721–730 of 747 posts
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Pretty much everything from the technique to the details were pretty far off the mark. It was pretty cringeworthy to watch.
I meant the techniques portion of the book, not techniques for the Mapo Tofu.
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I use recipe websites. When I want to try something new, I read a handful of recipes there, usually those with high user ratings. But what I really pay attention to is the writing style. If it's just a dry "do this then that then that", it might very well be some stuff someone made up on the spot. But if people go into detail, like "yes this seems like an awful lot of butter, but trust me, this is how the real thing…
One would guess the "story mode" recipes are the made up ones? Sounds like a inaccurate rule of thumb.
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> at 230 degrees for 30 minutes In my oven, 230deg is just about maximum temperature; cooking anything that hot for 30 minutes will result in cinders. I take it your oven is calibrated in Fahrenheit?
I’m curious too — 230F seems low for that amount of time. I’ve cooked plenty of meat in a smoker at 200-250F, but it takes many hours. On the flip side I agree 450F (~230C) sounds a bit high, but not imo catastrophically so.
https://gizmodo.com/googles-algorithm-is-lying-to-you-about-...
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I went from sous vide > reverse sear (faster than sous vide) > oil-free pan-sear, in the decreasing order of time of it takes. I find the pan-sear delivers almost the same results in much less time (of course, you won't get the uniform insides of a reverse sear, but close enough since you're flipping so much). I'm also at a stage of life when I can afford better cuts of meat.
I was told that you should only flip steak once. I'm going to have to research this "flipping so much" stuff
But I think ATK or someone else debunked this as the best practice. Flipping more than once gets you more even internal cooking.
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I do follow the recipes without overthinking them, because I don't have the skill required to make judgement calls. But also, I know that any time a recipe gives is highly suspect, so don't judge if something is done based on times in recipes. So when a recipe says to "carmelize onions", that's what I do. To do anything else is to deviate from what the recipe is plainly telling me. > Recipes have been vague and don't…
> I'm just irritated that there was a secret definition to "carmelize onions" that nobody clued me in to. Many words will have definitions you don’t know — sometimes literally the opposite of their “proper” definitions! It’s not a secret, it’s just a thing you didn’t know yet. So don’t be too mad, now you know.
I've had this conversation with people many times, a consequence is that some of them have no idea what caramelised onions actually are - they think it's the state you get to after 10 mins. Thinly slice 10 onions, dump them in a big pot with some oil on a medium heat for 10-15 minutes stirring frequently. Then turn the heat down to low and cook for a further 45-60 mins, check on it and stir every 10 mins or so. When…
The real issue is simply a vague use of the word "caramelize," not that they expect you to be at the stove a half-hour longer than they say. The vast majority of recipes that say "caramelize" simply mean "cook until softened and sweet." No, technically the onions won't be caramelized after 15 minutes, but very few recipes actually want you to caramelize the onions. Take an Italian pasta sauce. As an Italian who has c…
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The confusion comes in the color versus the process. I've seen some recipes call for "cook down onions until translucent and caramel in color". This is the most accurate definition of what most recipes want when asking for caramelized onions. However the true use of the word "Caramelized Onions" are onions that have gone through the cooking process of caramelization. This process requires three things: sugar, heat, a…
Some people add sugar but it is not required to achieve carmelization. Onions contain sufficient sugars to ensure this process.
Adding water early on in the cooking process to steam cook and soften the onions really speeds things up, too. (See Lan Lam's YouTube video on cooking carmelized onions. I use a slightly different method, but she got me on the track of adding water early, which really does help...)
I literally don't understand anything about the recipes I can find online.