JoNorvelleWalker

It's been impossibly too hot to bake, so (evening) lunch at work was a Wawa hoagie*. Dinner was the remainder of said hoagie. And an ear of corn by the method of @nathanm https://forums.egullet.org/topic/144300-sous-vide-recipes-techniques-equipment-2011/?do=findComment&comment=1810427 *Wawa is good, my bread is better.

A storm came through this evening and seems to have taken down one of my blueberry bushes. Or it could have been the birds. Also my cosmos.

My dear boss told me she is planning to take out a free trial of prime for the sale period. I have little hope for her.

Some are silicone coated.

You and Kerry buy it.

The company is Worthy Liners. https://www.worthyliners.com/collections/frontpage Ask them if they ship to Canada.

Prime day is up on the amazon site now.

Unfortunately. Burns everything you cook in it.

Tonight's dinner was half a game hen. The Chicago Cutlery BT43 proved it's mettle. The backbone popped right out and the sternum was not far behind. No muss, no fuss. The narrower blade of the BT43 was easier than a chef knife. One thing I noted about Pepin's video: he was using what I'd consider a very narrow chef knife.

Visions is the only cookware I have ever thrown out.

My guess is a tiki mug.

I put the tray and rack in the dishwasher. Amazon sells 10 inch by 10 inch squares of parchment which are convenient. For chicken thighs with the crispest skin I go with steam bake 450F, no marinade. However I've found I prefer thighs according to the CSO manual: steam bake 300F for an hour. Most succulent flesh.

Thirty minutes on steam bake at 450, after pre-heating. They do not use the bread function. Turn boule back to front after twenty minutes.

OK, after hours of searching blogs, reading books, and watching videos...I apparently learned my method from Richard Olney: "Removing the backbone. With the bird on its back and the legs pointing toward you, insert a large, heavy knife into the breast cavity. Draw it down one side of the backbone severing the hip joint (diagram, page 14). Open the bird and cut along the other side of the backbone to free it (above)." The Good Cook Poultry (p48). Pepin calls for holding the chicken on its side while removing the backbone (Essential Pepin). Extra points to Pepin in his video for whacking with his chef knife.

Googling around the web almost everyone uses kitchen shears. A few go for the @Thanks for the Crepes method. I didn't find anyone who removes the backbone the way I do it. Then again The Japanese Culinary Academy's Mukoita II, which teaches the techniques of cutting poultry, will not be published until this fall. I preordered my copy over a year ago.

Burners possibly. I confess I just cook with my flat bottomed ones on an electric stove.

I was dying to test out my "new" knife. Despite the Excessive Heat Warning I hiked over to the store. I figured it was equally unhealthy to go outside as to sit in front of the computer. Now a couple hours later I have two Cornish game hens, but absolutely no desire to do anything with them. @Thanks for the Crepes I am amazed that you can sever the backbone neatly without collapsing the chicken nor cutting yourself horribly. The video @btbyrd linked above shows the backbone being cut out much as I do it, except with much more finesse.

Wok technology has not changed that much.

Nothing so adventuresome as deboning small birds! I just wish to spatchcock or more often cut in half. To remove the backbone I place the bird on the board on its back, and insert the knife through the nether end, making cuts through the rib bones on either side. I have never tried going at it from the outside. Then if I am cutting the bird in half I turn it over on its breast and slice through the sternum. Maybe my technique is not the best?

It turns out I may already have a solution to my problem -- my bone cutting problem, not my kitchen toy addiction: a Chicago Cutlery BT43. I bought this probably back in the 1980's. I believe it was sold as a carving knife. The blade is 9 inches and the heel is 1.5 inches. The first two inches of the blade are serrated so I was always afraid to try to sharpen it. I never found a use. Long ago the BT43 lost its place in the kitchen, and for most of this millennium has been relegated to a mortuary of broken, useless kitchen junk living in the living room. I plan to grind a new edge and see how it performs on a Cornish game hen. I don't actually have a Cornish game hen in house but when this heatwave breaks I intend to go out to the store to get one. (Or actually get two, since that is the only way they come.)

A friend told me the birds got all her raspberries.

If you have access to a copy of Modernist Bread there is a procedure for the CSO.

I don't know what I may have done to deserve two perfect avocadoes in a row.* Served with a can of Progresso New England clam chowder and the last husk of this week's bread. *I suspect it may have to do with birds.

Sorry I did not see this before: I can't imagine a cleaver fitting in the cavity of a poussin.

A little shorter than my heavy chef knife but just as wide unfortunately. Any deba would probably be too wide for my application. I've read there are at least 800 types of Japanese kitchen knives. One of these 800 shapes is probably just right! Meanwhile I made the mistake of visiting New West and ordered a fillet knife on sale: http://www.newwestknifeworks.com/ My most used chef knife is from New West but I don't cut bones with it. Or any meat for that matter. Worse, New West has a new 11 inch chef knife that is calling out to me. But which I don't need. (Not that I exactly needed another western fillet knife either.) I'm still looking for a knife for chicken bones. Sadly I've been pricing hamokiri and Watanabe's least expensive hamokiri is $621 at current exchange rates.