Three Chips Transcript

This is one episode I highly recommend reading (or at least skimming) the transcript. I saw this episode last year and, no joke, I got out a notepad and vigorously took notes. This was the kind of baking chemistry stuff that I have no idea about.

Alton Brown talks about how the different ingredients change the type of cookie you end up with -- thin, crunchy, chewy, puffy, etc. This is the kind of info you can take and tweak any cookie recipe to make it more to your liking.


You can find the episode transcript HERE.


Here are some of the basic takeaway concepts:

- More baking soda makes a thinner cookie
- More baking powder makes a puffier cookie
- Butter makes cookies spread, use chilled butter for a cookie that spreads less
- Brown sugar makes chewier cookies
- Cake flour produces more steam which creates more lift and results in puffier cookies
- Bread flour produces more gluten and results in chewier cookies
- Substituting milk for some of the egg makes a cookie that spreads more

Hope that helps!

Early Years Episodes

I figured I'd repost this for everyone's benefit. Good Eats: The Early Years covers Season 1 through just over half of Season 6 (up through the episode called "Casserole Over").

You can find episode lists either here on the Food Network or here on Wikipedia.

Also, at the top of the blog is a page called "Good Eats Resources". You can find a link to the episode list on the Food Network there as well as a link to a Good Eats fan site that has transcripts for all Good Eats episodes.

Request

Can I make a suggestion? I think it would be helpful to put the name of the recipe in labels so that when we want to make a recipe from the past we can easily pull up all the posts for that recipe. Then it will be easy to read everyone's comments and suggestions. The initial poster should make the label and everyone will have to put in that exact label for it to work. What do you think?

Reminder

Hi Ladies,

I just wanted to remind you that as soon as I receive a recipe I post it on the upcoming recipe page. This allows you to put the items on your grocery list in advance. If you already know which recipe you are going to choose, feel free to email it to me and I'll get it up.

Round 2 / Adminstrative Stuff

Hello delish makers. I'm thrilled that we are starting a new round of the recipe rotation next week. We are going to be switching the type of recipe we select. So, for example Danielle chose a Baked recipe last time and she will be choosing a cooking recipe this time. You can see the recipe rotation here to find out when you will be choosing the recipe.

If you need to switch which week you choose a recipe, just let me know. Also, if you want to opt out of this rotation or aren't interested in being a part of this group anymore, please let me know. I promise I won't be offended.

As we start over with a new rotation we will obviously be starting over with new 'get to know you' questions. If you would like to suggest a questions, please leave a comment. Otherwise you'll be stuck with whatever I want to know about everyone.