Ted Blockley

FWIW, my favoritre recipe for Ice cream base gets pasteurized at 60 degrees C. That is enough to cook only some of the egg proteins. The ice cream is great.

Well, once the vacuum is released in either machine, the flexible bag puts the meat back to ordinary atmospheric pressure. A third try might tell the story. My guess is that the cooking time magnified the effect of the temperature difference.

The 45 blade Jaccard (black housing) is marked with the NSF logo. The blades snap out and it all goes in the dishwasher. No problems keeping it spotless.

Freeze dry?

The new look. "Corrections and Clarifications" - Bottom of the web page, under the "Contact" heading

Have you looked at Chapter 13 - there are charts and discussion about hydrocolloids starting on page 38. of volume 4. Ted

Mheadroom brings up a great point. The flat bottom of the SSR is made to transfer lots of heat, but only if properly installed. Another consideration is (as I've been told by someone very experienced with SSRs) that the usual failure mode is to the ON state. If that happens, there will be a runaway thermal condition in the sous-vide bath itself. I PIDed my espresso machine after failed pressurestats left molten chunks of heating element in the bottom of the boiler (twice). Putting some sort of redundant safety in place might prevent an unwanted sous-vide flambé. For example, most espresso machine PID modifications leave the original thermostat/pressurestat intact and in series with the SSR output. That way, if either device trips, the heating element goes cold. Lacking that, if the PID controller has a relay in it, it is likely that it can be used to cut the heater power if the temperature gets out of range. Check the "alarm function" parts of the PID controller instructions.

The Proportional output is the P in the PID controller. For sous-vide, proportional output increases the power to the heater relative to the error (i.e. temperature drop). With an SSR, the heating element can be switched on and off rapidly to simulate less than full power. Smaller time increments are generally better and can be adjusted in the controller set up. The 1 second interval is annoyingly close to an at-rest heart rhythm, but longer and shorter times should be perfectly fine. This method is inappropriate for a mechanical relay, it will wear out with the constant cycling.

I'm slowly working my way through McGee's "On Food and Cooking" and came across this topic a couple days ago (p. 258 & 259): "Cyanogen-rich foods, including manioc, bamboo shoots, and tropical varieties of lima beans, are made safe for consumption by open boiling, leaching in water, and fermentation." Although there wasn't any elaboration as to how long etc., it does look like there are choices.

That's terrific! The essence of the conflict on all levels. "I remember Agar from biology, why is it in our Kitchen?" "No dear, i'm not buying meat glue (yet)." I look forward to more.

enassar said: I'm thinking along the same lines. I'm guessing it would work just fine. I'm less confident about cooking the yolks with lemon juice, but also haven't tried that approach.

Luke, I have a very cheap corded probe thermometer purchased from Target for $10 or $15. It beeps when temperature reaches the set point. The display also shows min/max temps, Fahrenheit or Celcius.The probe is 1/8" dia, with a nice sharp point. Cord is silicone, crimped into the stainless probe, the joint hasn't leaked yet. Temperature readings are very repeatable, however the calibration is uniformly off by 2.5 degrees (F) - If the display says 140, the actual temperature is 137-138. If you get one of these, checking and compensating for the error is a must! FWIW, the manufacturer's point of reference is conventional ovens and dial thermometers which are both an order of magnitude less accurate than that. So I'm fairly sure they consider their product well adjusted. Ted

Yesterday I attempted the Brown Beef Stock (2-301) and was very pleased with the overall result. However, I would have liked more gelatin in the stock itself rather than clinging loosely to the bones. Is this simply a matter of cooking it longer? The bones were at the bottom of the pot, followed by the chuck and then the vegetables.

This was the first recipe I tried. By substituting cashew oil, I had the ingredients on hand. Our blender was the stand-in for the rotor-stator homogenizer. I ran the puree on high for about 4 minutes. The result was terrific. Cooking the stalks separately worked magic. The blender actually made everything very close to silky. My fear that everything would separate were unfounded. My wife and I were like little kids with ice cream, as we scraped our custard cups clean. Is there a better way to serve this dish?

The Caramelized Carrot Soup was superb.Our pressure cooker hadn't seen much use either. I sense this will change. On a humorous note, my wife microwaved a reserved portion of "Chicken Tikka Masala" marinade and took a spoonful, thinking it was leftover soup..... I ran in to see what the screaming was about.