Cooking

Food is meant to be shared. Especially when it's a delicious creation of your own making. But food sharing being what it is, even if your famous homemade chili stew isn't the hit of the potluck, it will still be appreciated. Regardless of if your recipes are smashes or stashes, a way to actually get the food to where it's going is always helpful.

As the weather improves and the seasons change, we all get a little more mobile, and that means potluck parties. The Crock-Pot Cook & Carry Programmable Slow Cooker makes it easy to get … Read more

Purchasing a new grill is a big responsibility. Not only do prospective owners need to consider style and size, but they also have to decide between gas, wood, or charcoal. These things matter, as each option provides its own set of benefits. But just because owners are faced with the choice doesn't mean they have to decide. One company provides options for all three.

Debuting today at the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show in Las Vegas, Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet has unveiled its new 2011 line of Hybrid Fire Grills. Using a drawer system located above the gas burners and … Read more

It's easy to make an impression in the kitchen. That doesn't necessarily mean a good impression, though. While homemade cooking is always appreciated, the lingering scents are not. Sometimes hours after a meal is made, the lasting aroma can still be sensed. A little goes a long way in this case, and some simple ventilation could be just the thing that is needed. Especially when it makes its own impression.

The telescoping Miele Stainless Steel Downdraft Ventilation Hood is a convenient kitchen accessory that disappears when not in use. Available in either a 30-inch or a 36-inch size, … Read more

The Deni 3-Quart Deep Fryer with Glass Sides will fry up all manner of delicious treats from fish and chips to snacks like deep-fried candy bars and Twinkies. Featuring distinctive modern styling, the deep fryer sports a glass exterior with stainless-steel accents. The 1,700-watt appliance covers a temperature range of 175 degrees to 375 degrees and has cool-touch handles. A charcoal filter incorporated in the lid helps to reduce odor, regardless of what's cooking.

Just because a deep fryer can make unhealthy foods doesn't mean it has to. Proper technique can go a long way toward reducing … Read more

As we all know, upgrading isn't easy. When we make the decision to leave the old behind we are tasked with the pressure of finding something better. When it comes to cooking gear, implicit in this reality is the understanding that new equipment will somehow make us better cooks. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. However, we can console ourselves with an alternate benefit that new equipment provides: the ability to do more.

The STOK Quattro 4-burner Gas Grill offers a unique way to get more out of cooking outside. Featuring interchangeable inserts that set right into the … Read more

There is a yearly ritual that many of us go through. It starts off innocently enough, but it soon escalates in size and scope until there is no choice but to turn back and abandon the idea before it even starts. I'm talking about grilling season and the reoccurring dream that this year will be the year when all the equipment gets upgraded. It's easy enough to look at the short, stubby thing that has been kicking out burgers and franks and dream of something bigger, better, and shinier. However, as in any overwhelming journey, it has to … Read more

When it comes to shopping for an outdoor grill, usually the first decision to make is whether to get a charcoal, gas, or an electric grill--and then if gas or charcoal is permitted, electric is quickly kicked to the curb. This isn't surprising: when we think of outdoor grilling, we usually equate that with an open fire. However, there are many situations where open-fire cooking is simply not an option. Balconies and other small, confined spaces are often excluded from joining in the open-fire party. But that doesn't mean electric grills have to suffer a fate of inferior … Read more

When you write about Nathan Myhrvold, it's kind of hard to keep it short. Perhaps best known as Microsoft's first CTO, he's also worked with Stephen Hawking, been involved in thousands of patents, zapped mosquitoes with lasers, won awards as a wildlife photographer, and now, published a massive cookbook that attempts to fuse the worlds of the geek and the gastronome.

As it turns out, Myhrvold himself doesn't keep it short, either. His new culinary effort, "Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking," is a six-volume, 2,400-page, 50-plus-pound declaration of a paradigm shift in the world of food.

The stated goal of the ambitious book is nothing less than "reinventing cooking" by looking at cuisine through the lenses of science and innovation (ever wondered how to use electric fields to kill wine bacteria?), while not leaving out all the recipes and techniques you expect in a cookbook.

Some of the methods and recipes outlined in "Modernist Cuisine" aren't going to be too accessible to the average weekend chef, however. Myhrvold and his team borrowed as much from the lab as from the kitchen, using tools like homogenizers and centrifuges, and ingredients such as hydrocolloids and enzymes, to formulate recipes for everything from "Astronaut Ramen" to "Monkfish with Mediterranean Flavors."

In other words, the message is about quality, not quickness, as with so many modern recipes for the harried cook.

Just take this little bit of description from Myhrvold's approach to the ultimate cheeseburger (from the video below of an interview with a local Seattle TV show):

"We infuse smoke flavor into the lettuce; we make a special cheese slice. When the cheese melts, it doesn't separate out and get greasy. We grind the meat in a particular way so that we align all the grains of meat; we cook it in a very specific way using liquid nitrogen..." … Read more

Ever since there have been backyards, there have been backyard cookouts. There is just something undeniably appealing about cooking food over an open fire. After all, it's hard not to enjoy something that has been so integral to our survival since our caveman days. While the meeting of food and flame may strike a chord that resonates with our distant ancestors, that doesn't mean we have to be stuck in the past. Now, we can take the fire with us.

More than just a portable grill, the Carson Portable Rotisserie Grill is specifically designed for cooking food on … Read more