texts:
How to get Garlic & other strong Spices' smell out of my Zojirushi Flask/ Thermos acquired via a herbal Immunity decoction?

Major components of this decoction were:

Garlic cloves
Black Pepper seeds
Cinnamon
Bay Leaf
Ginger
Cumin seeds
Turmeric powder
Coriander powder
Fennel seeds

Flask Product & Materials info:

https://www.zojirushi.com/app/product/smkhe

Its SlickSteel® finish interior is corrosion resistant and repels stains.
Durable and sanitary 18/8 stainless steel interior with SlickSteel® finish
Made of BPA-free plastic and stainless steel
Structure, design & details as pulled from product website

Mine is the Stainless Steel colored 16 oz one:

More data from Manufacturer's website FAQ and Manuals:

[QUOTE]
Q3: How can I clean my vacuum bottle?
A: Always rinse out your vacuum bottle after each use and rinse the stopper under running water. Do not soak the vacuum bottle in water or place in a dishwasher to clean.

The exterior, stopper and cup(s) can be cleaned using a moist sponge or soft cloth and mild dishwashing liquid.

The interior can be cleaned using a mild dishwashing liquid and then rinsed thoroughly.

Please refer to your instruction manual for more.
[/QUOTE]

Manual: https://www.zojirushi.com/servicesupport/manuals/manual_pdf/smkhe.pdf


texts: I have a recipe that calls for 2 cups of "parsley greens". Is this referring to chopped parsley?


texts: Frozen veggies meets gumbo = flavorless. How to add flavor?

texts:
So, last time I made gumbo, I got the veggies chopped (onion, celery, green pepper, and garlic) and then realized I had prepped twice as much as I needed.

I froze the extra ingredients, labeled for future use for gumbo.

I'm making it again now, and it's pretty flavorless. (See below for exactly what I've done.) Since the last time I made it was over a month ago, I don't recall exactly whether it was this bland last time.

What might cause flavorless gumbo? Is it the frozen veggies?
Is this dish supposed to be somewhat bland? I've actually only had it once or twice at a restaurant.
How could/should I add more flavor to the current batch?

Process:

Heat 1.5 TB oil, add 1.5 TB flour to make a dark brown roux.
If I were using fresh veggies, I'd add them next. Instead, I held off.
Add 1/2 cup tomato sauce, stir until it gets crumbly & dry.
I then added the defrosted, drained veggies.
Fry 1/2 pound okra in a separate skillet until it's less sticky & less stringy, then add to the pot.
Add 1 cup fresh, chopped tomatoes.
Slowly add 1 1/2 cups water.
Add 1/2 tsp sugar, some salt, pepper, and I actually also added a dash of hot pepper sauce since it was so blah-tasting.
Simmer for an hour.
.... this is where I am now, and it's just.. blah, still.
The next step will be to add 1/2 pound shrimp, a bay leaf, some fresh parsley, and cook for another 30 minutes.


texts: Brown Rice vs White Rice in Stuffed Pepper

texts:
I often make a stuffed pepper in my crock pot stuffed with a ground meat and rice mixture. For liquid, I pour some tomato juice into the pepper. I used to make it with white rice, and it worked perfectly every time.

I recently switched to using brown rice, but it keeps coming out cruchy with the rice almost completely raw. I tried adding more liquid this time, but it didn't help.

I'm not sure what else to try and am ready to go back to using white rice. Any ideas?

Thanks!


texts: Baking chicken in oven, but keeping it moist

texts:
Here is the problem I'm facing:

I am on a diet, which doesn't exclude fat, but doesn't encourage it either. So I am trying to bake chicken in the oven, while also removing the fat that comes out, while also preventing it becoming too dry.

I am thinking of rubbing the chicken with seasoning, and then putting it on bars, with a pan beneath, so that the fats would drip down. But as far as i know, that may render the chicken to dry. Any solutions?

Thanks!


texts: domestic bread steaming -> will my stone be okay?

texts: Trying to maximise the oven rise of my loaf, and think I will try the steaming method, but what is the best way to do this in a domestic electric oven, and will could it damage my bread stone?


texts: should new cast iron have flat smooth bottom

texts:
New cast iron pan is very rough on bottom, slightly raised fine yet sharp rings will probably damage my induction hob.

should it be flat, should I season the bottom, grind/sand it down or return to shop


texts: What factors do I need to consider to figure out if a particular set of toppings will work well on risotto?

texts:
Sometimes, I like to experiment with the ingredients to use as toppings for risotto.

In order to avoid bad results, what should I consider when I choose the ingredients to use as toppings for risotto?


texts: Holding mashed potatoes in fridge before serving

texts:
I have some issues with holding mashed potatoes before serving them. Of course, it's not practical to make them from start to finish everytime someone orders them. I am trying to figure out how I will do this in a restaurant setting. I estimate that the potatoes will need to be good for at least 4 to 12 hours after making them.

I have tried keeping them in a slow-cooker at the lowest setting, but found that this setting causes bits of it to burn, and also makes them more over-cooked and gummy after 2-4 hours.

I have thought of putting individual servings in small containers in the fridge immediately after they are made and microwaving them just before serving. Will this cause the starches in the potato to change significantly and affect the flavor in any way?


texts: Pizza dough with a mixture of strong and plain flour turned out surprisingly well. Lucky? Better with lower gluten?

texts:
I was a little short of strong (bread) flour when making a pizza base the other day and substituted about 1/3 plain flour (Moulinex breadmaker, the recipe in the book with sugar and salt slightly reduced). I was expecting it to be really hard to roll/stretch to fit the tray I always use, which is larger than the recipe claims for a "thin" base, so pushing it a little.  Instead it came out better than the last couple of times I made it with all the right flour.  The eating texture was good too -- soft inside but crispy where the crust was exposed.

Is pizza dough stretchier/better with less gluten?  How much less can I get away with (I have rather a lot of plain flour at the moment).  Or was I just lucky?

Note the use of UK terms.  Gluten content isn't given on the packaging but "strong" normally works out to about 13% while "plain" should be roughly equivalent to US "all-purpose" so 2--3% less.


texts: Identify this seafood from the Black Sea known in Romanian as "rapane"?

texts:
Here on the Black Sea in Romania people are eating a shellfish called in Romanian "rapane" which they translate as "oyster" when I ask.

But they are elongated spiral shells which to me look nothing like the chunky flattish oyster shells in Australia. Besides which there is another Romanian word "stridie" for oyster and I can't find "rapane" in my print dictionary or any online dictionary. One person told me these are "sea oysters" as opposed to "ocean oysters". I've also been told they're not a native local species.

Here is a photo of a dead rapane shell on the beach and another of raw rapane waiting to be cooked:


texts: Does resting kneaded dough for few hours change the taste/texture/softness of parathas?

texts:
We use the kneaded dough for making parathas.

Does resting kneaded dough for few hours (covered, on shelf) change the taste/texture/softness of the final outcome?

P.S. After kneading the dough, all we have to do is to make small balls out of it and flatten them till they are thin enough.


texts: Forgot to turn the crockpot on with pork in it

texts: I put 2.5 lbs of salted raw pork shoulder in the crockpot, then added boiling hot liquid to the crockpot. I forgot to turn it on, and noticed an hour later. Then I turned it on. Is the meat still edible, or should I throw it away?


texts: Why do short pie bases require chilling before baking?

texts: I understand why the dough should be chilled before forming it into the pie dish/pan, but often I see recipes wanting the formed base covered with wrap and put in the fridge for 20 minutes before blind baking.


texts: Tea-flavored concentration from a teabag

texts:
I was wondering if there was a way to make a concentrated flavoring from a teabag.  This probably isn't the best choice, but we have teabags readily available in our office breakroom, and I would like to occasionally add flavor to other hot or cold beverages.

Specifically, I sometimes make hot chocolate using steamed milk, and would like to make mint hot chocolate.  Alternatively, I'd like to make some concentrated chai from a chai tea bag and add it to steamed milk.


texts:
Is there any significant difference between santoku knife from e.g. Victorinox versus santoku knife from e.g. Kasumi?

Can I as normal kitchen user :) be able to distinguish the difference between santoku knife from Victorinox, and a knife from Kasumi, which has damascus steel and costs almost 3x as mutch as the knife from Victorinox? Is the quality worth the money, or can the much cheaper Victorinox do the same for me?

Kasumi

Victorinox


texts:
I was reading about zershek (dried berberis vulgaris fruit) in Iran and being Indian , I searched if this is grown in India. I found that berberis aristata is grown in Himalayas and it's fruit is edible too.

Does anyone know if I can use  berberis aristata in cooking ? Can it replace berberis vulgaris ?


texts: I have onions and leek and I want to sautee the two together. Can I use both?


texts: How do I reduce the lime flavor in my Slow Cooker roast?

texts: I placed limes in with my roast and now it tastes like Limes. How do I get rid of this over the top Lime Flavor. Any suggestions?


texts: How do I calculate the final acidity of homemade vinegar?

texts:
I am making vinegar by mixing vinegar (containing the mother) and wine, and then allowing fermentation to occur.  I am wondering how to calculate the final % acidity.

Assume:

I know the initial concentration (by volume) of acetic acid, X, alcohol Y
All alcohol will be converted to acetic acid
No sugar is converted to acetic acid

How do I calculate the final acidity?


texts:
I use the cup that came with my rice cooker to measure the rice for each meal.

I often eat 120ml~160ml rice (before cooking) measured in the cup at a time. How much does that amount of rice weigh? (I don't have a scale). The purpose of the question is to plan how much rice to buy at a time..


texts: Are there any differences in large or small pieces of root ginger?

texts: I find the bigger ones easier to peel, but I've heard that, for example, in potatoes all the vitamins are just below the skin, so I wonder if by a similar effect, smaller rhizomes of root ginger would be more potent in flavour or aroma or different in some way?


texts:
What kind of rice to serve with Indian Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)?

Are there any kind of preferred techniques, or spicing perhaps?


texts: In Belgium fries are super popular. They taste really amazing and are very different than the common American french fry. My question is, what is the secret to replicate a Belgian style french fry. They have a perfectly crispy golden shell, about 1inch wide, 1/3 inch thick, soft on the inside and totally different than your average American style french fry.


texts: What's the difference between chutney and relish?

texts:
I was out last night at a friend's house, they served what I would call chutney. I said, "This chutney is amazing". To which they replied, "Do you mean the relish?"

Awkward!

What is the difference between a chutney and a relish?


texts: Is there a decent way to rehydrate and sauté dried chili peppers?

texts:
I saw the answer at https://cooking.stackexchange.com/a/23560/49643, which makes me think it won't be great. My goals are (in this order):

Retain flavor
Obtain good enough texture for sautéing
Retain heat (capsaicin)

Most of the time, I'll probably be putting said chilis on a burger. Just had a burger with fresh habaneros that I sautéed and really liked the flavor (though I admit it caused profuse sweating), but would like to go a little more spicy. Short of growing my own peppers (which I may do some), there isn't a great way to buy spicier peppers, such as chocolate or Red Savina habaneros or ghost peppers, etc.

For point 3, I was wondering if anyone has tried steaming peppers? I suppose it is possible the steam might carry away some of the capsaicin and other flavor chemicals. Doing this in an enclosed environment with a small amount of water might help though.


texts: How do I achieve a crust like this fried chicken?

texts: I normally use a mixture of flour and cornstarch, dredging the chicken twice (in buttermilk, then flour, then buttermilk, then flour again) but I have not been able to achieve a crust like the chicken below


texts:
I'm currently on a chiffon-making spree but all my chiffon cakes keep on collapsing after cooling.

Here's the recipe I used:
- 100g flour
- 100g sugar, 50g for meringue and 50g for yolks
- 1 tsp baking powder (4g)
- 45g oil
- 90g water
- 3 eggs, separated

1) Preheat oven to 160C. Line bottom of 20cm cake pan with parchment paper (yes, not a chiffon cake pan; the original recipe called for a normal cake pan and reviewers have been successful with it). Sift together flour and baking powder, set aside.

2) Beat egg yolks and 50g sugar till thick and pale. Add in oil then whip till emulsified and thick. Add in water then mix till combined. Sift in flour mixture then mix till smooth. Set aside.

3) Beat egg whites with 50g sugar till firm peak stage. Fold into egg yolk mixture in 3 batches, banging the bowl occasionally to remove any big air bubbles.

4) Pour batter slowly, and a from a height, into prepared cake pan. Bake for 60 minutes. Once done, cool inverted.

Can someone see what I'm doing wrong?

**the cake also kind of deflated in the oven at around 45 minute mark. It had a slight dome that evened out.

Thanks in advance for all help!

edit: could it be the liquid flour ratio that is causing my cakes to collapse? I remember reading somewhere that if you have too much liquid, the cake once cooled will collapse under its own weight. But I sort of don't think this is the case since most of the liquid in this recipe is water; which almost all would evaporate during baking.


texts: Can I make grain-free noodle/ravioli/dumpling dough?

texts:
I'm celiac and I'm intolerant to virtually all the grains (also to corn/maiz). So, the question is if I can make noodle/dumpling dough without grains?

Yuca and potato starch are good for me, also chickpea and other legumes are fine. Any suggestions?


texts: Is it possible to do something with chocolate so that it does not get hard anymore so that its consistency gets something like the caramel in a mars/snickers bar? What precisley would I have to do to achieve that?


texts: Which cream should I use for cream sauce?

texts: I was making a cream sauce last night to put over tortellini.  My choices of cream at the store were heavy whipping cream and half and half.  I used both and it turned out watery.  Which should I have used?


texts: How to incorporate alcohol (rum) into a cake recipe?

texts: How can I incorporate alcohol (rum, in this case) into an existing cake recipe (pumpkin cake, for example)? Can I simply replace the water with rum?


texts:
Can I substitute canned pumpkin for 6 Tbs of butter in a muffin mix (bought)?  What ratio?
The mix also requires 1 egg and 3/4 cup of milk, would I need to change those?


texts: How can I make breadcrumbs without a full, yeast-leavened loaf of bread?

texts:
What's the best (fastest, most efficient) way to make breadcrumbs from scratch, without having any old bread?

I'm curious if there's something quick I can do, when I realize I want 5 cups of breadcrumbs and have no old bread, and don't want to buy or bake a loaf of bread just to immediately pulverize it.

That is, what is the fastest, simplest, easiest bread-like thing one could make, which would turn into breadcrumbs in a food processor?

One more edit: I didn't really intend this to be asking "what other ready-made things can I buy (or have around) and turn into breadcrumb substitutes". I want to know, at the very least, the best way to streamline the process of making and drying bread given the fact that I don't care if it's ever moist enough to eat as bread, and don't care about its overall shape or texture or anything else we usually care about in bread.


texts: How can I make regular rice more sticky?

texts:
I have two children under four and the little one (15 months) likes rice a lot but he has trouble eating it because the grains separate, making it difficult to pick up with his uncoordinated fingers.

To help with this, I was thinking that I could make my normal (long grain) rice stickier than it usually is and press it into small balls that would hold their shape. I'm not, to be clear, trying to make "sticky rice", necessarily... just regular rice that will clump more easily and hold up to a little handling when made into balls.

It seems like there may be a few ways to go about this:

don't rinse the rice (or rinse less) - I generally rinse 3 times or so
add a little extra water (how much extra?)
give up on long grain and switch to short or medium
use water only (I often add stock in place of some of the water)

I use a "fancy" rice maker, a Zojirushi with "fuzzy logic" and I'd like to use that because I do whole meals (I add vegetables and chicken to the rice cooker and steam everything together).

So am I on the right track? How can I make this work?


texts: Is it okay to measure flour by weight by converting from volume?

texts:
I don't have a big jar to put my flour in so it's hard to measure by volume (you have to fluff the flour, pour it into a cup and then remove the excess - which cant be done outside of the original bag).

It it okay to just look up the conversion (for example, 1 cup of flour is 120 grams) and use that?


texts:
I put an irish bar's baileys into my morning's black coffee I kept warm in a Stanley thermos. But after an indeterminate amount of time (between 10 mins to an hour), some of the milk curdled.

Is that normal? Should I have been concerned? Is it because my coffee turned out that acidic?? We use a french press and preground beans. I haven't taken a look at where he buys his bean grounds, but offhand it tastes like a medium roast.


texts: Can cooking or processing generate more natural sugars?

texts:
This question excludes all added or synthetic sugars (which I abbreviate to AS), and refers only to only natural sugars intrinsic and inherent in food (which I abbreviate to NS).

I wish to clarify the following helpful comment in response to my (now closed) question on suggestion for toppings on pancakes and waffles without any added or synthetic sugars, because my grandmother's dentist and physician oppose her consumption of any AS:

  Besides whole fruit, you can also use something like apple sauce. Apple butter and appelstroop are technically apple, but cooked down so that the sugars are concentrated and would likely violate the 'added sugar' exemption. And there are jams that are made with only fruit (eg. Polaner All Fruit), but again, it's concentrated.

Does 'concentrated' here mean that:

cooking and processing generate new sugars, so that the comestible's initial quantity of NS < the comestible's final quantity of NS.
or cooking and processing only condense (ie: increase the density of) the existing NS, so that the total quantity of NS remains the same before and after (but not the total density)?

If the answer is 1, then my grandmother cannot use such products;
but if the answer is 2, then please allow me to pose another question on the healthiness of such products for my grandmother.


texts: Where to learn what ratios to use in cooking?

texts: I am learning to cook. I want to know whether there is a good resource at what ratios of ingredients to use when I am cooking. Thank You. :)


texts: Occasionally I'll get a clove of garlic that has small brown spots on it.  When there are a couple spots, I cut them off and use the rest of the garlic.  Sometimes there will be A LOT of spots and clustered together.  Those will get thrown away.  The garlic will look and feel fine until I remove the white "skin."  It really looks like the garlic has eczema or measles.  Does anyone know what these spots are?   Is this a form of garlic mold?


texts: Are poppers better than a paper bag for making popcorn in microwave?

texts:
I have been making popcorn in the microwave by putting popping corn in an ordinary brown paper bag, folding it closed, and cooking on full heat for 2 minutes or until popping stops, whichever comes sooner. It works pretty well, although sometimes the popcorn gets burnt or a hole is burned through the bag. My microwave does not have a popcorn setting.

I have seen microwave poppers offered for sale, to good reviews. They are typically made of plastic or silicon and are basically containers with lids. Would these give better results than a paper bag, or should I save my money and stick with bags? I prefer not to use oil or butter when popping.

While I could buy an air popper, I prefer to minimize the number of appliances I have, for space and cleaning.


texts:
I find creamy soups and many other thicker liquids too fluffy for my liking after blending.
I could do it the old fashioned way by forcing through a mill/sieve; must I?

Any other tips to knocking out a few more bubbles besides a few bangs of the pot. I tried whisking and bubbles were at the surface but not sure if whisking indeed created them.


texts: How can I remove discolouration on my ceramic dish?

texts:
I have some very pale blue/grey dishes that have (what looks like) specks of grease that have "burnt on". You will see why I put that in quotation marks in the photo.

It looks like it would come off easily, or just with a bit of elbow grease and hot water, but it doesn't!

I use non-stick safe scourers, washing up liquid and hot water, as per the manufacturers instructions but can't remove.

Does anyone have any tips/tricks for how I can do this without damaging the surface?


texts: Can I Brown Beef For Slow Cooking the Night Before

texts:
Many slow cooker recipes suggest that beef be browned before being added to the slow cooker, which is definitely better for the flavor of the dish.  I've always believed that this browning must occur just before adding to the slow cooker for food safety reasons, and this article from the USDA backs me up.

Yesterday in an online chat, one of the writers for the food section of a national newspaper said it is safe to brown beef the night before.

I know that the USDA is often extra cautious and provides the strictest possible guidelines to ensure food safety.  Are they being overcautious on pre-browning, or should I skip what the food writer said and trust my original gut and the USDA?

EDIT: My slow cooker recipes are usually for larger cuts of beef, not ground, and so browning will not cook them through.


texts: On an electric stove, does the smaller burner produce fewer BTUs than the larger burner?

texts: I have a US electric oven/stove combination with four stove burners, two smaller and two larger.  I feel the stove is already a bit anemic so I want to make sure I am getting the maximum energy out of the stove, but I also like using smaller pans on the smaller burner.  Do typical US electric stoves put the same amount of total energy (i.e., the same amount of BTUs) through the smaller burners as through the larger burners, or are the smaller burners also lower energy?


texts:
I'm making a tonkotsu ramen dish, but I feel it could use a porky boost. The broth is done now but there's about six hours until serving time.

Would it be okay if I added more pork hocks now to add more flavour to the stock, despite it being completed now?


texts: Firm risotto using generic rice. Is it possible?

texts:
How can I make a firm risotto, without using the appropriate rice?

I'm italian, and I've been cooking delicious risotto for years.
But in the place where I'm living right now there is only one kind of rice, with medium-long white grain, and no matter how carefully I could prepare it, the result is always a disappointing mashed blob...


texts: Why can't I put food on the pan while the stove is heating up?

texts:
I see a lot of cooks and chefs heat up the pan first, then add oil/butter, then add the ingredients into the pan. Is there a particular reason why they don't put stuff on the pan and then turn on the stove?

I find it particularly more convenient to put it on the pan so that I have more room on my cutting board and it's one less dish I have to clean up.


texts: How to calculate mixing ingredients to a certain fat percentage?

texts: Given two ingredients, one with 42% fat and one with 3% fat, how can I calculate how much I will need of each to get 9% fat?


texts: How many black tea leaves are required per 125 ml of milk + 25 ml of water?

texts:
I use one table spoon of Tata Tea Gold leaves per 125 ml of milk + 25 ml of water.

I boil the mixture of milk and water first. Turn the gas off, put the tea in and stir it, and then I place a lid on the vessel for 6 minutes.

After 6 minutes I stir again, and drink.

Now if I turn to all full leaves black tea, how many leaves will I require with the method above to achieve the same effect?


texts: How to stop spices burning when browning meat?

texts: I was browning seasoned chunks of lamb in a cast-iron skillet on medium-high heat and found that by the end there was a large mass of oily black spice mixture in the bottom of the pan.


texts: Where to buy football/quenelle/shell-like scoop/mold/mould [food presentation]?

texts:
Some places serve rice in a football/quenelle/shell-like shaped scoop/mold/mould for food presentation. It's consistent at many teriyaki places so I suspect it's something you can purchase.

I've searched for the following terms: football, shell, prolate spheroid, oval, quenelle, in conjunction with scoop, mold/mould but haven't had any luck.

(Click images for larger view)

The closest I've found is a "Deep Boat Petit Four Mould", but the bottom is flat instead of a dome.

Edit: This is used to mold sticky rice, ideally they would have the 'shell like' ridges running longitudinally/lengthwise). All of these teriyaki pictures are from the Seattle area.

Update (2016-06-19): Found the mold in use in Japan. It's commonly used in omurice.

 (From this video)


texts: Do tomato-based sauces change/enhance flavour when left in the fridge?

texts: I cooked some green beans in a tomato-based sauce then ate some and left the rest in the fridge 3 days ago. I tasted it today, and it was better than I remember: is this a known phenomenon or am I not remembering right?


texts:
At my local (kosher, Ashkenazi) butcher, one of the cuts of beef they sell is kulkie, or kolichel/kalichl. It's a tough, lean cut with copious connective tissue which is great for stewing. However, I haven't the faintest what it is, which presents a problem if I'm going to a Sephardi, or non-Jewish kosher butcher, who wouldn't likely be familiar with the term.

Which part of the cow is the "kulkie"?


texts:
Hi I'm a new user to the group, having just used the Hairy biker recipe for hollandaise sauce as a treat for Sunday brunch eggs Benedict.

This are the ingredients:

225g/8oz butter, cut into pieces
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 small shallot or ½ banana shallot, peeled and very finely chopped
10 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
3 free-range egg yolks
a pinch of sea salt flakes
a pinch of caster sugar

And this is the preparation method:

  For the hollandaise sauce, melt the butter slowly in a medium pan over
  a low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and pour the
  butter into a jug. Add enough water into a medium saucepan to come a
  third of the way up the sides. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat
  to a simmer. Put the vinegar, shallot, peppercorns and bay leaf in a
  small saucepan over a high heat and bring to the boil. Cook for 1-2
  minutes, or until reduced to two tablespoons of liquid. Remove from
  the heat. Put the egg yolks in a heatproof bowl and place over the pan
  of simmering water. Whisk the egg yolks with the salt and sugar until
  pale. Pour the vinegar mixture through a fine sieve onto the yolks and
  continue whisking until well combined. Slowly add the butter in a
  steady stream whisking constantly until the sauce is smooth, thick and
  shiny.

It split terribly and would not be rescued by adding it to a new egg yolk whisked in a clean bowl over a pan of simmering water.
I had to use goats milk butter as I have a cows milk allergy. Would this make a difference? 225g of butter seems an awful lot? The taste was fine.


texts: Genoise vs whipped egg whites - which makes cakes fluffier?

texts:
When making a cake utilising all the leavening agents including creamed butter and sugar as well as baking powder and soda, would there be any difference if I were to include whipped egg whites vs foamed whole eggs?
Which one would provide a fluffier / lighter texture to the cake?


texts: A friend of mine described a recipe to me, and she said she deglazed the pan (I think I understood correctly). What does that mean?


texts:
I made a big pot of a very hot chicken soup. I put it in my small extra fridge at 11 PM, and it was still warm 9 hours later, at 8 AM.

Do I need to throw it away?


texts: I finally got around to buying bannetons for my bread baking and just used one for the first time. Worked great! However, I used rice flour to coat the interior and, after releasing the dough, there is quite a bit in the grooves throughout the bowl and it doesn't fall out by shaking or tapping. So do I leave it there to build up for future proofing or should I get a brush and get it all out?


texts: Dried basil leaves instead of bay leaves

texts:
I have to make an Indian curry which requires bay leaves. Apparently I don't have them at home. I read on google here that dried Basil leaves can be a good substitute for bay leaves.
Now dried bay leaves, which we use in curries and soups have a strong flavor totally different from the minty flavour of Basil leaves.
Can anyone advice me on this, if someone has used this substitution.


texts: How to remove stem bits from dried rosemary

texts: I bought some dried rosemary and discovered that it includes some tiny bits of stem along with the dried leaves.  Separating out the undesirable bits using my fingers is a really tedious process.  Is there an easier way?


texts: How to achieve in my homed-made mayo the same strong 'egg flavor' as in store-bought mayo?

texts:
I have been experimenting with home-made mayonnaise recently. My favourite mayonnaise brands like Hellmann's and Hienz have three distinct taste 'points' that I have tried to achieve:

Tangy
Salty
A distinct 'eggy', or egg-like flavor

While I have been able to achieve the tangy-ness and saltiness through vinegar and salt, I have no idea how manufacturers make their mayonnaise taste so eggy. Do they half boil the eggs before emulsifying the mayo? Or is it achieved through a blend of other spices? I tried adding more raw eggs to my recipe but they don't seem to have any effect.

I appreciate any advice on what I could add to achieve this strong egg-like flavor in my home-made mayo.

Edit: Thanks for the answers so far. I will green tick the answer that worked best for me once I have tried them.

Edit 2: The answer that worked for me was the one that suggested home pasteurising the eggs. I pasteurised the eggs at 135 F for 1hr 15 mins as recommended but I couldn't keep the temperature (it kept fluctuating high and low). I used a small metal sauce pan. The final result was a mayo that had the strong eggy flavor I was looking for, but was also too watery. Still, in the context of this question it did work. Will be finding more ways to keep the eggy flavor while making the mayo thick and stable.


texts: What "begin to flake" means in the context of sauteing a fish?

texts:
I encountered

  When you see the bottom of the fish fillets turn opaque, tilt the pan and, using a large spoon, baste the tops of the fish with the hot oil. Do this constantly until the top of the fillets begin to flake, about 3 minutes.

in a recipe. It is unclear to me what it means. For example in https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/flake closest to this use is "To break or chip off in a flake" what seems to make no sense - especially as recipe explicitly mentions "preventing your fish from falling apart". Example images in recipe also display the fillet in one part, without small parts separated away.

What is the meaning of "begin to flake" in this context?

relevant recipe: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/cod_sauteed_in_olive_oil_with_fresh_tomatoes/


texts: Using a large pot/pan on a smaller burner

texts:
My fiancée and I recently got a bunch of new (very nice) pots and pans for our wedding shower. The thing is, several of the pans are 12", and the burners on our stove are nowhere near that large! (maybe 10" at best)

Are these pots/pans useable on the smaller burners? Will they evenly distribute the heat so it won't be so much of a problem? Or should we take them back? They are nice, hard-anodized pans.


texts: What is the impact of opening the oven door?

texts:
I enjoy baking and really love the smell. When the cake is about halfway done, I like to open the door to let the scent waft out.

Does opening the door for a second have any impact on the cake itself?

(The cake is a basic Victoria sponge if it makes a difference.)


texts: Can I replace casein in a recipe with soy protein?

texts:
I wanted to try this veggie burger recipe from ChefSteps. However, it uses sodium caseinate as one of the binding ingredients. Casein is derived from milk, thus making the burger non-vegan.

Would directly substituting (1:1) sodium caseinate with soy protein or pea protein cause any problems?


texts: How do you accompany other veggies with caramelized onions?

texts:
I assume that when you caramelize onions and would want your dish to also have caramelized carrots it would have to be more complex than just throw the carrots along the onions to the pot.

Any idea on how to pair carrots (or any other veggies) to a flavor base made of caramelized onions?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How long can you keep chocolate, and what is the best way to store it?

I just started using white chocolate to decorate dark chocolate covered cake balls. I used a squeeze bottle instead of the standard bag and it worked beautifully. I need to store the left over white chocolate though. What is the best way and how long will it keep? Thanks!


texts: Is raw brined pork with a very slight yellow tint and is no longer limp spoiled?

texts:
I put some pork chops in a brine solution almost 48 hours ago, put it in a metal bowl, covered the top of the bowl with plastic wrap and stuck it all in the fridge.

I pulled it out to wash, but I was washing I noticed that there was a very slight yellowing of the meat further from the bone.  As I washed it, I also noted that the pork chop held its form and didn't really flop around like I would expect raw meat to.

Is it still good to grill?


texts: Pyrex that can be used in an instant pot

texts: What pyrex would be suitable for pressure steaming in an Instant Pot (also known as 'Pot in Pot' cooking)?  I am a new user and want to make sure I have the correct cookware.


texts:
When the bottle doesn't say, how does one know when to refrigerate sauces?

For example: soy sauce, fish sauce, etc.


texts:
I have recently started making bread (up to my sixth batch). All I am trying to do is make super soft, plain, white bread/buns.

I have tried a different recipe each time, but none of them have even come close to the softness that I want.

Am I missing something, or have I just not found the right recipe?

I hand kneed every batch (as I do not have a mixer).

This recipe is my current attempt:

http://dinner-inspiration.blogspot.co.nz/2008/11/super-soft-white-bread.html


texts: Can I substitute vanilla powder for cocao in a quinoa cake recipe

texts:
ingedients:

2 cups quinoa
1/3/cup milk
4 lg eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2/cup granulated sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocao pwdr
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2/tsp salt


texts: Does using silicone in place of metal, Pyrex or other materials have an impact on food taste?


texts:
I followed the recipe below but I'm concerned that it seems like a lot of cream - it's very runny. I've already mixed it up, poured one pie, and have a ton of mixture left - probably enough for 6 more pies. I only have 1 more cup of pumpkin puree - should I add it to the remaining mix? Should I add anything else? I also have another pumpkin that I could roast tomorrow and add if I have to. What should I do to save the rest of the mix?

2 your favorite pie crust
6 cups pumpkin puree, from a real pumpkin (see below)
2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons clove
2 teaspoons allspice
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon mace or 1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt (optional)
8 large eggs
4 1/2 cups heavy cream or 4 1/2 cups evaporated milk

Roast the pumpkin and puree its flesh. Whip pumpkin with all other ingredients for about 3 minutes. Pour mixture into pie crust and bake at 425 ° F for 15 minutes. Turn oven 350 & and bake for 40 to 60 minutes until knife or toothpick comes out clean. Store in refrigerator.

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/real-pumpkin-pie-from-scratch-easy-490668


texts: I am a little.paranoid because just today my son had some fried rice he was going to bring to school in a thermos like container. The food wasn't really that hot and I explained to him by the time he ate it it would be at room temp for almost 6 hours and he could get sick of he ate it. So not thinking I left the container at my house on the counter to throw away. I got distracted and didn't end up throwing it away until late the evening. So in total the food was in an air tight thermos at room temp for about 16 hours. I am worried that the amount of time in which  botulism could have grown? Of course I did not eat it but it it could have grown botulism and then in turn could be at risk of botulism spores forming that quickly? Because I did smell the food when I threw it away for some reason and now I am scared to have been exposed to spores. Also after rinsing out the container now I would have trace food on other dishes in the sink and normal washing would not kill the botulism? Just trying to see if me and my family are at any risk? Thank you!!


texts: Properties of potassium carbonate as leavening agent

texts:
We have a gingerbread recipe calling for potassium carbonate (vulgo baking potash). One year I replaced the baking potash with baking soda 1:1. It worked fine.

Later I researched what the supposed differences are and found a claim that you may leave the dough up to several days in a cool place to rest when using baking potash but not when using baking soda. The (family) recipe originally also allowed to substitute baking potash for hartshorn salt (ammonium carbonate), but since this has the effect that the dough gets a little runny in the oven and therefore the resulting gingerbread is flatter than desired, we haven't used this in decades.

This answer describes potash as "purely historical leavener". Alas, where I come from (Germany) it is commonly used in Christmas recipes. In fact you will find it alongside the respective spices during the season.

The recipe of my family explicitly allows for storing the ready dough in a cool place for several days. Another recipe of the family of my significant other actually calls for leaving the dough in a cool place for several days and also uses baking potash. I never thought anything of it, but "the internet" appears to ascribe preservative properties of sorts to baking potash.

Or is there something else behind the alleged difference in keeping the dough in a cool place? For example, is baking soda perhaps known to somehow dissolve or otherwise react with the other ingredients and thereby lose its leavening effect?

Could someone please shed some light on the properties baking potash would have in a recipe aside from the leavening effect?! Please provide authoritative sources, if possible.


texts: Can a few bad (dead) mussels harm a larger batch?

texts:
I realize there are numerous related questions on freshness of mussels:

Fresh mussels, or are they?
How do I determine if my mussels are fresh?

I couldn't find exactly what I'm looking for. So feel free to argue if you think this is a duplicate and I've just missed my answer.

I've bought this:
http://canadiancove.com/products/high_oxygen_tray_packs
here in Canada numerous times (Costco if anyone is curious, half the price of everywhere else, which is awesome for a landlocked province). The product is usually very good; no bad smell, very clean, responds well when rinsed/tapped lightly etc...
I always check to make sure the vacuum seal is good and their "best before" date is as far out as possible. This time, I noticed a higher count of mussels that appear to be dead; at least a third were questionable. There was a noticeable smell that usually isn't there when I opened the pack. The ones that were clearly dead, smelled off, no movement when rinsed/tapped, no spring, etc... Assuming I've done a good job of sorting the dead from the alive, can the dead ones giving off smell, pollute the rest of the batch that I should probably avoid the whole thing?

I tried cooking the ones that were clearly alive and they tasted off anyway so I ended up discarding them. I decided it wasn't worth the risk. Just curious for next time.


texts: How can I make fine powder from leafy herbs?

texts:
I've been curious about how to make fine powder from leafy herbs for some time now (I don't mean merely flakes). We can have large amounts of tarragon, basil, etc. in the garden. It would be nice to be able to make a fine, powdered form. How can I do this?

I'm especially looking for alternatives besides coffee grinders, since I'd be uncomfortable with using that solution.


texts: When to prefer yogurt, cream, and coconut milk in an Indian vegetarian dish to make it creamy?

texts:
Firstly, I have noticed all the curried dishes we eat in an Indian restaurant feel "creamy".
Now, I don't know whether they add cream, or yogurt, or coconut milk?

In which kinds of dishes do we need which kind of substance to make it creamy?


texts: Cookbook says to store dough in fridge overnight, why can't I just bake it already?

texts: I've been reading "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" and all the sourdough bread recipes call for overnight storage in the fridge. Is this really necessary? Can I just leave it out at room temperature and bake it that night? What is the purpose of storing it in the fridge for a night?


texts:
I made some sous vide pork chops this week that didn't turn out as tender as I expected.  They were about as tender as when I grill them; maybe a little bit worse.

I had marinated them overnight in a Vietnamese soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, lemon grass, etc., marinate and them cooked them at 132 degrees in the marinade for about eight hours.

What could I try to do differently?  Longer cooking?  Brining?


texts: How to convert a bread recipe to Tangzhong Method?

texts: I would like to know how can I covert my bread/pastry recipe  and apply the Tangzhong method.


texts:
In most (Swedish) homes, there are electric stoves that go from 1 to 6, and in some cases all the way up to 12!

Is there an agreed-upon standard deciding roughly what temperature a number corresponds to on the stove-scale?


texts: How to reduce/remove smell when cooking salmon fin soup?

texts:
I usually use simple recipes for salmon fin soup (tomato soup + salmon fin with some seasoning mostly). It tastes good but the smell of salmon fin is not.
What should I do to reduce or remove the smell?


texts: yeast substitutes and proper measurements

texts:
I was wondering if I could get some advice as I have intolerances to yeast and have heard of a few substitutions from: baking soda, baking powder, lemon juice, milk and yogurt.
The question comes to how do I measure these into bread or baking to make whatever I am making rise? I have heard that in the middle east they rarely use yeast for bread baking and their bread still rises. I just don't know the proper measurements I would use, if a bread recipe calls for 1 or 2 packets of yeast and mixing them in water do you mix one tsp of baking soda and 1 tsp of lemon juice in together?

If you can give me any advice on this that would be greatly appreciated, thanks.


texts: Uncooked peppers and garlic in olive oil fizzled when opened

texts: I put uncooked hot peppers in olive oil with garlic, onions, and seasoning. When I opened the jars, they fizzled. Is this safe to eat?


texts: Canning tomato sauce problem, jar broken in boiling method

texts:
It was my first try to canning tomato sauce but I failed.

I prepared a tomato pizza sauce.
I boiled a jar and lid then removed it
I filled the jar with sauce and left one inch empty space and closed with the lid.
Then I put it in the boiling water and what happened:

As soon as I put the jar in the hot boiling water, some air bubbles appeared.
Then after few seconds, the jar broke from its bottom

And I failed in my first experiment.

What should I be doing differently for this not to happen next time?


texts: Is the rapid ice bath chill post-sous vide actually necessary when putting the meat/fish in the freezer?

texts:
In the past, I would frequently cook (in the oven) 6+ lbs (3+ kg) of salmon fillets (usually took ~25 min) to an internal temp of 145-150 F (62.5-65 C), take them out, let them set on the counter for an hour or two, and then throw them in vacuum-sealed bags and into the freezer.

Then, when I wanted to eat one, I'd take it out and throw it in the microwave. Understandably not the tastiest thing, but it worked well enough. I've never tried it with meat, only fish. As far asI know this never made me sick.

Now, all of the sous vide literature emphasizes a rapid chill in an ice water bath if you want to freeze something. Is this really necessary? For a very thick steak (say 2 in (5 cm)) it could take 3+ hours to fully chill down to 41 F (5 C) in the middle, so if that's still safe to eat, why must you chill thinner cuts? I'd expect anything 1in or less to chill within 3 hours in the freezer. Obviously, you can extrapolate this out and say that, e.g., a 0.125 inch (0.3 cm) cut wouldn't need to be chilled in an ice bath, so the blanket suggestion is only necessary above a certain thickness.

If anyone has found graphs of time/temperature when freezing meat from a cooked temperature, that would be helpful. If that doesn't exist, what's a best guess for the thickness at which pre-freezer ice baths become important for safety?


texts: Is the hairy skin below a chestnut’s tough skin poisonous?

texts:
Disclaimer: As I live in a tropical country, I have never seen chestnuts before.

I was experimenting with chestnuts, after i roasted and peeled them, I read that you’re not supposed to eat the hairy skin of the chestnut. Is it poisonous?


texts: Why does spinach lose its texture when cooked?

texts:
I know that cooking spinach until it loses its texture is called wilting, but what is the chemical process that is going on. It it losing moisture? If so why does it look so moist?

Thanks!


texts: What is the use of UV LEDs in my fridge?

texts: I have a new fridge in which there is, apparently, some LEDs emitting UVs. I read on the internet that it kills bacteria and helps the food last longer. Does this really work? And what about the claim that it somehow preserves vitamins?


texts:
On a whim, I bought real honeycomb (not the cookie type dessert) from a local shop. I tried eating it plain, but the wax makes it unpleasant and chewy.

What can I do with it?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Does kimchi go bad?

I have some 'antique' kim chee in the back of the fridge. How can one tell if it is gone bad? Given that kim chee is fermented, it is hard to tell if it is no longer safe to eat or acceptable to offer to guests, say. Does aging improve the flavor? up to what point?


texts: Adding additional water to already simmering bone stock

texts: I am making stock from bones and I was simmering it with the lid off. I want to simmer it for 3 days. This morning the liquid was reduced by a significant amount even though the heat was extremely low. I put the lid on to stop the evaporation but is it okay to add new water to the stock? Thanks


texts: How do I sautee tomatoes without them being juicy?

texts:
I sautee them in olive oil and salt and they turn out great except for the fact that they are too juicy. If I could just get the juice out, they would be perfect.

I had some tomato basil pasta the other day at a restaurant and the sauteed tomatoes were done just right (without too much juice). My wife claimed that they used tomato paste in their pasta (and in all marinara sauces as well). If this is true, I would like to be able to cook my tomatoes without the aid of tomato paste. Or, alternatively, I would like to make my own tomato paste from scratch (if this is the only option).


texts: Substituting canned pumpkin for fresh pumpkin?

texts: This question is essentially the reverse of this older one. Can I safely substitute canned pumpkin for fresh pumpkin in a pumpkin soup recipe? If so, should I expect any side effects in taste or consistency, and, if so, are there any corrections I should make to offset this?


texts: Which tea is stronger, i.e. gives a better puch for a wake up? I know that English Breakfast is a mix which among others includes Ceylon, and I read that Ceylon is a very strong black tea (the strongest apart from Chinese uberteas?). So, does it come out that English Breakfast is weaker because it only contains a share of Ceylon and the rest of the teas in the blend are of a weaker kind? Or is it actually stronger because of that and is used at breakfast to give a good kick?


texts:
As the question states.  Have these been cooked in any way or just dry cured with salt etc?

If I want to make my own dried anchovies, how do I do it?


texts:
I found I like goulash very much, but the bang for the buck is rather poor - I don't get much made for the amount of meat used up.

I tried using different cuts; ham, neck, shoulder. The latter, shoulder cut of pork was one of the cheaper cuts that produced reasonable amounts of it - still, lots of water is drained from the meat as I fry it, and then reduced in the process of frying it before simmering and I ended up with less goulash than meat I used for making it...

In essence either I get a more expensive cut that doesn't lose much water when fried, or I get a cheaper cut that loses most water and I'm left with very little meat once it loses its water and the water is reduced.

I'm looking for inexpensive cut that is suitable for goulash and still retains good mass(volume) once fried/reduced, or is inexpensive enough that the loss of water doesn't matter. Can you suggest one?

EDIT:
I realize Goulash is made very differently in different parts of the world. This creates some confusion here, so let me drop the recipe I use, which was passed by generations in the family.

0.5kg of any inexpensive meat cut. I tend to use shoulder, although most of varied types are fine - smooth, uniform (and usually expensive) cuts are less suitable. Filaments, veins of connective tissue etc in the meat are welcome.
One big onion, or two smaller
2-4 bay leaves
4-6 grains of allspice
1tbsp paprika powder,
salt and chilli to taste (keep on spicy side).
~1tbsp flour, ~1tbsp butter or other fat for roux.

You need either a deep frying pan or (IMO preferably) a common big pot; specifically no non-stick, nothing fancy - a rather worn is preferred as the preparation may leave nearly permanent but harmless stains, so if you keep your pots pristine, get one you don't. Probably cast iron would be perfect, but I don't have such one so can't confirm or deny it for sure.

Dice the meat. 2x2x2cm dice are sufficiently small, but the smaller the better. Pour minimal amount of oil in the pot and drop the meat in. Stir from time to time. The meat will release water soon and start simmering. Reduce that water till the meat starts frying. It should release a plenty of own fat too so no need to add more. Stirring from time to time fry both the meat and the sediment from the water that escaped from the meat till it's deep brown, bordering on burnt black (even getting a little of it completely burnt is acceptable). The meat may keep sticking to the pot; keep scrapping, scratching, this is perfectly right. Building a lot of deeply browned sediment on the pot is your goal.

If you have a good sense of timing with frying onions, you can add chopped onion to the meat and fry them together, but if your timing is off when adding it, the onion may end up anywhere between raw and burnt when the meat is just right. It's safer to brown it on a separate pan and add when the meat is right.

Pour water to cover the meat plus some more. Add bay leaves and allspice. Bring to simmer, and gently stir to dissolve as much of the sediment from the pot in the water as you can. Keep simmering for at least 3 hours; longer is better.

Add paprika, salt and chilli, simmer some more while preparing roux by frying flour with butter. No need for the true dark roux but get it a few shades of gold below light roux. To avoid clumping add a ladle or two of the goulash sauce to the roux, mix, then the mix it back into the pot. Simmer another 3 minutes.

Serve with mashed potatoes and salad, or in large potato pancakes folded in half, or just in a bowl, with bread to dip in the sauce.


texts: What's the best way to carve poutry so that you get the most amount of meat?  Are there any tricks you've found that will make this easier?


texts: I left porkchops out to thaw over night can i cook them still

texts: I i left porkchops out to thaw i forgotten about them and left them out all night is it ok to cook still


texts: My husband is making barbecue sauce and putting chopped cooked onion in it. He made large amounts and stored some in mason jars and put them in the pantry; he put 3 squeeze bottles in the fridge. I'm scared the onion may spoil but he doesn't think so . Please help


texts: Super soft fried shrimp in a light batter

texts:
I dined at a sushi restaurant recently that had an appetizer called buffalo rock shrimp. Essentially its fried shrimp in a buffalo sauce.

To describe the dish more specifically. The shrimp itself is the most soft, the batter almost has the same consistency as the shrimp itself. The batter is really light and fluffy with a soft crunch on the outside.

I am determined to figuring out how to create such a dish. What is the secret to making batter fried shrimp turn out so soft? Also, what is the secret to making a light fluffy batter for shrimp that is slightly crispy on the outside and does not turn soggy when sauce is added?

I appreciate any advice on how to accomplish this.


texts: Emulating Starbucks Frappuccino Cream Base

texts:
At Starbucks, the "Cream Based" (no coffee) frappuccinos all use a proprietary syrup base which I would like to emulate to be able to make a reasonable facsimile at home.

When the baristas make a "Vanilla Bean" frappuccino, the process goes something like this:

Add a measure of whole milk.
Add an appropriate measure of ice.
Add 3 pumps of aforementioned cream base syrup.
Add a few scoops of vanilla flavored powder.
Blend.

The milk/ice ratio I can play with, I've found a replacement for the vanilla powder that works well, but I'm stumped at re-creating the cream flavored syrup, which unfortunately, is absolutely key to getting the right taste and consistency.

I see some folks selling jugs of the stuff on ebay, which I can only assume is pilfered stock because Starbucks does not sell it retail. Fortunately, there are pictures of the ingredients label on the jug, which gives me a good starting point.

The image of the base is below.

The ingredients are listed as:

Water
Sugar
Salt
Natural and Artificial Flavor
Xanthan Gum (E415)
Potassium Sorbate (E202)
Citric Acid (E330)

I would like some suggestions for what kind of cream flavoring I should use to create my own. Whole milk powder? Coffee creamer? Something else?


texts: Why didn't microwaving a stainless steel spoon set my kitchen on fire?

texts:
I am a new, and newly sleep-deprived, dad. As such, I didn't think twice about taking a big, shiny, stainless steel spoon and sticking it right in a baby bottle sterilizer. ("I want this supplement to be scooped with a sterile instrument!")

Now, a bottle sterilizer consists of a large, sealed, plastic box into which you put a bunch of water. Put it in the microwave, and it's basically an autoclave. I sealed that sucker up and let 'er rip at 1300 watts. I then walked away and down a flight of stairs.

When I came back to my kitchen, everything was fine. The 3-minute microwave cycle was done, and my stainless steel spoon was apparently sterilized. Nothing was on fire, and the microwave seemed as happy as it had been. I, however, was mortified--and puzzled. I've read that only pointy surfaces cause problems in microwaves. But my spoons are fairly pointy, especially at the handle end:

Right now, I am provisionally chalking this up to God. But I must admit that I don't find my explanation quite thorough enough. Does anyone have a more specific accounting?


texts:
So I've made curry a few times before but I've always had a problem with the sauce. So before I try and make one again I want to know, how do you make the sauce thick and flavourful rather than almost non-existent and overly tomatoey?

When I last made curry I remember adding almost a full ramekin of spices and quite a lot of onion and yet after boiling down the curry I was left with very little sauce. I had tried adding more tomato pulp to give it more body, but that to ends up mostly gone once boiled down; and even if much tomato remains, I find it overpowers some of the other flavours in the sauce.

Does anyone have any curry tips for this amateur?


texts: Are these vestigial seeds in a "seedless" orange?

texts:
Two recent organic navel oranges had a lot of these 2-x-head-of-a-pin-sized seed-like things. Each orange had maybe 25 of them clinging to the very center membrane in the orange. I allowed them to dry overnight and they do seem to feel like seeds, but obviously very small for orange seeds. They were also at the very center of the orange, not just off-center where orange seeds would be expected to be. What are they?

It seems pretty obvious that they are seedy things. But are they typical? Why have I never seen them before? Is it some kind of mutation trying to make our seedless oranges seeded again? What?

Strangely, these were the most flavorless oranges that I have ever encountered. Even the zest lacked any kind of orange flavor.

A US dime is 17.91 mm in diameter.


texts: How to make canollis without a deep frier?

texts: I absolutely love cannolis but every recipe I see requires a deep frier. Is it possible to make them without one?


texts: Kitchen Aid KSMC50S stand mixer attachments and dough hook

texts:
I inherited a Kitchen Aid KSMC50S stand mixer from my mother. It was purchased new around 1998 or so.

My model has a sticker right above the accessory port that says "No attachments available for this model."

Why not?
What makes this model different than the others that accept accessories?
Is it even true?

The dough hook I have is a replacement. The bowl-lift is calibrated to match the beater attachment depth (it is very tight but doesn't hit the bowl and picks up everything). However, the dough hook sits about 3/4 inch off the bottom of the bowl.

While mixing 4-5 cups of flour (two loaf recipe) dough, much of the dough stayed at the bottom of the bowl and never climbed the hook like the recipe says, even after 10 minutes (much longer than the recipe said it would take).

What is the correct/expected clearance below the dough hook?

The replacement hook is a spiral type.

Is this type compatible with this mixer?
If not can you please direct me to the correct one?


texts: How many cells are in one granule of instant yeast?

texts: I'm purely curious and google has failed me.


texts: How does Ball mason jar size affect canning processing time?

texts:
I'm new to canning and food preserving and bought a basic starter kit including a water bath canner (I'll get into pressure canners later if I have success with this method).
One thing that is often cautioned is that the size of the container (pint or quart Ball mason jar) affects the cooking/processing (boiling) time, as well as the altitude!
Interestingly enough, in most recipes I see specific values given to adjust the processing time based on altitude (for example: if between 3000 and 6000 ft above sea level, add 5 mins to the processing time, etc.).
However, I have never seen anything that tells me how the jar size affects the processing time! Does anybody know if there is a rule of thumb here?


texts:
When I was younger, we had a yearly "Taste of Tacoma" in Tacoma, WA. There was a booth that had this Russian, I think, pierogi. However, I remember what I had as being round like a baseball with at least ground beef inside. I was fairly young and don't recall what else it included.

Does anyone know if this is a specific type of dish or just a variation on the pierogi?

Thanks.


texts:
I always find myself buying chanterelles because I really like them when I eat them somewhere where the chef knew what he/she was doing. I always end up with an inedible mess -- or at least something that is significantly less tasty than what I expected.

Clarification: I'm not looking for a recipe that uses chanterelles, but the basic technique to prepare the mushrooms themselves.


texts: How does substituting Butter for Margarine/Shortening affect the Recipe

texts: I know that Margarine / Shortening are usually softer than butter, but what other differences are there? Can I just melt the butter and call it good or will this effect my final Product? I have seen Margarine / Shortening a lot in cookies, but I am looking for a general answer.


texts: Are there reasons to use olive oil when roasting food at high temperatures?

texts: I see many times chefs choosing olive oil as the fat for cooking recipes that undergo heats of 400f+ (very much above the smoking point of refined olive oil) for 30 minutes, and its virgin olive oil many of the times! But isn't olive oil supposed to smoke at those temperatures? Does cooking past the smoke point not cause smoking and undesirable flavors or other issues? Does any flavor benefit from the oil actually remain?


texts: My olive oil didn't solidify in the fridge. Is it fake?

texts:
After reading about scandals involving adulterated (and sometimes fake) olive oil, I decided to test a bottle of Bertolli olive oil. Bertolli in particular has been sued for selling fake olive oil, and successfully fended off the case by claiming their suppliers defrauded them.

The bottle had about an ounce left in it. I placed it in the fridge for about 11 hours, and it's still liquid. From my understanding, olive oil should solidify in the fridge. Is this conclusive proof that the oil was not real olive oil?


texts: What nutrients are concentrated in citrus peels (not juice)?

texts:
I just bought my first juicer today and I'm having a blast experimenting with the different favors.

I'm looking at all these juice recipes and they all say to peel the rind off of the citrus fruits when juicing as they leave a very sour flavor. I don't mind extra sour things, so my question is, what nutrients am I gaining if I keep the rind on when juicing the whole fruit (eg oranges, lemons, limes, etc)?

Is it still better to leave the rind off when juicing?


texts:
I bought a bag of brown rice from a store. After having opened and used for a while, I found there were moths flying in the house. At the same time, I found worms in the rice. I suspect that the moths are from the worms(rice-size, white body, dark head). I guess but am not sure if they are called rice moths. There were also many little sand-like things in the rice bag, are they the eggs of the rice moths?

Will eating this infested rice pose a health risk?


texts: How to get spicey flavour from black peppers in stew?

texts:
The piperine in black pepper has a tangy/spicy flavor and I read that it concentrates in the black part of the peppercorn and not the inner white part.

This being the case I was thinking maybe it would be a good idea to boil the peppercorns to extract the black parts.  However I put one in my mouth and whirled it around however I didnt really get any spicy flavour.  But when I cracked it it become more tangy.

Why is this if the piperine is in the black part and if its the pipirine im after/want to be in the stew liquid, would it make more sense to put a lot of whole ones and boil it, or groud it then add?


texts: Forgot to put brown and white sugar in cookie dough

texts: I made cookie dough. I already put white chocolate chips and so on. I forgot to put in brown and white sugar... How can I fix this?


texts: Is there a significant difference between pizza ovens and conventional ovens with pizza functionality?

texts:
I have a small pizza oven (the round ones, with stone), with whom I make an adequate pizza; according to the manuals, temperatures go from 190 to 400 °C, so I guess I'm baking it between 300 and 350 °C.

Since I have to buy a new oven, I've seen that some ovens have a pizza specific functionality (I guess it's more of a "crisp" one), with whom one bakes the pizza at 275 °C in the lowest rack; I guess I could use a stone for better results.

I was wondering - is there a significant difference, when making pizza, between the two?
More in general, is there a significant difference between 275/300/350 °C when baking pizza?


texts: Adding too much flour to bread dough in Kitchenaid Stand Mixer?

texts:
I own a Kitchenaid Artisan Stand Mixer and everytime I try to use the dough hooks to make bread, I always end up using WAYY more flour than the recipe calls for.

For example, I was trying to make bread using this recipe that calls for:

1 cup water
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp yeast
1/2 tbsp salt
2 1/8 cups all purpose flour

After mixing all the ingredients together using the paddle attachment and everything is clumping together, I switch to the dough hook. After a bit of kneading, I probably add close to 1/2 more cup of flour because I see a bunch of dough sticking to the bottom of the bowl. Even when I lift my attachment up, I can see the dough drooping down. I just keep adding more flour until it doesn't stick to the bottom, at which point I feel like I added close to a cup extra of All purpose flour (Robin hood flour). I'm worried that this will make my dough too dense and I don't know what to do. I knead it on speed 3 for about 10 mins and then for another 15 until I can see the dough hold its shape. Am I doing something wrong?


texts: How to check if a vegetable is bitter without eating it

texts:
I want to know if my cucumber or ridge gourd is bitter before cooking, but for some reason, I can't eat or smell a slice of it to check. Is there any other way to check its bitterness?
(I'm hoping that there will be another way, for how else would factories that produce bulk food products use cucumbers or ridge gourds unless they have an army of workers whose job is to eat slices of each cucumber :-))


texts: What can I cure at 15c and 50% humidity?

texts:
I have a basement that stays at a pretty regular 15c and 50% humidity. I dont want to set up a chamber for curing, Id rather just use the conditions I have.

The issue is I cant seem to find products that fit these environments. Is there anything? Whole muscle needs less humidity and more warmth whilst sausage needs more humidity.

Any ideas out there?


texts: Can olive oil be substituted for vegetable oil in a box cake mix?

texts: Can olive oil be substituted for vegetable oil in making a box cake mix?


texts: Why does oil change the color of salmorejo?

texts:
We did a few experiments last year with salmorejo, a cold soup made of very ripe tomatoes and bread, very similar to gazpacho.

We noticed that while blending, the salmorejo would turn pink. This is because the tomatoes get into contact with oxygen. We don't like the colour/taste of the pink salmorejo. Adding more oil to the soup would miraculously restore the colour/taste.

So, there's the question: why does adding more oil (EVOO) restore the colour of the tomato soup?


texts: Dangerous simmering - exploding liquid? (cheesemaking)

texts:
This evening I attempted to make gjetost. I started with a gallon of milk and made mozzarella, then added a little dry milk, and made ricotta. Finally I was going to reduce the whey down into gjetost.

Once I got the whey reduced down to about 10% of its original volume, the simmering became incredibly... weird? Basically the bubbling became very erratic, and at least twice there was a sudden "BLUB" which sent showers of 230+ degree whey showering across the stovetop, also making a noticable SLAM when the pot physically jumped on the stovetop. After narrowly avoiding a bunch of burns twice, I moved the pot off the heat and walked away. I want to make the recipe but I'm not risking a trip to the hospital.

So, has anyone ever seen this happen? Why does it simmer so erratically and then have one big GLUB/bubble explosion in the center that is so violent? I've heard of things getting super heated, but that doesn't seem like it would apply here because it's not a completely pure liquid (there are some curds of albumin protein which would seem to be good origination sites).


texts:
I bought a chunk of vacuum packed beef from the discounter. The label said "roast meat", and didn't indicate which cut of beef it was. It was lean meat (4% fat), but that's normal in Europe.

I roasted the meat with some glaze, at 175°C, until the probe showed 63°C. Then I seared the crust on a 320°C iron pan. It turned out somewhat rare (I suspect the probe isn't good enough), but still looked like a perfectly good roast. But when I started eating, I discovered that the meat has enough connective tissue to be practically unchewable in this state.

Now I want to recook the meat and eat it. My first idea was to make goulash, in chat I got the advice to make a stew. The point is, while I know that theoretically it should work, I've never recooked meat, and I don't know if there are some details I'm overlooking. Also, is there a special kind of stew particularly well suited to my case?

Is there something special about making a stew or a goulash with precooked meat, different from using raw meat? Am I forgetting something here? How long should I cook the meat? (Assume that I start measuring after the center of the meat pieces - whatever size - has reached 68°C). I have roughly 20% to 25% connective tissue, the thickest fascia are maybe 3 mm. The meat is already roasted, seared, rested and cooled (and will be refrigerated when I start recooking).

You don't have to explain the food safety implications, I am aware of them. Just assume that in this case, I am willing to take the risk of eating the recooked meat.

Edit I am not all that interested in recipe suggestions, I guess a common stew will do. What I want is to know how the usual technique of slow cooking changes when the meat is precooked, and if somebody has already done this and can confirm that it works. By the way, the meat is now cut in chunks and marinating in the fridge.


texts: What are these green and black marks in my tallow?

texts:
I bought some tallow, used it a few times then left it in the fridge for a few months.  As you can see in the pic it has developed some green and black spots.

What are these and what caused it?  Is it safe for consumption?  Can I discard the coloured bits and use the rest of the tallow?


texts: What is a good recipe that uses a lot of evaporated and/or sweetened milk?

texts: I have 60 oz of evaporated milk and don't know what to cook with it.  I have found some recipes, but they only call for 12 oz to be used and I'm about to get another 36 oz.  What is a good recipe (or recipes) that use a lot of evaporated milk?  Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, or desert recipes are welcome.  This question taught me that I can turn some of it into sweetened condensed milk, so that can be one of the ingrediants too.


texts: Should I add salt when boiling vegetable? Why?

texts: I am a new learner on cooking and I would like to boil some vegetable: soybean, baby corn, okra, etc. I saw a lot of people add salt when boiling them but I am not sure I should do that or not, and what is the purpose of adding salt when boiling? Hope to get feedback for you guys. Thank you in advance!


texts: Comparable ingredients in butter and mayonaise

texts: What ingredients (all) are shared between butter and mayonaise?


texts:
What can I sub for Chinkiang vinegar? It is for a dressing recipe I found.
Just don't want to go to the store


texts: I bought a pizza stone without realizing that the max temperature it would withstand is 450 F (according to the instructions). My oven goes up to 550 F, which is the temperature I'd rather bake my pizzas at–is it OK to overheat the stone for the sake of the pizza?


texts: When should I knead with oil and when with flour?

texts:
I have been experimenting with making bread and pastries and have tried kneading with both oil and flour. I have found that I tend to use flour with bread and yeast based loaves and oil with pastry dough.

I don't know what is best, though. I am slightly concerned that adding flour to a bread dough will mess up the flour water ratio, so is it better to use oil, and vice versa with the pastries (say a shortcrust pastry that already contains a form of fat)?

Is there some other factor that determines flour vs oil?


texts: Difference between New York strip and a first cut strip

texts: What is the difference between a New York strip and a first cut strip steak?


texts: How do I cook and hold pasta for 200 people?

texts: I am making spaghetti dinner for 200 people. I am not sure how to make 20 pounds of pasta ready for a three hour dinner. I thought about a steam table and cooking all the pasta and putting it in a steam table. Would that work, or is there a better way?


texts: Will a pork shoulder be dry after 16 hours at 110C

texts:
I'm intending to do the following recipe with an 8lb (3.6kg) bone in shoulder (Essentially 30mins @230C/450F, 16hours @ 110C/230F, 45mins@230C/450F).

I'm concerned that such a long cooking time will dry out the meat and my shoulder is below the 5-8kg range that the recipe suggests. I've looked around on the web for advice and I haven't found anything conclusive

Cooked boneless 3kg for 6 hours
unclear what size shoulder and whether the bone was in or not, says cooking time was too long

Most of the posts on this site use a slightly higher cooking temperature for much less time (250F for 6-8 hours seems to be the consensus).

There seems to be two concerns:

Safe meat, this seems pretty easy to achieve (140F+)
Tasty, melty, delicious meat (195F to melt the collagen)

I'm inclined to just give it a try but a decent pork shoulder runs at least $70 in Canada and I don't want to blow thanksgiving.

Any thoughts on how/if I should adjust he cooking time/temperature?


texts: How do you cook calamari / squid and avoid making it tough?

texts:
I am having a hard time with this seemly simple 'snack'.

The calamari and squid is usually given to me by my neighbor who is a seafood monger.  It's frozen and a mix of baby octopus and squid rings, no label.

I've tried both boiling and frying them. I've also tried boiling followed by frying. The taste is always good, but the texture is not tender and kind of gummy.

It is possible that this type of squid is tougher (e.g. Moroccan octopus is more tender than Thai), and a reason why neighbor says: "arr, I can't cook these right... here... you try".

Is there a trick to getting them spot on?


texts: Best way to remove seeds when making jam and still have it called jam

texts:
When making jams and/or preserves using berries, sometimes you want the jam to be seedless (especially when using raspberries or blackberries).  I know often times people use a food mill or strain the fruit through a fine mess sieve, but would you get the same effect using a masticating juicer?  Or would that take too much of the fruit to still be considered jam?

Basically I'm asking if I use my masticating juicer to get the juice and pulp from blackberries or raspberries and can them, would it be considered seedless jam or is it now jelly?  And if it is now jelly, how using a masticating juicer makes it jelly when straining through a sieve still allows it to be jam?


texts:
Some people don't like ginger taste in meal.  What can I use instead of ginger?
Actually I want to cook cauliflower, so what can I use instead of ginger.


texts:
As I approach 10k points on Stack Overflow, I would like to make a cake to celebrate. All the layers in the stack of the Stack Overflow logo are orange, but what would they taste like?

Carrot? Orange? Banana-Strawberry? Mango-Cherry?

Did anyone else make a Stack Overflow cake who can give some tips?


texts: How can I use left over crumble topping?

texts:
I like making fruit crumbles, and I like fruit crumbles, but I have a problem...

I always make the crumble topping by estimating quantities, adjusting the ingredients until I get the consistency I want. This always leaves me with a lot of crumble left over when the fruit is covered.

What can I do with this excess crumble topping? Obviously it’s a nice treat on its own, and I could cook more fruit, but is there another recipe I could use this for?

(I wonder if there’s a way to convert it into a shortbread, but I don’t know how to go about it.)


texts: I'm making a hot dog sauce that contains tomatoes, bacon & soy sauce. I've tried to preserve it with vinegar, but lost the taste of the product. What can I use to preserve the sauce in a glass container and how long could I store it in a refrigerator?


texts: What are the purposes of the various specialty knives?

texts:
I generally tend to use a paring knife for most of my cutting, but I'm sure I should be using a different knife.  Recently I also made the mistake of trying to cut a watermelon with a big, straight-edge knife, which didn't go over too well.

When I look at knives, I see a lot of different weird-looking implements and don't really understand what they're for or when I would use them vs. some other knife.

Can someone give me a quick overview of the different types of knives that one would find a typical kitchen store, and what types of food or cutting techniques they are meant for?


texts: I want to make an homemade plain yogurt,I heard you have to use your leftover yogurt to make some at home.Can I use sweetened yogurt to make my homemade yogurt or is it compulsory to use the plain yogurt that is normally recommended?


texts:
I have tried 2 different brands of Taroccan blood orange and I have also had some Moro ones but none of them are that red like you see in pictures. Do I need to let them ripen or is it just hard to get ones that red?

The ones I have had have a reddish tinge but still look like a normal orange. Thanks


texts: Can I use tapioca pearls for thickening?

texts:
A friend of mine went shopping in an Asian market. I asked them to bring me tapioca starch. They brought me a package of small tapioca pearls.

Is there any way to use the pearls as I would use the starch? For example, can I grind them with mortar and pestle?

If I can't use them for thickening, what are they good for, besides bubble tea?


texts: How long will fermented/brined pickles last?

texts:
I've been interested in making some pickles, and a lot of the places I've found say that salt brined or fermented pickles generally taste better than acid-brined pickles. That is, pickles pickled in a saltwater brine taste better those pickled in vinegar. While that's subjective, it's still gotten me intrigued in saltwater brining some vegetables.

However, each of the sources I find give me a different estimate for how long they last in the fridge. Some say 1 week (too short, surely?) and some say up to 1 year (that seems too long...). So my question is, how long will a pickle last in its brine after being put into the fridge?

Edit: After some thinking, I guess it would depend on a lot of factors, but mostly the salinity of the water and the temperature of the fridge. Given that these are the most important factors (but I could be wrong!) if the temperature is 35 deg F in the ideal fridge, how will salt content change how long the pickle will last?


texts: Better way of getting out excess water/oil from food other than paper towels?

texts: There have been a lot of recipes where I've had to use a bunch of paper towels to get the excess liquid out (making bacon to get out the excess fat, when you're frying foods and want them to be dry). Is there a better way of getting the liquid out without just massing tons of paper towels?


texts: We're trying to make hard crack candy,the humidity in the house is 50%

texts: Is there any way we can make it without it becoming sticky?


texts: Sweet potatoes stored in direct sunlight

texts: I know leaving potatoes out in direct sunlight is a bad thing as they can develop solanine which is toxic. I know sweet potatoes don't develop solanine, but are there any other reasons other than spoiling to avoid storing sweet potatoes in sunlight?


texts:
I like putting beans (e.g., mung beans, red beans) into my ice cream when I make ice cream at home.

What I do: soak the beans overnight, boil them, mash them, then mix them into the cream as it's being beaten, then freeze the entire mixture before enjoying.

The problem is that, after freezing, the beans turn into VERY hard bits! They're so hard, it's like I'm biting into crunchy pieces of nuts! I buy the same types of ice cream from the store and their beans don't exhibit this problem. Theirs are soft and chewy.

I'd like for my beans to be soft and chewy when my ice cream comes out of the freezer as well. How is it done?


texts: I was processing venison in 14 pint jars at 10 lb. pressure. It had only begun to process, approx. 10 min.  I got an emergency phone call from my Mother and had to turn off the pressure cooker.  I left and did not get back for 5 hrs.  By that time the cooker was barely warm.  I turned the stove back on and began processing all over at 10 lb. pressure but left it go for 90 min. instead of the 75 min. for pints.  All sealed, looks great, good color.  However, would sitting and cooling down before the 2nd processing cause add'l bacteria to grow in the sitting jars?  Or, would the 240+ degrees from the pressure cooker take care of any and all bacteria, whether a little or a lot?  I have been canning and putting up foods for 51 years and have never had to stop and restart processing.  I'm unsure if the meat would be safe.  Anyone else ever have this happen to a low-acid food?


texts: Can Guava seeds be used to make a coffee-like drink?

texts:
According to this website containing info on strawberry guavas:

  The seeds can be eaten carefully or roasted as a coffee substitute.

Apart from that site, I can find no other references anywhere suggesting that a drink can be made from guava seeds. That site doesn't give much detail about how this would be done.

Does anyone know if guava seeds can be used in this way, and if so how to go about it? If you went to all the trouble, would it taste any good? You can dry, roast and grind the seeds of anything but that doesn't mean the end result would make a drink that tastes better than hot sand. My understanding of coffee production is that it is a tricky process to go from the raw beans to the final product so perhaps careful steps need to be followed to make a perfect cup of guava seed?


texts: Cooking with sugar makes pan very difficult to clean

texts:
I was improvising with some scrambled eggs, and decided to put a spoonful of white sugar in while cooking them. The recipe was good, but the subsequent coating of egg on the teflon pan was very difficult to scrub off. I suspect that the sugar made it "stickier," perhaps, or maybe was more inclined to burn onto the pan.

The food was good, is there a way I can avoid making the pan so difficult to clean?


texts: What are some of the benefits of electric stoves versus gas stoves?

texts:
I have recently moved house and one of the downsides is that I'm now stuck with an electric stove instead of a gas stove which was in the previous house.

I'm not liking it one bit:

It takes too long to heat up (I have to pre-heat it like an oven)
You can't do any funky stuff with the open flame, like charring the skins off capsicums so you can peel them

Okay, I see some advantages:

Easier to keep clean
Flatter stovetop means less chance of a pot falling over

But seriously - I don't think any professional or keen amateur chef would be able to argue that an electric stovetop is better than gas.

I'd like to replace it with a gas stove in the near future.  In the meantime, can anyone convince me that electric is better?


texts:
I have guar, lbg and xanthan in the pantry.
I would like to do 2 things :

thicken whole milk to make "creamy" sauces (would like to try a chicken champagne recipe I found but replace the 30pct fat cream with thickened milk)
give a more traditional "pate" (or rillettes) texture to a "silken tofu + mushroom pate" (texture is more like yogurt...).  Shall I use xanthan only or a combo of 2 or 3 Thickeners?
More generally speaking: when does one mixes xanthan + guar?

Thanks a bunch!


texts: Is it possible to cook pelmeni (пельмени) — Russian meat dumplings — in the microwave without any precooking either in pot or on pan? What are the steps?


texts: Cooking smoked cured ham on a rotisserie

texts:
I have two smoked and cured hams averaging about four to five pounds a piece that I purchased from a local farmer. I also have a rotisserie attachment for my gas grill, which also has a back burner, that I have yet to use. I'm having family over for a holiday dinner on Friday evening and I'm seeking out the best method for preparing these hams. I only have two forks for my spit rod, will it be OK to jam the two hams together or should I just roast them in the oven? From the looks of things, it appears my two hams were at one time one ham.

This article suggests a "reverse brine", where I should place the hams in water and change it out every 12 hours for the next three days. Is this worth doing? This also suggest basting with Dr. Pepper, I'd prefer to do something that's not soda based.

Also, I've seen some articles where they are scoring the ham and applying a variety of different rubs.


texts:
We have two types of sauce we put on our sausages. Tomato Sauce (Australian - ketchup equivalent) and Barbecue Sauce (Australian - mix of ketchup and Worcestershire sauce). The Tomato sauce indicates it needs refrigeration but the Barbecue sauce (made by the same company) does not say this.

My question is Why does Tomato Sauce (ketchup) require refrigeration but Barbecue sauce (like Worcestershire  sauce) does not?


texts: Are there significant differences between different brands/models of immersion blenders?

texts:
I'm thinking of purchasing a new immersion blender as a gift for somebody that has a very old one which is quite literally being held together with duct tape.

I own a Sunbeam model which I believe is rather cheap (it was actually a gift to me several years ago) and although I use it infrequently, I haven't had any major problems with it.

My internet research on immersion blenders hasn't uncovered much other than a few unverified statements that molecular cooks prefer the Braun models for foams.  No explanation of why, and I haven't even seen a Braun in any store here, but regardless, the intended recipient of this doesn't make foams, she primarily uses it (often) to make creamy soups and maybe a few other purée-based dishes.

I seem to be seeing the same Cuisinart model everywhere and am starting to wonder if I should just get that one and not bother looking for anything more... premium.

Are there actually any characteristics or features that make some immersion blenders better than others, either in general or for a specific purpose?  If so, what are they?

Also, I'm not necessarily looking for a recommendation, but a few times in the past I've been told to look for features which were apparently unobtainable, so if there are any unique/premium features I should be on the lookout for, it would help to have at least one example of a model that has them.


texts: Does having spoiling food in your fridge cause other food to spoil faster?

texts: We all have forgotten remnants that get pushed to the back of the fridge and eventually become science experiments. Does the presence of such items (assuming they're left in a non-air tight container) hasten the spoilage of other food in the fridge?


texts:
I don't know a thing about cured ham, but I just opened this ham, and while I realize a cured ham probably has a peculiar smell, I can't imagine this horrific stench being intended. My entire apartment smells like a trashcan on a hot day, and the ham has both black and green spots on it. Seven meters away, the smell is still strong enough that it just about makes me gag, and every instinct I have is telling me this is not edible.

tl;dr: are jamon serrano hams supposed to smell overpoweringly like old mouldy food, or did I just blow $80 and a perfectly good towel on a worthless chunk of rot?

This is what it looks like:

Follow-up: I've been in contact with the store, and I'm going to go get a refund. I showed the ham to some knowledgeable people in real life as well, and they agreed that it's spoiled. Thanks a huge lot for all your helpful answers!


texts:
I've been keeping ducks for a couple of years, and therefore I cook with duck eggs, since they're effectively free. They're Indian runner ducks, which aren't very large, and the eggs are pretty much the same size as a large hen's egg, so I just switch them one-for-one, although the duck eggs have a bit more yolk and less white than a hen's egg. And they're better than hen's eggs for most purposes, with the exception of toad in the hole.

I use the Delia Smith recipe with double quantities of batter, and it always comes out big and fluffy with hen's eggs, but flat and stodgy with duck eggs, and takes 50% longer to brown properly. What's going wrong, and is there any way to fix this other than switching to hen's eggs, which I would have to buy specially? Use three whites and one yolk? Use different quantities of the other ingredients?


texts: Unexplained Butterflied Roast Chicken Success

texts:
Yesterday I started working on a six pound butterflied roast chicken a little too close to an evening meeting.  I butterflied the chicken and patted it as dry as possible inside and out with paper towels.  I then mixed up some olive oil, lemon juice, salt, cracked pepper, chili powder, onion powder, and cumin and liberally applied it all over the skin.  I'm not sure I really managed to completely flatten the chicken, as I'm fairly weak and it was a large bird, so the butterfly technique wasn't perfect.  I put it under a pre-heated broiler and started out following this recipe, with the chicken cooking for about 6 minutes skin-side up, then 6 minutes meat-side up, then I put the oven on 375 degrees F (190.5 degrees C) with the chicken skin side up.  Ever time I flipped it I poured some of the collected juices over the bird.  Because the bird was so big, it wasn't done after about an hour of cooking when I needed to leave, so I put the broiler on low for about 3 minutes before leaving, and then I shut the oven off to keep from charring my chicken and burning the place down.  At this point the thigh was around 140 degrees F at the thickest part.  I was gone for about an hour.

When I returned, my spouse didn't want to eat the chicken until we'd verified that it had come to temperature, so we turned the oven back on to 400 degrees F (204.4 degrees C) for a few more minutes.  The bird went way beyond minimum temperature - the thickest part of the thigh was well over 175.  I expected it to taste disgustingly dry.

Instead what we had was the most moist, tender roasted chicken I've ever had.  The skin was crispy, the meat fell off the bone (literally when we moved it off the rack).

What was it about this accidental cooking method that worked so well?  Did the time in the hot-but-not-on oven do anything?  Was it just the initial recipe and the size of the bird?  The basting?  I'd love to reproduce the flavor and texture of my chicken, but do I need all the accidental steps?


texts: What's the best way to clean and dry blueberries?

texts:
I buy organic blueberries which come in a little plastic container.  I like to wash them and put them in a tupperware container.  After I wash them I place them between some paper towels to let them dry, but they take forever to dry this way.

Is there a better way to this?


texts: Why do Hong Kong chefs use a white towel instead of gloves to clutch a wok?

texts:
Is the towel to prevent heat and injury? Aren't their woks' handle insulated enough?

If the insulation falls short, how's a towel a stop-gap? What if the chef accidentally touches the wok without the cloth?

3. Aren't HEAVY-DUTY HEAT-RESISTANT gloves safer?

I screen-shot 0:21 of Chef Mok Kit Keung (and 2 others) at Shang Palace, Kowloon Shangri-La.

and Chef Paul Lau Yiu Fai wok-frying Spotted Garoupa Fillet  at Tin Lung Heen. This post has 2 more photos.


texts: How to properly sauté mushrooms so that they don't release water?

texts:
Every time I try to sauté mushrooms, they release so much water I end up with a puddle. This, from what I gather, is not the intended effect - they should be slightly browned but dry. Any tips on how to avoid this happening? I tried a bit of everything - I heat up my frying pan for quite a bit first to ensure it's very hot, I use lots of olive oil, but all to no avail.

Maybe I'm cooking too many at a time, i.e., should I cook them in small batches instead? Am I cooking them for too long?


texts: Are normal cooking thermometers suitable to use as tea thermometers?

texts: Can the thermometers you usually get in cook shops (e.g. meat thermometers) suitable to be used as tea thermometers? In particular, I am wondering whether the temperatures they measure in a liquid will be as reliable as in e.g. meat. The temperature ranges are also quite different.


texts: Timing an oven to start while I am out - but what about preheating?

texts:
Many ovens have a timer which allows you to set the start time, so you pop your item in and later in the day it will automatically start cooking it unmanned.

But all the oven cooking I can think of requires I preheat the oven before putting anything in it.

Is it that preheating is desirable rather than essential, or is it that the timer feature is designed for those few cases where preheating isn't required?


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I used to love the French snails, straight out of the oven in a heavy garlic sauce. Simple question: how long should they be in the oven and at what temperature?

Anybody know what's in the garlic sauce?


texts: How to cook young onions so that they melt?

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I was at a restaurant yesterday and I was surprised to get young onions (sorry for the direct translation from French oignon nouveau en botte - I added a picture below) cooked as whole, but melting once they are cut.

What I got on the plate was just the head (without the green part), cooked but not fried/braised (the head was white). When cutting it, the layers fell apart and the taste was almost sweet, without any aggressive onion taste. If I did not look closely at what I was eating I could miss the fact that it was an onion.

What would be the right approach to cook an onion like this? Boil it and then sauté? Cook it in butter for a long time at a low temperature?


texts: Should hot water be added to the already hot cooked vegetables for making a curry or even room temperature/cool water would do?

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Does it change the taste, the texture, or anything else?

And no, I am not referring to potatoes or anything specific. I am talking about vegetables in general.


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Recently I've been making rice, but my rice is always a bit moister than I'd like. Normally it is visibly wet and somewhat sticky.

My normal recipe is:

Add a lot of water to a pan.
Bring water to boil.

Add rice.
Move lid to be partially on.
Keeping the water boiling. (Fairly large bubbles, ~2")

Ten minutes later drain water.

However in an attempt to get 'perfect' rice I tried another recipe I found online:

Add water to be ~1cm above rice.
Bring water to boil.

Add rice.
Keep lid fully on.
Keep water boiling. (Small bubbles, ~1cm)
I messed up here as it should have been simmered, but I messed up the temperature.

Ten minutes later drain water. (There wasn't really any)

This new recipe caused the rice to be very wet, to the point that the next day the rice was, pretty much, useless at making egg-fried rice.

My rice is long grain rice, which has been double water polished.

How can I change my recipe to make dry rice?

What causes the rice to become wet, and how can I ensure this doesn't happen?


texts: How to substitute eggs in homemade pasta?

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I am looking to make pasta at home, but all the classical pasta dough recipes I know of are egg-based. While I have no problem with eating meat and animal products from time to time, I would like to avoid eggs here.

Could somebody guide me to good vegetable-based substitutions to eggs (Oil?) that might work just as well in this context?

I would also like to experiment with adding vegetables to the dough (e.g. Spinach or carrots) - I'm not sure whether there may be additional issues with the dough's stability when not using eggs.


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I regularly reuse my tea bags, sometimes over as much as a five hour span.

I am sure that there are limits to the safe re-use of tea, but I can't find any USDA or other authoritative guidance.

What are reasonable precautions I can take to ensure that I am not putting myself at risk for foodborne illness?

Please provide evidence-based answers, not anecdotal reports.  I don't mind if the answers are somewhat speculative based on evidence from analogous food preparations.