pbear

Today was Round 2 with the Searzall. (Wednesday is my cooking day for the week.) After a lot of back and forth, decided to spring for a TS8000 to see whether that would be significantly faster. The answer is yes, as in nearly twice as fast. Tested on (in each case, cooked by SV/LT): beef chuck (top blade), Italian sausage (New York brand), a banger (Whole Foods), a rack of lamb (TJ's), a short slab of pork spareribs (five bones), a bone-in chicken thigh and a small salmon fillet (lunch). The top blade was a particularly welcome outcome, as that's always fairly thin at my market (just under an inch) and difficult to brown well with a convection oven. The Searzall made quick work of it and left the interior pink. Indeed, the only clunker was the chicken thigh. With the TS8000, the Searzall scorched the skin without actually cooking it out. There's probably a way to manage this by dialing down the flame and/or using more distance, but I didn't have time for that today (nor did I have any more chicken thighs). BTW, I did try toasting a slice of bread. Not that I'd ever make toast this way. Just out of curiosity. On full power, it scorched rather quickly. By dialing down the flame, though, was able to get a more normal finish.

The best way to handle a high hydration dough, I find, is to work in a bowl using a stiff silicone spatula. Didn't invent the technique. Read about it here on eG, as a matter of fact, originally in the context of no-knead bread.

Elsie, that is indeed a beautiful loaf. As regards the holes, it's a matter of personal preference. What you get is mostly a function of how you manipulate the dough when forming the loaves. A light touch produces lots of holes. For a tight loaf without holes, you would knead the dough more firmly. In between, of course, produces an in between structure.

Heart is definitely like that. Another of the famous quick preparations is anticuchos (Peruvian).

Don't remember, as it's been a while since I did it that way. (Mostly use a hot convection oven these days.) But, bear in mind that's a different process. The trick with a naked torch is to keep it far enough away to avoid torch taste.

Pretty sure I'm doing the distance right, as I did a bunch of things one after the other and this was the only outlier. In light of your and Chris' experiences, I'm inclined to think it was the sausage.

Interesting. Just to confirm. This is apples to apples, right? That is, raw bratwurst cooked by SV/LT? Cuz a commercially cooked bratwurst would be an entirely different animal, so to speak. BTW, on review it occurs to me I neglected to mention which torch I'm using. It's the TS4000.

BTW, as regards the issue of using the Searzall with a hose, I come out somewhere in the middle. On the one hand, obviously, if one chooses to use a tool contrary to the manufacturer's specs, it's entirely on you to figure out a way to do that safely. On the other hand, having spent a couple hours using mine, this isn't rocket science. The problem is simple. The head gets very hot and stays so for about ten minutes. If I were inclined to use a hose, which I'm not, I'd want a reliable physical solution, e.g., a safe place to set down the head while it cools, not one which depends on care and diligence.

Got my unit over the weekend, but today was my first opportunity to put it through its paces (aside from a quick test drive out of the box for fun). Overall, I'm pleased with the device, but it's not quite the game changer I hoped it would be. On the plus side, and most importantly, it delivers on the promise of a good infrared heat source which doesn't produce torch taste. On the other hand, it's rather slow and requires a lot of manipulation to distribute heat evenly. For today's tests, I went to the market yesterday and grabbed an assortment of proteins: a small salmon fillet, a ribeye steak (prime), a pork chop (loin, boneless), a bratwurst, a chicken thigh (bone-in, skin-on), another chicken thigh (boneless, skinless), a chicken breast (boneless, skinless) and a bit of ground beef (1/3 lb, 85% lean). Also had in the fridge a 2-1/2 lb beef heart I had cooked low temp earlier in the week. Vacuum packed each of the proteins and cooked SV/LT by my usual method (in stages, not all at once); rethermed the beef heart to 120ºF. Working one piece at a time, pulled each and browned with the Searzall. The salmon, pork chop and chicken did best, albeit taking about four minutes per piece (except the salmon, which only took two as I browned only the top surface). All these are things I've found hard to brown by conventional means, including a naked torch. The bratwurst was a disappointment, taking eight minutes and still not truly browned. I'd rather cook that conventionally. The ground beef (made into a hamburger) was a little better, but a lot of fuss for what was, after all, just a hamburger. The ribeye did okay, but I still prefer one cooked conventionally. The beef heart did okay, but I can get the same result with a hot convection oven and a lot less effort. Bottom line, I'm glad to have the Searzall in my toolbox, but its utility for me is limited. It's wizard for delicate proteins, but only practical for small quantities. I can't imagine trying to do a dinner party for eight with one.

I've not posted in the thread because I didn't want to discourage folks from trying Mick's method, but now that the disappointments are coming in, I should like to point out the simple flour-and-water starter is rather tricky. Indeed, I've never been able make it work, including two attempts since reading about Mick's adventures. Nor are we alone. Debra Wink wrote an interesting article, later posted to The Fresh Loaf, reporting on similar experiences of folks on that board. Mind, I'm not endorsing the pineapple juice solution, as it hasn't worked for me either. Just noting that starting a starter is tricky.* Frankly, the simpler solution is to get an established culture from someone else or to buy one, e.g., from Sourdoughs International. * Incidentally, although I don't teach classes or have thirty clients, I used to do a lot of sourdough baking. The method by which I cultivated a starter then shall remain nameless, in part out of deference to Mick's desire that the thread stay focused on the flour-and-water method and in part because it's no less tricky. But I was able to replicate it over the past two weeks (simultaneous with the second trial mentioned above), which gives me confidence that my failures with flour-and-water weren't due to lack of skill, bad flour or poor water.

FWIW, I have and like the HB Rio, specifically the 32 oz stainless steel model. But, frankly, I liked the HB 909 better. It has a slightly less powerful motor (3/8 hp vs. 1/2 hp), but had a better vortex, it seemed to me. (I gave the 909 to my mother at some point and decided to upgrade on the replacement.) BTW, prices in the U.S for these blenders are about 1/3 what you're seeing in Portugal, See, e.g., Webstaurant for the 909, Rio 32 and Rio 44. I mention this mainly because you're asking for advice against a price point. Wanted you to know we're not really in a position to comment on that. ETA: Not that we're all in the U.S. But relatively few of us are in Portugal.

Waldorf salad. Which both looks festive and works brilliantly as a palate refresher.

Perhaps we're answering different questions. To me, the interesting one - and the one I thought the OP is posing - is whether there's an important difference in cooking meat by SV/LT in a sauce as opposed to adding the sauce later. My conclusion after many trials, admittedly not blind, is "no." If your experience is otherwise, fair enough. As I said, YMMV. On the other hand, if (as appears) you're just working from principles, I'll put my not-blind tests against your well-reasoned intuitions any day. In any event, I reject the notion that only blind tests may be used to develop recipes and cooking techniques. If I had to live by that rule, I wouldn't get much done. Rather, a good cook can draw valid conclusions without blind tests by employing a simple, healthy skepticism. Most science, in fact, proceeds in the same fashion. BTW, I'd appreciate a link to the EdX course you mention. I'm always interested in learning new things.

Actually, it doesn't matter whether there's some minimal penetration which can only be detected by washing off the sauce and trimming the surface of the meat. That's not how the dish is served. Marinades can work without penetrating for the same reason. BTW, I expected the opposite result, so this isn't a confirmation bias problem. And I will point out thought experiments stand considerably further down the scientific ladder from non-blind tests.

Well, there are other eggs, e.g., ducks and fish. But, yeah, it's mostly semantic padding.

I've done A/B tests on this question. My conclusion was that there was no advantage to cooking SV/LT in the sauce, i.e., that aside from salt the flavors didn't penetrate. But, it's an easy test to do and YMMV.

Bear in mind they're both varieties of the same species, Capsicum chinense, so there's no sharp dividing line between them. Meanwhile, chiles in general vary greatly depending on seed stock and growing conditions. Where are you located? Do you have access to good chiles at a farmer's market or are you limited to what's in mass distribution?

If by this you mean a heat gun, it can be done but I don't think it's worth the effort. We're talking over ten minutes to do a single pepper. At that point, I'd rather just use a convection toaster oven.

I don't think so, though the main reason I remove them is appearance, i.e., they tend to cloud up a sauce. But, goodness knows, there's no reason they need to be removed. They're in practically every meat dish cooked by conventional means.

Following Lisa's lead, this blog post seems to be the review she found. (At least, it's the only detailed one I could find.) Considering the price and the venue, I think the recipe probably is very simple. As it happens, I've done something similar recently, but rather than give you that recipe, I'll make by best guess at how to replicate Clifton's Emphasis on the word guess. First, prepare some buttered bread crumbs, say 4 tbsp plain dry with 1 tbsp melted butter. Second, prepare a "sauce." Beat 2 lg eggs with 1-1/2 c half-and-half (or milk); stir in 6 to 8 oz grated medium cheddar, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. No heat, just mix 'em together. Cook 1/2 lb macaroni (elbows or other small tubular shape) just barely al dente in salted boiling water; drain well; while still hot, stir into cheese mixture, then transfer to a lightly greased 2 qt baking dish (doubled, this will fit a 9 by 13 inch dish); sprinkle with buttered bread crumbs. Bake in 350º oven (no water bath) until firm and lightly browned, about 40 minutes (a bit longer for a double batch). The most important thing about this, I suspect, it gonna be the cheese. I'd be willing to bet large sums Clifton's isn't using a fancy cheddar. Rather, my hunch is that the right choice will be a mass-market cheese like Kraft or Tillamook, probably medium but maybe sharp. Not only are the flavors of these milder but, because of the production process, they melt more easily. Which, in turn, is probably critical to getting the texture right, defined here as close to Clifton's. Hope that helps. It's all just a SWAG, so feel free to modify in any way which makes sense to you.

All the serious torches will work, i.e., Iwatani butane, propane or propylene (Map Pro). (Have one of each as part of my search for the elusive perfect SV/LT finishing tool, which hopefully the Searzall will turn out to be.) The Iwatani takes longest and cooks the chiles a little bit. Propylene is ridiculously fast and cooks more-or-less none. Propane, of course, is in between.

One cool trick (so to speak) is to use a torch to roast peppers and other chiles. Blackens the skins almost instantly, with very little cooking of the chiles themselves.

First of all, it's not blood. It's stock, mostly water with various molecules dispersed in it, including myoglobin. In theory, you could use this to create an emulsified sauce, but that's not how we usually use it. Rather, heat the bag juices almost to boiling, which will eliminate the red color (which most people find creepy) and coagulate proteins, which can then be strained out. From there, prepare a sauce the same way you would for any meat.

That's encouraging, as being able to measure internal food temp (and monitor oven temp) would simplify the pasteurization guidelines considerably. Seems to me there should be a way to make this work, but there'd be a lot of trial-and-error, A/B tests and data collection before it would be ready for prime time. All of which, if it gets done, will be done by someone not me. I don't have a CSO and aren't likely to get one.

To do that, you need to use the off button. Stop works as DDF says, i.e., it seals the bag.