It's Here!: Paragon Precision Induction Cooktop Edition.

My latest gadget just arrived, the Paragon Induction Cooktop!  I haven't had a chance to play with it too much, probably won't be able to do so until the weekend, but wanted to post a few pics of the unboxing.

Here's the box as delivered.  A little damage on the corners and the box wasn't taped at all to prevent the box from being opened en route.

Here is the box opened to show all the gadgetry goodness!  The cooktop itself is a bit larger than I expected, the cooking surface is 12" across with an 18" diameter including the controls and feet.































Here is everything removed from the box.  The most interesting thing to me is the wireless probe shown in front.  When paired to the cooktop and attached to a pot of liquid it is supposed to allow you to control the temperature of the liquid in the pot to +/- 1°f up to 375°f.  My original thought when backing the campaign was that it would be very useful for home brewing beer, during the mash you need to bring the pot up to a precise temperature and hold it there while the enzymes in the malt convert starches to sugars.  This should make that job much easier.  Sous vide cooking it another cooking method that could be performed with this piece of equipment, but I'll probably stick with my Nomiku for that.  I can see myself using it for deep frying, I do have a dedicated fryer, but it requires 5 liters of oil and is a pain in the arse to clean up.  That's fine if I'm cooking for a crowd but not worth the trouble if it's just for two ot three.  The Paragon cooktop will allow me to use whatever size pot is most suitable for what I'm making.  This should also shine at low temperature poaching in whatever liquid I want to use be it court bouillon, olive oil or even butter!  I have the probe charging now and hope to put the Paragon Induction Cooktop through its paces soon!

"Melty" Queso Dip

Prior to Cinco de Mayo Modernist Cuisine posted a recipe for a Melty Queso Dip consisting only of pepperjack cheese, beer (or water) and sodium citrate.  The only ingredient that I had to order was the sodium citrate, which I eventually bought from Amazon.com and was delivered shortly before I left for a weeks vacation.  While I was down south visiting family I thought I'd give it a try.

At a nearby grocery store I picked up a pound of pepperjack cheese, the brand chosen mainly because it was on sale.  It was a little below the weight listed in the recipe (285 grams) so I threw in some Land o' Lakes white american cheese I found in the fridge to make up the difference.  The only beer that was available was some Sam Adams Boston Lager, which in hindsight wasn't the best choice for this application.  The 265 milliliters of beer was warmed up to a simmer and 11 grams of sodium citrate was added and dissolved.  Now the fun part, the cheese was added to the simmering beer in batches while using an immersion blender to fully incorporate each addition before the next was added.  There was some foaming here so if you try this be sure to use a big enough saucepan and stop occasionally to let the foam subside.  The result was a smooth cheese dip with a silky texture and great cheese flavor.  The downside was the strong hop flavor contributed by the Sam Adams beer, it distracted from the cheese which should be the star of the show.  When I do this again (and I will since I bought a full pound of sodium citrate) I'll be sure to use a much less hoppy beer, like the wheat beer they suggested.  A Goose Island 312 should fit the bill nicely!