Ozcook

JNW, did it take much longer to come to pressure because of the small amount of liquid?

Tonight I made the butternut squash version of this recipe as found in MC@H. I cooked it in a Fissler 8qt. I was concerned that the recipe only called for 30ml of water when the manual states that 300ml of liquid is the absolute minimum to avoid damage to the PC and/or the stove. Even allowing for the butternut to have a high water content and the butter to contain water, it seemed to me that it was unlikely to meet the liquid minimum. Anyway, I went ahead and started bringing the mixture to pressure. With other recipes when the pressure builds up steam briefly escapes from the outlet near the handle and then the indicator button begins to rise. Not this time. Steam continued to escape and water dripped from the handle for about 10 minutes, after which I chickened out and opened the lid (there was no pressure). The butternut was beginning to caramelize. I added 300ml of water and returned to PC to heat. It quickly came to pressure. The result was delicious. However the question remains, is the recipe really safe for a pressure cooker when the suggested amount of liquid is so far below the manufacturer's minimum? Also, have others found it takes a long time to come to pressure with so little liquid?

Well this got my attention. I always thought that the custard had to get to 175-180F. I would really like to know why you chose this temp and time.

Coconut oil (both refined and extra virgin) Ghee Butter Olive Oil (refined, standard and EVOO) Macadamia Oil

That was my thinking too. I want to kill, or greatly reduce, surface bacteria before freezing. The replies above are very interesting. My reading of the knife study is that either method will work and that the lower temp is better from an occupational safety viewpoint. As that is not an issue for me, my current conclusion is that a 10 second dunk in 85c water should provide reasonable protection. However I am certainly open to further information. Thanks.

I know that for absolute safety food should be cooked SV to achieve a particular internal temp within a certain time. However, I am generally not too concerned about that, especially for fish as pasteurised fish is way too cooked for my taste and I believe that the unexposed flesh on a thick fillet is unlikely to be dangerously pathogenic. My main concern is to kill or greatly reduce any pathogens on the surface. So I'm wondering if putting my fish fillets into a SV bag, dunking the bag into 170-180F water for a few seconds and then putting it into the SV bath to achieve an internal temp of say, 119F, will provide sufficient safety. Any thoughts?

I thaw, or cook from frozen, all the time. I've only ever had a problem once. I left some lamb rumps that were already close to use by date - and which were subsequently frozen because I was going overseas - in the SV for twice the normal cooking time. They tasted okay, but the texture was so spongy as to be off-putting. In all other cases I can't spot the difference. I put the frozen meat/fish/poultry into the SV at the temp I want the food cooked at. There can be a drop of 5F or so when first put into the SV, but that lasts about 5 minutes max. So if I wanted my food cooked at 140F that's what I would set the SV for, certainly not anything higher, much less 160.

I think your best choice, if you are living too far from a reliable fishmonger, is to go to your Coles/Woolworths/Other supermarket and buy the frozen Tassal 'Easy Bake' Atlantic Salmon. It comes in pouches intended to be placed straight into the oven. I've never done that, I just drop one frozen pouch or more straight into the sous-vide for about 50 minutes, depending on my starting temperature. If you want to be able to finish it off in a frypan, I think you will need to set the SV temp to 129F, otherwise it will be too fragile to handle. If you are just going to add sauce (or butter and lemon olive oil) you can of course cook at a lower temp. The result will be far superior to deep fried chux. If you don't have a sous-vide, you could cook it in your sink or a saucepan but you would have to monitor the temp with an instant read thermometer.

You will find lots of advice and diabetic friendly recipes here: http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/index.php I also recommend signing up to the newsletter at http://www.mendosa.com/

Can anyone suggest a SV recipe for frozen baby octopus?

You could try this: http://www.amazon.com/Mastrad-A64501-Top-Chips-Maker/dp/B004Z762VA I use it for making vegetable chips.

I have had a Braun for years and it has taken plenty of punishment. I often have it on for several minutes at a time. Never showed any signs of overheating.

The Iwatani torch connects to a common variety of gas canister that can be found in just about any asian grocer and many supermarkets and hardware stores, at least in Australia.

I love my Fissler.

The temp is a personal preference. I don't like salmon at 113F. I prefer 120-122F. At that temp it will be fragile but it's doable to put it in a frypan to quickly sear either one side or both.

Why not just buy some sugar free soda (sweetened with something other than aspartame) and use that?

What about some BBQ flavoured jerky? Not the supermarket rubbish, I mean home-made.

Well that explains a lot. A bought two Remington crockpots a few years ago and returned the first one because even on low it would take the contents to a boil. The replacement did the same. I now have a better one but it eventually gets to a boil too. I believed the whole idea of a slow cooker was to keep the food under a boil. I thought I was just unlucky with slow cookers. Mystery solved!

Nestle Australia have just confirmed that their Baking Cocoa is indeed alkalized. Unfortunately this is not disclosed anywhere on the tin. I have just ordered some Ghirardelli, Natural Unsweetened Cocoa online. It is not alkalized (i.e. dutch processed).

I cooked some corned beef today -- my first attempt in a pressure cooker. I added 500ml water, onion, peppercorns, cloves, mace, bouquet garni and I forget what else. I added the trivet and put the c.beef on to the internal dish sitting on the trivet so that the beef would steam. Cooked for 1 hr at full pressure and left it to naturally release for an hour. Came out well but I think a bit overcooked. I will try 50 mins next time.

270 mls is as low as I have tried. Whatever isn't used goes into the refrigerator and is good for at least 5 days (but it is usually consumed before then). BTW, I have never seen pasteurized eggs in a supermarket in Australia, (if you mean not powdered, not frozen).

I regularly make this mayo as it is safer for kids lunchboxes than egg mayo. It is made with a stick blender. Add to the blender container (the tall one that came with the stick blender): 80ml milk 1 tsp Dijon 1/4 tsp salt 1/8 tsp sugar 1 tsp lemon/lime juice (I usually omit the small clove garlic but if I add it I pre-cook it in the microwave first to get rid of the raw taste) Blend until very smooth on low speed. Stop the blender. Add your 180 mls of oil. I usually add 120 ml of light olive oil and 60 ml of regular. The oil will float on top of the milk mixture. With the stick blender standing on the bottom of the container, start blending on low speed. After about 15-20 seconds, slowly raise the blender towards the surface. The oil will be incorporated. If necessary dunk the stick blender a couple of times. You should now have smooth creamy mayo. The strength of flavour is entirely up to the maker. You can add herbs, EVOO, whatever.

If I have understood your post correctly you are not happy with the accuracy of the AWS scale. Could you please confirm as I was also thinking of getting this model. Thanks.

AFAIK neither the Cadbury nor Nestle cocoa powders sold in Australian supermarkets are dutch processed. Do you know for sure that they are? No, I just assumed because Cadbury/Bourneville cocoa is more reddish than brown and is made in the UK. I just did a quick Google search which didn't reveal a conclusive answer, with some sites saying it is and others saying it isn't, so unless I spend longer searching I'm still not sure either way. Again it is an assumption, but I thought there was a noticeable difference between plain and dutched cocoa, so if I'm wrong about Cadbury being dutch process then I'm also wrong about that - as I haven't noticed any big differences when using cocoa that is clearly identified as dutch process! I also have the Droste, as well as the Cadbuyry Bourneville Cocoa and the Nestle Cocoa. The Droste (Dutch processed) is unmistakably darker with a different flavour to either of the others.

AFAIK neither the Cadbury nor Nestle cocoa powders sold in Australian supermarkets are dutch processed. Do you know for sure that they are?