Cooking for Geeks · Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food by Potter, Jeff -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food

Recipe Index

Breakfast Drinks Breads Appetizers and Sides Salads Soups Sauces and Marinades Mains Desserts Components & Ingredients

List of Interviews Preface

How to Use This Book On the Web Acknowledgments How to Contact Us Safari® Books Online

1. Hello, Kitchen!

Think Like a Hacker

Functional Fixedness A Few Words on Nutrition Tips for Newbies

Have fun! Know your type Avoid PEBKAC-type errors: RTFR! Taste == Feedback Don’t be afraid to burn dinner!

Picking a Recipe Reading Between the Lines

Cooking for One Cooking for Others

2. Initializing the Kitchen

Approaching the Kitchen

Calibrating Your Instruments Prepping Ingredients

Kitchen Equipment

Bare Minimum Equipment

Knives Cutting boards Pots and pans Measuring cups and scales Spoons & co. Thermometers and timers Mixing bowls Bar towels

Standard Kitchen Equipment

Storage containers Strainers Mixers & co. Unitaskers

Kitchen Organization

0(1) Retrieval Functional Grouping Uniform Storage Containers Counter Layout Kitchen Pruning Giving Kitchen Tools As Gifts

3. Choosing Your Inputs: Flavors and Ingredients

Smell + Taste = Flavor

Taste (Gustatory Sense) Smell (Olfactory Sense)

Tastes: Bitter, Salty, Sour, Sweet, Umami, Others

Bitter Salty Sour Sweet Umami (a.k.a. Savory) Others Combinations of Tastes and Smells

Adapt and Experiment Method Regional/Traditional Method

Rice, Wheat, Grains ≅ Congee, Cream of Wheat, Porridge

Seasonal Method Analytical Method

4. Time and Temperature: Cooking’s Primary Variables

Cooked = Time * Temperature

Heat Transfer and Doneness

Temperature gradients Carryover

Methods of Heat Transfer

Conduction Convection Radiation Combinations of heat

Foodborne Illness and Staying Safe

How to Prevent Foodborne Illness Caused by Bacteria How to Prevent Foodborne Illness Caused by Parasites

Key Temperatures in Cooking

104°F / 40°C and 122°F / 50°C: Proteins in Fish and Meat Begin to Denature 144°F / 62°C: Eggs Begin to Set

Hard-Cooked Eggs, Shock and Awe Method The 30-Minute Scrambled Egg Oven-Poached Eggs Pasteurized Eggs The 60-Minute Slow-Cooked Egg

154°F / 68°C: Collagen (Type I) Denatures 158°F / 70°C: Vegetable Starches Break Down 310°F / 154°C: Maillard Reactions Become Noticeable 356°F / 180°C: Sugar Begins to Caramelize Visibly

5. Air: Baking’s Key Variable

Gluten Biological Leaveners

Yeast

Yeast in beverages Yeast in breads Pizza

Chemical Leaveners

Baking Soda Baking Powder

Mechanical Leaveners

Egg Whites

Meringues

Egg Yolks Whipped Cream

6. Playing with Chemicals

Traditional Cooking Chemicals

Salt

Dry brining Wet brining

Sugar Acids and Bases Alcohol

Extracts for drinks

Modern Industrial Chemicals

E Numbers: The Dewey Decimal System of Food Additives Colloids Making Gels: Starches, Carrageenan, Agar, and Sodium Alginate

Making gels: Starches Making gels: Carrageenan Making gels: Agar Making gels: Sodium alginate Spherification in shapes Mozzarella spheres

Making Things Melt in Weird Ways: Methylcellulose and Maltodextrin

"Melts" as it cools: Methylcellulose "Melts" in your mouth: Maltodextrin

Making Foams: Lecithin Anti-Sugar: Lactisole Meat Glue: Transglutaminase Liquid Smoke: Distilled Smoke Vapor

7. Fun with Hardware

Sous Vide Cooking

Foodborne Illness and Sous Vide Cooking Sous Vide Hardware

Water heaters Vacuum packers

Cooking with Sous Vide

Beef and other red meats Fish and other seafood Chicken and other poultry Sous vide chicken breast Vegetables Enhancing texture Chocolate

Commercial Hardware and Techniques

Filtration

Stock, broth, and consommé

Cream Whippers (a.k.a. "iSi Whippers") "Cooking" with Cold: Liquid Nitrogen and Dry Ice

Dangers of liquid nitrogen Making dusts Making ice cream

Cooking with (a Lot of) Heat

Blowtorches for crème brûlée High-heat ovens and pizza

A. Cooking Around Allergies

Substitutions for Common Allergies

Dairy Allergies

Ingredients to avoid Foods commonly containing dairy Substitutions

Egg Allergies

Ingredients to avoid Foods commonly containing egg Substitutions

Fish/Shellfish Allergies

Foods commonly containing fish or shellfish

Peanut Allergies

Ingredients to avoid Foods commonly containing peanuts Substitutions

Tree Nut Allergies

Ingredients to avoid Foods commonly containing nuts Substitutions

Soy Allergies

Ingredients to avoid Foods commonly containing soy Substitutions

Wheat Allergies

Ingredients to avoid Foods commonly containing wheat Substitutions

B. Afterword C. About the Author Index Colophon

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