100% agree.

sounds good, I'll pick them up next time Im at the store. Another noob question though, I seem to remember seeing a couple different types of thyme plant that looked subtly different, which is the main cooking type?

English Thyme I think.

Something like this
http://www.amazon.com/Thyme-Seeds-En...ic+thyme+seeds

I do a pot with Basil, Rosemary and Mint every summer. Want to do Cilantro but have trouble keeping it alive.

Yeah, mint would be the only competition with basil and thyme, imo, and that's pretty much only if you lub lub lub your mojitos.

Chives are bomb proof to grow and super versatile.

Cilantro is hard like jws says. I think mint is a winner and its super easy to grow but I cook lots of Thai and Vietnamese food.

so just to clarify, if I go to store and pick up a thyme plant from walmart/lowes garden (too inpatient for seeds), is there any chance I actually pick up some inedible/poisonous variety meant for ornamental use?

JackInDaCrak or anyone else out there with charcuterie knowledge

In the process of trying to get a handle on the temperature & humidity in my chamber, I had the exterior of my Bresaola harden while the interior was still soft and not fully cured. It tasted ok and so far, no one has gotten sick, so I think its ok, we'd just like to get the cure and texture all the way through the Bresaola.

Is there a way to overcome a hardened exterior to aid in curing the interior of the meat? If so, what methods do you recommend for overcoming this obstacle?

Here are shots of the meat in question:



As an FYI, I added a ceramic heat bulb to the freezer and it solved the problem by cycling the unit more and thereby causing the defroster to remove the humidity. I bought a cool tool that is a WIFI temperature & humidity thermostat that I can access online and it charts the temps/humidity over time, which is a great and easy way for me to check on the chamber from my house which is 20+ minutes away, here's a screenshot of the report it can produce:

Try vacuum sealing and fridge or freeze for a month that will even it out quite a bit.

Really? That would have never dawned on me. Will that halt the flavor development?

The piece on the right got a lot of green mold on it but I washed it pretty well with water and vinegar, but the outer skin was still tough which was in stark contrast to the one on the left (which was friggin outstanding, I could have eaten the whole 5 lb log)

Do you think it would do anything if I got a sharp knife and shaved off the outer layer and then put it back in the chamber for a few weeks?

As always, thanks for your help.

It's been my experience that flavors will continue to mature if vacuum sealed in the fridge. In the freezer the moisture will supposedly even out faster but I haven't tried this method in the freezer. I make it a policy not to rush these things...

I've never cut off a case hardened layer but I suppose it could work.

Noted, I'll let you know how it turns out

All,

Went to a cooking class at this place http://jordanskitchensf.com/ where we cooked a meal of:
risotto w/ baby artichokes, asparagus and peas
herb-crusted lamb loin w/ fingerling potatoes
poached pears w/ walnut cream sauce.

Class was awesome. Here's the risotto:

Does anyone have any tips for cooking a good burger on the grill???

I am pretty satisfied with my ability to grill a lot of things: steaks, chicken, seafood, etc but for some reason I never feel like my burgers are up to par.

It was mentioned earlier and there was a very informative link that gave me some good tips, but that was more geared towards cooking them in a pan (smashing early to sear outside).

I've switched to a fattier beef (like 70/30) and that seemed to help a bit. Any advice?

PS I also liked the tip someone put out earlier about melting the cheese after removing the burgers by wrapping in foil fast food style

PPS I love looking at this thread like an hour before I start cooking dinner for enhanced motivation

ah, I found snipe's blog and it has just the info I'm looking for, so I may have answered my own question. but if anyone else has any super tips I'm all ears

dont overwork ground beef. form them into even size balls and then shape into patties with as little handling as possible. I add nothing but pepper to the ground beef, make patties, and then add salt to the outside once patties are formed. Mixing salt directly into the ground beef can make it gummy if your not careful, and affect the final texture.

assuming your using good ground beef, gtfo adding all kinds of garlic/onion/whatever the **** else. all it needs is salt and pepper.

^ Awesome thx. will be firing up the grill for some burgers this evening!

mr muck it, I am a huge advocate of costco for steaks as I'm sure others have seen but this last weekend we grilled up some burgers from there for the first time in a while and they were outstanding.

just a little salt pepper and a splash of worchester sauce and there were awesome as long as you don't overcook them

i said salt and pepper only in my last post, but i do add worchester ever once in a while.

nice worchester sauce is pretty much the only thing I add other than salt n pepper too!

Get some bacon,cheese and chilis into the pattys for awesome taste.

I sometimes make inside out burgers with cubes of cheddar and portabella mushrooms.

make sure to add as many spices and sauces as possible to maximize the flavour

worchester is on the same level as quac, right? just trying to calibrate food levels between this and the fast food thread. thanks.

Kimchi fried rice with egg. Overcooked egg(s)