Knowledge Base > Eric Wynkoop - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Eric Wynkoop - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

This event was on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at 11:00 am Pacific, 2:00 pm Eastern

Join Chef Eric Wynkoop in his virtual office as he welcomes all of your questions. This event was created for you and we encourage you to Ask Anything – from cooking techniques to co… Read More.

Recorded

Question:

Can you talk about ingredient substitutions?

Answer:

I mean, first I'll say that, uh, you know, when making ingredient substitutions, uh, look at the ingredient that you're removing from the recipe and think about its function in that recipe. And, and keeping in mind that, um, very often, uh, and maybe usually a given ingredient will have multiple functions. So it could lend taste, it could lend flavor, maybe it's aroma, texture, you know, some aspect of nutrition, you know, or something else. Uh, and, and again, often a combination of those, you know, two or, or more of those qualities. And, and then think about and ingredient and often more than one ingredient that will satisfy those characteristics that you'll be removing, you know, uh, by, uh, by swapping out that, uh, original ingredient. And so that's the basic process. Um, you know, that, uh, that logic now that I want you to keep in mind when you think about altering recipes, okay? Uh, you know, a related question came up a couple of days ago about gluten, gluten-free flowers in breads, right? Of, of some sort or another. And, you know, my, uh, my response to that sort of a scenario is to initially anyway, look for a, a comparable gluten-free blend from the grocery store. In other words, from an established mill, uh, that's probably spent some time in their test kitchen, their laboratory. And, uh, they've come up with some sort of a combination of various grains and legumes and, and often other ingredients like gums, uh, that will mimic the characteristic of, um, gluten and, you know, that original flour. Okay? Once you start to develop your knowledge around these individual ingredients in a gluten-free flour blend, then certainly you can make your own blend. Uh, but that can take some time and a lot of practice. And so my recommendation is to reach for, you know, Bob's Red Mill or, or some other company that you're familiar with that already has a, uh, a bread flour mix, or an AP flour mix, or a pizza dough mix, you know, whatever it is that might be best for your particular situation. Okay? Uh, and then the other thing that, uh, you know, always comes to mind for me and, and that, um, I I, I talk to people about, uh, in the context of substitutions is keep in mind that you're changing the recipe. Therefore, you should expect the finished product to be different from the original. Okay? That's reasonable, isn't it? Uh, if we make a change that's gonna be different, um, our goal is to find a solution that's gonna be comparable. You know, maybe it's the same color, maybe it's got, uh, generally speaking the same, uh, sort of a texture, uh, or look or, or flavor or, or palette satisfaction. Uh, but do keep in mind that it may well be different in some way or another. And, uh, that's important, right? Um, you know, when I think about, um, approaching change, not only in the kitchen, uh, but in life in general, uh, I, you know, it's 90% mental. I think, uh, really for, for just about every situation that I've come across. And, you know, the other 10% is just, uh, getting it done. And when I say 90% mental, I mean, just slow down and allow yourself to appreciate what you have in front of you, rather than mentally looking for what's missing from that original item that you experienced, uh, in the past. Okay? Uh, there's, there's beauty and and goodness to be found in the newness in front of you. And, uh, you know, again, if you allow yourself to stop comparing and just enjoy that new product, then all is gonna be fine. And again, that's, uh, you know, I say about 90% of the job, okay? So keep that in mind. Thank you.
Eric Wynkoop

Eric Wynkoop

Director of Culinary Instruction

rouxbe.com