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DaveJes1979

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Posts posted by DaveJes1979

  1. Can anyone recommend how to cook a goose in the Anova oven?  I really have had it with turkey for Thanksgiving, and since my parents are worried about the 'rona this year, I can cook what I want for my wife and kids.

    I only know that, as with duck, you can't just cook a goose like you would a chicken. Apparently, gotta render off the layer of fat under the skin.

     

    There is one recipe that uses a traditional oven that I'm using as reference:  https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/12/roast-goose-and-gravy-recipe.html

     

    Then there is a recipe for duck that uses the Anova oven...but it doesn't actually use the steam function:  https://oven.anovaculinary.com/recipe/wBFBBjRzK6RpPrqNuWLR

     

    From the former, the idea of using a dry brine is a very good idea.  Dry brining is the way of the future, IMO.  Perhaps instead of blanching the bird in a pot of boiling water (an awkward pain-in-the-butt), I can use the Anova to steam it for a minute or two?

     

    No one seems to mention this option, but I bet that spatchcocking the bird would be an improvement over the traditional truss+stuffed cavity approach.

     

    For the oven times and settings, perhaps it is safest to stick with Anova's recommendations for duck.  Anyone have any improvements or other ideas?

  2. https://anovaculinary.com/what-is-a-combi-oven/

     

    Interestingly, they appear to have developed a wet bulb temperature sensor.  This must be how they intend on controlling dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures directly.  This is exactly what the Modernist Cuisine authors were explicitly calling for a few years back, in the section on Combi Ovens (they wrote most of this for commercial Rational combis).

     

    The MC guys also noted that commercial combi ovens weren't doing an especially great job at controlling the temperature at low temperatures, hampering their application in "bag-less sous vide" type cooking.

     

    If Anova has really nailed these features, that's quite something for an affordable, countertop oven to accomplish.

     

    I wonder if this unit will be able to perform CVap-type tasks, the most obvious being to keep fried foods warm and crispy.

     

    I'm also looking forward to seeing the results of burger patty cooking.  Always a clunky pain to shape burger patties and bag them for a conventional water bath/circulator.

    • Like 1
  3. Information on this product is rather hard to come by. How does it differ from the Pacojet1, Pacojet2, and Pacojet2 Plus?

     

    Ok, so the Junior only does frozen products. Any other differences?

     

    I'd love love love to have a Pacojet. But even $3,800 is difficult for me to justify for home use.

     

    Interested in sugar free ice creams. Also, I like the convenience of just hard freezing the product, don't have to worry about freeze/thaw cycling or thawing for service.

  4. There are now a handful of consumer/residential blast chillers available.

     

    $2,900 wall unit by Irinox:  https://www.irinox.shop/products/freddy

     

    $949 Vesta:  https://www.vestaprecision.com/products/blast-chiller-freezer-frysta

     

    Coldline W30:  https://coldlineliving.it/en/abbattitore-di-temperatura-life-w30/

     

    The Vesta is still "coming soon" and, strangely, only operates on 200-300W!  Hard to believe that is sufficient for a blast chiller, but we'll see.

     

    The Coldline appears to be designed for the European power grid only, and I can't find info on pricing and availability.

     

    The Irinox is pricey, but as a bonus it can operate as a low temperature oven.

    • Like 1
  5. So I've been reading and re-reading the section in Modernist Cuisine on vacuum concentration.  Seems like a really powerful idea, but even MC does not contain sample recipes for this (that I can find).  There are a handful of rotovap recipes a few pages later, but no vacuum concentration.  (BTW, hard to believe MC is 9 years old now.  Doesn't look like this technique has caught on in all this time).

     

    Concentrating citrus or other acidic juices seems kind of neat, but not life-changing enough for me to buy the equipment.  Has anyone concentrated stocks or consommes?

  6. Guys, you have fairly unrealistic expectations of how much a consumer countertop Combi oven is going to cost.  The commercial versions, like Rational, cost $10,000+!  This ain't gonna be in the range of other countertop ovens.

     

    Yes, like many of you I have a Cuisinart steam oven, but its limitations are obvious.  It is a much cruder device, and to boot it has quite small capacity.

     

    I know the word "game-changing" is overused, but it is true, cooking with precision temperature control AND humidity control is game-changing.  And it will come with a premium, I'm simply happy that it will be uner $1,000.

    • Like 1
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  7. Can't believe that CES has passed and we still don't have any details.  No pricing or anticipated availability date.

     

    It sure looks cool.  I don't doubt it will do a wonderful job replacing my Cuisinart steam oven.  The Modernist Cuisine guys were calling for this sort of design, where you can directly set the wet bulb and dry bulb temperatures.  So that's going to be a powerful tool.

    • Like 4
  8. It is about time someone has done this.  Modernist Cuisine called for exactly this sort of combi oven in 2011, where you can directly set the wet and dry bulb temperature.  Even the expensive Rational combis (pro kitchens only) or the Gaggenau/Miele/Wolf residential units do not do this.

     

    Mainstream consumer products, however, are limited to about 1800W by our standard U.S. outlets.  That is unless Anova is planning on requiring a 240V outlet, as many residential wall ovens require.

     

    Per adey73's suggestion, I do hope Anova will have an induction burner at a reasonable price.  The Breville/Polyscience Control Freak is just stupid expensive.

    • Like 1
  9. Andiesenji said

    There was talk of a ban on importing it but some big money corporations threatened "restraint of trade" suits and they make big donations to legislators. That hot potato was dropped in a hurry.

    So us Californians can still get a hold of foie gras, but only by means of having it shipped to us via mail or internet order? Am I understanding this right?

    If so, then the ban is not as bad as I thought (although it is dumb law, which is par for the course here in California). I can cook foie gras myself, I don't absolutely need to have a chef at a restaurant do it for me. Amazon.com actually carries Hudson Valley and LaBelle Farms foie gras, so I'll probably use them.

  10. OK, and how would you incorporate the wing sauce? Dunking the wings into sauce or drizzling sauce over it after deep frying would work, but it wouldn't be infused through as when doing a traditional simmer in the sauce.

    UPDATE: whoops, just saw the suggestion above after I originally posted this.

  11. Does anyone have any ideas about making out-of-this-world hot wings for this Sunday's superbowl using MC techniques? I have most of the usual suspects as far as tools go (Sous Vide Supreme, pressure cooker, huge dutch oven for deep frying in peanut oil, IsI soda siphon, and a fair collection of those magical white powders).

    I don't know how "cute" I want to get with the recipe - I am not sure that a group of average football fans are going to have any patience for deconstructed buffalo wings (like this) or the like. I'd be open to something somewhat creative and untraditional, but not too off-the-wall. I'm also debating whether or not it is worthwhile to make my own hot sauce or if the traditional Frank's wing sauce is difficult to improve on.

    Cooking sous vide first seems like the logical approach, and a super-quick deep fry (just to crisp the skin) to finish. This has worked great for fried chicken (adapting Keller's recipe), but for hot wings I'm not sure how and when to infuse the hot sauce, especially if you want to keep the wings crispy instead of all soggied-out by the traditional simmering in wing sauce.

  12. Thanks for all the ideas.

    I'm still stewing over the issue in my mind. I could go in a "sweet" direction with it, and maybe do something like a honey-based sauce, with maybe a dash of nutmeg. Or another thought is that I could try doing something with cheese.

    The sweetness imparted by corn (straight from a can) might be something to work with, perhaps some creamed corn even. I might also play around with onions and mushrooms since, well, they tend to elevate almost any savory dish.

    I think the mashed potatoes may not be so bad a complement, although I'd want to amp it up with some garlic and parmesan.

  13. Egullet folks,

    Is there perhaps a more modern or posh way to present haggis than just lumping it onto a plate with neeps and tatties? I love haggis, and gobble the stuff up whenever I'm in Scotland, but I never thought the neeps and tatties did much to complement it, even though that's the classic dish. I know that might sound like sacrilege.

    I'm not even sure where to start, the only thing I could brainstorm on my own was to perhaps make a Scotch whisky sauce of some sort to go with it.

    The haggis I am using is frozen, and I'm going to try cooking it by simply re-heating it in my sous vide machine. I got it from scottishgourmetusa.com, which is reputed to be the best haggis made in the U.S. It is lamb-based, although because of U.S. food laws they have substituted beef liver for the lung, which is not legal to sell. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm hoping my memory is good enough that I can compare it with the real stuff in Scotland from a few years back.

    In Scotland I did run into haggis being used in a burger as well as in a lasagna, but I was thinking that I wanted the haggis to be more the star of the show rather than just a condiment or filling. And I can't help but feeling that there are more interesting and complementary side dishes than mashed potatoes and rutabaga.

    This doesn't (necessarily) need to be a Michelin-star level of preparation, but a notch or two up from the normal pub dish is what I'm after.

  14. I noticed that MC doesn't explicitly address grill pans, although obviously the discussions about pan frying and grilling apply. I recently purchased a cast iron grill pan and have been using it on burgers and steaks (for searing only, after cooking sous vide). I thought it would be nice, aesthetically, to get some wonderful grill-marks onto my meats with this. But I was surprised to find that they tasted better - much better - with the grill pans vs. searing with my cast iron skillets. I think there are two things going on. First, the Maillard reaction might be intensified on the grill ridges since the heat is being transferred conductively into a smaller area and thus concentrated. And the drippings off the meat might also be vaporized, similar to a BBQ grill, to add additional flavor. Obviously, this technique is closer to pan frying, since BBQ grilling operates largely through radiant heat, but I think that using a grill pan over a regular (gas) stove might share some features of both. Am I on the right track here?

  15. I know this thread went silent a little while back, but I see some folks have tried to spherify tomato juice and have had some success. I was going to try doing the freeze/reverse spherification method to create tomato "ravioli". If successful, I'd inject basil and garlic-infused olive oil into it with a syringe, and sprinkle with grated parmesan and crumbled proscuitto.

    But what approach should I take regarding the actual tomato liquid? A few options come to mind:

    1. Use tomato juice from a can of tomatoes. This would be more like "tomato water" and my guess would be that this has a high chance of success of spherifying well.

    2. Use V8/bloody mary style tomato juice purchased from the store. Still a thin liquid, but bolder flavor.

    3. Extract tomato juice via citrus juicer and strain. Optionally one could reduce this liquid in a saucepan for a bit to concentrate the flavor.

    The citrus juicer might even be overkill for this, simply removing the pulp and seeds over a bowl, retaining the pulp, seeds, and liquid to be strained and reduced (following Heston Blumenthal's tomato concentrate/ketsup recipe), discarding skins and flesh.

    4. Use a can of tomato soup. This is starting to get on the thicker end of the spectrum. The taste may be pretty good, but no longer a "pure" tomato (added salt, etc.).

    5. Puree tomatoes in blender. This will probably have thickness equal or greater than tomato sauce. May be too thick for spherification unless watered down.

    6. Use can of tomato sauce. Pretty thick stuff. Probably not going to work, but there it is.

    Any ideas on which one of these methods I should try? I'm a spherification newbie (and my copy of MC still hasn't arrived :sad:), so I definitely need some guidance.

  16. Hmmm, I could try cooking it longer as you have, but I think my mix is heated through in less time since I'm using a ziplock instead of a mason jar. Also, I'm not adding any chocolate chunks or nuts (the chocolate is blended in and heated with the custard base).

    The main difference seems to be that you wait to add in the heavy cream until the base has already cooled after cooking. I could try this, although I was also thinking that I could just delete the heavy cream so that it doesn't get so thick. I also might try deleting some of the eggs. But it doesn't seem like I should have to, so I'm still wondering what's going on.

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