dcarch

Actually #2 Option. Based on the calculation above, it is not very possible to do the job right with Option #1 to remove that much BTUs from 100 liters of boiling soup. Besides, the labor involve in freezing, cleaning, stirring with ice wands may take hours, every time you make soup, year after year. Option#2 a. requires no work, just flip a switch. b. by principle, refrigeration compressor works most efficiently the hotter it is. c. It is very important to guarantee safe temperature to be reached in the shortest possible time with the minimum tools required. A compressor refrigeration system can do that. d. The heat removed will always be in a well ventilated kitchen, a kitchen which can produce 100 L of soup regularly. e. No need for running water. Compressor is air cooled. f. Less power use. It takes more power to freeze the ice wands for the same amount of BTUs to be removed. e. Actually the mechanical work to create the system is not difficult or expensive. As a matter of fact, I have done it myself. I used an old air conditioner and soldered some length of copper tubing ($35.00) on the expansion side, Got a $5.00 refrigerant tab, and a can of $13.00 refrigerant from an auto parts supply store to recharge the compressor, the system works great. dcarch

Guys, a quick tip, if you had not realize this already. Trim the thick fat cap off, cut in small pieces and fry to render the fat out. The remaining "cracklings" are more delicious than bacon. Try it!

I was thinking about the same thing, actually the same principle as a wort chiller, if this is to be done regularly. It is not that difficult or expensive to get a refrigeration compressor and have a refrigeration shop hook it to a wort chiller. Using a slow paint stirrer, this can be done very efficiently to get the soup down to below safe temperature quickly without much work. dcarch

I see your problem. I am not sure if I am thinking correctly, (also apologizing for non-metric thinking). 100 L = 220 lbs. 220 lbs of water at 212 F, minus 40 F, comes to 37840 BTUs of heat. It takes 144 BTUs to melt one pound of ice. So, it will take 262 lbs of 32 F ice to cool down 100 L of water from 212 F to 40F? dcarch

Why don't you give this a try: 100 L is a lot of soup to chill. I am assuming that you still want very hot soup, just not burning hot. I am assuming also efficiency is important. Try boil a big pot of water, and use a small fan to blow on it. You may be surprised how quickly the boiling water cools down to what you need, may be 15 minutes. No work required. Assisted evaporation is very effective. dcarch

Pathmark - corned beef $1.78 a lb, cabbage $0.17 a lb. Shoprite - corned beef $1.99 a lb, cabbage $0.17 a lb. Stop&Shop - Corned beef $1.79 a lb, Cabbage $0.19 a lb (last year $0.07 each!) A&P - corned beef $1.99 a lb, cabbage $0.17 a lb. I will be clearing the freezer. No way I will be making my own. dcarch

Every time I try to make my own corned beef, corned beef goes on sale for $1.77 a lb, and brisket at $4.75 a lb. dcarch

I don't know if the glue for bamboo kitchen use is food safe. But I don't feel it is of environmental concern. Plywood, particle board, furniture, ------------------ etc. use glue billions and billions times more than the few kitchen tools. Bamboo has to be glued because bamboo plant is a tube, not solid lumber. Bamboo is extremely durable, with tensile strength like steel and does not rot easily. Bamboo is extremely fast growing, you can actually sit in front of a bamboo plant and see it grow. And bamboo shoots are delicious :-) dcarch

Yes, I do have a habit of "If it ain't broke, fix it anyway" LOL! Actually I do the same as you when I just need a couple of slices for myself. This method is to revive a good size frozen loaf for dinner for a few people. Comes out almost like just freshly baked. dcarch

Bread has two parts; soft interior and crispy crust. Soft interior needs moisture and heat to soften, and the crust needs high dry heat to get crispy. So how do you reconstitute frozen bread? Here is what I do: Use a thin ceramic tile to cover each open end of the loaf and bake in a toaster oven. The high heat crisps up the crust and drives the steam into the interior. The ceramic tiles insulate the high heat, trap the steam to moisten, soften and to gently heat the interior. Seems to work very well for me. Give it a try and let me know if you get the same result. dcarch

I know of one Building inspector whose previous job was a carpet salesman. No formal training in anything related to his current job. 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