I like this confident, mature you. I know everybody else likes the messing around, hilarious stuff, so I wouldn't suggest you stop that, but this was fun to watch.
His video views might show the opposite, but I think most of his subscribers miss the no fuss cooking content. This is a breath of fresh air compared to the over edited screaming, wet noises, excessive papa use, etc lol
@@sylviele3239 This definitely is more my speed, but I'm not his target audience. He's obviously found a style that works for him. He's a very likable guy in addition to being so talented with food.
Nevertheless, I’m not finished with the video, and he’s already given bad advice multiple times. His method for losing weight, for one (I think it was the first question asked?). The answer is to cut out meat, sweets, soda, alcohol, and fried/fatty foods. No need to count calories if you do that. Another example was the question at 26:17. Everyone who is into pasta knows that the brand isn’t what matters - what matters is if the pasta is bronze die-cut or not, as when it’s bronze die-cut, the sauce that is being used for it will actually STICK to the pasta waaayyy better, as the texture will be rougher instead of glossy smooth, and that rougher texture is what makes it possible for the sauce to grab a hold of the pasta and not slide off of it. And yes, bronze cut is more expensive - but it’s worth it and ISN’T the same thing as the uber cheap dry pastas that aren’t using bronze cut. The fact is that the questioner was wondering if pastas that are more expensive are the same as the very cheap ones, and Joshua completely failed on even mentioning this fact I just explained, when he is supposedly a professional chef that should damn well know better. All he said that was remotely close to what I just explained was him briefly saying “the quality of the cut.” But the average person is not going to have the slightest clue what that means unless they are told what I just wrote. They might very well interpret that is how the ends of the pasta or a cut off lol. There were more examples, but this already got way longer than I anticipated, so I’ll stop now.
[0:29] 1. What do you recommend to eat for weight loss? [0:51] 2. What spices and herbs are essential to every kitchen? [1:18] 3. Who is your favorite chef or mentor? [1:36] 4. How do you season to taste when ingredients are raw? [2:16] 5. What cookbook has made the biggest impact on you? [2:53] 6. What are the top three tips to make restaurant-quality dishes at home? [3:34] 7. Are frozen vegetables just as good as fresh ones? [3:58] 8. What are your favorite places to eat in Austin? [4:03] 9. Is washing rice necessary? [4:39] 10. What are you eating that's good on your fitness journey? [5:03] 11. What sucks the most about cooking? [5:08] 12. How do I make cooking a full-time job? [5:37] 13. I struggle with baking cookies, they always come out flat. Help? [6:23] 14. How do you get clear chicken stock? [7:05] 15. How do you cook a steak at home without setting off the fire alarm? [7:23] 16. Which dish are you most proud of? [7:41] 17. What is a good intro recipe for cooking fish (not salmon)? [8:17] 18. Do you think cooking is worth pursuing as a career? [8:34] 19. Do I need a gas stove to make good meals, or is my electric stove enough? [9:03] 20. What's the difference between white sugar and brown sugar when baking? [9:26] 21. How do I make a good steak with only a pan? [10:03] 22. What Michelin star technique should an experienced homecook learn? [10:21] 23. What motivated you to cook? [10:37] 24. Is it important to follow exact measurements versus approximating? [10:54] 25. What knife style or brand would you recommend if I have money for a good one? [11:30] 26. Should I wash mushrooms? [11:54] 27. How do I sharpen knives? [12:12] 28. Does adding a bay leaf really do anything? [12:42] 29. What's the easiest dish to impress a date with? [13:01] 30. When should I salt white meat, red meat, or fish? [13:20] 31. What food do you hate to cook the most? [13:37] 32. When should I use a stainless steel pan, nonstick, or cast iron? [14:17] 33. Why does cheese in my cacio e pepe never melt properly? [14:59] 34. What’s a good low-calorie dish I can prep for a week of lunches? [15:38] 35. What do you do with leftover oil from deep frying? [15:54] 36. Do more expensive meats really make a difference? [16:29] 37. What’s your go-to "everything sauce"? [16:40] 38. Why use the same utensil for raw meat while cooking? Isn’t it cross-contamination? [17:08] 39. Why does my risotto take so long to become tender? [17:33] 40. How much do pans matter in food preparation? [17:52] 41. What are your thoughts on culinary school? [18:26] 42. What’s your best chili oil recipe? [18:38] 43. Does halving a recipe mess up the original flavor? [18:50] 44. How do you keep meal prep food fresh in the fridge for longer than 2 days? [19:12] 45. What kitchen products would you invest in over $50, $100, and $200? [19:30] 46. How do I hold and efficiently use a chef's knife? [19:59] 47. What’s something people don’t tell you about working in fine dining restaurants? [20:23] 48. Are there alternatives to a sous-vide machine? [20:35] 49. What food trend do you want to see die? [21:00] 50. What’s the best wood for smoking? [21:20] 51. How do you keep oil at a consistent temperature while deep frying? [21:44] 52. How hard is it to get into fine dining without a culinary degree? [22:28] 53. What’s your favorite Japanese knife style and why? [22:47] 54. What do you recommend for beginners who don't know how to cook? [23:00] 55. What famous kitchen technique is overrated or outdated? [23:18] 56. What’s your biggest food hot take? [23:29] 57. I've never deep-fried anything in my life, how do I start? [24:11] 58. How can I keep moisture in leftover meat? [24:28] 59. Do I need a pizza oven? [24:46] 60. What culinary technique deserves more attention? [25:15] 61. How do I avoid burning spices on my dry rub meat when cooking? [25:52] 62. What bakeware is best for sweets like cakes? [26:11] 63. How long should you rest a steak for? [26:22] 64. Is there any noticeable difference between pasta brands? [26:45] 65. How do I save a dish that’s too salty? [27:10] 66. How do I make perfect chicken breast? [27:35] 67. What’s your go-to meal after a late restaurant shift? [27:54] 68. What are the five must-haves in a kitchen? [28:08] 69. How do you fix rice that’s undercooked? [28:16] 70. How do you soften butter quickly? [28:27] 71. What do people do while cooking that instantly makes you judge them? [28:46] 72. What does "al dente" really mean? [29:14] 73. What’s one knife you would use for the rest of your life? [29:20] 74. What’s the secret to perfect crispy fries? [29:39] 75. How do you flip a pan with food in it? [29:57] 76. How accurate is the show "The Bear" in portraying kitchens? [30:25] 77. How can I upgrade my instant ramen? [30:47] 78. Is a beef wellington worth the effort? [31:06] 79. How do I cook multiple steaks for a group? [31:24] 80. What’s the purpose of tomato paste in recipes? [31:43] 81. Propane or charcoal grill? [32:03] 82. What’s the best hydration percentage for pizza dough? [32:21] 83. How do you tell when a piece of meat is properly cooked by touch? [32:45] 84. Which onions should I use for what? [33:09] 85. Tapatio or Cholula? [33:15] 86. How do I tell if my burgers are done without cutting into them? [33:21] 87. If you could eat any dish from a movie, TV show, or book, what would it be? [33:32] 88. How do I get a glaze to be thick and sticky instead of running off? [33:57] 89. Can you show us what different stove flame levels look like? [34:15] 90. Why do you use 150 grams for 1 cup of flour when others use 120 grams? [34:36] 91. How do you choose which dishes require MSG? [34:53] 92. Are nonstick pans bad for you? [35:12] 93. What’s the best cheese for mac and cheese? [35:24] 94. What’s the best way to cook bacon? [35:44] 95. Is there a hack for cleaning oil after frying? [35:57] 96. What’s your death row meal? [36:13] 97. Where do you stop considering scallion whites vs scallion greens? [36:25] 98. What’s your favorite dish for family dinner? [36:54] 99. Do you think the food content space is too saturated? [37:13] 100. How do I keep meal prep food fresh for longer?
He's wrong. The worst part about cooking is only having enough food to cook one thing and messing it up so bad it's inedible. Then, you have to clean and you don't get to eat. Thankfully, the more you cook, the less that happens.
I knew he was gonna answer that, but for me is thinking what to cook. I need the idea, the time, the elements, buying ingredients and use them entirely before they spoil... and I have to dine something that me and my gf can bring to work the next day.
Not sure if it's something in the US but in my country (Hungary) you can actually take your used fry oil to the gas station, you can dump it there for free and they reuse it for biodiesel. We also have designated dumpsters in some of the shops where you can dispose it and they'll do the same.
10:33 I actually want to add onto this one as there's some advice I got from my mom as a kid that I think pertains to this: you should always make a recipe exactly as its stated until you have it down. Once you have the recipe down, that's when you should change things because you already know how it should taste and look in comparison
I'd also argue if you have the chemistry down, changing recipes becomes a lot more feasible. I never strictly follow a recipe if (and only if) I know all the chemical processes at hand and their effects on the final product. For example, if I'm making fried chicken, I'm gonna add whatever herbs and spices I want because they aren't a reactive part of the recipe, but I probably won't mess with the amount of baking soda because I know that it promotes browning by increasing the Ph of the batter and reacts with the acidity of the buttermilk which leads to a crispier cragglier crust... Knowledge of what you are actually doing on a chemical level is key to understanding what you should and should not change. You can trial and error your way through changes, but I generally wouldn't recommend it unless you are willing to put up with screwed up meals.
I agree. Always follow a recipe to the letter the first few times you do it. Figure out what you like, and what you don't like. Then start modifying in future cooks. Also, my mom taught me that baking is different than cooking. You can improvise a dish (steak, stew, whatever) that will be great, but if you improvise a bake (like cake), more than likely it will turn out to be inedible. Baking seems to be more precise chemistry to make it come out correctly. Mom was a great baker (but a mediocre cook).
I disagree. If you're a novice cook, then yes, follow the recipe. But if you're very experienced, you can change or add to the recipe, and it'll turn out great. For experienced cooks, recipes are merely suggestions or a collection of techniques. But I do agree with Josh that if you change something in a recipe, don't go online and blast it in the comments if it didn't turn out alright. I would like to caveat my statement by saying that I'm far more inclined to follow a recipe if it was written by a professional in a published cookbook. The recipes written (or more likely, copied) online by amateurs are far too often terrible. I may just use those as a general baseline to get me towards the finish line. Or I'll look at like 7 recipes for the same dish and take a little of this and a little of that.
Over 25 years running restaurants, you're the first chef I've subscribed to. No BS, simple easy clear direct answers. Thank you! No cooking school for me, all mother & grandmother taught. & I was embarrassed by several "Chefs" that graduated from the CIA that were so bad that I had a hard time even calling them good cooks. I do NOT recommend schools. I went Dishwasher/Prep Cook/Cook/Chef/Owner. & That's how it's done.
8:24 'I love it as a hobby. Do you think it's worth pursuing as a career?' "All you need to ask yourself is, is cooking something you love and does it make you happy? Because if the answer to those two questions is yes, then that's something that's always going to be worth pursuing " Thank you Josh ❤
No. My hobbies don't involve getting yelled at, being under constant pressure, being underpaid and worrying about the rent..... The adage find something you love and then get paid for it doesn't apply to cooking--you'll learn to hate it if you think it's a hobby.
It took me decades to realize that I didn’t like my job/career at all and that I listened to others who told me I’m good at it so I should keep doing it. Turns out that I listened to others more than myself and kept doing what doesn’t make me happy. I was only good at it because I have qualities that make a good fit but I didn’t like the work. Now at 50, I’m writing as much as possible and can do what lights me up and can never do too much of it and no type of writing will ever bore me. It’s the perfect job for me but I didn’t entertain it as a career choice because I listened to others and developed a notion that it wouldn’t be fulfilling and could be hard to make into a lucrative career. Anything that one loves doing will be easy to make good money at and will be easy to do a lot of.
Only thing I would defend for culinary school and you rarely learn in restaurants, is that (at least where I studied) I got a class that taught us how to be economically concious when opening/working in a restaurant, developing recipes and the overall cost of thing that don't always involve food directly
@mystifiedoni377 It was more focused on culinary and we had a few business type of classes that would concentrate on restaurant economics so to say :)
My husband is a chef and just like you, never went to school for it, learned from the best chefs in Italy and the US. He taught me so much too and I'm more confident in the kitchen. I've always loved your videos, you're very knowledgeable without taking yourself too seriously!! You look fantastic BTW!! Your hard work is showing!
That’s so cool! I always thought restaurants wouldn’t hire someone without some kind of cooking school experience. If I’d known it was an option I’d have looked into cooking at a cute little diner or something after high school! I loved cooking but didn’t even know that was an option!
@elisabethcuningham3526 Well, in my experience, you always work your way up in the restaurant business. As you start proving yourself and gain experience, you will definitely end up at the top. It takes a lot of passion, though. I myself could never, but my husband is driven. He loves to cook and is a hard-working person. You'd be surprised as some people come out of the culinary institute and don't really know how to cook properly. Cooking isn't about being a robot and copying what people do. It's about taking something and making it yours.
For the cacio e pepe question: Your cheese is clumping actually because the pasta water and pasta itself is too hot. Cheese melts at certain temperatures but pecorino and parmesan congeal at around 175-180 degrees F and once the cheese congeals there is no saving it. So for perfect cacio e pepe move the pasta around a ton but also use a thermometer to make sure the pasta water is at around 150-160 F, you can achieve this by putting some pasta water in a separate cup or container and letting it sit for a minute or so.
The emulsion is stabilized by the starch in the water. More starch keeps it from splitting at higher temperatures. Adding extra starch from cornstarch or similar is a common way to cheat at this if you are preparing large amounts. Add enough starch and you can heat the whole dish to boiling without splitting the cheese. The usual problem I see with people trying to do it the right way (no cheating) is they follow the instructions on the pasta package for cooking it. Even the mid range, bronze cut, imported pasta I buy says to cook about 400g of pasta in 6 _quarts_ of water. That is 5600g of water. The pasta itself only needs about 800g. You need about 200 or 250 left after cooking, plus however much you need for the dish. So for 400g of pasta, I'd use between 1200 and 1500g of water. This makes a _very_ starchy solution at the end (left to cool and dry, it forms a polymer in the bottom of the pot), which is perfect for any tempered cheese sauces without adding extra starch.
Thank you, I was looking for this comment. Cheese splitting is absolutely due to high temperature, when the cheese proteins will coagulate and they won't hold their water content anymore. You should either use warm but not hot water, or add some sort of stabilizer like corn starch (this is actually what most restaurants do because it's much easier to control and foolproof). Grate your cheese very fine, add a little cornstarch, avoid boiling hot water, and you'll be fine.
For some of the baking questions (as a hobby baker): Cookies going flat- besides not refrigerating (which some recipes require and some don’t, follow the recipe), butter being completely melted instead of softened, butter and sugar are not creamed enough, cheap butter (has more water content, European style usually has a higher fat content), using a darker non-stick pan (or an old dark, stained aluminum cookie sheet). Though it gets a bad rap, substituting shortening for butter (or 1/2), also keeps cookies from spreading. It’s a cheap trick that works really well with cut-out cookies with a lot of flavor on their own (like gingerbread). If it’s a butter-base cookie (shortbread, spritz) and I want to be extra, I use kerrygold. Baking pans- darker nonstick baking will cause the bottom of items to brown faster/possibly burn, so sometimes the oven temp should be lowered 25*F, especially for items with longer bake times (fruitcake). Plus the non-stick shortens the lifespan by chipping, and I’ve had issues with the metal rusting along turned edges. I prefer heavy duty aluminum baking pans, you don’t have to worry about scratching the non-stick when cleaning and you get a more even bake. To prevent cakes sticking, butter/flour/parchment paper. Exceptions to this would be a very intricate Bundt/specialty pan, but those are such a PIA to clean… for aluminum cake and pie pans I’ve had good luck sourcing them from thrift store, for baking sheets I got mine from the restaurant supply section from Sam’s. For baking, always measure carefully (scoop and level dry ingredients). If possible, measure by weight, you will never go back. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
!About the bay leaves! if you have bay leaves that have almost no smell or taste: flex them enough to form cracks but not enough for it to snap and smell again. if they become fragrant they are still usable. as a Portuguese i use them a lot but sometimes buy more than i can use in a reasonable amount of time and they dry off too much xD
RE: too much salt question. I have saved a few dishes that had become too salty by putting in a few cubed potatoes. The potatoes absorb the salt. Obviously, this would depend on the type of dish, but just putting it out there.
@@shadowphyre4746 yes, I was surprised at that. But as Joshua mentioned, adding an acid to level it out would be an alternative. Maybe that’s how it works? IDK
@@DC-ik1tk It would balance out the flavour, that might do the baking soda too, but it's going to be a sodium bomb with the baking soda. With the vineger, at least the sodium levels don't get higher.
So generally I do not comment because I've learned a lot from your shows.However, you said something that made me think.I once used a kitchen aid stand mixer because I have bad wrists, Due to my cancer spreading to my bones making them weaker. With that said, I used my kitchen aid far more often for bread and unfortunately, unless it's made for the industry, it's not tough enough to handle the proper kneading. Yes, by hand is mostly easy, but again, for me, has become painful - just FYI, I'm only 40 - NOT 80. But I am terminal, but I LOVE to cook. Anyway, I digress, my entire point is the more bread you want to make while using a stand mixture.I would start suggesting the Bosch mill. It's a beast and handles LARGE quantity tight dough without overheating. Just saying, point your fans in the most helpful direction! Thank you for All of your awesomeness!! Love your recipes 😀
New Kitchen Aids are made cheaper. I rescued one that somebody was getting rid of. The brass gear strips as the others are steel. It's cheap to replace, but very messy and must be regreased. Thanks for the Bosch tip, and good luck on your journey.
I've used a KitchenAid for at least 30 years for making bread because of arthritis in my hands. I've never had a problem with it kneading dough properly and I've made a huge variety of breads with it. Don't mislead people into buying a hugely expensive machine that only does one task when it's not necessary. Most people aren't making dozens of loaves per week and don't need an industrial machine.
The way you speak and describe things so elegantly and carefully is absolutely satisfying. You’re excellent at your craft, and you’re able to paint a picture that anyone can see. As a viewer for roughly 2 years, my fiancé and I love watching your videos.
"One of the most annoying things you could ever do to me is me make something for you and without you even tasting it putting hot sauce on it". Bro I felt that in my soul. A few years ago I made Bolognese completely from scratch, took me about 5 hours and my housemate's partner put fucking BBQ SAUCE in hers without even tasting it first. I was so offended.
My husband always does that and it honestly ruins my joy of cooking, I mean, what difference does it make if I give him homemade or bought stuff, if he puts hot sauce on it anyway.
@@corneliawindstroemOK hear me out on this make it really spicy like to a point where it's not good anymore if he puts it on and wait for him to ruin it himselve but dont do it on a dish ur proud of do it on a dish that didn't take as long
Josh has surpassed Gordon Ramsay as my culinary inspiration. His recipes are incredible. Josh if you see this you have enhanced my cooking in a way I never expected
One addition: when it comes to over salted fluids (soups, sauces) you can actually remove a looot of salt by adding in a peeled, raw potatoe (cur in half) for around half an hour. Works like a charm
Came here to say this! I've saved many an over-salted soup, stew and sauce over the years with peeled, quartered or cubed raw potatoes. Especially helpful when letting a child (or less experienced partner) learn to cook. Allows them to make that mistake, learn from it, and learn to overcome it and not waste food in this learning experience. 😜
I don't believe this is true. There's some videos out there that did this experimentally and it didn't work. The potato sucks up salt, but also all the other flavors until it achieves equilibrium. The net difference is minor
From a reddit post on how to cook steak/smoky things in apartment. Put shower cap over the smoke alarm when you need to cook something smoky!! Best advice ever.
Here in Brazil, it is common to not wash white rice, however, we do fry it before cooking. Yes, BEFORE adding the water, we fry it a bit, it achieves the same goal of not being mushy, plus it imparts some nice flavor
in asia (as asian), we wash the rice because beside we always be taught to do that it's because we (kinda or the older generation) know how they grow the rice and how they process the rice. traditionally rice proceed by hit them with pestle and mortar to separate the rice and the skin (? idk in english) and sometimes it's contaminated with dirt as they usually do it around the rice field or some when the farmer drying the rice under the sun light (before they proceed the rice with pestle and mortar), they kinda touched their feet 😅. so we thought it's dirty and we wash it, wash rice become the "standard". though at same time we believe if we wash it clean (like clean, clean) we will wash the nutrients in rice, so we just gently wash the rice as "efficient" as possible. because we wash our rice and our own rice variants also make our cooked rice not mushy like western food i would say, that's also the reason why we don't really need "yesterday rice" to cook fried rice as we have naturally separated grain rice
ATK tested leftover oil and they found that oil used to fry only veggies did not degrade in taste after like 10 uses, or whatever their test stopping point was, I think it was 10. However, oil used to fry proteins were degraded after the first fry, especially chicken, as it imparts a bad flavor into the leftover oil.
Over decades I've taught myself how to be a decent cook. A few things I can make well, others more like just passable, but it's been a damn fun experience learning and growing. Uncle Joshua is so right, "allow yourself to fuck it up" will provide the best learning experience, especially if you're too poor to throw out mistakes and have to eat them. I only made a particular mistake once or twice because I would have to suffer eating my screwups. As a happily divorced guy, learning to cook for myself has been amazing, you can save a ton of money and teach yourself a lifelong skill.
About the brown sugar thing: what is understood as "brown sugar" is not the same everywhere. For example here in Germany (and I think (most of) europe) brown sugar has nothing to do with molasses content but is cane sugar that has not been processed and purified as much which is why it retains a brown color. This does not at all affect it's taste in the same way as molasses does. Therefore, when cooking in Germany/Europe, buy molasses extra and add the appropriate amount when cooking (Google for typical molasses content in light/dark brown sugar). Also, keeping sugar and molasses separate makes storing them less painful as the sugar doesn't clump up
You are 100% right. This took me so long to figure out when I first started using American recipes and it completely change my baking game when I finally got my hands on some Tate & Lyle brown sugar. Finally my cookies actually did what they were supposed to!
@@BS-xs7jb you can also just get molasses and mix it into the dough as it's own ingredient. That way you don't have to deal with solid blocks of brown sugar, which can happen when your sugar is open for too long. (Note the different molasses amount in light and dark brown sugar -> Google is your friend)
In the USA we have "Sugar in the Raw" too that looks brown but we don't call it brown sugar lol. Those are very different things and the first is what you're describing, less processed/ not refined sugar.
I just have to say - your bun recipe is an absolute game-changer! I've made them so many times, and every single time, they steal the show. I get more compliments on your buns than I ever imagined possible. Even when my husband whips up amazing burgers - beef, veggie, chicken, you name it - people can't stop talking about the buns. He's proud, but I think he's starting to get just a little bit annoyed that your buns are getting all the attention! 😄 Thank you for sharing your incredible recipe - I’ve never used another since discovering it!
For the mushroom question, i worked in a kitchen for a while as a prep cook. Most of the time, we would wash our mushrooms in a bucket of ice cold water (not ice water) very quickly. We're talking seconds. Shrooms go in, a quick swirl with a wooden spoon, and are immediately removed before they get water logged. Not sure if this was "proper practice" but it worked well for us.
As a home cook, I do "rinse with running cool tap water, toss shrooms in salad spinner to dry after." That works great for me (and i get the same restaurant quality shrooms) but at the restaurant I used to work at we used to do the "ice cold water" wash method. But I can imagine that'd be because it'd be hard to salad spin a restaurant quantity of mushrooms easily lol
@@mrkingsudo that, and if the water is too warm, the fibers of the mushrooms begin to separate and they become waterlogged easier and quicker. The colder the better when washing veggies or anything like that
I worked in an Italian place where the owner insisted we wash the mushrooms thoroughly and throw them into a clean dishwasher rack to dry. Biggest PITA.
@@blairhoughton7918 naturally, yes. But for most commercially grown mushrooms, i believe they use a substrate that isn't manure based (I could be wrong here but I'm going by what my old head chef told me)
Thank you SO MUCH for your response to question #56 which was "what is your biggest food hot take?" You mentioned something about putting hot sauce on food before even trying it being annoying. Now I know you said hot sauce but for me it's almost any dipping sauce with anything. Most of the people in my life have to have some kind of sauce with nearly everything and think I'm the weird one for not using any. If the food has a sauce made specifically for it, no problem, but if not then I'd like to actually taste it the way they felt like I should. I think most of my family and friends just never made it to adulthood as far as food goes. They all like to drown everything in ketchup or ranch. Anyway, I loved the comment you made and I always love the videos
I met someone once who told me that food is purely for survival for him. Whoa - just because I need it and am impatient, doesn’t mean it can’t also taste good too. I don’t want to spend a lot of time, but I do want to enjoy eating or I will avoid making food. Learning to make good food is recreational. Instead of consuming other brainless media, I listen to stuff I want to know about.
About the whole chilling cookie dough thing, the most important factor has been empirically proved (By Anne Reardon, professional food scientist and owner of How To Cook That), resting your dough is more important than cooling.
don't agree for cookies. Do them both way and find out. I rest the dough, then I turn into balls and freeze or chill. It does make a difference and he explains it well. I don't take 100% of what anyone says
i think this is like my favorite video from you on your channel Joshua, not because i am bad at cooking. but i like the Q&A and it's different. thank you for answering the questions, even with some where it's just like, plain duh. it's like, are you serious. but you were super nice about it. not snarky with straightforward answers and easy takeaways. simple, easy for people who want the basics. thanks chef
Thank you, Joshua. You combine a rare blend of expertise, humor, real-life advice, and pragmatism in all your videos. And this one encapsulates all of the above. As a home cook who tries to learn and get better, I rely on your videos and books to help me get there. Much kudos.
A way I recently learned to improve instant ramen is use peanut butter. For a single pack, in the bowl the ramen will be served in add 2tbsp peanut butter, soy sauce and hot sauce to taste, the flavor packet, and enough ramen water to make everything a paste. Drain the rest of the water and add ramen and stir to get everything coated. Did this for dinner tonight.
I love food and love cooking but cooking good food at home and cooking food professionally are completely different. I cooked professionally for two years in New York and I loved the experience and how much i learned in a short amount of time. I dont not like the terrible pay, being screamed at on a daily basis, working 12 to 16 hours a day six days a week, almost never seeing friends and family, and working every single holiday. I understand this is not every restaurant but this was my experience and my friends that were/ still are in the industry. If you can handle all that then go for it. Thanks for a great video Josh 🔥
Watch The Bear, most people come out with a bit of PTSD and exhaustion. The stress is ridiculous, it is food not brain surgery. This season the really evil chef who just tormented him and believed he was doing him a favor was way too real
I think you’re right that working professionally in a kitchen long-term would be bad. The experience could be good for a year or two to learn some stuff, then maybe move to video, writing, photography, working for a food/appliance company, etc. The restaurant industry has a bad reputation for treating staff poorly and this could certainly change in a lot of ways.
What I would personally add to this, in regards to the knife, is find something comfortable. 10-12" is a nice metric, but not everyone's hands, stance, form, stature, or whatever other standard metric you want you use supports that. My favorite knife in terms of form is a 9.5inch gyuto. Most of my personal knives are 8", and they're wonderful as well. I'm a big man, it genuinely is up to preference. I will say, a larger knife in comfortable hands will be able to handle larger/greater bulk ingredients at a time, making overall cooking prep easier. But, if you just don't feel comfortable using anything longer than a 6-7" santoku knife, then no advice is going to help you aside from finding a 6-7" santoku that fits your form the best.
A 10-inch chef's knife is way big. 8 is more manageable. I think he included it because of the 2-knife constraint and a 10-incher won't leave you hanging on a big cut. You'll end up doing almost everything with the petty knife though. So my 2-knife set would be a petty knife and either a long bread knife or a big cleaver, because either of those will bring a whole new function and not just a longer version of what you have.
About the chef knife Q: You don't _have_ to spend stupid money, but what you can get if you buy something better than a Walmart special can be nothing short of magical. Case in point: I got really big into sushi a few years ago, and I'm at the point now where I'd get hired as an entry-level/apprentice sushi chef in a heartbeat. (Sushi is a highly finesse-oriented food and it can be tough to get a job making it.) I grew tired of using the $100 knife set to do things and bought myself a "budget" but decently reviewed sushi filleting knife off Spamazon. Cost me $30 at the time. Just that one acquisition, and it wasn't even a pro-grade tool, made such a difference it's tough to put into words - it made the prep process so much better because it was the right tool for the job, and it opened the door to better portion control and finer granularity over the end result because it was both super sharp _and_ super _precise._ My knife skills are several kinds of atrocious compared to a pro's but those tools make a _tremendous_ difference.
I will say, for a brute force workhorse, my husband's OXO Good Grips chef knife is a kickass little reliable blade. However, I swear by my Shuns for precision, like a fine mince, so it goes faster.
Yeh. A nice $30-50 Victorinox or ... Huh. Forschner sold out to Victorinox. Like...20 years ago... So, Victorinox. If I was starting out that's what I'd get. And if I knew then what I know now, I'd probably have just kept using it forever. I have a Wusthof set and, well, they cut great and hold an edge, but the classic square handles are a bit of a hard choice, and the full bolsters just get in the way of sharpening, and really the steel can't be enough better than Victorinox steel that anyone other than a professional knife sharpener could say...
There's so many bad sushi places now that I think anybody in these comments could get a job as a sushi chef if they just know to keep their fingers moist. You'd probably be one of the good ones.
I love the confidence behind, "You can't mess up frozen French fries" when it was literally the only time I ever set my stove on fire. I probably should have waited for the friends to defrost a bit
As a piece of advice - please never fill up your pot more than half with oil! You can prevent a lot of risky fire hazard situations like this. Also, air fryers are your friends for anything frozen!
As someone who LOVES perfect rice but HATES washing it in advance -- very happy to say YES!! there are ways to get a perfect result without the bother. I'll make a video on it, but the highlights are ( for 1 cup rice recipe ) : 1.5 TB salt, add .5 Tsp red pepper flakes, 1 Tsp rice vinegar, 2 TB oil; stir in all ingredients while water is heating, stir after water boils, reduce heat to high simmer ( almost a boil ) & cover for 12 min, watch & listen for 90% ( estimated, of course ) water evaporation, then turn off heat, uncover & fluff to allow steam release and repeat 6 or 8 min later. Then cover. This has worked with every grain type I've used. I've tried several other methods, including the Chinese ' towel ' method. Give it a try & see!
Chicken breast is the easiest thing to cook. Sear fast on both sides and then 12 minutes in a 200C oven. Perfect every time. Greetings from a cook in Finland.
Or braise on the stove top with some chicken stock after searing. I put a lid in and let it simmer. People in the US don't use the oven enough. It's lost art.
Joshua, I challenge you to make a kosher steak without butter ! I love your channel. Super hard to utilize your meat seasoning skills for kosher meat. Would love to see a video on how to properly make kosher meat taste good.
Man, I'm halfway through this and just really impressed you took the time to answer all of these (pretty good) questions thoughtfully. This is the kind of resource I would have killed for when I was first getting into cooking (and even now, I'm still picking up tips!)
Dude, I don't know if anyone else appreciated the subtley the impact kitchen printer (Epson TM Model>)... that sound will haunt your dreams when you've "served the line"...
Gonna be honest, if I ever see one someplace and hear it, I get really stressed out and it just ruins my entire day. I need to know what's written on the bill, lest I "fall behind" but can't just grab someone's ticket
I cannot believe you got through that in under an hour. And, that your answers were each so well thought out and considerate and nuanced while being concise. I have always thought you are the “thinking man’s” chef (content providing chef), but now I think you must be a genius.
I love the very straightforward and professional tone, it suits you well here, I can tell you are somewhat growing out of your original, more comedic style, but it is good to adapt to what you feel suits you as opposed to staying with where you were at to appease fans
15:00 Dude YES!!! I cook for 5 days of lunches almost every week. Whole grain rotini pasta with ground turkey, tomato sauce or salsa, taco seasoning or Italian seasoning, mozzarella or cheddar, sometimes Parmesan. add in a can of green chili peppers for heat. Makes for a fantastic lunch (sometimes dinner when I make too much) every day.
Love, love, love your videos. I think the one add to the five top items to have in the kitchen is a fire extinguisher. I’m totally with Alton Brown on this one.
What a wonderful video! Answering the 100 most common questions about food is a brilliant way to help everyone in the kitchen. Congratulations on the excellent content and clear explanations! ❤❤
Dude your channel is great. I love the humor, but also the information that is SO helpful. I love to cook. I think its part of why I sometimes miss doing construction; I love taking "nothing" and making it something amazing. I don't want to make a career out of it or do videos, but I LOVE making good food for my wife or for guests and watching them enjoy something special. Channels like yours are incredibly helpful and your combination of practical information with humor and personality make it such a delight to learn from you. Thanks Joshua!
10:52 Dexter is a good no frills brand of knife that I love and has stayed really sharp for the 1.5years I owned it. Good knives can be cheap, the one I have was $50 for the 12 inch blade
"Find something as hard or as easy as you want and allow yourself the opportunity to completely fk it up." Words to live by no matter what you want to get good at.
I used to teach rifle drill when I was in ROTC and the first thing I would do when teaching someone (with a practice rifle obviously) was tell them to throw it on the ground. Others would make people do push ups whenever they dropped it but then the only thing they learn is to be afraid of trying anything new. I get it when you're using the real ones, but that's what the practice ones are for.
Re: the lunch question. Flax with protein powder dry can be mixed with water - fibre is skinny food, so it will keep you lean, feeds the gut and is filling. Bean chilli, with a small amount of rice or sweet potato, portioned in the freezer and take out the day before - fibre is a skinny food. Chilli can be batch cooked and is easy to make. I like sauerkraut with tofu when I don’t want to cook but want protein and healthy veg. Tofu is filling and inexpensive. Add sauce and/or frozen veg to make it more interesting. When my 20-something self and roommate had little food, I one time looked in the cupboards and decided to make rice and then put a can of tuna on it. OMG, this is amazing and is one of my favourite things. Lots of butter on hot rice, soy sauce and put the can of tuna on right before eating. So good. I found $1.30 cans of tuna at Walmart. It turns out that to be healthy, we need good quality fats and to eat them with their respective proteins so that the liver knows how to metabolize the proteins: animal protein cooked with animal fat, plant protein cooked in plan oil. This reduces belly fat and fatty liver. Good fats are cod liver oil, grass fed organic butter, organic lard/tallow, flax oil, avocado oil, raw olive oil used cold only. Eating veg first gives the gut fibre and minerals and stabilizes blood sugar, eating high fibre keeps the gut bacteria happy so it doesn’t eat muscle: beans, psyllium, flax, plants. Dry chicken breast: I found a vid for chicken francaise and it was super tender. The breasts were filetted, then pounded, floured with salt & pepper, fried until 80% cooked and browned, removed, then sauce made in the pan with lemon, wine, stock, 1 tbsp each flour and butter, reduce the sauce a bit and replace the filets into the pan with the sauce cooking a few more minutes. I ate three breast that day b/c it was so good and the breasts were tender. I stay away from flour as much as possible so seasoned it the second time with only salt and pepper and didn’t use flour in the sauce either. It was a little different, but still moist and really good, so it was likely the combination of pounding the breasts and cooking past 80% back in the sauce. For something faster, a sauce could be anything like water and soy or a batch sauce made in advance. Dry chicken breast is the worst, but a good healthy lean protein. There are lots of attractive bald men and anyone who wants someone else to have hair isn’t worth time. If it’s about being attractive, developing in ways that please you; intellect, personality, personal interests and hobbies. Nice quality shoes might also help. I’ve been a hairdresser forever and have never considered a man’s hair when dating. Personality and ethics might be most important. Always fun and informative vids!
14:22 Absolutely wrong on the cheese clumping in the pasta dish question! The main reason for this is the "breaking" of the Parmigiano Reggiano/Grana Padano/Pecorino Romano cheese in high temperature, the fats and the proteins of the cheese separate. This happens in lower temps for lower quality cheese than the higher ones. Generally speaking, you should aim to add the cheese at about 56-58 degrees Celsius (132-136F° for you americans) and everything should emulsify just fine, You can get it a bit hotter once it does, but not too much (65C°). So adding bubbling boiling pasta water as he says is going to ruin your dish. Yes you have to use the starchy pasta water! But just make sure you're controlling the temperature.
Well presented. Your years of cooking experiences, starting young with Mom, reflect your professional growth. Congratulations and more best cooking journeys ahead to you.
the oil congeeler I think is literally illegal in Italy and soo many EU states because we collect oil to use the exhausted oil to make biodiesel and some organic base material (like wax, fertilize, soap and more)
I'd agree with EU. Go to your local town website or earth911 and search for cooking oil recycling locations. I see 8 locations below 10 miles away from me near Seattle. They are all refining it to biodiesel.
Hey Joshua, thanks for the content. When it comes to washing rice, there’s another thing to consider. A lot of rice that we purchase is labeled as enriched. They add things like Ferrick phosphate, niacin, thymine mononitrate, and folic acid which are all vitamins and minerals. They’re added in a powered form, if you wash the rice before you cook it, you lose all of the vitamins that were added.
another fantastic video. I remember seeing a video by you a long time ago, explaining why you were leaving the restaurant biz to try youtube full time and thought you had a really entertaining knack for producing content. Really glad to see how quickly you've risen up and succeeded both professionally and personally. Always glad to see someone rewarded for being authentic and having a hell of a work ethic. Cheers man
I'm really glad you put the tip about putting a foot in the door for any job. I started in fine dining as a dish washed, eventually moved to prep and then morning production and sauce before getting on the line. It took a year or two but sometimes you have to walk before you run. And honestly I love working in resturants. Despite having a "career" I find myself bouncing in and out of them for short stays every now and then. It's all about showing up with a willingness to work and learn.
That bun from your but better chicken sandwich: Your gift to the culinary world IMHO. Also in the same video, how to properly season your flour for frying. I went from “I can make mole but I can’t bake to holy crap I can bake!!” That chicken sandwich is one of the best things I’ve ever made.
I work in a professional kitchen and I'm constantly learning. Even small tricks and details can completely change the outcome of a dish, for better or worse. "When you stop learning you start dying"
I love to see a recipe and then do my own tale of it. As a chef, and understanding of flavours and techniques the internet sometimes makes cooking so complicated. Joshua, you are one of these people, still love your show and have learnt loads from you thanks.
Thanks. I've picked uo a hood portion of these from your videos (and thoseof others), but having a concise straight lust of common questions is super helpful.
One of those I thought I'd worked out through trial and error, which relates to another of your answers of learning through mistakes. good stuff, was glad you swept up at the end
32:42 for the onions things, Ethan Chlebowski did a blind taste test and could not find a difference in onions taste except like the polar opposite onions (like cooked vs raw, sweet vs red)
Thanks Joshua. One of your best vids in the last few months imo. Great synopsis of your experience and insights. 💗 (Edit: I just watched it for a second time and caught things I missed the first time around! lol)
After 30 years of cooking/preparing/etc. I have always preferred a Santoku: what would be your pros and cons between than and a chef's knife? While I am a big dude (6'2, 280lbs) I have been using the same Santoku for almost 30 years and it is the only knife I ever use of the 27 piece block I have unless I am cutting streak. Any tips?
as someone who went to culinary school and has been working in restaurants for 10 years I recommend doing both if you can afford it. there are so many thing you learn in culinary school that no-one is going to take the time to teach you in a restaurant setting
The kitchen I worked in was small enough that we just plowed through the little green pads, so my flinch point is a magnet bar stacked with green tags 🤣
For steak, I'd suggest searing it in a scorching stainless steel pan to brown it. Then insert a thermometer (I use a 30$ thermpro) and put in the oven at 300. I pull out 10 below desired cook temp. Not the most textbook way, but it's always got a great crust, and perfect doneness
26:58 iirc, you once said to rough chop some potatoes and they will extract some of that salt. Keep them larger so they easy to remove, unless they make sense for the dish, then dice them normally.
In Japan, there is a kind of rice that you don't need to wash beforehand. It has the tag 「無洗米」on the packaging. So you just need to read the instruction :p . But yes, the default is wash your rice.
I had quit making foods cooked in oil just because of the pain-in-the-a$$ of dealing with used oil. That hurt because I LOVE foods cooked in oil. But, after finding a congealant on Amazon, cooking with oil is no longer a pain. I love that congealant. I'd never even heard of it until I happen to find it online and decided to give it a try. It's amazing.
I feel that rinsing 2 (or 3, 4) times gets rid of all the dust and fungus and dirt that gets picked up in processing and its very loooong journey to your kitchen.
Basmati, twice as much water 15 min or a bit longer (from 5 min high to low heat plus let it sit for another ten). I do pre-heat the rice in a little olive oil before adding boiling/hot water.
5:55, flat cookies might also be that the person's recipe used a different method of measuring ingredients, especially for flour. Sometimes using the spoon method, which I was taught to be the correct method to measure flour, isn't as widely known as I once thought. Using the dip method for some recipes is a must.
I cackled at using the thermal printer for the questions; you can take the line cook out of the kitchen but you can't take the kitchen out of the line cook.
The biggest piece of understanding an expert can give you is, "it depends". You explained the angles on which it depends so, good answers, good video. I hope the questioners are satisfied.
I like this confident, mature you. I know everybody else likes the messing around, hilarious stuff, so I wouldn't suggest you stop that, but this was fun to watch.
His video views might show the opposite, but I think most of his subscribers miss the no fuss cooking content. This is a breath of fresh air compared to the over edited screaming, wet noises, excessive papa use, etc lol
@@sylviele3239 This definitely is more my speed, but I'm not his target audience. He's obviously found a style that works for him. He's a very likable guy in addition to being so talented with food.
@@sylviele3239I love the excessive papa use
Tbh I prefer this version. More refined, more to the point, but still fun.
Nevertheless, I’m not finished with the video, and he’s already given bad advice multiple times. His method for losing weight, for one (I think it was the first question asked?). The answer is to cut out meat, sweets, soda, alcohol, and fried/fatty foods. No need to count calories if you do that.
Another example was the question at 26:17. Everyone who is into pasta knows that the brand isn’t what matters - what matters is if the pasta is bronze die-cut or not, as when it’s bronze die-cut, the sauce that is being used for it will actually STICK to the pasta waaayyy better, as the texture will be rougher instead of glossy smooth, and that rougher texture is what makes it possible for the sauce to grab a hold of the pasta and not slide off of it.
And yes, bronze cut is more expensive - but it’s worth it and ISN’T the same thing as the uber cheap dry pastas that aren’t using bronze cut. The fact is that the questioner was wondering if pastas that are more expensive are the same as the very cheap ones, and Joshua completely failed on even mentioning this fact I just explained, when he is supposedly a professional chef that should damn well know better.
All he said that was remotely close to what I just explained was him briefly saying “the quality of the cut.” But the average person is not going to have the slightest clue what that means unless they are told what I just wrote. They might very well interpret that is how the ends of the pasta or a cut off lol.
There were more examples, but this already got way longer than I anticipated, so I’ll stop now.
[0:29] 1. What do you recommend to eat for weight loss?
[0:51] 2. What spices and herbs are essential to every kitchen?
[1:18] 3. Who is your favorite chef or mentor?
[1:36] 4. How do you season to taste when ingredients are raw?
[2:16] 5. What cookbook has made the biggest impact on you?
[2:53] 6. What are the top three tips to make restaurant-quality dishes at home?
[3:34] 7. Are frozen vegetables just as good as fresh ones?
[3:58] 8. What are your favorite places to eat in Austin?
[4:03] 9. Is washing rice necessary?
[4:39] 10. What are you eating that's good on your fitness journey?
[5:03] 11. What sucks the most about cooking?
[5:08] 12. How do I make cooking a full-time job?
[5:37] 13. I struggle with baking cookies, they always come out flat. Help?
[6:23] 14. How do you get clear chicken stock?
[7:05] 15. How do you cook a steak at home without setting off the fire alarm?
[7:23] 16. Which dish are you most proud of?
[7:41] 17. What is a good intro recipe for cooking fish (not salmon)?
[8:17] 18. Do you think cooking is worth pursuing as a career?
[8:34] 19. Do I need a gas stove to make good meals, or is my electric stove enough?
[9:03] 20. What's the difference between white sugar and brown sugar when baking?
[9:26] 21. How do I make a good steak with only a pan?
[10:03] 22. What Michelin star technique should an experienced homecook learn?
[10:21] 23. What motivated you to cook?
[10:37] 24. Is it important to follow exact measurements versus approximating?
[10:54] 25. What knife style or brand would you recommend if I have money for a good one?
[11:30] 26. Should I wash mushrooms?
[11:54] 27. How do I sharpen knives?
[12:12] 28. Does adding a bay leaf really do anything?
[12:42] 29. What's the easiest dish to impress a date with?
[13:01] 30. When should I salt white meat, red meat, or fish?
[13:20] 31. What food do you hate to cook the most?
[13:37] 32. When should I use a stainless steel pan, nonstick, or cast iron?
[14:17] 33. Why does cheese in my cacio e pepe never melt properly?
[14:59] 34. What’s a good low-calorie dish I can prep for a week of lunches?
[15:38] 35. What do you do with leftover oil from deep frying?
[15:54] 36. Do more expensive meats really make a difference?
[16:29] 37. What’s your go-to "everything sauce"?
[16:40] 38. Why use the same utensil for raw meat while cooking? Isn’t it cross-contamination?
[17:08] 39. Why does my risotto take so long to become tender?
[17:33] 40. How much do pans matter in food preparation?
[17:52] 41. What are your thoughts on culinary school?
[18:26] 42. What’s your best chili oil recipe?
[18:38] 43. Does halving a recipe mess up the original flavor?
[18:50] 44. How do you keep meal prep food fresh in the fridge for longer than 2 days?
[19:12] 45. What kitchen products would you invest in over $50, $100, and $200?
[19:30] 46. How do I hold and efficiently use a chef's knife?
[19:59] 47. What’s something people don’t tell you about working in fine dining restaurants?
[20:23] 48. Are there alternatives to a sous-vide machine?
[20:35] 49. What food trend do you want to see die?
[21:00] 50. What’s the best wood for smoking?
[21:20] 51. How do you keep oil at a consistent temperature while deep frying?
[21:44] 52. How hard is it to get into fine dining without a culinary degree?
[22:28] 53. What’s your favorite Japanese knife style and why?
[22:47] 54. What do you recommend for beginners who don't know how to cook?
[23:00] 55. What famous kitchen technique is overrated or outdated?
[23:18] 56. What’s your biggest food hot take?
[23:29] 57. I've never deep-fried anything in my life, how do I start?
[24:11] 58. How can I keep moisture in leftover meat?
[24:28] 59. Do I need a pizza oven?
[24:46] 60. What culinary technique deserves more attention?
[25:15] 61. How do I avoid burning spices on my dry rub meat when cooking?
[25:52] 62. What bakeware is best for sweets like cakes?
[26:11] 63. How long should you rest a steak for?
[26:22] 64. Is there any noticeable difference between pasta brands?
[26:45] 65. How do I save a dish that’s too salty?
[27:10] 66. How do I make perfect chicken breast?
[27:35] 67. What’s your go-to meal after a late restaurant shift?
[27:54] 68. What are the five must-haves in a kitchen?
[28:08] 69. How do you fix rice that’s undercooked?
[28:16] 70. How do you soften butter quickly?
[28:27] 71. What do people do while cooking that instantly makes you judge them?
[28:46] 72. What does "al dente" really mean?
[29:14] 73. What’s one knife you would use for the rest of your life?
[29:20] 74. What’s the secret to perfect crispy fries?
[29:39] 75. How do you flip a pan with food in it?
[29:57] 76. How accurate is the show "The Bear" in portraying kitchens?
[30:25] 77. How can I upgrade my instant ramen?
[30:47] 78. Is a beef wellington worth the effort?
[31:06] 79. How do I cook multiple steaks for a group?
[31:24] 80. What’s the purpose of tomato paste in recipes?
[31:43] 81. Propane or charcoal grill?
[32:03] 82. What’s the best hydration percentage for pizza dough?
[32:21] 83. How do you tell when a piece of meat is properly cooked by touch?
[32:45] 84. Which onions should I use for what?
[33:09] 85. Tapatio or Cholula?
[33:15] 86. How do I tell if my burgers are done without cutting into them?
[33:21] 87. If you could eat any dish from a movie, TV show, or book, what would it be?
[33:32] 88. How do I get a glaze to be thick and sticky instead of running off?
[33:57] 89. Can you show us what different stove flame levels look like?
[34:15] 90. Why do you use 150 grams for 1 cup of flour when others use 120 grams?
[34:36] 91. How do you choose which dishes require MSG?
[34:53] 92. Are nonstick pans bad for you?
[35:12] 93. What’s the best cheese for mac and cheese?
[35:24] 94. What’s the best way to cook bacon?
[35:44] 95. Is there a hack for cleaning oil after frying?
[35:57] 96. What’s your death row meal?
[36:13] 97. Where do you stop considering scallion whites vs scallion greens?
[36:25] 98. What’s your favorite dish for family dinner?
[36:54] 99. Do you think the food content space is too saturated?
[37:13] 100. How do I keep meal prep food fresh for longer?
Oh God, thank you
Thanks!!!!!!
Thank you. Great job
Thank you for your service 🫡
Idk if I've ever felt so understood as much as when it took 1.2 seconds to answer what's the worst part about cooking? easy, cleaning NEXT hahaha
He just like me fr!
He's wrong. The worst part about cooking is only having enough food to cook one thing and messing it up so bad it's inedible. Then, you have to clean and you don't get to eat. Thankfully, the more you cook, the less that happens.
@adamk.7177 okay I agree, but thats an on occasion thing at best, somebody HAS to clean every single time you cook👈👈😄
id say that these days the worst part is buying the ingredients....I actively dont look at the total anymore, shit is WILDLY expensive.
I knew he was gonna answer that, but for me is thinking what to cook. I need the idea, the time, the elements, buying ingredients and use them entirely before they spoil... and I have to dine something that me and my gf can bring to work the next day.
Not sure if it's something in the US but in my country (Hungary) you can actually take your used fry oil to the gas station, you can dump it there for free and they reuse it for biodiesel. We also have designated dumpsters in some of the shops where you can dispose it and they'll do the same.
Absolutely.
In Slovakia , we have trash bins for used oil placed in walking distance , for me it's just at the end of my street
That's awesome!! That should absolutely exist everywhere 😀
That's cool. I've never seen any such thing in the US.
We have HHW system in canada for used oil. I wish we also had the biodiesel option here
10:33 I actually want to add onto this one as there's some advice I got from my mom as a kid that I think pertains to this: you should always make a recipe exactly as its stated until you have it down. Once you have the recipe down, that's when you should change things because you already know how it should taste and look in comparison
I'd also argue if you have the chemistry down, changing recipes becomes a lot more feasible. I never strictly follow a recipe if (and only if) I know all the chemical processes at hand and their effects on the final product.
For example, if I'm making fried chicken, I'm gonna add whatever herbs and spices I want because they aren't a reactive part of the recipe, but I probably won't mess with the amount of baking soda because I know that it promotes browning by increasing the Ph of the batter and reacts with the acidity of the buttermilk which leads to a crispier cragglier crust... Knowledge of what you are actually doing on a chemical level is key to understanding what you should and should not change.
You can trial and error your way through changes, but I generally wouldn't recommend it unless you are willing to put up with screwed up meals.
I agree. Always follow a recipe to the letter the first few times you do it. Figure out what you like, and what you don't like. Then start modifying in future cooks. Also, my mom taught me that baking is different than cooking. You can improvise a dish (steak, stew, whatever) that will be great, but if you improvise a bake (like cake), more than likely it will turn out to be inedible. Baking seems to be more precise chemistry to make it come out correctly. Mom was a great baker (but a mediocre cook).
And when you do change it, only change one thing at a time so you know what caused what in the end.
I agree. How will you know what you want to change in the recipe anyway if you haven't tried it as written first?
I disagree. If you're a novice cook, then yes, follow the recipe. But if you're very experienced, you can change or add to the recipe, and it'll turn out great. For experienced cooks, recipes are merely suggestions or a collection of techniques.
But I do agree with Josh that if you change something in a recipe, don't go online and blast it in the comments if it didn't turn out alright.
I would like to caveat my statement by saying that I'm far more inclined to follow a recipe if it was written by a professional in a published cookbook. The recipes written (or more likely, copied) online by amateurs are far too often terrible. I may just use those as a general baseline to get me towards the finish line. Or I'll look at like 7 recipes for the same dish and take a little of this and a little of that.
Over 25 years running restaurants, you're the first chef I've subscribed to. No BS, simple easy clear direct answers. Thank you! No cooking school for me, all mother & grandmother taught. & I was embarrassed by several "Chefs" that graduated from the CIA that were so bad that I had a hard time even calling them good cooks. I do NOT recommend schools. I went Dishwasher/Prep Cook/Cook/Chef/Owner. & That's how it's done.
On behalf of the ramen del barrio crew thanks for the shout out!
As the co-owner of ramen de barrio, gracias!
8:24 'I love it as a hobby. Do you think it's worth pursuing as a career?'
"All you need to ask yourself is, is cooking something you love and does it make you happy? Because if the answer to those two questions is yes, then that's something that's always going to be worth pursuing "
Thank you Josh ❤
No. My hobbies don't involve getting yelled at, being under constant pressure, being underpaid and worrying about the rent.....
The adage find something you love and then get paid for it doesn't apply to cooking--you'll learn to hate it if you think it's a hobby.
It took me decades to realize that I didn’t like my job/career at all and that I listened to others who told me I’m good at it so I should keep doing it. Turns out that I listened to others more than myself and kept doing what doesn’t make me happy. I was only good at it because I have qualities that make a good fit but I didn’t like the work. Now at 50, I’m writing as much as possible and can do what lights me up and can never do too much of it and no type of writing will ever bore me. It’s the perfect job for me but I didn’t entertain it as a career choice because I listened to others and developed a notion that it wouldn’t be fulfilling and could be hard to make into a lucrative career. Anything that one loves doing will be easy to make good money at and will be easy to do a lot of.
Only thing I would defend for culinary school and you rarely learn in restaurants, is that (at least where I studied) I got a class that taught us how to be economically concious when opening/working in a restaurant, developing recipes and the overall cost of thing that don't always involve food directly
That sounds more business school than culinary.
@@mystifiedoni377 restaurants are a business last I checked.
@@RadicalLinguisticDescriptivism can confirm as of my post this is still the case.
Very interesting- can you provide some examples?
@mystifiedoni377 It was more focused on culinary and we had a few business type of classes that would concentrate on restaurant economics so to say :)
My husband is a chef and just like you, never went to school for it, learned from the best chefs in Italy and the US. He taught me so much too and I'm more confident in the kitchen. I've always loved your videos, you're very knowledgeable without taking yourself too seriously!! You look fantastic BTW!! Your hard work is showing!
That’s so cool! I always thought restaurants wouldn’t hire someone without some kind of cooking school experience. If I’d known it was an option I’d have looked into cooking at a cute little diner or something after high school! I loved cooking but didn’t even know that was an option!
@elisabethcuningham3526 Well, in my experience, you always work your way up in the restaurant business. As you start proving yourself and gain experience, you will definitely end up at the top. It takes a lot of passion, though. I myself could never, but my husband is driven. He loves to cook and is a hard-working person. You'd be surprised as some people come out of the culinary institute and don't really know how to cook properly. Cooking isn't about being a robot and copying what people do. It's about taking something and making it yours.
For the cacio e pepe question:
Your cheese is clumping actually because the pasta water and pasta itself is too hot. Cheese melts at certain temperatures but pecorino and parmesan congeal at around 175-180 degrees F and once the cheese congeals there is no saving it. So for perfect cacio e pepe move the pasta around a ton but also use a thermometer to make sure the pasta water is at around 150-160 F, you can achieve this by putting some pasta water in a separate cup or container and letting it sit for a minute or so.
I was looking for this comment! Telling someone whose cheese keeps clumping that they need to go faster and higher heat is going to lead to madness
Not having a fine enough grate is also a problem. They may be buying pre-grated or shredded cheese.
The emulsion is stabilized by the starch in the water. More starch keeps it from splitting at higher temperatures. Adding extra starch from cornstarch or similar is a common way to cheat at this if you are preparing large amounts. Add enough starch and you can heat the whole dish to boiling without splitting the cheese.
The usual problem I see with people trying to do it the right way (no cheating) is they follow the instructions on the pasta package for cooking it. Even the mid range, bronze cut, imported pasta I buy says to cook about 400g of pasta in 6 _quarts_ of water. That is 5600g of water. The pasta itself only needs about 800g. You need about 200 or 250 left after cooking, plus however much you need for the dish. So for 400g of pasta, I'd use between 1200 and 1500g of water. This makes a _very_ starchy solution at the end (left to cool and dry, it forms a polymer in the bottom of the pot), which is perfect for any tempered cheese sauces without adding extra starch.
Thank you, I was looking for this comment. Cheese splitting is absolutely due to high temperature, when the cheese proteins will coagulate and they won't hold their water content anymore. You should either use warm but not hot water, or add some sort of stabilizer like corn starch (this is actually what most restaurants do because it's much easier to control and foolproof). Grate your cheese very fine, add a little cornstarch, avoid boiling hot water, and you'll be fine.
Ethan Chlebowski has a really nice video about this
For some of the baking questions (as a hobby baker):
Cookies going flat- besides not refrigerating (which some recipes require and some don’t, follow the recipe), butter being completely melted instead of softened, butter and sugar are not creamed enough, cheap butter (has more water content, European style usually has a higher fat content), using a darker non-stick pan (or an old dark, stained aluminum cookie sheet). Though it gets a bad rap, substituting shortening for butter (or 1/2), also keeps cookies from spreading. It’s a cheap trick that works really well with cut-out cookies with a lot of flavor on their own (like gingerbread). If it’s a butter-base cookie (shortbread, spritz) and I want to be extra, I use kerrygold.
Baking pans- darker nonstick baking will cause the bottom of items to brown faster/possibly burn, so sometimes the oven temp should be lowered 25*F, especially for items with longer bake times (fruitcake). Plus the non-stick shortens the lifespan by chipping, and I’ve had issues with the metal rusting along turned edges. I prefer heavy duty aluminum baking pans, you don’t have to worry about scratching the non-stick when cleaning and you get a more even bake. To prevent cakes sticking, butter/flour/parchment paper. Exceptions to this would be a very intricate Bundt/specialty pan, but those are such a PIA to clean… for aluminum cake and pie pans I’ve had good luck sourcing them from thrift store, for baking sheets I got mine from the restaurant supply section from Sam’s.
For baking, always measure carefully (scoop and level dry ingredients). If possible, measure by weight, you will never go back.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
!About the bay leaves! if you have bay leaves that have almost no smell or taste: flex them enough to form cracks but not enough for it to snap and smell again. if they become fragrant they are still usable.
as a Portuguese i use them a lot but sometimes buy more than i can use in a reasonable amount of time and they dry off too much xD
Most Americans have a jar of bay leaves that they haven't seen in 10 years in the back of their spice cabinet...
@@blairhoughton7918 So true!! 😂
I love this kid. He is articulate, willing to share his experience and wisdom, and phenomenal at his job!
RE: too much salt question. I have saved a few dishes that had become too salty by putting in a few cubed potatoes. The potatoes absorb the salt. Obviously, this would depend on the type of dish, but just putting it out there.
A friend of mine told me he had saved soups and sauces from too much salt by adding baking soda. 🤷♀️ haven’t tried that yet.
@@DC-ik1tk Yeah let's add even more sodium to food that already has too much sodium.
@@shadowphyre4746 yes, I was surprised at that. But as Joshua mentioned, adding an acid to level it out would be an alternative. Maybe that’s how it works? IDK
@@DC-ik1tk It would balance out the flavour, that might do the baking soda too, but it's going to be a sodium bomb with the baking soda. With the vineger, at least the sodium levels don't get higher.
I'll definitely try that when I inevitably over salt something😂
So generally I do not comment because I've learned a lot from your shows.However, you said something that made me think.I once used a kitchen aid stand mixer because I have bad wrists, Due to my cancer spreading to my bones making them weaker. With that said, I used my kitchen aid far more often for bread and unfortunately, unless it's made for the industry, it's not tough enough to handle the proper kneading.
Yes, by hand is mostly easy, but again, for me, has become painful - just FYI, I'm only 40 - NOT 80. But I am terminal, but I LOVE to cook.
Anyway, I digress, my entire point is the more bread you want to make while using a stand mixture.I would start suggesting the Bosch mill. It's a beast and handles LARGE quantity tight dough without overheating.
Just saying, point your fans in the most helpful direction!
Thank you for All of your awesomeness!! Love your recipes 😀
New Kitchen Aids are made cheaper. I rescued one that somebody was getting rid of. The brass gear strips as the others are steel. It's cheap to replace, but very messy and must be regreased. Thanks for the Bosch tip, and good luck on your journey.
one of my favorite youtubers is called ChainBaker and he has a bunch of awesome, no-knead techniques
I've used a KitchenAid for at least 30 years for making bread because of arthritis in my hands. I've never had a problem with it kneading dough properly and I've made a huge variety of breads with it. Don't mislead people into buying a hugely expensive machine that only does one task when it's not necessary. Most people aren't making dozens of loaves per week and don't need an industrial machine.
I don't know if you realize this, but this video is probably going to make a lot of people REALLY like you even more as a chef!
The way you speak and describe things so elegantly and carefully is absolutely satisfying. You’re excellent at your craft, and you’re able to paint a picture that anyone can see. As a viewer for roughly 2 years, my fiancé and I love watching your videos.
"One of the most annoying things you could ever do to me is me make something for you and without you even tasting it putting hot sauce on it".
Bro I felt that in my soul. A few years ago I made Bolognese completely from scratch, took me about 5 hours and my housemate's partner put fucking BBQ SAUCE in hers without even tasting it first. I was so offended.
My husband always does that and it honestly ruins my joy of cooking, I mean, what difference does it make if I give him homemade or bought stuff, if he puts hot sauce on it anyway.
@@corneliawindstroemDon't let that discourage you from cooking amazing dishes! Just let him be.
@@corneliawindstroemOK hear me out on this make it really spicy like to a point where it's not good anymore if he puts it on and wait for him to ruin it himselve but dont do it on a dish ur proud of do it on a dish that didn't take as long
@@corneliawindstroem Make stuff that needs hot sauce?
@@Goober2289 This definitely made me think back - I'm pretty sure I always automatically put salt on just about everything.
Josh has surpassed Gordon Ramsay as my culinary inspiration. His recipes are incredible. Josh if you see this you have enhanced my cooking in a way I never expected
One addition: when it comes to over salted fluids (soups, sauces) you can actually remove a looot of salt by adding in a peeled, raw potatoe (cur in half) for around half an hour. Works like a charm
Came here to say this! I've saved many an over-salted soup, stew and sauce over the years with peeled, quartered or cubed raw potatoes.
Especially helpful when letting a child (or less experienced partner) learn to cook. Allows them to make that mistake, learn from it, and learn to overcome it and not waste food in this learning experience. 😜
I don't believe this is true. There's some videos out there that did this experimentally and it didn't work. The potato sucks up salt, but also all the other flavors until it achieves equilibrium. The net difference is minor
@@HerndonDave well, I've used this technique a couple of times and it worked...
@@larsl997 I've tried it several times and it didn't do much of anything. Maybe you have magic potatoes?
@@HerndonDave Too bad it didn't work for you 😕 works for me so I'll stick to it 😊 have fun coocking 👋🏻
From a reddit post on how to cook steak/smoky things in apartment. Put shower cap over the smoke alarm when you need to cook something smoky!! Best advice ever.
Or, if possible, replace the smoke alarm with a heat alarm/detecton instead
This is quite smart. My alarm is way too close to the kitchen and I have to open windows and turn on fans a minute before even opening the oven door.
Here in Brazil, it is common to not wash white rice, however, we do fry it before cooking. Yes, BEFORE adding the water, we fry it a bit, it achieves the same goal of not being mushy, plus it imparts some nice flavor
That is hardly unique to Brazil. It's the standard Pilaf technique used around the world.
It tastes better too
in asia (as asian), we wash the rice because beside we always be taught to do that it's because we (kinda or the older generation) know how they grow the rice and how they process the rice. traditionally rice proceed by hit them with pestle and mortar to separate the rice and the skin (? idk in english) and sometimes it's contaminated with dirt as they usually do it around the rice field or some when the farmer drying the rice under the sun light (before they proceed the rice with pestle and mortar), they kinda touched their feet 😅. so we thought it's dirty and we wash it, wash rice become the "standard". though at same time we believe if we wash it clean (like clean, clean) we will wash the nutrients in rice, so we just gently wash the rice as "efficient" as possible. because we wash our rice and our own rice variants also make our cooked rice not mushy like western food i would say, that's also the reason why we don't really need "yesterday rice" to cook fried rice as we have naturally separated grain rice
@@FoulOwl2112 I don't think I said it was something only brazilians did?
@@MessedUpSystem You brought it up. I merely amplified upon your comment.
Asshole.
ATK tested leftover oil and they found that oil used to fry only veggies did not degrade in taste after like 10 uses, or whatever their test stopping point was, I think it was 10. However, oil used to fry proteins were degraded after the first fry, especially chicken, as it imparts a bad flavor into the leftover oil.
Over decades I've taught myself how to be a decent cook. A few things I can make well, others more like just passable, but it's been a damn fun experience learning and growing. Uncle Joshua is so right, "allow yourself to fuck it up" will provide the best learning experience, especially if you're too poor to throw out mistakes and have to eat them. I only made a particular mistake once or twice because I would have to suffer eating my screwups. As a happily divorced guy, learning to cook for myself has been amazing, you can save a ton of money and teach yourself a lifelong skill.
And women love men who can cook so if you get back out there, you'll be appreciated
About the brown sugar thing: what is understood as "brown sugar" is not the same everywhere. For example here in Germany (and I think (most of) europe) brown sugar has nothing to do with molasses content but is cane sugar that has not been processed and purified as much which is why it retains a brown color. This does not at all affect it's taste in the same way as molasses does. Therefore, when cooking in Germany/Europe, buy molasses extra and add the appropriate amount when cooking (Google for typical molasses content in light/dark brown sugar).
Also, keeping sugar and molasses separate makes storing them less painful as the sugar doesn't clump up
You are 100% right. This took me so long to figure out when I first started using American recipes and it completely change my baking game when I finally got my hands on some Tate & Lyle brown sugar. Finally my cookies actually did what they were supposed to!
@@BS-xs7jb you can also just get molasses and mix it into the dough as it's own ingredient. That way you don't have to deal with solid blocks of brown sugar, which can happen when your sugar is open for too long. (Note the different molasses amount in light and dark brown sugar -> Google is your friend)
In the USA we have "Sugar in the Raw" too that looks brown but we don't call it brown sugar lol. Those are very different things and the first is what you're describing, less processed/ not refined sugar.
Alton Brown and Bourdain were on the only food/cooking shows I could actually enjoy. I learned so much about food and life from those dudes.
It honestly bummed me out when Bourdain died because I loved watching his show and enjoying how he exposed me to other cultures.
I just have to say - your bun recipe is an absolute game-changer! I've made them so many times, and every single time, they steal the show. I get more compliments on your buns than I ever imagined possible. Even when my husband whips up amazing burgers - beef, veggie, chicken, you name it - people can't stop talking about the buns. He's proud, but I think he's starting to get just a little bit annoyed that your buns are getting all the attention! 😄 Thank you for sharing your incredible recipe - I’ve never used another since discovering it!
For the mushroom question, i worked in a kitchen for a while as a prep cook. Most of the time, we would wash our mushrooms in a bucket of ice cold water (not ice water) very quickly. We're talking seconds. Shrooms go in, a quick swirl with a wooden spoon, and are immediately removed before they get water logged. Not sure if this was "proper practice" but it worked well for us.
As a home cook, I do "rinse with running cool tap water, toss shrooms in salad spinner to dry after." That works great for me (and i get the same restaurant quality shrooms) but at the restaurant I used to work at we used to do the "ice cold water" wash method. But I can imagine that'd be because it'd be hard to salad spin a restaurant quantity of mushrooms easily lol
@@mrkingsudo that, and if the water is too warm, the fibers of the mushrooms begin to separate and they become waterlogged easier and quicker. The colder the better when washing veggies or anything like that
I worked in an Italian place where the owner insisted we wash the mushrooms thoroughly and throw them into a clean dishwasher rack to dry. Biggest PITA.
They grow in poop. Get the dirt off, people.
@@blairhoughton7918 naturally, yes. But for most commercially grown mushrooms, i believe they use a substrate that isn't manure based (I could be wrong here but I'm going by what my old head chef told me)
Thank you SO MUCH for your response to question #56 which was "what is your biggest food hot take?" You mentioned something about putting hot sauce on food before even trying it being annoying. Now I know you said hot sauce but for me it's almost any dipping sauce with anything. Most of the people in my life have to have some kind of sauce with nearly everything and think I'm the weird one for not using any. If the food has a sauce made specifically for it, no problem, but if not then I'd like to actually taste it the way they felt like I should. I think most of my family and friends just never made it to adulthood as far as food goes. They all like to drown everything in ketchup or ranch. Anyway, I loved the comment you made and I always love the videos
I met someone once who told me that food is purely for survival for him. Whoa - just because I need it and am impatient, doesn’t mean it can’t also taste good too. I don’t want to spend a lot of time, but I do want to enjoy eating or I will avoid making food. Learning to make good food is recreational. Instead of consuming other brainless media, I listen to stuff I want to know about.
About the whole chilling cookie dough thing, the most important factor has been empirically proved (By Anne Reardon, professional food scientist and owner of How To Cook That), resting your dough is more important than cooling.
Hey, Josh, turn the door hinges to the left side of the fridge for more efficiency. But, it's your kitchen.
@@bettyir4302 I just thought it was important context and an interesting fact.
don't agree for cookies. Do them both way and find out. I rest the dough, then I turn into balls and freeze or chill. It does make a difference and he explains it well. I don't take 100% of what anyone says
i think this is like my favorite video from you on your channel Joshua, not because i am bad at cooking. but i like the Q&A and it's different. thank you for answering the questions, even with some where it's just like, plain duh. it's like, are you serious. but you were super nice about it. not snarky with straightforward answers and easy takeaways. simple, easy for people who want the basics. thanks chef
Thank you, Joshua. You combine a rare blend of expertise, humor, real-life advice, and pragmatism in all your videos. And this one encapsulates all of the above. As a home cook who tries to learn and get better, I rely on your videos and books to help me get there. Much kudos.
A way I recently learned to improve instant ramen is use peanut butter. For a single pack, in the bowl the ramen will be served in add 2tbsp peanut butter, soy sauce and hot sauce to taste, the flavor packet, and enough ramen water to make everything a paste. Drain the rest of the water and add ramen and stir to get everything coated. Did this for dinner tonight.
umami!! I make my own hoisin and use that
I love food and love cooking but cooking good food at home and cooking food professionally are completely different. I cooked professionally for two years in New York and I loved the experience and how much i learned in a short amount of time. I dont not like the terrible pay, being screamed at on a daily basis, working 12 to 16 hours a day six days a week, almost never seeing friends and family, and working every single holiday. I understand this is not every restaurant but this was my experience and my friends that were/ still are in the industry. If you can handle all that then go for it. Thanks for a great video Josh 🔥
Naw, man, that IS every restaurant.
Watch The Bear, most people come out with a bit of PTSD and exhaustion. The stress is ridiculous, it is food not brain surgery. This season the really evil chef who just tormented him and believed he was doing him a favor was way too real
I think you’re right that working professionally in a kitchen long-term would be bad. The experience could be good for a year or two to learn some stuff, then maybe move to video, writing, photography, working for a food/appliance company, etc. The restaurant industry has a bad reputation for treating staff poorly and this could certainly change in a lot of ways.
What I would personally add to this, in regards to the knife, is find something comfortable. 10-12" is a nice metric, but not everyone's hands, stance, form, stature, or whatever other standard metric you want you use supports that. My favorite knife in terms of form is a 9.5inch gyuto. Most of my personal knives are 8", and they're wonderful as well. I'm a big man, it genuinely is up to preference.
I will say, a larger knife in comfortable hands will be able to handle larger/greater bulk ingredients at a time, making overall cooking prep easier. But, if you just don't feel comfortable using anything longer than a 6-7" santoku knife, then no advice is going to help you aside from finding a 6-7" santoku that fits your form the best.
A 10-inch chef's knife is way big. 8 is more manageable. I think he included it because of the 2-knife constraint and a 10-incher won't leave you hanging on a big cut. You'll end up doing almost everything with the petty knife though.
So my 2-knife set would be a petty knife and either a long bread knife or a big cleaver, because either of those will bring a whole new function and not just a longer version of what you have.
@@blairhoughton7918 Agreed. I only ever use a 10-inch on massive stuff like watermelons or pumpkins
About the chef knife Q:
You don't _have_ to spend stupid money, but what you can get if you buy something better than a Walmart special can be nothing short of magical.
Case in point: I got really big into sushi a few years ago, and I'm at the point now where I'd get hired as an entry-level/apprentice sushi chef in a heartbeat. (Sushi is a highly finesse-oriented food and it can be tough to get a job making it.) I grew tired of using the $100 knife set to do things and bought myself a "budget" but decently reviewed sushi filleting knife off Spamazon. Cost me $30 at the time. Just that one acquisition, and it wasn't even a pro-grade tool, made such a difference it's tough to put into words - it made the prep process so much better because it was the right tool for the job, and it opened the door to better portion control and finer granularity over the end result because it was both super sharp _and_ super _precise._ My knife skills are several kinds of atrocious compared to a pro's but those tools make a _tremendous_ difference.
I will say, for a brute force workhorse, my husband's OXO Good Grips chef knife is a kickass little reliable blade. However, I swear by my Shuns for precision, like a fine mince, so it goes faster.
Dude you already sound like a pro! You are probably just humble! Well done you!
I had a bread knife I loved for 25 years. It was a $7.95 gift from my mom (she left the tag on).
Yeh. A nice $30-50 Victorinox or ... Huh. Forschner sold out to Victorinox. Like...20 years ago... So, Victorinox. If I was starting out that's what I'd get. And if I knew then what I know now, I'd probably have just kept using it forever. I have a Wusthof set and, well, they cut great and hold an edge, but the classic square handles are a bit of a hard choice, and the full bolsters just get in the way of sharpening, and really the steel can't be enough better than Victorinox steel that anyone other than a professional knife sharpener could say...
There's so many bad sushi places now that I think anybody in these comments could get a job as a sushi chef if they just know to keep their fingers moist. You'd probably be one of the good ones.
The kitchen ticket printer was a great touch ahaha
I love the confidence behind, "You can't mess up frozen French fries" when it was literally the only time I ever set my stove on fire.
I probably should have waited for the friends to defrost a bit
I'm concerned for your friends
@@Aeder42 They're good. Only lost two fingers to frostbite
@@-N0V4- Put those fingers in with the chips
As a piece of advice - please never fill up your pot more than half with oil! You can prevent a lot of risky fire hazard situations like this. Also, air fryers are your friends for anything frozen!
Air fryers potentially emit harmful chemicals
As someone who LOVES perfect rice but HATES washing it in advance -- very happy to say YES!! there are ways to get a perfect result without the bother.
I'll make a video on it, but the highlights are ( for 1 cup rice recipe ) : 1.5 TB salt, add .5 Tsp red pepper flakes, 1 Tsp rice vinegar, 2 TB oil; stir in all ingredients while water is heating, stir after water boils, reduce heat to high simmer ( almost a boil ) & cover for 12 min, watch & listen for 90% ( estimated, of course ) water evaporation, then turn off heat, uncover & fluff to allow steam release and repeat 6 or 8 min later. Then cover.
This has worked with every grain type I've used. I've tried several other methods, including the Chinese ' towel ' method. Give it a try & see!
Chicken breast is the easiest thing to cook. Sear fast on both sides and then 12 minutes in a 200C oven. Perfect every time. Greetings from a cook in Finland.
Or braise on the stove top with some chicken stock after searing. I put a lid in and let it simmer. People in the US don't use the oven enough. It's lost art.
Thank you so much, I hadn’t considered this.
Thanks that was a wonderful Q and A. I’m a 77 year old experienced homecook and I learned a few things. Cooking is joy! ❤
Joshua, I challenge you to make a kosher steak without butter ! I love your channel. Super hard to utilize your meat seasoning skills for kosher meat. Would love to see a video on how to properly make kosher meat taste good.
Man, I'm halfway through this and just really impressed you took the time to answer all of these (pretty good) questions thoughtfully. This is the kind of resource I would have killed for when I was first getting into cooking (and even now, I'm still picking up tips!)
Dude, I don't know if anyone else appreciated the subtley the impact kitchen printer (Epson TM Model>)... that sound will haunt your dreams when you've "served the line"...
Gonna be honest, if I ever see one someplace and hear it, I get really stressed out and it just ruins my entire day. I need to know what's written on the bill, lest I "fall behind" but can't just grab someone's ticket
I cannot believe you got through that in under an hour. And, that your answers were each so well thought out and considerate and nuanced while being concise. I have always thought you are the “thinking man’s” chef (content providing chef), but now I think you must be a genius.
he answers so unapologetically and I LOVE ITTT
I love the very straightforward and professional tone, it suits you well here, I can tell you are somewhat growing out of your original, more comedic style, but it is good to adapt to what you feel suits you as opposed to staying with where you were at to appease fans
Love the fact that you had the questions sent in the form of an order from the printer.
15:00 Dude YES!!! I cook for 5 days of lunches almost every week. Whole grain rotini pasta with ground turkey, tomato sauce or salsa, taco seasoning or Italian seasoning, mozzarella or cheddar, sometimes Parmesan. add in a can of green chili peppers for heat. Makes for a fantastic lunch (sometimes dinner when I make too much) every day.
I really hope you make this a regular thing, this is probably the best cooking video I watched. I learned so much
Love, love, love your videos. I think the one add to the five top items to have in the kitchen is a fire extinguisher. I’m totally with Alton Brown on this one.
What a wonderful video! Answering the 100 most common questions about food is a brilliant way to help everyone in the kitchen. Congratulations on the excellent content and clear explanations! ❤❤
Dude your channel is great. I love the humor, but also the information that is SO helpful. I love to cook. I think its part of why I sometimes miss doing construction; I love taking "nothing" and making it something amazing. I don't want to make a career out of it or do videos, but I LOVE making good food for my wife or for guests and watching them enjoy something special. Channels like yours are incredibly helpful and your combination of practical information with humor and personality make it such a delight to learn from you.
Thanks Joshua!
Hmmm with pasta… I recommend watch Vincenzo’s plate talking about what pasta to buy. He explains the differences very throughly.
10:52 Dexter is a good no frills brand of knife that I love and has stayed really sharp for the 1.5years I owned it. Good knives can be cheap, the one I have was $50 for the 12 inch blade
"Find something as hard or as easy as you want and allow yourself the opportunity to completely fk it up."
Words to live by no matter what you want to get good at.
Maybe not in medicine XD in medicine thats only fine if you have a safety net
@@masterslayerable There might possibly be a few exceptions 😋
I used to teach rifle drill when I was in ROTC and the first thing I would do when teaching someone (with a practice rifle obviously) was tell them to throw it on the ground. Others would make people do push ups whenever they dropped it but then the only thing they learn is to be afraid of trying anything new. I get it when you're using the real ones, but that's what the practice ones are for.
Yes, and this is also how I sought out good recipes and decided to change my impatient approach to cooking.
Fermentation is absolutely brilliant and fascinating and you can never know enough about it. I recommend the NOMA guide to fermentation. ❤
The production quality is off the charts. One chef kiss for papa
Re: the lunch question.
Flax with protein powder dry can be mixed with water - fibre is skinny food, so it will keep you lean, feeds the gut and is filling. Bean chilli, with a small amount of rice or sweet potato, portioned in the freezer and take out the day before - fibre is a skinny food. Chilli can be batch cooked and is easy to make. I like sauerkraut with tofu when I don’t want to cook but want protein and healthy veg. Tofu is filling and inexpensive. Add sauce and/or frozen veg to make it more interesting.
When my 20-something self and roommate had little food, I one time looked in the cupboards and decided to make rice and then put a can of tuna on it. OMG, this is amazing and is one of my favourite things. Lots of butter on hot rice, soy sauce and put the can of tuna on right before eating. So good. I found $1.30 cans of tuna at Walmart.
It turns out that to be healthy, we need good quality fats and to eat them with their respective proteins so that the liver knows how to metabolize the proteins: animal protein cooked with animal fat, plant protein cooked in plan oil. This reduces belly fat and fatty liver. Good fats are cod liver oil, grass fed organic butter, organic lard/tallow, flax oil, avocado oil, raw olive oil used cold only. Eating veg first gives the gut fibre and minerals and stabilizes blood sugar, eating high fibre keeps the gut bacteria happy so it doesn’t eat muscle: beans, psyllium, flax, plants.
Dry chicken breast: I found a vid for chicken francaise and it was super tender. The breasts were filetted, then pounded, floured with salt & pepper, fried until 80% cooked and browned, removed, then sauce made in the pan with lemon, wine, stock, 1 tbsp each flour and butter, reduce the sauce a bit and replace the filets into the pan with the sauce cooking a few more minutes. I ate three breast that day b/c it was so good and the breasts were tender. I stay away from flour as much as possible so seasoned it the second time with only salt and pepper and didn’t use flour in the sauce either. It was a little different, but still moist and really good, so it was likely the combination of pounding the breasts and cooking past 80% back in the sauce. For something faster, a sauce could be anything like water and soy or a batch sauce made in advance. Dry chicken breast is the worst, but a good healthy lean protein.
There are lots of attractive bald men and anyone who wants someone else to have hair isn’t worth time. If it’s about being attractive, developing in ways that please you; intellect, personality, personal interests and hobbies. Nice quality shoes might also help. I’ve been a hairdresser forever and have never considered a man’s hair when dating. Personality and ethics might be most important.
Always fun and informative vids!
14:22
Absolutely wrong on the cheese clumping in the pasta dish question!
The main reason for this is the "breaking" of the Parmigiano Reggiano/Grana Padano/Pecorino Romano cheese in high temperature, the fats and the proteins of the cheese separate.
This happens in lower temps for lower quality cheese than the higher ones.
Generally speaking, you should aim to add the cheese at about 56-58 degrees Celsius (132-136F° for you americans) and everything should emulsify just fine,
You can get it a bit hotter once it does, but not too much (65C°).
So adding bubbling boiling pasta water as he says is going to ruin your dish.
Yes you have to use the starchy pasta water! But just make sure you're controlling the temperature.
Well presented. Your years of cooking experiences, starting young with Mom, reflect your professional growth. Congratulations and more best cooking journeys ahead to you.
the oil congeeler I think is literally illegal in Italy and soo many EU states because we collect oil to use the exhausted oil to make biodiesel and some organic base material (like wax, fertilize, soap and more)
I'd agree with EU. Go to your local town website or earth911 and search for cooking oil recycling locations. I see 8 locations below 10 miles away from me near Seattle. They are all refining it to biodiesel.
Yeah the US sucks that way
Why don't grocery stores have a bin for it? Or gas stations?
I know why. I think we all know why...
British Petroleum isn’t lobbying for congealer legality because they want you to fill up your car more dude lmao
Hey Joshua, thanks for the content. When it comes to washing rice, there’s another thing to consider. A lot of rice that we purchase is labeled as enriched. They add things like Ferrick phosphate, niacin, thymine mononitrate, and folic acid which are all vitamins and minerals. They’re added in a powered form, if you wash the rice before you cook it, you lose all of the vitamins that were added.
I love your burger bun recipe! I was so excited when I tried it the first time and they turned out so well.
another fantastic video. I remember seeing a video by you a long time ago, explaining why you were leaving the restaurant biz to try youtube full time and thought you had a really entertaining knack for producing content. Really glad to see how quickly you've risen up and succeeded both professionally and personally. Always glad to see someone rewarded for being authentic and having a hell of a work ethic. Cheers man
I'm really glad you put the tip about putting a foot in the door for any job.
I started in fine dining as a dish washed, eventually moved to prep and then morning production and sauce before getting on the line. It took a year or two but sometimes you have to walk before you run. And honestly I love working in resturants. Despite having a "career" I find myself bouncing in and out of them for short stays every now and then. It's all about showing up with a willingness to work and learn.
This was very well done. I've spent 20 years in restaurants and I pretty much agreed with everything said here. Bravo
I really enjoyed this video. I cook all the time and I still got a lot of great tips. Thank you Joshua!
That bun from your but better chicken sandwich: Your gift to the culinary world IMHO. Also in the same video, how to properly season your flour for frying. I went from “I can make mole but I can’t bake to holy crap I can bake!!” That chicken sandwich is one of the best things I’ve ever made.
It's stupid funny how many of us are great cooks at home, and we still learn.Thank you.
I work in a professional kitchen and I'm constantly learning.
Even small tricks and details can completely change the outcome of a dish, for better or worse.
"When you stop learning you start dying"
1:11 she once was a true love of myne... parsley sage rosemary and thyme
Josh always hits the topics I love to hear about on cooking!!!!🙏
Your videos are great and your confidence inspired me to open my own food truck. Thank you.
Three years in now.
That’s amazing! What food do you make?
@@getmine9490 quesabirria tacos and other unique street eats!
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your knowledge and experience, and your sense of humor made this video more entertaining.
Super cool to see my question pop up in your video. Thank you for continually inspiring me chef!
I love to see a recipe and then do my own tale of it. As a chef, and understanding of flavours and techniques the internet sometimes makes cooking so complicated. Joshua, you are one of these people, still love your show and have learnt loads from you thanks.
Hey this guy knows how to answer questions better than our presidential candidates
Better than one of ‘em for sure.
*PAPA '24!!!*
(with Uncle Roger as VP....or at least Secretary of State)
😋
Who doesn't?
I feel like everyone can tho
@@superdave9099 Better than both of them, no question
Thanks. I've picked uo a hood portion of these from your videos (and thoseof others), but having a concise straight lust of common questions is super helpful.
#47 hit me right in the feels. Being active duty military with not a lot of time left, I fully concur with this type of sentiment.
One of those I thought I'd worked out through trial and error, which relates to another of your answers of learning through mistakes. good stuff, was glad you swept up at the end
32:42 for the onions things, Ethan Chlebowski did a blind taste test and could not find a difference in onions taste except like the polar opposite onions (like cooked vs raw, sweet vs red)
Thanks Joshua. One of your best vids in the last few months imo. Great synopsis of your experience and insights. 💗 (Edit: I just watched it for a second time and caught things I missed the first time around! lol)
After 30 years of cooking/preparing/etc. I have always preferred a Santoku: what would be your pros and cons between than and a chef's knife?
While I am a big dude (6'2, 280lbs) I have been using the same Santoku for almost 30 years and it is the only knife I ever use of the 27 piece block I have unless I am cutting streak.
Any tips?
as someone who went to culinary school and has been working in restaurants for 10 years I recommend doing both if you can afford it. there are so many thing you learn in culinary school that no-one is going to take the time to teach you in a restaurant setting
That printer going to give me a heart attack
That's the quiet kind
Someone watch The Bear recently? Lol. Or are you speaking from experience?
@@ZiegIce experience unfortunately
The kitchen I worked in was small enough that we just plowed through the little green pads, so my flinch point is a magnet bar stacked with green tags 🤣
@@Uncle_Smidge that sounds terrible
For steak, I'd suggest searing it in a scorching stainless steel pan to brown it. Then insert a thermometer (I use a 30$ thermpro) and put in the oven at 300. I pull out 10 below desired cook temp. Not the most textbook way, but it's always got a great crust, and perfect doneness
I like this version of Josh way more than the overproduced yelling and speed talking so prominent in his videos.
this was the calmest, not excessively edited video of yours ive ever seen. thank you foir this. i cant watch the other stuff any more :D
37:33 lol, “look, I cook for a living, if non-stick pans are gonna kill me, f#*k it.”
Information and production was top tier. Hats off to you and your team on this one, Josh.
All About Braising, great book rec.
26:58 iirc, you once said to rough chop some potatoes and they will extract some of that salt. Keep them larger so they easy to remove, unless they make sense for the dish, then dice them normally.
Propane or charcoal?
Josh: “Charcoal. Gives that smoky flavor.”
[sad Hank Hill vibes]
Taste the meat not the heat
This mans an actual Chef cooks things from 100% scratch to perfection I dont think even Bourdain could do better.
In Japan, there is a kind of rice that you don't need to wash beforehand. It has the tag 「無洗米」on the packaging. So you just need to read the instruction :p . But yes, the default is wash your rice.
I had quit making foods cooked in oil just because of the pain-in-the-a$$ of dealing with used oil. That hurt because I LOVE foods cooked in oil.
But, after finding a congealant on Amazon, cooking with oil is no longer a pain. I love that congealant. I'd never even heard of it until I happen to find it online and decided to give it a try. It's amazing.
I use Jasmine Rice, equal parts rice and liquid, done in 15 minutes. I never wash, it comes out perfect every time.
I feel that rinsing 2 (or 3, 4) times gets rid of all the dust and fungus and dirt that gets picked up in processing and its very loooong journey to your kitchen.
@@newttella1043 Mine never has any of that. I get Thai Jasmine from Costco. I guess if I had a cheap kind of something?
Some rice is pre-rinsed better than others. I use the Kirkland Jasmine, too. I recall that it rinses very clear, so I don't bother.
Basmati, twice as much water 15 min or a bit longer (from 5 min high to low heat plus let it sit for another ten). I do pre-heat the rice in a little olive oil before adding boiling/hot water.
5:55, flat cookies might also be that the person's recipe used a different method of measuring ingredients, especially for flour. Sometimes using the spoon method, which I was taught to be the correct method to measure flour, isn't as widely known as I once thought. Using the dip method for some recipes is a must.
I cackled at using the thermal printer for the questions; you can take the line cook out of the kitchen but you can't take the kitchen out of the line cook.
The biggest piece of understanding an expert can give you is, "it depends". You explained the angles on which it depends so, good answers, good video. I hope the questioners are satisfied.