Of course it’s mostly the cook. We’d venture that you could give the now chronically injured Tiger Woods a set of 20-year old clubs salvaged from a garage sale and he’d still show the course who’s the master. Put his endorsed top of the line TaylorMades in the hands of the average “serious” weekend hacker, and the scorecard will look the same, but at least there’ll be new 19th hole gripes.
Just enriched white flour. It’s pre-cooked.
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Fascinating! I’ve heard of it, but have never used it.
I think the technical term is pregelatinized. So somebody else may make it - but in the US it’s Wondra.
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It is Pre-gelatinization Wheat and Malted Barley Flour which allows you to just whisk it directly into hot liquids rather than making a Slurry first.
It also browns and crisps differently than regular Flour and seems to retain that crispness better.
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Yes, that use in particular caught my eye. And then you had to mention sweetbreads >swoon<…
I don’t think one can (or should) use Mondamin for frying, but I’ve never tried 
Well, because I don’t get on the site often enough I didn’t reply to the original post before it moved on beyond the original topic. I’ll add my two cents anyway (and also my two cents on some of the adjunct subjects as well).
I initially started regularly cooking for myself on a cheap set of thin stainless that worked for me at the time Later, as I was cooking more, and doing better, I’ve built up a varied, better collection of cookware and tools that worked for me. The closest I got to the high end was a few All Clad original Master Chef items (12" skillet, 2 and 3 quart sauce pans) that had stainless interiors and aluminum outters. Most of these had nonperformance affecting defects so I got them at a substantially discounted price. My wife also gave me an highly rated (by the NY Times) 8" Tramontina aluminum nonstick skillet. Before that I had bought some Chinese stainless pieces with a thick aluminum disk bottoms. I gave away most of these when I bought the All Clad. But now I’m leaving my beloved gas range and moving to a house with an induction range. So all my old stuff has to go is being given away (except for a couple of cast iron pieces).
I looked at the current All-Clad, Cuisinart, Calphalon, and Made In lines, but I couldn’t really justify their prices due to financial constraints. Given the quality of the Tramontina skillet I had I looked in to their triply pieces. Given that these had similar thickness of the plies as the All Clad, the quality of the aluminum skillet, and another great review by the Times for their triply, I bought a selection of their cookware. Do I think I would have prepared better tasting or easier prepared food using All-Clad, no. Will the Tramontina last as long as the All-Clad, maybe not, but it will certainly outlast me.
The one area I somewhat splurged on in the past was knives. Whereas the OUTDOORS55 Youtube channel has sharpened a $1.00 knife from the Dollar store and sharpened it well enough to cut through a 2X4 without resharpening, I really liked the feeling of a Wusthof Classic Icon knives. I loved the half bolster and how well the handle fit my hand. I even took a metal file to the edges of the bolster to remove even these minor annoyances. But I only bought two. And at another level, the cost and maintenance needs of carbon steel knives is just too much for me. I’m sure my knife skills would not improve enough to justify the cost difference.
So overall, I’d say that moving up from the bottom end of equipment generally, but certainly not always, matters. But the feeling that you have when a tool really fits your hand, or you can trust a pan to cook evenly, then it really does matter.
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Hey, Charlie:
You need to take a closer look at this video. I don’t think ANY of these four pans Ripert used are Vollrath pans.
Since you “recognize” them, which Vollrath saucepans have welded handles and double pour spouts? And which nonstick frypans have those thick electro-formed outer rivet heads and uncoated interior heads?
I think maybe the only possible Vollrath thing in the video is the blue CoolHandle II silicone sleeve.
The saucepans are clearly Sitram Profisserie, as is the saute. I bet the frypan is also Sitram, maybe Catering, since Ripert looks so young in the video.
But educate me, what specific Vollrath pans do you think these are?
I had the same internal argument when I bought my current espresso setup. As the only coffee drinker in the house, how much expense could I really justify for a 1 oz cup of coffee?? But, situations (and resources) change, and I eventually found myself in the position of buying my coffee equipment upgrade. I spent approximately $1,700 on my upgrade, which, initially, seemed like an extremely lop-sided expense. But when I mathed out the amount of coffees I was drinking with my new setup (about 5/week at about $6/cup from the local shop), it only took a little more than a year to break even. Adding in the extra costs of raw materials (coffee and milk), it was still only about 18 months. I’m just glad I didn’t do the ROI before buying my equipment! I probably would’ve “justified” spending a lot more! 
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If you are paying coffee house prices and drinking espressos, cafe con latte, Cappuccinos, or anything else, even drecky drip coffee or Americanos, pretty nice espresso machines and grinders can pay off pretty fast. This is one area where equipment, especially the grinder, does make a difference, but the machine (and beans and barista) matter, too. Even great beans ground to perfection will not reach their full potential being pushed through a low end machine with a pressurized portafilter. They might, on occasion, make a knockout shot in a low end Gaggia, but producing superlative shots one after another with consistency will probably require something a lot better, maybe not a Slayer but something like what you have.
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I was with you until the bourbon…
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I’ve used it for years in place of regular flour for things that require dredging, or dusting, whatever. Never thought about it. 
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Does equipment making bourbon matter?
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Absolutely. My son in law makes bourbon, and he has taught me a ton about that. However, I include barrels with equipment. Heck, even the design of the rickhouse matters.
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I figured that was suitably fan-cee!
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Maybe it can be justified if you consider he might sell it in a year for $400 if he moves on from frequent pizza making at home. Plus you could factor in some value for getting the experience of having owned a home pizza oven. You only live once and for people on this board, that fun experience may have a monetary value. I’m glad to own an Ooni Koda 16 and part of it is the experience of having a home pizza oven.
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Holy moly now I’m going to have to try one.
I agree with this statement.
To add to it, there’s a lot of technique that goes into a great espresso drink. And the freshness of the beans is important.
Home espresso loses the cafe environment, but gains the home access. For each person this may be a net plus or a minus.
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I have a few Indian friends who swear by the stone grinders. Ultimately, I think it comes down to what we enjoy and prioritize. For example, I appreciate the subtly of tea more than that of coffee. So for me I am willing to invest the tools that goes into tea making while other people are more willing to invest the tools into making slightly better coffee.
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How do you like the Ooni Koda 16 ? Iwas looking at that one Now im leaning towards the Gozney arc XL
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