Gravy's Cooking Thread

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BrutulTM

BrutulTM

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We have both types of cats, barn cats that range from friendly almost pets which have names to semi-feral animals that come by for food now and then (probably 20 of those) and a couple "live in the house" type of pet cats. I don't have anything against cats, but I just have never developed the feelings for them that I have for dogs. To be fair, I don't think the cats give much of a shit about me either and I feel confident that my dog would die for me. I also feel like I could get a new cat and it would be pretty much the same as the old one where dogs have a lot more personality.

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rush02112

rush02112

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Ok I have seen some of you talking about brine here before but is something I am just starting to try myself and need some advice. My first try at it I used the following to do a quick brine while defrosting some pork chops (about 30 mins total in brine):

2 quarts water
1 cup sugar
1 cup salt
1-1/2 Teaspoon red pepper flakes

I thought it came out well, noticeably more tender and juicer than normal pork chops I usually cook but the wife thought it was too salty.

I had planned on doing this again but halving the salt and sugar while leaving it in for the same amount of time the next time I defrost some pork chops to cook but figured I would ask here for what is sure to be some interesting and/or good advice
 
mkopec

mkopec

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rush02112_sl said:
Ok I have seen some of you talking about brine here before but is something I am just starting to try myself and need some advice. My first try at it I used the following to do a quick brine while defrosting some pork chops (about 30 mins total in brine):

2 quarts water
1 cup sugar
1 cup salt
1-1/2 Teaspoon red pepper flakes

I thought it came out well, noticeably more tender and juicer than normal pork chops I usually cook but the wife thought it was too salty.

I had planned on doing this again but halving the salt and sugar while leaving it in for the same amount of time the next time I defrost some pork chops to cook but figured I would ask here for what is sure to be some interesting and/or good advice
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IMO, brining is for the bigger cuts of meat, rather than cuts like pork chops and such. I would use it for something like a pork loin roast, or whole chicken or turkey. I never brined single cuts of meat before, but I would imagine that a simple marinade would serve that purpose better than a soak overnight in brine.
 
rush02112

rush02112

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BrutulTM_sl said:
Did you use kosher salt?
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This is probably what happened. I did read about the difference between using one or the other, but the recipe I had looked at did not specify which.

Also, while I'm here, many articles I read mentioned not using iodized salt for brine but I cant find a reason why. Do any of you know why I shouldn't use Iodized salt for brine?
 
Mrs. Gravy

Mrs. Gravy

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rush02112_sl said:
This is probably what happened. I did read about the difference between using one or the other, but the recipe I had looked at did not specify which.

Also, while I'm here, many articles I read mentioned not using iodized salt for brine but I cant find a reason why. Do any of you know why I shouldn't use Iodized salt for brine?
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Iodine tastes bad? Too much iodine is not good for you?? Guessing here but it seems reasonable. (This coming from someone who is not always reasonable though so take that with your grain of pink Himalayan)
 
T

The Master

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Pork especially really needs a brine imo. The trend of breeding less fatty pigs means they've lost a lot of moisture/flavor.
 
N

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Joeboo

Joeboo

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I've started cooking Pork Chops similar to steak, leaving them pink in the middle. Makes a world of difference for flavor & moisture. There's a lot of info out there that pork nowadays really isn't any more likely than beef to make you sick if its slightly rare in the center, the salmonella risk nowadays is pretty much zero.

I used to cool chops to a well done consistency, and no matter how much you brined or marinated them, or how slowly you cooked them, they were always dry. Treating it like a steak and leaving some pink in the middle makes all the difference.

I like my steak rare though, and I don't leave the porkchop quite that rare...I'd say my porkchops would be comparable to a medium to medium-well steak, with just a band of light pink in the middle.
 
Soygen

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Deathwing

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How labor-intensive was it? Wife and I made some steamed dumplings once and it was great but damn was it a lot of fucking work.
 
Soygen

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Not very, though I guess it's subjective. Probably about 15 minutes to make the meat blend. Then another 15 min forming the actual dumplings. I didn't make the dumpling dough, but if you did that would definitely be the most labor intensive part. The prepackaged dumpling dough is a bit too thick for my liking. I might try to either roll it out thinner next time or make my own.
 
BrutulTM

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I always use the store-bought wonton wrappers also. They are fine compared to how much work making the dough would be.
 
Deathwing

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Soygen_sl said:
Not very, though I guess it's subjective. Probably about 15 minutes to make the meat blend. Then another 15 min forming the actual dumplings. I didn't make the dumpling dough, but if you did that would definitely be the most labor intensive part. The prepackaged dumpling dough is a bit too thick for my liking. I might try to either roll it out thinner next time or make my own.
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We used won-ton wrappers but I still remember it being a lot of work. Maybe I'll give that recipe a try.
 
Lanx

Lanx

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Barraco Bisi_sl said:
I can't find duck in my shitty one horse town.

You'd think with all these farmers around ...
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Asian grocer if you have one, us yellow ppl love duck.

Also for Wontons (or anytype of asiany dumpling shit) use store bought wonton wrappers, making all those little shits is annoying, buy the frozen ones and thaw for 1 hour, just as good. Altho, if you can buy the ones from NY, if you're buying them from an asian grocer, the dough isn't as thick and they supply most of chinatown with thier dough.

Making dumplings is hard tedius work and probably won't compare to a good dimsum restaurant.

Pop into any dimsum restaurant b4 lunch and you'll see like 4 of these ladies sitting around a table just making like 8 dumplings a minute. (she is making what is known as hargow)
 
BrutulTM

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Dim Sum is one thing I miss from living in the Bay Area. I don't know if there is a Dim Sum place anywhere in MT or possibly even in an adjoining state.
 
Lanx

Lanx

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BrutulTM_sl said:
Dim Sum is one thing I miss from living in the Bay Area. I don't know if there is a Dim Sum place anywhere in MT or possibly even in an adjoining state.
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Holy Crap dude, your Knowlton, whatever city is like isolated from anything resembling civilization. Guess you have to goto some place in Bozeman called Bamboo Asian Grille, they serve some dim sum w/ their buffet... yea i know but beggers can't be choosers. Also asked and it seems you have to goto Fargo in ND, Lucy's China Cuisine and Imperial Garden in Sioux Falls for SD. Most of the asian brothers are saying you're lucky to get chinese food that won't make you puke out there in the midwest (i've never been, wouldn't know).
 
BrutulTM

BrutulTM

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Yeah, ethnic food of all kinds is very few and far between up here and those places you found most likely suck. It has gotten a lot better in recent years, probably thanks to food network but there is still a lot of room for improvement.
 
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