Random Food Questions Thread

[itsstillmatt]

Originally Posted by Rambo

I thought baby spinach was too fragile to cook with? Like cooking with lettuce.
I cook lettuce all the time. No, it isn't too fragile.

 

[mordecai]

Originally Posted by Piobaire

So with braised pork belly...any idea how to crisp the skin after braising other than the BBQ grill, yet still keep that belly nice and moist and tender?

don't you crisp it first?

 

[SField]

Originally Posted by Piobaire

So with braised pork belly...any idea how to crisp the skin after braising other than the BBQ grill, yet still keep that belly nice and moist and tender?

High powered torch. Gets used in pro kitchens all the time.

 

[Piobaire]

Originally Posted by mharwitt

don't you crisp it first?

Not really. To start with, I put it skin side down for about 15 minutes on low heat, flip and do the same. Then skin side down in the braising liquid. I have a BBQ basket (thingie for wings or fish) and put in that, then grill until crisp on both sides. I use the basket as it's so tender that any sticking means you might well have your belly fall apart.

Originally Posted by SField

High powered torch. Gets used in pro kitchens all the time.

Sounding more and more like I need to get a torch.

 

[SField]

Originally Posted by Piobaire

Sounding more and more like I need to get a torch.

It's really fun... first time I got one I was a kid.. and this is before Williams and Sonoma type places sold them. You're going to torch everything... bananas, peaches, every ******* meat you can find... your wife is going to roll her eyes for a while.

 

[Piobaire]

Originally Posted by SField

It's really fun... first time I got one I was a kid.. and this is before Williams and Sonoma type places sold them. You're going to torch everything... bananas, peaches, every ******* meat you can find... your wife is going to roll her eyes for a while.

 

[mordecai]

Originally Posted by SField

It's really fun... first time I got one I was a kid.. and this is before Williams and Sonoma type places sold them. You're going to torch everything... bananas, peaches, every ******* meat you can find... your wife is going to roll her eyes for a while.

lol, my experience down to the ingredients and eye rolling.

 

[Dedalus]

Can't you just pan sear it after braising?

Although the torch would be great for prime rib...

 

[itsstillmatt]

I hate torches, fwiw.

 

[ama]

Originally Posted by iammatt

I hate torches, fwiw.

You prefer Salamanders I assume?

 

[Nil]

Originally Posted by SField

It's really fun... first time I got one I was a kid.. and this is before Williams and Sonoma type places sold them. You're going to torch everything... bananas, peaches, every ******* meat you can find... your wife is going to roll her eyes for a while.

My exact experience with my torch also.

 

[gomestar]

my father once let me hold a torch when I was a youth. I got excited and asked if I could fry some bugs outside with it. After getting a lecture on torch safety, I proceeded to torch some bugs outside. I didn't take into account the fact that all of the bugs were sitting on our landscape shrubbery and a torch would leave burn spots on the plants. They were, after all, torched.

that is the last time I touched a torch.

 

[SField]

Originally Posted by Nil

My exact experience with my torch also.

I had the torch taken away when I was about 12 because one morning my nanny caught me torching the surface of my steel cut oats. I don't think I got to use one again until I was a pro.

 

[SField]

Originally Posted by ama

You prefer Salamanders I assume?
Salamanders are great, but most people don't have one in their home. I also find the very immediate, direct contact of flame, doesn't cook the product as much as a salamander might. A pan's heat is sort of less direct, whereas the torch affects mostly only the area that the flame touches. A pan affects more than that, and a salamander even moreso. I've seen meats negatively affected by being seared after being cooked SV.

 

[SField]

Originally Posted by Piobaire

Bernzomatic (I think) is what it's called. Just use the one for welding.