Kosher salt. We use this salt server in
THE NIBBLE test kitchen to add pinches
of salt as we cook.
Since cooking is chemistry, you have to combine ingredients in the right order to get the fluffiest cakes or soufflés, for example.
It’s the same with salt: Pay attention to the order in which you add salt. Here are tips from Chef Louis Eguaras:
Meats: Salt meat 1 to 4 hours before cooking. For the first half hour, salt will extract the moisture from the meat. Then, the protein fibers loosen up and absorb the salty juices.
General Cooking: Add salt in the middle of the cooking process, not just at the end. It gives you a better opportunity to taste and adjust the amount of salt.
Stocks: Don’t salt stocks. Subsequent reductions will intensify the saltiness. It’s the same with sauces that will be reduced. Instead, taste the stock or sauce when you are preparing the dish.
Deep-Frying: Don’t salt the food immediately before deep-frying it. Salt will alter the surface and make the food less crisp.
Blanching: Add salt to the liquid before adding the food.
Aluminum & Cast Iron Pots: Add salt after boiling begins but before adding food, to prevent pitting of the pot.
See the many different types of salt in our Salt Glossary.
CDM meat & poultry thermometer available
at Amazon.com.
Many kitchen thermometers will be used on Thanksgiving to test the temperature of the turkey. Undercooked turkey means the possibility of salmonella; overcooked turkey most certainly means dry meat.
Given that 10 degrees can make the difference between good and dry, how accurate is your kitchen thermometer?
A chef will calibrate a new thermometer, then recalibrate once a week (or whenever it’s dropped), using the freezing or boiling method.
There is a calibration nut underneath the thermometers, at the top of the stem, right under the head. You’ll need a small wrench and some dexterity (or someone to help).
Ice Point Method: Pack a glass with crushed ice, add ice water and stir thoroughly. Wait four minutes and insert the stem of the thermometer. Hold it at least an inch from the sides and bottom of the glass. The pointer will stop moving in about 30 seconds. If the thermometer is not accurate within +/- 2°F of 32°F, adjust it. Keeping the thermometer stem in the ice, use the wrench to turn the calibration nut to turn the pointer to 32°F/0°C.
Boiling Point Method: Use boiling water and adjust the thermometer to the boiling temperature at your altitude—212°F/100°C at sea level. This may sound easier than the ice method, but the ice method is more accurate.
If your thermometer doesn’t have a calibration nut, contact the company’s customer service line for advice.
The harmful bacteria are killed at 150°F. The turkey should be removed from the oven when the thickest part of the thigh meat is 155°F but no more than 160° (be sure not to touch the bone).
That’s because food keeps cooking after it is removed from the oven. As the turkey stands to let the juices to settle for easier carving (15 to 20 minutes), the thigh meat will reach 165°F and the breast meat will probably be 10°F higher.
We don’t know what condition we’ll be in at the end of the main course on Thanksgiving. But if there’s no room for our pumpkin cheesecake, we’ll happily eat it over the weekend. (Sorry, NIBBLE colleagues, there won’t be any left to bring in on Monday.)
We’re trying a new recipe this year, but here are three pumpkin cheesecake recipes from prior years.
The best way to pack wine in luggage.
Photo courtesy JetBag.com.
Are you leaving on a jet plane to celebrate Thanksgiving or Christmas? Post-9/11 security regulations prohibiting liquids have certainly plagued wine lovers.
But some people care about bringing (or taking home) a special bottle of wine so much, they’ll actually check it in luggage.
“Oh, we just roll the bottles up in our clothing,” and place them in the suitcase, we’ve been told by more than a few friends. We shake our head, remembering a bubble-wrapped bottle of Sauternes that leaked through the cork and the foil and soaked everything in our luggage (and scented the inside of the suitcase for a year).
Among all the options we have now to prevent this from happening, the leakproof Jet Bag seems the most convenient.
A bio-degradable carrier with a reusable zip seal closure, the Jet Bag completely secures your liquids. The material pads & protects your bottle and if it cracks, a baby diaper-type absorbent lining wicks up the liquid.
It can also be used to protect olive oil, vinegar, perfume and other liquids.
Purchase online at TheJetBag.com. Three Jet Bags are $15; larger quantities are available if you want to give them as stocking stuffers.
