Dakki

I think she's talking about the making waves on the surface. This happens when the fat has been homogenized and there's a bit of air in the mix, maybe that's it?

Awesome job documenting the process. Definitely copying this. Thanks for sharing. Question: What's in the boya? Plain old food coloring?

My Mexican neighbors render lard and sometimes it is separated so the clear fat that cools into the finer white lard is saved to use in pastry and the rest is cooked longer so it has a sort of "roasted" flavor. This is the stuff that is used to cook carnitas and other meats, poultry, etc. This sounds about right. The lighter stuff with little pork aroma is called "manteca blanca" (white lard) while the browner stuff with its stronger smell is just plain "manteca." In Andalucia they also use "manteca colorada," which means red or colored lard and is flavored with paprika (thus the red/range color) and spices.

Firmly in the "dull knives are dangerous" faction. I do have one supermarket "chef's" in the block for opening packages, cutting string, etc. but even it stays pretty sharp. (As sharp as those get, anyway.)

Reflective surfaces can skew IR thermometer readings. Adjustable emissivity allows you to compensate for that.

I use FLUKE non-contact thermometers at work and my experience with them has been uniformly good. They have a "Food Safety" line but I have not tried these.

Interesting stuff dougal. I have also observed that local artisan-type makers will include stuff in the product that would make an industrial producer blush in shame. Now tell us about the great vowel shift.

They were in Mexico City from I think '92 to '97, then reopened with a single restaurant in Monterrey (my hometown) in '08 only to close again a year later. I wasn't aware of them the first time around but my impression for the second round was that they were hoping to cater to USA business travelers by placing the restaurant on the road to the airport. I might be misremembering but I think one of the financial magazines rated opening those restaurants in Mexico one of the 101 dumbest business decisions of all time. EDIT: Anyway, they're not in Mexico anymore.

Not directly related to the smoke point per se, but is it possible some of the most volatile components in a fat will vaporize at a lower temperature, producing "smoke" below the "smoke point"? This would have some (probably minor) effect on the temperature of the pan as well, if it's correct.

'Course it also depends what's in the salad. And in certain climates, an emulsion with bacon fat isn't a practical proposition in the first place... When it's a simple green salad (a single variety of lettuce) with a classic vinaigrette, my taste falls in at the "very little vinegar" end of the spectrum, relative to either 1:3 or 1:5. I think people who quote ratios are aiming at scientifically pure emulsions, but in the kitchen I want to eat my food, not paint it. I suspect that's about right. Getting the balance of flavors right is much more important than the stablest emulsion possible. BTW, chop some bacon, fry it crisp, remove to drain, wilt some dark greens in the drippings, set the greens aside, then give the drippings a generous shot of vinegar, a little prepared mustard and a generous amount of pepper. Mix it up, scraping the pan until the drippings emulsify and toss everything together with some croutons and blue cheese. Bachelor cuisine at its best.

I was taught 5:1 "good" olive oil:vinegar (and the joke about being a spendthrift with the oil and a miser with the vinegar), except for balsamic vinegar, when the ratio should be 3:1. Now you have me wondering if one should vary the ratio according to the oil being used as well. Bacon fat emulsions seem to soak up quite a bit of vinegar before achieving the desirable tanginess for a vinaigrette, for example.

dcarch, fantastic presentation as usual. mgaretz, beautiful ribs. Keith_W, everything looks excellent, can't decide if I'd rather have the steak or the lamb.

Tuna noodle casserole and this one dish (can't remember the name) that's basically tuna, white sauce and sliced green olives, with maybe some canned green peas, generously peppered and served over toast. Yeah I must've lived in a trailer park in a past life. (Also I think both of those dishes are better with chicken).

Tests like this really ought to be done double-blind.

Here is a somewhat longer thread about this gadget.

Best. Squid. EVER. (And I like sqid!)

I'm kidding, of course. I suspect the recipes linked in your original post are a rough approximation of the actual competition chilis, which use the somewhat more skill- and labor- intensive fresh broth, toasted and freshly ground spices, and probably a "secret ingredient" or two to make them competition-worthy. That's pure speculation on my part so take it with as much salt as you want.

I forgot to add: Those recipes are probably not the precise ones used in the actual competition. Competitive chili is, well, competitive, and people guard their "secrets" with as much care as champion BBQ cooks guard theirs.

I should know better than to post this, but... Chili -does- belong to a different world of cooking to the stuff we (usually) talk about on eGullet. Like casserole, the dish itself resists overrefinement. (I think Heston Blumenthal made a mess of it in that sense with his perfect chili. We made his recipe once, going to great trouble to procure the Indian chiles he used. The dish was good, but it was not chili). Then, there's an ugly strain of reverse elitism that pervades popular culture in the USA. Chili has been embraced by righteous Real Americans as their native cuisine and any attempt to to tart it up with duck broth, freshly ground exotic spices and Kobe beef or whatever will produce hoots of derision from the crowd as an attempt to turn their patriotic, gun toting, Confederate flag flying dish into liberal heathen ethnic frenchified haute cuisine *spits*. For the record I like pouring it into a bag of Fritos and my brother was local champion for a couple of years.

Thread necromancy! Started watching this last night, starting with the Medieval episode. I really like the idea of using the techniques and equipment of modernist cuisine (or whatever we're calling it this week) with obsolete recipes, and I've enjoyed Heston's (Sir Heston's? Mr. Blumenthal's? Chef Blumenthal's?) In Search of Perfection and Kitchen Chemistry. I think inviting a bunch of B-list UK slebs who are (probably) unprepared to appreciate the food wasn't the wisest choice. About this episode in particular, the pigeon pies looked doable (if difficult, at least for me), and the dessert was the cleverest bit. The guests' reaction to the lamprey was the most cringe-worthy moment in the show. (In comparison, the Latvian fishermen came out looking good - so did the football fans who tried the pigeon pie).

I love Sandra Lee. She makes everyone else look so good in comparison. On-topic, ScoopKW already said everything I'd want to say.

And, getting the same results from blending the sugar with hot water and heating it very slowly to a boil and allowing to simmer. I'm almost sure it's something in the sugar now.

And it is (slightly) caramel. You guys are going to think this is weird but this could work with a dark rum.

Would it taste like caramel if that was the issue? I'll taste it when I get home and report.

Again with the tan syrup thing. I tried a rolling boil for a good 15 minutes and it didn't clear. The sugar is refined bulk from the restaurant supply market (very cheap). Is it possible they're selling something that's not quite completely refined? Using tap water from the cold tap (local water is hard), hard anodized aluminum pot, stainless steel tools.