New mini-course on spherification

We've just launched our new short course on spherification, check it out here:

http://www.chefsteps.com/courses/spherification

The course explains the three major techniques, provides some inspirational recipes, and explains the science behind the techniques. And, as always, we're here to help answer any questions you have.

At the end of the course there is a short quiz that gives you a chance to demonstrate your understanding of spherification. Pass this quiz and complete a final assignment of uploading a photo showing your own spheres, and you'll receive an achievement badge for your profile (profile and badging is getting a major upgrade today, BTW).

By successfully completing the course, you'll be able to purchase a ChefSteps certificate of completion that Grant and I will sign and send to you.

Finally, if you don't have all of the tools and ingredients you need to complete the course, we've created some kits that contain everything you need to complete the course. You can purchase them right off the course landing page.

We're really curious to know what you, the ChefSteps community, thinks of this approach to creating shorter courses. If you like what you see, then you can expect to see a bunch more of these short courses.

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Johan_Edstrom_5586

Sweet!

Brendan_Lee_56950

How warm can we typically serve spheres?

Chris_Young_80640

Its possible to serve the spheres quite warm, since the alginate is thermo-irreversible.

Matthew_Snyder_68770

Ordered an Enthusiast Kit. Had the hardware already, but the stuff in the bags is still a little threadbare in my pantry.

Speaking of which, what's the best way to store this stuff to preserve shelf-life? Do those ingredients even have a shelf-life?

Chris_Young_80640

Thanks Matthew! Not much of a shelf-life if you store the stuff dry.

Yitzchok_Bernstein_88575

Looks Awesome!

Corey_37766

Huzzah! You guys are the best.

Jack_Mayer_85396

@Chris and the CS team, thank you! This is one area that I am most curious about and also most ignorant about. Really looking forward to diving into the material. I haven't checked it out yet, but I'm betting that the kit(s) that y'all put together will be awesome as well.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

Started mine

https://plus.google.com/u/0/112827635720941213700/posts/b7niJtcb1XR

richard.fine

Sweet timing! I was reading about Spherification and browsing the el Bulli photo archives just a couple of days ago

I should mention though... guys, I love you and your site, but what the heck is up with your international shipping rates? $88 to ship a $39 kit to the UK? Sorry but that's kind of ridiculous. I've bought the Creative kit directly from Modernist Pantry (along with some carrageenan, sodium citrate and pectinex - why not?) and with their shipping of $33 I'm getting the lot for less than it would cost to buy just the kit on its own from your store.

Is this some policy against using USPS or something? I've encountered some people who don't want to ship with it because stuff can get lost or damaged. It's an understandable position but personally I'd rather be given the option, even if it comes with a warning label.

I hope you guys get a cut from the kit even when bought through Modernist Pantry directly, anyhoo.

Chris_Young_80640

@Richard — That doesn't sound right. You should see the same shipping rate as if you purchased through Modernist Pantry. We'll look into this.

richard.fine

If it helps, the only two shipping options I'm offered are Fedex - "International Economy" and "International Priority" - and my bad, it wasn't $88, it was $80/$81.

Ricardo_Castelhano_45871

Great stuff guys, awesome work !!
Definitely this approach of short courses works very well. Spherification is a technique that I use in some dishes at my supper-club.
Hope you guys develop more modernist courses...and please dont let go the sous-vide course.

Thank you!!!
Cheers from Portugal.

ParkerCook_66639

This is super exciting! I'll need to save up some cash to get a kit!

Edward_33547

@Richard_Fine - I have added the USPS International options. I have tested them and they are giving me the same rates for my test addresses. Please let me know if you have any further issues.

Brandon_Byrd_40557

I just wanted to say how excited I am about the content presented in this new course (which I've read and viewed in its entirety). I only discovered modernist techniques three or four months ago and have already incorporated a lot of new moves, ingredients, and recipes into my daily cooking. But specification has always scared me (which I usually view as a good thing!). Yet even though I purchased the requisite supplies from Modernist Pantry months ago, I have not yet had the courage to use them. That has changed with this course, and I'm eager - and ready - to spherify! Yield = empowerment? You betcha!

(It also probably helps that the new course launched the day after I finished reading the chapter on spherification in MC).

richard.fine

@Edward: awesome, thank you. The next time I'm in need of something from the store, I'll give it a whirl

Brendan_Lee_56950

Not sure where to put things from the course in the forum. Here's my experimentation, lettuce and pea soup spheres with frozen shaved feta, extra virgin olive oil, and fresh thyme tips.

Jack_Mayer_85396

Dang @B, that looks tasty! I gotta get going on the new course ...

Brendan_Lee_56950

Things I learned while doing this:

make sure you are working on a level surface. My kitchen table leans a bit and it was dragging the spheres to the sides of the bowl before all of the liquid had gathered in one place.
make sure you test out your base before you contaminate an entire alginate bath with something that won't set properly
i have to work on my technique but I found that pouring the liquid all at once quickly created better spheres as opposed to trying to be super careful and thus being slower, this caused tails.
consider thickening the liquid you are going to use so there isn't a huge discrepancy in texture between the gelled layer and the rush of liquid into your mouth. I found that it was kind of an odd and off putting sensation when the liquid inside was way more runny then the gel layer.

Sumit__65166

@Edward i was able to add circulator along with spherification kits for international checkout. however, i can't checkout with circulator in my cart. you may want to exclude(s) products that are not available for shipping outside the US.

Edward

Po

Edward_33547

@Sumit and @Richard_Fine - Sorry for the confusion. Most of our items are only available for sale in the US. In fact, the molecular kits from Modernist Pantry are the first (and currently only) items for sale internationally at ChefSteps.com.

Unfortunately, it is a limitation of our current web store (run by Shopify) that the store does not signal the customer which items are only for US purchase until the customer puts in a shipping address and it is verified as an international address. We are aware of the issue and we are working both with Shopify and internally to find a better solution.

In the long term, we hope to be able to offer all items to customers everywhere. In the short term, I will add notes to all of our US only items to help limit confusion of international customers.

Thanks for your feedback!

Brad_Larsen_62637

One Enthusiast Sphere Magic Kit was shipped to me today. Hope I get it in time for the weekend!

Mark_Kalynchuk_34927

I really appreciate that you guys made a course about this! The videos really accentuate the steps.

I'm really interested to see what you guys have coming down the pipe! Have you thought about doing a course about Charcuterie? I think it's a topic a lot of people here might enjoy!

Johan_Edstrom_5586

@Mark, I'd be tickled pink over it!

Chefs_Resources_34941

I just completed the reverse spherification lessons...awesome! I've been wanting to do something with pine for quite a while so I cut some fresh spruce sprigs, pureed them, added some water and sugar, and was working on how to stabilize the sauce without ruining the color when I came across your course. I bought the gear, weighed my sauce and then scaled the recipe as specified. Worked great. My technique needs a little work though. As @Mark mentions, if you go a little too slow you get a little tail or point.

I really liked the xanthan gum as well. I had been trying to get a cold sauce thick while keeping the intense color I wanted. Using clear gel got the right consistency but killed my color since you have to cook it. Gelatine was inconsistent, but the xanthan produced the color and consistency I wanted. Thanks for the new techniques!

Chefs_Resources_34941

Here's a pic of my first attempt.

prince_of_porcelain

Dessert was Chocolate, Mint, Strawberry Panna Cotta. I made the mint the night before and it darkened on me and didn't set up right. And there's some

significant variation in the Chocolate Caviar size and shape. But despite all the missteps, it

tasted good and made good use of the years first fresh strawberries:

Chris_Young_80640

Nice job Brian. Add a little ascorbic acid to the mint next time to help preserve the color. And freezing it's a good idea too.

Brad_Larsen_62637

I tried out the Spherification set last night. The powdered ingredients worked well and with some practice I got sphere like shapes. I can imagine a tool that does this uniformly and in large volume. The raspberry concentrate worked ok but I got better results from the coconut gelato. Looking forward to trying the other parts of the kit.