dcarch

"Where do fruit flies come from?" Fruit flies come from China, Mexico, Brazil, Italy --------------------------------- We buy fruits and vegetable from all countries. There are probably many varieties. What do you do with the flies under the cling wrap? Here is what I do: A container with some fruit scraps, tomato works the best. Every couple of hours quickly put a cover on and microwave for one to two minutes. Use the same scrap again and again, the older the better. In a couple of days you will trap and kill all the flies in your area. dcarch

I apologize if I offend anyone. This may just be my superstition, not backed up by any real science. I seem to remember that studies have shown that women's olfactory senses are better than men's. Those times I went with a female to go food shopping , I had been amazed that she always can pick out better items than I could. dcarch

I have complete flexibility in SV and smoking, and I have done things many different ways, depending on the food and recipes. My smoker is electric, PID temperature controlled, hot/refrigerated, convection smoke, cold smoke generator, as well as humidified. It is also an indoor 4.5 cubic feet smoker. dcarch

I am never in a good mood when I shop. I always get mad at people who insist on squeezing every mango, avocado and tomato whether they intend to buy or not. I think 45% of fruit spoilage is from people squeezing. You can see the dents on the fruits. I am paying a lot more because of fruit abusers. So I go alone. dcarch

Ashen, Thanks. I am happy with my little Calamansi/Calamondin tree in a pot, It looks nice in the house with lots of oranges on it. I am also happy with my Meyer lemon tree and Yuzu orange tree. They are all in 5 gallon pots. They all have nice fragrant flowers to make the house smell wonderful. I highly recommend everyone to have these dwarf citrus plants, great for cooking. The shrimps were air dried in the refrigerator, not brined. Nickrey, thanks. The look of the texture and color of the chops is a result of at least two factors. They were marinated in sauce, You can see the gradient from brownish to red near the bone because the bone prevents the penetration of the marinade. The other factor was I used a freshly sharpened razor sharp blade to slice the meat. After reading the “Sharpening” thread, I gave the knife a hair-splitting sharpening. The sharp edge gave the meat a different light reflectivity to the meat fibers. dcarch

Sweet potato looks nice in the garden, flowers like morning glory. Leaves are kind of expensive at a farmers market. Grows very well in the garden, if you can keep slugs out. dcarch

I think I didn't make myself clear. :-) Absolutely true if you use a belt sander. You will mess up a good blade. I was wondering about wiping a few times on abrasive paper which can cause high temperature microns thick. dcarch

I certainly would not dispute the expert in their finding that "The peak temps measured, walked up to 2000°C for split seconds in the very surface (some microns)." My question would be how does heat effects the metal when it is only microns thick. Is it possible that it actually enhances the hardness of the metal? The rapid cooling by the large high heat conductance of the metal underneath is like oil quenching hardening. I don't know if such incredibly small amount of heat can have any effect. It is like when you comb you hair with a plastic comb, you can actually generate a million volts of electricity. dcarch

D-2 is a tool steel, I think it can take a lot of heat abuse, These D steels retain their hardness up to a temperature of 425 °C (797 °F). I agree, at some point, heat changes metal quality. dcarch

I have a couple of blades made of D-2 steel, which I think is a good steel for someone like me, who doesn't treat knifes with tender loving care. D-2 is kind of a semi-stainless and is heat hardened, in other words, it is not easy to damaged the edge by overheating. dcarch

Thanks guys. Pandan leaves imbues a very nice grassy herby flavor to food. Not a overwhelmingly powerful flavor. Pandan is used often for rice, so it works well with the purple rice. The surprise was the combination of Pandan and sweet potato leaves. Sweet potato leaves have a mouth feel like spinach, and an after taste like artichokes, that pairs well with the pandan flavor in a very interesting way. dcarch

They look overcooked to me. Not temperature wise, but time. The texture seems to have deteriorated, and my guess is that it was in there more than three hours. Lamb loin chops were marinated for a few hours, then bagged and frozen. A few weeks later, the bag, frozen rock hard went into the SV cooker at 130F directly, no thawing. 3 hours later, seared and served. Exactly the way I like lamb loin chops done. 4 hours SV for lamb loin chops for most people, IMHO, is not overcooked. As a matter of fact, for food, there is no such thing as overcooked if someone else likes the food cooked in certain way. I have a big problem with people who make fun of others if they want their steak well done, with ketchup on top. But I do appreciate your comment, and I thank you. Going to pour myself a glass of Opus One, with ice cubes. :-) dcarch

When you put a drop of water on the stone, and the water disappears into the stone, that stone will need to be soaked. Otherwise not. dcarch

Something like Chinese broccoli? I have a meeting in Union Square area next week. Will try to find some. dcarch

I get many of my cooking ideas from the incredibly diverse creations on this forum. Thank you everyone. Very inspiring and motivating! Trying a few new ingredients. dcarch Sous vide lamb chops, Calamansi sauce from my little tree, on roasted peppers. Shrimps in Pandan (screwpine) leaf sauce, with purple rice on home grown sweet potato leaves.

Frequent sharpening might shorten the life of a knife by a small degree if done correctly but I would have to ask myself if I would rather have a dull knife outlive me or a very sharp knife that I may have to replace once in my lifetime I have seen knives' scales fall apart, blades bent, edges chipped, tips cracked off --- I have never seen knives' life shortened by regular sharpening. May be a chef's knife becomes a paring knife? Still a useful knife. I have a couple of good knives ($15 each) that I use for regular (abusive) cutting. As soon as they get dull, I take them down to my basement shop and 5 seconds each side on my 400 grit 4" belt sander, they will be very sharp for at least 2 to 3 months. Belt sander can take away a lot of metal. dcarch

You are begging the question here. If there is a single correct angle for any given knife, then the EP would be fine, though still insufficient for retaining cutting performance over time due to the issue of the lowest thinning bevel still being too steep, but since there is no correct angle along the blade of the knife, rather several angles at different areas, the concept of holding the "correct" angle isn't a feasible one. We must understand, 95% (may be 98%?) of the kitchen knife users do not need to sharpen their knives to the so called "correct angle", they only need to sharpen their knives better than they can if they were to do it by hand. For most of them, "several angles at different areas" on one single knife is not of much meaning. For many of them, it is perfectly reasonable to get a good knife (not a very good knife) and use one of those motorized grinder which can only grind at one angle, regardless of knife type. Those machines will kill a very good knife in just one use. dcarch

Agree. EP will increase longevity because it's automatic maintenance of correct angles. Very little metal will need to be removed if you always grind your knife at the same angle to get the knife sharp. By hand, you are always over and under the correct angle, and more metal will need to be removed. dcarch

I don't think you need to. Bamboo has been in use, untreated, in China for centuries to make river rafts, cooking utensils, construction materials, etc. The only time bamboo is treated is when it is used for furniture. dcarch

There are many stone fronted buildings in NY, and there are even more graffiti artists around. That is the professional method I have seen done. BTW, not all baby powders contain talc. dcarch

Why just rectangular marks? dcarch Strip steak, garlic scapes, couscous.

To avoid getting caught, there are probably many ways you can get around from the legal definition of "money" for food. as long as you don't use credit cards. The reporter probably is not much of a "Foodie". Cook with a vacuum machine? dcarch

I have sharp knives. I like to keep my knives sharp. For me I see no point in a kitchen to have scary sharp knives. The drag and suction of the food you are cutting as you are cutting makes the extra sharp edge not noticeable. The sharper the edge the faster it gets dulled and damaged. But I can see for many people, it feels good to have a blade that actually, and literally can split a hair. There are knife sharpeners in many farmers markets, for not much money, on a belt sander or a motorized stone, they get your kitchen knives very sharp in a few minutes and everyone is happy. dcarch

Caesarstone is 30% resin, and 70% stone. It is very durable and stain resistant, but being resin based, it can be stained by some substance. Stone, depends on the quarry, some can be porous. You an even get some stone commercially dyed to match your color scheme. dcarch

Go to a stone place and buy some sealant to seal the stone. It is very difficult to remove stain from stone, once it has been stained. dcarch