btbyrd

Not a typical breakfast. Grilled chicken thighs with saffron donabe rice/peas and fried shallots.

I’m looking for something hotter and faster.

Tis the season, and I’m looking for times/temps. I usually go 140F for 48hrs, but want to go higher/faster this year. Kenji suggests 180F for 10 hours. Anyone got experience with higher temps?

It's Petit Jean bacon. I've had their regular pepper bacon before, though it was years ago, and recall it being decidedly peppery.

Since the Zingerman's sale is on through the end of the month, I'm updating this to add that I didn't care for their Arkansan long pepper bacon. It is very light on smoke and the pepper was basically undetectable. It was a very "porky" bacon, which isn't really what I go for. The Neuske's is as delightful as ever though: quite thick with nice campfire smoke.

The Paragon spec sheet lists the max temp for the cooktop at 500F/260C. Portable induction units typically top out around this range to avoid overheating. For portable/outdoor searing, I highly recommend the Iwatani 35FW butane burner.

What fruit are you using? Many fruits contain enzymes that can interfere with gelatin setting. Overly acidic fruits can do the same.

+1 for testing. I can't imagine cooking potatoes on a timetable.

This video from Chris hints at some of the techniques that may be emphasized by Combustion Inc. and the smart app that will be paired with the device. The technique he examines here uses two probes: one to measure the core temp of the protein and one to measure the temperature just below the surface. You start out with your oven at a relatively high temp (he uses 400F) and then turn the oven down to a much lower temp (like 225F) after the surface reaches the desired doneness. This technique requires the use of two thermometers, or requires you to use one probe that you move from the surface to the core when you turn the oven temp down. The Combustion Inc product should let you do this with a single probe with 8 sensors that can monitor the core temp of the meat, the surface temperature, and the oven temperature - and can track these across time in an app, and, say, give you an informed estimate of when the core temp will be reached. This should enable even cooking in a faster amount of time than just using a low oven the entire time. SV-like results in "turbo" fashion. But I wonder how much time is actually saved on your average roast.

This isn't a Kickstarter; they're not asking to be funded in advance. Waiting is the only option.

Bag juices are a mixed bag. They're shot through with all sorts of protein and gunk that requires a separate step to deal with in order to make the bag juices useful. One way to do this is a quick boil and strain. The chunks will flock together and form a raft which can be removed easily. The resulting juices are clear but flavorful and gelatinous. They're useful as a liaison to sauces and stocks, but won't alone yield a traditional pan sauce because those are built around browned protein bits (fond) that you've removed in the boiling step. This leads us to the second strategy, which is to reduce the bag juices fully, evaporating all moisture, and then frying the gunk to create a fond. Once the gunk has browned, deglaze with your liquid of choice, and voila -- a pan sauce. ChefSteps does this in one of their prime rib recipes, and they remark in the video that "it looks like Swamp Thing" while you're reducing it; that's a pretty apt description. I haven't had super great luck with this technique, as there end up being a lot of small lumps in the sauce from the flocked-together proteins. I bet hitting it with an immersion blender would solve this problem. As for how to separate meat from bag jus, I do exactly what you describe: slit open the bag, pour out the juices, then peg the opened bag to the top of the sous vide bath. You can also move the meat to an oven; I wouldn't worry about it drying out, especially if you're cooking a larger cut and/or your oven is set to a low temperature. With all that said, I usually treat sauce-making and SV cooking as separate processes altogether. I make or buy jus and demi glace and use them on their own to make sauces. If I cook something large enough to get significant amounts of jus, I'll boil and strain it, and save it for a later use. It's great to add to braises or soups, or to deglaze a fondy-pan.

I have a glass top induction burner and a glass top electric range. I shake my pans all the time and have never scratched either and have been using both for half a decade. I can't imagine putting anything underneath my cookware to try to spare the cooktop or allegedly make cleaning easier. Update: Okay, so I looked at my cooktop closely and there are some fine scratches on the most used burners. They’re not immediately visible unless you’re really looking for them, and I’d consider them to be part of normal wear and tear, especially given how much the cooktop has been used (and how much shakin’ has been goin’ on).

You can get the exact same sharpener Wasabi sells for $120 for $30 on Amazon. It's -- how shall I put this nicely -- low quality. And their knives are garbage. Stay away.

Zingerman's is having their annual spring sale, which focuses mainly on cured pork and cheese. I always take the opportunity to pick up a good amount of Neuske's applewood smoked bacon. I'm also trying out some Arkansas long pepper bacon this year.

It's not uncommon to use shitloads of soy sauce in marinades.

You can always dope less spicy mustard with powdered mustard or mustard oil.

NaCl influences the water binding and water holding capacity of meat. It can also change the texture. A dry “brine” can make protein juicier when cooked, even if no extra water is added. Liquids high in NaCl like soy sauce or fish sauce (or just a saltwater brine) can affect similar changes while also drawing exogenous moisture into the meat. Phosphates are also useful for increasing water holding capacity in protein. For both NaCl and phosphates, it is dubious whether osmotic pressure is responsible for these changes. In stews and conventional braises, the protein is going to be so cooked to death that these facts matter very little. It’s not like oversalted braises are dramatically juicier than underseasoned ones.

Meatballs. Had some tortellini on the side.

The Joule app itself doesn't have a SV risotto recipe. The Joule app's search function can search within the app itself (which provides no results for "risotto") or the ChefSteps website (several results for "risotto") or both at the same time. All of the recipes actually contained in the app are free and aren't behind a paywall. The recipes on ChefSteps.com are mostly free, but there are some behind paywalls. And it's been that way for many years.

ChefSteps started selling recipes and classes in 2013. None of the recipes in the Joule app require additional payment, and anyone can download the app and check them out for free.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

"You need a chopping knife, 9 to 12 inch depending on the size of your hand. You know, a man may have a bigger hand than a woman. Whatever feel comfortable. A utility knife, for slicing, doing all of this, about 6 inches. And a paring knife. You don't have to pay much money for the paring knife, you tend to lose it, so cheaper ordinary paring knife is fine. But you need those three knives... (pause) ... That being said, I probably have 300 knives at my house."

Pot roast.

Only a few days left in Zingerman's annual Balsamic Blowout sale. I always pick up a few bottles of Veccia Dispensa balsamics during the sale. And don't tell anyone, but you can save additional 10% off with coupon code <redacted because expired>.

I'm very suspicious of the notion that applying fat to the outside of meat will somehow "go into the fibrous meat" or otherwise penetrate the interior. This does not accord with my experience or knowledge of food science. It's also not true that marinades "penetrate easily." Salt penetrates deeply due to its ionic properties, but marinades don't go beyond a couple of millimeters into the interior of the meat, even after 18 hours. As much as I dislike the Sous Vide Everything guys and Guga, this video attempts to provide some evidence one way or the other. Unfortunately, the guys conducting the experiment have somewhat limited capacities for description and expression. However, the verdict "this is trash" seems to sum up the verdict. Though admittedly comparing larded eye of round to wagyu is an unfair comparison.