Dave Arnold and Nastassia Lopez are back from Harvard to help you in the kitchen on this week's Cooking Issues! Dave is gearing up to visit some world-class orchards across the pond with Harold McGee, but not before answering some listener questions. Hear Dave talk about the differences between the Nomiku and the PolyScience immersion circulators. Learn why Dave is a "margarine hater", and why butter has no set melting point. Later, tune in for some centrifugal talk, why clarification always leads to flavor loss. Finally, get schooled on hydrocolloids! Dave discusses t the different variations of Dow methylcellulose and their applications in creating gels. This episode has been brought to you by The International Culinary Center.

"The pump output is usually not the limit on your capacity. Usually the limit on your capacity is the wattage [of the immersion circulator]. That said, when judging capacity, it's not about how many liters of liquid- it's how many liters of liquid, plus product, at what temperature? In a vessel with what kind of insulation?"

-- Dave Arnold on Cooking Issues

Dave, Nastassia & Jack are all alone at an abandoned Roberta's for a spooky edition of Cooking Issues. Tune in to hear how venison can be turned to country ham, how immersion circulators can be used at home, what to do with your pumpkin guts and seeds and how to cook geo duck. Also find out what a "vegan face" is and hear why Nastassia has no faith in reader submitted stories for the Cooking Issues blog. This episode was sponsored by Modernist Pantry.

Do you what a “jellymonger” is? Let Bompas & Parr explain. On today’s THE FOOD SEEN, Sam (Bompas) and Harry (Parr) bring a mainstay of British cuisine across the pond to discuss it’s royal and humble legacy. But don’t think these boys are just about jellies and things that wobble. Their multi-sensory events are becoming things of legend; from a five ton walk-thru Chocolate Waterfall, a Rabbit Café filled with the albino pets, to a scratch and sniff ode to Peter Greenaway’s food-studded film, The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover, it all makes you want to stop and sit in a breathable cloud of gin & tonic (which they’ve also concocted). This episode was sponsored by Hearst Ranch.

photos by Chris Terry