Martin Fisher

I like bar mops. They're reasonably priced and hold up pretty well. Lately I've been buying the 100% cotton bar mops at Sam's Club.

First, an apology. I misread the post to which I was responding and thought you had said "I apologize if ...", a form of apology I find particularly maddening, when in fact you said no such thing. My mistake, no excuses. Second, I'm envious you can get good chickens at such low prices. (I assume these are the same ones you mentioned upthread as being $0.69/lb for legs and $0.99/lb for whole birds.) You do appreciate, I hope, that most of us don't have access to this sort of thing. Back when I was making my own stock (had a big freezer then), sourcing chickens worth the effort was the most difficult part of the exercise, and they were a good deal more expensive. Third, coming back to the topic, I would suggest you're explaining why you go to the trouble of making chicken stock when most of us just buy it. That's fine and I do similar things. For example, I make my own dijon mustard, because it's not hard and a heck of a lot better IMHO than commercial brands. But I don't have any trouble understanding why most people don't bother. I respectfully submit you should take the same view on canned chicken stock. I actually barter for the chickens so I do get an extremely good deal on them. The main reason I make stock is because I like my stock to taste like chicken...I make a very concentrated stock with a minimum of 'perfumes.' My main issue (there are others) with commercial stock is the flavor enhancers that are added....I do not like the flavor....I much prefer the flavor of natural chicken. I do understand why some folks use it and I don't have a problem with that. What I really don't understand is when my friends get commercial stock on sale they'll brag about what a great deal it is......those same friends (who claim to always be hunting for a deal) will toss out bones from chicken rather than make their own stock.....that I do no understand because it's extremely easy to make, it tastes better and it's a MUCH better deal.

Rye is my favorite toast.

I also really like the classic Foley, but the ones I have are not stainless and, as you said, have no interchangeable plates.

I couldn't live without a good food mill. I use mine a lot during harvest season. If you plan to use one extensively I recommend you go with a professional model and avoid the Oxo and even a Rosle. I have a Eurodib that's made in France.....it's of excellent quality and should easily last the rest of my life.

LOL! Mass market chickens? Not hardly!!!! The chickens I eat are raised by the local Mennonites. Aromatics may or may not be added to the stock depending on how I intend to use it. The few minutes of active time required is no big deal to me.

La Cuisine Française. French Cooking for Every Home. Adapted to American Requirements. By François Tanty. Chicago: Baldwin, Ross & Co., 1893.

This thread is about opinion. I'm sorry I insulted your pre-made store-bought stock/broth!!! Enjoy!!!!

We all have different likes and dislikes...there is no right or wrong...it's personal preference. I've always been rather frugal and don't mind the extra effort (within reason) necessary to make a dollar go further.....hopefully much further. Another example: Because of the popularity of Buffalo chicken wings, raw wings at the grocery store command a premium. I have friends who'll pay $2.29 a pound for raw wings. They'll also pay $1.99 a pound for split chicken breasts with ribs and skin. I could never do that. When I want Buffalo wings, I'll buy 6 roasters for 99 cents a pound. Cut off the dozen wings. Cut up and use the rest of the chicken in various ways. I come out MUCH further ahead by doing that. It takes less than 5 minutes to cut up a chicken and just a few more minutes to bag it and freeze it.

Flavor enhancers (yeast extract [glutamate] in the case of Swanson's broth) have spoiled folks. I'll add a touch of fish sauce or the like if I think something needs a little boost.

The title of the thread is "Things lots of people buy and I don't understand..." I don't understand why people buy 10 cans of Swanson Broth for 69 cents a can when on special ($1.09 regular price) and then boast about what a great deal it is...I don't understand it for several reasons.....there's much more to consider than just convenience and economics. It's my opinion that it's NOT a good deal when the same $6.90 will purchase 10 lbs. of chicken leg quarters that are real and will yield more food without a lot of time and effort. I'm not saying people shouldn't buy it...I'm just saying it doesn't make sense to me and I don't understand it from my perspective....that's the subject of this thread. I can't accept that, at least considering how I make stock. Let's see, first I have to get the stock pot, which, because of its size is not handy in the kitchen. Then, vegetables have to be cleaned and cut. The stock has to be watched and skimmed, at least in the early stages. After draining and straining, the debris has to be composted, the pot cleaned and put away, and the stock put into containers and refrigerated. At some point the fat needs to be skimmed off and dealt with. And lets not forget cleaning the prep tools such as knives and cutting boards. For me, that's a lot more than ten minutes of my time. It's a lot closer to an hour by my rough estimate. And then there's the cost of energy for heating and cooking the stock, heating the wash water or running the dishwasher ... and my time for all this has some value. There's a time and place for prepared stock, or prepared anything. I have only come across one person in all my years on cooking forums who claimed they used no prepared foods, that everything they consumed was made from scratch. Frankly, I don't believe that. I'd like to meet one person who never uses at least some prepared ingredients to effect time savings or make preparing a meal more convenient or easier. Takes me about 10 minutes of active time to make a batch of chicken stock with the bones from 10 pounds of leg quarters. No cutting boards....no knives...no pot watching....no skimming...no dishwashers. I grab the 5 liter pressure cooker. Toss the bones and a whole onion in the 5 liter pressure cooker and cover with water. Bring up to pressure and adjust heat. Turn off heat when done....allow to cool naturally. Strain and pour into containers. Refrigerate or freeze. Wash pressure cooker, bowl and strainer. Toss the bones in to the bokasi bucket. It doesn't take a lot of active time and effort.

I can't accept that, at least considering how I make stock. Let's see, first I have to get the stock pot, which, because of its size is not handy in the kitchen. Then, vegetables have to be cleaned and cut. The stock has to be watched and skimmed, at least in the early stages. After draining and straining, the debris has to be composted, the pot cleaned and put away, and the stock put into containers and refrigerated. At some point the fat needs to be skimmed off and dealt with. And lets not forget cleaning the prep tools such as knives and cutting boards. For me, that's a lot more than ten minutes of my time. It's a lot closer to an hour by my rough estimate. And then there's the cost of energy for heating and cooking the stock, heating the wash water or running the dishwasher ... and my time for all this has some value. There's a time and place for prepared stock, or prepared anything. I have only come across one person in all my years on cooking forums who claimed they used no prepared foods, that everything they consumed was made from scratch. Frankly, I don't believe that. I'd like to meet one person who never uses at least some prepared ingredients to effect time savings or make preparing a meal more convenient or easier. Takes me about 10 minutes of active time to make a batch of chicken stock with the bones from 10 pounds of leg quarters. No cutting boards....no knives...no pot watching....no skimming...no dishwashers. I grab the 5 liter pressure cooker. Toss the bones and a whole onion in the 5 liter pressure cooker and cover with water. Bring up to pressure and adjust heat. Turn off heat when done....allow to cool naturally. Strain and pour into containers. Refrigerate or freeze. Wash pressure cooker, bowl and strainer. Toss the bones in to the bokasi bucket. It doesn't have to take a lot of active time and effort.

Homemade and store-bought are not the same product and, for most, labor is required to earn the money to buy stock. Labor to buy applies to both parts and cans. That's true but in the case of the leg quarters you're getting a whole lot more and it only takes about 10 minutes of active time to make stock.

Yep.

FWIW, if you used standard pink salt, nitrite is the ingredient in question not nitrate. 6.25% nitrite here in the USofA. Nitrite is actually more toxic than nitrate.

Yeah, that's not good practice. If you used 5 level tablespoons of cure mix that equates to about 131ppm nitrite which is well within safe limits if the ham was cured long enough. The meat should be okay but I would discard the liquid.

Need more information to give you a good answer. How big is the ham? Skin on? Bone in? What the make-up of the cure mix? How much cure mix was used? How long do you intend to cure it before you cook it?

I don't see it that way. Homemade and store-bought are not the same product and, for most, labor is required to earn the money to buy stock. I agree on the sponge bread, I've never understood the appeal of that garbage.

Not long ago they were 59 cents a pound. Now, usually 69 to 79 cents a pound. Wegman's, one of the popular grocery store chains in this region, currently has them for 69 cents a pound.

Wow, I could list MANY things!!!!! Recently, some folks I know were bragging about scoring big with ten 69 cent cans of Swanson Chicken Broth (with all the flavor enhancers that come along with it)....YUCK!!! For the same $6.90 they could have bought a 10 lb. bag of chicken leg quarters...made 'real' broth/stock and had the meat to go along with it!!!!!! People never cease to amaze me!!!!!

Spacers in a reasonably sized hotel pan should fine work to resize the chamber as needed and yes, a pump would be needed for a closed loop set-up...about $100 last I checked. The problem with a standard vacuum pump is the possibility of the back flow of toxins....that's why a medical vacuum pump or the like is recommended when working with food....unfortunately, they're extremely expensive.

A couple of things....either the vacuum chamber must be sized to very closely fit the job or the vacuum aspirator can be setup as a closed loop system....or both.

Actually, I intend to work on that idea soon. I've found some silicone gaskets for hotel/gastronorm pans that I hope will work. An impulse sealer can be used to seal the bags. The biggest issue is temporarily sealing the bag in the pan until it can be sealed with the impulse sealer. I have some ideas.

I seriously doubt it.

You don't need a chamber sealer to do vacuum infusions. marinades and flash pickles. For a total of about $30-$40, a faucet vacuum aspirator, a FoodSaver vacuum jar lid, a piece of hose and some canning jars can be used....or really any reasonably sized vacuum container you can hook a hose to. I use the set-up several times a week.