[Harriet]

14 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Butter is it's own reason.

 

 

Butter is a goddess which means this woman is now a blessed prophet. Today I bought an entire falsches filet, a three pound cut from the shoulder which I have unfortunately ruined once before. Determined to get it right this time, I squinted very intensely at the google results for "what temperature braise" and decided on 140c (285f). Sear, water, stock cube, herbs. I checked after three hours and it was tough. I did not panic, assume I had overcooked it, and then eat it sadly (which is what I did last time). No, I remained calm; I left it in for another thirty, then another thirty. And then it was tender. I pulled it apart a little, threw a few tablespoons of butter in, and now it's braised beef in own-juice butter soup. All praise butter.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

16 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

 

I've seen that too, but that hasn't been my experience (yet!) Though there are so many other factors involved in dry or juicy meat that I might simply have been lucky so far  

Good to know if I ever get a full sized convection oven  

4 hours ago, shaar said:

Curly fries are one of my Guilty Frozen Food Pleasures.  It's terrifying how delicious they are...

It really is.

2 hours ago, Shello said:

Curly fries are almost as good as tater tots.  

I have room in my heart for all potato related awesomeness.

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

 

Butter is a goddess which means this woman is now a blessed prophet. Today I bought an entire falsches filet, a three pound cut from the shoulder which I have unfortunately ruined once before. Determined to get it right this time, I squinted very intensely at the google results for "what temperature braise" and decided on 140c (285f). Sear, water, stock cube, herbs. I checked after three hours and it was tough. I did not panic, assume I had overcooked it, and then eat it sadly (which is what I did last time). No, I remained calm; I left it in for another thirty, then another thirty. And then it was tender. I pulled it apart a little, threw a few tablespoons of butter in, and now it's braised beef in own-juice butter soup. All praise butter.

This is the way. I love butter on a good steak too.

[Harriet]

16 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

This is the way. I love butter on a good steak too.

 

How do you stop the butter from immediately melting and falling off in a slippy slidey parcel?

[sarakingdom]

17 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

I've seen that too, but that hasn't been my experience (yet!) Though there are so many other factors involved in dry or juicy meat that I might simply have been lucky so far  

 

Yeah, to be clear, when I'm talking about things drying out in there, I don't mean meat, which comes out great, but stuff like tater tots, because the time to outer browning versus inner drying is narrower, and sometimes it's hard to thread that needle. Unscientifically, I suspect it's a harder needle to thread when the food volume is so much smaller than the air volume, like a tray of tots in a whole-ass oven versus a basket of tots in an air fryer. Needing half an hour versus, like, ten minutes pushes that window a bit.

 

"Blowing the humidity away" sounds pretty bogus, IMO. Once the moisture is out of the meat, it's out of the meat. It's not gonna sink back in if it's allowed to hang around. And if there's humidity that's hanging around in the air instead of evaporating, it's steaming your meat, not roasting it, so even in a regular oven, you don't want that.

 

I suspect the people complaining of dry meat don't realize that convection ovens cook faster than regular ovens, and adjusting their cook times down. (I can't recall how much faster on average, but it's up to 20% sometimes, so if they're timing rather than using a thermometer, they could be way out. This may also be part of the tater tots issue; the window from crunchy outside to crunchy everything goes a little bit faster.)

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

 

How do you stop the butter from immediately melting and falling off in a slippy slidey parcel?

I thought that was the goal, so that you could dip the meat in the butter after cutting off a piece. 

38 minutes ago, sarakingdom said:

 

Yeah, to be clear, when I'm talking about things drying out in there, I don't mean meat, which comes out great, but stuff like tater tots, because the time to outer browning versus inner drying is narrower, and sometimes it's hard to thread that needle. Unscientifically, I suspect it's a harder needle to thread when the food volume is so much smaller than the air volume, like a tray of tots in a whole-ass oven versus a basket of tots in an air fryer. Needing half an hour versus, like, ten minutes pushes that window a bit.

 

"Blowing the humidity away" sounds pretty bogus, IMO. Once the moisture is out of the meat, it's out of the meat. It's not gonna sink back in if it's allowed to hang around. And if there's humidity that's hanging around in the air instead of evaporating, it's steaming your meat, not roasting it, so even in a regular oven, you don't want that.

 

I suspect the people complaining of dry meat don't realize that convection ovens cook faster than regular ovens, and adjusting their cook times down. (I can't recall how much faster on average, but it's up to 20% sometimes, so if they're timing rather than using a thermometer, they could be way out. This may also be part of the tater tots issue; the window from crunchy outside to crunchy everything goes a little bit faster.)

I knew the moisture wasn't going to sink back into the meat, I just had it in my head evaporation would happen faster because the relative humidity would be lower due to the air currents. After seeing your response and watching myself type what I did just now, I see the error.

[sarakingdom]

29 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I just had it in my head evaporation would happen faster because the relative humidity would be lower due to the air currents. After seeing your response and watching myself type what I did just now, I see the error.

 

I did the exact same thing! I was typing my response, thinking, "I guess a more humid cooking environment is a possib--wait, that's steam. Regular ovens don't (ideally) steam meat. And steam is all 212F, it'd drastically fuck with the cooking temperature if it hung around. You couldn't keep it up at 350 if it was noticeably humid." It sounds super plausible until you actually science it. (After that, the likelihood of a large minority not knowing about reducing conventional cooking times seems more plausible. Someone taught me that as a kid, but no one teaches most people.)

[ChrisWithaStick]

It’s a good thing I’m eating lunch while catching up on this thread, just saying.  
 

Also, I’ve rediscovered the joys of cooking with butter after a long time using predominately olive and sometimes avocado oil

[Scaly Freak]

6 hours ago, sarakingdom said:

"Blowing the humidity away" sounds pretty bogus, IMO. Once the moisture is out of the meat, it's out of the meat. It's not gonna sink back in if it's allowed to hang around. And if there's humidity that's hanging around in the air instead of evaporating, it's steaming your meat, not roasting it, so even in a regular oven, you don't want that.

 

I suspect the people complaining of dry meat don't realize that convection ovens cook faster than regular ovens, and adjusting their cook times down. (I can't recall how much faster on average, but it's up to 20% sometimes, so if they're timing rather than using a thermometer, they could be way out. This may also be part of the tater tots issue; the window from crunchy outside to crunchy everything goes a little bit faster.)

 

My oven generously takes care of this for me, by having a special convection setting that adjusts the temperature for me instead. I have four setting buttons, one for roast and one for bake, and then I have "Conv. Roast" and "Conv. Bake", and the idea is to pick a cooking mode, and then use the number key pad to set the temp. If I pick one of the convection modes, the oven will automatically subtract 25 degrees from the temperature I pick, before it starts up and begins to pre-heat. Cook time remains the same.

 

I also always use a meat thermometer for oven cooking meat. I use two when I cook large roasts or turkeys, because (even if no other reason matters) they cost a lot of money and I'm not going to risk destroying them by slavishly following a clock instead of measuring internal temperature  

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

5 hours ago, sarakingdom said:

 

I did the exact same thing! I was typing my response, thinking, "I guess a more humid cooking environment is a possib--wait, that's steam. Regular ovens don't (ideally) steam meat. And steam is all 212F, it'd drastically fuck with the cooking temperature if it hung around. You couldn't keep it up at 350 if it was noticeably humid." It sounds super plausible until you actually science it. (After that, the likelihood of a large minority not knowing about reducing conventional cooking times seems more plausible. Someone taught me that as a kid, but no one teaches most people.)

Good to know my mistake was at least intuitive.

4 hours ago, ChrisWithaStick said:

It’s a good thing I’m eating lunch while catching up on this thread, just saying.  
 

Also, I’ve rediscovered the joys of cooking with butter after a long time using predominately olive and sometimes avocado oil

In my defense, there is a tag which states "Don't come here hungry."

1 hour ago, Scaly Freak said:

 

My oven generously takes care of this for me, by having a special convection setting that adjusts the temperature for me instead. I have four setting buttons, one for roast and one for bake, and then I have "Conv. Roast" and "Conv. Bake", and the idea is to pick a cooking mode, and then use the number key pad to set the temp. If I pick one of the convection modes, the oven will automatically subtract 25 degrees from the temperature I pick, before it starts up and begins to pre-heat. Cook time remains the same.

 

I also always use a meat thermometer for oven cooking meat. I use two when I cook large roasts or turkeys, because (even if no other reason matters) they cost a lot of money and I'm not going to risk destroying them by slavishly following a clock instead of measuring internal temperature  

 

Your oven is much smarter than mine.

 

Today is a good day. Woke up with the beginnings of a migraine, so no fitnessing in the morning before work. Fortunately, zolmitripan and Naproxen sodium beat it into submission before work really got going. I did get extra steps at work intentionally to kinda make up for missing a fitness session. Dinner was disappointing. I made this recipe, but it really should have been baked rather than made in the crockpot. It did not look like the picture, but was kind of sad. It tasted ok but not good. I will be deleting it from my bookmarked sites.

[Scaly Freak]

1 hour ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Your oven is much smarter than mine.

 

Considering the amount of money it cost, it had better be a genius compared to my other appliances.... 

[RES]

17 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

 

My oven generously takes care of this for me, by having a special convection setting that adjusts the temperature for me instead. I have four setting buttons, one for roast and one for bake, and then I have "Conv. Roast" and "Conv. Bake", and the idea is to pick a cooking mode, and then use the number key pad to set the temp. If I pick one of the convection modes, the oven will automatically subtract 25 degrees from the temperature I pick, before it starts up and begins to pre-heat. Cook time remains the same.

 

Curious if yours is a gas stove? Because it sounds exactly like mine, which was a determining factor when we bought this house  

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

15 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

 

Considering the amount of money it cost, it had better be a genius compared to my other appliances.... 

Some things are worth paying for.

1 hour ago, RES said:

Curious if yours is a gas stove? Because it sounds exactly like mine, which was a determining factor when we bought this house  

If I could afford to retrofit my home for gas I'd do it yesterday. 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Today is a good day. Got a good KB workout in, it felt good afterward. No cooking today.

[Scaly Freak]

7 hours ago, RES said:

Curious if yours is a gas stove? Because it sounds exactly like mine, which was a determining factor when we bought this house  

 

Yes. Our kitchen has no electrical range wiring, only gas. (Is yours also an LG dual-oven model, by chance...?)

[Scaly Freak]

6 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Some things are worth paying for.

 

That was exactly our reasoning. Pay more money for a dual-oven gas range with a number of awesome features that that makes cooking easier, especially large cooking projects? Yes, please, we are willing to do this. Take our money, and please connect the gas line when you deliver it.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

On 5/20/2022 at 7:33 PM, Scaly Freak said:

 

Yes. Our kitchen has no electrical range wiring, only gas. (Is yours also an LG dual-oven model, by chance...?)

Good thing you have gas hookups then.

On 5/20/2022 at 7:37 PM, Scaly Freak said:

 

That was exactly our reasoning. Pay more money for a dual-oven gas range with a number of awesome features that that makes cooking easier, especially large cooking projects? Yes, please, we are willing to do this. Take our money, and please connect the gas line when you deliver it.

Sounds good to me.

 

 

Saturday was a good day. We did Laundry in the morning, and I took Little Bit to a Library that had a playground attached. She played, got a bunch of books, played, and wanted to go home and read the books. I think each of the ten books must have been read to her 3-4 times just that first day. All that activity and she didn't nap, however. In the afternoon we went two houses over to receive one of those outdoor playsets with the slide, all made of plastic that just goes together without fasteners. Believe it or not I found an image of it on the first row of Google Image search just now.

That's not our yard, obviously, but that's her playset. We have the blue steps turned around so it's more like a ladder, but she spends most of her time climbing up the pink wall that divides the two sections (it has slots like a ladder) and over it to use the slide. We hosed it down to get spiderwebs and such off of it, and yesterday was hot and humid. Between taking her to a playground in the morning, setting one up in the afternoon, and being tired from the week, we did not cook, but ate out both times. Little Bit must be fixing to grow, she ate the insides of FOUR potato and egg breakfast tacos at lunch. Interestingly at dinner Little Bit asked for a hamburger instead of chicken nuggets from  Whataburger (and actually ate a few bites of the meat). She's recently decided she likes meat after all, and between yesterday and today seems less picky. Who knows if it will last.

 

Today is a good day. Church was awesome. I did cook today, and Little Bit helped. Perhaps because she helped, she ate more things than just the noodles. 

I cooked some rotini in water. I also cooked some chopped chicken thighs in a little avocado oil with Italian Seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and red wine vinegar. When it was done I added in some spinach and wilted it. When that was wilted I added in some pasta sauce, then heated it up and added some Parmesan. I served that over the rotini, adding yet more parmesan to the top. It was very good, and Little Bit actually was interested in eating chicken, which has not been the case if said chicken was not a nugget. We'll take it.

[KB Girl]

Nice playlet

 

35 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I took Little Bit to a Library that had a playground attached. She played, got a bunch of books, played, and wanted to go home and read the books. I think each of the ten books must have been read to her 3-4 times just that first day.

Parenting done right

 

35 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Perhaps because she helped, she ate more things than just the noodles. 

That's definitely my experience with ours. 

[RES]

On 5/20/2022 at 8:33 PM, Scaly Freak said:

 

Yes. Our kitchen has no electrical range wiring, only gas. (Is yours also an LG dual-oven model, by chance...?)

Samsung, single oven, 5 burner. The 5th burner in the middle is actually for a griddle that it comes with.

 

On 5/20/2022 at 2:25 PM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

If I could afford to retrofit my home for gas I'd do it yesterday. 

Worth it!

I forgot how much I missed gas cooking when I was in MS and FL, so glad to have it back now! 

[Scaly Freak]

19 minutes ago, RES said:

Samsung, single oven, 5 burner. The 5th burner in the middle is actually for a griddle that it comes with.

 

Oh, I have one of those too! It's the pancake griddle.  

[RES]

4 minutes ago, Scaly Freak said:

 

Oh, I have one of those too! It's the pancake griddle.  

And bacon!!  

[Scaly Freak]

27 minutes ago, RES said:

And bacon!!  

 

I actually do my bacon in the oven, but I agree with the general sentiment that bacon should be prioritized when cooking

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

15 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I took Little Bit to a Library that had a playground attached. She played, got a bunch of books, played, and wanted to go home and read the books. I think each of the ten books must have been read to her 3-4 times just that first day.

 

Recipe for a great day.  

[Heidi]

19 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I took Little Bit to a Library that had a playground attached. She played, got a bunch of books, played, and wanted to go home and read the books. I think each of the ten books must have been read to her 3-4 times just that first day.

That’s my girl.  

[Harriet]

20 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Little Bit must be fixing to grow, she ate the insides of FOUR potato and egg breakfast tacos at lunch. Interestingly at dinner Little Bit asked for a hamburger instead of chicken nuggets from  Whataburger (and actually ate a few bites of the meat). She's recently decided she likes meat after all, and between yesterday and today seems less picky. Who knows if it will last.

 

It was very good, and Little Bit actually was interested in eating chicken, which has not been the case if said chicken was not a nugget. We'll take it.

Excellent work, Slightly-larger-than-little-Bit. I hope she grows up with a joyful, intuitive approach to food. It sounds like you're giving her space for that.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

19 hours ago, KB Girl said:

Nice playlet

 

Parenting done right

 

That's definitely my experience with ours. 

It was good for me, seeing how I can include her more in cooking.

15 hours ago, RES said:

Samsung, single oven, 5 burner. The 5th burner in the middle is actually for a griddle that it comes with.

 

Worth it!

I forgot how much I missed gas cooking when I was in MS and FL, so glad to have it back now! 

I grew up with a gas stove/oven, haven't had one since. 

15 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

 

Oh, I have one of those too! It's the pancake griddle.  

That's the dream.

15 hours ago, RES said:

And bacon!!  

That's the dream of the dream.

14 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

 

I actually do my bacon in the oven, but I agree with the general sentiment that bacon should be prioritized when cooking

5 hours ago, Chris-Tien Jinn said:

 

Recipe for a great day.  

Indeed.

44 minutes ago, Heidi said:

That’s my girl.  

Thought you might approve.

9 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Excellent work, Slightly-larger-than-little-Bit. I hope she grows up with a joyful, intuitive approach to food. It sounds like you're giving her space for that.

That is our goal with food. I want to give her a better relationship with food than I was given.

 

 

Appropos of nothing: