/ck/ - Food & Cooking

Apparently there's regional variation, and the meaning of "sweet potato" and "yam" are reversed in different places.

It seems the ones I call sweet potatoes (but which you might call yams) are fairly indifferent. I can just throw them in the oven for a while and they come out fine.

>>6402556
Bake a sweet potato at 375°F for 45 minutes to 90 minutes depending on if you want it done, or if you want the interior to begin.

Also, I cannot make a fucking bechamel sauce to save my life. It always burns or scorches slightly.

>>6402578
to begin caramelizing.*

No idea where that word went when I hit post. It was there before I hit post.

Never made a good risotto

>>6402556
>For me? It's the sweet potato. I seem totally incapable of judging how long they need to be in the oven. It's absurd how this is so troublesome for me.
Get a pressure cooker. If you quarter it, it should only take 15 minutes to cook.

Fucking hashbrowns. It drives me nuts, hashbrowns are like one of my favorite foods. I've just resigned myself to buying those patties from Trader Joe's because there better than anything I'll ever be able to make on my own...

Mayonnaise, It looked easy, all these people said it was so easy. I tried and failed like 3 times. Then I gave myself a blister, had to add a little oil, then beat the crap out of it, add a little more beat it, repeating the process forever being terrified of the emulsion breaking. Every time I added a little oil I would start hyper ventilation.

Also cake, every time I make a cake it blows up and looks like its going to be nice and light, then it collapses like a god damn red giant becoming dense like a white dwarf.

>>6402580
>>6402578

I've had a moderately sized Sweet Potato have only a centimeter or so cooked after spending an hour and fifteen minutes at 500.

500.

FIVE FUCKING HUNDRED.

I swear my oven is just cursed or something. Everything else is just fine.

Thanks for trying to help, though.

>>6402664
Test your oven with a cheap secondary thermometer you hang in your oven or set on the rack to see if your ovens thermometer is accurate.

Lasagna.
I don't know why. I've never made one that was flavorful, had structural integrity, and didn't burn the pasta.

>>6402556
Popcorn. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but the shit I can make is ridiculous in comparison.

I cannot make good popcorn for the life of me, my younger brother has the duty, in which, the only thing he CAN make is popcorn.
If I want popcorn then I need to go through him

>>6402783
>flavorful,
salt, veggies, salt, ricotta+herb cheese
>had structural integrity
Trick my aunt showed me, don't cook the noodles. The sauce cooks them for you
>and didn't burn the pasta
Lower your temp nigga, and don't leave noodles exposed

>>6402653
i can make mayonaise pretty easily. or at least I've never had it break the 4 or 5 times I've made it.

My problem is that one egg yolk makes a TON of fresh mayo. I can't ever eat it all.

>>6402653
Get an immersion blender, it's basically impossible to mess up if you use that.

>>6402653
You disgust me

>>6402588
I overcook risotto constantly

>>6403601
Your face would disgust me.

>>6405880
Here it is

Can't peel hardboiled eggs perfectly no matter what I do.

>>6403566
this, it's far superior to a blender

>>6405938

it's all about thermal shock.

immediately transfer your piping hot eggs into freezing cold water.

the most drastic the shock, the easier the peeling.

Bread, except pizza crust.

>>6405951
I already do that :_:

why am I retarded

>>6405968
i had your problem. this video helped me solve it. also its even easier once you thermal shock it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLjCDNoRC-g

I fuck up hot dogs

>>6402556
use the microwave broham. Stab with a fork all over then wrap in a water soaked paper towel. microwave for 3 minutes. If its still hard replace the paper towel and microwave for another minute or two

>>6402588
i think the important thing is only adding a little bit of stock at a time, same with the butter
some, idk who, mb batalli, was talking about how it allows abrasion of the rice, whereas if there's too much stock, it just floats around in the stock without any real collisions

I can't cook chicken for the life of me without drying the thing like it's jerky

>>6406090
cook dark meat

Gravy is the one that gets me -- I can make a great roast, but for the life of me when it comes time to assemble gravy, I just can't get it right.

>I'm not a robot
I almost wish I was. Robots could make gravy.

>>6405968
Get different eggs then. I find smaller sizes peel a lot easier.

>>6405944
but what about smooooothies?

>>6406090
you can cook frozen chicken from frozen pretty much straight through on medium with little to no problem.

for fresh chicken, first brown it on high heat, both sides, then flip back to the first side, lower the heat as low as it can go, and flip it again after about 5 minutes.

Most people try to cook it through too hot all at once. best to sear it, then let it go low to finish.

>>6402556
Dude I burn rice every fucking time.
For like
No reason

I've never made chili that I thought was excellent. I like chili, but every time I make it is just satisfying, not completely delicious. Tried a bunch of diferent ways making it and ingredients. idk.

>>6406184
>can cook from frozen

what, that makes it tough as leather. unless you are just browining at before you add to a slow cooker or something.

>>6406202
Do you add coffee?

>>6406200
Are you covering it and turning down the heat to simmer?

>>6406202
for me, the biggest thing for a really flavourful chilli was to toast half the spices in oil while i'm browning the onion and garlic, then add them and the other half of the spices once the beef is cooked before adding tomatoes
also, i personally mash half the beans and stir it through the chilli, and then add the other half of whole beans

>>6406210
Yeah
I'm just cursed.
I also make infinite amounts. Regardless of how much I actually want

>>6406211
That sounds great
Man with a plan

Biscuits. They never rise as much as I want them to rise. At this point I'm wondering if my expectations are too high. I want reasonably big biscuits. I've tried different recipes and taken extra precaution to handle the dough as little as I possibly can. Besides that I never seem to have enough dough to make more than four good sized biscuits when the recipe tells me it's supposed to make 12 or whatever.

Poached eggs. The weirdest part is I can make them just fine when they're just for me. The second another person wants a poached egg, they'd better be hoping for weirdly overcooked yolks with undercooked whites.

3 minute eggs

I eat sweet potato almost daily because it is so easy to cook in my little airfryer. (pic related)

I just dice the potato, mix it with some salt and olive oil, then toss it into the airfryer at 180 celcius for 10 minutes,

Turns out perfect ~ If i want it crunchier, 15 minutes or so is good.

The airfryer is SO good and easy to use if you want to make small portions of food. Perfect for people like me who live alone.

Much easier to use than an oven, and more energy efficient.

>>6406307

>>6406319
I wanted to say the same thing anon

but these fucking captchas today

>>6406323
>but these fucking captchas today

Tell me about it,have to refresh about 4 times before getting past all the food bullshit.

>>6406026

Huh, wasn't expecting this thread to still be alive. Goes to show how time spent on other boards doesn't mean much.

Well, my apartment doesn't have a microwave. And it goes without saying that if I was cheap enough to find an apartment without a microwave, I'm cheap enough to not buy one.

Cheapest one I could find that was pet-friendly. If I have to sacrifice a microwave for my maybe-retarded compadre, so be it.

>>6402795
They're sheets not noodles

>>6402556
I can't seem to bread chicken at all. I always end up having to shake flour off them because it doesn't seem to work.

>>6405938

wait till the water boils before you put the eggs in
put them right into cold water afterwards

you can also try having your eggs in the fridge before cooking

Chicken gravy using the chicken fat and flour and stock. I can make it, and its perfectly edible, but it just never has the level of flavour I hope for.

Just bake till a knife goes through it easily. Sounds like your oven is fucked.

>>6406735
You're fucking retarded.

>>6406776
Says the guy who can't into shapes

>>6406124
You mean it comes out the wrong texture, or the mechanics work but it just tastes wrong?

>>6406797
Actually, I opened this thread specifically to tell you you're retarded.

Do you even know the definition of "noodle"?

>>6406829
Pic related

>>6406849
>a very thin, long strip of pasta
Is lasagna not thin, long, or a strip? Or is your argument that it's not pasta? Fuckin retard.

>>6406858
A very long thin strip is obviously describing something like spaghetti. Lasagna isnt that long and is wide, making a rectangle. It's a sheet.

>>6406883
Oops meant very thin long strip. The argument stands.

>>6402556

making just one piece of toast always saddens me

the empty slot is sad, so sad

For some reason, I'm really bad at reducing sauces. It seems like no matter how long I have them on the stove, no matter how high I have the heat, they're always too watery.

>>6406883
Lasagna is a noodle. You're an idiot.

>In English, lasagne (of whatever spelling) is usually used for the dish, and some redundantism like "lasagna noodles" can be used for just the pasta.

>>6406883
>>6406888
Are you saying lasagna is thick? All lasagna I've eaten is thin. Oh, it's also long (relative to such a thing as a square). Believe it or not, lasagna also happens to be a fucking strip, you inbred hick.

>>6406920
>Are you saying lasagna is thick?

No, it's wide.

> fucking strip
no, more of a sheet than a strip. it's too wide to be considered a strip.

>>6406920
It has one side longer than the other but it isn't long like linguini is, and it is wide. Spaghetti (for example) and lasagna are so different it should be obvious that one description wouldn't apply to both

>>6406891
Put your socks in it. Toasty warm morning feet.

>>6406928
At what width and length ratio does a strip become a sheet?

>>6406995
At golden ratio?

>>6406928
>too wide
You're delusional. My bedspread is a sheet. A piece of paper is a sheet. A ribbon is a strip, and a lasagna noodle is a strip.

>>6406937
No shit, but they're both fucking pasta, aren't they? They're both god damned food. There are plenty of words that apply to both, and "noodle" is one of them.

>>6407187
How are you so dense? A noodle is long and thin. A sheet is sort of squat and wide like paper. Which one describes lasagna?

>>6407298
>A sheet is sort of squat and wide like paper.
prove it, fagit

Despite your assertions, when you google "lasagna noodle," you get fucking noodles. Oh, and they happen to be of the lasagna variety. You god damn idiot.

POACHED FUCKING EGGS

>>6407507
Are you using vinegar?

>>6407528
No, barely simmering water.

>>6407536
Then you're doing it like a retard.

Use vinegar (causes the albumen to cook faster), stir the water so there's a vortex, and drop the egg in the middle. You won't get stringy albumen, and the yolk will be soft. Scoop it out with a slotted spoon, and you're golden.

>>6402556
Mac n' Cheese.

No matter how much butter, cheese, or seasoning I add it always comes out underwhelming. I don't even attempt to make it anymore.

>>6407455
>prove it
Google "sheet definition".

One definition of lasagna in the oxford english dictionary talks about "sheets or wide strips" not the "very thin strips" that are noodles. Wide. Not very thin. The two are not the same. I understand you're attached to your colloquialism but you should give it up. You fucking retard.

anything involving a roux because I'm an incompetent buffoon

>>6407552
>Google
How about you "google" lasagna? You'll see that it's called a fucking noodle, you numbskull.

>>6407565
And you do the same, youll see plenty of people calling them sheets, including every supermarket

>>6402556
omelettes but I use stainless steel. I use the cold oil hot pan method. (you heat the pan first and then add the oil and coat it quick then add the egg before the oil's viscosity goes up and the egg touches the bottom before it's cooked) I can never seem to tell if the pans hot enough for the oil yet or not even with the water drop thing. Also I'm using a flat sided pan so folding it without tearing it or setting it wrong is hell.

>>6407584
>including every supermarket
Every box of lasagna I see either simply calls it pasta OR calls it "noodles".

>>6407597

>>6402795
>>6406735
>>6406776
>>6406797
>>6406829
>>6406849
>>6406858
>>6406883
>>6406888
>>6406917
>>6406920
>>6406928
>>6406937
>>6407187
>>6407298
>>6407455
>>6407552
>>6407565
>>6407584
>>6407597
>>6407606
OH MY GOD YOU GUYS IT'S REGIONAL

DIFFERENT REGIONS HAVE DIFFERENT TERMINOLOGY

IT'S REGIONAL YOU FUCKING NOODLES

>>6407606
>tesco
Should have known I was arguing with a retarded bong.

http://www.barilla.com/content/recipe/barilla-three-layer-lasagna

>>6405886
spongebob?

>>6406764
Try reducing your stock and chicken juices and a cooked rue.

>>6402788
Kettle corn for me.

Succeeded the first time I tried. Seemed like it was easy. Never been able to pull it off again. I always fuck it up.

>>6407623
>I say it in my pretend democracy so I must be right!

>>6408036
What "pretend democracy," you bong?

>>6408042
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/21/americas-oligarchy-not-democracy-or-republic-unive/

>>6408052
>washington times

People read this non-ironically? I assume it's the same kind of people who watch fox unironically.

I don't even care what you guys are arguing about.

>>6408054
Sorry chose a link at random
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746

>>6408061
>at random
Sure you did. Kind of like how you were "flipping through the channels" the other day and you accidentally watched 3 hours of My Little Pony.

>>6408069
You didn't read the BBC link then. It's Princeton that is responsible

>>6406255
are you using lard?

>>6408052
The product is from Italy, you autist

Also
>multiple people are calling you retarded

Everytime I try to make a pizza at home I always flop it up putting it in the oven. I add mass amounts of starch and shit but I just can't get it in without mutilating it completely.

>>6406255
Biscuit, like chocolate chip cookie?

Cream the butter.

>>6405886
He's that guy with mental health problems who donated sperm, and hundreds of unwitting mothers gave birth to half black children with mental health problems.

How long to fry chicken breast strips. I either end up with doughy batter or dry chicken.

>>6408098
That depends on the thickness of your chicken strips.

I usually fry for about 5 or 6 minutes.

>>6406124
learn to make a roux. go from there.

I always fuck up when I make dark roux. I either burn it, cook it too little, too much flour, etc. I feel like I'm improving overall, but I haven't made an edible one yet.

>>6406202
heres mine:

3 lbs stewing beef
2 cans beer
2 chopped onions
10-15 dashes tobasco
3-4 pinches oregano
2 15oz cans tomato sauce
4Tbsp cumin
garlic
1Tbsp salt
1Tbsp cayenne
1Tbsp coriander
1 chopped celery stalk

Marinate beef in beer for ~3 hrs
Sear meat in oil
mix in onions while searing
add tobasco to beer
cook meat in marinate for 30 min or more
add remaining ingredients
cook 1-2 hrs

*sear meat in small batches

>>6407622

You must come from an inbred hellhole if you call lasagna sheets 'noodles'

>>6406090
Invest in a good meat thermometer. I didn't realize how much I overcooked my chicken till I got one. Also, thighs are the best cut. It's hard to fuck up a thigh.

>>6407549
It's comfort food. It is supposed to make you feel like you could curl up in it and sleep.

>>6407561
Stir constantly, and I mean constantly.