Come all ye self-styled chefs and kitchen users, we must talk.

Thank you!

Those butchery and aging videos are fascinating! Thank you!

Caught a 12.5" Coastal Cutthroat Trout today! Currently brining the fillets so that I can smoke it tomorrow.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/NRMHJWk.jpg)

That is a very handsome fish

And here it is smoked! It's incredible. Mild and basically the fish version of bacon.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/D1oKIMa.jpg)

That looks amazing tuffalobuffalo

Smoked trout... Whole Foods asks incredible prices for that. And it's wonderful...

Robear wrote:

Smoked trout... Whole Foods asks incredible prices for that. And it's wonderful... :-)

Well, I bought an expensive new pair of Patagonia wading boots to get that 1 fish, so... way cheaper than my route. Still... a wild trout that has been swimming in current and eating bugs all its life is better tasting than a farmed trout. The raw flesh was kinda peach colored before brining. Farmed trout is still great, though, and smoking is the way to go with it.

Those boots are an investment in future fish.

Any recommendations for butane torches? Something to finish steak out of the sous vide.

Avoid the ‘made for kitchen’ ones and just get a real one from your favorite home improvement store. They are much better, cheaper, and more reliable in my experience.

Delbin wrote:

Any recommendations for butane torches? Something to finish steak out of the sous vide.

I've been really happy with the Bernzomatic TS8000. Use it about once a week, on the same $2 blue propane tank from Home Depot I bought last October.

The TS4000 is a little cheaper (used to be half the price), but isn't adjustable, and the one I have can go from really fine to a huge flame, so no idea where the non-adjustable one lies on that spectrum. Worth the extra $5.

Thanks! I'll probably get that one.

The TS8000 is definitely the torch to get for the kitchen. I bought three other ones that broke, didn't work, weren't adjustable, etc. until I broke down and spent the money for the TS8000.

Interesting food history factoid. Brownies as we know them were invented at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago for the Chicago World Fair, before then we did have a few recipes for "brownies" but they were actually more similar to what we'd consider Chocolate Chip Blondies today. In addition the Palmer House Brownie had apricot jelly instead of chocolate icing, and was sometimes served with ice cream, but also had plenty of walnuts. The Palmer House is the earliest known version where the chocolate is the star instead of a more cookie like base, with chocolate flavoring (in the forms of chips or chunks). Recipe included for those who might find it interesting. http://lostrecipesfound.com/the-orig...

You can still order the original and eat it in the original dining room, with period decorations. (They have things like Mark Twain's silver coffee service, on display).

The Palmer House is a fantastic example of an old American hotel. The rooms are small, but the service and decorations and ambiance are great.

I bought some smoked garlic. I had to put it in an airtight container because the smell of it just sitting there was making me hungry. Can’t say I can pick it out in the two sauces I’ve added it to but the sauces themselves have been delicious.

I spoiled myself today and picked this up at Kitchen Kaboodle while it was on sale. It's a boning knife which you use to take the ribcage out of fish fillets. I have a simple Dexter one which is effective enough. This knife feels so damn good in the hand, though. Knife feel is so fun. That's probably why I love my Miyabi Santoku.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/X4o4jTO.jpg)

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

I spoiled myself today and picked this up at Kitchen Kaboodle while it was on sale. It's a boning knife which you use to take the ribcage out of fish fillets. I have a simple Dexter one which is effective enough. This knife feels so damn good in the hand, though. Knife feel is so fun. That's probably why I love my Miyabi Santoku.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/X4o4jTO.jpg)

I have the carving knife from that series. It's outstanding.

OG_slinger wrote:

Oh man, thought that was just a trailer but it's the full episode! So hyped. Good Eats is one of the things that got me into cooking.

It;s so good, and a great episode!

Hey everyone, I'm new to this site though I've been listening to the podcast for years now. I'm a professional cook, been working in the industry for about a decade now. Just started working in a Michelin restaurant and I'm beyond excited about it. I was really happy to see there was a forum about cooking on here. Always warms my heart to see people enthusiastic about my life's passion. That's all I wanted to say, keep up the good work everyone!
And if anyone wants some cooking advice I'm more than happy to help, not that I'm a guru or anything haha.

Please, tips and tricks for home cooks are always welcome! And congrats on hitting the big time, as it were. A night out at a fancy restaurant is something people will talk about for years. You should be proud to be part of that team.

Robear wrote:

Please, tips and tricks for home cooks are always welcome! And congrats on hitting the big time, as it were. A night out at a fancy restaurant is something people will talk about for years. You should be proud to be part of that team. :-)

Thank you! It has been stressful but this is my life passion so it's worth it, and I am extremely proud of myself, though I still have a long way to go. And sadly, since I work roughly 80-100 hour weeks I rarely have the time or energy to play games, which is one of the reasons I listen to the podcast haha. I can keep up on everything without actually participating.

...And that's how many of us do it here, you're right at home lol.

A lot of us work long weeks, but the work environment in a professional kitchen... ugh. You really must love what you're doing, s.u. Especially when you're willing to talk shop with home cooks like us!

My main challenge lately is cooking with the large induction range that came with our house. I'm used to gas and electric, but this thing is another animal entirely. If it weren't for its automatic safety switch it would happily melt cast iron if operated on the highest setting for too long, and even melt the core of our stainless pans.

The safety switch is a big pain in the ass though. If the cooktop goes over a certain heat level, EVERY COOKING FUNCTION cuts off. That's the oven and all of the burners. Unlike gas or electric, I can't crank a burner to 10 and wait for water to boil. It'll trip the sensor before that water finishes heating throughout, as the pan generates heat much faster than it can effectively transmit that heat to the water inside it. I've been learning how to ramp up the power, what power levels to use on what pans, and so on to keep my sanity. It's not easy!

salty.unicorn wrote:

Hey everyone, I'm new to this site though I've been listening to the podcast for years now. I'm a professional cook, been working in the industry for about a decade now. Just started working in a Michelin restaurant and I'm beyond excited about it. I was really happy to see there was a forum about cooking on here. Always warms my heart to see people enthusiastic about my life's passion. That's all I wanted to say, keep up the good work everyone!
And if anyone wants some cooking advice I'm more than happy to help, not that I'm a guru or anything haha.

Wow, what a wonderful post to come home to read. I literally just came home from a stop at a cutlery shop that both sells commercial (and home) kitchen supplies as well as sharpens knives for the public and a fair number of Madison chefs. It is where I was introduced to my MAC knives and carbon steel pans, which have been a "never turn back" cookware transition.

Thanks for the generous offer and a hearty welcome to the forums.

Robear, we still need to do that Wisconsin Hook's Cheddar for Vermont Cheddar exchange! I just picked up some 5 and 10 year today ($60+ for the 15 year aged was just not calling to me loud enough!).

I can't right now as I'm not in Vermont, but I'll find a way, probably over the holidays. I think I pointed you to some of their products online, we would do orders with each other's addresses or something. PM when you're up for it.

Well, given all the recent activity in this thread: let's talk bread. I'm very much in love these days with Ken Forkish's Flour Water Salt Yeast. Still doing the basic breads. But his recipes produce 2 boules (or a boule and some pizza dough when i can manage it). Anyone had luck with freezing bread in a way that doesn't utterly ruin the loaf?