rustwood

FWIW, our Sharp microwave gets used at least 4-5 times a day and it has also held up well for many years. When the time comes, I will be inclined to go with Sharp again.

FWIW, last week's Cooking Issues podcast discussed "domestic" country hams (Newsom's, Broadbent, Edwards, etc.). Basically, Dave's take is that almost all of the hams that are aged 1-2 years are a good products and they are worth the premium over the stuff that is not aged as long. It made me want to pull the trigger on one of those 'extra' premium hams. IIRC, he also thinks domestic country ham is a totally different category of product than things like Jamón Ibérico and thus the two should not be compared. For those not familiar with Cooking Issues, you may find it is an acquired taste (so to speak). It took me a while to warm up to it, but now I really look forward to the new episodes.

Thanks for this. I don't remember exactly why, but I also was not a fan of the book. I either stopped reading or started seriously skimming not very far into it. Because of that, I hadn't even considered watching the show. Perhaps I will now.

Perhaps there is more than one spelling/translation, but I think you may be referring to penghui. It is an alkali substance for which there are substitutes (see here for one). It can also be omitted. In some regions noodles are traditionally made without out it. There is a very good article about this here.

I thoroughly enjoyed Peter Kaminsky's Pig Perfect. It has loads of info on hams. Some of the info is a bit dated now, but it is still a good read.

Can't say I've ever known that to be a thing for steaks. Hoagies for sure, not steaks though. Steaks can get really messy without that bread to soak up the cheese, juices, and ketchup. YMMV

I don't drink it very often, but I love the smell of the Nikka Coffey Grain Whisky. I spend more time swirling it around and sniffing it than I do sipping it.

I was thinking the exact same thing when I watched it. I think the variety I get locally is similar, although in many cases the amount of each item on hand may not be as great at my market.

I had 2 whole turkeys and ended up with an extra set of legs of thighs after breaking out a whole breast for the smoker. I also started the legs and thighs at 150 for 12 hours, but then dropped it to 134 before adding the boned out breasts. I was cooking them a couple days in advance, so I decided to pull one bag of legs out when I put the breasts in. Everything went back in the bath @ 134 for 2-3 hours on the day of. The legs with the extra 12 hours at 134 had a noticeably different texture. They were much easier to pull than the ones without that extra time. Live and learn.

FWIW, I did mine at 134, out of the bag, dried/cooled a bit, then seared on a hot grill just before serving (flat side of grillgrates). It came out great. Not that I am saying 1 degree matters, just that 135-ish worked well for me.

i linked to the sale info. Here is the homepage.

The annual Thanksgiving Paprika Recipe Manager sale is on now through the end of the month. All platforms are discounted by 40-50%. Version 3 was recently released for all platforms except Windows. I repurchased the Android app to get the new version and I feel the new features are well worth the $3. I've already used the pinned recipe and timers features. The timers show up as hyperlinks whenever (mostly) the directions include a time. Two quick clicks and the timer starts. Although version 3 for Windows has not been released, anyone who buys the old version now ($10) will get the new version for free when it is released. I have not yet pulled the trigger on that as I don't use the Windows version as often, but I'll probably get it before the sale is over. I have no affiliation with the app other than as a frequent user. I use it almost every time I make something that isn't an old standard. That is partially because I don't trust my memory, but mostly because I like to keep notes on the different variations and results so I can tweak recipes over time.

This has me wondering if it is possible to use a griddle that spans 2 burners on an induction - or a roasting pan. Are you good as long as both elements are fully covered?

I am not entirely sure this is what you mean by "recipe apps", but you might want to check out this thread for apps that capture and store recipes you find on websites (and elsewhere):

I completely agree. I think it is even more true when you are dealing with human research participants. 'Bad' data from just two or three less than ideal participants can dramatically impact the results of a study. What is bad data or a bad participant? I think figuring that out is how some researchers end up sliding down a slippery slope. It is not at all unusual for a participant to basically give random responses to get through a study as quickly as possible - either from the outset or partway through because they got bored and/or annoyed (presumably). There is also the problem of compliance - especially when a participant is supposed to be following some procedure outside of the lab (e.g. following a particular diet plan). Ideally you set up criteria in advance for identifying these types of problems, but one can rarely cover all scenarios and sometimes a judgment call is necessary. Of course it starts to be more problematic when the data doesn't seem to make sense and it also runs contrary to the resesearcher's hypothesis. With all that said, I believe in the vast majority of cases the researcher is totally certain that they haven't done anything wrong. Although there are certainly instances of intentional fraud, I think much of it is the result of a very slow shift in thinking as to what is or isn't OK - a shift that happens over years and years.

I never realized that they are a Philly thing. They were always just in the grocery stores in the fall - usually great piles of of them on a huge end cap display. I suspect it is not the same these days, but many moons ago it seemed like during October almost every other shopper dropped a box of them in their cart. I don't recall what they cost back then (certainly not $35 a box), but my impression is that they were a very inexpensive tradition.

I recently finished this as well. I was in the process of creating a new post when I searched and found yours. Your post may have been my inspiration. I thoroughly enjoyed it, although I enjoy reading about the exploits of naturalists and explorers in that golden age (e.g. the recent The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century, also: The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon). It also contains a great deal of interesting history that is unrelated to food. I am tempted to say it is more food-adjacent than food-related. That may be splitting hairs, but I suspect it may not be sufficiently focused on food for some, while many who are not especially interested in food would also enjoy reading it.

I just received an alert for the 2018 Piglet winner: Kachka: A Return to Russian Cooking @ $2.99 I think I set up an eREaderIQ alert for it after reading one of the Piglet reviews, but after re-reading a couple of them now (perhaps not the right one), I am not especially inclined to buy it. In fairness, that is at least partially because I already have a backlog of cookbooks I haven't 'touched' yet.

I've had an ereaderiq.com alert on this book for a long time and it finally triggered yesterday. AFAIK, this is the first time this has been priced at anything significantly less than $18.99. Needless to say, I snapped it up.

I wonder if carbonated cold brew is a thing in Japan and/or Asia. 25+ years ago I did product testing for a canned coffee beverage. I remember there were many different samples. They were blind, but it was obvious that they varied in levels of sweetness and carbonation. I believe there were also various flavor formulations and I suspected there were multiple levels of caffeine. My vague recollection is that the testing was done in advance of a product release in Japan. At the time, the notion of drinking cold coffee, let alone carbonated coffee, typically seemed very bizarre to those who were sampling it here in the US.

I think it ticks a lot of boxes for Anova: smaller but still with manual controls, waterproof, and a great price point. I don't think many people will miss the wifi connectivity. I also think the clamp is a bust, but only because having it fixed in one place limits the size of the pot you can use it in. I can't imagine why they wouldn't/couldn't have a sliding/adjustable clamp like their other models. I certainly hope it wasn't just to maintain a slimmer profile (which IMO would be silly).

I think all of the mini BGEs are way overpriced, although I would like to have a mini-max ($599 list). They are big enough to be more useful, but still heat up quickly for a quick grill. Of course there are many other possibilities for that sort of thing and nearly all of them are far more economical.

I agree - only to a certain point though.

An impulse buy of short short ribs led to a fair amount of effort today. I cooked them for 24 hours @ 167 and served them with polenta and a red wine reduction. They were tasty, but I find myself regretting that I bought them (like I always do). I enjoy eating them, but making any type of beef ribs at home always ends up seeming like a lot of work, mess, and expense for relatively meager yield. In my book, that makes them an excellent candidate for ordering out instead of cooking at home. I imagine others will not feel the same though as they seem to be a popular SV cook.

I did some spare ribs the other day and will be doing a brisket tomorrow (rain or shine). The rib cook went a little sideways, but they come out just fine. The ends of the ribs were sticking out beyond the deflector so they were a little dry, but I expect that when I crowd the cooker with ribs. I had planned to cook them at 240, but my kamado overshot to at least 270. After sampling one of the ends, I realized they were quite spicy so I foiled them with brown sugar and honey to even them out a bit - and to prevent them from drying out. I should have known better and pulled them off onto a second tray while I foiled, but instead I worked with the lid open and the fire really got going by the time I was done. I only left them on for another half hour or so for fear of burning the sugar, but by then they were already bending nicely. The brisket will intentionally be a hot and fast cook tomorrow as I don't like risking a brisket (nor any meal for guests) on an unattended overnight cook - especially when there might be rain. If I prep it tonight and start it early tomorrow, I should be able to get it done and properly rested in time for a not too late dinner.