Slashdot Mirror
Turkey Day Chemistry in the Kitchen
instupor writes "Just in time for the holiday, PopSci runs through the food science behind moist turkey, perfect potatoes and flaky pie crust. Besides the actual "why," the article explains how to apply the scientific principals in your own kitchen."
My mother's banned me from doing science experiments ever since the last "incident". :(
Do the recipes actually include smearing headmasters over the turkey, or was 'principles' meant?
I have never understood why we have turkey at Christmas (I'm a UKian not an American so I don't do thanks giving but it applies), it's a very poor meat and far too large for the average family, so how come we do it?
I'm also allergic to dairy productions you insensitive clod!
I like muppets.
What's the number of the poison control center again?
09 f9 11 02 9d 74 e3 5b d8 41 56 c5 63
I tried to get one of our scientific principals to apply himself in the kitchen. He told me to make a new pot of coffee and get back to the lab.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
stuff that matters...if you have problems trying to cook a good turkey and you're willing to accept the "how to cook" as news.
Doesn't matter if people want to call it art, it is applied chemistry and physics. The only thing is that there are many variables and humans have really good sensors to appraise the results. So that instead of calculating the Na+ ions, you can just taste it and get a better reading. Instead of using high precission lab instruments, we use the built in tools we have.
In the end, art is just applied science, but with wildly varying parameters, so it takes a very complex measuring instrument to appreciate the results.
Tis women makes us love, Tis Love that makes us sad, Tis sadness makes us drink, And drinking makes us mad.
I can has Molecular Gastronomical Cheezburgr?
But duck fat potatos are a thing of beauty. And probably heart attacks.
Give it a try (duck or goose), your vegetable oil roast potatos will seem rather second rate afterwards.
You know, that time when Americans give thanks to the native american indians who helped them survive over winter when they were new immigrants to the continent.
Generally very little mention is made of what happened next and how the new immigrants proceeded to usurp the native's land and make a good attempt at exterminating them. Perhaps we should have called them "naive american indians instead", for helping the white man survive and get a foothold.
It's some sort of festival they have in the US. I think the Turkey is the national bird over there and by eating it they hope to assume some of it's qualities. Backwards and primitive though it may seem to European eyes it does seem to work.
Won't be much Turkey consumption in Britain on Christmas day. The H2N1 Bird-flu virus has caused mass culling of many types of birds. See here for more info.
I hate Turkey anyway, always too dry.
ilovegeorgebush
Let's assume T is a perfectly spherical turkey...
Assume that turkey T is a frictionless turkey.........
but if you're after perfect potatoes, I've got a couple of hints that *always* work.
:)
Roast potatoes:
Pre-heat the oven (200C?) and put oil in a big oven-proof pan in the oven to heat. Meat-based fat is better than vegetable, but a mixture is good too.
Boil the potatoes until you can scrape them a bit with a fork (20-25 minutes). Drain the water (keep for gravy if you like), put a lid on the pan, and shake it *hard* several times. Some potatoes will disintegrate but mostly they will just get really rough surfaces - this makes them crunchy.
Remove pan from oven, pour the fat into a receptacle, leaving a tiny bit behind. Put the potatoes into this pan. Pour a spoonful of the fat on top of each potato. Put back in the oven, cook for 45-50 minutes. They will be soft in the middle, crunchy on the outside.
Mashed potatoes:
Don't boil the potatoes, steam them. 20-25 minutes until cooked through.
Remove water from steamer, put potatoes in (because it's warm). Add salt, creme fraiche (or butter if you have to), about 2 heaped heaspoons for 800g potatoes.
Use an electric whisk, whisk the hell out of them. Keep speeding up as you go, and keep going for a minute after it looks fine.
The steaming means they won't be watery, and the whisking means no lumpy bits. Fluffy, rich and smooth mashed potatoes!
Happy thanksgiving to all our North American cousins
Actually I think the Turkey was 2nd runner up to be the national bird, but the bald eagle won out.
http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/dictionaries/english/data/d0082635.html grump, grump it's one of the pleasures of being old, no if only I could remember where I left my computer...
On y va, qui mal y pense!
Good for you. Start Slashdot-Canada and stop coming to the US site to bitch about it being a US site.
Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
I'm at work this morning, and now I'm hungry, you insensitive clods! :(
"16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
Head first turkey? That has some rather worrying implications of the situations you could get yourself into!
Ever try chasing down a bald eagle with a fork and knife?
I hope, when they die, cartoon characters have to answer for their sins.
While I understand why that could have been taken as a joke, it probably wasn't. There is a belief that the US national bird was almost the Turkey, though it is most likely a myth.
Prepare him how you want. Butter smeared over the skin, or a combo of spices, or whatever.
Then pop him in a nice large grill for a few hours. Indirect heat of course. None of your punkass propane grills...has to be a regular charcoal grill. Pan of water in the bottom for a little steam. Baste/inject regularly. mmmmmm
Mine is in now.
First you BRINE the bird. kosher salt works well, but DO NOT use typical iodized table salt!!
In a pot big enough to submerge the bird, pour 1 to 1-1/2 cups of the salt in. Then sink the bird. Let this soak for at least overnight. Don't worry, it won't be salty when it comes out, the salt only helps the meat hold moisture.
When cooking, DO NOT cook to time. That whole X hours for Y lbs of turkey is bullshite. Use a thermometer. Cook it until it hits 160F-165F then pull it out.
Also.... as a twist, before cooking, if you get your hands under the skin to seperate it from the meat, you can layer in a mixture of rosemary, garlic, and olive oil. and a layer of prociutto ham between the meat and skin. this makes it VERY tasty.
Do that and you will have the juiciest and tastiest turkey you've ever eaten.
My dear boy,
I'm British, we've caused tremendous amounts of harm all over the world and probably several genocides. I just find it rather delightful that every year American families gather together in a festival to give thanks and celebrate friendship, family and a spirit of kindness and sharing, brought about by an incident involving people their ancestors more-or-less wiped out and stole the land from.
It's especially piquant that American children put on theatrical productions about how kind the indians were and how everyone was great friends.
the whole thing's hilarious!
That's one tiny turkey. The last time I did a turkey for Christmas the smallest whole one I could find was about 10lbs so I got a turkey crown and there was still about six months supply left on Boxing Day.
Many chefs try to shortcut good cooking practices by adding the harmful additive Dihydrogen Monoxide to moisten their turkeys. Some even cook the turkey in bags to concentrate the Dihydrogen Monoxide at dangerous levels. Make sure your turkey is free of Dihydrogen Monoxide and refuse to eat it if it does.
I'm a Canuck, and I celebrate Turkey Day when 91% of those that do, do.
'Course, the fact that I live in San Diego, CA might have something to do with it.
Interestingly, I will not be doing a traditional Thanksgiving meal this year: I'm getting together with a friend and we will likely partake of:
Brunch: Lox omelet: smoked salmon folded into a three egg omelet with tomatoes and capers.
Snack: Whole Grain Organic Pizza Toast: Fresh roast garlic on whole grain with flax bread, topped with Roma tomatoes, capers, grated Parmesan and Prosciutto, lightly baked and accented with cracked black pepper and a balsamic vinaigrette drizzle
Dinner: Surf 'n Turf: Rare filet mignon on sizzling roasted garlic butter with shrimp and scallops in a saffron butter dill sauce, and a side of lemon-steamed broccoli.
The next day, I'll probably make a simple veal scaloppini with capers and whole wheat angel hair pasta for dinner.
I usually make a big pot of lean chili on the weekends and this weekend will be no exception.
In Liberty, Rene
Alton Brown wants his kitchen chemistry gimmick back.
behind food, the best mentor would have to be Alton Brown.
Turkey for nerds. Stuffing that matters. :)
If you reply, do so only to what I explicitly wrote. If I didn't write it, don't assume or infer it.
I would have preferred an article about Kitchen Chemistry done on Turkey Day.
So, really, why does nobody mention morality here? Somehow, anything involving stem cells (or even something like the cervical cancer vaccine), immediately has to be about morality. I'm actually not even a vegetarian. I'm just curious.
Kitchen Chemistry? I think that was a Loompanics book. Imagine sitting at your Thanksgiving meal and haviing the DEA in Kevlar outfits raid your turkey lab.
I'm sure it works just fine, but do a comparison between table salt and fleur de sel (or any kind of natural, non-iodized variety) and the flavor is like night and day.
I'm not the type to go all gourmet, I'll even eat bulk hot-dog weiners, but if you have the choice, go for the good stuff. Trust me, it's a huge differance.
I had my turkey day last month, like all Canadians, and the bird turned out great with these methods, as it always does.
Enjoy!
Reduce, reuse, cycle
That's the picture before they inject the added water. It shows a guy moving in with the brine syringe. The turkey will be plenty big enough after he finishes.
Reduce, reuse, cycle
Kill all my ancestors but allow me to have tax free casino's allowed only on Native American land and I'll be forever grateful to the US govt.
tasy delicious duck, stuffed with chopped citrus and pear and butter, basted with concentrated orange juice, vinegar and honey glaze. s Now that's a tasty thanksgiving day bird!
Do you feel the way about women who say they had a baby because they don't believe in abortions? Are they "better than you because they don't have abortions"?
Funny you should say that. Each year my family makes an old German recipe for pretzels. To get the crusts nice, they use caustic soda, which is also used for clearing drains, and has lots of directions telling you what to do (very quickly) if someone eats it.
My chemistry teach way back in High School refused to believe that we could eat the stuff and survive. She was sure I meant "baking soda" not "caustic soda".
Ever seen bald eagles in the wild? Nothing but large rats with wings [and bad attitudes.] We should have made the turkey the national bird and eaten the bald eagles.
Thanks for the skin tip, I'll try it on the next turkey I do.
I prefer canola oil for birds.
I would also suggest being sure at let the bird set for about 1/2 an hour before carving. Wrap in foil to keep warm.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
We did ours stuffed with oranges and basted with some good ole georgia peach cider. The gravy comes out pretty interesting.
Turkey cook YOU!
(and don't expect Greece to help!)
- Ecsad Essemal
The Hexadecimal TV-REMOTE!
Food safety experts are having fits right about now - allowing raw poultry to warm to 60 on the countertop is a huge no-no.
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
Yesterday I roasted a turkey breast, basted with an orange juice, honey, and apricot preserve glaze, and it was tasty!
That was a VERY freaking small turkey in that article!!!!!
Good one, son. Very original. A real credit to your country.