oldwhiteguy

I have been using silicon carbide sandpaper to heat plates for about a year. No smoking, no scorching, no smell, no visible change other than a bit of curling, but admittedly, no FDA approval either. I do wipe the plates before using them.

I have also used a warm water bath (aka sous vide) to speed up the infusion process, but vacuum is not necessary. I put a tablespoon or so of black cardamom seeds in a pint mason jar, fill it 3/4 with vodka, screw cap on, place in shallow water bath at 70C or so (158F) for a few hours, then strain. Gold colour, with a very strong gin-like flavour. Goes cloudy when it cools. Makes an astounding gin&tonic. Haven't tried a martini. Too cheap to buy vermouth.

One can produce heat in a microwave for browning etc by using a "susceptor" such as the special foil-and-cardboard tray under a frozen pizza (yuk) which browns the crust, or the susceptor patch in the bottom of a popcorn bag which melts the "butter." I use a small piece of wet-or-dry silicon carbide sandpaper (the black abrasive, not grey or brown) between plates to warm them in my rarely-used microwave. Same principle.

To warm plates, I have been placing smallish sheets of wet-or-dry sandpaper between plates and microwaving them. The wet-or-dry sandpaper must have silicon carbide grit; that's the black stuff, not the grey or beige stuff, which is aluminum oxide. Some hardware stores carry only aluminum oxide. I use a couple of small pieces - about 6" dia, so as not to overheat the plate rims. For two plates, use two pieces together for about a minute. For four plates, use a piece between #1 and #2, and one between #3 and #4, for about 1 1/2 minutes. I have heavy plates. Experiment. A standard sheet of sandpaper is 9" x 11", so you can get three or four heating pads per sheet. Grit size seems to make little difference. I am using 360 grit. The only downside is that the sandpaper tends to curl after it is heated. Don't microwave the sandpaper by itself - it could catch fire. For geeks, silicon carbide (SiC) is a microwave absorber, or what is known as a susceptor. Susceptors (not SiC) are found in the paper on the bottom of microwave popcorn bags, and in the cardboard trays under frozen pizza, where they cause the crust to brown. A piece of this cardboard tray might also work as a plate warmer. I have never bought a frozen pizza, so I wouldn't know. I don't even like microwaves much, but mine was free.

I have a homemade PID controller that I have used for sous vide (with hot plate and stock pot) as well as for controlling the air temperature inside a box that I used for salting prosciutto outdoors. I didn't even reset the PID parameters or use autotune for the box, but it worked fine. I probably "should" have - the thermal inertia of a stock pot is many times that of a few cubic feet of air. Incidentally, when tuning a PID controller, most control technicians will re-set the D (derivative) parameter to zero because a PI controller is much more forgiving of significant changes in thermal inertia, or load, or heating capacity, or set-point. Derivative control is generally only included for very critical industrial applications (such as plastic extrusion equipment) where fast response is crucially important. To dcarch, yes, PID controllers are cheap, but mounting one in a project box, making the cutouts, assembling all the bits, power cords, wiring etc takes me an entire evening. I did have a controller burn out a couple of years ago; I had a spare, so I simply swapped it into my existing box. No need to have an entire spare assembly.

Drying rate is a function of both relative humidity (dryness) and temperature. (I'm an HVAC engineer) Relative humidity inside a fridge is determined by the design of the fridge, not by climate -unless the fridge is really leaky. The mobility of water inside the meat towards the surface is also much slower at low temperatures, hence the effectiveness of air-drying chicken (or prosciutto) at low temperatures. The idea with prosciutto is to keep the water activity of the surface low enough so that spoilage bacteria never have a chance. This is accomplishedby starting with salt, moist salt having a water activity of 75%, and then cool drying, and finally warmer drying. Traditionally, prosciutto was always started in January or February in Italy, long before refrigeration. I started my first prosciutto in May without refrigeration, and it continued to "sweat" long after it should have, so I had to prolong the salting. I also briefly got a bit of something slimy growing on the surface of the skin, which I was able to eliminate with a vinegar wash and more salt. In spite of my ignorance and incompetence, the prosciutto turned out fine.

Congrats on getting two more going. My understanding of the prosciutto process is that bacteria, mainly lactobacilli, are necessary to develop the characteristic flavour, and that enzymes in the meat tenderize it over time. I would describe the flavour as having a slight nip, a bit like old cheddar, as well as a nutty component. I am told there are many kinds of lactobacilli, which mainly ferment glucose and produce lactic acid, as in dill pickles, yogurt, sauerkraut, summer sausage, and sourdough. The lactobacilli can tolerate salt as well as a slightly dry surface, whereas these conditions discourage most other micro-organisms. The lactobacilli are supposed to get going while the slightly salty and partially dried prosciutto is hanging at room temperature or a bit cooler. The lard is applied later to prevent it from getting too dry. The bacteria and enzymes continue to do their thing after larding.

I started a prosciutto last May and another in June. And another two months ago. I think there's a name for this particular disorder. I 'opened' the first one last week (at 11 months) and the flavour is exceptional! A wee bit salty by prosciutto standards, but salt-free by ham standards, and more moist than I expected. It is very tender, with a nice nutty sweetness and a distinctive 'bite', and slight acidity, which I presume is mainly from the lactobaccilus fermentation. I started with a Berkshire leg, because I knew the flavour would be like pork used to taste fifty years ago i.e. like pork. At almost double the price, it's still cheap compared to finished prosciutto. There are lots of web sites dealing with how it's done, if not exactly how to do it. First, get a leg with shank attached (for hanging, and also to minimize exposed flesh) and with the aitch bone removed. Get your butcher to remove the aitch bone. It's part of the pelvis/pubic bone that includes the femur socket. It's a weird shape, and you can't see all of it, and if you try to remove it yourself, you will end up shredding the adjoining flesh, like I did the first time. It's important that the exposed flesh be relatively smooth and flat (and unshredded) to minimize the surface area so the ham won't absorb too much salt, and also to minimize crevices where undesirable molds and bacteria can get going. Trim off protruding bits. Place the ham, meat side up, in a pan that will fit in your fridge, supported off the bottom of the pan on a shallow rack. Cover the exposed flesh liberally with coarse salt. Use a bit on the skin. Keep replacing the salt daily as it dissolves and runs off. Siphon off the salty liquid in the pan. The salt is pre-drying the outer layer by osmosis, and also innoculating it against most nasties which don't do well in salt. The fridge prevents the salt from penetrating too quickly and the ham from drying too quickly and forming a crust. After a week, scrape off the salt and apply a fresh layer. I think this is to avoid bridging, where the salt in contact with the meat disappears, but the rest of the salt forms a crust that is locally separated from the meat by an air space. Repeat for another week. Some recipes say two weeks. So that is 2-3 weeks total of salting. Remove the ham, and brush off the salt. Pound the ham with a mallet etc, then roll it towards the big end with a rolling pin, both sides, to expel any blood from the femoral artery and femoral vein. Liquid in here can cause spoilage. This is sometimes done prior to salting. This also helps produce the flat mandolin shape,which facilitates carving. Leave the ham in the fridge, with only the salt that clings to the surface, for another six or eight weeks. (Or less, if you need your fridge.) It should not be sweating anymore during this stage, and the surface should feel only slightly damp. Wash the ham in warm water. Some say to rinse with white wine, but I'm cheap. Dry it off, and leave it in the fridge for a couple of daysto dry. Hang it by the ankle in a cool dryish well-ventilated place, 55-65F, 65% - 70% RH for four or five months. These conditions can be almost impossible to find, but they seem not to be an absolute requirement. This is the stage where the medium-dry, slightly salty ham picks up the desirable bacteria, notably but not exclusively lactobaccillus. I wrapped mine in window screen to deter mice and flies. After about seven months from the start, when the ham has lost about 25% of its original weight, cover the exposed flesh with a mixture of lard stiffened with flour and black pepper to halt further drying. Stash it in a basement to finish the cure. The bacteria will continue to work, enzymes will tenderize it, and the moisture concentrations will equalize. Leave it for another year, if you can. (18 months total)

I have been using a home-made sous vide "machine" for a couple of years - PID controller, thermocouple, relay, hot plate, stock pot - and no circulator. If I move the thermocouple around in the bath after the temperature has stabilized, I never see more than half a degree F variation, and generally much less. The only thing I cook that needs anywhere near this precision is Atlantic salmon, which I cook at 107F (41.7C), and even there, a don't notice what a difference a degree makes. I don't believe a circulator is important at all, except perhaps if the pot is very crowded. And I use ordinary zip-lock bags (which are food-grade), not vacuum bagging. I push the bottom part underwater to squeeze out most of the air, then seal. I use glass marbles as weights for anything that will float, such as mushrooms confit.