Martin Fisher

California Olive Ranch oils are available here, how's one to know for sure that they can be trusted?

Well, regulations may make some difference but humans will remain human which means the problem will continue to some extent. Organic food is regulated but that doesn't prevent cheating. The problem is, from a consumer standpoint, you have no idea what's good and what isn't.

As far as the crocks go (they're what we used for years and years,) I don't see them as being ideal.....that includes both standard crocks as well as the crocks with the sealing lip like the Harsch-Gairtopf crocks or the Polish crocks sold by The SausageMaker in Buffalo, NY. They're expensive, heavy, breakable, the included weights can give fits and some of the older crocks weep. I rarely use the crocks anymore unless I feel crazy enough to make an occasional huge batch, which doesn't happen very often anymore.

Yet some large (and some not so large) commercial lacto-fermented sauerkraut makers use stainless. Other metals are to be avoided.

The only potential problem I see with using a good stainless steel stock pot is the large surface area. It's best to limit surface area as much as possible and even though that can be countered with some of the techniques mentioned above it could still be a nuisance. A stainless steel bain marie should work okay. Having said that, a wide- mouth half-gallon Mason jar is my favorite kraut vessel, it'll hold about 4 pounds. All you need for an airlock is the canning lid (no band) with a weight on top....a pint jar full of water works good.

Yes, the SVM also pulses off and on when it nears and maintains the set temperature.

I'm not so sure it was a smart move....the specs are disappointing, the color is unappealing and the price isn't especially competitive given the specs. Cheapening a top-of-the-line brand name can be a very damaging strategy. Remember the Cadillac Cimarron?

Wow, that's rather disappointing...I'm surprised! Out of curiosity, I just performed an experiment with the FMM, which is allegedly 1500W. It took it exactly 53 minutes to ramp-up a little bit over 14 liters from 20 C to 90 C....that's in an uncovered and uninsulated 22 liter Cambro-style polycarbonate container filled to the 15 liter line to compensate for the volume of the FMM and a tiny amount of evaporation. Edited to add: The FMM takes up about 470ml in volume, evaporation was ~220ml and the exposed surface area at that level in the container is just shy of 100 square inches.

Yeah, the BBC program 'The Very Hungry Frenchman.' I'll likely attempt it in the pressure cooker, not sous vide.

Raymond Blanc reduces the wine to 1/2 or 1/3 and then marinates the beef in the wine for 12 hours. I'll likely do the same. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7cs1XaHRu4

Yet it is used in fermentation because it's only effective in controlling certain bacteria reliably and much of that is only in synergistic conjunction with effective levels of salt, acidity, etc. Having said that, nitrite/nitrate isn't essential in all meat curing, some meats are cured with just salt, but, unfortunately, where nitrite/nitrate is needed for safety's sake, some of the fancy "pink" salts are sometimes confused with nitrite/nitrate salt and that could be very dangerous!

Coincidentally, I was researching this a couple days ago. I wouldn't think that chuck-eye would need much time sous vide....it's naturally quite tender.

In my experience, you're correct, in won't work. http://forum.chefsteps.com/discussion/1215/thrifty-vac#latest

I hope the course is real good, I've been waiting for several months.

I think I'll hold off for a while before I commit to an immersion circulator to let the reviews flow in. http://www.cuisinetechnology.com/sousvide-discovery.php

This designer Ball jar will fit into many of the smaller pressure cookers. It's pint sized, ~3 and 3/4 inches tall (95 mm) and wide-mouth, which is nice.

In my experience, the bitterness isn't always obvious until they're cooked. Having said that, some carrots are free of bitterness.

That is one of my biggest pet peeves!!!!

Hm, I am not particularly convinced by either argument. The latter argument (re: fridge temperatures) has been debunked. As for rapid chilling for food safety, I think you will find that the risk is minimal if almost nonexistent if you chill in an ice bath as opposed to simply moving the bags from the SV machine directly into the fridge.Rapid chilling is the recommended safe procedure for sous vide food that'll be held in the fridge for an extended period of time. "(to avoid sporulation of C. perfringens (Andersson et al., 1995)), and either refrigerated or frozen until reheating for service. Typically, the pasteurized food pouches are rapidly chilled by placing them in an ice water bath for at least the time listed in Table 1.1." "While keeping your food sealed in plastic pouches prevents recontamination after cooking, spores of Clostridium botulinum, C. perfringens, and B. cereus can all survive the mild heat treatment of pasteurization. Therefore, after rapid chilling, the food must either be frozen or held at below 36.5°F (2.5°C) for up to 90 days, below 38°F (3.3°C) for less than 31 days, below 41°F (5°C) for less than 10 days, or below 44.5°F (7°C) for less than 5 daysto prevent spores of non-proteolytic C. botulinum from outgrowing and producing deadly neurotoxin (Gould, 1999; Peck, 1997)." Source: http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html

You can sometimes strip the core out of mature carrots, especially the older larger cultivars. Halve or quarter the carrot lengthwise and impale the core on the end with a fork. If you're lucky the core can be easily separated from the outer part of the carrot and stripped out. For many years I've added 20% cored carrot to my pumpkin pies.....I like the flavor, natural sweetness and the bright orange color.

FWIW, removing the core is often recommended because it can be bitter. I'm pretty sure that's the line of reasoning that the MC and MC@H folks are following. The bitterness can very quite a bit from cultivar to cultivar and maturity also plays a part.

If it's something that's totally new to me I try to follow the recipe as close as possible the first time. More often, I incorporate what I think are the best features of more than one recipe.

I also gave up brining long ago in favor of presalting a.k.a. dry-brining. Russ Parsons' Dry-Brined Turkey (a.k.a. The Judy Bird)

It can happen anywhere..... Suspected [Olive Oil] Fraud Hits Major Israeli Supermarkets

One of my favorite recipes - so simple, and so good. Marcella Hazan's Braised Celery with Onion, Pancetta, and Tomatoes