Quote from: natterjak on December 23, 2012, 02:27 PM
So the marginal increase in boiling point due to the height of a restaurant cooking pot looks to be rather modest in fact, so maybe it's not all that significant. Worth thinking about though.

I suppose it depends on how much chemical reaction is going on in the process, opposed to physical.  I assume that chemical reactions are minimal compared to physical.

However, if chemical reactions are actually significant, then a 10 degree rise in temperature will generally double the rate of reaction (i.e. Arrhenius equation).  So temperature (and, therefore, pressure) is definitely significant. I suppose the same may also be true for physical reactions (hence the effect of a pressure cooker!)?

So, yes, definitely worth thinking about (even if on Christmas Eve!) 

Perhaps whoever has made a large volume (i.e. greater than 60l) and cooked it for long periods (i.e. greater than 3 hours) would care to comment on any difference observed (e.g. Haldi?)?

Quote from: CTMore Analysis Paralysis" and google blither

And, typical of you, CT, you pretend to know it all (and divulge little) and rubbish everything that anyone else dares to suggest (because, of course, you know best)!  Total bollocks, my man, total bollocks!  :

Quote from: CTand you can't fail to stink out the neighbours

As I'm sure you do!  Pretentious git!  :

i still use a ~4L pan for base - despite going past the large vessels in the asian stores on a regular basis.

i often even end up having to split the base when i make ifindforu's (produces ~ 19 off portions c/w norm of 9 to 12 portions). so a bigger pan would help in that respect.

from tasting real BIR base and c/w with site bases i can't identify any difference other than the oil.

the only advantage for me would be the ability to get the spec more consistently right - little changes in spoonfulls have a bigger effect on smaller volumes.

Quote
I think that's the real killer for this idea. Several people have tasted bases from BIRs and said that they are no different to the one's from this (and other) sites. It's also why I don't think the 'secret' is in the base.

I'd agree somewhat ss, in that there is something still to be learned in creating bir at home. For me it's consistency in producing one after the other. I find it very odd, that some of my efforts are bir & some are well wide of the mark, using the same batch of base etc. Personally I think the oil used commercially, which hardly anyone has ever used at home, plays it's part, along with a slightly higher cooking temperature than domestic. Im pretty sure its created in the pan. Bit odd why so many people are having trouble following very simple recipe's & reporting poor results. (Apart from newcomers to base gravy, who almost always have glowing reports. On the issue of bulking, at how many litres does a gravy become "bir". The c2g ebook seemed skirt this issue choosing instead to muse about mystical onion "smells". Your right there is a real discrepancy there

Regards
ELW

Quote from: chewytikka on December 24, 2012, 01:53 PM
I remember Haldi's big base experiment, being a total disaster.
He used a rubbish recipe with an insane amount of tomato as I recall.

Perhaps your recall isn't what it was, you are getting on in years?