texts: Can clotted cream be made with UHT cream?

texts:
I've followed a couple of recipes for clotted cream without success and it seems that pasteurization is the issue. I'm told that I need to use either unpasteurized cream or cream that has been low-temperature pasteurized.

All I can find here in Stockholm is cream pasteurized at higher temperatures (85 degrees C). Does anyone know why high temperature pasteurized cream doesn't work for clotted cream? Does anyone have a trick up their sleeve to get it to work?


texts: Sometimes when I make a roux-based sauce, it turns out too thin. Are there any ways to make it thicker after the sauce is done? Adding salt helps a bit, but I don't want to add too much for obvious reasons. Ideas how to prevent the sauce from getting too thin in the first place are also welcome.


texts: What is the best way to reheat leftover grilled fish?

texts:
I have rarely (if ever) looked forward to eating leftover grilled fish.  What is the best technique to reheat the fish so that it has the best flavor and texture?

I understand that some of the quality is going to be simply lost.  If you have a certain technique for a specific type of fish, let me in on that as well.

Is it a lost cause?


texts: What's a good cornstarch/flour to broth ratio for a chicken-broth gravy?

texts:
I have found that chicken broth or stock does not thicken as easily as beef broth or stock will. I often find myself adding too much flour or cornstarch, hoping the chicken broth will thicken, but in the end all I have is starchy tasting almost-gravy.

I guess what I'm asking is what's a good stopping point, how not to add too much cornstarch? ...and is there a way to get rid of the starchy taste if I go past that point?


texts: can you make a mud cake using cooked quinoa instead of normal wheat flours

texts: I have been told you can make a mud cake substituting cooked quinoa for normal wheat flours. Is this possible and do you need to add anything else?


texts: Does using a sponge in a brioche make a difference?

texts: I want to make brioche and have seen several recipes. Some use a sponge and some don't. Is there a difference in the end product (flavour, texture, look...)?


texts:
I am trying to deep fry a turkey for the first time. I let the oil get too hot and it was smoking very heavily for several minutes (10 minutes), but I was able to get the temp down where its not smoking anymore.

Is my turkey likely ruined cooking in this oil? Should I not risk serving it to my family, even if it appears to be OK?


texts: Does raw honey need to be prepared before consumption?

texts: Or can you scoop it out of the jar (like a bear) and just eat it? I have raw acacia honey, and it has a granular, crystallized texture. I was wondering if it needs to be heated or otherwise prepared before eating.


texts: freezing roquefort cheesecake cooked or uncooked

texts:
I'm making a roquefort cheesecake appetizer with roquefort, cream cheese, and eggs.  I'd like to cook 1/2 recipe now and freeze the other half for another time.  Do I cook the second half before freezing or after?
Thanks for your expert advice.


texts: How can I achieve the same flavor and texture as roasted garlic without an oven?

texts: I'd like to make roasted garlic, but I don't have an oven, only a gas range.  Is there any way for me to get the same results with the range as I would in a conventional oven?


texts: Is cooking garlic is the important part of curry.This huge use of garlic in our dishes wants the easy method to peel of garlic.


texts: I am currently trying skyr, an Icelandic yoghurt/cheese. I am preparing this mostly with fruits, nuts and cereals. I would appreciate if anybody has a suggestion on how to make it more fluid in order to be used as basis for recipes with pasta, meat or fish.


texts: Help I threw in carrot,  potato,  parsnip, turnip, leek and two ham stock cubes but I've ruined it by using to much water and I've already blended it.   I would really hate to have to chuck it in the bin.  Any suggestions on how to rescue the flavour and thickness? Added a little paprika and coriander earlier still very bland.


texts: What is a good technique for making a very small amount of caramel?

texts:
By caramel I mean caramelised sugar made into a sauce with butter.

What is the best way to make a caramel sauce if only a tiny quantity is required? What is the smallest amount of sugar that is practical to start with?

For making a very small amount, the 'dry' method where one just heats the sugar alone seems tricky: I find the sugar burns and hardens into burnt sugar/toffee very easily. The 'wet' method where one adds water to moisten (maybe 1/3 sugar to water by weight) has also given me poor results: some sugar gets burned while the rest is still dissolved. Adding the butter right at the start seems to work better, but I find it's hard to get a really rich caramel taste this way: it's more a sweetened butter sauce.


texts:
I'm very proud of how my cream puffs turned out. I followed this recipe although I did NOT use any xanthan gum at all. I also substituted Earth Balance for butter.

They rise beautifully and they're only half hollow. They're soft on the inside, possibly slightly undercooked. I'm concerned that if I bake them any longer they might burn. Here are some pics: https://imgur.com/a/mglMU

Which ingredients or steps are responsible for the hollow anatomy of these delicious beauties?

Does anyone have advice for either tweaking the recipe or my cooking time or some other part of my technique to ensure a nice hollow shell?

Recipe details:

  1/3 cup + 1tbsp gluten free flour
  2 Tbsp cornflour/cornstarch
  2 xl eggs
  50g Earth Balance in place of butter
  1/2 tsp powdered sugar

  Place 1/2 cup + 2tbsp water in saucepan with butter and heat to a boil that can’t be stirred down.
  Add flour mixture of all dry ingredients and mix with spatula until smooth
  Remove from heat and allow to cool for 2-3 mins
  Add 1 egg and mix until incorporated
  Incorporate the second egg
  Pipe and bake in a 425°F preheated oven for 25 mins


texts: How to liquify butter -- and keep it liquid?

texts:
Is there a way to liquify butter and keep it in a liquid form at room temperature (at minimum) or in a refrigerator (preferably)? I can't seem to find any solution on the web. Everything seems to point to making clarified butter, which is not what I want (plus, the ghee I've seen is solid at room temperature).

Is there anything I can do / add to the butter to keep it liquid?


texts: Why do fridge temperature standards between US and other countries differ?

texts:
US recommendations always go for +4°C at most, and this would correlate with how the danger zone is defined in the pertinent literature.

In Germany, most literature (and also the specification next to use-by dates on packaging) suggests +7°C or +8°C. http://www.br.de/radio/bayern1/inhalt/experten-tipps/umweltkommissar/kuehlschrank-temperatur-energie-verbrauch-umweltkommissar-100.html

Surprisingly, the first dutch google result http://www.consumentenbond.nl/koelkast/extra/temperatuur-koelkast/ suggests +3-4°C.

France, http://www.linternaute.com/bricolage/pratique/electromenager/17004/temperature-frigo-tout-ce-qu-il-faut-savoir.html +4°C

UK,
http://www.exeter.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=11517 +8°C and redefines the danger zone.

What is up with that, given +4°C vs +8°C is not as trivial a difference as it looks like...

Not truly answered in possible duplicate What is the ideal fridge temperature. If even on this site such things aren't accepted as a "matter of opinion" (generally good!), why would they be between devoloped nations?

One would assume biology and state of science being the same in all these countries, either things are likely or very unlikely to spoil in a non-visible way at that or that temperature...


texts: Can I finish cooking a pork roast next day after partially cooking it

texts: I will be having 17 people for dinner, and I will serve a pork roast. Can I partially cook it, wait until it cools, wrap it and put it the refrigerator and  finish cooking it the next day?


texts: I purchased "Live" Soft Shell Crabs and wanted to make a recipe that calls for frying them - what are the steps involved?


texts: Can I use a crêpe pan instead of a comal?

texts:
I've recently been given a recipe for tortillas by a friend, but it calls for a Comal, and I only have a crêpe pan, or a non-stick frying pan.
Are either acceptable replacements for a Comal?


texts: What is the white substance floating in my fresh mozzarella brine?

texts:
I purchased fresh mozzarella bocconcini from Whole Foods six days ago. The mozzarella is sold in a brine solution. I opened the package when I bought it and have kept it refrigerated since, using the original packaging and brine solution. Today, I opened the package again to see some white substance floating in the brine as shown below. The mozzarella smells fine, and based on eating one bite, also tastes normal.

What is this substance, and is my mozzarella still safe to eat?


texts: Came home from offshore an still have duck eggs in fridge there dated 28 march 2018 is it ok to eat them now?


texts: Any methods to make prawns more "crunchy" (bite/tear off easily)

texts:
I notice that my prawns does not really get bite/tear off easily based on the way I prepare and cook my prawns - I tear off the shell, put them on a bowl. When ready to cook, I just thrown them together with some lean meat (cow / pig) and cook. After cooking, I put them into noodles/spaghetti and cook once more.

I suspect that there are 2 shells for prawns but I can't seems to get the prawns more "crunchy" such a way that they can be bitten / tear off easily without using oil and flour.

Appreciate any suggestions offer.


texts: Considerations for frying a Turkey in Arctic Weather

texts: How does extreme cold (think wind chill of -40°F (-40°C) to maybe -80°F (-62°C) affect deep frying a turkey? Can it be done, and if so what do I need to keep in mind?


texts: Powder to prevent foam in egg white protein?

texts: I have a bunch of egg white protein powder to take as a supplement. Only when I mix it in a shaker bottle, it foams up. Reading the answers about souffles I got the idea that if the egg yolk prevents foaming, and that yolks contain lecithin--that must be what the soy lecithin is for in the commercial egg proteins which don't foam up at all. But that didn't work. What is a powder--natural if possible--that I can add so that it mixes like the store bought stuff?


texts: What does the Cinnamon in my coffee turn into?

texts: I few years ago I put Cinnamon in my coffee. After a few hours (I'm a slow coffee drinker) I started to take my last sip and a big clump of mucus hit my tongue and I almost puked. After recovering, and almost getting into fist fights with several co-workers (They loved pulling pranks) a few of them said cinnamon always does that. I'm still not so sure? What is up with Cinnamon and coffee and are there any other spices that does that? Or should I have continue to punch my co-workers?


texts: I bought a lot of coconut sugar (and have since given it to my MIL).  I baked cupcakes with it and the entire batch of cupcakes fell (there was a crater-like indention in every cupcake).  All of my cane sugar cupcakes rose nicely.  In the cupcakes, I didn't notice much of a different flavor (they still tasted really good despite sinking in the middle).  But when I made fresh lemonade with the coconut sugar, all I could taste was burnt sugar.  Does coconut sugar normally taste burned or could it have just been the brand I bought?  I can't believe coconut sugar is so popular if it all tastes burned.


texts: Is there grade/quality for spaghetti selection?

texts:
Just as the topic.

One of my friends brought me some spaghetti from Italy. What is the difference between spaghetti from Italy and spaghetti from outside of Italy?


texts:
I was just preparing red kuri squash for a soup, and as usual during preparation I snacked some pieces. The skin did not seem very thick and I took a bite of a piece with some left on it. While it was a bit harder than the skin of an apple, it wasn't really that hard.

I hope keeping the skin might lead to a darker color of the soup, which I'd prefer. I am not that concerned about pieces left, when I eat alone I don't mind pieces, when I cook for more than myself I would blend the soup before serving.
Assuming it has been washed and is from an organic farm, do I need to peel my squash?


texts:
My pots are

WearEver Cook & Strain Stainless Steel 1.5-Quart Saucepan

Model No.:      A8342264
Tramontina 3-Quart Sauce Pan, Stainless Steel

Model No.:      80154/516

The handle of the first one is steel, while the handle of the second one seems to be a mix of steel and black rubber (or something that looks similar to rubber, and you can google and check similar images)

Can I bake or roast chicken drumsticks in either pot inside an oven? How much should the baking temperature be?

I have been using both pots on cooktops to boil food. Sometimes I forgot to watch,  and the water was dried out, and the pots were burnt and became  black.
If I put the pots inside an oven with only chicken inside the pots and without adding water (supposedly?), will that burn the pots as well? Why not?


texts: How to add a salty/bacon flavor and texture to vegan collard greens?

texts:
As a vegan of nearly a year bacon has come as a "great loss" and my collard greens have suffered for it greatly.

I have been experimenting with tvp bacon bits, vegan bacon strips (both frozen and refrigerated), tempeh, liquid smoke, soy sauce, butter, etc. to get something of the salty and fatty flavor/texture that I used to get with pork bacon but have yet to be successful.

Additionally I have tried boiling, slow cooking, sauteeing and a few other methods of cooking. The slow cooker seems to be the best, helping everything cook down as far as I want, but it does take a good while and does not get the animal fat infusion that I used to enjoy so much.

Suggestions for helping add some fat and texture to my way too healthy and way too mushy pot of vegan greens?


texts: Reconstitute all purpose wheat flour from starch and gluten

texts:
Due to the recent events (COVID-19) the groceries stores' shelves are totally wiped of flour of any grains. I have not found flour for roughly a week. Now the shelves are still stocked well with starches (corn and potato) and gluten flour/powder. Does anyone have experience with mixing both flours to acquire a flour that has roughly the same properties like plain all purpose wheat flour? AP flour has roughly 10% protein and 90% non-sugar carbohydrates. I am not sure if the 10% protein are 100% gluten and if corn starch or potato starch have roughly the same properties like wheat starch.

I intend to make simple yeast dough with improvised fillings with no special ratios (garlic bread, cinnamon rolls) or a flour-water dough for dumplings or pancakes (e.g. scallion pancakes or just normal crepes ), so nothing fancy. I do still have normal AP flour but I'd like to save it for more delicate doughs.

Milling own flour from semolina, couscous, bulgur, whole grains is not an option; I do not have a mill.


texts: Is it safe to use raw mushrooms to flavor a broth?

texts:
I'm following a recipe for making ramen broth. It says to use chicken stock and boil it with several fresh ingredients for 30 minutes to flavor it, one of which is mushrooms.

Being a very inexperienced cook I searched online for how to handle mushrooms for cooking. One of the pages I found is by the Norwegian food safety authority and says that mushrooms should be put in cold water and brought to a boil, letting them boil for 10 minutes to remove toxins in them, and that this should be done even if you plan on frying the mushrooms afterwards. It also specifically says that the water used to boil the mushrooms should always be thrown away, I'm guessing because the toxins gets mixed into the water when you boil the mushrooms.

My question is, would these toxins not get into the my broth if I am putting the raw mushrooms directly into it? The recipe says nothing about boiling the mushrooms before hand, or is this just something I should know to do?

I also see a lot of recipes for mushroom sauces/soups which says to put raw mushrooms directly into the dish as it is being made, would this not have the same problem?`

I am using common white button mushrooms (Champignon).


texts: I am really curious about the behavior of chicken fat in soup.  Why does the top layer of fat (in contact with the air) on hot broth form a thin skin that can be lifted off the surface of the soup?  This is not the same phenomenon as when the broth cools and the chicken fat becomes a solid layer. As far as I can tell from my own experience it only happens with chicken fat...not with beef fat, butter, olive oil, etc. If you drop the lifted-off "skin" of fat back into the soup it will slowly melt. It also melts in the mouth if you eat it, and tastes oily and like chicken fat. It is as if the top layer of fat is becoming dehydrated and forming a skin, similar to what happens when you heat milk. But how can fat become dehydrated?!


texts:
I often make salsa containing tomato, onion, garlic salt, green pepper, red pepper, lemon, and salt. I store it in a Glasslock container in the refrigerator. By the second day, the taste is still reasonable. By the third day, though it starts to get a strange smell and has a strange appearance, sometimes with white dots, perhaps from mold.

Is there anything I can do so that the salsa stays fresh for at least three days?


texts: What is this yellow and white mass inside my red cabbage?

texts: My wife cut a head of red cabbage in half and found this yellow and white organic mass inside it. We never saw anything like it before. Can anyone tell me what it is? Would it have been safe to eat? Could we have just cut off this portion of it and used the rest? We ended up playing it safe and throwing the whole head away.


texts:
I have a cookbook from Panama and the directions are sometimes missing or can be very broad. I'm a new cook so I need exact directions. I've tried Googling too but can't seem to find other recipes that ask to freeze the pork.

Is there a reason it says 24 hours, like it's only partially frozen in 24? And after the 24 hours, I put it on the oven frozen for 2 1/2 hours? Or do you defrost it? Do you cover it?

Preparation:
Place all the ingredients except the meat in a bowl and crush well.
Wash the meat and dry it well. Make superficial cuts with a sharp knife.
Cover the meat with the mixture of ground ingredients and place in the freezer for 24 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350 F and roast the meat for 2 1/2 hours until well cooked.

Thank you.


texts:
I have a two piece tea kettle used for brewing black Turkish Tea. The bottom part is used strictly for water (specifically faucet water), whereas the top is for steeping the concentrate of the tea.

Today I noticed some really odd discoloration on the lower portion of the kettle:

Here is an image of the lower portion of the kettle, reminder; this is only used for water, and this is post-cleaning

After some web searching I thought it was limescale so I boiled vinegar + water and cleaned it off with a rag and some baking soda, here is what the rag looked like after some scrubbing.

So my question(s) is; is this limescale? And if not, what is it? Is it fine to boil water in it like this?


texts: Are garlic butter and garlic oil interchangeable?

texts:
When eating something like crab, garlic butter seems to be a Western thing while garlic oil is Asian.

Is it just a personal preference thing, or does it matter which one you use?

Note: Garlic butter is just melted butter with garlic, while garlic oil is oil heated to a high temperature and then poured over garlic.


texts: Cooling multiple items on a sheet pan rack

texts: Do I cool items coming out of oven above or below items that have not gone into oven yet?


texts: What qualifies to be an "all purpose flour"?

texts:
I have Atta, and also Maida.

Which one of them qualifies as all purpose flour?
If this all purpose flour has got some special name, please enlighten me.


texts: Does jerky need to be preserved with nitrites?

texts:
I found some chicken jerky in the store that does not contain nitrites/nitrates or celery extract. Is it safe that way? Is it because it is dried? Thank you!

These are the ingredients from their website:

INGREDIENTS: CHICKEN BREAST, BROWN SUGAR, SUGAR, CHICKEN BROTH, FLAVORINGS, LESS THAN 2% SALT, SUN-DRIED TOMATO, GLYCERIN, FRUCTOSE, YEAST EXTRACT, BROMELAIN (FROM PINEAPPLES), ORANGE JUICE POWDER(CORN SYRUP, ORANGE JUICE SOLIDS), WATER, CITRIC ACID.

And the pork one:

INGREDIENTS: PORK, SUGAR, WATER, LESS THAN 2% SALT, SOY SAUCE [(WHEAT, SOYBEANS, SALT), MALTODEXTRIN], FLAVORING, SESAME SEEDS, YEAST EXTRACT, SESAME OIL


texts: Can you thaw frozen cookies in a tin without them getting soggy as a result?

texts:
I've read that you should remove frozen cookies from the packaging you froze them in to prevent them from getting soggy, but is there anything wrong with putting them in a tin to thaw out? Would this cause them to get soggy?

I'm asking about scones in particular.


texts:
The other day someone delighted me to a Stuffed Gougere. Mind you, I've made these delicacies at least 50 times, I've never figured out a way to stuff them without either ruining the crust, the puff, or without having puff-plosions.

The question is, how is it possible to stuff these darn things, with either wet, cheesey, or whole objects without sacrificing the puff or the crust


texts: I'm a week into making apple cider vinegar. I've used jars and the apples at the top were not covered with liquid. A blue mold formed. I've removed it. Should I carry on or should I start again? If I carry on would the final resulting vinegar be OK for consumption? Or just topical application? Any advise greatly appreciated. Hate to Waste!


texts: Cheaper Gruyere Substitute for baking Cheese Puffs in Australia

texts: I live in Australia and what is a cheaper substitute for Gruyere Cheese for baking cheese puffs?


texts: Why this cooking pot not working on my Induction?

texts:
I just bought this Induction compatible Kadai (kind of wok) but surprised to know it's not working.

When I place it over my Induction cooker, it doesn't show any error (generally if a pot is not compatible or not placed properly shows error E0 in red text with a continuous beeping sound of delay 1-2 seconds) but heating starts and stops for 1 second alternatively. Also when it starts and stops next second, the display board of temperature blinks. For example, if the reading is 1000, it will show 1000 then next second it blinks with a cracking/glitch sound and it keeps on like that. It seems like it wants to heat but something is not working.

Here is the image of Prestige induction I'm using:

One thing I noticed with this wok is the base is slightly concave from bottom. I mean when you place a straight scale on base, it touches the edges only, not the central part. Same when I place it on induction. But outer ring touches it completely.

Can this concave thing be the reason for its not working?

Another possible problem can be because of size? I measured the following area of my wok:

It almost superimposes the circular mark made on Induction stove. If it is slightly bigger (which I may have not noticed), can this be the reason for it not working?

EDIT: I noticed a strange thing today. I ordered another Wok (bit smaller) today from a reputed brand in India. Sadly, same problem happened with it. But with this wok, I tried to boil water. And once water started heating (due to partial working it got heated), the error which wanted to show disappeared. Why would it happen? And once it is cold, the problem started again.

Here is the image of the same:

Here are two pots that work without any problem:
(Their base is plain/flat). Not patterns like the ones on Wok bottoms)

One of the pots' base is concave but still works. The other one is very flat.


texts: My kimchi (still in the fermenting crock) tastes very vinegary.   Is it still good to jar & refrigerate?   I’ve made it a number of times throughout the winter (our home is old & cool).


texts: Success tempering chocolate with Kitchen-Aid heated mixing bowl?

texts:
So, I was given a Kitchen-Aid heated mixing bowl for Christmas, and following the instructions I have attempted to temper chocolate a few times without any success whatsoever. It takes a very long time to temper, so it's a time consuming and fruitless task but if it would work it would certainly be worth the extra time allocation.
Any one have any experience using this device successfully for tempering chocolate, or really any other task?


texts: How do I stop all the sauce from being absorbed and the pasta going soggy?

texts:
I have to make a pasta bake for 20 people take it to the meeting 6 hours before it will be reheated  for dinner. How do I stop all the sauce from being absorbed and the pasta going soggy.
Thanks everyone for your suggestions. As a trial I have made a tomato based bake I cooled the pasta and sauce put it together and will heat it again in a few hours. If it is fine then I will make a bigger version next week.If not I will try again and my husband will be eating my trial pastas for the next week. Again thanks for the help.


texts: How do I prevent tomatoes from falling in a green salad?

texts:
When making a green salad, I have taken to grating carrots instead of dicing them so they will mix better with the leaves.

I can't grate tomatoes. No matter how small I dice them (short of pureeing) they always precipitate out and fall to the bottom of the bowl.

How can I prepare the tomatoes or the salad to keep them mixed?


texts: Approximately how many servings of meat can be gotten from one rabbit?  For argument's sake, let's say the rabbit is about 12 weeks old and raised as a foodsource (not hunted wild).  I understand that the answer can vary wildly based on preparation and serving technique- I hope to serve it as a main dish, probably roasted or fried.


texts:
I'm planning to bake an "full size" panettone.  Does anyone know, for a full size panettone:

What is the diameter of the paper mould ?
What is the height of the paper mould  ?
How much dough (weight) goes in it ?
Extra question if 1-3 are not known, how much dough (weight) do you put per liter of mould capacity ?

I found a document somewhere on the internet last year in Italian explaining in detail the panettone process.  Think it was from the application when Italy wanted EU to give them trademark rights to the name 'Panettone'.  Sadly I can't find that doc anymore.


texts:
In the US, turkeys labelled "fresh" can't be held (by the retailer) below 26F. The idea, as I've understood it, is that fresh turkeys aren't supposed to be frozen.

Well, one that I bought last year was definitely frozen in the middle. And yesterday, I was shopping for a thanksgiving turkey and all of the ones labelled "fresh" were suspiciously firm to the touch.

My question is, Will a turkey held at 26F freeze? Or at least become what a person might think of as frozen?


texts: I made a white sauce with butter flour and milk, intending to add cheddar for a cheese sauce.  Then I realized I'd run out the day before.  Could I have used Philadelphia cream cheese instead?  I'm in the UK if it makes any difference.


texts: How do I keep rice based noodles from sticking together?

texts:
I've already read a related question: How can I keep pasta from sticking to itself?

However, I've found that rice noodles behave very differently than wheat noodles.

I've tried:

Adding oil to the water
Rinse with cold water
Leave in small amount of water while stirring until required
Move noodles immediately from pot to strainer to pan with oil and stuff (ala scampi)
Undercook the noodles, expecting the final "cooking" to be in the resting or sauté

However, every time, I end up with a blob of noodley stuff that doesn't want to separate and have a nice even coating of sauce and other bits.

What needs to be done differently for rice pasta vs wheat?

Note: This is for ramen/pasta made from rice and/or rice flour. The pho/vermicelli noodles are a completely different food with different prep.


texts: How to pump same amount of paste every time?

texts:
I am not sure if I am on the right site for this, but here it goes. I have a friend, named Jason, who makes a hot sauce for a company he runs. It is very pasty (made of pepper flakes in an oil).

The problem is, when Jason makes a batch, he's got to continually stir up the batch while trying to pour an equal (and evenly distributed) amount of the paste into the bottles.

He wants a system that makes it easy and predictable to do this faster. Ideally, he would make the paste, put it in something that keeps it stirred so the flakes don't settle, and from there fill each bottle with the same amount of paste.

What kind of contraption would do this?


texts: Can I get more overrun despite single-speed machine?

texts:
I love making my own ice cream, and have been doing so with a frozen bowl machine for years. I love my machine and the outcome. But over time, I discovered that I still frequently buy cheap supermarket ice cream just because I enjoy the variety of textures that frozen desserts can have. While my machine is very good at making dense ice cream as in parlors, it cannot get the foamy texture found in a tub of heart brand ice cream.
I know that the default answer to "more overrun" is "increase the churning speed". But I have a dedicated machine, not a stand mixer attachment, and the machine does not allow me to regulate the speed. I don't want to purchase a second machine (or an attachment), as I don't have the space for such extravagance.
Are there any tricks to try to get high overrun at home? Even if they are gimmicky/high effort, I would like to hear them and try them out.
I simply wrote "ice cream" throughout the question, but I'm actually interested in a wide variety of ice cream and frozen masses, including frozen yogurt, sorbet, etc. It is fine if you have an answer which is applicable to only one of those - and even better if you have a general suggestion.


texts: What can be done to thin chocolate for dipping?

texts: I have been dipping chocolates for many years. I recently tried a new brand of chocolate that has a fantasic flavor, but it is thicker than I'd like when melted. I know adding cocoa butter will help, but I don't have any on hand. Is there anything else I can use that will leave me with a hard (as opposed to ganache-like) chocolate coating?


texts: What is the English name of these sea snails?

texts:
What is the English name of sea snails sold in Vietnam that the Vietnamese labelled as Ốc bông & Ốc tỏi (Vietnamese)?

Ốc bông

Ốc tỏi


texts: Can refractometers measure a banana's glucose content?

texts: I heard that to measure a banana's ripeness I would have to compare its sugar to starch ratio, but what would be the best method of doing that? I am not sure if refractometers measure starch as well, since it is a type of carbohydrate.


texts: Why stuff a roast chicken with lemon, onion, and thyme?

texts: I just made a classic roast chicken and the recipe called for stuffing a lemon, thyme, and onion inside the cavity of the chicken. Why even bother stuffing the cavity with anything? What does it accomplish?


texts:
I've been baking bread on and off during the last two years. Now, finally, I found a nice recipe. It calls for 2% of salt (20gr per kg of flour). It gives a tasty bread.

On the other hand, the health service recommends using less salt in bread, but I don't know the recommendation, nor the tastefulness of the recommended bread... (that's a lot of recommends in one sentence).

So, what is the recommendation and does it produce a decent bread?


texts: A classic bechamel sauce is a roux and milk. Why can’t I just add the flour directly to the milk and cook till thickened, stirring vigorously to keep it from clumping?


texts: Roasted duck carcass - what is this dish called?

texts:
I've never broken down a duck before, so I found myself briefly watching this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTJR6-HU6OY

At the end, the chef mentions that in southern France, the carcass is sometimes sprinkled with coarse salt, roasted in a fast oven for some amount of time until it is GBD, and then picked apart by hand as a finger food. For the life of me though, I can't seem to find any references to this at all. Is anyone familiar with this dish? What is it called??

I've got fleur de sel on hand, and I think it would work great!


texts:
I just got a bottle of strawberry jam. I am trying to make puff pastry filled with Jam and cream cheese inside it.

I have never done this before. It is just an Idea in my mind so far. I need advice to know that can I heat the Jam in oven. The jam jar says to store in fridge after opening but nothing about it being heated. Can anyone explain whether it's safe to do so or not.


texts: How can I clean white burn marks in the center of my glass top burner?

texts: I have this glass top burner for almost 5 years. It was fine until I cooked food in Aluminum Pot and Aluminum frying pan... the base of these pots leaft white marks on the glass. It looks like part of the glass now. I tried Baking Soda, Cerama Bryte, Soap but no results. How can I get rid of them pr will never will?


texts: I'd like to experiment with making purées (particularly carrot and parsnip, if it matters), but I don't have a food processor or any other mechanical mixing/blending tool. Is there anything I can do or is a processor necessary?


texts: Can I used induction ready cookware with traditional stoves?

texts:
I am thinking of buying some induction ready cookware, but I still do not have an induction stove - I am planing to buy this sometimes in the future when redoing my kitchen.

Can I use this induction ready pan on my electric stove without destroying it?


texts: Is there standard terminology for the doneness of bacon strips?

texts:
As you lower temperature on strips of bacon, you go from:

a light, hot sear (very soft, chewy bacon), to
a hot sear followed by a light saute in its own lard (getting towards al dente), to
a medium temperature and longer saute (a little crumbly but fundamentally staying together), to
a low-medium temperature and very long saute (brown, disintegrates immediately).

What vocabulary would I use to describe these different options?


texts:
This might be considered off-topic, but thought it was worth asking, as I have no idea where else to ask --

I'm trying to make something forcibly eject from a cake.  I've done some testing with a can of reddi whip, and I've found that I can get decent distance by restricting the size of the opening.  But I'm debating on getting my own whipper, thinking that I can then tint the results, but that I might also be able to charge it more than once to get a more forceful ejection.

Are there any problems with over-charging a canister?   In the response to the question about ragged peaks from a whipped cream dispenser, one of the responses said it might be from over-charging the container, so I'm a little concerned.  (not that much, as it just needs to shoot out, being pretty isn't necessary, so ragged peaks aren't an issue; the whole thing turning to butter and clogging the canister or being inedible would be)

(I also assume there's a safety margin so it's not an explosion issue if I only double or triple charge it... I seem to remember my mom once double-charging one, when it didn't dispense, only to find out she had clogged it up with home-grated nutmeg; there wasn't an explosion 'til she tried taking the lid off)


texts: I used to enjoy coffee yoghurts and eat them often... However, where I'm currently living coffee-flavored yoghurts are unavailable. I've tried to sort of make my own by adding a bit of instant coffee mix and some sugar to plain yoghurt, but it doesn't taste nearly the same. Are there any other ingredients I can try adding? Has anyone ever tried this?


texts: Are bonded stainless pans safe to use if they make knocking sounds?

texts:
We were gifted a set of Cuisanart stainless steel (impact bonded) pots and pans last Winter and use them fairly heavily for cooking at home.
We just started to notice however that a few of the smaller pieces are pinging/popping/knocking when they get put on the burner. The noises return when we cool the piece down, and occasionally if you tap it on the counter. From my experience designing and fabricating parts it seems like the different metals in the bonded billet are separating from the pan in some fashion and the noises are a result of that happening.
Fortunately they're under warranty, and Cuisanart has already put new ones in the mail saying we can toss the old ones if we want. However, I'm wondering whether they would be safe to keep and use instead, if it's just sounds.


texts: I need a substitute for acids in my food.

texts: I can't have any acid in my diet, so I need a good substitute for it for my dishes. Like lemon, orange, citric acids and vinegar. Thank you


texts:
We all know the situation.

The party is about to begin, it's really hot outside and we forget to put the beer (or similar drink) into the fridge...

What is your way to chill beer really fast?


texts: Accidentally bought a "butter basted" turkey. Can/should I still brine it?

texts:
I was looking forward to trying out brining a turkey this year.  But I have ended up in the UK for Thanksgiving and have had to buy a "butter-basted" turkey.  I have done a lot of googling, but can't figure out exactly what this means and whether I can/should still brine it.

While trying to figure out if "butter basting" involves salt, I keep coming across the term "self-basting."  And it is usually associated with advice to avoid brining.

Can anyone out there help?  I just began to defrost the turkey and my original plan was to do the defrosting in a brine in the fridge.  Given that it's "butter basted" though, I'm wondering if I should go near it with salt at all.  Thanks very much.


texts: I have an insanely hot pepper: now what?

texts:
Someone gave me a Trinidad Scorpion Moruga pepper: according to Wikipedia, it's the hottest one out there. At least, the person who gave me the pepper said it's one of those, and it certainly seems to look like one.

I can take a bit of chili: I've cooked myself meals before with an entire chili pepper in each, and I can take that much without much problem. Having said that, I'm definitely not a pro when it comes to spiciness, so I'm kind of scared to cook with this demon fruit.

What do I do with this pepper? Is there some way I can get the flavor and spice in a meal without upsetting my stomach or searing my mouth (and/or other stuff the morning after)?

edit: I'm suddenly thinking, maybe I could grind it up and make a big chocolate cake out of it? am I right in assuming the oils in the chocolate will dilute the peppery oil in the pepper?


texts:
This is an olive oil cake (with gluten free flour). It baked in this completely crazy way. The entire cake lifted up and there was a large bubble under the cake that shifted the batter to the sides before it cooked.

Here's how it cooked in the pan with half removed (we used a conventional oven, the toaster oven is just for scale):

Turned the cake up in this following photo -- you are looking at the bottom of the cake this time:

A couple of questions:

What happened?
How can we make sure this doesn't happen again?
Have you ever seen anything so crazy happen before?


texts: Can home-made mozzarella be made in small batches (quart of milk instead of gallon)?

texts:
I've spotted a couple of articles (http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-homemade-mozzarella-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-174355, http://www.simplebites.net/the-best-party-trick-ever-how-to-make-thirty-minute-mozzarella/ )about making mozzarella at home in 30 minutes or so, using milk and some ingredients that are easy to order online. It sounds like fun and I'd like to try it, but a gallon of milk? And doubtless half a gallon of whey to sneak into random meals for the next few days? It seems like a big commitment.

Is it feasible to just divide everything by 4? How accurately do you need to do that, because 1/16th cup of water to dissolve things in seems a challenge, as does 1/8th tablet of rennet. Or is it ok if you use twice as much rennet as you should and you're just wasting a little rennet? How do you adjust the microwaving time? Should I just accept that there's a reason all the online recipes involve a gallon of milk?


texts:
I know how to make egg noodles, and I either roll them out or use my pasta machine with the fettuccine cutter.  This gives me flat egg noodles.
I like the curly ones that I buy at the store for some dishes.
Is there a technique I can use to make my homemade noodles curly when I want them to be curly?
To clarify, I would like them curly at the edges, but still mostly flat, similar to most of the wide egg noodles in the store.


texts:
I frequently brine chicken and pork, and mostly it's just salt and water, sometime sugar, and occasionally garlic.

But I've seen all sorts of other "goodies" people add in, like spices, herbs, sometimes oils, alcohol, acids, fruits, vegetables, etc.

The question is, what actually makes it into the meat? Salt and sugar seem to make sense, and acid or alcohol may affect texture, but I have difficulty imagining that the other brine ingredients are adding any more flavoring than on the outer surface of the meat.


texts: Difference in caffeine levels between light and bold coffee?

texts:
Over the last few years I had come to believe that the roasting process for bold coffees removed caffeine from the beans resulting in a lower caffeine content than compared to a light roasted coffee. I got this idea from Good Eats with Alton brown. Here's the clip where the master roaster makes this point.

However, yesterday's On Point w/ Tom Ashbrook had on a coffee expert that made the opposite claim. Also, comments the page have pointed to sources describing the inconsistency of caffeine levels: Caffeine content by roast level and Does dark roast coffee have less caffeine than light roast?

Searching around on .edu sites I find charts that seem to support the idea that bolder coffees contain more caffeine. The charts show smaller amounts of bold coffee (2-4oz) contain the same amount of caffeine as larger amounts of light roasted coffee (6oz). So, obviously, typical consumption amounts play a role in how much caffeine will be ingested.

Caffeine Charts

http://www.uhs.umich.edu/caffeine#contents
http://www.psychiatry.ufl.edu/aec/research/abstracts/sobpcaffiene.pdf

In the end, I'd like a definitive answer to this question: after roasting which bean contains more caffeine or is the difference negligible? And/or does the brewing method significantly alter the caffeine content?


texts: Is it possible to make evaporated milk using powdered milk?

texts: I have read a related question about how to make evaporated milk, but the answer specifies that homogenized milk must be used. I was wondering if its possible to speed up the process by using powdered milk with less water and simmering it to get the slight caramel taste. On a similar note, if I am to substitute sweetened condensed milk for evaporated milk in a recipe where sugar is also added, by how much should I cut back the sugar(~30-35%?).


texts: I've always considered myself a decent baker, but in the last 6 months, I've had trouble with several cookie recipes that I have previously had good luck with.  The dough seems to come out very soft and gooey, even after chilling, when it is supposed to be stiff enough to roll - either in balls or cut-outs.  I use margarine, but it's never been a problem before.  I occasionally substitute some whole wheat flour for some of the white flour.  Any clues?


texts: Coffee flavored melted chocolate for drizzling over cookies?

texts: I am making coffee flavored biscottis that I want to drizzle with coffee flavored melted chocolate, which should harden after. I have searched but without much luck. I was thinking of mixing a bit of instant coffee powder with some water to make a thick paste and then added to melted chocolate. Does this method sound ok and do I have to keep anything in mind when mixing the 2 ingredients together? I am a bit worried about adding liquid to melted chocolate. Maybe I should just mix instant coffee powder directly with melted chocolate?


texts:
Is this pan compatible for Induction Cooktop?

I understand it's asking about a particular product, but I figured, you guys would be really experienced to answer this based on your experience.


texts: New potatoes in pressure cooker with salt: how to optimize water amount and cooking time?

texts:
I am trying to replicate a recipe that my father-in-law performed once at home… well, not much of a recipe, rather a cooking style, as you'll see.

The idea is to cook new potatoes (specifically, new Ratte potatoes) in a pressure cooker with salt. The potatoes are easy to find (at least here in France), and are quite small: about 5 cm in length. After scrubbing them but leaving the skin on, he put them at the bottom of the pressure cooker, with a little water and quite a bit of sea salt. After a small cooking time (which I estimated at 5 minutes), the potatoes were cooked just enough and crusted with salt.

Now, I have tried that three times myself, and the results were disheartening. The first time, I had put too little water, and burnt the bottom of the potatoes. The second time, there was too much water, and I ended up with regular pressure-cooked potatoes floating in salty water. The third time, I overcooked and while there was no excess of water, half the potatoes has exploded into mashed potatoes (and there was too much salt).

How could I get an idea of how much water, salt and cooking time is needed for this recipe? Trial-and-error is not working very much here, and I have no idea how to figure out these quantities.

PS: it's not relevant to the question, but he made with that an olive oil/coriander/chili sauce that was real good. That I managed to reproduce, at least!


texts:
I have a fresh raw chicken breast that has been in the fridge covered for a few days (still in date) that doesn't smell 'normal'. It doesn't smell terrible but it had some clear bubbles/dots on it that wiped away when I touched them with my finger which I haven't seen before, and I'm not used to having a smelly breast so to speak.

I've never smelled bad chicken before so I'm not sure what to look for. Obviously if the meat is spoiled I won't cook it.

Are the smell and bubbles/dots a sign it's become unsafe, or something normal and safe? I've had breasts in the fridge for longer that haven't gone bad.


texts: I often saw my grandma drying basil leaves in direct sunlight by spreading them  on a clean cloth for several days. Is this a good method? I feel like placing the herbs in the open air like this will contaminate them with dust. Is there any other method I can use to dry fresh herbs?


texts: Are the leftovers from making stock good for anything?

texts: Having made stock and strained it, can the meat and vegetables boiled up in the stock be used for anything, or should they go in the bin?


texts: How to remedy rock-hard sugar-free ice cream

texts:
I am making sugar free ice cream, however I obviously have run into many issues.

The first is that my ice cream is freezing hard as a rock when left overnight. When reading the forums on many websites I see that this could be due to a lack of stabilizers mainly being sugar. Since I have no sugar in my ice cream, I cannot figure out what substitute to implement. I'm sticking to the sugar free aspect with all of the ingredients. I have three questions that pertain to this:

Do I need to use guar gum in conjunction with Xantham Gum to not have the ice cream freeze like a rock?
Are there oils I can add to increase stabilization in place of the sugar by adding essential fats?
Are there any stabilizers that I can add to achieve the proper stabilization that sugar would have in the ice cream?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How do I season my new pizza stone?

I have a ceramic pizza stone, but ive heard it needs to be "sealed" with a coat of oil before I can use it. Any thoughts on how to do this? So far I've coated the stone with a thin layer of vegetable oil and added some garlic and rosemary. I feel like I should bake it in the oven now, but for how long? Any help would be great.


texts: Preserved Lemons: is it ok if they are above the liquid

texts: I started a jar of preserved lemons yesterday and today I noticed that the top of one lemon is above the liquid, is this ok? Should I try to press it down, or add water?


texts:
I've got a set of knives I've been using for roughly 12-13 years, which I've never had sharpened since the day they came home. They also haven't always been the best cared for, and occasionally abused. As a result of these treatments, the blade is, quite obviously, rather damaged.

A few years ago, I purchased a hand sharpener specifically made for that brand/model by the manufacturer. However much it helps, the blade is still far from clean or mint condition.

So I was wondering, before investing in either getting them professionally sharpened, or buying a whetstone, if they're even reasonably salvageable, or should I save my pennies, sell them for scrap metal and use the proceeds for a new set which will be better treated.

Attached are two photos of the blade as a whole, as well as a representative portion of the cutting edge's damage.

[


texts: How to get spices off pan - even after washing

texts:
I cooked using spices a lot, and I notice this problem most after cooking with turmeric. I wash the pan after I'm done using it, with dish soap, and allow it to soak, then scrub with a scourer or brush. Then
I clean with tissue paper. Even after this, the next meal I cook is often coloured yellow. I don't think it tastes of the spices, but the colour is there for sure. How can I make sure the spices are fully off the pan before I next use it?


texts: Assuming you don't have a "vegetable steamer" that you received as a wedding gift, how do you steam vegetables?


texts:
When I buy whole chicken from the supermarket, it usually comes sealed in liquid. As I break the chicken down, it is unpleasant to work with, slimy, and wet. I keep the broken down chicken parts in my refrigerator throughout the week to cook incrementally, and I save the carcass in the freezer for stock.

Is there an accepted way to prep a chicken so that it's dryer and more pleasant to work with when breaking it down?
Is it a good idea to remove the chicken from the package, pat dry, and dry brine for a day or so in the refrigerator before breaking the meat down? My concern is that this might bring unwanted salt into the carcass and hence the stock.


texts: Which types of fish in sushi must be cooked?

texts: Sushi fish is raw... except for eel, which is a fish but is cooked. Are there other types of fish that are cooked in sushi? Is this a food safety issue? (e.g. shrimp/crab/seafood which aren't served raw either)


texts: Why is my salted butter weeping? And is it safe to eat?

texts:
I have some butter with sea salt crystals in, which I keep in the bread bin, unrefrigerated.

I have noticed that it seems to be getting wet, with small amounts of what looks like water appearing on the inside of the packet, and on the butter?

Why is this?  What is this?  and is my butter still safe?


texts:
I wrapped a piece of beef brisket in foil and slow roasted it last week.

It was the beefiest tasting beef that I've ever had.

So now I'm wondering, was it beefy because it was a nice piece of brisket from the farmer's market? Or did roasting it in foil make it better?

Would it be recommendable to slow roast belly pork wrapped in foil?


texts: What type of flour should I use for crepes? What are the differences? I want to cook both sweet and savory, but not American style pancakes, just French thin ones.


texts: Why should I cook the flour first when making bechamel sauce?

texts: Why should I cook the flour first with butter, instead of just combining all the ingredients until I get the desired consistency when making a bechamel sauce?


texts: Using a mild chilli vs giving a small amount of hot chilli?

texts:
I was just wondering what the difference between using a tablespoon of mild chilli vs a very small amount of hot chilli would be when it comes to taste?

Is it just a case that it will be whatever has the smallest amount of capsaicin will taste less hot or are there other factors e.g. in the second case the chilli flavour would only concentrate in a small part of the oil its being mixed in.

Your thoughts please.


texts: Mayonnaise gets too thin after adding solids

texts:
I make a mayonnaise by slowly whisking a cup of extra light olive oil into two eggs yolks and a tablespoon of dijon mustard. The mayonnaise is not as thick as store bought mayo but it is thick enough to spread.

However, when I stir in solid ingredients to make an aioli the emulsion suddenly becomes very thin. It doesn't break, but it turns into a liquid. This has happened with minced garlic and with chopped clams. Sometimes after stirring in the solid ingredients it looks as if there are bubbles coming out of the emulsion.

What causes this, and how can I prevent it?


texts: I moved from the US to beautiful Portugal a little over a year ago. I buy free range eggs, which are not refrigerated. The whites are so watery, that then almost never set, no matter how I cook them (I’ve been cooking eggs for 50 years, so it’s not a new thing for me). I started refrigerating the eggs, which helps a little for fried eggs, but not meringue, baking, or soft boiled eggs. Anything I can add, especially for baking? Cornstarch, maybe? It’s weird...


texts: 1 ltr Milk is not curdling even after squeezing 2 lemons; What could possibly wrong?

texts: I was trying to make Paneer (a type of cheese). So I boiled once then added 2 table spoons of lemon juice. Milk should be separated out instantly from water but it's been 20 minutes.. And milk is still unchanged.


texts: How to get moist goo in layers of chelsea buns

texts:
I'm trying to make chelsea buns like the ones from my home town as I no longer live there so can't get them very often. I've done quite a bit of experimenting and while I'm quite a way off,  I have created a bun I am very happy with except for one thing: a gooeyness in between the swirled up layers.

This is obviously something to do with the filling but I can't work out what. All Chelsea recipes use butter, brown sugar and fruit for the filling but the butter and sugar just disappear during cooking, leaving dry bread. In the chelseas from the bakery, there is a thin layer of brown stickiness in-between the rolled up layers. Not much, but enough to be making the buns moist and sweet on the inside.

Does anyone have any idea how to achieve this? It's as if the buns haven't fully cooked in between the layers, leaving a slightly sticky inside, a bit like undercooked dough. I can't figure out what is being put in the filling to achieve this.

I'm trying to get hold of a picture of one of these buns to better illustrate what I mean and will upload as soon as I get it.

Thanks.

EDIT
I've now added the below pictures.

See how the chelsea bun from the bakery (top pic) is still moist in the layers between the rolls and the bread itself looks soft and bendy.

Contrast that with my bun and you can see the butter/sugar mixture I layered up in the middle has disappeared with cooking. It looks dried out. On top of that,
 the bun itself seems dry in comparison as you can see it has cracked upon unrolling whereas the bakery bun has not.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to achieve this moistness both in the dough and in between the layers??

**I've just had a thought - all chelsea recipes call for bread flour. Is it possible that plain flour would produce a softer, moister bun?


texts: Do I need to boil flax seed egg substitute?

texts:
Most recipes I've seen for flax “eggs” simply say to mix 1 tbsp of ground flax seed with 3 tbsp of water and chill, but I read a recipe (I think it was for vegan cookies) that said to boil the mixture before chilling.

Does this improve the chemistry of the egg substitute in any way?


texts: How is "nacho sliced" jalapeño different from regular sliced?

texts:
I noticed that my grocery store sells jalapeño that is "nacho sliced". How is this different (if at all) than just normal "sliced"?

I do understand that the product on the right is labeled "no heat", and that is a significant difference between these products. I am not asking what the difference between these products is in general: I am asking specifically about nacho-sliced-ness. How is a "nacho sliced jalapeño" different from an ordinary "sliced jalapeño"?

Bonus question: why are nachos pictured on the jalapeño that is not "nacho sliced"?


texts:
I make a very simple scrambled eggs combining two eggs with a knife of cream cheese.

Sometimes I've had this and it has been a warm yellow colour. Other times it has been a pale white colour.

My question is: How to make my scrambled eggs more yellow?


texts: How to time the blanching of potatoes for freezing

texts: I've read numerous articles on the procedure to peel, blanch then bag and store potatoes in a freezer. The procedure states to bring a big pot of water to boil than put in the potatoes and blanch 3-5 minutes. Of course when you drop in potatoes the temperature of the pot goes down. So do you start your 3-5 minute timer for blanching after the pot with the potatoes start boiling again or do you start timing 3-5 minutes as soon as you put the potatoes in?


texts: Can I utilise a baking stone to make crepes?

texts: If I will heat the stone in the oven, will it retain heat long sufficiently once out of the oven to make a few crepes? Will the dough not stick to the stone and will it distribute uniformly or it will form patches?


texts: Bread proofing times fridge versus room temp

texts:
I've recently started to try to make my own bread.  I am starting with baguettes because they seem like a fairly straightforward kind to start with.  Recipes I've seen online will either say to leave the dough at room temperature to proof, or in the fridge to proof for a longer period of time.  It makes sense to me that because the temperature is lower, the yeast takes longer to do its thing.  However since I work during the day, I can't really follow a recipe that has the dough proff for something like 6 hours and have it finish at a reasonable time.

My question is, is there a way to convert a recipe from proofing time on the counter to proofing time in the fridge or vice versa?  I.E. if it takes 12 hours on the counter, will it take 24 hours in the fridge?  Does the amount of yeast added factor into it?


texts: Mysterious "spoon" in family. Requesting specific name/buying source

texts:
Does anyone know if this utensil has a unique name or know where to purchase one like it?

My mom received this spoon from "A wok set from our wedding" (early 1980's) and loves it. She has named it The Triangle Spoon.

My siblings and I have been looking for a way to purchase/make more for several years now with very little luck.


texts: How Much Ammonium Chloride for Home-made Salt Licorice?

texts: I want to make my own Scandinavian style salt licorice. I was able to buy ammonium chloride at a local spice store, but I am not sure how much to use. My research, so far, has suggested a concentration of anywhere from 2 to 8%. (It seems 7.99% is the legal limit in Germany for human consumption.) First, I am assuming that this is a percentage of total weight, correct? Second, is there a particular point in the cooking process when the ammonium chloride should be added? Is there a particular technique that should be utilized, e.g. make a slurry?


texts: Gluten free bread in breadmaker looks weird and doesn't rise

texts:
I have been trying to make gluten-free bread in my bread maker for a few times now. It always fails. It doesn't rise how a funny shape (still the shape from kneading) and doesn't cook very well inside (very dense).

I know there are lots of posts about this, but I have already made sure:

the yeast doesn't touch the water or the salt
the last yeast I tried was Hovis fast action yeast
should I use one rising cycle (this is the setting for gluten free bread)
I've put xantan gum as required

Anything else I can check?

From this otherwise great recipe book. (I did leave out the onion and pepper and replaced the sugar with agave)
[]  1


texts: Why do some instructions tell you how long to preheat an oven for?

texts:
Why is it that on some directions it says something like "preheat an oven for 400 for 10 minutes"?

Is it not enough to preheat the oven until the oven signals (i.e. usually with a beep) that the desired temperature has been reached? Are there any advantages to waiting longer even though the oven remains at the same temperature?


texts: What would be a good substitution for powdered milk in cereal cookies?

texts:
In a TV show, a recipe was used that its main ingredient was corn flakes. I don't know if it has a name but it calls for caster sugar, butter, corn flakes and milk powder.

It's called Cornflake crunch, apparently!

What is a good substitute of powdered milk? I'd go for powdered infant formula, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


texts: What can I make with corn flake that is no longer crispy?

texts: I left the cornflake bag open for too long that it is not crispy anymore. Still taste good, but I wonder what can I do with it.


texts: I am interested in purchasing a himalayan pink salt slab to cook on my stovetop.  My cooktop is glass.  The directions for using the salt slab is to be sure to have a space between the heat source and the slab  Can a heat diffuser be used on a glass cooktop and can the slab be used on the heat diffuser?


texts: How can I make my own mayonnaise properly?

texts: I've tried a few variations in the past but none of turned out properly. The problem occurs when adding the olive oil. It never really mixes with the eggs leaving disjointed mess. What is the proper technique for mixing the oil so I can reach the correct consistency?


texts: Why isn't my bread machine making any bread?

texts:
I bought a new 1-pound bread machine. After many tries, the machine has yet to make any bread. I am using all raw ingredients, as the local supermarket does not sell any bread machine mixes.

I tried following some of the recipes in the included recipe book and marketing video, which requires that the the flour and yeast be placed in the machine last, on top of the liquid ingredients.
I also tried these Bread Machine Bread steps from Allrecipes.com, which asks for the yeast, 40°C water, and sugar to be placed in the machine first, to sit for 10 minutes, but I used the ingredient measurements described in the machine's recipe book, as my machine is only 1 lb.
Some recipes on-line call for "bread machine yeast", but I can only find "dry active yeast".

After the clock reached 0, I opened the machine and always found either: (a) the ingredients just compacted and cracked, but dry and not mixed up or (b) a yellow, jelly-like blob, somewhat baked, but still soft, with unmixed, still dry and powdery flour at the top.

What do I need to do to get my bread machine to work?
Do I need to mix the ingredients before putting them into the machine?


texts:
Namkeen Mathi/Mathri translates to salty, chewy, and crisp biscuits in English.

http://www.tarladalal.com/Namkeen-Mathri-10381r

  Ingredients
  2 cups plain flour (maida)

  Method
  2. Add just enough water to the flour mixture and knead into a hard dough.

How hard should the dough be so that the resultants biscuits are chewy NOT HARD?
Why can't pure Wheat flour replace Maida since the recipe asks for a hard dough?

http://goodethnicveggiedelights.blogspot.in/2011/05/mathri-traditional-indian-namkeen.html

  Recipe Ingredients
  * Semolina (suji) - 1/3 cup

Above recipe asks only for Maida, but this one (for the same dish) asks for Semolina as well.

What would addition of Semolina do to the Namkeen Mathri?


texts:
I'm just starting back on the road to bread making, and I have been wondering about the water that I am using, and how it will affect the yeast.  Do I just use (1) the stuff that flows from my pressure water system, (2) the water from my drinking water filtered system or (3) go out and buy bottled water? For #1 I just open the tap - the water that comes out of it is de-salinated using RO.  #2 is the same water but put through two filters, I use this for drinking.  #3 the bottled stuff, but if I go down this route, what type - filtered or purified (is there a difference- see below)? How will my yeast react?  So, had a mooch around google and found all sorts of articles (below), but am still wondering.  What is the best water to use for yeast being used in bread making?

This is a fascinating article

A bit more info here

These guys seem to know a thing or two


texts: Ingredients or techniques to a more solid lasagna

texts:
What are the crucial ingredients or cooking techniques to a more solid, or "brick" like lasagna? Most lasagna I've seen tends to get a bit sloppy in the pan as it's being dished out but I have seen lasagna that comes out very firm and solid. Is this due to a certain combination of ingredients, a cooking technique, or both?

For example, I've seen recipes that use cream cheese and eggs instead of ricotta, and various combinations of tomato paste, sauce, and crushed tomatoes. I've also seen various (relatively close - usually 350-375 for 45 minutes to an hour) cooking times.


texts: What are some methods for parcooking hamburgers?

texts: Im trying to find a faster way to serve cheeseburgers. I was thinking maybe i could par cook 10-15 patties up to 90% done right before rush hour then store them in a steam table with beef broth, then place them back on the grill per order to finish cooking them. Does anybody have any better suggestions?


texts: Flourless cookies form "skin" that seals in moisture

texts:
I've developed a sort of recipe for flourless low-cal cookies which, so far, actually works pretty well, resulting in a soft scone-type confection, but I'm having one problem with it: upon baking, the outside of the cookie everywhere except where it contacts the bottom cooks into a sort of skin which seems to keep moisture on the interior from cooking out, so the inside of the cookie stays much more moist than I would like. The recipe actually uses cabbage which has been ground to a rice consistency and wrung out as its base. The recipe for the batter in a batch size that made three pancakes and five large scones was:

Cabbage prepared thusly, between 1/4 and 1/3 large head,
4 egg whites,
1/3 cup pumpkin puree,
1/3 cup almond milk,
Just over 1 tsp glucomannan,
2 tbsp water,
Spices and extracts,
Stevia/erythritol blend for sweetness

To bake the cookies, I put "blobs" of them(~3-4 tbsp each I think) on parchment paper which had been sprayed with cooking spray, preheated an oven to 410 F, then lowered the heat to 375 once the tray was in the oven. I left it like this for ~30 minutes before lowering the heat to 270, then after another 15 minutes lowered it to 230, and they cooked for one hour in total.
So back to my question: how can I cook out more moisture from the interior of the cookies? Would I want to skip the higher-temp. earlier stage, or maybe go for even more of a low-temp long-time method? Would puncturing them like with a fork after they're part-way cooked help? Maybe adding baking powder to the recipe? Or would reducing the liquid used in the recipe achieve this?


texts: in cold basement approximately 40-45 degrees, it was completely frozen about 3 lb. brisket. Discovered it 24 hours later. It was cold to touch, and completely thawed. Still in original vacuum packaging from store. Will this be safe to cook?


texts: heavy cream and half-and-half substitute

texts:
I am trying to make ice cream and it calls for 3 cups half-and-half and 1 cup heavy cream.

I don't have either but I do have one gal of 2% milk

If I can make some half-and-half and heavy cream out of it that would be awesome or if you know a good substitute for both that would be nice too!

UPDATE :
Full recipe

"Ingredients

3 cups half-and-half

1 cup heavy cream

8 large egg yolks

9 ounces vanilla sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Place the half-and-half and the heavy cream into a medium saucepan, over medium heat. Bring the mixture just to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and remove from the heat.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the sugar and whisk to combine. Temper the cream mixture into the eggs and sugar by gradually adding small amounts, until about a third of the cream mixture has been added. Pour in the remainder and return the entire mixture to the saucepan and place over low heat. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon and reaches 170 to 175 degrees F. Pour the mixture into a container and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract. Place the mixture into the refrigerator and once it is cool enough not to form condensation on the lid, cover and store for 4 to 8 hours or until the temperature reaches 40 degrees F or below.

Pour into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's directions. This should take approximately 25 to 35 minutes. Serve as is for soft serve or freeze for another 3 to 4 hours to allow the ice cream to harden.

Recipe courtesy of Alton Brown, 2005
"

edit

i don't want a full substitute like almond milk and coconut cream
i can use butter ect


texts: How can I improve the texture of my whole grain pancakes?

texts:
I've been experimenting for a while with whole grain pancake recipes that I can make in a blender.  This is the best variation I've come up with so far:

½ cup hard white wheat
1 cup rolled oats
1 ½ cups milk
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt

Put all ingredients in a blender. Blend on high speed for 6 minutes. Cook on a 325° griddle.

I like the pancakes, but some of my kids complain about the texture.  What can I do to make them lighter and fluffier?  I don't want to significantly increase the fat or sugar.  I don't want to significantly decrease the fiber or protein.  Are there any good options within these parameters?


texts: Can a sous-vide circulator fully replace a crockpot?

texts:
The idea is, to put a regular pot in a larger pot full of water and heat the larger pot with a sous-vide stick.

Would this accurately simulate a crockpot?

The only downside I can see, is that typical sous-vide sticks can not reach the temperature of the highest setting on a crockpot.

Are there any other important differences?


texts:
Sometimes when I have noodles in broth, there is little or no taste to the noodles. It's almost like the noodles were already "saturated" before they were put in the broth, making them unable to absorb the broth liquid which contributes to flavor.

What type of noodles absorb most amount of liquid?
what is the optimal way to prepare them so they absorb as much liquid as possible?


texts: Do all yogurts have live active cultures?

texts:
Most homemade yogurt recipes/protocols call for yogurt products that have "Live Active Cultures" printed on its box.

I would like to ask if regular, snack yogurt will suffice for making homemade yogurt?

Also, are the snack yogurt products pasteurized/heat treated AFTER fermentation, thereby lowering the concentration of yogurt-related microorganisms?


texts: Which Korean dishes are typically hottest?

texts:
For the typical palate of most people from English-speaking countries, just about all Korean food is spicy.

But for those of us who love hot spicy food, I want to know if there are certain specific meals in Korean cuisine which generally have the reputation of being the hottest.

For comparison I know I have Mexican friends that think certain Mexican dishes are too hot for them. Are there some Korean dishes that even some Koreans avoid for being "too spicy"?


texts: What is the correct term for this method of cooking?

texts:
I'm a reluctant cook at the best of times but I'm interested to know what I just did.
I got a massive bone for the dog from the butcher. There was quite a lot of meat on it so I thought the dog and I should both have some benefit.
I placed the entire bone (I can't identify what it was anatomically maybe backbone) in my non-stick frying pan with a tiny bit of olive oil. I heated it up to max to brown it and then turned it down to the lowest setting and left it for the whole evening with a Pyrex lid on.
It was thoroughly cooked through and tasted good.
So what did I do? Did I fry it? Roast it? What would you call this?

NOTE: I didn't add anything at all, not even salt or spices. There was a teaspoon of olive oil to lubricate the pan and then I stuck the lid on and left it.


texts: How much should I beat choux pastry for optimal rising?

texts: I attempted choux pastry eclairs for the first time. The pastry came together after only a few seconds in the saucepan, I allowed it to cool before adding eggs one at a time, and mixture looked at the right consistency and was able to pipe. Yet the dough didn't rise at all in oven. I wondered whether I didn't beat enough air into mixture, and is there a general length of time and speed of mixer for beating; as this has occasionally happened in my sponge baking?


texts: Crispier pizza crust. What surface to go for in a home oven?

texts:
After having read most of serious eats' recommendations for better home oven pizzas, I still have a question regarding the surface to be used to achieve a better and crispier crust.

I am on a budget an hesitating between a pizza crispier such as:
Airbake-Nonstick-15-inch

or a pizza stone like this one:
Fox-Run-13-Inch-Pizza-Stone

Both are under $20 and I was wondering which is a better performer to achieve the crispiness in the pizza crust?


texts: I tried to make rocky road and stuck exactly to the recipe which called for butter and syrup to be added to melted chocolate..but very single time I added the butter to the chocolate it just seized up? It's ended up as very expensive rocky road as I tried it several times all with same result. I ended up just using chocolate. What did I do wrong?


texts: Is there a food that is halfway between a cheesecake and regular cake?

texts:
While living in Korea, there was one special bakery I found that had a cake that I can only describe as being halfway between cheesecake and regular cake. It was creamy like a cheesecake, but had a density somewhere between an actual cheesecake and the airy texture of a regular out-of-the-box cake.

It had the wonderful flavor of a cheesecake, but was lighter and fluffier. I would love to bake something like this so I can try it again. Is there a name for such a cake?

The dessert looked like cake from the outside: it had tiny holes everywhere, albeit smaller than what you would see in a regular cake. It was also shaped into a loaf, and the top would rise a bit. It was more dense than a regular out-of-the-box cake, and definitely had a flavor similar to cheesecake. I would have called it a "cheesecake flavored cake" at first impression. It also had a bounce to it, if I pressed it down, it would bounce back up to a degree.


texts: How to get rid of the raw tomato smell from tomato sauce?

texts: I'm making marinara sauce with crushed tomatoes, and no matter how much seasoning I add or however long I cook it down, the smell of raw tomato is still in the sauce. Does anyone know how to get rid of that smell? I don't smell it in the sauces I buy at the store.


texts: What is the difference between wildflower honey and Acacia honey?

texts:
I've read that Acacia honey is the best. How should I know which one to purchase if both are being sold at the same price?

What are the differences between raw wildflower honey (apparently sometimes called wild honey) and raw Acacia honey?


texts: Why does my spinach pasta break when I run it through the cutter? Too dry? Need more gluten?  Flour mix is half 00 and half semolina.  Spinach is high-quality spinach powder.


texts:
Recently, I found a small but deep scratch on my pan. I can see the metalic color on the scratch. I am not sure how much serious it is.

Now, I want to buy a new one. I see different prices with different qualities and I have no idea what to buy. I live alone and I cook for one person but sometimes for several meals (3 meals).

Some people suggest me to buy a thin one not thick one. Expect for thickness what is the difference between pans?

If I look at the pan's surface pattern, does it give me any clue?

I also see some pans with white dots on it. What are these types of pans?


texts: What materials would work for a waffle iron?

texts:
I'm somewhat curious if I could make myself something like this (though without the retro enclosure, at least initally):

While cast iron would probably be the best material, I'm not sure if I can easily obtain a billet of the proper size (likely would machine the iron), so I'm curious what other materials would be best.

Is steel ever used?  I'm imagining it would rust easily, but what if it was properly seasoned?  Can you season aluminum at all, or is it moderately non-stick by itself?  All the aluminum cookware I've seen is (cheap, and) Teflon-coated.

Waffle batter to my knowledge is fairly high in fat relative to others (pancake, crepe) so it "fries" more than "bakes", but it's not exactly loaded with it to the point of no-concern.


texts: Does the order in which I turn off the gas stove matter?

texts:
I have a gas stove. This is connected to a big gas canister (I don't know the volume, but I'd guesstimate 20-30 liters). Whenever I want to cook, I turn on the valve on the gas canister, as well as the knob for the corresponding stove plate.

When I'm finished, I ususally turn off the stove knob first, followed by the valve on the canister. Would it be safer, waste less gas, or have any other effect to turn off the gas canister first, followed by the stove?

Edit: the stove has no safety features - you're free to turn on both the gas valve and the stove knob and let the gas flow.


texts: why does my non dairy creamer not dissolve in coffee?

texts:
I use Nestle's Everyday Whitener to make coffee. But with some brands of coffee (eg: Davidoff) the creamer doesn't seem to dissolve. It instead remains suspended as granules in the coffee.
But with other Nescafe brands of coffee the dissolution occurs easily.
What's the difference and how do I fix it?


texts: What's a good technique for cooking fresh corn in the microwave?

texts: What techniques for cooking fresh corn in the microwave give good results? Should I peel it, should I add water, salt, butter, etc.


texts:
I'm from Mexico, and a very popular dish over there is "Caldo de Res" (Beef broth), and it's made with beef shanks, but I haven't been able to get it where I live, not even in local butcheries.

I have been wondering if there's a good substitue for shanks? I've also tried to look for cow's tail but still no luck.

Some people have recommended prime rib, but the taste and the texture is not the same.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!!


texts: How to skewer a baked potato without leaving bits of foil

texts:
My preferred method of cooking baked potatoes is to lightly coat them in olive oil, then wrap them in foil and skewer them before baking for a couple of hours.

The purpose of the skewer is mainly to help the heat conduct through to the centre of the potato, but also to stabilise the potatoes in the baking tray (I balance the skewers across the corners and it lifts the potatoes up out of the tray a little way). The purpose of the foil is to stop the skins drying out and mean you can leave them in the oven for as long as you like without worrying about scorching the skin.

The problem I have is that it's very hard to wrap foil around an already-skewered potato, and if you stab the skewer through the foil-wrapped potato you sometimes end up with "flakes" of foil where the foil tore at the entry and exit points.

Is there a trick I am missing here?


texts:
I've noticed that many pate de fruit recipies call for a small amount of glucose in addition to sugar. My local store didn't have any glucose, but I have glucose syrup around. Can I use glucose syrup in place of glucose (I'm assuming they mean the dry kind)? If so, what ratio should I use?

As an example, this is one recipe: http://trissalicious.com/2010/02/25/family-gems/

This question isn't specific to that recipe, though. Most pate de fruit recipes seem to call for glucose.


texts:
I want to be able to make chai latte at home, but I don't have an espresso machine, and I don't really know if it is worth buying one just for an occasional drink.
Is there a way to froth the milk without an espresso? Is there any other way people know to make chai latte?


texts:
Some time ago I've read about Beer Can Chicken.

I've never heard of this in my area, but it seems (and looks) tasty! So I would like to give it a try. There is just one thing that worries me:

Is it safe to bake a can on the grill (or in the oven) like this? Doesn't it give off any chemical flavours?


texts:
I've had great success preparing chicken using variations of the following procedure:

Arrange chicken pieces in a roasting pan with a lid
Add other flavorings (whatever I have on hand or am in the mood for)
Roast covered for 30 min at 425 F
Uncover and broil for 15 more min

The chicken skins crisp during broiling, but the insides stay wonderfully moist, exactly the way I like them. Now I'm thinking of adapting this for pork chops, but I'm wondering whether I might have more luck if I broil the pork before roasting it. Pork chops don't have skin, obviously, and I'm wondering if broiling first will help to seal in moisture and flavor.


texts: How do you prepare a fresh deer for cooking?

texts:
I'll be getting a fresh deer, gutted by the hunter that shot it, but I need to prepare it myself.

I've heard that it's a good idea to let it hang for a day or two before skinning it, is that true?

Also how should I go about skinning it? Is there a good place to start or something I should be aware of. Can I do it alone, or is it better to have a helper?


texts: What would happen if I add wine to yeast bread?

texts:
Lately I've been making a lot of no-knead bread, not out of laziness, just love the crustiness and rich flavor.

I was thinking about trying to make a loaf but use wine for some of the liquid because I'm interested to see how it would flavor it. But I'm worried that the wine will do something to the yeast. Too acidic, maybe? I'm not really sure. Would it ruin everything? What do you suggest?


texts: How to make corn nuts from fresh corn on the cob

texts: If I have some fresh, raw corn on the cob, how do I roast the corn kernels so that they can be used as croutons or eaten as a salty-snack? I don't want to make popcorn, but something that looks like these


texts: Can most sour fruits be jelled by cooking with sugar?

texts:
I make jam all the time, using pectin.  But the recipes only list a few dozen common fruits.

Recently, I wanted to make crabapple jam or jelly, and I found a recipe that essentially had me cook the whole fruit in water, juice it, add about an equal amount of sugar to the juice, and cook it to slightly above boiling (220 F).

I have some juiced oregon grape, and I want to make it a jelly, and I've found a page that sounds like it's the same idea as the crabapples: about equal amounts juice and sugar, boil to a jell stage.

So, can I do that with most sour fruits?  I guess the question is essentially, do most sour fruits have enough natural pectin that they will jell without adding pectin?  Is there any danger in experimenting?  Or do I need to stick with normal fruits or at least existing recipes?


texts:
I recently encountered some sellers trying to pass off what probably was counterfeit food at my supermarket. The counterfeiting was easy to detect. Some products had labels that were faded and not as bright as they usually appear. Other items had crooked labels and strange blotches around the letters that appear to have occurred during, not after printing. Others, I only identified after eating and found the taste quite inconsistent with what I usually get.

Suppose I find food items that do not have such obvious printing mistakes. Are there additional ways I can determine if a product is genuine? Can any of the labels, such as the numbers printed on the bottom of canned soup, tell me if the product is authentic?


texts: What effect do different slash patterns have on bread oven spring?

texts:
Slashes in bread loaves are designed to promote oven spring but there are many different patterns.  Some running the length of a loaf, some in a checkered pattern.  I've been told this is to promote oven spring in different directions.

What patterns lend themselves to spring in what directions?  For example, I know a checkered pattern, promotes expansion upward.


texts: How to prevent the breading residue sticking in chicken fry?

texts:
Recently I have been trying to fry chicken in KFC style.

I marinate the chicken for over 3 hours or more. I bread the chicken just before frying.

First 2-3 batch of chicken i.e 12-15 pieces turned really good in colour and texture but after that residue started building in the bottom of the pan and started sticking in the chicken crunchy surface. I usually use amount of oil that lets chicken float. So what am I missing here?


texts: What does it mean when adding a little water causes oil to loose its falvour?

texts:
I have some oil which tastes one way(due to herbs, spices etc) however when I add even a little water to it the flavor goes. Besides that the water can dilute the flavor it seems more like the chemicals are going from the oil to the water.

I imagine this means the spice in question is both fat and water soluble however it is more water soluble causing it to loose its flavor?


texts:
I am trying to make my own oat milk, primarily for use with coffee (Lattes/Cappucino's etc), so I am trying my best to mimic the results of oatly barista edition, which is not available to buy here in South Africa. The main problem I am having is that although the oat milk is fine when cold, when heating (i.e. steaming), it becomes thick and gloopy. Oatly use Dipotassium phosphate to stop the milk from coagulating when heated, but this doesn't seem to be readily available in shops/online (at least, not in South Africa).

Does anyone know of an alternative that I could use?

The recipe I am using is as follows:

Ingredients

1 Cup Steel Cut Oats
3 Cups Water
80ml Rapeseed Oil

Method

Blend steel cut oats and the water for 3 minutes in a high speed blender.
Extract milk with a nut-milk bag and discard oat pulp
Blend milk with rapeseed oil and a pinch of salt


texts:
Obviously once it taste burned, its burned... (yet nothing you can do anymore)

I love to cook, and I cook for years. But im always shy to "hear" the pan, because I'm afraid I will burn the food. I think my steaks are pretty good, yet maybe it can be better (of-course it can!).

I have seen lots of famous chefs showing how to make a steak, chicken, etc. They always state there is a ton of  flavour on the bottom of the pan, which you extract (deglaze) by adding some form of liquid (water, stock, etc.). Got it!

When its truly black, its burned and you should not eat it. Sounds fair.

Apparently there is a thin line where it looks black, yet its not burned.

In similar fashion, when you throw stuff on the grill its even more obvious, because you can see the black stripes. Yet, im not sure if its actually burned?

So, any clues when does black becomes burned (before it happens)?

Thanks!


texts: Should I clean the pan between batches of browning

texts:
I am a proponent of browning meat at high temperature to get the maillard reaction prior to whatever remaining cooking steps there may be. I usually use a large stainless steel pan and a quantity of food small enough such that once added the pan doesn't cool down much at all. In cases when I have only one batch to brown I end up deglazing the same pan and the fond from the browning ends up mixing with some liquid for a sauce in later cooking stages and this works out well!

However if I have lots of meat to brown I always do this in batches to avoid the pan cooling and the meat steaming instead of browning due to over crowding. My big question is: should I clean the pan between batches? Do people do this?

I find that between batches I like to get the heat back up prior to letting the raw meat hit the pan. It's during this reheating that remnants of food from previous batches can start to burn which causes problems.

Sometimes with solid cuts of meat the fond is minimal or not too hard to scrape off. Recently with some ground pork mince I had a real hard time avoiding burning and smoking between batches. What do people recommend? Should I reserve the oil from the pan, take the time to scrape off partially overcooked fond (maybe even wash), so that I can get it nice and hot again (re-adding the oil) without worrying about burning and ruining flavor and smoking up the kitchen in the process?


texts: I've heard of beef, not specifically "veal", where the animal can be older but has had mostly a milk diet and been restricted of physical movement, preventing muscle development, making for softer and more tender cuts of meat throughout the whole animal. Is this true? What's this meat called?


texts:
Is there anything other than the temperature of the shell making it difficult to peel? I'm sure the white would be firm enough to withstand a gentle peeling if you're careful?

I was hypothesizing about it as a potential easy alternative to poached (all contained nicely in it's own shell for cooking), but I've never seen it before. Is it impossible, just a stupid idea, too risky (i.e. being squirted with trapped hot water from the white/shell etc.) or just something that hasn't been tried?


texts: I'm looking to make a pea purée but all I have is hazelnut oil. I know olive oil is the standard. Would hazelnut oil give it too much of a nutty taste?


texts: How can I make a homemade latte taste like a restaurant one?

texts:
At the moment I prepare lattes at home as follows:

1/3 cup water + 1T ground coffee in Krups espresso machine (looks a bit like this one)
2/3 cup microwave-heated milk (the milk steamer on the machine doesn't work)
5 drops honey

It tastes nice, but not like a restaurant latte, and not just because there's no foam. What is needed to make coffee taste as good as restaurant coffee? This machine doesn't work properly so I'm prepared to buy some new equipment but obviously on a home budget not a restaurant one.

Machine: better to get one that grinds beans?
Ratio of ingredients: does it need to change?
Coffee form: beans / ground coffee?
Coffee strength: experimentation has settled on strong and milky, I don't think this needs to change
Milk: does it have to be steamed? do you get hand steamers?
Fat content of milk: fat free / 2% / full cream?
Container: surely not, restaurant stuff tastes better even in a takeaway paper cup! :)
Other variables?


texts: Why is the first hotcake always the worst?

texts:
Every time I cook hotcakes, the first one is usually the worst one. It seems like it will take forever to cook and for the bubbles to show up at the surface.

I initially thought it was the pan, that it was not hot enough, but I've even gone to the extreme of measuring the pan temperature, and it's the same temperature for the first cake, than it is for the last one.

Is there anything chemically/physically different from the first hotcake from the rest?


texts: I've seen that sugar is used to balance out other flavors in a dish. I was just wondering if I could add a little sugar to a spicy curry(chicken curry, for example). Would that take away the authentic flavor? If no, then how much can be safely added before it becomes too sweet?


texts: Uncooked chicken burgers in the oven, thawed, then put into the fridge

texts: So I took uncooked, frozen chicken burgers and put them in the oven at about 350 and left them for about 15 minutes. But then I had to leave my apartment so I took them out. They were warm and unfrozen. I put them in the fridge and so I want to know - can I cook them tomorrow morning for lunch?


texts:
I have made potato pancakes / potato latkes many times and they've come out quite edible.  However, they are very soft, sometimes fall apart easily, and have a very soggy feel.  Here is approximately how I make them:

I peel and slice approximately four potatoes.  I then use my Food Ninja to dice them roughly into a pulp.
I pull the blades out, and mix in finely diced onions, a few tablespoons of flour (or matzah meal), two eggs, a teaspoon or so of baking powder, and some salt.  (I'm remembering this recipe by memory, so I apologize for the lack of detail.
I mix the batter with a whisk until it has the approximate consistency of pancake batter, although it ends up being a bit lumpier due to the potatoes and onions.
I heat a skillet with 1/4" of canola oil, and use a soup ladle to make roughly 2-3" pancakes that cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side until the edges are golden brown.
I place the finished pancakes on a dish with a paper towel to absorb some of the oil.

What factors in the recipe or preparation would produce a better, crispier, firmer potato pancake?


texts: How should I layer the ingredients in a taco salad?

texts:
When making taco salad, I often run into problems:

If the beans or sour cream come in contact with the tortilla chips, the chips will become soggy.
If the cheese comes in contact with hot ingredients, such as meat or beans, the cheese will melt too early and lose flavor.
Ingredients placed the top are often eaten more quickly, so the dish becomes too plain near the end.

What is a good way to layer or assemble the ingredients in a taco salad, which avoids these problems?


texts: Uses of dittany of Crete (origanum dictamnus)

texts:
Last summer I went to Crete for a short vacation, and came back with fond memories of the local cuisine.

Before leaving I bought some spices, among them a small bag of diktamo (dittany, or dictamnus).

While the smell is quite nice, I found that it doesn't impart any discernible flavour to dishes.

I tried it in some recipes that call for oregano (homemade pizza, some pasta sauces), but I'm curious as to its use in Greek cuisine; maybe I'm just using it the wrong way.


texts: How can I prevent the odor in my dishwasher?

texts:
My dishwasher is emitting a strong bad odor when its door is open. It's a settled odor resulting from a mix of the accumulated dishes together with the plastic material inside. Even if the machine stays empty, the odor is always there.

What can I do to destroy this odor?


texts: I used evaporated milk instead of sweetened condensed milk in a fudge recipe. How do I fix this?

texts: I was given a fudge recipe citing evaporated milk instead of sweetened condensed milk.  Is it possible to fix this by adding sugar and re-cooking the fudge or is it just a recipe gone bad?


texts: I'm looking for information on sanitizing carbon steel blades. I have 2 high quality knives that my girlfriend wants me to spray with Clorox cleaner as I wont put them in the dishwasher, but my manual says that I shouldn't use corrosive agents like bleach and citrus. Is there anything comparable I can use to sanitize these knives after cutting meat that won't compromise the knives? The manual says soap and water but that doesn't really sanitize anything.


texts: Where do you find gums, acids and glucose ingredients?

texts:
If I find a recipe that contains any of those, I just won't make it because I don't know where to find such ingredients but now there's a series of desserts I want to make that use most of them. I don't think you can find most or any of those at the corner grocery store. I can probably get a five-pound bag at the commercial supplier but that's not the quantity I want.

So do you folks order those online or is there a general type of store I can find in a big city? I don't need a specific store recommendation (and that might not be allowed here).


texts: How do you tell whether a lobster is cooked?

texts: "When boiling lobster, how do you tell when it's done? Is there a rough estimate of cooking time (eg: time/ounce, etc...)?


texts:
TL;DR: Looking for evidenced based methods for low-sodium food prep. to be cooked on a barbecue.

My wife has recently confessed that she doesn't like BBQ food as it is too salty! Normally, I use the BBQ during the week as a quick easy meal as you can have a decent meal (burgers or dogs or even grilled veggies) in like 15 minutes. On weekends, I do roasts or steaks or chicken (basically anything more time consuming).

However, since this revelation I am determined to find a middle ground because:

she is right, we need to consume less salt and less meat
I like BBQ.

Here is what I have tried thus far:

I have made my own burger patties (instead of using Costco's) this went over well but flavour was lacking (I confess, historically I have been too lazy and will be tweaking my recipe).
I have tried store bought low-sodium dogs and smokies but it was still too salty.

This has been going on for about 2 weeks now, of different trial and error. So what I am wondering is what are tried and true methods of fast, easy cooking on a BBQ that are both tasty and low in sodium (or effective means of replacing sodium, but not sacrificing taste).

While, I realize that this question could end up being flagged for being opinion based so please provide either experience or evidence to help me. I am looking for methods or tricks to employ that will allow me to maintain the quick/convenient cooking that comes with BBQ food but is healthier and hopefully low enough in sodium.


texts:
I have eaten quick cook oats for a while, but I now found a wholesale supplier selling what I think are old-fashioned oats. That is, the oats are larger and they seem less 'processed'. When I add water to them the water quickly turns white. Also see here.

My question is: should I soak/wash these oats, or can I just boil them straight away? With rice and beans I am used to having to soak or wash them, sometimes for a day. Not sure if the same applies here. If so, how long for? And should I use that water to cook them in, or throw it out and then add new water?