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Browsing around I noticed that avaserfi posted some terrific looking French toast with bacon jam. We have a pressure-cooked egg toast and our Chorizo French Toast in MC. What other kinds of toast are you guys making?

What is the difference between a commercial non-heated ultrasonic bath vs. a cheap consumer-grade jewelry cleaner? Is it possible to use the latter for smaller batches?

3 stage breading process flour, egg wash, bread crumb Any modernist replacers for the elements in this process namely the egg wash?

Looking to get the extech EA10 K-type or similar, but dammed if I can find any information on the correct probe to get. Obviously it needs to be a penetrating probe. Is the TP882 what I should be looking at? It's 3.3mm in diametre which I guess is fine for meat etc, but for sous vide I guess I'm looking for something finer. Any help would be greatly appreciated. What boxes do I need to be ticking here? Regards

Hi! I'm just trying to make a "glass" or container out of Beer for an event I'm doing. Trying to figure out the best way to make them and thought I'd ask the community if any of you had any ideas. If this is a go then I need to make 400 for the event. It's a big Gala so only 1 Item per chef. I would love to hear some differnent ideas on this, because so far the ways I've figured out how to do it won't work for that kind of event.

We have a whole table for cooking whole eggs. What sort of texture do you prefer?

My friend and I endeavoured to replicate this recipe with some rather unpleasant results. We deviated slightly, so I thought it would be best to ask for some advice on this forum. Mirin proved to be very difficult to locate so we substituted sake in its place. As the recipe suggested, we marinated for 5 days, but froze it thereafter as our conflicting schedules didn't allow us to attend to it on time. We then cooked it at the recommended 54C for about 2 hours. We found that the flank steak (sourced from our local butcher) was both difficult to brown and very unpleasantly chewy. To remedy this problem, we put it back in the water bath for another 12 hours at 55C (as recommended in 3-109). This yielded in a better steak, but it was still very chewy and unyielding. We could clearly see where the collagen sheaths dissolved but the meat had an oddly stiff texture. I noticed that I got a similar effect with marinated salmon vs. regular salmon. The marinade caused the fish to be unpleasantly chewy and I was forced to overcook it until it was edible. I'm wondering if the marinade is similarly responsible for the outcome of the flank steak. Is it possible that substituting sake caused this?

There are several different "grades" (varieties?) of Ultra Sperse that are used in the MC recipes. It looks like Ultra Sperse 3 is probably the most frequently used. Does anyone know if it would be possible to substitute Ultra Sperse 3 for the other grades of Ultra Sperse by altering the ratios in those recipes? I'm having a hard time justifying the purchase of several different grades when some of them are used in only a handful of recipes.

LOVE Pan Seared Alaskan Salmon with home made CayannePepper-Agave gel and Blood Orange Sauce.

I have no affiliation with the site but see that ModernistPantry.com is stocking 50g bags of activa (all formulations). I've received some free samples from Ajinmoto, but haven't used activa since cooking through them because it's only available in 1KG bags. And once opened, it goes bad fast. I've written Ajinmoto many times encouraging them to sell the 100g sample bags they *give* away, to no avail. ModernistPantry says they repackage the 1KG bags in an oxygen-free environment, bag it in material similar to the Ajinmoto 1KG bags and include an oxygen absorber. They say shelf life won't be affected by the repackaging--they recommend storing at room temperature until opened, and then in the freezer (like the Ajinmoto bags). I have no idea if the repackaging will compromise quality, but I'm very excited to try. What shall we glue first?

This a great looking dish, but it has an odd note stating that the verbena gel should not be consumed. If I use food grade lemon verbena essential oil (e.g., from the "Chef's Essences" product line), would the gel be edible? All the other ingredients of the gel (water, lemongrass, mint, agar, and sorbitol) are obviously edible, so I''m rather confused about the warning against eating it.

Amazingly, no thread dedicated to LA LA land (or the Bay area for that matter). Just throwing this out there: http://www.thebazaar.com/ <--- José Andrés actually owns a restaurant here in case you hadn't heard! And of course Spago just because...

my cousin has loaned me her sous vide machine and i'm falling over myself to use it, but not sure where to start. i have a million ideas in my head. what would be a good recipe to start for your first time using the sous vide technique? i wan't something that would be a main course entree - meat or fish. thanks for your suggestions!

Not 100% sure if this belongs in the "modernist" or "traditional" section but it seems like a newer technique. In the gear guide the team recomends the Toddy T2N Cold Brew System does this work as well as the tall glass and wood type cold brew coffee towers. Thanks

I work at a fine dining restaurant in Colorado where I make the individual cheesecakes we serve for dessert. Although my cheesecake baked custard is very delicious and silky, my graham cracker cookie crumb crust does not maintain its crunch once baked in a water bath. I have been researching to see if I can find a way of having a dry cookie crumb crust under my silky cheesecake batter once I serve it chilled, but have not found a solution. I have thought about adding the crust after baking my cheesecake but that would not work since my batter is very silky, light and smooth. I would deform it if I tried to lift it and add the crumbs after baked. I would like suggestions for maintaining my crumb crust crunchy after baked and chilled. Thank you.

This is my first post, but I thought it would be valuable to share some information with everyone. Many recipes in Modernist Cuisine specify a particular sodium phosphate, "Joha SDS2." Now, finding any food-grade sodium phosphate, let alone that particular type is almost impossible. Until now, hopefully. I sent off an inquiry to the Modernist Pantry, and they have ordered a supply, and it should beavailablefor purchase by the end of next week (meaning sometime by March 23, 2012). Now I can finally try the recipe from the blog for the cheese puffs, along with a slew of other recipes calling forJoha SDS2 sodium phosphate from the books! If you need a link for the Modernist Pantry, just Google it; I don't want to give the impression that I am advertising for them or anything, because I am not. I'm just trying to pass along the news about a source for this item that has likely eluded most of us thus far. Buen Provecho!

I thought whipped butter would be simple enough but it appears to be the only place where an ingrediant called Delta decalactone (SAFC Brand) is called for. Anyone know where that can be obtained or in fact what it does to the butter?

Sous vide corned beef? Brewing your own beer? Whiskey bread pudding? Turning everything green? What are you doing this March 17th?

I attempted to make the sour cream spaetzle 4-117, 6-252 twice with zero success. Has anyone attempted this one? If so did it work? I would love to get this one dialed in but will not attempt it again without some feedback on what could have gone wrong etc. The biggest issue I have is that it never seems to setup. I have left it in the fridge longer than necessary and it does not matter as when it hits the ice water is just tends to dissolve. I tried frying the mess and it just turned into a bigger mess. Ricky

Continued from Book Review #1: “Honey, there is the huge box and It weighs a ton; I dragged it into the garage,” my wife tracked me down while I was on the rental return bus to the air terminal. “What is it?” “I don’t know,” I lied‚ “could be anything.” “You have no idea what you ordered that is that big and heavy and takes up half the garage [exaggeration]?” I heard paper crumbling as she whipped out her Spanish inquisition checklist of questions. “Gee honey, almost to the security checkpoint. Got to go, see you tonight, late”. I listened for her final protest and then pressed end. On to the Book: Chapter 7 is positively the best set of explanations and pictures on the various methods of cooking. Starting with grilling and ultimately ending with smoking, consider this chapter like a walking tour of your favorite art museum, complete with awesome cut-away pictures and narratives from the artists themselves. There is even a touch of math in these pages where the authors show you how to calculate the sweet spot of your grill and broiler. Check out the Girardet Method (page 24-25); this yummy method of fish preparation is very tasty and oh so easy. In Power to Burn, page 52, I decided that real wok cooking was not a great idea for my kitchen; I couldn't sneak the hood and sprinkler system past my wife. I never really understood why my wok dishes didn’t turn out authentic until I read the chapter on stir frying. And, though I have watched things boil hundreds of times, I must confess, I never understood “The Birth of the Bubble,” see page 65. In pan frying, we learn that “the thickness of the pan matters more than the material.” Bad news for consumer premium pan suppliers - buy copper only for the looks, you can get performance in many other ways. Also, match your flame with pan and you’ll get better efficiency. Most of us know these things, but it is very interesting to have them laid out, all of it in photographic glory. With a tour through frying and smoking, your tour is complete - fourteen cooking methods surveyed in all. Chapter 8 is about cooking with moist air, for example a combi oven. Though I appreciate the distinction of combining temperature and humidity, this information is useful for the professional chef and is not within reach for but the very few home chefs with infinite budget and room. Moving on to microwaves, there two things that I absolutely didn’t expect to learn from this sophisticated text: how to do irresponsible things in a microwave (like plasma grapes), and how to measure the speed of light with a microwave and a cheese slice. If James Maxwell (1805) had only had Velveeta and space-saver microwave, just imagine the possibilities! I was eager to finally reach Chapter 9: Cooking Sous Vide. First the defining feature: “…[it is] the fine control of heat that modern timing and temperature-control technology enable.” The sealing and the water bath are all a means to this end. “Cooking sous vide is simple because it eliminates guesswork.” The chapter offers five steps: prepare, package, set temperature, cook, and finish. The chapter also delves in to details of types of sealers and water baths. Don’t miss the “Why Cold-Shocking Doesn’t Halt Cooking” on page 254.This chapter provides a complete overview of the processes involved. Each popular method of sealing is presented and contrasted along with strategies for chilling and reheating. The coup de grace is a Rosetta stone of sous vide cooking times and temperatures found on page 276-279. The remainder of the volume is a whirlwind tour through techniques to enhance flavor, clarify liquids, dry, and freeze. Unfortunately some (a lot) of the equipment is well outside of the budget of the home chef. But one thing that is very helpful is that the authors go to great pains to identify multiple techniques that can be accomplished in the home kitchen. What do a mouse and a mine shaft have to do with making the best stocks? Well you’ll have to read about it on page 288, and when you do, you’ll change the way you make stock forever. Even the method of preparation is different than what I had expected: see 296-297 for a tidy summary. I won’t recount but do not miss a page. Now, on to finish my story: “It’s a chamber vacuum sealer.” I proudly removed all of the packing flakes that clung to its stainless steel casing, “Ta daa.” It’s not just a sealer; it is a VacMaster VP215, oil pump powered, commercial Vacuum Packing System tipping the scales at 96 pounds. “It’s for Sous Vide cooking.” “That isn’t staying on my counter,” she proclaimed. “Oh nooo, I‚’ll be putting it downstairs,” as I measured how I might fit it into the pantry (not downstairs). Turns out a quick trip to The Container Store and you can buy a rolling table that fits its dimensions very nicely with storage drawers for the bags and other assorted utensils. “Let me just leave it here in the pantry, I have to get someone to help me bring it downstairs, it’s way too heavy for me.” “Un huh,” she sensing the insincerity that I was radiating on the subject. “Maybe in one of those books,” she pointed at the offending Modernist Cuisine collection‚ “there will be a tip on how to move that thing out my kitchen.” I chuckled, “Not in book 2.”

Hello! I've promised myself I wouldn't buy any new kitchen equipment until I'm able to afford getting MC, but I really want to practice my knife skills and all I've got is a lousy plastic cutting board from IKEA. I know there's plenty of advice elsewhere about how to choose a cutting board, but I want to know not just what kind of board to invest in, but why. So my question is, what do I need to take into consideration before buying a cutting board? Types of wood, treatment, size, etc? Does MC cover this question in-depth or should I look to other sources to make an informed decision? Thanks for reading.

I have heard that Nathan Myhrvold grows miracle berry (synsepalum dulcificum) plants indoors as a source for miraculin, which is a protein that turns sour tastes into sweet tastes. The result can be a lemon slice that tastes like lemonade or stout beer that tastes like a chocolate milkshake. Because the berries have a shelf life of only one to two days, the only way to obtain them fresh is to grow them yourself. Has anybody else successfully grown miracle berries indoors? If so, how are you supplying light to the plans and how are you regulating the humidity in the air? Right now, I am trying to grow my first miracle berry plan under a single high output 54w T-5 florescent bulb that is hung approximately three feet above the plant. The room has no other light source. Also, I have the plant growing in a five gallon paint bucket, which is covered with plastic wrap (with a slight opening on the side) to keep the humidity high. In addition, I have been feeding the plant with chlorine free water adjusted to a PH of 5.0 and using Pure Blend Pro Grow 3-2-4 vegetative formula as the nutrient solution. The soil medium is a mixture of peat and perlite. Right now, the experiment is not going well and the leaves of the plant are turning yellow/falling off. What am I doing wrong?

I've been looking at various vacuum sealers and for a variety of reasons (oil pump, fast seal times, noise) I've been looking at the Vacmaster VP215. Does anyone here have any personal experience with this unit? Thanks!

What's the temp and cooking time for chicken leg confit?

I am interested in making awine "caviar", and I am wondering if anybody has had any success with this, as well as the technique.