shellyschachter

I did get a reply today and am reassured that my order is in their database, but the web site still does not recognize my email address. Hopefully this will be resolved so that I can access my account. Shelly

Does anyone know how to contact Sansaire other than an email to info@sansaire.com? They have not answered several emails re: my order and account. Thanks. Shelly

Thanks for the link and I am very familiar with KA. I do use Red Star which I buy in 1 lb pkg from Costco. The yeast I had in the fridge was several years old, the very bottom of my container so I assumed it was just not very active any more. I have learned that my use of honey is more for flavor than necessity. I'm never too old to learn. Shelly

Thank you for the feedback. Time and temperature were fixed as I used the same cycle for each loaf. I could not foresee that the forst loaf would need more rising time, thus a custom program. But the concensus seems to be that the fresh yeast made more of a difference than using the honey in the recipe. Since I have always used a natural sweetener in my dough, it never occurred to me that it was an optional ingredient. Shelly

I've been trying to eliminate sugar/sugar products from my diet and use artificial sweetener as a substitute. Not sure of the end results of using this but better alternative for me than sugar related disease. Also trying to cut back on carbs but very difficult for me to not bake bread now and then. Anyway, I substituted the artificial sweetener for the honey I usually use in my whole wheat oatmeal bread. I mill wheat berries (stored in the freezer to counteract the heat produced from milling) and use 1 1/2 cups, with 1 1/2 cups white flour, heaping cup of old fashioned oats, heaping tablespoon of gluten, cinnamon, oil and salt. My yeast was old so not sure if that was also partly responsible for the lack of rise. This loaf is on the left in the photo. Made a second loaf using same ingredients, except fresh yeast and 1/4 cup honey instead of artificial sweetener. Both loaves made in a bread machine on the whole wheat cycle. Second loaf with honey and fresh yeast on the right. I will always remember to feed my yeast. Shelly

Beef brisket smoked for 4 1/2 hours in my wood pellet grill att 235° and then 48 hours in the sous vide water bath at 135°. Very tender and easy to slice. No shredding. Shelly Food as love, served with style

I use my electric pressure cooker several times a week. Although it only does 11-12psi on high, it is still convenient and shuts itself off which I love. I make a sandwich spread based on the French rillette which has much, much more fat. I smoke 3-4 pounds of boneless pork shoulder (called Country style ribs out here) at 235° for 3-4 hours until they have great color and some bark. I am not cooking until tender. I sear in my pressure cooker chopped onion, garlic, celery, zucchini, carrot and sweet pepper, add some red wine, then some broth, and then chopped dried apricots (or dried mangos) and/or home dried tomatoes. Vegetables and dried fruit just depend on what's in the fridge. Cook on high for 45-60 minutes and finish the shredding with an immersion blender. Salt and pepper to taste I also make this with chicken thighs and beef chuck roast, but the meat is always smoked until dark and bark. It is a lower fat delicious spread for sandwich, pizza, appetizers, etc. Shelly

Let me correct the temperature I used as it was 235°, not 225°, according to my notes. Can't find an Edit button now to fix my post. I think that a higher smoking temperature, higher than 200°, for a longer time period would produce a more desirable result for blackp. Even smoking at 250° would work for the few hours of pre smoke and would ensure a great color and bark. I also started the short ribs from a frozen state as to not overcook the interior during the 3 1/2 hour pre smoke. The boneless meat took the smoke qite well as you can see by the nice smoke ring in the photo. The brisket I did was not frozen and was smoked for 4 hours as it was a thicker cut of meat. Basically, when the meat :looks ready" in that it has nice dark color and bark determines the smoking time. I was not going for tender. I participate on a pellet smoking forum and a couple of other members use the same technique of hot smoking tougher cuts of meat for several hours until the meat "looks right" and then the sour vide bath for 48 hours. And thank you for the warm welcome. This seems to be an awesome forum with SO much information that it will take me some time to read through past threads. Shelly

This is my first post here and thanks to all for the knowledge I have learned from the members here. I am very new to sous vide, having most difficulties with the new food textures I encounter. I try various foods at 4-5 different temperatures to find the texture I prefer best. But my greatest sous vide cooks have been done in conjunction with my smoker, which is a wood pellet grill with both direct grilling and indirect smoking zones. I have pre smoked brisket and boneless short ribs in separate cooks, both at 225° for 3-4 hours from a cold start. The meat, at that point, has great color and some bark. Then into the water bath at 135° for 48 hours. No off odors or anything else to take away from the beautiful smoke ring, pink meat and fork tender texture. Shelly