The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 76

Have you ever been told to stick a paring knife into a
boiling potato to check if it’s tender all the way through?
The problem is that even the thinnest of paring knives
makesalargestabwoundinthepotato,releasingstarchand
vastly increasing the chances that it’ll break apart,
particularly if you’ve bucked up for those tiny, tasty
fingerlings.Acaketesterneatlytakescareofthatproblem.
Wanttoknowifthosesimmeringcarrotsaretenderenough
to puree? How about if those baby radishes are cooked
through? With a cake tester, you can find out without
leavingbehindanyincriminatingevidence.Myfavoriteway
tocookbeetsisinatightlysealedfoilpouch—amethodthat
absolutely prevents you from poking them with a paring
knife.A knife makes a hole in the foil too large to recover
from.Notsoacaketester.
Iusemycaketesterinsteadofaforktodecidewhetheror
notmybraisingbrisketorshortribsare“forktender.”Ifthe
cake tester slides in and out with ease, the meat is ready.
Lots of fish have membranes between layers of flesh that
only soften at around 135°F or so (a perfect medium-rare).
Stickyourcaketesterintothatpoachingsalmonfillet,andit
if meets resistance (i.e., if it feels like punching through
pieces of paper), it’s undercooked. Barbecuing a pork
shoulderlowandslow?Youcancheckifit’sdonewithout
losinganyjuicesthroughthegrillgrates.Finally,ifyouever
(godforbid!)findyourselfwithoutyourtrustythermometer
byyourside,acaketesteristhenextbestthing.Stickitinto
the center of your meat and leave it there for about 5
seconds,thenpullitoutandholditunderyourlowerlip(an
area particularly sensitive to heat). You’ll know instantly

whether your steak is cold, warm, or hot in the center.As
accurateasathermometer?No.Goodinapinch?Youbet.
Youcangoalloutandpaythe$5foracaketesterfrom
OXO, which has a grippy black handle, but you may risk
beingmadefunofforbeingtoofancy-pants.Thecaketester
fromFoxRun($1.29)isthecheapestI’vefoundonline.
20.LotsofSqueezeBottles
I’mguessingagood80percentofyouhavereadAnthony
Bourdain’s proclamation of love to his squeeze bottles in
KitchenConfidential:
The indispensable object in most chefs’ shtick is the
simple plastic squeeze bottle, . . . essentially the same
objectsyouseeathot-dogstands,loadedwithmustard
and ketchup. Mask a bottom of a plate with, say, an
emulsifiedbuttersauce,thenrunacoupleofconcentric
rings of darker sauce—demi-glace, or roast pepper
puree—around the plate, and . . . drag a toothpick
throughtheringsorlines.
Sure, it’s a good tool to have if outdated, overwrought
plating is your thing. But there are better reasons to own a
squeeze bottle than aesthetics. Namely, they’ll make you a
bettercookandabettereater.
Before squeeze bottles made their appearance in my
kitchen, I’d eat salads perhaps once or twice a month, and
only when I was hosting a dinner party. The hassle of
making a fresh batch of vinaigrette just for myself and my
wife was simply too much (forget about using bottled