Overheard at Work

[chemistk]

I like Pioneer Woman for raw beginners because she has pictures of everything. Don't know what "saute the onions until translucent means"? Well, here's a high res picture of translucent onions in a saute pan.

I feel like I have a good handle on the "how," but there's a dearth of information on the "why."  For example, WHY do we sauté the onions until translucent?  What happens if I throw the onions in with the other ingredients at the same time?  They still get cooked right?  What if I cook the onions too long?  I love caramelized onions!

I sort of understand why you cook ginger or garlic first to get the flavor into the oil, but still not sure about onions.

I often think recipes have too many steps - brown this, set aside that, cook this separately until X and then combine.

I am not a pro, or even a very good cook, but here's my basic explanation... hard stuff takes longer to get soft and release flavour. If you drop something on the floor and it makes a thunk, it should be the first thing in the pan. If it makes a splat, it can go in last.

Also, the less you want to eat something raw, the earlier it needs to go in the recipe. Wanna bite into that raw onion? How about a rutabaga? OK, so those go in first. Potato tastes like crap raw? Then it needs longer to cook.

Now combine the two to come out with a schedule. Celery is pretty hard, but is also pretty edible raw. So it goes in the pan after the hard onion that tastes like poop raw. Potato is really bouncy and tastes like crap raw, so you can put it in before the celery... and so on.

If I had to make one recommendation on this topic, watching Alton Brown's Good Eats (or reading the books, they work too) can seriously up your cooking skills. If you like the science behind everything, he goes into pretty great detail at times. he also talks about the history, nomenclature, cultural preferences, etc. about food. Watching an episode or two can easily drive one to try a thing or ten in the kitchen.

[dragoncar]

I like raw onion too, so maybe that's why it doesn't matter to me

Yup - me too, in the right place, like on a burger or in a salad, but not really in a stew or soup. Besides, if you're eating the onion raw, you're not cooking - so then its just making (ie. making a sammach, making a salad) and all the rules change.

FWIW, mushy, tasty stuff goes in last because it doesn't need to be softened through the breaking down of the cell walls and loads of chemistry stuff I'm not really sure about. Also, there is a fine line between carmelized onions and burnt onions. Just ask my smoke detector.

Most meats need a quick sear to seal the flavour in before cooking. Lean meats (turkey) need oil (butter, bacon) on them to prevent drying out. Stuff stuck into meat (garlic cloves) will mush-ify to add flavour as the meat cooks.

Here's a fun starter recipe to impress family and friends. Very few ingredients, relatively easy to make, and enough chemistry to keep things interesting: Pumpkin Pie Cake

Note that the hard pecans go in the fryingpan first so they release more flavour...

Raw onion on a stew (e.g. chili)?  Heaven.

But I guarantee if I sear my meat first, then throw onion on top while the meat cooks, the onion will be done by the time the meat is done.

If you do it in reverse (onion first) you have to take the onion out and set aside to sear the meat.  Never understood this sequence but see it all the time.

[gimp]

Speaking of onions, is anyone else pissed off that recipes requiring caramelized onions seem to say it takes 10 - 20 minutes to caramelize onions?

I get that they are trying to not scare off people by listing long cook times, but be real. You're probably not caramelizing onions properly in under 40 minutes even cheating with flour. I do it for as long as I have time to occasionally stir and add water... an hour, an hour and a half, two hours, whatever. The longer the tastier.

[johnny847]

My in-laws do not cook. As in, they sold their stove and put a cabinet in instead.

I'm confused. If they don't cook, what did they need that extra cabinet space for?

[arebelspy]

My in-laws do not cook. As in, they sold their stove and put a cabinet in instead.

Wow. Something almost everyone takes for granted, and deciding they don't need it?  Minimalizing their possessions?  Selling an unused item?

Sounds Mustachian to me!

;)

[Olive Branch]

I tried giving a savings/investment PowerPoint presentation to three of my co-workers and one of them kept complaining they simply couldn't save any money whatsoever, and that it was impossible. I didn't pry for details but if you're going to attend a retirement seminar where the focus is "save as much money as you can and invest the rest" why bother showing up?

[serpentstooth]

My in-laws do not cook. As in, they sold their stove and put a cabinet in instead.

Wow. Something almost everyone takes for granted, and deciding they don't need it?  Minimalizing their possessions?  Selling an unused item?

Sounds Mustachian to me!

;)

Ha. Except then you need to take into account that they eat every single meal out. Every. Single. Meal.

Which gets really tiring. When we were visiting I kept getting annoyed that you had to leave the house multiple times a day to get food.

[Kitsune]

My in-laws do not cook. As in, they sold their stove and put a cabinet in instead.

Wow. Something almost everyone takes for granted, and deciding they don't need it?  Minimalizing their possessions?  Selling an unused item?

Sounds Mustachian to me!

;)

Ha. Except then you need to take into account that they eat every single meal out. Every. Single. Meal.

Which gets really tiring. When we were visiting I kept getting annoyed that you had to leave the house multiple times a day to get food.

I have actually made hamburger buns, from scratch, because I was too lazy to pull on pants and walk 2 blocks to the store to buy some. Leaving the house for every single meal sounds like the WORST.

[serpentstooth]

My in-laws do not cook. As in, they sold their stove and put a cabinet in instead.

Wow. Something almost everyone takes for granted, and deciding they don't need it?  Minimalizing their possessions?  Selling an unused item?

Sounds Mustachian to me!

;)

Ha. Except then you need to take into account that they eat every single meal out. Every. Single. Meal.

Which gets really tiring. When we were visiting I kept getting annoyed that you had to leave the house multiple times a day to get food.

I have actually made hamburger buns, from scratch, because I was too lazy to pull on pants and walk 2 blocks to the store to buy some. Leaving the house for every single meal sounds like the WORST.

I have done exactly that before. I mean, you expect me to FIND socks, put them on, dress the baby in doll size outerwear, dress myself in outerwear, stick the baby in the stroller and all that before I even GO OUTSIDE. Forget it, I'll just bake.

[dragoncar]

My in-laws do not cook. As in, they sold their stove and put a cabinet in instead.

I'm confused. If they don't cook, what did they need that extra cabinet space for?

Disposible plates and cups, plastic flatware, thousands of packets of powdered Parmesan, red chili flakes, ketchup and dressing.  Two shelves of just take out menus.  One pineapple.

[serpentstooth]

My in-laws do not cook. As in, they sold their stove and put a cabinet in instead.

I'm confused. If they don't cook, what did they need that extra cabinet space for?

Disposible plates and cups, plastic flatware, thousands of packets of powdered Parmesan, red chili flakes, ketchup and dressing.  Two shelves of just take out menus.  One pineapple.

They don't believe in cheese, so definitely not parmesan. But I think they use it to store books, actually.

[MgoSam]

My in-laws do not cook. As in, they sold their stove and put a cabinet in instead.

I'm confused. If they don't cook, what did they need that extra cabinet space for?

Disposible plates and cups, plastic flatware, thousands of packets of powdered Parmesan, red chili flakes, ketchup and dressing.  Two shelves of just take out menus.  One pineapple.

They don't believe in cheese, so definitely not parmesan. But I think they use it to store books, actually.

Is Parmesan cheese? I thought it was just wood chips?

[frugalnacho]

My in-laws do not cook. As in, they sold their stove and put a cabinet in instead.

I'm confused. If they don't cook, what did they need that extra cabinet space for?

Disposible plates and cups, plastic flatware, thousands of packets of powdered Parmesan, red chili flakes, ketchup and dressing.  Two shelves of just take out menus.  One pineapple.

They don't believe in cheese, so definitely not parmesan. But I think they use it to store books, actually.

Cheese is a figment of the liberal media and the dairy industry.  Prove me wrong!

[serpentstooth]

My in-laws do not cook. As in, they sold their stove and put a cabinet in instead.

I'm confused. If they don't cook, what did they need that extra cabinet space for?

Disposible plates and cups, plastic flatware, thousands of packets of powdered Parmesan, red chili flakes, ketchup and dressing.  Two shelves of just take out menus.  One pineapple.

They don't believe in cheese, so definitely not parmesan. But I think they use it to store books, actually.

Cheese is a figment of the liberal media and the dairy industry.  Prove me wrong!

They're from a climate where dairy cultivation isn't really possible (far too hot), and it isn't really part of the traditional diet. And like 90% of East Asians, they're lactose intolerant. My FIL says cheese smells like rotten milk (which is basically is; it's just controlled rotting), and I think that it may be something hard to adjust to if you didn't grow up eating it.

[Mairuiming]

Yesterday, I had a very interesting conversation with a "financial planner" in a local bank.

FP: Sir, as per xyz report only 20% people save adequate amount for retirement in India. I would like to help you manage your investments so that you can retire comfortably.
Me: Thank you for your concern. Tell me more about your services
FP: At what age would you like to retire ?
Me: 45 (I am 32 now)
FP: 45 years to retirement ?
Me: No, at age of 45
FP: No one can retire at 45. You have to keep working longer to retire. Let me tell you about our great financial product (commission was 6% of fund value per year)

I ran so hard towards the door, security guards thought I have robbed the bank.

PS: I went to bank to close a dormant account and was caught by bank appointed financial planner. Main objective of the bank is to sell high commission products to unsuspecting customers in the name of "expert advice".

[coolistdude]

Yesterday, I had a very interesting conversation with a "financial planner" in a local bank.

FP: Sir, as per xyz report only 20% people save adequate amount for retirement in India. I would like to help you manage your investments so that you can retire comfortably.
Me: Thank you for your concern. Tell me more about your services
FP: At what age would you like to retire ?
Me: 45 (I am 32 now)
FP: 45 years to retirement ?
Me: No, at age of 45
FP: No one can retire at 45. You have to keep working longer to retire. Let me tell you about our great financial product (commission was 6% of fund value per year)

I ran so hard towards the door, security guards thought I have robbed the bank.

PS: I went to bank to close a dormant account and was caught by bank appointed financial planner. Main objective of the bank is to sell high commission products to unsuspecting customers in the name of "expert advice".

That last line is awful. Really, no one can retire at 45? Not even people making high six figures? I can only hope that the "FP" has nightmares of you retiring and telling all of his clients.

[markbike528CBX]

Yesterday, I had a very interesting conversation with a "financial planner" in a local bank.
........
FP: No one can retire at 45. You have to keep working longer to retire. Let me tell you about our great financial product (commission was 6% of fund value per year)

I ran so hard towards the door, security guards thought I have robbed the bank.
.......

Sounds like a post for the "Mustachian People Problems" thread.   
Especially if there was hassle from the guards.

[RWD]

FP: Sir, as per xyz report only 20% people save adequate amount for retirement in India. I would like to help you manage your investments so that you can retire comfortably.

This line is interest as according to this site the average household savings rate in India is 32%. Surely that means more than 20% are saving enough for retirement?

[MrsDinero]

My in-laws do not cook. As in, they sold their stove and put a cabinet in instead.

Wow. Something almost everyone takes for granted, and deciding they don't need it?  Minimalizing their possessions?  Selling an unused item?

Sounds Mustachian to me!

;)

Ha. Except then you need to take into account that they eat every single meal out. Every. Single. Meal.

Which gets really tiring. When we were visiting I kept getting annoyed that you had to leave the house multiple times a day to get food.

In my road warrior days (living in a 1 bedroom apartment) I would have gladly traded the stove for a washer and dryer, in fact I even tried negotiating this with the leasing office.  I never cooked on the 4-6 days a month I was home as it was easier to just get take out and not let things spoil.  Luckily I lived in a large city where there were several stores/markets that catered to take out, so I could get pizza, steak, a salad, chicken, whatever I wanted they had it, cooked it, and was ready to go!

[frugalnacho]

FP: Sir, as per xyz report only 20% people save adequate amount for retirement in India. I would like to help you manage your investments so that you can retire comfortably.

This line is interest as according to this site the average household savings rate in India is 32%. Surely that means more than 20% are saving enough for retirement?

The guy was selling investments with a 6% yearly commission.  Everything coming out of his mouth should be considered unreliable garbage.

[plainjane]

thousands of packets of powdered Parmesan

I'm obviously going to the wrong places.  I've never seen packets of powdered "parm". 

I once brought deli-grated parm to keep in the work fridge.  People feel much more comfortable using that on their own lunches than they did going into my stash of rice cakes, peanut butter or oatmeal, so I didn't do that again.

[RWD]

FP: Sir, as per xyz report only 20% people save adequate amount for retirement in India. I would like to help you manage your investments so that you can retire comfortably.

This line is interest as according to this site the average household savings rate in India is 32%. Surely that means more than 20% are saving enough for retirement?

The guy was selling investments with a 6% yearly commission.  Everything coming out of his mouth should be considered unreliable garbage.

Good point.

[maco]

Speaking of onions, is anyone else pissed off that recipes requiring caramelized onions seem to say it takes 10 - 20 minutes to caramelize onions?

I get that they are trying to not scare off people by listing long cook times, but be real. You're probably not caramelizing onions properly in under 40 minutes even cheating with flour. I do it for as long as I have time to occasionally stir and add water... an hour, an hour and a half, two hours, whatever. The longer the tastier.

Yeah, they really just mean brown them. I've heard the way to go is to put an entire bag worth of onions in the slow cooker overnight, then freeze the resulting carmelized onions.

[zephyr911]

I'm obviously going to the wrong places.  I've never seen packets of powdered "parm".

Powdered cellulose, more like. That shit is disgusting.

I once brought deli-grated parm to keep in the work fridge.  People feel much more comfortable using that on their own lunches than they did going into my stash of rice cakes, peanut butter or oatmeal, so I didn't do that again.

They probably thought of it is a condiment, and those are often fair game. I even label mine for breakroom sharing. Still kinda fucked up tho.

[Kitsune]

Speaking of onions, is anyone else pissed off that recipes requiring caramelized onions seem to say it takes 10 - 20 minutes to caramelize onions?

I get that they are trying to not scare off people by listing long cook times, but be real. You're probably not caramelizing onions properly in under 40 minutes even cheating with flour. I do it for as long as I have time to occasionally stir and add water... an hour, an hour and a half, two hours, whatever. The longer the tastier.

Yeah, they really just mean brown them. I've heard the way to go is to put an entire bag worth of onions in the slow cooker overnight, then freeze the resulting carmelized onions.

I use the oven! 10lb bag of onions through the food processor, into a large casserole dish (or 2...), drizzle with oil or butter, put into oven, stir every 20 minutes or so. This WILL make your kitchen smell like onions for a good 24 hours, but if you then freeze the resulting caramelized onions, that's a good few months of luxurious burger toppings, caramelized onion and goat cheese pizzas, etc... For about 3$ and 2 hours. :)

[boarder42]

Speaking of onions, is anyone else pissed off that recipes requiring caramelized onions seem to say it takes 10 - 20 minutes to caramelize onions?

I get that they are trying to not scare off people by listing long cook times, but be real. You're probably not caramelizing onions properly in under 40 minutes even cheating with flour. I do it for as long as I have time to occasionally stir and add water... an hour, an hour and a half, two hours, whatever. The longer the tastier.

Yeah, they really just mean brown them. I've heard the way to go is to put an entire bag worth of onions in the slow cooker overnight, then freeze the resulting carmelized onions.

I use the oven! 10lb bag of onions through the food processor, into a large casserole dish (or 2...), drizzle with oil or butter, put into oven, stir every 20 minutes or so. This WILL make your kitchen smell like onions for a good 24 hours, but if you then freeze the resulting caramelized onions, that's a good few months of luxurious burger toppings, caramelized onion and goat cheese pizzas, etc... For about 3$ and 2 hours. :)

throw a bunch in the crockpot and freeze. 

[RyanAtTanagra]

Speaking of onions, is anyone else pissed off that recipes requiring caramelized onions seem to say it takes 10 - 20 minutes to caramelize onions?

I get that they are trying to not scare off people by listing long cook times, but be real. You're probably not caramelizing onions properly in under 40 minutes even cheating with flour. I do it for as long as I have time to occasionally stir and add water... an hour, an hour and a half, two hours, whatever. The longer the tastier.

Yeah, they really just mean brown them. I've heard the way to go is to put an entire bag worth of onions in the slow cooker overnight, then freeze the resulting carmelized onions.

I use the oven! 10lb bag of onions through the food processor, into a large casserole dish (or 2...), drizzle with oil or butter, put into oven, stir every 20 minutes or so. This WILL make your kitchen smell like onions for a good 24 hours, but if you then freeze the resulting caramelized onions, that's a good few months of luxurious burger toppings, caramelized onion and goat cheese pizzas, etc... For about 3$ and 2 hours. :)

throw a bunch in the crockpot and freeze.

I don't think that's good for the crockpot.  Also very space inefficient.

[teen persuasion]

1. cooking - pretty much open ended and if you follow the all recipes path and start cooking recipes you think you'll like while reading comments you will learn to improvise and learn to COOK

2. baking  - SET ingredients and measurements and cook times and rest times etc. to cook it correctly

I disagree, I've never understood why baking is considered different from cooking.  I use recipes as a general guideline, but I ultimately go by feel for both.  For instance, after doing bread or cookies a few times I know what the proper water content should be before putting them in the oven.  It's not always the specified amount.  I've also never been able to use baking times exactly.  Gotta go by look or toothpick.  If baking was an exact science then recipes would never change.  There'd only be one chocolate chip cookie recipe out there :-(  Baking as with cooking: experiment, wing it!

baking is chemistry its very simple.  there are multiple recipes b/c people like things different. 

i cant just decide to add extra flour or water to something without it ruining a chemical reaction.  if i want a brothier soup i can add more liquid and still end up with soup.

 

Baking is one specific type of cooking, a subset of the cooking universe, not different from cooking.  Baking is cooking using hot air, i.e., in an oven.  You bake a cake, you don't bake soup.

[TomTX]

Most meats need a quick sear to seal the flavour  in activate the Maillard reaction before cooking. Lean meats (turkey) need oil (butter, bacon) on them to prevent drying out. Stuff stuck into meat (garlic cloves) will mush-ify to add flavour as the meat cooks.

[Mairuiming]

This line is interest as according to this site the average household savings rate in India is 32%. Surely that means more than 20% are saving enough for retirement?

Yes, household saving rate is quite high in India.
However, savings are split for 3 generations.

a) Most people in my generation (age 25-40) support parents in their retirement (my parents generations spend almost everything to raise kids, we are grateful for this)
b) Save for our retirement
c) Save for our child's college education, etc. (Indians feel that children should not make a career choice based on lack of funds. Aah, I will flip burgers because I cant afford college education. If child really wants to attend abc college, then parents will support these expenses, and we save for this.)

Saving for 3 generation at times results in insufficient savings for our retirement.

[iwasjustwondering]

1. cooking - pretty much open ended and if you follow the all recipes path and start cooking recipes you think you'll like while reading comments you will learn to improvise and learn to COOK

2. baking  - SET ingredients and measurements and cook times and rest times etc. to cook it correctly

I disagree, I've never understood why baking is considered different from cooking.  I use recipes as a general guideline, but I ultimately go by feel for both.  For instance, after doing bread or cookies a few times I know what the proper water content should be before putting them in the oven.  It's not always the specified amount.  I've also never been able to use baking times exactly.  Gotta go by look or toothpick.  If baking was an exact science then recipes would never change.  There'd only be one chocolate chip cookie recipe out there :-(  Baking as with cooking: experiment, wing it!

baking is chemistry its very simple.  there are multiple recipes b/c people like things different. 

i cant just decide to add extra flour or water to something without it ruining a chemical reaction.  if i want a brothier soup i can add more liquid and still end up with soup.

Ehh, baking is somewhere in the middle. You can futz with things slightly, but not completely. Like for chocolate chip cookies, you can add orange instead of vanilla (which is yummy, by the way). You can use more or less fat or change the kind of fat you use or even how you order the ingredients (will impact how crispy/soft and the size of the cookies). What you can't do, though, is change the ratio between liquid and solid.

I disagree.  I add a few tablespoons of extra flour to chocolate chip cookies.  It makes them less greasy, and softer.  I do agree on the orange extract instead of vanilla.  I've tried that one, too, and it's awesome. 

[aFrugalFather]

I agree with the oft cited phrase that cooking is an art and baking is a science. 

[serpentstooth]

Most meats need a quick sear to seal the flavour  in activate the Maillard reaction before cooking. Lean meats (turkey) need oil (butter, bacon) on them to prevent drying out. Stuff stuck into meat (garlic cloves) will mush-ify to add flavour as the meat cooks.

You can also sear AFTER stewing, which has its advantages.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/12/the-food-lab-reverse-sear-beef-tenderloin-filet-mignon.html

Also, now I want a really good steak.

[UnleashHell]

Most meats need a quick sear to seal the flavour  in activate the Maillard reaction before cooking. Lean meats (turkey) need oil (butter, bacon) on them to prevent drying out. Stuff stuck into meat (garlic cloves) will mush-ify to add flavour as the meat cooks.

You can also sear AFTER stewing, which has its advantages.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/12/the-food-lab-reverse-sear-beef-tenderloin-filet-mignon.html

Also, now I want a really good steak.

one of the best steaks I ever had was one I smoked and then seared.

[serpentstooth]

Most meats need a quick sear to seal the flavour  in activate the Maillard reaction before cooking. Lean meats (turkey) need oil (butter, bacon) on them to prevent drying out. Stuff stuck into meat (garlic cloves) will mush-ify to add flavour as the meat cooks.

You can also sear AFTER stewing, which has its advantages.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/12/the-food-lab-reverse-sear-beef-tenderloin-filet-mignon.html

Also, now I want a really good steak.

one of the best steaks I ever had was one I smoked and then seared.

I am really tempted to go to the fancy butcher and splurge on a Chateubriand and do it for dinner this week, but Mr. Tooth likes his meat well done (ewwwww), so forget it.

[Silverado]

Speaking of onions, is anyone else pissed off that recipes requiring caramelized onions seem to say it takes 10 - 20 minutes to caramelize onions?

I get that they are trying to not scare off people by listing long cook times, but be real. You're probably not caramelizing onions properly in under 40 minutes even cheating with flour. I do it for as long as I have time to occasionally stir and add water... an hour, an hour and a half, two hours, whatever. The longer the tastier.

Yeah, they really just mean brown them. I've heard the way to go is to put an entire bag worth of onions in the slow cooker overnight, then freeze the resulting carmelized onions.

I use the oven! 10lb bag of onions through the food processor, into a large casserole dish (or 2...), drizzle with oil or butter, put into oven, stir every 20 minutes or so. This WILL make your kitchen smell like onions for a good 24 hours, but if you then freeze the resulting caramelized onions, that's a good few months of luxurious burger toppings, caramelized onion and goat cheese pizzas, etc... For about 3$ and 2 hours. :)

throw a bunch in the crockpot and freeze.

I don't think that's good for the crockpot.  Also very space inefficient.

I flew by this first. That's funny.

[madmax]

A few months ago,I told coworker about passive investing and Bogleheads because he was always complaining that he lost money on his latest speculation. He seemed super excited and told me that he was switching to buying VFIFX (Vanguard target 2050). I met him recently and asked how he was doing - he sold all the stock in his brokerage as well as his 401k because the market was down.... :facepalm:

[ender]

A few months ago,I told coworker about passive investing and Bogleheads because he was always complaining that he lost money on his latest speculation. He seemed super excited and told me that he was switching to buying VFIFX (Vanguard target 2050). I met him recently and asked how he was doing - he sold all the stock in his brokerage as well as his 401k because the market was down.... :facepalm:

I sold everything in my 401k a few weeks ago, too.

Course I am rolling it over into an IRA, so there's that :)

[johnny847]

A few months ago,I told coworker about passive investing and Bogleheads because he was always complaining that he lost money on his latest speculation. He seemed super excited and told me that he was switching to buying VFIFX (Vanguard target 2050). I met him recently and asked how he was doing - he sold all the stock in his brokerage as well as his 401k because the market was down.... :facepalm:

Well he was consistent...VFIFX is 90% stocks so it's been doing poorly recently.

[WildJager]

1. cooking - pretty much open ended and if you follow the all recipes path and start cooking recipes you think you'll like while reading comments you will learn to improvise and learn to COOK

2. baking  - SET ingredients and measurements and cook times and rest times etc. to cook it correctly

I disagree, I've never understood why baking is considered different from cooking.  I use recipes as a general guideline, but I ultimately go by feel for both.  For instance, after doing bread or cookies a few times I know what the proper water content should be before putting them in the oven.  It's not always the specified amount.  I've also never been able to use baking times exactly.  Gotta go by look or toothpick.  If baking was an exact science then recipes would never change.  There'd only be one chocolate chip cookie recipe out there :-(  Baking as with cooking: experiment, wing it!

baking is chemistry its very simple.  there are multiple recipes b/c people like things different. 

i cant just decide to add extra flour or water to something without it ruining a chemical reaction.  if i want a brothier soup i can add more liquid and still end up with soup.

 

Baking is one specific type of cooking, a subset of the cooking universe, not different from cooking.  Baking is cooking using hot air, i.e., in an oven.  You bake a cake, you don't bake soup.

Semantics, but, I'd argue that roasting is the potentially better generic phrase for the basic subset of using dry air to heat.

While baking is also defined pretty much the same way, I think the deliniating factor is what you're preparing.  Food with fatty exteriers and a more solid structure, and cooked uncovered, is roasted.  While food that starts out with a non solid structure (may or may not be covered) is baked.  Hence the common use for "baking" as the specific term used for ... For lack of a better word, "baked goods."

Again, semantics, but an interesting distinction non the less.  Now if you put a soup in a Dutch oven into the oven would that be baking?  Probably not because the structure never solifies, but some questions just can't be answered.  ;)

[dragoncar]

1. cooking - pretty much open ended and if you follow the all recipes path and start cooking recipes you think you'll like while reading comments you will learn to improvise and learn to COOK

2. baking  - SET ingredients and measurements and cook times and rest times etc. to cook it correctly

I disagree, I've never understood why baking is considered different from cooking.  I use recipes as a general guideline, but I ultimately go by feel for both.  For instance, after doing bread or cookies a few times I know what the proper water content should be before putting them in the oven.  It's not always the specified amount.  I've also never been able to use baking times exactly.  Gotta go by look or toothpick.  If baking was an exact science then recipes would never change.  There'd only be one chocolate chip cookie recipe out there :-(  Baking as with cooking: experiment, wing it!

baking is chemistry its very simple.  there are multiple recipes b/c people like things different. 

i cant just decide to add extra flour or water to something without it ruining a chemical reaction.  if i want a brothier soup i can add more liquid and still end up with soup.

 

Baking is one specific type of cooking, a subset of the cooking universe, not different from cooking.  Baking is cooking using hot air, i.e., in an oven.  You bake a cake, you don't bake soup.

Semantics, but, I'd argue that roasting is the potentially better generic phrase for the basic subset of using dry air to heat.

While baking is also defined pretty much the same way, I think the deliniating factor is what you're preparing.  Food with fatty exteriers and a more solid structure, and cooked uncovered, is roasted.  While food that starts out with a non solid structure (may or may not be covered) is baked.  Hence the common use for "baking" as the specific term used for ... For lack of a better word, "baked goods."

Again, semantics, but an interesting distinction non the less.  Now if you put a soup in a Dutch oven into the oven would that be baking?  Probably not because the structure never solifies, but some questions just can't be answered.  ;)

What about baked ziti?

[WildJager]

1. cooking - pretty much open ended and if you follow the all recipes path and start cooking recipes you think you'll like while reading comments you will learn to improvise and learn to COOK

2. baking  - SET ingredients and measurements and cook times and rest times etc. to cook it correctly

I disagree, I've never understood why baking is considered different from cooking.  I use recipes as a general guideline, but I ultimately go by feel for both.  For instance, after doing bread or cookies a few times I know what the proper water content should be before putting them in the oven.  It's not always the specified amount.  I've also never been able to use baking times exactly.  Gotta go by look or toothpick.  If baking was an exact science then recipes would never change.  There'd only be one chocolate chip cookie recipe out there :-(  Baking as with cooking: experiment, wing it!

baking is chemistry its very simple.  there are multiple recipes b/c people like things different. 

i cant just decide to add extra flour or water to something without it ruining a chemical reaction.  if i want a brothier soup i can add more liquid and still end up with soup.

 

Baking is one specific type of cooking, a subset of the cooking universe, not different from cooking.  Baking is cooking using hot air, i.e., in an oven.  You bake a cake, you don't bake soup.

Semantics, but, I'd argue that roasting is the potentially better generic phrase for the basic subset of using dry air to heat.

While baking is also defined pretty much the same way, I think the deliniating factor is what you're preparing.  Food with fatty exteriers and a more solid structure, and cooked uncovered, is roasted.  While food that starts out with a non solid structure (may or may not be covered) is baked.  Hence the common use for "baking" as the specific term used for ... For lack of a better word, "baked goods."

Again, semantics, but an interesting distinction non the less.  Now if you put a soup in a Dutch oven into the oven would that be baking?  Probably not because the structure never solifies, but some questions just can't be answered.  ;)

What about baked ziti?

Roas-bak-ing?

Haha, I usually consider casseroles baking.  I generally reserve roasting to base ingredients like meat or veggies that are mostly whole.  But this is a slippery slope...

[hpb]

Kid over his head in debt just got a new BMW.  Everyone was congratulating him.  Another guy told us this gem -

"i needed new brakes, so I just bought a new car instead.  I just needed the excuse"

[Geostache]

Ooh. Speaking of unmustachian co-worker car purchases. There's a couple at work whom I thought might be secretly Mustachian. Whelp, nope. They used to drive a sub-compact car to work. Carpooled with them in their brand-new Ram 2500 to a work celebration. Along the way, they explained that they bought the truck because "my brother was visiting and was using our van for his family. I had to put the three kids in the car, and that wasn't working." So, because the brother was 'visiting' and they couldn't fit their family of 5 in the sub-compact, they BOUGHT A BRAND NEW "Big Horn" truck (starting MSRP $41k). Oh, and they're planning on buying something that they would need to haul with the truck soon, too, so it made sense. o_O

So now, they are going to commute (have no idea how long their commute is) in a GIANT truck, and now they have that truck AND a minivan.

[jinga nation]

Kid over his head in debt just got a new BMW.  Everyone was congratulating him.  Another guy told us this gem -

"i needed new brakes, so I just bought a new car instead.  I just needed the excuse"

I won't lie, I think of that line every week. But every unnecessary purchase delays my retirement (which will be the day my last-born goes to college or is kicked out of the Jinga Nation roost). That will be Aug 2032.

[babysnowbyrd]

"i needed new brakes, so I just bought a new car instead.  I just needed the excuse"

Ha ha. How stupid.

Well, I'm hungry and ran out of baby carrots. I'm going to go buy a grocery store...

[zephyr911]

"i needed new brakes, so I just bought a new car instead.  I just needed the excuse"

Ha ha. How stupid.

Well, I'm hungry and ran out of baby carrots. I'm going to go buy a grocery store...

That at least might produce a positive ROI :P

[MoonShadow]

"i needed new brakes, so I just bought a new car instead.  I just needed the excuse"

Entire careers of salesmen have been based upon this excuse for generations.

EDIT:  My wife's van has been needing a new set of brake pads for a couple weeks.  Today, I broke down and made an appointment at the repair shop; mostly because I hate replacing brake pads.  I guess I needed an excuse as well.

[coolistdude]

"i needed new brakes, so I just bought a new car instead.  I just needed the excuse"

Ha ha. How stupid.

Well, I'm hungry and ran out of baby carrots. I'm going to go buy a grocery store...

That at least might produce a positive ROI :P

When these people experience positive ROI, I think it is accidental luck. When I want luxury, I carpool to work.

Didn't really overhear this one from work, more like I observed it from the parking lot. The president at my company is on their 3rd brand new car in the past 1.5 years. All new Subarus or Hondas, so better than Mercedes, but still! Maybe a condition of working is that they experience the new car smell at all times.

[KodeBlue]

And here I just wasted $15 on a state inspection sticker. I could have applied that $15 to buying a new car.