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Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)

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Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)

#211

Post by sublinear »

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #143
bruckie wrote: post #110

Recipe writers are still lying about cooking time in 2023. I signed up for a Hello Fresh promo recently to get some new meal ideas, and it's making me feel like the slowest cook on the planet. I reliably exceed their stated prep and cooking times by 100-200%. Tonight's "40 minute" recipe took about 70 minutes, and that was with a family member helping out with some of the prep and cooking. I wonder if they collect an…

I have the same experience with Marley Spoon. I always make sure I prepare everything in advance but the actual recipe wants you to do some of the cutting and dicing while stuff is already cooking and they often have impossible timing. For example, they will have you fry the meat for 2-3 minutes, clean and chop a boatload of vegetables and add them after those 2-3 minutes pass. Sometimes they even do this during a st…

> They also assume I have an infinite amount of cutting boards and knifes

A professional kitchen doesn't either. They wipe things down with sanitizer as they go. i.e. a damp rag from a bucket of water/steramine solution.

Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)

#212

Post by groestl »

djxfade wrote: post #201
groestl wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Generate me a recipe with mozzarella and bacon" "Certainly! Here's a delicious recipe that combines mozzarella and bacon: Bacon-Wrapped Mozzarella Sticks" Do you want to hear the rest?

Go on...

Never been tested once:

Bacon-Wrapped Mozzarella Sticks

Ingredients:

  - 12 slices of bacon
  - 12 mozzarella sticks
  - 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  - 2 eggs, beaten
  - 1 cup breadcrumbs
  - 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  - 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  - Vegetable oil, for frying
  - Marinara sauce, for serving
Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Wrap each mozzarella stick with a slice of bacon, starting from one end and wrapping it tightly. Place the bacon-wrapped mozzarella sticks on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake the bacon-wrapped mozzarella sticks in the preheated oven for about 12-15 minutes, or until the bacon is crispy and the cheese is melted. Remove from the oven and set aside.

In three separate shallow bowls, set up a breading station. Place flour in the first bowl, beaten eggs in the second bowl, and breadcrumbs mixed with garlic powder and paprika in the third bowl.

Heat vegetable oil in a deep skillet or pot over medium heat until it reaches 350°F (180°C).

Take each bacon-wrapped mozzarella stick and dredge it in flour, then dip it into the beaten eggs, and finally coat it with the breadcrumb mixture, pressing gently to adhere. Repeat this process for each mozzarella stick.

Carefully place the coated mozzarella sticks into the hot oil, a few at a time, and fry for about 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the fried mozzarella sticks to a paper towel-lined plate to drain excess oil.

Serve the bacon-wrapped mozzarella sticks warm with marinara sauce for dipping. Enjoy!

These bacon-wrapped mozzarella sticks make for a delicious appetizer or snack that combines the gooeyness of melted mozzarella with the savory crunch of bacon.

Looking forward to the Stable Diffusion based Illustration.

Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)

#213

Post by ashergill »

dmarchand90 wrote: post #194
henrikschroder wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As if I needed more fuel on the fire of my burning hatred for recipe collections. Everyone who is interested in cooking should do themselves a favour and buy a proper cookbook. Something that starts with the basics, and works itself up to full meals. It should have cheat-sheets for basic ways to cook all your staples, here's all the ways you can cook a potato, with times and temperature. Here's all the ways you can s…

Could you recommend such a "proper" cookbook

Delia Smith’s Complete Cookery Course is an absolute classic and I can also recommend Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan

Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)

#214

Post by MrScruff »

bruckie wrote: post #110

Recipe writers are still lying about cooking time in 2023. I signed up for a Hello Fresh promo recently to get some new meal ideas, and it's making me feel like the slowest cook on the planet. I reliably exceed their stated prep and cooking times by 100-200%. Tonight's "40 minute" recipe took about 70 minutes, and that was with a family member helping out with some of the prep and cooking. I wonder if they collect an…

I feel that the time quoted to cook the recipes is always based on an experienced chef, which is likely often not the case for things like Hello Fresh.

An experienced chef will have be far more efficient at chopping/food preparation - I'm reasonable fast at chopping but still probably end up focusing over details an experienced chef would know aren't going to matter for the final recipe.

Also they're probably better at managing the parallel threads of execution most recipes need, hence they always talk about boiling water for pasta far more early then I ever end up needing it.

Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)

#216

Post by pazimzadeh »

Actually, my grandma can do it in ~20 minutes and her onion soup using one onion will still taste better than mine which uses four onions. Apparently the trick is to use enough oil for the amount of flour that you use. A lot of the golden color comes from that.

Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)

#217

Post by kieckerjan »

avvt4avaw wrote: post #204
dmarchand90 wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you recommend such a "proper" cookbook

- Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat - Ruhlman's 20 by Michael Ruhlman - How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

Ratio by Michael Ruhlman as well.

Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)

#218

Post by 6LLvveMx2koXfwn »

ashergill wrote: post #213
dmarchand90 wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you recommend such a "proper" cookbook

Delia Smith’s Complete Cookery Course is an absolute classic and I can also recommend Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan

12 minutes for rice. Don't lift the lid. Only lesson I ever needed.

Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)

#219

Post by voytec »

pickledshrimp wrote: post #168
isaacfrond wrote: post #131

My sister in law writes recipes. She has a recipe column in a newspaper and wrote a few high quality recipe books. I saw them in a bookstore. So she's reasonable successful. Her pieces are charming, her recipes inspiring. The thing is. At a birthday party when I was talking to her, she confessed to me that she never actually tries her recipes. When it's time to do a new piece, she sits down at her computer and makes…

Surely that can’t be true. Even semi professional chefs need to figure out what flavour combinations need to go together, amounts of each item, etc. Plus every modern recipe has pictures to show what the result should look like. I just don’t believe she would get anything approximating a good result from this.

> Surely that can’t be true (...) every modern recipe has pictures to show what the result should look like

You may be looking at glue used as milk, motor oil as sauce or mashed potatoes pretending to be ice cream [1].

(And don't call me Shirley)

[1] https://petapixel.com/2018/11/30/tricks-food-photographers-u...

Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)

#220

Post by extortionist »

AlotOfReading wrote: post #103
sublinear wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vegetables can release a lot of water. The amount and how much it affects the other ingredients varies significantly on which you put in, in what order, how much, and in what size of pan. If the pan is crowded, has high walls, or a lid, that can also affect how much water stays in the pan. I can't think of any situation where I would want more than a literal tablespoon of oil for cooking the first veggies thrown in (…

The first step in carmelization is to remove most of that water so the onions can reach maillard reaction temps. Try doing it without oil and an equivalent amount of water instead. It's much more temperamental.

America's Test Kitchen actually does suggest adding water to reduce the amount of time needed for caramelization--and not an equivalent amount of water, but much more than the amount of oil you'd use.

The idea is that adding water, raising it to a boil, and covering the pan reduces the amount of time needed to raise the temperature of the onions to the caramelization point, more than offsetting the amount of time needed to remove the water itself. That plus adding some baking soda near the end reduces the overall time considerably.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ovqhzil3wJw

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