texts: How do I reconstitute vacuum sealed Tibetan Barley Wine?

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Last month I stayed in a homestay in Sichuan Province that was owned and run by a Tibetan family. At dinner they served an amazing barley wine made from Tibetan barley that they called "qingke" barley. Though it wasn't as syrupy, it tasted a lot like port or sherry, owing to how sweet it was, but the taste was slightly more earthy than fruity. Anyway, we were thrilled to learn that they made this themselves and also sold dehydrated packets of the Barley Wine in their restaurant that would be easy to make at home. At the restaurant we bought three packets. Each one weighs about 350 g and is vacuum sealed. The barley inside is wet and I assume it is already fermented. The shelf life, according to the owner, is three months, and we bought it only a month ago.

There were no written directions, but the owner explained quickly how to reconstitute the wine. She said that 5 minutes in 1 kilogram of water (1 liter), hot or cold, would do the trick. She didn't mention sugar, but I assumed that if it was not sweet that I could add it to taste.

We came back home and opened a packet and dumped it into 1 liter of cold water and waited five minutes. We tasted it and it tasted like... nothing. Like water with a hint of something glutinous and vaguely fermented added in. Couldn't taste alcohol and it was not sweet, either. We decided to drain the water and pour a liter of boiling water over the mixture, but after five minutes the result was nearly the same. We tried sweetening at the end but all it tasted like was sugar water, nowhere close to what we had at the restaurant.

I've looked online and I can't find any resources on how to make this work. Can anyone tell me how to reconstitute vacuum sealed packets of Tibetan Barley Wine? Related information and tips would be more than welcome.


texts: I'm trying to cook eggs in a convection microwave. It is NOT using microwave to do it - I've made bread, pies, etc in it. Any recommendations on timing and temps?


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I was looking to make Marco Pierre White's Dory a la Nicoise, but John Dory fish is quite a high-end, pricey fish which you will find in many fancy and high-end restaurants – while I am happy to give the recipe a try, I'd like to use a more common/affordable alternative, as I am no professional chef who is looking to risk wasting the high cost.

Having looked around in different forums (e.g. flyertalk), I have seen it compared to Dover sole, but there isn't much else to go on, so I turn to the folks at cooking SE.

In terms of flavour and texture, what is a good alternative to John Dory fish? A cheaper, more common fish suggestion would be preferred.

Special consideration to the recipe and complimentary flavours involved will be thoroughly appreciated, but is not necessary, as I intend to respect the site's ethos for general Q&A rather than highly-specific and only relevant to me Q&A.


texts: Does anybody use a vintage Pyrex percolator on their stove?  Electric? Gas?  Is it 100% safe?  I just saw it in an old movie, which is what gave me the idea to look for one.


texts: Does the inside of a lid used to cook rice or steam vegetables have anything besides water on it?

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After cooking rice or steaming vegetables the inside of the lid used to cover the pot has water droplets on it - is it just water or do elements of the food make the lid "dirty" and require washing?
Edit:  I should have mentioned the assumption that the food has not made contact with the lid and that if the lid is removed after cooking and placed on the counter, the next day it has no visible residue on it.


texts: What are the two unnamed parts that came with new Char-Broil gas grill?

texts:
I just purchased a new Char-Broil gas grill today. It came with a manual, which I read before doing anything else. What puzzles me are two unidentified parts that are not mentioned in the product manual. Does anyone know what these two parts are called and what their purpose is?

Photo #1: Small metal item that came in bag with manual.

Photo #2: Metal piece hanging by chain from left side of grill.

Here it the item in better context.


texts: I use a lot of whole lemons in cooking and not sure whether waxed or unwaxed lemons are best.  I have used both but concerned about both coatings on lemons. I stopped using waxed lemons when I found unwaxed ones but they are treated with chemical fungicides and pesticides (Imazalil and propiconazol) for a longer shelf life.  These are toxic and carcinogenic! Where can I buy unwaxed and untreated lemons from?


texts: Boiled chicken breast skin tastes like soap

texts: I often buy full chicken in supermarkets and boil it. I noticed that its outermost breast skin part (only skin, and only that part where you would expect nipples) tastes like soap. At first I thought that maybe I didn't clean the dish-washing liquid from the fork completely or something, but then I realized that this happens with ALL chickens I bought... They were from different sources, of different sizes and complexity. Does any body know the reason? Thanks


texts: I saw the question on the site about preparing a wok, but I'm curious what kind I should get. I have heard of stainless steel, carbon steel, aluminum, etc. Also, there's a non-stick variety. I'm new to stir fry and will be cooking on an electric ceramic stovetop.


texts: Estimating sugar & cream for a coffee service

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I'm helping to organize a workshop, and we're planning on providing coffee ... but not being in the catering business (nor a coffee drinker), I really have no idea how to estimate these things.

I found on Giant Food's catering tips page, the following recommendations:

Plan on guests consuming a cup of coffee every 1.3 hours (3 drinks over 4 hours).
Coffee consumption peaks in the morning, late afternoons and after meals; coffee drinkers will usually consume 1½ cups each.
Don't forget cream and sugar and sugar substitutes!

I've also found an estimate of breakdown of caff/decaf/tea if male or female groups, and I've misplaced the link, but I had previously found a site talking about how the length of the breaks can affect how much coffee people consume (if they have 30 min, they have time to drink & get a refill).

... but I've been unable to find any recommendations on how much cream & sugar to plan for ... obviously, it's going to vary depending on how many people are watching their weight and possibly regional, but do any of you have rough guidelines?  (or better advice for the coffee estimates in general?)


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I don't have quinoa flour for a recipe that calls for 1/2 cup regular flour and 1/2 cup quinoa flour.  Gluten free is not necessary.

I have regular flour and whole wheat flour, which should I use for the 1/2 cup quinoa flour?


texts: Salads that are made of tomatoes, onion, chilli, coriander, salt and lemon

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Recently I've been making salads that are made of tomatoes, onion, chilli, coriander, salt and lemon. Then, I eat them with bread. I have no idea where this recipe is coming from. Do you have any suggestion on making recipes with these ingredients?

How can I improve this recipe, or make variations?


texts: Can I substitute fresh tomatoes for canned?

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I'm quite new to cooking. I want to make spaghetti and all the recipes I've found for spaghetti sauce so far have required multiple types of canned tomatoes. However, I only have fresh tomatoes, nothing canned. I do have the basic spices (garlic, sugar, salt, pepper, etc), just no canned tomatoes.
Should I just finely chop my fresh tomatoes and put them in a pan with the spices? Should I add water or some kind of liquid?


texts:
Picture yourself a flank veal-cut. The grease and silver tissue are off. I open the flank with a knife to extend it. It's filled with ground meat, apple and raisins. It's rolled and bound and goes into the oven at 50ºC to get the enzymes working full speed. It stays at 50ºC with high humidity for an hour.

Then, the dial goes to 180ºC until the center of the flank reaches 65ºC.

Result: the outside is overdone and tough to eat.

I'm guessing I could get better results taking the meat to 65ªC slowly, then let it cool before giving it a blast of heat to get a crust on the outside.

Normally, this kind of meat is seared first, and then stays in liquid on a slow fire for some time (braising). I wanted to obtain the same or better result the other way around.

Does anybody have any additional idea? Should I stick with braising, if so, for how long?


texts: How does adding one ingredient to a dish prevent another from burning?

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I hear this in cooking videos all the time. Make sure to add ingredient X to prevent ingredient Y from burning.
This could probably be applied broadly and the answer would be different depending on the situation, but I wanted to ask just incase its a rule of thumb.
Ex: https://youtu.be/gFk0LZi8qr4?t=98
In this video he says the peppercorns will burn easily, so add the ginger shortly there after to prevent them from burning.
Is there some sort of property of ginger, or is it that the ginger will cool down the oil slightly enough to prevent the peppercorns from burning?


texts: Why does water evaporate from curry better when you off the gas then heat again?

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When I cook curry I often try to make it dry.  When I try to simmer the water off I notice the water takes time to go and sometimes when i think its done i still see a little water in it.

However I notice that if I make a watery curry, when I reheat it over 2-3 days for a little time the water inside evaporates rapidly.

Does anyone know the reason for this?


texts: Why did my vegan croissants come out flat?

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I tried to make vegan croissants with the following recipe:

120g water
15g wet yeast (I used 7g dried yeast)
250g bread flour
30g sugar
5g salt
50g butter (I used vegan margarine (stork?))

The pic shows what I got (I’ll wait a moment while you laugh - hahaha)

Anyway- can anyone tell me why it happened - I think it’s because I did a straight swap from butter to margarine - and will be something about how the oils react (I’m literally just trying to work it out based on what I’ve read on google so far but I can’t seem to crack it).

Also because I used dry yeast instead of wet but I’ve seen you can make croissants without yeast so doubt it’s that alone... please help!?!

Would it be better to make my own butter for the croissant dough as I can’t seem to find a pre made one that has the same components (ratios) as butter... I’m based in London...

If I should make my own butter- which recipe would you suggest? I’ve tried three now and still no luck... I can’t seem to get the components to combine fully - which leads to solid butter chunks when I truly to use it for laminating the croissant dough...argh!


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I'm an amateur baker, been making bread weekly for about 9 months now, working out of Ken Forkish's "Flour Water Salt Yeast" cookbook mostly. I had something happen to my bread this week that I would like to understand.

I was making a recipe in the book called "Overnight White Bread" which takes a very small amount of yeast and then rises for 12-14 hours. As a variant suggested in the book, after shaping the loaf in the morning I placed the proofing basket in the refrigerator and then, after work, set it on the counter while pre-heating my oven (I bake in an enameled cast iron Dutch oven). This let it work with my work schedule.

The bread came out pretty good, with an excellent taste. It has great big holes, which this recipe does usually, but I notice that the bread itself sort of separated -- there were extremely big holes near the top of the loaf, but it was relatively dense near the bottom. Basically, it looked as if the bread collapsed some on the interior, but after the crust had already risen and solidified enough to hold itself up. As a side-effect, with just a few gluten filaments beneath it, the top of the loaf couldn't conduct heat away and so blackened more than I would like..

It's not a huge deal, but I'd rather have a more evenly-distributed loaf if possible. Why does this happen, and can I do anything to prevent it?


texts: Is there a technique to freeze gnocchi so they maintain their consistency?

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I've made gnocchi, let them dry for 2 hours over the counter, place them in a plastic container with extra flour inside the freezer.

Two days later I take them out of the freezer. After an hour the gnocchi were defrosted but sticky and a little bit darker.

Should I use semolina instead of flour after the gnocchi are shaped so they don't become sticky?

Should I use more flour for the dough I want to freeze?

Should I cook them before freezing them?

I used potato+flour+salt to make the gnocchi. No egg.


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We cooked some pizza last night and had a good time. However, the crust was limp. I was expecting to tap the bottom and hear the tap tap tap sound but it was too soft.
We have an Alphaforni 5 Minuti Wood fire oven running at 500°F. The temperature was measured using the built in thermometer. I had preheated the oven for over an hour.
The dough was sitting out of the fridge for about 2.5 hrs before we got it into the oven.
How can I get the bottom crispier?
What would cause such a soft bottom?


texts: How to keep a high hydration bread loaf from becoming flat

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Yesterday, I made a sourdough loaf with a high hydration (80%) and as usual, when I turned it out of its banneton, it simply couldn't hold its shape and became very flat; only about 1 1/2 inches at the highest point.

The recipe follows:
Sponge:
50g water
50g spelt flour
100g starter (100% hydration)

Sponge
344g water
230g whole meal spelt flour
230g strong white flour

Mix together ingredients for sponge; ferment overnight in fridge.
Mix water, flours and sponge together and knead until elastic.
Rise until it becomes 1 1/2 its original size.
Shape into a boule (for surface tension) and place in floured banneton.
Rise until doubled; turn out and bake.

Although I made the recipe up there is nothing unusual about it and this happens with other high hydration loaves. I know it is a high hydration but others have formed lovely boules. How can I also achieve these high boules?


texts: Home made Rice Milk that's not slimy or chalky?

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I'm wondering if it's possible to make rice milk at home that's similar in texture/taste to Rice Dream rice milk.  Most recipes online are really similar to each other, essentially being, blend some rice with some water, and (either after straining or not, and sweetening or not) enjoy.  The two major differences seem to be with the rice being cooked before blending, or raw and soaked overnight before blending.

Having tried both now, here's what I feel:
- Cooked rice seems to leave the Rice Milk with a viscous/slimy texture
- Soaked raw rice seems to leave the Rice Milk with a chalky/powdery texture

Both of these, even after straining multiple times through a nut milk bag.  The second option seems slightly better to me, just because the slimy texture makes me want to gag, but using cooked rice seems like the more popular option online, so maybe I'm missing something.  I noticed none of the recipes call for salt or oil, both of which are listed ingredients in Rice Dream.  I'm not sure if that would make a difference for the texture.

Does anyone out there have any experience making Rice Milk and know how to make a decent tasting (or at least, decent-textured) batch at home?


texts: i use canned peaches, pears and pinneapple in some of my sauces. I usually cook the fruit with the sauce. Would there be a difference in flavor if I was to cook the sauce then blend the fruit at the end instead of cooking it. Guess I'm wondering if the fruit flavors would have a more fresh and apparent flavor in the sauce.


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Always when I make waffles or pancakes the dough of it gets dark after a few hours. It looks like having black sprinkles.

Why is that and how long can I still use it?

The ingredients I use for waffles are:

250g sugar
250g margarine
500g flour
5 eggs
500g milk
baking powder
a shot of rum

And for pancakes I use almost the same

sugar
flour
eggs
milk
baking powder

It will get darker - it is still pretty fresh.


texts:
I'm learning to cook, and would like to pan-fry a lamb chop. I tried it yesterday, using a tempered chop and some EVOO in my medium-high heat stainless steel frying pan.

The result was kind-of OK -- just a bit rare for my liking. The oil smoked as soon as it hit the pan, and the room was very smoky by the end of it.

So, which oil would be best for pan-frying a lamb chop? Assuming I properly control the pan temperature this time!

Thanks


texts: Why do some recipes recommend Kosher salt?


texts: Why does honey prevent porridge congealing?

texts: I like my porridge cold so I typically prepare it in the evening and store it in the fridge for breakfast the following morning. My recipe normally includes 1/2 tbsp of honey for sweetening. When I remember to put it in, the cold porridge next morning has a nice goopy consistency that is easily stirred with a spoon. If I forget the honey, though, the porridge seems to congeal or set into a thicker, more jelly-like consistency, which can be broken up but not stirred so easily. What is it that makes the honey have this effect, and does it do something similar to other foods?


texts: Fresh vs Canned tomatoes in Indian cooking

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How does fresh and canned tomatoes compare in indian cooking?

I usually see recipes call for pureed or finely chopped tomatoes, which are added after the initial stage of frying the spices and onion. As I cook ALOT of Indian food, buying canned pureed tomato would save me loads of work, though I'm wondering if this would lead to a compromise in taste. (Or perhaps an enhancement of taste as canned tomatoes are riper? I read that Italian cooking usually is better with canned tomatoes...). Also, as canned tomatoes are usually peeled, I would get the added value of not having tomato peels swimming in my curry.


texts: Dangers to continuing to cook an unfinished torte?

texts: I made the mistake of assuming a torte would be done when the timer went off.  I removed it from the oven and turned off the heat.  Forty minutes later I discovered my error.  Is it safe to reheat the oven (sans-torte) and continue cooking from where I left off?  Are there any risks to doing this generally in baking?


texts: How do I properly cut a bell pepper into a medium dice?

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I often cut bell peppers up for uses in chili, stir-fry, salsas, salads, or any other similar use. What type of knife should I use and how should I cut it? I'm most interested in the techniques associated with efficiency and safety.

Here is an example of what I'm trying to achieve:


texts: Kimchi versus pickles: sterilized containers?

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I've been reading up on how to make fermented foods and noticed something interesting - many of the recipes I've seen (pickled cucumbers, etc.) go to great lengths to warn about using sterilized jars or pressure canners, while recipes for kimchi never warn at all about this.

Is there something different about kimchi that makes sterilized equipment not necessary?


texts: How close are store bought broths and stocks to the real thing?

texts: Many of the sauces I wish to make require broth or stock. I quite fear the preparation which requires lengthy cooking and dedicating more precious storage space for the finished ingredient. Is using store bought broth or stock a good alternative? How close does it come to the real thing?


texts: What does the ash content of broken wheat really mean?

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I purchased some broken durum wheat (also called lapsi or daliya in India) to make upma and was shocked to find that it contained ash.

It seemed silly that someone would deliberately mix ash into broken wheat, and this site says it's not mixed in the flour, but is just a measure of the percentage of non-starch parts the wheat has. But as per this website:

  The ash content of white pan bread flour has increased over the years
  from 0.45% in the 1950s to the current level of 0.50-0.55%. This has
  undoubtedly resulted from negotiations where the miller has agreed to
  the flour buyer’s price but only if he can raise the ash content of
  the flour a couple of points (0.02%).

How can anyone raise the ash content at will? This almost sounds like someone is adding 0.87g ash per 100g of wheat, but I reasoned it speaks of the amount of residue produced by the milling process. Am I right? I was just concerned about "ash", since when I tried washing the broken wheat, I had to wash it more than double the number of times I wash brown rice (that's at least 7 times for brown rice), for the water to finally become clear (I hope it isn't necessary to wash it so many times). Everytime I poured in water to wash it, the water turned a whitish grey, which made me think it was ash :-)


texts: Is there any way to tell beforehand if you will get food poisoning from a meal?

texts: I was watching the news and saw an entire family of young kids on a road trip dying from food poisoning after they had stopped to grab lunch at a small diner. Could they have known this would happen within the first few bites?


texts: Can I use an electric smoker without wood chips as an oven to cook a ham?

texts: I'm cooking a big dinner. I am wondering if I can use my electric smoker without woods chips like a second oven so I can free up space in oven inside. Will it cook my ham well? I don't want to smoke my ham.


texts:
I have found these veggie burgers that bleed; but as we can see the price is hefty (~$62 for 5 lbs). I want to replicate them at home. They would have to be very convincing - ideally, the person eating them will not recognize that they ate a plant product and not meat without being told.

What techniques and (vegetable-derived) ingredients can I use to imitate a real, bleeding meat burger?


texts: What kind of oven do they use on the GBBS? When they tell the oven temperature, they follow the number with the word "fan". Is this a convection oven?

texts: What kind of oven do they use on the Great British Baking Show? When they tell the oven temperature they follow the number with the word "fan". Is this a convection oven?


texts: What's the purpose of adding water to an egg wash?

texts:
Many recipes I've seen call for beating a tablespoon or so of water in with the egg for an egg wash.

What is the effect of adding the water to the egg wash when baking?


texts:
Patient: Brioche. Dry like a croissant. Huge air bubbles.

120 g all purpose flour
96 g heavy cream
1 egg
10g yeast
salt
10 g sugar

Mixed ingredients with lumps, 16h in the fridge, 5h in room temp, into the warm oven meanwhile.

So, how do you think, what did I do wrong?


texts: How do I bring out the garlic flavor in an oil base?

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I make a lot of Indian food, so the preparation begins with a base made of onions, ginger, and garlic. I start by frying the onions in oil and then adding ginger and garlic as the onions begin to brown. Then I cook both until the onions are thoroughly browned and the citrus smell of the ginger fades.

I can't taste the garlic in my food though. I am careful not to burn the garlic... is there anything else I should look out for?


texts: We were on vacation for a week. The neighbor said we were out of power the whole time.  We have a chest freezer full of beef. It thawed but remained in the freezer unopened the whole time. Is the meat bad if it is thawed but still cold? Can we refreeze it and eat it?


texts:
When baking a standard loaf in my Bread Machine, the top of the loaf seemed to collapse back in at some point, and instead of coming out with a nice rounded top, it looks like this:

I've tried:

More yeast
Mixing in some self raising flour
2 tsp Lemon Juice
Avoiding the timer settings
Chopping butter into really small pieces

The standard setting is a four hour bake, the machine is windowless so I can't tell if a particular stage is at fault. The bread is still edible and tastes fine.
The recipe is the most basic from the book that came with the machine

3/4 tsp yeast
400g strong white flour
1 tsp sugar
15g butter
1 tsp salt
280ml water


texts:
I have a gluten free recipe to make waffles:

2 cups gluten-free all-purpose (plain) flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Since I wont be able to eat them all in one sitting and I would like to make this once and last a few days to save time cooking every day. Would it be ok to refrigerate them for up to 2-3 days? Or maybe try to keep the batter?


texts: Which cooking device allows flexible temperature programming?

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A typical electric oven seems both an overkill and insufficient to make baked milk or a home made diary product like joghurt or matzoon.

overkill: too big, energy consumption, might be needed for many other things if blocked for ours
insufficient: rarely can be set to support say 25°C to sustain bacterial life, mine anyway not.

Do you have an idea how is a better suited, autoclave like, cooking device actually device called?!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baked_milk

P.S. for diary products only, I didn't know there are indeed autoclave-like kitchen joghurt makers, they mostly support fixed temperatures, but typically not beyond 45°C. For baked milk, you need 70°C.


texts: How can I salvage jelly that does not set?

texts:
This is related but not a duplicate of this question.

Apparently, I used fresh kiwi and mango in my jelly, and now it does not set. I know what I did wrong; but what can I do about it?

E.g. Can I add gelatin powder to the mixture to improve the chances of it setting?

I know that as a last resort I can probably take the fruit out and consume them directly, but then the jelly would be wasted (drinking sugar syrup is...not very pleasant).


texts: I enjoy stuffed bell peppers, but while green peppers are substantially cheaper than red or yellow, they're also more bitter. Reading on the web, it looks like peeling the pepper will reduce the bitterness. Can I use this technique for this application, or will that also destroy the integrity of the pepper, making it unsuitable for stuffing?


texts: Cream Cheese vs Yogurt Cheese: what / how much difference does the bacteria make?

texts:
This recipe for homemade cream cheese looks extremely similar to making yogurt and then straining it.
In fact, the final step for culturing the milk goes:

After 12 to 18 hours, the cheese should look like yogurt (solid if tipped but still relatively soft). You may see some whey separating from the cheese. The whey is a mostly clear liquid.

The 'main ingredient' in both cultures are again, just different varieties of Lactic Acid Bacteria (plus sugars and rennet for cream cheese)

Cream Cheese Starter Culture: Sucrose, maltodextrins, lactic bacteria (Lactococcus lactis subsp. Lactis, Lactococcus lactis supsp. cremoris), Rennet
Yogurt Starter Culture: Bifidobacterium lactis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus

Upon following the same procedure as given for creation of cream cheese, with yoghurt culture +/- Rennet, what exactly would be the difference in the two cheeses as compared to each other?
I ask instead of experimenting because I'm having a hard time getting my hands on some cream cheese starter culture, so I'm hoping to get a voice of experience on this subject.
Note: There's a related question asking about usability of 'yoghurt cheese in cheese cake', but I'm more interested in knowing what the differences in the resulting cheeses would be, rather than just substitutability.


texts: In the light of the confirmed case of BSE in Scotland, is it safe to eat beef?

texts:
There have been a number of recent news reports of a case of BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or 'mad cow disease') being confirmed in Scotland.

I was wondering if there are any potential risks to human health from eating beef, either in the UK or elsewhere in the world.


texts: Which cheaper cuts of beef are suitable for steak tartare?

texts:
I am eating a lot of steak tartare, and usually making it from the tenderloin (called filet in some countries). But the tenderloin is expensive. I've made it from beef round once and it was fine too, and I read its also being made from sirloin.

Are there any other cuts of beef which would be suitable for steak tartare, especially focusing on the more inexpensive ones?

What makes a cut suitable for steak tartare or not?


texts:
What is the difference between cocoa powder and cacao powder? Can they be used interchangeably (taste and function the same)?
I understand somewhat the processing difference. It's like cold vs hot pressed oils, cocoa is "hot pressed" and cacao is "cold pressed" so I would imagine that you wouldn't get some of the roasted flavors in cacao. I tried eating some plain powder of both. Bitterness was about the same, and the cocoa seemed a little chocolatier but kinda hard to tell from eating dry powder.

I'm not asking from a health perspective, only from a culinary one.

The 2 products I am comparing are standard Hershey's cocoa powder vs nativa cacao powder  https://thrivemarket.com/p/navitas-organics-organic-cacao-powder

This is in the eastern USA.


texts: Tool/shears for cutting the backbone out of turkey

texts:
Because I like the dark meat of turkey cooked differently than the white meat, this year I cut my Thanksgiving turkey into parts for cooking and it turned out great. I don't plan to ever roast a whole turkey again. However, cutting the backbone out of my small, ~13lb (~6kg) turkey was really difficult. As a matter of fact, I badly sliced my finger doing it with standard kitchen shears and a knife. To make things even more difficult, my dominant hand has a bad tremor and both hands are weak.

I have a much larger (~20lb, ~9kg) turkey for Christmas.

I've read reviews of kitchen shears, and even the highest rated just don't look strong enough for the job especially considering my difficulties. The ones that look close are ludicrously expensive.

I'm thinking that I might have better luck at Home Depot. If I buy a tool to use for cutting poultry bones, I would only use it for that purpose.

What might do the trick for me? Any advice regarding technique would also be welcome.


texts: Making spice pastes with a food processor

texts:
I've had call to make spice pastes by using a food processor. Rather than using the full-sized bowl, which is way too big, my food processor has a milling attachment designed for coffee beans. However, whenever I try making spice pastes in this, it only gets so smooth before becoming clumpy and the blades effectively spinning at nothing. (Ginger and coconut are particularly bad at not reducing down further than grit.)

Adding more water usually helps to make a finer paste, as it forces everything together somewhat and causes the mixture to act more as a liquid than a powder. However, that makes the paste too wet (it's a paste, not a sauce, after all!)

Is a food processor/mill not the right tool for the job, or am I just doing it wrong?


texts: What is the simple method to avoid the scab from hand after pealing colocasia roots.?

texts: I used simple knife for cutting  roots, while cutting them scab starts on my hands. I can used coconut oil on my hands before start cutting them but it was not effective tell me some methods to avoid this


texts: I bought some pork loin chops and went to open the package and part of the meat was really squishy. I repackaged it and put it in the freezer to throw away later. I didn't notice any smell but didn't get too close to it and it looks fine otherwise. The best before date is three days from now. Is it common for meat to get squishy like this? I don't think it was tenderized. Thanks!


texts:
This recipe for seafood paella says to add mussels, prawns, squid and monkfish to the paella pan 5 minutes before finishing, stir and then cover with a lid.

I made this twice and I have never been able to cook the seafood in 5 minutes. The mussels will still be closed, and prawns doesn't look red throughout. On the second try, I let it cook a bit longer and overcooked the seafood, which shrunk into a very small size.

How can I tell if the seafood is done? How long do I generally have to cook seafood for in a covered paella dish?


texts: Turning a sweet cake into a savoury one: What should I swap in place of sugar?

texts:
I am looking to turn the following recipe for pumpkin bread into a savoury one. i.e. I want to get rid of sugar (which in this case is maple syrup). I think that sugar will add to the loafiness of the bread. I have thought of using eggs as this might add the extra moist and structure that sugar seems to facilitate - but I might be wrong, and I am still very confused by the research I have done. It also seems that sugar and eggs complement each other, so I am not sure if eggs alone are the solution.

As per above, I don't care about the cake being vegan (just gluten free). So all suggestions are welcome.


texts:
What kinds of milk are low in carbs? I have heard about coconut milk but I'm not sure what's best.

PS: I am from India, maybe someone might want this info:-)


texts: How does the number of eggs affect a cookie recipe?

texts:
If a chocolate chip cookie recipe calls for two eggs and I add three eggs, what will the effect be on my cookies?

Likewise if it calls for two eggs and I only put in one egg what will the effect be?


texts: Does the fatty acids in olive oil convert into trans fatty acids when heated?

texts: There is not much I can add on the title without going off topic, just was wondering about it.  Any seasoned advice?


texts: What are the benefits of stewing on the hob over cooking in the oven?

texts:
When slow-cooking something like shin of beef in a gravy, what is the difference between cooking it on the hob and cooking in the oven?

I tend to use the oven for slow-cooking but a lot of recipes tell you to stew on the hob. Is there any particular reason for this?

Thanks


texts: Kosher salt vs. Table salt for rib eye steak

texts:
I don't have any Kosher salt on hand and I'm cooking a rib eye steak tonight. Can I just use table salt, or would that drastically effect the taste of the steak?

Why is Kosher salt better to use?


texts:
My (garden) pot is overflowing with oregano. How can I preserve it to use later?

Is it possible to preserve rosemary not in fat - butter or oil? If I have to use oil, what kind has the least inherent flavor but will take on the rosemary flavor strongly?


texts: Is it ok according to established practice to serve a salad in addition to crudités?

texts: I'm going to have a party and I was wondering if it is ok to serve both or if just one or the other should be served.


texts: I've seen a number of bean pastas that have pretty close to a 1:1 protein/carb ratio. For example, this black bean pasta has 23g carbs and 25g protein per serving. On their own, black beans have a much lower protein/carb ratio (less than 1:2). Considering black beans are the only ingredient in the pasta, what accounts for the nutritional difference?


texts: What kind of flour keeps bread dough from sticking in a proofing basket?

texts: When proofing down in a bread basket (not just a smooth bowl), what kind of flour keeps the dough from actually sticking?  Is there a technique that works?  Normal wheat flour seems to be to readily absorbed and then its a nightmare to get unstuck.


texts: Can you make caramel with evaporated milk?

texts: So I love cooked sweetened condensed milk (caramel, dulce de leche, all that).  It's really simple to make - just cook the stuff for a while - and it tastes awesome.  That said, I could really stand it being a little less sweet (not a carb thing, just a taste thing).  So I was wondering - can I use evaporated milk to make something similar?  And if not, is there a way to make cooked condensed milk with a bit less sugar?


texts:
I tried searing tilapia as a steak on the stove like I do with salmon... Big mess.

I dropped it on boiling hot olive oil. All the skin stuck to the pan and I did not manage to get a medium rare at all.

How do you sear tilapia as a steak? There is nothing on YT about the subject.


texts:
Anyone who likes (or hates) spicy food has been in the situation: You're at a restaurant, your mother-in-law is preparing dinner, or you're preparing dinner for your best friend, and the question comes up:

  How spicy do you want it?

But how can one answer (or ask) this question unambiguously?

I'm aware of the Scoville scale, but that applies to a specific (dry) ingredient in a recipe, and not the finished dish (which will typically dilute even the spiciest of peppers).

Restaurants often rank dishes from 1-5 "stars", "peppers", or other units of spiciness, but even this rating system varies greatly by country, region, or even the specific restaurant. What is "5 star spicy" in the Netherlands, might be "2 star spicy" in the midwest USA, for instance.

Is there any unambiguous way to discuss the spiciness of a dish?

I don't mind if I need to take 5 minutes to explain this method to my mother next time I cook for her, or to the waitress next time I order a Phad Thai. The key is that it must be (mostly) unambiguous in communicating one's preferred level of spice/hotness in a dish.

Does such a thing exist?

As an analogy, one might describe a beverage's or dessert's sweetness in relation to a commonly-known item, such as table sugar, honey, or even a Coca-Cola.  "I want a sweetened iced tea, but only half as sweet as a Coke."  While not precise, this is (basically) an unambiguous request. A similar, common point of reference to use when discussing spiciness would satisfy me.


texts: How to achieve a super leavened cake as the Pierre Herme ones?

texts:
I made several cakes in my life. I know the difference between different leavening agents. I know that low temperature tends to make flatter cakes, but I never could get this kind of shape. If I use a super hot oven I burn the surface and I don't get this shape, there must be something else. Does anyone have experience doing this? Does anyone have a recipe from any modern pastry chef showing this kind of cake? Maybe gluten content in the flour could help?

Thank you


texts:
I make a lot of tofu and soy milk from soy beans, leaving me with a lot of okara as a by product.
"Okara, soy pulp, or tofu dregs is a pulp consisting of insoluble parts of the soybean that remain after pureed soybeans are filtered in the production of soy milk and tofu.
...
Due to its high moisture and nutrient content, okara is highly prone to putrefaction, and this has limited its commercial use" - Okara - Wikipedia
It's high in protein and other nutrients, so is a shame to leave to waste, but it's not something that can be stored as-is for very long, it starts to go off after a day or so.
The only feasible options for long term storage are freezing, or as I have found - dehydration.
I stick it in the oven spread out on a tray at 100c for a few hours, stirring occasionally. Then blend the resulting clumps into a kind of soy flour.
The resulting flour is useful for all kinds of things - adding to protein shakes, using a 50/50 mix with wheat flour to make bread, adding into oat porridge, etc.
Can I expect to store the flour for just as long as other more common flours such as wheat flour? Do I need to worry about oxidation? (Soy beans are high in oils).


texts:
I've also been surprised by how fast asparagus heats up in the microwave. Is there a particular reason for this?

My understanding is that microwaves heat by transferring energy into the "polar" molecules (like those of water, oils) of a food. Is there something about asparagus that lends itself to this in a way that, say, peas/beans or certainly not potatoes, do not heat as fast?

Other reasons I could see this being the case:

I coincidentally happen to add oil or some other additive to asparagus more often when microwaving, and this is the real cause of the difference
There's no particular heat-transfer difference, but rather asparagus simply cooks faster given the same amount of heat generated

Does any one know the definitive answer(s) here?


texts: Can a semisweet chocolate be substituted with a belgian chocolate?

texts: Can I use belgian chocolate as a substitute for semisweet chocolate for baking brownies?


texts: So a reacipe for mochi balls says to have the shiratamako mixture in the microwave for 1 minute, but i don’t have a microwave, i have a toaster oven. So basically ; 1 minute microwave=__minute(s) in toaster oven.  Thanks.


texts: Are egg-less pasta typically made with durum flour?

texts:
When making an egg-less type of Italian pasta, which type of flour should I use for the dough?  And why?
Or, can you make decent egg-less pasta using all the same types of flour from pasta recipes which include egg?

I was skimming pasta recipes and videos (such as pasta grannies) and was under the impression that durum flour is the way to go when making eggless types of pasta, but couldn't find any articles discussing why this would be the case.


texts: The cookbook I'm using tells me how to make a sourdough starter, but not how to feed it after I take out what I need for the bread. What do I do with the starter once I've used some? I don't think I'll use all of it at once.


texts: Why do you need raw milk to make butter?

texts:
I was reading about making butter at home and all the recipes called for raw (I presume this means unpasteurised) milk. Why is this?

They also said to wait for the cream to separate from the milk. I've never seen this happen - is there something about pasteurisation that stabilises the emulsion?


texts: Cooking brined green peppercorns to be soft

texts:
In my green pepper sauce I use brined green peppercorns. The supermarket has changed brands and the new one has seemingly fresh picked/uncooked corns in a brine.

I start my sauce by simmering dark beer and immediately add the peppercorns. With the new brand of peppercorns, as it simmered, the peppercorns were still hard/fresh after many tastings and adding water for the longer simmering time. The simmer time was about an hour.

Is there a better way to cook the peppercorns?

After the peppercorns are soft I add the rest of the recipe.


texts: Why is the pasta often cooked in the sauce in al'arrabiata recipes?

texts:
I looked up some recipes for pasta al'arrabiata, and one part I find a bit confusing is that most of them finish cooking the pasta in the sauce. So you cook the pasta separately until it's almost done, and then mix it with the sauce and finish cooking. I'm used to simply cooking the pasta and the sauce each for themselves, and only then mix them.

I'm an inexperienced cook, and this part adds some complications where I'm wondering if they're worth it or if I should simply cook the pasta and the sauce separately as usual. I'm comfortable with cooking the pasta alone to something resembling al dente, but mixing them both just before they're finished and then cooking both together makes this more difficult. I also usually use a rather small pot for the sauce, so I'd have to adapt that as well.

So, I'm wondering what the purpose of this step is, and whether I should just cook sauce and pasta entirely separately.


texts: What quantity of baking powder satisfies a mass of size x?

texts: I have always had a question when it comes to "how many grams of baking powder to use for that amount of cake I made." I would like to understand if there is any kind of proportion and if there is technique where I can always make changes based on it. Without ever having to rely on a ready-made recipe.


texts: My current method for making an Indian dal include using whole peeled tomatoes, almost always canned. Would substituting Tomato Paste, the thick stuff from cans, change the taste, and if so, how? I don't mind the change in texture


texts: How do I avoid gummy, unworkable pasta dough?

texts: I've tried several times to make egg pasta from scratch. No matter how much flour I add or how much I knead, the result is the same: the dough is too sticky to pass through a pasta roller or even to roll out by hand. Last night I tried a friend's extruder machine, and the extruded noodles just gummed together before I could even cut them off. What should I be doing differently?


texts:
Good afternoon all!
Just a query regarding making your own chocolate, I literally did the exact same process yesterday and it turned out great, however the batch today has ended up a disaster.

Let me explain my process:

1 cup cacao butter melted in a double boiler (I was very careful to make sure no water gets in)
I then added 1/2 cup of honey, vanilla extract, pinch of salt, 1tsp soy lecithin powder, and 1 cup of cacao powder, and mixed in the double boiler.

The consistency is now very fatty, as opposed to silky and smooth which is what I got yesterday.
The mixture isn’t consistent, it’s clumpy and then really thin liquid inside there too, which prevents it from all blending together smoothly.

I was pretty confident I got no water in, the only thing I can think of is maybe I cooked it at too high of a temp? Did I need to wait for the butter to cool before mixing the ingredients first?

Any suggestions appreciated!!


texts: Can handmade pasta be more than just flour + eggs?

texts:
I'm getting into making my own pasta, and the recipes I see are basically:

  Mix eggs and flour together, roll/cut/cook

I'm wondering if there are ways to make the pasta any fancier/tastier? Or do we simply stick to flour and eggs, and put the flavours into the sauce instead?


texts: What causes curding in this case: heating milk with large quantities of sugar

texts:
Yesterday I decided to try to make dulce de leche or caramel. I did not follow a recipe: I was as curious to see what would happen as I was hungry for sweet, caramelised, milky sugar.

I mixed semi-skimmed milk with a large quantity of white sugar in a saucepan and heated gently. The ratio was roughly 1:1 by volume.

Within minutes (and long before the mixture was at all hot) smooth, silky shapes began to form in the mixture, which at this point was still roughly half milk and half undissolved sugar.

The silky shapes soon coagulated and grew harder and chewier over time. The milk had obviously curdled.

I haven't come across any other references to sugar curdling milk in this way. I have only seen it referenced as a 'stabiliser'.

I assume that the curdling was made more likely by my milk's low fat content. I was not stirring constantly. But I'm not looking for a fix, just for understanding. I didn't really want to get it 'right'.

So, could someone please explain what most likely happened here? Is it simply that milk heated with a high enough proportion of anything that dissolves in water will separate and curdle within minutes? Or is is something specifically to do with sugar?

Specifically, what was it about the sugar that I added that caused the milk to curdle (the amount? something else?), and what is the nature of the curdling process? (The second question has been answered elsewhere, but it may be relevant in answering the first, which has not been asked elsewhere).

Thank you for any advice. I know that next time, when I follow a recipe and want to get it absolutely right, I'll have a better understanding of what's going on, thanks to your answers.

P.S. In the end I strained the mixtures, reserving the very sweet solids, and continued to reduce the sugar/milk liquid mixture until I ended up with something very similar in taste, colour and consistency to condensed milk.


texts: French Red Rice (Camargue) versus Italian Red Rice (Rosso Selvaggio)?

texts: Could anyone here who has had both Camargue and Rosso Selvaggio rices tell me about how they compare? I'm not sure if they're basically the same thing or not. Thanks.


texts:
I live in a small town in Argentina and there is no special rice available for cooking with milk, like I am used to buy in Germany.

Which sort of rice is best for cooking with milk. It should get really soft while cooking.


texts:
I got into an argument about liver when I saw someone boil a tub of chicken livers by pouring the entire contents of the tub (blood) into a pot without rinsing the liver.  I always though that the rinse was required for health reasons (and to also improve the flavor.)  The other person insisted that she preferred the flavor of liver when it is prepared in this manner.  I think she may be getting defensive about her cooking methods, but is this a safe practice?  Is rinsing required or just preferred?

I like my liver rinsed, but is there anything unhealthy that could make me sick if I just dump the tub (straight from the store) into the pan an cook it all (this is how my girl friend insists on cooking liver.)


texts: What Aromatic Fragrance that can be used in mouth fresher?

texts:
i am making mouth fresher(Paan Mukhwas in Hindi) in my home and for that one of ingredient is written as Aromatic Fragrance and i am confused what are the exactly.please could someone pls tell what is the Aromatic Fragrance that can be used to make mouth freshener good in smell and last for 3-4 months ?
Ingredients are:
1.bettle nut
2.Lime powder
3.cardamom (green) powder
4.Catechu powder
5.Aromatic flavour


texts: How do I tell if my cheese culture is still good?

texts:
I made cream cheese in November and prepared some of my own starter culture from that batch to save money down the line when I wanted to make cheese again. Well, I haven't made cheese since then (now about 4 months later) and I don't know if my starter is still good.

I kept the starter in the freezer since November in ice cubes, and I kept my environment pretty sterile when I made it.

How can I test it to see if it's still good?


texts: What ingredient, besides beans, creates a complete protein together with rice?

texts:
I want a cheap option for complete proteins, which includes rice. But I do not like beans.

Which other ingredients can I combine with rice in order to get a complete protein? I do eat meat, but I am looking for cheaper solutions.


texts: How should I store homemade salad dressing?

texts:
I have a recipe for a homemade salad dressing, with the following ingredients:

1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons celery seed
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup oil
1/2 cup vinegar

Mix/blend and let sit for a couple of hours.  Be sure and shake before applying to your salad.

Should I refrigerate this after making it, or is it safe to leave in the cupboard?


texts: What can I use hard, crunchy, leftover cookie-mistakes for?

texts: My husband made some chocolate chip cookies.  He changed the recipe (mistake) and they turned out flat and crispy.  They taste good, but do not look nice.  What can we use these for?  I hate to throw them all out - he made a double batch. Can I blend them up in the blender and make choc. chip pancakes or what.  Thanks for any help.


texts: Is it necessary to store purchased sealed Coffee powder in freezer? Why?

texts:
I purchased few packets of 100 gms freshly ground and roasted Coffee powder.
These packets do NOT have air filled in them like the chips packets.

Is it necessary to store purchased sealed roasted Coffee powder in freezer? Why?


texts: I am about to use a recently viewed tv recipe for Rhubarb ketchup. Official ingredients include white wine vinegar but does say any vinegar 'will do'. I have some cider vinegar, will this dramatically alter the flavour or sweetness? Might I have to alter sugar quantity?


texts: Took a boneless ham (shrink wrapped) out of freezer at 5 pm, and left it in sink all night, til 8 am. Room temp 65 degrees.  Is it safe to eat?


texts: How to get falafel to hold together when pan-frying?

texts:
I like to pan-fry my falafel (as some of the answers to this question suggest), but have had the cakes fall apart or degenerate into mush when trying to turn them over. For ingredients I use chickpeas, olive oil, spices, and tahini. Is there a trick, either in ingredients or in preparation, to making them hold together better?

(I've seen a few recipes that include flour in the mixture; if that is the common answer then I'd like to know of any gluten-free alternatives. But since I don't know if it is really a factor I'll hold off on adding the gluten-free tag - don't want to unfairly get another entry in this week's contest!)


texts: How should I prepare the coffee to be used in my tiramisu?

texts:
I'm making tiramisu. Coffee is a large component of the recipe, so I imagine that the choice and preparation of the coffee used will have a big impact on the final taste.

Or will it? I'm not a coffee expert; perhaps all the sugar and other ingredients will overwhelm it to the degree that you can't taste the difference. If that's so, using fancy coffee would just be a waste.

Will there be a noticeable taste difference if I just use instant coffee to soak the ladyfingers in, or is it worth using something of higher quality? If the latter, how should I prepare the coffee that is to be used?


texts:
I've been hand painting colored cocoa butter into chocolates molds for a while now, but I'd like to try airbrushing the molds instead, since I've seen some impressive results. I can't figure out a food safe way to do this, though.

The most obvious way seems to be buying an oil-free compressor and a fancy air brush. That seems to be $200 and up, though, which is more than I'm interested in spending.

Another common approach is to use something like the Badget 250 and a can of compressed air. The Badget 250 is only around $15, making it a lot more viable. Apparently, even Norman Love does this:

"Another technique [Norman Love] showed us was airbrushing color into his molds. He uses "Mini Spray Gun Set 250-4" made by Badger company. It's the cheapest air brush out there. He hooked up to a can of air instead of a compressor. This cheap air brush lets you spray thick liquids (chocolate) and has easy clean up and no cloging. He mentioned plumpers use this type of brush... Oh, the can of air gets very cold while using and can freeze up. So he places it in a warm pot of h2o to prevent that from slowing him down. It also can be hooked up to a compressor, of course."

http://www.cheftalk.com/forum/thread/8093/chocolate-demo-by-norman-love

That's great, except that all the compressed air I can find contains a propellant which is highly unlikely to be food safe. Can you buy food safe compressed air? If not, how do you do food-safe airbrushing without spending hundreds of dollars?

Thanks!


texts: Are there any dishes that can only be cooked with a microwave?

texts:
I read this question for microwaving chicken, and it left me wondering:

Are there any dishes that can only be prepared with a microwave? If such dishes exist, what are their characteristics and why will in this case only a microwave work? What is the crucial difference between a microwave and other cooking methods here?

Searches I've done have come up with dishes that can be cooked using a microwave instead of using other appliances, but what I'm looking for are dishes that can only be cooked in a microwave and can't be cooked by any other method.


texts: Can I make milk hot chocolate out of dark chocolate and sugar?

texts: Would it taste the same if I made a hot chocolate out of couverture milk chocolate + milk and a hot chocolate made out of couverture dark chocolate + more milk + more sugar?


texts: What stops my pickles from turning into alcohol?

texts:
Just trying to learn the difference between lactic fermentation and alcoholic fermentation.. I'm a bit confused - is the only thing stopping my pickles from becoming an alcoholic beverage is the salt?

If not, what is the difference causing the final product (to either be lactic acid or alcohol), I understand the type of bacteria and yeast etc I mean does adding sugar to my fermenting pickles suddenly start producing alcohol or how - what is the definitive reason to why it ends up either a fermented pickle or booze

Thanks so much!


texts: How does fungi infection look on Brazilian nuts?

texts:
I have recently read that Brazilian nuts can be attacked by Aspergillus fungi producing mycotoxins, for example aflatoxins. Does anyone know or saw what infected nuts look like? There are a lot of white coats on nuts I use to buy - should I worry these can be infected?
Few photos with examples:


texts: Does natto really need to be fermented at body temperature?

texts: I want to make natto, and recipes say that it should be fermented at ~38°C/100°F. My oven doesn't have a bread proving or defrost setting, and previous experiments with just the oven light on haven't reached that temperature. I keep my sourdough starter and kombucha at room temperature (~21°C/67°F) and it works well / I like the result. Will that work for natto?


texts:
I love bread and butter pudding. We came across a recipe, and had plenty of ingredients, so decided to double everything, including double the cinammon.

This almost worked out perfectly, except that it suddenly felt like we had way too much cinnamon. It was almost as if we should have left the original quantity of cinnamon whilst we doubled everything else.

It seems to me there must be some scaling factor for cinnamon when doubling up a recipe. Something like 2x the recipe but just 1.1x the cinnamon.

My question is: What is the measure for scaling cinnamon if you double a recipe?


texts: Having trouble getting gluten free bread to rise

texts: I am new to gluten free baking and I am having much trouble getting my breads to rise. I have tried several recipes, with no luck. Can anybody give me some fool proof suggestions? I am desperate. Thank you


texts:
If I'm deep-frying foods and want to hold batches of them so I can serve a large amount all at once, or even prepare a couple hours ahead, what's the best way to hold them until ready to serve?

Should I put them on wire racks above a drip pan, or should I place them on paper towels?  Or even in a paper cone?

Should I keep them warm or should I let them cool and reheat them in a very hot oven (450F)?

Or does it depend on the type of food, its shape, or the batter?

What I'm looking for here is someone who's done some comparison testing between different methods of holding over deep-fried foods.  Some example foods: garlic & pepper shrimp, tempura vegetables, latkes, felafel, and french fries.


texts: Why should pine seeds/nuts be pan-toasted without oil?

texts:
Most recipes with pan-toasted pine seeds say they need to toasted DRY, WITHOUT oil.
Why?
It does not make sense to me. Toasting them DRY gives them a spotty appearance. Dark toasted spots where the seed touches the pan and pale where the seed did not. Not the maximum of flavor with the added danger of burning.
However frying them WITH plenty of oil leaves them a uniform golden color with the maximum of flavor and they are less likely to burn.


texts:
Last time I made Pizza I used the same recipe as always to make the dough, but this time I rolled out the dough really thin to get a nice thin pizza.

As I put the pizza in the over I thought, "this is the best looking pizza ever made", but was massively dissapointed 7 minutes later when I was struggling to get the pizza off of my pizza tray. It was completely stuck to the tray.

So, when rolling out a really thin crust pizza, what can be done to prevent it sticking to its cooking surface?


texts:
This question is not about the preparation of a food item, so if it does not fit well on this site, please let me know where I might post them instead.

I have seen many places selling "moose mints" with picture of a moose on the box. Is this just a word play on "loose mints", or does "moose mint" actually refer to a specific kind of mint candy?


texts: Can I use orange juice to pasteurize egg whites?

texts: I'm making a meringue and I just realized I don't have tartar or lemon juice, but I do have oranges? And I read that you can use anything acidic but I dont know. So I would like to know if it's ok to substitute lemon juice with orange juice?


texts: For Boiling Water Canning (not pressure canning) can you use other glass jar other than Mason Jar?

texts: Does these type of glass jar (some may even refer to it as jam jar) works with boiling water canning? I asked a question about these glass jar for pressure canning and got answered it will not work for pressure canning. But will it work for boiling water canning.


texts: Accidently mixed instant and cooked pudding packages

texts: I'm making the layered pudding dessert and without looking I dumped an instant pudding mix and a cook and serve pudding mix in the same bowl. I am now staring at said bowl in horror. Too late to scoop and separate. How do I save this? Was my last two packages!


texts: Curries as receptors of odor transfer in refrigirators

texts:
Odor transfer is common phenomenon that occurs in refrigerators when we place items close to each other.

Since the space is less in my refrigerator,I need to keep things near to each other. Although there are some tips for arranging at distance or using proper vessels, I am interested in knowing whether curries are good receptors of odor in refrigerators or not?

Does it depends on the type of curry placed in the refrigerator?


texts: Does 85% lean ground turkey have the same amount of fat as 85% lean ground beef?

texts: I'm not a cooking expert so I'm not exactly sure what the notation means. I always thought that turkey was a much leaner meat than beef. So if turkey is labeled as 85% lean, does that mean it has the same fat content as 85% lean beef? If so, does that mean that the fat percentage is simply higher than that of turkey in general?


texts: How do I adjust the cooking time on a baked rice dish if I reduce the recipe by half?

texts: I want to make a rice dish that gets baked - a maqluba, but I want to make half the quantity of the recipe. Do I adjust the baking time? The recipe calls for simmering 30 mins, baking 30 mins, resting 10 mins. It uses raw (soaked) basmati rice. Calls for 1 and 2/3 cups of rice but I’ll cut that in half. I know I’ll need a smaller pot, too.


texts:
When I have made white wine sauce at home, I have been unable to replicate the classic 'round' taste, with the 'long' aftertaste. The taste I'm looking for is typical for restaurants serving it with white fish, like cod.

I have a theory that this particular quality has something to do with the preparation of butter, e.g. caramelization.

How do I make restaurant-quality white wine sauce?


texts: I've got a recipe that calls for a boned lamb breast. Unfortunately, the lamb my wife got from the butcher is not boned, so I need to remove the bones myself. However, I can't find any guidance on how to do this. Before I dive in and probably ruin a perfectly good lamb breast, can anyone offer any tips?


texts: Why does adding sugar/salt causes water to release?

texts:
This is purely practical observation.

If I add pinch of sugar or salt, somehow automagically water appears in the pot. For example I had a week old cauliflower somewhat wilted/dried in fridge cooing in a pot - no water added at all. Starting process was basically Indian style "tadka"

Florets were somewhat browning because of heat, but after adding pinch of salt, it sort of became moist or water appeared in the pot. I have similar observations of similar effects for adding sugar too.

What causes it? Where does it get water from if I have not added any water or


texts:
When making a hummus one of the key factors seems to be removal of chickpea white skins.

Are there any tips on how can I effectively peel the skins off in an efficient way?


texts: Cutting the stems of banana instead of wrapping them when preserving them

texts:
I am searching for a ways to preserve the banana, and most of the time they said that I need to wrap the stems in a plastic or scotch tape so the gas wont come, they said that this gas is the reason why banana ripens fast.

I am thinking that maybe by separating each bananas then cutting the stem of each one of them instead of wrapping them will effectively preserve the bananas? It is very time consuming to wrap each one of the stem.


texts: Im making a strawberry tart where the sauce is made from boiling thyme, port/tawny and strawberry juice. Is there any replacement for thyme in this?


texts: Is there any use to salmon heads and spines?

texts:
The fishmonger gave me a whole salmon rationed, and included the head and spine. I threw the head and spine away, but was wondering whether there is any culinary use for it.

Normally in a fish stock, I use white fish, not blue.


texts: Why did rust appear after my first layer of seasoning?

texts:
I have a brand new, unseasoned, cast iron dutch oven and an older cast iron skillet. I wanted to prep both for some upcoming camping trips. I found online that flaxseed oil seemed to be the best option for seasoning a new or old pan so I tried the method suggested (start with unseasoned pan, bake at 200 degrees to open pores, apply thin layer of flaxseed oil, bake for 1 hour at highest temperature available on oven).
After just 1 layer of flaxseed oil to my brand new dutch oven, instead of getting a slightly darker pot I now have a pot completely covered in rust!!! Where did I go wrong?
I've tried using steel wool to scrub away at the rust but I'm not really getting anywhere with it.
what do I do now? Do I try a vinegar bath or oven self cleaning cycle? do i try to season over the rust?
Even my older pan developed a reddish hue in some areas! (i'll admit i did leave some of the old seasoning on because I was too lazy to completely strip it)

Help! I'm newer to the world of cast iron and I'm not doing too well :(


texts: Forgot to feed my 6-day old sourdough starter yesterday, can I just carry on today?

texts: I just realized that yesterday I forgot to feed my 6-day old sourdough starter, can I just go about feeding it as usual? I know there are some similar questions on here but they are a little vague. I want to be specific that it's a brand new starter and I've never done this before. I've been feeding it consistently for the other days but had some things come up yesterday that made me forget.


texts: Are there food safety issues with sous-vide cooking?

texts:
As I understand the technique, you put a food item in a plastic bag and dump it into warm water for some amount of time.

What happens to bacteria growth inside the bag?


texts: I put too much cardamom in the applesauce that I'm cooking down to make apple butter. Will the cardamom flavor mellow as the sauce cooks down or should I add more applesauce to dilute it?


texts: After how long is boiled milk tea consumable?

texts: I made tea with milk in the morning and had it in the evening. Is it is safe? After how much time, does it become unconsumable?


texts: Freezing uncooked ‘chicken of the woods’

texts: We found and foraged chicken of the woods. We cooked some and also froze some. We did not cook these mushrooms before freezing. Are they still edible?


texts: How can I cheaply cook a bratwurst that is similar to a grilled brat with only access to an oven or stovetop?

texts: I'm currently not TOO excited to spend $100-200+ for a propane grill. Is it possible to cook brats with a small budget (preferably around $20-30, but as high as a soft $50) and get that nice, crispy skin around most of the sausage on a low budget? I have a wobbly, thick, not-nonstick pan (on a glasstop stove), and an oven. Oh, and a good, thick, as well as many terrible thin nonstick pans at my disposal.


texts: What's this odd stuff coming out of my meringue?

texts: I used this (http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/58871/authentic-french-meringues/) recipe, but added some vanilla, probably a bit extra sugar, and baked them at 185 instead of 200 with the door open.


texts:
I really like making pasta, but I've found that most of my recipes have these sorts of ingredients:

Pale yellow pasta
Brown mushrooms
Brown tempeh or tofu (or ground beef if you prefer)
Spices that make things even more brown (generally allspice, garlic, oregano, and thyme)

What I noticed is that it always ends up all brown. It tastes great, but I'd like to make things more exciting looking. Obviously I could add tomato sauce, but I'm not always in the mood for that. The other ideas I have a spinach or basil. I'll probably start adding some spinach, but basil is pretty expensive here.

Is there anything else I can add to my pasta to add different colors? Cheap is definitely a plus in this case, but any ideas would be interesting (there's always special occasions).


texts: Is my thawed chicken still good 4 days later in the fridge?

texts: I took out Frozen Perdue chicken breast on Sunday afternoon and put them in the fridge to thaw. They are each pre packaged. Today is Thursday are they still good to cook today?


texts: How do caraway and ajwain differ in taste and use?

texts:
These two seed spices seem confusingly similar. I have never used ajwain before. A new recipe I intend to try out calls for jowan (carom seeds) which, according to Google and Wikipedia, are also called ajwain. The pictures I found online of ajwain resemble fennel and caraway seeds but seem smaller than either. Since there are two different Wiki pages for caraway and ajwain, I was certain they were different things.

Today I saw a pack of ajwain at an Indian grocery store but "(caraway)" was also printed on the packaging. As per Wikipedia, ajwain is also called ajowan caraway. But how different are they?

How are they different in taste and actual use?
If I don't have ajwain what'd be a good substitute?


texts: Can I use less sugar for making this bread?

texts:
I've been following this beginner recipe from Alex, The French Guy Cooking (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycztOGTIX-s&t=326s).

I'll summarize it at the end for easier refernce.

The result was pretty great, tbh, but I'm wondering if I can get away with less or even no sugar without ruining it. From what I understand, sugar is used as a food source, but the flour and butter is a food source too, no?

Any advice is welcome, thank you!

  INGREDIENTS.

  FLOUR : 2 pounds flour : 7 cups : 907 grams (1 cup flour = 128 g) Bread flour is great, AP Flour works especially if
  protein content is higher than 10% LIQUID : Half milk, half water. A
  bit less than 2.5 cups. (1 cup water is 236.59 grams) You can go full
  milk for more comfort, or full water for simplicity, FAT : Life needs
  fat. I am french I going full on butter.  100g of butter. (14.2g per
  tbsp) 7 tbsps ! Oil works as well, or lard, crisco... same 7 tbsps.
  SUGAR : 88g or 7 tbsps of sugar. SALT : 3 tsp of salt = 18g, for a 2%
  salt content dough. Instant yeast : 9g. Active dry, instant yeast,
  don't bother. It'll work about the same. or 3 tsp. ( knowing that 1
  packet is 7g and 2.25 tsp. according to redyeast.com )

  INSTRUCTIONS :

  Big mixing bowl. Tepid Liquid goes first. Then, Yeast, sugar, salt, fat, flour. Mix it till shaggy mess. Cover
  and wait for 1 hour. This is the "Autolyse". Knead the dough for 5
  minutes straight. Pause for 15 minutes. Knead again for 5 minutes.
  Dough should be smooth by now. Add oil in a big bowl, place the dough
  in. Wipe the bowl with it. Cover with cling film. 1st proofing starts.
  Wait till it has doubled in size, usually 2 hours. Sometimes more. You
  could also wait a day or two if it proofs in the fridge. Deflate.
  Divide in half. If you just want to bake one loaf in the end, that's
  the moment to freeze the one of the doughs. Flatten to the width of
  your (oiled) cake pan. As my dough is soft, i use my hands. Roll up.
  Place in, with the seam facing down.  Let it proof again, until
  doubled in size again, then bake it. ( no punching this time ) 200°C -
  400°F for 30 minutes or golden brown on top. Brush the top with
  butter. Let it cool down 30 minutes. Enjoy.


texts:
I expect Cheddar to come in Semi-matured, Matured and Vintage.
Each indicating increasing amount of time maturing, and increased sharpness.

The term Mild also makes sense.

However, alot of cheese, in Australia at least, come in what is called Tasty.
On one brand (shown below), both Tasty and Mild claim to be "Full Flavoured".
What is the difference between them?

Other brands sell both Matured and Tasty and market both as a mature cheese
To me, they all taste, much the same as the Matured.

Further, there is also Extra Tasty in some brands.
One brand I found says its Extra Tasty is matured for 18 months and its Vintage is matured for 24 months.

Is it just that Tasty is used instead of Matured, for Marketing Reasons?
Is it that there are special requirements to be able to label your cheese Matured,
so cheeses that have failed to meet the technical requirements,
but taste much the same hare labelled Tasty instead?


texts:
I'm awfully paranoid about getting food poisoning after having it once before. I bought a pot of live yoghurt with mango and after eating a couple of spoonfuls remembered I didn't check use by date when I bought it a few minutes beforehand. It was a day past the use by date.

No visible mould and tasted fine to me.

Should I be worried?


texts:
Recently i started to do some home-made canning. The procedure I use is

Use a pressure cooker to build the jars (cristal ones) for about 10 minutes at 120C.
Cook my vegetables (normally tomatoes, garlic, capsicum, eggplant, zuchini) the whole mix surely has a ph over 4.6 which is where the Clostridium botulinum lives.
Put the cooked vegatables in the cristal jars (which will still be hot), close them, and put them back into the pressure cooker.
Cook the closed jars for 20-25 minutes at 120C

My understanding is that botulism is a very serious disease, the most concerning part is that it does not alter the taste, color or texture of the food.

Currently I consume my canned food within 1 week.

The question is, given that I use 120C degrees when cooking, can I be reasonably safe? Is there a significant risk?

Follow up question: I would like to not only store my cooked vegetables, but also cook them with tofu or chicken and then preserve them using the same procedure, however I have not done so as I know tofu has quite a high PH. Would it be safe to use vegetables + tofu/chicken in the preserves?


texts:
Was looking through my pantry and I found some instant biscuit mix that is still good by date. When I tried making a batch of the mix, the dough did not rise at all. I made something that resemble a brick.

I was curious if I could add some double action baking powder to the mix would bring the mix back to life?

If so how much would I add? 1/4 TSP?, 1/2 TSP?

All I have on hand is double action baking powder.


texts: Chocolate Berry Cake with Berries as main batter ingredient?

texts:
I have this rather vague idea that popped into my head for a chocolate berry cake of some kind where the berries, pureed, go into the batter itself and form a large proportion of the ingredients.

Unfortunately, I lack the knowledge of how cakes 'work' to be able to figure out how to make this, and everyone I've talked to so far has never heard of anything like my idea.

Is such a cake feasible, and can anyone offer any suggestions on what such a cake might need, ingredients- and preparation-wise?


texts: Crock pot turned to warm for 45mins- 1hr

texts: I put beef in my crock pot with cream of mushroom soup and an onion soup packet around 1pm. I set it on high for 2hrs and meant to turn it to low. At 3:47 I realized I forgot to turn the setting to low so the crock pot was on the warm setting for about 45mins. My husband thinks its fine, but I am pregnant and have a toddler so I'm a bit concerned and thinking about throwing it out. Is it safe to eat or should I toss it? Thank you!!


texts: While searching for kvass recipes some of them mentioned that kvass can be made with rye flour or malt and since I can't find 100% rye breads where I live making them just for kvass would be too expensive.My question is - can kvass be made without bread and if it can't then can bread mush be reused to make more kvass (or use kvass to make more of it) instead of baking another bread?Also in a country near mine one company makes this drink and on the label it says that main ingredients are wheat and rye malt.


texts: Is there any other difference between the cakes and the cup cakes besides the size?

texts:
I don't have the small cups, so I place the cup cake batter in big vessels, and I think I have prepared cakes.

Now, I'll get the small cups and place the same batter in the cups, and call them cup cakes.

Does this make sense? Or I am missing a point?


texts:
I made a mascarpone mix for a Jamie Oliver cheesecake and it has curdled.

The ingredients I added to the mixture include:

full cream milk,
vanilla essence,
and icing sugar.

Why would this mixture curdle? There is no acid in any of the ingredients.

And what can I do to fix this curdled mascarpone mixture?


texts:
I perceive a similarity in taste and odour between spearmint and peppermint, and I describe both as minty.  The smell, taste and cooling sensation of peppermint are reproduced almost perfectly by pure menthol.  But spearmint, despite being very closely related to peppermint, contains very little menthol, and it apparently gets its character from R-carvone, which is also found in caraway, which exhibits a vaguely minty aroma.
To me, lemon balm smells primarily like lemon, and not at all minty.  Wild watermint (from which peppermint is obtained by hybridisation with spearmint) smells, to me, vaguely minty but also disagreeably vegetal, like lots of inedible greens do.  Likewise catnip.  And most other mint varieties sold in garden centres for culinary purposes (pineapple mint etc) smell, to me, similarly like weak mint with unpleasant off-notes.
On the other hand, pennyroyal and hyssop both smell unmistakably minty and pleasant to me.
What, then, do the two best-known mints have in common that makes them identifiably minty?  Is it anything inherent to their makeup, or is it just mental association?
I've seen some Americans describe wintergreen as a type of mint.  Botanically that's not true at all, and wintergreen oil's chemical composition is very different from the mints.  I'm from the UK, where wintergreen is very rare as a food flavouring, and its smell is primarily associated with medicines and liniments.  I don't perceive it as having a minty quality at all.  I can recognise that it's pungent and herbal, so it has similarities to (for instance) eucalyptus, camphor, pine, rosemary, juniper etc, and in that sense, it's vaguely like the mints, but no more so than any of those other plants listed.
So I believe that when an American describes wintergreen as minty, it's because a) for them, the flavour is associated with the herbal candies referred to as "mints", and b) in broad terms, it's in the same sort of category.  Is it the case that I similarly consider spearmint and peppermint both to be "minty", just because I'm used to using the word mint for both of them, even though they're very different chemically?
Addendum: here to illustrate the chemical differences are gas chromatography analyses.
Peppermint oil is primarily eucalyptol, menthol, menthone, menthofuran, menthyl acetate and iso-menthone
Spearmint oil is dominated by limonene, carvone, myrcene, beta-bourbonene; the spikes for menthol, menthyl acetate etc are tiny
(I believe that the distinctive characters of eucalyptus and wintergreen come primarily from eucalyptol and methyl salicilate respectively.)


texts:
It seems to be common knowledge among bakers that salted butter has a higher water content than unsalted*. How much higher?

And if there's a different amount of water, why does this nutritional data say there's the same amount of fat in salted and unsalted butter? (I'm fairly sure I've seen the same on butter in the store, and I'll try to remember to confirm that next time I'm there.)

*I'm pretty sure I remember seeing the claim several places online, but the one I was able to quickly find is from Cook's Illustrated (click to expand the second-to-last question) via an answer here, saying that "salted butter almost always contains more water than unsalted butter". (It's possible that a lot of other people's knowledge ultimately came from there.) The nutritional information I've found, along with my own baking experience, does not back this up, but Cook's Illustrated is generally pretty trustworthy, hence the question.


texts: What size disher makes "1 inch balls of dough?"

texts:
I am making cookies in bulk. The problem is, every version of the recipe I am making uses the measurement "one inch balls". Given the number of cookies I am making, I'm not really looking to eyeball this.

Does anyone know what size disher corresponds to a "one inch ball"?

Edit: To be clear - I am looking for terms of disher size (#40, #50, etc) or volume (1.5 tsp, 2 tsp, etc).


texts:
I'm making a large batch of sauce. After trying tapioca flour, it's quite difficult to handle for such a large batch.
Is there anything that can substitute? Is there such a thing as a fluid thickener?


texts: Will cooking meat with the thermometer in affect the cooking time?

texts:
Last night I cooked 3 pounds of chicken breast tenders using my preferred "set it and forget it" method:

Preheat the oven to ~350°F
Lay out tenders in an oiled baking dish & season as desired
Insert meat thermometer probe into side of thickest piece
Stick in the oven and set the meat thermometer to beep when internal temperature hits 165°F (15 minutes or so, depending on the size of the pieces)

I like this method, especially when I'm cooking for leftover purposes and not a meal, because it saves me the trouble of the "timer beeps > check temp > reset timer" song and dance. But last night I got to thinking: Does keeping the probe in the meat throughout the cooking process affect the cooking time of that piece? I imagine the probe would conduct more heat into the center of the meat, cooking that piece faster than the others around it.

If it does, the effect is negligible at short cooking times and relatively low temperatures like this. All of my chicken pieces come out perfectly done through this method. But I would imagine the effect could be much more pronounced at a longer cooking time, or with smaller cuts of meat.


texts: My Pineapple Open Tarts won't dislodge from their moulds

texts: I am baking pineapple open tarts using individual aluminium moulds. I use shortcrust pastry. I have difficulty in dislodging them from their moulds when they are done? I tried to remove them as soon as they are out from the oven as well as after having left them to cool in their respective moulds. No difference, they just won't leave the moulds. The moulds were oiled with butter before use. What have I done wrong?


texts: I had a brined turkey that someone had cooked for the 1st time this Thanksgiving.  Typically we eat one that has been cooked in a roasting bag.  My daughter and I both noticed that the brined turkey seemed greasier. Is the total fat higher for a turkey that has been brined, compared to cooked in a roasting bag?


texts: Can I re-cook potatoes stored half-roasted in the fridge?

texts:
The other day I roasted some new potatoes in olive oil, with some thyme and garlic and added some lemon later. The only problem was I didn't roast them for long enough, I roasted them for 45 mins at 200C, it should probably have been an hour. I ate some of them anyway but they were quite hard. I stored them in the fridge, they've been there for about three days.

Can I re-roast them? They look very nice with the thyme and garlic and lemon. Or should I throw them away? What's the best way to cook them if I do keep them?


texts: How to gauge chicken breast doneness on grill pan?

texts:
Ive been trying to nail cooking butterflied chicken breasts on my all clad grill pan. My first attempt, they turned out rubbery, and almost completely in-edible, despite cooking to 165 as read on my instant read thermometer (taken off at 160).  These were average size breasts butterflied, no more that 1/4 inch think at the very thickest part. It took maybe 5 min per side to reach 160 on medium-high heat, but this turned out to overcook them to all hell.

On a second try, I cooked them much less, ~3.5 minutes per side, and the instant read only read around 155 when i took them off, but they looked perfectly cooked, juicy, and no pink. I had tried to take them off by feel (poking them with my finger and guesstimating doneness)

What gives? Are these unsafe to eat despite appearing done and having the right texture even though i took them off the grill pan at 155. I thought maybe my thermometer was bad, so I bought another one, and they both read the same temperatures in several tests. Are instant reads just not accurate on thinner cuts of chicken? Or is the margin for error much smaller for thinner cuts?


texts: When can artificial vanilla extract be used in place of real vanilla extract?

texts:
There's another question about the difference between artificial and real vanilla extract, saying people can tell the difference, but perhaps not in baked goods. The labeling can also be confusing.

So I am curious, I would like to know when to save some money and use imitation;

What are use cases for using imitation vanilla without it being apparent to the taster, especially in restaurants and the food industry?
What type of use cases will imitation vanilla be apparent?
Are there specific types of applications where the quality of real vanilla is utterly necessary?


texts: Will cooking chicken longer in soup make it less tough and stringy?

texts:
I tried a new chicken soup technique and am not quite thrilled with the results. The point of this technique was to achieve flavorful, tender chicken. Well, the broth is tasty but the chicken is kinda tough and stringy-not awful - but I'm going for tender perfection.

I poached the cut-up whole chicken, starting with cold water, low simmer, etc. Then I removed it from the poaching water, removed the meat from the bone, tore it into small pieces, and refrigerated it. I added the bones and skin back to the poaching water with herbs, and the broth came out great.

The idea was to add the chicken pieces as needed to the broth before serving, but my first bowl reveals the aforementioned tough chicken. Researching chicken soup gives me conflicting answers; some say longer cooking will eventually make the chicken tender, and some say it will make it stringier and dryer.

So do I take some of the broth and simmer the heck out the chicken, or just deal with the toughness and try for something better next time?


texts: Can too hot water cause the mate gourd to break?

texts:
I just got back from Argentina with three mate gourds and started to prepare them for first use (put the yerba, add cold water and leave for ~1 day, I was told, is the first thing to do).

To my surprise, the first one started leaking right during that first day, and the other two cracked during the first session - one of them is wooden, the other one made of actual gourd.

So my question is, is this just bad luck or could it be because of some mistake in the how I prepared it - for instance, using water that's too hot?


texts: Should I be scared of chicken livers? Can I make them less scary? (Ragu Bolognese)

texts:
I am planning to make this Ragu Bolognese. The recipe looks so good, and I am due for a fun freezer filling project.

The thing is though, that I hate, hate, hate liver.

On the other hand, I really don't want to miss out on anything.

Part of what I hate about liver will be mitigated by pureeing, because the grainy texture really puts me off, but I also hate that chemically, metallic, toxic nastiness.

Are there any Bolognese experts out there who can reassure me? I'm told that the liver really hangs out in the background, and can't be picked out as it's own flavor. I have no problem believing that of the fish sauce that comes later, but liver? Really?

Is there any way I can get the effect of long simmering the livers in the sauce but adding them later (or at least maybe half of them later) so that I can add them to taste?

Also, does soaking them in milk make them more mild?


texts: When making scrambled eggs in my cast iron skillet, I find the eggs look "grimey" after they are cooked like the seasoning is coming off.  Am I not cleaning the pan correctly?  Does it need to be reseasoned (possibly better seasoned)?  Or are eggs in cast iron a bad idea?


texts:
Do gums (e.g., xanthan, guar, cellulose, glucomannan) have any nutritional value, or do they pass undigested like chewing gum does?

Are there known allergies to any gums?


texts:
I eye-balled the chili and cayenne powder in my chili and have made it painful to eat. What should I use to counteract this? I tried adding pasta sauce and cheese to a small serving, but it wasn't very effective.

According to the question "How can you make a sauce less spicy/hot?" the heat is coming from capsaicin:

  Capsaicin, the heat-producing compound in most types of hot peppers,
  is the highest on the Scoville Scale; extremely piquant and can
  produce a "burning" sensation in very small quantities. It is also
  poorly soluble in water, but is far more soluble in fat, especially
  oils. Adding some olive oil or a good quantity of butter to your
  recipe is a good bet for reducing capsaicin/capsicum heat.

From some various discussions on the internet, I've also heard dark chocolate and sour cream can be effective.

What can I add in minimal quantities without affecting the taste drastically?


texts: What is the kitchen device shown here? I found it in the kitchen and it is about 18 inches long.


texts:
Some friends and i would like to poach a whole salmon, weighing four to five kilograms. There are two ways we could do this: in a fish kettle, or wrapped in aluminium foil in the oven (is that "en papillote" when it's a whole fish, wrapped tightly?).

I raised the possibility of using a dishwasher, but that was not well received.

What are the relative merits of these approaches?

Using foil means we don't need to find a kettle, and we don't have to wash it up afterwards, which are nice practical benefits.

But is there an effect on the actual cooking and eating? Does one take longer? Does one risk not cooking the fish properly? Does one make it harder to add herbs and so on?


texts:
I've been looking for a bottle of Rose's Grenadine for quite a while without luck, so when I saw a big ol' liter of Llord's at the liquor store, I grabbed it. I'm not sure I want to allocate that much fridge space to it though. Can I keep it behind the bar instead?

Sugar is a preservative and there's a little bit of alcohol in it too, so my guess is it's ok on the shelf.


texts: We want to make christmas short pastry cookies this evening and I can't find the food coloring. So what alternatives can I use to color the dough? Cocoa for brown, and what about other colors? Would be tumeric a good option? Or are there unwanted side effects such as orange hands or a burned taste?


texts: How much sugar should I put with the fruit in a pie or crumble?

texts:
I just made a plum and apple crumble, which was delicious but I was worried it was going to be too sweet because when I was pouring the sugar in straight from the bag, it slipped and I ended up with about 50% more sugar than the recipe called for :-)

In fact, though, it was only just about sweet enough - if I'd put in the amount of sugar the recipe called for it would have been way too tart.

I seem to find this a lot, and I don't have a particularly sweet tooth - I actually like things tarter than many people seem to.

Does it depend on the fruit (if so, which fruits need more sugar?) and/or on whether the fruit was frozen or fresh?


texts: Tips for making lean ground beef patties tender?

texts:
I have to eat 93% lean beef as part of my diet. I am trying to find creative ways of cooking it because throwing it in the instapot with some tomato sauce is getting bland. I'd like to try making it into a burger so I can pretend like I'm eating a burger.

Yesterday I added some salt, garlic powder, chili powder, and olive oil to 12oz of raw ground beef, and mixed it up with my hands. I then rolled it into a ball and slowly pressed it into a fairly thick patty. I then seared both sides on high heat and then lowered the heat and covered it for a few minutes. The internal temp (assuming my thermometer was correct) was 120 degrees F which is what I read online was restaurant style medium rare. Unfortunately, when I forked off a piece of the patty, the insides of it were still mushy like the ground beef. It also wasn't very juicy or palatable like I expected.

Does anyone have some cooking tips on making lean ground beef as tender as possible when cooked? In my next attempt I will probably try to make a thinner patty, then pan sear both sides and put it in the oven at 400 for 6 minutes.


texts: Sprouting fenugreek seeds? Are seeds for sprouting different than the ones in the spice aisle?

texts:
I was about to add 4 ounces of fenugreek seeds to my Amazon order when I saw that I could buy a pound for just a couple of dollars more. The 1 pound package emphasizes sprouting, whereas the 4 ounce package looks like any one of many other packages in my spice cabinet. They both say organic.

Is there a difference between fenugreek for sprouting and fenugreek for cooking? Are fenugreek seeds generally toasted for use in cooking? Are they sold toasted?

Finally, is there a traditional use (particularly in North African, Middle Eastern or Mediterranean cuisine) for fenugreek sprouts?


texts: Can the Corelle Visions Covered Versa Pot 1.25 L be used on an induction cooker?


texts:
I've heard that the white part of an egg cooks (solidifies) at about 63°C (145°F). I've heard that the yolk cooks at about 68°C (154°F). Is this true?

Also what chemicals do the white and yolk contain, and what causes them to cook at these temperatures?


texts: How to keep edible cookie dough soft after refrigerated?

texts: I have experimented with about 5-6 edible cookie dough recipes. All are similar to regular cookie recipes minus the eggs and I also use heat treated flour to kill any bacteria. They all taste amazing but as soon as we place the bowl in the refrigerator it becomes rock hard. I need to find a way to keep it soft and scoopable after refrigeration. Any ideas what I could add?


texts: My recipe,for dog biscuits,calls for pumpkin, rice flour, and 2 tablespoons dry milk powder. I have no milk powder, what can I use instead?


texts:
A recipe is asking for "canned black beans, drained, rinsed and warmed".

I've never just heated up beans by themselves. How do I warm up these beans without using a microwave? Do I heat them up in a pan with some butter/oil or in simmering water?


texts: How can I adapt slow-cooker recipes to allow more pre-preparation?

texts:
I started to ask about adapting slow-cooker recipes for longer cook times, but noticed there were a few questions about that already that look helpful.

My next question is about how to prep a slow cooker so I can just set-it-and-forget-it in the morning before going to work. What special precautions should I take for slow-cooker recipes that use raw or partially cooked meat so I can have everything pre-mixed in one or two containers and stored over night (8-10 hours) in the fridge?

How would I need to modify cook times or temperatures for starting from fridge-temp instead of room-temp? Would kick-starting things by cooking in a stove pot in the morning help? Or is the slow cooker likely to handle it well enough?


texts: Do roasted almonds have similar calcium value to raw ones?

texts: I have stopped consuming any kind of dairy so I need substitutes for, among the rest, calcium. I've been advised to eat almonds, but I dislike the taste and texture of the raw ones. When I grabbed a bag of roasted almonds in the store, I saw no calcium in the contents. Do the roasted almonds(maybe with added salt or oil) lose the calcium value? Can I roast them by my self to keep the calcium?


texts: What cattle do we get our "beef" from in the US?

texts:
What type of cattle (i.e. cow) do we usually get our "beef" from? There are different variations of cows - e.g. longhorn, bull, buffalo and more - but when I buy "beef" in the market I am never told what kind of cattle the meat is originated from - just say it's beef.  There are a few restaurants who specialize in cooking a certain cattle meat and would tell you what specific kind of cattle the meat is from, but not when you're buying meat yourself.

So, generally when we buy "beef" in the market, what is the cattle?

[EDITED]

When I says "beef" I meat "USA beef"


texts: I made white bread yesterday, and it smelled similar to sourdough...why would this happen?

texts: I used plain white flour to make homemade bread. I followed the recipe from the 2011 cookbook titled "Blue Ribbon Recipes". I have been using this recipe since I bought the book in 2011, and have never had my bread smell like sourdough before. The smell was strong enough that it overpowered the smell of homemade huckleberry jam. I store my yeast in the refrigerator. There is no vinegar used in the recipe, and the yeast starter sat for approximately 10 minutes while I measured and added the other ingredients to the bowl. I've never had this happen before.


texts: Do frozen vegetables have pesticides on them? Are you supposed to wash frozen vegetables before you cook them and eat them?


texts:
While traveling abroad, I purchased a small bag of salted cashews at a convenience store.  I immediately noticed that they have a distinctively different taste from what I'm used to; slightly more sweet than salty.

I took a look at the back of the package and found the ingredients list; to my surprise, it ended with "coconut cream".  Thinking of all the coconut-flavored dishes that I've had at home, I immediately recognized that the distinctive taste was from the coconuts.

However, coconut dishes I've had at home usually consist of something cooked in a coconut-based broth.  Other than dried coconut chips, I can't think of any "dry" coconut flavor food I've eaten or cooked.

Starting with raw cashews or other nuts, how can I prepare a product of these nuts infused with coconut flavor?


texts: Is weak coffee more likely to be bitter?

texts:
https://somedayilllearn.com/how-to-make-black-coffee/

  Go big or go home. I typically use 2 tablespoons per cup. Weak coffee is more likely to be bitter.

Is there some truth here? Why would weak coffee be more bitter?