Temperature & Safety

Rancid or expired meat will smell off, feel slimy, and look gray.

Table 1: Cooking Temperature & Safety

The Food Lab by J. Kenji López-Alt 362

Pesticides

How to Remove Pesticides from Fruit

• Mix together 3 cups of cold water with a 1½ teaspoon baking soda.
• Add the fruit. Let the fruit sit for 10 to 15 minutes, then rinse it off, let it dry, and enjoy.

Baking soda helps “loosen” the pesticides if you will. Plain water will get some off but because of how well they adhere to the fruit you need something stronger to break those adhesive bonds.

Equipment

Strainer

Fine-Mesh

Can hold small grains such as lentils.

So water flows right through instead of splashing around.

Parchment Paper

To keep from having to scrub clean pans.

Silicone Free, Unbleached, Uncoated

Otherwise they bleed harmful chemicals.

Salad Spinner

To dry salad leaves.

Knives

Chef's Knife 8–10 inch

The curve of the blade allows you to rock back and forth for mincing.

Santoku Knife 6–8 inch

A straight blade is better for slicing and chopping, not mincing.

Pairing Knife Sheep's Foot 3–4 inch

Used to hack, chop, and peel small things.

You don't want to mince with this, so the blade should be straight.

• A straight blade will follow the curve of a peel better than an opposing curve.

Serrated Knife or Bread Knife 10–12 inch

For slicing bread, meat, and some fruits.

Ideal for cutting through thick skins without crushing the fleshy insides.

Honing Steel 10 inch

Used to re-align the edge of the blade so that the sharpened bit is all facing in the right direction.

Diamond Steels Sharpening Steels

Honing steels that have fine diamond powder embedded in them.

• This allows them to sharpen the edge as well as straighten it.

Cleaning

Rinse with warm tap water and dry completely with a cloth.