texts: How is this non-dairy creamer really non-dairy when it has sodium caseinate?

texts:
I was at a hotel recently, and naturally I had brought home those little packets of free coffee by the sink in the room.  I noticed a packet of coffee additives--sugar, Splenda, and most importantly for this question, a supposed non-dairy creamer with the following ingredient list (in order):

Corn Syrup Solids
Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil
Contains 2% or less of the following:

Sodium Caseinate (a milk derivative)
Dipotassium Phosphate
Mono and Diglycerides
Sodium Silicoaluminate or Silicon Dioxide (anti-caking agent)
Sodium Tripolyphosphate
Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Esters of Mono and Dyglycerides
Artificial Flavors
Beta Carotene, Riboflavon, and Titanium Dioxide (artificial colors)

Given the presence of the ingredient I highlighted, how is this allowed to be called non-dairy creamer?


texts:
I'm planning storing some wine over a long period of time. I'm not sure about the exact duration, but I'm thinking of either 25 or 50 years.

What should be taken into consideration? Here's a list of what I can think of:

Material (stopper/bung/cork/screw cap/..)
Temperature
Humidity (might matter in combination with some stoppers)
Light
Orientation (lying down or vertical, something non-intuitive as upside down?)

Does anyone has experience with this or is it generally doomed to fail to store wine this long?

Update

  Will this be managed storage [...]?

Yes, I'm willing to take actions regularly if necessary.

  Also, what type of wines are you planning on storing (not all get better with time, and most can't take that much time).

An excellent point I actually was planning to include into the question but then somehow forgotten to: It is not decided yet (except for that it's going to be a red wine). if there's anything to consider with that, please let me know.

  Unclear what you ask [...]

A bit of clarification: Since I want a good tasting wine after a long time of storage, I want optimal storage conditions. I came up with several factors that might be important to control, but there might be others. Any input on what the optimal conditions have to be helps, even if it is not included in my list of potential factors.


texts:
I'm lucky enough to have been gifted two Trout by a neighbour... and have not had the pleasure of preparing fresh fish before (or at least not unprepared fish).

I've attempted an internet search but haven't found a source that looks reliable to me.


texts: Why are red wine glasses wider than white wine glasses?

texts:
I understand that one of the important aspects of a wine glass is that it has smaller opening at the top, which is going to help concentrate the aromas.

But why are glasses for red wine generally wider than those for white wine?

Also are there any reasons for white wine glasses to be narrow?

Summary of the question is really; why have two different sizes for wine glasses?


texts: What are the major causes of food poisoning?

texts: People may die due to food poisoning. What are the major dangers? Sometimes in restaurants people eat a meal and get sick. How can we see that the food is dangerous?


texts:
I'm trying to make some nacho cheese sauce. As the recipe calls for milk, I think the overall cheese flavor is getting diluted. I'd like to make my cheese sauce taste really cheesy. I'm going to try using an aged, very sharp cheddar cheese in my next experiment -- hoping that it'll still taste cheesy after it gets diluted by the milk.

Are there any other things I might be able to do (e.g. additional ingredients) that might improve the overall cheese flavor?


texts: How to get rid of tiny black spots on white plastic cutting board?

texts:
When I looked in the dishwasher this morning after it ran overnight, I noticed an amount of tiny flecks on the white plastic cutting board I have, on both sides of the surface. After taking it to the sink, no amount of scrubbing is getting them out!

-What is it?

-How do I get them out?

-Can I still use it?


texts: How hot does popcorn need to be before it pops?

texts:
I'm interested to know if I can make popcorn in the oven, such as in a covered roasting pan. I'm also just quite curious to know the temperature it needs.

Would it pop in a 250C oven? If so, what temperature is needed for it to pop?

Would I get a good result making popcorn in my oven?


texts: How is the lamb meat made in lamb gyros?

texts:
I've been to several Middle Eastern inspired restaurants around where I live and in most of these restaurants, the customers are able to see into the kitchen as they prep our food. In the middle of the kitchen I normally see something like this:

I asked the waitress what they were and she told us that the "blob" on the right is lamb. My friend then went ahead and order a lamb gyro platter. We watched as they carved thin slices off of the lamb. These slices look something like this:

My friend let me try a piece of the "lamb" meat but it didn't really taste like meat. It was tasty but the texture seemed too "smooth" to taste like meat. The texture almost reminded me of vegan meat substitute. Its texture was nothing like what ground beef felt like. How did they prepare the lamb that they got such a texture? And is this authentic or just an American bastardization of the authentic gyro meats?


texts:
My butcher gave me this warning:

  Make sure you don't soak your beef in a pineapple marinade, stick to brine. I tried it with pineapple once and I ended up with a paste.

Now seems too incredible (because a beef roast is quite tough), but potentially plausible.

My question is: Will a pineapple marinade reduce a beef roast to paste?


texts: Why pasta keeps always damp and moist when I cook it?

texts:
Boiling pasta in itself is easy - however, there's a problem I could never avoid or solve. When I judge the pasta is ready, I pour the unnecessary water out of the vessel, though even if I use a colander, the pasta keeps damp and moist, and even if I put it back to the fridge for a night or two, it keeps like that. Even adding salt and oil to the water did not help it.

What can I do against it?


texts: How to convert grilled Beer Can Burger recipe to oven baked

texts: I've been looking at Beer Can Burger recipes where you make a big burger and push a beer can in it to make a hole and then fill the whole with veggies, cheese etc and wrap bacon around the burger.  The instructions say to grill on indirect heat for 1 hour.  How long and at what temp would I make these at in the oven?  Thanks for responses.


texts: What is the ratio of curing salt versus table salt in a recipe?

texts: My soppressatta recipe calls for 2.50 lbs. of table salt for every 100 lbs. of meat. How much curing salt would I use in place of table salt?


texts: how many pints cooked cabbage from 3 pounds raw?

texts: How many pints of cooked cabbage should I be able to get out of 2 cabbage heads (about 3 pounds each) ? I am wanting to cook and freeze the cabbage.


texts: What is the best way to filter Turkish coffee?

texts:
I wish to get rid of the remains of the coffee in a Turkish coffee cup.
I tried using the tea strainer, it didn't help much. I used cloth. The
results were better but still I could feel the particles in my mouth
while drinking the Turkish coffee.

What is the best practical way to filter Turkish coffee?


texts:
I don't cook meat very often, however when I do it often turns out "dry" rather than moist and juicy.

How do I ensure my cooked meat turns out moist?

thermometer?
braise the meat?
cook less time?
high temp vs low temp?


texts: What squeezes out juice better, auger or press?

texts:
I'm thinking to buy manual juicer. I considering two options: plastic auger one or thick aluminium press.

Like this:

And this:


texts: How much overrun do I get with a compressorless home ice cream machine?

texts:
I started making my own ice cream this year. While the French type works quite well, I've been having trouble with American and Gelato types.

I don't have an ice cream machine. I freeze small portions of icecream on a prefrozen wide porcelain plate. While a pinch of xanthan keeps the result reasonably smooth, the texture isn't great. It melts almost instantly, and when melted, it is as liquid as it was before - it turns to sweetened milk in my mouth even before I have swallowed it.

So while I prefer denser ice cream, I think that some recipes were created with a lot of overrun in mind. I thought of trying the Serious eats idea and creating the overrun after the freezing. But first, I don't have a food processor, and don't think an immersion blender will be good enough. Second, it will melt while I am blending.

I don't want to pay the money and simply don't have the space for a gelateria style ice cream machine with a compressor. I was wondering if the prefrozen churner type machines will help with my problem.

How much overrun do they produce with a typical ice cream recipe (say 2/3 3.6%, 1/3 30% cream)?
Does the texture suffer from the same problems (instant melting)?

Edit
Overrun is measured in percent. If 500 ml of mixture go into the machine and out come 750 ml of ice cream, this is 50% overrun (the air volume in the ice cream is 50% of the ice cream base volume).


texts: Beer Batter - let it rest before using or use immediately?

texts: I just purchased a deep fryer and have been looking at different recipes for making beer batter.  I noticed that some instruct you to let the batter sit for a number of hours before using it to coat veggies, meats, etc., while others do not mention this.  Does letting the batter rest make a difference in the flavor, texture, or anything else significant?


texts: If butter is melted then refrigerated to soften consistency will it have the proper results if recipe calls for soften butter?


texts: Dry measurement and conversion to weight

texts: If a recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups of shredded chicken, is that the same as 20 ounces? I'm always confused when it comes to dry ingredient measurements in recipes. Can I simply just convert each cup to 8 ounces?


texts: What is the English name for Chitra Rajmah?

texts:
What is this variety of kidney beans called in English? We call them "Chitra Rajmah" in Hindi.
http://www.helloorganic.com/Rajma_chitra.html


texts: Is "high" on a slow-cooker supposed to mean 300 F?

texts:
I was following a recipe for slow-cooked meat and potatoes.  The directions say to cook on "high" for 4 hours.

My slow-cooker, however, has a temperature range which ranges from "warm", to "150", to all the way beyond "500" degrees Fahrenheit.  After some internet research, I determined that "high" usually translates to the 300 F setting, while "low" is less than 200 F.

So I set the temperature to 300 F, but within an hour, I could smell that it was starting to burn!  Does this simply mean my slow-cooker runs hotter than others?  Moreover, is there a definitive answer to the difference between "high" and "low"?  I can't see how any recipe would actually exceed 212 F if the food is cooking in a liquid (water-based) broth.


texts:
I am smoking a turkey and don’t have broth to use in the base of the roasting pan. The turkey was brined over night.

I was thinking of putting the turkey on a bed of celery and carrots with 3 cups of water and 1 cup of apple cider vinegar. Is this a good idea or is this too much vinegar?


texts: What are some different ways of preparing flax seeds?

texts: I recently got to know the nutritious value of flax seeds.What characteristics of these seeds should I know about and how can I incorporate them into my cooking?


texts:
being a passionate home cook I of couse like working with good kitchen tools... Besides my precious knives I need good pots and pans...

Lately I've seen a lot of advertisements for pans with a ceramic coating, and today I saw those pans in my kitchen supply store...

They are (according to the advert) cast aluminum pans with a ceramic coating on them... they are said to be useful for every kind of stove, from gas over electro, ceran or induction... and they are said to be extremely robust and should cook evenly and so on...

But before buying one I wanted to ask you whether you have experience with those kind of pans? Are they really indestructable? Will working in the pan with forks or knives harm the coating? Will dishwasher usage harm the pan?

What results do you have with those pans? Is food sticking to the pan or is it really going off like nothing?

Would be great if you could provide me with some information and experience about those pans...

Thank you!


texts:
I recently wanted to make a 100% Baileys panna cotta. The idea was that because Baileys has a significant amount of cream, I could just add gelatine.

I should note that my typical panna cotta has just thick cream, gelatine, vanilla and icing sugar.

I ended up having to use about 60% cream vs 40% irish cream, but it did set and was quite good, if strong.

Of course, I had to sieve the mixture to get the coagulated cream (I assume) caused by the alcohol out before setting it.

How could I get the mix to about 50/50 cream/baileys without the cream splitting?


texts: Substituting vegetable oil spread for oil in cake mix

texts: My cake mix calls for 1/2 cup of vegetable oil and I am out of it. Can I use Blue Bonnet 53% vegetable oil spread in the place of the oil? Thanks!


texts: Most efficient technique to prepare milk and butter for proofed yeast?

texts:
I have a recipe for rolls where 1/4 cup cubed butter is added to 2 cups of warm milk.  The butter / milk mixture is added to proofed active dry yeast, and then a cup or so of flour is added to get the yeast started.

My problem is that preparing the milk and butter mixture always seems to take too long.  My kitchen seems to be too cold for room temperature milk to take in the butter without clumping.  Then it's a huge hassle to put the milk/butter mixture on the stovetop and heat it until it's warm but not curdled.

What are some easy techniques to help the milk come to room temperature (or a little above) faster?  Can I melt the butter in the microwave, and then put that in the milk?


texts: Wood versus marble rolling pin 'performance'

texts:
Is there any reason that a marble rolling pin would perform 'worse' than a wood rolling pin?

My roommates recently bought a visually appealing marble rolling pin; however, I've noticed a few problems, specifically that the marble doesn't seem to 'hold' flour and is thus much sticker when rolling.  I can't tell if this is a problem with my approach or if marble rolling pins are known to have this issue.

Does anyone have any insight on this issue?


texts: What is the name of this dish involving fruit & sugar - blended and baked thin and flat?

texts:
I don't know what it is I'm doing (IE, the name of the technique or dish) I can't research it.

I cook either rhubarb or passion fruit with a few tablespoons of sugar, blend until very smooth, spread out very thinly on a baking mat and then cook on a low temperate. (The cooking  - I assume - caramelizes the sugars.)

The desired result is a pliant thin sheet of fruit flavor (which is what I want).

I've also ended up with a gooey mess that can't be used (undercooked),  or a bitter overcooked disaster.  The issue I have with it (when I get the cooking time right) is that it is really chewy. Like a caramel or toffee, it gets stuck in your teeth which is totally undesirable.

Does any one know what the name of I'm trying to cook?


texts: Sous vide - add liquid or no in the bag?

texts:
I'm the proud owner of a new-fangled sous vide instrument. So far, I've seen mixed statements about adding extra liquid (brine or some other concoction of my choosing) to the bag. When grilling, I'm a dry rub man. But I wanted to try a marinade and thought my sous vide adventures would be a good place to start.

Is this a bad idea? Are there any recommendations, like avoiding overly acidic due to bag leeching?


texts:
I had a batch of avocados from the supermarket, as I normally do.
I often have 3-5 days before they're past the point of being edible.
This batch was not more that 2 days old, and three out of five looked like the avocado below (this is probably the best of the bad bunch), despite being firm.

In fact I felt like I was being a little cheeky and risking opening an unripe avocado.
Is the greyness from damage or disease?
I tasted one, and rather that tasting over or under ripe it was just bland.


texts: Defrosting individual frozen fish fillets---- in their plastic packets, or not?

texts:
The directions in the packet says to remove the plastic packets first before defrosting. But the packet helps to manage the mess and stops fishy water running all over the place.  I defrost them by submerging them in room temp. water.

Is there any danger in defrosting them in their original packet?


texts: What do I do with mildly fermented maple syrup?

texts: Our organic grade A maple syrup, bought in bulk, has gone slightly fermented in the fridge. If I were still in college, this would be great, but I am a bit older. What do I do with this stuff? Can I assume it is fine in baked goods? How can I accelerate my usage of it?


texts: How does "That's It" makes fruit bars with no preservatives

texts:
"That's It" is a company that makes fruit bars, stating:
"That’s it. fruit bars are made with literally two ingredients: fruit and fruit and that’s it! You can’t get any simpler than that!" The bars are also NonGMO.

How would it be possible to combine two fruits into a bar with no preservatives? The fruit bar itself is not entirely dry - it retains a degree of moisture. I'm just interested in how this process is possible.


texts: Can anyone tell me what kind of squash this is?

texts:
Last year we planted some hybrid yellow round zuchini. We had one going bad and my husband pulled it and just threw it in the garden. This year we had some volunteer plants from the seeds. I understand that for heirloom seeds you can expect the same variety. The same is not true from hybrid seeds as you can not know what you will get.

What these plants are producing is unrecognizable. The squash are 6 to 8 inches long. The shape is identical to a yellow crookneck. However, the skin is green with lighter green or white stripes.

I decided to cut in and see what I found. The seeds and skin leave no doubt that it is some type of winter squash. I did bake some as I would winter squash but the flavor wasn't recognizable and was quite mediocre.

I have searched high and low on the Internet for different types of squash and haven't found anything close. Does anyone know what this may be or what it could be used for?


texts: An electronic tool for mixing while the pot is on the fire

texts: When cooking a pudding cream, we need to constantly mix the cream while it is on the fire, in order to prevent chunks from forming and keep the cream smooth. It takes a long time and the hand becomes tired. Is there an electronic tool that can be used to mix the cream while it is on the fire?


texts: How can I reduce the amount of hooch my sourdough starter is making?

texts:
Sometimes my sourdough starter goes hooch (the brown liquid, alcohol) nuts and produces a ton. Other times it goes days and produces very little.  I've never been able to isolate what causes this.

What promotes and discourages hooch growth in a sourdough starter?


texts: What could cause ice pops (popsicles) to go soft in the freezer?

texts:
I’m having a strange issue with the storage of ice pops (popsicles/ice lollies) in the freezer. I recently bought a new freezer and still have the exact same issue which we can’t figure out.
Whenever we buy ice pops in our house, we put them straight into the freezer. We sometimes leave them in the box but usually remove them, which doesn’t seem to make a difference to their texture. However, even if they’re rock hard going in, they keep coming out soft, sometimes even melted. Every single time.
Here’s the weird part: everything else in the freezer is rock solid frozen! No other foods go soft regardless of how long they’ve been in there.
Also, as I mentioned, it happened in our old freezer and now our new one (which is 4* freezing). How much or how little we have in the freezer seems to make no difference. This only happens with ice pops (and ice cream cones) but no other food.
This might sound silly, but the only change in my freezer storage habits since we first noticed this problem is that we bought silicone ice trays with lids a few months ago; two of them which we stack on top of each other in the very edge. Part of me wonders if there’s some kind of chemical (since they’re cheap trays that are no longer sold by the seller they’re purchased from online) that could be affecting the ice pops, since they’re usually the only food near the ice trays. Though I do switch foods around to check freezing is consistent in all parts of the freezer, which it is. But the tray idea sounds like superstitious logic even to me.
Am I missing some kind of storage wisdom in regards to frozen sweet treats?


texts: What is the difference in method between French and Italian macarons?

texts:
According to this question, there are two different forms of macarons, "French" and "Italian". What is the difference between the French and Italian macaron method - and where does the name originate?

I'm guessing it has something to do with how the meringue is made as I've seen some recipes that use the Italian meringue method (hot sugar syrup) as opposed to a method that uses solid sugar.

Are both methods really still "French" regardless of the name? I ask because a book I'm reading is very obviously written by a French man (apparently the "king of French pastry" but he uses the method with the Italian meringue and doesn't call his macarons "Italian macarons". In fact, I'm pretty sure he refers to them as "French macarons".

As a note, I don't believe this to be a duplicate of the linked question as that is asking for differences in the results. I'm asking about differences in the actual method itself.


texts:
When I bake bread in my dutch oven, to get the bread crust a darker brown and where it should be, the bottom will burn. I've used several recipes and different ovens with the same problem outcome. The dutch oven is as high as I can put it in the oven, which helps but it's still burned slightly.

The recipes always call for a pre-heat of 475F before the bread goes in, 25-30 top on 15-20 top off. I'm trying to adjust the temperature now, but I don't see how this isn't a more common problem. Any suggestions for this?


texts: Is my microwave damaged if I can smell the food inside it?

texts:
I think I can smell the food inside my microwave. Is that bad?

I figured it's not necessarily unsafe, since you only need a cage to block the microwaves from escaping, but I'm not familiar with the precise architecture of a microwave oven.


texts: Is curry ketchup just ketchup with curry powder?

texts:
We use both tomato ketchup and curry ketchup as condiments in Belgium. On the curry ketchup label, amongst other ingredients is "curry (1%)".

So I tried adding curry powder to regular ketchup to see whether I could end up with curry ketchup, but I think the taste was off. The colour was close though.

I know "curry powder" is a spice mix that can differ, but is curry ketchup really just ketchup with curry powder added? Or do they mean a bit of a real curry (the dish)? Or are there other differences? Is it possible to make curry ketchup with regular ketchup?


texts:
After a day or two, the cinnamon smear baked in my cinnamon rolls and twists bleed a yellow>orange>green color/oil into my white icing.

How can I avoid this?


texts: How do I store 2 pounds of Grated Parmesan cheese

texts: How do I store 2 pounds of grated Parmesan cheese? Last time I froze it and it turned to mush when I defrosted it.  I also left in original package and it developed mold.


texts: What are basic concepts of fusion kitchen?

texts: Are there any formal(izable) rules, or methods, or basic concepts in fusion kitchen cooking?


texts:
I love using Egg Beaters but I want to start using more natural eggs. One of the things I love about Egg Beaters is that I can just pour the eggs from the spout, directly into my pan. Call me crazy, but I find that to be incredibly convenient for the way I cook.

So of course I can simulate this on my own by only cracking eggs once a week and putting them in a container in the fridge. But is it safe? Is there a particular container I should use? I was thinking of re-purposing something like an aluminum water bottle and just store all my eggs for the week inside that. Is that a safe practice?


texts: Sprouts and "better-to-cut-out-parts" in vegetables

texts:
A while ago I read that "all the green parts in tomatoes" actually contain a not so healthy "active ingredient" which would be better not to eat.
What I knew was that we couldn't digest those parts well, but nothing more.
Now I am asking myself if the same can be said for onions, potatoes, paprikas and so on.

What I normally do is:

Cut the center (green part) of the tomatoes away
Cut the center of the onion away (even if not sprouting)
Cut all the little sprout of potatoes away
Cut the white parts inside paprikas away

Since I don't feel good about trashing food, I would like to know if I am just being too cautious, or am actually doing fine.


texts: I made bagels for the first time yesterday. I followed the instructions...my bagels tasted great...but they ended up "wrinkled" after baking. It was a copycat recipe for Panera cinnamon crunch bagels. It may be possible that I didn't boil them correctly, it called for 45 seconds on each side, but I didn't have a timer and kept losing count with family interupting constantly. It only called for "flour" and I used some bread flour and some all-purpose. It didn't call for rising after shaping, only letting it rest 10 minutes. Any ideas?


texts: How to make Menthol crystal from mint leaves?

texts:
I have peppermint/mint growing in my garden backyard. I want to make mint candies for children and in one of the YouTube videos they have menthol crystal as one of the ingredients for mint candies so I am wondering how to make Menthol Crystal from
fresh mint leaves ?


texts:
I got a traditional gyveche (гювече) as a gift, and since it would be hard to replace here, I intend to take good care of it.

For those who don't know it, a gyuveche is an earthenware pot intended for baking a single portion of casserole-like mediterannean dishes. There are unglazed and glazed ones; mine is glazed both on the outside and the inside. That's a picture of one similar to mine.

I have some trouble cleaning it. I'm not yet used to it, and sometimes bake the dish too long, which means that I get overbaked egg caked on the inside.

My usual strategies against overbaked egg are a stainless steel wire pad and soaking. But I'm afraid that the wire pad will hurt the glaze and that soaking will seep into the clay. Is this really a concern? If I can't use wire pad or soaking, what is my best option? The rough side of the sponge isn't enough by itself.

Also, if anybody has general tips about the care, I'll be glad to hear them.


texts:
I know that the liver is the organ that produces bile. I also know that it has a lot of bile ducts leading to a hepatic duct. Given that all of this bile duct and bile is in liver and bile is bitter(just from my knowledge(Mainly from when I have had a stomach virus)) I would think that liver is bitter.

However, I had home cooked beef liver once with onions and it was delicious. It wasn't bitter at all and it was tender. It was like chicken when it comes to tenderness. The taste wasn't like chicken or beef but nevertheless it was good.

Now this isn't a fresh liver(so not like the liver you find in whole chicken when it is sold) so that might account for part of it but still, with all this bile duct and bile that is in liver(even without a single piece of gallbladder), why isn't liver bitter from it?

I mean when I have a stomach virus, I know what I throw up via taste(Acidic and generally yellow(enough to cause me to have heartburn for a few minutes afterward), stomach acid, bitter and generally green, bile, any color and generally tastes like what went in + acid, food, nothing but water, throwing up unsuccessful, saliva).

So if bile is bitter and liver contains bile, then why isn't liver bitter? Is the bile cooked out or something?


texts: can a person taste the difference between coffee that has been ground 8 hours prior to brew vs 12 hours prior to brew?

texts: I have read the other threads and understand that the fresher the bean the better. Also that the closer to brew the better. This question directly relates to the use of a morning cup that is brewed with a timer set drip maker in which the grind takes place the night before. Can someone truly taste the difference between a grind done 8 hours before a brew vs 12 hours before a brew? Will that 4 hours truly make a difference in the chemical composition in a perceptible fashion after it has already been sitting for 8?


texts: I am interested in using a food grade tin (such as this) to store small amounts of food, in particular for storing summer sausage or cheese for short periods of time (1-2 days). What are the food safety concerns (if any) for this? My searches online seemed to concentrate on reusing industrial canned food containers (verdict: not recommended), and I'm not sure if this type of container warrants different treatment.


texts:
Where I live, I can't buy high-quality salt cod, so I'm looking at making my own.  The recipes I've seen, though, all start with fresh cod.

Since salting dehydrates the cod anyway, it seems like I ought to be able to make it from frozen cod, which is about half the cost, and available year-round here.  Does this work?  Does the frozen cod have notably inferior taste or texture to salted fresh cod?


texts: What kind of reaction when you combine sodium bicarbonate and sodium acid pyrophosphate?

texts:
Is it a single reaction slow raising agent?
It only activates when on a heat right?

My product is a Chinese fried dough known as youtiao...
And also going to add with ammonia bicarbonate


texts: How to extract flavour from fruit without heating it or using alcohol?

texts:
I am curious to know, how fruit syrups and flavours are made commercially and how we can extract the maximum, true flavour of a juicy fruit (such as oranges or apples) as well as denser and less juicy fruit (such as mangoes and peaches) and also berries at home, so I can use the flavour to make fruit flavouring for tea and other desserts.

The problem I have with simple syrup is, it is far too sweet and ends up with an artificial tasting saccharine flavour. The other problem is, I find cooked fruit makes it more sour and it loses its real fruit flavour, which you then try to compensate for and replace with sugar, making it taste more like fruit flavoured boiled candy. That is why apple pies and applesauce, fruit jams never appeals to me as they taste very fake and sweet.

What I'd really like to avoid is heating it. I can deal with the sugar, as it is usually diluted with other ingredients anyway.

I know you can soak things in alcohol, but the alcohol only disappears if you then cook the final food product. It will remain if I want to use it in non-cooked food, such as add as a syrup to snow cones.

The other way I thought of is to puree the fruit, strain it and am left with the liquid. This would not work for mangoes, peaches and berries which unfortunately, are the fruits I am interested in. I might get a tiny portion of actual liquid from a giant volume of solid fruit. I know that if you suck on a popsicle with only fruit juice, you end up with a block of ice, because you ended up sucking the (concentrated) juice away so all that is left is the water ice. There is a tutorial on Instructables here that reverse engineers and uses this property (of impure water having a lower melting point) to freeze the juice then let it thaw until the juice is liquid but some ice remains, then re-freezing the juice and repeating the process. This is something that can be done at home but I am wondering what other ways there could be that doesn't require constant monitoring and labour intensive.

I say at home, because while factories and shops can get their hands on fruit flavouring and concentrates in bulk, it's hard for a normal person to get it in small quantities. However, surely factories have a way of making the fruit flavouring somehow, because the ice teas, gelato and boiled lollies you buy commercially in general all actually taste like the fruit, and not just of sugar. Wondering how they obtain that flavour and whether we can do that at home, because some of the ice tea that you get in shops actually do taste like real fruit even if you ask for less or no sugar.


texts: Metal dust/shavings in food from knife wear?

texts:
I've been wondering about this for a while, since getting interested in knife sharpening.

When using a knife, it will get duller. One (the primary) reason being that you "bend" the edge. You fix this using a honing steel.

After a while though, you need to sharpen the knife again.
Another setting: If you have a brittle knife and/or mistreat your knife you will chip it.

As far as I can tell, this should mean that small pieces of metal (dust, shavings, etc.) come lose, and then likely get in the food.

Is this correct?
Are there no health considerations when digesting small pieces of very sharp metal?


texts:
I'm catering my own event for 100 people and need to know how much of each meat and side dish I will need. It will be buffet style and there will be a fair mix of men, women, and children.
I will be serving pulled pork, grilled chicken, mac and cheese, baked beans, potato salad, corn on the cob, coleslaw, raw mixed veggies, and dinner rolls.
I will be buying the meat pre-cooked so I just need to know the prepared amount needed.


texts: Does breadmaker bread need to include milk powder?

texts: I'm trying to make vegan bread but all of my bread maker machine's recipies have one or two tablespoons of milk powder. What is a vegan solution?


texts: creme brulee caramelized sugar disappearing

texts:
I've recently made some creme brulee, poured sugar on top of it and used a kitchen blow torch to caramelize it and capitalise on a finished product.

After that I put the creme brulee in the fridge overnight and when I checked on it in the morning the caramel (caramelised sugar) had disappeared, leaving only a brown trace behind.

I suppose it got dissolved into the creme or underwent some sort of change and it wasn't a hard caramel layer anymore but I wanted to ask for a more experienced user's opinion.

I should also mention that particular batch had less cream in it that it should and it turned out more egg-y.

The precise recipe was:
3 medium egg yolks
200ml whipping cream
80g sugar


texts: Newly seasoned carbon steel pan sticks when cooking

texts: After doing reasearch I decided to try a less expensive pan when buying a 12".  Bought a Paderno and did a mix of seasoning with organic flax seed oil.  I did about 5 coats on the stove top per instructions (heating, adding small amount of oil and rubbing it down with paper towel, heat/ cool / repeat.  For good measure I also tried rubbing the entire pan with oil and cooked in 400 degree oven for 2 hours and let it cool in oven for 2 hours.  The 2 times I've cooked anything in it (eggs with onions) everything sticks.  Never had this problem with my small de Buyer crepe pan.  One chef recommended 11 coats, I think I've got 7.  Wondering now if I put on too many coats of oil or if this made in China pan is just an inferior metal.


texts: Candi sugar problems around 130°C — what happened?

texts:
Today I was brewing a candi sugar. Recipe I use is simple: unrefined beet sugar, white sugar (for cost saving), a pinch of dry malt extract for Millard reactions, and water just to dissolve it all. Then heat to 120 — 130°C, keep at this range for an hour or so, heat to 150°C, pour on baking paper and let it cool.

Previous time result was like a brown glass. Smooth. And making it was straightforward, it stayed liquid all the time, from start to finish.

This time when I reached around 130°C, sugar suddenly started to solidify, formed thick mass and big solid chunks. I added hot water to keep it from burning, tried to keep it closer to 120°C, but this happened again. Result has less rich taste and is not so transparent. And of course brighter, because I kept it, on average, at lower temperature, but colour I can easily work around in finished product.

What might be the reason for this difference? Using more % of unrefined cane sugar could cause this? Original Belgian candi is 100% unrefined, so I expected it to be better. Or maybe going too fast with heating? I used pot better suited for induction this time. Or anything else I should think of?


texts: How long can batter sit before chemical leaveners lose their power?

texts: Background: I can not fit 2 - 12 muffin tins in my oven in a manner that will result in 24 nicely baked muffins or cupcakes. I am using everyday muffin or cupcake recipes that use baking powder and or baking soda. Can I leave half the batter on the counter or in the refrigerator for the 20-30 minutes it takes to bake one batch without losing a significant amount of leavening power?


texts: Artificial Wood Chips/Smoke for smoking meat

texts:
I am looking for alternatives to using wood chips for smoking meats.  I would like the process to actually smoke the meat.  Liquid smoke/marinades are not what I'm looking for.

Has anyone heard of any projects or items that could be used?  I'm thinking of a more environmentally friendly way to smoke meats without relying on wood such as apple, cherry, hickory or mesquite.  The cost of obtaining these woods in some parts of the world make it cost-prohibitive.


texts: What alternative gelling agents can I use for jam and marmalade?

texts: Rather than using natural pectin from the fruit being used or added pectin I am looking for an alternative setting/gelling agent that will enable me to get more jam from my two principle ingredients (fruit and sugar). In other words, if I want to stretch my ingredients to create more volume, what else could I use to ensure it gels to the correct consistency while at the same time not losing its flavour?


texts:
Making crêpes on teflon-coated cookware makes it possible to fold the fat (butter, ..) inside the mixture, and to use no fat while cooking. But some may want to avoid teflon, perhaps for health reasons, perhaps because they're partial to cast iron, etc. For any surface other than teflon (stainless steel, cast iron, ...) applying fat before pouring the crêpe mixture becomes necessary.
In this video at 2:00 and at the very beginning (and later on) in that one crêpe chefs are applying fat using what seems like a towel in the first and a foil-covered cylinder in the second.
What are these two tools? Are these tools accessible to the home cook? Are there substitutes that the home cook can use?
In the first (and other videos) I've seen what looks like an oiled paper towel. If the pan is already at medium heat (and adequately preheated), an oiled paper towel would surely burn quite quickly (not to mention possibly leave lint). Likewise any towel would burn.
The tool used in the second video seems to be some kind of aluminum-covered spreader, but it's unclear whether the handle contains fat or the instrument was simply sitting in a plate of fat.


texts:
I am a tuna fan. I usually pour it from a tin onto a sandwich without cooking it. Yet there is one kind of tuna that is a problem for me: tinned "lemon pepper" tuna. I don't mind a bit of pepper kick. But a certain well known brand makes lemon pepper tuna that to me is uneatable; the pepper is so strong and abrasive that my mouth is on fire but in a really nasty way.

In my kitchen cupboard I must have about 20 tins of this stuff. I have a tin in my hand now. Ingredients: skipjack tuna, 59%, water. lemon juice, 10%, sunflower oil, black pepper, salt, traces of wheat, milk, egg, crustacea, soy and sesame. [yes, I know I also wonder what formed the 31%]

Is there any way of making this stuff less of a nuclear bomb taste? I have to have any one tin at the time for food safety; I don't keep anything from a tin stored in a fridge. So any idea of having a little bit with something else doesn't work. Is there any strategy? Reducing the taste somehow? Masking it with something else? Reducing acidity if that helps?

I can't throw it to the birds or cats. I have found that animals don't touch tinned fish of any type. Don't know why.


texts: What dish?: Japanese chicken skewer wrapped in a green leaf and sour red sauce

texts:
In Japan, at two occcasions, I had chicken skewer with a green leaf wrapped around it, and in it was also some red sauce with a sour taste. Is there a specific name for this dish? Ultimately I'm looking for what kind of leaf (maybe Shiso/perilla?), sauce (possibly something with plum?) and marinade it was so I can try to cook this dish myself.

I had the dish at two different small local grill bars near Nijo Castle in Kyoto.

Edit:
An answer suggested the name "shiso chicken". Googling that brings up mostly pictures of different combinations of chicken and shiso leaves, but a few do show something similar to what I had, this is one of them:


texts:
I brought four-five eggs day before yesterday and today when I cracked one I saw blood in it, rest others were fine.

It doesn't look like a drop of blood fall upon it, it looks like I can't separate it like someone pierced yellow part and blood burst out of it.

Question: What is it, chicken and I killed it? Is it safe to eat it, scrambled egg?


texts: What is a good side dish for a freshly boiled lobster?

texts:
I plan to boil a fresh lobster.
Serving it only with melted butter and lemon seems like not enough.
What would be a good side dish for it?


texts:
I have started producing hot sauces, the taste and consistency is great!
They are cooked sauces, I meant I cook the peppers and vegetables into the vinegar and water, then put them into a food processor. They are not fermented. In time the water and the pulp is separating in the bottle. How can I prevent that?

If possible I'd prefer to use organic ingredients, or at least things produced from plants with relatively little processing.


texts: How can I mill / press sweet sorghum with household equipment?

texts: I grew sweet sorghum this year as it looked like the easiest way to grow "sugar" in New England. Now I've harvested it, but I'm hard pressed (ha ha) to find a way to mill it with generally available household equipement. Any suggestions or ideas of how I might cobble together something?


texts: Which cuisines (besides Hungarian) have a tradition of serving savory desserts?

texts:
About 20 years ago my wife and I were poor, and we went on a very cheap coach trip to Hungary for a holiday. The hotel meals always finished with a rather uninteresting savoury dessert.

I researched the matter and found that there is a tradition of savoury desserts in Hungary, a lot of which are much more interesting than the ones which we got in the hotel. But when I look outside of Hungary, all I see are "cheese / pate and crackers" style dishes to follow the main dish, and not much else.

So what I am seeking is other nations with a tradition of savoury desserts - savoury dishes used to end a meal. which are nothing to do with crackers or Hungary.

All offers considered ...


texts: Whats wrong with my rice cooking process in my Zojirushi?

texts:
I recently purchased a Zojirushi NP-GBC05 3 cup rice-cooker. I read through the manual and some instructions online. I have made 3 batches of rice so far and two of them have turned into a disaster.

Batch 1: Jasmine Rice 1 cup rice, washed, 1 cup water (probable Operator error, manual states 1cup to 1.25 cups rice/water) WHITE/MIXED setting result: coagulated mess

Batch 2: Sticky Rice 1 cup rice, not washed, 1 cup water SUSHI setting result: good batch

Batch 3: Basmati Rice 1 cup rice, washed, 1.5 cups water WHITE/MIXED setting result: coagulated mess

Why would both 1 and 3 give me coagulated messes?

Background:

This is my first rice cooker and first time using a rice cooker, it was cleaned after all batches, and no settings were configured besides the rice type. Just pressed the COOKING button.


texts: What is the distinction between seeds/grains for sprouting and other edible uses and seeds/grains for sowing/planting?


texts:
I saw haddock on sale at our local grocer. It's really cheap this week. It grew my curiosity.

Are there any similarities in flavor between haddock and cod?

I often see haddock and cod interchangeably used in the context of fish and chips.


texts: When can I use coconut oil as a substitution for other fats?

texts: Aside from imparting a different flavour, when baking and cooking can you substitute coconut oil for other oils (including butter) with the same results? I have been reading about the apparent health benefits from coconut oil, unless it's another fad!


texts: Chicken broth without gelatin (storebought and homemade)

texts:
When I make chicken stock at home by cooking meat and bones, the resulting fluid contains a considerable amount of gelatin, as observed in Why did my Turkey Stock turn into gelatin?; it solidifies when chilled.

When I buy commercial chicken broth/stock in a can or box, it doesn't seem to contain a significant amount of gelatin.  Why not?  How do they avoid / remove the gelatin?

If I wanted to make homemade chicken stock with much less gelatin, so that it wouldn't gel when cooled, how could I do it?


texts: When cooking quick breads in foil pans should they be placed on a cookie sheet or set on oven rack?


texts: What substitutes are available for sugar?

texts:
I am told that I use too much sugar, and I am trying to use it less.

What should I use instead of the sugar to cook, preparing desserts?


texts: When can I not substitute Romano for Parmesan?

texts:
I noticed that good Romano costs 1/3 as much as good Parmesan.

I know that Romano is aged much less than Parmesan is and that accounts for the difference in cost. However, the flavors of the two are very similar to me.

In what situations would it be important to use only Parmesan instead of substituting cheaper Romano cheese?


texts:
I often find myself making a sauce or a garnish for pasta using sausage meat that I am really just using more as a cured/seasoned ground meat - I remove the casing, then break up the sausage in a skillet until it returns to the formless chuck from whence it came.

Lately however, I've had huge amounts of trouble with the de-casing - it shreds, sticks to the meat, and just is a pain in general to remove.

I realize that this technique is easier with uncooked sausage than with pre-cooked, but does anybody have any overall tricks or tips for an easy way to de-case the sausages without broiling or cooking them first?


texts: How does halving a bread recipe impact rising time?

texts:
I'd like to try an English Muffin Bread recipe, which makes two loaves, but I only have one pan. I assume that I can simply cut the ingredients in half, but the one thing I'm unsure of is rising time. The instructions read:

  Grease two 8½ by 4½-inch loaf pans and dust with cornmeal. Combine
  flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and baking soda in large bowl. Stir in hot
  milk until combined, about 1 minute. Cover dough with greased plastic
  wrap and let rise in warm place for 30 minutes, or until dough is
  bubbly and has doubled.

If I cut the recipe in half, do I need to modify the 30m rising time?

Thanks!


texts: I'm trying to make a basic pancake, with traditional texture, fluff, and taste, but without using eggs.  Is this possible?


texts: Which is the best way to de-grit clams and mussels? Salt, cornmeal, or salt + cornmeal?

texts:
What's the most effective way to de-grit clams and mussels? Apparently there are 3 possibilities.

Salt only.

Cornmeal only.

Salt and cornmeal.

Has any academic peer reviewed or researched this? This blog tested just with or without cornmeal:

After 24 hours and 4 water changes, I steamed them in separate pots. The first batch (sans cornmeal purge) had significantly more sand in their bellies and shells and the pot in which they were cooked than the second (with cornmeal purge) batch, but they still tasted of the sea.  The clams in the second batch were lighter in color, plumper, and notably sweeter than the sea.


texts: How long is marinated raw chicken breast good for after it's been vacuum sealed?

texts: I have been marinating a large batch of chicken breast in eggs and spices. I'm going to put bread crumbs on them before cooking. I'm wondering, if I were to bread them and then seal them in vacuum sealer bags, how long would the uncooked meat be safe in the fridge after it has been vacuum sealed?


texts: Are these worms in my black eyed peas/beans?

texts:
I was cooking some organic black eyed peas earlier today and I found what appeared to be worms. I had the peas for about 1.5 weeks before I cooked them.

Is this common?
I did rinse the peas before cooking them, but clearly that wasn't enough. What steps can I take to prevent this (assuming this the norm for organic black eyed peas)
How long are these good for? (Should I eat them sooner?)
I had taken a few spoonfuls before I finally realized this -- should I be concerned?

I apologize for such an elementary question. I've recently been told by my physician that I need to make some diet changes, so I've been cooking with foods I would otherwise not eat.


texts: Our other chef feels that is okay to store raw meat/seafood on a rack in our walk in cooler that sits above where we store bottled and canned beverages. I disagree, but he considers the beverages to be "sealed" and not a food safety concern.


texts: What is the yellow colour and what ingredients go into seekh kebabs fat?

texts:
When grilling seekh kebab fat drips I notice it's yellow colour.  If you grill plain mince or meat it's usually white colour so it must mean some ingredients are getting imparted into the seekh kebabs fat to give it that colour. I really like the taste of look of this fat.

What is giving the fat this yellow colour and what typical ingredients do you think are going into the fat since it doesnt seem to be pure fat?

I think typical ingredients for seekh kebab are garlic, ginger, onion, coriander, cumin, powdered pepper.


texts: I'm trying to mix color in whipped cream for decorations, but it always bleeds the color down to my white cake coat foundation. Can somebody help?


texts:
I read somewhere that different cuts of beef have different flavour intensities. The general trend was that the more the muscle was used (ie: rump), the more flavour it had but the tougher it was and the less the muscle was used (ie: fillet), the more tender but less flavour it had.

So it seems like flavour and tender are inversely propotional to each other.

Is there a basis behind this? Whilst we are at it, what is it that makes a cut 'tougher' than other cuts? Is it that the meat is more 'dense'?


texts: Can one bake a cake with a cooked egg instead of a raw one?

texts:
This recent question about a person who wanted to bake a cake but only had a cooked egg left suggested me an even stupider one: is it possible to bake a cake with a cooked egg instead of a raw one? After all, the egg is going to end up cooked inside the cake anyway.

I imagine that it's going to be tricky to mix it with the dough, but with a hand mixer and a sufficient amount of violence everything is possible.

Or are the chemical processes of boiling an egg and cooking it inside the dough fundamentally different?


texts: Always have I wanted a gas stove top. Now is my chance. I had envisioned years ago the best combination in the kitchen would be a gas stove and electric oven. I don't bake often except for old world breads and holiday birds. What would be my best combo? What are the advantages and disadvantages of gas and electric ovens?


texts: What types of wine are suitable for Dijon mustard?

texts: I know that verjus (or verjuice- sour juice from unripe grapes) was originally used for Dijon mustard, and was replaced by wine as it became more readily accessible. However, I can't find much information on the types of wine one might use. I'm sure something comparably acidic would be ideal, and I haven't heard of anyone using red wine. Assuming I'm right, this still leaves a fairly large range from the relatively common Sauvignon Blanc to more esoteric varieties like Colombard and Kerner. Is there a standard wine, or some rule of thumb beyond matching personal taste?


texts: Create my own high-gluten flour by mixing vital wheat gluten and bread/AP flour?

texts:
Has anyone had success with giving their bread or all-purpose flour an extra gluten kick by adding vital wheat gluten?  I would like to know what ratio to mix the the two ingredients with, or perhaps some hints at a formula that can help me accomplish this, assuming it is feasible (i.e. mixing will produce a close substitute for high-gluten flour).  I'm also interested in any quality differences with this mixed approach vs. just using high-gluten flour in recipes.

You can assume I'm using King Arthur bread flour and King Arthur vital wheat gluten (or analogously King Arthur AP flour and vital wheat gluten), and that I'll be baking bread with the flours.

Note: this related question (When adding vital wheat gluten to a bread recipe, should one reduce the amount of flour equal to it?) mentions mixing, but doesn't go into details on ratios, etc.


texts: What's the name of the black-brown decoration sauce used in French cooking?

texts:
When my boyfriend and I visited France a few months ago, I noticed that a lot of savory dishes were drizzled with some black-brown colored sauce on top (see picture I took, which is a plain risotto). The sauce tasted fairly sweet and not salty.

My best amateur guess is that this is some sort of reduced sugary balsamic vinegar sauce, but it does not taste acidic at all. Maybe the vinegar evaporated while reducing?


texts: How to prevent a baker's chocolate mixture from resolidifying so that it can be used in beverages?

texts:
Is it possible to directly melt baker's chocolate (sliced from bar form), mix with sugar, then add an a sort of "inverting" chemical to prevent it for resolidifying?

I currently work with baker's unsweetened chocolate. I believe this is the product of cacao butter? Not sure.

What I do with the chocolate is emulsify it in water under slow heat whilst stirring rapidly. Typically a 1:2.5 ratio of baker's chocolate to water, then add 1:2.5 ratio of chocolate to brown sugar.

I add this to chocolate drinks, and I've always appreciated its ability to add thickness to the beverage. But if I can make it even thicker, that would be good right?

The bigger problem I suppose is that I've never trained with a chocolatier. I don't know what the pros do!


texts: Fat contents from different types of ground beef when drained

texts:
At the grocery store, they've got different types of ground beef:  ground round, ground chuck, ground sirloin, etc.  They each have different fat percentages.  Anything from 70/30 (30% fat content) to the extra lean 90/10.  The less fat content, the more expensive per pound.

I have heard that you can get the fattiest type, drain the grease as normal, and then rinse the meat with water in a colander to make it equivalent to the extra lean fat content.  I'm not sure I buy that, and it seems this would rinse off any seasonings used also.

From a health perspective, the extra lean would be best, however, it can be double the price per pound compared to the cheapest / most fat content.  If I am going to be using the meat crumbled in a casserole or for tacos, and drain the grease after browning the meat in a skillet, how much does the fat content matter?  Is getting the cheapest and then rinsing it with water truly equivalent?  Is there a better method that would enable me to save money with the cheapest or perhaps 80/20 but still get the low fat content of the meat I actually eat?


texts:
This appears to be the most relevant site to post my question about the sugar content of foods. For the various sugar products that I have come across recently, it appears that typically one teaspoon contains 4 grams of sugar. I use this relationship to gauge how much sugar is added to commercial products.
But I'm also curious about natural products. So for instance I currently have a bag of dates (the only ingredient) and the label says that 5 dates contain 29 grams of sugar, so about 6 grams per date. Using the above relationship, that implies that each date is equivalent to consuming about one and a half teaspoons of sugar. So having a few dates is equivalent to consuming several teaspoons of sugar? Is this a correct way to think about it?


texts: Is it possible for a potato to catch fire after 10 minutes in the microwave?

texts:
Yesterday on reddit a user posted this picture of a potato:

He said that he followed an online recipe. He put it in the microwave for 5 minutes, turned the potato, and put it back in for 5 more minutes. When he came back to check on it, the potato was on fire.

But the picture looks so surreal, it is even possible for a potato to start to glow red? Especially after only 10 minutes in the microwave? That would mean that this video recipe is actually quite unsafe. Or could it be a microwave malfunction?

Microwaved potatoes sound like a good idea, but now I don't think I would dare try.

Additional pictures:

Second potato angle

The glowing insides of the potato

The potato still in the microwave, just after he put out the fire

Burnt microwave plate

The brand of potato used


texts:
I just received a new french rolling pin as a gift. I washed it once in mild soap and water and made sure it dried quickly by wiping it down. It is now a little rougher than before washing.

Should I oil it? If so, what kind of oil?
Should I refrain from washing it ever, and just wipe it down with a 'damp' cloth?
Should I just chuck it and buy a new one of a higher quality that isn't rough at all?

These are my main questions after searching online and finding conflicting advice about washing and oiling. I thought to put it to you guys here on Seasoned Advice!


texts: Leaving empty cast iron pot on a gas stove

texts:
I left empty enameled cast iron pot on medium high flame on gas stove top for about half an hour to an hour. It was actually filled with water which should be brought to a boil but i forgot about it, so after water evaporated it stood empty on a stove top. I don't see any cracks or any other signs of physical damage, it only darkened and it smelled burnt. I washed it with regular dish soap and use abrasive sponge (which I usually don't) but and enamel is still dark grey inside (it was white before).

I've read about other users similar experiences and it turned out not to be a big deal, but those pots weren't enameled inside. Since mine is I wonder is it health safe to continue using it for cooking. Any chances of something toxic could leak into food or something similar that could be health hazard.


texts: Additional Time Needed for Baking Two Loaves of Bread at same time?

texts: How many minutes should you increase the baking time when baking two loaves of beer bread at same time?  Recipe calls for one loaf to bake at 375 for 50-55 minutes.  Not sure how much time to add when baking a second loaf - do not want doughy, raw bread in the middle of the loaf.  Any help would be appreciated!


texts:
I am exploring the world of home-made pasta.

My first experiments, cutting the dough into stripes using a knife and throwing the stripes into the boiling water - eatable but with rather plump results, and a very cumbersome process! - show that if you want to do this on a frequent basis, you need tools.

I can see two generic types of tools here. One, much used in my native southern Germany to make the famous Spätzle, is sieve-based, using pressure to distribute threads of very thin dough directly into a kettle with boiling water.

The other system, often imported from Italy, is more popular, based on a number of barrels that you feed a flattened piece of dough to. The system will cut the dough into a regular form, ready for boiling. (I'm sure there is a simple english word for this but I don't know it. This is the way you make Spaghetti, for example.)

I'm looking for general tool recommendations for making pasta from both fields. While I'm looking to make primarily Linguine and Spaghetti, feedback is welcome for all forms of pasta. Tools should be suitable for frequent use.

I don't have much of a budget at the moment, so bonus points for especially affordable solutions that will let me make delicious Spaghetti all by myself!


texts: What to look for when buying good quality loose black tea?

texts: What features should I look for when buying good quality loose black tea?


texts: What would make a custard turn out looking like scrambled eggs?

texts: I made a batch of custard cups at home and they came out beautiful. When I followed the recipe at work, using the same method and a still oven like at home, the results were a disaster. The custard had the texture of scrambled eggs. Any ideas on what went wrong?


texts: Is grape juice ok to drink in an unopened can with the expiration date 5 years ago. It has also been refrigerated though unopened.


texts: How can I keep chopped fruit fresh for 2-3 hours?

texts:
I need to cut up a large amount of fruit for use in a pavlova dessert tomorrow night - although the same question would no doubt apply to a fruit salad or other fresh fruit item.

Anyway, I won't have time to do this between dinner and dessert, so I'll need to prepare the fruit a few hours in advance, and I'd like to keep it looking and tasting super-fresh.

What can I do to preserve the appearance, texture, and flavour of the fruit for as long as possible after it's been cut up?

The fruits in question are apples, kiwis, and possibly a few bananas.  I'd also be interested in knowing how to preserve strawberries, raspberries, and similar items.

I'd especially appreciate a complete breakdown of the process, i.e. is the freshness after a few hours going to be affected by how it's cut, storage vessels, air flow, temperatures, etc.?


texts: How long do you simmer the ghee with the herbs?  Does it depend on what herbs I'm using?


texts: How to mix cream to increase its fat percentage?

texts:
In my area the typical type of cream you can get is the one for whipped cream. It contains a fat percentage of about 35%. Some recipes call for higher fat percentages like 50% and up, so I'd like to mix in other things to up the percentage. The things I seem to have available are:

Regular cream (35% fat), this is probably my base ingredient
Milk (0,5% through about 3,5% fat)
Mon Chou or Philedelphia cream cheese
Mascarpone cheese
Crème fraîche
Many different types of Quark (Dutch, Greek, Bulgarian, etc)

As well as perhaps a few others that I wouldn't consider at first (like Huttekase) for my purpose, though as long as it's readily available (in the Netherlands) I'm happy to accept unconventional alternatives, as long as they work.

The above ingredients mostly don't list their fat percentage, which makes things more difficult. In addition, I worry that these may also differ a lot between regions (that is, if an English recipe suggests using cream cheese, it intends use of a different kind with a specific fat percentage). Is there any way to compensate for that issue?

I've checked the English "Double Cream" Wikipedia entry, but it redirects to the plain "Cream" entry. This in turn (obviously) links to this Dutch page for generic cream, which mentions

  "Double Cream - A variant from Great Britain, with higher fat percentage, can not be substituted by [regular] cream."

Which isn't very helpful.

The intended usage would be sweet dishes, in this particular case ice cream.

Bottom line: which of these ingredients should I mix together to get e.g. a 50% fat cream?


texts:
It's Sunday morning and I just missed my latte art, as usual.

I have no difficulty to make an espresso with enough crema and to get a big layer of foam from my steamed milk, but I cannot achieve to draw any pattern with it. The milk just push the crema on the side.

Is there a particular technique? or maybe I'm doing something wrong?


texts: What happens to yeast in bread after it dies?

texts: I have been told by someone that afterm the yeast dies in bread when you bake it, it "disappears". Is this true? I always thought I could taste yeast in really good bread but I could be wrong.


texts: What can I use as a substitute for hoisin sauce?

texts: Is there anything I can use as a substitute for hoisin sauce that's less salty or even salt-free? This is for a sauce to go with pork steaks.


texts:
Not a duplicate of this question, as I know that it's used for cooking, I just don't know how much of it is safe.

I heard that methylcellulose is used as a laxative (it is not digestible, just like regular cellulose), and I heard it has other side effects that caused the food industry to limit its use. I'm concerned that too much of it may cause diarrhea. I believe some small amount should still be safe, otherwise it wouldn't be used at all. The question is: how much? And does safety depend on methylcellulose/total food mass proportion, or does it depend on the amount of methylcellulose alone? Any personal experiences?


texts: Baker's Math Formula System - Why Isn't the Flour Mass in Corn Bread Formula 100%?

texts:
I am currently in the middle of a challenge to bake every formula in the Bread Baker's Apprentice book (BBA). This book describes a principal called the Baker's Math Formula System where all ingredients are compared to the total flour weight in the formula as a ratio. (BBA referes to recipes as formulas.) By definition (or so I thought), the ratio for the total flour weight in a given formula is always supposed to be 100%.

The author includes this analysis for each formula in the book.  Just last night, I looked at the Baker's Percentage for the Corn Bread formula in more detail and found that the ratio listed for the flour is actually 51.1%.  How could this be if the total flour weight is supposed to be 100%? Would this have anything to do with the fact that this is a chemically leavened bread?


texts: What common household drink will remove burning from mouth?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Cure for burns from hot peppers / capsicum oil?

Ya, just ate something spicy and my mouth is on fire.  I tried drinking water and that didn't help.  I also tried orange juice, and that didn't help.

Any ideas?


texts: Veggie Burger local to Tulancingo, Mexico

texts:
When I was in Tulancingo, Mexico I had some type of vegetarian burger that I was told was specific to that region. I don't know the Spanish name or what was in it.

Does anyone know what this would be, what it is called, what's in it?

I was there in 1993-94.


texts: What is this cast iron skillet with diagonal ribs intended for?

texts:
I'm not actually sure if "skillet" is the right word for this, but it seems close. We got this second hand, so not sure of its origin.
The particular feature that I'm not sure of is the set of diagonal raised 'ribs'. Seems like they would keep the food items from the bottom surface. Is this something like what you would use a wire rack for when baking?
It is 10 x 10 in. (25 x 25 cm) and 1 1/2" deep.
Is this skillet intended for something specific? We're located in the USA if that makes any difference.


texts: When should I not use a cornstarch slurry?

texts: When thickening sauces, due to time constraints, my roommate almost always ends up making a cornstarch slurry and dumping that into the sauce instead of letting it reduce naturally. When would that be a bad idea? Or is it always appropriate to substitute?


texts:
I need a LOT of organic lemon zest.  Is there a commercial machine that can zest faster and better than a hand held zester?  How do the dried zest companies produce their lemon zest?  There's gotta be an efficient way.

Thank you,
Dina


texts: Is there any advantage to freezing a cut of meat after putting a rub on it?

texts: I was told once that the secret to great BBQ and roasts is to put your rub on it, freeze it, and then thaw it back out before finally cooking it. This sounds weird to me, but I thought it couldn't hurt to ask. Is there any advantage to this technique?


texts: Does kale taste sweeter and more flavorful after being frozen?

texts:
According to this wikipedia article it does.

However a chef at my restaurant had not heard of this.

The wikipedia article seems to be missing citations, and I don't have time to perform an experiment.


texts: Challah rolls open up when baking in the oven

texts:
I cook Challah rolls very often.

Sometimes it all goes great. Some other times I encounter an issue I cannot identify where it comes from.

The baked challah roll comes rises in the oven and opens up in a not very nice way. Taste is great, but the look is obviously not very good.

Here is a picture. That crust kind of opening where the roll is folded is the issue I am dealing with.


texts: What vegetables oils are safe to use at high temperatures (350, maybe 400 F) , say, stir fry or pan-frying chicken/fish?

texts:
I've read in a number books that at high temperatures vegetable oils oxidize.

Also, some vegetable oils (I have heard) are processed at high temperatures so they may already be in the same state as the above.

What vegetable oils are suitable for high temperature cooking?


texts: Is it possible to make pan roasted garbanzo beans creamy in the center?

texts:
I've been messing around pan roasting garbanzo beans recently, and I'm wondering if it's possible to make them creamy in the center and slightly crispy on the outside, like good potato home fries.

I don't have a lot of experience with garbanzos, so I don't even know if this texture is possible to achieve. I'm currently getting somewhat of a chalkier texture than I'd like (using canned beans and pan roasting on medium heat for 10-20 minutes).


texts: How can I make my banana bread more moist?

texts:
I've followed lots of standard recipes online, and the result is always more cake like: dark on the outside white and dryish in the middle.

When I go to the store and buy it it's always dark and moist in the middle.

What is the secret ingredient?!

Update: A lot better! Suggestions below helped a ton. But the perfect banana bread still eludes me.. Here's somes pointers I picked up:

Freezing bananas helps. It allows you to mix them in easier and gives it a more consistent texture. More bananas is better (try 4 small ones, or 3 big ones).
Try adding Sour Cream (instead of yoghurt). Maybe 1/4 cup for 1 loaf. I had much positive feedback after this experiment!
Molasses helps the color (be darker), but the flavour becomes a little too strong and maybe even bitter. Overall I don't recommend it.


texts: Adding a smoky flavour without adding spiciness

texts:
I rather like a strong smoky flavour in some of my food - I've tasted some rather lovely smokey vegetarian Mexican bean wraps for instance. However, I've struggled to replicate this in my own cooking without making things rather hot!

I've tried smoked paprika, which is lovely but the smoky flavour simply isn't that strong in any that I've tried. Cumin didn't seem to do much, and Chipotle has a lovely smoky flavour - but unfortunately a fair punch of heat to go along with it.

Is there anything else I can try to get a nice, strong smoky flavour but without the heat?


texts: Remediation Methods for Rice Contaminated with Broken Glass

texts:
A picture is worth a thousand words...

I dropped a glass jar filled with rice. I've picked up the macro-sized pieces of glass, but am wondering if there is any way on earth to make the rice safe to eat, given that I am sure it contains small fragments and shards of glass. I could, naturally, go through it grain-by-grain, but this is only a couple of bucks worth of rice, and I don't think it warrants the time.

Does anyone have any suggestions? (Or is this too localized?) I would also welcome suggestions for a better tag than "rice."


texts: Temperature range for seasoning a carbon steel pan

texts:
I have this pan, but the seasoning that I created with flaxseed oven method is very brittle and flakes off easily into my food. I have not been using anything acidic in the pan, so I think I just need to start from scratch.

Most information on seasoning is geared towards cast iron. I want to know what temperatures can I use with the carbon steel pan without it warping. Can I strip the old seasoning with a self-cleaning cycle or is that too hot? What temperature should I use during the reseasoning?


texts: How to counteract excessive saltiness in dried fish?

texts: My wife comes from a culture where preparation and eating of dried fish is very common (as long as one takes the proper measures to deal with the smell).  She prepared for me recently a serving of dried mackerel, but it was sooooo salty that I could only bear to eat one or two bites.  Can anyone recommend some sort of preparation method to counteract this excessive salty flavor?


texts:
I live a far distance from any body of salt water, so the only mussels available are packaged frozen mussels.

I have always heard that cooked mussels must open or they are not good to eat, but when we cooked the frozen mussels only a few opened. I went ahead and ate them anyways, they tasted fine and did not make me sick.

Is it normal for frozen mussels to not open their shells when cooked?
If it is normal, is there a way to tell if they are safe to eat?


texts:
From here: https://cooking.stackexchange.com/a/13170/6168

  The first approach which comes to mind would be to use a pan which insulates well.

I use these glass vessels: http://www.borosil.com/products/consumer/storage/

Do they insulate well?
Are there any other kind of vessels which insulate better than this?
Will Aluminum vessels work better instead of glass?


texts: What is the purpose of bitters in cocktails?

texts: What is the purpose of small amounts of bitters in cocktails?  For example, 1/32nd tsp angostura bitters in a Manhattan?  Do they provide any function other than flavor, such as binding, texture, or mysterious chemical reaction?


texts:
I bought a large pork shoulder, broke it down into manageable pieces (it's just myself and my wife), and with one piece I decided to make pepperoni. I followed what seemed to be a pretty standard recipe:

Grind
Add spices (fennel, red pepper, garlic) and tender quick
Dry in fridge
Slow-roast to 160°F

If I close my eyes, it tastes like pepperoni, but it looks nothing like it. Much more red--almost purplish red, but by no means the greasy orange slice I'd expect on a pizza. I guess it could do fine in a stromboli, but I'd like to know what I did wrong, or what I'd need to do to get what I was looking for.


texts: Hygiene-wise, need to clean grill/broiling tray after each use?

texts:
Hygenically speaking, is it necessary to clean an outdoor barbeque
grill and/or an oven broiling tray after each use? Thoughts:

Many people don't clean their barbeque grills all summer long, in
part because it "seasons the grill".
Hygiene-wise, this seems safe (to me), since the grill temperature
when cooking meat is more than enough to kill any germs on the grill
surface.
Would the same argument apply to broiling trays in the oven?

I realize that broiling trays would get nasty if I never washed them,
but how about once a week or so? Safe?


texts: Kimchi juice to aid lactic fermentation of half-sour pickles

texts:
I have made half-sour pickles successfully with the recipe in the first post of this chow.com thread, although only when the heel of bread is added to promote fermentation.

While I don't always have a heel of stale rye spare to add to the pickling mixture, I often have kimchi in the kitchen. Both kinds of pickles are produced through lactic acid fermentation, so can I use a small amount of kimchi juice -- not enough to flavour the pickling mixture -- to promote the right kind of fermentation, or are the microorganisms responsible for the flavour of each different?


texts: What is the glaze on a bakery-style fruit tart?

texts:
I am looking to re-create a bakery-style fruit tartlette. I was wondering what the glaze on top of the fruit tarts you find in US bakeries is and how you can create it at home.

I have heard that it's just heated apple jelly, but I imagine that might change the flavor of the whole tart. It seems like it's largely a preservative since I don't see any glaze in home recipes, but I like texture it adds.


texts: What's the best way to store lots of kale to use for smoothies?

texts:
I am going to start making kale smoothies and wish to buy a couple bunches of kale at a time.  Here's my thought - I was thinking of taking the kale, perhaps blending it with some roots/veggies at a high concentration (maybe adding some green tea or some water to the blender), then pouring this concentrated kale solution into ice cube trays.  When it's time to make the smoothie, I would take a few of the "kale cubes" and blend it with, maybe orange juice or some other liquid.  Does anyone have any better ideas for keeping kale fresh for a long time - and by long time, I mean around 2 weeks.  Ideally, I would want a solution like the one I describe above - it's efficient and quick to make a smoothie doing it this way.

And one other question - does kale (or any veggies for that matter) lose nutrients when blended and frozen?


texts: At what temperature should I simmer bolognese to avoid burning?

texts:
Bolognese requires a long period of low heat cooking or simmering, according to some recipes several hours.

At what temperature should I simmer, in order to avoid burning / overcooking, while still achieving caramelization, reduction and breaking down of the vegetables?

I am talking about the temperature of the sauce, while it simmers.


texts: What kind of cabbage to use in cabbage poriyal (Indian stir-fry)?

texts: I tried making this with a savoy cabbage, and it tastes like Irish cabbage - the spices were overwhelmed by the cabbage taste. When I have had this dish in Indian restaurants, the cabbage taste is milder.


texts: Recommendations for making ice cream with milk and corn starch (corn flour)

texts:
I started off making ice cream in the French style with cream and egg yolks. I've mostly been using David Lebovitz's web site and his fantastic book the Perfect Scoop. I've recently been experimenting with using a milk/corn starch base which isn't really covered in his book. As a technique it has several advantages:

Lower fat content
Lighter flavour than cream and egg yolks so the flavours come through more vividly and the ice cream is less rich.
Easier to thicken corn starch base without overcooking or under cooking.
Doesn't need cream which we don't buy as a household staple
Ingredients have longer shelf life.
Easier to make ice cream on impulse without going shopping first.

I'm looking for web site, book or general technique recommendations for this style of base. Looking to achieve similar quality of texture and scoopability as cream/egg bases.

For non-cream bases so far I've tried:

Milk with 3 egg yolks per litre
Milk with 3tbsp corn starch per litre
Milk with 2tbsp of corn starch per litre + 2tsp liquid pectin (recommended in Cuisinart ICE-100 recipe instructions)

To my taste the pectin version has the best texture. Is it likely to be hard to digest for people with dietary intolerances or delicate stomachs?

Any another base ingredient recommendations to try? e.g. Dried milk powder, Xantham gum etc.

Any general tips for adapting recipes that are designed for different bases e.g David Lebovitz's brilliantly balanced cream+egg base recipes?

The recipe below seemed to work very well with corn starch + liquid pectin base. It's even possible to make caramel sauce with milk rather than cream if added slowly and carefully.

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/10/better-than-snickers-chocolate-peanut-butter-caramel-ice-cream-recipe.html


texts:
Are there differences in the different types of yeasts? Does one yield slightly differently?

I know many people say that they can be used interchangeably but why are there two types if there isn't a difference?

Are there any differences in reactions that you can see when cooking different foods? E.g. rising rates, rising ratios, taste, freezing reactions, lifetime, etc...

I've already seen the following:
active dry yeast vs instant yeast
How to convert a recipe calling for active dry yeast into rapid rise yeast?

and was hoping for more insight.


texts: How can I tell if homemade ginger syrup has gone bad?

texts: I made some Ginger syrup using the liquid I boiled the root in for candy. It's just water and sugar. I put it in a plastic liter bottle (from soda water) in the refrigerator. How long can I keep it like that and how can I tell if it's gone bad? It has separated so that there are little bits of ginger in the bottom, but when I shake it, it looks fine. Also, is a mason jar better than the plastic bottle?


texts:
I have noticed that English-related cultures use an oven much more than say French or Spanish or German cultures. My question is specifically for stews. In English recipes you read often that putting the pan in the oven afters searing the meat on the hob "cooks the meat more evenly", if there is any explanation at all.

I dont understand that. Meat in a liquid just below 100 celsius is, well meat in a liquid, no matter where the heat comes from. I experimented and I personally did not taste any difference. But maybe I an wrong? Does anyone have an explanation why an oven is used to make stews for taste improvement?


texts: What caused my electric deep fryer to overcook violently?

texts:
Last week, I was preparing dinner for my family. I didn't have much time, so I bought some frozen potato-balls to deep fry. Everything went well, I fried 2 or 3 batches without any problems, and also when I loaded the 4th batch nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

However, when the 4th batch was at it's third minute (cooking time was 4-5 minutes) the fryer suddenly started making a lot of noise. A lot more than normal. When I went to have a look, the oil was boiling very violently. I immediately pulled out the basket, expecting the boiling to stop, but only a second later I dropped the basket to pull out the plug ASAP, because I was afraid it would get worse.

I screamed at everyone to move away from the kitchen, because I didn't want anyone to get splashed with 200°C oil. Only a few seconds later, it turned out that we dodged a bullet there, because that's when the explosions started. Loud pop and bang sounds came from the fryer, and the oil shot upwards, all over the countertop. It continued doing so for over 15 minutes. Sometimes it would stop for 20-30 seconds, but then new "explosions" would follow. This continued for at least 15 minutes, but I only felt safe taking everything away 30 minutes later, because there was still an unusual noise coming from the fryer.

So... my question is: What caused this?
I know adding water to hot oil is a recipe for disaster, because the water gets trapped under the (lighter) oil, preventing it from evaporating.
Also, this 4th batch were the last pieces of the bag, so it's certainly possible that there were still clumps of ice attached to some of the potato-balls.

However... My issue with this explanation is: why did it bake without any sign of trouble for more than 3 minutes? I'd think that if you were to drop a small clump of ice in 200°C oil, it would get to boiling temperature in less than a few seconds?

Knowing the cause of the accident is important to me, because I want to know if it is safe to use the device again. Because for all that I know, it also might have been a faulty thermocouple? Maybe it didn't give the right feedback to the heating circuit, causing the oil to overheat?

Anyone care to give some insight?

Thanks in advance!


texts: Parboiling potatoes to make them softer in a stew

texts:
I recently made ciambotta (like an Italian ratatouille) on two separate occasions, first using russet potatoes, and once using red potatoes. In both instances, the potatoes (cut into half-inch pieces) came out too firm for my tastes (and my wife's taste). Both times the potatoes spent about 45 minutes all-told simmering in the Dutch oven before being served, and spent multiple days in the fridge as leftovers.

I thought that maybe if I parboiled the potatoes first I'd get better results. But I also don't want to overcook them and make them mushy. I've seen a lot online about parboiling potatoes before roasting them, but nothing about adding them to a stew.

Is parboiling a reasonable strategy here? How risky is it? I want the potatoes to be softer, but I don't want them to be mushy either.


texts:
Help!  I made my mac and cheese last night; the cheese sauce was not creamy, I poured it into the noodles.  This morning I realized I forgot to add the milk when heating the sauce.  Can someone help me find a fix?  Can I warm the milk and put in the casserole dish before i bake it?

please help me, i need this for guests this afternoon


texts: Water in the microwave to reheat pizza better

texts:
I've seen this claim various times on the Internet; for example at http://imgur.com/vlh4M

  Put a small amount of water in a glass when you microwave your pizza to keep the crust from getting chewy

Does this really work? If so, could anyone explain why?


texts: Difference between boiling and steaming vegetables?

texts:
I have eaten both boiled vegetables and steamed vegetables (e.g. broccoli, carrot, zucchini etc.), and I cannot tell the vegetables are cooked in one way or the other, whether by texture or by taste (unless they are boiled in broth; here, I refer to boiling in water).

Is there a reason why vegetables are preferred boiled to steamed, or vice versa?


texts: What is the thin, colorless film that remains after making oatmeal?

texts:
When I cook ground oatmeal with boiling water, a thin colorless film is formed around the interior surface of the pot. The film comes off the pot easily, but it is attached and rooted into the cooked oatmeal. It is colorless and very similar to a thin plastic wrap. It easily breaks off into smaller pieces and it could also melt into the oatmeal.

I don't know if this is coming from the pot's material (unsafe), or is it just the water and oat fibers combining to create it (safe). The pot looks completely undamaged and fine. Is this normal? I am just worried about safety. Thank you for any feedback!


texts: How high (height-wise) should the oil be for frying chicken?

texts:
I thought the point of fried chicken is to have enough oil to deep fry it, but I've seen a lot of recipe discussing to fry the chicken for x-time, then flip over and fry for y-time.

Does this mean for recipes that involve flipping chicken in fryer we don't want the oil too high (height-wise), or does it make a difference even when completely covered in oil to cook on each side.


texts: Is it true that moldy jam/pickles are good to eat if you mix the mold into the rest of the mixture?

texts:
Everyone in my family says that when you see white mold on jam or pickled goods, you shouldn't bother with throwing away or removing the mold. All you have to do is to mix it back into the rest of what's in the pot. Here is an example:

I would like to know if it's a myth, because I feel something evolutionary in me that tells me simply mixing it back into the water is a bad idea.


texts: What should I use to clean out a plastic bucket I am planning on using to store food in?

texts:
I want to store some rice in a plastic bucket with a lid that I picked up at the hardware store.
But the plastic bucket hasn't been cleaned out, and I don't know what is safe to clean it with given that we would eventually be boiling, but then eating the food.  What cleaner would be safe to use on this?  I thought bleach would do the trick but I'm not sure.


texts:
I keep a whole hand of ginger in the freezer, not even wrapped. I microplane it into whatever I'm making and it works great. Is it OK to treat galangal the same way?

If I use it in recipes that call for ginger, is it a one to one substitution? Is there any way I should treat it differently from ginger?


texts:
As caramel sauce makes everything better from cakes to brownies, cookies even enhances the flavor of popcorn. I am thinking to make caramel sauce and freeze it, so it can be used as and when required. So can caramel sauce be
frozen? How long does caramel sauce last in the fridge?


texts: What can I do if I didn't process my salsa long enough?

texts:
I made salsa last week, and processed the jars (quarts) for 20 minutes (may have been 25, I forgot to note exactly when the water started to boil).  I got my times mixed up for the salsa and some applesauce that I was preparing to can also, so I didn't process the salsa long enough.

Can I reprocess the salsa?  Do I need to open the jars, reheat salsa and re-can it all, or can I just reprocess without redoing anything?  Or is it too late because it's been 5-6 days until I realized what I did?


texts:
I prepared the chicken marinade and forgot to keep it in refrigerator and it's been quite a couple hours that I realised and kept in fridge but I don't know if it's still good or gone bad. Please help.
Also I can see something watery thing that's released. if it has pls help and tell me how can I correct it.


texts: French bread falls after scoring, how can I achieve a tall loaf

texts:
My neighbor shared her delicious french bread recipe with me.  Her loaves always turn out tall and fluffy.  My loaves fall when I score them and the result is flat, saggy crisp crust bread.

Things I have tried - keeping my bowl warm, letting it rise a third time after scoring (it's never the same).

She even came over with her uncooked loaves when mine flattened right before a dinner party.  Guess what?  Hers sagged and flattened and never rose in my oven.  Could it be my oven???


texts: Please help me to fix my bread to be more soft and smaller hole

texts:
This is what happen last time how to make dense texture bread?

I follow what rumtscho said and went a bit out of the track. and this is my result:

the hole is quite big which is not what I want. The process and recipe that I used for this you can read it below the rumtscho answer (the comment part of the answer). I knead it for 60 mins. anyone please help me achieve what I want.

I also tried the second recipe which is this one: http://wlteef.blogspot.com/2007/06/hokkaido-milk-loaf.html

and this is the result:

it is still very far away from what I want which is this(the below one I bought it from bakery shop and this is what I want):

anyone please help me I feel something went really wrong.


texts: What could I use in place of milk in pancake batter?  Would rice milk or soya milk work?  What about in scotch pancakes?


texts: Safe to leave oven on at 180F while at work to cook ribs?

texts:
I'm currently at work and I'm having a little panic attack.

I followed a recipe that require the ribs to be wrapped in foil and cooked at 180F for 9hours.  I left about 30 minutes ago and for who knows why I didn't think it could be a bad idea before, but now I'm feeling unsure and worried.

The ribs are wrapped in two layers of aluminium sitting on a baking sheet.  The ribs were coated since last night in a dry rub and I've added sauce on them this morning before closing the wrapping again.

Please give me your thought.

Edit: I just wanted to give you guys an update.  So by precaution I asked my boss if I could take the rest of the day off and he agreed to let me go around noon (4+ hours into cooking), a risk I had to live with.

When I got home, my house was still standing in one piece and when I opened the door the smell running through my nose was incredible. I left the ribs to cook in the oven for another 5 hours before attempting to put them on the grill of the BBQ at high setting.

The ribs were a bit too tender so I lost some in the process of grilling them, but the taste was amazing.  It's the first time I manage to cook rib without boiling them first and I can honestly say I'm satisfied with the result, though I would probably cut down on the last hour in the oven.

As for the safety of this adventure, I think it would be safe to redo it unattended especially because of how low temperature is set, but as other people mentioned it is important to have a clean oven.

Happy safe cooking everyone.

EDIT 2: I have an electric oven.


texts: Why would I turn canning jars upside down for 15 minutes after removing from the water bath?

texts:
I am planning to can a plum chutney and have ordered the Stagioni 10 1/2 oz jars. Having only used Ball jars, I am not sure I understand why their website says to remove from water and place upside down for 15 minutes:

  For preparations that require cooking (e.g. jams, marmalades, sauces, etc..) it’s possible to create the vacuum without boiling the jars in water, proceeding as follows: preheat the jars with hot water, fill them with the hot preparation, seal with the cap and immediately turn upside down (taking care not to handle them with bare hands to prevent burns). Avoid placing them on cold surfaces (metal, marble, etc..) and keep them upside down for at least 15 minutes. Subsequently put them back with the capsule facing upwards and let them cool down in a cool place. It is not advisable to use the 0.15 l jar for the above described heat potting due to the reduced content within which employs a much shorter time for the cooling that may not be sufficient for the vacuum formation process.

Does anyone know?


texts: How long does it actually take to extract tea compounds from leaves using the boiling method?

texts:
So, I'm looking at the intersection of multiple brewing style of tea extraction, and the boil-it-to-death style of brewing, and I would like to know about how long does boiling actually work to extract more flavor from already-steeped tea leaves, and when is it just extra time.

In general, I usually steep my tea once or twice, with the time and water according to the temperature on the directions.  It makes pretty good tea, especially since I usually use a lot of leaves, and brew lightly the first time.  In any case, once the tea is spent - I save the leaves up and make a third and sometimes fourth cup by boiling the tea leaves to death.

The tea isn't bitter, since so many of the tea compounds are already extracted in the first few brewings, but it isn't weak because the leaves are brewed for extra heat and time, and also there's a larger amount of leaves (the used leaves from several brewed cups making one boiled cup), both combine to make a drinkable tea.

So my question is, does anyone know how long does this boiling needs to take?  Any suggestions for when the boiling has extracted as much tea as is coming out in that round (due to saturation of the water or equilibrium in the compounds between the water and tea), and when the boiling is unnecessarily long?

It's clear to me that there's a point after which more boiling isn't helping - some teas will take two or three boils to exhaust what's left in the tea, and longer boiling for the first brew doesn't necessarily mean the third less strong, so clearly there's some equilibrium being reached with that amount of that specific tea and that amount of water.  So maybe there's no need to boil it for an hour, if all the flavor that will come out is done in fifteen minutes - or else maybe there's no need to keep it simmering for three or four hours, when 45min to an hour is what it actually takes before the tea strength stopped changing.

If anyone has an idea of when boiling the tea stops extracting flavor, I can cut down on the extra time I leave it simmering because I'm not sure.  I would really appreciate any insight others have on the topic.


texts: Complementary taste to elderberry ice cream?

texts:
The elderberry ice cream I made turned out a bit too sweet to my taste, so I would like to compensate it with an accompaniment of some sort.

What would be some flavors that I could pair it with?


texts: Getting some crispiness in Burgers' crust

texts:
I have been reading so much about making good burgers and after a few attempts, I thought I achieved a good level. I have been following the Serious Eats tips.

But last night I went to a Burger restaurant and had an amazing burger. What I loved of it was the crispiness of the crust. It was not extremely crispy but just a little bit and made it such a great experience.

Anyone would give me some tips to get the crispy on the crust of my burgers?


texts: What is the rind of Brie cheese made of?

texts:
We were eating brie cheese last night, and someone asked if the rind was edible.

I was tempted to say "yes, it's not plastic". But then I realized that while it doesn't look like plastic or wax, I really have no idea what it's made of.

Is it chemical? Is it organic? Maybe fungus or bacteria? In that case, what kind (and would eating too much of it be unhealthy)?

I've seen the question Are you supposed to eat the rind of Brie cheese?, but none of the answers mention what the rind is made of.


texts: Last night, I mixed and worked some dough and put it in the fridge overnight.  I didn't account for enough rise, and it rose out of the bowl and out from under the plastic wrap covering it.  The edges of the dough which are exposed to the air are hard.  Can I just trim this part off and still have a successful bread experience, or is this dough ruined?


texts: What are Good Resources for Baker's Percentage Ranges?

texts: I would like to try to apply the baker percentage concept to create my own baked good recipes (cakes, cookies, muffins, etc.).  However, I can't seem to find any resources that indicate appropriate ranges for each type of recipe.  I have found many resources that explain the baker percentage concept, but none that provide appropriate ranges.  What are some good resources that explain baker percentages for various baked goods?