Category: Cooking

DigiBoil Saga

We ordered a DigiBoil (well, we really ordered a DigiMash, but it turns out that’s a DigiBoil with the mashing kit) in November. We’ve still not managed to brew beer. Our first unit looked like it got mangled in manufacture. I rather question KegLand’s quality control process — the two fermenters we purchased had the butterfly valve handles installed backwards. Easy enough to take a wrench and turn them around, but it’s an odd oversight. And upside down doesn’t work since the handle would turn up into the fermenter plastic and stop before being fully turned.

We got a replacement DigiBoil, We washed the unit, then dumped in a few gallons of water to test it out. No leaks – great. Turn on elements — all three work, also great. Water boiling … awesome, except the temp readout was 203 degrees F. I know the temp at which water boils, so the temp  reading was obviously wrong. We measured the resistance on both thermistors and found the original one read lower than the one on the replacement. And the resistance went down as the temperature warmed up … so possibly the original one was better. We swapped the thermistor from the dented up unit — and water boiled at 206 degrees. Scott tried contacting KegLand to see if there’s some calibration on the controller (sealed behind the big sticker with a logo … not something we’d want to pull apart on a whim), but it seemed like they blew him off. We got a third DigiBoil and it, too, either has a bad thermistor or a miscalibrated controller. This is getting silly. They cannot/will not send us a thermistor or provide details about calibrating the controller. That would be a lot less effort for everyone involved. Three out of three thermistors report different, significantly wrong, temperatures at boil.

Maple Candied Almonds

Maple Candied Almonds
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Maple Candied Almonds

Recipe by LisaCourse: Snacks, DessertCuisine: American
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

1

hour 

Ingredients

  • 4 cups raw almonds

  • 1/2 tsp salt

  • 1/2 cup maple syrup

  • 1/4 cup olive oil

Method

  • Preheat oven to 250 F.
  • Mix maple syrup, olive oil, and salt. Stir in almonds and mix to combine.
  • Line a baking tray with a silicone baking liner. Spread almonds in a single layer.
  • Bake for 30-60 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
  • Allow to cool before packaging.

Notes

  • Make sure to check every ten minutes while baking to avoid scorching maple syrup.

Cinnamon Candied Almonds

Cinnamon Candied Almonds
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Cinnamon Candied Almonds

Recipe by LisaCourse: Dessert, SnacksCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

1

hour 

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs raw almonds

  • 1 cup brown sugar

  • 1 cup granulated sugar

  • 2 Tbsp vanilla extract

  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon

  • 1 1/2 tsp salt

  • 2 egg whites

Method

  • Preheat oven to 250 F. Beat egg whites until soft-peak stage.
  • In a bowl, combine sugars, cinnamon, and salt.
  • Mix almonds into egg whites and stir to coat. Add sugar mixture and stir to combine.
  • Line a baking tray with a silicone baking liner. Spread almonds in a single layer. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
  • Let almonds cool before packaging.

Garlic Knots

I made garlic knots to go with broccoli cheddar soup tonight — it’s just a basic dough like pizza crust (I made a half recipe — ~2 cups of flour). After the first rise, I cut the dough into eight pieces and rolled them out into long strands. Anya tied the knots, then we let them sit and rise for half an hour or so. Basted the knots with garlic butter before and after baking them at 400F for about 15 minutes.

Honey Sriracha Brussels Sprouts

Honey Sriracha Brussels Sprouts
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Honey Sriracha Brussels Sprouts

Recipe by Lisa
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

20

minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs Brussels sprouts

  • 1-2 Tbsp butter

  • 1/4 c honey

  • 1-2 Tbsp Sriracha sauce

  • 2-3 Tbsp olive oil

  • Salt and pepper

Method

  • Preheat oven to 400 F
  • Clean and trim sprouts. Cut in half. Toss with oil, salt, and pepper.
  • Place sprouts face-down on metal tray and bake for 20 minutes.
  • In a small saucepan, melt butter. Stir in honey until melted. Add sriracha.
  • Toss hot spouts with sauce and serve.

Rübæus Clone Recipe

We picked up a six-pack of Rübæus this evening and both love it. It smells like raspberries, it tastes like a nice cream ale blended well with a lot of raspberry flavor (reading that they use 3,000 lbs of raspberries in a batch … even without knowing the size of “a batch”, I think there are a LOT of raspberries per ounce of beer produced). So I’m working on synthesizing a clone recipe from a few clone recipes out there. This is sized for a 5 gallon batch

Grain Bill:

Quantity Grain Color
7 lbs Marris Otter 3°L
1 lb Honey Malt 25°L
1 lbs Wheat 2°L
1 lbs CaraMunich 50°L

Brew: Mash at 153°F for 60 minutes. 0.5 oz Magnum at 60 minutes. 1 lb whole raspberries at flame-out.

Yeast: WLP060 American Ale Yeast Blend

Secondary:

Quantity Ingredient Addition Time
3 lbs Whole raspberries (crushed?) Secondary 2 weeks

Xocoveza Clone Recipe

Work in progress recipe — original source https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/stone-xocoveza-mocha-stout.492778/. This is sized for a 10 gallon batch

Grain Bill:

Quantity Grain Color
20 lbs Pale 2-row 2°L
2 lb Roasted Barley 550°L
2 lbs Caramel 60°L
2 lbs Chocolate 350°L
2 lbs Munich Light 10°L
20 oz Flaked Barley
1 lbs Flaked Oats

Brew: Mash at 151°F with 40.6 quarts of water for 60 minutes. Sparge 5.53 gal water at 168°F. 90 minute boil with the following additions:
2 oz Challenger hops @ 60 minutes(bittering)
2 lbs lactose @ 10 minutes
2 oz East Kent Golding @ 10 minutes (aroma)

Yeast: 2 pgk SafAle OS-05

Secondary:

Quantity Ingredient Addition Time
4 Pasilla Chili Peppers Secondary 1-2 weeks
2 tsp Nutmeg Secondary 1-2 weeks
5 Cinnamon Sticks Secondary 1-2 weeks
6 Vanilla Beans (cut into 1″ pieces) Secondary 1-2 weeks
8 oz Cocoa Nibs Secondary 1-2 weeks
small amount Coffee Beans Secondary 2-3 days