Two Things I Can't Live Without

There are two pieces of equipment that have become so integral to my cooking that without them I would be lost. The first is the Paco Jet. An ultra-revolutionary, high speed, air injecting, "pacotizing" wonder, which basically takes anything that has been frozen solid, shaves it superfine while simultaneously injecting air making it super light and creamy. It has been around for a while now but ask any chef and they will tell you this thing is built like bulldozer. It almost never has to be repaired, has very minimal maintenance and more than makes up for it's cost, which if your wondering can set you back a cool 6K. Of course Ice creams and sorbets are the first order of business but I use it for more unconventional purposes as well making beautiful silken puree's of vegetables, flavored olive oils and infusions of all types. I love this thing so much I once wrote an entire dissertation while in university about the viability and cost-effectiveness of the Paco Jet against traditional Ice Cream Machines. I got an A.

Second, is the Vacuum pack machine, which as the name implies, vacuums air from the inside of plastic bags and seals food in an almost oxygen free environment. While that sounds special the real advantage is that I take those vacuum sealed foods and apply the "sous vide" method of cooking which basically means that I cook the food while in the bag at various temperatures depending on the product inside. This helps in achieving consistent results as well as increased flavors because volatile aromas do not have a chance to escape during the cooking process leaving a result that most times is far better than conventional methods. We use this process in about 40% of the cooking we do at the restaurant in everything from meats to vegetables.

I will be posting more tidbits from life in the kitchen so if you have any questions let me know and I will do my best to answer all that I can. Cheers!!