The New Kitchen Science: A Guide to Know the Hows and Whys for Fun and Success in the Kitchen: A Guide to Know the Hows and Whys for Fun and Success in the Kitchen – The Revised Edition - Softcover

Hillman, Howard

 
9780618249633: The New Kitchen Science: A Guide to Know the Hows and Whys for Fun and Success in the Kitchen: A Guide to Know the Hows and Whys for Fun and Success in the Kitchen – The Revised Edition
Softcover
ISBN 10: 061824963X ISBN 13: 9780618249633
Verlag: Mariner Books, 2003

Inhaltsangabe

In this revised and updated edition of the book that thousands of cooks have turned to when they have a question, the science authority Howard Hillman provides the latest findings about everything from cooking methods, equipment, and food storage to nutrition and health concerns.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Howard Hillman is the author of more than twenty-five books on food and wine. He has contributed articles to the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Food & Wine as well as other distinguished publications.

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1
Cooking Equipment

Are quality knives a bargain?
Yes, because quality knives should last you a lifetime. Inexpensive ones
normally need to be replaced every five years or so. That's why it is more
cost-effective in the long run to invest in a few quality knives than to
purchase
a broader assortment of less expensive and inferior implements. As a
bonus,
your cutting, chopping, and slicing tasks will be quicker and easier. Our
recommended five-knife starter set performs a wide variety of tasks. It
comprises a 3- to 4-inch (blade length) paring knife, a 6-inch utility knife, an
8-
inch serrated slicing knife, an 8-inch chef 's (chopping) knife, and a 10-inch
nonserrated slicing (carving) knife. You also need a 10-inch butcher steel for
honing.

Are dull knives more dangerous than sharp ones?
Without question. The sharper the knife, the less likely the cook is to cut
himself. This may sound like dull-witted reasoning, but the point is valid for
two pragmatic reasons. First, people tend to be more careful when using
sharper knives because the potential harm is more vivid in their minds.
Second, a duller knife is more apt to slip when cutting because it requires
more downward pressure to do the job.
There are more benefits from a sharp knife than just safety. It
makes cutting quicker and more efficient and minimizes ripping and tearing
of
the food.

How do the four basic knife-blade alloys differ?
Virtually all kitchen knives have blades of steel, an alloy consisting mainly
of
iron mixed with carbon and a smaller portion of other elements. The critical
difference between carbon and stainless steel alloys is that the first has a
higher carbon content, whereas the other amalgamation contains more
chromium, and often nickel.
The high-carbon stainless knife is betwixt and between the two—
its carbon, chromium, and nickel proportions lie somewhere in between
those
of the standard carbon and stainless steel varieties. Yet another variation of
the theme is the superstainless knife, the one with the scintillating silvery
look. Its alloy—at least its plating alloy—is impregnated with relatively large
quantities of chromium and nickel.
An alloy's precise makeup determines to a considerable extent a
knife's advantages and disadvantages for a cook.

What are the pros and cons of each knife-blade alloy?
A carbon steel blade is unequaled in its ability to take an extremely sharp
edge, and therefore it is preferred by most serious chefs. The major
drawback
of carbon steel is that unless the blade is promptly wiped dry after each
use,
it will rust. The alloy is also vulnerable to attack by the acid in foods like
citrus fruits, tomatoes, and onions. If the knife is not washed soon after
contact with these ingredients, the acid will react chemically with the metal,
blemishing the blade's surface with blackish stains. Moreover, that
discoloration and its attendant off-odor can be transferred to the foods you
are cutting.
Superstainless steel is the least efficient of the four basic knife
alloys. It is all but impossible for a cook to restore the sharpness once the
knife loses its original well-honed edge (if the manufacturer gave it one in
the
first place). Kitchenware demonstrators speak hokum when they claim that
superstainless steel knives never need to be sharpened. What they should
tell you is that their product can't be sharpened.
Stainless steel, like its super cousin, resists rust, stains, and
corrosion caused by water and acid. Though it takes a sharper edge than a
superstainless one, a stainless steel blade will still be annoyingly dull in the
hands of a busy cook.
A high-carbon stainless steel knife—by far the most expensive of
the four types—will neither rust nor stain. Consequently, it is the answer for
a
cook who lives by the sea or in a humid climate, because salt can corrode
and moisture can oxidize (rust) nonstainless steel. High-carbon stainless
steel is also recommended for cooks who do not want to be bothered with
having to wash the knife and wipe it dry promptly after each use—or who do
not want the knife blade to become tarnished because the chore was
neglected.
Although a blade made from high-carbon stainless steel can be
honed to a fairly sharp edge, do not believe the food writers and salespeople
who tell you that its sharpness will match that of a knife made with carbon
steel. As our kitchen tests verify, this is physically impossible.

What else should I look for when buying a knife?
Selecting the right blade alloy is not enough. You should buy only a knife
produced by a quality manufacturer because fine knife making requires
skilled workmanship involving a myriad of precision tasks, such as
tempering
the steel. In fact, unless you can buy superb carbon steel knives (they are
becoming difficult to find in America nowadays), we recommend that you
purchase the top-of-the-line, high-carbon stainless steel knives of a quality
manufacturer, such as Wüsthof (Trident trademark) or Henckels.
The tang (the part of the metal enclosed by the handle) should run
the full length of the handle and should be well secured with at least three
rivets. Otherwise, the handle and the metal part of the knife may separate
within a matter of years. The full tang also contributes weight and balance,
two essential qualities that inexpensive knives usually lack.
A knife's handle should be easy to grasp and feel comfortable in
your hand. Its material should be durable and nonslippery. Nearly all
hardwood and many modern plastic-and-wood composite grips fit the bill;
plastic hilts do not.

What is the best tool for sharpening knives?
Honing a knife on one of those extremely coarse grinding wheels or belts
that
are commonly used by peregrinating peddlers or key makers is one of the
most unsatisfactory methods. Repeated sharpenings on these instruments
wear away your blade within a few years.
Almost as bad are those small pairs of steel rotating disk-
cylinders that are supposed to be attached to a kitchen door or cabinet. Not
only do these gadgets devour the metal of the blade faster than need be,
they
tend to scratch the blade too much and throw it out of alignment. Electric
knife sharpeners perform better, though they are not recommended for high-
quality carbon or high-carbon steel knives. These countertop appliances
can
permanently alter the angular shape of the knife's cutting edge given by the
knife's manufacturer.
The best day-to-day sharpening implement is the butcher's steel,
a rough-surfaced, hard metal rod equipped with a handle. However, unless
you use the steel frequently to sharpen the knife, as a butcher is wont to
do,
the edge of your knife may dull beyond the restorative powers of the honing
rod. In that case, you will need to sharpen the knife periodically with a
whetstone, a small, abrasive, bluish-black block made of the exceptionally
hard silicon carbide Carborundum (available in most hardware stores).
Sometimes the abrasive material is a thin coating of minuscule diamonds.

What is the ideal honing angle?
Some say that 15° is the correct honing angle, whereas other estimates
place the number at 25° or even 30°.We experimented and found that
approximately 20° produces the best all-around results. A good way to
know
whether you are honing at or near a 20° angle is to refer to the
accompanying
graphic as you practice with an actual knife and butcher steel.

Where should...

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Verlag
Mariner Books
Erscheinungsdatum
2003
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
061824963X
ISBN 13 
9780618249633
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
342
Kontakt zum Hersteller
HarperCollins Publishers, Product Safety Manager
enquiries@harpercollins.ie

HarperCollins, Macken House, 39/40 Mayor Street Upper
Dublin 1
D01 C9W8
Irland

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