Since then, I have added another weapon to my arsenal - a pan of such size, composition, utility and beauty than it has become my new go-to piece of equipment for culinary projects of all descriptions. It has enabled me in the past few weeks to produce home-made camembert, Swiss cheese, Wensleydale and cheddar, as well as mango chutney, sweet blueberry chutney, cherry and pistachio chutney, and cherry/blueberry jam. It is perfect for large batches of stew and soups and is big enough to serve as a stove-top smoker.
It is a Demeyere maslin pan and came to me all the way from Belgium, where the company has been making cookware since 1908. I am not sure why it is called a maslin pan, except that this appears to be the accepted designation for preserving pans on the other side of the Atlantic. A quick search reveals that maslin is Olde English for mixture or medley, so I guess it makes sense, given the melanges that one typically brews in such a vessel.
I bought it at great expense (although not nearly as much as if I'd bought my fantasy pan, a Mauviel copper wonder that would have required a second mortgage and a secret dip into the Kid Squid's college fund) after two disastrous jamming episodes involving the eruption of boiling sugar lava all over the enameled surfaces of my beautiful Wolf cooker. Every recipe and expert out there says you really need to use a specialized pan for this sort of job, but did I listen? The still-visible residue and pits on my baby's burner grates are mute testament to my hubris.
But jam-making is only one of my new paragon's awesome capabilities. Coincidentally, it holds exactly two gallons of raw milk - the ideal quantity for small-batch cheese-making. Its 18/10 stainless steel exterior is impervious to whey's notoriously corrosive effects and its aluminum inner core conducts heat evenly and quickly. Naturally, the whole apparatus is freaking heavy when filled with unpasteurized Jersey goodness and that is when the cunningly-placed handles prove their exceptional worth. Best of all, the pan fits perfectly inside my huge cheap enamel canner, thus allowing me to construct the perfect water bath for milk-ripening, coagulation, and curd-nurturing.
And it's shiny, too!
News flash: in my last post, I bemoaned the inaccessibility of raw goats' milk to home fromagers in my vicinity. I have since been alerted to the existence of not one but two establishments providing that selfsame nectar to enthusiastic locals. I will be investigating these valuable resources in June: stay tuned for adventures in chevre and Columbier!
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