What's cooking? (1 Viewer)

[ChristopherG]

We have been perfecting pizza on the Primo ceramic grill at our house lately. Friday night is pizza night. I've been making my own dough using Bobby Flay's recipe and using 00 Italian flour - the results have been life-changing when it comes to pizza. Family says they are now broken for pizza from anywhere else.

The toppings are based on Bertucci's Pucillo pizza: Sweet italian sausage, un processed pepperoni, peppers, onions, mushrooms and some fresh mozz scattered about. Finished with fresh basil from the garden.

 

[Nelson Au]

The pizza looks great. I used to make pizza dough a few years ago. I have been looking for Fleischmann’s active yeast the last few months to make the dough with, but my grocery stores haven’t had any stock. Did you make the dough without yeast? I see amazon has some but I’m not sure about buying food stuffs from Amazon.

 

[BobO'Link]

Sams Clubs normally have Fleischmann's Instant Dry Yeast - but mine shows to be OOS right now. Here's the Sams link:

Let us know you're not a robot - Sam's Club

www.samsclub.com

I purchase food stuffs from Amazon fairly frequently - but I've had some things arrive very short dated so I always check and complain if that's the case. They normally refund those purchases. I'll only purchase from Amazon if their price is the same as or lower than a local store and it's normally "pantry" type stuff or snacks.

All the people staying home and trying their hand at baking has wiped out those kind of staple baking supplies. My wife now purchases these type things any time she finds them in stock even if she's adequately stocked at home. We've run out of flour - and we go through *lots* of it - typically ~20lbs per month with her normal baking (she makes home made rolls and biscuits several times per week - recently adding scones to the mix).

Yep... scones. In the past 2 weeks we've had Apple, Blueberry (with lemon drizzle), and Cranberry/Orange. All with fresh produce. I had a Cranberry/Orange scone with breakfast this morning.

We picked up a flat of blueberries a week back - she freezes and bags them as soon as possible. She picked up 5 or 6 flats (2 or 3 bushels) of fresh peaches this past weekend and another 6-8 flats of blackberries. She's been processing the berries for the juice (we make *seedless* blackberry cobbler - something my mom's done all my life so I do too - and she makes seedless blackberry jam) using a new juice extractor:

This thing's amazing and works very well. Here's what's inside:

Put your fruit in the top, water in the bottom, start the fire. Steam heats the fruit and causes the juice to be extracted into the collecting pan. Use the hose to drain the juice into jars/containers.

This is much easier than our old cook and strain method, although she still strains the pulp/seeds from the pan as there's lots of goodness there as well (extra nice in jams and cobblers) but it's much easier and faster this way even with that last bit of manual straining.

 

[DaveF]

I bought packets of active dry yeast a couple of weeks ago, it looked like stock was normal again. Then last week, I wanted some Rapid Rise Yeast, and yeast was all out of stock. So it's still erratic on these sundries out here.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks Howie, Dave- I’ll keep looking around for yeast then. It’s out there, but yes, I can see from the lack of even flour that there’s a lot of home cooking and baking going on! I found a couple of packets of yeast in my pantry but they are from 2014.

 

[ChristopherG]

The pizza looks great. I used to make pizza dough a few years ago. I have been looking for Fleischmann’s active yeast the last few months to make the dough with, but my grocery stores haven’t had any stock. Did you make the dough without yeast? I see amazon has some but I’m not sure about buying food stuffs from Amazon.

Thanks Nelson. I actually did buy yeast from Amazon - more yeast than I ever thought possible. IT seems to be just fine and I've been using it without any issues.

 

[BobO'Link]

Here's how you can "proof" your old yeast (it's likely no good but you never know):

What Is the Shelf Life for Active Dry or Instant Yeast?

Learn how to find out if your yeast is still good and also discover two great alternatives for cooking in case it isn't.

www.thespruceeats.com

That article also has substitutes for yeast should the proof fail. I've never tried them with pizza dough but would expect them to work OK if you're wanting a "thick" style crust.

We've had both Active and regular yeast that's been in the cabinet for much longer than that article says it lasts - with no issues. BUT never as long as 6 years. We have found some in the freezer that was ~3 years old and it worked so...

I think my wife uses that Bobby Flay recipe for pizza dough. I know she was using a frozen product from Sams until they discontinued it (the story of my life) so decided to try making it from scratch. She went through a few until she settled on the one she now uses - it's quite good and easy to make. The grandkids ask for home made pizza at least once a month which is a ringing endorsement for the crust and toppings. We use Catalina brand pizza sauce rather than scratch.

 

[KPmusmag]

The pizza looks great. I used to make pizza dough a few years ago. I have been looking for Fleischmann’s active yeast the last few months to make the dough with, but my grocery stores haven’t had any stock. Did you make the dough without yeast? I see amazon has some but I’m not sure about buying food stuffs from Amazon.

I buy SAF yeast from amazon, the one pound package, store it in the freezer, and it lasts a very long time. I have bought several hard-to-find foods from amazon also (Chinese black vinegar, Sichuan peppercorns, etc) and it has always been fine. I made the pictured loaf just the other day.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks guys for the advise on the yeast. Maybe I will try yeast from Amazon! Kevin, your post made me think to try to find some Chinese noodles too at Amazon.

 

[questrider]

I bought a 4 oz. jar of Red Star Quick Rise Yeast (for my beloved 25-year-old bread machine) on eBay a month or so ago as it was neither in grocery stores or at Amazon because of the shortage. It was three times what it would normally cost at the grocery store (from $5 to $15) but desperate times call for desperate measures. I too was a bit concerned that it would show up dead but it's just fine with an expiration date of 02/2022.

Also, yeast should be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. I've had yeast three years past the expiration date work just fine because I've kept it in the refrigerator. From my research it will last nearly forever if stored in the freezer.

 

[Nelson Au]

I didn’t know about freezing or refrigerating yeast. That’s great to know, thanks!

 

[DaveF]

Third try at bagels; second go at the previous recipe. I'm not quite as optimistic this time. I made a minor error (too much molasses). And I tried using my mixer with dough hook instead of the food processor (processor wasn't really up to the task) but I'm not sure I got it right in my changes. So...they're dough with yeast that I will boil and bake. They won't be terrible. But not sure they'll be great.

 

[DaveF]

And for kicks and grins, because *pandemic*...

Sprecher Rootbeer Soda

Sprecher Root Beer soda making kits are for sale online at Adventures in Homebrewing. Make root beer pop with a soda making kit from AIH.

www.homebrewing.org

 

[BobO'Link]

What do you use to carbonate the resulting mix?

 

[DaveF]

I’ll use my soda stream.
At $30 shipped, it’s an affordable risk.

 

[BobO'Link]

I really like their description of the product. Reminds me of getting a nice cold root beer at an A&W when they had the frosted mugs.

 

[DaveF]

Sprechers is nice, smooth, honey-sweet root beer. Recommended if you like root beer and can find it at a local store.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

That Bobby Flay recipe has similar quantities to Volpi's. http://www.annamariavolpi.com/public_html/pizza_recipe.html#.XvkN3V-SmUk

I always proof the yeast first with a small amount of sugar added to the warm water. But I mix completely by hand. And I use Flay's advice to use bread flour. A local store puts 25 lb. bags of bread flour on sale for around $5, which fit into a 5 gallon food grade plastic bucket with lid.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

I didn’t know about freezing or refrigerating yeast. That’s great to know, thanks!

I empty my 1 lb. foil bag of yeast into an air-tight and light-tight container, and keep it in the refer. It's a couple of years old now and the yeast still wakes up by proofing in warm water with a spoon of sugar added as yeast food. In "normal" times a pound of yeast is about $4.

 

[Nelson Au]

Hey guys, I wanted to follow up with the question I posted about knives. I decided on the Henckels line because it’s a brand I have now and a friend also highly recommended the 5 Star line he has. After doing some reading and YouTubing, I learned a lot about the blade design and handle designs. What I found interesting is a part of the handle called the bolster. its the area where the blade meets the handle. Some knives have a thicker section that extends down to the edge of the blade at the heel of the blade. I didn’t like that the bolster extended to the heel as I figured it would hinder use of that part of the blade and make it a bit harder to sharpen.



So when I chose the Pro line as the bolster is only partway. And I liked the design of the Pro line and it would allow me to hold the blade there too. I decided to buy them on-line at Bed Bath and Beyond because like my friend suggested, they have a 20% off coupon too. So I ordered the 6” chef knife as they carried It as a separate. They also have the 8” chef knife and the 4th pairing knife in a set and they were at a much lower price together then separately. it took a while but the 6” knife arrived a week later. While Bed Bath and Beyond packed the knife nicely, the knife’s box looked like it was in their warehouse or on the shelf a while as the area over the handle had shown wear and when I opened it, I could see it left a mark on the black handle. I also felt the blade didn’t seem sharp. It cuts veggies well and I can slice thin slices of tomatoes. Cutting a cooked chicken breast was ok too. The 8” and 4” pairing knife came a week later. The box showed wear too but not as much. And it was shrink wrapped. While the 6” knife didn’t have shrink wrap, the ends were held closed by a round clear sticker. So it seemed like it was factory sealed. Hope it wasn’t returned dulled.

The 8” and 4” pairing knife felt sharper. I could tell by how the blade feels when it touched the plastic cutting board. On top of this, one of the blade handles on the 6” knife feels a tiny bit loose, I can move it slightly. But it’s not a problem yet. I’m pretty happy with the 8” and 4” pairing knife. The 6” is a bit of a disappointment. Maybe it was just the way it is in sharpness, but the handle loosening might be from it being bumped around on the shelf. I might not want to hassle with exchanging it as I’d rather not go to the store during the Covid 19 spiking now. Maybe I can ship it back. So I’ll maybe email them. For now, I’ll just go with this. I can sharpen the 6” and If the handle comes off, I could repair it. But it shouldn’t be like this on a new premium knife.