dcarch

"------Calling into doubt the honesty and integrity of public servants who provide such an important service to NYC isn't fair.---" Really? I guess you are lucky that you have never been given unfair traffic tickets and tried to fight one in court. dcarch

In a New York City environment, all the buildings are connected, plumbing, electrical lines, ventilation equipment etc. There is no way you can prevent infiltration of insects. With so much at stake, I guess operators will have no choice but to apply the most toxic poisons everywhere, 1000 times than what is enough, on all surfaces, all nooks and crannies. Who is going to tell? That's why I try not to eat out too often. dcarch

I will be visiting Brooklyn Museum tomorrow. May be my friends will take me to a place. dcarch

Not trying to be authentic Mardi Gras. Just trying to use whatever I had in the refrigerator and the pantry. dcarch ( Can't seem to get my pictures smaller! ) Mardi Gras Surf & Turf, New Orleans Shrimps and Blackened (sous vided, Actually) Beef Tenderloin Dirty Rice

Just look at that blissfully blistered pork rind!!! OMG!!! dcarch

Actually I found out there are many cultures where steamed bread is normal. There is no recipes really for steaming bread. You can steam any bread recipes. As a matter of fact, I think all bread inside are nothing more than steamed, only the outside is baked. Steaming has it's benefits. You cannot over steam, whereas you can over bake. You save energy by steaming. No heating up a large oven. You can steam a very small bread. dcarch

Just having some fun with dough. I needed some baguette for my smoked salmon. I found an old (many years old) packet of wine making yeast. So that's what I used. I felt that a baguette should be long, at least 24" long. I understand sometimes they can be almost 40" long. So I made one that is 27.5" long. It was very good. Then I used the same dough to make a pizza, a white clam sauce pizza, not bad at all. A few days ago, I was careless and burned the roof of my mouth. I wanted some bread, but the crust of bread would hurt my mouth. So I made a steamed bread with some leftover spinach smoothie. I think I will make this again sometime. dcarch

5.17% dryer, at least. dcarch

They taste exactly the same. I used the same seasoning in identical quantities. Just different mouth feel. dcarch

Last year, I did an experiment. Same slab of corned beef cut evenly into two equal weight pieces. One sous vided One pressure cooked. Sous vided one was 5.17% less shrinkage. (and fork tender). It also means if you sous vide, the meat is 5.17% cheaper. dcarch

Basquecook and Ann_t: I can't make up my mind which one I want for dinner, the wanton or the Agnolotti.. OK I will take both. :-) Anna N: Every one is making my favorite dishes. Beef stir fry and Broccoli is my favorite food pairing. Nickrey: Beautiful Sous vide halloumi . What temperature did you make it at? Blether: It must have been a couple of years since I made a Shepherd’s pie. You inspired me to want to make one soon. Kim: that Spaghetti Bolognese can go on any magazine cover. Jayt90: your pork dish was what inspired me to make mine. Steve Irby: spectacular Speckled butter beans soup. Robirdstx: I probably will have, one, two, three or more bowls of that Crawfish Etouffee . Franci: Very nice plating of beef shank with risotto. Mm84321: museum pieces, is all I can say. - - - - - - - - - - A few recent ones dcarch Sous vide leg of lamb Sous vide roasted pork Crispy pork skin from above Stuffed tofu

Not sealing your bags allows you to reuse bags again and again. You also save time not having to vacuum and seal. You can taste the food at some point to make sure it's good enough, if the bag is open. Or check temperature. I use a heavy stainless steel rod clamped to the bottom (outside) of the bag to weigh the bag down to displace all the air out without sealing the bag. dcarch

"Under Vacuum" and "under pressure" are such bad names for this kind of cooking, namely Sous Vide. First, there is never any vacuum or pressure created, regardless what kind of machine you use. The pressure inside, if you measure, is equal to normal atmosphere pressure outside. The purpose of "vacuuming" is no more than to remove as much air as possible so that the bag will not float, and for better thermal contact. dcarch

The paper towel doesn't suck up the liquid? That is the whole idea. Have the paper towel suck up the liquid and stop the liquid from getting into the machine. Also, sometime the oil in the liquid can make the seal unreliable. dcarch

Here is what I have done, assuming not a lot of liquid. Fold a sheet of paper towel into a strip. Place the strip in front of the food. Start vacuum. The paper towel will trap the liquid before the liquid gets to the machine. When you see the strip getting very wet, seal the bag. dcarch

I am in a argumentative mood. So deal with it. I don't think there is a lack of quality products, as a matter of fact I am thankful that we are in an age so overwhelmed with amazing sophisticated goods and services. Bear with me. Have you looked into what is in front of you? the computer monitor? There are may be 2 million pixels on the screen, each smaller than a speck of dusts. Each pixel actually has three chips (R,B,G), 3 x 2,000,000 = 6,000,000 devices. Each device is wired electrically to be controllable to varying degrees of brightness, and all of them must be perfect, or the screen is to be rejected. And what about the software written to run each of the devices separately to give you the nice picture? How do you do that without absolute quality control. How do you make a 256 GB (256,000,000,000 devices, each one can be turned on or off) flash drive that is the size of a thumbnail? For a given size of population, there is going to be smart people, ordinary people, and morons. When all the smart people and ordinary people are drafted to make high-tech items we enjoy every second of the day, there left only morons to make less important utensils. dcarch

Have you a Costco where you live? Their rotisserie chicken is heads and shoulders above any other I've ever tried. We asked once what they used as a rub and were told that the birds come already prepared for the rotiss. There is Costco, as well as all supermarkets within 15 minute from me. I can't eat their chickens because I sous vide my chickens first, then air dry the skin in the refrigerator, and finally rotisserie in my oven broiler. Sometimes I also smoke the chicken a little after sous vide. dcarch

"---we now have four distinct families of knives, with different materials, designs, intended markets, and associated techniques.----" Only four? ​A Chinese chef will never use any other style except a cleaver. There may be more cleavers in use than any other knife styles. dcarch

It is questionable to use hot water from the tap for cooking is because the hot water boiler tank (fiber glass, epoxy, etc.) may not be rated food safe, and the expansion tank can have a rubber bladder. dcarch

Here in the USA, all drinking water goes through copper pipes. dcarch

Corned beef is more expensive to make your own. I cannot eat store bought rotisserie chicken. Dry overcooked mushy meat. dcarch

We have good water in NYC, but I have a distiller to make about one gallon of distilled water each day for coffee and mixing drinks, etc. dcarch

I have seen videos of putting lot's of old cell phones and making cell phone smoothies. :-) But you can make hot soup using a Vitamix. The friction from high speed turning actually creates heat to cook the soup. dcarch

When I use my UV light, I use an extension cord so that i can turn it on/off from another room. dcarch

If the circulator uses PID control logic, that may confuse the self-tuning feature a little? dcarch