Absurdly, stupidly basic cooking questions (Part 2)

[alwang]

Anyone have any suggestions on how to best clean a fine-meshed strainer/chinois? I always seem to be left with a little residual gunk.

-al

[johnsmith45678]

Anyone have any suggestions on how to best clean a fine-meshed strainer/chinois?  I always seem to be left with a little residual gunk.

-al

←

High-pressure spray?

[Kouign Aman]

Bottle brush.

[Shalmanese]

I always bang it out a couple of times to get most of it out and just ignore the inevitable residue. Someone on eG suggested burning the stuff off using your gas burner. I haven't tried it but it sounds like it should work.

[andiesenji]

I have a hose right outside my kitchen door with a high pressure nozzle and I just blast the stuff out with it.

I do make sure to clean it immediately after use. That is the most important thing.

If I have something extremely fatty I spray inside and out with the Dawn Power Dissolver.

[Knicke]

andiesenji  Posted Oct 4 2006, 09:01 PM

I can give you a little helpful hint if you have a vacuum sealer. Apply the oil - be generous - place the rolling pin and whatever else (I treat my wooden spoons and other utensils this way) in the bag - which you have already sealed at one end.

Leave at least 8 inches of empty bag beyond where the wood is.

Vacuum seal it at the very end. Leave it alone for a day, cut the sealed end off, re-apply the oil and run the thing through the vacuum sealer again. Leave it overnight again.

If the wood is still very absorbant repeat this step again.

Remove the wood things from the bag and wipe well with a soft, absorbant cloth. Wrap in paper towels and allow to rest for a day or so.

The final step is to rub them with dry cornstarch then wipe again with a soft cloth. The cornstarch will absorb just the oil on the surface.

Thanks andi. I'm intrigued. I don't actually have a vacuum sealer, but I'm trying to figure out if I could do something similar with a sealed plastic freezer bag (or several). It would probably be messier/not as convenient, but I'm wondering... is having an airtight seal the key? Or is there something else specific about the vacuum sealer that makes this work? Can you tell me more about what is achieved by using the sealer?

[andiesenji]

andiesenji   Posted Oct 4 2006, 09:01 PM

I can give you a little helpful hint if you have a vacuum sealer. Apply the oil - be generous - place the rolling pin and whatever else (I treat my wooden spoons and other utensils this way) in the bag - which you have already sealed at one end.

Leave at least 8 inches of empty bag beyond where the wood is.

Vacuum seal it at the very end. Leave it alone for a day, cut the sealed end off, re-apply the oil and run the thing through the vacuum sealer again. Leave it overnight again.

If the wood is still very absorbant repeat this step again.

Remove the wood things from the bag and wipe well with a soft, absorbant cloth. Wrap in paper towels and allow to rest for a day or so.

The final step is to rub them with dry cornstarch then wipe again with a soft cloth. The cornstarch will absorb just the oil on the surface.

Thanks andi. I'm intrigued. I don't actually have a vacuum sealer, but I'm trying to figure out if I could do something similar with a sealed plastic freezer bag (or several). It would probably be messier/not as convenient, but I'm wondering... is having an airtight seal the key? Or is there something else specific about the vacuum sealer that makes this work? Can you tell me more about what is achieved by using the sealer?

←

Have you seen the "Instant-Marinade" containers? This works on the same principal. I have seen something similar demonstrated in a laboratory, a lone time ago when a small container containing a very hot liquid was placed into a vacuum chamber with a piece of a wood block under it so the heat would not damage the base of the chamber (I guess, I was only an observer).

The vacuum pump was started and we began to see condensation dripping down the walls of the chamber and collect on the bottom. I was away from the demonstration for a few minutes, while doing something else but when I returned they had just shut the pump down as it had reached the atmosphere level they wanted, only a partial vacuum.

When they removed the sample from the chamber they also removed the wood block and set it on a manual laying on the counter. Someone noticed that there was obvious moisture around the spot and when they picked it up there was a wet spot on the book.

Anything porous will apparently suck in any moisture when placed in a partial vacuum.

In fact, I once put some skewers holding meats and onions in marinade in a vacuum package and then put them in the freezer. The skewers split when the moisture in them split. That was enough of a demonstration for me.

In any event, when I got my first vacuum sealer, quite a few years ago, I began treating some antique wooden kitchen tools this way (unpainted) potato smashers, spoons, ladles, rolling pins, small bowls, butter molds, etc., and it seems to work quite well.

It may just be my imagination, but since I have the machine (and a huge supply of bags bought on ebay) I figure it can't hurt. I will take a photo of one of the old rolling pins, a huge one, a bit later and post it here.

[JAZ]

Anyone have any suggestions on how to best clean a fine-meshed strainer/chinois?  I always seem to be left with a little residual gunk.

-al

←

I clean all my fine strainers with a potato brush -- the kind that looks kind of like a nail brush, but with a potato-shapped handle. The bristles are really stiff and do a great job of getting all the residual gunk out.

[Toliver]

Since the eGullet Food Science forum is still just a dream, I'll post my question conerning fat in recipes here. Any and all SSB's please weigh in.

In this discussion in the Pastry & Baking forum, a recipe called for 1 & 1/2 cups of oil. The poster, thinking that was a lot of oil, changed it to 1 cup of oil and a half cup of butter.

Does fat=fat? Flavor-wise, of course I know there's a difference between adding all oil versus a mix of oil and butter. But chemically speaking, isn't a fat a fat? Or does butter "behave" differently in a baking recipe than oil would?

I'm curious...

[Shalmanese]

Buter is roughly 80% fat and 20% water so a 1 to 1 substitution may not work. Additionally, Butter has a different melting point to oil, a different viscosity at different temperature ranges and obviously a different flavour. For some applications, this doesnt matter but it does in others.

[johnsmith45678]

What does vegemite taste like? Like yeast? Is it as nasty as its reputation? And why do Australians like it?

Finally, where can I get some in the US?

[beccaboo]

What does vegemite taste like? Like yeast? Is it as nasty as its reputation? And why do Australians like it?

Finally, where can I get some in the US?

←

It tastes like really strong, salty yeast, and it's not nasty at all--Australians like it because it's tasty. I get mine at PFI--a food import shop here in Seattle--and I've seen it at those expensive shops that sell British Isles/South African/Australian things. Marmite tastes similar (Australians would disagree), and I've seen it at lots of regular grocery stores.

[BekkiM]

Pot fillers... (Those spigots on the wall above the cooktop so that you can fill your pasta pot and not have to lug it across the kitchen)

What happens after the pasta is cooked? Don't you now have to lug a pot of boiling water across the kitchen to dump it all in the collander for draining? I know I could have a pasta insert and lift the stuff out of the boiling water (although now I'm just dripping hot, starchy water on my cooktop and counter), but that still leaves me with at least one trip across the kitchen with a heavy pot of water.

I just don't get it and since I'm in the process of talking hubbie into letting me have my way with our kitchen, this one has been bugging me. I mean, I want the "gourmet" kitchen, but I don't want gimmicky goo-gaws that I never use (I'd rather save that money for a bigger range).

[C. sapidus]

Pot fillers...  (Those spigots on the wall above the cooktop so that you can fill your pasta pot and not have to lug it across the kitchen)

What happens after the pasta is cooked?  Don't you now have to lug a pot of boiling water across the kitchen to dump it all in the collander for draining?  I know I could have a pasta insert and lift the stuff out of the boiling water (although now I'm just dripping hot, starchy water on my cooktop and counter), but that still leaves me with at least one trip across the kitchen with a heavy pot of water.

I just don't get it and since I'm in the process of talking hubbie into letting me have my way with our kitchen, this one has been bugging me.  I mean, I want the "gourmet" kitchen, but I don't want gimmicky goo-gaws that I never use (I'd rather save that money for a bigger range).

←

Another potential problem with pot fillers: what happens if they start leaking? If your sink faucet leaks, the water runs into the sink. If your pot filler leaks, the water runs into your range.

We installed a small prep sink (basically a bar sink) on the same side of the kitchen as the cook top. Our pass-through galley kitchen gets a lot of traffic, so we wanted to avoid collisions between children, dogs, and big pots of boiling water. Even though the prep sink is small, we have found it to be incredibly useful.

Good luck with your renovation.

[MelissaH]

Pot fillers...  (Those spigots on the wall above the cooktop so that you can fill your pasta pot and not have to lug it across the kitchen)

What happens after the pasta is cooked?  Don't you now have to lug a pot of boiling water across the kitchen to dump it all in the collander for draining?  I know I could have a pasta insert and lift the stuff out of the boiling water (although now I'm just dripping hot, starchy water on my cooktop and counter), but that still leaves me with at least one trip across the kitchen with a heavy pot of water.

I just don't get it and since I'm in the process of talking hubbie into letting me have my way with our kitchen, this one has been bugging me.  I mean, I want the "gourmet" kitchen, but I don't want gimmicky goo-gaws that I never use (I'd rather save that money for a bigger range).

←

Another potential problem with pot fillers: what happens if they start leaking? If your sink faucet leaks, the water runs into the sink. If your pot filler leaks, the water runs into your range.

We installed a small prep sink (basically a bar sink) on the same side of the kitchen as the cook top. Our pass-through galley kitchen gets a lot of traffic, so we wanted to avoid collisions between children, dogs, and big pots of boiling water. Even though the prep sink is small, we have found it to be incredibly useful.

Good luck with your renovation.

←

Agreed on the pot filler issue. We didn't put one in when we did our reno because we've both worked in enough labs to know that if there's a faucet, there should always be a drain underneath to avoid a flood.

Keep us all posted on how your kitchen goes!

MelissaH

[andiesenji]

I have had pot filler faucets in three different kitchens. I never had a problem with leaking.

All had a valve control at the wall, and one at the end on the faucet itself.

Like these. I have one like the Danze that extends out 22 inches.

I wouldn't be without one.

[BekkiM]

I wouldn't be without one.

←

But you haven't answered my question about why you wouldn't be without one--is saving one trip back-and-forth to the sink with a full pot of water so valuable? Maybe my kitchen just isn't large enough to need the convenience (it's only three steps from stove to sink)?

[lorea]

What does vegemite taste like? Like yeast? Is it as nasty as its reputation? And why do Australians like it?

Finally, where can I get some in the US?

←

It tastes like really strong, salty yeast, and it's not nasty at all--Australians like it because it's tasty. I get mine at PFI--a food import shop here in Seattle--and I've seen it at those expensive shops that sell British Isles/South African/Australian things. Marmite tastes similar (Australians would disagree), and I've seen it at lots of regular grocery stores.

←

To my Americanized tongue, both vegemite and marmite taste like salty fish to me!

[Shalmanese]

What does vegemite taste like? Like yeast? Is it as nasty as its reputation? And why do Australians like it?

Finally, where can I get some in the US?

←

You can't

[BekkiM]

What does vegemite taste like? Like yeast? Is it as nasty as its reputation? And why do Australians like it?

Finally, where can I get some in the US?

←

You can't

←

I've seen it at Cost Plus in Denver (and I'm assuming they carry approximately the same inventory everywhere)

[A Patric]

I wouldn't be without one.

←

But you haven't answered my question about why you wouldn't be without one--is saving one trip back-and-forth to the sink with a full pot of water so valuable? Maybe my kitchen just isn't large enough to need the convenience (it's only three steps from stove to sink)?

←

As I understand it, the point isn't necessarily to avoid lugging anything from the sink, although that may be a bonus, but rather, the point is that many pots are so tall that they won't fit into the sink to be filled. I have a number of pots that are too tall like that. So I end up standing at the sink with a smaller vessel gradually filling up the larger one. However, when the pasta or whatever is done, I don't have any problems taking the large pot to the sink to drain it. Maybe that would be an issue for some very elderly people, but I have a feeling that most of us would do just fine, especially if the pot isn't filled all the way to the very top.

[BekkiM]

As I understand it, the point isn't necessarily to avoid lugging anything from the sink, although that may be a bonus, but rather, the point is that many pots are so tall that they won't fit into the sink to be filled.  I have a number of pots that are too tall like that.  So I end up standing at the sink with a smaller vessel gradually filling up the larger one.  However, when the pasta or whatever is done, I don't have any problems taking the large pot to the sink to drain it.  Maybe that would be an issue for some very elderly people, but I have a feeling that most of us would do just fine, especially if the pot isn't filled all the way to the very top.

←

Thank you!!! If there was a lightbulb smily, it would be shining brightly--NOW I get it!

[little ms foodie]

What does vegemite taste like? Like yeast? Is it as nasty as its reputation? And why do Australians like it?

Finally, where can I get some in the US?

←

You can't

←

Shal my friend told me this (she is a fellow aussie):

Not a good time to be looking for vegemite, it just got banned from the US!!!! That said it has been seen in

De Laurenti Specialty Food

1435 1st Ave, Seattle, WA

October 21st, 2006 - 115g jars at $5 each - some with labeling saying "Contains Folate" – but be quick!

Edited October 23, 2006 by little ms foodie (log)

[Shalmanese]

I'm OK. I have a 1kg jar I brought over from Australia and I can smuggle some more in next July when I go back to Aus. Anybody in Seattle with vegemite withdrawals, I can hook you up. I suppose I should hang some ug boots over the powerlines near my house

[prasantrin]

Maybe that would be an issue for some very elderly people, but I have a feeling that most of us would do just fine, especially if the pot isn't filled all the way to the very top.

←

Elderly people and those with carpal tunnel and/or tennis elbow (I have both...for 4 years now...but it's getting better!)