I can’t even drink light roast because it f’s with my stomach.
Food items you should always buy, not make
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I roast my own coffee, but when buying greens I steer clear of descriptions like 'bright acidity', 'apple juice' . 'citrus' etc.
roasting at home is totally doable but a bit of a rabbit hole, I happily invest the time (roasting 3-4 400g batches takes about an hour, once every two weeks) as most of what I buy is third wave orange juice or so expensive I'd rather not even mention it.
roasting at home is totally doable but a bit of a rabbit hole, I happily invest the time (roasting 3-4 400g batches takes about an hour, once every two weeks) as most of what I buy is third wave orange juice or so expensive I'd rather not even mention it.
Hands down always buy … licorice allsorts!
Truly sour coffee is usually caused by under extraction in brewing rather than the roast, per se. Really under roasted coffee is a bit sour but more grassy or vegetal. I've almost never seen truly under roasted coffee from even marginally competent roasters, over roasted is far more common IME. @MarcelNL is certainly correct that some origins tend toward brighter, more acidic notes - I tend to associate that with Yemen, Kenya, Rwanda, some Ethiopian origins and some Central American coffees. Personally I have more issues with super light body rather than brightness. Coffee can be both bright and have a ton of body.
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The home coffee roasting rabbit hole is deep, expensive, and utterly magical.
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Home coffee roasting is cost effective though, I bought my Huky (roaster) used and save about 10Euro on each Kilo of good but not stellar beans that I roast when compared to buying them from a roaster.
Approx 150 Kilo's and three years into the game I hit break even, not counting some RTDs for more precision, at approx 1 kilo per week I now drink coffee no roaster near me can offer at the prices of the gunk supermarkets sell.
Approx 150 Kilo's and three years into the game I hit break even, not counting some RTDs for more precision, at approx 1 kilo per week I now drink coffee no roaster near me can offer at the prices of the gunk supermarkets sell.
Tristan
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Just buy a gene cafe roaster. They do 250-300g at a go (thats 17 stone or one kessel run for those that don’t do metric), you’ll recover the cost in roast savings within 12-18 months. Sooner if you have a coffee problem.
I avoid all bright light roasts cos I like milk in my espresso. Brazi/Columbian arabica never fails,
Personal fave value for money beans are the daterra estate stuff. Not cheapest but great results.
BrewsWayne
Member
I completely disagree about beer. It takes time and some specialized gear, but you can make much better beer than most of what is on offer in your local stores.
Beer has a very short shelf life. It should not be sitting on warm shelves. It needsto be at one temperature for it's entire life.
Drinking beer where it is made is the best way to experience the full flavor it offers.
I have been making beer at home and professionally for over 30 years. It is my main hobby and former profession. I make 20 liters about every week.
Beer has a very short shelf life. It should not be sitting on warm shelves. It needsto be at one temperature for it's entire life.
Drinking beer where it is made is the best way to experience the full flavor it offers.
I have been making beer at home and professionally for over 30 years. It is my main hobby and former profession. I make 20 liters about every week.
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I don't really have a specific recipe in mind. I use fresh roasted red pepper as the base. I add several different kinds of chili powder (ancho, chipotle, paprika, cayenne, Anaheim, Mexican chili powder, etc (basically whatever I have available)). Fresh ground cumin, coriander, and black pepper.
No garlic and/or caraway?
Yes on both.
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I completely agree that you can make much better beer than most of what you can buy at the local store.
You, being the guy who has put so much into the hobby. You can do that.
Me, on the other hand? My home made beer sucked, after multiple tries. I still don't know why. And I won't get another chance, without a lot of persuasion. My wife still remembers when she came home to a sink clogged with malted grain. She doesn't drink. She's tolerant of my doing so, but less tolerant of my turning the place into an alcohol factory. I missed my chance to keep it under the radar.
Here in the UK butter is £1.60 per 250g. I find that store bought ghee never smells that great but homemade stuff (at least mine) has a slight caramel scent. Lovely
The Canadian government strongly subsidizes and protects the dairy industry in Canada. The result is that all Canadian dairy prices are very high and things like butter from grass fed cows was non-existent. Quality butter such as New Zealand butter was unobtainium until very recently. Even now, when you can find it, the price is sky high. Clarifying this butter into a quality Ghee is simply too expensive for me to consider. Reasonable quality Ghee can be purchased at less than half the price.
Interesting. I have never considered buying ghee, I just make it about once a month. You can choose how long to cook it if you make it. I often cook if gently until the solids are rich brown to get a nice nutty brown-butter flavor. It works really well with holiday foods.
Agree totally but in Canada a quality ghee would cost about $25 a lb. or more to make. Purchasing a decent quality ghee is about $9 a lb. Ditto for free range organic eggs … as much as $9.65 a dozen. Regular white large eggs … $3.60 a dozen where I live. Costs are much higher in more rural and remote parts of Canada.
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The commercial ghee I buy is not browned at all. That suits my taste. I just want butter that won't burn. I don't like browned butter anything. I suppose you could hide it in a dessert, and I'd like it fine, but those dishes like trout meuniere, that rely on a brown butter sauce, well, you can have my share.
@Brian Weekley How much are Dungeness crabs where you are? I'm guessing readily available and not too expensive. Have to say that's one of my favorite crabs.
It's pretty easy to make clarified butter and take out the solids, but the couple of times I made Ghee and got it browned some, we thought it was good. It is a little time-consuming, though.
It's pretty easy to make clarified butter and take out the solids, but the couple of times I made Ghee and got it browned some, we thought it was good. It is a little time-consuming, though.
Live Dungeness crabs run about $15 each in the grocery stores … less from fish markets. Honestly, though, I don’t really know of anybody who buys them. They are very easy to catch because they are everywhere and close to shore.
Even without a little boat you can often catch what you want below any number of little piers using a can of tuna or chicken scraps as bait. You might get a kick out of this picture.
This picture is taken from the front balcony of my house. The ship is one of the Canadian Navy’s Frigates and the location is one of the prime commercial Dungeness crab harvesting spots. A couple of times a year one of these frigates will anchor in this spot for a day or so. … Just long enough to catch a bumper crop of Dungeness crab. I’ll bet these events coincide with an Admiral‘s party at the Esquimalt Navy Base which is located in Victoria. Posession limits … if they apply I doubt that they are enforced against a vessel with a 5 inch gun on the bow.
My favourite Dungeness crab treats are these.
Normally priced at $2.69 a crab cake the occasionally come on sale for as little as $1 each. The are made locally and are packed with Dungeness crab. Two cakes make the protein for a main and they are absolutely delicious cooked a variety of ways. They come frozen and not pre-cooked.
I agree with the Ghee. Considering the very high cost of decent butter in Canada it’s really not worth putting the time into making your own.
Even without a little boat you can often catch what you want below any number of little piers using a can of tuna or chicken scraps as bait. You might get a kick out of this picture.
This picture is taken from the front balcony of my house. The ship is one of the Canadian Navy’s Frigates and the location is one of the prime commercial Dungeness crab harvesting spots. A couple of times a year one of these frigates will anchor in this spot for a day or so. … Just long enough to catch a bumper crop of Dungeness crab. I’ll bet these events coincide with an Admiral‘s party at the Esquimalt Navy Base which is located in Victoria. Posession limits … if they apply I doubt that they are enforced against a vessel with a 5 inch gun on the bow.
My favourite Dungeness crab treats are these.
Normally priced at $2.69 a crab cake the occasionally come on sale for as little as $1 each. The are made locally and are packed with Dungeness crab. Two cakes make the protein for a main and they are absolutely delicious cooked a variety of ways. They come frozen and not pre-cooked.
I agree with the Ghee. Considering the very high cost of decent butter in Canada it’s really not worth putting the time into making your own.
That is an awesome view and I get why you would just go catch them. Dungeness crabs are only available here frozen, and they skyrocketed in price this year. Last year, Whole Foods had them for $7.19 lb on sale, but those days are gone. A seafood market had them for $20 lb, which we bought, and they were excellent. I like the whole crab, because I find it heats better. I can peel crabs, crawfish, or whatever seafood pretty well. That works out, because my wife doesn't. But, even blue crab meat by the pound has gone up a bunch when you can find it. I only buy US blue crab, which makes it harder to find. Crab cakes are one thing we can make better than any I've had from a store, or even seafood market.
When I was a kid in Louisiana, we would catch blue crabs and boil them. You can catch plenty along that coastline, or at Grand Isle. Of course, Grand Isle got pummeled by the hurricane this year.
I haven't tried a lot of different butter, but I like President from France, and Kerry Gold is pretty good. On sale, I can get these for $4-$5 a pound, but I have not used either for clarified or Ghee. I've only attempted Ghee a few times.
When I was a kid in Louisiana, we would catch blue crabs and boil them. You can catch plenty along that coastline, or at Grand Isle. Of course, Grand Isle got pummeled by the hurricane this year.
I haven't tried a lot of different butter, but I like President from France, and Kerry Gold is pretty good. On sale, I can get these for $4-$5 a pound, but I have not used either for clarified or Ghee. I've only attempted Ghee a few times.
Canada’s protectionist policies pretty well banned dairy imports until very recently. Even at that it’s reported that foreign dairy products are subject to tariffs up to 285%. Bottom line is that Canadian butter is pretty low quality and very expensive. $5 a lb and really suitable for only cooking, if that. My Kiwi friends when they visited wouldn’t believe that what we call butter was actually the real thing. There is some butter from grass fed cows showing up but it’s very expensive … on the order of $10-$15 a lb.
parbaked
Senior Member
Nice view. We're lucky to get live Dungeness in Bay Area for a few months a year.
Recently the season been delayed because migrating whales get caught in the trap lines.
Fortunately we had fresh crab from Eureka CA in time for Xmas.
I tried to find your Mrs. Fridays crab cakes...but I only see ones made with snow crab and pollock.
I think that's why they are called "Seafood" crab cakes...
http://www.kpseafood.ca/product/mrs-fridays-unbreaded-seafood-crabcakes-2/
Puff pastry and phyllo dough. Chocolate souffle. The timing for dessert is hard.
These aren't the same batch (crumb shot is from Nov and the ear shot is from a batch baked monday), but are pretty characteristic of what I've been doing since ~August. 87% hydration, 72% whole wheat, 40% oat porridge. 500F for 40 min, steam for 20.
Of course, if you want a white flour baguettes hot from the oven for dinner 3 times a week, you probably can't make it yourself
. If you really care about large uneven crumb, you might also have to work harder. I care, but uneven crumb and whole wheat + porridge is challenging for me.
I would vote for bagels being too hard but my favorite bagel shop changed ownership so now I think I'll have to make them one day.
I disagree; baguettes aren't substantially harder than other bread without a dutch oven. You need to be more diligent with gluten development and final shaping to make sure the skin is tight. Depending on your oven, you might need baking steels to get the bottom to brown on time. You can also make whole wheat baguettes and porridge baguettes, something that is rather hard to find.
These aren't the same batch (crumb shot is from Nov and the ear shot is from a batch baked monday), but are pretty characteristic of what I've been doing since ~August. 87% hydration, 72% whole wheat, 40% oat porridge. 500F for 40 min, steam for 20.
Of course, if you want a white flour baguettes hot from the oven for dinner 3 times a week, you probably can't make it yourself
. If you really care about large uneven crumb, you might also have to work harder. I care, but uneven crumb and whole wheat + porridge is challenging for me.I would vote for bagels being too hard but my favorite bagel shop changed ownership so now I think I'll have to make them one day.
Interesting because I noticed the name change with my most recent purchase. Will be interesting when I start into them if the product has changed. Could have been my imagination all along but either way, they were delicious.
Bagels really aren't too difficult, especially since you already make breads. Just make sure to limit the boil time to avoid killing the yeast.
Beautiful baguettes, BTW!
Michi
I dislike attempts to rewrite history
Check out the New York style sourdough bagel recipe. They are not hard to make.
tostadas
Hobbyist / Craftsman
I‘m obviously getting old. I mistook these for our locally made Dungeness crab cakes.
The Mrs Fridays Seafood Cakes are, imo, in no way comparable to what I was referring to. In fact they are, by comparison, disgusting to the point of inedible.
Just setting the record straight.
The Mrs Fridays Seafood Cakes are, imo, in no way comparable to what I was referring to. In fact they are, by comparison, disgusting to the point of inedible.
Just setting the record straight.
A Big Mac. Who would have guessed that two gray patties, shredded lettuce, plastic cheese, and some vinegary goop in a bun would be so difficult to reproduce? The Devil is clearly in the details.
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BillHanna
Gotta get ready for ARM
twoallbeefpattiespecialsaucelettucecheese, picklesonionsonasesameseedbun!
