texts: What is the most effective method for cooking a massive amount of sweet brown sushi rice

texts:
I have about 8 quarts of dry brown sushi rice and am looking to cook all or most of it to incorporate into a handful of dishes on the same day. What is the most effective way of cooking that much rice, minus a pressure cooker, that would allow me to prepare the rice Friday and make the dishes that night and Saturday during the day to serve at night?

Please include not only ideal kitchen hardware solutions (in case I can track it down), but more importantly likely stuff (i.e. I have a multi-gallon stock pot with lid).
If there are any additives that would give the rice better staying power (e.g. would adding oil/butter improve or diminish integrity) to make it 24 hours without turning to crap please include this.
Between Friday night and incorporation into dishes, as well for the sake of those dishes, I would like to know the best storage method for both the prepared rice, unmixed, as well as any peculiar caveats for mixing, if any.

If there are any not-so-common-sense problems that come screaming to mind that I might otherwise have thought to include please let me know as I have not done this before but am relying on multiple pounds of rice for the food I am making.


texts: Recipes for beef stew generally call for salting and peppering the meat before browning, then simmering for a long time.  How is that different from browning, then adding the same quantity of salt and pepper to the liquid, either at the start of simmering or at the end?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Good ways to store coffee?

I opened a new bag of roasted coffee beans yesterday and put them in a plastic box - a box with a good seal, with clip-down sides. And I put the box in the cupboard.

Is there a better way to keep the beans? It'll take probably a few weeks for me to get thru the beans.

I heard that the cool of the refrigerator is good, but that the beans can get damp in the fridge. I heard the freezer is good, but I thought the same could happen…

How about this:

I was thinking of bagging the beans in portions of the amount I'll use each day. Putting the bags in the plastic box, and putting that in the freezer. Then each day I'd take out a portion of beans to defrost ready to grind the next day. I would use cheap bags, not freezer bags. The idea is that the bags might help because the beans wouldn't be exposed to air and possible moisture each time I open the box.


texts: Can I use Cream of Tartar in a Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe to make them crisp?

texts:
I want to know if I can use a cream of tartar in a chocolate chip cookie recipe.  I want a crisp cookie.  Can I use it with both baking powder & soda?  In a peanut butter cookie recipe, it asked for cream of tartar and said that it makes the cookie have a "cracked" appearance on top?

So far, in my search for a crisper chocolate chip cookie, I've found, 1. more white sugar than brown, 2. bake longer than recipe calls for 3. freeze the cookie dough.

Any other suggestions?


texts:
I was making a vinaigrette to marinate some tomatoes, and it congealed to the consistency of a pudding.  It is the first time I have tried this recipe.  I whisked it all together, then left it on the counter overnight for the flavours to meld before pouring it over the tomatoes, and this morning there was still some oil on top, with the rest of the vinagraitte a very thick mass underneath.  So I whisked again, and the rest of the oil got emulsified, but I was left with "vinaigrette pudding."  Any clues as to why it congealed like this? The ingredients list is:

1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
Squirt of Dijon Style Mustard for Emulsifier
4 Tablespoons Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 T Freshly Ground Black Pepper (I toasted it before grinding)
2 t Chopped Fresh Oregano
18 whole Basil Leaves (chiffonade)
2 T Chopped Fresh Thyme
2 cloves Garlic, Minced Finely


texts: How do I pick artichokes for deep frying?

texts:
A few years ago I was wandering around the Jewish Quarter in Rome with my sister and spotted Carciofi alla giudia (deep fried artichokes) on a menu. Intrigued, we tried them. Every since I've been trying to replicate the pure crispy deliciousness!

It's not very hard to make actually, and a few experiments back and home turned out a delicious replica of the dish: part salty crunch and part melt-in-your-mouth sweet.

The trouble is, after many attempts, my results are not consistent. Sometimes it will turn out just right and be an unforgettably yummy dish, other times they are inedibly tough or bitter (or both). I am unable to put my finger on what the difference is. Is the oil tempurature and cook time that sensitive to small variations? Is it all in the artichoke to start with? Steaming seems to turn out much more consistent results. Obviously some are better than others, but it's at least always edible.

I've pretty much decided it's mostly in the original produce. I generally have a wide range at the local fruit and vegetable bazaar. I can get big ones, little ones, a couple colors, long stem or short. I've tried quite an assortment now and seem to have the best luck with smaller but older more open ones. However as many as I try, the results are still inconclusive. Sometimes the tightly packed jumbo ones come out fine too.

Basically, I have no idea how to tell whether a given artichoke will deep fry well. What should I be looking for in a thistle? Or am I on the wrong track and it's actually something I can fix by doing the fry just right?


texts: Does accidental vinegar have a culture that I can pass along?

texts:
Background: A couple of years ago we left a half drunk bottle of Sirah on the counter and it went to vinegar. A really nice vinegar with a pleasant, mild flavor, and we've been using splash here and a bit there ever since. Now I'm down to circa half a cup.

Is this a live culture like a bread starter? Can I buy a bottle of a similar wine, and intentionally propagate the flavor of this stuff? Or is just a crap-shoot?


texts: How can I prevent spices from lumping together?

texts:
I notice that sometimes, some of my spices become one hard block. I have this especially with my garlic powder, in a smaller degree with my chili powder (that contains the same garlic powder). I'm pretty sure it can happen to other spices as well.

Is there something I can do to prevent this? Is there a different solution for when it happens, other than putting in a fork and twisting? Why does this happen?


texts: Is there anything that makes the bins in the fridge particularly good (or bad) for storing fruits and vegetables. Previous refrigerators had a moisture control slide that altered humidity in the bins. My new fridge does not have this. I would rather store bread, meat and cheese in the bins and have my fruits and vegetables accessible on the shelves. Any reason not to do this?


texts: Looking for meat ingredient suggestions for a Yoghurt Cake recipe

texts:
I know the flavours of "meat" and "sweet" can sometimes go together well. There's a sausage and fennel (licorice sensation) pastry that I very much enjoy. That's the concept this question is based in.

We're having an office bake-off based on Yoghurt Cake.  I'd like to do something different and use meat in the cake instead of fruit, seeds, nuts or assorted sweets.  However I can't find any recipes online that include meat.  I know bacon is often all the rage so that interests me but I'm open to any kind of meat.

I'm not a cook and am looking for some seasoned advice about what meats to use in a standard Yoghurt cake recipe, and the best way to prepare the meat for it.  This is one example of a standard Yoghurt Cake recipe from which I would base my own concoction - http://happyhomebaking.blogspot.ca/2007/09/another-yogurt-cake.html


texts:
The few times I've placed a standard muffin pan (or other bakeware) in the dishwasher I've regretted it.  The pans end up with spots of rust remarkably quickly.

What kind of materials/finishes are susceptible to rust, and what's really safe?  I don't trust the vendors to be honest here: some of my rusty pans are non-stick 'dishwasher safe' models.


texts:
How much harissa powder would be equivalent to one teaspoonful of harissa paste?

I have tried to look it up online, but all I can find is "add water and oil to reach the desired result", e.g. here. I don't use the paste very often, so I doubt I will eyeball it right, any quantitative guidance would be much appreciated.


texts: I often need to mince ginger to add to any number of dishes.  If I don't want to use a microplane, how do I mince ginger with a knife? What type of knife should I use and how should I cut it? I'm most interested in the techniques associated with efficiency and safety.


texts: Can I put my cast iron pan with wood handle in the oven? This is what it looks like.


texts: Keeping an aluminium dish in a convection microwave

texts: Wanted to know if I could use my aluminium tray in my Onida convection microwave.


texts: "Universal" aka "Bristle" Knife Blocks: Blade Damage and Hygiene

texts:
Does anyone have any experiences of /advice about "universal" knife blocks, i.e. blocks that hold the knives in place with a dense bunch of plastic bristles instead of the usual slots in the wood.

I've recently got some decent knives, some that I've bought, some received as presents and I'm about to add a ceramic honing steel too. The problem is that they are all different makes and (I presume?) a ceramic steel isn't magnetic so a strip is out.(Besides, I hear ceramic steels are easy to damage so a block would provide more protection).

The solution would appear to be a "universal" knife block that could accommodate all brands, but I'd like to know:

1) Do the bristles damage or wear the knives as you draw/replace them?

2) Are there hygiene issues storing the knives like this?

3) Are these blocks ok for storing honing rods or just knives?

Any info would be much appreciated, thank you.


texts: Can I substitute decaf coffee for espresso

texts: I'm baking cupcakes and the recipe calls for espresso but I was wondering if I could substitute decaf coffee instead since it's for children.


texts: How can I extract palm sugar from a container?

texts:
I have a plastic tub with a screwtop lid, full of palm sugar.  It's a 500g tub, about 10cm high and about 10cm diameter.  Usually I buy the individual cubes of palm sugar and this time I thought I'd cut down on packaging and buy the bigger size, but now I have a problem.

My problem is getting the palm sugar OUT of the tub.

It's like cement, and I have tried using spoons (they bend), knives (ditto) and a corkscrew (just bores a hole rather than breaking it up) to get some of the sugar out.  Tonight I also tried sitting the tub in a bath of freshly boiled water (approx 90 degrees celcius), and sprinkling some over the surface of the sugar to try to soften it a little.  No success.

This question describes how to deal with a rockhard piece of sugar like mine, but without packaging.

Does anyone know how to get it out of the tub in the first place so that I can go ahead and grate it?


texts: What determines if a juice is clear or opaque?

texts:
I've always wondered why some juices are usually clear (can be seen through, look like tinted water) and some are non-transparent.

Examples of clear juices are: Apple*, Cherry, Pomegranate, Cranberry, Pineapple*.

*Some Apple juices can be seen opaque. Portion of Pineapple juice can be opaque.

Examples of opaque juices: Orange, Tomato, Carrot.

I figured that most juices are basically mashed fruits and vegetables, so it would be natural for all of them to be opaque, but some of them are clear, and still have a taste. Is it because some juices can't be filtered or because (like with apple juice) the manufacturers have found that customers prefer clear/opaque version of a juice?

Can tomato, carrot and other vegetable juices be filtered clear and still retain their taste? What effects would that cause?


texts: What is more difficult to make: beer or wine?

texts: I would like to know, in your opinion, what is harder to produce: wine or beer. I mean, including all the steps: planting grapes or barley, taking care of them, collecting, making, etc... the whole process :)


texts: When sautéing vegetables, should I wait for the oil to heat up first?

texts:
When sautéing vegetables in oil – for example carrots, should I wait for the oil to heat up and then add the vegetables, or should I put the vegetables in cool oil and then heat everything up?
What differences will these two approaches yield?


texts: How to recover jam that has set too hard?

texts: Every time I make jam I always manage to set it too hard. Is there any way to recover it once it's done this?


texts: Placing a steel disk inside a non-ferrous pan using an inductive stove

texts:
I have an inductive stove, and some very large pots that don't work on the stove.  It seems that the material is invisible to the induction coil, and if I were to place a steel disk inside the pot, then that steel disk would act as a heating element.  Would this work?

This would be for liquids, boiling large amounts of mostly water (bone broths, beer, etc.), so the cooking surface isn't really a factor.

edit: The stainless pots I'm using are quite thin.  I have tried placing them on a cast iron skillet similar to the adapter idea, but that doesn't work well at all.  I am hoping the disk would heat, and being inside the pot, would be much more efficient.  I could also test with some generic bits of steel I can find.  I thought I'd ask first.


texts: What are the benefits, if any, of using a pizza stone in a toaster oven?

texts:
My Oven Toaster Grill.

From here: What kind of bakery items do not get horribly affected by electricity going off when the item is still in oven?

  Toaster ovens have far less thermal mass to ride out power outages than full sized ovens, in addition to being less insulated as Jefromi said. They are going to be more sensitive to power outages. I think that skews you towards trying short duration items like cookies or mini-muffins, rather than larger items if the risk is high. You have to ask yourself what is the pattern, duration, frequency and likelihood of the outages and assess the risk before you start baking something.

Since this is not a conventional full-sized oven, should I invest in pizza stone for --ANY--  reason which can benefit my toaster oven assuming my aim is to bake breads and cookies?


texts:
I have a bag of Beyond Meat crumbles. Before reading the bag, I microwaved the crumbles in a bowl until they were thoroughly heated.
...Then I noticed that the bag says "DO NOT MICROWAVE". Is there a health concern with microwaving the product, or are the directions intended to ensure that the product is as enjoyable as it can be?


texts:
I have this marinade in with I usually make chicken legs. It consists mainly of maple syrup, soy sauce, and sometimes ketchup.

Is it reasonable to put meat balls in that marinade? Is it OK to put them together with the chicken legs in the same pot?


texts: Ideas for using garlic scapes (other than in pesto)?

texts:
Does anyone have ideas for using garlic scapes? These are the green shoots that are the above-ground part of bulb garlic. Think of something a bit like a scallion in appearance, but thinner, firmer and curly. They are in season right now (July), and we have been getting some in our CSA box every week for the last few weeks.

The most common use for them appears to be in pesto. I tried that the first time we got some, but the result was just too strong for me, and I am a real garlic lover. (My six-year-old daughter adores classic basil pesto, but she thought the scape pesto was awful.) They are milder and much "greener" in flavor than bulb garlic, but they still have a pretty strong kick when raw.


texts: Oversalted and too matured kimchi (like sauerkraut)?

texts:
I made kimchi more than a year and a half ago. Because I live in Europe, I know and I often eat sauerkraut (fermented sour cabbage). When I made the kimchi, I committed a big mistake. I added too much salt.
The final result was inevitably salty. So I went the same way as when sauerkraut  was prepared.

I dropped the kimchi into a fermenting barrel, I stamped it with stone and hermetically sealed. I let it 20-25 C° warm place until the fermentation started (it started very slow because too much salt). Then I took it to a cooler place and I let it for 5-6 months. After then I tried to taste it. The kimchi doesn’t rotten, just turned like sauerkraut, but it was too salt yet. Due to the extremely high salt content fermentation was very difficult.

Then I put it the refrigerator and I let it more 4 moths. After I made another portion of kimchi but I was very cautious with the salt.

For the previous one, it was a mistake to put cabbage with very large amounts of salt, pushing it with weight and leaving for a night. The cabbage made a lot of juice and swallowed the salt almost completely. I could not wash the salt out of it. And I added extra salt to it. (Don't know why.)

Next time I used less of salt and I left it for less time in the salt. The old salty Kimchi was still in the fridge, so I found out to mix the old with the new one.

After that, I put it back in the barrel and waited for a few days until fermentation started.
Salinity just started to ease but didn’t disappear completely.

Afterwards, I was put back into the refrigerator again for 5 months. After 5 months, the salinity almost disappeared. But the whole thing was very sour. the taste has changed, it tastes like very spicy sauerkraut. (But it didn’t rotten.)

Has anyone been here like this? Added too much salt and fermented the kimchi too matured?
What should I do with it? Can I use it for some of dishes which requies matured kimchi?

(I struggled a lot with it, so I do not want to throw it away.)


texts: Smallest muffin size without losing the muffin top?

texts:
This is a question about the physics of muffins.
With a standard size muffin tray, when filled with batter, the heat and expansion causes the dough to spill over the edge and form the classic muffin top.
But with smaller and smaller tray sizes the amount of expansion will eventually just be a bump that does not spill over the sides.
What is the theoretical minimum muffin size, assuming standard muffin batter (no upping the baking powder).
would it be possible to make breakfast-cereal sized muffins?


texts: Can I make Turkish Delight with jelly powder?

texts:
I have come across some Turkish Delight recipes calling for cornstarch, others for gelatin, some use both and one that uses store-bought jelly powder (aka gelatin dessert aka Jell-O).

The jelly powder recipe confused me because it has few other ingredients, so how does it end up with the texture of Turkish Delight rather than gelatin dessert?

On the other hand, using store-bought powder gives me easy access to lots of flavours. Can I use store-bought jelly powder to make feels-like-the-real-thing Turkish Delight?


texts:
Yesterday, I had some cooked rice and poured in coconut milk. The can turned out to be bigger than expected so the contents got a bit too "loose".

One way was to cook some more rice, of course. However, I wonder, is there another commonly usable ingredient to thicken up things?

I'm thinking - if it's too thick, I'd pour in some water or milk. Possibly oil too. But what if I want to accomplish the opposite?


texts: chocolate substitutions in baking brownies from scratch

texts: can I use semi-sweet or unsweetened chocolate squares for dark chocolate in a brownie recipe


texts: what's a good technique for pasteurizing eggs?

texts:
I tried to make homemade eggnog last Christmas. It turned out fine, but the eggs were an issue. I thought about buying pasteurized eggs but they would've run me $12 for two dozen, which seemed obscene.

Pasteurization was important because my young child might have wanted some eggnog, so it needed to be very safe.

So I pasteurized the eggs by heating them a little at a time in the microwave, stirring, heating etc until they reached 145F. I may have separated the yolks, but can't remember exactly. I read about the technique on a blog. This worked well enough, but I ended up with some chunks of cooked egg in the egg nog. Not a big deal, but I spent a lot of time on this eggnog and was disappointed that it was less than perfect.

What's a good technique for pasteurizing eggs that doesn't result in chunks and gets the eggs to the correct temperature?


texts: When seasoning a cast-iron pan, should you let the oil smoke?

texts:
I've looked at seasoning guides online, and they all say that to season, you need to heat the pan to 350 degrees Farenheit.
However, some oils have vastly different smoke points. If my oil starts smoking at 350, should I use a lower temperature? Is the oil supposed to smoke or not?
A more general question is, why exactly 350? What happens if the temperature is too low or too high?


texts: Sourdough dough collapsed, not rising again... Need help!

texts:
A few days back I started a bread following a Youtube recipe, it had 400gms of flour and 350 gms of water. I had never made such high hydration bread before. I did 1 hour of autolyse followed by 4 round of 5 min kneading by hand. Still it was rising slowly, so I left it on the counter overnight (22-24°C).

Next morning it had doubled. But when I started lightly it folding for final proofing, it just collapsed into a sticky mass. I waited for 2-3 hours and when it didn't rise I added another 150 gms of flour hoping that it would rise again. But I'm waiting for almost 30 hours but there is no gluten development or rise!! Even the no knead sourdough dough rises much faster!

Could anyone explain what's going on and if there'a chance to revive it?

PS: I have been making 2-3 sourdough bread every week since the lock down due to COVID19 started. Some of them were no-knead bread, some were kneaded bread and most of them turned out pretty good. I just mentioned it to let you know that, although I'm an amateur, I'm not a complete novice for sourdough bread and my starter is good!


texts:
I've got a big bag of Sichuan pepper but I've often found that when I cook with them it's difficult to avoid grittiness from the outer kernel. I don't have this problem when I visit Sichuan Chinese restaurants and the pepper was bought from a big Asian supermarket.

What do I need to do to prepare them to avoid the grittiness? Is it really as fiddly as picking out the peppercorn from each kernel or is there something simpler that I need to do?


texts: Soups: Can I leave bones in indefinitely?

texts:
Taste and appearance aside, is there anything wrong with leaving bones in a soup indefinitely, ie all throughout cooking, cool, refrigeration, freezing, reheating and consumption. I'm wondering about nutritional aspects.

I like making soups like this:
-Pile of bones, cover with water, add some vinegar, bring to a boil, simmer, let it rip for 2 hrs, add veggies and spices, maybe coconut oil (I like it =). Let it rip another hour. Cool, refrigerate. Then I have a bowl every day.

I notice the bones get softer over time, so are there more nutrients coming out even after cooking?

Basically I want maximum nutritional effect. Spices can hide any bad taste.


texts: Deep frying with tallow in a stainless steel pot

texts:
I do not have access to a cast iron pot, only a thin, lightweight stainless steel pot.

Will I be able to deep fry potato slices in beef tallow in it?

I am afraid the heat distribution will be uneven and that the tallow will catch fire even if I monitor the temperature (due to uneven temperature distribution)

Is there anything else I should think about or is it the same as fring in vegetable oil in a cast iron pot?


texts: Why are my strawberries keeping so long?

texts:
The California strawberries my husband buys are completely white at the stem, but bright red throughout the body, as well as being tasteless and staying fresh in the fridge for 2 weeks or more.

Is it likely that they've been processed in some way to keep them "fresh" for longer? What might have been done to them?


texts:
I'm in the middle of roasting some sirloin in foil packets. It's surrounded by carrots and quartered red potatoes, and I'm roasting it for an hour at 400F, turned down to 350F after the first 30min.

When I took it out to check on it at the 30 minute mark, the potatoes seemed very dry to me. I feel like roasted potatoes I've had made by others are usually at least a tiny bit moist.

Am I insane? Should potatoes be bone dry when oven-roasted?


texts: Garlic: minced, crushed, chopped, sliced. When to use each one, and what is the difference?

texts:
I’ve seen, in many recipes, that the usage of garlic varies a lot.

For example: Meaty sauces normally require that the garlic is chopped and fried before the meat is added.

Neapolitan Pizzas usually add sliced, raw garlic in very thin slices to be cooked with the pizza

Some other sauces require crushed garlic to be crushed and fried (generally with onion) before adding other ingredients.

I’ve seen as well some recipes calling for a garlic paste, made with some salt and knife skills.

Lately, I’ve been using very thin slices of garlic added in the beginning/middle of the cooking process of the sauce.

My question: What is the difference between dicing, slicing, crushing, or making a paste? What is the difference between frying the garlic before or adding it to the cooking sauce? Which one adds more flavor?

Thanks in advance.


texts: I'm looking for some cheese recommendations to serve grated or shredded over pasta. However I'd like to get away from the obvious ones that everybody knows, such as parmesan, mozarella, ricotta, or even feta. What other delicious cheeses are there that go well with pastas?


texts: Can I increase the cocoa content in fudge?

texts:
I've been using a standard fudge recipe that works great, and yet I only wish was that it was even more chocolatey, with more cocoa taste. If it was less sweet that would be fine, too. Can I substitute some sugar for cocoa to accomplish this? Or just add extra cocoa?

  Recipe so far:

  2 cups white sugar
  1/2 cup cocoa
  1 cup whole milk
  4 tbsp butter

  Bring milk, sugar, cocoa to boil.
  Simmer until it reaches 234°F, do not stir.
  Remove from heat, cool to ~125°F.
  Add butter and stir until it starts to dull.
  (Sometimes I add the butter as soon as I take it off the heat at soft ball.)


texts: How can I make a stable olive oil and vanilla ganache?

texts:
I've just made some vanilla macaron shells that I plan to fill with an olive oil and vanilla ganache.

How should I go about doing this? Should I just make it like a regular ganache or will it just split and not form an emulsion?


texts:
I have read a few of Recipes but I failed to get the times lines and proportions of preparation or I could not read it well. Here are my doubts.

For a Ideal bread making (In general)

How much time I must keep the Active yeast + sugar solution aside before I mix in flour to make dough.
What is the Ideal time I must keep aside dough before I put into bake

Your expert opinion will help me understand and read the Recipes better. Thanks a lot.


texts: In my new mixer, my bread dough gets wrapped around the kneading hook. What should I do?

texts:
I just got a new stand mixer - a nice, heavy 500W mixer with a 5-liter bowl.
Until now, I'd been making bread by hand and kneading it on the countertop.

So the first thing I tried was using the mixer with the kneading hook, but I find that the dough tends to get wrapped around the hook and just spins around along with it.

I guess I'm doing something wrong, but I'm not sure if it's my technique or my ingredients. I'm using the same bread recipes as I did before. Any ideas?

Edit:

Thanks for all the input, guys. Here's some more info:

The mixer is a Kenwood KMix KMX-50.
I've tried adjusting the height of the dough hook up and down, I'm not sure how far from the bowl's surface it should be. Any suggestions? I don't think
I doubt it's a volume/quantity issue - I'm using a kilo of flour, which is around the 1.3kg bread weight limit of the spec.
I mix at low speed.

I'll try Sobachatina's suggestion and try to add water. Let's see how it turns out. Thanks for all your suggestions!


texts: Can you boil the potatoes for mashed potatoes too long?

texts:
I know that you should cook potatoes for mashing until they are fork tender but what happens when you boil them too long?

Edit: if I need to hold them before mashing, what's a good way to do it?


texts: What happens to boiled pasta if you use too little water?

texts: There are almost always guidelines on pasta packages for the amount of water you should use when boiling.  Sometimes I'd like to use a pot that's on the smaller side, and that got me wondering; what actually happens to pasta if you use too little water (assuming it's at least fully submerged)?


texts:
Is there any technique to prevent ants from getting into a honey jar? The outside of the jar is covered with dead ants every day.

Currently, I am wiping the surface of jar with a wet cloth before opening the lid, but I still see dead ants inside the lid, too. (They are not in the honey itself, though.)


texts:
I use pizza stones all the time, but recently have heard about pizza steel/baking steel which is claimed to produce better results.

I have the know-how and materials to make my own, but do now know the best dimensions, and I also wonder about any potential drawbacks? So I was wondering what your experience was with Baking Steel and similar products?

It there any reason not to fill the entire tray from edge to edge with baking steel If I have a use for that much cooking area, or does the oven need a certain amount of unblocked area to function properly?

Additionally Steel is affected by temperature far more than ceramics. The examples I have seen did not seem to include any bracing to prevent warpage. Does anyone have any experience with their baking stones warping? I am thinking of a lip around the edge to help prevent spillage and retain the shape and flatness.

Which leaves me only my most important question. Thickness and efficiency. I am hearing that these steel should pre-heated for 1 hour, and obviously the thicker the steel the longer you would pre-heat them for. How does this effect energy usage? Obviously the oven is running for longer, but does this greatly effect the energy usage? Has anyone measured this directly, or perhaps knows how inefficient the average oven is at keeping its heat?

TL;DR:
1) How thick should Baking Steel be?
2) How much if any area do I need to leave open around the sides for the oven to function?
3) How much energy am I wasting by running the oven for longer? How much If I do not have a chain of items to cook after the pizza that require less and less heat (bread, cookies, etc)?


texts: I have just made very simple french fries (cutting and frying in oil) with some potatoes bought today  that turned out to be very different to my usual potatoes. They taste quite sweet, almost in the middle between a normal potato and a sweet potato. They also stuck together a bit while I was frying them, which has never happened before. The potatoes are unlabelled, but they’re fairly small (but not baby potatoes) and look like completely normal potatoes. What type of potato could they be and what is the best way to cook it? They made terrible french fries.


texts: Can nutritional yeast flakes be used as a bread leavening?

texts: Can nutritional yeast flakes be used as a bread leavening, or is the yeast really dead (is that what deactivated means?)?


texts: A method to "speed up" marinating or an equivalent way to cook chicken

texts: For chicken, I like to marinate or bake in the oven with spices. However, whenever I get chicken for the same day to cook, I usually do not have enough time to marinate overnight. I was wondering if there are things I can do to "speed up" the marination using some ingredient and/or culinary technique, or an equivalent technique to make it taste similar (i.e., balsamic vinegar and mustard/herbs marinade vs. cooking it in the oven using the same ingredients).


texts: Is there a way to properly steel-cut oats yourself?

texts:
I'm fond of porridge for breakfast. This used to have something of a weirdo reputation here in Germany, but actually seems to be taking off in popularity recently.

Trouble is, everything I was able to buy so far labelled Porridge/Haferbrei turned out to be, in essence, ridiculously overpriced rolled oats. Which is funny, because a) rolled oats in many different varieties have always been easy to come by, and b) they are IMO greatly inferior to the steel-cut variant, when it comes to making porridge.

Steel-cut oats, alas, I only ever find sold as a specialty cooking ingredient (Hafergrütze) and in pitiably small quantities. Hence I have so far ordered a lot of the stuff from abroad, but I find it a bit ridiculous to order staple food from the internet.

What is again relatively easy to find are whole oat grains. I have already tried processing these to steel-cut myself in various ways, but with little success – my immersion blender will grind half of the stuff to flour while there are still lots of untouched grains left, and with a knife it takes forever to get through a noteworthy amount.

Am I missing some trick that would give a decent consistency, or is it just not feasible to do at home?


texts: What is the purpose of cooking oils in a recipe? What does it add to a dish? If we remove it from a dish, what does it detract. Is it creaminess, flavour or something else? What was used by people when there were no vegetable oils?


texts: Can I boil a full chicken for several hours?

texts:
I know I can boil a chicken for about 30 minutes

I want to boil a chicken with vegetables, lemons and some spices for 3+ hours. Can I do it safely?

How is the chicken fat going to affect the texture/taste?


texts: Boil water first when cooking what foods?

texts:
The directions on some packages of raw food (frozen vegetables, dry beans, dry pasta, rice, and the like) indicate that one should first boil water, then add the food, wait for the mixture to boil again, turn the heat down, and cook the stuff for some length of time. The directions on other packages indicate that one should combine the water with the food first, bring it to a boil (or to the boil if you're British), turn the heat down, and cook the stuff for a length of time. (That is, the latter directions don't include boiling the water first: the water is heated with the food in it.)

What determines which types of food are cooked each way? Or is one set of directions right (for all foods) and the other wrong?


texts: Trying to make homemade canollis. Have tried a half dozen different ways, with some success. I recently found an Italian eatery that sells canolli filling in their refrigerated section. This is the exact taste I have been trying to duplicate for months! The first ingredient says “Ricotta Impastatta”...so I think that’s what I need to find. Haven’t found it in any local grocery store or Italian deli. Wondering if I can make this myself somehow since I can’t find it. Help!


texts: Why do some quinoa seeds sink and some float?

texts: I was boiling quinoa the other day and I noticed that, when I dumped them in a pot of water, a minority of seeds (maybe 10%) floated and the rest sank.  Why do some stay afloat?


texts: my freezer popped open without my knowlege

texts:
my freezer popped open without my knowledge, not sure when, but it was no longer than a day and a half,  there was ice formed on the roof and the sides, is it safe to refreeze?  I had hamburger, steak and green beans in there.
bobbi


texts: What do I need to know when moving from an electric hob to a gas hob

texts:
Soon I will be moving into a flat with a gas hob, and I've only ever had experience with electric hobs before.

What do I need to be aware of in terms of the differences between them? I've heard that gas hobs tend to heat up more quickly - is that the case? If so, will I need to adjust cooking times?


texts: Vacuum sealing with a submerged ziplock vs home machine vs professional machine

texts:
Typically I'll seal food for storage or sous-vide in a Ziplock bag, submerging it in water whilst closing the final inch to remove air.

How close to a machine seal is this, and is it worth worrying about both for storage and sous-vide?

Can salts be dissolved in the water or some other process to both increase the pressure of sealing and maintain a vat of water for longer without nasties growing in it?

With a ziplock under water, I feel goods without concavities seal perfectly and definitely don't crush the food. Plus of course liquids easily seal. Sealing soup bones however will have the plastic somewhat conform to the concave contours, but bridges are seen. Does the plastic somewhat stretch or bunch perfectly to the inner contours with a pro sealer?


texts:
Is the strategy for seasoning a mineral B pan the same as as standard cast iron pan? Is the oiling/baking step necessary? Or do you just let the cooking process season it gradually?

This is the pan in question: http://www.debuyer.com/en/products/mineral-b-element-round-fry-pan


texts:
I used the scone recipe from here, but the scones turned out really hard and dry. What should I have done differently? More butter, more milk. Less cooking time?

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/8163/basic+scones


texts: Applying a wet rub/marinade after a dry rub for chicken?

texts:
I recently cooked some chicken with a dry "brine"/"rub" of Indian spices and salt to great results. It was crispy and moist.

My question is: is it worth it to apply a wet marinade after a dry "brine"?

My understanding is that a dry rub seasons meat from the inside, as the salt is pulled into the meat via osmosis when it draws water out. A marinade, by contrast, is a surface level treatment.

Combing the two, I could salt a piece of chicken (or other meat), and then apply a Chipotle marinade or a Teriyaki marinade, and then pan-fry. Does this result in the best of both worlds? Even if the internal salt is pulled out, hasn't it already denatured the proteins to lock the moisture in?

I also used dry rub and dry brine interchangeably since mine included salt. Is this okay?


texts:
We use ginger root with a mixture of lemon and other ingredients.

Can ginger root that's gone bad hurt you if you eat it?


texts: I've noticed that many sauces used in chinese cooking (hoisin, oyster, bean etc.) are relatively dark, and often black in color. What's the reason these sauces are so dark? Does it have something to do with the fermentation?


texts: What are the best apples for juicing, and which ones should I avoid?

texts:
I make cider as a hobby, and I juice quite a lot of apples, and have tried quite a few types.

I've noticed that some apples are great for juicing, and some are very poor.  You generally get less juice from softer apples, than you do from crunchy apples.

I'd like to know which types of apples are good for juicing, and which ones should be avoided.

All edible varieties are welcome; cooking apples, desert apples, and cider apples.

I've done some searching online, for apples rated by their suitability for juicing, but have found lots of conflicting information.

I thought it might be a good idea to ask about it here, and then we can get a better collection of answers that can help more people.

Note: I am aware that there are specific varieties of cider apples, but I tend to make blends that include desert apples, as I find using more varieties adds a better depth of flavour to the end product.  Please don't feel the need to constrain answers to cider varieties.


texts: How to soft boil eggs with a countertop egg steamer?

texts:
Having misplaced the custom measuring cup for an "egg steamer" device, not quite sure how to steam eggs.  Desired result:

so that:

  The perfect soft-boiled egg should have firm, custard-like whites and
  a warm, runny yolk

Firstly, I've never poked holes in the egg; seems fine without doing that.  I suppose the odd egg cracks, but that's not the end of the world.  So this is assuming no holes are being poked.

Is there a formula?

I'm looking for a method to cook up to four eggs at one time:  soft-boiled.  Not quite sure what temperature the yolk should be, but it's not hard-boiled.

By random experimentation, six minutes with half a cup of water seems to work reasonably for two eggs, resulting in a soft-boiled egg.

I'm reiterating soft-boiled because hard-boiled eggs are just inherently easier.

This is using a generic type "egg cooker", but I can't see that it's any different from steaming in a pot on the stove?

Not using a pressure cooker or anything technologically sophisticated.


texts: Shatter resistant tea carafe/pitcher/pot

texts:
First let me explain how I make tea.

In the morning I take a pot of boiling water and pour it into a carafe.
I let the the water sit for a minute. I then pour the tea into an old pot from a coffee maker, put the tea bags in the original carafe and pour the water over the tea, let steep.
Pour into another large pot to dilute with water. Over the day I either nuke the tea or I pour it over ice when I want some.

For more then ten years  I had a nice pitcher ( from Ikea ) for this.till one morning it shattered. Now a second pitcher shattered after about two months.

So I need another pot.  I would prefer for obvious reasons that it did not shatter. I do not want to use a stainless steel pot because I notice stainless steel leaves  a taste when I boil water in it. The initial amount of tea I make is approximately one quart, and I have not found a measuring cup that large.

Can anyone make a  suggestion?


texts: Why didn't my 100% whole wheat bread proof?

texts:
After enjoying many of the recipes out of The Bread Baker's Apprentice I moved on to Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads to learn about how to make hearth-style 100% whole grain bread.  Unfortunately my first loaf reminded me of the total flops I used to make before reading through BBA and using its recipes.  It was like a bread brick.  I ended up deciding that croutons were the only suitable use.  Since then I've made more recipes from the book, but always using his "transitional" variant of half bread flour, half wheat flour.  These have risen and proofed perfectly.

The technique from Whole Grain Breads involves pre-doughs.  Flour, a very small amount of yeast, and water make up one dough ball that is placed in the refrigerator overnight.  More flour, salt, and water are left as another dough ball on the counter overnight.  Both enzyme activity and the rise in the fridge contribute to the texture and taste of the resulting bread, at least as far as I understand the theory.  The next day the final dough is formed, allowed to rise once and proof once, and bake.

With my first loaf I attempted a free-standing boule.  I know that surface tension is critical to getting a boule to rise up and not out, but I am pretty sure that my surface tension on the boule was correct.  For the transitional loaves since I've used a loaf pan and a sandwich shape, which may have helped them to rise.  I've also done transitional pitas which seemed to puff up just fine during rising, even during proofing as small boules before rolling out.

I don't want to try the 100% whole grain recipe again without knowing that it will work.  I know that some bakers add vital wheat gluten to 100% whole grain recipes to ensure that they rise, but it seems like Reinhart's recipes should work without the additional gluten.  Any other ideas for what may have gone wrong?


texts: Peking Duck - why do they take my duck away?

texts:
When I go eat at Peking Duck restaurants, they always bring a delicious duck over, present it to me and friends or me and family members, then they proceed to slice a few pieces onto the little buns, add some hoison sauce, veggies, and then distribute to us to eat.

Then, it almost seems shocking, they take our duck away.

It's like...half a duck is taken away from us...mysteriously back into the kitchen.

So now we have to order another duck ...then a third duck... + some sauteed dishes to fill us all up.

So my question is:  Why does this happen?  Is only a small part of a duck edible?  Are we being ripped off?  E.g., Are they keeping the duck for themselves for some purpose?  Making soups comes to mind.

Are they making duck soup with the duck that we should have eaten?

But then here's another interesting obversvation:  I notice that Peking Duck service stations at buffets actually throws away big parts of the duck, after slicing up a few pieces to make the buns for people standing on line.

So...perhaps it is just a fact that most of the duck is inedible.  But I would just like some information from this forum.

Thanks in advance!


texts: how to cook with garlic and how to use in cooking and salads

texts:
I like the taste of Garlic, can anyone tell me how to use it please? can you use it in salad or cooking like stew or pasta ECT ?
Please help.

thanks Trev


texts:
I've noticed a difference between most places when I go out for sushi compared to when I make it myself.

The crab sticks / surimi in maki rolls when I go out seem to have a much more mushy texture - however, I haven't found much information on what to do differently to achieve this.

Could it be that they chop it up and mix it with mayo or something?


texts: What type of Rice is best for Indian Style Rice Pudding?


texts: What's the best way to store (freeze) purchased ground beef?

texts:
When I buy my ground beef at the store it comes in a styrofoam tray with some sort of pad underneath to catch any excess blood (at least, I believe that to be the reason for the pad) and it is wrapped in cellophane of some sort, and appears to hold the meat rather well.

Is it safe and sane to freeze it like this or should I be transferring it from that packaging to an alternate ... container? ... before storing?


texts: How do these flavors of liquid smoke differ?

texts:
When buying liquid smoke I'm generally faced with a choice of:

Hickory
Apple-tree
Mesquite
Pecan

How do these differ? I'm interested in knowing things that'd help me decide what to pair them with.


texts: Does salt-seasoned pasta and starchy water in my sauce have to yield a salty sauce?

texts:
When cooking pasta, there are a couple of techniques that I like to follow--individually they yield great results, but when combined they interfere with one another to produce an inferior product.

Salting the pasta water. I've learned this trick some time ago and it has been critical to producing the best-tasting pasta. I really want the pasta to be the point of the dish, with the sauce an accompaniment, and the getting salt in the water from the start is the way I get the best flavor in my pasta. In fact, I find that salting the water quite generously works very well as long as I am fulling draining the pasta after boiling.
Adding starchy pasta water to my sauce. The starchy water really brings everything together. You could say it thickens it, but not like a roux, as some have speculated--rather, the starch emulsifies the fats into the sauce (consider if I have, say, tomato sauce, cheese, and olive oil) and it also adds a rich mouthfeel. I've really had great success adding some of the starchy pasta water to the sauce and don't want to give that up.

The problem is that when I've salted the pasta water, it means adding it to my sauce brings along all that salt--to the point where it can be unpalatable.

So to my question: Are these two techniques mutually exclusive? Or is there a way to get the salt into the pasta without getting it into the sauce?

To prime the pump, I've considered a couple of options:

Brine the pasta prior to boiling
Start the pasta in boiling salt-water, then move to fresh water (use the latter in the sauce)
Start the pasta in fresh water, then move to salt water (use the former in the sauce)
Boil a whole bunch of pasta (say, ditalini, for the large surface area) without salt for an extra-starchy water. Jar it, and use it in future sauces.
Forget the starchy water, and just use, say, cornstarch.


texts: How long do "quick" pickles last unrefrigerated?

texts: I'll be opening a fried pickle concession stand in the next year. I want to make my own pickles because I'll be cutting them a way you cant buy from a store. I am using a quick pickle method right now that is 100 percent vinegar (along with spices). I've noticed they fry better being cold. My problem is I won't have enough storage to refrigerate them all. I'll be storing them 5 gallon buckets. How long can I keep them out before they have to be cooled or used?


texts: I'm making chicken lo mien and I"m out of hoisin sauce. Is there a substitute for hoisin sauce? Can I replace it with sesame oil?


texts: Sushi rice should be transparent when cooked?

texts:
How in the following picture the sushi rice is transparent, and when I made home sushi rice, it would white as snow ?

I soak rice in water for 2 hours.
And by the way, why sometimes even with a good knife, when I cut a sushi roll, the inside ingredients start to fall off and got a bad shape sushi pieces ?
And why sometimes ingredients on top of rice do not stick to it (like mangos or avocado ) ? Is it the rice ? Or some ingredients are making the nori wet.


texts: I'd like to freeze strawberries for winter, I read online that a method is to sprinkle sugar on them and put into a zip-lock or plastic bag or an air-tight container. another method is to make ice cubes with them. I wonder what the cons and pros of each method is and if one is preferred over the other. and do you know any other methods? I also read about strawberries in simple syrup but I don't like the idea.


texts:
I have been trying to make bread using a bread mix and my mixer.  I read that the amount of water you should add can vary on the humidity at the time.  The mix instructions say that I should add 300ml of water to the mix but I find that by the time I have added 250ml it is already quite wet, so I never add the full 300ml.  There are no instructions on how long to knead the bread if using a mixer but a recipe for bread in my mixer book suggests around 5 minutes.  I have done this but I think that maybe it needs longer.

My question is:  Could my bread be too dense and moist due to:

Too much water?
Not enough kneading?
Not leaving it to prove for long enough?

What is a "warm place"?  How warm is warm, without killing off the yeast?  As you can see, I'm quite a beginner with baking!


texts: Making a cremeaux lighter with whipped cream. Is there a name for this?

texts:
Making a cremeux lighter with whipped cream. Is there a name for this? I used this method to make a lighter filling and it was great. I know diplomat cream is similar but I was just wondering if there's a name for lightening a cremeux with whipped cream.
Edit: "cremeaux" to proper spelling of "cremeux". ;-)


texts: How much can I change the height of a cake?

texts:
It's pretty common to find cake recipes with pans that don't match the size of pans you have. I know ideally you would make sure total area of the pans is the same as in the original recipe, so that the batter is the same depth and it bakes properly. For example, two 10-inch pans are about the same area as three 8-inch pans.

But if nothing works out that cleanly, and I don't want to just scale the recipe, how much thicker or thinner can you make a typical cake without really messing things up? For example, using two 9-inch pans instead of three 8-inch pans would make it about 20% thicker - would that be likely to cause problems? What about the other way around, 20% thinner?

(I know the baking time can change, but it's easy enough to check for doneness.)


texts: How far ahead can I prepare this coleslaw recipe?

texts:
I'm making a coleslaw to accompany dinner tonight which consists of:

1 Apple, julienned
1 Carrot, grated
2 spring onions, sliced
1tbsp Mayonnaise
10ml cider vinegar
10g chipotle paste
1/2 red chilli, de-seeded and chopped
Juice of half a lemon
1/2tbsp tomato puree
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2tsp dried oregano
1/2tsp olive oil

All the ingredients (bar the apple, carrot and spring onion) are combined thoroughly before adding the remaining two ingredients.

As there's lemon juice in the mix, I'm not concerned about the apple browning, but I am concerned about the dressing splitting or spoiling the veg in some way.

I've not made this ahead before, is there anything in the recipe that would prevent it being prepared several hours ahead of consumption, or make the end product less desirable if that's done?


texts: How much water in potato-leek soup (Vichyssoise)?

texts:
Larousse De La Cuisine (American Edition) has the following recipe for vichyssoise:

250g leeks
250g potatos
50g butter
1.75L water
200mL crème fraîche

I was cooking 3 times as much soup, so I multiplied the amount of leeks, potatos, and butter by 3. However, 5.25L was just way too much. I ended up eyeballing it and using ~3L. Still, the end result was a bit too watery for me.

It seems that even the above recipe has too much water. Is this a typo?

Or was it in the scaling up? I can imagine that you do not simply multiply by 3, even if you use a bigger pot than you'd use for the non-scaled version.


texts: Cleaning a Teflon pan with burnt rice residual

texts:
Here is the rice cooker I own:

There is a removable pan which is Teflon coated.

A few days ago, cooking 2 cups of rice I thought it was too slow so I put it on direct heat (oven) to make it faster. After 5 or so minutes, the rice was slightly burnt. I tried (hot water + dish washing liquid) and (lukewarm water + washing powder), let it rest for 24 hours but to no avail. I don't know how to properly clean the burnt residual from the Teflon pan.


texts: Substitutions for vegetable oil in cornbread

texts: I am out of vegetable oil and need to make cornbread. I think you can substitute peanut oil but want to make sure (only need 1/4 cup). I think you can also use olive oil but I only have extra virgin and I'm afraid the flavor would be weird. Any suggestions? Thank you.


texts: Left out, store bought, Tyson sealed fully cooked chicken patties 20 hours

texts: Came in from store but forgot to put up my Tyson fully cooked chicken patties. Never opened, seal not broken, 20 hrs later--do I trash em?


texts:
In the poor student or youth worker days it was popular to have never ending soup; a large pot on the stove that was topped up with new and leftover ingredients when available.

Normally the pot was stored in the fridge overnight.

Food items added were sometimes plate leftovers from fellow flat (share house) mates, who would in turn be eating the soup, too.

Most days other ingredients would be fresh(ish) vegetables, beans, grains, and fresh meat products sourced from the local butcher as money allowed.

Brussels sprouts where banned, and so were strong spices (you added those to your bowl before serving).

Also, for irony, a large (cleaned) stone is always left in the pot.

Fresh bread was sometimes baked in the oven while cracked bones were browning, but the oven was often an electrical and environmental death trap.

The pot kept going till the summer holidays, and no one got food poisoning in my time, or from any student stories I have ever heard.

This sort of activity is recorded in history as being a popular resource-saving idea.

Are there any real food safety implications with this method of cooking? And have any actual studies of this technique ever been published?

I still recommend this money-saving idea to current students, not keen on bad practices being continued though.


texts:
When I BBQ meat sometimes meat does not cook completely and evenly. So I came up with an idea why not half boil meat (Chicken, Beef etc), put on my marination and put in fridge to be used for BBQ later. In this way I won't have to burn my meat to be tender from inside. Is this practice safe? Can anyone here shed some light.

Thank you
Sally


texts: Why do purple snap beans turn green when cooked?

texts:
We often get snap beans from the CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture) that are either entirely purple or mottled purple. When cooked (at least when steamed or blanched), however, the purple color disappears and they turn to a bright green color. As far as I can tell, this happens with any purple podded snap bean.

Why does this happen? Are there any methods of cooking purple beans that retains their original color? Are there other types of vegetables that have the same color changing reaction when cooked?


texts: How do I make macarons de Paris in a neat shape and make them rise with the lip?

texts:
I have a recipe for macarons that works well; it says to use 2 trays while baking to get the raised lip.

I find if I crust the macarons overnight, that the lip comes up because the goo inside explodes like a volcano ripping apart the outer layer crust. My question is though: what are the optimal conditions - should the oven be hotter or warmer? how long is long enough for crusting

Finally, how do people make them in such nice neat shapes? Mine always come out looking misshapen.


texts: What's the difference between fresh and frozen blueberries for baking?

texts:
A recipe I have has a review that states that frozen blueberries in a blueberry muffin are absolute garbage and only fresh ones will give you that desired taste. I have also seen this answer that notes that frozen blueberries that are thawed will give a better taste and composition in a blueberry muffin.

My wife insists that fresh blueberries are the only real way to make blueberry muffins, and that frozen blueberries are usually rotten, and aren't as real (she cites the fact that when baked, frozen thawed blueberries come out blue, but fresh ones come out purple.

Is there any real life merit to her claims? From a baking standpoint, what's the difference between frozen and non-frozen?


texts: If one tomato had molded, is the rest of the pack safe to eat?

texts: Yesterday I bought a pack of cherry tomatoes and after arriving home I discovered that one of them had developed some impressive black mold (it was bigger than the tomato itself!). Of course, I tossed the offending tomato and the packaging, washed the remaining tomatoes and put them in a clean box. Now I'm hesitating though; are they safe to eat?


texts: Is Light Egg Nog supposed to drink directly without cooking? Thanks.


texts:
I want to make a chocolate cake for my birthday BUT since it's only for me I want to halve the recipe: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/04/08/triple-chocolate-layer-cake/comment-page-8/#comments
Just wondering how the baking time differs when it's halved and in this recipe it calls for a 9-inch round cake pan but I only have an around 7-inch cake pan...


texts: Does near expiration date milk continue to "age" in a cooked dish?

texts:
I was so happy to find this site. From what I've read, it seems very friendly and non judgemental.
I have 2% milk that has two more days before its Best Buy date. If I use it in a baked casserole, such as green bean casserole, does it continue to age? Would the leftovers be safe for 2-3 days? How about in a boxed cheesecake mix that is not baked? Sometimes this brand does smell off at this point.
I've always wondered about this?
Thank you! Beth


texts: Why is a Gruyère sweet when it contains 0 carbohydrates?

texts: I have read on packaging that a Gruyère appears to be around 0 g, maybe 0.4 g carbohydrates per 100g. How come it tastes sweet?


texts:
I've heard that I can actually buy a large box of fresh yeast cubes, freeze it, and take one out of the freezer twelve hours before using it, to let it slowly get to room temperature again.

How long can I freeze the yeast for? Will it slowly degrade, or will it just be suddenly unusable after a certain length of time?


texts: Can anyone tell me if it is possible to cook porridge in a steam oven?  We're not fond of porridge in the microwave, and, as we never have much time in the morning, we are not able to cook porridge on the stove and allow it to cool for our toddler. I was thinking of trying it in the steam oven with the timer to cook an hour or so before we get up.


texts: Can I substitute green cardamon for black cardamon in curry?

texts:
There is a curry recipe I am following right now and it says i need black cardamon. I live in an area that is a little difficult to buy all the indian spices.

My local market only sell ground cardamon (I don't know what colour) and green cardamon.

If you are curious, I live in Hamilton, Ontario.

Also, just another cultural question. When an indian recipe lists "curd" as a ingredient in curry, is that just regular greek yogurt?

I should also mention that the recipe is

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrMoYBNnLmY&list=WL&index=11

She doesn't actually state if it is green or black, but I assumed it was black.


texts: What's the best way to keep sushi fresh for the following day?

texts:
I like to prepare makizushi in the night so that I can take it in to Uni the following day and have it for lunch. They're made using nori, sushi rice and some vegetables.

What's the best way to keep this fresh for the following day - I normally box them up the night before ready for the day?


texts: Saved-for-later then reheated potato mixture sparks and catches fire in microwave

texts: I have a bird who gets medicine twice a day.  I hide it in a mashed potato fruit mixture.  I make enough that the potato mixture lasts several days and add the medicine as I need it.  I take a small amount and microwave it for about 8 seconds (just enough to soften it).  Then I normally add a couple blueberries to the mixture for a little more moisture and flavor.  At that point, if I feel like I've made too much for that "serving" I'll put some back in the container for next time.  When I reheat the saved-for-later mixture, it always sparks and catches fire (about the size of a lighter flame) in the microwave (it always goes out as soon as I stop the microwave).  Of course, I never use the caught fire serving and always start over.  This only happens with the saved-for-later bits and not the original mixture.  I read the "Why did my banana catch fire in the microwave?" (Why did my banana catch fire in the microwave?) thread and that might answer it if it were all of the mixtures that caught fire, but it's only the parts that I tried not to waste and save for the next medicine-hiding dose.  Any ideas what causes just the left-over bits to catch fire?


texts:
I've heard about people eating escargot, but are slugs just as edible?

I live in MN USA, and came across some all tan ones, but had no camera at the time.


texts: Does Turkish Delight have to be this difficult?

texts:
At the weekend I made some Turkish Delight based on the recipe featured in a recent BBC series called "Sweets Made Simple". Simple maybe, but highly effortful. The recipe is here, but the brief summary is: make a sugar syrup, take it to the required temperature. Make a thick cornstarch paste. Add syrup to paste and stir and simmer for an hour until it's smooth and not lumpy.

Now maybe it's just me, but pouring a load of liquid into a cornstarch paste has always been the thing you're supposed to avoid if you don't want lumps. Maybe it's different with sugar syrup at this temperature and with a cornstarch paste this thick, but it seems to me that surely there must be an easier way to make it.

The end results here are good enough that I'm intending to do some experiments, but I wanted to consult the wisdom of this community beforehand in case there is already an easier way known. I've seen other recipes which say you only need to stir it every 8-10 minutes for an hour, but that to my mind isn't going to be enough at all, judging by how my mixture reacted to stirring. Of course, maybe there was some subtle difference earlier in the recipe which I haven't noticed.


texts: How to keep my (deep frying) oil usable as long as possible?

texts:
I have a new deep fryer. I am pleased with its results so far. I am not a 'heavy user' though - say once every 2-3 weeks. I want to re-use the oil a couple of times. The deep fryer is covered but not airtight, however.

The new deep fryer has a cold zone, which means the oil won't become dirty due to particles over-frying. I don't overheat the oil either. So, in principle, I'm frying correctly, I think.

So, how long can my oil safely sit in the deep fryer, if I ensure it's thouroughly heated next time I fry? Should I be allowing the oil to cool and store the fat in (sealed) containers instead, if there's going to be this long a gap between uses?

Edit: yes, I've seen this question and answers: Frying Oil Reuse


texts:
The most common types of recipes I see for meat marinades are to combine 1/4 to 1/2 cup of vinegar with salt and spices. Then put this in a bag with the pork tenderloin (or whatever the meat is) for a day or two. Then the meat is rotisserie grilled or steam cooked.

However, a different style seems to be to mix the spices with oil and just baste the meat with the infused oil. Can that really be considered a marinade?

Both of these methods seem to conflict with the traditional idea of a marinade, which according to my education is 3 parts vinegar, to 1 part oil.

As far as the seasoning is concerned, the most common pattern seems to be garlic, pepper and parsley. However, some traditional marinades also include vegetables. Is the choice of spices completely open ended or are there known combinations that go well with pork?


texts: Confusion about chicken leg & thighs nutrition facts (calories)

texts:
First of all, the nutrition facts given by USDA doesn't make sense to me. I'll refer only to skinless facts. Chicken breasts have 120kcal and chicken legs have the same. I know chicken breast have more protein and less fat, however I think chicken legs are much fattier.

When the are roasted, chicken legs have a higher caloric value (174 kcal) than breasts (165 kcal). The same applies for chicken thighs, which have very similar values.

I tried to calculate the amount of nutrients/calories in a chicken leg, but I got incongruent results.

I weighted full chicken headquarters without skin and it was 266g. I bake it in the oven at 400F/200C for 40 minutes and it reached and internal temperature of 200F/93C.

Cooked weight was 225g. Bones was 64g. Therefore:

Raw meat: 266-64 = 202g ; 202g * 120kcal/100g = 242 kcal
Cooked meat: 225-64 = 161g ; 161g * 174kcal/100g = 280 kcal

So 280 kcal / 202g raw meat = 139 kcal / 100g raw meat

Why didn't they match? I think the are very well done, so they should have lost a lot of water. But they would have to lose more water so the calories match (In particular meat would have to weight 139g cooked).


texts: What causes dough made from coconut flour to not stick together?

texts:
I made a pizza dough with half wheat and half coconut flour and I noticed the dough wasn't as elastic and broke apart easier. Then I tried a dough with 100% coconut flour and it was essentially a crumbly mess until I added egg and even then it didn't have the typical texture of good pizza dough.
Why is this the case?


texts: Unopened Canned Food in Spare Commercial Fridge - Safety & Storage for Prepping

texts:
Our pantry is packed to the hilt, we have food stashed everywhere.... yet with the famine in route we still need more.  We have an empty single door commercial fridge in the pole building.  I figure we could get 300 16oz cans or better in it.

My thoughts are to set the fridge high (like 60F) and load it down with canned food for long term storage.  This would add a nice 90 days to our supply cheaply.

In Ohio, temps in pole barn range -10 to 110.

Thoughts?


texts: French (?) pastry on the cover of a book

texts: Georges Lefebvre's "The French Revolution" has this lovely pastry on its cover (see below).Does anyone know what this is and how to make it?


texts:
Is Glass and Ceramic cookware suitable for high-heat frying and stir-frying?
Can open flame (gas burner) make it shatter or crack?


texts: After heading to my trusty Indian market yesterday I was speaking with the owner about how awful fenugreek seeds are uncooked.  He suggested (with black mustard seeds and cumin seeds) to throw them in the pan with a little bit of oil.  I've read much about people extolling how good the dry heat is for the spices.  Personal experience tells me that adding oil to the pan works better.  Does cooking with oil change the flavor of a spice while toasting? Are there any spices that it is important to toast without oil?


texts: Pickling without Sterilization - Is It Safe?

texts: Is this recipe safe? The author is making pickles without sterilizing the jars first and I've ALWAYS read that you have to sterilize the jars first.


texts: How can I fix rips in a puff pastry sheet?

texts:
Sometimes, a sheet of puff pastry that I'm working on will tear or rip.  Sometimes this happens when I'm unfolding the sheet of puff pastry, and sometimes it happens when I'm shaping the pastry around the other ingredients.

How can I fix rips in puff pastry to best preserve the height expansion of the pastry?


texts: cooldown chemistry of seasoning cast iron with flaxseed

texts:
So I have started seasoning cookware with thin layers of flaxseed oil as per the advice from @sheryl_canter with simply outstanding results. Thank you Sheryl! I have a mountain of pans to process so I'm starting to wonder how necessary it is to begin from a cold start and let the oven completely cool with the door shut before the next cycle.

If I wait until the oven cools to 100°C then open the door to accelerate cooling, then re-season and proceed as soon as I can handle them, am I going to miss out on much plasticisation chemistry?

My oven does about 285°C at full tilt with the fan on and takes about five hours to become cool enough to handle with the door shut and the power off.


texts: How long should I mature my mincemeat before making Mince Pies?

texts:
Having decided on the spur of the moment to make Mince Pies with home-made mincemeat (a mixture of chopped fruit, distilled spirits, spices, and fat), I'm wondering if I really should leave the fruit to mature for some time before I make them?

It's been soaking for a couple of hours, and all the recipe said was that it could be frozen, and if I did I should defrost it and leave to mature for 1-2 weeks. Does this hold for fresh mincemeat too?

On the basis that I'm not dead yet, and the pies were quite tasty, I'd say that I clearly can make them without maturing the mincemeat (the initial question), but is there an optimum length of time I should leave it for?

To clarify, this is about mincemeat as in "a mixture of chopped dried fruit, distilled spirits and spices, and fat, traditionally beef suet" rather than ground or minced meat.


texts: How can I preserve an orange (peel) for as long as possible?

texts:
Not really cooking-related, but I thought I might ask here anyway. I got some signatures on an orange, and want to preserve them for as long as possible. Should I peel the orange? Freeze it? I heard something about moisture-controlled refrigeration?

I'm willing to spend up to about $40 US, so of anyone has any ideas about this that'd be helpful. Thanks!!!

EDIT: Picture of what I'm trying to preserve


texts: What's the best way to cook fall-off-the-bone baby-back ribs?


texts: Do black metal vessels cook food more quickly than normal steel?

texts:
http://www.hawkinscookers.com/1.1.5.hawkinsconturaHA.asp

Those pressure cookers are made of hard andonised Aluminum.

Does it make any difference to cooking speed when cooking in Aluminum as compared to the steel non black cooker?


texts: Pyrex glass round casserole safety in high temperature

texts:
I want to know can I use Pyrex glass round casserole as a safe cookware on gas burner?

Does this cookware release toxic chemical in high temp?

I only worried about toxic compounds and not about cracking!


texts: How to clean stains from rice cooker element?

texts:
I have a nicer Zojirushi rice cooker that has a removable pan which reveals a small heating element with a button in the middle. Through my use the element has gotten some light brown and black stains on it, which I'm guessing is from things left on the removable pan and water drying up leaving the minerals on the element. I'm able to remove the things stuck to the element such as something burnt but the stains I can't.

Is there any way to clean this without causing any issues with the inner components of the rice cooker? The middle button I was talking about would allow small particles or liquids to reach the inside of the rice cooker.


texts: Why does a cake recipe call for 2 tbsp of hot water?

texts:
This is my sponge cake recipe, I would like to know why add the  2 tbs of hot water

4 egg separated
1 tsp vanilla essence
3/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp
bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 cup cornflour
1 tbs
custard powder
2 tbs hot water
1 pinch salt
1 tsp icing sugar
1
tsp cornflour

Here is the method:

Prepare 2 x 20 cm deep round cake tins. Grease with butter and dust with combined icing sugar and cornflour
Preheat oven to 180C (356F)
Add vanilla to egg yolks.
Sift all dry ingredients, except salt and sugar, twice.
Beat egg whites and salt until stiff. Gradually add sugar. Beat in yolks.
Fold in sifted dry ingredients, THEN ADD THE HOT WATER.


texts: I have some left over boiled Basmati Rice in the fridge and I was wondering if anyone has ever used it to make Chinese Fried Rice given that the recipes generally call for Jasmin rice? Does it have huge flavor differences or should it be ok given that other Asian flavors like Soy sauce and sesame oil add flavor to the dish?


texts: How many racks of lamb can be made into a crown roast?

texts:
I am serving 6 adults for Christmas dinner, and have 4 racks of lamb, each about 1.25-1.5 lbs. I believe 3 racks will be enough, but I bought another just in case.

Is it possible to make 4 racks into one crown roast, or will it be too big? What about 3 racks? Should I not cook 4 racks at one time in the oven?


texts:
I've been cooking a 15 lb (7 Kg) pork shoulder for 24 hours, and the temperature has been around 140°F (60°C) for both meat and liquid. I didn't realize the temp was so low until just now when I stuck a thermometer in it.

Its a new (to me) slow roaster that is quite large, and has temperature written on the dial.  I had the dial set to 275°F (135°C), but obviously the actual temperature is much lower that.

I've turned up the temperature and will get it to a cooking temp of 275°F, but will it be safe to keep cooking the meat this way? I think I should get the meat close to 190°F (90°C).


texts: Slicing bratwurst for quicker, more even grilling

texts:
I am always surprised and little impatient with the time required to cook my brats all the way through on the grill. More heat typically means the outside finishes before the inside, and less heat means I'm waiting 30 minutes or more for fully cooked brats.

A few years ago at a grill-out,  I saw that some friends that had scored their sausages before grilling them, I presume for quicker and more even grilling. I can't remember if these were hot dogs, brats, or some other kind of sausage, but they certainly weren't the cheap-o mystery meat dogs from the supermarket.

I recently tried this approach with brats, but it hasn't really been working.

My first time, I sliced the brats before grilling, but then when they're exposed to heat the meat starts oozing out of the slices in the casing. This makes for a pretty un-appetizing looking brat.
The next time, I tried slicing them after they had grilled for a bit, but they were difficult to handle and I don't know how much this helped in terms of time or even cooking.

Are there any slicing/scoring techniques that will help brats grill more quickly/evenly, or do I just need to be more patient?


texts: How do I keep my bread pudding from collapsing?

texts:
I'm using my mom's bread pudding recipe which is:

2 1/2 Cups of Bread Bits
2 Eggs
1 Cup of Milk
1 Tsp of Vanilla
1 Tsp of Cinnamon
1/2 Cup of Sugar

I doubled the recipe and put it into two pans and baked it for 45 minutes. It rose quite a bit, but as soon as I pulled it out of the oven it collapsed like a dying star.

Is there anyway to keep it from collapsing?


texts:
We just bought this oven and I haven't cooked in it yet. When we turn it on, the flame comes up about 3 inches above the vents inside the oven.
Is this normal  or too high? If it's too high, what can I do?


texts: Can I really put frozen ramekins in a preheated oven?

texts:
I found a make-ahead chocolate souffle recipe that calls for freezing prepared ramekins and then pulling them out (without thawing) and baking in a preheated 400F oven. Isn't that a bad idea, risking cracking the ramekins from the thermal stress?

The recipe is originally from America's Test Kitchen (paywalled, sorry), so I'd expect it to be pretty trustworthy, but this seems a bit scary!


texts: How long can fruit macerate in the fridge?

texts:
I have begun to macerate pitted cherries in sugar and lemon juice. Due to some issues, I've had to leave them macerating for 2 days before I cook & can them for jam.
Will the macerated fruit be safe & flavorful given it has been 2 days?


texts: How do I make authentic Russian black bread?

texts:
I am interested in making the dense pungent black bread that is traditional in Russia. Recipes for black bread are varied and seem to disagree with one another. Too many of them make spongy, pumpernickel-like loaves which, while good, are not what I'm trying to make.

Is Russian black bread always made with a sourdough starter?

Some recipes have called for cocoa powder or coffee to darken the loaves as just rye flour will often turn out gray instead of dark dark brown.
Are such additives common in traditional black bread recipes? If not how is the dark color obtained?


texts:
Thanks to the book Truly Mexican, I've recently gotten into making cooked Mexican sauces like Adobos, Moles and Pipians.  However, my sweetie is unable to tolerate anything above a mild zing in hot pepper flavor.

I've found it very difficult to calibrate the recipes to make them have a little bit of hotness, but not so much that she can't eat them.  The other night I made a green pipian, and removed the seeds from the jalopenos to make them less hot ... but succeeded in removing all hot pepper flavor from the recipe entirely.  Then I made an adobo which seemed OK until it sat for an hour, but then became too spicy for her to eat.

Tasting the peppers or the paste while it's still raw isn't very effective because peppers often get milder or hotter during cooking.

Does anyone have tips, ratios, or tricks they use to make cooked Mexican sauces which have zing but are not too spicy?


texts: If your bread doesn't sound hollow can it still be done?

texts: This may be an old question, Can bread be done even if it does not sound hollow? The temperature is 197F but the bottom does not sound hollow. The bread is golden brown. The only thing that doesn't fit for being done is the hollow sound. It is a buttermilk bread. I have baked it 5 minutes longer than it says too.


texts: Why does pasta dough need to be kneaded for such a long time?

texts: Some dough recipes caution that we shouldn't knead the dough for too long, lest it become too tough to be rolled as thin and wide as the recipe calls for. Why isn't the same thing true about pasta dough, which needs to be kneaded for more than 10 minutes?


texts: How do you get a smooth surface on cakes?

texts: I've been making a lot of cakes recently and I've been noticing that tell all have bumps, wrinkles or holes on the surface. Although it doesn't matter much, does any know how to get a smooth surface on cakes? Thank-you!


texts: With stovetop cooking, is there a way to retain heat but let moisture escape?

texts:
Example: I made mulled wine and want to keep it warm on the stovetop. If I put the lid on, it will get too hot; if I take the lid off, the alcohol and flavors might evaporate. So, I want to keep the moisture in, but let the heat escape.

Opposite example: I am cooking onions on the slow cooker. If I put the lid on, the onions will get mushy/soggy. If I take the lid off, it takes too long to reach cooking temperature. So, I want to let the moisture out, but keep the heat in.

How can I control heat and moisture separately? Does opening the lid partway accomplish anything?

(Note: maybe these are not the best examples but just want to illustrate.)


texts:
I realise a 'pie' may mean different things to different people.
In my case it's chicken mushroom and tarragon pie with shorcrust pastry base and a top fully enclosing the filling.
If i'm eating the pie on the day then I usually blind bake the bases in individual metal trays, let it cool down and then add the cold filling and seal with a top of raw pastry.
The re results are great with relatively wet filling and no soggy bottom and a golden crust.

However, as I made loads of filling I was hoping to make some more pastry and freeze the pies.
What's the best way of doing this?

I guess the options I thought of were

Bake as above then freeze when cool and then warm them up in the
oven
Blind bake the bases but leave the top raw - freeze and then
cook them in the oven from frozen
Raw pastry for base and top - and bake them from frozen
some variation of above but allow them to defrost in the fridge first

If there any experienced bakers out there, i'd really appreciate some advice.
thank you! Ww


texts:
The flour that we used to use in our bread making machine is called Strong White Flour - and has recently doubled in price. I'm not happy paying double what I used to for it, but don't want to completely give up on making our own bread (and other things - e.g. pizza dough) in the machine.

Does anyone know how I can replicate strong white flour at home - maybe using plain or self-raising flour as a base?


texts: Gingersnap Pie Crust - how to sub butter as binder

texts:
I made a delicious pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving using Trader Joe's triple-ginger gingersnaps. The ginger flavor really complements the pumpkin. Following a basic recipe, I added a fair amount of butter to the ground gingersnaps. Although it was delicious, I'd like to find a way to do this without it being so rich and calorie-laden. So my question is:

Does anyone have experience making a gingersnap pie crust using something other than butter or other fat to bind the crumbs, given that there is already fat in the gingersnaps --  perhaps egg? egg white? water? (Perhaps similar experience with a graham cracker crust could apply.)


texts: What is a substitute for Anaheim Peppers?

texts: I am making a dish that requires Anaheim Peppers.  They don't have them in my local store... what else can I use.


texts: How do they make Mexican vanilla extract?

texts: I would like to make 'Mexican Vanilla' extract.  I have used it for years and now would like to make it.


texts: What precautions should I take when preparing food while I have a cold?

texts: If I have a cold, what precautions should I take while preparing food to make sure that I don't transmit germs?


texts: What stops commercial ice lollies from being rockhard?

texts:
In the UK you can purchase ice lollies/suckers that are pretty soft to eat.
However, if you were to make your own in an ice lolly mold they'll be rock hard like ice normally is.

What do commercial companies do to their ice Lollies to make them soft to eat.

I'm unsure if this applies to other countries such as the US, I'd assume it does.


texts: Making sorbet with fruit frozen before processing

texts:
I've accidentally frozen a bunch of good strawberries with the leaves still on. I want to make them into sorbet. I don't plan to cook the berries. Should I:

Thaw the berries, cut the tops off, puree, make sorbet?
Try to cut the tops off the berries while still frozen, puree, make sorbet?
Leave the tops on, puree, make sorbet?
Some other procedure?


texts: how long does chilling take for this icecream recipe

texts:
The link at the bottom is for an icecream recipe without the machine. One part of it requires chilling a heated mixture. I was wondering if anyone knew how long the chilling will take since the other times mentioned there already total up to about 8.5 hours.

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/07/vanilla-ice-cream-without-the-machine-recipe.html

Thanks in advance....


texts:
I decided to make scones for the first time and picked a high rated recipefrom allrecipes.com.

It instructed me to combine the ingredients like a pastry dough (cold butter cut into the dry ingredients, crumble, then add the wet ingredients). Then:

  Turn onto a floured surface; knead gently 8-10 times. Divide into four portions. On ungreased baking sheets, pat dough into 4-in. circles. Cut each into four wedges, but do not separate.

I followed the recipe to the letter, using a scale. But the dough emerged extremely sticky. Kneading was impossible. Forming into circles too: I spread it with a knife, but couldn't get it in any way into a regular shape. It stuck to everything, including a silicone rolling mat and a silicone spatula. The best description I can manage for the consistency is Nutella-like.

Is this normal? If yes, why the "knead" instruction? If not, what went wrong?


texts: Does reheating a roux based sauce thin it out?

texts:
I made a sauce that was thickened with a roux, and refrigerated it to be used again for another day.  When I reheated the sauce it seemed to be thinner than it was previously.  I added more roux to the sauce but that made it too thick, so I needed to add more base.

Was this all in my head and it probably wasn't any thinner or is there a reason this happened?


texts: Sometimes, I want to try a recipe that calls for a small amount of heavy cream.  Can the remainder be frozen and then used to make whipped cream?  If so, how long will it keep in the freezer?


texts: Would refrigeration lengthen shelf life for this water sweetener?

texts:
Ingredients: vegetable glycerin, purified water, citric acid, malic acid, natural flavor, stevia leaf extract, sodium citrate.

Container is about 2-3 ounces.

It says on the container: "Does not need refrigeration. For best quality use within 30 days from opening. Store in a cool dry place."

Would such a recipe spoil after thirty days?


texts: my black garlic cooking in a rice cooker went brown and hard before black any ideas?

texts: I have my garlic in the skins in a rice cooker on the warming setting after 7 days the garlic was brown dried out and hard, is it over cooked and not slowly caramelized?  what is the purpose of putting it on a steaming tray? there is a vent hole in the lid of my cooker should I cover it up with plastic wrap not allowing steam to escape? Any ideas?  I'm starting a new batch and I will cover that vent hole to see what happens.


texts: Why did my green tea muffins turn black?

texts:
I made green tea muffins following the recipe here.   I like my muffins moist and fluffy, so I added banana as suggested by the recipe and replaced half of the baking powder with baking soda.  I also added a teaspoon of rice vinegar to activate the baking soda.

Right before baking the mix was vibrantly green, but after 13 minutes in the oven the muffins had turned very dark — and this morning they were even darker.

What happened, and how can I prevent it?


texts:
Seafood Watch persuaded me that I ought to experiment with fresh water prawns in my cooking.

Problem: I'm in central Texas, and I can't find any.  The local fish markets and grocers offer no leads, and I've failed to find any good options for having them shipped on line.


texts: Best method to determine temperature while heating sugar

texts:
I regularly making Panforte which involves heating an equal parts mix of honey and sugar to 115c. Due to the quantity of sugar a jam thermometer doesn't normally reach the mix in the bottom of the pan to work effectively. My technique at the moment is to stir it and every now and again tilt the pan to pool the honey and then use a normal but cheap probe thermometer. However, sometimes the mix visually looks much hotter (small bubbles, more 'activity') but still reads lower than my desired temperature.

In the finished bake I am getting very inconsistent results in terms of consistently; sometimes they are very soft and other times very hard and brittle. Given the baking times are the same I can only assume the inconsistency is due to the inaccuracy of measuring the temp of the sugar/honey mix.

So my question is is there anything wrong with the technique described above? Why might it be inconsistent? Or is there a better way to accurately take the temperature of the sugar honey mix? Would an IR thermometer be more useful than a probe?


texts:
I have been playing with homemade salsa for a few weeks now and I can't seem to figure out how to get that thicker tomato texture that a lot of southern Mexican restaurants have.

Right now I play with these ingredients:

Tomatoes
Onion
Jalapeño
Cilantro
Lime Juice
Garlic Salt/Cumin

This seems pretty basic stuff for salsa, but it has a pretty watered down feel no matter how I swing it. How do I get the tomato base that some of the classic salsas have in order for everything to hold on the chip a little better?

Update

I really wanted to accept two answers because I like both depending on what I am doing. For a fresh salsa (pico de gallo) straining the juice from the tomatoes seems to work really well. But for the thickness I was going for the key was experimenting with Tomato Paste/Cooking the salsa. I am able to get a much thicker salsa that I enjoy much more. I did learn how to create killer pico de gallo from this though.


texts: What is the optimal method for making box macaroni and cheese?

texts:
I have two young children (3 and 4.5), who both love Kraft Macaroni And Cheese, or similar variants.  As a child, I also loved it, and between the two I've made a few hundred batches, at least.

However, I don't know that I have found the optimal method for making the sauce at the end, despite all of that practice.  I've at different times thought that each of the following was correct:

Add the milk, then the powder, combine, then add softened butter
Add the butter, mix thoroughly until melted, then the poweder, combine, then the milk
Add some milk, then the powder, then some more milk, then some more milk, then softened or melted butter
Remove the macaroni, just add butter to the warm pan (but not on the burner) until melted, add the powder, combine thoroughly, then the milk, then the macaroni (This is the "Annie's" box method)

Yet, I don't think ultimately it's ever really made a significant difference.  You always end up with a sauce that's so-so at first, a bit grainy and liquidy, and only after it's sat for a while (10-15 minutes) does it end up perfect - which for a 3 or 4 year old is eternity when faced with their favorite dish.

Is there an optimal way to make Macaroni and Cheese box mix?  If the ingredients need to be altered slightly, I'm fine with that, though it needs to stay close still to the original - no adding significant amounts of cheese or Velveeta.


texts: I'm just wondering if any legumes are sweet. Preferably, I'd like a sweet bean, but whatever works.


texts: Beer batter fish, keeping the breading from peeling right off while eating?

texts: A few months back I made beer-batter fish.  I don't remember the exact recipe I used but I think I got it from foodnetwork.com.  I fried in vegetable oil at 350.  Everything came out OK, but the breading seemed to peel clean off of the fish while eating rather than sticking to it.  Are there any tricks for prep/cook to prevent this from happening?


texts:
I have a cheddar bay biscuit mix made by Red Lobster. On the instructions, it says not to overmix the grated cheese, water, and biscuit dough, but it says to mix it. What does that mean? How do I know how much mixing is too much?

I did read the other questions that have to do with overmixing. But they mostly concern muffins, and I'm not sure if it is the same with biscuits.


texts: How to conserve natural fruit juices without alcohol?

texts:
Sorry if this is not the proper place to ask this. I would like to produce some natural fruit juices to sell, and it must last at least a week once bottled.

It will be made with natural fruit, water, and sugar. I would prefer it to be AS NATURAL AS POSSIBLE.

What can be added to help preserve it longer (as natural as possible)?


texts: Baking scalloped potatoes at 275 °F instead of at 400 °F

texts:
I have a single oven.  My ham needs to cook for 2 1/2 hours at 275 °F, my scalloped potatoes need to be cooked at 400 °F for 1 hour.

Do I put both dishes in the oven at 275 °F and if yes, when do I take my potatoes out?


texts: I've read that an effective dry brine takes 3 day on a thawed turkey, however, i read that you should not keep a thawed turkey for longer than 3 days?


texts: What rules should I follow for improvised food recipes that aren't dangerous?

texts:
Sometimes when we arrive home, we are so tired and hungry and I am at a loss in terms of what to make. Often, I just want to mix all the things in the refrigerator and boil them or fry them and mix with spice and lemon. Without concerning answers too much with the taste or anything, I'm most interested in MacGuyvering dinner without also ending up with food poinsoning.

What are the major, bold-faced beginner guidelines I should follow to ensure the safety of doing this?


texts:
My aunt recently gifted us a carton of eggs fresh from her chickens.
I've been rinsing them off thoroughly with each use, but I'm not really sure if this is enough to make sure they're sanitary for consumption.
What's the appropriate way to wash eggs when they come directly from a chicken, instead of being store-bought?
Note, I'm talking about just before using an egg, not washing all of my eggs at once.


texts:
Probably this is something covered in cooking academies/universities, but I'm not a professional chef, I just happen to like cooking a lot, and I want to get better at it.

I often hear the phrase "This flavor is not well developed", but I don't really understand what "flavor development" really means.

Can all flavors be developed? What factors tend to develop more a particular flavor?


texts: Why do "saute pans" have straight sides?

texts:
I've read numerous times that when sauteing, the pan used usually has curved sides to allow one to toss the food. However, whenever I look at pans on shopping websites and such, the pan labeled "saute pan" has straight vertical sides and a lid. The lid is even more confusing when one thinks about it, since a lid would cause steaming--the exact opposite of the goal of sauteing. So what's up with this confusing naming?
edit:
As requested, here's a "link" to many pans labeled "saute"... Google shopping


texts: Can I make gelatin from bones without beef flavor?

texts:
I was looking around on the internet to find out how to make gelatin from bones ( cow bones to be more specific). I found some methods but they mention the gelatin will have a beef flavor. This is a problem for me since I want to use it for making nut cheeses as a replacement for agar and gums. Is there a way to remove the beef flavor from the gelatin? I heard some mentions of using acids but I ma not sure about that...

Additional context:

I want to see if I could make gelatin from a whole cow's carcass which would be several hundred pounds of bones. I wish to use every part of a cow once I have my restaurant business somewhere in the future. Much of a cow's weight is in their bones so I thought making gelatin would be good way to increase profits by using it for other uses such as making nut cheeses. That's why I want the gelatin to be of good quality, yield and flavorless.

After hearing the difficulty of doing this I am abandoning this application looking for other more practical uses for the bones...


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