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What Did You Cook for Dinner?


MKnight82

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20 hours ago, Forge said:

My girlfriend has been bugging me to get an air fryer. How do you like it in general? 

I've had one since Christmas. Its good for adding crispiness to frozen foods. But haven't really used it for any real food. Except frying already cooked tamales. Tho I haven't tried it that way since I like cooking. 

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38 minutes ago, 11sanchez11 said:

You could probably just sear the food before putting it in. 

Tho I have never used a crock pot before.

Nah. Yes, it browns the meat and you can get all the Maillard browning on the meat from the sear, you lose all the other forms of Maillard browning.

For example, a good tomato sauce has depth to it. It isn’t just a single flavor from the tomatoes. That depth comes from the surface of the sauce getting that Maillard browning.

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Maillard browning is not something you typically associate with moist cooking techniques, but it actually plays a vital role in flavor development in a good braise or stew, even beyond any initial browning steps you may take before you add your liquid.

Dutch ovens placed in the oven exhibit the most browning. That's because they heat from all directions, including the top. As a stew cooks, bits of food sticking out above the surface, or, in some cases, areas of concentrated proteins directly on the surface of the liquid, can brown significantly, as can any bits of food that are deposited around the sides of the pot as liquid reduces.

You also get reduction of the sauce, which concentrates the flavor. That’s what creates the richness of a tomato sauce.

However, that doesn’t happen in a slow cooker because of the way it cooks

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In a slow cooker, moisture that evaporates from the food being cooked condenses on the lid and drips back down, simultaneously slowing the rate of reduction (i.e., the rate at which flavors are concentrated) while also cooling the surface of the food. All of the heat comes from below, which means no enhanced browning on the top. Thus, foods cooked in slow cookers experience almost no extra browning or reduction once they're placed in the ceramic insert, which means that it's difficult to build flavor.

So instead of getting 8 hours of flavor building, you get 8 hours of heating to get pretty much the same watery product you started with.

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Since liquids do not reduce in a pressure cooker, and pressure cookers heat only from below, you might think they would have the same disadvantages as slow cookers. However, pressure cookers are able to achieve much higher cooking temperatures, around 250°F. This is hot enough that some Maillard browning actually takes place, and, what's more, the reaction occurs throughout the food being cooked, not just at its surface, as it does in a Dutch oven. Though you don't achieve quite the same depth of flavor as you do with a Dutch oven, a pressure cooker can take you, oh, a good 90% of the way there

 

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43 minutes ago, 11sanchez11 said:

Kenji da god.

He is like the most respected unknown guy that a bunch of chefs reference. 

Yup. You’ll hear other respected chefs call him the “undisputed food god”, but apparently FF is full of chefs who know better. 

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1 hour ago, MWil23 said:

If you put a gun to my head and only gave me 4 items to use on meat, I am taking salt, pepper, garlic, and butter. Dry rub and then cook in and spoon over butter, also with garlic in it.

This is correct 

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Some “expert” online said to never put pepper on a steak before cooking, otherwise your sear would create a charcoal pepper crust...and I looked on in sheer amazement and incredulous disapproval. It was horrifying.

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1 hour ago, MWil23 said:

Some “expert” online said to never put pepper on a steak before cooking, otherwise your sear would create a charcoal pepper crust...and I looked on in sheer amazement and incredulous disapproval. It was horrifying.

I’ve heard that too, I just ignore it. I always pepper first 

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