texts: What are the key ingredients in Worcester Sauce?

texts:
I fully understand that there is no absolutes in names, but would you expect anything sold today as Worcester sauce to contain at least the key original ingredients?

I figure them to be:

Malt vinegar
Anchovies (or similar fish)
Tamarind

I accidentally brought a bulk new supply of Worcester sauce only to discover it only contained

Apple juice
Food acid
Flavouring

And sugar, salt, spices etc. as well

I am sending this lot back of course :-(

Note: In some countries the generic sauce is called Worcestershire, but this is really the L&P name

Edit: I can read Wikipedia, and know the previous and current ingredients, I am looking for the key ingredients that defines this sauce


texts: Christmas pudding maturation - time vs room temperature

texts:
IME a lot of things that go mouldy, get eaten by insects, etc., within a few weeks in Indonesia, last indefinitely in England. This is mainly due to temperature.
Christmas pudding is traditionally made on Stir-up Sunday in the UK, that is the last Sunday in November. In practice year-old puddings seem to be just fine in UK conditions.
My room temperature is around 28C and I'd expect different spoilage from UK conditions. Possibly also whatever maturation process is going on is happening much more quickly due to heat.
However a study here found 50-year-old Christmas pudding to be perfectly sterile: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/pressreleases/2017/december/science-proves-it's-safe-to-eat-48-year-old-christmas-pud.aspx
So maybe it is fine.
Anyway, can someone comment on the specific processes going on during maturation of the pudding, perhaps the relative impact of time, and the influence of temperature on the process?


texts: Why is it that you make stock (and/or gravy) from a roast chicken or beef or fish, but you don't do the same for pork?


texts: How to make pizza crust thin and elastic at the same time?

texts:
For the title: I'm not sure if "elastic" is the perfect word here, so is anyone knows better one - put it in the comment.

I like thin pizza crust, but when I've made it myself it was hard and stiff - not very pleasant to eat.

I know that making a dough isn't an easy task, but I would like to hear your tips. What should pay attention to avoid hard and stiff crust?

I've heard about putting a pot with water into the oven to increase moisture.
How about existence of oil in dough, does it change anything?
How about flour type?


texts: I added more water to my ciabatta dough by accident

texts: I just realized that I added about 4 cups of water to 4 cups of flour for my ciabatta dough. It only calls for 2 cups, but I added 4 for some reason. It’s been rising for a bit over 4 hours and there are a lot of bubbles, which I’m happy about, but it’s very runny. It was a bit sticky when I mixed it but it can pour like a thick soup. How do I fix it? Will it ruin the air bubbles if I add more flour?


texts: What is the proper way to use corn starch to thicken sauces?

texts:
How do you mix corn starch slurry and how do you use it?

Do you add the corn starch to the water, or do you add water to the corn starch?
Generally what proportions do you need, what is the ratio of water to cornstarch?
Do you need to use more slurry to thicken more liquid; if so, what is the quantity per volume?


texts: On my way to work which is about an hour drive I had brought along my protein shake which contains 16oz of milk. The whole car ride was nice and cool due to the ac. Once I got to work I accidentally left it out for another hour in the car. I just grabbed it and put it in the freezer so it will cool. It did not smell bad. Is this still okay to drink? Or has it been too long?


texts: Damage to freezer food after a power outage

texts: My freezer went without power for 70 hours while we were out of town.  The power was restored before we returned and refroze everything.  The unit was full and did have some solid ice packs within.  Is anything safe to consume in this freezer?


texts:
Some online advice says to put salmon in a bag before thawing it in cold water.
My question is:
Is it safe to omit the bagging, and instead thaw salmon directly in water, with no bag? If not, why?


texts: How to tell the proper amount of oil to use when sautéing vegetables and meat?

texts:
A common meal That I make in a pinch is Italian sausage with peppers and onions. I'll cut up a few red and yellow peppers, a whole onion, and throw it in a pan with some olive oil. Once the vegetables cook down a bit, I throw in the sausages, making sure they contact the pan so they can brown.

My problem is that I can never tell how much oil to use. I always end up using too much. My vegetables are drenched in oil. I hate having to break out a measuring cup to do precise recipes, as I'm trying to get a natural feel for the right amount, and I also don't know how, and if, I should scale up or down the oil if I'm making a bigger batch.

Are they any good rules of thumb I can apply to get a natural understanding of using oil in this manner?


texts: Dense pizza dough- need help! How to make lighter and more airy pizza?

texts:
I am trying to make New York style pizza at home. I have tried many different recipes and different types of flours. I live in India, so I don't have access to bread flour brands like King Arthur etc, but I have managed to find high quality bread flour that are high gluten.

I have tried to lower or increasing the moisture in the dough by the amount of water in the recipe but I am having the same problem.  The pizza dough is very dense or heavy and does not rise when cooked. Also, the pizza crust (edge) is more dense and often time it stays raw.

I am trying to get a pizza crust that is light, airy and many air pockets just like you find in a very good New York style pizza.  My dough is good and soft after kneading it by hand; my proofing time is 4-6 hours in which the size of the dough doubles in size. Finally, I shape and stretch the dough by hand and put it in preheated oven at the very bottom level to get maximum heat.

Below is the recipe that I use (I have also tried baker's formula).  For a 200g dough ball I use the following recipe:

High gluten bread flour 120g
Water 76g
Salt 0.42 tsp
Oil 0.24 tsp
Yeast 0.3 tsp
Sugar 0.24 tsp

I use a home oven that is able to reach a maximum temperature of 450 Fahrenheit.  Can someone please tell me what my problem might be? I am thinking my problem is with the temperature of the oven. I am going to try to use a pizza stone to see if a get better results.

Baker's formula (proportions) I have used:

NY Style Pizza Dough Formula

Flour 100%
Water 63%
Salt 1.75%
Oil 1%
Yeast 0.25%


texts:
I am wondering about how is the best way to confit a pork neck.

Is it best to confit a whole piece or should I chop it up before?
What kind of oil or fat should I use?
What is the correct temperature for the oil/fat?
What kind of spices and herbs should i use in the fat/oil?
How long should it be cooked?
Should it be seared in a pan before or after the confiting?


texts: How to tell if preserved chillis are still good?

texts:
I grew dozens more chillis than I was able to use this year so rather than throw them away I preserved them in a mason jar. I didn't have a lot of time to do it so I looked online and an article (which I can't find now) said I could just preserve them in vodka - I cleaned the mason jar with boiling water, washed, chopped and de-seeded and de-stemmed the chillis, then put them in and covered them in vodka.

They've been sitting for around a month now (I haven't had much cause to use them yet) and the other day I moved the jar and the liquid inside splashed up to the top and I noticed that some of it escaped past the rubber seal. So now I'm kinda worried that the jar isn't sealed properly and that instead of being preserved they're just rotting in there.

Is there any way to tell for sure? They don't smell anything other than spicy.


texts: Can I set a creme brulee with agar agar?

texts: I am trying to make a new dish, I really want to make a creme brulee but I don't want to be shackled to the idea of using a ramekin. Is there any way I can set it with agar in a rubber mold and be able to remove it for placing?


texts: What role does a stoneware bowl play in the baking of Artisan bread?

texts: I'm looking into baking sourdough bread; I've read that I must have a stoneware or earthenware baking bowl in order to make it come out with a nice crust. Is this strictly true? Or can I substitute something else, say, baking it directly on my pizza stone with a pan of water underneath to provide steam?


texts:
I was reading this burger recipe from Serious Eats: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009/10/the-blue-label-burger-blend-recipe.html

It sounds great, but it calls for ground oxtail, which does not sound easy to produce. I have a set of cooking knives, but does anyone know if it will be feasible to attempt this without special equipment and/or a lot of knife skill? I was hoping to just get the meat from Whole Foods rather than a specialty butcher, so I can't count on them deboning it for me.


texts:
After looking through cheesecake recipes with a co-worker we discovered that many cheesecake recipes include ~1/4 cup of flour while other recipes contain none at all.

What effect does flour have when added to cheesecake? Also, what (in your opinion) is the better way, flour or none?


texts:
I have been making the following pie dough for a while (with great results): https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/06/old-fashioned-flaky-pie-dough-recipe.html

Recently I made some rough puff pastry using this recipe (also great results): https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/06/fast-easy-short-cut-blitz-puff-pastry-recipe.html

What struck me as odd is that both the recipes and the processes are nearly the same. The puff does get bigger in the oven, presumably because of the extra folds. But this got me wondering: What is the defining difference between these doughs?

Why are pie recipes calling for puff pastry so uncommon?


texts: How to fix the consistency of blueberry jam?

texts:
I had purchased a jar of %70 fruit blueberry jam.
After consuming about %25 percent of it, I added into the jar some blueberries (10-15) that I purchased recently and I mixed it.
A day after, the jam has become very very runny.

What shall I do to fix its consistency?


texts: Does reducing the clear juice from tomatoes have a name?

texts:
I have been cooking a very light tomato topping for tortellini using dicing tomatoes.  I saute them very briefly until the flesh begins to soften, then remove the pieces from the pan leaving whatever juice cooked out of the tomatoes there.  This liquid is then reduced until it is a syrup, and recombined with the pieces.

Does this technique have a name?  Is it weird?


texts: I used olive oil to finish my salad serving utensils - now what?

texts:
I recently received some homemade unfinished wood salad serving utensils as a gift, and like a dummy, I figured it would be safe to rub them down with some olive oil. Now, I've learned that since olive oil turns rancid, this was probably not a good idea.

What should I do now? Is there any way to remove the olive oil from the wood (so that it can be replaced with food-grade mineral oil, I suppose) that won't damage the wood and will be safe for food utensils long-term?

Ideas I've seen:

Scrub with hot water and soap - food-safe, but makes me nervous about damaging the wood, and maybe not actually that good at getting oil out of wood pores?
Mineral spirits - doesn't require scrubbing, but makes me nervous about toxicity
Random home remedies involving vinegar, salt, lemon juice, baking soda, etc. - makes me very nervous about damaging the wood [edit: of course foods can safely touch food utensils; it's just that I assume that such things would be low potency and thus require a lot of scrubbing, and more abrasive elements like baking soda might not be great for wood fibers]

If any of the above are actually good ideas, I'm still interested in hearing that, as long as you can tell me that the thing I'm nervous about isn't a problem.


texts: How is this lasagna pasta supposed to be cooked?

texts:
I will try to do lasagna and I have doubts about how to deal with the pasta. The bolognese and bechamel sauces are fine (at least I know how to approach them).
The problem I am having is with these "pre-cooked" lasagna pasta sheets (this is in France, Barilla is a very common brand of pasta over here)

Instead of a written description of how to use them, they only went for a few icons:

What does the first icon mean?
It could be a part of the bechamel sauce recipe, but it misses everything else (the roux, etc.).
Am I supposed to boil 0.9L of milk, pour it in the flat bowl, then put the sauce (I cannot believe that, maybe a first layer of pasta on top of the milk? - still does not make a lot of sense) and then the layers of bechamel and sauce?
In other words: where does this 0.9L of milk go?
EDIT: on The French Barilla site they have a section with recipes, including a few lasagnas using the pasta I have. https://www.barilla.com/fr-fr/recettes/collezione/lasagnes-a-la-sauce-napoletana-et-legumes-grilles for instance mentions milk only in the context of the bechamel sauce.
FINAL EDIT: I got a message from Barilla telling me that the first icon is "the recipe for bechamel"... Well never mind. I had the bolognese sauce done my own way and I used a 50 g flour + 50 g butter (roux), + 0,9L milk and the texture & amount was perfect. Thanks everyone.


texts:
One of the wisdoms passed on early in my family is not to eat certain types of food raw, because they will cause bellyache. It is regarded common sense on par with not to touch a hot stove because it will cause a burn. As far as I can tell, my friends have been educated in the same way.

The foods are usually pointed out individually to the child, but now I think about it, they are all high in starch. A few examples are dough, batter, corn, starch slurry and potatoes. I don't think it is a concern about bacterial contamination - it isn't only said about cookie dough, but also about freshly made bread dough with no eggs in it. It is just that raw starch is considered indigestible.

Now I happened to read the question Is it safe to eat Raw Corn?. Given that the answer there is that it is safe to eat corn, I started wondering if starch is really so bad as to cause bellyache, or is it just a myth everybody believes because they heard of it before they had developed critical thinking. On the other hand, if a significant amount of starch starts its gelation process in the stomach, maybe it will cause unpleasant symptoms through dehydration or similar (although I don't see how it will gellate at body temperature).

So, is there a food safety concern in eating raw starch, or is this a widespread misinformation? And if it doesn't cause ill effects, does it get digested, or just pass through the digestive system unchanged?


texts:
This is the "Cook's Choice, Better Baker Edible Bowl Maker" which I received as a gift.

Now the idea appears clever enough, but everything I try to do with it either comes out too hard to be enjoyable (not 'Good Eats') or it comes out like this: (the finished product won't come out in one usable piece.

I've greased/floured the bowls, I've allowed the product to cool thoroughly...

What techniques or recipe adjustments will help me get a usable cake out of the mold?
(note: I would also like to be able to use this for breads, but I'll settle for getting a usable cake out of the mold for now...)

[Follow-up]: With thanks to all who contributed..

So I found some Pam Baking spray (yea, right next to the stuff I always get, just hadn't noticed it before...) and tried releasing the cakes before they were fully cooled:


texts: Best Practice at cutting butter and sugar in Peanut Butter balls

texts:
Something I have been making recently is brownie cupcakes (much the same as the molten cakes without the fudge). Using a standard box of dark chocolate brownies, I pour the ingredients, post-whisk, in a cupcake pan.

 I came up with an idea to have peanut butter balls inside of these cakes.

The typical peanut butter ball calls for peanut butter, sugar, and butter then refrigeration.
Now the issue arises:

How do I roll these butter balls while cutting down on sugar and butter (are there substitutes)?

There is a part 2 to this question, here.


texts: How can my breadmaker made wholemeal bread taste less salty?

texts: My wife makes my wholemeal bread as she insists. She says every recipe lists 5 grams of salt otherwise the bread will end up having missing patches in baked form- it has happened with early loaves. We live in Japan and the loaves here are rather small. The bread tastes salty. What are my options to reduce the salty taste while maintaining the result of a decent loaf of wholemeal bread?  I have heard that soy sauce can reduce salty taste in other foods. This recipe includes 50% wholemeal flour and 50%  self-raising flour.


texts:
A few years ago I had the pleasure of meeting several people from Moldova who were briefly living here in the USA. One of the fun things we did was a sort of "culinary exchange" where they'd cook several traditional Eastern European meals for us, and we'd do the same for my roommates and I (Filipino and Italian).

Anyway, one of the culinary items they introduced us to was Vobla, which is a salted and dried whole fish (called a Vobla, part of the Roach family) that is served with beer or occasionally vodka. I've been strangely hungry for it lately, but have been largely unable to find any recipe that gives decent measurements. I've been trying to translate the broken English on either expat forums or the results of Google translate but not making much progress.

http://expat.ru/forum/showthread.php?p=720551
http://www.shepotka.ru/recipe/fish/vobla/

For my first attempt, I found our local grocer carries Atlantic perch, which is a small, thick, lighter colored fish which is quite similar to roach. I only purchased 2 so there wouldn't be much waste if it didn't turn out.

For the first attempt at the brine, I used 600ml of 5% cider vinegar, about 5 crushed cloves of garlic, and about 2.5 tbsp of non-iodized table salt. I'm letting it brine for about 5 days, and then will be putting it in a dehydrator with no heat until the fish are almost crispy dry.

Does this seem like enough salt? I've seen other recipes state that you should keep whisking salt into the brine until it's saturated and no more will dissolve. At 2.5 tbsp there was still no problem getting more salt to dissolve, but I was concerned about over-salting.

Still other recipes recommended no brining, and instead just packing the fish in salt for a few days, and then sun drying.

Is there a "most correct" method for preparing the fish? What is the proper ratio for the brine?


texts: If chemical reaction begins when baking soda/powder are added to cookie dough, how does chilling the dough (often recommended to re-firm the butter) impact the chemical leavening process?


texts:
I just ordered some new loose leaf oolong, and I've noticed that the leaves don't unfurl all that much--even after two or three steeps. I've noticed with past oolongs that the leaves open up nice and big, but not really with this one. It still makes amazing tea, but I'm wondering if I'm missing out on some flavor. I typically use not-quite-boiling water and steep a couple teaspoons of tea for about 4 minutes.

Are non-unfurling tea leaves an indication of...anything? Is there more flavor to be had with fully opened leaves?


texts:
A little context:
I make craft chili oils for friends and family. I use a two-step infusion process. First, I infuse the oil for flavor with spices. Second, I add dried chili flakes into the flavored oil. I have used canola and grapeseed oil.

Questions:

Is there an ideal temperature to best extract flavors/fragrances from spices (for example from cumin seeds or star anise) into the oil?
Do the flavor compounds deteriorate with prolonged cook times even if oil temp is kept below the smoke point? For example, how does the oil change when kept at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour vs. 2 hours?


texts: why do some pavlova recipes have cream of tarter to be added

texts: What is the function of cream of tarter when it is included in a pavlova recipe. Some receipes do not require it.


texts: I have an enamelled pot with a chip on the outside on the bottom. This isn't a problem, is it?  It is about an inch long and maybe an eighth of an inch wide.


texts: Can I add to lacto-ferment jars as I harvest?

texts:
Last year I made lacto-fermented jalapenos from my garden and they were great! I took what was left at the end of the season plus I added some local peppers from the farmer's market in a mason jar and added my brine. This year my jalapeno plants are about ready for their first harvest. However, it isn't enough to "fill" my mason jar in one shot.

So my question is - can I start a lacto-ferment with the peppers I have on hand now, and then add additional peppers as they are harvested throughout the summer? I know that will mean I will have peppers at different stages of the process in the jar at the same time. Would I have to wait until all the peppers are fermented before eating or could I start taking out the "earlier" peppers as needed? Is this a valid approach or should I just suck it up and do smaller jars?


texts: Do I have to peel red potatoes before baking them?

texts:
I recently made some potato wedges in the oven. I shared this recipe with my relative, who admonished me for not properly peeling the red potatoes before baking them.

She claims that there are disease and viruses that lie on the skin, so peeling it will get rid of it.  I bake it, so I assume that even the high heat in the oven would kill bacteria and germs. And besides that, I make sure to wash potatoes thoroughly before cooking them.

Am I in the wrong here? Should I have properly peeled the potato wedges before baking them? Personally I feel they add more flavor, and from all the pictures on the recipes online, it seems they also do not peel it.


texts: Would pastes made from vinegar and seeds other than mustard seeds be palatable?

texts:
I've started making mustard at home recently and wondered if I could make similar preparations from vinegar and other seeds, for example fenugreek.

The result I'm trying to achieve is a palatable paste made from vinegar and a seed or seeds other than mustard seed. The paste might be used for purposes similar to those for which mustard is used, for example as an ingredient in salad dressings, a spread in sandwiches, or a dip for sausages.

Have you tried this, or do you have an opinion on whether the resulting preparation is likely to be palatable? Are there any culinary seeds that are more or less likely to be suited to making this type of preparation?


texts:
I have baked various types of sponge cakes for many years and they have always been fine, but recently, every cake I bake is not rising properly. I am a bit perplexed as to why this could be when I am following the same tried and tested recipes. Could it be my oven? How could I check this out?

Thanks in advance.


texts:
Many Hong Kong Cuisine restaurants use 香茜 or 芫荽 in soup dishes. Please see the picture below.

Are  香茜 or 芫荽  the same species of plant?

What's the correct English translation? I'm hankering to buy it in the USA.  Different Hong Kong waiters translate it differently, and coriander, cilantro, and/or parsley have all been postulated. But aren't coriander, cilantro, parsley different species?

(Source: 鱼翅海鲜灌汤饺.)


texts:
I make chocolate bonbons and in my new recipe I am trying to make a ginger ganache topped with dark chocolate. (This is the easy part).

The hard part is when you think about a new shape for it. So what I want is to put on top of each bonbon, little of crystallized ginger, where they look like sea salt flakes.

I don't know how to do it, but I saw it in a chocolate shop, long time ago where they sprinkle it on some bonbon.

I finely grated the ginger but now the weird part of how should I crystallize them. Do I just add sugar on, and leave them a few hours ?


texts:
I'm considering entering a gingerbread house contest with my mom this year.  I might've done a few as a kid, but I've only done one before in my adult life, more than 10 years ago, and I remember having problems with the amount of spread of the parts.

Does anyone have any advice?  are there any tricks to keep parts from spreading as much, or should I be baking the parts, then cutting them?  (or par-baking, cut while still soft, then finish baking to firm everything up?)

Should I bake the parts well in advance to let them dry out / stale up so they're stiffer before assembly, or do I want a little bit of flex when I'm assembling so I don't accidentally crack them while working?

Also, recommendations on the best thickness of wall sections to use (especially based on the height I'm dealing with, as I assume I'd want them thicker the higher I'm going) would be great, too.


texts:
I came across a page (http://www.traditional-foods.com/bone-broth/) where the author used the same beef bone 12 times to make stock*. It got me wondering: when I make stock, am I leaving behind that much more flavor in a bone, or did she do something wrong? What should I do to extract the most amount of flavor out of my bones?

Use a higher bone/water ratio? Does the water saturate with the contents?
Cook it for a longer time?
Use a different cooking method? She uses a crock pot, I believe.

I use a 10qt pressure cooker for my stock, and I usually cover my ingredients with water plus an inch as a rough guide. I also plan on reducing the stock afterwards, so if more water doesn't help with extraction, I don't want to waste time boiling it all away in the end.

*Since she calls it bone-broth, I'm guessing she's from the Nourishing Traditions camp where they are interested in extracting nutrients, etc. from the bone. I don't know if getting extra gelatin out of a bone means more flavor was left behind originally.


texts: What factors to consider for a long lasting salad?

texts:
I'd like to make salad in bulk for the week ahead on a weekend, which I will store at home in the fridge, to take to work. My gut feel is that what I'd typically put in salad (leaves,  tomatoes, cheese etc)  won't last long enough to be worth making in bulk, even if I store it at work. If it matters, I typically leave my salad at my desk, as I don't like cold salad at lunchtime.

What factors should I consider when picking ingredients and storage,  for a long life salad? What sorts of food should I look for and how will I know they are more likely to last?


texts:
I found this open-faced sandwich-like creation in several French-style bakeries in East Asia.

The bottom is a narrow piece of toast.
On top of this toast the dish is a bit like a salad. This salad mostly consists of cabbage and lots of mayonnaise with various square bits of sliced ham and what might be bread crumbs mixed in.
It seems that at some thin layers of bread were baked right into the salad part and this forms a light crust on the top.

Several stores are calling it "凯撒", which means "Caesar, but I could find nothing about this dish anywhere on-line.Is this dish common in European bakeries? What is it called?


texts: What would cause bubbles in turkey stock?

texts: I made the stock the day after making turkey. Left the stock to cool overnight in a cool place. There were bubbles on it today. Removed carcass and started to reheat. Bubbles really forming. I have never seen this!!!


texts: What is a non-alcoholic substitute for rum in a glaze?

texts:
I want to make an orange cake and its recipe calls for rum in the glaze. Rum, anything alcoholic, rum extract, etc. are not an option for me. Is there a way to substitute with vanilla extract? If so, in what proportion?

According to the recipe, for glaze we need:

½ cup strained fresh orange juice
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
2 Tbsp. dark rum
1 cup confectioners' sugar, divided

I have looked at the answers to What is substitute for rum in baking?, but they focus mostly on dough/batter and aren't very specific about method of proportion.


texts: How to achieve "fall off the bone" in a leg of lamb using sous vide?

texts:
I have recently experimented with leg of lamb, following the popular recipe on chefsteps . Both times I cooked the meat, with bone, for 24h at 57°C (134°F).

While the result was generally good, I received a comment, that the meat didn't fall of the bone, and that perhaps next time, I should increase the temperature. However, I think, that I need to increase the time instead.

What is the solution for this situation? Is it even possible to achieve fall of the bone, cooking at low temperatures?

I have read, that for the fall of the bone effect to occur, connective tissue must break up, which happens at 145°F (62°C), which is obviously quite a bit more temperature, than my setup.

For the record, the meat was quite tender, but it had structure, it was not mushy and it also didn't fall of the bone.


texts: How to prevent egg muffins sticking to non-stick muffin pan?

texts:
I have good quality non-stick mini-muffin pans that are in perfect condition, and I spray them very thoroughly with canola cooking spray.  I don't have a problem with sticking with anything except my egg muffins, but every single one has to be pried out, leaving bits stuck to the pan no matter how careful I am.

The recipe is:

1 lb. breakfast sausage,
8 oz. finely chopped mushrooms,
1 diced onion,
2 T. diced red pepper,
15 eggs,
1 c. heavy cream,
(spices), and
2 c. shredded cheese

Each well holds 1 T., and I bake them at 350 for about 14 minutes.

We will soon be making about 750 of these little muffins for an event, and I don't want to burn out all my volunteers or be serving ragged quiche muffins!  Any ideas?


texts: Starch accumulating as sediment during shallow fry

texts:
Since I was shown how to make tatsutaage (a particular type of Japanese fried chicken with grated ginger in the marinade), I've been tweaking things in the recipe here and there, and this week have arrived at one that produces results I'm very happy with. The only problem is that the starch I coat the chicken with before frying it is accumulating as a thin layer of sediment in the oil which after a while starts to smoke, forcing me to pause, dispose of the oil, wipe everything down, then begin the process from scratch to finish, making the whole process far more time consuming--not to mention impractical for serving big groups that require several batches.

Here's the gist of the process: chicken thighs are sliced into pieces roughly 25 sq. cm on the smooth outward face, and about 2 to 3 cm thick. These are marinaded for 2 to 3 hours in a blend of usukuchi, koikuchi, tamari, sake, mirin, and grated ginger. I place a cast-iron skillet on medium-high heat and put about 1.5 cm worth of light olive oil (dat higher smoke point), and when the oil reaches 120C, I start adding the chicken.

The chicken is tossed in tapioca flour and lightly shaken of excess, then placed in the skillet, flipped once, then removed when internal temperature reaches 74C and placed on a plate with paper to let extra oil drain off.

The issue is that because the starch isn't clumped together in any significant way, the excess coming off is not even visible in the oil until it accumulates at the bottom, by which point it has browned and shortly after, things start to smoke. I am confident it is not the oil I use, as I monitor temperature closely and use a significantly lower temperature for this shallow fry than I do for the deep fry method I initially used, which did not cause the oil to smoke.

Any suggestions for managing this that don't require me to stop everything in its tracks, clean up, and then wait for a cast iron skillet full of oil to get back up to temperature before I can finish a batch?


texts: What going to happen to Dulche De Leche during baking?

texts: Dulche De Leche is condensed milk that boiled already. But what if put it in something that going to be boiled or baked. How it's going to be, how it's going to taste like? Do people do it?


texts: Is there any difference between bakers yeast and regular yeast?

texts: I'm looking at this bread recipe and it says to use "Bakers Yeast" but when I make pizza dough I just use regular yeast (which I also have in my cupboard at the moment). So I'm wondering if I could just use my regular yeast instead of bakers yeast?


texts: What can I use instead of powdered milk to turn dark chocolate into milk chocolate?

texts:
I am a chocolate lover and recently figured out I have to completely remove milk from my diet (due to problems with casein). I figured I can make my own milkless milk chocolate from dark chocolate by adding soy milk and... thickening it all the way back to solid form.

Now the problem is normally the way I'd approach it would be adding parts of liquid milk and parts of powdered milk to end up with good enough consistency for a chocolate block.

But I can't use powdered milk for the same reason I can't use liquid milk. I realize there are vegan alternatives to powdered milk like soy powder or coconut powder but those are really hard and expensive to get in Poland.

What can I use or do to create my own milk chocolate from dark chocolate with easily purchasable ingredients?


texts: Tofu - Cooking technique for firm/chewy edges?

texts:
This may be a very basic question and I've just somehow not been doing it properly.

When I get tofu in the prepared foods department or the Chinese buffet, it's prepared in cubes that seem to have been marinated and then cooked in some way that makes it... not "crispy" as I see a lot of advice about online, but more of an al dente sort of firmness or chewiness?

When people talk about crispy tofu, is this the consistency they're talking about?  The "chewy" texture my favorite style of tofu, but I've never been able to replicate it following the usual crispy-tofu directions, and am not sure how else to describe it.


texts: Black tea water: Does boiling water first make a difference?

texts:
When I make black tea, I usually put the leaves (or tea bags) into cold or room-temperature water before I start boiling it. I've noticed that certain cultures always insist on first boiling the water, and only putting in tea leaves once it reaches a full, rolling boil.

Does boiling the water before putting in the leaves make a difference? I tried both ways and couldn't find a difference in taste. It seems like boiling for more than a few minutes means both would have similar levels of oxygen (not sure why that would make a difference).

To clarify: I personally *boil my tea leaves (or bag) for several minutes, as in 10-20 minutes or more. It seems like the other popular way to make tea is to steep in boiling water for several minutes.

I would like clarity on whether putting the leaves/bags in cold water makes a difference, especially given the time-scale of boiling (should it be shortened).


texts:
I have my corned beef cooking in my crock pot for about 6 hours on low.  Should the meat be falling apart by now?  It is still one big hunk of meat.  I thought it would be ready in about 1.5 hours.  Should I bump it up to high?

Thanks!


texts:
I'm following some recipes making chocolate, candies and cookies that use milk powder to enhance the flavor. I tried several milk powder brands, different types skim vs full cream, but I never can dissolve milk powder completely. My dough/batter always end up with a lot of milk powder chunks. How can I avoid this?
To make chocolate, I mixed milk powder, cocoa powder and icing sugar with coconut oil.
For cookie dough, after creaming butter and egg, I added flour and milk powder.
To make candies, I melted butter and marshmallow then finalized with milk powder.


texts:
The other night I made the "Bejing-Style Meat Sauce and Noodles" from the most recent (May-June 2018) issue of Cooks Illustrated. Usually their recipes come out quite good, even if they are often a bit involved.

I've done Asian-style food before but it is not something I do a lot. It's a basic recipe where you brown some ground pork, add some scallions, garlic and mushrooms (ground up in a food processor) to the mix and once browned add the sauce:

5 Tbsp red miso paste
5 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp molasses
1/2 cup water

I've never cooked with miso before but everything else is familiar. Unfortunately the resultant sauce, especially when cooked down a bit as the recipe calls for is just much to salty. Not to the point of being inedible but still just too much.

Wondering if anyone has some thoughts on what to do with this sauce mixture to lessen  or dilute the saltiness without losing the umami that the sauce ingredients provide?


texts: Can't I just grease the Baking Sheet instead of using Parchment Paper

texts: Recipes such as http://paleoleap.com/avocado-banana-chocolate-cookies/ say to line baking sheet with parchment paper. Why can't we just grease the baking sheet?


texts:
when combining hot sauces with different Scoville Heat Units (SHU), how do I estimate the resulting SHU? Say I combined 100 grams of a sauce that was 1,000 SHU with 100 grams of a sauce that was 2,000 SHU. Would the resulting SHU be the average: 1,500?

I'm trying to make a super hot sauce (perhaps around 400,000 SHU) using something like Frank's as the base and adding some (a drop?!?) of those sauces that's like in the millions of SHU. I need help with the math.


texts:
Does dry frying tofu really cause tofu to better soak up a marinade?

Source: http://melissaraydavis.hubpages.com/hub/How_to_Cook_Tofu_Like_the_Pros


texts: Do you need to cook a casserole with raw eggs before you freeze it?

texts:
I made a casserole yesterday that contains cooked pasta, cooked quinoa, dairy products, spinach and raw eggs. It is assembled and the baked at 350 for 30 minutes.

I am planning on making it again this weekend to freeze. Since the only raw ingredient is the eggs would it be okay to assemble it then freeze and cook the eggs when I am thawing it or should I cook it both now and after I bring it out of the freezer?


texts: Why can you not add herbs and spices powder at end?

texts:
As far as I'm aware any herb or spice CAN be eaten raw and hence added at the end of cooking.

We cooked a stew with garam masala as we wanted to try something bland.  It wasnt very tasteful so I suggested adding the chill powder in hours after the garam masala stew had been cooked.

My friend told me it was too late and the curry would start to smell bad if we added it now.

This question is not about whether adding at the beginning or the end would add more flavour as I know certain herbs need to be cooked to extract flavour.

Rather why did she say the curry would smell and isn't this statement contrary to the idea that you can add any spice at the end of cooking?


texts: How can I grow my own yeast (sourdough starter)?

texts: I would like to always have my own culture of yeast (sourdough starter) in my fridge at home. Does anyone know how to grow yeast and keep it alive?


texts: Is there a reason to have coffee grounds at the bottom of an espresso?

texts:
While having coffee at a fancy café earlier, we noticed that the espresso aswell as the cappuccino had large amounts of coffee grounds still sitting at the floor of the cup.

While being annoyed by this (given that the coffee was rather expensive), I still wasn't quite sure if this was intentional or not. For example, i reckon this could be expected when having a turkish coffee.

Question: Is there a good reason to leave coffee grounds in an espresso on purpose, or is it just sloppy?


texts: White foam when cooking chickpeas, what to do with it?

texts:
When cooking chickpeas, what should one do with the white foam?

I've heard that some remove it as it comes. But is this really necessary, since the water is filtered from the chickpeas when they are done?

Thanks in advance!


texts: What do you get when you reheat and cool clotted cream?

texts: I made clotted cream and tried to heat it for serving. It immediately disintegrated so I tried to salvage it by freezing it. It solidified into something yellowish and left some liquid at the bottom, just like when I made the clotted cream. Is the solid part still clotted cream or is it something else?


texts: Is it possible to make low sodium French Bread or Baguettes?  My husband is on a low sodium diet and will only eat French Bread. I know there is a relationship between yeast and salt.


texts:
They're cheap and delicious. (I had them at Fergus Henderson's restaurant in London.) But I have no idea what to do with them.  All I've read appears to say to treat them like beef tongue: slow simmering for a few hours until they can be peeled.

What do I do from there?


texts: Canned Peppers: Very subtle acidic taste

texts:
I opened a jar of roasted peppers I canned about a month ago. Because it was a big jar and it ended up lacking water I put it in my 4C° fridge. It was canned at about 120C°-125C° without any additives like salt or vinegar.

After opening it, unlike other jars I've opened, I noticed a very subtle acidic taste, kind of like it was carbonated. It wasn't unpleasant and there is no bad taste or odor.

Is the jar spoiled or is this probably part of the normal range of flavors? Since paprika are very alkaline, why would it suddenly taste a bit acidic?


texts: Is there ever an advantage to using a light-bottomed pan?

texts:
I have seen many recipes where cooking with a heavy-bottomed pan is advised, as the heat is distributed more evenly and avoids "hot spots".
With that in mind, is there ever a situation where it would not be beneficial, or even be a hinderance, to use a heavy-bottomed pan? If not, why do light-bottomed pans exist?


texts:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCQYBW0AZQB/
My quick pickle is a vegetable pickle. All 3 lbs are cut into sticks and squares, blanched in vinegar and then dried over the kitchen counter over night. I sometimes dehydrate them in my dehydrator. My pickling sauce is a sweet chilli sour sauce (onions garlic ginger cooked and boiled in oil, when cooked, two thirds to three quarter cups of vinegar is added plus 3 and half  cups of sugar.  It is then cooled. When sauce is cool, cool toasted sesame seeds and toasted crushed peanuts are added. Veg and sauce then mixed together.
My question is will my pickle withstand the 3 to 4 days of courier shipping, if I decant into sterilised jars refrigerate for one day prior to shipping.


texts:
I have a small cast iron pan which I am working with, trying to make sure I understand seasoning/cleaning before moving on to a larger one. I seasoned with flaxseed oil (4 light coats, hour in the oven), and have cooked a few things - I made some Ghee, fried some onions, stuff like that. After each I washed with hot water (no soap), heated until dry on the stove and coated with a thin layer of canola oil.

Now, when I take a dry paper towel and rub it on the pan, a black residue shows up on the paper towel. I can't feel anything with my fingers and I haven't noticed anything cooking with it. I'm fairly confident this occurred after the initial seasoning - although I'm not sure I did this exact test with the paper towel.

Is this a) normal, or b) what is wrong and c) how can I fix it?

There are quite a few questions (and good answers!) regarding cast iron cookware on this site but I haven't been able to find one that deals with this specific issue.


texts: When should food colouring be added to part of a batch of bread dough?

texts:
I recently made coloured swirled bread, in which different colours of dough (in my case a coloured and an uncoloured piece) were rolled together and baked in the same loaf to give an interesting novelty appearance. When I put it into the oven the poke test on the uncoloured dough rose up slowly, but the uncoloured sprang back a bit more quickly. The finished bread rose acceptably, but not spectacularly, and the coloured dough was somewhat denser than the uncoloured.  The whole thing was a sourdough loaf if that makes any difference.

When should the colouring for the coloured piece have been added?

after kneading?  This is what I did.  With liquid colouring, which seemed to colour individual strands of gluten, this required considerable kneading to distribute evenly.  This amounted to nearly twice the amount of kneading as the uncoloured piece.  Since the undivided full batch of dough had completed kneading (it was at windowpane) when I divided them, I might possibly have overkneaded the coloured piece.  The uncoloured piece would also have undergone more fermentation than the coloured piece due to how long the extra kneading took (even in the fridge).
before kneading?* This would have allowed the colouring to be more easily mixed in, but would also have required each colour of dough to be separately kneaded to windowpane strength as well as separately proofed.  Not only would I need to be sure each piece was equivalently kneaded but also equivalently proofed.  As with the other option this would leave one piece fermenting longer than the other.

EDIT: *before kneading referring to the point when the flour and water and other ingredients have been barely incorporated together and the result is still just a "shaggy mess" as some describe it.  I assume that "kneading" is a specific stage of breadmaking for the purpose of gluten development, not merely an act of kneading at any point in the process.


texts:
http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/Pizza-Hut-WingStreet-Traditional-Chicken-Wings-Copycat-Recipe.html has a copycat recipe for Pizza Hut's hot sauce (you can't see the recipe anymore as it was free to the public only until July 21).

Anyway, the instructions says to use margarine to really get close to the original recipe, but butter is an OK substitute. What exactly is the difference between margarine and butter when making sauces? Is one better than the other (it seems to me that margarine is supposedly better -- but always thought that I should stay away from it)?


texts:
I've been to this wonderful Chinese place where they served goose in orange sauce/gravy.
I've been looking for a recipe for it all over the Internet, but everything I found looked pretty far from it.

The main difference was that they served the goose with unpeeled orange quarters (more like 8th's of oranges, unpeeled) on it, along with the sauce, which was what made the flavor so special. Sometimes there were even seeds on it; that's how raw it was (although it was hot and steamy).

I don't really care about what to do with the goose, I just want to know how to make that sauce.

This is what I'm looking for; you can see that the oranges themselves:


texts: Mozzarella, tofu come with a liquid, I think is whey. Is it useful in any way? has this any culinary value?


texts: Does it take more energy to heat an oven to 350 degrees from cold or to leave it at 350 degrees for one hour?


texts: What methods are there of getting fresh local meat & produce?

texts:
I often go to Whole Foods, but I feel like I'm getting ripped off there. I can walk out having spent $120 on a single bag of groceries. I try to get to a Farmer's Market occasionally, but not often enough I guess.

Are there other ways to buy as close to the farm as possible?


texts: Is there a non-recipe specific, nonalcoholic, universal substitute for white wine?

texts: For people on medication in which alcohol is strictly prohibited, is there a substitute that one can use in recipes that call for white wine?


texts: What are some alternative uses for bread heels?

texts:
I often buy bread loaves at the store and use them for sandwiches, french toast, etc. I don't particularly like using the heels for those purposes though, because of the texture and taste - heels don't make for a good sandwich, they can't absorb the eggs for french toast, and they get way too crispy for regular toast (and don't soak up butter!). This means that I end up with dozens of leftover heels.

I hate throwing away food, so... what are some alternative uses? Is there any good use for leftover bread heels?


texts:
I have an old recipe that calls for a large can of Baker's Angel Flake Coconut.
How many ounces were these cans; I need to substitute the bags that are available now.


texts: Is seeding peppers a must when making hot sauce

texts: I'm trying my hand at a homemade hot sauce using some habaneros and every recipe I've seen calls for unseeding them. I'm not particularly worried about making the sauce too hot, so I'm wondering if I can keep the seeds and whether that would change the texture of the sauce any. Curious if folks have any thoughts there?


texts: How are the results in pizza baking different between one baking steel using a broiler, versus baking the pizza on a lower steel with a second steel on a higher rack?  Is one easier to control (less likely to burn the cheese or crust)?  Does a second steel above the pizza do a good job at cooking the top?  Does anyone have experience with that?


texts: Pulled pork - interrupted cooking in oven?

texts:
I'm planning to cook my 4lbs pork in the oven but as my guests arrive at 1pm for lunch, I wanted to start the cooking the evening before and then keep the partly cooked pork in the fridge till next day and finish up the cooking then.
Would that make the pulled pork tender and tastefull and what about safety?
Alternatively, could I set the oven temperature very low and cook the pork all night for a 1pm finish?
Thanks!


texts: Are there ways in which you can overdo your thickening?

texts:
In this recipe for mac and cheese that calls for a basic roux of 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup butter (60g from what I gathered it to be) I got a pretty thick sauce even after adding 3 cups of milk and before I added any type of cheese.

I wonder - can you do something in the roux-making that can cause the flour to over-thicken?


texts: Help! Chicken and Wild rice soup needs some extra flavor

texts:
I made a creamy chicken and wild rice soup for the first time following a recipe I found online.  However, now that it's finished, I think it needs more flavor.  The only seasonings I used was a the package of seasoning included in the Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice box.  What's the best way to add spices to it now that it's finished, and what are some good spices to add to this soup (Ingredients thus far are:  Chicken, long grain and wild rice, carrots, celery, onions, chicken broth, heavy cream).  Thanks!

Thanks for the extra questions. Here's the recipe I used:
http://www.food.com/recipe/copy-cat-panera-cream-of-chicken-and-wild-rice-soup-438883

As for what's in the seasoning mix.  It was the pre-package of seasoning in Uncle Ben's Long and Wild Rice Box. Per the box, the seasoning blend contains a mixture of the following:  Hydrolyzed corn/soy/wheat protein; dried onion; dried parsley; sugar; autolyzed yeast extract; dried spinach; garlic powder; salt; spices; torula yeast; celery; onion powder; hydrolyzed yeast protein; nautral smoke flavor; natural flavors; dried tomato; dried carrot; extractives of paprika


texts:
I had an idea for halloween, which involves baking a sponge cake and piping icing on it to make it look like a brain. For bit more authenticity, I was hoping to get some red jam or something to vein the cake.

After a bit more thinking about it, to get proper veins, I'd need something like strawberry bootlaces.

Has anyone done anything like this?
Any problems with it?
Is there a better way to go about it?


texts: Can you substitute Almond liqueur or use ground almonds, instead of  using Almond essence in a Christmas Cake recipe? I can't find Almond Essence in Spain.


texts:
This pan was given to me recently, apparently it was with the other baking items we got from my Grandmother. It is very shallow and appears to have a no-stick coating. As you can see there's a ring around the outside as well as a depression in the center, with slanted sides.

What is this pan called, and what is it used for?


texts: Is it okay to use a microwave in convection mode without the turntable?

texts: I just bought a muffin tin which is too large and certainly won't rotate on the turntable. My microwave doesn't have a "stop turntable" button. So is it okay if I remove it altogether and use just an oven rack to place my muffin tin on? Will it result in uneven baking?


texts: How can I reduce the sodium/salt in Halloumi?

texts:
I bought some Halloumi cheese the other day, and noticed that its sodium content is a whopping 1.3 grams per 100 grams! I'm really scared to serve this now. Surely your blood pressure would skyrocket through the roof after consuming it?

I've read somewhere that soaking Halloumi overnight in water and lemon juice can draw out the salt in it, but is this true? And more importantly, to what degree? Does it only make it slightly less salty? Have you experimented with it? Would chopping up the Halloumi and then soaking it overnight help draw out even more salt?


texts: What size are small, medium and large tomatoes?

texts: Many recipes call for a tomato of a certain size.  How do you know the difference between small, medium and large tomatoes?


texts: What electronic tools are recommended for a cooking journal?

texts: I am embarking on a project to cook every recipe in the "The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread" cookbook. I would like to maintain a cooking journal, something similar to a lab book, to document my observations as I attempt each recipe.  The objective is to prefect my bread making method. I prefer electronic methods of maintaining the journal for efficient referencing.


texts: Can I use normal household glass items to steam cook inside pots?

texts:
I have normal glass kitchenware, like glass rice bowls and glass cups. Can I use these for steam cooking?

Example stuff to cook:

steamed veggies
steamed pieces of chicken meat
maybe use a glass cup to multitask cooking (e.g. pot to cook soup and steam fish while I'm at it)

Would it be OK to use my glass kitchenware - and if so, what are some boundaries (e.g. heat, temperature) that I should keep in mind?


texts:
My cake initially rises perfectly, but after about 20 - 25 minutes, the cake starts to slightly droop with the cake also pulling away from the side of the pan.

I don't mind that too much, as the initial rising seemed to be a bit exaggerated anyway.  But once I remove the cake from the oven, it droops further - in fact, it collapses.

I take great care preparing the batter by sifting dry ingredients, and using eggs at room temperature.

The procedure I used to prepare the cake batter is:

I first cream egg yolks and sugar for about 1 minute
Then I add flour/baking powder mixture, oil, water, beat again for about 1 minute
Then beat and fold in the egg whites.

Any ideas what I might be doing wrong?


texts: How to prep a #5 plastic container for making yogurt?

texts:
I made a batch of yogurt that went poorly. I use a Salton yogurt machine which uses a #5 plastic bucket. If this were beer, the recipe would call for baking the container to ensure that all the past microbes are dead. Obviously that won't work for a #5 plastic bucket.

It's already been through a dishwashing machine, so hot water and soap have been covered.

What other means are there for ensuring that the bacteria from the last batch don't show up in the next batch?


texts: What is the exact difference between been sprouts and banana blossoms. They look very similar, so much to make me think that banana blossoms might be a joke...


texts: How to reliably get flatbreads to puff or balloon up?

texts:
When making similar (wheat) flatbreads of many types (from different cultures e.g. chapati and pita), it is desirable for it to puff up like a balloon so that a pocket forms on the inside. Presumably, this happens because steam forms on the inside while the outside is cooked enough to hold it in.
How can I make this happen reliably most of the time? What factors does this depend on? The dough hydration, heat, the thickness of the dough, etc.? Does the optimal technique differ between unleavened, chemically leavened, or yeast-leavened breads?


texts: Pizza dough changed from usable to sticky

texts:
Advice needed please.
My son has a small pizzeria, a family run affair.
Since 2011 we have made several thousand pizza, one size fits all.
A problem we are hitting now is inconsistency of dough mix. Hydration has been varied over the years starting at 59% and now at 56%. Even at this lower figure it seems the dough is now coming out too wet for our needs.
We use zero zero flour from the same supplier in 25 kg bags. Oil added at the end of the mixing. All ingredients have stayed the same for the last 3 years, no improvers are added.
Our local temperature while mixing the dough is between 29C and 35C and humidity from 65 to 75% based in central Indonesia.
All items into the dough are measured within one gram
We work accurately so I must assume that it’s the variation of temperature and humidity that is making the dough sticky.
I have cross checked the scales with gold scale weights and it’s accurate.
If my assumption is right about humidity and temperature being a factor; is there a table where I can refer to adjust the hydration?


texts:
I have a problem. Let's say I buy a frying pan for about 130 EUR. But after 5 months of using it 3 times a week, it looks like the photo. What am I doing wrong please ? (I never scratch the pan.  I always wait until it's cold before washing it, I protect the Teflon with shoam)

Edited: to react to your comments, my habits are: preheat the pan for about 6 minutes on the biggest flame without oil - to prepare it for a steak. But i use it like this for about 20% of time. Is preheating damaging the Teflon?  If so.. what material should i use?


texts:
So far the best way I've found to make tofu taste good is to exchange as much of the water in it for liquid carrying flavor. In order to do that of course you need to get the water OUT. The age old wrap it in tea towels and let it set with some weight on it just doesn't seem compatible with our kitchen (very small, with little counter space) or our family (has a active toddler that gets into everything).

The best way I've found to date is:

freeze the tofu (in it's container) until it's rock hard. (at least 2 nights)
Let the tofu thaw in the fridge until it's completely thawed through. (at least 2 days)
slit the package open along one long side, poke a hole on the opposite side for air to get in and and allow the block to drain into the sink.
compress the package (over the sink) with your hands (if it's the soft plastic vacuum packed kind)
take the block of tofu out of the package and slice it on my cutting board into slices 1/2" thick (or whatever size I need for the dish in question if they're smaller)
place the slices on an upside down plate, place another plate upside down atop it (bottom to bottom - our plates have a flat, sealed bottom so they're food safe.)
hold the plate and tofu sandwich above the sink and lightly squeeze with a hand on both sides until liquid stops coming out.

The problems with this are:

have to plan ahead, if I didn't take the block of tofu out of the freeze two days ago, we're not eating it for dinner tonight.
there's a seriously noticeable texture change, which in and of itself isn't bad, it's just not something you want with every dish.

So what other methods are folks using for draining blocks of tofu in a hurry?

EDIT: the main thing I'm looking for here is speed... this is for those "oh crud, we forgot to plan ahead for diner tonight!" moments.


texts: Oyama rice cooker - uncooked rice under heating element

texts:
I accidentally dumped uncooked rice into the Oyama rice cooker under the heating element. I got out what I could, but I can hear I didn't get out all the grains. Shaking / upending the rice cooker doesn't get out all the rice.

Can someone advise how I empty the remaining uncooked rice from under the heating element?


texts: What should a good cookie dough look like?

texts:
I've been trying to make a good, chewy cookie recipe for the last 4-5 months but nothing good ever shown up. I've tried countless recipes on the internet with no success. One thing that I noticed was that my cookie dough always looks different from the pictures or videos that I have found on the internet. My dough looks like ice cream, is wet, and really sticks to the scoop. Sometime when I scoop it up I can feel that it's very light, not dense. I have tried adding more AP flour in and it made my dough a little more stiff. I can roll it into a ball shape without any of the dough sticking to my hand.

Which one is the good dough?

These are the ingredients I use:

  1 cup AP flour
  1/2 cup brown sugar
  1/2 cup white sugar
  1 egg
  1/2 tsp baking soda
  pinch of salt
  1/2 tsp baking powder
  1 1/4 cup blended oat
  123 grams butter

What is the best ratio between wet and dry goods?


texts: How should I cut cookie dough when in tube?

texts: I have rolled my cookie dough (eggless recipe) into a tube and put into the fridge overnight (in clingfilm). When I come to cut it the next day, it crumbles half way through the cut. I have tried a thin knife, a serrated knife, even tried the floss method. I just end up with half the cookie intact and the other half in crumbs. What am I doing wrong to such a simple process?


texts: What is meant when a spice is water-soluble?

texts:
Coriander and basil are said to be water-soluble. However, I'm not quite sure what this means.  If you put the leaves into water the leaves do not dissolve. They are still there at the end.

I know certain nutrients can be water soluble — e.g., vitamin C — but what is meant by a spice?


texts: How can I make very small quantities of balsamic reduction?

texts:
Last night, a dish called for a drizzle of balsamic reduction. I thought that, in order to get a good reduction and not burn anything, I'd need way more balsamic than the recipe called for.

Is there a way to make very small yields of balsamic reduction?


texts:
One of my wooden spoons has mould on it (black spots, not able to be removed by surface scrubbing - I went on holidays without clearing the dishwasher...).

Is there a way to remove the mould?  Or should I just buy a new wooden spoon?


texts: How to make Honey Roasted Peanuts just like Planters?

texts:
I tried to make honey roasted peanuts looking at some blogs.
But I didn't come out so well. It was not very crisp and sticking with other peanuts definitely not like what you get from store.

Any help. Truly appreciated.


texts: Are Pull N Pak plastic bags appropriate for storing raw or cooked meat in freezer snd vegetables in fridge?

texts:
Pull-n-Pak plastic bags are freely available in supermarkets at produce and meat sections.

When I buy a package of 12 drumsticks or a jar of chicken livers, I plan weeks to  eat them. So I use the Pull-n-Pak bags to separate them, either raw or cooked, into portions per meal.

Since the bags are plastic, are they appropriate for storing raw or cooked meat in the freezer? Is it better to use glass food containers such as Pyrex, rather than Pull-N-Pak plastic bags? Are they appropriate for storing raw vegetables in fridge?

Thanks.


texts: Skimming foam from stock without removing floating spices

texts:
When I make chicken stock from scratch, I like to include whole spices like mustard seed, coriander, star anise and black pepper. I put these in right at the start when the water is still cool, so they can slowly add flavor as the stock simmers for hours.

I only run into a problem when skimming foam. Many of the whole spices float to the top and I find it very tedious to skim the foam without taking out spices as well. I use a metal spoon or ladle for skimming.

How can I skim the foam without catching the floating spices as well? Is there a technique or tool specially suited to this task?


texts:
Well, unfortunately the present my mom got me last Christmas turned out to be a pressure cooker and not a pressure canner.   I've read that it is unsafe to can low acid foods using a pressure cooker.

But is it safe to can high acid foods in a pressure cooker? I'd like to do this because it uses a lot less water and a lot less energy than boiling water canning.

Does a pressure cooker actually cook to a lower temperature than a pressure canner? (My pressure cooker just has two settings (high and low) and I don't know what the PSI is on them.


texts: Can mayonnaise be infused with coconut, without getting watery?

texts:
I want to make a mayonnaise-based sandwich spread with coconut milk in it, but I'm concerned that adding enough coconut milk for any flavor will make the spread too runny.

Note, I do not want to make mayonnaise from scratch - I have seen recipes where you infuse the oil in homemade mayo first then use it to make mayo.
I'm talking about using packaged mayo as the base, ending up with the texture of mayonnaise and the additional taste of coconut milk.


texts: How to sprout quinoa (and other grains) safely

texts:
I've recently begun sprouting my own grains but I've found (no matter the method I use) that they tend to be too...crunchy? My boyfriend described my last batch of black quinoa tasting like it had some sort of "husk" or "shell" on it that made the flavor and texture less desirable.

I make sure to rinse the quinao thoroughly to avoid getting a bitter or soapy result at the end (rinsing at least three times). And rinse at least 2-3 times a day to make sure to avoid mold growth.

So far I have tried the following methods, plus some (note: I do not have a sprouter, I use a large mason jar):

WikiHow with a short rinse/soak period
Ehow with a longer soak and a 2-3 times a day rinse
Power of Food with a upside down container to make sure everything is drained off thoroughly

I also have used paper towel, light cloths and cheese cloths as covers depending on which method and what it describes.

It seems consistently I am getting a little better each time, but they are still a little hard. Is it my water temperature (I've used tap and make sure not to make it too hot or too cold).

Any suggestions or tried and true methods to get a good result with grain sprouting?


texts: Freezer doesn't have a temperature control. Does the fridge thermostat control freezer temperature?

texts: I have a Midea 3.1 Cu. Ft. Compact Refrigerator. There is a place to control temperature in the fridge part but not in the freezer part. Does making the temperature colder in the refrigerator make the temperature colder in the freezer or does the freezer stay at a constant temperature?


texts:
The standard method of making sopes (and also huaraches, chalupas*, and gorditas*) can be summed up as:

form medium-thick masa patties
griddle those on both sides on a dry griddle
form the raised edges of the sopes
let sopes cool
shallow-fry the sopes on both sides
add toppings and serve

Sample instructions, here.
The problem with the shallow-frying is that it's a very messy step, and sometimes you dip them in tomato sauce, making the frying even messier.
I'm wondering if step (5) could be replaced by baking them in a very hot oven, and if so what the optimal combination of time, temperature, and oil would be.  I've found a few internet sources with oven-baked sopes, but none of them appear to be very well-tested.  Has anyone actually tried this, or something similar, and if so what was your experience?
(* the traditional Mexican dishes by this name, not the Taco Bell versions, which are quite different)


texts: What is the roasting time per pound for a spatchcock turkey breast?

texts: I am using the spatchcock method of roasting a turkey breast. I have found cooking time per pound for a whole turkey. I thought roasting a turkey breast was less time per pound vs. a whole turkey. So bottom line, what is the roasting time per pound for a spatchcock turkey breast?


texts: Correct temperature to serve a chocolate gateau (cake)

texts:
This is not so much a cooking question but a serving question.

The cake consists of layers of almond sponge, coffee butter cream, and chocolate ganache. At what (serving) temperature would I get the best flavour and texture?


texts: Is two-month old eggs laid by backyard chicken still edible?

texts: Someone gave me some eggs laid by his backyard chicken about two months ago. I left them in a regular egg container on my kitchen counter for about two months now. The room temperature ranges between 50 F degrees to high eighties. Are they still edible?


texts: Arugula is very salty, and doesn't look like arugula

texts:
I recently bought some arugula, partially to make salads with. I tasted some leaves though, and it's incredibly salty. It also doesn't look like any arugula I've ever had before:

I'm used to more "serrated spear"-shaped leaves. This looks more like spinach than anything. If I tear it up though, it releases the distinct, sharply-bitter smell that I associate with arugula.
I thought that the salt may be a result of a pesticide or something that was added to the leaves, but the packaging claims it's pesticide free, and also that it was grown via aquaponics. The salt taste also survives several rounds of washing.
Is there something wrong with the arugula, or is this a particular variety? If I search for "salty arugula", the results are almost exclusively recipes that involve adding salt, which isn't very helpful.


texts: Making Fudge or Candy While it is Raining or Snowing

texts:
I've heard and old wives tales that when you try to make fudge or candy when it's raining or snowing outside that the fudge or candy will not set.

What is the truth behind this tale? If it is true, how do you make fudge or candy on days that it is raining or snowing?


texts: When does baking/cooking in bulk have an advantage?

texts: I often wonder (in the cases of spanish rice, soup, & bread) if my local restaurants have an advantage over what I can do at home because they're working at a different scale.  How does this affect the flavors and prep?  Are there other results of working at scale I wouldn't think of?


texts:
I made a Spanish tortilla over the weekend and it reminded me that I don't get the right egg texture I'm after when cooking this. The results are tasty, but the tortilla is 'spongy'. From a restaurant I expect 'fluffy', where the egg has a smooth omelette-like texture.

The recipe (a Jamie Oliver one) is: fry off onion and diced potato in a large pan over a medium heat, when browned add some spices and crack in 8 eggs. When the sides of the tortilla start to come away pop under a hot grill until set.

What will help get the texture I'm after?


texts: I have a 12-cup programmable coffee maker (of the now - defunct Sears variety) and used the "bold" setting to brew a stronger coffee for a specific recipe. But, it now seems stuck on bold. How do I get it back to regular? I read the manual and have tried unplugging it, which reset everything but that. I then tried selecting bold for my next pot to see if that would turn it off. I have now brewed 5 pots of strong coffee when I only needed one pot for my recipe.


texts: How does salt influence gluten development in sourdough bread dough? Does it inhibit or enhance it?


texts: How long can my smoked brisket stay in holding?

texts:
I'm smoking a brisket for the first time and it's for my wife's birthday party. I have a pellet smoker that I'm using to smoke a full brisket. I put it on roughly at 10 PM last night. Following suggestions I found at amazingribs.com, I'm supposed to remove the brisket when it's at around 195-203F and put it in holding, that is, wrap it in foil, then in a towel, and place it in an insulated cooler. He suggests 1-4 hours for holding. Well, it turns out I didn't get my timing right and it's now time to put the brisket in holding, but guests won't be here and ready to eat for 5-6 hours.

Is 5-6 hours wrapped up in an insulated cooler too much? What should I do?


texts: Is it safe to use a 2 burner reversible griddle on an electric stove?

texts: I want to use the reversible 2 burner griddle pan on an electric stove. But the rims fit flush on the stove and the elements are hitting the grill. No air can go underneath it or the heat from the burners cannot escape. So I Hav'nt used it yet as I think it might not be safe. Did anybody use their griddle on the electric stove when the rims are flush on the stove?


texts: How can I tell if my palm oil is rancid?

texts: I've purchased a sustainable brand and have read about it's nutrition and use.  It was stored in a cool, dark cupboard and I haven't used any yet.  I opened the jar last week and it has a sharpish smell.


texts:
I want to know if you have cooked your pork to the point where you can 'pull' it can you further cook the rillette in fat / lard in a similar way to what a confit is done or is the fat just poured over the the cooked pork when you seal the meat in the container?

Can you use pink salt (Nitrates) in your cooking process so as to make the rillette store for many months?


texts: How to bottle your own homemade salad dressing

texts: I would like to bottle my homemade dressing. The main ingredients are olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, lemon and dijon mustard. Once it is bottled, is there a processing time as there is with canning vegetables?


texts:
I've recently learned how to make my own pretzel buns, and was planning on using a similar technique to make pretzel dinner rolls for thanksgiving dinner next month.

The only problem is that I want to bake the buns at the house where they will be eaten, but I won't be able to boil them in the baking soda solution on site, as there will likely be no room on the range.

Will there be any problems with pre-boiling the pretzels and allowing them to sit, possibly overnight, before baking them?


texts: Triple cooked chips: Removing moisture by cooling

texts:
Triple cooked chips (French fries) are made by:

Boiling the chips, then cooling them in the fridge/freezer to remove moisture
Deep frying at a low(ish) temperature, then cooling again as above
Deep frying at a higher temperature

The intermediary cooling steps are for drying and removing water content. How does the fridge/freezer remove water, rather than just changing its temperature/state? Wouldn't, say, sun- or air-drying work better?


texts: Are sweet potatoes and yams treated different in terms of cooking?

texts: I saw this this question, and a few others, but there aren't any explanations I can find that say whether the two are treated differently or not. In other words, can they be used as a direct substitute?


texts: What substances are good for spherification with algin?

texts:
Using sodium alginate, I know you can make "caviar" of many ingredients. For those who are not familiar with the process, here is an online explanation.

Looking online, however, I keep seeing the same ingredients repeated over again: blueberries, pineapple, and a few other fruit juices.

What other substances are good, any surprising non-fruity ingredients?


texts:
What is the better way to store lots of preservative-less bread approaching the expiration date: freezer or refrigerator?

Does one method dry out the bread more than another?


texts: What is the lesser evil, degassing too early or too late?

texts:
Suppose that I have made bread dough and it is supposed to be degassed around 90 min after kneading (t+90). Suppose that I have to leave home at t+30 and will be back sometime between t+120 and t+150.

What is better for the dough, to degas it too early or to degas it too late? I know I can try to influence the duration of the first rising by changing the temperature (I could either put it in the fridge or in an oven preheated to 50°C, turned off and cracked open). But I doubt that the dough's internal temperature will change substantially during these short times.

So, what is the better strategy? Warm it and degas early, or cool it and degas late?

For the record, I am talking about a high-hydration bread (86%), with sugar, but no fat, 2.8% yeast. But if the hydration, leanness and yeast amount have an influence on the decision, I would like to hear about that too. (Assume that for any yeast amount, the time period before degassing has been calculated to be correct for it).


texts: How can make malted milk ball centers - not the chocolate covering? If I mix malted milk powder with any liquid it just melts into it. I don't have any way to compress the powder mechanically, which might work. There used to be pressed hard malted candies but I can't find them anymore.


texts: What type of oil is used in korean side dishes?

texts:
I recently tried making the Korean side dish gamja jorim. Although the taste was spot on it was noticeably different from what is available at local Korean restaurants due to the lack of oil.

Many of the side dishes served at our local Korean restaurants have a considerable amount of oil and I would like to know what type of oil I should be using and at what point should this oil be added? Should it be add into the pan, during cooking or after cooking?


texts: I ordered a rice recipe yesterday and stored the left over in the fridge. However the container is not airtight. I was planning to have it today and tomorrow. I wanted to ask if its still safe to eat. It was kept in fridge within an hour of ordering.


texts:
I am looking for a book which concentrates on croissants. I already have some recipes and other books which either present them or delve a little bit into them.

I am looking for a more deep literature about them, about techniques, about folds, about variations in proportions and variations of ingredients.

Does such a book exist?


texts:
I'm growing some bhut jolokia peppers, and they are almost ready for harvesting.

However, I've since seen that the naga viper pepper has beaten the bhut jolokia as the hottest pepper.  I've also seen that a variety of Trinidad Scorpion pepper has beaten out the naga viper.

The store I bought my bhut jolokia from now is selling "the world's hottest pepper" called naga jolokia.

Is the naga jolokia the same as the naga viper?  Is it the same as the bhut jolokia?

I understand that the naga viper was an unstable hybrid.  Presumably this means that it cannot be reliably sold for home gardeners.  Is the Trinidad Scorpion variety stable?  If not, how do the stable varieties compare with the naga viper and bhut jolokia?

To summarize the questions:

What is a naga jolokia, and where does it stand in comparison to
the other "contender" peppers?
What is the world's hottest pepper?
What is the hottest pepper that the average home gardener can purchase, and then grow
at home (local climate permitting)?


texts: Can I compensate for non-working yeast with baking powder in bread?

texts:
I am used to baking with fresh yeast like this:

Where I live now I can't buy this, so I have to make do with this:

In accordance with the instructions I use 2 g of the "yeast" per 500 g flour.

How I tried using it:

Mix it with the dry flour before adding water
Dissolve it in water before mixing with the flour
Dissolve it in water with a teaspoon of sugar before mixing with the flour

I none of my attempts I got the dough to rise.

So before I bake my next brick bread, I wanted to ask: is it worth trying to add some baking powder?


texts: Pickled onion cider instead of pickled onions

texts:
I have been making pickled onions for years with no problems.  I have recently bought pre peeled onions and find that in the pickle, these onions fizz in the jar.

Why is this - the onions look fresh and healthy?


texts: Sous Vide without vacuum. What liquid should be used?

texts: I'm new to sous-vide and I am trying to figure out how to do it without vacuum. I've seen how other people have done it with oil to displace the air in the bag. But is this the best liquid to use? This is for pork. I am concerned the oil might change the flavor of the meat and was wondering if there is any other liquid I can use.


texts:
Now I know bread shouldn't be kept in the fridge, but I had leftover garlic bread from pizza stored in the fridge for two days.

I warmed it up and ate them (I was really lazy today haha). then I thought....I wonder if those were bad? But since it's bread I figure 2 days shouldn't be that bad.

Then I read about how you should never store bread in the fridge because it will go stale......but stale isn't the same as "spoiled" is it technically? I mean it would probably be just hard and tasteless correct?


texts: What can I substitute for lady cream peas without noticeable flavor change?

texts:
I was emailed a recipe by a friend -- she'd like me to cook a Strawberry and Lemon White Bean Bundt Cake. One of the ingredients is going to be a problem, though:

  1/2 pound Camellia Brand Lady Cream Peas, cooked and drained

The cooked peas are pureed and then mixed with other, more conventional cake ingredients; presumably the strawberry and lemon flavors predominate, rather than the peas.

But for my question: I'd never heard of lady cream peas! According to the manufacturer's website (from whence the recipe comes), it's a type of cowpea.

  They have a sweet flavor and creamy texture and are featured in Southern dishes

I've looked in a couple of stores and can't find lady cream peas -- would I be able to substitute black-eyed peas (another strain of cowpea) with little risk of changing the flavor, or are they stronger (beanier?) than lady cream peas? What other bean/pea options are available? My lack of cowpea experience is showing :)


texts: I'm currently letting some wild turkey (the bird, not the whiskey) marinate in some plain yogurt.  I saw this somewhere on TV or online.  Does anyone know what's actually going on chemically when the meat is marinating in the yogurt?  Since it's a base I can't imagine that it will have much of an affect on breaking the meat do, although I could see the yogurt working its way in between muscle fibers.  Anyone with experience marinating with yogurt care to comment?


texts: Getting rid of a commercial/plastic taste in icing?

texts:
I have been taking a cake decorating course that requires me to make this buttercream icing because, being Wilton, they claim that no other icing gets stiff enough to make their decorations, and that other icings won't crust the way this does. Problem is, I think it tastes gross and fake and sorta plastic and commercial, and not at all how I want the icing on my homemade cakes to taste.

I tried adding more vanilla and/or more butter flavouring to maybe make it taste better (I suspect the taste is from the shortening?) but it still tastes odd to me. The course instructor said we couldn't replace the shortening with butter because the icing wouldn't get as stiff as I need, and it wouldn't crust.

Is there a way to make a stiff consistency icing that doesn't taste so terrible?


texts: Turkish delight is way too soft and too sweet. How can I make it more firm with way less sugar?

texts:
I'm following this recipe for Turkish delight.

There are a few unwanted outcomes. First, is the instructions for preparing the cornstarch results in unwanted lumps, even when using an electric hand mixer. So, next time, I'll probably pour all the water right away, and dissolve before heating it up to thicken it.

Secondly, after sitting on the counter overnight, it's a bit too soft, in my opinion. I want it to be as firm as the cotlets that I could buy. When cut into the small cubes, they do hold their shape, which is good. And also, the cornstarch/confectionery sugar mix doesn't get absorbed, which is also good, but it's just too soft. Could it just be a matter of time that it will actually become firmer by just being stored in a box or sitting open on the counter?

But my biggest issue is that it is just way too sweet, seemingly much sweeter than putting 1 tbsp of plain sugar in my mouth. I think I want to use just 1 cup of sugar because the 4 cups just seems too much. But I'm afraid that just 1 cup of sugar dissolved in the 1 1/2 cups of water won't reach the 240F required to reach the required softball state. Can I just use 3/8 cup of water for that 1 cup of sugar? But then my candy thermometer won't be able to read it because the solution would be too shallow. (I don't have a smaller pan).

So again, primarily, how can I use way less sugar than the recipe states to significantly reduce the sweetness, and achieve the same firmness of cotlets?


texts: What is the purpose and effect of using knuckles when kneading bread dough?

texts: Some recipes specify that the baker's knuckles should be used when kneading the dough. What is the purpose and effect of using one's knuckles as part of the kneading process?


texts: I forgot to add butter to my cupcakes but they were ok - why?

texts:
I made some chocolate cupcakes and for some reason totally forgot to add the butter. The mixture was like muffin batter so I didn't twig until they'd cooked and looked  smaller then usual and more glossy on top.

On tasting them they were a little bitter, probably due to the amount of cocoa powder and more dense than usual but definitely not horrible, in fact quite nice.

Have I invented something or is this just something that I've actually made? I thought you had to have oil of some sort in cakes  to make it stay together?


texts: When, if ever, are dried herbs preferable to fresh herbs?

texts: Sometimes I see a recipe call for dried herbs. If I have access to fresh herbs, should I go for fresh herbs instead? Is there any benefit in using dried herbs with some recipes?


texts: My fridge door was left cracked open over night

texts: My fridge door was left open over  night with the fridge light on.  Is my dairy products safe to eat?


texts: Why do you need to fry onions and garlic before adding other ingredients to a dish?

texts:
I've been using an online Paella recipe that instructs you to sweat some onions for 5 minutes, then add garlic for a few minutes, followed by the vegetables, tomatoes, rice and stock.

Is there a reason the onions need to be added and fried first (and before the garlic)? Does it affect the taste at all?

Recipe was Saffron Seafood Paella


texts: Bisquick waffle surface is inconsistent. Likely equipment or recipe problem?

texts:
I've been using the same waffle recipe and waffle maker for about 10 years.  Lately, my waffles have changed a bit.

Waffle iron takes quite a bit longer to indicate done.  Previously I'd expect it  to be ready a few seconds after a 5 minute timer went off.  Now it can be closer to a minute afterward.
Surface of waffles is no longer as uniform.  The center has often either collapsed or otherwise not stuck to the upper iron, leaving an undercooked "divot".  (But not 100% of the time.  I can still get a good surface occasionally)

It's a 10-year-old Black & Decker that has worked well.  The grilles have no obvious damage to the surface, but I can believe that something related to them has changed.  I wouldn't be too upset to replace it.  (Replacing the removable grilles appears to cost more than replacing the unit).  There's only a single ring-shaped heating element in each half.  So I don't think the heating is the problem.  I'd expect a consistent hot-spot or a consistent cold spot away from the center.  Neither of those seem to be happening.

My worry is that replacing would be useless because something is off with the recipe.  In my case it's just Bisquick (mainly because I never do any prep the day before, I won't have buttermilk or yeast, and it's worked great previously).  This is the only thing I use Bisquick in, and I'm concerned that a change in the product could be the issue instead. My double-batch as made:

576g Bisquick
2 eggs
4 Tbs vegetable oil
2 2/3 cup milk

Each waffle is made with a shy 1-cup batter poured into center.

While I normally try to apply a spray oil before every batch, I do occasionally forget.  When that happens, I haven't noticed it being significantly better or worse.

Anyone know if these craters are an indication of a problem with surface of the iron?

While it could be a lack of heat, it looks to me more like the batter in the center is not sticking or otherwise remaining in contact with the upper surface.  I'm supposing the grille is hot, but that there's an air gap to the batter.  Seems odd that it's always the center where it pulls away.


texts: Confusion regarding garlic powder in fat in pan

texts:
I left a pan from cooking chicken with garlic powder in the fridge for a week. There are lumps of chicken fat that I assume have garlic powder in them. Is this like garlic butter or garlic in oil and is it safe to put the fat in the compost or touch it? I'm not going to eat it but still worried about botulism going in the sink or going in the compost.

Is that it's a week in the fridge and not more mean it's safe and/or that it's garlic powder and not fresh garlic? (I've read both four days and seven days are the limits to storing garlic in oil in the fridge). Does cooking it change things? (350 degrees F for 45 minutes). I ate the last piece of chicken at five days old and am fine but scared of the fat. I've looked at several questions similar to this but still a bit confused. I don't know if this is nothing or not. The pan is currently in the freezer. Thanks!

dry garlic in oil --> botulism risk?

How long is garlic butter safe, and why is it not a botulism risk like garlic in oil?


texts: Raw Frogs Legs pink liquid - Still safe to eat?

texts:
I have some raw, commercially packed and frozen frogs legs that I thawed overnight in the fridge about 4-5 days ago. I noticed a lot of pinkish liquid inside the packaging.
Is it still safe to eat these? They seem to smell fine.
I've looked online but couldn't find much information. One site says they last 2 days if loosely wrapped and another says up to 5 days

Thanks.


texts:
Since wooden cutting boards are safe for use with meat, I was wondering if I can reuse the cedar grilling planks.

Yossarian's answer to this question about how to prepare a plank says you can use one again depending on what you're cooking.

So, what determines whether you can reuse the planks?
How should I clean them after use?
After too many uses, will they lose the ability to impart flavor to what's being grilled?

The ones I bought were fairly expensive, so I'd like to get as much use out of them as possible.


texts: What's the difference between Salami and Pepperoni?

texts: What is the difference as far as content-pork, beef?


texts: I wonder if heads of shrimps bought from US grocery stores are safe to eat.


texts:
I made a bit of a mistake, being a lazy bachelor and inexperienced at cooking.  I was making chili and when it came time to add beans I discovered I didn't have any canned beans.  I did however have some dried beans.  I decided to save time and add these directly to the pot of chili and add some water.

However, after much simmering the beans maintain a certain unpalatable crispness.  I have also read that undercooked beans contain a chemical lectin which can cause stomach discomfort.  I have also read that beans should be soaked, the water discarded to remove the lectin, and then boiled to cook them.

Is there any way to salvage this?  Should I just continue cooking the chili for hours?  Will I have to throw out my potentially delicious chili?


texts: Why does fat make chapati/parathas/pooris remain soft?

texts:
I want chapati and parathas (same dough is used for both) to remain very soft for a long time. I originally asked in the comments here: Why doesn't my whole wheat dough pass the Poke Test?

and SAJ14SAJ said:

  Gluten development (or lack of it) is not going to help with that. That is a factor of staling, and flat breads are going to stale quickly, especially if they are lean and not enriched (not loaded with fat, sugar, and so on).

So, why does fat help keep the chapatis soft? And how do you calculate the amount of fat to be included in the dough to achieve soft chappatis?


texts: What is the difference between a 63-degree egg and a regular poached egg?

texts: Recently on Master Chef one of the desserts featured a 63-degree egg - what is the difference between that and a regular poached egg?


texts: What is the difference in the making of yoghurt to produce carbonated (like Kefir) vs non-carbonated yoghurt?

texts:
What is the difference in the making of yoghurt to produce carbonated vs non-carbonated yoghurt?

I'm not a proper cook, and am just researching this 'cos i'm curious..

Yoghurt is fermented milk, and gas would be produced..

So what's the difference in the yoghurt making process between when a yoghurt is carbonated, like a Kefir drink(Kefir is mentioned on wikipedia, it's a carbonated yoghurt).. vs when a yoghurt is like most we are more familiar with, not carbonated like normal yoghurt.


texts:
It has been a cool summer and our tree has a large amount of under ripe figs. The frosts will be here in a couple of weeks so they need to be picked.

So what can be done with a large number of under ripe figs?


texts: Safety of room-temperature soaker from Reinhart's *Whole Grain Breads*

texts:
One of the “tricks” used in Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads is to soak various whole grains in water, at room temperature, for 12–24 hours. For example, in his “Multigrain Stuan” formula, he calls for leaving 2 oz whole wheat flour, 6 oz mixed grains, .14 oz salt, and 6 oz milk, buttermilk, yogurt, soy milk, or rice milk out, covered lightly in plastic wrap, at room temperature, for 12–24 hours.

As to which grains to use, there is a note to see the comment. The comment talks about which grains to cook vs. use uncooked. It mentions using brown rice, cooked.

But rice can contain B. cereus spores, which are heat-stable and will survive cooking; and it seems like this room-temperature soaker would be a nice environment for them to grow. The pH isn't low enough (less than 4.3) to stop them, for example. And B. cereus produces heat-stable toxins, which would assumably survive baking.

Is there something I'm unaware of that makes this recipe safe?


texts: What's the black thing at the bottom of navel oranges?

texts:
Sometimes I'll cut into a navel orange and notice something black inside which originates at the bottom of the orange, where the navel is. What is it?

I have seen it get pretty far into the fruit too. Like almost half way in... is it safe to eat an orange like this?


texts: Why are the blueberries in my blueberry muffins not melting?

texts:
I've made a few batches of blueberry muffins and the first batch turned out perfectly.  After that batch, I tried to substitute honey for sugar (just testing things out), but the blueberries didn't melt and they didn't have much flavor so I decided to go back to the original recipe.  For some reason though, my blueberries still won't melt and it honestly ruins the muffin for me.  For more clarification, when I say the blueberries won't melt I mean that they feel like they're ready to burst but they're completely intact (like they haven't "exploded" and the skin is unbroken). I'm really at a loss here on what to do or why this randomly started happening; I assumed it was related to the honey, but the latest batches have no honey in them.

Would really appreciate some help if anyone has a clue! :(

EDIT: I bought a huge bag of the frozen blueberries at Costco so I have had the same bag of frozen blueberries for all my muffins.  I appreciate all of the responses, but considering I'm already using frozen I'm still confused.  I'll try some more blueberry muffins tomorrow; maybe it was just a fluke.


texts: What exactly is a boozy preserved egg and how are they made?

texts:
On page 431 of Fuchsia Dunlop's The Food Of Sichuan there is a sort of vague description of a boozy preserved egg (zaodon, 糟蛋) but I'm having trouble finding any more detail on how they are made.
This is the description of how the eggs are made in the book:

Zaodan are made by tapping duck eggs all over to crack their shells, while leaving their inner membranes intact. These fragile things are then steeped in a wonderfully aromatic liquid, dark as long-steeped tea, fragrant with fermented glutinous rice wine, strong baijiu grain liquor, brown sugar and spices, for up to three years.

I found this recipe which, when I passed it through google translate, seems to describe something similar, but most of the recipe has the eggs sitting in "sweet grains" and only at the end do you soak it in alcohol. I also found a couple youtube videos (here and here) of people eating some sort of preserved egg which looks like it might have been fermented in a grain but I can't tell if it is the same thing described in the book. All the other recipes, videos, and descriptions I could find seemed to be of tea eggs or century eggs and the English search results were mainly just about eggnog.
Should I be using other search terms? Are the eggs in grain from the recipe I found and from those videos the same thing as the eggs described in the book? How are these made, and is this something I could reasonably try at home?


texts:
I'm looking to sous vide a boneless, 6 lb rib roast, for New Year's Eve.  If I set the temp for 136F, how long should I leave this to cook?

My thought was 6 hours, but that's just based on experience and not any actual calculations.


texts: What is the history of the white chocolate macadamia nut cookie?

texts:
By now in 2019, white chocolate macadamia nut seems a very typical cookie flavor (in the United States), available from lots of different shops and in lots of different brands.

I'm pretty sure I never saw them as a kid in the US in the 1980s.  I have a strong memory of macadamia nuts being a rather exotic food at that time, associated with Hawaii.

Who invented the white chocolate macadamia nut cookie?  How did it become popular?


texts: How much oil is necessary to fry/cook eggs?

texts:
Say I want to cook sunny-side up or scrambled eggs, I would ask help from my family, but I wanna try it on my own.
I have a non-stick pan which as of now kinda sticks and it's what we usually use when cooking something, apart from our wok, which is less stickier. What I would want to do first is heating up the pan, adding the oil, then inserting the egg. Cook for a while then serve it on a plate.
Under what circumstances should I use oil for cooking eggs, and how much?