texts: So I was making my sourdough starter for almost three weeks, and it still wasn’t floating in water. I used this recipe: https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2019/03/beginner-sourdough-starter-recipe/ However, when I was searching, I could not find I could not find unbleached all-purpose flour. So I used bleached flour instead. I do not own a proofing box, so I proofed my starter in an oven with the light on. I didn’t notice it rise much, but I continued to feed it. It was showing some bubbles, but not enough to make it in the dough. For almost three weeks, I kept feeding. After then, it did have bubbles, both big and small, but a lot of times it would have a brown-ish liquid before feedings. It smelled like unbaked bread dough. I was becoming impatient, and decided to make the sourdough dough with the unripe starter. Everything was mixing well, and I followed the directions until I got a nice dough consistency. It was 4 hours into the bulk rise, when my dough hadn’t grown a centimeter. I concluded that this was because of my young starter. Will it still be okay? Any tips for finishing the bread? How can I make a future sourdough starter less time consuming? Thank you!


texts: In Belgium or from where to buy this grill over rack, steamer rack?

texts:
I have this microoven which has grill functionality. But to grill chicken like following picture:

i do not have that stand (steamer rack) which is holding the chicken on top.

Do you know in Europe/US/UK/Asia where i can buy this online to get delivered in Europe?
i tried in bol.be , http://www.coolblue.be/ but not found any.

Please advise where to get one.


texts: Is it different to add seasoning at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of cooking?

texts: I think the question doesn't need more explanation,  just if you have to add any seasoning, from pepper to any other kind, specially if you have a variety of them, do you decide an order for them?


texts: How can I tell if my raw meat has been pre-brined/injected?

texts:
I've heard that some grocery store meats (whole turkeys, ribs, etc) are sold pre-brined so as to avoid toughness. Of course in a lot of situations you'd want to start fresh and brine or inject the meat yourself.

In the US, is there any way to know based on labeling if the meat has anything added to it? Should it be on the ingredients list?

Seems like they can get away with injecting water without labeling it but I'm not sure about salt/seasoning. In particular I'm wondering about Farmer John ribs.


texts: Can a pre made jam be thickened into pate de fruit?

texts: I have a wonderful locally made jam and want to turn it into fruit de pate to sell alongside the jam in my market. Can I add more pectin to the jam after heating it to thicken it into a jelly?


texts: Difference between yellow and gray bacalao (salted cod)?

texts: In her book on Spanish cooking, Jenny Chandler writes that a cook should prefer the gray bacalao to the yellow fillets which she seems to imply are of lesser quality, the supermarket version of the authentic bacalao found in market stalls. What's the difference?


texts: How do I defrost frozen flour tortillas?

texts: There is a wide variety of suggestions about how to thaw frozen flour tortillas.  What works best?


texts: How to shop for a food processor capable of pulverizing plant material to a fine powder?

texts:
I would like to pulverize a variety of plant matter (including whole leaves with stems) into a very fine powder. From what I've read, a food processor is better at this than a blender. With the blender I own, I was able to get perhaps 5-10% of the material into a fine powder, with the rest being relatively larger particles.

There are many different food processors on the market, and I would like to know which specifications I should compare in order to determine if a food processor is capable of pulverizing plant matter to a very fine powder, as opposed to flakes or larger particles.

From searching on Amazon, I've found these listed specifications across a number of food processors:

wattage of the motor
slice disk
shred disk
chopping blade

The wattage is always listed, but I have not seen the dimensions of the blades themselves, only if they are included or not.

I assume that I would require some minimum wattage level, and some minimum combination of different disks/blades.

Additionally, if I fill my blender to the top with plant material, it refused to blend anything. Does a food processor have the same issue?


texts: Why using ammonia bicarbonate and baking powder for deep fried bakery product?

texts:
This is my main bakery product:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtiao

I have been importing the raising agents. But now I can't import anymore...

From my experience, the recipe used 2 kinds of raising agent:

ammonia bicarbonate
baking powder (they only write down sodium bicarbonate and doesn't write the leavening agent)

And the sodium bicarbonate, I think it is a slow raising agent that only activates by heat. Because when I mix the baking powder with normal temperature water. There are no effects. But when I pour with hot water and stir with boiling water, lots of bubbles coming out, and rise up.

So my question is:

1.why they use 2 types of raising agent? Ammonia and slow acting baking powder (we deep fry the product in 200°c)

2.the dough, have a quite a few small holes after we rest 6-8 hours on freezer, is it because of the slow raising agent baking powder?

3.how to make the baking powder? I'm planning to combine sodium bicarbonate and sodium acid pyrophosphate... how much is the ratio?


texts: How to prevent the silver utensils from tarnishing?

texts: What causes silver utensils to tarnish and how to prevent that?


texts:
I found an old stainess steel flask that someone once gave me. I want to use it again to hold whiskey.

There doesn't seem to be any liquid inside, though it may have contained some just before the flask was forgotten.

How do I properly clean to start using it again? Just hot water? No soap? Can I trust it? It was only used to hold whiskey.


texts:
my oven has recently broken, it turns on but does not heat. On the other hand, my broiler works just fine and I've been able to cook peach cobbler and peach bread, though that calls for a different recipe. Of course. it's a pandemic and I'm unable to get the oven fixed right now, I will be making a 4 tier chocolate box cake for my friends birthday in a square 8x8" pan and I really don't want to mess it up, is there any possible way to figure out how long to bake a cake in the oven on the low broiler setting, should i just check it every 15 minutes?
Thank you in advance


texts: In copper-bottomed cookware, can the stainless begin to thin and allow the copper to leech through? My potato pot has discoloration at the bottom that another post suggested might be just from overheating. If copper did leech through is that dangerous?


texts:
This has confused me for a while: it's observable that a lot of all-beef burger patties from grocery stores and fast food joints taste dull compared to homemade ground beef, but is the key difference in the fact that they're frozen, or is it in the cuts of meat that they use?

For instance, I had a sirloin burger from McDonalds that tasted only marginally better than their norm - assuming that they're not lying about the cut of meat, does that mean the patty was bland just because it was frozen?

If that's true, then is it a bad idea to grind your own meat and freeze it? I'm asking because I wouldn't mind just grinding a bunch of chuck instead of buying preground meat if it'll taste as good as the homemade burgers I've had, but I wonder if there's a catch.

And yet it'd be strange if freezing ruined the flavor, because I assume grocery store meat is previously frozen anyway. So I'm not sure what to make of this.


texts:
I'm a total chili-head; I snack on pickled hot peppers from Mezzetta (the pepper is Cascabella, which I have never seen fresh) almost daily. What I love most about them is that they don't seem all that hot until a few seconds after I swallow. If I eat a big pepper in one bite, the afterburn is almost but not quite painful. The urge is then to eat another pepper. After I'm done snacking, I eat a big spoonful of yoghurt. The lingering heat sensation lasts a good 20 minutes.

Some peppers have that "lingering" quality. In Seoul I ate a lot of spicy street food that had that.

I have never been able to achieve that in a sauce.

I particularly want to make a sneaky sauce for chicken wings and gumbo.


texts:
My meat pie has already been cut and there are only a few pieces left.

How can I reheat these pieces so the sides don’t dry out?


texts: How much evaporated milk do I use for a half a cup of milk

texts: I'm trying to make peanut butter fudge and it's calling for a half a cup of milk I don't have milk I'd like to know if I can substitute evaporated milk


texts: Is it possible to make a marshmallow that isn't sweet?

texts: I've got in mind to make a savory play on s'mores, using morel mushroom paste where you would expect chocolate. The graham cracker replacement should be no problem. But I'm stuck on the marshmallow. If you google savory marshmallow, you basically find a bunch of standard sweet marshmallow recipes that have had some savory things added to them. I want to make one that isn't sweet at all, or only barely so, but with a recognizable marshmallow texture. Any ideas on how to approach this? I'm not asking for the recipe, just a sense of what set of ingredients and techniques  have a prayer of reproducing that texture with minimal sweetness. Bonus points if it can be done using some other hydrocolloid instead of gelatin, since ultimately I need to make it vegetarian.


texts: Where can I buy fresh, live yeast for making bread? (NOT active dry yeast)

texts:
Where can I buy live yeast? Who sells it? Can I buy it non-commercially? Does anyone sell it online?

I've found it difficult to find, at least in the United States's grocery stores.


texts: Why doesn't chainmail ruin a cast iron's seasoning but metal scouring pad will?

texts: I've often seen small swatches of stainless steel chainmail sold for the purpose of cleaning a cast iron pan. How is that this does not scratch/ruin my cast iron's seasoning, when a metal scouring pad (also metal against metal) will ruin it?


texts: Can coffee beans be roasted in an airfryer

texts:
Having recently invested in an airfryer, I was wondering if it would be suitable for roasting coffee beans?

The model I have is this one and goes up to 200C.

Has anyone attempted this with any success?


texts: Sausage discolouration - is it safe to eat?

texts:
This morning, I found some sausages in the fridge that had been there all week.  The top of the sausage (that is, the surface of the skin facing upwards) had turned brown.  I initially thought that if I just fried them long enough, this would be fine; however, while frying I did a quick search on the web, got spooked and threw them away.

My question is: what causes this discolouration and, have I needlessly thrown three very tasty looking sausages in the bin?


texts: When I buy packaged chicken breast at the grocery, I get the untrimmed ones because they're significantly cheaper, and trimming fat isn't a problem for me. But the rib meat that comes attached is connected by a rather large chunk of fat. I always end up cutting the whole thing off and throwing it out, with the rib meat. Is there anything I can really do with this meat so I'm not wasting it? Once in a while I'll throw it in the pan anyway, and then eat it myself when it cooks (which is way before the rest is done). But could I save them, maybe freeze them in a bag until I have enough to do something? Are there any other ideas?


texts: Does brining a chicken/turkey before roasting really make a difference?

texts: I've tried brining a chicken (brine = 1 cup salt to  16 cups water, over 10 hours) and couldn't taste a difference.


texts: I love pearl onions, but I'm always put off by the idea of peeling every single one. Are there any shortcuts to peeling pearl onions?


texts: Why do some rolling pins only have one handle?

texts: I've been looking into getting a new rolling pin as I've been making more and more homemade pasta. One rolling pin that I came across has only one handle. At around the 5:15 mark of this video, you'll see that the knob of the handle is laying flat against the work surface. I'm sure there is a reason for this technique, but it's not immediately obvious to me. Would appreciate your insight!


texts: Is the scum skimming really necessary in pho broth?

texts:
In nearly every pho recipe that makes claims on "authenticity" there are some steps in bone treatment (some recipes go even further with salt rubs and long cold water soaks etc)

Cover bones in water and boil for 15 minutes.
Scrub and rinse bones under running water to remove all scum (i.e. blood proteins).
Clean pot and add fresh water.
Bring back to boil and meticulously skim scum every 5 minutes during initial hour of cooking.
Skim every 30 minutes thereafter.

That is a lot of work.  I've always had suspicions that pho restaurants aren't doing all of this.  And since that's the bar I'm trying to meat(get it?), is all of this work really necessary?

Also this seems to be throwing away a lot of good flavor in the water along with the scum?

Two points of reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPbwOcE6UCU

This is a restaurant making pho in huge quantities.  They just put meat in bags and call it a day.  In fact the pot is overflowing with meat and veg that they couldn't skim even if they wanted to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auqu2U5XdsI

This is a no non-sense video that cuts through a lot of known bullshit (MSG avoidance, etc).  Also no scum skimming, and the broth looks clear enough in the end.


texts: Why doesn't my conventional-oven Naan bread taste authentic?

texts:
I recently tried this recipe for Naan bread in an oven, and followed it diligently, but the product that came out did not have that characteristic flavor of Naan. It was more like a pizza bread without topping. Also, it was a bit puffier than the Naan they serve in restaurants, which is of a flat nature.

Is the flavor that you get in an authentic Indian restaurant solely because of the clay oven? What can I do to improve this recipe?

EDIT: Thanks for the answers. I tried the stove top method and although it charred, it did not give that flavor. It was more like overcooked roti :). Which makes me wonder how come roti and nan taste so different (they have similar recipes)
EDIt#2: Some of you have suggested doing this on a bar be que grill. Can nan be done on an open campfire? That would be something!


texts: I just seeded a pomegranate, and instead of red / deep pink seeds, the seeds are pale pink / white. What does this mean? Are they ok to eat?


texts:
I am willing to add a 2-3mm thick chocolate fondant coating to my home made biscuits. I believe this is very common, but I have no idea how to do this.

The fondant should be pretty solid (not liquid or fluffy), opaque and should not melt at room temperature.

Thank you for any suggestion!


texts: Would baking chocolate with baileys/kalhua cook out the alcohol?

texts:
Good day. My friends and I are planning on making a skillet based smores but with a twist. I've seen tons and tons of recipes but the basic recipe is that there's chocolate at the bottom of the skillet, with marshmallows on top, lining it. The skillet is then placed in the oven at a certain temperature for a certain period of time. The recipes vary on how you want your marshmallows.

However, we find the basic recipes bland after a certain period of time, and we want to spice things up. A common idea we had was to borrow how some cakes are drenched with baileys or kalhua, and we want to incorporate that with our skillet smores. However, we are not sure how to go about adding alcohol in skillet smores.

Our idea is to lace the chocolate with liquor before adding the mallows on top and putting it in the oven. However, we are unsure what happens to the liquor's alcohol if it would burn out. As much as possible, we want to preserve the alcohol as we are not sure what happens to our liquor of choice when the alcohol burns out.

Can anyone help us, and give us and idea on how to go about liquor laced skillet smores? Thank you.


texts: Continued use of the same dripping for frying - is it advisable?

texts:
I fry lamb chops and leave the dripping in the pan where it solidifies. Next time I cook something, the lamb dripping imparts extra flavour.
I have heard that some people just wipe a frying pan instead of washing the grease off. I don't even wipe the pan - I let it build up.
My reasoning is that (a) dripping doesn't go off and (b) any germs/bacteria would be killed by the heat of frying.
Note: I leave the pan covered by a lid when not in use.
Is there any reason that I shouldn't continue with this practice?


texts:
I am a newbie in this area and I know it is a challenging one.

The cheese table can have any type of cheeses. So I have been thinking about milk cheeses, blue cheeses and normal cheeses that can be eaten with some salty snacks and grapes.

However, a very good friend of mine said that to make a good cheese table is not only about money but how balanced it is to the given target group, but I will be serving a general audience, so I don't know how to plan well for them.

How would you make a balanced cheese table?

I have been thinking about Camembert as for a milk cheese, Roquefort as the blue cheese and some normal cheese. Does Camembert's creamy taste fit well with Roquefort's strong taste, as there are some salty snacks and grapes?


texts: In what way does meat cooked in a stew differ from marinaded grilled foods in terms of flavour absorption by meat?

texts:
When you eat a curry which has been cooked on the stove it seems the meat has flavour but it is still very different from something which has been marinaded and grilled.

I guess a curry doesn't have a marinade but it sits in a pot of curry powder\sauce so that's where the meat gets its flavour from.

To what extent do the sauces penetrate the meats cooked in the different ways and how does the cooking method cause this?

Even if there is no penetration and its only surface treatment, I'd still like to know why both methods taste so different even though both have surface treatment.


texts: What is wok hai and how do I get it in my food?

texts: There is something special about food cooked in a wok called wok hai? What is it and how do I get my food to have it?


texts: Can you substitute capers for green peppercorn? I'm making a sauce for a roast.


texts:
One of our TV chefs has done a show on India, and one of the ingredients he has used in a few recipes is jaggery, a sugar made from palms.

In the show, it appears to be soft, like soft brown sugar. However,the jaggery I have found at the supermarket is in hard lumps.

Does it require soaking or some other preparation before using?


texts: Can you substitute Asian red chili paste (e.g. Thai Kitchen's Roasted Red Chili Paste) for Sambal Oelek?

texts: The recipe you will find here: http://runningonbrie.com/2014/04/28/korean-inspired-pork-rice-bowl/ (Korean Pork Rice Bowl recipe)


texts: Why is there a 2 step heating process for making custard for ice cream

texts:
I make ice cream frequently, with pretty good results, and I follow the same basic process for making the custard. This is the method I've seen repeated in many different recipes which involves:

Heating the milk and cream, plus about 2/3 of the sugar in a pan until it starts to steam (about 130F) and the sugar is dissolved
Whipping the remaining sugar with the egg yolks until pale yellow
Gradually adding some of the hot milk/cream mixture to the yolks
Adding the yolks and cream back into the pan with the rest of the cream
Gently heating the mix until it forms a custard (I usually heat until 155F or so using a thermometer)
Remove from heat, add flavors, then chill the mix

Now this works for me and is very reliable, but as I was making a batch of mint base last night I couldn't help but think why step 1, and therefore 3 and 4 is necessary.

Why pre-heat the milk, cream and sugar, then heat again after the yolks are added?  I know that you add a bit of hot cream to the yolks so that they don't get shocked, that's not my question. Why not whip the yolks and some of the sugar, then put them into cold milk and cream and heat the whole mix?


texts: Sauerbraten with a 1.1 pound beef rump roast

texts:
The recipe I'm using says to roast a 3.5-4 pound sauerbraten roast at 325F for approximately 4 hours. I'm making the recipe quite a bit smaller with a 1.1 pound roast.

Should I change the cooking time/temperature? I'm new to roasts, so I really appreciate any insight!


texts: I am wondering why there are expiry dates on cheese. Sorry if I am not very clear about how cheese is made, but isn't cheese made from rotten milk? Some cheeses have molds on them too.


texts: I make sauerkraut regularly, this last batch has too much celery seed. I use celery seed instead of caraway. I like the flavor better. I have 2 quarts left. Can I make a new batch of sauerkraut and mix the previous batch into it to take down the overpowering celery seed astringency? I usually have my sauerkraut go about 7 days then put it in quart jars in the back of the fridge and use a quart at a time. I weigh my cabbage in grams and use a 2 percent regular ground pink salt ratio. If I can do this, how would I handle the salt ratio so it is not too salty and is the proper ph for safety? My thinking was to make the new batch to proper salt weight ratio, then add the new celery seed in. When the taste is right add the old batch in. percolate until it is a flavor I like then bottle it all up again.  I didn't want to do this if it can not be done safely. Ultimately I figured I could mix the two finished batches together. What say you all?


texts: Good way to prevent grease build up in kitchen?

texts: My kitchen items end up getting a sticky grease coating when I cook regularly. Things not even near the stove top. I don't have an overhead fan, what can I do about this?


texts:
I'm a novice at best when it comes to cooking, but I'm open to learning how to sharpen my own knives. However, I'm a quite overwhelmed with where to start and how to get things going. I have a few questions:

What should I look for when purchasing a whetstone?
Should I buy a lower-end set of knives to practice on first?
Why would one opt to use an electric sharpener over a whetstone?


texts: In the UK I was fortunate enough to live near a butcher who sold refrigerated real veal stock - goopy and gelatinous. Now I live in Zurich where this proves impossible to buy. You can, however, buy kalbsfond which comes in a jar and apparently is made of veal, and doesn't taste horribly wrong, but appears to have no gelatine in; it is however browner and has a sort of powdery residue. What's a good substitute? My current substitute, boringly enough is kalbsfond and gelatine sheet. My interest is in using the stock to thicken and flavour sauces of a traditional French style.


texts: Can vegetables be roasted at lower temperatures?

texts:
I tried to bake some new potatoes, small tomatoes and hot peppers, in extra-virgin olive oil, using a recipe calling for 1 hour at 100° C.

I was skeptical of the 100° C temperature, so I set the temperature to 120° C instead. However, even after 3 full hours of roasting, the vegetables still had a raw tang, and the texture of the potatoes was a bit rubbery.

What could have been the problem here? Is 120-140° C too low for these vegetables?

(Note: At one point I turned on the ventilation mode, and it seemed to start cooking much faster - maybe even a little too fast. Could the recipe have been intended for a convection oven?)


texts: How should a standard supermarket tomato be cleaned before putting it in a green salad. Is a quick rinse under running water with light rubbing under the palm and fingers adequate?


texts: My beans have an al dente texture after cooking. Is this indicitive of undercooking?

texts: I wouldn't call it hard by mouthfeel, but after using the boil and soak method on some dried pinto beans and cooking in a chili pot for 1.5 hours,


texts: What can I use, beside applesauce, to replace fat in baking?

texts: Due to dietary restrictions, I can not have apples, or any byproduct.  There are lots of recipes that use applesauce to replace fat, but what can I substitute for applesauce in these recipes?


texts: I've been told that the top should easily flake with a fork (this is when baking skin-side down). Is there any fish for which that is not the case? And what should the middle look like with which types of fish? Or would it be better to go by thermometer? In which case is it usually, "Once the middle hits 140F, it's done"?


texts: Will pizza dough stick on steel platform in conventional oven?

texts:
I'm trying to avoid cornmeal, although it used to be the ideal choice since the dough tasted too much like flour when I used corn flour.

But now I've moved on to using a steel surface to bake.

Should I worry about adding semolina, flour, or cornmeal to the steel in the oven? Or will the pizza not stick to the steel platform?

I saw this thread, any reason to put cornmeal/semolina on hot pizza stone or steel?, but it sounded like it depends on the dough hydration, and I'm clueless as to how to determine that.

Would putting the dough on parchment paper, then sliding it in work?


texts: Can Thermomix(-style) appliances knead dough well?

texts:
I make italian-style pizza, by kneading the dough in a bread machine. The machine does a very good job (it works it for around 45 minutes), much better than I could do with my hands, and using a pizza stone oven, I can make a pizza that is very close to a traditional one.

Now, I was evaluating the purchase of a Thermomix-style appliance, so I was wondering - can such machines knead dough well?

(Note that I searched on the internet, but the most common type of home-made pizza is the thick one; I'm interested instead in the results for the traditional italian one - a few mm thick)


texts:
My mother recently bought a sheet of what she thought was aluminum foil to line the bottom of our oven, in an effort to make cleaning easier.

It turned out that the "foil" was actually plastic, and after preheating the oven, the sheet melted onto the bottom of our oven (so much for making cleaning easier!!!)

We are now left with this unfortunate aftermath:

How do we clean this up? Will the oven even be usable afterwards? I am very worried about the carcinogenic plastic fumes.

Your help is desperately appreciated ...


texts: How are Thin Slice Beef rolls for hot-pot prepared in restaurants?

texts:
I was wondering how Thin Slice Beef rolls for hot-pot prepared for in hot-pot restaurants. Are they sliced and manually rolled, or is there a machine that is used to do the lot? Cheers.
Picture for reference: https://chowtimes.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/hot-pot-at-chez-suanne-7.jpg


texts: Why does my De Buyer pan cause food to burn?

texts: My De Buyer Mineral B Element iron fry pan burns everything I cook, even though I’ve been using low to medium heat with non-stick foods (mostly potatoes) and canola oil. The pan has been seasoned with grapeseed oil. I’ve tried varying the amount of oil and potato slice sizes to no success. No matter what, once they are added to the pan, the underside of the potatoes will burn and blacken within seconds.


texts: How can I minimize stirring when blending whole fruits?

texts:
I usually quarter whole fruits, and toss them into my Vitamix blender.
But it blends only one or two quarters, and can't impact the other quarters. Then I stir the Suspension with my stick.

The blender again blends only one or two quarters, and I must repeat step  2.
I usually must repeat step 2 at least 4 more times, before all the quarters are liquefied.


texts: Sous-Vide Chicken Thighs - Effect of temperature swings?

texts:
Perfect fried chicken is the Great White Whale in my kitchen. It seems I've tried everything, well almost everything, I have not tried sous-vide.

I'm still on the fence as to whether I'm going to invest in a immersion circulator, and this experiment could put me over the edge, one way or another.

I can reasonably approximate sous-vide in my rice maker by switching it on and off and using my digital thermometer. It actually works pretty well, I can stay within about 5-7 degrees F my target temperature without too much trouble as long as it's not for an obscenely long time. 4-5 Hours is probably my upper limit.

I'm planning on doing roughly this: ChefSteps (thanks @moscafj for the link).

I'm using thighs, and they're big suckers. I prefer thighs cooked quite bit more than other pieces. Should I up the temperature? How much?

Secondly, I have historically found thighs to be extremely forgiving. How much of a temperature range can I allow? Say I'm aiming for 155F (68C). Can I let my rice cooker go until it reaches 160F, turn it off, and then turn it back on at 150F? Over and over again?


texts: Advice on how I can make my own 1 cal cooking spray like frylight

texts:
I've been using frylight for years, but I'm trying to swap to a healthier version with no chemicals.

I've been doing some research on the internet and some people have talked about making their own version by getting a spray bottle and mixing 1 part olive oil to 7 parts water. Then just shaking the bottle well before each use. However I'm concerned that the lack of preservatives could mean that the water will go stale and will be dangerous to drink.

Has anyone done this or can you offer any advice for the best way to do it?

Thanks in advance!


texts: What to do when too much butter added to my puff pastry dough?

texts: I made puff pastry dough, but I figured I've added too much butter to it and now that it is in the oven, the butter has melted and covered the dough! (I need your advice for the next time) What should I have done to fix it? Does  adding flour make it better?


texts: How do I remove bloomy rind without wasting too much cheese?

texts: Suppose I have a cheese that has a bloomy rind such as camembert or brie. I want to completely remove the rind before eating. What are some reliable methods I can use to remove the rind without wasting too much cheese? I could cut off the rind using a knife, but that wastes a lot of cheese.


texts: How long does Marsala wine last, after opening? In the fridge or outside? What about Marsala all'Ouvo (Marsala with added egg yolks)


texts: Bacteria contamination inside a thermos bottle

texts:
Let's say that I have a pot of boiling stew.
I then pour this, still boiling, inside a thermos bottle, and close the lid right away.

Everything inside the bottle should be sterile at this point, due to the high temperature which will be maintained for over an hour, correct?

Let's say then that I let this sit for maybe 24h.
In this time frame, the temperature of the stew will fall in the danger zone between 60°C and 5°C, and stay there for hours and hours.
Usually, that would mean that the meat in the stew is no longer fit for consumption.

However, given that the content of the bottle was earlier sterile, would it still be safe?
Can bacteria contaminate the content trough the lid?


texts: How to make sorbet from fruit like watermelon?

texts:
I've been playing with my - very cheap - ice cream maker and want to try sorbets. Already had some success with a strawberry-black pepper one, but I hear some berries and stone fruit are very forgiving because they're pulpy and the fiber acts as a stabilizer helps prevent ice crystal formation.

How would I go about improving my chances with lemon or watermelon or other fruit that's mostly juice? I've heard using corn syrup helps, but I'm not sure if the closest product we have here is the right kind - it has about 53% water, which I don't want to add too much, and added honey flavour to serve as a cheaper honey substitute. (While also being overpriced for sugar syrup.)

I can however easily get powdered fructose and glucose, which are available for baking for diabetics and such purposes. Would that get the job done if I blend them 1:1?

I've also looked into thickeners, but if I'm looking at what's available in grocery stores, it's either gelatin and pectin, and both require cooking to work which affects the flavour of the fruit. Could I mitigate that by only preparing the thickener in say 1/4th of the juice, and then stirring it into the rest?


texts: I put up two quarts of fresh tomatoes for sauce yesterday. They were in the hot water bath for 45 minutes. This morning they are cold & I thought ready for the cupboard.  I notice many air bubbles when I turn the jars over Should this be of a concern for my storing & eating them later on?


texts: How to pick good clementines and mandarins at the supermarket?

texts: Sometimes I get some "dry" clementines with barely any juice, and sometimes they are juicy but bitter. How do I make sure they're juicy and not bitter?


texts: What is the ingredient that gives a sichuan (szechuan) hot pot the mouth numbing experience?

texts: I'm curious if it is from the Sichuan peppercorns.


texts:
How can you tell if a ceramic non-stick pan has suffered damage from overheating?

Will there be a point at which the pan is no longer safe to use? If so how can you tell if this is the case?


texts: How long can I soak dried beans before they are considered inedible?

texts: How long (days/weeks) can beans that have only been soaked in the refrigerator last before they are considered inedible/spoiled? I found  black beans in the fridge that had been soaking for approx 3 weeks. They look and smell fine. Considering that they are dried beans soaking, toss or eat?


texts: I am making a chili cheese tater tot casserole and would like to know could I use flour tortillas on the bottom or would that be a bad idea since I am baking it at 350 for 45 minutes


texts: I've seen bartenders stack squeezed lime halves and resqueeze them all together. I think that squeezing the peel would yield very bitter juice, but am I wrong?


texts: Recipe calls for letting beef stand at room temp for 1hr. Is it safe?

texts:
I'm following a recipe for a roast beef tenderloin with caramelized onion and mushroom stuffing from "The Best of America's Test Kitchen" (2008) cookbook. After butterflying the roast, stuffing and rolling it, and then tying it off, I'm told to:

Stir together 1 tablespoon of oil, 1.5 teaspoons kosher salt, and 1.5 teaspoons pepper in a small bowl. Rub the roast with the oil mixture and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.

(emphasis mine. Full recipe here: one, two)
Though I can't find a link at the moment, I remember reading that the USDA advised against leaving meats in "danger zone" temperatures (like room temp).
Is this safe to do?


texts: When to add the rye flour if it really makes a difference?

texts:
I wish to use a small amount of rye in my wheat sourdough bread, because supposedly it improves the flavor of the bread.

What I'm wondering is whether it makes a difference if I introduce this rye flour into the levain or if it is better to put it into the final dough mix. What would make more sense from a scientific point of view?


texts: Is there a definitive measure of completed lacto fermentation?

texts:
In brewing, as the yeast consume the sugars from solution, the density of the medium is measurably reduced. When the yeast stop converting sugars, the density of the medium, as measured by a hydrometer or refractometer, stops changing, indicating the fermentation is complete.

Is there an analog in the realm of the fermentation of vegetable matter (cabbage)? What would one measure to determine if fermentation of sauerkraut is complete?

In the making of beer, the stabilization of density (gravity) does not mean the yeast will no longer have any effect (which is why beer is typically subjected to secondary fermentation or lagering). Given a definitive measure of complete fermentation of cabbage, is there an analog to secondary fermentation, where the measurable value remains unchanged, but the product continues to evolve (in a positive way, as in "ageing")?


texts: Why are poblanos sometimes called pasillas?

texts:
Background information: poblano peppers are one of the most common peppers in Mexican food. Pasilla peppers are something entirely different - the dried form of the chilaca.

I'm originally from Texas, where poblanos are commonly found in grocery stores. I moved to California a while back, and here they're still pretty easy to find, but they're always labeled "pasilla". Even at a local produce market with a decent amount of Mexican food (and Spanish-speaking employees) - and just recently I noticed they even have anchos (dried poblanos) labeled as "dried pasillas". I did manage to find one local Mexican restaurant menu online describing a chile relleno as a stuffed poblano, but otherwise it seems pretty universal.

So where did this come from? Via the above-linked wikipedia article, I did find a website saying it's the fault of the California produce industry for labeling them this way, but that's not the original reason. Is it all just the result of a single person getting it wrong a long time ago, and an entire produce industry building off of that?


texts: Is a black coating dangerous when cooking on cast iron?

texts:
A lot of times when I use my cast iron pan, I'll sometimes get some "black stuff" which I assume is gristle on my food. It doesn't taste bad, it's not a "TON" - I'm assuming it's a combo of burnt+black stuff from the cast iron pan.

Is this in any way dangerous?


texts: Is it okay to salt beef before or while cooking it?

texts:
I recall reading that you should not salt beef until after it is cooked or it will dry the beef. Yet I see recipes that call for salt in a beef marinade.
Is it true that you should only salt beef after it is cooked?


texts: Can I use a cheeseboard as a cutting board?

texts:
Nowadays I see that most cutting boards sold are made up of several pieces of wood that are stuck together with wood glue. I'm not so sure of the safety of the wood glue that is used as most of the ones sold in my country are manufactured in China and not subject to FDA approval: Safety of glues in wooden chopping boards

I noticed that most cheeseboards sold are however made from one piece of solid wood.

Would I be able to purchase a cheeseboard and convert it to a cutting board instead?

This blog post shows people how to create cutting boards from pieces of wood that can be purchased from a hardware store and glue it together to create the final product. The cutting board is then rubbed several layers of mineral oil, walnut oil or beeswax to protect it and allowed to dry overnight.

Would it not be the same to purchase a cheeseboard that is already cut to an appropriate size and then just rub it with several layers of mineral oil, walnut oil or beeswax to protect it? Are there any disadvantages to doing taking a protected cheeseboard and using it as a cutting board?


texts: Does the LPG stove flame intensity reduces during winter?

texts:
My LPG gas stove flame is little low now a days. I have cleaned all removable parts myself, but not helped. I suspect the low temperature on winter (~18°C in winter mornings, tropical region) might affect the LPG performance, may be I'm wrong.

Anyway, I'm trying to little heats up the cylinder under sunlight.

Is it true that the LPG stove performance reduces during winter?


texts: Do oven door liners commonly need replacing?

texts:
The first time I used the "self clean" setting on this oven, the strip of padding around the oven door ... puffed out?  Heat leaks out ever since, even to the point where the oven light will sometimes pop on with the door closed.  I bought an oven thermometer, and if I wedge the door closed with a drawer, it seems to hold the correct temperature.

Is it simple & common to replace that liner? Or am I overreacting and there's nothing really wrong with the drawer method?  I'll admit, it IS handy to be able to blame the gimpy oven door any time a baking project doesn't turn out quite right.  ;)


texts: What is the best way to pop popcorn on the stove?

texts: I have a kettle-corn popcorn recipe that I have to pop on the stove as I don't have a popcorn maker and I wouldn't want to add the sugar to the popcorn maker. This makes me wonder what the best way to pop popcorn, in a pot with a lid, over the stove is?


texts:
I bought a 500g pack of Tesco penne pasta recently – https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/254878482

As you can see on the website, it states that 100g of the pasta contains around 176 calories.

But after cooking the pasta, I noticed it weighed a lot more. I found that around 1/6 of the pack weighed around 225g instead of the 80 or so grams that I was expecting.

So when the packet states the nutritional information for 100g of the pasta, is it referring to cooked or uncooked pasta?

I imagine it is referring to 100g of cooked pasta... I'm hoping that's the case anyway, I want as many calories as possible.


texts: How can I cure and store bacon in a warm climate?

texts:
I know bacon was originally a meat preservation method. Now it is just for flavor and manufacturers take shortcuts that make it need refrigeration. I have read in other answers that it is possible to find fully cured bacon that does not need to be refrigerated. Bacon curing recipes indicate that the process must occur in a "cool, dry place".

I live in Texas. It is rarely dry and never cool. Do I need to have a temperature controlled fridge to cure bacon? Is there bacon that can be safely stored at relatively warm temperatures? Say up to 85-90F?

Bacon used to be a staple of cowboys, so was it historically more like jerky?


texts:
I am a noob-to-be jam maker and a noob seasoned advice member. I want to make this pectin-free jam recipe; but here is the issue: In English speaking sources, any jam recipe goes with instructions on canning.

In Turkey (where I am from and I currently live), the hot water bath canning process does not exist and a few people online pointed out to the fact that this process does not exist outside North America (although I am not sure how true this is). I would like to know the reason surely but here is my question.

I want to make the aforementioned jam in 1, put them in freshly cleaned jars (in the dishwasher), put mine in the fridge and give away some to my friends and family.

Will I be posing any risk to people who eat the jam? If not, how long will the jam last in/out of the fridge?

Thanks for the help.


texts: Frying fish without it falling to shambles

texts:
How on earth do I pan fry fish without it turning to hell?

For the fish:
Stainless steel pan
Oil heated until it sizzles when droplets of water are thrown in
Plain fish, skin side down first
Try and flip, it falls apart...

Any advice on this?


texts:
I do not have a deep fryer (and do not plan to purchase one), but I have made chicken wings successfully in the oven. (My mom, --from Buffalo, NY-- even approves of this method.)

The problem is that my results are not consistent. The first time I made them, they were perfect - they tasted just as though they'd been fried. The second time, they were way over-cooked. And the third time, I could not get them done enough, even after nearly tripling the cook time.

Here's what I'm doing...

Remove wings from refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking.
Preheat oven to 425 F.
Pluck out any feather bits remaining in the wings.
Use a knife to separate the full wing into little drumstick pieces (one length of bone) and little wing pieces (remaining two lengths of bone).
Line up the pieces on a baking sheet. I didn't have very much space between them. (Is there recommended spacing?)
Bake for 45 minutes.
Toss with desired hot sauce (I used Frank's Red Hot Wing Sauce).

Does the cook time change depending on how many wings you're cooking? Is there a certain size wing that works better? Should I be making sure the wings are room temperature before baking them? I can imagine endless factors that could be causing my poor results.

EDIT: I'm not deep frying b/c I don't want to buy another appliance - my kitchen is about as big as the monitor you're looking at. Maybe a little bigger, but not much. Anyway, it's about having space for appliances.


texts: How to do hot spiced apple cider without apple cider?

texts:
When I lived in the United States, I developed an addiction to hot apple cider. I relied on powder mixes (Alpine, Mott's and so on) - just adding hot water to the content of a package...

Now I'm back to Italy, and I need to make the hot spiced apple cider myself.

The first problem, in Italy is difficult to find apple cider. I've found only French cider from Brittany or Normandy, which is the fermented alcoholic drink.

Questions:

which version of apple cider should I ideally use?
can I use the French cider instead?
can I just use non-alcoholic apple juice instead of the cider?

Edit: it seems that a source of misunderstanding is the word cider, that may indicate different drinks. In the USA it may be a fermented alcoholic beverage made from apple juice, or an unfiltered apple juice. Which one should be used to make hot spiced apple cider?


texts: Cooking more than one dish that require different temperatures

texts: I'm cooking two different dishes in the oven at the same time that each require different temperatures. One is a roasted vegetable dish that says to cook at 475 for 35-40 minutes and the other is parmesan crusted pork chops at 350 for 40-45 minutes. What do you suggest I do?


texts: I'm making bone broth, and the recipe says to add 2 tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice (to 5# bones and 5 qts. water) to help draw the minerals out of the bones.  I'm wondering about using verjus or wine instead of the vinegar (or lemon juice).  In general, how does the acidity of (1) wine and (2) verjus compare with that of vinegar?


texts: Is golden syrup with black around the edges bad?

texts:
I had a tin of golden syrup for a long time - longer than I care to admit. When I opened it up yesterday (to sweeten up some mulled wine), it was granular (a bit like honey can be), and black around the edges.

Is this 'bad', or just different?

Is the blackness the result of some chemical reaction with the tin?

And in general, does it eventually go off, or does it last indefinitely?


texts: When cooking pulled pork in a slow cooker, should the meat be submerged in liquid?

texts:
I am making pulled pork in my slow cooker this week.  I am going to use a pork shoulder and am planning on cooking it on low for 8-10 hours while at work.

How much liquid should I put in the slow cooker?  Should the liquid cover the pork or should there just be a little liquid in the bottom?

If the pork isn't fully submerged, will the parts of the meat that are not submerged cook?  If so, how?

 \                                         /
  \         ********************          /  <-- Should liquid cover the meat?
   \        ********************         /
    \       ********************        /  <-- Or go half way up the meat?
     \      ********************       /
      \     ********************      /  <-- Or should I just have a little liquid in the bottom?
       \-----------------------------/


texts: There are a huge number of cocktail recipes that, being allergic to juniper, I've never been able to try because they contain gin. I know that juniper is a fairly distinctive flavor and gin won't be easy to substitute for, but I'm hoping there is some non-juniper-containing liquor which may be "close enough."


texts:
I'm experimenting with making my own salsa. I recently had some that had an interesting flavor, rather smoky. Is anyone aware of what might add this flavor? I'd like to add that flavor to my own salsa.

I don't have a smoker, but I do have a charcoal grill.

Is there a disadvantage to just adding a couple drops of liquid smoke?


texts: Fork left in microwave, hole in microwave wall

texts: I left a fork in my microwave and there were no sparks but there is now a small hole on the inside wall. The microwave works fine but is there anything dangerous about this?


texts: If I use a food thermometer to insure the food is cooked can I use a toaster oven instead of an oven to bake and grill any food?

texts:
When I buy frozen fish it says "do not use toaster oven". There are warning labels on frozen hamburger packs as well as packs of frozen fish.
As long as I check the temperture of the fish, meat , cake or what have you can I assume the food is safe to eat as I would in a regular oven?


texts: I made pasta dough (flour and egg only) and still have half the dough in the fridge. It is folded in thirds and in plastic wrap, not yet rolled. After a day or two it started turning darker which I didn't expect. I'm wondering what I can expect if I roll and cook this pasta in terms of taste, texture and appearance. (I'm not asking about food safety.)


texts: Amount of baking powder in a muffin recipe

texts: I have a couple of recipes from a reputable publication called "Recipes Only" (a magazine published in the eighties) which calls for merely 1 tsp. of baking powder and 1/2 tsp. of baking soda for 2 cups of dry ingredients and 1 cup of yogurt/buttermilk, 1 egg, etc. This didn't seem enough to me, but I tried the first recipe (Apple Cranberry Muffins), and sure enough they rose very little.  They're delicious, though, and I'm using them as little puddings served with custard, but I'm leery of trying the recipe again or trying the other one, Apple Cheese Muffins. I'm wondering if I should just up the baking powder to 3 tsp.  |What do you think?


texts: Converting yeast amounts from old recipes

texts: This recipe for poppy seed rolls calls for 1 large yeast. How much yeast am I supposed to use? I usually see recipes measure it in teaspoons, but I can’t guess how much “large” is. I am also assuming this is active dry yeast, maybe it’s not and that’s the reason why the size is weird.


texts: How to avoid having pith on dried orange peels

texts:
I am trying to prepare some dried orange peel for a Mexican chocolate bread recipe. From what I've read, the first step is cutting thin strips of outer peel off an orange without getting any pith. I lack the dexterity to yield a paring knife so I used a vegetable grater. Most of the pieces contain some pith:

Is the amount of pith shown negligible, or should I use scissors to snip off and keep the portions without it? Is there a better way to get pith-free orange peels? Can I substitute dried zest? (I have a zester that gets peel without pith.)


texts: A recipe calls for Brown Ale, I didn't want to use beer, are there any substitutions?

texts:
Here is the recipe - I didn't want to use Beer, any help?

3 lb chuck steak, cut into 2-inch chunks
***1-1/4 pints Liefmans Goudenband***
2 Tbsp peanut oil
1 oz butter
1 oz brown sugar
1 Tbsp freshly grated nutmeg
salt
pepper
3 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp tomato purée
4 oz pitted prunes, sliced
14 fl oz veal stock
1 bouquet garni
1 to
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 cooking apples

Instructions:
Marinate the meat in 3/4 pint of the beer for 3 days. Lift the meat out of the marinade, reserving the marinade. Heat the oil and butter in a large, heavy-based frying pan, add the meat, sugar and nutmeg and cook over a medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the meat is well browned. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the meat to a casserole and season with salt and pepper.
Stir the flour into the oil and butter and cook until well browned, then stir in the tomato purée, prunes, veal stock, bouquet garni and the beer marinade. Bring to the boil, skim and then pour over the meat. Simmer very gently until the meat is tender, about 1 hour. Stir in the mustard and the remaining beer, then taste and adjust the seasoning. Peel and quarter the apples, add to the casserole and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until the apples are tender. Serve hot.


texts: Reducing Canned Pumpkin (as per America's Test Kitchen)

texts:
I have a request from a friend for a Libby's Pumpkin Roll. I don't have any experience working with pumpkin because I don't like pumpkin. That particular recipe was a holiday family tradition for him, so of course I want mine to be superior to any he's ever had. America's Test Kitchen does a trick with canned pumpkin, they add the seasonings (basically pumpkin pie spice) and cook it over medium heat, reducing it significantly. "Canned pumpkin puree often lends a raw, metallic flavor to pumpkin bread. We cook down the puree to eliminate those off-putting flavors." OK, if ATK recommends something, that's usually good enough for me. One pretty safe option is to measure the pumpkin per the Libby's Roll recipe, add the seasonings, weigh everything, reduce it per ATK, weigh it again and add the water back. Then I'm dealing with the same measurement of pumpkin, same moisture level, perhaps better tasting.  However, since I'm doing the reduction step anyway, I'm wondering if I can amp up the pumpkin flavor a bit, without ruining the texture of the cake. Since I'm going to be rolling it, I need to be particularly careful.

So, my first question is if the adding the water back to the reduction is as safe as I think it is. Secondly, I'd like to know if can get away with tweaking for a bit more pumpkin flavor. Advice?


texts:
When working with chocolate you often melt it down and let it harden in a new shape or on top of or around another ingredient.

What does it mean to "temper" chocolate


texts: Some stainless steel more stainless than others

texts:
I'm rather disappointed in the latest stainless steel bowl I bought. Left it in the sink unwashed from a salad for a week while I had to be away, came back and it had rust underneath and inside. Same has happened to few other bowls, pots and utensils over the years, all marketed as stainless steel.

At this point, the only 3 stainless steel items I have that are truly stainless and have lasted me over 10 years are a water kettle, a spoon and a pot that my mother gave me when I first moved out.

Everything else has either rusted or developed these black pits which I have no idea what they are. My dough hook for example gathered more and more of them until it finally snapped at one of the pits locations.

So how can I identify things that are really made of stainless steel? I want more things like my pot, its got scratches and discoloration from lots of abuse but is still shiny.


texts: How to detect if meat (or any product) is not safe to be prepared as food?

texts:
What are the marks that product is spoiled and not safe to cook or eat?
Besides obvious visual signs, like rot or bad smell of course.

The reason I'm asking is that I leave a meat in fridge for an extended periods of time, and  don't know how to track if meat is still safe to eat.


texts: What is the best gelling agent for gummies?

texts:
So, today I did my first attempt at home made gummies using 35g of gelatine with 1 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar.  When it cooled though, all I had was really tough jello.  Should I just add more gelatine, or is there another chemical I could use?  I have looked at methylcellulose, carrageenan, agar, cornstarch, and pectin in addition to gelatine, but there doesn't seem to be a good comparison of these on the web.  Additionally, if anyone has insight into special techniques I could use, it would be really helpful.

Thanks


texts: Why do frozen fishes have incision in the body?

texts: I've bought a lot of frozen fishes say a pompano or mackerels. I've noticed that whenever i defrost the fishes, all of them have a small incision in the stomach and these fishes are almost never bled out. Can someone tell me why is there an incision? Because it makes cleaning a lot harder for me.


texts:
I like preparing a large quantity of Roux and pouring them in ice trays to keep them in the freezer. However, I'm always confused about the right way of defrosting them for use.

The typical use of it is to make white sauce for mac n cheese/pasta. The way i've been using them till now is to take the require amount of milk in a pan, add the cubes and then let it be for 5 minutes or so THEN start the heating. But I'm not convinced this is the best way.


texts: How can I counteract the to bright tomato taste of a beef stew?

texts: I used a large tin of chopped tomatoes as the majority of the liquid (plus water) to make a beef stew. It doesn't taste right! I used lots of fresh spices; thyme, rosemary and sage. It really needs help. Can anybody suggest something, please?


texts: Why do English recipes of “sauce marchand de vin” call for Worcestershire sauce?

texts:
The “sauce marchand de vin” is a French red wine thick sauce typically served with meat. Its recipe in my French cookbooks call for two main ingredients: red wine and brown stock. It also uses shallots, butter, flour and black pepper, but I understand the two ingredients cited previously are the main ones.

However, many recipes I can find online (here and there, for example) on English-speaking websites add Worcestershire sauce. Not all of them do, but I still wonder: what purpose does this extra Worcestershire sauce add? I'm not too familiar with it, but if I understand it might bring some spiciness (already somewhat covered by black pepper).

So, what do you think it brings to the recipe and overall taste?


texts:
There are a lot of frozen French fry recipes on Google and YouTube, but none stay crispy after defrost. I have tried many. After 2-4 month they become soft and pale. I doubt there are some chemicals which can keep their taste and crispy texture. Such as potatopro or McCain supplier.
Any suggestions?


texts: The bread recipe I followed should have made a bread with a brown-ish top but mine didn't. The output was edible and not raw but the color was pale or light yellowish. What went wrong, was my temperature too low or was it because I turned the fan on inside the oven?


texts: How can you achieve the glazed top in a mille-feuille?

texts:
A mille-feuille (or tompouce) is a pastry, consisting of layers of puff pastry with pastry cream in-between (see this if you don't know it).

If you buy it in a pastry store, I find that the glazed top is unique for this pastry. Recipes online tell me that it's confectioner sugar and egg whites, but I think it's something else. It's solid, yet soft. You can see your tooth print in it. It's white and sweet. I can't exactly explain how it differs from regular egg white/sugar icing, but in my opinion it does.

Does anybody have a clue what I'm talking about? Do you know what's in it? Or is it just a basic egg white/sugar icing, and is my mind playing tricks on me?


texts: How can I substitute or make soft brown sugar?

texts:
I have just moved to Germany.  I haven't yet been able to find brown sugar of the type we have in Australia ie: soft, small grained, slightly sticky in that it holds its shape well when you dig a spoonful out.  The only brown sugars I have seen are granular.  You can also buy molasses.

Crushing the granular sugar is both labour-intensive and not that successful.

Any ideas on the ratios of different sugar products required to produce a 'soft brown sugar'?

As context, I tend to use soft brown sugars in things like fruit crumble toppings, as a base for a very dark caramel sauce, and also as a substitute for palm sugar when (as in Germany) it's difficult to get hold of.  The granular sugars don't behave in quite the same way when melting/added to hot sauces.


texts: Eating food from a slightly rusting cast iron dutch oven...is it safe?

texts:
I have a cast iron dutch oven. It has a self-basting lid, basically it has a grid of little cone shapes on the underside of the lid. The idea is that liquid condenses on underside of the lid and these little cones help the liquid drip back down onto the stuff that is cooking.

I noticed that the tips were a little rusted but I decided to cook a one pot chicken and rice dish in it any way. It the food safe to eat? I couldn't discern any type of rust flavor or anything in the food. I searched around on the web a bit and couldn't really get a straight answer about eating rust. All I've read is that you have to injest quite bit to be of any concern. I think that cooking and eating the food this one time probably won't put my health at risk.

Does anyone have a more definitive answer on this?


texts: Jars of salsa, do I have to boil the jars if they sealed on their own?

texts:
Wondering if I have to boil my homemade jars of salsa to seal them if they sealed on their own. (Yes I sterilized them before hand)
The salsa went in hot and once the lid was on, about 5 minutes later there was the telltale pop!

IF this is safe, how long does something like homemade salsa and homemade sauces keep for in sealed jars?

Thanks!
~Andrea


texts:
I've been trying to get into teas with more fruity flavors (pieces of fruit in the tea or tea based on fruit pieces) and I've noticed that a large majority of them have unpleasantly sour notes. Am I brewing incorrectly or is something else supposed to be added into the tea?

EDIT: It's teas that already have fruit pieces in them, and doesn't appear to be a particular fruit of any sort. I just steep tea leaves in a glass for a few minutes, usually with near-boiling water, then drink.


texts: how can i make 1 1/2 cup of all purpose flour to 1 1/2 cup of self'rising flour?

texts: I am making a coffee cake it requires *self-rising flou*r but I only have all purpose flour. I do know how to make ap flour to self-rising yet i dnt the measurments for 1/2 a cup ?


texts: Substituting invert sugar for corn syrup

texts:
I am working with a gumdrop recipe that calls for 1c. sugar and 1c. corn syrup, which is heated to 280 degrees and then blended into some other ingredients. In order to avoid the corn syrup and simplify the recipe I would like to substitute an invert sugar syrup for this mixture. In a perfect world, I'd like to start with some amount of sugar and water and find the temperature/time balance to proceed with the recipe from there.

I'm stuck with the math of the conversion. I don't know how to measure the % of water, fructose, glucose, sucrose, etc. I care more about getting something chemically similar than about having the same level of sweetness, since the recipe involves pectin and the final consistency is most important. Can anyone advise me about how to make this work, or even how to test and figure it out?


texts:
I made plum jam at the weekend. The recipe I had (from my Good Housekeeping cookbook) wanted me to simmer the plums in water, add sugar and a knob of butter, then boil until a set was reached.

I realised too late that I was out of butter, so I quickly looked up another jam recipe online and discovered what seemed like a 50/50 split between recipes with and without the knob of butter.

I made it without and it came out beautifully - clear, well-textured, lovely flavour. So what was the knob of butter meant to add?


texts: I have recently begun testing different types of dry rubs in preparing meat dishes.  What base ingredients (outside of spice blends) should I be looking for in a good quality dry rub?  If it is allowed, I'd appreciate if you could share products that contain the ingredients you are recommending.


texts: What is the term for simmering something in sauce?

texts:
What is the term called for when something, generally meat, is cooked in a large amount of sauce such that the meat is completely submerged.

It is similar to boiling or simmering but instead of water it would be some sort of sauce.

This is one of my favorite ways to cook chicken so that it doesn't end up dry and was wondering the name of this technique so I could look up how other people have done it.


texts: Close the lid of unsealed jar with pop-up lid

texts:
I bought a cheese spread bottle last night and I opened it today. It said in the bottle to refrigerate after opening, it came with a pop up lid.

I don't have the facility to use a refrigerator. How long it can be fresh without refrigerating and can I able to seal it back if yes how?


texts: What's an appropriate shelf-life for refrigerated pre-peeled garlic?

texts:
Buying pre-peeled/crushed/sliced garlic is great because it saves so much time during prep -- hand-peeling and crushing garlic in the midst of of everything else is a big time sink. However, I've been told that pre-peeled garlic is one of the things that spoils quickest and is one of the leading causes of food poisoning.

Can anyone confirm this? And if so, what's an appropriate shelf-life for refrigerated pre-peeled garlic?


texts:
Should salt be part of the dry premix? I plan to start making dry premixes, as normally done in factory operations. Separated for different pastries, the premixes will include any of the ff: flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and cocoa powder. My question is, can salt be part of a premix, or should I reserve it for the wet mix on the day of dough-preparation?

Reason I ask is because the original recipe for cookies that I used, instructed to mix in salt with the dry ingredients. However, knowing that salt is a polar compound, I figured it might fare better by being homogenous with the eggs, butter, and sugar. On the other hand, by mixing salt with the dry ingredients, I know that it would already be set and I won't have to worry about forgetting to put salt in my batter.

Thanks in advance.


texts: What to add if low-carb muffins don't rise and are crumbly

texts:
I followed this recipe for low-carb lemon poppy seed muffins. I only substituted coconut for almond flour and granulated monk fruit for splenda. The mix was really loose and dry when I put it in the tins. I baked it for the max specified 20 minutes and they didn't rise (I didn't swap baking soda for powder, like some do). If I want to make these again, what do I modify to get these muffins to look like actual muffins?

Also, I saw these posts (1 and 2) but I'm doing low-carb and the answers don't fit as I'd expect.


texts:
What is the temperature used in a tandoor for making naan or kulcha? I know it's higher than 500 deg. F [260 deg. C], but don't know the exact range of temperatures resestaurants use.

Update: Having baked my naan in a Big Green Egg knockoff for more than a year now, I can say that the ideal temperature seems to be between 600 deg. F and 700 deg. F. This may not be the range of temperature in a tandoor, but for baking naan on a pizza stone in a ceramic oven, the range I mentioned seems to work.


texts: How to prep jicama - is peeling necessary?

texts: I recently grabbed some jicama from the store on a whim, and I used to make some really delicious slaw.  However in the course of prepping it, I sent a whole lot to the trashcan during the peeling process.  Is the waxy rind of jicama a add-on like the waxy coat on apples? Is the rind edible at all? Can it be cooked rind-on like a potato and served that way?


texts: Heating bread in the microwave oven and wetting

texts:
I have a problem when heating bread in the microwave oven. I place it on the glassy rotated bed of the oven, it get heated very well, but there is a lot of moisture are formed at the bottom of the bread (the contact between the glass and it).

How could I eliminate this wetting effect?


texts: What are the signs that indicate that raw honey has spoilt?

texts:
If the raw honey goes bad, how would I know?

What should I keep on looking for? Floating fungus?


texts: As far as I know, yeast helps the dough rise by eating away some of the sugar in the flour. But if we make low-carb bread (with, say, soya flour), yeast has nothing to eat and the bread will not rise. One solution might be to use baking powder, but then our bread has a cake-like texture. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks in advance.


texts: How to know whether the oven's door has loosened and leaking out some energy or is as tight as it was when new?

texts:
The child had been playing with the oven door without my knowledge for some time.
How to know whether the oven's door has loosened and is leaking out some energy or is as tight as it was when new?


texts:
I had always heard that pencil thin asparagus is the best, and that has always been what I look for. But now I've heard from a few (what I would consider reliable) sources that skinny isn't better when choosing asparagus. My local grocery tends to get really fat (stems easily an inch in diameter) asparagus that otherwise looks great (nice color, tight tips, no wrinkling). I've always avoided this asparagus even though I love roasted fresh asparagus, because I've expected it to be woody. Is that the case?

I've never peeled asparagus, I've just snapped off the ends at the "break" point. If the consensus is that this fat asparagus is worth trying, should I peel it before roasting?


texts: What is a good technique to make Iced Tea?

texts: I've seen methods that call for different variations of boiling tea bags - throwing in ice cubes, soaking tea leaves overnight - refrigerate, slowly pouring the tea over a large chunk of ice after boiling loose leaf tea.  It seems as if they all make sense, but I would like to see a technique that works well consistently - what are the pros and cons of these techniques and what works for the different varieties of tea: Bags, Loose Tea, Tea Leaves?  I'm not concerned about levels of sugar ect. but the actual techniques involved to make the tea...


texts: What kind of rice should I use to make Persian/Indian/Middle Eastern rice-based desserts?

texts:
I am trying to learn how to make Persian shole zard and Indian firni (phirni). Some recipes mention jasmine rice as a main ingredient, while others just say "white rice". To my knowledge jasmine rice is popularly consumed in South East Asia, so I wonder if using it in Persian/Middle Eastern/Indian desserts will lead to authenticity.

What kind of rice should be used for authentic rice pudding sweets in those countries? Basmati for firni?


texts:
Recently I tried using this recipe to make bacon buns:

Bacon Buns Recipe - Lithuanian Lasineciai

The buns flavor turned out fantastic, however they were too hard and dry. How would you go about making these buns look more like the picture in the link? i.e., how would you get the bread to become very fluffy?

A few ideas I had in mind, and I could be wrong:

Add more bacon/fat?
Mix the dough longer/shorter?

I mixed mine long enough to combine ingredients, however the dough was very wet and was barely workable after the second time the dough was mixed after rising.

Also as a general rule of thumb, before putting dough in the oven, is it safe to assume that hard dough will create hard buns and soft dough will create soft fluffy buns, or is there a different way to measure/assume this?


texts: How much and what seasoning to should I use in a turkey brine?

texts:
Brining at its basic level is about opening the cell structure of the meat with salt and allowing osmotic action to take effect and allow the meat to become a bit juicier and bring a salty flavor to the meat.

Many people have dumped everything but the kitchen sink into brine to add deeper flavor to their meats, only to be disappointed that the flavor barely penetrates the surface.

There is a great question here that helps explain the possible why this occurs (tldr: molecule size):
How deeply will the flavors in a brine penetrate chicken?
It was decided that the only flavor that was detectable to the bone was eugenol.
Eugenol appears in cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, basil and bay leaf.

My question(s): Has anyone used these ingredients exclusively for brining a turkey?

If so, in what quantities? Would I be better off just getting some straight eugenol from a health food store? since a clove taste substantially different from a bay leaf, would those differences make it in to the bird or would it be exclusively the eugenol leaving the other flavors behind?


texts:
I have a lamb pinot noir sauce recipe that I use for lamb chops all the time.

I would like to use with short ribs instead.

can I merely substitute beef stew meat for the lamb stew meat, and be done with it, adjusting cooking times and seasonings to taste


texts:
I love cooking with eggplant (or aubergine/brinjal in your specific English flavor).

However to get rid of the bitter taste and slightly spongy texture, I end up using huge amounts of olive oil, which tends to make the dish heavy overall. I've had some success with grilling the eggplant, but for sauté or oven baking I always grab my oil and apply liberally.

Are there any tips/preparations I can use to reduce the bitterness and sponginess of eggplant using less oil?


texts: I have tried several colanders and fine mesh sieves to wash and rinse amaranth before cooking. They all failed me - the grain is so small that much of it falls through even the smallest mesh I found in the store. Cooking this grain is time consuming as it is, and cleaning isn't much easier...any suggestions on the right brand and style of mesh would be appreciated. Thanks


texts: Does frying in canola instead of shortening change the fry time?

texts:
I had a bunch of canola oil and didn't want to go out and buy some shortening for a new recipe I found for beignets. The recipe called for heating 3-inches of shortening up to 370F to fry them in so I did the same with canola.

The fry time was to be 3 minutes but the first few I tried were too doughy. The next few I did for 4 minutes and, again, too doughy. Even at 5 minutes the inside was too wet. They are to be served hot so letting them sit for long isn't really an option.

I kept a thermometer in the pot and maintained that 370F temp pretty well. Other than the doughy to wet inside, they puffed up nicely and had good flavor.

So is there something I'm not aware of?


texts: Olive oil "shelf" life and summer camping

texts:
I am about to car camp one week and I am wondering if I may safely carry some olive oil in a glass bottle - I expect day temperature to peak around 30 degrees Celsius.

I would like to know ahead of time if the oil is going to get rancid, or to deteriorate in any way.

Thank you very much


texts: Can I substitute buttermilk by curdling coconut milk with acid?

texts: I love to bake but can't justify buying buttermilk for the odd time a recipe calls for it.  Instead, I add vinegar to milk to replicate the buttermilk.(it works perfectly).  At the same time, I LOVE to bake with coconut milk, substituting it for milk in the recipe.  My question is, can I add vinegar to coconut milk and get the same results when substituting it for the buttermilk?


texts: Why do we need to soak dry Fenugreek leaves in warm water, and then sprinkle salt over them?

texts:
What's the benefit of soaking dry Fenugreek leaves in warm water and then sprinkling salt over them?

From: http://www.everestspices.com/masalas/kasuri-methi

  Soak the Everest Kasuri Methi in boiling water with a pinch of salt.

From: http://www.rakskitchen.net/2010/07/dal-fry.html

  add kasuri methi leaves(soak in hot water before adding)at this stage.

From: http://www.tarladalal.com/Aloo-Methi-%28-Punjabi-Recipe%29-22789r

  Wash the fenugreek leaves and chop them finely. Sprinkle some salt over them and keep aside for about half an hour.


texts: Cook a frozen cobbler in a microwave instead of oven

texts: Here's my problem. We don't have access to a oven (we are out of town for a week and out hotel room only has a microwave and a 2 range stove top). I purchased a frozen Blackberry Cobbler and we want to make it. Does anyone know how long I should cook it and is it safe?


texts: Is there something wrong with this scallop residue?

texts: After cooking scallops in oil in non-stick pan, I cleaned up and there was a white hard substance left stuck to the pan. It felt like plastic. These scallops were fresh caught one day before using, right from the boat.  Also, when beginning to cook they had blue around the outer edge. Suggestions?  We are wondering if there is a problem here!


texts: What's a good egg substitute in pizza dough?

texts:
I'm trying to perfect my pizza dough recipe, and build a device that measures out and adds the ingredients to the mixer automatically.

I'm using an egg in the recipe, but making a machine that cracks an egg and puts it in a bowl is too complex for me.

Is there an egg substitute that comes in either powder or liquid form that works well in pizza dough? Anyone had experiences using egg substitutes in pizza dough, and which ones worked/didn't work?

The future of pizza depends on it ;)

I thought the recipe would be helpful because the substitute might work better/worse depending on the other ingredients. The goal of the recipe is a fluffy, sort of sweet, soft pizza crust, and I usually do a Hungry Howie's style garlic herb seasoning on it.

1 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

3 3/4 cup flour

2 tsp bread machine yeast


texts: Ciabatta Dough Too Wet. What went wrong?

texts:
I made a ciabatta using this recipe:

500g bread flour
475g  water
2 tsp. yeast
15g salt

In the end my dough was like a pancake mix the entire time until I added some more flour. I don't know where I went wrong.
I measured all of the ingredients with a scale converting my grams to ounces, because the metric unit is bugged on it.
I used a hand mixer machine to beat the dough for a staggering 45 minutes. Then I covered it and let it rest for 20 min.
The instructions said the dough will be pancake like, but will eventually set up and start climbing off the edges of the bowl, onto the hook of the machine. Mine stayed like pancake batter.
Like I said above, I added more flour to it because I was supposed to cut and shape them, but it was utterly impossible due to the dough glooping back together and sticking to my fingers and hands. It is proofing now.
I threw it in the oven anyways to see what would happen. I baked it for 30 minutes. Crumb was dense due to poor handling, but it was really surprising how nice the bread tasted.
So how do I fix this recipe? Is there some way I can handle the dough better, and actually manage to shape it without adding all that extra flour?


texts: Multi-purpose grilling apparatus possible for BBQ and shashlik possible?

texts:
In Russia and Central Asia, they make shashlik on a mangal. A major difference is that the mangal does not have a grate that is the spits with meat pieces are directly exposed to the heat.
I've been looking for a while for sort of a multi-device, that is a BBQ grill where you could take the grate off and insert spits. If it has the smoker feature, even better.

Maybe anybody has seen something of this sort?


texts: What plant-based (non-dairy) milk do not separate when making caffe latte?

texts:
This is a little subjective, but what plant-based milk is best used to make a latte?

By "best" I mean one that doesn't separate (like plain soy often does) and has a creamy consistency that best resembles dairy.

Preferably this milk should also steam well.

Note that answers on making custom plant-milk recipes are welcome as I know that making your own nut milks can produce a wide variety of consistencies and textures.


texts: What olive is a good taste substitute for Kalamata?

texts:
I am aware that wikipedia has a nice list of olive varieties including tastes (sometimes). However, I'd prefer a considered answer, so this is the place.

I'm looking to substitute based on taste, not looks, as my local supermarket has messed with its Kalamatas and I don't find them nice anymore.

Googling indicates Gaeta, Amphissa, Nicoise, but it's an ambiguous mess.

I use a vinegar + brine-cured variant. What is the closest taste approximation?


texts: I usually cook vegetarian dishes because it's easier for me although I'm a huge carnivore. I'm taking a stab at this steak sandwich recipe which calls for "fillet of beef". What does that mean? Which cut (chuck roast, london broil, etc...) can I get? Surely Ina Garten does not mean fillet mignon?


texts: How do I make spicy mayonnaise like Japanese restaurants use for sushi?

texts: I've tried mixing mayonnaise and hot sauce together and it didn't taste right at all. Any Suggestions?


texts: Can you mix oat and wheat flakes into bread mix?

texts: When mixing wheat flour to make bread, can I add some wheat and oat flakes?


texts: gooseberry "turnover" filling very thick

texts:
We got a lot of gooseberries from the garden, so I decided to make some gooseberry turnovers.
I found a simple recipe online: puree the berries, add bread-crumbs, cornstarch and sugar. Mix it, and fill some puff pastry. In the over, done!

But, the filling is so thick! I know gooseberries contain a certain amount of pectin, but even after removing the cornstarch and reduce the amount of bread-crumbs, it still ends up as a very thick, "solidified" substance.
Another problem is that the stuffing is quite liquid, which makes it difficult to fill the puff pastry. (that's why the bread-crumbs are added)

What can I do to thicken the stuffing, but prevent the filling from becoming solid?


texts:
I recently bought an Aga Rangemaster 90cm range cooker with induction cook top. The oven and hob are great except when attempting deep frying, which seems not to work. I have nothing but induction compatible cookware.
The pans initially heat up fine, but refuse to come up to anything above approximately 150C (300F). Monitoring the temperature with a remote thermometer I can see the temperature cycling as the element comes on and off, but I am never able to get the pan up to say 180C.
I have reviewed the operating instructions and no mention is made of it not being possible to deep fry, so I wondered if this is something that others have experienced, or if there is some workaround.


texts: Baking bread in smaller pans bake time question

texts: I usually bake my bread in loaf pan size 7/3.5 depth 2"and bake for 60 Min. I have to make a large number of loaves so will use pan size 5 3/4 x3 x 2 1/8 so how do I adjust for the cooking time or perhaps I don't need to?


texts: How dangerous is it to bake food with plastic?

texts:
I just baked a spiral ham for an hour.  There was a little piece of plastic that I was supposed to 'remove before cooking', but I didn't notice it.

After an hour, the ham was baked and the plastic seems to be unburned.  This is possibly because the plastic was under the basting liquid and not exposed to air.  The plastic also does not seem to have melted.  It feels hard to the touch.  The surface is a little slippery and smells like ham.

Is my ham safe to eat?


texts: Safety of cake in oven with faulty thermostat

texts: My new apartment's electric oven has a faulty thermostat.  I made a cake from scratch, which took two hours to bake. Yesterday, I made a box mix cake as a gift, which took well over an hour to bake.  I'm now concerned for the safety of the recipient. Is it safe to eat a cake that took so long to bake?  Are the eggs in it safe?  Eventually the cake cooked through, and is not raw in the middle, but I'm worried about the eggs not cooking at the correct temperature.  Should I throw it out and go buy one at the bakery, or is it safe to give it as a gift?


texts:
Is the oil temperature limited to 350 or 375.
How do I Dry Brine chicken?
Is there a rule of thumb for how much seasoning is used?
Do I use more seasoning in the marinade than in the flour mixture?


texts: My sourdough starter smells buttery, is this ok, or should I start over with my starter?  I have made the starter with organic whole wheat flour and water.  It is approximately 3 weeks old and I’ve made several batches of bread.  It is just starting to have a buttery smell.  Don’t know if the starter has been contaminated with another bacteria or if this might be normal.


texts: Are there substitutes for Parmesan without the aged cheese flavor?

texts:
I absolutely can't stand the flavor of parmesan cheese.  Unfortunately, it is a very important ingredient  in Italian cooking.  What is a good substitute?  It can't be anything that even resembles parmesan.  Despite the fact that I love cheese, no feta or blue or any of that strong stuff.

Note by the moderators If you want to suggest a cheese with a similar flavor, there is a separate question for that. Look at the answers there, and if your suggestion is not already listed, add an answer to that question. This question is for food with different flavor only.


texts: I am a neophyte cook (and a guy). I bought some cast iron cookware in the hope of taking it camping. It seems that it must be seasoned before use. I looked on-line and followed the directions. Not knowing if the seasoning was just for the cooking surface or the entire item, (I figured it's all iron, right) I coated the entire griddle and Dutch oven in vegetable oil and baked at 350° for an hour. Now both items are sticky. What did I do wrong and how do I fix it?


texts: Microwave friendly utensils, what qualifies as

texts:
Any easy ways to identify microwave friendly utensils? I know some basic guidelines like, "no metallic items", but am confused about certain kind of glass dishes, bowls. Are all kind of ceramic containers allowed?

All I am looking for is basically a set of guidelines/thumbrules that I can follow.


texts: Are there any snacks that use a large amount of black sesame seeds?

texts:
A dietician I was working with recommended eating 3 tbsp a day of black sesame seeds. If I can't do that, I'd at least like to do 1-2. Are there any snacks that uses a lot of black sesame seeds that I could eat easily (as opposed to sprinkling them over a dish or a salad, for example)? Only restriction is I don't eat seafood (so sushi is out).

Most of the recipes I've found online use it as a garnish, or are in something like ice cream / pudding -- which I would imagine are not the best things to eat every day.


texts: Anybody know where I can get some Stanley spatulas?

texts: Back when Stanley had home parties, the demonstrator would hand these out as a hostess prize or thank you. It’s my absolute favorite spatula and I cannot seem to find one anywhere! It’s a soft, pliable, probably nylon spatula.


texts: How can I estimate cooking time for a brined and roasted turkey?

texts:
For previous Thanksgivings, we have brined and roasted our turkey.  (Here is the detailed process.)  After brining for about a day, we roast the bird for 30 minutes at 500°F and then bake it at 350°F until it's reached 160°F internally.

The bird is stuffed with an apple and half an onion (sliced), a cinnamon stick and some sage leaves for flavor.  During the high-heat phase, the breast is protected with a foil sheet.  The turkey legs are pulled inward towards the body; we do not spatchcock it.

The problem is that it's always taken much longer than we'd estimated for the turkey to come to temperature.  We end up serving dinner 2 or 3 hours later than expected which is certainly sub-optimal.  Based on the turkey's weight (and preparation process), how can we estimate how long it will take to cook?

We do use an independent thermometer to verify oven temperature.

Ideally, I'd like a formula for how to calculate cooking time from weight, and how to adjust based on details such as brining.


texts: Are those red spots on the chicken ok? or does it mean chicken has got some bacteria or it is not fresh?


texts: Why would a recipe be sensitive to the brand of cream cheese I bought?

texts:
I have a chocolate chip cheesecake recipe I have made several times before without problem. My mother's recipe says to use a particular brand of cream cheese. I thought this was nonsense. Anyways, when I went to the store, they didn't have Philadelphia brand, so I bought whatever they had, something organic such and such brand.

The results looked disastrous. Supposed to cook for an hour, but took 1hr 40 minutes. Didn't have the same look at all. And I was about ready to throw it out. But in the end tasted excellent! If this was food network, I would have gotten tons of points off for look and texture though, because it is supposed to have the chocolate chips evenly distributed brought it, and they seemed to have fall to the bottom while baking.

my question:

Why would brand of cream cheese affect the recipe so much? It seems unreasonable. I also don't think it's the oven because I baked a pie last week and it turned out great.


texts:
I bought all kinds of bread today (Thursday morning), pitas, whole-wheat rolls, a kind of challa-looking thing. The best before is about five days time. They're for consumption on Friday night and Saturday, so up to three days from purchase, although we'll be out camping and they'll probably be in a hot car for the drive out and in bags in the sun during the day while we're walking.

For the 24 hours or so from Thursday morning through Friday morning before the drive, is it better to put the bread in the freezer, or just let it sit on the shelf?


texts: What are safe, effective practices for smoking salmon in a commercial smoker?

texts: We have been smoking salmon in an electric smoker (a Master Built) for about 6 months now, using a dry rub brine recipe containing salt, brown sugar, garlic and other flavorings (sometimes brandy, sometimes smoked red pepper powder).  We have tried to adjust the temperature and time to gain a safe, but moist and smoky tasting end result.  We have been using mesquite wood chips. I have read that the authentic way to smoke meat is very slow over a smoky fire and can last longer than what is possible in a commercial smoker. How can I achieve the best results with my smoker?


texts: How can I grind teff? (without a grain mill)

texts:
One of the international groceries near me stopped selling smaller (~2lb / 1kg) bags of teff flour**.  All that that they have now is 25lb bags.  All of the other ones that I frequent are latin or asian, and just don't carry teff.

Bob's Red Mill sells teff in small (24oz) packages, which I can get in some of the 'organic' type grocery stores, but it's whole.

I know that grain mills exist, but I'd prefer not to buy a new appliance just for a 'let me play around in the kitchen with a new recipe' type situation.  (in this case, injera)

As the grains are so tiny, would coffee grinders (blade or burr) even work for it?  Is there some other common kitchen appliance that would work?  Or would I have to spend some time with a mortar and pestle?

** as the bags were self-labeled like how they sell other bagged bulk foods, it's possible that they just had a damaged bag, and found a way to cut their losses, and it just took them a while to sell it all, as it was only a month or two from when I noticed it 'til it was gone.


texts: Substituting sweetened condensed milk for evaporated milk

texts: I am making caramel. The recipe calls for 2 - 12oz. cans of evaporated milk. I want to use sweetened condensed milk. Do I use the same amount?


texts:
I want to have a go at nixtamalizing some corn. Upon doing some research I figured I could find the lime (calcium hydroxide) that's traditionally used for the process at the local international food market. Turns out all they sold was something called 'carbonato', which I'm pretty sure is just calcium carbonate. The lady at the store did tell me that people often buy it for boiling/processing corn, but I know enough food chemistry to know they wont' do the same thing. A similar search of the three big grocery stores in town for the lime turned up nothing.

So I thought I might be able to devise a substitution based on things I have on hand. I read you can make something similar to nixtamal with food-grade sodium hydroxide, (which I happen to have in abundance) but according to that recipe, when made with sodium hydroxide in place of calcium hydroxide, the flavor "has the bite of soda, and it lacks the rich corn chip fragrance of corn steeped in slacked [sic] lime".

My question is: before I go ahead and order some lime online, is there a possibility that a mixture of sodium hydroxide and some form of soluble calcium could give me the same or similar results (alkalinity and the right flavor) as lime? I have calcium sulfate and calcium chloride on hand, which will readily supply calcium in solution, and could easily pick up calcium carbonate.

My (very basic) chemical understanding is that, in solution, sodium hydroxide + calcium chloride would be roughly analogous to calcium hydroxide + sodium chloride, since they provide the same ions and are all soluble.

Could anyone weight in on this? Could this possibly be better aimed at the Chemistry SE?


texts:
A typical pie dough recipe (such as this one) asks to:

Mix the dough.
Make a couple thick disks.
Put the thick disks in the fridge 30 minutes to couple months in the freezer.
Remove thick disks, let them warm up a little, and roll them out.
Place them in the greased pan and put them back in the fridge for about half an hour.

My question: is there any reason I can't store my dough, pre-rolled out, in the freezer after step 4. Also, assuming the dough is just warmed enough to be able to put it in the pan would doing so still give the benefits of step 5?


texts: What is the best way to ensure prepared gnocchi is light and fluffy, not lumpy and soggy? I've seen tips saying to use more flour, to use less, to add ricotta cheese, to air dry...


texts: How to cook fried potatoes in a No Fry Cooker?

texts: I want to “No Fry” French fried potatoes. Can I stack them on top of each other to cook and brown a little? I have seen pictures of them being piled on top of each other in a No Fry Cooker. In a regular oven you put then on a sheet pan in one layer. Can they be piled on top of each other?


texts: Blending pastry cream right after cooking: does it change final consistency?

texts:
I prepared some pastry cream to use as pie filling.
Right after it had been cooked, and while still hot, I passed it through a sieve onto a bowl with chopped white chocolate.
As I tried to fold the chocolate onto the pastry cream, it would not melt properly, and pieces of it would remain in the cream even while I mixed.
I think next time I'll try and pre-melt the chocolate, at least partially, before incorporating.
Either way, and this was not part of the recipe, I decided to use the immersion blender to smooth out the cream and incorporate the stubborn white chocolate bits.
It worked for incorporating the chocolate, but I fear it may have worked too well for smoothing out the cream, and it became fairly liquid as it was blended.
It did become a little firmer as it cooled (to be expected, if only from the chocolate), but not enough so to be a satisfying pie filling.

Does blending hot pastry cream, after it's gelled, alter its final consistency?
Or is the result of my 'not firm enough' cream due to ratios in the recipe?

For record, the ingredients used were (converted from ounces):

227g Light brown sugar
43g Cornstarch
142g Egg yolk
794g Whole milk
125g White chocolate
9g Vanilla essence
57g Malted milk powder

Trace amounts of salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.


texts: What is the trick to kneading silk smooth bread?

texts:
I've been teaching myself how to make bread for a few weeks, had some success but never able to create dough that is completely smooth why?

Following a recipe like this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTDvqn5SLGs

You can see that the bread is literally like plastic.

But when I knead my dough (even with a mixer machine) the dough is more like this:

Recipe shown in video (and what I used in my attempt) is

300g Medium-fat dough
160g milk
3g instant dry yeast
30g sugar
6g veg oil


texts: Can you grind Cheerios and use it as flour?

texts: After reading this question, I was wondering if a similar procedure would work with something like Cheerios. Could I grind it up and use it as gluten-free flour for bread or Matzah? Or would it not hold?


texts:
I have a fair amount of 75% cocoa chocolate. I would like to melt this chocolate and mix it up with some spices, fruit, nuts, coffee of mine. I would then spread this chocolate into a thin board and let it solidify again. This last step sounds a little hard to me. I do not care too much if the board of chocolate is not perfectly rectangular of if the upper side is not perfectly flat.

I am scared that it could be hard to warm up the chocolate at a high enough temperature without burning it so that it is easy to spread smoothly.
I am scared that the chocolate will stick to the counter top (in plastic) or the sheet pan.
I am scared that it won't fully solidify. I am wondering whether the counter top should be cooled down (which is impossible in my kitchen).

Can you give me your advice on how to solidify a chocolate mix into a nice thin board in a amateur kitchen?

I have never worked with chocolate before. My kitchen is typically around 21°C but I could eventually bring it down to 18°C.


texts: Do I have to wait for frozen steak to defrost?

texts: If I have several frozen steaks I wish to cook (and eat) is there some easier way to do so than by just waiting for them to defrost?


texts: producing kefir grains from commercial kefir?

texts: I had previously been buying commercial kefir, and then started adding milk (actually half and half) when it ran low and leaving it out to produce more kefir with good results (at least compared to the commercial stuff)   I have some kefir grains coming in the mail so this is really just out of curiosity.  Can you leave kefir out longer than usual to produce kefir grains?  In other words using the technique described above but instead of refrigerating after 36 hours or so, continue to leave it out at room temperature,  will this produce kefir grains?  Or using home made kefir and doing the above, can you produce grains that way?


texts: I am having a party. I have no rice cooker.  I plan on cooking the rice the day before.  Is it possible to reheat it and have it taste good?  How to?


texts:
I live in Singapore and there seems to be no squashes, of the type that I typically see in Spaghetti Squash recipes, sold here.

Can I use pumpkin as a substitute? If I put it in an oven and use fork to make the spaghetti strands, will it work and have the same texture?


texts: Types of tofu that can be used in a crock pot

texts:
I am currently trying to get rid of some firm and soft tofu that's been in my fridge for a while, and I wanted to try out a few slow cooker recipes for braised tofu. However, all of these recipes call for extra-firm tofu.

Would less firm tofu be able to hold up to 6+ hours of crock pot cooking? Or is it really critical that I use extra-firm tofu for this?