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
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.
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...
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.
Ah, friction physics jokes:
Q. Which is the slipperiest cat?
A. The one with the lowest 'mew'.
I'm at work this morning, and now I'm hungry, you insensitive clods! :(
"16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
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.
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!
Actually, McGee (the author quoted in TFA) is one of AB's major sources.
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.
Reduce, reuse, cycle
When they bring it up needlessly, yes. If a woman has a baby, that's her choice, same for if she gets an abortion. However, if, in a discussion on, say, the finer points of naming children, this woman said, "As a pro-lifer, I find it amusing that you abortionists don't know the etymology of the name Amanda," that would be acting "better" than the others. This would be for two reasons: a) she brought it into a discussion where it was completely needless to do so (as is the case in this thread), and b) she used a condescending tone in her speech (as is the case in this thread.
"16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard