FlashJack

Isn't it received wisdom that the difference between home and restaurant cooking is that restaurants use more salt and more fat, generally butter. Our palates generally respond to hyping things up. When I worked in a pub kitchen *nothing* passed by without a smattering of last-minute salt. Nothing. I agree especially about salt layering in salads. A pinch. And a final touch of acid. Within reason, more is more.

That's a view I can share -- that longevity is related to a lot of interacting variables. To my mind, salt would tend to increase keeping quality but the absence of salt might well be countered by other factors: flour characteristics, water, humidity and other environmental considerations. I'm sceptical of an assertion that saltlessness in itself promotes keeping quality. We agree 🙂

They last for years. There is not more fun or better value that a cheap new Kiwi knife. You'll love them.

I find that impossible to believe. Maybe if it's got no flavour it lasts a long time because no one wants to eat it but this sounds like rubbish microbiology to me.

Much of Elizabeth David could have been written yesterday. Not what I'd consider 'old'. In regular use here.

If they are just picked and in good condition I'd be tempted to simply store them in a cool dark place for two weeks. Super ripe tomatoes make great sauce but I guess spoilage is a risk. Spread the risk? Store some, freeze some?

What a picturesque expression. Great work.

Lukewarm congratulations on your new stash. Do you share space with others?

That's oddly mesmerising. Jo, there is no reassembly because there is no reassembly. This is the creation of a bucket of components. It would be interesting to see how grubby it is in back after a couple of hundred hours of operation. Thanks for the link.

This may be true. I don't have a dog in this fight. But what about a strawberry handblender? Or chocolate?

I've never understood why producers see benefits in 'shrinkflation'. With the mayo example you lose 2oz. 2/32 is only ~6% reduction in only one component of the cost. Given so many fixed or semi-fixed costs -- running the production line, packaging, transport, advertising, general overheads ... the list goes on -- I don't see how the small reduction of delivered product outweighs the pereception problem. When I see less mayo I see a producer who doesn't have confidence in their product. This may be my quirk but I deeply resent being cheaped out on what the maker is purporting to stand behind. Jars, labels, trucking are all generic. Do you want to sell good mayo or not? When I see that it costs about the same to put a bottle of air and a bottle of mayo on the supermarket shelf I begin to question the value of the mayo.

I'm no expert but I think browning -- and flavour -- arises from a good lot of grated Parmesan in the mixture.

Thanks for the heads up. That red gingham is eye hurty.

Yes, it will ferment. Will it be good? No. Decent beer yeast is cheap and once you have it you can keep it forever with a little care. Think of it like sourdough starter: it can sit quietly in the fridge, needing the occasional feed and able to be sparked up when needed. One nice adventure is to collect the sediment of a bottle-fermented beer you like and cultivate that. A web search will soon put you on the right track. The expired yeast you have might well be viable. Test how it reacts in a little water with sugar.

Congratulations John. It's not so hard after all. Care to share how you did the chorizo? It's usually made with pork.

Fortunately out of stock at my closest department store. $AU719 ~ $US499. Even on sale that's premium pricing. Fissler make lovely things.

Thanks @JoNorvelleWalker That's beautiful. Love the domed lid. Ouch on price. I do have a birthday coming up ...

Jo, my web search for this comes up with a lot of things I'm sure are not you are referring to. Could you post a link?

Have tried this from time to time. Just doesn't feel right to me. @rotuts do you strop? Makes all the difference for me.

A good point Paul. One balance I think the rod is doing more good than harm but: I do use it lightly. I also do it in a way that keeps my strokes as consistent as possible. For me, it's never seemed natural to go from the top of the rod to the bottom (point coming down towards self). My father, who was challenged in the manual dexterity department, went the other way so that's how I learnt (wrongly I imaging according to popular opinion). After doing a sharpening course a decade or so ago I tried the opposite: the impressively macho chef way. I have a scar on my upper hand behind my thumb as a result. I do recall that not being entirely sober allowed me to laugh that one off. Why I think it's better to sharpen away from self is that when you set the angle to the rod you are doing it at the point of maximum control. The bottom of the rod is closest to the firm grip of the hand and close to the body. Going the other way seems to me an invitation to start the stroke while wavering around at the point of least control. I'm also not interested in going fast. Again, to my mind that's a macho show-off method. I worked with one chef who did a good job with a rod but it involved a blur of dozens of towards-self strokes. It looks impressive -- and that shwoosh-shwoosh sound is awesome -- but I think he just managed to find a way where, on average, the beneficial strokes marginally exceeded those that just did damage. I expect I could lose the rod and get the same result. It's the strop that has greatly improved the finished edge.

Thanks Paul for pointing to such an interesting site. Here's my experience: After way too much research and procrastination, a few months ago I bought two Nawina waterstones (800 grit and 3000). They were around $AU150 each. I also bought the Nawina stone holder contraption and the device that provides a platform over a sink. After honing on the stones I use a ceramic rod that was super cheap from IKEA. I also bought a double-sided strop ($100) I load with medium and fine grit paste ($15 each). All up it cost about $600. A lifetime investment. The strop is the killer piece of kit here. An already sharp blade comes off the strop super sharp. I visited a friend on the weekend and sharpened all her knives. She was really happy and I got a lot of satisfaction for making one part of life better.

Good man. I like company. I don't have a pan from there I regret. I use the 34cm paella for all sorts of things.

The tempters at Darto are at it again. This time a 30cm 4mm thick saute pan with helper handle. Thicker and bigger than the previous biggest saute (27cm). Only The Hulk can saute in this one. https://www.dartointernational.com/pre-sale-saute-n30 Delivered cost worldwide $US60 but does not ship before 30 September 2022. I love my Darto pans. I'm in.

Persist. In my experience the CSO bakes fine bread with good spring (sometimes too much so steer away from the top elements). That's one of many reasons I went over to the Anova: more headroom. You will get there!

@liuzhou there is the MooLoo experiment. Reported in the Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/13/cows-potty-trained-in-experiment-to-reduce-greenhouse-gas-emissions. Full paper here: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(21)00966-0 This is a Skinneresque attempt to train calves to use the bovine equivalent of a litter box. Make of it what you will.