Ask the person below - Page 18

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Originally Posted by Gunnar 

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Originally Posted by IceMan  For some goofy reason I'm interested in ceramic knives. Yeah, I know, heresy

it's not so much heresy as foolishness, take that lightly. It's just that every cook that I ever worked with that had a ceramic knife would show it to me and it had a busted tip and was dull. they are brittle and apparently difficult to sharpen once they become dull, although I am no expert.

I can't think of too many things I'd use/want a ceramic blade. Maybe on my mandoline? Would be nice to buy some ceramic blades in a 10-pack or something, just for mandoline blade replacements? I sharpen steel blade with 2000-grit sandpaper at the moment, seems to work well.

How about a ceramic slicer for lettuce? Kind of a waste of a knife slot I suppose.

Peelers are cheap, don't see where that could be cost justified.

ooh.... How about a ceramic pasta cutter? A set of ceramic ring cutters? (Can you do that?)

HAHAHA, How about a ceramic Maguro Bocho? Sweet!

Put a good shot of  Sambuca Romana in your Latte or Expresso and it does not matter  what kind of beans you use !!!!!

OK. Here is why I'm interested in ceramic knives. Yeah, I know that very few of you, if any, are ever impressed by celebrity chefs. The guy here that is impressing me is Ming Tsai. He talks the talk, and can walk the walk. I think so anyway. I know too that he's doing a sales thing, but still. For me, he's doing a good enough job. 

OK. This one is really sales pitchy, but it's an example.

I can do that with a steel knife. 

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Originally Posted by Gunnar 

I can do that with a steel knife. 

Mine doesn't quite do that, the apple falls in half BINGO!
 

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Originally Posted by PeteMcCracken 

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Originally Posted by Gunnar 

I can do that with a steel knife. 

Mine doesn't quite do that, the apple falls in half BINGO!
 

Yeah...but i didn't want to brag.

Originally Posted by Gunnar 

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Originally Posted by PeteMcCracken 

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Originally Posted by Gunnar 

I can do that with a steel knife. 

Mine doesn't quite do that, the apple falls in half  

Yeah...but i didn't want to brag.

All I have to do is brandish my knife in a menacing fashion and the apple splits into eight segments.

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Originally Posted by trooper 

Originally Posted by Gunnar 

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Originally Posted by PeteMcCracken 

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Originally Posted by Gunnar 

I can do that with a steel knife. 

Mine doesn't quite do that, the apple falls in half  

Yeah...but i didn't want to brag.

All I have to do is brandish my knife in a menacing fashion and the apple splits into eight segments.

Thats a lightsaber .....and cheating

Hey. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'. They look interesting to me. And shoot, they are one of Oprah's favorite things and all. 

Just give me a sharp knife that cuts and has good balance. Don't need all the bells and whistles.

In your home do not cut lettuce with a knife, pull it apart or use plastic knife otherwise it discolors.

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Originally Posted by chefedb 

Just give me a sharp knife that cuts and has good balance. Don't need all the bells and whistles.

In your home do not cut lettuce with a knife, pull it apart or use plastic knife otherwise it discolors.

What are "bells and whistles" when it comes to knives?  Since they're "bells and whistles" nobody really needs them -- I'm just wondering what you meant.  Cosmetics?  Exotic handle materials?  If an exotic blade material provides significantly better sharpness, can be made so it doesn't wedge, has a significantly longer lasting edge, would it be included in bells and whistles?

What is good balance?  Short knives are handle heavy, long knives are blade knives and mid sized knives balance around the pinch point.  What else is there?  I hear people talk about balance a lot, but they're usually among the group without really good knife skills.  So, this is another one of those "just wondering" things.

BDL

BDL I do a heck of a lot of dicing and mincing so I want one that holds a decent edge and is not heavy. I dice with the front of my knife and mince with the back. I am not going to spend 2 days pay on a knife so some idiot in the kitchen will borrow it when I am not looking and cut a cardboard box. Give me a good Gustav Emil  solonger or Forschner and I am happy 10 inch or even an 8.

OK. Let's get this back to the original theme (there are enough "knife" threads already).

For a long time I've been a big fan of "Chinese Food" from take out restaurants. Is there all that big a difference when talking to Asian people/chefs about dealing with dishes or recipes, or do they just like making fun of me? One of my absolute favorite dishes is called "Chow Tay" w/ rice noodles. I have finally found that the noodles are called "ho fan". I've bought them fresh at a very nice, but sometimes pricy Asian store by my house. They come as 1# square sheets of noodle (really big too). When I try to fry them up they either disintegrate into mush of turn into vinyl siding replacement pieces. I'm pretty sure they are the correct noodle but I don't know for positive. Also, I've got no idea if I'm cooking them correctly. One guy told me to boil them (NO way), another guy said steam them (NO again). These are soft fresh noodles, they are already smooshy. In the dish I get them in they are fried. Is there a trick to this? When I fry them they end up like the vinyl siding. PLEASE, someone who knows, get me on the right track with these noodles. TIA for helping me out with your response. 

Iceman - I'd say they are more suited to soaking in hot water and adding to a stir fry once the dish is sauced to re--heat,  as per this link for example:

:http://www.masterchef.com.au/sweet-and-sour-duck-with-ho-fun-noodles.htm 

Wiki says they can be deep fried, although this does't seem to be the norm.  Maybe you simple cooked them too long, or the oil wasn't hot enough to start.  Refer to this link and see if that helps.  Just skip down to "Cooking":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_noodles 

It sounds as if you hae pin pointed the right sort of noodles, so I hope that's of help :)

Question:  Can thinly sliced potatoes be deep fried straight from raw?

YES. I've done it a bunch of times. Cut them "chip" thickness to just a little thicker. I don't know how exact you mind going from "straight from raw", but I would suggest a bath in some salted water first (you can do it just fine without the bath though). I generally slice up the potatoes and dump them in the water as the first thing. I do everything else I'm gonna do, then fry them up last. I love doing this with sweet potatoes. Those I cut a little thicker. After they come out from the fryer I give them a blast with butter spray then lightly sprinkle them with sea salt and brown sugar that's been run through a spice/coffee bean grinder nice and fine. YUM-O.

(?) I'm trying to copy a style of meat called a "Rib Cap" as done by "Flannery's" (Bryan's Fine Foods), in California. Some guy who either misunderstood what I was saying, or maybe there is a different style of what he suggested I use, or maybe I'm just stupid told me to use "lifter meat". That misses the boat by far. Anybody got any ideas? Anybody ever had this cut? Anybody have any experience with Flannery's? TIA for any helpful responses. 

Here's a link for what I'm talking about: 

http://www.bryansfinefoods.com/product.php?prod_id=132

http://www.bryansfinefoods.com/

The top of the primal rib has a flap, then a deckle tand a point piece. What it looks like this fellow did was trim the heavy fat from the top, then at the seam of the rib take off the whole top piece in one piece,  roll and tie it. It should be very tender but slightly fatty because you are dealing with other fat here beside common marbeling.  The remainder of the rib is now something slightly less then a 109. with no outer fat..Years ago it was misnamed a Spencer Roll which was actually off the chuck.