texts: is it ok to store quinoa, rice, lentils, barley, farro, kasha, black beans in the fridge?

texts: Is it ok to store beans, rice, grains in fridge? I've been doing this method for years....lots of rotation as I use these regularly. Is there any nutritional loss?


texts: I'm baking an acorn squash. How long should I bake it for?

texts: I'm baking an acorn squash. How long should it bake for and at what temperature? I also noticed on the spaghetti squash question that those are baked sliced face down. Should acorn squash bake face down too?


texts: I am roasting 3 stuffed pork tenderloins together.  If the timing for one is 30 minutes, how long should I roast 3? (A digital thermometer will be used to measure internal temp.)


texts: How can I keep streusel topping from getting soggy?

texts: I make this Sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving, it has a streusel like topping. Usually I can bake this at the destination, but this year I need to bake at home and take. I have a baking dish that has a heat resistant plastic cover and an insulated carrier. I know that the topping will get soggy if it is tightly covered after baking. How can this be avoided?


texts: I'm thinking specifically about Frangelico, but Kahlua is another one that I use quite a bit. I don't care about alcohol content, but I would like stronger flavor and less liquid.


texts: When a recipe calls for sugar and oil or butter which one can applesauce be substituted for and what is the ratio?


texts:
I can't get enough of parmesan cheese. I often find myself taking pieces off of the block, or shredding it just to dump it straight into my mouth.

I always wished there was some way to somehow dissolve it into a cream that I can spread in a piece of bread or a cracker. I've tried melting it with butter or cream, but it will quickly separate from everything I melt it with, whether is fatty or not. I haven't tried putting it in the blender but I'm pretty sure it'll just turn into a lumpy sauce.

Any trick?


texts:
I'm going to grill a whole duck tomorrow.  I am going to steam the duck before so the fat will render off.  When that's complete, I am going to have a pot full of duck fat and leftover water.

What's the best way to get the fat off?  Refrigerate the water till the fat separates?  Boil the pot until the water evaporates?


texts: Cooking ham in an oven with oven cleaner

texts: If a ham was cooked for 20 mins in an oven before realising that there was a layer of oven cleaner in the oven, is the meat safe to eat?


texts: How to use slow cooker for cooking meat without it turning into soup or stew?

texts:
I was surprised when I completed using the slow cooker for the first time and it did not look like the ingredients anymore but the water I had added per the directions has turned into a thick brown broth.

Essentially, the beef, potatoes, and vegetables that came ready to go per a costco "slow cooker platter" that cost me $20, ultimately turned into a beef stew by the time it was done.

I did not like it at all and now I have over $18 of food I don't know what to do with because I don't like it.

But individually I love all the ingredients. When I cook those ingredients in the toaster oven it comes out great and I love it.

It's not the softness that bothers me, I like it being tender. It is the stewyness that bothers me and I didn't like that at all. Meat slathered in BBQ sauce is good. But meat with watered down gravy-like sauce is bad.

I would like to be able to actually use my slow cooker to make new things, but I hate stews and soups and don't want to use it for that. How can I use my slow cooker to make foods that do not turn into stew or soup?


texts: What difference would using Rock Sugar make in tea?

texts:
I like my tea sweet, and generally add several cubes of white sugar. Teavana sells rock sugar, which it claims is somehow "better" while being vague on what that means. Is it sweeter? Less sweet? Somehow interacts with the tea leaves differently?

Interesting, you're meant to brew it with the leaves, presumably sweetening the whole pot rather than doing it to taste for individuals, which sounds annoying. Is that just marketing or does that have some benefit?


texts: Is it possible to make kataifi dough (by yourself or starting from filo dough)?

texts:
I really like the thready structure in this dish. But when I look for recipes, they all ask for a box of kataifi dough. I haven't found this in regular supermarkets (I haven't been to greek stores), so I was thinking if I could make it myself.

Would it be best to buy filo dough (which is thinner than if you would make it yourself) and shred/cut it; or to make filo dough yourself (so you would have longer pieces than store-bought dough) and cut/shred it?

How do you shred it exactly? And how would can you replicate the correct form of kataifi (like a roll)?


texts: Are these bacteria colonies in my canned sardines?

texts: Sometimes I open sardine tins and the tomato sauce is pure smooth red and every now and then there are cans with what looks like plaques where bacteria colonies might be growing. What are these specs? Can I eat this?


texts: How much alcohol remains in strawberries soaked in alcohol?

texts: I know that the alcohol content of food that is prepared with alcohol is a tricky study, as evidenced by the fact that food left out overnight stored overnight loses, by one study, 30% of its alcohol content.  Several weeks ago I had some chocolate dipped strawberries that had been soaked in liquor before being dipped in chocolate.  I thought I could taste alcohol, but my dining companion didn't taste it.  So it wasn't a strong flavor.  Is there any information out there on how much alcohol may have been transferred to the strawberries?


texts:
Having been given a copy of "Inside the Jewish Bakery", by Ginsberg and Berg, I set out to reproduce a treat of my childhood: salt sticks.

Basic outline: make a slightly enriched dough ('medium vienna + one egg'). Ferment, make logs, cut triangles, rest.

Now comes the fun part: the dough is fairly soft and sticky. Instructions are: stretch out triangles to six inches wide, then roll down with heel of one hand while stretching out tip of triangle with the other. If this seems a bit less that perfectly clear, well, that's part of my problem.

I find that the dough is far too sticky to cooperate with being rolled up with the heel of my hand on a 'lightly floured board'.

Any ideas? I am carefully weighing the ingredients, so I don't think it's a measuring problem.


texts: I'm looking for an extender/filler for my spice mix

texts:
I mix up a red pepper and salt blend (along with a few other ingredients) and put it in a coffee grinder to powder it.

The blend that I have come up with has just the right flavor for my family's taste, but it is too intense.  We use this spice mix to coat deep-fried tater-tots in a pretty fair imitation of the potato ole's from Taco John's.  When coating the tater tots, it takes a certain minimum amount of the spice to get decent coverage.  But, that makes the flavor too strong.

What can I use as a filler or extender to dilute the strength of my spice mix, so I can use enough to get a good distribution of the spices and not have the flavor so strong.  Any suggestions for something flavorless that can be added and blended with the mixture?


texts: re-hydrate dried and salted cod with water and milk

texts:
I usually re-hydrate and desalinate dried and salted cod with water, changing the water several times during 48 -72 hours, keeping the fish refrigerated during the process.

dried, salted cod pieces
Lately I've read people use water and milk for the soaking. As I didn't find any information about that technique I'm wondering what is the benefit of adding milk? What is the change in the fish itself, if we use milk to soak it?


texts:
Is there anything wrong with spraying PAM (cooking oil in a can) on real hot grill grates in a gas grill to prevent meat from sticking?

My Dad practices this and I think it's crazy, as it undoubtedly imparts the taste of burnt PAM into the food. I just brush my meat with canola oil before I season and grill it, and this always prevents sticking. Someone help me settle this argument.

Burnt PAM can't be good, right?


texts: What is the difference between a wild yeast starter and a sourdough starter?

texts: Many people only seem to distinguish between 'regular' bread (made with store bought commercial strains of yeast) and sourdough (made with 'wild' yeast). If this is the only distinction - was all bread before 1850 sourdough? Is there no naturally occuring non-sourdough type of yeast?


texts: For Pressure Canning, can I use any other jar than Ball’s Mason Jar?

texts: So Ball’s Mason Jar is not as common in my country but I want to try my hand at pressure canning sambal (chili, garlic, fermented shrimp paste, no vinegar). Is there any alternative to Ball’s Mason Jar that is gold standard for pressure canning?


texts: Can red wine vinegar replace white wine vinegar?

texts:
I have a recipe for broiled swordfish steak that uses the following ingredients for the baste:
olive oil, butter, Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, and black pepper.

I only have garlic-flavored red wine vinegar (no lemon either).  Can I use that or would it be better to skip the vinegar altogether?


texts: I was recently given a 'French Rolling Pin' as a gift.  To me, it just looks like a fancy dowel-rod.  What exactly is it, and what is it useful for?


texts: Tea water: heat to 80 °C or boil to 100 °C and let it cool down to 80 °C?

texts: Boiling water is too hot for some teas. Today I heard that it's better to boil water to 100 °C and let it cool down to 80 °C rather than heat water to 80 °C. Is this true? Does it really affect properties of the water, other than killing bacteria?


texts: What is the difference between bread dough and pizza dough?

texts:
Our local supermarket sells bread dough, and I was wondering whether I could use it for a pizza base, or whether it would rise too much.

At present we've been using frozen pizza bases, but something fresh would really be nice, -I just don't always have a chance to make it myself.


texts: Is Torta de Santiago supposed to be very moist?

texts: Is a Torta de Santiago supposed to be moist?  I cook it on convection for full time but the cake is still moist, so much so that  my 95 year old mother-in-law cooks pieces I give her again! A couple of days later even!  I did get an internal temp of 190 F.  Any suggestions?  Cake tester seemed clean!


texts: kneading vs. stretch and fold with pizza

texts: I've read in another answer, that for bread stretch and fold and kneading is more or less the same. On the other hand, almost all of the pizza recipes say kneading and almost all of the bread recipes have stretch and fold. Is there a reason for this, or more of a tradition sort of thing or is just my sample of recipes very bad?


texts: When freezing prepared meats, is it better to freeze the meat separate from the sauce/gravy?

texts: I am making a corned beef with a glaze to be eaten next week. Is it better for me to freeze the meat + gravy together, or to freeze the meat in one container and the gravy in another?


texts: Replicating commercial gluten-free/non-gebrokts matzo -- where to start?

texts:
I'm on a somewhat restricted diet right now in which I'm not allowed to eat any grains of any kind. It turns out that the Yehuda gluten-free matzo and Manischewitz gluten-free matzo-style crackers are entirely grain-free, being made of tapioca and potato and eggs.

Unfortunately, they're only available during Passover, and even then they're somewhat hard to find and somewhat expensive. Therefore I'd like to make my own. I'm not expecting a perfect clone, but any kind of approximation would be fine as long as it tastes good.

All of the gluten-free/grain-free matzo recipes I found online are made of nut flour, which I don't like much and I'd rather not use.

Obviously it's good to "just experiment," but in this case I have no clue where to start. What should I try first? How would one go about trying to "clone" a product like this?


texts: How can I prevent dough from wrapping around a dough hook?

texts:
I have a 5.5qt KitchenAid stand mixer with the burnished spiral ("pigtail") dough hook. This is not the C-hook. When I make a small amount (for example, using 250g of flour or approximately 2 cups) of standard-hydration dough, instead of kneading, the dough will wrap itself around the dough hook and spin in the bowl. I'm using speed 2.

Pulling the dough off the hook and allowing it to relax for 5 minutes will make it knead again for a bit (but not long, a minute or two at most).

Oiling the dough hook helps some, but the oil of course comes off, then it sticks again.

I've adjusted the height per the manual, so that's set correctly.

Other than switching to the coated dough hook (which is currently being shipped to me) or making a larger batch, is there anything else to do to prevent the dough from sticking to the hook?


texts: When cooking grains with vegetables, should I cook them together or separately

texts:
For example, if I would like to make quinoa with mixed vegetables, should I:
(a) Cook the vegetables, add the quinoa and stock, and simmer; or
(b) Cook the quinoa in one pan, cook the vegetables in another pan, then mix them together?

Which of these is ideal to get the most nutrition, or does it not matter? Will simmering them together make it more tasty? Also, would your answer vary for different grains, for example rice, or bulgur wheat?


texts: How to bring taste back when too much creme fraiche is added

texts:
Occasionally it happens that I add to much creme fraiche to a pasta sauce. Recently this happened with a pasta that contained aubergine, courgette, white mushroom, onion, chicken and some pepper and salt. I added the creme fraiche in the last stage.

This made the dish creamy, but also neutralised the flavour of the ingredients.

Is there a way to to partially reverse this neutralisation?


texts: What are the main differences between sugarcane jaggery, rapadura, and panela?

texts:
Jaggery, rapadura and panela are very similar ingredients according to their Wikipedia articles. However, jaggery can be made from not only sugarcane but also palm sap.

Is there a difference between sugarcane jaggery, rapadura, and panela? The jaggery article implies they are the same thing, the rapadura article does not mention jaggery or panela, and the panela article implied that rapadura is the same as panela but not exactly the same as jaggery:

  Common Spanish names: chancaca, papelón, piloncillo, panocha, rapadura, atado dulce or empanizao. In India and Pakistan a similar product is made which is called gur or jaggery. In Brazil, it is known as rapadura.

I am most familiar with panela and have replaced it with Mexican piloncillo without noticing a big difference. I would like to know if I could easily use panela or piloncillo instead of jaggery in a recipe.


texts: What is the origin of spam musubi, a Hawaiian dish?

texts:
I love spam musubi...basically spam sushi. It is made with some rice(some people use sushi rice)' a 1/4" slice of spam, and some teriyaki sauce...it is wrapped with a sheet of nori.  This is the basic recipe.

How was this first conceived? I know that the Hawaiians are the biggest consumers of spam (chicken/egg problem? Did the creation of spam musubi help the Hawaians become the second largest consumers (Guam is first) of spam? :) ). There's also a large presence of Japanese on the islands. You can see that the environment is essentially set up for some sort of fusion of the two cultures.

Who was the first to conceive this dish?


texts: What is the purpose of nutmeg in apple zucchini bread?

texts: I have looked up Apple Zucchini Bread recipes and most of them call for nutmeg. Does this make a big difference in the taste? I have not used nutmeg very much in my cooking or baking. All of my other zucchini bread recipes do not call for nutmeg, not even my apple sauce zucchini bread. Can this be left out and not affect the taste?


texts: I bought a bunch of cilantro today. Some of these leaves were mixed in with the cilantro. What are they? Are they edible?


texts: Ascorbic Acid, Calcium Propionate - Differences?

texts:
We use ascorbic acid to help keep our breads from molding over but we have now the option to use calcium propionate. I can't find much online to help distinguish the pros and cons of each of these compared to one another.

Does anyone have any insight on which would be better used for bread making?


texts: how long do you have to cook lemon curd for?

texts: How long does lemon curd have to be cooked in order to ensure a good set? if pectin is being used, what type of pectin is suitable?


texts: What types of snails are made into Escargot?

texts:
I am aware that not all snails are edible. Generally speaking, what types of snails are used to make Escargot?

What qualities of the snail makes it a good candidate for Escargot.

In addition, what makes a dish Escargot? Is Escargot snail prepared in a specific way or is it any dish that contains snail?


texts:
I made pancakes a couple times recently, and they had a strange reaction to some frozen raspberries we had. When we put the raspberries onto the pancakes, they had a strange fizzy and sour taste. We could still taste the sweetness of the pancake and toppings as well, but this fizz kept coming back. It was erratic, but probably due to not being evenly mixed.

The raspberries ingredient list just say that they're 100% raspberries. There were also blueberries from the same brand that didn't at all have this effect.

The pancakes contained:

Flour
Baking soda
Salt
Sugar
Vanilla sugar
Oil
Soy milk

We used two different recipes but it happened both times. The second time we purposefully chose a recipe with less baking soda in case that mattered but it didn't seem to make a difference.

Also I live in Ireland if the locality affects how the frozen berries might be stored.


texts: Refinishing Griswold No. 8 waffle iron handles

texts:
I'm in the process of restoring a badly neglected Griswold No. 8 waffle iron (885 886 if it makes any difference).  I've got all of the cast iron parts stripped down and re-seasoned and just started working on the badly rusted Alaskan coil handles.  I got the majority of the rust off with a long carbonic acid bath and some light sanding with 600 grit sandpaper, but found some unexpected bright areas that almost look like the remains of hot galvanization:

I'd like to give them an authentic finish, but I can't find any information as to what the factory finish (if any) was on the handles.  Does anyone know if they were galvanized, or if not, how they were finished?


texts: Does the "plunger" type cherry-pitter work?

texts:
In short has anyone tried this type:

... of cherry pitter?

(example of the type).

Machinery for pitting cherries is a real art form. Anyone know if these work?

What concerns me is that: with the more traditional type:

I guess you "have to" align it nicely (I suppose, with the "seam" at the top),

whereas with the "auto-plunger" type they just sort of fall in randomly?

But perhaps .......... my fears are groundless?

Any comparative experience?


texts: How much baking powder or soda can I add to cookies without the taste being affected?

texts:
I like to do a lot of baking without eggs, and so I realized I should be adding either extra baking powder or baking soda to make up for the leavening that an egg would usually provide...
How much baking soda or baking powder should I add per egg I replace without it leaving a taste in my cookies?
Thank you!


texts:
When frying bacon, it tends to curl up. I don't like it because my bacon doesn't cook equally and it's hard to get it crisp that way.

Is there a technique or a tip so I can have flat bacon?


texts:
I made a fairly simple chicken-and-dumpling stew recipe; however, after one bite of dumpling, I have the most wretched aftertaste. The soup is fine; however, the dumplings taste totally nasty, kind of bitter and repulsive and a little like vomit (My fiancee describes it as "metal and bad"). If there had been anything in my mouth by the time that taste hit, I'd have spit it out instinctively.

The recipe calls for 1/3 cup Bisquick Heart Smart baking mix and 1/3 cup buttermilk to make the dumpling dough; I doubled it because I was making a large pot of stew. The stew tastes fine once I ditch the dumplings; it contained chicken broth (made from bouillon cubes), milk, cornstarch, cooked chicken, parsnips, carrots, celery, and onions. The dumplings were dropped by spoonfuls into the stew and cooked for about 7 minutes, as per the recipe directions. I have not made this specific recipe before. The consistency of the dumplings seemed fine; they were a little bland due to lack of seasoning, but otherwise all was well until that aftertaste hit.

What could have gone wrong? The buttermilk was purchased just a few days before, well within its expiration date (Nov 24th), and the baking mix had been used for pancakes earlier in the week (which were a little bland but not disastrous)


texts: How can you tell whether bread dough is ready for baking?

texts:
I've tried to make a special bread for making 'torrijas', the Spanish version of French toast. Very popular during easter, here.

Twice, the bread didn't rise correctly in the oven, even after extended rising. The resulting bread was pretty solid, with unbaked lumps in the center.

The second dough was kept in the fridge for 24h, then risen for about 1h, then formed and risen again before baking...

So, the question is if there is an objective way to determine when a dough is ready to be baked?

PD. I'll start a dwarf bread factory, shortly.


texts:
I noticed that there's lots of elderberries near where I live, and I had an idea about making an elderberry brulee, but I'm sure that the elderberries would be a little too sharp if simply cooked.

Would it be worth cooking them down with sugar first, then maybe removing the skins with a sieve? Any thoughts welcome on this.


texts: Can Calcium Chloride be Used to Prevent Lentils from Bursting?

texts:
In Modernist Cuisine, they recommend using calcium chloride when cooking beans to help preventing them from bursting:

  Beans often burst after being cooked in ordinary tap water. To avoid this...[a]dd 1g of calcium chloride for every 100g of water to gently firm the outside of the beans, which prevents them from splitting without making them tough.

My question is whether or not this would work for lentils too? I am specifically referring to varieties intended to stay intact such as green or brown lentils rather than the various hulled or split ones used in Indian cooking for dals.


texts: I removed some of the black metallic covering of my pan, is it still safe to use?

texts:
I have a Seagull "4 star" "Marathon" "non-stick cookware" pan.
I have decoated much of the black metallic coating of that pan with a stainless metallic scotch brite.

I made the above decoating the above after a few months in which the pan had some matt black carbonated stain with some scratches in it, which kept staying there insistently and no liquid soa[ liquid-soap marination with gentle cloth scotch brite wiping helped.

My problem

First, I am not sure it is still safe to use and second, after removal, one might be able to see a new, even bigger such black "carbonated" stain, appearing around the newly exposed metal.

My question

I removed some of the black metallic covering the pan (and now one part of the metal is exposed and another became blacker → matt black), is it still safe to use?

Update

I tried to pour some well refined sunflower oil and heat it, then most of the uncovered metallic part became yellow (I have no idea how to explain it); this yellowishness didn't come down with a napkin → why wouldn't it?


texts: Gas grill flare up made flame covers look rusty

texts:
I had a fairly intense flare up on my KitchenAid gas grill (too much canola oil) that lasted about 30 seconds. The inside of the grill is covered in soot (expected) but the flame covers (triangle shaped pieces above the flame) are now copper colored and look rusty. I got most of that off with cleaning, but it seems weird for a big flare up to have caused it.

Anyone else ever have that happen?

Thanks!


texts: Should lemongrass be edible or just a flavoring?

texts:
In my limited experience with lemongrass (which I buy fresh-ish in plastic bags from the fridge of my local asian supermarket - not frozen or dried or anything), it's hard and impossible to chew, no matter how long you cook it for. I usually smash it, split it down the middle and add it to soups or other dishes with a lot of liquid, then take it out at the end like a bay-leaf.

However, I've recently seen recipes in which finely chopped lemongrass is put straight in a stir-fry or a sauce, which just seems like a good way to end up picking bits out of your mouth to me. Is there a problem with the lemongrass I'm buying? Is it that only the green is hard and inedible? Or am I cooking it wrong?


texts: Why do my mung beans turn from green to dark brown in a rice cooker?

texts:
I use a rice cooker like the one shown below to cook dried mung beans and red beans (Adzuki beans) as well as rice of course.

After boiling and cooking, the rice cooker switches to a stable hot temperature to store the contents for a second meal, I suppose the idea being that bacteria don't grow readily when it's too hot.

That seems to work fine for all of them, except that while the rice is still white in the morning and the red beans still red, the mung beans turn dark brown in the morning. In fact they start changing color within a few hours. It doesn't matter if I've made them fairly dry or quite wet.

I cook them on different days, they are not mixed. Just the dried product and an equal or larger amount of tap water.

Is it possible to understand why the mung beans turn so dark brown if they stay hot? I don't notice any big change in taste, but the color looks quite discouraging. Is there anything I can add that would prohibit the color change?


texts: How to understand "for immediate consumption" term?

texts:
Recently1 I have found some products that has "for immediate consumption after opening" notice instead of the usual "store in cold place and consume within 48-72 hours after opening" (the usual "keep in a cold place" / "store in fridge" usually follows in both cases).

How should I understand this term?

Am I really supposed to eat entire package right / the same day after opening and am I really not allowed to store it for 2-3 days in fridge after opening?

Or maybe explanation is completely different? Maybe "for immediate consumption" means that I can eat it right away without any extra preparation needs (like warming up or cooking etc.) and maybe this term has nothing to do with storing after opening requirements?

Examples of products on which I have recently found such note includes: Humus and French Pâté.

1I have intentionally made an emphasis on "recently" because I haven't seen such products ever before. However, I don't know, if I was just so lucky to not find them or if this has some correlation to food without any preservatives, that is currently flooding Poland? Can "immediate consumption" be enforced by the fact that food has no preservatives and thus must be immediately consumed once opened and once air is added to it?


texts: I am looking to make a kosher bechamel made from almond milk. What kind of fat should I use in the roux? Margarine? Regular veggie oil?


texts: Cooking time for steaming vegetables "Al Dente'?

texts:
I have a pack of mixed vegetables (peas, broccoli pieces, green beans and diced leek) that I want to steam in a two pan vegetable steamer (the bottom of the top pan is perforated).

The pack contains vegetables that are:

Mixed together (and cannot be easily separated).
Fresh not frozen.
The leeks are already sliced into rings.
The broccoli pieces are quite small.
I don't know what kind of peas they are.
The beans are a small variety of green beans.
I like my vegetables "Al Dente".

I have the following questions:

Do I bring the water to boiling before adding the vegetables to the top pan?
How long should I steam them for?


texts:
I have an electric water boiler in the kitchen. I put fresh tap water into it, boil it up, and use it for my coffee. Then, an hour later, I go back and press the button again and have it re-boil the now room-temperature water, and use it for another cup. Sometimes, several hours pass; sometimes, half a day.
When "too long" has passed, I tend to empty it and put fresh tap water into it, because it feels like it has "gone bad".
Is this silly? Can water really "go bad" like that? Is there any difference whatsoever between freshly poured water and water that has been standing still in the container half a day or even the entire day?
It's still gonna be boiled? Doesn't that "neutralize" basically any kind of water?


texts:
It is common knowledge that cheese goes well with wine. However, the choice of which sort of cheese to pair with which wine seems an arcane discipline.

Are there some easy, logical rules to follow? Something on the lines of "never serve fresh cheeses with dry red wines" or similar?

If not, how can I go about making a good choice? Or does it all boil down to knowing a list of "acceptable combinations"?


texts: How do you prepare a steak to be rare and very rare (blue)?

texts:
I really enjoy steak, and the lowest I've gone is medium rare in terms of how it's prepared.

My questions are:

How do you prepare a steak to be rare?

How do you prepare a steak to be very rare (blue)?

Can these be prepared with any kind of steak from a supermarket?  Or is there someplace special these kinds of steaks should be purchased from?

I'm interested in trying rare and maybe even very rare, but it's 1-2 steps away from raw, which I find a little uneasy.


texts:
During the making of clarified butter, I mistakenly mixed the oil and protiens in the pot with a wooden spoon. So I have an emulsion now. I was thinking, that the oil and the rest will separate anyway, but it is not the case, it is just an emulsion.

Is there a way, how to still separate the oil and the rest, so I can grab the oil and have clarified butter?


texts: Avoid butter in puff pastry dough from melting while baking in the oven

texts: I made puff pastry dough. I rolled it out and cut into 8 rectangles. Then I put a stick of chocolate in the middle of each piece and rolled the dough to form a semi-cookie. As I put them in the preheated oven (200 C), the butter melted and cookies were swimming in the butter! Is it normally so? If not, how should I avoid this problem? I thought preheating the oven would help but it did not.


texts: Breadcrumbs or flour when greasing and dusting a cake form?

texts:
I unthinkingly followed a recipe for a type of chocolate cake where it said to dust the cake form with breadcrumbs after greasing. Unsurprisingly the toasted breadcrumbs were clearly visible on the outside of the cake after baking.

This wasn't a big deal and the crumbs were easy enough to brush off anyway, but it got me thinking: when is it better to dust with breadcrumbs and when is it better to use flour?

For my chocolate cake, if I'd stopped to think, I would have used a flour/cocoa mixture. If I were making a delicate sponge most likely I would go for flour there too.

What about breadcrumbs though? Perhaps the batter is less likely to stick to the form if dusted with breadcrumbs? Or would you use breadcrumbs to add a little crunch to the cake's outer surfaces (can't say I noticed any crunch myself).


texts: I have a glut of home-grown cabbage at the moment, more than I can eat before it goes bad! Is there any way to freeze cabbage (raw, cooked, whole, shredded...) or would I have to make gallons of cabbage soup / pickled cabbage?


texts: New Oven in the US, Which would home cooks prefer?

texts:
I am an English girl living in New York and looking to re-do my kitchen. The most common oven in the US appears to be 30" single space with a warming drawer underneath. In the UK it is a 24" double oven.

Here are my questions:

Does anyone use the warming drawer for anything other than storage (esp in the city environment)?
If you had a choice would you prefer 30" single space or 24" double space?

Thanks for any help given, want to ensure I design not only for myself but also future tenants given it's a rental :)


texts: How do you decide what temperature to bake at?

texts:
What is the logic behind the choice of temperature for baking?

Obviously if you're following a recipe it will say what temperature to use, but I'd like to understand the reasoning behind it.

Is it a matter of density (thicker foods need to be cooked lower to reach the inside without burning the outside), or are there other factors in play?


texts: How to make plain white rice less boring?

texts:
I'm a college student. I'm poor. Rice is cheap. Therefore, I eat a lot of plain white rice (medium grain).

I was wondering if there are any specifically tasty seasonings I could pick up that would make plain white rice a lot less boring.

Can anyone offer suggestions? I'm currently using Chef Paul Prudhomme's Magic brand seasonings, and they're great, but I would like to make my own seasoning. Is there anything else in particular that tastes great on white rice (preferably something I could make myself from simple ingredients)?


texts: Is it possible to avoid smoking when seasoning a cast iron pan after using it for deep-frying?

texts:
I have a cast-iron dutch oven similar to this one, which I infrequently use for deep frying. I tend to use what tends to be generically described here in the UK as "vegetable oil" for the deep frying, which I understand is often a blend of oils.
When I'm done with the deep frying, I filter and pour out most of the oil for potential reuse, but there is always a thin film inside the pot. My understanding for cast iron surfaces has always been that I should not use dishsoap or similar on the pot before putting it away, so instead what I tend to do is wipe off as much oil as possible using a paper towel, and then put in the oven as hot as possible (250C/480F) to give it a 'free' season.
However, this generates a lot of smoky smells (even inside the oven with the lid on), and my partner finds it deeply unpleasant.
Am I doing this wrong? Should I be using a different oil for the frying? Alternatively, is there another way to clean the residual oil off the pan before putting it away?


texts: Does a silicone cutting board really work well?

texts:
I tried a silicone cutting board, and I noticed two problems so far.

First, it had a strong smell, it only disappeared after two weeks of use. Second, I noticed scratches after chopping on it.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of silicone boards when compared to other cutting board materials?


texts: I am looking for a substitution for coconut milk. I am highly allergic to coconut, but often see recipes I would like to try that call for it.


texts: Does olive oil and balsamic vinegar together need to be refrigerated?

texts: Do I need to store a mixture of olive oil and balsamic vinegar in the refrigerator?


texts: When making filled cupcakes, is it possible to bake a custard filling in it?

texts:
I'm about to make filled cupcakes for the first time. It'll be this cupcake from Ming Makes Cupcakes. The filling is basically lemon curd, i.e. a custard. Most tutorials on making filled cupcakes mention either:

Spritzing it in with a piping bag, which I don't have. Also apparently it only allows for a small amount of filling.
Cutting a cone out of the cupcake, filling the hole, and then replacing the cone - this seems fiddly and I'm kind of a klutz and it sounds like a recipe (badoom-tsch) for having half my cupcakes fall apart.

One last how-to mentioned that it's possible to bake fillings that won't be absorbed into the batter (candy, an Oreo, etc) inside the cupcake. I'm wondering: would this be possible with lemon curd? Since it's a custard, I'm guessing it shouldn't dissolve in the heat.

Does this sound feasible or has anyone tried this? If so, any things I should be careful of? E.g. should I make the custard thicker so it keeps together inside the batter? Or thinner so it finishes cooking while baking? If so how to make it keep together until the batter sets? (I'm guessing chilling thoroughly? Freezing is probably a bad idea though.)


texts: How long will a vinegar based marinade keep in fridge?

texts: How long does a vinegar based marinade stay safe to use if keept in the refrigerator?


texts: Can frozen (fresh) flower petals be used in baking the same as unfrozen fresh petals?

texts:
I had seen a recipe that calls for fresh flower petals - a dark bread recipe with honey and bright flower petals through it, specifically.  I know it wanted fresh petals for the color (dried so often dulls the colors), flexibility, and perhaps for the scent all of which drying often changes in herbs.

Would freezing work, do you think, for storing petals for this recipe without too much change?  They are going to be baked into the bread, so the petals don't have to be garnish-perfect, so a little limp or slightly dull would be fine.

But if it will affect the color a lot, or change the texture in dramatic ways - more than drying and reconstituting them would - then it's not useful for this kind of recipe.

Does anyone have experience with flower petals, or even freezing fresh herbs for use in baking since the fragility would be similar?


texts:
First time I tried making gnocchi (or any pasta type). I followed the orders but my gnocchi are pretty sticky (maybe there's a better word?).

It feels like a pasta that was overcooked on a low flame and so it took a lot of time to be ready.

What can be the cause? Too much or too little flour?

The ingredients are:

3 medium-big beets
1 medium-big (white) potato
I think that almost 1kg of whole wheat flour
Salt

The beets and potato were wrapped in aluminium foil in the oven until soft, and then blended - then started adding flour until it reached a form that I can roll it to cut pieces.

I still have a lot of it, anything I can do to fix the dough?

And how long can I keep it (fridge/freezer?) in case I don't have enough of the ingredients to fix it at the moment?

Photos of the gnocchi and dough:

How the dough behave - (link to GIF, can't compress it more to upload it here)
The inside:

The rest of the dough

Thanks!


texts: How do I get rid of that calcium chloride taste in my tomato sauce?

texts:
When making high-heat, quick tomato sauces using economical brands of tomatoes packed using calcium chloride (and citric acid typically), the metallic taste and fake-fresh texture are disturbing. Aside from shelling out more money for products without the additives, I would like to know if there is some work-around for sub-premium tomatoes that could address the following;

Is there a way to balance out the metallic taste of the calcium chloride present in these tomatoes?
Considering cooking time is short, my assumption is that the texture issue is basically intractable without longer cooking time; am I correct?
As a follow-up, is there a good workaround for the taste of the citric acid?


texts: What is the safest way to acquire non-alkalized cocoa powder?

texts:
I am looking for a non-alkalized, full-fat cocoa powder to use in recipes. By non-alkalized, I mean cocoa which has not undergone the Dutch process.

The problem in detail: Gourmet grocery stores sell various "raw cacao" powders that fit the bill, however there seem to be safety issues. For example, ConsumerLab shows high levels of lead and cadmium for many of these products. Some products even have a California Proposition 65 warning. One might treat these as a guide, however absence of a bad ConsumerLab result or Prop 65 warning isn't a strong signal, because batches vary and many brands don't even test their product. It would seem likely that the safest cocoa products would come from big brands like Valrhona, Callebaut or Guittard, however their cocoa powder products are all alkalized.

Back to the question: What is the safest way to acquire a high-quality, non-alkalized cocoa powder? UPDATED: I would accept a definition of "safe" from someone with expertise in the area of metals contamination in food, but short of that, here's what would qualify as "safe" for me:

A product from a major producer in the industry.
A product from a company with a specific commitment about metals contamination, such as stated practices or certificates of analysis.


texts: Can you make jerky from stewing chickens?

texts:
Can you make jerky (for humans) with stewing chickens? Stewing chickens (older chickens) are supposed to be extra flavorful, and tough, but I don't know if the toughness matters for jerky, since jerky is tough anyway.

I think I saw some references to making jerky for dogs with chicken.


texts: Cooking two pieces of meat in pressure cooker

texts:
I know that I need to cook beef for 15 minutes per pound (500 g) in the pressure cooker for well done.

So one 4 pound (2 Kg) roast would cook for one hour. But what if I cook two 2 pound (1 Kg) pieces in the pressure cooker at the same time?

Would it still be one hour because it's a total of 4 pounds or would it be 30 minutes because each piece is only 2 pounds each?


texts:
I am thinking of collecting and organizing recipes that turned out to be good.

The first thought I had is to write down the recipes in a word processor, print them out and collect them in a thin ring binder. My system would have only one recipe per page (including simple to complicated versions). I would make handwritten notes on the printed recipe whenever I feel the need to update it. Eventually, I would modify the recipe in the word processor if there are too many handwritten notes. This way, I would keep a clean and tidy recipe book for reference. What do you think?

How do you organize your recipes? What works best for you and what does not?


texts: What is the best way to infuse mint into a tomato sauce?

texts: I want to create a tomato based mint sauce. I have access to fresh mint. What is the best way or the best time while cooking the sauce to incorporate the mint? Are the flavor components in mint water or fat soluble?


texts: Can you make pan gravy if the turkey was brined?

texts:
I've read every question here that mentions brining a turkey, and I've seen conflicting remarks about whether the pan drippings are suitable for making gravy. (None of the existing questions actually address this point directly.)

So: if I brine the turkey, will my mom still be able to make her amazing gravy from the drippings, or will the result be inedibly salty? Does this depend on the particular gravy recipe? (Mom's involves sour cream and garlic, and sometimes mushrooms.)


texts:
We had an office chili cook-off recently (I didn't enter). Two of the chili recipes presented used cinnamon predominately, perhaps even overpoweringly (IMO). Given that they also heavily sweetened their chili with honey and sugar, both had a cinnamon dessert flavor profile mixed with a bland tomato/beef profile. In a word, "yuck!"

In searching today, I've seen several recipes around calling for the use of cinnamon in chili. I could see it maybe being a background flavoring to add a mild spicy bite and a touch of earthiness. But, some recipes seem to be pretty heavy in it's use.

I'm assuming the office cooks didn't develop the right flavor (unless going for a dessert chili was their objective). What kind of flavor profile would be the right one to develop when using cinnamon in chili?


texts: Do eggshells let flavours pass through during boiling?

texts:
If i had 2 eggs. 1 i boil in plain water. The other i boil in say a curry sauce. After boiling and peeling, would they taste different to one another?

Do the shells let any flavour through?


texts: Incorporating Italian meringue into mousse

texts:
Yesterday I made some mousse using whipped cream and Italian meringue as aerators.
I incorporated the whipped cream to the base first and the Italian meringue last.
However, the Italian meringue was a bit 'chunky' and did not easily incorporate into the mixture.
In fact, I ended up having some white meringue spots throughout the mousse; my choices were either that or deflating the mousse in the process of 'smashing' the spots to better incorporate.

Now, this reminds me of when I over whipped common, French meringue and it would not easily incorporate into joconde batter.
That said, I've searched around and many sources claim that Italian meringue can't really be overbeaten and that it's usually whipped 20 or even 30 minutes after adding the syrup to reach stiff peaks (without going overbeaten).
I definitely did not whip the meringue for this long.

  Is it possible to overbeat Italian meringue and could that be the problem?

Searching around, I've also found an article on Serious Eats that suggests Italian meringue is best whipped to soft peaks when using to aerate mousses.
Other sources suggest that the virtues of Italian meringue in mousse is the lightness it adds to the dish, so I'm worried that using soft peak Italian meringue may not be truly how it's supposed to go.

  Should Italian meringue be whipped only to soft peaks when aerating mousses? Should it be whipped all the way, or is it a matter of preference?

Finally, there's a matter of order of addition of aerators.
Some recipes instruct to incorporate whipped cream before meringue and some go the other way round.
This article on Food52 suggests that meringue always comes last.

On the other hand, on the book Advanced Bread and Pastry, Michael Suas claims that whipped cream is generally added last (regardless of whether meringue or pâte à bombe is being used).
He claims that overmixing during the fold in process can overdelop the cream and this leads to a grainy texture; adding cream least helps prevent this.
I am inclined to believe Michael Suas.

I also don't really think this has to do with the chunkiness encountered when incorporating meringue into the mousse, but I'm not sure.

  Should Italian meringue come before or after the whipped cream? Does it matter?

More generally, are there any guidelines or tips and tricks to successfully incorporating Italian meringue into a mousse base?


texts: What determines whether a sherbet will set or not?

texts:
A couple nights ago I was watching the Food Network show Chopped and one of the contestants made sherbet. Because the contestants are limited to 30 minutes to prepare their desserts, the contestant who made the sherbet made a mistake and the sherbet did not set.

From what I can understand sherbet is very similar to ice cream but it usually contains much less dairy and is fruit flavored.

It is getting warm and I am very interested in making my own sherbet recipe using fresh fruit but before I can do that, I need to know what makes sherbet set. Is there a minimum fat ratio I need to meet(using milk/cream) or is there something else that determines whether the sherbet sets or not?

EDIT: By set I mean actually freeze and turn into the expected sherbet texture. I have seen other contestants make ice cream and sherbet in the past within 30 minutes. I guess my question really is what ingredients in sherbet inhibits it from freezing?


texts:
I have purchased Safa raw honey.
They have written that their honey is:

100% Pure & Raw
Raw
Unheated
Unfiltered

This honey is runny and dark in colour (almost black). It has some residue in it.

This website shows raw honey that looks like a paste:
http://www.hibeautiful.net/directory/skin-benefits-of-raw-honey

Have I been fooled? Can raw honey look dark and runny?


texts: Can an all wheat flour be high in protein, yet low in gluten?

texts:
I know that wheat protein isn't all gliadin and glutenin (the proteins that give dough its stickiness and elasticity and together create gluten), but high protein wheat flours are also generally considered "high gluten".

Except when they're not, apparently. I am in possession of a flour that makes the extraordinary claim on the nutrition facts label of 4g of protein in 25g of flour (so 16% protein), yet this particular type of flour is not supposed to produce much gluten. Wheat is the only ingredient.

Is that even possible?

How can I go about testing the gluten strength of a particular flour relative to known quantities? (I have bread flour, AP flour and cake flour to play with)


texts: Can I used lemon juice in place of ascorbic acid in canning peaches?

texts: Went to can my peaches and it's seven miles to the store....can I used lemon juice in place of ascorbic acid?


texts: What should I do when I add too much salt to rice?

texts: I accidentally added extra salt to my rice. Is there anything I can do now?


texts: data about the rate of nutrient decay in fruit/vegetable juice

texts:
This is a related question to Do centrifugal juicers destroy vitamins through friction?

Is there any quantitative data about the rate of vitamin & nutrient decay in fruit/vegetable juice?

We just bought a centrifugal juicer, and I want to make an educated decision about whether to use the juicer as needed (maximizing nutrient content but increasing cleanup effort) or to produce fruit/vegetable juice 6/12/18 hrs ahead of time (reducing cleanup effort but perhaps reducing nutrient content).


texts: In New York I've had assorted sandwiches on "Torpedo rolls". They are quite unique in flavor and texture unto themselves.  I am a hobbyist baker and can't seem to figure them out. Anyone know what technique or ingredient makes them what they are?


texts: How to get Taiyaki crispy? Are they even supposed to be crispy?

texts:
My homemade Taiyaki always turn out wrong in texture: They are soft and chewy both on the inside as well as the crust. While inner texture is right — fluffy, chewy and soft, with molten Anko, the crust is not like at street-stalls in Japan: Crunchy, crisp and thin.

I’m using one of these cheap Aluminum Non-Stick Taiyaki-pans, and tried various batters and heating regimes: Neither the amounts of Milk (if used), Egg, Baking-Soda, nor whether to bake hot-and-fast or cool-and-slow seems to get them crisp.

How can one achieve the authentic texture even with home Taiyaki-making equipment? And — is a crispy, crunchy outer crust even authentic — or were the ones i ate in Japan maybe bad examples of how a Taiyaki should be?


texts: Should traditional moule marinier have cream in it?

texts:
I'm about to make moule marinier and was surprised to see a lot of the recipes had cream in them.  I'm sure I remember watching an episode of Celebrity Masterchef where they had to prepare moule marinier and the judges being surprised at the people who put cream in the dish.

As it is supposedly a sailors dish, and I can't imagine sailors having fresh cream to hand it seems unlikely that they would traditionally contain cream.  Is this right?  Should moule marinier have cream in it?  Or should I just finish the cooking liquor with a knob of butter at the end?


texts: How to prepare a ginger lime drink mixer?

texts:
I am trying to prepare a ginger lime (basil) drink mixer.  It will be mixed with Whiskey the day of the event.

Is it better to prepare a limeade via steeping or a syrup via cooking?  Will the acid in the limes dissolve the ginger and basil over time (i.e. would it ruin the appearance / would I be able to filter them out)?

Will either of them last two weeks until the event?  I plan to keep them in a sealed jar in the fridge.  Does anyone have any advice on proportions?


texts: Can I soak fruits in fruit juice for a fruit cake? If yes, do I need to boil the juice? Thanks a lot.


texts: What are the impacts of a worn pizza stone?

texts:
While cleaning out my oven I noticed that there were some chips in my pizza stone (the one below is about 1.5" long). I would like to know what the impact is, if any, of worn pizza stone.

What degree of wear and tear is to be expected, and what is dangerous or otherwise the point at which you just need to get a new one? (I.E. Do I need to replace mine for what appears to be such a minor, superficial problem?)

Is there anything that can be done to repair cracks, or is it even necessary or advisable?

What would be the impact of those varying degree of wear and tear, be it uneven heat transference or the likelihood of it cracking in half?


texts: How to keep thick puréed sauces from separating into solids and liquids?

texts:
Today I was making a version of spaghetti alla puttanesca and while the result of the dish itself was delicious the sauce didn't seem like a sauce; it was rather disjointed or unconnected. It seems like there are two separate components: solid "stuff" and watery liquid, unlike the sauces you'd buy already made.

For this particular sauce I used olive oil, garlic, capers, anchovies, parsley, olives and a can of tomato puree; but I've experienced this with many other sauces I tried to make, specially with tomato based ones but not limited to those.

So how do I get the ingredients to somehow link or bind, so that the liquid and solids don't separate? Does cooking time influence that?


texts: Using left over pickle juice to make more pickles

texts: Can the juice from store bought dill pickles be used to make more pickles.  Can fresh cucumbers put into this juice aquire the same flavor as buying more pickles. If so how long would the cucumbers have to be in the 'juice' for full flavor?


texts:
So today I tried one of my (as I have recently learned not so genuine) Indian dishes: Dal Makhni (also Dal Makhani).

There are different recipes, some mix urad beans with red kidney beans, I went for one that only called for urad beans.

Anyway, I soaked them (at room temperature) for at least 16 hours (simple, cold, tap water) and yet in the ready dish we found little black dry beans whose husk seemingly hadn't been affected by the water. The beans had all been "subsurface", though.

It was the only disappointment when we wanted to enjoy the dish. So I am wondering what else I could have done? Is there perhaps a way to "identify" these hard beans after soaking, or even before?


texts: Why do you shred cheese before adding it to a sauce?

texts: I know it melts faster, but tearing cheese into rough parts and adding it to a white sauce melts just fine. Is there a specific reason to why you should shred cheese before adding it to a sauce?


texts:
I put my electric flattop oven on self cleaning. This heated up the top of the oven. I then bleached the flattop. The bleach steamed up and made it nearly impossible to breath. The entire room is now unenterable due to the fumes. It is not merely a typical bleach smell. I can't breath when I am inside and my eyes are on fire.

Is there something about heating up bleach that is particularly dangerous?


texts: Can I add more pectin at the end of the marmalade cooking process?

texts:
We've had a few attempts at making orange marmalade using Seville oranges that are in season right now.

The problem we've had is in reaching the setting stage.  We've boiled up the marmalade up to the setting point, but the "wrinkle test" has refused to produce wrinkles and we're getting overly gloopy marmalade at the end (delicious though it is).  We're reasoning that there's somehow not enough pectin.

So, if we reach the boiling point and fail to "wrinkle", can we add more pectin at this stage to ensure setting, or would it be far too late at this point?


texts: We had a party Monday night and ordered Sushi for 20 people - about 25 percent of the Sushi went uneaten, mostly plain rolls like tuna and yellow tail.  I would hate to throw out 10+ rolls - any suggestions?


texts: Is a "typical" jam sweeter today than the typical jams of centuries ago?

texts:
I have a new early morning snack this week - toast and jam, but after putting the (fridge temp) jam on the toast, I put the whole plate of toast and jam in the microwave for 20 seconds to warm the jam. It's delicious, but some of the jams in my fridge are just way too sweet for me this way. That got me thinking - hundreds of years ago, jams were eaten at room temperature. But now they are eaten cold from the fridge as often as not. I wonder if the sugar level has been increased as a result - either by adding more sugars or by reducing the fruit more than before which would also intensify the flavours.

Has anyone compared modern and very old jam recipes to see if this is a real trend? Or the sugar levels in supermarket jam compared to jam recipes in older books?


texts: What does it mean to 'salt' a steak prior to frying?

texts: I see some references on this site to 'salting' a steak before frying it. What does this mean? Should I coat the steak in salt? I can imagine that would result in a very salty steak!


texts: How do I cook chips (french fries) in the oven?

texts:
A while back, I came across a method of cooking chips in the oven (rather than deep frying them).  Basically, what I do it cut the raw potatoes into chips, coat then in oil and bake them in the oven for about 30 mins on top heat.  This works... kind of.  However, if I cook the chips thinly, they just break up in the dish when moving them around, and if I cut them thickly (which I would prefer) they just never cook (I've left them in for a lot longer than 30 mins in the past).

Are there any tricks to this?  Is there a certain type of potato that I should be using, or a certain type of oil?

(I'm in the UK, so I imagine that available ingredients differ from the US - as does the meaning of chip - by which I believe I'm referring to french fries)


texts: Why does refined coconut oil make cookies chewy?

texts:
I've made this recipe for Chewy Vegan Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies and they are indeed chewy and delicious.
I never used refined coconut oil before so I did some research. I saw a lot of recipes claiming "chewy" when they called for refined coconut oil. But I haven't found anything that explained why.
What is it about this oil that produces chewy-ness? What is the science behind refined coconut oil producing this texture?


texts: Why are baking measurements such nice round numbers?

texts:
I've heard over and over that when it comes to baking, measurements cannot be ignored, and you need to be very precise. This question covers how precise a measurement of flour should be, for example. But if getting your baking just right requires being so painstaking in measuring ingredients, how is it possible that all of the amounts in recipes come out to such neat and easy numbers? I can't remember if I've ever seen a flour measurement go more specific than the nearest 1/4 cup. The smaller chemicals like baking powders are usually to the half tsp, that I've seen, but I can imagine they go down to 1/4 or 1/8. And eggs basically always come in ones, or one yolk, but there's not much you can do about that. Weight measurements are more specific of course, but have you ever seen a ratio like 4.2683 oz of flour per egg?

How accurate is this really? Does this mean if your flour measurement is off by 1/16th cup you'll be just fine? Or it just won't look the same as the one made by the person who invented the recipe? I have a hard time believing that with such complex chemistry involved, the optimal quantities are so close to large fractions of our units of measure. Is there actually a bit more fudge room with some ingredients than we're being told?

Also, if so, which ingredients are more forgiving? I'd guess that baking powders are among the least.


texts: Is there a difference between boiling water and almost boiling water?

texts:
When cooking noodles (ramen or pasta), recipes often call for it to be thrown in boiling water.
I’m often impatient and can’t wait for the water to go from almost boiling (95C)  to full boiling (100C) In some cases, it can be a couple of minutes to go to a full boil.
Aside from extra cooking time is there a difference between almost boiling and boiling viz a viz noodles?


texts:
The issue of whether or not to salt a steak in advance is ancient, but I think it's fair to say that there is at least some consensus that salting meat is associated with drier steak, because of the moisture that the salt draws out. For other cuts/meats, it seems to be a more complex issue.

As somebody who watches lots of cooking videos online but is by no means a cooking expert, I can't help but notice a recent trend in brining meats of late - along with sous vide, it seems like the "in" thing right now.

So my question is: what is the science/logic behind this, and how is it that salt water seems to have the opposite effect (i.e. adding moisture/improving meat) than just normal salt marinating? Why does salt water add/help retain juiciness/flavour/moisture, but regular salt takes away?

I've seen all sorts of things being brined - from pork chops, to fried chicken, to roast duck. I can't imagine you'd brine beef or lamb but... I have no idea. Enlighten me please!


texts:
How can I make a shell which has the same texture and taste as the shells on Krave Cereal?

I'm wanting to make my own with my own filings but have no idea where to start.

On the box it says they're made from oats,  rice, and wheat.


texts:
I got some made-in-store supermarket guacamole yesterday and it was a new low in bland, watery, flavorless avocado meat.

I have read that the reason modern avocadoes taste bland is because they use a variety called a "Hass" avocado that growers prefer because it is resistant to some kinds of blight and it does not spoil as readily as other varieties.

Nevertheless, as someone who remembers as a boy getting avocadoes that tasted like, well, avocadoes and actually having good guacamole, it is really discouraging the world takeover of this tasteless drone avocado called the Hass. Also, it seems the Hass itself seems to be getting more bland and more watery year by year.

Is there any way to get good avocado varieties of the old type that actually taste good, or have they gone the way of the Dodo?

(I should mention that I grew up in San Diego, but now live in Massachusetts so this might be part of the problem; good avocadoes might only be available locally in Southern California.)

Update

By some further research I have found that apparently large numbers of avocadoes are being exported by Peru, and even though they are Hass avocadoes they are reputedly MUCH more bland than California avocadoes, but also much cheaper. So, this might be the problem, I am getting Peruvian avocadoes.


texts:
For several years, I ordered items from Finland. Typically, things not common or not found in the US. To my dismay, the place I ordered from went out of business.

I found another Finnish website that carries many of the same items. I was particularly looking for bilberry jam and I saw that the grocery category I wanted was "Jams, Marmalades, & Berry Grains".

There were several different types of berry grains made from different berries and/or fruits. However, there is no real description. Some may have nutritional info, but nothing else. They are definitely fruit products.

I have never heard of berry grains in the US and I have never seen such a product. I have Google searched several times but all I get are results for wheat berries or other things related to grains, nothing about berries or fruit.

Here's a picture of one of the products, Chokeberry Grain. (Sorry, can't translate.)

Any idea what this is or what the US equivalent would be?


texts: Turkey took 2 hours longer in oven with no bottom element

texts: Our Christmas turkey, which, according to weight, should have only taken 3 hours to cook, was in for almost 6 hours and still was not quite done at the bone.  My oven is new, but does not have a bottom element.  Could that be why it takes longer?


texts: My whipped cream can has run out of nitrous. I want what's inside anyway. What's the least destructive method of doing so?

texts:
I have a circular saw meant for cutting metal, I have pliers, I even have a can opener, but I'm not certain others encountering this problem and looking it up on DDG/Google may have these. So, what's the solution to a commercial can of whipped cream being unable to empty on its own? Assume that I want the cream edible but don't care anymore that it won't be foamy.
EDIT: There is concern that this might not be safe. Ensure that your answer, therefore, is safe.


texts: I found a beef sausage recipe using ground beef. The flavor is great, but it fries up kind of stiff. I was wondering if I could put oatmeal or something in it to give it a more spongy texture, like traditional pork sausage.    My question is: How can I make my ground beef breakfast sausage have a pork texture?


texts: Can spaghetti noodles replace lo mein noodles?

texts:
Let's say a family member asked me to try cooking lo mein for dinner, but I don't have time to stop by a big enough grocery store to get Asian noodles. I do, however, have spaghetti in the cupboard.

Are spaghetti noodles a reasonable approximation for lo mein noodles? (As far I understand it, they're both wheat-based.) What textural or flavor differences would I encounter with this substitution?


texts: why (Calif.) apricot & peach jam will not set?

texts:
For years, both my mother's and my own apricot and peach jams would never set up. The pectin package warned us that it might take up to 2 weeks to set (WHY??), and we always waited and checked, but it didn't happen then either.  Plum and blackberry jams always came out perfect every time.

Other acquaintances in the area (SF bay area) reported the same thing. I think I have a fix - just put in more lemon juice, like double (or even more), what the recipe calls for.  This has worked well for me a few batches now, but my question is why?

Why would the pectin company put a recipe in their box which doesn't work for so many people?  Are we all doing something wrong?  Or is there something about California fruit - or California lemons? - that is different from the place these recipes were written for? ... Or something about our atmosphere??  And why do these recipes mention that apricot/peach, specifically, might take up to 2 weeks to set.


texts:
I wanted to bake bread in the oven. I used my bread machine to do the dough part it rise twice in the machine.
I couldn't finish it so I put in fridge over night it rise for a third time. I took it out to get to room temperature. It went down in size. It is in bread pan ready to be bake do I let it rise again for Fourth rise .I didn't knead it I took it out put on counter. Would it rise again? Is it lost? Thank you


texts:
I buy bulk peeled garlic. When I bring it home I always throw some in the food processor and freeze it in single use aliquots. That's fine for daily kind of use, but for fancier stuff I really like garlic thinly sliced. Unfortunately, what used to be easy is becoming more difficult. My hands often shake and cramp up when I try to do fine, detailed tasks. To make matters worse, I have cut myself several times in recent weeks.

I'm considering getting a mini-mandoline like this: Garlic Slicer Is there anything in particular I should look for in a mandoline for very thin slices? I don't own a mandoline of any type, so it would be sweet if I could find one that handles garlic well and can do bigger slices too, like potatoes for a gratin.

In the meantime, does anybody have any good tricks for slicing garlic old school (with a knife and cutting board)? I find that if I try to do more than one clove at a time, they slide around on the board making even slices difficult. Even one at a time, I find it hard to hold the last half of the clove without risking a trip to the emergency room.


texts: Microwaving frozen tofu before marinating

texts: I froze some tofu in order to get extra water out of it before marinating and cooking. I'd kind of like to get a start on the marinating process, but it's taking a while to thaw at room temperature - is it ok for me to put it in the microwave, or will this ruin the texture?


texts: what is the exact time to add food color in sweet rice?

texts: I always confused to add the color in sweet rice .what is the exact time to add food color .As i add color when the rice is boiled. is it right?


texts: Cleaning plastic bags used for sous vide

texts:
I am using this kind of vacuum bag for sous vide. They work perfectly but recently I have been having a problem cleaning them.

I let them sit for a few days after using them without cleaning them, because I was too lazy - no excuses here.
Then I got to scrubbing. I scrubbed them thoroughly with dishwashing liquid and even though they were completely clean they still smelled foul. So I scrubbed them again with antibacterial soap, thinking bacteria began to thrive from the decomposing meat and somehow clung to the bag, but they still smell bad.

Before I used to use the same kind of bag but bought from a different seller. The "model" was exactly the same, save that both sides of the bag were smooth. The ones I am currently using have one of the inside sides sort of "ribbed" with tiny horizontal and vertical grooves. I had no problem cleaning my old bags but now I can't seem to be able to get rid of the smell of these ones.

The smell wouldn't be bothering me so much if I knew it was safe to reuse them but I'm thinking it might harm the food if I cook it in them.

Am I correct in assuming so and, in either event, how should I get rid of the smell?

Just to be clear my main point is I am asking how to best clean my bags not if it's safe to reuse them.


texts: All the turkey sous-vide recipes on the web presume 2 small/medium turkey breasts placed together for a 2.5 to 4 hour cooking time. But I have 2 very large breasts rolled together in a cylinder 6" in diameter. How should I adjust the cook time?


texts: How do I make the filling in pain aux raisins / danish pastry

texts:
I'm making pain aux raisin, but would like some help making the jelly like filling that goes in between.

The recipe here describes the filling as frangipane, yet when I make it, it is not as jelly like as I would like, and ends up being quite soggy.

I would describe the filling I am expecting to make as more like vanilla custard, with a kind of jelotine texture.

Any help would be appreciated.


texts: Are all dark chocolates with the same amount of cocoa equal?

texts:
I've noticed 3 ingredients in all dark chocolates:

cocoa mass
cocoa butter
cocoa powder.

This made me wonder if someone could have different ratios of these ingredients (like more cocoa powder than cocoa mass) and still have "dark" chocolate with X% of cocoa while being inferior to some other chocolate.

Another thing I've noticed is that many chocolates have approximately the same mass and amount of cocoa while having very different amounts of sugar (from 15g to 45g), if they have approximate amount of cocoa and mass, how did they stuff additional sugar in it?


texts: How long can I soak gulab jamun before serving?

texts:
I would like to make some gulab jamun for a party in the afternoon. Because it's a work party, I can't prepare them in the morning and let them soak the recommended few hours. Instead, I need to prepare them the night before.

I have read many recipes and they all recommend a minimum soaking time but I have not found one that addresses preparing them ahead of time, or suggests soaking overnight.

Would there by any negative effect if I soaked them in the syrup all night, refrigerated, and then let them warm up to room temperature before serving the next day? Or even multiple days later/indefinitely? I'm not worried about spoilage and I assume any change in texture of the syrup will be reversed as it warms but I'm a little concerned that the texture of the jamuns will change, that they might get too soft or perhaps fall apart.


texts: Ham and Pea Soup with whole dried peas instead of split peas?

texts:
I am making Ham and Split Pea Soup, however I only have whole dried peas. Will the shell on the whole pea make the soup more difficult to digest? Will the shell spoil the flavor? Or is it just adding more fiber and holding the legume together giving the soup a different texture?

Why do Chefs seem to prefer the split pea over the whole pea?


texts: I ate undercooked steak, what can happen to me?

texts:
What are the risks of eating undercooked steak?

I tried to cooked medium rare steak for the first time and I did not know about the palm trick to see it the meat is ready. I ate a bite and it was very soft. After I googled and found the hand/palm firmness trick,I realizes my meat was not cooked.


texts: Is a partially frozen chicken safe if not immediately cooked at the proper temperature?

texts: I put a partially frozen (inside) chicken in my convection oven, set it to what I thought was 400ºF (200ºC) and left the room with a timer on. An hour later it was discovered the temperature was only 150-200ºF (65-93ºC). It was in the convection oven an hour! I quickly set the correct temperature and finished cooking it. I just don't know if the hour it spent in the convection oven on the lower temperature did something with bacteria. I cooked it to an internal temperature of 180ºF (80ºC) degrees. Is it safe to eat this chicken?


texts: Are there any health risks when making vegetable stock from kitchen leftovers?

texts:
I have seen, that many people use kitchen scraps for making broth (eg. onion root and scraps) or that they just crush garlic, but still keep it in its skin or that people even do not peel carrots.
I am using slow cooking, but when I would be using these 'leftovers', is not there a risk of bacteria (from garlic skin maybe)?
Is it recommended to bring it to boil every time for a while? And even if it is boiled, there can still be toxins, that do not breakdown by boiling.
So is there any advice concerning that?
Is there a procedure, that should always be taken into consideration?


texts: When is a Utility Knife to be preferred over a Chef's or a Paring knife?

texts:
A Utility knife is a kitchen knife that is midway in size between a Chef's knife and a Paring knife.

Although I own a Utility knife, I don't believe that I have ever used it except when my Chef's knife was unavailable. I took a look around to see what uses I might have missed. Wikipedia says (without citation) that this knife is "derided as filler for knife sets" which squares with my experience. A few links call this type of knife a Sandwich knife because it is, ostensibly, good for cutting sandwich cheese and meat. Here's what one source says:

  The utility knife is good for cutting larger vegetables and sandwich
  meats that are not large enough for a chef's knife

I have a hard time swallowing this because, whether I'm chopping very small items, say Kaffir lime leaves, or large vegetables, say an aubergine, the Chef's knife still feels most comfortable in my hand.

Can someone help me picture a legitimate use for this knife where a Chef's knife or Paring knife wouldn't do better?


texts: Chicken: take meat off bone before or after cooking?

texts:
When cooking chicken bought in pieces (quarters), what is the best way to achieve a dish that is without the bones?

Should you pull the meat off the bones before or after cooking?


texts: How can I infuse alcohol with 'fragile' herbs?

texts:
I would like to infuse alcohol (gin specifically) with basil, but basil is quite a fragile plant and doesn't seem to react well to sitting in booze for a few days. I tried muddling basil and putting it in an air tight container with my gin. I stored it at room temperature in a dark cabinet and tasted it daily. After one day it was starting to get a hint of basil, but the taste was not strong enough. The color was a pleasant light green. After two days, the color had gone greenish brown and the flavor had gone south. It's hard to explain, but it was not good. I assume you'd have the same issues with mint, parsley, cilantro, etc.

How can I get a better basil flavor in my infusion? Should I just use a ton of basil and infuse for a day? Should I not muddle the basil? Should I blanch the basil?


texts: Ideal fridge temperature accounting for temperature spikes

texts:
I've read the question on the ideal fridge temperature, but am asking a more involved question about a baseline temperature and temperature spikes. How will a few hours each day at 10 C effect the contents of the fridge? What about two smaller spikes to 7 C?

Background: I live in a small studio. The fridge makes noise. I'd like it to be quiet at night. If I can do so without frequent food spoilage, I'll get a timer and turn the fridge off from 2300 to 0800. If this is a bit too much time without cooling, I plan to turn it off while I fall asleep (2300 to 0200), turn it back on (0200 to 0400), and then have it be quiet in the mornings again (0400 to 0800).

I've put some temperature loggers in the fridge and unplugged it manually during the 2300 to 0800 time. The graph is attached below. The mean temperature is 3 to 5 C, rising to 10 C.

The 2nd day was 'bad' data: I added a few gallons of water to increase the thermal capacity of the fridge (temp spike), but added them too late in the evening. The water did not cool to 4 C, and when I unplugged it the temperature shot back up. The first day, with an almost empty fridge, is a worst-case scenario. When the fridge is full I expect the max T at 0800 to be 8 or 9 C, not 10 C. I am collecting that data now and will update the post in a few days when I've checked the variability.

If 6-8 C for a few hours, then 8 to 10 C for a few more, then a quick return to 3 C is bad for the food (mostly OJ, soy milk, cheese, and some veggies), then I'll cool it in the middle of the night when I'm in a deep sleep.

So... to the question: How important is a 4 C fridge? Is a few hours per day up to 10 C bad? What about up to 7 C? Any other suggestions how to quiet the studio as I try to sleep?


texts:
I am interested in the caffeine content in various coffees.

Will day-old coffee have much less caffeine?  I am refering to espresso drinks such as the Starbucks Americano or the drip coffees also available there.  Does refrigeration make much difference to the half-life?  What about re-heating?

How about instant?  I have seen charts comparing caffeine content in various fresh coffees but not instant.  What is the typical caffeine content of instant coffee?  What is the half-life of caffeine in instant coffee on the shelf as a room temperature solid?


texts: How much does one cup of fresh spinach weigh?

texts: How much fresh spinach is in one cup? When I read articles they always say eat "1 cup of spinach", but I don't know how much spinach that is. I am talking about 4x6 cm leaves.


texts: Why do my hotpockets always split down the sides?

texts:
I eat a hot pocket for lunch at least twice a week. They almost always split down the sides when I microwave them. I don't just the full time (2 minutes instead of 2:15) but they still regularly split. This makes them very hard to eat.

What causes this and how do I prevent it?


texts: How Long Is Mint-Infused Water Safe to Drink?

texts: I like to leave a few sprigs of mint leaf in bottled water overnight to give it some extra flavor.  It's delicious, but recently I left one in the fridge while I was on vacation for five days.  I tasted the water and it still tastes great, but I'm curious how long something like mint needs to soak in (refrigerated) water before it becomes a safety concern?


texts:
I've made some very tasty steaks on the grill. I use an entire chimney's worth of charcoal, probably 3-4lbs, let the grill get extremely hot, thrown on the steak and still not gotten nice pronounced sear marks.

To prep the steaks:
 1. Coat in kosher salt.
 2. Let sit at room temperature approx 1 hr
 3. Rinse excess salt
 4. Lightly season
 5. Throw on grill

I generally only let it sit for at most, 3 minutes, I like my steaks blue rare. But, I recently cooked for family and they like theirs medium. So I let the steaks sit for 6 minutes on each side, still, no pronounced grill marks. I have the same problem when I cook burgers, no matter how long I leave them, never seen any pronounced grill marks.


texts: What can I use as a substitute for 1/2 cup of barley in a 2 quart soup?


texts:
I bought a loaf of bread some weeks ago, which the lady behind the counter explained was frozen (because it was leftover). This was okay for me. The bread was still frozen when I bought it and I let it defrost on the counter overnight.

Then we didn't eat all the bread (just about 50%) and I decided to put the leftover half back in the freezer (before it would spoil).

Now I'm wondering: Is it ok to rethaw and eat the bread? I know there are several threads/questions regarding freezing - thawing - refreezing, but they don't handle bread (which I would believe to act differently than i.e. meat).

Thanks.


texts: How do you get the smell of fish off your hands?

texts:
(Especially the smell of smoked eel.)
I tried washing with soap, lemon juice, a metal spoon, but nothing really seems to work.
Washing with soap multiple times throughout the day will get it off eventually, but surely a better solution exists.


texts: Do I have to change the baking time when I convert fahrenheit to Celsius?

texts: So in this recipe i should bake my cookies to 350 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes.350 degrees fahrenheit is about 176 Celsius degrees and i dont know if I should change the baking time to more or less minutes.Anybody help me ?


texts: Safe to switch from warm to high on poultry in crock pot

texts: I put 6 fresh Foster Farms ‘legs’ (drumstick attached to thigh) , with skin removed, into my daughters crockpot , along with onion, celery, fresh herbs and filled with water to make my good chicken soup. I expected to wake up to that beatiful aroma, and was puzzled at what went wrong. Unknowingly, I set the crockpot on warm! That was at 10:00pm. I turned it to high at 6:00 am. I can’t find anything online regarding this. Will the dangerous backteria be killed off or should I just toss it, to ward off any food poisoning?


texts: Soy meat, flax seeds and peas are probably the best known such sources. Are there other cheap sources of protein?


texts: Does vanilla powder really prevent melted chocolate from seizing?

texts:
Don't want to mention the company, but they have a product that is pure powdered vanilla (contains maltodextrin, whatever that is).  They say it prevents melted chocolate from seizing.  Does that sound right?

Thanks


texts: Fully cooked ham left out for 10 hours, is it still safe to eat?

texts: I received a fully cooked 13 pound pit ham from work at 12 noon. It was refrigerated when I got it. I made it home 4 hours later after running errands and it was 38 degrees outside and the ham was in the car the whole time. I forgot to put the ham in the refrigerator and left it still in the bag and box on the floor in the kitchen. It was 10 pm before I remembered about it and I immediately put it in the refrigerator. Is it still safe to eat?


texts: I have 2 jars of orange marmalade with an expiration date of June 1998 and one jar of apricot preserves with an expiration date of November 2000 and they've never been opened so I'm just wondering if they're still good to eat? If this was a zombie apocalypse I would eat it with a spoon no questions asked!! What are your recommendations!?


texts: What is this white part of these lamb chops called?

texts: What is the white part (circled in black) of these lamb chops called?  I know they contain fat, but is there a name for the tissue itself?  Do they occur throughout the meat or is it only in certain parts?  I believe back lamb racks don't contain them, but the front ones do.  Is this correct?


texts: What is the dish shown in the "Sunset Limited"

texts:
In the movie, "The Sunset Limited" Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson eat a dish which I'm dying to know what it is.
They say it has molasses, rutabaga, bananas and mangoes in it, and it's sort of liquid.
Can anyone try and say what that is, and where I can find a complete recipe to make such a recipe? (If you are up for the challenge, maybe you can create one yourselves to include the ingredients above.)

This is the bit I am talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfH9SclYNVg&t=13m20s.

Also including a readable text link to the novel transcript.


texts: at what temperature is whole wheat durum pasta cooked, and therefore safe to eat?

texts:
someone says that temperature is the most reliable way to know if a food is done is or not

they say that there are various signals to know but none of these are actually that reliable

(source: How can I ensure that scrambled eggs will be fully cooked?)

they do not mention the most reliable way, they only mentioned time. the 'suggested time' given on recipes, as we know, is also not very reliable because few recipes are well-tested by the person that made that recipe, but many (a very large percentage) are not tested and or based on significant evidence

(source: How can I tell if the food inside a pressure cooker is done cooking?)


texts: Why potatoes need to be boiled in order to make alcohol?

texts:
I have read a couple of recipes and descriptions of what needs to be done in order to produce alcoholic beverages such as vodka and rum. I was surprised to learn that basically all the sources use boiled potatoes, not raw, peeled potatoes mashed in a blender.

I think that the act of boiling is ruining the organoleptic properties of the potato and lowering the quality of the finished product. Why are you suppose to boil the potatoes?


texts: Why do flames shoot up from restaurant pans?

texts: If you watch video of a restaurant kitchen you always see, sooner or later, a spout of flame from one of the pans on the stove. That doesn't happen when I cook at home, and on the rare occasions when I eat in a restaurant with an open kitchen I don't see it there either. So what's going on? I'd think the cooks are using brandy or something, but it seems to happen too often for that explanation. Is it some kind of optical illusion, like when cars on TV look like their wheels are turning backward?


texts: When making larger amounts of gravy do you have to increase the amount of roux I usually use 4 TBSP of fat and 4 TBSP of flour but wondering if making larger amount of gravy like maybe 8 cups would you increase amount of roux?


texts: How to cook waffles intended for freezer-then-toaster?

texts:
I intend to cook a bunch of waffles to be stored in the freezer and later retrieved for warming in a toaster or on the racks of a hot oven. I want a homemade version of an Eggo.

Should I initially cook the waffles thoroughly, all the way to crispy as evidenced by steam ceasing to escape? Or should they be less cooked, intentionally undercooked?

And how long to let them cool before bagging into the freezer?

I want to to end up with a crisp/crunch to the waffles but without them getting dried out like cardboard.


texts:
I purchased a soursop at the grocery store recently, because it sounded interesting and tasty.

I tried to make a smoothie with it, but it tasted very bitter and the fruit was very hard and crispy.  The soursop was dark green on the outside and solid white on the inside.

I am determined to buy another, but I want to make sure it's ripe next time.  How can I tell when it is ripe?


texts: How would you prepare the following marinated chicken without a grill? I tried pan searing my chicken after marinating for 24 hrs but completely blackened the exterior without cooking the inside much. Would the oven retain the marinade flavor, should I invest in a griddle, or just change recipes?


texts: How do you prevent veggies from burning in dishes that take longer to cook?

texts: I can handle mirepoix like flavor bases well when I make pasta sauces. But if I try something like making a flavor base for chicken pot roast the onions (which were sweated before adding the other ingridients) will burn while I reduce the liquids or when I simmer the chicken. Why?


texts: Can I get drunk by evaporating steam of alcohol?

texts:
If I boil a bit alcohol in a pot, can I get drunk by inhaling the evaporating mixture?

Does the steam of alcohol still include any alcohol?


texts: How to make 1/2 inch thick porkchop brown but tender?

texts:
Cheap porkchop cuts here in the Philippines are only 1/2 inch thick.
It's so hard to brown them or give them color while frying, but still keep it tender. Everytime it's the right color, it's already tough or chewy.
I don't brine the porkchops though. Should I? Will brining help given the thickness of the porkchop?


texts: An Iranian friend once gave me some ground sumac to eat with a meal.  I loved its tangy,clean taste.  I later bought some online, but there was no tangy taste.  Tried an import store with the same result.  Would like to find the good stuff.


texts: How can i optimize the use of my convection oven?

texts: Is there a resource i can use to learn how to bake in my convection oven?  I know that it can improve the results greatly and i am just not understanding it.  I know that you are supposed to bake at 25 degrees lower temp but it seems like all my baked goods seem to dry out or brown too quickly.  I thought it was supposed to just bake things more evenly.


texts: How do I use the oven to dehydrate foods. Do I close the door or leave it open?


texts: Do I need to separate all the eggs if a recipe needs more yolks than whole eggs?

texts:
I am going to make lemon bars except I am going to use oranges instead, so I was reading the recipe for lemon bars.

The recipe calls for 2 large eggs and 1 large egg yolk separated, then in the instructions it says to beat eggs and egg yolks together in a bowl.

Wouldn't it be okay to just leave them as whole eggs if they are going to be mixed together anyway?


texts: I am creating a sourdough starter and read to use a "non-airtight" container and store in a warm location for the first 24 hours before beginning the feeding schedule.  My issue is that 12 hours in my dough has formed a crust.  It is obviously drying out from the open air.  How do I prevent this and have it remain "open"?  I have it covered with plastic wrap.


texts: How many years does canned jelly stay safe to eat?

texts: I have several jars of canned grape jelly that are at least 10 years old. Are they still safe to eat?


texts: How to prevent meatballs from drying out when I substitute a lean meat?

texts:
The meat in question that I use would be ground turkey, though this could apply for any leaner ground meat used to replace beef. This would also be more for recipes such as turkey burgers and meatballs, where the dryness is more of an issue since the meat itself is the focal point of the dish(i.e not a stew/chili).

I've had fairly decent success with adding chopped chillies to ground turkey, but am looking for more alternatives and non-spicy/less overpowering ways of keeping the meat from getting too dry.

I wasn't sure how to tag this one, so feel free to help me out there.


texts: Sharpening scissors with microserrations

texts:
I own Sabatier Proffessional scissors (like those). One of the blades has microserrations along the edge (see the picture below). How should I sharpen them? I presume that I'd destroy the serrations if I just tried sharpening it the same way as I do with non serrated edge?
As far as the tools go, I own Work Sharp Knife and Tool Sharpener (which I like very much) and Spyderco Sharpmaker (which I was not able to use to its full potential, hence replaced that with WSKT).


texts: Would toasting a croissant make it catch fire

texts: Would toasting a croissant safe/ by accident with a person no paying attention would the croissant catch fire or would it just burn?


texts: What non-dairy filler to use in white chocolate style coatings?

texts: Recipes for white chocolate style cake (or ice cream/truffle/...) coatings (the snappy kind, not soft frostings) tend to rely on cocoa butter, shortening, sugar... and milk powder as a filler. Soymilk powders are not available everywhere and make an unreliable substitute due to very brand dependent additives and properties. What can be used as a reliable, non-dairy filler?


texts:
I am new to use chia seeds.
   I soaked them in water for about an hour and there was no significant difference in the size.

As per websites it could grow like 12 times the original size.

How much time does it need to be at its maximum size?


texts: What seasonal vegetable side dishes are appropriate for Hungarian Goulash?

texts: We are planning a traditional Hungarian Goulash dinner, and apart from egg noodles, would like a vegetable side-dish to accompany. It's late October, and we'd prefer some seasonal ingredients if possible. What vegetable side dishes compliment a hearty, flavorful stew like goulash?


texts: I have just made a vegetable soup with ham pieces in a beef stock. It doesn't taste right, it is very bland and I don't know what else to add to give it flavour. The veges are root veges like swede, parsnip, pumpkin ect. I have seasoned with celery salt and pepper but it is still very boring.


texts: If I am making fried liver tempura style should I pre-cook the liver? I think when you make an item like, say, shrimp tempura, the shrimp is cooked beforehand because the tempura frying is not sufficient to fully cook the shrimp. Is the same true of liver?


texts:
I have tried simply dough recopies for potsticker wrappers or dough's slightly more involved like corn tortillas and no matter what, whenever I press the dough for shape it doesn't keep form and just shirnks back up.

I have tried rolling pins and tortillas presses, but as soon as it flattens within seconds it shrinks back up again.  I use a stand mixer to mix all the ingredients.  Does my issue maybe relate to not mixing long enough or maybe mixing too long?  any tips would be appreciated on how to make sure the dough keeps its shape after flattening.


texts:
Maybe it's because I'm German speaking, but I'm utterly confused by the concept of the concept of a Casserole.

When I enter "Kasserolle" in the German Amazon I on the one side get dishes that look like that they could get put into the oven. But on the other side I get pots which have a long grip. In my family we used to call them "milk pots".

Are these milk pots also supposed to be put into the oven? I've never seen anybody put pots like these into the oven, but doesn't the word "casserole" usually imply recipes that require an oven? I am utterly confused by the concept of "casserole".

Why does it seem to imply two different kinds of dishes ("milk pots" and dishes I'd use to make a lasagne)?


texts: My pavlova turned out too soft , sticky and "gooey".  Yellowish liquid was seeping out of it during and continued after baking,


texts: I dehydrate my own pressure cooked chicken for camping trips where I add them soups and stews. I cook the chicken in a pressure cooker (rather than baking it or poaching it) to make it more tender and hydrate better on the trail. I wonder if brining the chicken for a couple of days before I cook it and dehydrate it would make the chicken even more tender? If not, why? And, what else could make the chicken hydrate quicker and better?


texts: The Us cuts of beef are very different from the cuts of beef in my country (the Netherlands). In the famous book "The French Menu cookbook" Richard Olney talks about the Heel of Round and the Bottom Round. Could anyone explain those sub-primal cuts or maybe say how you can translate those cuts to British cuts or French cuts of beef ? Olney uses these cuts of beef for preparing pot-au-feu ....


texts: Can seasoning be eaten without being cooked?

texts:
I use the steak seasoning for cooking steak (season on steak before being cook)

I love the seasoning so much that, even after fully cooked, I still add a lot to the steak, is it okay? Are there any side effect?


texts: Can kefir whey be refrigerated before being used to ferment other foods?

texts:
Is it okay to refrigerate kefir whey for a few days before fermenting other foods with it (i.e., almond butter  http://www.thecandidadiet.com/forums/topic/fermented-almond-butter-16/  ), or will this prevent the good bacteria from eating the bad stuff (kinda like kefir itself nearly stops fermenting lactose when refrigerated)?

It seems like one would need to use it on the almond butter immediately upon production to achieve the desired effect, but I'm not sure if refrigerated kefir whey will still work, due to the fact that it has already been allowed to ferment for a day or two before refrigeration.


texts:
I've been trying to find a relatively quick way to prepare eye of round "steaks" (really just slices of a roast), so that they are tender and juicy, but not falling apart. The goal is to avoid having to cook an entire roast, which takes a lot of time and results in a lot of leftovers.

At first, I sautéed them in a pan, and they came out tough and leathery. I then tried to marinate them in a simple mix of olive oil and lemon juice for 30-45 minutes beforehand, and to tenderize them with a hammer. This, too, resulted in a tough, dry piece of meat. My greatest success with this cut has been to braise it in red wine for 60-90 minutes, though it was still unpleasant to eat.

Has anyone else been experimenting with cooking slices from an eye of round roast? If so, what have been your failures and successes?


texts: Is there an easy way to trim the ends off green beans quickly?

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A staple in our house is green beans.  It's not uncommon that I'll buy 5-10 lbs and blanch or cook them all in one session, to reheat or eat cold in lunches all week.  I also buy fresh beans in bulk when in season, and trim/blanch before freezing.

For a pound, trimming the ends off the beans is no big deal, but when we're talking 5 or more pounds, I find the trimming process extremely tedious and more importantly, time consuming.

Similar to this question, I'm looking for some kind of trick or tool that may help with this preparation.

Right now, here is how I do it:

Hold chefs knife in right hand, blade flat on surface of cutting board
Grab 5-10 beans and press them against the blade of the knife so they line up flush
Chop ends
Turn beans, press against blade again to line up other side
Chop again

This method isn't terrible, but it can be tedious trying to get the ends to line up for chopping.  If I grab 10 beans, I feel like I'm spending too much time lining things up because they're different sizes and curvatures.  If I grab 5 beans, I feel like I'm not doing as much as I can at once.

I've also tried pinching the ends off by hand, using my thumbnail as a sort of mini knife.  However, going one at a time like this feels very inefficient as well.

So...Is there a more effective way to trim the ends green beans than what I'm currently doing, and are there any tips or tools that will make my job more efficient?