Beware of YouTube Chefs

W. Hilditch

Active member
One 300 lb. guy I recently watched said never cut veggies into small pieces and don’t add a little oil to the water when boiling pasta. He was using a 20 qt. pot half full to boil a lb. of spaghetti. He wasn’t cooking a half lb. in a 3 1/2 qt. pot where those few drops of oil keep most of the stove from being covered in a thin crust of salt from the boiling water by reducing splashing.

I cringe when I see a Chef that does not know how to hold a knife or crack an egg. I have determined that a cook never uses two hands to crack open an egg, unless it is to separate the yolk, and real chef can crack an egg open with one hand without getting any egg white on their fingers.

It is best to look for clues as a white jacket does not make a chef, even if he/she has been on tv.

Hilditch
 
W, I couldn't agree more! I am fairly new to cooking, well since my retirement in 2014 and I look to YouTube for ideas and recipes. I have ran across many "Chefs" that like the sound of their own voice or have a different agenda and blab about it while "Cooking".
I generally glean what I can from them and makeup the rest as I go along.
I have found a few that are very good cooks and only talk about what they are cooking.
You mentioned cracking an egg with one hand and holding a knife correctly. I would like to add, Salt and pepper to taste. A lot of good cooks don't have 30 bottles of spices in the cupboard, they let the food develop the flavor then salt and pepper to taste.
Tony
 
Speaking of salt and pepper to taste, I believe I am the only human to hate raw salt. I never understood salting something after is was done cooking. I feel mildly insulted if someone does that to my food. Kinda like using steak sauce. <end rant>
 
Speaking of salt and pepper to taste, I believe I am the only human to hate raw salt. I never understood salting something after is was done cooking. I feel mildly insulted if someone does that to my food. Kinda like using steak sauce. <end rant>

So you don't like things like potato chips, pretzels, or saltine crackers? Just wondering. I'm a saltaholic.
 
This is true of everything on youtube...whatever it is you're good at, you can find tons of bad examples of it on youtube.
 
Justin, Maybe try some sea salt. It has a different flavor than the Iodized salt.
Tony:icon_thumbsup:

I have, I'm just salt sensitive I guess

---------- Post added at 12:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:50 PM ----------

So you don't like things like potato chips, pretzels, or saltine crackers? Just wondering. I'm a saltaholic.


Some yes, some no. I generally steer in the direction of less salty snacks
 
At the risk of hijacking my own thread I do find salt has the potential to intensify the flavor of the food to which it is added. In reality it probably doesn’t affect the flavor of the food so much as it as it affects our taste buds. As a 70 yo guy who goes by just Hilditch, I have half the taste buds I had in my 30’s, and half of them are sleeping at any point in time. I have no urge to taste the salt, just the food it is on.

I find my taste buds pay very little attention to mined, chemically treated, iodized salt as it had a 50 year head start and I really don’t love it. I do like sea salt as it does get my awake taste buds to pay attention and transfer the flavor of the food. I have found that Fleur De Sel (flower of the salt) De Camargue used as a finishing salt wakes up all my taste buds for an enhanced flavor experience. Expensive? Yes. Worth it? Times 10. It goes a long way without any significant flavor of its own.

Hilditch
 
Since this thread has taken a turn ...

I recently worked at a seasoning manufacturing plant. At the time, they were doing a run of table salt. The head of the QC lab explained to me that there is no difference between table salt and sea salt. It is just ground differently.
 
Different salts have a different flavor. Yes you are right on the basic sea salt you buy at the market though. Flavor inhancer? Try sugar if you do not like salt. Yes it works.

And always beware of anyone that call them self a chef. It is earned not declared by the cook.
 
Sodium chloride is sodium chloride. It's the impurities (or additives in the case of iodized) that affect the taste of one salt vs. another.
 
I found that the impurities/minerals in other Fleur de Sels than above can be detected in the taste. Anticaking agents don’t do our bitter receptors any favors either.

Hilditch
 
I found that the impurities/minerals in other Fleur de Sels than above can be detected in the taste. Anticaking agents don’t do our bitter receptors any favors either.

Hilditch

That's why you buy pickling/canning salt. No iodine, no anti-caking agents. I do a lot of fermenting / pickling, so I always have at least a box of pickling salt here. Ingredients: SALT.
 
I wouldnt say I do not like salt. I am probably a little more salt sensitive then some but have no issue eating out or anything like that. I just feel like a properly seasoned dish does not need added salt after cooking. And to me, salt added after cooking is over the top and hurts the flavor more than it helps.
 
I cringe when I see a Chef that does not know how to hold a knife or crack an egg. I have determined that a cook never uses two hands to crack open an egg, unless it is to separate the yolk, and real chef can crack an egg open with one hand without getting any egg white on their fingers.

It is best to look for clues as a white jacket does not make a chef, even if he/she has been on tv.

Hilditch

I have to agree with "best to look for clues" When I hired a carpenter for my crew, I would need to see his tool box, hand him a framing square and have him lay out a rafter or a stair stringer. Good tools do not always make good tradesman, in any trade. One needs to know how to use them right.
I have a white jacket, that is for I have to go to the nut house.:twisted:

---------- Post added at 03:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:54 PM ----------

Speaking of salt and pepper to taste, I believe I am the only human to hate raw salt. I never understood salting something after is was done cooking. I feel mildly insulted if someone does that to my food. Kinda like using steak sauce. <end rant>

Salt has never been on our table. Not needed, good food stands on its own. Please no steak sauce on my meat. Try organic food over that other stuff, try organic grass fed beef over store bought. No need for anything to mask the flavor of the real thing. If a recipe calls for salt, we will only use 1/3 or go without, and only have sea salt. Your heart will like you better
 
Salt has never been on our table. Not needed, good food stands on its own. Please no steak sauce on my meat. Try organic food over that other stuff, try organic grass fed beef over store bought. No need for anything to mask the flavor of the real thing. If a recipe calls for salt, we will only use 1/3 or go without, and only have sea salt. Your heart will like you better

Were on the same page
 
I have not. Probably won’t because I don’t want to taste the salt and it advertises that it likes its own flavor. I’ve done many side by side tests with salt like wine tasting tests. Pour out little piles of different salts, lick your finger and taste one. Refresh your mouth with water, wait a minute and taste the next one. I’m looking for the one with little or no taste/flavor.

It is amazing how much additives and minerals can affect the flavor of salt. The Australian red sea salt is even worse than Morton's mined salt to me.

Hilditch
 
Sodium chloride is sodium chloride. It's the impurities (or additives in the case of iodized) that affect the taste of one salt vs. another.

As long as it IS Sodium Chloride. Years ago, when I started taking blood pressure meds (at the age of 30; it's a genetic thing), my wife started buying salt "substitute" - potassium chloride. Nastiest stuff I've ever tasted! Well, up front it tastes like regular table salt, but there's a very bitter bite on the back end of it that lingers. I made the mistake once of using it for some ribs...I had to throw the whole rack out. :frown:
 
Speaking of salt and pepper to taste, I believe I am the only human to hate raw salt. I never understood salting something after is was done cooking. I feel mildly insulted if someone does that to my food. Kinda like using steak sauce. <end rant>
To me, salt is the electricity that makes the circuit work. You don't want so much that you blow a fuse, but salt does conduct flavors... it is not just a flavor in itself.

I remember when I fully understood the power of salt. I was trying to make a citrus (blood orange) vinaigrette but I wasnt getting the citrus. I started adding just a few grains of salt and tasting, and adding, and tasting, and suddenly, like a light bulb going off, was the taste of orange that I was looking for.

---------- Post added at 06:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:45 PM ----------

Since this thread has taken a turn ...

I recently worked at a seasoning manufacturing plant. At the time, they were doing a run of table salt. The head of the QC lab explained to me that there is no difference between table salt and sea salt. It is just ground differently.
True, that both are sodium chloride. However, table salt has added iodine (at least in the US). Sea salts often have natural and added minerals and clays and algaes.

However, the chemical makeup is not everything. The physical differences do have an effect, as well. Course flakes and crystals don't dissolve as thoroughly as fine salt, leaving little bursts of surprise as you eat the food.
 
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