Richard Kilgore
-
Posts
6,424 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Posts posted by Richard Kilgore
-
-
Sur La Table kindly exchanged my cracked board for a new one today. Hope this one has no problems. With the use I give it, the board should last 10 - 15 years.
As I was unwrapping the shrink wrap, I read the care directions. Said "Not Dishwasher Compatible". Maybe that was the problem...just kidding!
-
My worse problem is getting old coffee stink out of the thermos that I take on climbing trips. The inside is stainless steel, so I don't want to use chlorine bleach. I'd also rather not use a process that takes days.
You can use the same de-scaler that you use to treat a coffeemaker. I think Durgol is the fastest, but less expensive products like Dip-It do the same thing in 20-30 minutes.
-
Since others are recommending the places they shop at, I'll do the same.
In Dallas, I go to Ace Mart. I visit the location on Forest Lane at Webb Chapel.
This is the location of Ace Mart I have shopped at for several years. I find the people to be very helpful. I always look here first before Sur La Table or Williams Sonoma. I have bought such things as cutting boards, Vollrath stainless steel bowls (great sturdy bowls) , ice cream scoops, pastry bags and tips, knife roll, chocolate fork, cake pans, various scrapers and other tools, Cambro and Carlisle containers for refrigerator storage - as well as for flours, sugars and such. Also inexpensive deli containers in three sizes (all take the same size lid) for leftovers. And more.
-
I tried andiesenji's vinegar treatment for glass jars on several and it worked just fine. I think that if I had a bunch of them, or needed one right now, I would try Steven's boiling approach first.
I just put dry baking soda in a plastic container (not lexan) that had chili in it. There was not any noticeable odor in it after I washed it two days ago, but there is now. I'll see how this does. If not well, I'll try the newspaper next, and then the activated charcoal.
-
I got a teapot for a gift two years ago that solved the bitterness or oversteeping problem. It is ceramic (nice Japanese look too, but on the heavy side like Heath ware) with a wire mesh strainer/basket that sits in the rim below the lid. The basket extends down about half-way or a little more into the pot, so when about half the tea has been drunk the water is no longer in contact with the leaves; it stays hot without getting stronger.
You can buy the little basket-like things for steeping tea separately. They're available at any Y100 store, in different sizes, so I imagine if you're lucky enough to live in an area with a Daiso (Vancouver, Hawaii, Dubai, etc.) or Japanese grocery store (like Uwajimaya), you should be able to pick one up for a few dollars.
I have one for my mug, but I take it out after it finishes brewing, then put it back in when I want a second steeping. My mug also has a lid to help keep the contents warm (but it doesn't really work).
I have a similar basket that I got from The Cultured Cup. It has a plastic frame with a gold-plated wire basket and a plastic lid. It not only works well in a mug, but also in a small (3-4 cup) white French porcelein teapot. The lid also serves, upside down, as a saucer for the basket. (Edited to note that they have two sizes of these filters, one for a cup and one for a pot: clickety click.)
I routinely get two to three steepings out of oolongs and green teas.
-
The regular coffe beans I get from my local purveyor are fine, but the decafe beans are always a little oily, though supposedly roasted only to full city. When asked, they said something about the decafe process making them oily.
These are not aging beans. I am always able to get them within three days of roasting.
Is there a decafe process that causes the oiliness? An alternative process that does not? Is there an internet supplier that carries decafe beans that do not get oily?
-
It's chili season again, so I made a pot based on Work in Progress Chili in RecipeGullet, contributed by Huevos del Toro. This has become my favorite starting place when making chili, since it has all the basics for Texas style chili, but begs to be played with.
This time I substituted Ancho chili powder for "Pure" chili powder, as I usually do, and also substituted a fine smoked Spanish Pimenton for his Hungarian paprika. I considered making my own tomato sauce from quality canned tomatoes, but opted for a can of Rotel Green Chili Tomatoes in the interest of time. I left out the Balsamic vinegar and ground lightly the cumin seeds after roasting them. In the past I have been reluctant to use more than two or three wedges off a disc of Mexican chocolate, but this time I chopped a whole disc and added it just to see. In addition to the reserved juices from browning the cubed chuck, I added a little beef stock and Dos Equis beer, resulting in about 2 1/4 cups of liquid.
This was terrific! The chocolate did not overwhelm as I feared, but was well balanced and complemented the heat.
-
This morning I cleaned my Rancilio Rocky grinder using Grindz, made by Urnex. I got this from wholelattelove.com, but it's available from other online coffee equipment suppliers, too. However, wholelattelove.com sold me a one dose jar of it to try for about $7.50 rather than making me buy the four dose pack listed on their website for just under $30.
Mind you, this Rocky is at least seven years old; the build date was 1999. I bought it used. While I give it rather light use - about a pound of beans every ten days - it has seen some oily beans over the years, and I decided to try out the Grindz to see if it would help the beans flow more smoothly through the machine and improve the flavor of the french press coffee I make each morning. I also thought it may be time for a set of new burrs, but also hoped the cleaning with Grindz might improve the grind size consistency if the burrs were actually in good shape.
I did a thorough preliminary cleaning below the bean hopper screen and then ran the Grindz through, followed by an equal amount of beans twice. Then brushed out the chute and doser.
The first bean grinding showed grounds much, much more consistent is size than before, with little or no fine coffee mixed in with the coarser grind. So my burrs appear still to be in great shape.
The first pot of french press this morning after the cleaning produced a smoother tasting coffee. More than noticeable improvement.
wholelattelove.com recommends using the Grindz treatment four times a year, and I think I'll try that routine unless the treatment three months from now shows no particular effect. In which case I'll space the treatments a little further apart to find the optimal timing for my level of grinder use.
-
Yes, I meant end-grain. Thanks for pointing that out, Octaveman.
This one is rectangular.
The humidity level has been lower for a few weeks, so that may be a part of it. I use mineral oil (actually the Boos Oil version) regularly and used it a week ago to try to stem the splitting, but it appears to continue.
Good to hear that Boos does well with customer support these days, but I think this one goes back to Sur La Table next time I am in the store.
Thanks everyone.
-
Splits have developed in my end cut Boos board over the past couple of months. A couple started at the ends of the board, but now one has started on the interior. Anyone else had this problem?
-
Thai Mango Sticky Rice?
-
File under: Mothers of Invention
Out of milk today and in a hurry. Add sour cream thinned with water to Bisquick plus egg. Not bad, but I was winging it and have no useful proportions. I'll need to play with this and report back.
-
Mine is Richard Olney's "Simple French Food". I prudently got a backup copy next year for the day it falls apart in my hand.
-
Hmm. I am not sure this might not be similar to BYOB wine, if you make the arrangement in advance and offer to pay for the hot water service, like a corkage fee. I'll ask the owners at a Thai restuarant I frequent what they would think of this.
-
Interesting question, and one that I have wondered about the past couple of weeks since being poorly served poor tea in a Vietnamese restaurant. Not sure it is worse, however, than most non-Asian restaurants serve tea.
-
Thanks, everyone for the suggestions. I think I'll try andiesenji's methods first and report back.
-
Occassionally I have trouble getting food odors out of both glass and plastic storage containers. Currently it's chicken soup odor in a restaurant quality plastic container and coffee and aromatic tea out of two glass storage containers. I have washed them each twice with dish soap and baking soda.
All suggestions welcome!
-
How about nuts? Raw, shelled, unshelled, sliced and blanched, blanched? How long past the use-by date are they likely to hold up?
-
How about bread flour?
Bread flour should be good for a year from date of purchase, assuming it has not been sitting on a shelf or in a warehouse for a long time.
The bread flour I buy at Smart & Final has a rapid turnover (25-pound bags) and I just bought a bag that has a use-by date of 2/10/09, the bag of pastry flour, also 25-pound, has a use-by date of 4/05/09.
I ordered a bag of Odlum's Self-Rising flour a few months ago and it has a use by date of 06/04/08.
I assume that means April as the month and dates are "backwards" to our dating system.
Thanks. So does this mean that bread flour will not be good for much longer than the use-by-date?
-
How about bread flour?
-
In my experience, the Dutched process cocoa is much more stable and can be stored far longer than "natural" cocoa.
As long as it is stored in a tightly sealed container, at low humidity (I stick one of small silica gel packs on the underside of the lid in the containers I use), and at less than 68 degrees F., it should keep for at least three years and I have used some that was older and had no problems with it.
Most flour products now have a "Best if used by" date stamped on them. As long as it is plain flour, with no additives, such as "self-rising" flour, you can stretch that date by 6 months or so.
Taste is a good indication, take a tiny bit on a spoon, dip a slightly dampened finger into it and taste.
If you can detect any hint of bitterness, it is past time to dump it.
Whole meal flour has a much shorter storage life than all-purpose. Cake flour, even more refined, will last longer.
Again, these have to be stored in an airtight container (I always transfer any grain products to Cambro round containers) and away from any moisture, heat and light.
I store whole wheat, multi-grain and similar products in a freezer.
Thanks, for the guidelines on flours and cocoa, andiesenji. The silica pack on the lid is a great idea. I do use restaurant containers like the Cambro, though I think mine may be a different brand, and they seal air tight, so the whole grain flours may be my major problem; I'll freeze them next time.
-
From time to time I am puzzled about how long an ingredient is still useable and when it should be dumped. I assume others may have similar quesions, so I'll kick this off since I found a couple of aging things lurking when cleaning out the pantry.
Vahlrona Coco Powder - stored in ziplock bag?
Flour - stored in airtight containers?
How long will they keep?
Edited to add: And what are the signs they are over the hill? (Thanks, gfron1.)
-
You may want to check out Dunn Brothers, which has three Hoston area locations. They roast beans on-site in each store and don't sell coffee more more than three days past the roast date, which appears on each bag of beans. They can roast better than I can at home, so I have been using their beans for several years now.
-
I am not sure what would be really cool white dinnerware for you, but Sur La Table and William Sonoma both carry good French porcelein, as well as white ceramic dinnerware that's less expensive. If you can tell us more about what you are looking for, we may be able to be more helpful.
Getting stubborn odors out of storage containers?
in Kitchen Consumer
Posted
Still smells like chili....great chili, but still smells after the dry baking soda treatment, so next it's the newspaper fix.