I saw this on MJG a couple of days ago, but it was an Instagram link.

Lars, not everyone could open the Instagram link, so I found it on youtube.

I've never had issues with the mustard, but never knew about the pip, either. Cool!

I learned to twiat spaghetti to break it. Eaiser than snapping it. Learned that from Elaine Carol’s Kitchen - don’t judge! 😂

I just saw a hack I'm eager to try. Cover the grater you are going to use to grate citrus peel with parchment paper before grating. The grater still works, the parchment traps the peel and keeps it from getting stuck in the grater. https://youtube.com/shorts/gtjnEiRfdU0?si=5zJiFpNGAVS_8bBh

^^^Today I learned what that side of the grater os for, I think. Ok mine has two such sides, one with smaller holes than the other. Quickly trying it with a lemon, the smaller holes did not penetrate the parchment so nothing grated. The courser side appeared to work well right until I tried to scrape the zest from the parchment. Between all the holes and the moisture, the parchment wss too compromised and pretty much disintigrated as I slid the knife across it. This waa just a quick test so I'm not reasy to write the method off, but I'm also not throwing away my microplabe rasp just yet!

I haven't tried it yet. It looked like on the video the whole paper just pulled off and the rind fell right off. I'll have to remember to make sure to dry the lemons thoroughly before trying it. I use brown parchment; I wonder if it is as tough as the white.

It pulled off the grater fine, it was when I tried to remove the zest from the parchment that I ran into problems. I'll try it again and will report back!

Why would you break spaghetti?

Fits in the pot more quickly and easily, especially when making a smaller amount in a smaller pot. I always fan it out as I drop it in, so theres very little stirring and separating needed to keep it from clumping together.

And broken in half, it is far easier to get (and keep!) on your fork.

I realize the ”taste” of pasta is all about shape and texture, but my mouth doesn’t know or care if it’s 6” or 12” strands twirled around the fork.

In general I’m all about authenticity and tradition, but I find there are only downsides to keeping it whole. And 99% of the time for me spaghetti is a cop-out quick meal, not something gourmet, and this further reduces my care factor to zero.

Regarding citrus, I use this one from Microplane all the time. I do get some stuck to the zester. Tapping releases some, but I get plenty zest from the sharp blades without tapping.

Putting butter on the counter 5 minutes before I want to use it allows it to warm enough to be easily spreadable. Why needlessly dirty a strainer?

I didn't know about the do-hicky to hold the lid fully open. This hasn't been a problem for me either. I always hold the mustard at a 45° angle to the counter, with the lid on the high side. That keeps the lid out of the way of the stream coming out of the bottle. Holding it at an angle also seems to help it flow better, avoiding spattering burps.

chloebud, I think the point is how difficult the graters are to clean when the peel gets stuck.

Putting butter on the counter 5 minutes before I want to use it allows it to warm enough to be easily spreadable. Why needlessly dirty a strainer?

Five minutes would never be adequate in my kitchen. More like an hour or more. I found the strainer trick pure genius.

As for zesting citrus -- buy a microplane and save yourself the hassle of those box graters.

I keep my fridge at a cold temp setting but the butter is in a closed compartment at the top of the door. It's warmer there than the rest of the fridge.

In a pinch, a few seconds of zap in a microwave will soften a stick without melting it .

Zester for citrus.

Butter on the counter. We are still alive. (We go through the butter quickly enough.) But I do like the strainer tip.

The butter "hack" is for young ones who have a metal strainer but no grater. Grating butter to make it spreadable (or to make biscuits!) is older than I am. :) Agreed on microplanes for zesting. Or purpose made zesters. I've tried the rasp on a box grater, and while it might be better with the paper, it's just not the right tool. It's great at grating powdery parmesan. I wonder if the paper thing would work for that?

Re frozen butter. a friend who regularly is on small ship (limited storage) adventure cruises, often becomes the demonstrator at dinner. They have the serving sized packets of butter--frozen hard. Friend holds them between his hands, or even in the crook of his elbow. Basic science. If it's too cold, warm it up. Turns out, it's not so obvious to many!

The strainer is so much easier than a grater.

Our butter stays on the counter. It has never spoiled and is always soft. The margarine stays in the frig.

“chloebud, I think the point is how difficult the graters are to clean when the peel gets stuck.”

Right…I’m wondering if that might be with just certain graters. Whatever remains on my citrus Microplane rinses right off. I have various Microplanes and they’re all very easy to clean, although I do rinse them off right away. I probably use my box grater more for cheese than anything else. If I ever used it for citrus it was too long ago to remember.

“I always hold the mustard at a 45° angle to the counter, with the lid on the high side.”

Same with me...guess I thought everyone would. What the video shows seems more likely with kids.

I bought several of these butter spreaders - one for each kid. Simple to use and available on many web sites.

I've never done it to spread butter, but I always freeze our butter (it's a lb block like shortening etc) into 1/4 cup slices. When making dough, biscuits etc, I take out the slices I need and grate them using the large holes of the box grater. So easy to blend into the pastry.

Now that spreader makes sense. No need to touch the butter like you have to with a grater.

I’ll admit any form of scraping butter off the top irks me for some reason. It gets cut off the end! I get a little miffed (only inwardly!) when guests defile my butter. Maybe just a me thing?

I’m reminded of working at a deli way back when. A woman came in regularly asking for a buttered roll, specifying that she wanted COLD butter. I get it, but it was such a pain to make. Could have used the grater or mesh tip back then!

Scraping butter bothers you, but not breaking pasta? 😂

FOAS, I had to ask a young friend who stays with me frequently to stop scraping butter off the top of the cube because it drove me crazy!

Why would breaking spaghetti bother anyone?

Exactly. When I eat spaghetti, I’ve got three primary goals. In this order: Not get it on the sofa (as that’s probably where I’m eating it), not get it on my clothes, not get it on my face.

Funny thing about spaghetti, for such a basic, everyday dish there’s a decent fuss made about how to eat it. No spoon, you plebe! But yet nine times out of ten it's served along with a spoon. Why, so that the staff can mock me? Sorry, Leonardo, but if I've ordered spaghetti at your Ristorante Italiano then you've got more important things to worry about than how I eat it. Namely, your menu!

Just joking, sort of!

Why would breaking spaghetti bother anyone?

He mentioned it earlier on this thread. Apparently it bothers some people just like scraping butter.

The butter direction thing is like the direction for the toilet paper roll. Being involved with many tall men, I understand their preference for over the top. Knowing cat owners (ours never disturbed the paper), I know that cats will roll off all the paper for fun if it's over the top, but they roll down, not up, so it's pretty safe down the back. As far as I'm concerned, if you replace the roll when it runs out, it's dealer's choice. Some people get so wigged out about it, they'll disrespect their hosts and change the paper where they're visiting to the "right" way.

In a standard butter dish or measured wrapper, cutting off the end makes the most sense. Other butter dishes are designed for scrape off the top, and wide, Euro style is placed wide side up, and the wrappers for that shape also lend themselves to scraping off the top. My prettiest butter dish is meant for round and tall, and Vermont Creamery used to make the perfect one, which was also my favorite table butter. Alas, they got bought out and regularized, and my pretty dish stays in the cupboard waiting for me to deign to make compound butter that will fit its beauteous design. There's no "right" way to use the butter, either, but if it isn't one way or the other, the sliced end person at some point gets confronted with a big divot out of his lovely pat.

So, spaghetti is a weird one. I've seen people freak out about breaking it. I don't--I just let the ends soften and ease it into the pot. But spaghetti is extruded, therefore making it shorter would be more labor, so if you want short spaghetti, breaking it yourself makes more sense than having multiple sizes. My best friend from my teens was the daughter of an Italian chef. She attacked the finished spaghetti in her dish with a knife and fork first, to make bite sized bits easy to eat. I believe her father taught her that. Whereas my other friend, with the off-the-boat (airplane, really) Italian mother, made spaghetti baked in a casserole as the proper way to serve it, and dishing it up cut it pretty well too. I learned to twirl without a spoon, and without spattering, but I remember when an Italian princess came on a goodwill tour of the States and taught people to twirl the spaghetti with a spoon rather than eating it the Japanese way. I say, whatever gets the food to your mouth cleanly without a lot of fuss and bother, or disturbance to your companions is the "right" way.

I didn't see anyone getting upset over breaking spaghetti, just colleen asking why.

I often break long pastas too - makes it easier to mix with sauces and other things - especially pesto.

And I often use a big soup spoon to eat pasta from a bowl - using the spoon edge to cut long pieces.

I have a little nutmeg grater that is also great for ginger and citrus peels. It grates them into a puree and is easy to clean too.

Carol, not here in this thread, but IRL I've seen pasta police having hissy fits over people breaking spaghetti before cooking. I figure if you pay for the pasta you get to make it however you please, but others insist you must do it ”right”. To me it's like the argument over whether the jelly should be spread on top of the PB, or on the second piece of bread. Everybody has their own way, but the result is much the same.

Oh I'm well aware of the pasta police.

Why do you not leave butter on the counter? It does not spoil. No one answers that.

It does not spoil, even for weeks. Even store butter with no salt . It does not spoil. I have done this for years.

ETA: I did not believe at first, but, it is fine.

Unless I’m baking which is not frequent, a stick of butter lasts me more than weeks. But I agree, if someohe here left it on the counter to softeb there'a a good chance it wouldn't be returned to the fridge for days, and it'd be just fine.

" Why do you not leave butter on the counter? "

This is an easy answer. I don't because I prefer to keep it in the fridge.

You prefer to keep it on the counter. That's why, if asked why you don't keep it in the fridge, you'd say you prefer to keep it on the counter.

These are preferences, not manifestations of following "facts" as some would perceive them.

I do find that, in winter, the butter on the counter doesn’t spread quite as easily as it does in the summer. Just a few degrees difference, makes a difference. But, that’s okay.

We listened to Stanley Tucci’s memoir ”Taste” last fall, and at one point he is aghast at the idea of cutting or breaking spaghetti, but no explanation followed. I still don’t know why, but I do still like Stanleu Tucci and he can make me dinner any time. Just not spaghetti. Maybe a Negroni.

Why do you not leave butter on the counter? It does not spoil. No one answers that.

I tried that for awhile. It's fine if you use it within a few days. Longer than a week it smells different and tastes different. I prefer the fridge.

It never smells or tastes different to to me or my husband.

Great. It does to me.

I've never seen that hack before, interesting. Might have to try it sometime. I do the hot bowl trick if I need a stick warmed that wee bit out of the fridge. I tend to keep butter in the fridge in it's paper. I've sometimes used a butter bell since it keeps out the light and air that can turn butter if it's left out open. But I don't often use soft butter enough to justify the counter space on the regular. It comes out for gatherings.

None is so blind as who cannot see.

Sherry, just because you haven't noticed a difference in flavor doesn't mean it can't happen.

https://www.thekitchn.com/4-mistakes-to-avoid-when-leaving-butter-at-room-temperature-228689

https://www.allrecipes.com/article/can-you-leave-butter-on-the-counter/

https://www.foodnetwork.com/healthyeats/healthy-tips/2020/03/is-it-safe-to-leave-butter-on-the-counter

https://www.marthastewart.com/7843452/how-to-store-butter-counter

https://www.bonappetit.com/story/does-butter-go-bad

I just cut my butter very thin and it seems to melt just fine on my toast or English muffins.

I also like to break my long spaghetti noodles in half. I usually use a small pot so it makes more sense. Usually, these days I prefer small pastas so no need to break up.

I KNOW from doing.

We get it Sherry... you like your butter left out, and you are good with how it tastes. You know you do that. And that's OK.

It's also OK if other folks don't do that or like that, or know science says no, or just like their butter cold and are good with doing butter hacks or spreaders if they need to.

My kitchen is too warm. The butter goes rancid right away (as in a day or two). Not just a little off. Rancid. I keep the table butter in the fridge door, which is the warmest part, and slice thin, like Kathsgrdn, mostly as portion control, but it doesn't need spreading then.

^Same as plllog…table butter in fridge door works fine. I’ve also left it out (unintentionally) with no problem. We all do what works best in our kitchens.

" I KNOW from doing. "

Doing the same thing repeatedly, or over a period of time, is neither knowledge nor experience. It's a habit or personal preference. Nothing is "known". It's okay to leave it at that.