Category Archives: Cooking

Here you’ll find everything about cooking that isn’t actually a recipe. Tips, techniques, gripes, whatever.

Frankenturkey!

Our 2025 bargain frozen turkey turned out a Frankenturkey. It had the following message on the label, which of course was not noted by me when purchasing: “pre-brined with approximately 9.5% solution of turkey broth, salt, sugar and natural flavoring” … Continue reading

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Copycat Durkee’s leads 2025 Thanksgiving hacks.

We are gratified that our copycat Durkee’s recipe is currently the top trending post on Burnt My Fingers. Gratified because this is a near perfect match for the original Durkee’s Famous Sauce which is sold out on Amazon and at … Continue reading

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Looking for new ways to eat artichokes? Most probably aren’t.

Looking for a new way to eat artichokes? Katie Honan did Bon Appetit readers a solid with her article on the origin of the Artichoke Parm Hero. The lifelong New Yorker who claims she has tried “all the Italian parm … Continue reading

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Taste test: butternut squash three ways

This taste test happened because a guest at our Airbnb left some precut butternut squash cubes in the fridge. Normally we slice a whole squash down the middle, scoop out the seeds and fill the hollow with butter and maple … Continue reading

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Kenji Vinaigrette

If you search “Kenji vinaigrette” on Serious Eats, you’ll find this recipe and this one which are very close to our rendition of the Jacques Pepin formula. And as an experienced garde manger, you may well ask “who needs a … Continue reading

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Smoked Lamb?

A butterflied boneless leg of lamb got defrosted by accident, so I thought I’d try smoking it along with some brisket. Followed the brisket recipe in which I rub the meat with salt, brown sugar and black pepper then smoke … Continue reading

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Top five recipes of 2025 on Burnt My Fingers

What do the top 5 recipes of 2025 (measured in web traffic) on Burnt My Fingers have in common? They’re all very simple, befitting our brand personality as a lazy guy who likes to enjoy good food without a lot … Continue reading

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Too hot to cook?

Yep, the summers are getting hotter and our cooking interests wane as the temperature rises. Here are a few easy to prepare and mostly stove-free dishes we find ourselves repeating. Cornell Chicken. This goes on the grill so it’s technically … Continue reading

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Cookoff challenge: Aaron Franklin vs instant Pot

A rack of baby back ribs is a wily beast. It’s a thin cut that is easy to ruin, yet it needs a long time in the smoker for tenderness. On a previous outing we managed to char the outer … Continue reading

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Wet brining vs dry brining vs rub

It’s a bit clammy in upstate NY, but tradition demands that I pull out the Weber Bullet for the first smoke of the summer on Memorial Day. I have a nice brisket I will cook in my usual manner: rubbed … Continue reading

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