Charcuterer

I have had my first issue with my Vacmaster VP112. 2 weeks ago I started noticing that the bags I was sealing were not as "tight" as they used to be. The problem worsened and last weekend my machine became unusable. I tried to seal a pork tenderloin and the bag was still full of air but sealed. I called ARY and spoke to a very helpful gentleman named Gary (struck me funny for some reason.) Gary gave me a quick and easy test to determine if there was a crack in the lid (easy) or if there was an issue with the pump (not so much). Turns out the lid was the issue and they have sent out a replacement. I am a bit concerned; I have had the machine for 10 months (1yr warranty) it never gets moved from its spot on the counter top and has never had anything dropped on it. I fear that replacing the lid may be a frequent issue and with 2 months left on the warranty my expense. Customer service was excellent and I am happy with the experience but I am left with a bit of anxiety over the lid construction.

The VP215 is not large enough. The largest bag it can seal is 12X14.

I have the Polyscience Professional and use it between 3 and 5 times a week. It is really well made and efficient. I have a couple cambro containers in different sizes with the lids cut to accommodate the circulator and they work great. I can't imagine that .02 degrees of accuracy would be a problem. I have never had my circulator set above 180*.

@ElsieD it's on page 100. The first step of Potato Puree.

Here's an idea that might be worth an experiment. In MCatH and from Heston Blumenthal they talk about retrograding the startches. What if you try that, 158* for 35 minutes then put them on a cookie sheet to cool and then freeze them. Then you have them ready to thaw and use as needed. Maybe that would help to prevent the pasty-mealy texture. (However, with a full freezer that probably doesn't help.)

If you happen to have an outlet mall close by there is a store that is in almost every one called Kitchen Collection. They have a lot of silly gadgets like Avocado scoopers and the like. The one by me has little plastic handled ceramic knives for $6.99 they also have the kitchenaid branded ones for somewhere around $12.00. Compared to the Kyocera they are pretty bad but cheap and sharp (at first...)

My wife had taken a large all-clad saute pan out of the oven put it on the stove top while she turned to do something else. Note- no blame to the wife, I had after all put the pan into the oven at 450*. I turned and grabbed the handle "hand shake" grip prepared to lift the heavy pan. It was the only time I have ever heard my skin sizzle. Even thinking about it makes me shudder. Now we have these silicone handle covers (called "handle condoms" in my house) that go on any pan straight out of the oven. There was also the V-Slicer incident that removed a quarter size section of the flesh of my palm and necessitated the purchase of Kevlar gloves. At least we learn from our mistakes!

Robert is the Fissler a venting style or is it like the Kuhn Rikon and doesn't constantly vent? I have an older Fagor and it vents all the time, my stocks always come out much less quantity than the recipe says and I have to fiddle with my stove a lot.

This morning I tried the egg poaching method that JAZ linked to above. It was my first really successful poached egg. Where they usually come out shaggy and unattractive it was perfect. Watching the egg bob around in the pot is better entertainment than most of what FoodTV is airing these days...

The Hush puppies turned out amazing. Using the Masa Harina you get a very different texture on the inside compared to regular corn meal. I had to go a bit longer than the recipe specified to get the insides done (5 minutes as opposed to 3 to 4). I will try the batter as tamales tomorrow. I have some leftover short ribs that should be amazing in them.

My Chicken and onions got short circuited by my forgetfulness. I left it in the fridge at my office, doh! So instead I am doing the Hush puppies (variation on tamales, page 340.) I will try to post pictures and a review.

I am going to make the slow cooked chicken smothered in onions for dinner tonight. Has anyone tried that one? I'm curious about how it turned out.

The funny thing about cooking from MCatH for me is that even in the cases that I didn't love the recipe I feel like I learned something. For the Buffalo wings as I said earlier my wife liked the sauce but prefers our usual. I will not make that recipe again (particularly if she's eating with me) but the infused oil "Mayonaise" is a great technique. That is how I have been approaching the book.

Today was an exhaustive MCatH day for me. I started with making the roasted corn stock went into the caramelized carrot soup and then went into the corn meal polenta. Nothing I made today was overly difficult but there was a lot of steps. The corn stock was really easy. Shuck the corn, cut the nibs off the cobs and put it in the oven for a bit then throw the husks and cobs in the pressure cooker with some water. No problem. The result was amazing. I really had no idea what it would be like but it was so aromatic and deep smelling. Next was the soup. My wife is a carrot freak. It is the one vegetable that she could not do without. Her desert island veggie if you will. Ironically her favorite dessert is caramel. When she first tasted the carrot puree she said that it tasted like caramel and carrot. She finished the whole bowl of soup and has decided to have the rest for lunches this week. It is very rich and while there is a ton of butter in it there is still a purity to it that is hard to describe. Finally I used the corn stock to make the polenta. This one was not the success I had hoped for. While the texture was incredible I didn't like it better that my regular version. I think in the future I will use their technique to make my recipe. I served it under braised short ribs and it kind of dissappeared under the heavy dish, which may have been the problem. On the plus side there is enough left over to make the corn soup later this week. I have been reading about the caramelized carrot soup on eGullet and now I see why it gets the raves. Amazing!

Has anyone tried the baked beans from the Rancho Gordo heirloom beans book? I love that recipe and it has been a hit with guests both times I made them.

Sealing bags with liquids in them using a front seal type is almost impossible. The cheapest of the chamber types is over $550 (at webstrauntstore.com they have a VP112 listed for $559.00). My experience with vacuum sealers was this; buy a vacuum sealer from Costco for $250 use for two years and replace because they are completely non-servicable repeat three times, buy a chamber vacuum and use it more but have no problems. I am on the chamber vac side of the debate. I love that I buy 1000 bags for $60 to $80 dollars and it is very rare that I have a bad seal. I use my VP112 more than I use zip lock bags because it is so much cheaper per bag. I love that I can make water bags and freeze them for camping at $0.07 each. It is so easy to plop a beef roast into a bag and pour in a cooking liquid and seal it up. That's my 2 cents.

Having only made three recipes from the MC:AH I am very impressed. I think the thing that I am surprised about is how much I want the big brother now! I think that I am going to have to save my pennies and get that soon. Yes that is a LOT of pennies.

Paul, I can't imagine why it would make much difference. I think it would certainly be easier to deep fry since the oil temp would be more stable. It was hard to keep the temp up when I did mine. If you haven't already made the oil don't skimp on the cayenne as I did because there wasn't much heat (I used half the recipe amount).

I found a brand called Biblos at a local middle eastern market. It is very good but only available in giant tubs (quart). It is rich and thick. When I buy smaller container its usually Fage.

Allegedly the Anchor bar in Buffalo uses a mix of 1/2 melted margarine and 1/2 Franks hot sauce. I have tried it with butter and it is just not right. So the wife liking it better saves me a lot of time.

I made the buffalo wings and the beef stock over the weekend. The beef stock was kind of sad though. I have an old Fagor pressure cooker and it releases a ton of steam even with a very low flame. So the recipe that was supposed to make 4 cups made 2 and a half. I haven't tried it yet but it has great body. The wings. To start, my wife is a purist when it comes to Buffalo wings. She likes the traditional sauce with no modifications. I made the Buffalo sauce out of the book with infused oil and a mayonnaise technique. I usually make my mayo with my immersion blender so I just did it as I usually do, blend in the egg lemon juice and salt then dump in the oil and stick in the blender and it always comes out perfectly. Well the emulsion didn't form and I got a thin sauce. I set it in the fridge and moved on to the rest of the recipe, mad at myself for messing up something so simple. When the wings were done I turned back to the sauce. It was now just a broken oily mess. Out of desperation I put the stick blender back in to at least mix it up some. I don't know if I got lucky or stumbled on a way to fix a broken mayonnaise but like magic it came together perfectly. I chose to toss the wings in the sauce and they looked fantastic. I thought the flavors were excellent. My wife said they are good but not really buffalo wings. I think I will keep the cooking technique; Brine, Sous Vide, Shallow fry. But go back to the old standby wing sauce.

M61376, there are two threads devoted to Modernist cuisine at home. Here and here!

I cooked my first Modernist cuisine at home recipe last night. I made the pressure caramelized onions and then did the French onion soup variation. My wife is a French onion soup lover and she gave it 5 stars! The recipe is really quite simple if you have some really good beef stock on hand. I used some beef stock from the Heston Blumenthal at home book that was in the freezer. Other than not having any perfectly melting cheese (my sodium citrate has not been delivered yet, so I just went with a slice of provolone that was in the fridge) I followed the recipe to the letter. Making the caramelized onions was a snap and they came out insanely rich. The rest of the recipe was just dump and stir (and put under the broiler). The soup came out amazingly savory. It was on the edge of too rich for me but my wife practically turned up her bowl to get the last drops out. Great first go from the book.

There was also an article in Forbes about lifting of the ban. That article is here

Mine is scheduled for delivery on Monday! I'm excited but bummed I won't have it to read and play with over the weekend. Next weekend is to be devoted to MCatH