Smoking...Food

I learned that the white smoke is a suspension of water droplets. Once a meat forms a pellicle the water droplets then have something to cling to. After I sat and thought about the research I had done on smoking and the use of liquid smoke, it really made a lot of since to me as far as the smoke being water droplets which contains the smokey smell and flavors in them that adhere to the product being smoked. This is the same process they use to manufacture liquid smoke. I also learned that there has to be two openings or flutes when smoking. The purpose of this is to have a continuous air flow and to prevents standing smoke which would cause carcinogen that are harmful to us. I did not know that machine smokers also use liquid smoke. I was surprised to find out that most of the smoked foods that I had eaten was the product of liquid smoke. I also learned that the pellicle is actually a good bacteria that forms around the meat. The purpose of the pellicle is to give the smoke something to stick to, drys the outside and keeps inside moisture and to prevent the fat from reaching the outside, which can cause spoilage.

When doing a platter for presentation I learned that it is very important to use gelatin. The gelatin will provide a nice glossy look to the platter and it will help to hold the foods shape. I personally have never used gelatin before so I am looking forward to learning how to use them correctly to help with my platter presentation. As far as the platter its self, I believe most of the class is still having a little difficulty determining the difference between some vegetables and starches. I think the class is finally starting to catch on to having a theme as well as a flow to the platter presentations. To me it's a little difficult sometimes because it's all about how each person views and interprets the setup.