yum-goong.htm (might be diluted?) http://www.molecularrecipes.com/gelification/sriracha-pearls-cold-oil-spherification/ (Looks to be exactly what Broken English suggested) http://cookingblahg.blogspot.com/2013/06/sriracha-honey-caviar.html (A little different take) http://www.saltyseattle.com/2011/03/consider-the-oyster-simple-sriracha-bubbles/ (more of a foam, really, but it does look interesting with oysters) And I found that I had either missed or forgotten from the Top Chef Season 12 Premiere - that the first chef eliminated did so with the help of Sriracha Caviar .

I tend to agree with the original post - cooking or baking. The only niggling doubt I have is with something like puff pastry that's so delicate. Salt, in different situations, can have so many effects other than seasoning (brining, preserving, curing, etc.). But I think you only face a risk when you are already on the knife's edge.

It *is* deep dish. Just not Chicago deep dish. It's a Detroit thing (although also called a pan pizza back in the day). It's derived from a Sicilian style. If you go over to pizzamaking.com and click on their Sicilian Style forum, you'll see that most posts are about Detroit style pizza - if not specific Detroit pizza joints. And many of the threads focus on how to get that crispy - almost fried - crust. In fact, they used to feature something called a Baby Pan Pizza. These were baked four slices at a time in a square pan with a special cross-shaped separator that deliver that crispiness to all four sides of the slice. (I actually own a couple authentic examples of these) I actually like their deep dish pizza (others disagree), but they do seem to have a continuing consistency problem. Their $5 large (American style) pizzas, while a convenient bargain, are a disaster. And they've also taken to really weird concepts like pretzel pizzas, and now this bacon thing (after the bacon fad had pretty much jumped the shark). Detroit style pizza actually started making waves in the news a couple of years ago and are even featured in this year's SXSW (see VIA 313 - Detroit's area code). This might've been helped long by another chain called Jet's which offers a eight-corner pizza - actually, two four-slice rectangular pizzas put in a box side-by-side. Little Caesar's current deep dish offering seems to be a response to this. Please don't be dissin' regional pizza styles based on a franchise chain. It's a Detroit thing. Go there. Or if not there, the Sicilian Style forum on pizzamaking.com.

I don't believe we have those around here. I do go to an Asian market, but it's pretty small. However, my favorite donut shop is run by a bunch of Asian women, All straight up American donuts though. Anyway, I think I may wait until I find myself at another store in the chain and see if it's more than one store. They might just be testing the product under the familiar name and plan to change them name once people find them. An e-mail would probably just generate a C&D letter anyway,

Asian Cronuts? Wait, I might've missed a development here... [edit] Oh,I did. In CDH's last post.

While buying donuts recently, I noticed that this particular store had 'Cronuts'. Despite not ever having had a real Ansel Cronut, I don't think these are real cronuts. They just seem all wrong. A sickly sweet sugar glaze being one of the tip-offs. Although I must say that a Bavarian Cream version seemed to have some real potential. I searched online for any instance of the Cronut name being licensed and couldn't find any. Being generally supportive of intellectual property laws, I thought about everything from shooting off a quick e-mail, to traveling around to different stores of this regional chain to see if I could build the case further. Then again, I view the Cronut craze as largely over. And I'd likely succeed only in removing another food choice in my area. So I find myself in a bit of a quandary. What, if anything, would you do?

Interesting indeed. A ;London broil would seem to be a plausible candidate for brining. But I would think the goal would be to extend cooking in order to break it down, rather than what I imagine when I think of grilling (hot and fast like broiling). I think I'll be keeping my eye out for deals on London broils..

I've wrestled with this question before and the short answer is: Because it doesn't need it. You would never want to brine a beef tenderloin, It is already tender enough. Any more and you have mush. I suspect it also relates to the cooking temperatures we're needing. Pork and chicken are cooked to much higher temps than beef. This is where brining tends to shine. But I think I would refuse to accept that *some* cut of beef couldn't benefit by brining.

Actually the Boar's Head was from Italy. Interestingly, the market where I found it had two Boar's Head prosciuttos side-by-side. One was Prosciutto di Parma and the other was just Boar's Head Prosciutto. They were priced the same - which I thought might be a pretty bold statement by Boar's Head. I haven't tasted theirs though.

I think four hours might be too long for part of the steak - the eye, as opposed to the cap. Contrary to what I had thought for a long time, you can overcook meat sous vide. It may still be pink, but overcooked. This from Thomas Keller and confirmed by me. Ribeye is tricky because it is really two cuts of meat.

I've recently been reading (well, skipping around) my copy of Ruhlman & Polcyn's Charcuterie. My interest is primarily in dry cured products like prosciutto or bresaola. So I'd like to start a thread specifically about these variants. As my plans for building a curing chamber (and a proper place for it) take a back seat to other pressing home renovations, I'm in a kind of limbo between consumer and producer/both. But my imagination goes on and I keep finding new questions - among these are: 1) Commercial prosciutto: I've been doing taste tests with various super/specialty market prosciuttos and have found less differentiation than I would've expected. Even between a Walmart Del Duca and a Boar's Head imported Prosciutto di Parma, The Parma did take the edge in the judging, but not but not at a premium of $10/pound. Is actual prosciutto bought in Itally better? 2) The book Charcuterie seems to stop at describing the procedure for specfic things, That's fine, but what if I want to do something different (e,g, treat a pork loin as a breasaola)? Could science create a prosciutto in a shorter time by cutting it down into smaller pieces?

Was this also a roux based sauce? I've had very good results freezing the Modernist Cuisine Mac&Cheese sauce (actually, a nacho cheese sauce variant with chopped roasted jalapenos). 265g liquid (water, milk, cream, beer, etc.), 285g cheese, 11g sodium citrate.

The trussing seems a bit excessive. Nice looking skin, though.

For some reason, I really love pierogies with pork chops. With the butter and sautéed onions. One of the best chops I've had was lightly breaded and deep fried (still mostly pink in the middle). I suspect it was brined.

Isn't this like asking for an Apple Pie recipe without tree apples? Surely there's a backstory here. I'm intrigued.

As an extremely frugal person who invested $80 in a Thermapen because I do think that temp is that important, I also realize that it's just one measurement. It's one thing to have accurate readings, but it's quite another to become a slave to them. Time and temp is simply not enough. Especially if you're measuring a bath and not the product.

I think there's a saying that goes something like "A man with one watch always knows what time it is. A man with two never does." I'm curious as to the perceived temperature differences reported on Anova's forums. I've used a Presto Kitchen Kettle to good effect for sous vide in the past. It does involve working through an equalization phase to find the correct setting for the desired temp, but then it could hold a temp within 1 degree F for an extended period (and that's about 1/2 a degree C). That was measured by a Thermapen. IMHO, circulation in a home application is overrated. I've never measured any more than one degree of variation in my crude setup. But in any event, you have to cook to the equipment you have. Home ovens vary massively, but we can still figure out the best way to bake cookies in our own ovens. And even if we could control temperatures completely, that still does not account for variations in product and preference. And I think this sort of brings on the sense of derision for sous vide or modernist cuisine in general. The sense that it can all be reduced to numbers. That ain't so. It only narrows the window a bit. Just cook, man.

"Until smoking?" or "Until it begins to smoke"? I think that would represent a big difference.

I think I've spotted a few in this round. And surprisingly, when faced with a quickfire elimination, George chose none of them. Instead, George handpicks the guy who would send him home. #Badmove