Random Food Questions Thread

[Rambo]

http://balance.balances.com/scales/1955

Mother of god

 

[alexg]



http://balance.balances.com/scales/1955

Goddamn, .001g is insane. Those two extra zeros are totally unnecessary though. I think I found a few more reasonable scales, but they're not kitchen ones. I guess that's alright since the things I'm measuring are barely even food.

 

[impolyt_one]

I dunno, might be handy just in case you need a measure of .006g gellan to make a .5" bubble of undefined red sauce topped by a mini-leaf, like mgm

 

[b1os]

Maybe not like cast iron, but I find heating and rubbing salt into my stainless fry pans helps prevent foods from sticking. Really, the only thing I'm trying to help prevent from sticking is fish skin, and this always works with that.

Doesn't salt on steel cause pitting?

Le Creuset's manual also says not to throw salt in the plain pan.

Goddamn, .001g is insane. Those two extra zeros are totally unnecessary though. I think I found a few more reasonable scales, but they're not kitchen ones. I guess that's alright since the things I'm measuring are barely even food.

I would get a .01g one. If you need 1.6g of X, it might be 1.55 or 1.64g - that's nearly +-0.5g, 1/32 difference. If you need 0.5g it can be 0.45 or 0.54g +-1/10 etc. If 0.1g...
I think that can make a difference in molecular stuff. But not completely sure - just heard that it have to be pretty exact amounts.

 

[alexg]



Le Creuset's manual also says not to throw salt in the plain pan.
I would get a .01g one. If you need 1.6g of X, it might be 1.55 or 1.64g - that's nearly +-0.5g, 1/32 difference. If you need 0.5g it can be 0.45 or 0.54g +-1/10 etc. If 0.1g...
I think that can make a difference in molecular stuff. But not completely sure - just heard that it have to be pretty exact amounts.

Good point, now I have to go looking again.

I dunno, might be handy just in case you need a measure of .006g gellan to make a .5" bubble of undefined red sauce topped by a mini-leaf, like mgm

You mean "ketchup"?

 

[mgm9128]



Doesn't salt on steel cause pitting?

I don't know, does it? Anyway, this is what I was shown by a chef at Eleven Madison Park when I asked what they used to crisp the skin on their fish so nicely. I've done it at home ever since and it always works, so I don't really question it.

 

[b1os]

Doesn't salt on steel cause pitting?

I don't know, does it? Anyway, this is what I was shown by a chef at Eleven Madison Park when I asked what they used to crisp the skin on their fish so nicely. I've done it at home ever since and it always works, so I don't really question it.

I did a little google research and it seems that it most likely is associated with water and salt.

"Stainless" steel... isn't actually stainless. The reason it doesn't rust is because there's enough chromium in the stainless alloy. Oxygen, instead of binding with the iron in the steel, preferentially binds with the chromium. This forms a very thin layer, a few molecules thick, of chromium oxide. This layer is called a 'passivation' layer, and it prevents further interaction of oxygen with the underlying metal, thus preventing rusting. Even if you scrub that layer off, it'll reform almost instantly as oxygen encounters fresh chromium.

However, chromium will react with chlorides (chlorine), better and earlier than it reacts with oxygen. So, if there's water with both dissolved oxygen and chlorine in it in contact with stainless steel, and the passivation layer of chrome oxide is scraped away, the chromium will react with the chlorine, leaving the oxygen free to react with the iron and cause rust.

So, what's the fuss with adding salt before your water boils?

Salt is sodium chloride. When you dissolve it, the sodium and chlorine are 'freed' to react. Oxygen dissolves in water (otherwise fish couldn't live). However, the warmer the water, the LESS oxygen (and nitrogen) it can hold. Now you know why all those little bubbles appear on the sides and bottom of a pot of water as you're heating it. That's the oxygen and nitrogen precipitating out because of the heat. Once the water gets near to the point of boiling, there's very little oxygen left dissolved.

So, you can see that salt AND oxygen together in water, along with the tiniest scrape (say, from a metal or even wooden spoon used to stir the water) against the surface of the inside of a stainless steel pot, can result in localized rust, or pitting.

The trick to avoiding that is to ONLY add salt *after* the water has become hot enough for the oxygen to have dropped out of solution. Then, even though a scrape might cause some iron to be exposed, it won't rust ecause there's too little oxygen in the water. And once you clean the pot, that passivation layer will form again in the absence of chlorides and the presence of oxygen.

So, yeah. Only add salt to water you'll be boiling after all the little air bubbles stop forming.

 

[mordecai]



My $.02 is that lamb + butter + parmesan is overkill. I prefer lamb with herbs and something acidic like lemon or pomegranate. Olives and capers also appeal to me as counterpoints to the richness.
But how did the chops turn out?

It was good but a little odd. I don't know how to describe it except to say that there was no relationship between the crust and the meat, though both were good. I fried in vegetable oil. Crust was parm, egg yolk, bread crumbs. Probably would not repeat.

Since I am here, is there a way to tell if chestnuts are still good from the outside? I peeled a pound and a half, and only about a third of those little F***ers were edible. The rest had mold, but I didn't know until I had gotten both layers off.

 

[mgm9128]



Since I am here, is there a way to tell if chestnuts are still good from the outside? I peeled a pound and a half, and only about a third of those little F***ers were edible. The rest had mold, but I didn't know until I had gotten both layers off.

Not sure how you can tell before you open them up. I'd be interested if someone else knew, though. I guess just make sure they haven't been sitting for too long when you buy them at the store.

 

[b1os]



Since I am here, is there a way to tell if chestnuts are still good from the outside? I peeled a pound and a half, and only about a third of those little F***ers were edible. The rest had mold, but I didn't know until I had gotten both layers off.

I'd like to know that, too. I bought the best looking and best feeling ones available (Italy or France) for 7€/kg. There were ones from Turkey for 4.99€/kg and China for 3.99€.
A few had mold, a couple had worms. All in all okay I guess, but nowhere near perfect.

 

[mgm9128]

I found a great producer from New York: Red Jacket Orchards. Their chestnuts are smaller than what you usually find in stores, sweeter, and even taste great eaten raw. They are also easier to peel and seem to last much longer than other chestnuts.

 

[philosophe]



I found a great producer from New York: Red Jacket Orchards. Their chestnuts are smaller than what you usually find in stores, sweeter, and even taste great eaten raw. They are also easier to peel and seem to last much longer than other chestnuts.

Red Jacket Orchards also grows wonderful apricots.

 

[itsstillmatt]



Not sure how you can tell before you open them up. I'd be interested if someone else knew, though. I guess just make sure they haven't been sitting for too long when you buy them at the store.

Shiny, firm, heavy feeling for their size.

 

[mgm9128]

I'm opening some right now for later. Here they are.

Compared to a regular chestnut.

 

[gomestar]

Geneva is a really nice little town.