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dead-inside-mcgee · 4 years

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Beyond that door - Part 2

The lesser evil

Summary: Chase sits in silence, feeling embarrassed for no particular reason. He doesn’t even think about the fact that he never gave the man his name.

Word Count: 2028

Taglist: @rabbitsartcorner @caori-azarath @murder-schmurder

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen! Tonight we bring you exclusive interviews with our latest mayoral candidates. Starting with a young man coming from right here in Septic City, let me introduce you to Mr. Jameson Jackson!”

“Thank you Miss. Cook.,” Jameson said with a sharp, British accent.

No matter what you’re wrong.

“Now Mr. Jackson. You claim that you grew up here in this city, but your accent is British. Why is that?”

“Well you see, my parents were British, and they had me after moving here. I simply just inherited it from them.” His voice is slightly shaky, and cracks occasionally. He clearly wasn’t made for public speaking, but he holds himself together.

“Interesting. Now time for a big question. Why are you running for office?”

“Ah, now that would be a good question. Well let me think.”

There’s a pause.

“Well there’s a few reasons.” Jameson states. “When I was young I grew up without a voice. Nothing I ever said mattered. I grew up believing that nothing I ever said would matter. And I look around today and see people just like me believing their voice means nothing. So my goal is to give those like me a voice and make sure they are heard.

“There is also the fact that I’ve always been looked down upon in my own family. My brother is a famous voice actor, my father runs a business, my mother is a reporter, and what have I done? Have any of you even hear of me before I ran for mayor?”

There’s a few awkward glances before the candidate continues.

“I want to accomplish something big. Something that people will remember me by. But most of all, I want to do what I believe it right.”

“You know Mr. Jackson, they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

“And that’s very true! Many people who wanted what was right, did terrible things to get it. Because they thought… it’s what they had to do…” His tone shifts, along with his expression.

“Umm… Well that’s very interesting Sir. The people would also like to kno-” He cut her off.

“I will not be answering any more questions.“ He states and walks off, followed by a few baffled reporters.

***

Chase flicked off the TV and joined Marvin with observing their guest. After tying him to a chair the doctor passed out again, and after failing to wake him, they decided to just wait until the potion wears off.

“Nothing interesting on TV?” The witch asks.

“Not really.” He sighs.

Marvin glances around. “Want to play a board game or something while we wait for him to wake up?”

He glances at the clock. “Actually, I should be heading home. It’s late, I have work, and I need a new phone.”

Marvin nods, trying not to look disappointed. “Can’t you take a day off to help watch this guy?”

He stands. “As much as I’d love to, it’s not worth the trouble I’d get into.”

“Okay… At least keep an eye on that guy, Anti, you work with.”

“Will do!” Chase makes his way up the stairs and is greeted by the cool night air.

It’s about two am, his work starts at eight. If he got home in ten minutes, he could squeeze in at least five and a half hours of sleep before he has to get ready.

Oh, who is he kidding? There’s no way he’s going to fall asleep tonight.

He wonders around the town, he never noticed just how quiet it was at this time, especially considering how big the town was.

Chase finds himself in a small Cafe. He decides to grab a very early breakfast.

The Cafe is empty except for the cashier and a man in a bowler cap sitting in the corner.

Chase just gets a coffee and a fancy sandwich a plops down at a table.

He notices the man seems pretty lonely, so he gets and asks if he could sit across from him.

The man nods.

“Cool.” Chase sits down and eats.

“Tell me,” the man begins. Chase notes that he has a british accent. “What’s a man like you doing out at a time like this?”

“I could ask you the same question,” he says through a mouth full of food.

The man laughs. “I had a rough day. Or I guess a rough yesterday. Couldn’t sleep.”

“Same.” Chase blinks, noticing just how familiar this man seems. “Do I know you.”

“Not personally I assure you. You’ve probably seen me on TV.” He lifts off his hat.

Chase chokes. “You’re- you’re-!”

“Jameson Jackson, at your service.” He holds out his hand.

He takes it, his face flushed in embarrassment.

“You’re a cyborg, aren’t you?” Jameson says, examining his arm. There was a very faint line where the robotic part met the skin, but Chase thought no one would notice, especially with the mask.

“Don’t worry,” he continues, “I won’t say anything. I just tend to notice things. Are you using a mask of sorts?”

Chase nods, no longer trusting his voice.

“Interesting. I always thought masks were very interesting. I never understood why they were outlawed.”

“How did you-”

“How did I see through it?” Jameson chuckles, letting go of his hand. “Like I said, I tend to notice things. Masks aren’t perfect.”

The politician stands up. “Have a lovely day, Mr. Brody.”

Chase sits in silence, feeling embarrassed for no particular reason. He doesn’t even think about the fact that he never gave the man his name.

***

Marvin never liked the silence. The fact that he was used to it didn't change that fact.

He liked Chase. For many reasons, he was friendly, and worked hard, and always loved to fill that silence. But he was also stubborn. Even more stubborn than Marvin himself.

When Marvin was forced underground, he cut Chase off. He wanted to keep the man safe, and if cutting him off was the way to do it, then he would.

But stubborn, persistent Chase, found his way back into Marvin’s life, and this time Marvin couldn’t so easily shut him out.

The witch was snapped out of his thoughts by a thump and a yelp. He turns to fine his guest had managed to tip over the chair.

“Wh-where am I?” Henrik asks. His voice was groggy and high pitched, like he wasn’t used to talking.

Marvin fixes the chair upright. “Somewhere no one will ever find you.”

The man shivers. “What are you going to do to me?”

“Nothing bad. I just have some questions. Can you answer some questions?”

Henrik nods, trembling enough to make the chair creek.

Marvin pulls up another chair and sits in front of him. “What’s the last thing you remember doing?”

“I remember reading. And then sleeping…”

“No memories of holding the mayor hostage or threatening to blow up a hospital?”

Henrik blinks. “Noo…?”

“Damn it!” He bites his lip and stands up to writing something on the whiteboard. “I was hoping you’d have… something.”

“I’m sorry?” He shifted uncomfortably.

“”It’s not your fault.” Marvin pulls out a book and flips through it. “Sleep potions tend to cause slight memory loss, and I doubt you were, well, you, during either of those situations.”

“I’m confused. Who even are you?” Henrik looked around, his voice a little shaky.

“Right, manners.” Deeming the other man harmless, he snaps his fingers and the ropes fall away. “My name is Marvin.” He puts the book back up and holds out his hand.

Henrik takes it slowly, his eyes flickering to the myriad of scars that doctorated Marvin’s hand and arm. He then notices how many scars he has on his own hands.

The magician notices his gaze. “Do you know how you got any of those?”

“Papercuts.” He states, but he doesn’t sound so sure.

“If you say so.” Marvin shrugs and lets go.

Henrik slowly shifts to sitting on the floor, finding that more comfortable.

Marvin watches him and sighs. “Do you want to play a boardgame or something?”

He shrugs and Marvin pulls a random box off the shelf.

***

Chase ate lunch alone, as usual. Sure he’d only worked here for a few days, but it seemed like no one really liked him. Maybe he wasn’t friendly enough, or maybe he was too friendly.

Whatever the matter, he was alone.

There were benefits to the loneliness. For one, he could sit back and listen to music instead of having to make conversation. And he could be sloopy without being judged.

He was completely fine with eating alone, are hardly lonely, he told himself.

He slipped on his headphones to mute his thoughts for a moment. He didn’t pack much of a lunch, just some cold leftovers from a week ago. Not that he was in the mood for anything else.

Right as he was about to get to the good part of a song, someone tapped his shoulder. Chase grunted and turned off his music.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” The man asked.

Chase blinked, taking a moment to register his face. He gulped, his face heating up.

“I- uh- s-sure.”

The man gave a toothy grin and sat across from him.

“You’re Chase Brody right?”

Chase nods. “And you’re- you’re Anti right..?”

Anti chuckles. “Actually, it’s Anthony. But Anti works too. How are you?”

“I’m fine,” He squeaks.

“You sure?” You look a little red.” Anti raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah. I’m ok, it’s just a little warm in here.”

“I can ask someone if they can turn down the temperature.”

“No- no. I’m fine.” Why was he getting so flustered right now?

“Sorry if this is a little forward, but can I have your number?”

Chase chokes on air. “Yes. I mean no. I mean my phone broke last night, so I don’t have a number right now. But I have plans to get one soon.” Marvin said he’d get him a new one, right?

“Hm, alright. Maybe later tonight I can take you out and get you a new one.” Anti smiles.

This time Chase really chokes, going into a coughing fit.

“I- I’m fine.” He says between coughs. “I appreciate the offer, but no!”

“Oh well. We should go out some time though.” He glances at the clock. “Welp, I gotta get back to work.”

“But the break just started.” Chase called, but Anti already disappeared.

***

Marvin signed, pulling out the Monopoly rules again to try and explain them. They were sitting on the floor, an array of pieces and Monopoly money spewed about.

“You don’t seem very into this game,” Henrik comments.

“I’m not really. Monopoly is just boring.” He tossed down the instructions and started putting the game up.

“Are you okay?”

Marvin paused. “Why do you care.”

“Because I’m a human being with basic empathy that can tell when something is wrong.” Henrik stated, crossing his arms.

Marvin said nothing, sliding the game back on the shelf.

“Fine. You’re right.” He slumped back onto the floor.

“So. What’s wrong.”

“I’m not about to spill my feelings to someone I met about…” He glances at the clock., “Ten hours ago, that could be a murderous asshole for all I know.”

He gulped, turning away.

Marvin groaned, putting his face in his hands. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Yes you did, don’t lie.”

“I don’t think you’re the bad guy. Or a bad guy in general. I just have too many feelings, and like I said, I’ve only known you for so long.”

“I understand.” Henrik looks down.

“I just sent my friend to investigate someone, and I'm worried that he'll get hurt. Especially since he doesn’t have a phone, which is my fault and-”

The doctor reaches out to touch his shoulder, giving him a sympathetic look.

He wipes his face, laughing weakly. “Oh, this is pathetic.”

“Don’t say that!” Henrik snaps. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk?”

“What are you, a therapist?”

“I’m a doctor, but I did dabble in psychology,” Henrik says with a prideful grin.

“Fine. If you really wanna hear about my issues.”

#jacksepticeye #antisepticeye #chase brody #Dr Schneeplestein #marvin the magnificent #jackieboy man #jameson jackson #henrik von schneeplestein #marvin the magician #jackie boyman #jackieboyman #my fic #beyond that door

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ecoamerica · 25 days

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youtube

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

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pikatastelab · 6 years

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ROSEMARY & GARLIC WHOLE WHEAT BUNS

These buns are great served alongside saucy food, so you do not feel bad about wiping the plate clean or as an accompaniment to soup. They are incredibly soft, fluffy and healthy perfect for soaking up that saucy goodness. They have a subtle hint of garlic and rosemary, you just have to try them to know how good they are.

This buns can be ready in 2 - 4 hrs including 15 - 45 mins of roasting or toasting the garlic, 15 mins of prep 1 hr 30 mins - 2 hrs 45 mins of proofing and 15 - 20 mins of baking. This recipe makes 6 - 9 buns.

Tools & Ingredients

Ingredients

For the buns

3 cups (420g) of Whole Wheat Bread Flour

You can also use a 50/50 mix of All Purpose / Bread flour and White Flour.

3/4 teaspoon of salt

11/2 teaspoon of instant / active dry yeast -> You can use a full sachet.

1 tablespoon (21g) of honey

Honey, makes softer buns that rise better, However if you have none, sugar will work too.

1 - 11/4 cup of milk -> You can also use all water or a mix of water and milk

3 tablespoons (42g) of butter or olive oil (39g)

1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary, finely chopped / 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, minced

For roasting the garlic (optional step)

1 head of garlic -> Around 15 cloves

1 teaspoon of oil -> I love using olive oil

Tools

For the buns

Mixing bowl

Dry Measuring cups / Weighing scale

Measuring spoons

Liquid measuring cups

Small sauce pan (sufuria)

Wooden Spoon (mwiko)

Baking tray / sheet pan

For roasting the garlic (optional step)

Aluminium foil

For toasting the garlic (optional step)

A heavy bottom pan

Procedure

Roasting Garlic in the oven (option A)

Preheat your oven to Conventional (without fan) - 400ºF / 200ºC | Convection (with fan) - 375ºF / 190ºC.

Peel the loose papery skin off the head of garlic.

Trim the top step of the garlic and cut its rear end enough to expose the cloves on the rear end only.

Place on a piece of aluminium foil, the piece of aluminium foil should be big enough to wrap around the garlic easily.

Drizzle the garlic with 1 teaspoon of olive oil then wrap it with aluminium foil.

Place in the preheated oven for 30 - 45 minutes until the cloves are completely soft.

Remove from the oven once completely softened, remove from foil and let them cool slightly.

Toasting Garlic in a dry pan (option B)

Separate the garlic into cloves but don't peel them.

Place a dry heavy bottom pan on medium heat and place your garlic cloves on the pan.

Let the cloves cook, occasionally tossing them so all the sides can get toasted.

The garlic cloves with turn black but don't fret the flesh will say nice and mellow inside.

Once the garlic cloves become soft and mushy (you will have to press them to know since as they cook they sort of puff up), place them aside to slightly cool.

Making the buns

Place a saucepan on medium heat then squeeze the flesh of the roasted garlic or toasted garlic cloves into it alongside the milk and/or water (Use the lesser amount of milk/water first and if you need more you can add the rest later), butter or oil, honey or sugar and rosemary. If you are in a hurry and do not have time to roast/toast your garlic, mince 3 garlic cloves and add them to the milk.

Gently stir the milk, butter, garlic, honey and rosemary as they heat and the butter melts.

Once the mixture is barely warm (the butter does not necessarily have to be completely melted), put aside and add in the yeast. If you are using instant yeast you do not have to add in the yeast, you can skip this step and go straight to mixing the dry ingredients.

Put aside until the mixture is frothy.

In a mixing bowl, add the flour, salt and yeast (if using instant yeast). Mix until everything is well combined.

If using a stand mixer slowly stream the milk mixture into the dry ingredients as you slowly mix on low till everything is combined and you have a sort of shaggy dough. If working by hand, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with your hands or a wooden spoon until you get a shaggy dough.

Dump the shaggy mass onto your work surface and start kneading adding a little bit of milk/water at a time as needed until you get a soft and supple dough that is relatively smooth. This will take around 10 minutes by hand and 6 - 7 minutes on medium speed by a stand mixer.

Oil the dough and place in an airtight bowl at room temp for 1 - 2 hrs until doubled in size. Ensure the bowl is either covered tightly with plastic wrap or an airtight lid so the dough does not form a skin or dry out.

Once doubled in size, gently punch the dough down and divide into 6 portions.

Roll the portions into round balls by rolling the dough on your work surface. Do not push at the dough balls, gently move in a circular motion with your cupped hand until you get a very smooth ball. The traction between the dough and surface helps to get a smooth ball, so do not use any flour or oil on your surface.

Place the dough ball in an oiled and floured sheet pan (you can use baking parchment) to proof for around 30 - 45 minutes until doubled in size.

As the buns proof. Preheat your oven to Conventional (without fan) - 375ºC / 190ºC | Convection (with fan) - 350ºF / 180ºC.

Once proofed, place the buns in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 15 - 20 minutes rotating halfway until nicely browned and ready.

To tell if they are ready, tap the bottom of the biggest bun. If it sounds hollow, they are ready. If you want to be sure, an instant-read thermometer should read 85ºC (190ºF) - 95ºC (200ºF) in the centre of the buns.

You can optionally brush them with butter immediately they are out of the oven for a softer, buttery crust.

Move the buns onto a cooling rack as soon as possible to cool so they do not get soggy bottoms.

Notes

-Whole wheat flour does not develop gluten as well as white flour so you can opt to use only 30 - 60% whole wheat for a taller lighter loaf.

-Due to the aforementioned, ensure you knead the dough enough to develop enough gluten so your buns remain smooth and fluffy.

-Whole wheat flour absorbs more water than white flour but I found adding water a little at a time as you knead ensures you get a soft dough that is not only easier to work with but also one that has a better structure. Kneading in the water/milk helps build the gluten further.

-The timing is just a guideline, it can take longer or shorter for the dough to double in size depending on the temperature of your kitchen.

-If the buns get too dark before they are ready, tent some foil on them till they are done.

-Don't let the buns cool on the baking tray, move them to a cooling rack as soon as possible so they do not get soggy.

#rosemary garlic buns #homemade buns #savoury buns #dinner buns #whole wheat #healthy

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bearwithglassess · 3 years

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Title: How to Choose The Best Wood for Smoking Turkey

l Best Wood for Smoking Turkey (Title and main Kw) – 8

l best wood to smoke a turkey - 6

l best wood for smoked turkey - 7

l next blog = best wood for smoking ribs

l needs=4 kw

Choosing the best wood for smoked turkey is not that simple. The turkey meat is soft enough that, if you smoke a turkey close to smoking red meat, the smoke will overtake the turkey flavor, making it taste sour. Always note that Turkey is part of the poultry. This means that Turkey has delicate meat, and it requires a proper way of smoking it. If you are a beginner, especially if you don’t know which wood is the best wood to smoke a turkey, then this article is for you. We recommend you to read more about our blog.

Best Wood for Smoking Turkey and Its Descriptions

If you want to pick the best wood to smoke a turkey, you may go for milder woods because it complements better with light meat. Despite little smoke it produces, the milder woods do not overpower the meat flavor, unlike hickory, oak, and mesquite. If you are a newbie in smoking turkey, start from milder woods first.

Cherry Wood is your top choice on best wood for smoking turkey. The cherry wood flavor gives a sweet mellow taste accompanied by fruity flavor, and it does not overpower the meat. When you used cherry wood on smoking the turkey for several hours, it will caramelize the surface of the turkey, making your bird stand out in the crowd. The only problem with cherry wood is it provides a little smoke for the turkey. You can add hickory to add a little bit of extra smoke when smoking.

Apple wood you might have probably heard that apple wood is the best wood for smoking turkey. It might be, since apple wood provides the sweet taste with a fruity flavor, a little bit subtle taste than cherry or pecan. Other people appreciate apple wood as their best wood for smoking turkey. The only problem with using apple wood, it produces little smoke which takes longer to infuse the flavor, and it is also possible to dry out your turkey. One piece of advice if you’re using apple wood, you have to lower the temperature to prevent from drying out the meat while infusing the apple wood flavor into the turkey. Or you can spritz the bird or include a water pan inside your smoker to ensure the cooking environment remains warm.

Pecan wood If you want a nutty flavor on your turkey, pecan wood would be your best wood to smoke a turkey. Unlike apple and cherry wood which provide a subtle taste, pecan wood has a much richer taste to the turkey. It’s a bit stronger flavor than fruit flavored woods, but a perfect alternative if you don’t have fruit woods available. Pecan wood can stand alone without using other medium wood flavors such as hickory and oak. Adding another “earthly” wood flavors can overpower the meat flavor. If you plan on using pecan wood, use wood chips to make the flavor more infuse to the meat in a short session of smoking.

Maple wood If cherry wood or apple wood is too sweet for you, I’d suggest using maple wood is your best option for smoking turkey. It creates a sweet flavor, however, it can only coat on the outer layer of the skin. The good thing about maple wood is that it keeps the natural flavor of the turkey.

Other Best Wood for Smoking Turkey that may Overlap the Natural Flavor

Although turkey complements better with milder flavors, it doesn’t mean strong flavored woods are not the best wood for smoking turkey. Some people prefer to use strong flavored woods to create a distinct taste, or sometimes combine it with milder flavored woods. Here are the most common strong flavored woods used for smoking a turkey.

Mesquite This wood is commonly used in Texas barbecue. It has a strong flavor that can overshadow the turkey. However, you can choose mesquite if you prefer a stronger flavor to your turkey. Make sure you cut it with milder wood to balance the effect and prevent the mesquite to overlap the natural taste of the turkey.

Hickory One of the best wood for smoked turkey. It delivers a perfect result that complements all meat. Some people find hickory alone makes the turkey taste pungent that they prefer to combine it with other milder flavors.

Oak This wood has a rich, intense, smoky flavor that will overwhelm the turkey a little. Oak has a much lighter flavor compared to hickory and mesquite, but it can still overshadow the turkey's taste. In order to prevent the oak from taking over the flavor, much like hickory and mesquite with oak, mix oak with milder wood to control the intense flavor of the oak when smoking. This can be also one of the best wood for smoked turkey if it’s used properly.

For starters, it’s much easier to avoid these woods for smoking a turkey. But if you want to take risks and play with the variety of woods, then you should know what you need to consider when you smoke a turkey.

Things to consider when using the best wood for smoking turkey

There are considerations when using strong flavored wood as your best wood for smoking turkey. Hard wood with a medium to strong flavors can overpower the meat flavor while smoking the turkey. It may cause an unpleasant taste if you over smoke your turkey for too long. Unlike the milder ones, it will not overlap the natural flavor of the meat. You can prevent the smokey wood from covering the taste of the turkey by using wood chips, lessen the cooking time, and mix it with milder flavors.

We all know that wood chips burn easily than wood chunks. However, because the turkey has softer meat than red meat, the wood chips can easily penetrate the meat in a short time. You also can maintain the natural flavor of the meat without worrying about too much smoke. Lastly, it does not contribute any heat source, unlike wood chunks. This is why wood chips are the best wood to smoke a turkey. In most recipes that I have read, it should be 1 to 2 cups of wood chips needed to smoke a turkey. But if you’re using a smoker box, you can fill it up with 5 ounces of wood chips. They say soaking wood chips would make the fire burns longer, but there is not enough evidence that soaking wood chips helps to contribute to the flavor.

One more thing, if you plan to use your best wood to smoke a turkey, you should always make sure the timer sets not more than 3 hours. Medium to strong flavored woods produces a lot of smoke which it causes to overpower the meat flavor, or sometimes it makes the turkey dry out faster. Just set your timer to a much lesser time helps to prevent the turkey from drying out.

How to Use Two Kinds of Best Wood for Smoking Turkey?

If you want to create a unique flavor using the best wood for smoking turkey, follow this simple rule of mixing wood to yield a good outcome. Mixing wood ratio of 2:1 or 3:1 for light and strong wood. This rule also works in both wood chunks and wood chips. If you’re using wood chunks, just double the ratio of the smoker. To makes things clear, if I’m using a wood chunk, I’d need 2 wood chunks of cherry wood and 1 wood chunks for hickory. The same goes for wood chips, 1/3 cups of oak, and 2/3 cups of cherry wood. Following this simple rule will prevent you from overshadowing the meat flavor when you smoke your turkey.

For most cases, they combine strong flavored woods and mild flavored woods. Although there are no certain rules for picking two kinds of wood for combination, it helps to restrict the strong flavored smoke from overlapping the meat flavor Thus, you can pick which type of wood you want to use, as long it’s accompanied by any fruit wood, you will not make errors.

What I mostly find on the internet are using hickory and any fruit wood, and maple and plum. This combination gives the turkey a mildly sweet and slightly smokey without overlapping the natural meat flavor. You can also use Mulberry, Peach and Olive for fruit wood, they’re also considered the best wood for smoked turkey. Just remember that experimentation is the key. You have to explore different wood flavors and try new things to get what flavor you’re looking for.

Does Barked Wood Consider it the Best Wood for Smoking Turkey?

You might have heard some people believe that barked woods add flavor to the best wood for smoking turkey. This is one of the questions that is still being addressed by the grill masters. If you have bark on your wood chips, does it matter whether you remove the bark or not?

Some people claim that having a bark on the wood makes the food taste more bitter than the wood itself, while others say it does not change the taste of the meat. And few people have said that bark on the wood gives a different flavor from the wood. Overall, people have different ideas about using barked wood. It depends on your taste and the experience of using the bark on your turkey. Please note if you prefer to keep the bark, it could be risky if you intend to use it for smoking. The bark can absorb chemical compounds, including other toxins while preserving the wood. So, if you have bark on the wood but you don’t know where it came from, it would be much easier to remove the bark before you use it.

Another issue raised by people regarding the temperature control. Bark on wood has been known to cause a sudden burst of fire than skinned wood. This effect can be harmful to the turkey because smoked food is best when the heat remains constant throughout the process. Though minor outburst is nothing to worry about, it should be considered. If you asked me whether the wood with bark is the best wood to smoke a turkey or not, I’d say definitely no.

How to Use the Best Wood for Smoking Turkey in Your Grill?

You may have picked your best wood for smoking turkey, now we’ll discuss the tips of using the wood in a smoker. Whether you use a grill or a smoker, the heat source will influence the way of producing smoke. Most people prefer to use a charcoal-based grill or smoker because it’s a convenient and easiest way for smoking a turkey.

If you’d prefer to use your charcoal smoker, you should consider choosing the natural chunk of charcoal. Not only it does appear to burn longer than the alternative, but charcoal briquettes contain starches and wood by-products that cause pungency and generate less smoke. It is effective for improving the taste of the meat in such a way that the natural charcoal does not.

You can use a propane smoker, but it’s a little complex than a charcoal smoker. For this process, wood chips must be used instead of wood chunks. And the wood should not be drained by water before smoking a gas grill.

To smoke using a propane grill, you must kindle the wood chips first. Place the wood chips in the aluminum tray and ignite them enough to smoke the wood chips. Put the tray under the grates, including the burning wood chips, which is important for the smoke to collect below the meat until the smokes rotate inside the grill. Finally, when you smoke a turkey, it's necessary to lower the temperature to prevent the turkey from drying out. Turkey contains less fat than other forms of meat, so it must be handled with special care. The optimal smoking temperature should be closer to 225 degrees Fahrenheit.

Where Can I Buy Wood Chips for Smoking Turkey?

You can buy the best wood for smoking turkey on Amazon. All you need is a cell phone and a stable internet connection, then you can order wood chips anytime you want. Just visit the website, pick your preferable wood chips from the menu, and click the add to cart button. It’s that simple. Amazon will ship your wood chips immediately and it will be delivered to your house within a week if you’re in the US state. But if you live outside of the country, your delivery could take up to a couple of weeks to reach your home.

Now, if you want to buy the best wood for smoked turkey in the store, you can find it in the grocery and hardware stores. They have a wide supply of flavored wood chips throughout the region for you to choose from. But before getting your wood chips, always check the packaging if there’s a torn part in the package. Second, check whether the size of the wood chip has equal cuts or not. Lastly, you should also consider checking if the wood has bark on it. If you find that the package on the wood chips seems to be neat and tidy, without any bark, that’s the time you buy the wood chips.

Wood chips can go bad if they’re not properly taken care by the storekeepers. If the wood chips which you have purchased have gone bad, it can create a bitter taste for the turkey. if your wood chips have molded or you think it’s poor quality, it’s better to throw it away.

Conclusion:

Mild flavored wood is the best wood for smoked turkey. This wood gives the sweet fruity flavor while preserving the natural taste of the meat. Unlike other stronger flavored woods, it can easily overshadow the taste of meat. But you can control the smoke flavor by mixing hickory with any fruit flavored woods to produce a desirable turkey flavor. Make sure you don’t have to soak it or keep the bark if you’re using a wood chip.

Smoking a turkey is different from smoking other forms of meat. Because the turkey consists of lesser fat content, the meat can easily dry out when smoking. It requires special care for smoking a turkey, not only focuses on the temperature of the smoker, but the other factors which contribute to the tasty flavor of the turkey such as type of grill, the cooking time, choosing the best wood for smoked turkey, and its combination for producing the flavor you want to achieve for smoking a turkey.

For our next article, we will be discussing the best wood for smoking ribs. Ribs have denser meat than turkey meat. There are preparations you need to know to grab the satisfying taste of the smoked ribs.

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austinpanda · 4 years

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Dad Letter 041220

12 April, 2020

Dear Dad--

Elaine is breaking the Three Commandments about marijuana edibles, which are:

1. If thou don’t feel anything yet, thou hast not waited long enough. Be thou patient.

2. No, eat thou NOT another day’s worth. Thou hast not waited long enough. Edibles take forever. Thou should really trust Me on this.

3. Oh God, eat thou NOT a THIRD day’s dose. Art thou crazy? That will turn thee into a zombie.

This is why I prefer smoking the shit. If you eat it, you have to wait for the time it takes your body to digest it. Then it enters the bloodstream and can make it to the brain. If you smoke it, it just goes through the lungs into the bloodstream immediately. The trade-off is that smoking is bad for you, so some would rather eat the stuff. Those who do must be patient while it works. I am checking the internet to see how long it takes when you eat it, and the internet says: 30 to 60 minutes, but stuff that you don’t actually swallow (candy, lozenges, gum, lollipops) can work faster because it’s absorbed through the mucous membranes in the mouth.

**Just saw your last email...jeez, if Elaine does more than 2-3 candies a day, everything over that is just going to waste, and may cause zombie-like side effects. I know this is contrary to the nature of a Weidmann, (even a Weidmann by marriage) but if she can just kinda slightly modify her intake downward, in a “lesser” kind of direction, it might be a bit more economically responsible.

As for the container that you hid, and can no longer find, I’m not sure that counts as a blackout. I think it’s more accurate to call it a stupidout. Marijuana affects the memory! That doesn’t mean you’re going to smoke some, and immediately forget how to play the violin, but you may be more likely than usual to walk into a room and forget why you went there, e.g., or you might hide something somewhere and forget where you hid it. I can only think of two solutions if you lost something: first, concentrate and try to think where stoned, last-night Dad might have hidden something from Elaine, but not from non-stoned, current-day Dad. Second: whenever I hide something, I try to hide it in a place where I know it’ll eventually be discovered anyway, so it doesn’t stay hidden for very long. Yesterday’s pants is a popular place to find such things, or the fridge, or under a cushion with (presumably) all your guns! :)

Hope your experiments with pot are producing more positive results! Zach and I have been smoking a variety called Afghani CNC. (The names are always silly.) And we know from experience that the letters always stand for something. Once we got some called ‘ECAD,’ which turned out to mean East Coast Awesome Dawg. (Did I mention that the names are always silly?) And I never found out what the ‘CNC’ stood for in Afghani CNC, so Zach and I have made up our own names. Zach calls it Afghani Chicken Not Chicken, and I call it Afghani CNC Music Factory (which was a music group, who did the song Gonna Make You Sweat, which is a song that you’ve heard, even if you don’t know you’ve heard it). When I went to Green Alien Cannabis in Bangor yesterday, I learned that it stands for Afghani Cookies ‘N’ Cream. (Of course it does.) The two kinds I got yesterday were Purple Punch and Gorilla Glue #4.

We finally got the big snow we wanted! It still wasn’t that big. We got about a foot of snow over about 24 hours. We lost power four times, and the last time we lost power, it stayed off for six hours! Six hours is more than enough time for the temperature inside the house to drop below 50, which makes life boring. No TV, no cooking, no computers, no movies. All we have to entertain ourselves are our phones, a radio, our iPods, tons of crafting supplies, the cat, my nice camera, a couple hundred books...okay, actually we should have plenty to do during the times of no electricity. Mostly it sucks because it gets cold and the only answer to that is adding another layer of clothing, which is a solution that can only be implemented but a small number of times, before one becomes a giant puffy starfish that can’t walk or use its arms. Thankfully, the power came back by about noon. We had both begun to nap out of boredom, when I was awakened by the sound of the heater firing up.

All the heavy, wet snow had brought down power lines everywhere. Also, during the night, a tall tree near our trailer fell over. Zach heard it at about 3:00 a.m., but didn’t recognize what the sound was, because he thought it was another enormous electrical POP, like the one that caused our two-day power outage last year. It wasn’t until morning that we looked outside and said, “Hey, look how much snow is on the trees! Look how low the limbs are hanging because of all the snow! Hey, look how much of that tree is on the ground! Hey, look, the whole tree is intact, plus its giant root ball, it’s just on its side because it fell over and tore itself out of the ground! Hey, another tree came down the same way just behind it! Hey, that could have hit Clint’s trailer!” Clint is our fascinating next-door neighbor.

So we didn’t get hit by a snow-laden tree in the middle of the night, for which I am newly grateful. I texted Clint to let him know it was his lucky day, a tree quite close to his trailer had fallen completely to the ground, on top of a little boat in the neighbor’s yard, but seems to have gone out of its way to avoid Clint’s trailer. The power outage was so severe, we lost about half our radio stations for a day or so. The McDonald’s across from our trailer is still closed today, some two days later. People were lining up around the building and onto the street to get into Dunkin’ Donuts for some coffee when this happened on Friday morning. Dunkin’ didn’t have hot coffee when I went there, but they were still able to sell donuts. Now that the snow disaster is over and it’s had a couple of days to melt, we can get back to being hyper-vigilant about washing everything we own, everything we buy, and everything that gets delivered with Clorox wipes to avoid the plague.

The coronavirus news is scary! I hope you’re doing all the stuff you’re supposed to do, like staying at home and avoiding gatherings and going out only to obtain needed things like groceries, medication, or ah, “medication.”

I should also admit, to my eternal shame, that I’m growing fond of the musical Cats (2019). It is a bad movie. It’s a terrible, creepy, headache-inducing amalgam of computer generated imagery and bad directoral choices. But the music gets stuck in your head! So you play the movie again, and try not to look, and then you DO look, perhaps by accident, and there’s Dame Judi fuckin’ Dench (M in the newer James Bond movies!) in a cat suit, lifting her leg to appear cat-like and saucy. It’s just horrible, start to finish. One of the lyrics is, “Cats are not dogs.” Judi Dench sings this while staring straight into the camera. Critics who sat through early screenings of the film referred to themselves as, “survivors.” Of note: all the characters are a blend of actors in furry makeup, and CGI, like moving CGI cat ears and cat tails. It leaked online that someone had to go in after the movie was done and remove all the cat buttholes. This carried with it two glorious implications; one, that they spent the time and money to give the cat actors buttholes to begin with, and second, that somewhere out there, is a finished version of the movie with the buttholes still in. Some have already made it a godly quest to find this so-called Butthole Edition and share it with the world.

So...stay safe, and I’ll have more movie/other news in a week. All my love to you both!

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ecotone99 · 4 years

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[SF] 792

The machine slowly hums its digital tune as I drunkenly slide myself between its bed and lid, setting myself prostrate on the cold fiberglass. I reach for the bundle of probes and cords and slowly, carefully, begin attaching them to the necessary points on my body. Neck, breast, stomach, arm. Neck, breast, stomach, arm. This is the seven hundred ninety-second time. The tremor in my hands attempts to fight back, screams at me to give up, but this is all I want. With the external links attached, I reach for the coffin-like lid of the memory bed and pull it down. There’s only enough room to awkwardly shift my arms from my sides to above my head, pulling the full-face visor down over myself. I breathe in deeply, breath out, prepare myself to see her again. “Begin simulation.” The whir of the instruments transition from humming to a room-filling sequence of vibrations, swishes, and jarring voltaic clunks, the inner workings of the machine banging against each other and transmitting millions of packets of data in seconds. It’s enough to make me nauseous, but I slowly inhale and exhale through my nose, softly as possible, straining to not vomit all over the visor. Finally, the machine simmers down. A female voice comes to life from the machinery below me. “Initializing.” The machine takes over. I feel my essence sucked into the virtual space of the apparatus, my mind being sponged up by the apparatus like a garden hose absorbing a cracked sidewalk’s pond. As swiftly as it starts, it is over. Here I go into the past. I open my eyes to the tightly knit log walls of a cabin, my hands on the armrests of a woodgrain cedar chair. The same components of the same log cabin. I gloss over the vintage wood stove, the contrasting steel refrigerator, the metal tool chest, and the dining table right beside me with the same polished cedar finish and three other chairs. The bed. She’s resting in it. I lift my hands inch by inch, adapting to my current reality. Sudden moves might disorient me. I gently bring myself to my feet, the chair creaking underneath my arms’ weight. The taxidermied black bear rug rustles underneath my leather boots. I’m oriented now. I can’t feel the bottle of hundred-proof whiskey I consumed in that other world. This is reality. I make my way to the bedside and gently press her shoulder. She inhales first, that light wisp of air being sucked between her full lips, then she rolls over. Her amber eyes flutter open, taking the ceiling in, taking me in. She grins. “Good morning, love.” I muster a half-smile and reply back. “Good morning, Rachel.” She stretches, her thin arms extending out until they bump against the wall behind the bed, her long legs tapping the golden lattice rising just over the edge of the bed’s end. I brush aside her wild hair with my hand so I can admire her face without barriers. The auburn strands, smooth as Mulberry silk, fall away easily. She’s still grinning. I mentally prepare the question. “Were you thinking pancakes today?” The same question. The same meal. The same cabin. Seven hundred ninety-two times. This one shall be no different. “Of course, but don’t forget the butter!” A slight giggle emits from her slightly agape mouth. The same request for butter. I nod and return the smile. Relief takes over. She’s here. She’s back. I make my way to the stove, cranking a knob and adorning a burner ring with a cast-iron skillet. I go through the checklist in my mind: mix the batter, retrieve the syrup and butter, flip at the correct time. The plodding of batter onto the skillet produces a puff of vapor and a crackling sizz. I turn my head in Rachel’s direction and speak. “So i was thinking we could sit on the pier and dip our feet in the lake after breakfast?” She sighs sarcastically. “You and that lake.” Rackel sits up and sets her miniscule, elegantly curved feet on the chilled wooden floor. “Of course we can, love. I was thinking of doing it later in the day, but it’s no problem. Whatever you want.” A single tear wells up in my eye. She lives to make me happy. The same eagerness. I finish the first flapjack and deposit it onto a pinewood plate, butter already melted and spread on top. I throw the second batch of batter into the pan and drizzle maple syrup on the first. “You know you want it too. The sun’s barely over the mountain. I never get tired of it.” I look out the window over the stove to the distant snowy crest of the single mountain present around the perimeter of Lake, barely visible over the vast expanse of the waters. A fiery orange ball rests just above the peak. The same sunrise. The second pancake is done. I continue my handiwork at the stove while Rachel slips out of her little white nightgown and into one of my plain T-shirts, adorably oversized on her form. I look down and see I’m wearing the same dark denim jeans and white tee. Her voice, almost as small as her form, flickers through the air like a low candle. “You don’t have to cook, you know. That’s what I’m here for. I can make dinner tonight. Steak and potatoes?” I wince and my mouth contorts. There never was a “tonight”. The hope and expectation in her words tear at the immersiveness of the simulation. I feel my skull throbbing, threatening to reel me back into that lesser reality. I compose myself, concentrate on my cooking, and clear my throat. “That sounds incredible, darling.” The same fucking lie. Second flapjack finished. Starting on the third. I jolt ever so slightly as Rachel’s hand rests smoothly on my shoulder. She doesn’t acknowledge the movement. Her touch shifts into a hug from behind, her arms resting on my chest, my hands holding the skillet and spatula. This is all I need. I can feel the warm breath on my shoulder and the strands of lengthy hair tickling my skin just below the tee’s sleeve cutoff. The same embrace. Another two pancakes come and go, and my work is finished. No, not work. Not a chore. This is a privilege. This is what should have been. Seven hundred ninety-two times I have prepared this meal, in this cabin, in this reality. It didn’t happen in that other world. Rachel cooked the pancakes. Rachel suggested the lake. Rachel suggested I don’t bring beer to the pier. I didn’t listen. I snap back to the moment. This is reality. I grab up the pinewood plates and serve breakfast atop the dining table. We sit and eat, Rachel with her hand on mine while she deftly cuts into her food and carefully chews. When she isn’t focused on her food, she’s burning into me with those amber eyes. A flame of affection. A beautiful burn. We finish, scrub the plates and utensils clean, and grab a cotton comforter and sweaters from the closet. I follow Rachel outside and breathe in the frigid morning air. It shocks my lungs only for a second, a stark contrast from the toasty cabin atmosphere heated by a rustic fireplace. I adjust to the temperature and we begin the walk to the pier. The late autumn leaves crunch under our feet and a rustling storm of red, yellow and brown barrels along the frozen grass. The branches of fir trees shake to the serenity of the breeze on either side of the gravel path we tread. The sun has inched its way higher into the cloudless light-tinged sky. We arrive at the pier after the short walk and spread the blanket on the moist wooden platform near the edge of the water. I sit first, then Rachel sits next to me and leans her body into my neck, laying on my shoulder. We breathe in the fresh dawn draft, no longer a shock. The surface of the lake ripples, ten thousand little waves of nature. This is my favorite. “Let’s never go back.” Rachel arches her neck a little to look into my eyes. “We can bring David here and settle down. Let’s do this for the rest of our lives.” I freeze up, fighting back another wince. I wish we could. This is all I want. “You know we can’t do that. David has school and I have to work. We’re not prepared to live off the land. But we can come here every month, if only for a weekend. It’ll always be refreshing.” Rachel tilts her head back down and lets go a sigh. “I know, love.” She rubs her hand on my knee, her bony fingers tracing imaginary shapes on the denim. I want this forever, but I can’t have it. Rachel looks me in the eye again and smiles before leaning in for a kiss. Her lips still tingle with the taste of maple, and I inhale the aroma. She emanates the scents of faint lavender and lilac. A noisy burst of static cracks the calm silence. I pull away from Rachel and look at her. A gash of white noise runs from the center of her forehead, over her eye and down to her left cheekbone. An impossible patch of skin has been replaced by a horrific anomaly. This is not the same. She’s frowning, quivering like the cold air is bothering her. She tries speaking, tries opening her mouth, but only a jumbled, incoherent array of hissing and popping escaped her mouth. The same anomalous static emanates from her mouth, resembling a jack-o-lantern with an electrical candle burning inside. I can’t move. I can only stare, a pit in my stomach dropping like an anchor from a sailboat, bringing me down into the depths of hell. Finally, instinct takes over me. I grab for her shoulders and start shaking, start screaming. “Rachel!” That is all that I can do. All that I can say. I shout her name, shaking her lightly, causing more shards of her digital skin to slip away. Her right cheekbones peels off, more white light beneath. Her other eye falls away, leaving a sightless vessel, mouth still moving, still spewing unintelligible, machine-like, guttural moans. I can’t stand the sight anymore. She’s slipping away. I reach in for a hug, but the second my body starts moving towards her, the ground and sky and love of my life fall away, warping inward, into a singular point in the center of the sun. All is black. My eyes are open, but I am enveloped by pitch. The humming sound of the memory bed is audible, but it is faltering. Sputtering. I come to my senses and realize I’m back in the room. Back in the other reality. This has never happened. Not once in seven hundred ninety-two times. I bolt up primally, instinctively, smashing the face of my visor against the roof of the bed. Pain shoots through my skull, dulled by the whiskey still pulsing in my veins. Then the roof opens to the light. My son is standing over me, the central power cord dangling in his clenched fist. “You promised me.” His eyes are puffy, his cheeks still wet. His lip is pulled upward, his mouth showing disdain, his eyes showing sadness. I take the visor off and continue to stare at him in disbelief. “What did you do, David?” He drops the cord and takes methodical, calculated steps backward. “You know what I did, Dad. I pulled the plug. That goddamn machine isn’t real. It’s not mom in there. You told me you wouldn’t do it again. Losing your job, getting drunk off your ass, being all miserable and coming in here so many times every day to lie to yourself. You sat at mom’s grave and promised me. You’re disgusting.” He’s shaking his head. He should be angry- he’s right. Rachel is gone. David continues on, shaking with rage. “What’s more is, I know you did it. The cops talked to me the night it happened. I’ve been sitting in my room, waiting for you to get better, Dad. I’ve waited so many months. At first, I didn’t blame you. I thought maybe they were wrong. Maybe you didn’t drink too much. Maybe it was the other driver’s fault. But look at how guilty you are. You can’t forgive yourself. You crashed and you killed mom, Dad. It’s your fault.” I shake my head. He’s… right. But still, I shake my head. I didn’t want him to know. I was too slow. Driving home from the cabin that day, I had drifted into the other lane, my reflexes numbed by the alcohol, and before I could seize the wheel and save her, the entire world had gone dark. I woke up in an ambulance and the paramedics told me. Rachel was dead, and her blood was on my hands. “David, please.” “I’m fucking done with you, Dad.” He turns and walks out of the room. The machine is silent. The room is silent. I can only hear my labored breathing and my thoughts. Seven hundred ninety-two times, I told myself a lie. I would never go back. I would face the true reality. But what remained of Rachel was always there, waiting for me, excited for breakfast and the sunlit morning on the pier. The other her. She’ll always be alive in my memory. I cannot accept the truth.

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mgjansen81 · 6 years

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The Sneaky Ways Winter Weather Ruins Your Baking

New Post has been published on https://makesomethingtasty.com/the-sneaky-ways-winter-weather-ruins-your-baking/

The Sneaky Ways Winter Weather Ruins Your Baking

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[Photographs: Vicky Wasik]

Most bakers know that a sweltering summer kitchen can wreak havoc on a recipe, but a lesser-known truth is that chilly winter kitchens can cause just as much trouble—albeit of a different sort. When kitchen temperatures dip below 70°F (21°C), pie and cookie doughs can end up dry and crumbly, layer cakes can dome and turn out riddled with tunnels and holes, buttercreams can curdle, and breads can refuse to rise.

Those issues can manifest in subtle ways when it’s only 68°F—so subtle that you may simply write them off as a fluke—but they’ll grow more extreme as the temperature drops. It’s not just that there’s a chill in the air; it’s that any given thermostat setting represents the temperature of our pantry staples and equipment, like flour, sugar, and mixing bowls.

That’s why cranking up the heat or firing up the oven isn’t a solution. The air temperature may suddenly warm to a toasty 72°F, but deep in your pantry, that bag of flour will still be 65°F (or whatever the case may be). Fortunately, you can sidestep these problems altogether if you know which techniques they’re likely to affect.

Creaming Method

Many cake and cookie recipes will call for creaming the butter and sugar until “fluffy and light.” The creaming process will take much longer than indicated when you’re working with chilly ingredients and equipment, so abandon any estimated timetable and stick to the visual cues. Give it time for the butter and sugar to soften and aerate—otherwise, even a simple coffee cake can wind up dense and gummy along the bottom, or else pocked with holes.

If a kitchen is truly cold, below 65°F (18°C), the process will likely stall out, leaving the butter and sugar smeared around the bowl as a thick, heavy paste that will refuse to budge. In that case, I’ll break out my culinary torch to hit the mixing bowl with a gentle flame (three cheers for stainless steel!) to help loosen the butter. If you don’t have one, grab a hair dryer, or set the bowl over a steaming water bath for just a few seconds to soften, not melt, the butter.

Alternatively, warming the sugar to about 70°F before creaming can help mimic the conditions of a more temperate kitchen. Simply pop a dish of sugar into a low oven for a minute or two, and let it cool down if you overshoot that target temperature. And if you happen to forget about it, don’t worry—that’s how I “invented” toasted sugar.

Emulsifying Eggs

In the realm of baking, most recipes call for “room-temperature” eggs, but the dirty secret of recipe development is that “room temperature” usually means 70°F. So, regardless of the actual temperature in your kitchen, that’s the temperature you should aim for when warming up the eggs. In a bowl of hot tap water (say, 110°F/43°C), it will take about three minutes to warm up as many eggs.

Many of my cookie recipes (such as my old-fashioned chocolate chip cookies) may call for eggs “straight from the fridge” as a method of controlling dough temperature to keep things cool. Of course, that’s not necessary in a cold environment, so consider warming the eggs to 70°F if you need help offsetting the effects of adding cold ingredients, like flour and chocolate, later on.

Kneading Pastry

It’s tempting to think that a pie dough needs more water when it feels stiff, crumbly, and dry in winter months. But when you’re dealing with problems caused by environmental conditions, altering the formula won’t address the underlying issue; it’ll only create new problems. In pie dough, for example, more water means more gluten development, and that makes pie doughs tough and prone to shrinking as they bake. So please, don’t adjust the recipe—adjust the dough temperature.

This can be done by simply using 70°F water instead of the cold water most recipes call for. If it’s really frigid in your kitchen, warming the flour to about 70°F can help, too—toss it in a low oven, and let it cool down if you overshoot that goal. The ideal working temperature for pie dough is about 68°F (20°C), so the combination of tepid flour and cold butter should average right out. If the deed is already done, and you’re stuck with a cold dough that cracks and crumbles when rolled, let it sit in a slightly warm environment until it reaches about 68°F, then try again.

Whipping Buttercream

Whether you’re making a classic Swiss meringue buttercream or the custard-based cream cheese buttercream from my book, a cold buttercream is a curdled buttercream. Even when they don’t look like cottage cheese, cold buttercreams have a greasy mouthfeel, and their stiff consistency makes them difficult to spread over a cake.

If that happens to you, place the bowl of buttercream over a steaming water bath until it starts to melt around the edges, then return it to the stand mixer and whip until smooth. This can be repeated as needed to achieve a perfectly smooth, silky-soft consistency.

Proofing Bread

Most recipes for yeast-raised breads include details for creating the ideal proofing environment, but many others call for proofing the bread at room temperature. When that falls well below 70°F, the dough will take much longer to rise, which is fine by me. My preference is to go with the flow and pay closer attention to a recipe’s visual cues, such as when my cinnamon roll dough rises until it’s light enough to retain a shallow impression when gently poked.

If you’d like to speed things up in a yeast-raised dough, try bringing the flour to about 70°F before getting started. Warmer liquids can help, too, but that can be a riskier move, as it has the potential to harm the yeast. Otherwise, your best bet is to create a warmer environment for the dough. My favorite trick is to microwave a mug of water until it’s boiling-hot, then turn off the microwave and pop in the bowl of dough, essentially turning the microwave itself into a cheater’s proof box.

With any of these steps, the goal is not to get things hot but to more closely mimic the conditions of a 70°F environment, so restraint is key. Since the underlying problem is a baking environment that’s just a little chilly, there’s no need to go to extremes. A gentle nudge by a few degrees in the right direction is all we need to conquer the cold.

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cookingawe · 6 years

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The Sneaky Ways Winter Weather Ruins Your Baking

New Post has been published on http://cookingawe.com/the-sneaky-ways-winter-weather-ruins-your-baking/

The Sneaky Ways Winter Weather Ruins Your Baking

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[Photographs: Vicky Wasik]

Creaming Method

Emulsifying Eggs

Kneading Pastry

Whipping Buttercream

Proofing Bread

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