dcarch

Haha! you are trying to trick me? :-) All matter has gravitational force. Therfore the force required to pull two glass plates apart in vaccum depends on their masses. dcarch

I rounded it off. Atmospheric pressure (sea level) is 14.696 psi, less if you are on high altitude. That will be a function of water's tensile strength, which I don't know; how much force is required to stretch and break water. The fact is you need no power to separate the glass in vaccum. Water boils and expand very quickly in vacuum. dcarch

If you have two glass plates of 5" x 5" together with a drop of water in between, it will take about 350 lbs of force to overcome air pressure. However, according to the law of physics, it will take no force to work perpenicular against another force, therefore to get the glass plates apart, you just slide the glass plates away from each other. Water is a good lubricant. The glass plates act almost the same as suction cups in principle. As a matter of fact, if you use two optical flat glass plates that are absolutely clean, you don't even need water in between. dcarch Air pressure experiement

I don't see any analogy between sticking two pieces of glass together with a drop of water and slicing a watermelon. With the glass you are exerting a totally different pressure (up and down) than with the back and forth effort with a knife. Non stick has noting to do with it. serration does. The original poster asks "Could nonstick coatings on knives possibly be a good idea?" and not just about watermelon cutting. Food clinging to knife blades while cutting is very annoying. Kuhn Rikon and other makers of non-stick coated knives claim, “Nonstick coating keeps food from clinging to the blade” Which I think is not completely true. Atmospheric pressure is what mostly keeping food adhere to the blade, that’s why you see knives with holes in the blade body and Granton edge flute designs on both sides of the blade (dimples). These features are to minimize atmospheric pressure. dcarch

Do you remember Physics 101? You put two small flat pieces of glass with a drop of water in between. Due to atmospheric pressure, you will not be able to pull it apart. What keeps food on the blade is mostly atmospheric pressure, not friction, therefore non-stick does not do much. dcarch

1. Whiting - has the most delicate texture and flavor, like eating crabs. 2. Skate - wonderful. 3. The absolute best - go to a Chinese restaurant, pick a live one from the tank. Steamed with plenty of garlic, ginger, soy and scallions. dcarch

Franci - Wow! Very beautiful dishes, especially the Homemade orecchiette with mushrooms. C. sapidus - Spaghetti carbonara, yummy! rarerollingobject - Grilled asparagus wrapped in wagyu, with spring onions and enoki mushrooms. Amazing recipe, and superbly done. FrogPrincesse - Lovely asparagus wrapped in crispy Parma ham, poached egg, and crostini with homemade whole-milk ricotta! Asparagus! Asparagus! I want some asparagus! patrickamory – Thank you very much. Dejah – Your shitaki mushroom, ground pork balls, and tofu in chicken stock soup is my favorite kind of soup. I like mine with a few drops of seasme oil. ---------------- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - OK, I got myself some asparagus also. Just plain sauted. and Roasted pork, roasted stuffed mini belt peppers and pan fried skin-on potatoes. dcarch

I have done ribs many times. I have even done a whole 18-lb frozen turkey that way. Worked great. dcarch

It will be possible. Start out with a tire pump, which is also a vacuum pump, that's about $20.00. A heat sealer, $20.00? A box with seal and a clear top, $30.00? Switches, valves, etc. $15.00? dcarch

Try using a cleaver to chop the beef, not grind with a grinder. You will get a different texture. dcarch

Panaderia Canadiense - Tilapia poached in sweet and sour Reina Claudia sauce, what a delicious recipe! FrogPrincesse - Salmon fillet wrapped in Parma ham, Another way of doing surf & turf. SobaAddict70 – All those are fine-looking and healthy dishes. Mm84321 – very pretty. C. sapidus – Perfectly done grilled chicken and beautifuilly photographed, everything. Shelby – I agree, nice bread for St. Pat’s Day. Kayb – nice comfort food. Paul Bacino – You made my favorite food, cold smoked salmon! patrickamory – I can smell the wonderful aroma of your chicken with preserved lemons. kryptos1 – congratulation on you first sous vide. ChrisTaylor - The foie gras hamburger? You mean The foie gras BURGER, I think. :-) David Ross – Your Grilled Prawns with Shrimp Toast, Sweet and Sour Vinaigrette is restaurant ready. Your Duck Pastrami is magazine ready. ScottyBoy – Absolutely perfect Mac & Cheese. robirdstx - Stacked Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas looks amazing. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - My St Pat’s Day dishes. I recommend you try sous vided corned beef. It will make you want to celebrate St. Pat’s Day everyday. Dessert is blue berries with pistachio cream. Dcarch

You spent a lot of time to come up with a truly great design, the next day, everyone will have a copy of your design. How do you protect your work? There are not too many knife design ideas which can be patentable. dcarch

For sure you will need to find out how you can sharpen it, if you don't have a special tool. I would re-grind the edge and make it into a paring knife. It is good steel Shun uses. dcarch

I don't see much need to design the shape of the handles of knives. billions of dollars of design time have already been spent by knife companies. One thing that no one seemed to have dealt with: Kitchen counters are basically one standard height, but people come in all lengths. The angle of the blades may be should be variable for tall or short people. dcarch

Thanks. Not as much work as Coffee jelly and sauce with yuzu whipped cream. dcarch

I have been traveling for a few days. There have been a ton of great cooking by everyone. I feel selfish looking for inspiration from everyone's good work and not letting you know how impressed I am. Back in the kitchen. Birshire pork ravioli in chanterelle mushroom gravy. Real wild rice (harvested the traditional way) with chestnuts. Strawberries with cream cheese. dcarch

Chicken gizzards and turkey necks make very flavorful stock, and they are inexpensive. My secrete for making chicken stock: 1. Go to Chinatown and buy a free-range old (senior citizen) whole chicken. It comes with head and feet. Old chickens are what they use to make stock. 2. Add a couple of turkey necks and put all in a pot. 3. Put pot inside a pressure cooker. ADD NO WATER in the chicken pot. 4. Cook for about an hour. You will get about two cups of what I call “super stock”. Absolute amazing pure flavor liquid gold. After that, you add water to the pot and cook again and you will get your regular chicken stock. dcarch

Beautiful board! Are you using one side only? I use oneside for meats and one side for veggies. For those of you who have wood cutting boards, you can get a carbide wood planer blade/knife as a scraper. makes cleaning and flattening the surface much easier. dcarch

I am traveling and using someone's computer. Can't write much. Nice kitchen. How did you take that picture? On a helicopter? dcarch

Long before Modernist and Molecular Gastronomy, as little kids, we succeeded in a high-tech sausage cooking method: We inserted a nail at each end of a sausage, wired the nails to an electrical cord and plug the sausage into an outlet. In no time, the sausage was done. dcarch

"---But I've tried them and just don't like 'em. --" I take it you don't like chicken either. dcarch

Mind boggling blog! Thanks for taking the time. dcarch

In NYC, food quality from China has been going down hill gradually the past few years, and prices are going up. As living standard is rising in China, the quality stuff is being demanded by the Chinese population. I saw a report on ABC a couple of days ago, showing a massive high-tech factory making quality items for Apple Computer. China will be focusing less and less into low-tech industries. I met a fellow from China here in NYC, he was in the USA to negotiate to buy up the entire supply of Wagyu beef to import into China. dcarch

amkr, welcome. Looks like you have done some cooking before, :-). Scottyboy, sous vide fried wings, very interesting concept. SobaAddict70, beautiful plating! Kim, I agree, those onion rings (and the shrimps) look positively additive. Those Sausage rolls and mini quiche Lorraine will get you back to good health in no time. BTW, the sauce on my lamb chop dish is mushroom sauce. robirdstx , beautiful photos of Petite Crab Cakes and Grilled Asparagus and bean soup. C. sapidus, Filetes de pescado a la Campechana looks delicious and healthy. Franci, I am always amazed by your gastronomic diversity. FrogPrincesse, lovely tagliatelle. Paul Bacino, Paully's Ceviche with Pomegranates makes me think of spring is coming. Keith_W, Thank you. Your Chicken Tikka Masala looks better than what I have been making. I will have to try your way some time. rarerollingobject, Grilled asparagus on snapper with pistachio aillade, what a nice combination! -------------------------------------------- For Mardi Gras, not having enough ingredients for Gumbo or Jambalaya, so I made Gumbolaya. ;-) Blackened catfish Dirty Rice dcarch

"---Thanks for the podcast. He brings up a very good point that I didn't think about with the ice balls being very wet when taken from the press. --" Not really. The pressure from the weight heats and melts the ice. The moment the pressure is removed the ice re-freezes. That's whole reason/physics why you can skate on ice. Remember Physisc 101? The wire goes thru the block of ice without breaking the ice? dcarch