texts: Can cashews go bad? If so, how do you tell?

texts:
We have a tub of cashews that seems "off:" they smell a little different and taste a little different than we're used to.

They don't smell or taste rancid (to us, I don't think I've ever tried cashews that were old enough to possibly be rancid) but I'm wondering if there can be any other type of degredation in them.  e.g. I've read that peanuts can get a sort of mold growing on them that's not good for you.


texts: I want to make sweet potato wedges. Is it the same process as using russet potatoes? Does the par-boiling first then frying work for sweet potatoes as well?


texts:
Someone gave me a bunch of envelopes of pizza crust yeast, "specially formulated for pizza crust". The packets also say that no rise time or proofing is needed, and that it's "NOT recommended for bread baking." The ingredients are yeast, enzymes, sorbitan monostearate, l-cysteine, and ascorbic acid. It does provide a recipe for pizza crust, with just mixing and a bit of kneading.

What has actually been done to this yeast to make it work like this? (What are those enzymes?) And is there any way I can use it for other things, or is it really only good for things like pizza crust?


texts: What cheeses have the least amount of whey in them (or not at all)?

texts: What cheeses have the least amount of whey in them or not at all?


texts: Which brewing method extracts more flavors from the coffee bean?

texts:
Which method extracts more flavors from the bean: espresso, french press/cafetiere, or another method?

And, if I want to try different beans from different countries etc, is a french press/cafetiere the best coffee maker for this?, since a bean of any place or any roast can be brewed in it?


texts: How to season my tagine if my oven doesn't have setting for the temperature the instructions call for?

texts: I recently bought a tagine for cooking. I have to season my tagine by heating it in the oven with the temperature below 300 F. My oven works with two settings of 350 and 375F. May I prepare my tagine for use on the stovetop with a diffuser or does it has to be prepared for the initial use in the oven? May I use a higher temperature of 350F? Please help me with your advice.


texts: I would like to know how long melted chocolate can last in a freezer? My wedding is in 4.5 months and would like to start now to melt chocolate for the party favours


texts: How to incorporate grape flavor in a chiffon cake?

texts:
I'm trying to make a layer of chiffon cake, with a grape flavor but I'm not satisfied with the flavor. I have tried using the juice from the grapes, incorporated into the batter, but it is not particularly potent and the end result is rather bland for my palate.

What would be the best way to incorporate a grape flavor? Is there anything I can do to the grapes to enhance the flavor and maybe add more depth or complexity?


texts: How do I safely caramelize honey without fully burning it?

texts:
Background:
I am going to make a bochetomel, which is a type of mead that utilizes partly caramelized honey to impart a smokey/slightly burnt taste to the finished product.
The honey I have bought for this was expensive local produce, and I would like to avoid ruining it!

Question(s):
What is the best way to go about caramelizing honey? If I were to make an uninformed attempt, I'd just whack it in a saucepan and gradually heat it...
Is there a better method? Is it worth adding a little water to help stop it burning?

Finally, how will I know when the honey is caramelized? I have heard rumors of a 'soft ball stage' of caramelization that is ideal for brewing... does anyone have any experience with this that can confirm this exists?


texts:
Maybe I'm the only person in the world who does not like cheese ... Or maybe not ..
What are the perfect ingredients to make a pizza taste good without cheese?


texts:
I have noticed that when I eat a plum that at least near the skin layer my sweet receptors are first activated by the plum juice and flesh but the more I chew it(doesn't matter if it is flesh or skin) the more tart it gets and if I were to continue chewing it could probably get as sour as a lemon.

So why does the plum become tart when I chew on it but with the initial bite it is sweet?


texts: What's the difference between using stock and water?

texts: I realise this sounds like an odd question.  However, to use an example, when I make cottage pie, a lot of recipes suggest using beef stock.  Okay, so as I understand making beef stock, you basically take some scrag ends of beef (bones, etc), and boil them.  So what's the difference between doing that, and adding the water directly to the cottage pie when you make it?


texts: Is there such a thing as a bone cleaver?

texts:
When I was growing up, my mother had a massive, MASSIVE cleaver that she kept in the kitchen. It was immense and heavy. My father had gotten it when he worked in a butchery. This cleaver has since been lost to us. I would like to find something similar. When I asked her what the specific type of knife was, she said it was a "bone cleaver." It was easily 60 years old when I was little 30 years ago.

For the life of me, I can't find references anywhere to bone cleavers. I can find meat cleavers (but most have warnings not to use them for bone). They're smaller than this was, and also lighter. I can also find references to vegetable cleavers and Asian style cleavers. Again, they're smaller and lighter than this. They're hammers compared to the sledgehammer this thing was.

My mom used to use it expressly for cutting through bone. You'd raise it up, give it a little force to accompany it's natural weight, and it could go through almost anything with relative ease (up to and including femurs).

I know bone saws exist, and usually I just keep a spare blade around for my hacksaw to cut through bone when I break down a carcass. So, is there such a thing as a bone cleaver? Would it be a special order thing these days? I'm wondering if it may have been a custom made knife back then because I have never seen anything else like it.


texts: Should an Aviation include Crème de Violette?

texts:
The "Aviation" cocktail is an IBA "official" cocktail. It is listed on the IBA website with these ingredients and instructions:

  All Day Cocktail

  4.5 cl Gin
  1.5 cl Maraschino
  1.5 cl Fresh lemon juice

  Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

To my surprise this doesn't list Crème de Violette at all: not in the ingredients, and not as e.g. "a dash" in the instructions.

Nearly all recipes I've seen so far though (e.g. How to Drink) do have Violette, and they all call out the Aviation as a "blue as the sky" cocktail because of that creme.

So what's the deal here? Is the IBA website just lacking it (perhaps because it's not a "core" ingredient but just a dash or a barspoon, usually)? Or is the "official" version actually without it?


texts: What makes pizza flour different from normal flour?

texts: The stores where I live do not sell pizza flour. How can I make stretchy pizza flour from raw or all purpose flour? You should be able to spin it.


texts: How can I tell if my acorn squash is ripe before cutting it open?

texts: Is there any way to tell if an acorn squash is ripe before cutting it open to cook it? I keep getting unripe squash from the grocery store, and I don't know they're unripe until I've cut them open, sadly turning them into compost instead of dinner.


texts: What ingredient changes will make this cookie dough more workable?

texts:
When I make a particular cookie, the rolling and shaping steps are very frustrating because the dough gets very soft and tends to fall apart when I'm working with it.  Chilling the dough makes it more workable, but I only have a short time to shape the dough before needing to chill it for another half hour.

Here is the recipe:

½ cup (110 gr) butter, softened
1 cup (208 gr) shortening
1 cup (225 gr) sugar
1 egg
12.5 oz (1,562 gr) flour
1 tsp (5 gr) baking powder
¼ tsp (1.4 gr) salt
3 dozen Andes Chocolate mints

Stir together flour, baking soda, salt. Cream butter and sugar.  Add egg, then flour mixture to creamed mixture. Divide in half, cover and refrigerate overnight.  Roll out dough into two 1/8" thick rectangles; refrigerate when not working. Evenly space mints on one portion of dough, and place other portion of dough on top; cut between mints and press edges down to make individual cookies.  Bake at 400° F (200° C) until brown at edges, about 12 - 14 minutes.

I can get the dough rolled out OK; the problem is in the cookie shaping (mint-adding and cutting) phase.  Since the dough is flattened out, it warms up very quickly, and I'm constantly fighting the softness and stickiness of the dough.

How can I increase the workability (either the stiffness or the amount of time I have to shape it) of this cookie dough?  I would prefer to change ingredients - rather than my process for cooling and working the dough - for the sake of simplicity.


texts: What happens when I boil 2 pots of pasta in the same water back to back?

texts:
I had to make 2 pots of pasta back to back. I did a pot of spaghetti as usual. I add a little vegetable oil always, salt, and I throw about 5 peppercorn seeds in the water, bring it to a boil, then add the boxed dry pasta.

Well, this time, when done, I took the spaghetti out of the boiling water (with tongs and a sieve. It was perfect. I then decided to do the linguini in the same boiling water. Was this a mistake? I just added a pinch more salt, and let it cook. When I thought it would be done, it was a little weird. Maybe chewy? I don't know if I'm just being paranoid and should just let it cook more.

Did I do a big pasta faux pas?


texts: What's the best method for making iced coffee?

texts: How should we make iced coffee at home? We only have a French press.


texts: At what point is water considered "at a boil?"

texts:
Lots of recipes call for waiting for the water to come "to a boil." However I have never been sure when that is. From my viewpoint it could be at three different points:

First start to see small air bubbles coming up from the bottom of the pan
When the surface of the water is noticeably disturbed by the bubbles
When it is a full on raging torrent of activity

Depending on the amount of water used, these three points could be several minutes apart from each other, which will affect the cooking time.


texts:
I am trying to make a stable buttercream and I am using butter and shortening [in the UK we call it trex or cookeen].

However, in this cold weather the fats are not getting to room temperature.

What is the best to soften them?

I don't own a microwave.


texts: How to properly prepare a beef escalope (from the topside)?

texts:
I've read a number of recipes that call for different cooking times, so I'm a bit baffled.

Normally, the escalopes are cuts from the topside (that's the bottom) of a cow. These are then hammered with a mallet, salt & peppered, passed through flour and sautéed. A pan-sauce is made from the fond and the escalopes are added back in.

The question is: How long?
I've read times ranging from 15' to two hours...

Does it depend on the age of the animal? Or the race? Is there any objective way to determine when it's properly cooked?


texts:
I just made the recipe below for slow cooker dal and there is quite a bitter flavor. I'm wondering:
- what ingredient would cause this bitterness and why?
- is there something I can add to counter the bitterness?

2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds
2 teaspoons whole mustard seeds
1 teaspoon whole fennel seeds
2 cups split red lentils, rinsed
5 cups water
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, diced
1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Fresh cilantro leaves, for serving (optional)
Jasmine rice, for serving

Add the cumin, mustard, and fennel seeds to a small sauté pan, and place on the stove over low heat. Toast the seeds, using a wooden spoon to stir frequently, until fragrant, 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the toasted spices, lentils, water, tomatoes, onion, ginger, turmeric, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a 6-quart slow cooker. Stir together. Cover the slow cooker with the lid, then set to low and cook for 4 to 6 hours, or high and cook for 2 to 3 hours, until most of the liquid has been absorbed and the lentils are soft. Stir before serving.


texts:
This sweet potato is spongy and slightly holey inside. Is this safe to eat?

It's similar to this question, Holes inside a sweet potato, but mine is only slight pithy/holey. The outside is normal. Some of the other slices look more normal.


texts: What does the "bold" setting on my Cuisinart coffee maker do?

texts:
I recently bought a Cuisinart coffee maker.

It has a button to switch between "regular" and "bold" when brewing.  I have no idea what this actually does.  I thought that usually bold coffee came from different beans or from the amount you used, not from a setting on the coffee maker.

What does this function do and when would I use it?


texts: How to see if cast iron cookware is enameled?

texts:
I have found a cast iron grill manufactured by the French company Le Creuset. This cookware is probably around 20 years old and you can see a picture of the same model below.

I'm wondering if this grill is enameled cast iron or raw cast iron. Indeed, if it's raw cast iron, I will strip of the former seasoning and create a new one. If it's enameled cast iron, I'm not sure how to deeply clean it but I will not put it in my self-cleaning oven.

Today, all cast iron products from Le Creuset are enameled but I don't know if that was the case 20 years ago. The cookware is black and has been used a lot, so I don't know if the (quite) smooth aspect of the top is enameled or not.

Do you have any tricks to recognize if cast iron cookware is enameled or not?*

Photos (click for full-size)

On this last one, you can see "Le Creuset * Made in France* D2" but I didn't find anything about D2 grill model on the internet.


texts: I often read in recipes that I should "rest" meat after it has been cooked but what does resting the meat actually do?


texts: Can ricotta cheese be frozen? If yes then how long it keep in freezer?

texts: Can ricotta cheese be frozen to store for a long time.If yes than how long we keep ricotta in freezer.


texts: Why does aluminum foil on a pizza stone ruin the pizza?

texts:
I have a pizza stone and I have a problem with burned dough sticking to it. So I tried to use aluminum foil on the stone for easy cleanup. I wrapped the stone as tightly as I could with the foil and then used it according to the instructions.

The foil ruined the pizzas, instead of getting a burned crispy bottom I got uncooked dough on the bottom with the top cooked. I first thought that this was because the foil wasn't perfectly tight and the air cushion between the stone and foil acted as an insulator. So I removed the wrapped foil, and used instead a loose sheet of foil to allow the air to escape. But this didn't help.  When I then removed the foil entirely and used parchment paper instead everything worked fine (a loose sheet of parchment, like the loose sheet of foil from the 2nd attempt).

Why does the foil ruin the effect of the pizza stone, but works excellent in a press toaster?


texts: Do I need the turntable in a combi microwave when using convection mode?

texts:
I have question. I bought a microwave oven that has a grill and convection oven function. It comes with a grill rack and turntable.

2 days ago, I tried to cook frozen pizza with the grill rack without the turntable and while it is cook, the center of the pizza is not really cooked. Yesterday I tried frozen fried calamari with the grill rack on the turntable and it doesn't brown as much. I read somewhere that convection oven cooks faster but in my case, it seems slower.

The question I need help with would be do I put the grill rack on top of the turntable while using the convection mode?
So I am not sure if I should cook with the grill rack on or off the turntable.


texts: Can my syrupy jelly be processed again to make it set, or do I need to start over?

texts:
I have a blackberry watermelon jelly that I made and it didn't set up.  I waited about 3 weeks for it to set up and then reprocessed it, adding more pectin.  I added 1 1/2 packages of pectin (it was a large batch) and it still didn't set up.  I've looked on-line but can't find anyone who's actually reprocessed a second time.  People have asked but no one has done it to answer.

Can I reprocess it or do I just have to resign myself to having syrup?


texts: Can this silver-colored skillet be put and used in ovens for baking?

texts:
My grandparents own this silver-colored skillet. QUEENSENSE SENSHIN is the only printed on it, at the bottom.

To save money and space, they desire to dual-purpose this skillet not only for cooking on stove-top, but also baking inside oven. But how can they deduce if they can safely insert this skillet into the oven for baking, like the pictures below?


texts: Should pans be washed before adding more poultry?

texts: In a bakery kitchen should the pans used to hold the raw chicken be washed before placing more raw chicken in those same pans? Especially if there are hours between usage.


texts: Why should or shouldn't I peel button mushrooms?

texts:
I've peeled my button mushrooms since cooking with a friend once, who did it, but I've never understood why, if at all, it's advisable.

Searching shows a fairly wide range of opinions but I see no reason attached to either side.

Is it purely aesthetic?


texts:
I want to add smoke flavour to a somewhat runny pepper sauce. I thought of letting it simmer on the barbeque and also have some wood chips in water to  provide lots of smoke. Keep the lid of the pot off and just put the lid of the weber on.

Can you actually impart smoke flavours to a liquid like this or would  it be better just to roast the peppers before you make the sauce?


texts: How long and at what temperature and with what oil should doughnuts be fried?

texts:
I just gave this recipe a try and the results were as follows:

The first doughnuts to be fried, sat in for the full time period listed in the recipe (3 minutes each side) and came out nearly black. The outside was severely overcooked while the inside seemed just about right.
Once the doughnuts rested until "warm" but not wet, they would not keep the toppings on them at all.
Keeping the oil temperature at the designated 350 degrees (F), was incredibly difficult. It fluctuated constantly between as high as 380 to as low as 340.
Leaving the doughnuts in for less than 3 minutes (2 minutes, then 1.5 minutes) produced slightly better color on the outside and the center remained fairly consistent. But the doughnuts still wouldn't take any toppings.
Moving the doughnuts directly from the oil to the toppings did get some of the toppings to stick to them but somehow the doughnuts cooled before they could be fully covered with the toppings.

I'm guessing that I did something wrong during the frying/timing of the doughnuts but the only substitution I made was to use sunflower oil instead of vegetable oil for the frying since I read somewhere else that sunflower oil was recommended.

What I'm looking for is consistency and ultimately the soft, tender texture of apple cider doughnuts with just the slight crunchy topping on the exterior. Of course, leaving all the doughnuts in for the same amount of time would get the same consistency but once I realized they were overdone, I decided to experiment to see if I could get it right by trying different things. No soap. So...

Does anyone know what the actual timing for doughnuts are while being fried? What temperature/time and with what oil should doughnuts be fried?

Thanks for your help!


texts: Combining dishes that need oven temps of 450, 425, 400, and 350

texts:
I have three dishes that need to be baked but all have different temps.
My oven is a standard, 80's range with oven and broiler - nothing special.
I am cooking

a Leg of Lamb of 5 lbs at 450, which gets reduced after 20mins to 400 degrees for an hour.
Hasselback Potatoes at 425 degrees for about 45 mins
a green bean casserole at 350 for 30 mins.

How do I do this, practically for this Easter dinner? I've got other things that I'm serving, but those are all stove-top dishes or cold dishes.


texts:
I was looking at a 'cold smoked salmon' recipe and it says the fish must be 'fully cured' before smoking.

I want to cure using salt so I believe this mean once salt has penetrated throughout the entire flesh rather than a quarter way through or just the surface, it is considered fully cured.  After that you then cold smoke it.  In the context of my recipe, Is this correct?

I'm not sure if it's correct because wikipedia says 'Cured fish refers to fish which has been cured by subjecting it to fermentation, pickling, smoking, or some combination of these before it is eaten' however in recipe it says fully cured should happen BEFORE smoking.

Please clarify whats is meant by fully cured.
Also if one chooses to cure with salt, how do they know the fish is fully cured using salt?


texts: White cloudy areas on bottom of new stainless steel skillet

texts:
I just bought my first few pot and pans "Calaphon" stainless steel trip-ply

I used my new 10" skillet tonight, and cooked pork chops. I heated the pan first, added olive oil, let it heat, then added chops. After I was done, cleaned it immediately under water, and noticed white cloud looking areas on the bottom of the skillet. They won’t wash or rub off

Do I need to return these? I did buy them for the look as well.


texts: How to thicken a Yoghurt based cold sauce?

texts:
I have a yoghurt-based sauce, e.g. yoghurt with garlic, pepper and salt, and I want to thicken it. Basically I don't want to change the taste, although minor changes are fine but I'd like to adjust its consistency.

How can I achieve that? What should I add to thicken cold sauce?

Potato flour is not an option as I don't want to warm the sauce.


texts: Why is spicy food less spicy when it's allowed to cool?

texts:
I've noticed over the years that when my food, which was initially very spicy, has cooled down, it doesn't seem as spicy anymore.

Why is that?


texts: How many times is it safe to reheat chicken?

texts:
I thought I remembered hearing the food agency Evira say that you should never reheat chicken meat after the initial cooking. However, I cannot find the statement of it anymore. Now I'm starting to suspect my memory.

Could this statement be true?  Is it unsafe to reheat chicken?


texts:
My wife made a cream based sauce last night and the recipe said to "reduce" it.
The cream sauce was comprised of some white wine, couple cups of heavy cream and chicken broth (my wife substituted water for the broth)

I looked up how to reduce a sauce, and it basically said to heat it up til most of the liquid evaporates and the sauce gets thicker.  Makes sense, but the website I was on said that the liquid should simmer on low heat while reducing.  I was doing this but it was taking forever and was still very thin (~30 minutes).  I cranked up the heat to high and that sped things up, but I'm wondering what the proper way to do it is.

Should she not have added water?  Was there something else we missed? Or does it really take that long to reduce a cream sauce?


texts: What is the difference between Chapati and a Paratha?

texts: I have heard of folding a chapati dough while kneading to form a triangle. How is it different from not folding it? How does folding to a triangle and rolling a chapati makes the difference?


texts: changing single loaf bread into two smaller

texts: I am wishing to bake smaller loafs of bread. Do I need to decrease time or temperature if dividing single loaf recipe into two smaller loafs?


texts: No Cornmeal - steel cut oats to coat pan?

texts: I'm trying to make English muffin bread, without the cornmeal (oops). Will steel cut oats work as the crumbly non-stick coating in the pans?


texts: Is it safe to roast marshmallows over a sterno flame?

texts:
It's become common practice around my apartment to use a sterno to roast marshmallows because it's easy, cheap and (primarily) because we can't have a campfire in my living room.

Is this dangerous?


texts:
I currently have 50 wham bars in my kitchen , I went a bit ott at wholesalers and after eating one my jaw felt like it was going to give in .

Can any of you offer up an ingenious solution for my excess wham bars ?

Wham bars are basically pink taffy bars with sweet and sour bits in , very nice and very unhealthy !


texts: Difference between burritos, chimichanga, and enchiladas?

texts: What is the difference between burritos, enchiladas, and chimichangas?


texts: pre-soaking tea in cold water prior to brewing

texts:
My friend recently gave me the advice that tea bag should be soaked in a little bit (barely enough to submerge the tea bag) of cold water for a couple of minutes.  Then hot water should be added to the cold to brew it.

The idea is that scalding hot water is hot enough to burn flavour compounds and pre-soaking protects against this.

I tried googling to no avail.  Does anyone have any references that prove/dis-prove this?


texts: What flavors work well within a splenda-sweetened strawberry-rhubarb cobbler?

texts: Cobbler filling is simple - strawberries, rhubarb, splenda (sucralose) and some orange zest. Are there any other spices or ingredients that would work well with the artificial sweetener and amplify or compliment the flavors?


texts: Can I use stainless steel scrub to clean regular dishes?

texts:
I know stainless steel scrubs are usually for cleaning tough spots out of stainless steel woks and pans. I use a regular kitchen sponge for my bowls and plates. However, sometimes the dishes get crusty, and a stainless steel scrub works best for getting those off.

My question: will this in any way damage the bowls and plates? These are regular, microwave-safe, dishwasher-safe porcelain dishes. Will the scrub scratch the surface, making it harmful to ingest from those dishes?


texts: When I'm cooking something, say boiling chicken in a pot or less commonly baking it, I may poke, shift, or stir it with a utensil while its cooking. Since it isn't completely cooked, my germaphobia dictates that I put it in the dishwasher and grab a fresh utensil each time, often using 3 or 4 forks during the process (I like to shift and break the meat apart as it cooks). Is this standard practice or is there there a way to use less utensils?


texts: How does roasting beef in a rotisserie compare to doing so in a regular oven?

texts:
When I prepare roast beef at home, it's never as good as the one prepared with a rotisserie.
What is the difference between a roast beef cooked in a rotisserie, and a regular oven?


texts: How can a Bavarian cream that includes orange juice thicken with so much liquid?

texts:
I found a recipe for an orange flavored Bavarian cream with the following directions.

Start with a crème anglaise by whisking egg yolks and sugar and then add boiling milk flavored with orange zest. Put the mixture back on the heat and -- here comes the fishy part -- add fresh orange juice and let everything thicken.

Then it continues to add softened gelatine, let cool and add whipped cream. But this makes sense.

How is a mixture so liquid supposed to thicken? Is this the right procedure to make a flavored Bavarian cream?


texts: How to prepare rice in a very real emergency - no boiling (no electricity or alternatives)?

texts:
Earthquakes and typhoons are as plentiful as rice where I live.

The power distribution system is incredibly sturdy here and power outages tend to be managed well, though they happen.

Many people keep a nice supply of rice on hand, but only have electricity for cooking and have no access to gas. For these people (me included) if there is an extended power outage, the main source for calories (rice) can not be cooked.

In the very unlikely situation where no way to boil water is available, is there any possible, known way one could prepare dried rice so that it could be safely eaten for its nutritional value?

note: I understand that one could build a fire, but really that's impractical in large apartment buildings.


texts: How to compensate for the unavailability of Italian basil in authentic Italian pasta sauce?

texts:
I'm making my own pasta sauce from fresh tomatoes but unfortunately Italian basil (ocimum basilicum pilosum) is not widely available in my country. Here are my options:

leave it out entirely (so the sauce will only contain garlic, onion, tomatoes, evoo and salt
replace with indian holy basil or tulsi (ocimum tenuiflorum) which is widely available - even have some in the garden
try to make up flavour with dried herbs (I only have oregano, sage, rosemary and thyme in my pantry) for this option can someone please recommended an appropriate flavour combination of these dried herbs for 2 pounds (1kg) of fresh tomatoes? E.g 1/2 tsp rosemary, 1/4 tsp thyme, 1/4 tsp sage, etc.  I'm not familiar with their flavours and don't know how to combine them properly
also have chilli flakes so could try making an arrabiatta (sp?) style sauce - does this require basil?


texts: Pickles (cucumbers) came out a little soggy after canning

texts: I was very excited to use my water bath for the first time, as so far I have only made refrigerator (cucumber) pickles. This was also the first time I did not use sugar in the brine (just wanted to see the taste difference) but they came out NOT as crispy as my refrigerator pickles. Is this because maybe the water was too hot in the water bath? I only left them in for 10 or 15 minutes. Or is this because I did not use sugar this time? Also is there anything I can do at this point? By that I mean can I add something like pickle crisp to the now opened jar or is it too late?


texts: Is it safe to eat cod that has a pink color?

texts:
I recently purchased cod from the market and it sat in my fridge for a couple days and i'm not sure if it was spoiled before i froze it.

I left it in the freezer for about two weeks. Yesterday, I started thawing the fish and it has a pink color to it.

What causes this and is it safe to eat ?

I've touched and it wasn't slimy and it smelled like fish without any stink to it.

I plan on cooking it on high heat (400F) and cooking it through

Update:
I updated and stated that i wasn't sure if it was spoiled before i froze it.


texts: What pickled yellow-green vegetable is this, in Chiu Chow Garden's appetizer?

texts:
From top to bottom: Top 1. 2.

I loved this appetizer of tofu cubes, peanuts, pickled radish and beans

3. 4. 5.
Is the  yellow-green vegetable  truly radish? What kind of radish? These pictures were taken at Chiu Chow Garden restaurant in Hong Kong that serves this appetizer.


texts: Why are egg yolks beaten in a bowl above a pot of hot water?

texts: Why would you beat egg yolks in a bowl above a pot full of hot water? I've seen this technique used in recipes on YouTube. Sometimes they add sugar. Does the heat help increase the volume or is it something else?


texts: I personally do not enjoy eating garlic, but some people in my family do. I really dislike the smell, and I care for them. I do not want to be rude, but if I can have some help on how to get rid of the smell, that would be great! Thanks!


texts: Rule of thumb for conventional oven baking vs. grilling kebabs (ground meat &

texts:
I am trying to cook two different ground meat as a kebab (I already had the preparation done for ground venison and ground lamb Adana kebabs). Most of the recipes I see online assumed grilling over charcoal, but since I am in an apartment in a city, I am trying to bake the kebabs using my conventional oven.
I wanted to see what the corresponding rule of thumb is for cooking time across different types of meat over a charcoal grill vs. a conventional oven:
i.e.,
                  Conventional Oven/Temperature     vs.          Charcoal grill

Time to cook:
Ground lamb
Ground venison
Ground beef
Lamb cubes
Beef Cubes
Chicken
etc.
I'd like to have some type of conversion between the conventional oven times vs. charcoal grill times. If there is a chart on how long to cook between a conventional oven vs. charcoal grill for different types of meat (as well as temperature setting), that would be great.


texts: Why is cutting in butter the right way to make pastry dough?


texts: It's football playoff time, and I have two racks of goat ribs. My cooking plan is to wrap the ribs in foil and broil them. Any recommendations about what to do with them first, and what to put in the foil with them?


texts: I made a chocolate cake batter last night to test for my sons birthday cake. I made a batch of cupcakes with it to test it and it came out dry. Now I’m not sure if it’s from over baking or something in the batter. Can I add anything to the left over batter at this point to save it?


texts: For a beef stock, why should I roast bones at 450?

texts: Everything in a beef stock seems to be about going slow and taking time.  When it comes to roasting the bones though, it seems that most people recommend roasting at a really high heat.  My instinct would be to roast them at a lower temperature to prevent burning.  Is the higher temperature just to save time, or is there another reason?


texts: Is it a problem that the same flipper that touched raw blood touches the finished meat?

texts: I noticed that when I was cooking stir fry, I used the same flipper throughout. This means when I put the meat in, the flipper came in contact with the uncooked meat and got some blood on it. Is this a problem considering it touches vegetables that go in much later? Should a different flipper be used half way through the cooking process?


texts: Are there any herbs similar to or anything i can substitute marjoram with?


texts: I cooked a 5lb chicken at 350 for 2 1/2 hours. When we cut one side it was nice n white with clear juices. The other side had a milky fluid in it. What is it, caused it, and is it safe to eat?


texts: What are mandrakes? Are they edible? How are they prepared?

texts:
Mandrakes (mandragora) are mentioned in the Bible as an aid to fertility (cf. Genesis 30:14), but what exactly are mandrakes? I hear they are poisonous, have narcotic properties, or aid with fertility.

Are they edible raw, cooked only (like rhubarb), or neither? If they are edible, does one eat their roots, leaves, or both?


texts: How can I reduce the heat output of this heating element?

texts:
I'd like to add a Brinkmann 1500 watt element to my Bradley smoker to bring my temps up in cold weather.

I'd like to limit the amount of heat it puts out, is there a voltage regulator or resistor I can use to drop the heat? Something variable maybe?


texts:
A few months ago I bought some ground rabbit.  I had sort of forgotten about it until the other day.  I've tried looking up recipes for ground rabbit, but all of the rabbit recipes I've found call for cubes or pieces. If I substitute ground rabbit in spaghetti sauce or chili, would it taste gamey (I know that's somewhat subjective but I haven't eaten rabbit since I was very small so I don't remember how gamey it was but it was a wild rabbit not one raised to be food)?  Would the spaghetti sauce or chili overpower the rabbit?

According to Rabbit Substitute?, rabbit is a gamier version of chicken. So, theoretically could I substitute ground rabbit where I might use ground chicken?  Could I also make rabbit burgers out of the ground rabbit or would that be too gamey (I sometimes make burgers using ground chicken, salsa, and shredded or crumbled cheese)?

This question Substitute rabbit in chicken recipes? sort of asks what I'm looking for, but there's no real answer.

I hope I'm not too off topic or asking a question that's not allowed.  I'm not looking for recipes, just options to substitute ground rabbit in recipes I already have.


texts: With the cookie baking season upon us I broke out the cookie cutters for sugar cookies, however almost all of them are pretty deformed or broken (from moving houses). I haven't bought any cutters in a long time and didn't realize how expensive they've gotten.  Are there any cheap ones out there that are worth buying or should I just wait until after Christmas, when they all go on sale? Or should i just use an empty tuna can and make a bunch of circles?


texts: How can I increase bifido bacterium strain density in kefir

texts:
Both water and milk kefir contain Bifido strains and I would like a way to increase the density of bifido strains.

If the variety of strains could also be increased, that would be a bonus.

Bifido is anaerobic and consumes oligosaccharides (I think), so could adding juiced chickpeas after initial fermentation has removed all the oxygen work?


texts: How can I rescue an undercooked pastry cream?

texts:
Yesterday I attempted to make pastry cream (my goal was to use it as a filling for creme puffs). After taking it off of the heat and letting it cool to room temperature I put in the refrigerator. That evening I checked on it to find that it is still very thin and liquid, I imagine that I had not cooked the egg yolks long/hot enough. For reference the recipe I used is this one, I followed the steps supplied to the letter with the one exception that I must have not cooked for long enough after returning the pan to the heat once all the ingredients had been combined.

Is there some way to salvage my pastry cream?

perhaps it may be a viable option to simply return it to a sauce pan and cook (with whisking) until thickened
perhaps there is some other dish I could make with the yet-unthickened custard (one where it is cooked in the oven maybe?)

Any advice on the above bullets, or novel ideas, are greatly appreciated.


texts: What is leftover in the pulp after making oat milk and how can you use it?

texts:
I've been making oat milk and looking for recipes which can utilise the pulp which is left after making the oat milk. I tried cookies and pancakes but they end up wet and soft.
Is this because all of the starch is taken out of the oats when they're mixed with water? Is the leftover pulp mainly just fibre with only a little bit of starch?
If I made flour with the leftover pulp after it has been dried, should it have to be treated differently from regular oat flour?


texts: Are there uses for sodium citrate other than with cheese?

texts:
I bought a tub of sodium citrate to use for this recipe. It's been in the cupboard a while and I've since discovered a mild allergy to dairy which means I won't be making it again any time soon.

Are there other things you can do with sodium citrate or am I better off giving it away?


texts: What happens if I wash my baker's couche?

texts:
I have heard from several sources (some of them including people from SA chat) to not wash a baker's couche. They do not need to be washed because generally they are dry and have nothing the bacteria can feed on/grow on.

Is the advice to not wash the couche due solely to the fact that it isn't necessary or is it also because it will degrade the couche somehow?

I had accidentally spilled apple juice on my bakers couche. My baker's couche is made out of untreated, unbleached flax linen. How would I clean my baker's couche without deteriorating it in anyway?


texts: What is the fatty tissue in beef/pork after it has been braised/stwed?

texts:
Perhaps this question has been asked before, but I am unable to find it. The closest I got was someone asking about chicken skin after frying.

When a piece of meat with large nuggets or fat attached is braised or boiled, the fat can be seen on the surface of the braising liquid.
When it has been cooked for long enough, no more oil/fat is being given off by the piece of meat, but the (often) whitish/yellow tissue remains.
It has a really soft and melty texture but doesn't really seem fatty.

I personally really like this. But what is it actually?
is it still fat? Is it healthy?


texts: Does Kombucha Tea spoil if left outside of refrigeration?

texts: I accidentally left an unopened bottle of GT Kombucha tea outside the refrigerator. Discovered it the next day... It was in my basement, thus cool and out of sunlight. No where on the bottle, could I find where it says to "keep refrigerated" OR "refrigerate after opening"--although it is refrigerated in the store. and this is also how I keep it.   Does anyone know if this bottle would still be safe to drink?  Especially if it tastes and smells normal?


texts:
Is it possible to freeze-dry fruit at home without expensive special equipment (or get the same dryness otherwise)? Especially I want to get the fruit to the crisp dryness1 of freeze-dried fruit compared to the still slightly damp / soggy dryness of hot-air dried fruit.

[Edit] Well, turns out, basically no. Freeze-drying not only involves the ability to freeze the food to low temperatures (which can be achieved), but also creating a low pressure environment and controlled heating of the the food in that environment (Not easily achievable or controllable at home). More info from Wikipedia

1. It should feel absolutely dry to the touch, and crumble / break when handled roughly rather than stretch / bend.


texts: How would I quickly defrost chicken if it's going to be cooked in a crock pot?

texts:
I've read that it is O.K. to defrost chicken via the microwave or in a sink of cold water, but only if you're planning to cook the chicken right away. (How to quickly and safely defrost chicken?)

I'm putting my chicken in a crock pot to cook it, would these methods still be safe, or is there another method to which I would go about this?

Thanks in advance for all suggestions! :)


texts: Can I heat and then cool Shiitake mushrooms, and eat cold one day later?

texts:
I want to cook them, then keep them in the fridge and eat them cold one day later.

I have heard of some mushrooms becoming poisonous one day after heating, and you cannot eat Shiitakes raw.

Will it be a problem to eat them cold?


texts:
Am very new to cooking and baking. Trying on homemade organic ones.. everytime I make jams, the taste differs in spite of using the same ingredients.. when I ask around everyone says that's what makes homemade food 'special'.. but to attain perfection, I feel that everytime I make the taste should be the same..
It would be great if anyone can guide me..


texts: Where can I buy a transparent frying pan?

texts: Where could I find a transparent frying pan?


texts: How long does it take to ripen tomatoes in a bag with bananas?

texts: I read a tip about putting unripe tomatoes in a bag with a few bananas, and keeping them in a dark part of the house at room temperature. How long, more or less, does it take for the tomatoes to become fully ripe? How can one be sure they are good?


texts: Are there any benefits in refrigerating stock before using it?

texts: I'm at the tail end of cooking a chicken stock and was planning to use a small portion of it in a marsala sauce later in the evening. Every chicken stock recipe I've read says to let the stock cool then refrigerate. To my understanding, this is not only to preserve the stock but also to allow it to become gelatinous? Will I lose out on any flavor by going directly from the pot and into the pan?


texts:
What is the best way to make oats with milk when there is no microwave available?
I am not sure how I can warm it up without either burning the milk or making it taste bad.


texts: "Banging" cookies half way through baking

texts:
So I found a recipe for cookies which calls to "Bake the cookies for 10 mins, taking the tray out halfway through and banging sharply on a work surface covered with a couple of tea towels - this dispels the air, making lovely squidgy cookies." (Source)

Is this sound advice?


texts: Is using treated wood safe for smoking meat?

texts: I have some broken hickory drum sticks that I was going to throw out; but could these be useful for smoking meat? I would assume the wood is treated.


texts: What is the texture of grilled swordfish?

texts:
Purchased and grilled swordfish steaks, as usual, but the texture was very gelatinous(squishy) and raw feeling, though the color was opaque after cooking. Taste was bland and rubbery. The fish was marked Fresh, as opposed to the usual "previously frozen"
What is wrong?


texts:
Apparently keeping coffee hot and reheating it both lead to bad flavors:

How can I reheat coffee without imparting bad flavor?

Why does coffee taste awful after reheating it in a microwave oven?

However, can you cold-brew coffee and then heat it (microwave or other) without ruining the flavors?  If so, why?


texts: How can I avoid windswept muffins in a convection oven?

texts: I have a very small multi-function oven (about the size of a microwave) and for baking, the recommended setting is the "convection" one.  Things bake fine in terms of taste, but muffins and cupcakes often get a sort of windswept look.  The fan has clearly blown them into a lopsided shape while they're rising, but before they've set.  With cupcakes, it's easy enough to trim them and hide it with icing, but not for muffins.  Is there any way to avoid this effect, other than trying to bake them on a setting without the convection fan?  Does this happen in larger convection ovens as well or is it just because mine is so small?


texts: I like to use green finger chillies in my curries more for the flavour than for the heat, but in order for me to be able to cook out the rawness of the chillies, I end up with the chillies all "melted" in the pan, looking more like leaves, i.e they lose shape. I was wondering if there are any tricks to make fresh chilli less hot and thus needing less cooking time in order for the chilli to be less picquant.


texts: Questions about a recently purchased wok

texts:
Recently I purchased a wok from a shop without asking too many questions. They mentioned that it needed to be seasoned, and I assuming, but not convinced, that this is a carbon steel wok.

My first questions is to get some information about the material of the wok. As can be seen from the images the material on the inside surface of the wok has these cracked ridges and is not the polished steel that I would have expected. The outside of the wok seems to be a different material, or perhaps is the same but just polished?

The second question is on the proper method to season a wok of this material?

Wok pics


texts: Using low oven temperature to accelerate proofing

texts: During wintertime it is often cold enough in my apartment that proofing takes much longer than in summer. I'd like to use my oven to create a warmer environment, in which the dough would rise faster. I can go 30-50 degrees celsius, the question is what temperature is safe and at what temperature will I actually start baking the dough. Is 50 degrees celsius still ok or not?


texts: Which meringue is safe to eat without baking?

texts:
I recently got my meringue game down and though I wouldn’t eat French meringue without baking it, I’ve seen numerous videos where it’s said that Swiss meringue is delicious straight out of the double boiler. I’ve not seen the same about Italian, but I thought that is cooked in the bowl, too?
So which meringue is safe to eat direct from the bowl?


texts: reheating improperly stored pasta sauce and meatballs

texts: My meatballs and pasta sauce were left out in 55F temps for 18 hours. I'm guessing I should toss the homemade meatballs with commercial pasta sauce? They were thoroughly cooked, then covered to cool before refrigeration. It didn't make it to the fridge, sadly. Can I re-heat to temps above 175F to salvage the food?


texts: if you put a dead animal in the freezer, wrapped in a plastice bag, lay the dead animal on top of the other

texts:
if you put a dead animal in the freezer, wrapped in a plastic bag, lay the dead animal on top of the other food in the freezer, can the smell of the dead animal contaminate the other food in the freezer just from the odor?
please help me!


texts: Frozen chicken vs thawed chicken in the crockpot

texts: I was wondering- if the recipe calls for  frozen chicken and to took for 6-7 hours but I use thawed chicken instead do I cook it for less time? Thanks!


texts:
I am fast going barmy trying to find someone who remembers the Hull Hotcake recipe. This hot cake was very very popular over generations through to the 1960's then seems to have disappeared.

It was a fairly flat, doughy bread with a thin, crusty surface. Beautiful with crispy bacon or sausage inside.

Anybody out there remember the recipe? This is unique to the Hull (UK) area. Surely I am not the last person left standing who remembers the Hull Hotcake!


texts: What is the difference between instant and filter coffee?

texts:
http://www.brucoffee.in/OurCoffees.aspx

They have labeled their coffee's as instant and filter.
What would be the difference between them? Why should I choose one over the other?


texts: I've been going to this indian restaurant that makes this fantastic onion salad, which is essentially small cuts of white and red onion, cucumber, tomato, garnished with mint leaves, coriander leaves and a pinch of garam masala. I tried to make it at home and the results are astoundingly different. They get wet, soft and slightly bitter; whereas the restaurant tastes sweeter, has a bit of a bite and it is dry-ish. Any idea how restaurants make the salad so tasty?


texts: Why didn't my crumpets cook in the middle?

texts:
I tried to make crumpets today, first time I've used yeast so didn't really know what to expect.

The recipe I followed was:

450g plain flour
1tsp caster sugar
14g instant yeast
350ml skimmed milk
350ml cold water
1tsp salt
½tsp bicarbonate of soda

Basic Instructions:

combine flour + sugar + yeast
warm milk to ~37°C, combine with water
beat watery milk into flour/sugar/water
prove for 2h
beat in salt & bicarb
rest for 10m
cook on pan in crumpet rings

They looked great in the pan, holes formed on the top and they looked like crumpets; they didn't rise, but I'm not sure if they should've done anyway.

The problem is that even after 15 minutes in the pan, the middle was still gooey - completely uncooked. I tried a couple of batches, experimenting with temperature, but I couldn't get a successful crumpet out of it.

The recipe noted the batter would "Double in size and drop back down". While it did double in size and begin to drop down, it did not return to its original volume until I had removed the cling film and beaten in the salt and bicarb. Could this be a sign that I did not prove for long enough, or my kitchen was a bit cool for the proving? That is the only idea I had as to why things didn't work out.

Any and all insight would be appreciated.


texts:
I've cooked maybe a dozen times with my flat-bottom wok (carbon steel, uncoated).  A layer of ‘tar’ has developed in the bottom, which I've been unable to clean out. The ‘tar’ doesn't seem to affect flavor, but recently when I cooked tofu for the first time I saw unsightly black flakes on the tofu.

What can I do short of scraping? Can I loosen the ‘tar’ by boiling water in the wok?  Or should I just live with it?

Next day: I woke up late and found that the elves had taken off most of the ‘tar’ with oil, kosher salt and paper towels. Now for the boiling water.


texts: How to know what light soy sauce had higher quality?

texts:
My local asian market features two brands of soy sauce.

Lee Kum Kee (LKK) Premium Light Soy Sauce (李錦記鮮味生抽):
Water, Salt, Soy Bean (11%), Sugar, Wheat Flour, Flavour Enhancers (E631, E627).

Pearl River Bridge (PRB) Superior Light Soy Sauce (珠江生抽):
Water, Soy Bean (29%), Salt, Wheat Flour, Preservative (Potassium Sorbate (E202)).

Is it possible to know what soy sauce has a higher quality by looking at
ingredients list?
Can be a higher percentage of soybean a indicator of high quality?


texts:
Can I use an edible food painting pen to decorate shortbread biscuits or can it only be used on icing?

Thanks


texts: How to extend holding time for poached eggs?

texts:
I would like to bring eggs Florentine for a potluck. I usually make them for myself Sunday mornings, but usually I strain the egg fresh from the pot to the muffin.

Is there any way to do this for a potluck with, say, a dozen eggs or more, where I won't have access to goodies to do this live?


texts: Can alcohol extraction be used to draw more of the spice flavors out in chai tea concentrate?

texts:
I make chai concentrate by:

Quickly boiling ginger puree twice (each time for about 20-30 minutes).
Boiling the spices (bruised/coarse-ground) for about an hour, removing the liquid, then repeating with fresh water several times.
Concentrating the result of the spice steeping by simmering it uncovered for several hours.
Brewing the tea seperately (two steepings of no more than 5 minutes, allowing the leaves to rest in between infusions).

To clarify exactly what I'm asking:

Could I add grain alcohol (Everclear, etc) to the spices during the last steeping to pull more flavor out of the spices after they have already been infused with water several times; or would it make more sense to just do a separate alcohol extraction, then add it back to the finished product?

I've read that much of the flavor in spices cannot be extracted with water, and must be extracted using a stronger solvent. I don't want to just drop alcohol extractions into my water and call it chai though, so I thought it might work as a final step to squeeze the last of the flavor from the spices.
It seems that I never get as much flavor as traditional brewers who use milk at the beginning (likely due to enzymes in the milk was my assumption) so I thought I could science a way to do the same without adding the milk to the equation since milk is obviously not stable enough to store for long periods of time


texts: How to make softer frozen whipped cream?

texts:
I recently found out that a few decades ago frozen whipped cream was a thing and my mom liked it. It was similar to normal whipped cream only a bit harder frozen (but still softer than ice cream) and could last for ages in the freezer.

Now I tried to make some for her and it was good, however mine is always too hard while frozen compared to what she loved. When it warms up it is fine and personally I don't find it too hard but whatever.

The process I use is simple, mix cream (36%), some sugar and vanilla extract whip until done and either freeze in one piece or in smaller ones.

Any ideas how to make it softer while frozen and ideally hard when it thaws? I've thought about adding some milk (it's to late to buy one with less fat) to reduce the fat content or not whipping it as much. Do you think any would work and if so which would you recommend?


texts: What can I use in place of sherry in a recipe with king prawns, garlic and paprika?

texts:
I'm going to try out a recipe containing prawns for the first time. The recipe includes sherry, but I don't want to purchase a bottle of sherry as I don't drink and don't use it for cooking so I fear it will go to waste. What could I use in its place?

The recipe also calls for paprika, chilli flakes, garlic, tomatoes, breadcrumbs, red onion and parsley.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions :-)


texts: Can sauerkraut be prepared with open lid?

texts:
If the cabbage is successfully kept with weight, under the brine, all the time.

I use a glass paper weight as weight. Can mold also form on the weight, on the portion which remain above the brine while using a closed lid or an open lid?

Thanks.


texts: Red/Brown color on some Shiitake Mushrooms

texts:
These mushrooms have been in the fridge for two weeks (sealed by wrap)

Are they bad already? what cause the red/brown color(only under it, not on top)?

Thank you.


texts:
When making a pie, you almost always have to make holes in the dough with a fork. This is called docking.

What is the exact reason for doing this? Are there kinds of pastry (puff, short crust, flaky) where this isn't necessary? Do you only need to do it when blind-baking? When you're using baking weights, does it still make a difference?


texts: Homemade coconut milk separates into different layers after a day in the fridge

texts: I made some coconut milk. After a day in the fridge there was two layers of liquid in the jar, coconut water and solid coconut which I found out afterwards that it is called coconut butter! When I stir them together to  have my coconut milk back, it didn't work. Is there a way to prevent this? If not, is there a way to have coconut milk again?


texts: Why would the exterior of a cake cook and not the interior?

texts: I attempted to make the blueberry corn cake from "All About Cake" by Christina Tosi, and for both layers, the top of the cake got rock solid and started to collapse down, but the inside of the cake was goo - barely cooked. I'm pretty sure I followed the recipe, and have never seen anything like this happen to a cake before. Fellow baker family members are stumped - any ideas what might have happened?


texts: How to efficiently separate bad from good pomegranate arils?

texts:
I've read about various techniques to get arils out of a pomegranate, including from this StackExchange site ( e.g. how to peel a pomegranate efficiently? ), but a problem that continues to vex me is the "bad" arils: those that are mushy and turning various shades of brown, and are unappealing both visually and to taste. I find them in nearly every pomegranate I take apart - it's been truly rare that I've ever taken apart a pomegranate without at least a few of them.

Is there any efficient way to separate these bad arils from the good? They appear to sink in water along with the good arils, so floatation-based separation in water doesn't seem to work, unlike with the pith.

In the absence of any better technique, I've just been separating by visual discrimination, which adds to the tedium of the aril extraction, and certainly doesn't feel efficient.


texts:
I know of this grater via German cooking, but it may NOT be specific to Germany.  Regardless, I am trying to determine the name of this kind of grater so I can purchase one.  The grater is actually raised up on the side you rub the potato on, exactly like I have nutmeg graters.

Here are some pictures.

Can anyone tell me the name of tis grater?  Bonus if you can point me to a website that sells them.

Thanks


texts: Olive wood cooking utensils: Seasoning, care, and maintenance?

texts:
I just got my dear one a nice olive wood ladle a week or so ago. It's sitting out still since I would like to know what steps I should take in regard to seasoning (first (few) time(s) of use), care (treatment after each use), and maintenance (what to do down the line).

There's a really great discussion at: What is the best material for a cooking spoon?

However, we've already got the spoon. So, with some questions inspired by the one linked above, and some of my own:

How might I detect varnish? Or is it just assumed to be present? If it is present, how might I diminish its ingestion?
Are there other steps to seasoning this type of spoon?
We use very mild/gentle (and non-toxic) [Planet Brand] dish soap/detergent 99.9% of the time. I'm certainly not going to put this in the dishwasher, but is there anything to watch out for when washing/drying? (i.e. should I not use super hot water, is olive sensitive to sit drying, etc.)
Is there an upper temperature limit or hot surface type that should be avoided in cooking?
Should it be maintained by say rubbing it down with some type of oil once in a while?
Note: This is our first olive wood utensil, and the grain appears not to be ideal, regarding knots and possibly a propensity for cracking at a couple places. This may be normal from reading the linked question above, however it may merit different treatment, I don't know.


texts:
My wife just bought this pan and I noticed this weird dark/black spot in the center with a bit of a swirl around it (never mind the brownish tint, this is due to my flax oil seasoning).
I don't care much about the looks, I'm just worried this might be unhealthy to cook in. Does anyone know what that might be?


texts: I saw a great recipe for Beef Wellington on Serious Eats that I'm eager to try. However, my roommate does not eat mushrooms (both because he dislikes the flavor and because he had a bad experience as a child, so "hidden mushrooms" are out too). I worry that omitting them would defeat most of the purpose of the dish. Is there anything that could be used in their place to give a similar flavor?


texts: Is there a difference between US Worcestershire sauce and UK Worcestershire sauce?

texts:
I recently bought a Worcestershire sauce from Costco called Lea & Perrins. They claim to be the authentic version of Worcestershire sauce. However I have read comments online that indicate that it is a knockoff or a fake version of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce from the UK.

Within the comments most people say that the difference between the two is that the US version uses distilled white vinegar as the main ingredient whereas the UK version uses distilled malt vinegar. Is there really a difference between the two?


texts: Techniques for mixing bread dough with stand mixer

texts:
Can anyone tell me what the best technique is for using a stand mixer to make bread dough?

I just got a stand mixer with a dough hook and have started using it for mixing and kneading bread dough. It seems that I have to add more flour than I would expect to get it to "pull away from the sides of the bowl".

What should I expect at the different stages?  What determines how long should I mix/knead, is there a simple set time?


texts: How tight should the lid be when braising?

texts:
Much of the braising guidance I've read emphasizes the importance of a tight-fitting lid.  For example, in All About Braising, pp. 18-19, Molly Stevens provides instructions for sealing a braising pot with parchment paper.  The goal is to reinforce the seal since "much of the success of braising depends on trapping moisture in the pot."

On the other hand, Harold McGee, in his "Guidelines for Succulent Braises and Stews," advises braising with "the pot lid ajar to allow some evaporation" (On Food and Cooking, p. 163).  J. Kenji López-Alt, in his Food Lab article on Great Chile Verde Without Hatch Chiles, notes that a pot with its lid left slightly ajar "stays a good 20°F lower, keeping the meat inside at a temperature far closer to the ideal."

How do I make sense of this seemingly contradictory advice?


texts: I used a Brillo pad on my cast iron skillet. It is seasoned, not enameled. I want to know if this could damage my cast iron skillet. Also can it be fixed?


texts: Is MSG necessary or what to replace it with?

texts: I have always heard that you should stay away MSG. For example when buying bouillon crystals we should always make sure that it doesn't contain MSG. Yet I came across this recipe for spinach soup that calls for 1/2 teaspoon of MSG. This got me wondering are there any pros to MSG. Should we stay away from it or should we incorporate it into our diet and if so should we limit how much we ingest? If it is 'bad' then is there something I can replace it with when a recipe calls for it?


texts: Anything wrong with this chicken/can undercooked chicken be white inside?

texts:
I was trying to fry some chicken without getting the outside to crust and so fried on lower than usual heat. Please see pics of the meat.

I am concerned the chicken may not have cooked properly however as you can see from the pics it is white and when eating they were all white inside.  I know a thermometer is the best way to know however it's too late now and I'm just wondering if it's white does that mean its done or could it still be under cooked?
In other questions, I was trying to cook meat well done without letting a crust develop on the outside.  People here told me this couldn't be done and cooking any meats well done would lead to a crust being formed on the surface of the meat.  In this chicken I coooked, it did all come out white and the surface was soft and easy to eat, it was not crusty or hard.  however in the last pic you can see the texture of the surface is different from the inside.  Would you regrd this as a crusty surface as was referred to others in previous questions or not?
Bearing in mind the surface is not crusty and it was cooked on a low heat, are you able to tell any mistakes/anything else from the pictures? It may be the rice I mixed it with, however unless I am mistake the chicken did feel a bit watery.


texts: Can I replace treacle with molasses in my fruit cake?

texts: I would like to know if replacing treacle with molasses in my fruit cakes will change the texture of the cake and how much molasses can I use in a 2.5 kg. of baked cake?


texts:
I like to make homemade butter from cream using a churn, but it's super super stiff and I can't spread it on food without ripping it apart. Is there something I can add to make it softer?

I tried leaving it out in a butter try, but it starts to grow mold in a day or two.


texts:
I have to cook for 60 people, and one of the things I am going to make is (japanese) rice. Normally I cook it in a rice cooker, or in a pan with an amount of water and let it cook until the water has 'dried up'.
Can I use the same way of cooking rice for 60 people? (Say I have 6 kilos rice that needs to be cooked) how much longer is it going to take me to cook rice this way? What can go wrong? Can I just leave it in the pan until its done, or do I need to stir it because of the big amount?


texts: Why does pressure cooking of chicken eggs make eggs easier to peel?

texts:
In an experiment, I cooked a 12 organic chicken eggs from the same batch:

A) 6 in boiling water and

B) 6 in a pressure cooker:

6 eggs in a basket which is on a tripod inside the cooker
5 minutes in hot steam at 117 °C
waited 5 minutes to cool down until the pressure was at room level
alternatively I cooled the cooker with cold water from outside until the pressure was gone.

In both experiments the eggs were put in the cold cooker without a hole in the shell. The eggs were put in a bowl with cold water in the end.

I found that the shell and membrane of the pressure-cooked eggs were a lot easier to remove. (The eggs also seemed to taste fresher and more intense.) I could not find a reason or explanation. I have repeated this since 2016 once a week.

The effect is remarkable, because organic eggs are often much more difficult to peel than factory farming eggs.

Is there an explanation for the pressure-cooked eggs being easier to peel?

I would like to see reliable sources (e.g. papers or other trustworthy publications), not just personal opinions.


texts:
What do you need to make Irish cream in a more professional way that lasts for a long time without going bad like baileys.

Do you have to use a homogenizer, and is there alternatives so it doesn't curdle?
Should E471 emulsifier and E331 Acidity Regulator be used, or anything similar, and if so how are they used and mixed?
There are so many recipes with minor differences what is the best one. For instance some recipes use condensed milk and other recipes only heavy cream.

To sum up: How can you make it last longer and not curdle or separate.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What can I do to help my avocados ripen?
  How can I choose good avocados at the supermarket?

I live in the UK and have a difficult time getting hold of good avocados.

They are generally of two types in the shop, hard and tasteless or soft and brown. I sometimes try to buy the hard type, after a while sometimes they are good, sometimes they seem not to ripen and others they are rotten by the time they are soft.

They are not cheap either getting on for a £1 each.

I would really like to know:

How to choose good ones from the shop? Are there types which ripen well, does the shape or color help determine what will ripen well.
How to store while at home? I tend to put in the fruit bowl with Bananas should they be warm or cold in the dark or the light.
Are there good stores in the UK for buying them from (possibly too localized|localised?)


texts: Making gravy without drippings or butter?

texts:
Long story short: I made a bunch of meatloaf and I forgot to buy butter. I need to make gravy.

The way I usually make gravy is to melt some butter, to supplement whatever drippings I have, make a roux and add some broth – chicken or beef, depending on what the gravy is to be served with – to get to the desired viscosity.

But I forgot to buy enough butter. Can I use olive oil? Is there another way to make gravy from scratch without drippings?


texts: I'v been given some prawns from parents where they bought in bulk. The prawns leak a blue dye? Does anyone know if this is normal?


texts:
I've been having amateur pastry classes and one of the things we've done is Italian meringue.
However, I found the result to be overly sweet.

I am much more familiar with French and Swiss meringues, for which I've had good results with various reduced sugar:egg white ratios.
Egg whites can be whipped with no sugar at all, so it should come as no surprise that French meringue can be made with very low ratios.
Most Swiss meringue recipes I see hover around 2:1, but I've made 1:1 meringues that still had that smooth, silky texture.

The recipe for Italian meringue we used had a 2:1:0.8 ratio of sugar:egg white:water.
I understand that Italian is the most stable of all meringues, but how can I tweak these ratios to obtain a meringue that is less sweet but still stable?
Should I drop the sugar and water proportionally when cooking the syrup?
Should I just cut back on the sugar?


texts: Can I always use butter instead of margarine when baking?

texts: Some recipes says use butter or margarine, some say use butter and some say use margarine. My question is, can I always use butter or does margarine have some property that butter doesn't when baking?


texts: Is there a drink that's analogous to coffee but made with cocoa beans?

texts:
Is there a drink out there that is made identically to coffee except with cocoa beans?

I would be interested in finding either a drink with the exact roasting process or a drink brewed with ground cocoa beans. I've heard of something called "choffee" - how does that fit in?


texts: Are non-brisket cuts suitable for corned beef?

texts:
I was about to make corned beef brisket again, but I just realized that perhaps brisket is traditionally used only because it used to be the cheapest cut available.
Eye of round for instance is currently half the price of brisket, but it has far less fat and that might significantly change the resulting product.
I'd hate to waste it experimenting, so how should I expect the result to compare with brisket if other cuts are used instead?


texts:
I have a technique when cooking omlettes where you only cook them on one side, and gather up the edges - but let the cheese accumulate in the soft centre.

Friends have suggested several names for this:

scramelette
sunny side up omelette
soft-centred omelette

The thought occurs that there must be a canonical name - which I'd like to know so I can order it at a restaurant.

My question is: What is the term for 'sunny side up' omelette?


texts: How Long Can I Store Seasoned, Vacuum Sealed Chicken

texts:
I'm trying to optimize making food for the week and one of the things I want to do is season chicken breast with salt/pepper/herbs/etc in advance and vacuum seal them individually so I can just drop them into a sous vide water bath and cook them on demand.

So, my question: how long can I store chicken (or steak) vacuum sealed after seasoning it, but before cooking it?  Or is it better to just cook the meat all at once and store it for the week in a cooked state and then reheat as needed.


texts: How do i stop small bits of cabbage from floating past my weight to the surface of sauerkraut brine?

texts: How do i stop small bits of cabbage from floating past my weight to the surface of the sauerkraut brine? it's the 3rd day of ferment and i'm using a Ball Spring weight with a fermentation lid. I tried putting parchment paper under the weight and that did not work at all, it just stirred up more bits to float


texts: Does adding olive oil in pasta while boiling make it sticky?

texts: I am planning to make a pasta dish and would like to know if adding 1Tb spoon of olive oil while boiling 500 gram of pasta make it sticky. What are the other advantages and disadvantages of this approach?


texts:
Whilst staying with a friend who lives somewhere with very hard water, we got used to making tea with bottled, still, water as the tap water was too hard to make a good cuppa.

One day, we ran out of still water, but had some bottles of carbonated water.

Having previously ruined a kettle when I was a kid with the 'genius' idea of boiling milk in there I was reluctant to risk ruining his kettle to see if you could make tea using the carbonated water.  Once bitten, twice shy as they say.

So would this have worked out ok? ie would anything have been damaged?  would boiling water have spurted out of the kettle?

And could I have made a good cuppa from carbonated water, or would it have worked but tasted terrible (no dissolved oxygen?)?


texts:
I am working on a zoo themed cake for a 2 year old. I have made all the animals and added a piece of spaghetti through the body and attached the head on it to keep everything edible on the cake as its a kids' cake. I do not want to add toothpicks or wires as they are not edible. I now want to make a palm tree (about 10-15 cm). I have been looking on the web and all the tutorials ask for wires or dowels for support.

Can someone please suggest what else could I use as an edible support to make a fondant palm tree?

P.S. It could also be used as a support for other tall fondant figurines.


texts: Can fresh basil cause tomato sauce spoilage?

texts: I added fresh basil to tomato sauce once it was bottled, just before sealing. Never done this before and I lost the whole batch within 2 weeks. Can fresh basil cause fermentation to continue? Should the basil have been cooked into the sauce before bottling?


texts: How to fry Rösti so that it stays together?

texts:
I have been trying to prepare rösti a number of times these last few weeks with meager results. I have tried both making fresh rösti from grated potatoes and using vacuumed ready-to-fry rösti from the supermarkert.

Grating potatoes myself took a lot of time and yielded the worst results, so I will describe my issue based on the slightly better experience I had with processed mixes (according to the package those only contain potatoes and vegetable oil).

The rösti tends to stay too fluffy, and when pressed with a spatula (tried metal, plastic, and wood) constantly sticks to it - so that I cannot compact the mixture well.
The lower layer of the rösti became somewhat robust a couple of times, but trying to lift it from the pan to turn it around always broke the rösti into bits.
I can't seem to find an optimal ammount of pressing the rösti together: press too much and the rösti sticks to my spatula as well as to the bottom of the pan, press it too little and it doesn't clunk together well.

I am sure at least my "sticking" problems could be diminished by more advanced kitchen utensils (not that mine are bad, but they are definitely not chef-grade ^^), still, seeing as this is a traditional dish which peasants likely prepared in iron pans, I would expect it to be comparably easy to omelettes. What am I missing? And no, oiling the pan better doesn't help, the oil just gets absorbed by the rösti and makes them fattier.


texts: What is the purpose of this footed glassware with a large round bowl and a decorative handle?

texts:
I inherited a very large collection of glassware, most of it I recognised, some very esoteric (specific vessels for specific kinds of alcohol etc). I've been able to identify and understand the intended purpose of every piece except for a set of four unusual glass cups/bowls.

For perspective: A tennis ball would fit snugly inside.

The small glass spiral on the side does not feel strong enough to be used as a handle even when the vessel is empty so I was wondering if it was perhaps intended to hold some kind of spoon or something. Maybe entirely decorative?

Any information on what this is or what it's for would be greatly appreciated.


texts: Jicama moldy on the outside but white inside, is this safe to eat?

texts:
My jicama has mold on the outside.
If I cut off the outside part, the inside part looks okay.

Can I still eat it?


texts: What is the name of the Chinese dish from the movie "Girl with a Pearl Earring"?

texts:
In the movie "Girl with a Pearl Earring" there's a Chinese piece of tableware, presented on the image below (center of the image, blurred):

What's the name of this dish?
What has it been used for?

It's a screen shot taken from a DVD release, hence the quality.


texts: How long will grease (from bacon or roast) keep in the fridge?

texts:
I kept all of the bacon grease from making bacon this weekend, and now I have a jar of solidified grease in the fridge. How long can I use this to impart bacony goodness to my fried vegetables before it goes bad?

What is the shelf life of the fat drippings from bacon, roast and other meats?


texts: Can I mix all-purpose flour with high-gluten flour to make bread flour?

texts:
Basically of the opposite of this question.

I'm writing during the 2020 pandemic, and bread flour is sold out everywhere because everyone (including me) is entertaining themselves at home by making bread. I did manage to find "high-gluten flour", which according to Epicurious seems to be more or less the same as bread flour but with a higher protein content:

  Unbleached all-purpose has the lowest amount of protein, usually around 10.5%. Bread flour contains about 12 to 12.7%. High-gluten and whole-wheat flours have about 14% protein.

My recipe calls for white bread flour. (I'm making sourdough at 80% hydration, in case it matters.) Can I get there by mixing this high-gluten flour with AP flour? What proportions should I use? Any pitfalls I should be aware of?


texts: How does the baking time change if I scale up a cake recipe?

texts:
I have recipes for chocolate cake, Maderia cake, lemon drizzle and champagne cake.

I want to increase the ingredients to make a bigger cake. Do I still use the same baking time and temperature?


texts: Should I rinse the flax seeds after soaking them when making flax milk?

texts:
I started making my own non-dairy milk.

Having looked at multiple recipes, I saw that some call for soaking the flax seeds before processing them to make milk.

My questions regarding making flax milk are:

Should I soak the flax seeds before processing? If so, why?
If I should soak the flax seeds, should I rinse them (which removes
the jelly water)?


texts: Sauté meat then vegatables, or vegetables then meat?

texts:
Most Joy of Cooking recipes call for browning of meat, then removing the meat, and sautéing vegetables, until they're soft, though occasionally it's the reverse.

Does it make a difference? If so, what is it? What is the preferred order for a "new" recipe?


texts: I put a crumble on my blueberry as recipe called for, why did they caved in?  Could it be the altitude?


texts: Controlling variables in homemade yogurt

texts:
Making yogurt at home is a fairly straight-forward process.  Heat milk to 180F (82C), cool that milk to at least 110F (43C), add live cultures, usually in the form of yogurt with said cultures, incubate, then chill.

There are several variables in the process, some of which are: The fat content of the milk (I typically use whole), how long to hold the milk during the initial heat step, how long it takes to cool the milk, the temperature of the incubation step, and the length of time for incubation, to name a few.

While length of time for incubation, and temperature at this stage, clearly contribute to sourness, I am trying to nail down the variable that contributes to a creamy texture.  I'm not referring to breaking or clumping, as described in Why isn't my homemade yogurt smooth?.  My yogurt comes out smooth.

My initial hypothesis is that holding the milk for a length of time at the initial 180F(82C) (rather than immediately removing from heat and/or chilling) has an impact on final texture. Any thoughts or experience that might inform my hypothesis?


texts:
I need help!  I go out to restaurants and I can order absolutely succulent, crispy, crunchy, melt in your mouth brussel sprouts and I am completely incapable of reproducing them at home.  I have tried to cook them just about every way I know how...I cut the bottoms off, remove any loose leaves, cut them in half lengthwise, toss them in light olive oil, sprinkle with salt and then roast in the oven at a lower temperature for a longer period of time (like 325 degree F for 45 minutes) or roast at a higher temperature for a shorter amount of time (425 or even 480 degree F for ~30 minutes or less), roasted them cut side down and up, preheated the pan and not, I have broiled them at the top of my oven, sauteed them in a pan on the stove, I have even deep fried them and tried shaving them and I can NEVER get them crispy.  I always end up with overcooked, soggy brussel sprouts and tossing them in a balsamic glaze (or something similar) always makes it even more soggy.

Please show me the light and give me the run down on how to make the best, crispy and flavorful brussel sprouts.  Do I need to use small brussel sprouts over larger ones?  Toss them in a different oil (perhaps canola)?  Or perhaps just spray with oil to avoid putting too much oil on them?  Do I need to pull apart the leaves to separate them before tossing with oil?  Is oven roasting the way to go?  If so, how hot and for how long?  What internal temperature should the brussel sprouts be when I take them out so that they are not overcooked inside?  Do I toss them in the oil and balsamic glaze first and then roast?  Or oil first, then roast, then balsamic glaze and maybe broil to warm up the glaze and re-crisp?  I need all the steps...no detail is too little!  Help please!

Thank you,
Michelle


texts: How to add flavour coating to gelatine or starch capsules?

texts:
I have gelatine and starch capsules of differing colours and sizes that I use for supplements and the like. In some cases, I would like to coat the capsules with differing flavours! A sort of sensory auto-suggestion before a workout, so to speak.

So how would I add flavour coating to gelatine or starch capsules?


texts: our house have a built-in oven that hasn't been used since we moved in (a year and half ago). I think the owner didn't clean before we move in. Do you think I can still use it? will it be safe? should I be worry of food poisoning if I use it? How can I check if there is insect or something nesting in it. Thanks in advance


texts: stand mixer - reasons to go with a higher wattage vs lower wattage mixer

texts:
Not sure if it's ok to mention specific brands or not, so I won't. But I'd like to pick up a stand mixer and the two models i'm considering have either a 325 or 575 watt motor and 5 or 6qts respectively.

I've never been a big baker but I want to start baking, as well as making pasta. I'm assuming the only reason to get the more powerful motor is it would have an easier time mixing up a bigger/heavier/denser batch of dough vs the smaller motor? On the flip side, i'm guessing the bigger capacity model would be less efficient at mixing up a smaller batch?

How big of a batch of pasta dough (in terms of number of portions) would each one be likely to handle? Or what about baking bread? How many average sized loafs would each one be likely to handle at one time?

I'm leaning towards the smaller one because I don't think i'll be making huge batches of anything, and i like the way the bowl loads in the smaller vs the larger (tilt vs lift). The price difference between the two isn't huge, so I'm mainly just interested in picking the one that I'll get the best use of.

thanks


texts: Which pepper is typically part of salt and pepper?

texts:
When people add salt and pepper to say chips, which pepper is it typically?

I had chicken and chips recently with pepper and it was black colour bits, would it have been black pepper?


texts:
I am trying to increase the level of caffeine in everyday tea to 150mg. I am using powder caffeine with L-theane. The powdered caffeine is obviously very bitter how do I mask the taste without adding fruity style flavours
Scott


texts: Pork chops: low and slow or high and fast?

texts: How hot/long should I bake my porkchops (bone-in)? I've done a bit of google searching and have gotten mixed results. Is it better to do the low temp slow baking or high temperature but quick? Why?


texts: Possible to cook chestnuts on a wood burning stove?

texts: I know that if you have the right kind of device you are supposed to roast them over the open flame in the fire.  Unfortunately I don't have one of those, so I'm curious if I can throw them in a pan, set them on top of my wood burning stove and just stir them every once and a while. If so, can anyone suggest how hot I should get my stove and how long I should cook them?


texts: Potato and Macaroni Salads soak up all the mayo when I store them

texts:
When I make either potato or macaroni salad, I always have a problem the next day with the salad soaking up the mayo so it looks like there was no mayo added.  I DO feel that I add a good amount of mayo.

I don't add a lot of ingredients, just a little salt and black pepper, chopped onion and celery and maybe a little parsley, never any eggs or mustard.  I don't know what I'm doing wrong because I always let the potatoes cool before making the salad, and I always rinse my pasta in cold water after cooking and let drain for a while before mixing.

A deli near me makes potato salad and I'll have it for days and it will still look like it was just mixed with mayo; the potatoes in their salad (macaroni too) never absorb the mayo.  Does anyone have a remedy to this problem?


texts: What is a good online resource for purchasing high quality sea salt?

texts: I would like to purchase some very nice sea salts. There are many sources available online but it is hard to tell what their quality and reputation is. What is the most comprehensive online shop for purchasing sea salt?


texts: How long do I have to submerge an egg in a specific temperature water to boil it?

texts:
Living in a dorm, I am severely limited by my cooking options. I have a non-microwave safe bowl, which I'm using for the noodle soup (that will be accompanied by said egg), and a highball glass.

There's a water dispenser which pours out hot water of exactly 70 degree C. If I fill up the glass with that, then after putting the egg in that glass, how long do I need to keep it there to make sure it's hard-boiled? (Note that I have no way to heat the water, so once it's poured into the glass and placed on the counter it'll start losing heat)

If a hard boiled egg isn't possible, a soft boiled will do. (as long as the egg doesn't remain gross in the whites or get me sick, I'm good)


texts: What features should a food processor have in order to make nut butters?

texts:
I'm looking for a food processor that I can make nut butters (peanut & almond) in.  No reviews on Amazon show any promising information about being able to blend nuts to a buttery texture and the ones I've bought so far have just ground them up into dust.

Are some food processors better than others for making nut butters?  If so, what makes them better?  How can I choose the best one for this task?


texts: Can the broiler replicate a regular gas oven?

texts:
My oven has been broken about a month, and I am getting a new one delivered Saturday. But in the wake of a failed pilot on the bottom, I was curious about whether the broiler could replicate the baking conditions of standard use. I set up my pizza stone as a heat shield/sink, and ran the broiler for about thirty minutes. By the end of that time it had reached a pretty stable 350'F.
For the purposes of generic casseroles, or roasting vegetables, would the heat produced by the broiler via the pizza stone work the same as the lower heating element? Would I need to include some water to evaporate or anything else to make adjustments?


texts: why do my pancakes (crêpes) take such a long time to cook?

texts:
I am making crêpes and I wonder why they take such a ridiculously long amount of time to cook, about 5 or 6 minutes per pancake. I remember once upon a time I was making crêpes cooking them about 90 seconds on one side, and than 30-60 seconds on the other side, and they where ready. Now, after 3 minutes of cooking on one side, they are hardly separable from the pan, and it takes at least 5 minutes in total to make them eatable.

I tried both on medium and maximum flame. I am now doing it on a propane-butane portable stove in a van, but the maximum flame on the stove doesn't differ visually in size from a maximum flame in a brick-house stove. When I was doing them some years ago it was in a brick house on methane gas.

I do it on a simple thin Teflon-coated pancake pan.

I also don't use any eggs, and I am trying different mixtures of flour, usually about 85% of wheat flour, and the rest either: corn flour, rice flour or powdered milk. And 900 ml water per 400 grams flour mixture.

But even when I tried making them once with 900 ml milk plus 400 grams wheat flour, they also took a long time to make.

Is it because of the lack of eggs, the heat is too low, the pan is bad or something else?

What to do to cook pancakes at a rate of 1 pancake per 2 minutes again? On propane-butane without using eggs. Preferably only using grain products and water.


texts: How can vegans alleviate the effects of spicy food?

texts:
It's well-known that if you eat spicy food, you can neutralize the flavor (and thus stop your mouth from burning like a forest fire) by drinking milk.  This is due to casein. Simply drinking water or something cold does not achieve the same effect.

But I'm vegan, so I don't drink milk. So what else can I consume (that's vegan) to quickly neutralize spicy flavors?

This is not a duplicate of How can I wash down spicy food?, as the advice there concentrates on dairy products.


texts: Can I blend pasta and add water to make bread or pizza dough?

texts: I am inspired by this video.  In the video, the person blends some pasta and adds water, and the result looks like dough.  Can it be used as bread or pizza dough?


texts: What is the difference between Yoghurt and Curd

texts: They taste almost same. Are they different?


texts: I heated up a cast-iron pot in an oven and might have burnt the lid. Is it possible to restore it back to its formal glory?


texts: What to do if a turkey has been brined for too long

texts: I was going to brine my turkey for two nights til I found out that you can over-brine a turkey which is very bad. So what I have done is washed the brine out (after brining for 20 hrs) and put my turkey in the fridge til it comes time to cook it in 12 hours. Will my turkey still be ok or have I irrecoverably ruined it already?


texts: How to keep rice in a biryani from burning and sticking together?

texts: The bottom part of my  Biryani always  gets burnt, rice always gets sticky but I want each grain separated. How can I prevent burning & stickiness of rice?


texts: Why didn't my pan-fried potato wedges turn out crispy?

texts:
Here's what I did: I cut up some red potatoes into wedges, tossed them in oil and spice and pan fried them on the heat setting of 7.5 (9 is the max and it is a bare element stove). I put the lid on the pan and after a while I flipped them and removed the lid.

I put the lid back on so that they would be cooked all the way through. The weird thing is that the potatoes were browned on both sides, but flimsy and not crispy.

I've read that boiling them for a moment first would help, but I'd like to find a way without boiling them, since it will take a while longer to boil the water.

Did using the lid cause (or contribute) the potatoes to be flimsy/soggy?
Also, I've read this post about using white flour for potato wedges. How would I go about doing that? Is there a way to have crispy wedges without using flour?
I also read this post about how to get crispy wedges while cooking with peppers and onions, but it doesn't address my question.

So, why didn't my potato wedges turn out crispy? Is there a trick that I've missed or an error I've made?


texts: U.S. Equivalent of French T80 for Sourdough Pain de Campagne

texts:
I'm a home sourdough baker in the U.S. and want to try a recipe that calls for the French T80 flour. Some questions:
- I have read T80 described as half whole wheat/half bread flour, and also as all bread flour (i.e., white flour). Can it really be one or the other?
- What is the equivalent of T80 in the U.S., if any?
- If there is no equivalent, what comes close, or what combination of flours would come close?


texts: How do I prevent burning the bottom of the bread when cooking over a campfire?

texts:
Over the weekend I took my dutch oven and tried to bake bread over the campfire. I had two problems, one was getting enough heat. That is really my problem and I just lowered the grate over the fire to get the right heat.

The second problem, and thus my question is that the bottom of the bread was burnt. I used parchment paper in the bottom to make it easier to put the bread in and so it doesn't stick. However the bread was burnt on the bottom. I realize this is because of the amount heat on the bottom of the pan. What could I do to help reduce the burning on the bottom of the bread? Would using a cast iron pizza pan under the dutch oven help?

I put the dutch oven on a fire grate above the fire.


texts: Does eye contact with the cooking food make it more delicious?

texts:
There's a belief in some cultures that if you look at your being-cooked food from the beginning till the end, you will have a more delicious food compared to when you leave the food to be cooked.
Is this scientifically real or just a cooking myth?


texts: Gas grill flames very high cooking chicked wings and vegetables

texts:
I have a gas grill which I use once a week or so.

Today I put some peppers and onions as usual, but I also put chicken wings (first time).

After a few minutes of cooking, the fire went super high, it seems it was getting enhanced by something (either the oil from the veggies marinate or the wings).

Note that I turned off all burners but fire was still there and flames stayed for longer (around 2 more mins).

Is this something normal? It cooked super fast as the flames were reaching the food.


texts: After how much time do ground/powdered spices start losing their flavor?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Shelf life of spices

Suppose I grind the mustard + cumin + pepper seeds and keep them covered in a bowl, after how much time should I expect them to lose their flavor?

Authoritative answers with references to some credible sources will be appreciated.

EDIT 1:

The packed powdered/ground spices we get in shops don't taste the same as freshly ground. Hence my question.

EDIT 2:

Info required for spices namely: Cumin, Mustard, pepper.
and Garlic/Ginger too.


texts: How to lighten (or make less dense) pizza dough

texts:
We're currently using

500g strong flour
1tsp salt
1tsp yeast
325ml water

This produces a usable / edible dough, but we're finding it very "dense" or "heavy". It's very filling when eaten, and has little to no air pockets. It's pretty hard work eating it, even when made thin.

How can we alter the dough to make one with more air? A lighter, easier to eat dough.


texts:
In Spain,there are three popular iberian pork cuts: Secreto (or Cruceta), Bola (or Presa or Abanico) and Pluma. I have a question about the 'pluma' that I can probably ask without referring to the specific cut, but I'd like to know if there is an accepted translation.

These cuts are extra tender and delicious because of the grease content. Butchers used to get rid of these cuts because of that. Some used to eat the meat themselves, it was the butcher's 'secret'. The 'pluma' is also called the butcher's steak(?).

There's a story in Spanish here.


texts: Equivalent of dried (ground) pepper when the recipe calls for crushed

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This question is in relation to my earlier question Recipe calls for Aleppo Peppers, I need the right substitution amounts for cayenne and paprika that I got an answer to. My recipe calls for crushed Aleppo peppers, and I have the proper substitution ratios using paprika and cayenne peppers. Now my question is that I'm actually using ground (dried?) paprika and ground cayenne pepper for the recipe.

The original recipe calls for "2 tablespoons and 3/4 teaspoon crushed paprika and cayenne pepper mix", so my question is how much ground paprika and cayenne pepper mix do I use?

Thanks for the help. :)
Patrick.


texts: Freezer warmed to -6C. Safe to eat the food?

texts: My freezer recently warmed to -6 degrees Centigrade during a long power outage from its usual -18C. It's now on its super freeze cycle and cooling back down again. Is the food inside still safe to eat? -6 is obviously less than zero, the freezing point of water, but I've heard that food in a freezer can go bad even below 0. Is this true?


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Is sugar a thickening agent? Palm sugar for instance?
Let's say if sugar has a role in thickening liquid then how does it do it?


texts: Can you brew black tea in a macchinetta?

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If I use black tea leaves (not grounded leaves like in commercial teabags), and place them in the macchinetta (either instead of a coffee, or with the water). Is the brewed result going to be any good?

Will it damage the macchinetta? Is it going to extract the tea properly from the leaves?


texts: Which foods are certain to never cause food poisoning?

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After a nasty bout of food poisoning lasting nearly 5 days (rare I know) my trust levels and appetite for certain foods have dropped considerably however my inquisitiveness kicked in...

...from a data perspective (ignoring allergies) which foodstuffs are almost guaranteed or are actually guaranteed to never induce food poisoning in a human being?

My first thought ran to protein powders mixed with certified-safe tap water.

I assume that all raw meat runs the possibility and all take-away or restaurant meals are discounted as well.  I know fruit and vegetables fertilised with human manure in certain countries which potentially rules out fresh fruit and veg.

Are there any foodstuffs guaranteed to be completely safe?  Beef jerky perhaps due to the dehydrated nature?