Baselerd

Good post! It is a shame that all the reviews for SV equipment are generally rolled into an evaluation of the entire technique (usually) by those who aren't necessarily the target audience. I have been cooking SV for about 2 years and I have only been using the Ziploc hand pump vacuum sealer. Even cheaper than the Reynold's one and doesn't convey the mental barrier of requiring an additional appliance. Not good enough to compress fruits/veggies, but good enough for just about everything else.

Seems like a cool idea

Seems rude, but hardly newsworthy...

I'm pretty sure most people around these parts are going to prefer nice large whole eggs. Liquid eggs are more of a convenience thing, and eggs are hardly a high cost grocery item. Seems like a good idea if you find the market though...

Especially while waiting for your entree. Rarely have I gone to a Mexican restaurant and been hungry by the time the entrees arrive...

This is what I mean by non-problem. Sous-vide did not make this possible since braising and slow-cooking had already been available techniques for millennia. Braising is typically involves much higher temperatures than sous vide cooking, is generally more work, and produces different results. The higher temperature alone (simmering liquid nominal temperatures are approximately 185 - 195 F) results in dramatically different meat texture. For example, I have prepared pork belly at 140F and 155F, both were very distinct from the other - and neither could be prepared using any other techniques. It is more difficult to preserve the meat's flavor with a braise, since you have to partially submerge the meat in a relatively large amount of liquid - which is great in its own right, but a totally different process and effect (resulting in much of the meat flavor extraction into the braising liquid, and much of the liquid flavor penetrating the meat). I have never performed a 72 hour braise, nor have I heard of anyone doing such a thing. With sous vide, you can just throw in the food and forget about it - which in and of itself is a huge selling point for both home cooks with busy lifestyles and restaurant mise en place logistics. With that said, who ever demanded that every new technique present a solution to an unsolved problem? You could argue all cooking techniques developed in the last thousand years are redundant - solving non-problems. However, that would be a very simple and close minded approach to cooking.

You can also make a date puree, use that in any pastry or chocolate that you would with another fruit puree.

I try and force myself to eat them every time I get a chance, just hoping I can learn to like them. But I can't stand portabella mushrooms... the texture is just off for me.

If you thaw the haggis you can mix it with some binder (fat, activa, etc.) and then refrigerate it in small square or cylinder molds to make a more modern presentation.

Brining allegedly helps make the pork retain the moisture better after cooking. The result should be a more succulent cut of meat. Another secondary function of the brine is to help the meat maintain a bolder color (using instacure #1), otherwise the braised belly tends to turn a duller gray color. I've brined all of my pork bellies, but only because it seemed like the de facto thing to do. I have heard it's very delicious without brining as well...

Berry Salad from Eleven Madison Park Cookbook: Blackberry sorbet Buttermilk Olive Oil Sorbet Black Pepper Crumble Olive Oil Powder Strawberry Meringue Rasberry and Lemon Yogurts

Not sure about what happens if no oil is used, and I've never tried using CO2 before. My guess would be that the result would be less aeration with CO2 since N2O has a higher solubility in fat-based liquids.

Cool, thanks for the input. It doesn't sounds like there is an easy way to go about this other than trial by fire. That recipe from Iuzzini looks pretty good for a starting point actually - maybe I'll start there. Also, looking through the MC Volume 4, they do have a "Best Bets for Cold Gels" table, which should work with any liquid base - the real question is do any of their combinations give the same creamy but firm texture and elasticity of the fabled flexi-curd...

On the subject of modern plated desserts: I have noticed a recent trend that has caught my attention - the flexible/pliable ganache (sometimes called the flexicurd). Now, I have made a few recipes for these types of desserts, which have turned out well (Specifically the Alinea Cookbook chocolate pliable ganache). Another recipe can be seen here on page 68. (ingredients listed below) 375 g chocolate 1 sheet gelatin 50 g water 100 g sorbitol 3 g agar 50 g glucose 900 g heavy cream 2 g salt Now, my question is this: does anyone know of a good way to modify this recipe (or of any others) to accommodate other flavors? I have seen some very interesting pliable ganaches, such as yogurt, beet, grapefruit, coconut, etc. However, there doesn't seem an obvious way to modify these recipes. For a lot of dessert components this is as simple as changing a fruit puree to another flavored liquid. I am not so confident in this due to the fact that the recipes contain a lot of chocolate, which contributes significant textural properties. To further complicate this, I know some hydrocolloids are sensitive to pH (pectin) or ion concentrations (LA gellan, carrageenan). Anyone have experience with this?

Sounds interesting. Are we talking curing/brining, or just salting for seasoning? I know the MC and MCaH recipes for Sous Vide pork belly have you salt it before SV'ing it. Both Under Pressure (Thomas Keller) and Eleven Madison Park have quite a few meats that are cured first, then sous vide cooked - most of them confit meats.

I always brine/cure meats before cooking SV. Works great.

I believe that the correct technique for aerated chocolate is 1 lb chocolate + 6 Tbsp neutral oil (grapeseed). Melt it all in a pot, then let liquid cool to about 85 F. Next, pressurize in an ISI whip with 2-3 canisters of N2O. Dispense it into a vacuum container (example) and pull a vacuum, placing it in the freezer until set. If you don't have the vacuum container, you can still try but the result will be a lot denser - although still less dense than the chocolate alone. This is the best technique I have tried, uses a lot of inspiration from the Eleven Madison Park cookbook.

I believe you will end up with an infused oil, rather than imitation butter. To make a margarine, you must emulsify the oil with a water based solution - likely with the addition of an emulsifier such as lecithin.

My go-to easy meals are spaghetti and rice stir fry. Nice and easy, doesn't take more than 20-25 mins to prep.

Just finished this, several components: -Almond gelato (using the pistachio gelato recipe from MCaH, but with almond oil/butter) -Almond Microwave Sponge Cake (once again, using the MC recipe for pistachio sponge) -Pear Panna Cotta (using the raspberry panna cotta recipe from MCaH, but with pear puree) -Pear fluid gel -Poached pears -Almond crumble -Caramel Tuile -Butterscotch

It sounds like you have some built up resentment, and this is a bit of an oversimplification and close minded approach to food. If you enjoy bread, souffles, cappuccinos, and meringue than you have enjoyed foams. If you enjoy alcohol or any other fermented products than you are drinking processed food that is just as "unnatural" as any ingredients used in modernist food. Most modern gels are made with seaweed extracts of some sort. Calling this food processed shows how unfamiliar you are with the actual techniques and ingredients. Would you prefer everyone prepare food the same way forever and never have any innovation?

The original Modernist Cuisine books have even more than the at Home version.

Exactly what they want you to think. Then they start the upselling. When you go a supermarket, do you think the hard sell ends when you walk in the door, because you are "already there"? Restaurants are no different. While I don't want to get into a semantics argument - and maybe I'm not the typical diner - but I have an expectation to order a certain and specific amount of food when I go to a nice place. Usually a few apps, an entree per person, a few drinks, etc. Because of this expectation, I don't feel the supermarket analogy holds well (they certainly do upsell). I'm going to either buy the special, or another entree off the menu... doesn't seem like an upsell to me. Maybe the special costs more, but I've never felt persuaded to get a special, I just like the options. If they can make my mouth water while describing it to me all the better. However, some restaurants do take the descriptions a little too far for most people I will say. I don't necessarily care about which ranch the pork special comes from, but it doesn't upset me to hear it. Let it be said though that the types of restaurants that generally give these types of descriptions are for food enthusiasts...

They're nice for east meals - most slow cooker recipes in existence generally consist of throwing all ingredients in the cooker and not much more. As mentioned before, they are great at keeping food warm for serving, and they're usually very low cost. With that said, I haven't touched mine since getting a water bath a few years ago. I find that slow cookers don't offer much precision if you want to elevate your braised foods to the next level.

Most by-products can be used for stock making or other infusions. For example, (a la Modernist Cuisine) you can use the flavorful skins of potatoes or other root vegetables to boost the flavor of stocks and soups (assuming they were peeled). They also describe a method of roasting and then pressure cooking corn husks to make corn broth for a corn consomme. I recently made a recipe in which the husks of passion fruit were simmered in simple syrup to make a passion-fruit syrup. I've seen mentions of using the leftover pulp from juicing to make various flavored powders in a dehydrator.