texts: Is it generally better to cut chicken breast with or against the grain?

texts: I realize it may depend on what you're doing, but as a general rule, which is preferred and why?


texts: There's a recipe for homemade vinegar that's basically water, brown sugar, and pineapple peels. Is this safe? I'm thinking that there'll be some mold, etc. or even methanol.


texts: How important is isolating food in a fridge?

texts:
Sometimes I feel like a fridge is too "open", so that mold, bacteria, rot, etc. can spread easily. Also, meat and vegetables can't really be kept apart well. Am I right in thinking this?

Is this problem worth combating by using air tight bags, for example?


texts:
My everyday bread recipe contains:

550 g flour
370 g water
12 g salt
4 g yeast

I knead it in a Kitchenaid mixer with a C-shaped dough hook (which, I know, is loathed by some folks). Dough tends to ball up around the hook, but if I raise the speed to 4 or so it works well enough.

Which leads me to my question: today I made this recipe with half white flour and half rye flour, and the mixer just couldn't get a grip on the dough at all. I eventually gave up and kneaded by hand. Is this a problem with the flour combo or the hook? Is there a way to make that dough kneadable in the mixer, or should I just plan to knead by hand if I make it again?


texts: One side of the cake rises higher than another

texts: It doesn’t happen always but at times one side of my cake rises higher than the other side creating a lop sided cake, it is not a dome, but more a problem of uneven rising. I oil the pan, place parchment paper and oil and flour the parchment paper itself. Do you think uneven oiling of the pan could be causing this?


texts:
I was wondering about what happens to bread dough under various cooking conditions.
More explicitly: what do you get when you boil dough?
I know baking gives you bread and frying gives you donuts. And since I really don’t know so much about cooking, the one thing missing was boiling.
I think microwaving is going too far.


texts: Why prefer prime-cut sausage over MSM sausage

texts:
Yesterday I saw a site that claimed their fairly expensive poultry sausages are made of prime cuts (thigh, breast), rather than the usual mechanically separated meat.

Why would one prefer a prime-cut sausage over MSM, as both are ultimately going to be minced into a fine paste and made into a sausage?


texts: How much salt, add to tap water to purge bivalvia?

texts:
I live Toronto, and our tap water is fresh water, not salty. I talk for each LB of bivalvia like clams mussels.

How much tap water?
How much salt to add?
What g of salt per LB NEVER to outstrip? What concentration kills them?

For pics, pls see After purge mussels 6 time in salt water 20 mins each, why they still exude much grime?


texts: What's the proper order to add ingredients for an Indian curry?

texts:
Typically, when making an Indian curry, I heat oil, add whole spices, then add and cook onions, add and cook ginger + garlic, add dry spices + tomatoes, and cook the meat in the sauce.

Am I doing this correctly or is there a different order to add the ingredients for maximum flavor and efficient cook time?

Here are the ingredient types I usually use:

Oil
Whole spices (cumin, fenugreek, etc.)
Onion
Ginger
Garlic
Dry powdered spices (turmeric, chili powder, etc.)
Tomatoes
Meat


texts: What caused smooth homemade nutella to become grainy in refrigerator?

texts:
I blended toasted hazelnuts in a vitamix until they were a butter, added melted chocolate, then added coconut oil to increase smoothness. Here are the amounts:

450 grams hazelnuts (unsalted, raw or roasted)
160 grams chocolate
50 grams coconut oil

Once it was blended, the texture was very smooth and silky.

After a day or two in the refrigerator, the nutella had become grainy.

When you taste it the graininess subsides as it melts in your mouth. This leads me to believe that the graininess is caused by hardened bits of oil, probably the coconut oil.

How can I further emulsify the ingredients to avoid this?


texts: How do I get my pizza dough base really crispy?

texts:
How do I get a crispy crust for wood fire oven pizza? Do I knead the dough enough for a windowpane test? Do I add oil while kneading?

By crispy I mean real crisp on the base yet smooth as you bite further into it. Not crispy crunchy like short crust pastry.


texts: Silverside Beef Roast - tough to cut on the plate and chewy

texts:
I recently roasted a Silverside joint for a typical English Sunday dinner.

It was a pretty standard job. I got it to room temperature, rubbed it with salt and pepper and give that an hour to mesh. After that I seared all side in a cast iron pan, lifted it on a trivet of carrot, celery, garlic & onion  and cooked it at 180C (electric fan) until the middle reached my desired temperature, in this case 50C rising to 62C  when resting (20/30mins) - came out medium rare.

...anyway, the issue is that after slicing it and plating it up, it was still pretty difficult to cut on your plate - although it had tones for flavour and was very 'juicy'.

I did experiment slicing it more thinly and that did help a bit - but it can of seem rather odd to be eating ultra thin sliced beef.

We used to eat Silverside all the time when I was a kid and I don't remember it being this bad, but then again my parents would have cooked the crap out of it and it was probably pretty dry.

So is this just how Silverside is? (and presumably topside) and I should by a more premium cut (like Sirloin joint) if I want to it to cut more easily or am I missing a trick - do I need to buy a better quality (from a good butcher)/longer aged joint?


texts:
I'm making fried chicken and the first step of most recipes involve soaking the chicken in a buttermilk and salt brine to tenderise it.

However, I have had problems getting the salt to dissolve in the cold buttermilk. I typically use a 5-6% salt brine, so it's not like I'm exceeding the salt saturation limit of water (typically at 30% from what I read).

I've thought of the following solutions:

Heating the buttermilk up, and dissolving the salt. But I'm concerned that this will cause the buttermilk flavor to change.

Using a immersion blender/whisk to stir the salt into the buttermilk.


texts: Can I turn off stove while making stock?

texts: Can I turn off the stove mid-way through making the beef stock? I didn't know it would take 4 to 6 hours!


texts: How to safely grill meat/fruit/veggie skewers

texts: This weekend we grilled kebabs with steak, onions, peppers, and big pineapple spears.  No ill effects, but I noticed that the pineapple was still cool where it was touching the meat, and the meat still reddish where touching the pineapple.  This made me wonder whether having the chunks all snugged up against each other is truly safe or not, it seems like any bacteria on either piece would still be safely alive and dangerous where they were touching.  Any good knowledge on this, or recommended practices for grilling safely?


texts: If using garbanzo beans to make hummus, should you peel them beforehand?


texts: How to cook fish bones(ideally without oil)?

texts:
I'm wanting to eat fish bones.  What is the best way to cook them?  I imagine it is deep frying if you want quick though it's messy with oil.

I had another thought that I could just wrap them in foil paper, heat them on a pan, turn over etc.  Would this work or might this method introduce any other problems e.g. bones burn, foil sticks to pan etc?

Can the bones be heated on pan without foil paper or oil, might this introduce any problems?

Please note the question is asking about cooking fish bones only i.e. flesh already removed.


texts:
A friend of mine cooks pasta in a modified electric water boiler which has been modified to keep going even after the water placed in it boils.

What are some advantages and disadvantages of this method over placing the boiled water in a pot and cooking it there over a gas stove?

Thanks.


texts: What is the difference between milk (simple) and milk drink?

texts:
Here in Finland I have come across two types of milk. One is simple milk (maito/mjölk) and the other is milk-drink (maitojuoma/mjölkdryck). They also have variations like fat-free, light, whole (hel/täys) and lactose(-free).
Lactose-free whole milkdrink and whole milk, and light milkdrink and light milk have different tastes.
The difference between their ingredients is milk-based mineral preparations, mineral product or mineral preparations
Swedish:

mjölkbaserat mineralpreparat (Milbona)
mineralpreparat (Valio)

Finnish:

maitopohjainen kivennäisvalmiste (Milbona)
maitovalmiste (Valio)

They have different nutrition values but the same mineral value (only compared Milbona whole milk).
And both are placed in refrigerated compartments.
(I found milkdrink's taste slightly better.)
Question:
What is the differences between (simple) milk and milk-drink?


texts: Why do you need to peel peaches to can them?

texts:
I am going to be canning a bunch of peaches tonight, and I know that you have to peel them first (and I know how to do it easy), but I got to wondering, why do I have to do it?

I have always done it.  That is the way it was taught to me by my mother, but why?

The inside is the part that wants to rot, the out side is the protective coating (or so it seems).  Why do we need to remove it to can the peach?


texts: Did I ruin my stoneware dutch oven by heating it on a gas stove?

texts:
I was following this baked beans recipe. Relevant excerpt:

Place a cast iron Dutch oven over medium heat and stir in the bacon, onion, and jalapenos until enough fat has rendered from the bacon to soften the onions, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, dark brown sugar, and molasses.
Drain the beans and reserve the soaking liquid. Add the drained beans to the Dutch oven. Place the soaking liquid in a measuring cup and add enough vegetable broth to equal 4 cups of liquid. Add the liquid to the Dutch oven and bring to a boil over high heat.

I don't have a cast iron dutch oven and wasn't sure everything would fit in my cast iron pan, so I started the process in the pan and transferred everything to my stoneware dutch oven (smooth and shiny - possibly enameled?) once it was time to add the beans and broth.
I had preheated the liquid in the dutch oven on low on my gas stove, and once I added everything else, I cranked it up to high. After a few minutes the bottom of the dutch oven darkened quite a bit, so I googled and found that you're not supposed to put stoneware on a direct heat source. I turned off the heat and transferred everything back to the pan (where it thankfully just fit) and resumed the recipe from there.
The dutch oven returned to its normal color once it cooled off, but I know that not all physical changes are clearly visible. It probably spent 5-10 minutes on low and 5-10 minutes on high.
Is the stoneware now significantly more likely to crack when heated? Or because it survived the endeavor, is it still okay to use it normally?


texts: What is the purpose of the sugar in ketchup?

texts: Most ketchup recipes - even homemade ones - include several tablespoons of sugar.  Commercial ketchup often has lots of high-fructose corn syrup.  What purpose does all of this sugar serve in a ketchup recipe?


texts:
I tried cooking Baba Ghanoush for the first time and though tasty I didn't quite get the expected results.

It was watery instead of creamy like the ones I had had.

I used equal parts of eggplant and tahini and a bit of lemon juice and garlic.

Now I wonder if I used too much eggplant or I didn't cook the eggplant enough as it was like a sponge full of water when I cut it.

How much time and at which temperature should I bake the eggplant? Or is there some external sign to know it's ready to be used for Baba ganoush? To me it looked and tasted "well done" as it was.


texts:
I tried making my own vanilla extract a few months ago. Normally, it should be pretty dark (almost black). Mine isn't, as you can see:

 (full-size image)

What I did was (after sterilizing it) filling a 250 ml (about a cup) bottle with vodka. I also cut up some (mostly seeded) vanilla pods, I think 4-5.

My guess is that there isn't enough vanilla in it. I'm planning on putting some more in. Is that the proper way to save this half-extract? Are there any downsides to adding new pods now?


texts: How high is the bacterial reduction when using Lysol brand sanitizing wipes, when compared to bleach solution?

texts: Suppose you have some utensils and dishes that came into contact with raw meat.  After cleaning them with hot soapy water, if I also use Lysol sanitizing wipes, what proportion of the bacteria is killed? How does this relate to using a bleach solution for sanitizing?


texts: Cooking kidney beans in a slow cooker, how do I make sure they're safe?

texts:
I'm making 15 bean soup from a bagged dry bean mix that contains red kidney beans. Following the instructions, I soaked them overnight and threw out the water, but then thought I'd be clever and throw them in the slow cooker instead of cooking on the stove. They simmered in the cooker on high for probably about 15 hours (not entirely on purpose... I sort of forgot about them for a little while...)

Today I learned too late that kidney beans have a high amount of a toxin called phytohaemagglutinin, and you're supposed to boil them at least 10 minutes before putting them in the slow cooker. Apparently some slow cookers don't get hot enough to destroy the toxin no matter how long you cook them.

Can I just boil the soup on the stove after the fact to make it safe, or is it too late now? Is there any chance this will not turn my bean soup into unappetizing mush?

(It might be worth noting that Hurst beans, who makes the soup mix, has a slow cooker recipe on their website that says nothing about boiling them first.)


texts: Is it OK to reheat my spaghetti sauce over & over?

texts:
My spaghetti sauce is made with fresh tomatoes, ketchup, garlic, some vinegar, and some basic seasoning. I've been told it's not good to reheat the sauce over & over, but I'm making this for myself, 4 servings at a time, so the most reheats 1 batch would get is 3, and each batch lasts at most 2 days. I've been told to put the sauce in separate containers & only reheat 1 serving when ready to eat. I find it a pain to dirty extra containers and have had no problem reheating my sauce.
Is there some real problem with reheating my spaghetti sauce over & over, or is my family just too careful/concerned about it?


texts:
All the instructions I've read for cooking quince talk about how much of a pain it is to peel and quarter them before cooking them till they are soft.

Am I missing something, or could I cook them till soft and then cut and core them?


texts:
I was half way through making a batch of peanut butter cookies when my mixer blew up - not a happy camper.  As I had already mixed my eggs and bicarbonate of soda together, I would like to know if I can store this mixture in the fridge overnight and resume baking tomorrow?
thank you


texts: What is this slimy coloured stuff growing in my plates?

texts: Recently, I observed that there is some brown slimy stuff on the underside of my plates. I don't know what they are or how they form. I tried removing it with a tooth pick, but was too hard to come off. Does anyone know what this is? How can it be cleaned?


texts: Can a steak be deep fried in clarified butter?

texts:
Steaks can be deep fried and this is usually done with an oil with a high smoke point. People seem to report reasonably good results with this.

I'd like to deep fry with butter as this would impart that butter flavour. Using un-clarified butter would lead to a smoke show (I think), but clarified butter should get hot enough without smoking too much.

Would it be possible to deep fry a steak in clarified butter?

If so, can the clarified butter be recuperated and used again?

If so, could the clarified butter be infused with garlic or thyme some how?


texts: I made a chocolate crinkle cookie dough that needs to be frozen for 2 hours before forming and baking. Can I freeze it in the (Bosch) plastic mixer bowl or will that ruin the bowl?


texts:
The question was prompted by running out of suitable sized plastic boxes for some home-made hummus, so I used a couple of old jam jars.  This was for freezing, but it got me thinking.

I assume a simple recipe of cooked chickpeas, tahini, garlic, lemon and spices, such as this one from Felicity Cloake at the Guardian (which happens to be the recipe I roughly follow).

Hummus is normally sold refrigerated, but is there any (safety) reason why it couldn't be canned?  Obviously any form of canning means that the final product gets cooked, but the chickpeas are already cooked and the other ingredients shouldn't suffer too much (the garlic will mellow, for example). Ideally I'd think of water-bath canning, but I'm not sure if the pH is low enough.   Pressure canning would also be interesting but only in an academic sense as I'm not equipped for it.


texts: What book/website should I read to help me move beyond just being able to follow a recipe?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Books that explain the science of cooking?

I am looking for a book/website or other resource to help me gain a deeper understanding of cooking and to help me move beyond just being able to successfully follow recipes. Although I can cook well I don't necessarily understand why things work, or why certain processes are necessary. Any suggestions?


texts: Consistently getting cannoli shells off their molds easily

texts:
When I fry cannoli shells, I find that about a quarter of them -- apparently at random -- stick to their molds so that they are hard or impossible to remove without breaking.

The two tactics I use to combat this -- which do make a difference, but not 100% -- are to spray the molds fairly heavily with vegetable oil before wrapping the sheets, and to wrap loosely. I don't roll the sheet tightly around the mold.

When unmolding, I've found it best to wait until the shells are completely cool. Then, for the ones that stick, gripping the shell (as firmly as possible without immediately shattering it) and gently twisting either it or the mold often helps it break free. Sometimes the shell is damaged in the process, though, and sometimes it won't come off at all without being smashed.

The dough is made with vegetable shortening (lard isn't an option, unfortunately: they need to be vegetarian), all-purpose flour, wine, and sugar, and rolled out to translucency on a pasta machine. I'm extremely happy with the product, but I'm open to changing the formulation if evidence suggests that e.g., there's too much moisture. (Although on that point, I've tried making the dough as dry as possible while still coming together, and it didn't seem to have an effect.)

What other possibilities am I missing? What can I do to make unmolding more reliable?


texts: Are modifications to a recipe needed to use frozen scallops instead of fresh?

texts: I'm looking to try this recipe: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/11/french-in-a-flash-broiled-scallops-provencale-recipe.html. I have frozen scallops, and though it doesn't specify, I suspect the recipe is for fresh scallops. Should I thaw the scallops ahead of time? Should I cook them at low temperature for awhile before broiling? If it makes a difference, these are the scallops I'm using: http://www.schwans.com/products/productDetail.aspx?id=52122&c1=10429


texts: Is there a "safe" way to cook ghost chili?

texts:
I may want plant some ghost chili pepper, but I am afraid it will be too hot to eat.

Is there any safe method to prepare/cook ghost chili which will not reproduce insanely hot heat from the throat to stomach?

What about habanero chili pepper? Is it safer to eat?


texts: Pressure Cooker suitable for traditional Indian dishes, available in Europe

texts:
I would like to try recipes from Urvashi Pitre's Indian Instant Pot Cookbook: Traditional Indian Dishes Made Easy and Fast. However, buying the original Instant Pot pressure cooker does not seem to be straightforward or convenient for customers in Europe (outside Britain).

Has anybody tried these recipes with a pressure cooker that is more readily available in Europe (Germany)? I'm still used to old-fashioned models without any electronic controls, so I am wondering what could be a good alternative option to acquire.

UPDATE Here is a sample recipe from the book (linked from this article in The New Yorker).


texts: What was the original "Lea & Perrins" recipe from Bengal?

texts:
In the history of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce it is claimed that

The story of Lea & Perrins famous Worcestershire Sauce begins in the early 1800s, in the county of Worcester. Returning home from his travels in Bengal, Lord Sandys, a nobleman of the area, was eager to duplicate a recipe he'd acquired.

Does anyone know what that original recipe from Bengal might have been? Are there any Bengali dishes that might have been the inspiration for Lea & Perrins?


texts: Sounds simple but I seem to fail every time, that is it turns into scrambled eggs instead. How do you make it so that you can flip it over both without it breaking and before it burns?


texts: Making sauerkraut with fish sauce instead of salt?

texts:
Experimenting on an idea. So I can make the best Reuben.

Making sauerkraut for the first time.
Using a basic recipe, 1 head of cabbage(3lbs.) To 1 1/2 Tbl. Salt. + Aromatics

Rid of surface bacteria, wash hands, julienne cabbage, massage salt in. Make sure submerged, cover with cheese cloth, room temp, 3-10 days, etc.

My question is a) does above sound correct and b) could I substitute nam pla (fish sauce) for the salt? And if so, what ratio would make sense?


texts: Why is no juice left after cooking lamb or beef joint in a pan?

texts: When I have cooked a leg of lamb or a beef joint I end up with no juice in the pan. I end up using a stock cube. What am I doing wrong? I put salt pepper and oil on it before searing in a frying pan then put it in the oven.


texts: Is it OK to reheat hash browns the next morning?

texts: Hash browns are delicious and delectable, but I do not have time to cook them every morning. I was wondering if it was OK to cook hash browns tonight and them eat them cold or reheat them in the microwave for 10 seconds the next morning? Will I have to keep them in the fridge, or just covered for the night? These are the hash browns that I will be using:


texts: What to look for when purchasing a blender?

texts:
I currently don't have a blender after purchasing my own home and am looking to get one for making smoothies primarily, but also for pureeing for soups, etc.

I had a smoothie maker that I won as a prize; it was very obviously a cheap unit. It barely handled frozen fruit and yogurt. Ice cream and frozen fruit burned up the motor.

I am aware of the extreme "Home Improvement"-style "Binford-3000" Blendtec blenders (also as proposed in this question) but they are extremely expensive and I don't plan on incorporating cell phones or garden rakes into my smoothies.

What should I look for to get a quality blender? I don't want to purchase an inexpensive one three or four times in the next few years. I'd prefer one that will last a long time and prove to be a good kitchen tool.

Edit:

In shopping for blenders, it seems that most seem to be between $30 and $150. Obviously there are some questionably cheap ones and many that exceed that range. So for the purposes of this question, assume that range to be the budget.


texts: Why did my chili oil flakes split in two layers?

texts:
I recently made chili oil at home for the first time, it is delicious and works great. I simply infused canola oil with some spices and then poured it on chili flakes mixed with a bit of black vinegar. However, when I look at pictures of homemade chili oils, I noticed mine is a bit different.

Most chili flakes sunk at the bottom, but there's also a layer that stayed nearly floating at the top. Nothing but oil in-between those two layers. Whenever I use it, I have to mix it with a spoon first, which gets it looking exactly like what you'd expect, but slowly goes back into layers.

Is this normal behavior for homemade chili oil? If not, what can be done to prevent it?

My few theories as to why that is are:

I haven't used enough chili flakes for the amount of oil (though I did research these amounts first)
Some of the chili flakes burnt when I poured the oil while others didn't
Cheap chili flakes are cheap

Finally an update:


texts: I recently made some homemade ginger ale.  It was good, but it really tasted more like ginger beer.  I was hoping for a flavor that tasted a bit more like golden ginger ale, sort of like Red Rock.  It has a strong ginger flavor and a bite.  What could I add (or how much more ginger should I add) to or what should I change in homemade ginger ale to get this "bite" and stronger ginger flavor?


texts:
How can I chop or mince meat more easily?

Currently I just use a knife and chop it up.

Meat grinders are no good. I am not trying to make sausage. I want to chop the meat up, not turn it into goo. Most meat grinders don't even have a hole big enough for a chicken breast or steak.

Is there any kind of device that you can just put a cooked chicken breast in it and it chops it up into small pieces? Just to make it clear what I am trying to do:

------INPUT--------------------------------------------------------------------------------OUTPUT--------


texts: Turkey stock abandoned half way Monday room temp still safe?

texts:
I started making stock by boiling the turkey carcass, this was for my African pepper soup.
It had been cooking for about an hour and then I was taken ill and had to turn it off so I could go to bed.It was in a pressure cooker and I sealed the lid on ,this was on Monday and it has been sitting at room temperature is it safe to carry on using it?


texts: yeast subtitution in a recipe with no water

texts: I have found this recipe, but I want to use dry active yeast, rather than easy blend. My question is can I proof (right word?) the yeast in the milk? and how much should I use?


texts: What's that scum at the sides of my home-made burger when I cook it?

texts:
When I do home-made burgers, my mix is as follows:

ground beef
bread-crumbs or grated potatoe
egg
parmezan cheese
salt, pepper, sweek paprika
dijon mustard
a bit of olive oil
sometimes pieces of ham and some other cheese
sauteed onion and garlic

I take a handful, make a patty and drop it in a hot skillet. In time, I see some gray scum coming mostly from the sides of the patty (which I dutifully separate with a spoon).
At the end, the burger's texture is pleasant, so...

What is this scum?
Am I doing something wrong?

thanks!


texts: How can you recognize cold milk that has gone bad or is about to?

texts:
The methods that I know to test cold milk is to either boil it and look for the break, taste it (yuk!), or hope it smells bad enough to know it's bad.

Is there an easy and scientific way to know whether milk is still good?  and for how much longer it's likely to stay good?

The expiry date alone is not a good indicator since it assumes some conditions about the storage temperature and we've all seen good milk past expiry and bad milk before expiry.

I'm also curious about the particular moment beyond which we consider milk 'goes bad'.  Can one tell how far away it is from the current seemingly healthy condition of milk?


texts: Baker percentages, weights, volumes, and such

texts:
So a basic bread recipe might look like (off top of head, not sure if these amounts make any sense)

100 Bread Flour
 30 Water
  1 oil
....

I know the flour is in weight ounces, but often times in side-by-side recipes I see the water converted into fluid ounces (8 ounces of water equaling 1c).  I know sometimes it just so happens that they're the same, but with water that is not so.  1 fl oz water ~= 1.05 av oz water.  Close, but off by near 1/2 oz by the time you add 8 of them.

So which do bakers use with fluids?  Do they use av or fl?  Should I expect to be able to weigh my fluids along with everything else or do I need to convert to fl?


texts:
I bought this in Ooty market and was told that it is a Nilgiri hills specific vegetable. It is pink on the outside and white inside with two hard black seeds in the upper half of it. It tastes sour, very similar to unripe strawberry.

Now, I'd like to know what the name of this vegetable is and whether it can be used in any dishes. Until know, I've been eating it as a snack, just like I would any other bite sized food.


texts: Smoker Ideas, something between Ribs and a Brisket

texts:
Got my smoker going and the food is turning out descent.. smoked ribs and a beer can chicken quite well so far. I'm thinking of trying a brisket, but that seems intimidating with my limited smoker skillset/experience.

What's a good intermediate meat to experiment with between ribs and a brisket?


texts:
I made this recipe for Scallion Soup but made substitutions for what I had - beef stock instead of chicken, and coconut milk instead of cream.  I added gin because I saw a similar recipe that called for dry sherry... but I think I added way too much.  (Also, I think I cooked it too long because I can barely taste the scallions any longer!  Although I just followed the times in the recipe.)

I also added sweet potato, another ingredient that pretty much just tastes like mush.

Any ideas on how to make this soup better?  It's pretty bland other than the gin taste.

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Scallion-Soup


texts: I am going to buy a new teflon pan and seem to run into bad luck with cheaply made ones which flake off too quickly. Also can any good brand teflon pan withstand automatic dishwashers?


texts: What is the difference between granulated cane sugar and granulated sugar?

texts:
I see two types of sugar in the baking aisle that I can't differentiate: "granulated sugar" and "granulated cane sugar". The latter is considerably more expensive. So, what is the difference between granulated cane sugar and this (unspecified) granulated sugar, and why would I want to choose one over the other?

As I understand it, cane sugar is extracted exclusively from sugar cane, while the other kind (the one that is not labeled as cane) can be a mixture of sucrose from several sources. Is this difference enough to make one a better candidate when cooking? baking? sweetening tea/coffee?


texts:
Is it possible to use the "american yellow mustard" (normally used as a condiment) to make mayonnaise using canola oil, eggs, and a food processor?

Or is Dijon mustard the only usable mustard for this purpose?


texts: Bubbles Are ONly on Top of My Sourdough Starter

texts: My starter, (new) is bubbly on top and rising but does not have may bubbles in its body.Can it still be use to make a Levin or dough?


texts:
One of the recipes I am trying out asks me to use Potato starch to help thicken the sauce. A majority of the recipes I found online for it say to use Potato starch but at the store I mainly found corn starch.

I was wondering if there are any really big differences other than the obvious one that I should be aware of when substituting between these two starches. Are they interchangeable or is there a big difference?


texts: How can I substitute English Toffee in cookies?

texts:
I found a cookie recipe which requires "English Toffee bars". I have never seen them around here, and don't know what they are.

What are these bars? Is there any substitution I can use? How close are Toffifee candies?

If it just said "toffee", I would cook it at home. But I am unsure what the differences are between an English toffee bar and normal toffee. Can I still cook it? How does it differ from normal toffee? Or can I just put normal toffee in the cookies?


texts:
I'm mastering my vegetable curry recipe and while it is spectacular in its current form using heavy whipping cream, I have some wild notion that the recipe would be more appreciated if I could manage to replace the heavy cream with a vegan option. I tried coconut cream but that has far too distinct a flavor, plus one member of the family hates coconuts and can detect it easily.

So I am looking for a substitute for heavy cream that's not coconut based, and ideally not soy, but I'll try just about anything.

I am also ok with having to concoct something from a variety of sources. So if I have to use almond milk, but thicken it with an almond butter or some other ingredient then I can handle that.

I'm not 100% sure why the heavy cream benefits the recipe. To me heavy cream has no flavor. So maybe what I'm looking for is to create a cream of similar viscosity that is vegan and has as little to no flavor as possible... or I guess it could be the heavy cream uses the other flavors in the curry as a catalyst.

The goal is to make my 100% organic vegetable curry to be vegan without hurting the flavor.

I see some pointers here but I'm wondering if there's a more specific technique others know of meeting the requirements here.


texts: Can I safely pressure can potato soup with milk in it?  I made potato soup and would like to can it for later use. Problem is I already put milk in it.  Do I have any alternative ways to preserve it?  I had 20 lbs.of potatoes I had to do something with before they went bad!


texts: Are there similar scales like the Scoville scale?

texts:
Are there any scales that have been applied to any of the five basic tastes or other types of food sensations that have been quantified based on their affect on people, similar to the Scoville scale?

Sure you could say that people's experience of something like sweetness is subjective, but you could say the same thing about spiciness.


texts: Does the location of where an octopus was imported from determine the flavor/quality of the meat?

texts: I recently bought frozen octopus that was caught and imported from Portugal because the local stores were sold out of the octopus from Spain. There was also a package of octopus imported from Vietnam but the seafood department employee said that wasn't as good. Does anyone know if there is a difference in taste or quality of the octopus meat depending on where it was caught? If so, how extreme is the difference and would the difference be apparent to the person eating it?


texts: I'm looking for something maybe from a really old recipe book, be it fish, chicken or beef. I've been searching all over and obviously most people's opinions are to buy store bought gelatin. That doesn't work for me - I want it to be kosher or halal, and I can't find that.


texts: When does the rule "only flip meat once" not apply?

texts: Title says it all and this is not just a burger question, what about those steaks, chicken breasts, pork chops on the grill?


texts:
Do you remove peel and wrap it in tin foil ?

Do you put it directly on gril (with peel) ?

How much time ?


texts: How to take care of a sourdough starter?

texts:
I am a beginner bread maker and just bought a San Francisco Sourdough starter.
The instructions ask to discard part of the starter on day 5 of activating the starter.
Why is that?


texts: Why do red kidney beans come in 410g cans?

texts:
I live in a fully metric country. Every single canned vegetable or pulse comes in a nice round number - and generally 400g of it.

Except for red kidney beans - they always come in 410g cans. And every single recipe I've found always calls for a 410g can. I've searched for this question and all I found was links to shopping sites selling - you guessed it - 410g red kidney beans - so I'm assuming it's across the board.

So why the extra 10g tacked on the end?


texts: Why isn't a Sourdough starter unsanitary?

texts:
Letting a bowl of flour and water go bad in a warm corner seems problematic at best.

I'm willing to believe there is some process that goes on to limit pathogens, but reading around this doesn't seem to even be considered.


texts: How do they Prepare Steak so fast in Restaurants?

texts:
I've been wondering how restaurants are able to serve food so fast. How are they able to serve thick steaks in 20 - 30 minutes?

Here's the process that I know of:

Bring the steak to room temperature (20 minutes)
Pan sear it for around 2.5 minutes on each side
Put it in the oven 15 minutes.
Rest it for 10 minutes.

That's like 50 minutes.

Another question is how do they manage the steaks? Do they have several in freezer ready and when the stock goes down, they start to thaw the one that's frozen? Or they don't even have frozen steaks? How are they able to keep the steak for a long period of time without it going bad (let's say it's a slow week for the restaurant)? When I buy a steak and put it my freezer, it only last 3 days before it turns gray.


texts: How do I make my food taste like leftovers

texts: I find that when I make stews, casseroles, curry’s etc. that they are much nicer after a day or two in the fridge. I understand that it “gives the flavours time to meld” etc, but what actually happens? Is there a way to make it happen first time round?


texts:
It seems to me that you don't need to wash vegetables you're going to peel. If toxins are on the surface, peeling solves the problem; if toxins have been absorbed into the flesh of the vegetable, washing won't help.

Is that right, or am I missing something?


texts: Theoretical: why there's no gradient of doneness in bread?

texts:
I was always wondering, why there's no gradient of doneness visible on the cuts of bigger breads. For example:

This one was made in the baking form, it has a thin visible crust, but after that the texture is absolutely uniform. How is that happens that temperature is distributed so evenly in the bread mass? Dough is not circulating like liquids do, so I'm puzzled. Could anybody shed the light on that?


texts: Can you leave chicken in smoker after it quits cooking to stay warm

texts: Can you leave chicken in the smoker after it has stopped cooking to keep it warm?


texts:
I love steaks so much, that I would like to get a green card and live in the States just to enjoy good steaks whenever I want.

When I try to cook a steak at home (I live in Italy), it always turns out burned outside and almost totally raw inside. Actually only a thin layer is cooked (or I should say carbonized).

If I try to lower the temperature of the grill pan, I get an extremely dried meat that resembles cork.

So, which are the basics for properly cooking a steak (say, to a medium-well grade)?


texts: can I eat a cryovaced cured ham left in car for 24 hours?  put in car at midnight and taken out the following midnight - mid day temps around 80


texts: Is it just as effective to mix fat in at the end of a curry?

texts:
I usually cook low fat curry i.e with fat removed.  Since we still need fat before eating the curry I melt a bit of premade tallow in the microwave then I add the curry to  it and mix.

I'm wondering if this mixing is good enough o get the flavour of the curry into the fat.  It certainly looks mixed i.e I can no longer see white tallow but everyhthing is orange from the spices.

Im wondering if the flavours infuse into the fat properly or of its better to add if this is important to me, if I should add the fat at the beginning? chemically how are the two different if they result in a different outcome, taste etc?


texts: Rescuing contaminated home made jam - possible?

texts:
I had a bash as making some home-made 'apple & blackcurrant' jam today and had reached the stage of testing to see if it had reached 'setting point'. I asked my partner to spoon a bit of the jam on to the cold saucer I was holding, expecting him to use the wooden spoon with which I'd just been stirring the jam.

However, before I could stop him, he grabbed another spoon and pliunged that in to the jam instead. When he asked me what was wrong, I explained to him that the spoon he was holding, had been used about ten minutes earlier ,to bast a roast chicken - and had not been cleaned since!

Is the jam too contaminated to be edible now or can it be rescued by re=boiling it -for a set period of time), in order to kill off any cross contamination?


texts:
This may be a silly question, but I've never seen an unripe vegetable. Is the growing of a vegetable different from a fruit's? I could pick a carrot up from the dirt whenever, and eat it, but I would never do that to a strawberry.

Also, is it dangerous to eat particular vegetables (potatoes, I believe) before they're fully grown?


texts:
One sign of really good fresh well-roasted coffee beans is foam.  When you pour hot water into the French press, it foams, often forming a head up to 2" high.  And when you use an espresso machine, you get a nice foam called "crema".

However, if you pour hot water into a teapot and see foam, that's a sign of terrible tea and you should throw it out.

Questions: what chemical reaction is taking place in each of the two cases (coffee and tea), and why does coffee get less foamy when it gets older whereas old tea gets more foamy?


texts: Should you wrap chicken in foil when you steam it?

texts: If so, should you wrap the chicken completely in foil, or leave the bottom open so the steam can get in?


texts: Additional flour threshold: when and how to perform?

texts:
For whatever reason (in my case, usually rookie mistakes), sometimes dough - after no additional flour - is worked/kneaded to a point where it does not reach a supple state/texture and instead is more porridge-like than anything else.
It is at this point I find myself sometimes, and I'm wondering how I can consistently and efficiently resolve this issue with a simple approach. I know more flour is certainly a way to mitigate this problem, but evaluating the quantity (and type) ad-hoc is something I simple do not know how to do.
What's a workable solution to this type of situation?


texts:
That's the question.

What quantity and resting time should be preferred for active dry yeast when it is supposed to be used in place of quick yeast?

Please specify in spoons or cups.


texts: What do you need for Chinese style Hotpot at home?

texts:
I love going to hotpot at the restaurant.
How can I do it at home? What sort of equipment do I need?


texts: Yesterday I bought this pastry filled with pistachio cream at Ponte di Castelvecchio in Verona, Italy. While it was very delicious, I forgot its name. Can somebody help?


texts:
I'm cooking a 2kg octopus at home. Can I eat the head, or just the legs?

Update: Thank you to both answerers for the useful info. The head was amazing, as delicious as the legs!


texts: Can you cook a 25 lb turkey in an oven that is 9 inches from the bottom rack to the heating elements?

texts:
I am trying to find out how big an oven has to be to cook a 25 lb. turkey.  There is a new double oven on the market at Sears that has the two ovens about the same size...a standing stove not a built in with two ovens.  The clearance is about 9 inches from the bottom rack to the elements above.  Is 9 inches big enough for a 25 pound bird?

My double oven now is a Maytag 14 years old with two oven, one being small in height and the bottom oven is much larger and does indeed take a 25 pound bird.  I wish I had a 25 pound bird here so I could measure its height.  I like the idea of the two oven being about the same size BUT not sure about a bird.


texts: Can I cook a slow cooker recipe on high instead of low, but for shorter time?

texts:
This morning, I was supposed to prepare our chili recipe for tonight in the slow cooker, but I have forgotten.  Now it's too late to start the recipe as usual and cook it on low.

However, it's not too late for my wife at home to prepare the ingredients and cook it on high for 4 hours instead.

I know it won't taste exactly the same if we make it now and leave the slow cooker on high for 4 hours instead of on low for 8, but will it still be a safe, edible meal if we switch the cook time in this manner?

Keep in mind, all the ingredients are either cooked or washed before being put into the pot, the only difference is the final cook time in the pot itself, and the temperature setting used on our slow cooker.


texts:
I've been making margaritas and I've found that, unlike fancy bar/restaraunt bought margaritas, my margaritas come out more like a liquid drink with shaved ice sitting in it than a mixture. I have a Margarittaville mixer for proper shaved ice, but the final drink lacks the same thickness I'm used to in a margarita; the exception being strawberry margaritas. With (lots of) real strawberries the drink comes out much thicker and smoother to drink.

Is there some ingredient that can thicken the mix for a smoother drink? Generally I use tequila, triple sec, agave nectar and then either a mix, strawberries, limeade or whatever for flavor.


texts:
I just tried to make yogurt and ended up making something else (the question is what).  I just finished the process of bringing the milk up to 180 f and then bringing it down to 110 f and was ready to add my starter when I opened up the pot and realized that the milk had already solidified and separated completely into a custardy yogurt like substance and whey.   I tasted the result and it seems OK but its not sour (and definitely not yogurt).

FYI, I added powdered milk and was using 1/3 1% and 2/3 0% Milk.  All milk was fresh and pasteurized.

Questions:

What did I make and is it edible?
What did I do wrong?

Thanks


texts: Why is my Pizza Dough always too sticky to knead?

texts:
I have tried to make pizza dough by hand a couple of times now but every time after mixing the ingredients the dough is far too sticky to knead, it is more like a batter than dough.  I have watched videos on youtube of people making it and it is nothing like how mine turns out.

The ingredients I am using are:

225g Bread Flour
140ml Water
1 tsp Dried Active Yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp olive oil

I have tried just mixing everything together at once, and I have also tried mixing the water, yeast and sugar together first then adding.

Can anyone see anything wrong with the quantities I am using in this recipe or is there something else that I should be doing to actually get dough that I can knead?  As I said, it is so sticky that it will just stick to everything it touches unless I constantly add flour (on my hands and board).


texts:
Yesterday I tried to make Bavarian Cream for the first time - it was a disaster. I think I know where I went wrong, but maybe someone with a bit of experience can still help me out.

So I got this recipe consisting of some egg yolks, sugar, gelatin, milk, heavy cream and some oil, syrup or liquor for flavor.

The recipe states to whisk the yolks together with the sugar until the mixture is pale - no problem for me.

Then it says to put the milk together with the flavor giving component into a bowl and bring it to a simmer. To temper the yolks, you then have to pour a bit of the hot liquid to the yolks, whisk it together and then pour it back into the pan to the rest of the hot liquid. I think I've also done this right - I had no scrambled eggs.

Now it says to cook it over low heat while stirring constantly until the custard thickens. As a test for it, the recipe states to dip a spoon into the custard, then run you finger about it's back. If the custard stays in place and does not run back into line, its alright.
I've done this test and although I had the feeling it's still really runny, it passed this test after about 3 min of cooking (Is this too short?) over really low heat not above 85 °C.

Then I took the pan from the heat like stated in the recipe and stirred in the gelatin sheets I had previously soaked in cold water. After that, I let it cool completely, but the consistency was still too runny, a bit like milk.

Here are the two things that went wrong it guess:
Maybe you noticed it, I haven't written anything about the cream, because the cream is listed as an ingredient, but isn't used in the whole recipe. I think thats an error in my recipe book, so I brought the cream together with the milk to a simmer.

Another thing that caused the wrong consistency is the amount of gelatin I guess. The recipe says to use 5 sheets, so I used 5 sheets. On the package it says that 6 sheets are needed to thicken 500 ml liquid. As I have used 350 ml heavy cream an 250 ml milk and some tablespoons of rosewater and syrup, I haven't used enough gelatin I believe.

So what do you think, have I identified the right components that caused my attempt to fail? Or do you notice another thing that strikes you? Do you have any tips for me?


texts:
I know how to uncork champagne. However, I just got a bottle of prosecco with a tiny cork, and I'm not sure how to pop it. I can't grab it like with a normal cork, and I'm worried about putting a cork screw in there if everything is under pressure.

Here's a picture of what the cork looks like:


texts: What material/metal is typically used under the layer of coating in 'ceramic' frying pans?

texts: I am looking at different ceramic frying pans, e.g. this lagostina one, but from reading the product description it is really hard to figure out what metal is the main body of the pan made of. For health reasons, I'm hoping to find one that uses steel rather than aluminum, but the manufacturers seem reluctant to explain it. Is there a general recommendation for how to find a ceramic pan that uses safe metals?


texts: Sometimes when making recipes that require just egg whites, I don't know what to do with the yolks so I just throw them out. Instead of throwing them out, is it possible to freeze them and keep them to use at a later date?


texts: What flavors complement pistachio (pudding specifically)?

texts:
My department at work is having a potluck holiday lunch, and I've settled on making something really easy and low-effort: a pistachio pudding pie.

Instant pudding in a store-bought crust actually tastes really good to me so I'm not just being lazy here.

But I had the idea of punching it up a little bit by making a special whipped cream to top it, I'm just not sure of a flavor. I don't want anything too overpowering.

I've been looking around, and I've seen pineapple suggested as a flavor that goes well with pistachio, or rosewater which could be interesting.

In the past I've made Irish whiskey whipped cream that tasted great but I'm not sure it would work here. I am open to using liqueurs to flavor the cream.


texts: Can you heat up a pudding mixture with cool whip?

texts: I'm making a dessert that needed instant pudding, but I got the cooking one by accident. I added it without realizing. The mixture is the pudding, milk, and cool whip. If I heat it up, will it ruin the cool whip part? Will it be okay? I don't wanna ruin it. Thanks!!!


texts: need to convert US recipe calling for tomato sauce to equivilant in UK

texts: I have a wonderful chili recipe that calls for 16 oz. of tomato sauce and need help finding an equivilant for my dear friend in the UK who wants to make this recipe. Is there a way she could delute a tube of tomato puree (similar to our tomato paste) to get the proper consistency and flavor? I'd appreciate any help with this. Thanks!!!


texts: Why must potato salad be placed in the refrigerator before serving?

texts: Many recipes for potato salad state that one should place the salad in the refrigerator after preparing. Some recipes state that one hour is enough. Others ask for several hours. Some recipes even require it to be stored overnight before being served. Why do these recipes have this requirement?


texts: is Le creuset pan 22 cms enamelled or not

texts:
I bought an old pan on ebay and I wish to know if it is enamelled or raw. Inside of pan has a black layer and a spot patch 6 by 3 cms of different layernature.
How do I find out out if pan is raw cast iron. The thin black layer is difficult to identify. The seller says that pan is not enamelled. But I doubt it.


texts: Do professional cooks use measuring cups and spoons?

texts:
I watched some TV shows showing cooks working in their restaurants. I use measuring cups and spoons when cooking almost everything, but do not see any of the TV cooks measure anything. They mostly just grab things and throw them in.

Do skilled cooks have no need for these tools?


texts: Refreeze ground hamburger as hamburgers after thawing?

texts: Can I thaw ground hamburger, make hamburger patties, and then refreeze them? I am thawing then on the counter in their original packaging. It is from a half cow that I bought.


texts: Why does beating egg whites with cold water increase the volume of incorporated air

texts:
From Wikipedia,

beating an egg white after adding a small amount of cold water considerably increases the amount of foam produced.

Why? What is changed by adding cold water?


texts: Baking and Tahini Halva: replacing sugar/honey with corn syrup (pure dextrose)?

texts:
I just read a recipe for DIY Tahini Halva made using honey and another recipe (sugar free) of Tahini halva made with erythritol.
However, Erythritol is not cheap and I don't mind carbs like "dextrose", so I'm considering other options.
I am avoiding the use of fructose.
I've considered replacing the honey with corn syrup, but I don't know the ratio. I've also considered a Dextrose powder + water mixture as a substitute.
However, I'm not sure if the physics and chemistry perfectly work out in either case, since sugar can be tricky.
What fructose-free sugars could I use as a replacement in a Halva recipe, and with what ratio?


texts: I have a recipe for mango chutney. Besides the mango, the ingredients are apple cider vinegar, onion, red bell pepper, and various spices. The recipe makes quite a bit, and I don't know if it would would be freezable? Thoughts?


texts: Which plastic wrap is okay for oven use?

texts:
On television I have seen cooks use plastic wrap, then foil over a pan of food that is going to be baked. I can see how this would stop the chemical reaction between certain foods and the aluminum and possibly form a tighter seal on the pan.

How do I know which plastic wrap is okay to use in the oven i.e. won't melt all over my bakeware and/or food?

Do I look for a certain plastic formulation?
Will the packaging tell me a certain wrap is okay at typical oven baking temperatures (300°F-425°F)?


texts: Will storing spices on the oven affect flavor or anything?

texts:
The back of the oven is raised from the stove top and sits against the wall, forming a small shelf which is a very convenient location to store spices for use when cooking. Sitting there are things such as: garlic powder, paprika, basil, oregano, etc. in various plastic, glass, and metal containers they came in from the grocery store.

So, it turns out this area gets quite warm if the oven has been on for a bit, and I'm wondering if that will affect the spices sitting there?


texts: Does splitting spaghetti in half change the taste?

texts: I've heard that splitting spaghetti in half before cooking them change the taste. Is it true?


texts: How long does it take botulism spores to germinate in the fridge?

texts:
Based on this question, I started wondering how long I could keep an anerobic food in the fridge before I have to worry about botulism colonization.  1 day?  3 days?  2 months?  Clearly it's not a short period of time (hours) or we'd all be dying of botulism poisoning by now.

Unfortunately, nothing I've been able to find on the net seems to be based on solid studies of germination times.  So, if I put a pre-prepared sous vide packet in the fridge, or homemade garlic oil, a low-acid sauce, or lemon curd, or similar, when do I have to toss it to be safe?


texts: Lots of liquid in bottom of wok when stir frying

texts:
When making stir fry, I use chicken, onion, bell peppers, green onions, bean sprouts, water chestnuts and bamboo shoots. When doing this, I use just enough peanut oil to coat the bottom of the wok, and heat the wok up on high until the oil just starts to smoke, then start with the meat, then water chestnuts/bamboo, then peppers, then onions and finally the bean sprouts and green onions.

When doing this, I have a large quantity of water/liquid that accumulates in the wok, to the point where the cooking seems to devolve to boiling instead of stir frying. I often drain some of this off into the sink. I estimate that between what is drained off, and what is left, somewhere in the range of 3/4 to 1 cup of liquid forms.

I assume this is liquid released from the veggies when they're heated up. Is there anything I can do to reduce/limit the amount of liquid forming, which seems to greatly slow down the cooking, and doesn't leave the veggies as crisp?


texts: What is the difference between Paris ham and French ham?

texts:
My supermarket sells two kinds of pre-sliced ham. One is called Paris-style and the other French-style ham. Both kinds of ham are from the same company and the names are no indication of where the ham is made.

Are these names widespread terms to used describe different types of ham?
If so, what is the difference between how these are made?


texts:
I love making sushi at home - it is a satisfying and delicious experience that is very quick and easy (and I can use whatever food is leftover in the house).

However, I'm limited by the type of rice I have been using, and most of the sources I've found are confusing about details and brands. I have been using Botan Calrose Rice, and I've used the Whole Foods brand sushi rice, but neither is particularly good.

So, what are the specific considerations for good sushi rice? Obviously it should be a white, short-grained rice, but what else should I look for? Is it worth it to order rice online when you live in a place that only sells the Botan rice?

Edit: The method for making the rice is either by boiling in a pot with a tight lid or using a rice cooker - both seem to produce very similar results for me. I am looking for a rice with more consistent texture and with a stronger, less chalky flavor.


texts: Does soaking liver in water instead of milk work well?

texts:
I researched and found that milk reduces the absorption of iron in your body. I have low iron and was wondering if I can soak liver in water instead of milk.

Is it possible to soak liver in water instead of milk, as is usually recommended?


texts:
Background

Trying to replicate wasabi almonds using Penzeys wasabi powder. Cannot retain the kick from the wasabi no matter what. Tried half a dozen things. Even with zero heat exposure wasabi loses its bite after drying.

Found this answer and got excited, but apparently it's wrong. Wasabi is not activated by oil, at least not the stuff I have. To clarify, I have explored all answers to that question, none of them solve my problem, and I am asking a different question in an attempt to understand how the process works.

Question

What do the commercial guys do to lock in the kick?

What I found so far

I can't find anything about the manufacturing process online. Closest I found was one stray comment on a wasabi pea recipe mentioning that the wasabi itself is not exposed to heat, but obviously that alone isn't enough.


texts: Why does Wusthof call Honing Steel 'Sharpening steel'?

texts:
I know that honing differs from sharpening. See this also. My grandparents must buy a Honing Steel for their WÜSTHOF 4596-7/20 Classic Ikon 8-Inch Cook's Knife.

On Wusthof Canada's website, they selected 'Honing steels (18)' on the left as you can see below. But why are all the results  listed as 'Sharpening steels'. Is this correct?

If wrong,  why'd Wusthof muff this distinction? Don't they know better?


texts: What is the "idea" behind thawing out meat?

texts: Is it some how better to thaw out meat in a refrigerator versus on the counter versus running hot water over it versus in the microwave? Is it the longer the time meat has to thaw out the more taste is retained? If I'm pressed for time, could combinations be used: for example leaving meat on the counter for 1 hour and then microwaving it until completed thawed?


texts: What is the difference between baking soda and baking powder?

texts: And can I use one in place of the other in certain recipes?


texts: I accidentally left the brown sugar out of my caramel sauce

texts:
I made “caramel” popcorn crunch which called for butter, brown sugar, light corn syrup, vanilla and baking soda.

I cooked it to the soft boil stage then coated the popcorn and cereal mixture and baked at 250 for 1 hour.   Tasted a little more buttery than usual but otherwise was good.  This morning I realized I forgot to add the brown sugar!!

Will having left out the sugar impact anything other than the taste?   I give this as part of my Christmas goodie package every year and don’t want it to go bad or anything.

Thanks!


texts:
Is it ok to boil pasta in pan with a pasta sauce?

Is there any reason to boil pasta separately (and then add the sauce)?


texts: What does it mean when chia seeds are bitter?

texts: I have bough some chia seeds in bulk and when I add liquid their gel have a bitter, almost chemical taste. What does it mean (bad quality? stale?) and how can I get rid of it (if that's safe)?


texts: How do I adjust a bread recipe for long, cool proofing?

texts:
I've got that recipe that calls for 21g of fresh yeast for buns that shall only rest for one hour: https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&nv=1&rurl=translate.google.de&sl=de&tl=en&u=http://www.chefhansen.de/2013/10/07/the-golden-october/&usg=ALkJrhjEB2ncHCn-QroNukS7DWPli2tLBA

If I want to proof the dough overnight or for 24 hrs, 48 hrs etc: how do I need to adjust the amount of yeast to use? Is there any rule of thumb to apply?

Edit:
The ingredients for the buns are:

250 g Hokkadio Pumpkin
50-75 ml of milk
21 g cube fresh yeast
150 g wheat flour type 550
360 g whole wheat flour sifted, remove the bran for later
1/2 tsp caraway seed
1/2 tsp fennel pounded
2 tsp salt
60 g butter


texts: What is the shelf life of opened cheeses?

texts: I am a cheese lover. I always enjoy finding unique cheeses and trying them. However I always end up with a plethora of opened cheeses which opens up the question of; What is the shelf-life of opened cheeses? Do they differ per cheese. I don't want to waste the cheese!


texts: What types of food are safe for short-term room-temperature storage?

texts:
Federal food safety guidelines advise against leaving food in the "danger zone" (4-60° C / 40-140° F) for more than 2 cumulative hours.  However, not all food needs refrigeration; some obvious examples are bread, peanut butter, unpeeled potatoes or onions, even some pastries such as fruit pies.

How do I know if a particular food is immune to this danger zone and thus safe to store for several hours or days at room temperature? What about longer-term storage?

Note to answerers - this is intended to be a "canonical" or "reference" question on food safety. Please do not answer unless you can support it with a trusted source. General guidelines are also preferred over a list of specific foods.


texts:
I'm a huge fan of Gouda and I've always wondered how it would be going into a cheese soufflé.

But has anyone ever tired it?

All these recipes call for other types of cheese.


texts: What is the difference between toffee and caramel?

texts: I always wondered and hope someone here can clear it up for me.


texts: How can I get Italian meringue to thicken?

texts: I tried to make italian meringue and it was all going well until the meringue, (with the sugar syrup added), just didn't thicken and turned into 'royal icing'. Next time, how do I make it and what can I do to rectify now?


texts: How do I scale a recipe that calls for boiling off liquid?

texts:
I made a lamb ragu last night, but doubled the quantity for a large group. One of the steps called for 1.5 cups of red wine and then boiled it off. Doubling to 3 cups seemed entirely too much (once I'd already done it) and took quite a while to boil off. The recipe then called for 3 cups of chicken stock, which was again supposed to mostly boil off. 6 cups looked ridiculous, so I ended up using about 4, but it still seemed like too much. The 90 mins suggested wasn't long enough to boil the sauce down to a good consistency, but I had to serve it anyway. It was a bit watery, but tasted good.

So how do I scale quantity and cooking time in a recipe that calls for the liquid to boil away or boil down significantly? A linear scaling didn't seem to work well at all. Are there any good rules of thumb?


texts: What effect does closing a lid in some recipe do?

texts: In cooking meat like chicken, I've noticed that recipes say to close the lid and wait for few minutes. I'm trying to figure what exactly the effect created by this is. Any insight will be appreciated.


texts:
I was sampling several brands of dark chocolate bars. Here are two of them.

Lindt 90% Supreme Dark
Ghirardelli 86% Intense Dark

This bar of Ghirardelli chocolate (as well as other Ghirardelli chocolates) I tried have a twang aftertaste to them. The closest I can describe it is a citric acid / vitamin c flavor. Perhaps even "fruity". The Lindt bar didn't have that twang and was very smooth.

Can you tell me:

What is it I'm tasting
What causes the "twang"
What are other chocolates brands I can buy that are "twang"-free like this Lindt bar.


texts:
Is there a difference in the "nature" of the steam being produced by the steamers in the espresso machines?

I have a decent espresso machine, but apparently even a professional barista who I know can't make the foam needed for cappuccino art - so I was wondering if professional espresso machines produce a steam that is different in nature compared to home ones (at least, midrange ones).


texts: What is the proper way to bake meat balls in the oven?

texts:
I tried baking meat balls with various temperatures and meat mixtures (regular to extra lean); however, every time, I end up with lots of water oozing out of the meat ball.

How can I cook them with minimum lost deliciousness?


texts: How to quickly make refried beans (or thereabouts) using Kidney beans?

texts:
I've been trying for awhile now to make a bean-like paste for burritos/nachos/etc. akin to Refried Beans I so enjoyed while living in North America. What I've got so far isn't half bad, but I'd really like to improve on this, if possible.

Here's how I do it now:

Empty beans into strainer; wash with cold water.
Put beans into pan slightly under water and bring to boil.
Lightly simmer until beans come out of their shells.
Turn heat down to min; Drain off 3/4 of the water.
Mash mash mash away.
Add spices and mix; let water burn evaporate until consistency is to my liking.

NOTE: I only recently added steps 2-4 in an attempt at mashing the shells better. It has not helped. If I remove those steps, the entire process takes maybe 10 minutes (= happy stomachs :)

No matter how much or long I cook and/or mash the beans (while adding water), the skin never quite "liquidizes" so there are these annoying strainy-blobs that everyone complains about.

I usually use Red and White Kidney Beans or some kind of baked beans in tomato sauce, simply because I don't have to cook them at all i.e. I can eat them out of the can and they taste good :) Perhaps that logic is bad and I should be using other beans (assuming I can find them here) ?


texts: What are the four cheeses generally used in"four-cheese" pizzas?

texts: In common consumer pizza, microwave and bake-at-home pizzas are often advertised as four-cheese pizzas. What are these four cheeses, traditionally? Do different brands use different mixes, or does everyone stay about the same? How are these cheeses traditionally mixed, in what fashion?


texts:
I would like to process (in glass jars or bottles for shelf life) teriyaki sauce/marinade.
My recipe calls for vinegar. I'm leaning towards pressure cooking for safety reasons but am
Unable to find somewhere to purchase bottles with tops that seal. Can you recommend somewhere or should I stick with my canning jars? These will not be for resale only home use or gifts. Thanks


texts:
I have been experimenting with croissants and found that, delicious as they are, they are dense, not light and fluffy.  The layers are very close together, not open with vast pockets of air.

I have tried cranking up the oven to 550 when I initially put them in to get that "bloom", but that only adds a little.

One thing I have not tried is reducing the amount of butter and adding water - but I am following the recipes.

Also, what should the bakers' percentages be for a good croissant dough?

I have tried a dozen or more recipes, most from French bakers, but my dough usually turns out very dry, very stiff, nothing like that shown in the videos.


texts: Key ingredients for classic Sauce Bolognese (Ragù Bolognese)?

texts:
What are the ingredients, both main and optional, for a classic Ragù Bolognese?

I tried getting an answer to this question. First I looked around this site. I found one question about a "secret ingredient", a specific question about the type of meat, and a good question about flavoring the sauce with spices. I also tried making my search query more specific, but no dice.

After that I looked at Wikipedia's Ragù Bolognese article, which does contain a certain list:

  Ground meat (beef or veal, sometimes pork)
  Onions
  Celery
  Carrot
  Tomato paste
  Wine

This is only a basic list, e.g. Pancetta's missing, even though it's mentioned in most recipes. Other recipes ranked highly in Google (bonappetit.com, foodnetwork.com, epicurious.com, and for fun BBC even chips in etc.) mention several others as well:

Regular olive oil
Extra-virgin olive oil
Butter
Tomatoes (fresh, or more often: tinned or "tin crushed")
Pancetta (sometimes even bacon, but I guess that's just a inferior alternative?)
Wine (both Red and White get mentioned)
Stock (beef, chicken, as well as veal get mentioned)
Ground pepper (usually black, sometimes white)
Milk
Garlic
Cloves
Basil
Bay Leaves
Oregano
Parseley
Nutmeg
Sugar
Cinnamon

A certain related site also has a similar question that lists a subset, but without any references, explanation, historical background, or whatsoever.

So, to reiterate, my question is: what are the ingredients for Bolognese sauce? What are the staple ingredients, and what are the additions made by chefs over the years?


texts: how to create gratin with _thin_ cheese skin

texts:
Several years ago I knew a place where they served ragout fin au gratin in small bowls with a very thin cheese skin.

I'd like to create these myself. I tried several approaches, mostly by putting finely grinded Parmesan into milk or cream, sometimes combined with egg, (with nice results some times), but the resulting cheese skin is not as desired. The problem I'm having is that either the mixture is too runny and flows to the rim of the bowl or it is too thick and will result in a (tasty) skin which is, too thick however. Any ideas what I could try? Different kind of cheese maybe? Try again until I find the correct mixture?


texts: Why are mushrooms safe for everyone to touch at the supermarket?

texts:
Food safety laws generally apply to most food you can touch with your hands at supermarkets - such as loose leaf spinach, bread rolls in the bakery, and anything at the deli. When handling these foods, you need to use tongs (or wear food safety gloves).

But mushrooms seem to be 'safe' for everyone to touch with their hands. There are never tongs near them (at least at any supermarket I've seen) and everyone uses their hands.

Why is this? What makes mushrooms special?


texts: How to make Chinese-style cornstarch coating stick

texts:
The other day I prepared General Tso's Tofu. It tasted good, but the result was not quite what I wanted. Like with many other Chinese dishes, the tofu cubes in General Tso's Tofu are coated in a thin jelly-like layer consisting of cornstarch, liquid and seasoning. The coating is supposed to darken a bit, once it caramelizes in the hot pan. This adds a nice sweet-sour taste and appetizing gloss. (This is a nice example.)

The coating stuck well to the tofu cubes as long as they were raw. But once I had stirred the cubes in a hot pan, the coating came off the cubes and accumulated in lumps that eventually stuck to the spatula.

How can I prevent the coating from coming off the cubes while stir-frying? Is there a way to do this without deep-frying?


texts:
I enjoy putting a bunch of mint leaves into my salads, but I'm lazy and I get bored tearing the leaves off the stems to put into my salad.  I am tempted to take the entire bunch of mint and chop it up, stalks and all.

Can I get away with this shortcut? Is this a bad idea?  Will the stems be too "woody" or bitter and mess up the taste or texture?


texts: I’m allergic to lemons, limes, and all citrus fruit. what can I substitute in making my own jams/jellies, other items that seem to require the juice of a lemon?


texts: Does placement of ingredients and condiments on a sandwich change the taste?

texts: When making a cold deli meat sandwich or a burger, does layering the solid ingredients and condiments in a different order change the taste or mouth-feel? If so, how and why? Are there reasons to prefer one order to another?


texts: How would I make sure that my hamburgers (or any food unsuitable raw) tastes good? With other foods, it is possible to adjust the spice proportions according to taste, but I would not taste the raw meat.


texts: What fruits keep their sweetness when baking?

texts:
I want to replace sugar with fresh fruit when baking. What fruit would produce the most sweetness? The fruit should not produce an undesirable flavor and be easy enough to buy in Florida.

Edit:
Kiwis caused me to think this.


texts: Are there any differences that need to be accounted for when changing a hamburger from grilled to griddled?

texts: I have a friend that is about to open a food truck and he has asked me to use my burger recipe.  I have spent a long time perfecting it, but I have always made it with thick patties meant for the grill and not for the griddle, which is all he will have inside the truck.  Since the best griddled burgers are the smashed patty type, I want to adapt my recipe to work well with this new cooking method.  Am I going to need to play with my seasoning/spicing ratio?


texts: When smoking, is temperature consistency more important than exact temperature?

texts:
I am smoking ribs in a charcoal smoker. The smoked rib recipe that I am following instructs smoking the ribs at 225°F. My smoker is maintaining a temperature of 215°F. I can add more lump charcoal to raise the temperature, but fear I will soar right past my target temperature.

I realize the ribs will cook slower at a lower temperature, but is maintaining 225°F paramount to cooking the ribs correctly? Am I risking food safety by maintaining a slightly lower temperature?


texts: What happens if you freeze a soft serve of ice cream?

texts: If I buy a soft serve of ice cream (a single serving in a cone or tub) and put it in my home freezer, will it retain its shape and texture? What will happen to it?


texts: How can I emulsify cod liver oil, or otherwise mask its taste?

texts:
Background

I have some cod liver oil to take a supplement, but the taste is sufficiently unpleasant that I am not sure how to finish the bottle off. In the past, I have found emulsified cod liver oil fully tolerable, even pleasant, and I would like to know if it would be simple to make a similar product at home from raw cod liver oil.

The Twinlab website states that the product is

  emulsified with natural soy lecithin
  and apple pectin making the EPA and
  DHA more readily available to the
  digestive system for better
  absorption, assimilation and
  utilization.

And the ingredients are (in order):

water
cod liver ois
glycerin
sorbitol
soy lecithin
cellulose
orange flavors
tragacanth gum resin
apple pectin
alpha tocopherol
ascorbyl palmitate
beta carotene

But it is not clear to me which of these ingredients are required, what quantities, or how to blend them.

Questions

Is there a way that I can emulsify cod liver at home in such a way that will accomplish this?
Are there any other suggestions for how to consume cod-liver oil without having either the initial taste or the residual flavor in the mouth and breath?


texts: What can be used as an alternative for Applesauce?

texts: This  banana bread recipe calls for applesauce and it's not something that's available at the stores here. Will it be okay if I just leave it out or can I use any other common ingredient to replicate the effect?


texts: Are rinsed out plastic milk jugs safe for storing water?

texts: Over some time I have accumulated several plastic milk jugs and I'm considering using them to store water in case of an emergency.  I've rinsed them out and left them to dry, but should I worry about cleaning them further?  Should I use dish soap/scrub brushes?  Will the cleaned jugs be sealed tightly enough to prevent the water from becoming contaminated?


texts: Did I blanch baby-cut carrots correctly?

texts:
The Cook's Illustrated How-to-Cook Library suggests blanching 3/4 lb baby carrots for crudités in boiling salted water until bright orange, about 15 s. I added a tablespoon of salt to almost four quarts of water and blanched almost 2 lb of baby-cut carrots for 15 s. They didn't change color in this time, but they seemed bright orange from the start. After shocking in ice water and draining, I tasted the blanched carrots against the original raw carrots. They tasted roughly the same. Maybe the blanched ones were slightly less bitter but I'm not sure I would consistently say that in a blind taste test. What difference in taste should I have noticed?

Did I do something wrong? Should I have left them in the boiling water for longer than 15 s? The National Center for Home Food Preservation suggests 5 min for small carrots, but that's for a freezing application rather than raw consumption.


texts:
When I used to get donor kebabs in Brisbane, Australia, the store I would frequent would serve them in a particular stretchy flatbread, who the store owner told me was a type of bread from lebabnon.

The distinguisihing features I noticed were the complete lack of brown spots commonly found on pita breads and middle eastern breads, and that it was stretchy.

I've begun making my own kebabs at home in the style of the Australian ones, and have been completely unable to find a recipe for anything like this bread. I've been to Turkey, Israel, Lebanon and live in NYC, and I've had no luck even finding a bread I could buy that was similar.

What was this mystery bread?

Is there any middle eastern bread known for being stretchy and completely white?


texts: Alternative to cream for fried chicken recipe

texts:
I've recently gotten a fried chicken recipe that I really enjoy. However, the coating (seasoned flour) is held on with egg and cream (mix 1 egg and 1/4 cup heavy cream, dip the chicken in the flour and then in the flour, fry). One of my family members is allergic to milk so cream is not an option for a family meal.

What can I use instead of cream to ensure a nice thick coating? I have tried soy milk instead, which tasted fine, but the breading was thin...


texts: All of the IQF shrimp in local stores contain sodium tripolyphosphate. I am apparently very sensitive to the taste, or at least more so than my family members. It renders these shrimp inedible to me. Is there anything that I could marinade the shrimp in to possibly reduce some of the taste?


texts: Basil lookalike that tastes like aniseed.

texts: I bought a herb on the market, thinking it was fresh basil. What I know for sure now, is that this isn't basil. It has a taste that reminds me of anise and fennel. It stays a bit firmer than basil when put on spaghetti. What did I buy?


texts: Why does my ricotta cheese go bad in a few days?

texts: No matter if I buy my ricotta by weight or by package it goes bad (funky smell, the puddle of cheese water gets grainy, some yellow tint on the sides of the cheese, losing its mellow sweet taste) within 2-3 days. I know it could have a fridge life of 1 to 2 weeks - why is it not the case with me?


texts: Is there some sort of pot with a sort of sieve on the bottom to separate sauce?

texts:
I'm not a native English speaker so I'll do my best to explain what I envision.
I was wondering if there is some sort of... kitchen utensil, a pot of some kind that has a... sieve of some sort at its bottom to separate the food I'm trying to cook from the juices it extrudes?
So, say I'm putting some peas and corn in this thing and sprinkling them with grated cheese on top. Putting it in the oven when heating the cheese will start to ooze fat which kind of grosses me out, skip the judgement, I like the way I am, so it'd be perfect if there was this sieve thing at the bottom to let the fat through but keep the peas and corn on top.
Anyone know of such a thing or two separate utensils that are designed to be combined in such a way?


texts:
I never cooked "real" sausages before. Now I have several kinds of sausages: chorizo, merguez, and chicken. I have only a couple of each and a big electric pan.

How do I cook them? Should I add water? How long?


texts: Recipe calls for Tapioca pudding - none to be found!

texts: Any suggestions on what to use?  I want to make a recipe called "Orange Creamsicle Salad.  You boil the tapioca pudding, gelatin and pudding.  Any ideas on what I can use other than Tapioca pudding?


texts:
I've been messing around with the pancake recipe that calls for the following ingredients in the past few days.

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil

They come out really thick, slightly more than half an inch thick. I can get it thinner if I spread the batter out using the ladle, but that's a bit of a messy solution.

Is there anything I can do to tweak the recipe to make the pancake batter come out a bit thinner from the start?


texts: Vessels for heating milk as well as storing it without damage in kitchen

texts:
I heat milk twice in a day: morning and evening and keep them in the kitchen room only for at least a day.
While preparing the lunch or breakfast I'm facing difficulty to keep track of the milk because any small amount of addition of other substances may make the milk break down.  I generally use a steel container and cover it with a steel vessel. The problem is not solving because once or some other time milk is getting damaged while adjusting vessels.
I'm thinking of any vessel that we can use for both heating and storing in the kitchen room only without any damage can solve my problem.  I don't want to replace milk to some other place etc.,
Are there any such vessels?


texts: I have been cooking yogurt cakes in the US for a while and each time it has to cook for an extra 20 min. Why?

texts:
I like the Gâteau au Yaourt (Yogurt Cake) as describe here (in French):

http://www.750g.com/gateau-au-yaourt-r45540.htm

I uses Yogurt (x1), Flour (x3, see below), Eggs (x3), Oil (x1/2 to x1), Sugar (x2), and whatever flavor you like... (vanilla, chocolate, nuts...)

The recipes always say to cook the cake for about 35 min. I always end up leaving the cake in the oven for another 20 min. or so.

What would be the reason why the cooking takes longer here? Wouldn't 180°C be the same in the US? (I use 350°F for the oven settings...)

Also, I put less flour (I use 2/3rd instead of the French quantities to avoid getting a piece of stone out of the oven), however, the texture is very similar. Also most often I add chocolate to it, making the batter generally thicker.

However, I think that there is quite a difference between 35 min. and nearly a whole hour...


texts: Undercooked French Bread in Bread machine

texts: I recently bought a Hamilton Beach 2 lbs Bread-maker. Today I used their provided recipe to make a 2lbs loaf of French bread. I followed the recipe but my bread turned out looking under-cooked on top of the loaf and on the inside. I made the Italian Parmesan bread last weekend and had no problems with it. This time, the bread seemed to stay liquid after mixing for a lot longer than it did with the Italian Parmesan bread. Being a first time bread-maker I'm not sure if that's just how French bread is when it bakes or what. Any advice or suggestions of where I went wrong, and/or how I can fix it would be greatly appreciated. I feel like I probably messed up on the measuring of ingredients.


texts:
I'm about to move into a rather small studio flat, with a pretty tiny kitchen.

I'm wondering if there's a small grill (about the size of a small gas stove, i.e, you could hold it between your hands easily) that runs from electricity or gas. The kind of thing good for grilling 2 chicken breasts on at the same time. Is there any such grill on the market?

Whenever I search for grill on the net, all I find are the giant machines used for outdoor bbq's, that's not what I have in mind. I'm looking for something small that can be used to grill one or 2 chicken breasts, that's all.


texts: Use high gluten (bread) flour for hand pulled noodles

texts:
I found that recipes on hand pulled noodles use various types of flours that's confusing from a chemistry perspective.  Dough made from high gluten flour is more elastic and less extensible which doesn't sound like a good candidate for hand pulled noodles.  Has anybody had success making hand pulled noodles from high gluten flour?

Any experience and theory is appreciated!  Thanks.


texts: Cheese soufflé with bread cubes instead of egg whites

texts:
In this video: Cheese Soufflé that NEVER Falls! - Chef Jean-Pierre, Chef Jean Pierre proposes an interesting method for making cheese soufflé; instead of folding in beaten egg whites to his custard, he uses diced bread cubes (with crust removed) to provide the air that will make the soufflé rise.
His reasoning for using bread is that the soufflé will not fall (only slightly) and could thus be fully cooked in advance (hence making a foolproof recipe for beginner cooks).
This method relies on 2 key aspects:

The bread is broken down in the heated custard environment and
The soufflé will not fall because of the bread

Could someone explain from a chemistry perspective why 1) and 2) occur?
For 2), my guess is the broken down bread provides better structural integrity than egg whites, though I am not sure why.


texts: why should the madeleine tins start off cold?

texts: I have a recipe for Madeleine's which calls for the tins to be buttered, sprinkled with flour and then put in the fridge or freezer for the remainder of the prep time.  What is the reasoning for this?


texts: Using a Convection oven. Do I use the same temperature as a Fan oven?

texts:
I am using a Convection oven. Do I set the temperature the same as a fan oven?
(Eg instructions only mention 190c Fan or 200c Electric for 25-30minutes)
Unable to find a basic temperature conversion chart. Just Electric/Fan!


texts: I bought my third Misto (love them) and the pump head does not move after filling and pressurizing the canister.  It is not clogged, as nothing has gone through it.  Is there a way to release the head for spray, or should I just dispose of it and order another?


texts: Can we still eat our corn if the rats just ate the silk part? Rats ate into some of the cobs. I do still have corn that they didn’t eat. Can I consume this corn? If so, what is the best way to proceed?


texts: White ganache from cocoa butter won't set

texts:
I want to create white truffles which doesn't taste like white chocolate (sugar and vanilla) but like dark chocolate. So I tried to create them from cocoa butter.

I added 60 g of cocoa butter, 17g of cream and 12g of powdered sugar (because it tasted sugary enough) and a little of salt. The problem is when ganache cooled down it was made from 2 layers. Hard top and quite liquid bottom. I could add more cream but I am afraid that the bottom would be more liquid and the top would be the same.
Maybe the problem is that most recipes for white chocolate from cocoa butter needed milk powder (which is very expensive) or egg white powder (which is also expensive) and I did ganache without them. Do I need an emulsifier? I have soy lecithin and some others modern thickeners.

I can made truffles from dark chocolate without problem.


texts: I've been reading about oil infused with raw veg and herbs and how it can give you botulism, and now I'm worried that when I use oil when preparing any vegetables I will contaminate my oil with bacteria, for example if I chop up some potatoes and then use the oil bottle to pour it over them without washing my hands. Am I crazy or not? Does there need to be a substantial amount of raw veg to cause problems or could any particles with the bacteria on it get in there hurt someone? As the bacteria is everywhere it seems like it could easily make its way in there and the oil is the perfect environment for it to survive.


texts:
I visited a chef knife shop and spoke to the owner. He mentioned that he didn´t like Shun knives because they become dull so quickly due to bad heat treatment.

When I asked him about details he tried to change the subject.

How does heat treating affect the blade quality in knives and is he correct about Shun becoming dull due to poor heat treatment?


texts: (Intentionally) Mixed Texture 'Scrambled Eggs'

texts:
I'm trying to replicate a strange form of 'scrambled eggs' that I had on holiday in Austria recently, but I can't figure out how it's done.

Instead of the usual fluffy, semi-soft yellow 'clouds', all roughly the same texture, this was a mix of different textures/types: part slightly runny omelette, part firmer omelette, part hard boiled egg including the whites. I thought the omelette parts and the boiled egg parts must have been cooked separately then assembled at the end, but the finished article was all joined/melded together rather than being in separate pieces.

I've tried making the different components separately then combining, but it doesn't all come together right at the end. I've also tried poaching the eggs, then putting them in a frying pan, bursting the yolks and letting the liquid form the omelette, but again that doesn't come out right.
PS: Two points to add:

1) I had this several times while on holiday and it was always the same, so I presume it was intentional and not a 'one off' mistake by the chef.

2) I know it probably seems like more trouble than it's worth, but I really enjoyed the mix of textures rather than the usual homogenous variety, so it's not about replicating it for the challenge. I really want to keep eating this!

Does anyone have any ideas please?
Thanks in advance.


texts:
(In the United States,) Keebler chocolate-chip cookies list egg as an ingredient. But they list it after salt, meaning that the amount of egg in the product is less than (well, not more than) the amount of salt. From the sodium content one can figure out that the amount of salt is not more than about five-sixth of a percent (or less than four grams per pound of cookies), so the amount of egg is also not more than that.

Why would they put in such a small quantity of egg? What does adding that small amount of egg do for the cookies, that they couldn't leave it out?


texts: I am making bread bowls for soup.  I made extra dough for a loaf, do you think there is a difference making a loaf from a bread bowl recipe?  The Bread Bowl recipe seems like a pretty standard bread recipe.


texts: How to get dried split peas to be equivalent to fresh peas

texts:
I'm making Fresh Pea Soup, but I don't have fresh green peas. Instead, I have dried peas that I obtained from the bulk section at my local market.

The recipe asks for 4 cups of fresh green peas. In the recipe, they only need to be cooked for five minutes. I'm fairly certain that I wouldn't get the right consistency if I only cooked the dried peas for five minutes. How long should I soak, then boil the dried split peas for so that I can just treat them as fresh peas?


texts: Can rasam, a South Indian recipe, be boiled at high temperatures?

texts:
One of my friends said "rasam" should not be boiled at high temperatures but he hasn't given any reason for that statement.

Is it true? If so, could you give me the reason?


texts: How much flavor do you lose when you clarify a stock with an egg raft?

texts:
I have heard conflicting things with stock clarification.  One thing I have heard is that your stock will maintain its same depth of flavor but with clarity.  Another source says that you have to start with a really high quality stock or your clarified stock will come out tasting like water.

I have noticed that while some clarification methods use just egg whites, others use egg whites, mirepoix, and ground meat.  This leads me to think that in addition to clarification, the method is trying to put something back into the stock that is being lost.

My motivation for the question is that I just finished a gallon and a half of stock that came out perfect.  While most of the things it will be going into won't need clarification, there are a few dishes that would look nicer with a clarified stock.  If it doesn't affect the flavor, my instinct would be to just put in a couple extra hours and clarify the whole batch before storing it.


texts: I've recently taking up making fudge for family and friends.  However, my cutting technique lacks a desirable smooth uniform piece. How can I cut equal smooth cuts?


texts: Vanilla Extract with and without alcohol

texts:
Are there any reputable research regarding ranking of vanilla extracts? I usually buy major retail brand at supermarket. It tastes fine in baking. However, I add it to cream or tea and other non-baking recipes. In these recipes it tastes harsh.

Is it the alcohol? I thought generic vanilla extract has flavorless alcohol?

Is it the brand? Has any major site (America's Test Kitchen, Culinary Schools) ranked vanilla extracts?

Might in this case, artificial vanilla be better choice?


texts: Removing macaron paper template under silicone mat

texts: I'm a keen baker and am now buying silicone baking mats. However when I've realised when I am baking macarons, it looks like it is going to be quite difficult to remove the paper macaron template from under the mat. Does any professional have any tips?


texts: What is the difference between Dutch Pie and German Pie?

texts:
I've seen several recipes of the two pies and even then I don't know if there is an original.

Usually in Dutch Pie in Brazil, picture here, I see it based on a dough made with melted butter and crushed crackers. As filling a crème pâtissière and a dark chocolate ganache.

In German Pie in Brazil, picture here, I never found something "canonical", but usually see it surrounded with chocolate-covered cookies. In fact, I don't know which is used in this pie filling and which procedure should be taken to do it.


texts: Soya sauce. Are they different for variety of dishes?

texts:
Soya sauce: Whenever I buy new Soya sauce, it tastes quite different. Normally I use it in noodles and manchurian.

Any tips to buy it. During my reading, people mentioned thick/thin soya sauce. But in groceries I did not found something like this mentioned in description.

The latest one I bought, (it's same brand as previous one, same colored bottle), tastes too hot :(


texts: What is the proper way to store steak at home?

texts:
When you buy steak from the market it is usually wrapped up under shrink wrap and the meat usually sits on top of a moisture absorbing pad. When you get it from the butcher, it is wrapped up in waxed paper and/or brown paper.

Once you get it home, if you're not going to eat it for a few days, what is the proper way to store it?

The reason I ask is that if I let it sit in the waxed paper for a few days, when I open it up, it looks slightly discolored on the surface, with a slightly slimy texture. I'm assuming that this is okay because I've cooked may steaks that looked like this and have not gotten sick.

Should I take it out of the packaging and have it just sit on a plate? Does this emulate dry-aging? Taking it out will definitely prevent meat from getting the slimy texture.


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I have some ~year out of date dry cake mix in a sealed bag.
According to Does it Go Bad it's still good to use, but it wont' rise the same.

The dry mix usually contains baking powder or some other leavening agents, and these gradually lose potency. So while an ancient one might be perfectly safe to use, the cake will most likely turn out flat.

Emphasis mine.
Would adding extra raising agents help? What can I do to 'rescue' it?


texts: Can I use a metal bowl with rubber bottom as double boiler?

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So long story short I am attempting to make some chocolate covered strawberries for my wife for mother's day tomorrow. I found some easy recipes that I want to try, including one that say you can just melt the chips in the microwave, like this. After only two rounds of 30 seconds the batch I put in microwave was starting to burn, granted I did only use a smaller amount to test it and avoid ruining my whole pack of pieces...

Due to this I started looking for make shift double boiler ideas I can use and I found one that mentions using a pot with a metal bowl on top. So like this I will be able to stir everything the entire time and it sounds promising but the only bowls we have are like these with rubber bottoms...

Can I use these bowls for my make shift double boilder? If this is not safe or advisable is there any other tips you guys have that could help out a noob cook trying to be sweet?!


texts: Optimal Cheese Melting Bagel Baking Temp/Time

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So i'm putting a bagel with cheese and ham on it into a conventional oven to toast it a bit. My end goal is for the cheese to be completely melted and the bagel not too crisp/dry.

What time and temperature combination is best for this?


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Is unwrapped, refrigerated cheese safe?

I usually have Australian or New Zealand cheddar cheese or similar cheese in my refrigerator.  Recently I've been discarding the original wrapping which usually is not resealable and also not bothering with "cling wrap".  I simply put it on a laminated disposable paper dish and refrigerate.  Is this practice safe?  A 250 gram block is usually consumed within 5 days if not much sooner.