weedy

MY freezer contains: frozen (vacuum bagged): LaFrieda burgers, Short ribs, Iberia Secreto, duck breasts, a variety of sausages (chorizo, andouille, Italian hot, Iberia chorizo, Boudin), a few types of bacon, and crawfish tail meat and 'fat'. on the other side: Anson Mills benne seeds nd grits, frozen corn, peas on top shelf: a bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin, bottle of Luksosowa vodka, ice cubes, green tea mochi a few frozen sauces I've made and had extra: etoufée, Pipian rojo, shrimp stock. so... I can't really start cooking my way through this per se... the whole point here is deep stock. I don't want to eat meat more often than the once every few weeks we do now, and I don't need to drink more! so I guess I can't play

Just to follow up: they came today as promised and installed without issue. so far so good! although I'm now going through the 'which pots and pans will work well' dance!

after much complaining and escalating, they've given me a delivery date of tomorrow (only 1 day "late" versus original promise), so again, we shall see! but it reinforced my decision to NOT take a Sears extended warranty. They're not the people I want to entrust with service, should it come to that.

Well today the contracted delivery/install company called and said they have me scheduled for next Tues. needless to say I told them I'd been promised tomorrow. They were less than accommodating. I rang the salesman at Sears and threw a minor fit. He actually had the balls to say that when he, and the computer, said delivery in the 18th they meant to THEM. and that when he said "the delivery people will calll the day before to give you a two hour window" that should mean a week delay was possible and that he was "sorry if he wasn't clear" Well to me it WAS clear that my receipt said delivery on 18th and I wasn't having it. After speaking to his Mgr they are promisInto to deliver "Thursday or Friday" we shall see. But this has naturally not given me warm feelings about future dealings with sears. Now I just hope to not get a problematic unit as their problem solving abilities are questionable.

will do. one GOOD thing I can say about dealing with Sears, is I bought it in store on a Monday night and it's due to be installed on Weds. (tomorrow). can't whinge about that, assuming it happens as promised.

I ended up pushing the button on the kenmore. arrives Weds. thanks for any advice!

ah, that's a different reason. from the stand point of losing enough water in the bath to matter to the cooking itself, I don;t find that even 72 hrs matter much. but for anything longer than 12, I cover. to me a 'short cook' is 1-4 hrs.

probably? but I can;t seem to find the same model (by looks) branded by another manufacturer. it looks to me like it's a Frigidaire, but not the same models are available.

consumer reports rates a Kenmore (!?!) highly in this price range, which surprises me, but I suppose it's worth a look. I don't know how much I trust CR in this context; although CNET liked this model as well.

replacing the top it seems runs between $300-600, depending on how much is replaced and who does it and some luck in finding the part. at that price, I can replace the range... but then, once I get my head around replacing it, I'd rather it be an actual "upgrade" at that point so I'm willing to go up to that $1500 range

So, due to an inexplicable, and obviously unforeseen, sudden crack in my smooth glass-top electric range, I find myself unhappily range shopping starting tonight. So... is there anyone here who would actually dissuade me from looking at an induction range instead of replacing with another smooth top standard electric?? (gas isn't an option.) if it aids the discussion, I'm hoping to keep this in the $1500 USD range... so I'm not looking at $3000 induction ranges. but there are a few 1500-1700options apparently. any advice appreciated!

One thing I'll say is that I've had it come from different packagers with noticeably different cuts. Sometimes (and my pref) it comes as a 1/4" ish steak. And sometimes as more like a lot of much thinner strips. Wagshal seems to ship to the strip variety whereas I've had both from Tienda. So i'm sticking with Tienda and trying to discuss with them which manufacturer to spec. Having said all that: it turned out great. Beautifully tender and still pink inside even after a quick pan fry to brown the outside. Needless to say the thinner ones end up with more gradient than the thicker cuts. I served it with a red pipian sauce and some habanero quick pickled onions.

For short "cooks", I don't find any need for a lid of any kind.

I have a custom cut lid for my smaller 12l Cambro. But in truth I find the cling just as easy and almost as effective.

Down about 1/4" in 44 hours at 135f

I"ve been just covering the top with cling film, and even after 72hrs, the water level is down perhaps 1/2" in a 20l cambro. I have Iberia Secreto pork in now at 135F - it's halfway through its 48hrs.

I"m doing Iberico Secreto (starting tomorrow for serving on Saturday) that I ordered Monday. for some things, the internets is a great thing.

that's the key phrase there. I'm not cooking for fundamentalists.

you could certainly try longer, but I'm surprised that a relatively tender cut was "tough" after 6 hours SV

https://www.worldspice.com/

do you think your homemade red wine vinegar is superior to commercial ones? or is this like buying hydrogen and oxygen to make your own water?

Latienda.com is fantastic. I always buy piquillo and guindilla peppers (really chiles) from them, as well as Bomba rice, spanish chorizos (both grilling and precooked) and Iberico pork. I love the Iberico Secreto steaks which I vacuum bag and keep frozen until I'm ready to sous vide... it's unlike anything else... I first had it, grilled, at a José Andrés restaurant and it was incredible, so I was happy to find it online. https://www.tienda.com/products/secreto-iberico-de-bellota-pork-end-loin-fermin-ip-07.html

I order all kinds of things on the internets... but an extremely popular cheese??? and you live in NEW JERSEY???? You seriously don't have a good cheese shop, or Italian salumeria shop, within an hour of you? almost impossible red wine vinegar too, I can buy at my local Stop And Shop, let alone nicer ones at nicer markets, but it is no doubt available on Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=a9_sc_1?rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ared+wine+vinegar&keywords=red+wine+vinegar&ie=UTF8&qid=1483555676 Murray's is good quality and does online ordering: http://www.murrayscheese.com/parmigiano-pecorino-grating http://www.murrayscheese.com/search?keywords=vinegar

is that minosharp gizmo really doing something that a ceramic rod sharpener/steel isn't?

The reason to sous vide (in butter, which is really more like 'butter poaching' than straight ahead sous vide) is to use a low temp and short time and arrive at a cooked, but softer, creamier texture than a trad boil/broil/steam if what I wanted was a typically boiled lobster texture, I'd typically boil it the one minute par boil just makes it easier to remove form the shell. it has no discernible effect on texture; and it's certainly not "cooked" that fast. If I want a more traditional texture, my favorite is to par boil for a few minutes, split down the middle, lie it on its back on a sheet pan, butter liberally, maybe bread crumbs in the cavity, and then under the broiler to finish... the way many "steakhouses" do them. SO MUCH better than (yawn) steamed.