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andrewk512

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Posts posted by andrewk512

  1. On 3/15/2023 at 12:24 PM, sverreef said:

    Has anyone tried Dana Cree's toasted hay ice cream recipe from HMNIIC, or infused toasted hay to a different base recipe?

     

    I'm pretty sure I have a couple of small patches with timothy grass in my "garden", and the flavour of toasted hay sounds like it would be right up my alley. It will require quite a bit of work though, since I have to harvest and dry the hay myself to avoid any possible sources of contamination in commercially available hay, but it's very tempting to try...

    I've always wanted to try this recipe but have been unsure about how to source "hay" - does anyone without special garden grass just buy a bale of hay at the farm store?

  2. On 12/6/2022 at 9:08 AM, Mars said:

     

    I see! I might try mixing dextrose with maltodextrin then, which I now realise I was doing anyway with Messina recipes and other sources prior to learning and trialing Corvitto's recipes. Also, if maltodextrin is a product 20DE and below anyway it's probably an easy substitution for 21DE. Then I can go with Jo's option for 42DE as a middle-value to tinker with.

     

    Thanks, I'm feeling better now and less disoriented. 

     

     

    Thanks for the link! This is a much more reasonable price; assuming shipping to Australian isn't egregious.
    Edit: it is qPsrxJ5.png

     

    Just seeing this old post now but have you looked into drop shipping? We can get low DE atomized glucose for 14 CAD per kilo in Canada: https://www.qualifirst.com/food/sugar-sweeteners/glucose-powder-l

     

    In fact, according to Canada Post and my estimations I could ship it to you for about 25 CAD for a kilo (in addition to product cost). I am not sure what kind of trouble I'd run into mailing kilos of fine white powder across the world though

     

    Did you end up experimenting with maltodex? I've never been happy with it but curious as to your results

    • Like 1
  3. @sverreef your photos are convincing me now on the double spin technique, very smooth

     

    Re: quenelles, I believe the difference in this matter is that the Pacojet actually runs with a vacuum so no air is introduced. Ninja does not, and as you mention, other issue is the tolerance with the walls leaving walls icy. The price we pay for saving thousands of dollars 😛

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  4. On 1/13/2023 at 9:28 PM, Darienne said:

    Wasn't quite sure where to ask this question, but seeing as I have to buy the answer in Ontario, I decided to go this route.

     

    Poblanos.  A chile that we love and I use a lot of when I could get them, particularly for a Tex/Mex Chile Relleno casserole that I make.   And, of course, cut into rajas which I can add to other recipes like enchiladas and soups.  

     

    For a few years now, we've been able to buy Poblanos in Sobey's, but recently our local store has chosen not to stock them any more.  So now there are not available anywhere in Peterborough, our nearby city.  

     

    What pepper, available in Ontario grocery stores, would be suitable to use as a substitute?

     

    (Just occurred to me...I'm going to grow my own this coming summer if I can.  Richter's carries seeds and plug packs.  I'm not a gardener, but I can do this.)

    Poblanos in Ontario are a hit and miss, sometimes various groceries have them more often they do not.

     

    There are no good substitutes sadly. Only peppers I have ever seen here in groceries: bell pepper, shishito pepper, ghost pepper, habanero pepper, thai chilli pepper, poblano pepper, anaheim pepper, banana pepper. Bells/anaheim/banana have various substitution powers

    • Like 1
  5. Old thread but I am enjoying the new content.

     

    I like to do a partial blend of blanched then shocked mint leaves primarily for the nice color it adds. This past summer I tested 3 mint sorbets with different mints from my garden, so it was not too standardized. But I did one full  heat infusion, one full cold blend, and one at 3/4 infusion 1/4 blend. I appreciated the mix one the best. I do feel like color is an important component of flavor even if the infusion has a better extraction of the typical mint flavor. I've done this technique with basil as well and really enjoyed it.

     

    Has anyone used essential oils as flavoring? My main question is about the safety of essential oils that aren't the usual ones at the grocery store (orange, lemon etc.). While I'd like to use fresh ingredients, sometimes the essential oils open up the flavor palette to things that'd be more difficult to source (cedar, fir, bergamot). I have a douglas fir oil I'd consider using. I understand no one can really definitively comment on this, especially considering different manufacturers will produce it in different ways, and none are "food approved", but how do people feel about their usage? I first got this idea after seeing it done in The Fat Duck cookbook (although Heston I'm sure has access to far higher quality oils, or perhaps would make his own from a rotavap). There was a commercial food supplier here in Canada that was selling their own line of essential oils for about a year, which appeared to be thinly veiled as "ok for food use even though we won't say it", sadly I did not get to buy as many of these as I wanted before they discontinued the line, but this is where my douglas fir oil is from. I believe if you consume one of these oils and called poison control they would most likely just tell you to dilute with a ton of water and not worry too much (which is basically what you would do when adding a drop to a liter of ice cream), but I wonder about their long term safety

  6. 2 minutes ago, Mars said:

    I've currently got two batches of Lemon Thyme & Orange Blossom Honey in the fridge curing. One I blanched 1/4 in and cold-steeped the other 3/4 for 12 hours, the other I heated the milk with the lemon thyme in until it hit 82°C then took it off the heat for 30 minutes which is like what you've suggested here.

     

    I'll compare the two by tomorrow! As for the recipes, they are my two best I would say. Sharing's caring:
     

     

     

    Awesome, looking forward to trying, and to hear how the comparison works

     

    This is reminding me, I was looking into beeswax ice cream recently. The Nordic food lab had a post about how they did a combo of both cold and hot infusion. Hot to extract most of the flavors and cold to get a bit of the more volatile components. I ended up doing mine fully hot extracted (mostly cause I was lazy)

  7. I haven't done much interesting lately except this past week I did a pressure cooked hibiscus sorbet I am very happy with

     

    Pressure Cooked Hibiscus Sorbet

    • 25g dried hibiscus
    • 450g water
    • 150g sucrose
    • 40g atomized glucose
    • 22g inulin
    • 2g sorbet stabilizer
    • Pinch of salt

    The hibiscus and water are pressure cooked for 15 mins on high (I did it in a bowl set on a rack in the cooker). Everything then blended together for 60 seconds on max in the vita mix, strain, freeze, and process. There is a lot of air bubbles which didn't create a nice appearance so I ran it a few times through the vacuum sealer. Super intense hibiscus flavor with very smooth texture in the end.

     

    I want to translate the technique to other dried ingredients. When I am back at home I am thinking a pressure cooked black lime sorbet will be the next idea.

     

    I was showing someone how to make ice cream today on their Cuisinart Ice-30. Even when using a good recipe and technique the difference in the ice crystal size in what I am used to in the Ninja Creami and the product from the Ice-30 was night and day. I am not sure how the Creami compares to a compressor machine but this comparison really reaffirms my love for the Creami. However, it does highlight an issue with the creami and that is the air gaps it introduces. The ninja sort of whips a vortex through the center of the pint and then my quenelles often have little air gaps in them. I am thinking maybe moving the ice cream to a different pint and pressing it down to get all the air out for using might be my next move.

     

    Last month I took the creami to a friend's restaurant and we used it to process the sorbet course. While it was only a seating of 16 people, things worked quite well and I convinced him to buy one afterwards. 2 pints was plenty for 16 quenelles. He was also previously using an Ice-30

     

     

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  8. On 2/16/2023 at 5:05 PM, Mars said:

    I've learnt a lot from your comments around here @andrewk512. With this herb-infusion method, are you cold-steeping in the base and if so, for approximately how long? I stumbled into a 24-hour steep in the milk before making the rest of the base for my favourite flavour I make (Jasmine Tea Gelato), but I don't know if it's a necessary duration haha

    It was a hot steep, bring to near simmer and allow to sit off the heat (for maybe 30 minutes?) unfortunately I do not have the book at hand for a few days to check the exact time. I could see a jasmine cold infusion working well, but not sure how well a mint one would go (just translating my experiences with "water infusions"). You could probably just as well steep the jasmine in hot cream for 3-4 minutes. Would be interested in seeing your recipe for it (and the olive oil)

  9. Tonic Sorbet

     

    500g Canada Dry Tonic Water (other brands probably work fine)
    20g inulin
    95g sucrose
    20g glucose powder 30DE

     

    Blend, strain, freeze and process on lite

     

     

     

    Interesting, but not as good as my fruit sorbets as it didn't have as much body. I might try to add more sugar although this was the attempt with extra sugar added. Might be better as a popsicle or freezie. Still I could see it being a nice summer companion to some fruit/herbal elements

    20221127_194236.jpg

    • Like 2
  10. Lutron Caseta is certainly designed poorly (appearance and the numerous button presses required to dim) but the functioning is unparalleled. You won't find any consumer grade smart switches that come close to it. I am in the process of making all my non-motion switches to Lutron (about 80% of the way so far)

     

    You might have seen the nicer new gen 2 Lutron Caseta Diva, but that doesn't fix your pico remote issue. I haven't tried these gen 2 switches yet but was planning to try them out eventually. I do have some hesitation as to how the paddle function will work on them.

     

    I would fully embrace it

    • Like 1
  11. I would do a combination of 4" slim fit recessed lights and undercabinet leds. This provides a nice flat diffuse light that is good for cooking/evaluating food. The new recessed lights are also very cheap and easy to install, about 20CAD a piece, and 50CAD all in if you paid someone to install. They provide great coverage and a fair amount of lumens in a small format. Because they are so cheap, you can use a lot of them, and just cap the upper limit of your dimmer switch.

     

    I do have a few pendants for aesthetics but I almost never turn them on. The pendant fixtures these days, especially all the modern farmhouse designs. are quite bright and harsh. If I didn't want to sell my house in the future, I would do just recessed lights in their place, but this would require me to cut the ceiling boxes bigger so I will not do it. You are right though they really just get in the way and then you have to clean them.

     

    I use 5000k but I know that's not for everyone. Ideally I would use 4000k but it is very hard to find all lights in this color.

     

    6" is considered a bit outdated although I haven't tried them myself. I find the 4" provide a good brightness and coverage. Keep in mind though that Hue only carries 6" slim fit. Their 4" recessed light is a retrofit that requires cans.

     

    My ceilings are similar size to you.

    • Like 2
  12. 1 hour ago, lemniscate said:

     

    LOL, I'm sure she has not.   But, since she had asked me about it, I've investigated online recipes.   Doesn't sound like anything special until I looked at the ingredients of the Serendipity frrrozen mix(tm) and it says a blend of 14(!?!) gourmet cocoas.  yeesh.

     

    I have no idea what this, but from the ingredient list it looks like you take a standard philadelphia ice cream base, season it with powdered hot chocolate, stir in some cool whip/sweetened whipped cream and "semi sweet chocolate curls". Should be pretty straight forward to reverse engineer.

  13. 1 hour ago, dtremit said:

     

    If you zoom in on the product image  it appears that the new one has the ability to process either the top or bottom half of the container separately, which is kind of nice. It also appears to have a countdown timer, though I question its utility given it's a single digit!

     

    The drinkables don't appeal to me much (and my inner curmudgeon is irked by the words "creamiccino" and "slushi"). But I suppose if I were in the market for the first time, I might like the new one better.

     

    I just assumed that was a "how many quarters to process" indicator

    The fact its a timer is hilarious

    Does the ice cream take too long to process for people?

  14. 1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

     

    There's a new version?

    I get all my news from eGullet apparently

     

    Looks like power level is the same. Larger size is not for me, I live alone and like that the pints are so small that I can constantly try new things. Partial processing is very cool but probably not worth it for me.

     

    Would love to see this larger device be employed in some small restaurants though

     

    They advertise new functions but I am pretty sure you can do these functions in the original device. I have made a tequila slush in mine

    • Like 4
  15. I am working on a savory tomato sorbet, this is my second attempt. I have a lot of extra tomatoes in the garden to try a few things out. First attempt was too sweet, I had targeted around 13% sweetness because I was trying to get enough solids in for a creamy result. Another fail for the high solids ice creams, they make it too bland. This attempt goes to about 9% sweetness, using more inulin to make up for the lack of sugar. Texture was acceptable, but still a touch too sweet. I will take a look at Paul's strawberry sorbet recipe for more guidance on bringing the sweetness down further while maintaining adequate freezing point depression.

     

    500g pureed and strained cherry tomatoes

    21g inulin

    30g dextrose

    20g glucose syrup

    20220913_212811.jpg

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  16. On 9/11/2022 at 8:54 AM, jedovaty said:

    I'm still trying to get the oatmilk base down, getting close.

    Meantime, I don't think I like the mix-in button/feature, or I'm expecting too much non-uniformity.  Anything gets turned into crumbs or fully incorporated and completely uniform.  Oreo cookies are obliterated such that it's just base with cookie crumbs and every spoon has the exact same amount of cookie ctumbs.  Peanut butter chunks are fully smoothed out into the mix so it turns into pb ice cream.  I want chunks and random dispersement.  Better to mix by hand then? 

     

    I tried to mix in a rose gel which was a huge mistake because I ended up with it all blended into the ice cream and then the sweetness was too high (because I left the gel really sugary to keep it soft when frozen). Haven't tried any other mix ins yet. I think by hand might be better

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  17. Three new recipes for the Ninja Creami

     

    Apricot Sorbet
    500g lightly cooked* apricot flesh (I didn't bother to remove the skins)
    25g atomized glucose 
    100g sucrose
    citric and malic acid to taste

     

    Blend, strain and process.

     

    Peach Sorbet
    500g lightly cooked* peach flesh (skins removed)
    25g atomized glucose 
    100g sucrose
    citric and malic acid to taste

     

    Blend, strain and process.

     

    *Lightly cooking the fruit to 90C for 2 minutes will dramatically reduce the polyphenol oxidase enzymes which create browning and lead to off flavors. This can be done by bringing to boil in a pot, or sous vide (but make sure the ingredients inside have reached temperature before starting the timer)

    *This recipe will probably work for nectarines, but will not work for cherries

     

    Apricot kernel ice cream, adapted from HMNIIC

    **Consume at your own risk. consumption of apricot kernels in large amounts can lead to poisoning. I cannot confirm the safety of this recipe**

     

    Use the Blank Slate Philadelphia Ice Cream recipe at 66% of original weight. Use 50% of the recommended glucose or omit. After bringing the cream mixture up to temperature, add 25 roasted apricot kernels and allow to infuse for 30 minutes before straining out.

     

    ---


    Apricot and peach sorbets were perfect. The apricot kernel I would probably not do again, not worth it when almond would get a similar flavor with less effort and safety concerns. All 3 together were a bit too sweet, if I served them together again I'd cut back the sweetness or add an acidic component


     

    20220825_130828 (1).jpg

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  18. 1 minute ago, cdh said:

    I just did some rhubarb today as well... cup of sugar, 1.25 lb of rhubarb water to cover, brought to the boil then cooled.  Squeeze of lemon. Pinch of xanthan. Produced about 1.5 pints, so I topped up the second with frozen strawberries. Will post results tomorrow evening.   

    Nice, I did one similar to that earlier in the spring and was very happy with it!

    • Like 1
  19. 5 hours ago, DianaB said:

    We are delighted to announce that a Ninja Creami is a part of our kitchen!  3 x pint pots just waiting to be filled so that tomorrow we can test the results.

     

    As mentioned above, I have made a litre of my usual crème anglaise vanilla base, I had planned to split that between 2 of the pots, freeze one as it is so that we will have a starting point and do something a little more creative with the second.  My idea was to add some praline paste as a “mix in” for pot 2.  Having glanced through the little book that came with the machine I find that the nearest recipe to my basic vanilla is the Gelato.  I also find a warning against adding any kind of nut butter.  My praline paste is 60% hazelnuts and the rest is sugar.  I use it to make truffles at Christmas and while I appreciated that it isn’t the finest ingredient available it does make a nice truffle.  
     

    Has anyone tried adding praline paste to a NC spun treat?  Not sure what to call the results yet, perhaps a generic “ice” will do.  Would it be better to stir some praline into the processed “ice” by hand?  
     

    For the 3rd pot I’m going to read up-thread in hope of finding the recipe for grapefruit & Campari ice.  I love both grapefruit and the taste of Campari, just wondering if a touch of timut pepper might be overkill?

     

    Happy Days! 

     

    My guess is they don't want you to freeze and try and spin a whole pint of nut butter. I can't imagine an issue as a mix in

    • Like 1
  20. 45 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

     

    @andrewk512, can you explain (to an ice cream imbecile🙃) what you mean by ideal post-processing temp and post-processing target?  Are these calculated or measured values?

     

    How would you test this?  I've been trying to measure pre- and post-spin temps and cycle times on my batches. Pre-processing temps are at the whim of my freezer and have ranged between -7F to 3F and mixes vary. The longer cycles (sorbet, lite ice cream) result in temp increases ~ 15F, while the ice cream cycle, which is significantly shorter, increases the temp ~ 9 or 10F.  I have no way of assessing the Creami motor action but I concluded that longer cycle times result in greater temp increases. 

     

    Admittedly I am just following others' math and expertise. When I make a sorbet recipe I put the ingredients in the Ice Cream Calc app and it gives a "serving temp" calculation - this is the temp that which 75% of the water in the mixture is frozen. This is basically what I am targeting when I spin the dessert.

     

    What I have found, without any regimented testing, is that if I freeze my base in my -14C freezer or my -30C freezer that after I process it I am getting very similar temps. They are generally a few degrees below the calculated "serving temp". When I switch the "serving temp" such as making a snow that's expected to be around -6C or when I was doing -18C ice cream, I would still get a few degrees below the calculated temp.

    Good point about the cycle type though. I generally run all my sorbets on one setting and all my ice creams on another, and most of my ice creams are from HMNIIC and most of my sorbets are calculated in the Ice Cream Calc, so maybe that is why I didn't see that

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  21. 6 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

    I mixed up a batch of this and put it in the freezer to spin tomorrow. It seems quite salty and I wish I’d used less. 5.5g salt in a pint is a lot. There's a comment on YouTube that says it's disgustingly salty. I wouldn’t go quite that far. Cooled down to 25F and starting to freeze, I’d describe the flavor as salted caramel coffee. We'll see how it tastes after spinning.
    For comparison, the Hello, My Name is Ice Cream recipe for avocado-grapefruit sherbet that I made last week uses 2g salt/pint. I thought that was a lot but it doesn’t taste salty at all, just accents the savory notes of the avocado and tempers the bitterness of the grapefruit.  
    I’ll report back. 

     

    5.5g salt is hefty, seems like salt would become one of the labelled flavors at that point

     

    I made the popcorn ice cream in HMNIIC this week. Tasted a bit like kettle corn or caramel corn. I cheated and used microwaved popcorn. First process was powdery and so I tried processing again but got no improvement. I find when starchy things are blended in that I get this sort of texture - happened with a doughnut ice cream and with a koji ice cream. It was interesting, perhaps as part of a plated dessert, but not something I'd sit down to eat spoonfuls of. My gf felt it was waxy, maybe because of the blending in of the popcorn and then the multiple processings.

     

     

    Unrelated, regarding serving temps: this week's Cooking Issues briefly mentions the Ninja Creami at the end. Dave suggests you cannot make an ice cream in the Creami that has a post-processing temp of -18C because the blades would heat things up too much. My first ice creams in the Creami had ideal post-processing temp of -18C and came out fine. I think the key is to chill them in a deep freeze, their preprocessing temps were around -30 to -36C, achievable in my small cheap Costco deep freeze. Regardless, I am not sure this is a great idea anyway due to potential to wear out the Creami motor.

     

    I have this theory that actually the post-processing temp of a dessert in the Creami is more of an inherent function of the ice cream mix than the pre-processing temp and Creami motor action, but have not tested this thoroughly. I moved closer to a post-processing target of -13C after I found that ice creams at this temp had a longer freezer life, and on reading that warmer temps are more ideal for flavor release (and they require less solids added which would also affect flavor release). I enjoy ice cream even warmer at around -10 C but am not comfortable keeping my kitchen freezer this warm. I have a small third freezer in my basement that targets -10C which I keep ice creams in from time to time if I am serving a lot of people, the ice cream never stays in that freezer long term though - it functions a bit like a dipping cabinet.

     

     

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