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| Kitchen Science Myths and Techniques |
| Why kitchen science? |
All things Brining:
- Salt brines are an inexpensive way to tenderize and moisturize a tough cut of meat. But do they work as advertised?
- And how long should you brine? Visualizing the answer depends on measuring fish pee....
- Using common dyes to determine if flavor can successfully be injected or marinated. Which is hardly ever.
- How to make a simple, reliable salt brine based on Archimedes's Principle.
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| In a hurry to cool down a bottle of wine or beer? Does freezing the bottle, swaddled in a moist towel, speed up or slow down the cooling process? And more importantly, can a dry towel protect you from hypothermia? |
| Is peeking while cooking merely a bad habit, or does it rob valuable heat from the meat? |
| Can you salvage an over-salted dish by dumping in a raw potato? Nope. But with a condom, ... |
| Barbecue and Grilling |
Smoke rings are a badge of honor among barbecuers, but how and why these rings form are lost in a cloud of mystery:
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In the first of three articles, I explain why moisture is the key to a deep smoke ring.
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In a second article, why more smoke does not always lead to more flavor.
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In a future third article, we uncover the chemistry of the smoke ring
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| Bark carries most of the flavor in smoked meat. How does it form? The solution is found in a can of paint... |
| If you like to barbecue and always wondered why the meat's internal temperature stalls midway through smoking, the answer requires an experiment smoking wet sponges and a ball of fat... |
| Speaking of fat, why isn't some kind of latent-heat-fat-melting an alternate explanation for the stall? And how come all the fat doesn't simply drain out of the meat before it's finished cooking? |
| I want beer can chicken to work. Really. But then reality slips in... |
| The best burger starts by leaving out most of the salt.. |
| Spraying water while barbecuing is a common sense way to add moisture. Or is it? |
| When you grill above an open fire, how far away do you have to move the food to lower the cooking temperature? To discover the surprising answer, we don't need any math, just a modern LCD TV and an old camera light meter. |
| Do bones or fat slow down or speed up cooking? And just where should you insert the thermometer? |
| Should you rest meat after cooking, or just slice and dice right off the grill? |
| Baking and Cooking |
| In praise of the braise- baking in a foil pocket traps juices and speeds up cooking- but exactly what is going on inside? Is it a steam sauna, a low simmer, or just moist heat? |
| A roast is rare in the center and overcooked on the edges- how computer simulations reveal the hidden story inside your oven. |
| Does impaling a potato on a metal spike speed up cooking? Or just annoy the spud? |
| Baking stones help develop a crisp crust. But will their thermal mass also improve oven temperature control? |
| Simulations plus experiments reveal the secret life of baking cookies - and why you can't trust your oven dial, even on the convection setting... |
Humidity plays a key role in cooking.
- In the first of a series, I explain why a humid kitchen oven is a better way to cook.
- A combi-oven is designed to add humidity to heat- it's the future of baking.
- Additional articles will discuss humidity in the smoker, and the value of a water pan in the grill.
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| Replacing water with vodka in a pastry shell results in a flaky crisp dough- which curiously stalls during cooking just like barbecued meat. What is the connection? |
| Pizza dough also stalls, but the perfect crust depends more on heating rates than evaporative cooling. |
| How to dry age steaks at home, using parts from an old Dell Computer and a broken AT&T cordless phone. |
| Recipes |
| Pastrami, from dry rub to rye bread in only four days. Life changing, life affirming.... |
| Great wings are a matter of great grilling technique, with a little bit of kitchen science thrown in to keep things simple. |
| Most commercial bagels are simply "rolls with holes". Try this recipe if you prefer the real deal. |
| Two novel, but effective and flavorful smoked pork tenderloin recipes. |
| Danish Rye bread. No-knead recipe, and doneness is simply a matter of a quick weight measurement. |
| Two approaches to cooking Turkey- one brined, one not; one smoked, one oven roasted; one whole bird, one deconstructed. |
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| (Articles are occasionally updated and expanded for clarity and accuracy) |
