6 ms·
Summary: 1. Fruits ripen faster if placed in a paper bag with apples or bananas. > Agree x 6 2. Marinating for 30 minutes achieves the same goal as marinatin
by radus 5y ago
Summary:
1. Fruits ripen faster if placed in a paper bag with apples or bananas.
> Agree x 6
2. Marinating for 30 minutes achieves the same goal as marinating for 24 hours.
> Disagree x 6. Tested on pork tenderloin.
3. Adding oil to pasta water prevents pasta from sticking.
> Disagree x 6
4. Adding citrus to guacamole will stop it from oxidizing.
> Agree x 6
5. You should wash your mushrooms before cooking.
> Disagree x 6
6. Silpat baking mats are better for even baking versus parchment versus foil.
> Agree x 5, Sideways x 1. Tested on chocolate chip cookies.
7. Beans need to be soaked overnight before cooking.
> Disagree x 5, Agree x 1
8. The best way to get crispy bacon is to start with a cold pan.
> Agree x 4, Disagree x 2. Tested on bacon.
9. The reverse-sear method is the best way to cook a perfect medium rare steak.
> Disagree x 6
10. You should rinse your meat before cooking.
> Disagree x 6
11. Hard boiled eggs should be started in cold water.
> Disagree x 5, Agree x 1
- Semaphor 5y ago> 2. Marinating for 30 minutes achieves the same goal as marinating for 24 hours. I wonder if they confused the marinating with salt/vinegar softening? Marinating for taste should make no or barely any difference, salt/vinegar will need more time to work.
- zdragnar 5y agoRegarding #2, it is a shame they only had half hour and 24 hour options. Most marinade taste tests I've seen top out at around 3 hours, IIRC.
- tptacek 5y agoThe logic they're all using on #2 is verkakte; the aromatics they're talking about penetrating the meat don't penetrate at all (the molecules are too large). Salt penetrates, which is why brining works, but flavors generally don't.
- zdragnar 5y agoAcidic components can also make a difference with time, especially with certain enzymes like in pineapple and I think maybe soy sauce. Personal taste test, chicken breast marinated in Italian salad dressing (or vinegar, oil, aromatics and a dash of mustard) definitely is best with at least an hour.
- silverlake 5y agoOn 5, Alton Brown and Harold McGee showed that mushrooms did not absorb water when washing. https://www.mashed.com/311042/this-is-who-alton-brown-thinks-should-be-the-next-host-of-cutthroat-kitchen/ https://www.mashed.com/311042/this-is-who-alton-brown-thinks...
- ehsankia 5y agoI don't think it's about absorbing, but more about how you pat dry your meat before searing. But then who wants to sit and pat dry two dozen tiny mushrooms one by one after wetting them.
- teruakohatu 5y agoSautéing mushrooms drains the liquid from them, so I do wonder how much difference a damp mushroom exterior is going to make, beyond extending the cooking time slightly.
- djur 5y agoYeah, mushrooms don't sear like meat. They only brown after enough water has been cooked out. The only real reason to dry off your mushrooms before cooking them is if you're frying them in a lot of fat, to prevent spatter.
- HWR_14 5y agoI never pay dry my mushrooms. I always wash them. They come covered in stuff. The water left on the outside seems pretty negligible compared to what gets cooked out of the mushrooms.
- tptacek 5y agoMushrooms are full of water naturally; the first thing that happens when you put them in a saute pan is that it fills up with liquid. Having your steak bone dry helps get a fast sear on it, but I don't know that that holds for mushrooms.
- TheSpiceIsLife 5y ago
- stickfigure 5y agoRegarding 11, Seriouseats/Kenji did the definitive scientific exploration of the hard boiled egg: https://www.seriouseats.com/the-secrets-to-peeling-hard-boiled-eggs https://www.seriouseats.com/the-secrets-to-peeling-hard-boil... I've inadvertently run this experiment many times. For years I followed Alton's original Good Eats instruction and started with cold water. Shells were always hard to peel. After Kenji's article I switched to adding eggs to boiling water, and it makes a huge difference in peelability. Also, cook time is more precise because the water temperature is constant; different ranges/burners/pots/waterlevels boil at different rates. The only problem with starting in boiling water is that if your eggs come directly from the fridge (ie store bought eggs) some will often crack from the heat shock. This can be mitigated by putting eggs in lukewarm water for a few minutes first. Or just get chickens and keep your eggs at room temperature :-)
- cardy31 5y agoKenji is the best. Food Lab is always on my kitchen counter. Highly recommend it for anyone trying to improve at cooking.
- skipnup 5y agoDon't you have a device for puncturing the eggs in your country so they don't crack? Called Eierpiekser in German: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B000A8BKX8/ https://www.amazon.de/dp/B000A8BKX8/
- McNutty 5y agoI have lived in 4 countries and I've never heard of this method or this type of gadget before!
- Semaphor 5y agoNeither I nor my parents ever used this (Germans), yet cracking is extremely rare. It happened to me maybe 5 times in 10 years.
- porker 5y agoWe have them in the UK! But now I use the point of a sharp knife to make a hole in my eggs before boiling.
- dirtyid 5y agoWonder if most of the washing advice applies to buying from wet markets, there's some pretty sus sanitary environments out there.
- milleramp 5y agoFor #9 I wish they offered a clear better alternative, I wonder if they would agree on any one technique, probably not. For me I haven’t found a better, easier way than reverse sear, I know sous vide is good but I refuse to go there for now.
- jrapdx3 5y agoRe: sous vide, why not? We've been using this for quite a while, it was one of those "experiments" during the shutdowns. Yeah, it takes some equipment, and like everything else there's a bit of a learning curve. For a lot of foods we like it works exceedingly well. One thing though is that an item (poultry, fish, steak, etc.) cooked sous vide is essentially poached, probably not how you'd like to serve it. One way to deal with this is searing cooked meats rapidly in a cast-iron skillet. An alternative (that I prefer) is using my trustworthy Bernzomatic propane torch for the job. A quick "painting" with the flame gives a nice appearance and taste. Fun to do especially when we have dinner guests, a little dramatic flair never hurts. And of course when not "incinerating" the evening meal, the torch is great for welding aluminum parts, a true multi-use tool.
- milleramp 5y agoI know it’s good, my objection is I am trying to avoid yet another kitchen specialty device that I use less and less as time goes on. I have a pressure cooker and a waffle iron that need some love. :)
- jrapdx3 5y agoPressure cookers are great for stocks, cooking beans, rice. Waffle iron, well, not so much. Our kitchen is small, no room for mere gadgets. Sous vide items compact pretty well so not a storage hog. Time not space is the issue. Like >=1 hour for slabs of fish, not practical for many people.
- porker 5y agoI've read that for reverse sear the steak needs to be an inch and a half thick or more. That's rare to find here - have you made it work with thinner steaks?
- throw0101a 5y ago> 8. The best way to get crispy bacon is to start with a cold pan. Start in a cold pan, but put a little bit of water in it (just enough to cover the bacon). Per America's Test Kitchen: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2guC4Badq2s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2guC4Badq2s First, the water will act as lubricant to prevent burning. Second, the water will take the initial heat instead of the bacon. But as the water gets hotter the heat will also transfer to the bacon's fat, which will start to render (go from solid to liquid). By the time the water boils away the fat will now be present in the pan as lubricant. For larger batches bake it in the oven: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J84JQU71WBc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J84JQU71WBc
- jscholes 5y agoThank you for this great summary!