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Martin Fisher

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Posts posted by Martin Fisher

    Sous vide – what to buy or ask for, for Christmas?

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted · Edited by DiggingDogFarm (log)

    I'm going to use an Igloo 48-Quart cooler for the vessel. The insulated vessel will allow me to setup the outfit on my unheated enclosed porch.

    I've ordered two SS sandwiched circulation plates from FMS to ensure good circulation.

    Because the air pump isn't adjustable, I'll install a vent valve in the air line so I can fine tune the bubble action.

    I'd rather not alter the lid, so, instead of making a hole in the lid, I'm going to drill a hole up high in the back of the cooler well above the water level and install a bulkhead fitting to seal and finish it off nicely.

    ~Martin :smile:

    Sous Vide: Recipes, Techniques & Equipment (Part 8)

    in Cooking

    Posted

    Well, if we're using a spreadsheet, then we're debating whether the coefficient of the meat should be 0, 1.0, 0.8, or whatever. These are all approximations. If one is also fairly consistent about the equipment, the ratio of brine to meat and so forth, then most of the remaining error gets compensated for by one's personal choice of target salinity.

    On an ongoing basis, using 0.8 in one's spreadsheet is every bit as simple as using 1.0 as the meat multiplier, and 0.8 is a slightly better approximation. If one is already using 1.0 with good results, then it's K.I.S.S. to not think about it again. That doesn't imply that someone else should prefer 1.0 to 0.8, starting out. The effect is small, so pick some number, stick with it, and play to taste with one's target salinity, which matters a lot.

    That will certainly work too.

    I learned about equilibrium brining via the FSIS' 'Processing Inspectors' Calculations' Handbook many years ago.

    They use the total weight of the meat to calculate the amount of cure, salt, etc. in one of their brining methods, so that's what I have always done.

    If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me.

    "Method Two:

    The second method assumes that the submerged meat, meat byproduct, or poultry and the

    cover pickle act as a single system. Over time, the ingredients in the pickle, such as nitrite

    and salt, migrate into the meat, meat byproduct, and poultry until levels in the tissue and in

    the pickle are balanced. This system is actually very complex and dynamic, with

    components in constant motion, but it will reach and maintain a state of equilibrium.

    Therefore, the calculation for ingoing nitrite is based on the green weight of the meat

    block, using the percent added as a relevant amount."

    http://www.fsis.usda...ives/7620-3.pdf

    Using total weights also makes it a cinch to use the meat curing calculator on my website for calculating an equilibrium brine.

    http://www.diggingdo....com/page2.html

    ~Martin

    Sous Vide: Recipes, Techniques & Equipment (Part 8)

    in Cooking

    Posted

    It's true that the water content is the part of the meat that will take the salt (and sugar and/or cure, where applicable), but if I know that I like bacon that's 2% salt when using the whole weight of the meat and weight of the water used in the brine to calculate an equilibrium brine, I don't need to unnecessarily complicate things by guesstimating the water weight of the meat.

    Same deal applies to any meat, K.I.S.S.

    I've been doing it that way for almost 20 years, it's always worked perfectly for me.

    ~Martin

    Sous vide – what to buy or ask for, for Christmas?

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    we'd like to see pics of your attempts!

    either get the Baldwin book or study the threads here and the ref to the info on line.

    get a nice notebook at Staples or elsewhere. engineer lined and keep notes in there on all your SV attempts. This will be your personal bible of SV. no kidding!

    why make the same mistake twice?

    I've been waiting for over a month for the Baldwin book to again be available on Amazon.

    The notebook is a great tip, I keep one for all of my projects, general cooking, baking, charcuterie, cheese making, wine making, vinegar making, lacto-fermenting, etc.

    I'm currently working my way through all of the 2100+ posts in the 2011 and 2012 sous vide threads.

    ~Martin

    DIY smoking rig

    in Cooking

    Posted

    The other option I was thinking of was instead of using a hot plate as a source of humidity, I could duct in a small external humidifier and run the smoke all the time as a constant source of heat.

    I think that's a much better idea.

    I would also pipe in the smoke with an A-Maze-N smoke generator (piped in only because I think that high humidity may interfere)

    The A-Maze-N smokers are great. I highly recommend them.

    http://www.amazenproducts.com/

    ~Martin

    US tomatoes for Italian uses

    in Italy: Cooking & Baking

    Posted · Edited by DiggingDogFarm (log)

    Talk to these guys, they really know their tomatoes, and have a broad selection.

    Forni-Brown Organic Gardens

    http://www.epicuring...-april-mayfree/

    My question for you: What did Italians do for tomatoes year-round before the debasing convenience of canning?

    Sun-dried tomatoes are fantastic for their intended purposes, but harsh as a substitute for fresh or canned; their US novelty uses are rather bizarre. Many US chefs, such as Keller, Colicchio, advocate some form of tomato conserve to heighten the flavor and preserve tomatoes for later use. Their methods are rather fussy and involved when one's crop is coming in 30 pounds at a time, and too targeted to be as broadly useful in, say, Indian cooking as Italian.

    We preserve our annual California crop (from Forni-Brown plants) 20 to 30 pounds at a time by blanching 45 seconds in boiling water, plunging into ice water, skinning, slicing onto dehydrator trays, sprinkling with sea salt, and partially drying. Rest a day in a bowl in the fridge to equalize moisture, then vacuum pack for a chest freezer. (A FoodSaver can manage the modest liquid present; we instead use chamber vacuum pouches and an impulse sealer, where the liquid is enough to squeeze the air out.)

    Italian-American families in the US still "can" (jar) their own tomatoes for each year. In Arthur Avenue, Bronx, New York one sees massive sales of crates of plum tomatoes each year for this purpose. A Neapolitan handyman in my New York apartment building found me drying Arthur Avenue tomatoes as described above, and now regales me each year with tales of how many jars his extended family puts up each year. I don't recall, but the number is staggering.

    Other US consumers got so adapted to the taste of "can" in canned tomatoes that when manufacturers first reformulated canning to minimize this taste, there was consumer revolt. I really don't like the taste of canned tomato in even moderately upscale restaurants. Were I involved in a restaurant, I'd bet the bank on some conservation technique like I describe above, to avoid having to buy commercially processed tomatoes.

    I mentioned Keller while discussing this at Forni-Brown, and I believe the response included "Tommy", which startled me. They're in Napa.

    re: Italian tomato preservation without canning.

    In the case of Pomodorino del Piennolo del Vesuvio, they're bred to hang on the vine for many months. As I understand it, they're often lightly smoked before hanging. They're not dried like a sun-dried tomato, their acid level is what preserves them for later sauce making.

    I have seed to plant, I'm anxious to see exactly what they're like.

    re: sauce making

    I'm not sure if it's original, but I came up with a technique to create conserva and consomme without the harshness of lengthy cooking and canning.

    re: tomato varieties.

    If we're talking tomatoes available at a farmer's market and the like, it's possible that there could be any number of dozens and dozens of Italian tomato cultivars. More likely, generic San Marzano and Roma, which are the most well known, but, unfortunately and IMHO, they're not great flavorwise.

    re: green-shouldered tomatoes

    Same deal with the green-shouldered tomatoes in Spain, I was surprised at how tasty they are.

    A couple suggestions if you want to included cultivars that folks can grow themselves.

    Red Pear Piraform, for a green-shouldered slicing tomato of Italian origin.

    Martino's Roma, for a good, highly productive and flavorful tomato for sauce or drying.

    There are, of course, others that I highly recommend, but, some are not so easy to obtain.

    HTH

    ~Martin

    Sous vide – what to buy or ask for, for Christmas?

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    get this stuffL:

    http://www.homedepot...1&storeId=10051

    make sure its the version that does not expand, or your top will distort and no longer fit. drill a series of holes on each side a little larger than the thin applicator tip.

    insert on one side and fill and pull out slowly while filling. some will come out the other side's holes. wipe clean and put the top back on to cure. make sure its clean or it will stick.

    use plastic disposable gloves. you cant reuse what's left as the stuff cures in the tube and the exit hole. but cheap.

    cut out your access wholes with a key hole saw after the top cures.

    Thanks!

    time to get to work on your project!

    I'm getting there!

    I ordered the Geratherm basal thermometer today.

    ~Martin

    Sous vide – what to buy or ask for, for Christmas?

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    Thanks!

    I'll look into it further.

    Drilling several holes would certainly help, but I'm afraid that may encourage cracking.

    I've noticed on some coolers owned by family & friends that the lids have a tendency to crack, but that may be due to excessive UV exposure when folks leave them out in the sun for an extended period of time.

    Unfortunately, I didn't pay close enough attention to determine if a certain brand is more prone to cracking.

    ~Martin

    Sous vide – what to buy or ask for, for Christmas?

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    In fact, heat loss with my 28L Campingaz beverage cooler was less with ping pong balls on the water surface plus lid than with the lid only.

    It's good to know that ping pong balls can take the heat.

    I looked at 25mm polypropylene balls, but they're expensive, no matter the source.

    Surprisingly, solid polypropylene balls are typically less expensive, but of little use.

    ~Martin

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