Best dish the chefs

[Teddy_boy]

On yesterdays i saw a chef using a microwave to melt chocolate. Never seen this on masterchef , bowl over a pan of water on there ,seemed like cheating to me.

[Mosaic]

Oh definitely cheating.
But then, if it's easier.....
When I first started out as a teacher I recall a mother coming in in high dudgeon as ready-roll flakey pastry had been used in a cookery lesson.....
Standards just fall in every generation, I bet nobody puts doilies on their tea tray any more.

[missprim]

Even Delia uses ready made pastry.

[gingejbee]

Why is it cheating? A microwave is a piece of kitchen equipment. Is using a food-mixer cheating?

[Teddy_boy]

Delias a Tv cook not a professional chef in a restaurant.

[Teddy_boy]

Some chefs do still use a traditional whisk.

[Mosaic]

Yes it is Ginge. And ground pepper. And powdered spices. All should be hand-ground in a brass pestle and mortar, by the light of the full moon. And as for gas cookers - well society's downfall can be linked to the demise of opne fires in kitchens.

[rockyracoon]

I don't see why it is cheating, it's just a different method to melt chocolate.

[Prudie]

why is using a microwave as a heat source cheating in comparison to hot water? Actually probably harder to get it right in a microwave.

[Teddy_boy]

Never seen it on masterchef as i said. Obviously higher standards there.

[DTCwordfan]

It's not cheating - it's available kitchen equipment, just like these water baths for slow "soft" cooking of meats, and so popular with Heston, or the ghettoblasters for fast freezing of sorbets/ice-creams/granitas etc

In my ideal kitchen, I would love an ice ghettoblaster and also a full charcoal grill (with extraction of course)...and probably a pizza oven!

Has anybody here got one of these, and has anyone cooked with these water cookers.

[Teddy_boy]

Raymond Blanc once said that using a microwave oven to cook food for your children was an "act of hate".

[Mosaic]

Raymond Blanc happen wasn't in a hurry to get the kids fed and watered.

[gingejbee]

...and melting chocolate is hardly "cooking food".

[vodkancoke]

Question Author
Raymond Blanc once said that using a microwave oven to cook food for your children was an "act of hate".

I assume he is meaning microwave meals as opposed to using the microwave to melt a bit of chocolate...unless of course you are dishing up that bowl of melted chocolate to your kids for their dinner!
I am a chef and I have to say there is no difference melting it in a microwave to melting it over a pan of hot water. We use the pot method simply because there is always a pot of hot water on the cooker. Just because it's not shown on Masterchef doesnt mean it's wrong!

[Teddy_boy]

Your opinion, its not mine .

[Barmaid]

For Funks Sake, all you need to do is melt the damn chocolate. There is no magic to it. Just don't overcook it (otherwise it goes grainy). I use both methods.

[Teddy_boy]

Im a traditionalist,

[ummmm]

Im a traditionalist,

Lol....Do you still heat your iron over a open fire? Bathe in a tin bath...etc etc...

[EcclesCake]

A lot of chocolatiers favour a microwave over a bain marie as you don't have to worry about any water vapour getting into the chocolate and making it go cloudy.