Burnt Food Lovers Unite: Charcoal Eaters Share Their Favorites

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The discussion revolves around the enjoyment of burnt or charred food, with participants sharing their favorite burnt delicacies. Many express a fondness for burnt marshmallows, beef fat, and crispy chicken skin, highlighting the appealing flavors that come from slight charring. Burnt cheese is celebrated as essential for nachos, with a focus on achieving the right balance of browning without losing the cheese's oils. Participants reminisce about childhood experiences with burnt foods, such as charred hot dogs and popcorn, and discuss the appeal of lightly burnt items like toast and rice. The conversation emphasizes that while some burnt food is delightful, excessive charring can detract from the overall taste. The chemistry of cooking is touched upon, particularly how browning enhances flavor, making burnt elements a sought-after aspect of various dishes.
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Who are the charcoal eaters here? I always liked to burn my marshmallows when roasting them by the camp fire. A nice piece of burnt beef fat is a rare treat when BBQing steaks. I've always liked buttered, burnt toast. Burnt chicken skin is quite tasty. And I love eating little burnt pieces of onion that fall on the pan when making nachos. I know it's bad, but it's sooooo good!

http://www.dreier.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/burning-marshmallow-04.jpg

I had nachos earlier and saw those tasty burnt onions lying in the pan. Mmmmmmmm.
 
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As soon as I saw the title of this thread, I thought, burned beef fat.

O.

M.

G.



Oh and the burned rice at the bottom of the pan...wow. Better than crackers.
 
Depends on the food, but yes, a bit crispy burnt food is quite fine and often desired.

I have a chicken rub that when I used when grilling chicken, the burnt skin is awesome.

Turning the food into charcoal though is not good, but singed, burnt and crispy is.

Bacon.
 
Ivan Seeking said:
And I love eating little burnt pieces of onion that fall on the pan when making nachos. I know it's bad, but it's sooooo good! I had nachos earlier and saw those tasty burnt onions lying in the pan. Mmmmmmmm.
Burnt onions in nachos?

Onions in nachos?

:bugeye: :-p
 
Burnt cheese is the best.
 
where are you taste-buds?
 
I remember my 4th birthday very vividly. My mother baked a pineapple upside down cake. She was quite proud of it and showed it to me in the afternoon. There were two slices of canned pineapple on a rectangular cake and they were caramelized. Well, let's face it, you can't fool a little kid, they were burnt. I asked my mother if I don't eat the cake can I still be 4 years old. She always was a liberal. With regret she said yes. But she was wrong. I am still that 3 year old kid.
 
Bacon is better burnt! :)
 
Pattonias said:
Burnt cheese is the best.

Burnt cheese is at the heart of a proper nacho. I don't know the chemistry but you don't just melt the cheese. You have to heat it until it starts to brown, at which point there is a distinct change in the flavor that is then distinctly nacho. And while I can appreaciate a piece of burnt cheese as much as the next person, for a nacho, you don't want to cook it until the oils are gone - just until they are released. .

Onions on nachos? Of course! Some fall off and burn in the pan, which I eat later. :biggrin:

Nacho nacho man
I've got to be, a nacho man...
 
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  • #10
Ivan Seeking said:
Burnt cheese is at the heart of a proper nacho. I don't know the chemistry but you don't just melt the cheese. You have to heat it until it starts to brown, at which point there is a distinct change in the flavor that is then distinctly nacho.

Onions on nachos? Of course! Some fall off and burn in the pan, which I eat later. :biggrin:

Nacho nacho man
I've got to be, a nacho man...

I know what I'm eating for lunch.
 
  • #11
Pattonias said:
I know what I'm eating for lunch.

Try using an extra-sharp white cheddar aged at least two years. Mmmmmmmmm, absolutely killer! Thrown on some garlic, onion, oregano, chili powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, and salt to taste.

I've been perfecting them for over twenty years now.

For me, topping with tabasco causes yet another distinct change in the flavor [another reaction of some kind, I assume due to the vinegar] that makes it just perfect.
 
  • #12
When I was a kid, we used to picnic with some neighbors, and they ALWAYS brought strips of salt pork. We'd spear them on sharpened sticks (like hot-dogs) and hold them in the fire until they started to blacken. Mmm!
 
  • #13
I like hot-dogs burnt (only if they are grilled on a fire though).
 
  • #14
I do like roasted peppers or eggplant that taste best when the skin has been charcoaled, but the burnt skin is taken off before eating.
 
  • #15
I like some things darkly browned, but not burned.
 
  • #16
When I order crepes suzette I always ask them to hold the flambe, don't make them so thin, and use maple syrup instead of liqueur.
 
  • #17
jimmy snyder said:
when i order crepes suzette i always ask them to hold the flambe, don't make them so thin, and use maple syrup instead of liqueur.
lol!

Reminds me of the recipe for baklava that only contained phyllo, breakfast sausage and scrambled eggs.
 
  • #18
Ah yes, and burnt popcorn! I do like a few pieces of burnt popcorn from time to time. Burnt hot dogs worked for me as well. They all came out mostly black when we'd cook over an open flame when backpacking. That was SOP!

"Char Broiled", which inevitably means "lightly burned", is an old selling point for burgers.
 
  • #19
For some reason I think that those hamburgers you find at high school charity events are really tasty. The ones where they're made dozens at a time and always end up every so slightly burnt. I don't know why but the very slightly burnt taste is kind of good in my opinion.

I also like to just let my marshmallows light on fire because: 1.) looks cool and 2.) it's easy to scrape them off the stick
 
  • #20
Ivan Seeking said:
"Char Broiled"

Someone said my name?
 
  • #21
LOVE burnt popcorn, charred marshmallows, babaganoush (charred eggplant), charred beef fat drool
 
  • #22
Slightly burnt toast is ok, other than that, I don't know how people can eat hockey pucks or burnt chicken off of the grill.
 

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