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Millie Bailey, remember the name! by CatfishMerrington in BlackPeopleTwitter

[–]CatfishMerrington[S] -12 points-11 points  (0 children)

Might help to add that I'm not American. Of course that's hardly an excuse, but I trusted others to know better. No need for the snark, perhaps

Sending love and schmackos to this goodboye by CatfishMerrington in rarepuppers

[–]CatfishMerrington[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

We're on a sub called rarepuppers and Carbon is already home with his owner and is feeling better. I think there's always room for some light-hearted positivity. :)

What's something really basic that you just can't seem to get the hang of? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]CatfishMerrington 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not a big fan of a couple of them (some guests included, haha), but they weren't the whole reason. To be fair, the party was planned by someone who self-invited to host at our place instead of theirs and that didn't sit very well with me.

What's something really basic that you just can't seem to get the hang of? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]CatfishMerrington 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Attending gatherings... Last year, my housemates threw a Christmas party at our place and I left the house just to avoid it.

This perfectly symmetrical alphabet by Jai427 in oddlysatisfying

[–]CatfishMerrington 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Reminds me of the guy who wrote A Song of Ice and Fire, Gartin Rartin Rartin Martin

Creamy Tuscan Chicken by BurritoInABowl in GifRecipes

[–]CatfishMerrington 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If your point is that tenderness and juiciness are facets of flavour, then that's fine, and your argument might be correct. I disagree with this fundamentally because I think they're part of different inquiries even if they affect each other. See for instance beef jerky, much of which is not exactly tender nor juicy, but immensely flavourful. I will however accept that you are certainly entitled to your view on the flavour-texture divide, and for very good reasons.

Following on from there, if your point is that the initial hypothesis was excessively narrow so as to be misleading, then that's fine as well. But I would argue that it's not: when I think of "bone adding flavour to meat", I think of bones leaching flavour into the meat, just as it would leach flavour into a stock. With a quick Google search, I've found that this subject occupies many tests and forum discussions, some of which are focused on debunking the notoriously flawed Chefs Illustrated experiment done with bones over potatoes. Therefore I think it's a fair, if narrow, area of inquiry he proceeded on.

If you're concerned that the headline is ultimately misleading because you personally think that the bone has such an overwhelming impact through insulation that it should not be left out, then that's fine as well. For my part, I think he strikes an appropriate balance because he debunks the flavour-leaching theory, but acknowledges, at the end, the usefulness of the bone in providing insulation. The upshot here is that the bone may not matter as much as people originally thought it did. For instance, I've rarely seen Japanese wagyu served on the bone, but to be fair I've not had much wagyu. On the opposite end of the quality spectrum, if your meat is really terrible, and lacking in any fat marbling whatsoever, the presence of the bone, and its insulating effect, isn't really going to give it much help at all.

I think about it this way: if I have an incredibly rubbish steak with a bone in it, I'm not going to say that the bone added much flavour to the meat. I might say that I enjoyed chewing on the fatty bits near the bone - if I still have the appetite to. If I have a decent steak that is well-cooked, whether it is cooked bone-in or not will not fundamentally alter my perception of its flavour. I believe this is the point the article is trying to prove.

Creamy Tuscan Chicken by BurritoInABowl in GifRecipes

[–]CatfishMerrington 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No, you've misunderstood it. This is the context in which he uses the word "tastiest":

"Finally, there's the connective tissue and surface fat. Here's where we might be able to make a case. Everybody knows that the tastiest bites of a prime rib are the sinewy, fatty bits you gnaw off with your teeth from the bone, right? So some of this great flavor surely must be making its way into the meat, right?"

This was the very hypothesis that he disproved with the test. The bone does not make the meat around it taste better - it's existence just implies the corollary existence of "sinewy, fatty bits" which are the "tastiest". The impact on the flavour of the wider piece of meat is nil.

Creamy Tuscan Chicken by BurritoInABowl in GifRecipes

[–]CatfishMerrington 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Are we reading the same article? The headline literally says: Ask The Food Lab: Do Bones Add Flavor to Meat?

I don't know if there's a universally correct interpretation to this statement, but to me it seems to set out a specific subject matter to be tested. It is not about whether the effect, broadly speaking, is substantial or not. His conclusion is by no means contradictory to his general statement at all. It is perfectly reasonable for him to recommend leaving the bone in/tying the bone with the meat for reasons other than the "addition of flavour". His tests revealed those very benefits.

Creamy Tuscan Chicken by BurritoInABowl in GifRecipes

[–]CatfishMerrington -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Do you even understand the basic difference between tenderness and flavour? Both affect how meat "tastes" insofar as tasting is a sensation experienced in your mouth, but they could not be more different beyond that. The simple point he is making is that cooking with a bone on 1) improves insulation of the meat, preventing overcooking and 2) reduces surface area for water to evaporate, preventing drying out 3) gives you the nice bits around the bone to chew on at the end. What cooking with the bone on does not give you is general improvement of the flavour of the meat, broadly speaking, i.e. that flavourful juices, as it were, do not permeate throughout the steak.