/Food Hacks/

[Anonymous No.16492293]

I'm not talking about the lame ass "food hacks" that get featured on gay youtube channels, like some gimmicky way to peel a banana or cut an avocado. I'm talking about the real food hacks, the stuff corporations don't want plebeians to get their hands on, so we're compelled to keep buying their products.
MSG is an obvious example. They tried to Shut It Down™ by spreading a bunch of scientifically baseless FUDD to keep it out of your home cooking, while they continued to use it in processed food and at restaurants. Even now I have to go to China town to get it in reasonable quantities, other stores just carry overpriced little shakers of the stuff.
Nitrates are another one, can't find this shit anywhere without going online, even though its an essential meat preservative and needed for making things like corned beef, pastrami, pork tocino, etc.
Calcium Chloride for pickling, which is not only super salty and sodium free, but it improves the firmness and texture of the pickles.
Emulsifying agents, we have to use horribly antiquated stuff like mustard if we want our vinegarettes to stay mixed long enough to serve, while Big Food keeps all the potent compounds for their own use.

What are some other genuine food hacks that (((they))) don't want us knowing about?

[Anonymous No.16492329]

In the vein of your OP, citric acid. It will keep sliced fruits and vegetables from browning. It will make avocados/guacamole actually last. It's tasty and can be added to dishes like salt, although I don't use it for that. And it serves has a /kitchen hack/. For me it has replaced barkeeper's friend. It takes just a tiny bit more elbow grease than barkeeper's friend, and it does not leave a chemical smell on my hands and kitchenware.

Also, using mineral salt to lacto-ferment absolutely everything.

[Anonymous No.16492353]

you can use high fat yogurt in lieu whatever milk product in almost any recipe
for baked goods like a cake I use it straight
something like potatoes gratin I will cut it down with stock or water to a milk consistency
it's good as a sour cream subsititute for peirogies or baked potatoes or dip etc
it's basically the best

[Anonymous No.16493394]

Crinkle cutting your fries improves ketchup retention.

[Anonymous No.16493525]

>>16492293
Add butter to any food that seems could use it.

[Anonymous No.16493592]

>>16492293
> Calcium Chloride for pickling, which is not only super salty and sodium free, but it improves the firmness and texture of the pickles
Industrial pickling in general is just boiling shit in vinegar, no fermentation involved.
Anyway if you want firmer fermented vegetable you just need something high in tannins (sage, mustard seeds, etc). I don't know if using calcium cloride insted of kitchen salt will select the same bacteria and produce the same lacto-fermentation

Anyway, hack are generally bad from a nutritional pov or the end result. The ones that really improve a dish can be counted with your hands, because industrial drivers are time and costs, not quality

[Anonymous No.16493631]

>>16493592
> Emulsifying agents, we have to use horribly antiquated stuff like mustard if we want our vinegarettes to stay mixed long enough to serve, while Big Food keeps all the potent compounds for their own use.
And you can tell that they sucks ass.
I prefer my mayo to be less firm that the industrial one but at least it taste better
The only hacks I used sometimes is sodium bicarbonate water to get extra crispy oven potatoes, but you can tell there something a little off if you eat by themselves

[Anonymous No.16493687]

>>16492293
>>16493592
You can buy calcium chloride at your local grocery store. It's with canning jars and lids and stuff. It's not a substitute for NaCl, its a substitute for using lye to preserve crispiness.

Super cheap, works great, widely available, safe, also used in making cheese at home.

It's not a food hack if a major American corporation produces the product and markets it in almost every food store in the country and publishes printed and online recipes telling you exactly how to use it.

You're just an idiot.

[Anonymous No.16494123]

>>16492293
Dude, mccormick sells msg by the half-gallon in kroger

[Anonymous No.16494161]

>>16492293
Sodium citrate to make any cheese into "melty" kraft singles-esque cheese.

[Anonymous No.16494202]

>>16492329
>adding citric acid to salt
le absolute state de Ameriça.

[Anonymous No.16494209]

>>16494202
He means similarly to salt, not that he's having salt as a dish

[Anonymous No.16494227]

>>16494209

[Anonymous No.16494260]

>>16494202
What kind of esl bullshit is this lmao

[Anonymous No.16494496]

>>16493687
> It's not a substitute for NaCl, its a substitute for using lye to preserve crispiness.
Use tannin sources you mongoloid.
So you even get some fucking flavour

Why don't you just take some chemistry course if you like that stuff instead of making cooklet tier thread on ck? The reason you choose a food matrix for a specific purpouse is that other than fulfill that purpose it also adds flavour you imbecile

> It's not a food hack if a major American corporation produces the product and markets
You are a cretin

[Anonymous No.16495813]

>>16492293
When processing deer and elk. Let it hang for 24 hours and bleed out. Cut the fat and silver skin off when processing it. This is what gives it the gamey flavor. Unless you like the gamey flavor…

[Anonymous No.16495858]

>>16495813
The fuck? First off that's not a hack, that's how you process any game. Secondly, the "gamey" flavour is in the meat, not the silver skin.
I got baited, didn't I?

[Anonymous No.16496062]

Highjacking this thread.

Ask a guy with a PhD in Food Science anything. Incidentally, I don't/didn't do much work on colloids/emulsions but I can point you in the right direction if you have questions about that. Same with any preservation, engineering, processing questions.

My background is in analytical and synthetic chemistry.

Ask away!

[Anonymous No.16496185]

>>16496062
What is the best and absolute worst prepackaged food that you can find in supermarkets?

[Anonymous No.16496438]

>>16496062
Why didn't you choose a real study course? What made you think it was a good idea to waste 3 years for a phd in food science?

[Anonymous No.16496515]

>>16496062
opinion on MSG?

[Anonymous No.16496571]

>>16496438
Given the number of food companies, a PhD in Food Science is a solid career path.

[Anonymous No.16496667]

>>16496185
That will vary from person to person, since people have different biochemistry. With that being said, anything with exorbitant amounts of added sugar and salt is generally not good for you. A bag of Cheetos is not going to kill you, but a couple bags of Cheetos per day, everyday, will take it's toll. I'm not a nutritionist, so feel free to consult with one if you have any specific concerns

>>16496438
Did B.S. in chemistry, went to PhD in Food science doing lipid analysis and synthesis of exotic lipids. I 100% make more money than you, chud

Incidentally, a lot of food science students with bachelors find jobs very easily. Even better jobs (i.e. not QA/QC) if they actually look hard. Pretty stark contrast with chem students with bachelor degrees. Im still seething about that. If anyone wants a guaranteed job after undergrad I suggest looking into food science.

>>16496515
The substance itself is harmless. It is a neurotransmitter so your body is already flooded with it. Makes foods get that "umami" taste which triggers the brains of fatties to keep eating. Overeating is the problem. A lot of foods labeled as "MSG free" still contain nucleotide salts (e.g., disodium guanylate) or MSG containing "extracts" (e.g., yeast extract, soy protein hydrolysate) that accomplish the same thing

[Anonymous No.16496691]

>>16496667
damn, why get a phd when google is just as good?

[Anonymous No.16496696]

>>16496062
Here's one.
What's the most interesting fact you've learned while studying food science?

[Anonymous No.16496714]

>>16496062
What's the maddest industrial process to end up with an ingredient you know of?

[Anonymous No.16496715]

>>16496667
> I 100% make more money than you, chud
MsC comp eng. I make more that you do with your phd

[Anonymous No.16496732]

>>16496715
so much butthurt.

go jack off on /sci/ or something. your job ain't /ck/ related so nobody gives a fuck

[Anonymous No.16496762]

>>16496062
Do you have any strong opinions related to the latest food trends or talking points?

I don't have anything specific in mind; I'm wondering what stands out to you. Perhaps you really hate a certain trend because it's counter to science or you are very happy that an underappreciated yet important topic finally has the spotlight.

[Anonymous No.16496766]

>>16492293
Making high ratio cakes (more sugar and fat than flour) as good as the box (light fluffy and moist) requires you have some lecithin (I use sunflower) and some glycerol monostearate (GMS) or Sodium stearoyl lactylate (SSL). The best cake recipe is from chefsteps and it's their chocolate cake. It is behind a paywall but if anyone asks nicely i'll paste screen shots of it.

[Anonymous No.16496771]

>>16496691
Piece of paper that guarantees minimum 90k in industry or 70k in academia right off the bat

>>16496696
The theory of why things are "sweet" is pretty interesting. Tldr the molecule in question has to have a triangular distribution of electron density. Sugar is sweet, but so is chloroform, some aluminum salts, and all the other artificial sweeteners. Aspartame is a peptide, saccharin is a weird succiniamide type molecule, Acesulfame K is a weird thiazine salt.

Also, the way you interpret flavors and fragrances has its origin in the vibrationa of molecules. Deuterated flavors and fragrances for example taste and smell different than their non-labeled counterparts. Deuterating a molecule simply increases the molecular weight by 1 u per deuterium isotope, but alters the vibrational frequencies of the molecule

>>16496714
Not sure, I might look up interesting ones for you

>>16496715
Perhaps you're right. Industry or academia? I'm not familiar with the market for cuckgineers

[Anonymous No.16496786]

>>16496771
Industry and have a small forense activity. Academia pays shit

[Anonymous No.16496800]

>>16496771

I refuse to believe the only healthy meat is poultry and I think that animal fat is healthier than whatever the weeks retarded new pseudoscience article is shilling. Am I autistic or can you back me up?

[Anonymous No.16496820]

>>16496762
Yea, several. Most of these trends area simply marketing in a race to the bottom.

Gluten free.
This one is old but is still hanging around. A minute percentage of the population has complications digesting gluten, that's it. No effect on anyone else

You vill eat ze bugs.
Bugs have a ton of interesting/useful lipids, last I heard they were shilling insect butter. I'm all for it since a lipid is a lipid, no matter the source. I am queasy about eating actual bugs though

SUGAR BAD.
True, but some people take this to an extreme. Keto/paleo people still consume glucose from meats (glycogen). Also, your brain runs almost exclusively on glucose and will make glucose from protein/lipids if you don't supply your body with enough (gluconeogenesis)

FAT BAD.
I have ~7 years researching lipids. These are my favorite class of molecules as they have a laundry list of functions and benefits, they never ceases to amaze me. It is important to eat a varied diet with meats, eggs, milk, nuts. All these foods contain various types of lipids (branched chain fatty acids, unsaturated fatty acids, phospholipids, sphingolipids, etc)

I have many more but I'm not sure if these were the talking points you were interested in. Feel free to ask any other questions and I'll try to chime in

[Anonymous No.16496841]

>>16496800
Yea I wrote something about it here >>16496820.

Chicken breast and broccoli is the most retarded "healthy" meal ever

You need a diverse source of lipids. Assuming your lifestyle includes moderate exercise and modest eating habits, you can eat whatever the fuck you want. Eggs are perfect nutrition, for example.

I'm not a protein chemist, but a lot of the "flavors" we associate with meats are due to the 1) diet of the animal, which in turn affects the 2) lipid composition of the muscle tissue

Fennema's Food Chemistry is a good reference, you can pick up a used copy of the 3rd or 4th edition for cheap or get it from libgen. Excellent resource for chemistry and nutrition of all things food

[Anonymous No.16496858]

>>16496841
Opinion on cars? Im not a fan personally but some people can't get enough, maybe this is just anecdotal but how impavtful are they in gained weight? If I were overweight (I'm underweight) I would probably consider cutting carbs almost completely, cuz they're just sugars. Is this dumb? Are they as healthy as proteins in balanced amounts? I can't see a balanced carb meal being as healthy as a steak or some veggies

[Anonymous No.16496868]

>>16496062
If I ate nothing but bologna and kraft american cheese product sandwiches with a glass of milk how long could I survive?

[Anonymous No.16496879]

>>16496841
>Chicken breast and broccoli is the most retarded "healthy" meal ever

Holy fuck absolutely nothing is healthy according to you fuckin idiots

[Anonymous No.16496882]

tell me about oxalates bro and why I went through intermittent joint pain when I dropped them.

[Anonymous No.16496887]

>>16496868
Not the guy but I'm assuming you'd get hospitalised due to a vitamin deficiency pretty soon

[Anonymous No.16496892]

Why do my spaghettios make lightining?

[Anonymous No.16496907]

>>16496887
Damn but I was a pretty healthy kid and teenager. Oh well.

[Anonymous No.16496908]

>>16496892
Man my spaghettios don't make shit
Useless

[Anonymous No.16496919]

>>16496908
SHUT UP YOU SLICE OF

[Anonymous No.16496933]

>>16496841
Are the burnt-ish bits of bread really gonna give me cancer? They're like the only good parts

[Anonymous No.16496941]

>>16496933
not that anon but I think it falls under the category of "yeah it's not gonna kill you unless you eat a fuckload of it every day" category.
Plus like fucking everything gives you cancer.

[Anonymous No.16496951]

>>16494496
>tannin sources
>chemistry courses
>tannin adds crispiness
>chemistry courses
lol tannins are for taste you intellectual, hit me up with some of the @scholar article (NOT a facebook group/plebsite about soaking your testicles in brine five times on a moonlit night) on how and where tannins inhibit enzymes important to keep your shit crisp. You don't even need CaCl2, shit just has to be acidic and salty enough. Tannins do add a bit of edge, colour, gentle sharpness and bitterness to the taste of pickles and help to preserve them from certain kinds of rot, but in no way increase the crispiness. Anyway, prove me wrong, expecting an article from a well reputed academic source on tannins increasing the crispiness in lactic fermentation.

[Anonymous No.16496969]

>>16496858
I'd like some insight on carbs too. I've noticed that too many carbs make me very tired so cutting back seems to help my energy levels.

Is it as simple as "complex carbs are good, simple carbs are bad"? Or "avoid heavily processed carbs"?

I've heard that sourdough and fermented breads are better for us than the non-fermented type. Could you provide some insight into the veracity this?

thanks anon. you make /ck/ a better place

[Anonymous No.16497622]

>>16496969
> I've noticed that too many carbs make me very tired so cutting back seems to help my energy levels.
I'm not the phd guy but it's normal. The solution is eating less carbs but don't stop eating them

> Is it as simple as "complex carbs are good, simple carbs are bad"?
As a rule of thumb yes, anyway simple carbs are not bad per se. Anything should be taken in the complexity of the diet, not as a single food (and even worse on macro/micro basis)
You basically want to avoid a peak of your glycemic level (if it's too ripid it will not come back asymptotically on the basis level but it will bounce below before going stable causing some symptoms like tiredness)
You can avoid this but avoid this peak. Fats, fibers, proteins, water slow down the glycemic response.
Long story short, complex carbs are generally better than simple carbs but what's really matter is what you eat in the *whole meal* and more importantly in your *whole diet* (eating white pasta alone is worse than eating it with vegetables or even fats. Eating white bread alone is like eating directly sugar, eating whole bread has fibers and so it's "better".

> I've heard that sourdough and fermented breads are better for us than the non-fermented type
Fermentation product are generally probiotic, which are very good for selecting a healthy intestinal microbiome. But cooking fermented product avoid any benefit from probiotic bacteria.
Could happen that fermentation produce some vitamin as a byproduct, but nothing to loose sleep for.

[Anonymous No.16497692]

>>16493394
That's great if you're 7 or 8.

[Anonymous No.16497790]

Most 'umami bombs' like soy sauce, fish sauce, vegemite, colatura, MSG, worchestershire sauce, etc. are indistinguishable from each other if added to stews or soups. Unless you need them for specific flavours (e.g. fish sauce in nuoc mam), it's more economical to just buy one and use it frequently

[Anonymous No.16498181]

>>16496951
> Anyway, prove me wrong, expecting an article from a well reputed academic source on tannins increasing the crispiness in lactic fermentation.
Why don't you try for yourself imbecile instead of acting like a redditfag "where r da souce?"