dcarch

"----Halogen lights would certainly work as a heat source. Even a bunch of incandescent ones would work. Longevity is questionable due to carbon buildup on the outside of the bulb (and potential hot-spotting). However, the advantage to using an electric burner is that you can easily smoke using wood chips." Once you step down the voltage, the temperature on the quartz jacket becomes significantly lower and carbon hot spots will not be a problem. I have used halogen bulbs that way for a bread proofing set up for many years. Never had to replace a bulb yet. True the bulbs are not meant to generate smoke. they are only used to maintain temperature. BTW, another option to cool the relay is to use surplus heat pipe heat sinks for laptops. They are very cheap. You may know, heat pipe can conduct a lot of BTUs. dcarch

HowardLi, for heating of your "smoker", you can consider this: Use high-wattage halogen light bulbs hooked up in series, or in series with a diode (to cut out half of the AC current). A halogen bulb operating at reduced voltage will last forever. It is a great source of infrared (100% efficient). In a reflective smoker environment, the heat will be distributed very evenly. An insulated smoker (1" thick rigid foam) may be OK with less than 300 watts of heating to maintain operating temperature. Can be less than 50 Watts if no air leaks. dcarch

Thanks Kim. I just saw Steven Raichlen making Juicy Lucy on PBS TV. Yours look better than his. BTW, to all, the creamed Corn looked so yellow because there were four egg yolks in it. The egg whites were in the crab cakes. Deus Mortus, thank you. For normal everyday cooking dishes, taking pictures should be quick and easy. You don't want the dishes to get cold. I just use one very bright Daylight CFL bulb with a white reflector and snap away. A few seconds of work. dcarch

I noticed the probe cables are very close to the power lines. You can do this if you feel like it to improve. If you twist the cables one way and then counter twist the other way same number of turns, the induced noise will tend to cancel itself out. dcarch

Very nice work. Very professional. Questions: Should the heat sink for the solid state relay be truned around for better sir circulation? Should the heat sink be somewhat further away from the controller electronics? dcarch

Thank you kayb. How long? It depends on how much rind, what power your microwave, and what temperature the rind is when you start. I think you can try setting at 1/2 power for 5 minutes and try again if it's not soft enough for you. The sauce was just chicken broth, pepper, and salt. Just want to point out, don't throw the rest of the watermelon away after you use the rind. The red flesh is edible too. dcarch

dcarch - I am intrigued by the watermelon rind stir fry. Was that just ordinary fresh watermelon rind - the white with a touch of the red flesh? Can you describe how you stir fried it? Is it more of a texture item that carries the flavors added to the wok or does it retain that bit of cucumber like sweetness I associate with watermelon? An innovative use for an item I usually toss in the bin seems like a great idea. heidih, It is too bad that watermelon rind is not used more often. It is a wonderful vegetable. The part that is closest to the skin (you peel the skin off with a peeler) can be a little tough and needs to be cooked a little longer. But I take the easy way out by microwave it first before the stir frying. The flavor can be sweet, depends how much red flesh you include, otherwise the taste reminds me remotely of cucumber also. dcarch

C. sapidus, your beautful creamy corn soup gave me the urge to make my creamy corn dish. nickrey, amazing steak with perfect grill marks. Your sous vide pork inspired me. I have one in the bath now. Panaderia Canadiense, riccotta gnocchi, on a plate that coordinates with the table cloth, very pleasant atmosphere. Rico, are you telling me that the Chinese takeout didn’t have fresh made vanilla-almond peach pie.? :-) Genkinaonna, beautifully plated Ricotta gnocchi. Kim, Grilled cheese with bacon! How about a recipe and step-by-step instructions? (kidding!) BTW, all your photos are very nice. percyn, Roasted Chicken, Israeli Couscous, and Asparagus make a delicious dinner and a very balanced meal. Kayb, Grilled tilapia, mac and cheese, fresh tomatos, fresh sugar snap peas; you are using all my favorite ingredients. ChrisTaylor, I had Roast rack of pork a few days ago. I think yours looked better than mine. nikkib, wonderful parade of very healthy eating. rarerollingobject, even you are not a vegetarian, but you sure are masterful with the greens (and the reds. Love the beets) ------------------------------------------------------ For dinner, it was stir fried watermelon rind with lean turkey meatballs And Crab cakes on creamy corn, tomatoes and asparagus Dcarch

I think live carps have been available in Chinese stores for ages. Go to any Chinese store where they have fish tanks. Fried, steamed stuffed carps are great. Also great for fish balls. dcarch

"-----Please tell; how in the WORLD did you get those gorgeous "grill marks" on that steak? Do you have a branding iron, or did you do it freehand or what? Inquiring minds want to know! ---" Judiu, I was able to find a cast iron grill with that design. I can't understand why grills have to be so boring. It is not expensive to make grills different. dcarch

"-----What do you mean by pre-made cold cooked rice? Cooked rice and then stored in fridge overnight?---" Except in a restaurant, I think fried rice use mostly leftover rice. That's what I do. dcarch

Interestingly, if you turn a Chinese soup spoon over, you will notice the bottom has three small pebbles, those are to act as a spoon rest. Then you will notice two more pebbles on the back of the handle, those are there so that your hold of the spoon is more secure. dcarch http://ny-image1.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.239847017.jpg

There is science in that. According to thermodynamic law of "black body" theory, Heat tends to go from light color to darker color; therefore your body will give up heat to the black clothing. Then, the law also states the best heat absorber is also the best radiator, the black clothing will radiate energy from your body to the environment. Of course, if you are in the sun wearing black clothing, you will become a solar collector. dcarch

I use stock for fried rice, but for an entirely different reason. Mostly you use pre-made cold cooked rice from the refrigerator. The rice can get burnt or get tough on a very hot wok when you try to heat up a lot batch of rice. If you add a 1/4 cup of stock to the wok and cover the rice, you can heat up all the rice in a few seconds without burning the rice and without making the rice mushy. dcarch

Now I remember! Medical people always tell you that do not drink alcohol to keep warm in the winter. It is a big myth of that husky rescue dog with the wine barrel. Alcohol increases blood circulation to your skin and cools your whole body down. Cold beer!!!! dcarch

If you suck on and drink one pound of ice at 24 degrees F it will remove 215 BTUs from your body. dcarch

Thanks Blether. Your kitchen was a mess after the quake. dcarch

djyee100, Thank you for the asparagus bread inspiration. Genkinaonna, Fascinating food blog. Thank you for taking the time. Kim, missed your cooking. Nice steak with that fancy topping. C. sapidus, What a nice combination for your shrimp curry. rarerollingobject, Chinese-Japanese fusion of chicken breast, Veryimaginative and I know it tasted super. I Have duck liver in my freezer. I thinkl I may try your creation out. Dakki, WoW! That is one super Machito! (Nice knife, BTW). kayb, A classic surf and turf is made memorable by that balsamic truffle cream potatos. SobaAddict70, I always look forward to your wonderful plating skills. I was not disappointed. David Ross, You are making me angry. My order of morel mushrooms arrived yesterday completely rotten because of the warm weather. Blether, I am trying to picture how you were able to make those nice tandoori chickens in you kitchen. ---------------- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - My Memorial Day meal: Razor clam beet salad Kabocha squash, potatoes & mushrooms Grilled sous vide strip steak with roasted elephant garlic dcarch

There is a thread on how to make ribs moist. It got me thinking. What are we talking about? We all have heard plenty times, do this and do that, dip the meat in marinate, spray water on the meat, brush oil on the meat ------- and you can help made the meat moist and juicy. What in fact is going on? It seems to me that unless you burn the hell out of meat to evaporate the water in meat, there is not much you can do to change the water and protein composition. Of course, I am not talking about brining, pickling, or using tenderizer type of cooking methods. Aren’t we really talking about textural changes mostly? If you weight the meat before and after, can you actually increase the water in meat to make it more moist and juicier? If that’s in fact what we are talking about, wouldn’t it be true that it is mostly about temperature control and not what you put on the meat that would make the biggest difference? dcarch

While having a converation with your friends, "I am sorry to interupt you, but how's everything?" I automatically take off 2% from the tip. dcarch

Possible. Depending on the manufacturer. I don't have a brand in mind. I believe some restaurants use them and many hospitals use them. dcarch

All forms of filter impose restriction to air flow, all except electrostatic filters. It traps particle by electric charge. The only consideration is capacity. You need to find one with good enough CFM volume. BTW, once you have trapped lots of dust, grease, etc, you just take the filter out and put it in the dishwasher. Nothing new to buy. dcarch

There is a way. Use an electrostatic air cleaner nearby. An electrostatic cleaner will trap over 95% of air borne (smoke) particles. An electrostatic air cleaner with an activated charcoal filter can trap smell ( cigar) in the air as well. dcarch

My sous-vide setup Bread maker Pasta maker dcarch

Here is how I take the whole duck apart: Two more way to render duck fat: 1. Same a cooking bacon in a microwave. 2. After you pressure cook duck parts to make stock, all the fat goes to the surface. You get all the fat after you refrigerate the stock. dcarch