Cooking Gear
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A good seasoned vintage cast iron skillet. I have my grandmothers. She was born in 1916, and the pan was forged sometime between 1890-1950. It is so seasoned in I can fry an egg with out it sticking, and there is something about cooking with it that warms the soul. You can get a good one for less than $50 at a antique store. Skip the new ones, they aren't made the same.
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I got a sous-vide attachment a while ago:
http://www.amazon.com/Nomiku-Sous-Vide-Immersion-Circulator/dp/B00GB31I8Iand have been really loving cooking with it. Cleanup isn't bad since the food never comes into contact with the attachment or the pot you are cooking in.
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@Nic That looks like a very weird cooking tool.... that shouldn't be used for cooking lol...
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It's actually quite a neat concept. You have a water bath that you can set at a precise temperature, which means that you can have meat to the exact doneness that you like. Since it stays at that temperature, you don't have to worry so much about how long you leave it in there. Once the food has reached the water temperature, it doesn't cook any further.
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But how then would you flavor your meat, if it's in a water bath.
I'm assuming you'd have to soak-bath it for a good amount of time in advance for anything you'd cook, besides eggs.
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@DustinB3403 You've got a couple options - season it before you put it in the baggie, or season it after you take it out and before you sear it in a pan to get the nice maillard reaction. The rule of thumb for steak, for instance, is at least 1 hour in the bath for each inch of thickness of the steak. For a normal steak that means 90 minutes - you just dump it in there, then go do something else or prepare your sides, then do a quick sear and voila.
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Oh so you cook in a plastic bag that is submerged in the water.
OK so not direct into the water bath.
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@DustinB3403 Yep, you want to vacuum seal the food in a bag, so it doesn't get waterlogged, but it has good contact with the water for temperature transfer. You can do that with a real vacuum sealer, or just slowly submerge the bag with the top open to force the air out and then close the bag.
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@Nic said:
It's actually quite a neat concept. You have a water bath that you can set at a precise temperature, which means that you can have meat to the exact doneness that you like. Since it stays at that temperature, you don't have to worry so much about how long you leave it in there. Once the food has reached the water temperature, it doesn't cook any further.
Immersion circulators are the best!!!! If you want perfect, precise temp control (a must when cooking steaks, etc), this is the way. You still have to sear the meat afterward in a hot pan or on the grill, but this is my favorite new kitchen tool.
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Get yourself one of these.. small.. can be used indoors and out.
![0_1448471988904_51xYt-uXFEL[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/S7SVILO.jpg)
I regularly smoke cheese, you'll want to use cold smoke, not direct or hot smoke. Smoked salmon, pork and chicken.
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@gjacobse said:
Get yourself one of these.. small.. can be used indoors and out.
I regularly smoke cheese, you'll want to use cold smoke, not direct or hot smoke. Smoked salmon, pork and chicken.
How smoky does that make your house when used indoors? These things look cool but I'm not sure I want to have wood chips smoldering on my stovetop. Does the lid hold smoke in pretty well?
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@Nic said:
@DustinB3403 Yep, you want to vacuum seal the food in a bag, so it doesn't get waterlogged, but it has good contact with the water for temperature transfer. You can do that with a real vacuum sealer, or just slowly submerge the bag with the top open to force the air out and then close the bag.
you don't HAVE to vacuum seal,.. but if you season, then vacuum seal, the flavor is intensified.
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@RojoLoco if used indoors you'd for sure want to use it under a vent hood. we have one that pops up from the counter top that's pretty neat.
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You don't use much 'dust' It's not chips, pellets or chunks but more like sawdust. And for the space you are smoking you don't need much... I use about a 'tablespoon' full for about a 30 minute smoke / cook.
Over all it's not offensive. And I have yet to set off any of the eight smoke detectors in the house.
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@hubtechagain said:
@RojoLoco if used indoors you'd for sure want to use it under a vent hood. we have one that pops up from the counter top that's pretty neat.
Yea,.. I have yet to see a house built in the last 15 years that still had an exhaust hood.
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@gjacobse said:
@hubtechagain said:
@RojoLoco if used indoors you'd for sure want to use it under a vent hood. we have one that pops up from the counter top that's pretty neat.
Yea,.. I have yet to see a house built in the last 15 years that still had an exhaust hood.
agreed - they all just run it through a filter and back into the house.
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over the stove? i know i seem to be making a lot of "The South" comments but we love cooking down here. lots of folk in our circle have nice commercial vent hoods
Wolf, Viking, etc. yes, it's overkill, but man it looks cool. -
@gjacobse interesting. I just know that when my smoker is going outside, when I open the door the smoke wafts in and goes upstairs.... the master bathroom often smells of lovely pecan and maple smoke. The updraft from the kitchen to the upper level is crazy in my house (it's a split level).
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@Nic um, no. well not any that we've had. they have a pipe out the top of the roof.
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@gjacobse ok, now I remember seeing the "dust" for those things online... they come in little resealable tubs, yes?
