Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 5)

[DesertTinker]

42 minutes ago, mgaretz said:

 

Doesn't seem to make a significant difference.  That's both from others and my own experience.  So I just let it go to keep warm and don't worry.

Exactly, keep warm doesn’t kick in until well below any pressure temperature, between 145° to 172°F (I suppose it depends on the model, and likely variances between individual units.)

[rotuts]

this is what the bottom of my iPot looks like 

 

after making a pot if TurkeyRagu :

 

 

I rinse the pot out , and let it sit for a bit.  the brown bits are the result of the uneven heating element.

 

this come right off w a textured sponge.  from time to time , I snazz the pot up w some BartendersFriend.

 

done

Edited February 5 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

over here 

 

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/167372-turkey-ragu-via-ipot-vacmaster/#comment-2442590

 

 

ive posted how I make turkey ragu , using the iPot.

 

ive made several batches , and improved the Rx by using a bit more garlic , a bit more turkey , 

 

and a Tj's Cote du Rhone  , table wine .   I thought pork might be worth a try .  I remembered  country pork ribs

 

had a lot of pork dark meat , that's tastier that the ' white meat '  found this @ Market Basket :

 

 

 

I cut the meat into smaller pieces , and decided to brown , for added flavor 

 

 

note these three pieces :

 

 

the white meat is part of the top slice .  almost all of this package was dark.

 

 

Fond in the Fond-less  (  a bit of fun .. )

 

all the steps are the same as the main post on turkey ragu .  I mentioned I use 6 Dorot fx garlic pucks and 6 Dorot basil pucks  

 

the basil goes in off the heat .

 

 

the finished pot. those are basil pucks , melting .

 

 

the pot cooling off in the sink.  w my new refrigerator//freezer , its easy to make ice bricks the day before

 

to more the cooling along .   I used to change the water several time s, but no longer.  Less is Better.

 

 

this is what a portion looks like , ready to reheat .  it separates , but comes back together for the dish :

 

 

Ive found , for my tastes , after the FastaPasta is done , drained , I add the hot pasta to my plate , add in some EVOO , and some pasta water.

 

this keeps the pasta fully hydrated , and has a better mouth feel than if under hydrated .  I know more experienced pasta chefs

 

can do this w/o the liquid you see in the upper R of the picture above .  Im hit or miss on that , so the above.

 

this was mighty tasty .  

 

However , as in any meat braise , the meat stands , while tender , were by them selves , dry.

 

this  is common w a braise .  the meat jus gets squeezed out into the stock, as the proteins contract at braise or higher temps.

 

next time I see pork like this @ MarketBasket , Im going to try something Ive thought about for a while :

 

cut the meat into small cubes  ( probably w a Chisinart , very sharp blade , and deeply chill until firm , then pulse , etc )

 

and place the small cubes , w seasoning , in a bag , vac-seal , and SV @ 130.1 F  until tender  24 ?  36 ? hours .

 

chill

 

than add that meat to the completed meatless ragu , using the iPot and all the above ingredients 

 

and see how that turns out.  

 

a lot of steps , but none neat to be done at the same time , and all steps keep refrigerated , separately 

 

when using ground meat for the above ragu's  the meat is so fine , you don't notice the dryness.

 

but you don't get the visuals of whole meat , nor the chew .

Edited February 23 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

And to complete this dish :

 

as expected w braise dishes , this was better the next day , in terms of the dryness of the individual pieces of meat.

 

after relaxing , if you will , some of the jus went back into the meat.

 

this is a keeper for me , as long as @ MB has a pack of similar meat

 

this is a multi-stared dish.  w plenty of VacPac'd bricks for the future.

Edited February 23 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

over here , 

 

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/166120-ge-profile-smart-indoor-smoker/page/5/#comment-2450605

 

on the Ge-ISD thread , Ive made smoked TB's.   each episode does two TB's, and the back and frames on the lower rack.

 

Two episodes yields two smoked backs , etc etc, which is a decent amount to use in the 6-qt iPot.

 

I chop the backs and frames to minimize the volume of water , so I don't have to eventually reduce it.

 

my plan ( having 6 WholeTB's  WTB's ) is to end up w 3 X stock , which Ill eventually make Vac-Bricks , and freeze.

 

I do not use salt in any prep , and very little seasonings , as Im happy to add that when I use the TB's , and eventually 

 

the stock.

 

 

the smoked bones  ( 2 WTB's )

 

 

covered w minimal water ( sorry  pic is fuzzy , doubt the result of Personal Beverages , but maybe )

 

I iPot on  high for 1 hr  ( thanks to @KennethT 's suggestion ), the remove the larger bones carefully   

 

 

and mash up the meat w a hand masher , to shred the meat into fibers , then iPot High again for 30 min.

 

interestingly the meat after smoking was still a bit tough and needed the mashing.

 

then I use potato ricer to get all the stock out of the iPot'ed meat

 

 

there is a lot of meat on the backs and frames.  thats about 4   2-3 " pucks.

 

then I use a strainer to get a bit more out of the stock

 

 

ending w 

 

 

this is the ricer.  I think my mother had one that was ' forged ' , but this one is formed from sheet metal

 

 

the disk fits on the bottom , comes out easily , and the unit came w three different disks.

 

 

the finished insert beginning  to cool in cold water.  note the dish rack , which prevents the insert

 

from swimming over to the water faucet , and adding water.

 

this will happen, and the basis of  Bernoulli's Principle.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernoulli's_principle

 

I happen to be an expert on B.P. , as it was the subject of my first ever report:

 

a 3 page hand written report , Science Class , 8th grade.

 

Ill do this same thing w the Fz ( fit nicely in a saved TJ's plastic cookie container . 

 

I save them for opportunities such as these )  three times , as I started off w 6 Fz WTB.

 

$ 0.99  // lbs  , on sale.

 

the final stock might be quite potent , but I can chop off less and one brick unit

 

refreeze that partial brick , and dilute or not as needed.

 

nice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TdeV]

Love your MacGyvered cooling system, @rotuts !

[rotuts]

making more stock , from the backs and frames of the varioous Fz turkey breasts ive worked with

 

over on the GE-IDS thread:

 

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/166120-ge-profile-smart-indoor-smoker/page/5/

 

 

bones Ive fz from the last three TB.s   in the front the bones were cooked in the GE-IDS on the lower rack.

 

I decided I didnt need to do that , for flavor , as I was going to use each iPot's session's stock , over again , until finished.

 

I ended up w stock that was 4 X :  4 sets of bones  ( two backs  in the first session ) , then using that stock , single backs

 

and frames for each subsequent rendition.

 

 

the two uncooked bones , ready to bake for some Malliad-ing

 

 

while the bones were in the oven , this pot contains the smoked bones , and the previous stock , which I froze in a TJ's plastic

 

cookie container . ( I save them , as I fined them useful for lots things , mostly a decent sized container for the refrigerator )

 

 

bones baked

 

MC ( The Cat ) likes turkey it seems,  he kept an eye on the oven while baking the above.

 

 

 

these went in for two iPot sessions , which the stock was still hot.  thus three sessions , back to back , to completion.

 

this took some time  , but it was all unattended.

 

1 hour HP initially , ( not counting the 20 min warm up ) , bones are removed after a quick mash up w a hans masher )

 

meat falls right off the bones , then the chunks of meat are mashed again to get to meat fibers , and iPot'd for 20 min.

 

the meat its then removed , and pressed in the potato masher ( previously described , above ) meat bits discarded.

 

they are completely dry , and more or less flavorless .

 

I ended up with 1/2 of the original volume of stock :

 

 

I cooled and refrigerated .  the next day I removed the fat.  it had more of a pork flavor than turkey , but I discarded it.

 

couldn't think of a use at this time.

 

 

 

this is a gel .  I portioned it into two plastic containers , the size I use for Vac'd Bricks. I micro'd them to just level them out

 

 

Ill freeze and tomorrow Ill Vac and save for future use.

 

I as concerned that repeated iPot'ing of the stock might change the character of the proteins and sugars , making them un-palatable.

 

and secondly , that the fat would also change into tasty unpleasantness , as there would always be a tiny bit in the stock.

 

neither happened .  this is very tasty stuff.  smoky , but not overly so . turkey and pork flavors.  the little seasoning i used

 

did not overwhelm the flavor.  and , its not salty at all.

 

this is full flavored , not light flavored in any way.

 

Ill make this stock the same way , with then next 6 TB's  Ill smoke 1 - 2 , and oven roast the other 4 .

 

I will remove all the turkey skin ( as i dont need the surface area for Malliard flavor , and I dont care for turkey fat. )

 

I might start w the volume of water I initially used for two Tb units  , which ended up in one full TJ cookie container of stock

 

then re-use that over and over until done, which ended up w 1/2 container of concentrated stock.

 

I was surprised on how much turkey meat was discarded with the last 3 TB's .   but it had very little flavor , but the meat

 

was not wasted.

 

over all , a very successful project , done in easy stages each time.

 

 

 

Edited Monday at 04:20 PM by rotuts (log)