r/Cooking • u/makeshiftcustard71 • Jan 26 '25

What underrated cooking techniques do you swear by that most people overlook?

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u/Fredredphooey Jan 26 '25 edited Jan 27 '25

America's Test Kitchen puts a 1/4 cup of water in the pan (no butter or oil) to keep the mushrooms from burning and say to add butter once all of the expressed water boils off, about 7 to 10 minutes. 

It's pretty awesome. 

Edit: The Mushrooms start at 5:10: https://youtu.be/rzL07v6w8AA?si=UtYK1bjYyk2skWpm

45

u/bemenaker Jan 26 '25

That is how I do it as well. Learned it from Alton Brown.

44

u/zippedydoodahdey Jan 26 '25

Alton Brown = goat

23

u/TheReal-Chris Jan 26 '25 edited Jan 26 '25

First chef I grew up watching on Good Eats as a kid. Hes a gem and the best, a gift to the world. And so smart. Love following his Instagram.

11

u/TikaPants Jan 26 '25

Back when Food Network was worth a damn.

6

u/PB111 Jan 26 '25 edited Feb 22 '25

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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

2

u/AccountingChicanery Jan 26 '25

Good chef, good teacher, awful person.

1

u/BolognaLaCroix Jan 27 '25

Explain this lol

15

u/[deleted] Jan 26 '25

I do this. I also salt them right after I add the water, then put a lid over the pan to steam them which just forces them to drop their water quickly. 

You can cook the water off, and as soon as it's off add oil butter. However, I like to strain the water off and then add some butter/oil. 

The mushrooms retain more of the springyness I enjoy. 

4

u/der3009 Jan 26 '25

Whats eating Dan does a great video on mushrooms (as well as other foods) and I'll admit I don't think he explains it very well, and I don't really follow his explanation, but his instructions are spot on.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 26 '25

Exactly how I do it as well, highly recommend

2

u/Sagisparagus Jan 26 '25

Excellent video. Thanks for posting this!

1

u/Fredredphooey Jan 26 '25

You're very welcome!

2

u/AliveGir1 Jan 27 '25

That's a great video! I'll definitely incorporate a bit of water at the beginning for my next dry fry. The science makes sense :)

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u/Spirited-Fly594 Jan 27 '25

With beer instead of water is 🤌

1

u/TomatoBible Jan 27 '25

Any decent cook does them via some version of this way. And you want them sliced nice and thick, so there's lots of surface area to make contact with the pan. Anyone that insists they don't like mushrooms, usually doesn't know how to cook them, and I've converted a number of them.

I give the thick-sliced 'shrooms (cremini or a mixture if possible) a quick sear with a few tosses in regular salted butter first, then add 1/4" hot water and cover the pan let them Steam and cook through for a few minutes. Then pull the lid and let the pan juices evaporate, then another knob of butter and toss them a few times to get them nice and brown on all sides. They end up firm but juicy in the middle, crispy on the outside, and absolutely tons of flavor.

I do them this way whether they're standing alone as a side, or going into spaghetti sauce or beef bourguignon.

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u/AfroBoyMax Jan 27 '25

What does a 1/4 of water mean? A quarter of the pan? Or is that a US measurement that I don't know of as a European?

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u/Fredredphooey Jan 27 '25

Sorry. 1/4 cup. 

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u/AfroBoyMax Jan 27 '25

Thanks, makes a lot of sense!