Syzygies

Re: Pressure Cookers Cooks Illustrated recommends Fissler as best-of-category: Stovetop Pressure Cookers (Cooks Illustrated; subscription required) Fissler Vitaquick Pressure Cooker, 8.5qt (Amazon) "The only cooker to reach 250 degrees at high pressure, it cooked food to perfection in the time range suggested by the recipes." Mine just arrived; they go in and out of stock, and word is that buzz is only increasing for the category in general, and Fissler in particular. There's a thread over at eGullet; this is where Nathan Myhrvold frequently posted on sous vide before writing Modernist Cuisine: Pressure Cookers: 2011 and beyond (eGullet) I have Modernist Cuisine at Home. It advocates sous vide, pressure cookers, and microwave ovens as standard tools. The series has a bit of an identity crisis, for it wants to proclaim it's the last cookbook, but if it were, it would entirely teach problem solving for adapting modern methods to any classical cuisine of our choosing, such as Moroccan tagines. Instead it is a series of recipes, but not those that I'd want to finish out my life cooking. However, more than anything, I have trouble reading it without cracking up, because the format reminds me so strongly of my Home Depot books on plumbing and home repair. In contrast, I absolutely love Heston Blumenthal's "at home" book: Heston Blumenthal at Home (Amazon) Stunning production values, font and layout choices creating a brilliant calm. The book doesn't claim to be anything but what it is. Some say, perhaps his home, but not so far off from your home or mine. In any case, there are eight pages of stock recipes, one per page, for white chicken stock, brown chicken stock, beef stock, lamb stock, fish stock, crab stock, vegetable stock, mushroom stock. Each one involves a pressure cooker; at 250 F the Malliard reaction can take place underwater. I literally bought the pressure cooker to make these eight stocks; if I use it for anything else that will be a bonus. Stock is very important to us. As a side note, I put away stock in chamber vacuum pouches, which I seal with a $40 impulse sealer. This would be quicker even if I owned a chamber vacuum machine. The pouches are heat safe, and so inexpensive that I put up smaller quantities in one cup multiples. I thaw by simmering the pouch in boiling water, then slit a corner to use the stock, perhaps in stages.

Re: Steam for Bread Hey, you're the one wearing latex gloves for a living!

Re: Steam for Bread The tiny probe hole, normally plugged with a silicone plug. I'm going to work on a prototype, this is a great idea.

Re: Steam for Bread I like that idea! That would allow a continual feed during the early bake. Just quite literally what I said, I've tried the lesser solutions people use, like spritzing with a spray bottle, and it has much less effect.

Lodge Logic 15-Inch Pre-Seasoned Skillet So recent bread cookbooks make it clear: Commercial bread ovens inject steam to a degree impossible at home. (A spritz from a spray bottle is about as effective as those copper films on 1950s Revere Ware.) Like all things, one can say one is having success, till one sees the results of enough steam. Then, it's "Whoah! Now I know what people are talking about." These books recommend cooking in cast iron pots, to contain the steam from the bread itself. This works, but only for shapes that fit in the pot: Tartine Bread Bouchon Bakery Flour Water Yeast Salt My Bread I found the above 15" cast iron skillet for $35 on Amazon. After hacksawing off most of the handle, it fits nicely in a KK, and is perhaps the largest, heaviest pan which will. After a 500 F preheat, it can boil off three cups of boiling water in short order. I've seen oven spring like I've never experienced before, with this much steam. This is simple physics; the thermal mass of the pan stores lots of energy, and boiling water takes less energy to turn to steam. I'm still dialing in the protocol: Upper or main deck for the bread stone? My loaves are burning from radiant dome heat, if I'm not careful. Two or three cups boiling water? The spray tends to knock down the fire temperature, and one does want a 50 F drop, but not more. At what temperature do I start? That sort of thing. Bouchon Bakery advises using stainless steel chains to build enough thermal mass to produce sufficient steam. This solution seems easier, and nicely adapted to the KK.

Re: Best vacuum packer? (FoodSaver alternatives?) My research lead me to the belief that the Minipack Cyclone 30 could be the best compact external clamp vacuum sealer. I now own one in New York, buying the last one from one vendor at $295. Rumor has it this machine has been discontinued; anyone imagining that they can drop ship one may be wrong about this. I'm in a PayPal dispute over a second unit for California which never arrived from The Vak Shack, at $350. If the Minipack Cyclone 30 is available anywhere, one will have to pay $400 or so. Use a credit card that you're sure will side with you; by the time a PayPal dispute resolves, these may be long gone from the market. You will have missed your chance. The competitors at this price point (Weston and private label versions of same) all look like they were built in someone's garage, are bulkier, and have various unhappy reviews. There is nothing astonishing about the Minipack, it just works as one might have expected a $50 Target unit to work, except one needs to pay $400 these days for such quality. The gaskets do not need replacing. The pump stays on while sealing (what moron at FoodSaver didn't think this was necessary?). The unit is compact, all metal, digital display with multiple adjustable saved settings. The cheap note is the totally unnecessary plastic drip tray (just clean the space in which it sits) which can interfere with a full vacuum. To be fair, by its own measurements the Minipack Cyclone 30 reaches a 6% or 7% vacuum, which is enough to shrink pouches pretty hard around food. I'd guess this is twice the FoodSaver vacuum, and I really wonder what people are thinking who use FoodSavers to apply a vacuum to containers such as Ball jars. Can enough pressure to hold the lid on tight really make any difference to the keeping properties of food within? I made some experiments involving sealed pouches with pinholes inside a Ball jar, and as best I could tell the FoodSaver vacuum was negligible. Enough to hold the lid on, but no significant effect on the contents. A chamber vacuum machine easily reaches a 98% vacuum, which facilitates many Modernist techniques I could perhaps live without. Some of us are worried not only about the money, but the counter space. $400 for a unit that really gets the job done and is small and portable is a good thing. Bags are also a consideration. One does break even with enough volume through a chamber machine, because the bags cost so much less. Yet few of us are really at this volume. The chamber pouches are also wonderful; if one gets used to them (say, with liquids and a $40 impulse sealer) one learns to detest the clumsy, overpriced FoodSaver bags. One easily buys chamber pouches rated for 48 hours of sous vide simmering; FoodSaver makes no such statement. I found a less expensive source of "channel" bags that are rated for sous vide and "boil in pouch" applications: VacMaster VacStrip bags They're an interesting design: Extra material is inserted to provide the vacuum channels, so the 3 mil pouch itself is not compromised by vacuum channels. My only bag failures have involved bones; the Cyclone pulls the plastic pretty hard around a bone, making a puncture likely. Notice one can order bone guards, which are also used with chamber machines. Dear reader, you may hear from others who bought 5,000 chamber bags on price before considering the question of heat safety, and now want to assert that there is no safety issue. Health safety is a moving target; I remember when we gradually became aware that smoking could kill. Just flagging a possible issue for you to consider; we're erring on the side of caution. Again, if you're happy with your FoodSaver, lucky you. Like $50 headphones or a $14,000 sticker car, why rock the boat if nothing is obviously wrong? There's also ziplock bags, one can get pretty close to FoodSaver quality storage with a bit of manual dexterity.

Re: Hamburger mix blend We've tried various cuts. Brisket good. Short ribs are the most underrated cut for any application: They make hands down the best stews, but are also a fantastic addition to hamburger mixes. Still, chuck rules. Ask for the good end, whatever that means (I forget which end that is, but my butcher knows).

Re: waking up this thread...stainless cleaning

Re: Cleaning Stainless Steel Nitric acid, wow. I'm still stuck in the "ammonia" beginner class. Does anyone understand the chemistry of ammonia with respect to crud on a SS grates? I'm told that simply placing a bowl of concentrated ammonia in a closed space (sealed trash bag) with SS grates will help clean them. I haven't tried this; somehow the gas softens deposits? An operational "this works" understanding would be great, but I'm also curious what actually happens, like the ammonia prions tickle the left-handed quark deposits, that sort of explanation.

Re: waking up this thread...stainless cleaning

Re: Another argument for using grill-floss I've heard of enclosing metal in a bag with a bowl of ammonia (the gas does the work) as a way of power cleaning, including for BBQ grates. I have a grill-floss for regular use. Does any one have direct experience with ammonia?

Re: Time to quit hunting, shooting and BBQing. That got a laugh out of Laurie. But of course, upgraded to a KK was her idea. Did I marry well or what!?

Re: berkshire vs. commercial butts

Grate results right over the grate Nice!

Re: berkshire vs. commercial butts Well, Niman Ranch prefers hybrids to Berkshire, because they like their pigs to live outside in frightfully cold conditions, and the purebreds just can't take it. I've never understood peoples' fascination with purebred dogs either (hip displeasure, anyone?), I like mutts. Their pigs are rather fatty, this time of year.

Re: Foil pork butt? Well, let's just stipulate that restaurant pork butt is uniformly dreadful and overcooked. I've been to famous places in the south, and I'm holding my ground. One could do better starting from rope and bouillon cubes. That said, you need to discover what's done for you, without prejudice. What you've had before doesn't matter. In my opinion pork butt needs to be cooked a bit less, but doesn't need to be foiled.

Re: I was robbed again.. ;-( Dennis, I'm sorry to hear this. No one wants to get to the confrontation stage. Like any sport, every team wins some of the time. I don't like the odds here. I keep wondering if the wall lasers come variable power. I mused once about trying to electrocute the squirrels taking over my garage, and my normally pacifist brother-in-law said two words: Think 220. Given the desire for no witnesses, I wonder if the most effective deterrent would be a video feed into the cloud, if such a service is available to you. If so, I'd be tempted to post a monitor at the gate, to highlight the existence of the service. Our alarm service phones us during mishaps (sensor falls from door) but it would be more effective to have a speaker system. A broadcast into the house "we have the suspects on video; ask them to leave" might avoid further confrontation. I'd also be thinking a safe room, and a communications channel no one can tamper with, including perhaps a default response if your service can't reach you. Like computer security or backup, one needs a mix of strategies. Any one approach can be easily defeated, but one can't defeat a approach unless one knows it's there.

Re: Pizza Stone - direct or indirect? Also, plain crusts take heat better than crusts with any additives. Flour, salt, yeast, water. No oil, no milk, of course no sugar.

Deckle the Halls! Well, if one is playing with cooking the point and flat separately, there's always the option of foiling the flat for a while, but not foiling the point. Many people said this brisket was the best they'd ever had. My dear, direct German host blurted out "I'm sorry Dave, this is better than last year." His wife (who was cooking madly for her birthday, and was the one to request it) was very pleased. I loved the point; the flat was a bit lean for me, as always. Option two would be to revisit a bit of dry aging. Too much and one is serving meat pudding, but in moderation? Option three: My butcher actually has more trouble selling the points than the flats. Some people never buy whole chickens, they just buy legs. Maybe I should just buy points!

Re: High temp fast brisket

Eight hours Well, a sample after four hours (160 F) was chewy, but a sample after eight hours (175 F) was great. I wish I could serve now! I dialed back the Guru to 200 F or so to hold till the party. This, by the way, isn't what everyone means by "fast" brisket (see High temp fast brisket). We've never been happy foiling before the transportation stage; the texture becomes too much like a braised pot roast for our tastes. If I wanted to poach one side of my brisket, I'd leave the fat cap on. If I wanted to poach both sides, I'd foil. It does depend very much on the cut of meat.

The Space-Time Continuum Well, a classic barbecue technique is all wood and two fires, one to condition the wood. I love how you've adapted this to the KK, putting your two fires in sequence rather than next to each other. I'm almost entirely there on your analysis. The one part that baffles me is how to best allow for the conversion of collagen to gelatin, which takes time. This is why I've assumed that the fast brisket advocates were working with collagen-deficient cuts where time only hurts. (That, and the teasing I'd get before I learned to blur out prices on my briskets.) In any case, the foiled trip in a cooler to the party contributes in large part to a juicy presentation on arrival. We'll see.

Re: Everyday Misc Cooking Photos w/ details A 17.5 lb prime brisket from Golden Gate Meat Company. As a bonus, Boccalone ("Tasty Salted Pig Parts") is in the same building; they also do mail order. I'd been thinking the fat cap is yet one more cooking myth, like "seared meat is juicier" debunked decades ago by Harold McGee. The fat cap just gets in the way of the smoke and the rub; if I wanted one side of my brisket poached I'd cook it sous vide. And this brisket had plenty of marbling, through and through. So I'm cooking this one more like ribs. When I was done trimming the fat cap, I was down to 11 lbs, and two pieces. The point is bigger than some flats I've seen. So I'm going for a 12 hour cook, with the point on the upper deck. Four sides of rub and smoke, where I used to have only one side of rub and smoke. Dennis weighed in recently on quicker cooks; it's time to get over my prejudice that quick cooks are only for cheap meat.

Re: First cook on KK - RIBS - Need advice Well, here are my unreconstructed, subjective opinions: Foiling: We tried this both ways, a number of times, and settled on "never foil anything". The texture is better, not foiled. Ribs need six or seven hours to cook tender without foil, and to render enough fat (a function of the season, winter pigs are fatter). Sauce: I'm a "from scratch" cook in all other arenas. We grind our own flour, we skin, partly dry and freeze our tomato crop each year. When I cook Thai I have to look for a can opener for the coconut milk, wondering each time if I own one. So the idea of constructing a barbecue sauce by opening various jars has always struck me as bizarre. We like salt, pepper, and sometimes chiles as a rub, nothing more. Jam is to disguise cheap meat, but anyone who can afford a KK can afford better meat. Whenever I've tasted through these complex sauces to the meat (e.g. at a cook off) I've tasted cheap meat. Smoke: Meat absorbs smoke only up to some cutoff temperature. One can enhance smoke absorption and the telltale red smoke ring by starting with really cold meat, and a cold cooker. I always generate smoke using a smoke pot: A two quart cast iron dutch oven, with several 1/8" holes drilled into the bottom, filled with apple and/or hickory chips, with the lid sealed on with flour/water paste to prevent any possible convection through the pot. Set this pot on the charcoal, and light the fire directly under the pot using a weed burner and Mapp gas. The smoke pot limits the combustion byproducts such as creosote, which taste really nasty, allowing the use of more wood than anyone could use loose on the fire. This is a distillation process in effect, allowing you to cook with armagnac rather than moonshine. The smoke is distinct, but one more spice that harmonizes with the food rather than taking over.

Re: Heresy?