Kitchen Tools

[mgm9128]



Ya, I get the theory, but until i taste it side by side with old-fashioned stock it's hard for me to imagine how much difference there is.
The book recommends kuhk rikon. They're not complicated devices so i wouldn't fret too much over it. Just get one that's big enough for what you want to do with it.

Yeah, I'd probably want to do a side by side test as well. It does seem like it should have a more intense flavor. But I think until I taste it, I wouldn't really "get" the difference.

As for centrifuges, I hear ya. The way they use them to make beef jus is awesome.

I didn't see this. Could you explain a little more?

 

[ehkay]



Yeah. I want to try that caramelized carrot soup from the book. Alas, I am without a centrifuge.
With stocks, mainly, I'd like to see how I can attain better flavor extraction using a pressure cooker. The time it takes for a stock to simmer is usually not an issue for me. Though, cutting the time in half would be nice. However, making a large batch of a very reduced stock, "demi-glace", or "jus", is a painstakingly long process. Reduction takes over night, and then some, and I usually have nightmares about waking up and seeing it reduced to a gooey, burnt mess. Well, not really. But it is an unsettling thought after all of that time spent.
Any specific models you can recommend?

Ya, I get the theory, but until i taste it side by side with old-fashioned stock it's hard for me to imagine how much difference there is.
The book recommends kuhk rikon. They're not complicated devices so i wouldn't fret too much over it. Just get one that's big enough for what you want to do with it.
As for centrifuges, I hear ya. The way they use them to make beef jus is awesome.

i forget if i read about it flipping through a friend's copy of MC or if it was on that FCI blog, but I think they like the KR because it doesn't vent (the pressure regulator isn't a wobbler,it has some fancier mechanism.)

I have the Cuisinart electric one. It's super convenient, and though I wish it was twice the size, makes pretty good stock. I've never done a side-by-side, but I don't really have that much interest in doing it anyway since the stock nearly always becomes part of something else.

It's also good for beans, and also at cooking vegetables for purees.

 

[mgm9128]

I cooked a celery root puree sous vide a week or so ago. Just diced celery root and cream sealed in a bag. It came out nice, but I don't really get what you're accomplishing by doing it in a water bath as opposed to just cooking the celery root in cream on the stovetop, and then blending it all together. It's not like you're losing flavor to a liquid, since the liquid (cream) is becoming a part of the puree.

 

[ehkay]



I cooked a celery root puree sous vide a week or so ago. Just diced celery root and cream sealed in a bag. It came out nice, but I don't really get what you're accomplishing by doing it in a water bath as opposed to just cooking the celery root in cream on the stovetop, and then blending it all together. It's not like you're losing flavor to a liquid, since the liquid (cream) is becoming a part of the puree.

With SV, convenience, and theoretically less aroma loss to the air, and you should need less liquid because it doesn't reduce.
Pressure cooker is just super fast, and things like carrots and onions just seem to take on a more intense flavor, but without really browning.

 

[GQgeek]



Yeah, I'd probably want to do a side by side test as well. It does seem like it should have a more intense flavor. But I think until I taste it, I wouldn't really "get" the difference.

I didn't see this. Could you explain a little more?

not complicated. SV meat cubes that are diced to 1cm^3 for 3 hours. centrifuge to separate the jus from the meat. You end up with the meat layer, a fat layer, and the jus. For use they dilute 2 or 3:1 with distilled water (tap water will turn it brown).

There's a video here: http://modernistcuisine.com/video-gallery/

 

[philosophe]



Pressure cooker is just super fast, and things like carrots and onions just seem to take on a more intense flavor, but without really browning.

+1 to this. I use the pressure cooker mostly for stocks, beans, and grains. Mine is a Kuhn-Rikon, but I'm sure that other brands work perfectly well.

 

[hopkins_student]

How about the Sous Vide Supreme? It's fairly reasonably priced. Also, how about the standard sealer that they sell for $79 compared to the chamber sealer they sell for ten times that much?

 

[mgm9128]

I don't have a chamber vacuum. I know one of the advantages of them is their ability to seal liquids, but that's easily enough accomplished with a regular suction machine. The bags are also cheaper, but you'd have to live to be like 150 to break even on the cost of the machine vs. the cost of bags. I use a Caso that I really like.

 

[Rambo]

ITT: FOOD NERDS

 

[itsstillmatt]

Pressure cooked stocks are tastier, and cleaner, both in clarity and in production. Other than that, and the fact that there is some useful info, Modernist Cuisine is a pretty big disappointment. I get the feeling that Myrvhold has incredible knowledge and a terrible palate.

 

[ehkay]

I think the amount of energy they've spent pimping that disgusting looking striped omelet is pretty good evidence of that.

 

[mgm9128]

Myrvhold's palate is just too modernist for you to understand.

I thought that striped omelette looked swell.

 

[ehkay]

 

[GQgeek]



I don't have a chamber vacuum. I know one of the advantages of them is their ability to seal liquids, but that's easily enough accomplished with a regular suction machine. The bags are also cheaper, but you'd have to live to be like 150 to break even on the cost of the machine vs. the cost of bags. I use a Caso that I really like.

nah those food saver bags are expensive. You can make up the difference within a couple years if you're going with something like the vp112, which you can get for $600 bucks. You don't have to get a BIG chamber sealer.

Pressure cooked stocks are tastier, and cleaner, both in clarity and in production. Other than that, and the fact that there is some useful info, Modernist Cuisine is a pretty big disappointment. I get the feeling that Myrvhold has incredible knowledge and a terrible palate.

It's possible. I haven't cooked any of the recipes yet and have just been reading it like a regular book so far. I think the book is really interesting but I'm a huge nerd and I'm excited by the same kind of things as Myrvhold is. I think there's a lot of knowledge you can get in the book that you can't get easily in other places. Some of it is actually useful for cooking and some of it not. It's interesting to the right audience nonetheless.

The microbiology chapter is interesting and it doesn't contribute to your ability to cook something, but it is important imo.

I also think you know FAR more than the average or even above average home cook, and that probably makes it less valuable to you. Still, it's early days and I won't have time to really dig in to it until i come back frmo vacation.

 

[foodguy]



Is it worth purchasing a pressure cooker to use for making stocks? What else can I do with one that I can't already? Which is a reliable model?

guess what ms. fg got mr. fg for xmas. i'll let you know. i've got a chicken carcass in the fridge just waiting. so far, i've used it to cook wheatberries and ... oatmeal (it's got a warmer feature on it, so i can put the oatmeal on when i wake up ... take the dog for a walk and have breakfast when ig et back. revolutionary.
eta: we got a fagor electric ... my test kitchen manager did a piece a month ago testing all of them and this works great ... doubles as slow-cooker and rice cooker.