[Sca-cooks] fire-irons/salamanders and torches

[Stefan li Rous]

HL Clara von Ulm replied to me when I asked for her redaction of 
Digby's Savory Tosted Cheese recipe with:
> Re: my redaction
> I did what Digby's recipe said. I made my own cheese,
Yes, and I still find that extraordinary and commendable. And a bit 
risky since if that batch didn't work out, even if you had made good 
fresh cheese before, you'd have been having to come up with a 
substitute of some kind. Is there a commercial cheese product that you 
think your fresh cheese is similar to?
> added a little chesire, and tosted :) the tops of the
> cheesey-goo-covered bread with my fire-iron.
What do you use for a fire-iron? Is this a special implement just for 
this? Or do you use a large cast iron skillet or griddle or something 
similar? We have discussed salamanders here before, and I remember 
mention that sometimes modern commercial kitchens have special broilers 
meant to have a similar effect.
> Lacking a
> fire at the event, I heated my fire-iron with my
> oh-so-not-period-but-I-love-it-nonetheless kitchen
> torch. Who doesn't love torches???
I've not got one of these, although I remember them being mentioned 
here before. I probably would not have thought to use the torch to heat 
the fire-iron, but rather have tried to use the torch directly over the 
food item. But like the use of the salamander broilers, I suspect your 
solution gives not only a more even heating/browning but a more period 
result.

I wonder if I could use my propane workshop torch and an aluminum or 
steel plate or cast iron griddle for a similar effect. Or maybe just 
putting the cast iron griddle under the broiler for awhile?

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****