America's Test Kitchen - General Discussion

[biakbiak]

1 hour ago, Mittengirl said:

Thrift stores, in my experience, are great places to look for those “how much will I use this” pans and whatnots.  Those Wilton fancy shaped cake pans, wedding cake sized pans, bundt/angel food pans, little bread tins (actually, any sized bread tin), muffin tins, etc., are easy to find.  You may have to hit two or three stores, but in my town you can do that without traveling too far from one store to the other.  My cousin had us all scouring thrifts stores for cupcake tins for a wedding reception - I think she ended up with a dozen tins that cost less then $20 total. After the wedding she re-donated them.

Yeah I live within the walking distance of two so once a week I swing buy and look at their kitchen section. Last week I found a gorgeous cake stand with a real tarnished silver base for $4, came home and used Bartenders Friend and now good as new. 

Edited February 7, 2020 by biakbiak

[Bastet]

Braising is still not really my jam, but if I was going to eat a ragu, it would be like this pork, fennel, and lemon one I just watched -- fennel instead of carrots and celery, and a white sauce instead of red. 

I was a little surprised one of the fontina styles was Swedish, when I much more often see that style coming from Denmark.  Like Julia, I prefer the "real-deal" Val d'Aosta, but I like the others, too (it's cheese!).  I'm not sure if I've had the fontal (from Belgium).

 

[Bastet]

Now I'm watching (on a Cook's Country from last year) a taste test of mail-order king cakes.  I'd never heard of king cake until several years ago (I've been to New Orleans several times, but never for Mardi Gras), and I'd never seen one until just now.  Um, those were some seriously ugly cakes.  I looked up a recipe, and, sure, I'd try it if some was handed to me, but it didn't sound like anything I'd want to seek out.

[chessiegal]

22 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Now I'm watching (on a Cook's Country from last year) a taste test of mail-order king cakes.  I'd never heard of king cake until several years ago (I've been to New Orleans several times, but never for Mardi Gras), and I'd never seen one until just now.  Um, those were some seriously ugly cakes.  I looked up a recipe, and, sure, I'd try it if some was handed to me, but it didn't sound like anything I'd want to seek out.

Heresy! (As someone with family and friends in NOLA). 😉 I couldn't get over the prices of those cakes. We're headed there in April - I'll have to check on it more when we're there. Every time I hear of King Cakes I think of the abomination Sandra Lee made on her Semi-Homemade show. It is a thing of legend.  And not in a good way.

Sandra Lee King Cake

[dubbel zout]

The late, great Anthony Bourdain called that a hate crime against food, which I don't think goes far enough.

[Bastet]

17 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Every time I hear of King Cakes I think of the abomination Sandra Lee made on her Semi-Homemade show. It is a thing of legend.  And not in a good way.

Sandra Lee King Cake

Well, her ingredients are exponentially worse than the original recipe, but that picture of the result doesn't actually look any worse than the ugly-ass cakes on display in the tasting test.  That line-up of cakes looked like the results of a preschool project on parents day, where the parents made cakes and the kids decorated them.  I'm still thinking about it, as I've never seen something so ugly on ATK/CC.

[chessiegal]

The Washington Post's Food Section featured King Cakes this week, including a recipe on making it.

King Cake

We're going to visit family in New Orleans during Holy Week, so I'm guessing King Cake will be over by then, although it might be available year round for the tourists. I've never looked. I know my stepdaughter, who married into a family that has been in NOLA for generations, definitely include it with their Carnival traditions.

[Bastet]

Maybe it's my appreciation of symmetry, but I was put off by the visual result of the braised chicken.  Staggering the cooking times to make sure every piece has adequate time to hang out in the sauce without being overcooked is a no-brainer in theory, but in execution it resulted in the two tapered breast pieces not getting any browning time.  So, at the end, the (pale, ugly) skin was removed from those two pieces.  But they still didn't match -- there are all these beautifully-browned pieces, and two pale ones.  On the serving plate, one's eye is automatically drawn to the difference.  Does it really matter, visually, that it's pale meat rather than pale skin?  (Of course the browned skin tastes better than would the pale skin that was removed.)

I'm sure it all tasted delicious (although, just as a matter of personal taste, I hate mustard other than the straight-up, non-vinegar spicy kind [because I hate a good 70% of vinegars]), but the visual result was off-putting.  I wonder if it's really impossible to brown one side of those pieces -- the idea must be that in doing that, they could then only spend so little time put back into the braising liquid that they wouldn't adequately pick up the flavor.  And I get that; flavor is more important than appearance. 

But ATK totally glossed over the glaring imbalance when it came to appearance (not to mention the fact that, as Anne Burrell always hammers home, "brown food tastes good") and presented this as the "perfect" solution for braising a whole chicken (and it's not making use of a whole chicken to begin with, as they left out the wings).  It's good, but it's not perfect; make it at home, certainly, but would you serve it to guests?

But, hey, my silicone basting brush is their equipment testing winner. 

[buttersister]

In the Kimball days, ATK and its forerunner, CI, always stated that their version was the best of a very specific thing; they named what they were going after. This let the viewer/reader know what to expect from the recipe/technique and this got them off the hook, imo, whenever they approached ethnic cooking, e.g., not the authentic version. So it's a bad sign that a dish that clearly isn't ideal would be called the "perfect" way to braise a whole chicken. Ugh, can't believe I'm typing this but maybe Kimball leaving was a big problem for this crew?

Edited February 17, 2020 by buttersister
I need new glasses.

[BigBingerBro]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

Maybe it's my appreciation of symmetry, but I was put off by the visual result of the braised chicken.

OMG, so I'm not the only one felt that way!  Surely they could have come up with some technique to ensure the end product looked the same?!?  In my opinion, this was a fail for the "Test Kitchen" - they need to take it back to the drawing board.   Also, I kept thinking, there is no way in hell I'm fussing that much over baked chicken!  I've made hundreds in my life and nobody has ever complained about certain pieces being overdone or underdone - I don't think most people have that sensitive of palates.  I'm kind of missing the more common sense approach Chris would add to these recipes. 

[MerBearHou]

The Paris-Brest segment went on way too long and for once, Bridget’s voice bugged me — seemed to drone on and on. 

[buttersister]

I'm here for Julia and Bridget, but ladies, can we get a stylist to help you find blouses that fit? Asking for a middle-aged friend.

In the recipe department, I love poached eggs and have tried a few techniques. Their sous vide eggs looked perfect. What I lack in sous vide equipment, I make up for with a new electric glass kettle with temperature controls. There's no 167-degree, but there is 160 and 175, so a little experimenting should get similar results.

[biakbiak]

6 minutes ago, buttersister said:

here for Julia and Bridget, but ladies, can we get a stylist to help you find blouses that fit? Asking for a middle-aged friend.

Ina Garten has a look that is similar and works for her.

[buttersister]

Exactly. Better blouses could work for this crew, too.

[MerBearHou]

I love Bridget and Julia and their Saturday shows are Must-See's for me every week.  That's why I was surprised at my own reaction of "OMG, get on with it" -- this one just really fell flat for me.  

Agreed on their blouses.  

[letusprocrastinate]

3 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

The Paris-Brest segment went on way too long and for once, Bridget’s voice bugged me — seemed to drone on and on. 

Am I a terrible person for thinking during that very lengthy segment, "Save the hassle and instead try to find a pastry shop that makes it"?

[dubbel zout]

I feel that way with most European desserts, tbh.

[biakbiak]

I love a cooking/baking project that will take a few days but good god I would never in a million years ever try to make that!

[Florinaldo]

On 2/2/2020 at 10:21 AM, dubbel zout said:

How many eggs did you use? I usually scramble two when I'm making them the more conventional way.

Sorry for the late reply. I thought I had written it down, but i can't find that note and I have not used that scrambled eggs technique since. IIRC, I used 2  eggs, cutting the water in the same proportion, and using a 6 inch pan. I remember that they turned very quickly near the end, even on low heat, so they do need to be watched closely.

The Paris-Brest is next-week's episode over here. It is indeed one recipe that is much too involved to be rewarding, except to impress guests. The one time I made it, people were duly impressed (even though I cut down on the nuts, of which I am not a big fan), but it was not really worth the bother. Better to find a good pastry shop where they either make that cake on demand or have it available regularly (some serve it by the slice).

[dubbel zout]

Thanks, @Florinaldo. Maybe one day I'll try that method.

[Bastet]

I've had the sausage pizza at Vito & Nick's that they made on Cook's Country last year (that I just saw today).  It's simple, and I prefer pesto, olive oil, or a white sauce rather than tomato sauce on my pizza, but for a simple sausage pizza it is indeed really good.  It does look burnt, but somehow that brown cheese is perfect.  I love thin crust (and hate deep dish), so when I visited a friend in Chicago and we went to see her friend on the South Side, she took us there.

Has there ever been a taste testing of jarred marinara sauces in which Rao's was not the landslide winner?  I figure by this point anyone who watches cooking shows knows if they ever need to reach for a jar, that's the one to use. 

[Yeah No]

I didn't understand not browning those two half-breast pieces in the braised chicken with herbs and lemon recipe.  With or without Chris I think some of the cooks in the background on this show have always been overly fussy.  Either they bombard us with 5,000 unnecessary ingredients or 5,000 unnecessary steps or both.  If you know how to cook you don't have to worry so much about overcooking your chicken breast that you have to skip a necessary step like browning.  

I think Bridget's new look is better than her old one.  That black V-neck wrap top fits her much better than the stuff she used to wear a few years back.

[dubbel zout]

15 hours ago, Bastet said:

Has there ever been a taste testing of jarred marinara sauces in which Rao's was not the landslide winner?  I figure by this point anyone who watches cooking shows knows if they ever need to reach for a jar, that's the one to use. 

I just used a jar of Michael's of Brooklyn, and it's really good, but I'm not sure how widely available it is. It's larger and cheaper than Rao's, so that's a plus. For me, any sauce without sugar works. I'm sure ATK would be horrified, hee.

[Bastet]

10 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

It's larger and cheaper than Rao's, so that's a plus.

They should do a value pick, like they do when the winner in their equipment testing is expensive.

[Bastet]

I'm impressed with all that went into testing cutting boards!  When I renovate my kitchen, I'm going to treat myself to a big, thick board like that (right now, I have to mind the space available next to my stove).  I looked up the website for the brand they recommended, and, wow, there are some pretty boards.

 

[Bastet]

Bridget has the same taste in sriracha I do -- the Huy Fong most people use is very good, but the Kikkoman is better because it's spicier.  (I generally use sambal oelek instead of sriracha, and for that I do use Huy Fong.)

From Lisa's gadget segment, I gave my parents that Oxo salad dressing container for use in their motorhome, and they like it.  I would have liked more information on how the pineapple slicer works.

 

[Mondrianyone]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

I would have liked more information on how the pineapple slicer works.

I have that one, or one just like it.  It has a rounded blade that protrudes from one side of a shaft, and as you corkscrew it down by turning the handle on top, it slices through the meat of the pineapple.  When you draw back the handle once you reach the bottom of the fruit, you have a spiral of slices that you just cut apart into rings.  Pretty handy gadget!

[Bastet]

Hmm.  Unlike apparently everyone the ATK folks talked to, I have no strong opinions on sponges.  I don't even have mild opinions on sponges.  (And I don't have a dishwasher, so everything gets hand washed.)  I use cloths most of the time, and for sponges I just grab a package of some sort of sponge with a scrubber on top.  What I have right now is similar to the winner, but without the "topography" on the scrubber.

In other news, now I want a chipwich!

[Yeah No]

I just watched the episode on sous vide chuck roast.  Wow that looked good!   I wanted to get that Gourmia handheld vacuum sealer they recommended, but of course like so many things they recommend by the time you get there the item has been discontinued and you can't find it anywhere.

[dubbel zout]

I thought the chuck roast looked amazing, too, but it's so time intensive! Granted, most of it is unattended, but you still need to plan to eat it the following day. I think I'd rather just roast a prime rib or sirloin.

[dubbel zout]

On 5/2/2020 at 4:27 PM, Bastet said:

Hmm.  Unlike apparently everyone the ATK folks talked to, I have no strong opinions on sponges.  I don't even have mild opinions on sponges.  (And I don't have a dishwasher, so everything gets hand washed.) 

Same here. I have a couple of brushes I use when things need to be scrubbed; sponges are mostly for wiping things down. 

The sloppy joe recipe seemed awfully fussy for what should be a pretty quick meal, but that's typical ATK.

[Bastet]

I love Bridget telling Jack "I'm not even listening to you" because she's so happy munching away on artisanal bacon. 

I've had the winner, Vande Rose, and I agree it's particularly delicious.  But I'm just not interested in spending that much on bacon. (I also agree with them that Oscar Meyer is the best supermarket bacon.)

I don't eat French toast very often (it's probably been two or three years since I last had it), but seeing it on an empty stomach made me crave it.  Alas, I don't have any bread.  I had been debating whether to just heat up some sausage and kale soup or make one of my usual egg white scrambles (with asparagus, spinach, bacon, and gruyere), so once I saw their scrambled eggs, I had to go that route. 

[dubbel zout]

On 5/16/2020 at 4:27 PM, Bastet said:

I love Bridget telling Jack "I'm not even listening to you" because she's so happy munching away on artisanal bacon. 

That was hilarious. "My favorite would be these four." Hee.

I adore bacon, but I have to say I'm not a fan of the super smoky kinds. When Jack said the Bentons was good in a dish, I could definitely see that. But to eat bacon for bacon's sake, I'd go with something milder.

If you watch the opening sequence, you can see Bridget sneak some bacon. She does love her pork!

[Bastet]

I finally saw the CC episode with the whole brisket, and I'd never put in that much work for something I loved, let alone something I just eat if it's served to me.  But even though brisket doesn't excite me*, I was so impressed with how juicy that brisket was I really did wish I could reach through the screen and taste it, especially with that nice smoke ring.

*It's like pork shoulder for me; I don't dislike it, but cuts of meat that have to be cooked to insanely high internal temperatures in order to be edible slide fairly far down my list of things I want to eat, as I prefer cuts that can be grilled/roasted to rare/medium rare.  I'm like that with everything - whether it be meat, vegetables, or pasta, I prefer it cooked just enough rather than cooked low and slow.   

[Bastet]

In saying the top two picks of automated soap dispensers are both made by simplehuman, and the winner was picked for the visible reservoir and smaller footprint, they didn't note that it's battery operated, while the second-place version (which costs $10 more) is rechargeable. 

The second-place version also lets you control the volume; if you put your hand up close to the dispenser, you get one small dab, and if you place your hand several inches lower, you get three times that amount.  It also can be used with liquid soap or hand sanitizer (while the other one only with liquid soap), and is waterproof.  They're not going to get into all that.  But I am a little surprised they didn't mention the batteries.

I'd get the second-place version if I was going to get one; I find it more attractive (it's all stainless steel, no plastic, and comes in 5 color options), I like having two output volume options and not needing batteries (the charge is supposed to last up to three months, and with how infrequently I'd use it, it would last longer), the size isn't an issue (it's not much bigger), and I don't care about seeing how much soap is left.

Edited June 20, 2020 by Bastet

[biakbiak]

2 minutes ago, Bastet said:

and is waterproof

This seems like an important detail for something that lives by the sink!

[Bastet]

Just now, biakbiak said:

This seems like an important detail for something that lives by the sink!

It seems to refer to being able to rinse it ("to keep it looking clean and new") without getting any water mixed in with the soap.  Of course, since you don't touch it, I'm not sure why it would need to be rinsed rather than just dusted - oh, maybe if the sink and stove were close enough together that grease could get on it - but it's just one more reason their second pick would be my first pick.

[dubbel zout]

I had to laugh at the coffee grinder reviews. Adam admitted the spice grinder coffee didn't taste any worse than the (much more expensive) burr grinder coffee. The only real advantage to the burr grinder was that you got a more consistent grind. Is that really a big deal? Not for me, given the price difference.

[Florinaldo]

1 hour ago, dubbel zout said:

I had to laugh at the coffee grinder reviews. Adam admitted the spice grinder coffee didn't taste any worse than the (much more expensive) burr grinder coffee.

But he worked very hard afterwards to find convincing reasons to buy the more sophisticated machines. Myself I hate coffee, so I use my grinder only for spices. I used to be very happy with the Krups model that ATK recommended, but then the company came up with a newer model, the Vortex, which is a bit more powerful, less noisy and has a removeable grinding bowl (very convenient for washing up). I still use the older one for simple grinds, like various peppers or cumin, but for harder spices like cardamom or complex mixes, the newer one does a better job. And I certainly would not want a burr one for spices; the clean-up must be horrible.

The new episode we got today was the "turkey for a crowd" one, which reinforced my resolution never to invite so many people for dinner at the same time. Although they had interesting approaches that could certainly be scaled down for a single bird or even half of one.

On 3/28/2020 at 4:27 PM, Bastet said:

I looked up the website for the brand they recommended, and, wow, there are some pretty boards.

I got an edge grain teak board by that company years ago because they were on sale at Best Buy and I was tempted to try one, I have not looked back since. Best board I own.

[dubbel zout]

16 hours ago, Florinaldo said:

But he worked very hard afterwards to find convincing reasons to buy the more sophisticated machines.

And frankly, I didn't find him very persuasive. Ha!

[chessiegal]

My husband drinks coffee every day, and swears by his Cuisinart burr grinder.

[biakbiak]

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

My husband drinks coffee every day, and swears by his Cuisinart burr grinder.

Same with by boyfriend and it’s so much easier to clean, you can also grind so much more than the spice grinder kind which are so annoying and messy that I don’t even use those to ground spices since I got a magic bullet as a gift over a decade ago.

[dubbel zout]

I like to grind my beans for each cup of coffee, mostly so that the mess is kept to a minimum. I use a French press, and it's easier for me this way.

[dubbel zout]

21 hours ago, Florinaldo said:

The new episode we got today was the "turkey for a crowd" one, which reinforced my resolution never to invite so many people for dinner at the same time. Although they had interesting approaches that could certainly be scaled down for a single bird or even half of one.

This is the episode I got, too. As a cooking exercise it was interesting, but yeah, I'm never having that many people over for dinner! For one thing, I don't have nearly enough space for any of that.

IMO, the only reason not to use turkey parts in smaller quantities is if you want the ta-da moment of presenting the whole bird. And of course, you have to make dressing (outside the bird) instead of stuffing (inside the bird).

[Bastet]

We got the turkey episode a couple of weeks ago, and count me in as "Certainly don't need this; I'd never have that many people over".

But I do use turkey parts for Thanksgiving, rather than a whole bird.  It's just my parents and me, and we go camping (in a motorhome), so we do a turkey breast - deboned and rolled, brined, and then grilled and basted with butter.  I make the gravy in advance; I roast turkey wings, thighs, and a back for the drippings, set the thigh meat aside for a later soup (okay, and eat more than a few bites of it while I'm pulling it off the bone), and make stock with the thigh bones, wings, and back.  I use the turkey fat to make a roux, then the non-fat drippings plus stock to make the gravy.

Edited June 21, 2020 by Bastet

[Florinaldo]

20 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

And frankly, I didn't find him very persuasive. Ha!

Neither did I, but as I posted earlier my needs are different since I do not drink coffee.

I still think that burr grinders must be difficult to clean when you use a spice mix involving pods, peppercorns of any kind, seeds and leaves (with the occasional twigs). It's funny that the blade models, which as far as I know were designed originally for coffee, are now thought by many as "spice" grinders.

[Yeah No]

On 6/20/2020 at 5:31 PM, dubbel zout said:

I had to laugh at the coffee grinder reviews. Adam admitted the spice grinder coffee didn't taste any worse than the (much more expensive) burr grinder coffee. The only real advantage to the burr grinder was that you got a more consistent grind. Is that really a big deal? Not for me, given the price difference.

Not for me either, plus due to a weird sensitivity to coffee (and nothing else apparently) I can't justify the cost of a Burr grinder anyway because I only drink it once or twice a week (I stick to tea otherwise).  My husband also only drinks coffee a couple of times a week.  So I can't justify having one for grinding larger batches anyway. 

Alton Brown recently spent some time justifying the superiority of the Burr grinder on "Good Eats Reloaded", but then again he just loves an excuse to own a neato gadget so I have to consider the source there.  I'm sticking with Adam's judgment that there's no burning reason for me to spend the extra money on the Burr.  I'm not that much of a coffee purist - I'm actually pretty picky about coffee but I'm happy with the results from my spice grinder so why change?

Now one Test Kitchen recommendation I took to heart is the Victorinox Fibrox Pro Granton edge slicing knife, which I just sent away for.  I have the Victorinox chef's knife they recommended a few years back and it is not only fantastic but a great buy as well.

[biakbiak]

11 hours ago, Florinaldo said:

still think that burr grinders must be difficult to clean when you use a spice mix involving pods, peppercorns of any kind, seeds and leaves (with the occasional twigs). It's funny that the blade models, which as far as I know were designed originally for coffee, are now thought by many as "spice" grinders.

I don’t know anyone who uses burr grinders for spices, most people wouldn’t recommend it much like they recommend having two different blade grinders if you use one for spices but also because the grind you get is different.

[chessiegal]

Our burr grinder is only for coffee. I have a blade grinder for spices, but sometimes I just use a mortar and pestle for spices.

[RockShrimp]

One of the things I immediately wondered about the soap dispensers is whether they had diversity in the testers... recognizing darker skin is notoriously an issue for automatic anything.