EatingBen

I've a Breville something something heap of attachments. It's big and very powerful and I do love the thing but man is it big BUT All sorts of dips, pesto (no I'm not using a mortar and pestle) grating, slicing, dough, mixing flours (if it's out and already being used) whipping huge amounts of cream and egg whites. I have in the past used it for blending soups as well, when the blender has been unavailable. I will admit that since I got my thermomix I've used my food processor far far less but thankfully the room it takes up isn't needed for anything else. I have a problem, I haven't enough money for all the gadgets I want!

If you build a pizza oven properly, insulate it sufficiently and have enough solid mass you can cook in the oven for a few days after it’s been heated up. So many fire them up make pizza, make high heat food, then slow cook overnight, bake multiple loads of bread, do baking and make breakfast. ‘’it’s a way of cooking I’m super keen to explore and would be a lot of fun, but it’s going to be a learning curve and need preparation to fire it up and cook.

You need to check out the forno forum https://community.fornobravo.com it’s got tons of info and helpful people for both expensive fancy versions and versions done on the cheap. ‘’I’m planning on some day building one, not at my current place but one day when I’ve a bit more land.

So thought I might put down what I’ve made so far. mayonnaise, I’ve made flavoured, black garlic, cranberries, chipotle chilli, avo, kewpie (chefsteps) still about 2 dozen other mayos on the list. Each time it’s taken longer to put everything in the cup and prep for oil if needed (blend chillies, mix in extra lecithin, whatever) making the emulsion is 30 seconds or less and then add a little water where needed. soup, like I said above not as smooth as the high speed blender or the thermomix but once the xanthan gum is added you can’t actually detect the vegetables as well anyway so it’s sufficient. Pumpkin soup and tomato soup so far. toum, incredibly easy blended a few tablespoons of oil with the garlic added more oil lost interest and dumped the rest of the oil in and let it blend for 30 seconds and it was done. Incorporate stuff into milk, hot chocolate, whipping in air. No effort. whipped egg whites that where leftover from something else. Was almost as fast as mayo, added sugar no effort at all no time at all as good as the stand mixer. made pasta carbonara, after rendering the bacon and frying pumpkin ravioli in a little butter I used the oil and butter in with the eggs and blended it lol together with water and some cheese (plus salt, msg) and dumped it into the pan with the ravioli and let it thicken adjusted seasoning added pepper and done. Smooth perfect and completely unnecessary to use a Bamix with but the oil being sheered into the yolk and egg was nice and warmed up the egg. Ridiculously calorie dense and delicious ice, crushed. don’t need it, love having it, won’t give it up and so far it’s everything I’ve hoped for! Bamix blades absolutely all perform differently and are somewhat interchangeable! Absolutely worth it!

After killing I don’t know how many stick blenders I got a Bamix last week, it’s something I’ve wanted for years. It blended pumpkins to soup in less time and less effort then any previously it also blended the pumpkins, carrots and onion to a nice smooth texture, it wasn’t the high powered blender fine but it was darn near close and tons better then any other I’ve used (never used a professional version for commercial kitchens) extremely happy with it

All of this!

Nice thread! I’d love more ideas and pointers on batch cooking, I’ve lost motivation to cook after work right now and I’ve made a few batches of things and enjoyed the ease of food after work but kinda struggle with ideas and a lot of searching brings up very Americanised heavy on the cheese creams and other things that isn’t good for the waistline and the lactose intolerant like my partner.

I’ve a jet engine wok burner, love the thing to bits! i use all suitably sized cookware on it on low or just above. It’s brilliant to boil a stock pot will bring it to a ferociously rolling boil in no time and bring it back to the boil in half a minute. The only issue will be you can use small pots, however a wok is a fantastic pan for more then just stir frying, sear a steak, deep fry, steam and sauté a wok very versatile item. Oh and get a Korean bbq rack thing for bulgolgi the burner will nicely char the meat. it’s also great cooking outside although I’m in Brisbane so I don’t get snow.

Third for Sohla, I make variations but this is worth the time and effort. I make mine somewhat hot and spicy also a little numbing but go a little heavy on other stuff (spices) it’s super good!

Modernist cuisine Mac and cheese freezes and thaws repeatedly without any issues. Béchamel Mac and cheese I’ve found can split, but I blend a little gum in (xanthan) and it’s fine as well. Sour cream with xanthan freezes fine but needs a really small amount and you need to blend using a blender, I’ve used a few different gums for freezing and all are usually fine. Ultratex 4 is my go to these days for anything I want glossy and easily mixed in. you’d be surprised at how well a lot of foods handle being frozen after being cooked and with sauces if there is a worry I put ultratex in and no issues. only exceptions have been really delicate items you can’t wrap well so if you put it in a container expect it to develop freezer burn pretty quick. Anything you can either vacuum pack or cover the surface of using cling film will freeze fine after it’s cooked.

I think I’ve only once read about someone doing polenta sous vide and didn’t like the results because it would clump while cooking. I like cooking it sous vide because I’m lazy and I only need to massage the bag 2 or 3 times during the cooking. Plus once cooked lasts weeks in the fridge unopened, freezes perfectly and is easy to reheat. ‘but cook it however you want, using whatever you’ve got to whatever method you like.

You’ll need a drier polenta cooked just a little longer this isn’t a time you want to experience all the textures you want it cooked fully you’ll need half a cow of butter and about equal portions of salt turn it out onto your tray chill cut out your shapes then fridge overnight. i cook polenta sous vide at 95c for almost 2 hours you need asbestos hands and solid gloves as the polenta will need a few massages during the cook but it works extremely well. 1:1.1 polent/liquid to fry them I dust them in potato starch and plain flour then far more oil then you think in a pan. ‘The results are acceptably good but you know you aren’t eating anything healthy

It can be the culture you are using, I have two one produces much more sour yogurt then the other. But like you I like yogurt that’s a touch puckery so I add milk powder I use a good one it’s a powder that mixes up into a milk I don’t mind drinking (some are absolutely awful) and I let it go for 12 hours frankly probably closer to 16 I don’t time it. The milk powder adds more food to eat, also produces a thicker result.

Every time I’ve tried to do anything I think the phyllo assumes I’m terrified and starts turning to dust. I would love a good strudel, it’s been a few years since I’ve had a good one. I hadn’t considered that, next time I’m at the busy store I’ll take a look and see what I can find. I wouldn’t mind trying a few desserts.

Phyllo pastry? I’d never would have imagine it could stand up to that kind of thing. I look at phyllo wrong and it crumbles. ‘hadn’t considered fats on silicon brushes, I use a spoon for basting in an oven as I find a brush doesn’t pick up enough and it brushes off the coating. i think this might be a case where everyone has their particulars from what they have learnt and learnt to manage. I’ll find a few brushes and next time try them for oil marinades and so forth and see if I get a better result for them.