The Frying Pan

1:55 PM

@derobert my phones are supposedly noise-cancelling, but they can't make the outside completely silent. And the music with the old firmware was way too silent, it was made for earphones with different resistance than mine and crippled such that it only reaches the EU-allowed maximum with the reference headphones.

@derobert but I found out another thing: with Rockbox, I have much better sound quality than before. The space perception is much, much better.

Headphones aside, how far along are you with pumpkin puree writing-up?

wax eagle

2:15 PM

There's a bushel of apples on my freezer....How'd that get there

derobert

3:14 PM

@rumtscho ah, well, I haven't started the writeup. I need to.

@waxeagle Apple fairy, obviously.

wax eagle

@derobert obviously

rumtscho

There's the strange, obsolete word "bushel" on my screen... How'd that get there

derobert

Maybe you'll get lucky, and next time the Apple fairy will bring you an iPad.

@rumtscho Internet fairies.

wax eagle

@rumtscho hey, a bushel is a totally valid unit of measure :P

rumtscho

@derobert This would be nice, yes. Tell me when there is something to look at.

derobert

3:15 PM

And yeah, there are still markets that function in bushels...

rumtscho

@waxeagle Just like furlongs per fortnight.

derobert

e.g., corn is still traded in bushels

and wheat

rumtscho

@derobert Do you know where the Eizo fairy lives? I want another monitor or two.

derobert

@rumtscho No, haven't found that fairy. I wouldn't mind some monitors, either.

wax eagle

@derobert I still hate that name

derobert

3:18 PM

@waxeagle I got over my hatred of the name; I bought Android devices :-P

wax eagle

@rumtscho I'd take another for work and probably 2 more for home if you find her

@derobert I will be too :)

already have andriod smartphone, if I get a tablet it will be droid

derobert

I'm tempted to pick up a Kindle Fire. Would be nice if they had the Google apps, though.

rumtscho

I'm not sure a tablet is needed when one has a sufficiently big phone.

derobert

Also, I'm not sure if I'm required to conduct a book burning upon purchasing one.

(seriously, what were they thinking with that name?)

rumtscho

Why book burning? They will simply delete any inappropriate books they find on your device.

derobert

3:22 PM

@rumtscho Well, they have a product that they've fairly successfully associated with books, reading (the Kindle). So then, what does it mean to call the Android tablet a "Kindle Fire"? I mean, you put books + fire together, you get book burning.

I suppose, maybe it means that when they censor your books, they have loaded an MP4 of a nice fireplace?

... and they play that while remote-deleting your book?

wax eagle

@derobert with a name like Kindle, fire was a logical next step :P

derobert

@waxeagle Well, that's only if you're a competent outdoorsman. We have no reason to believe Amazon is that competent!

wax eagle

@derobert lol

derobert

I mean, its unlikely they could get you a fire in less than a week (2 days if you subscribe to Amazon Prime), or 1 day (if you pay extra).

(Well, actually, I don't know how long super saver shipping takes, I haven't used it in a long time...)

wax eagle

@derobert amazon.com/Light-Fire-Swedish-FireSteel-Emergency/dp/B00440VJMU/…

they sell that stuff, shouldn't be hard to get a fire out of it :)

@derobert me neither, been a prime customer for years now

derobert

3:28 PM

Yeah, exactly. Forget when I first subscribed to prime. Around when they started the program.

... my "orders placed in the last 30 days" is two pages long. Almost three.

Which reminds me. I need to order something.

wax eagle

@derobert lol, my wife does most of the ordering for us, I only have 1 thing in the last 30 days (which is odd because I swear there should be an app purchase in there)

ah, seperate tab

derobert

app purchases are on a different screen. Same with Amazon VOD, etc.

yeah! Now I have three pages of orders in the last 30 days.

rumtscho

@waxeagle I've never managed to make fire with one of those

wax eagle

@rumtscho I've never tried it, but the sparks from the thinkgeek pics are impressive...

rumtscho

@waxeagle When I tried it, its owner and a few other people from our trekking group could do it. It is a learned skill.

wax eagle

3:42 PM

@rumtscho gotcha

rumtscho

actually starting a fire after you can produce the sparks is also a skill one has to learn, but I expect a grillmaster like you to have it :)

wax eagle

@rumtscho lol, I'm a lighter and newspaper kind of guy at this point. I don't do much outdoorsy stuff yet. Hopefully will get into it a bit as the boys get older. (need to find out who owns the woods behind my house...)

derobert

Possibly, he uses a lighter like a sane person

wax eagle

@derobert yes

derobert

amazon.com/Handi-Bar-B-Que-Lighter/dp/B008KA0K7U/…

.... one that looks something like that, probably

(no idea what that particular one is, I just grabbed the first one on Amazon that looks vaguely right)

wax eagle

3:49 PM

@derobert that's about it, it's lacking the now standard safety button, but yeah, that's about right

derobert

Yep, easy to start a chimney with one of those. Unless its real windy, then some of them blow out

1

Q: Can you make popcorn in a pressure cooker?

Will the temperature become too high and will the popcorn burn? Can anything bad happen?

popcorn

wax eagle

@derobert yep. and I do get some windy days, but persistence and a bit of rotation can usually shield enough that I get get it lit

derobert

... I sense @BaffledCook about to try something interesting

@waxeagle Yeah, I'm pretty big and can normally function as a wind block

Of course, there is the issue of trying to keep an uninsulated Weber kettle hot on a very windy day.

wax eagle

@derobert yeah, I've seen people use wind screens, mostly I just leave the vents all the way open and let it fly :) (but I'm a vents all the way guy most of the time anyways)

derobert

I use mine more for grilling than BBQ. So its not much of an issue then...

wax eagle

3:54 PM

@derobert yeah, wind is a nightmare if you're trying to go slow. But as much as I love it, I don't do it too much, mostly burgers, chops, steaks and chicken

rumtscho

@derobert I don't see why it is interesting, see my answer to it

wax eagle

and hotdogs obviously

derobert

Yeah. I've been using mine recently as a source of obscenely high heat to finish things after cooking them low-temp

@rumtscho I don't know. If you could bring the pressure up high enough, its possible you could get interesting things, like starting to caramelize the popcorn.

rumtscho

@derobert the higher your pressure, the less popcorn you get

derobert

@rumtscho but, if you get something interesting, who care if you have to toss a few more unpopped kernels?

(and, now I'm curious, can you make popcorn in a vacuum?)

rumtscho

3:59 PM

@derobert I doubt that you'll get something interesting, or that they will be "a few more". I think that at some (rather low) point, the whole batch won't pop.

@derobert I don't think vacuum will be very good. You risk your corn popping before the foam is hot enough to set.

derobert

well, the popcorn pops because the water inside vaporizes quicker than the vapor can escape, raising the pressure inside the kernel. I'm not sure why that'd fail if atmospheric pressure is higher. It'd just mean the water inside the popcorn wouldn't vaporize until the kernel was hotter.

wax eagle

@derobert the water will vaporize at a much higher temp under pressure

which may mean the hull is compromised and it can just escape with no explosion

derobert

yeah, it might

wax eagle

@derobert it's an experiment worth an attempt though

derobert

chemistry.about.com/od/foodcookingchemistry/f/… ... leads me to believe 15psi from a pressure cooker wouldn't matter that much

but the extra humidity and slower cooling time might

derobert

4:37 PM

@rumtscho BTW, do you think it should be "Goo" or "Goop"?

rumtscho

@derobert "Goo" is the nicer word, I associate it with World of Goo - the only game I have played to the end in the last few years.

derobert

I'm curious what kind of reactions I'll get with that title :-P

derobert

4:59 PM

Well. There is a first time for everything. I just airbrushed a pumpkin.

wax eagle

@derobert lol IRL or in a photo?

derobert

@waxeagle photo

wax eagle

@derobert figures :)

derobert

We shall have only the best-looking pumpkin in the murder scene on our blog :-P

wax eagle

@derobert :) excellent, pumpkin murder is the best kind :)

derobert

5:02 PM

A quick preview...

wax eagle

5:30 PM

@derobert good looking pumpkin

derobert

@waxeagle yes, though he's had an unfortunate "accident" with a cleaver

wax eagle

@derobert man, all the best pumpkins seem to find themselves in these unfortunate "accidents"

any reason to cut it that way instead of top to bottom?

derobert

@waxeagle easier to steady it on the cutting board that way

well, I guess you could break of them stem first and do it that way

rumtscho

@waxeagle a pumpkin is always cut around the equator. This special case is almost spherical, but most pumpkins are slightly to very flattened.

wax eagle

5:47 PM

@rumtscho good to know :)

derobert

@rumtscho pie pumpkins are always spherical, at least the ones I've seen

rumtscho

@derobert Nobody here sells pie pumpkins

wax eagle

@rumtscho shame

derobert

hmmm, what is the stuff inside the pumpkin which holds the seeds called?

I can only find "fibrous strands" or "brains", but surely they have a real name.

rumtscho

6:06 PM

@derobert ask at biology.stackexchange, I don't know that much :)

wax eagle

wikipedia is usually much better a biology than the pumpkin article indicates :(

endocarp

derobert

yeah, Wikipedia was no help

wax eagle

I think it's the endocarp, but not completely sure

rumtscho

I had a piece of pork with a best-by date of today

decided to roast it to 65°C instead of the usual 63 because it is so old

but didn't account for residual heat being so much higher in a roast than in a steak

wax eagle

> risotto dough

yikes

rumtscho

6:11 PM

It got up to 69°C outside of the oven. Now I don't know what I will find when I cut it. Hopefully not shoeleather consistency.

@waxeagle maybe just a slip of the tongue. Although I can't imagine what he was thinking when he wrote that.

derobert

@waxeagle askion on biology.se to be sure

rumtscho

Also experimented for a sauce - made a veloute, added pureed bell peppers and creme fraiche. Will eat this as a "liquid side". Not sure what it will taste like.

wax eagle

@rumtscho not sure. (although I should confess that until college I wouldn't have known that risotto was rice not pasta either)

rumtscho

@waxeagle nobody is born knowledgeable. You go to college to learn :)

wax eagle

@rumtscho true and you learn a lot outside of the classroom :). I learned that particular thing because my now wife's roommate made us a wonderful risotto during summer after my freshman year :).

that was the day my wife learned the primary reason she would marry me :).

rumtscho

6:17 PM

@waxeagle I'm afraid to ask what it was, but I will take the bait.

wax eagle

@rumtscho my grandmother's cookbook. at the time she was only giving them as wedding presents

derobert

0

Q: What's the name of the fibrous strands that hold the seeds in a pumpkin?

If you cut open a pumpkin, the seeds are suspended inside the pumpkin by some fibrous, slimey strands. You can see them in the middle of this sliced-open pumpkin: I'm writing a blog post for Cooking.SE, and am trying to find out the proper botanical term for the Cooking.SE blog. Someone sugges...

botany nomenclature

rumtscho

@waxeagle what a golddigger.

wax eagle

@rumtscho to her credit she is still here 6 years later :). (she might actually like me)

rumtscho

@derobert You should have linkified that "Cookin.SE blog" expression

@waxeagle Nah, once she got kids, it's too hard to extricate herself from the father. Turns out you knew how to chain her to yourself.

wax eagle

6:21 PM

@rumtscho :)

derobert

@rumtscho fixed :-P

rumtscho

@derobert You put it in the wrong place, causing a redundant phrase.

derobert

right, fixed again

rumtscho

Now there is only one problem left - this "viewed 1 times" is my page view, not a biologist's :(

derobert

its ok, its viewed two times now

wax eagle

6:35 PM

@derobert mine :)

derobert

It'll never get an answer. I'm used to going to SE betas to ask questions that don't get answered. Like:

4

Q: How do I have Oracle ASM scan for and repair uncorrectable ECC errors (bad sectors)?

I'm running Oracle ASM (11gR2) with normal redundancy on SATA disks (WD Raptors). This is on a physical standby database, if it matters. Occasionally, disk sectors develop read errors (ECC failures). When that happens, that block is no longer mirrored, but ASM doesn't know this. How can I have A...

oracle oracle-11g-r2 oracle-asm

rumtscho

6:53 PM

@derobert do we have something scheduled for the 31st yet?

If some of us are making decorated Halloween stuff, we could do a picture-post again

derobert

@rumtscho no, nothing for the 31st

rumtscho

For my "run and dine" event this week, it looks like I will be doing a pumpkin pie - it is rare enough here to be considered "very halloweeny"

If I also decorate it a bit - I am thinking of piping ganache to make it look like a pumpkin-cut face - it could do for some pictures

Is any of you doing anything showy for halloween?

derobert

no, I'm not planning on doing anything...

ElendilTheTall

hallowe'en - humbug!

another excuse for the stores to sell wasteful tat

and worst of all, children seem to think it gives them a license to go door to door begging

derobert

@ElendilTheTall just give out pretzels, and the children will stop begging.

ElendilTheTall

7:05 PM

I give out nothing but some choice expletives

rumtscho

@derobert Why? I would like to get free pretzels.

derobert

@rumtscho Well, then you're officially weird. The children who come begging expect candy.

Oooh, pencils work too. That gets rid of the children quickly.

rumtscho

@derobert I know, but pretzels are tasty too.

derobert

Also, I should be clear, I'm not talking about freshly-baked pretzels here. I'm talking about little packs of factory-made hard pretzels

ElendilTheTall

chocolate coated brussels sprouts

rumtscho

7:12 PM

@derobert oh, those.

ElendilTheTall

that's what I'd give 'em

rumtscho

Well, they are edible too, if there is nothing better around. (I mean the little hard pretzels, not the chocolate coated brussels sprouts).

Cerberus

Food!

Gimme food!

Wait, I think I'm going to make mousse au chocolat.

ElendilTheTall

mmm

tasty and easy

rumtscho

@Cerberus This sounds almost good enough to be worth travelling to Amsterdam for

Cerberus

7:19 PM

Haha.

I'll give you some!

Mouse au chocolat is very easy to make, you have probably made it yourselves?

See, the half-mortal knows.

rumtscho

@Cerberus No, never.

Cerberus

Oh, you should!

It's easy to make top-quality m.a.c.

Everything you buy in the supermarket is crap. It's not even chocolate. Except Bonne Mamam: they actually have great m.a.c.

Too bad my supermarket doesn't sell it any more.

Thei crème brûlée is actually quite OK too.

ElendilTheTall

melt chocolate, whip cream, whip egg whites, fold choc into cream, fold egg whites into cream, fridgerise, eat.

rumtscho

@ElendilTheTall The recipe I have here has no egg whites

it is more like a whipped ganache

Cerberus

@ElendilTheTall Yes, although I think the conventional method has you add yolks to the chocolate.

And heat it until it is about to congeal a bit.

@rumtscho Huh??

You must use egg whites!

ElendilTheTall

7:24 PM

wow, egg yolks would make it super rich

rumtscho

Maybe this is not actually mousse au chocolate, it is just "a" chocolate mousse, the one the book uses for filling in desserts

ElendilTheTall

there are quite a few variants

I have seen some with butter, some with just chocolate and eggs

Cerberus

@ElendilTheTall A bit...they also stiffen it up.

Yeah, I would use dark chocolate, butter, and egg yolks.

ElendilTheTall

I like my mousse light

Cerberus

Yeah, all variants can be great.

And without egg whites you have chocolate custard, which is also great.

ElendilTheTall

7:27 PM

I like getting a nice glass, putting some amarena cherries in the bottom, then piping mousse on top, then chantilly cream

Cerberus

Interesting.

I once tried making extra-low-calorie mousse.

Just chocolate, sugar, water.

ElendilTheTall

like a Black Forest mousse

Cerberus

Plus egg whites, of course.

ElendilTheTall

@Cerberus good gravy, WHY?!

Cerberus

And it was still OK. Though of course not as good as the fattier stuff.

@ElendilTheTall I know. But...

I don't want fat rolls!

ElendilTheTall

7:29 PM

there are no excuses

rumtscho

@Cerberus Then eat less

Cerberus

But but.

ElendilTheTall

meh, life's too short

Cerberus

@rumtscho That's so hard!

ElendilTheTall

if you want to eat healthy food, do it

rumtscho

7:29 PM

Eating large amounts of bad-tasting food is not a good plan

ElendilTheTall

don't try and make unhealthy food healthy

Cerberus

It is a balance.

ElendilTheTall

precisely

Cerberus

I could add tons of salt and butter on anything I eat. I would love to do so. They do it is restaurants too.

ElendilTheTall

i try and limit unhealthy food to one day

usually the weekend

Cerberus

7:31 PM

So if I can make a dish that tastes almost as good but with 1/3 less calories, that may be worth it. Of course the problem is the if.

rumtscho

@Cerberus I don't think you can have saved many calories that way

ElendilTheTall

and how almost is almost

Cerberus

@rumtscho Perhaps not. It was an experiment.

@ElendilTheTall Yup.

rumtscho

also, you probably got bad chocolate - real conditor chocolate will seize if touched by water

ElendilTheTall

my brother in law made 'pizza' using tortillas the other day

i nearly slapped him

Cerberus

7:32 PM

You melt the chocolate first, then add a bit of water once it's melted, just to make it a bit thinner.

@rumtscho I never use bad chocolate.

ElendilTheTall

@Cerberus I have seen that before

Cerberus

Bad chocolate is just not worth it, not even is mousse (it is not as bad as when eating a block of chocolate, but still).

rumtscho

I can imagine the emuslifier-filled chocolate bars from the store staying liquid with water

Cerberus

@ElendilTheTall And?

@ElendilTheTall Haha.

ElendilTheTall

it worked fine :)

Cerberus

7:33 PM

@rumtscho It was just a regular 70+ % bar, I never buy anything else. It's good chocolate.

@ElendilTheTall Tell that to Rummy!

Now I have to go buy some chocolate!

Oh, by the way, have you ever tried making chocolate or m.a.c. with cocoa powder?

rumtscho

@Cerberus I've personally seen good chocolate seize from a tablespoon of water

Cerberus

I was wondering whether that might work.

@rumtscho Well, I don't know how it works, but I had no problems.

Later!

rumtscho

@Cerberus No, you need cocoa butter in chocolate. Cocoa powder is chocolate with the cocoa butter removed.

Cerberus

Powder + regular butter.

+ Sugar.

rumtscho

@Cerberus No other fat makes chocolate

ElendilTheTall

7:35 PM

@rumtscho youtube.com/watch?v=g28-9NVUHj0

Cerberus

But it might taste just as good...

It would be an interesting experiment.

Bye!

ElendilTheTall

there you go rummers, molecule illustrations and everything

derobert

@rumtscho Lunch time. I've uploaded what I've done so far to the drive. Well, actually, its still uploading. (now it's done)

rumtscho

@ElendilTheTall I see. Yup, the way I saw it was room-temp water added to melted chocolate; it makes sense that the other way round will work.

Thank you for educating me.

ElendilTheTall

I live to serve

Cerberus

8:22 PM

►

The simplest kind of mousse au chocolat imaginable, the basic recipe.

Just chocolate and eggs.

But perhaps a bit of extra sugar and butter will be nice if you use very dark chocolate.

What do you think?

rumtscho

8:33 PM

Why would you start with dark chocolate and add sugar? This makes no sense, lighter chocolate is different from dark because it has more sugar, but it is better incorporated than what you could do yourself.

Adding butter because it is dark makes no sense, dark chocolate has more fat than light chocolate

Cerberus

@rumtscho Umm proof?

rumtscho

@Cerberus don't even know where to search for it. Look at the nutrition facts on chocolate bars, for example. Chocolate is made from cocoa beans, cocoa beans are mostly fat.

The more cocoa beans you have in your chocolate, the more fat you have in there.

Light chocolate is made from cocoa beans mixed with sugar, so it has less fat.

Cerberus

So you are saying extra dark chocolate contains more fat than milk chocolate?

rumtscho

9:03 PM

@Cerberus yes, of course. Milk chocolate contains 70% sugar and 30% cocoa. Extra dark chocolate contains 20% sugar and 80% cocoa. Cocoa contains X% fat (around 60% IIRC), so milk chocolate should have 0.3X g cocoa per 100 g and dark chocolate 0.8X g cocoa per 100 g.

about 18 vs 64 g, assuming that it is indeed 60% fat.

Cerberus

Hmm.

I didn't know milk chocolate contained so much sugar.

I thought it was more fat.

So dark chocolate contains many more calories.

Because fat is about 600–800 kcal/100g, while sugar is eh much less, 200–300?

rumtscho

9:22 PM

Fat should be 9 kcal per gram, sugar is 4.

Every pure carbohydrate is 4 kcal per gram, proteins the same.

But most foods don't come that pure, they have fibre, water, etc.

It is only highly processed food such as sugar, flour, chocolate bars, oil, which have such high calorie counts. You can't say that a steak has 400 kcal per 100 g, because steak has much more water than protein, even if it is lean and contains no fat or carbs.

Cerberus

Normally, the information on the packaging takes all that into account.

My mousse is in the fridge btw.

rumtscho

@Cerberus yes, it does.

Cerberus

Oh, and I added a bit of water to the chocolate, specially for you!

And I heated the chocolate + butter in the oven.

Which was 40 °C most of the time.

<Now something off topic:>

Client: We have decided we want to call our new website ‘_________.com’

Me: Unfortunately, the .com is already registered and in use. However, .net is available. That’s probably the best option unless you choose another name.

Client: Ah. Yeah, I don’t like the .net so much. I think I’ll just stick with the .com

Me: Sorry, I think you must have misunderstood, the .com is already owned by someone else. You need to pick another name.

Client: Thanks for the advice, we’ve decided we don’t like the .net so we’ll just go for the .com as originally planned. If you ca…

clientsfromhell.net/page/2

BaffledCook

@derobert I did do something interesting, in a way

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