Paul Adams

New York

Senior Research Editor at Cook's Illustrated

Senior research editor at Cook's Illustrated. Knives sharpened, $3.50 [email protected]

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Articles

What Is the Difference Between White and Brown Eggs?

1 week ago | americastestkitchen.com | Paul Adams

Ellie asked: “Are white eggs and brown eggs different on the inside?”Here’s a fun project you can do at home if you have brown eggs. Holding a brown egg firmly to avoid breakage, rub it vigorously all over with coarse sandpaper. An electric sander can also be used. Voilà: a white egg!This miraculous transformation is possible because the brown color of a brown egg resides mostly in a very thin coating on top of the shell, like a coat of paint, called the cuticle.
How to Make Taiwanese Gua Bao

Aug 6, 2024 | americastestkitchen.com | Steve Dunn |Rebecca Hays |Paul Adams

Behind the RecipesNestle salty-sweet pork belly inside their pillowy folds and savor the wonders of Taiwanese steamed buns. By , , and Published Today. Graze your way through one of the many night markets in Taipei, the alleyways bright with neon, the humid air thick with the mouthwatering aromas of o-ah jian (oyster omelet), chou doufu (stinky tofu), and sian su ji (popcorn chicken with fried basil), and you’ll spot stalls for gua bao (the name is Mandarin for “cut bun”).
Gelato vs. Ice Cream: What’s the Difference? Ask Paul

Apr 29, 2024 | americastestkitchen.com | Paul Adams

ScienceNo, gelato is not just the Italian word for ice cream. By Published Apr. 29, 2024. If your only experience with gelato is the kind sold in a grocery store alongside tubs of regular ice cream, it would be reasonable to conclude that that the two desserts aren’t all that different. It's true; the gelato in the grocery store strongly resembles ice cream.
Why Does Mint Make Our Mouths Feel Cold? Ask Paul

Mar 27, 2024 | americastestkitchen.com | Paul Adams

ScienceHow chemistry tricks us into feeling like we’ve downed ice cream or a frosty drink. By Published Mar. 27, 2024. Bite into a fresh mint leaf and, in addition to the minty flavor, there’s a distinct cooling effect, like chilly water on your tongue. Mint-flavored gum and candies, even more so. How does that work? Mint works just like chile peppers do, tricking us into thinking we've eaten something hot or cold.
What Is the Difference Between Cleaning, Sanitizing, and Sterilizing? Ask Paul

Feb 28, 2024 | americastestkitchen.com | Paul Adams

ScienceAll the different degrees of clean. By Published Feb. 28, 2024. Common sense says that cleaning is cleaning. But, because it’s a matter of safety and health, authorities such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have established formal definitions of various cleaning procedures. The definitions refer to what a given cleaning procedure accomplishes: Just how clean IS that surface when you’re done?
Is It Safe to Cook Pork and Chicken to a Lower Temperature? Ask Paul

Jan 31, 2024 | americastestkitchen.com | Paul Adams

Cooking TipsYes! Even the USDA says it’s OK. The key is to cook the meat long enough. By Published Jan. 31, 2024. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) instructs us to cook meat to a safe internal temperature: namely, 165 degrees for poultry and 145 for beef and pork. But by the time it reaches those temperatures, meat, especially lean meat, has tightened up and lost a lot of itsjuiciness. Is that degree of cooking really necessary?
How to Butter-Wash Your Booze (and Booze-Wash Your Butter)

Dec 21, 2023 | americastestkitchen.com | Paul Adams

Science“Washing” liquor with butter, bacon, or other flavorful fats can make both the liquor—and the fat—tastier. By Published Dec. 21, 2023. Around 2007, a bar in lower Manhattan became famous for itsbacon old-fashioned, a cocktail that made use of a clever trick of chemistry to saturate whiskey with the flavor of Tennessee country bacon. The bartenders steeped bacon fat in the whiskey, allowing its flavors to migrate to the alcohol.
Shaken vs. Stirred: Why Does It Matter How You Chill a Cocktail? Ask Paul

Dec 20, 2023 | americastestkitchen.com | Paul Adams

ScienceWhether you use a shaker or a spoon, mixing a cocktail with ice can have a dramatic effect on taste and texture. Nobody likes a lukewarm cocktail. Chilling with ice is so essential to the construction of a proper drink that cocktails are divisible into categories based on how the ice is used to chill the drink, including those that are shaken and those that are stirred.
Why Do Onions Make You Cry? Ask Paul

Dec 6, 2023 | americastestkitchen.com | Paul Adams

ScienceThe real chemistry behind the tear-inducing nature of chopping onions, and what you can do about it. By Published Dec. 6, 2023. It’s hard to cook without onions, which add their distinctive allium savor to many a dish. But it’s hard to cook with onions, too, since chopping the bulbs is a recipe for runny eyes. Let’s take a look at the chemistry. Like garlic, radishes, and kale, onions form a lot of their flavor only when they’re cut open.
Is It OK to Eat Green Potatoes? Ask Paul

Nov 22, 2023 | americastestkitchen.com | Paul Adams

ScienceIs peeling enough to make them safe? By Published Nov. 22, 2023. That 5-pound sack of Yukon Golds looked fine in the store, but now that they’re home, you notice a couple of them are green at one end. Wait—several of them are. Should they go straight into the compost? Let’s start with a review of how potatoes grow. Botanically, a potato is part of the stem of the plant, although it’s evolved its thick, bulbous shape in order to store lots ofstarch.