Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

My mother is allergic to corn so I use Lyle's cane syrup instead. I follow the Karo recipe. It calls for 1c corn syrup so I use 1c cane syrup. I comes out stickier than corn syrup but tastes a lot better. You can follow any pecan pie recipe and just substitute the cane syrup equally. Enjoy!

I'm living in New Jersey and I have never heard of Kalas, but I have used La Baleine coarse sea salt in the red tube; the fine version of this salt is in the blue tube. La Baleine is a naturally evaporated sea salt from France. Neither of the types (fine or coarse) are refined or iodized so check your label again. It actually says in big letters on the tube, "This salt does not supply iodide, a necessary nutrient." And just because the blue tube contains smaller, finer salt crystals does not mean it is refined; it was simply ground by a machine. Refined means treated, fillers added, or altered in some way aside from being simply ground up.

I think the majority of Americans are probably using iodized table salt. What should be in everyones cupboard, however, is Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt. I'm not surprised most people don't have Fleur de sel or Maldon in their cupboards; it is expensive stuff. I use it because I'm a chef.

On another note, Food Network Cooks, for the majority, are cooking for your entertainment. They "dumbify" the recipes for the novice home cook. Trust me, if they actually cooked like they have been trained to cook, as a Chef, most people would not be able to keep up nor understand why they were using certain techniques. I used to watch FN all the time, and then I became a chef and my view of the programming has completely changed. Top chef and Iron chef are among the better, slightly more realistic culinary shows in TV. Rachel Ray is another story; I wouldn't listen to that woman.

For most of you who think TV chefs use too much salt, they actually don't. That is the amount of salt necessary to accentuate the natural flavors of that food and the reason why your home cooked food is not as good as food at a restaurant. They're not using fine ground salt either; that stuff is too salty on solid foods and is usually meant for baking use and/or seasoning liquids, where it can be easily dissolved.

I don't know where you are, but over here in Montreal the two most popular brands or sea salt are Kalas and La Baleine. Both of which are refined and iodized. Fleur de sel and coarse sea salt are mostly sold in gourmet shops and I can count on one hand the people I know who use them on a daily basis whilst the two aforementioned brands are in practically everyone's pantry.

How is one salt saltier than another? Sodium chloride is sodium chloride. Claiming than one form of salt is less salty than the other is ludicrous. Gram per gram table salt, kosher salt and sea salt are equally salty. Granted, unrefined sea salt is not 100% sodium chloride, but the stuff that most people buy that's labelled sea salt is refined and iodized and no different from other tables salt.

@Don Luis: This is obviously a very late response, but I don't check into SE as often as I did so I missed it when it first went up.

I think your reaction arises from a misunderstanding of what SE is, or means to be.

My impression is that SE began as a NYC-based blog, and that the response from all over the US expanded its focus. I don't think it's unreasonable for a blog to have a regional focus, particularly given that SE is not presenting itself as a global food-related site.

Although I am a New Yorker (meaning 'born there, and spent the largest portion of my life to date there'), I now live outside the US (in Denmark, to be precise), and many of the references to various cooking shows and foods go over my head, but if I'm really curious, I can usually find clarification on YouTube, or elsewhere on the net.

Perhaps what you see as an excess of silliness has more to do with the veiled (or not) hostility that more serious/technical posts sometimes meet; I no longer see many of the more serious posters, which I think is a shame. On the other hand, I think the 'silliness' can be fun and interesting, I just wish there was more of a balance (for those of you who are thinking of reiterating that there are other sites, I know this, but I happen to like SE, and think of it as a big kitchen; shouldn't there be room for all sorts of cooks and eaters?).

Anyway, I think SE is worth taking for what it is; I can understand deciding that you'd rather not post (although you don't seem to have done that), and only look in occasionally, but do recognize what it is, and why.

Loaves made with 100% whole wheat flour are excellent substitutes for Hadite blocks. Just don't use 'em to prop up your car while you are working under it.

ars longa, vita brevis! EAT PIZZA!

WickedGoodDinner sums it up well. However if you check out recipes on on Heidi Swanson's site:

http://www.101cookbooks.com/,

you will find astoundingly good recipes using a variety of healthy flours.

I have had great success with this recipe which is made of entirely whole wheat flour. True it is denser than a regular scone but mighty tasty nonetheless. I also recommend Whole Foods Brand Whole Wheat Pastry Flour which is definitely lighter than traditional whole wheat flour.

http://www.izzyeats.com/2009/03/complete-whole-wheat-goodness-maple.html

The 'white whole wheat' from King arthur works very well, as does whole wheat pastry flour. Most cakes really require white flour, but I do use whole wheat pastry flour in carrot cake and its delicious. I think many quickbreads and muffins are nice with whole wheat.

I also agree that its good to go 50/50 most of the time.

I'd say some pizza is better than no pizza, in most cases

I just made blackberry yogurt cake using 100% King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour (meaning I didn't mix in any all purpose). The result is yummy but it definitely tastes healthier than it would have with 100% all purpose and probably than if I had gone 50/50. That said, the cake is still really yummy, and I feel a little less guilty about having a big piece of it as a snack. It's moist though maybe a little denser than it would have been otherwise.

Has anyone found that you need a little more sweetner when using 100% whole wheat than all purpose and/or a combo? Perhaps b/c of the denseness? I'm no baking expert so am unsure but did notice my cake could stand to be a little sweeter.

The results of using whole wheat flour really depends on the brand you buy and how the berry was processed.

Once upon a time, whole wheat flour was ground using the whole kernel. If you've ever seen a jar of wheat germ, the germ is very heavy. This in turn makes whole wheat flour very heavy. It also prevents a high rise from happening whether from yeast or chemical leaveners.

These days, most manufacturers separate the parts of the wheat berry/kernel, leaving only the endosperm (which is what white flour is made from), and then adding certain amounts of the germ and bran back to the endosperm, resulting in a "whole wheat flour" that is much lighter in weight.

Different brands offer different proportions, so you'll need to check package labels or web sites. For example, whole wheat bread flours will have a lower ratio of germ/brand.

A good rule of thumb is to mix the whole wheat flour with an appropriate white flour, keeping in mind the more wheat you add, the heavier your product will be. Breads can probably take more wheat added, where as delicate pastries would be best with a lighter ratio.