Slow Cookers – Do You Need One?

October 9, 2024September 22, 2024 culinaryjourneysllc

Do you own a crock pot? How about a slow cooker? Wait – aren’t they the same thing? That is just one of the facts we will explore in this Cooking Tip on Slow Cookers.

First, what about that name? A slow cooker is a small kitchen appliance. There are many brands, and Crock Pot is just one of them. It is the brand, though, that first popularized this appliance when it brought out its version in the 1970s. Today, there are a myriad of different brands.

I must admit that I rarely use my slow cooker. There are others who probably use theirs every week, but most others undoubtedly fall in the middle in terms of frequency of usage. Let’s look at the types, why people like them, and how to use them to get the best results.

Types of Slow Cookers

Traditional—The cooking vessel is ceramic, and it heats due to a heating element strip made of nickel and chromium that wraps around it.

Pros
- They are thick and have excellent heat retention.
- They absorb and transmit heat gradually.
Cons
- They are heavy and can crack if dropped.
- You cannot sauté in the crock. Instead, you must brown the meat in a skillet and transfer it to the cooker.

Other models – The cooking vessel is usually a nonstick-coated metal, usually aluminum. It sits on an electric heating element in the base, acting like a burner.

Pros
- They are lightweight and durable.
- They allow you to sauté and brown food in the crock rather than in a separate skillet.
- They cook much faster than ceramic models.
Cons
- Because they cook faster, your food can overcook if you are not paying attention.
- Most recipes are developed for ceramic cookers; therefore, the time given in the recipe may be too long.

Benefits of a Slow Cooker

Convenience

This is the most common reason I hear for using a slow cooker: Just throw the ingredients in, turn it on and forget (or almost forget) it. At the end, voila, you have dinner. While much of this is true, there are certainly some precautions to take to ensure that dinner is something you wish to eat, which I will discuss.
Using a slow cooker frees up your oven and stovetop for other dishes, making it nice for the holidays or large gatherings.

Heat

Because you are not turning on the oven, you are not heating the house.

Energy efficiency

It uses very little energy, less than your cooktop or oven would use

Tenderizing

One of the great advantages of a slow cooker is that you can take tough (often cheaper) cuts of meat and turn them into tender mouthfuls.

Flavor

The extended cooking time can allow better distribution of flavors.

Travel

A slow cooker can be taken from your kitchen to the office or a party.

How best to use your slow cooker

Slow cookers are great for tougher cuts of meat, which are often less expensive. In fact, you do not want to use leaner cuts of meat, such as chicken breasts or pork tenderloin. If the meat is lean, it tends to get tough and stringy with the prolonged cooking. Using fattier and tougher cuts, including chuck roasts, short ribs, pork shoulder and lamb shank, is better. Whereas chicken breasts do not turn out ideal in a slow cooker, dark meat chicken is a good choice.
Trim the fat from the meat before cooking. As the meat cooks, it will release fat. If you are cooking stovetop, you can drain it off. This is not possible with a slow cooker. This can result in the cooking liquid becoming oily and greasy. For this same reason, most also recommend removing the skin from the chicken before cooking.
For the most flavor, sear your meat first in a skillet. Some slow cooker models allow for searing in the cooking vessel, thus eliminating the need for a separate skillet.
Cut the food into uniform sizes for even cooking and avoid over-crowding.
Layer the food properly. Put firm slow-cooking root veggies at the bottom and then the meat on top. If you want your veggies to have crunch, you may add them later in the cooking process.
Do not take the lid off until the dish is done. When you open the lid, heat is lost and takes time to recover. It can add 15-20 minutes to the cooking time. Also, the lid is very important in initially bringing the cooker up to a suitable temperature.
Fresh veggies are better to use than canned or frozen as the latter can cook too quickly.
To keep the freshness, wait to add delicate herbs until the end. Similarly, add your acid, such as citrus, at the end.
Tender foods such as pasta, squash, asparagus or peas should be added in the last hour of cooking.
Seafood such as shrimp, scallops, and fish should be added in the last 15-30 minutes of cooking.
Add any dairy at the last minute to prevent curdling.
Submerge the food in liquid while cooking. For increased flavor, use broth instead of water.
Although some do not agree, it is generally recommended that ground beef be cooked and drained of fat before adding to the vessel. With ground beef, it is also possible that it won’t cook evenly and thoroughly, leading to the risk of undercooked beef or being in the danger zone (40°F–140°F) for too long.
Because the cooking vessels take some time to heat up, some recommend preheating for about 10 minutes before adding the food.

Safety Advice

To remove food from the danger zone more quickly, start the cooker on high for an hour before lowering the heat setting.
Thaw foods first. The USDA says that since the cookers start at such a low temperature at the beginning of the cycle, the pathogens are not killed but remain in the meat and can stay in that danger zone for too long.
Are slow cookers safe to use overnight or unattended? Hamilton Beach says they are since they work on low wattage, only as much as 1½ 100-watt light bulbs. However, they do list the following cautions.
- Follow the directions for your specific slow cooker.
- Supervise children around the appliance.
- Remind yourself that the outside will get hot. Only touch the handles.
- Keep away from water.
- Unplug when finished cooking.
- Look the appliance over and do not use if you see any damage to the cord or the unit itself.
- If leaving the house, ensure the appliance is set to low, placed away from the walls, and on a heatproof surface.

Purchasing a Slow Cooker

If you are looking to purchase a slow cooker, here is some advice from America’s Test Kitchen (ATK).

Look for one that is easy to use without overcomplicated displays.
Get one with a glass lid so you can see the progress without opening the cooker, which allows heat to escape and slows cooking.
Oval/rectangular shapes are more versatile. They accommodate large roasts, and the large surface area is better for cooking grains/beans.
Better quality cookers have internal temperature sensors and controls. This means they cook more gently and successfully than those without temperature controls. Cookers with sensors keep food at a braising temperature, just below boiling. Cookers without sensors will just keep fully heating to the boiling point, and you are more likely to get an overcooked result. The problem for the consumer is that you most likely won’t see this listed as a feature on the box. ATK used temperature probes to confirm this feature, and their recommendations are below.
Large, stay-cool handles are preferred.
An attached temperature probe is nice to have as you do not have to open the lid to check on doneness.
Latching lids with silicone gaskets are also great if you transport food in the cooker.
A hold-temperature feature will keep food at a desired temperature for up to 24 hours. This allows you to reheat food, use it as a fondue pot or make yogurt.
ATK prefers digital over analog controls. Although the latter are simple to use, they do not indicate cooking progress and will not switch to keep warm when cooking is done. They keep cooking until you turn it off.

ATK Ratings

ATK tested and rated the following as the best slow cookers as of August 2024.

KitchenAid 6-Quart Slow Cooker (Although ATK just published this review recently, it is no longer on the KitchenAid website.)
Hamilton Beach Temp Tracker 6-quart Slow Cooker
The best slow cooker with searing capabilities was the Cuisinart 6-quart 3-in-1 Cook Central.

Here are their recommendations for smaller slow cookers.

Cuisinart 4-quart Cook Central 3-in-1 Multicooker
Hamilton Beach 4 Quart Programmable Slow Cooker

Recipe Conversion

As with many things, using recipes developed for the slow cooker will give you the best results. However, if you wish to try converting recipes, here are some tips.
You will have the best result with soups, stews, braises and roasts.
Reduce the liquid in the non-slow cooker recipe by 20-30%. The liquid won’t evaporate in a slow cooker, as the lid should be tightly sealed. Only use enough liquid to cover the meat and vegetables.
Ideally, only fill the cooker half to ⅔ full and never more than ¾ full.
Since the liquid doesn’t reduce by evaporation, it won’t thicken to a sauce-like consistency. So, dip your meat in a small amount of flour before cooking. You can also make a cornstarch slurry (water/cornstarch), stir it in, and allow it to simmer until it becomes thick. Alternatively, put the liquid in a saucepan on the stovetop and use the cornstarch slurry to thicken.
Slow cookers can amplify cayenne or other spicy ingredients. So, reduce the amount called for.
Onions and garlic can intensify in the slow cooker. So, use less than called for, or finish the dish with chopped green onions or chives.
Timing
- The Spruce Eats lists conversion cooking time recommendations in this article.
- BBC Good Food recommendations

Regular Recipe Time	Slow Cooker Time
15-30 minutes	2 hours on High or 4-6 hours on Low
30 minutes – 1 hour	2-3 hours on High or 5-7 hours on Low
1-2 hours	3-4 hours on High or 6-8 hours on Low
2-4 hours	4-6 hours on High or 8-12 hours on Low

Cleaning

Most slow cookers are easy to clean, and many have dishwasher-safe cooking vessels. You can help by using a non-stick cooking spray or rubbing oil inside the slow cooker before you begin the recipe.
Some like to use slow cooker liners, although they can be pricey. There is also the consideration of cooking your food in plastic.
If you do have food stuck on the inside of your slow cookers, here is some advice for clean-up.
- Fill the cooker to the top with water. Turn it on to low and allow it to set for several hours. This should allow the food to loosen.
- Some like to add a few tablespoons of baking soda and a few drops of dish soap and proceed as above.
- If you have white mineral stains on the inside, fill the cooker with water and 1 cup of vinegar. Allow to set overnight and wash and dry as usual.

High Altitude

A final piece of advice for those of you who live at higher elevations like me. You already know that water boils at a lower temperature, and food takes longer to cook. You may wonder if that could affect how you use your slow cooker.
Colorado State University warns that there is more of a risk that your food will stay in the danger zone for too long. To counter this, they recommend setting your cooker to maintain a temperature of at least 200°F. Start the food on high for the first hour. After that, you can either continue cooking on high or turn to low at that time. You may also expect that the food will take longer to cook. Some experts suggest that you will need to add 30 minutes for each hour of time specified. Legumes can take twice as long.

Are you a slow cooker user? Are you considering buying one? I hope this Tip will help you choose the right one and use it to obtain the best results.

Spätzle – Is it just another pasta?

October 2, 2024September 15, 2024 culinaryjourneysllc

Have you ever had the German dish of Spätzle? Have you ever made it yourself? That is the subject of this Cooking Tip. What is Spätzle, and how do you make it?

Some like to call spätzle Germany’s answer to pasta. It has similar ingredients – flour, eggs, water, and salt. However, spätzle is moister and softer than pasta dough. It is far too soft to roll out or use a pasta machine. Instead, it must be made using other tools.

Although eaten all over, it is a specialty of the Swabia area of Germany. According to Brittanica, Swabia is a historic region of southwestern Germany, including what is now the southern portion of the state of Baden-Württemberg, the southwestern part of Bavaria, as well as eastern Switzerland and Alsace. This dish is so popular and so much a part of this region that there is a Spätzle museum in southern Germany.

The name means “little sparrow” in German. There is some disagreement over the origin of this name, although most attribute it to the shape when made by hand. Others say it comes from how a German cook holds the dough as they break off pieces to put into water to cook as if they are holding a sparrow. Another theory is that the word originated from the Italian word spezzato, which translates to small or broken pieces. The Swabian people then changed this into spätzle. Other German names you might see are Spätzli, Spatzen, and Knöpfle, although the latter refers more to a dumpling shape than a noodle shape.

The recipe may seem quite easy, but there is some technique involved in achieving a light and tender noodle. As I mentioned above, there are four ingredients: flour, eggs, water (or milk), and salt. Some recipes may add nutmeg or other seasonings. Generally, the flour and salt are combined, the eggs are whisked and added, followed by the water or milk. The dough is mixed to the right consistency before being formed and cooked in boiling water.

Making the dough

As with so many traditional recipes, the above general instructions have many variations and nuances.

Flour—Most will use all-purpose flour, but others like to use semolina, 00 flour or a combination.
Liquid–Some like water, while others think milk gives a richer result. Whether the liquid should be cold or warm is a matter of debate. You may even see quark or sour cream in some recipes. The liquid should be added gradually so it doesn’t get too thin. If it does, you will need to add more flour. Others will say you must use mineral water for the liquid. They claim that this will result in a softer and fluffier noodle.
Eggs—The proportion of eggs to the other ingredients may vary by recipe, but the Swabian rule of thumb is to use a number of eggs equal to the number of servings plus one.
Mixing—Traditionalists will mix by hand, but mixing can also be achieved with an electric mixer. The key is to achieve the proper consistency. The recommendation is that it should resemble a thick pancake batter.
Consistency–This will differ depending on which method you use to form the noodles and can only be determined by practice. One piece of consistent advice is that the dough needs to start forming air bubbles before it is ready. After 10-15 minutes of beating, use a wooden spoon, scoop some of the dough, and pull to stretch. If you see bubble-like holes, the dough is ready. If not, continue mixing for another minute or two and then repeat the test. This should be followed by a rest of 10-15 minutes to allow the gluten to relax.

Forming the noodles

Each of these methods will give you different shapes/lengths of dough. It is said that to a Swabian, to be called spätzle, the noodle must have a length four times it’s diameter. If it is more of a shorter, rounder button shape, it is called knöpfle.

Here are the different tools you can use. Wetting or oiling any of them will help prevent the dough from sticking.

Spätzlebrett (spätzle board)
- The most traditional way is to spread the dough over a wet spätzle board or wooden cutting board. The dough is then cut into thin strips with a butter knife, offset spatula, or bench scraper and dropped into the hot water.
Spätzle Press
- This is similar to a ricer used for potatoes. It presses the dough through holes, forming it into long strips directly over the water.
- The dough will need to be a bit thicker if using a press.
Spätzle Sieb
- This looks like a flat colander through which the dough is pressed into the water. You could also use a regular colander with ¼-inch-wide holes. The spätzle dough is pushed through the colander using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. You can use this same method with any heat-proof tool that has ¼-inch-wide holes, such as a box grater or a slotted spoon.
Spätzle Hobel
- This appears like a cheese grater. It is usually topped with an attachment that slides and thus presses the dough through the holes into the water.
Spoon Method
- If you do not have any of these tools, you may just drop spoonfuls of dough into the boiling water. It is best to use a metal spoon and wet the spoon between scoops to prevent sticking.
- This will not produce the typical spätzle shape but a shape more like gnocchi or even a little pancake.

Cooking/Storing

No matter how you form the noodles, they are then dropped into boiling salted water. They are only cooked until they rise to the top, which shouldn’t be more than a couple of minutes. This might need to be done in batches as you do not want to crowd the noodles.
Once cooked, they are generally sauteed in melted butter and garnished with fresh herbs, cheese, bacon and/or breadcrumbs.
Spätzle can be made in advance, cooled, and stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. To reheat, sauté in melted butter.
Spätzle may also be frozen for up to 3 months. When ready to use, thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

If you have eaten spätzle, has it only been in a restaurant or when you purchased a package in the store? This dish requires very few ingredients and can be made relatively quickly once you master the technique. I hope you give it a try!

Cooking Tips · Ingredients · Techniques

Does your homemade bread really need salt?

September 25, 2024September 11, 2024 culinaryjourneysllc

I love to make bread, although I do not do it nearly enough. It takes some time but has a short list of ingredients: flour, yeast, salt and water. Some people wonder just how important that salt is to the final bread product. That is the subject of this Cooking Tip.

Why is salt in bread recipes?

Taste

Just as with almost everything we cook or bake, salt helps with flavor. It should not make your dishes taste salty. Instead, it balances other flavors, enhances some flavors, and creates a much yummier result. You can prove this to yourself by a taste test. When you are cooking something, do not put any salt in it to start with. Taste it, add the salt and taste again. You will be amazed at the difference.

It is the same with bread. Bread made without salt will just taste bland and one-note rather than more nuanced and rounded. Salt enhances the natural sweetness in the flour while tamping down any bitterness.

As you will read below, salt also slows down the yeast activity. As I have mentioned in other Cooking Tips, slower fermentation results in a more flavorful dough.

Interaction with Yeast

Yeast causes fermentation and the ultimate rising of your bread dough. Salt plays an inhibitory role with yeast. It slows down this fermentation by drawing water away from the yeast. Less water means less yeast action.

This slower rising time allows the gluten to develop and strengthen. A stronger dough can trap more gas bubbles and make the distribution more even. This all means that you end up with a better loaf of bread with a nicely risen shape.

Crust

Salt gives you a darker, more attractive crust. Because the salt slows down yeast activity, it consumes less sugars. These free sugars contribute to caramelization, which is what gives you a browner crust.

Freshness

An additional advantage is that bread made with salt keeps fresher for longer.

How much salt is needed?

Expert bread bakers always weigh their ingredients and use the Baker’s Percentage. The standard measurement is about 2% salt. The percentage is based on the amount of flour. So, if you are using 1000 grams of flour, you would use 2% or 20 grams of salt.

Too little salt prevents the important work of the salt in bread. Too much can be detrimental, as fermentation is halted. Therefore, most bakers stay around that 2% measurement, although some will go as low as 1%, but no lower.

ChainBaker.com has an interesting article in which they bake three loaves of bread. One had no salt, one had the recommended 2% salt, and one had too much salt at 10%. The dough without salt meant the yeast worked rapidly, causing quicker fermentation but weaker gluten. The finished bread loaf rose quickly but spread sideways due to the weaker structure.

The dough with 10% salt did not ferment at all, as that much salt stopped the yeast from doing its job. The result was that the dough was difficult to work and the baked loaf was very dense and unrisen. See pictorial evidence of this here.

Here is another great article by King Arthur Baking showing how differing amounts of salt can dramatically affect bread dough.

When to add the salt to the dough

Everyone has their preferred time for adding the salt. Some will add it at the beginning, while others like to delay it. Proponents of this latter method feel it allows the gluten to develop better before adding the salt and thus makes the initial mixing easier. This is known as the “autolyze” method. Recipes using this method will call for the flour and water to soak for a while. After the prescribed amount of time, the yeast and salt are added, and mixing and kneading commence.

This allows better hydration of the flour and resultant strengthening of the proteins. This is said to make the dough more extensible (the ability for the dough to stretch out without tearing) but less elastic (the tendency for the dough to resist stretching), allowing the shape of the formed dough to be better maintained. An example is a long baguette.

How to add the salt

The most common and easiest method is to mix the salt with the other dry ingredients at the beginning. Some experts feel this method results in a more elastic dough.

Another method is to dissolve the salt in water before adding it to the dough. Experiments show that this could strengthen the gluten better.

A final method is to add it to your yeast mixture if you are blooming it. Although blooming is not necessary with modern-day instant yeast (and probably active dry yeast), some still like to do it. If you do this, you can add the salt to the water as long as there is enough water to totally dissolve the salt, the yeast, and the sugar. Busby’s Bakery states that salt needs three times its weight in water to dissolve at room temperature. Another thing to note is that the salt may slow down the yeast, lengthening the time for it to bloom.

If you bake yeasted products, you will surely have heard that you must keep the salt away from the yeast as it will kill it. Testing has shown that this is not necessarily true. The two ingredients must be in contact for hours before the salt can damage the yeast. So, go ahead and add both the yeast and salt to your flour without fear.

Salt is an essential ingredient in the kitchen in many ways. Here is another Cooking Tip about all the different types of salt—Salts Galore. Don’t fear salt. If you have a medical condition requiring limiting salt, follow your doctor’s advice. Otherwise, embrace all that salt can do for your food, not just in bread but in all your dishes.

Cooking Tips · Ingredients

Deciphering Beef Grades & Beef Cuts

September 18, 2024August 30, 2024 culinaryjourneysllc

It is no surprise that Americans consume a large amount of beef. For 2024, it is estimated to be about 58 pounds per person. According to the USDA, the most beef consumed was in 1976, almost 92 pounds per person, and the lowest point was in 2009, at about 55 pounds per person. I am not a huge beef lover, so my consumption is very low. Since I buy beef so infrequently, I want to make sure I am buying the best type of beef for my purposes. That means decoding all the terms that are used to describe beef. That is just what I will discuss in this Cooking Tip.

Ground Beef

According to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, ground beef sales were 51% of all retail beef sales as of November 2022. I have written another Cooking Tip on Ground Beef and urge you to read that one for information about the types of ground beef.

When you purchase pre-packaged ground beef from a supermarket, the packaging will probably be one of three kinds.

Traditional Packaging

This is the most common type of packaging.
The beef is placed on a foam tray and covered with plastic wrap. This packaging allows oxygen in, giving the meat a red color.
The oxygen exposure does lead to faster spoilage, meaning you should either use it within just a few days or freeze it in an air-tight package.

Modified-Atmosphere/Controlled Atmosphere Packaging

This packaging is usually a plastic container that has had the air vacuumed out and replaced with other gases.
The beef still has the desired red color.
It also has a slight increase in shelf life.

Vacuum Sealed

With the air all removed, the beef looks more purplish-red than bright red.
Vacuum sealing produces the most extended shelf life.
You can either freeze it in that container or portion it out and freeze it in other air-tight containers.

Chubs

These are rolls of ground beef.
They have been vacuumed sealed.
Just as with the other vacuumed sealed ground beef, it will appear more purplish.
It also can be frozen as is or frozen in smaller portions.

Beef Grades

Though inspection for safety is mandatory and carried out by the Food Safety and Inspection Service, meat quality grading is voluntary and paid for by the producer. Because it is voluntary, you will not always see the following grading labels on the package. If you do, though, it will tell you that the USDA has assessed the meat for quality and approved the use of its label.

The degree of marbling, which is the intramuscular fat, determines the grade. It is this fat that provides flavor, tenderness and juiciness. The USDA collaborated with the United States Meat Export Federation and Colorado State University to develop an educational video about the beef grading process. They say the video “provides a comprehensive overview of the beef grading system – from farm to table.”

Prime

A beef cut labeled “Prime” will have the most marbling.
It will be the most tender.
No more than 2% of beef produced in the US will bear the prime label.
It is often hard to find in regular supermarkets as it is purchased for sale at high-end restaurants, hotels, boutique butcher shops and upscale grocery stores.

Choice

Although less than prime, choice cuts still have a moderate amount of marbling.
This cut will still be very tender.
It makes up 50% of all graded beef.
This is what you will find in mid-level restaurants and not uncommonly in local supermarkets.

Select

This cut will have minimal marbling and, therefore, will be tougher.
Due to less marbling, it will be slightly leaner.
Select cuts compose 65-70% of beef produced in the US.
This is a very common cut to find in supermarkets.
Because of its lower fat level, it tends to be tough if cooked with high-temperature cooking methods such as grilling or searing. A better use is a gentle cooking method such as braising.

Other lower grades of meat include standard, commercial, utility, cutter, and canner. These are not typically sold to consumers but are used in processed meat products.

If there is no USDA stamp, look for the degree of marbling, as that will generally give you a juicer and more tender cut of meat.

Other Beef Terms

Wagyu

This term refers to four main breeds of Japanese beef cattle that produce a large amount of intramuscular fat.
This type of beef is graded differently. They use a beef marbling score that ranges from 1 to 12, with 12 having the most marbling.
You may also see grades from A to C, with A being the highest.

Grain-Fed or Grain-Finished

This term indicates that the cattle are fattened on grain (usually corn) for 3-6 months before slaughter.
Very often, grain-fed cattle are treated with antibiotics and possibly growth hormones. However, there are ranchers that raise grain-fed cattle without using either of these.
Grain-fed beef is known to be well-marbled.

Grass-Fed or Grass-Finished

Here, the cattle are fed grasses and legumes, making the meat lower in saturated fat, cholesterol and calories.
The flavor is richer but gamier.
This practice of raising cattle is more time-consuming and requires a large amount of land.

Beef Cuts

Besides choosing the grade of beef, you need to choose which cut you want. Below is an explanation of the most popular cuts. For more information on other cuts and recommended cooking methods, see this chart from the Beef Association Website.

Sirloin

This cut comes from the rear half of the loin.
Although it is tender, it is not as tender as some other cuts.
Quality and tenderness vary by type of sirloin.
- Top sirloin is of excellent quality and will be very tender.
- The bottom sirloin is of slightly lesser quality and is usually tougher.
As it is relatively lean, it is very easy to overcook.

Rib Eye

A ribeye is cut from the rib area just behind the shoulder.
This is a well-marbled beef cut that can be purchased either bone-in or boneless.
A Tomahawk steak is a thick ribeye with a long bone.

Strip (New York Strip)

This cut comes from the short loin.
It has good tenderness and a beefier flavor than the ribeye or filet.
It may be purchased bone-in or boneless.

Filet Mignon

This well-known cut is from the beef tenderloin, cut from the back’s center.
It is sought after due to its extreme tenderness.
It is milder tasting and less rich than the rib eye.
It is one of the most expensive cuts.

T-Bone

A T-Bone is composed of a strip steak, the accompanying bone and a portion of the tenderloin.
It can be challenging to cook as the filet part will cook quicker and can become overcooked before the strip side is done. Experts recommend a 2-stage reverse sear.

Porterhouse

This is composed of a strip steak with a whole filet attached.
It has the same problems with cooking as the T-Bone. A reverse sear is recommended, although broiling is also an excellent cooking method.

I hope this will help you pick out the best beef for what you want the next time you go to the store. Remember that the grading system is voluntary, so you will likely not see the USDA shields on all the meat. I just took a brief look at the websites of our local supermarkets. When the meat carried the USDA shield, it usually noted Choice meat. Only one or two offerings were of the Prime level. When you find it, the price may make you think twice about purchasing it. No matter what you buy, remember that cooking the meat properly, using an instant-read thermometer and not overcooking it will help you get the best meat on your table.

Cooking Tips · Techniques

Game Meat – Is it for you?

September 11, 2024August 26, 2024 culinaryjourneysllc

Some of you probably grew up eating at least some game meat, and some of you probably continue to do so. Others of you may have never tried game meat. Should you? What does it taste like? An introduction to game meat is the subject of this Cooking Tip.

Game meat refers to the meat obtained from animals typically hunted in their natural habitats. Today, the term is applied to those same animals raised on farms. In fact, according to the USDA, “Game species raised on farms under appropriate regulations can be sold. Wild game species that can be legally hunted under Federal or State regulatory authority cannot be sold but can be harvested for personal consumption.” What can be sold and where will vary by state. This is to ensure the sustainable use of game meat and that they are handled in such a way as to prevent food safety issues.

Before I discuss different game animals, there are some generalities about game meat.

Game meat, whether farm-raised or wild, will taste different than meat from domesticated animals. This is mainly because wild animals have different diets and activity levels. Meat from domesticated animals will have the mildest flavor, whereas the wild game has the most robust flavor, with the farm-raised game having intermediate flavor.
Many call the flavor of this meat “gamey.” The flavor profile often is described as strong, musky, and earthy. This flavor is not an indicator of the meat’s freshness or safety. As opposed to some of the cliches, game meat does not taste just like chicken or beef, although they may share some similarities.
Proper handling of the meat from harvest to plate and the cooking method will help decrease the gamey flavor.
Game meat is typically lower in saturated fat and calories than domesticated meat.
Because of the lower fat content and the fact that game animals get more exercise, game meat can be tough if not handled properly. This type of meat generally benefits from cooking slowly or in a pressure-type environment.
All game meat is a good source of protein and vitamins.

Here are some suggestions for reducing the gamey flavor.

The gamey flavor comes from the fat. Removing the fat can remove some of this flavor but also decreases juiciness and tenderness.
Chefs use spices, herbs and marinades to help with these flavor challenges.
Soaking the meat in a solution may help. Make sure to cover the game completely in the solution and discard the solution after soaking. Small animals may only need 8-12 hours, while larger ones may benefit from a 24-48-hour soak. Here are some ideas from game experts.
- Salt solution – use ¼ cup kosher salt per quart of cold water.
- Vinegar solution – use one cup per quart of cold water.
- Milk solution – cover with milk and soak.
- Red wine solution—This is good if you will then cook your meat in a stew. Those who advocate this method recommend boiling the wine, cooling it and then using it for the soak.

Cooking temperatures—Just as with meat from domesticated animals, it is best to use a food thermometer to ensure the meat’s safety.

According to the USDA, fresh game should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160°F. They note that the meat may still be pink in the center, but it will be safe to eat if it reaches that 160°F mark.
For the most tender meat, they recommend cooking at this 160°F temperature for more extended periods or even cooking to higher temperatures to break down the tough connective tissue.

Types of game meat

Here is an interesting tasting chart from Fossil Farms from New Jersey that breaks down the flavor profiles for 16 different types of game. Below is a discussion of a few of the most common.

Venison

Although we think of venison as deer meat, that term can also be applied to meat from elk, moose, caribou, antelope and pronghorn.
It is a type of dark meat.
It is rich in flavor.
It has less fat marbling than other meat, so it is leaner but still tender.

Wild boar

This is the meat from an undomesticated pig.
It is leaner than regular pork, making it tougher. Therefore, it is often cooked with pressure or in a slow cooker.
The meat is darker with more robust flavors.
It is one of the gamier flavors with nutty tones.

Bison

It is also known as an American buffalo.
Common cuts include bison steaks, chili/stew meat and ground meat for burgers.
It is slightly sweeter than domesticated beef.

Elk

The meat is similar in texture to beef.
The flavor is deeper and bolder.

Antelope

It is similar in flavor to deer meat.
It is leaner than deer meat.

Rabbit

This white meat is lean but tender.
It has a somewhat delicate flavor but is stronger and earthier than chicken.
In cooking, it is often treated similarly to poultry.

Goat

Goat has a very distinct taste that many do not like.
It is rich with an unpleasant smell and aroma. To reduce this, it must be treated before cooking, which also tenderizes the meat.

Pheasant

It is a white meat that is leaner than chicken or turkey.
It has a relatively mild taste.
It is often roasted like a chicken/turkey or made into sausage.

Quail

A very small and delicate bird that has a sweet but gamey flavor.
It is often served roasted whole.

Duck

There are both domesticated and wild ducks.
It is very rich in flavor.

Are you a game eater? If you do not hunt or have a hunter that gives you the game, it may be hard to find in a typical supermarket. In my area, it is very easy to find different forms of bison. It is not true of other types of game.

Game does show up on restaurant menus, particularly those establishments in the same area as where the game live. Are you a fan? Are you even interested in trying game meat? Have fun and experiment with these other flavors!

Cooking Tips · Ingredients · Techniques

Strawberries – The Epitome of Summer

September 4, 2024August 30, 2024 culinaryjourneysllc

Image by July Salomena Trujillo Reyes from Pixabay

My husband has been harvesting strawberries since June. He has four different varieties growing; they mature at different times and have different flavors. If you do not have a garden, what can you do to ensure you are getting the best strawberries you can? That is the subject of this Cooking Tip.

Strawberries are a member of the rose family and are Native to North America. The large majority of US strawberries come from California, with Florida being a distant second.

Varieties

As with so many produce items, there is not just one strawberry, although you may think so if you only buy them in the supermarket. There, you will find what is known as the Garden Strawberry (Fragaria Ananassa). However, there are said to be over 1,000 different varieties grown worldwide.

If you are a gardener, you will have a myriad of choices to plant. They are broadly broken into two categories.

June-bearing – these produce the largest berries over a 2-3 week period during June/July.
Everbearing strawberries generally produce two harvests a year – one in the spring and one in later summer/fall. Their fruit is usually smaller.

Although the typical strawberry is red, there are green and white berries. The greens are unripe berries, and the whites have been cultivated so as not to develop the typical red color.

Picking Ripe Strawberries

Because strawberries (as with so much fruit) do not continue to ripen after harvesting, you want to pick the ripest you can when you buy them to get the sweetest and most strawberry flavor. The best way to test the flavor of a strawberry is by tasting it, something that you probably cannot do in the supermarket, although you may be able to do so at farmer’s markets.

Apart from tasting, a deep red color is another indicator of flavor. However, strawberries will continue to redden after being picked, even though they do not continue to ripen. Therefore, color alone can be deceiving. One strawberry grower recommends looking to see how red they are all the way to the top, under the leaves. The redder they are in this area, the sweeter & juicier they will most likely be.

Another tip is to smell them. They are much more likely to have good flavor if they have a wonderful strawberry scent.

Another interesting point comes from America’s Test Kitchen. They tell us that the flavor of a strawberry is related to its aroma, and the aroma is related to temperature. A room temperature berry will likely taste sweeter than one just out of the refrigerator. Too much heat, though, is not good, as it can drive off much of the aroma. Therefore, rather than cooking strawberries, they like to macerate them by tossing them in a bit of sugar and letting them sit until they soften and the liquid starts to come out.

Hulling Strawberries

When you are ready to eat or use the strawberries, after washing them, you will want to hull them, which means removing the leaves and the core. There are different methods for this.

Paring knife
- This doesn’t require any equipment other than what you already have. It does, though, take away more of the berry than other methods.
Straw
- Insert a sturdy straw into the strawberry’s point. Push the straw through the berry, and it will remove the leaves with the hull attached. This method does work, although it is easy to go off-center and miss the hull.
Hullers
- Spruce Eats tested several different hullers and found that the Oxo Good Grips Strawberry Huller worked the best. They liked its nonslip grip, easy cleaning, and ability to use different-sized berries. The only negative was that it was hard to store.

Roasting Strawberries

Roasting strawberries is an interesting way to try to enhance their flavor by intensifying the natural sugars present in the berries. To do this, toss the berries in about two teaspoons of sugar per cup of berries. If desired, add a touch of acidity with a bit of lemon zest. Roast in a 425°F oven for 15-20 minutes, stirring halfway through. Although you may or may not want to eat them out of hand, you can use them in baked goods or as a topping.

Dried Strawberries

Making dried strawberries is not difficult. If you have a food dehydrator, follow the instructions for that appliance. You can still dry them in a low oven if you do not have one. After washing and hulling the berries, cut them in half or quarters. Place the berries on a baking sheet, cut side up. Place in a 200°F oven for about 3 hours. Allow the berries to cool and crisp up, and then store them in an airtight container for up to a week.

Storing Strawberries

We all know just how perishable strawberries are. How can we make them last the longest? There are all sorts of recommendations out there. Three that seem to stand out as the best are the following.

Do not rinse them until you are ready to eat them. Rather, pick out any berries that are going bad, put the rest back in the container and store them in the refrigerator. Some recommend storing the container upside down to encourage airflow. This way, your berries should keep up to a week.
A second method is to wash them in a solution of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water, drain them and dry them thoroughly before putting them in the refrigerator. One method of drying is placing them is in a paper-towel-lined salad spinner and gently spinning them until dry.
A final method is to soak them for about 5 minutes in a mixture of 1 tablespoon of kosher salt per cup of water. Drain, rinse, dry and place in the refrigerator. The proponents of this method say that the salt is abrasive, and therefore, it cleans better than water alone. This same source does not like using baking soda or vinegar, as these ingredients can be absorbed into the berry and not rinse off completely, possibly compromising flavor and texture. As can be seen by the second method, though, not everyone agrees with this caution.

Freezing Strawberries

For more extended storage, strawberries can be frozen.

Remove the tops.
Chop them as you prefer – quarter, slice, etc. You can leave very small berries whole.
Freeze in a single layer.
Transfer to a freezer bag/container.
Use within a few months as their quality deteriorates after about six months.
Some like tossing the berries in sugar before freezing, as this preserves the color and texture. However, it does limit how you can use them later.
Great uses for frozen strawberries are smoothies, jam, ice cream, fruit topping, and strawberry sauce.

Measuring Strawberries

Although you do not always have to be exact in measuring when using strawberries in a recipe, it is nice to know how many cups are in that container you pick up in the store. The Spruce Eats has put together some conversion figures to make your life easier.

1 cup whole strawberries is equivalent to:

8 large strawberries
5 ounces by weight
½ cup strawberry puree

1# strawberries is equivalent to:

2¾ cup sliced strawberries
3¾ cup whole strawberries

1 pint of strawberries is equivalent to:

12 large strawberries
24 medium strawberries
36 small strawberries
¾# by weight
1¼ cups puree
2½ cups whole small strawberries
1½ to 2 cups sliced strawberries

Now that you know how to pick ripe strawberries, clean them, store them and use them, there is one last important tidbit. Do you know what the fear of strawberries is called? It is “Fragariaphobia.” That is bound to be helpful in your kitchen!

Cooking Tips · Ingredients

Crabapples – Ornamental or Edible?

August 28, 2024August 11, 2024 culinaryjourneysllc

Sitting at my desk this morning, I looked out the window towards our backyard where the chickens roam, the bees buzz, the flowers bloom, and tree fruit is trying desperately to ripen in Colorado’s less-than-ideal growing conditions. As I look, I see a beautiful green tree with deep red crabapples on it. That is the subject of this Cooking Tip. Are those apples just ornamental, or are they edible? (See this Tip for a discussion on apples in general.)

According to the experts, crabapples are not a different type of fruit than other apples. However, one distinction is that they are the only apple native to North America. What determines if it is a crabapple is its size. If it is under 2 inches in diameter, it is called a crabapple. If it is larger, it is an apple.

Breeding is another difference. The apples we eat for lunch have been bred to be larger and better tasting. Crabapples are bred more for ornamentation. Some varieties are purely ornamental, with no or minimal fruit. Even those crabapples with fruit have not been bred to produce particularly great tasting fruit. Although edible, they are much tarter and sourer than other apples.

Some crabapple varieties are sweeter and better for culinary uses. The two that are described as the sweetest are the Dolgo and Centennial. The Chestnut and Whitney are especially good for other culinary purposes.

Dolgo

What I see when looking into our backyard is a Dolgo crabapple. Its size is larger, and its flavor is sweeter than other varieties. Besides eating, it is commonly used to make ciders, sauces and jams.

Centennial

Some like to eat the Centennial crabapple right off the tree, while others feel it is ideal for jam, jelly, or apple butter.

Whitney

The Whitney crabapple is a smaller tree that yields larger and sweeter fruit than many other crabapples. Its great uses include preserving, canning, and pickling.

Chestnut

The flavor of a Chestnut crabapple is described as sweet and nutty. It is well-suited to jams and sauces.

Uses for crabapples

Crabapple Jams & Jellies – the sourness of the crabapple will be offset by added sugar.
Crabapple Butter – Apple butter made from crabapples will be pink with a more complex and sweet-tart flavor.
Crabapple sauce
Crabapple fruit leather
Caramel crabapples
Pickled crabapples
Crabapple chutney
Crabapple syrup
Crabapple juice/cider
Crabapple liqueur
Crabapple crisp/tart/pie

Disadvantages of crabapples

One of the main disadvantages of using crabapples is the increased labor due to their small size. It takes more work to harvest a sufficient amount, and there is increased kitchen labor to get them ready for your desired dish.
As noted above, their natural flavor is sour and tart. This can be adjusted by adding sweeteners and spices, although the result won’t be exactly as it would be with regular apples.
The flesh will not get as smooth as other apples, even when cooked and pureed.

According to Robinette’s Apple Haus & Winery in Michigan, winter is the best time to pick crabapples. Although they do ripen during the fall, “freezing temperatures make the crabapples soft and sweet.” Alternatively, they recommend picking them and putting them in your freezer for a couple of days before using them.

What about the myth that you might have heard that crabapples are poisonous? The peel and flesh of the crabapple are perfectly safe to consume. Like all apples, the seeds are toxic and should not be consumed.

If you do not have a crabapple tree growing in your backyard, where do you get them? You probably won’t find them in your general supermarket, but some farmer’s markets carry them. They should be able to tell you which variety they are so you can plan accordingly.

They are also a favorite of foragers since they tend to grow in all sorts of areas. As with any foraging, care must be taken. See this Tip for guidance.

Enjoy apple season, whether it is regular apples or crabapples!

Cooking Tips · Ingredients

Figs – A Mediterranean Delight!

August 21, 2024August 6, 2024 culinaryjourneysllc

I was at one of our local supermarkets earlier today. While there, I saw fresh figs on display. I was thrilled, as I love fresh figs, and they are not available very often in our area. They are delicious right out of the box and great for cooking/baking. This Cooking Tip will delve into figs, the varieties, how to choose them, how to store them and what to do with them.

Figs are typically found growing in Mediterranean countries. They like the warmer weather. In the US, the large majority of figs are grown in California.

There are thousands of varieties grown, although only a very few are found in our stores. The names of the figs can be confusing as the same fig grown in different areas might have a different name. In addition, when a fig is introduced to a location, it is not uncommon to coin a new name. For example, when introduced to California, the Smyrna fig’s name was changed to Calimyrna.

There are two harvest seasons for fresh figs. The first is short and occurs in early summer. The main season is from late summer through fall.

Most figs are tear-dropped in shape, although they may vary in size. The color of the skin can range from pale yellow or green to brown to red to purple to almost black. This color distinguishes the type of fig but tells you nothing about its taste. The fig’s interior or flesh will vary from a light amber to a pinkish-red to a darker red, almost berry-like color. Unlike the skin, the flesh color will give you an idea of its flavor.

According to The Fig Boss, the flavor profiles of figs can be broken into three categories – honey, sugar and berry.

Sugar – A fig with melon undertones, dried fruit “figgy” flavor, and often unique sugars.
Honey – Higher in melon flavor, accompanied by honey-like sugars and nectar.
Berry – Figs with pronounced berry or other fruity flavors

Although these are the main three flavor profiles that most experts will use, The Fig Boss likes to further refine the flavors into:

Sugar Berry
Melon Berry
Cherry
Complex Berry
Sugar Honey
Fruity Honey

Of the thousands of varieties, here are the ones you will most commonly find in grocery stores.

Mission (Black Mission)

If you are fortunate enough to stumble across fresh figs in your store, the most common variety you will find is the Mission fig. It is also known as the Franciscana fig, named after the Franciscan missionaries who cultivated it in California in the late 18^th century
It has purple or black skin with a light pink interior.
Its flavor is mellow with honey and earthy notes.
It will work well in most dishes that call for figs.

Brown Turkey (Turkish Brown Figs)

Another fig you might see in your stores is the Brown Turkey Fig.
It is larger than other figs with brown or reddish skin.
The flesh is light red to brown.
It has a mild flavor, much less sweet, less complex and less intense than the mission fig. The flavor notes are said to be of honey and hazelnuts.

Calimyrna

As noted above, this type of Smyrna fig was named Calimyrna when introduced to California. In grocery stores, it is often labeled Turkish figs.
Their skin is light green to yellow.
The flesh is pale pink.
It has a delicate flavor with nutty notes.

Kadota

This fig goes by many names: Dottato, Florentine, White Texas Everbearing and Peter’s Honey Fig.
It has creamy amber or light green skin.
The flesh is light pink or amber.
It is a seedless variety.
Although less sweet than other varieties, it does have notes of honey and fruit.
It tolerates being heated, making it a good candidate for jams and preserves.

When picking out figs at the store, they should feel soft but not mushy. You do not want to buy figs that are hard as they will not continue to ripen. It is perfectly fine to have some slight cracking or wrinkling of the skin. If they are past their peak, they might have a sour smell.

The entire fig is edible, although most remove the dense, fibrous stem. Eating out of hand is my favorite way of consuming figs, but they are also wonderful in other applications. Fig jam and preserves are very popular. Serving them as part of a cheese/fruit/nut platter is also classic. They are an excellent addition to salads, especially if the salad includes goat cheese.

Figs are delicious in this Pork with Figs & Balsamic Dressing recipe from BBC Food. They also make a simple but elegant dessert, as shown in this Fig Compote with Honey Crème Fraîche from Williams-Sonoma.

Figs are very perishable. Once you get them home, leave them in their clamshell packaging and store them in the refrigerator. They will last up to about a week. They never last that long in my refrigerator, and not because they go bad. It is because they get eaten very quickly.

I have never frozen fresh figs, but experts say it can be done. If you wish to try, keep them whole. Remove any very soft figs. Wash and dry them thoroughly. Arrange them on a baking sheet in a single layer, not touching each other. Freeze until sold and then transfer to plastic bags. They should keep up to 6 months. To use, thaw them and use them as usual. The texture will be softer, making them better for cooked applications than raw.

Are you lucky enough to have fresh figs on offer in your supermarkets? If so, grab them while you can. They won’t last long either in your store or your kitchen!

Cooking Tips · Techniques

American Cuisine – is it real?

August 14, 2024July 28, 2024 culinaryjourneysllc

When I say Indian cuisine, Mexican cuisine or even French cuisine, do certain dishes come to mind? How about if I say American cuisine? What dishes come to mind? Is there even such a thing as American cuisine? That is the subject of this Cooking Tip.

Many will say there is no such thing as American cuisine. Others will say nothing is more American than the “Golden Arches.” If there is such a thing as American cuisine, it has been influenced by the fact that we began as a country of immigrants, each of whom brought their own food to these shores. Recipes had to be adapted, though, as not all ingredients available in their home countries were available here. How many times have you heard that a restaurant serves “authentic Italian food” or that it serves “Americanized Italian food?” What is the latter? Is it Italian, or is it American? Very little of what we call American doesn’t have roots in other cuisines. Perhaps the most American food is corn, a staple of Native American cuisine for millennia.

What Americans eat has also changed through time. Think of what might have been on our dining tables in the 1950s and what is on our table today. Back then, there was Spam, tuna casserole, meatloaf and Jello. Today, dinner is more likely to consist of processed foods, food kits or restaurant delivery meals.

Our country is also vast, with differing geography, climate and people. This has led to a distinct regionality of the cuisine. Whereas the definition of American cuisine can be nebulous, we might more easily describe Southern cuisine, New Orleans cuisine or New England cuisine.

If we were to describe a typical American cookout, it would most likely include hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad and coleslaw. If you head to the Northeast, you will surely find many seafood dishes, such as clam chowder and lobster rolls. Quintessential Southern dishes include fried chicken, biscuits/gravy, fried green tomatoes, and grits, which are all very different but all very American.

I often think of American food as what you will find in diners in small towns across the US. I recall looking for a place to eat while driving through a small town in the Midwest. The local café boasted dishes such as chicken fried steak, cheeseburgers, and roast beef with mashed potatoes. There might have been spaghetti and meatballs, but it was an Americanized version. The other type of eating establishment we found is any number of fast food places.

Although that sounds very American to me, I might be a bit unfair. What are your thoughts? Is there an American cuisine? If so, what is it? What would you suggest if someone was visiting from another country and said they wanted to try American food? Let me know!

Cooking Tips · Techniques

Recipe times – why are they so often unrealistic?

August 7, 2024July 21, 2024 culinaryjourneysllc

When you make a recipe, do you rely on the times listed in the recipe, whether it be prep time, total cooking time or cook time for just one particular step? In my classes, I often find the students religiously using a timer and expecting it to tell them when a specific step is done. That is one thing that can lead to recipe failure in your kitchen. I have been known to take times out of a recipe to force students to rely on their other senses, such as sight, smell, hearing and taste. In this Cooking Tip, I will discuss the dilemma of timing in recipes.

Before we get into the timing issue, let me remind you that not all recipes you will find, especially online, are well-written and accurate. I have written a prior Cooking Tip on Recipe Cautions that you might want to read.

Most recipes list different times—prep time, times for individual steps, and total cooking time. When I read a recipe, I ignore the prep time, as it can be very misleading. I might glance at the total cooking time, but I pay more attention to the timing of different steps. Although they might not be accurate, they give me a better estimate of how much time I will need to prepare a dish.

Let’s discuss why the timing listed in recipes might not be correct and what you should do to be successful. Many variables affect how long it will take you in your kitchen to prepare a dish from start to finish, and those variables often mean your real cooking time is different from the recipe’s.

Organization – what the French call mise en place – is very important to how long it will take you to complete a dish.

If your kitchen is disorganized, you will spend more time looking for an ingredient, the correct pot/pan, or a kitchen tool. None of that will be included in the recipe’s prep time, as the writer assumes you have all you need readily available.
How quick and efficient are your knife skills? I do not advocate trying to be a lightning-quick chopper/slicer. However, the more you practice, the quicker you will naturally get. And, the more efficient you become in achieving the proper and similar-sized results, the less additional chopping you will have to do. The recipe writer probably assumes you have good knife skills. If you do not, you will need to add extra time to the recipe.

What is included in the prep time?

You might think that the estimated prep time includes gathering all your ingredients and preparing them as instructed to get ready for cooking. It certainly doesn’t include the “gathering” stage.
Some recipes may include all the washing of vegetables, chopping, slicing, peeling, and measuring in the prep time, but others do not. When they do not, I am not sure what they think “prep” involves, but you are going to need to significantly lengthen their estimate for prep. Unfortunately, I have never seen a recipe that states what is and what is not included in prep time.
If the recipe says to use 4 tablespoons of butter at room temperature, most likely the recipe developer assumes the butter is at room temperature when you start cooking. If it is not, guess what? Your start-to-finish time will be longer as you wait for your butter to come to room temperature. And, yes, those recommendations are generally necessary to the recipe’s success. See this Tip for more explanation.

Equipment

A good recipe will include the type and size of pot/pan you will need. However, you will probably not have the exact same pot. Using a smaller or larger pot can affect the cooking time. A smaller pot decreases the surface area, and since the liquid in that pot will be deeper, it can take longer to cook. Cooking risotto in a smaller diameter pot will take much longer than if you cook that same risotto in a larger diameter and shallower pot.
How sharp are your knives? Just as with your knife skills, using a dull knife can increase the prep time, and that does not even talk about the danger of dull knives.
The oven temperature and its accuracy may greatly affect cooking/baking times. If your times are significantly different from the recipe, you should seriously consider checking the temperature of your oven with an accurate oven thermometer. Even if your oven registers the correct temperature, it may cook/bake differently based on its air circulation and whether you use the convection mode or not.
Cooktop temperature – low, medium, medium-high, and high on your cooktop can mean different things to different people, and even setting the dial at a similar setting as that recommended in the recipe can produce a different heat output on a different stovetop.

The Cook’s Skill

You get quicker at an activity whenever you are more skilled at it. Recipe developers are very experienced. Therefore, it probably takes them less time to go from start to finish than you will. It has been shown that cookbook and recipe writers frequently underestimate start-to-finish times.
This is especially true if you have never made the recipe before. If that is the case, add at least 15 minutes to the recipe’s timing.

Environment

The ambient temperature of your kitchen might mean it will take you longer than the recipe states. We all probably know that cooler kitchens lead to longer proofing times. However, cooler kitchens also mean your pantry ingredients, such as flour, will be cooler. Therefore, even if you place your item in a temperature-controlled proofer, cooler flour means a longer proofing time. The recipe writer is most likely making time estimates based on his/her environment, which may not match yours.
Altitude – those who live at a higher altitude know that certain dishes will take longer to cook, especially whole grains and beans. Unless the recipe states it was developed at a high altitude, assume it was not. That means more time for you.

Ingredients

Besides the ingredients’ temperature, the food’s size will also alter the cooking time. Does diced onion mean the same thing to the recipe writer as it does to you? If the food is larger than the one used in developing the recipe, cooking time can be longer.
The thickness of the meat is very important. If your meat cut is thicker than the recipe calls for, it can take much longer to cook.

Follow your senses, not your timer.

Because of the above, if a recipe says a specific step will take a certain amount of time, do not rely on that time. As Bon Appetit puts it, “When you’re following a recipe at home, cook to the indicator, not to the time.” For example, the recipe might say, “sauté onions for 3-5 minutes or until they are softened and golden.” The indicator after that “or until” is so much more important than the “3-5 minutes.”
Use your senses to tell when you have completed a particular step. Does your pan and the ingredients look as indicated? Is the aroma as stated? If the recipe says something like “softened,” taste it. There is no better way to determine texture than by tasting.

Timers

Does that mean you should throw your timers out? No, they have a place, especially when something is in the oven. I always set my timers for less time than the recipe states and then check what I am cooking.
For meat, invest in a good food thermometer. That is one piece of equipment that is bound to improve your results in the kitchen. It is not just for meat, though. Bread, casseroles, and candy are just some other items that will benefit from cooking to the proper temperature.
If a timer does nothing else, it will help you not forget that you have something on the stove or oven.

As I mentioned in the Tip on Recipe Cautions, a recipe failure might not be your fault. It might be the fault of the recipe writer. Timing is something over which you have control, and I hope this explanation will help you as you evaluate a recipe and its stated timing. It might not be what you expect!