Posts by Harold McGee

My feeling is that the choice of fats and oils is only one small piece of the health picture. These ingredients do affect our body chemistry for better and for worse, but their effects can be minimized or multiplied by the other things...

The basic thing to keep in mind is that botulism bacteria thrive in warm, non-acid, oxygen-free conditions, and their seed-like spores can only be reliably destroyed by prolonged boiling or at pressure-cooker temperatures. Canning and...

Thanks for your kind words! Strangely enough I have a Bachelor of Science degree in literature! Caltech is essentially a science and engineering school, so they’re only accredited to give BS degrees. I certainly didn’t expect to end up...

These are big questions! I think the answers depend completely on what the cook’s interests and aspirations are. But whether you want to do simple Italian or recipes from the French Laundry or be the next Pierre Hermé, I think it’s...

Just a few comments on your ideas: The effects of a marinade depend a lot on the marination time. Small molecules and ions, including acids and salt, will eventually penetrate to the center of a piece of food, but this may take days for...

My thanks to Jim and Nicko and all of you for having me here! It’s a pleasure to be in touch and have the chance to hear what’s on your minds these days. Harold