texts: How to bind chopped pepperoni, salami, and bacon

texts:
I have this sandwich I make that I think is pretty good, except that I have a problem with it falling apart.

Basically I take sliced salami, sliced pepperoni, (precooked) bacon, and banana peppers and throw them into a food processor to grind it up fairly ground up but not pasty.

I then put it in a skillet with some olive oil and brown/crisp it a little and then I add some red wine vinegar and black pepper to taste and set aside.

Then I take a loaf of french bread (there's this "everything" french bread at my local store that has "everything" seasoning on top of it, which I like to use, vs. plain french bread). I cut it in half lengthwise and scoop out some of the inside of the bread.

I squirt some horseradish sauce on the bottom side, then add a layer of sliced sharp chedder and pepper jack cheese. Then I add heap of the meat mix, and finally top with another layer of sliced sharp chedder and pepper jack cheese.

I then butter the skillet and press the sandwich on the skillet on each side for about a minute (like a cubano).

So this is one of my favorite sandwiches to make, and I think it's yummy! The problem is it's a little bit of a pain to eat, because there really isn't anything binding the meat together.

So I've been trying to figure out what I can do to make it not fall apart.  The first thing I tried is to shred/grate the cheese and mix it in with the meat. Unfortunately, that doesn't work. I assume it's because of the olive oil and vinegar, but I haven't tried outright removing them, as it's a crucial part of the flavor I'm going for.

Next time I get a chance to make this sandwich, I was thinking maybe I would try browning the meat without adding the oil/vinegar, and instead sprinkle them on the top while building the sandwich. I figure this might help, but I'm not entirely sure it will completely help, since these meats are a bit fatty in their own right.

I was also thinking I could go the route of making it a patty (like making a hamburger patty), where I mix an egg and some breadcrumbs and cook it as a patty. I'm not so sure I really want to do that though. I'm not outright opposed to it, but I already feel like the flavor is where I want it, so I'd like to avoid throwing new flavors into the mix (though admittedly, eggs and breadcrumbs are fairly neutral).

But I'm also not sure I dig the idea of a patty for this sandwich in general. I like the mouth feels of heaping mass of chopped meat, and I actually don't mind if there's some amount of "fall apartness". I just really want to reduce it a bit somehow.

I'm certainly down for experimenting but I'm not by any means even fractionally rich, so I can only indulge in this pleasure about once a month or so, so I was hoping I could maybe see if anybody else out there might have any ideas?

If you got this far, thanks for reading my TL;DR!


texts: Mircowave does not work after I used vinegar without water to clean it

texts: I forgot the water with the vinegar. I heard  a pop. Now it does not work. Can I do any thing, or did I blow it up?


texts: Why is my microwave popcorn burned and undercooked at the same time?

texts:
I recently bought a new microwave, and started to experience a very bizarre phenomenon when trying to cook microwave popcorn.

For clarification, the Popcorn I am using is pre-packaged and in a paper bag, designed to be put into the microwave at ~800W for ~4 minutes. If it matters, it's called "Kelly Microwave Golden Pop", but I don't want to sound like I'm advertising for them.

With my old microwave, I would just wait until the popping would die down and I would have around 10 seconds between each pop. This would make my popcorn barely not burned, and would not leave too many unpopped kernels.

However, with my new microwave, it doesn't work at all. When going full power, I end up with extremely burned popcorn and half the package unpopped. I tried other power settings, specifically 80%, 50% and 30% power (my microwave only deals in percents, not Watt sadly), but the end result is always the same: Some of the popcorn is already burned, while a lot of it is still unpopped.

I have read that, when food is burning in the microwave, putting it off-center works well, but due to the size of the bag and the microwave, this is not an option for me.

What can I do to save my movie night and get unburned popcorn without throwing half the bag in the bin?


texts: Why is it that white fish do not have as strong of a "fishy" taste as other fish?

texts:
As a rule, my wife does not like the taste of fish, or pretty much anything that once made its home in the water. However, she's decided to give fish another shot. Not wanting to hit her over the head with the "fishiest" of fish, I did some quick Googling and determined that white fish tend to be the easiest on the palate.

Why is it that white flaky fish like sole, halibut, and haddock have the least "fishy" taste?
Is there a scale relating color and texture to that of "fishy" taste?
Is there a more appropriate term to describe "fishy"?


texts: Pâtés raw from inside in another oven - how to make them right in this oven?

texts:
We used to do different pâtés in one oven, they are always great.
For Christmas we can use different oven and, so far, three pâtés were raw from inside.

Could you advice what configuration of oven to try to get it right?

Some more data:

Pâtés - different vegetarian ones.
Default oven that works great:  electric build-in Simens (similar to this Simens), in "3d hot air" mode 180C, middle height.
Oven we can not master: electric free-standing Amica. So far we made three failed experiments

in 180C "hot air" mode - raw from inside
in "hot air" 200C mode it burned Pâté from outside and left inner part raw
"hot top+hot bottom" 200C, was better as not burned it from outside, but still Pâté was raw inside.

Any advice how to get it not raw from inside?


texts: Making my first big batch of Kefir, the milk went bad. Why?

texts: I ordered some Kefir grains online and they arrived looking healthy, at least to my untrained eye.  I put them in milk and changed the milk every day for three days.  By the last change, they were making a very thick kefir in 24 hours.  I decided it was time to try to make a bigger batch, so I used about 6 cups of milk instead of the two cups I was using during the startup phase.  I left it for almost 48 hours in near-ideal conditions (around 70 degrees F).  When I strained out the grains, the kefir was much thinner than the smaller batches and the resulting kefir tasted like the milk had gone bad.  Did I use too much milk?  What is the ideal milk-to-grain ratio?  Is this the expected outcome if you use too much milk or did something else go wrong?


texts: how do you rest your steak after cooking

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How to rest meat but not let it get too cold?

I have been over the last year perfecting the home cooked steak to my liking and have read with interest the questions and answers on cooking steak How do you properly cook a steak?  and How do you cook a steak like those found in fine steakhouses?

But I find that when I rest it properly it gets too cold and the marbles fats cool too much becoming undesirable (in scotch fillet) . If I wrap it in foil and a cloth it seems to loose the nice crisp surface.

SO what is the best way to rest it?


texts: Pumpkin pie in a crust that requires a shorter cooking time

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I'm trying to make a pumpkin pie in a crust I normally use for cheesecake, it's about 1/8th inch thick, and bakes for 25 min @ 325 and I usually top it with a nonbaked cheesecake filling of cream cheese and gelatin.

I want to top it with a pumpkin pie filling recipe that cooks at 350 for almost an hour.

Will it burn or overcook inside a springform with the filling completely covering it?

Is it possible to reconcile the two? Should I just plan on somehow baking them separately and then stacking?

This is the crust:

115 grams unsalted butter at room temperature
30 grams dark brown sugar
30 milliliters honey
125 grams all-purpose flour
35 grams whole-wheat flour
7 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
3 grams kosher salt
1 gram ground cinnamon


texts: How to prepare gnocchi dough for mixed ingredients?

texts:
After reading a recent post on incorporating vegetables into gnocchi (and presumably of potato/flour based pastas), I tried my own mixture of veggies and it came out great.

Here is where the consternation fits in - balancing the potato/vegetable:flour ratio to compensate for moisture while mixing. It took what seemed to be a lot longer than I thought it should, and I believe this was due to the moisture. Unfortunately, I do not have a stand mixer and hope someone can contribute a nice rule of thumb for dough and handmixing.

I started with even 1:1 ratio of pureed veggies (moisture squeezed out) to russet potatoes. for the sake of illustration lets say that came to about 6 cups of mix, I began adding all-purpose flour by the 1/2 cup, gradually folding each in with a wooden spoon in a bowl. Around the 4 cups mark I pulled the mix out and put it down on the counter and started adding it more aggressively while kneading the dough by hand (it was still sitcky enough that it left quite a cleanup). All told I think there was about a 6:8 cup ratio of potato/veggie:flour before i could start cutting and forking the little guys.

I know it's loosely based around how much and which veggies are added, but does that 6:8 sound about right?
Although stirring in some of the flour before putting it on the counter (to stiffen the initial mixture) seems necessary, once it holds together is folding the flour in necessary?
What options do I have for playing around with the types of flour to cut back on moisture and minimize the amount of flour needed? (particularly, would it be better to move away from all-purpose?)
Does it really just take forever to mix this stuff by hand?


texts:
I have been baking sourdough breads for a little over a year now. I have had great successes as well as terrible failures. Lately, I had to switch the oven I am using because the one in my apartment does not reach the heat required. I am using a pizza oven set to 250-300 degrees Celsius. The temperature can be adjusted from 50-350 for both the top and bottom element.
I have sprayed one of the loaves with water before baking and the other I have not. The results are the same in my opinion.
This is the process I am using since the summer:

Ingredients:
600g strong bread flower
200g strong wheat flower
200g whole wheat flower
750g water (in Germany tap water is fine to use for baking so I do)
25-30g salt
100g active starter

Process:
Feed starter in the morning with 50% flour & 50% water.
Combine water and flour for autolyse.
Wait around 4-6 hours for the starter to be ready.
Combine starter and flour.
Slap and fold.
Wait 30 minutes.
Add salt.
Slap and fold.
Wait 15 Minutes.
Stretch and fold.
Wait 15 minutes.
Stretch and fold.
Wait 15 minutes.
Stretch and fold.
Wait 30 Minutes.
Stretch and fold.
Wait 30 minutes.
Stretch and fold.
Wait 2 hours.
Preshape.
Wait 10 minutes.
Shape.
Put in proofing baskets overnight in the fridge.
Take out of the fridge in the morning and slash the bread
Bake at 250° degrees for 20 minutes.
Bake an additional 10-20 minutes at 200° Celsius for browning.

This somewhat complex recipe has yielded amazing looking and tasting breads. I am aware that this much work is not required but I like doing it. I also do not adhere to the times perfectly as sometimes less and sometimes more time is required to get the dough to the right point.
I am scoring the bread once down the middle about a centimeter deep (about a third of an inch) sometimes deeper sometimes shallower.  The end result is the same.
What is happening in the oven is the following:
The bread starts to rise but as it does so, the crust is already forming strings(water vapor present or not) and prevents the crust from breaking open where I slashed it. The end result tastes perfect, but has humongous holes at the top, where it was supposed to rip open.
I have these pictures of today's baking run:

The darker loaf (the right one) has been baked without being sprayed with water first.
As you can see, the crumb is nice, up to where is becomes moon craters. The tops have been slashed but not ripped open as they are expected to. Can anyone give me some advice on how to achieve this again? In my dutch oven it worked well almost every time. I cannot use that anymore though because the oven I have at the moment does not reach the temperature I need as I said before.
TL;DR
I have made good dough with very good oven spring. I have slashed my loaves but cannot get an open crust.


texts:
So, I keep running into this difficulty.  I buy and use a lot of fresh chillies in my cooking, but sometimes the dish turns out, well, significantly worse and I cannot identify anything I am doing differently, at least, until I started suspecting the sometimes-soft chillis i'm buying from my local supermarket.

Smelling them, some smell different, almost sweet, and when bitten into, have an odd, bitter taste.  Others don't have that smell, and taste how I would expect chillis to taste.

How do I tell if a chilli has gone off?  Am I imagining this difference in taste?  I've checked google but only found advice on growing chillis, not determining fresh from off, or even if they go off.


texts: Storing sourdough starters with wine in a wine fridge?

texts:
Specifically:

Can the yeast & carbon dioxide from the sourdough starter harm the wine bottles I'm aging in the refrigerator, and
Roughly how often would I have to feed the starter if stored only at 52 degrees F?

Thanks in advance for your input!


texts: standard way to make crispy sweet potato fries?

texts:
I've been looking for a way to fry (not bake) sweet potatoes, maybe like the double-fry method for russet and russet-like potatoes, to get a crispy exterior.

Maybe I'm missing something but I'm having difficulty finding something for sweet potatoes (of any kind). I've consulted my cookbook library, and I haven't come across much. I've had mixed experiences with blog recipes, so I trust them less, but maybe this Munchies single-fry-from-frozen sweet potato fries article (which I will try this weekend) has some truth to it?:

  Ingredients:

  2 pounds large orange-fleshed sweet potatoes
  1 teaspoon baking soda
  1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  Peanut oil, for frying
  1 cup clubsoda or water Kosher or fine sea salt

  Instructions:

  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and make enough room in the freezer for said baking sheet.
  Peel the sweet potatoes, if desired, and cut them lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick batons (fry shapes). Place them in a bowl with the
  baking soda and 2 tablespoons cornstarch, and toss. Arrange the sweet
  potatoes on the baking sheet in a single layer, making sure they are
  not touching. Freeze them until rock hard, at least 3 hours. If making
  fries later, transfer to a gallon-size zip-top freezer bag; they will
  keep frozen for up to 2 weeks.
  Pour the oil into a large, heavy pot, preferably a Dutch oven, that's fitted with a deep-fry thermometer to a depth of 2 inches. Set
  the pot over medium heat and begin gently warming the oil to 375ºF.
  In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 cup cornstarch and the club soda. Stack several layers of brown paper on a baking sheet.
  When the oil reaches 375ºF, drop a handful of sweet potatoes into the cornstarch mixture and coat evenly. Lift them from the bowl,
  letting any excess drip into the bowl, and carefully add them to the
  oil. Fry, stirring with a spider so they do not stick to the bottom of
  the pot, until deep golden brown and cooked through, about 8 minutes.
  Using the spider, transfer the fries to the brown paper to drain.
  Immediately season with salt. Repeat with the remaining sweet
  potatoes, returning the oil to 375ºF between batches.

I'm looking for validation or refutation of the instructions of that article or, better yet, tried methods from people here that result in crispy sweet potato fries.


texts: I have been trying to make ice cream with sucralose. So far all I get is just a hard rock after tossing it in the freezer. when I try to thaw it, it goes right back to a liquid. I'm not very confident in trying to use eggs in this. I have tried in the past and it didn't come out well.


texts:
I have looked up how to make Banana juice because I wondered if it was possible. It turns out that it is.

I read that it is best to use a blender for this.

Wouldn't I just end up with a banana puree if I use a blender to try to juice it?


texts: I have a gas oven, and I use an oven thermometer. Even though I cook at the correct temperatures, it takes significantly longer to cook than recipes say, sometimes even double or triple the cooking time. I never had any trouble when I used to bake with a conventional oven in the Texas, but now use a gas oven and live in Guayaquil, Ecuador, which is at sea level and usually fairly hot. Could that have something to do with it? I’ve tried reducing liquids in my recipes and it doesn’t seem to help.


texts: What other vegetables can be used in cake/muffin baking?

texts:
Vegetables have been commonly used in baking cakes and muffins. A common one is carrots to make one of my fave - carrot cake. Recently I also found out about adding zucchinis (or courgettes) to brownies and cakes. I also found some recipes advising using beetroot in chocolate cakes.

I am wondering what other vegetables can be used in baking? Is there anything I should watch out for? Does a certain vegetable pair well with another ingredient?


texts: Can I make meatloaf with soy burger meat?

texts: I bought beef burgers only to find out they're not actually beef, they're soy burgers. I don't like them, so I want to try and spice them up and give them flavor. Can I defrost the burgers and make meat loaf with the soy meat? I have a good meat loaf recipe, but I am wondering if I can substitute the meat with the soy meat.


texts: Can white rice be burned without looking yellow, brown or black?

texts:
I try to boil my rice by using just enough water, if I don't cook it in enough water or cook it for too long, the rice will burn.

However, when I burn the rice, I detect it because some of them stick to the pan, and some of the rices close to the once that stick might still taste bad. When cooking with spices, it becomes hard to notice these slightly charred tastes, so my question is as follows, is it possible to burn rice without any indicators like decoloration and stickiness to the cooking surface?


texts:
I was in New York recently, and went for breakfast in a diner. My wife ordered an egg sandwich, and although it wasn't specifically listed on the menu, I asked if I could get a bacon sandwich.

The waitress just looked at me for a moment (I found that some New Yorkers seemed confused by my British accent), then said "A bacon roll?". Thinking she meant a bread roll with bacon on it, I said yes.

When the food came, my wife's egg sandwich was exactly what you'd expect. My bacon roll was what seemed to be something similar to an omelette with bacon in it, with a mixture of boiled potatoes, onions, peppers and something other things on the side, plus jam and toast.

So, my questions...

What exactly is an American bacon roll?
What is the accompanying vegetable side dish called, and what are the ingredients?

Additional detail: A sausage roll in England is sausage meat wrapped in pastry but bizarrely, any other roll (e.g. bacon, cheese, ham, tuna, etc) is a filled bread roll, so a sausage roll and a bacon roll have absolutely nothing in common. I wondered if there was a similar oddity with the word roll in the US.

The vegetable dish was roughly cut boiled potatoes (not roasted or browned in any way) with cooked onion, peppers, and some other unidentified vegetables. There were no spices or other seasoning (it was pretty bland), so it doesn't sound like or look like Cajun Home Fries as has been suggested by @Catija.


texts: Are can openers like the original Swing-A-Way sold under a different name now?

texts: Swing-A-Way can openers used to be made in St. Louis, MO. After the family sold out they finally ended up being made in China. The quality went away. I thought I came across some info that the possibly former St. Louis factory/equipment was acquired by someone else and that a new company was making can openers with the same quality again but I can not document this now. Is that true? Is there another brand name selling them now?


texts: No Butter Sous Vide: What did they mean by this?

texts:
I just watched an experiment on youtube, where they compare 2 steaks, side by side, the first one with added butter during sous vide (as many people do), the second one without butter.

It seems the second steak, without butter, was far better, and I have since read other sources suggesting to sous-vide without butter or oil for best results.

However, what should you do when searing? Should you also avoid butter there, or is butter OK, when searing? What about oil?

What about the advice, often mentioned, that if you put in herbs during sous-vide, you should add some oil in order to get the essential oils out of the herbs?

Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNtqr8x_u7I


texts:
Twice now, I have burned my onions while heating them in a pan. I was just trying to caramelize them, and they burned every time.

They were on medium heat, and I put olive oil at the bottom of the pan (which may or may not have been a mistake), and they just burned, sticking to the bottom with a fervor I've never seen before (except the other time I tried to heat up onions).

What am I doing wrong?


texts: I would like to know what is the best way to store fresh baked sourdough so that it maintains a nice crunchy crust and a nice soft, slightly moist, light texture?  I usually store it at room temperature in a large tupperware with a loose fitting lid or on the countertop. I have finally succeeded in baking the perfect sourdough; I am very happy:) I now just need to know what storage method I should use. I know it stores well in the freezer.


texts: What are these small long narrow yellow things?

texts:
In a food market, on the street, I bought a Masala Dosa, and it had some small yellow narrow long things in it that were delicious. I snapped a picture:

Any ideas what they are?


texts: What is this rust-like stain on my aluminum pot, and how do I clean it?

texts:
Today I tried making Dulce de Leche from a can of condensed milk, using my aluminum pot as it's the biggest cookware I have.

However, after lifting the can, it seems to have left this circular, corrosion-like residue on my pot. Hot water and scrubbing with soap did not help, though it did reduce it slightly.

I did notice that the can itself became slightly rusted near the bottom. Is this rust? How do I remove this stain from my pot?


texts: Are garbage cans food safe, or made of food grade plastic?

texts:
At Mann Lake you can buy two kinds of honey extractors:

Stainless steel

Plastic

The first is more expensive than the second, and the second is waaay more expensive than the third option:

Plastic garbage can

I can add the necessary fittings to make the garbage can look and function like the plastic honey extractor, but would like to know whether there are any garbage cans to avoid? Note that the can won't be used for storage, just processing of honey during the extraction process. Does this make a difference?

Other beekeepers have done this.

A heavy assumption may be that plastic container manufacturers produce both food grade and non-food grade plastic products. The process of switching between these plastics may be expensive to produce the different products may be expensive. As such, it's typically just easier to make all plastics food-grade quality.


texts: Stew in the oven or on the stove, does it make a difference?

texts:
What is the advantage (if any) of finalizing a stew or other slow-cooked meals in the oven instead of on a hob?

A lot of recipes tells you to set the pot in the oven to cook for x hours after the initial frying has been done on the stove. Why is that, couldn't you just as easily cook it at a low temperature on a hob for the same period of time?

The only advantage I can see is that the dish maybe doesn't burn as easily when cooked in the oven.


texts: What is the procedure to dry out Fenugreek leaves?

texts:
It is winter here. I wish to purchase lots of fresh Fenugreek leaves and then dry them out for later use.

Questions:

What procedure should be followed to dry them out in winter as fast as possible without letting them catch fungus?
How much drying out time is expected in winter (daytime temperature 21 C)?
Can I use a fan to dry them out? Will that have some adverse effects?

P.S. I do NOT wish to purchase any special machines/tools for drying out herbs.


texts: Is a boxed-mix cake sturdy enough to construct a sphere?

texts:
I am going to attempt to make a (roughly) spherical cake. The plan is bake two hemispheres, then put them together into a sphere. However, I'm rather concerned about the stability of the cake.

I would prefer to use a boxed mix (to keep the overall preparation simpler) -- but I don't think that "moist" and "fluffy" cake is going to be able to hold itself up in a bowl shape \_/ let alone support another cake set on top of it.

Is there a way to stablize or "firm up" a boxed mix to make a denser cake, or should I look for a from-scratch recipe that's intended for sculpture or building?


texts: Can I substitute canned tomatoes for fresh ones when making soft tacos?  Should tomatoes be drained, seasoned, added to meat mixture or served with lettuce, sour cream, and shredded cheese?


texts: Is it safe to use rainwater as an ingredient versus tap water - or even cooking things in it like pasta?  Would there be any differences in measurements or cooking times - the thought being that there are no chemicals in it versus Tap Water?


texts:
Once I was in an italian restaurant where you could see the chefs cooking. My friend ordered a a pasta whose sauce was made of vegetables red meat and white wine. As far as I could remember he cooked the vegetables and meat in a wok pot and then basically "deglaze" the pot with no more than what I would assume a half cup of white wine then I think he added paste and mixed altogether. In the end it tasted very aromatic as if he boiled away the alcohol from a whole bottle of wine and added the remaining grape essence to the pasta.

I tried the same process I cooked the vegetables, occasionally adding a spoon of white wine then added meat and whenever the pot was hot enough to boil a spoon of wine instantaneously I added a spoonful of wine again. I preferred this method because I did not have a wok pot and strong enough fire. In the end I ended up using a cup of white wine which gave little to no taste to the food at all.

So what am I doing wrong, is it the choice of wine that makes the dish very aromatic or choice of cooking method?

Update: After alot of tries I have seen that Moscato wine gives the most flavor to the food as the wine itself is very aromatic and sweet. For two portions of food I use one glass of it and a spoon of balsamic vinegar to balance the sweetness. In spanish dishes it is also used for bean and meat stews which I have also seen to be very nice.


texts: How long could a meat-based broth be held safely near 180F/82C?

texts:
This question is the flip-side of the commonly asked food temperature safety concerns. I'd like to know, if a meat-based soup stock (chicken/pork/beef/etc) were to be held constantly at a safe hot temperature of 165F/73C-180F/82C, how long could it stay at this temperature and still be considered safe to eat?

Obviously, it would reduce over time, but suppose it's reconstituted with water regularly so that it could continue being held... Is there ANY sort of time limit (even completely unreasonable spans like, months, years, etc)?


texts: Why would liquid half-and-half creamer curdle when poured into hot coffee? This happens to me sometimes, and I'm not sure why. Could it have something to do with either the coffee being too hot or the creamer being too cold?


texts: What temperature should I use for sous-vide chicken breasts?

texts:
I'm finally going to advance my sous vide repertoire from just steaks to poultry.  I know the safety issues and am familiar with the salmonella death rate chart.  What I'm wondering about is the texture of the meat itself.

I've been cooking chicken on the grill and in the oven and in the pan and have grown used to a particular texture for the meat.  Most of these techniques end up taking the breast meat up to the 160-165 F range.

With sous vide I have a much better control over what temperature I can safely eat the meat at, however I don't want the texture to drive me away from the experience.  I was thinking of preparing the chicken at around 150-155.

Does anyone have any experience with poultry at these lower temperatures?


texts:
I have made elderflower 'champagne' a number of times, but I don't really understand it. I ferment other drinks and foods, and generally understand the process quite well, but I'm not sure about this.
I'm wondering if it is-

some sort of yeast off the elderflowers
A kind of reaction similar to vinegar and bicarbonate of soda (I assume not)
Some other type of symbiotic fermentation/wild yeast or something I haven't thought of.

The recipe includes elderflowers in a gallon of water with 1 lemon, 1 1/2 pounds of sugar, and a tablespoon of white wine vinegar soaked together for 24-48 hours and then bottled for 2 days for carbonation.


texts: I tried to make my own tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes using a slow-cooker (for quite a long time). I gather this may not have been a good idea because the result is very dark red and it's super sweet.  What happened?  Why did it change color and get so sweet?


texts: How can I keep my blueberry pie firm without the flavor of corn starch?

texts:
In the summer, I often make a refrigerated blueberry pie. The recipe calls for a graham cracker crust, and you make the filling by cooking one pint of blueberries with one cup of sugar and 3 tablespoons on cornstarch on the stove until the mixture becomes thick. It's then poured into the crust, and topped with another pint of fresh blueberries, and chilled until it's firm.

The flavor of the blueberries is delicious, but I always find that there's a pronounced corn starch flavor that detracts from the simplicity of the pie. How could I change the recipe or the technique to decrease that flavor while maintaining the firmness of the filling?


texts: Is there a difference between chicken broth made with breast vs. leg meat and why?

texts:
Subjectively, I have often heard people's opinion that there's a marked difference between a broth made with chicken breast meat vs. one made with chicken leg meat (assuming all other things in the process are the same). Usually, the latter is claimed to be tastier.

Is there actually an established difference in two broths and what exactly is it?
What leads to such difference, if it exists? Is it difference in the muscle tissue? Presence of bones and/or cartilage in the legs?


texts: Why does my buttercream become runny overnight?

texts:
I made this very simple 'meringue' butter cream.
40 grams of egg white, mixed with 80 grams of icing sugar over an heated bowl until the nice peaks are there, like you want with meringue. Add a little bit of salt and then mix 120 grams of butter in.
I used a bit of vanilla extract and icing coloring.

It all went fine and I had the consistency I wanted and could work with it very well.
However I decided to do most of the cupcakes the next day. I left the buttercream in the piping bag in the refrigerator overnight.
When i wanted to use it the next day it was 'runny' when it was back at room temperature. It was turned in almost some kind of thick liquid. Mixing it again did not help. I red that storing in the refrigerator should not be a problem, however this was for 'normal' butter cream.

Where did it go wrong, and how can I prevent this next time?
Did I store it wrong? Or is the consistency wrong? Or should I handle this 'meringue butter cream' different from normal butter cream?

Thanks in advanced!


texts: I cook beans and then eat them (usually without adding anything else). I know that soaking water for beans should be drained. However, I haven't seen anything definitive about the water that the beans are cooked in. As far as I can tell, it contains nutrients that I prefer not to get rid of. Should I allocate it then along with the servings of bean, or is it inconsequential enough to get rid of?


texts:
After many delightful meals at a friends home, made by "frying a turkey in an infrared fryer" I decided to get one for myself, specifically the "Big Easy" from CharBroil. Empirically I can see that this 'works' (and quite well) but I'm not sure I understand "How" it works. You have an outer heating space and an inner cooking chamber. Ok, so this heats the food, but what is not clear to me is:

How is this "Infrared" (a spectrum of light below 'red')?
For that matter, how does it qualify as "frying", to my eyes it looks more like baking .


texts: What is 1/4 ст кукурузного крахмала in english?

texts: I'm trying to make a green tea tart but the recipe is in Russian. Google keeps translating it to '1/4 v cornstarch ' but I have no idea what measurement 'v' would be?


texts: Water collects around cooked idlis in my steamer

texts:
I am running into a problem where water collects around my cooked idlis. I have used the steamer for about 7 years with no issues. All of a sudden, I am seeing that the top most idly tier is fine while water collects around cooked idlis in the lower tiers. The problem gets worse increases as we move down in tiers making the bottom most idly plate impossible to use. Has anybody run into a similar issue and was able to get around it?

I have tried reducing the flame and cooking longer. I have also changed the steam vent whistle. I have even tried switching the steamer! No luck so far.


texts: How to store a 5 gallon bucket of pickle slices?

texts: A family member just gave us a 5 gallon bucket of kosher hamburger dill slices (for frying).  I moved the shelves and shifted everything around, and found room for it. The shelves are tempered glass, so I placed it on the bottom shelf, above the vegetable drawers. If the shelf doesn't break, then this will work, for now. The bucket says to keep refrigerated. Any ideas on other options for how to store it?


texts: What to use instead of cling film to wrap pastry

texts: I'm trying to stay away from single use plastics for the environment. The only kitchen thing I have not yet managed to find a substitute for is wrapping pastry in cling film to let it rest in the fridge before rolling and baking. What can I use instead that doesn't let the pastry dry out while resting? I'm interested in a substitute that's either biodegradable or ideally reusable.


texts: Freezing partially cooked hamburger patties

texts: I want to make a large batch of hamburger patties from frozen ground beef (thawed properly).  My question is, can I partially cook then freeze?


texts: classical sauce-making with induction cooktop

texts: In classical french sauce-making lined copper pots are preferred for their responsiveness. Can anyone tell me how induction-capable cookware such as Demeyere Atlantis sauciers or All-Clad D3 equivalents perform compared to lined copper with gas heat? It is really responsiveness more than evenesss of heat distribution that I am interested in.


texts:
If I am making a corned beef and after 10 days I want to taste it and make sure I got the seasoning right. If not I'll fix it and let it soak for another few days.

So I want to cut off a small piece and cook it.  Maybe 4 oz. what would be the best approach for cooking it? Would it follow the normal rules for making a corned beef such as internal temperature which will probably happen pretty fast or does it need a minimum amount of time for some chemical or mechanical processes to happen? Any other ideas?


texts:
I recently had a grease fire on my glass cooktop. thankfully I had a B/C class fire extinguisher handy but now I'm worried that my cooktop is no longer safe to use.
does anybody have any advice for me on the subject?

Edit:
Sorry for not being more specific.
Yes I've cleaned the stove. My main concern is that the glass may be damaged in some way and might crack or explode when is use.


texts: My wife just complained that she can't eat my meringue because they have too much sugar in them. She suggested I cook them with less sugar. However, without sugar the meringue won't work right. What is the minimum ratio of egg white to sugar required to get a stable meringue.


texts:
I am planning on making a cooked white chocolate sauce, sealing it in a bottle while hot, and selling it in my shop.
It contains dairy, and so I am wanting to work out the best before date.
My questions are:1. does cooking and sealing make dairy products last for longer, if so, how much longer?
2. Do I just take the earliest best before date of the dairy products that it contains as the best before date, and advise to refridgerate after opening?  But this does not take in to account the fact that it is cooked and sealed.
Thank you


texts: How can I reliably bake pizza with no temperature control or pizza stone?

texts:
How do I make a pizza in a gas oven, with no temperature control and no pizza stone?

I have all ingredients to make pizza without actually knowing how it's made and baked. So I did some research first off course, and it seems I don't have the right "hardware" for the job.

How do I make a good pizza without a pizza stone in an ancient oven with no control on the temperature or air flow?


texts: Are there any sugar substitutes for preserving food?

texts:
A quote from the Live Strong website

  Just like with salt, some forms of sugar can draw water out of food and tie up water within the food so it is not available for biochemical reactions. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, fructose and sucrose are very effective for preserving food while glucose is not. Sugar may also encourage the growth of healthy bacteria that prevent bacteria that will make you sick from growing. High concentrations of sugar also exert osmotic pressure that will draw water out of bacteria, preventing them from growing.

Are there any substitutes that will do the same? Bonus: without altering the taste :-)


texts: Is it possible to make chocolate with cocoa butter and cocoa powder or any two other ingredients only?

texts:
I'm looking to make chocolate with two ingredients only(and a bit of salt also) however all the recipes seem to have a few ingredients listed.

Is it possible to make it with cocoa butter and cocoa powder only or are there minimum other ingredients required to get it to form properly?
Cannot it be done with cocoa powder and any one other ingredient?
When a chocolate says 70% dark chocolate, does it mean 70% of it is cocoa powder and the other is to make it solid?  What is the maximum percentage of cocoa powder I can add to ensure the chocolate still forms properly?


texts: I had an idea a while back to make stuffed french fries. I was thinking specifically about a cheesy, thick, french onion soup sort of a thing inside a crispy french fry (not a steak fry). I can't figure out how to get a hot, liquidy substance inside without it coming out during frying or serving.


texts: Copper-lined stainless steel vs pure copper skillet

texts:
I want to invest in a copper skillet, the heating characteristics intrigue me.

When searching, I found a copper-lined stainless steel skillet, which has the bonus of being induction-compatible. I had no idea these existed. This wasn't one of my original criteria, but I do have an induction cooktop, so it would be a nice added bonus.

My question is: Does the stainless steel affect the heat characteristics of the copper surface at all? Could I still expect the even heating of a copper skillet on a gas range even with the steel base? Or am I wasting my money on something that sort of behaves half-way between copper and iron/steel?


texts: Whats the difference between white and yellow corn meal. and all cornmeal or half flour half cornmeal

texts:
I usually make cornbread with white corn meal and no sugar. I like the no sugar part, but I want to experiment with the batter a bit. What are the following changes supposed to achieve:

Yellow corn meal as opposed to white
Half flour in the mix.

My normal corn meal recipe is this


texts: My refrigerator is not efficiently cooling

texts:
I have a problem with my twin door refrigerator,

first its not cooling properly the freezer side is not freezing as required.

secondly there is red sign that's coming in the dash of the refrigerator, kindly help if anyone knows about this issue.

i don't know if the temperature is correct.


texts: What should I look for in a cooking class?

texts:
I'm looking classes where I can learn to cook. I've found many options, but I'm weary of spending time and money (and a babysitter) for an experience that would have worked better in my own kitchen.

Is there anything I can look for when reviewing the cooking class's info?  What things should I avoid? Or is it trial and error?


texts: Is there any dessert that needs a knife?

texts: A friend of mine told me that there is no dessert that needs a knife to eat. I'm sure that this is not true, but I can't find a good example in the Internet. So is there any dessert that needs a knife to eat? And if yes, what kind of dessert?


texts: Can I make a gluten free sourdough bread?

texts: I have tried making sourdough starters from gluten free flours directly but get very little activity. If I use the potato starter recipe to make my sourdough starter, can I use gluten free flour and successfully get the bread to rise?


texts:
I cook Quaker Oats overnight and love it but sometimes the pre-measured packets make too too little food. I am interested in making my own servings using cups, but do not know what proportions I should use. For example, I heard on YouTube that 2 cups of oats per 1 cup of milk/water.

What is the best ratio of oats to liquid to prepare oats overnight?


texts: What milk and yoghurt is the best for mango lassi?

texts:
What amount (percentage) of fat does the typical plain yoghurt and a typical milk has? Or what is the best milk and yoghurt to prepare a mango lassi?

I'd like to prepare a typical mango lassi, based on a recipe given on of the mango pulp's cans:

But, I don't know, what exactly plain yoghurt and milk (percentage of fat) means here?

Here, where I live (Poland), we have at least four types of yoghurt, based on fat amount:

0.0%,
1.8% or 2.0%,
3.0% and
10.0% Greek style.

But, we call them all plain yoghurt, because "plain" means no sugar and no fruit-like additions.

We also have at least four types of milk, also based on fat amount:

0.0%,
0.5%,
1.5% or 2.0%,
3.2% and
3.8%.

What would be the best yoghurt and milk for the mango lassi preparation?

So far (until I found the above recipe) I've been using a much simpler recipe of mango pulp + plain yoghurt, without milk and water. And I have used following combinations:

pulp + 1.8% yoghurt in 1:1.5 proportions,
pulp + 10.0 Greek style yoghurt in 1:1 proportions.

In both cases the results were not the best (meaning: the final product was tasty, but far from what is served in Indian restaurant).


texts: Do I need Malt Vinegar for pickling onions?

texts:
I intend to make several kilograms of pickled onions.
Last time I made them, I just dumped in basically what ever vinegar i had to hand.
A combination of white malt, brown malt, unmalted, and rice vinegar; plus a tablespoon of cloves.

Turned out just fine (for the onions. Not great for pickled vegetables).

I thought (since my pickled vegitables didn't work),
I would look up and see if I had forgotten the recipe.
I see in all the recipes I've looked up that it calls for Malt vinegar,
or Pickling vinegar.

I'ld really like to use the very plains of vinegars (ie cheapest),
The kind that comes in 2L bottles and is marketted for cleaning mirrors (But is food grade).

Will anything go wrong with this?
Should I add anything to replace the lost flavour? (eg more spices)
Can I got 50:50 malted/plain?


texts:
Starting point:

I was trying to follow a red velvet cake recipe from the internet, but since I always try to replace industrial/artificial ingredients by more "natural" ones (just out of curiosity), I decided to replace the buttermilk and the liquid red food color with red pitaya pulp (which is tasteless and mostly made of water, similar to carrots, which can also turn into good cakes).

The recipe I've found is as follow:

! – 200ml of (whole) milk
  – 1 table spoon of lime juice
  (left to rest for 10 minutes)
             -> replacement for buttermilk (which is unusual to find here)
  //
  – 3 teacups of wheat flour
  – 2 teacups of sugar
! – 1 table spoons of cocoa powder
  – 3 tea spoons of baking soda (1 table spoon)
  – 1 tea spoon of salt
! – 1 table spoon of baking powder
  //
  – 100g of unsalted soft (non-refrigerated) butter
  – 2 eggs
! – 3 tea spoons of white vinegar (1 table spoon)
  – 1 tea spoon of vanilla extract
! – 4 table spoons of liquid red food color
  – 5 more table spoons of lime juice

and I've changed it to that:

! – 300g of fresh red pitaya pulp
  – 1 table spoon of lime juice
  //
  – 3 teacups of wheat flour
  – 2 teacups of sugar
! – 1 table spoons of cocoa powder
! – 5 tea spoons of baking soda
  – 1 tea spoon of salt
  //
  – 100g of unsalted soft (non-refrigerated) butter
  – 2 eggs
! – 4 tea spoons of white vinegar
  – 2 tea spoons of vanilla extract
! – 2 table spoons of anatto*
  – 5 more table spoons of lime juice

Besides replacing milk and food color with pitaya pulp (turned to juice), I added 2 table spoons of anatto and replaced the 1 table spoon of baking powder with 2 more tea spoons of baking soda and 1 more tea spoon of vinegar, since I always do this for every cake recipe.

Result:

Perfect in matters of structure/texture, taste and smell... BUT after half of the time in the oven, it started turning from a dark reddish purple to honey cake brown.

 ->

Question:

Was my idea of replacement a guaranteed failure with regard to the resulting color? did I missed something? Is there any trick or technique I could/should try to preserve the natural color of pitaya through the baking process? More acid ingredients, like lime juice? Less of them, maybe? Does anyone knows how much heat can pitaya pigments (betalain?) take before stopping giving vivid colors (?) and if there are any other natural red/purple pigment more heat-resistant (?). (note that its vivid color survived until half of the baking process)


texts: Trying to find the actual name of an eastern european distilled beverage

texts: this is hopefully a simple question. I have had several friends from Eastern Europe, and they often visited with a bottle of a family-style distilled beverage. It is made with pretty much whatever fruits are available (I've had plum, prune, cherry, etc). The closest I can come with the pronunciation is "trweeka," but that is from memory so I could be slightly off. It would be found in the Ukraine, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Moldova, Poland... those types of places. I am hoping someone may be familiar and know the proper name in Cyrillic and transliterated to English? I'd like to learn more about it.


texts: Can an enameled dutch oven be used for stir frying?

texts: I want to use a KitchenAid enameled cast iron dutch oven for stir frying Asian style. Are there any issues with using it for stir frying? I am a cooking newbie, and want to find healthy cooking options for others in my family who cook.


texts: How does "Brownulated" light brown sugar compare with regular light brown sugar?

texts: I'm assuming that the granulated sugar in the bag is easier to work with and won't turn into a hard block. It's also more expensive than the boxed kind. Are there any other differences, e.g. in the taste or texture after baking?


texts: Can all recipe ingredient quantities be halved or doubled without altering taste?

texts: I was wondering if keeping the same proportion of ingredients in a recipe maintains the taste of the food as well. Or are there cases where this simple proportional math doesn't work?


texts: I am making manwiches for Halloween, how long can I keep it warm on the stove so that the kids can eat off and on during the day?


texts: Can any potatoes be cooked in the microwave?

texts:
I bought these baby potatoes from sainsburys and it says on the packet you can microwave them in 7.5 minutes and they will be ok to cook.  I imagine they are not precooked or am I wrong?
This got me thinking if I get any potatoes and cut them into small enough pieces can I heat them in the microwave without oil and butter same as with these baby potatoes?
Thanks


texts: I have a recipe for pound cake that I love, but I make it in a tube pan.  I would like to make it in a 9x13 oblong pan, but don't know how long the cake should bake or if the recipe I use in the tube pan would fit into the oblong pan.  Any help would be appreciated.


texts:
I have a set of silvered cutlery with which i often eat.
I recently heard that the handles of a lot of older silvered cutlery is filled with lead or they are even made out lead. Am i safe to eat with them or should i switch out my cutlery?


texts: When fresh , it was pure red in color. But after a couple of months it turned brown. Its home made so no case of adulteration.


texts: Is it bad to use lids that do not fit on pot?

texts: I was told it's bad to use glass lids on pots that don't fit because the metal against the glass could shatter it. Is this true?


texts: How much time does it take to boil salmon?

texts:
Most recipes for salmon soup say that you cook it in just 5-10 minutes. If that were beef or pork, I would boil it for hours. Then why do they say such a short period of time will work with fish?

I have no access to fish that is safe to eat raw so I have to properly cook it through. Will salmon really get cooked safely in just 10 minutes?


texts: Sous Vide Beef steaks look overcooked at 59°C and 56.5°C

texts:
I have just started cooking steaks in my sous vide machine.

I am getting results when cooking sous vide that do not agree with the theory and instructions I have read.

For my experiments I have cooked “rostas,” which is a beef part close to the filet (see link). I cooked two pieces for 1½ hours. One at 59°C and one at 56.5°C.

Result at 59°C:
Result at 56.5°C:

The white balance is off, but there was only a slight hint of red meat inside the piece cooked at 56.5°C.

What could be wrong? I get very different results from e.g. this page. I have checked the temperature of my sous vide machine and it seems correct.


texts: I have a large amount of small plums, and have spent hours pitting enough to make a crumble. I cut them in half and squeezed the pit out. Is there an easy way to pit large quantities of plums?


texts: Juice from meat extinguishing charcoals when grilling?

texts:
I've never heard anyone else talk about this problem, but it seems to happen to me all the time:

I've been grilling regularly on a Webber charcoal grill for about a year. I have done my best to follow the instructions in the Webber manual about how to use the grill. I always use "the direct method" as I am usually cooking burgers or steaks, and frankly the results have not been too shabby so far.

But here's something I don't understand. When I cook a particularly juicy meat, especially a marinated meat, the juice always falls down on the charcoals, and it seems to extinguish many of them, at least partially. This wouldn't matter so much, except that it seems to lead to a big discrepancy in temperatures between the time I put the meat on until I flip, and then between the flip until the meat is ready. So if a recipe calls for 6 minutes on each side, after the first 6 minutes one side is super charred, and then I need to leave it on the second side for longer than 6 minutes to achieve the same. It's also painful because I often will grill a vegetable after the meat is done, and it always seems to take much longer than I expect.

Does anyone else have this problem? What should I do? I've seen drip pans at the store, but again the manual for my Webber suggests that these are only necessary when grilling by the indirect method.


texts:
That is, the leaves of a gourd, I know a lot of menus include the fruit of the gourd, but not the leaves.

I am looking for a way to eat them, if possible maybe I can include in a dish or maybe a side dish? If not, can I eat it raw? Because this seems to be abundant here in the Philippines.


texts:
For this Christmas, we wanted to do a particular packaging for biscuits using cotton candy.
We have a machine to make it, and flavours to do different colors and flavourings.

Now, the problem is that it will shrink over time, in few hours, probably because of air humidity or other reasons.
We tried to make some cotton candy and place it in a closed box (one in paper and one in plastic), but it shrunk in few hours (less than 12).

Now, we need to find a way to preserve it from shrinking for at least 24 hours, but more would be better... And we should find a do-it-yourself solution which does not involve particular equipment or materials.

A way to preserve cotton candy is to freeze it, but obviously you have to eat it frozen, or it will melt.

We thought of two other ways:

Use hot hair to reduce the amount of water in the box, and then seal the box. I am not a supporter of this idea, because I believe that hot air will just melt the cotton candy (and I do not think that humidity will be reduced that much).
Use CO2, which can be easily and cheaply fabricated at home (vinegar + sodium bicarbonate). Since it should be heavier than air, one could produce it in a large container, then pour the CO2 in the box containing the cotton candy, and then seal it. I think that CO2 will replace air in the box and this will reduce the amount of humidity, allowing conservation of the food.

What do you think? Have you ever tried something similar? Have you any other idea?


texts: Bacon fat producing solid white and gelatin state

texts: I save my bacon grease when cooking bacon and use it in several recipes.   When i render it and store in the refrig some becomes a white solid and some remains in a gelatin state.  Why?


texts: Cocoa butter sauce for beverages that doesn't resolidify

texts:
I'd like to make a cocoa butter sauce flavoring for beverages with the following properties:

Stays as close to pure cocoa butter as possible.
Doesn't re-solidify when drink is cold.
Prefer not to use emulsifiers, but will if really necessary.
Uses as natural ingredients as possible.


texts: How do I make a frappuccino less watery?

texts:
I'm trying to recreate a Starbucks caramel coffee frappuccino, but it's coming out awfully watery. I've watched them make it and here is what they do, as far as I can tell:

half fill the blender container with ice
pour milk on up to half the level of the ice
add some (hard to see how much exactly) coffee from a tank labelled "frap", which I assume is just regular cooled coffee
add some squirts of caramel syrup
blend.

Yum, delicious. But when I do this, I get a very watery result which is not thick and creamy like theirs. How can I improve it?


texts:
I had an Italian flatmate once who was on the brink of lynching me when he saw I used garlic and onion in one dish. He said that - at least in Italian cuisine - thats an absolute no-no. You can use both, but never together.

Especially with something like Spinach, I think that combination is quite nice though. Is this an Italian kitchen "rule", a general thing, or was he just misinformed?


texts: Fenugreek Sprouts - How am I doing? Am I done?

texts:
12 hours ago

Now

They're definitely slowing down. They're pleasant as is, I could throw them into a salad or sandwich right now and they would be a nice addition. I'd like them even better if they would grow longer, fatter tails (heads?), but I don't want to go too far and wake up to dead stuff. Should I keep going or quit while I'm ahead? I think I first soaked them 4.5 days ago.


texts: Alternative for Celery salt and Coconut flour

texts:
I'm trying to make this recipe:
http://www.platedwithstyle.com/2015/03/01/cajun-garlic-butter-shrimp/

I know i can find "substitues" for celery salt and coconut flour online
but I want to know if i can use regular salt and all purpose flour for this specific recipe?


texts:
When I make a Arm or Chuck Roast always after 5 hours it is still tough, the beef is grass feed. I have give up making them. My wife wants me to make another Arm Roast again and I want it to come out month watering and not tough. My wife has ALS and it really needs to be very tender for her. I would like to make it in a Dutch Oven in the oven, I would set it at 250F but how long for a 3 pound roast?
I would like it to be very tasty with a sauce or gravy.


texts:
When my wife and I have steak one night, we usually make shaved steak sandwiches the following night.  We are sure to get enough steak for the first night so we can do this.

Last time I did this, the steak sandwiches came out tasting nasty.  There were some differences in my approach to cooking them.  I'm wondering if anyone can clearly see which one was the issue.

First, we used Sirloin Filet.  Not sure if this cut is too lean for good steak sandwiches.

Also, since we were not prepared to make the steak sandwiches on the following evening, I froze the steak for two days.  I then thawed for a day.  Quite a bit of blood had pooled in the container.

If I had to guess it was because of the freezing and thawing.  But I wasn't sure if the Sirloin Filet alone would have caused a noticeable difference.


texts: Shelf life and preservation of home soaked and drained black beans

texts:
I am looking to see if I can avoid store bought tin of black beans for our Mexican recipes, we typically decide suddenly to make a Mexican dish and usually dont have soaked beans handy.
Is it possible to preserve home soaked and drained black beans? What would be a typical shelf life.


texts: My oven has a convenient window on it.  It is very old and covered in soot.  I tried what many recommendations say and used water and baking soda together, but it did not cut through the grime.  Does anyone know how to get rid of this mess?


texts: Technical name for a manual food processor

texts:
I am looking to buy a food processor to do very small batches of fruit and vegetables.
Very basic, very cheap....and i am looking for something manual(not electricity).
Is there a manual version existing?
What is it called?


texts: Can I make a pineapple upside down cheesecake in a springform pan?

texts: I'm making a pineapple upside down cheesecake in a springform pan. Will it leak out? I haven't found a recipe for this. Any suggestion I'm going to put a crust just around the edge of the spring pan to possible stop leakage.


texts: How can I stop cream puffs from sticking to the parchment paper while baking?

texts: Some of my cream puffs keeps sticking in the parchment paper, and will end up with the bottom part attached to the parchment.


texts: (Why) do onions taste sweeter when cooked at lower temperature?

texts: I use onions to add a sweeter taste to some dishes, for example in tomato sauce for pasta. I cook them in oil, with some salt, before adding the other ingredients. It seems to me that when I turn the temperature too hot, the onions don't become sweet at all, but rather retain some of their spiciness. They also look less "glassy". Why is this?


texts: How long will an half of raw cabbage last in the freezer? Had leftover after making stuffed cabbage rolls, will be making corned beef & cabbage for St. Paddy's Day. Will it make it?


texts: Emulsifier: is it safe to cook mayonnaise?

texts:
I'm making some Buffalo wings sauce that calls for cayenne pepper sauce, butter, and oil to be heated together. I'd like to add a bit of mayonnaise (not sure how much -- suggestions?) as an emulsifier.

Is it safe to cook mayonnaise?

I can't readily find Soy Lecithin, which I am thinking alternatives. I don't think I should consider mustard as that seem out of place for wing sauce? Or is that less out of place than mayo?


texts: I just bought a case of coconut milk in cartons and the expire date says 12MR01. Does this mean it expired 4 years ago?


texts: Adding malt powder to a conventional brown bread machine recipe

texts:
I'm English by birth and miss the 'old fashioned' style Granary bread of my youth. I use a breadmaker and have 'fine-tuned' recipes to produce something approaching the bread I miss: I add small quantities of several types of grains and pumpkin and sunflower seeds.

Now, however, I've purchased a quantity of malt powder in the hope that I can reproduce the malty flavour of 'real' Granary bread.

Question: How much malt powder should I add to my recipe?


texts: How to tell when roasted bell peppers are ready to skin?

texts:
We eat a lot of sweet peppers, but the children (like a lot of kids) don't like the bitter skins. So when I cook with them, I usually try and skin them.

After a lot of trial and error, I found the best way is to put the peppers, raw and whole, into the oven and roast them until the skins are blistering. Then plunge them into cold water and pull the skin off with my fingers.

However, while this seems the best method, it's hardly foolproof. It still seems very hard to judge when the peppers are ready to skin. Get them out too early and the skin is still stuck to the flesh. But if you leave it too long, the skin seems to almost weld to the flesh, with the same result.

You can buy jars of perfect, ready-skinned roasted peppers. So it's obviously possible to do this with a high degree of accuracy. What signs do I need to look for to tell me when a roasting pepper is ready to skin?


texts:
I am attempting to preserve the shelf life of ice tea up to six months with citric acid, I need a perfected ratio?

I have tried several ratio, but still end up with molds in a week time not refrigerated.

The last ratio I tried was
4 cups of warm filtered water 3 of 1/8 of a teaspoon of citric acid.
27 bags of tea steep

also tried again,but this time with less tea bags.
17 bags...still horrible smell and mold!

Does anyone know a ratio that can prolong at least 3-6 months with out being refrigerated?


texts:
I just bought a nesco dehydrator. Used it a few times with good results. Yesterday I sliced up some fresh pineapple and placed it over 4 racks. I let it run at 140-145 for 6 hours. The thinner slices were dehydrated but still moist.

My question is, how does the temperatures affect how food is dried? One would assume that the higher the temperature, the faster the drying. Obviously that isn't the case...or is it?


texts: When should I press garlic and when should I chop it?

texts: I just found out they make fancy devices for pressing garlic. However, I'm unsure of when I should use this. When do chefs press garlic and when do they chop it? Is there a rule of thumb that needs to be followed? Also, why does only Garlic and Ginger get pressed?


texts: I just noticed this proposal that 'starchiness' should be recognised as the sixth primary taste (after sweetness, sourness, saltiness, bitterness, and umami). I've never really been clear on the distinction between a 'primary' taste and any other sort of taste - is this purely about whether the taste is detectable by receptors specifically on the taste buds? I have heard this as an argument against the recognition of 'pungency' ('spiciness') as a taste, since the mechanism of sensing pungency is different, but I believe some cultures do also recognise pungency as a primary taste - so is this a cultural definition, a scientific definition, or neither?


texts:
I've been trying to eat tofu lately (not using much oil to cook it) and I don't mind it, my only problem is that I can't seem to cook it without burning the pan and setting the smoke alarms off (twice!!). The actual tofu turns out ok but the pan comes out pretty blackened and hard to clean.

Thanks.


texts: Is there any method to boil a cracked egg without making a mess?

texts: If we boil an egg which already has a crack on its shell before boiling, it will break and spread into the water. In many cases if we put an egg into hot water it will crack also. So, is there any safe method to boil an egg like that, or should it be fried or cooked in another way?


texts: What makes some formulas of food coloring, like AmeriColor, heat-safe and other formulas, like Wilton's icing color, not? For that matter, ground beets, beet juice or extract, and maraschino cherry juice are sometimes used in baked goods to provide red color. I do notice that the beet color does change (raw beets are cooler-colored than beet-colored cookies) and that maraschino cherry liquid is often artificially colored itself; however, they do seem more colorfast than reduced red juices, which begin to oxidize before the dough even bakes. Would it be possible to make a non-heat-safe dye heat-safe at home?


texts: Usually, we use milk with 1.5% fat. Occasionally, I need whole milk for a recipe. Can I somehow "enrich" the skimmed milk so that I have more or less whole milk?


texts:
I've got this amazing wet-brine recipe a few years ago for a bone-in pork chop. (It came from Bucks in DC)
I want to convert it to a DRY-brine recipe for home use. I can take all the aromatics and make it into a spice rub. However, it calls for 2C of orange juice added to a gallon of 6% saline, brined for 2 days. Under the principle of 6lbs of meat/gallon of brine (wikihow) that is 1.6% salt by weight.
I'm going to just marinate the chops in OJ today, followed by a sprinkle of 1.6% salt an hour before cooking, and the dry rub just before it goes on the grill.
But I'm open to any other ideas for duplicating the flavor/texture that OJ adds to the wet brine. Ideas?


texts: Will store eggs turn into a chick if i leave it out in the warmth?

texts: I want a baby chick and i was wondering if i could leave a store egg our in the summer's warmth/ a warm place and let it turn into a baby chick.. does it really work???


texts:
I am making my first tiramisu, using this recipe from Gourmet (with high ratings on Epicurious). My mascarpone mixture looks terribly soft to me.

As per recipe, I foamed 4 yolks with 80 ml sherry (I had no Marsala) and 95 g sugar at 55°C. The yolks were from recently bought M-sized eggs, there were no L-size in the supermarket. The volume increased a lot, but the foam itself was runny. I mixed in the 450 g mascarpone (the egg mass was still warmish), and it seemed to dissolve (I hope I didn't melt it). The result was still foamy and runny. Then I folded in the 240 g whipped cream. The final consistency is similar to egg whites beaten to stiff peaks. It is a foam, and not runny, but very aerated, and I suspect that, if left on a heap (instead of a bowl), it will flow flat over time. It is very unlike the cream layer in tiramisu I've had before.

Is this normal? Will the cream harden in the fridge? Will the ladyfingers soak up some moisture? (They are coffee-dipped in this recipe). Or should I put in some gelatine to make sure it will keep shape? Or some other thickener? I have xanthan, but don't know how to incorporate it, the mass won't survive a mixer on full speed, and it will clump if not perfectly dispersed.


texts: I love the taste of onions and garlic and it seems lots of other people do too.  But they upset my stomach so much that I can't really cook with them.  What can I use in their place to give my food a similar flavour?


texts: How do green jackfruit and hearts of palm compare for vegan pulled pork/carnitas/barbecue?

texts: I have been reading a lot about the latest vegan meat substitute choices, but I'm having trouble deciding between green jackfruit and hearts of palm. I am wondering what the advantages and disadvantages of each are. Why I might prefer each?


texts: Does glucose used is added to sugar quantity in recipes like ice creams?

texts:
I was successful making a new ice cream recipe from Pierre Herme:

100g Milk
135g Cream
1 egg yolk
45g sugar
15g glucose

I replaced the glucose by honey. After churning the ice cream, it was smooth and creamy, but it was too sweet. And who doesn't know Pierre Herme, he is one of the best pastry chef in the world. And his desserts are well balanced in terms of sugar quantities.

Is it because I replaced glucose by honey which added the extra sweetness?

I know glucose will help the ice cream to be smooth but does it add sweetness too?
I think honey contains fructose and glucose. Glucose is a glucose, so the extra fructose in honey was the reason I guess?

The overall result:

Smooth ice cream but it melt as fast as it get out of the fridge because of the extra sugar in it.


texts: Why is my paste made out of red bell pepper tastes a little astringent?

texts:
The paste was bought from store and I used it a while ago (as earliest February of this year) and then sealed and placed it in the fridge. I have already forgot its taste when I first tasted it. The color of the paste is dark red.

The best-before date without opening the container is in October of 2019.

The ingredients of the paste are: 98% bell pepper, salt, citric acid.

I am not sure if it has gone bad because it smells completely fine.


texts:
The other day I ventured into a grocery store that sold a lot of root vegetables that I have never seen before.

One of the vegetables was a large round thing, and when I poked it, grey 'smoke' came out of it, like one of those mushrooms you stepped on as a kid. None of the vegetables were labeled, so I don't know its name.

Does anyone know if such a thing exists, and what does one do with it?


texts:
I've heard that particular types of wine are good matches for particular types of food. I'm fairly new to wine being served with a meal I prepared, and I'd like to learn about how and why I should pick a wine that complements the rest of the meal.

I made this community wiki because I didn't name a particular meal to match. I'd like to spend some time learning about this topic in general.


texts: What side dish should I have with saltimbocca?

texts: What is traditionally the side dish you eat with saltimbocca a la romana?


texts:
I managed to pick up a couple of duck breasts that were on offer.  I had a nice meal recently that included duck breast served on duck hash.

The recipe for this meal involves jointing a whole duck, serving the breast on top of the hash in which the shredded duck leg meat is mixed with potato and onion.

As I have 2 breasts and I only need one, so can I simply substitute a breast for the leg meat or will the breast have the wrong texture or other shortcoming?


texts: Can rosehip tisane be used as a substitute for red wine in cooking?

texts:
I'm currently watching a cooking series (The Everyday Gourmet) and in one of the lessons the chef talks about what to look for in a wine. For red wine he mentions to look for a wine with a deep red colour as well as a good tannin content, mentioning that subtleties of flavour will likely be lost during cooking.

As he was talking about it, rosehip tea popped up as something that meets those two criterias. I tried searching online but couldn't find anything on the subject. It seems a bit far fetched but it has me curious.

I don't drink alcohol and have no idea what red wine tastes like so I can't test it as I don't have anything to compare it to. What are your thoughts?

EDIT: Instead of straight rosehip, would there be anything I could add that would make it resemble red wine a little more (i.e. a bit of sugar, something acidic, etc)?


texts: How does cutting a pork shoulder affect cooking time?

texts:
I have an approx. 10 pound pork shoulder that I would like to smoke on a charcoal grill. Recipes commonly list that you should smoke a shoulder for about 60 to 90 minutes per pound (depending on cooking temperature and other factors).
How would cutting this 10lb shoulder in half into two 5lb shoulders affect cook time?
Would it simply divide the time needed by half or is there a sort of "curve" that decreases cook time based on size? Any tips for how to properly divide the shoulder?
edit I do have a nice, digital meat thermometer that I'll be using to determine when the cut is actually finished. Cooking time is still important though, so I can get a rough estimate about when it'll be finished and ready to serve (give or take a half hour or so, hopefully).


texts: How do you infuse the flavor of a sauce into chicken?

texts:
I have cooked some chicken in a pot with honey sauce. The sauce was very flavorful, and while the chicken had a great texture none of the sauce's flavor was in the chicken! It was almost flavorless.

I have seared the chicken and put it in a covered pot with some wine and honey as sauce (sauce covered about eighth of the chicken?). What can I do next time to infuse the flavors of a flavor base together with chicken when it is pot cooked?


texts:
I am baking loaves of sourdough using this recipe: https://www.theperfectloaf.com/beginners-sourdough-bread/

I cook my loaves in a staub cocette and after the allotted time, they're very, very brown, verging on blackened on all sides. Otherwise, they're great (good crumb, etc). I have tried lowering the oven temperature somewhat (and verified it with a oven thermometer), but by the time they are done internal temp-wise, they're still just as brown. Any advice on how to adjust would be helpful.

I am at a bit over 5k elevation and in a dry environment, if that matters.


texts: Is it ever more accurate to measure by volume rather than by weight?

texts:
I've been thinking about the fact that although many recipes specify volume, measuring by weight is much more accurate.

Are there any cases where it would be objectively better (i.e. more accurate) to measure by volume - that is where a weight measurement would leave you scratching your head?

I'm really thinking theoretically here: if you're just trying to come up with a reliable, reproducible way to measure an ingredient, perhaps so you can write down a recipe for yourself, would you end up always using weight or are there cases where volume would be more precise? Cases where they are equally accurate (such as water) don't count.

This question is not regarding the practicality of different ways of measuring but rather the accuracy.

I've thought of a few borderline cases, but I was wondering if there was anything more straightforward:

When serving a whole "unit" as a portion, such as a baked apple, one would count the number of apples to prepare rather than getting a total weight - although it would probably be a good idea to weigh them afterward to figure out how much of the other ingredients to use.
A garnish might be measured by volume - it doesn't really matter how much the whipped cream on top of the brownie weighs as long as it covers it.
When greasing a pan, one needs the volume necessary to cover the pan, but no one ever measures this.

Reminder: This question is not about what's subjectively better, or what you think I "should" do, just what's accurate.

Update: I guess I started a bit of an interesting discussion here, but there are only a couple answers that gets even close to what I was looking for. I'll try again:
An person preparing food in a kitchen somewhere on dry land on earth, can measure most items by either weight or volume.  In some of those cases weight will be more reproducible than volume (such as flour or salt) and in some of those cases there will be no difference (such as water). Are there any cases where using weight will cause more difficulty than volume - that is the volume is more relevant than the weight.

Two more cases:

when filling something (say a pie shell) or making equal layers (thank you rackandboneman and rumtscho) if the mousse came out more or less dense than you intended, you need to use the same volume, and the weight is irrelevant.
when the ingredient is not so precise to begin with, such as "x mL jarred tomato sauce" will surely cover the pasta, but "y g jarred tomato sauce" may not

Again, no question about practicality or personal preference here.


texts: Type of wok and how to go about seasoning it

texts:
I've just bought a cheap (+-$15) wok from an asian market and I'm unable to determine the type of material it is (the wok had no informative label/instructions). I was specifically looking for a carbon steel wok without a non-stick coating; I confirmed with the lady at the store that the wok did not have a non-stick coating, however, she was unable to tell me if it was carbon steel. The wok is not very heavy but feels fairly strong.

I've attached 2 photos of the wok. The black colour seems different from the other carbon steel woks I have seen, but I am no expert on the subject. If anyone is able to provide info on the material and how I should go about seasoning the wok I would highly appreciate it.

Thanks.


texts: I was defrosting fish and forgot about it.  It has been left out for a long time.  How long can fish actually be left out before it goes bad?


texts: How safe is it to harvest wild sassafras?

texts: I am interested in trying to incorporate wild sassafras (roots, mostly) into my cooking.  I have established definitively that the plants are sassafras, and not something else, so I'm not worried about accidentally picking the wrong thing.  However, I was reading up on it, and Wikipedia seems to think that the plant can be poisonous.  How true is this?  Is there a way to ensure safety in my cooking (beyond scrapping the project altogether)?


texts:
I know using spices while cooking is often subjective and you would use spices that you deem appropriate for certain dish but it is undeniable that when you do use them, you should use fresh and good ones.

Now, this question is being made with intent of it becoming community wiki and a great resource for people trying to get good spices. To get to the question, how would you recognize superior spices when you go shopping? What would be some objective (and subjective) tests for determining spice quality.

In case this doesn't become a community wiki, I'll add a specific question so that this one doesn't get deleted and also to start the list of spices - how would you recognize great saffron from a lousy one?


texts: What is this discoloured patch in my smoked prosciutto?

texts:
I bought an Italian selection of cooked meats from a well-known British supermarket chain, which begins with T and rhymes with Fresco.

Within this selection is smoked prosciutto. However, it appears to contain discoloured patches which range from light brown to black, and I’m unsure as to whether to be concerned.

My initial thought was that it may be peppercorns but, on closer inspection, it doesn’t appear to be, and I’m unsure as to whether to return the product to the store.


texts: Making pizza toppings stay intact without using cheese

texts:
I am going to be following this recipe to make my pizza dough
https://tasty.co/recipe/2-ingredient-dough-pizza

However, I have just realised we ran out of cheese. I have processed cheese slices but I don't think that would taste good on the pizza. They're only good for cheese toasties.

How can I make sure my pizza toppings stay intact on the pizza base? Once I made a pizza without cheese and everything just fell everywhere when I start cutting into the pizza. Is there an easy alternative to cheese, or a tip to make the ingredients stick together?


texts: Is there any way to tell from the outside if an avocado hides a disproportionately large pit and less meat?  It's always a disappointment when you cut one in half just to find out it is mostly pit.


texts: Baking after the first rise (without punching down) vs the regular two rise approach?

texts: Yeasted dough is usually given a second rise because after the first rise it's shaped, which knocks the air out of it and so it needs time to be leavened again.  But what if you shaped the dough before the first rise and then baked after letting it rise (without deflating the dough in the process)? Would there be any difference in the end result compared to the two rise method?  Assume that in both cases, the dough is left to refrigerate overnight for the first rise.


texts: Do you use paper or cloth towel for patting a meat dry before frying?

texts:
It is advised to pat a steak dry before frying. I've used paper towels in the past for this, but sometimes parts of them stick to meat. Now and then I've used a clean cloth kitchen towel for patting and put it immediately to wash bin for hygiene reasons. This seems a bit wasteful to me.

How do professional kitchens do this? If they use cloth towels, how often they wash them and do they use different towels for different kinds of food (meat, vegetables, fish, chicken) ?


texts: What is a substitute for celery root in a soup?

texts: I don't have access to celery root (celeriac). What can I use instead? Are there any suitable alternatives?


texts: Recipe generator for randomized meal planning

texts:
has anyone of you ever tried a randomized week long meal planner for dieting ?
If you have read the 4 hour body delegating the cycle to an alogrithmen makes a lot of sense in my opinion. I'm happy for any suggestions for a 80 % solution.

Honestly, I'm just to lazy to think about the whole
leftovers - buy - cook - eat cycle. I end up munching instead leftovers all the time. So I like to try something new - randomization since flipping coin decisions are fun, why should meal planning not be.

My criteria , 15 min max, low carbs and cheap.

I want title, picture, ingredients and prep guidlines. The ingredients I like to aggregate to a grocery list. If possible serving and shopping sizes are also available as additional constraints - I don't like leftovers (I would munch them).

Preferably there is some kind of API for this :).

Tks for suggestions.


texts: What is the correct reference for amount of salt in lacto-fermenting?

texts:
When lacto-fermenting pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, etc. do you do your salt calculations per amount of brine, or salt per volume of the pickling container?

I mean, if I use 1-3 tablespoons of pickling salt per quart, as I've seen recommended, a number of times, is that supposed to be per quart of pure brine or per quart jar of pickles? The answer could make a big difference in the result.

I've heard you should mix the brine separately and then pour it in. So, perhaps that means to make an entire quart of brine with 1-3 tablespoons of salt in that quart (even if you don't use all the brine when you pour it on your vegetables), rather than ensuring that 1-3 full tablespoons of salt are in the jar of pickles.

It seems like my pickles could use less salt, on average, despite warm temperatures, and I see other questions on here that might benefit from the answer here. So, I'm curious.

Again, is the salt relative to how much brine you have, or to the size of your container?


texts: How long does unopened, room temperature pop last?

texts:
How long does a can of coca-cola last?  Like a case of them, sitting in a room-temperature room.  There is a date on the bottom (MAR1411), but what does that mean?

I have a can with the World Cup on it, and I just became really curious.


texts: Why are the stems left on when cooking an artichoke?

texts:
In several YouTube videos on preparing artichokes the cooks recommend leaving the stem on the artichoke while it is boiling.

Why is this?


texts: There a Difference between Chinese parsley and cilantro

texts: Is there a difference between the two? It looks almost like cilantro?


texts:
Are there any sources for authentic versions of traditional dishes? For instance I believe that the version of Guacamole that I prepare is not traditional because of the use of coriander and lime so is there any where I can look up a tradiational version of the recipe so I can compare my version with the traditional version.

I know that even traditional recipes will vary somewhat with regional and family variations but I would have thought that there are enough elements of commonality that I could tell how my version differs.


texts: Should whole coffee beans be stored at room temperature, the fridge or freezer?

texts: My coffee is normally used up within 1 week and is of unknown age on purchase, do I need to do anything extra to make it last a week?


texts: Are dates still good if they sat in a sealed bag in the sun?

texts: I had some groceries delivered and the dates were packaged in sealed plastic bags -- they got pretty hot sitting in the sun, so it was kinda sweating inside the bag. Are they still good?


texts: Melted vs softened butter in cake recipes

texts:
I was making Victoria sponge cake, and the recipe called for using softened butter, which should then be mixed with sugar using an electric mixer. I did not have an electric mixer, so I decided to melt the butter, and mix the melted butter with the sugar. The cake turned out to taste okay.

Is there any difference between softened butter + electric mixer, and using melted butter?


texts: Is there any substitute for saltpeter / sodium nitrate in corned beef brine?

texts:
I realize there is another question about corned beef from scratch, but the answers don't really cover my question. Many recipes for making your own corned beef still refer to the use of saltpeter (potassium nitrate) or sodium nitrate.  From what I've been able to find out saltpeter is never used anymore nor available to the home cook, and sodium nitrate is  not commonly available.

Sodium nitrate in the brine gives cooked corned beef its classic reddish color (without it corned beef comes out gray), and it kills botulism spores. I like my corned beef pink (the gray color is somewhat unappetizing), but more than that I'm concerned about the flavor of the corned beef. The last time I made corned beef I tried to use Morton Tender Quick. The cooked brisket turned out beautifully pink and almost inedible. It was terribly salty and actually made my tongue numb.

So, is there anything that can be used in place of the sodium nitrate, if used in the proper quantities does its absence or presence have any effect on the flavor of the corned beef, and is there any good place to get it?


texts:
I had made some lemonade for a party and now having some leftovers sitting on a counter for a few days it has started to ferment. The containers were all sterilized with bleach, produce was washed and water was boiled. It tastes totally fine. Would this be safe?

5 gallon water
1 c honey
1 c sugar
2 c fresh lemon juice
3 c barley
Lemon zest
Mint leaves

Add barley and honey/sugar to water, boil for 10 min
Remove barley
Steep lemon zest and mint leaves in the lemonade
Once cooled down, add lemon juice


texts: Baking batter-covered chicken instead of frying?

texts:
Yesterday I made Sweet Chicken according to this recipe: ding!

It was very good. However, I really don't like making and eating deep fried food, so I figured I should try oven-baking the chicken. But I'm afraid the batter will "drip" down from the chicken, or that it won't turn out as crisp.

Do you have any tips/approaches I can take while trying this?

Thanks!


texts: In terms of temperature, how can you tell if food is thawed?

texts:
I am planning to place a meal (salmon + rice) in the refrigerator to thaw it.
I will use a thermometer to check if the food is thawed. What is the temperature range for when the meal has been successfully thawed?


texts: What should be the material of the vessels to be used in an electric oven?

texts: Could you please provide a general guide figure out if a piece of cookware can be used in the oven, based on what material it is made of?


texts: Should fresh water fish (like crappie or bream) be frozen in a salt brine?


texts: Why does bread with filling separate and how do I prevent it?

texts:
Sometimes when I make sausage kolaches or cinnamon rolls the bread layers pull away from the sausage or the filling and leave an open space inside. The separation is cosmetically unattractive, and can make the product more difficult to eat because it tends to fall apart when bitten.

This doesn't always happen and I don't want to go to the other extreme where the layers in a cinnamon roll are indistinguishable.

What causes this separation and, more importantly, how do I control when it happens.


texts: I Need to Cook Duchess Potatoes but the Oven Cannot go Above 135C or 275F

texts:
Thanks for the view. This question follows on from this one (Why Did the Duchess Potato Collapse), I have now prepared the mashed potato with egg yolks and do not expect it to collapse. The piped duchess potatoes are now shaped on a baking tray waiting overnight for cooking tomorrow. Here is this times effort so far for reference:

I am updating my skill level from home cook to bad after the last post.
I am planning to cook these tomorrow but only have one oven that will be slow cooking / braising beef short ribs which will be set to 135 Centigrade or 275 Fahrenheit from approximately 0900 to 1400, aiming to have 14 served by 1410 and I can't change the temperature as the meat is the main part of the meal.
How can I cook the Duchess potatoes when I can't change the temperature of the oven and the recipe says to do them at 220 Celsius or 430 Fahrenheit for 20 mins to be served immediately?
Options I've thought of are:

Put them in with the meat for longer and accept they will take longer. This is my preferred option but when I reached out to family the response was that they may not brown correctly. It was suggested this could be corrected under the grill right at the end when the meat is removed and being served
Cook them at the proper temperature for the full time before the meat to achieve the browning and let them stand for four hours before returning them to the oven to warm them up again at the meat temperature.
Cook the meat and then turn the oven up at the end to cook the Duchess potatoes to their recipe (20 mins at 220C or 430F) while the meat stands, maybe returning it to the oven just before serving if the temperature drops.
Cook the Duchess Potatoes before and reheat in the microwave while serving the meat

I'd like to know if any of the options above are the correct approach or definitely not going to work or if there's an option I haven't thought of yet that's a better way.
As I've stated I haven't much experience in this area so there may be an obvious trick I'm yet to  learn.


texts: Only the core of my banana is black. Is it safe to eat?

texts:
This banana had a bit of bruising I wasn't too concerned until I noticed the core (and only the core) was dark brown/black in color.  In addition, it's somewhat dry and hollow, unlike normal banana flesh.

I've read elsewhere on the Internet that this happens when they've been dropped (which, incidentally, this one has been).  Is this true?  Are bananas like this still generally safe to eat?


texts: Are there safety concerns with cooking something with beer or wine in the oven?

texts:
Probably a silly question, and I have never heard of an incident, but then again that does not rule out a safety issue. Basically, if I want to put a covered pot in the oven with beer or wine (or some other alcohol), is there a safety concern, or a pre-oven step that must be done? The reasoning is that if the alcohol cooks off as a gas, could it be trapped in the oven, and heat up until it explodes or starts a fire?

For now, I usually add the beer or wine to the pot on the stove, and let it heat up uncovered for a few minutes before the oven.


texts: Can I create cream of tartar with tartaric acid and potassium hydroxide?

texts: Here in Poland, I have no trouble buying both tartaric acid and potassium hydroxide. I'm having trouble sourcing cream of tartar though, so would it be enough to mix the acid and potassium hydroxide? Or do I need to get them to react in non-powder form and then dehydrate it back down to a powder for storage?


texts: I'm a new baker and I've had some pretty decent cupcakes but I feel that they are more thicker then wanted. What can I do to make them lighter?


texts: Converting kneading recipe to no knead recipe

texts: I'm a beginning baker planning to make ensaymada, which has a sweet buttery dough. The recipe I found requires kneading. Do I have to make some adjustments to the recipe, or can I just make the dough, let it rise for 2 hours, and then put it in the fridge as Gemma Stafford did for her cinnamon rolls? According to this question, someone made a no knead recipe out of a regular recipe without any changes other than letting the bread sit. Will this work or do I have to add more liquid? Thanks in advance!


texts: Fishhouse Punch: Peach Brandy vs Schnapps

texts:
The basic recipe for fish-house punch involves cognac, dark rum, peach brandy, sugar, and lemon. I have peach schnapps, which I rather like. However, this blend is one of the few that I find palatable with this much alcohol in it; much like Long Island Iced Tea, it tastes a lot less boozy than it is. If I substitute peach schnapps for peach brandy, will it throw off the balance of the drink? Or possibly add any unwanted flavors?

ETA: When I went to the store, I discovered Paramount brand "Peach-flavored Brandy". The back of the bottle suggests using it in a Fuzzy Naval, which is one of the drinks I usually make with Peach Schnapps. I kind of wonder if it's just got artificial flavors rather than being distilled from peaches? It's a product of Cleveland, which is near where I live, so I don't know how widely available that brand is.


texts:
I have a heavy bottomed sauté pan with a non-stick surface (could be Teflon). The handle is stainless steel and there are no plastic or rubber parts.

Can this go in the oven? If so, what are safe temperatures for a non-stick surface?


texts: What else can I do with Caputo Blue Pizzeria Flour?

texts:
So I use Caputo Blue Flour to make pizza dough, but out of the 25kg bag I use I only use 24kg per batch.
I tend to measure a kilo out of the bag and put it aside and then use the rest of the bag to make my dough. However this leaves me with a lot of left over flour, I could use it for pizza dough but that would mean either waiting (and storing) the excess flour until I have 24kg worth, or splitting bags and increasing the complication of making a batch as I'd have to weigh everything.

So instead I'm wondering what else can I use it for?
I've made bread with it, but only out of excess pizza dough rather than specifically aiming to make bread, and the results are ok but not particularly better than a strong bread flour (though this could be because it is an afterthought).

I've also found (because it is very fine flour) it makes good sauces, and I've used it for Yorkshire pudding and that's quite good too.

I've linked the official fact sheet above, but I think the important properties may be;

Protein - 12.75%
Dry Gluten - 12 / 13 %
Absorption - 55/57

But would it make decent pastry? Or be any good for cakes? Is there anything other than pizza that a flour with these specific qualities would be best for?


texts: What should I know about storing my homemade chili powder?

texts:
I am planning on making some chili powder this weekend using ancho, pasilla, and guajillo peppers. I got a nice big bag of each recently and have some questions about chili powder. The second part of this question, about tweaking the preparation itself, is here.

The first concern I have is storage lifetime. I keep reading that it should stay potent for about 6 months, in an airtight container. I have also read that I can mill/blend the peppers and freeze the powder for 6 months and then use. How does storage work?

Do these 6 months stack on top of each other; or is it six months potency one way or the other?
Is there an alternative preparation of/method for using the milled chili (powder) that would allow me to get a better shelf life? (My main concern is not having spices that last forever; rather it is to have them remain potent for a reasonable period.)
Does the "6 month potency" begin once the chili powder is prepared, milled, or when the peppers are dried (or some other time)?


texts: How can I get my chocolate cake to taste less like a brownie?

texts:
I've been testing out cake recipes, and I'm having a bit of difficulty creating a chocolate cake that doesn't taste like a brownie.

What I want is a light, moist chocolate cake (doesn't everyone?), but the cake currently has the same texture and taste as a cakey brownie. I've tried aerating it more by beating the egg whites before I add them and adding more rising agent (tried baking powder, baking soda, and a combination of the two), but that resulted in the cake rising too much and overflowing the tin.

I've also tried adding yogurt to make it more moist, but that only made it denser.

I'm using real chocolate in my cake because I want it to taste super dark chocolatey. I've read a lot of cake recipes and I don't see very many that use block chocolate, usually only cocoa powder. Is this the cause of my problem?


texts:
I have a sick relative and I'd like to make a really flavorful chicken stock to make chicken soup for them.

I watched a video on youtube.com, by 'Sorted' and they mentioned that you boil your chicken, then dump the water, rinse the chicken, and start over. I've never heard of this and they've been known to redo recipes when they learn new stuff.

The idea behind it was that supposedly, you boil it for a short time and all the 'impurities' come out, then you start with fresh water and boil for the stock. The same as people say you should cook ramen, but don't serve it in the water it was cooked in, because of all the preservatives that wash off.

Can anyone verify if this idea of cooking a chicken twice actually removes 'impurities', or am I throwing out flavorful chicken water? I've definitely hear of skimming the foam off the top of the pot to remove 'bad stuff'. Thanks for the help.