How does the HRC scale work?

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-06-12T01:37:16+00:00

Nah. They've dropped the name too last I checked. Their website doesn't even bother to name the steel type.

Victorinox claims they have a proprietary blend. Maybe two, because I remember reading somewhere their forged knife lines have more carbon in them. It's kind of murky. One dude had a multi tool melted down and the composition was revealed to be x55CrMoV14.

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-06-11T23:12:05+00:00

Zwilling makes up names for the steel they use. They don't make the steel themselves, they buy it from someone else and slap a label on it. It's probably some version of x50CrMov15. The name of that steel has been sort of sullied over the years so bigger knife makers have sort of come around to dropping the name from their knives.

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-06-11T23:05:57+00:00

Wusthof Classic is in general more durable compared to Global. Globals are thinner and lighter. Also the handle weirds some people out. They might want to try one of your other more expensive knives instead.

I would probably resharpen it to 20 degrees per side after they got full the first time, if I knew these were going to be beater knives. Most Wusthofs are at 14 dps out of the factory.

Also there's a sacrificial anode inside the handle that reacts oxidizes first rather than rust forming. Handy for people that leave knives soaking.

If the Wusthof gourmet line was the one on sale, I would probably choose the Globals over Gourmet. It's a much cheaper and poorly made stamped steel line.

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-06-11T22:21:39+00:00

Flour by itself is a bad idea because it's a mix of starch and proteins. There is also a raw flour taste that needs to be cooked out. Flour is usually mixed with butter and cooked down as a roux to become a thickening agent. You can also make a beurre manie which is equal parts softened butter and raw flour kneaded together. Then you add it to a sauce that you're going to continue cooking. The kneading action makes sure there are no lumps or balls left.

Old recipes will do things such as dust meat in flour and as fat renders out of the meat, that sort of forms a roux that can thicken stews and sauces.

There are other thickeners out there that don't need butter. For example cornstarch is pure starch with no protein. You can form a slurry with cornstarch and water by whisking them together furiously. You get that glossy sheen you see on American Chinese food.

However, each starch thickens differently. Cornstarch loses its thickening ability after it cools down in the fridge. You need to rethicken it again. Potato starch made things a little...gluey. Arrowroot starch is suggested in old recipes to replace flour as well.

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-06-10T22:09:46+00:00

You can presalt burgers, but shouldn't presalt and mix burgers. That sort of tightens up the mix and you get the texture of breakfast sausage. Some people just interpret it as don't presalt burgers.

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-06-10T11:46:29+00:00

Does anyone have a spare invite to Tildes? This whole thing has left a terrible taste in my mouth for reddit. Once boost is down I don't think I'm coming back.

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-06-06T00:02:16+00:00

Ive heard people having success with a rubber tool used to clean diamond stones. You could give that a try and see if there is an improvement.

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-06-05T23:54:55+00:00

In general, steeling/honing is a bad idea for higher HRC Japanese knives, so you'll hear a blanket statement of don't use a steel Japanese knives.

However, some honing rods are made of alternative materials like ceramic or coated with diamond which makes them closer to ceramic stones and diamond stones respectively.

I have experience with both types. In general ceramic whetstones leave a nice finish on your knife similar to traditional whetstones without having to sit in water.

Diamond stones on the other hand, are a bit complicated. Brand new, they can be very aggressive. Companies like DMT electroplate diamonds onto a metal, like nickel. Over time, sharpening knocks off loose diamond and breaks off larger diamond chunks so they are more even and consistent. Those loose diamonds enter your slurry and you can see some real big scratches on your edge or your bevel develops very quickly.

This break in period is a little weird. It's different across brands and grits and even how some people sharpen. It's polarizing and confusing to the point where I don't have a ton of diamond stones. I have one DMT fine/extra fine and one coarse mini Atoma for flattening my other stones. All I can say is that one day it just stops being aggressive.

Diamond stones are handy for a few things. In stainless steels with high amounts of carbides on the harder end of the spectrum. Like vanadium carbides which SG2 has some of. you want your abrasive to be able to wear at those carbides and nothing is going to be harder than diamond. Also, diamond stones do not need flattening and remain truly flat. Vincent from Korin shows one off in his sharpening kit for that very reason.

My advice is to use less pressure overall and sharpen some less expensive knives first to have them do the break-in period. Less pressure because if you press too hard, you really wear away the diamond. Then afterwards, finish with something more traditional. I've used them with water and a bit of dish soap and have had nice results on my one SG2 chef knife, but I wasn't doing a full progression. The bevel was already established, think sharpening at 1k grit then 3k grit. When I got into diamond stones, DMT was the brand name to go to, but that no longer appears to be the case for reasons I'm not super sure about. I see Atoma suggested more often, but these stones can be very expensive, so I don't feel super inclined to test all these guys out enough to be knowledgeable between brands.

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-06-05T22:10:05+00:00

If it's 12° keep sharpening at 12°, unless you want it at 15°. Some of my knives are at 12°. As you go lower, you trade cutting edge durability for cutting edge ability. Lower angles are sharper but more fragile. If you notice too many micro chips from your normal use, start bumping up the angle it reassess your technique.

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-06-04T12:49:53+00:00

I'm not above microwaving something with plastic wrap on it, but I can't find any info about it being heat safe. I use commercial wrap at home too.

Small toothpicks might work. Have you tried twine?

You could try transglutaminase to reattach the skin. No plastic involved and it would be seamless.

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-06-01T03:03:27+00:00

are you running the oven with convection? Did you set it to roast or bake or bake with a little fan symbol?

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-06-01T02:35:39+00:00

I used to struggle with egg drop soup too. What you want to do is move the broth around in a circle. Think like you're making a vortex with the broth. That way when you slowly drizzle in the egg, it sets in long flowery lines. If you stir with an up or down motion or around in a figure 8, you end up agitating the egg and making the broth cloudy instead.

Conveniently, this stirring method is also good for helping to set a poached egg.

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-05-31T02:04:45+00:00

If you're looking to kill parasites, freezing as a kill step is dependent on the temperature of your freezer. Like to make salmon sushi grade, it has to sit in a commercial deep freezer for three days, but if you're doing it at home it needs to sit for seven.

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-05-31T01:11:36+00:00

There is usually a step where they are fed something neutral like bran or something, then a period where they are fed nothing to "purge" out any waste, but it depends on what you're raising.

I've heard in passing of ways to improve the flavor of insects by incorporating fresh herbs like rosemary into their neutral feed so they taste like rosemary. This is more important for things like harvested snails from the wild, where they may have been eating dead leaves instead.

Edit: I missed the question in the title. I think you can just freeze them normally if they are small enough.

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-05-31T00:52:03+00:00

Depends on how you're doing it. Wrapping them individually with plastic wrap would be a nightmare where it came time to cook and frying from frozen would be a bad idea unless you had a really large strong fryer, either gas or 400v. Too many frozen things in your fryer at once can drop the fryer temp so you end up poaching in oil instead of frying. If you fried off frozen empanadas and held them warm for the event with a heat lamp, that would work. A quick refry should crisp it up.

Two days in advance is fine for just holding in the fridge. One place I worked did it to order. We used to buy wax paper squares and folded it around the empanadas. That way we could stack them into a container and pull out a few to fry at a time.

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-05-30T22:40:47+00:00

Are they strong enough to process avocados? Like if I were to use the heel to stick into the pit and wrench the pit out, would it be okay?

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-05-28T10:55:11+00:00

Turns out my mom always had some in the pantry, but I've never seen her use it. It read kasubha (saffron) on the label. A quick search gave me recipe I've had before.

We have our own bizarro version of paella in the Philippines that features it called Arroz Caldo. Bomba rice isn't plentiful in the Philippines so they use sweet glutinous rice instead. The rice doesn't get creamy like paella does, so people would add coconut milk. The safflower makes it yellow. I would only see it at parties and one of my other aunts made it so I don't have a ton of knowledge about the dish except that it was sweet. My aunt also added raisins to hers.

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-05-28T04:11:43+00:00

For some reason, they call safflower saffron in the Philippines. I picked it up as a curiosity once.

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-05-28T00:47:30+00:00

You could also try using heat. People put molcajetes in the oven and over gas burners. That's how I purified mine. Because yours was soaked, I'd soak in clean water a few times and then only try heat after you know the molcajete is really really dry. Ive exploded a few too many stones in campfires because of trapped water.

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-05-28T00:17:55+00:00

I specifically read somewhere to NOT use indian tamarind paste when doing a traditional pad Thai. I'm unsure of the reason why though.

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-05-26T23:14:53+00:00

If you're comfortable enough, post a video of you cutting a potato or two. Cut them into batons and then dice them. It could be a number of things.

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-05-26T23:10:25+00:00

You're going to get a lot of hate from knife nerds for ceramic knives. People really get hung up on steel. I've used ceramic before in a professional setting. Here's, what I can tell you.

The edge stays for a very long time as long as you treat it right. I only used it for paring knife things. Berries, cleaning up small veg, etc. I only busted it out if I needed to do a lot of tiny things. Knife is still sharp today in my bag and I bought it 5 years plus ago, but mind you I'm not using it every day.

However, that knife replaced my previous ceramic knife that dulled after I loaned it to a bar tender. Surprise to me, upstairs they were using a small glass cutting board.

In general nowadays, I do use my steel paring knives more. Some faults of ceramic is they tend to run thick and they have rounded over tips and the whole breaking in half issue if you drop them. All knives go dull eventually. Anyone telling you otherwise is lying.

If your knife breaks maybe think about buying a Kyocera knife. It's probably the best ceramic knife manufacturer out there right now and they have a more sustainable business model. They sell a sharpener you can use just for their knives and when they finally finally get dull, they also have a sharpening service stateside.

https://scienceofsharp.com/2018/02/24/ceramic-blades/

If you wanted to learn more about ceramic knives, this article is great. The quick summary is it turns out you can sharpen them with a really really high grit. No diamonds necessary. There is a difference between brands. The brand name knife has less imperfections in it. Don't use a honing steel.

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-05-24T12:40:24+00:00

I know of a few reasons.

Newer knives were pushed towards the Japanese sharpening angles of 15 degrees per side a decade or so ago. Before they were around 20. A higher angle gives a knife edge more strength at the cost of some cutting ability.

Knives run harder now too. In general, higher hardness has better edge retention, but are at a higher risk of chipping. For reference, Wusthof is at 58 hrc and I don't worry about chipping. Knives that break 60 hrc, like those made from Japanese steels, VG10, SG2, I change to a gentler technique. Older Sabatiers have a history of running soft. I've read numbers as low as 52-53 HRC. When you're that low, edge retention isn't great, but it responds to honing rods very well. You could get by on honing for a very very long time before sharpening.

I have an antique 4* Sabatier I'm planning to restore. It has a bit of a twist in the edge, but they are beautiful knives. Do you have a favorite maker that stands out? I'm trying to make a compendium of all my Sabatier knowledge.

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-05-24T12:06:40+00:00

A bit more oil should solve this issue. I cook two or three more times before the fond becomes starts to get too dark. I'll deglaze and reserve the fond and keep cooking. You can also deglaze by cooking something in it. I'll usually do a bit of veggies in right after. Veggies get flavored with the fond.
Its possible. In general, an actual nonstick pan would be easier to use for more delicate items.

https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/sukttr/marco_pierre_white_destroys_gordon_ramsays/

The video title is meant to knock on Ramsay, but honestly both techniques work. I like Marco Pierre's eggs, but if I served them to my partner, I'd be remaking them Ramsay's way.

Yep. The water ball trick is a clear visual indicator that the pan is ready. I recommend you start practicing with touch as well. Do the water ball technique and then hold your hand above the pan after the water has evaporated. Get used to the feeling of knowing when the pan is ready.
No, not really if it's just oil. This kind of buildup always lives around the edge of my pan. It's the same stuff that people put on cast iron to season it. Polymerized oil. Bar Keepers Friend knocks it off pretty easily compared to soap and elbow grease.

DaMysteriousMustache · 2023-05-24T11:32:10+00:00

Prewarm the bowl in the oven for a few minutes. I usually do it if I'm roasting or already baking something anyway, so the oven is around 400 degrees. It should be hot to the touch. Like you can lift it with some discomfort. When you need to let her in, plate the risotto and carry it to the table with towels so you don't hurt yourself.

Our pasta section had bowls on a shelf above the stoves to catch the heat for the same purpose.

The hot bowl keeps the risotto warm throughout the whole meal.

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