texts: Coffee Biscuit doesn't come out in Knock Box

texts:
We have a Breville Dual Boiler Coffee Machine, my husband even made a barista course to learn all about it.
But when we try to knock the coffee biscuit into a knock box, it doesn't work. It never comes out and if you use more force, the filter pops out before the biscuit (hope it's clear what I mean). So you need to get a spoon and scrape the coffee out of the filter (and avoid doing a big mess).

Does someone knows a trick or has an idea why it happens? I though, I use to much pressure to compact the coffee at the beginning, but according to my husband it's okay.


texts: Is it safe to use a grill to cook when chemically treated wood was burned in it?

texts: my son burned chemically treated wood in my grill for a bonfire. Can I still cook in it, is it safe? or do I need to buy another grill?


texts:
Fennel seemed like a natural for lacto-fermentation.

There are many recipes with fennel as an ingredient (especially in cabbage kraut), but no one seemed to talk about just fermenting up a big ol' batch of fennel.

So I gave it a spin using my standard brine: 3T kosher salt per quart plus bay leaves, peppercorns, and corriander. I ran one batch with two mason jars of fennel, and a second batch with three.

Of the five jars, three turned out delicious but took a weirdly long time. I left the other two jars running for 5-6 weeks but they didn't show the active bubbling I expect and they never really came together. They were somewhat tart, but their pH was up around 5 instead of down in the 4's where it should have been.

Is there some reason fennel doesn't want to ferment?


texts:
I needed to make gumbo for someone with a gluten allergy, so I used glutinous rice flour in the roux instead of wheat flour. At first it looked ok:
 click any image for full size

When I added the "trinity," though, this happened:

Basically, the roux split, and the rice flour formed disgusting blackened clumps. Here's a close-up:

Yeah, I didn't like looking at that either. I tried again with tapioca flour, and that did work, but I'm still wondering why that happened with the rice flour. Could it have been some kind of thermal shock when the veggies went in? Or maybe a reaction to some chemical in the onion?


texts:
I noticed that my friend freezes raw liver, raw red meat, and raw chicken.

I have the intuition that the fat goes bad (due to lipid peroxidation) even when frozen. However, I am not sure if this is bad for the food in terms of quality and safety.

So can I freeze these things raw?


texts:
The instructions on this package of large rice noodles says just soak them for 6-7 min.

I did that and then fried them in some oil and soy sauce but they were still too crunchy.  I just want to eat them as a side, not in pad thai or something similar.

Should I actually boil them to get a desired softness and approximately for how long?


texts: How to do the most that I can to make too-fresh non-hanged beef steak-ready and not flood the pan with liquid?

texts:
Yesterday I asked a question about how to prevent beef meat losing water during storage, and I learned that I actually shouldn't want that, quite the opposite, its probably a good thing for the beef to lose some water.
Today as I was cooking another tenderloin from that beef, I realized the beef actually has too much water, and maybe I should do something to make it lose more of it before I put it on a pan. The steaks from that tenderloin are actually very watery, not firm like western beef steaks usually are, and make a pool of liquid on the cast iron pan I try to fry them. It's not even possible to sear them properly, because they release so much liquid on the pan that they cook in it's own water instead of being seared. Even though I do it on a very hot cast iron pan with some beef tallow.
I also read an interesting thing in an answer to another question that beef in Asian local wet markets "the meat that I buy at 6 in the morning is coming from a cow that's slaughtered at 4" and also something about the meat being pre-rigor mortis which is also related because "the onset of rigor mortis [...] partially determine the tenderness of meat. If the post-slaughter meat is immediately chilled to 15 °C (59 °F), a phenomenon known as cold shortening occurs, whereby the muscle sarcomeres shrink to a third of their original length." I don't yet fully understand the impact, but it might explain the issue I have with very tough beef I asked about in another question.
So the beef I ask about in all my questions is Asian local wet-market beef, "slaughtered at 4:00, sold at 6:00 in the morning". No hanging, no ageing of any kind. I found that keeping the beef tenderloin for a few days in a large mason glass jar in the fridge around 0°C makes it definitely more tender and edible as a steak, also tenderloins bought on different days seem to vary a lot in tenderness and some are much better then the one I had when I asked the question about incredibly tough tenderloin steak. In the other question someone writes about "pre-rigor meat here (in Asia) is not suitable for steak".
Anyway, my question is: when I have a whole beef tenderloin, "slaughtered at 4:00, sold at 6:00 in the morning", very watery, not firm at all, what I can do to make it lose enough water to be more firm, and not make a puddle on the pan preventing it from searing?
I already keep it for one week in a 1 Litre glass mason canning jar in an water-ice bath in the fridge at 0°C, that's what wet-ageing method I came up with. I don't want to have the meat sit in plastic bags, because of passing micro-plastics to meat and xenoestrogens in plastics being endocrine disruptors, so I want to only use glass jars. The mason jars for canning create a leak-proof seal, and I have then in 1500 mL size so can put half of a whole 3 kg tenderloin in one jar, after I strip the connective tissue, silver-skin, remains of tendons, etc.
After about one week, when I take the tenderloin out of the jar, I get about 5% of the meat's weight in myoglobin-coloured water remaining in the jar, and that's OK, but what can I do more, because I still get a puddle of water in the pan when I try to sear a steak?


texts: Chicken or quail have black or dark red spots on the meat

texts:
Is this normal?

I've got about 10 quail meats and some of them have these spots.

Are these safe to cook and eat? Is it possible that they had a disease or were infected?

I'm scared of Coronavirus, and chickens and quails can carry influenza and Coronavirus is a type of influenza, so could this be related?

I've googled a lot but I can't find anything on it:
"Quail red OR black OR dark spot on meat"
etc.

My question is not a duplicate of: red spots on the chicken


texts: Is it safe to eat food that was heated in plastic wrap to the point the plastic wrap flamed?

texts: I accidentally used plastic wrap instead of foil wrap over the salmon in the toaster oven. There was a flame.  When i checked the salmon,  the cling wrap was gone. Did it melt into thge salmon? Is the salmon safe to eat?


texts:
I used to make soft cheese by vinegar, which quickly results in the formation of curd. I tried to make hard cheese (mozzarella) by rennet (commercial tablet) by the process took more than 30min and the result was something like yogurt.

I simply followed the manual (mixing the tablet solved in warm water with the milk at temperature 35 - 40 C). Was something wrong with my procedure, milk, or rennet?


texts:
I put a ham in the fridge to defrost earlier this week. It was from a half-hog custom order we got so I'm not 100% sure but I think the processors said it was cured.

Today I put it on a wood-pellet grill at 325 for 1.5 hours, then 350 for another 0.5 hour when I saw I was running out of time before I had to leave.

I ended up having to take it off as it was taking much longer than I thought to get done. When I took it off (after about 2 hours total) the internal temp read 115 degrees. I went ahead and put it back in the fridge.

My question is can I take this ham and put it back on the grill tomorrow when I have more time to let it get up to 145? Or is that not safe?

Thanks!


texts: Where can I find information on a given pan's bottom diameter?

texts:
I am currently looking for a small pan. I measured the plate (ceramic) where it would be used (15 cm) and started looking for 15 cm pans online with little success. So far I've discovered that the advertised measurement for a pan typically refers to the upper diameter of the pan, not to that of the cooking surface, but that takes me back to square 1: how to know whether the pan will fit on the designed plate?
Where can I find this information, when it is missing from the product description?


texts: What does meringue powder do in butter cream icing?

texts:
I've recently been taking a Wilton cake decorating class. Part of the curriculum includes making our own buttercream icing. Many of Wilton's recipes for buttercream and like icings call for the addition of meringue powder.  Other icing recipes that I've found online seem to be split as to the use of meringue powder. I've made many buttercreams in the past and have never used it before, and haven't been aware of any specific shortcomings.

What is it that meringue powder does to the icing? I've heard that it will cause the icing to "crust". How is this advantageous, and what am I missing by not using it?

Also, given that meringue powder is essentially egg whites, will using it in shortening-based buttercreams that otherwise would not require refrigeration make my icing require refrigeration?


texts:
What ingredient(s) make the spiciness from Indian food distinct from the spiciness of, say, Thai food?

Indian good seems to have a longer, slower burn, rather than a "sharper" spiciness of Thai. I know spiciness in Thai food comes from Thai bird chilis; what's the corresponding ingredient(s) in Indian food? Most of the recipes I've seen call for "red pepper" -- none of the ground red pepper I've used comes anywhere near that sensation -- is there a special kind of red pepper used in Indian cooking? Or something else I'm missing?


texts: I'm going to be buying quinoa flour and wanted to use it to make up pasta. Is this a direct flour replacement in a typical pasta recipe or are there other changes you need to make?


texts: Difference between Organic Bread and Fresh Bread

texts: Please, what is the difference organic bread and fresh bread. People are getting me confused.


texts: Why do we need ceramic pan if they serve for several months?

texts: As known ceramic pans serve 7 times less than teflon pans (they keep non-stick properties for 6-9 month). And teflon  is the third most slippery substance known to man. And teflon isn't that easy to damage. Why would I purchase a ceramic pan then?


texts:
I have a food truck and would like to cook as many things as possible to avoid buying canned food and work with as many fresh products as possible.
It is too difficult to do it on a daily basis so I wanted to be able to spend one full day
seasoning and cooking a few recipes, enough for a couple of weeks and freeze it in portions.
My concern is if frozen, will the taste of the food be altered after thawing and reheating to serve?
Here are few examples of what I would like to freeze, thaw and reheat:
- ratatouille (stewed and seasoned vegetables)
- seasoned and de-boned roasted chicken
- black bean paste (seasoned) or refried beans
- sauteed spinach and mushrooms
- roasted chicken with leek, mushrooms and creamy sauce

Please advise
Thank you
JP


texts: Microwave popcorn left a burnt hole on the little metal plate inside the microwave. It still, works perfectly fine.  But is it safe food wise? Should i use it?


texts: How long before intended date of use can a ham be purchased?

texts: Hams are on sale now (end date of sale 4-11).  I want to bake my ham on the 16th.  Seems to me I would be cutting down on "eating time" for the ham. What do you think?  Thanks.


texts: How to remove brownies cleanly from silicone molds?

texts:
I've recently started looking into making brownies inside silicone molds (in particular, this guy) and I've noticed that it doesn't seem to matter whether I grease, grease & flour, use pam, use parchment paper (with and without grease) or do nothing: the brownies are never guaranteed to come out cleanly. Each method yields some brownies that cleanly separate, with others that lose varying degrees of their bottoms to the pan.

Note: with parchment paper, the problem of a clean release just gets kicked down the road to the stage when I peel the paper off the brownie. Most of the time, the paper pulls a non-trivial amount of crumb off with it.

What's the best way to insure a perfect removal of the brownies from silicon bakeware?


texts:
I want to make brown paper bags of popcorn kernels and flavouring to give as gifts, but i can't seen to get the popcorn flavouring to stick to the unpopped kernels.

How do companies that sell microwave popcorn make sure it's flavoured when it's popped in the microwave? I don't want to add anything after, just have it already flavoured when it's popped.


texts: What exactly is "Japanese" Salt and Pepper?

texts:
On a recent trip to Kyoto, I was eating at a Beef Katsu restaurant and one of the spices they made available for seasoning was described as "Japanese salt and pepper".

The spice blend was mostly white/black/gray in color, with no red.

The blend had really excellent flavor (compared to what I would expect for salt + black pepper), and now I'm curious what exactly it was composed of and whether it has a more distinctive name. Does anyone know?


texts: What is the measurement of 1 1/2 cups of cilantro leaves into ground cilantro

texts: Recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of cilantro leaves.  I only have a 0.43 oz (12g) bottle of ground cilantro.  How much of the ground cilantro should I use?


texts: Are vegetables poisonous if they have roots, are sprouting or are many weeks old?

texts:
Can I use sprouting vegetables? Are they poisonous?
When cooked, does the sprouting have an effect to foods taste?

Can I use my potatoes or carrots if they already has some roots...?
How about when my onion is sprouting?


texts: Why are savory crepes from some restaurants brown?

texts: I've gotten savory crepes made with a darker batter than sweet crepes. What ingredients/cooking technique produce this?


texts: How to choose a vinegar substitute if I only keep balsamic and rice vinegar?

texts:
Sometimes it happens to me that in a recipe a certain vinegar is required and I don't have the right one at hand, but a variety of other ones to choose from. So my question is, in terms of taste, which vinegars are closest to each other?

I usually have balsamic and rice vinegar in stock and usually need to replace or like to replace: white vinegar, white wine vinegar, malt vinegar


texts: How to add paprika flavor to mayonnaise without paprika color

texts:
My homemade mayonnaise is always a little "flat" tasting compared to commercial. Most commercial mayo includes paprika, which I do not. How does one add paprika flavor to homemade mayo without imparting an unappetizing red/orange color to the finished product?

The ingredients used in my mayonnaise are as follows:

2 large egg yolks
1.25 cup soybean oil
1.66 tbsp white vinegar
1.5 tsp yellow mustard
0.25 tsp powdered sugar
0.5 tsp table salt
1 tbsp lemon juice


texts: Should a sous-vide-cooked meat be frozen then reheated?

texts: New to sous-vide, I was wondering, once you are done cooking, will it degrade the quality of the meat if I freeze it then reheat it back? The method of reheating probably matters, but let's say I am gonna re-sous-vide it back to eating temp. Also, this is for pork if it's relevant.


texts: Fudge already set, can you soften and re-set it?

texts: I have plans to make fudge this year for the holidays but wanted to try a new method for making it. I want to use silicone molds to put the fudge in so that once it sets it is pre-shaped. My only concern is that the molds I have don't hold a full batch of fudge. If the excess sets before I put it in the molds, is there a way to resoften it and then put it in the molds and have it set again?


texts:
I have some decently sized herb plants in my garden. In their respective prime I like to chop and freeze herbs like chives and parsley, while stuff like basil is only really good fresh.

"Hardy" plants like sage, laurel and rosemary though? I have no idea. Would you rather chop these or leave them whole, and rather freeze them or dry them (and how do you dry herbs at home?)

My goal would be to preserve the flavour of the herbs as much as possible, to be able to make anything from sage butter to rosemary oven potatos.


texts: Sanitizing bottles/jars for homemade sauce

texts: The recipe for tomato sauce (includes vinegar, sugar and salt) I am using says I can put the bottles in cool water and bring to boil; once they are boiling, they are ready to fill and seal. My question is, do the bottles have to be completely immersed to be sanitized? Thanks, Janet


texts:
I often make stews with meat and veg such as beef and mushroom, cassoulet, etc. I normally eat one portion fresh and then portion and freeze the rest of my stew, to be eaten on a later date. However, often I find that when I defrost my stew portion it has coagulated - it has a jelly like consistency, even when hot. I try to solve this by adding a little water and giving it a good stir, which does give it more of a pourable consistency, but it doesn't bring back the smooth velvety texture the stew had when fresh.

I normally just use a spoon of flour or cornflour (cornstarch) to thicken my stews, so the only ingredients are meat, veg, oil, flour, some liquid (stock, often beer or wine), and seasonings. Would a different thickener prevent my stew getting this coagulated, jelly-like texture after freezing?


texts: What is the traditional accompaniment for Duck Confit?

texts: I have a few duck legs that I made a confit from earlier this week. I'm thinking of serving them with Parmesan Dauphinoise and some beans from the garden tonight. I was wonderring though, what would be the traditional accompaniment for duck confit?


texts: How do you cook boneless chicken thighs?

texts:
I can cook beef steak and chicken breasts pretty good, but boneless chicken thighs is where I have some issues.

First it is uneven in width, making it hard to properly cook the insides without overcooking the outside.

Second I do not know how to work the chicken skin. By the time the chicken is properly cooked, the skin is scorched - not crispy.

Third is that I do not know what kind of liquid goes well if I want to deglaze the pan. I am looking for a tangy, savory sweet gravy but I do not know what kind of ingredients will get me there (just basic deglaze knowledge).

I hope you guys can provide some guidance as to how to nail boneless chicken thighs and solve these problems I am having because YouTube and Google have not been my friends today.

EDIT: I have noticed some confusion about what is a chicken steak, so here:

EDIT V2: Using what the comments have taught me, I have changed from  "chicken steak" to "boneless chicken thighs". I will keep the picture to avoid further confusion.


texts: Why does this chicken recipe result in a glutinous mess?

texts:
Countless times I've tried to prepared a recipe that calls for dredging chicken tenders in flour, dipping them in beaten egg (or a mixture of egg and water), and then coating them with a bread crumb mixture.

It just doesn't work for me. In the process of dipping the chicken in egg, much of the flour gets wiped off and ends up in the egg; the flour that remains sticks to the chicken in gooey clumps, and those clumps tend to resist coating with bread crumbs. After the third or fourth chicken tender has been treated, the egg has become a mess because of all the flour that's been washed off.

I've finally given up on that method and I simply do the egg and bread crumb part of the recipe, which seems to work just fine.

So why would I put flour on first - what's the advantage? And what am I doing wrong that makes it work so badly?


texts:
A friend of mine bought some new, very sharp knives. He has a magnetic strip that he uses to store knives, but he does not put these new knives there because he says magnets dull knives.

Is that true? I've never heard of this. If so, why do magnets dull knives?


texts: Is there any way to bring an egg to its natural state (not boiled) after you cook it?

texts: This is probably a stupid question, but I'm curious now after I opened the refrigerator looking for eggs to make a cake and there was only one and it was cooked. Is there any way to undo that, whether at home or an industrial way?


texts: Could anyone point me to a good video on cracking an egg and then separating the white and the yolk?  I need to improve my technique.  For every few eggs that I crack I end up with little bits of egg shell in the white that I then have to pick out.


texts: What are some ways to season that don't rely on garlic and onions?

texts:
I am looking for some alternative ways to season food. I am very familiar with currying, pesto, and chili. My difficulty is that each of these relies on onions, tomatoes and garlic.

What are some other ways to season food that don't rely on these three ingredients?

My wife is having difficulty with them during her pregnancy when in excess. At the same time she is having difficulty eating plain and bland foods. We also don't use any vinegar for its alcohol content.


texts: Pressure cooker missing a part. How do I fix it?

texts:
I inherited an old pressure cooker from a friend, but it seems to be missing a part. I locked it down and boiled some water in it.

So it looks like they had some tape or something over the red arrow valve. The green arrow valve never popped up, and I was unable to get any psi on the gauge. Once the water came to a boil, a vent of steam (and a bit of water) came out of the red arrow valve.

Can anyone tell me the name of the part that is needed at the red arrow?

Thanks.

I don't have the reputation to comment on your answer. Thanks for the help. The only indication of model or type is "LISTED 409A" on the bottom of the vessel. I'll be sure to get the proper pressure regulator.

Second edit. Actually found the model number. 0178107. 26091G3


texts: How do I properly substitute flour and water for sourdough starter?

texts:
I have a sourdough bread recipe that I want to try. The recipe calls for 2 cups starter but I do not have that much. It says I can use less and to just make up the difference with equal parts flour and water. If I use 1 cup of starter does that mean I use 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup water? or 1 cup flour and 1 cup water?

This is my first sourdough bread attempt and I don't want to waste my starter with a stupid mistake. I have worked too hard at keeping my starter alive to mess it up now.


texts: Should I add baking soda if the yeast in bread dough is not working?

texts: So I’m trying to make Hawaii bread rolls, I already know my yeast is probably dead and so far the dough hasn’t risen the question is : is it a bad idea to add baking soda?


texts: How to make my chicken taste more tender?

texts:
I have been trying out Korean Ginseng Soup recipe but the chicken meat usually turns out dry. Is this to do with the heat and the time taken to cook? I use an induction cooker for all my dishes. Thanks a lot!

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
5 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup glutinous rice
2 ginseng

I bring the water to boil on high heat before switching down to medium fire and let the chicken cook for about 80min. Thighs and wings mostly taste ok, but other parts are drier. Is this normal?


texts: What can I use to flavor savory chicken stuffing instead of onion?

texts:
I made the mistake of thinking I had more onions than I did (those orange bags filled with old onion skins look fuller than they are), and now I don't have any onions left for my savory dressing. Can I use onion soup mix (with those little dehydrated onion flakes), or would this goop up when I mix in melted margerine? What about onion powder for the flavor? I have some mushrooms. Could I combine this with onion powder?

My concerns are that the chicken will be lacking in onion flavor, that the drippings might be bland, or powder substituted in for moist onion might dry out the stuffing.

The recipe* calls for Breadcrumbs, summer savory, margarine/butter and diced onion. When it's put into the chicken carcass and cooked it absorbs the chicken's essence. It makes a nice stuffing, but the onion tends to be a key part of the flavor.

Also, I don't have shallots or any other reasonable onion alternative.

*by recipe, I mean "mix them together until it looks/feels right".

Update: I ended up using the onion soup mix and a bit of celery I had left over. It started out goopy when I first mixed it togther, but the end result was flavorful and moist.


texts: How to keep basil leaves from turning black?

texts: What is the best recommendation to keep fresh basil leaves from turning black after having used some of it?


texts: How spicy is authentic, traditional Palak paneer?

texts: I have heard that the spiciness of Palak paneer is regional, but I don't have any historical or geographical facts to confirm this. So, is there anybody around here that knows if a proper, old-school traditional Palak paneer is hot spicy, medium or mild, and which are the various regional traditions?


texts: I have a recipe for making Ogi - soured mixed millet, that calls for soaking whole millet grains, then blending them, then souring them with whey for three days. I'm wondering why is there the first soaking, is it for reducing phytate content, that wouldn't be reduced if the millet is actually blended or grinded?


texts: How can I tell whether beetroot is still edible?

texts:
I have some raw beetroot I bought about a week ago, having stored them at room temperature since. It's the first time I bought it raw, and I'm unsure whether it's still edible.

It is already soft, and when I cut it, it smells... Well, different than I expected. It's not a rotten smell as such, but it's nothing like the sweet beet-rooty smell I know from the pre-packaged, pre-boiled supermarket variety.

How can I tell whether it's still safe to eat?


texts: My french bread dough did not rise on the second rise after forming the loaves

texts: My dough looked great after the first rise. I punched down the dough and formed into long loaves and used a jelly roll pan, not loaf pans.  They did not rise fully,  I went ahead and baked them. The final product was dense and not chewy. I'm not sure what may have happened.


texts: Do fresh chilli peppers have properties that ground chilli peppers do not?

texts:
Usually when something is ground it can lose some properties, e.g. a lot of seeds can lose their oil.

Does fresh chilli contain anything such as oils or anything else which a store bought powder may not have due to the processing?


texts: I’ve recently discovered the loveliness of Quinoa, and the joy of buying it in bulk at Costco, so I’ll be making a lot of it in the near future.  I’m wondering if I can use my rice cooker to make the Quinoa. Has anybody done this? Does the ‘fuzzy’ logic in the machine prevent it from doing anything other than cooking rice and steaming veggies? I hope not, but I also don’t want to ruin a good kitchen tool finding out either. Thanks!


texts: What's the difference between thin crust pizza and a cracker

texts:
My friend says that thin pizza crust is nothing but a cracker, but I think there are significant differences between the two products. For example, if you buy a store-bought cracker and add pizza sauce, toppings, and cheese to it, you won't get anything remotely like a pizza.
tl;dr: where do the ideas of pizza crust and cracker diverge?


texts: Why is my meat grinder getting clogged with sinew?

texts:
Last Christmas, I got a meat grinder and I've stared experimenting with sausage making. My previous batches have been around a pound of pork, and I noticed that it seemed to slow down as I went. Today, I pushed through five pounds of chicken thighs and pork fat, which was a huge chore -- almost immediately, it the grinding would slow, and after maybe a half pound, I needed to take the blade out and clean the sinew out of the die. I could then go back and grind maybe a half pound again, before things clogged up.

Is this normal? I can't really imagine it is, or no one would ever grind meat.

I've tried the blade both ways -- one way is definitely the correct way; the other way doesn't cut at all.

I've cut the meat into cubes about the diameter of my thumb -- definitely smaller than the augur spacing.

I know, this isn't the world's best grinder (it's a "Back to Basics" brand). Does my blade need sharpening already? Is there some basic meat grinder technique I'm missing? Is the grinder just crap?


texts: Should I use whole eggs or only yolks in Spaghetti alla Carbonara?

texts: I tried to cook spaghetti alla carbonara and searching out I found out that some recipes use whole eggs and some only the egg yolks. Which way gives the better result?


texts: Should I let stock cool with the bones/veg still in it?

texts: I've just made some stock and its bed time now.  Do I need to strain my stock before I go to bed, or can I leave it overnight with all the stuff in it and strain it in the morning?  Is one preferable to the other?  Why?


texts:
I would like to make a garnish of bacon spirals. Spirals like cinnamon rolls, not like curly fries, nor like Gemelli pasta.

My plan is to bake loosely rolled bacon held in place with a toothpick.

I fear that the rolls will crumble while removing the toothpick.  Is there anything I can do to ensure they retain the spiral shape after removing the toothpick?

Is there a better method?


texts: I've been making yogurt for a bit less than a year, in a multicooker. My first starter was a single-serve cup of skyr, but since then I've just been using the last of the previous batch as the starter for the next. However, for the last few batches, I've been getting much more cloudiness in the whey when I strain it. The last batch, I got four times the volume of slightly-thickened-but-too-thin-for-a-strainer white liquid as I did of yogurt, which is enough loss to make me concerned enough to ask here. I saved the liquid (now jarred in the fridge), and left it to settle; a little normally-clear whey has separated to the top, but that's just the top quarter-inch or so of two pint jars that are otherwise full of white. Is there anything I can do to make yogurt or cheese or something from the liquid? Can the yogurt be salvaged to make good batches again, or will I need to start over with a new store-bought cup?


texts: What is the difference between pancetta and bacon?

texts: I see pancetta next to the bacon at a local butcher and was wondering what the difference was between the two?


texts: Exactly what is "low heat" for making cheese sauce?

texts: Having a poor track record of making cheese sauces, I'm determined to do it right at least once in this decade.   I read that one should use "low heat" only.  Too much heat causes the cheese to go stringy or clumpy.  Okay - but just what is "low heat"?  Warm but not beyond what I can stick my finger in comfortably?  Can someone put a number on it, degrees centigrade?


texts: In what proportion should the given ingredients be combined to form a cookie?

texts:
These ingredients were listed on a cookie pack available in the market.
I would like to know what combinations of the following ingredients can be used to produce around 200gms cookies?

  Wheat flour
  Sugar
  Vanaspati
  Edible Oil
  Atta
  Ajwain
  Glucose
  Salt
  Custard
  Milk powder
  Synthetic colour
  Leaving Agents
  Permitted flavor and Emulsifier Agents

Wheat flour should be read as all purpose flour.

Questions:

What sugar should be used? White or Brown?
Can vanaspati be replaced with anything (clarified butter)?
Custard refers to custard powder or the custard which is ready to eat?
Why is glucose needed when the sugar is already there?
What should be added as Emulsifier Agents?
Water isn't mentioned here but should I assume that it is needed?

Besides for preparing 200gms "crispy" cookies roughly what quantity of each of the ingredient should be added?


texts: Will I never be able to cook anything needing tomatoes in a seasoned cast iron Kadhai?

texts:
https://cooking.stackexchange.com/a/5863/6168

  If you put any acid in cast-iron, you are harming your seasoning, and leeching iron into your food. This will affect the taste of your sauces, I find pan sauces taste metallic when made in cast iron.

Indian dishes often require tomatoes in most of the dishes. I am not intending to cook any tomato sauces in the Kadhai. Will I never be able to cook any Indian dishes requiring tomatoes in a well seasoned iron Kadhai (assuming I'll re-season again)?


texts: How long should it take to bbq half a chicken?

texts:
I know how to tell if a chicken is cooked, but has anyone got any idea of approximately how long it would take to bbq half a chicken in an uncovered barbecue?

To clarify:
I'm thinking of cleaving a 1.5kg (maybe slightly smaller) chicken in two, and putting each half on the bbq. The chicken will be between fridge and ambient temperature.

The chicken will possibly be the first thing on the bbq after it's ready to cook on (I use charcoal).

I'm just looking for a ballpark figure.

In addition if anyone has any reasons for why this isn't a good idea then let me know :).


texts:
We've been given an old bottle of alcohol, an amaretto.

At the top of the bottle, where the lid and bottle rim meet, a few crystals have formed. I'm guessing it's the sugars but am not sure.

Some one has mentioned they think the crystals forming means you should throw the bottle (and contents) away as it's not safe, but I can find no proof of this online.

Does the forming of the crystals indicate the drink is no longer safe?


texts: Dough rising and oxygen. How does it work exactly?

texts:
Despite being easily the most rudimentary stuff in bread making and heavily discussed and written about, the relationship between oxygen and rising still appears to be shrouded in myth and speculation. Having read various articles on this topic--frankly most information online is vague at best and at times totally contradictory to each other--I am still puzzling over the basic stuff: Does a dough need oxygen to rise or not? Or is an anaerobic environment better for the process in any way? If so, how exactly?

In the bread-making process, it is the yeast that undergoes cellular respiration. Anaerobic respiration -- also known as fermentation -- helps produce beer and wine and happens without the presence of oxygen, while aerobic respiration requires oxygen to be present. During bread production, yeast starts off respirating aerobically, creating carbon dioxide and water and helping the dough rise. After the oxygen runs out, anaerobic respiration begins, although the alcohol produced during this process, ethanol, is lost through evaporation when the bread is exposed to high temperatures during baking. (source)

In the simplest of terms, fermentation is what happens when yeast cells eat and poop. Specifically, it's what happens when yeast cells consume sugars and produce ethanol and other derivative chemicals. The alcohol produced by the yeast during fermentation—along with a multitude of other reactions—are what give great bread its characteristic flavors and aroma. Generally speaking, more fermentation means tastier bread. In the most technical, terms fermentation is an anaerobic reaction (meaning it happens in the absence of oxygen) that the yeast performs after respiration, which is aerobic and requires oxygen. (source)

Per these articles, the process starts with aerobic respiration and ends with anaerobic respiration when the oxygen runs out, and both reactions are necessary for the end product to carry a pleasant and appetizing flavor. So aerobic  -> anaerobic.
But that runs counter to what people say about covering: What should I cover bread dough with while it's rising? This old Seasoned Advice discussion seems to suggest the major reason the dough is covered is to keep it from drying out, and the most upvoted answerer suggests they "haven't noticed a difference in the bread produced" with plastic wrap and wet towels. If oxygen really plays a part in the fermentation process, access to it most certainly should affect the end result. Plastic wrap limits air access, whereas wet towels don't.
So is limiting air access necessary at all in any part of the rising process? Also with this question I am seeking accurate, scientifically sound, informed answers.


texts: What kind of alcohol has least carbohydrates?

texts:
I'm looking for types of alcohols which have least carbohydrates. I'm looking for more of a ranking than just a single one, as it would be clean spirit, wouldn't it?

The general idea is to know what to choose over what when I want to limit carbohydrates and have a drink.

To make it more like a measurable criteria I'd say that I want to get equally drunk so amount of drink I need to consume would vary.


texts:
How would you adapt a brownie recipe to a two-bite cupcake size?
Additional constraint, I usually bake with whole wheat flouer, and try to reduce butter in favor of apple-sauce, olive oil and coconut oil. Eggs are fine.
Thanks for reading.


texts: How do I reheat previously-cooked frozen sausage?

texts:
This probably has an obvious answer I'm missing. To make a long story short, my mother helped us out with an event several months back involving having to serve breakfast to a large number of people including breakfast sausage, a mix of links and patties. Afterwards, as is her habit, she packaged up the leftovers in a plastic bag and handed them over to us. We set them in the chest freezer and frankly forgot about them for some time. We now have about 3-4 lbs of precooked sausage in a single frozen lump. I've tried breaking them off and cooking then in my cast-iron skillet in the mornings, but the patties break apart more than break off of the main mass, and when the patties are just about to turn into hockey pucks, the links are still frozen on the inside.

I'm a bit hesitant to thaw the mass because we'd just be refreezing it again, and my understanding is that it's a bad idea to repeatedly thaw and freeze meat. Is there a better way to handle this that doesn't involve us trying to eat a few pounds of processed meat at once or risk wasting it?


texts:
About 2-3 months ago I decided to start my own batch of vinegar.  I started with some Braggs apple cider vinegar which contains the mother, and I added some old wine and some fruit juice to the mix.  I kept it in a dark and warm place, as per instructions online.  A few layers of cheesecloth were placed on top to allow it to air, without letting anything else get into it.

When I recently opened it, I found a layer of what appears to be a yellow-orange mold on top.  There are also some small worms or maggots living on the top, but that doesn't seem as problematic to me.

As you can (sort of) see in this picture above, there is definitely a mother at the bottom.  The mother has grown since I last saw it.  I am not sure what to think about that top layer though.  Is the vinegar batch completely spoiled?

Picture #2 (a closer look at the top)


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I am working on a creation: probably will end up being a Butterscotch Blondie Cheesecake.

Here is where the butterscotch debate comes in:

1) Some claim butterscotch is only "pure" when it is simply butter and dark brown sugar (melted correctly into a sauce, of course).

2) Others think it still counts if there is vanilla and sea salt

3) Others think as long as you start with butterscotch base, you're dealing with butterscotch- and add bourbon or scotch (despite the name, probably didn't originally include scotch...the things you learn when researching), or other flavoring notes.


texts: What is the difference between a thickener and an emulsifier?

texts:
I ask this because I have used a minuscule amount of Xanthan Gum to slightly thicken a chilli sauce I have made. However upon looking at the ingredients of many popular chilli sauces they all tend to use a "modified starch" (modified cornstarch, modified maize starch, modified tapioca starch, are the common ones I've come across) as a "thickener" and Xanthan Gun as an "emulsifier".

Given this what is the difference between a thickener and an emulsifier? How would my chilli sauce change if I used a modified starch instead of Xanthan gum? And why is it ideal to use both?


texts: Why does my knife leave grey streaks in the butter?

texts: Sometimes my flatware leaves grey streaks in butter.  I've only seen this with knives in cold butter.  They claim to be stainless steel which I would think wouldn't do this. If I recall they were the very best flatware Target had to offer ;) Is something leaching into my food?


texts: Preparing spaghetti without boiling water

texts: I saw a commercial on televison for preparing spaghetti without boiling the noodles, just place them in water for about on hour.  Can this be done?


texts:
I use natural almond milk without additives. This is fantastic in cold drinks.
However, in hot drinks, such as hot cocoa, it feels flat.
I have investigated corn starch, and have heard of xanthum gum and guar gum. What could be used for hot liquids and almond milk. Corn starch does not seem to affect mouth feel much. I believe the fat content of my natural almond milk s/b pretty good (perhaps 6g per 8oz)


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My pie pastry is too soft that I can't pick it up to put in pan after rolling it. The softness/pliable is like the butter/shortening too warm needs to be refrigerated. I tried refrigerating it overnight (this delayed the completion of my pie) but next day it was still too soft and I am still unable to put into pan. I ended up pressing it into the pan, making it less flaky but at that point was reaching I give up point.
Should I add more flour but isn't sticky? Or more cold water but won't that make it more soft and overly pliable?
I want to try again to make pie crust but want to figure out what I can do to fix it. Note: This pie crust comes from Joy of Cooking and uses shortening and butter.

Update:
I followed the recipe so here is the recipe. It's from Joy of cooking. I've never tried this recipe. I made pie with all butter crust and it worked well so thought I'd tried the more traditional one with shortening and it was very soft.
2.5 c all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
3/4 c cold lard (155g) or vegetable shortening (145g)
3tbsp or 45g butter
Used food processor to blend the added
6 tbsp ice water mixed with 1 tbsp vinegar.
I put in fridge for 30min then tried to roll out but was too soft. Put it overnight, hoping would be better but still top soft.
One thing is that with all ingredients, I used cups except butter since 3 tbsp is hard for me to figure out amount and so I weighed that bit.
As I type this out, I notice the lard and vegetable shortening weights are different. I just used 3/4 cup vegetable shortening. Could that be the reason?


texts: What's the different between the sides of aluminium foil (shiny/matte)?

texts:
Is there any difference between the two sides of an aluminium foil? (shiny/matte)

If so, when to use each one? For example, when covering something or when using as a pan cover to bake/cook something on top of it.


texts: What can you tell about the state of margarine in this cookie?

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I want the find out about the structure of the margarine used, shown in the photo below.

I baked this cookie from a frozen dough I bought. The frozen dough was very hard. I  am  wondering about these spots that look like freckles. I want  to find out about the structure of the margarine used. The fat did not set uniformly. Some spots ARE SHINY, and some spots are not. Is this margarine? Was it in hard cold state at creaming?

The frozen dough acts like it has oil in it. Or the fat was melted, because I can pick the chocolate chips in it. But I don't think it has oil in it, because the frozen dough is hard. And won't get soft.

They don't stick to the dough. When I use room temperature margarine, the  chips just blend in with the dough...

When I use room-temperature margarine it just won't keep a uniform  structure.

Would cold margarine act different?

What can you tell about the margarine used in this cookie? Cold? Melted?


texts: Could I get sick from accidentally cooking an olive can metal lid in my spaghetti sauce?

texts: I accidentally cooked a metal lid from an olive can in my spaghetti, but didn't find it until everyone had already eaten. Could my family get sick from it?


texts:
I like cheese. It's delicious. Sometimes it goes on a huge sale and it's a lot cheaper than normal. I want to be able to stock up in these times.

I am wondering what the best way to store cheese is of different types (the 8oz blocks of softer cheeses or hard blocks of fancier cheeses).

It seems like I could freeze them, but I've had bad luck with cheeses becoming crumbly. Harder cheeses feel like you could refrigerate them forever without them going bad, assuming you either don't touch them or they stay unopened.

Is there a good way to store cheese without it going bad? And how long does it stay good if you store it?


texts: I have a small condiment business, where I make a sauce that uses Mayo as a base. I would like to make the base myself so my product can have a long shelf life unopened like commercial ones, and then the reduced one refrigerated. I need help with a method to do this or if someone could suggest another base that I could use, similar in taste that’s easier to make and preserve. Please, I really need this help.


texts: Substituting maple syrup for maple extract

texts:
I found a recipe for maple scones I might try, but it calls for both 1/4 cup maple syrup and 1/4 tsp maple extract, and I only have syrup. I don't have any idea how strongly flavored the extract is compared to the syrup, but it seems like I should be able to reduce some syrup, take out some of the sugar, and be just fine. How much maple syrup would it take to get the flavor contained in 1/4 tsp of extract? I can balance the recipe from there.

(I've seen this question, which does have a comment saying it wouldn't work in frosting, but this is a bit different.)


texts: What are the pros and cons of storing bread in various locations?

texts: Why should/shouldn't I store my bread in the fridge/freezer/breadbox/plastic bag/etc?


texts:
A couple years ago I was given a box of delicious Soan Papdi made by Haldiram Co. The ingredients listed are: almonds, pistachios, vegetable ghee, sugar, wheat flour, gram flour, cardamom.  It had the most amazing texture: oily, brittle, crunchy, and curiously flakey or stratified. You can sort of see the layers in this picture from Wikipedia.

It had a similar texture to what you find in:

1) Halvah sesame candy (ingredients listed by the Joyva company: Crushed Sesame, Corn Syrup, Sugar, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil [Cottonseed, Soya], Dried Egg Albumen, Natural Flavor, Vanilla [An Artificial Flavor])

and

2) Butterfinger candy bar (corn syrup, sugar, ground roasted peanuts, hydrogenated palm kernel oil, cocoa, molasses, and less than 1% of dairy product solids, confectioner's corn flakes, nonfat milk, salt, soy lecithin, soybean oil, cornstarch, natural flavors, monoglycerides, tbhq and citric acid [to preserve freshness], annatto color)

All 3 candies having the main ingredients of sugar and some kind of crushed nut or seed. How does this flakey layered brittleness come about? Are these sweets made by repeated folding of the mixed ingredients, like making the layers in croissants?... Or is it some sort of natural consequence (maybe something like crystallization) of combining crushed nuts with lots of sugar?

I don't know of any homemade sweet with this curious texture or structure. Is it possible (I mean feasible) to achieve this result in a regular home kitchen? If so, how is it done?

Don't worry, I am not looking for a recipe, but more of a "what is the process like?"


texts: How to bring eggs to room temperature fast while baking?

texts: Some recipes call for eggs at room temperature. How can I bring the egg to room temperature quickly? I have seen suggestions to place it in hot water for five minutes, will that affect the texture of the egg?


texts: How do I know when my wine is properly reduced?

texts:
I guess it can be subjective according to tastes, but some reduction is required. If I could know what I am trying to do away with in the reduction process (alcohol, raw bite or volume) then I could adjust according to my subjective taste and dish.

Some general guidelines about how do you know when your wine is reduced or what to look for in a reduced wine would be useful.


texts: How can I approximate a Starbucks latte at home?

texts:
I'd like to save a little money by making my morning latte at home instead of buying it.  But it seems like the barista does something beyond just mixing coffee and warm milk to result in that perfect latte.

What ingredients go into a coffee-shop latte, such as those made at Starbucks?  What techniques do I need to approximate one at home, with common household equipment?


texts: Is is safe to use a stainless steel pan that has been cleaned with bleach (Comet)?

texts: I have been cleaning my stainless steel pan with Comet for quite some time now and have only now come to know that I shouldn't be using bleach on stainless steel. If I clean it with dish soap and hot water, will that be enough? Is there anyway to make it reusable?


texts:
How can I get rid of the air bubbles in the melted chocolate after I have blended with a mixer? I knocked the tray on the table so hard and the air bubble began to surface but it doesn't pop out. Any suggestion to this problem?

I'm making a ganache and have been told to use mixer for a smoother ganache. Other than vibrating the tray, any method I should try? If it's impossible then i will just need to enrobed/powder it instead of making a fudge ganache which were supposed to be served chilled.


texts: How does fast food restaurants make grilled chicken

texts:
In most of the fast food restaurants which do grilled chicken, when they get an order, they take a chicken which looks like it is pre-cooked as it is yellowish in colour, and put it on the grill

This is the case with restaurants like Nandos etc. During the grilling they apply the sauces and then serve

How do they precook the chicken? Do they marinate it and use an oven to heat it?


texts: How does the taste of Bird Eye Chillies differ at different stages of maturity (green vs red)?

texts: What's the difference in taste between green and red Bird's Eye Chillies?


texts: I know that heating eggs up too quickly or (similarly) adding them to a hot soup/sauce too quickly will cause them to curdle. I wonder why?


texts: Will my double crust for a fresh uncooked chicken pot pie get soggy if left in refrigerator overnight?

texts: I am making 8 chicken pot pies with a double crust in a 9" round aluminum container as gifts for friends to take home and cook themselves or freeze it.  I will pre-prep the filling on a Friday   and assemble the pies the next day.  I will refrigerate the pies overnight then give them to my friends that following day. Will the bottom crust get soggy overnight and not crisp up when baking?


texts: How long can a bread dough containing eggs wait before going to the oven?

texts:
I am waiting until the bread has grown enough. Naturally, outside fridge. However, the dough contains a cracked egg among other ingredients. Will it become unsafe to eat?

I suppose the oven will kill any organism that may start to multiply in the dough.


texts:
Is there any particular technique for stirring dough (particularly cake dough) that is to be recommended? When I stir dough, I find that I develop too much gluten (i.e. it gets too chewy) and don't get all of the flour mixed in.

Any suggestions?

edit: Reference to cake.


texts: Are there other cheeses which have similar properties to halloumi, like the fact that it doesn't melt easily and can be grilled, fried or barbequed?


texts:
For a dessert I recently made, I intended to flame, or burn some alcohol on a quinel of ice cream. Unfortunately, it would not light. I've searched the web a bit since and have come to think it was to cold for the alcohol to evaporate and so burn (bad explanation, I know). Is this why? How would I go about achieving this, ideally with no chemicals as I have a kitchen not a lab.

Thanks in advance!


texts: If I'm using amchur primarily just for the tanginess, are there any good substitutes? I'd rather avoid things like lemon juice, since often it's very convenient that it's a powder, not a liquid.


texts:
I have a few recipes that require marinating meat in yogurt (usually poultry), but none of them are particularly clear on what to do with the meat after marinating, but before cooking. For example, I have a chicken tikka masala recipe that essentially states:

Remove chicken from marinade
Put on skewers and grill; begin cooking sauce
Remove chicken from skewers and add to sauce

In this example, every time the chicken goes from the grill to the pan of hot sauce, the excess yogurt on the chicken immedietely curdles, giving the sauce an almost gritty look to it. Given this dillema, I have a few questions regarding the yogurt marinade:

As a general rule, are you supposed to rinse the yogurt marinade off of the meat prior to cooking it?
If not, what is the best way to prevent the excess marinade from curdling in the pan?
Is there any particular type of yogurt that is better for marinades?


texts:
I am trying to make marble cake. I guess I used the ingredients in the correct proportion, but when I take cake out, I found the cake hard.

This is the recipe I followed:

2 cups all-purpose flour,2 teaspoons baking powder,1/2 teaspoon salt,1 cup
white sugar,1/2 cup butter,2 eggs,1 teaspoon vanilla extract,1 cup milk,2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)
Place flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, and milk into mixing bowl. Beat slowly to moisten, then beat with an electric mixer at medium speed for about 2 minutes until smooth
Stir cocoa into the 3/4 cup reserved batter.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes.
 -

Am I missing some ingredient?
Is there any issue with oven temperature?
How do I fix hard cake?


texts:
What kind of chocolates are used to make the lava-cookies?

How can i keep it in liquid state inside the cookies?

Thank you.

ps. Sorry, my English is as bad as my baking skill.


texts: Can almond milk be substituted for evaporated milk in a custard pie recipe?


texts: Texture and cutting of avocado and Mango used in sushi

texts:
When I want to make sushi, how should the avocado and mango feels like ? Soft or very soft ?

Plus how should I cut the mango to put on the top of sushi ? I searched on youtube but nothing helped me their.


texts: Help with a chili recipe: need help on fruit/sweet selection

texts:
Follow up to Bean Selection I am planning on making a new chili using grilled venison, Great Lakes Black Out Stout, and roasted corn. There was a sister thread to this about deciding on a bean. Thanks to @justkt 's suggestion i am keeping it simple with chili beans (the kidney beans in sauce). However, as i was thinking about the heat, i forgot the other crucial element: the sweet.

For me a good chili isnt just kinda hot: It should be perfectly good and hot, but kept in check with sweet. This in particular is why you see a decent habanero hot sauce with lime, lemon etc in it. Normally I add citrus fruits to my chili.

Since I am cooking Venison, stewed in Stout beer, and hoping for a dark woods moodiness to the food I am thinking of breaking away from the norm. What sweet would you bring to chili in this case?

I googled 'what fruit pairs well with venison' and cherry (for its acidity) was suggested. This is a really sexy idea to me, but i am unsure if thats just my brain overthinking it. if added, i suppose it should be as a salty puree, probably quite early in the staging (ie when the meat is prepared and added with the beer).
normally i add the components in this order (and it works well): garlic, onions, spices, beer reduction, tomatoes, meat, [fruit x?] beer reduction, beans... and typically have it simmer for 4-6 hours. Will this make a grilled venison steak tough or tender?


texts:
I have a beautiful, top quality beef tenderloin in the fridge. It's from my local butcher and I know it's been handeled with great care up to now.As my guests had to cancel, I'll have to freeze it - even planning for leftovers we won't be able to eat all of it. We are talking about a scant 2 kg /4 pounds of meat.

I'm wondering if I should freeze it whole or in small/individual portions:
Does it influence the quality of the meat whether it was frozen & thawed as a large "chunk" or in smaller pieces?

Im not asking about practical considerations like what kind of dish I'm planning to cook afterwards, but rather about physics: Once the meat is frozen, the ice crystals will invariably do some damage to the cells that can lead to some loss of water when thawing. But are there other influences to be considered?

To cut a long story short:How can I preserve the quality as much as possible?

EDIT:
As nobody had an idea so far, I've decided to start a little experiment.

I took the tenderloin and

cut off a few tournedos (and one tiny slice for the begging, no starving cat ^_^)
left the rest "en bloc".

So let's see what happens in a couple of weeks, when I take them out again...


texts: What is the substitute for pastry blender in cookie making?

texts:
I'm going to do this recipe and it says in the recipe that I need to use pastry blender. I have a question that can I use this one instead of pastry blender?
Or this one


texts: What is this substance in my canned ground beef?

texts:
Do you know from pic what the yellow jelly like substance is on what seems to be the side surfaces of my corned beef(I can’t see it on the top or inner part)?
The ingredients say: Cooked Beef, Beef, Water, Salt, Sugar and Sodium Nitrite.
So not sure what it is.  If you say it’s fat shouldn’t it be white and solid like normal beef fat and why does it migrate to the sides, assuming it’s fat to begin with.

Product link:
https://www.penguinfresh.com/products/corned-beef-halal-canned-grace


texts: What is the padding with red substance inside of steak packaging?

texts:
When I buy steaks, sometimes they include a padding in the packaging, on which the steak sits, which contains a red substance:

What is it? What is its purpose, and can I assume, that it is not poisonous? I unintentionally cut into this one and it had some contact with the steak.


texts: How do you quickly prepare tomatoes for pizza?

texts:
Whether is be homemade pizza or adding topping to the self-rising frozen pizza we love adding meats and veggies.  We often have tomatoes at hand.  I slice them thin and lay them on a paper towel and add them to pizza...  Then 30 mins later I have a pizza with wet tomato puddles on top.  What can I do?

Note:  Is there also a "best" tomato for pizzas and any moisture/tomato seasoning tips?


texts: What causes steamed fish to become mushy?

texts:
I went to a Chinese seafood restaurant for dinner and ordered steamed grouper. I repeatedly confirmed that the fish must be live "swimming fish".

The fish came out and the flesh was mushy.

Guests who are experienced (self-proclaimed) insisted the fish was dead for quite some time already, hence the protein became mushy, instead of having a succulent texture. However, the manager insisted the fish was live the whole day, until they cooked it for us.

If the manager was not lying, what could have caused the mushy texture?


texts: How To Get Flavour Into Dried Grains And Pulses

texts:
All those things you have to soak, you would think you could infuse some flavour during the soaking.
I've tried all sorts of ideas, vegetable stock, herbs, spices, yeast extract etc. but I find the end result is always a feeble to un-noticable difference in the flavour of the pulses or grains, even if I cook in the soaking liquid to reduce "washing the flavour away".

Any suggestions for adding flavour when soaking dried peas, beans, lentils, pearl barley, etc.?


texts: What is the way to use a readymade double boiler with whistle?

texts:
I have purchased this double boiler.

It is written that we have to fill water after opening the whistle.
How much water am I supposed to fill?  How do I know that?

I filled it completely with water. Then it blew the whistle. Now how I am supposed to know that milk has boiled completely or it has just heated up?

How do I know whether it has boiled enough to kill the germs?


texts: What's the trick to seal sous vide foil if liquid contained

texts:
I experience problems with sealing sous vide dishes if they contain liquid. Think of marinade for example.

While sealing, the liquid is flowing up and prevents proper sealing. Current workaround is to take more foil for example or seal without proper vacuum.

Do you know of a 100% working trick?


texts: Looking for a tasteless emulsifier, or a method to mix oily substances into water

texts:
I've been experimenting with blending flavors into water based drinks, but these experiments have largely ended up with a thin oily layer on top of my watery liquid. What I require is an emulsifier to stabilize my oil-water mixture while:

1) Not adding any additional taste,

2) Not sequestering the taste of my flavor compounds,

3) Will preferably not turn my solution milky.

Some examples that do not work include adding sodium citrate (adds sour salt flavor), PG/DPG (bitter taste), ultrasound sonication (too expensive), and simply waiting for natural diffusion to occur (time-intensive).

Example flavors I am working with include beta-damascone (fruity, petal, apple flavor) and muscone (sweet, musk, vanilla-ish).

Some possibilities I can think of but have not tried include polysorbate, maltodextrin, and using a blender. Any helpful tips would be appreciated.

EDIT: I'd like to add that the flavors do mix if given enough time, albeit slowly, taking at least several days to weeks.


texts:
My family would like to eat pork knuckle (ideally the Germany/Austrian style but not necessary as long as they taste fine).  I looked up various receipt but most require an oven, which I don't have (No! I do not have an oven!). I also do not have large enough fry pan - just one small enough to cook up the gravy.

I do have a very large boiling pot though; so I wonder in what way can I cook the pork knuckle just by boiling it and still manage to make it tasty. Should I add salt, tomato sauce, oil or what sort of seasoning in the boiling water? And normally in what way and how long it takes to boil pork knuckle to tender?

Some has suggest to boil pork knuckle in Coca Cola to make it tender and taste...Any creative receipt is also welcome.


texts:
My toddler recently developed a bit of intolerance to lactose. However, some of his favorite meals are moussaka and lasagna, not the least because the bubbly intensely flavored bechamel topping that roasts up in the oven. Typically for these recipes, I make a traditional white sauce or bechamel by melting butter and mixing in flour and cooking it out with very little color, then progressively whisk in milk until the sauce coats a spoon, then the final result is tempered with 3 eggs and shredded parm so that the baked product solidifies.
I can't find any suggestions on the internet for replacing the milk, butter, and cheese. Would olive oil in lieu of butter, and water or a nut milk (walnut or pine nut) instead of cow's milk, and omitting cheese suffice as a replacement? Is there any reason to believe the ratios would be out-of-balance using these substitutes?


texts:
I was in the supermarket and I noticed that one brand of "organic" carrots was a very pale orange, but another brand of carrots was bright orange.

Is this color difference because the carrots are being dyed?


texts:
So I got this great sounding recipe, but it only contains the ingredients, not the method. I am lucky that I don't have any problems putting it together by myself, there is only one thing I can't get my hands on really: Maple foam.

The recipe says it consists of milk, maple syrup, gelatine and vanilla beans.

I got all the ingredients, but before I tried anything I Googled, thinking that there is maybe another recipe already out there for this. I found some things, like a guide where the foam turns into a rock hard candy. I don't think this is what I want, as my recipe is for ricotta pancakes.

I also found this recipe: http://400caloriesorless.com/?tag=maple-foam
But the maple foam in there does not contain any gelatin (and does not look really foamy to me).

Then I found this, which seams more right to me, but I don't own a NO2 dispenser: http://thebellyrulesthemind.blogspot.de/2007/08/foam.html

A bit discouraged I just tried to whip milk to get some kind of cream (yes yes I know about whipping cream ;-) ), add some maple syrup and gelatine. Of course this didn't work out really well.

Because the recipe also uses vanilla beans I thought about bringing the milk to the boil together with the vanilla beans, then adding maple syrup and adding gelatine and beating it until it's basically at room temperature. This also didn't really work, the problem is that it never gets really foamy. So I guess thats the problem an NO2 dispenser solves. But maybe there is another way of creating maple foam? Maybe I was even on the right track?


texts: Can you eat acorns picked from the street?

texts:
The streets and parks where I live in New York City are littered with acorns. Can I pick them up and cook them?

Is it safe? Are they any good? (Taste-wise, nutrition-wise.)


texts:
I've been trying my hand at sourdough bread for a few months now and it is getting better and better, but this keeps happening, and I have no idea what might be the cause:

My impression is that during the rise, the crumb tears into two pieces in the middle.

This is probably relevant: The dough is 80% hydration white bread flour, around 3 hours autolysis, then lamination and three stretches and folds spaced out. Altogether around six hours of bulk fermentation, overnight in the fridge (5 °C), and baked in the morning on a pizza stone, with 250 °C with steam for 20 minutes and 220 °C for 20 minutes (the oven has the air convection turned on).

My problem is I have no idea which part of the recipe is to blame for the outcome, so I'm not even sure where I am deviating from the recipe I'm trying to copy (to be very exact, I'm trying to follow this one now: How To Make A Basic Open Crumb Sourdough Bread)

I'm not sure if this is important, but it also doesn't open up so well (but I don't have a proper lame, so I'm struggling with the scoring):


texts:
It was my first time baking and followed a simple bread recipe. The ingredients are listed below.
My problem was after mixing, before kneading, the dough was still very sticky and stuck onto my hand even before I started kneading it. In the video that I watched using that recipe, the dough wasn't that sticky.
Can someone explain me why it happened and how can I remedy it?

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups bread flour
1/2 cup white sugar
5 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp baking powder
1 and 1/4 cup fresh milk warm
6 grams rapid rise yeast
1 tsp salt
1 piece raw egg
1 tbsp cooking oil


texts: How can I keep saffron fresh for longer?

texts: We don't use saffron that often. The last batch we got went stale. Is there anything I can do to preserve it for longer? (For example, our spice rack gets a lot of direct sunlight, is that bad?) How long can I expect it to last?


texts: Can I make microwave frozen ready pizza?

texts: I would like to make frozen pizzas and heat them in the microwave. I understand that to warm in oven would be better but I don't want to use an oven. I want to make my own frozen ready pizza and heat in a microwave and achieve similar results to heating in oven. Is this possible? Can I do it by adding an ingredient to the dough?


texts: What gives the sponginess of a Chiffon Cake?

texts:
I tried baking this receipt and followed the instructions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYQ5uc6plCs

The cake turns out ok but it's not a sponge like shown, its a bit more compressed and droopy. Any ideas what on which step was the problem? It's funny in the video, she actually did a lot of experiments and showed that the whipping of the cream is not that relevant to the shape of the cake. Not sure what else it might be?


texts: Does the temperature increase the longer the food is on the stovetop?

texts:
My physics knowledge is nonexistent, so I'm sorry for the ridiculously simple question.

When you're cooking on a stovetop (say on medium heat), does the temperature continuously increase the longer you're cooking, or is there a point where the temperature levels off? I know for the slow cooker, the temperature is kept constant once it reaches a certain level. Is the science the same for stoves?


texts:
Let's say for argument's sake that if I buy a rotisserie (cooked) chicken from my local grocery store and stick it in the fridge it will last 5 days before it starts to be detectably going bad. Prior to the 5th day the bird tastes and smells fresh.

If I rip the meat off the bones on the 4th day and fry it in some olive oil and/or butter and stick it back in the fridge should I expect it to stay good another 5 days?


texts:
I'm looking at the nutritional information on a pack of salt, as per the panel, 33.5g/100g is Sodium, everything else is in mg, totaling up to less than 1gm.

The Ingredients section lists Salt as the sole ingredient

However, atomic mass of Na = 23 , Cl = 35.5 (approx)

As per this, Na should be around 39% of the total, not 33.5%

Any idea what accounts for the difference?


texts:
I'm planning to cook pheasant breast this evening and want to know if I can have it rare, as I would with duck breast.

I know most government food agencies err on the side of caution (cook until all moisture has gone), but are there risks in eating this meat rare, as there are with chicken or pork for example?

Thanks for your insight!


texts: Hygienic fitness of frozen fully cooked food

texts: I cooked chicken soup and freeze it.For how long I can eat it


texts: Is there a difference in the ease of seasoning cast iron, forged iron, and carbon steel?

texts:
I have a forged iron pan, and I used linseed oil to season it in the oven. The resulting seasoning peels in places. Also, it is not really non-stick, once food burns even a little, it is stuck to the seasoning irreversibly. I removed and renewed the seasoning 2-3 times, but it didn't get better.

Is forged iron harder to season than cast iron, or is it just bad seasoning technique? Also, is it easier or harder to season carbon steel when compared to cast iron or forged iron?


texts: I have an American recipe that calls for Cane Sugar, is this the same as Demerara or is it Light or Dark brown sugar?


texts: Substitute for fresh lemons - I need to make 70 liters of homemade lemonade

texts:
I can not afford so many fresh lemons to make lemonade. What would be the equivalent for 6 fresh lemons if using citric acid instead?

Can Tartaric replace fresh lemons which are very hard to find where I live?


texts: I've made chickpea curry which has canned chickpeas, canned tomatoes and coconut cream (and onions, chilli powder, tumeric


texts:
I have taken up cooking while stuck in quarantine and wanted to know if there's an alternative to broiling. I have seen plenty of recipes which recommend broiling but I don't have a broiler. Any alternatives to it?
For instance, I found a good pasta recipe that suggests broiling after cooking to melt the cheese. How can I get it done without broiler.
Link to the recipe- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cETpXxcAiM


texts: I am looking for information on how to extend the shelf life of the fudge that I make for my business. Currently it is only lasting about 2 weeks, even when we have it sealed, we take it out and when we take it out it only lasts a couple days. I currently use a variety of methods as we are trying to find the best one.


texts: Do modern ovens bake the same as the old ones? Is the new oven the reason popovers don't rise?

texts: My popovers always popped over perfectly tall and golden using an old recipe handed down from the 40's, which called for baking at 400 °F and using old-fashioned glass custard cups.  Now with my new electric oven, the popovers do not rise at all using this same method. They look like flat yellow pancakes.  I've tested the oven temperature and had the oven checked professionally. Do the new modern ovens bake differently the old ones?


texts: I'd like to make something like pretzel buns/bites in a muffin tin. Could I just take a normal pretzel recipe, skip the rolling step, put the dough balls in the baking soda bath as usual, and then bake them in muffin cups? If not, what would I need to change?


texts: White dots on pizza or focaccia after baking

texts:
Sometimes I prepare a pizza dough that is a "direct" knead, no fancy preparations, works with all-purpose flour, rises in a couple of hours with regular yeast, about 70% hydration, olive oil inside.
It can be refrigerated after you roll out the dough if you want to bake it after some hours, with or without tomato sauce topping (I add the mozzarella later after tests in my oven).
In most cases, the fridge rest is about 18 hours. Sometimes I take the dish out about one hour before baking, sometimes I bake it right away (assume the oven is in temperature, about 250C).
No matter whether I let it rest before baking, I notice some white spots in areas that don't have any topping.
I thought it was about the thermic shock of going from the fridge to the oven, but since it happens in all cases I really don't see the pattern. What can it be?
Here is a picture of the final product after taking it out of the fridge where it had been for about 20 hours and a couple of hours at room temperature before baking.


texts: How to keep caramel from hardening prematurely?

texts:
Let me be clear: I am NOT making a recipe where I want the caramel to stay soft and gooey. The end result is supposed to be hard like toffee or peanut brittle. But everything I search seems to be for how to keep caramel in a soft and gooey state, so I just want to be clear that's not what I'm after.

I decided to shake up my recipe, by pouring it into holiday-shaped molds instead of breaking apart a giant slab. The problem is my molds will not hold all the caramel at once, so I'll have to mold it in batches.

So can anyone tell me how to keep the remaining caramel from solidifying before I'm ready to pour it? Ideally without turning it into a lump of charcoal?


texts: I have been trying to make chapattis (an Indian flat unleavened bread, somewhat like a wheat tortilla), using the following recipe for the dough: 300ml water, 250g whole wheat flour, 250g white wheat flour, pinch of salt. The dough rolls out fine, but the cooked chapattis turn out rather hard and/or rubbery instead of nice and soft. Any ideas why, and what I can do to improve the result?


texts: Is it safe to store applejuice in an opened glass bottle outside of the fridge?

texts:
I've got a few glass bottles of clear applejuice in the cellar (just pure clear store brand applejuice) that I want to take to my computer room so I don't need to constantly go downstairs to refill my glass.

can I just put them on my desk and take refills from them over a 2-3 day period with the bottle being at room temperature and not stored in the shade? or would that detract from the quality, taste or healthiness of the drink?


texts: Can I substitute quark (40%) for cream cheese in basque burnt cheesecake recipe?

texts:
Here's the recipe I'd like to follow:

MAKES ONE 10" CAKE
Unsalted butter (for pan)
2 lb. cream cheese, room temperature
1½ cups sugar
6 large eggs
2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
Sherry (for serving; optional)
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT
A 10"-diameter springform pan

I have all the ingredients except for cream cheese, I do have quark. Will it taste drastically different if I substitute quark for cream cheese? How about the texture?


texts: Deep frying - caloric-intake difference in saturated vs. unsaturated oil

texts:
In one of my previous questions, it was indicated that animal oils (saturated) would have a longer lifetime than unsaturated oils.

However, given good hygiene and properly fresh oil use, what would the difference in caloric intake be, when choosing between these two oils?


texts: Apparently the whole cumin seed contains oil which the ground version doesn't.  However when I crunch one down I never notice any oil coming out.  Where is it? I would like it to mix with my cooking oil.


texts: Are there any differences between preparing/cooking a turkey that was labeled "basted with real butter" vs a regular turkey?

texts:
I've roasted numerous turkeys numerous ways, but never bought a turkey that was basted with butter. I've always just bought a regular turkey, usually I brine it, and then roast it. I've always had great results. As I've never thought to buy one, I've never given it any thought.

I got this turkey for free and am wondering any considerations I need to account for with this pre-basted turkey? What would happen if I brined it?

Edit:
Here's the actual product:
http://www.presidentschoice.ca/en_CA/products/productlisting/pc_young_turkey_basted_with_real_butter19732.html


texts: This recipe for ginger-garlic paste roasts the salt before putting it in the paste. Now, I never thought I've seen someone roasting salt before. What is the point of this? How does it change the flavor or properties of the salt?


texts: What sauce is Gordon Ramsey using for this dish?

texts:
Gordon Ramsay has a trailer on YouTube for his MasterClass course. The link for the video is here: Gordon Ramsay's MasterClass (YouTube).

I have attached the screenshot at 0:21

It looks like cream or something else - is that beef wellington too? What is that sauce as I wish to make this dish!

Thanks


texts: I'm looking for lead-free, cadmium-free, arsenic-free 100% ceramic cookware. Unfortunately, Xtrema is not available where I live. Are there any other brands like Xtrema?


texts: Smoking a whole duck - when to remove from heat?

texts:
I am going to be smoking a duck on my grill in the next few days, and I'm finding a ton of conflicting information. I was hoping you all could help sort it out.

What breast/thigh temperature am I trying to get to for medium rare? I'm looking for the real answer, not the FDA approved politically-correct 165 degree answer. I've seen anywhere from 130 for rare, to the 165 for a hockey puck. There seems to be a lack of decent recipes.

I'm thinking a 200-225 degree smoker for at least a few hours should get rid of any actual danger from salmonella (though I honestly doubt duck is as much of a concern as, say, turkey or chicken since duck tartare and duck prosciutto aren't too hard to find).


texts: Do food courts with multiple restaurants share food? e.g. is there a common shipping and storage area?

texts: I've never walked behind the food court in the mall. But just wondering if, behind the restaurants fascia, the individual restaurants are receiving incoming food shipments together. e.g. is there a common freezer and storage area? Or does each individual restaurant do their own thing? e.g. order and separate and receive their food independently.


texts: What features do I want in a Toaster Oven?

texts: Our Toaster isn't doing well, planning to replace it with a toaster oven to get some more versatility on the counter top. What features are good? I've looked and there are ones ranging from simple $25 models to $250 with a laundry list of features.  Just wonder what's useful and what's not, hope to find a good one that's $120 or less really, but I'm willing to pay extra if it's worth the money.


texts: How can I adjust a recipe for different grades/brands/types of gelatin?

texts:
I'm trying to reproducibly make a specific jelly recipe. How can I achieve consistent results, using different grades/brands/types of gelatin?

Depending on what I can find in grocers nearby, I may have gelatin granules from a variety of manufacturers, or gelatin leaves from a variety of manufacturers. The area of a gelatin leaf seems to differ from country to country (I don't have accurate enough scales to test if the weight differs). Some packs of leaf gelatin say "silver" or "gold", and some specify a "bloom".

How can I convert between these different types of gelatin? Does 10g of gelatin from one manufacturer always have the same effect as 10g of gelatin from another manufacturer?

I found one web page which gave the following formula:

1 (0.25 oz.) envelope granulated gelatin = 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin = 3 sheets leaf gelatin

but the trouble with an unattributed formula like this is that I have no idea if it works across countries / brands. (Is the formula the same in metric countries?) I'm looking for a verifiable standards-based answer. Answers of the form "My great-aunt Maude always said that two farthings-worth of fancy leaf gelatin were the same as two rounded muckles of powdered, and she lived to be 102" will be down-voted.


texts: What's the difference between "English" & "American" bacon?

texts:
Prompted by Is it possible to cook bacon without melting as much fat? where I answered in an "English" way…

I've had crispy bacon - you can get it on pre-made sandwiches or in chilled packs in the cooked meat section in supermarkets, but bacon in the UK isn't normally served that way, it tends to be 'wetter', for want of a better term.
Smoked or not, back or belly, dry-cure or wet-brined, fried, grilled or even done in the oven [mass-catering-style] it still comes out "English".

Cue images of greasy-spoon cafés the length & breadth of our motorway system…

 Credit: The Telegraph - The 15 most British foods ever

Also cue jingoistic comparison from a chat site -

So, national pride aside, what's the difference?

I'm aware there's a cultural element, but does it come down to cooking method or curing method? Can I take my "English" bacon & cook it like "American" bacon, or do I have to look for a different 'type' altogether?

Note that I usually cook what in the UK is called streaky bacon - which looks like the same cut as "American" bacon - as opposed to back [as in the pictures of "English" above] but I still have never attained  that complete crisp end result.
If I just keep cooking it until it's crispy, I don't get the same end product - I get 'over-cooked' [or in extremis, 'burnt'], but still recognisably "English".

 Google for this seems useless - it serves up page after page of opinionated "which is best" with no facts at all.

Late Edit:
Prompted by a recent upvote for this question, I did recently discover that pancetta cooks similarly to American bacon. It still starts out looking very much like English 'streaky' but the slicing is thinner.
i'm beginning to wonder if that might be it - simply the thickness of the slice.


texts:
I have a cake project coming up and have to bake a few different cakes. I'm not much of a baker and was anticipating having to bake all of these at roughly the same time. I was thinking that I could save some time on the day I need to actually prepare the cake by baking the cakes ahead of time and freezing them so I don't have to prepare the batter, bake, cool, and then decorate all in the same day.

First off, what are the adverse affects of freezing a cake?

How should one go about preparing a cake in order to freeze it and minimize any damage?

When I say cake I am talking about unfrosted cake layers.


texts:
I have an outstanding recipe for Apple Bread. It does use a lot of sugar, seems best when paired with firm, crisp and tart apple varieties.  Granny Smith is my go-to.

Since it still is not lacking for sweetness, at all, I began pondering whether I could make this using crabapples.  I have zero experience with crabapples, except maybe biting into them and spitting them out as a small child, back when parents let their kids roam the neighborhoods like packs of feral dogs.

Are crabapples considered to be edible, but not especially delicious, or are they considered to be, generally, not edible (or even are dangerous to eat)?


texts: How to taste a real ranch dressing outisde of the US

texts:
When I have been to the South Carolina, US, I fell in love with the popular american Ranch dressing. As an foreigner, I do not know much about this dressing, its origin and sorts, and never bought it in supermarket, but I really liked this one, which was served in McDonalds:

After coming back to Almaty, Kazakhstan, I made several attempts to find this sauce in my home city and feel this taste again. However, they all have failed - there are hundreds of sauces and dressings here: from mustard to caesar dressing, from local manufacturers to Heinz, but there is no ranch - I am not sure if it is simply not popular here or it is just perishable. Even McDonalds Kazakhstan doesn't serve the ranch.

I have only found ranch in a store once, in a plastic, but it was really AWFUL. It was something like horseradish with tons of vinegar and mayonnaise. I was really dissapointed. I am not quite sure if it was deteriorated or it should have tasted like this.

I have several possible ways to obtain ranch dressing now: I can order something through the local import store. They offer this manufacturer (image). I can order Hidden Valley ranch dressing (image) from Amazon. However, I don't want to spend money, wait for a month or two, and get disappointed again.

Now, I have several related questions, that would really help me. I strongly believe that you can know the answers, because you live in this country and some of you buy bottled ranch in supermarkets.

So, does McDonalds ranch somehow differ from the bottled, sold in supermarkets? What kind of ranch dressings do taste the same, fresh and tasty? Is there a chance to order ranch from the US from Amazon and receive it until it deteriorates?

I would like to have the most possible information about this lovely thing.


texts: I have been looking into buying some gourmet salt, and several of them are described as being "moist salt".   What does that mean?


texts: What can I substitute for butter in Alfredo sauce?

texts:
While I was cooking a very simple Alfredo sauce today for my lunch, I had already started my sauce before I realized I was out of butter.

If this happens again to me in the future, what is a good emergency replacement for butter in a recipe?

My recipe (if needed) was:

  1 1/2 cups butter, divided 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast
  halves - cut into cubes
  2 (16 ounce) containers whole milk ricotta
  cheese
  1 pint heavy cream
  1 teaspoon salt
  1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

  Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add fettuccini
  and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

  Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute
  chicken until no longer pink and juices run clear.

  In a large saucepan combine ricotta cheese, cream, salt, Parmesan
  cheese and remaining butter. Cook over medium heat until well
  combined, about 10 minutes. Stir in cooked fettuccini and chicken;
  cook until heated through.

What I ended up doing was adding some EVOO to the sauce because I figured it had a similar fat content. The sauce turned out ok enough, but I'm wondering what the difference would have been if I had used actual butter.


texts: Should pizza be firm enough to be held by the crust?

texts: I've been to 4 restaurants already (with good reviews) and they all serve similar pizzas - they have to be eaten with fork and knife or else they will bend (because one simply can't hold them with a hand) and their contents will most likely fall off.Even cutting them with a knife completely disintegrates the pizza so in the end it turns into a weird salad of dough, tomato sauce, cheese etc.Is this what pizzas are really supposed to be like?


texts:
Every now and then I make caramel sauce for this recipe by caramelizing sugar, but sometimes it either:

Hardens
Burns
Doesn't have that nice caramel colour

What are some tips to avoid the above situations?

The recipe states to:

  Add the sugar to a hot pan over medium heat and caramelize. Slice bananas add to pan, and coat them in the caramel. Add butter and allow to melt. Add the finely sliced chili if you like it hot, and stir. Pour in the rum, and flambe (set it on fire – carefully). Add coconut milk and twirl.


texts:
Jachnun is prepared from dough which is rolled out thinly, brushed with clarified butter, rolled up and baked overnight. The preparation calls for a Jachnun pot.

Trouble is, I don't own a Jachnun pot, and I don't feel like paying for a pot that I can only use for one dish, that I've never made before, and might decide never to make again. I want to try making Jachnun once.

I do own a cast iron Dutch oven. Can I use that instead? What difference would it make? Aluminium has different heat conductivity from cast iron, but considering I'm sticking the thing in the oven on 100C for 15 hours, what difference would heat conductivity make?


texts:
So I was making the icing from a boxed cake, but screwed up a lot. I mistook the icing mix for the cake mix. So I added 2 eggs, I took out the yolk of one of them. I also vastly put in way too much milk. The icing mix needed 15ml of milk. I put in 250ml. I've been trying to fix it by adding corn starch and more icing sugar but it's still insanely runny.

Now I'm left with a bowl of this icing 'stuff'. I don't want to throw it out. Is there a way to fix it? Or is there something I can do with this mixture?

If I can't find something to do with it, I'll probably end up just eating it by itself...


texts: How to make muesli/granola bars crunchier?

texts:
I made a simple muesli bar yesterday, and being lazy, I just left it in the dehydrator for some 3-4 good hours or so. The mix is composed of the following ingredients:

Oats mix (the ones that are already a mix)
Wheat germ
A bit of chocolate whey protein (the kind bodybuilders use)
Unsalted whole peanuts

I just mixed them with honey and milk, spread them to even thickness (around 1 inch?) on top of a baking sheet, and put them in the food dehydrator for said 3-4 hours.

The taste turned out OK (it seems to have lost some sweetness from dehydration?) but it's not crunchy enough.

Would leaving it on the dehydrator (on the highest heat) longer do the trick for making it crunchy, or would I have to use the oven no matter what?


texts: How long should I steam squid and cuttlefish?

texts: I have read that the squid and cuttlefish are more tender if they are cooked in less than 3 minutes in a pan. But what about steam cooking, how much time does it need?


texts: How do I avoid dry meat and burned masala and rice in biryana?

texts: I have tried to make Biryani several (3, lol) times using this recipe but never got it right. The meat gets too dry, and the masala and rice often get burned. How can I avoid this?


texts: Is there a special reason why dry rubs are meant to work with grilling over other cooking methods?

texts:
I notice that dry rubs are meant to work best with grilling.

Why is this the case, why can't they work well with something like frying?


texts:
I've gone through many boxes of eggs trying to cook tamagoyaki, that's Japanese rolled omelet. It uses a rectangle frying pan which is the same as an ordinary frying pan, but rectangle shaped.

In short, you put a little oil in, put a layer of egg in and roll it up. Then repeat.

I've tried low heat, high heat, medium heat, taking it off the heat, small hob, large hob, pre-heating without oil, pre-heating with oil, a small coating of oil, soaked in oil, waited for it to set solid, rolled as soon as it started setting and every recipe and every youtube video guide on tamagoyaki - everything.

The results are always the same: It sticks to the "non-stick" pan and it falls apart.

What's the secret?

Here's a basic successful tamagoyaki instructional video

Here's my result


texts: I'm having trouble making grilled cheese, what am I doing wrong?

texts:
When I cook grilled cheese, I put a tablespoon of butter on the pan, and the pan is hot enough that it quickly melts and sizzles.
However, when I put the bread on, it just soaks in the liquid butter on the pan and the bread doesn't make any sizzling noises. I also use mozzarella cheese as my cheese for grilled cheese. Why won't my bread cook?


texts: I skim fat from my stews and then thicken it with a roux or cornstarch.  Is there a way to directly thicken with the floating fat?


texts:
My recipe calls for a small tin of tomatoes plus another tin of tomatoes.
Is a small tin of tomatoes equal to a 14 1/2 oz size can of tomatoes and the tin of tomatoes equal to the 28 oz size can or is the tin of tomatoes equal to a 14 1/2 oz can size and the small tin equal to something along the size of a tomato sauce can?


texts: What function that is suitable for baking cookies

texts: My cookies had been bake for almost 13 minutes ...but my cookies didn't flat and it had blacken on top ... so what function that is suitable for baking cookies ... ?? Is upper-lower or upper-convection-lower or what ??


texts: How much time and temperature do I add when making 140% of a quick bread recipe?

texts:
I am going to make a quick bread recipe that calls for an 8" X 4.5" (20 cm X 11 cm) loaf pan, but I only have a 10" x 5" (25 cm X 13 cm) loaf pan.

I've done the calculations and know I need to increase my ingredients by 40%. But how much should I increase the oven temperature and cooking time? The recipe calls for 70 minutes at 375 °F (190 °C).


texts: Looking to start cooking....but I'm a total noob. Where should I start?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What recipes should every high school graduate know how to cook?

So here's the deal: I've told myself on at least 10 different occasions that I was going to learn how to cook.  I've either given up or lost motivation on all attempts.  Now that I'm living in my own apartment, it's essential that I stop eating hot pockets 24/7.  But where do I start?  When it comes to cooking, I'm lazy as heck, and I don't know anything.  So a good recommendation would be for something that is:
a) Incredibly easy to cook
b) Tasty (to an average college student)
c) Quick

Maybe once I learn to cook a few incredibly basic dishes, I'll be able to move up to something more advanced.  Where should I start?


texts: How do I adjust the temp to bake country ribs so they take twice as long?

texts: I want to cook my pork country ribs for about 4 hours, while we're at church.  They're covered, and have a sauce on them.  The original recipe says 1.5-2 hours at 350°.  What temp would be the best for that cooking time?


texts: Why does chilled equipment help when whipping cream?

texts: Why a does chilled mixer bowl help when making whipped cream?  Does it have any effect on how long the cream stays whipped?


texts: Need faster reheating of frozen vacuum packed roast beef

texts:
I totally agree with the sous vide process of reheating frozen vacuum packed pre-cooked roast beef. But if I require much faster reheating for immediate serving, is it possible to put the frozen vacuum (bpa free) packed pre-cooked roast beef in a pot, with boiling point 200F, and letting it boil for at least 15 minutes without turning off the burner?

My goal is to achieve the same quality of tenderness and moisture even for a much faster reheating by boiling.


texts: Are sea bass fillets meant to be crisp on the flesh side when fried?

texts:
I've just cooked some sea bass fillets (according to the instructions), and was instructed (by the instructions) to turn them from the skin side to the flesh side mid-way through cooking.

This led to the flesh side being slightly yellowed and crisp, which seems strange. Have I been led unwittingly into some form of cooking faux-pas, or is all as it should be?


texts:
This was my first attempt seasoning a piece of cookware. I used the following approach:

I scrubbed the wok down on both sides with a scouring pad and dish
soap.

I then heated the wok up and moved the wok around the flame until it
was blue all over.

I then took the wok off the heat, cooled it down with a bit of water,
and gave it another scrubbing with the scouring pad and dish soap.

I then wiped the wok off with a kitchen towel. I left it for maybe a
couple of minutes, and when I came back I noticed rust already
developing on the wok. I believe this was flash rust.

I then heated the wok up on the flame to dry it. I took the wok off
the flame and let it cool.

I then put some oil in the wok and heated it on the flame until it
was smoking to season it.

After all that, I think I have some flash rust under the seasoning. Please see the red circle in the picture. Is this rust, and does this mean I need to strip it and re-season it? If so, how could I avoid the having this happen again?


texts:
This is one of the most annoying duties in the kitchen, for me.

What are yours tips and tricks to peel hard boiled eggs easily?


texts: What kind of dish/pastry consists of white bread with ice-cream or some sort of mousse inside?

texts:
I found this randomly:
To me, it distinctively looks like non-sugary bread. It looks like the kind of bun you normally use for making sandwiches, for example put butter and/or cheese inside. It doesn't look like it's "sugary" and intended for being a pastry.
Is this a famous/known "dish"/product/concept?


texts: Hi I am doing a weekly meal prep cooking myself, and was wondering if it's ok to grill steaks medium rare and then put them in the fridge to eat in the next 2-3 days, or bacteria can still develop for that time.


texts: Why do so many cheeses have artificial ingredients?

texts:
Here in Europe (and perhaps only in Spain) I've noticed that most of the cheeses (hard and soft, but more often hard) contain an interesting list of artificial additives in the ingredients: conservatives, acid correctors, colors etc. Finding cheeses without these is a real chore. Going organic helps, but the offerings are small.

My questions are:

Is it like that everywhere else?
How bad is it for the consumers?
Why do they do it? is there a law of some kind regarding this?

I feel this question might be considered on the border of suitability for the site, feel free to suggest a different site if you think it is inappropriate here.