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SmokingCrab

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  1. I've been doing a lot of vacuum chamber pickles recently, so no fermentation involved. In some recipes I've not included any vinegar, so to get the necessary sourness I've simply added some malic acid. That has worked really, really well..
  2. Have you considered cheeks? Once you've trimmed away the external nastiness they don't have masses of intermuscular fat, but have loads of porky flavour. What fat there is in them, should be nicely rendered away during a long stint in the oven. They're also pretty versatile, as they're easy to shred, you can plonk it on top of a pasta dish, mash, veggies or even put it in a bun... and in terms of cost, most butchers around me practically give them away... perfect!
  3. I thought it would be worth revisiting this for anyone who's interested. I've done some pretty extensive testing with both pork butt's/shoulders and briskets. Pre smoking VS post smoking for sous vide Pork SV 48hrs @ 63'5'c Brisket SV 72hrs @ 62'c Both smoked for 5 hrs @ 66'c in a 6 rack bradley digital using hickory, oak and apple "bisquettes" Flavourwise, blind tasting resulted in people favouring post smoking, but this is very marginal. The flavour difference was hardly noticeable. I got the annoying problem of smoke permeating the bags with pre smoking, giving me a brown water and a pretty funky smelling kitchen. Post smoking obviously avoids this issue. 5 hours seems perfect. I struggled to form a good pellicle on a couple of tests which affected the level of flavour (mainly due to high winds throwing the smoker temp all over the place). When it worked, 5 hours gave me a decent level of bark on both pork and briskets. The barky/leathery coating softened and went a bit manky when cooked in the SV - post smoking is definitely a better option for retaining the texture and appearance. When post smoking, I advise letting the meat rest before chucking it in the smoker. I put a couple of pork butts in the smoker straight out of the SV rig and they end up a lot dryer that I would like. Cooling them in an ice bath still in the bag juices before putting them in the smoker dramatically improved the texture and moisture content. So in summary, Post smoking seems to win in every category. Hope that helps someone!
  4. I've just recieved my vacuum chamber after a month long wait for it to get shipped from Germany. Which is shocking considering I could drive there in half a day from here in London... A lot of anticipation gets built up over the course of a month! Think 15 year old with keys to a Zonda. I got the mid sized Vakupaxs... I'm seriously, serioulsy impressed. For it's power and size it about 1/2 to 1/3 of the cost of most of the alternatives here in the UK. For anyone in the market for a chamber, it's worth considering. Although I had to get the manual translated from German (fortunately my mum is a translator... said she would have charged me £600 if I was a customer...) I've been vac packing literally everything. Highlight is certainly liquids; a revelation after using a foodsaver for so long. Also successfully packaged my house mate's wallet, keys, shoes and phone So.... This leads me onto asking for ideas on instant vacuum pickles. I've seen a few recipes from Polyscience, MC, chefsteps and seattle food geek, but they're all fairly similar. I'm just wondering if anyone has come up with some really imaginative flavour combos? I'm going be doing some trials and adding pics soon. Any cunning ideas? I'm willing to try anything!
  5. Just looking over the Ajinomoto site for some transglutaminase, when I came across Kokumi.. Sounds interesting. Especially when they claim that it evokes "the taste of grandmother's home-cooked style stews and pies!" I'd not previously heard of it, but I found one post referencing it on here, but that was from 2005; it's clearly been around for while.. So I'm just curious... Has anyone tried it?
  6. Firstly, I wanted to say hi - I've been following dozens of threads on this forum for about 6 months now and decided it was about time I got involved. Some truly amazing skills and knowledge on show here! I'm hoping to tap into some of the collective wisdom of the group... I've just clicked 'buy' on a Bradley Digital (so very excited!), and I'm going to be using it in conjunction with SV (specifically for barbecue). I've done a lot of reading, including MC, and feel that I have a fairly decent foundation of knowledge to go off... In summary, smoke for a while, SV forever However, I've seen occasional posts relating to pre and post SV smoking, with people favouring one over the other.... Now I may be wrong here, but I can't seem to find a dedicated thread or anything more than fairly anecdotal comments about the differences. So perhaps this will start one off.. I'm going to try both options, certainly, but any useful tips at this stage would be greatly appreciated. I'm curious to hear about people's experiences with both pre and post SV smoking, and to see whether the recommended 7 hours is actually necessary? (I've seen an interview with Nathan M where he recommended only smoking for a couple of hours as the benefits of smoking fall exponentially over time apparently... hmmm...) Thanks! (p.s. this topic is unrelated to my avatar. The fact that I'm apparently a crab that smokes is purely coincidental)
  7. Thanks dcarch - I must try this immediately! Does the curling effect in your photo happen naturally with these, or did you curl them up before heating them at the end?
  8. dcarch, I would love to know just how you managed to create these? They look amazing!! I follow a Heston recipe. Cut away all fat from the skin, dehydrate at 50 - 60'c in the oven. Take them out and reserve. Heat the oven up to 240'c, then place the skin on a wire rack back at the top of the oven above a roasting tray of boiling water. About 5 to 10 mins later you've got the most amazing little puffed curly bites of porky goodness. Insanely good. I always add a spice mix, although I've never done the same one twice!
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