81–90 of 215 posts
Not Another Cooking Show is another good no-BS cooking channel (although the thumbnails have been becoming more youtubey): https://www.youtube.com/@NOTANOTHERCOOKINGSHOW
The absolute pinnacle of cooking video chefs today has to be J. Kenji Lopez-Alt[0], in large part because of his use of first person view. He straps a go-pro to this head and you see what he sees while he cooks. There's no cuts or retakes (unless he's waiting for something to cook or gets interrupted by his kids). There's no swaps. And it's all real- he's cooking dinner for his family. And it doesn't always go perfec…
If you think you'd like to cook, you should watch 20 or 30 videos from his channel.
Most cookbooks tend to be like the meme about drawing an owl [0]. Mostly because the people making the instructions make assumptions about Stuff One Should Just Know and skip those bits in the instructions. On video you can actually see the consistency of things as they are cooked and maybe even hear what the process sounds like (frying spices in oil has a distinct sound if the oil is at the correct temperature). You…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Disagree. I'm crap no matter how much I cook and I even cook some things worse than I used to.
What helped me when learning to cook vegan was focusing on the basics. I studied a few recipes (such as Indian curry) and identified the fundamental ingredients (onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, spices, and protein), creating a list of non-basic spices and other potential ingredients. I mastered the process of this basic recipe: browning the onions with cumin and bay leaf, no salt, adding garlic and the remaining sp…
Is there any cooking content that takes into account cleaning up after? In my limited viewing experience the focus often seems to be prep and the cooking, ignoring the reality of the inevitable clean up. Is there anyone focusing on recipes and how to cook that minimises / reuses cookware and through to a reset clean kitchen? When I cook I enjoy getting into a flow where I’m ordering the prep or modifying the recipe s…
But much closer to what you’re looking for - I cannot for the life of me find the website, I thought it was owned by NYT, but all of the recipes are ~5 ingredients max. It negates tons of pans/etc when you only cook/cut a couple things.
The absolute pinnacle of cooking video chefs today has to be J. Kenji Lopez-Alt[0], in large part because of his use of first person view. He straps a go-pro to this head and you see what he sees while he cooks. There's no cuts or retakes (unless he's waiting for something to cook or gets interrupted by his kids). There's no swaps. And it's all real- he's cooking dinner for his family. And it doesn't always go perfec…
While I'm a huge fan of J. Kenji Lopez-Alt and Serious Eats is my go to web site before cooking just about anything, nothing I've seen before or since beats Alton Brown and Good Eats when it comes to video based cooking education.
Particularly since Alton delves straight into the scientific 'why' things are happening. I don't remember exact recipes well, but processes and how things work I can hold well so his explanation of what's happening with the mallard reaction or gluten in bread or any number of topics have made it possible for me to execute very simple meals very well.
In hindsight, most other cooking shows at the time were basically just food porn. Watch me make this simple recipe, trust me it's easy in 30 minutes! (Ignore prep instructions, ignore how to pick produce, ignore any explanation of why you're doing what you're doing).
I love watching cooking videos. It's my number one go to, when I want to turn off my brain completely. But I never try to replicate recipes. I just pick up ideas. I never ever cook from a recipe, either. Cooking is very much like programming. You have a goal (what you feel like eating that day), a framework (what you have laying around and your cooking skills) and you just execute something that approximates your goa…
Absolutely, but the more relevant question is if a particular cooking video or series, out of the vast set of "cooking videos" will make a particular viewer a better cook.
Probably not. I'd suggest a few questions to determine if that's true.
What is the specificity of the video? Some "cooking" videos only pretend to be about teaching cooking but they're actually about something entirely different. I love watching old episodes of Iron Chef but I don't expect to learn anything practical. Some cooking shows are about a particular aspect of cooking; a video on cooking with Spam won't make me a better cook because I don't cook with Spam. A video on how to make cakes look attractive with fondant won't make me a better cook because I like food made of food ingredients rather than construction materials.
Does the author know their subject matter? Many videos tell you stuff that's just plain wrong, or even dangerous (don't make popcorn on a soda-can stove with methanol or it could blow up in your face).
Are they level-appropriate? When I left for college, my mom gave me a copy of "How to boil an egg". I got a lot of benefit out of that book but something similar would be useless today. By the same token, years later, we got a lot of great information of of Rose Levy Beranbaum's "The Bread Bible", but it wouldn't have helped me at all as a freshman with a communal kitchen and minimal cooking ability.
There's also the question of what the viewer is going to do with it. You can watch videos all day long without getting any better at cooking. If you want to get better at cooking you primarily need to cook. Some videos may aid that effort but even the best ones will only help to the extent that you're willing to implement what they teach and practice it.
The absolute pinnacle of cooking video chefs today has to be J. Kenji Lopez-Alt[0], in large part because of his use of first person view. He straps a go-pro to this head and you see what he sees while he cooks. There's no cuts or retakes (unless he's waiting for something to cook or gets interrupted by his kids). There's no swaps. And it's all real- he's cooking dinner for his family. And it doesn't always go perfec…
He also taught me something pretty critical - you don't need a huge fancy kitchen to execute great food. Most of the work he does happens on a large cutting board, the sink, or the stove. When I moved into my current place with a tiny kitchen, I wasn't nearly as freaked out about it. I knew I would be able to work in it just fine.
Is there any cooking content that takes into account cleaning up after? In my limited viewing experience the focus often seems to be prep and the cooking, ignoring the reality of the inevitable clean up. Is there anyone focusing on recipes and how to cook that minimises / reuses cookware and through to a reset clean kitchen? When I cook I enjoy getting into a flow where I’m ordering the prep or modifying the recipe s…
We all have our own journey. But one of the biggest improvements in enjoying to cook was to learn not to clean up after. It was a revelation to me and the big enabler which moved cooking from a chore to something I appreciate. Do not clean up after - clean during! Maybe annoying at first but it quickly turn into a habit There is plenty of time (as a home cook!) during prep to clean the knives, bowls boards etc. What…