The Something Offal kitchen equipment thread

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > The Something Offal kitchen equipment thread

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

dalstrs posted:

Anyone have a recommendation on a food mill?

I've had one from MIU France for several years and I've been happy with it. It's not magic or anything, and all else being equal I'd prefer if it was slightly heavier gauge and the bearing the mechanism pivots on could be slightly better designed (it has a lip that likes to collect gunk if you'll let it---not a big deal because you can put the whole thing through the dishwasher, but whatever). The main thing I like about it is that it has folding feet to hold it over the pot or bowl or whatever. This works (for me anyway) way the gently caress better than the other bowl attachment mechanisms I've seen on food mills---telescoping, which works fine for specific bowl sizes but is poo poo for others, and the cantilever thing that looks good in theory but is bloody useless in practice.

The OXO mill has basically the same features as the MIU, but I've never used one myself---I got the MIU one before the Oxo one was on the market. But I bet it would be easier to find a story carrying to OXO mill if you wanted to handle one before buying.

# ¿ Nov 25, 2015 03:35

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 11:22

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Chef De Cuisinart posted:

Please explain to me how you'll get the flavor of dry juniper into a turkey with just salt, thanks.

I'f you'd read the article, his "brine" was JUST salt. No aromatics, citrus, spices, etc. That's loving stupid. Nobody brines with JUST salt.

e: and just so we're clear, he only used a 5% salt BRINE solution. Dry brine is a stupid term, you're just salting it prior to cooking.

Just apply non-salt flavourings as a rub/mop before cooking. Adding them to the brine usually won't hurt, but you're not actually accomplishing anything apart from covering the surface with them anyway.

# ¿ Nov 25, 2015 04:51

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Chef De Cuisinart posted:

That isn't really how that works, but okay. Always boil, and chill your brine. If I coat things in peppercorn and salt before cooking, they won't taste like pepper, dude.

You're not getting anything out of soaking a bird in whatever brine you're using that you wouldn't get out of brining in a plain salt solution and applying the other stuff as a mop/baste. Brining is about getting water into the muscle, that's it. Salt penetration is actually pretty minimal over typical brining times, and done conventionally (bird in bucket of salt solution) wildly uneven. That's why Myhrvold, for example, offers not just one but two alternatives to traditional brining (using a very low concentration brine---like 0.5%---for much longer, or using multiple injections of the brine such that no muscle is more than a cm or two from an injection site). Kenji also touches on this briefly in the linked article if you don't have a copy of MC handy.

I mean in most cases you're not going to cause any problems by brining---apart from possibly ending up with soggier skin because it will absorb more water just like the meat will. And you're usually not going to cause any problems by adding additional poo poo to your brine. But as with marinading, it's primarily something that you're just doing to the surface, so you don't have to do it overnight or whatever versus just doing it just before cooking.

# ¿ Nov 25, 2015 05:33

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

mindphlux posted:

a dry rub (lol "dry brine") is fine, completely valid - but seasoning won't penetrate as deeply (we're talking a centimeter of muscle fiber or something, but also into the tissues surrounding veins and punctures) and you also won't add as much moisture to the meat. If your moisture is flavorful, this can make a difference. Not all molecules or whatever the gently caress penetrate - but poo poo like allicin (in garlic, and its decomposing byproducts), whatever compound it is in black pepper (I forget), alcohol, etc totally make it through.

Assuming we're talking about reasonable brining times (e.g. around 12 hours, plus or minus) and only care about perceivable concentrations of flavour compounds, then salt won't penetrate more than a cm or so during either a wet or dry brine. The main difference is that a wet brine will result in water being introduced into the meat. Meat's a fairly complicated medium, but basically what happens is that the salt dissociates into Na+ and Cl- ions, the Cl- ions weakly bond with proteins in the muscle fibres, the concentration of Cl- ions causes the ends of the affected fibres to weakly repel each other, and this spreads them slightly. This allows water to capillary up into the tissue, and it results in a measurable increase in tenderness (that is, directly, during the brining and not just as a result of subsequent cooking). But the salt doesn't end up penetrating more than a cm or so.

That said, in both a wet and dry brine you're building up a reservoir of [whatever] on the surface of the meat. Once you add heat, transport of salt (and other flavour compounds) will increase dramatically---as in orders of magnitude. This is just basic physics and chemistry. It's how diffusion works. So although in neither a wet nor dry brine will there be much penetration during the brining, in either case you will see penetration of salt (and potentially other stuff, depending on what it is) throughout the meat once it's cooked.

Beyond that, it is also the case that most flavour compounds that you'd care about---like piperine from black pepper and the cysteine sulfoxides from aliums---are way the gently caress more soluble in fat than in water. So the fact that once you start rendering fat---on a bird, usually mostly in a layer at the surface---you necessarily start transporting more poo poo than when you're just using water, even ignoring the effect the different temperatures has on the process. Again, this is just basic chemistry, and it's just how it works.

So: wet brining itself is something that you do to affect tenderness and moistness. You can get flavours into the meat that way, but only because you're parking a bunch of poo poo on the surface that can, later, do other poo poo during the cooking. Which is why applying flavourings via a dry rub or mop is as effective at doing that. And most of the things you probably care about, flavourwise, are going to be more soluble (like an order of magnitude more soluble) in oil or fat than in water. Which is why using a mop or baste will work better for that kind of poo poo.

mindphlux posted:

the One True Way of making a juicy rear end poultry with crispy skin is to actual-brine it (length of time determined by meat thickness and weight), and let it air dry uncovered in the fridge for a day or two afterwards.

The Myhrvold injection approach does the same thing faster, if you don't mind fiddling around with needles.

# ¿ Nov 25, 2015 09:56

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Gerblyn posted:

Has anyone got a link to a webpage that explains the right way of doing it?

The Food Lab article up the page contains more information than most people will ever conceivably need on the subject, and in it there's a link to another Food Lab article with more information.

# ¿ Nov 25, 2015 11:06

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

newmans_owned posted:

do teflon coated pans really add toxins to your food if you cook with those, or is that just scare mongering? multiple sources say they do, or say it doesn't.

Short answer: no, teflon doesn't add toxins to your food.

If you were asking the same question several decades ago the answer would be more complicated (but still boil down to no).

# ¿ Nov 26, 2015 05:36

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Croatoan posted:

The only thing that would worry me is DuPont studies show that the Teflon offgases toxic particulates at 446�F. So I guess just keep that in mind? I don't know when the hell you'd ever go higher than that for muffins but whatever.

[citation needed]. That claim---in specifically those terms, e.g. the quote `DuPont studies show that the Teflon off-gases toxic particulates at 446� F'---is something that turns up in a whole bunch of TOXIC CHEMICALS websites, but appears to be impossible to track back to the studies from which this number ostensibly comes.

I mean I could get into this poo poo again is someone really wants to, but the punchline is that the actual temperature at which modern PTFE formulations undergo pyrolysis is over 550� F, and at that temperature the danger posed by the pyrolysis products will be small compared to the health risks associated with all the other poo poo that's ending up in the air from cooking at that temperature. Almost all of the dire warnings about teflon cookware you hear today appear to be predicated in old or suspicious data (that is, data involving PTFE formulations that haven't been used in decades, or unreproducible personal anecdotes).

Ultimate Mango posted:

I have the OXO food mill and it is the proverbial bee's knees. Does better potatoes than any ricer I have used.

Seconding or thirding or whatever that a food mill is what you want to use to rice potatoes at home.

# ¿ Dec 14, 2015 23:54

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Al2001 posted:

I'm looking for a 3-4" kitchen knife for my sister for Christmas. She specifically requested that size (so that's a paring knife I suppose?) and she'd prefer a wooden handle for some reason. Any recommendations? I'm looking to spend like �30ish (~$45.)

The only paring knife I've ever really loved is the Dojo, which is just slightly over your price point (I think I paid US$50 for mine).

Al2001 posted:

What *I* want is a blender to make pestos, curry pastes and spice mixes. I've never owned a blender before so I don't know where to start, but I was thinking maybe I could get one of those little ones that most people use for smoothies, seeing as I don't need to blend big volumes (I'm only vaguely aware of these things, so maybe they're not appropriate. I also live alone and have a tiny kitchen.) Top end budget for this is about �100 (~$150.) Bonus points if it's hardcore enough to crush ice for cocktails.

Vitamix is The Blender, but they're not that cheap so the official hivemind response (unless it's changed recently) is to get the Ninja.

# ¿ Dec 16, 2015 01:31

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

DARPA Dad posted:

Does anyone think this Pantelligent thing that's been getting some press has any merit to it? https://www.pantelligent.com/

Using a fry pan to cook a slab of protein is approximately the easiest loving thing you can learn to do in the kitchen, and having a thermal sensor and timer isn't going to help you with any more advanced techniques (like arroser or whatever).

If I was starting from zero and had US$200 to spend on one fry pan, I'd get a loving All-Clad MC2 or something and learn to cook, and I'd end up with enough left over to buy a really good bottle of mezcal which I could down in one sitting and still put together a better looking steak than the ones in those beauty shots.

# ¿ Jan 16, 2016 01:53

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Adult Sword Owner posted:

I have a relatively low end vacuum sealer that at best takes a while but 75% of the time sucks and sucks and never gets a seal it's happy with, I have to interrupt it with the Seal button just to get it closed.

What's a decent replacement? It won't be used heavily but I would probably use one more if it was a quicker, more reliable process to freeze such as large buys of meat or prepare SV a bit more often if I could seal a few day's of dinner and just toss them in the water when I get home.

Check the gasket(s). I don't know what model you're currently using, but on my cheap-as-poo poo Rival there are two foam rubber gaskets that are supposed to mate. Every once in awhile the sealer will start getting finicky about pulling a vacuum, but all it needs to sort itself out is for me to remove and re-seat the gaskets (on the older models you could flip them over as well, but the newer ones have notches on one face so they don't slide around in the machine).

# ¿ Feb 1, 2016 23:12

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

10 Beers posted:

What ARE some good vacuum sealers? And what's the consensus on them around here? Useful or garbage?

There are two broad categories of vacuum sealers---the lower-end, consumer grade sealers, and higher end chamber vacuum sealers.

My opinion is that unless you're going to spring for a chamber vac---they start around US$600 and general consensus is that the cheapest decent chamber vac is the VacMaster at around US$700---then there isn't any meaningful difference (in terms of performance) between the cheapest US$20 sealer and a fancier US$200 FoodSaver. Some people are willing to spend more for things like internal bag storage and a builtin cutter, but that's down to personal preference.

# ¿ Feb 2, 2016 00:51

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Horse Clocks posted:

What's the skinny on pressure cookers? I'm somewhat surprised there isn't a thread about them.

Is it worth getting one? They seem to be somewhat versatile, anything you can do in a slow cooker or anything with a bit of liquid can be done in an hour or less.

What about electric vs stovetop? Most videos about the things on youtube are done with an electric model, but most criticisms of pressure cookers are usually about the electric models not getting up to high enough pressures. But on the flip side, the electric models are pretty much set and forget.

Pressure cookers own,. buy a pressure cooker. There are the goon hivemind recommended models in the OP of this very thread. I wouldn't gently caress around with an electric pressure cooker unless I simply didn't have access to a stovetop, simply because a pressure cooker will last more or less forever and only occasionally need a gasket replaced, while an electric anything will eventually go tits up on you.

There have been a few threads, but it looks like none of them are currently still alive. There really isn't too much special about cooking in a pressure cooker except knowing general cooking times, which is pretty much one of those things where any place that talks about them---e.g. the little booklet that will come with whatever one you buy---will cover it. They're also kinda one of those everything-old-is-new-again things because of their frequent use in modernist techniques, and so are often covered in excruciating detail in contemporary references (Myhrvold, Blumenthal).

If you need recipe help or that kind of thing, you'll probably find help in the general questions thread---plenty of GWS regulars are pressure cooker evangelists. Make all the stock.

# ¿ Feb 13, 2016 16:02

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

El Jebus posted:

Food savers and other vacuum sealers. Any recommendations, don't bother, or other advice? Costco has the Fm2000 or something for $60 and it seems like not a bad deal and good for meat storage.

There was a discussion of this about about two pages ago and my opinion is that there's not much difference between the cheapest consumer-grade sealer and a higher-end one, until you start talking about chamber vac sealers (which start around US$600).

Hexigrammus posted:

The Foodsaver is more reliable and vacuums better, but part of this might be the Foodsaver bags. Their design makes vacuuming more effective. They're not cheap but Costco sometimes has them on for a good price.

Don't buy sealer bags, buy bulk rolls instead. You can get the material in pretty much any thickness and texture you want for a fraction of the cost and you can make bags whatever size you want. The only functional difference is that you have to seal both ends instead of just one, but that's just a couple of seconds apiece so unless you're sealing poo poo on an industrial scale or you're phenomenally lazy it's not going to make a difference.

# ¿ Feb 21, 2016 21:11

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

taqueso posted:

It's the ultimate cooking experience IMO.

Eh. They're okay. The insulation is nice and all, but really almost any vertical smoker is going to be a pretty efficient cooker, and the cost for cooking volume on e.g. a WSM is a fraction of what it is with the BGEs. Like this past weekend I did around 25# of brisket in a 22" WSM and had room to spare. That wouldn't even fit in a large BGE (which costs twice as much), and to get that much cook capacity you'd have to shell out around US$4k for the XXL.

# ¿ May 7, 2016 03:29

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

taqueso posted:

That's just the ridiculous tagline of BGE. A place right by work sells them and I see the sign that says it everyday.

Huh. I'm pretty sure I've literally never seen any advertising for the BGE.

# ¿ May 7, 2016 07:07

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

rgocs posted:

After firing up the grill to cook dinner the other day, I figured I could take advantage of it and use it to season a cast iron skillet and a griddle. I rubbed vegetable shortening on them and put them inside the covered BBQ, upside down, for an hour at 400F. After an hour, I took them out, applied more shortening and in for an hour more. Then left to cool down.

I had read about expecting a lot of smoke, but did not see any. They both came out a little sticky, the griddle considerable stickier. Is that expected? Did I do something wrong?

It sounds like either a) your grill wasn't actually hitting 400 F, or b) your shortening has a smoke point higher than 400 F. Generic veg shortening usually has a smoke point around 375 F (give or take depending on composition), but many common veg oils have smoke points at or above 400 F (like canola).

If you're planning on doing a bunch of seasoning, 500 F is a safer bet, unless you happen to know the smoke point of the oil you're using is much lower.

# ¿ May 13, 2016 00:35

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

rgocs posted:

Used vegetable shortening which Google says has a smoke point of ~360F. Guess the grill wasn't that high then? Is there a drawback, other than energy waste, if it goes well above the smoking point?

There's a fair amount of variability in vegetable shortening because different vegetable oils are used to produce it, so you can find veg shortenings with smoke points from around 325F to around 400F, depending on what's in them.

Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:

Shortening is all I season with. Just have the pan warmed up a little and it's easy to apply a super thin coat.

Using a rag/towel/something you don't mind getting gooier than Pr0k's Mom after Fleet Week/whatever to spread the seasoning oil around a little after it's gotten warmed up is pretty much always a good idea. I usually wipe the pan down with a light coat of oil---just enough to make it look slick---then heat it, wipe it down again, heat until it smokes, keep heating until the smoke starts to tail off, then wipe the surface down again with the oily rag/towel/whatever, and then let that smoke until it's done. And call that `one coat' or whatever.

# ¿ May 13, 2016 02:41

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Croatoan posted:

I know it's super basic but I loving hate my current potato masher. Anyone love theirs? Good for taters and guac?

Food mill plus any random potato masher.

# ¿ Jun 19, 2016 01:07

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Dr. Gitmo Moneyson posted:

Question: What are the major differences between this KitchenAid Professional 600 Series 6-Quart Blue Steel stand mixer vs. this (apparently identical) one in Cobalt Blue? Other than the fact that the Cobalt Blue one is cheaper, comes in more colors, and is made of zinc instead of stainless steel?

EDIT: It looks like the Cobalt Blue one's arms are raised a little bit higher, but in terms of performance, which one is likely to be better? Or are they both the same?

The arms being in different positions just means the bowl lifting mechanism was in a different position when the photo was taken. Anyway, I don't know why Amazon has two different listings with different color options, but both of them are the same model---KP26M1 is the part of the model number that's common to all of the Pro 600 mixers, and the rest of the model number is a colour code. There are a couple of different Pro 600 variants---like the ones with a glass bowl---that have a different model number prefix, but both of the ones you link are of the same model.

Several years ago there were two variants of the Pro 600, one with a metal gear housing and the other with a plastic housing. There wasn't any way to tell this from the model number, however, and I believe they all have the metal housing now (they made the change several years ago and I haven't really been keeping track of it since).

Edit: beaten twice, but I supplied more information. So there.

# ¿ Jul 26, 2016 22:28

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:

Hey look at this guy who cooks bacon 2 pieces at a time

lol goon bacon XD aside, for knocking out just a rasher or two a toaster oven owns.

# ¿ Oct 3, 2016 21:17

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Murgos posted:

Hall effect sensors are used to measure magnetic fields which can be used to determine current.

I'm guessing that when the electric motors get to hot either the magnetics change or the current changes in some predictable way so that they can shut off the motor.

I haven't seen a wiring diagram or anything, but I'd be surprised if it's just for overload shutoff. They're commonly used as part of active speed control circuits for rotating shafts, and it wouldn't make sense to add the expense of putting one in the design without using it this way.

# ¿ Nov 29, 2016 07:59

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Steve Yun posted:

Okay, I got a new Kuhn Rikon pressure cooker. The amazon description (which was just a copy-pasted user review) said it was dishwasher safe. When I get it, the manual says it's not dishwasher safe. Did a little digging and found that the only reason why it's not dishwasher safe is because the screws holding the handle on are not dishwasher safe.

Do dishwasher safe screws exist? I'm thinking maybe I could just replace the screws.

It's not just the screw you have to worry about, it's what it's in contact with. Water in a running dishwasher is a weak electrolyte solution at high temperature, and that means that anything that wants to be a sacrificial anode gets the opportunity to sacrifice itself (to ineffectually electroplating something else). Whether something is willing to function as a sacrificial anode isn't universal, it depends on what else is in the solution with it.

In practice it's probably safe to use any food-grade 300-series stainless, although in theory you'd want to match whatever specific steel the rest of the cooker is made of---18-10, 18-8, or whatever. You actually get galvanic corrosion out of every use of a dishwasher, but assuming all the metal stuff in it is more or less the same (or has been treated to prevent corrosion) it'll be negligible to the point you won't notice it without lab gear.

There's also the possibility that the manufacturer used some kind of thread sealant (e.g. a cyanoacrylate) that'll break down in a dishwasher, but that's probably less likely (as the screws are probably heat-cycled more from normal use than they'd be in a dishwasher), but who loving knows without looking at it.

# ¿ Dec 16, 2016 03:54

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Steve Yun posted:

The screws are not in direct contact with any area that gets pressurized, they're holding the plastic handles onto mounts that are welded to the outside. And if we're talking about electrolytic corrosion, it would have to eat through several millimeters of steel before it compromised anything vital, which I doubt would happen in anyone's lifetime.

The failure mode you'd expect is that the screws stop holding the handle onto the pot, not necessarily that that pot explodes (in general when a thin-walled pressure vessel fails due to corrosion it looks like a nasty leak rather than an explosion, but the counterexamples can be pretty dramatic). And if you've got e.g. a stainless screw in a brass thread insert or something like that you don't even need a full mm of corrosion in order to reach failure.

I mean it's your pressure cooker, do whatever the gently caress you want with it and it's no skin off my rear end. But you asked what the deal was with the screws not being rated as dishwasher safe. The answer is almost certainly galvanic corrosion (with a couple of other lesser possibilities, like thread sealant, or wherever you got the information about the screws being full of poo poo and the actual problem being something else).

# ¿ Dec 16, 2016 23:19

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Good set of not-too-big stainless prep bowls that don't feel flimsy as gently caress?

# ¿ Jan 2, 2017 22:06

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Steve Yun posted:

The Oggi bowls I see at the store seem sturdy.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s?k=oggi+bowl+steel

I've cut through a flimsy steel bowl with a beater knife before, which is why I went looking for sturdier bowls

For small things I use anchor hocking glass custard cups, they come with covers and it's $5 for 4 at Big Lots

Yeah I want something more the size of the custard cups, maybe a little bigger. For mise and that kind of poo poo rather than mixing---handful of persillade, some grated whatever the gently caress, half a diced onion...like that. And I'm looking for stainless because I want to be able to toss 'em around, chuck 'em into the sink, whatever, without having to worry about chipping/cracking/whatever the gently caress.

I've seen a shitload of stainless sauce bowls and that kind of thing---hold like a Tbsp or two of something---and a lot of bigger stainless bowls that'll crumple if you sneeze on 'em, but I haven't found any that are hefty and around, like, the size of a cereal bowl or a little smaller.

# ¿ Jan 2, 2017 22:28

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Hauki posted:

I bought six 6oz stainless steel bowls at my local pan-Asian grocery store that were like 50 cents a piece and reasonably thick walled with rolled edges. There's no branding of any sort on them, but maybe see if there's any places like that with a cookware/houseware section near you? Honestly I wish I had a few mor of them, but the ones I saw there recently were thinner steel.

You can find little stainless sauce/condiment bowls in like 2, 4, and 6 oz sizes in pretty much any restaurant supply store. They're great for ketchup with your fries or whatever, but I really want something that's, I dunno, more like 12 or 16 oz. I mean I can just use a salad bowl or whatever, but I'd like something in stainless so I don't have to worry about banging them up. And for whatever reason there seems to be a dead zone between around 6 oz and around a quart and a half in terms of stainless bowls. And of course I could just use bigger bowls, but it doesn't take many mixing bowls in your mise to run you out of counter space.

# ¿ Jan 2, 2017 23:08

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Hauki posted:

edit: if you're not married to the idea of round bowls, you could also get a bunch of shallow 6th or 9th pans? Ninths come in ~16-19 oz. capacity that take up a smaller footprint (~4"x6") than a round would, sixths are a little bigger obviously (~6"x6")

That's a good idea. A bunch of the shallow 1/9th pans are probably pretty close to exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. I'll have to pick up a couple next time I'm at a restaurant supply and try 'em out as mise bowls.

# ¿ Jan 3, 2017 01:16

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Dr. Gitmo Moneyson posted:

I actually also got a pastry mat so I could roll dough without using flour. I live with a roommate and don't want to make a mess all over the counter with flour.

Use flour, clean up after you're done.

# ¿ Jan 5, 2017 07:06

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Neon Noodle posted:

As long as you wash and dry your wood cutting boards, they are safe for anything. Wood is naturally antibacterial (when it dries).

Most woods used for cutting boards have mild antimicrobial properties. You should never rely on this to prevent foodborne illness. You should always be properly sanitising your cutting boards regardless of what they're made of, avoid cross-contamination, and so on.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2017 01:27

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

dalstrs posted:

Anyone have a recommendation for a cheese shredder, something fairly inexpensive?

Microplane. One of the `professional' models will run you like US$15. You can probably find a lovely box grater for less so I don't know if that counts as `fairly inexpensive'. But that's what I'd get anyway.

# ¿ Feb 21, 2017 15:34

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Addamere posted:

I'm looking to buy something that makes slicing (not dicing, so not a food processor) vegetables and meats much faster. I recall from my first and only job in food service years ago working at Subway some huge stainless steel thing you'd feed things into and turn a crank to slice kind of like a hand-powered table-mounted circular saw for vegetables. I don't know what that kind of contraption is called, and searching on Amazon for variants of "food slicer," "vegetable slicer," "slicing machine," etc., either gets me little plastic mandolin slicers or electric variants of what I'm describing. I was hoping for something smaller than the one I remember, and manually powered rather than electric.

What is this thing called and how do I find one?

Here's a link to something that looks kind of similar, but is electric: https://www.amazon.com/Best-Choice-Products-Commercial-Food/dp/B002SMC1ZU/

Once figuring out what to call the thing and how to find it, from then which specific model of such a thing should I buy?

Search for `Hobart slicer' on your local craigslist.

Edit: What the hell, you're asking for a non-electric one. Can I even read?

SubG fucked around with this message at 00:08 on Apr 13, 2017

# ¿ Apr 13, 2017 00:04

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

SymmetryrtemmyS posted:

I don't bother with a handle cover, I just pull out a kitchen cloth or oven mitt.

Yeah, this is pretty much what I do, only with a side towel or a silicone trivet. Who the gently caress has time to gently caress around with putting booties on their skillet? And I say that as someone who's willing to devote a lot of time to booty.

# ¿ Jul 1, 2017 10:04

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Jay Carney posted:

Is there such a thing as a liquid nitrogen gun? I'm imagining cooling the surface of a sous vide steak enough to minimize over cooking when searing. I know negative griddles exist but im imagining a torch that sprays liquid nitrogen like doctor freeze.

Also i am likely crazy and this is one of my dumber ideas which is saying something.

Spraying liquid nitrogen around a room is a good way to painlessly commit suicide but a pretty bad way to cool down a steak.

As swickles says, you're unlikely to overcook a s-v steak by searing it if you're searing properly. No idea what the comment about salt is supposed to mean though.

If you're really worried about it just using an ice bath is going to be more than sufficient unless your tolerances are so tight you're titrating individual steak molecules or some poo poo.

# ¿ Jul 20, 2017 04:07

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

swickles posted:

Salting for a long time draws water out of the top layers of cells, so when it hits the hot pan most of the heat goes to evaporating that liquid (assuming you don't pat it dry) and then to searing the dehydrated flesh, creating a slight thermal barrier. The difference between those two is mostly a theoretical one I imagine and it would be difficult to definitively prove in any case.

If you'd like I can explain why this is not how any of that works, but that's not how any of that works.

I mean by all means salt a slab of protein before doing it in the puddle machine. But to within rounding error it's really not going to have any effect on the quality of a subsequent sear.

The same is not necessarily true for veg, which can benefit from brining before searing or stir-frying. It's a lot easier to get a good char on eggplant, for example, if it's been brined than if it hasn't. But meat doesn't really behave like eggplant.

AVeryLargeRadish posted:

The top bit is incorrect, it's very difficult to hurt yourself with LN2 via suffocation even in a closed room.

Nah, it's a real-world cause of accidental death. I mean if you're trying to cool a steak you're probably not going to have more that like a litre around and if the area's well-ventilated and you don't have any pets or small children breathing near the floor the risk is probably small. But like 10 L dewars of LN are things that actually kill people who get careless.

# ¿ Jul 20, 2017 08:28

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Steve Yun posted:

He was asking about a theoretical liquid nitrogen gun, which is presumably controlled and also not 10L and therefore not a huge danger.

There are plenty of ice cream shops that use liquid nitrogen in dewars much larger than 10L pumped out through faucets and they do just fine without killing people

Yeah, and there are plenty of bars doing novelty LN cocktails and I can only think of one gruesome injury related to them off the top of my head.

loving around with liquid nitrogen is something that can result in serious injury or death. There are lots of things in the kitchen that that's true of---boiling water, sharp poo poo, and so on. But most people have many years of experience around hot things and pointy things and as a result generally have a pretty good intuition about what is and isn't dangerous. Liquid nitrogen really isn't one of those things. It can, and routinely is, handled safely. But it also can, and regularly does, cause injury or death. Perhaps I am misinterpreting Jay Carney's level of experience with the stuff, but if someone asks about spraying liquid nitrogen around like Mr. Freeze I assume they probably don't really have a solid grasp on the potential risks.

# ¿ Jul 20, 2017 09:14

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Steve Yun posted:

Jay is not in danger of getting his hands on a liquid nitrogen gun anytime soon, no need to be hyperbolic

What? Dude literally asked if spraying liquid nitrogen around like Mr. Freeze in order to cool down a steak is crazy.

Yes. The answer is yes.

# ¿ Jul 20, 2017 09:33

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

Steve Yun posted:

You came in saying that he would suffocate himself.

That's not what I said, but whatever. Since I'm apparently having trouble making myself clear: I am not saying using LN is inherently deadly or anything like that. I am saying that LN is dangerous and if you don't know how to handle it you probably shouldn't.

# ¿ Jul 20, 2017 10:37

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

AVeryLargeRadish posted:

You said:

As far as I know the only painless suicide via LN2 is nitrogen asphyxiation. I do agree that there are risks associated with handling LN2 and that anyone interested in its use should educate themselves on the risks associated with its use.

Allow me to rephrase: beep boop i am a robot begin transmission liquid nitrogen is potentially dangerous repeat liquid nitrogen is potentially dangerous end transmission from the humourless pedantically correct tone policed gws robot beep boop.

# ¿ Jul 20, 2017 19:26

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

rockcity posted:

I do my wok stir frying over a ripping hot charcoal grill.

Yeah, if you don't want to buy a separate burner one of the hinged Weber grates with a circular cutout in the centre works well. Or you can just cook on top of a chimney starter.

That said, my crappy KitchenAid flattop electric range has a 20k burner and I use a cheapass Chinatown-special flat-bottom wok on it. It's not `real' wok cooking or whatever, but for a random middle-of-the-week pork rice bowl or whatever the gently caress it's just fine. Have to keep portions small, but it's still nicer to have the extra real estate as opposed to using a fry pan, skillet, or whatever.

# ¿ Jul 23, 2017 00:24

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 11:22

SubG: Aug 19, 2004; It's a hard world for little things.

baquerd posted:

If you just pretend you have a restaurant wok stove, you will get lovely results. If you work to the size of your burner and cook in small batches, you can get a reasonable approximation.

Yeah. And there are specific techniques and dishes that really require a lava-hot cooking surface but the idea that that's all a wok is for seems to be a myth mainly propagated by people who don't have much depth of knowledge on the subject but want to show off that they know what wok hei is.

# ¿ Jul 24, 2017 00:38

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > The Something Offal kitchen equipment thread

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