scubadoo97

You may still consider a Benriner for those jobs where you don't want to pull out that heavy big Bron.

Why can you only use their electric sharpener? Can you plesse clarify. Thanks

Maybe not so outrageous but home smoked pastrami. A Ruben on marbled rye

Polly O is okay but I like those braded string cheeses I would get in Mexico with the fennel seeds in it.

Yes as Jaz said the Benriner does not do waffle cuts and that's why I have both the Bron and the Benriner. I use the Bron very infrequently. The Benriner is fantastic and for the price one of the best buys in a mandoline. I picked up one of the larger Benriners to accommodate larger items but still find myself using the regular one most often. One thing I don't like about the larger one is that it has two set screws to set the thickness. If they are not exactly set the same the slices will be uneven and since they are just screws it's hard to see if are at the same height. Anna that blade can slide out and be sharpened. It's a single beveled edge but not hollow on the back and pretty easy to sharpen on a stone.

What a disappointment. I was hoping for a real show of following a group of students through a real cooking school. This is just another reality TV competition. Favorite line from the first show as I can best remember. So you are a chef? I'm a chef on a submarine. So why's that? Uh..the Navy?

Wow, that was a tough challenge and a tough set of judges. Must have been nerve racking. I was surprised Jen sauced her plates without shaking like a leaf. Hurray for Kevin. I had a strong feeling he would win even though he looked totally defeated. The only criticism was that it wasn't technically challenging given the time. The food was prepared correctly and tasted good. That trumps overly fancy but cooked poorly every time.

Joesan, this is what I do too. It's easier to work with when cold. I use to strain my stock through a colander lined with cheese cloth but have done it with moisten paper towels which works very well to remove fine particles. It also catches a lot of the fat off the top.

Thanks KennethT-Great to know. I had not done the skimming so had no idea what the difference would be. All I knew is that I don't skim and the stock is pretty clear. Glad to know there was no difference. Again in my stock making I find a lot of the scum stuck to the bottom and lower sides of the cooker after draining.

I don't seem to have that problem. I do seperate the muscles on a chuck or other cut and remove any silverskin between muscle groups as well as loose connective tissue. I only like to add the hard white fat. The only other fat is intramuscular. That extra step of cleaning helps remove all the unwanted stuff that usually wraps around the auger of the grinder. For cuts for burgers i like chuck, sirloin and brisket. Sirloin by it self is just a little too lean but adds a good beefy flavor.

Best funny lines Tom C: "We went from little prick to big in my mouth." And a wry eye-roll. Friend of Natalie's: "Yes, that's what usually happens!" racks right up their with "culinary boner". Go Kevin. I really like this guy. Love to eat at his restaurant next time I'm in Atlanta

This site compares the table salt, Morton's Kosher salt and Diamond Crystal Kosher salt http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/salt.html#measures Their related articles on brining would be a good read as well

That's interesting... I do find some impurities stuck to the bottom of the pot, but I get quite a bit floating to the surface during the heat-up phase. Do you heat it with the cover on or the cover off? I know the instruction manual for the pc said to add all ingredients, put the cover on and put on high heat until full pressure, but I'm always afraid of getting a cloudy stock, so my method is kind of a hybrid between traditional and pc stocks... KennthT, I put everything in the pot cold and then cover and heat. No cloudy stock. I'm not looking for consomme clear since the stock is going to find it's way into sauces and soups that aren't clear anyway. I wish I had the time to roast the bones but I collect all bones, and unused chicken parts when breaking down and boning chickens and also all the meat that is cleaned off BSCB. You know that flap of meat where the breast is connected to bone. This all goes into big bags in the freezer so when I pull out a bag of frozen chicken scraps to make stock it enough to get it thawed and into the pot. I have even tossed it in the pressure cooker frozen and cooked it a little longer which also worked okay. I think I get a lot of flavor because of the mixture of bones and meat. When I can remember I try to save the carcass of a roasted chicken. I have bones from and scraps from smoked chickens that gets turned into smoked chicken stock. Great for things where a little smokey flavor is welcomed.

KennethT, I've noticed that all of my scum accumulates and sticks to the bottom of my pan. None floating in the stock. I also strain thru a strainer lined with cheese cloth or paper towels.

I've never done a side by side comparison but I'm really enjoying making stock in my pressure cooker. Mostly chicken since that is what I accumulate the most scraps from. I can get around 8 cups of stock from my 6qt cooker. I toss about 2 lbs of chicken part, onions, carrots and celery into the cooker and add about 2 qts of water. I usually pass the forbidden half way mark on the cooker but I've never had a problem. Cook at pressure for 1 hr then let it do a natural cool down. The stock comes out relatively clear. Not consomme clear but pretty clear. The bones are brittle and the gel factor is high. I find the taste very deep and rich compared to my non pressurized attempts at stock. Maybe that says more about my other technique but I'm happy with the PC results.

So I've been doing it this way. Trim top and bottoms and cut into ~4" sections. Turn sections on board concave down. Run knife horizontally to cut off the "legs" or edges leaving me with the middle part which is then cut into strips or julienne. These strips should be the size of what I will call the "legs" or edges for lack of a better description. If looking to do a brunoise then I'll cut the legs/edges to size and follow with the middle section then dice to a brunoise

I second the pressure cooker method... I use backs, necks, wing tips, feet when I can get them and then fill the pot with cold water... I then bring to a boil uncovered, and skim the scum that forms... once the impurities stop coming up, I add the onion, carrot and celery in big pieces, plus I throw in a small handful of peppercorns, a pinch of dried thyme and maybe 10 parsley stems. Cover and simmer under full pressure for about an hour... I then turn off the heat and let it cool slowly until the pressure reduces to normal - the result is rich and gelatinous, but also crystal clear. KennethT, I don't skim. Just add cold water, cover and walk away. The scum seems to attach to the bottom of the cooker. The stock is quite clear. Not crystal clear but clearer than the stuff in the carton.

I have been making chicken stock in a pressure cooker. The only down side is that in a 6 qt pressure cooker I can only manage to get maybe 8 cups of stock. I save all trimmings from chicken like backs, wing tips, thigh bones after boning thighs, necks and any trimmings from cleaning BSCB. The parts go in with onion, carrot and celery and cook under pressure for one hour. The meat is has lost all flavor to the stock. The bones crumble if squeezed. The stock when cooled has the most gelatinous texture compared to all other methods I've ever used. The stock has more flavor compared to my other methods. Because it's so easy I can make it more often and have even made it on the spot for soup if I didn't have any in the freezer.

I soak wood chips only when used in my gas grill since the temps are quite high unsoaked chips would ignite withing minutes. In my smoker I use unsoaked chips or chunks. Soaking only delays smoking

Steven, try grinding some rice or better yet instant rice. It won't clean the lid of the blade grinder as well as you would like but it will clean the grinding bowl. Soap and water to the lid will help keep that part clean. If you clean on a regular basis it is not so daunting of a task. I grind a lot of cumin in mine and the lid is permanently etched in cumin.

Pawncrackers, your brisket looks wonderful and I could dive into those potatoes. Smoked brisket is a wonderful thing. I've made a couple whole briskets on my electric smoker. No smoke ring due to the smokers effecient use of wood but tasty just the same. Here the flat is slice and the point is ready to be pulled

I'm sure a lot of the same dishes we make year after year. Oven baked french toast, kugle, bagels, lox and cream cheese. For the last year or so I've been making smoked Nova "lox". I have been making it a couple a times a month so this year as last year the lox will be homemade.

I often cut on a board and transfer to a bowl. My prep area is on our island and the stove is a few feet across the kitchen. I often just cut from the board and transfer to the stove via a hand or board scraper but a bowl is used when there is sufficient amounts that would make that difficult. When making some Asian dishes where time is critical I will prep and have every thing ready in individual bowls. I'm not good with mise en place in every day meal prep. I know mise en place is the right thing to do but while my onions are sweating I'll dice my peppers or other ingredients and toss as I go.

I dry brine mine as well and let the chicken sit a day or two in the fridge. Really produces a very crisp skin. Tenting while resting will help to undo what you have tried to achieve.

Thanks for the laugh