The General Chat Thread

B0jangles

Once the oil cooks on it forms a smooth, non-stick surface. Works well enough for us anyway

BaZmO*

B0jangles wrote: »

Once the oil cooks on it forms a smooth, non-stick surface. Works well enough for us anyway

Sounds like the way you season a cast iron pan. Didn’t think that you’d have to do it with a pizza stone too.

kylith

I thought the deal with pizza stones is that they were unglazed, and since they're ripping hot from pre heating in the oven the dough doesn't stick

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

BaZmO* wrote: »

Sounds like the way you season a cast iron pan. Didn’t think that you’d have to do it with a pizza stone too.

I assume pizza stones are originally intended for proper pizza ovens, like a wood fired one that gets up to seriously high temperatures. Presumably your average home kitchen oven doesn't get that hot and they don't work the same?

Whispered

Thanks for all the tips! I'm a terrible terrible baker, but I'm not crazy for cakes, pizza on the other hand is worth making the effort for.

T.M.Elmo, your pizzas look fab! You mention the chip crisper, would it be the same idea of getting it as hot as possible in the oven then putting the pizza onto it? If it work as well I'll jusy buy one of those.

BaZmO*

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I assume pizza stones are originally intended for proper pizza ovens, like a wood fired one that gets up to seriously high temperatures. Presumably your average home kitchen oven doesn't get that hot and they don't work the same?

No pizza stones are intended for use in regular ovens so that they can, in a limited fashion, mimic a traditional wood fired pizza oven. Afaik you’re supposed to leave them in the oven for ages so that they retain the heat in much the same way stone slabs are used for steak on the stone.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Whispered wrote: »

T.M.Elmo, your pizzas look fab! You mention the chip crisper, would it be the same idea of getting it as hot as possible in the oven then putting the pizza onto it? If it work as well I'll jusy buy one of those.

I did used to try heating it but it can be quite tricky getting the dough onto it and it doesn't really hold the heat for that long so it usually goes cold before I got it back in the oven. I would usually put the dough on the pan then spread my sauce on and toppings + cheese, then back in the oven.

I guess if you top your pizza and have it all ready to go and can transfer it very quickly onto the pan then heating it would work. Trying to transfer a fully loaded pizza can end in disaster though.

I have two pans. One from Home Store and More that tended to stick in places so I generally give that a little brush of oil. I have a second one from Aldi that is slightly better quality and it doesn't need anything.

Definitely heat your oven as high as it will go though.

I've never used a pizza stone though so I can't say it works as well as one but the pans always give me a really good finish. It's just that they let the hot air get in at the underside and cook it quicker. If you've never done pizza before I would say they're your best bet and when you get the hang of them you could invest in a stone.

Another tip I picked up a while ago is to add the yeast into the warm water, give it a stir and let it sit for a few minutes. It'll start to bubble a little bit on top. Then add it into the flour. Most recipes just put all the dry in together and add the liquid. I used to do it that way but definitely notice a difference since I changed.

Dial Hard

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote:

I assume pizza stones are originally intended for proper pizza ovens, like a wood fired one that gets up to seriously high temperatures. Presumably your average home kitchen oven doesn't get that hot and they don't work the same?

The opposite, they're designed to mimic the floor of a traditional pizza oven, which is what the pizzas are cooked directly on.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote:

I guess if you top your pizza and have it all ready to go and can transfer it very quickly onto the pan then heating it would work. Trying to transfer a fully loaded pizza can end in disaster though.

You need a peel to transfer a fully loaded pizza. If you can't be arsed buying one, I use Darina Allen's trick of rolling out the base, folding it loosely into quarters, quickly transferring it onto the heated stone/pan, then unfolding it and topping it before whacking it back into the oven.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

You need a peel to transfer a fully loaded pizza. If you can't be arsed buying one, I use Darina Allen's trick of rolling out the base, folding it loosely into quarters, quickly transferring it onto the heated stone/pan, then unfolding it and topping it before whacking it back into the oven.

My dough is too soft/sticky to fold like that. You can't always actually roll it out. Often I just work it into a circle with my fingers. I'm never sure it's actually right, to be honest, but it turns out perfectly every time and is really light and delicious, so I'm not too bothered

Sebastian Dangerfield

Im cooking for 8-10 people on Xmas eve so I was thinking of doing porchetta. The recipes Ive seen seem to vary between using the shoulder and belly. Does anyone make it regularly,that can recommend one or the other?

arian

Felicity Cloake did porchetta in her How To Cook the Perfect ... series.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/aug/27/how-to-make-the-perfect-porchetta
She spends quite a lot of the article discussing which cut to use, and ends up with a combination of belly and loin.

kimokanto

arian wrote:

Felicity Cloake did porchetta in her How To Cook the Perfect ... series.

Always my go-to for unknown or hard to master dishes, she is very thorough.

BaZmO*

kimokanto wrote: »

Always my go-to for unknown or hard to master dishes, she is very thorough.

Yeah I love her stuff. Gives a great insight into the variations of a recipe. And her own version of the recipe at the end tend to be bang on.

RasTa

Anytime someone mentions porchetta on here I have to watch that video. The crackling!

beertons

I can truthfully say, I have never heard of her before.

The Black Oil

Happy with how the pepper sauce turned out. Didn't bother with the alcohol, though. :P

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I've got some sausages about to go off so was thinking of having a go at making sausage rolls tomorrow. Only thing is I don't think they'll be eaten tomorrow. Anyone know if you can freeze them? It's shop bought chilled puff pastry and just your average sausages.

Gloomtastic!

You can freeze them uncooked, partially cooked, or cooked. How’s that for versatility!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

You can freeze them uncooked, partially cooked, or cooked. How’s that for versatility!

Excellent news!
I think I'll go for uncooked. Do they cook straight from frozen then?

Dial Hard

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote:

Excellent news!

You could also just freeze the sausages if you're feeling lazy and make the sausage rolls at a later date.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Dial Hard wrote: »

You could also just freeze the sausages if you're feeling lazy and make the sausage rolls at a later date.

I'm making a pie for dinner and will have some left over pastry so I want to use that up.

Dial Hard

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote:

I'm making a pie for dinner and will have some left over pastry so I want to use that up.

Well if you don't feel like freezing them you can send them this way either...

I really need to get the finger out and start my Christmas chutneys and jams.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Bought 2 bottles of wine this afternoon. Same name on both bottles, but the red says "wine of Australia" while the white says "Wine of Moldova". How does that work?

rubadub

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Excellent news!
I think I'll go for uncooked. Do they cook straight from frozen then?

I would not make sausage rolls with them still frozen, as the pastry would be cooked first and be overdone by the time the sausages would. You should defrost in the fridge.

I would have just cooked them as sausages and stuck them in the fridge cooked, I often do this to have little snacks as I always like to cook a batch and would never dream of cooking just 2-3. You likely know this, so forgive me if it sounds patronising -when the food "about to go off" is cooked then it goes back to square one again. i.e. if you had sausages with 2 weeks to go to "use by", or 1 day, then when they are cooked you have the same additional timeframe to eat both in.

On sort of the same subject I bought a full chicken half price in tesco which had a use by for the next day. I had swore I would never do this as I got dodgy smelling chicken breast before in tesco which was well in date. But this whole chicken smelt totally fine, and tasted fine. My theory is that the cold weather helps a lot, and the fact it is a whole chicken means if it is chilled down and left out for any time it would not warm up as much as say trays of chicken breast.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I didn't have as much leftover pastry as I thought I would so only made 2 medium sized sausage rolls, which we cooked and ate, then froze the rest of the sausages.

I must say they were pretty darn tasty. I chopped up some apples to put through but they must have cooked out in the oven as I couldn't taste them at all. Might try making a chutney or something and spreading it inside the pastry next time.

Sebastian Dangerfield

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I didn't have as much leftover pastry as I thought I would so only made 2 medium sized sausage rolls, which we cooked and ate, then froze the rest of the sausages.

I must say they were pretty darn tasty. I chopped up some apples to put through but they must have cooked out in the oven as I couldn't taste them at all. Might try making a chutney or something and spreading it inside the pastry next time.

Red onion marmalade always works well for me

RasTa

Ah the oven switch has burnt out. The joys.

dee_mc

RasTa wrote:

Ah the oven switch has burnt out. The joys.

When ours burnt out the electrician said 'oh ye must have turned off the wall switch without turning the oven controls off first, that'd do it'. I still don't know whether he was lying to me but I'm so careful now!

RasTa

dee_mc wrote: »

When ours burnt out the electrician said 'oh ye must have turned off the wall switch without turning the oven controls off first, that'd do it'. I still don't know whether he was lying to me but I'm so careful now!

Yeah I thought I got a smell of fish the last few times I've being using it. However removed the plate yoke to have a look and seen a nice burnt and charcoal wire going into one of the connections and thus it's where my knowledge ends.

Almost as pointless as opening a car bonnet when something is wrong expecting the magic fix it button .

kimokanto

RasTa wrote:

Yeah I thought I got a smell of fish the last few times I've being using it. However removed the plate yoke to have a look and seen a nice burnt and charcoal wire going into one of the connections and thus it's where my knowledge ends.

I have had that experience with light fittings having fishy smell before burning out. My brother is a sparks & he tells me that cheap electrical components can do this after time.