jrshaul

I'm in Madison, WI. That said, I think one of the above options will cover it - you folks are absolutely 100% full of win. Thanks!

I'm supposed to make a large sum of chocolates for a party, but my thermocouple thermometer has started measuring thirty degrees low. I don't have time for anything to arrive in the mail, and I need to temper some chocolate. Can anyone make a suggestion?

There's been a surplus of cheap pineapples around here lately (Did a warehouse lose power?) and I'd still like to try making a canned pineapple jam or chutney. It may well be too sweet for that. Maybe next batch. The problem is that the sugar/pineapple ratio is so high that It would be just overpoweringly sweet. That's a very good idea. I've been making a lot of ice cream lately, and caramelized pineapple custard would be extremely pleasant indeed.

While trying to substitute fresh pineapple for canned in a recipe for candied pineapple, I severely snafu'd the recipe (and severely overcompensated with the sugar) to produce a sort of heavily boiled, caramelized pineapple goop. It's too sweet and too liquid for a pie filling, wildly inappropriate for a sauce, and sufficiently tasty I don't want to chuck it. I figure my options are: 1. Pull the pineapple bits for some unknown purpose, cook remainder until it resembles some sort of candy. 2. Add water or pineapple juice or wine, add pectin, and turn it into a jam. 3. Mix it into something else as a flavoring and sweetener. Any ideas? (Please excuse the appalling cell phone photograph.)

Egg Nog Ice Cream!I've been experimenting with anticrystallization additives in ice cream custards, and $1.50/quart holiday sale egg nog allows me to vary the recipe easily. I've also found flaming 1/3 cup of rum with 1T of corn syrup results in a classic holiday nog flavor, though it doesn't affect freezing much.I'm currently using 0.5g of guar gum per quart of liquid. In addition to reducing ice crystals, it also results in incorporating more air; as a result, failure to reduce the speed after it begins freezing will result in the stuff rising out the top of the ice cream machine.

For the sake of inquiry, could you try the powdered sugar mix with straight everclear? The alcohol's flavoring is much more difficult to duplicate than powdered praline.

If the can is heated in boiling water the temperature inside will equilibrate to 100 C - not the same as a pressure cooker. I was wondering about that. I think I need to pick up a proper pressure cooker. Time for Craigslist!

Corn syrup, sugar, and powdered sugar? That's it? I had assumed some sort of clever polysacchride; this is stuff I keep in my kitchen. Out of curiosity, what does the alcohol taste like?

I was warned that it was pretty much a holiday gift pageant, and the chocolate pros were somewhat lacking. I spent the money on chocolate instead.

To be more specific, I was referring to the use of the can as a pressure cooker in of itself. I don't own one, and the infrequency of use doesn't justify purchasing one of quality. (Apologies for missing the other results - I'd been searching for "boiling" and "can.") I'm using the end result to make an old-school Banofee pie, though I have been advised that pressure-cooking commercial pumpkin puree can do wonders for the flavor.

I recently found a recipe calling for something rather novel, to me at least: Boiling an entire can of sweetened condensed milk to produce zero-effort dulce de leche. In theory, a can can support the pressure for an hour; in truth, no one's entirely sure. It's a nice solution to a tricky problem - there's quite a few recipes, including several for pumpkin pie, that spec the pressure cooking to caramelize various ingredients. I don't even own one. BPA aside, how likely am I to fill my kitchen with shrapnel?

I'm looking forwards to it.

I just received 22 pounds of 815nv from Gygi, and was terrified that I'd recieved something unsuitable. Thank goodness!

Does anyone know exactly what is in this product? It looks like a mixture of ground caramelized sugar and regular sugar. I can't read the website; it's all in French, and Google Translate can't grok their fancy flash interface.

I'd recommend the following on a value basis. 1. A DIY sous vide rig. It's a bit janky, but the results can be very good. You can pick up a secondhand vacuum sealer for not much if you don't have one, and inexpensive PID controllers are a dime a dozen. The failure point on commercial Sous Vide setups is likely to be the heater or circulation equipment, and using easily interchangeable parts is a big advantage. (Also, the failure rate on industrial PID controllers is very, very low.) 2. A laser thermometer, if only because they're inexpensive on eBay. My el-cheapo unit cost about $12, down from an original sale price of $70. 3. A really good thermocouple thermometer. I have a surplus foodservice unit that works great but eats 9v batteries. 4. A .01g scale. The booger with significant digits is that a scale that only has one decimal point will be between .05 and .15 grams when you want exactly 0.1 of something very unusual. Very small units rated for 200g cost about $16; I recently picked up an American Weigh scale no doubt designed for drug dealers that works very nicely indeed. (You can recalibrate them, too!)

I'm using a coffee grinder, but I might switch back to a mortar and pestle.

I'm going to try this with everclear.

Against my better judgement, I'm spending the $25 and piloting my geriatric Honda to the Windy City to see the best in coverture and confection. Will anyone else be attending?

Gadzooks!

I'd like to experiment with some new flavors in my confections and cooking, and the lull between the fall harvest and citrus season makes the use of preserved purees that much more appealing. Pedestrian branding aside, Goya purees have some serious devotees, and the price is definitely right. Can anyone comment on their use and application versus more expensive products?

Wholesalemeltinghcocolate.com. The receipt says it's owned by Gygi. Shipping is reasonable at ~ $30/22lb - some sites wanted $25 for 11. http://wholesalemeltingchocolate.gostorego.com/chocolate-brands/callebaut-chocolate/callebaut-finest-belgian-bitter-sweet-chocolate-callets-22-lb-815nv.html It says it's Belgian, too; given that the American-made 811NV is specified as such, I am very pleased.

On the advice of the lovely folks present, I've acquired 10kg of Callebaut 815nv from Belgian manufacture. $116 shipped results to $5.27/lb shipped, a very reasonable price indeed.

The chiboust looks intriguing, but it's not the same thing at all. I'll be making one anyway, of course. I'm starting to suspect that the whole thing is a trick played on me by my poor memory and even worse alcohol tolerance. If this is the case, I'll have to figure it out as I go along. I wonder how many desserts were invented this way?

I do a sour cream and lime ice cream that might work with just the sour cream. Mascarpone is a lovely option, but I've yet to make ice cream out of it. Here's a rough draft of ingredients: 2 cups sour cream (the cheap stuff with guar gum is ideal) 1.5 cups half and half 3/4 cup sugar Scald half and half, add sugar, and mix with sour cream once returned to room temperature. Prepare in standard ice cream maker.

Was this all a drunken hallucination? If so, can anyone suggest how to go about making it a reality?