btbyrd

This is after roughly 10 rounds of walnut oil and pastured lard. Mostly on the stovetop, but a few rounds in the oven to get the handle, bottom, and sides.

I'm hesitant to recommend burning your house down, but it's worth doing some tests to see if the range functions normally apart from the indicator lights. Unless it's super fancy, the amount of current flowing to the burners is controlled directly from the knobs. No? With my range, it functioned exactly as you'd expect it to except that the indicator lights (burner on/hot surface) were on all the time. It didn't seem to pose an obvious hazard. Maybe I overlooked something.

In any event, if the range is still functioning as you'd expect it to (apart from the indicator lights), I'd neither fix it nor replace it. Both sound like expensive solutions to a very minor problem.

This happened to my Maytag range a couple weeks ago, but the problem mysteriously resolved itself after a day or two.

Yes. Or 60C for 48 hours.

I'll be interested to hear your report. I have only ever done very low temp SV short ribs (130F or 140F) and either braise or pressure cook them when I want the shredded/falling apart texture. When cooking at that temp for so long, make sure you keep your water levels topped off. I've never had a problem with my circulator shutting off, but you get a lot of evaporation at those sorts of temps; lids/plastic wrap are highly recommended if you're not using a big vessel.

The problem with most low-end induction burners is that, even at supposedly low power settings, they pulse "on" with a lot of energy and then turn off for a few seconds rather than actually delivering a constant, lower-powered field. This can lead to obvious hot spots, even with seemingly low power settings. This problem is amplified when using materials like cast iron or carbon steel that are relatively poor conductors.

Christmas came late. Since Darto skillets don't go above the 27cm model, I put a Matfer Bourgeat 12 5/8" carbon steel pan on my wishlist. It weighs in at 2461g compared to the No. 27's 2120g. Should be right at home. It's supposed to rain over the next couple days, but when the sun comes out I'll head outside and put some layers of walnut oil down to get it nice and seasoned. I don't keep flax oil on hand for any reason, but walnut is another "drying" oil that's prone to oxidation and should be a good alternative to flax for the initial round of seasoning. But I try not to overthink my seasoning oil choice. I digress. EDIT/Update: After years of using cast iron and carbon steel, it's clear that flax oil isn't a great choice for seasoning pans. It produces a brittle, flakey seasoning that isn't durable. I just use whatever cooking oil I have on hand and it works fine. I also didn't care for the Matfer pan and got rid of it, replacing it with a 12" All Clad D7 to have a pan that is both very thick and also non-reactive.

They're still in the freezer. It turned out that the chili was meaty enough with the ground chuck and pressure cooked short rib that I thought the SV short ribs would get lost. I'll find a use for them. They'd be good atop a mushroom risotto, so super-buttery potato puree, or as a garnish for pho. Inspiration will strike when the time is right.

This.

From MC@H: Re: Vegetable stock: "Making stock sous vide is the best way to capture the subtle, nuanced flavors of the vegetables -- especially if you have time to infuse the liquid overnight in the refrigerator. When time is more pressing, however, we pressure-cook the stock, which produces a stronger flavor." I have found this to be true. SV stock is lighter and more headily aromatic. Making the same recipe in the PC doesn't have the same top notes, but is more powerful. Sometimes that's what you want; sometimes it isn't. Re: Fish stock: "Fish oils oxidize very easily, so to get the most flavor out of fish bones, you need to cook them gently in a sealed environment. Slow-cooking them sous vide produces excellent results."

SV offers no real advantages for meat-based stock. Pressure cookers are much better for that purpose. You can get some lovely, clear and aromatic vegetable stocks using SV though.

Nice! I've never made glace de viande from scratch before, but I always keep a container of More Than Gourmet's GDV on hand in my fridge (along with their chicken glace) for last-minute sauce work or to boost other stocks/soups if they need it.

ENOUGH ABOUT EBOOKS!

Bones have very little flavor on their own. They contribute body to stocks, but not much in the way of taste. Home cooks often overlook the importance of flesh in making a flavorful stock and opt for meatless bones or well-picked carcasses. Even then, few use enough bones to yield a stock worth making. The easiest way to make a powerful stock is to use cuts that have a good balance of flavorful meat and bones... things like chicken wings/thighs, oxtails, short ribs, shank meat, and neck bones. These contain enough meat to give you flavor and enough collagen to give body to the stock. If I ever make a stock with just bones, I'll add ground meat to up the flavor. And if I ever make a stock with just meat (like when there's a crazy sale on chicken breasts), I'll throw in some feet to add body. At any rate, the ratio of water to bones/meat should approximate 1:1... add water until the bones are just barely covered. Lots of bones, lots of meat, little water... excellent stock.

I can't say that I ran it through enough times for that to become an issue, if it was going to be an issue. I'd estimate that it went through fewer than 20 times, but the finish looks more or less the same as when it was new. At the time I bought it, it was the best value for the dollar I could find -- though nothing like the $7 find from Porthos! I've always wanted a Kuhn Rikon PC, but those are very expensive. I expect that the Presto (and an IP) will serve me just fine for at least the next decade. The tri-clad, sandiwched stainless/aluminum bottom on the base is nice and thick, and it heats evenly. I often use the base as a largeish pot when I need something bigger than my 4-qt All Clad and smaller than my 20-qt All Clad stock pot. But if anyone wants to sell me a 12-qt Kuhn Rikon for $7, please send me a message.

The whole thing is dishwasher safe except for the sealing-ring and overpressure plug. I've run the top and bottom through many times (and have even run the sealing ring through a couple times on the top rack when it was starting to smell like aromatics and alliums). It's a solid unit. Just pop the ring and plug out, and dishwasher-away! Here's the link to the product page, which has the specs and manual (which contains a bunch of recipes and guidelines, if you're new to pressure cooking... which I don't think you are). In related news, I miss having a dishwasher.

Zingerman's is having their annual sale on balsamic vinegar.

Nice! That's the stovetop model I have. Works well... nice construction on the base.

"Sous vide" is an ambiguous term. Taking the term literally, "sous vide" refers to techniques that involve putting food in a vacuum machine. This need not even involve the application of heat; vacuum infusion and packaging for convenience/presentation would also qualify as sous vide. In this clip about "the art of sous vide," Chef Daniel Humm only uses SV for packaging avocado in a way that allows him to hold thin slices for service that would otherwise oxidize and discolor. The SV bag also works as a "sushi mat" to help roll the finished dish. Fancy equipment is required, but not for cooking (i.e., heating) purposes. However, most people use "sous vide" to refer to precise, low temperature cooking in a water bath. This doesn't require a vacuum machine and inherently involves the application of heat. Some foods, such as eggs, don't need to be sealed in order to be cooked with this method... and those foods that do need to be in a plastic bag are most often just fine in a Ziploc freezer bag. All you need for this type of SV cooking is an immersion circulator, and those have never been cheaper. All you need is a circulator, a pot, and some Ziplocs to get going with SV. And even that's not necessary. You can cook SV using Ziplocs, a cooler, hot water, and a thermometer. It's not nearly as precise, and it requires some babysitting... but you can still cook "sous vide" using low tech equipment.

It's always "ebooks, ebooks, ebooks!" with you people.

That sucks about the missing mounting screw. Glad you got that sorted! As for the TS8000 issue, it's been no secret that the TS8000 is the preferred torch head for the Searzall. The product description on both Amazon and the B&D website only list the TS8000 as the compatible torch head; it's not until you look through the manual or FAQ that the TS4000 is even mentioned. On the original Kickstarter page for the Searzall, they included a video demonstration comparing various torch heads and fuels so you can see (in real time) how much faster the TS8000 is compared to the TS4000. An interesting finding of that comparison test was that MAPP offered no real benefit on the TS8000, but sped things up considerably on the TS4000. At any rate, both Bernzomatic torches are sold as being compatible with both MAPP and propane, and the TS8000 is the #1 selling torch head on Amazon. MAPP isn't suggesed with the Searzall, but that's mostly because the MAPP canisters are smaller and the Searzall makes them tip over.

It's the light.

Scrub with kosher salt, wash thoroughly, reseason.

Thank goodness. I can't personally justify the expense (even though I'd really like one) but it would be a crying shame if these didn't get built. The design is so brilliant and there's nothing even close on the market. It's small, it's comparably cheap, and it can process large-ish batches using the pump. It's a hell of a design, and I hope they sell a boatload of them.