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Salt: Pasta and Water

We salt our pasta water because our pasta is unsalted, but why is our pasta unsalted?
It's Only Mostly Cooked

The techniques of blanching and parboiling seem awfully similar. Are they the same?
Less Moist: Dehydration at Home

Sometimes you get a bounty of tasty food that you want to preserve, but you don't want to take up all that freezer space and you've canned about as much as you're going to can. Do you buy a specialty machine to do that, or are there other options?

Simmer vs. Boil 202: The Master Class

Why does heating to a full boil make it hard to simmer afterwards? Why does stirring a simmering pot cause it to stop simmering? And, most importantly, why does a watched pot never boil?
Bain of the Cheesecake

When making a cheesecake, is the water bath, also known as the bain-marie, the best way to go? Why do we even need to bathe a cheesecake?
Melted Butter in Baked Goods

Many cookie recipes call for creaming sugar into soft butter, but one blogger found melted butter worked better.
Oatmeal Boils Over

When microwaving oatmeal, why does it boil over so easily and are there any tricks that'll keep it in the bowl?
The Comfort of Soup

Soup is often recommended for sick people. Why?
Reheated Spaghetti Tastes So Good

Often, spaghetti that is reheated tastes even better than it did the first time around. Why is this?
Bread: Delicate Crumb and Hearty Crust

We've discussed gluten quite a bit, but how can we make use of that knowledge to make some artisan bread?
Dried egg pasta revisited

Waaaay long ago, we discussed why it is okay to dry your own egg pasta. A comment from a reader encourages us to revisit the topic.
Ice Cream Issues

In an effort to make ice cream that's not as bad for you, how far can you go before things go wrong?
Scummy Stock

Making a stock or broth often has consequences in the form of a scum that forms at the top of the stock. Let's take a look at what that is and how to deal with it.
Gummy Gnocchi

How to keep your gnocchi light and fluffy rather than gummy and heavy.
The Incredible Invisible Egg

Have you ever frozen a hard-boiled egg? No, that's too easy. A hard-boiled quail egg? The white of the egg turns transparent. Do you want to know why? Of course you do. Who wouldn't?
Searing Steak

There's some conflicting advice on searing, and some weird ideas floating around about it as well. A little knowledge about the difference between plastic and meat will set things straight.
Numbing Celery

Celery is a veritable chemical weapon house, but really, what isn't? Some people get a numb tongue from eating raw celery, and we explore possible reasons why as well as some of the limits of our knowledge of food.
One egg at a time

A standard step with the creaming method of cake preparation is to add the eggs one at a time and fully incorporate before adding the next egg. But… why?
Soaking Basmati Rice

It's traditional to soak basmati rice, and proponents swear by the results.
The Purpose of Sifting

The whys of sifting, and a better way to accomplish sifting without using a sifter.

Make it Tonight

Grilled Chicken and Strawberries with Balsamic Syrup See all Weeknight Meals

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