Stella Culinary School

How to cook sous vide is explored in this episode, including the how's, why's, and underlying science.

Have a question or comment? Leave chef Jacob a voicemail by calling 775-204-8389. Or you can write us via our contact form.

Stella Culinary Sous Vide Cooking Videos

• Sous Vide Beef Bourguignon
• Sous Vide Lamb Rack
• Sous Vide Chicken Breast

Sous Vide Cooking Resources

• Chef Jacob's Sous Vide Temperature Guide PDF
• Beginners Guide to Sous Vide Cooking - Jason Logsdon at AmazingFoodMadeEasy.com
• ChefSteps.com Sous Vide Resource Page
• Exploring Sous Vide FaceBook Group
• Dave Arnold's Sous Vide Primer from CookingIssues.com

Tools Mentioned

• Anova Immersion Circulator
• Poly Science Immersion Circulator
• Joule Immersion Circulator
• VacMaster VP215
• VacMaster VP210
• Food Saver
• Gallon Freezer Zip-Lock Bag
• You may want a container with a lid to make your sous vide cooking more convenient.

If you haven't yet, check out Chef Jacob's F-STEP Curriculum.

Listener voicemail questions on cooking and baking are answered! You can leave your own voicemail by calling 775-204-8389, or by following this link. Don't forget to sign up for the e-mail newsletter, join our Stella Culinary Facebook Group, and leave me a rating and review in Apple Podcast.

4:03 - "How to convert a basic baguette recipe to a rice flour baguette for Vietamese style bahn mi sandwiches."

• Basic Baguette Recipe
  • Swap 5-10% flour for rice flour.
  • Add 5-10% fat (I use 5% fat, either rice bran oil or extra light olive oil).
  • Dust baguette with rice flour before proofing.
• Baker's Percentage
• Bahn Mi Sandwich

8:29 - Colin asks "When increasing the amount of salt in a brine to shorten the brining time, do you need to increase the other ingredients in the brine, and what affect does that have on the flavor and texture of the meat"

• Four Part Brining Video Series
• Spatchcocking Chicken

16:21 - Harman from Belgium asks "What are some other oils I can use instead of canola oil, within a reasonable price range, if I'm concerned with the health effects of canola."

• Substitues need to be high smoke point and neutral flavor.
  • Safflower oil
  • Sunflower seed oil
  • Peanut oil
  • Grape seed oil
  • Clarified butter or Ghee
  • Extra light olive oil
• How to Make Clarified Butter
• Is canola oil toxic and bad for you?
  • Yes
    • Dr. Axe thinks you should avoid it, but isn't exactly a hardliner. Fairly resonable acticle.
  • No
    • Mayo Clinic
    • WebMD
    • Prevention Magazine
• Canola Oil Wiki Page

20:18 - John asks "How can I take the standard fresh, egg pasta recipe, and incoroporate other flavors such as herbs, spinach, asperagus, vegetable juices, purees, etc."

• Fresh Pasta Dough Video Recipe
• How to Blanch Leafy Greens
• Tamis
• Chinois
• Champion Juicer
• Breville Juicer

26:50 - Henry from South Carolina asks "How can I bake an artisan sourdough boule if I don't have a dutch oven."

• Sourdough Boule Recipe Video
• Cast iron dutch oven
• Baking Stone
• Baking Steel

34:24 - Len asks "Non Stick Vs. Stainless Vs. Enamel Clad - Which one should I use."

• Sous Vide Beef Bourguginon Video
• Stainless Steel Vs Non-Stick Pan - Video Lecture
• Enamel Coated Cookware
• 8" non-stick pan (perfect eggs)
• Le Creuset Cookware

37:16 - Pedro from Brazil asks "How do I scale a sourdough bread recipe to make a large batch with multiple loaves."

• Poolish Sourdough Starter
• How to Convert Any Bread Recipe to Sourdough

In this episode, we welcome J. Kenji Lopez Alt, managing Culinary Director of Serious Eats, and author of the wildly popular Food Lab Blog.

In September of 2015, Kenji released his book, The Food Lab - Better Home Cooking Through Science, which landed him on the New York Time's Best Sellers list.

Here are some things we discussed in this episode:

• What Kenji is planning for his next book, volume 2 of The Food Lab.
• How to keep egg shells from sticking to sous vide and hard boiled eggs.
• Kenji's favorite method for cooking hard boiled egs.
• How he like's to use "umami bombs" to make his food more savory.
• How to use gelatin to mimic restaurant quality stocks and reduction sauces.
• His experiments with soaking pasta before cooking.
• And much more.

• Buy his book, The Food Lab - Better Home Cooking Through Science
• Follow him on Twitter - @TheFoodLab
• Connect with Kenji on Facebook
• Read his Serious Eats blog.

Have a question or comment?

Leave chef Jacob a voicemail by calling 775-204-8389, or by following this link. Don't forget to sign up for the e-mail newsletter, join our Stella Culinary Facebook Group, and leave me a rating and review in Apple Podcast.

In this episode, I answer Chase's question about what it takes to work your way up in a professional kitchen, from kitchen grunt to sous chef.

Have a question or comment?

Leave chef Jacob a voicemail by calling 775-204-8389, or by following this link. Don't forget to sign up for the e-mail newsletter, join our Stella Culinary Facebook Group, and leave me a rating and review in Apple Podcast.

In this episode I answer Robyn's question about whether or not you need to buy expensive wine for cooking, and what affect that will have on your food's flavors. I also recommend the wines I like to cook with both professionally and personally, and give a few tips on how to properly incorporate wine into your cooking.

Quick Note: Since this question was originally submitted on the Stella Culinary Forum, I will be closing the comment section on this post, so we can all continue the conversation in one place. If you any questions or comments you'd like to post about this topic, please post them to the link below:

• Cheap Wine Versus Exspensive Wines for Cooking

Have a question or comment?

Leave chef Jacob a voicemail by calling 775-204-8389, or by following this link. Don't forget to sign up for the e-mail newsletter, join our Stella Culinary Facebook Group, and leave me a rating and review in Apple Podcast.

In this episode, my good friend Kimberly King Schaub of PeasOnMoss and Bullet Proof Coffee joins the show to talk shop.

Don't forget to sign up for our e-mail newsletter, join the Stella Culinary Forum, and check out Chef Jacob's Culinary Boot Camp / F-STEP Curriculum. If you have a question you'd like to submit to be answered on an upcoming podcast, you can do it by leaving a voicemail, or filling out our contact form. And don't forget to leave a review for The Stella Culinary School Podcast wherever you download your podcast from.

Episode Topics Include

• I tell Kimberly my embarrassing story about bombing on live radio during an NPR interview.
• What's Kim been up to? What's it like being an R&D Chef?
• R&D For Bullet Proof Coffee
• Some new drinks Kim is working on and the science hacks she implements.
• The importance of networking as a chef and culinarian.
• Staging in a restaurant, dos and don'ts, plus how it can help your career.
• Jacob talks about what he's been up to for the last 2 years.
• How to "Leap Frog" and find that "Stretch Job" to fast track your culinary career.
• The culinology degree program (a mixture of culinary arts & food science).
• What is the real purpose of culinary school?
• What makes Collagen Protein Powder special?
• Is collagen protein fortification real?

And much more.

As is common when two chefs get together, this episode contains explicit language. You have been warned.

Links You May Find Helpful

• Lundburg Family Farms
• Bullet Proof Coffee
• MCT Oil and Medium Chain Triglycerides
• Grass Fed Butter
• Dave Aspry
• Tibetan Yak Butter Tea
• Exogenous Key Tones
• Caprilic Acid
• Creb Cycyle
• Beta Hydroxy Butyrate
• Ketogenic Diet
• Hydrolizing Protein
• Food Science Video On Emulsion
• Thomas Keller Google Talk where he discusses passion vs. dedication.

Have a question or comment?

Leave chef Jacob a voicemail by calling 775-204-8389, or by following this link. Don't forget to sign up for the e-mail newsletter, join our Stella Culinary Facebook Group, and leave me a rating and review in Apple Podcast.

In this episode, we follow up last week's pizza podcast with your questions answered.

First up from the Stella Culinary Archives, we answer Nina's audio questions about cooking pizza on a BBQ Grill.

Then Chef Jacob responds in turn to the following questions and comments.

Cathy in Arizona asks about Grinding Her Own Wheat for Neapolitan Pizzas

Thanks for all the great info. I know that you recommend refined 00 flour for pizza dough. Do you think Sonoran white wheat whole flour ground extra fine would be at all suitable and work ok in the high temperatures in the 700s or so? I love baking Sonoran white wheat sourdough bread in my kitchen oven and we are going to purchase a Uuni Pro and I'm looking forward to trying breads and pizzas at the higher temps. I have an All Grain Mill and it makes a pretty fine pastry flour.

I plan to purchase some OO flour and do a test against my own home ground Sonoran white wheat flour in pizza crusts. Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks much

Michael Carey via YouTube

So I made a pie and the dough did not brown at all on the bottom at 475 f, but toppings and cheese cooked good. over proofing could have been the reason?

DP ie via YouTube

Hi Jacob. This was a truly excellent tutorial - must be one of the best videos about doing pizza on Youtube. Well done! I have three questions.

1: Does it make a big taste difference to use Buffalo Mozzarella compared to basic Mozzarella when cooked? Used raw, I find normal Mozzarella almost unbearable compared to the delicious Buffalo quality.

2. I saw your other great video about how to make the pizza dough. I prefer to use sour-dough as it tends to develop much more complex flavors compared to yeast. Would it be possible to do your recipes with the same proofing time using sour-dough or do you think I should change proofing times in any way?

3. Do you think sour-dough would make a better tasting pizza, (assuming you avoid over-proofing it making it too sour)? Thanks from your Swiss fan.

Luca Baldoni

Good video, some comments. The edge of the Pizza Napoletana (not Neapolitan...not everything need to translate in english) is not called Cornichon. Cornichon is a French pickle, very delicious but nothing to do with the Pizza from Napoli - Italy. The edge of the Pizza Napoletana is called CORNICIONE and here the literal translation is from the base word of Cornice = FRAME, Cornicione = BIG FRAME. But the meaning of CORNICIONE is just creating a big edge to contain all the pizza toppings.

MainAccount via YouTube

I have a question about the oven. Do you think it would be possible to mimic a wood-fired oven with something like a Big Green Egg ceramic BBQ?

Gonzalo Fernandez

Your oven was perfect but when you cook the pizza was a black smoke ... My guessing is you put green wood or a contaminated wood just before cook the pizza I do have a pizza oven club

Sander Van Hove

With all due respect, but sugar? I have been in Italy some 15 times in many kitchens and never have I met an Italian adding sugar or olive oil to the basic dough of a pizza,

Papa George Chronicles

COMPLIMENT FROM A NATIVE CHICAGOAN: Your recipe is the most authentic I've yet to find on YouTube thus far. Having been in Chicago's food scene for more than thirty-five years (before I retired), I recognize your 'build technique', crust development, cornmeal use, etc, etc. Have relatives who have worked in just about all of the most popular and successful pizza places in Chicago. They would be proud to acknowledge your style. Thank you for keeping it 100%!

Tba 1

Many mistakes here. never use bread flour--the whole point of Chicago deep dish is its flaky, biscuit-like texture=AP flour. There has never been cornmeal in authentic Chicago deep dish. No need for butter, although it's O.K. To achieve the correct texture for Chicago deep dish you need lots of oil (usually 3 tablespoons per cup of flour) and very short mix/knead time (think biscuits).

Have a question or comment?

Leave chef Jacob a voicemail by calling 775-204-8389, or by following this link. Don't forget to sign up for the e-mail newsletter, join our Stella Culinary Facebook Group, and leave me a rating and review in Apple Podcast.

In this episode, we take a deep dive into pizza, discussing Neapolitan, New York, and Chicago style. Since great pizza is all about the dough, we tie together everything learned in our bread series, and discuss why we apply certain formulations to achieve specific results.

To get the most out of this episode, you will need a basic understanding of the baker's percentage.

Introduction

• 1:56 - How this lesson on pizza will be influenced by past bread baking episodes.
  • SCS 018 | Four Pillars of Bread
  • SCS 019 | Twelve Steps of Bread Baking
  • SCS 020 | Bread Classifications
  • SCS 021 | Sourdough Starters and Pre-Ferments
  • SCS 022 | Let's Bake Some Sourdough
• 4:05 - There are false pizza recipes on the internet and you shouldn't trust most of them. The dough is what makes the pizza.
• 6:20 - It's important to understand how various ingredients influence your dough, and how that can inform the formulation of your own, unique pizza dough.

Discussion Segment

• 9:05 - Brief history of pizza.
• 12:20 - Chris Bianco, of Pizzeria Bianco, Phoenix, Arizona

Neapolitan Pizza - 12:30

• Vera Pizza Napoletana
  • VPN Regulations (link to PDF)
• 14:40 - What VPN regulations say about how a good Neapolitan Pizza should look, smell, and taste.
• 15:45 - Neapolitan Pizza Dough
  • 00 Pizza Flour - A finely ground flour used for making Neapolitan Pizzas baked in a hot, wood fire oven.
  • 17:30 - Why bread flour shouldn't be used when making a Neapolitan Pizza dough (it gives a bitter, burnt, flavor).
  • 18:40 - It's difficult to get a Neapolitan Pizza to brown properly in a home oven.
  • 19:45 - Jacob gets pedantic and starts splitting hairs on the definition of sea salt.
  • 20:10 - The proper type of yeast to use when creating a traditional Neapolitan pizza.
    • Cake Yeast / Fresh Compressed Yeast
  • 21:50 - NO FAT!
  • 22:05 - Proper hydration rate of Neapolitan Pizza Dough, and why it contains less water than other, standard pizza doughs and breads.
  • 25:25 - The importance of long, slow, fermentation, and why it's important when working with a low hydration dough like Neapolitan pizza dough (besides the fact that slow fermentation creates a better flavored pizza crust!).
  • 26:40 - Quick refresher course on mixing dough and using the autolyse step.
  • 27:55 - The fermentation process.
    • Bulk Fermentation = 16-14 hours
    • Proofing = 1-2 hours at room temperature, or retarded in fridge for up to 24 hours.
    • If retarding dough, allow to come to room temperature for at least 1 hour.
    • 29:55 - The effects of water & room temperature on your doughs proofing time.
    • Bulk ferment until 2-2.5 X original volume, proof until 1.75 - 1.9 X original volume.
    • 32:50 - Neapolitan Pizza Dough workflow from start to finish.
    • 35:30 - Hydration rate of Neapolitan Pizza = 55-59% (based on the Baker's Percentage)
    • Video: How to Make Neapolitan Pizza Dough
• 36:15 - How to stretch dough by hand and why you should never use a rolling pin or mechanical sheeter.
  • 36:55 - Jacob does an awful job of pronouncing 'cornicione,' the pizza's outer crust or edge.
    • Here's how you actually pronounce it.
  • 38:00 - How to hand stretch pizza dough (Technique Video).
• 43:25 - Neapolitan Pizza Toppings
  • Sauce - Fresh tomato, only the following variations can be used: San Marzano dell'Agro Sarnese-nocerino D.O.P., Pomodorini di Corbara (Corbarino), Pomodorino del piennolo del Vesuvio DOP".
  • Cheese - Fiori di Latte (fresh cow's milk mozzarella), or Buffalo Mozzarella, (certified mozzarella di bufala campana, D.O.P).
  • Toppings - Oil, oregano, basil, cheese (grated hard cheese), garlic
  • 45:35 - Sounds like Jacob say's "San Marzano Tomatoes are grown in Volcanic Oil," but chef mumble mouth really meant to say "Volcanic Soil."
  • Video: How to peel and blanch tomatoes
  • Video: How to make pizza sauce
  • 47:45 - Properly topping a Neapolitan pizza.
• 48:10 - Let's talk wood fire ovens and how to properly fire it for Neapolitan Pizzas.
  • This is the butane torch chef Jacob uses to start his fire.
• 52:00 - Video: How to Bake a Neapolitan Pizza in a Woodfire Oven
• 53:50 - Video: Neapolitan Pizza Work Flow
  • Wooden Pizza Peel for Offloading
  • Metal Pizza Peel (Palina) for turning and lifting pizzas in the wood fire oven.
• 59:45 - The two true VPN Recognized Neapolitan Pizzas.
  • Marinara
    • Canned, peeled tomatoes
    • Olive Oil
    • Garlic
    • Oregano
    • Salt
  • Margherita
    • Canned, peeled tomatoes
    • Olive Oil
    • Mozzarella / Fior di latte
    • Fresh Basil
    • Hard Cheese (grated)
    • Salt
• 1:01:20 - Remember, it's all about the crust! You're toppings are just a garnish to enhance the dough.

New York Style Pizza - 1:02:00

• Book: American Pie by Peter Reinhart
• 1:03 - Reinhart and Jefferey Steingarten eat New York Style Pizza
• 1:03:45 - Genaro Lombardi opened up the first pizza restaurant in 1905, and launched the style of New York Pizza.
• 1:04:40 - Old School veresus modern New York Pizza Ovens.
• 1:06:06 - New York Pizza Dough Formulations
  • 1:06:15 - Why bread flour is used in New York Style Pizza Doughs
  • Oil - Aids in browning and exstensibility of dough. Also gives a little bit of softness, and keeps the dough from drying out during re-heating when sold by the slice.
  • Sugar - Enhances flavor and assists in browning.
  • Sauce - Kenji from the Food Lab describes a good New York Style Pizza Sauce as "Emphatically Tomatoey, with the slightest hint of herbs and alliums."
    • Kenji's New York Pizza Lab article
    • Kenji's New York Tomato Sauce Recipe
  • Book: The Pizza Bible by Tony Gemignani
  • 1:11:00 - Understanding the pizza dough ingredients and hydration rate (we use the Baker's Percentage in this discussion).
  • 1:11:00 - Why oil and fat is used in dough.
  • 1:12:25 - Diastatic Malt Powder
    • Helps convert complex starches in flour to simple sugars. This enhances the dough's ability to rise, and adds a sweet, wheaty aroma.
  • 1:14:30 - Salt, and why it's important in pizza dough that is tossed and spun.
  • 1:16:20 - The Mixing and Proofing of New York Style Pizza Dough.
• Video: How to Make New York Style Pizza At Home
• Tools you'll need:
  • A Baking Steel (preferred) or Baking Stone
  • Wooden Pizza Peel
  • Metal Pizza Peel
  • Chef's Knife, Pizza Wheel, or Rocking Pizza Knife

Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza - 1:24:32

• Chicago style pizza, just like all pizza, is all about the dough!
• Video: How to Make a Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza
• 1:27:00 - Fat makes the dough.
• 1:27:25 - Cornmeal in the crust? Yay or nay?
• 1:28:50 - Chicago Dough Formulation
  • 1:30:45 - The Maillard Reaction and how it effects the formula for Chicago style deep dish dough.
  • 1:32:45 - Why Jacob's Chicago Style Dough has a high fat percent and low hydration rate.
• 1:40:00 - Building a Chicago Style Pizza
  • What type of cheese should you use for a Chicago style pizza?
    • Sliced (not shredded) high fat / low moisture mozzarella and provolone.
  • 1:40:40 - Should you pre-cook you're Italian sausage?
  • 1:42:05 - Chef Jacob's Italian Sausage recipe that he uses in his Chicago Style Pizza.
  • 1:42:30 - Chicago sauce is really just seasoned, diced tomatoes. A classic choice is 6-in-1 Brand Tomatoes.
  • 1:43:40 - Cooking the Chicago Style Pizza.

Honorable Mentions

• 1:45:10 - Sicilian Style Pizza
• Video: How to Make a Sicilian Style Pizza
  • Garlic Bechamel Recipe Videos

Announcements

• Sign-up for the E-mail Newsletter (we started a new list in January 2018, so if you signed up before that, you'll need to re-sign up using the link above).
• Leave Chef Jacob a Voicemail Message.
• Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast, and leave us a review wherever you download this podcast from!

Have a question or comment?

Leave chef Jacob a voicemail by calling 775-204-8389, or by following this link. Don't forget to sign up for the e-mail newsletter, join our Stella Culinary Facebook Group, and leave me a rating and review in Apple Podcast.

In this episode of the Stella Culinary School Podcast, Jacob is joined live by Chef Clint Jolly, who recently sold his successful catering company and decided to take a year abroad to experience new cultures and cuisines.

Chef Clint joins us on the first leg of his trip from Buenos Aries, Argentina to discuss his experiences from the perspective of a traveling chef, his favorite thing he's eaten so far, a lesson on beef age and flavor, and so much more.

Links

• This Episode's Show Notes on Stella Culinary
• Chef Clint Jolly's Blog and article we were discussing, Asado, Malbec & Friends (chef out the awesome wood fire grill he's rockin'!)
• Follow Chef Clint's year abroad on FaceBook, Instagram, & Twitter.

Items Mentioned

• Mellow Fellow in Reno, Nevada
• Pujol Restaurant, Mexico City
• Butcher Boy, Reno, NV
• Sweet Breads
• Difference between Argentine beef, and beef produced in the United States (mainly slaughter age, freshness, and diet).
• Book: Seven Fires by Francis Malaman
• Remote Year - The service chef Clint Jolly is using to plan his year abroad.

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Leave chef Jacob a voicemail by calling 775-204-8389, or by following this link. Don't forget to sign up for the e-mail newsletter, join our Stella Culinary Facebook Group, and leave me a rating and review in Apple Podcast.

Community questions are answered including spatchcocking duck, turkey roulade, brussels sprouts, scratch green bean casserole, and much more. For links to all the resources mentioned in this episode, please visit our show notes: http://StellaCulinary.com/

Have a question or comment?

Leave chef Jacob a voicemail by calling 775-204-8389, or by following this link. Don't forget to sign up for the e-mail newsletter, join our Stella Culinary Facebook Group, and leave me a rating and review in Apple Podcast.