Welcome to The Atomic Kitchen!

Thank for visiting "The Atomic Kitchen" blog.

I am Kerry Gleason, a professional writer and a very amateur chef. I never got the message, "Don't play with your food," which is how I got this way.

Our blogs will provide exciting new tips, tricks and explanations based in science that may help you to become a better cook or baker. Whenever possible, we will contact chefs and science geeks with knives for expertise that may make your next dish the best you've ever made.

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You're gonna love what we've got cooking in "The Atomic Kitchen."

Kerry Gleason
Editor

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Going Curdless: Tips to Avoid Curdling

A good rule of thumb for cooking with dairy products, including cream, milk, eggs, butter, cheese and mayonnaise, is: patience! Sauces made with milk, cream and cheese may curdle for several reasons: not enough fat content. Skim milk will curdle more than heavy cream, and low-fat creams and cheeses are more likely to curdle than their whole-fat compadres. too high heat. Cream sauces must be cooked at low temps. Use a thermometer to ensure temperatures stay lower than 175 degrees F. too much acid. Cream should be added last (with exceptions like lemon juice). Wine can be very acidic, and should be reduced. any ingredients should be of medium temperature before cream is introduced, as it will separate at boiling. How curdling occurs: Dairy fats combine to form a rubbery mesh, which squeezes out water. One possibility to prevent curdling is Carrageenan. There are three kinds, and Lambda Carrageenan is best for sauces because it is water solub...

High-Altitude Cooking? No Pressure!

I was kindly invited to spend Christmas Day with friends up in Ft. Collins, Colo., last December, and I offered to bring a Cheesecake made with the world's bar-none best New York-style Cheesecake recipe. The day prior, I set aside for baking. This was one of my first attempts at baking since moving to Colorado, and while I'm keen on improvising in cooking, I'm less likely to stray from a baking recipe. I completely forgot that adjustments needed to be made to my favorite recipe for the change in altitude. What do you suppose my first clue might be? The mellow filling in the spring-form pan rose much more than usual. I thought nothing of it, because everybody likes a mile-high slice of Cheesecake, right? Well, clue number two was the baking time. The cheesecake requires a very high temperature of 500 degrees for (I believe) 90 minutes. At 30 minutes, the top crust was already golden brown. At 45 minutes, it was black and charred....

Public Enemy #1 for Knives

The next time somebody tells you, “You're not the sharpest knife in the drawer,” you might want to reply, “Thank you! The sharpest knives aren't kept in the drawer.” I'll tell you why at the end of the blog. The sharpest cooks have the sharpest knives. Knives are actually fragile tools that require much care. When used properly, a sharp knife is safer than a dull knife, so keep it sharp and keep it safe. Maintaining your chef knife and cutlery can be a challenge, but your reward is safer food handling, better looking and better tasting food, says cutlery expert Robert Ambrosi, owner of Ambrosi Cutlery , founded in 1930. Here are some ideas that will keep you cutting and chopping, and not mashing and squeezing. Before you slice that tender corned beef this weekend for St. Patrick's Day, think about your knife. What is Public Enemy #1 for your expensive knives? It's your dishwasher. Never put your chef knife in the dishwasher. Dishwashers blunt your ...

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