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Lithop
Spaghetti Days



Registered: 04/09/22
Posts: 764
Loc: 🛸
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Kitchen Breakthroughs 1
#28195579 - 02/20/23 03:47 AM (11 months, 1 day ago) |
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So having always enjoyed gooood coffee at my local joint, I finally got a stove-top percolator over Christmas, predictably- I've been hooked ever since! 
It's such a game changer for the java experience (even recently turned down an instant coffe in a dream... Deep manifestation of snobbery there )
That got me wondering: what other 'corner cutting' habits in the kitchen can be changed out or improved on, leading to surprising revelations/breakthroughs in your culinary life?
Cheers!
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ashfiken
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Registered: 09/06/06
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Re: Kitchen Breakthroughs [Re: Lithop] 1
#28197751 - 02/21/23 04:40 PM (10 months, 30 days ago) |
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Always block cheese
-------------------- hmm... "I'm naked and fearless... And my fear is naked." "life isn't worth living without the threat of death" "I got my plans in a ziploc bag, let's see how unproductive we can be" "nobody lives their lives fully except for bull fighters" My Trade List
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ashfiken
TotalCrazyasshole


Registered: 09/06/06
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Re: Kitchen Breakthroughs [Re: ashfiken]
#28197759 - 02/21/23 04:44 PM (10 months, 30 days ago) |
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Mayo is super versatile
Dry aged ribeye cooked at home makes me never willing to pay for a steak out
-------------------- hmm... "I'm naked and fearless... And my fear is naked." "life isn't worth living without the threat of death" "I got my plans in a ziploc bag, let's see how unproductive we can be" "nobody lives their lives fully except for bull fighters" My Trade List
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Lithop
Spaghetti Days



Registered: 04/09/22
Posts: 764
Loc: 🛸
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Re: Kitchen Breakthroughs [Re: ashfiken]
#28198577 - 02/22/23 02:10 AM (10 months, 30 days ago) |
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Quote:
ashfiken said: Always block cheese
As opposed to sliced, pregrated etc? Fully agree! As a rule of thumb, I feel the more prep done before you buy it will more likely have unnecessary knock on in either quality or price.
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ashfiken said: Mayo is super versatile
Damn I love me some mayo for dippin chips/fries, the Yin to hotsauces Yang.
What's your most unlikely mayo usage that ended up being great?
Cheers for your input!
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jack_straw2208
Doctor



Registered: 02/12/07
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Loc: Earth
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Re: Kitchen Breakthroughs [Re: Lithop]
#28198600 - 02/22/23 03:27 AM (10 months, 30 days ago) |
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You don't need to skin ginger.
Use blunt side of knife to gather whatever you just chopped, keeps the knife sharper longer.
Nonstick pans should never be heated higher than medium.
The best way to cook bacon is on a wire rack in a baking sheet in the oven. Magic.
Reheating leftover pizza in a skillet with a lid is better than a toaster oven. I like to set it on low and forget about it till I can smell it.
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geokills
∙∙∙∙☼ º¿° ☼∙∙∙∙


Registered: 05/08/01
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Re: Kitchen Breakthroughs [Re: Lithop] 1
#28198785 - 02/22/23 08:51 AM (10 months, 30 days ago) |
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Heating pizza in a pan is the way... gets that crust so nice, stable and crispy and the top not overdone. I used to joke with the family that keeping the lid just perfectly off-set on the pan was a revolutionary new technique called "steam baking". 
For my part, I'll add that parchment paper is the best thing to put under pretty much any food that is destined for the oven.
Regarding mayo... I rarely employ this technique myself, but it's mostly because I just forget about... it can be used for brushing onto foods that like to stick to the grill. As the LA Times reported back in 2016:
Quote:
The science of mayonnaise and heat
“This is an area I’m playing a lot more with now. Mayonnaise really works,” said Meathead Goldwyn, founder of the popular website, AmazingRibs.com and author of “Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling.” “It sticks really well to the food, helps release food from the hot grill surface, and gets a beautiful golden color.”
Part of the reason mayonnaise works so well is because of its composition. “Mayonnaise is an emulsion, which means you have small droplets of oil surrounded by egg yolk, and that has a couple of really cool properties,” said Greg Blonder, professor of product design and engineering at Boston University and co-author of Goldwyn’s cookbook.
This emulsion allows the oils in the mayonnaise actually to stick to the food, unlike plain oil. Oil and water don’t mix, which is why it’s so hard to get the fat to adhere to foods you want to grill, particularly meats. So as you grill, you’re left with a very limited amount of oil to keep the food from sticking. Additionally, as the oil runs off, it’s likely to result in more flare-ups.
“Mayonnaise acts like little time-release oil capsules, and you can put it on thick. And the emulsifiers like to stick to the meat,” Blonder said. Mayonnaise is a great release agent for meat, and is particularly helpful for grilling chicken and fish.
And where oil only heats and browns the food thermally, mayonnaise is able to brown food chemically — that golden-brown color — through what is known as the Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction requires sugars and proteins to work; as these are heated, the nonenzymatic reaction produces browning. “When you just put regular oil on meat, it doesn’t bring these to the table. It only brings fat,” Blonder said.
Finally, mayonnaise may help foods retain moisture as they cook on the grill, so foods — particularly meats — don’t dry out. “Chicken breasts — they’re the world’s driest food. Mayo is one way to make them moist,” Goldwyn said.
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Lithop
Spaghetti Days



Registered: 04/09/22
Posts: 764
Loc: 🛸
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Re: Kitchen Breakthroughs [Re: geokills]
#28199783 - 02/22/23 07:46 PM (10 months, 29 days ago) |
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Quote:
jack_straw2208 said: You don't need to skin ginger.
Use blunt side of knife to gather whatever you just chopped, keeps the knife sharper longer.
Nonstick pans should never be heated higher than medium.
The best way to cook bacon is on a wire rack in a baking sheet in the oven. Magic.
Reheating leftover pizza in a skillet with a lid is better than a toaster oven. I like to set it on low and forget about it till I can smell it.
Nice list here, thanks! I'll confess I'd struggle to tell my non-stick pan from a spent matchhead in a lineup

The pizza thing I'm curious about, maybe test it twice since it gets mentioned again... Saying that, I honestly don't remember the last time any pizza made it to 'leftover' status in my house 
Quote:
geokills said: Heating pizza in a pan is the way... gets that crust so nice, stable and crispy and the top not overdone. I used to joke with the family that keeping the lid just perfectly off-set on the pan was a revolutionary new technique called "steam baking". 
For my part, I'll add that parchment paper is the best thing to put under pretty much any food that is destined for the oven.
Regarding mayo... I rarely employ this technique myself, but it's mostly because I just forget about... it can be used for brushing onto foods that like to stick to the grill.
These comments have me jonesing on a pizza so bad at 2:40am right now. The mentioning of the crust, in this instance, I found particularly offensive.
Yeah some parchment paper can definitely help out, have you ever considered trying those silicone dab-mat looking sheets? I've never gotten round to it.
Some real mayoscience at the end there too. 
Cheers!
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jack_straw2208
Doctor



Registered: 02/12/07
Posts: 3,115
Loc: Earth
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Re: Kitchen Breakthroughs [Re: Lithop] 1
#28200104 - 02/23/23 01:31 AM (10 months, 29 days ago) |
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The pizza thing is serious man you will never go back. Order a second pizza next time solely for the sake of leftovers it will blow your mind.
Spent Teflon might not be that good for ya, you may want to consider tossing out the ones ya got. I recommend ceramic for nonstick or just Google "stainless water test".
The only thing Teflon nonstick is really good for is eggs IMO, which cook quickly enough on medium heat. If you get your flip game down (you can practice with dry rice), you'll never need more than a damp towel to wipe it clean with, no soap needed, mine doesn't ever even go in the sink.
Grape seed oil is the #1 oil for seasoning cast-iron pans, high smoke point, doesn't flake and stays slick. Good for cooking and salad dressings too. Very subtle taste, almost neutral.
You can get Olive Pomace oil from like a chef store cash n' carry type place. Also has high smoke point, great for deepfrying, neutral flavor. It's the oil left after the first however many presses.
Wrap some prosciutto around a chunk of melon sometime too moheynow
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Lithop
Spaghetti Days



Registered: 04/09/22
Posts: 764
Loc: 🛸
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Quote:
jack_straw2208 said: The pizza thing is serious man you will never go back. Order a second pizza next time solely for the sake of leftovers it will blow your mind.
Trust me, it's definitely on the agenda now. 
Quote:
jack_straw2208 said: Spent Teflon might not be that good for ya, you may want to consider tossing out the ones ya got. I recommend ceramic for nonstick or just Google "stainless water test".
The only thing Teflon nonstick is really good for is eggs IMO, which cook quickly enough on medium heat. If you get your flip game down (you can practice with dry rice), you'll never need more than a damp towel to wipe it clean with, no soap needed, mine doesn't ever even go in the sink.
Good shout, been thinking it's time to put the ol' bastard out to pasture.
I'll be shopping for replacement 'daily drivers' ASAP & will be looking into ceramic or stainless steel for sure- been running the same pots and pans for about 6 years no excuse at this point.
Quote:
jack_straw2208 said: Grape seed oil is the #1 oil for seasoning cast-iron pans, high smoke point, doesn't flake and stays slick. Good for cooking and salad dressings too. Very subtle taste, almost neutral.
You can get Olive Pomace oil from like a chef store cash n' carry type place. Also has high smoke point, great for deepfrying, neutral flavor. It's the oil left after the first however many presses.
Nice info, thanks. I'm definitely a lot more observant of cooking temps, techniques related to different oils etc these days- just sadly for my kitchenwares the damage is long done already 
Quote:
jack_straw2208 said: Wrap some prosciutto around a chunk of melon sometime too moheynow
Taste sensation! Already experienced this delight from a family member who also swears by a slice of strawberry on top of baguette slice w/ cream cheese (the Philly X Strawb is not for me... ) but the melon parma-ham combo is

Appreciate the quality post man, this was the sort of stuff I was hoping for, cheers!
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