The Science Of Yeast
There’s yeast for baking, for brewing, for making wine, and for nutrition. Read on to learn more about the type used most often in cooking: baker’s yeast. Find some good tips for buying, storing and using active dry yeast, instant yeast (quick rise yeast), fresh yeast (cake yeast), and wild yeast (sourdough yeast).
Myth: Soaking Wood For Smoking
There is no need to soak wood before cooking with it. Water doesn’t penetrate wood. That’s why they make boats from it! Discover the science behind wood combustion, smoke, and the best way to use chips, chunks and logs for smoking and grilling with wood.
Is Corn Syrup Bad for You?
Get the facts about corn syrup and health. There are many types of corn syrups and they have been the subject of much debate in discussions of food and health. Here is the truth.
Cooking Time – What Influences It?
Why are exact cooking times so hard to predict? Because the actual time it takes meats and other barbecued foods to reach a certain level of doneness depends on many variables such as the weather, the cooking method, the type of meat, meat thickness, humidity in the cooker, and the accuracy of your thermometer.
The Science of Potatoes
What’s up with spuds? Here’s everything a cook needs to know about buying potatoes, storing potatoes, and cleaning potatoes.
How To Use Drip Pans And Water Pans In Your Smoker Or Grill
What is the difference between a drip pan and a water pan? And why do I need some humidity when I make barbecue in the first place? Find out here along with tips on indirect grilling and an answer to the question: What should I put in my water pan on my grill or smoker? Hint: It’s not wine, beer, or juice.
Extreme Steak: Wild And Crazy Ways To Get A Killer Sear
Here are four offbeat methods for cooking steaks that work amazingly well: The Afterburner Method where you cook on a hot charcoal chimney, the Vigneron Method where you cook with twigs, the Caveman Method where you cook right on hot coals, and the Stripsteak Method where you sous vide in butter then sear on a grill.
The Texas Crutch: Wrap In Foil Or Butcher Paper To Tenderize And Speed Cooking
Here’s a useful technique for tenderizing, moisturizing, and speeding cooking by wrapping meat in aluminum foil for an hour or two. The Texas crutch beats the stall, in which meat stops cooking during barbecuing, sometimes for hours. This simple trick works for brisket, pork shoulder and ribs on any smoker or grill.
Beware Of The “Lasagna Cell”: The Danger Of Food, Metals, And A Reactive Pan
My foil-wrapped lasagna has holes in the foil: what’s going on here? Some chemicals in foods react badly with certain metals and can even create toxins. Here’s what you need to know about reactive and corrosive metals, how your lasagna can create a sort of electric battery cell, and how to avoid this problem.
The Science Of Pizza On The Grill
Grilled pizza is closer to brick oven pizza like you get in Italy or France than anything you can do indoors. A great pizza is incredibly easy to make from scratch at home, even the dough, and once you try it you’ll never want delivery pizza again. Here are the secrets to making and grilling a perfect pizza at home.
Mythbusting: BBQ Basting, Mopping, and Spritzing
There are times when basting helps and times when it hurts. Find out how applying liquid to the surface of meat with basting, mopping and spritzing may inhibit the formation of your crust or bark and lengthen cooking time while attracting smoke and improving flavor. It depends on what you’re cooking and for how long.
The Science Of Hamburger Buns
Not just any bun will do. Here are some tips on selecting the right bun for your masterpiece.
The Science Of Salt
Here’s what you need to know about table salt, kosher salt, pickling salt, sea salt, seasoned salt, curing salts, and how to use them. Learn also about brines, measuring different salts, and the health aspects of salt.
Beer Can Chicken Recipe: There Are Better Ways To Cook Chicken
Beer Can Chicken is not a good way to cook chicken. Here’s why, and how you can make better roast chicken.
Dehydrating Meats, Peppers, Tomatoes, Fruits, Etc.
Beef jerky, chipotle chilies, and smoke-dried tomatoes taste fantastic. To make them, you need to dehydrate them. Learn about which foods you can dehydrate in a smoker for extra smoke flavor and which foods dehydrate best in an indoor electric dehydrator. Hint: kale chips don’t work as well on a smoker.