i follow quite a few cooks and bakers that write for nyt and have only ever tried the recipes they themselves share via the gift links, and i’ve loved them!

i hesitate to get the subscription though because it is quite pricey. i don’t mind it if it’s something worth the payment, so i want to hear some first hand experiences with the paid subscription and any opinions or insights you might have on it :)

sorry if this is the wrong sub, idk where i’d post this to otherwise lol

beginner cook and i genuinely don’t understand people who just go “add salt to taste” 😭

TO TASTE WHAT?? i don’t know how much it needs, that’s why i’m reading the recipe

same with people casually throwing spices into a pan without measuring and somehow knowing it’ll taste good

is this genuinely something you eventually develop a feel for? or are experienced cooks just making educated guesses and pretending it’s instinct lol

would love to know how you actually learned

Is there any nutritional advantage to using raw sugar vs. white sugar? Is one less bad for you than the other? I use sugar so rarely that I literally don't know a lot about it.

Does it matter for baking which sugar I use? I don't make anything fancy. Things like blueberry cornbread or brownies for the neighbor kids.

TIA!

I’m looking for a chart that shows the range of internal temps for meat. The range I’m looking for is from safe to overdone. For example, sausage is at least 160F but at what temperature is it getting overcooked by? Is the aim to be within a degree or two of the minimum or can it be taken tens of degrees higher? I assume it differs for different meats? A chart to quick reference as needed would be super helpful. TIA!

Edit: lol I know there are a thousand different charts for minimum safe temperature and I understand the maximum will vary depending on preference and cut of meat. I’m looking for something that I can use as a general guide to jog my memory and use as support with additional cooking knowledge to make decisions off of.

Thank you to those who are genuinely trying to answer. I thought this sub was for beginners, my bad 😮‍💨

For starters I'm Brazilian, so I don't even know if canned is the right word here.

I really wanted to try mushrooms - any kind, in any recipe - and I recently found that a store near me sells "cogumelo em conserva" (which the translator is calling canned mushrooms) for pretty cheap, and I don't know if it's worth buying or not. Any recipes I search for ask specifically for fresh mushrooms, so I don't really know what to even do with them and don't want to waste money. Does anyone have any tips on what to do with them?

I don't get stove settings. Everything else in a recipe have actual measurements but not the stove.

For instance, I read that I should set the burner to med high to cook a burger. So i guess that's 6.5? but that seems too high.

So searching came up with 350 for an electric skillet. Using my cast iron skillet and a laser thermometer, I found 350 to 400 is just below 3.

So is it med high or 350?

I want to lower my sodium intake so I want to start spicing my food. The problem is I have no idea what spice tastes good on which foods and I don’t know how much to use either. Can someone give me some rules of thumb that you can follow while spicing different kinds of food?

Hey yall i was just looking for some pointers on my onion cutting skills. from what i read and have practiced i’m cutting with the hand “claw” method and keep the root intact when i dice but the onion stays together in videos i watch and when i do it the sides flay out and other pieces of the onion fall off. am i using the wrong technique or too much force?

any advice would be awesome! thanks!

https://postimg.cc/gallery/XFfs1qj

When baking, is there a difference between using brown sugar crystals vs. regular brown sugar?

TIA

First things first, I'm a genuine noob when it comes to cooking, like I can just about fry eggs. I'm trying to learn how to cook and came across this sub. I've never cooked beef before.

I've got:

• Super lean ground beef (pretty sure it's 5% fat)
• Seasonings are salt, black pepper, and paprika
• I've got both non-stick and stainless steel pans
• Will be using avocado oil

Could someone explain to me step by step, including timings of things like how long to preheat the pan, for how I should cook this? I just want to have it with rice.

Also, could you include order of steps please? Like when it comes to adding in oil, I've seen some people say to heat the pan dry first then add oil, but I've also seen others say to add in the oil and let it heat up together with the pan. Same with seasonings, I've seen some say to season the beef before cooking, but also have heard others say to let the beef brown in the pan and then season.

I know that this is probably extremely simple for you guys and that I'm overthinking it, but there's a lot of conflicting info online 😭

i made some pasta with tomato pulp and i forgot to buy cheese... does anyone have some recomendations to add with the sauce becaus this is kind of boring.. maybe some meat or smt i got chiken and elk in the freezer also got some vegetables and stuff

I work in kitchen 4 months. When i start i dont know anything, but i want to learn bcs i like this job. I start in cold kitchen with salads and after 10-15 days i've been removed to dishes for almost 4 months but when i have time i always go to cold and hot kitchen to help someone about anything they need. And i learn a lot. So chef recognize that after for monts and tell me iv start doing breakfast in 2 weeks in HOT KITCHEN. Also say to me how times go i will do at lunch and dinner, but first i need to learn how to prepare everything for breakfast. So what u think about that, i want to hear oppinions from you guys, bcs i spent 4 months in kitchen and after 4 months i go to work in HOT KITCHEN. Ty so much for all answers.

This may be a very stupid question. I apologize in advance. My kiddo wanted homemade chipotles last night. So I made the chicken, rice, and their nacho sauce. I used probano, Serrano, chipotle peppers in abodo sauce. Among other ingredients. I didn’t use a lot of them but had to mince them up.
I never wore gloves but did wash my hands.

My hands were fine last night but today when I got in the shower my fingers felt weird against the hot water. It was like the hot water made my fingers feel cold but hot.

Now my fingers are still burning. It’s not painful but could this be from the peppers even if it was the next day or am I literally dying.

I'm testing an idea where I mix a few different grains (pearled barley, arborio and long grain rice) with couscous, vermicelli and orzo as a base, but they're almost all different cooking times. I plan on doing it where I toast, then cook in low sodium chicken stock. Here are my rookie questions:

Can I make them all at once, adding the quicker ones after certain amounts of time?

Or should I make them separately and mix later?

I want to make about a weeks worth (one a day) reheat and top with whatever I want that day. Sort of a half meal-prep kinda thing. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some realistic, low-prep lunch ideas that I can bring to work. I have a thermos for hot stuff and a box for sandwiches. But I got bored eating cheese and ham sandwiches every other day. I don't want to spend like 20 bucks every time i go out for lunch and I'm trying to save a little

I would prefer something with meat and can be made beforehand or something that can be made in like 10 mins before I leave home. I have an oven , microwave, and a pot

Beginner cook here and I've never handled chicken before because I've always been worried about cross contamination. I want to make pasta with chicken breast and I don't know how to deal with it. I only have one cutting board. Also, using tongs to transfer raw chicken to a hot pan to cook it... is that crazy? Am I going crazy? I'm just worried and new to this 😭 What about rubbing oil and spices on the chicken, is it okay if I wash my hands after that??

ETA: one wood cutting board

Ok so this is my third attempt this month.
I use canned chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, garlci, cumin, olive oil and salt. Blend everything in the food processor for like 5 minutes.

It comes out fine. Just fine. But its nowhere near that creamy smoth texture you get at a good hummus place, mine is always a bit grainy and heavy. I even tried adding ice water like some youtube video said and it helped a little but still not it.

What am I actually missing here? Is it the canned chickpeas? Some secret ingredient? A diffrent order of doing things? I refuse to believe those places have magic equipment, there has to be something simple im not getting

I see that google says ginger ale is a possible substitute, but we have sprite. Would it be too much sugar?

PLEASE advise on how to cook Alaskan Cod properly so it doesn't end up being rubbery.

5 spice blend is something like cinnamon, star anise, cloves, fennel seeds, and Sichuan pepper. Different brands have slightly different ingredients, but most are the same.

I wonder, how do you use Chinese five spice powder? What are your favorite applications?

The second question is what herbs, spices, and vegetables you mix in with this blend. For example, if you want to roast a chicken or braise pork with a five spice forward flavor, what would you add more of?

i just made some rice and chiken but i realised i ran out of sweet chili sauce. does anyone know an other sauce to make with ingredients from the fridge maybe or whatever to make my rice less dry
edit: jeez guys why is everyone calling me rude for just answering the coments

title, and it was slightly below room temp when I got back to it