We made a berry buckle the other day for a little dinner party, and the edges ended up a little overdone. We sliced out pieces from the middle for our guests, but we didn't just do this to be a good host. We found ourselves sneaking into the kitchen a couple of times for a bite of the crunchy burnt bits.
Kitchen Confessions: Do You Like To Eat The Burnt Bits?
Is it just us?
Or do you sometimes enjoy picking at the little burnt bits in the pan too?
We started doing this at a very early age. When our family would eat a casserole or any kind of baked dish, the meal would usually end with a few of us sitting around and picking at the burnt and crispy bits of extra breading or crust at the bottom of the dish. Of course, it's really just at at-home or with-family sort of thing. We don't go around picking at dishes in public or when we're a guest, but we can't honestly say we've never wanted to.
If there's a piece of toast that's a little burnt, we always volunteer to eat it. And in our Pop-Tart eating days, we had to have ours with a well browned crust.
Of course, it's not unusual to like things that are browned, crispy and caramelized – who doesn't like those things? But we're talking about things that venture a bit further into the burned category. Not completely charred and inedible, but definitely overdone.
Do you share this secret little habit? Tell us about it in the comments.
Related: Try This! Burnt Onions...Mark-Bittman-Style
(Image: Flickr user Velo Steve, licensed under Creative Commons)
Comments (17)
Weekly Email
Top Posts
Top Recipes
- Recipe: Hearty & Healthy Apple Muffins
- Fall Snacking Recipe: Peanut Butter Popcorn
- Recipe for Warmth: Hot Apple-Ginger Toddy
- DIY Recipe: Pumpkin Spice Latte (Just Like Starbucks!)
- How To Make Elote (Roasted Sweet Corn) At Home
Top Tours
- Before & After: Kelly Moseley's Calming Austin Kitchen
- Rachel's Busy Single Girl's Kitchen
- Kitchen Gallery: White, Bright, and Clean
- Karen's White and Green Urban Cottage Kitchen
- Michelle's Gracious Craftsman Kitchen
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
The dark, crisp, nearly burnt bits are definitely my fav. That loaf of bread looks about perfect.
view Dulcibella's profile
Yes! Although only with meat. I love eating overcooked bits of chicken after roasting one. And I especially love the bits of charred meat that are left over in the pan after cooking Kalbi (Korean short ribs). It's indescribably rich and smoky with all the flavor of the marinade concentrated and a melt-in-your-mouth texture. My mother always told me it was bad for me to eat it, but I can't help myself!
view slowdown's profile
I have my own little burnt-bits recipe. You boil the spaetzle, in the mean time you burn little bits of bacon in a pan and then burn little bits of oinions, add thym and mix with spaetzle...
Gordon Ramsay would kill me, as to other chefs, but the burnt oinion is very good in that dish!
view Marie-Eve's profile
Baked goods (sweet and savory) are always better when there's a crispy or chewy edge!
Also delicious? Reheated lasagna that's reheated a liiiiiiitle bit too long so the top layer gets crispier/chewier.
view loverachel's profile
Ooh, I love the burnt parts-toast, bacon, crispy pieces of meat or veggies that stuck to the baking pan. You name it-I'll lick it clean. Those are where all the flavor is!
view rosebud's profile
Burnt Cheez-its. Can't get enough. I know it's slightly different, but the idea is the same.
Emily
view Emily Sneds's profile
I LOVE burned cheese. Delicious! And the corner piece of lasagne.. not just for the cheese. I also prefer my pepperoni to be burnt.. so a burned pepperoni pizza is one of the best things ever in my mind! We always order it well done. The crust gets charred in places, but it's totally worth it!
Oh and bacon like someone mentioned up there.. the crispier the better. In my mind, there's no such thing as burned bacon.. only extra crispy!
view AlisonCJ's profile
Emily,
I'd love to know more about these burnt Cheez-its. Do you just seek out the more browned ones? Or do you actually burn them? Or make your own? I'm intrigued.
view Joanna's profile
This is a family joke, because my sisters, and mom LOVE burnt food. The joke is my mom must not be a very good cook because all of her kids like burnt food!
view thill's profile
Sorry to be a party pooper, but isn't burnt food carcinogenic?
view rosaak's profile
I like the little burnt bits of meat, but my partner's Nan likes everything burnt! She regularly sets off the smoke alarm while making toast.
view kitchengraffiti's profile
burnt cheese is the best. in college i would nuke my stouffer's mac and cheese twice as long just to increase the square inches of burnt cheesy crust!
view Supergaijin's profile
Depends on just how burned and what it is... For bread or toast, not so much. But the crispy bits of cheese are all mine! I really like 'burned' french fries too, so they're just a hollow potato shell. And meringue peaks were always my favorite part of pie :)
view Kakugori's profile
Count me in for the burned bits, edges, crusty tops of muffins, etc. Oh, the bottom of the fondue pot!
view SunnyBlue's profile
I love burnt rice. Some Chinese restaurants will serve rice casseroles cooked in a clay or metal pot pot (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_pot_cooking). A lovely and delicious crust forms, well flavoured from whatever else was in the casserole. It's the best part. :)
view cyli's profile
Burn, baby, Burn. I always asked for the 'burned' patty or breast coming from the grill. I only like the corner brownies. The dark brown burnt Frito in the bag is better than any toy in the Cracker Jack box. Burnt toast - heaven. Burnt anything, sometimes even stuff I wouldn't normally eat (Yes, my parents got wise to this). One day my mom asked if it was an issue, and the doc said he thought I need more charcoal in my diet, and not to worry about it. Of course, I also like certain paper napkins and paper straw covers, so made it was a lack of wood fibre? But it does make it easy if your friends and fam know this beceause then it is never a mistake, it's "Carol's". :-)
view clwaller's profile
To follow up on rosaak's comment:
Acrylamide is said to be one of the causes of cancer:
Acrylamide was accidentally discovered in foods in April 2002 by scientists in Sweden when they found the chemical in starchy foods, such as potato chips, French fries and bread that had been heated (production of acrylamide in the
heating process was shown to be temperature-dependent).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrylamide
view smbumblebee's profile