Slashdot Mirror
Ask Alton Brown How Food+Heat=Cooking
This week's Slashdot interview guest is Alton Brown, host of the popular cable TV show Good Eats. This is a "reader request" interview in the wake of the surprisingly popular Slashdot review of Alton's book, I'm Just Here for the Food. Please post your questions below. we'll send 10 of the highest-moderated to Alton, and post his answers when we get them back.
Are you available to come to my house to cook for me?
If you and Emeril were doing battle in Kitchen Stadium, Who would win? ;-)
What would be the best way for someone to cook say late at night when he's just coding all he really can, but does not want to wake anyone up?
I'm rather tired of bowls of corn flakes.
Winmac.
Mac. You can kill me. But two more will take my place.
like the salt keeper, the plunger measuring cup, the trippy wisks...
What is a decent way to serve up a hot dog, that is delicious, different and retains some of the barehandedness that makes so much of american cuisine so much fun!!!
I very rarely hear other cooking shows, critically analyze different cooking lore and legend. How did you start getting interested in the science behind cooking? Did you learn it just because it helps you makes better food, or have you been a long-time cooking geek? (see normal /. definition of geek) Do you use the Internet very extensively for research about the science of cooking?
If you were to arrive in a new city, without any knowledge of local dining, where would you eat and why?
What is your favorite sit-down resteraunt and What is your favorite fast food resteraunt? If you were on death row what would you choose as your last meal?
One question I've had for a while...if cooking is basically a chemical reaction, and chemical reactions can be reversed, does that mean that there's a chemistry of "uncooking?" Imagine the untapped millions of $ available to you if you can show people how to unburn their pot roast!
I've noticed that some people seem to be naturally better cooks than others.
I've know several people that follow a recipe very exactly. The food they create just doesn't turn out very good.
Personally, I'll use a recipe as a guideline and use rough estimates. Most of the time, my meals turn out pretty well.
It's as if a intuitive sense is needed.
How does someone learn/teach this skill?
Laugh at my ignorance while I learn Rails - a Real ne
That his last name is Brown and the topic is about Food + Heat = Cooking?
Browning is about the only cooking I get right.
2) a Desert Island
3) Sally Struthers
Which would it be?
Why is it that no matter what you're cooking, salt makes it better? Desserts, meat, vegetables, etc.
How Jaded Are You?
Finally a famous and interesting interview! (ps The Rocket Guy totally sucked.)
We love you Alton!
Unlike Marc Summers, you appear to be genuinely happy.
Food! Food! Alton!
As a vegetarian, I'm compelled to ask this: Have you seen a trend in recent years of more vegetarians, or more dishes made without meat? Time magazine had a recent cover story about this, and my feeling is it's becoming a more important part of everyones lives, yet whenever I catch a cooking show on TV it lacks making many vegetarian dishes.
:)
I sort of compare it to Microsoft talking to a lot of my friends: there is a lot of misinformation out there, and you simply don't need to support a "big evil company" just like you don't need to eat the flesh of animals.
Mod this as you feel appropriate
Here's what I want in a meal. If I'm like other geeks, and I think I am, they'll be interested too:
- Easy to prepare in bulk, hard to screw up
- Made from cheap ingredients I can purchase in bulk and that keep more-or-less indefinitely
- Leftovers are robust and reheatable in the microwave
- Healthy and tasty
My best recipe so far is two gallons of chili made in a big slow-cooker. Do you have any other suggestions?
Do you keep a database of your recipes or do you use the old fashion method of dead trees?
So, I'm a student here in the U.S., eating way more fast-food than I should, watching a population around me that is fatter than what we have in Europe. What do you think about the so-called junk food, and the people that eat it? Are you or would you get involved in campaigns that aim to educate people about what they eat?
Wait wait, WHAT? You can HEAT food? Hot damn! I'm writing this down... no more frozen taquitos in the middle of a 16-hour coding binge for me!
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
I myself am a decent enough cook, however, I don't know how to teach her to cook, as I am a horrible teacher.
So, my question to you is this...
How can a pretty bad cook learn the essentials of good cooking?
This is a great question!
Although if he's anything like most geeks,
He'll do a bunch of research before hand. If there was not time for that, I bet he'd simply ask around (thats how I found some great barbeque in Kansas city (not that thats hard, but the first two places I was "directed" to sucked.))
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
What is your favorite local foods from around the country? Such as Chicago hot dogs, New York style pizza, Maine Lobster, etc. I love the show, I tape it every time it's on (thanks, TiVo!).
Do you have any recipies with (a) gerbil(s) as the main ingredient?
So far, I've collected:
Gerbil in the microwave (the perfect quick meal for the starving college student)
Gerbil Soup, She Devil-style
As you can see, my list is far from complete. I'd appreciate any new gerbil recipies you can offer.
---
Siggy, siggy, siggy, can't you see? Sometimes your puns just irritate me.
Q: What techniques can be used to accentuate the flavors produced by Maillard browning in various dishes?
What are the main differences in the types of yeast used for making bread, versus the types of yeast used for making beer? Could someone, for example, take a beer yeast culture and make a decent sourdough from it?
How's my programming? Call 1-800-DEV-NULL
From the /. review:
Back to the grill, he's removed one of the plates on the side of his grill and fitted it with a piece of tailpipe. Then, when he's grilling, he sticks a hair dryer in the tailpipe and uses it to whip the coals into an inferno. Which might explain why he gets his oven mitts from the hardware store in the form of welding gloves. When talking about ovens, he describes how he builds an oven out of firebricks, and how he uses a large terra cotta pot to cook a chicken in his oven. It's all in the name of even heat distribution. He's also not above rewiring his electric skillet to provide a greater range of temperatures. You know you've read something good when the author includes a mini-disclaimer to the effect of "if you try this at home kids, I and the publisher are not responsible."
Okay, well, he's apparently fairly cool.
As for the question: how does he come up with these rather novel cooking methods? Is it trial and error (and, if so, what errors)? Does he have any sort of physics background? Or does he just wake up at 2am and think what a wizard idea it would be to use a hair dryer as a catalyst for his cooking?
Alton,
What's your favorite recipe for Hot Grits?
Would you prefer them to be served alone, or a la pants?
Thank you.
I've seen you cook with some funky things: cardboard box smokers, terra cotta chicken roasters, etc. What inspires you to find these things and what's your favorite alternative cooking device so far?
Which are the utensiles/cookware that is a MUST for any kitchen?
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
I have a rather small kitchen, but love cooking. The downside is that I have a lot of gear all over the place, usually because I really need it. What would you recommend as a "required list" of tools (utensils/appliances) that people should have in their kitchen?
As a well known chef, people must assume you have a refined palate and discerning tastes ... but do you ever get a crazy cravin' for a Big Mac? Do you have a secret lust for a particular type of junk food?
What are your thoughts on being considered by many the King of Geek Cuisine (with Jamie Oliver a close second)? Is it such a bad thing to be the Sultan of Strange when it comes to the presentation of recipes and concepts. (And just how many of us have not pointed out to friends recently that a cheesecake is really just a standing custard?) ;)
Having watched your show numerous times, it is easy to see you have a genuine "geekness" about you. As a fellow member of the tribe, I always find it interesting to see how you explain so many things with the science behind the matter rather than just explaining it away with "Because that's the way it's always been done.". My question to you is this, have you always been a cerebrally inclined individual? Have you faced many hurdles in the cooking world due to your pursuit of the science and taste and not the tradition?
Why is it that everytime I want to watch your show, Emeril is on instead?
--
What happens when you outlaw guns
A lot of your show is dedicated to the Science of cooking, and to the underlying physics of food. Your Grandmother (in a really cool episode about biscuits) demonstrated a wicked amount of Artistic Skill, the "look and feel" of food preparation. Do you have any thoughts about the balance of Art and Science in cooking?
Simple question, I know, but I feel it can help you understand a cook/chef better if you know what they like to eat.
One discussion I haven't seen: I consider the most important multitasker in my kitchen to be a knife, mainly my 8" chef's knife. What advice do you have for choosing a set of knives? Which knives do you consider the most important in food prep? Do you sharpen them yourself or have them sharpened at a shop?
Thank You
Chris
Mr. Brown, just a couple of questions for you:
1) Who fuckin' cares?
2) If we wanted to read about fucking cooking, we'd go to www.marthastewart.com or someplace, don't you think?
Would be consider adding to the Free world, by creating and GPLing one recipt dedicated to slashdot readers ? If it was a ketchup, relish or gravy we could call it 'Open Sauce'.
With all this talk of heating foods, I was wondering what your feelings are on the World Health Organization calling an emergency meeting to discuss the recent studies on heating carbohydrates. These studies found high levels of the carcinogin acrylamide when carbohydrates are heated in a certain way, such as by frying potatoes or baking bread.
Do you think this will affect your cooking recommendations in anyway?
Where is it approprate, and how might I use it best? Or why shouldn't I use it at all?
Why is it that the recipes from Good Eats belong to the Food Network, and they post so few of them? How much editorial control do you have over your Web Content and would you do things differently if you had the option?
--
What happens when you outlaw guns
I read an article about Ming Tsai (the wonderful host of East Meets West) where he noted that, after his show became popular, he came under enormous amounts of pressure to open resteraunts across America a la Emerill. He turned down the offers, and I was wondering if you have come under the same pressure and what is your feeling towards opening up resterants capitalizing on your celebrity.
Come play Heroes of Might and Magic Mini online.
no....no, it really isn't... cook Pronunciation Key (kk) v. cooked, cooking, cooks v. tr. 1. To prepare (food) for eating by applying heat.
Carpe Canem - Seize the Dog
Seeing that all geeks love Iron Chef, I have to ask, would you be willing to go against an Iron Chef? If so, which would you pick??
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
Listen up brothers and sisters, come here my desperate tale.
I speak of our friends of nature, trapped in the dirt like a jail
Vegtables live in oppression, served on out tables each night
This killing of veggies is madness, I say we take up the fight
Salads are only for murderers, cole slaw's a fascist regime!
Don't think that they don't have feelings, just cause a radish can't scream.
I've heard the screams of the vegetables, watching their skins being peeled.
Grated and steamed with no mercy.. how do you think that feels?
Carrot juice constitutes murder.. greenhouses prisons for slaves!
It's time to stop all this gardening.. let's call a spade a spade.
...
I'm a political prisoner, trapped in a windowless cage
'Cause I stopped the slaughter of turnips, by killing five men in a rage
The Arrogant Worms
Best Slashdot Co
Most cooking shows feature a chef cooking upwards of 8-10 complex dishes in the span of an hour. I find it almost impossible to follow along. Your show, on the other hand, focuses on a few recopies, showing the necessary techniques and hardware needed. Do you think shows like yours will start a new trend, whereby quality > quantity?
--
For the book says, "We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us."
This man has got to be a genius or a troll. Either way, mod this up!
When is the entire series going to be available on DVD? Or perhaps more seriously, what plans are there to expand on the current three DVDs, which admittedly cover classics, but leave us wanting more? (I have to have a copy of the oatmeal episode, just for the haggis recipe; not that I want to MAKE haggis mind you, but that was some inspired scripting)
7 November 2006: The day Americans realized corruption and incompetence weren't addressing 11 September 2001
I heard that you, essentially, decided that you wanted to do a show like Good Eats, but not having the appropriate cooking skill, proceeded to enroll in a cooking school. Then, once finished you returned to develop the show.
How close is the current show to what your original vision was? Did you plan it to be as fun and wacky as it is now, or did that come after cooking school?
Something I've found as a newbie chef is that a good 75.32% of good cooking is good shopping. What tips do you have for finding good, fresh ingredients? Where the heck do you get fresh herbs etc. in a smallish town?
take a nathans bun length dog, cut small slits, press slices of garlic in, grill, place on bun with appropriate condiments (no ketchup please)
consume.
Mr Brown,
I think that the most interesting part of your show to this audience is your emphasis on the science of cooking, from discussion of protein (such as in your angel foodcake episode and your recent souffle episode).
But the other difference in Good Eats is the great emphasis you place on the parts of cooking, that is the elements at a more abstract level, such as use of heat, individual ingredients (which is the topic of many of the shows) and methods of cooking (such as the right way to mix and fold).
This all makes Good Eats interesting for us geeks out there who want to understand the science, but also helps us non-cooking geeks become literate in the supermarket and kitchen.
What gave you the idea to present cooking in this way and do you have any suggestions for other resources that present food and food preparation in the same way?
- Serge Wroclawski
Thanks for coming out with a show (and a cookbook) that finally tell me why I should cook in a certain way rather than just telling me that I should do it.
Many of your recipes tend to be a high in fat (for example, deep fried mac and cheese). How often do you eat food like that? Do you worry you'll die of a heart attack by age 45?
Thanks for the shows, I really enjoy them.
Where did the idea to put together such an ingenious, innovative and ground-breaking program, that not only showed people how to cook great food but takes it a step further into the science behind the food?
Thank you,
A freak you never misses an episode.
I watch your show quite a bit, and one thing, and in one show (the souffle one) you mention that most plastic has a similar structure to fat, so fat has a tendency to stick to it. My question is where do you get your scientific info? Do you have a background in science to find this out yourself, or do you have friends who have a chemistry background that gives you chemical reasons why cooking is done the way it is?
"My head hurts, My feet stink, and I dont love Jesus." -Jimmy Buffett
Mr. Brown, since becoming a vegetarian, I've become aware that most chefs tend to have a strong anti-vegetarian bent. I understand that the majority of the population eat animals so it is most likely in the chef's best interest to serve meals that most people will recognize and be willing to eat (ie: a meal built around a main course of meat with vegetables in a supporting role). That's all well and good, but what about vegetarians. It seems that a lot of chefs are either outright anti-vegetarian (Ann Cashion or the guy that wrote the book about what happens in restaurant kitchens, Jacobson?) or think a plate of sides is all they can come up with for the non-meat eaters in the house. Do you perceive an anti-veg trend in professional chefs? My personal feeling is that they feel they can't make any money on vegetables, so they don't try. Why not take a frozen piece of seafood, call it the "special" of the day, mark it way up and make some easy money when you might actually have to sit down and think about a rounded meal for a vegetarian? What are your thoughts?
Given that your show has covered subjects ranging from eggplant (which most children hate) to gelatin (c'mon, there's always room for Jell-O!), you obviously have a wide variety of foods that you enjoy to prepare and eat.
Are there any specific foods, however, which you expressly *DO NOT* like? Where the preparation is particularly odious, or where the cooking itself is tedious, or where you just plain don't like the taste?
"My God...It's full of ads!" -Fry, about the Internet, Futurama
No, it's not... He didn't say food + heat = MEAL,
he said food + heat = COOKING. COOKING is a process which occasionally results in a meal or a part of a meal. It is certainly not the only process by which a meal can be made, however it is probably the most common.
Your question is clever, it's just not smart.
I've seen just about every episode (more than twice, my wife will vouch for that), and I know that the first question of cooking tools is usually quality. But, a close second is always multipurposity (yeah, I like making up the goofy phrase or two). Even those of us with significant kitchen budgets have a hard time acquiring a good collection of tools. What makes your top ten (or twelve, or twenty-two) list for essential, mutlitasking cooking tools?
Heck, what are the ten things that should be in my fridge and pantry at all times?
Amateurs discuss tactics. Professionals discuss logistics.
With a well known dislike for all but one single purpose device (the ever beloved fire extinguisher) you've obviously found lots of alternatives uses for common household items. Do you feel that this makes your food better or worse? What is the inspiration process for trying a new item out as, for example, a yogurt chiller or a smoker. Do you see an item and have it shout a new use at you, or is it that you're seeking out an alternative to the single purpose dev ice for a recipe or show and just find something that works after some trial and error?
What's your favorite food/beer pairing? (What food, what beer?)
Go fuck yourself you fat fucking balding sysadmin.
Hey, I think my email is fucked up, I want to send Alton something, COME FUCKING FIX IT thanks.
By the way, were you saying something?
You began your adult life working as a cinematographer, and Good Eats displays it: Rather than another static set of cameras, or the hectic handheld jarred camera of shows like the Naked Chef, Good Eats is pleasantly watchable and remarkably entertaining. Without doubt you are a tremendous cook and brilliant teacher, but would you say that your cinematography input into what was a tired food show industry is what brought you and your show into the limelight?
Your interest in science as related to food is obvious, but are you a geek for other things as well?? What other technology / science to you follow, and are you a Slashdotter by any chance (or will you become one now??
Department of Homeland Security: Removing the rights real patriots fought and died for since 2001
(or How Can I Make Use of this Seemingly Useless Information from College)
Anthropologists working with communities that practice cannibalism have reported that individuals can more-or-less peg a persons origin based on how they taste - presumably through their diet.
How much variation in flavor can you get in chicken, beef, etc. just through the animals diet?
Additionally, what is it in the makeup of the meat that makes the smell so distinctive. What makes beef taste like beef and chicken like chicken? I would think that beef flavored chicken would be quite a hit for the environment.
Could you change the color scheme on your website so that I don't go blind while trying to read it?
"And like that
I do not support patents, and especially not on living things. So do not assume GM food would have us at the whim of some massive corporate biotech cartel like the RIAA is with music.
An Education is the Font of All Liberty
Hello! I actually watched your very first show about steak here in PBS, it was the first thing in my life that made me interested in cooking. Every time I watch an episode of Good Eats, I always end it wanting to go cook something.
I had a technical question, we always see these shots coming out of refrigerators and ovens. Do you actually have little windows in the back of your appliances or are those props built up for the shows? I always assumed they were props but you never know. Also, is that really your house you shoot in? I love the Magritte hate with chicken painting.
Your book covers searing, grilling, roasting, frying, boiling, braising, brining, and microwaving ... but not baking. Did it not fit, or are you saving it for the next book, or what?
Stupid job ads, weird spam, occasional insight at
Can you give us some recipes that are
,we use it to raise our monitor up a few more inches )
1. Cheap ( half the geeks in the world are unemployeed since the bubble burst )
2. Fast to cook ( We aint got time to spend on some fancy meal, we got programming to do )
3. Easy to make ( Give us a manual on C no problem, give most of us a cook book
Personal Website
Your food shows are the most interesting productions I've ever seen. I loved it when you used barbie and ken to explain why not to salt oatmeal. Fancy that, a food show with a sense of humor. I would say that the entertainment quality of your shows is more consistent than the reproducability of your results (I've tried...) Would you say that you are more of a food geek, or more of a video production geek? If the latter, will we be seeing you branching out into other educational venues?
Consider two cooks/chefs, both having practiced their art for 30 or 40 years. Both receive rave reviews from those they serve and both have a wide repertoire to choose from. One is a 50 year-old grandmother and the other is chef at a 5-star restaurant. Do you think there is a difference between the cooking of a 'classically trained' chef and an ordinary person who has simply cooked for long enough to 'know their way around the kitchen?'
I consider in particular that a lot of chef schools and restaurants emphasize learning certain basic skills such as chopping onions and making sauces (or at least they use the student chefs as cheap labor to accomplish those uninteresting but important kitchen tasks), whereas a person teaching a child or grandchild to cook might just dive in to a complete meal. So, do you think cooking philosophies matter, or even exist as a useful way to differentiate chefs and/or cuisine?
Given a small apartment, an electric stove, and reasonable budget, how would you prepare flame-seared-tasting meats, hotdogs/hamburgers, indoors without a fire permit?
I love cooking, and I love eating. What is your take on how often / how much to eat? There's the traditional "3 meals a day" we all grew up with, and various other toughts on the subject like the "six small meals a day" and "one huge meal in the AM, and just a few snacks the rest of the day"
What's your take... how often do you eat a day, or do you not "plan" eating, and just eat whenever hungry or at non-structured intervals?
Department of Homeland Security: Removing the rights real patriots fought and died for since 2001
... don't just crap out the seeds into a sterile porcelain bowl and flush them away. Take a dump out in the yard, or in your neighbor's yard. And do it in a different place each time!
Slaw on or slaw off? Instant or not? Gas or charcoal? Sauce on top, or sauce on the side? Bun or no bun?
Can you recommend a way to get out of the food rut...
When I'm not hungry, I don't want to cook.
When I AM hungry, I don't want to experiment, since I'm hungry!
Lather, Rinse, Repeat.
Why choose white shoes?
While I'd never bought any of the arguments for vegetarianism before, and I have a hard time imagining giving up red meat, both of these books are written by respected journalists (one a pulitzer prize winner) and both make beef seem scary as hell. Have you analyzed the controversy over the safety of beef at all, and what's your take? Are you worried about e-coli or mad cow? Should we be?
when the four horsemen come riding into your kitchen and the apocalypse is upon us, what one utensil/tool/object will you try to escape with?
;-)
and you can't bribe the horsemen with any good eats. they're not hungry
Mr. Brown:
First off, I have to say, love the show, love the book. I went out and bought it right after I read the review of it here and read it cover to cover in a day. My question is more of a suggestion. You have an obvious good taste in beers judging from your show and your book. I do a little brewing myself and after seeking many of your episodes where you recreate a comercial product at home, ala yogurt etc. One thing I would love to see on your show is Root Beer. The history, the science, the methodology and a couple good recipies. Any chance of that in the future?
Dear Alton,
I just came back from a trip in the great hinterlands of Minnesota, so this question is spawned from recent culinary experience:
If you were sent out to the middle of nowhere and had some time to prepare for the trip, what sorts of equipment would you take along and what dishes would you prepare? For the sake of keeping it simple, let's say you had to cook a brekfast and dinner over a campfire. What would you make to really wow your fellow campers using as few ingredients and as little equpiment as possible?
Thank you,
-AP
DVD box set - when? Please!!!
I can never get a close enough look... The watch and the shirts are fly, but dude that Margritte inspired turkey on your wall needs to go.
Whenever I hear about low-carb diets, I hear "weight loss" with a smidgeon of "may help cholesterol." I'm not interested in weight loss... so what about their affect on cholesterol? How the heck to refined Carbs turn into Cholesterol? Why don't unrefined carbs do the same (or do they)? C'mon, Alton! You've got the scientific bend to do this one right!
Other than your book/show. How would you recomend learning to cook. Books and other things welcome. (Not to be a chef, just feed myself healthy and tasty treats for the regular 9-6er.)
;-). And usually it's pull out George F. throw some unmarinated frozen (oops forgot to defrost)chicken on it and place on some rice and peas.
I've only seen your show once (Angel food cake), but I was immediately taken up with your approach to cooking. It immediately seemed that this was how I should learn. IMO to cook is to be able to take a number of food items and to create a decent meal. I can't do that. So many books, cooking shows, etc don't understand the truly beginner chef. How do I "stir" this best etc. etc. My girlfriend laughs at me that I asked her how to cut some vegetable... but the thing is that certain foods DO have certain ways to cut them. It was a breath of fresh air that you were EXACT and explained WHY. I don't have time to cook every day and learn the craft. I'm hungry NOW!
So close and yet so far from the world's perfect ID number
Alton - I can't help but notice that your kitchen has quite a bit of high-end Viking appliances in it. I'm in the process of designing the kitchen for my new house, but doubt if my budget will allow for such high-end appliances. What features of the Viking appliances are the most important to you, and which are just "nice to haves?" For example, after the millionth cleaning of the undertrays on my range, I'm sold on the idea of sealed burners. I also find it difficult to get a low enough heat on my burners to simmer a delicate sauce, so I'm sold on the idea of at least one low-BTU burner. What else should I be looking for in my Viking-like but not quite Viking appliances? And are there benefits to going with a cook top and wall oven as opposed to a range? One more: I'm considering going with a gas cooktop and an electric convection wall oven - thoughts? Ok, one more: any thoughts on Advantium "cook with light" ovens?
Karma: Professionally Doomed (mostly affected by inability to keep opinions to self)
You got into cooking via a theater degree and television work; an unconventional path, but you're an unconventional guy.
How did that background lead to a geeky approach to cooking, with lots of molecular diagrams and discussions of physics?
(I use "unconventional" and "geeky" as compliments, and hope you take them that way. You and Nigella Dawson do the most distinctive, and most enjoyable, cooking shows I've seen, each in its own way.)
Stupid job ads, weird spam, occasional insight at
Why does monosodium glutamate have such a bad rap? According to the FDA, science has provided no evidence to support the "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome". Since most consider glutamate-trigged "umami" to be the fifth taste after salty, sweet, sour, and bitter, why is poor MSG treated so ignorantly?
There are a lot of people out there that only know how to cook one dish, but in your opinion, what one dish do you think EVERYONE should know how to cook to perfection? Personally, I grill a pretty great steak, and the secret to it is pretty easy ... so I'd say grilling meats, but I'd like to know if there's something else you'd consider to be crucial to everyone's cooking arsenal.
AB,
I understand and appreciate your scientific approach towards cooking and find your show terribly entertaining. How did you come to your current understanding of cooking. Was it trial and error? Is your educational background in food or science? Can you reccomend any other reading materials as a must have, besides of course your own book (on my Amazon wish list awaiting an Angel)?
Thank you,
(/local/home/curiosity)-#who -u|grep thecat|cut -c 44-49|xargs kill -9
Many food shows tend to focus on fancy ingredients bought at stores that only exist in downtown NYC made with special tools that normally an average person would not own.
With your training at the New England Culinary institute, I know you must understand and have cooked "gourmet" cuisine. Yet on your show, you shop at Kroger's, use hardware store items instead of specialized cooking instruments and focus on the types of food we eat everyday (Pot Roast, Steak, Potatoes, Mac and Cheese.) Is there a secret that we non-gourmet types should be let in on? Should we catapult the notion that fancy meals with French names and odd ingredients is what you need to have an exquisite meal? Or are you a secret gourmet type sneaking into uber-hip Manhattan restaurants that only server beet foam with caviar and ramps?
BTW - your recipes are great, I don't know if you have heard this before but you are the new guard of America soul cooking.
Jesse Wolfe Sr. Manager Systems Integration
I know that your show touches on the science behind the cooking, but episodes tend to deal with only one specific food (and granted, many ways to cook it). What I'd love to see is a set of instructional videos that give an overview of basic kitchenology, like build the perfect kitchen piece by piece, or what the different methods of heating food are, etc. Have you ever considered releasing such a thing?
I applaud episodes like "Good Milk Gone Bad" and "The Other Red Meat" that focus on lower fat and cholesterol foods. But many of your recipes call for butter, oil, cream, and other less than healthful foods (even bacon grease!). What do you think about some of the substitutes out there, or using ingredients like applesauce to replace butter?
Thank You
Chris
It doesn't surprise me to see you here. I've thought for a long time that the scientific bent of your show had geek appeal, and I certainly enjoy it. What are your interests outside of cooking?
As a native of Atlanta I just love seeing local shops featured on your show. How has the fame that come along with Good Eats sucess changed your life? Can you eat at a restaurant in peace? Do you find every food supplier in town lobbying to appear on your show?
P.S.
My wife wants to know who is W.
"Technology.....the knack of so arranging the world that we don't have to experience it." Max Firsch
Now... on to, perhaps, one of the more unusual questions you might receive. This question deals directly with how heat affects food.
Specifically... I live on the slopes of an active volcano. One of the things we like to do for fun is cook game hen and pork loins in the hot lava itself. First, let me describe our process, and then our question.
To cook a game hen we first season and then wrap the hen in about 10 Ti (or banana) leaves. These protect the hen from actually burning.
Next we find an active surface breakout of lava. We use a shovel (we also are wearing kevlar gloves that can withstand 2000 degrees of heat) and get a good shovel full of red lava. We place this on the ground a distance from the flow. We then position the Ti-wrapped hen in the middle of the blob of lava and cover it with another shovel full of lava. We try to leave a small opening to the Ti leaves, for steam to escape (or we can potentially have a steam explosion).
Now, the question. The lava is initially at 2000 degrees when we start cooking. After about 15 minutes it has cooled to around 850 degrees (outside of the rock - we read this using an infrared pyrometer). After about 45 minutes the outside is about 450 degrees. At that point we hit the rock with the shovel to open it. Only a few of the Ti leaves will remain uncharred. We remove those and the hen is then very moist and delicious.
How is it possible, using a heat source at 2000 degrees (that granted, gets cooler over time) that it still takes 45 minutes to cook the game hen? We would have thought that the cooking would have been near instantanous - but repeated experiments at various lengths of time reveal that it takes exactly as long in the lava, as in an oven.
If you would like to view pictures of this process... click here.
Aloha
I look forward to this season's forthcoming episode on homebrewing. (Beer, guys, not electronics.)
Can you please say a few things about how you feel about beer: drinking it, cooking with it, brewing it yourself?
("Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew.")
Stupid job ads, weird spam, occasional insight at
It's my understanding you used to work at an ad agency or other type of marketing gig. Do you use some of the same creative juices to come up with some of the parodies and themes for the show?
E.
Build Your Own PVR/HTPC news, reviews, &
Love your show. However when will foodTV make your show a 1 hour show instead of 1/2?
As most techies are lazy, and a few of those need to lose a few pounds, are there any good techiques and ingredients to start experimenting with.
...going out on a limb here... leave his/her chair and get a bit of exercise.
Food that's veggie and tasty (no they're not mutially exclusive) that your normally rib-eye steak munching techie would be happy to eat and might even make them live a little longer, or
Had to ask this one since the other vegetarian post was moderated out...
I'm not a vegan or vegetarian, but my wife and several acquaintances are. There's quite a bit of selection in the frozen foods section, and you've certainly covered several recipies that are at least vegetarian (the tofu episode was, certainly, inspired). I'd like to be able to cook a meal that would be tasty for all palettes without using the ingredients the vegan crowd would find objectionable.
Are there some fundamental steps to preparing tasty, vegan-friendly meals in the way of getting meat substitutes and seasonings to work in harmony? Are there ingredients that significantly enhance popular vegetarian fare that typically don't make it into the dish?
Amateurs discuss tactics. Professionals discuss logistics.
Take 1 part dry Lentils, Black Beans, Red Beans, etcetera (you have to soak some beans overnight, this is easy if you eat this everyday like I did, or you can do what I eventually did, soak the beans and rice in the slow cooker and plugged it into a timer to turn it on in the morning if I wasn't home)
Add 1 part Cut potatoes, rice (not quick cooking kind), and not pasta unless you want mush. If you want to add pasta, throw it in about 30 minutes before you want to eat.
Add spices about 10 minutes before you eat, this stuff freezes well and lasts about 7 days refrigerated. Sausage, hot dogs, and stew meat is optional but welcome.
An Education is the Font of All Liberty
Many of the answers to some of the questions asked so far can be found at www.altonbrown.com and also at (especially check the FAQS on this site).
I mention this because I'd like to see slashdot add to the internet's collective pool of Alton Brown knowledge, not repeat stuff that we already known.
Is there a good rule of thumb for balancing flavor? There are a lot of things that we wouldn't necessarily think of combining in outr foods that turn out to be suprisingly good. (IE: squeezing lime juice into your spicy mexican)
What is the science behind balancing flavor?
First, let me say as a Boston area fan, please consider scheduling a book signing in the Boston area! New York is quite a hike, and there are LOTS of Good Eats/AB fans here! You are *the* UberGeek of foodies, and we love you!
Questions:
Do you have any plans to put more episodes on DVD? Your current two DVD offerings are already on my wish list, but I'd love to be able to pick up other eps as well!
Have you ever worn any of the Hawaiian shirts for the show more than once? Your wife does an excellent job of finding them for you! Would you consider auctioning them off for a charity or a "Send a Poor Guy to NECI" fund?
Have you considered selling AB aprons to go with the salt cellar and Plunger/Plunger Jr? Maybe even Hawaiian print aprons?
Thanks!
-EarthPigBorn
Not a food question, but I'm curious:
Your show seems to have production values similar to other cooking shows, but I get the impression that the same, ah, practical approach you have to cooking was taken to production. ("Ok, this is just him and some camera guy in his home kitchen.")
How many people does it actually take to produce Good Eats, how much money is that, and who exactly owns and runs which parts of that operation?
I am a complete self-confessed kitchen gadget freak, and from the review it seems that you are not averse to souping up (pardon the pun) some of the more mundane cooking items. So, what are your money-no-object-must-have-for-the-shear-cheek-of it-never-persuade-the-loved-one-it-is-vital kitchen gadgets ?
I think this is the kind of question Alton loves to answer.
Recipes always call for you to boil cold water. I'm too impatient for that. I like to start with hot water. I can imagine that an old water heater would let the water sit there for a while, and might get extra "junk" in it. I bet newer ones circulate the water better. Plus, I'm boiling the friggin water anyway. There's not going to be any live bacteria in it.
Can I please continue to boil hot water?
PS. I still want to see you do a standing back flip like Jamie Oliver.
dear mr. brown, first, i would like to thank you for one of the best cooking shows i have seen in a long time. my wife and myself, both geeks (physics & astronomy) do not miss a single episode of your show. as we are moving overseas we are hoping that europe's cable listings have food-tv.
my question is: in your show things seem to work out perfectly every time. this, of course, is a result of your scientific approach and exact work. still, i wonder how you rehearse for such a show and how many times you have to bake the souffle before it comes out puffy.
having tought science before, i admire the simplicity with which complex processes, such as gelation are explained in your show. do you cook up these explanations yourself or do you have a team of scientists to back you up? thanks, h.
RICE KRISPY TREATS
You should check out "Alton's Essential Elements" from his web page, which is his top 25 kitchen tools. It includes a lot of the ever-famous tools from the show, including the Lodge cast iron skillet and the probe thermometer.
pronoblem
Dear Alton,
I'm convinced your show, Good Eats, is one of the best things on television. I was hoping you could tell us more about how you got the idea to shoot a show in the first place, how you decided to put a scientific slant on things, and where you would like to take Good Eats in the future?
Thank you,
-AP
Our kitchen has very little storage, and since we live in an apartment we can't do too much about that. There's no way we have room for a hand mixer AND and a KitchenAid mixer AND a food processor AND a blender AND all the other gadgets that "W" reluctantly supplies you with. So in the spirit of Ron Popiel, can you recomend one or two "essential" gadgets that slice, dice, mix, puree, and julien?
My wife and I are big fans of Good Eats and have found a number of "Ah ha! So that's why that ingredient does that!" moments while watching many episodes. As far as we're concerned, Food TV can ratchet down the Bammage quotient of the programming and ratchet up the Alton Brown quotient in their schedule. We're looking forward to a long, long run of Good Eats.
It seems that there are two or three flavors, if you will, of the Good Eats episodes. In the early shows, there wasn't as much comedy involved, but your set (which we assume is your own house somewhere in the metro Atlanta area) has a primarily white kitchen. Then that kitchen was used for the episodes where the actors who play W, or your sister, or your other family members have lines in the episode. (Very funny stuff, by the way. I think that everybody has worked with someone like W at some point.) Most recently the episodes we've seen feature a different house/set where the kitchen cabinetry is a mahogany color and it is obviously a different house. Absent are any of the comic relief characters. The question here is: What's the chronological sequence of the given episodes?
With or without Marsha (Marcia?) and the others, we feel that you can carry an episode with aplomb and have decided that if Food Network ever had a contest of "Have Lunch with your Favorite Food Network Chef", you'd be at the top of our list. Fascinating stuff. Your book has been great, too.
Dan and Lori Richardson
Renton, Washington
Is this a thread about AMD or what ?
How do you make cold pizza and a coke taste best?
I missed the end of that one. How did it end?
Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
Cooking has obviously been around in some form for ages, and the technology behind it has evolved some... What in your opionion are the most important recent (10 years? 20 years?) innovations in the art/science of cooking? What are the worst?
A half an hour is not long enough for me to get my food science fix! Why not increase the show to an hour in length?
-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-
What would Yossarian do?
One of the reasons why I like your show so much is that you take the time to go into the science behind the food.
How much atonomy and decision making power do you have in deciding the topics for your shows? Has the food network ever told you that a particular show was a bad idea?
Keep up the great work!
Yes Francis, the world has gone crazy.
http://www.qrg.ils.nwu.edu/projects/MarsSim/SimHTM L/info/whats-an-omnivore.html
If we were ment to only eat plants we would not be omnivores, and we would be able to digest plant matter better. Wheather it be by evolution or by design, one of our advanages as humans is being omnivorious.
"Omnivores eat plants, but not all kinds of plants. Unlike herbivores, omnivores can't digest some of the substances in grains or other plants that do not produce fruit."
==>Lazn
And displayed neatly, I might add... hey, sue me. It must be a good question if he's answered it already :)
Amateurs discuss tactics. Professionals discuss logistics.
I've always thought that cooking, like photography is both a science and an art. The science involves understanding "why", while the art is the ability to make it your own. I've found that good cooks rarely follow a set recipe, but instead understand the relationships between savory and sweet, weight and heat.
Rather than ask a question about "how to make xxx", my question is on your personal food philosophy. What to you makes "Good Eats"?
And onother thing.... Alton R0x0rz my B0x0rz!
.
Blocklevel: Practical Information Architecture
Also, I recently received Brilliant Food Tips and Cooking Tricks: 5,000 Ingenious Kitchen Hints, Secrets, Shortcuts, and Solutions and so far it really does have some great tips. But, one thing I was hoping it would touch on is completely absent: how to organize the kitchen. I'm not talking about food prep. or cooking, but just where the "tools-of-the-trade" go. I do not have a lot of cookware or dining-ware, but what I do have is very disorganized. Any thoughts?
Good cookbooks. "Joy of Cooking" (I prefer 2nd ed) is very good on the essentials. Julia Child's "The Way To Cook" likewise. Her "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" is excellent.
Best Slashdot Co
Ditto what the other poster said, but here are my specifics:
- Made from canned or dry goods and spices
- Minimal fresh ingredients
- Uses five or less ingredients
- Very easy to prepare - mix, cook, eat.
- Healthy and tasty
My personal favorite along those lines is this:
1 can of beans, rinsed
1 can of corn (not cream)
1 can of diced tomatoes with juice
1 teaspoon of chili powder
1/2 or 1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
Mix, cook for five minutes, eat.
I have always been a big fan of using recipes as guidelines for cooking and winging the rest, but I do acknowledge the need for a good recipe or other point to start from. Also, I have found that some cookbooks and recipe collections are better than others and would like to know where you like to turn for inspiration? What cookbooks or online resources do you find to be the best, in general or for specific types of recipes?
I guess you could check this out yourself by directly measuring the temperature inside the hen (don't know; a thermocouple or RTD sensor, with proper protection for the leads) as a function of time. Compare with standard oven.
If you perform the experiment, please share the results !
With Food Network recieving such a large viewing audience I have noticed a trend of other shows adding cooking segments. There have always been cooking shows, at least in my brief timespan. But I wonder what your thoughts are on how the Food Network has changed the attitudes and eating habits of Americans. Are we eating better? Are peoples who would normaly go to McD's now going out and spending more money on speciality dining spots?
If I were only smart enough to accomplish the things I dream about.. Or maybe too dumb to care.
What the hell is a kumquat?
I enjoy how you add your biophysics- and chemistry-minded views to make food delicious and beautiful. I am a science geek and I have no qualms eating commercially available irradiated food. The problem is, so many commercially available foods don't taste very good due to their preparation, regardless of how they are preserved for delivery to the consumer. If I wanted to prepare my own tasty meals, perhaps lunches to take to work or on camping trips, and wanted to extend shelf/refrigeration life with ionizing radiation, shouldn't I be able to?
Do you think any such home food irradiation device might come to market? (I think it would take a great deal of development to make something idiot-proof enough, or perhaps coursework or licensing would be required.) Does the stigma of 'radiation' persist in the eyes of consumers? Also, I have not bought-in to the proposed link between free radicals and the aging process and I suspect this would be your biggest sticking point. Do you disagree?
B.W.R. --Dallas, TX
Alton: Thank you for the excellent book, I'm about halfway through and have three other people itching to get their hands on it.
Question: What is the difference between shallots and a normal onion? All the cooking shows seem to prefer them, yet I've heard Emeril say at least once that you can use a normal onion in thier place. Why do we have these things? I find them rather anoying since they are so small and expensive.
Is it ok to substitute or are there times when only a shallot will do?
--Should work--
Alton,
:)
I really enjoyed the tofu show, and now I'm wonderinf if there's any chance you'll do a vegetarian show? Of course, I'd settle for another soy show, too.
I don't care what the question is, but the answer is FileMaker. --HarvDog
Just wondering if you have ever noticed a any sort of correlation between chefs and gardening.
By that I mean in my personal experience every amature chef I know also likes to garden.
Apart from the obvious desire to obtain fresh ingredients, I just wonder if you have ever noticed some sort of personality trait in professional chefs that is satiated by the act of creating something (i.e planting a garden or cooking.) or perhaps in just understanding the food a little better.
P.S....please kill Bobbie Flay for me.
--->----
What do you think about being a celebrity sex symbol, and how does your wife feel about the serious political/moral issue of concubines in America?
I have been a huge AB fan since my first chance to brine a turkey, never missing an episode. Now, I could have sworn I saw mention of an episode on microbrewing on his website, but it's not there any more, and the episode never aired that I could see. Wazzup with that? Will this "lost classic" ever see air?
Now that I've bought all of these kitchen essentials and added them into my existing collection of gadgets and tools, what methods can you suggest for storing or otherwise organizing all of these utinsels. Do you have several drawers that you just dump stuff in or do you have hooks and shelves everywhere?. Would I be better off buying a Craftsman stackable tool chest for my kitchen instead?
Alton, I've greatly enjoyed your show, and catch every episode I can (I travel all over the world installing software, so it's sometimes hard finding a hotel that carries Food Network)... and I'm VERY glad that Food Network Canada carries your show! Your show has actually made me consider going back to school and take the cooking classes I always wanted to take, instead of becoming a computer engineer ( and I'm dead serious ) On to my question: If I have neutrino and... oh, sorry, that's for Mr. Hawkings... I actually have 2 questions: 1 - I live outside Edmonton, Alberta, Canada... and have a bit of difficulty find a GOOD store to find some of the cool gadgets you use on your show ( for example, the plunger style measuring cups ), and was wondering what companies you recommend for such unique tools (as I said, I travel a lot, so companies in the states are fine, or web sites I can order online from) 2 - When baking a multilayer round cake, I find that my cakes tend to be very tall in the center, shallow along the outside, making a good sized dome. I usually take a serrated knife and 'level the playing field' a bit, so they stack into a nice 3 layer cake... But I was wondering what you recommend, to ensure that I get a more uniform layer... or is this just normal? Thanks a bunch, Alton... gotta run over to Chapters and see if they carry your book now! (: -Blayne Watt
Honestly, 40% of these questions are answered in his book, i.e. the "what are your top 10 favorite..." or "what's a good way to learn..." or even a question about salt. It's a great read and not that expensive, I suggest those of you who are interested pick it up.
I've been watching the show for a while and regularly get the recipes online. Thanks for the changes of pace and the outstanding 30 minutes a week. My question is:
I live in the Atlanta area (which I hear you're based near) and was wondering where you go to get various kitchen utensils (pots and pans) and real spices (like the real Balsamic Vinegar from the pickle episode)?
I've recently re-discovered how much fun cooking is, along with the advantage that not only is the food generally better that way, I get the additional advantage of being able to experiment with food styles that you just can't generally get in restaurants or out of a grocery store. My current "experimental theme" is Medieval European food (which I like because of it's unique flavor set and "free-form" cooking style [at least, compared to modern "books of recipes".])
I've noticed in a couple of your fine shows that you've repeated the silly fallacy that the style of food uses spices so often because "the meat was all rotten and they were trying to disguise the taste."
My question, then, is in two parts:
Hacker Public Radio is our Friend
Hi Alton,
Saw your "cast away" episode. I thought the part where you described 'chemically cooking' food with acid's was particularly interesting.
Is this generally as safe as cooking with heat? Where can I learn more?
Dave Leimbach
I, as many Slashdot readers am a corporate employee (I specifically am a contractor) and many times we end up eating fast food or resturant food frequently. With the exception of cold server foods that we can bag and take to work with us I have found that many foods that we "Re-Heat" tend to greatly disappoint when they are re-heated. Do you have any suggestions on foods that re-heat well and retain a fair amount of taste and texture (excluding soups) or do you have advice on better ways to re-heat food in a microwave?
-=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
Why are there only 3 episodes of Good Eats on the DVDs? I was hoping for 6-9 considering they're only 30 minute shows.
:(
:-)
Good Eats is one of the rare shows that is 1) instructional 2) entertaining and 3) re-watchable again and again.
Do you folks at good eats realize how much hard drive space Good Eats uses on my Tivo?
I want to buy the DVDs for permanent high-quality archives (as opposed to cheap VCR tapings), but it's more cost effective for me to buy more Tivo space than 3 episodes/$49 each
Looking forward to one of those PBS-style 14-DVD "Collector's Pack" sets with years of Good Eats
It is quite obvious that eating plants is essentially healthier. See, animals can be nutritious, but only because they get their nutrients from the plants (or carnivores get their nutrients from other animals who get it from plants). This just means we aren't getting it from the source.
Ok, so eat plants, but you are missing out. Where do you think plants get their nutrients from? The soil. So, if you want the real thing, the most nutritious substance in the world, without any loss by transfer - then eat dirt.
What? You don't like the taste? Not much we can do about that. I don't like the taste of veggies, so I guess we're even there.
Too much potential for bacteria or viral infection? Start a program to sterilize and prepackage the dirt.
In my opinion, vegitarians are just another extremist group who think that just because a living thing isn't conscious or has a brain then it is right to slaughter them. A farm is a death camp for vegitables, it's that simple.
And with carnivores killing other animals every day as their sole source of food, it's hard for me to find any moral issues with being an omnivore.
TodayTM BillyJoelTM GoogleTMd for StitchTMes due to WindowsTM while RollerbladeTMing with an AppleTM and a PopsicleTM
For instance, why do smoked meats stay moist and tender instead of drying out? Why do smoked meats have a pink color near the surface - almost appearing uncooked? Is cooking with smoke really carcinogenous?
News for the CFD community http://www.cfdreview.com
You still didn't spell "cognitive" right. Dummy.
It's rare that you're presented with a knob whose only two positions are Make History and Flee Your Glorious Destiny.
http://www.americastestkitchen.com/
You've written a book (which I now own a copy of, naturally). Shirley Corriher's written a book (which I also own a copy of).
Will Deb Duchon, Nutritional Anthropologist, also be writing a book, and if so, when will it come out (and if not, who do we mope at to encourage her?)
Hacker Public Radio is our Friend
Hi Alton,
My wife and I got a rotisseried chicken yesterday and it was fantastic. There are lot's of ways to cook a chicken and a lot of ways to ruin a chicken but cooking chicken in a rotisserie really seems to be a great way to achieve excellent flavor, texture, and juicy-ness.
What's your take on rotisserie cooking for poultry, lamb, beef?
Thanks,
Chip and Debby
Hi Alton... Love your show. Bought your book. Please write more of them.
:)
Now the question:
I just remodeled my kitchen. It's not all that big, but the one thing I really want in it is one of those huge 8 burner gas stoves - DCS, Dacor, Viking, something like that. My question is what benefits or drawbacks are there from using a 'commercial residential' model as opposed to something more conventionally residential, like a GE Spectra? Venting and space are not problems. (Natural Gas all the way - no electrics - I have an electric now and just like the way gas cooks better - and I think a gas oven produces better bread). Oh, and love your show.
On your show you present many interesting facts about cooking and get into the nitty gritty details on how food, and the chemicals that make up food, interact with each other, the mixing surfaces, and the cooking environment. How much of this information was actually figured out ages ago and then basically forgotten by modern cooks and re-learned by you or is all this great information recently gathered by chemcial analysis and observation or some other methods?
-- Knuckle Blood : Official Lube of Team Rusty Nuts.
I watch exactly two television programs. NFL Football and Good Eats.
I have three questions.
I learned a long time ago that I enjoyed cooking more than anything else. Part of that is that, being a geek, I live in a digital world, and the analog act of cooking is very soothing. While I will complain loudly at standing in a line longer than ten minutes, I've often spent HOURS on my feet in the kitchen cooking for holidays, and went to bed that night blissfully calm.
In the US today, with rampant McCuisine and dual income families, the concept of cooking has been shoved to the back burner, so to speak. Eating is something you do, not something you enjoy. Even worse, good food is, for many, something you go get, not something you do in your own kitchen.
So, riddle me these questions three...
1) What can be done about the dumbing down of american cuisine? Your show is a spectacular start, but there simply arent enough of them. You actually make other shows irrelevant. I'm no longer content to see the "How" without also getting the "why?" Short of "Good Eats 2", what can be done to teach americans what good food is?
2) You're living the life I'd kill for. You were a Video guy who left to go to culinary school. I'm a web guy who would give anything to do the same, if I could figure out how to pay the mortgage and feed the three kids in the interim. I have taken the path of self education. Your book is, quite honestly, a textbook that should be required reading for anyone who wants to cook. I'm waiting for my copy of McGee's On Food And Cooking, what other resources do you recommend for someone who is very serious about culinary education, but doesn't have the resources for an immersive culinary school?
3) Your equipment recommendations, so far, have been dead on. My Magnum pepper mill is a dream, My lodge cast iron has a seasoning my grandmother would have been jealous of, and Spring loaded tongs have been a fixture in my kitchen since before you did your PBS shows. But I have yet to find a source for your Jomac gloves, and I am still patiently waiting for the Plunger and Plunger Junior to go on sale at Your Site. Hook a brother up, to steal a Nicholson line, "Where does he get these wonderful toys."?
Oh, and I'll slide in one more question. What subjects are on tap for next season?
Why is it surprising that a book about food would be popular on Slashdot? Think about it...
11*43+456^2
Alton, about a year and a half ago at the suggestion of a friend's gourmet cook mother, I bit the bullet and made the upgrade from grocery store McCormick type spices and dried herbs to those carried by Penzeys Spices.
There has been an amazing improvement in everything I cook. Everything from McCormick really is bland dust next to its Penzeys equivalent. (No, I have no affiliation of any sort with Penzeys, just a recent convert).
So where do you go for your dried herbs and spices? Better yet, where do you recommend your viewers & readers buy reasonably priced quality herbs and spices?
Thanks!
Operator, give me the number for 911!
Maybe after reading a book like that, and I'm Just Here for the Food, I'll have learned enough to know that I know nothing. Only then will I be able to snatch a pebble from Julia Child's hand.
BTW, great TV show, great book!
Move on. There's nothing to see here.
cooking = food + heat; /* This is logically correct */
"Think, It aint illegal.....yet" - George Clinton
Who can we geeks bribe to get "Good Eats" on the air at least as much as Emeril? Every time I flip to the food network I hear "BAM!!!"
I took a neuroscience class last fall and I can answer your question. There are definitely G-protein coupled receptors in the mouth for detecting more than just "salt, sweet, sour, and bitter." In fact, IIRC, sweet and bitter both rely on similar (GPC) receptors, whilst sour and salt rely on ion channels. The name of this taste is called "umami." What you're tasting is the neurotrasmitter glutamate. The dangerous part of MSG is the sodium ion, because sodium is necessary (neurons cannot fire without it) but people generally get too much of it anyway.
IIRC, neuroscientists haven't yet figured out all of the different receptors in our mouths. The basic idea is that each one provides a benefit to survival: sweet = high carb, sour = citrus (?), bitter = poisonous, salt = need salt, umami = good protein source (?), etc.
BlackGriffen
Italian Cooking skills have been passed on to me from my Grandparents and Mom. If i do say so myself I am a pretty good cook. Also as a restaurant entusiast I do enjoy being a bit of an critic. However I have found that NO 'italian' restaurant has ever come close to my grandfathers cooking and rarely is equal to my cooking. I'm sure that there are Chinese, French and Spanish cooks that feel the same way. The Food at a restaurant never compares to the food from home. And sometimes it's all Wrong! As one of 3 italian residents in Seattle (we each do 8 hour shifts) I am amazed as what passes for Pizza around here! How do these places stay in business? Pizza and Pasta (mushy pasta, bitter sauce, canned meatballs and lumpy gooey crust) in seattle are my pet peeves... what are some of yours?
First off, kudos to you and your team of developers on kicking out entertaining and enlightening shows.
Here's a quandary I'm in. As a nerd, I tend to watch how TV shows and other information sources depict technology. I have yet to see any TV show realistically depict the use of computer technology as a worthwhile helper in the kitchen.
How do you see computers, small PDAs or similar technology as being useful for the domestic chef within the kitchen or in meal preparation either now or in the next few years? Is their a food related problem that nerd chefs with computers are better suited to solve than non-nerd chefs with pen and paper?
--chuck
-- "In a time of drastic change it is the learners who survive; the 'learned' find themselves fully equipped to live in
However, I do wonder if the devotion to multitasking can be taken too far. The problem I found with a multitasker tool is that you can still only make it do one thing at a time. And while it's doing that thing, other processes (not necessarily cooking related) that require that tool lose its utility.
My question: how far do you take it? Can you give us an example of something you do so often that you finally just broke down and got a specialty tool?
By the way, I use a temperature probe on my multimeter to see when my roast is done. ;)
how does doe work? When can it be boiled, steamed, fried, or baked?
Do you have any idea how long it takes me to get that song out of my head?!? Do you!?!
In mathematics, one does not understand things, one merely gets used to them.
--VonNeumann
I'm going to college soon. If by some miracle i get an apartment, what are some things you recommend that are simple, filling and nutritious to make with the most basic of gear?
If you can't see the value in jet powered ants you should turn in your nerd card. - Dunbal (464142)
I actually asked this at one of your signings in the Wash DC area... But I had to leave before pressing you on the issue.
My original question was "How do you tell someone to STOP cooking?" Your response was an angry "cooking is love" item. But I wanted to clarify. This person cooks, but will not take *any* criticism. If I don't say "I LOVE it! Don't change anything!" that dish will *never* be produced again. I would rather they stop trying than be teased with good recipes that just need tweaked a bit. So, how do you do it? How do you either get them to not cook anymore, or listen to reason?
Alton,
Mac or PC?
--- Ask me about my Sig -- it's a 9mm.
Most kitchen shows these days are obviously supported by corporate sponsors - whose business apparently depends on pressuring people into buying needlessly specialized gadgets for the kitchen. I'd like you to comment on the possible tension between presenting reliable, affordable advice to people and getting enough advertising dollars to keep afloat.
Ideally there would be no tension: You promote "Good Eats" and that will surely increase the number of home cooks out there and keep the wheels of the industry turning!
Thanks for giving us such a great show,
Joe and Allison.
Is this the promised end? Or image of that horror? KING LEAR
In the recent Pickling episode your Evil Brother demostrated his culinary talents, will we be seeing more of him in the future? Potentially an enitre Good Eats perhaps?
I've always wondered why roux-based sauces act the way they do: cook some starch in oil, then add liquid. The roux instantly congeals, which makes sense, intuitively, but I'm wondering if it's the fats wrapping around saturated starches, or what. Then you thin it out with more liquid, bring just to the boiling point, and it thickens again! What's going on that time? Thanks, Steve
1. When trying to pan-fry things, the books recommend leaving the food in place without moving for a few minutes to develop the fond. Unfortunatly for me, I always end up with burnt bits and an hour of scrubbing my All-Clad pots. For poaching, it's recommended to cook in liquid at the target temperature, because then the food will never overcook. Can you do the same thing for pan frying, or will you never develop a fond? Or to put it another way (aka the geeky slashdot way,) what's the magic temperature for the Maillard reaction?
2. Because I'm a typical indentured serf with long work hours, I cook enough food on the weekends that I can bring my dinners to work and microwave them. But I'm having problems with Roux-based sauces, as after a night in the refrigerator, they turn to gelatenous blobs instead of creamy sauces (This may be a result of using home-made chicken stock.) What's the best way to reconstitute a sauce?
Do you have any recommendations for foods or meals for college students? We have lots of eating to do, but little time to cook with, so our recipes must be quick and easy and often aren't that good. Are there any recipes that come to mind that would be good for this? I do a lot of rice/beans, but those grow weary over the months...
First off, I love your show.
I was wondering if I (or any other of my fellow /.'ers) could get a 'guest' appearance as THING. I could pour a table spoon of sage into a pot like a pro. I could even hold the kosher salt while you took a pinch.
How 'bout it? What does a geek have to do to get a spot on Good Eats?
___ I don't respond to Anonymous Cowards, and I Never Mod them UP.
What i am looking for is the Tea Kettle he used in the special about Tea. I know its made by M. Kamenstien, but i can't find the thing anywhere.
My greatest recipie irritant is I am _not_ cooking for a small army. Generally how does one scale down a recipie without losing it's fundamentals.
Or, how does one cook for one?
"Remember, any tool can be the right tool." -- Red Green
A few years ago, Macworld magazine featured you as a celebrity Mac user. What machines are you using now, and have you switched to MacOS X yet?
I've noticed that many good cooks also know which cooking books to buy, so here goes:
Other than your own books (of course), which
books/writers do you recommend to learn new cuisines from?
Han-Wen Nienhuys -- LilyPond
I think you left something important out of your equation. Time. As I once discovered after leaving a pot of tomato sauce on without stirring for a while, time is a vital part of cooking. Why was it left out of the equation, Is it planned for inclusion in a follow up? Not pithy enough? Just curious.
http://radio.weblogs.com/0103443/
Once upon a time on your website, you did a very small review of Tony Bourdain's book on Typhoid Mary and mentioned that Tony "writes better than he cooks." What was that? Is there some sort of rivalry brewing? A bad dinner at Les Halles? I'd love to hear the background story.
When are you going to do an episode on squid... I'll settle for other seafood too..but I want all your knowledge on Calamari.
--->----
I want to see who could whip up the tastier meal, given identical typical household kitchens, without a staff.
Who is the better all around chef.
Sort of like Alton and Emeril meet Doorknocker Dinners (or whatever that show was).
Who saw the episode with the two Iron Chef Japan's. The one guy used a potato, shaved out into one large flat piece of potato with a clever, rolled it up, and cut it into noodles. It was a site to see.
Here's one my wife and I came up with. We buy a bunch of frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts, throw some in a crock pot, cover with Pace Picante sauce and turn the crock pot on low. I think we let it cook for 6-8 hours. We get the medium Pace Picante sauce. Do not get hot unless you are a glutton for punishment. We used to serve the chicken over noodles until we started the Atkin's Diet"
It's said that one should never trust a thin chef, but with all the recent attention on the failure of low-fat diets to prevent obesity and its complications, where do you weigh in on the whole low-carb way of eating?
The wife and I are huge fans of your show but there is one thing we notice from time to time that we've always wondered about. For instance, your country ham recipe specifies that the ham is done when the interior temp hits 140 degrees. However,
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/pubs/ham.htm
states that "cook-before-eating hams must reach 160 F to be safely cooked before serving." I know those bad boys have been salt cured but I would still be worried about trichinosis. Your "done" temperatures for meat are often lower than what the food safety people would have them be. This is a long winded way of asking "What is your approach to food safety?" You look pretty healthy to me so I'll assume you know something those government fussbudgets don't but I'd feel better about trying out some of your recipes if I knew what that was.
that link is a 404..
This is a great question, is topical and applies quite well to the typical /. geek who lives on french fries, chips, and breads...
I've found that picking up new skills in electronics (more specifically computers) has been very easy for me. Having several good cooks in my family has inspired me to want to be as robust in cooking as I am with computers, but unfortunetly I just can't seem to pick cooking methods up as easy as say, a new programming language. Do you see any relation to picking up new computer skills with picking up even basic cooking skills? Where should someone with quick learning skills but no cooking background start? Thanks!
There's no "I" in Linux.. err..
I have to join the others here in thanking you for your show and your refreshing take on food. I've eaten so much more mangos since seeing the easy way to peeling them, and I bought a chimney starter for my coals for grilling.
How do you feel now that you've pretty Much established yourself as a the Icon of cooking for nerds and geeks all over the world? Will you change your show at all? And what are your plans for the future?
Oh, and even though folks were joking here- I think FoodTV could make a mint from getting you on Iron Chef. Think of the free publicity Slashdot would give for the event.
_ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
This is actually my father's favorite food question:
If you had to give up one of the two foods which would it be: onions or tomatoes?
www.lucernesys.comHorizon: Calendar-based personal finance
First, I have to express my sincerest thanks for such a great show. You've been more help to my cooking than any other person.
What I want to know is if you've ever been approached by another network/company like PBS? The reason I ask is that of all the shows on Food TV, you're one of the only ones who really TEACHES cooking. Emeril's on every 3rd or 4th timeslot, and he cooks things that most people won't ever make and learn very little from. The closest thing I've seen recently to your caliber of program is Rick Bayless' "Mexico, one plate at a time" (on PBS) - one with some background on the process and history of the food we eat, and why it's prepared the way it is.
I like your show and I'd love to see you get more exposure.
When Good Eats was first being made, did you and your staff make a concerted effort not to dumb down the material being presented, and to assume the viewer has both the intelligence and the curiosity to follow along? It's refreshing to watch a show these days present the science behind the cooking in such a non-chalant, entertaining way.
Simple, yet full of garlic. How can it not be great? I think I will propose another question to Alton about the use of garlic!!!
/bigweenie
Thanks for the recipe. I will try it this weekend.
What are you smokin dude? Well known, maybe. Chef, in a pigs eye! Perhaps he ran a small bistro that went tits up, but well known? Horseshit!
Frozen Ding-Dongs?
Popeye's Chicken?
Deep-fried Twinkies?
It seems that in todays culture, everybody is on some diet or another. For example, I'm currently on the Atkins, while my wife is on the Suzanne Somers program. This tends to frustrate us when preparing meals. And when we have guests over, it can include vegans, ovo-lactos, omnivores, and just plain picky eaters.
What resources do you use and/or suggest using (such as good substitutions for common ingredients that work well across a range of diets) when preparing full meals for dietary-challenged folk?
Support FSF: Stop thinking with your wallet, and think with your imagination. (cc/non-commercial)
Might be why sea salt is even better for flavoring than traditional rock salt.
From your book, I can tell you're a genuine scientist; your experiment with grilling steak tells me that. So: can you back up these assertions? Can you really tell? Have you done a double-blind taste test and everything?
p.s. Because of you, I now keep brown paper bags and a stapler near the microwave...
This sounds like a typical correlation == causation argument. My guess is that the reason much of the vegetarian food industry is devoted to mock products is to make it easier for the majority to switch. Well, that and people simply like making stuff that tastes good (and is, *gasp* actually good for you) out of soy and other herbs. ;)
It can be tough. For the herbs, probably your best bet is to grow them yourself. (Many grow nicely on a patio or sunny window.) And then ask the produce manager at your local store to get some. In the US, the wide variety of cooking shows have shoppers asking why they can't find all those fancy things and store managers have noticed.
I often start with finding out what *is* available. What is grown locally? Any regional foods of note? Maybe you are lucky enough to have a great local market somewhere and you just don't know about it. Ask around -- friends, people you work with, the staff at your favorite place to eat.
I prefer to live in big cities, but I haven't always. Every time I move, the things I cook most change. I sometimes try to get the nifty ingredients that I once had by mail order or road trips, but fresh is much more important.
Sometimes it just has to go -- I don't drink citrus juices nearly as much as I used to because my raised in Florida stubborn self won't drink concentrate and the good stuff costs twice as much here in San Francisco. I used to use good country ham in all kinds of things when I could have my pick of varieties in every store in Atlanta, but nobody in California seems to know what one is. And if someone can ever manage to pry me out of this place, I'm gonna sure miss the farmer's market up the street with twice-weekly supplies of all those Asian vegetables you have read about in books. (And as much as SF is a Foodie city, I still miss the Dekalb Farmers Market.)
Sometimes do-it-yourself is an option, home-made bbq in the smoker, real sourdough bread by hand instead of that nasty store stuff. Or when I was in Delaware for three months I bought low-fat tofu, dry mushrooms and bottle after bottle of Soy Vay on my regular trips back home and made beef jerky from the low-grade meat I found at the store.
Start with what you have and work from there. Don't let those spiffy tv shows make you think you absolutely must do it their way, you don't live in New York or Seattle or LA or Miami so it's time to think, not follow the script.
Love the show, love the book. I enjoyed your
section on hardware (recommended pots & pans).
For those of us who can't afford $100/pan
All-Clad, what are some cheaper alternatives?
Thanks!
Most of us have meals that are, well lacking, due to the 10 minute cooking constrait that a lot of us find ourselves on. Any reccomendations for foods that can be cooked quickly and without a lot of mess, but that don't cause us to lose our girlish figure or our tastebuds due to lack of work? Bonus points for high reheatability.
www.linux-skunkworks.com
Do you ever just completely blow a dish? Experience, I'm sure, makes your mistakes different than mine; but do you ever just taste soemthing you've cooked and say "God. What did I do to that?
Hot Damn! It's the Soggy Bottom Boys!
I only recently discovered you and your show after your book was reviewed here. I bought it (very cool book by the way- excellent text, nice size, nice paper, and looks really good) and since then have caught a couple of your shows. Okay- I'm hooked now.
I think a lot of people here are like me- the gear is an important part of what makes this interesting. So now I'm thinking of investing in some cookware. I just picked up a cast iron skillet and have cooked a few meals just so that I could use my cool new skillet. Simply put- it rocks, and was very inexpensive.
But now when I look for a few more pots and pans, I'm stunned by the price of anything that has a good reputation (specifically I've looked at All-Clad stuff).
What should I be looking for and where should I look for it? Do you recommend picking stuff up piece-by-piece, or biting the bullet and buying something like a 9-piece set all at once? Would it be wise to skip the Williams-Sonoma and head straight to the restaurant supply house?
-ec
What's up with cooking food and it turns brown and tastes great or turns black and is burned? What's the process? What's the difference and why does the brown stuff at the bottom of a pan taste so good?
If there was an Iron Chef competition, and you had your choice of Chefs being Emeril, the Naked Chef and Bobby Flay, who would you face and why?
Perhaps it's all the time spent watching NFL (shudder) - but how can you say American cuisine is 'dumbing down?' How can you say people don't care about what they eat? Yes, 'Colonel McBurger Pizza Taco' has sold leventy-zillion 'value meal deals', but paralleling that is an equally rapid increase in the quality and variety of food (both in restaurants and groceries). I offer the following examples of how American food is anything but 'dumbing down':
1. The post-Prohibition recovery of American viticulture, and the general improvement of wine quality in general; (no more Ripple!)
2. I can buy morels, prosciutto, tomatillos, good bread, taro root, radicchio, and organ meats in my local grocery store;
3. 'Asian Cuisine' no longer implies Mai-Tai's with little umbrellas served in a coconut shell;
4. The Food Network;
5. Williams-Sonoma is in every metro area of 100,000 or more, it seems. Yes, it's pretentious and expensive - but it's there.
6. Microbreweries.
'Dumbed down'? No. American cuisine is now at its most brilliant - and it's getting better.
Everyone will start to cheer when you put on your sailin' shoes.
Our entire digestive system appears to be designed (or evolved, depending on your position) around processing fruits, grains, nuts, etc. It is not very efficient at digesting soil, meats, etc.
I won't get into the 'extremist group' argument because there are extremists in every group. That does not mean the concepts behind the group as a whole are biased or unfounded.
Alton, great book. However, why would a chef who copies recipes out of books produce a book where the hardware/software parts of the recipes are in dark green (not a friendly copier color)?
I live ze unknown. I love ze unknown. I am ze unknown.
1) Maybe you've not heard this belief before, but I've heard it repeatedly - microwaved food will get just as hot but it cools faster. Heat transfer is heat transfer right? I mean this can't be true and yet I'd swear that that egg I scrambled in the microwave burned my mouth at first but was fine in about 30 seconds. Is this all in peoples heads?
2) I like giving a rice cooker to a non-cook starting to stock their first kitchen. It can be used and abused for a lot of recipes and isn't a space hog (I also give a collection of tips my asian wife and I have come up with for it). What's the first kitchen item/tool/appliance you'd give?
Hi Alton, I've gotten your very fun book, "I'm Just Here For the Food", and watch your show regularly (thank you TiVo).
I believe I've mastered How To Follow A Recipe, which took me a lot longer than I thought it would, probably because I was making Belgian food. Besides you, what resources are there for someone who wants to take the next step and Learn How To Cook? I'm willing to spend money experimenting and reading, but I'm not willing to go to school again. Ever.
I used to be a cynic, then I got disillusioned with it.
Do you have any suggestions for all the geeks out there on how or what to cook that makes us look good to our geek girls while not being too hard to accomplish? Ie, how to pick a wine and use it in a recipe or how to cook something with veggies that look good to a woman and yet aren't rubbery? Geek girls dig these things from what I hear. :)
Mr. Brown,
In the interest of comedy and safety could you tell us of some of your experiments that didn't quite make it to the screen or page?
Find a good recipe for beef stew, and follow it. It's cheap, freezes well, leftovers are actually better than fresh, and it pretty easy to cook, if you pay attention to what you're doing. Use lean beef, and season it well, and you will fill all of the above requirements.
Hi Alton,
I always hear "Use a non-reactive pan for this".
But what exactly is the "reaction" in a reactive pan and how does it affect the food your cooking?
Also what materials make up non-reactive and reactive cookware?
Thanks.
The more you want, the less you have.
Fish is a wonderfully healthy food, but a friend of mine can't stand the characteristic flavor of fish. Can you recommend any cooking processes that diminish that "fishy" taste, or particular types of fish that lack it?
"Before enlightenment: sharpen claws, catch mice. After enlightenment: sharpen claws, catch mice."
The Good Eats restaurant would involve customers building their own food with helpful "technicians" standing by to assist in technique and choice of ingredients, and to explain why one does things a certain way. It would be the Exploratorium of food.
I'm curious as to why you place so much emphasis on gadgets and gizmos and utensils in your show. It's seems to distract greatly from the cooking and plays up a common misperception that you need alot of stuff (pans, knives, utensils) to cook.
I've been interested for a while about how to freestyle cook with anything (edible) that is laying arond my pantry and fridge (and yard?). I'm wondering if there are a few basic categories of food which are combined in a semi-logical manner. I know this is kind of a dorky-algorithm approach to the problem, but hey, this is slashdot, that's what you get. =)
I've cooked with indian foods a bit and I can see some basic trends in how the ingredient are combined. (indian food being more complex than american fare, IMO) I know in time I'll develop a sense for how it all goes together such that i'll be able to do it with any ingredients, but i'm wondering if you've experienced any condensable tidbits that can help people along.
thanks
-Z
If you do this, keep in mind that your body is probably pretty dehydrated. I usually try to get a glass or two of water in before bed and you'll want to have another couple before you get rolling in the morning too.
The "look of meat" as you refer, is actually just packaging. A hamburger looks nothing like a cow and a hot dog nothing like a pig. The meat is packaged in those forms to provide a convenient way to consume said food. The veggie food is just a similar (familiar) package to consume soy bean protien.
The short answer: your garden.
The longer answer: herbs (and for that matter, most vegetables) are reasonably easy to grow yourself. Some tips:
And above all, enjoy your plants! Being an herb-ivore can be a lot of fun!
Dear Alton,
What purchases would you recommend for a first-time cooking enthusiast to outfit a kitchen? In terms of multi-purpose tools, books, pantry ingredients and other items, what are most useful, across-the-board?
Yours,
David J Rust
(Sylvan)
Hi AB,
When I'm not web surf..er..I mean...programming at work during the day or building smokers in my backyard at night, I dream that I have another 8 hours/day to attend culinary school. What do you consider to be most valuable lesson(s) that you learned when you went to culinary school?
What would you consider the essential ingredients to keep stocked in your pantry? And how long do these items keep? I'm sure the box of baking powder I rarely use isn't as good as when I bought it 3 years ago.
... your recipe calls for a sprinkle of dill or coriander or something, so go buy a bunch from the local market. After you've used your sprinkle, what is the best way to keep the remainder fresh? I've found that putting parsley in a glass of water (like flowers in a vase) in the fridge seems to work okay ... but you're the guy with the TV show.
And fresh herbs
Tuus crepidae innexilis sunt.
No way for me to tell, but if your pork product has been irradiated there's no need to worry about Trichinosis.
Can anyone in the packing industry comment on whether or not all pork produced in the US is irradiated?
From Central Iowa
--- "1.21 Jigawatts!" -Doc
Give me a break, that stuff's for toddlers. If you guys want some REAL hot sauce, go to CaJohns. It's 10 minutes away from my apartment in Columbus, and these guys are for real. Sauces are extremely hot and tasty, and the employees are cool as hell. I recommend ANY of the "Kaboom!" salsas, and my favorite sauces are Krakatoa (the #1 seller), Liquid Stupid, and Harold's Dangerously Hot. My brother's favorite is actually a parady one, "Sir Fartsalot", which is jalepeno-based. I just didn't like the taste, and it was too weak for me. I'll stick to the red-savina habenero peppered-powered sauces. They win tons of awards, and for good reason.
Warning - Now THESE sauces are for "glutton for punishment"s... and they have a few hotter ones too. Never have I had so much flavor and spice together. Sometimes one drop is all that's needed for a boom.
Good hot sauce like CaJohns will make any bland food taste good.
Berto
seeing as this is a science and technology related site, I figured I'd try to relate my questions to this topic. Ok, so here goes.
I know that's technically two questions, but they're kinda related. Also, thanks for having such a great show, I have learned a lot from you, and look forward to reading your book!
today is spelling optional day.
I think I've read a quote from you that says the strangest thing you've ever made was yogurt from your wife's breast milk. If this is true, I think I'd like to hear the story of how you came up with this idea...
If you leave the bones in when you are making your chicken broth you ARE manufacturing gelatine. No
need to look further.
L
Dev elpizw tipota, dev phoboumai tipota eimai lephteros http://euclidian.org
One of my biggest, most irksome things aobut my kitchen is that most of my knives are either bought at Wal-Mart, or else rescued from the Salvation Army. NOw, I'm not wanting to spen $500 and up for a knife set, but if I am looking for something that will cut very easily, and last a good, long time inbetween being sharpened, what am I needing to look for? Is Japanese cutlery still very much superior to American steel these days, or are they even? Are there certain materials to avoid?
Along that same vein, I use teflon pots and pans when I cook. But when I watch the food network, I almost constantly see stainless steel, non coated stuff. Why? What am I doing wrong that might cause me to be abusing non-coated pans? What's the advantage ot stainless steel?
Thanks!
What are your biggest influences, both as a chef and as a television producer? Seems to me your show has the frenetic pace of The Electric Company, the hands-on experimentation of Mr. Wizard and a secretive Abby Hoffman "Steal this cookbook" style of hints & tips, combined with the chemical correctness of Shirley Corriher and a certain culinary curtness that avoids a lot of the over spicing and excess ingredients of, say, B. Flay. What chefs interested you in a career in a telecuisine, and what's your flavor of non-cooking TV?
Hey freaks: now you're ju
Entropy marches ever onward. The 2nd law of thermodynamics makes it very difficult to uncook a pizza, unbrew a beer, or unspoil a banana. All of that disorder isn't reversible.
Of course, if you bury the rotten banana under a banana tree then you could get a fresh banana from the tree eventually... but that new banana would only be partly made from the rotten banana - other material would have gone into its construction.
There are 10 types of people in this world, those who can count in binary and those who can't.
As hard as I try, I just can't come up with a good way to cook Soylent Green, can you give some advice on the subject.
I'll be in line all day on tuesday for some, but I'll check for an answer after curfew...
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Did this really happen?
0 3. html
http://www.ericwagoner.com/weblog/archives/0013
So is Bobby Flay as much an ass in real life as he seems to be on TV?
Obviously, I have an allready much dogeared copy of "I'm Just here for the Food", but I was wondering what books you'd recommend as staples for the cookbook bookshelf?
Here is the short list I've so far collected:
On Food and Cooking: Harold McGee
Cookwise: Shirley O. Corriher (Great Book!)
How to be a Domestic Goddess: Nigella Lawson
The Science of Cooking: Peter Barham
*A)bort, R)etry, I)nfluence with large hammer.*
Why use Ksoher salt? WHy not just compensate for the correct amount of regular granular salt?
My wife and I recently started a low carb diet. Believe it or not eggs and steak can get a little boring. Any plans on doing shows based on different diet styles (low carb, etc).
Nope, no sig
I am a huge fan of this show.....my wife became worried when I picked up the loudest Hawaiian shirt I could find so I could wear it to Alton's cooking demo locally :)
What I would like to know is, what are your favorite tech gadgets, and how do you use them for the kitchen? Follow up to that, Where do you see new gadgets popping up in the kitchen, or what would you like to see....Internet enabled Fridge? DVD player/Oven? Grill/Hot Air Balloon launcher?
Thanks, Jeff
We've already heard about your excellent book from the previous Slashdot review. After picking up this book, and thoroughly devouring its contents, it leaves me wondering what books you consider essential? With so many books of recipes, dictionaries of ingredients, and encyclopedias of techniques, there must be a few choice texts that you find absolutely essential, both for learning how to cook, and for reference once one is an accomplished cook.
Have you ever cooked/eaten any meats that are taboo in the U.S.? I'm thinking dog, cat, whale, seal, etc. Is it silly for these meats to be excluded from American menus?
I've heard that Shirley Corriher (your favorite food technologist) has some sort of consultnig relationship with Cook's Illustrated, but do you and Christopher Kimball ever chat?
The reason I ask is I am amazed at how often I will read a copy of Cook's Illustrated and then see their latest "discovery" (brining was one) show up on the next episode of Good Eats (and vice versa). Given production and publishing schedules, I'm certain no one is ripping off anyone else here, but are you all reading the same stuff, talking to each other, or hanging out with Shirley at the same time?
BTW, the 8-3-1 + 1 basic rub "recipe" is terrific! (Even if I tend to +2 rather than +1)
In certain Indian, Italian, and Chinese recipes it calls for cooking the spices in the cooking oil, before putting the food in the pan.
How does this work and why?
I always enjoy the results but am mystified by the process.
where people think "basil" is the name of some guy off an old TV show.
Excellent post, by the way.
But I would like to make one comment, being: The same people who have no concept of Basil have no concept of political theory. They'll vote for anyone who hoodwinks them into oblivion, a la Bush. I feel so bad the current administration can lie and rob these people, and they continue to vote staight ticket Republican.
Maybe a bit of help from your fine herb garden will soothe the burden of the next two black years.
ps Bay plants grow very well also, and the leaves are great for soup or gumbo.
What is up with the use of the phrase "cook until done"???
Seriously, err, what is 'done' per say? I end up cooking hamburger meat for ~20 minutes or so until it is brown all over, what does 'until done' mean exactly? In each particular case?
I end up cooking scrambled eggs until they are all stuck to the bottom of the pan and have to be scrapped off, or until they are smoking and burning up to a crisp.
Why to so many cook books never actually describe what 'until done' is for each particular type of food? Even better, why not a more analytical cookbook that says "keep turning them every 3 minutes for about 10 minutes, a minute or so less if you like your meat rare or a minute or so more if you like it extra-well done"
Need help treating your acne? Come here!
Meat is a bad conductor of heat. You even said yourself that it cools down pretty quickly, and within twenty minutes is down to an oven-like temperature. I bet the meat chars on the surface, and the charred flesh just doesn't conduct that heat very well, and the heat is dissipating out into the air. As for the leaves, the water content is probably protecting them, providing a steam wrapper.
Now if you had that hen inside an insulated oven at 2000 degrees, it might be a different story.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
I have a High-Definition system and love it, but there's one thing missing - an HD cooking show. You really seem to be into having a show that looks different than all the other cooking shows. Any possibility of making at least one demo show in HD? Marc Cuban's HD-NET would show it.
"How perfectly Goddamn delightful it all is, to be sure" Charles Crumb
Mr. Brown, let me say how much i enjoy your show. and you book. i just gave a copy to my sister in law as a gift and she loves it too. My question is how do you feel about the move toward genetically engineered foods. are you in favor of it and do you see, if it continues, new metods of preparing genetically engineered foods in the future?
All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost.
Why NECI, rather than Johnson & Wales or the CIA?
----- Lotus Super 7 - A real car.
A few weeks ago, while trying my hand at french pastry-making, I nearly set fire to my oven as an overflowing tray of oil and melted butter (don't ask) splashed all over the red hot elements, generated copious amounts of acrid smoke, and threatened to ignite. I'm sure that with as much cooking experience as you have, you've seen many hilarious kitchen accidents.
What are the most memorable accidents, or acts of blatant stupidity, that you've seen or taken part in during cooking?
What was the most difficult technique to learn or lesson, for you, while you were at NECI?
----- Lotus Super 7 - A real car.
What, exactly, is the science and process behind making good and wholesome gravy?
Seriously, Alton - my wife yesterday, when I mentioned that this was going to be an "Ask /." interview, told me that she wanted to pay YOU $1000.00 (US) to come over to our house to teach her how to make gravy. I am almost ready to front that amount, too.
It seems like every time we have tried to make gravy, it either never thickens, or we get paste. It seems like a simple thing to do - leave some pan drippings (and the grungy gunk too - flavor bits!), add a tiny bit of flour, mix and brown to create a nice roue (or however that is spelled), then add some milk, and perhaps a little more flour to thicken (salt, pepper, and spicing to taste).
I think we managed ONCE to create a real gravy.
So Alton, my question is:
HOW DO YOU MAKE GRAVY???!!!
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
Can you explain how a sirloin steak tastes drastically different from ground sirloin patted back together in the form of a hamburger. The chemical properties are the exact same yet the taste isn't.
My cousin, this past week, did some amazing things with a whole set of dutch ovens and a little cooking table. This was at an established camp with a cabin, and vehicle access to real close by.
He is known to backpack and camp quite often. My brother asked if he had done this on one of his hiking fishing trips. I looked at him incredulously, as there was at least 60 pounds of cast iron in his table, and ovens, and that is conservative, I think.
What type of camping are you doing? Is there and established camp with a few niceties (running/pumped water)? Are you packing in (and hopefully out)? Cooking with wood, charcoal, gas, or some other method (sun maybe)?
You asked a very good, but very broad question. Camping means too many things to too many people.
To some people KOA is camping, and some people it isn't camping until the second days hike away from the nearest modern convenience.
Do you use any software in your kitchen (recipe mgmt, inventory, food science reference, etc)?
I have your show TiVo'd and quite enjoy it. I also enjoyed the spot you did on NPR.
My question concerns your scientific approach to cooking and deriving recipes. I've noticed it's similar to the approach taken by the folks at Cooks Illustrated (on the web here and here).
The process the Chris Kimball and the CI folks take is to start with the known recipes for a dish, and distill them into a master recipe using a mix of food science and empirical cooking. How would you describe your approach to science in your cooking? Do you start with what you know about ingredients and build the recipe from the ground up, or do you start with known recipes and tear them down and rebuild as necessary?
If food replicators existed, ala Star Trek, would you use one in your home?
I'm curious to know how important you feel your formal culinary education was / is to the success of your career? A strong part of the "hacker" ethic so prevalent on Slashdot is the DIY mentality. As a person who has both a formal education (B.A.+, English) and a career (Computer Security Consultant) pretty much founded on DIY / on-the-job / figure-it-out-because-it-interests-you (with a smattering of formal certifications) style of learning, I have mixed feelings about this sort of thing.
I guess my interest is mostly related to how you were recieved pre / post education. Could you have done a show like Good Eats without the degree under your belt? I'm sure that much of your success is founded on motivation / creativity / etc., but do you feel that that would have been enough?
Hi Alton, Can you tell us about some of your most memorable, instructive or whacky kitchen disasters?
In watching your show and reading your book, I have noticed that you often discuss how to reuse fry oil. I have heard that this is unhealthy due to the creation of free radicals in the oil during the first use. What are your thoughts about reusing oil and free radicals?
I did notice that you discuss smoke points of various oils and try to ensure you don't push the tempurate of oil past that point. You also account for the reduction of the smoke point when reusing oil. Does this help to reduce the formation of free radicals?
Thanks. Keep up the fantastic work! Best show on FoodTV!
I posted this question with the intent of learning how I could help my fiancee become a better cook, because cooking is something she wants to get better at. Currently, I do most of the cooking, and I don't mind, I like to cook.
For everyone making assumptions about our relationship, shove it.
Was wondering how you use computer tedchnology to help in cooking and preparing for your shows. For instance:
If you use a computer, what brand and type is it?
What operating system does the pc run?
What software do you maintain recipe archives with? (Commercial like Mastercook or self made?)
What websites do you find most useful for getting cooking info, other than your own?
When are you coming out to my place to do a grilling show from my back deck?
The good folks at Cook's Illustrated did some research into this when they did their basic pasta recipe. The end result is that they found that there were no detectable taste differences between pasta cooked in water coming from the hot water or cold water taps. The hot water does cut a few minutes off the boiling time (like 3-4), so they actually recommended it as a technique. They didn't mention the lead issue discussed in some other posts, but I have a hard time believing that this would be a problem in a house with a reasonably modern plumbing system and water heater.
BTW- like Good Eats, Cook's Illustrated (the magazine, the website and their cookbooks) is an *excellent* geek cooking resource. They employ the scientific method in trying to develop the "Best Recipe" (the title of their main cookbook) for each dish they make. When they attack a recipe, they will research many cookbooks to learn about how something generally is made, and then will experiment with different ingredients, techniques and measurements to find the best outcome, based on the feedback of their tasting lab. Where there is interesting food science to explain, they'll do so, much like Alton. Of course, it's not entertaining like Good Eats is, but you will learn a *lot*, and everything I've made from their recipes has tasted great and been relatively foolproof.
Here's my question (address to Mr. Brown)
:-)
Love your show, like the amount of humor added to it. Some shows take themselves too seriously. Anyway...
I noticed that some of your shows focus on one particular item, going into great detail about some things that other shows miss (what the best kind of beef roast is, how to arrange your coals for better grilling, etc). I appreciate the attention to detail, and I was wondering if you detect a trend towards that, or if you are the only one around producing a "user friendly" cooking show.
Do you have a particular subject that is your absolute favorite? From what I've seen, I think you like grilling
I am Me. No one else is Me, but Me. You are You. Get over it.
There's this theory about food and memory that basically says that when you eat, your enjoyment of food is not just based on taste, smell, texture, etc., but also by your previous memories of the food, taste, smell, etc. That's the whole idea behind comfort food: it's not just that it's warm and hearty and tastes good, but's it's comfortable and familiar and reminds you of something like your grandmother's kitchen when you were 5.
If you believe that theory, you can extend it to vegetarians and their desires for meat substitutes. From my experience, it seems that most vegetarians in the US grew up with meat and consciously became vegetarian (unlike other countries that have often religious traditions of vegetarianism). That means that just like meat eaters, many vegetarians' food memories include meat. B/c they have these food memories, many who become vegetarian for reasons other than simply not enjoying the taste, texture, smell, taste, etc. of meat have good food memories of meat, and associated cravings for meat that can be partially or completely sated with meat substitutes. Hence, the market for things like seitan and tempeh.
For the record, I'm not vegetarian.
I have three questions for you:
1) My roommate and I like to hold parties with extensive menus - at least 10 dishes. Although we often begin preparations a week in advance (dipping crystallized ginger in chocolate, making syrups, etc) and try to use simpler recipes (and ones that can be made in advance), we still can't manage to get the food out to our guests on time - it's usually an hour late. Do you have any suggestions on the best method for keeping to a schedule, and any other ways to have a successful dinner party?
2) I really enjoy cooking, and have often considered leaving the geek life to go to cooking school. However, I am intimidated by the cost of good schools and the hard-boiled description of the chef life from Tony Bourdain's book, Kitchen Confidential. Do you think that cooking for a living would spoil my love for it? What advice can you give someone who wants to better their skills but isn't certain about making the committment to professional chefdom?
And finally,
3) How does a person learn how to cut things quickly and precisely (specifically julienning) without slicing themselves up, too?
Thank you very much. Love the show!!
After reading this, i recalled an article i had read in outside magazine a few years ago. It had a run down of cool little tools and such to use when cooking on a camping trip, as well was some excellent recipes that one could make while in the backcountry.
After wasting some valuable work time digging through their website, I found it was the July 1996 issue, and the article can be found here, in the online archives. This is the reason i love the net. I threw these magazines away a long time ago, but i still found the article. Digression aside, its an excellent article, complete with gear to buy, tips for cooking outdoors, and some amazign recipes. The article is from 97, so most of the gear may be out of date, but its still excellent
----
One of us needs to stick ones' head in a bucket of ice water.
- Hobbes
ive always assumed "until done" means... until done. heh, the time required to cook the specific food. hamburgers are done when they have no blood and reach a temp of 160 i think.. so in that case "until done" means internal temp of 160.
Alton,
I love your show, even though I can't cook. Can't. As in "genetically incapable". As an example, I once burned spaghetti noodles. As in, on fire.
What's the worst mistake you've ever made, in food preparation?
Education is the silver bullet.
My wife is a wonderful woman, but has a phobia about cast iron pans. I cannot seem to convince her to let a cast iron pan "season" like it is supposed to. I scrub it out with kosher salt as you are supposed to, but she insists on putting that sucker in the sink and scrubbing it with a Brillo pad to get it "clean"...totally ruining the seasoning.
What can you say to her to convince her that a well-seasoned cast iron frying pan is healthy?
"How perfectly Goddamn delightful it all is, to be sure" Charles Crumb
OK, my question for you is I want a recipe for pot stickers. I just want a down to earth recipe that doesn't require too many synapses. Thanks.
Oh yeah, when I saw you on your book tour (the AB North American Tour) I asked you if you knew where you got the spherical molds for the jello eye ball halloween recipe. I was wondering what ever happened there. Anyways, great job on the Book and the Show.
Rick
Hi Alton, first off, Great show!
Question: How should we share recipes?
If I have a just excellent Pizza recipe, should I keep it a secret? If I decide to let people eat the pizza, is keeping it secret still ok? What if they want to know if they're allergic to something in it, or they want to know if they like the ingredients...
I assume it would be best to tell them the ingredients, but then they could just go and make the same great pizza themselves, or maybe improve the recipe, or even tell their friends! Is this OK? How can the food market ever go on if this happens?
Is there any distinction between sharing a recipe with commercial vs. non-commercial entities? Maybe the commercial people will "take the recipe private", and not "give back to the community" any improvements they make (e.g. like using a different yeast, or the ratio of sauce to cheese).
Lemme tell ya, if you think we can share, then I think you and Richard Stallman (one of the great software chefs) should get together, because he's having a tough time convincing people of this. I turns out that in the software world, people have a lot of difficulty deciding how best to treat recipes, sharing, and even the resulting meals.. you know, Do you own the meal once you buy it? etc. etc.
If you could help us out on this, we'd try realllly hard to make better recipe sharing software!
Cheers!
When emeril is "on", he's on. But frequently he drags. The show drags. Its not entertaining.
The Naked Chef adds storyline- while you may be completely bored with his trip to the shore with his little cousin and annoyed by the video montage of his band playing, he's got something to keep you going.
Alton has a good mix of vignettes in a quick-cut style.
But that emeril. Sometimes he says funny things. Sometimes he says the exact same thing in the same way and its just not funny. Look at his sit com. That's why it blew chunks. Oh, and he uses WAY too much fat, butter, and sausage. I mean, it's dessert, for crying out loud!
Now that, coupled with the fact that he's always on just gets to me. Yep, I like him better than Bobby Flay and Martha, but I think he's over exposed.
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
I'm a non-practicing Jew, and I notice how you always recommend using Kosher Salt. Is there a particular reason why you recommend Kosher Salt over just generic Salt? My buddies have an ongoing argument over how you may be a hardcore Zionist, and are trying to convert the masses to Kosher foods in order to ensure your place in heaven, kind of like the Jewish version of Jehovah's Witnesses.
My list includes:
Microwave popcorn
Breakfast cereal
Applesauce
Cottage cheese
Rasberry Yogart
(Note that the above *dont* necessarily need to be lowfat)
V8 Juice (original, goes great with popcorn IMO)
Top Romen
Instant mashed potatoes
Ravioli (can)
Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches (freeze bread or it rots fast)
Salsa & Chips
When I was single, I lived off of this stuff and still enjoy it.
And, it is reasonably nutricious.
Table-ized A.I.
is that really your house?
And why did you change from the white kitchen (cheery) to the black kitchen (ominous)?
Where do you get your extras from?
(Like acidophilous and pal in the Yoghurt episode. Or the high school football jocks in the Fondue episode)
And do you ever have casting calls for extras? (or is it just all people that you know? staff? friends? etc. I regularlly frequent the Alpharetta Kroger you seem so fond of.)
Alton,
Which would be on the top of your list for the cooking implement that would solve all of your as-of-yet unresolved cooking dilemmas, if only someone were to invent it?
***Foucault is watching you..***
I agree that he is over exposed. But that is probably not really his doing. He happens to attract a lot of viewers to Food Network, so they run him often. For many people, such as myself, he is what initially attracts them to FNW, giving them a chance to discover the other, wonderful programming that they feature. So don't knock him. He's part of the reason you get to watch "Good Eats."
And he is not the reason his sitcom failed. Granted, he should have run away from that pitch meeting as if Ronald McDonald himself were trying to sell him a franchise. But the show failed because the writing was TERRIBLE. I mean, some of the worst I have ever heard.
I think there is enough variety in his show to keep it from being a drag more than occasionally. But, if you really feel that way, the Essence of Emeril is much more laid back and easy to follow. It's a very good show, though it's no "Good Eats."
There they were, sitting in the van with all those dials, and the cat was dead. -V. Marchetti, CIA
Which ethnic foods do you: 1. Prefer eating 2. Prefer cooking 3. Think utilize their "food science" the best? Thanks in advance! -kaje PS - PLEASE do an episode featuring Plantains! I grew up in California, and I'm addicted to eggs, plantains and refritos for breakfast. I'd love to learn a few cool ways to cook them!
A friend of mine told me about the night after drinking like a fish in China, he was BLORTED. (lets just pretend thats a word and move on...)
So this girl he knows says "Drink this." and its this almost saturated salt and water solution. Its thick and gross, but he downs it.
A little while later he felt spry and energized.
She said it was some type of malaria medicine.
You need to re-hydrate FAST. Salt helps retain water. I like the combination of Excederin (a little caffeine kick to get you going, but unfortunately also a diuretic!), water, and some salty food. Maybe some rice with pork sung!
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
then you can soak the beans for about 30 min, cook for 20, and then you're done. i have alot of indian friends and they all use pressure cookers.
-- john
I must confess that I have only leafed through your book at Border's recently. No offense, but I have already spent my cookbook budget on Mario Batali's latest. But from the review and from what I read at the store and seen of your television show, you treat cooking as a science to be mastered by good 'laboratory technique' and scientific method. "With the right tools and a little patience, anyone can turn this wily thistle (artichoke show) into Good Eats," or something to that effect. My question is this: Where does the art of cooking fit in? Is there such a thing in your opinion? Why isn't good cooking mastering the techniques etc, and then allowing the creativity to present itself, if it is there? Are artists the exception and scientists the rule? I am suspicious that behind the matter-of-factness tone of your show, and the any idiot can do it attitude, you have "the touch" for the culinary arts. Aren't you an artist first, and profiting (not in a bad way) from teaching the masses good stick-figure technique? I'm sure by now you get the drift of my question and can respond accordingly. Thanks very much for your patience. -Aaron Foster Annapolis, MD
If you did a show on Mexican cuisine, how exactly would you make a Commander Taco?
Mordor...a magical, mythical land where women are more rare than dragons--but where every man would rather find a dragon
Hi Mr. Brown. I used to enjoy your show before I gave up tv. I still have the early seasons on tape. One thing I noticed is that the show always seemed to disregard conventional thinking about what is healthy (e.g. using fat in cooking). It also seemed to be anti-vegetarian (once there was even a rep from the meat industry talking about all it's benefits). I'd like to explictly get your take on "healthy cooking" and vegetarian cooking. And since heat + food = cooking, what do you think of the raw foods people? One more thing, are there any black people in Georgia? Never even saw one in the background at Kroger's.
When you went to your culinary school, what was the most difficult technique you learnead? Is there an easier way to do it that is "good enough"?
How do you think digital video and digital cable/satellite will combine to change television?
I think many will agree that the secret of Good Eats is that is has been driven by a single person's vision (Alton even went to culinary school with the express intent of making this show). When both the cost and process of creating high quality video gets to the point where anybody can do it, and we have 1000 channels of TV to fill, will more individuals step up and bring their passions to TV the same way Alton did?
What would you recommend NOT to cook on a first date?!
So, who would you rather nail^H^H^H^H "Coor With", Sara Moulton or Rachael Ray?
The reason we subjugate ourselves to law is to better procure justice. If law does not accomplish this purpose then it m
In your book you state that a gas grill is really just an upside-down gas broiler and not the same as charcoal. However, I've read elsewhere that gas grills aren't the same, because the juices drip down onto lava rocks (or Weber's "Flavorizer Bars") and vaporize, adding a taste that you're not going to get out of a broiler. Is this a significant effect or is charcoal the only way to go?
Question for Alton: Is it really true that you made butter from breast milk?
No, this isn't some sort of troll... I heard from his own mouth (at the San Jose book signing) that he had tried making butter out of breast milk after his wife had a baby, but I'd like to hear more behind the story
Your current book seems to have a very clear theme aptly described in the sub-title "Food+Heat=Cooking". On the inside it's very well organized along the various lines of applying heat to food, but this leaves out a lot of potential food topics.
What are your plans for other book themes?
while i think that everyone who cooks with any amount of passion or skill realizes that the kitchen is home to all three of these (art/craft/science) i find it hard to place as much weight on the science aspect of cooking as your show seems to stress... is this focus due to personal beliefs or the lack of science as a visible presence in the cooking world... in other words... do you really mean it when you say "Cook it until its done"?
Alton,
It's well known that people get the munchies while stoned, but why is it that marijuana enhances the flavor of foods?
Also, what is your favorite pot brownie recipe?
Thanks!
a pie-eyed fan
All of my recipes that call for brown sugar ask for packed brown sugar. Is there ever an instance where you would measure out brown sugar and it wouldn't be packed?
The real reason is that igneous rock is very porous and doesn't conduct heat very well. The lava up against the leaves transfers heat into the hen, leaving a layer of porous, insulating rock which protects the hen from the "real" temperature of the very hot lava. Heat is then transfered slowly to the hen via the cooled, solidified, porous, insulating, damn, I'm out of adjectives, lava.
BTW, this is also how firewalking is done. Well, one of the theories, anyway. Porous rock is put on coals, sometimes lava, sometimes basalt, etc. The rocks are very hot, but that heat is absorbed into the flesh, callous, whatever. Internal heat takes enough time to reheat the surface that they're able to walk across.
In America, dinner usually means MEAT. The meal is usually focused on a meat main dish. I have a basic cooking textbook made for use in culinary schools. It has the unflattering (but scientifically accurate) description of the two basic ways to cook meat: with dry or moist heat. The object of dry heat cooking is to cook the meat until it reaches "the desired degree of coagulation," (temperature) and the object of moist heat is to cook "until the connective tissues have sufficiently broken down." Hitting one of those marks will generally mean achieving "good cook" status with your guests. Screwing it up usually means disappointing people.
What would be the first lesson for any beginner to master as a main meat dish, or what's the easiest way to make sure it's done (but not overdone) when you serve it?
--- Nothing clever here: move along now...
So when are you going to do a Thai food episode? You know you want to ....
When I heard a coworker of mine in the US talking about this extremely entertaining and intriguing show, I looked through both the local (Sydney) cable and free-to-air TV guides for it and was somewhat disappointed to not see it mentioned anywhere. My coworker very kindly made an mpg of one of the episodes (sorry!) and sent it to me; it was one of the most interesting cooking shows I've ever seen! (It was the Cheesecake ep.). :-)
I was just wondering if there were any plans to make this show a little more global, as I think the rest of the world is missing out!
Thanks for being so entertaining
Is there a chemical reason that so many recipes for oven baking call for a temperature of 350F, or is that just a convention?
I have watched your show almost since the beginning and it is only one of two "must see" shows that I have every week. Indulge me if you could, I have several questions.
What was your favorite food or dish growing up?
What was the first food or dish you can remember cooking?
At the beginning of a seemingly successful career, you suddenly quit and head off to cooking school. What was the thought process that went into that?
How did you arrive at the idea of the show "Good Eats"? Specifically, was it an idea that grew and evolved as time went by, or was it an "aha!" moment?
I've been cooking my whole life, and I have found that women can occasionally take it as an affront when men seem to know what they are doing in the kitchen. Its rare, but it has happened to me. In your own household, who is the cook the majority of the time - you or your wife? Have you ever found it a touchy point between the two of you?
I have test dishes that I order the first time I am at a restaurant. I have one for most every genre of cuisine that I frequent. My theory is that I know that dish inside and out, know exactly how it should be cooked, and can best judge a new restaurant by that method. They pass that test, I order new things! This longwinded question is my way of asking if you have a set of dishes that you consistently order when you dine out?
Thanks for taking the time and sharing the info!
Who?
What?
When?
Where?
Why?
How?
Favorite Question?
What would CowboyNeal Do?
I really hate signatures, but go to my website.
What are the wierdest things that you've eaten? Did you enjoy them? If you were to eat them again, what ideas for preparation do you have?
:)
Thanks for the show, the book, and all of the hard work that you've put into both. You've helped my interest in cooking and food science to grow.
My question to Alton would have to be about dorm room food. Do you have any interesting ideas or tips? Everyone has their own spin on "1001 ways to cook Raman Noodles." How about you add your unique spin on the old favorite? Or, better yet, a totally new idea on dorm room food. It needs to be simple, fast, inexpensive, and (atleast) somewhat edible. :)
I know what we really need, an Alton Brown Recipe Database. Then we could search by what we have in the ol' ice box and find a suitable recipe with that great Alton flair! A novel idea, but one can always dream. Anyway, keep cookin' Alton!
Hard work usually pays off over time, but procrastination pays off now.
From the 69th track of undertow:
And I begged,
"Angel of the Lord, what are these tortured screams?"
And the angel said unto me,
"These are the cries of the carrots, the cries of the carrots!
You see, Reverend Maynard, tomorrow is harvest day and to them it is the holocaust."
And I sprang from my slumber drenched in sweat like the tears of one million terrified brothers and roared,
"Hear me now, I have seen the light!
They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul!
Damn you!
Let the rabbits wear glasses!
Save our brothers!"
Can I get an amen?
Can I get a hallelujah?
Thank you Jesus.
Life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on........
This is necessary.
-= Who are The Headlocks? =-
What can you recommend for a student that has nothing more than a simple stove and a microwave?
shutting tables
I know that most of the chili cook offs that I've seen, there are no beans allowed.
Oh, and as my mom's placed first a few times at some local contents, I'll give you all a little secret -- alcohol helps to meld the flavors faster, for those times when you don't have a week to let it sit in the fridge. Add a beer into your next 2 gallons of chilli. [As you're putting it in a slow cooker, you might want to back off whatever other liquids you're using, to make sure you cook off the alcohol].
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
After all, there are some things that benefit from a slow cooking time. Scrambled eggs are one of the best examples -- a nice, slow cook in a slightly warmed cast iron skillet will give you some of the creamest eggs you've ever had. After watching the smoked salmon episode of Good Eats, I wouldn't be suprised if AB had tried cooking eggs with a hair dryer.
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
Even if this doesn't make it to the interview, I need to know the answer from somebody.
When Alton boils something in salted water, he says, "I believe that the amount of salt should be a function of the water. Put in enough to make it taste like sea water." Well, I live in Nebraska and don't have any idea what sea water tastes like. Can anyone tell me how much to put in a cup of water to get an idea?
Thanks!
Well, okay, I guess 'minimalist's not quite the right word, but they limit the subject length here.
I know in the back of your book, you recommend certain tools and equiptment for cooks, however, many of the people here are apartment dwellers, or might even be in a college dorm with a shared kitchen, where they don't have much space for storage, or they move on a regular basis, making that cast iron set a royal pain.
Besides the obvious needs for a decent pot for boiling pasta/potatoes/whatever, and a good pan for sauteing/pan frying, what would you insist on having around, if you were in that situation?
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
Mr Brown, I consider myself a reasonably competent cook, not good or great, my question is how to set a dinner menu. Ahem: How does one set a menu so that the food seems to go together ? For example, are there some rules of thumb or reference works about what sort of appitizer should be served with a certain entree etc ? What deserts should you serve to hightlight a memory of the salad ? The Doctor. The Doctor.
...Teddy Roosevelt were all trapped on a desert island with only a pound of fresh sage, three stalks of dill, some kosher salt, and a bag of chunk charcoal, who would get eaten first and justify your answer in terms of seasonings.
My wife and I continue to be curious about "W," Good Eats' cooking device maven. Most of your guests are identified, but she remains strangely anonymous. Could it be that "W" stands for "wife"?
.sigged.
Oops, I zagged when I should have
--- Corporations Are A Fad.
Hi Alton- Kudos on the book! How did you like the process of writing your own book? How involved were you in the design process? When is the next one coming out? And hey, how about them salt cellars? Thanks for giving me something to think about every time I watch your show! Jane
Seriously, what is it? I've seen you use it for everything from carving lamb to slicing cheesecake on your show? And where can I get one?
Thanks
i can't speak about scrambled eggs, but regarding meat, here are two suggestions:
1) use a meat thermometer. seriously. or, even better, a probe thermometer that you can keep outside of your oven/grill/broiler
2) learn what a piece of meat cooked to your ideal temperature feels like to the touch.. cook a steak to medium rare and touch the top-center.. remember the way it feels, and then the next time you cook, just touch it every now and then until it "feels" right. It works wonders.
a few other things:
it's very difficult for a cookbook to give precise times involving meats, or anything else really, because there's so much variation. Your burger may be 7 ounces instead of 5, and 1" thick instead of 3/4" thick. All those possible variations lead to huge difficulties in setting a precise time.
Also remember that, unless you're using a gas grill/broiler/whatever, there's going to be some noticeable variation in the temperature of your cooker. If you use normal charcoal briqs, your grill will not burn anywhere near as hot as if you use hardwood charcoal.
One final pair of tips: cook your meat to about 5 degrees cooler than you actually want it, and let it sit off the heat for 5 minutes before you serve it. In those 5 minutes you'll achieve two things: the temperature of the meat will rise about one degree each minute, cooking it to perfection, and the juices inside the meat will have time to settle, so when you cut into the meat they won't pour out all over your plate. You'll end up with a perfect, juicy piece of beef, or lamb, or whatever.
-gleam
this
High Fiber Diet
Dietary fiber is the part of a plant that provides and maintains the plant's structure. Cellulose, hemicellulose, polysaccharides, pectins, gums, mucilages, and lignins are dietary fibers. These fibers are unrelated chemically, however, they all have one thing in common -- they can't be digested by the human body. For this reason, they can help correct disorders of the large intestine (colon), and keep it functioning normally. Therefore, it is important to increase the amount of fiber in the diet.
cpeterso
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I'd like to know about knives--I'm getting to the time in my life when I want good ones that will last me forever, and I'm not (too) afraid to pay for them. So, really, I have several questions, but there is a definite theme...
If money were truly no object, what, in your opinion, are the best knives out there? If money is kind of an object, what knives are the best value? In other words, at what point do you sacrifice quality? If your advice recommends something expensive, what would you recommend as a basic set? (What are the three most important? Five? Eight? Ten? Wedding registry?) Please help!!
In your blog, you sound continually suprised at the huge turnouts at your book signings. Given how you approach the show, did you in anyway anticipate the following you'd get - particularly the (food)geek following? What do you think of your popularity in the geek community?
I actually have been wanting to ask this question since I started watching Good Eats.... Do you deliberately cultivate your resemblance to Thomas Dolby? I keep waiting to hear someone in the background yelling "Science!" Love your show, and grabbed your book the day I found out about it. And then had to steal it back from my husband, who wanted to read it first. ;}
"Choosy browsers choose
The roux has to have fat coating and insulating the flour grains from each other, otherwise you get paste. You need about equal volumes of flour and fat. The flour will go to gelatine as soon as it encounters water so you need to use one of 3 methods:
1) mash flour and butter (in equal parts) together an d add lumps of this mixture to the hot juices. The butter will do the job for the flour and you get a thickening sauce. Nice for blonde gravies for fish and poultry.
2) pan-cook your roux with oil or butter before you roast. This way you can control the color of the gravy and the flavor, by toasting the flour to a darker color. If you use butter in this method, you need to wait till it stops bubbling before adding the flour (this is the water cooking off -- it'll go lumpy if you rush it).
3) skim some fat from the juices and make the roux -- this is what you're trying to do but I'm betting that you don't have enough fat, or you have too much watery liquid. So skim the fat, mix fat and flour (in another pan or the same one) and add back to the juice. This gets the most authentic flavor, but taste first -- if the fat got too hot it can be a bit acrid, in which case fall back to the other methods.
In any case, you must then cook the sauce to a boil, to bloom your flour. It should get thick enough to stick to a spoon, and will thicken more as it cools. If it's not thick enough, more roux is needed. The darker the roux, the more you will need.
I shouldn't be getting karma for making fun of people. I don't need your point anyway. I've been pegged at 50 for months now.
It's rare that you're presented with a knob whose only two positions are Make History and Flee Your Glorious Destiny.
Actually, plants *do* feel pain.
When you stress a plant through damage or sudden change to it's environment (flame, etc) they send out chemical triggers, both through their system and into the air. The ones sent into their system trigger defence mechanisms (Some trees can release a toxin into their leaves when they detect that they're being grazed upon, some can curl up their leaves, etc) the chemicals released into the air are warning other plants in the area that one of these stresses is occuring, and triggers the same response in them as well. Essentially, it's screaming in pain using a language of chemical compounds instead of vibrating air molocules.
OK, let's say you had some dime packages of ramen. What would you do with them to make it seem like you're not eating the same thing over & over again? Hints/tips about different sauces, added ingredients, and/or cooking techniques would be helpful. (This is also helpful to the College dorm crowd).
I love cooking, and I love having music on when I cook. (For me and many people here on /. you could substitute the word "code" for "cook") I saw in one of your online chats a discussion about Steeley Dan. Without getting into my personal feelings about said band, I'll ask if you like to listen to music while cooking/entertaining, and if so, what bands/songs/genres do you usually pull up in iTunes to entertain yourself and your guests?
Who came up with that simple, yet mesmerizing, jingle. My kids have a Pavlovian response to come to the room when they hear it. Then again, so do I.
Why is it that milk goes so well with pizza or pasta?
About the various diets out there. Including the Atkinds, Zone, etc. Do you cook to follow any of that stuff, do you work out, how do you keep healthy with all that good food?
As an avid cook (I'm going to need a storage locker for all my cookbooks soon), I'd love to be able to turn my friends on to cooking. All my non-cooking friends say they want to learn how to cook well, but that it's just too hard, and the obvious sources for learning how to cook (TV shows, cook books) are no help.
Based on their comments and observations of my own, I'd say that the popular cookbooks and TV shows are no help because they're incredibly intimidating. They fall into one of:
1) The "authenticity at all costs" camp -- obscure/expensive ingredients that no one could ever find or afford, or incredibly involved "the only way to do it" recipes (ever seen Julia Child's recipe for French bread?)
2) The "cooking as event" camp -- presentation and theater are king. Can you say Emiril?
3) The "insanely narrowly focused" camp -- all Italian food (for example) all the time. Great, but how do I boil water, much less make a sublime saltimboca?
What suggestions would you have for somebody who wants eventually to cook like the pros, but needs to start at the ground floor?
When will you have the Amber Waves of Grain show?
You need to kick "The Thirsty Traveler" off !!!
What is the most expensive meal you did on TV, not
including the travel, just ingredients?
Take 2 nails, solder to line cord with a wall plug. Each nail should be attached to each side of the line cord. Now, press one nail into each end of the hotdog, plug line cord into wall.
Note the sequence. Insert nails into hotdog, then plug in. If your so supid you plug it in first, then insert into the hotdog... well, you deserve what you get...
Surprising? Obvious? Predictable?
I guess I am a moron for not figuring it out.
I do take great pleasure in cooking, but for me it is all about the food. Maybe I just don't agree with Alton Brown's approach. Maybe I just don't like most of the crap on foodtv.com/network (except for the Iron Chef, that is a great show - Emeril is annoying, though I have eaten at his place in Nawlins). The intent of my post was to reveal Bourdain's book as a better read... It seems like it would be more appealing to the slashdot audience. It is like comparing Bill Nye the Science Guy to Bucky Fuller. Both have geek appeal, but one clearly has more going on. Alton has a web site, so I guess he wins. Oh, well. I wonder if he will address a question about someone else's book?
On the subject of 'fat', Boudain does mention it - I didn't take it as over the top as you did, it was hyperbole. The 'secret' ingredients - butter, shallots and garlic. If you want rich foods you could use those in everything... same could be said of cream, capers and anchovies. Boudain did make it a point to adress butter, but he was seemed to express disdain for the 'fat free' butter alternatives. He was pretty hard on vegans also, stating that every vegan he met got sick when they thought about getting the cold.
That all being said, I don't see what is so great about fois gras either. phhhfft
pronoblem
..why do men crave ceral at midnight?
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Overclock your machine, and put the heating/cooling induction piping into the top surface of your case... Then, fry an egg with your Athalon 1.2@2.4...
Tibbon
tibbon.com
Most cooking shows don't nearly go as much into the science of cooking as your show does. I dare say I've learned more chemestery and physics in your show then in college or high school. Do you feel it is because the chefs don't know/understnad the science, don't want to diminish the "art" with the science, or don't think their audience is interested/capable of understanding the underlying science?
Ingredients:
1 28 oz jar of Barilla Pasta sauce, you pick but it should be a red sauce
1 lb of ground beef (or turkey, or chicken but ground beef is the cheapest)
6-8 oz (1/2 bag) frozen chopped onions
8 oz (1/2 bag) frozen diced or sliced carrots
1 tsp chopped garlic from a jar
1 Tbs olive oil
Salt, pepper to taste (start with 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper)
1/2 tsp paprika
Instructions:
Brown the ground beef. Drain any fat from the pan. Season with salt, pepper and paprika. Move the meat to a plate or bowl.
Place the frozen onions and carrots in the pan and saute until the melt water is about gone. Add the olive oil and garlic and saute on medium heat until the onions are translucent.
Add the meat back into the pan. Add the jar of pasta sauce. Simmer for 30 mins.
Serve over spaghetti, spirals, or your favorite pasta shape.
Comments:
The sauce keeps but you should only cook as much pasta as you need for a meal.
You can easily double or triple the recipe but you may have to brown the meat in batches depending on the size of your pan. Same goes with the frozen veggies.
Frozen veggies are great since they keep. You can use whatever combination of frozen veggies that you like. Carrots and onions are classic for bolognese.
I love having a jar of chopped garlic in the fridge. It keeps so much better than fresh garlic and you don't have to do all the work to chop it.
My boyfriend likes fried foods a bunch. We've watched the show where you bought the little frying machine a couple of times now. I've slaved in a restaurant before, and in my time was able to cook up some nice calamari. For most appliances, I think that specialized commercial versions to be placed in a house is plain silly conspicuous consumption. However, if I had that piece of machinery in my house, I truly think that I'd fry more often. What is the best kind of commercial fryer that you've used?
Thanks!
Alton, love the show, love the book -- keep on rockin!
First question:
There are several people on FN which have multiple shows (Emeril, Flay, and Rachel Ray come to mind immediately). Has there been any discussions about a second AB show?
People on FN tend to have a "day job", seemingly any of: being a chef, running a kitchen/restaurant (which Tony Bourdain said on a recent "A Cook's Tour" is the majority of a chef's job), etc. What do you do for a "day job" when not working on Good Eats? I know of Be Square Productions; what do you folks do/work on there? Do you work outside of TV?
I'm currently working in the IT industry, and have a fairly decent job at the moment. However, I find myself interested in cooking more and more, even entertaining the notion of a career change. I'm not sure if it will ever happen, but I should have a plan if my current job disappears, right?
:)
So here's the question (it's actually two questions, but they're fairly related): What advice would you give to a person who wants to become a chef as a career choice?
Related to that question: what advice would you give a person who wants to become a better chef personally, short of changing careers? Watching cooking-related TV shows and reading books (including yours of course) only gets a person so far. For instance, how useful are things like the FCI's Amateur courses? (The FCI webpage for those interested...)
Thanks AB!
I know lower fat substitutions in recipes can change the food chemistry. One of my favorite substitutions is evaporated whole milk (never tried using evaporated skim, I have a bad feeling about that) for cream in recipes. Am I really reducing the amout of fat?
What's your feeling on: reduced fat mayo, cheeses, salad dressing?
Do you have any other suggestions for lower fat substitutions?
How can you "tape" using a TiVo? It contains no tape, only disk.