btbyrd

I believe that rotuts answered that question. You don't really need a circulator; cold water will do just fine. Warm water even better.

Ha! Nope. I freeze leftover stock, soup, or chili in bags and then retherm them with Joule. A super-fast way to get dinner on the table. You can also just defrost using lower temp settings, but most of the time I crank the temp and serve straight from the bag.

With a circulator.

Or not. It's no different than using a burner on a gas range indoors, and nobody freaks out about that (with the exception of high end ranges that need makeup ventilation). I use both of my Iwatani burners indoors all the time and have yet to die. They're essentially built to be used indoors, despite the paperwork boilerplate warning. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Japanese and Korean cooks use as their primary indoor burners. I wouldn't use one in a tiny airtight space, but in the context of a normal American home, it's not really an issue. Of course, you're in NYC... so the admonition to open a window is wise.

Conventionally raised layer hens are typically fed a diet that contains supplemental calcium, which yields a more shelly shell. Hens raised on pasture often do not get as much calcium in their diet, and their shells can be flimsier with less crackability -- at least in my experience. But I don't buy eggs for the shell.

I use turned wooden cups to keep my cooking/tasting/straining spoons on the counter. Also chopsticks . I can also vouch for andiesenji’s use of the metal mesh pen cups from Staples, though as she notes, they’re a little on the light side and prone to tipping over. My wooden cups were an upgrade to those... got them on Etsy.

After many years of using a plain white ceramic bain marie, I purchased a beautiful utensil crock from Alewine Pottery. They're located in the Smokey Mountains, and we always enjoy visiting their store/studio whenever we're in the area. It sits on a bamboo turntable I purchased on Amazon.

If you want control, the Vollrath Mirage Pro is the way to go. It has 100 power levels that you can quickly scroll through with a knob. It responds basically like a gas stove, though it's not as powerful as 240V. I will say from experience that having only 15 levels of power control is far from ideal -- especially on a 3200 watt unit. Those are good for high-heat applications like boiling water, searing, or stir-frying but they're awful if you want to dial in the perfect simmer or keep your pressure cooker pressurized at a constant level. Most units also tend not to have a lot of control at the low end of the temperature spectrum, but the Mirage Pro was specifically designed to go as low as 80 degrees for tempering chocolate, and has a lot of range both at the hot and cool ends of the temperature spectrum. Also, as a general rule I don't trust induction hobs that pretend to hold a specific temperature unless they have a probe (e.g, Control Freak or Hestan Cue). The claim that induction burners can warm up to specific temperatures are mostly marketing nonsense. Even if the hobs have temperature sensors built into the cooktop, the readings there depend on the cookware you're using. Lightweight pans are liable to be much hotter than the intended temperature because the sensors don't register them as well as heavier weight pans. At any rate, I'm a big fan of the Vollrath and a major critic of low-end units with few power settings and membrane switches. I also like the fact that it will run on normal power, so I can take it with me if I'm going to be cooking somewhere with questionable cooktops. The only thing that I don't like about it is a lack of consumer warranty; Vollrath only honors the warranty for commercial use. I can't say exactly why they do this, but I suspect that idiot customers have something to do with it. Also, I know it's not induction but I'm also a big fan of the Iwatani 35FW portable butane stove. It is extremely powerful and supremely portable -- no electricity required! The downside is that it runs on butane cartridges and those only last about an hour (and the power falls off as the cartridge approaches empty). Iwatani gas burners aren't likely to be permanent (or only) burner in your batterie, but I find them useful in all kinds of situations. The 35FW is more powerful than the burners on the two crappy gas ranges I used for years in past rental homes. My current house has a GE electric range with a glass top, so I picked up the Iwatani burner to use with clay cookware that requires a flame. But I also find it useful for searing outside (so I don't smoke out my kitchen) and for going car camping. They're cheap and fun and provide the real "cooking with gas" experience.

I've been using liquid nitrogen to make ice cream and sorbet in my Kitchenaid stand mixer. Haven't tried using dry ice yet, but that is supposed to work just as well (and it's much easier to source and store). My first attempt was this strawberry-Angostura sorbet recipe from ChefSteps. The flavor and texture were incredible. I should have made a double batch! I'm going to start experimenting with flavoring agents sourced from Mandy Aftel. I added a spritz of violet extract - alpha ionone - to that strawberry sorbet, and it only further added to the delicious berriness of it all. I have some vanilla ice cream base in the fridge that's demanding that I add some black pepper essential oil before churning (following a recipe by Mandy and chef Daniel Patterson). And I've got some peach isolate that is just crying to be made into a frozen dessert. It smells so good!

He has graced the forum before, but not in that uncommonly shaggy state. 😊

Who has two thumbs and just bought all the Ortiz anchovies available at his local World Market? This guy. Great deal! I was just bemoaning the low quantities of anchovies in my pantry. They shall sit nicely aside my bounty of Ortiz tinned tuna I picked up on some insane World Market promotion late last year.

I just cut the cucumber in half and pull the wrap off each side. Works well enough for me... your mileage may vary. Sounds like the OP is suffering from a case of dull knife syndrome. This malady is shockingly common. There is a cure, but you can also invest in a cheap letter opener or bag opener like the ones mentioned above.

Perhaps the best essay I've ever read on chic salts is Jeffrey Steingarten's "Salt Chic" in "It Must've Been Something I Ate." The essay explores the impact that different trace minerals have on the perception of salt flavors. The gist is that not all "sea salts" are created equal; some are indistinguishable in flavor from inexpensive and pure Diamond Crystal, while others have detectable flavor differences -- not always for the better. McGee joins in to drop some science knowledge. If you've never read Steingarten, you're in for a treat.

The Mirage Pro is the way to go.

The farming practices that go along with glyphosate are in many ways more destructive.

I was going to suggest incomplete combustion as well. This is strange and is not something that should happen with gas burners, even the side-burners on grills. If you dial back the gas flow and double check that there's proper ventilation, that should solve the problem. As Okanagancook points out, there's probably a simple adjustment you can make on your grill that will get things working; check out the grill's manual, as it likely has instructions on how to do exactly this. Side burners on grills are often used infrequently, and often get neglected. I know that's the case on my family's grill. Over the seasons, they can go from functioning well to in need of a servicing. Pollen and spiders like to clog things up, and hot-cold-hot seasonal cycles can make connectors and regulators wiggle ever so subtly. We must be forever vigilant in our battles with entropy. Also, if anyone's looking for a cheap gas burner for outdoor searing, I highly recommend the Iwatani 35FW butane powered stove. It is the most powerful portable gas burner on the market, and the fact that you can take it anywhere is a real game-changer -- even for those of us lucky enough to have outdoor grills with side-burners. If it's raining outside, I can sear on my front porch instead! And if I ever need to go to someone's house and don't trust their stove... or go to a picnic or camping... or start a catering business... or...

Had another poulet rouge in the fridge and decided to cut it up and get grilling. One leg was lost to the tare-making cause, as was the rest of the carcass. This weekend is yakitori time.

It's on the back of the packaging, but you have to zoom in on the image on their product to read it.

Modernist Pantry sells a powdered glucose with a DE of 95+. I don't know if that's what you're looking for though. Modernist Pantry also sells N -Zorbit in retail quantities, if that's the type of maltodextrin you're looking for.

Not that I know of, but if I was trying to track down heritage meats in NYC, I'd get in touch with Heritage Foods USA. They have a mail-order business, but a brick-and-mortar storefront in the city. The founder got his start selling heritage turkeys, and though chicken isn't their primary business I'm sure that if you called and expressed an interest in finding high quality, humanely raised heritage chickens they'd be able to help you out. Heritage Foods runs a non-profit radio network dedicated to food education, and they're an organization I like to support in whatever ways I can. If Heritage Meats is out of chicken, I bet they'd be able to direct you to a quality purveyor. It probably won't be poulet rouge, but you probably won't be disappointed. And you'll probably end up making me jealous of whatever you're able to source there in the city. 😊 Bell & Evans is my default chicken as well. But in the event that there's a special occasion.... Finding these birds offered regularly for sale at my local Whole Foods was about the only wonderful surprise I've had in my supermarket grocery-buying experience in North Carolina. Apologies if I'm crowing a bit too much about this product, but it's a good one. It's rare for us to eat chicken that's over a month old in this country, and that's a shame for everyone (including the chickens).

In Chicago there's a fraternal organization of beer and meat called "Man-B-Que." Being a fan of meat, beer, and Tocqueville's view of American civil society, I joined the organization with much enthusiasm. Unfortunately, I lived an hour outside the city when I lived there, and now live 13 hours from the city. So my time there was brief and fleeting, but I think my ManBQue piece on MSG was pretty good. I took some photos of my own glutamate stores, but they didn't survive the migration to the new website. The formatting is now also a disaster. Oh well... that's creative destruction for you, I guess. Anyway, here's a link: MSG: Meaty Savory Goodness I'll leave it for others to decide if there were any choice quotes. I provide a lot of references, which are sorely lacking in what passes for most "science journalism" these days. I use less MSG now than I used to, as I have many more non-synthetic sources of free glutamic acid in my pantry now. I still add a dash of Accent to my stir fry. It's so necessary!

Chicken flavor is down to genetics, feed, and lifestyle. Most chicken at the grocery store fails in one or more of these categories. Bell and Evans make a quality air-chilled product, but achieving excellent flavor is not their goal. They still use fast-growing birds slaughtered early before they could live a bird-life, walking around and foraging on land. Living a bird life that's longer than 6 weeks or so is crucial to developing good chicken flavor. In America, we grow breeds that were selected to pack on white meat as fast as possible so the birds can be killed as early as possible. These are the "chickens of tomorrow," and they're why Americans think chicken doesn't taste like anything. The best chicken I can find in my local grocery are the poulet rouge birds on offer from Joyce Farms. To get anything "better," I have to go to the farmer's market. Which I do, sometimes. It isn't often that I get to crow about industrialized animal agriculture, but I am happy to have Joyce Farms in my community bringing quality product to demanding consumers and chefs at a scale most small farmers cannot hope to deliver. They're a North Carolina brand I am proud to represent in my kitchen, and I know many local chefs who are just as proud to represent them on their menus. And apparently their product is in demand in New York City, which pleases me greatly. Here's an overview of their program: And here's a closer look at a particular farm who is producing in the Joyce Farms program. This farm is just under an hour drive from my house, not that I've been there myself. I don't know if this chicken is the best, but it's certainly the best thing I've ever been fortunate enough to find in a grocery store. Bell and Evans and Smart Chicken (or anything else air-chilled, frankly) are a step down, but an acceptable substitute. And sometimes, I admit, I buy the freakshow modern chicken because I am weak willed and/or weak budgeted. It's hard to feed a huge crowd on heritage birds, but maybe that's how it should be.

Made a dream come true this Mother’s Day with Benton’s finest. Admittedly, it was my dream... but the crowd seemed to like it too. Carving the ham Spanish style, because why not?

I don't think Don Quixote would care much about how his food processor looked. If my Cuisinart ever dies, which it probably won't, I'm investing in a commercial Robot Coupe. I care more about the look of my product than the look of the capital, ya dig? But I understand the desire to make your kitchen look good. Maybe keep it in a cabinet, if you can?