Daniel Duane

I smelled Timothy at the pet store, when I bought the alfalfa. seems to me it had a grassier aroma--less barnyard. Might be worth a shot.

I baked a chicken in hay last night--bed of hay in a dutch oven, chicken rubbed in hazelnut oil and seasoned, set in the hay, more hay on top, covered with lid, lid sealed with a quick flour/water dough. Everything was terrific except the hay I used: pet-store grade alfalfa. There was a barnyard quality to the alfalfa that I couldn't quite get past. Anybody have a better suggestion? I saw references to a French mountain hay, in a post discussing Bocuse's ham in hay. But I'm guessing this is not a readily available ingredient in the US. Other options? Western Timothy? Oat hay? What hay are people cooking with?

Thank you! Good thoughts both. I guess the space consideration is on my mind: the sous-vide supreme is pretty darn big, while the demi is far more manageable. But now I'm seeing the benefit of the extra water volume, vis-a-vis temperature stability.

I often have excess fish around--a function of curious fish-buying habits--and I always preserve it in salt. My go-to use for it, these days, is fish cakes--much like the aforementioned fried baccala. Works awfully well: poach the salt fish as usual, in milk/water, flake it into a bowl, and proceed as with any cod-cake recipe. Sensational!

I've been experimenting with the new, smaller water bath model from Sous Vide Supreme. It's called the Sous-Vide Supreme Demi and it's just about half the size of the Sous Vide Supreme. Works the same--which is to say, in my limited experience, quite well. So here's my question: the Sous-Vide Supreme Demi is plenty big for a couple big steaks, even for the big sirloin tip roast I've got in there right now. Can anybody help me think through why I'd want the full-sized Sous Vide Supreme? I'm a home cook, not a pro; I do love dinner parties, but they rarely run to more than 8 or 10 people. Am I missing something?

Yeah, so I've wondered about that--perhaps because I once heard Joey Altman (Bay Area chef) describe doing short ribs sous vide and then searing them just before serving. A best-of-both-worlds effect, I suppose.

Yeah, I guess this is what I was looking for, a way of thinking about that transformation. First the browning, then the braising ... in particular this very good point about the gravy ...

Looking for insight on something that troubles me: after dutifully flouring and browning meat for a braise, creating that gorgeous brown crust on all sides, I'm always a little saddened by how it softens up and even lightens up, in color, during the braising process. All that trouble, in creating a maillard surface, and then all that moisture, undoing it. And no, I don't completely submerge my meat in stock; nor do I completely cover the pot, while cooking. But still ... what am I doing wrong? What's the secret, here?

thanks, MaxH

interesting! I wondered about the warm setting. Any sense (MaxH?) of whether or not that would create additional food safety concerns?

Original poster here--having blown through all my confit in a week, now, I can report that it came out beautifully. Which is saying something, to my mind, given that I'd clearly overcooked it, by common standards. Eight hours, after all, at a "high" slow-cooker setting I've since learned to be around 240. I'm looking forward to trying again at the "low" setting, which I understand to be about 205, and perhaps I'll run a concurrent batch at 190, in the oven, in the interest of comparing the two.

thanks, Ray

good to hear. what setting/temperature/time?

noticing that Ruhlman's Charcuterie recommends cooking at only 180 degrees, and encourages storing in the fridge for up to 6 months, but does suggest finishing the 5-10 minutes in a 450-degree oven before serving.

our posts must've crossed each other in cyberspace--I love learning this kind of stuff. So, help me think about proper procedure going forward, with the current batch: each leg got a tablespoon of herb salt rubbed into it, and an overnight sit in the fridge, to let the salt draw out a little moisture, and to season the meat. Then every leg got rinsed and blotted dry, immersed in fat, and held at around 240 for 8 hours (which, frankly, pushed them a little past ideal tenderness). Now they're refrigerating while the fat cools separately, in the fridge, to allow all the moisture to separate from the fat. My plan was to then discard the moisture (or, rather, save it as a gel for soups), melt the fat, pour it back over the legs, and store in the fridge. better to freeze? or ... simply important to make sure each leg spends enough time in a 250 oven before serving?