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Thanks for that. Now I just have to stumble across another patch in a location with no (obvious) risk of contamination. The fully grown ferns are relatively easy to identify, so with a bit of luck, and strategic planning of where I go fly-fishing/mushroom foraging during the summer/early fall, it should be possible to find a location for future fiddlehead foraging.

What's your favorite way to prepare/use the fiddleheads, @Senior Sea Kayaker? I've been looking for a place to forage fiddleheads locally for a few years now, but I've only identified it in two locations, and unfortunately, both of them are questionable for human consumption because of close proximity to agricultural activity ☹️ If only male fern (Dryopteris filix-mas), which is found everywhere here, was edible too...

The scale and reduction by weight feature is the main reason my interest was peaked when I stumbled across the Njori Tempo recently, but the sous vide circulator attachment might be interesting for people who doesn't want/need a dedicated immersion circulator: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/njori-tempo-a-smart-cooker-for-adventurous-chefs#/

I haven't tried this myself, since my Henkelman has a fairly large chamber compared to the bags l normally use, but this could work. I've found that if you fold up excessive length of bag just inside (or outside) the seal bar, it seems like it can create a "barrier" which affects evacuation of air from the bag though. This can again lead to excessive"ballooning" of the bag inside the chamber, especially if you vacuum products with a lot of air bubbles/voids which release air slowly. Because of this, it might be better to move some of the headroom (the folded bag part) to the other side of the produce? Based on my (limited) experience with chamber sealers, I'm not sure if I'd like to try this with a bag who's total volume exceeds the volume of the chamber.

That's a tough call, Andrew. 1000 USD is definitely a lot of money to spend on an appliance for the home kitchen - says the guy who rationalized buying a Henkelman Boxer chamber vacuum sealer, with all the bells and whistles, for home use 550 USD for a used machine isn't cheap either, especially if you don't have a chance to see and test run it before taking the deal. If the machine is in good condition though, you can buy a lot of ingredients and pre-treatment enzymes for 450 USD... I honestly don't know what I would do in a similar situation. For those who have used V1, will I be able to use the Spinzall to significantly increase yield on the sous vide leek stock on MCH page 162? If so, that would be worth the 1000 USD alone... almost

I don't really know if I need it, or even what I'll use it for, and the timing couldn't be any worse with the horrible NOK-USD exchange rate, but I didn't want to gamble on another batch being made in the future...🤐

Very clever indeed, and damn tasty too! As usual, I used the slightly modified Chefsteps creme fraiche recipe (one drop of polysorbate 80 and 1.1g of LBG for a batch scaled to 150g creme fraiche). The 120g of water in the original recipe was replaced by 120 grams of fresh sorrel leaves (picked from the sod roof on my parents' garage). I also added 1 gram of citric acid to the base mix. It took a lot of spins, and two refreezes, but the Creami was able to replicate the results Lauren Eldridge got with the Pacojet 😀 Because of the large volume of the fresh sorrel leaves, I had to split the mix between two Creami beakers for the initial freeze and 3 x light ice cream cycles. Then the processed mixture was combined in one beaker and frozen again. After 4 additional spins, the Creami had broken down the sorrel enough, but the mixture was more milk shake than ice cream, so back in the freezer it went. Probably due to a slightly higher solids content than usual, the ice cream needed 2 spins on the light ice cream cycle and one respin before getting the right scooping consistency (normal is one light ice cream and one or two respins). Flavour profile was similar to the blueberry version I made a while ago, so it's quite understandable why Lauren Eldridge went with the blueberry pairing, but the sorrel version has an additional floral/grassy dimension I liked a lot. Defrosted wild blueberries, white chocolate namelaka and wild wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella) - picked in my own "garden" less than an hour before it was served - was all a good match to the ice cream.

Elderflower season is fast approaching, so I just wanted to bring this thread back to hear what people make of their elderflowers, and how they do it. Personally, I don't make cordial anymore, because I find that the addition of lemon and sugar limits possible usage. For the past couple of years, I've used the method and measurements from Nomas Guide to Fermentation to make my elderflower infusion: (240 grams of sugar) 1760 grams of (boiling) water 300 grams of elderflowers Soak overnight (I use 24 hours) in a stainless steel hotel pan or other suitable container. The first time I followed the Noma recipe, I also made a batch including the sugar, but I forget to factor in the increased boiling temperature of water with added sugar. This resulted in a brownish cordial/infusion. Flavour was also negatively impacted. I haven't tried with sugar syrup again, but water at 100 degrees Celsius doesn't seem to damage the flowers, so I assume sugar syrup at 100 degrees Celsius is OK as well. The main reason I bumped the thread however, is to check if anyone has found an ingenious way/method to pick individual flowers from the flower heads? Although the use of boiling water should render the cyanogenic glycosides from stems harmless, I like to keep risks like this to an absolute minimum. For pickled elderflower, which quickly has become a favorite of ours, I consider individual flowers a must, so there I have no option. It might be because I pick the flower heads a bit too early, but the amount of work it takes to clean 1kg of flowers is not something I look forward to...😳 Pickled elderflowers was a perfect match to this pan seared scallop at restaurant Lysverket in Bergen last summer by the way: When I asked chef Christoffer Haatuft for the recipe, I also asked if he had any trick for destemming the flowers. Unfortunately, the restaurant used to buy 40 kilos of elderflowers from their supplier, which were already destemmed, so he had never had to think about an effective way to do this...

It's been a while since my last post in the topic, but that doesn't mean I haven't experimented with the Creami😬 Based on the successful flavour pairing of goat milk caramel and goat cheese (chevre), I made a goat cheese and goat milk version of the CS creme fraiche ice cream: Definitely something I'll make again. Next time, I'll use chevre though. This time I went with the a more savory (and slightly cheaper) Norwegian goat cheese, called Snøfrisk. Next, I made an attempt to recreate the flavours of brown butter ice cream and molasses from Maaemo: I used the same tweaked creme fraiche recipe which I used with olive oil as the flavoured liquid earlier, and Chefsteps' brown butter solids recipe to maximize the brown butter flavour of the brown butter: https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/brown-butter-solids The ice cream was fantastic, but the hazelnut and molasses crumble needs a few adjustments in future iterations (a project for the upcoming fall/winter). And finally, a Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) bud infusion: It's equal parts mind boggling and amazing that a local ingredient such as this can create a beautiful bitter almond and marzipan flavour (just be sure to apply enough heat during infusion to neutralize the hydrogen cyanide). I just served it with crystalized dark chocolate this time, bur I've saved half the beaker to try to make a more complete dish later.

All suggestions are of course welcome 🙂 I don't think I have the skill and confidence to spin, quenelle and plate two different ice creams at once, so if I go for a vanilla pairing, it would probably be as a crème anglaise or custard. Or maybe as meringue shards or in a crumble/soil/streusel element... Since sherry vinegar is used in the ice cream base, a sherry vinegar fluid gel could perhaps be an option too?

I finally had a chance to make a version of your recipe yesterday, and after aging the mix overnight, I now have a Creami beaker of coffee ice cream in the freezer😀 It will be really interesting to see how your lowfat base works in the Creami. The medium-light roasted Ethiopian coffee I bought online was probably not perfect, but still, the base tasted quite promising. I'm not good at describing flavours, but fruity pepper and caramel were the most prominent flavours. When I tried to brew it in a french press yesterday, caramel and black tea were the dominant flavours. @paulraphael and @Mars, do you have any recommendations regarding what to serve together with coffe ice cream?

These flavours are actually somewhat similar to one of the desserts I got at Maaemo in Oslo a week ago. Soft serve roasted buckwheat ice cream (as a gluten free substitute for spelt), some type of goat cheese, goat milk caramel and some type of seasoning we didn't catch the ingredients of: The buckwheat, goat cheese and goat milk caramel worked great together. My first crude attempt to recreate the flavours from Maaemo were not quite balanced, as the buckwheat ice cream was a bit overwhelmed by the caramel sauce I made. To balance it, I'll see if I can amp up the buckwheat flavour, but Maaemo's caramel sauce was also slightly thicker than the one I made, and not quite as dark. Possibly a goat milk cajeta casera/dulce de leche, so I might have to try that method next time despite the high cost of goat milk. Aside from the slight balancing issue, the buckwheat ice cream was not bad at all, and it paired nicely with the chevre I used as the goat cheese element. As usual, the ice cream base is a slightly modified Chefstep creme fraiche recipe, and the roasted buckwheat was infused sous vide for an hour. The goat milk caramel sauce was absolutely fantastic together with the chevre by the way.

I haven't seen any gluten free versions at Norwegian online retailers yet, but I'll definitely check the small local Asian grocery store before I look into the possibility of making it from scratch.

Made a version of this last week after adding 1 liter of apricot puree to an online order of dextrose powder. Based on your comment about the sorbet being a bit sweet (and in case you've used a lower DE atomized glucose), I reduced the amount of sucrose: 500g apricot puree (Les vergers Boiron) 75g sucrose 25g Glucose DE 42 powder 1g Modernist Pantry Perfect Sorbet 1.5g salt malic acid to taste* citric acid to taste* Very good on both flavour and texture. * I didn't write down the recipe when I made it, but I think I ended up with 4+4g of citric/malic acid. I know I started out with 2+2g. The acid really made the apricot shine, so it's worth it to taste and adjust in the blender. I bought 1 liter of mango puree as well, so I'll try that during the Easter holidays. Possibly with slightly reduced sucrose/increased atomized glucose to to see if/how that affects the texture.

I'd wish... I got diagnosed with celiac disease a few years ago, so it's not worth the risk. I've been planning to make the Peaso recipe from The Noma Guide to Fermentation for a while now, so I'll look into the possibility of making homemade gluten free doenjang at the same time. This is the glucose syrup I've been using by the way: https://www.sosa.cat/en-ww/glucosa-liquida-sosa The box I have lists a different PAC value however, so I don't know which is correct: Maybe you can come close to these values with the sugars/starches you have available in Australia?

Thanks for the tip. Both of them seem to contain gluten though, so unfortunately, that won't be an option for me ☹️ We have plenty of frozen blueberries on hand, so I'll plan for a future test to isolate the effect of the coriander seeds, and to dial in the amount used, by hydrating the milk, sugars and LBG sous vide in small batches together with the blueberry juice (and coriander seeds). I should probably do some tests to compare blueberry juice vs blueberry puree and the ratio of milk/blueberries/skim milk powder too, but the quantities above worked really well with a bright and prominent blueberry flavour.

After a couple of ice cream free weeks because of a persistent cold, I made a blueberry ice cream based on the Chefsteps creme fraiche ice cream recipe I've had good results with earlier: Both flavour an texture were fantastic! I hope I've strayed enough from the original that it's OK to share the recipe here: 120g whole milk (3.5% fat) 68g glucose syrup DE40 45g sugar 1.1g locust bean gum 1 drop polysorbate 80 180g blueberry juice pressed from defrosted wild blueberries 7.5g skim milk powder 150g creme fraiche (35% fat) 2g citric acid 1.5g salt Milk and sugars infused with 2.5g dried coriander seeds during hydration of the LBG. This was inspired by Stella Parks' comments on pairing blueberries with coriander seeds in her video about blueberry pie on Serious Eats. Can't say for sure if it had much of an impact on the flavour, and the amount used was just a guess, but it certainly didn't ruin the flavour. Coriander seeds were then strained before mixture was emulsified in the blender with the other ingredients. Processed once on light ice cream + 1 respin in the Ninja Creami. Served with white chocolate namelaka, crystalized/caramelized white chocolate and a few defrosted wild blueberries.

I read a thread about the toasted hay recipe on Reddit (I think) last week. Pet stores were mentioned as a potential source for hay in small quantities, but personally, I would probably worry too much about possible contaminants from the farm equipment (grease/oil, dirt, manure, pesticides) and unwanted species in the mix. At the same time, I eat plenty of other produce coming from commercial farms, so this may not be a problem at all. As far as I know, hay is not produced, stored or transported according to any safety regulations for human consumption though... If you end up buying hay, I would try to do it during late summer or early fall when it is as fresh as possible. If I didn't live on the remnants of an old farm, where I can pick/grow things like this myself, I would probably ask at a farmer's market if you have that available in your area.

Has anyone tried Dana Cree's toasted hay ice cream recipe from HMNIIC, or infused toasted hay to a different base recipe? I'm pretty sure I have a couple of small patches with timothy grass in my "garden", and the flavour of toasted hay sounds like it would be right up my alley. It will require quite a bit of work though, since I have to harvest and dry the hay myself to avoid any possible sources of contamination in commercially available hay, but it's very tempting to try...

Bumping a REALLY old topic, but I just wanted to share a few thoughts on scales which might be useful for people shopping for new kitchen scales... 3 years ago, I decided to replace two of my kitchen scales - one generic 3kg/1 gram scale and a Jennings CJ-300 300g/0.1g scale (originally bought to weigh fly fishing lines ) - with a larger capacity 0.1 gram scale. Initially, I looked for scales/balances with dust proof IP-rating, but that turned out to be difficult to pair with 0.1g readability. At least within my budget. After months of research and communication with different companies/sellers, I ended up with a fantastic deal on a Radwag WLC 6/F1/K with 6000g capacity and 0.1g readability, because someone had ordered the wrong scale and had returned the "special order" unopened in the box to the seller. https://radwag.com/en/wlc-6-f1-k-precision-balance,w1,U5F,101-102-127-100 The capacity was a little lower than I thought I needed, but the deal was just too good to pass up on, and so far, 6kg has been perfectly fine. Over the last couple of years, the scale has performed very well, with little or no long-term drift between calibrations. Functions such as tare memory (with AC adapter plugged in) or the ability to enter tare value manually has become indispensable for me in a kitchen scale, but the biggest plus besides stable and reliable performance, is the form factor. If you have counter space to dedicate to a small benchtop platform scale like this, I can't recommend it enough. It's absolutely fantastic to work with. The stainless steel platform is easy to clean, can be used with hot pans directly from the stove (great to verify/control degree of reduction and for calculating salt percentage at the end of a cook), and thanks to the cabled display/input interface, access to the display/interface is never blocked by big pans, bowls or gastronorm containers. For gums/carrageenans (and fly fishing lines), I use a MyWeigh iBalance 601 at a dedicated "weighing station" outside the kitchen.

Thanks. That's great news. I already have powdered fructose in my pantry, and dextrose seems to be much easier to source here in Norway than trimoline 🙂

I'm not much of a coffee drinker myself, but my sister requested that I try to make a coffee ice cream soon. My sister will supply the coffee beans, but I need to find a reasonable source for dextrose and trimoline/invert sugar syrup before I can attempt to make your recipe, @paulraphael. Are there big differences between different brands of trimoline/invert sugar syrup?

Another week, and another wacky ice cream flavour experiment... Rutabaga (swede) is one of my favourite vegetables, so naturally, I had to try it in the Creami 😀 Rutabaga three ways: CS creme fraiche base flavoured with lightly pan roasted rutabaga, pickled rutabaga and a "fruit glass" made of rutabaga juice. I liked it a lot, and once the rutabaga is back in season, I'll definitely make more and test different ways to add the rutabaga flavour. The texture/consistency was absolutely perfect. That could be a result of the rutabaga in the mix, controlled sous vide hydration of LBG or the addition of 1 drop of Polysorbate 80 as an additional emulsifier... If anyone wants to try this, or something similar with turnips, dark chocolate crumbs was a better pairing than caramelized white chocolate in my opinion.

This week's Creami project was Modernist Pantry's dairy free pistachio gelato https://blog.modernistpantry.com/recipes/dairy-free-pistachio-gelato/ My first homemade gelato, and also the first time I've tried the gelato program on the Creami. Served with crystallized dark chocolate crumb ans some store bought preserved cherries. The gelato was great! Perfectly smooth and a wonderful pistachio flavour. For those interested, I used Saracino pistachio paste. Unfortunately, the cherries didn't taste much, so this summer I'll have to try to vacuum ferment some cherries from the trees which have popped up like weeds in my garden... Also tried a portion with roasted white chocolate and dried apricots: This time I also recorded the pre and post spin temperatures. Should have documented it with pictures too, but forgot about that untill the last respin: Pre spin: -20.7°C After 1 gelato cycle: -12.2°C After 1 respin: -8.7°C (probably ok at this stage, but it still looked a bit granular Afrer second respin: -6.6°C This is the first time I've seen something close to the flat surface the Pacojet seems to create, so I'll definitely try a second respin with other recipes as well. As you can see in the first picture, there are some tiny air bubbles incorporated however. This was the first scoop, made without doing anything to the mixture other than a few minutes rest in the freezer to lower/stabilize the temperature a bit. As I've mentioned before, this is my main gripe with the Creami so far. For a hobby cook/amateur like myself, it's not really a problem if the quenelles are a bit inconsistent (they usually are anyway 😋), but I'm curious to know if it's caused by insufficient blade speed, different post spin temperature, if it's over pressure related, or if Ninja has messed up the blade design or spin cycle parameters? I've thought about moving it to a different pint too, but I've been worried about incorporating some of the unprocessed ice crystals around the edges, and it's also somewhat inconvenient to always have empty pre chilled beakers taking up freezer real estate 🤔

@Mars, that would be much appreciated 🙂