texts:
I heard that if I put the curry powder early, the cooking heat will destroy the flavour, and that it should be put at the end, before turning off the heat

but I can't find anywhere on the internet confirmation for this statement.

is that true ? when is the best time to put the curry powder ?


texts: I cook lots of Indian food - can I use kosher salt\crystallized sea salt for my curries? I like the way you have more control on how much salt you're adding because of the crystal texture - but ill the salt crystals melt properly? And should I add the salt slowly during the cooking process or atthe end?


texts:
I am making a dish that involves roasted vegetables and couscous. I have often found, though, that the zucchini and eggplant are unpalatably watery after roasting them. I have read that if you salt and/or press zucchini and eggplant, you can reduce the amount of water left in them and give them a better texture when cooked. What is the best procedure to rid the zucchini and eggplant of their water before roasting them?

Update:

I sliced the zucchini and eggplant and placed them on a baking sheet, filling one layer of a large sheet. I salted them with about 1/4 cup kosher salt. Then I placed a cutting board that just fit inside the edges over the sheet and put my stand mixer on top. I let it sit for 20 minutes, then wiped off all the salt and water that had drained out. This resulted in a much better product.

However, I don't really know if I used a good amount of salt (too much? too little?) and if I left them to drain for a good length of time (too long? too short?) to get the best results. It worked pretty well—not too salty, veggie texture nice and chewy—but could I get even better results by using a more precise procedure?


texts: I was making a new recipe for lemon cheesecake tarts, but the recipe was not clear.  It called for a "large package of lemon pudding". I used a package of cooked pudding and pie filling.  It was to be combined with a package of cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups of milk, well blended and added to the crust.  Needless to say, it never thickened.  After the fact, I realized it should have read "instant pudding".  I am now left with a very fluid (but delicious) bowl of lemon soup!  Any ideas on how to thicken this!  I am hesitant to cook it on the stove and bring to a simmer because of the cream cheese.  I hate to throw it out because it really is delicious.  I am leaning towards making lemon cocktails for the holidays. You know what they say, when given lemons, .....


texts:
I was experimenting with Quiche in the kitchen this weekend. I didn't follow any specific recipe as I had watched serval on YouTube and felt it couldn't be too difficult. I was also making an individual size so a regular recipe would only have been a guide anyway.

The mixture was 2 eggs, 3 tablespoons heavy cream, shiitake mushrooms, shallots and Pancetta. I cooked just until the middle stopped wobbling like when I make crème brulee. When I cut into it, it seemed really dry and certainly not custardy. I used a butter and shortening crust.

Any suggestions on how to make the quiche have a more custard like texture?


texts: How to rescue a Hollandaise with too much lemon

texts:
I accidentally doubled the amount of lemon juice in my Hollandaise recipe. The result is much too sour to be usable, but if not for that, the sauce would be okay.

Could I rescue this sauce by immediately preparing another batch with no lemon juice and then whipping or folding the two batches together?

I would have to melt another stick of butter and separate four eggs, so assume it takes me 15 minutes from when the first batch is done to finish preparing the second batch.


texts:
I have a real problem getting good mackerel. What I consider to be "real" mackerel is that served typically in sushi bars, which I assume is Atlantic mackerel on the east coast of the USA. This fish is characterized by its strong, distinctive oily taste and large amount of brown fat (glycogen). Normally when I buy "mackerel" from "Spain", which I assume to be Scomber scombrus (Atlantic mackerel), it looks and tastes identical to sushi mackerel.

I have read that in Japan there are over 30 kinds of mackerel, but only 3 of these types are considered Saba (good mackerel).

The problem arises that a different kind of "mackerel" is frequently sold which has no distinctive taste, no brown fat, and tastes more or less exactly like tuna. I notice, for example, that one maker when it says on their package "product of Spain" it is the good mackerel, but every year around the same time it changes to say "product of Thailand", and this indicates the bad mackerel tasting like tuna.

What are the good species and how can I figure which is which before buying it (assuming I can't see it inside can)?

(Just to illustrate how tough this problem check out this fish website, it shows a picture of Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) but identifies it as Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus maculatus)! Not even the fisherman seem to know what they are catching.)


texts: Scaling up a risotto recipe x4. Things to consider?

texts:
I am making risotto for a Christmas dinner, serving 20 people.
I plan to multiple the recipe by 3 or 4x.
Since risotto is a challenging dish at the normal scale, how can I ensure getting good results  when multiplying the recipe?


texts:
I want to cure fish so that the maximum amount of salt penetrates into all parts of the fishs' tissue.

I know that with beef or chicken it is impossible to make the wet or dry brine go all the way into the meat.  It only penetrates the surface a few milimeters from my experience.  However with fish tissue being lighter can the salt go all the way into a 1 inch thick piece at a concentration of say 0.2g in the centre?
I have seen videos where after dry curing on a flat surface the liquid comes out and the fish is sitting in  a few milimeters of water or more.  Would this not liquid not lead to salt from the bottom end of the fish to come back out?  therefore shouldn't one be useing a grill rack or similar so fish is not in contact with released liquid?
I noticed that after some people dry cure they wash the surface of the fish with salt.  As in question 2, doesn't this cause salt to be released from the initial surface cells of the fish?


texts: I don't care about the non stick property of a non stick pot. Is there any harm in washing it in a dishwasher?

texts: I have this T-Fal non stick pot, and really I don't have any use for the non stick coating. I'm wondering if there's any harm in washing it in the dishwasher aside from the non-stick coating wearing off. In particular I am wondering about food safety.


texts:
Last night I ordered a Last Word cocktail, which I've had a few times before.  When it came, the waiter told me that the bartender had never made one before.  It was red.  It was very red.  It was also quite strongly cherry flavored.

A Last Word is usually made with equal parts:

Green Chartreuse
Maraschino liqueur
Lime juice
Dry gin

What could've caused this drink to be so red?  (I had to leave quickly or I would've pressed the bartender!)  My only theory so far is that he used a cherry liqueur instead of maraschino.


texts: Can I use 100% cotton bed linen as a pudding cloth?

texts:
It's hard to find large pieces of closely knit food safe cotton where I am. (UK / EU)

Can I use pieces of undyed 100% cotton bed linens with tags removed instead?

What chemicals if any would the fabric be treated with?


texts: What is the best way to catch wild yeast for sourdough?

texts: What is the best way to catch yeast? I just heard you can do this and I had no idea that you can do this. Do you grow and catch or just catch? This is to make sour dough bread.


texts: I just bought a bread.  It looks fresh, no mold or any other marks, but it has a strong smell of vinegar.  I toasted and ate some, and it tastes totally fine... just the smell...  Anyone know what this is and whether I can do something about it.  Thanks!


texts: Which types of chilli work for homemade chilli oil?

texts:
I have seen a restaurant that has chili pepper in the olive oil bottle, it gave the oil a delicious chilli taste. I am planning to do the same at home.

I wonder how to choose the chilli I will be using. What difference do the different types (jalapeno, red chilli, etc.) have on the finished product?
I am aware of the safety issues as discussed in this post, they are not part of the question.


texts: Do alcohol and salt help in preservation of dehydrated vegetables?

texts: I dehydrate vegetables and keep them in glass jars for a long time. Is it a good idea to put a small amount of alcohol 70% in the jar before I insert the vegetables, in order to kill the bacterias? Is it a good idea to put some salt inside? Does it prolong the shelf life of the dehydrated vegetables? Does it have any side-effects (besides a small effect on taste)?


texts: I've made several batches of this recipe for savory biscotti. They are a pleasant crunchy texture after baking and cooling. The next day, after being stored in an airtight container, they are no longer crunchy! They are made with eggs, whole milk, and butter, and I'm wondering if the fat in those ingredients is why they lose their crunchiness. I like the richness that the fat provides. Any recommendations on how to keep them crunchy?


texts: How could I use liquid flavorings to make a version of a jelly-topped cookie?

texts:
I recently tried to make jelly-topped cookies (specific recipe was from home, but here's an example recipe) using an assortment of flavors, including maple syrup, homemade sumac syrup, homemade elderflower syrup, vanilla flavoring, and a pandan flavoring that I bought at my local Asian market. I thought I could just make a dent in the cookies and fill them directly with the flavorings; I was wrong. I sort of expected the liquids to cook off (which happened), but I thought they would at least leave flavor residues behind (that did not happen).

My goal is to be able to make small amounts of a bunch of different flavors and then use them to bake a single batch of cookies with a diversity of different jelly toppings. I already make homemade syrups for pancakes and marinades and the like; I'm not going to go through all the effort of making and storing dozens of different types of jellies too, not for just the occasional baking day.

So what is it about jelly that makes the flavors last better through the baking process? What would I have to do to a liquid flavoring to make it last through the baking process? If I made a paste out of flour and liquid flavoring, would that hold the flavor? Is gelatin important/useful in order to retain moisture? Any and all help appreciated!


texts: Does brewing tea for longer result in higher caffeine content?

texts:
The ISO standard for brewing tea says "6 minutes".  Of course different teas have vastly different properties, but...

For "average commodity black tea" and "average commodity green tea", will leaving the tea bag in longer (say 1 hour or 1 day) result in higher caffeine content in the cup?  How much?


texts: What does a fridge do apart from storing and cooling?

texts:
There are quite a lot of recipes ending with 'Put it in the fridge for a couple of hours'.

I've had this with tiramisu, chocolate mousse, panna cotta to name a few.
All of these have ingredients like whipped cream, whipped egg white or gelatin.
The reason to do so is - I think - that the fat particles, which were distributed by whipping, would stick together; and this is easiest to achieve with a low temperature.
In case of the gelatin, I think it's just: the colder the firmer.

In my experience, when I get one of these things out of the fridge and they stay on the table for +1 hour, they still are stable.

Does the cooling down causes some irreversible change in the texture of things? Or it really is only the temperature that's changed, so if I would put it out of the fridge, it's just a matter of time till it gets runny again?


texts: Will meat taste okay if I cook it in a pan where the leftover fond seems burned?

texts:
I have found that after 2 batches of chicken breasts, the fond is in the pan for enough time to start burning, so the third batch gets a little black and starts to taste burned.

Does it mean that I should deglaze or wash my pan every 2 batches to make sure I won't get a burned taste?


texts:
I just moved to the San Diego area and began making my bread starter from scratch (it's 3 weeks old now) from the Tartine cookbook.  I just made the country loaf and it rose perfectly and looks just like the pictures.

My issue is that is doesn't taste anything like sourdough bread.  In the book I believe the author mentioned to extend the bulk fermentation phase from 3-4 hours to an extended period of time to create more complex flavors.  So I extended that fermentation phase to 7 hours, but it still lacked the Sourdough taste that I was looking for (I'm comparing the taste to Boudin bread in San Francisco).

Is there something I need to add or should I just keep feeding my starter and eventually it'll get there?  From what I understand it has to do with the bacteria in the air or in my hands, so maybe I just need my friends in the Bay Area to ship me some C02.

Thanks!


texts: How reliable is determining cooking oil temperature with a thermometer?

texts:
Sometimes I dip my meat thermometer in the hot cooking oil and I wonder if the reading is accurate since I do not use a lot of oil so the metal rod is always making contact with the bottom of the pan.

Is this a reliable method? If not, what are the alternatives?


texts: When to add noodle water to tomato sauce?

texts: I keep hearing about adding some of the pasta water to the sauce, either to thicken it or to make the sauce stick to the noodles. But when are you supposed to do this? Wouldn't you be boiling your noodles right before you eat them? And wouldn't the sauce be finished cooking at that point? Wouldn't adding water then just dilute your wonderful tomato sauce?


texts: Adding mashed potatoes for moister/softer cinnamon rolls

texts:
Is it true that adding mashed potatoes as an ingredient makes cinnamon sweet rolls moister and/or softer?

If so, can we simply add a healthy dollop to any yeasted cinnamon roll recipe? Is there any other trick to this?

Could yams or sweet potatoes be added instead, for more flavor, with the same benefit of being moister/softer?


texts:
My icing is 1/4 cup butter to 1 1/2 cups of icing sugar and a couple tablespoons of milk, so I'm thinking that with so much sugar, the answer is "almost indefinitely in the fridge."

So, as the title says, how long is it reasonable to keep the remnants of a batch?  Although I've made small amounts (like the above recipe) on occasion, I'd like to make a big batch, seal it up, and use it as needed.

(I realize that it might not work as well a month or two down the road, I'll experiment with it if I decide it's ok to use.)


texts: I want a new range hood, how many CFM (Cubic feet per minute), would i need for mostly Asian/stir fry cooking?

texts:
We just moved into our condo, and I want to replace the combination microwave/range hood with just a cabinet mounted exhaust.  I was wondering how much CFM (cubic feet/minute) I would need if I mainly cooked Asian style stir frys and the like?  I know more CFM's are better, but is there such thing as over kill?  Right now the current range hood is only 300 CFM, which is woefully inadequate for even just boiling water.

Any suggestions on CFM's and perhaps features that are helpful?  I am currently shopping on Amazon.com and the Tatsumaki brand has caught my eye.  The CFM's range from 750 to 950, depending on the model.  Any input on the subject would be most appreciated.


texts: What can I do with badly cooked honeycomb?

texts:
I've made a batch of honeycomb but I didn't quite get the temperature of the sugar right. Now it seems to have the consistency of toffee.

What can I do with this honeycomb? It would seem a bit of  a waste to just through it away...


texts: Is there a term for "mildly scrambled" eggs?

texts:
I'm of the impression that "scrambled eggs" means the eggs are completely beaten to where the yolk and white are completely blended before being cooked.
And "over easy/medium/hard" is where the yolk is intended to be unbroken.
Assuming that's true, is there a specific term for when the yolk is intentionally broken, but not beaten/blended with the egg white, then cooked? So there ends up being distinct areas of white and yellow in the cooked result.
E.g. in the following picture, I cracked eggs right into a frying pan with a little bit of oil, then broke the yolks - and let them run where they wanted, flipping the eggs over once or twice to get it cooked all over - but did not try to blend or homogenize the yolk and egg white together.


texts: I get a smaller volume loaf from mixing sourdough in mixer - what am I doing wrong?

texts: I have made my same recipe (74% hydration) of sourdough by both the stretch and fold and the Kitchenaid mixer method. I get a denser, lower volume loaf when I use the mixer, whether I refrigerate the dough or the shaped loaf. The stretch and fold method yields a lighter volume, larger loaf that doesn't collapse when I place it on the hot pan and score it. I like the mixer method as less time is required to make it but it never rises up in the Banneton as much as the other method. Could it be the mixer or my inability to determine when it has fermented or proofed enough at either stage?


texts: Is buttermilk preferred for sourdough starter?

texts: Is buttermilk a preferred milk for sour dough starter?


texts: How long can I leave a vegan chili simmering without components breaking down?

texts:
Tomorrow I'm participating in an amateur just-for-fun chili competition my work is putting on. Unfortunately, the tasting starts immediately after work. My question is, when can I make my chili and how long can I leave it in my crockpot without the ingredients breaking down? It will be a vegan chili, so the components I'm most worried about are the quinoa and green bell pepper. The longest I've cooked a chili was ~4 hours so I really have no idea how long is "okay" before everything starts turning to mush.

My options are to make the chili tonight, tomorrow in the early morning, or skip out on work tomorrow afternoon if absolutely necessary. If I make the chili ahead of time, should I refrigerate it until a few hours before the competition and then heat it up in my crockpot or should I keep it simmering all day/night long?


texts: Can you add seasoning halfway through cooking with sous vide

texts:
I plan to cook a brisket for 48+ hours. However I ordered some liquid smoke online and it wont arrive until the next day. I cant wait for it to arrive or I will not have enough time to finish the brisket.

Is there any problem with cooking the brisket for 24 hours, then opening the sous-vide bag. Adding liquid smoke and then cooking for the remaining 24?


texts: I made Kolaczki dough with cream cheese butter and flour how long can i keep it in the refrigerator?

texts: I made kolaczki dough with butter cream cheese and flour how long can i keep it refrigerated


texts:
I've got a bunch of two week old carrots (kept in the fridge), peeled, and they tasted bitter (raw).

Is it normal that carrots turn bitter?

Is there a way to prevent it from happening?

Will the taste improve after cooking? (I'll cook and taste anyway)

I've looked at this question, but the peel is said to be bitter, while these are peeled already.


texts: Is it possible to destroy the seasoning on cast-iron by getting the pan too hot?

texts:
Yesterday I thoroughly cleaned my cast iron pan, reseasoned it four times for 30 minutes at 450 with liquid canola oil. The seasoning looked really good, and I had a great sheen across the entire bottom and sides of the pan.

I cooked bacon this morning, then cleaned by scouring with a sponge. I dried with a paper towel, buffed some more canola oil on with a new paper towel, and turned my stove on high. After 15 minutes, the iron was up to 700F-800F. I turned it off, let it cool down and it looks like the seasoning has been stripped from where the pan was hottest, pictured below.

Is there a temperature at which the seasoning is destroyed? If so, what is it? If that's not what caused my problem, what did?


texts:
I have some amount of prepackaged sliced turkey meat that otherwise smells and tastes good.

Today though I noticed that a few slices have darker spots in them, like as shown in below photo. A vast majority of the slices in the package do not have any spots like these (perhaps most of the slices in the package do not come from the same turkey).

In case it is useful, the use-by date on this package is April 13th 2018 (about 3 weeks from today); I opened the package 4 days ago.

The question I wanted to ask:

What are these dark areas in turkey meat?


texts:
I am starting a business making a vegan chocolate spread. It is beginning as a small, family run operation, in a hired industrial kitchen.
We are stuck on how to 'treat' the spread when getting to the canning process (in glass jars) so that it will be as shelf stable as possible.
So far, our research has pointed us toward simmering the sealed jars in boiling water for 10-15 mins. (the jars are also sterilized beforehand).
Would this be sufficient? Does this suck the oxygen out? How do large manufacturers approach this process for similar products?


texts: Can I eat eggs that are cooked over 3 hours with low temperature looking a bit brown?

texts:
I wanted to try what happens to eggs over long cooking with low-temperature. The white thing became a bit brown and the odour is a bit different. Are they edible?

[Update]
I used the lowest temperature in a gas stove with a pressure heavy iron container thing.

I ate the eggs, the yellow tasted dry while the white tasted actually better than usually.


texts:
I have the 75th anniversary edition of Joy of Cooking. I've now come across two recipes that call for "ground red pepper" (enchiladas and a dry rub). I've never heard of ground red pepper before and cannot find it at the store.

Is it ground red bell pepper or something hot like cayenne? What should I use as a substitute?


texts: Should iodized salt be avoided when salting meat?

texts:
Should iodized salt be a avoided when salting meat?

I have heard people telling me that iodized salt makes meat taste funny when using it for meat purposes. Is this true or can regular table salt still be used to salt meat?

Also should the salt water mixture be heated / brought to a boil before submerging any meat in it or is a brisk mixing adequate?


texts: How to best cook potatoes to be used in a curry?

texts:
My favorite restaurants always manage to impart the flavors of the various spices used to the potatoes, rather than only having the potato's own flavor.  However, when cooking curries on my own, I find that my potatoes retain their natural taste, and the spices do not override the natural flavor. Are there methods that can be used to make sure that the flavor is imparted properly throughout the whole potato?
Also, I find it very hard to get a consistent, pleasant texture; some portions of the potato are too soft, and others too hard.  What is the best way to prepare the potatoes, so that they both have enough flavor, and also the right texture?


texts: How should I boil green beans to keep them crisp?

texts: I just pulled fresh Blue Lake Bush green beans from my garden, snapped the ends and wanted to boil them, while keeping then crisp. How should I boil them so they are cooked through, but not limp?


texts: Last year, I accidentally slow dried some yellow kiwifruit in my refrigerator. I had simply forgotten about them. It must have been at least four months before I realized. When I pulled them out, still in their plastic container, they were in no way rotted, moldy or even soft. They seemed to have slowly dehydrated and reminded me of giant raisins. Let me tell you, they were AMAZING. The flavors were so intense! Does anyone know of a system or actual method for this? I want to do try this as a regular thing, but I also do not want to waste kiwifruit...and to have my hopes and dreams dashed upon the rocks because it did not work again.


texts: What is the name of this Israeli street food?

texts: When I was in Israel a few years back I tried this really great street food. I had gotten the recipe, but now have lost it and don't remember what it was called. It is a cross between a pancake and a bread. The one I had had za'atar, thin sliced tomatoes, and red onion fried into one side and was flipped over. Does anyone know what this is called?


texts:
How can I stick chocolate wafer sticks like this:

on a mudcake to get this result:


texts: How to prevent "sweating" chocolate covered strawberries?

texts:
Last year for Valentines day, I decided I was going to be romantic and make some chocolate covered strawberries for someone special. I melted and tempered some milk chocolate. Then dipped the washed and thoroughly dried strawberries into the chocolate and put them on a plate in the refrigerator to quickly "set" the chocolate.

Later that night as my special someone and I were eating the chocolate covered strawberries, we noticed that there was condensation both on the outside and in between the chocolate and strawberry. It was delicious nonetheless, but I was curious as to why it was "sweating" and if there is anything I can do to prevent this if I decide to ever be romantic again.


texts: Instructions on making Japanese fish sauce? (Shottsuru)

texts: Would anyone happen to have step-by-step instructions to make Japanese fish sauce?


texts: Converting stand mixing time to hand mixing

texts:
For each minute of using a stand mixer on high, approximately how long (or how much effort, quantified) should a mixture be mixed (whisked/beaten) by hand to achieve similar results?

Baking recipes are frequently encountered which only supply instructions requiring  use of an electric stand mixer. Sometimes these recipes indicate that mixing by hand is possible - and indeed, that used to be the main way mixing was performed.

This question inquires as to mixing/beating batters, specifically; such as cake or gluten-free batters - not kneading.


texts: What ingredient adds the sweetness on Croissants in Europe?

texts: I'm travelling in Europe right now, and in France, Spain, and Italy I've had croissants and similar pastries. Unlike the ones I've had in America, these have a bit of sweetness to them - my intuition is that something like honey or agave nectar has been drizzled on top, either before or after baking. Does anyone know for sure? I'd love to try baking pastries more often when I get back home.


texts: How long can you safely cure using Morton's Tender Quick?

texts:
Morton's Tender Quick says to cure for hours, but the curing recipe I am using says to cure my ham for 4 days. I am wondering does Morton's Tender Quick cure so fast that it only needs hours? Or can I cure with it as long as 4 days? or is that only for insta-cure and pink salt?

I am way confused. I can only find Morton's and I really just want to get started curing.


texts:
While I save up for a proper outdoor smoker, I've been experimenting with using the basic brisket BBQ techniques, but with a fan forced in our kitchen. So far, the regular briskets have turned out fine, but the Wagyu ones have all turned out tough and dry.

This weekend I tried again with two identical 7.5lb Wagyu briskets - one on Saturday and one on Sunday.
The one on Saturday was tough and dry, so I reduced the temperature and the cooking time on Sunday - same result.

Would appreciate any advice. My cooking methods over this weekend are below:

SATURDAY

Use paper towels to remove excess moisture.
Apply a rub of salt, pepper and smoked paprika.
Wrap in foil and leave overnight in the fridge.
Preheat the oven to about 248 deg F (120 celsius)
Put a container of water at the bottom of the oven for moisture
Remove the brisket from the foil and place on the middle rack
Leave in the oven untouched and unopened for 3.5 hours
At this point the color was good but the outside was hard,
and when pushed with a finger the meat felt well done.
Spritzed with cider vinegar, then wrapped in foil
Placed back in the oven and reduced the temperature to about 220-230 deg F
Cooked for a further 2.5 hours in the foil
Removed from oven and rested for an hour

RESULT - Dry, well done and chewy with the meat in the middle looking gray.

SUNDAY

I reduced the initial temperature to about 220 deg F
and reduced the unwrapped cook time to about 2 hours.
Everything else was the same.
When I took it out, it wasn't as dark but still felt well done
and when cut, it was still dry and 'overcooked' right through.
The foil-wrapped cooking time didn't help tenderize it at all.

QUESTIONS

Why is it overcooking and drying out at such low temperatures, when normal briskets don't?
My Mom says that a fan-forced oven is hotter than a regular one, but I reduced the temperature
to compensate for this. Could a fan-forced oven still be the problem?
I would have thought Wagyu would be even more tender than regular brisket. What's up?

Thanks in advance.


texts: What features are important in a hand mixer?

texts:
I've always used the cheapest hand mixers (around 10 Euro). But I damaged a beater of my current one when I tried to make whipped canache - it was obviously too hard. So I plan to get a new one. Strangely, on paper there isn't much difference between 10 Euro models and 50 Euro models. They all come with foam beaters, dough hooks and 5 speeds.

What are important things to look for in a good mixer?
Can I use the watt numbers to make a meaningful comparison between models by different manufacturers? How important are they?
I know that the watt numbers are supposed to indicate motor power. But I don't know if they have a meaning in the world of hand mixers, or if they have fallen prey to senseless inflation, the way loudspeaker watt number have. And if they are still meaningful, what is their relative importance as compared to other features?

I don't have a food processor or stand mixer, so the hand held mixer should be capable of doing a lot.


texts: How to make crispy chicken wings like KFC?

texts: I want to prepare Chicken wings more crispy without using micro oven. Can anyone tell me how to prepare it?


texts:
I know that usually roosters are roasted because rooster is tough. But I was wondering if there is a way to fry rooster and have it be tender without using so much meat tenderizer that the meat tastes like meat tenderizer(which is not a pleasant taste)?

Also would you be looking for the same temperatures as in a hen(that is 165 degrees F on the inside of the white meat) or would the temperatures you are looking for be different?


texts: Why would IQF shrimp say "do not force thaw under running water"?

texts:
I recently made a recipe that called for thawing frozen shrimp by running them under cold water.  However, I noticed that the IQF tail-on shrimp I buy from Costco state, "DO NOT FORCE THAW UNDER RUNNING WATER".

Why might they add this capitalized warning?  Would it be a safety issue or a texture issue?


texts: What blender is required to create an emulsion?

texts:
Let's consider for specificity an emulsion prepared with the use of a protein possessing emulsifying properties as an emulsifying agent. Domestically most commonly prepared protein-based emulsion is mayonnaise.
Recently Cook's Illustrated has complicated matters by reporting that at least one of the blenders they tested using a tachometer has the blade rotating at a speed, which does not correspond to the specified by the manufacturer. It looks like these findings were not replicated by other teams. Defects are not uncommon in production of household appliances, but if it is not a problem to measure temperature within an electric oven using a thermometer, measuring speed of rotation is not as easy since a tachometer also has to be tested for accuracy of performance. Yet the speed of rotation is a critical determinant of emulsification efficiency. What also is of interest is that manufacturers like KitchenAid (probably the second most highly rated brand after Vitamix) do not specify the speed of rotation of their blenders’ blade, so a blender suitable as an emulsification device can be five times less expensive than renowned for high speed alternatives if it meets minimum speed and power requirements.
So I would like to know whether anyone here has experience of using different blenders for emulsification and does not mind to share it with others.


texts: I cooked the fudge and it didn't set. I recooked it to the temperature it was suggested but I think I added too much cream when I recooked it. It's the consistency of soft caramel after letting it set overnight. What can I do?


texts: Why did my tiramisù cream become grainy?

texts:
Late Friday night, I prepared tiramisù and refrigerated it until serving it the next day, I guess about 20 hours or so later. The texture of the cream layer seemed fine when I prepared it, but when I served it, it was grainy. It still tasted normal The graininess really is quite uniformly distributed and dissolves on the tongue. It's not an overcooked-custard kind of grainy, and the grainy bits seemed like fat, not sugar or ice. The uniformity makes me feel like it is something that precipitated out of the mixture while it was chilling.

Here's a picture, you can see the texture of the cream (although I guess it turned out a bit blurry).

I've made tiramisù successfully quite a few times in the past; this is the first time I've had this happen to me. I was following the Williams-Sonoma recipe which has you make a zabaglione (essentially) with the yolks and sugar, beat the mascarpone, whip the cream, fold the mascarpone into the cream then beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and fold the cream-mascarpone mixture into the egg whites.

I think I followed everything precisely EXCEPT that I currently only have one whisk attachment for my mixer and I was tired and didn't want to thoroughly wash it in-between to be sure every speck of oil from the cream was gone, so I beat the egg whites before whipping the cream (I rinsed the whisk after doing the egg whites, but didn't wash it) so the egg whites were standing for a bit longer than they should have because they stood the whole time while I folded the mascarpone into the whipped cream, and then of course I folded them in.

I was using room-temperature store-bought mascarpone, chilled heavy whipping cream, room-temperature egg whites.

Was the texture doomed by letting the egg whites stand too long, or did I over-whip the cream? Or do I wrack my brains further to see if I did something else?

Luckily, my audience on Saturday was not the picky type and it seems that only my husband and I were bothered by it. But I'd like to avoid it in future... (I'm already planning to get some toys to help with the ordering problem next time.)


texts: Half and half bread, too salty and no salt?

texts:
In putting the ingredients into my bread machine the top came off of the salt. I scooped out as much as could but it still has too much salt. I started another batch with no salt.

Do I thoroughly mix them together or make a half salty and half sweet loaf?


texts: Why can't chocolate be made caffeine free?

texts: I recently read this article which suggests that it's impossible to make caffeine free chocolate. Why would this be the case? If we can make caffeine free teas and coffees why can't we strip the caffeine out of chocolate too?


texts: How to shred carrots without them getting mushy

texts: My goal is to shred carrots to use in a green salad. I've used graters with differently-sized holes, but it seems whenever I shred carrots, the shredded bits are very mushy and clump together. How do I get the nice, dry shredded results like I find in restaurants or in the salad packs at the grocery store?


texts: Are there other parts of a Lobster that are edible apart from the Tail and Claws?

texts: I was thinking of the innards - specifically the white parts inside of the main body and what looks like eggs.


texts:
A common way of buying saffron in Sweden is to buy it pre-ground in bags of 0.5 grams.

Most saffron rice recipes use "threads" or "strands" which is pretty much useless for me.

What's a good saffron/rice ratio, in grams/deciliter?


texts: Jalapeno Poppers and getting a thick crust?

texts: How can I make my batter stick to the outside of the jalapeno so it is thick?  It seems every time I try a thicker batter it wont stick as well.


texts:
So I line a flan tin with shortcut pastry. It's quite a nice deep pan (sides are maybe 2 to 3 cm) so it looks like there's going to be plenty of room for a filling.

But after 20 mins baking blind, I get the pastry out. The sides have shrunk right down to about 0.5cm in height. Almost no usable depth for a filling.

Is there anyway to stop the pastry shrinking like this?


texts: Why are my cinnamon rolls turning into toffee?

texts: I'm following a recipe and following it exactly, and when I finish, instead of being gooey-delicious, the cinnamon-sugar in my cinnamon rolls comes out like 'stick to your teeth' tacky goo.  It's delicious, but the wrong consistency. What could be causing that?


texts: Can I substitute Molasses for Honey in Baking Recipes?

texts: Can I substitute one for the other in baking recipes?


texts: how do i make a regular chocolate syrup get solid?

texts: I'm using Santa Cruz ORGANIC Mint Chocolate flavored syrup and I put it in an icecube tray with 1 raspberry with each one and I put it in the freezer and a bit later I took it out and it was a paste. Do you know how I could change that?


texts: Toasting sandwich bread before packing a lunch - when is it appropriate?

texts:
When I make a sandwich to eat fresh, I pretty much always toast the bread. When I pack a sandwich to eat later, however, I don't. I've always thought that eating cold toast would be gross. Recently though I'm starting to rethink this position. What would happen if I toasted bread, made a sandwich, and then ate it hours later?

If I did this, does it work better for certain kinds of bread, or certain sandwich fillings? Does it matter if the sandwich is stored in a chilled cooler, or in a room-temperature brown bag? In short, is it ever a good idea to toast a sandwich that won't be eaten until hours later, and if so, when?


texts: When we go to the butcher's shop, which color meat should we choose? Cherry-red or brownish-red?

texts:
When we go to the butcher's shop, we see cherry-red and brownish-red meat in the cooler. I know that change in color alone does not mean the product is spoiled. Color changes are normal for fresh product. USDA says "When exposed to air, myoglobin forms the pigment, oxymyoglobin, which gives meat a pleasingly cherry-red color."

The main issues I wonder are these;

1- When you go to the butcher shop and see 2 different colors from the same meat in the cooler, which color meat should we prefer? Cherry-red or brownish-red? Do these meats have any advantage over each other?

2- Can we say that brownish-red meat is better rested than cherry-red meat? Or is this just about oxygen contact?

Thanks


texts:
I used to know someone who was born in the 1910s and raised in Budapest, who made a filling for blintzes out of jam and ground walnuts.

I now know someone (unrelated to the first person) who was born in the 1920s and raised in Arad speaking Hungarian, who makes a filling for baked goods out of jam and ground walnuts.

So I guess that filling is an Hungarian specialty. What's it called in Hungarian? Google isn't helping, and the Arad person doesn't recall.


texts: Mexican cheeses on otherwise Italian pizza

texts: Can one use any Mexican cheeses on an otherwise “Italian” pizza? I don’t know much about Mexican cheeses; which cheese or mix of cheeses would one use? Would a Mexican cheese change the flavor profile much?


texts: Convert weight of Confectioners sugar to caster sugar

texts: If a recipe asks for 50g of confectioners sugar, what is the weight required in caster sugar. I am making a no bake cheesecake


texts: Can I marble two cakes that call for different cooking temperatures?

texts: I have two cupcake recipes that I would like to combine into one marbled cupcake.  However one recipe bakes at 350 degrees and the other bakes at 375 degrees.  Can a combination be done?


texts: Does anyone have any idea on what precautions to take while combining fruit puree with custard for creme brulees? I added strawberry puree ( which I added some lemon juice to) to my custard and it split the custard while baking. I'm guessing the lemon was the culprit but can strawberries split cream/custard too? If I wanted a strong strawberry flavor through my creme brulee how could I go about achieving that?


texts:
Both yeast and baking powder are used to gas-fill the pastry, make it expand and thus make it soft and fluffy.

Using yeast is rather inconvenient - it can be dead already or if the yeast is submerged in too hot water it can die and also waiting for yeast to work to let it gas-fill the pastry before baking is also not that convenient. Looks like the baking powder is more convenient - it can be stored for ages, can be mixed with hot water, baking can be started immediately after mixing the pastry.

Why is yeast used then? What are those advantages of yeast tham make people use yeast and not the baking powder?


texts: What kind of mixture(colloid) is a roux?

texts:
One of my coworkers had a curious question the other day: what kind of mixture or colloid is a roux? For example, whipped cream is a foam, mayonnaise is an emulsion, and gelatin is a gel.

I know part of creating a roux is the gelatinization of the starch in the flour, but does that make a roux a gel? Or is it something else?


texts:
I finally learned how to make Sushi at home. Here is a link to a recipe that shows how to prepare store bought salmon. I tried it and it works beautifully. The chef's speaking and tone are annoying, but the recipe works.

I soaked my salmon for 5 minutes and my tuna for 3 minutes. Blot it dry and you are good to go. My question is, based on the attached video, what other fish or seafood can I do this with? Snapper, scallops, etc?


texts: Fudge not setting up-- any salvaging possible? Alternate uses?

texts: I made fudge with evaporated milk I made myself. Added this to butter and sugar and heated.  Added this to chocolate and stirred enough to mix.  Poured into 8x8 dished and left to set up. No such luck.  What I have is silky thick hot fudge sauce-like chocolate.  Kind of like soft caramel.  What can I use this for now or do y'all have suggestions as to how to fix it?


texts: Can I substitute condensed milk for evaporated milk in icing?

texts:
My icing recipe for German chocolate cake pecan icing calls for evaporated milk, but I only have condensed milk. Can I use the condensed milk instead?

If so, do I need to make any adjustments to it?


texts:
I'm trying to find out how to compute the approximate hydration of my dough. I'm not sure what the hydrations are for the following:

Butter
Margarine
Evaporated Milk
Buttermilk
Heavy cream

Any ideas what might they be? Or can anyone point out a good reference guide?


texts:
There is a little pho place right around the corner that I just love. They have condiments on the tables including what appear to be just fresh sliced jalapenos in vinegar. They don't seem to be cooked nor do they seem to have been given any time to "pickle". The proprietor's English goes south every time I try to ask about their recipes, so I've been on my own for this one. I've tried distilled vinegar and rice vinegar. I've tried adding sugar, salt and a combination of both. I've tried diluting the vinegar with water. I've tried adding the jalapenos to hot vinegar. So far, they have never been "right". Even though my peppers are perfectly fresh, the ones at the restaurant seem somehow crisper and less aggressively hot, even though the seeds and ribs are intact. I suspect that there is a "secret ingredient" that I'm missing, but I can't for the life of me figure out what it could be. Can anyone help?

Edit: 8/2015 Answer (from over 1 year ago) follows.


texts: Is there a way to speed up the process of making preserved lemons?

texts:
I really like preserved lemons, but I often find that I don't plan properly and don't time the month long wait properly. Is there a way to speed this process up?

  Preserved Lemons

  Quarter lemons Cover completely
  with kosher salt Refridgerate one
  month To serve, remove pith,
  leaving just the rind. Chop and
  include in sauces, etc.

Based on the first two answers, it's worth noting that the end result here is not dry. Since the lemons still have their juice, they soak / cure / marinate in a wet medium. They soften a bit and the flavor mellows significantly, but they do not dry.


texts: Can I season cast iron *without* using an oven?

texts:
I recently got a Lodge cast iron pan. I've never worked with cast iron before, and I've read that it needs seasoning before use. However, the Lodge one says it's already seasoned and ready for use. Does that mean I can skip the seasoning part?

Which brings me to my main question. Most seasoning methods require the use of an oven, which unfortunately is not an option right now for me. So how can I season this without using an oven?


texts:
Can you use the steam from boiling one thing to cook something else?
E.g. Boiling potatoes and steam broccoli in the same pot at the same time.
Thank you!


texts:
I have a recipe from maybe the 1950's that calls for 1 pkg semi-sweet chocolate  -  I seem to remember a smaller bag than what I find in the stores.  Might this be
6 ounces it is calling for?   The recipe is for a Chocolate Satin Pie.


texts: rusty charcoal chimney starter, safe to use?

texts: My charcoal chimney starter is covered in rust inside and out, is it still safe to use?  The grill and grill grate are still rust free and new.


texts: How to remove residual flavours from, e.g., a coffee press

texts:
I'm considering using a glass coffee-press jug as a mixing vessel for other drinks but I'm worried about residual coffee flavour even after using normal detergent.

Is this something I should be worried about, and how would you clean the pot so as to remove any residual flavour?


texts: Is it safe to freeze ground beef one day before its expiration date?

texts:
I ended up buying some ground beef that was 50% off, I left it in the refrigerator one day, and now when I was cutting it into 500g (1.1 pound) pieces to freeze, I noticed that it was only one day to the expiration date.

Could it still be frozen and be okay after two weeks? I heard if I cook it first, it can be stored for longer, is that something I have to do? and how long can it be stored?

P.S. I'm very worried about getting food poisoning, and I don't want to throw it away since I currently haven't a good budget.


texts: Where does the chlorine taste in yogurt come from?

texts:
My parents used to make yogurt some years ago. When they tried to make some last month, it turned out very firm and smooth in appearence, but tasted like chlorine.

The taste is so strong that even strawberries couldn't get rid of it. Since then we have not tried making yogurt anymore.

Is the chlorine taste related to some fermentation level/age? Quality of milk?

Obs.: Though the chlorine taste was very strong, it wasn't sour.


texts:
So I bought some Lean Organic Ground Beef about a week ago, went straight into the Freezer. Used 3/4 of it for Hamburger helper, cooked all the way through...smelled fine and looked fine.

However I noticed on the Uneaten ground beef (was gonna save it in the freezer) (of course after i had eaten and was putting something in the freezer). That there was a black...small spot on the ground beef. I've seen spoiled meat/beef before and it's brown, however this was very dark and black and was very small. Now the rest of the meat I looked at/smelled and it was fine. And the meat wasn't past due or anything and it went STRAIGHT into the freezer.

What could this dark spot had been. It was QUITE dark and very small (maybe about the size of a match head). if so....do you think the rest of the meat was ok? considering I did cook it thoroughly, im just curious what the black spot was. Obviously I don't want to get mad cow disease or something lol


texts:
I've just checked for some recipes online on how to make flavored (in particular, hot and spicy) peanuts. It seems that in every one of these recipes, there has to be some kind of roasting procedure (coating with oil, powdering and then oven-roast), or cooking them, in order to get the powder to "stick" to the nuts.

What I'm wondering is which two of these methods will yield better results, and whether a food dehydrator (I got the excalibur ones) can be used to "dry" these nuts.

Perhaps it's possible to get the flavor to stick some other, easier and less messier way?

edit -- another question : is the oil necessary for flavoring them? I mean, nuts are oily naturally, so would heating them in the pan and then putting the chili/garlic powder or parmesan straight after be good enough?


texts: Trouble Measuring the Temperature of Meat

texts:
My wife recently bought me a thermapen and I have used it a number of times to achieve perfectly roasted chicken and turkey, but I have trouble whenever I pan sear meat.
For example, tonight I tried to pan sear a NY strip using a cast iron skillet while basting with butter and herbs. I cooked the steak for about 10 minutes and the thermapen never registered a temperature above 105 degrees. When I cut the steak open it was dry and very well done.

I've also had this problem with chicken breast. I can pan sear it, flip it after 6 minutes, observe a beautiful golden brown crust and when I insert the thermapen just below the surface of the chicken it reads less the 100 degrees. Surely the chicken is not cooling down rapidly?

If I wait until the thermapen registers 160 to stop cooking the chicken, it's totally dry inside. The fact that this happens with both chicken and steak makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong. I've followed the technique from Grilling Perfect Steaks Every Time, Every Steak , and I've also observed that the temperature will drop continuously as I pull the thermapen through the meat after it's been flipped once.
In other words, the minimum temperature is not at the center but on the side of the meat not in contact with the pan, even if it looks perfectly seared.

I know it isn't possible for the meat to cool down that quickly, so I don't understand what's happening. What's going on? Does anyone have any suggestions or know what I might be doing wrong?


texts: Cooking kidney beans that just started to sprout a little

texts: I have some kidney beans that I soaked overnight to cook the next day but didn't get a chance and accidentally left them out and it's been fairly hot lately. Some of the beans started to get little sprouts poking out. There's also a little bit of a smell. Is it still safe to cook the batch or have I wasted a bunch of beans?


texts:
I'm considering bottling salad dressing but I'm not sure of the shelf life. The ingredients for some are - prunes (or figs), lemon, olive oil, ginger, garlic and water and possibly some xanthan gum.

Can you tell me what the best way to bottle this and how long it will keep once bottled and then how long after when it's opened?

Also, I may consider keeping this as a thicker 'dip' recipe as well. How would I bottle that?


texts: What techniques and tips do you have for keeping an organized, clean work area while you cook?

texts:
I've heard of the Mise en Place principle in professional cooking which means literally "everything in it's place". Professional cooks applying this principle keeping their work area clean and organized. Translating this to home cooking, I'm thinking about how to make less mess resulting in less cleanup time and an overall cleaner kitchen.

What techniques and tips do you all use to be tidy cooks?


texts:
The recipe is:

1/2 cup          butter
8 oz             semi-sweet chocolate
3/4 cup          granulated sugar
1/4 cup          light brown sugar
3                large eggs
1 tsp            vanilla extract
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp           unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4              tsp salt

Melt the butter and chocolate over  low heat. Let cool slightly for about 10 minutes. Whisk in the sugars. Add the eggs, one at a time, and then whisk in the vanilla. Fold in flour, cocoa, and salt. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

I followed this recipe to the letter, but when I added in the flour, the butter starred separating out of the batter. I still followed through with the recipe, and the flavour turned out fine. However, the brownies were very crumbly and the edges very crunchy. I've never had this happen before with brownies. What could cause the butter to separate out?


texts: Defrosting: How long should food be kept in refrigerator?

texts:
I am trying to defrost some meals by placing them in a refrigerator.
The meals are a variation of salmon/halloumi + rice + greens
How long should it be placed in the refrigerator? Does it depend on how long it's been frozen?


texts: How long can frozen salmon be unrefrigerated and still be safe for sushi?

texts: I've bought a small frozen salmon filet (in a non-vacuum sealed plastic bag) for sushi from a local Japanese market. It took about an hour to get it home via public transit, and the edges had thawed out a bit and became soft by the time I was able to refreeze it. Assuming it was safe to eat when I purchased it, should it still be safe to eat raw now? In general, how long would I have to commute with the salmon unrefrigerated before I should begin to worry about the salmon no longer being safe to eat?


texts: Looking to add some texture to my tomato soup recipe

texts:
I have been working on perfecting a tomato soup recipe for the past month or so and I've reached the point where the soup itself is to my liking.

I am now trying to figure out the garnish and so far I've decided on a dollop of creme fraiche  and a few drops of basil infused oil.

Presentation wise, the red, white and green looks fantastic, but the one element I'm missing is texture. You see, the soup is very smooth as are the creme fraiche and oil, so I'm looking to add some contrasting texture. I am at a loss of what would pair well with tomatoes. Does anyone have any suggestions to add some "crunch" to my soup?


texts: I have a jar of pickled figs bought for me as a present, and would like to make good use of them. Any ideas??


texts: Troubleshooting a soufflé that collapses during baking

texts:
I am trying to make a cheese soufflé to surprise my girlfriend on her birthday (24 Jan). After several cooking trials, I still face a key problem: my soufflé collapsed after baking for 25-30 minutes.

What did I do wrong? Here are the steps to the recipe;

boil equipment
grease butter to the renakin, place into the freezer
separate egg whites (no yolk mixed)
add a little salt to egg whites
add a little sugar to egg whites
using a hand mixer, whip the egg whites adding more sugar during whip
melt 40g butter (100C)
Whisk 40g all purpose flour into melted butter
pour 250g milk slowly and whisk util it mixed
wait until it cools down
re-grease butter to the renakin, place into the freezer
beat the egg yolks to a creamy consistency, then pour into the milk mixture
add 1/3 of the mixture to the base, continue to add the whites folding very gently.
Preheat oven to 200C (5-10 minutes)
pour the mixture into the renakin
add the cheese on the top
bake at 170'C (with heat select="lower")

After about 25-30 minutes and a 2cm rise, the soufflé collapses prior to removing from oven.

updated 19 Jan Evening :

I do

buy better hand mixer
use more flour (50g)
move egg whites whipping process to last steps
reduce whipping time to 5 minutes
bake with heat select="lower" about 15min after that change to "upper and lower"
sit in front of oven and see the soufflé every moment.

result:

at 20mins: the soufflé raise about 3.5 to 4cm (from 5cm height renakin)
around 25mins: it collapse about 0.5cm, so I immediately remove it from oven (T-T)
after than it collapse very fast. (I guess it is common)

Thank you very much @jefromi and @KatieK for your comments and links. I plan to buy oven thermometer this morning because I have no it yet.

updated 21 Jan Lunch :

Yesterday I found problem on the oven temperature. When I set temperature to 170 C, real temperature is 150C or below (because it keep going down). So today I try to keep in range of 160-200C and no collapses now.

Thanks you very much to everybody again for kindly help.


texts: How can I prevent pear juice from soaking into pastry dough?

texts: I'm baking a cheesecake with pieces of pears, using rich shortcrust pastry. The problem is that, during the baking, the pear juice is soaking the pastry. How could I avoid that?


texts: How much is a “glass,” in an old English cocktail recipe (1930)?

texts: Cocktail recipes in a reprint recipe book frequently call for liquors by the measure of a “glass.”  Just how large was this?


texts:
I made a batch of lemon squares last night with my tried and true recipe that I have made multiple times. When it was done, I let it sit on the counter until completely cool and put it in the fridge.

After about 4 hours, I took it out to cut it into squares and was shocked to find it had reversed itself! The recipe has a shortbread crust on the BOTTOM and a lemon curd on TOP but when I was getting ready to cut it up, the shortbread crust was on top!

When I put it in the fridge to cool off, it was the right way, so it did this magic trick in the fridge!

There were a few changes I made to the recipe this time:

I poured the lemon curd over the cooled crust instead of a hot crust.
I added lemon zest to the crust for extra flavour.
I increased the filling by 50%.

Would any of these seemingly minor changes cause this magic trick? But more important, how is it physically possible?  I could see if it was different layers of a fluid cake batter that could reverse itself, but the shortbread crust is baked first so it's a solid. Not to mention it reversed in the fridge, not while baking!

It was baked in a 9 inch square pan lined with parchment paper. Does anybody want to tackle this one, so I can sleep tonight?


texts: Is it safe to store oils, vinegars and other sauces in reused gourmet oil tins?

texts:
I'm trying to find a solution to counter-top storage of oils (olive, sesame, fish) and other sauces (balsamic, soy) that I use frequently.  I was thinking of reusing some of the tin containers that gourmet oils come in (e.g., walnut or hazelnut oil); however, I'm not sure how practical it is and am not sure how safe it might be for some of the more reactive sauces (such as the vinegars).

Would reusing those be safe?


texts: Does it matter that my pots are bigger than my ceremic cook top element?

texts: I need to replace my ceramic cooktop which is ten years old, but now most of the cooktops within my budget have smaller elements, so my frypan will be larger than the elements.  Does this matter?


texts: Are you supposed to get most of the air bubbles out of dough before the second rise?

texts: I am confused about the air bubbles in my dough. Some of the recipes that I have  say to get most of the bubbles out. I have other recipes that say nothing about the bubbles. The way I understand it the more air bubbles you have the lighter the bread will be. Which will make the holes in the bread. So I was wondering should I try to get most of the bubbles out? Does it really make that much of a difference? I know French bread has a lot of holes in it. But I don't want holes in my loaf breads.


texts: Most of my cookware is aluminum. I've seen induction interface disks, but they are quite expensive. Would it work to use a small cast iron griddle as an interface disk for my aluminum pots and pans?


texts: What kind of foods react with aluminium pressure cookers?

texts:
While researching about pressure cookers, I found a comment in a review that says:

  As with all aluminum pressure cookers, the metal will react with some foods and can overheat if you are not careful [...]

This is news to me. Further research seems to mention only a couple of salient points:

Aluminium is very reactive in general
Acidic foods may react in a pressure cooker

Since I don't see myself puting lemons or tomatoes in a pressure cooker, I'm really at a loss as to why this could be an issue.

What foods commonly react in an aluminium pressure cooker, and what do I do about it?


texts: Is it worth making Thai red curry paste from scratch

texts:
I noticed that many Thai curry recipes start with a foundation of red curry paste.

My local grocery store has one, small, overpriced jar of the stuff. The Asian grocery store, located at a very inconvenient distance, has several varieties as you would expect.

I found very straight forward recipes for making the paste myself. However, they use ingredients that I would have to get from the asian grocery store anyway.

Is the quality and cost of bottled products comparable to what I can make myself?


texts:
In muffin recipes, the instructions often say to stir the mixture till "just combined".

Why does over-stirring the muffin mixture result in tough muffins?
And how do you know if you did too much stirring?


texts:
I have noticed and tried the practice of frying the combination of ginger and garlic pieces in oil/ghee at the very beginning, prominently in Indian cuisines. However, pungent taste from the uncooked pieces tends to sting at times.

I've also tried boiling the ginger and garlic pieces in small quantity of water and then used the reduced mixture (along with the liquid) during the preparation.

I want to know if it is effective way to extract the flavor or am I doing it wrong in either or both the ways?


texts: Cooking pot with lid for saving gas but that doesn't overflow?

texts:
I care about gas saving and for that I want to cook with the lid covering the pot. This allows me to reduce the fire power of the stove top (then using less gas).

I need to cook foods in cooking pots such as rice, noodle, etc. Everyone that cooks these foods know they tend to overflow and (also look at this for the why) if the lid is over, except if the fire is really low, (wich is indeed a possible solution to my problem, but read below).

Idea 1: Is there some ingredient (like salt) that reduces a lot the bubbles that overflow and doesn't affect compromise the food?

Idea 2 (I want this one): Is there a device that releases the pressure automatically when the pot is trying to overflow?

Edit clarification: It's unfortunate that I referred to the pressure associated with the heating boiling food inside the pot (wich is extremely small, but still enought to lift the lid (Is it or I'm wrong?) and pressure cookers in the same
post, wich have a HUGE pressure. This realization is important for me!

PD: Are we sure that my idea of releasing vapour periodically doesn't save more than just open? To me is not so cutting obvious, it needs a proof (sorry if it's basic thermodinamics, I'm ignorant on that).

PD2: This got all really good answers! I hope you don't get put off that Im not accepting right away, but I can tell you the discussion was very good!.

Is this device what I'm looking?


texts: What happens when you bake Winesap apples?

texts: In researching the answer to a question of why the apples in a pie became mushy, I noticed that two of my cookbooks contradicted each other on the Winesap apple, on whether it remains firm upon baking.  When the Winesap apple is baked, does it become mushy like a McIntosh or remain firm like a Granny Smith?  I have never used or even eaten a Winesap, so I was hoping someone had experience with them.


texts: Using dried cranberries instead of chocolate chips in cookies

texts:
Can I use dried cranberries instead of chocolate chips in my GF cookies?  Will it work the same?
If so, should I correct the sugar amount in the recipe?
Thanks


texts: What reactions require oxygen to impart flavour?

texts:
For most cooking, I like to keep the lid on the pot as much as possible, except if the technique requires otherwise (e.g. reducing a sauce). From what I can tell, most flavour comes from Mailliard reactions, which do not require oxygen.
Are there any reactions in food which require the presence of oxygen (i.e., lid off)? Of so, with what ingredients, flavours and/or techniques are these reactions associated?


texts:
Here is my white device, which has turned yellow on one side while cooking an over done cheese burger:

Does anybody know whether it is possible to turn it back to the white color?


texts: How to thicken a hot chocolate microwave recipe

texts:
I'm trying to perfect the low calorie hot chocolate that is thick as to the point of being almost pudding like or spoonable and easy to make in a microwave.

I'd like to base it on almond milk, cocoa, a stevia-sugar derivate (erythritol or splenda) and a thickening agent.

I've been experimenting with cornstarch, psyllium husks and xanthan and guar gum but haven't yet managed to make the ideal hot chocolate yet.

Any tips or advice how to achieve that consistency?


texts: Do induction cookers increase risk of cracking cast iron?

texts:
I recently purchased a counter-top, one element 1800W induction cooker, mostly just to see how well the technology worked compared to my gas range.

I took it out of the box and immediately threw about a half inch of water in a cast-iron skillet as a test and set the coil to max power. I noticed that the water began boiling almost immediately (impressive) but in very tight hot spots (two very clear concentric rings, presumably the shape of the coils or some magical physics property of the magnetic fields), taking a long time to spread to other areas (as expected with cast iron).

In fact, the hot spots heated up so quickly that the water was almost completely boiled before the handle had even a hint of warmth, and areas as close as a half inch or so to the hot spots remained cool to the touch for some time after the hot spots were hot enough to boil water.

My question is: Due to the rapid heating and large temperature differentials seen here, in practice does this lead to an increased incidence of cracking cast-iron with induction cookers? If so, what precautions should be taken (e.g. preheat cast-iron at a lower power first, only use cookware designed specifically for induction, etc.)?


texts:
I saw some expert advice for someone's problems with Choux pastry posted here:
Choux pastry (Chocolate eclairs) doesn't rise

I'm having problems with this 'cheat' recipe here:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/alvinzhou/these-cookies-cream-puffs-will-sexually-awaken-your-taste-bu?utm_term=.xlKDknqB4&bffbtasty#.qbNRvWeOl

The choux uses:

1 cup water
8 tablespoons butter
½ cup flour
½ cup of crushed Oreo cookie crumbs.
4 eggs (one at a time)

Judging by the advice on the other thread, this recipe was very unlikely to work.  It there any advice on what needs to change to make it more viable?

While I can use the advice on the linked post to make normal Choux, I'm confused if I can just adjust it by dropping the flour for cookie crumbs?

Or is it easier to drop the cookie crumb recipe and simply substitute some flour for cocoa to make a chocolate choux case?


texts: What do I need to consider when upgrading to a 40 quart mixer?

texts:
I have a cookie business. Currently I'm using a Kitchenaid 7 quart mixer and can only make 50 cookies at a time.
I'm thinking of upgrading to a Hobart HL-400 40 quart mixer. I selected this brand because they have a bowl scraper.

Do you think they will mix the dough as well as the small mixers?

Any advice on what useful accessories I could get for it? (other than beater + bowl + scraper)


texts:
I have made some celery soup following a recipe, however it is extremely bland can anybody help with suggestions of what I could add to it

1 potato (about 300 grams)
1 head of Celery
2 vegetable stock pots
600 ml water
125 ml of milk
1/2 tsp salt

It was a slow cooker recipe cooked on Auto for 5 hours


texts:
I have been trying to cook some new things, and I bought myself a good allclad skillet. I've tried pan searing fish a few times, using some hipster techniques I saw on YouTube.

I heat the pan pretty high, add in some peanut oil, and add the fish (already seasoned on both sides)

I leave it for a few minutes (med high heat) and then flip it. At that point, I added in a tab of butter, a crushed garlic clove, and some fresh herbs. As the butter melted I basted the fish.

The thing was, at that point the butter got really dark. Should I have lowered the heat, or done it more toward the end?

In this case since the fish filet was pretty thick I had the heat lower then when I cooked a bass filet, but had the same basic issue.

video

thanks.


texts: Over-proofed pizza dough, pâté fermentee?

texts:
So I made this pizza dough. I started it with a biga, then put it into the fridge for cold rise. Then I got kinda sick, and the dough stayed in the fridge for, like, four days. I’m afraid it’s over-proofed, and the yeast has crossed that rainbow bridge.

I’m gonna make the pizza anyway, but if it turns out that it is over-proofed, can I still use a small piece of it for pâté fermentee? Or is that just pointless?


texts: Does brewing hot chocolate for longer hours make a difference?

texts:
I've been to some stores that offer hot chocolate that has been "brewed for 2 hours". I've also come across the following recipe that instructs to let the mixture sit for 12 hours. What does this achieve? What actually happens?

Ingredients:

500g whole milk
100g 35% cream
140g Inaya™ 65%
40g sugar
20g Extra Brute

Method:

Bring the milk to a boil. Pour over the cream. Add the chocolate, sugar and cocoa powder. Let sit for 12 hours. Serve at 60°C.


texts: How do I fix a cast iron pot that was heated empty for hours?

texts: I left my cast iron pot on the gas stove, on high flame, and then forgot about it for 3 hours. It was empty and I was drying it before I oiled it to store it. After I discovered it and let it cool, I oiled it with a paper towel and all this rusty stuff came off and continues to come off. Is my pan ruined? What should I do?


texts: Is it safe to eat marinated beef that has been frozen for three days?

texts: What if I marinated beef with oyster sauce, salt, sugar, soy sauce, garlic and onion but put into freezer for 3 days. Is it still good to eat?


texts: What type of yoghurt should I use for making curry?

texts:
I've seen a lot of recipes specifying "yoghurt" when making an indian-style curry, but very rarely do they specify what type.

The problem is compounded for me in that I live in a country where I don't speak the native language, and their concept of what may or may not be yoghurt is possibly different from mine.

Is turkish yoghurt okay? Or should I look for something else? Or does it not even matter?

For reference, I'm intending to make a chicken korma or something along those lines.

Edit: I live in Sweden.


texts: Why is it so rare in the US to get kidney bean poisoning?

texts:
Background:

Do canned kidney beans contain Toxins?

BBB - Phytohaemagglutinin

Question:

From my searching around the Internet I've found that there's a lot of warnings about poisoning but hardly anyone (or in some cases no one) having been effected by the toxin in those that comment.*

This seems odd. Assuming each person in the US ate beans at least once a year and 98% effectiveness in the warnings I'd expect ~6 million cases in the US (roughly equivalent to car accidents) which should get some news I would think.

I saw on Reddit once (I don't know where and they had no supporting links) that beans in the US are mandated to be cooked before they get to consumers to remove toxins, so it's only raw beans (like from a garden) that would put people at risk. Which would make a lot more sense, with how safe they are to eat.

Can anyone substantiate this?

*I'm aware this is sampling bias, but still strikes me as odd that there isn't someone with a compelling story about it.


texts: Does it matter what order ingredients are sauteed in?

texts:
If I am making a stew say, does it matter if I dump in onions, garlic, bell pepper, tomato all at once or one by one?

My speculated reasons are:

Giving enough space for each ingredient will allow it to dry out and the maillard reaction or caramelization to take place
Ingredients have different 'hardness' so will take shorter or longer to break down. To get a similar consistency, each ingredient needs to be added at the right time


texts: When's the best time to buy a Thanksgiving turkey?

texts:
I know this is about buying, not cooking, but gathering your ingredients is the first step, and right now this is the one worrying me most.

I'll be cooking the Thanksgiving bird this year, due to my wife's work schedule. I know that in the past she's had issues with getting to the store after the entire selection is picked over, and having trouble finding any left that are the right size.

The tempting thing to do is just go buy one now and stick it in the freezer, but this early I'd worry about it getting frostburn in the intervening month.

So when is the best time to go pick out a turkey?


texts: Say I just ran out of self-raising flour. What can I add to plain flour to make the equivalent?


texts: Why is tofu so popular compared to tempeh?

texts:
The preference of tofu over tempeh is purely subjective. However, in the US many do not enjoy tofu (aside from perhaps breaded/fried) but do enjoy tempeh. In fact, many people have never heard of or tried tempeh.

Is there a reason tofu is ubiquitous and tempeh is still uncommon?

Note: This was observed in the US. Perhaps this difference is strictly regional.


texts: Why let your pie cool instead of eating it hot?

texts: I like most of my foods nice and hot. Is there a culinary reason for waiting for your pie to cool before serving? Or is it just to prevent burns?


texts: How to find/substitute dry corn with shell removed for stews?

texts:
In Cape Verde, this kind of corn is easy to find: dry yellow or white corn kernels. Years ago people had to pound it themselves to remove the shell; nowadays you can buy it at the store without any pounding necessary. It's definitely not the same as sweet corn.

This corn is used to make cachupa, a stew that's often considered the "national dish".

How can I find this in the northeast U.S.? What's it called? Or, if it's truly difficult to find here, what would be a good substitute?

When it's imported into Cape Verde, it usually comes from Brazil. Yoki is the brand I've seen most often, but their site doesn't list it. Sinhá does list it, as for "canjica" (according to Wikipedia, that's canjica a.k.a. mugunzá, not canjica a.k.a. curau.)

Wikipedia's article for cachupa says it's made with hominy, but I think someone was confused... hominy seems to be strictly from Central and North America, from what I've researched. There's "hominy" at my local store, but it's in a can, reinforcing my idea that this is not the same thing.


texts:
I made some biga and used it once. There were some left overs, so I added more flour and a bit of water. There is now a layer of water on top of it, after I left it for a few days.

How do I know if it is off?

Update:
I think I'm making alcohol. I opened it and it smells like alcohol. I've mixed in the "water" layer on top and added more flour.

Lets see what happens?


texts: Recommended lemon juice to water ratio when making lemonade

texts:
A lot of recipes I see call for lemon quantity but this can be very relative as some lemons differ in weight/size, thus yielding to different amounts of lemon juice.
For instance, if I wanted to make half a gallon's worth of lemonade, what would be the recommended ratio of lemon juice to water be? I tend to use about 2 cups of sugar to give you an idea of level of sweetness in half a gallon's worth of lemonade.


texts: How can I get the maximum flavor from orange peels?

texts:
At first glance this question might look like a duplicate of this one: How can I intensify the orange flavour in orange cake? it isn't. I'm making this cake for the second time:Orange Olive Oil Cake but I'm giving it a bit of a tweak and could use some advice regarding the tweak.

The recipe calls for two whole oranges, quartered, peel and all. The oranges are to be brought to a boil and drained twice, then simmered in syrup until the rinds are tender. Then the solids are drained from the syrup and pureed in a food processor, the batter is then mixed in the food processor with the orange puree.

The first time I made the cake I followed the recipe exactly and fell in love with its texture. I also loved the way the olive oil came through as an aftertaste. Unfortunately, my oranges lacked flavor and had very thick rinds. I knew going in that the orange flavor component of the cake was going to be lacking, and I was right. As far as orange, all I could really taste was the pith.

So, now I want to go solidly in the other direction. I want knock your socks off orange flavor with little or no "pithyness". Towards that end I have this: (that's grams BTW, tared weight)

I assume the original recipe calls for rinsing twice because the whole rind (including all of the pith) is included. Because I used a peeler, not a zester, I do have some pith, but not nearly as much.

Towards the end of the cooking of the puree I plan to add a couple of peeled oranges. No matter how I treat the peels, I think I can guesstimate to get the volume, consistency and level of sweetness I want. I need the peels tender enough to puree, I'd like to eliminate as much of the pithiness as possible, but I don't want to pour great orange flavor down the drain. I'm not even married to the idea of boiling the peels, I'd love to consider other methods.I want maximum orange flavor from these peels for a very flavorful cake. Any advice?


texts: How can I get dry rub to stick to cooked chicken?

texts: How can I get dry rub to stick to baked or deep fried chicken wings after I've cooked them?


texts: What is the puffy bread shown in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?

texts: My son is infatuated with the movie "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," and there's a delicious looking bread shown in a breakfast scene.  It looks like a giant popover about the size of Dick Van Dyke's head (see below.)  What is it?


texts: trying to rescue bland chicken soup that is already quite thick

texts: how do you save a bland chicken soup that's already quite thick? i made a chicken/leek/rice soup last night that has a nice thick texture but it's bland -- i definitely didn't use enough salt in the cooking process. i'm wondering if i sweat another onion in some chicken fat and/or butter, add the soup, a little more water, and some vinegar, that might bring out some more depth, but i'm a little concerned that adding more water will just reinforce the blandness. thoughts?


texts: Can you refrigerate unbaked quiche for baking the next morning?

texts: Can I put my quiche together the night before with an unbaked crust, refrigerate over night, and then bake it off the next morning?


texts: What is the name of this Venetian pastry?

texts:
I was recently in Venice and relaxed my vegan lifestyle to enjoy a local pastry. It was green, pistachio flavored and filled with almonds. It looked something like this (mine did not have chocolate):

Does anybody know what this pastry is called so I can learn how to make it?


texts: Special twist to make pasta noodles like the ones at Take Aways / Kebap Huts

texts:
You people out there are my last hope for finding my holy grail.
I have tried dozens and dozens of recipes - none of them came even close to what I am searching.

I look for a way to make noodles like they sell on Kebap Huts, Asia Take Aways and many
other shops. Not the slimy spongy likes - I have lots of recipes for them and can cook them
to perfection. Even the hand pulled ones.
No.
I look for the classic noodles, squared, about 2 x 2mm to 3 x 3 mm. Color like normal
classic italian pasta - but taste much softer and the surface will absorb sauces very nicely - which is important as they are fried in pans or on grills.
Squared seems to be important as they are done with a classic pasta machine where you roll the dough
and not press it through a hole - or even pull them.
I even thought it might be potatoe starch in there, cause the noodles have that fleshy soft kind
of touch. But at least the way I tried it was definitely the wrong one.
Lye water, baked baking soda - all kinds of flour. I tried so many things, I even can't remember all
I tried.

And yes, I looked on Google and not only there - does not bring me a milimeter closer to my goal.

There are no recipes except for the classic Asian Noodles - which are NOT what I am looking for.
I think it must be a special twist with the flour, or an ingredient I have not even thought of.


texts: I have two cookie recipes that I plan to enter into a competition.  Both of them call for dropping balls of cookie dough onto the sheet pan and then squashing them to 1/4".  If I want to make the dough ahead of time and freeze, can I roll the dough into a tube and freeze that way and then slice 1/4" slices when I'm ready to bake them?  Or is there a reason I should squash them?


texts: Why is store bought frozen food worse than homemade?

texts:
I made multiple dishes following recipes and froze them, and they tasted a lot better than store-bought equivalents.

Why does it happen? Isn't current technology capable of doing the same procedures that one would do in their house and freezing it?

Or maybe is that too expensive to have enough public buying it?

I thought that the worse taste of store bought product was merely the act of freezing but it looks that is not the case.


texts:
Big farm to table dinner coming up. I'm showcasing the vegetables that are readily available this season. There is a beautiful spruce tree on the farm that I'd like to incorporate into a brisket. I have already kicked myself in the butt for not picking the spruce tips and or collecting the pollen. Timing is everything, I have to wait until next spring. But, there are still the needles. I understand the potency of flavor. Bitter is what I want. Plenty of fat to balance. I'm pairing with a black IPA that has piney and citrus notes.

So, my questions are:

If I was to do a long cold smoke with the needles and or wood, how long and how "hot"?
Should I just simply braise the brisket with the needles? Or both?
Sap?
What are your thoughts on cooking with spruce?


texts:
I'd like to bake a Guinness flavored cocoa cake. My direction say to start by beating room temperature butter with brown sugar, then eggs and a mixture of flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Finally, incorporate the Guinness as it is. The picture show also the foam.

My question is: I'd like to heat the beer beforehand in order to have the alcohol evaporate; bring it back to room temperature and then incorporate it.

Do you think it will affect a good raising/cooking and the texture of the cake?


texts:
Currently, I pressure cook a whole chicken for 45 minutes to make stock. However, the meat falls apart very easily. My aim is to extract the inosinate from the chicken meat into the stock, but also minimise damage to the meat so that I can cube it for other purposes.
Would pressure cooking for a lesser amount of time help. If yes, could I have a rough estimate.
Also, would like to know your opinion on simply boiling the chicken for X amount of time to extract the inosinates. Would appreciate a rough time frame here as well.


texts: Sour dough using unbleached all purpose flour is very wet during the preshaping

texts:
My wife created her own sour dough starter. She’s been feeding it unbleached white flour. It’s doing great.
When she is making her dough during the first step she is using a recipe that calls for bread flour and whole wheat flour. However we don’t have bread flour so we are using all purpose flour.

She’s rested the dough a few times and when she is trying to work it in the preshaping step the dough is really wet and doesn’t seem to have good surface tension. She keeps adding flour to try to dry it out.

The dough basically is just flat on the counter...

What are we doing wrong? Do we need to adjust the recipe for the all purpose flour? Or work the dough differently?

update
I did more research and Cook’s Illustrated suggested holding the salt temporarily for 15 minutes. Salt hinders autolyse.  They found that delaying salt hastened gluten development by an hour.

ratios/recipe
400 g warm water
100 g sour dough starter
400 g bread flour (which we don’t have)
100 g whole wheat flour
Rest for 60 min
add 10g salt and 10g water
Repeat following 3x:
Then stretch and fold, etc.
Rest 60 min

After this the dough was as described in my post.


texts:
I sometimes fry vegetables and chicken, crack a couple of eggs into the pan and stir it all for a while. Serve as is, or with fried rice or noodles.

Does this dish have a common name?


texts: Cuisinart frozen yogurt recipes confusing

texts:
I just bought an ice cream maker (ICE 70) and it came with an instruction/recipe book, but the recipes for the frozen yogurt are confusing.

One example is like this

2 cups whole milk, plain Greek yoghurt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 cups frozen mango pieces
1 teaspoon lime juice

So on the first ingredient they say two different things, whole milk and yoghurt, but am I supposed to use both, or only one of these?

For example am i supposed to use

2 cups whole milk AND 2 cups yoghurt?

OR

2 cups combined whole milk and yoghurt (1 cup each)

OR

2 cups only of whole milk  OR 2 cups only of yoghurt (I choose which one)

Does anyone know?

The recipe says:


texts: How to make smooth ice cream flavored with fresh fruit?

texts:
What are the key techniques to create a smooth ice cream that's flavored with fresh fruit?  How do I prepare the fruit, and when is the best time to add it to the ice cream?

In the past, I've had trouble where all the juice came out of the fruit and I ended up with flavored ice.


texts: Is there a way to incorporate air into a gel made from starch and will the pockets of air stay when dehydrated?

texts: I'm experimenting with creating puff cereal at home. I was wondering if creating a gel, dehydrating it and then puffing it in an oven with high pressure is the only way. I actually had an successfull experiment with making a puff cereal mix mainly made of cooked starch, dehydrating it and then putting the dehydrated balls into the microwave. The remaining moisture made the balls puff into puff cereal and it actually worked quite well. This is a technique used for shrimp crackers as well. Now here is the catch. It works well, but only with a few balls at a time (one ball works best). This is due to the uneven distribution of radiation which causes some balls to puff quickly and others to take forever, while the other ones burn. So I'm thinking about other ways to incorporate air into the gel without using something like egg whites which would change the texture of the final product. The goal is to avoid the uneven cooking of a microwave oven while also avoiding the need for a professional puffing gun or extruder.


texts: How long is it okay to marinate pork ribs for?

texts:
I want to grill pork ribs for lunch on Sunday and usually I marinate them in the fridge over night (<18 hours). The supermarket only had "fresh" ones (usually I buy pre-packaged, which are good for a couple of days), so I asked if it was okay to keep them in the fridge until I marinate them tomorrow and the guy said:

Yes, better even marinate them today to add more flavor!

I've never heard/seen anyone marinate meat for more than maybe 18 hours, let alone almost 2 days. Is that really an okay thing to do?
The marinade is: 3Tbsp ketchup, 2Tbsp apple juice, 1.5Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1Tbsp honey, 1Tbsp BBQ sauce, 1.5tsp soy sauce, 1.5tsp mustard, 1.5tsp sugar, 1 onion and a couple of ground spices.
If it's not okay to marinate the ribs for that long, is it still okay to keep them in the bag in the fridge until tomorrow evening or should I rather freeze them now, then defrost them again in the afternoon tomorrow?


texts: Is there a Guide to non alcoholic ice cream floats?

texts:
Is there a guide to making kid friendly ice cream floats? In other words no alcohol content. Note that I come at it from an Australian perspective so ice cream floats from places like Mexico might not be as relevant as a focus on Australia or the UK or the US.

This could be a book or something else like a Youtube channel.


texts: What is the best marker for writing on glass?

texts: I am looking for a permanent marker for writing on glass spice containers that can endure being washed.  I thought of just using sticky paper labels but they will not endure washing.  Should I go for oil-based markers?


texts: Does lime juice make jalapeños less spicy?

texts: I make guacamole with a whole jalapeño and the last time it was hard to mash so I poured lots of lime juice in this time. It was hardly spicy at all. Did the extra lime juice make it less spicy?


texts: I just received a bread machine and I wanted to make a loaf of bread but I don't have powdered milk. Can I use whole milk instead of powdered milk?


texts: What vegan substitutes are available for cheese?

texts: Suppose I want a cheesy-tasting sauce that is vegan. How could I obtain this flavor (or something close to it) without using any actual milk or cheese?


texts: How can I know when my yogurt is ready (in a generic, basic, non-us yogurt maker)?

texts:
I've bought this yogurt maker (the only one I've been ever able to find in the country I'm living), and it only has a simple on/off button.

Somewhere in the manual, it's written that "Good yogurt takes eight to 15 hours, depending on the type of milk used."

Now I'm wondering how can I know when my yogurt will be ready.

The manual says:

  Preparation of the yogurts

  ...

  [ yogurt making instructions ]

  ...

  When the yogurt maker cools off (eight to ten hours after having turned on), make sure that the yogurts have been set. If they haven't, the starter culture did not have enough time to work: start over.

Instructions are really confusing on this point, and it's been something like 15 years since I used a yogurt maker, so I'm not such an expert in yogurt making at home. Does the maker cool off by itself, or do I need to turn it off?


texts: Is it possible to get vegetarian grana padano cheese?

texts:
My wife is vegetarian and, since meeting her, I've come to realise that all Grana Padano seems to be non-vegetarian. Is this really the case, or are my local supermarkets just not stocking the veggie stuff? Would be a shame for her to miss out on so many things (esp. pesto) just because of this.

Thanks.


texts: Refination processes for "whole" wheat and sugar in Italy

texts:
I heard several times that so called "whole" products (flour and cane sugar) are actually often (not always) built from refined ones "adding back" refined versions of what was taken out in the first place (e.g.: adding bran to white flour).

Purported reason for the above, apparently useless, procedure is some kind of legislative restriction for food health prevents using "really unrefined" products.

Is this a Urban Legend (i.e.: a hoax)?

Is there "something" true about this?

I wouldn't be surprised if this turns out to be a "half truth", meaning both practices are used, to some extent; in this case I would like to know what is the (approximate) proportion and, more importantly, if there's some tell-tale indication on label that can help discriminating (I'm in Europe, Italy).


texts: Is a jug of milk left out for 12 hours at room temperature safe to drink?

texts: I left milk out in a jug, bought brand new, for twelve hours.  Is it still safe to drink?


texts: I have an allergy to buckwheat. My father does not, and subsists on it. When he cooks it (in a glass pot), the whole house smells even as I turn on all the filters to max and open all the windows. What is the best way to cook buckwheat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasha) to minimize the smell? Is there anything that can be bought to filter it out?


texts:
I cooked parsnips for the first time this week (glad I did - delicious).  When the produce clerk pointed them out, I asked if he had baby parsnips instead (as the recipe called for them).

He pointed out parsley root, which looked very similar.  I did a search while in the store (and got in many shoppers' way), but could not find whether they were the same thing definitively.

A follow up question would be, if they aren't in fact the same thing, had I chosen to make this dish (roast veggies and chicken), how would the taste have differed for the parsley roots?


texts: Why do i need to proof the bread seam up if i pinch the fold? Most of the recipes say to do this on the couche and then roll over and slash .  I don't see any difference in the finished bread. As long as it's floured before slashing the loaf comes out looking great.


texts: What effects will xylitol have as a sugar substitute?

texts:
What effects does xylitol have when used in place of sugar?

Will replacing sugar with xylitol lower the calories in my candy?
Does it have a laxative effect if eaten in quantity?
Will my fruit gems benefit from other gums or thickeners added to the recipe? Or citric acid, wheat starch etc?

I am new to confectionery but making food stuffs and making cosmetics seems to be a kindred talent. Let's see if I am up to the task. Can't be too hard can it??? LOL


texts:
I was cleaning out my spice cabinet and deep in the back I found two packages (e.g., six envelopes) of active dry Red Star yeast that expired in March 2009, 15 months ago as of writing this question.

With the thought that dry yeast is basically freeze-dried and should have a decent shelf life, I proofed one envelope in warm water with some sugar to see if it really "expires". It foamed right up, so it seems like the answer is, at least for one year after the marked date, no.

Although in this case, does "expired" really mean "less effective" or "will taste funny"?


texts: Should I roast a rolled beef roast from room temperature?

texts: It is better to roast a rolled beef roast from room temperature? Or is it advisable to roast it straight from the fridge?


texts: I whipped some cream with soft peaks and put it in the fridge. A few days most of it has collapsed and is liquid. Can I re-whip it effectively without adding more cream?


texts: Substituting Sugar with Caramel Syrup in Baked Cheesecake

texts:
I want to cut out the sugar i use in my baked cheesecake and replace it with the caramel syrup i have.
the recipe is:

500 g cream cheese (~ 18 oz)
3 eggs
71.25 g butter
180 g sugar
18 g cornstarch

note that since me and my sister don't like the cheese cake too sweet we use about 95 g sugar instead (it is still too sweet for both of us).
how much caramel syrup should i use to substitute the sugar?
(I provide the nutrition facts picture below , though it is in german/french , which seems to contain 81 g sugar in a 100 g serving)


texts:
I'm trying to reduce a sauce I've got but I noticed something interesting.

When I raise the heat so the sauce is at a full rolling boil, there is barely any steam coming out so I presume there is little reduction happening.

However, when I reduce the heat to a slow gentle boil, there is quite a lot of steam coming off, so there is a lot more reduction happening.

Why is this the case?


texts: Can I freeze undercooked (pink) chicken to finish cooking later on?

texts: Cooked chicken breasts, thermometer was not working properly, so I thought they were done. Took out, let sit few minutes, cut open to discover most of the meat was slightly pink. I cut it up and froze it in small batches to use in the the next week or two. I had second thoughts about freezing in the first place but could not find any answers. Can you help?


texts: How do you deal with the hight heat of propane?

texts:
I have only cooked with natural gas in the past and now have a propane stove.

I find that it burns very hot and it is difficult to control the heat.

I have it turned down to the minimum, almost flickering out, and have stacked a second trestle iron below the pan and it is still difficult to manage the heat.

What can I do?

The cooktop looks similar, but not exactly like this:


texts:
I plan to adapt a chili recipe into a vegetarian one, and I plan to use seitan to get a bit of the umami flavor that the beef usually brings in the chili.

However, I usually build a fond in the bottom of my pot by browning the beef, to get more complex flavors. Can I do the same with seitan ? I fear that seitan will stick a lot to the bottom more than creating a good fond.


texts: Packaged fish in lots of liquid - is it safe

texts:
I was unable to get to fish mongers, and so bought 2 sealed packs of cod from the chilled section in a local supermarket (each pack had 2 loins, a total of 280g per pack). They were not purchased frozen.

I can't find the actual picture, but the packaging looks very similar to this (I've removed the make/producer)

The use by date is today and when I removed them from the fridge, I noticed a lot of liquid despite them being "sealed".

When I opened the package, each cod loin was in liquid.

I'm not a professional chef, but my understanding is that anything sitting in liquid is basically breeding ground for bacteria (hence why the advice is to defrost under running water).

I can't smell anything wrong with the fish - there is no fishy smell and the loins are white as one would expect.

Is there any way to tell if the food is spoiled or not before eating it?

As an additional question - does the fact there was so much liquid in each 280g pack of 2 loins (I would guess each pack had around 3 table spoons of liquid) suggest the fish was frozen?