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posted by chromas on Tuesday November 20 2018, @10:22PM   Printer-friendly
from the kitcheneering dept.

Eater has a longer article on how sourdough, and bread in general, is back in fashion and the changes being inflicted on the millenias-old staple by tech bros.

“I spent a lot of time — I don’t want to say ‘debugging,’ because that sounds really technical — but just working on recipes and trying to teach myself and there really weren’t a lot of materials out there at the time to do that,” he told me by phone this spring. “With bread baking, you kind of follow an algorithm to produce a result and that result isn’t always what you think it’s going to be, so you kind of have to step back and debug and diagnose the steps along the way. How did I go wrong here? That’s because technically the temperature might not be right or the dough strength might not be right. That iterative procedure and working through those algorithms kind of appeals to engineer. There’s the precision part of it, but also, when it comes down to it, technical people like to work with their hands. You want to construct something and I think bread is a good way to do that.”


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  • (Score: 2) by insanumingenium on Wednesday November 21 2018, @06:11PM (2 children)

    by insanumingenium (4824) on Wednesday November 21 2018, @06:11PM (#764854) Journal

    I have never heard of using it to caramelize onions. But it doesn't seem intuitively to be a great option.

    Caramelization starts happening rapidly around 160c according to wikipedia [wikipedia.org]
    Maillard reaction is probably also happening (even if it isn't the primary effect with onions) at very similar at 140-165c according to wikipedia [wikipedia.org]

    But an instant pot is only good for like 15psi at most (and as I understanding working pressure is more like 11psi), and stovetop pressure cookers seem to top out around 22psi (yes pressure is in freedom units because those are the sources I quickly found).

    Take the boiling point of water at best case 38 psi absolute (since the pressure cooker is relative to atmosphere obviously, and I am rounding up for science) then according to the first answer I found [engineeringtoolbox.com] you are only going to make 129c.

    Baking soda of course lowers pH which speeds both of these processes.

    Now the bottom of the vessel will obviously reach higher temperatures even if only in hotspots, and will therefore allow some caramelization, but optimal caramelization would seem to require holding a consistent temperature around but preferably above 160. Time to rig up an electric element to a sand bath and do some experimenting.

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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday November 21 2018, @06:27PM (1 child)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday November 21 2018, @06:27PM (#764867) Journal

    This is the link I actually wanted to share. It goes into greater detail about the case for using a pressure cooker to caramelize onions:

    https://www.seriouseats.com/2016/01/the-food-lab-pressure-cooker-caramelized-onions-onion-soup.html [seriouseats.com]

    Let's back up for a second and take a look at our goals when we're caramelizing onions. There are a couple of things going on. First, there's caramelization: the breakdown of complex sugars into smaller base units that then get recombined into a series of more complex molecules, which simultaneously add sweetness and complexity. Second, there's Maillard browning: the similar reactions that take place between proteins and sugar, adding a rich brown color and flavor to your food.

    Both of these reactions require relatively high temperatures in order to take place. When you're sautéing, the temperature in the pan is largely regulated by the water content remaining in your vegetables. At first, as onions start to expel moisture from inside their cells, the energy in the pan mostly goes toward evaporating that liquid. The pan has a tough time rising above the 212°F boiling point of water. In this temperature range, not much browning or caramelization can take place. Only after sufficient moisture has evaporated can the temperature in the pot rise high enough to start browning and caramelizing in earnest.

    But there's a problem: Without the built-in regulation of moisture, it's very easy for the temperature inside the pot to rise too rapidly. Your onions can go from caramelized to burnt in a split second, and even a few bits of burnt-onion juice will ruin the flavor of the entire pot. That's why caramelization is such a slow, painstaking process. The gentler the heat you use, the fewer burnt compounds you produce, and the better the flavor of the result. Of course, low heat also means extra time.

    That's where the pressure cooker comes in.

    A pressure cooker removes that 212°F limit on moist foods. By trapping steam inside the sealed chamber of a pressure cooker, you create pressure, which in turn raises the boiling point of the liquid.

    Because of this, a pressure cooker operating at high pressure (that's 15 pounds per square inch above atmospheric pressure for most models) can achieve non-boiling water temperatures of around 250°F. In this temperature range, sugars will caramelize, and the Maillard reaction will take place quite nicely. Thus, a pressure cooker allows you to increase the rate of caramelization for onions without the risk of accidentally burning them.

    I've seen some recipes that call for placing onions inside Mason jars, then placing the jars in a pressure cooker. While this method works, I find it to be almost more tedious than the traditional route, especially considering that it severely limits the volume of onions you can caramelize at once. I prefer to start by melting a few tablespoons of butter in a pressure cooker, then add a few pounds of thinly sliced onions along with a little salt and pepper and a small touch of baking soda. (Baking soda raises the pH of the mixture, which speeds up the rate of the Maillard reaction.) I let the onions soften just enough to begin releasing juices, then cover up the pressure cooker and heat it to high pressure, adjusting the flame as necessary to keep it there. (You want to maintain high pressure without heating it so much that it starts to vent steam. An electric pressure cooker makes this very easy.)*

    * With some thin-bottomed pressure cookers, you may experience scorching in the onions. If you use a particularly thin pressure cooker, add a cup of water to the pot before sealing it to prevent this.

    After 20 minutes at high pressure, I rapidly release the steam, then crack the cooker open. What you end up with inside is onions that are very soft, a rich brown, and extremely sweet-smelling. The stuff is good, but we're not quite done yet.

    In order to get maximum caramelized flavor, we want to now reduce what's left of the water in the mixture while continuously stirring, so that we can get those last bits of caramelization that occur above 250°F. It takes just a couple of minutes for the onions to go from golden brown to rich, deep, truly caramelized dark brown.

    And here's the good news: This stuff is great. I mean, as-good-as-slow-cooked-caramelized-onions great.

    I enjoyed the results from when I did it. I might try it again tomorrow if I have leftover onions.

    --
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    • (Score: 2) by Immerman on Thursday November 22 2018, @05:48PM

      by Immerman (3985) on Thursday November 22 2018, @05:48PM (#765253)

      Intruiging... I'm half tempted to go pick up some onions to try for this afternoon's feast, but I think I'll wait for a more leisurely day to experiment.

      Thank you - that's a much more informative page than just a recipe. Hopefully the combination of high altitude (-3psi) and the instant pot's mere 11psi "high" won't push me below the magic temperature.