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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.
If you and Emeril were doing battle in Kitchen Stadium, Who would win? ;-)
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?
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
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?
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?
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?
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?
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?
Where is it approprate, and how might I use it best? Or why shouldn't I use it at all?
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.
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
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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
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?
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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)
A list of Alton's Essentials can be found on his website in a typically quirky format.
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
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
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.
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 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.
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
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
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?
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.
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?