FeChef

I never write down what i add and it changes depending on what i have on hand, or what chile peppers look good at the grocery store, but I can name a few ingredients and techniques that have been a game changer for my chili. #1 as crazy as it sounds, i dont brown my ground beef in a pot. I mix 1 TBSP of Goya Adobo AP w/pepper and 1 TBSP of chili powder to 2lbs ground beef. I take a baking sheet and a rolling pin and make a huge patty about 1/2 inch thick and bake for 15-20 min at 350F. After its done i remove it from the baking sheet and pat the excess grease off with a paper towel. After it cools i roughtly tear it apart with my hands to make nice size chunks. The benefit of this is you dont lose all that flavor of the seasoning as every bite has flavor, and also i prefer nice chunks of ground beef in my chili. #2 I use chile puree as my base ( walmart sells it ) Its so much better then powder ( and very concentrated so use sparingly ) Its also less time consuming then making your own puree from dried chiles. #3 Use Masa Harina ( corn flour ) to thicken. Benefit is it adds a subtle corn flavor and doesn't turn your chili white like AP flour, and its easyer to work with then cornstarch. I use more beef stock then needed bercause i like a more gravy like consistency to my chili. Anyway, those are 3 game changers i figure i would pass on.

Brined bone in breast was amazing. Never had a breast this juicy. At least not 3 to 4 hours holding.

Over 3 hours in no steam, breading crispy.

Im not sure where you are going with this post. I am testing functions of this oven. Where did i say this oven "doesn't" work well?

Deep fried a chicken in my 2.5 gallon Electric Turkey fryer. Used 20% evercrisp ( man does that stuff work ) I wonder how many hours i can hold it at 140F 10% humidity? I guess this would be the ultimate test for the product. ( well, maybe 100% humidity would ) That said, i wanted to use some steam because ive had fried chicken get too dry at holding temps without steam. Anyone have any experience with holding fried chicken with a steam oven? Incase anyone is wondering, I cut up a 4lb bird into 9 pieces ( breast into 3, 2 drums, 2 thighs, and 2 whole wings folded. Also bread and fry the gizzard, and heart ( chefs prize ) Update: An hour in @ 10% humidity it went from extra extra crispy to close to "Original" i cut off the steam and will hold at 140F No steam for 2 more hours. And take pics of the results.

No. I got the smell out of the inside oven with vinegar and baking soda paste. Its just wherever the steam goes before it vents out still smells like smoke. I think i will need to use some solution in a pan and crank the heat up so it boils and vents out, and hopefully that with get rid of the smell in the vents.

My wife couldn't resist and ate two slices before i could take a pic.

I used the ultimate cheesecake recipe on the app and after it was done i toped it with lemon curd. One change i had to do was use almost 2x the unsalted butter it called for for the graham cracker crust as it was too dry to press and form in the springform pan. The lemon curd recipe was here: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/how-to-make-lemon-curd/ I used 2 yolks and one whole egg instead of the 4 yolks as it made a thicker curd.

Lemon curd cheesecake is looking really good. Can't wait to cut into it tomorrow.

I wish. 2 hours in on a cheesecake and its still pumping out that sweet smoke smell. My wife joked and said it might be good, like a good smoked cheese.😬

Yes I cleaned it. Its a problem because its stinking up my kitchen everytime i use steam.

Well damn. Held a smoked brisket in the APO for 24 hours and can't get rid of the smoke smell. Wiped it down with a vinegar/baking soda paste, 212F 100% steam for 15 minutes, wiped it down real good. Smoke smell inside is gone but steam coming out of vent stinks to hell of smoke. Any ideas?

Could be regional pricing. I remember way back in the SV corned beef thread i was getting corned beef for 0.99/lb on sale around St Patty's day. Maybe it was $1.49/lb in your area. Either way, I havent seen those deals since pre covid, and i doubt i will see them anytime soon.

Was delicious. Nothing pretty.

Beef cheeks would be great for pastrami. My best Pastrami was a 10 day cured beef tongue.

So 3 hours in at 129.5F is holding 132.1F for 3 hours.

Weather was not kind today so i did a quick 1000F IR grill on a 2 inch ribeye and filet. They were small portions, not full size. My initial observation is once you reach 5 deg below target temp, drop oven temp 10 deg below target temp. I was shooting for 132F then hold for a few hours. I over shot to 134F which is perfectly fine, but just something to keep an eye on. This was a "forward sear" The IT was around 80F after a 2 minute grill/sear on the 1000F IR grill. Just enough to get some good char grill marks.

Added it to its new home. Hopefully will be cooking with it tommorow.

Its out for delivery and i got a brisket point thawing in the fridge and getting my smoker ready. I am thinking of smoking till 185F IT then into the APO. I am still deciding what temp i want to go with in the APO. I want better fat rendering then the usual 155F everyone seems to do for 24 hours sous vide. Also debating on humidity level. I heard 100% ruins the bark.

I just recently bought one during the black friday sale. It was a deal too hard to pass up.

In my opinion, Picanha is way to lean for pastrami. I had very good results with beef tongue. I would not even go back to brisket if making from scratch. Its been a while since i found a deal on corned beef on sale. Maybe i am just old and can't get past the $0.99/lb deals around St pattys day. @rotuts knows what im talking bout. lol

This would be another method that would help, but i practically "shave" the meats when i stir fry/deep fry and it would be beyond tedious to seperate the pieces individually, not to mention the amount of real estate it would take, not sure i have the counter space. Theres also the issue of the slices turning into a pile of ground meat trying to pull them apart without enough oil.

I could see shallow frying in a Wok being dangerous if its scorching hot, but i have added room temp oil to my deep fryer while hot (350F) many times and never even a bubble. Also, i think the cornstarch and oil coating on the raw meats act as a barrier and prevent moisture from expelling too quickly and causing splatter. At least thats my theory and experience.

I am referring to the velveting technique where you coat the thinly sliced meat of choice in egg, constarch, cooking wine, then just before adding to the hot oil in the wok or fryer you add a tablespoon or two of oil to the meat to prevent the meat from sticking together. For me, this never works and i find myself manually trying to pull them apart after the quick fry. This got me thinking, whats the harm in adding more oil ( same oil as the cooking oil ) I figure if using a deep fryer your just topping off the oil that probably has been lost in previous frys. My only forseeable issue could be if using too much oil it might drop the hot oil temp down. I suppose i should test this in small batches so i can use more oil then meat. I guess i am posting this to see if others who sir fry often use more oil then is suggested in pretty much every online recipe because it never seems to be enough to prevent sticking together.

Sale on little necks, bought too many, Wife has been wanting a pasta dish for weeks, So heres my take on shrimp Scampi w/clams. Pretty simple ingredients. Butter, olive oil, 4 cloves crushed garlic, korean red pepper flakes, White wine, (secret ingredient salted shrimp) Not fermented. Jumbo raw shrimp peeled, tail on, sauteed grape tomatoes, Parsley, little neck clams steamed, and linguine pasta.