Jump to content

Varun Sheth

participating member
  • Posts

    16
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Varun Sheth

  1. Very interesting topic. Here are my observations; We have a relatively hot and humid climate in Mumbai, India (90F)and I constantly seem to have trouble having my avocados ripen evenly. One in two does not ripen properly or at all. When they do ripen they are sometimes black on the inside (oxidization?). Also I have noticed that the variety we get here is very fibrous versus when I was in New York i never noticed this. I have been typically ripening them at room temperature which can vary from 90-100F and the above inconsistencies are the end result. My vegetable supplier recommends that I put it in a box of uncooked rice to help speed up the ripening process but again the results have not been consistent. From what I have gathered on this thread and links posted it may not be ideal to harvest avocados in hot weather which could be one of the reasons for inconsistencies. Couple things that I will try however are letting it ripen in a cooler room, (keep my air condition running!) as well putting in the fridge for a few days and then ripening both at regular room temperature here and air con room temp
  2. TInCook I have 2 4 range burners (one with hot plate) with ovens underneath each of them. I could probably do without one of those and get my convection oven setup there; also this way it would be under the hood and I need not worry about exhaust. Will look into the Hobart ovens, definitely need one as I am not happy with these. Speed racks will definitely find a place once and if we start doing pastry.
  3. Thanks for the replies guys. I don't think the concept of renting a commercial kitchen exists in this part of the world and since I am already running a catering business out of the above space it would most likely clash with renting out to someone else. I sometimes just get a days notice for a small party order so its impossible to plan. Jeanne there is always a demand for cakes in and around my area though the egg-less kind are more popular. I was wondering if in the above setup I can do both (baking cakes and cooking for my catering as well). I can get my ovens removed and/or invest in a new convection which I don't have at the moment.
  4. Hey guys, I have a central kitchen (pics attached) which we use to cater for small parties (from 20 - 100 people). Final warming/ plating is done at the clients place. It has been about 7 months since I have started this business and I do about 8-10 orders a month and hence there is a lot of downtime. There are only two of us who do all the work as there is no need for additional staff at the moment. I understand that it will take awhile for our name to get out there but in the meantime I would like to perhaps do more in my kitchen and utilize the space I have to its maximum. I have been wondering if it is possible to make cakes/pastries/tarts and other sweet treats in the same kitchen where regular cooking is done. I can change my setup a bit and install a convection oven and get a few other pieces of equipment to do confectionery stuff. Does anyone have the experience of running both activities in the same space? Will the heat be a factor? We do have air - conditioning. My aim is to utilize my space in the best possible way. I feel confectionery would work as there is a good demand for cakes around our area. Do you have any other suggestions as to what I can do to expand my business? Hoping to get some good advice from experienced members.
  5. Teo thanks for being patient and giving such detailed replies. I am using Callebaut 811NV Dark Chocolate and it says on the label 53.8% as the minimum cocoa solids. What I need to be looking for is the % of Fat instead of this correct?
  6. Clear as mud is right...hehe I did read teonzos post again and understood what he was saying Say I am using a 100 gram bar of chocolate which has 34% cocoa butter which equals 34 grams. For this 34 grams I need to add 34 * 3 (approx) gms of water or juice or any other liquid which makes it roughly 100gms of water/ liquid. Is this correct? Thanks :-)
  7. Could someone please explain the above calculations.
  8. Hello! Does anyone have a recipe for a Hunan sauce that is going to be served with noodles? I want to make a large enough quantity for 20 people for dinner and my preference would be less veggies more sauce. I think about 2 quarts of sauce is what I am looking for. These are the ingredients I have in mind . Chilli Bean Paste Chilli Sauce Green Onions Ginger Garlic Soy sauce Rice Vinegar Stock or Water Cornstarch Pepper Red Chilies Sugar Sesame Oil Am I missing anything important? Will adding wine make it any better? Proportions of ingredients would be mighty helpful. Also can this be prepared a day in advance with the veggies in it? Gracias!
  9. I think the corn was not right, tried a few more kernels and they were not sweet at all some tasted just weird thanks
  10. Will try the stock but I don't think that is it because I just made it.
  11. Hey guys, I have made this soup a couple times before and its turned out fine. However this time there is a bitter after taste to the soup. I tried the corn kernels and they tasted fine. Here is how I made the soup: 1. Prepared stock 2. Sauteed onion, saffron in olive oil. Added rice to this. 3. Added Stock. Brought to a boil, till rice became tender. 4. Added corn kernels. Blended, strained and seasoned. Do you think this could be do with the corn itself? Is it common to have this bitter taste? Is there anyway I can get rid of it because I don't think it is very pleasant. Thanks. Happy Holidays!
  12. I tried two versions, one with no milk but egg yolk egg whites remained same and so did the sugar. The volume I achieved with this was very poor and the mousse was too dense and I had to put in effort to take a scoop of the mousse. What I will do next time is make it with half the milk from the original recipe as you suggested and the consistency would be much better. Second version was made with whipped cream and melted chocolate nothing else. This completely took away the rich chocolate flavor. However the consistency was spot on.
  13. Very informative post! Is tempereing eggs considered cooking them? Because I am pouring the hot milk and melted chocolate over my eggs. Sugar is not cooked yes. I whipped my whites to stiff peaks though there was some liquid present in the whites when I folded it into the above mixture. This is maybe overwhipping them. Perhaps as you have suggested I should reduce my quantity of milk by half to get a more stable mousse (this would make aeration % 33) or I can altogether omit the milk as it just dilutes the melted chocolate and then this would give me aeration % 40. Leaving the yolk in would give it that extra richness either way since there is no cream. I would prefer whipped egg whites over whipped cream as it is lighter and would last longer in the refrigerator than cream would. Advantage of cream would be that it would be eggless dessert and that sells from where I am. Should give both versions a try and report back with some pics. What say?
  14. Since the mousse is for an order I have and without any extra mousse I could not mess around with it much. When I tap the bowl it sort of wiggles like jelly and so I felt it is liquidy at the bottom. However when I put the back of a spoon rite at the bottom I was relieved to find that it was not liquidy at all. Should have taken a picture to show you. Next time I will try some agar agar or gelatin or as you suggested cream. Maybe if I reduce the milk by 50gms also it may make a difference. Thanks for the help
  15. Well when I did it in the espresso cups the last time around using the same recipe it almost set in a couple hours. It was close to the right mousse consistency. This time I feel it could probably have something to do with the mass as it is 8 times the quantity in a single bowl so maybe its taking longer to get chilled?? Maybe I am completely wrong and will not have to look for an eggless chocolate mousse recipe because no eggs around and its midnight here Am trying one batch in the freezer and checking every 20 mins to make sure it does not freeze, hoping that improves it. Thanks for your input. Looking for more suggestions.
  16. I have about 1.5kg (3 pounds) of chocolate mousse that I prepared today that has been sitting in the refrigerator for the past 7 hours. The top of the mousse seems to have set and looks like it has a good consistency. However underneath the surface it has not firmed up. Here is the recipe I used: 170g (6oz) dark chocolate (52% cocoa) 150ml (5fl oz) full-fat milk 1 egg yolk 4 egg whites 20g (3/4oz) powdered sugar I am quite sure that I followed the recipe correctly. Basically the milk was brought to a boil and added to the melted chocolate. I mixed the egg yolk with the milk and chocolate. Mixed a 3rd of the egg whites (whipped to firm peaks) and then folded in the rest. What I did differently this time around is instead of pouring into small cups I have put the entire mixture in one larger bowl so maybe it will take longer to set or so I am hoping atleast :-). Last time I put in espresso cups and the consistency was quite good (was not liquidy but not perfectly set either). Do you think that overnight it will set up a little more? If not what can I do to correct it because I cannot make it again (no time/ ingredients). Will it firm up if I put in the freezer for an hour? Hoping to get a reply that will calm me down a little! Thanks
×
×
  • Create New...