Screen Time Ep 1: Youtube Picks for Cooking Basics.

Hello everyone! Hope you are doing well. With restrictions on movement in full effect and we mere mortals staying at home more that we usually do, our screen time has become more too. Friends have been suggesting, and I have actually have been thinking, of a recurring mini-series for Youtube videos and TV shows on food but never really got around to it. But seeing that we are spending more time on it nowadays, I think there is no better time than now. So here is the pilot episode of "Screen Time" !

I usually watch most of my videos via my tablet as I can easily prop it in my kitchen. 
Occasionally I will fire up the computer too. 

As we are not eating as much outside as of late, a lot of people now are taking this opportunity to use the internet and TVs to improve their cooking repertoire. So I think it will be only apt that I point out my best Youtube picks in learning how to cook. Do note that this list is not listed in any particular order and this is not a ratings list. I think each Youtuber has its own flair and style of presenting so choose your own adventure. 

However, please note a few things :

• I am omitting some cooking channels for now as I believe that they may be too daunting for the beginner chef like Epicurious and to some extent, bon apetit. But if you are a seasoned veteran in the kitchen, do not fret, we will get there. 
• I am not including any chefs that have preexisting TV appearances. This is a specific Youtube born and raised list. So, sorry Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay. 
• Some channels, although do have great instructional videos,  they are cuisine specific. I will put them in a separate list, such as Just One Cookbook for Japanese and Pailin's Kitchen for Thai. To do them justice, they have to be in a list of their own, but we will get there!

Here we go!

Food Wishes 

We start with the original classic which is Chef John. I remember watching his videos when I was a starving student back when I was studying my degree in Law. And to some extent I still do! His videos are low key, simple and yet effective. He was a real pioneer in the Youtuber chef scene, as some of his early videos were up 13 years ago. Which means he has an extensive library of videos to binge and try. 

Note: picture was obtained from his Facebook. I do wish to meet him in person though.                

 And due to this extensive library, any budding home cook who wants to find a good place to start will find Chef John fit their needs perfectly. He breaks down a huge variety of recipes to the most basic detail, and just records the food while he narrates. It makes for a simple yet effective way to learn, as it is as though you have a direct POV of the food he makes while slamming down hard with dad jokes. Dry pan humour, with his classic instructive yet calming voice and an old school style of video editing, similar to the original vlogging style that was popular years ago, he stood the test of time. He is the cool uncle I never had and he has his own Wiki page! With 3.5 million subscribers, you know he is a must watch. Do note his obsession with cayenne. 

A literal heart stopper! This was indulgent. 

Most viewed video : Inside out Cheese Sandwich ( at 10 million) 

Recommended videos: 

Spatchcocking a chicken - This video literally taught me how to butcher a chicken when I was in University and as such I was able to get much more yield from my bi-weekly grocery shopping. And keeping the bones for stock. 

Super Bowl Wings - Chef John wings recipes are really star makers. In fact, any wings recipes from him will sort you out as they are essentially variations of the same principles. And a great party recipe to try when you are going to have friends around. 

                               

Binging with Babish

If you need a slightly more updated version of Chef John, then Andrew Rea, more popularly known as Babish would be right up your alley. 

Note: picture was taken from Uproxx interview with Andrew.Would love to meet him in person too.

The channel is divided to 3 series , which is "Binging with Babish", "Basics with Babish" and "Being with Babish". And for the purposes of this post, I will focus on the "Basics with Babish" series. Here, Andrew breaks down recipes and cooking techniques to their main essentials. Once that is done, he will then teach his audience on how to amp things up. He is quick witted, funny and very eloquent on the mic. Like Chef John, he hardly appears on screen. But unlike Chef John, he has a hard camera. Which means the camera hardly moves and just focuses on the kitchen top. 

One of my recommended picks. No guessing where I got the idea for my own corn soup recipe. 

His videos are very crisp and watching them under 4K really makes things interesting, as every detail of the dish is taken into the camera. It is not only more easy on the eyes, but practical too as you can see what you need to look out for, like charring, movement techniques and the like. 

Also, I like his sense of humour as well. If Chef John is the happy go lucky uncle with bad dad jokes, then Andrew here is the sophisticated cousin from that said uncle with a knack for pop culture references and puns. And if you do not know, the channel is actually inspired from food from popular TV shows, which is the main core of the "Binging with Babish" series. So feel free to watch some of his videos from that series too, which includes food from anime, movies and 90s American sitcoms. And they are a real joy to watch and laugh to. With 7 million subscribers, I think many people will agree the content here is fun,  sharp, instructive and worth watching. 

Most viewed video:  Ratatouille (at 21 million) 

Recommended videos: 

Probably the best burger video there is. 

Burgers - I learnt a lot from this one, and is one of my favourite recipe videos ever, period. With over 6 million views, it is hard to argue with that. 

Blender soup - simple and easy to follow, this is a must watch as the things shared here will pull you out of a pinch in most soup situations. 

                                

Tasty

Probably the most viewed among all of them in this list. and perhaps the most popular. 

A recipe comparison? Ok, you have redeemed yourselves.
Screen shot is from their pancake video from their Tasty 101 series

I have to honestly say that I have a love hate relationship with the channel, as their Instagram friendly videos are straight forward and to the point,but they lacked some of the details and necessary instructions. Which in turn, caused a few kitchen mishaps when trying out some of their recipes. However, all is not lost as they fully redeemed themselves with their "Tasty 101" series which goes deep but still make videos bite sized and easy to follow. 

Soon enough, more interesting and yet, very useful series soon pop up. Noteworthy mentions are the "Make it Fancy" videos hosted by Rie McClenny and also the "quick vs normal vs slow" cooking videos. In fact, Andrew appeared in the pasta edition of that series titled "5 Min vs 50 Mins vs 5 Hour Pasta". Babish is really dominating the Youtube scene in more ways than one.

There are literally dozens of presenters here. So choose which one that you relate to the most!

One thing you have to take note that unlike the rest of the list, Tasty is armed with an entire production crew and several chefs, unlike Chef John and Babish, which they have done mostly by themselves. As such, you can pick and choose your presenters for Tasty. My personal favourites are Rie and Alvin, who is the main host for "Making it Big". 

One of Alvin's best videos, where he tries to make a mega sized burger. 
Link is as below. 

 They still do their quick and sharp recipe videos too. Well, that was what brought them to the dance at the first place. So feel free to try them out, but for kitchen novices, probably a good idea to watch their Tasty 101 first. 

Most viewed video: 

I Made A Giant 30-Pound Burger- Definitely not beginner friendly, but sure was a real fun video to watch where Alvin attempts to prepare this beast. (at 35 million) 

Recommended videos:

Literally anything from the Tasty 101 series. Once you have viewed a few, then probably you can skip to something else. 

So there you have it! This is my list of must view channels and after navigating a few videos through out the years, I hope that they will make you a more confident home cook. It did for me, so I hope it will be the same for you too. Do note the reasons that I picked these channels because I have literally learnt a lot from them. There are many recipe and instructional channels out there. But I have narrowed it down to the ones I think that are the most instructive, and of course, it is not possible for me to watch them all. 

Thank you all for spending your time in reading the first edition of Screen Time. Make sure to tune in as I will dive deeper and share with everyone more write ups on more Youtube series, TV shows and probably even movies (and perhaps all mediums of entertainment), when it comes to food. 

Happy cooking!