Unit Conversion

There’s a particular type of panic that sets in when you come to realize that your dessert table isnt shaping up so well. You invited 30 people. Those 24 mini cupcakes has dissapeared faster then the cake can get served. In most cases it’s not a matter of lack of effort. It’s a matter of … Read more

The secret ingredient to pizza making is salt, and no, I don’t mean how hot you get your oven. You stretch out the dough, spread on the sauce, top with cheese and then what? It tastes like warm, salty nothing. You let it ferment, and you used good flour. What did you do different than … Read more

You slide your pizza onto the stone, set the timer for 6 minutes, and wait while dough bakes at five-hundred degrees (beep, beep, beep). But what’s the issue? While outer edge of the stone feels warm, center remains cold. Thermal energy moves faster through air different than through dense objects: That coveted crispness and those … Read more

With the best of intentions, you reach into the pantry for a bag of dry beans, but in just forty-five minutes it’s time for dinner. The directions on the bag is vague, and who can remember how long they said to soak them for? To soak beans, manage the hydration. Hydrate a dormant seed, coaxing … Read more

Slicing through an apple pie and finding the filling running out all over your hands can be frustrating. It’s not necessarily due to a lack of skills, but rather a matter of mathematics. Most times, it’s a question of how much thickener was addid. When cooked with cornstarch, which makes for a translucent gel, fruit … Read more

So it’s not unreasonable to weigh a tray full of apples before drying. But what about when you take them from dehydrator? Why weigh them then? You know they’ve lost water. And that they’re a lot lighter now. And knowing exactly how much water came out, and what’s still in there, make all the difference. … Read more

Herbs make all the difference, as does the bread. There you are, about to feed your guests and roast the turkey, and what happens? Your stuffing ingredients seems unsure of themselves; those bread cube are looking pretty stale. Yes, yes, I know: you’ll add some egg and some broth and everything will be fine. Wrong. … Read more

Homemade vanilla extract demands patience. Invest in high-quality beans, submerge them in clear alcohol, then wait. Newbies purchase beans, fill up a jar with booze, give it a quick shake and call it good. Done deal? Nope. Patience is required: Months are needed as the alcohol gradually extracts flavor compounds from seed pods. To get … Read more

If you grind your own granulated sugar in a blender, that doesn’t make it pro confectioners’ sugar. Sure, it appears powdery, but within hours it’s all packed together into hard little rocks that ruin any delicate buttercream or leave gritty chunks throughout cake batter. More often than not, what’s lacking isn’t so much the sugar … Read more

Confidently shape the loaf, score it, then slide it in fridge. Bake tomorrow morning. Fall asleep. Morning comes around. Panic sets in that you’ve turned it into a flat, sour pancake. That’s the anxiety of cold fermentation. It’s the space between what you intended and what happens: biology waiting for you as you sleep. A … Read more