Martin Fisher

Beef on weck must be popular in far western NY because I was born in western NY and I've lived in the immediate area my entire life and I've never heard of it in this area.

You need vacuum pump oil Check at an auto parts store or dairy supply.

Make sure the liquid is as cold as possible. When the liquid starts to boil, hit "stop" or whatever to immediately stop the vacuum and seal the bag.

Sterilizers operate at a psi higher than 15. http://www.pressurecooker-canner.com/sterilizers.html

In my opinion and to my taste the best broth/stock comes from whole birds (preferably birds with some age), both in flavor and economy. When I'm looking to make volumes of stock, I poach whole birds, reserve the poached meat for various uses, then I pressure cook the the bones, heads, necks and feet in the flavorful poaching liquid....it makes the best stock.

A few food specialties that are unique to my area....Cornell Chicken, Salt Potatoes and Spiedies.

What difference, at this point, does it make?

The only thing I don't like about the screen is it going black. I wish it would stay on all the time.

I agree that cooling covered stocks and soups is bad practice. Souring is possible, at least theoretically, since there are spore forming lactic acid producing bacteria that could survive the heat and then thrive when conditions are right. More possible risks associated with slowly cooling or holding stocks and soups at low temperatures....... Bending the Rules on Bacteria By HAROLD McGEE

Yes, I've had the same problem.....try to reattach the skirt.

"Volume plates" usually look like a white poly cutting board. Have you seen this video?

Hmmm....well...it's safe to say that the fermentation failed. Toss it and start over. It's best to cover it with about an inch of brine.

Is the upper kraut completely covered with brine? It doesn't look like it, but it's difficult to tell from the picture.

I use a KRUPS electric coffee grinder. Repeated grinding and sifting keeps it from getting oily. Sort of like this....

When I want almond flour I just grind the almonds.....blanched or unblanched....no other fussing. It's best to repeatedly grind and sift so it doesn't turn to butter.

In a pressure cooker you really only need to just cover the bones and stuff with water.....it'll make a concentrated stock that you can dilute if you wish. The stainless steel pressure cookers that I have (I don't cook directly in my aluminum canners) can be filled 2/3 full as long as it's something that won't foam-up. I have 3-liter, 5-liter and 10-liter. Something else I've done is put a large stainless steel container surrounded by water in my 22-quart canner for large batches of stock.

I sometimes inflate a gallon Zip-Loc bag and a quart bag or two (whatever will fully cover) so they're a couple inches thick and put a towel over them...makes for some nice insulation.

I paid $3 for a vacuum "pump" that'll boil water at room temperature (actually much less than room temperature) and compress plant material......a faucet vacuum aspirator. So far, I prefer the faucet vacuum aspirator for such tasks rather than the chamber vacuum.

I've used a stock pot with no problems. FedEx is a disaster...they did that same thing to me several years ago on a very important delivery......long story short....it was delivered to me on a Saturday before Saturday delivery was standard.

Have you tried the Collection Elite pint jars? They're wide mouth and only about 3.75 inches tall with the band on.

After watching some related videos, it's no surprise to me. I cringed at the cross-contamination.

Fresh lovage tastes, to me, like a mixture of strong celery and walnuts.....I often think of Waldorf salad when sampling a leaf. It's incredibly easy to grow and a perennial....the seed heads shoot to about 8 feet tall here.

For long term cooking of anything with a lot of liquid, short of a chamber vacuum sealer, I prefer oven bags secured with hog rings.

I have been very lucky with my Rival blender...750 watt and variable speed....it was made in 1966 and belonged to my Grandmother. I like the blender so much that I looked on eBay many times in search of another one as a back-up....just in case. Well, I was very lucky to find one that's identical to the one I have and it was NEW in the box....never used!!!

CCK Cleavers.