Cooking has never scared me. Cooking equipment, on the other hand . . .

Throughout my life, I've witnessed not one, but two pressure cookers explode. Yes, your heart does return to its normal rhythm, eventually.

However, pressure cookers, gas stoves, gas grills, or anything with the potential to go "KaBoom!" will never make it on my wish list. Respect.

Sol

>However, pressure cookers, gas stoves, gas grills, or anything with the potential to go "KaBoom!" will never make it on my wish list.

Me, too, Sol!

Another pressure cooker chicken here. Also afraid of Phylo dough and don't ever fry anything but eggs.

Man! I never knew I had so many cooking phobias until I read this list. I'm nodding with quite a few.

Such as, pressure cookers - Mom had one and used it from time to time but she was afraid of it and, consequently, I am too.

Canning, something else Mom wouldn't do, so another area of ignorance for me. We had a large garden and a big freezer. Everything got frozen. I've made pepper jelly and peach chutney and green tomato chutney. No one died. It was probably just good luck, though and not skill.

Sous vide. I've read the explanations about why you aren't going to get botulism from it, but because of all of the negative press when it first became the thing to do, I can't get it out of my mind. dcarch is here to tell about it, but I'd be afraid I would do exactly the wrong thing and kill off my family.

Those are the phobias I have. The list of things that I just don't want to do is much longer and has been repeated above. I don't like frying chicken or pork chops or green tomatoes. Even with the vent hood going full blast, the odor lingers and the clean up just isn't worth it to me.

I don't like to make pie crust or anything that has to be rolled out. DD and Pillsbury make excellent pie crusts. I bow to them. Mary B's makes wonderful frozen biscuits. I'll pretend I'm supporting the economy and buy my biscuits.

I'd love to learn to make an authentic cassoulet instead of faux cassoulet, but I'm a little put off by storing duck legs in the fridge in oil for two weeks - or as one recipe said, "up to three months." And besides, I have no idea where I'd find duck legs short of shooting the ducks myself.

I'd like to make petit four. I watched a Martha Stewart video and read several recipes. Seems like a PITA. I think I'll call the bakery.

I don't have any cooking phobias. But because of my schooling experiences, my own and other students, I'm extra careful with burns. Deep frying hands, sugar burns that keep burning... ugh. Steam burns suck too, so I'm super careful there too.

My big worry spot is safety and sanitation with storage and defrosting. Like improper defrosting of frozen chicken, or making sure I cool down a huge kettle of stock quickly and effectively. Or making sure that cooler full of food is really at fridge temp. My sister says I'm paranoid, but hey, I've never gotten anyone sick because of my paranoia, hehehe.

I don't know about phobias. I don't fry because of the clean-up. I can be talked into it maybe once a year. I don't stir fry because it's frenetic. No venting makes the aftermath undesirable.

I JUST bought a pressure cooker this year and love it. The modern ones are not scary, at all. Highly recommend it!

I'd love to delve into sous vide, but don't have the disposable income to play with it and lack the desire to hack. I don't like desserts, so rarely make pastry but I bake bread weekly. Got a Thermapen so not afraid to ruin steaks! Hmm, I guess using the grill. I just couldn't tell when meats were done and find standing over a fire uncomfortable.

Hey! Flambé. Big fire is not my thing.

Most of the above and add to that BBQ on a charcoal grill. I've never figured out how to grill with charcoal.

Some thoughts on a few topics:

There has not been a documented case of PC exploding with billions of PC in use.

Very much the opposite about cooking safety and sous vide cooking. With regular cooking, you can never tell if your meat is really cooked to safe temperature even you use a good thermometer. Where do you probe? how do you probe? there can be areas where temperature has not reached safe cooking temperature. With sous vide, you set whatever temperature you feel is safe, you are guarantee the entire piece of meat will be at that safe temperature, regardless how thick and how cold the meat was when you start. Ultra safe way of cooking.

How expensive is a sous vide device? Now if you shop around, as low as $150. How expensive is it if you mess up $100 worth of prime ribs? How much do you save each time you cook you save 5% less meat shrinkage? How much can you save if you can buy and enjoy the cheap cuts of meat?

I am not going to buy a rack of lamb at $15.00 a lb (really $30 if you remove the bones and fat) when I can buy semi-boneless leg of lamb at $2.99 a lb on sale. There is no difference in taste and more tender after sous vide.

dcarch

I have a mandolin slicer; used once or twice. It was briefly stainless steel-colored with red spots. Now it is idle and buried in the garage.

This post was edited by Gyr_Falcon on Fri, Dec 19, 14 at 22:55

Oh yeah, BBQ and charcoal and all that, me neither ! How could I have forgotten waffle irons? I have never owned one, probably because when I was little I touched a hot one and have never forgotten the pain and shock. Besides, I prefer pancakes over waffles.

No phobias here either. I bake bread, cookies and biscuits, can vegetables and meats, roll pie crust, render lard, deep fry, make my own cheese and use a pressure cooker on a regular basis. I haven't done my own sous vide, but I've had it in restaurants without fear.

The only thing I hate to do and refuse to do is grill. I'm too impatient. I toss a piece of something on the grill and then think "I have time to finish _____" and wander off to do that. I come back to charcoal dinner and smoke that would make my Native American ancestors proud of my communication skills.

If I concentrate really hard I CAN grill, but I just hate everything about the process and do not love the finished product enough to do it. I'll just put the stuff in the smoker, where I am encouraged to walk away.

Well, now that I think about it, I always make way too much food when I'm having a family gathering, I hate to run out of anything. Is that a phobia, as long as I do it knowing that someone is always happy to take home leftovers?

Annie

I didn't think I was afraid of anything in the kitchen but I discovered one fear last winter. I was making chocolate covered cherries and thought that making almond rocha might be fun or even some old fashioned fudge. Then I realized that I am very afraid of the ugly burns from sugar solutions over 212 degrees. I have a small kitchen, very limited workspace.
The burns from candy making scare me very much so I stick to chocolate at max temp of 90 -/+ degrees although the wax, if used. is a bit hotter.

Annie, Being scared of having too much food is only a phobia if you make way too little because of it. I know a hostess who is like that. She wants not a spec left over, so even with people taking minimal portions there's never enough to serve everybody, let alone enough to satisfy them. Making your guests happy with leftovers is a nice thing. :)

Is this a phobia? I was given a Röaut;sle torch quite a number of months back, and I bought a can of gas for it. I still haven't filled it, let alone lighting it. I'm sure I will when I have something I want to blast with dragon's breath, but I'm guessing there's some phobia behind not just jumping in and playing with my new toy. :) OTOH, my sous vide circulators came the other day and I had to hide them in the laundry room, rather than opening, because company is coming. ...

But, Bbstx, I never thought to be scared of botulism!

Re: botulism.

I guess I do have another but it is recent after looking into canning stock. My brother-in-law smoked some salmon and canned it. Lovely gift but still sitting in my pantry because I don't entirely trust him to be cautious, even though they have eaten it and are still alive. I could boil it for 10 min, and mix it with cream cheese, but bleh, sounds like ruination!

Gravy. I can't make a decent pan of gravy to save my life. Sigh. Nor am I good at grilling, but I figure that's what I have DH for!

Edie

I haven't read all the replies, only a few deep, but flambeing and pressure cookers are on the list as are live lobsters.
I don' t think I could purposely kill another creature diffidently!
Deep frying and fires don't really bother me as I do them outside.
Yesterday, I burned a pile of brush the size of a small house...

I've been thinking about this since Thursday, trying to think of something that I have a phobia about cooking and can't think of anything. I bake, I fry/deep fry, and I grill, I don't have a pressure cooker at the moment, but had one years ago and will probably get another one. My grandmother used the old fashion type and I don't recall ever being afraid of it.

I have a number of different mandolines, and although I'm not afraid to use them, I am very cautious when using.

DCarch, I know that you love your sous vide. But I find it amusing when you promote sous vide cooking with these kind of statements.

"With regular cooking, you can never tell if your meat is really cooked to safe temperature even you use a good thermometer. Where do you probe? how do you probe? there can be areas where temperature has not reached safe cooking temperature."

If someone has a problem using a thermometer to test for the doneness of meat, there is a lot of information available. Just do a google search.

~Ann

Ann, I can cook meat properly, but I can't manage the danged thermometer! I've watched the videos, read the instructions, and all, and it never comes out right. It's fine with bread! With meat, I'm better off forgetting it, and going with weight/time/temperature, and if it looks/smells done.

Gas grilling, flambeing, using a kitchen torch for creme brûlée or browning meringue. Burning off the alcohol in a dish like Coq au Vin (I guess that's actually just "behind the scenes" flambeing) Those are mine. Also can add making caramel - I fear the sugar burn with that. I do some of these, but always with great trepidation.

Strangely, I do not fear the electric pressure cooker and use mine often. I was always afraid of my Mom's with the jiggling gizmo on top that needed to be put under running water to release pressure. I had to leave the room when I heard it start to rattle. My Mom had no fear of it, but I'd heard stories from others.....

Plllog, I'm not at all surprised that you cook meat properly and you don't need a thermometer. And I'm sure that you have never poisoned your family because your meat wasn't cooked to a safe temperature.

To imply that the sous vide method is the only safe method is ridiculous.

I mean come on, how many here are concerned that the meals they are preparing for their families are unsafe because they roast or cook using one of the more traditional methods rather than the sous vide method?

~Ann

dcarch: I distinctly remember cleaning up the mess at about age 14 when the lid blew-off the pressure cooker and left a hole in the kitchen ceiling above the stove. I guess one might say the the pressure cooker didn't totally explode, but if anyone had been in the kitchen when the lid blew-off and hot stew flew everywhere, they definetely would have at least been burned if not injured by the flying lid.

I have a pressure cooker that I have used - carefully, but normally don't care for the finished product which lacks the lovely carmelized, melded favors that only develope after long, slow cooking either on top of the stove or in the oven in a Dutch oven.

Blenders. Not a phobia but I don't want one. To me a smoothie means a chocolate shake or even better, a malt !

Agreed, Ann. I was just offering up the side note, for a laugh at myself, that I can't seem to operate a meat thermometer! But I think Dcarch was being tongue in cheek too, because hundreds of millions of Americans eat meat on a daily basis and very few of them get food poisoning.

OTOH, my cooking phobia just bit back. The caterers fried the drummettes, and they were under! NOT cool! Or, rather, too cool to eat!

Posted by westelle ,"----dcarch: I distinctly remember cleaning up the mess at about age 14 when the lid blew-off the pressure cooker and left a hole in the kitchen ceiling above the stove. ------"

That is possible with an older PC, but not with a newer one.

If the top cover is not completely turned and locked in place, the pressure can be blow it off, Newer PCs have a safety feature. Unless the cover is in the correct position, the pressure cannot build up.

Once you have made beans in a PC, you will not be making beans the regular way.

dcarch

Ann_t âÂÂ--To imply that the sous vide method is the only safe method is ridiculous.----âÂÂ

Perhaps I should put it in another way. Sous vide is the only method that will give you absolute precise temperature control, some as good as +- 0.01F, regardless of the thickness of the meat, and the start out temperature of the meat, from edge to edge. Not only that, sous vide equipment is programmed to learn to automatically adjust for the cooking environment. There is no need to worry about kitchen temperature, gas, electric convection, induction stove, cast iron, st. steel, aluminum pot, etc. Truly set it & forget it.

I cannot think of any other way you can achieve that kind of certainty in food safety, relative to safe cooking temperature.

In any case, please donâÂÂt get offended by my comment, it really is just to respond to this comment by the poster, âÂÂ------ but because of all of the negative press when it first became the thing to do, I can't get it out of my mind. dcarch is here to tell about it, but I'd be afraid I would do exactly the wrong thing and kill off my family.----âÂÂ

â If someone has a problem using a thermometer to test for the doneness of meat, there is a lot of information available. Just do a google search.âÂÂ

My point is, âÂÂprobe measure the thickest part of the meatâ is unreliable because it is difficult to judge where is the thickest part of the meat and how deep to insert the thermometer. Googling is not going to help.

âÂÂI mean come on, how many here are concerned that the meals they are preparing for their families are unsafe because they roast or cook using one of the more traditional methods rather than the sous vide method?---âÂÂ

I am in agreement with you. I know of very few cases of people getting sick cooking using the traditional methods. Thanks to all safety cooking temperature guidelines and recommendations, they all have margins built in to compensate for inaccuracies in general cooking methods and tools.

dcarch

This post was edited by dcarch on Sun, Dec 21, 14 at 9:19

DH and I were watching "The Taste" the other day, and we were talking about pressure cookers. Also, some of the contestants were cooking goose, which neither of us have ever tried, so I wouldn't know what to do to cook it. I do roast duck.

I have used a pressure cooker many times, but can't can. I bought the whole schlemiel twice- pressure canner, canning jars, lids and took up the time of the nice people on the Harvest Forum asking questions, and when it came time, I chickened out.

I ordinarily have confidence in what I do, and I believe that millions of people who can do so safely (we would hear about it if they were dropping like flies) and there are clear, specific directions like the Ball canning booklet.

So, it is a genuine phobia:
A phobia is an overwhelming and unreasonable fear of an object or situation that poses little real danger but provokes anxiety and avoidance.

Maybe we should all make a New Year's Resolution to BE MORE CONFIDENT IN THE KITCHEN!!!

yay!

:-)

Happy Holidays!

Baked beans are my phobia. After years (off and on - not constantly) trying different recipes and methods (including buying an authentic Massachusetts bean pot) I just have given up. Too mushy, too hard, not enough flavor, or just yuck. I now just buy Bush's original in a can, ignoring how much sodium is in them, add some diced onions and a squirt of mustard, and heat them up.
Nancy

"Maybe we should all make a New Year's Resolution to BE MORE CONFIDENT IN THE KITCHEN!!!"

That's the thing about real phobias. People who don't have them and don't understand what a phobia is, will say 'just have more confidence' or 'spiders are nothing to be afraid of' or 'just be careful of heights, don't panic'.

A phobia is irrational, and a reassuring, well intentioned, rational response doesn't always work.

Ah, Lucille, that's it! And when I add to it that the chicken I buy is much less likely to be a salmonella fest than the run of the mill bird from the big box store, my fried chicken trepidation is completely irrational. I can fry other things! (Though I might be braver if I did it more.) So I'm really looking forward to that sous vide perfect temperature chicken, with fully killed bacteria but not overcooked, where my frying will be merely to cook the coating. :) I've fried dough concoctions, and that's like breading/batter, right?

I think your canning phobia is pretty rational though. I've only water bath canned jam and fruit, and when I did marmalade all by myself I was worried enough that it wasn't sterile enough that I put the jars in the fridge anyway. :) I'd do it again, but processing the kumquats destroyed my hands.

I remember when I was young that whole families were wiped out by botulism fairly regularly, and my mother always inspected commercial cans regularly. Now when we hear about botulism it's mostly about celebrities injecting it into the faces to poison the nerves/muscles that give them wrinkles. I think a certain amount of expertise is needed for canning, especially pressure canning, and it's hard to get that expertise from reading.

Lucille, maybe the thing to do, if you want to start using your equipment, is find an expert mentor whom you can work with until you feel like you really know what you're doing?

JC

I can only think of one - roasting red meat. I'm not afraid of braising. We will cook a brisket at the drop of a hat. And I'm fine with roasting poultry. Big turkeys are no problem.

Kosher beef and lamb is so expensive that I'd hate to waste a big roast by getting it overdone. Also, uncertainty about how long the roasting time will be makes it hard to plan. So I just shy away from buying and using a roast.

Lpink, in that picture, it looks like you did fine with the dough. It's the jelly that's the problem. I used to have that problem a lot when baking with a jelly or jam filling like for hamentashen or thumbprint cookies. High temp plus jelly and it spreads out and burns.

Since then I've found a fruit filling recipe that starts with dried fruit. The result is that it cooks well and has an intense fruit flavor.

"Some thoughts on a few topics:
There has not been a documented case of PC exploding with billions of PC in use."

Dcarch, since I was the only one who commented on "explosive cookware," not once, but twice, I can only assume your comment was directed at me.

So, I will elaborate.

I have never owned a P.C. and as mentioned previously, never, ever, will.

The first explosion I experienced was in my mother's kitchen when I was a kid. No one was hurt, but the boom and the mess as a result of that metal contraption left an indelible mark on my memory.

The second explosion happened at the house of my best friend Rosie. Where the lid of her P.C. blew off, completely covering her robin's egg blue kitchen with black beans. Can you picture it? I still can.

Nowhere, in my post did I mention whether the pressure cookers were old or new. You presumed the latter, and (indirectly or surreptitiously) implied it was a lie. And I'm not okay with that.
Neither you, nor Google were there, to witness any of it, so why the assumption?

In any case, I will be sure to share your circumspective findings with my friend Rosie, next time we meet. And we'll be relieved (and probably laugh nervously) that because it went 'undocumented' none of it actually happened.

Then again, there's the possibility my mother, my friend Rosie and I may have all been affected with a case of Munchausen Syndrome.

Sol

Sol, in general, the public does not make a distinction between eruption and explosion of a PC. Eruption happens all the time, it happened to me twice, there are many youtube videos of eruption.

As I said, the cover blows off is possible if it is not correctly lock in place, causing a major eruption.

Otherwise, true explosion of a PC is almost never happens, considering the number in use world wide.

Can it happen? Yes. I think the follow is possible:

An aluminum pressure cooker was carelessly burned to totally red hot to ALMOST MELTING POINT on the stove. The home cook panicked and poured cold water over the PC to cool it down. The PC was cooled down. However, the rapid cooling of the aluminum changed the metal structure completely from elastic high tensile strength metal to crystalline rigid structure. the next time the home cook overcooks the PC, it can in fact crack like a ceramic pot and explode.

dcarch

No, Dcarch.

Even though English is my second language, this âÂÂpublicâ understands the difference between âÂÂeruptionâ & âÂÂexplosion.âÂÂ

But it seems you chose to focus on a miniscule technicality. Certainly, people whoâÂÂve had a P.C. explode/erupt, know exactly what I meant in my original post. At least, I hope.

No matter. ItâÂÂs almost Christmas (a Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Christ). And IâÂÂm on too much of a natural high to dwell on this.

Have a wonderful holiday.

Sol

So, in one case a pressure cooker bursts at the seal and the lid and contents are hurled explosively to all corners.

In the other case, a pressure cooker is changed molecularly (or used with a small bomb inside to cause terror) and bursts on the molecular level and the contents are hurled explosively to all corners.

Either way, pressure cookers are scary!

Bring the beans to a boil in your regular ol' bean pot, then put them in the oven for an hour or so (or less if they're not very dry to start with). No soaking, nice even cook, beautifully tender with snap but no toughness.

Neighbors canning, especially meats. In clear jars. And room temp catering food.
Bluefish...the worst food poisoning i've ever had 30yrs ago. Every 5 minutes i had a rush of heat with a moment of vision black-out including sparklers and rainbows.
And PC's. My sister travels with hers. It erupted at a holiday gathering. Not an explosion but enough that my mother said "get that thing outta here".
DH wants one. I've researched and picked one out if it comes up again...
SousVid i've picked out but not hit the buy button. Don't like the texture of most meats that way. I've had plenty. I'm more of a rustic hands on cook and adore gathering wood, building a fire for grilling.

Beef Wellington. Not sure why i fear it. DH wants it for Christmas.

I'll be making an appetizer with salmon for Christmas. So I guess I'll be facing both fears this holiday season. Lamb chops for Christmas eve and salmon for Christmas!

We have salmon and lamb chops about once a month if not more...like cooking a hot dog for us now. But we have very small meat portions, not pig-outs like our youth days, lol.
Veggies are the star of the plate. We will split a small filet of salmon, seared, or 2 small lamb chops each, seared. Lots of veg. We like meats and fish. Just very small portions.

It is the 'never-made-that-before' fears...and first time.
Like beef Wellington. I did read a few recipes and a bit more confident now. I just think it looks gross. Big slab of loin...

Pie crust.

I make it, but I always have a back up. Just don't trust myself to get it right.

Yeah, I know about the fruit filling but it just seems like EVERY time I do anything with dough, it doesn't turn out right, no matter how many bits of advice I get and follow here or anywhere else. In the words of the late great Roseanne Roseannadanna, "It's always something!" I just don't have the knack. It is irrational, or maybe just a situation where I do the arithmetic of time invested vs. quality of return and I am willing to forgo it most of the time. It seems like and unwritten rule of the universe that dough and I are mortal enemies.

It's not a phobia, but I also have a lot of trouble with meat thermometers and I think it is because most of the ones you can get for home use will not hold their accuracy. As far as I can tell, some never are accurate to begin with, right out of the box.

lpink, you can test your thermometer for accuracy and most are adjustable.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Kitchn Testing and Calibrating Meat Thermometer

LPink, my meat thermometer tests accurate and I have a fancy thermocouple one which is highly accurate. It's my ability to make the thermometer read a number that is on the chart as correct where I've placed it and have it be right in terms of the cookedness that I have an issue with. The part that's the phobia for me is cutting into an undercooked salmonellafest (even though my free range, responsibly farmed birds probably don't have it!).

Re dough, I get it. My best friend (a good cook) made the Toll House recipe when we were teens. I saw her do it and helped drop the cookies. She did it "right". They were awful. Since I'd already made thousands of them by that point of my life, I didn't understand how she could blow it so badly, but they weren't edible. :D Maybe start with baby steps for dough things? First the heat and eat to get the oven part right? Then mixes so you don't have to manage the chemistry?

I know how to calibrate a thermometer, thanks! I don't usually want to take the time to do it, but perhaps others can benefit. I just use the time and weight method and sorta test it out. I'm not concerned about it. I used to worry but since I've never had a problem, I got over it.

So I just read the article linked in the sugar for baking thread which talks about the appreciable differences between sugars in baking. Maybe that's part of your dough problem? Are you using C&H?

bbstx, it's very funny that they show a typical meat thermometer in that article so that you can clearly see why that calibration method won't work for a typical meat thermometer.

The marked thermometer range is 140 to 190 degrees. It is typically at the edge of its swing at a temperature above room temperature so putting it in a glass of ice water doesn't move it and says nothing about its accuracy. One could put it in boiling water and at least check that that moves it past 190, but unless it is more than 20 degrees off, it won't tell you much.

About the only way you could calibrate a meat thermometer like that (and most of the non digital ones are like it) is to have another wider range thermometer that you've calibrated with the boiling / freezing method, then put both of them in water that that is in its temperature range and comparing the results.

(The boiling and freezing test also assumes that the thermometer is reasonably linear in its measurement range.)

I haven't had good luck with that type of meat thermometer. Something goes wrong with the spring over time and it stops measuring at all well. I've sometimes put two in and they measure totally differently.

We finally got the digital ChefAlarm thermometer from TheroWorks (the same company that makes the Thermopen instant read thermometers).

Sometimes placement is a challenge - is it deep enough yet not too close to a bone?

This post was edited by cloud_swift on Mon, Dec 22, 14 at 19:53

c_s, I had not noticed that! HA! Thermopen has a place on their website about how to calibrate a thermopen using ice water. The instructions on where to place the probe in the ice water are quite specific.

It has been really hectic these few weeks dealing with year end work schedule. I finally got a few minutes to read more about my posts.

Sol, I was not picking on you, because you were not the only one mentioned PC âÂÂexplodeâÂÂ.

My comment was really just for the general public, those who have PC phobias. In fact from what I have found almost all phobias are based on exploding PC. If you try to search PC eruptions on youtube, you will find nothing, but if you search PC expolsions, you will find people call eruptions âÂÂexplosionsâÂÂ.

And If I Google PC explosions, all I get are Boston Marathon Bombing using PCs.

Sorry if I mislead you, and yes, Happy Holidays.

dcarch

Lpink - those jam cookies look nice enought to me. Wish I could have one. They look just like my mother's (Yes! she was no great baker either but what the heck). I must have acquired a taste for burnt jam. I used to love peeling it from the baking sheet & feasting on it.