583710 Mon Dec 29 18:17:10 -0800 2008 2 14 Washington DC & Baltimore Area 0 4281545 I've been going through the Adria Ferran cookbook (A Day in the Life of Ill Bulli) and I am full of ideas for molecular cooking. Trouble is, I cannot find anyplace in the DC/Baltimore area to purchase equipment and supplies for molecular cooking and/or Sous vide. There are of course many sites on the web but must we go on line to New York or the West Coast and beyond to get this stuff? Isn't there a single food or equipment purveyor in this market that caters to high-end consumers who are on the cutting edge? I have checked all the websites of the restaurant supply places in the area and not a single one offers products by Polyscience, Auber industries, Grant or Julabo, or a single gram of the fancy agents or starches used in this cuisine. In part, I am searching for a visionary perveyor in our area, and in part I am hoping to support a local business. Any ideas? Mon Dec 29 18:17:10 -0800 2008 252456 Ironwood_chef 1 4282393 Interesting topic, but I get the sense from a little reading (a Washington Post article and a Google search to refresh my memory) is that it's still at the "Don't try this at home, kids" stage. But I don't see any reason why you couldn't do some experimenting with more comnon things that you can adapt if you're willing to work a little harder than a commercial chef with dedicated equipment. Will a vacuum sealer intended for preparing food for the freezer work to make the cooking pouch? Those don't cost much and can even be found now and then in thrift shops or on the FreeCycle boards. You can put junk in the bag and test it for leakage using a pot of water on the stove. I suspect that the trick is to keep the temperature of the water bath accurately set and controlled. You might be able to find something you can use among near-obsolete darkroom equipment from a good photo store (though they're getting rare nowadays). Color film and print processing requires stable temperature and there were some temperature controlled water bath equipment that found its way into hobbyist darkrooms of 20 years ago. Industrial Photo in Silver Spring might be a good place to try. At least you'll find someone there who knows what you're talking about if you ask about termperature controlled baths. Tue Dec 30 06:16:46 -0800 2008 4281545 10624 MikeR 1 4302209 You're right, there is no place in MD/DC/VA that sells "molecular gastronomy" supplies. For that you'll have to order from out of state. I bought our Polyscience stuff directly from Polyscience but you can buy them from places like Le Sanctuaire in San Francisco or JB Prince in New York City. Quite frankly, hardly anyone in the region is doing the molecular thing. Of course, they're doing at The Mini Bar in DC, and only Ted at Jack's Bistro and Spike at Woodberry Kitchen are using sous vide in Baltimore on a regular basis. For sous vide, the critical component is the bath temperature. The immersion circulator from Polyscience will hold temperature to 1/10 of a degree. FoodSaver vacuum sealers can certainly be used for sous vide, but some of the vacuum techniques that use the pressure of a chamber vac just cannot be duplicated with the FoodSaver. For the chemicals, one of the biggest problems facing "molecular" chefs today is the ability to purchase them in the quantities necessary. A box of ADM Xanthan Gum might barely be enough to satisfy a days' production run at a food processor but could last ten years to the restaurant chef. Same goes for a pound sample of Activa - except the Activa's activation window is extremely narrow and you'll likely end up throwing most of it away because it's "dead." Most restaurants need small quantities (like a pound) and the manufacturers have not responded in those sizes and have been working to hamper or stop purveyors from buying bulk bags and breaking them down for individual sale. That said, you can contact Le Sanctuaire and Chef Rubber for chemical supplies. Tue Jan 06 16:57:44 -0800 2009 4281545 84765 onocoffee