How to bake a fish brown and yet not cause it to be dry

[GotGarlic]

well, the problem with their myth busting lies in that they "manually cleaned" their boards. the beauty of plastic is that it can be put in a dishwasher and (mostly) disinfected, whereas a wooden board would swell and split under such harsh conditions and become useless. i've done both.

But the point is that plastic is not *better*. You don't have to put a wood board in the dishwasher to sanitize it - it essentially sanitizes itself. I can't find the reference now, but I have also read that the more a plastic board is used, the more knife cuts it sustains, and the more difficult it is to sanitize it, even in the dishwasher, because the water can't get deep enough into the cuts.

Meanwhile, a wooden cutting board has inherent sanitizing properties. Again, I can't find the ref. now, (dangit!) but I have read that the dryness of the wood sucks the moisture out of the bacteria, killing them. Plastic doesn't do this.

I've written this here before - the way I clean my wood cutting board is to spray it with a solution of white vinegar, lemon juice and water, let sit a few minutes, then wipe any crumbs, etc., into the trash. Done. It's ready to use again and I don't have to wait for a dishwasher cycle.

 

[buckytom]

it's not as much the force of the water in a dishwasher but the temperature, especially during the drying cycle, that sanitizes the board.

wooden boards are safe if and only if they are well scrubbed and then completely dried through. any moisture will grow bacteria, and wood is very absorbant. that's why the article mentions that you could use a (very dangerously) use a microwave to help heat up and dry the board for sanitization.

 

[cookee]

seems to learn quite a few tips here. First my question was if its okay to sear before bake. Interesting to read here that some suggest bake and then sear for the finishing touch.. cool.

any other good ways to cook pollock? I tried breaded and fried which taste really similar to bird's eye fish fingers!