I recall the first time my mother brought home a kosher chicken, at my request, from our local butcher in Randolph, MA. I could hear her shriek from the other end of the house. Compared to our family’s usual Purdues, this thing was riddled with feathers. I’ve heard plenty of anecdotal reasons why kosher birds have so many feathers, but an e-mail to the blog prompted me to do a thorough investigation.

Non-kosher feather removal methods involve “scalding” — submerging a freshly-slaughtered poultry carcass in hot water (125-150°F) to relax the skin, making it possible for mechanical “pickers” to pull the feathers automatically. In a kosher setting, scalding cannot be done because we are forbidden from cooking an animal before it has been soaked and salted (see Yorah Deah 68:10 for details). Kosher processors must use mechanical pickers that work with cold water, which is less efficient and more time consuming, especially since cold water actually toughens the skin. At Empire, for example, birds progress through eight different pickers, and then 70 workers at the end of the production cycle try to remove residual feathers. (In my experience, their birds generally have fewer feathers than Rubashkin’s.)

An interesting fact remains: kosher birds imported from Canada (like Marvid brand) are always completely free of feathers. Canadian poultry regulations state:

All hair, feathers, dirt, scurf, etc., must be completely removed and the carcass thoroughly washed prior to any further incision being made.

In Canada, it seems, they mean it with no exceptions. By contrast, the US regulations (7 CFR 70.1) sound more lenient:

Free from protruding feathers or hairs means that a poultry carcass, part, or poultry product with the skin on is free from protruding feathers or hairs which are visible to a grader during an examination at normal operating speeds. However, a poultry carcass, part, or poultry product may be considered as being free from protruding feathers or hairs if it has a generally clean appearance and if not more than an occasional protruding feather or hair is evidenced during a more careful examination.

“An occasional protruding feather,” is, I believe, defined by the Agricultural Marketing Service. With regard to turkeys and chickens, feathers must be less than or equal to 1/2 inch long, and the total number varies by grade:

Grade A: 4 feathers per carcass, or 2 per cut part
Grade B: 6 feathers per carcass, or 3 per cut part
Grace C: 8 feathers per carcass, or 4 per cut part

A friend in the meat business, however, suggests that the USDA may simply have an unwritten rule to be more lenient when it comes to kosher poultry, no matter the grade, staying very narrowly within the definition of “generally clean appearance” at “normal operating speeds.” (Of course, around holiday time, normal operating speeds are very fast in order to satisfy demand — meaning more feathers.)

Moral of the story: buy Canadian kosher poultry.

SOURCES

• Home Processing of Poultry (Oklahoma State University) Link
• Like Mountains Hanging By a Hair (Montreal Kosher / Rabbi Zushe Blech) Link
• Keeping the Faith (Food Processing Magazine) Link
• Kosher Chicken from Canada (US International Trade Commission) Link
• National Meat and Poultry Code, Second Edition (Canadian Food Inspection System Implementation Group) Link
• US Code of Federal Regulations, Title 7, Part 70.1 Link
• United States Classes, Standards, and Grades for Poultry (USDA / AMS) Link

An employee confirmed over the phone today that Beacon Kosher would in fact be closing for good as of this Sunday, June 3. The deal we had reported last week has apparently fallen through.

A friend of mine (we’ll call her the Enabler) recently asked whether I’d be making ice cream for Shavuot — maybe cheesecake ice cream? I answered that I’d thought about it, but I couldn’t very well make ice cream to serve with cheesecake, let alone cheesecake ice cream.

But apparently I could.

Let me explain. The cheesecake recipe we’re using this year (a no-bake version, since our oven is broken) calls for 12 ounces of cream cheese. Cream cheese comes in eight-ounce packages, so we bought two and had four ounces extra — exactly the amount called for in this recipe. And strawberries are at the height of their season, so we had two pounds in the fridge. Tell me that isn’t a sign from God. (Actually, don’t. I prefer the illusion.)

In any case, I’m very pleased with the result. The ice cream has a mild cheesecake flavor without being overwhelmingly rich, and the fresh strawberries really hit the spot. Here’s the recipe:

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
Adapted from Joy of Baking

4 oz cream cheese
3 large egg yolks
2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar (divided)
2 cups half-and-half
1/2 vanilla bean or 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used extract)
1 pound (about 2 dry pints) strawberries

1. In the inner container of a double boiler (or any medium stainless steel bowl), blend the cream cheese, egg yolks, and 2/3 cup sugar with a whisk or, preferably, an electric hand mixer until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). (At this point, you may wish to begin heating the water for step 4.)
2. In a small saucepan, heat the half-and-half to the scalding point along with the vanilla bean, if using. (If using extract, do not add it at this point.) Stir frequently to prevent a skin from forming. When the cream reaches the scalding point, the milk will begin to foam up rapidly. Immediately remove from heat. Take out the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds out with the back of a knife, then mix the seeds back into the half-and-half.
3. Slowly pour the scalding half-and-half into the cream cheese mixture while whisking the mixture to prevent the eggs from cooking. (If any lumps do form, force the mixture through a strainer.)
4. Fill the outer container of the double boiler (or a saucepan) with water and bring to a boil. Place the bowl or container of custard over the simmering water and heat, stirring constantly, until the custard reaches 170 degrees F or coats the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and continue to stir for a few minutes. Set aside.
5. Cut up half the strawberries and puree them in a food processor or blender. Stir the remaining two tablespoons of sugar into the puree, then stir the puree into the custard along with the vanilla extract, if using. Cover the mixture with plastic wrap, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate several hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.
6. Freeze the chilled mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Chop the remaining strawberries. Remove the ice cream from the machine and stir in the strawberries. Transfer to freezer to harden.

Cross-posted to Apikorsus.

With Shavuos starting this week, the focus is on dairy recipes. Cheesecakes! Blintzes! Pizza! Yes, pizza. At my house, Shavuos lunch is the time for my annual pizza making blitz, where I make (or attempt to make) a selection of gourmet or fancy pizzas. I don’t have a full review of what pizzas I’ll be making, but here’s some of my thoughts and plans:

• Styles of Pizza - A great pizza is whatever style of pizza you like the most. Deep dish, thin-crust, stuffed-pizza, doughy and chewy - they’re all good. My style of choice is the one that is commonly referred to as New York Style (go figure). Fairly thin crust, floppy enough that the slice needs to be folded to be held. My crust recipe comes from Peter Reinhart’s American Pie.
• Oven Automation - I think I’ve mentioned my hacked oven here before. My oven predates Sabbath/Holiday modes, so I had to build a circuit into it so I could have it turned on automatically on Yom Tov. I assume no responsibility if you’re crazy enough to try the same.
• High Temperatures - This particularly verbose page has changed my pizza baking forever. The most important factor is a high temperature oven. Commercial pizza-ovens reach a minimum of 750 degrees. 550 degrees just won’t cut it. My oven also predates an open-door sensor, so I clipped the lock and bake pizzas during the self-clean cycle. Neither I nor KosherBlog.net will assume any responsibility for people who decide to do something so monumentally stupid! I haven’t gotten an infra-red thermometer yet, but I’m guessing that I’m baking pizzas at about 900 degrees. It takes about 2 minutes to cook a 9″ pizza! The crust comes out better than any I have ever made. Crispy, bubbly, amazing.
• Cheese - I like to try a variety of cheeses on my pizzas. This year I’m using pepper-jack and fresh mozzarella di buffala for the first time. The mozzarella came from KosherItalia.com. Just a word of advice - I found the cheese rather bland, straight from the package. 2 days before using the cheese, I added a 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the water the mozzarella balls are floating in. It improved it considerably, in my opinion. Also make sure that you dry the cheese off as much as possible before baking, or you will have a super-hot puddle on top of your pie.
• Toppings - Some ideas I’m toying with. Caramelized Onions. Potato & Rosemary. Wild Mushrooms & White Sauce. White Pizza (ricotta cheese). Roasted Garlic. Roasted Poblanos & Pepper-Jack. My kids are partial to canned-corn on their pizzas.

Have a good and tasty Yom Tov!

Max Gellerman, owner of The Butcherie, has purchased Beacon Kosher, Brookline’s cramped, gritty, and only fully-glatt market. Beacon Kosher, which has been on shaky footing since the untimely passing of its owner, will remain under the glatt supervision of Rabbi Moskowitz when it reopens after a brief repurposing over the next few weeks.

Chip’n Dipped of Huntington, NY does exactly what their name implies — dip chocolate chip cookies in chocolate. We knew that much when their cookies arrived for us to sample last week, and were pleased to learn the rest of their story. Chip’n Dipped is a family business which opened up last September, selling a wide array of cookie flavors, each coated in an all-natural high-cocoa chocolate blend. The cookies themselves are all-natural as well: no preservatives, artificial flavors, or trans-fats.

The ingredient list on their signature “Classic” cookie is instructive: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, unbleached flour, butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Basically, imagine the best dairy chocolate-chip cookie you could make from scratch at home, with the bonus of one end dipped in chocolate.

The two other varieties we tried were very tasty, too — “Chocolate Chip & Peanut Butter” and “Cocoa to the Max,” a chocolate cookie with chocolate chips and chocolate coating.

Chip’n Dipped also bakes up brownies, blondies, muffins, scones, and chocolate confections. In the store — 201 E. Main Street, Huntington, NY — they also serve hot cocoa and espresso drinks. Visit in person, or order online: www.chipndipped.com. Kosher supervision provided by Rabbi Moshe LaBrie, Rav of the Young Israel of Huntington (chalav stam).

The British press recently reported on the use of animal products in candies produced by MasterFoods, a division of Mars, Incorporated. Don’t worry, though (unless you’re a strict vegetarian). Here’s what the London Beth Din says about the situation:

We have been aware for many years that whey can be a by product of cheese-making and that, even today, animal rennet can be used in cheese manufacture.

Since whey derived from this source contains only trace amounts of rennet, it is permitted according to halacha.

There is therefore no problem with any of the Masterfoods products that are currently on the London Beth Din approved list.

Just a quick announcement about a new site I’ve added to the “Kosher Blog Network”: The Online Kosher Directory hosted at ShopKosher.net. It’s my first stab at a categorized, searchable directory of online retailers which carry kosher products. Each site in the directory can be commented upon by visitors, to share shopping experiences or ask questions.

As an added bonus, I’ve included a “Books” section, with several kosher titles, as well as some other all-purpose culinary tomes that I’d recommend.

There’s a submission form on the homepage to suggest new retail sites to add — please use it!

Here’s a dessert that I made a while ago but never got around to posting. It was my first successful sorbet, and I think I’ll stick with the formula, although I’m looking forward to switching from frozen berries to fresh when the local crop is ripe.

I looked at quite a few berry sorbet recipes before making this, and it turns out that they’re all pretty similar. In addition to berries, the ingredients usually include water, sugar syrup, lemon juice, and a small amount of alcohol (usually vodka) to keep the sorbet from becoming too icy. I liked the recipes in The Healthy Hedonist becuase they call for maple syrup rather than sugar syrup and juice instead of water. (The juice is apple-raspberry, because they wouldn’t be Myra Kornfield recipes if they didn’t call for at least one ingredient that you can’t get in an ordinary supermarket.) The sorbet in the picture above was based on the Healthy Hedonist recipes and was made with a combination of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. I recently tried the same formula with only raspberries, and it was equally delicious. The maple syrup adds depth of flavor without being immediately recognizable.

Here’s the recipe:

Berry Sorbet
makes about 1 quart

1 pound (about 4 cups) strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries, or a combination
3/4 cup apple juice
3/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
pinch of salt
grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tablesppon vodka

Blend the berries with the apple juice in a blender or food processor. Strain the mixture through a fine-meshed strainer into a bowl, to remove the seeds.* Stir in the maple syrup, lemon juice, salt, lemon zest, and vodka. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Let the sorbet sit in the freezer for a few hours before serving.

Variations I’d like to try:
* Lime instead of lemon
* Freshly squeezed orange juice and orange zest instead of apple juice
* 1/4 cup wine instead of vodka (I guess I’d reduce the amount of juice)

* You can get away with skipping this step if you’re using strawberries or blueberries, but I seriously regret not buying a fine-meshed strainer before trying the recipe with raspberries. A regular strainer lined with cheesecloth will not do the trick.

For a few years, I’ve been pondering the idea of a culinary tour of Israel — a guided trip across the country to kosher wineries, dairies, fine restaurants, and the like. Any interest out there? Does anything like it already exist?

Here are the last of my notes from Rabbi Moshe Heinemann’s talk last night on cutting-edge issues in kashrut (part one here). Errors are mine, and consult your rabbi before applying any of this information to your own life.

FRIDGES
For a refrigerator to operate properly, it must occasionally remove any frost that has built up along its refrigeration coils. Until recently, fridges would activate a heater on a uniform cycle, a specific number of minutes every so many hours, to melt the frost. Of course, this is quite inefficient — why heat the coils if the fridge hasn’t been opened all day? Federal regulations have since been enacted to decrease appliances’ overall energy use, and fridge manufacturers have responded with more delicate heating algorithms. A new fridge today will measure the amount of time the compressor has run, and the number of times the door has been opened, before activating the heater.

Obviously, this has serious implications for Shabbat usage — it’s not just a matter of unscrewing the light bulb anymore. Since a refrigerator’s sensors are directly affected by opening the door and the ensuing change in temperature, it would be prohibited to access the fridge on Shabbat. You might ask how this differs from halacha’s view on a home’s heating and air conditioning. The short answer is that outside air introduced through a door or window diffuses rapidly and is thus indirect enough not to be a concern — what halacha calls a “koach sheni.”

So, along with your oven and stove, your next refrigerator may require a certified Sabbath mode to force it into 20th-century, heat-every-eight-minutes operation.

PROPYLENE GLYCOL
Propylene glycol is an industrial emulsifier, commonly used by soda manufacturers to keep a beverage’s coloring from separating out of solution and migrating to the bottom of the bottle. It has always been considered an unproblematic ingredient from a kashrut standpoint, since it’s a delicious petroleum product.

Fortunately, our friends at Dow Chemical have found a way to use glycerin to manufacture propylene glycol. Glycerin can be refined from petroleum, vegetable oil, or animal fat, the cheapest source being animal (since it’s the least desirable from a marketing standpoint). When glycerin producers compete for customers, they’ll often sell animal-based glycerin to undercut the next guy’s price. To assure that the propylene glycol which emerges at the end of this process is kosher, the glycerin must now be certified.

Moral of the story — when a product “all of a sudden” requires kosher supervision, when it never did before, forces like this are likely afoot.

AGA OVENS
Star-K has recently certified for Shabbos/Yom-Tov use ovens produced by AGA. AGA ranges are unique in that they maintain at all times very specific temperatures in each of their separate oven compartments, utilizing lots of cast iron and lots of insulation to keep the heat in. The four-chamber model, for example, contains baking, simmering, roasting, and warming ovens, plus boiling, simmering, and warming plates on top. There are no dials. Obviously, this makes Shabbat and holiday use extremely straightforward, and even alleviates bishul akum issues since the heat source is always lit. Don’t call up your local appliance retailer just yet — AGA ovens go for between $6,000 - $15,000.

BISHUL AKUM & CANNED FOOD
(This one’s complicated, so I apologize again.) The prohibition of bishul akum applies to “prestigious” foods only, or foods that could be “served on a king’s table.” Industrial canning of vegetables naturally involves the use of heat, so the question arises of whether a Jew must be involved in the production. Of course, one must first ascertain whether canned foods are “prestigious.” The Star-K contacted a chef at the White House and asked if they’d ever use canned vegetables, like asparagus. The chef answered with a resounding “no.” But was the chef’s problem that the food wasn’t fresh, or that it had a poor taste? If freshness was the main issue, then the fresh asparagus would have been fit to serve before canning, and bishul akum prohibitions might remain. So that route was inconclusive, and they were left with more questions: do we consider a food’s prestige where it’s made, where it’s marketed, or where it’s used? Returning to our Chinese mushroom scenario, we have mushrooms canned in China … for a US company … which is shipping them for sale in Israel. In the end, the Star-K is machmir on bishul akum in every locale along the chain.

CUT FRUIT & FISH
One can assume that varieties of cut fruit sold year-round in a supermarket or other similar setting are probably cut with a dedicated knife, leaving the fruit kosher. Seasonal fruits, like watermelon, though, may be cut with knives also used in other areas, so when purchasing a watermelon portion, one should trim a small amount off the edges to maintain kashrut. Fish, too, may be considered similarly. If, for example, a whole, kosher fish has had its head and tail removed in a non-kosher fish market, we may trim away the cut edges with a kosher a knife and use the fish. (Since scalers can only be used on fish with scales, i.e. kosher fish, there are no kashrut concerns about the scaler’s use on non-kosher fish.) Most interestingly, we may assume that kosher fish which is cleaned and filleted in an (unsupervised) industrial setting is being manipulated with dedicated equipment only used for such (kosher) fish. (To learn how this material might apply to your own fish-buying practices, consult your rabbi.)

My first batch of notes from Rabbi Moshe Heinemann’s lecture earlier tonight at the Young Israel of Brookline, on cutting-edge issues in kashrut. Any errors in the information below are my fault. (Besides, R’ Heinemann insisted that these are solely his opinions, and the only halacha that matters is from one’s own rabbi.)

SHEMITAH
Shemitah begins next year, which presents problems in the US with produce of Israeli origin, grown on Jewish lands. We must be careful only to purchase Israeli produce with a heksher. A custom in Jerusalem is to eat fruits and vegetables grown on Arab lands during this time, and the Star-K does likewise, having made agreements with Israel’s largest vegetable companies to only sell Arab produce. This causes an interesting economic situation: the price of normally cheap Arab produce doubles, and the price of Jewish produce drops. Since there’s generally less demand for Arab produce, Arabs simply don’t grow the quantities necessary to fulfill this unusual Israeli demand — and will sometimes purchase now-cheap Jewish produce to fulfill it, negating the entire shemitah-respecting effort.

As such, the Star-K has contracted with a French satellite company to take pictures of Arab farms every five minutes to discover any illicit deliveries of Jewish produce. The image resolution is high enough that a truck’s license plate can be read, and appropriate action may be taken.

BUGS
Insect infestation in produce is more of a problem today, not because of new chumrot or overzealous rabbis, but because of bugs’ increasing pesticide resistance and the government’s prohibition against using the levels of pesticide needed to kill this century’s uber-bugs. With stronger bugs, and fewer chemicals in our arsenal, there are simply more insects appearing in our food.

In response, the Star-K is refining a “leaf camera” system that can distinguish between a bug’s protein and a leaf’s carbohydrates. When installed in an industrial setting, lettuce leaves with detectable protein content can be pushed aside. Unfortunately, they’re not 100% sure it’ll work, and it still isn’t fast enough to satisfy industrial demands.

ORGANIC MEAT
An organic meat company approached the Star-K for certification, thinking that a heksher would attract more customers. The Star-K informed the company that about 80% of kosher slaughters are problem-free, and ultimately there’s a yield of 33% glatt kosher in a normal meat processing environment. Given that organically-raised animals are purported to be healthier, they estimated that an organic yield might be as high as 60-80% glatt. Before the Star-K agreed, they recommended that they observe the company’s existing non-kosher operations, and simply check the animals after slaughter to see if they’d have been glatt. The results were dismal: only 3% of the company’s organic beeves would have been considered glatt. Since they were raised without antibiotics, their livers were overwhelmed by parasites.

TROPICAL OILS FROM ASIA
Tropical oils are popular additives in shelf-stable baked goods, since they’re solid at room temperature. These days, the cheapest source of tropical oils is Asia, where the stuff is shipped out in massive, massive quantities. Before the breads and cakes hit your bakery’s shelves, the kashrut challenges have begun: the whole supply chain presents significant hurdles. The ships have huge carrying tanks, which may at any time be filled with kosher or non-kosher oils (i.e. animal fat). Because these fats become solid at room temperature, they must be heated during transit to stay liquid. When the ships arrive in the US, they unload their cargo into special terminals with heated storage tanks. One hot-water heating system may service up to ten tanks. From the coasts, the oils are sent by rail and truck (both, again, in heated tanks) to factories across the country.

Dealing with the ships is especially difficult since they’re quite resistant to kashrut oversight, but the Star-K has a lot of experience handling the trucks. Federal law prohibits the use of one tanker for both edible and non-edible liquids, but one tanker could easily transport alternating batches of kosher and non-kosher products. So the tanks need to be kashered, fine, but the cabs? They, too, present a problem. Since the pump used to fill and empty the tank needs a power source, it’s part of the cab, and not the tank. That must be kashered, too. Cabs are frequently swapped in and out — breakdowns, new drivers, etc. — so detailed record-keeping and tracking is key.

CHINA
According to R’ Heinemann, there are unique challenges in working with Chinese companies seeking kosher certification, because of the acceptability of deception within their business culture. For example, any foods made with glycerin — an animal byproduct — will render the endeavor mutually unprofitable, so the Star-K routinely asks for that information upfront. The Chinese company will say no — and when the rabbi arrives, lo and behold, the facility has 200,000 gallons of glycerin, and the company doesn’t think it’s a big deal. He says they’re not unlike Jews: a chuppah is called for 4:30, but it starts at 5 — does the family apologize to their guests? No, we just expect that a Jewish event won’t be on time!

Bugs are a particularly pervasive problem in China. Consider mushrooms. In the US, most mushrooms are grown in Pennsylvania, in underground caves where the temperature and humidity are constant year round. In such consistent conditions, mushrooms grow bug-free. In China, mushrooms are grown above-ground, and the mushroom industry is very much a mom-and-pop operation. An individual harvester will sell an individual basket of mushrooms to a produce company, where it’s mixed in with everyone else’s small batches. In this environment, widespread inspection for bugs (and use of kosher cutting tools) is near impossible.

Coming up in part 2: Appliances, propylene glycol, bishul akum of canned goods, use of cut fruit and fish.

Kosher Newbie
http://koshernewbie.blogspot.com/
Witness one family’s transition to a kosher kitchen and a kosher lifestyle, including all the tough decisions and heavy lifting.

Laura’s Kosher Kitchen Blog
http://www.lauraskosherkitchen.com/blog/
A newbie to the blogging world, but a heavy hitter in the realm of kosher food, Chef Laura Frankel (founder/chef of Chicago’s Shallots Restaurant) has just introduced a blog of her own. Chef Frankel recently published Kosher Cooking for All Seasons, which employs a refreshingly down-to-earth, seasonal approach to kosher cooking.

And one bonus site — it’s not expressly kosher, but The Urban Omnivore is taking on an issue at heart to gourmands of all stripes: how to eat sustainably without moving to an off-the-grid hippie commune. Watch Bill as he explores grass-fed meats, organic farms, produce markets, community-support agriculture, and healthier recipes. (And pick up a copy of Michael Pollen’s excellent book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, for all the background information you’ll need.)