Msk

My guess is it would, though you need to make sure it says in the freezer long enough depending on the insulation of the cannisters (my gut tells me 5 hrs is long enough though). What also would be really cool, is if you put the puree in squeeze bottles and pumped out a design on the bottom of those that creates a beautiful pattern as it "expands". Swirl of raspberry in the mango sorbet for example.

I'm really interested in this. Does the stuff need to be frozen right away or can you wait a bit? I want to do some of this for Easter and am wondering what the best way to go about it is. Would I have to do it all there? Could I make it and jar it here then just freeze it there? Could I freeze it here and transport it (20 min drive) and throw it back in the freezer? Basically how does the 'shape' of it hold up over time? Since this is the first time I did this I have few real answers for you. I can however make some guesses based on the experience. As long as the jar is under vacuum, the liquid remains in its expanded state. Warming it up may threaten this though I don't know for sure. You could certainly make these and freeze them and transport in a cooler with Ice I think. The big issue here with making alot of these is getting the ball jars in your chamber vac, mine were too big so I was relegated to making 1 every 5 hrs because I only had one of those foodsaver lids. If you had smaller jars that would fit in the vac, or did the foodsaver ball jar sealing trick you should be ok. It does "hold up" reasonably well and they suggest keeping it at room temp for 5 minutes before serving which makes me think a 20 min drive in a cooler is ok. I would make them ahead, freeze them overnight, then bring in a cooler full of ice/water. then throw them in the freezer there until 5 mins before dessert goes out. Mike

Im not sure where it should go, here or an MC thread, but could we start compiling a list of Modernist Ingredients, and the recipe they are used in? For Example Mac and Cheese - Sodium Citrate That way we could also ad generic name if a brand name is used, and successful alternatives if someone uses one.

I was talking to the rep at the PMCA today about getting a sample of PGA - we ran up against a little issue as she needed me to pin myself down to exactly which PGA I needed and for the life of me I couldn't figure that out. What recipe is it for? I confirmed in the book last night that it should be the protonal ester variety; I was interested in the bulletproof beurre blanc, but it comes up a lot. Thanks - I e-mailed her back and told her what I wanted - now to see if I actually get it. I asked for the Protanal Ester BV830, whatever the aerated Coffee Ice Cream calls for. Are there other versions of the PGA called for in the book somewhere? Mike

I love mine. I am honestly having a blast with it and the stuff I have been doing is cool enough to have my wife let me keep it out unless we are having guests Pros Great Seals Once you get the hang of the "Quirks" low form factor excellent size chamber for the footprint Price/perfromance Cons Its Heavy (seriously heavy and I am a big guy) its Ugly Minor quirks (but easy to work around) I have also figured out that by "pressing down" on VP112 lid it accelerates the vaccing process beyond just getting it to start. This became apparent when doing the Mango Sorbet from MC. I got a much better rise out of the puree. Mike

Would I be crazy to try and make Limoncello in a vac bag? Any idea how much this would speed up the extraction? Mike

It's frozen. Yah, i got that:) i meant what keeps it from collapsing while pulling the vacuum, and pulling the air out of the jar isntead of it staying in the gel structure Oh, sorry; I totally misread that. I think in general, you can pull too much of a vacuum, which will cause the foam to collapse, so it's just a matter of not exceeding the ability of the base to support the bubble size. In this case, the sugar in the base helps keep the bubbles intact. There may be more to it than that, though. Thats my guess too considering the Aerated coffee ice cream needs "PGA" viscocity modifier in order to get the same effect. If I recall correctly syrup only cooked to 214F.

Mango Sorbet Update - Delicious! I usew loq quality pre-peeled mango from Trader Joes. The puree still tasted ok, but not ripe or concentrated. However, the frozen aerated version tasted significantly more concentrated which is the opposite of what I expected since it was frozen. The texture was really cool, the best way I could describe it is like "Frozen cotton Candy". It was firm but melted in your mouth, but without that hard ice-crystal texture of frozen liquids. I also didnt let it sit 5 minutes to soften like the recipe suggested. It felt and compacted almost like snow, which leads me to believe it has potential to be molded and sculpted. The upside to this recipe is it took all of about 15 minutes and required no fancy ingredients, and might even be possible with a foodsaver. You could additionally make alot of the "Syrup" before hand and just add it to some pureed fruits, chill, vac, and be done in like 5 minutes of active time. The recipe suggests waiting 5 hrs in the freezer, to me it "looked" frozen after about 2 but I didn't tempt fate. They also do this with dairy with the inclusion og "PGA" in the aerated coffee ice cream recipe which I will do when my sample arrives. I am going to make a batch of syrup and try this with a bunch of different fruit purees. Mike

Just did Mango sorbet. No fancy Ingredients. Just mango and a simple syrup pureed then put into a ball jar and Vacced . These ball jars were just too tall to go in my vp112 so I used the jar attachment with my foodsaver universal lid. Here you see just how much the liquid expands. I wonder if a foodsaver has enough power to do this technique. Before After They are in the freezer now I'll comment on taste and texture later.

I took a 3.5 lb brisket and cut it into 3 equal pieces. Just SV no smoking first First way - Just salt Second Pastrami Seasoning from MC Third a canned Pizza sauce (I was in a rush to get this thing in and it was that or nothing) The resulting texture was the same for all 3 meats, I was a little worried about having the meat sit in tomato sauce SV because of the acid. But there was no discernible difference in texture. Since I will be serving this recipe at a dinner in a couple of weeks to an unadventurous crew, I anted to simulate a more standard braised texture thus the 145 for 72h. The resulting texture was fantastic, very soft and yielding but wouldn't fall apart. The beef was so tender and beefy tasting (even for brisket) and whatever fat was there was completely jellylike. The seasonings were off, I needed more salt in all 3. The pastrami spice disappeared to be only pepper tasting. I did a flat iron steak SV for 1 hr last week at 135 that had great success with the pastrami rub (just make sure to add more salt to it because the pastrami recipe assumes the thing has been brined for a week). The tomato sauce itself (not the meat) had a "tin" flavor to it but I bet it was the can I used and will have to revisit this one. One of my go to Brisket braises is an "italian Style" red sauce with basil, garlic, and oregano that Im worried wont translate to SV because of the long cooking time and dried herbs. Each of the first two also had about a 1/4 of the beefiest tasting jus, though wouldn't bee enough to make a sauce. Next time id put another bag with fixins to make the base for a sauce too.

[Moderator note: The original Cooking with "Modernist Cuisine" topic became too large for our servers to handle efficiently, so we've divided it up; the preceding part of this discussion is here: Cooking with "Modernist Cuisine" (Part 1)] Simple 72 hr at 145 f brisket sous vide using best bets for slightly flaky texture. Phenomenal.

Can I just double check on a technique they refer to. When they say cook something inside a mason jar in a pressure cooker, they are just using it as a cooking vessel and keeping it out of the water, correct? You fill the water around it, and leave the jar open during cooking. Thanks Mike

Many of these companies are publicly traded and therefore make the investment case for why restaurants are the beneficiary of secular trends. Currently it is "Emerging Market Growth" i.e. penetration of countries ike China. However years ago their investment case was that todays society is more about convenience, and the cost gap of eating out versus cooking in was tiny and perhaps negative if you put some economic cost to your time. This goes back however to Sam's point that people are buying more prepared foods at the market which inherently are more expensive than the raw ingredients on average. MSK

Interesting you'd ask that. I decided this morning to make the brine and bag some short ribs for pastrami, and I ran into trouble. Turns out that even the biggest bag doesn't handle 4l of brine because you have to lay it down -- a decided disadvantage to a FoodSaver bag that can be as long as you'd like! I ended up parceling it into three bags -- a pita, let me tell you -- but all's good now. But that's a pretty unusual situation. I really can't imagine anything I'd want to vacuum seal that would be too big for the chamber itself. I wonder if there is a way to use the hose attachment on a container large enough to put the brine in. Anyone know if they make one that would hol th3 4L of brine?

Someone in another thread, I apologize for not being able to find it. Posted this cold smoking apparatus. MSK

Why don't you try using dry ice and some form of fan. Alton did an episode beef jerky using a fan and some hepa filters. Just an idea.

I find these reviews very funny. It was amazingly clear to me the second I opened one of the books just how much this goes beyond a "Cookbook." There are so many interesting techniques to learn and to be applied, all backed by rigorous scientific analysis. Mike

I like the idea of adding watermelon puree to intensify the flavor. Mike

Im sure you could do that, but I would not want to prevent any air evacuation from the bag depending on where you put the clip. Just clip one side of the bag lip. It does not seem to be a major impediment. The dish towel is a good idea. It has just prevented the one opportunity from trying to compress watermelon from being successful. Being able to bag liquids is a blast!

I have been crazy busy as of late so I get 10 mins here and 15 mins there to test with it, so here are some observations. I have never used a chamber sealer before so there is some learning curve I am findung. When you put something in a bag, and, put the open flap over the sealer bar, there is nothing that physically holds it there.. So as the pump sucks air out of the chamber, the bag tends to drift toward the pump and away from the sealer bar (assuming light items). The lighter the food in question (i.e. tomatoes and watermelon), the more they "walk". It only becomes an issue if it walks far enough to pull the bag opening across the sealer bar so it will not seal. Its really not a big deal just something I never considered. Easily rectified with a weight blocking the movement. It made delicious Pickles in 18 hrs, that to me tasted like they could have been going for days/weeks and still crunchy. Toasted Marshmellow Infusion - Toast 3 Marshmellows, add to bag with 1/2 cup milk (I used skim) Vac and leave overnight in fridge. Use as a base for whip cream, custard, or give to your 6 year old who will eagerly devour it in 3 seconds. I was curious if you would get the nuances of flavors and you definetley do. Last night I threw some Milk and sliced Jalapenos and Poblanos into a bag and vacced. Ill be interested in how it works. Mike

Sous Vide Pickles My family devoured them, they danced that fine line between acidic and sweet that kept you wanting to eat just one more. Grapefruit Salmon Who knew Zest could penetrate so deeply into a meat. I liked this alot. Mike

I am loving this machine more every day (VP112). Still haven't been able to figure out if I can compress watermelon (or tomatoes for that matter). I'm having this issue where small foods move away from the sealer bar when trying to pull the full vacuum. I have been going infusion crazy though (without even reading the MC chapter on it. I made Pickles that were amazing in it, and did Grapefruit Salmon Curing that got grapefruit zest flavor completely permeated through the salmon (it was delicious). I also did a toasted marshmellow infusion that was insane. Mike

OK I made the grapefruit cured salmons since I happened to have everything in the recipe. I am assuming I can eat this raw like lox or smoke it f I choose? It smells amazing. MSK

Got my VP112 last night, but didnt get home until late. All I got to test it on was bagging some water and some cookies that were on the ounter. It handled both beautifully. I'll try and get some watermelon too and see if it works. This thing is pretty darn heavy (and I'm a pretty big guy). I think I am going to ned to find a permanent place for it because taking it in and out will be a hassle. Maybe some type of cart on wheels. Mike

My book is waiting at home for me now! My books was originally Shipping March 8th, then March 7 th it was changed to Mid April. Last Thursday I got the "Its Shipped" email. Crazy Amazon logistics. I really am excited! Mike