Why cook from scratch

[weary]

I spied the following in last week's Newsweek, which confirms my practice of mostly cooking from scratch both at home and on the trail.

March 5, 2007 issue - Twinkies contain actual flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, water and a trace of egg. But the rest of the 39 ingredients are not generally what you find in your pantry. A sampling:

THE FILLING

Shortening (in the form of partially hydrogenated vegetable oil and/or beef fat) is the main ingredient.

Polysorbate 60 is a gooey substance that helps replace cream and eggs at a fraction of the cost. It's derived from corn, palm oil and petroleum.

Cellulose gum gives the crème filling a smooth, slippery feel.
Artificial vanillin is synthesized in petrochemical plants. The real thing comes from finicky tropical orchids that are pollinated by hand on the one day they bloom.

THE CAKE

Lecithin is an emulsifier made from soy. It's also used in paint to keep pigments evenly dispersed.
Diacetyl mimics the taste of butter, since the real stuff would go rancid on a store shelf.

Cornstarch is a common thickener. But it's more often used to make cardboard and packing peanuts.

Yellow No. 5, Red No. 40 give the cake the golden look of eggs.
Sorbic acid, the only actual preservative in Twinkies, comes from petroleum.

And of course, calcium sulfate, "a food grade plaster of paris."

TWINKIE FACTS

Calories: 145 each
Shelf life: 25 days—not years, as urban legend would have it
History: In 1930, James Dewar found a way to use idle baking pans. He named the cakes after seeing an ad for "Twinkle-Toe" shoes. Shelf life was just two to three days.

Want to know more. Newsweek took it's facts from a new book "Twinkies Deconstructed," by Steve Ettlinger.

Weary

[doggiebag]

A big part of my enjoyment in the trail is preparing myself a good meal whenever possible. I don't mind the extra weight of tabasco, vinegars, garlic, ginger etc. I find the dignity and treat of a fine meal I created to be very uplifting.

[Tabasco]

I don't mind the extra weight of tabasco, vinegars, garlic, ginger etc.

I'm 225 lbs, by the way.

[doggiebag]

Tabasco is awsome. It'll can probably turn roadkill into a gourmet meal. I love going into hole in the wall ethnic stores for inspiration as well. You'd be surprised at what different cultures have dehydrated. I'm currently chewing on dehydrated peaches from a Latin store 20 of these peaches cost me $1.69 and it just weighs half a pound. I'm going to try some dried fish I saw earlier.

[Footslogger]

Where did the term "from scratch" come from and what is it's true meaning ?

'Slogger

[lvleph]

I spied the following in last week's Newsweek, which confirms my practice of mostly cooking from scratch both at home and on the trail.

March 5, 2007 issue - Twinkies contain actual flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, water and a trace of egg. But the rest of the 39 ingredients are not generally what you find in your pantry. A sampling:

THE FILLING

Shortening (in the form of partially hydrogenated vegetable oil and/or beef fat) is the main ingredient.

Polysorbate 60 is a gooey substance that helps replace cream and eggs at a fraction of the cost. It's derived from corn, palm oil and petroleum.

Cellulose gum gives the crème filling a smooth, slippery feel.
Artificial vanillin is synthesized in petrochemical plants. The real thing comes from finicky tropical orchids that are pollinated by hand on the one day they bloom.

THE CAKE

Lecithin is an emulsifier made from soy. It's also used in paint to keep pigments evenly dispersed.
Diacetyl mimics the taste of butter, since the real stuff would go rancid on a store shelf.

Cornstarch is a common thickener. But it's more often used to make cardboard and packing peanuts.

Yellow No. 5, Red No. 40 give the cake the golden look of eggs.
Sorbic acid, the only actual preservative in Twinkies, comes from petroleum.

And of course, calcium sulfate, "a food grade plaster of paris."

TWINKIE FACTS

Calories: 145 each
Shelf life: 25 days—not years, as urban legend would have it
History: In 1930, James Dewar found a way to use idle baking pans. He named the cakes after seeing an ad for "Twinkle-Toe" shoes. Shelf life was just two to three days.

Want to know more. Newsweek took it's facts from a new book "Twinkies Deconstructed," by Steve Ettlinger.

Weary

Let me start off by saying that just because something is used in industrial applications does not mean it is not suitable for consumption. Soy beans are used in many application from Paint to Plastics, but that doesn't mean they are not healthy and taste good.

A good example of a chemical that most people wouldn't think twice about consuming and that I make at home is ethanol.

Ethanol - also known as ethyl alcohol, is a flammable, colorless, slightly toxic chemical compound with a distinctive perfume-like odor.
Guess what that is just plane old alcohol that is in my beer, but from the description you wouldn't want that in your body.

There are far too many people that just don't understand that if something is extracted from its original source, say soy bean, and is no longer attached to the soy bean as an ingredient, the company must refer to it by its chemical name. In many cases it is not desirable to have the entire ingredient, such as soy bean added to the recipe because it imparts something undesirable, and so certain things are extracted. This way the desirable features are maintained and the undesirable features are eliminated.

All I am saying really is don't believe the hype. People have their agendas and they don't always tell the truth.

[Alligator]

I too prefer to cook from scratch when possible, but I doubt making one's Twinkies from scratch is much more beneficial .

Scratch apparently is a runner's term.

[Footslogger]

Scratch apparently is a runner's term.

===============================

Who woulda ever thunked that ??

'Slogger

[Alligator]

===============================

Who woulda ever thunked that ??

'Slogger

We do say start from scratch but I never thought it meant that.

[Footslogger]

We do say start from scratch but I never thought it meant that.

==========================

Me either ...my guess would have been that "scratch" referred to the sound made by the "quill" as someone wrote out the ingredients for a recipe.

'Slogger

[weary]

Where did the term "from scratch" come from and what is it's true meaning ?
'Slogger

I don't know where it came from but scratch's "true meaning" in the context that I used the word:

1: from a point at which nothing has been done ahead of time (for instance cooking on the trail with generic pasta, oatmeal, rice etc. and adding salt, pepper, and spices for flavor)

2: without using a prepared mixture of ingredients. At home this means baking such things as cake, bread or biscuits from flour, eggs, sugar, baking powder, yeast and other basic ingredients, rather from ingredients packaged together at a factory somewhere.

I used to buy sausage. Then it dawned on me that sausage is just ground pork with salt, pepper and a few spices, mostly sage, added for flavor.

Mixing the ingredients yourself has two benefits. One you know precisely what the sausage contains. Two the price is slashed by about two thirds, compared to commerical sausage. (I mostly give the savings to the Maine AT Land trust to help buffer the Maine trail.)

Weary
www.matlt.org

[lvleph]

I don't know where it came from but scratch's "true meaning" in the context that I used the word:

1: from a point at which nothing has been done ahead of time (for instance cooking on the trail with generic pasta, oatmeal, rice etc. and adding salt, pepper, and spices for flavor)

2: without using a prepared mixture of ingredients. At home this means baking such things as cake, bread or biscuits from flour, eggs, sugar, baking powder, yeast and other basic ingredients, rather from ingredients packaged together at a factory somewhere.

I used to buy sausage. Then it dawned on me that sausage is just ground pork with salt, pepper and a few spices, mostly sage, added for flavor.

Mixing the ingredients yourself has two benefits. One you know precisely what the sausage contains. Two the price is slashed by about two thirds, compared to commerical sausage. (I mostly give the savings to the Maine AT Land trust to help buffer the Maine trail.)

Weary
www.matlt.org

And you get to choose how it tastes.

[Ronin]

My dad worked for Genral Foods for many years. He got to see factories all over the world and came back with some interesting (and usually scary) stories. For example, Twinkies and other such snack cakes are not baked. The cake is created from chemical reactions.

Let me start off by saying that just because something is used in industrial applications does not mean it is not suitable for consumption. In many cases it is not desirable to have the entire ingredient, such as soy bean added to the recipe because it imparts something undesirable, and so certain things are extracted. This way the desirable features are maintained and the undesirable features are eliminated.

The further away something is from its form found in nature, the far less nutritionally valuable it becomes. Twinkies et al. have about zero nutritional value. Just my 2 cents.

[Frosty]

The further away something is from its form found in nature, the far less nutritionally valuable it becomes.

Often true, but not an absolute. I've seen pictures of people in third world countries who had nothing to eat and ate grass. It didn't help them a whole lot, no matter how close to nature grass was. A truckload of quarterpounds with cheese, fries, and a shake would have done them a lot of good.

[Creek Dancer]

Deep fried twinkies are da bomb!

[Alligator]

Deep fried twinkies are da bomb!

I tried fried cheesecake a few weeks ago. So-so.

[Ronin]

Often true, but not an absolute. I've seen pictures of people in third world countries who had nothing to eat and ate grass. It didn't help them a whole lot, no matter how close to nature grass was. A truckload of quarterpounds with cheese, fries, and a shake would have done them a lot of good.

I'm sure that would be true in the moment, but not over time. Ever see Supersize Me?

Deep fried twinkies are da bomb!

Blech! But, to each her/his own!

[Alligator]

I think Frosty needed a better example (although I'd much rather die of heart disease at 50 than starvation at 5). Consider barley. Worthless . But, once you malt it, then add water and hops and subject it to a chemical process, you get BEER. See ?

And beer is vastly better when made from scratch .

[oldfivetango]

==========================

Me either ...my guess would have been that "scratch" referred to the sound made by the "quill" as someone wrote out the ingredients for a recipe.

'Slogger

That all sounds plausible enough but I was going to say that
it gets the term from things that were "scratched up" from the
kitchen pantry.Much like the way chickens scratch up something
to eat in the barnyard.Actually,I have heard the term in the South
all my life as being "made from chicken scratch".
Cheers,
Oldfivetango

[Footslogger]

[quote=oldfivetango;333542]Actually,I have heard the term in the South
all my life as being "made from chicken scratch".

===============================

"Chicken Scratch" is also sometimes used to describe poor penmanship.

But this is off topic ...sorry bout dat !!

'Slogger