An Oily Question

Q: What is the conversion for replacing margarine with butter? I prefer using butter in all my recipes. --Linda A.

A: As a general rule, butter can be substituted 1-to-1 for margarine. Use unsalted (sweet) butter and you should get excellent results. The only area I've found where you should stick to margarine if specified is in glazing recipes, such as my now-infamous Coyote Droppings. The glaze for them has to be boiled for five minutes, so the vegetable oil base of the margarine is necessary.

And welcome to the growing ranks of the butter rebels!

Q: Why do so many recipes call for unsalted butter and does it make difference if you don't have unsalted and use regular butter? Penny G.

A: The rationale for using unsalted butter is simple: purity of ingredients. It's always best to use ingredients in their simplest form. Thus, you use unsalted (sweet) butter and add salt separately. You can then control the flavor of your finished product more precisely. Also, many recipes that call for butter do not call for salt, so you'd be introducing an element that doesn't normally belong in the mix.

Now, all is not lost if all you have on hand is salted butter. As a general rule, omit ¼ tsp. of salt per ½ c. of butter. The small amount of salt in salted butter is there mostly as a preservative, but does need to be allowed for.

Q: I love to cook, but I am having a hard time on picking the right pots and pans. I like to be able to be rough on the pans like scrape the leftovers out into the trash and so on. I am not into the nonstick pans much. Most of all I want a good frying pan that can hold heat in the oven as well. --Dale B.

A: Dale, my friend, you are a cast iron man if I've ever met one. Properly seasoned cast iron is one of the world's great multi-taskers, and it's just about indestructible. You want something you can scrape? Something that will hold heat in the oven? Get thee to your local sporting goods store and invest in some Lodge cast iron.

As a bonus, a well-seasoned cast iron skillet is just about non-stick. A quick swipe with a metal spatula or fine-grain steel wool (NO SOAP PADS!) will remove even the nastiest fried-on cheese.

For all the information on seasoning your cast iron cookware, see this week's "Short Orders" column, which posts on Friday.

Now, if you'd prefer something a bit less weighty, there's an almost-forgotten line of cast-aluminum and stainless steel cookware known as Magnalite. It's durable as heck, easy to clean, and you'll quite likely pass it on to your grandchildren. For the money, it's one of the best buys out there. An 18-inch roaster, which is a fantastic multipurpose oven or stovetop pan, will run you about $90-$100. Granted, that's a goodly piece of change for one pot, but it will earn its keep.

Q: I've never understood the differences between oil, shortening and butter. Nor do I understand when to use one oil instead of another. For instance, canola oil vs olive oil? or peanut vs walnut? Oils are such a mystery to me. Can you help? --Nancy

A: The biggest difference among cooking oils, shortening and butter is something called the smoke point. Without getting too technical, that's the point at which oil begins to burn and become unusable.

Your less-durable frying friends are butter, which smokes at 350° F., and lard, which goes at between 350° and 400°. Olive oil will last you up to 375&@176; at first use. Vegetable oils such as sesame, corn and sunflower will last up to 390°-400° F.

The real workhorses of the frying world are canola, peanut and safflower oil, which will take you well beyond the others, up to 435°-450° F.

Specialty nut oils, such as walnut or hazelnut, are really best used as a flavoring element in sauces and salad dressings. They're too fragile and expensive to use for ordinary frying.

You'll notice I mentioned "at first use" in reference to olive oil. Bear in mind that ANY cooking oil will lose as much as 10° of its smoke point with each reuse. That's why you should never, EVER leave frying food unattended, and ALWAYS use a frying thermometer to watch the temperature.

To store your oil, strain it through a very fine-mesh strainer or cheesecloth and keep it in a tightly closed container in a cool, dark place. Add a little fresh oil each time you use it and you'll get multiple frying sessions.

Got a question for Ask The Cook? A recipe request? Drop me a line anytime! PLEASE NOTE: If you are asking about a recipe you saw on-air, let me know your city and what station you watch, that'll help me get your information much more quickly!