Anonymous Modernist 301

To answer your question on the relay, first you should calculate the amount of amperage that you system is drawing. Power = Voltage * current. So to determine how many amps you are drawing you solve for current and get I=P/V. So if you have a hair dryer rated at 1200 watts and you have it plugged into a wall socket of 120 V (I hope it is GFCI plug with a ground), then you are pulling 10 AMPs. A relay rated for 25A is just as good under these conditions as one rated for 60A except the 25A will be cheaper. Assuming the manufacturing of the relays are similar, the temperature will be the same in each relay. Just make sure the electrical wire from the plug to the unit is right-sized. You can find numerous on-line calculators to perform this calculation. Since heat is proportional to resistance, you want a wire from the plug to carry the appropriate amperage. Let‚’s assume you calculate for a blow dryer as above: 1) you need a circuit that is rated for at least 15A; 2) the GFCI should be rated for at least 15A (on a 15 Amp circuit, more is waste of money -- spend it on making it grounded -- always, always, always); 3) make sure the wire from the plug is at least #14 wire; 4) make sure your hair dryer pulls 20% (rule of thumb) less than the rated outlet.

Thank you for the link. Yes, it appears that this is their application re-branded. Perhaps a business arrangement could be worked out between the MC Kitchen and them using them as a platform.

Polyscience has published an iPhone application that computes sous vide cooking time as well as 6.5 reductions and other metrics. It is very nicely done, it includes a chart and countdown and coutup timer -- all in all a professional applcation. However, the cook times do not correspond with those in the MC 1-5. Also, all of the recommneded times are not highlighted. Any chance the MC kitchen can develop its own application? Work with Polyscience to offer an alternative? From the data collected, this should be relatively easy. Polyscience sells its applcation for $4.99 via iTunes. I do recommend it, but with temperature reservations. I have verified that the termperatures in the MC 1-5 correspond better for my tastes.

Continued from Book Review #1: “Honey, there is the huge box and It weighs a ton; I dragged it into the garage,” my wife tracked me down while I was on the rental return bus to the air terminal. “What is it?” “I don’t know,” I lied‚ “could be anything.” “You have no idea what you ordered that is that big and heavy and takes up half the garage [exaggeration]?” I heard paper crumbling as she whipped out her Spanish inquisition checklist of questions. “Gee honey, almost to the security checkpoint. Got to go, see you tonight, late”. I listened for her final protest and then pressed end. On to the Book: Chapter 7 is positively the best set of explanations and pictures on the various methods of cooking. Starting with grilling and ultimately ending with smoking, consider this chapter like a walking tour of your favorite art museum, complete with awesome cut-away pictures and narratives from the artists themselves. There is even a touch of math in these pages where the authors show you how to calculate the sweet spot of your grill and broiler. Check out the Girardet Method (page 24-25); this yummy method of fish preparation is very tasty and oh so easy. In Power to Burn, page 52, I decided that real wok cooking was not a great idea for my kitchen; I couldn't sneak the hood and sprinkler system past my wife. I never really understood why my wok dishes didn’t turn out authentic until I read the chapter on stir frying. And, though I have watched things boil hundreds of times, I must confess, I never understood “The Birth of the Bubble,” see page 65. In pan frying, we learn that “the thickness of the pan matters more than the material.” Bad news for consumer premium pan suppliers - buy copper only for the looks, you can get performance in many other ways. Also, match your flame with pan and you’ll get better efficiency. Most of us know these things, but it is very interesting to have them laid out, all of it in photographic glory. With a tour through frying and smoking, your tour is complete - fourteen cooking methods surveyed in all. Chapter 8 is about cooking with moist air, for example a combi oven. Though I appreciate the distinction of combining temperature and humidity, this information is useful for the professional chef and is not within reach for but the very few home chefs with infinite budget and room. Moving on to microwaves, there two things that I absolutely didn’t expect to learn from this sophisticated text: how to do irresponsible things in a microwave (like plasma grapes), and how to measure the speed of light with a microwave and a cheese slice. If James Maxwell (1805) had only had Velveeta and space-saver microwave, just imagine the possibilities! I was eager to finally reach Chapter 9: Cooking Sous Vide. First the defining feature: “…[it is] the fine control of heat that modern timing and temperature-control technology enable.” The sealing and the water bath are all a means to this end. “Cooking sous vide is simple because it eliminates guesswork.” The chapter offers five steps: prepare, package, set temperature, cook, and finish. The chapter also delves in to details of types of sealers and water baths. Don’t miss the “Why Cold-Shocking Doesn’t Halt Cooking” on page 254.This chapter provides a complete overview of the processes involved. Each popular method of sealing is presented and contrasted along with strategies for chilling and reheating. The coup de grace is a Rosetta stone of sous vide cooking times and temperatures found on page 276-279. The remainder of the volume is a whirlwind tour through techniques to enhance flavor, clarify liquids, dry, and freeze. Unfortunately some (a lot) of the equipment is well outside of the budget of the home chef. But one thing that is very helpful is that the authors go to great pains to identify multiple techniques that can be accomplished in the home kitchen. What do a mouse and a mine shaft have to do with making the best stocks? Well you’ll have to read about it on page 288, and when you do, you’ll change the way you make stock forever. Even the method of preparation is different than what I had expected: see 296-297 for a tidy summary. I won’t recount but do not miss a page. Now, on to finish my story: “It’s a chamber vacuum sealer.” I proudly removed all of the packing flakes that clung to its stainless steel casing, “Ta daa.” It’s not just a sealer; it is a VacMaster VP215, oil pump powered, commercial Vacuum Packing System tipping the scales at 96 pounds. “It’s for Sous Vide cooking.” “That isn’t staying on my counter,” she proclaimed. “Oh nooo, I‚’ll be putting it downstairs,” as I measured how I might fit it into the pantry (not downstairs). Turns out a quick trip to The Container Store and you can buy a rolling table that fits its dimensions very nicely with storage drawers for the bags and other assorted utensils. “Let me just leave it here in the pantry, I have to get someone to help me bring it downstairs, it’s way too heavy for me.” “Un huh,” she sensing the insincerity that I was radiating on the subject. “Maybe in one of those books,” she pointed at the offending Modernist Cuisine collection‚ “there will be a tip on how to move that thing out my kitchen.” I chuckled, “Not in book 2.”

I have read the section in book II regarding deep frying. My wife and I enjoy home cooked deep fried foods on occasion but we have one problem and that is we don‚’t have a desire to deep fry more than one a twice a month. Do you have any data on how to store the oil after its initial use? How long will it stay viable, what are the methods for keeping it viable longer, etc.? For the number of times we wish to deep fry, it is wasteful to use the fat once notwithstanding the break-in period. Can anyone offer specific data to this effect? Glenn House

My wife rolled her eyes when I asked her for a $600 cookbook for my 50th birthday. She immediately reminded me of the exhaustive list of my cooking appliances, both current and posthumous, our cabinets full of our current cookbook collection and inventoried the various gadgets stuffed into every nook and cranny in our large kitchen. Yet she ultimately relented. And, so I set off to acquire a copy of Modernist Cuisine. I will spare you the long saga of the actual acquisition of the volumes, although the process involved haranguing phone calls, supplier lies and misrepresentations. Eventually, a third-party paragon of fairness interceded and I soon received a call from my wife that the box had come. ‚“It‚’s heavy,” she said. ‚“Are you sure you only bought the cookbook?” her tone indicated that I might have once again duped her by what she calls tag-a-long buying (a scheme where you promise to buy just one item, but under the cover of darkness you actually sneak in another kitchen gadget into the order). It was certainly a big box! I had finally extracted my prize: five huge volumes encased in a ¼ inch Plexiglas book container. Each book measured 10 ½ inches by 13 inches with cover photographs fit for a coffee table. The sixth book, a soft cover kitchen manual, fit beautifully on top of its Plexiglas home. I gingerly opened the first book and audibly gasped with surprise. Each glossy page was packed with photographs, statistics, charts and graphs. The $600 list price was starting to look inexpensive (I got for less but cannot reveal my source). I positioned the volumes on the countertop and plotted my next move. I first decided to get acquainted with the table of contents. Segmented into five volumes, the set includes: Volume 1: History and Fundamentals; Volume 2: Techniques and Equipment; 3: Animals and Plants; 4: Ingredients and Preparations; and 5: Plated-Dish Recipes. As a home chef who primarily cooks for my family and to maintain sanity, my first instinct was to dive into Volume 2 to see what I could whip up. Instead, increasingly intrigued by the first volume, I decided to start by reading a few pages about the authors and their journeys and 335 pages later I put it down. The rest of this review focuses only on Volume 1. I know now to read each volume in order. Chapter 1 covers the history of food. One of the central arguments described is that of the ”˜traditionalist‚’ versus the ”˜modernist.‚’ The debate probes: even if you can still eat the way your ancestors did, why would you? Further, food ingredients we associate with authentic regional cooking are, for the most part, not indigenous to the region ' so what is the meaning of ‚“traditional” in this context? Moreover, recipes we consider traditional today were really modernist in their time ' e.g. ‚“three centuries elapsed before the fruits [tomatoes] were fully accepted, due to lingering concerns over their safety.” Throughout the chapter, due deference is paid to the pioneers of the modernist movement and their origins and contributions. After completing Chapter 2: Microbiology for Cooks, I was thoroughly horrified. The authors detailed surprising cycles of illness called ‚“The Strange Life Cycle of Toxoplasma gondi” which I will leave as a story to be discovered (hint: page 127). The book covers an accomplished range, from ‚“Why You Shouldn‚’t Eat People” to ‚“Crazy Cats and Mad Moose.” Chapter 3 delves into the Food Safety, only furthering my depression. Confirming my suspicions, the chapter affirmed that various government food agencies are not exactly the sharpest tools in the shed. A recipe the FDA follows emerged in my head: 1 cup reality; 1.5 cups supposition; fold in one half cup of whipped hysteria to manipulate the masses and shake violently. Let cook indefinitely and deny any errors made along the way. I think the most useful part of the whole Volume is found on pages 192 to 194 ' Simplified Cooking Standards Based on Science. These pages and the authors‚’ preceding discussion are worth the reader‚’s investment and will ultimately lead to safer and tastier food results. Also, you simply must read the section on hygiene; review the UV powder simulation contamination on your hands. By Chapter 4, I was ready to be uplifted. Instead, I found a chapter called Food and Health, where the authors systematically dismantle numerous long-held beliefs using statistical evidence. The net of this chapter is that we know very little about which foods cause what long term problems, but our pharmaceutical companies, medical community and billion dollar diet industry often disregard facts or statistical evidence anyway. Instead, they try to make a buck off of marketing tantalizing lifestyle changes. Chapter 5: Heat and Energy and Chapter 6: The Physics of Food and Water cheered me up with upbeat facts about how things cook and freeze, essentially covering the whys that surround the hows. I recognized most of this content from my days of engineering school. As I closed Volume 1, I was surprised by how much I‚’d learned in this brief time, despite the fact that I‚’ve been cooking for 35 years. If I had gone with my impulse and skipped the first volume, I would have missed incalculably valuable information, and maintained my old mindset. Most books either fail to thoroughly cover the scope of material found in Volume 1 or cannot sustain the financial costs of publishing to do so with style and rigor. So when you buy Modernist Cuisine, start on page one. If you'd like to see my review of volume 2 when I finish it, let me know. http://www.linkedin.com/in/glenndhousesr