
jackal10
participating member-
Posts
5,115 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Everything posted by jackal10
-
Do they leave the credit card slips open as well. In other words do they still expect a tip, and have just increased their prices by 20%? efited to add plus sales tax
-
eG Foodblog: Adam Balic - An Australian in Scotland
jackal10 replied to a topic in Food Traditions & Culture
In Glasgow they say "Have you had your tea?" In Edinburgh they say "You'll have had your tea" In Aberdeen they say "You'll not have had your ttea, and we have an excellent one here, very reasonably priced" -
Absolutely not. Daniel Rogov mentioned quenelle. I would add Royale (set custard decorations for soup). Potato based dumplings figure in central Europe, Matzo Kleis/ Kneidlach are not flour based, by definition.
-
eG Foodblog: Adam Balic - An Australian in Scotland
jackal10 replied to a topic in Food Traditions & Culture
I don't think the extra bone insulates it. I expect the rate of collagen breakdown vs temperature curve is indeed S-shaped. I think 60C comes from protein rather than collagen degredation. -
eG Foodblog: Adam Balic - An Australian in Scotland
jackal10 replied to a topic in Food Traditions & Culture
Not quite. Collagen breaks down at any temperature, but the speed of breakdown is very temperature dependant. Nathanm discusses this on the the sous-vide thread, for example cooking ribs at 55C for 24-36 hours. In BBQ there is a stall in the even temperature rise at around 75C/175F, which is attributed to the collagen dissolving, but think might just be the fat melting -
eG Foodblog: Adam Balic - An Australian in Scotland
jackal10 replied to a topic in Food Traditions & Culture
Try 75C for 8 hours -
Actually I think its the opposite. True dumplings are not filled, but are the thing itself. They are plain, although may have a small core, as in a potato dumpling with a crouton centre. True dumplings are boiled. Others, all excellent, such as har gow, gyozu, pierogi need a different term. Maybe there are seperate categories, filled and plain. Alan Davidson devotes two pages in The Oxford Companion, but does not make it clearer, although he inclines to the Asian view of dumplings. Larousse defines Dumplings as "A ball of dough" and remarks they are popular in Britain and the USA. Apple dumplings, apples in pastry are an ancient recipe, as is fruit a la colbert, stuffed, then egg and breadcrumbed and fried, but we are verging on fritters...
-
Tesco organic free range bomeless and skinless chicken breast £17.99/Kg, but whole organic free range chicken is £4.99/kg http://www.naturally-yours.co.uk/orgchicken.htm (a local farm) £19.50
-
Very interesting. I will have to try at 55C for longer. Have you tried Brisket, for faux BBQ this way? I wonder also if these lower temperatures for longer can be usefully applied to other preservation techniques, such as canning (called bottling in the UK). I have a surplus of fruit such as greengages coming up. Processing at the recommended temperature regime, for example the HMSO handbook recommends 82C/180F for 15 mins, results in overcooked fruit. The FDA guidelines (section 3-401.13) implies 57C/135F, but doesn't specify time, but by analogy with meat of about the same thickness I would guess 40 minutes or so. If meat is safe, and the bacteria disabled after about 4O mins at 57C I wonder if same can be said for fruit? What is the effect on yeasts? Most yeasts in bread making are killed at well below these temperatures, so it may be OK.
-
There are oxidation reactions within biological chemicals in the meat - not from the oxygen in the air, which I agree mostly excluded, but each other. I'm sure the fat will also slowly degrade, although I don't know how fast. Although the temperature is low enough for the protein not to degrade and the muscle fibres not to contract, eventually the connective collagen turns to gelatine, and the meat falls apart, As I said, the texture reminds me most of meat paste, or perhaps rilletes, except that there are still hard bits (nerves? small blood vessels?) that have not degraded embedded in it.
-
eG Foodblog: Adam Balic - An Australian in Scotland
jackal10 replied to a topic in Food Traditions & Culture
If its Brum it has to be Balti... -
Now I'm really confused. I thought the whole point was to put the food in a bath at or about the final desired temperature, and leave it a long time, like until the next day. so the temperature stabilises thoughout That way there is no danger of overcooking, which is great for the chronically disorganised, like me, and the food is uniformly cooked. For all meats that is above 112 minutes at 54.4C, the sterilisation temperature limit specified by the FDA. For me 58C is the ideal core temperature to cook tender beef to. It sort of stands to reason that if the meat proteins are disrupted, then so are the biological processes in bugs. Tougher cuts, like brisket cooked in BBQ style need more severe treatment, past the "stall" temperature at about 72C/165F I agree that fish is different, as it cooks below that temperature, and also does not have collagen in the same way that needs to soften. I'd like to know your thoughts on the other end - what is the maximum length of time you can leave something in a water bath at say 58C? I guess the limits are not bacterial spoilage, but chemical degredation, such as oxidation, or the fat breaking down to rancid components. Personally I don't like the very long cooked meats - more than 18 hours or so where all the texture has gone, leaving only what seems to me to be meat paste with some hard lumps in it...
-
Har gow or Sui mai Onion and parsley suet dumplings in a beef stew (UK) Matzo Kleis in chicken soup (ashkenazi) Kartoffel Klöße mit Saurbraten So many, so good, and all different...
-
My medium size plastic mixing bowls are beginning to wear out - the insides are getting fuzzy from too many trips through the dishwasher or too much scrubbing. However they have given long service, but I'm now faced with getting replacements, as the originals (I think from Lakeland) are no longer made. Which briings me to my question and the need for help from fellow EGers. Too many choices: What sort of mixing bowls should I get? This is for heavy amateur/semi pro use. We have granite worksurfaces in the kitchen. Plastic (light, cheap, durable but wear out after 10 years; dont react well to getting too near the stove) Metal (Stainless I guess, but they feel tinny) China (heavy, and break) Glass/Pyrex/Duralex (sometimes break) Round or flat bottom? Optimum sizes? What is your favourite bowl - say the one you reach for to beat eggs in?
-
Doesn't say free range (on their website) so I assume they are factory farmed
-
Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities. 1 Timothy 5:23 (KJV)
-
I agree with 60C/140F At that temperature most bugs are killed after 12 minutes. Perfect also for long slow cooking of meats to rare.
-
You mean you don't have enough zuchini? Like most things, they are not actully poisonous, can get tough if old, but why bother?
-
eG Foodblog: Adam Balic - An Australian in Scotland
jackal10 replied to a topic in Food Traditions & Culture
Is the "Bacon shot" like the "money shot"? -
eG Foodblog: Adam Balic - An Australian in Scotland
jackal10 replied to a topic in Food Traditions & Culture
Welcome to blogland Adam... I hope you will show some real Haggis. -
Its rare, but if you do it at the beginning of the meal, it will be much appreciated. More than the tip at the end However bear in mind that at a high end restaurant there may be 10-20 people back there
-
By smoking I assume you refer to US barbeque style of hot smoke cooking, rather than cold smoking, for example of bacon, hams or salmon to make lox. I'm no expert, but I do have some pyrotechnic as well as culinary experience. It seems to me that we need to distinguish between several processes going on simultaneously. a) Complex physical and chemical processes in the pyrolysis of the wood produce many chemicals in the smoke, whose composition changes with time as the fire and smoker heats; b) Smoke flavours condense on the surface of the meat, and may dissolve in the moisture or fat there c) The flavours permeate the meat by diffusion (and maybe osmotic) processes d) Water, and some other volatiles evaporate from the surface e) The temperature of the meat rises, with associated effects of protein and collagen degradation. Applying to your questions 1. What temperature does the meat adsorb the smoke best? I suspect it is more about time then temperature. Cold smoked meats are typically smoked at below 90F for days, and then the smoke flavour continues to migrate in while they mature over months. Herve This, and many others, including NMR studies by my colleague Prof. Laurie Hall at HSLMC here in Cambridge have shown that flavour (and brine) penetration is very slow. The "smoke ring", formation of Nitro-myoglobin and other nitro compounds only penetrates a short distance into the meat. Colder meat will also allow more and lighter volatiles to condense. However creosote and other "bad" flavours will condense as well. Smoke added at the end will deposit more volatiles, and so give a a different flavour profile to the surface than smoke flavour deposited early in the process, some of which will be adsorbed and some re-volatized as the temperature rises. There is an interaction with the fire and smoker temperature here as well, since the fire temperature will also govern the flavour and volatile profiles in the smoke and deposited on the meat. 2. What is the optimum temperature to generate smoke? Pyrolysis of wood is complex has been studied, for example http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplrp/fplrp130.pdf http://www.stanford.edu/~sanjiv/papers/sesi-review.pdf (use the Google HTML cache) "The overall process of pyrolysis of wood is believed to proceed as follows [6]. At around 160C the removal of all moisture (dehydration) is complete. Over the temperature range 200C to 280C, all the hemicellulose decomposes, yielding predominantly volatile products such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and condensable vapours. From 280C to 500C the decomposition of cellulose picks up and reaches a peak around 320C. The products are again predominantly volatiles. The decomposition rate of lignin increases rapidly at temperatures beyond 320C. This is accompanied by a comparatively rapid increase in the carbon content of the residual solid material. Thus, thermal decomposition of cellulosic materials such as wood proceeds through a complex series of chemical reactions, coupled with heat and mass transfer processes. Emmons and Atreya [7] estimate that over 200 intermediate products are formed during the pyrolysis of biomass. Roberts [6] puts the number of products at over 100. Since cellulose is the major constituent of wood and pyrolyses over almost the entire range of temperature, several researchers have studied pyrolysis in detail, in order to understand the mechanism of pyrolysis of wood." The rate of heating affects the chemical composition of the volatile products, as does secondary pyrolytic reactions, the further decomposition of the primary pyrolitic products. These depend on the physical characteristics of the wood - particle size, for example, and whether the primary products condense in the wood mass or the char or escape. The literature would suggest that temperatures below 300C/572F where the decomposition is primarily that of hemicellulose give rise to less tar and acid, but it is not definitive. 3. Does wet or moist wood give more or better smoke? Your point about additional steam appearing to give more smoke is well made. However I suspect water content was used to control the temperature of the fire, and to reduce flame - the secondary burning of volatalised hydrocarbons. 4. What is the optimum humidity? There is a balance between keeping the surface moist to both keep the meat moist and to allow the aqueous soluble components of the smoke flavour to dissolve and penetrate, and to then dry the surface to form the "bark". It may be that the optimum humidity should change throughout the process. Initially moist (boiling water pans would be close to 100% humidity), then drying out during the last stages (water pan boils dry), then wet again to add the final volatile components. d) How much oxygen should be used in smoke production? Pyrolysis is not primarily an oxidation process. The oxygen level mainly affects the burning of the carbon char to carbon monoxide or dioxide, and the burning of the volatile secondary products. Since that is highly exothermic, it affects the temperature and speed of the pyrolysis reaction. The level of draft also affects the speed of transport and the dwell time of the volatile products from the fire to the meat. As with all these things, one variable, such as the wetness of the wood, or the amount of draft affects many different processes. It is the skill of the pit tender that they can use their skill to act as part of the feed back loop to optimize conditions, and so get the right sort of volatiles produced and condensed onto the meat from comparatively crude equipment. Just as sous-vide and similar long time low temperature cooking has transformed the cooking of roast meats by separating the cooking and the browning of the surface steps, I would heretically suggest separating the flavouring and cooking processes. First cold smoke (<90F) the meat to the desired degree of smokiness. Cold smoke allows good control of the volatile flavour components, and time for them to penetrate the meat. I use dry oak sawdust, or cherry for a sweeter smoke. Then, at your leisure cook sous-vide or in a low temperature oven to the desired texture - I guess the traditional 180F, past the collagen plateau, to allow conversion to gelatin, although I suspect the plateau phenomenon is more to do with the melting of fat. Of course this two stage method misses out on the romance of a traditional pit belching smoke, but it may be more controllable. May even need three stages - smoke, sous-vide cook, then finish the surface (blowtorch/hot smoke).
-
Dispatches: Supermarket Secrets
jackal10 replied to a topic in United Kingdom & Ireland: Cooking & Baking
I watched it last night and was very dissapointed. I thought the case they made was very weak - a few animal actvist films, and some disgruntled farmers complaining about the prices the supermarkets pay, and how dependent they are on their distribution. When, in any age country or time, have farmers not had similar complaints? Yet few, despite sucessful examples, set up their own co-operatives and distribution. Some of their points were just off-beam: people and pay a premium pre-prepared foods - pre packed salad was one example - for a variety of reasons - they may be time or skill poor, or they may need only a smaller amount than the whole product. I thought the sins they picked on were weak compared to the ones they could: high salt and sugar levels, indigenous salmonella in poultry, exploitation of cheap labour markets etc. The comparison to the the romantic ideal of shopping at the local grocer was also misleading, especially for people living in cities. I doubt if the foods in that grocer had any less levels of pesticide, less food miles or less exploitation than now. In fact I suspect the opposite was true, since in those days people were much less aware of the problems, and harmful pesticides, like DDT were common. Levels of hygine and food standards were much lower. Now we have local farmers markets, organic labelling inspections and schemes, veg box schemes all of which were unknown when I was growing up. -
Jonathan. I agree entirely. Many of these shibboleths are irrational, or perhaps were once rational but now with better understanding and food processing are not relevant. For example over-cooking of pork to ensure against Trichinosis. The last recorded case in the UK was in 2000 in imported meat, although in the US there are still a handful of cases reported from eating bear and cougar. The risk of getting Trichinosis from eating undercooked pork in the UK is less than that of being struck by lightening while cooking or eating it, yet still we suffer from over cooked pork. Others, like the demise of starch based sauces are simply fashion, and as such are used to distinguish the in-group from the out-group.
-
Borsht is a complex subject. There are many regional variations. At one end it is a crystal clear beetroot flavoured consomme, at the other a chunky stew soup meal with many good meats and chunks of veg. Someher in the middle is a cream soup, or a veloute thickened with egg yolks. Some like it aggrsively sweet and sour, others just a hint. Then there are the garnishes and accompaniments. For some sour cream is a must. Other pareve or fleishig versions have a boiled or fried potato. Not forgetiing the pieroshki or pierogi. And the glass of vodka. My version starts with a couple of pounds of raw beets, peeled and grated, a carrot and and onion also grated and about 2 quarts of duck stock for 8 people. If you can't use duck then chicken or even just water for a vegetarian version. Boil the grated vegetables in the stock for 20 minutes or so. Strain, and reserve a few beetroot threads for garnish. Bring back to the boil and add 2 Tbs of sugar and half a cup of malt or pickling vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Check the taste- you may need to add more vinegar or sugar, and the vinegar taste will change as it boils. Taste from a spoon, as the vapours are powerful. Garnish with the beet shreds, and if you like some cubes of cooked duck breast, and of course the sour cream (and chives) (or a boiled or fried potato). Good hot or cold.