JAZ "Two incredibly stupid comments from TV peeps (on the same day, no less): From Christopher Kimball (talking about brining): "Salt is made of two molecules, so it's faster at osmosis than sugar, which only has one molecule." I don't even know what this could possibly mean. From Rick Bayliss: Having visited mussel and oyster farms in Baja Mexico and coming back to shore with a bin of each, he said they were coming back with a "big load of crustaceans." C'mon Rick! At least edit that out -- it was a voiceover. " That is literal jargon. Also, a basic brine generally has both salt and sugar in it soooo...? And the thing about the crustaceans is pathetic, more so because I'm sure 90% (but maybe as many as 99%) of TV viewers don't even know that he was wrong. On the "holding the knife" bit: I actually had a chef instructor tell me that there were several correct ways to hold a knife (the only incorrect one being to hold it on the handle and have no interaction with the blade). For awhile, I was holding my knife with my index finger on the spine. Then after being in a kitchen where I was cutting for a few hours without stopping, I was pretty sure my finger was going to fall off so I uh... stopped doing that. Not debating the correctness of holding a knife like that (the pain will let you know it is wrong), just saying it absolutely still happens. I also had a chef instructor who insisted that if you were steaming/boiling a potato (taking it all the way, or partial cook-age) that it should ALWAYS be cooked whole with the skin on regardless of size, or variation is size among the potatoes. I know some people are die-hard about the idea that this retains flavor but IMO even cooking takes precedence. Also, the nails. Nothing grosses me out more than that.
