Anonymous Modernist 393

I 3rd Willpowder... they are super awesome. I would also suggest l'epicerie and Le Sanctuarie. Although Modernist Pantry has some hard to find items that I haven't really seen anywhere else, their prices are well... a little bit pricey.

Doug, The technique used will be dictated by what type of end result you wish to have. Using a cold oil/agartechniquesuch as what SuperJude suggested will produce completely firm solid gel spheres. Using sodium and calcium (spherification) will produce a product with a liquid center and a firm outside that will burst in your mouth. So it really depends on what you're going for.

I've had the unit for nearly 2 years and like I said, haven't had any issues with it. I use it quite frequently for sealing stuff around the house and sometimes for use in sous vide. For the price you really can't beat it.

You should buy the book "Frozen Desserts"... aside from some amazing recipes, you'll find a decent section of theory behind frozen desserts along with ratios. They also touch on the use of stabilizers and the effects that they have on your frozen product.

I have owned this unit for the last year and a half and Iabsolutelylove it. I haven't had any issues with it and use it many times a week. It's perfect for keeping raw meats fresh. I also love using it for storing sauces and other creations for longer periods. The only hiccup that I've had (and always have had) is that you need to hold down the chamber lid when starting the vacuum to help create a seal and once it gets going, you can let it go. For the price I highlyrecommendthe machine!

If you work in the F&B industry, you can apply to become a professional chef at W&S which scores you a 20% discount.... on everything. This drops the price of the circulator down to $640. This discount is awesome for all other purchases too.

Although I don't know the pH of soy sauce off the top of my head, I have a pH tester and can check the pH of it, if you would like? The best way to tell is by using a pH tester. pH testers usually require calibration liquids to ensure that the meter is giving an accurate reading; some come with the calibration fluid, some don't. Welcome to the forums!

After doing some more research into this, Lorann Oilsprimarilysellsartificialflavors, however if you are looking for natural essential oils, check outhttp://www.libertynatural.com/index.html .

Probably will last indefinite if you store in the freezer or another dark cool place.

Camhabib, From what I know, not allseparationtasks can be carried out at any force greater than 0g, but most can be done at somewhere near 4,000g. A specific example is the task of making lime juice sweet throughseparationwould requires something like 48,000g's according to an article that I was reading. Again, please correct me if I am wrong Joe

Max, Can you use calcium chloride for tofu making? I know that gypsum or calcium sulfate is sometimes used but I haven't heard of calcium chloride being used. P.S. You guys are really awesome!

I believe that you are a little bit confused too - Seattle Food Geek was saying that he prefers the "best edge-sealer" vacuum system which is sold by Sous Vide Supreme (the maker of the Sous Vide Supreme circulator). If you have a little bit bigger of a budget and are looking to buy a chamber vacuum sealer and not spend $2000 or more you might want to check out the VacMaster VP112 (Use google product search to find sites selling it). It will close you close to $600, but it is about the mostaffordable household chamber vacuum system. I love mine and have gotten so much use out of it outside of sous vide that I don't ever regret buying it. Either way good luck and if you have any other questions I'm sure we're all more then happy to help.

Now if only most people and most recipes would adopt a metric based weight measuring system for listing ingredients life would become so much easier.

You can also look at either vacuum aspirator - which recirculate water, very similar to what robert described... you can also find dry and oil driven vacuum pumps... although dry and oil pumps tend to be more expensive. I would look on ebay for a vacuum aspirator. I bought one from a government auction website for $65 and it achieves an ultimate vacuum of 20 mbars out of each port (2 ports).

Peter, As Robert said, be careful when transporting Ln2 - I, myself never thought about letting my insurance company know that I am transporting Ln2 or also posting a sign on my vehicle indicating that I am transporting Ln2, so thanks Robert. As for uses, the book lists some of the uses; You can also find some other techniques at cooking issues - http://www.cookingissues.com/primers/liquid-nitrogen-primer/ . Although the book and cooking issues covers most of the techniques you can find some new ones here and there... also don't forget to use your imagination.

Although I can't say fo sure, from what I've learned there is a direct correlation between the # of g's and the time in which the sample needs to be processed. Basically if you take what the book says 27,500g at 1 hour process time and you take your centrifuge (lets say the first one): 27,500g / 19,800g = 1.388 time scaling factor. This means that any of the recipes you work on would take 1.388x longer to process. So since the book calls a 1 hour processing time on every recipe (I used the recipe finder to check this) then it would take you 1.38 hours or a little over 1 hour and 20 minutes to do the same. As I said, this information is what I could gather from other sources so I don't have a 100%definiteanswer, but hopefully that's a little bit more to go on than you had before.

You should also check outhttps://www.lorannoils.com/ - they have one of the most extensive selections of edible essential oils... they are also pretty affordable.

How much would you be looking for? - I have a tub of it (I happen to live close to AUI) and it's not like I'm going to use all or even most of it.

Willpowder is your cheapest option, but you can also find it through AUI Swiss, who distributes Ferran Adria's line of texturas products.

AUI Swiss is theexclusivedistributer for Texturas Products, you can find it for sale on other sites (usually spanish cooking sites) but AUI Swiss is going to be your cheapest option. Trisol is also only sold in 4kg quantities, however you might want to see if anyone of the forum or online (EGullet) might want to split a tub with you.

Correct me if I am wrong but I take it you're looking forTapiocaMaltodextrin - if so about your cheapest option is from WillPowder (www.willpowder.com).

Although you can order samples from NS, if you plan on using any type of bulk quantities, you should look into traders and or buying bulk amounts.

You can try getting a sample of it from National Starch or you can contact them to find out if there might be any local traders that buy the bulk quantities and sell it in smallerquantities. If you are using it in a professional kitchen, It might be worth it to buy a 50# bag and resell half of it, but if you are looking to use it in your home kitchen I would check into the local trader or sample route.

I would be willing to bet that you can buy liquid nitrogen from welding supply companies, that is where I get it from (although I am in the US). Welders use Ln2 to control the expand and contract properties of metal under heat and cold. Most welding supply shops have a high purity of Ln2 but you should ask just to be sure it's not lower than 99 or 98 percent. Hope that helps! Joe

When I go to ethnic grocery stores although I feel out of place sometimes (usually when one of the food sample ladies is yelling in korean) I am usually so focused on looking at the food and trying to figure out uses that I forget about the people around me. I go quite a bit - at least once a month because there are so many different types of produce, herbs, spices and other products that you can't find really anywhere else. In my area (about 15 miles outside of washington dc) we have a lot of different ethnic grocery stores from middle eastern to asian to african to eastern european... it's really great.