Absurdly, stupidly basic cooking questions (Part 1)

[andiesenji]

A spyder (or spider; you see it both ways) is a term that covers frying and saute pans: a shallow, wide pan.

With legs? Or maybe I mean feet.

Well, andiesenji might be referring to a footed spider, since that's the origin of the term, I believe. But once electric ranges became all the rage among my grandma and her peers, they adopted the word for anything of frying-pan shape.

Just what the folks back then (1940s in Kentucky) called any cast iron skillet.

I have a bunch, many "liberated" when I made a trip back home in the mid 80s. Drove a van back, rented a trailer and came back to California with over a ton of cast iron, crocks of all sizes and a lot of other junk. No one ever throws anything away on the farm. They still have my grandpa's 1937 Buick LaSall Saloon.... in perfect working order.

The kitchen was "modernized" even when I was a child, with two big gas ranges (bottled gas which had been used for lighting for many years) 2 gas refrigerators, Servel, before electricity was in. They still use the old Monarch range to heat the kitchen annex in the winter, otherwise I would have made off with that also. The stoves now are Garland and they use some cast iron but I am good at begging and they let me take what I wanted.

I just counted 11 cast iron skillets from 6 inch to 20 inch plus a long "skillet" that covers two burners and a deep chicken fryer.

[Dave the Cook]

Wow. I had no idea a regular oven could reach those temperatures. So, if our ovens can get that hot during self cleaning, why do the dials only go up to around 500 degrees for most ovens? Granted, there is not a whole lot that you would need to cook at 900 degrees, but if my oven can do it, I darn well want to be able to make it do it upon command....

Two problems: temperature control above 550 (you can have hot or amazingly hot, but nothing in between); and the safety interlock, which is there for your protection and will have to be disabled. Certainly this would void the warranty, if one is in force, and probably give your insurance company whiplash.

[NulloModo]

Wow.  I had no idea a regular oven could reach those temperatures.  So, if our ovens can get that hot during self cleaning, why do the dials only go up to around 500 degrees for most ovens?  Granted, there is not a whole lot that you would need to cook at 900 degrees, but if my oven can do it, I darn well want to be able to make it do it upon command....

Two problems: temperature control above 550 (you can have hot or amazingly hot, but nothing in between); and the safety interlock, which is there for your protection and will have to be disabled. Certainly this would void the warranty, if one is in force, and probably give your insurance company whiplash.

Well, I am not planning on tampering with my own oven. I just wish that the oven manufacturers would trust consumers enough to give us full range control of our ovens, a dial that goes in gradual steps from nothing to 900 degrees. I see it a lot like the speed limiter on cars, sure, there is really no reason you _need_ to be going over 120 mph, but if you car, or oven, can do it, I don't want to deal with a product that has been handicapped to prevent me from doing it, even if I never will.

Then again, I have never shopped for a professional level oven.

[fifi]

Wow. I had no idea a regular oven could reach those temperatures. So, if our ovens can get that hot during self cleaning, why do the dials only go up to around 500 degrees for most ovens? Granted, there is not a whole lot that you would need to cook at 900 degrees, but if my oven can do it, I darn well want to be able to make it do it upon command....

The great and thoughtful "they" put those door locks on there because they think the average person is stupid enough to stick their head in there and roast it.

Steingarten has a hilarious piece in It Must Have Been Something I Ate, where he is in the search of high enough temperatures to make pizza. He tries to defeat a friend's oven interlock and the pizza turns to ash. His other antics in his quest are worth the price of the book.

[Marlene]

Here's my stupid question. We have liquid measure and dry measure, yes? Ok, so today, I'm making a potato salad, a macaroni salad and a coleslaw. All three call for mayonnaise and sour cream in the dressing. In the past, I've always used liquid measure to measure these. It occured to me today that it could be dry measure. So is it 3/4 cup sour cream - liquid measure, or 3/4 cup sour cream dry measure?

[doodle]

I have a Ducane gas BBQ with (I think) stainless steel grates that are wide surface ribs & convex shaped. They say they can go in the dishwasher to be cleaned but ...doesn't do the job well enough. When I heat before or after cooking it doesn't get hot enough to remove all the leftover bits either.

Do you think if I put them in my self-cleaning oven I would run the risk of "ruining" them?

doodle

[andiesenji]

Most of the cast iron collection among other things hanging from my pantry ceiling. I tried to get a picture of a perfectly seasoned skillet and one of another that needs work but unfortunately I am a bit shaky today and the pics are too fuzzy. This photo was taken a few weeks ago.

[Marlene]

Most of the cast iron collection among other things hanging from my pantry ceiling. I tried to get a picture of a perfectly seasoned skillet and one of another that needs work but unfortunately I am a bit shaky today and the pics are too fuzzy. This photo was taken a few weeks ago.

I hope none of them ever fall on your head!

[Dave the Cook]

. . . is it 3/4 cup sour cream - liquid measure, or 3/4 cup sour cream dry measure?

Whichever one tastes better.

[andiesenji]

I hope none of them ever fall on your head!

A lot of people take a look in there and say the same thing. It hasn't happened in sixteen years, but there is always a first time. My hand might slip or something.

They are up there hung on 6 inch hooks that are screwed into the ceiling joists, which, in this house, because of the clay tile roof, are 6" x 8".

I can hang my 200 plus pounds from one of those hooks.

At the end where I was standing to take the photo I have a big swivel hook where I hang large carcasses when I am breaking them into parts. I have a huge but shallow galvanized tub that goes on the floor under it. I have had steer parts that took two men to lift hanging on it.

[Marlene]

. . . is it 3/4 cup sour cream - liquid measure, or 3/4 cup sour cream dry measure?

Whichever one tastes better.

You're not helpful..........

[sacre_bleu]

At the end where I was standing to take the photo I have a big swivel hook where I hang large carcasses when I am breaking them into parts. I have a huge but shallow galvanized tub that goes on the floor under it. I have had steer parts that took two men to lift hanging on it.

Me want.

[NulloModo]

Here's my stupid question. We have liquid measure and dry measure, yes? Ok, so today, I'm making a potato salad, a macaroni salad and a coleslaw. All three call for mayonnaise and sour cream in the dressing. In the past, I've always used liquid measure to measure these. It occured to me today that it could be dry measure. So is it 3/4 cup sour cream - liquid measure, or 3/4 cup sour cream dry measure?

Wait wait wait.... you mean a cup isn't just a cup? There are various kinds of cups? Now I am going to get really confused and have to do some research.... I've been using the same measuring cups for everything...

[fifi]

Well... What my momma taught me is that you use the little metal cups to measure dry ingredients (she was a proponent of dipping in the flour, for instance, and leveling it off with the back of a knife), and the Pyrex cups for liquids. The volume is supposed to be the same but you can't measure the dry accurately in a glass cup with lines.

(I know... I know... Someone is going to say that weighing is the correct way to do it, so, go ahead, get it over with.)

[Dave the Cook]

Here's my stupid question.  We have liquid measure and dry measure, yes?  Ok, so today, I'm making a potato salad, a macaroni salad and a coleslaw.  All three call for mayonnaise and sour cream in the dressing.  In the past, I've always used liquid measure to measure these.  It occured to me today that it could be dry measure.  So is it 3/4 cup sour cream - liquid measure, or 3/4 cup sour cream dry measure?

Wait wait wait.... you mean a cup isn't just a cup? There are various kinds of cups? Now I am going to get really confused and have to do some research.... I've been using the same measuring cups for everything...

They aren't even the same from manufacturer to manufacturer! And yes, a liquid cup is typically, though not always, about 16% smaller, by volume, than a dry cup.

The rule I use is: if you can pour it, use a liquid measure; if you can't, use a dry measure. So for sour cream and mayo, I use dry. For honey, I use liquid.

I have no idea if this is "correct." It seems to me that using the same device every time is much more important than which one gets used.

edit: oh, yeah, you really ought to be using a scale anyway . . .

[Marlene]

Better. Thanks! And someday I'll get a scale. Probably on my next trip to WS

[fifi]

They aren't even the same from manufacturer to manufacturer! And yes, a liquid cup is typically, though not always, about 16% smaller, by volume, than a dry cup.

ARRRGGG!!!

This kind of thing drives me nuts! Where are the standards here? Isn't a cup, as a measure of volume, standardized to be the same thing? I know that the National Bureau of Standards must have a definition on this. Off to search.

[andiesenji]

Me want.

The hook, the galvanized tub or the meat??

I don't do this much now, arthritis has slowed me down. However I still have all the tools.

My housekeeper's nephew wanted to "borrow" my band saw and was a bit miffed when I turned him down. I finally said that I used it only to cut up meat and bones and his eyes got the size of saucers and he slipped out the back door and I haven't seen him since. I think he may be wondering just WHAT I have in my freezer......

I also have an electric chain saw that I keep for the same use.

I wonder if that is why my house has never been burgled, although there was a rash of break-ins in my neighborhood a few months ago.

[Dave the Cook]

This kind of thing drives me nuts! Where are the standards here? Isn't a cup, as a measure of volume, standardized to be the same thing? I know that the National Bureau of Standards must have a definition on this. Off to search.

(AP - Houston) Using the soon-to-be (so they promised) revitalized headquarters of the defunct Enron headquarters as a backdrop, Linda "fifi" LaRose and Dave "the Cook" Scantland today announced the formation of a new kitchenware company devoted to the exacting standards demanded by a newly educated cooking public. The duo pledged to manufacture tools, measuring devices and cooking vessels in accordance with the strictest standards as delineated by governmental bodies wherever they might be in force, and applying the considered consensus of an authoritative food website in all other cases.

"A cup should be a cup, dammit!" exclaimed Ms LaRose, brandishing a dented aluminum Ecko, a chipped vessel of Pyrex, and samples of the company's first single-cup measure, one in a calm blue and the other an angry red. Ms LaRose explained that the products had been produced by depositing a uniform, microscopic ceramic plasma over a honeycombed carbon-fiber skeleton filled with temperature-resistant quantum foam. Mr. Scantland noted that the patented process would ensure absolute temperature, pressure, altitude and attitude stability from zero to six atmospheres, regardless of the user's mental capacity. "If it's accurate at your sink, it'll be accurate in the fridge and freezer, by the stove, at the campground and, um, in your bedroom," he promised, glancing down at his feet and shuffling back from the microphone.

The company, to be called SSB Enterprises (NASDAQ: EATME), was funded privately by the principals' substantial stockpile of homemade yogurt, and a loan from a reclusive investor who wishes to remain anonymous, but is widely thought to be a portly internet dictator.

[doodle]

that's hilarious Dave

um, you wouldn't happen to have any thoughts on my question would you?

doodle

[Marlene]

that's hilarious Dave

um, you wouldn't happen to have any thoughts on my question would you?

doodle

Are you kiddling? Dave has thoughts on everything!

[fifi]

This kind of thing drives me nuts! Where are the standards here? Isn't a cup, as a measure of volume, standardized to be the same thing? I know that the National Bureau of Standards must have a definition on this. Off to search.

(AP - Houston) Using the soon-to-be (so they promised) revitalized headquarters of the defunct Enron headquarters as a backdrop, Linda "fifi" LaRose and Dave "the Cook" Scantland today announced the formation of a new kitchenware company devoted to the exacting standards demanded by a newly educated cooking public. The duo pledged to manufacture tools, measuring devices and cooking vessels in accordance with the strictest standards as delineated by governmental bodies wherever they might be in force, and applying the considered consensus of an authoritative food website in all other cases.

"A cup should be a cup, dammit!" exclaimed Ms LaRose, brandishing a dented aluminum Ecko, a chipped vessel of Pyrex, and samples of the company's first single-cup measure, one in a calm blue and the other an angry red. Ms LaRose explained that the products had been produced by depositing a uniform, microscopic ceramic plasma over a honeycombed carbon-fiber skeleton filled with temperature-resistant quantum foam. Mr. Scantland noted that the patented process would ensure absolute temperature, pressure, altitude and attitude stability from zero to six atmospheres, regardless of the user's mental capacity. "If it's accurate at your sink, it'll be accurate in the fridge and freezer, by the stove, at the campground and, um, in your bedroom," he promised, glancing down at his feet and shuffling back from the microphone.

The company, to be called SSB Enterprises (NASDAQ: EATME), was funded privately by the principals' substantial stockpile of homemade yogurt, and a loan from a reclusive investor who wishes to remain anonymous, but is widely thought to be a portly internet dictator.

Ok... Dave the Master has reduced me to crawling up off the floor after a total incapacitation event. That is the funniest thing I have read in weeks.

*wiping eyes*

*brain engages*

Hmmm... I do know about a carbon fiber composite design that can control thermal expansion... I wonder if they still make that siloxane resin... then there is that little company up in the Woodlands that developed sputter depostion of diamond...

[Dave the Cook]

that's hilarious Dave 

um, you wouldn't happen to have any thoughts on my question would you?

doodle

I'm sorry. You must mean this:

I have a Ducane gas BBQ with (I think) stainless steel grates that are wide surface ribs & convex shaped. They say they can go in the dishwasher to be cleaned but ...doesn't do the job well enough. When I heat before or after cooking it doesn't get hot enough to remove all the leftover bits either.

Do you think if I put them in my self-cleaning oven I would run the risk of "ruining" them?

Assuming they're really stainless steel, and not chrome-plated steel (Ducane seems pretty proud of their stainless grids, so that probably is what they are), I don't think you run much risk of ruining them. Most likely they are SS 304, which is serviceable up to 1550 F/ 850 C. (It's possible they are SS 316, which has an even higher service temperature.) Since this is well above the temperature of a self-cleaning oven, I think you're safe. They will almost certainly discolor, though, if normal use hasn't already done that. A good scrubbing with Bon Ami or Barkeeper's Friend will take care of that, and it won't affect their usability, anyway.

But before running any risk at all, you might try the following, if you haven't already:

• Using a brass or stainless steel sponge on the grates after the post-cooking heat period, or after the grill has warmed up for use.
  
• Soaking in detergent (diswasher or laundry detergent, not the liquid stuff that you use in the sink), then a modest scrub.
  
• A five-minute bath in a coat of non-toxic oven cleaner, followed by the clean-up recommended by the cleaner instructions.
  

All of these are approved treatments for stainless steel. If they don't work, then you don't have much to lose, and you might as well try the oven.

But! (Pay attention, fifi, and anyone else who neglects to read the manual.)

Every manufacturer I checked recommends removing the oven racks before running the self-cleaning cycle, so you're going to have to lean the racks against the sides of the oven, making sure not to let them touch the oven's heating elements. No one says what their racks are made of, but given their appearance, the way they move against the wall supports and the fact that they're supposed to be removed, I'm guessing that they're chrome-plated steel. (Above 750 F/400 C, chrome plating loses its luster and self-lubriacting capability, and becomes rough and slightly pitted.)

[Dave the Cook]

Hmmm... I do know about a carbon fiber composite design that can control thermal expansion... I wonder if they still make that siloxane resin... then there is that little company up in the Woodlands that developed sputter depostion of diamond...

Jeez, fifi. You think I just make this stuff up? I can license the ceramic plasma process if you can do the diamond, which we'll need for the cookware. It's the quantum foam that's going to be a problem. I left a message with Stephen Hawking. (That guy has a really creepy-sounding answering machine, btw -- at least I think it was a machine.)

[chefdg]

O.K I know my username is "Chefdg" but my question is; how do you boil eggs?