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therippa

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Posts posted by therippa

  1. Recipes cooked/methods used so far..

    Pistachio Pesto

    Everyone here was right, it was a great hit

    Cooking a pizza on a steel plate

    I ordered the Baking Steel from kickstarter when it was available, and had a bring-your-own-toppings pizza party last week. I used Serious Eat's fermented dough recipe, and had success with the steel, but the crust still didn't bubble and char quite like I had hoped it would. Here are some pics - http://imgur.com/a/dp95c

    Turkey Breast

    I'm going to be sous-viding the thanksgiving turkey again this year, so over the weekend I made the turkey breast recipe (along side with a standard 5% brined sous-vide'd turkey breast for comparison). The recipe calls for you to remove the skin, and I learned why - when finishing the breast off in a hot skillet to sear the skin, the sugars from the apple juice/milk solution burn. While it didn't take away from the flavor, the appearance wasn't so great. The turkey itself was delicious, juicy with a definite hint of apple to it, but I think it would be more reserved for a "turkey meal", not thanksgiving. The traditional roasted flavor of the standard brined turkey breast won the taste contest with my girlfriend, so that's what I'll be serving at her parent's house in a few weeks.

  2. Keith & Chris: If I use the trivet for something like this (my cooker came with one) does the surrounding water need to be touching the bowl / container containing the food?

    Thanks for the tip Baselerd but I think my pure was unreasonably thick! I'll give the authors the benefit of the doubt though because the scorching in the pan may have had something to do with it. In the end I had the siphon inverted holding my finger over the nozzle and whipping the bottle down with force using my whole arm (like when you try to get the last out of the shampoo bottle). Then when I opened the siphon after getting as much out as I could there was still half of the mixture still stuck to the sides and the bottom of the siphon - nowhere near the nozzle.

    Out of curiosity does any one know how many chargers you can crack into a 0.5L siphon before it gets dangerous? :biggrin:

    Isn't there a pressure-relief safety feature? I usually charge my ISI soda siphon with 2 chargers, and about 5% of the last charger will come rushing out because it's just a teeny bit too much pressure. I imagine you could add chargers until bean foam starts unwantedly spraying all over your counter top, but you don't have to worry about it exploding

  3. What size pressure cooker is everyone using? I have an 11-quart I use for stocks and such, but that is way too big for most of these recipes. I'm assuming 6-quart is ideal?

    Scanpan sell a set of two, that share the same lid. Consdiering the price, it works well - you get a big one for stocks, and a small one for smaller meals - eg perfect for the carrot soup.

    I meant I already have an 11-quart pressure cooker I use for stocks. That's too big to make carrot soup or risotto for two.

  4. This lists the differences...

    http://blog.medellitin.com/2012/07/polyscience-sous-vide-professional.html

    "The Creative can heat a 20 liter bath to a maximum temperature of 99ºC within 0.1ºC, and has a fixed flow rate of 6 liters per minute. Contrast that to the SVP Chef which can heat a 30 liter bath to a maximum temperature of 100ºC within 0.07ºC, and has a variable flow rate of up to 12 liters per minute. According to the website, the Creative takes up the same amount of space as the Chef (14.125 x 3.875 x 7.375 in), but is significantly lighter (5.5 pounds versus 9.5 pounds)."

  5. So I've got some wild boar shanks. I want to cook them long enough to shred the meat off the bone. Any time/temp suggestions?

    I've done wild beaver tail (the beginning feel of the meat was quite similar to shanks) at 140F for 48 hours and it broke down ALL connective tissue and let me get every last bit of meat from the bone.

  6. National Starch Products In Australia - Substitutions

    Need some help the only products I can get here are;

    Crisp Coats - Great

    N-Zorbit

    Ultra-Crisp CS

    Ultra-Tex 4

    Ultra- Sperse M

    However I can not get Ultra-Sperse 3, Ultra-Sperse 5 And Ultra-Sperse A For the last 2 I've been sent replacements which I'm told perform the same functions but are not as easy to disperse. Ok that's not that bad. SO that leaves me no real product to replace Ultra-Sperse 3 the rep at the Australian office says that Ultra-Sperse M basically has the same properties.

    So my questions are as such. Why use a different brand from recipe to recipe. Can you help with substitution amounts? What are the differences between these products?

    Help, Help, NathanM are you there? - I noticed most recipes call for Ultra-Sperse 3 how can I replace this product with Ultra-Sperse M or maybe another?

    Kindest regards and am anxiously waitiing for the MC@home. Too exciting. Wish you'd only given a weeks notice. How will I wait till October. These books are a drug and I'm hooked.

    My caramelised Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut foam was awesome on Saturday night and the kids loved it to!

    Vol.

    You can get ultrasperse-3 here - http://www.modernistpantry.com/ultra-sperse-3.html

    They ship anywhere in the world.

  7. I've been a lurker on this thread for a while, so I thought I'm chime in...and maybe bring it back from the dead while I'm at it.

    In San Francisco I'm lucky to have a couple of bars that make an honest Old Fashioned...they are strong but not overpowering, don't have seltzer water, and aren't like a muddled fruit cocktail with a splash of whiskey in them.

    After many trips to The Alembic, I started paying close attention to how they make them, since I could never get it quite right at home. So, fueled by a couple of them tonight, I thought I'd share my recipe that is strongly influenced, or perhaps somewhat stolen, from said bar...

    1. Place 3/4 teaspoon of sugar, two or three dashes of bitters, and 2 ounces of good bourbon in a glass, swirl with a spoon until the sugar has dissolved.

    2. Using a vegetable peeler, peel off a slice of the lemon skin from one end to the other. Twist over the bourbon mix, and then wipe the inside rim of the glass with it. Leave it in the glass.

    3. Add 4 standard sized ice cubes, swirl with a spoon 25 times to melt the ice a little and mellow it.

    4. Drink up!

  8. In more unfortunate news, some inept jackass TSA agent took it upon himself to repack my suitcase, moving the immersion circulator I had laying on its side packed around soft clothes so it was screen-up at the top of the suitcase. Here's what it looked like when I arrived at my parent's house.

    FWIW, I have never had any trouble traveling with my circulator in my carry-on baggage. I would never think of packing it in checked baggage.

    I certainly would have survived the way I originally had it packed, but yes, next time I'm going to take it carry-on...might even buy one of their travel bags for it.

  9. Followup from cooking the venison loin sous vide...

    I used the Modernist Cuisine method of setting the water bath to 149 and cooking to a core temp of 133. I was able to use the awesome Sous Vide Dash app for the iPad to correctly estimate exactly how long it would take to come to that temp. The beautiful results are below...

    hFKUa.jpg

    My family and I agreed that it was the best venison we've ever had, and we also agreed it was one of the best pieces of meat we'd ever had. I ended up cooking another loin like this a few days later.

    In more unfortunate news, some inept jackass TSA agent took it upon himself to repack my suitcase, moving the immersion circulator I had laying on its side packed around soft clothes so it was screen-up at the top of the suitcase. Here's what it looked like when I arrived at my parent's house

    TpVBA.jpg

    Polyscience will be replacing the screen and not charging me for the labor, and I have to open a complaint with TSA to try to recoup the money

    [edited for clarity]

  10. Seems a bit short. Why would it be different from beef tenderloin?

    Per Modernist Cuisine, you don't want to cook venison SV using the equilibrium temperature technique. It takes too long, and becomes mushy (due to enzyme activity I think) and gamy. So in order to cook it more quickly, you set the water bath higher than the target temperature and pull it out according to a strict timetable (and let it rest).

    Thanks, I missed that apparently...will have to consult MC again when I get home.

  11. Have you checked out the recommendations by Polyscience? My local Costco (and I might think nationally) has a great breast of turkey from Butterball that would work well for your sous vide. Also, Polyscience recommends duck fat and it may be available from certain Williams-Sonoma stores. Personally, I take off the skin and do it separately and not sous vide the skin.

    Yes, I have duck fat and all that in the bag. I feel their temp for the breast (160) is too high though. I don't want to remove the skin, it crisps up fine for me in a very hot oven. My problem isn't how to sous vide the turkey, I've got that down, it's more the ideal way to keep it warm/reheat it and keep the skin somewhat crisp

  12. My friends and I are having an "orphan" thanksgiving, and I volunteered to do the turkey (my pleasure to do so). The original plan was for about 15 people, but the invite list soon ballooned to about 23. I knew that even if I roasted the big bird, I'd still have to make an extra turkey breast, and I decided I'd sous vide it.

    After referring to the times and temp Dave Arnold at Cooking Issues found worked best for him, I sous vide'd a turkey breast Saturday night as a test to make sure it would come out like I wanted it to. I ended up doing 2.5 hours (pasteurization time) at 64c, and finished by throwing it in a 500 oven for about 20 minutes. Results were great, meat was delicious and juicy, skin was crisp (although that didn't last for long, but I've come to expect that).

    It came out so well I've decided I'm going to sous vide all of it...I'm going to bag the breasts and cook at 64c, bag the legs and cook them at 65c after the breasts are done (or perhaps confit them).

    Here's my dilemma...transporting to the party and re-heating/roasting

    As far as I can tell I have two options, with pros and cons...can anyone think of a better solutions?

    Solution #1: roast at my house, bring to the party completely cooked.

    PROS: Less work to do at the party, I know my oven and it's roasting habits well

    CONS: Skin will not be crisp when served, risk overcooking when reheating in oven at party

    Solution #2 (what I think I'm going to do): bring turkey in sous vide bags in cooler to maintain temp, roast at party

    PROS: Skin will be crisper? (but will still have to sit and rest while other food is warmed in oven post-roast)

    CONS: Turkey will sit tented in foil while other side dishes brought are warmed in the oven

    Other solutions I've thought of have been searing the turkey on the stovetop, but I imagine the burners will be occupied with things like mashed potatoes and the gravy I'm also bringing.

    Does anyone have any thoughts or modifications that would streamline this a little more?

  13. Aargh! I wish this post had been up on Friday. I bought some welding gloves at Menard's Friday afternoon and was disappointed in them when I tried them out yesterday. I had to use a pot holder with them when I moved my roaster out of a 350 degree oven. I would have been fine with just the pot holders. I'll look out for heavy duty insulated ones next time. Any idea where I can find the good stuff?

    You might be able to preserve your investment with the purchase of a couple of 'Ove' Gloves. Long ago I used welding gloves for their intended purpose and they're about keeping external, airborne slag from hitting your skin. Not for holding hot things. The Nomex Ove' Gloves are no good at protecting against hot liquids, but are good with dry ambient heat. Together, they could be a good pairing.

    When I need to hold something REALLY hot I put on an ove glove and then one of the non-insulated welding gloves over it. This is a completely heat-proof solution, I've been able to hold things that were hot enough to make the leather smoke a little a felt no heat inside the glove.

  14. Go to the hardware store and buy a pair of welding gloves - today. Welding gloves are one of those "hardware store solutions to cooking problems" that everyone should look at. Like microplane rasps, which most people have already embraced.

    Welding gloves are SO much better than oven mitts. I can't imagine life without them, both professionally and at home. I have two pairs. One for work. One for home. And they're cheap. There is simply no downside to welding gloves.

    After reading this I went to home depot and bought two pairs of different welding gloves to try out since I've been unhappy with my current oven gloves getting too hot. Tested them out with a sheet pan in the oven at 375 for 10 minutes picking it up wearing my old mitt on one hand and the welding glove on the other. The welding gloves were burning my one hand before I could even feel heat on the old mitt hand. I'm returning them to home depot today. Is there a specific brand/model of welding glove you use?

    This is the same problem I had with welding gloves, you need to get the heavy duty ones with insulation, not just heavy leather. They do not sell these kind at home depot.

  15. I was making clarified butter and wasn't paying attention, so it burned. I usually just pour small amounts of fat down the sink (I know, but hey, I rent), but this time I said I'll do the right thing and pour it off into a can so it could cool down and then throw it away. I poured it into an empty soda can and left it in the sink. A couple minutes later I had to rinse something off and a little water splashed into the can. It started making popping noises and jumping around a little bit. I leaned over to look into it and suddenly it all blows out of the top of the can. Luckily I wear glasses so I didn't get scalding hot butter in my eyes. My kitchen was COVERED with butter, it took forever to clean up.

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