Instant karma ........ bonehead mistakes

[tropics]

I new I had one of them moments
http://smokingmeatforums.com/index.php?threads/turkey-soup-screw-up.238584/
Richie

 

[lemans]

Hey a few months ago I was doing a pork butt on my WSM
And I could understand why my temps were so wacky. Until I realized that I never opened the top vent! Only used the smoker a million times! Shit happens...

 

[johnmeyer]

Reminds me of my spice cookie failure a few months ago. My mother called them "molasses crinkles" because of the big cracks that develop on the top. I pulled the batch out of the oven, and they were absolutely smooth. They weren't very brown. I checked the oven temp, and it was dead on.

I still had the ingredients out on the counter. I looked at the recipe and then looked at the ingredients. Where was the baking soda?? It provides leavening, which is what causes the cracks, and it provides browning which provides the color and chew.

My biggest problem, which is age related, is mis-reading the recipe. Most of my recipes that I use these days come from Cook's Illustrated. I print most of these on 3x5 cards, and since my background was in desktop publishing, I always use "real" typographic fractions. Unfortunately, if I am not wearing glasses, or wearing one of my cheap ones, the fraction 1/3 looks a lot like 1/2. You wouldn't believe how sloppy pizza dough gets with 1 1/2 cups of water instead of 1 1/3. You wouldn't think it would be a failure, but it was.

Back to the cookies. I made some yesterday as a gift to the wife, and almost made the 1/3 vs. 1/2 mistake again. Having made the mistake before, I re-checked several times, and caught my error before I ruined another set.

Here's the recipe (highly recommended):

Soft and Chewy Molasses Spice Cookies

⅓ cup granulated sugar (about 2½ ounces), plus ½ cup for dipping
2¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour (11¼ ounces)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1½ teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon table salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1½ sticks), softened but still cool
⅓ cup packed dark brown sugar (about 2½ ounces)
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup molasses (about 6 ounces), light or dark

1. Heat oven to 375º. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Place ½ cup sugar for dipping in 8- or 9-inch cake pan.

2. Whisk flour, baking soda, spices and salt in medium bowl.

3. Beat butter with brown and granulated sugars at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add yolk and vanilla. Beat until incorporated, about 20 seconds. Add molasses; beat about 20 seconds, scraping bottom and sides of bowl once with rubber spatula. Add flour mixture and beat at low speed until incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping bowl down once. Dough will be soft.

4. Using tablespoon measure, scoop heaping tablespoon of dough and roll between palms into 1½-inch ball; drop ball into cake pan with sugar and repeat to form about 4 balls. Toss balls in sugar to coat and set on prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies are browned, still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will look raw between cracks and seem underdone), about 11 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Don’t overbake.

5. Cool cookies on baking sheet 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire rack.

My one variation is that I cook them in a convection oven at 350º for 9 minutes.

 

[smokesontuesday]

Reminds me of my spice cookie failure a few months ago. My mother called them "molasses crinkles" because of the big cracks that develop on the top. I pulled the batch out of the oven, and they were absolutely smooth. They weren't very brown. I checked the oven temp, and it was dead on.

I still had the ingredients out on the counter. I looked at the recipe and then looked at the ingredients. Where was the baking soda?? It provides leavening, which is what causes the cracks, and it provides browning which provides the color and chew.

My biggest problem, which is age related, is mis-reading the recipe. Most of my recipes that I use these days come from Cook's Illustrated. I print most of these on 3x5 cards, and since my background was in desktop publishing, I always use "real" typographic fractions. Unfortunately, if I am not wearing glasses, or wearing one of my cheap ones, the fraction 1/3 looks a lot like 1/2. You wouldn't believe how sloppy pizza dough gets with 1 1/2 cups of water instead of 1 1/3. You wouldn't think it would be a failure, but it was.

Back to the cookies. I made some yesterday as a gift to the wife, and almost made the 1/3 vs. 1/2 mistake again. Having made the mistake before, I re-checked several times, and caught my error before I ruined another set.

Here's the recipe (highly recommended):

Soft and Chewy Molasses Spice Cookies

⅓ cup granulated sugar (about 2½ ounces), plus ½ cup for dipping
2¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour (11¼ ounces)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1½ teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon table salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1½ sticks), softened but still cool
⅓ cup packed dark brown sugar (about 2½ ounces)
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup molasses (about 6 ounces), light or dark

1. Heat oven to 375º. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Place ½ cup sugar for dipping in 8- or 9-inch cake pan.

2. Whisk flour, baking soda, spices and salt in medium bowl.

3. Beat butter with brown and granulated sugars at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add yolk and vanilla. Beat until incorporated, about 20 seconds. Add molasses; beat about 20 seconds, scraping bottom and sides of bowl once with rubber spatula. Add flour mixture and beat at low speed until incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping bowl down once. Dough will be soft.

4. Using tablespoon measure, scoop heaping tablespoon of dough and roll between palms into 1½-inch ball; drop ball into cake pan with sugar and repeat to form about 4 balls. Toss balls in sugar to coat and set on prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies are browned, still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will look raw between cracks and seem underdone), about 11 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Don’t overbake.

5. Cool cookies on baking sheet 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire rack.

My one variation is that I cook them in a convection oven at 350º for 9 minutes.

Thank you for the recipe. Molasses cookies are one of my very favorites.

 

[gmc2003]

This happened to my wife when we first married. She knew I loved lasagna, and decided to surprise with a pan of it after work. She had her mothers recipe and followed it to a tee. The only problem was her mother forgot to put the word "repeat" in the directions. So when I got home there was a full pan of delish looking lasagna on the counter and a full pot of boiled noodles. I asked her why so many leftover noodles and she said she didn't understand why but that's the amount the recipe called for. We cut into the lasagna and found out it only had one big layer. Her mother forgot to put repeat steps until pan is full. I still pick on her about it 32 years later.

Chris

 

[Bearcarver]

Ok, I don't like to pick on Mrs Bear, but I'll never forget the first Pie she made after we were married 49 years ago.

It tasted Great, but we had to eat it with a Spoon, and the crumbs that she sprinkled on top, ended up on the bottom.

Bear