[music] >>Jeff Freburg: Wow, you got your oven back. >>Alton Brown: I got my oven back. That's good. [applause] >>Alton Brown: Good morning. >>Jeff Freburg: Good morning everyone. I'd like to welcome back probably one of our
most famous most popular guests, Alton Brown. [applause] >>Alton Brown: Thanks. >>Jeff Freburg: I'm one of the Google chefs,
Jeff Freburg, and we're really happy to have him back. >>Alton Brown: Thank you very much. >>Jeff Freburg: You have some specials coming
up soon on the Food Network? >>Alton Brown: Yeah. I've got a two-hour, we're doing a two-hour
Thanksgiving special, live, the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Live, not live to tape, really live, so you
know if we cuss it goes out. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: You know, so that's, that's,
that's gonna be a lot of fun. And we've got Next Iron Chef, which starts
on October 30th, which is scary good this time. I've got that and I've got a new Good Eats
special, a new Thanksgiving special that'll be out in November, a one-hour. Our final Thanksgiv, our final statement on
Thanksgiving, which is kind of cool because there's only one recipe in the whole show
and it makes the entire Thanksgiving dinner, so it's kind of cool, all in one massive kind
of recipe. So that's kind of groovy. And then let's see, another, another Good
Eats special, the final of the Good Eats specials because Good Eats is no more. [audience groans] >>Alton Brown: Yeah, I know. I made it for 13 years. Give me a break. I'm gonna do, I'm gonna do new stuff that's
better, that's better. But I had to, I had to let it go in order
to do new stuff. But we have one more uber-crazy special that
I think will probably be around Valentine's Day on dark chocolate. >>Jeff Freburg: Ok. Great. >>Alton Brown: I'll turn up the dark. So there's, there's plenty going on. >>Jeff Freburg: Alright. And then you're in Mountain View tonight. >>Alton Brown: I'm in Mountain View signing
copies of Good Eats 3: The Later Years tonight. Anybody have that in their hot little hand? Anybody got one? [audience cheering] [applause] >>Alton Brown: Those things right there, those
four pound piles of paper. >>Jeff Freburg: Ok. Alright. >>Alton Brown: Which I'm, I'm pretty proud
of 'cause the entire Good Eats book set is actually a little different from most cookbooks
from shows because we take the recipes, the applications from the shows, tear them down
and completely rebuild them from scratch because cooking from a book is very different than
cooking from a, from a show and so they're completely re-mastered and re-tweaked. So you should have 100% success. If not, it's your fault. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: 'Cause I've, I've taken care
of stuff. >>Jeff Freburg: Alright. Well, Alton. >>Alton Brown: Yes. Alright, so I wanted to spend some time drinking
coffee. We've got questions that have come in from
that world wide web thing. >>Jeff Freburg: Right. >>Alton Brown: Is that, is that still called
that? >>Jeff Freburg: Do you want to sit this year
or you wanna roam? >>Alton Brown: I don't, you know, I'm, I'm,
you sit. >>Jeff Freburg: Ok. >>Alton Brown: And I'll perch. >>Jeff Freburg: Ok. Alright. >>Alton Brown: I'll perch from time to time. >>Jeff Freburg: Ok. That's fine. >>Alton Brown: Is that? Well before we move on are these actually? >>Jeff Freburg: These are. >>Alton Brown: Questions for us? >>Jeff Freburg: Would you like to start with
some questions? >>Alton Brown: No, I want to start with questions
from you guys. I mean I could, I could give a speech about
things, but it'd probably be boring. I'd rather hear what you guys have to say,
answer questions. Since Good Eats has kind of come to a close,
I'm happy to talk about that, but I might cry just a little bit. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: This is hard. You know and I'm happy to scoop dirt on Food
Network people, only problem is I don't have any 'cause I live in Atlanta and they all
live in New York, so I don't know a whole lot, but I'd like to take the time that we
have and answer questions and get kind of a general conversation about food or TV or
communications or the future of food or whatever you want to talk about, I'm, I'm happy to
chime in. So yeah we've got microphones, let's see there's
a microphone there, there's a microphone here, I guess that's, well we could only afford
two. >>Jeff Freburg: There's two. >>Alton Brown: Well that's the way it goes. Two will do. Or you can just hold up your hand and scream
at me, I don't mind that either. Go ahead sir. >>male #1: Alton, thank you for coming to
Google again. Thank you for teaching me how to cook. >>Alton Brown: You're welcome. >>male #1: I've been watching you, so basically
since I was 10. [laughter] >>male #1: But I'm really sad to hear Good
Eats is >>Alton Brown: And I have to tell you, I've
gotten to a point in my career where I, where I, I'll have like really hot college girls
come up to me to sign books and they'll say, "Yeah, I've been watching you since I was
a little girl, this tall." And I'm like, "Great." [laughter] >>Alton Brown: Takes the wind right out of
it, let me tell you. >>male #1: But you know being an engineer
you, the way you present food makes it great. But we're gonna talk about Iron Chef. Who was your favorite battle guest chef to
telecast to comment on? >>Alton Brown: Wow. There have been so many, you know, before
I knew it I think we've crossed the 200 battle line on, on Iron Chef America. I would probably have to say that one of my
very favorites was the Rathbun Brothers. It was a brother battle. And the, the Rathbuns out of Atlanta where
I live came and I think it was, it was whole boar. It was like whole boar. The thing that made the battle so much fun
is that you know we got a good bit of space in, in, in kitchen stadium, but these guys
are so freaking fat, they can't really move around the kitchen, they're like bumping into
stuff, you know, and it was, it was like watching guys in sumo suits cooking. That was kind of, they're gonna be really
pissed that I said that. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: But there were these huge,
these immense pieces of meat. I like the battles where the ingredient's
really big, because you gotta really, a lot of time goes into kind of tearing it down
to get it into cookable pieces. We have an upcoming battle, Battle Yak, which
is pretty exciting. I'm not gonna tell you who's in it, but that's
one heck of a battle. 'Cause our, our new next iron chef is in,
is in that battle, so that, that won't be out until next year sometime I imagine. But there's nothing like seeing a whole yak
on the altar, let me tell ya. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: [shouting] Yak. Another, you got another question? >>male #1: No, no just >>Alton Brown: Ok. >>male #1: thank you. >>Alton Brown: Yeah, you're very, very welcome. How about you? >>male #2: I wanted to say thank you to for >>Alton Brown: You don't have your feet on
the yellow marks. [laughter] >>male #2: Ok. >>Alton Brown: I mean if you're gonna put
a mat down with footprints, you, you need to, you need to do it. >>male #2: Alright, we're on the same page
now. >>Alton Brown: Alright, we are, we're good,
I can talk to you now. >>male #2: Alright. Well again, thank you for coming here and >>Alton Brown: You're welcome. >>male #2: I wanted to thank you for your
take on baking. Just your, your explanation of baking, the
way you break things down makes things very, very easy to understand. >>Alton Brown: Thank you. >>male #2: And it's a very unique take. I really like, I really appreciate it. >>Alton Brown: Well you know baking is all
about balance. It's a see saw act, you know. The thing that people have to realize with,
with baking is it, is it doesn't forgive. It is engineering and, and if, if it's like
you know working on an engine. If you monkey with this over here, you gotta
do this over here. And once an equation gets out of kilter, you're,
you're done. Game over. So I, I, I think that it's just there aren't
too many people that that like to talk about it from that kind of standpoint. It's, it's really, really easy to talk about
baking from kind of historical standpoint or traditional standpoints because we think
of baking as this kind of very kind of homey craft, but it's rocket science. [laughter]
>>male #2: Yes it is. >>Alton Brown: It is. It's absolute rocket science. You can draw a direct line from muffins to
Saturn V Rockets. [laughter] Well thank you very much. >>male #2: Well my question was. >>Alton Brown: Yes. >>male #2: So now that the greatest show in
the history of TV is coming to a close, what is coming next? >>Alton Brown: What's coming next, there are
a few different things. One, I'm gonna be putting a lot of energy
into video enhanced e-books. I'm going to merge the, the, the film experience
with the print experience into an e form. And I think that there's a lot of room for
pioneering in that that'll allow for some very interesting filmmaking opportunities,
as well as kind of a whole new way of communicating what food is and how to work with a cookbook
in the kitchen. So I'm gonna be doing that. As far as Food Network goes, I'm going to
be doing a miniseries, it's kind of a historical thing called Foods That Changed the World. We're gonna be looking at a series of ingredients
and how man's relationship with that ingredient has helped to craft the planet that we live
in. And then also looking forward at the foods
that I think are gonna change the world as we go into a planet with a population, you
know, of nine billion plus, which is that we're basically all gonna eat Soylient Green
in very small cubes, you know. Some of you don't remember Soylient Green
probably. And, and at the very beginning of the year
there's another show on Food Network called Next Food Network Star, I don't know if anybody's
seen Food Network Star before. Apparently I was in the very first episode
of that last year and the general impression was is that I make people cry and that I'm
a meanie. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: And so as a result I've been
asked to be on all 11 episodes next year. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: So I'm gonna be on all of the
Food Network Star shows next year and my only mission is to make people cry and give up
or try, you know, drop out basically I think is what I'm gonna do. Kind of like Louis Gossett Jr. in An Officer
and A Gentleman, you know, that's what I'm gonna, that's what I'm gonna be there for. So I got a lot of, a lot of stuff going on. >>male #2: Cool. >>Alton Brown: And I, and I may, I may do
something that's not food related. Male modeling maybe. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: Kidding. Yes sir. >>male #3: You're referred to differently
in Good Eats and Iron Chef America. Is it Alton or Elton? >>Alton Brown: It's Alton. >>male #3: Alright. >>Alton Brown: I just give up correcting people
after awhile, you know, and just yeah, ok, I know who you're talking about, you know. >>male #3: Ever since the we saw Iron Chef
America I've been wondering that, so. >>Alton Brown: Yeah, yeah, that's the way
that my mom says it and the way my wife says it. Do you want to take a minute and take a, take
a question from >>Jeff Freburg: Yeah, no, here's a great question
about fluffy rice. I can't get my rice fluffy. >>Alton Brown: Arrgghh. I, I can't get my rice to be fluffy. Arrgghh. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: What will it take for me to
accomplish this? And that's from Mongomad, Mongo Mad. >>Jeff Freburg: Yeah and number two like kind
of >>Alton Brown: Wait a second, wait a second,
let's, let's, oh it's a two-part question. >>Jeff Freburg: Kind of. >>Alton Brown: Well let's answer the first
one first. You're, you're a chef. Answer the fluffy rice question. [laughter] >>Jeff Freburg: You know I use a rice cooker. >>Alton Brown: You do use a rice cooker? Mult, that's a unitasker. Don't feel bad. >>Jeff Freburg: Ok. Awww. >>Alton Brown: It's cool. I, the, we have I would direct this person
actually to our the Good Eats Red Beans and Rice episode, because we, we did a, a speed
version of cooking rice that, that is long grain rice that you sauté first in butter
until it's very, very hot and then you add boiling water to it. Kind of stand back, dump in the water, slap
on the lid and count 15 minutes and it's done. So, I, I would say go Mongomad can go check,
check out that recipe, because I, I think that makes a big difference. You've gotta get the heat right and you've
gotta do it fast. What can I make with sushi rice besides sushi? I have eight pounds of the stuff >>Jeff Freburg: They have eight pounds of
it. >>Alton Brown: hanging around, [laughter] >>Alton Brown: hanging around my neck like
an albatross. I like that. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: You know an albatross is a
big bird and, and eight pounds of, of sushi rice, you know what? You can make, I don't know about you, have
you ever made rice pudding? >>Jeff Freburg: I have and I actually used
sushi rice. >>Alton Brown: I like, I like that. Yeah. I think that you can make, you can actually
make rice pudding and then do it into cakes, like rice cakes, only ones that you'd want
to eat. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: Who actually likes rice cakes? Be honest. No you don't. [laughter] >>Jeff Freburg: We make really good rice cakes
here. >>Alton Brown: You've been convinced to think
that you do by advertising. You don't actually like rice cakes. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: Nobody does. So that's what I would do. I would make rice pudding out of it or a,
or a beverage. You can make a yummy beverage out of it >>Jeff Freburg: Ok. >>Alton Brown: like horchata. >>Jeff Freburg: Yeah. >>Alton Brown: You can make with sushi rice. >>Jeff Freburg: I have a wardrobe question
that's not on the screen. >>Alton Brown: Oh this is, this is just from
you? >>Jeff Freburg: Yeah. >>Alton Brown: Oh, who is this from? >>Jeff Freburg: So, I don't know who it's
from. >>Alton Brown: This isn't Mongomad again is
it? >>Jeff Freburg: It's not. It's not. So in the past you've mentioned that your
wife chooses your wardrobe, did she choose the bowtie or is that your choice alone? >>Alton Brown: Actually when I said that about
my wife choosing my wardrobe, I was lying. She doesn't choose my wardrobe. >>Jeff Freburg: Really? >>Alton Brown: I was just, I didn't, I just
didn't want to get into it. That was a long time ago I think I told that
lie. >>Jeff Freburg: Two years. >>Alton Brown: Was it two years? >>Jeff Freburg: Yeah. >>Alton Brown: Yeah. That's a long [laughter] >>Alton Brown: time ago. No. She will keep me from wearing things because
I'll put on something and she'll look at me and say, "Really?" [laughter] >>Alton Brown: And then I go change clothes,
but that's, that's, that's all of it. So, the, I like bowties because you don't
get tangled up in them. I'm a man of action. >>Jeff Freburg: Ok. Alright. >>Alton Brown: I'm action man. So. >>Jeff Freburg: They get in your soup. >>Alton Brown: I don't want to get tangled
up in this big and I like ties, but I don't want to get tangled up and I also find that
whenever I get a really, really nice regular tie, like a silk tie, the first thing I do
is drop food on it and ruin it. So the worst thing I can do now is screw up
the shirt, you know, and this is, so this is up and out of the way. >>Jeff Freburg: Hey so >>Alton Brown: And it's and I'm kind of a,
a Doctor Who fan, so, it's kind of >>Jeff Freburg: Alright. [applause] >>Alton Brown: You have, you have some Dr.
Who fans. >>Jeff Freburg: So you were here two years
ago and you really focused on health and you're still looking really healthy, so >>Alton Brown: I'm still trying. >>Jeff Freburg: How's that going? >>Alton Brown: It's hard. You know losing weight's easy. Keeping weight off, hard. It's, it's like fighting zombies. You think you've killed all the zombies. [laughter] >>Jeff Freburg: Um hmmm. >>Alton Brown: And then there are more zombies. I mean there are just more of them. They never freaking really go away. And so you have to constantly keep your 9mm
on you, you have to constantly keep a machete nearby. And that's the way, that's the way it is with,
with diet because your body does not want to maintain the weight that you've, you've
set. I mean it'll get used to it after awhile,
but any chance that your body gets to betray you, it will. [laughter] >>Jeff Freburg: And how's your sugar? >>Alton Brown: Does anybody else notice this
and, and anybody here, I mean you're all, this is in Northern California, people don't
have weight problems, I know, but 'cause you all eat granola and alfalfas and crap. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: I live in the South, ok, you
know we have biscuits and ham and mint juleps for breakfast, so it's [laughter] >>Alton Brown: I mean until I was like 12
years old I thought bourbon was just for Captain Crunch cereal for gosh sakes, I. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: It's hard. >>Jeff Freburg: How's your sweet tooth going,
'cause I know that was? >>Alton Brown: My sweet tooth is not as nearly
as bad as >>Jeff Freburg: Ok. >>Alton Brown: it used to be. The biggest thing to getting over my sweet
tooth was giving up diet soda. Diet soda I think is evil because what it
does is it tells your brain, "I need this level of sweetness." >>Jeff Freburg: Can you repeat that? >>Alton Brown: Sorry? >>Jeff Freburg: Can you repeat that about
the diet soda? >>Alton Brown: I think diet soda is evil. >>Jeff Freburg: Ok. Thank you. [applause] >>Alton Brown: And I live in Atlanta. So I mean I've already got a hit out on me,
ok? Because, I mean, you know in Atlanta all the
new houses have a diet Coke spigot in the kitchen. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: But no, I think that what it
does is it conditions your brain to believe that you need a certain level of sweetness
all the time and when you can't get it from you know your eighth soda of the day, you
eat more sweets. The truth is now if you were to put a bowl
of something that I used to be extremely susceptible to, peanut M&Ms, I considered any vessel of
peanut M&Ms to be one serving. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: Kind of like Girl Scout cookies. Everybody knows that a box of Thin Mints only
has two servings in it because once the tube is breeched [laughter] >>Alton Brown: You know, you take a hold of
the plastic and you take your fingers like this, you just aawwww. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: Until the plastic comes off. But now it's like I could eat you know like
a handful of peanut M&Ms and be just overwhelmed with sweetness that I couldn't, couldn't have
anymore. >>Jeff Freburg: Alright. >>Alton Brown: Or I could go ahead and have
another handful and just throw up. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: But that's unhealthy too, 'cause
it turns your teeth funny colors. Now this isn't really going where you thought
it was going. >>Jeff Freburg: No that's ok. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: Let's, let's go back down now
here to the floor for a second. How are you sir? >>male #3: I'm, I'm great. Thank you for coming and >>Alton Brown: You're very welcome. >>male #3: and for the record the bowtie is
pretty cool. >>Alton Brown: Thanks man. I mean it's, it's action. >>male #3: Yes. >>Alton Brown: I can move. >>male #3: As a, as a man who went to school
in the South, I have many bowties myself. >>Alton Brown: Well you should rock them here
on campus. Be proud of your, of your southern heritage. >>male #3: I will have to. >>Alton Brown: Play your Lynyrd Skynyrd cd's. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: Or your Lynyrd Skynyrd eight-tracks,
which are even cooler. >>male #3: Thankfully I'm not that old. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: I like him. He's ok. [laughter] >>male #3: But it, it, it's good to hear that
you're getting more into the digital realm and my question kind of relates to that, is
you kind of you know you started to wade into the social media sphere. >>Alton Brown: [laughing] Yeah. >>male #3: I would be loath to not mention
you know that you are a Google+. >>Alton Brown: Yeah, I am, I just don't know
how to use it. [laughter] >>male #3: And, and you are in a, you've been
on Twitter as well. >>Alton Brown: Yeah, I was on Twitter, I was
off Twitter, and I'm back on Twitter. >>male #3: So, so I'm curious, I kind of,
what's your perception been of, of, of your experience engaging with the social sphere
and what can we do here at Google to make it better? >>Alton Brown: Pay off my mortgage. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: No, kidding. What could you do to make it better? You know I am, I am new at it. I decided to jump in because I wanted to shut
my agent up. My agent was nagging me and, and, and I finally
was like ok, fine, I'm gonna try this and, and so I jumped in and then I jumped out because
it creeped me out because I live in a very kind of insular, I don't, I'm antisocial is
what it comes down to. I on a day to day basis I don't really want
to interact with Susie572 from Boise, ok? I just don't. I don't know how and on top of that I have
an addictive personality as I have my seventh cup of coff, hey, could somebody get me some
more coffee? Is there coffee over there? [laughter] >>Alton Brown: Can you get me some more coffee? I'm starting to get the shakes. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: So you know it's like to me
Twitter is, is, is, is Tetris for the 21st century, you know. It's very habit forming. But I, and I don't ever want to be influenced,
my, my own work, it's funny, when I started making Good Eats and even before that one
of the things that I hated about directing TV commercials is that I didn't like clients
very much and I wanted to be left alone. So I kind of have a, an. Thank you very much. I kind of have. No, what no cream, no Splenda, no, ok. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: I, like Good Eats, I never
paid attention to fans. I want fans to like the shows. I really do. But I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna make it for
them. I always made it for me. I thought the best thing that I could do is
be true to what my vision is of what I want to do with my craft and that I would do my
best to make the best shows I could, but I wasn't gonna be influence by the outside world. I'm not gonna worry about, well oh the fans
want me to do this or the fans want me to do that. 'Cause when you do that you don't actually
develop a fan base at all. Fans like to follow someone with a clear vision
of what it is they're doing. I, I truly believe that. And when you look at great media works through
the ages, they were always accomplished by visionaries, not people with focus groups
and not people that were looking at search engine optimizers, ok? It was somebody who decided I'm gonna do this
and they did it. And if people follow them, fanstinkintastic,
you get to do more of that. That's your reward is you get to keep working. And if you get some cash and prizes along
the way, ok. So the danger with social media is that once
you start engaging in that, you're from the South, you must remember the, the story of
the Tar Baby. Remember your Brer Rabbit? >>male #3: Actually I'm from California. >>Alton Brown: Do you remember your Uncle
Remus stories? Yeah, they're not really politically correct
anymore but the truth is, is, is social media is the Tar Baby, once you stick your finger
in it, once you poke it you're pretty much caught up in it. And it's very easy to then start letting that
influx of information, that influx of opinion, that influx of emotion from all around kind
of infect what it is you're doing. And so that's why a lot of celebrities have
other people do it for them and they never touch it at all. Or you've got people that do it a lot, but
don't do it in a way where they really let people, they put a lot out, but don't let
a lot in. I mean you have people that go insane, [laughing]
you know. And I've spent some time looking at what other
celebrities do, real cele, like big-time celebrities, not just cablelebrities like me, but what
big celebrities do on, on places like Facebook is they basically just put, they share out. And, and I think that's, I mean that's fine,
but I tend to want to also see what's, what's coming in. But only to some degree. One of the nice things about Twitter is it's
limited, you know. You can only give me this little burst in
a link and if I want to go to the link, I can, you know, so it's very, it's like skipping
a rock across a pond. I, I'm, and that's where I am right now. Whether how that's gonna change my work is
actually I, I, I realize that social media is actually going to allow me to work better
because what it's going to allow me is to focus my future work, more and more on the
stuff that I wanna do that I feel confident my real fan base will also enjoy and will
allow me connectivity to them to allow them to know what it is I'm doing. So in other words I'm gonna be able to preach
louder to a smaller choir if that makes any sense. And that's one of the things that when you,
when you do TV projects, if you're just on a network then you're, you're, it's a shotgun
and it's, and it's always going out there and you always have to assume that somebody's
watching it. But a lot of the work that I want to do as
I move into another phase in my life is I wanna start to focus more and more on what
I really want to do. And to do that I need to have better contact
directly with my fan base. And that's what I can get from social media. By the way, for free. You gotta realize that somebody like me will
very often pay a PR firm $10,000 a month to manage, you know, media relationships, to
make sure that, you know, when you're in New York you're gonna be on Jimmy Fallon and make
sure you get that article in Rolling Stone magazine. Well guess what? I don't like paying that money out to be really
honest with you. Why should I do that if I can have a good
life on social media and do the same thing for free? Did I come even close to answering your question? >>male #3: Yeah, no that's >>Alton Brown: Now to say what you can do
to make my life easier is, is, is don't always assume as you design social media projects,
don't always assume that all of us want to jump into deep water. You gotta think like, like a beach. I may just wanna walk here where the water
just laps up here a little bit. Or I might wanna get out in the waves, go
like this a little bit, but I may not want to go out where the sharks are. I may not want to go out where the deep water
is, so make, make it easier for me to not, you know, I don't, I'm not always gonna be
drawn into the deeper water of, of circles. Circles scare the crap out of, I'm not gonna
go into a circle. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: To me that sounds like a social
STD. I mean I'm like [laughter] >>Alton Brown: a circle? What the, what the hell do I need a circle
for? I mean that just scares me. I don't wanna be in a circle. You know streams, that sounds safe, 'cause
streams wash things away, you know? A stream, I like stream, you know? Does that make any sense? You know the last thing that I want to do
is, is live my life on a computer. I think that computers and the internet can
enhance life, they can enhance a lot of experience, but they do not actually replace life. And unfortunately I've seen some people [whop-woo]
go bonkers. Literally. I've, I've known some people that have lost
their lives because they quit living their life and they just lived on like Facebook,
which is old school anyway. >>male #3: Yeah, I think we can agree on that. Thank you. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: Sure. Shall we take another one from, from, that
was sort of a dissertation. >>Jeff Freburg: Please. That's ok. >>Alton Brown: Although badly put. >>Jeff Freburg: Any chance you might be taking
to the asphalt again? There's a lot of pavement you haven't ridden
yet. >>Alton Brown: Boy, tell me about it. I would like nothing more than to do more
Feasting on Asphalt shows and, and I might be able to convince Food Network of that,
but they think they've pretty much got that category all wrapped up with Guy Fieri and
Divers, Diners, Drive-ins, Dives, whatever the heck it is. Yeah. What can I say? Your, your e-mails could, could certainly
help. If you don't like that idea just e-mail Food
Network and I'll, I'll take to the road again. I'd always wanted to do more Feasting on Asphalt. I wanted to do a west coast all the way from
Baja to Alaska. I'd always wanted to do that and then I also
wanted to do Feasting on Rails because I'm a huge train fan, but you have to go to Europe
and Asia if you really want to do that right, so it gets expensive and then I want to do
Feasting on Air because I'm a pilot and I want to be paid to fly. >>Jeff Freburg: I love the west coast thing. >>Alton Brown: Sorry? >>Jeff Freburg: Another. I love the west coast thing. >>Alton Brown: Yeah, the west coast, I would
love to do that because that's such a diverse not only geography, but people groups. Food to me is mostly interesting when you
examine it within a micro-culture. You know it's like the best time that I had
on the original Feasting on Asphalt series, season 1, you know before I broke my collarbone
and spent my time all drugged up, was cooking and eating out on the reservations, native
American reservations in Arizona because you're moving in a whole new people group that's
in your country that has whole different food traditions and, and learning how to appreciate
those and see them through their eyes, that's what that series is really about. >>Jeff Freburg: Great. >>Alton Brown: Not just getting really big
hamburgers. >>Jeff Freburg: Yeah. Let's see, here's another one. >>Alton Brown: Not that that's a bad thing
I guess. Go ahead. >>Jeff Freburg: When will you delve into science
of food in Good Eats, do you do your own research or do you have a whole team of >>Alton Brown: Physicists, nutritionists >>Jeff Freburg: I know. >>Alton Brown: etc. No we do, we do all of our research in house. >>Jeff Freburg: Ok. >>Alton Brown: And I do a lot of research. Matter of fact I would say that 90% of the
story lines on Good Eats came out of research. What we would do is once we decided on a season
list of shows we would generate research books that usually average probably like 500 pages
of research and this would be research from periodicals, from books. We're very careful about internet sources,
we, we, we will use an internet source to develop a lead and then we'll follow it to
a primary source typically speaking. And then out of sifting through all of the
research, that's where story lines kind of percolate up and out of, so I would say that
research is the, the number one skill that you have to be able to have to, to kind of
develop those, those story lines. So we do our own research. When we can't get an answer to something,
we have people that we can get to answer things. >>Jeff Freburg: You don't Google it? >>Alton Brown: Uhh, yeah, yeah, we, we. >>Jeff Freburg: Ok. Alright. Good answer. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: Although what I'd really love
to see from Google is like a really high-power, professional level academic search engine,
something that's like a pay service that would allow me the really good stuff. >>Jeff Freburg: There's people that develop
that right here. >>Alton Brown: Faster. I, I would do that. I would pay, I would pay $10,000 a year to
have a high speed no junk search engine to high-end academic concierge level research,
quality research. 'Cause it's just too easy, you spend too much
time stumbling through crap and let's face it nothing multiplies and profligates on,
on the internet faster than bad information and you know and, and, and it would just be
really great to kind of weed through that kind of stuff. Somebody ought to get on that. To be a fantastic, to be a fan. Now that you own the internet, you might think
about selling it at better levels, you know, kind of like the, you know, the crème de
la crème of, of internet searching. I, I would definitely, it would be invaluable. Work on that would you? >>Jeff Freburg: Here's our team. >>Alton Brown: 'Cause I could use that. >>Jeff Freburg: Alright. How about, which other fud, food, sorry, Food
Network host would you choose as your second if Gordon Ramsay and Anthony Bourdain challenge
you to a two on two cage match? [laughter] >>Alton Brown: Let, let's be sure that we
can define the nature of the cage match. I haven't ever >>Jeff Freburg: I'm assuming that's cooking
related. >>Alton Brown: I haven't seen, I haven't seen
Anthony Bourdain do anything but actually just talk. [groaning & laughter] >>Alton Brown: Actually I like Anthony Bourdain
a great deal. I think he's a fantastic writer, I just haven't
actually ever seen him cook anything. Who would I, who would I want to take with
me? If I was like going in the kitchen stadium >>Jeff Freburg: Yeah, exactly. >>Alton Brown: Wow. [pause] I'd take Bobby Flay. >>someone in audience: Yes. >>Jeff Freburg: Ok. >>Alton Brown: I would take Bobby Flay because
I know, I don't think he likes Anthony Bourdain very much. [laughter] >>Jeff Freburg: Yeah. >>Alton Brown: And I, and I'm not really sure
Anthony Bourdain likes him very much, so that could be like super cool. That would be a lot of fun. I've never met Gordon Ramsay so I don't, I
don't know how that would be. But I like Anthony a lot. >>Jeff Freburg: I think that would be pretty
fun. >>Alton Brown: He's a great writer, so I think
that that's, that's what I would do. It would either be him or I would, or I would
take Morimoto. >>Jeff Freburg: Ok. >>Alton Brown: Just for the knife skills alone. [laughter] >>Jeff Freburg: Ok. There's a question about a knife on here. How long should a good knife last, assuming
of course that you're not using it to cut shoes in half or open tin cans? >>Alton Brown: You know what? A really, really good knife should last lifetimes. Lifetimes. I, I have a, a carbon steel Sabatier, it's
a French knife made with, with a dark carbon steel that I know is 100 years old and it's
still, it's still kicking just fine. It's, it's, it should be something that you
should pass down to grandchildren. There's absolutely no reason not to do that. And all you have to do is take care of them
right. The number one thing that destroys good knives
by the way is bad washing. It's not bad sharpening or anything like that,
it's, it's harsh chemicals on handles that make the rivets, the handle material rot out
around the rivets. It's people, I still see people buy $200 chef's
knives and put them in the washing machine. >>Jeff Freburg: Yeah. I was gonna say, don't put 'em in the wash. >>Alton Brown: In the washing machine not
only do the chemicals, the enzymes that are in the dishwashing powder that breaks down
stuff on dishes, but it's also the drying cycles. It's a harsh environment. And yet I see that. Or is see people buy really good knives and
just throw them in drawers with a lot of other junk which absolutely is one of the most dangerous
things in the world. Horrible thing to see. But a good knife, if you spend money on a
good knife, it will last generations without question. >>Jeff Freburg: Speaking of danger, I think
there's an explosion question. Did you ever want more explosions on your
show? >>Alton Brown: Well, who doesn't? [laughter] >>Alton Brown: I mean understand something. I have, I'm, I have, I'm a dad. I have an 11-year old daughter named Zoey,
she's been on the show a lot. I'm crazy about my kid. But she does not think I'm cool. And the reason she doesn't think I'm cool
is because I have never been on Mythbusters. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: Now I can't go on Mythbusters
because of exclusivity contracts and things like that, but basically every time we're
watching Mythbusters and something blows up, she'll turn to me and say, "What'd you do
at work today?" [laughter] >>Alton Brown: So one day I finally like alright,
I've had enough of this. We're gonna go blow up some stuff. And so I taught her some things. >>Jeff Freburg: Ok. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: I taught her how to make napalm [laughter] >>Alton Brown: out of orange juice concentrate. And I taught her how to make nitroglycerin. And I taught her some other things. [laughter] >>Jeff Freburg: You know 'cause >>Alton Brown: And we, we blew, we blew up
some stuff so loud that neighbors came to ask if a transformer had blown somewhere in
the neighborhood. I mean it was we were making some really obscene. >>Jeff Freburg: Oh, that's fun. >>Alton Brown: And then we muffled the really
big explosions we muffled by dropping them in the pool. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: First. But that also had some backlash, unfortunate
backlash. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: But I can't do that on TV. I can't show people how to do that or there
would be like kids coming to my signings with >>Jeff Freburg: Would you have to put a disclaimer,
don't do this at home. >>Alton Brown: Hold me, you know, I, I, I
can't. I'm not gonna do that. >>Jeff Freburg: Alright. >>Alton Brown: But I know how to make food
blow up. >>Jeff Freburg: Ok. I, I believe you. >>Alton Brown: Ok. >>Alton Brown: Anybody else, na, you can make
napalm. Never mind. >>Jeff Freburg: What's your one favorite kitchen
gadget? >>Alton Brown: My favorite kitchen ga, define
gadget. >>Jeff Freburg: Well, that's what's on the
screen. What's your favorite kitchen tool? >>Alton Brown: Well a tool and a gadget are
very different. >>Jeff Freburg: Alright, what's your favorite
tool and what's your favorite gadget? >>Alton Brown: Gadgets are, are, are flirting
with, are usually unitaskers. Which I don't suffer by and large except for >>audience: Fire extinguisher. >>Alton Brown: Fire extinguisher, exactly. Which I have now turned into a freezer if
you saw our live show so there are no more unitaskers. But my favorite. I do have tools that I like a lot, things
that I wouldn't be able to live without or would not like to live without. An electric kettle. I do a lot of stuff in electric kettle. I'm a big egg fan. I love hard cooked eggs and so I load up my
electric kettle with them and then fill it with water and turn it on. It cuts itself off. I leave 'em in for eight minutes and I get
perfect hard cooked eggs. So I like that a lot and I use a panini press
a lot. >>Jeff Freburg: Ok. >>Alton Brown: I'm a big fan of panini presses. I use them to cook entire meals. >>Jeff Freburg: Do you have your favorite
hand tool? Everyone always asks me what my favorite kitchen
tool is. >>Alton Brown: A favorite hand tool? Nine inch spring loaded tongs. >>Jeff Freburg: Ok. Great answer. >>Alton Brown: They, I have some that are
longer, but holding something longer than nine inches is just, I don't know, I can't
seem to get used to it, so. [laughter] >>Jeff Freburg: Ok, I'll, let's take another
question here. What is your favorite cookbook to use other
than ones you've written yourself. >>Alton Brown: What, what are, what are cookbooks
that I like to cook out of other than mine? >>Jeff Freburg: Exactly. >>Alton Brown: My very, very first cookbook,
which I purchased, well that I bought for myself, I'd inherited a bunch, but the first
cookbook I bought was in 1986 and it was the original Frugal Gourmet cookbook, Jeff Smith's
Google for, Frugal Gourmet. I almost said google gourmet, which would
be a different thing altogether. And I still cook out of that book all the
time. And I still cook out of the 1962 edition of
the Joy of Cooking. Because that was the last edition where they
actually had sketches of how to skin a squirrel. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: And once you lose that skill,
it's really hard to get it back. And the believe it or not the most important
thing to have for skinning a squirrel is good, good boots. Because you have to hold, once you get the
skin going, you've gotta hold it and I've actually skinned a squirrel with these very
boots. Is it's a, it's a pulling thing and once you
get the, the tail meat down you get a hold of the skin and you pull it off, so you're
left with skin. >>Jeff Freburg: I was gonna ask what your
favorite go to meal is after this. >>Alton Brown: My, my favorite go to meal? >>Jeff Freburg: Yeah. >>Alton Brown: I've got a lot of favorite
go to meals. You know what? When in, when in doubt [pause] I, I, I have
this one, one dish that I, I really adore that I cook a lot when like my family is not
there and it's, I do this on a panini press and it's really cool. I get my panini press hot, I take three, and
by the way I don't have an endorsement from a panini press. I put three big rashers of bacon in it and
I close the lid and I wait about two minutes and let the bacon cook till it's crisp. Take it out. During the time that that's out, I cut up
an onion and I cut up some mushrooms. So what I do is I take the bacon out and while
the bacon fat is in there, I throw the sliced mushrooms in, close the lid, cook another
two minutes till they're crispy, take those out, throw in some sliced onion, still enough
fat to cook, a couple of minutes, take that out, in the meantime I cut up the bacon and
then the last thing I do is I throw in two big handfuls of spinach. Baby spinach. Close the lid, count to 12, take it out, put
that all in a bowl, put some hot sauce on it and eat it. I love that. So it's a hot spinach, mushroom, bacon salad. That's kind of my, I love that meal. And canned sardines. I got a thing for sardines. >>Jeff Freburg: Ok. So what was the last meal that you cooked
at home? >>Alton Brown: The last meal that I cooked
at home before I went on, on this book tour was I made breakfast for my daughter. If I am in town, I cook my daughter breakfast
everyday. For two reasons: One, no one will feed you
as well as somebody who loves you. >>Jeff Freburg: That's true. >>Alton Brown: I believe that. I believe there's a tangible transferable
value of, of, love in cooking for people, so I want to cook for her everyday, number
one I know I can put good nutrition on the plate and I want her to see that her dad is
there cooking for her and doing that for her, so that was my, my last meal, 'cause after
that I >>Jeff Freburg: Do you cook with your daughter
often? >>Alton Brown: Do I cook for her often? Everyday. >>Jeff Freburg: With her. >>Alton Brown: With her. Yeah, but she's lazy. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: She's only interested, my daughter
is only interested in something that results in a lickable batter or dough. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: So she'll, she's you know like
my, my, my dogs. I have a couple of Corgis and they love ice,
so anytime I open the freezer door, they come running because they think they're gonna get
ice. Anytime my daughter sees the mixer come out,
she comes. [laughter] >>Jeff Freburg: Oh, that's funny. >>Alton Brown: Because she assumes there's
going to be some kind of, somebody's gonna get to lick something off of something. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: Which I don't know what that
says about her, but, that's, but when, when it comes to actually doing work, she'll always,
ahh, Dad, you know, I got, I got this thing I gotta do over here, you know. Unless it's blowing something up, then I got
her. >>Jeff Freburg: You see, I think that's fun. Shall we take an audience question? >>Alton Brown: Yeah. How about that? You sir, speak. >>male #4: Hey there. So I work in search and I was gonna ask you
for some feedback on searches specifically for maybe recipes or for restaurants and now
that you said what you said about, about filtering out you know the high-quality content, I wonder
if maybe you could expand on that perhaps and, and give any pet peeves or >>Alton Brown: Well, first off, I, I would
never, I don't search for restaurants on online. >>male #4: Ok. >>Alton Brown: I have never looked for a restaurant
on using a computer, so unless it's a map function. I'm standing here in Missoula, Montana, where's
the closest food? I will do that. I will use the map function on my iPhone for
that but like evaluating and looking them up, I typically don't do that. And I would never, there is no way to find
good recipes on the internet, I don't think. Not, not through a general recipe search,
because 99.97% of them are crap. And you can't, you can't find good ones unless
you go to a pay service. Like if you have a subscription to you know,
Cook's Illustrated, or some other you know site like that that you can access their recipes,
that can be quality, but just searching? Nah. >>male #4: So, so the ways in which that paid
service can provide you with those quality recipes that you can't find on the open internet,
which ways could we perhaps improve Google search to provide better access to higher
quality content? >>Alton Brown: Well, you could, you could
have curators, for instance. You could have like here are Alton Brown,
here are Anthony Bourdain's 125 favorite internet recipes. Or you know you could find a way to curate
collections, you know, allowing you to package what you don't actually own, which of course
is the way of the future. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: But the problem with, with
a recipe is you gotta have a quantifier. And a quantifier usually comes in, in the
form of the dreaded forum, which I think is the whole idea of user feedback in forum style
is pretty much, if there is anything that will ultimately destroy the usefulness of
the internet, it's that. Because the only people that typically go
on forums are, are people that are the last people that you want to listen to. You know unfortunately we've given everybody
a voice and most of them are bad. So I don't really know how you do that because
I, I don't know how you provide. There, there might be a way that you could
set up search strings in such a way that you could weed out a lot of things or you could
simply start getting people to go through a huge amount of print matter and, and, and
use that. You know like anything that's in public domain,
you guys have snarfed up all that stuff anyway, right? But like Mrs. Beeton's cookbooks from the
1900s, you know, maybe being able to search through that, that kind of print matter. Stuff that's actually been tested. But I, that's, that's a good, that's a conversation
probably for well it's a longer conversation figuring out how to actually do that. I, I have a lot of people come to me and say
how the heck do I search for recipes on the internet? And my, my answer is basically you, you, you
don't unless you're looking for something very, very specific with a name attached to
it. Like for instance, I find that it is much
easier to find one of my own recipes by just Googling it rather than going to FoodNetwork.com
and looking for it. Because I can't find it on FoodNetwork.com
unless I go through Google. So if I, if I go to Google and I type in Good
Eats meatloaf, ok, that'll actually take me someplace that I wanna go and it'll, and it,
but the nice thing would be is like if, if you went to, ok say that it is my meatloaf
recipe and you had to search this ok, Alton Brown meatloaf or Good Eats meatloaf, goes
to there, being able to have some kind of service that would then offer, hey if you
like this one, try these, in which case you would have to have some kind of reference
that would, some kind of system that would cross reference ingredient lists or time that
it takes or reviews and then offer up another ten elsewhere on the internet based on if
you like this one. I think that could work, but then you, you've
that's some pretty sophisticated integration. Not that that's over you, your head at all,
I mean [laughter] >>Alton Brown: You can manage that. >>male #4: So if you don't use the internet
for restaurant searches, what is your process for finding new restaurants? >>Alton Brown: My, my process for restaurant
searches is on the internet is strictly geographical. Is if I'm traveling and I'm like, "Dear God,
if I don't eat soon I am going to die." Where am I? What's near me? And, and that's what it is. And then what I'll do is I'll, I'll look,
I'll, I'll pull up you know on my iPhone I'll, I'll pull up that restaurant, I'll look at
it's website and see what the menu is and if they're open or not and go. But I'm not evaluating them or searching them
out in any other form rather other than geographical. Now if I could look them up by ingredient,
you know if I could say, "I'm, I'm standing in the middle of Manhattan and I wanna know
who's serving rabbit in five blocks in every direction, that would be interesting. Because that would mean somebody's gotta look
through the online menus and, and somehow work that sourcing out. That would be very interesting because there's
a lot of, there are ways to miss a lot of good food because you don't know that, ok,
well this French rest, ok this Vietnamese restaurant over here is serving rabbit in
this form and this French restaurant's over here are serving in this form because what
I really got a taste for today is rabbit for some reason. That would be cool. I don't think we have that now. Do we? >>male #4: Well that's just great feedback,
thank you. >>Alton Brown: Sure. You sir? >>male #5: First I just wanted to thank you
for your deep fried turkey recipe. I follow it every single year and >>Alton Brown: You build, you build the derrick. >>male #5: I build the derrick with the flashing
lights. >>Alton Brown: You use the flashing lights? >>male #5: The most important thing. >>Alton Brown: Well not only does it say danger,
it says fried turkey will soon be served here, which I, [laughter] >>Alton Brown: I think is a nice kind of community
gesture 'cause people you know want that. >>male #5: Oh yeah, definitely. >>Alton Brown: And who doesn't want to build
a derrick? [laughter] >>male #5: The pulleys kind of threw me off,
but anyway. >>Alton Brown: Really? >>male #5: My question's about >>Alton Brown: That's a pretty simple device. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: Pulley, been around for a few
years. Hardware store, good, good place. >>male #5: So my question's about actually
brewing beer? >>Alton Brown: Ok. >>male #5: I'm gonna start brewing >>Alton Brown: Are you old enough to have
this conversation with me? >>male #5: Yes I am. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: Ok. Just checking. I don't know what the ages is for oh wow in
California, so what is it drinking age is 21 here? Is that right? Ok. >>male #5: And then namely what in, in preparation
like are there any home recipes like using apple cider vinegar to rinse out like all
the stuff to make it in first or would you go with a solution? And if you used the solution, would you rinse
it after, 'cause a lot of them say, no rinse? >>Alton Brown: There are a lot of ways you
can go with your, your sanitation. Sanitation is paramount with any form of brewing,
especially beer. And there are a lot of commercial solutions
that work at very, very low concentrations. I gotta confess, I use a bleach solution. It's what I know, it dissipates very, very
quickly and I've never gotten sick from it, other than from drinking too much beer and
throwing up. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: But I've never had a sanitation
problem, so I use a bleach solution, but there are other people that swear by, excuse me,
non non-chloride kind of, kind of solutions as well. But I would not use a vinegar, I would not
use anything that wasn't designed as a disinfectant. >>male #5: And you'd always rinse? >>Alton Brown: And I don't, actually I don't. I'm using it at such low concentrations that
I typically don't rinse. >>male #5: Ok. Great. Thanks. >>Alton Brown: This is a strange conversation. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: Yes, ma'am. >>female #1: I know you touched upon this
earlier, but is there a new TV show or an episode of an existing show that you would
love to see that would probably never be created? >>Alton Brown: Well there are a lot of Good
Eats episodes that I would have liked to have created that, that Food Network wouldn't let
me do because of subject matter and sensitivity to their, to their clientele so to speak. The, the aforementioned rabbits, I would like
to have done a rabbit episode because I really like rabbit. But they were like, no, no. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: No, no, no, no because Thumper. You know I mean it's like people will accept
you know here we are with the pigs [oinking] you know because we all hate pigs now because
of Angry Birds, everybody hates pigs. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: You know it's like I was having
a conversation with her, you know, "Daddy, you really gonna kill that pig?" You know to make barbeque? I'm like, yeah I'm gonna kill the pig. She's like, "I don't want you to kill the
pig." Go over and put a helmet on it and all of
a sudden she wants it dead, you know? [laughter] >>Alton Brown: I said, "Not only are we gonna
kill it, we're gonna throw birds at it until it dies. We're gonna make the whole house fall down." Anyway that's another story. But I really wanted to do a rabbit show, but
you know the hippity hoppity bunny nobody wanted to see that and, and I probably didn't,
they said, "Well nobody wants to see you, you know, cut up and skin a rabbit on TV." And I said, "Well, you know, c'mon, once you
get the fur off it looks just like a cat." [laughter] >>Alton Brown: And this was not the best argument
that I put forth because then they were just kind of like [laughter] >>Alton Brown: So that, that didn't go very
well. And I also would have liked to, I'm, I like
offal, variety meats, sweet breads and, and, and tripe and stuff like that and would love
to have done a show digging into that kind of stuff, because I think if you're gonna
eat an animal you need to eat the animal. And they're like, no, no, no you're not gonna
do that, you're not, no, nobody, nobody wants to see you cook tripe. So I'll, I'll get my revenge by doing that
somewhere else and, and. But those were really the only things that
I really wanted to do that, that I, I was, I just, I just couldn't get traction, couldn't
get traction for it. >>female #1: Thank you. >>Alton Brown: Sure. Hi. >>female #2: Oh, oh, thank you for coming. I wanted to >>Alton Brown: How are things over here? >>female #2: You're >>Alton Brown: No I like it better over here. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: Go ahead. >>female #2: You're my food hero. >>Alton Brown: Thank you. >>female #2: But I have three children who
have terrible food allergies and one of my favorite episodes that you ever did was the
replacements. >>Alton Brown: Yes. >>female #2: But I was wondering and I've
struggled with this for years is I'm a, I love to bake, >>Alton Brown: Yes. >>female #2: But they're allergic to wheat,
eggs and dairy. >>Alton Brown: You're doomed. >>female #2: And you did an episode where
you replaced the egg with lentils, but you also replaced egg with applesauce, but you
didn't replace the milk and the wheat. So I was wondering if you've ever had to do
this challenge, because it's been very difficult to make things, there's no emulsifier once
you remove the egg. So is there a better? >>Alton Brown: Well, I mean you can use xanthan
gum as a replacement for, for the, for the natural lecithin in egg yolks and that works. Just understand something. You're never gonna get where you wanna go. There, there is, you're taking away the trinity
of real baking. So everything that you do once you remove
those is only gonna be an approximation. It may remind somebody of a baked good, but
you're, you're, you're probably not gonna get there, we just don't have the chemistry
for it yet. >>female #2: Ok. >>Alton Brown: You know you can replace, the
thing about working replacements is that you, you're, you can generally get away with one
or two >>female #2: Right. >>Alton Brown: But when you cross the line
and are trying to replace three, the structure of everything falls apart. >>female #2: Right. Well the oat flour >>Alton Brown: 'Cause you're, you're messing
with that equation, sorry? >>female #2: The oat flour with the soy and
the baking powder with a little bit of extra acid, so either rice wine vinegar or applesau,
apple vinegar >>Alton Brown: Sure. >>female #2: Works really well for the leavening,
but my >>Alton Brown: As long as it's not a recipe
that was actually formulated for a double acting baking powder, because the problem
there is that you're getting all of your CO2 released upon mixture >>female #2: Right. >>Alton Brown: So you may be able to mitigate
that by re-refrigerating >>female #2: I add a little bit of baking
soda so that at baking time I get the second lift for the addition of heat >>Alton Brown: Uhhh, that's gonna be more
a factor of the acid than the base. >>female #2: Hmmm. >>Alton Brown: Don't I sound smart? [laughter] >>female #2: I like your lecithin idea, would
you presoak the lecithin so that it, it? >>Alton Brown: Well you said that they're
allergic to eggs. >>female #2: They are, but >>Alton Brown: Well you probably can't use
the straight forward lecithin, so I would replace that with xanthan gum. >>female #2: With xanthan gum. >>Alton Brown: Probably. >>female #2: Or gelatin? >>Alton Brown: Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, >>female #2: No >>Alton Brown: no. [laughter] >>female #2: I've done really cool things. >>Alton Brown: Well cool is the key word. >>female #2: [laughing] >>Alton Brown: No, cool is the key word though >>female #2: Right. >>Alton Brown: because if you're gonna, if
you're gonna use gelatin as, as a textural base, temp, it all becomes reliant on temperature. So. >>female #2: Oh, 'cause you think it'll break
down once it hits 350. >>Alton Brown: Well it does it depends. Now if you're using carrageenan or you're
using some other gel base that's a hot gel, then, then that's different. >>female #2: Ok. >>Alton Brown: We're now boring everyone else. [laughter] >>female #2: Alright, I'm sorry. So >>Alton Brown: They're like geez almighty,
just have some more kids. >>female #2: but if you were ever to do something
online, a second replacement would be awesome. >>Alton Brown: I will, I will attempt to do
so. This, this growing trend we have of intolerances
and allergies is certainly confounding and >>female #2: Right. >>Alton Brown: And it opens up whole new marketing
opportunities. And, and, and a lot of it I think I actually
do think that there is a part of the population that is faking it. I don't think that there are nearly as many
intolerances as there are people that want to be treated specially by having an intolerance. I'm not saying that's your families' case
at all because there's a real difference between an intolerance and an actual allergy, >>female #2: Right. >>Alton Brown: but you know people that are,
are gluten intolerant, that's going up. We're all lactose intolerant to some degree,
most of us of northern European extraction, no that aren't of, of >>female #2: Right. Asians. >>Alton Brown: northern European extraction,
have some of that. So it's a concern. My daughter, I mean my daughter is allergic
to peanuts. We have no freaking idea where this came from. My, there is no peanut allergy going back
in my family as far as we can go or in my wife's and yet here she is. Why did this happen and how did it happen? Don't know. But I think it's something that we're gonna
have to deal with. Maybe part of evolution, just natural evolution,
I don't know. >>female #2: Well, I'll let you know. >>Alton Brown: But thanks, thanks for your
question though. I'll work on that. Yes? >>male #6: So you mentioned zombies earlier. I just have to ask a question. In the event of a zombie apocalypse what's
your go to food for survival? I guess your go to food just for pleasure. >>Alton Brown: Well I have to let you know
that I'm actually working on, on a couple of games that are related to this issue. Um, one [laughter] >>male #6: That's awesome. >>Alton Brown: One is called Zombie Chefs,
where you're actually in a grocery store fighting zombies that are chefs of different nationalities
and you can only kill them with ingredients from their cuisine. [laughter] >>male #6: That's actually a pretty good game. >>Alton Brown: Is that bad? Is Zombie Chefs bad? >>male #6: No, it's great. >>Alton Brown: And then, and then the big,
the big one I'm working on with my daughter is called Cupcake Apocalypse and it's, it's
set in the time where all the weapons that we have left are cupcakes because we had all
these cupcakes we made to make cupcake TV shows and that's all we've got left and so
we've converted, we've converted NERF guns to shoot cupcakes. So I have to say that in the end it's gonna
be the cupcakes that'll be the most important food. >>male #6: I'll look forward to playing >>Alton Brown: Because a head shot with a
10-year old cupcake, as long as it's not a Hostess product, which would still be soft
and tender, [laughter] >>Alton Brown: is, is gonna, is gonna do,
do what needs to be done. And zombies hate buttercream. [laughter] >>male #6: Thank you so much. >>Alton Brown: They hate it. You're very welcome. This is a serious issue, people. I, I'm not kidding around. Yes sir. >>male #7: Yeah, well, speaking of families,
what was it like shooting a show with your grandmother? >>Alton Brown: What was it like shooting a
show with my grandma? That was in the very first season of good
eats and that was my maternal grandmother and it was, it was great fun and I was really
glad we did it because she died about two years after that and so now my daughter doesn't
really remember her and so she can watch that show and kind of see what my relationship
was like with my grandmother and it's nice. I still kind of have a hard time watching
it 'cause she and I were very close. So I'm glad we got to do it, but, you know,
I'm, it's tough, it's emotional thing for me. >>male #7: Ok. Thank you. >>Alton Brown: And she owed me money when
she died so that's [laughter] >>Alton Brown: that's kind of extra painful. So. Go ahead. >>male #8: Alright. I work on the books project which is actually
a couple buildings >>Alton Brown: You work on the books project? >>male #8: So I was very interested to hear
that you're, you're looking into video enabled e-books. >>Alton Brown: Yes, I am. But only if I can keep you guys from just
nabbin' 'em. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: Do you actually wait by the
door of the authors that are dying to just wait for that moment when they take their
last breath? Or do you >>male #8: Yeah >>Alton Brown: I'm screwing with you, ignore
that. >>male #8: 120 years later. >>Alton Brown: Somebody has to do it. >>male #8: Copyright law's a bitch. Anyway >>Alton Brown: Copyright, schmappyright. >>male #8: if you have some time this afternoon,
we'd love to have you come over and pick your brains on what you'd love to >>Alton Brown: Well, and I'd love to pick
your brains too because the thing about digital publishing is that we're, everybody's still
going, huh? What? And, and the thing that you guys might not
think about very much is where people like me that generate content are all stymied is
by legal. Because none of the lawyers can figure out
what even the definitions are of things right now and so all of us are paying hun, thousands
of dollars trying to develop deals that, that like protect everybody and define things because
nobody knows what the words mean. There's not precedent for it. So law firms are just are really making hay
off of this whole thing while no work's actually being done. I think that I know a lot of people with great
ideas that have just said, I can't, I can't afford to do this. When you think about the fact that the average
entertainment copyright lawyer's going between $650 and $700 an hour on a, and that's for
something that either happens or doesn't happen, you just go, oh my gosh, I can't, I can't
afford to do this. So everybody's waiting. Waiting for court precedence to be set so
that words can be defined enough that contracts are gonna be drawn up. It's really interesting. You know I've been trying to develop e product
now for a year and are just now getting to the point of actually being able to talk about
what they will be because of trying to wade through the legal. It's real interesting. >>male #8: So you're, you're hoping to use
a lot of content you've made before with >>Alton Brown: No. All original. I have no desire to repurpose content. >>male #8: And, and you still have all these
copyright worries with all new material? >>Alton Brown: Well, yeah, because the issue
is defining what it even is. It's, come, come to New York young man and
spend some time with me in some tall buildings in midtown and I'll just show you how complicated
it can be. It's not just about who originated at all,
it's about even defining what the word is. It's defining what's an e-book and what's
an app. Where does one cross the line into the other? Because author x may have a deal over here
that precludes the use of, of or may say you can't make apps, but you can make e-books. Or you can do this, but you can't do that. And the time limits on this and how long this
is in here and how long the video piece is. Very, very complicated. I'm in a bit of a unique situation because
I don't own restaurants. I own a video production company. I own sound stage. I own editing. I own, that's what I do and so my desire is
to get as much visual motion content into my product as possible. That's what I do. That's what I'm best at. And so that, that puts me in even more of
a kind of a complicated territory because if I use, if the software if the people that
I work with to develop the actual e product if we work together, here's the problem with
pioneering, it's like ok I wanna do this and because I make this and you guys make this
we all of a sudden make something new. Oh dear God, who owns that? Who owns that process? Is it patentable? You can't just buy all your patents you know. [laughter] >>Jeff Freburg: We tried. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: Sometimes you have to make
that stuff up. And so everybody's going, oohhh, ok so now
we need another agreement between us to cover whatever we might innovate. So it's really tough. It's easy to be back and so you start to see
the marketplace is already getting kind of stale for e products because everybody's doing
the same stuff because it's established. Nobody wants to pioneer because nobody understands
who's gonna own it. You can just wait for dead guys. >>male #8: So, well, yeah, forever. >>Alton Brown: Yeah, I understand. >>male #8: Yeah. >>Alton Brown: So it's, it's really complicated. It's exciting. I'm excited enough in it to be turning my
company solidly into the direction of figuring this out of finding out how to do this. For me it's life or death in a way because
it's, it's evolving into a state of really being able to do what I do best, which is
probably something that hasn't been invented yet and if I'm wrong I'm completely screwed. But we, we can talk. We should talk. I would love, I would love to hear what you
guy, 'cause you guys know, you guys know what's going on. >>male #8: Yeah. >>Alton Brown: Hey. Oh wait. Yeah, let's do you so you can sit down. You've been standing there awhile. Go ahead. >>male #9: Thank you. First of all thank you for coming and thank
you for the team here to inviting you. >>Alton Brown: Oh. I. Thanks. >>Jeff Freburg: Thanks for showing up. >>male #9: Love your recipes. We make the schmaltz-based gravy every year
for Thanksgiving. >>Alton Brown: Schmaltz is good. >>male #9: What's the one recipe >>Alton Brown: Not exactly a heart healthy
thing. >>male #9: No, we make it once a year. >>Alton Brown: In moderation. Exactly. >>male #9: What's the one recipe that scares
you to make? Is there a dish that's like, this doesn't
always work, it's a challenge, is there something like that? >>Alton Brown: You know what? >>male #9: Like to that you're working >>Alton Brown: It's never the big complicated
dishes that do me in. >>male #9: It's the hollandaise sauce. >>Alton Brown: Well no it's, it's, no you
know it's like if I've really worked it out it's the dishes that I accidentally turn my
back on. It's simple stuff that I get cavalier with. Rice. Every tenth pot of rice I make is a unmitigated
disaster and I don't know why. I, I, I will do it exactly the same as I've
done all the others, but for some reason I'm not paying attention right and I screw it
up. So now I just throw out every tenth one. I don't even make it, I just throw it out. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: To this day I will still, I
get up every morning and make a pot of coffee. And without failure one out of every five
pots is horrible. I don't know what I'm doing. You know it's when I'm not paying attention. But if you tell me ok today we're gonna roast
a whole hog over hickory wood with blah, blah, blah, blah. Alright. I'm there. I'm solid. It's on my scope. >>male #9: You're focused. >>Alton Brown: I've got it. I usually don't screw that stuff up because
I plan and I'm paying real close attention. I'm not gonna tell you that occasionally my
hollandaise isn't 100%, but you know something like a sauce I look at a success range of
you know, it's within this 10%. Is it my best hollandaise? No. Is it still better than most people's hollandaise? Yeah. Is it edible? [laughter] >>Alton Brown: You know the nice thing about
food experimenting is that most of the time even the really bad screw ups are edible. You know you don't throw away that much food,
you know. Which is why I tell people when they learn,
first learn how to cook. Cook eggs. They're cheap and, and if you mess them up
it's not that big of a deal. The chickens will make more, you know, it,
it, they're inexpensive. So I don't really mess up you know the big
stuff, but I'm a very simple cook. I don't do complicated stuff. I really don't. >>male #9: So what's your take on molecular
gastronomy? >>Alton Brown: Well I've talked about molecular
gastronomy before and been pounced on for it. I think of all gastronomy is molecular. It's all molecules and, and the danger of
any movement in food is that people fixate on it, excluding other things. So I know a lot of young cooks right now,
I've met several young cooks who want to jump straight to the powder and not cook the carrots
properly. The real great practitioners, the real artists
in food that are embracing those ingredients and techniques are already great cooks. Ok? And they're just using, they're just innovating. It's like adding paintbrushes to your to you
know or colors to your palette, which is fine. I think that when we start moving into, for
my own personal taste, when food starts becoming unidentifiable as what it is, I kind of lose
my interest. And, and I've been on record as saying, "Man,
I just hate foam." The only food I want foam on is cappuccino
and if you want to call a meringue a foam, but I don't want big bubbles that look like
something that came out of a dying fish's gills. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: You know I just don't and you
can tell me that you filled them with smoke and that it's made with blah, blah and I'm
just still, I still just don't freaking want it man, you know it's just not what I eat
ok? It, I don't have a very sophisticated palette. I like simple foods that taste like what they
are. So those are all fantastic tools and you know
in the summertime I keep liquid nitrogen around because my daughter and I love to make instant
ice cream or we'll buy fruit on the way home and say, "Hey, let's make sorbet out of that." And you know liquid nitrogen's cheap. There's a place up the street, I live near
a hospital, I can get the stuff cheap and we pour it on all kinds of stuff. Some times we soak crackers in liquid nitrogen
and give them to the dogs, which is really cool because as the dog chews the cracker,
the steam shoots out of their mouth. [laughter] >>Alton Brown: But I'm not sure that's legal,
so I, I don't know how to do that. And, and I use xanthan gum to keep my, my
dressings stable. So I use these things. I use you know occasionally we'll use a tapioca
maltodextrin to turn olive oil into a powder because that's fun and I can put it on stuff. But by and large they're all just tools. And when an artist becomes defined by the
tools, that's a problem, in general. >>male #9: Thank you. >>Alton Brown: Sure. >>Jeff Freburg: Um, I have a >>Alton Brown: We're gonna wait for more people
to come to the microphones. >>Jeff Freburg: Yeah, now, so would you do
a miniseries? That's a question on here I just thought >>Alton Brown: A miniseries? >>Jeff Freburg: that was interesting. Not food related. >>Alton Brown: Uh, would I do a non-food related
miniseries? Sure. I would do a non-food related series series. I mean I have a lot of interests besides food. I like science. I like all sorts of stuff. >>Jeff Freburg: Ok. I like the Mythbusters thing, I think you'd
be perfect for that. >>Alton Brown: If I could get on Myth, well
if one of the Mythbusters guys would like get blown up, I could slip right in [laughter] >>Alton Brown: and take over. Either of them, you know I'd be alright with
that, I think. >>Jeff Freburg: I think that's a good fit. >>Alton Brown: Well, we'll have to see what
happens. They're getting pretty sloppy with their,
their pyroworks. >>Jeff Freburg: I'm getting this. >>Alton Brown: Are you? Are we done, oh really? Did I suck all the air out of the room? >>Jeff Freburg: We're a few minutes over. >>Alton Brown: Thanks for coming. Oh, wait, can I take this one more question? >>Jeff Freburg: Yes, please. >>Alton Brown: Alright, go ahead. Go ahead sir. >>male #10: I really salute you for bringing
your really quirky sense of humor to TV and yet you don't do it on all of your shows,
so what's it like balancing the quirky Alton with the making people cry on Food Network
Star Alton? >>Alton Brown: [laughing] I see that all as
quirky. You know, oh that's actually a really interesting
question because the kind of quirkiness that's on, on Good Eats, that's actually me. The, the other side of, of the way I am like
on Iron Chef America or certainly on Food Network Star is job specific. You know they're asking me to play a specific
role, so that's more like acting. That, that's, that's not me, that's a sliver
of me that's being used to make people cry. Which I can do, but it's, it's not me. They, you know any job allows you only a certain
range of your skill set and so there are a lot of projects that I do that only call for
one or two things. Good Eats though is kind of the whole, the
whole kit and caboodle. So, thanks for coming everybody. >>Jeff Freburg: Thank you. >>Alton Brown: Thank you very much. [applause] >>Jeff Freburg: Hey, thanks a lot. [music]
