3 posts tagged “test kitchen”
Last weekend was the second in a series of Test Kitchen events which began in March. Given that it was the day after BlueHat, there were a couple folks from out of town who got to attend this time which was fantastic.
For the May Test Kitchen we tested the following breakfast items (copied from the invitation):
1. blueberry waffles. in Test Kitchen 1 we tested how to make perfect waffles. Now what happens when you throw the fruit variable in? Should the blueberries be in the waffles or on top of them? if they are in the waffles, do you gently fold them into the batter or get out the kitchen equivalent of power tools, the KitchenAid MixMaster and blend them in, crushing their little blue souls?2. broken yolk eggs. both scrambled and omelet style. some people mix in milk, some use water, some add no fluid at all. But what results in the fluffiest and tastiest eggs?
3. Bloody Marys in the Chem Lab makeup test. Last Test Kitchen we didn't fulfill our Chem requirements and have to do it over. I'm bringing in a specially trained Lab Assistant to run this experiment for us so maybe we can take Chem201 next session.
Plus we had bacon, bangers, smoothies, and fresh fruit.
PARTICIPANTS: Bryan, Amy, Vinnie, Shyama, Divide, Jacqueline, Dan, Christopher
TEST RESULTS:
Test One: Waffles
Methodology: All waffles were cooked on maximum heat unless otherwise noted.
The first batch was made with frozen blueberries. Waffles were made at 3.5, 4.0, and 4.5 minutes, the 4.5 minute batch was preferred as shorter cook times resulted in soggier internals.
The second batch was made with fresh blueberries. , Waffles were made at 3.5, 4.0, and 4.5 minutes, the 4.0 minute batch was preferred for presentation and external texture.
EPIC FAIL:
we tried a fresh blueberry batch at a lower heat for 5 minutes, then high heat for 1 minute in an attempt to get a more thoroughly cooked inner texture without losing the crispy exterior. This test was an unmitigated disaster. The interior of the waffle essentially steamed (hypothesis: added moisture from fresh fruit caused complications), so when the waffle iron was opened the waffle lost all cohesiveness and structural integrity and de-laminated.
Conclusion: frozen blueberries are sweeter than fresh blueberries, but fresh blueberries have better texture. To increase blueberry flavor with fresh blueberries you need more blueberries. But too many whole blueberries diminishes structural integrity of the batter, so the blueberries need to be aggressively mixed so they break up in the batter, then throw in a handful or two of whole blueberries and gently fold them in so they remain in berry form before cooking at high heat for 4.0-4.5 minutes.
If we hadn't all been too full to eat more, we would have tested a part frozen/part fresh combination of blueberries to see if that solved the sweet/texture tradeoff.
As in the prior Test Kitchen, three pure maple syrups were tested: Stonewall Kitchens, Spring Tree, and Shady Maple. There was a clear preference for syrup #1 (Stonewall Kitchens), though you can see from the photo that our Master Documentation Expert, Vinnie, disagreed with the popular vote and thought #2 (Spring Tree) was best.
Test Two: Broken Yolk Eggs
Methodology: I put Lab Assistants Bryan and Amy in charge of the eggs, their notes are below. There were two batches, the first had no liquid added and feedback was that the eggs were a bit heavy, but very yummy. The second batch had some milk added, and their fluffiness was better. At the same time the sharp cheddar cheese variable changed between batches, the higher cheese concentration in batch one was preferred. Other variables: ham, garlic, mushrooms, scallions. You can see in the photo that the eggs were browned, feedback on that was all positive, that it added really good texture and flavor.
Conlcusion: Bryan makes really good eggs. Garlic is good, as is sharp cheddar cheese and ham. A little bit of milk whisked into the eggs will make them fluffier. Browning the eggs results in good texture.
Test Three: Bloody Marys
Formulae: I printed three different bloody mary recipes found on the internet and set them out with all the necessary materials prior to the start of the Test Kitchen.
Conclusion: you have to really want a bloody mary to go to the trouble to make them - six ingredients minimum, with specific tools and measurements... however, this Test Kitchen, we assigned a mixmaster to the ChemLab early and very quickly determined that Formula 3 was vastly superior to Formula 1 or 2 which were deemed too 'ketchupy'.
By popular request, the superior Bloody Mary recipe:
For rimming the glass:
1 Tbsp kosher salt (we used table salt)
2 tsp celery salt
wedge of lemon
The Bloody Mary:
3 oz (2 jiggers) vodka
generous squeeze of lemon juice
several shakes of worcestershire sauce
3-4 drops of tabasco sauce
8 oz tomato juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp celery salt
1/8 tsp pepper
Directions:
rim glass with salt and fill with ice
add vodka, lemon juice, worcestershire sauce and tabasco sauce
stir in tomato juice with long spoon
add salt, celery salt, and pepper
stir again and serve with a wedge of lemon
TEST KITCHEN SUMMARY:
WAY less chaotic than the March edition, we must be getting the hang of this.
Very fun, everyone left with full bellies, we are definitely doing this again in June (or maybe July, depending on my schedule).
Call Dan at 9am to wake him up so he doesn't arrive so late that he gets cold leftovers. :)
Special thanks:
Lab Assistants Amy and Bryan for running test 2, baking the bacon, and cooking the bangers. Once again, the morning would not have been a success without their help, I couldn't have pulled it off without them. I think I'm going to have to promote them above Lab Assistant... Research Assistants perhaps
Our Mad Scientist for managing the bar and ensuring the ChemLab was successfully completed. .
Vinnie and Shyama are the most amazing Lab Assistants when it comes to documentation (the fourth page is particularly hysterical). And their smoothies were teh awesomz too.
I had a great time and can't thank everyone enough for coming over and participating in the Test Kitchen Experiment. I hope you all come back for the next one!
Since starting to Twitter I have been slack in my blogging, and now I have multiple posts to write all jammed up in my head waiting to get out.
However. It is 11:20 pm and I am tired. I have finally gotten all the pictures for the different blogposts onto this computer so I'm ready to start writing... but for now I'm going to sleep. I'll write as much as I can tomorrow to get caught up on v2 of the Test Kitchen Experiment (awesome), my Zune 2.5 testing (entertaining), and the Emerald City ComiCon (uber-geeky), at the very least.
bonne nuit et bons rêves
Or in the words of Katie, "an exercise in deliciousness"
Today was the first in a series of Test Kitchen events. The whole thing started because I was given a waffle iron as a joke. I made waffles last weekend and kept fiddling with the temperature settings and time to cook trying to get the best outcome. I needed to do more testing, so invited a few friends over for brunch this weekend. But the idea of testing waffles took on a life of its own, and before I knew it I had Test Kitchen plans for March, April, and May.
For the March Test Kitchen we tested the following breakfast items (copied from the invitation):
1. waffles. how do you make perfect waffles? what temperature and time duration does it take to get the right color and crispiness? and what is the ultimate waffle topping? I'll have several toppings on hand for testing, but feel free to bring your favorite and we'll test that too.2. bacon. in the search for the One Bacon to Rule Them All, we will have a bacon tasting. Several types, all cooked in the oven. If you think you are a more refined bacon connoisseur than I am, feel feel free to bring your favorite type and we'll test it along with the varieties I pick up this week.
3. bloody mary. that's right, this Test Kitchen will have a Chemistry Lab component.
Plus we had scrambled eggs, bangers, smoothies, fresh fruit, Jaq brought supplies and made blueberry sauce from scratch for the waffles as well as fresh strawberries, Amy & Bryan brought a blueberry bundt cake and turkey breakfast sausage, Erika & Adrian brought croissants & danishes, both Divide and Ellen & Matty brought Mimosa fixins, and Chad brought the supplies and made biscuits & gravy.
PARTICIPANTS: Brian, Amy, Matty, Ellen, Adrian, Erika, Bill, Chad, Divide, Jacqueline, Katie, Paul
OBSERVERS: Ella
TEST RESULTS:
Test One: Waffles
Methodology: All waffles were cooked on maximum heat. The first batch, at four minutes, had good color and external crispiness, but the inside was too chewy to score high marks from testers. The second batch, at five minutes, was eaten before I could document the results. The third batch, at four and a half minutes, had good color and external crispiness, and the internal texture was much improved over the first batch. A fourth batch, cooked again for five minutes, was then logged with good color and external crispiness, and good internal crispiness as well.
Conclusion: ideal waffles at 4.5-5 minutes on maximum heat.
Additionally, three maple syrups were tested, Stonewall Kitchens, Spring Tree, and Shady Maple. There was no strong preference by testers for any one of the three in terms of taste or consistency.
Test Two: Bacon
Methodology: We tested four types of bacon, using the oven baked approach outlined on Tony Chor's blog.
Materials: The bacons tested, were:
1. Larry's Market Meat Counter Bulk Bacon
2. Fletcher's Thick Cut Maple Bacon
3. Hempler's Peppered Bacon
4. Nueske's Applewood Smoked Bacon
Tester Comments:
Bacon #2 - crunchy and spice
Bacon #4 has notable maple flavor that enhances the flavor over #1 which is relatively standard.*
Bacon #1 has a nice crisp to it.
Bacon #3 has the best flavor, due to the pepper. Excellent zip and zing on #3.
Bacon #4 super yummy, good texture, crispy
Bacon #3 great crisp and flavor, pepper isn't overpowering
Bacon #1 is great classic bacon
Bacon #2 maple is good but not as good as #1*
*hm. looks like bacon might have gotten mixed up on the serving trays between batches if people thought both #2 and #4 were both maple flavored.
Conlcusion: bacon is good. Seriously. No one bacon stood out as a favorite among testers. It was all devoured. Everyone was happy. But in my oven the bake times are longer than on Tony's blog, it takes about 20 minutes to get two cookie sheets worth of perfectly cooked bacon.
Test Three: Bloody Marys
Formulae: I printed three different bloody mary recipes found on the internet and set them out with all the necessary materials prior to the start of the Test Kitchen.
Conclusion: you have to really want a bloody mary to go to the trouble to make them - six ingredients minimum, with specific tools and measurements... On the other hand, Orange Juice + Champagne = Mimosa. Easy and readily available. So those who chose to imbibe liquor had those. We'll put bloody mary's back in the Chem Lab in May, since Katie has agreed to be the smoothie mixmaster in the April Chem Lab.
TEST KITCHEN SUMMARY:
Very fun, everyone left with full bellies, we are definitely doing this again in April.
Special thanks:
Lab Assistants Amy and Bryan for coming over an hour early to help prep. They were awesome helpers. I sent Bryan off to the store to pick up a few things I'd forgotten the night before while Amy washed fruit and chopped herbs, garlic, and mushrooms for the scrambled eggs. Bryan also assembled 2 of my still boxed ikea chairs I hadn't gotten around to building yet so there would be more seating available. :) Throughout the Test Kitchen experiment they were both total rock stars, helping with bacon, cooking sausage, mixing waffle batter... this morning would not have been a success without their help, I couldn't have pulled it off without them.
Divide & Jacqueline not only brought mimosa fixins, they brought me a gift. Divide knew i was trying to make time to go to the Science and Art store in Seattle to get test tubes, beakers, and flasks for the Chem Lab but didn't get a chance... coolest. barware. ever.
Chad made biscuits and gravy, but also was the last one to leave as he helped me clean up the kitchen. Lots of folks helped with cleanup throughout the morning and I appreciate them all, he just stayed longest. And he washed the stovetop. I hate washing the stovetop more than any other kitchen task - which he didn't know when he did it. :)
I had a great time and can't thank everyone enough for coming over and participating in the Test Kitchen Experiment. You are all awesome.
