jackal10

I'm never sucessful with freezing yeast, at least not without refreshing it a few times after thawing. Yeast takes time to wake up. I wonder if that is what the trouble is?

6+ hours at 60C/140F

It isn't the gluten. A woods said, the yeast might be old - they have a very limited shelf life. Try fresh yeast You may not have developed the gluten enough first. Did you knead until the dough was smooth and soft? You may have overproved or under proved. I guess about an hour or two at 85F for first proof, and an hour (or overnight in a refrigerator) for second proof. Dan Lepard's method of folding the dough, like making flaky pastry every hour for four hours during the first proof stage works well. Making the dough wetter, so it only just holds together will give a lighter texture.

Most beans are poisonous from raw. Ricin, for example, is derived from kidney beans. Meat benefits from hanging, and is not good fresh. Game especially. Most grains are not nutritious raw, or without at least threshing and grinding. Others, such as Quinoa have bitter saponins that must be washed away. Some fruits, such as persimmons, have mouth puckering amounts of tannins raw. Others, such as medlars need bletting first. Many products need a period of fermentation. Even tobacco is fermented and then dried.

I think you may be taking the statement too literally. In general, the longer the time and distance from the source, then yes, there used to be more chance for staling, loss of micro-nutrients, and spoilage from oxidation, enzymatic or micro-biological action. However with modern packing, processing and controls this is less true, and otherwise unpalatable or unwholesome food is made edible. For example is properly treated frozen and defrosted food worse nutritionally than the fresh equivalent? I doubt it at any level of significance, although the freeze and thawing may wreck the texture. I think what concerns most people about food additives or GM crops are the "unkown unknowns" - side effects that may become apparent over the longer term. However that is not so say natural food is necessarily good, we've just been eating it for a long time, so havge some idea what to eat and what to avoid. As was pointed out earlier, many plants protect themselves with toxins, which if eaten in excess or untreated can cause harm. Just because its natural, doesn't meant its good. Lettuce, for example is high in opiates, especially near the stalk.

All the the above are at best unproven, and in my view untrue. Arguing from what we were "meant" to eat is difficult = there is some argument that we were probably carrion eaters with occaisional fruit as a feast, and hence our reaction to carbs is to convert them to fat for future use. I agree with Fifi above. People who eat only raw food or fruit are nutritionally challenged. There is no reliable evidence that I know of to show that eating the same weight of whole grain or of processed grain plus the approriate amount of seperate bran has any noticable effect. The major effect of eating whole grain foods is that people tend to eat less total weight of carbs, since the food is tougher, and since they are catering to the health lobby they tend to be cooked with less sugar and fat. Sprinkling bran on their food would have the same effect. However some "health" bars and cereals have high sugar, salt and fat. Just for interest I have taken out of the cupboard a box of Kellog's All-Bran Bran flakes, and a bag of the processed white flour I make bread from. Reading the small print on the packets g per 100g Bran Flakes White Flour Energy kcal 324 346 Protein 10 11.7 Carbs 67 71 Sugars 22 1.4 <- Lots more sugar in Bran flakes Fat 2 1.4 Sodium 0.75 0 So bran flakes and refined white flour have virtually identical nutrients, except the bran flakes have a lot more sugar. If I make the flour into bread, with water, yeast and salt, the main change is adding about 1% salt, so even the sodium levels will be similar. I think I'll stay with my morning white toast, rather than switch to bran.

cockie leeky One of the Japanese noodle soups I'd also vote for Borscht (or schav with sorrel)

Change your doctor, or get a second opinion. That diet must be just a fad. I could understand giving up something you are allergic to, or carbs, or fats, but just to stick to wholemeal? Makes no sense If you need to get fibre up have a daily bowl of bran cereal and go back to eating white bread, flour and rice. The stress in following such a daft diet must be more damaging than any benefits, in my view.

Dunno about definitions but there are 100+ approved short-form recipes on the egCI Thick Soup thread

No. The bean flour makes the gluten link more, and degrades an enzyme that attacks the linkages. Effectively it makes it stronger. Gluten development is mostly by hydration, governed by time in the presence of water. Other than stirring, kneading has little extra effect, Gosselin, for example makes his baguette a la ancienne by mixing just the flour and the water, and leaving them cool overnight.

Primarily the bean flour, like Vitamin C, oxidises an enzyme present in fresh flour that degrades the gluten; bean flour also contains some gum to increase dough stability, extra protein and possibly assorted yeast nutrients. It may also change the taste and colour some. 2T is about 4% - a significant amount. From http://www.faqs.org/faqs/food/sourdough/faq/section-4.html

I grow those chillis, and the larger version "Thai Dragon". They are atomic. I believe they are the second hottest chili known to man. They make Habernero and Scotch Bonnet seem mild. Do not try eating them straight, at risk of severe injury. Handle with extreme caution (gloves, eye mask etc). I find half a chilli in a gallon pot too much.

Professor Saintsbury (Notes on a Cellar Book, 1920 advises 3 parts rum 2 parts brandy 1 part lemon juice 6 parts hot water Sugar to taste The old rhyme goes 1 of sour (lemon juice) 2 of sweet (sugar syrup) 3 of strong (rum) 4 of weak (water or soda)

How about a variation on Summer Pudding? Put the fruit in a saucepan with some sugar (quite a lot if you like it sweet), and maybe some lemon juice, heat until the juice starts to run Line a pudding basin with bread (Wonderloaf works fine). Pour in the fruit, put on a bread lid, and then put on a suacer that just fits, and weight the lot (tins or anothe basin full of water. Leave in fridge until cold. Turn out, decorate, serve with thick cream... The bread turns to a wonderful soggy treat... The famous attorneys are Sue, Grabbit and Run

I've not tried it but I expect that cooking at 250 in the oven will work, but take a long time to brown, and while delicious may not be the same as chateau cooked on the stovetop. Toss them in butter over high heat first to initiate browning. 300F might be a better oven temperature, above the temperature where Maillard browning speeds up (285F). Why not try and let us know the results. Chateua potatos are not oven roast. The browning comes from frying/contact grilling rather than from air temperature, so that is why they are usually cooked in a covered pan on the stovetop. Dropping them in the deep fat fryer is only for low end operations...

To my surprise, my local supermarket was selling Xanthan gum intended as a gluten substitute for home-made gluten free bread. Does anyone have any experience of its use for high-end cuisine, I mean apart from a low-carb or gluten free substitute? I know it is used, for example, as a stabiliser for many emulsion type salad dressings. I expect it can be used for foams, instead of gelatine, but I have no idea as to proportion. I know also it widely used commercially, often with locust bean or guar gum, or with kanjac. It also is used as a stabiliser in paint and cosmetics. Anyone with experience of commercial formulations?

or half dry and store in oil or make tomato paste fom the half-dried tomatoes

Part baked; about 2/3rd of the cooking normal time. After the rise, and the structure is set but before its completly brown.

Thank heaven it was nothing more serious...you could have fallen off the roof Slow down. Take a day off and relax...get some sleep and some serious pampering. Don't even feel guilty about it. You'll go back with twice the energy and efficiency, and more than make up for the time you took off. You are the bakery. You need maintenance as well. Its no good if the buidings finished, but you are broken....

Went to a stuning tasting hosted by Cambridge Wine Merchants with five members of the Bernkasteler Ring, one of the oldest and most famous organizations dedicated to the continuous improvement and promotion of fine Mosel wines present in person They included J.P. Reinert Carl Schmitt-Wagner von Beulwitz von Bastgen Martin Kerpen The 2003's are amazing. Full, but balanced, with wonderful flavours. Mybe ten years before they are at their peak, but they will last. The Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese was particularly impressive, and Martin Kerpen said that the TBA is still fermenting, having started at 260!

Groundnut is another name for peanut.

Err... I got my first email identifier in 1965, as part of the CTSS project. I was a summer intern at the MIT AI lab, and the stuff was being developed...happy days. CTSS was the"Compatible Time Sharing System", and one of the first to develop an email system, and led on to many modern operating systems. The hackers (in the correct and polite sense) in the AI lab developed ITS (the Incompatible Timesharing System), that went on to be developed by DEC, and at least some of the ideas still live in Linux and Emacs... Give these guys a break. I thought it was a fantastic article, witty, some original ideas and well researched, with a good feeling for the food. It inspired me to take dehydration more seriously. Can we get back to talking about the food please?

They are a delight to use and maintain. The patina is mant to be there, but not the bright orange rust. Cutting acid foods is no problem. Just don't put them in a dishwaher - the detergents are far too aggresive. Keep a steel on hand - you will soon learn to feel when the blade needs touching up, and a couple of strokes each side is all it take Enjoy!

Not sure I believe the formula. On basic physics second law of thermodynamics I would expect the rate of heat transfer to be proportional to the temperature difference between the yolk and the water, leading to a log function, rather than that exponential in the middle. Putting in some values, assuming water temperature of 75C, desired yolk temperature of 73C and a 50mm egg, and initital temperature t0 of 4C (fridge temperature) I get 16 minutes. That seems much too short to me. I am also not sure about the quoted temperatures for coagulation. Yolks I've measured coagulate around 62C not 73C. Coagulation is not just dependent on temperature, but alao on the time at that temperature. For example eggs held at 63C for 10 hours come out set but creamy...

Fromage Forte Liptauer (not really stinky, but strong) Glad someone mentioned Esrom - now almost unobtainable in the UK