Bacon
Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork. Bacon is prepared from several different cuts of meat from the pork belly or from back cuts, which have less fat than the belly, it is used as a minor ingredient to flavour dishes. Bacon is used for barding and larding roasts game, including venison and pheasant; the word is derived from the Old High German bacho, meaning "buttock", "ham" or "side of bacon", is cognate with the Old French bacon. Meat from other animals, such as beef, chicken, goat, or turkey, may be cut, cured, or otherwise prepared to resemble bacon, may be referred to as, for example, "turkey bacon"; such use is common in areas with significant Jewish and Muslim populations as both religions prohibit the consumption of pork. Vegetarian bacons such as "soy bacon" exist and attract vegetarians and vegans. Bacon is cured through either a process of injecting with or soaking in brine, known as wet curing, or using plain crystal salt, known as dry curing. Bacon brine has added curing ingredients, most notably sodium nitrite, which speed the curing and stabilize color.
Fresh bacon may be dried for weeks or months in cold air, or it may be smoked or boiled. Fresh and dried bacon are cooked before eating by pan frying. Boiled bacon is ready to eat, as is some smoked bacon. Differing flavours can be achieved by using various types of wood, or less common fuels such as corn cobs or peat; this process can take up to eighteen hours, depending on the intensity of the flavour desired. The Virginia Housewife, thought to be one of the earliest American cookbooks, gives no indication that bacon is not smoked, though it gives no advice on flavouring, noting only that care should be taken lest the fire get too hot. In early American history, the curing and smoking of bacon seems to have been one of the few food-preparation processes not divided by gender. Bacon is distinguished from other salt-cured pork by differences in the cuts of meat used and in the brine or dry packing; the terms "ham" and "bacon" referred to different cuts of meat that were brined or packed identically together in the same barrel.
Today, ham is defined as coming from the hind portion of the pig and brine for curing ham includes a greater amount of sugar, while bacon is less sweet, though ingredients such as brown sugar or maple syrup are used for flavor. Bacon is similar to salt pork, which in modern times is prepared from similar cuts, but salt pork is never smoked, has a much higher salt content. For safety, bacon may be treated to prevent trichinosis, caused by Trichinella, a parasitic roundworm which can be destroyed by heating, drying, or smoking. Sodium polyphosphates, such as sodium triphosphate, may be added to make the product easier to slice and to reduce spattering when the bacon is pan-fried. Varieties differ depending on the primal cut. Different cuts of pork are used for making bacon depending on local preferences. Side bacon, or streaky bacon, comes from the pork belly, it has long alternating layers of muscle running parallel to the rind. This is the most common form of bacon in the United States. Pancetta is an Italian form of side bacon, sold unsmoked.
It is rolled up into cylinders after curing, is known for having a strong flavour. Back bacon contains meat from the loin in the middle of the back of the pig, it is a leaner cut, with less fat compared to side bacon. Most bacon consumed in the United Kingdom and Ireland is back bacon. Collar bacon is taken from the back of a pig near the head. Cottage bacon is made from the lean meat from a boneless pork shoulder, tied into an oval shape. Jowl bacon is smoked cheeks of pork. Guanciale is an Italian jowl bacon, seasoned and dry cured but not smoked; the inclusion of skin with a cut of bacon, known as the'bacon rind', though is less common in the English-speaking world. Bacon is served with eggs and sausages as part of a full breakfast; the most common form sold is middle bacon, which includes some of the streaky, fatty section of side bacon along with a portion of the loin of back bacon. In response to increasing consumer diet-consciousness, some supermarkets offer the loin section only; this is sold as short cut bacon and is priced higher than middle bacon.
Both varieties are available with the rind removed. In Canada, the term bacon on its own refers to side bacon. Canadian-style back bacon is a lean cut from the eye of the pork loin with little surrounding fat. Peameal bacon is an unsmoked back bacon, coated in fine-ground cornmeal. Bacon is eaten in breakfasts, such as with cooked eggs or pancakes. Maple syrup is used as a flavouring while curing bacon in Canada; some of the meanings of bacon overlap with the German-language term Speck. Germans use the term bacon explicitly for Frühstücksspeck which are smoked pork slices. Traditional German cold cuts favor ham over bacon, however "Wammerl" remains popular in Bavaria. Small bacon cubes have been a rather important ingredient of various southern German dishes, they are used for adding flavor to soups and salads and for speck dumplings and various noodle and potato dishes. Instead of preparing them at home from larger slices, they have been sold ready made as convenience foods as "B
Toast
Toast is a form of bread, browned by exposure to radiant heat. This browning is the result of a Maillard reaction altering the flavor of the bread and making it firmer so that it is easier to spread toppings on it. Toasting is a common method of making stale bread more palatable. Bread is toasted using a toaster, but toaster ovens are used. Though many types of bread can be toasted the most used is "sliced bread", referring to bread, sliced and bagged upon purchase and may be white, multigrain, etc. Toast is eaten with butter or margarine, sweetened toppings, such as jam or jelly. Regionally, savory spreads, such as peanut butter or yeast extracts, may be popular; when buttered, toast may be served as an accompaniment to savory dishes soups or stews, or topped with heartier ingredients like eggs or baked beans as a light meal. Toast is a common breakfast food. While slices of bread are most common and English muffins are toasted. Scientific studies in the early 2000s found that toast may contain carcinogens caused by the browning process.
The word "toast", which means "sliced bread singed by heat", derives from the Latin torrere, "to burn". The first reference to toast in print is in a recipe for Oyle Soppys that dates from 1430. In the 1400s and 1500s, toast was eaten after it was used as a flavoring for drinks. In the 1600s, toast was still thought of as something to be put into drinks. In his 1602 play The Merry Wives of Windsor, Shakespeare gives Falstaff the line: "Go fetch me a quart of sack. By the 1700s, there were references to "toast" as a gesture that indicates sexual attraction for a person: "Ay, Madam, it has been your Life's whole Pride of late to be the Common Toast of every Publick Table." Toast has been used as an element of American haute cuisine since at least the 1850s. In a modern home kitchen, the usual method of toasting bread is by the use of a toaster, an electrical appliance made for that purpose. To use a modern toaster, sliced bread is placed into the narrow slots on the top of the toaster, the toaster is tuned to the correct setting and a lever on the front or side is pushed down.
The toast is ready. If the bread is insufficiently toasted, the lever can be pressed down again. Bread toasted in a conventional toaster can "sweat"; this occurs because moisture in the bread becomes steam while being toasted due to heat and when cooled the steam condenses into water droplets on the surface of the bread. It can be toasted by a conveyor toaster, which device is used in hotels and other food service locations, it works by having one heating element on the top and one on the bottom with a metal conveyor belt in the middle which carries the toast between the two heating elements. This allows toast to be made as more slices can be added at any time without waiting for previous ones to pop up. Bread can be toasted under a grill, in an open oven, or lying on an oven rack; this "oven toast" is buttered before toasting. Toaster ovens are special small appliances made for toasting bread or for heating small amounts of other foods. Bread can be toasted by holding it near but not directly over an open flame, such as a campfire or fireplace.
Before the invention of modern cooking appliances such as toasters and grills, bread has been produced in ovens for millennia, toast can be made in the same oven. Many brands of ready sliced bread are available, some of which market their suitability for toasting. In modern days, toast is most eaten with butter or margarine spread over it, may be served with preserves, spreads, or other toppings in addition to or instead of butter. Toast with jam or marmalade is popular. A few other condiments that can be enjoyed with toast are chocolate spread, cream cheese, peanut butter. Yeast extracts such as Marmite in the UK, New Zealand and South Africa, Vegemite in Australia are national traditions; some sandwiches, such as the BLT, call for toast to be used rather than bread. Toast is an important component of many breakfasts, is important in some traditional bland specialty diets for people with gastrointestinal problems such as diarrhea. In the United Kingdom, a dish popular with children is a soft-boiled egg eaten with toast soldiers at breakfast.
Strips of toast are dipped into the runny yolk of a boiled egg through a hole made in the top of the eggshell, eaten. In southern Sri Lanka, it is common for toast to be paired with a curry mint tea. By 2013, "artisanal toast" had become a significant food trend in upscale American cities like San Francisco, where some commentators decried the increasing number of restaurants and bakeries selling freshly made toast at what was perceived to be an unreasonably high price. Toasted bread slices may contain Benzopyrene and high levels of acrylamide, a carcinogen generated during the browning process. High acrylamide levels can be found in other heated carbohydrate-rich foods; the darker the surface colour of the toast, the higher its concentration of acrylamide. That is why, according to the recommendations made by the British Food Standards Agency, bread should be toasted to the lightest colour acceptable; the slang idiom "you're toast", "I'm toast", or "we're toast" is used to express a state of being "outcast", "finished", "burned, wiped out, demolished" (without the consolation of being
Dry roasting
Dry roasting is a process by which heat is applied to dry foodstuffs without the use of oil or water as a carrier. Unlike other dry heat methods, dry roasting is used with foods such as nuts and seeds, in addition to some eaten insects such as house crickets. Dry roasted foods are stirred as they are roasted to ensure heating. Dry roasting can be done in a specialized roaster. Dry roasting changes the chemistry of proteins in the food, changing their flavor, enhances the scent and taste of some spices. Roasted spices are prepared by adding various herbs and sugars in the frying pan and roasting until brown. Common dry roasted foods include peanut butter, made from peanuts that have been dry roasted, made from tea leaves that have been dry roasted, coffee and chocolate, which are made from roasted coffee beans and roasted cocoa beans, respectively. Coffee roasting Cooking portal Food portal Coffee portal
Cooking oil
Cooking oil is plant, animal, or synthetic fat used in frying and other types of cooking. It is used in food preparation and flavouring not involving heat, such as salad dressings and bread dips, in this sense might be more termed edible oil. Cooking oil is a liquid at room temperature, although some oils that contain saturated fat, such as coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil are solid. There is a wide variety of cooking oils from plant sources such as olive oil, palm oil, soybean oil, canola oil, corn oil, peanut oil and other vegetable oils, as well as animal-based oils like butter and lard. Oil can be flavoured with aromatic foodstuffs such as chillies or garlic. A guideline for the appropriate amount of fat—a component of daily food consumption—is established by government agencies. > While consumption of small amounts of saturated fats is common in diets, meta-analyses found a significant correlation between high consumption of saturated fats and blood LDL concentration, a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.
Other meta-analyses based on cohort studies and on controlled, randomized trials found a positive, or neutral, effect from consuming polyunsaturated fats instead of saturated fats. Mayo Clinic has highlighted certain oils that are high in saturated fats, including coconut, palm oil and palm kernel oil; those having lower amounts of saturated fats and higher levels of unsaturated fats like olive oil, peanut oil, canola oil and cottonseed oils are healthier. The US National Heart and Blood Institute urged saturated fats be replaced with polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, listing olive and canola oils as sources of healthier monounsaturated oils while soybean and sunflower oils as good sources of polyunsaturated fats. One study showed that consumption of non-hydrogenated unsaturated oils like soybean and sunflower is preferable to the consumption of palm oil for lowering the risk of heart disease. Peanut oil, cashew oil and other nut-based oils may present a hazard to persons with a nut allergy.
Unlike other dietary fats, trans fats are not essential, they do not promote good health. The consumption of trans fats increases one's risk of coronary heart disease by raising levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol and lowering levels of "good" HDL cholesterol. Trans fats from hydrogenated oils are more harmful than occurring oils. Several large studies indicate a link between the consumption of high amounts of trans fat and coronary heart disease, some other diseases; the United States Food and Drug Administration, the National Heart and Blood Institute and the American Heart Association all have recommended limiting the intake of trans fats. In the US, trans fats are no longer "generally recognized as safe," and cannot be added to foods, including cooking oils, without special permission. Heating an oil changes its characteristics. Oils that are healthy at room temperature can become unhealthy when heated above certain temperatures, so when choosing a cooking oil, it is important to match the oil's heat tolerance with the temperature which will be used.
Deep-fat frying temperatures are in the range of 170–190 °C, less lower temperatures ≥ 130 °C are used. Palm oil contains more saturated fats than canola oil, corn oil, linseed oil, soybean oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil. Therefore, palm oil can withstand deep frying at higher temperatures and is resistant to oxidation compared to high-polyunsaturated vegetable oils. Since about 1900, palm oil has been incorporated into food by the global commercial food industry because it remains stable in deep frying, or in baking at high temperatures, for its high levels of natural antioxidants, though the refined palm oil used in industrial food has lost most of its carotenoid content; the following oils are suitable for high-temperature frying due to their high smoke point above 230 °C: Avocado oil Mustard oil Palm oil Peanut oil Rice bran oil Safflower oil Semi-refined sesame oil Semi-refined sunflower oilLess aggressive frying temperatures are used. A quality frying oil has a bland flavor, at least 200 °C smoke and 315 °C flash points, with maximums of 0.1% free fatty acids and 3% linolenic acid.
Those oils with higher linolenic fractions are avoided due to polymerization or gumming marked by increases in viscosity with age. Olive oil has been used as a frying oil for thousands of years. Olive oil All oils degrade in response to heat and oxygen. To delay the onset of rancidity, a blanket of an inert gas nitrogen, is applied to the vapor space in the storage container after production – a process called tank blanketing. In a cool, dry place, oils have greater stability, but may thicken, although they will soon return to liquid form if they are left at room temperature. To minimize the degrading effects of heat and light, oils should be removed from cold storage just long enough for use. Refined oils high in monounsaturated fats, such as macadamia oil, keep up to a year, while those high in polyunsaturated fats, such as soybean oil, keep about six months. Rancidity tests have shown that the shelf life of walnut oil is about 3 months, a period shorter than the best before date shown on labels.
By contrast, oils high in saturated fats, such as avocado oil, have long shelf lives and can be safely stored at room temperature, as the low polyunsaturated fat content facilitates stability. Cooking oils are composed of various fractions of fatty acids. For the purpose of frying food, o
Frying
Frying is the cooking of food in oil or another fat. Similar to sautéing, pan-fried foods are turned over once or twice during cooking, using tongs or a spatula, while sautéed foods are cooked by "tossing in the pan". A large variety of foods may be fried. Frying is believed to have first appeared in the Ancient Egyptian kitchen, during the Old Kingdom, around 2500 BCE. Fats can reach much higher temperatures than water at normal atmospheric pressure. Through frying, one can sear or carbonize the surface of foods while caramelizing sugars; the food is cooked much more and has a characteristic crispness and texture. Depending on the food, the fat will penetrate it to varying degrees, contributing richness, its own flavor, calories. Frying techniques vary in the amount of fat required, the cooking time, the type of cooking vessel required, the manipulation of the food. Sautéing, stir frying, pan frying, shallow frying, deep frying are all standard frying techniques. Pan frying, sautéing and stir-frying involve cooking foods in a thin layer of fat on a hot surface, such as a frying pan, wok, or sauteuse.
Stir frying involves frying at high temperatures, requiring that the food be stirred continuously to prevent it from adhering to the cooking surface and burning. Shallow frying is a type of pan frying using only enough fat to immerse one-third to one-half of each piece of food. Deep-frying, on the other hand, involves immersing the food in hot oil, topped up and used several times before being disposed. Deep-frying is a much more involved process, may require specialized oils for optimal results. Deep frying is now the basis of a large and expanding worldwide industry. Fried products have consumer appeal in all age groups and in all cultures, the process is quick, can be made continuous for mass production, the food emerges sterile and dry, with a long shelf life; the end products can be packaged for storage and distribution. Some include potato chips, french fries, nuts and instant noodles. Media related to Frying at Wikimedia Commons
Searing
Searing is a technique used in grilling, braising, sautéing, etc. in which the surface of the food is cooked at high temperature until a browned crust forms. Similar techniques and blackening, are used to sear all sides of a particular piece of meat, poultry, etc. before finishing it in the oven. To obtain the desired brown or black crust, the meat surface must exceed 150 °C, so searing requires the meat surface be free of water, which boils at around 100 °C. Although said to "lock in the moisture" or "seal in the juices", searing has been demonstrated to result in a greater net loss of moisture versus cooking to the same internal temperature without first searing. Nonetheless, it remains an essential technique in cooking meat for several reasons: The browning creates desirable flavors through the Maillard reaction; the appearance of the food is improved with a well-browned crust. The contrast in taste and texture between the crust and the interior makes the food more interesting to the palate.
A common misnomer linked with searing meat is caramelization. Caramelization is simple carbohydrates; the Maillard reaction, by contrast, involves reactions between some sugars. In grilling, the food will be seared over high heat and moved to a lower-temperature area of the grill to finish cooking. In braising, the seared surface acts to flavor and otherwise enrich the liquid in which the food is being cooked; the belief that searing meat "seals in the juices" is widespread and still repeated. This theory was first put forth by Justus von Liebig, a German chemist and food scientist, around 1850; the notion was embraced including Auguste Escoffier. It is more cited in regard to larger cuts steaks and chops, of non-poultry meats such as beef, pork and tuna. Simple experimentation can test the theory, in which two similar cuts of meat are cooked, one of, seared and the other is not; each piece is cooked in a preferred method until each reaches the same predetermined internal temperature. They are weighed to see which lost more moisture.
Such experiments were carried out as early as the 1930s: the seared roasts lost the same amount of moisture or more. More liquid is lost, since searing exposes the meat to higher temperatures that destroy more cells, in turn releasing more liquid. Moisture in liquid and vapor form continues to escape from a seared piece of meat. For this reason, searing is sometimes done at the end of the cooking process to gain the flavor benefits of the Maillard reaction, as well as the benefits of cooking for a greater duration with more moistness
Egg as food
Some eggs are laid by female animals of many different species, including birds, amphibians and fish, have been eaten by humans for thousands of years. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell and vitellus, contained within various thin membranes; the most consumed eggs are chicken eggs. Other poultry eggs including those of duck and quail are eaten. Fish eggs are called caviar. Egg yolks and whole eggs store significant amounts of protein and choline, are used in cookery. Due to their protein content, the United States Department of Agriculture categorized eggs as Meats within the Food Guide Pyramid. Despite the nutritional value of eggs, there are some potential health issues arising from cholesterol content, salmonella contamination, allergy to egg proteins. Chickens and other egg-laying creatures are kept throughout the world and mass production of chicken eggs is a global industry. In 2009, an estimated 62.1 million metric tons of eggs were produced worldwide from a total laying flock of 6.4 billion hens.
There are issues of regional variation in demand and expectation, as well as current debates concerning methods of mass production. In 2012, the European Union banned battery husbandry of chickens. Bird eggs have been valuable foodstuffs since prehistory, in both hunting societies and more recent cultures where birds were domesticated; the chicken was domesticated for its eggs before 7500 BCE. Chickens were brought to Sumer and Egypt by 1500 BCE, arrived in Greece around 800 BCE, where the quail had been the primary source of eggs. In Thebes, the tomb of Haremhab, dating to 1420 BCE, shows a depiction of a man carrying bowls of ostrich eggs and other large eggs those of the pelican, as offerings. In ancient Rome, eggs were preserved using a number of methods and meals started with an egg course; the Romans crushed the shells in their plates to prevent evil spirits from hiding there. In the Middle Ages, eggs were forbidden during Lent because of their richness; the word mayonnaise was derived from moyeu, the medieval French word for the yolk, meaning center or hub.
Egg scrambled. The dried egg industry developed in the nineteenth century, before the rise of the frozen egg industry. In 1878, a company in St. Louis, Missouri started to transform egg yolk and egg white into a light-brown, meal-like substance by using a drying process; the production of dried eggs expanded during World War II, for use by the United States Armed Forces and its allies. In 1911, the egg carton was invented by Joseph Coyle in Smithers, British Columbia, to solve a dispute about broken eggs between a farmer in Bulkley Valley and the owner of the Aldermere Hotel. Early egg cartons were made of paper. Bird eggs are a common one of the most versatile ingredients used in cooking, they are important in many branches of the modern food industry. The most used bird eggs are those from the chicken and goose eggs. Smaller eggs, such as quail eggs, are used as a gourmet ingredient in Western countries. Eggs are a common everyday food in many parts of Asia, such as China and Thailand, with Asian production providing 59 percent of the world total in 2013.
The largest bird eggs, from ostriches, tend to be used only as special luxury food. Gull eggs are considered a delicacy in England, as well as in some Scandinavian countries in Norway. In some African countries, guineafowl eggs are seen in marketplaces in the spring of each year. Pheasant eggs and emu eggs are edible, but less available, sometimes they are obtainable from farmers, poulterers, or luxury grocery stores. In many countries, wild bird eggs are protected by laws which prohibit the collecting or selling of them, or permit collection only during specific periods of the year. In 2013, world production of chicken eggs was 68.3 million tonnes. The largest four producers were China at 24.8 million of this total, the United States at 5.6 million, India at 3.8 million, Japan at 2.5 million. A typical large egg factory ships a million dozen eggs per week. For the month of January 2019, the United States produced 9.41 billion eggs, with 8.2 billion for table consumption and 1.2 billion for raising chicks.
Americans are projected to each consume 279 eggs in 2019, the highest since 1973, but less than the 405 eggs eaten per person in 1945. During production, eggs are candled to check their quality; the size of its air cell is determined, the examination reveals whether the egg was fertilized and thereby contains an embryo. Depending on local regulations, eggs may be washed before being placed in egg boxes, although washing may shorten their length of freshness; the shape of an egg resembles a prolate spheroid with one end larger than the other and has cylindrical symmetry along the long axis. An egg is surrounded by a hard shell. Thin membranes exist inside the shell; the egg yolk is suspended in the egg white by two spiral bands of tissue called the chalazae. The larger end of the egg contains an air cell that forms when the contents of the egg cool down and contract after it is laid. Chicken eggs are graded according to the size of this air cell, measured during candling. A fresh egg has a small air cell and receives a grade of AA.
As the size of the air cell increases and the quality of the egg decreases, the grade moves from AA to A to B. This provides a way of t
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