greggc's Profile
Where can I buy curing salts?
Can anyone compare saltpeter with prague powder #1? Looks like prague powder is sodium nitrate while saltpeter is potassium nitrate. Per the post above, prague powder is 6.25% sodium nitrate. The recipe i have (doing a bit of extrapolating and estimating) calls about double that as a % of table salt (1/8c saltpetre per cup of salt). So do i use twice as much and reduce the salt accordingly? Or is prague powder 2X stronger?
Source for Saltpeter or Prague powder #1 in SF or Peninsula
Thanks! Melanie i'll check it out.
Source for Saltpeter or Prague powder #1 in SF or Peninsula
I'm trying to make an old family home curred corned beef that calls for saltpeter.
Anyone have a source for Saltpeter (or saltpetre as in the recipe) in SF or the north peninsula? I think I've called every pharmacy --chain and independent-- and they don't carry. A few have even called their suppliers and it doesn't seem to be available.
I've been told i can use prague powder #1 as an alternative but can't find it either. I was told Dragers stocks it, but not so. The recipe calls for a 2-3 week cure, so i really don't have time to order on-line.
Thanks in advance.
canton ginger liquer
A number of years ago while vacationing in Hawaii, I had a ginger mint julep that was very good. As I recall, it was a standard mint julep with a splash of Canton.
S'more-tini recipe
I'm looking to recreate a S'more-tini. I was told that it was made with made with either vanilla or chocolate vodka (maybe both), Godiva chocolate liqueur and toasted marshmallow syrup. It probably had other things in it as well. There are several recipes out there but none with either of these products. Most seem to be made with Cream de Cacao and/or Bailey's. It was not cream based. Glass was rimmed with chocolate syrup and graham cracker crumbs.
Unfortunately I don't have the funds to go out and buy a lot of extra ingredients to experiment with so I'm hoping some creative or experienced hound out there can provide a recipe or starting point.
Souce for Puff Pastry
Thanks for the suggestions. I was actually looking for a peninsula alternative to the Market Hall Bakery in Rockridge. I like their product, but its a long way away. I checked Whole foods in Palo Alto and I didn't see it. Its a small store, so I'll go to the one in Redwood City and check there. I keep forgetting about Piazza and Drager's too. I called Andronico's and they said they didn't carry it.....but maybe I ought to go look myself. I'll definitely give the Dufour brand a try.
Souce for Puff Pastry
Any ideas on where I can buy fresh or frozen all butter puff pastry on the Peninsula or even SF? I read in old posts that TJ's has a good product but couple of times I have checked they have not. All the stores I've checked only seem to carry Pepperidge farms, which I don't care for or none at all.
Specialities Bakery Cookies - moved from San Francisco Bay area board
Yes. We have asked. They wouldn't even tell us the brand of peannut butter they use --other than to say it is a major brand.
Specialities Bakery Cookies - moved from San Francisco Bay area board
My wife is addicted to Specialities cookies. We have experimented and come close, but quite. Has anyone tried to replicate their recipe? Do you think they use a common cookie dough base and then add various items to make the different cookies?
Anyone besides me remember way back when they made the dried fruit cookie? It was one of the best.
Built-in Coffee Maker
Anyone have any experience with the Brew Express built-in coffee maker or any other built in coffee maker for that matter? If so, how has it worked out?
wood burning ovens
I'm enamored with the concept of having an outdoor wood burning oven. Friends of our purchased a house that had one. They used it sporatically at first, but have since abandond it. The biggest complaint is that they have to start the fire first thing in the morning and tend the fire through the day in order for it to heat the brick mass to the point where it holds the heat. The second issue they have is a simple design flaw in that the door opening is a really tiny oval, probably no more than 12" long and about 8" high. Not only does this limit what you could put in, but made tending the fire difficult.
I've seen other articles that claim that they can fire up their oven in 2 hours. I would love to hear other's experience and thoughts.
Electric Fryer for Home Use
Generally speaking what are people's experiences with home fryers? My wife wants one, but I see it as just a mess waiting to happen. How frequently do you change the oil? Do they hold heat well enough?
electric rolling pin
Can't say I've ever seen a hand-held sheeter before. Possibly it was simply the roller attachment to another device. Thanks for the suggestion however.
latest Dungeness report: painful
So what is the going rate off the boats in Princeton this year? The last two years the price has been around $4 lb as I recall. The only thing I have read is that the crabs are really small this year.
electric rolling pin
So my sister and I went through an antique shop this afternoon looking to add to her cast iron cookware collection and we tripped over an "electric rolling pin." That is what it looked like, and that is what the tag said it was. It looked like it was right out of the 40's or early 50's, with turquoise bakelite or resin handles and an old electric cord coming out of the end of one of the handles. The barrel was about 14" long, covered in a rubberish material and had small groves that ran the length of the barrel, similar to a lefse pin, but the groves didn't run around the barrel like a lefse pin....or at least like the ones I have seen.
It did not feel heavy enough to have a motor or gears, so our best guess is that the electricity was used to heat the pin rather than roll it.
Any one have any ideas on what this was used for? I can't think of a dough or pastry that would need to be rolled with heat. We would have bought it for the novelity, but it was priced well out of our "curosity" range. After spending an hour or so searching on-line I have come up with nothing.
