Farmer Dave

Going strong up in Ontario, Canada as well... Taxes y'know.

The mandatory trumpet mute bag.

One of the best threads on eG for sure...I am going to read it again but checking in the last year has got me thinking to pull out the "hot well" in the corner of the kitchen and play around. It has settings for water between 75f and 220f so I think it is time to be plugged in.....anyone done sous-vide using a hot well......? Does the water bath need to be agitated or circulated...?

Absolutely......stress contributes to flavour.(in most vegetables)....they need dirt,wind,have to fight for water sometimes, and look for nutrients.....it all slows them down and seems to give them time to develop a deeper flavour. (with exceptions like radish and lettuce)....just think of hydroponics....lots of water and nutrients...look perfect...but.....taste flat most of the time.

Were you hungover Ling?

Gareth if you get a minute could you describe that bouche again in detail, that jacket potato jelly ...I just can't get it out of my mind.....did it look like it tasted?

Thanks for posting that Andy. More Alice Waters and less Rocco DiSpirito.

Back to the live chicken part of the discussion, the guideline for space is at least a square foot per bird.....but typically much more than that for healthier flocks...sounds small but when you picture 2 chickens in a cage smaller than that with nothing to do for a year but look down at a food and water trough....so cage-free and free run are basically describing the same thing...

chefswartz is right........the difference can be quite small in the different living conditions for chickens..... Caged- self-explanatory, but I will add that if you ever saw the operation you would think twice.....I saw the same breed we have here "living" 2 to a cage once and, well, it was sad..(almost to tears kind of sad) Free Roam- thankfully out of the cage and running around in a big open building...like an indoor soccer field with shavings on the floor and lots of feed and water to get free will........ Free Range- access to the outside world......a technicality sometimes as you will possibly see a 12" x 9" door at the end of a huge building with 20 K young birds who might just by chance wander out the door into a fenced area.... A real free ranger will be wandering outside eating a lot of grass...chasing bugs...finding grains...trying to fly, running a lot........these birds definately taste different.....I'm not sure better for some applications...but as far as stock goes...unsurpassed.....and the feet...! make chicken jelly if you wanted to... I think the taste really has a lot to do with diet, age and processing (lack of added water especially).... Eggs are a whole other story.

is there a brain in the packet...?

Good point......and since all of the organs are removed in a conventional chicken that would leave the problem of an organ remaining in the carcass of the chicken with the head on.....namely the brain.........which we probably agree is not a large organ with chickens..

Maybe something to do with the regulations of processing....it is very automated and the birds are decapitated after a shock I believe.....the method for killing them and keeping the head on involves a knife into the back of the beak severing the spine and an old timer told me this is actually more "humane" (sorry about all this graphic description) if it is done "right"........(can you tell we just use our chickens for eggs here..?) The regulation of anything to do with a food process has been targeting a lot of what could be called "artisinal" methods...a knee jerk to mad-cow possibly...but I can't see why the dangerous decisions a huge corporate system using animals as a commodity driven by profit should blanket the creditability of someone milking a few goats for cheese, stuffing a sausage to taste like the "old country", making sushi using un-frozen fish, or butchering a chicken head-on for luck or taste... Oh yea, taste, good taste.....now there's a concept the government could consider.

That is odd......you crush a few and it should fill the place with aroma... Did they have a bit of "give" to them...meaning not hard like a peppercorn... PM me ....we might have to send up a care package

Seared Foie Gras. I've seen a lot of fruit elements on the plate with it the last few years

Chopsticks are optional in restaurants in this area. I was taught about them years ago and there were a few things that were "no-no's"...(like the stabbing, pointing etc)....one that I remember is always resting the chopsticks across the bowl or the rest pointing to the left..anyone know the reasons for this (I was taught by a Buddhist if that is a factor)