Non Brewing Stuff To Do With Your Brewery.

[Spork]

Many of us use various household items to make beer. Various pots and pans, napisan, glad wrap, power drills, eskis, the curtains from the spare room, stockings, coffee grinders, 'fridges and freezers... the list goes on.
But I bet there are plenty of non brewing uses for our brewing gear too. I thought a thread on the subject could be worthwhile. Be it for a little humour, to exchange ideas, or even sneaky ways to get SWMBO to approve various purchases for "household goods" that eventually end up being useful for beer making. Shit. I bet if we tried we could come up with 100 reasons why every home "needs an urn"...

I'll get the ball rolling.
Last night I cooked some chicken wings "sous vide" style. This used my vacuum sealer (bought primarily to seal hops), my urn (for BIAB) and an STC 1000 (to control fermentation temps). It cooked to perfection and just got put on a hot BBQ and taken straight back off just to give it some colour. Yum!

 

[benno1973]

Wow, had thought just the other day that I might cook lamb "sous vide" style in my urn with my mashmate!

Have also started putting together plans for a home made food dehydrator, using an STC-1000, a 12V computer fan and some ceramic coil heat lamps (for reptile enclosures). Just gives me an excuse to buy another STC-1000 really...

 

[Silo Ted]

I have been talking about doing sous vide for a while now in my HLT ! Just need to get a stainless probe fr my spare controller.

So, time & temperature for the chicken?

 

[Truman42]

I cook a very nice Sri Lankan beef curry that the missus loves. Tried to convince her that we need a large pot to fit our induction cooker, so I can make a larger batch...She saw right through me though.

Said "Youve got an urn thats all you need for brewing...Damn.

 

[humulus]

Same i got the reply "why do we need digital kitchen scales that weigh up to 7kg!!!!" shot down in a screaming heap! :lol:

 

[Spork]

I have been talking about doing sous vide for a while now in my HLT ! Just need to get a stainless probe fr my spare controller.

So, time & temperature for the chicken?

Just over an hour @ 66c
Could have been a bit less, but it was not overcooked.
I found a table* somewhere with cooking times / temps / thickness of thickest part of bag.

*Here it is

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

An hour at 66 degrees - use of brewing metrology for household help.

 

[Silo Ted]

Just over an hour @ 66c
Could have been a bit less, but it was not overcooked.
I found a table* somewhere with cooking times / temps / thickness of thickest part of bag.

*Here it is

Mash temps !

Cheers for some info, might do something for xmas lunch.

As for all you poor bastards with wives ruling your hobby with an iron fist. Mine not only splits the cost of the grains & hops, but she even bought a new set of 30kg scales after my last set clapped out.

She seems to dissapear around bottling day, every ******* time. :lol:

 

[the_new_darren]

Sounds like you need some kegs

tnd

 

[Dazza88]

http://www.sousvidecooking.org/tag/cooking-time/

Thanks, nice link.

 

[Silo Ted]

A little bit surprising, I could have sworn I read a while ago that sous vide takes hours, possibly days.

Botulism here we come !

EDIT: Beef Tongue - 24 hours @ 70

 

[the_new_darren]

A little bit surprising, I could have sworn I read a while ago that sous vide takes hours, possibly days.

Botulism here we come !

Ah no. Its not anaerobic conditions. Also it is around pastuerisation temp (usually done for seconds) so if it were done for hours or days all pathogenic bacteria would be killed.

No-chill however...........

On topic, I have always wanted to cook a whole turkey in peanut oil in my keggles.

tnd

 

[Spork]

Mash temps !

Cheers for some info, might do something for xmas lunch.

As for all you poor bastards with wives ruling your hobby with an iron fist. Mine not only splits the cost of the grains & hops, but she even bought a new set of 30kg scales after my last set clapped out.

She seems to dissapear around bottling day, every ******* time. :lol:

+1 for kegs.

Yes, you can sous vide @ mash temps. Hmm, guess we might start eating gourmet lunches on brewdays!

 

[stux]

SWMBO loves the PBW. Good for getting stains out of mixing bowls etc

StarSan is good for sanitizing baby toys after a typhoid carrier has finished slobbering and emitting all over them

Keg fridge. You mean swmbos soda water maker?

... I bet you can use a stirplate to help with cooking...

 

[Tim F]

Oh yeah totally - get a couple of nice 2" wing rib chops, salt, pepper, paprika and fresh rosemary, in a bag (snaplock ok) in the herms set to 55C for ~2 hours. Then pull them out and brown each side well in a pan. :icon_drool2:

 

[Superoo]

And my crankandstein 'biscuit maker' is a real hit

 

[barls]

mmmm 48 hour slow cooked lamb shanks done at 62 degrees. works perfect.

 

[argon]

... I bet you can use a stirplate to help with cooking...

yep i use the stir plate to activate/proof my yeast when cooking pizza dough

 

[ashley_leask]

My pressure cooker does an awesome lamb curry with meat that's falling apart tender in an hour.

Edit: Takes 6 hours to get the same thing from a slow cooker.

 

[Malted]

What is a good pressure cooker? What brands or what features are good?

I have looked on Ebay and am bamboozled by the array of types and brands available.

I have been thinking about a pressure cooker for sterilising vials for yeast etc and then maybe later having a crack at slants. Maybe sterilise some jars too.
Also keen to use it in the kitchen too.

Thinking a 9.5L would be a good size. Also thinking one that goes on a stove is simpler and easier to clean. Gotta be stainless steel too.
Any thoughts from those of you who have one?