Mountfort

Jar level sounds fine -- enough headspace. Did you let the pressure come down naturally after cooking? Quick release will often lead to a mess inside the pressure cooker as the jar contents maintain their pressure and will boil violently in the lower pressure environment of a rapidly cooling pressure cooker.

Very Sad. Yes it was the bus crash in Hong Kong. Late November. Also claimed the life of fellow FD chef Jorge Herrera and their taxi driver. HB was in another taxi and uninjured.

I have a jar of half broken half beautiful marrons -- im going to have a try with the vac-packed raw material -- getting them out of the shell and keeping them whole is far too trying. After eating the rejects I ended up with a liter jar from a kilo of nuts.

Well I took the plunge and ordered. UPS didn't want to venture down our (gravel/long/dark?) driveway Friday evening; after waiting the weekend the Water Bath and the Vacuum Sealer arrived as promised. First order of business a pork belly garnish for Tonkotsu Ramen that was dinner. Seasoned, sealed, plonked in the bath at 60C for a couple of hours. After about 30 minutes this gorgeous pepper/laurel/anise smell filled the kitchen after lifting the lid. Bag was floating -- faulty seal right off the bat. Removed the belly and sealed again (seal only) as the meat was too warm to attempt to vacuum again at this point. Weighted it down an carried on. Starting 3-day shortribs. Vacuum sealed the bag and then "seal only" three times in different places on the bag. Fingers crossed.

Terribly interesting reading, explains so much of what I tasted/chewed over 18 years in Hong Kong and Japan. Picked up a bottle of Koon Chun lye water at the local Asian grocery witht he intent of making Tsukemen (ramen variation) noodles. Seems it contains Potassium Carbonate and baking soda. Love to know the concentration. Also gives instructions for rehydrating squid....

Email from the people at SVS this morning. Chef model plus their vaccum packer for US$449. Free shipping in the lower 48. BLACK FRIDAY WEEKEND SPECIAL! This professional grade model is reduced to only $449 plus receive aFREE SousVide Supreme Vacuum Sealer! Enter Promo Code SOUSVIDE during checkout. US/Canada orders only. Ends Nov. 26, 2012. Thoughts? I've used their water oven with good results but had no experience with their vac sealer. Does it use any bags or the foodsaver type?

Pretty quiet kitchen these days. www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20221810

In keeping with your original goal: Classic garnish (internal or external) would be diced onion and gherkin. Serve drizzled with a white vinaigrette, bread & mustard to offset the richness I think your capers idea is a winner as well. A single star anise in the braising liquid? As you'll know being from S'pore its a great match for pork. You should have enough natural gelatin from the head (included fat and skin) but test it by pooling a bit on a plate and refrigerating ontil cold to check for set.

Anyone have a recipe for mineral water that would be usable in the sodastream? bit more taste/health benefit than tap water is what i'm hoping for. thanks. Note to self: Google first; then ask. Found a good starting point on Khymos. http://blog.khymos.o...ater/#more-2331 Will report back.

Definitely typo. Salt @ 5g/liter or .5% is on the mark.