When I worked as a private chef with years ago, I made a package of lazy brownies; I slowly melted chocolate and butter, used eggs from a nearby fare-music, and including a hefty dose of precious Vanilla extract. I leave the baked brownies cool and cut them into perfect squares. And when members of the family I worked for taking their first bites, they politely acknowledged that the brownies tasted like garlic.
The culprit is easy to identify – I did not wash the cutting board on which I cut the brownies after slicing garlic on it – but that didn't make my mistake. I had to throw the whole package in the garbage. If only I'd noticed the rule I already knew: always sniffed your kitchen equipment before using it, especially when you make sweet things.
And sniff every step of the way. In the case of the brownies, for example, other potential threats including the Silicone spatula Used for mixing, the Baking PanAnd the knife. (Although, as I declare below, the material of the nature of a knife or a baking pan means you just need to clean them. Any sniff them. Any sniffing required; in the case of the knife offender. To understand why and when smells your tools and equipment is so important, it helps to know a bit about how aroma and flavor works and as the two can be absorbed by kitchen tools.
Photography by Rical Holbrook; Food stealing by Caitlin Wayne
Understanding the relationship between taste and smell
“Tasty and smell,” explained harold muge in his book Nose dive“Are molecular senses,” meaning “they detect and report on the presence of separate molecules in the air around us and in our mouth.” For smell, volatile molecules (which means they evaporate easily from whatever it is you sniffing) enter your nostrils and make their way to smell receptors near your eyes. In the case of taste, the delicious buds are doing the detecting; Nonwollatle (non-evaporating) delicious molecules of what is in your mouth to dissolve in saliva. Having detected odor or taste molecules, the receptors send electrical pulses to the brain, where nerve cells processes the signals in which we see as odors.
Bikers know that smell and delicious work together to make flavor. That means that if you can smell it, you can taste it.
איין סיבה איר קען שמעקן עס – ווי אין דעם פאַל פון די קאַטינג ברעט איך געוויינט פֿאַר יענע בראַוניז – איז אַז רעזאַדו מיט נאַנוואָלאַטילע מאָלעקולעס (דער טיפּ וואָס קענען זיין באמערקט דורך דיין געשמאַק באַדז) איז פאָרשטעלן דורך דיין געשמאַק באַדז) איז פאָרשטעלן דורך דיין געשמאַק באַדז) איז פאָרשטעלן דורך דיין געשמאַק באַדז) איז פאָרשטעלן דורך דיין געשמאַק באַדז). There is an easy solution to the problem: clean the object in question. Another possibility is that the sniff surface has kept onto odors, whether because it is porous (as with wood), or, more often, because of the chemical nature of the material; McGee tells me that chemical nature of plastic, silicone and rubber “resembles (that of) fats and oil – and smell volatle multital molecules.” Cooks often hear that “fat carries flavor” – and unfortunately the materials many of our kitchen tools are made of work in a similar way!
Photography by Kristin Teig; Eat stealing at lies nitty
Keep pesky food smells away
So how do you combat the unwanted smells? One option is to use material resistant to smell absorption whenever possible. You are safer from odors with noncorus and, importantly, chemical inert materials such as stainless steel, glass and glazed ceramic.
But in many cases, the use of odor-absorbing materials cannot be avoided. In the casting Silicone Spatularas, Plastic storage contacters, and Wooden Or Plastic Cutting Boards SOPER OR DETERGENT and, WHEN NECESSARY, BAKING SODA and / or distilled vinegar. To tackle smelly microwable utensils and storage vessels, mcGee recommends them to leave them in the hour or two, which evaporates the small-mholescultities. “I do all the time with silicone ice cube tray to get rid of that freezer-air stink.” Another kitchen staple to pay attention to is Kitchen towels; Wash them in hot water with a soughched detergent and dry them without dryer sheets.
Want to go the extra mile? You can take a cue from professional kitchenions and hold two sets of tools: one of savory food and one for sweet food. But which requires an investment and a lot of storage space!
Sniffing your kitchen equipment is a simple step to prevent you from contaminating the flavor of your baked goods. Make it a habit; The worst that can happen if you get some side eye of a dubious witness, while the best who can happen is you save a complete package of Made-from-scratch brownies From finish in the garbage.
Cover photo (Corner Blueberry Bars) By Rick Holbrook; Food styling through Caitlin Wine.