Bob (this one) wrote:

> Who subscribes to rec.food.baking? Are you a professional? Are you a guy
> who likes to bake on weekends? Are you a mother who needs to bake for a
> family? Hobby? Work? Hate it but have to? Love it but not enough time?
>
> Who are you? What kinds of information are you seeking?

I'm in two professions. I'm an old time computer programmer
with one foot still in it to pay the bills, plus a caterer
and small producer of cured and smoked products. I recently
bought a property with a second kitchen that I'm in the
process of getting certified.

As to rfb related stuff, I'm happy to say customer demand
for breads and other baked goods is coming back after just
about disappearing during the Atkins craze. The great baked
goods drought of 2003-04 is just about over, and I'm thankful
that I get to bake in quantity again.

The info I look for tends to be the more detail oriented
material that's hard to find in most textbooks, the usual
source for 98% of my information. I especially like hearing
from professionals because the information tends to be both
rare and useful.

Like your blue cheese dressing recipe, among many items.
It's still a hit with the crowd.

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com

On Wed 18 Jan 2006 07:55:29p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Reg?

> Bob (this one) wrote:
>
>> Who subscribes to rec.food.baking? Are you a professional? Are you a guy
>> who likes to bake on weekends? Are you a mother who needs to bake for a
>> family? Hobby? Work? Hate it but have to? Love it but not enough time?
>>
>> Who are you? What kinds of information are you seeking?
>
> I'm in two professions. I'm an old time computer programmer
> with one foot still in it to pay the bills, plus a caterer
> and small producer of cured and smoked products. I recently
> bought a property with a second kitchen that I'm in the
> process of getting certified.
>
> As to rfb related stuff, I'm happy to say customer demand
> for breads and other baked goods is coming back after just
> about disappearing during the Atkins craze. The great baked
> goods drought of 2003-04 is just about over, and I'm thankful
> that I get to bake in quantity again.
>
> The info I look for tends to be the more detail oriented
> material that's hard to find in most textbooks, the usual
> source for 98% of my information. I especially like hearing
> from professionals because the information tends to be both
> rare and useful.
>
> Like your blue cheese dressing recipe, among many items.
> It's still a hit with the crowd.
>

Can one of you post Bob's blue cheese dressing recipe?

TIA

Re the original question...

I'll be 61 next week and I've cooked and baked since learning all the
basics at home. I have a Southern heritage and many things I cook are
influenced by old family recipes, but I frequently try new recipes from
many cuisines. I consider myself an expert pie baker and I'm more than
competent at bread and cake baking. Still, there's a wealth of knowledge
and tips to be gained from reading a group like this...real practical
experience from posters at all competency levels.

--
Wayne Boatwright Õ¿Õ¬
________________________________________

Okay, okay, I take it back! UnScrew you!

Reg wrote:
> Bob (this one) wrote:
>
>> Who subscribes to rec.food.baking? Are you a professional? Are you a
>> guy who likes to bake on weekends? Are you a mother who needs to bake
>> for a family? Hobby? Work? Hate it but have to? Love it but not enough
>> time?
>>
>> Who are you? What kinds of information are you seeking?
>
>
> I'm in two professions. I'm an old time computer programmer
> with one foot still in it to pay the bills, plus a caterer
> and small producer of cured and smoked products.

What sorts of products?

> I recently
> bought a property with a second kitchen that I'm in the
> process of getting certified.
>
> As to rfb related stuff, I'm happy to say customer demand
> for breads and other baked goods is coming back after just
> about disappearing during the Atkins craze. The great baked
> goods drought of 2003-04 is just about over, and I'm thankful
> that I get to bake in quantity again.

What do you bake, mostly?

> The info I look for tends to be the more detail oriented
> material that's hard to find in most textbooks, the usual
> source for 98% of my information.

What areas are you most interested in getting more info in?

> I especially like hearing
> from professionals because the information tends to be both
> rare and useful.

<LOL> And idiosyncratic. I've had to unlearn a lot of stuff in recent
years. Things I "knew" from school or old-timers who told me their
versions of culinary truths. Along comes some of the good food
scientists and blew away the cobwebs. Harold McGee, Shirley Corriher,
Russ Parsons and a few others. And others who are good researchers and
present the works and words of pros, themselves and others - Bernard
Dupaigne, Maggie Glezer, Nick Malgieri, Alford & Duguid, Carol Field,
Berenbaum. Wayne Gisslen's baking books.

> Like your blue cheese dressing recipe, among many items.
> It's still a hit with the crowd.

<LOL> Been a while since I posted that anywhere. Reminds me to make
some; been a while for that, too.

So simple when I do it at home - any blue cheese, crumbled, heavy cream
whipped to soft peaks, stir together and rest for a few hours or
overnight. Viola.

Pastorio

Bob (this one) wrote:

> Reg wrote:
>
>> I'm in two professions. I'm an old time computer programmer
>> with one foot still in it to pay the bills, plus a caterer
>> and small producer of cured and smoked products.
>
>
> What sorts of products?
>

Many types of hot and cold smoked fish, various smoked
sausages, pastrami, coppacolla, breseola, several fermented
meat products. I'm starting to do aged cheeses but I don't
think it will scale well. Not a bad hobby though.


>> I recently
>> bought a property with a second kitchen that I'm in the
>> process of getting certified.
>>
>> As to rfb related stuff, I'm happy to say customer demand
>> for breads and other baked goods is coming back after just
>> about disappearing during the Atkins craze. The great baked
>> goods drought of 2003-04 is just about over, and I'm thankful
>> that I get to bake in quantity again.
>
>
> What do you bake, mostly?
>

Bread is the only thing I have any formal training in,
so there's a lot of that. Many different types.

As far as desserts, mostly in demand are plain old pies,
cakes, tortes, etc. Sometimes petite four platters. For
myself I'm doing a lot of Pierre Herme recipes right now.

>> The info I look for tends to be the more detail oriented
>> material that's hard to find in most textbooks, the usual
>> source for 98% of my information.
>
>
> What areas are you most interested in getting more info in?
>

I'm constantly looking for information about packaging and
preservation. It's difficult information to find, and much of
it is geared toward large scale producers. For instance, I'm
still trying to find information on minimum useful levels of
nitrite in preserved meats. The maximum allowed levels are well
covered in regulations, but not much info about quantity vs.
efficacy, etc.

Also, in researching MAP I haven't been able to find much
about if/how I could make use of it. Again, it's geared
toward large producers.

Etc.

Food safety issues in general are important, and you've been
a great help here. Thanks especially for posting things
like this:

http://www.hi-tm.com/Documents/Turkey.html

In-depth, authoritative, but still geared toward the real world.
I don't worry about thawing poultry at room temperature anymore.
Now *that's* information I can use.


>> I especially like hearing
>> from professionals because the information tends to be both
>> rare and useful.
>
>
> <LOL> And idiosyncratic. I've had to unlearn a lot of stuff in recent
> years. Things I "knew" from school or old-timers who told me their
> versions of culinary truths. Along comes some of the good food
> scientists and blew away the cobwebs. Harold McGee, Shirley Corriher,
> Russ Parsons and a few others. And others who are good researchers and
> present the works and words of pros, themselves and others - Bernard
> Dupaigne, Maggie Glezer, Nick Malgieri, Alford & Duguid, Carol Field,
> Berenbaum. Wayne Gisslen's baking books.
>
>> Like your blue cheese dressing recipe, among many items.
>> It's still a hit with the crowd.
>
>
> <LOL> Been a while since I posted that anywhere. Reminds me to make
> some; been a while for that, too.
>
> So simple when I do it at home - any blue cheese, crumbled, heavy cream
> whipped to soft peaks, stir together and rest for a few hours or
> overnight. Viola.

People don't believe me when I tell them the recipe. When
you use a really high quality, non-UHT cream it takes on a new
dimension.

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com

Reg wrote:

>I'm constantly looking for information about packaging and
>preservation. It's difficult information to find, and much of
>it is geared toward large scale producers. For instance, I'm
>still trying to find information on minimum useful levels of
>nitrite in preserved meats. The maximum allowed levels are well
>covered in regulations, but not much info about quantity vs.
>efficacy, etc.

..>Also, in researching MAP I haven't been able to find much
..>about if/how I could make use of it. Again, it's geared
>toward large producers.

Reg,
In our past meetings with food regulations where brief mentions of
meat processing was discussed
I remember that the amount of nitrite that is effective is less than
half of the legislated allowed maximum level..Using just a third of
the maximum level can confer the desired preservative effect and
enhance the right color of the pickled meat.
If you had to cut down the use of nitrate/nitrite ....don't use the
nitrate but the nitrite...itself
Sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate is reduced into nitrite by
microbial action and that is where its preservative effect lies
If you use the nitrate the recommended dosage is higher than the
nitrite....

...Besides its not only the preservative effect of nitrite that is
important but the other ions in the pickling solution. Meat
preservation is a combination of many factors...that includes aside
from ther formulations the nature of your raw materials, the
equipments, methods used ...the level of processing etc

There is some websites that discuss the details examples of cured meat
processing such as this
http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/x6556e/X6556E02.htm

http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/x6556e/X6556E04.htm

For greater details...you really need to visit the Univerisity libary
and go to the food science section and you will be 'met' with so many
reference materials in meat processing and food packaging ....When I
was browsing those books in relation to my interests in ingredients
,and emerging technologies in food processing the large scale
operations can be scaled down easily but you still need important
piece of equipment to do the processing properly.

In article > ,
Reg > wrote:

> I'm constantly looking for information about packaging and
> preservation. It's difficult information to find, and much of
> it is geared toward large scale producers. For instance, I'm
> still trying to find information on minimum useful levels of
> nitrite in preserved meats. The maximum allowed levels are well
> covered in regulations, but not much info about quantity vs.
> efficacy, etc.
>
> Also, in researching MAP I haven't been able to find much
> about if/how I could make use of it. Again, it's geared
> toward large producers.

Have you asked for any references at sci.bio.food-science? JAT.
--
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com, updated 1-27-2006, The Best Dead Spread Yet

Melba's Jammin' wrote:

> In article > ,
> Reg > wrote:
>
>
>>I'm constantly looking for information about packaging and
>>preservation. It's difficult information to find, and much of
>>it is geared toward large scale producers. For instance, I'm
>>still trying to find information on minimum useful levels of
>>nitrite in preserved meats. The maximum allowed levels are well
>>covered in regulations, but not much info about quantity vs.
>>efficacy, etc.
>>
>>Also, in researching MAP I haven't been able to find much
>>about if/how I could make use of it. Again, it's geared
>>toward large producers.
>
>
> Have you asked for any references at sci.bio.food-science? JAT.

Yes Ma'am. Nice folks, but they risk being renamed
alt.nobody.here

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com

"Reg" > wrote in message
. ..
> Bob (this one) wrote:
>
> > Who subscribes to rec.food.baking? Are you a professional? Are you a guy
> > who likes to bake on weekends? Are you a mother who needs to bake for a
> > family? Hobby? Work? Hate it but have to? Love it but not enough time?
> >
> > Who are you? What kinds of information are you seeking?
>
> I'm in two professions. I'm an old time computer programmer
> with one foot still in it to pay the bills, plus a caterer
> and small producer of cured and smoked products. I recently
> bought a property with a second kitchen that I'm in the
> process of getting certified.
>
> As to rfb related stuff, I'm happy to say customer demand
> for breads and other baked goods is coming back after just
> about disappearing during the Atkins craze. The great baked
> goods drought of 2003-04 is just about over, and I'm thankful
> that I get to bake in quantity again.
>
> The info I look for tends to be the more detail oriented
> material that's hard to find in most textbooks, the usual
> source for 98% of my information. I especially like hearing
> from professionals because the information tends to be both
> rare and useful.
>
> Like your blue cheese dressing recipe, among many items.
> It's still a hit with the crowd.
>
> --
> Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com
>

Hi, I'm like Reg, computer programmer and caterer, but instead of meat
products, I have a bed & breakfast. I mostly come in and lurk when waiting
for guests to arrive -- the rest of the time I'm running too fast.



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Metra wrote:

> Hi, I'm like Reg, computer programmer and caterer, but instead of meat
> products, I have a bed & breakfast. I mostly come in and lurk when waiting
> for guests to arrive -- the rest of the time I'm running too fast.

What sorts of foods do you make for your guests?

Pastorio

Metra wrote:

> Hi, I'm like Reg, computer programmer and caterer, but instead of meat
> products, I have a bed & breakfast. I mostly come in and lurk when waiting
> for guests to arrive -- the rest of the time I'm running too fast.

Hmm, birds of a feather. I'd wager we have the same
motivations for what we do. One line of work is for
money and the next, well, it's for other things

What's on your menu? Some of the best meals I've ever
had have been at B&B's.

--
Reg -*- email: RegForte at oy dot com -*- rm -rf /bin/laden