jbates

I have to do one myself. Last year's effort was super tasty (I used the purple cabbage).

I don't use my vac chamber as often as I should but every time I do I'm very happy that I forked out for it. I got the VP215 on special at my local restaurant supply place, very nicely made machine. Perhaps you have an upcoming birthday/anniversary/"I got to have it!" day? (Pro tip: the little filling bottle for the machine oil doesn't have a great seal; use a Nalgene squirty bottle instead and pour any excess back into the main bottle).

Same here. I just have to justify purchasing the second one with the boss/wife.

Mesh instead of weights, using the KitchenAid, great ideas. Thanks to all of you for posting recently, I now have a few more options for my next ferment.

I'd recommend having one, so many uses - excellent for heating and holding the milk for yogurt at an exact temperature. I have the Joule, and love how the app reminds me when the program is done.

My local Fred Meyer in Washington state has them coming from Chile.

Good to know, I wasn't aware there are vacuum-specific oils. My info was from a sous chef who used a mid-sized Vacmaster in their kitchen and it got a good workout.

From my research after I bought my VP-215 you should be able to use any "10W non-detergent hydraulic oil" which your local auto parts dealer should have on hand or be able to order. I got mine from O'Reilly's for around $5 a quart.

I bought some a while back, it's tasty. A bit different from LoGanMa. Yours looks great. I've got Sichuan chili powder coming to make the Cook's Illustrated version. Any special tricks for your recipe?

I've used my Kuhn Rikon hotel pressure cooker (11" diameter) on the CF for a couple of years now. I use it as a normal pot as well. The pan heats up evenly and accurately. A couple of times I've overheated the milk while making yogurt and had lightly caramelized milk solids on the bottom of the pan; the stuck bits covered the pan from edge to edge without a ring. I haven't tried the flour test, will have to play around with different pans. I suspect the pan base thickness plays a part.

I suspect it won't be long, since the water in the purée is not being boiled out like in a jam. The acid might help though. I don't have access to a similar recipe with a known aW value that I could use as a reference either, unfortunately. I'd suggest contacting your local university/college culinary school and asking if they have an aW meter. If so, make up a batch and let us know the result. BTW got a link to the full recipe?

I'd expect that the brine they come in would continue to preserve them. Divide into appropriate size bottles and share the brine between them.

What I've done for pop rocks is to put the pieces in a fine sieve and pour thinned chocolate over the top. Shake it around while the chocolate sets up. I'm sure caramel bits would work similarly.

I assume you discard the zested skin? Or can you chop it fine and add back into the pickles?

For a 4x8 configuration I suspect it's a Chocolate World cherry (https://chocolateworld.be/winkel/moulds/frame-moulds/CW2116), or perhaps a Hans Brunner (https://www.brunnershop.com/en/Frame-Moulds/Moulds-for-Pralines/Round-pralines/Ball-praline.html). Some manufacturers only produce the cherries in a 3x8 configuration. if you're in the US, Tomric and/or BakeDeco should be able to get these for you.