Anonymous Modernist 310

The complete link is: http://modernistcuisine.com/2011/09/tipping-the-balance/

I've done the recipe a couple of time and my favorite results are from smoking first, then sous vide and finally putting the BBQ rub for finishing/reheating on the grill. A couple of hint that I can give you looking at the way you cooked them. First thing is that if you want a smoke ring to need to smoke the meat first because once the meat hit 140 the proteins are denatured and you won't get smoke ring. It's just a look thing, it won't change anything, that's not the source of your problems. The main problem is that you probably smoke at a too high temperature. It's a perfect temperature for traditionnal smoke ribs but since you're cooking them sous vide if you go over the temperature that you use to cook them sous vide you will lose much of the effect. Also salting them before the sous vide step make you cure the meat and change the texture to be firmer and less juicy. So try smoking them at a lower temperature first and then cooking them sous vide with no seasonning. You can then finish them later any way you want. Good luck and give us some feedback Louis-Frederic

It was good but once I added the recommended condiments it became excellent! I since tried the mushroom version and it's as good as the carrot one! The mushroom broth itself was so tasty I didn't have much time to read or cook in the last weeks but the next ones will be more productives!

Thanks for the informations Mike, We had lunch at K-Paul and while I was a little bit dissapointed at the "Deli style" it still was the best gombo I ate all weekend long. (Paper bowl and plastic tableware!!!) My best po boy was probably at Mother's. Unconsistant food at Commander's Palace with amateur service. (What was good was excellent but the rest was totally forgetable!) A nice suprise at Cochon butcher. (Just regret that I choose to go to CP instead of the Cochon flagship for my last dinner! And I finished everything with a pizza at Domenica. All in all good food and we will happily go back to the Big Easy P.S. we had our coffee and beignet at Cafe du Monde.

Thanks Laura, That probably explain why my Risotto was a little bit too "Al dente". Louis-Frederic

I had two copies shipped on October 7th and they were packed correctly in the box. (Nice packaging by the way!) Louis-Frederic

Hello, I'm going to New Orleans this weekend and was wondering if anybody had any restaurants/food related recommendations? Could be anything from the best restaurant to the best Po'Boy shack. Thanks for your help Louis-Frederic

Another interesting article about the electric pressure cookers: http://www.cookingissues.com/2011/08/12/voiding-your-warranty-hacking-electric-pressure-cookers/

Jim, I would love to know where you're shopping! Me on my side I have the Beckman TJ-6 and I'm able to do most of the things with it. I did the same kind of cleaning regime and never put anything directly in contact with the equipment. The only thing I can add to your comment is to try to find something local because these are heavy equipment. Good luck Louis-Frederic Michaud

Thanks for the information. I'll need to check the KR and it's manual... Seem to work correctly. It even was MC team recommended model! Have fun with your new toy Louis-Frederic

I'm also using a the Kuhn Rikon on my induction cooktop and I love it. The important thing about a pressure cooker and to have a non-venting one. The KR is of that type and I THINK the WMF is also of that type. It will take more time to cook at a lower pressure but it may also taste differently. There is some very interesting articles by Dave Arnold about that subject on Cooking Issues: http://www.cookingissues.com/2011/08/12/voiding-your-warranty-hacking-electric-pressure-cookers/ http://www.cookingissues.com/2009/11/22/pressure-cooked-stocks-we-got-schooled/ http://www.cookingissues.com/2010/01/27/pressure-cooked-stock-2-changing-pressures-playing-with-chemistry/ For some extreme example of the change in flavor with the pressure: http://www.cookingissues.com/2009/06/11/maillard-pipe-potatoes/ So the answer to your questions will be a) yes b) sometime As for your choice I can only tell you that my wife that was quite PC adverse now has no problem with the KR. Good luck Louis-Frederic

I've got a rhubarb bitter and I find that the flavor profile taste surprisingly like bubblegum.

Does it need to be "waterproof" or just something glass shaped?

Received mine Saturday when I came back from vacations. Looked over it this yesterday and did a first recipe. (Pressured coked cauliflower soup.) Wiil eat it tonight and start reading it in detail. :-)

From what I understand Wet bulb temperature is the temperature at the surface of the food cooled by evaporation. It will be lower than the dry bulb until your surface is dry. (No evaporation) The probe temperature should be lower than the wet bulb most of the time. (Until there is equilibrium!) Hope that help a bit Louis-Frederic

Interesting idea, The only suggestion I can make is the cooking issue primer on TG. http://www.cookingissues.com/primers/transglutaminase-aka-meat-glue/ I founf it very helpfull the first times I used it Good luck!

Chris Young' vacuum concentrating setup is good if that's what you want to do but if it's the volatile part that you want to condense you'll need to add a condenser and probably a second pump for it's coolant. The setup become much more complex but probably still cheaper and easier than a rotary evaporator. As for the centrifuge. The centrifuge that you're looking at seem interesting according to Dave Arnolds: http://www.cookingissues.com/2012/08/19/spin-cycle-homestyle-centrifuge/ But it seem to me that having a maximum of 15ml per flask which seem very unpractical and the g force is limited. If you're ready to take the risk of buying used. I got a Beckman TJ-6 for arround the same price and it's about perfect for most of the usages of MC. It's limited to 3-4000g but you have 3 liters capacity in four swigging buckets which is usually more than enough. (Except for pea butter where the yield is so low that you make about half a cup at a time!) Good luck Louis-Frederic Michaud

E. coli is killed at much lower temperature. It's not just the temperature but also the time at that temperature. If you keep it long enough you can kill it starting around 125F. But it's all well detailled in volume 1 but I don't have it with me presently. If you want more references here's some publications about the subject. http://www.beefextension.com/research_reports/1992rr/92-12.pdf http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1057758/pdf/applmicro00337-0057.pdf http://www.sofht.co.uk/downloads/acmsfburgers0807[1].pdf If you cook sous vide it will be easy to hold the center of the meat at the right temperature for a long enough time to be safe with you Jaccard. For a quick sear on the grill I wouldn't use it.

Thank you for the precision. I actually did the same thing. Louis-Frederic Michaud

Thank you for the information Judy, Please keep us informed when the feature come back. Louis-Frederic Michaud

We had a recipe search function where you could select the ingredients in a list. There was also another list you could select of all the equipment used. Unfortunately that function seem to have disappeared when they gave the website a new look... :-( Maybe an administrator can tell us if the function is still available? Hope that help Louis-Frederic Michaud

Thank you Scott, That was exactly what I was looking for!

To the people who worked on MC@H, I'm planning to give a copy of the book to a friend. On my side I'll naturally also get the book and I own MC with a good selection of modernist ingredients. Since I need to give the gift before MC@H come out I thought that in the meantime I could give maybe a dozen harder to find ingredient that will help him with his future book. Since there is a chapter about Mac & Cheese I was including carrageenan and sodium citrate but after that I'm a little bit at a loss about what to put... Any suggestions? Thank you Louis-Frederic Michaud

You can probably put only a low vacuum to seal the mat. (You also have the ZipLoc option if you want to go low tech) But the easiest way is to let the meat cool down. It won't change anything for a 72 hours cooking time.

You can see their recommendation in the gear guide http://modernistcuisine.com/shop/gear-guide/ Most of the non vacuum chamber are equivalents. Unfortunately for marinating, compression or infusion you need a vacuum chamber machine which is much much more expensive. If you only want to cook, especially for low temperature you can even skip the vacuum machine and go with ziplocs and plastic wrap. http://www.cookingissues.com/primers/sous-vide/part-ii-low-temperature-cooking-without-a-vacuum/ Good luck