Not great: Isi Gourmet Whip

I have heard a lot of really good things about this whipper but I am thinking that was before they moved production from Austria to China. First impressions were good but using it shows a product that is rough around the edges. Actually rough... The finish is not great and I found myself with quite a few cuts over my knuckles and fingers. The machined edges looked as though they were barely touched to a rough disc sander and put out for sale. I wanted a little more polish at this price. I considered sanding down the edges myself but chose against it.

As you can see above, a couple of the main components are plastic and neither are removable. Since they are not removable, it is a little more difficult to clean properly. The rubber/silicone? around the neck of the whipper (see top pick) seemed nice at first, especially when dispensing a hot hollandaise, but it started to get noticeably loose each time it was washed in the dish washer (it says dishwasher safe). I do not think this is a terrible whipper, just overpriced. Amazon occasionally has the whipper for around eighty dollars which I think is closer to what the price should be. I don't think the Isi Gourmet Whip is terrible, just ok. The device is made a fairly heavy metal and, apart from the plastic pieces, appears durable. In this price range, I would like to see all metal components and removable pieces for easy cleaning. I understand the Liss cream whipper is made in Hungary, all metal and has removable pieces but the Liss whipper is not available at any locations in the area. It seems that even Amazon no longer sells the Liss whipper directly. Although this Isi whipper is not terrible, I am hard pressed to recommend it at the price it is currently retailing for ($150).

Favorite Restaurants: Yellow City Street Food (Amarillo, TX)

Clockwise, Bottom left: Animal Fries, Tacos: Puerco Loco & the Imposter, Bulgogi Burger, and side salad 

You can find this little restaurant in Amarillo, Texas.  It is a drive through joint with a few picnic tables.  They have a good selection for both carnivores and vegetarians with daily specials as well. Everything is made fresh when you order and the flavors are fantastic. The animal fries has nice THICK bacon, the aioli is creamy and flavorful, the burger is juicy and the tacos are phenomenal. I am going to miss this place when my girlfriend graduates and I no longer have a reason to go to Amarillo. Definitely try this place if you're ever in in town.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/yellow-city-street-food-amarillo

Sous Vide: Ribeye Steak

 I am still testing how salting beforehand affects the texture of the meat. Some say it makes it less juicy or tougher. My main reasoning for salting early is so that the salt can penetrate into the meat. I am not a fan of having a salty exterior with a relatively bland interior. I like the steak seasoned through. I applied a dry rub (a little brown sugar, cumin, salt, garlic powder and pepper), vacuum sealed the steak and left it in the fridge for a day. I have found that the water loss is not too significant.

Pat the steak dry, put on a drying rack (or paper towel) and let it sit in the fridge to allow the surface to dry. A steak that's dry will sear better and lets you avoid those strange boiled meat flavors that come with searing a wet steak.

I like using a cast iron skillet heated in oven set to high broil but my girlfriends kitchen only had a nonstick skillet. I set it to high, let it heat up and seared each side for about a minute in some butter. The steak went straight from the fridge to the pan. Most say to let the steak come to room temperature before searing but I prefer this method. The pan needs to be ripping hot to overcome the cool temperature of the steak but having a cool center keeps the heat from penetrating too far into the meat.

The exterior looks almost burnt (don't worry, the burnt flavor really mellows as it cooks in the circulator and adds a great smoky flavor) but the center is very raw.

I like to put the steak back into the fridge as I get the circulator and bag ready.

With this steak, we tried the ziploc vacuum sous vide bags that come with a $3 hand pump. You really do not need to spend a few hundred dollars on a foodsaver. A little butter on top and bottom adds flavor and improves cooking in the water bath.

Cook the steak sous vide at 54 degrees celsius for at least one and a half hours in the water bath.

AFTER cooking sous vide, I find that the steak is not as hot as like my steak to be. The center is perfectly cooked but I really like the surface of my steak to be sizzling. Take the steak out of the bag and dry off with paper towels.

Refresh the sear in a pan set to high with a little butter. This makes the crust a little crispier and gets that sizzling crust and high temperature you would expect with a steak fresh off the grill.

As you can see, the heat did not penetrate the meat too much and the steak is very juicy.

Favorite Restaurants: Tony's Deli-Hofbrau (Anaheim, CA)

There's nothing like a great traditional deli sandwich with all the cheese and meat fresh cut. The veggies are fresh and the portions generous. I took a chance with a tuna sandwich with pickled eggs, which sounds questionable, but it was fantastic.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/tonys-deli-hofbrau-anaheim-2

Sous Vide: Smoked Pork Shoulder Ver. 2

Before I purchased the immersion circulator, MANY of the articles I read on cooking sous vide described it as being much easier and simpler than cooking in a traditional way (oven, grill, pan etc...). All of my experiences cooking sous vide says the opposite. The immersion circulator lets you control texture and doneness; it does little, in my opinion, for flavor and you no longer have the crust that comes from searing. It is, however, amazing how juicy the meat is. After tinkering with the method for some time, this creates my favorite pulled pork but it does take some work.

MY METHOD

Dry Rub: Apply any drub you prefer. Alton Brown's recipe is a good base and allows for customization depending on personal taste (I added curry powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne and some liquid smoke). A little extra brown sugar gave the nice bark from the image above. I added some more salt and brown sugar than normal. I vacuum sealed the pork shoulder and left it in the fridge for two days. the extra salt and vacuum sealing (cut the bag a little long, then reused the bag for the immersion circulator portion) added a cured ham flavor to the meat. In previous trials, less salt and sugar meant the shoulder came out with a flavor and texture closer to brisket. Both are pretty good. If you really like that cured ham flavor, some pink salt (nitrite salt) might be something to try.

UPDATE: DON'T DO THE SEAR. Having a constantly wet surface on the meat instead of searing will allow the smoke flavor to penetrate MUCH better. Skip drying the surface and the sear and just start smoking on the cooler side of the grill.

Grilling: Prep the meat buy removing it from the bag, patting it relatively dry (leave as much of the dry rub as possible since it makes a great crust) and letting it sit in the fridge on a drying rack for at least thirty minutes; this really dries out the surface of the meat. Having a dry surface on the meat  will give a better sear and keeping it cold keeps the heat from searing from penetrating too deep into the meat. I like to use lump charcoal for searing since it burns hotter and briquettes for the smoking portion since it burns longer (I hate having to light and add more coal). After lighting some lump charcoal in a chimney starter, adding it to one side of the grill and letting the grill grates (cast iron grates are my favorite) get nice and hot I seared the meat. I like to get a fair amount of burnt sections on the surface. I wouldn't be too worried about black char on the surface since cooking sous vide will mellow out any burnt flavor. After you get a good sear/char, move the meat to the cool side of the grill.

Smoking: There are many woods to choose from, I prefer hickory, and many ways to get the smoke going. I like to take an old cast iron skillet, fill it with hickory chips and cover it with aluminum foil with a few small holes poked in it. You don't want the wood to burn since it will give the meat a sooty flavor. The aluminum foil keeps it from getting too much oxygen and burning. Suspend the cast iron skillet of wood chips above the coals so the chips begin smoking but do not catch fire. Make sure to put a pan of water underneath the meat (on the side without coals) to keep the exterior of the meat moist. If the surface gets dry, the smoke flavor will not penetrate the meat as well.

Cooking in a Water Bath: Set your circulator to 60 degrees celsius, bring the water to temperature, vacuum seal the meat and drop it in for twenty four hours. Slice across the grain and enjoy.

The meat is very soft, incredibly juicy and the sugary/salty crust is my favorite part of the dish.

Favorite Restaurants: La Grande Orange (Phoenix, AZ)

The reuben sandwich has a fresh bread, crisp sauerkraut, and a pretty great salty corned beef.

Pizza is made on the spot with a crispy crust and fresh mozzarella. Everything I tried here has great flavor and came out tasting fresh and piping hot.

http://www.lagrandeorangegrocery.com

Update: Cream Whipper Pancakes

I've tried so many pancake recipes recently that for the first time in my life I thought "I think I've had enough pancakes." But then I loosened my pants and ate more. Any recipe that used just all purpose flour ended up being tough. Stirring to combine then having to filter out the chunks, so the whipper wouldn't get clogged, ended with too much gluten and really tough pancakes. Once the recipe was supplemented with oat flour or buckwheat, the pancakes were a little more tender. Oddly enough, the batters that made tough pancakes made better waffles but better pancake recipes made rubbery waffles. The world is full of mysteries... kind of.

Favorite Restaurants: Hopdoddy Burger Bar (Austin and Dallas, TX)

This place is pretty fantastic. Above is my favorite, the Ahi Tuna Burger (Sushi-Grade Tuna, Sprouts, Teriyaki, Honey Wasabi, Nori Chips, Pickled Ginger, Mayo). I usually hate seafood burgers but this is tasty.

The buns are all made in house and you can see them grind the meat in the back. They make a point of customers being able to see that everything is made in house. They also serve main root sodas as well as craft beers from small batch brewers. The burgers are juicy, properly cooked and have great flavor. The fries are nice and crisp and bacon thick and hearty. One of my favorite burger places in Dallas.

Favorite Dishes: Jamaican Jerk BBQ San'ich at Spiral Diner (Dallas and Fort Worth, TX)

Spiral Diner is vegan, I am not, but who cares if the food is good. This place has some of the best nachos which is escpecially impressive since the cheese is made of cashew. The Jamaican Jerk BBQ San'ich with a side of potato salad (pictured above) is a pretty good choice. The bread is hearty and tastes homemade, the pineapple adds a great tart sweetness, the sauce is rich and has great tomato flavor and the patty is substantial and with a great nutty flavor. Pair that with a great mustardy potato salad and some apple ginger juice and you have a pretty good combo.

http://www.spiraldiner.com

Favorite Dishes: Doro Wot at Desta (Dallas, TX)

I am a fan of bold flavors and combinations. Generous portions of tasty flavorful veggies, chicken and injera (bread) makes Desta a pretty solid choice.  Everything tastes pretty fresh and flavorful, the service is quick and friendly and the selection is impressive. Of all the Ethiopian restaurants sampled in Dallas, this is my top choice.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Desta-Ethiopian-Restaurant/190851140949613

Favorite Stuff: Ikea DRÄLLA Bendable Chopping Boards

A good chopping board is pretty useful. I got a great deal on a three inch thick butcher's block and was pretty excited using it at first. After a few months of lugging a fifteen pound block of wood around the kitchen I started buying flexible cutting boards and these have been the only ones that are worthwhile. It has gotten to the point that these are the first ones I reach for. The DRÄLLA boards are a pretty thick (compared to the other paper thin flexible boards I have used) plastic with a nice grippy rubbery feel. Most flexible cutting boards will bend quite a bit with hot food on top; these bend somewhat but nowhere near as bad as every other flexible cutting board. They are convenient when you want to transfer your chopped goods back and forth and are more durable than you would expect from a flexible board and at $1.99 for a pair, they are more than worth a try.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50153123/

Cream Whipper Testing Continued: Eggs Benedict

I made the Chefsteps hollandaise sauce to test the cream whipper a little more. Seems to work well so far but sputters a bit since I didn't filter out the bigger chunks of the sauce (the sauce looked curdled coming out of the water bath but that's the way it should look according to the comments). I didn't have champagne vinegar so I attempted to substitute with half as much apple cider vinegar which was still too strong for the sauce.

The whipper seems to do a pretty good job smoothing out a sauce that was pretty lumpy. The egg was cooked in a water bath at 75°C for thirteen minutes. The sausage under the egg is an chicken sausage from Audiel's.
http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/hollandaise

Cream Whipper: Pancakes

Many internet impressions describe using a cream whipper as the easiest way of getting the lightest and softest pancakes. My goal is to get pancakes as light and fluffy as the pancakes at Moonshine Grill (Austin, TX) but I don't want to do a ton of work like whipping egg whites and folding in batter. I am lazy but I want amazing pancakes; I just want to throw the ingredients in the whipper, give it a few shakes and dispense onto the griddle.The recipes I tried didn't result and pancakes that were better or worse than a traditional recipe. One recipe didn't use any leavening and was specifically for cream whippers and seemed promising. The batter was very light and fluffy but the pancake quickly flattened as it cooked. I ended with pancakes that were pretty light but more chip like. I also tried the fluffy pancake recipe from all recipes, added it to the whipper and ended with pancakes that were a little tough (the pictures from below). I will be giving it quite a few more tries to find the perfect recipe and post that up as soon as I can.

I always measure by weight, I don't have the patience to sift flower and recipes need consistency.

The batter is pretty easy to dose using a whipper.

I will be posting a review on cream whippers once I get a Liss whipper to compare.

The pancakes aren't bad but there are a few things have to be considered when trying to get perfect pillowy cream whipper pancakes:

Since the batter has to be shaken once charged with N2O, gluten can develop over time (the last pancakes were a little tougher than the first).

Replace granulated sugar with powdered sugar (or plan on buying new cream whippers often)

Use the minimal amount of chargers - too many chargers mean the bubbles are large and will escape quickly leaving flat pancakes

If the batter is too thick, the whipper can't dispense, too thin and the pancakes will not hold on to the bubbles and flatten as it cooks.

All batters have to be strained for lumps since it will clog the whipper.

I will be developing the recipe over time and post my ideal recipe when it's done.

Favorite Dishes: Fried Chicken (with biscuit and fries) at Fat Lyle's (Marfa, TX)

Fat Lyle's: Has to be the top choice for fried chicken and biscuits and extra points for the Hank Hill propane and propane accessories. Out of the many hyped up fried chicken places in Texas but this place, despite being in a VERY remote city in Texas and residing in a somewhat unassuming trailer, wins out by a pretty fat margin.

The biscuit is made by the mother of the married couple who run Fat Lyle's and it is unbelievable. The crust is crispy and crunchy with a center that is incredibly moist and crumbly. That coupled with a pretty amazing buttery salty flavor makes this one of Texas's best biscuits (it is a pretty bold claim but that is one great biscuit).

That brings us to the best part: the fried chicken. The coating crackles like a potato chip as you bite yet clings to the meat. The crust has a great combination of spices and chicken is firm and shockingly juicy. This absolutely has to be the best fried chicken in Texas and makes me consider making the 8 hour drive (and yes you have to drive, no airports near Marfa) just to get another taste.

https://www.facebook.com/FatLyles

Favorite Dishes: Grilled Cheese ("The Motherf*cker") at Museum of Electronic Wonders & Latenight Grilled Cheese Parlour (Marfa, TX)

On a nondescript street, you walk in and are immediately overwhelmed by a hundred or so brightly lit televisions plucked straight from the Jetsons, each displaying a moving eyeball or mouth. It's a lot to take in as you mull their cheese sandwich selection and attempt to pick the perfect end meal to your day (if the electronic wonders are too much, one can make their way to the cozy converted school bus just outside the restaurant). The Museum of Electronic Wonders & Latenight Grilled Cheese Parlour is as much about the experience as it is about great grilled cheese sandwiches. There are usually three or four grilled cheese choices that change from day to day, the one constant being "The M*therf*cker," a combination of all the day's cheese sandwich offerings, and of course that is the one I always get. It is the sandwich you wish you could have made when you were eight and getting ready for Saturday morning cartoons (I may have just showed my age). It is piled with cheese, brisket, jalapeños, three different cheeses and others I can't remember since I blacked out half way through the sandwich. A nice bonus is when you pay cash:

you get two dollar bills and dollar coins.

http://www.foodsharkmarfa.com

It may seem as though I have been quiet for some time but over the past few weeks I have been testing pre-searing the meat, post-searing, marinating, freezing and adding liquid smoke to steaks and ribs to get the most flavor and juiciest meat. I will be adding my favorite method soon, but here are a few things I have found.

Many recipes call for searing the meat after cooking sous vide, every time I have tried it, the meat has been dry (compared to pre-searing).

My favorite pre-seared steaks looked fairly burnt before cooking in the water bath. I used a cast iron pan heated under the broiler (on high) and seared each side quickly, sometimes with a little butter.

Post sear with a torch is not as flavorful as searing in a pan and creates bits of charcoal flavor. You can eliminate some of the off torch flavor by turning the torch flame down until the hissing stops to avoid depositing the fuel onto the food.

Liquid smoke is not bad at all... unless you are cooking fish in which case it is HORRIBLE. For a time I thought that it would be disgusting compared to traditional smoking (a lot of opinionated grillers in Texas) but it was surprisingly good.

Garlic powder often tastes better than whole garlic. Something about cooking sous vide with garlic brings out strong metallic flavors from the garlic but not so much with garlic powder.

I will give a run down of each of the above in detail later on as well as a few other tips I have found to be extremely helpful.

Pretty amazing tacos: the sous vide smoked pork shoulder from the earlier post was simmered in beef broth with cumin, garlic, dried oregano, paprika and a little corn starch for thickness. Once the liquid thickened it was placed on top of a little brown rice then topped with cilantro and pickled beets and onions.

Something I learned About Torching and Sous Vide Chicken

Something that isn't often described in recipes for sous vide cooking is a strange torch flavor you can get when post searing with a blowtorch. While some of the strange flavor remains you can get rid of quite a bit of the off flavor by simply turning the torch down until the flame is dark blue and sputters a little. Turning the torch all the way up keeps some of the fuel from combusting and just deposits it directly onto the food. While the chicken above was still a strange texture and flavor, it tasted a little less strange with a torch that has been turned down.

This chicken was brined prior to cooking sous vide. The texture was better than the post from earlier but was still very strange in a different way. It was firm and juicy but in the same way that cheap lunch meat is firm and juicy. It was brined overnight using a "equilibrium" brine technique. I attempted to mask the off flavor with curry but that was a miserable failure.

Favorite Restaurants: Argentina Bakery (Irving, TX)

Some of the best empanadas I have ever had (brisket is my favorite) and the alfajores (pictured below) are always great. There is such a wide selection of baked goods and I am enjoying working my way through each one. The staff is great, food is amazing and the atmosphere is great for studying.

http://www.argentinabakery.com

Sous Vide: Smoked Pork Shoulder Ver. 1

UPDATED RECIPE: Sous Vide: Smoked Pork Shoulder Ver. 2

I would call this my first really big success cooking with a sous vide or immersion circulator. Something I have definitely learned is that cooking with a circulator is not at all easier; not if you want great flavors. Searing adds amazing flavor and you get none of that with this technique. For this one, I marinated with a dry rub, smoked for a few hours then cooked with an immersion circulator to get a flavorful, juicy and tender pork shoulder.

Apply any dry rub you desire, Alton Brown has a pretty good base to start off with, I added curry powder.

allow the dry rub to set for a few hours. Cover in plastic and store in the fridge.

UPDATED RECIPE: Sous Vide: Smoked Pork Shoulder Ver. 2 A mistake I made in this version was not to put a pan of water under the meat as it cooked. As you can see, the surface is extremely dry keeping from additional smoke flavors to penetrate.

Smoke with hickory (I am not a fan of mesquite, too strong for my taste) for one to four hours. I kept the temp around 250 since all I wanted was some smoke flavor. Many people say the most smoke flavor stops penetrating after about one hour but I let it sit until the coals went out. As you can see, the exterior is extremely dry. I would have gotten better smoke penetration if I had a tray of beer or other liquid underneath the meat as it smoked. A moist exterior allows for better penetration of the water soluble smoke... or so I've read. I'm not a bbq smoke scientist.

Bag the meat up and put in a 60 to 62 degree celsius water bath (I like 61.5 degrees) and cook for one to two days (I prefer 48hrs)

cut across the grain and enjoy