ITT: Memes you fell for

Only soccer mom's have the time for this.

wrong. I used to workout and prepped weekly meals when I was active in sports.
It definitely helps but I felt like a prisoner mate, after a month of doing it I can't bear it any longer and went back to being a normal human being instead of some slave to my own cooking.

A visual of pure autism.

You have time for whatever is a priority for you, I imagine you shitpost for at least two hours a day. It takes that long to boil some rice and bake a pan of tilapia

hours to cook rice and tilapia

More like 20 min if you aren't a fuckup in the kitchen.

to be fair, I kinda understand why he thinks that way. It's insane, you'd need to keep track of the expiry dates and keep a steady rotation. It takes way too much effort just to eat the same shit everyday but look good in a t-shirt. I wouldn't recommend it but maybe it's just me

>you'd need to keep track of the expiry dates
Why?

I know many people who did food prep like that specifically because it saves time. They cook a batch of food on the weekend when they don't have work or school, portion it up, and then during the week there is zero effort involved with cooking. Just grab a portion, heat it up (or don't), and eat it.

When I was in University (and working a full time job) I'd often prep my lunches in advance. Cook a bit pot of chili, curry, or stew on the weekend. Or grill up a bunch of sausages, chicken, etc. That made my lunches super fast during the week. I never did it for all my meals but it was a great timesaver for lunch.

it definitely saves time, but the thing is I'm not just prepping lunch, I used to prep 2 meals a day excluding breakfast (I just get some toast and eggs). Let's say the plan is chicken tiddies for the whole month right, I need to take note of the expiry when I bought it from the store which is about 2-3 days before it goes bad, I'd cook them immediately so that's not a big deal.
I never freeze my meals so I give the cooked chicken a maximum of 5 days in the fridge. Before I take the last 2 meals, I'll start prepping again so that it's a steady continuation and I'll always have not-so-shitty meals, relatively 'fresh'. Most people don't do this and just prep 7-8 days in one go which I don't really like doing because the meal on the 7th day will be dry as fuck. Basically I prep by 5 days instead of a whole week, 2 days makes a huge difference in refrigerated chicken breasts, let alone the sweet potatoes
It's subjective, but I tried to keep a balance of freshness and keeping up my diet. Not worth it, will never do it ever again.

Expiration dates are meaningless. Completely meaningless. How long the food lasts is entirely dependent on your storage conditions, which the date has no way to "know" or correct for.

Check out the Food Safety section in Modernist Cuisine for a great example. They did a comparison with raw chicken stored below vs. above 3 degrees C. Below 3 C the chicken kept for a full MONTH whereas above 3C the same level of bacterial growth was reached in only 4 days.

Anyway, chicken breast for a month? Go to market. Buy 4 packs. Get home. Prep one pack; the others go in the freezer. Day 7: take a pack out of the freezer, prep it for the upcoming week. Repeat. The chicken is never kept for more than a week.

I have considered freezing raw chicken breasts, but the taste will definitely be off. I know it's dumb to be looking out for the taste while doing meal preps, but hey that's why I couldn't handle it.
The expiration dates are my own markings, the store bought ones doesn't matter as I cook them the day I bought it, I always FIFO but in my moms place which is pretty much a nightmare. I used to mark them with masking tapes writing down the 5th day whence it was cooked, it was ok for like the first 10 days then after a while it becomes a chore. It's not tough but like an extra job you need to do at the end of the day.

I remember my mom would eat one at midnight when she was hungry and my perfect even-numbered meals just gets fucked out of order. Cooking 11 meals feels weird as fuck.

It's cheap thermal mass and doesn't wear out.

Even numbers are fucking beta, odds is where it's at. Don't bitch about your mom wanting a meal either. She squeezed your giant ugly round head out of her own gash just so you could have the privilege of breathing air.

I didn't say anything mean about my mom lmao, she can eat whatever she wants but it feels weird having to count in an extra meal as chicken breasts comes in pairs at my local grocer.
relax my good sir, me mum's a great lady. hell, she enjoys my bland meals more than I do so I'm cool with it.

>I have considered freezing raw chicken breasts, but the taste will definitely be off.

I do this. When I plan to have chicken I take the container out the night before and put it in the fridge to defrost.
Any difference in taste hasn't been overly discernible.

I dont get why people are so weird about freezing meat. Unless you bought a prime ass expensive cut ots perfectly fine

Reminder CHAD EATS PIZZA AND FUCKS STACY

Freezing any natural food--plant or animal--causes texture damage. When the ice crystals form they break the cell walls of plants and the cell membranes of animals. That fucks with the texture and lets the juices run out of the food.

In the industry this is called "drip loss". Google it.

I cook for about 2 or 3 days out, I get bored of the same meal after that.

I guess we have to take in account of the quality of the refrigerator. I don't know, maybe it's just a psychological thing, I've had that "freezer taste" in my mouth before and I absolutely hate it.

the frozen water in the meat will have the taste of the surrounding area as well. is that true? just a thought

I feel you, I'm surprised how well some bodybuilders can do it. That dream is dead now, of acquiring a natty physique. I'm more of a fuck-all at the moment.

This is so boring and monotonous. I work an office job too but I can't imagine how depressed I'd be at work if for every meal I would expect reheated tilapia with hot lemons and soggy spinach.
Or rice with reheated broccoli, you know that rice would be gummy af.

This person is literally eating the same lunch for a month. This is the subtle kind of poverty lower middle class Americans are facing, when squirreling away $10 a day for a lunch budget is considered extravagant because jobs are no longer paying enough.

>the frozen water in the meat will have the taste of the surrounding area as well. is that true? just a thought

It will. But it doesn't matter because it runs out. Hence the term "drip loss". That flavor, and moisture, is gone. But the real point is that the texture of the meat is affected. When you break cell walls and membranes you lose structural integrity.

There's a 95% chance that picture came from a bodybuilder trying to eat clean.
>durr just spend $10 on a booger and fries like everyone else
>every fucking day
>5-6 days a week
This is why America is fucking fat.

I've had to prep rice before, pro-tip: don't get it al-dante the first round; when you reheat it with let's say broccoli in the same container, the steam will further cook the rice. Also, regarding the poverty part, I think it's just how you look at it. I see it as a great coping mechanism towards the economy and the ones that put elbow grease into it are pretty savvy imo.

I suppose the loss of flavor is the freezer taste that even peas have it sometimes. I can also confirm the structural integrity part, grilling a defrosted chicken breast will be significantly drier and flakier than non-frozen chicken breasts when cooked at same temp and duration. Experienced this when I part-timed at a local grill.

>implying I said spend it on fast food
Obsessed Eurofat projecting your bad gorging habits onto everyone...

I wouldn't call myself a bodybuilder haha, just trying out something new when I was active on the field

>I suppose the loss of flavor is the freezer taste that even peas have it sometimes.

Freezing can cause loss of flavor by a couple of different means. Drip loss is one example. Another is "freezer burn", but that can be mitigated by properly packaging the food prior to freezing it. Wrapping the food tightly in plastic wrap, or better yet: vacuum sealing it, goes a long way to stop freezer burn.

Is there some kind of low-quality bait thing going on recently?

I remember my old part-time place used to keep them in brines to prevent freezer burn and it ended up having me and a few guys thawing a block of ice with the lunch shift's worth of chicken breasts stuck inside. Whoever thought of that idea was retarded I swear. Vacuum seal works really well, but you need the right equipment to do it.
Were you in FnB before? You sound pretty knowledgeable regarding safety of storage.

Yeah, freezing food in a brine or confit works too.

>>Were you in FnB before?
Nope, I'm just a serious amateur cook, but I am well read, and I used to manage a research lab at a major university so I have a lot of related experience.

Anyway, for home cooks a cheap vacuum sealer like a "foodsaver" works very well, and they aren't very expensive. The only drawback is that they don't work well for "wet" foods. they're fine for veggies, raw meat, etc, but if you want to store things that have a runny sauce they aren't so useful. If I remember right you can snag one for around $50, perhaps less.

A chamber-type sealer works great for wet foods. And I also love them because they're great for speeding up marinading: vac pack the food with the marinade in the same bag. The vacuum speeds up the penetration of the marinade into the food. Alas, those are a lot more expensive. A decent one is going to cost several hundred $$ if not a grand or more.

The killer is actually the bags themselves, I find them very expensive in my country because not a lot of people use vac-seal at home in Asia.
It's good to know your stuff, user. During my internship I've seen people hanging around inside walk-ins because the weather was hot, not knowing a few bozos inside can easily raise 3-5 degree celcius in the chiller for a good 5 mins, ample time for bacteria to be active again.

Yeah, the bags can be expensive too.

Here in the US the "foodsaver" type is pretty common. You can find them at most big supermarkets, or any department store. The pre-formed bags are pretty expensive, but you can get rolls of the bag material which you cut to length using the machine itself. Those are very economical, roughly the same price as ordinary "ziplock" bags. The chamber type sealers use special bags. Those are pretty cheap but you have to buy them in bulk since they're mainly marketed to restaurants, delis, butchers, etc. So you have a high up-front expense, but you get hundreds of bags for your money.

I found that using the sealers actually helps me save money because I am more inclined to save leftovers/scraps instead of throwing them out like I normally would. Another nice benefit is that the vac-sealed pouches take up a lot less room in the freezer which lets your store more things.

ITT: cast iron hipsters btfo

What do you do with scraps? I've been tossing out mushroom and spinach stems. I only know you can make stock with it but I only cook 3 meals a day with no sauce at all, too much hassle.

Generally speaking I save them for either making stock, or for using to cook a base for a sauce.

If I'm cooking a meal I want to make a sauce for but I don't have much fond to work with I'll grab some scraps appropriate to the meal, brown them in a saucepan, then add my stock and/or wine. Reduce, then strain out the scraps or puree them into the sauce.

Right on, I'll give that a go next time since I have a questionable bottle of red in my fridge. I might even invest in a blender, expand my horizon a little.
Reminiscing the old days in uni learning about demi-glace and shit, I don't remember half the shit culinary arts taught me.

I haven't been following any special recipes or anything. My basic procedure is:
-pick some scraps that match the meal. i.e. if I'm serving roast pork then I find some pork scraps.
-brown the scraps, perhaps with a little mirepoix
-add some flour, cook out the roux for a minute or so.
-add stock and/or wine, reduce.

I highly recommend getting a good blender if you're at all serious about cooking. I have a blendtec and it's one of my most frequently used kitchen tools. It's great for making smooth soups and sauces. Marinades have never been easier: just dump whole ingredients in the blender, puree it, then pour into your container with the meat. It's good for grinding spices, homemade nut butters, dips, salsa, hummus. It makes curry paste, sandwich spreads, mayo, herbed oils...and of course there's the blended drinks, smoothies, shakes, etc. Super useful.

reheat fish in the office microwave and your ass is fired

>Taking into account the opinions of finicky eaters

If you don't like fish you may as well euthanize yourself

Webstraunt.com

Thank me later

>Webstraunt.com
Were you trying to link me to webstaurantstore? I know them well, I've been shopping with them for years.

So why don't you buy your vacuum bags from them? They cost 3 cents per bag there.

That is where I buy them from. It's possible to get normal bags even cheaper than 3 cents each.

Work on your reading comprehension.

Cast iron is Fucking amazing if youre not pants on head retarded

no way....

that is real ?

...

OH NOS

...

this piece of shit, very difficult to clean and it takes forever to cook eggs.

youtu.be/xFI31LOL8G8

>a lot of college students called me, wrote me, texted me
yeah right fatso, i'm sure college students somehow managed to find your number to text you about how great their ramen cooker was

no thanks, i bought a cheap ass Tefal pan and i couldn't be happier.

Kys

you first :^)

Life is too short to eat like this every day. Jesus.

Can you imagine being neurotic enough to think that owning one of these would improve your life

Dumbass.

You can literally season a cast-iron pan in one afternoon, dipshit

Middle Eastern/African food. People around me kept raving about how amazing it is. Sounded good since it had Beef, Sweet Potatoes, Tomatoes and Red Onion. What could go wrong?

Its was mush garbage served over couscous that stunk to high heaven and had no flavor even though it had so many different ingredients and spices.

I mean what the fuck?

>He didn't get an IP!

this o

Maybe you should try it more than once

Don't replace every pan and pot you have with cast iron, but have one like this one. Searing the meat on the stove top and finishing in the oven is a big plus.
Crockpots are good to make use of lower quality meat. Cook a big piece of tri-tip or pork, shred, use in sandwiches
This is good for making fancy omlettes, only thing is you may get bored.

YOU DON'T SLOW COOK TRI TIP YOU MONGREL PIECE OF SHIT.

Please don't yell

Less. Put it on the stove top. Begin to prep meal. Check pan every now and then. Once it's up to a an even medium heat wipe it with a very thin coat of oil. Repeat a couple times, start cooking your meal. Just work it into your prep and it adds a couple minutes, tops.

i don't understand how people like this are smart enough to survive in society.

>modernist cuisine
Nathan Myhrvold is a patent troll, a shit human being, and not a trustworthy source of information.

I don't like it but I can eat the same thing for lunch two days in a row. If it is one of my favorite all time meals I might be able to go for three.

But 5 days of the same shit is simply not going to happen

Lebanese food is some of the best I've ever had, user. Maybe the place you went just sucked.

I am about to fall for a no-contact laser thermometer. Worth it? Should I get one of the ones you impale food with instead? I have no way of knowing food is cooked and currently just go based off sight.

Only one I've used is a general purpose one. It only measures surface temperature and is still not very accurate. I can't imagine one that can measure the temperature of the inside of something accurately with a laser not being government funding kind of expensive. Maybe I'm wrong, but why not a decent normal one?

>Should I get one of the ones you impale food with instead?

Yes, get one with a wire too, so you can use it with an oven (get a popular brand, the wire will break sooner or later, they are consumables).

Mine came preseasoned and I cook fucking everything in it except eggs. It never needs to be washed, either. I just rub it out with a paper towel and any of the grease from cooking just makes it that much more seasoned.

I think you're doing something wrong.

The problem with those is sometimes they will measure the temp of rising steam instead of what you're aiming at.

And it only measures the surface temp. Only thing those are good for is measuring the temp of a pan before you put food in it.

Other than that, you need an impaling one to measure the temp at the thickest part of the food.

what the fuck kind of office do you work in

what a fat piece of shit

>even numbers are beta
this might be the most retarded thing i've ever read on this website in my 9 years of browsing

If I got my cast iron from my mother who got it from her mother then am I 3rd in a line of hipsters?

You're third in a line of humongous faggots, that's for sure.

Of all the "MUH TOXINS IN MUH FOOD" memes, the nitrate one is the absolute worst.

Cast-iron is the biggest Veeky Forums meme. Hours of prep time to get a pan that is "non-stick" when you can buy a non-stick pan directly and save yourself the trouble.

Cast-iron memes are awful:
>can't hold the handle without a glove
>too heavy to use for basic tasks
>take longer to heat up
>have to be "seasoned" to get to a point of same functionality that comes with buying a teflon pan
I have to agree with cast iron pans are probably the least versatile stove-top equipment available. Just buy a non-stick and be done with it.

samefagging, but to add, you can't fucking wash it either

Cast iron means you can treat it like utter shit, wipe it with a paper towel, and call it good. Non-stick is literally a temporary pan.

Side note, if you actually want your cast iron to have non-stick properties you should really sand down the surface (preferably with power tools), and then season multiple times with a very thin oil whose chemical reaction would entirely change the surface on a molecular level.

Or, you know, back to my first point, stop giving a fuck.

Yeah I fell for it too

Stout shaco for 2 refined.

Um 4 hi shako

It tastes like throw up.

Cast iron is actually the thing I'm most glad I got based on Veeky Forums's recommendation

it took me a while to understand the most efficient way to use it but now that I know I fucking love it

>oil before use

>whatever cooking

>once empty, fill with a little water while still hot
>scrape while boiling
>dry on heat
>oil and wipe free of any excess

an extra 2 minutes at the end of use for an essentially unfuckable pan is a dream come true for me. I got a combo cooker dutch-oven and haven't looked back. Plus frying shit's been a blast.

This looks great, but all the constant talk about being careful about when the pan's seasoned enough to use acidic shit like tomatoes directly in it had me paranoid when I started out. Is there a general rule of thumb as to how long to wait before you're good? I'm about 3 months into occasional use on mine.

Apply oil. Wipe off excess. Place into oven at 500F. Open a window. Let the pan smoke for 30 minutes. Turn off oven. Wipe pan. BOOM. Polymerized non-stick surface. Do this 6 more times. My pan looks like a black mirror.

If cast iron is too heavy for you then you need to cook more / lift.