Cooking Techniques

How many degrees does a roast gain after it leaves the oven?

Carryover cooking temperature measured by weight and shape for chicken, pork, beef and turkey, with the pull temperatures and the one case it does not cover.

11 min read

Cooking Techniques

Butter for flavor, shortening for flake, or both in one dough

Butter vs shortening pie crust, three doughs from one recipe: melting point, water content, flake against tenderness, and the substitution table by weight.

12 min read

Cooking Techniques

Toast whole spices for 90 seconds, then grind them immediately

Toasting whole spices takes 60 to 120 seconds on a dry pan. The aroma cue for twelve of them, the ones that must never be toasted, and why you grind at once.

13 min read

Cooking Techniques

Wine, stock, or vinegar poured into the same pan of chicken

A deglazing liquid comparison run on three identical pans of chicken: what wine, stock and vinegar each pull off the fond, and how differently they reduce.

13 min read

Cooking Techniques

Maillard needs protein, caramelization does not

Maillard vs caramelization: one needs protein and starts near 285F, the other needs only sugar and 320F. Where each runs, and how to get both at once.

13 min read

Cooking Techniques

One teaspoon of mustard holds a vinaigrette together for hours

The emulsifier in vinaigrette is doing more than you think: droplet size, why one teaspoon of mustard holds for hours, ratios, and the order to fill the bowl.

14 min read

Cooking Techniques

The brown film stuck to your pan is four minutes from being a sauce

How to make a pan sauce from the brown film left after searing: what fond is, which pans build it, and the deglaze, reduce and butter sequence in order.

13 min read