Just what every home cook needs, an oven that knows more about cooking than they do. That's the idea behind the new Inspiro oven from Electrolux.

This new oven is supposed to be the greatest ever, and with a £1000 ($2000 or so) price tag, it had better be. The Inspiro tells the cook exactly what to do with anything that needs to be cooked. All you have to do is program what you're doing into the oven and it will even tell you what shelf to put the dish on.

I personally think this is a bit much. The new Electrolux Inspiro is being marketed to people who want to entertain at home, but can't cook under pressure, which, I'm sorry, makes no sense to me. Even before I got into cooking, it was not difficult to use an oven. But I suppose everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. Do you think that this oven would be useful, or is it overkill.

The heat resistant nature of silicone kitchen and bakeware is usually much-touted to home cooks by the manufacturers. This property is very useful for kitchen tools and, for example, pot holders, but the manufacturers often fail to mention the fact that silicone is so good at keeping the heat down that it can prevent your baked foods from browning in the same way that they ordinarily would if baked in or on a regular metal pan or some kind.

There is not much that can be done about an under-browned cookie without baking up a new batch, but with some foods (roasted vegetables or oven-fried chicken, for example), the reaction of many cooks is to slide the under-browned food under the broiler to finish it off. Do not do this if you are using any kind of silicone cook/bakeware, including a nonstick silpat. As some have found out, the heat from the broiler is so great that a kitchen fire can result very, very quickly. Stick to a tried-and-true metal baking sheet.

In honor of my oven-baked latkes, I decided to opt for a more health-conscious choice for the Cookbook of the Day today with Fry Light, Fry Right: Fried-Food Flavor Without Deep Frying because you don't have to eat a ton of oil just to enjoy the flavor of fried foods (or to celebrate oil, since today is the first day of Hanukkah).

Despite the holiday reference, this is not a Hanukkah oriented book. In fact, it's more about all-American fried foods of the variety that you'll find on hundreds of menus and in bakeries across the country, including things like Mozzarella Sticks, Coconut Shrimp, Chicken Fried Steak and Chocolate Devil's Food Donuts, among its 120 recipes. Each one is simple and all you really need to know how to do is work an oven to turn out impressive (and healthy) results. With only some heat and a little bit of oil, included primarily to prevent sticking and encourage browning, you should be able to obtain crisp exteriors and tender interiors on everything you make - just like deep fried foods, only there won't be as much fat to cover up the base flavors.

Hanukkah is known as the "festival of lights" and is a holiday in which oil has a special meaning. To put it very, very briefly, Hanukkah celebrates a miraculous occurrence where one night's worth of oil burned for eight. There is a lot of oil used in foods that are served for this holiday and much of it is used for frying. The two most well-know Hanukkah staples are sufganiyah (jelly-filled donuts) and latkes, or potato pancakes. As good as these two foods are, health-conscious holiday revelers don't always want to completely blow their diet with a meal of entirely fried foods, nor do they want to restrict themselves to only a few bites of this holiday favorite. Recognizing the health conscious, many people who host Hanukkah parties plan to serve baked latkes, as well as fried.

Baked latkes are often undercooked and not nearly as crispy as fried ones, but this recipe makes an excellent stand-in that is better than most. A minimal amount of oil is still used to grease the baking sheets, and the latkes turn out to be very crispy and very satisfying - with far less fat than ordinary latkes. They have a good potato flavor and, because they are thin, are not undercooked in the center.

This is a pie that should have been part of our nut themed day yesterday. It is also a pie that should be a hit with math-lovers, food hackers and anyone who really likes pie. This is a fractal pecan pie.

A fractal is a recursive, self-similar geometric object that continuously reproduces into proportionally smaller shapes. This particular one is based on the Koch snowflake, which is made up of triangles. To put this all into layman's terms, these guys made a giant pecan pie that used the same amount of filling that would ordinarily be found in 21 normal-sized pecan pies. The ratio of crust to filling was the same as a standard pie, so the baking time was only a bit longer than average, despite the fact that it had to be done in a custom-built, propane-powered oven. Just make sure that you have enough volunteers to help you eat all the pie (and construct the tin and oven) before baking!

Should a holiday turkey be roasted for a longer time at a lower temperature or for a shorter time at a higher one? According to Robert L. Wolke , author of What Einstein Told His Cook 2, the Sequel: Further Adventures in Kitchen Science, one method isn't necessarily better, although the method of using a higher temperature is quite popular at the moment.

A turkey needs to reach an internal temperature of 165F in the thigh meat before it can be considered done. To achieve this, the bird must be cooked at a temperature greater than 165F for long enough to cook it through. The lower the temperature, the longer the time. A common temperature is about 325F, which results in a time of "about 20 minutes per pound." By increasing the temperature to 475F, roasting might take only 2 hours. Time, clearly, is a factor in choosing the latter method. Other advantages include getting a crisper skin and, according to many proponents of the faster method, a moister bird. In the end, it's a flavor and time preference as long as you check the meat with a thermometer to ensure that it really is done.

The USDA has some comprehensive food safety guidelines to help you cook your Thanksgiving turkey. While some cookbooks, and probably some chefs, might tell you that cooking times and temperatures should be changed to produce a moister bird, at least you'll get a safe bird from using the USDA's guide. First things first, you need to completely defrost your turkey before beginning. Keep the turkey in its original wrapper as it thaws and try to keep it as cool as possible. It should either be defrosted by being submerged in cold water or on a tray in the refrigerator.

Frozen turkey thawing timetable
Weight In refrigerator In cold water
4 to 12 pounds 1 to 3 days 2 to 6 hours
12 to 16 pounds 3 to 4 days 6 to 8 hours
16 to 20 pounds 4 to 5 days 8 to 10 hours
20 to 24 pounds 5 to 6 days 10 to 12 hours

Kitchen trends come and go, but there are certain aspects of both design and technology that seem like they're here to stay. One trend is for professional-quality appliances, particularly stoves and ovens, as many home cooks want to be able to prepare four star cuisine in their own kitchens, not just approximations of it. In a similar vein, kitchen islands are still popular, as they create a useful workspace for more complex cooking. In other words, we're seeing a preference to technique over technology.

But technology is really growing quickly and for those who prefer streamlined stovetops to gas or electric pro stoves with huge flames, induction heating is supposed to be making a splash in the market. At Yanko Design, designer Terence Woon conceived this wall unit as a way to further streamline the kitchen, incorporating a variety of appliances into one small space. His vision includes (from left to right) a juicer, blender, toaster, multimedia interface, scale and water dispenser. Personally, I think I might still prefer individual appliances, but we can't say with certainty what we'll end up with.

What would you like to see in the kitchens of the (near or distant) future?

Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet, which is known for their grills and outdoor kitchens, has just introduced a new product that will have pizza lovers pining: an artisan pizza oven. The oven has a 30,000 BTU burner (gas or propane) to get the heat level just right, and a wood-chip drawer so you can add in some of the smoky flavor a wood-burning oven would naturally provide. Under the low, domed roof, the floor of the oven is a professional composite baking stone that will turn out perfect crusts on pizzas (and breads) every time it is used. Unlike smaller stones that are used for baking in regular ovens, according to the manufacturer, this one will not become brittle or crack even after repeated or extended use.

It is made of stainless steel with a double-wall insulated design, so one of the best features of the oven is not just that it will produce pizza that is much better than you could make with a standard kitchen oven, but that it is very safe, despite the high heat that it operates at.

The ovens will be available for purchase next month, with a price tag of $3,900 each. They certainly aren't cheap, but if you really love your pizza, it might just be worth it.

[via Trendir]

Yep, an entire site (and domain, for that matter) dedicated to defeating and enjoying the world's largest seed. Having grown up in the tropics, I've opened my share of coconuts. That's not to say I'm any good at it, but I was definitely curious to see which method this site suggested. I was with them for part about using a nail or drill to let out the milk through the three holes at the top. And, while I'm sure a hammer and towel works just fine, I've always had the best luck with a C-clamp. Just clamp it on to the sides opposite the holes made for the milk and twist it down until the coconut cracks. I've also heard of putting coconuts in the oven to make them easier to open, but I've never had to resort to that. Differences in methods aside, the step-by-step photo walkthrough on this site is a good one. Aside from HowToOpenACoconut.com, there are also similar sites for pineapples, corn, burgers and baked potatoes.

This pizza was made with a crust recipe that I got out of the most recent issue of Cooks Illustrated. As soon as I read the article saying that they had come up with a way to replicate the light, crisp crust of pizzeria pizza in a home oven, I knew I needed to try it.

Let me just say that I was not disappointed at all. This was definitely the best pizza crust I have ever made - and better than many that I have had in restaurants. It was light, crisp and delicious - not to mention that the outside edge was full of delightfully airy holes. I may never use another crust recipe.

I have a problem. The timer on my oven is broken. Truth be told, I'm relieved because it went out in a blaze of glory - by which I mean that it made its high pitched beeping sound for about 2 days straight. By unplugging the oven, I was able to shut it off temporarily that was only a temporary solution, as I still wanted to use the oven. Now that the timer has passed on and I still have a functional oven, I am forced to rely on a temporary timer until I buy a new one.

I saw on Apartment Therapy: Chicago, they had picked out a list of the top ten kitchen timers, including the Michael Graves Alessi(bottom left, above) for $29.50, the Eva Solo Magnetic (right, above) for $33 and an Old fashioned aluminum timer for $24.99. To be honest, even though the Alessi timers are cute, I don't like any of them. I need a digital timer with a good alarm and neither of their two digital picks (an Oxo and a Taylor) mentions anything about their alarms in their product descriptions.

Digital timers not only come with better alarms than dialed timers, but they're much more accurate in terms of the times you can set them for. You'll never have to approximate, like you do with dials. I'm currently leaning towards the Big Digit Kitchen Timer (top left, above) or the Bonjur Timer, based on alarm noises alone. Is there such a thing as a best timer? What timer do you use?

 

If you read Jeffrey Steingarten's It must have been something I ate, you'll not only know that the best way to make a pizza is in a very, very hot wood-burning (or coal-burning) oven, but that it is likely to be nearly impossible to find one to use, let alone one to use on a regular basis. Jeffrey spent months trying to achieve the perfect pizza, getting grills up to temperatures in excess of 650F - at which point he decided that, with the addition of wood chips and extra coals, he could make a reasonably good pizza.

Instead of going to all that trouble, you can use VillaWare's Grill-Top Pizza Stone. It was created to take advantage of the high heat a gas grill can generate to produce a great crust. The stone itself is set on a rack above the grates of the grill, because it gets better heat exposure there. Personally, I'm a fan of grilled pizza, but this sounds like a fantastic idea. Maybe your grill won't get up as high as Jeffrey's modified one, but this sounds (to put it mildly) significantly safer. I know Mother's Day isn't past us (in the US) yet, but I think I'm getting a good idea of a Father's Day gift already....

If people would only look to the cookie all our problems would be solved." - Jerry Seinfeld, Seinfeld (The Dinner Party)

Black and White cookies are one of the best things to ever come out of New York City, where they are so popular that they could be the city’s food mascot, with thin crust pizza running a close second. At first glance, the cookie looks relatively simple, but achieving Black and White perfection isn’t, well, black and white.

A real Black and White cookie has a thick, cakelike base. It is softer than a cookie and lacks the chew that a sugar cookie – which many bakers unfortunately choose to use as their base – would have. It also is not nearly as sweet as a sugar cookie, an important element because the cookie has to stand up to the sweetness of the icing on top without overwhelming the taste buds. The icing on the top of the cookie is a key element in the Black and White, not just because it creates the color pairing that gives the cookie its name. The icing – not frosting – is a relatively thin layer of chocolate or vanilla that is poured smoothly onto the cake-like cookie. A thick glob of overly buttery or sugary frosting would upset the balance of flavors – not to mention that it just wouldn’t taste that great on a cookie.  

Having grown up with, learned to cook on and generally taken for granted the vintage gas stove in my family's kitchen, you can imagine my surprise when I saw a red one just like it on the Food Network, crouched behind Rachael Ray. Stoves like our 1952 Chambers Model 90C (above) have become all the rage and it's no surprise. They're beautiful, obviously durable and hey, what good cook doesn't like cooking with gas? When restored, these stoves can command upwards of $4,000.

We acquired ours in the mid-70s while our house was being restored. As you can imagine, the house has evolved around the stove, which hasn't really moved in a few decades. While it still cooks just fine, there's a bit of finesse involved. There's no pilot, so the oven and ranges must be lit by hand. This usually results in a fun "booof" sound that makes most guests back away from the stove.

[Photo: John Vagnoni]