Trial and Error in the Kitchen means turning setbacks into opportunities for growth. Chef Jayson highlights the importance of continuous learning and discovers that failures are just stepping stones on the path to culinary preservation and success.
CHAPTERS:
00:08 Welcome
00:34 Mistake #1
01:17 Check your Pantry
1:59 Mistake #2
03:14 The Reveal
03:18 Rule of Plumb
04:24 Let’s try Making Wine
04:43 It’s Ok, Keep Trying
TRANSCRIPT FROM VIDEO:
Chef Jayson (00:04):
I should be wearing gloves for this ’cause this is a serious science project, but hold onto your butts.
Chef Jayson (00:08):
Welcome back to the kitchen. We are here for, I don’t know, I call this the bloopers reel. You know, when you work in a kitchen, you’re gonna fail ultimately, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep trying. That’s one of the secrets of cooking and working in a kitchen. Don’t ever be afraid to try. Just know that you’re gonna screw something up. And if you do learn from that screw up, move on to the next one.
Chef Jayson (00:34):
So let me show you, screw up number one. These are eggs that we glassed couple weeks ago. They’ve just been sitting on the counter kind of doing their thing. And you notice that this one is nice and clear. You don’t see any schmutz in there. It looks good. This one on the other hand, is really cloudy and kind of yellow. So what do you, what do you think that means? You’re right, it’s a cracked egg. So what that means is that we’re gonna have to take all the eggs out of this, redo the brine, pull out the offenders, repack the eggs. Should be totally fine. We just, luckily we caught this now instead of six or seven months from now. Which again, it always pays to go check on your pantry.
Chef Jayson (01:17):
I remember one time I did a squash soup. I put, I canned it, thought I pasteurized it enough, put it in the pantry. And about two, three weeks later, walking by and I kind of smelled something weird and I didn’t think nothing of it. I thought one of the dogs farted, who knows. A couple days later I got a really big whiff in the same area. I was like, okay, that is no dog fart. I opened the pantry and the squash had actually fermented in the jars, popped the lid and spilled out all over the inside of the cabinet and just went funky. Always check your pantry. So this is a good catch, easy fix. Probably take us five minutes to remix the solution and and repack ’em.
Chef Jayson (01:59):
Screw up number two. Now this is a long time coming. This is a project I started back in May. We harvested a bunch of green plums off a tree to get it to like fruit more and bigger. So I harvested those plums. Over a three week period. I changed the brine every week. This is a 25 to one brine, meaning five ounces roughly just just over five ounces of salt to one gallon of water. Excuse me. The first one was a 20 to one brine and then the second brines are 25 to one. And this is basically the process to make olives. Usually takes about six to nine months. I was going for about six months to see what happened. We’re going on nine four and a half months here. I’ve changed the brine. I noticed that there was mold in it after the second month. I changed the brine. I didn’t see anything for a couple weeks and it started getting a little moldy again. I changed the brine again. I don’t know what’s in There. I think it’s inside one of these green plums, but this is what it looks like unfortunately, and honestly I’m Giving up. It’s been four and a half Months. I should be wearing gloves for this ’cause this is a serious science project, but hold onto your butts.
Chef Jayson (03:14):
Yeah, that’s what it looks like. I’m probably gonna throw away this container.
Chef Jayson (03:18):
So look, a rule of plum <laugh> is that if your food looks like this, probably gonna chuck this container Right in the trash. It’s not worth It to try to save this thing if it’s just stuck to the sides. I don’t want to get anybody sick. Usually in my restaurant, if somebody came up to me and said, Hey, do you think this is bad? I usually didn’t even smell it. Like, if you think it’s bad, it’s probably bad. Let’s not take the chance, chuck it in the garbage. The idea is to get good enough at your stock rotation and your recipes that you don’t have food going bad in the pantry or in the kitchen. You’re always using those little bits left over.
Chef Jayson (04:01):
This is a failed experiment. It’s okay. It Is a little Depressing ’cause I have been working on it for four and a half months. I’d say cumulative total time is probably about three or four hours. So it’s not Like, You know, Detrimental to my wellbeing or anything. However, I’m gonna try Again next year. I’m definitely gonna try again ’cause this is a thing like green pickled plums are definitely a thing.
Chef Jayson (04:24):
I May try to make wine out of it. I know in Japan they do a green plum wine that’s supposed to be, Chef’s kiss. And I would Love to make alcohol. We’re actually working on some mead right now. I need a couple tips ’cause it’s like stalled out. But We’re Making alcohol for sure.
Chef Jayson (04:43):
This is failed. Experiment number two. Don’t worry about failing. You’re gonna fail. It’s okay. Take those lessons, move to the next thing. Try it again. If you fail again, I would Say keep, if you’re really into it, keep working at it. You’re gonna get better and better and better every day. I’m refining my own skills. I’m learning new tricks and new techniques that I Love to share with you guys. So Stay tuned and we’ll see you next time.
