Sweat the Technique

While finalizing pictures for my final Eataly post, I got inspired. It was moments ago while bouncing between various social media pages where I said what the heck, let's do this. Then as I toyed around Pinterest, I noticed myself drawn to a certain subject. It's also the inspiration from one of my boards. My Sweat the Technique" board is about cooking techniques. Now if you're of a certain age and listen to "Golden Era" rap, you might get the pun here. So after a few pins, I decided to place them here.

taken via Pinterest.

                                  Many of you probably already know this so let it serve as a reminder. In other cases, some of you may not know these things and could be of help. So here goes nothing.                                       Now if you're of a certain age and listen to "Golden Era" rap, you might get the pun here. So after a few pins, I decided to place them here. Many of you probably already know this so let it serve as a reminder.



In other cases, some of you may not know these things and could be of help. So here goes nothing.

On the right and left address how foods should be stored and for how long these foods may be kept. While I personally like my fruits cool. Nothing says yuck like warn guacamole.                                                                                  

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This is really more for visual purposes. For those who know what these terms are, pay no attention to this (like I had to say that anyway). For those who may not understand or may not know these terms, they speak for themselves. The featured Facebook page is actually the page for an English teacher. There are some good materials there but the emphasis is speaking English. 

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 Now what you see on both sides are cooking methods and volume conversion. You will notice on the left picture explaining the type of cooking and the temperatures and times to cook something. It also makes the distinction of cooking with dry heat (e.g., baking, roasting, pan frying, etc) versus moist heat (e.g., simmer, steam, boiling, etc). On the right, you'll notice volumes and I think this is pretty relative and some more exact. For example, I noticed 60 drops will equal 1 teaspoon. Now that can actually be measured. Same with converting tablespoons and ounces to cups as well as cups to pints and quarts. Now when I notice the "pinch" and "dash" descriptions, that could be pretty relative. My hands are exactly dainty but not huge either. Someone with a bigger hand may have a bigger "pinch" than someone with smaller hands. Again, this is no deal breaker but serves as food for thought.

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Ok. Slow cookers are making a comeback. Above are cooking times on each setting. Most I've seen have 3 settings- high, low & warm. Warm temperature is actually cooler than low in many cases. That setting is meant to do one thing. That's to keep the food warm. 

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I'll end with mixing methods. You can see that this features everything from making angel food cake, muffins and just about anything that can be baked. It also suggests the tools and mixing methods best suited for what's being baked. It also shows what steps on when and what ingredients are to be added. In some cases, you are encouraged to add certain ingredients in steps and others add all at once. This also will also mention a technique such as whipping or folding. 

OK. A pseudo-cooking school moment. I hope this may help those who are starting the culinary journey. When you really thing about it, we're all on a journey. Some are much further than others. As long as the journey is fun, that's all that matters. Become a better cook than you were the day before. 

Works Cited:

1. Photo taken from :https://www.facebook.com/santinoenglishteacher

2. Pictures were taken from http://chasingdelicious.com/ via Pinterest. 

3. Taken from Pinterest.com with no direct source mentioned or cited.

4. Pictures was taken from http://chasingdelicious.com/ via Pinterest.