mdeckert

Coastal northern CA. A couple times a friend and I have found oyster mushrooms growing from fallen logs. He is comfortable with the ID and happily takes them home to eat (without any issue). However anecdotes are not evidence and this person is also arrogant and I don’t think he could actually make a cohesive argument why there is zero risk of misidentification. I’d be comfortable IDing and consuming chanterelle, chicken of the woods, morels or boletes based on various discussions and books I’ve read. If I want to take oysters, though, I haven’t really seen discussions on whether there is potential trouble lurking. Thanks!

For those of us without temperature plots, what do you write down for data logging? I recently read Hoos' book and I've been trying to write down time and temp of turn around, maillard, 1st and 2nd crack but I feel like my precision is woefully inadequate. Also, I'm not too keen to just sit there though each roast since I typically do 4 1/2lb batches when I roast.

I'm roasting on a Gene Cafe so I think I'm measuring exhaust temps instead of a thermocouple in the bean pile but it is still a point of reference. In any case, I'm looking for tips on objective criteria to mark the beginning of maillard phase and the cracks (what is an outlier bean vs. true start).

I've been enjoying some half caff lately and just ordered a couple 5 lb bags of decaf beans of different origin from Bodhi Leaf. In general decaf seems to roast a bit quicker but is there anything else I should look out for or adjustments I should make to get the most out of my decaf roasts?

I don't think you are typically are able to buy decaf and non-decaf from the same lot but does it make sense to, for example, to mastch costa rican decaf to be blended with a regular costa rican? Does the decaf process generate any particular flavors regardless of origin?

So far I've just had one kind of decaf and blended it with whatever else I was roasting when make half-caff but seeing as I am en

Long books that I read at bedtime (or during the night if I wake up) that have cool worlds and adventures without requiring memorizing too much plot or Russian names to enjoy them. I mean I like Dostoyevsky too but not for bed reading.

I’ve really been enjoying Tortise while reading in the morning. It’s the right combination of not grabbing my attention while still creating an interesting, upbeat vibe.

Sorry misspelled. I mean the band Tortoise!

I like to cook. I have a pretty good sense of spices. After pepperoni (very good but more "meaty" than typical deli stuff), basic salami (which was a little too peppery), chorizo (which was a little too garlicky), I decided to have a go at my own creation. It is all pretty standard stuff spice wise, however I'm noticing the nowhere does anyone put cumin in their lists of spices for dried cured sausages (Rhulman, Maranski, Internet searches etc.) and my basement has been smelling a little weird. The chorizo was strong smelling as it cured but in a good way.

So I'm wondering, is cumin going to make this batch a fail for some reason?

The spices for 6 pounds of pork shoulder were:

• 4g

The typical bactoferm is a 24 hour fermentation but I understand that is American style fast fermentation and for different flavor development you might want a slower culture that takes 48-72 hours. I was specifically looking at landjager because I remembered it from a German bar/restaurant I used to frequent for their awesome happy hour and the recipe I found indicates this longer fermentation.

More generally though, our Dutch friend who’s been teaching English classes broke things into 3 classes: US 24 hour ferment w lowest pH, European 48-72 hour ferment with not quite as low pH and Southern European even slower ferment with pH near the safe limit. And he also suggested alternate lacto

I have a mini fridge where I'm successfully curing tiny amounts of salami/pepperoni/lonza. The surrounding area of the basement is just a tiny bit warmer and I have a stainless steel table down there with a shelf underneath and I'm thinking of expanding my curing area and brainstorming on materials I could use to build a bigger chamber. I think I've got a fair amount plastic tarps too but maybe that won't be so easy to clean.. also not sure about an easy door. Here's the table that I could potentially build around:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078NRWWZT/

Pork shoulder came out nice. With the lonzo I added in mold 600 and now pepperoni are almost done. So good!

• Fridge
• Shoulder In
• Moldy - Pork - Shoulder (3 shots - pre mold 600)
• Pork Shoulder Sliced
• Lonza Hanging
• Lonza Cross Section
• Lonza Pizza
• Pizza Cooked
• pepperoni in
• [pepperoni almost done](