Chex mix, savory homemade shortbread (my fave is cheese flavored), seasoned oyster crackers (you toss them in a little fat plus seasoning and bake them), oven roasted chickpeas tossed in seasoning (if you want them really hard you can skip boiling them after soaking them, or boil them and roast them), and so much more. I could go on and on.
Stop using fossil fuels to cook. Go for induction. Yes, you may need to get new pots and pans. It will be worth it in the end. I cannot wait to move to my own place so I can get away from this gas burning relic in my kitchen
Thermodynamics question: do you think it is more or less efficient to burn coal or natural gas, use that heat to boil water to turn a turbine, generate enough of a surplus to avoid brownouts and blackouts, transmit that power over long distance, radiating energy the entire way and losing more at every transformer power station eventually using energy to boil a pot of water...
Or to burn gas to boil a pot of water directly.
I own stock of energy producers and transporters in my 401k, so I'm extremely glad those in power get this question wrong. But I also know that wrongness has a cost.
And before you say "solar" please realize capacity does not equal production. Germany is on the forefront of renewable energy, and generates 10.4% of power from solar compared to 20.1% from lignite, the dirtiest possible coal. Hard coal, natural gas and lignite add up to 11.3 + 13.3 + 20.1 = 44.6%. United states has solar at 3.93% of our energy mix, with 37.82% generated from natural gas.
Energy efficiency is only part of the equation. Combustion inside the home also worsens air quality and has the small risk of gas leaks.
It is also possible to reduce the carbon footprint of an electric range (either coils or induction) by changing the energy mix feeding it. It is not possible to due that with a gas range.
A substantial proportion of the heat from burning gas on a stovetop in the usual manner does not heat the content of the pot, so the difference in thermal efficiency between electric and direct gas heating may not be as large as you might expect. This factor could probably be improved with different stove designs though (cheap burners do a worse job of putting the heat where it does the most work).
Additionally, gas ranges impact indoor air quality a lot more than electric stovetops, and gas delivery to homes leaks into the atmosphere a fair amount of gas with high greenhouse potential (I work for a gas pipeline company on leak tracking software) so there are other tradeoffs that one should consider beyond just thermal efficiency.
I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all answer here, both are good options for different situations.
No one is cooking enough for their fossil fuel emissions to affect the world in any way. Throwing something out and buying everything new has a cost as well. Plus for cooking, it’s hard to beat a cast iron pan.
In my experience, which is by no means gourmet, there are reasons for both. Sometimes the need gor the garlic is to add a flavor without being explicitly consumed - not quite a tadka, but cooking in oil to release flavors. In those cases presentation comes into play too - sliced fried garlic as garnish, versus crushed and chopped/minced garlic as a cooked-in component.
Many times, I personally cannot be arsed to do garnishes for a dish I am making for flavor cravings, so I fire the garlic in minced. There’s, like, a very few Chinese dishes I’ve had that use the garlic in the cooking but not intended for consumption so in it goes, regardless of whether or not it’s supposed to be included.
I got two of the cheap single hob ones from ikea. I have been using them for a while and the function just fine. Having two seperate ones also means that I can just put either one away if it's not needed.
So did you have gas at some point before? Due to some moves over the last year and a half I've been able to use resistive, induction, and gas in a relatively close time span. I've found both quality gas and induction cook tops are fantastic and I could happily live with either. I did have some annoyances with gas (smell, maintenance, risk with small children), nothing that couldn't be worked around but given the performance equity with induction I find myself preferring it instead of gas. Curious what drove you the other direction.
I like this method a lot because the beans get flavored at every step. It’s also a nice springboard to discuss canned versus dry beans. I don’t used canned beans because I try to do the same thing as you: flavor the beans at every step. I make chickpea salad quite often and it’s so much better if you start with dry beans because you can boil them in water with flavorings.
You lost me at the lack of added fat, a critical component for refried beans. Yes, there’s a little butter called for with the onion, but not nearly enough fat (ie, none) added to the beans.
Call me a pedantic purist gatekeeper who grew up eating these almost daily, but you posted mashed beans, not refried beans.
The following is not direct criticism, as I have used butter to make refried beans and it is easily available - but, butter should be the low down the fat choice list as it has a strong flavor that competes with the beans. The first and most obvious/traditional fat to use is pig lard, but a neutral oil or shortening works perfectly well, too. My grandmother would use saved, rendered bacon fat from a Folgers coffee can she kept near the stove (because she always had bacon fat, grandaddy had to have bacon for every breakfast). I have also used olive oil, but only if making black beans (which can stand up to the flavor). Avocado oil works well, too.
Nope no other suggestions. Lard and bacon fat are the most common around here (Texas). Olive oil will often appear on menus ostensibly for health reasons. Avocado oil use is growing. I, too, have used ghee but I found the flavor off-putting.
Really, what’s most important is getting the generous-but-right amount of fat into the beans to emulsify them. Too little and they’re chalky and paste-like. Too much and they’re overbearingly rich and greasy. Just right and the beans are silky and soft. That is where I come down strongly and die on that hill. But the particular fat used to achieve this? I have my preferences which I think I can defend, but I am not religious about it.
(This makes me think of a complete side note, Hummus-bit-Tahini needs the same attention to emulsifying the bean with a proper amount of fat. Too many hummus recipes on the internet have far too little oil in them…)
I’ve tried making bean burgers over the years but I’m never satisfied with the texture. Almost feel just grilling some oyster mushrooms is a better option…
There is a minor safety issue, as portable units are - by definition - easily movable and can be jostled, tipped, etc. A range isn't going anywhere.
On a range you will typically have four burners, two front and two rear, with controls for all four on a common panel which is easily accessible at the edge of the counter. Each portable induction plate will have its own control.
As others have pointed out, a combined cooktop (in the US) will generally have a dedicated 30-50A / 240V circuit supplying power to the group of heating elements. Unless you have asked for multiple circuits when you built your house, there will often be a single 15A/120v (or, in the last 20 years 20A/120V) circuit supplying all of the receptacles in your kitchen. If your house is older than ~1975 or 1980, the refrigerator may be on the same breaker as the receptacles. Even with a 20A/240, it means you'd be sharing the circuit with a countertop microwave oven, stand mixer, toaster, coffee machine, sous vide, etc, and possibly even the overhead lights and lights/receptacles in adjacent rooms.
I made the note about special circuits because when I had the kitchen in my 1960s house redone, I had 4 separate 20A circuits run, plus the fridge, plus the lighting circuit both separate. Two pairs of the outlets are actually on adjacent breakers so that, if I were crazy enough to do it, I could get a 240V/20A service with a custom (and definitely not UL rated) dual plug. I've never done that and, though it would be possible, it's a terrible idea because it's not a common breaker but two individuals and they should really be able to trip with a single breaker if used that way.
Depending on what kind of outlet you’re talking about and what country you’re in you may be limited in the power it will have. In the US at 110 V and maybe being able to pull 15 A (based on fuse for that circuit) you could only get 1650 W. A regular cook top or range is hard wired, has a much bigger fuse on they circuit usually 30 to 40 A and gets two phases so has 220 V which allows for much higher power output. My range’s big induction burner has 3600 W for example so it’s quite the difference.
If your house is older, you may not be able to support multiple induction burners outright as your wiring from the power company may be insufficient. You can check by looking for a main circuit breaker in your panel. If it is only 100A, you probably cannot support induction ranges. You would have to request new wiring from your power company, then also rewire a significant amount of your in home electrical. You can still buy the desktop singular ones though.
I feel like kitchens might have 20A circuits. Regardless, I think the individual outlets are only rated 15A for the most part and I’ve never seen kitchen appliances use the 20A plug.
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