Matonski

So the conclusion seems to be that the meat doesn't taste much different depending on how it was browned or even whether it was browned. However, do you think the sauce would be different?

Flay is on multiple times a day on national TV. I think he has furthered his career quite well.

Will steam being emitted from a pot of boiling water really burn you more severely that sticking your hand into that water? That doesn't seem correct to me. I agree that since steam is capable of being heated above 100C, it can burn you more severely in that case.

I know this is so 5 pages ago ;) but I have a comment regarding double boilers and the temperature of steam versus that of water. The temperature of the boiling water is 100 degrees C. The temperature of the steam is also 100 degrees. The reason the egg takes a longer time to cook through the steam has to do with the rate of heat transfer. In the water, the egg is getting hit by much more water molecules at a time than it is above the water.

I made a pork dish involving some fresh sage that was chopped and sprinkled on the top. The rest of my family ate it and thought it was all fine and well. However, I couldn't stand the taste of the sage. Even thinking about it now makes me a little queesy. Interestingly, I also made a cabbage dish that had some caraway seeds in it, and my brother couldn't even swallow it. I didn't notice any intense flavor in it that would make someone hate it, but then again, he didn't notice anything about the dish with sage. A similar thing happened once when I made a bulgur dish with cloves. Is it common to have an intense dislike for some herbs/spices? Perhaps I did something wrong? I don't think I put too much, everyone else eating any of the dishes didn't notice any stand out herb/spice taste.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Adding a little sugar fixed everything. I'm not a super taster, in fact, most of the time, I scarf down my food without tasting it at all. Anyway, when I used to live with a friend, I would always use their olive oil and balsamic vinegar on salads. It never tasted bitter. Now, I realized that its because the cheaper balsamic vinegars are just regular vinegars with sugar added. When I bought more expensive balsamic vinegar (not the authentic stuff, just like 15 bucks for the bottle), there was no sugar in it. Anyway, this troubleshooting process was helpful.

Okay, I've tried to make a plain green salad many times, and each time there is a strong bitter taste. I've used many different types of greens and tried different brands of oils and vinegars. This last time, was the best so far, but the bitter taste crept up by the end. I used boston lettuce and romaine and brand new Lucini extra virgin olive oil (it was like 12 bucks for 500 mL) and they're aged balsamic vinegar (also like 12 bucks, but for a smaller amount). What am I doing wrong? I put the greens in a stainless steel mixing bowl, pour some oil, splash some vinegar, and toss. That's it. Oh yeah, I also sprinkle a little salt.

How do you measure a cup of greens (spinach, leaf lettuce, romaine, etc)? I can cram quite a lot of spinach into a measuring cup. On the other hand, if I just lightly place the leaves in the cup, I get just a tiny fraction of the amount. I have a scale, perhaps that's better. How much does a cup of greens weigh?

I'm a beginning cook and I just started to enjoy the wonders of really searing my meat (steaks, roasts, meat for stew/braises, etc) to a nice deep brown crust. I'm getting pretty decent at doing it. My problem is when I have to do more meat than I can fit in the pan. The first batch comes out good, but then the little stuck bits from that batch start to get burned before I can finish the later batches. Of course, the bitter burned taste is not fashionable. So, is there any way around this without washing the pan between batches?

For the brown stock, do you try and roast all the meat/bones you are going to use, or just some of it? It doesn't look like there are 8 lbs of meat in that non-stick pot.

Thanks for the responses. I will try the suggestions. At the moment, I've been using those green and light green Scotch-Brite pads and a product called "Bar Keeper's Friend." Now that I have a dishwasher, I might try sticking it in there as well. Do you think the brown stuff affects its cooking, or is it just and appearance thing?

Thanks for the reply. My pan gets brown all over, including the outside and the bottom as well. Do you still think it's oil spatters?

I'm very new to cooking. I have an All-Clad stainless steal roasting pan that costed $160. The problem is, everytime I try and roast a chicken in it, the entire pan turns brown all over. I roast the chicken for 20 minutes on 500 degrees before I turn down the heat to about 350, and finish it at that temp. Anyway, why is my pan doing this? How do I clean it?