Thawing

Is it just me, or does anyone else get annoyed when it comes time to thaw something from the freezer?  There is always some dinner planning element when thawing is involved and I don't know about you, but I'm more of a spur-of-the-moment dinner decider.

If you do find yourself thawing a chicken breast or steak from the freezer, know that there are good ways to go about it and there are bad ways.

Food that isn't thawed properly can spread foodborne illnesses, but that can be avoided if you use one of the following thawing methods:

• Leave it in the refrigerator overnight
• Use the microwave to thaw it
• Leave it under cold running water
• Use it in it’s frozen state while cooking (Think about those frozen hamburger patties)

Problems can occur when meat is left on a counter to thaw at room temperature.  In the food sanitation world, there is something called the Temperature Danger Zone (queue the scary music!).  The TDZ is a temperature range between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit in which bacteria grows and multiplies.  Room temperature, which for me is usually 74 degrees, is an ideal temperature for bacteria growth.  If meat has been left out on the counter for longer than four hours, you need to toss it and make it an Anthony's Coal Fire Pizza night.

Is Powdered Coffee Creamer Flammable?

Last week, I was in the break room at work and a co-worker of mine was making a cup of coffee. She went for the mysterious powdered creamer-in-a-can and I had to interject.  I explained to her that a general rule of thumb that one should live by is to refuse any ingredient that can also be used as an ingredient in a deadly weapon.

Oh no, think it is just an urban legend?

I'll take my coffee black please.

I dug into this topic a little further and found that I was both right and wrong at the same time (which if you ask my wife, is usually the case).

Powdered coffee creamer is most certainly flammable, but not only due to it's chemical make-up (Thanks, but I'll stick with soy). 

Back in the late-1800s, explosions at flour mills were commonplace.  Before industry standards were in place and before the advancement of technology, a flour mill had the potential to light up faster than a matchstick.  The reason?  Airborne flour dust within the mill.

A dust explosion can occur if there is a highly concentrated amount of powdered combustible material (dust, flour, powdered coffee creamer...) and an ignition source.  
As for an ignition source, lets just say I found many "creative" individuals while doing my research who were able to harness this maniacal fuel source and create a bomb-like device.

One of those science fair projects came straight out of MythBusters a couple of years ago:

So in conclusion I guess I will let my co-workers drink their coffee in peace, unless of course it is Mexican day in the cafeteria...

The Difference Between Chicken Broth and Chicken Stock

It's happened to us all.  We get to the grocery store to pick up a handful of ingredients for a homemade soup, or a sauce and we get to the soup aisle.  Was it chicken broth or chicken stock that I needed?  What's the difference really?  Is there one?

Well I'm here to tell you that there is a difference.

Let's start by talking about how they are made.  Both broths and stocks are made from simmering chicken in a mixture of water, celery, onion, carrots and different herbs.  The base flavors are the same, but the difference is the part of the chicken that is used. 

Chicken broth is typically made by adding a whole chicken to a simmering pot. After 1-2 hours, your broth will have a rich chicken flavor and be ready to use in a number of soup recipes.

Let's say you added a 4-lb chicken to your broth recipe.  To make chicken stock, the same flavor base can be used, but a whole chicken will need to be swapped for 4 lbs of boney chicken-parts (back, neck, wings , legs, skin, or the whole carcass).  Simmering the chicken bones releases gelatin into the stock, which is the main difference between stock and broth.

I mentioned before that chicken broth is ready to use as-is.  Chicken stock on the other hand, is used in the production of other dishes.  For example, chicken stock with a high gelatin-content gives body to sauces.  When making a sauce from pan drippings, the gelatin in chicken stock binds with the drippings (fond), making it a healthy alternative to cream or butter.

There are plenty of chicken stocks on the market and I found that this site provides some great reviews and recommendations.

Sorry for Being MIA

Alright ladies and gentleman, I'm sorry for being absent the past two weeks, but it has been a hectic time. Work has been hectic and I just finished up with midterms at culinary school.

I must say that I think I did pretty well. How cool would it be to end up valedictorian or summa cum laude of the Art Institute?

Anyways, I promise that I won't leave you hanging like that again and that I will have plenty of posts coming your way.

Questions from the Audience - Part 1

Now that I am in culinary school, people are coming to me with all of their pent up kitchen questions as if I were Alton Brown. I admit that I don't know very much (yet), but I think it is a great idea to take your questions back to my teachers and blog about their responses.

Here are two questions a co-worker asked recently, as well as the reponses from my Food Sanitation teacher:

1. There is a lot of confusion out there as to whether or not it is safe to microwave something in a plastic container, even if it is labeled as microwave safe, is there any merit to this? What about plastic containers that aren't labeled as microwave safe?
   
   
   • Answer: There are no concerns when it comes to microwaving something in a plastic container. The biggest risk with heating something up in a non-microwave safe container is the possibility of melting.
   • Note: I did some of my own research and it turns out there are plenty of people out there who are concerned about the chemicals from the plastic mixing in with the food during heating. I haven't been able to find any concrete information to back one side or the other yet, but feel free to post any opinions in the comment section regarding your own microwave habits.
     
   
   
   
2. Hypothetically, if you have leftovers from dinner and reheat all of it for lunch the next day, is it safe to then refrigerate any extra leftovers for later use?
   
   
   • Answer: Nope.  Think about how your mom taught you that it is unsafe to thaw a frozen item and then refreeze it for later, you are still giving bacteria time to grow in the food before it goes back into the cold.  Refrigeration doesn't kill bacteria, it only prevents it from growing. Even freezing doesn't kill all types of bacteria. (Side note, my teacher had no problem admitting that she does this herself on a constant basis)
     
   
   
   

Feel free to send in any questions you have and I will make sure to get some answers for you soon!

Champion of the White Powder Game

So yesterday in class, we were talking about the need for labeling in a kitchen and I thought it was pretty irrelevant until we played the White Powder Game...

What is the White Powder Game you ask? Well, our teacher put twelve different white powder substances in numbered Ziploc bags and we were supposed to identify each of them on sight and touch alone (no smell or taste).

These were the twelve items:

• Abrasive sink cleaner
• All-purpose flour
• Baking soda
• Baking powder
• Cornstarch
• Dry-carpet cleaner
• Granulated sugar
• Laundry detergent
• Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
• Powdered sugar
• Salt
• Sanitizer

I must say, it was a pretty creative exercise. It's easy to misjudge which item is which and that's no good when you are in a kitchen setting (whether it's a restaurant or your own).

On a side note, it's pretty funny that if you google "white powder," 

as I did to get this image, more than half of the results are of Amy Winehouse.

Rocked Quiz #1

Alright, so I am reporting live from class right now and just wrapped up my first official quiz of the year. If this is any indication on how the rest of the quarter will go, I think it is smooth sailing from here.

We're talking about carbohydrates tonight and our teacher just gave a demo on how much sugar is actually in one can of Sunkist. 12.5 teaspoons, which is unbelievably high. Take my advice and try to wean yourself off sodas if you can. Even though I wouldn't label this class as the "most exciting" point of my week, it is pretty eye opening.

We also talked about the affect of carbs on your stool. Fascinating stuff going on here in room 324...