Cooking times and the literal mind

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I'm one of those that takes cooking times literally . If it says cook X for 5 minutes , according to the instructions, that's what I do.

I pretty much do that, too.

If I'm cooking rice, I always try to make sure I cook it for at least 15 minutes.

If it's pasta: 10 minutes.

It doesn't always work though . It irritates me a little when something says cook for 5 minutes ,but in reality it needs 8-9 minutes .

Sometimes, it depends on the stove/oven you use. You have to "get to know" your stove or oven.

The pasta package might say "8 minutes"---but I still cook it for 10 minutes just to make sure. Anyway, my wife likes her pasta soft.

I'm not into al dente pasta either .

I'd suggest getting a cooking thermometer if you eat meat. Meat really is done when it reaches a target cooking temperature!

Similarly, I use a digital scale to measure out portions of stuff accurately. No need to sift flour first before measuring.

I'm the same. In fact i didn't know i wasn't supposed to take it literally until i saw this thread

Anything that is likely to give me food poisoning is cooked for four hours.

At least that way I know I am safe.




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just kidding.

Ain't that what you're supposed to do?

One can cook a burger on a pan for 15 minutes each side over medium high heat.....and come up with a well-done burger.

I use the suggested cooking times as a general starting point. Like with pasta I prefer a slightly chewiness which is usually a minute or two under the printed cook time. With other things I start at the low-end and check. A thermometer is a good tool to have on hand. Mostly a seat-of-the-pants cook

One thing to remember regarding cooking times is that if it involves boiling in water, such as pasta, the boiling point of water varies with altitude. The instructions seen on the packages generally are for sea level.

As a first approximation, the boiling point of water will drop 1 degree F for every 500 feet in altitude. Where I live, it is low enough that if you cook pasta for the minimum time on the wrapper, it comes out rather chalky. When I lived near the coast, I always went by the package time, but not here.

I wonder what they do in places like Denver. The only thing I can imagine to get decent results for pasta is to not use the dried pasta. You can get the fresh pasta that is soft that cooks much quicker.

The effect of boiling point is enough that from what I understand, boiling potatoes at the top of Pike's Peak is an exercise in futility. At over 14,000 feet, the boiling point of water is about 186 degrees. I've heard that at that boiling point, you could boil potatoes all night and they would not be done yet.

Yeah. I usually cook hamburger and steaks in butter at something less than medium high heat. The butter will give them caramelization they need for best results. Then after cooking, I let them rest a few minutes on paper towels before putting them on the bun. In fact, by the time I'm ready to put them on a bun, I already have the pan and spatula I used to cook them washed and dried.

I had a roommate once who was cooking pasta one evening. He must have cooked it half an hour or more. I was intrigued with the idea but he didn't offer me a sample of the pasta.

For rice, I just use a rice cooker and don't time it.

I have three rice cookers. One is a rice/vegetable steamer that works much better with vegetables than with rice. I don't use it very often.

I also have a standard electric rice cooker that I bought at Walmart. I probably use it the most even though it doesn't give the absolute best results. It is easily the most forgiving, though.

My favorite rice cooker is one that Comet Rice was giving away around 1980 in exchange for a boxtop from their rice and postage. It only cooks one cup at a time.

Here's a picture of one from the Internet:

If you cook pasta for 30 minutes, it comes out a sticky mess.