I also tend to so focussed on cooking safely that I end up not cooking everything... (typically missing veg etc)
Cooking, the art of heating up ingredients until just before the kitchen fills with smoke.
Cooking, the art of heating up ingredients until just before the kitchen fills with smoke.
Pete, go for an induction hob, you will never look back! So fast to boil, fantastically controlable. In our last house 1 year ago we bought an AEG one, it was wonderful. Got an AGA now It works but v expensive to run. However it does seem to keep the whole house warm. Havent used the CH yet...661-Pete wrote: ↑5 Oct 2021, 12:03pm Emphatically - 'yes' - and I hope this doesn't sound like a boast. I suppose I learnt in my student days - once I discovered there was a better alternative to Vesta curries. This was to question a Pakistani fellow student about - yes! - how to make a decent curry. He duly provided me with a detailed recipe (which we still use, albeit minus the meat) and pointed out Asian shops where I could get the various spices.
It's quite possible that lots of people start off with a curry. It's the obvious thing that young folks want to learn about.
I think there are a few basics you need to master. One is chopping onions: not entirely intuitive and the cause of many sliced fingers! Another is making an omelette: I do a passable omelette but it'd never satisfy the likes of Masterchef or Michel Roux ... no matter, we like it! And thirdly, cooking rice without it congealing into a gooey mess (note: this does not apply to risotto or sushi rice which are meant to be sticky).
Next: I'm fully aware that this is not the right solution to the Climate crisis, but we much prefer cooking on our gas hob. Electric 'simmerstat' type hobs won't produce anything like as good a result, especially with something like Béchamel (white sauce). [did I mention Béchamel as another skill a budding Masterchef needs to master? Quite difficult].
Induction hob? Never tried one - would welcome comments since we may invest in one if the gas one needs changing out.
I'm much impressed with Al's comprehensive list (you could open a restaurant with that lot Al!) - and a surprising amount of overlap with our own recipe list - especially seeing as ours is meat-free.
Well.... I've cooked on gas most of my life, until I moved to Norway. The house we bought here had an induction hob, but it was horrid. A couple of the burners worked inconsistently, and one of them heated unevenly. The surface was extremely sensitive to spills and splashes. I really didn't like it at all. We replaced it, and I thought about trying to get gas, but the regulations are *extremely* strict in Norway. The cost was prohibitive. So we did loads of research trying to figure out what to replace it with, and ended up with a S.m.e.g. induction cooker top (sorry about the punctuation. The software thinks it's a naughty word )661-Pete wrote: ↑5 Oct 2021, 12:03pm
Next: I'm fully aware that this is not the right solution to the Climate crisis, but we much prefer cooking on our gas hob. Electric 'simmerstat' type hobs won't produce anything like as good a result, especially with something like Béchamel (white sauce). [did I mention Béchamel as another skill a budding Masterchef needs to master? Quite difficult].
Induction hob? Never tried one - would welcome comments since we may invest in one if the gas one needs changing out.
I'm much impressed with Al's comprehensive list (you could open a restaurant with that lot Al!) - and a surprising amount of overlap with our own recipe list - especially seeing as ours is meat-free.
Could you rig up something using camping gas or similar? I'm convinced my primus gas stove has enough juice for a wok...Vorpal wrote: ↑5 Oct 2021, 1:09pmWell.... I've cooked on gas most of my life, until I moved to Norway. The house we bought here had an induction hob, but it was horrid. A couple of the burners worked inconsistently, and one of them heated unevenly. The surface was extremely sensitive to spills and splashes. I really didn't like it at all. We replaced it, and I thought about trying to get gas, but the regulations are *extremely* strict in Norway. The cost was prohibitive. So we did loads of research trying to figure out what to replace it with, and ended up with a S.m.e.g. induction cooker top (sorry about the punctuation. The software thinks it's a naughty word )661-Pete wrote: ↑5 Oct 2021, 12:03pm
Next: I'm fully aware that this is not the right solution to the Climate crisis, but we much prefer cooking on our gas hob. Electric 'simmerstat' type hobs won't produce anything like as good a result, especially with something like Béchamel (white sauce). [did I mention Béchamel as another skill a budding Masterchef needs to master? Quite difficult].
Induction hob? Never tried one - would welcome comments since we may invest in one if the gas one needs changing out.
I'm much impressed with Al's comprehensive list (you could open a restaurant with that lot Al!) - and a surprising amount of overlap with our own recipe list - especially seeing as ours is meat-free.
I like it for most things, so from that perspective I'd say it was a success. If it's a test, I can make a good Béchamel sauce on it. The one thing that it does not do well is wok cooking, even though I bought a wok made for an induction cooker. Stir fired vegetables come out ok, but it's really hard to get the exact sort of seared on the outside, crispy on the inside that I like without limiting how much I put in the wok to about 1 or 1-1/2 portions. Fried rice either sticks to the bottom or comes out porridgey. I've tried various things, including using teflon frying pans, iron skillets, and a pan that is sort of in between wok & skillet, and none are quite right. I had the most success using the wok on the grill, but we don't have a gas grill, so maintaining temperature is difficult. A colleague recommended an electric wok, so I am thinking of asking for one for Christmas.
By odd coincidence that's just what we had last night. But before I'm accused of reneging on my meat-free habits, I should explain that the 'bangers' were neither of meat nor veggie lookalikes. They're 'Glamorgan Sausages', one of my specialities. Good honest down-to-earth fare, first devised in the Welsh Valleys I think.