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Chef De Cuisinart posted:That is a stupid article. Nobody brines with just salt. You brine with aromatics, beer, sugar, molasses, etc. You want your turkey to taste amazing? Wet brine it in Guinness, 5% salt, pickling spice, and a bit of brown sugar. Wet brining mine with salt, brown sugar, pickle juice, bay, a little skoosh of liquid smoke, and calamondin citrus. It smells great.
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# ? Nov 25, 2015 03:07 |
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# ? Apr 26, 2024 04:27 |
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I posit that a cast iron skillet (8-12" Diameter) is a non-negotiable piece of hardware.
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# ? Nov 25, 2015 03:26 |
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dalstrs posted:Anyone have a recommendation on a food mill? The OXO mill has basically the same features as the MIU, but I've never used one myself---I got the MIU one before the Oxo one was on the market. But I bet it would be easier to find a story carrying to OXO mill if you wanted to handle one before buying.
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# ? Nov 25, 2015 03:35 |
Swagger Dagger posted:Dry brine it! Yeah this is what I'm doing. Chef De Cuisinart posted:That is a stupid article. Nobody brines with just salt. You brine with aromatics, beer, sugar, molasses, etc. You want your turkey to taste amazing? Wet brine it in Guinness, 5% salt, pickling spice, and a bit of brown sugar. A dry brine isn't a "solution" at all. It's basically just a rub-down with salt, pepper and whatever other spices you want followed by a nice long rest in the fridge DARPA Dad fucked around with this message at 03:47 on Nov 25, 2015 |
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# ? Nov 25, 2015 03:40 |
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DARPA Dad posted:A dry brine isn't a "solution" at all. It's basically just a rub-down with salt, pepper and whatever other spices you want followed by a nice long rest in the fridge Please explain to me how you'll get the flavor of dry juniper into a turkey with just salt, thanks. I'f you'd read the article, his "brine" was JUST salt. No aromatics, citrus, spices, etc. That's loving stupid. Nobody brines with JUST salt. e: and just so we're clear, he only used a 5% salt BRINE solution. Dry brine is a stupid term, you're just salting it prior to cooking.
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# ? Nov 25, 2015 04:27 |
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Chef De Cuisinart posted:Please explain to me how you'll get the flavor of dry juniper into a turkey with just salt, thanks.
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# ? Nov 25, 2015 04:51 |
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SubG posted:Just apply non-salt flavourings as a rub/mop before cooking. Adding them to the brine usually won't hurt, but you're not actually accomplishing anything apart from covering the surface with them anyway. That isn't really how that works, but okay. Always boil, and chill your brine. If I coat things in peppercorn and salt before cooking, they won't taste like pepper, dude.
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# ? Nov 25, 2015 05:15 |
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Chef De Cuisinart posted:That isn't really how that works, but okay. Always boil, and chill your brine. If I coat things in peppercorn and salt before cooking, they won't taste like pepper, dude. I mean in most cases you're not going to cause any problems by brining---apart from possibly ending up with soggier skin because it will absorb more water just like the meat will. And you're usually not going to cause any problems by adding additional poo poo to your brine. But as with marinading, it's primarily something that you're just doing to the surface, so you don't have to do it overnight or whatever versus just doing it just before cooking.
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# ? Nov 25, 2015 05:33 |
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Chef De Cuisinart posted:Please explain to me how you'll get the flavor of dry juniper into a turkey with just salt, thanks. Well in the article he talks about brining with spices and different liquids, etc. He tried all of that and concluded that the flavor difference is almost entirely in the skin and you're much better off just using salt and applying the aromatics later. It makes sense to me.
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# ? Nov 25, 2015 08:36 |
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I have brined hundreds and hundreds of birds, dry rubbed at least half as many, done all sorts of taste tests - just trust me I take this poo poo really seriously. a dry rub (lol "dry brine") is fine, completely valid - but seasoning won't penetrate as deeply (we're talking a centimeter of muscle fiber or something, but also into the tissues surrounding veins and punctures) and you also won't add as much moisture to the meat. If your moisture is flavorful, this can make a difference. Not all molecules or whatever the gently caress penetrate - but poo poo like allicin (in garlic, and its decomposing byproducts), whatever compound it is in black pepper (I forget), alcohol, etc totally make it through. the One True Way of making a juicy rear end poultry with crispy skin is to actual-brine it (length of time determined by meat thickness and weight), and let it air dry uncovered in the fridge for a day or two afterwards. dry rubs also works fine, just yields a different result.
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# ? Nov 25, 2015 08:55 |
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mindphlux posted:a dry rub (lol "dry brine") is fine, completely valid - but seasoning won't penetrate as deeply (we're talking a centimeter of muscle fiber or something, but also into the tissues surrounding veins and punctures) and you also won't add as much moisture to the meat. If your moisture is flavorful, this can make a difference. Not all molecules or whatever the gently caress penetrate - but poo poo like allicin (in garlic, and its decomposing byproducts), whatever compound it is in black pepper (I forget), alcohol, etc totally make it through. That said, in both a wet and dry brine you're building up a reservoir of [whatever] on the surface of the meat. Once you add heat, transport of salt (and other flavour compounds) will increase dramatically---as in orders of magnitude. This is just basic physics and chemistry. It's how diffusion works. So although in neither a wet nor dry brine will there be much penetration during the brining, in either case you will see penetration of salt (and potentially other stuff, depending on what it is) throughout the meat once it's cooked. Beyond that, it is also the case that most flavour compounds that you'd care about---like piperine from black pepper and the cysteine sulfoxides from aliums---are way the gently caress more soluble in fat than in water. So the fact that once you start rendering fat---on a bird, usually mostly in a layer at the surface---you necessarily start transporting more poo poo than when you're just using water, even ignoring the effect the different temperatures has on the process. Again, this is just basic chemistry, and it's just how it works. So: wet brining itself is something that you do to affect tenderness and moistness. You can get flavours into the meat that way, but only because you're parking a bunch of poo poo on the surface that can, later, do other poo poo during the cooking. Which is why applying flavourings via a dry rub or mop is as effective at doing that. And most of the things you probably care about, flavourwise, are going to be more soluble (like an order of magnitude more soluble) in oil or fat than in water. Which is why using a mop or baste will work better for that kind of poo poo. mindphlux posted:the One True Way of making a juicy rear end poultry with crispy skin is to actual-brine it (length of time determined by meat thickness and weight), and let it air dry uncovered in the fridge for a day or two afterwards.
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# ? Nov 25, 2015 09:56 |
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Brining a bird sounds like a fun thing to try. Is it worth doing it with a smaller bird, like a 3lb chicken? It's hard to buy bigger poultry round here, and I don't think me and my GF would be able to finish a 10lb turkey anyways... Has anyone got a link to a webpage that explains the right way of doing it?
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# ? Nov 25, 2015 10:05 |
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I feel there's a point where the advantages of one method over another are not going to be noticeable.
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# ? Nov 25, 2015 10:42 |
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Gerblyn posted:Has anyone got a link to a webpage that explains the right way of doing it?
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# ? Nov 25, 2015 11:06 |
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SubG posted:The Food Lab article up the page contains more information than most people will ever conceivably need on the subject, and in it there's a link to another Food Lab article with more information. Thank you!
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# ? Nov 25, 2015 11:09 |
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We talk about this every drat year. I'm not gonna brine because it's stupid and doesn't do much. You're welcome to. However no one mentions the single most effective way to get a tasty and moist bird is the injection method. Get a nice stainless injection needle and fill that fucker up with butter and seasonings. Also why are we arguing about this here and not the holiday thread? Stop ruining my traditions!
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# ? Nov 25, 2015 15:50 |
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dalstrs posted:Anyone have a recommendation on a food mill? The OXO mill is loving amazing, but is $50 http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Good-Grips-Food-Mill/dp/B000I0MGKE Of the competitors, all about half the price, I think the http://www.amazon.com/Weston-61-0101-W-Food-Stainless-Steel/dp/B000T3HWR2 is the only one I've used and it's pretty good, but the OXO is honestly worth the markup (as usual).
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# ? Nov 25, 2015 17:15 |
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SubG posted:The Myhrvold injection approach does the same thing faster, if you don't mind fiddling around with needles. yeah for sure. fully support this as well, and use it often when brining in a hurry. thanks for all your clarifications also Croatoan posted:I'm not gonna brine because it's stupid and doesn't do much. ok bro!!!
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# ? Nov 25, 2015 18:57 |
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SubG posted:The Myhrvold injection approach does the same thing faster, if you don't mind fiddling around with needles. I'm surprised that this is the first mention of injection brining in this discussion so far. You don't need to mess around with needles; just buy any regular meat injector like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Flavor-Injector-Stainless-Food-Facing-Professional/dp/B00HLGJR50. The tip is far too large to jab yourself with. I smoke chicken quite a bit and injection brining works great. You get similar results compared to submerging the whole bird and it is neither messy nor a pain in the rear end. I usually combine injection brining with a somewhat generous salting of the skin (no more than you would use for roasting a chicken), then leaving it in the fridge for about 24 hours. The results have been great.
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# ? Nov 26, 2015 03:19 |
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Anyone know a good place to buy kitchenaid mixers? Open to refurb/open box kind of stuff.
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# ? Nov 26, 2015 03:22 |
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Test Pattern posted:The OXO mill is loving amazing, but is $50 http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Good-Grips-Food-Mill/dp/B000I0MGKE I think I'll put the OXO on camelcamelcamel to watch for a deal. It's not an urgent need so I can wait for a sale. Thanks!
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# ? Nov 26, 2015 04:59 |
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do teflon coated pans really add toxins to your food if you cook with those, or is that just scare mongering? multiple sources say they do, or say it doesn't.
newmans_owned fucked around with this message at 05:02 on Nov 26, 2015 |
# ? Nov 26, 2015 04:59 |
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This thread is great, thanks OP. I'm moving and setting up a new kitchen and the advice / recommendations are invaluable. What's the consensus on cookware sets? I'm in the market for a mid-range set of pots and pans, maybe $90-$130(ish). I'm looking at this set specifically, Rachel Ray branded set (my parents want to gift it as a housewarming present). I've also looked at the Celphalon 10 piece kit, which at $140 is at the high end of my range. Also any Black Friday deal suggestions? (Cookware seems to definitely be a BF type purchase).
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# ? Nov 26, 2015 05:02 |
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Bitchkrieg posted:This thread is great, thanks OP. I'm moving and setting up a new kitchen and the advice / recommendations are invaluable. i'd go to Big Lots myself and see what kind of deals they have going on. you can usually find cookware that's very acceptable in terms of quality. VelociBacon posted:Anyone know a good place to buy kitchenaid mixers? Open to refurb/open box kind of stuff. if you don't mind Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_hi_4...&qid=1448511538 newmans_owned fucked around with this message at 05:22 on Nov 26, 2015 |
# ? Nov 26, 2015 05:10 |
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newmans_owned posted:do teflon coated pans really add toxins to your food if you cook with those, or is that just scare mongering? multiple sources say they do, or say it doesn't. If you were asking the same question several decades ago the answer would be more complicated (but still boil down to no).
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# ? Nov 26, 2015 05:36 |
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Bitchkrieg posted:This thread is great, thanks OP. I'm moving and setting up a new kitchen and the advice / recommendations are invaluable. Get a cheap stainless set if you need, go for a set with disc bottoms if you can find one for significantly cheaper than tri-ply/multiclads, but don't get a nonstick set. edit: Walmart's 8 piece Tramontana set got another price cut and is now down to $109: http://www.walmart.com/ip/19581112?...9063152&veh=sem Steve Yun fucked around with this message at 13:30 on Nov 26, 2015 |
# ? Nov 26, 2015 13:27 |
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Thermoworks is having a Black Friday sale through Monday. http://www.thermoworks.com/specials/?tw=HBF The new MK4 Themapen is $80 and the classic is $70 + a bunch of other stuff is on sale.
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# ? Nov 27, 2015 01:14 |
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Steve Yun posted:Anything you get that's stainless steel will probably last longer than you live. My grandmother was actually talking with my mom, today, about a stainless steel pan that she received as a wedding gift 50 years ago that our family still uses!
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# ? Nov 27, 2015 11:41 |
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FireTora posted:Thermoworks is having a Black Friday sale through Monday. Would something like that work for tempering chocolate? The thermometers I have right now aren't accurate enough at low temperatures.
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# ? Nov 27, 2015 12:12 |
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Gerblyn posted:Would something like that work for tempering chocolate? The thermometers I have right now aren't accurate enough at low temperatures. Yes it would. I have one and can measure anything from meat temps to sugar.
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# ? Nov 27, 2015 14:36 |
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Just wanted to say I picked up a new classic 4.5qt kitchenaid stand mixer for $250 shipped after tax, Canadian, from Amazon. Kitchenaid.com won't take a credit card with a Canadian address or I would have bought a refurb pro model for $299 (of which there are many btw American goons).
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# ? Nov 27, 2015 15:28 |
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mcstanb posted:Yes it would. I have one and can measure anything from meat temps to sugar. Cool! Was poking around and the Mk3 is available here for $45: http://thermapen.co.uk/superfast-thermapen-3/48-superfast-thermapen-3-discounted-colours.html From comparing them via their web pages. I think the Mk3 is missing some things like a display that autorotates as you move the thermometer and a backlight, but otherwise does the same job.
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# ? Nov 27, 2015 15:55 |
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Mk4 being waterproof was the reason I went for it.
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# ? Nov 27, 2015 17:19 |
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The Mk4 is worth it for the motion activated sleep mode alone. You can leave it open the whole time you're cooking without draining the battery or having it turn off at an inopportune time.
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# ? Nov 27, 2015 19:00 |
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VelociBacon posted:Just wanted to say I picked up a new classic 4.5qt kitchenaid stand mixer for $250 shipped after tax, Canadian, from Amazon. Kitchenaid.com won't take a credit card with a Canadian address or I would have bought a refurb pro model for $299 (of which there are many btw American goons). The only way I know to beat the Amazon prices on Kitchenaid mixers is if you can combine a 20% coupon with a sale at Bed Bath and Beyond. My brother in-law's probe thermo poo poo the bed over Thanksgiving, so I'm going to get him that new Thermoworks model (some goon in the last thread gave it high praise). https://www.thermoworks.com/products/alarm/dot.html Any reason why I should get the bigger, more complicated one? http://www.thermoworks.com/products/alarm/chefalarm.html I kind of like the simplicity of the round one.
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# ? Nov 28, 2015 13:57 |
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The chefalarm has a timer and can keep track of min/max temps. The biggest functional difference would be if you need a low temp alarm, like if you're monitoring food holding or if you're worried about your sous vide machine crapping out and ruining something. If your use case is really just, when is my food at temp, which is 99% of the time, just get the DOT. I have one, it's not cheaply made or anything, it's totally solid, it just does one single thing well. That said, the chefalarm comes with the bigger/longer 90 degree probe instead of the little straight probe. And I ended up buying one of those anyway and like it better (extra 15 bucks or so), which almost makes up for the price difference.
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# ? Nov 28, 2015 23:14 |
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Is there a huge difference in quality between different brands of teflon-coated frying pans, and if so, any recommendations? Are cast iron pans better or worse than those for frequent use? I cook for me and my partner (who is trying to bulk so he eats a lot) multiple times a day and I tend to use the same small frying pan for most meals that don't involve the oven/a pot/a wok. I just bought a cheap one from Kroger a couple of months ago and it's already a piece of poo poo that fried eggs stick to in the morning, despite a generous coat of butter. I promise I am not routinely burning poo poo in it or scrubbing it with brillo pads that scratch the coat or anything. If there isn't much difference in quality, is it just using it 3 times a day that's wearing it out quick?
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# ? Nov 29, 2015 00:34 |
Weldon Pemberton posted:Is there a huge difference in quality between different brands of teflon-coated frying pans, and if so, any recommendations? Are cast iron pans better or worse than those for frequent use? There are differences in quality, but you only really find much higher quality when you get into the more expensive stuff, i.e. Vollrath.
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# ? Nov 29, 2015 01:29 |
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AFAIK, no cookware company makes their own Teflon, they all outsource it to third parties, which means they basically get similar market rates on all the same stuff. Some Teflon costs more than others, depending on the quality. It's basically the more expensive the better, but also keep in mind that they all degrade eventually. Steve Yun fucked around with this message at 01:46 on Nov 29, 2015 |
# ? Nov 29, 2015 01:44 |
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# ? Apr 26, 2024 04:27 |
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Honestly i avoid nonstick coatings whenever i can. The benefit to having it really isn't all that great compared with just using enough oil in the first place and it gives the pan/whatever an expiration date (since that coating will come off eventually, especially if you use it every day like i tend to with my pans).
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# ? Nov 29, 2015 09:45 |