Any bread makers here?

[ChadTower]

I've read 2-3 of them specifically on BBQ and meat smoking that go to that level.  It does help quite a bit to understand what is really going on.

[Hoopz]

IMO there is no other book that teaches the culinary arts.

A totally different bird, but you might be interested in On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. I've started reading it recently. It's amazing. It's essentially a dual course in chemistry and history, restricted exclusively to food. It's incredibly in depth. I've been reading it every night before I go to bed for weeks and I'm still on the first chapter, Milk (though admittedly I frequently go to bed so late that I only read a couple of pages before I'm ready to sleep). But I know A LOT about milk, lol.

What I love about this book, though, is that it doesn't teach recipes. It teaches you how food works--what happens on a molecular level to various proteins and fats when you heat or stir or freeze various foods. I think it'll make getting excellent results from recipes, and more mportantly improving on and inventing recipes, much more fun and more frequently succesful.

Try this one out:

http://www.amazon.com/Modernist-Cuisine-Art-Science-Cooking/dp/0982761007

It's the cookbook from the CTO at Microsoft and really goes deep into every aspect of cooking and the science behind it.  With a price tag approaching $500, it's an investment....

I've read 2-3 of them specifically on BBQ and meat smoking that go to that level.  It does help quite a bit to understand what is really going on.

BBQ is smoking meat.  You know that!  Grilling is not BBQ.   

[shmokes]

Your book's Amazon page features this quote from the author of my book:

"Modernist Cuisine is a landmark contribution to the craft of cooking and our understanding of its underlying principles. Its scale, detail, and eye-opening graphics are unmatched by any other book on the subject. It will be an invaluable resource for anyone with a serious interest in cooking techniques, whether the professional innovations of the last few decades or the long traditions on which they build." --Harold McGee

Based on what I've read of his so far, that is a huge compliment.

Still, though, $500.

[Hoopz]

Still, though, $500.

Yep.   

<cough>torrent!<cough>

[Hoopz]

Chad, you may be interested in this:

http://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-Craft-Salting-Smoking-Curing/dp/0393058298/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327943998&sr=8-1

I got that about a year ago and it's extremely interesting.  If you are interested in curing your own meats, it's a good book to start with.  I thought it was a natural transition from smoking meat to curing.

[Dervacumen]

Shmokes, Nice suggestion.  I'm guessing I've learned a lot about chemistry, history and food through continuous study and application over the years but I like a good read.  I just picked up two books that I need to get though before I take on another, though.

[Vigo]

A totally different bird, but you might be interested in On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. I've started reading it recently. It's amazing. It's essentially a dual course in chemistry and history, restricted exclusively to food. It's incredibly in depth. I've been reading it every night before I go to bed for weeks and I'm still on the first chapter, Milk (though admittedly I frequently go to bed so late that I only read a couple of pages before I'm ready to sleep). But I know A LOT about milk, lol.

Never read that book, but I have to agree with you that knowing the chemistry and theory of cooking is far more important than knowing recipes. I worked in a kitchen through high school and college, but it wasn't until after i got through my food science courses in college that I suddenly just understood cooking. I didn't need recipes anymore, I could just cook from instinct. Not saying it always worked out and tasted good, but i understood how to make things. For most things, I could just make my own version of whatever I wanted to cook.

I know it bugs my wife when she has to look forever for a perfect recipe to make something different when cooking, and when I want to make something new, I just wander in the kitchen and go at it. 

[ChadTower]

BBQ is smoking meat.  You know that!  Grilling is not BBQ.   

BBQ is smoking meat but all smoking meat is not BBQ. 

[Vigo]

Way to go, now you've gotten German Bill Cosby all excited...

[Hoopz]

Time to derail this thread and bring up the Bacon Explosion again?

Nah, I'll play nicely this time.   

[ChadTower]

Have you ever made something like that?  I did once.  ONCE.  It seems awesome until you try to eat it.  4 bites in everybody was all greasy and bloated and we ran out of paper towels.  So much grease.  It was actually sort of nasty.

[Hoopz]

I made it once too.  It was good and I didn't think it was that greasy.  Not something I have on the menu cycle but I'd try it again sometime.  Odds are that I didn't follow the recipe to the letter though.

[ChadTower]

Nothing you smoke at ~225 degrees and has 4lb of bacon on it is going to be anything but huge ball of grease.  That's just not hot enough to crisp anything up.

[Hoopz]

I grilled it instead of smoking it.  I think that makes a huge difference.

[ChadTower]

It would, yes, because the temp is probably way higher.

[Vigo]

I am just wonder how you managed to not turn it into a giant bacon fireball. That much grease dripping would have absolutely ignited the thing on my grill.

[Hoopz]

I am just wonder how you managed to not turn it into a giant bacon fireball. That much grease dripping would have absolutely ignited the thing on my grill.

Zones, drip pan etc.

And isn't your grill used by your neighbors?  Can you really call it "my" grill anymore?   

[Vigo]

Gotcha!, That takes planning ahead, it might be asking too much out of me.

And isn't your grill used by your neighbors?  Can you really call it "my" grill anymore?   

sigh....yeah, "the community grill". Thankfully it all stopped when i didn't refill the propane, although I think someone recently was touching my grill again, as my grill cover was ripped into two pieces. I guess it could be an animal though.

[Hoopz]

Gotcha!, That takes planning ahead, it might be asking too much out of me.

And isn't your grill used by your neighbors?  Can you really call it "my" grill anymore?   

sigh....yeah, "the community grill". Thankfully it all stopped when i didn't refill the propane, although I think someone recently was touching my grill again, as my grill cover was ripped into two pieces. I guess it could be an animal though.

Man, that's got to be annoying.  It's probably a bad joke for me to make because I know it would drive me crazy if someone used my grill.

[Donkbaca]

homeless people need to cook somewhere...

[Vigo]

Man, that's got to be annoying.  It's probably a bad joke for me to make because I know it would drive me crazy if someone used my grill.

Heh, no worries! Yeah it is super annoying though. I find myself randomly jumping out my house trying to find the grill fiend. I had a motion light in my driveway, but cranked the sensor back towards the grill so I notice any movement back there. I am bumping up my battle plan come this spring.

[Vigo]

My garage is really more just a large shed, it would smoke up right away if I used it inside there. If I want to wheel it in and out, it is a PITA. It has a 1 foot hump to get in through the side door, and the front uses large barn doors that I have to back my car out from the driveway to get open.

[Dervacumen]

I wonder if there's a way to put a keyed shut off valve in line on the propane line so you can just turn it on and off with a key?  I came home after a couple days away and saw a package of hot dogs in my fridge.  Then I went to the freezer and saw two more packages, and I'm thinking: that's weird, what's with all the hotdogs?  Then I read this.  And isn't today groundhog day? 

[Gray_Area]

Huh?

Poor attempt at a lawyer joke.

I got it right off.

The French are a lovely people. But everyone visits Paris and assumes that's how the whole country is.

I've heard that the French think the same about Americans visiting their country.....

[shmokes]

What, bases their opinion of Americans in general on the behavior of American tourists? Yes and no. The French, like Americans, don't leave the country when they travel as much as people in other countries. So a lot of their exposure to other cultures comes from the tourists coming into their country. But in the case of Americans they also get a heavy dose of our pop culture thanks to the worldwide success of Hollywood and American music. And the power and influence of our country means a lot of news coverage of America too. So they actually have a bit more to go off of than just tourists, though I suppose it's an open question whether Hollywood can be considered "more".