Topic: Anyone tried Julian's base yet?

[meggeth]

I find that a 7 litre pressure cooker pretty much filled with all the veg and water before cooking produces around 3 litres of finished base.

[RubyDoo]

I find that a 7 litre pressure cooker pretty much filled with all the veg and water before cooking produces around 3 litres of finished base.

Something very wrong there Meg.  Either you are putting water in at the wrong time or your stats are wrong to start with. How can a full 7 l pan full of veg only produce 3 l finished base? Not sure what / when you mean re the water .

Is it me ?  . A 7l start like that should produce around 14 litres finished base , give or take. In my case probs a bit more.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Is it me ?  . A 7l start like that should produce around 14 litres finished base , give or take. In my case probs a bit more.

Que ?! You can't get a quart out of a pint pot, nor can you get 14 litres of base out of a 7L pressure cooker unless you dilute it retrospectively.  What am I missing ?

** Phil.

[meggeth]

I follow CAs base (with a few of my own mods), but increase quantities by around 25%. This pretty much fills my pressure cooker. By the times it's cooked and blended, it's only around half full. This seems about right to me - CAs original recipe says it makes 2.3 litres. Makes sense doesn't it?

Ruby, your base must be very thin and watery?  ;D

[RubyDoo]

Is it me ?  . A 7l start like that should produce around 14 litres finished base , give or take. In my case probs a bit more.

Que ?! You can't get a quart out of a pint pot, nor can you get 14 litres of base out of a 7L pressure cooker unless you dilute it retrospectively.  What am I missing ?

** Phil.

Phil, a 3 litre base for example then gets diluted to twice the starting quantity. Ie 3 l is the size of the pot to start crammed with veg etc, very little water. You double it, ish.

Easier explained perhaps if you view the video or read the book although I would have you would have done one of these by now.

[RubyDoo]

I follow CAs base (with a few of my own mods), but increase quantities by around 25%. This pretty much fills my pressure cooker. By the times it's cooked and blended, it's only around half full. This seems about right to me - CAs original recipe says it makes 2.3 litres. Makes sense doesn't it?

Ruby, your base must be very thin and watery?  ;D

Er, still something wrong. CA is not Julian. Yes, the base should be watery, like milk. Look at the vids etc. I have also done a CA base. Many rate it. It was not for me and followed to the letter is too thick.

Some confusion here me thinks between bases?  Are you doing Julian's. ( C2G ) or CA's?

 

[meggeth]

Sorry, this post is about Julians base - I did forget!!

But I was just posting my thoughts on the quantity of the base I get as one of the earlier posters was questioning volume/water/quantities, etc.

Julians was the first ever base I tried - maybe I got it wrong, but I found it too spiced, which came across in the curries I cooked. I seem to prefer a milder spiced base.

[RubyDoo]

Sorry, this post is about Julians base - I did forget!!

But I was just posting my thoughts on the quantity of the base I get as one of the earlier posters was questioning volume/water/quantities, etc.

Julians was the first ever base I tried - maybe I got it wrong, but I found it too spiced, which came across in the curries I cooked. I seem to prefer a milder spiced base.

Perhaps it was too spiced due to the consistency not being right, ie , too concentrated?

[Peripatetic Phil]

Phil, a 3 litre base for example then gets diluted to twice the starting quantity. Ie 3 l is the size of the pot to start crammed with veg etc, very little water. You double it, ish.

Easier explained perhaps if you view the video or read the book although I would have you would have done one of these by now.

I have indeed, whence the link to the video that I posted yesterday.  However, on watching the video again, I now believe that he quietly switches containers during the cut, something I had previously failed to appreciate.  The pressure cooker has a black U-bolt handle; the liquidising container has an aluminium U-bolt container with wider spaced rivets.  So, how large is that second container ?  We don't know, so we can't accurately judge how much base he produces.  It is also unclear why he uses a 3-litre pressure cooker for the first phase when he quite clearly does not deploy its lid.  Yet he talks about cooking the post-liquidising phase with the lid on.  There is a lot unexplained here, including "what volume of undiluted base exists post-liquidising ?".  He uses very little liquid (apart from oil) and the vegetables are going to contribute nothing like their original volume in liquid.  I suspect, when all is said and done, that you might be lucky to get 4L of base (i.e., 2L of post-liquidised base concentrate diluted 1:1) from the original 3L, filled-to-the-gills-with-vegetables, pressure cooker, but only those who have actually cooked it will know if that is true.

** Phil.

[RubyDoo]

Phil, a 3 litre base for example then gets diluted to twice the starting quantity. Ie 3 l is the size of the pot to start crammed with veg etc, very little water. You double it, ish.

Easier explained perhaps if you view the video or read the book although I would have you would have done one of these by now.

I have indeed, whence the link to the video that I posted yesterday.  However, on watching the video again, I now believe that he quietly switches containers during the cut, something I had previously failed to appreciate.  The pressure cooker has a black U-bolt handle; the liquidising container has an aluminium U-bolt container with wider spaced rivets.  So, how large is that second container ?  We don't know, so we can't accurately judge how much base he produces.  It is also unclear why he uses a 3-litre pressure cooker for the first phase when he quite clearly does not deploy its lid.  Yet he talks about cooking the post-liquidising phase with the lid on.  There is a lot unexplained here, including "what volume of undiluted base exists post-liquidising ?".  He uses very little liquid (apart from oil) and the vegetables are going to contribute nothing like their original volume in liquid.  I suspect, when all is said and done, that you might be lucky to get 4L of base (i.e., 2L of post-liquidised base concentrate diluted 1:1) from the original 3L, filled-to-the-gills-with-vegetables, pressure cooker, but only those who have actually cooked it will know if that is true.

** Phil.

short answer is no, you get double ish the 3l investment of veg etc. done it a few times now. The book explains as well albeit there are still several inaccuracies in v 4. Using very little water in part 1 accounts for the need to double up with water later before the last boil.