What cooking "rules" do you regularly break?

[Cheryl J]

I'm a mushroom washer (quick rinse and rubbed with a paper towel), salter of eggs before cooking , and the same with a dried bean soup, and meat. I can't imagine not salting a good cut of meat before cooking or waiting until a pot of simmering beans is nearly done before salting.

Starting out bacon in a cold pan definitely works in preventing curly bacon.

I could probably think of more, but Tyler is here now and trying to tell me all about Dr. Suess's birthday celebration today. Back later!

 

[Steve Kroll]

Salting a steak long in advance of cooking removes water, which is not what "juices" are in a juicy steak. "Juices" are rendered fat. Removing water enhances meat flavor, so go ahead and salt that raw steak.

To some extent, yes. Fat certainly does add moisture. But most of the water that's pulled out of the meat from salting does get reabsorbed.

Normally, when you cook a piece of meat that hasn't been salted, the protein in the muscle fibers contracts and squeezes out the moisture. Much like what happens when you squeeze a sponge. You can easily see this if you cook something like a chicken breast, which is very high in protein and low in fat. As soon as you throw it on the heat, it immediately seizes up, the fibers contract, and you end up with a tough, dry, dense piece of meat.

Salt, on the other hand, in addition to flavoring the meat, acts to break down some of the proteins, which in turn causes the muscle fibers to loosen, reabsorb the lost moisture, and stay loose while cooking. This allows the meat to retain a lot of the moisture - and yes, fat, too.

 

[CWS4322]

I probably break more "rules" than I want to admit. However, I do not use the same cutting board or knife that I use for meat for veggies. I use the palm of my hand to measure spices and not measuring spoons. I obsessively wash my hands. I always have my hair "up" (drives me crazy when I watch cooking shows and ladies have their hair flying around). I keep the dogs out of the kitchen. I do sometimes put thawed meat back in the freezer.

 

[jennyema]

[*]Light butter is a great substitute for regular butter.
[/LIST]

I'm still curious to know what "light butter" is and what celebrity chefs endorse it ....

 

[caseydog]

I probably break more "rules" than I want to admit. However, I do not use the same cutting board or knife that I use for meat for veggies. I use the palm of my hand to measure spices and not measuring spoons. I obsessively wash my hands. I always have my hair "up" (drives me crazy when I watch cooking shows and ladies have their hair flying around). I keep the dogs out of the kitchen. I do sometimes put thawed meat back in the freezer.

I have no problem putting thawed meat back in the freezer. Most of the meat I buy at the grocery store was probably frozen at some point. I know the seafood was.

CD

 

[rodentraiser]

I think "light butter" is simply a margarine. When I Can't Believe It's Not Butter goes on sale, I stock up on it. I use it for buttering the outside of my bread when I make tuna melts and grilled cheese. I can't taste the difference on the bread and that way I'm not using up my real butter. I also use it for greasing biscuit pans and stuff like that.

As for mashed potatoes, I tried a Chef John mashed potato recipe once and no lumps! Of course, you'd die to see all the butter he puts in it to get it to that point. And speaking of Chef John, he just recently put up a video of a salt-crusted beef roast. Seriously. According to him, that keeps the juice in.

Food Wishes Video Recipes: Salt-Crusted Beef Tenderloin – No Lomo

Oh, heck, I'll post the mashed potatoes one too:

Food Wishes Video Recipes: Ultimate Mashed Potatoes - Not Your Every Day Recipe

Rules I break...hmmm....I have to think on this one a bit...

By the way, how the HE!! do you guys keep those eggs from sticking? Do you use a hot pan, cold pan, pre-heated, not pre-heated, hot oil, cold oil, hot butter? I've been pre-heating my pans up hot a la Julia Child style when I make scrambled eggs and I throw in some butter (I haven't tried oil yet), but honestly, I have more egg stuck to the bottom and sides of the pan than I get to eat sometimes.

OK, I know one rule I always broke that everyone is going to gross out on. I used to let my dog lick the plates. When I had a dog, nothing went to waste. Best garbage disposal ever.

 

[caseydog]

I think "light butter" is simply a margarine.

Butter is a dairy product, while margarine is a vegetable product. I would imagine "light" butter is just butter made with a lower fat milk.

CD

 

[caseydog]

By the way, how the HE!! do you guys keep those eggs from sticking? Do you use a hot pan, cold pan, pre-heated, not pre-heated, hot oil, cold oil, hot butter? I've been pre-heating my pans up hot a la Julia Child style when I make scrambled eggs and I throw in some butter (I haven't tried oil yet), but honestly, I have more egg stuck to the bottom and sides of the pan than I get to eat sometimes.

I use a cheap non-stick pan, a slice of butter, and low to medium heat. I turn my burner on, drop the butter in the pan, and when the butter is melted and bubbly, I put my eggs in. Go slow, and be gentle.

CD

 

[Addie]

I use a cheap non-stick pan, a slice of butter, and low to medium heat. I turn my burner on, drop the butter in the pan, and when the butter is melted and bubbly, I put my eggs in. Go slow, and be gentle.

CD

Try to remember. For the most part, protein foods love low and slow! Pirate destroyed my real heavy non-stick expensive 8" saute pan that I received as a Christmas gift from my youngest child one year. (He asked what I wanted and that was it.)

Having worked in restaurants for so many years, he is used to high heat for everything. So last month, I picked up a $5.00 (big spender that I am) non stick saute pan while shopping for my groceries. Real thin bottom and a heck of a lot lighter than the destroyed one. He noticed right away, and has kept the heat down now on all his cooking. All my years of yelling at him never worked. All it took was his destruction of my one pan that was a gift. But now I get real tender scrambled eggs from him.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

...I would imagine "light" butter is just butter made with a lower fat milk...

Google is my friend. Apparently "light butter" is a marketing term used by Land O Lakes for its blend of butter and canola oil. Twice the price for half the weight, I would suppose.

LAND O LAKES® LIGHT BUTTER

As far as the egg thing goes, I pre-salt and add a bit of milk and/or half-and-half. I like the "Fluffy" style eggs, while Himself prefers "Soft-Scrambled". If I'm feeling magnanimous, I'll take his out before I'm plating mine. If I'm adding cheese, I take them all the way to "fluffy" and make them creamy with a generous amount of cheese. The best of both worlds. Both of those methods and a bonus "Fancy French Spoonable Eggs" method, plus the salt and liquid add-or-not discussions are in this Serious Eats article: Tips and Tricks for the Best Scrambled Eggs, Your Way. After all, Frank Sinatra doesn't have a lock on doing things his way.

 

[CakePoet]

Land O lakes light butter contains this and that wouldnt even pass as butter in Sweden
Butter (Cream, Salt), Water*, Buttermilk*, Contains Less Than 2% of Food Starch-Modified*, Tapioca Maltodextrin*, Salt, Distilled Monoglycerides*, Lactic Acid*, Potassium Sorbate* and Sodium Benzoate* (Preservatives), PGPR* (emulsifier), Natural Flavor*, Xanthan Gum*, Vitamin A Palmitate*, Beta Carotene* (color)

 

[GotGarlic]

Land O lakes light butter contains this and that wouldnt even pass as butter in Sweden
Butter (Cream, Salt), Water*, Buttermilk*, Contains Less Than 2% of Food Starch-Modified*, Tapioca Maltodextrin*, Salt, Distilled Monoglycerides*, Lactic Acid*, Potassium Sorbate* and Sodium Benzoate* (Preservatives), PGPR* (emulsifier), Natural Flavor*, Xanthan Gum*, Vitamin A Palmitate*, Beta Carotene* (color)

It's not butter here, either.

 

[tenspeed]

Salting a steak long in advance of cooking removes water

Not exactly true. According to seriouseats, most of the liquid will be reabsorbed after resting for 40 minutes.

The Food Lab: More Tips For Perfect Steaks | Serious Eats

 

[GotGarlic]

By the way, how the HE!! do you guys keep those eggs from sticking? Do you use a hot pan, cold pan, pre-heated, not pre-heated, hot oil, cold oil, hot butter? I've been pre-heating my pans up hot a la Julia Child style when I make scrambled eggs and I throw in some butter (I haven't tried oil yet), but honestly, I have more egg stuck to the bottom and sides of the pan than I get to eat sometimes.

According to this, Julia Child's recipe for scrambled eggs calls for cooking them over moderately low heat after pre-heating the pan for a very short time: http://juliachildsrecipes.com/breakfast/julia-childs-scrambled-eggs/

 

[GotGarlic]

Letting a pasta sauce simmer for hours. Hokey! Ever watch Lidia make a sauce? When you simmer it for hours, it loses it freshness.

There are many kinds of pasta sauce. Some are quick and some are not.

 

[Steve Kroll]

By the way, how the HE!! do you guys keep those eggs from sticking? Do you use a hot pan, cold pan, pre-heated, not pre-heated, hot oil, cold oil, hot butter? I've been pre-heating my pans up hot a la Julia Child style when I make scrambled eggs and I throw in some butter (I haven't tried oil yet), but honestly, I have more egg stuck to the bottom and sides of the pan than I get to eat sometimes.

What kind of skillet?

Actually, it doesn't matter a whole lot. I've made eggs in stainless, carbon steel, cast iron, and Teflon. As long as the pan is properly seasoned, and the heat isn't too hot or cold, you shouldn't have any sticking. I like my carbon steel skillet best, but if I'm making eggs for company I'm not opposed to using Teflon. It's more forgiving and I'm less likely to burn something if I get to talking and am not completely focused on cooking. I've found that stainless steel is the least forgiving surface, but it still works fine, provided you follow the same technique.

For pretty much any pan, I do this: preheat it for 2 or 3 minutes over medium heat, add a judicious amount of butter or oil (it needs to at least completely coat the bottom of the pan), and then add the eggs. I then immediately turn the heat down just a notch to about medium low. Really, that's about it. I also try not to fiddle with them too much, unless I'm making scrambled eggs. The only thing I'll add is to make sure the egg has set before you try to remove it from the pan. If you do it right, you shouldn't have to use anything more than a paper towel to wipe out the pan when you're done.

 

[CraigC]

The rules I could care less about have nothing to do with technique or what some celebrity chef says. I despise the can't use this ingredient with that ingredient, can't serve this with that, can't eat this on that day or can't eat this at all.

 

[di reston]

Gotgarlic - There are many kinds of pasta sauce.......The ones that require prolonged cooking are usually classified as 'ragù', from the French word 'Ragout', a sauce usually containing meat. History has it that Ragù was introduced by the French chefs, when the Bourbons ruled southern Italy and the area was called 'the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily'.

Thought you might be interested in that.

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde

 

[GotGarlic]

Gotgarlic - There are many kinds of pasta sauce.......The ones that require prolonged cooking are usually classified as 'ragù', from the French word 'Ragout', a sauce usually containing meat. History has it that Ragù was introduced by the French chefs, when the Bourbons ruled southern Italy and the area was called 'the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily'.

Thought you might be interested in that.

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde

I knew that but thank you.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

One hard and fast rule I never break; never fry bacon while naked!