/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>11203232
>searing
Get your pan very hot then put the meat it. The idea is to get a brown surface on the meat. Browning the meat causes the "Maillard" chemical reaction which creates savory flavors.

>>Blackening
This is a cooking method invented by Paul Prudhomme, a famous Cajun chef. He originally did it with Redfish, but it can be done with most kinds of fish, or even chicken. The fish is seasoned with herbs and spices and then brushed with melted butter. The cooking method is the special part. It requires either a cast iron skillet because nonstick or multi-layered skillets cannot survive the heat. The pan is heated up so hot that it is actually red hot. The fish is placed inside. Because of the extremely high heat the butter is actually vaporized and the fish doesn't actually touch the skillet. It floats across the surface on a layer of vapor. (this is called the Leidenfrost effect, google it). The result is a fish fillet that is not greasy or burnt in the slighest, but has a nice crust on the exterior while the interior is tender.

Pic related. Blackened catfish being cooked on a 16" iron skillet over a 200,000 BTU gas burner. Takes 45 seconds per side. Needless to say this must be done outdoors or in a professional kitchen because it makes a lot of smoke.

>>10805761
It might be passable, but why settle? Gas is cheaper, can be used anywhere without long, unsafe, extension cords, and is far more powerful.

Assuming 100% efficency the most power you'll get out of a North American wall outlet is about 6000 btu. In Europe, or elsewhere with 240, you might get about 10k.

Even a cheap, low-end, camping type propane burner is three times that powerful. A "turkey fryer" sort is 10 times that. A nicer one would be even higher. Here's mine doing blackened catfish. 220,000 BTU.

>>9332129
>>9332810

2nding the blackening. Tilapia is pretty much flavorless so you need a strong approach to make it taste good.

For sides I use things like cornbread, steamed or sauteed veggies, wild rice, etc.

Pic semi-related. Blackening catfish.

>>9260408

By the ledienfrost effect. Though most home cooks don't do that. They just slap spices on something, pan-fry it, and call it "blackened". They aren't doing it properly.

This is the kind of heat level you need for proper blackening.

>>9037994
That's a homestyle version of the recipe. The real thing as invented by Prudhomme is impossible to make indoors without a commercial-grade vent hood, but it's easily done outside on a big propane burner, like a "turkey fryer".

-coat chicken with melted butter and blackening spices. (there is no flour).

-Heat an iron or carbon steel pan over a high gas flame until the pan turns an ashy white color. It should be so hot that the seasoning is literally burned off. If you were to view the pan in low light then it will literally be glowing a dull red-hot.

-Put chicken in the pan. It will immediately start to smoke like mad, which is why you cannot do this indoors. The chicken never actually touches the pan because it instead will glide across the surface on a cushion of vapor (liedenfrost effect). Cook for a minute or two on the first side. Flip and repeat.

Pic very related. Blackened catfish. The burner is 200,000 btu. Takes 45 seconds per side.

>>8689933

Looks even better with the flash off.

>>8350595

Looks even better with no flash.

You don't need to baby cast iron. You can't hurt it. I've been using this same skillet on that burner for more than 10 years now.

>>8055485

200k BTU not good enough for you anon?
For scale, that's an 18" skillet on the burner in that photo.

>>7834855

You can't really wreck it, period. Even if you were to burn off the seasoning or get it rusty then you can simply clean it and re-season.

Pic related, pre-heating a CI pan on a 300,000 BTU burner for making blackened catfish. The pan is literally glowing red hot when it's ready to go.