Jessica from jessicagavin.com shares her advice for using culinary science for better home cooking. Jessica shares her must-have tools, her favourite cooking methods and what's crucial to a recipe.
This episode will teach you how to achieve better home cooking through science.
I chat with Jessica Gavin, a certified culinary scientist and certified food scientist with a passion for helping home cooks get a good dinner on the table.
On her website JessicaGavin.com, she inspires her readers to embrace the science behind cooking. She’s worked full time in research and development as a nutrition formulation scientist for 12 years, and food blogging for over 7 years. In that time she earned an associate degree in culinary arts, had two foodie kids James and Olivia, published her first cookbook (Easy Culinary Science For Better Cooking), and launched a recipe app. She recently quit her job to become a full-time food media entrepreneur.
Jessica shares some culinary science basics that will help you conquer the kitchen at home.
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
This week's recipe of the week is my two ingredient dough. Did you know you can make dough out of greek yoghurt and self-raising flour? It's so versatile and can be used in so many ways - sweet rolls, savoury pinwheels, pizza or garlic knots. And that's only to name a few.
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Episode 34 - Using Culinary Science for Better Cooking
What is Culinary Science?
- Blend of food science and culinary arts which gives you deeper understanding of how different foods react from a chemical, physical and sensory perspective and you can apply that into your daily cooking.
- Can empower you as a cook as you start to understand the how and whys of a recipe. It takes the guesswork and mystery out of the cooking process.
Things to Consider When Making a Recipe
- Think about what end result you want to achieve first.
- Pick the right cooking method for the cut of meat you have.
Cooking Methods
- Dry Heat
- Use fat or hot air to cook the food which will achieve a really nice brown colour and layers of flavour.
- Examples of dry heat cooking - Broiling / Grilling / Roasting / Sautéing / Pan Frying / Deep Frying.
- Maillard browning is a complex chemical reaction when there's a presence of high heat that gives so much flavour t your dish.
- Moist Heat Cooking
- Using water or steam to cook food.
- Examples of moist heat cooking - Poaching / Simmering / Boiling / Steaming.
- Combination of Dry & Moist
- Examples of combinations - Braising or Stewing.
ESSENTIAL TOOLS THAT CAN IMPROVE YOUR COOKING
- Digital Instant Read Thermometer
- Takes the guesswork out of when to stop cooking.
- Not just for meats, take the temperature of cakes.
- Digital Scale
- Handy when portioning out food.
- Great for baking to have exact quantities.
- Better consistency and predictability in your cooking.
WHERE TO FIND JESSICA
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