My grinder is now a stuffer

Click through to the image to see the note on the Flickr image.

On Andrew's recommendation, my lovely wife and child bought me a grinder for Father's day. It's a prized possession of mine. On various message and review sites, it has a known deficiency. It requires one to stuff a sausage mixture through one of the dies. No sausage maker worth their salt would ever consider such an option.

Taking a hint from the Kitchen Aid version of the sausage stuffing set up (the Kitchen Aid version of the grinder/stuffer is made for a little girl, the grinder I'm talking about can grind the weight of an average size adult per hour) and decided to make an auger support; a critical piece for successful stuffing using the auger mechanism.

The only material strong enough was one of the dies itself. I decided to sacrifice the one with the 12 mm dia. holes (I never use that one and can probably replace it). I excised the middle section of it leaving it mostly open for meat to come through to the stuffing tube. Click through on the image for the flickr note I placed on the image.

It was a bitch to cut. Thick steel. I used 6 grinder wheels and 3 days of intermittent work to get it cut. But, fits like a perfectly machined piece. I'll get some dog food-grade ground meat to give it a control run.

Mapping a Brix Scale to an Expert System in the Raspberry Patch

It's the height of black raspberry season everyone! The ideal blackberry picking experience is going to Weiland's, finding a stack of fresh berries and picking a pint or two.

For some reason, that wasn't good enough for the kid this morning. So, we shlepped ourselves to Mitchell's to hunt and gather. Inexperienced in the way of the berry, I decided to see what everyone else was doing to figure out where the best product was. The place was busy: industrious church ladies, authoritarian soccer moms militantly dictating orders to their kids and big sloppy families stumbling around confused. Who was getting the best stuff?

We decided to try 'em all, although we mostly shadowed the church ladies (much to their chagrin). We grabbed some darn good looking product from several areas. But the berries near the church ladies were best - or were they? When we got home, we subjected them to a sugar content analysis. I used a refractometer to measure % sugar or Brix. It's the same instrument vintners use when evaluating grape development throughout the season. Here are our findings:

Analyte	Brix
Diligently working church ladies picking black raspberries for the church bake sale, knowing full well they would do serious time in purgatory if they didn't make the best pie.	10% Brix
Soccer Moms looking for good subjects for still life paintings to sell on Etsy.	9% Brix
The family gathering: stems, cheerios, berries of some sort while roaming the fields of bushes yelling at each other and running back and forth to the potty.	8% Brix
Reference Std: water	0% Brix
Reference Std: 5% w/w sucrose/water	4% Brix
Reference Std: 10% w/w sucrose/water	8% Brix
Reference Std: 15% w/w sucrose/water	12% Brix
No seriously, this is science	All berries sampled were 8% Brix

Our hunch was right and the church ladies will likely go to heaven with minimal time in the "waiting room."

simple pickles

simple pickles, originally uploaded by Seligmans Dog.

Saw some nice little cucumbers yesterday at Meijer (yes, I was the one that missed the farmer's market).

I got in the door, poured 3 Kg of water and 150 g salt and 75 g sugar in a stockpot and yelled for Frankie to help me make pickles. She dilligently stormed into the kitchen, tossed in the cucumbers, chopped the dill, smashed a couple pieces of garlic and mixed it up with her hands.

It's a slightly dressed up version of Ruhlman's simple pickles. They'll sit for a week in the basement at room temp. Can't wait.

Update, 2.5 days
The brine is a tad murky, the smell is lovely, the cucumbers have become a much more dull green and are beginning to look a bit more pickle-like. I wish we reserved a fresh one for comparison, but they're on the right track. Definitely the easiest pickle prep I've used.

saucisson sec

saucisson sec, originally uploaded by Seligmans Dog.

I've let about 6 people sample this so far and no one has died.

Yet.

21 days after I hung it up to cure, the saucisson is now essentially done. It's furry, green, firm and very tasty. I took a few links and rubbed the exterior with a cloth and some cornmeal to remove the most of the exterior mold. I sliced it up thin to taste.

The texture is tough, a little like jerky. It's been so long since we've been to France and I don't even remember what this should taste like. The wife says it's good - tad heavy on the garlic - but good. I followed Ruhlman's Charcuterie recipe but crushed the garlic instead of chopping it, I think that's why it's a bit strong.

I've been giving out samples all over the place, so, before we go on any vacation this Summer, I'll be putting another batch up to cure. Yum. Xmas presents??

A Firedome Experiment

Several on the Virtual Weber Board asked if the door on the Firedome is really necessary? It's a question that I'm a bit embarrassed I didn't interrogate before embarking on this project. Let's say we configure the fuel and cooking surface the same and:

1. remove the entire dome and slide a pizza on or
2. open the little door of the Firedome to slide a pizza on - which is better?

In the earliest stage of this project, I simply assumed the temp in the dome, if we were to remove the dome, would drop so much the top of the pizza wouldn't cook adequately because the time to recover the heat would be too great.

The experiment:
I charged up the Firedome and ignited it. Took about 30 minutes to get to 500F or so, placed a probe in the dome and measured the following:

a. door closed on the Firedome for 10 minutes,
b. opened the hatch for 10 seconds,
c. closed it and let it ride for 10 minutes,
d. removed the dome for 10 seconds,
e. let it ride for 10 minutes - view temp profile

Results:

Pretty big drop in temperature removing the dome (opening the little door, 10°F drop, removing the lid, 100°F drop). I didn't try cooking on it during this expt., but I suspect if it takes too long for the temp to recover in the headspace, the food is in danger of overcooking on the bottom before the top gets cooked.

After the expt, while the grill was hot ... a little focaccia for lunch and dinner.

Firedome, part 1

saucisson sec, day 18

saucisson sec, day 18, originally uploaded by Seligmans Dog.

Firm, fuzzy and green are they. Sadly, sausage, pepperoni, even sopressata aren't photogenic. This year's attempt at saucisson sec however, is going swimmingly. Next week I'll take 'em down, clean up the exterior a bit by rubbing them with a dry cloth and some rice flour, get the wife on the ready with 911 on the cell and take a taste (I honestly can't wait, I may go for it earlier). If I live through a day, we'll be feasting on them with a nice wine (no box stuff for these, thank you) and a crusty loaf, some fresh veggies and cheese for a celebratory feast.

In the next run, while the basement's still humid, I'll be repeating this with the wider casings.

firedome 2nd run data

firedome 2nd run data, originally uploaded by Seligmans Dog.

Cooking pizza on a Weber using the http://tr.im/firedome was based on 2 key requirements:

1. Using the kettle as an oven and getting a pizza in the "oven" without removing the kettle dome so as to maintain a constant (and high) temperature.

2. Getting a temperature distribution in the kettle/oven sufficient to cook the pizza uniformly; a necessary condition regardless of the oven used (conventional or grill).

This temperature profile, although a tad low, shows the relatively constant cooking temperature over an hour of cooking last night. I cooked 4 pizzas and opened the door of the firedome several times for each pizza. No significant dips; I'm giddy.

Weber Kettle Mods: Firedome (pizza cooked on a kettle)

Welcome Weber-Stephen Products, LLC!  Look around and enjoy your visit,  please leave a comment to contact me.

Cooking pizza on the grill is filled with challenge and adventure. Mike is a pro and knows this area well. He and Andrew have finely honed the pizza on the grill by grilling the dough, flipping, topping and re-grilling, the final grilling melding all the flavors together.

Inspired by a friend's most decadent pizza oven ripping at 900+°F, I sought to make one of my beloved kettles into something more; an instrument that could cook pizza evenly. Although I failed to obtain my desired 800+ temps, the uniformity of cooking was an equally critical objective that was achieved.

Getting an old Weber Kettle lid ready for cutting out a "slice" to attach via hinge.

Made the cuts with a grinder and holes for the hinge with a drill. The jagged edges were buffed with a grinder attachment. I kept the tape on during the cutting to help keep the line and help keep the edges more smooth.

I placed the briquettes around the edge of the kettle in order to attempt to get a high temp high in the dome and not too hot at the base of the pizza. I tried once before with just the briquettes in the center and burned the pizza on the bottom before the top could get done. Also, I chose to light the coals once in place with lighter fluid (instead of a chimney and then arranging the lit briquettes).

I chose an inverted clay flower pot drip tray because it was elevated. This enabled the top of the surface to be more easily accessible from the lip of the Weber. The bifurcation of the surface is intentional. This clay was cast in a Shaolin monastery. The halves symbolize the yin and yang of humanity; the balance between eating from the Weber and drinking ale from the keg.

The coals were ready in about 30 minutes. I did a quick temp check. I had about 500°F in the high part of the dome and about 450°F on the clay surface. Not quite high as I wanted but went through with the test anyway. I used a basic pizza dough, a simple tomato paste and parmesan and olive oil topping (don't knock the smear of tomato paste, it's nice). I put the pizza on the clay and 8 minutes and 30 seconds later ...

Future?? I'm thrilled with the results. Perfectly cooked all around and no burned bottom. I think the relative temps of the dome and surface are what I was looking for with this configuration of briquettes. I would like now to get the temp up a bit. Maybe 700° or so in the dome - maybe lump? Suggestions appreciated via comments. For now, I'm just thrilled. Zach, Jim - podcast time??

More pics of the Firedome project on Flickr.

Other Firedome links:

• Firedome refinements
• Baba Ghanouj
• Early data
• Pita in a minute (youtube video)

saucisson sec, day 5

Saucisson sec, day 5, originally uploaded by Seligmans Dog.

Been maintaining 70+ %RH for 5 days now. The sausages have dried down quite a bit and a slight bit of characteristic mold is developing on the casing. Things are definitely looking better this run than last. The dog is still curious about them, but has not been able to get an opportunity to rip them apart.

I can practically taste the burgundy and bread to accompany this treat.

Saucisson sec

pork butt from Weilands, ground using a coarse die


seasoned, stuffed and pierced for drying


basement conditions, don't know why icon man is so sad
3 weeks 'til dinner

16" x 16" Slate to bake on?

16" x 16" Slate to bake on?, originally uploaded by Seligmans Dog.

Having destroyed all my terra cotta tiles over the years, I decided to try a slab of slate to cook on. It's an unfinished sample I got at Lowe's yesterday for $10. Currently taking it through temperature cycles to see if it holds up. So far, I can see the layers on the side slightly separating. If it gets to some static state, it should be fine. If it continues to separate, it's back to the terra cotta.

long video in process ...

I'm not dead, life is busy. Go to the ECJ post for an entertaining discussion.

Kitchen Quickies

Been so busy, I just found two old cellphones wrapped in a plastic bag in the downstairs freezer. I have no idea why they're there. That's how busy we've been. But, dinner must get to the table. Some nifty quickies we've been enjoying. Just wanted to share:

• Black Bean Hummous 15 oz can black beans (undrained), tahini (1/4 C), salt (1t) olive oil (2T), ground cumin, salt (1 t), lemon juice (1 lemon), pepper, dry oregano, garlic (1 clove crushed) - processed and let sit in fridge for an hour, served with drizzle of oil with pita and fresh veggies.

• Salmon big salmon fillet (ca. 1.5 - 2 lb), skin side down on baking sheet, top coated with slather of greek yogurt (1 C), Dijon mustard (1 T), fresh dill (2-3 T), s&p, baked at 400°F for 20 min, let rest. Served with steamed new potatoes and salad.

• Brisket Chilli leftover smoked brisket (ca. 3/4 lb, diced), black-eyed peas (15 oz can, undrained), kidney beans (15 oz can, undrained), canned tomatoes (ca. 15 oz), chili powder (whatever you got), onion, garlic, paprika, s&p, etc. Simmer an hour or so. Served with really good quality corn chips.

• Brown Rice and Beans Not a mistake. This is amazing. Preheat oven to 350, saute in ovenproof 3.5 qt with tight lid (I use cast iron dutch oven) onions, garlic in olive oil, add 1.5 C brown rice, saute rice a bit, add 3 1/3 C water or stock, 1 can black beans, fresh ground cumin, salt and pepper and bring to simmer. Place lid on and put in oven for an hour. Remove, let rest and dig in. Serve with lime wedges.

Life has been going too fast, but we're still eating well. And, the phones are still in the freezer.

The missing first video

Hit a snag recently. My breads have been lacking oven-spring. I watched my own vids to try to figure it out. Pretty sure I have it nailed. I'll be doing a nifty cumulative bread vid soon.

In the meantime, yogurt/dill slathered salmon is in the oven with smashed potatoes and salad for Mother's day (thanks Martha), for the only one who will tolerate my neuroticism. Happy Mother's day my love and to you Mom.