Keep cake away from the office

[GarethSouthgate]

I think with takeaways etc you usually get a bit of a taste of some of the other things that would have been cooked in the fryer/oven etc...like not that you can actually taste sausage on your fish etc...but just adds a bit more flavour!

places like McDonalds/Burger King...you're not going to make better than those at home if you actually like a Big Mac/Whopper etc

MSG as well

 

[montymint]

Yeah I think its the thinness of the burger I quite like. Its like a nice snack rather than a full burger. When I cook a nice quarter pounder burger, its nice but the amount of fat that comes off is huge. A McDonalds hamburger patty is quite dry in comparison, and has a certain flavour in combination with a tiny bit of relish (which I think is a combo of tomato sauce and mustard), plus the bun which is slightly more cakey than bready.

You want to look for a smash burger recipe. You'll need to use mince, but that's the go to thin burger

 

[gingergundog]

Absolutely, but irrelevant when you've been busy all day and its 8pm and you're hungry with no easy food in the house. There's only one option then.


I dont think it is possible to make something as good as a takeaway does. I don't know why, is it that they load it with fat or sugar, or is it that they have the right cooking machinery to get the best out of it.

Loads of examples of this but I'll pick a couple just to get the point across:
1. Dominos pizza dough - can't get the same fluffy feeling from an oven pizza.
2. Chicken tikka - can buy the spice mix but its never the same.
3. Naan breads - the prepackaged ones are nowhere near the same as fresh ones.


Ps for context as this may be relevant to my issues, but I was a terrible eater as a child, very selective, didn't like many textures and tastes. I was very underweight as well. As I got older and could buy food myself, I latched onto the 'nice' food you get from takeaways and its stuck as an adult.

Try getting a pizza steel to use in the oven. I've had my fair share of dominos but since getting a steel and using a dough I like I much prefer my own at a fraction of the cost.

It doesn't take long...maybe 20 mins mixing the dough and balling it up, then you just leave it in the fridge to do its thing. Cooking it takes a few minutes so its not like you are spending hours on it.

 

[One More Solo]

Absolutely, but irrelevant when you've been busy all day and its 8pm and you're hungry with no easy food in the house. There's only one option then.

You can make a meal 100x better for you than any takeaway with frozen and tinned food and no cooking appliances other than a microwave. There’s no excuse not to have some easy food on hand.

Indeed I think the vast majority of our midweek meals are faster to cook than ordering and delivering a takeaway. It’s laziness, poor planning or a bit of both to be reliant on them.

 

[Efour]

Phew it's been a while since we rolled out all the takeaway fastfood clichés.

#cookfromscratchimveryclever

 

[FishFluff]

Yeah I think its the thinness of the burger I quite like. Its like a nice snack rather than a full burger. When I cook a nice quarter pounder burger, its nice but the amount of fat that comes off is huge. A McDonalds hamburger patty is quite dry in comparison, and has a certain flavour in combination with a tiny bit of relish (which I think is a combo of tomato sauce and mustard), plus the bun which is slightly more cakey than bready.

Get yourself a way to grind meat, then make mince out of 50% short rib and 50% braising steak. Take about 70g of the mince and form it into a loose ball. To make that into a burger you would usually smash it onto a hot cast iron griddle, but if you’re trying to make a McDonald’s style burger then a burger press would probably work better as you’ll get a rounder shape and less charring.

Season with some salt just before cooking and cook for about 1 min each side. Maybe double that if for some reason you really want that dried out, rubbery McDonalds texture. It really is all about the sauce though.

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

Regarding all of the curry comments, I'm having a chicken madras + peshwari nan as I type. Takeaway of course.

 

[builder22]

Phew it's been a while since we rolled out all the takeaway fastfood clichés.

#cookfromscratchimveryclever

all you need is 1% each of a selection of ingredients you'll need to buy then never use again, and a new kitchen...voila...delicious food

 

[UTmaniac]

I'm usually restrained around cakes brought into work for birthdays etc., especially in the winter, as like many SAD people I get huge carb and sweet cravings in the evenings.

After a month or so of gluttony, I took all my usual goodies off last weekend's food delivery to try and begin to lose the spare tyre that's developed, only to dish up dinner that better half cooked and find a dozen blueberry scones cooling down... Cod dammit!

 

[daz]

I love big mac but can make better.

Making The McDonald's Big Mac At Home | But Better

We are challenging one of the most iconic burgers in the world to a showdown AND my cookbook is being announced! Get My Cookbook: http://bit.ly/JWCookbookAma...

youtu.be

Joshua Weissman is great. I've followed quite a few of his recipes now. I made my own dough and followed his New York style pizza recipe and it was superb.

For the most part, I've found that great tasting food is ingredients/seasoning/technique. Probably in that order. You can definitely beat most takeaways at home.

Grabbing a bag of MSG revolutionised my chinese cooking at home.