JoNorvelleWalker

At the risk of being tedious I use my Anova every day -- couple hours ago for toast (6 minutes, 186C, 100% steam). My big oven I've used twice in the last six months: for baked potato and for a frozen pizza that specified not to use a toaster oven. However I'm guessing a Breville will work well for what it does.

On the subject of wood cutting boards, I received an acacia cutting board today. The idea was to use it as a serving platter when I have bread and cheese, however it turns out to be a bit large for the purpose. Even though the board is beautiful considering the modest asking price, the acacia wood feels hard to my hand. I thought I'd ask before cutting on it. Thoughts?

Hinoki is said to be anti-microbial. While I have a couple of hinoki boards, I use the good one only with my Watanabe nikkiri. Not only do I believe hinoki is anti-microbial, the only maintenance is rinsing with clear water. Hinoki should not be oiled.

I'd be a bit afraid of botulism.

The Enoking cleaver is down to $20.99 on amazon.

Evaluating new Japanese seafood shears. Opioids modo praescripto, methode rotuts ad lib.

Batch 32: 90g blanched Spanish almonds 90g apricot kernels 350g water 280g sugar 60ml Wray & Nephew Overproof Tonight's "sugar" was a mixture of cane and coconut...just because. I was tired and my back hurt, and almost not up to homogenizing. But then I saw the all too familiar cap of almond fat forming on the surface of the hotel pan. No amount of shaking or jumping up and down will emulsify orgeat once it has cooled down.

I shall never again run out of sugar when making my monthly batch of orgeat.

Last night's loaves...

If I recall correctly she has a Pacojet.

Primary application is snacking while eGulleting. At the moment I'm sitting here supping upon a bowl of almonds and my mai tai. In addition, any hints on shelling pecans would be most welcome. I'd love to achieve a higher percentage of nutmeats out as intact halves. The pecan variety I have is Elliot. The shell of Elliot is thick.

I'd been wondering if pecans could be deep fried, and apparently they can. I'd love to know ideas for time and temperature.

I would never cook in bare feet, but that's because the kitchen floor is sticky.

Only one mai tai so far but it is getting close to 2am. When the album I'm listening to (Mary Gauthier's Mercy Now) is over this sweet grandmotherly person will go start making dumplings.

What's wrong with the unadorned sheen of perfectly tempered chocolate?

Boiled dumplings. No ice cream.

My Warmot Chinese Cleaver arrived this evening. I can't say it sparks joy or confidence. Compared to the Enoking Nakiri, it is the same length and about twice the height. While weight of the Warmot is 238 g vs. 253 g for the Enoking Nikiri. Enoking specifies their steel as 9CR18MOV. Warmot says their cleaver is "alloy steel". And they say the cleaver is forged, although it appears stamped to me. If you assert a stamped blade is forged, I guess that does qualify as forgery. Meanwhile the Warmot cleaver is not the sharpest in the drawer. I tested it tonight on radishes and limes. The Enoking Nikari performed better in all respects. I have yet to try the Enoking Cleaver.

Tonight just mango ice cream.

I am not alone.

Thanks for the video. After watching, I ordered a much lighter and longer Chinese cleaver of a different brand. It will be interesting to see how the two cleavers compare.

Pork dumplings, seethed. Served on a bed of napa. Ponzu sauce for dipping. Mango ice cream with pistachios.

Never would it have occurred to me that a cleaver could be more than one type of knife. With my bias of being in the US I thought all cleavers were for chopping essentially anything? I recall Watanabe offers or offered Chinese style cleavers, although Watanabe's cleavers are indeed expensive. Even more expensive are the restored cleavers offered by New West Knife works, some more than 100 years old, and all about $1000. https://www.newwestknifeworks.com/collections/restored-antique-meat-cleavers Maybe what is meant by cleaver is a cultural thing? My sense of what a cleaver is corresponds to Wikipedia's article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleaver I hope @Jaymes was not as confused as I.

For "Japanese movie night" I was more hoping for Ringu. Can't quarrel with sake though. Dinner here last night was dumplings on a bed of ken-cut cabbage, steamed in my new bamboo steamer and German wok.

I could believe that. The ring is 3 5/8 inches in diameter and 1 3/8 inches high.

There is no country of origin listed for the cleaver I purchased that I can find, but for other Enoking knives where the country is specified it is always China.