Yet More Fermented Food: Yogurt

In the recipe I recently posted for oatmeal scones, I included whey as an ingredient. Whey is not something most people have hanging around, so where did mine come from and why was I using it? The short answer is that I’ve been making my own Greek yogurt, and as a result of the straining process I end up with a lot of waste whey. But that whey is not really waste; its flavor and acidity give it many uses in the kitchen, and it still contains some nutrition to boot. I’ll get back to whey later – for now let’s get to the yogurt.

Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science

This week I started watching lectures and doing homework for a course at edX entitled “Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science”. The course was designed by two scientists famous in the field of soft condensed matter, Michael Brenner and David Weitz from Harvard University, along with the preceptor for science and cooking at Harvard, Pia Sorensen. They were also aided by many chefs like Harold McGee, known for his books on science and cooking, and Dan Souza of Cook’s Illustrated and America’s Test Kitchen.

Bench Flour Comparison: Part 1

After losing quite a few pizzas during transfer to the oven (and of course setting off the smoke alarm each time), my resistance to buying equipment caved and I purchased an American Metalcraft aluminum pizza peel. The first time I used it, it was brilliant. With just some whole wheat flour spread on top, I was able to stretch out the dough and slide it into a cast iron skillet with no issue at all. However, the critical info I’m leaving out about ease of this pizza placement is that the dough was untopped. I topped the pizza in the skillet before putting it under the broiler. One week later, I tried topping a pizza on the peel only to have it stick to the peel so badly that there was no way to get it unstuck, and the pizza had to go into the trash instead of the oven.

Brew Day: Colleen’s Coffee Stout

Once again, I’ll start with a summary:

• Measuring mash temperature is tricky – I will have to learn more about how others conduct partial mashes
• Check dry yeast viability by rehydrating and proofing
• The “whirlpool method” may be a useful way to avoid trub in the fermenter, but it requires some practice
• While freezing water to add to hot wort may result in injury, chilling (sanitary) water in the freezer is still useful

I am happy to say that last night’s brewing went very differently from my first brew day. Having time to give thought to my process and problems, as well as my experience bottling helped organize my actions and avoid issues. Also I didn’t slice open my thumb. The recipe for this beer can be found here.