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jrshaul

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Posts posted by jrshaul

    Nut butter buttercream?

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    I tried the following yesterday. You'll excuse the lack of pictures; the cake was basically inhaled.

    - Cook 5 egg whites to 150 sous vide with 310 grams of sugar for one hour.
    - Beat until stiff peaks. Or, in my case, you're worried of overheating the kitchenaid mixer.
    - Add 4oz room temperature salted butter and 8oz room temperature peanut butter. 

    It was good, but stll needs work. Does brown sugar work in meringues? And any advice on sous vide swiss meringues? 

    Nut butter buttercream?

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted · Edited by jrshaul (log)

    I have a peanut butter swiss meringue buttercream frosting / pie filling recipe that goes like this:

    1/2c butter
    1/2c creamy unsalted all-peanut PB
    3  egg whites
    2/3c granulated sugar
    1/2c brown sugar. (I use regular sugar for cake frosting.)

    Pulverize brown sugar to dust in blendar. Mix warm melted butter with PB and brown sugar; do NOT heat PB or it gets all grainy. Make swiss meringue with egg whites and sugar; fold together. 

    It's not bad, and as an improvement on the traditional Cool Whip PB fluff pies, it's a huge improvement. Compared to the Jif-butter-and-powdered-sugar "buttercreams" I've seen...well, it doesn't physically engage my gag reflex. But it's  too heavy for a pie and not quite smooth enough for either application. 

    I'd also like to do a pistachio or hazelnut version using whole pistachios and hazelnuts; raw pistachios are cheaper and easier to get as a consumer and they produce an excellent color. I was thinking just blend the pistachios, butter, and sugar in a blender, but I imagine there's a more clever option. 

    (Added bonus: Any thoughts on pasteurizing eggs sous vide for meringue? I can't get it to work; they're fine for mayonnaise but won't whip.)

    Cuisinart Combo Steam/Convection Oven (Part 3)

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    1 minute ago, KennethT said:

    For someone technically minded, it shouldn't be a difficult fix.  I doubt the logic control is bad - I'd assume it would either be the motor (easy to test) or the relay on the board that brings power to the motor.  That, or just a plain ol' bad connection somewhere...


    Does it use a relay? It's usually something solid state, which have an unfortunate habit of causing collateral damage when they go boom. SOP on audio equipment is to assume a dead transistor blew up adjacent components, too, but I'm not too clever with analog power electronics.

    The motor appears to be a shaded pole motor. In theory, I could wire it to the mains power bus and just use a toggle switch to turn it on and off.

    I can't afford another one, and it's broken anyway...

     

    • Like 1

    Infusions, Extractions & Tinctures at Home: The Topic (Part 2)

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    I appreciate  that I'm painfully late to the party here, but what's the verdict on sous vide vs. nitrous vs. simply waiting for different flavors? And for which materials?

    Also, has anyone tried a magnetic lab stirrer? I picked one up on eBay for $10.

    And is anyone using antioxidants like ascorbic acid or potassium sorbate to improve the shelf stability of their infusions?

    I've had great luck with oldschool lemoncello, but I feel like I could be doing this a lot more efficiently.

    Cuisinart Combo Steam/Convection Oven (Part 3)

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    7 hours ago, KennethT said:

    Fans are not usually easily "fixed".  If it's mechanical - that means the bearing seized up, and many bearings are press fit onto the shafts and can't be replaced without special equipment.  Also, if the bearing seized up, the motor would have tried to draw a lot of power to move it (called a "locked rotor") and probably would have tripped the thermal overload built into most motors.  Most thermal overloads are not reset-able - once they trip, it's usually cheaper to replace the motor, unless the motor is huge.  If the problem is electrical,  you'd need a voltmeter to first check if there's power at the fan to begin with.  The issue could be with the control board relay not sending power to the fan.  If there's power at teh fan but the fan doesn't turn, then see above.


    Fixing things what aren't meant to be fixed is what I do. A dud motor is the easy option - finding something close enough isn't difficult, but dealing with dead control logic is a nightmare.

    • Like 1

    Cuisinart Combo Steam/Convection Oven (Part 3)

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    16 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

     

    That's a good test.  I took a post-it, sliced the bottom into fringe (not sure that was necessary), stuck it over the fan vents and watched the fringe flutter when it was on. 

    There are 3 sets of vent holes on the right side wall.  The top set (where you can see the fan turning - duh - another good test) seems to be the intake and the air blows out of the lower sets of holes. 

    @jrshaul, if you can't see the fan turning with just the oven light, try a flashlight or your phone. 

     

    That is excellent advice. Thank you.

     

    • Like 1

    Butane burner for wok cooking?

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    On 4/24/2020 at 10:45 AM, Chris Hennes said:

    I have a decent home stove and good ventilation, but for stir frying I still use the Big Kahuna outdoor propane burner I received as a gift about (wow...) a decade ago. I don't see how it could be adapted easily to a disposable propane tank, though. I think it's something like 60,000 BTU, which has been fine for my purposes. My meals are typically rice+cold veg+stir fry, and are for two people, so it's plenty spacious. (FYI I don't use the wok that came with the kit, I picked up an el cheapo carbon steel model with a single handle at my local Asian megamart. I prefer to physically toss the wok, rather than just use utensils, and the wok the Kahuna came with was absurdly large.) 


    There's a fitting that allows it. Your flow is limited slightly, but unless you're trying to deep-fry an emu it's not much of a hindrance.

    Butane burner for wok cooking?

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    To answer my own question, the folks who do the Chinese Cooking Demystified youtube videos use exactly what I'd originally suggested - a small Iwatani butane burner good for about 10,000BTU.

     

    On 4/10/2020 at 9:23 AM, jedovaty said:

     

    What I learned: these kinds of burners are awesome fun, but in the long run the whole stir-fry thing may not be worth the effort.  As simple as it looks, it really takes a lot of experience to get it right and consistent, more so than a lot of other cooking.  Cleanup is awful (grease splatters everywhere), you'll end up with undercooked or overcooked food half the time, the danger is real, and you really have to use a lot more oil than traditional stove saute/stir-frying.  Now, if you can set it up outside with plenty of dirt or grass surrounding your station, or, inside with a flowing water wall and a night-shift cleaning crew, go for it 👍 Remember the fire extinguisher.  Seriously.

     


    I've been eyeballing a 110,000BTU jet burner that's $40 online. I live in a tiny 1-room apartment, but it's on the ground floor, so cooking outside is appealing. Cooking for multiple people is a bit tricky with a small wok because either (a) you let everything get cold or (b) everyone eats without you, and there's the added substantial benefit of being able to deep-fry a ton of food.

    That said, I'd probably avoid it without one of the gas flow pedals used in Chinese restaurants. Imagine driving your car if you had to take your hand off the wheel to work the gas pedal? (Also, the steering wheel weighs fifteen pounds and is on fire.)

     

     

    On 4/10/2020 at 12:21 PM, Hassouni said:

    I have a homemade (with aluminium foil) version of this https://www.wokmon.com/ that I slip on my pretty normal GE gas stove. On the largest burner, even the "low" setting is VERY hot, and on high, forget it, the seasoning vaporizes right off and the smoke detector will go off in about 2 seconds. For home cooking, it's more than enough.


    My stove is a cheapo compact apartment special, good for maybe 6,000BTU. To put this in perspective, the nicer butane hotplates are good for 15,000. It boils water slower than something I used to make coffee on picnics.

    That said, a burner-focusing ring like the Wokmon sounds like a good idea, especially considering they're demonstrating it on a butane hotplate.
     

    On 4/10/2020 at 1:28 PM, catdaddy said:

    Grace Young has written wonderful cookbooks describing how to stir fry at home with typical equipment. In general she advises using a flat bottom high carbon steel wok. After that it's about limiting the amount of food that goes in a one time and technique. Stirring at the right time and leaving to sear at the right time. Also learning velveting is handy.


    I don't have typical equipment; I have a stove that can barely boil water and an oven with no numbers on the dial. The $40 butane burner is a massive improvement.
     

     

    • Sad 1

    Butane burner for wok cooking?

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    13 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

     

    In 25 years in China, I've never seen that! Traditional wok cooking used open wood burning fires.

    Iwatani is Japanese, not Chinese.

     

     

    "Traditional" as in "not the appalling claptrap that most Americans believe to be Chinese."

    Iwatani makes high quality butane stoves, though none specifically designed to hold a wok. If you can suggest a Chinese alternative, I'm all ears - preferably without Iwatani's steep price.

    Butane burner for wok cooking?

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    I have a less than excellent stove, and would like a butane burner for indoor and outdoor use. I've seen Chinese cooking channels use butane for traditional wok cooking and would appreciate a recommendation. I quite like Iwatani products, but the 15000BTU 35FW is a bit steep,  and there are less expensive options of similar output - possibly some designed specifically for woks.

    Alternately, I'm open to a 50,000+ BTU propane burner like this one if it offers the necessary heat. Does anyone know if these can be used with disposable propane cylinders with an adapter?

    Marshmallows

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    1 hour ago, JeanneCake said:

    If you liked the flavor, you can try again and reduce the gelatin  (do 1.5 packages or 2). 

     

    I've been using the marshmallow recipe from Nightscotsman on RecipeGullet; it's an adaptation of one from Martha Stewart and it doesn't contain egg  whites. You bloom the gelatin in water or fruit puree, then add the hot syrup and beat, adding air and creating volume; then you pour it out into a foil lined pan, sprayed with pan spray.  It sits for a few hours then you dust it with potato starch/confectioners sugar and cut then store airtight.  You can definitely fold in some of the powdered peanuts but the banana puree might be a challenge, since it's relatively thick compared to puree......

     


    I found his recipe. He uses a bit less gelatin and a lower sugar temperature.

    Roasted banana puree is pretty close to strawberry puree in texture. Might be worth a shot.

    Any thoughts on using cardamom?

    Marshmallows

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    I made a batch of marshmallows via the following procedure and found them awfully rubbery. I've had some wonderfully ephemeral marshmallows using eggs, but these were a bit on the soggy and rubbery side. Would also appreciate a cooked option for the egg whites - a swiss meringue would work, but I'm reluctant to add sugar.

    1. Bloom 3 envelopes Knox gelatin in 1/2c water, add flavoring
    2. Cook sugar syrup of 1/2c water, 2 1/2 c sugar, 1/2c corn syrup to 245f

    3. Combine sugar syrup with gelatin in stand mixer on low
    4. Fold in 2 beaten egg whites.

    I also have some peanut flour ("PB2 powdered peanut butter") I would love to use in these and would like to use roasted banana puree if anyone has any ideas.
     

    Least expensive way to start adding color to molded chocolates?

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    6 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

    How about some primary colour powders and melted cocoa butter with an immersion blender. Or perhaps a package of Power Flowers and some melted cocoa butter?

    I can't find any that aren't $25-$35 a unit - I'm surprised there's no smaller packaging. That said, while I looking for it, I found Pastry Depot sells Chef Rubber tinted cocoa butter in smaller quantities. $10.50USD for 50 grams does sting a bit.

    1 hour ago, pastrygirl said:

    Not primary colors, but ... use contrasting shades of chocolate to add interest - pipe or sponge decoration in white, blond, or ruby chocolate before making the shells with dark, or try marbling two types of chocolate together.  Or use available ingredients like bits of green pistachios or brightly colored freeze dried fruits.

     

     

    Not a bad idea. Unfortunately, I only have one kind of chocolate at present. Now that's a black friday sale I'd get in on...

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