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ACTIVATED CHARCOAL

Activated charcoal is on my “top-ten coolest things in the world” list. Unlike the stuff that you burn in the grill, activated charcoal is a powder made up of tiny carbon sponges. These particles are amazingly porous and can absorb something like a zillion times their weight in organic compounds (including many poisons), as well as a host of nasty chemicals, such as chlorine, solvents, and even some pesticides. How do these tiny grains do the job? For one thing, they are 100 percent carbon, and so they act like Velcro, clinging to any substance containing carbon. More important, they possess an almost unbelievable amount of surface area—up to 160 acres per pound! Think about that a minute. That means that each gram of activated charcoal has in the neighborhood of 14,000 square feet of bonding space. Amazing though this is, all this space will eventually be taken, and the filter will need to be changed. Failing to change an exhausted filter is actually worse than having no filter at all, because the nooks and crannies of activated charcoal are like an ant farm for bacteria. If your water is chlorinated, pathogens shouldn’t be a problem, but the longer that filter sits there, the more you’re just asking for trouble.

There are three types of water filtration systems, all of which utilize activated charcoal (see Activated Charcoal). Since my municipal water is safe and relatively good at cleaning things (see Hard and Soft Water) I don’t feel I really need a high-volume system to scrutinize and scrub every milliliter that comes into the house or even through one particular tap. I’m not a fan of faucet-mounted models because they make every sink they meet look like a refinery and their size necessitates seemingly constant filter changing. I prefer the pitchers with pour-through filters that utilize drop-in filter cartridges. These devices are rather slow but they’re effective and very affordable. Around my house we keep the filter pitcher on the counter and keep a gallon or so (tightly sealed) squirreled away for cooking those designer veggies we were talking about.

If you just can’t bring yourself to spring for a filter (cheapskate), at least take these taste precautions. Let the water run while you count slowly to ten (for better oxygenation) before you fill any vessel. Then bring the water to a boil and keep it there for a solid minute, uncovered, before adding any food (this eliminates some of the chlorine).

FILTRATION UPDATE

They say water is the new oil, so a lot of R&D (that’s research and design) has gone into filtration and purification systems in the last few years. The only ones cooks should really question are RO (or reverse osmosis) systems, which can remove even the smallest spores and viruses from water. The problem is that they waste a lot of water and they remove just about all the mineral content that gives H2O any life.

Poaching

Poaching is defined as cooking food gently in liquid that has been heated until the surface just begins to quiver.

I personally have never seen water “quiver,” but since no bubbles are mentioned I assume that we’re talking about a temperature that’s below a simmer. How much below? Who knows? Some cooks argue 180° F—others 185° F—either of which is nearly impossible to maintain on a standard home stove top. Then, of course, there’s the food.

Fish, eggs, and chicken breasts are traditional poaching fodder because they profit from gentle (there’s that word again) heat. The other side of the coin is that these foods get nasty soon after they exceed their relatively low ideal temps—140° F to 150° F in the case of fish and 165° F for chicken meat. So let’s say you’ve got a flavorful liquid (see The Liquid) and you bring it to 180° F and slide in a piece of sole. So far so good, you think, but how do you know when it’s done? It’s too thin to use a thermometer and it’s impossible to time. You’re left there to poke, ponder and pray that you’ll recognize the moment when your dinner enters the narrow (10°) doneness zone,