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jedovaty

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Posts posted by jedovaty

  1. I went through this last year - in addition to a good machine, you need proper humidity and temp.  I had some back and forth with Pastaidea support, and we came to the conclusion, most people dry way too quickly - it needs time, nice and gentle.  A comfortable room temp at 65-70% humidity should work for most shapes, and can take up to a week.  Depending on your machine, more delicate shapes are probably not possible and will be prone to cracking.  For example, with my philips, bucatini will crack while the macaroni/rigatoni shapes are solid.  Not sure about food safety here with using only semolina and water. 

     

    There is at least one mybook group that also does a lot of end-user support for pasta extrusion.  I don't use twitface, but if you do, look these up and you'll find a lot of recommendations for making and drying extruded pastas.

     

    On 6/18/2022 at 5:44 PM, AAQuesada said:

    Why do you want to dry the extruded pasta? I've done plenty in restaurants it lasts a good 5 days refrigerated. And can be portioned and frozen for later use. The only reason to dry extruded pasta is to retail it as far as I can tell anyway. 

    I'm not the one to whom you addressed this question, however, in addition to "Cada loco con su tema", here's another paradigm that works :)  I enjoy extruding my own pasta, but some of the dies are a real pain in the arse to clean.  Therefore, I will make a lot at one time, much more than I could eat in one or two sittings.  I also have very little room in my fridge and freezer, therefore, drying makes sense for me.  It's all about reaching the ultimate lazy/self-made balance. 

    • Like 1
  2. @Kerry Beal Thank you again for suggestion on different sugars.  I tried the MP pistachio gelato recipe with peanut butter again, this time changing about 30% of the sugar with dextrose.  It was a lot better!  Family who has dairy and egg issues said the taste and texture was awesome, but it smelled like dog food haha.  It was tough to scoop on day 2, though, and I have more sugars to play with.

     

    I also made a variation of underbelly's strawberry sorbet, since I didn't have all the ingredients.  It was delicious, but definitely still had crystals.  Despite missing half the unique sugars and things, I was surprised the texture remained scoopable on day 2!!!

     

    I've got my hands on some delicious nectarines, almost criminal to process them for sorbet but the urge to do so is strong, especially if the strawberry sorbet can be repeated.  I read @blue_dolphin made a roasted plum one recently, something like that sounds fun.

    • Like 1
  3. 12 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

    Here's @UnConundrum's treatise on sugars in ice cream - Under-Belly on sugars in ice cream.

    Oh!  You edited the post after my post, thank you for the link, that is very helpful!!  That site has a strawberry sorbet recipe I hope to try some day, but not sure I'm ready to get that deep into the hole yet, would have to buy more of those sugars (I only have dextrose right now, but I'm a bit afraid because I read here recently someone said it "tastes like ass" so... yikes?).

    Also, I thought the underbelly site was actually @paulraphael for some reason, I will correct to unconundrum from now on. 

     

    3 hours ago, chromedome said:

    I would have said Keurig, but the principle is the same I guess. :)

    Funny, I've shared the Frolic link Kerry provided now with a few people, and when topic got to discussing the business, all brought up "like keurig" :).  I've been taught the technical term is "razor and blades" business model, but I guess keurig really has made such an impact... perhaps the caffeine addiction plays a part, certainly more pleasurable than nicks, scratches, and ingrown hairs from daily chore of shaving 😛

  4. 9 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

    Looks like the Creami has some competition too - and endorsed by Dana Cree - Frolic

    Their response to questions about whether people can make their own cracks me up: "Currently the best way to make Frolic is with our fresh Pods. You will be able to make your own if you reuse the pods but I assure you they will not taste the same, nor as fresh."  Interesting, they are going for a gilette business model.

    • Like 2
  5. 3 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

    Maybe replace some of the sucrose with other sugars? 

     

     

    I looked this up.. regular sugar is sucrose.  I recall reading it is sweeter, thank you for the reminder.  Now to figure out what other sugar I can use (maybe I'll try coconut sugar, or ???).

  6. Followed the MP recipe for pistachio gelato, but used peanut butter instead, and I forgot to add their "perfect gelato" product to my cart so used their "perfect ice cream" one instead.  Also froze at the top shelf in my freezer, which is at -1.5F (previous two were done on bottom, which is around +3.2F). 

     

    The first spin cycle was rough, the machine hopped around a bit and I could smell a little motor.  It did require a respin, but the resulting texture was amazing, smooth, and like what I'd imagine fresh gelato to be.  The recipe, however.. way too sweet for me, almost cloying, and had an almost powdery mouthfeel on the aftertaste?  I'm still reading up on the science of this stuff, how much sugar would you all recommend I leave out to make this less sweet but retain the texture?

  7. 23 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

    You may need to set it to ludicrous freeze.

     

    The freezer of my refrigerator/freezer never gets colder than -9C/15F and is more often warmer.  Too warm to store ice cream, certainly too warm for CREAMi containers.  This is why I have a blast freezer in the living room.

     

    Tested temperatures in three parts of fridge: bottom (where I have space for the tubs), middle, and top 8hr each.  Bottom average was 3.2F, middle average -2.5F, and top -1.5F.  I'm not complaining about the consistency of the ice cream frozen from the bottom, it was great.  I do have a tub chillin' on the top shelf now, but this time it includes the modernist ingredients so not sure it'll be an exact comparison.  The range falls within line of the creami manual.

     

    Also of entertaining note, I happened to notice the freezer temp can be controlled.. the buttons are in the fridge part, and I've been staring at them for the last five years without realizing this.  Or maybe I had, because I read the manual when I first moved here, set it to "0F", and never looked back.  I do use the immediately adjacent buttons to defrost and quick chill stuff, very nifty feature of this old fridge.  This whole experience reminds me of childhood when I'd yell across the house to mom asking here where the milk was because I couldn't find it. 🙃

    • Like 2
    • Haha 1
  8. I made two pints from the ninja website to test before my MP exotic gums and things arrive tomorrow:

    https://ninjatestkitchen.com/recipe/vanilla-bean-gelato/

    and

    https://ninjatestkitchen.com/recipe/toasted-coconut-chocolate-avocado-ice-cream/

    (without the coconut flakes)

    Vanilla gelato: Not sure why they call this a gelato with so much heavy cream.  Anyway, the vanilla bean caviar fell to the bottom, no way to suspend, after reading here, I probably should've kept it at the 165F temp for a bit longer to thicken.  The flavor of this was okay, I guess?  Nothing amazing.  But, good to know the machine works with basic custard recipe.

    The chocolate: directions say to whisk until combined.. yeah, didn't work... the base was initially seriously gross (tasted like chocolate avocado with oats).  I ran my stick blender through it before freezing, and it transformed into a chocolate pudding that was delicious!  The frozen result was pretty good, more like a milk chocolate flavor than chocolate.

     

    Both flavors spun with only one spin.  Super smooth when squished inside mouth.  When I "chew", there was light crunching.. I'm assuming those are ice crystals?  I don't recall feeling/hearing that crunch noise with commercial ice creams.  Will pay more attention.

     

    Both had texture that was more fro-yo or soft serve than actual ice cream or gelato.  Not complaining, just noting.

     

    So far, happy with the refurb unit :)

     

    @blue_dolphin Wow.. roasted plums?!  That sounds fantastic.  When you write, "adjust with simple syrup" is that a taste thing or are you using science to match up sugar somehow?

     

    My library had the Dana Cree book so I borrowed it.  No dairy/egg free recipies.  I liked some of the science in the book.

  9. I have an apron from amazon that I don't like, it has plastic clasps that rub against my neck, and as such I rarely wear it and have ruined so many expensive shirts (when I'd come home from work, first thing I'd do is start cooking before changing, I'm a nerd in salesmen's clothing).  Looking at the recommended/influenced rough linen brand here, the aprons seem like they'd sit too low on a skinny dude, so I think I'd prefer a more traditional kind over the neck so it sits up higher.  There was a link here to an eater article.. "Merci" brand has some, but all the models are women.  Any of you tried that brand?  Any good?  Similar pricing to rough linen it seems.  i.e. expensive 😖

  10. I have a 7 or 8 year old foodsaver, no chamber sealer (yet?).  My fridge has a quick-chill drawer with fan that will be perfect to cool things down. 

    Let us know if you notice a difference with the vacuumed base.  My wootcreami arrived yesterday, 11 days earlier than expected, and sadly I don't have time until the actual expected delivery day to play with it.  Meantime I should probably order some exotic ingredients like gums and add ins I suppose - take the easy route and go with the modernist pantry mixes, or pick up individual types mentioned in MC and member Paul Raphael's web log?

    • Like 3
  11. On 5/14/2022 at 4:19 PM, andrewk512 said:

    What are people's thoughts on chamber vacuuming the ice cream after processing? Or maybe even drilling a hole to attach a food saver hose attachment to the pint container for use during processing? Am I asking for trouble? I want to get rid of the air holes that make the final product difficult to smoothly quenelle

    I was wondering about air bubbles, but before getting to this, do you think the container lid will be strong enough to take the vacuum?  It seems too floppy/flimsy and would suck down, deform, or even crack.  Maybe pull a vacuum in a different container, then gently pour into the creami one?

     

    In reviewing many recipes last couple days, it appears the blender is used quite a bit, and my experiences with a vitamix yielded a lot of excess bubbles and foam.  Wouldn't this cause the resulting frozen treat to be full of air which ultimately leads to ice and unpleasant texture?

     

    After reading about using a vacuum sealer to pull out the bubbles a couple weeks ago on this forum, I tried it with my food saver mason jar hose thing on some blended veggie soup**.  The contents in the jar expanded very quick and could have resulted with hot soup everywhere, fortunately, I stopped it in time.  Use caution.

     

    Oh, and thank you for the idea that one can use the foodsaver hose with other lids besides just the mason jar attachment.  Can't believe I didn't think of this after 7 years with this thing haha. 🤦‍♂️  I can use a larger jar, poke a hole in the lid, stick in a grommet, and all's good.  Thanks!!

     

    **all remaining veggies in fridge near wilting get boiled in water then blended into a hot smoothie sort of soup thing, called green soup, brown soup, or camo soup mmmmm

    • Like 1
  12. Refurbed woot delivery eta 6/13 🤪

    I don't have any ice cream/gelato books.  What are some good sources, recipes, or places to learn frozen-treat science so I can make my own recipes?  I think I'm looking for combination of traditional (for me) and specialty diet (family members are allergic to eggs and dairy/casein).  I have the pacojet recipes bookmarked, and read the go-to pistachio/nut butter recipe on modernist's website.  Anything else?

    I've read through this thread a couple times now - I understand the aversion some people here have to the unique ingredients such as the gums and stuff - but my disdain for them also comes from a different paradigm, whereby I dislike waste.  I don't use them up before they expire, then must toss them.  For example, in 2017 and 2018, I made vegan marshmallows a handful of times, then she dumped me, and a couple years later ended up throwing out $75USD worth of ingredients because they went bad (one of the gums was stupid expensive, and all smelled absolutely vile a year post expiration date, one had bugs, another went moldy).  Hopefully I'll make these frozen treats more but.. hmmm.

  13. 2 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

    The Pacojet has some blades for use with non frozen food - a 4 blade cutter, a two blade cutter and a whipping disc (that looks like it should be able to grate cheese). Here's what happens if you put about 500 ml of whipping cream in an ice cold container and run the whipping program (which takes about 1 minute). Perfect whipped cream. I suspect I might actually be able to whip lower fat cream as well - experiments will ensue.

    With its power, I'm surprised it didn't come out as butter?

     

  14. Costco has it for $160 through 5/30 (tomorrow).  I'm still tempted by the refurb on woot, but $60 more for a brand new units, hmmm.

    For fun, I looked up some reviews before truly committing, so many influencer links on that thing holy cow.  I also found a youtube video comparing it to a vitamix.  I know the vitamix can blend frozen ice cubes but it's a pain with the tamping then removing everything, so much so that it was just a novelty for me the first time I tried it a few years ago.  I also have a Donvier with two containers from my childhood and.. well.. it's not very good, takes up so much room.  Only purpose I keep it around for the memories.

    In the review, the dude indicated there were ice crystals in the creami one, especially after putting it in the freezer.  Hmmm.  But here I'm reading it's super smooth.. I trust you more, but.. before I spend more money, I'm just.. checking in first.

    • Like 1
  15. Hi:

    What would you all consider the next step roaster for cacao beans?

     

    Here's the background: I make chocolate from scratch as a hobby, currently have a behmore which I've modified with a bean temp probe and connected to an arduino device I made with some old processing software I hacked a few years ago when I was into roasting coffee (which was on a small huky 500 roaster). 

     

    The behmore's capacity is too small.  I'd like to roast about 2kg/5lbs in one sitting.  I asked the chocolate alchemist dude this question, and he said to just use more than one behmore roaster... nah, not for me.  Apparently the next step up is 10k USD.. yeah.. also not for me.  This is a hobby, I don't sell anything, just make a few dozen bars every 3-4 times a year to taste the beans and share with friends.  I'd like to double what I do now without doubling up the roasting, and stop there.

     

    A friend sent me this video: https://twitter.com/blogto/status/1529230762683162624?s=21&t=y6zmnWlIXSwZiLeMrosDqQ

    The dude there is simply using a commercial convection oven.  Huh.  Is that the answer?  Or maybe modify one of these ovens with a rotisserie?  That's really all the behmore is, a small rotisserie toaster oven.  But, I was hoping to find a drum roaster with fan control.  I remember trying to stuff 1lb of beans into the small huky, and despite the difficulties, the resulting roasts were possibly better than what I get form the behmore?  I would attribute it to the fan.  Who knows, it could just be nostalgia creeping in.

     

    But this opens up some possibilities.. it could also be a small, commercial steam oven that I keep in my garage and could bake my pastries as well.  Hmmm.  Those are super pricey, but maybe I could pick one up at an auction or a used one from a restaurant supply place.

     

    Thanks for your thoughts and time!

    • Like 1
  16. Thank you!  I use it as a direct filling.  I'm more interested in keeping it dairy free than vegan, one family and a few friends have issues with casein.  Almande looks interesting!  Actually.. easy to make at home, no different from a few things I do with coconuts and hazelnuts!  Thanks for that :)

     

    Will be in contact - whole farts carries the product, but they are out of stock in the store near me right now.

    • Like 1
  17. Would someone be willing to test WC for a "dulce de coconut" ?  I buy sweetened condensed coconut milk and put the can in pressure cooker or boil it, just like with regular condensed milk to make dulce de lece.  Example product I purchase at grocery store here.  I occasionally make little filled chocolates for fun, getting a WC tester is.. overkill.  In this case, I may be shipping the chocolates to a friend in canada, and shipping from California averages 10 days. I did test batch few months ago and left them on counter for a couple weeks, they seemed okay?  I'd rather be safe with science though...

    81jpQrQBFFL._SL1500_.jpg

  18. FWIW, it works "okay" if using a foodsaver with the mason jar attachment.  It takes 4 or 5 vacuums to get it, though, since the foam rises up the jar.  I also use the mason jar attachment to quick pickle things like cucumbers, onions, and radishes.  Works great for those.

     

    edit: "it" being pulling vacuum on blender foam

  19. Hi:  Sort of a two part question.

     

    First part is specific: I have whole hulled oat groats and barley, decided to grind some into flour, and made a "cream of" with 1 part flour and 4 parts water.  it took only a few minutes for it to come to a boil and thicken, which made me scratch my head because whole groats take 45 minutes or so.  Same with brown rice. Other grains and seeds take 15-20 minutes.  Instant oatmeal takes a few minutes, but.. that stuff is pre-cooked with steam.  I figure this time is how long it takes for the water to be absorbed, soften, and "cook" the insides.  Was my "cream of barts" cooked after only a few minutes?  Do things change nutrition-wise if I let the flour soak in water for a while?

     

    Which leads to the second part.. a more general question, maybe rhetorical.  When does one consider food cooked?  In the US, there's correlation to temperature which kills bacteria, but then, we do eat food at lower temps.

  20. In addition to bread, I recently saw someplace where the cooks use the chamber sealer to vacuum out bubbles created from high-speed blending - this may be old to many of you, but to me it was pretty nifty idea! 

     

    I had always wanted a chamber sealer but combination of cost (for the good ones) and "where to put it" kept me away.  I saw a slightly used beefy unit on craigslist once for a great price, but sadly did not jump on it.  Nowadays, I don't think I'd get much use out of one, I don't sous vide like I used to, and I figured out how to use my foodsaver to make the quick pickles (the jar attachment with mason jars works great).  The only thing I might use it for would be to vac-seal stock to make for easier freezer storage.

    • Like 1
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