Martin Fisher

FWIW, Low-temperature Mailliard reaction.... Source: The Kitchen as Laboratory: Reflections on the Science of Food and Cooking, edited by César Vega, Job Ubbink, Erik van der Linden, pg. 95

Looks like a spreader spoon.

FWIW, I found a couple pics of Hunter's black garlic as well as a pic of black ramps on his Instagram. In the comments on the black ramps there's evidence that baking soda is involved. Baked baking soda — sodium carbonate — apparently. "I was at your talk at the MOFAD, I just tried following your method for black garlic on ramps this week myself, didn't turn out this nice. Should I have baked the baking soda longer for a darker color? And in was a bit damp but you wrapped yours in a damp towel in plastic wrap right?"

My comments have nothing to do with what you've said. Me too. Cost is another good reason.

I spent most of the day researching black garlic. I'm going to take anything that's published about black garlic with a HUGE grain of salt!!! Especially studies sponsored by food companies, as above. There are a plethora of wild health claims, origin claims, processing claims, science claims (in terms of what makes black garlic what it is)...TONS of conflicting information. Until I can find something concrete, I'm guessing that it's 'mostly' non-enzymatic browning....generally, slow 'Maillard' reaction. I read the summaries of a couple dozen or so patents; there are literally hundreds of patents relating black garlic processing! Pre-boiling, pre-freezing, pre-pressure cooking, bacterial fermentation before thermic processing, various additives in some cases....times, temperatures and humidity all over the place........ I'm not going to believe anything that's on a commercial black garlic label!!!!!! At this point all I care about is the taste, and 'possibly' making decent black garlic at home.

@Deryn Yes, LOTS of unanswered questions. When Dave uses the term "crockpot" he may just mean 'slow-cooker' in the general sense — as many folks do. I don't think all brands of slow-cookers operate exactly the same. Anyway, from the Crock-Pot website: "Crock-Pot® slow-cookers reach the simmer point and stabilize on both "High" and "Low" at about 209°F." "Both "High" and "Low" stabilize at the same temperature; it is just a matter of how long it takes to reach the simmer point. Once food reaches the simmer point, total cook time is dependent on cut and weight of meat to reach the point of maximum flavor and texture potential. Most dishes can be prepared on either "High or "Low.""

A spectrometer in every household!

@btbyrd and @VilleN I found Dave's very brief description of Jonny's 3-day technique in the March 1st show — Episode 241 — starting at about 48:50 Dave suggests that they may have Jonny call in to a future show to discuss it further — I don't think that ever happened. I've listened to all shows up through April — there's nothing more about black garlic. The RioRand arrived yesterday — standard cloves. It is real good.

I think everyone knows what food is. Fraud? "In law, fraud is deliberate deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain" Black's Law Dictionary definition of fraud, here.

Food fraud defined.

Most of the things I buy are quite simple and far from "high-end" I do lots of research before buying, read reviews, etc. to try to find products with a record of minimal problems. In spite of that, we do run into serious problems with some stuff. The fridge I bought last August, a "Whirlpool", draws numerous excellent reviews. I bought it on sale — 10% off regular price, with a "free" icemaker promotion — packaged separately — which I sold for $65.00 There is a very minor cosmetic issue for which they refunded ~$50 I bought a 5-year extended warranty for ~$100 Hopefully, it'll serve us well without serious issues!

Interesting read.... Food Fraud and “Economically Motivated Adulteration” of Food and Food Ingredients, 44 pages. "It is not known conclusively how widespread food fraud is in the United States or worldwide. In part, this is because those who commit food fraud want to avoid detection and do not necessarily intend to cause physical harm. Most incidents go undetected since they usually do not result in a food safety risk and consumers often do not notice a quality problem. Although the full scale of food fraud is not known, the number of documented incidents may be a small fraction of the true number of incidents."

Hazmat uniforms...with the local ambulance service on-call!

No doubt they're a regular occurrence, but so are all the other styles. In addition to side-by-side, there is freezer over fridge, fridge over freezer, fridge only, under counter fridge only, under counter drawer style. side-by side up top with drawers below, etc. etc.

OIC That's certainly not something we have a room for or a need for in this house, There are several fridge designs available here in America....I had no idea what "American-Style" meant.

i'm curious, what exactly does that mean?

I just remembered a dangerous episode that happened with our current gas range and it's so-called 'improved" technology. Unlike old gas ranges with a pilot light, where, when you turned the knob to gradually increase the gas to light it....the new stove has an electronic ignition, where, when you first turn the knob, the gas comes on full-blast and then when you turn the knob a bit further the igniter kicks-in (clicking) lighting the burner. Turn the knob all the way to low. Well, when we were away from home for a brief trip to a store, our big dog jumped up, put his paw on the knob. pushing it in and turning it just enough so the gas came on...full-blast!!!!! YES!!!! We returned to a house filling up with natural gas! This is a very tiny house ~400 square feet! Thank GOD we weren't away from home for long!!!! We now turn off ALL that we can when we're away for more than few minutes...gas...water...everything!!!

15+ years ago I had a microwave burst into flames!! I pulled the cord and literally threw in out the closest window!!!!! I like simple, I love the simple life. I can live with minimal technology. If I didn't have a partner, I'd likely go back to my old. off-grid, near stress-free, "Thoreau-like" ways!!!

Shortly after I bought this house — the third week of April, 2010 — I bought a brand new GE range and refrigerator from Home Depot (ordered April 25th, installed within a week.) Had several problems with the fridge, both major and minor, before it finally died completely last August. I then bought a new fridge from Lowes. The GE range is still going, but has some issues. About 3 years ago, rust started developing rust on the bottom of the oven door, that's gotten progressively worse. All markings wore of of the oven knob — I REFUSE to pay $35 for a replacement! Worst of all, the oven floor has started to burn through in spots!!!! GRRRrrrrr!!! I don't think I'll buy another range. I cook for just myself 99% of the time and when I use burners, 90% of the time it's just one. So I may just buy a 'good' induction burner. Not yet sure what I'll do for an oven...maybe just a small counter-top convection oven. On June 11th, 2014 I ordered a Frigidaire 12,000 BTU air conditioner. I installed it after it arrived about a week later. It died last week, just about 2 years to the day after it was first installed! GRRRRrrrrr!!!!

I'm definitely NOT interested in woking a dog!!!

I thought nearly the same. Maybe Albany now has some big influx of folks from coastal CT, RI, MA, etc.!?

@btbyrd FWIW, Episode 231 is a Harold McGee show. Episode 237 is where I found the Jonny Hunter show where they mention the 3-day technique but, as you said, no useful details. I think you're on the right track with the pH adjustment assumption. I'm going to order a little bit of the RioRand brand peeled black garlic.

I can't avoid it, but I learned to "zone-out" such distractions in a previous line of work. It's not difficult unless it's something EXTREMELY nasty.

Ugh!!! Sorry to hear that!