Martin Fisher

I've done a lot of research, I think the VP215 is definitely worth the few extra dollars. This is the best price I've found on it...$877.88 and free shipping...... https://olivia-hayse-r7le.squarespace.com/meat-packaging-vacuum/vacmaster-vp215 Changing the oil isn't a big deal..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJd6NrAUszU A dealer recommends tracking the number of bags used in order to schedule an oil change...."....what I recommend to my VP215 customers is that they change the oil after the first 1500 cycles and then every 3000 cycles. Each cycle is one bag, so it's easy to track how many cycles you have on the machine by how many bags you have used. There are two important exceptions; if you have been sealing a lot of liquids and have moisture built up in the oil, making it a milky color or if you are going to store it for any significant length or time without using it. In both cases, the moisture, if left to sit for weeks/months on end can rust the internal components of the pump which is never good."

Vollrath Intrique 3 quart. Stainless steel construction. I strongly trend toward commercial kitchen equipment for my home kitchen since I know that it can go into the dishwasher and since it is an NSF-marked piece to can be easily cleaned to California (CURFFL health codes) retail food standards. IMAG0325.jpg Nice! I got the 2 quart Sur La Table Saucier.....love it!

It's not unusual for wild rabbit to have an odor. Soak in salt water.

I haven't seem pasteurized eggs for sale here.

You got a lemon...buy another one. You shouldn't have to baby cast iron. I have several dozen pieces, I use cast iron every day and I've never had a piece crack.

Likely a hidden flaw. It's common with cast iron. Critical castings such as car parts are x-rayed to detect flaws.....I doubt Lodge x-rays pans.

Beautiful kitchen Nancy.....MUCH nicer than what I have to work with. Cute mousers!!!

My gut feelings echo many above - who in this day & age cares about uniform pieces? I think flavor has become the bottom line criterion. As to mashing up a fish or piece of meat in an attempt to debone or the like that of course is horrid. For something simple like a chicken vegetable soup, size uniformity plays as big a role as flavour does. If the vegetables look like they were thrown in a food processor, then they probably were. For knife skills in regards to simple butchery As a Chef and owner, if I get a case of whole chickens in, I know that: 1) the price per kg/lb whole chicken is cheaper than pre-fabricated 2)I can get the level of trim I want 3)I can generate enough trim to make stocks 4)I can generate "schmaltz" or chicken fat 5)Even with my labour calculated at $15/hr, I can still fabricate my chicken parts cheaper than ordering pre-fabricated parts Same goes with fish, and for primal cuts cuts of beef or pork Thank you! I totally agree!

I've been using induction and a stainless (but induction-ready) pour pot. Hard to control the flow with Pyrex but I may give 'wave' a try (and stir). Can you recommend a good stainless pour pot? Pyrex sucks since Corning dumped it.

I'm for uniformity most of the time....who wants carrots or whatever that cook unevenly? Having said that I'm not going to pretend to be an expert with a knife...but I do get by...I've yet to starve because of my knife skills...LOL

It takes some time to cure tongue without injection...not only is the skin tough...the meat is very dense. I'd skin it before curing.

ChefSteps on presearing.....

I wish they'd behave more professionally...like at least posting an estimated lead time. I ordered on the 31st....no word after the initial transaction but of course they charged my account.

Oh yeah!!!! Love me some garlic studded pernil!!!!!!!

The classification of all sauces into the four original mother sauces groups.....Bechamel, Sauce Tomat, Veloute and Espagnole.....was Marie-Antoine Carême's doing. Auguste Escoffier added the fifth mother sauce....Hollandaise.

I hope to formulate a low-sugar/low-starch sandwich bread that doesn't totally suck!

"...and slept it off during the meeting." LOL! Thanks for sharing!

We always start of the new year with traditional pork and sauerkraut, because, you know, a pig roots forward...while poultry scratches backwards and cattle stand still!

Yeah....you have to be a member...or ride along with a member.

DiggingDogFarm - I have never been to Sam's Club.. does the $12.88 price the website gave me sound right for that pack of 24 you linked too? Yep, $12.88 for 24.

I just looked at Fantes site...they have 2 mills listed as Omac...Made in Italy...the pictures are definitely pics of Macina-Legume mills. http://fantes.com/food-mills.html

FWIW, I think that JB Prince sells the Eurodib for about $120

Check Fantes.com in Philly....they carry, or used to carry, Macina-Legume.

I have indeed purchased thighs and boned and skinned them myself. It was a royal pain in the posterior and I have reasonable knife skills. In the following video Martin Gilligan demonstrates my favorite way of deboning thighs....with a bit of practice you can go through several of them in a few short minutes.... Starting at about 2:40 in the video.......

I've lived rural almost all of my life...around lots of LP....around lots of guns...lots and lots of guns. I've never heard of a propane explosion...natural gas, yes, several explosions but never an LP explosion. LP is just like natural gas cooking wise. Having said that...I hate LP.....it's expensive...the LP companies are known to be crooks....there are often delivery issues in bad weather....any cylinder that isn't fairly big is subject to theft...I just hate dealing with it. I would seriously look at a wood cookstove.....I recommend the no frills Amish built models....Baker's Choice and Pioneer Princess are popular.