| Author | |
SusanJ
Forum All-Star
Joined: May 25 2007
Location: New Jersey
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1347
|
| Posted: Feb 13 2010 at 5:00pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
Almost every night I fill our kitchen with smoke cooking our dinner. We have to close the kitchen door and set a fan on the smoke alarm in the next room to keep it from going off. And, because it's freezing outside, we don't want to open the windows in our kitchen. So we're all gagging on smoke while we eat our dinner.
What am I doing wrong? I'm not burning the food, my cooking just produces a lot of smoke.
__________________
Mom to Joseph-8, Margaret-6, William-4, Gregory-2, and new little one due 11/1
Life Together
[URL=http://thejohnstonkids.blogspot.com]The Kids' Blog[/UR
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Mackfam
Board Moderator
Non Nobis
Joined: April 24 2006
Location: Alabama
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 14656
|
| Posted: Feb 13 2010 at 5:06pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Are you using an oil with a high smoke point, Susan? Or butter?
__________________
Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JodieLyn
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 06 2006
Location: Oregon
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12234
|
| Posted: Feb 13 2010 at 5:35pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
some other things.. are you using pans that aren't quite big enough.. the stuff fits but if you're not super careful when you stir it slops? Is the pan big enough but gets careless stirring (I have some helpers that will do this when my back is turned.. and I'm not always super careful myself  )
Is there stuff on the burners? on the bottoms of pans? underneath the burners in the reflector plates?
__________________
Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
SusanJ
Forum All-Star
Joined: May 25 2007
Location: New Jersey
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1347
|
| Posted: Feb 13 2010 at 7:04pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I cook primarily with olive oil and butter but will also use coconut oil and bacon grease when I have it. Are these just smokier fats?
This morning I cooked french toast in butter on my cast iron griddle. The reverse side of the griddle had never been used and the griddle just smoked and smoked. Tonight's dinner was hamburgers cooked indoors because of the snow. I used the reverse side of my griddle for the first time but did not grease it at all prior to cooking the burgers.
My oven is fairly clean. The gas range gets cleaned regularly and was completely disassembled and cleaned last night. I made oven fried my french fries tonight in coconut oil. I had them at 450 (my oven runs about 25 degrees low). The burgers were so smoky that I'm not sure my oven did but usually using olive oil or coconut oil in the oven creates a lot of smoke.
Are the fats the problem? I don't like vegetable oils--is there some healthy fat alternative that won't smoke so much?
__________________
Mom to Joseph-8, Margaret-6, William-4, Gregory-2, and new little one due 11/1
Life Together
[URL=http://thejohnstonkids.blogspot.com]The Kids' Blog[/UR
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
SusanJ
Forum All-Star
Joined: May 25 2007
Location: New Jersey
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1347
|
| Posted: Feb 13 2010 at 7:05pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Jodie, I do think the pans are big enough. I use large cookie sheets in the oven and a very large cast iron frying pan for most of my cooking.
__________________
Mom to Joseph-8, Margaret-6, William-4, Gregory-2, and new little one due 11/1
Life Together
[URL=http://thejohnstonkids.blogspot.com]The Kids' Blog[/UR
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JodieLyn
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 06 2006
Location: Oregon
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12234
|
| Posted: Feb 13 2010 at 7:07pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
use lower heat with olive oil and butter.. coconut oil is a high heat tolerant oil.. so is peanut oil.
Also do you have a vent for over the stovetop? do you turn it on? does it work? can you feel the air pulling up? is the filter clean?
__________________
Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
stefoodie
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 17 2005
Location: Ohio
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 8457
|
| Posted: Feb 13 2010 at 7:26pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
jodie has already covered everything as far as i can tell. i'd make sure your vent is vented to the outside and that it actually sucks up air, not just blow it around. just to add a note of caution that if you're producing a lot of smoke while you're cooking that might not be good for your lungs. do you have an attic whole house fan you could turn on if/when it smokes? when it's winter and we can't open doors/windows too much, we use the attic fan, it helps suck out all that air/smoke up abd clear it up quickly. i'd be really concerned about fumes, particulates and carcinogens in the air if there's too much smoke produced while cooking.
On the french fries, could you maybe lower your heat a little, like 375 instead of 450? I find that when temps go up in my oven past 400 there's a higher possibility of smoke.
__________________
stef
mom to five
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Mackfam
Board Moderator
Non Nobis
Joined: April 24 2006
Location: Alabama
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 14656
|
| Posted: Feb 13 2010 at 7:56pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
In addition to coconut and peanut oil, Susan, you could try Safflower oil. It's meant for high heat applications and though I generally try to avoid cooking with high heat, when I must, I have liked using high heat Safflower oil.
__________________
Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
SusanJ
Forum All-Star
Joined: May 25 2007
Location: New Jersey
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1347
|
| Posted: Feb 15 2010 at 7:55am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Thanks for your input, ladies. So often I come here with a question and then discover something so obvious that I feel like I should have been able to figure it out on my own.
We do have a vent fan and I use it very consistently. I hate the noise but, knowing that I usually produce smoke, I figure it's the least I can do. But we discovered Saturday night that the fan sucks up (some) of the cooking smoke and grease and then blows it right back into the kitchen. Why would a fan do this? Is there any benefit at all to blowing everything back out? It seems so bizarre to my mind.
So I guess for the winter I'll have to be a lot more careful about what I cook. But I'm curious:
Mackfam wrote:
| I generally try to avoid cooking with high heat, |
|
|
Why is this, Jennifer? Is there something wrong with high heat cooking? How do you roast vegetables in your oven? If I try to do that kind of thing at 375 it takes forever and I get more of a baked mush than the carmelized taste I'm going for. What about pizza crust? I don't get a good crust lower than 425.
When I make something like French toast I cook the slices on my griddle at medium to medium-low heat. Is that still too high for butter? I produce a lot of smoke even at those low temps.
Thanks for the advice! Why did no one ever teach me this kind of thing?
__________________
Mom to Joseph-8, Margaret-6, William-4, Gregory-2, and new little one due 11/1
Life Together
[URL=http://thejohnstonkids.blogspot.com]The Kids' Blog[/UR
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
stefoodie
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 17 2005
Location: Ohio
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 8457
|
| Posted: Feb 15 2010 at 8:28am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Susan, could it be your oven isn't properly calibrated and you're getting the wrong temp displayed? At 375 my oven roasts veggies quickly. You might want to get an oven thermometer to check.
__________________
stef
mom to five
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
stefoodie
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 17 2005
Location: Ohio
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 8457
|
| Posted: Feb 15 2010 at 8:30am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Hi-Temperature Cooking
info on hi heat cooking - sorry away from pc and can't link
Edited to say: Jen here...I fixed the link, Stef! Thanks for adding it!
__________________
stef
mom to five
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
SusanJ
Forum All-Star
Joined: May 25 2007
Location: New Jersey
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1347
|
| Posted: Feb 15 2010 at 9:17am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Thanks for that link, Stef. I thought I was pretty well-read on this sort of thing but I'd never encountered this idea before--at least not explicitly. I'll be browsing the recipes later. I'm not the biggest fan of steamed veggies but maybe I can be converted. And I'll definitely be getting an oven thermometer.
__________________
Mom to Joseph-8, Margaret-6, William-4, Gregory-2, and new little one due 11/1
Life Together
[URL=http://thejohnstonkids.blogspot.com]The Kids' Blog[/UR
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Mackfam
Board Moderator
Non Nobis
Joined: April 24 2006
Location: Alabama
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 14656
|
| Posted: Feb 15 2010 at 9:26am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Susan,
I used the information on hi-heat cooking just to moderate and govern how I used high heat. So, I look for alternatives to high heat cooking, like steaming sometimes. I also got out of the habit of turning my cooktop burners on higher than medium heat unless I'm boiling water or something like that. But, I still roast veggies at 450. So, moderation has been my answer I suppose. I try to be aware, try to avoid it when it's easily avoidable, like sauteeing at a medium heat instead of high, and use it when it's appropriate for something we like - like roasted veggies.
__________________
Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Forum Locked) 
4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: why am I such a smoky cook?
