avaserfi

Thanks for the reply. I can't believe how expensive little bars of aluminum are. After seeing the prices I went to Lowes and bought a 1" x 48" square aluminum tube and cut it down to four 11.5" pieces. Now I have caramel bars and they only cost me $20. Sure they might be hollow, but for the money I can't complain.

No, it is not normal. Constant hissing means that it is operating over-pressure and it is releasing the excess pressure. Make sure to turn the heat down ALOT after the pan reaches the ring of the desired pressure (just when the ring appears out of the hole). I have a gas stove-top and even the lowest setting is not low enough, I have to turn the handle it past Max to minimize the flame even more. Another trick (especially if you have an electric range), is to simply move the pan over to a smaller burner with less heat. It will take a few recipes to get the hang of it and hit the "sweet spot" of heat that is as low as it can go without loosing pressure (the signal going down) or kicking-in the over pressure safety (release steam that hisses). Ciao! L I must have a defective unit then. Mine gives off the hiss as soon as the pressure valve starts to rise and never stops. I've had it balanced with just the second barely showing and it still hissed. I will call Kuhn today to work out the problem. Have you given the valve a looksie? Mine gets stuck ever so often even though I clean it quite regularly. A little twist or pull when it's starting to build pressure and it's back to normal. I pulled the valve apart and everything looks fine from the little I know about pressure cookers. I did try pushing and pulling the indicator while it was on, but that didn't seem to help in the long term. The hissing would stop temporarily and start up again. Hi there Avaserfi... I just picked up a Kuhn Rikon Duromatic today and made the carrot soup as presented in "Modernist Cuisine". I've never used a pressure cooker before so was a bit cautious. I must say mine worked flawlessly. I had the pressure cooker on a burner smaller than the circumfrence of the cooker and on my gas stove around med-high. Once the top "popped up" and went to the second ring, I immediately lowered the heat to almost as low as it would go to see if I would lose pressure - I didn't, so I put it on as low as it would go. The pressure remained steady at the second ring for the entire cooking time (50) minutes. No sound at all - virtually silent. BTW....the carrot soup was outta this world! Todd in Chicago Thanks for letting me know. It sounds like I got a defective unit. The problem is being taken care of. Soon I should have a fully operational cooker!

Chris, where did you get your the adjustable mold (the one you used to shape the gelled brick of parm)? I have been searching for something similar for a while and haven't seen one locally or online, but I might not know the proper name. I was getting ready to make one, but haven't had a chance yet. Thanks

No, it is not normal. Constant hissing means that it is operating over-pressure and it is releasing the excess pressure. Make sure to turn the heat down ALOT after the pan reaches the ring of the desired pressure (just when the ring appears out of the hole). I have a gas stove-top and even the lowest setting is not low enough, I have to turn the handle it past Max to minimize the flame even more. Another trick (especially if you have an electric range), is to simply move the pan over to a smaller burner with less heat. It will take a few recipes to get the hang of it and hit the "sweet spot" of heat that is as low as it can go without loosing pressure (the signal going down) or kicking-in the over pressure safety (release steam that hisses). Ciao! L I must have a defective unit then. Mine gives off the hiss as soon as the pressure valve starts to rise and never stops. I've had it balanced with just the second barely showing and it still hissed. I will call Kuhn today to work out the problem.

I just got my Rikon duromatic and am testing it out. I was under the impression that these units are silent unless brought to too high of a pressure. Mine gives off a constant, slight hissing sound (seems to be from the top valve) which I assume is pressure release. Is this normal? I was under the impression that this is not supposed to happen. This hissing starts to occur as soon after the pressure indicator begins to rise and is present regardless of pressure.

I ended up starting the brine tonight. Once the leg was defrosted I could smell a nice slightly gamey porkyness that isn't present in farmed pigs. I thought turning the cut into ham would really compliment that seemingly subtle gamey flavor. I've never made ham before, so I'm hoping all goes well. Thus far it seems the size of the leg is the biggest problem. It is pickling in a turkey bag (which seems to be very flimsy) that is sitting in a large tub in the fridge. I'm hoping some of the pictures taken tonight turned out. Just got a picture of the leg, nothing too special.

If you are using nitrites known as Cure #1, DQ Curing Salt, Prague Powder # 1 or Pink Salt (do not sure use Cure #2 they are different) the general rule is that you should use a max of 4oz per 100lbs of meat. So you can scale from there. I typically use about 4g per 2.5kg of belly or jowl for bacon. The amount of other salt you need to use varies based on personal taste most people seem to like somewhere between 3-4% in my experience - depending on the quantity of sugar used. The real issue with not using exactly enough cure is if you are going to cold smoke the bacon since it isn't actually cooked. In Ruhlman's recipe he has you bring the bacon up to 150 degrees F (above the temperature fat starts to render which is ideally avoided) this eliminates the potential for food born illness. I believe this is why the exact amount of cure (nitrites) is not as important when heating like this.

I don't use Ruhlman's cure anymore, but if I recall the recipe correctly he specifies the amounts of cure to use in both weight and volumetric measurements (1/4C or 5 grams). This isn't the best way to go about curing a piece of meat. Typically you want to be very precise about the amount of cure you use relative to the weight of the meat, I shoot for within a gram. For this reason I measure out my pink salt based on the weight of the meat, spread it on, then add the rest of the cure ingredients. I think he has you mix all the cure ingredients together and then rub them on, which will work, but the amount of pink salt you end up using isn't as exacting because of relative size and mass of the dry cure particles. Some people will say this is dangerous, but I think in practice it isn't too much of an issue as long as you are pretty close, of course the results might not be as good. Because he gives a range on the amount of cure to use relative to meat weight you might have been a little shy on the cure, especially given the fact that you used slightly more than he calls for (3-5lbs for about 50grams of cure). As far as the marshmallow flavor, I have no idea. It sounds like some residual sweetness from the cure. Maybe you used a little too much maple syrup? Did you rinse off the belly before cooking? One time I had too much brown sugar in my cure and when frying the bacon it had a tendency to burn before becoming crispy because of residual sugars absorbed by the meat.

I wouldn't re-cure the bacon, but you can use this experience to do a better job next time. Typically curing time is a function of the thickness of the piece you are curing. So you rub the belly all over with dry cure then give it about one day per quarter inch of thickness. This is about how long the cure will take to penetrate the meat, be sure to overhaul every couple of days. Also, cut a small piece off and test fry to check for salt level and to see if it is fully cured before smoking or cooking. Generally, you want to weight the amount of cure you need for a given weight of meat and evenly coat the meat. If any doesn't stick put it in the vessel you are curing in. This way you use the right amount of cure which is important, not only for safety reasons, but also for flavor. An example of the calculation: three inch piece would take six days, but I like to give it an extra couple days just to ensure that osmosis is complete. 3 inches is divided by two because the cure is on both sides. Then the 1.5 inches is divided by .25 because you are calculating how many quarter inches are left. Total number of days 6 equals six. My last batch of bacon using this technique:

I put in an in store ship to home order with BN on April 2nd. I very quickly received a confirmation email and order number that I can use to track the order online. This was followed up by a delay notification which required me to confirm that I still wanted the item to prevent an auto cancellation. The shipping date on the item is listed as March 14th which is obviously wrong. I was informed by a representative the wrong shipment date is because I ordered in store and that I would be notified when they got more in stock, supposedly July 1. Thus far my order is still active and waiting for more copies to arrive.

I thought about giving it a light smoke and finishing in the oven to really preserve the flavor, but the leg is so lean that I didn't know how well it would hold up especially because it has been skinned. If it wasn't skinned I wouldn't hesitate to put it in the oven or grill it. Based on the size, I'm guessing this was a pretty young hog which means it probably won't be too gamey which does offer a little more leeway in preparation.

I just unwrapped the leg to see exactly what is going on. It seems to be a skinless front leg with the foot removed, but hock still attached. The leg goes from the hock all the way up including the shoulder blade blade. It was butchered right on the muscle seam between the blade and the picnic shoulder. I couldn't get any good pictures of the leg this time, but I might be able to get some tonight. I'm not too sure what I want to do with it yet. Right now I'm thinking I need to pick up an injector and pump it, then pickle the whole thing. Follow that up with a good long, cool, smoke. Something like the bone-in smoked ham from the Marianski brothers Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages on page 474. I wouldn't bother stuffing it in a net though, I would just use butcher's twine.

Thanks for the trip to elBulli ! It certainly sounds like a wonderful experience, I just wish I could have been in your seat. Did you get any new insight into what the elBulli Foundation plans to do?

It looks like it is the shoulder blade down, but might be the picnic shoulder down. The foot is removed. As it defrosts I should be able to get a better look at it. No access to a bandsaw, but I can cut it down by hand with a bonesaw. I don't have a good place to keep proper humidity and temperature required for dry hanging otherwise I wouldn't hesitate to do dry hang the whole leg. I've never cooked with it myself, but love eating it!

I was just gifted a 10-15 pound wild hog leg, spoils of my uncle's hunting trip. The leg was wrapped in plastic and frozen for three to four months to deal with any trichinella issues. I believe it is skinless, but cannot tell because of how the leg is wrapped. I'm trying to decide what I want do with the leg as it sits in my refrigerator defrosting. There is the obvious roasting it, but that seems a little to simple (boring?). I don't have the ability to hang dry the leg like one would do with prosciutto or it would already be salted. I've been thinking maybe curing the leg and smoking it? Does anyone have any experience or suggestions?

I'm not sure I see the problem with this. For better or worse the KitchenAid stand mixer is the most prolific stand mixer in the United States. Certainly, the Kenwood is available, but for someone who already owns a KitchenAid it makes much more sense to purchase the KPEXTA extruder attachment rather than buying a second stand mixer solely to make extruded pasta. The Kenwood attachment is beautiful and from what I have read works very well, but I don't think the bronze version (model AX910) is widely available in the United States. I believe the only source is European importers. As a side note: I have been doing a little research into pasta extruders. Marcato does make a manual extruder called the Regina. I have heard it works well, but is a little unwieldy compared to a motorized model. It is hard to tell, but from pictures online the Regina dies and mounting area for the dies look very similar to the KitchenAid attachment which is made in Italy. If this is true, Marcato might manufacture the KitchenAid attachment or at least make parts for it.

Thanks for the info. I am looking at the Fagor duo which does both low and high pressure settings. I was kind of getting the sense that the differences between the Rikon and Fagor (and Fissler) were mostly cosmetic. Are there any functional differences between the pressure cookers? That I still can't figure out. If I recall some places suggest that the Rikon is a completely sealed system at pressure (I think this is true of the Fissler too), while the Fagor does release some steam at pressure. Am I misunderstanding the situation and does this steam release matter?

I also have a Marcato Atlas. I bought it because it had good reviews, a friend loves hers and they make a motor attachment. I figured just in case I could upgrade and not have to buy a whole new machine. I haven't had any issues with the Marcato, it makes a great product and is easy to use and clean. As Hank Kingsley said, it is helpful to have two people with the hand crank, but this is a universal of all pasta sheeters of this style.

I had read some about the Fissler, but not much. They don't seem very popular or common in the States. What does it offer over the Rikon and Fagor? I'm still not sure I understand what the Rikon offers over the Fagor. It is smaller, and more expensive, but might allow for better flavors?

I've been saving up for a pressure cooker recently and am getting ready to pull the trigger. From most of my research I have seen that the Kuhn Rikon is considered the top of the line cooker while the Fagor duo comes in number two. I have been planning on getting the 10 quart duo which costs about $100 since I started saving, but have recently started reading about the Rikon which comes in at 7 quarts and costs about $220. Through my searching I have read that Modernist Cuisine recommends the Rikon as does the team over at Cooking Issues because it will not vent at cooking pressure which means it heats up more quickly, preserves volatile compounds from escaping and does not have as much evaporation during long cooking. From what I can tell a pressure cooker should last me pretty much forever which means I don't want to regret buying something because I was in a rush. Is the Rikon really that much better than the Fagor even though it is significantly smaller? Or are these differences more theoretical and not as important in practice? Thanks

I have the KitchenAid KPEXTA pasta extruder and have found it a very useful tool. It certainly doesn't produce the same results as the Arcobaleno AEX18 (which costs more than 30 times the price) and you are limited to the six shapes it comes with, but it does a good job of making great pasta which you can easily flavor. Don't expect to produce large quantities from this machine, it can easily produce enough for a main course for four people (eight with a short cool-down break), but is slow going - 20ish minutes to extrude a batch that weighs about a lb if you follow the speed setting guidelines in the manual. Also, I have noticed that with larger batches the auger does warm up a little and heats the dough slightly as it extrudes. I have not noticed a change in flavor or texture because of this, but occasionally notice slight discoloration where the pasta is more opaque than is normal because of the heating. I think it is well worth the money as long as you ignore the recipes that come with it which generally call for far too much water. I tend to make a dough as dry as possible, so it barely holds together and get terrific results. The picture is of a Carbonara I made using some extruded semolina and egg yolk pasta. It was dried for a couple hours and then cooked. Here is the blog post that encouraged me to get the extruder. There are some good in action and complete pasta shots.

So it looks like the "Experimental Kit Artistre - 600 grams" on Amazon is still the best bet for a starter set with the addition of Iota Carageenan? Anything else that MC calls for often that is missing from the kit?

Sounds like you will have a blast! I can only hope to have such an opportunity one day.

I tried this out tonight on a whim. 120 grams of 60% Callebaut Thick Bittersweet Bits and 90 grams of cold water. I added a little cinnamon and chipotle powder to the melted chocolate. Whipped until thickened (no bowl of ice needed) and it turned out great. Next time I will whip it a little longer to get it slightly more firm, but it was a hit. Most people probably wouldn't even know it is just a water/chocolate mixture.

What is the goal of the experiment? Wagyu is typically pretty tender, did the jaccard increase this even further? There is a pretty easy way to season the meat's interior with salt. Salt the steak on both sides and let it rest. After a few minutes osmosis will pull out liquid from the meat forming a brine with the salt, if given enough time this brine will be reabsorbed by the steak, about an hour in my experience. If you let the steak sit even longer (say overnight in a fridge) the brine will penetrate further into the steak seasoning the entire cut. This would more evenly season the meat compared to a jaccard forcing crystals into the meat unless you salted, jaccarded and let the meat rest. I've used this technique for a while and was glad to see Serious Eats had a good write up recently: http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/the-food-lab-more-tips-for-perfect-steaks.html