USA Baking Pans

We purchased a couple USA Pans a few months ago. We were replacing some Teflon coated pans that were starting to flake.

They are certainly sturdy pans. What I didn't realize at the time was that they have a non-stick silicone coating (didn't do my research). Basically the same care as Teflon (no abrasives or metal utensils), but with the added bonus of a max temp of 450F.

Not a huge deal, but I'm guessing that much like with Teflon, the coating will wear off over time.

Hope that helps

Thanks

Brian

brianl999 in Cookware

Molecular Gastronomy in GTA

I'll second the Atelier recommendation.

I went a few years ago while on business in Ottawa (I live in the GTA). I very much enjoyed the meal, it was my first true MG experience and I was just dipping my toes in the water at the time. Not everything was successful, a component of one of the dessert dishes was some sort of tobacco flavoured ice cream that I found, well, not good, at least to me. However, that was the low point, and overall I enjoyed the meal very much. It's $95 for a 12 course tasting menu, and $60 for the wine pairing. He's aping Alinea to be sure(not that I've been, just pictures), from the interior decor to the nondescript exterior. I've been meaning to go back, but I just hasn't worked out - it makes for an expensive night with getting there and the requisite hotel room.

We went to Chicago last fall just for the food (we like Mexican food), and I would highly recommend going. Alinea isn't cheap, but if you're into that sort of thing, I think it would be worthwhile. We had the chance at a reservation, but I chickened out. I'm kicking myself now, we ended up going to L2O, which ended up costing as much (or more), and we weren't that impressed.

I know neither recommendation is in the GTA, but I think they're the closest we've got.

Brian

brianl999 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Induction Hob at Costco

I don't have that unit, but I do have a cheaper induction hob with similar (not enough) power settings, and let me tell you, it's annoying. I can't use my pressure cooker on it, one setting results in too much pressure, the one below, too little pressure. Simmering can also be annoying, as you often don't get quite the level you're looking for, and toggle between two settings, too high and too low.

Because of this, I generally only pull it out on extremely hot summer days where I'm trying not to heat up the kitchen.

Induction sure is 'neat', though. You can put a pot on, turn it to full blast and touch the pot where the burner and base of pot meet and it isn't hot at all (at least until the contents heat up).

Sorry, never used a converter disk on it.

Thanks

Brian

brianl999 in Cookware

Where to find Prague #1 Powder in Mississauga for making a ham...Superstore just had a big sale on pork leg...

Just wanted to clarify, there is a fair bit of 'conflicting' information with curing/smoking.

You obviously have things well at hand.

brianl999 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Where to find Prague #1 Powder in Mississauga for making a ham...Superstore just had a big sale on pork leg...

N.B. - I believe Ready Cure is 1% sodium nitrite (not nitrate), as opposed to the more common 6.25% found in prague powder #1 (or Instacure, or pink salt).

Most recipes (at least, most of the ones I have) seem to call for the 6.25% sodium nitrite concentration.

brianl999 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Do I need a pressure cooker?

We cook dried black beans in our Kuhn Rikon pressure cooker on a regular basis. About 22 minutes at 15psi. We also do chicken stock and a few soups as well. As others have pointed out, that's just scratching the surface, although I have tried making carnitas in it of late (Hispanic fried pork dish), with improving results - it's better the regular way, but I'm still working out the kinks, and it takes about 1/4 the time.

I think if you do cook beans on a regular basis, you'll get your moneys worth - canned beans really are a pale imitation, in my opinion. I'd have to be awful desperate to use them now that we have the pressure cooker.

I mentioned we have the Kuhn Rikon, they're very nice pots, but definitely expensive. They really don't do anything different than the more reasonably priced Fagor pots.

Hope that helps

Thanks

Brian

brianl999 in Cookware

Where can I buy frozen banana leaves in Orillia or Barrie?

I think you'll be out of luck in Orillia, not sure about Barrie.

While I have not been yet, there is a Mexican market in Bradford, Viva Mexico, 107 Holland St E, 905-551-4461. If you do go, please report back.

Hope that helps,

Thanks,

Brian

brianl999 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Fish & Chips-Orillia to Huntsville

I've been to Duckworths in Orillia several times. I've always enjoyed my meal there. Good sized portions, not overly greasy. I've only had their fish and chips, and only been for lunch.

Duckworth's Fish and Chips
750 Atherley Road, Orillia, ON, L3V 1P6

There's also Bounty Fish and Chips on Colborne St downtown. I've only been once, don't think I'll be back. Food wasn't bad, but I find Duckworths better (and they aren't licensed).

Hope that helps

Thanks,

Brian

brianl999 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Steve's Restaurant (8100 Yonge Street location)

I've only been for breakfast, but have no complaints in regards to the portions or quality.

It can get busy and I find the place can be quite loud.

If you're in the neighbourhood or even passing through, I'd say it's worth stopping by, not so sure it's worth a 45 minute trip on it's own.

Brian

brianl999 in Ontario (including Toronto)

ISO: Poblano Pepper Plants

After a bit more looking around, it appears so...

In reality, they are becoming much more common. A few years ago the only place I could reliably find them was Kensington Market. Now, Sobeys seems to have them a lot, I see them occasionally at Longos, and while I've just started going to Sue's Market in Richmond Hill, they always seem to have them.

In my quest to find them, you're not the first person who has said they can be somewhat difficult. That's completely opposite my experience with them - they've always been large, robust plants. 4-5 feet tall at least, with lots of fruit. I usually need to tie some of the stems up to avoid breaking them from the weight. Must have been lucky as I'm certainly no master gardener.

Tomatillos are another beast entirely. I read them described as 'a semi-determinate tomato gone berserk', and find it quite fitting.

I guess I'll grow some more tomatoes in their places.

Thanks,

Brian

brianl999 in Ontario (including Toronto)

ISO: Poblano Pepper Plants

Anyone know where I can find poblano pepper plants anywhere in/around the GTA?

Humber Nurseries does not have them, Giardinos isn't selling this year, and Richters does not either.

Thanks,

Brian

brianl999 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Home jerry-rigging sous vide?

I've successfully used a 16qt stock pot and a small electric burner. I haven't done it in awhile but I recall the temperature being quite stable. I also use a lid.

I've marked the positions for 130, 140 and 150F, and it has served well enough that I don't have a burning desire to get a PID (although my Bradley smoker is another story).

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but it's easier to start with hot tap water, chances are it's pretty close to your desired temperature, and it will be much easier to stabilize.

Brian

brianl999 in Cookware

La Taquiza: Mexican food in the GTA -- no, really!

The website is here:

http://www.lataquizza.com/

We've been there a few times, most recently a week or so ago. It's always been decent, but the last visit was quite good. They have a new menu, some of the new items that caught my eye were sopes, huevos rancheros and huevos divorciados.

I had the tacos el pastor, which were good, and we also had sopes. The sopes were excellent, if not quite what I was expecting (they were essentially served on thick tortillas and lightly fried - I thought sopes were supposed to have raised edges that you pinch up).

I thought it was as good or better then the food I've had at el Trompo.

Note the website does not appear to have the new menu yet.

Thanks,

Brian

brianl999 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Walnut oil?

I've purchased walnut oil from Highland Farms, about $8 for a bottle (not sure about size, roughly 1/2 the size of the stuff you can buy in the metal cans).

-----
Highland Farms
850 Ellesmere Rd, Toronto, ON M1P, CA

brianl999 in Ontario (including Toronto)

ISO Ingredients & Molecular Gastronomy Kit

I ordered some things from Dc Duby, it was nice to have find a Canadian supplier, but they didn't carry everything I wanted. I ended up ordering the rest from L'Epicerie in the US.

Although you only mention spherification, note that the maltodextrin from Dc Duby is corn-based, so it is no good for making fat powders. I didn't realize this and kept wondering why I couldn't make the powders (and it's supposed to be one of the easiest MG ingredients to work with). I ended up ordering Tapioca Maltodextrin from L'Epicerie.

Alinea is a pretty good cookbook, but some of the recipes are a _lot_ of work.

Check out khymos.org, particularly the booklet: Texture - A Hydrocolloid Recipe Collection. Lots of good info for the beginner there.

Hope this helps,

Thanks,

Brian

brianl999 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Looking for a bread maker. Where to buy????

Golda's (www.goldaskitchen.com) sells the Zojirushi bread makers. There is also a kitchen electrics store outside the Pacific Mall, sorry can't remember the name, but it's where I purchased our Zojirushi.

Not sure about the Panasonic models...

Thanks,

Brian

brianl999 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Using CHARCOAL on a PROPANE barbecue. Is this crazy?

Agreed.

Lump charcoal on it's own will impart very little (if any) flavour. Once it's fully lit it doesn't really give off any smoke.

Sometimes the lump charcoal isn't fully 'cured', and will give off a fair bit of smoke. The food doesn't touch the grill until the smoke stops, unless I want my dinner to taste like a campfire.

Thanks,

Brian

brianl999 in Cookware

ISO: Ayu and Hato Mugi

Hello all

I'm looking for Ayu (it's a small fish, in case some are unaware). Checked Taro, and they don't have it. Going to check Sakana-ya tomorrow. Just thought I'd ask in case Sakana-ya doesn't have it either and it becomes a big quest.

I'm also looking for Hato Mugi, apparently also known as Job's Tears (small grain somewhat similar to barley). I'll check Heisei mart tomorrow, but in case they don't have it...

Thanks

Brian

brianl999 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Where to buy whipped cream chargers in Toronto?

Caynes sells the iSi cream chargers...

brianl999 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Electric food slicer recommendations?

I've never used it without tilting it, it just seems more natural, the food falls away from the blade as you slice it. It's possible the only reason it tilts down is for storage.

The motor is rated at the same for both (100 watts). The 610 appears to be somewhat tilted as well. Quite a large price difference for what appears to be only the tilt function.

If you can purchase it form someone with a good return policy, I'd suggest trying the 610 first.

Thanks,

Brian

brianl999 in Cookware

Electric food slicer recommendations?

We had the Krups model, I don't remember the model #, but we paid about $80 (CA$) for it. It worked as well as you could expect, but was slow and underpowered. Couldn't really complain for the price. However, I did want something a little better. The Waring machines get vilified on Amazon (originally it was between the Krups and the Waring), so I was waffling between the Chef's Choice 632 Vari-tilt and a (possibly used) industrial model.

A small, used industrial unit was going to start upwards of $500. The Chef's Choice 632 was about $300. What I really wanted to avoid was buying the Chef's Choice, only to learn that I really needed (wanted) was the industrial model - I'd have spent almost $400 on two slicers that did not meet my needs. Ultimately, though, what really pushed me towards the Chef's Choice was that even a small industrial slicer really isn't that small, and none too light either.

In the end, I'm very happy with the Chef's Choice 632 - you certainly aren't going to whip through a piece of meat like you can on an industrial unit, but it gets the job done. I can slice carpaccio as thin as I like (too thin, even), a small brick of cheese creates quite a few slices, and so on. While I don't often use it to slice bread, I have, and it does a fine job of that as well. What usually happens is it gets pulled out for some specific task, then gets relegated to slicing pretty much everything else I can with it since it's out.

Cleanup is a bit of an ordeal, but I wouldn't say it's any worse than cleaning the food processor.

As to which model, I'm happy with my 632, but while double-checking reviews on Amazon, I noticed the 610 had 170 reviews, with 109 at 5 stars - and it's only $86USD. Might be worth checking out.

Hope that helps,

Thanks,

Brian

brianl999 in Cookware

Build a meat curing box

I would put some sort of fan to circulate the air, but you are correct, it won't help with the humidity. I'm no expert by any stretch, but with humidity in that range, you'll have a hard time drying the sausages out even if you can control the mold. You could try a 50/50 mixture of propylene glycol and distilled water. The propylene glycol is supposed to absorb moisture when the humidity is over 70%, and release it when below 70%. It wasn't quite so exact when I used it, but I don't think I saw humidity over 75%. However, this was in a self-defrosting wine cooler, which would knock the humidity down to 50% or so, then it would slowly recover. I didn't really have any mold problems.

Propylene glycol is available at pharmacies, you'll have a easier time finding at one that does compounding. I also used an Oasis floral sponge, which absorbed quite a bit of the PG/distilled water solution.

Hope that helps,

Thanks,

Brian

brianl999 in Cookware

Help me find a new blender.

We also have a KitchenAid KSB5 blender. Until yesterday, I didn't realize how truly sub-standard it was.

I was making 'parsley water', from Ad Hoc. Essentially you saute a bunch of parsley in a bit of oil and honey for 30 seconds, transfer to 6Tb ice water, blend, strain. The Kitchenaid seemed to have many problems with this. First off when you turned it on, even at the lowest speed, the bulk to the parsley would get thrown to the top and stay there. I added a little more water, but this continued. I resorted to letting it throw it up, then taking the lid off and scraping it back in on low speed. After several times, it seemed to me that low was best, as the higher speeds continued to throw the chunks up to the lid. I left it running and attended other tasks. When I came back, much of the water had leaked onto the motor and counter. It leaks through the shaft seal for the blades, not from the carafe itself. Seems it's a common problem.

This annoyed me enough that I decided that we no longer had a functioning blender, and we would need a new one.

I had pretty much decided that I wanted a Vita-mix, but at $500+, not in the cards for the second last Sunday before Christmas. So I bought a $45 (Cdn) Oster 12-speed blender. I wasn't even going to bother with anything even close to $100, as I wanted a Vita-mix, and this was just going to be a short-term replacement for the KitchenAid.

This little Oster puts the KitchenAid to absolute shame. Curious, I remade the parsley water using the Oster. The difference was night and day. The KitchenAid left _copious_ amounts of recognizeable plant matter, chunks of stem, fibrous bits, etc. When I strained it, I was able to press very hard to push all the water out of the leftover bits, there was a big chunk of 'cud' when I was done - and this was after several minutes of blending. The Oster plowed through the parsley in less than a minute. It also didn't hoof all of it up to the lid, there really wasn't anything up there. When it was done, no visible plant matter at all. When straining it, I initially was trying to press it through, like I did earlier, but it became clear that it would all go through, so I just let it drain slowly. The SO made an ice smoothie type drink, and agreed that it was a huge difference.

$150 KitchenAid absolutely humbled by a (less than) $50 Oster. KitchenAid ought to be ashamed.

So, now I'm wondering - Do I really need a Vita-mix?

For now, I think I'm going to return the cheapie Oster and pick up an Oster Beehive Blender and see how that goes...

Thanks,

Brian

brianl999 in Cookware

Advice on Waring Pro Meat Grinder

Both my Kitchenaid and LEM grinders came with spacers to put in place of the knife and die. Is there a plastic bit that's about the same size as a cutting die that came with the grinder?

Thanks,

Brian

I just checked Waring's site, they list two grinders. In the manual of one, they show a 'sausage making ring' that goes in place of the knife/die. The other doesn't show a ring, and appears to suggest that you would leave the knife and die in place when stuffing. For some sausages, that would be fine, but some I certainly wouldn't want to grind a second time. Half the reason I bought the vertical crank stuffer was I didn't like running the sausage through the auger again...

brianl999 in Cookware

Visited Perth Pork Products today

There may or may not be a charge for sausages, etc. I just assumed that extra processing would cost more, maybe it doesn't.

The price was in-line with other producers I had spoken to, at least for the Berkshire, I don't know of anyone else that sells Tamworth pigs. I never asked how much the commodity pork was.

brianl999 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Visited Perth Pork Products today

I've never done a confit, but I am familiar with the concept, and I don't see why not. We like to cook carnitas (cube pork, put in pot, add beer/water/broth to cover, herbs/spices, cook until water is gone, fat has rendered and pork is browned and crispy, several hours), and I've always wanted to make a confit of that.

It was all paper-wrapped. I should mention that there was a cutting charge of $.32/lb, which I wasn't really expecting. I realize that the abattoir doesn't do this for free, I just figured it was 'buried' in the price. That being said, it's quite possible they did tell us about it earlier and I missed it. I get distracted easily sometimes...

To get it vac packed, it was an additional $.19/lb. We have a Foodsaver, so we were OK with just wrapped. When I do it again, I'll get certain cuts vac-packed. You can only process so much pork, so the majority of it needs to be frozen relatively quickly. Foodsaver bags aren't cheap, so I don't think we saved any money doing it ourselves. We just weren't 100% sure exactly what to expect, so just doing it ourselves was easier the first time.

Hope that helps,

Brian

brianl999 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Visited Perth Pork Products today

I've been meaning to update this thread for awhile, but if I haven't been busy with work, I've been processing pork.

Picked up the pork without incident on Nov 20, as promised. It was a 250lb animal, hung weight (internal organs removed, but I believe everything else attached). It was packed in four boxes (ended up splitting a pig with mt brother-in-law), and they all fit (snugly) in the back of my three-door Ford Focus without needing to put the seats down. We took everything but the head and feet.

If you're thinking of buying a pig, and think you want the leaf and back fat, be prepared for a _lot_ of fat, at least from these Tamworth pigs. The leaf fat alone made several liters of lard, and I haven't even touched the back fat yet.

The meat is excellent, with an abundance of fat around the cuts, and very well marbled. I need to adjust when making sausage - often sausage recipes call for extra fat, ie 4lbs pork, 1lb back fat. If you actually do that with this pork, you end up with a very, very fatty sausage (and I like fat). I'd just omit the extra fat entirely.

The bacon turned out quite well (lots of fat!). There ended up being 16lbs of it after curing and smoking it (you can order it cured and smoked it for you if you want - I'm assuming there's an extra charge).

We made three 5lb batches of sausage out of the trim (that's a whole pigs worth).

I was surprised as the loin muscle seems quite small, but I'm guessing that's the kind of thing 'commercial pork' emphasizes.

All in all a good experience, and one I will do again. I left a deposit for a wild boar, as the rack we bought was quite tasty, apparently it will be ready in February sometime.

Thanks,

Brian

brianl999 in Ontario (including Toronto)

Tasty lunch spots near Eaton Centre...willing to walk.

When I worked down there (4 or 5 years ago), Yueh Tung was always a good choice for a reasonable lunch. Nothing spectacular, but good, solid food for a decent price. Just south of Dundas on Elizabeth.

There used to be the cafeteria on the upper levels of the Eaton's (I think?) store. It's been awhile, but I remember it as being pretty good.

brianl999 in Ontario (including Toronto)

ISO: Terrine Mold

Anyone know where I can get a terrine mold? Golda's Kitchen used to carry them, but they don't seem to anymore.

Preferably in the northern part of the city, but beggars can't be choosers.

I know I can use a loaf pan, which is what I'm currently doing, but I'd like to acquire the real thing.

Thanks,

Brian

brianl999 in Ontario (including Toronto)