texts: Is Dextrose the same as Atomized Glucose Powder?

texts:
I have been making some yummy sorbets and ice creams.

Many recipes call for atomized glucose powder. However, 'atomized glucose powder' is not that readily available. 'Dextrose', however, is commonly available at local heath food stores here in Southern California.

There is some debate if dextrose is the same as atomized glucose. Specifically, look at this thread on eGullet where it is stated:

  Dextrose is a type of glucose but is sweeter. Atomized glucose has
  what is called a sweetness coefficent of 50 while dextrose has one of
  75.

Here are some other data points:

1. Wikipedia states:  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose)

  Glucose (also known as D-glucose, dextrose, or grape sugar) is a
  simple monosaccharide found in plants.

2. Harold McGee in 'On Food and Cooking' states (p. 653 in the most recent edition):

  Glucose, also called dextrose, is a simple sugar, and the most common sugar from which living cells directly extract chemical energy.

3. The Culinary Institute of America's 'Mastering the Art of Craft of Baking and Pastry',
   2nd edition states in the glossary (p. 914)

  Glucose: A monosaccaride that occurs naturally in fruits, some vegetables, and honey. Also known as dextrose.

4. Heston Blumenthal's 'The Fat Duck Cookbook' in the Science section (p. 456):

  Glucose: Arguably, glucose is the most important and widespread sugar molecule in biology.

  All glucose molecules come in two versions, a left-handed version called L-glucose and a right handed version called D-glucose. D-glucose is the only type produced by nature and the only type used in food.

I am persnickety about using just the right ingredient. Is dextrose powder that you find at the health food store exactly the same as the expensive imported atomized glucose powders that need to be ordered from a specialty pastry supplier? Or is ordering fancy French atomized glucose powder a pain when you can just buy 'dextrose' and substitute 1:1.

Most atomized glucose powder comes from Europe and dextrose is from American sources. Is this just a different term for the same thing?


texts: Storing Whole Wheat and Unbleached Flour

texts:
Can whole wheat and unbleached flours be stored in the same container instead of storing them separately?

I'd like to pre-mix my flours for all of my baking and store it that way. Since my diet consists mainly of whole wheat, whole grains, natural & organic foods....I don't use white flour by itself. And as I mentioned, whole wheat baking usually calls for some white flour because of the density.


texts:
In my case its still sealed in the container, and http://www.eatbydate.com/other/condiments/how-long-does-oil-last/ claims 3 years (unopened) / 2 years (opened) but that doesnt seem to jive with experience.

Any have more data on lifespan of Peanut Oil?


texts:
I am asking about a method or a trick to measure (or guess) how acidic is food.
Please don't suggest any expensive tool; this will be for home usage only.


texts: How do I make egg drop soup thick and golden?

texts: I had egg drop soup at a Chinese buffet which was bright golden and thick. I thought the thickness was due to cornstarch called for in many recipes but I just used cornstarch, and instead of thick and clear/gold, it's thinner and a milky color.


texts: I want to know how I can store chopped onions for 2 weeks?  I have a cook-out coming up and I need to get ahead of things.


texts: After cleaning our wooden cutting board, we using wipe it with mineral oil to help preserve it. Today, we accidentalky sprayed Weiman Stainless Steel Cleaner and Lolish on it instead of the mineral oil. The bottles looked similar. We quickly washed it with hot water; then after checking the inernet washed it with sea salt and also put baking soda on it to hopefully absorb any of it. We are still not sure if that's enough to prevent any potential poisoning with a next use. Can you please advise if it's okay to use again? Do you have any further recommendations?


texts: How to adjust time for pineapple casserole and pork roast

texts: I am cooking a pork roast for3 hrs at 325. I am also cooking scalloped pineapple at 350 for 1 hr.  I need to know how long I should cook the pineapple at 325


texts: How long do I boil store bought or canned tomato sauce for spaghetti?

texts:
How long do I boil store bought or canned tomato sauce to use for spaghetti?

I know that tomato sauce can be cooked in cans that are available from the grocery store.  Why should it take 4-6 hours?


texts: How do I tell which side of my pizza stone is the top side and is the side to bake a pizza on? I did not buy the stone but was given to me some years ago and I have not used it because I do not know which side I should put the pizza on and which side is not used to bake on.


texts: Is there a quintessential Italian hot sauce?

texts:
Fill in the blank: Franks is to America what Cholula is to Mexico what Sriracha is to Vietnam what ______ is to Italy.
One of my recipes which is a spin on Orichiette with Rapini, calls for hot sauce. I usually use Sriracha since it tastes good but I do find it's a clash of flavors sometimes. I'd like to replace it with an alternative that's representative of Italy. I have no experience with Italian hot sauces, what are the popular ones?
I know "sauce" has an additional meaning when it comes to Italian cuisine: I'm not looking for arrabiata or red sauce or anything like that. I mean something that comes in a bottle, perhaps crushed peppers and chilis with vinegar.


texts: Why was my bread mix really dry and take ages to knead properly?

texts:
I have been unable to find bread flour in my local grocery store, but did find a bread mix that contained three ingredients (wheat flour, salt and raising agent). Judging by the instructions on the pack to leave the dough to rise, I figured the raising agent was yeast and that it would be a decent substitute for bread flour.

My usual recipe is 750g flour, 1pkt yeast, some salt, couple tb sugar, 100ml oil and 600ml water. I treated this flour in the same way and immediately ran into issues:

It was extremely dry. I usually like a higher hydration loaf and expect it to be quite sticky and it was behaving like a much lower hydration dough. I ended up having to add another 75ish ml to get it to be the way it should be.
It took ages to knead. I usually knead by hand 10-ish minutes, and it must have taken a good 25 minutes to knead, and even then it didn't pass a proper window pane test, but I'd given up by that point.

Apart from the above, the rest of the process went fine, I did a doubled-in-size rise, shaped into pans and then a 30 min rise, and then into the oven at 200C for 45ish minutes. The crumb was tighter than I'm used to but it was still a decent enough loaf.

So now I'm curious what exactly this bread mix is, and exactly why this behaved so differently. My current hypotheses:

Perhaps a lower gluten content bread.
Perhaps a quickbread mix that actually had a chemical leavened. (but then why do they instruct to leave the bread to rise?)

Would either of these cause my mix to be really dry and take ages to knead properly? Or something else?

The product:


texts: How do I know if a food or recipe can be made in a microwave oven?

texts:
We've got a lot of questions about specific microwave cooking here - for example, "can I cook hamburgers in the microwave oven?" But rather than asking about specific foods, I would like to see some more general guidelines or widely applicable advice.

If I want to prepare a recipe or just cook a single item, how can I predict how it will turn out if I nuke it in the microwave instead of doing what the original recipe calls for (steaming, grilling, etc.)? Do some cooking methods work better than others in a microwave? And if some ingredients cook better than others in a microwave, why is that the case?

I'm looking for answers that don't rely on complicated techniques or specialized equipment. Making a cake using compressed gas, for instance, might be interesting or cool to watch, but is really not what I'm after in this question. I'm talking about being able to just pop something in, maybe adjust the power level, and go.

Assumptions:

A normal microwave - no convection or other exotic features.
Home use, not professional cooking - "good enough" rather than "the best possible tool for the job." For example, some food might be best if reheated in an oven, but still just fine in the microwave.
Basic tasks, not replacing a kitchen - generally, "I want to cook X, and I have a stove, an oven, and a microwave. Could I just as easily do it in the microwave as anything else?"


texts: Why does frozen bread sort of taste different?

texts:
If I buy a packet of bread:

And put it in the freezer, in it's packet, when I take it out to defrost it tastes different, sometimes drier as well.  Why is this?  I would of thought moisture would be locked into the packet.


texts:
I was told today that my juice was cloudy because they hadn't put the additive in it that makes it clear.

My question is: What is the additive they put in apple juice to change it from cloudy to clear?


texts: So, i really love pepperoni pizza, and want to make it at home. However, in my city, i can't find pepperoni for sale in the market (i don't live in the US). So, i was wondering, can i make something similar to pepperoni by seasoning regular salami? If the answer is yes, what seasonings should i use? I thought of paprika and oregano, but i think that there's must be more into it. Any advices? Thanks!


texts:
I want to make custard caramel. The recipe which I will follow requires condensed milk.
Now I have an opened refrigerated tin of condensed milk. Half of it is used. The other half is dried, though not expired.
So is it safe to use that? Also how can I melt the dried condensed milk?
PS: Dried in the sense that it has become little solid.


texts:
I cut out 30 days dry aged prime rib into pieces and then put in a vacuum seal bag and froze them. I found these brownish spots on the inside of each piece. Is this normal or they are spoiled?

I dry aged them by myself. Temperature is around 2-4 degree Celsius and humidity level is around 80%. The outer layer that I trimmed off seemed a little oily, not slimmy, and formed a crust.


texts: How can I color pasta during cooking or afterwards, preferably using natural coloring?

texts:
My daughter asked me if I could make her red bowtie pasta in honor of Matt Smith as Dr. Who.

I'd rather not use an artificial dye.  Either way, how would I go about coloring the pasta itself? Assume that I am starting from store-bought dry pasta. Would I have to add the dye to the water in large quantities, or would adding some to melted butter and tossing work?


texts: How would I measure Bouillon Cubes compared to the actual powder

texts: Is there a standard measurement that can be used?


texts: What's the ideal coffee to water ratio for a French press?

texts:
What's the ideal amount of coffee to use per cup of water in a French press?

I've looked at various online resources, which all gave me a different amount. Some call for 2 tablespoons per 6 oz of water, others per 4 oz. Others said to use one or the other, and add water after brewing if it's too strong.

So what's the ideal blend for extracting the best flavor?


texts:
I have a container of minced garlic similar to this:

My question is can I mince fresh garlic, then allow it to dry on a plate and add it to the container?  Or is there a special way of preparing this for reasons of taste or safety (molds, bacteria, etc)?


texts: Keep temperature at exact 62C/143F for an hour

texts:
Is there an appliance with which I can keep something at a specific temperature, in this case 62C, without constantly checking manually? I have been looking at thermostat controlled induction plates but haven't found any that go that low.

Edit for more information:

the temparature should stay within 2 or 3 degrees of the target, it's less of a problem if it goes too low, but too high chemically alters some key ingredients.
it should be able to do at least about 500ml of volume.


texts: How do olive oils differ, and what should they be used for?

texts: Here is a question from a "pre intermediate" home cook who lives in Spain. What is the difference between exta virgin olive oil, virgin olive oil, and simply olive oil? I gather that the non-virgin one is used for cooking while the other kinds can be consumed raw, on bread or salad...What is the difference between the superior kinds though? what determines a great taste of the oil? Is splurging 11 euros on a bottle of olive oil worth it?


texts: When rendering beef fat for tallow, must the fat come from the cow's kidneys or heart area?

texts:
I purchased a package of "beef fat" from the grocery for making tallow. I cut it up into one inch cubes and placed in the slow cooker for 4-5 hours. I ladled off the fat and double filtered it through cheesecloth. The liquefied fat was not as clear as it appeared in an instructional video I'd watched, and in its solid state there's a slightly unpleasant smell. This was my first attempt at making tallow, so I didn't know what to expect.

Does the anatomic location of the fat portion matter?


texts: Are there a better ways to crush biscuits/cookies than a rolling pin?

texts: Can the old trick of putting biscuits (cookies or crackers to Americans) in a plastic bag and hitting them with a rolling pin be improved upon?


texts: Why does rice expand by more than the liquid volume it's cooked in?

texts: Does air get trapped or sucked into the rice during cooking?


texts: How can I make the best use of prime beef?

texts:
I generally buy Choice grade beef, but will sometimes spend the extra money and buy Prime.

How should I prepare Prime beef so as to take proper advantage of the additional tenderness, marbling and overall flavour of this grade?

So far I've just been serving it on the rare side, or making carpaccio, but would not have a problem with serving it less rare.


texts: Why when I add garlic to an existing flavor base with veggies, it rarely gets golden brown?

texts:
Many sources suggest to add the garlic a minute or so before adding the main ingredient (tomatoes, cream etc) because if you start with the garlic, by the time the mirepoix has properly been sauteed the garlic would have burnt.

So I start by adding the mirepoix and add the garlic afterwards. Problem is that since it rests on the veggies and not directly on the oil (unless there is so much oil the sauce will get too greasy), it doesn't get properly golden brown.

That leaves me with either adding too much oil, or not reaching golden brown status on my garlic.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How long can I store soaked beans before cooking?
  Can you preserve canned kidney beans so that they still have their shape?

If I pre-soak/cook a large amount of dried beans in advance, what is the best way to store them for future use?

If freezing is an option, do I freeze them in the cooking water, or drain them and put them in an airtight container?


texts: Keeping food warm: Do double duty with heated dinner plate and enameled cast iron sizzle "charger" plate?

texts:
Will using both a heated dinner plate and an enameled cast iron sizzle plate as a charger (under the dinner plate) keep food warm for an appreciably longer time than simply heating the dinner plate or putting the dinner plate on a warmed metal-of-some-kind charger?  Or maybe even an enameled cast-iron trivet?

Note:

I do not own and have never used cast iron of any kind. So though at first thought this seems a sensible idea, but maybe there are physics or other factors that negate the idea?
I like my dinner plates. I do not want a dinner plate substitute (such as eating from the sizzle plate).


texts: Why is my fragrant rice pudding (Gordon Ramsay recipe) dry?

texts:
I was trying to follow the Gordon Ramsay's recipe for rice pudding.

It's the first time I try a spiced rice pudding (i.e. something more than rice, milk and sugar) and I am quite happy with the flavors. The problem is that it gets very dry. I added about 750 ml liquid (milk and coconut milk) for about 250 ml of rice (yes, i measured it by volume). I was using short grained, risotto rice.

It seems to me that the mascarpone cheese and the egg yolks clump toghether in between the rice grains, and everything gets rather dry. I would prefer a creamier texture, while keeping the rice from going to mush. What did I do wrong?


texts: What is the best way to get rid of the ants from the box of clarified butter?

texts:
The clarified butter is in a semi solid state in a transparent plastic box covered with a screw type lid.

I don't know how the ants went inside but now I can see those ants roaming inside the box - over and inside the clarified butter.

I was thinking of heating the butter and thus melting it down and then I could simply use a tea strainer to filter the ants out, but I think that this process will kill the ants and then I'll have dead bodies of ants and probably the juices from their bodies inside the butter which I find disgusting.

What is the way to get rid of them?


texts: How much powder does 1 TBSP of Cumin seeds yield when crushed? I have a recipe that calls for Cumin seeds to be crushed but I could not find whole seeds at the store.


texts: Can I pre-cook chicken in a sous vide bath while cooking something else?

texts:
Let's say I'm in the middle of a 72-hour 135F sous vide recipe, and I want to cook some chicken thighs for dinner for tonight.

Does it make sense to put the chicken in the bath at 135 for my normal chicken sous vide time, then finish them using a conventional cooking method (in the oven or on the stovetop), until the inside is fully cooked?

Alternatively, can I turn my 72-hour short ribs SV bath up to 150F for 1.5 hours to sous vide the chicken simultaneously?


texts: Is making guacamole a way to "save" almost-gone avocadoes?

texts: We had some avocadoes which went bad. My stepmom said that, had we made them into guacamole the night before, they would have been edible today. Is this correct?


texts: How to handle mango puree going stale in mousse

texts:
I made a mango mousse cake using the recipe here: https://www.womanscribbles.net/mango-mousse-cake/
Turned out nice, but after two days the mango puree was tasting stale. How can i counter this?


texts: I have no butter for my chocolate chip cookies. What can I use instead? And how much? My cookies calls for one cup of butter.


texts: Do I need to cook homemade brown beer mustard?

texts:
I want to try making a spicy brown beer mustard, and was wondering if I need to simmer the mustard to cook off the alcohol, or if I don't need to, how "alcoholic" the mustard can be (aka safe for kids)?

Thank you!


texts: What can I do to fix/improve a dry cake?

texts:
So a lot of times a cake is really dry, whether the recipe author intentionally does that or if I did something wrong I'm not sure (maybe it's how it's meant to be but it doesn't suit my tastes).

What can I do after the cake has been cooked and finished to make it not so dry?

And similarly, what can I do before it's been cooked to make it not so dry? I figure adding butter would help, but I'd rather not add more fat / calories, so I'd prefer an alternative.


texts: When I put them in the fridge, they developed a kind of a moist surface by the next day. Should I just leave them outside in an air-tight jar? If yes, then for how long will they stay fresh?


texts: Temp and time for using half the recipe of cake

texts: I have a recipe which makes cake for 6-8 ppl. I want to bake the same recipe using just the half recipe. It's original temp. Is 180 C using 40 minutes. Now after using just the half recipe what will my temp. And time be.. Please reply


texts:
I made a bigger batch of bread than I was initially planning on, and I don't want it to go bad before I get a chance to eat it. Having it go stale isn't an issue (french toast, bread pudding), but having it go moldy is.

What do you consider the best way to store homemade bread?

EDIT: It's a No knead Sourdough bread. I wanted to double the recipe and ended up tripling it.


texts: Question regarding percent hydration for 100% whole wheat bread dough

texts:
Can someone suggest a typical hydration for strictly 100% whole wheat bread,
(no refined flour added).
Since whole wheat absorbs more water,  I assume that for the
same weight dough as all-purpose flour,  it will require
a higher hydration,  but how much more?


texts: How do I heat up pre-made crepes with cognac?

texts:
I bought some pre-made crepes from the store the other day. I know that when making crepes, cognac is used. The advice I found online points to heating the ready-made crepes in the microwave (I don't think this is a good idea) or the oven.

I happen to have some cognac, and was wondering if it is a good idea to heat up the crepes with the cognac. If so, what would be the best way to do this so that the integrity of the crepes and the texture and flavor are best preserved?

I am a relatively beginner cook, so I know this may be a very stupid question, but any advice would be very helpful.


texts: Looking for Rubbermaid "Servin' Saver™" container

texts:
I'm looking for a specific Rubbermaid "Servin' Saver™" container. My co workers and I are having trouble finding it.  Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Measurements are 9 in x 4.5 in x 2 in.

Measured as length width and height


texts: What is the delicious brown layer that appears when you fry or bake apples, plums, apricots, etc.?

texts: When one fries or bakes various fruits, like apples, plums, and apricots, they acquire a (patched) brown to black layer where they have touched the pan or the hot air. It tastes deliciously tart and bitter. Is that only caramellisation, or is it more than that? Bonus question: is it the same process as what happens when you grill aubergines, and meat? A picture:


texts: How can I create a scotch egg with a runny yolk?

texts:
I ate a scotch egg at thebreslin.com in New York City.

The dish was clearly cooked fresh and the yolk of the egg was still runny when I cut into it.  It was pretty amazing.

My question - how can I get the yolk to stay runny? Scotch eggs are pretty easy to make with hard-boiled eggs - but soft-boiled?  Is it just a timing thing?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What are some good resources for learning Knife Skills?

I'm about to join some cooking classes but I'm totally green at this sort of thing.

So I can preserve some of my humility and not look totally incompetent - how can I learn to cut quickly and efficiently without lopping some fingers and limbs off in the process?


texts: Can Wilton cake fondant be kept in freezer?

texts: My mom put a package of Wilton cake fondant in the freezer by mistake. Will it still usable once thawed and, would you thaw it now or just before its intended use?


texts: What is the ratio of baking soda to water for lentils?

texts:
I am soaking lentils and need to know how much baking soda to add per cup of lentils.

Previously, I had to cook lentils for about 2 and 1/2 hours to get the desired softness of the lentils. It was suggested to add baking soda to the water while soaking lentils. How much baking soda should I use?


texts: Chow Mein: What is the starchy sauce called and how can I cook it?

texts:
This is a two part question, both relating to Chow Mein:

When ordering Vegetable Chow Mein from various Chinese restaurants in New York and New Jersey, I find that the dish is prepared with two different sauces depending on the restaurant. One sauce seems like its a typical Chinese "brown sauce," but the other is pretty much uncolored, is starchy, and not oily at all. I'll call this second sauce "Sauce X."

What is the correct name for "Sauce X," and how can I specify it when ordering Chow Mein at a Chinese restaurant?

How can I cook this sauce for use in homemade chow mein?


texts:
Onions are an excellent addition to many dishes, but cutting them can be frustrating when they make you "cry" all the time.

Does anyone know any tips or tricks to help minimise the tears when chopping onions?


texts: What type of noodle and sauce is used to making Thai Drunken Noodles?

texts:
I LOVE drunken noodles from Thai food restaurants, but am never able to find those wide, thin noodles in the markets and don't know what they're called to ask. Also, what sauce is used in drunken noodles? I assume there is some type of alcohol in it, but am not sure what.

So, my questions are:

What are the wide, thin noodles called that are served in Thai "drunken noodle" dishes?
What's in the Thai "drunken noodle" sauce?


texts:
Is there a commonly available cleaning solution I can use for coffee pots and infuser thermoses for coffee and tea?

I have a number of these that are starting to show coffee stains and particle buildup from coffee and tea. For coffee pots (back when I worked in restaurants in my youth), we had a white powder that worked well, but I have no idea what it actually is. I've bought "coffee pot cleaner powder" online, but it's just dishwasher detergent, and it leaves a slimy, soapy residue that takes a lot of blasting with scalding hot water to fully clean out the slime and taste. This is easy for coffee pots, but would ruin my thermoses and contigo mugs.

Is there an easy to use cleaner available to consumers for cleaning out glassware that isn't just rebranded dishwasher detergent?

Thank you.


texts: What is the best approach to cut carrot into thin strips?

texts: So I went to Subway™ and saw that their carrots are cut into thin strips. I can never do this with any knives. So what is the best way to cut carrots into thin strips (like french fries)?


texts: Is there a way to stop marshmallows from melting off the stick?

texts: Does anyone know of a good way to keep marshmallows from melting off the roasting stick when making smores? Not just sliding off, more like when you use a hot roasting stick and then put the marshmallow on it, it just spins around the stick and does not roast well.


texts: What are some effective tips for cooking bacon in the microwave?

texts:
I typically cook my bacon in the oven or stove top. A relative of mine saw me do this and recommended using the microwave instead. I have two questions on this:

Is this food safe--does using a microwave kill the bacteria/pathogens in pork?
What are some effective methods to ensuring I get the same results as I would in an oven or on the stove top?


texts: Can basil flowers be substituted for basil leaves to make tea?

texts: Can you use the basil flowers just like the leaves to make tea?


texts:
I kept several potatoes in a box dark cool cellar. Now, after 6 months, I am surprised to see that they grew a lot of sprouts, and among them, many "baby potatoes", with radius between 1 and 10 milimeters. The "mother potatoes" look and smell OK, but they feel softer than usual.

I wonder if there is anything here that can be cooked and eaten?

I have read that the sprouts themselves are poisonous, and the softer potatoes are also unsafe. But what about the baby potatoes - are they safe?


texts: Help! I poured the syrup over my Baklava before I baked it. Is it ruined?

texts: I accidentally poured the syrup over my Baklava before I baked it.  Did I ruin it?  Is there anything I can do to salvage it?


texts: How to cool large amount of liquids in a home kitchen?

texts:
I like to prep and freeze large amounts of soup at once but have come to understand that I probably have a food safety issue cooling them in my refrigerator.

I had been putting them is a cube shaped cambro, but have noticed that it takes way, way too long to get it down to 40°F.

My research turned up a lot of food safety strategies for commercial kitchens with a lot of equipment/space that I don't have.

What methods can a home cook use to get a large amount (say, ten quarts) of liquid down to safe temperatures in time?


texts: Sourdough starter - when do you give up?

texts:
I'm on Day 14 for my sourdough starter and can't get it to work.  I had a half inch rise on Day 3 and nothing since then.  I am using 1:1:1 with the flour component being made up of half whole wheat and half all purpose.

I leave my water out overnight in case of chlorine, and I noted that at room temperature, the batter is at about 68 degrees.  In the oven with the light on, it gets up to about 82 degrees.

I had been feeding it twice a day, but was advised to back off to once a day until I see some activity.  At best though, all I see are a few bubbles as shown here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/pEe3Su9dwizMnPyM9

I can't find rye flour at the moment (covid scarcity).

Any suggestions from you more experienced chefs?  Or should I give up on this batch and start over?  I'm wondering when to give up on this two week old potential starter.

Many thanks!
Wendy


texts: What's the term for cutting part way through a vegetable or fruit to increase surface area?

texts:
The other day I braised beef asian style (a bit of weak beef stock, sweet soy syrup, and dark soy sauce if you're wondering), and I put in some ginger. I wanted to keep the ginger together but give the most surface area to let its flavors out, so I cut into sticks which were still connected to the base. I was explaining to someone what I'd done, but I could not come up with a name for what I did.

What is the name for this technique?


texts: Can I substitute parchment paper for foil?

texts: can I substitute parchment paper for the foil in a bar cookie recipe


texts: How to determine that a particular product is Organic?

texts: So what is enough to find on a product (label or else) that makes it truly organic (regulated by USDA). Is "organic" itself means this and it is restricted to put this word on any product that is not organic?


texts: How does produce grading in the US work?

texts:
The US has a lot of standards about grading produce. Is everything graded on the same scale (with the same labels)? What characteristics do the grades generally depend on, and what characteristics do they ignore?

And is all produce graded, so that for example I can go to the store and find out what grade their supply of a given fruit is?


texts:
I have a lot of green onions but my recipe calls for a small bunch. Roughly how many green onions would I find in any of the following?

Small bunch
Normal bunch
Large bunch


texts: Why does my chard taste bitter when I cook it?

texts: I've tried cooking it in various ways, but it always ends up tasting bitter. What am I doing wrong? I'm using fairly young chard (homegrown), using the whole leaves.


texts: Is it possible to gain more body mass from a food than the mass of the food itself?

texts: Is there a some sort of food with such energy in it, that eating e.g. 100 grams of it will produce an increment of body mass greater than 100 grams?


texts:
After making an apple crostata, I was left with a lot of leftover crumb topping. The topping is delicious and I could eat it by itself ;) But since it includes raw flour, I'd rather find a more sophisticated and easy on my stomach solution. Do any of you have any creative ideas that involve using crumb topping without baking another pastry? :)

The ingredients of my topping are:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 stick cold unsalted butter

I probably have 1/3 left.


texts: What is the maximum time for which the dough should be allowed to rest before making Parathas?

texts:
Have heard that dough should be allowed to rest for the Gluten formation to occur.

Question: What is the maximum time after which resting the dough won't make any difference to the taste and the texture of the Parathas/Rotis?

Assuming: Dough is made of 100% wheat flour (no Maida), and water only.


texts: Can Fresh unboiled egg pasta be used for lasagna?

texts: I want to make a lasagna quickly, and I don't want to be bothered with boiling the noodles OR going to the store. Would strips of freshly made pasta cook properly layered with the other ingredients? Could I use one large sheet of pasta per layer instead of several strips?


texts: Are they're any ovens that have Programmable Stove top element features like an OVEN start stop feature?

texts: I love my Frigidaire Gallery electric Stove/convection oven.  It has made me a real fan of electric over gas. Most desirable is the superior control and evenness on the stove top. Especially for medium to low heat slow cooking and stewing. I could completely eliminate my crock pot if one or more of the heating elements had a delay/start/stop feature identical to the oven feature.  I can't seem to find that feature anywhere from any brand. Also i used to have an electric oven that allowed for 2 temperatures and times. THAT was cool also.  So say i wanted it to cook for 30 minutes @ 500 then turn down to 350 for 3 hours.  Also a cool feature hard to find.


texts: What's an effective method to strain liquids?

texts:
When I make horchata or aqua frescas, I often have a large volume (quarts) of liquid that could benefit from straining.  Usually only the small fine mesh strainer can get out the fine particles that remain after running the juices through the blender.

I haven't really seen very fine mesh strainers that are bigger than a couple inches across; I'd like to be able to strain a large volume at once.  Are there any tricks of the trade?


texts: Pressure cookers -- why are they good at things normally cooked at low heat?

texts:
Can someone please explain why pressure cookers are recommended for recipes that normally require low heat (about 180F).  Normal recipes for braises, beans, stock, etc suggest cooking them as low and slow as possible, ideally without reaching the boiling temperature of water.  I don't have a pressure cooker yet, but I hear it's great at "low-slow" type dishes.  The part I find confusing is how does it achieve good results at a higher temperature (250F).  If 180F is better than 212, wouldn't 250F make the braises tough and dry and make the beans burst?

I am thinking of getting a pressure cooker for beans.  Do beans simply take less time to cook, or do they actually come out better in a pressure cooker?


texts: Is it safe to use glass cooktop cleaner to clean and polish stainless steel pots?

texts:
My glass cooktop cleaner has abrasive materials and other components which are very effective when cleaning the hob: grease, burnt and solid stuff...

I thought this could be used to clean and polish pots too. I tried with an old pot and the results look amazing (I didn't take a picture before, but it didn't look like that at all):

The question is: is it safe to use?

While rubbing I could see the abrasive material's effect: once the grease and rust was gone the cloth started becoming gray like the pot, presumably from the steel particles that were being removed. I made sure to clean it up a couple of times with water and soap to remove all those particles, so I guess that would not be a problem. But maybe other components could damage the pot in the long term, or worse, be unsafe for cooking?

Update (ingredients)

<5% Nonionic surfactants
Perfumes
Limonene
Benzisothiazolinone
Methylchloroisothiazolinone
Methylisothiazolinone
2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1.3-diol

The sticker literally says "Among other things", so I hope they are harmless if they are allowed to omit them. :-D


texts:
I bought fresh ground peanut butter, and it's great and all, and I really like it for peanut sauces, but I really just want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and this stuff just isn't right for that.

What additives should I mix in to get a more classic PB&J peanut butter from fresh ground, raw peanut butter?
I am sure I will need to adjust on the fly, but what kind of oil should I add? Sugar? Salt?
What equipment should I use to mix?


texts:
I recently made a pumpkin cheesecake in a springform pan. The instructions say to run a knife around the outside immediately after removing the cake from the oven, and then allow it to cool to room temperature before placing it in the fridge to prevent cracking. Following these instructions produced a cake that had a rough outer edge, and there was still a crack in the middle of the cake.

What I'm wondering is if it would be wise to cut a strip of parchment paper to go all around the inside of my springform pan before baking the cake next time. My thinking being that as the cake cooled the parchment paper would be pulled inwards with it, thereby preventing any cracks, and I'd be able to pull the strip off the outside once the cake was fully cooled thereby keeping a smooth outer edge.

Has anyone tried this before? Is there a reason that cookbooks don't recommend doing it?


texts: Why isn't Almond Milk (and other non-animal based 'milk') considered juice?

texts:
As per the title, I consider "Milk" to be the substance secreted by living being to sustain their young, whether they be human, cow, dog, etc...

Almonds do not produce milk to sustain their young, in fact they are simply crushed. This reminds me more of juice than milk. So why don't people call it "Almond Juice"? Wouldn't this be more accurate?

The only reason I can think of as to why they would call it Milk would be to attempt to market it as a "milk alternative". Is that all there is to it? Or is there some defining feature that actually makes it fit the definition?

EDIT- Looks like I'm not the only one who finds this strange


texts: I put way too many hot chilli peppers in my Italian Beef!  What can I do to tame it down?


texts: How do you get 'ears' when baking bread?

texts: When slashing bread, how can I produce crusty 'ears' on the places where the slash opens up?  Most of the time they open up, but just end up flush with the rest of the crust.


texts: Can spanikopita (or other phyllo foods) be prepped in advance?

texts: I offered to cook for an event for a friend. Later, the request came that the food should be "finger food". Grumbling aside (I hate tedium), most the finger food recipes I know have substantial prep and I don't have a lot of time beforehand to cook. I'd like to have as much "oven ready" things made the night before. One recipe I have and like is for spanakopita. In this one, the filling is wrapped in little parcels of phyllo and can be baked. Is there a risk in chilling the filling, doing the wraps, and putting them in the fridge? If not, how should they be stored and how far in advance can this be done?


texts: How can I make this cool chocolate shape?

texts:
I've fallen in love with this picture.

I am wondering how I can make the white chocolate layer.

My guesses are:

option A: use a bottle and "pour" melted white chocolate above it
-- downside: ? the chocolate wouldn't get nice and smooth as in the picture.
option B: use a 2 pieces plastic moulder(like when making Eastern eggs) and "pour" white chocolate above it. Once poured use a different but smaller plastic shell and place it in the moulder in order to flat the chocolate.

Any suggestions?


texts: can you can in a instant pot pressure cooker? is so is there specifics

texts: I have an instant pot and would like to know if you can can in it and if so is there things you should NOT can in it. thank you  Tera


texts: How do you stop latkas from sticking to the baking sheet when cooking them in the oven?

texts:
I've made latkas and used flour as the binder, no egg. I placed the patties on an oiled baking sheet and cooked them in the oven at 375F for about 30 mins. When I pulled them out, they were quite stuck to the surface (although not burnt).

The latka ingredients (beets and carrots, in this case) had a lot of sugars in them, and I think this may have contributed.

What would help to make them stick less? Cooking for longer time at a lower temperature? Sprinkling some flour directly on the baking sheet in addition to the oil? Using more oil?


texts:
I want to make a lemon tart, but I want tins with straight walls, like the ones in this image.

How would I find them - is there a name I can look for? I've been unable to find them online (and they need to be shippable to Australia).


texts: Best practices for using taps while avoiding cross contamination

texts:
What are the best practices when it comes to touching taps while handling raw meat? I have germ related OCD issues so I end up avoiding using raw meat at all costs because in my head the following would occur:

  Cut meat > turn on tap > wash hands > turn off tap > get germs back on hands

While i could work with a one hand clean method this would not work for every situation, spatchcocking, keebabs etc.

I've had a google and looked for other topics on the issue, but they all seem to focus on washing up post cooking or how cooking shows cut out all the repeated hand washing. None seem to detail the best practices or governmental guidelines for washing hands and cross contamination from the act of washing (if there are indeed any).


texts: Cooked chicken stuffed with a can (of soda)?

texts:
I just saw a bit of "Come Dine With Me" which is a UK TV show where people cook/host a dinner party for other strangers to win the prize money.

When she took the chicken out of the oven, the guy who was carving it took out a can of Irn Bru (which may be just because they're in Scotland and this is a popular drink over there)

Why would they put a can in the chicken before cooking it (as I missed that bit)?


texts: I need a good substitute for applesauce in a gumdrop recipe

texts: I need applesauce for a gumdrop recipe but I am out of it. what can i use as a substitute? I have seen people saying oil, but what kind? And just the same amount as applesauce, or what?


texts: Is using vegetable oil on a flat-top grill a valid method for reducing cook-time?

texts: I recently got into a discusion with the owner of my restaurant about using vegetable oil on the flat-top grill. We cook marinated chicken breast on the flat-top and I use oil because I believe that it reduces cook-time and adds flavor to the meat. Have I been taught wrong?


texts:
I am using a bought 100% lemon juice (pasteurized).
I thought that it will be cheaper to squeeze some lemons and heat at on the stove for pasteurizing.
How much time can I use my own pasteurized lemon juice? are there other health consideration I need to take into account?


texts: Cooked beef roast covered with red coloring

texts:
After cooking a beef bottom round rump roast, a red coloring is covering, and penetrating, the meat.

The roast was purchased at a reputable grocery chain and properly refrigerated for two days before use.  The raw meat appeared normal, was placed in a seasoned, 10-year-old, cast-iron pan, and cooked four hours au jus.

When the cooked roast was cut, the inside of the meat was the correct color and smelled appropriately.  However, covering the outside was a strange red coloring penetrating 1/2" into the entire roast; top, sides, and bottom.   The coloring did not affect the flavor.
Could someone please tell me what this coloring is?  I have never experienced anything like this in my 50 years in the kitchen.


texts:
There is a lot of variation in the rind of cheese, I dare say perhaps even more than in the cheeses themselves. Does the colour, texture, hardness etc. reveal anything about how the cheese was made, how it will taste, how old it is, etc.?

Simply by looking at a piece of cheese, what can you deduce?


texts: How to make Cheeze Burst Pizza same as Domino's?

texts:
I'm a true pizza lover and at Domino's they make a great style called "Cheese Burst", the only problem is I can't eat it due to religious reasons.

As a Jain, I don't eat some common foods. For more details about Jain food restrictions you can read: this or this.

At Domino's, they told me, "we use a catchup sauce which is made with garlic."

Can someone tell me:

How to make a version of the Cheese Burst Pizza that I can eat?
How to get that cheesy layer when you take a slice out of it?


texts:
Started cooking chicken in crock pot at 4 pm. I cooked until midnight.husband came downstairs and unplugged it. It cooled
on the counter until 8 a.m. this morning is my chicken still good? Or can I reboil it and making it a chicken salad?


texts: Can I swap out butter and milk for heavy cream in a ganache recipe?

texts:
I want to make a ganache today, but the heavy cream I expected to use has gone bad and the local stores are all closed right now. My normal recipe is 1:1 ratio of cream to chocolate.
I know that I can't substitute butter and milk for whipped cream (e.g.) because it's not emulsified or anything and won't whip. However, will the melting and stirring involved let me get away with it for a ganache? Since cream is ~35% fat, am I right that 35% butter plus 65% milk would end up with a reasonable consistency?


texts:
We recently bought a food dehydrator, and have spent many hours experimenting with it. However, we have failed in our attempts to make fruit leather that resembles the stuff you buy, meaning that whatever recipe we try, and whatever temperature and drying time we use, it always comes out very thin and very tough.

By contrast, the stuff you buy always seems to be thicker, sat 3mm or more, and is always soft, without being sticky or mushy.

We've tried pureeing fruit, whether fresh or tinned, we've tried stewing it first, we've tried everything we can think of. All of our recipes have been pure fruit, we've never added sugar, preservatives, etc. don't know if that would make a difference.

Anyone know how we can make it thicker and softer?


texts:
I just bought a loaf of sliced bread from the corner store (couldn't make a trip to the grocery store today) and when I opened the bag, there were two tiny flies in it, still alive.

The flies have since been shooed away, but this raises some concerns - does this indicate that my bread has most likely gone bad, and that I should throw it away? Or could it still be usable?


texts: Are smoked pork chops from the butcher safe to eat without any further cooking?

texts:
I bought a smoked pork chop from the butcher yesterday, and assumed I would cook it like any other pork chop, but after looking at it, it seems like it may be edible as is.  The appearance is close to that of a cooked ham.

I saw some suggestions online about using it in soups or as breakfast meat, but nothing mentioned just eating it fresh from butcher.


texts: Does whole milk or soy milk spoil faster? Why?

texts: I'm doing a science fair project and I need some help. My question is does whole milk or soy milk spoil faster? Does anyone know which one spoils faster or if they spoil at the same rate? Please explain why.


texts:
I'm intrigued by all the questions about creating and 'feeding' sourdough starter. But I am unfamiliar with the bread itself.

What is sourdough bread? how is it different than 'regular' bread. Is it sour? Why is it worth all the hassle of maintaining a starter?


texts: There's a Greek dish - kokoras krasatos - that I love and want to make for guests, but I can't for the life of me figure out where to find a rooster. Is anyone able to, short of pointing me in the direction of where to get rooster in Atlanta, offer thoughts on what to substitute for rooster in such a recipe? I believe the recipe's method to be a braise.


texts: Can I bake cookies without baking paper?

texts:
I just returned from the store with all the ingredients for baking cookies, and now I notice that I am out of baking paper.
Is there some common household item I can use instead (Regular paper? Tinfoil? Just put them on the raw baking tray?), or do I have to make another trip to the store?


texts: Is bolognese better cooked with the meats being seared or just simply sweat without being seared?

texts:
Some recipes I have seen just sweat the meat then inserts the vegetables in them (so the meat is gray colored), but some recipes say you have to have them browned to have the maillard reaction give extra flavors.

I have watched several youtube videos regarding Bolognese recipes and all have different styles.


texts: What kind of rice can I use in a salt shaker to prevent clumping

texts: Will brown rice eliminate clumps in the salt shaker as well as white rice?  I know white rice works well in a salt shaker to eliminate clumps caused by humidity, but I only have brown rice on hand.  Will brown rice work as well as white rice?


texts: Is it a bad idea to boil black jelly beans?

texts:
When I last bought jelly beans, I ended up with one black jelly bean that I don't want to eat. I could just throw it out, but that seems like a waste. Also:

My dad's recipe for chicken wings/drumsticks/thighs includes star anise

Recipe: the chicken is braised till mostly cooked in water containing ginger, garlic, and star anise, then most of the water is poured out and soy sauce, oyster sauce, and brown sugar are added and it's simmered a bit longer till the liquid forms a thick sauce

I have chicken wings (and the other ingredients above) but no star anise
Google informs me that the black licorice in black jelly beans tastes like star anise

You can probably see where I'm going here. If I add the jelly bean to the braising liquid, a) will it contain any chemicals or something that shouldn't be boiled and b) will the result be similar to adding star anise?

(P.S. I can just cook the chicken without the star anise, it still tastes good. I just kind of want to see if this weird use for jelly beans is reasonable.)


texts: What causes changing blue and purple pigments in food?

texts: I've noticed that many foods, such as cabbage, garlic, and ginger, either turn blue or purple in certain conditions, or that, like purple string beans, they lose these colors when cooked. Why is this?


texts: doing hot bath for sauerkraut.  Cleaning jar rims, adding more salt water to 1 inch of top, putting new lids and rings on jars.  Screwing rings on tight.  Put jars in canning, filling with cold water and bring to rolling boil for 30 minutes.  When we turn off stove and remove lid to canner we are seeing most of the lids have bent in upward position.  WHAT IS MAKING THIS HAPPEN?


texts: How to get a thicker soup from watery tomatoes?

texts:
I want to make a tomato soup, but my girlfriend tells me that, from the tomato we have, the soup will be too watery. Now I've read that one could use tomato paste/puree as a thickener, and still keep a rich tomato flavour. But what would be the right dosage of paste? Is there any other advice/method to make a good tomato soup from my watery tomatoes?

UPDATE: Thanks for all your answers, unfortunately the most accepted answer seems to be quite time consuming, and I won't have that much time before tomorrow, the big day. It's my fault really, as I should have told that I had some time constraint. However, I want to try @Michael's solution another time, as it seems really interesting. In any event, I'll give a further update the day after tomorrow.


texts: Coconut milk looks like water with butter chunks

texts: I bought a can of coconut milk (or a cream really, it is rather fat, around 17%) for my piña colada. I have never bought coconut milk before. It was weird inside. Upper half was like butter paste and lower like water. I mixed it in a shaker thinking it would become homogeneous. But no it looked like you blend butter with water, chunks of coconut fat are floating and it is not homogenous at all. I heated it up a little (in hot water). Fat apparently melted and it because more like what I needed. But once I cool it or mix with ice cubes fat immediately precipitates and become totally unappealing. My question is did I buy some defect product? Or wrong product? Or I am doing something wrong with it?


texts: Frozen eggs in the shell: thaw and cook or trash them?

texts:
I wanted to scramble some eggs and when I cracked them they were frozen solid. Could I have cooked them? I just threw them out.

Can you thaw frozen eggs and cook them???


texts: How to what is left behind when I have Removed the Melted Aluminum Foil from the Oven bottom

texts:
I used Twizttid' protocol successfully (BELOW)
BUT...

You’ll need some Plasticine, Drano, water, GLOVES!!, a lot of paper towels and wood skewers and GOOD VENTILATION.

Start the ventilation and open a window or door.

Put on your gloves.

Use the Plasticine to create a dam about .25″-.5″ high around the area in the oven you’re looking to remove the aluminum from. The areas you’re working in should be about 2.5″ in diameter.

Pour some of the Drano into the dam and add enough water to touch all the sides of the dam. If the chemical reaction hasn’t started (should be almost instant), keep adding the Drano bit by bit until it does. The dam contents will start to boil and ammonia fumes and a little hydrogen gas will form, hence the need for some good ventilation!!

Once the reaction is done, poke around with the wood skewer to see if the oven bottom is clear. If you’re satisfied with the results, add some some vinegar to help neutralize the solution a bit, then use the wood skewer to remove the Plasticine dam to a dish to be rinsed off ASAP.

Use paper towels to wipe up the mess on the bottom of the oven. See your results! The area of the oven bottom you treated should be free of aluminum and just be discolored instead. Not from the Drano, but from where the Teflon bonded.

Repeat the process until the oven bottom is clean.

To get a ‘feel’ for the chemical reaction and what to expect, experiment first! Take a square of aluminum foil, go to the backyard with the foil shaped into a little bowl, place it on a dish or pan, add some Drano crystals to it then add a little water. Step back from the dish and try not to breath the fumes! The dish will be hot!!

It took me about six hours to clean the bottom of my oven when this happened to me.

AND HERE IS THE BUT...
There is a mark that is identical to the aluminium shape left after the aluminium has gone. It is raised to touch and a dull black colour (looks silver in the image because of the camera flash). I do not know what it is composed of but I want to remove it. Does anybody know how? (P.s. This is a new oven and I'm not going to scrape it off even if it will come - not my oven).


texts: Do these two types of mouli graters do the same thing?

texts:
I would like to know whether these two types of mouli graters found in the internet do the same thing, work the same way, or are actually used for different types of food.

How do they differ in terms of what they can prepare and how they work mechanically?

The biggest noticeable difference is that one is "round" and the other is "square", but if someone could post a video of how the latter is operateed that would be great. I cannot imagine it.


texts:
I've noticed that, all of a sudden, my chocolate chip cookies are spreading more than usual.

I was wondering if the (organic) butter that I'm using could be affected by the season.


texts: Is there a way to freeze herbs without losing freshness?

texts:
I often use herbs in daily cooking, e.g. parsley, dill, basil etc.  The problem is, I like to eat fresh homemade food yet cleaning and cutting herbs takes a good bit of time for me, I already I spend way too much time cooking (my life is packed with reponsibilities) and I need to reduce that time.

Let's say a bunch of parsley lasts me four meals.  That means, I will clean a quarter of a bunch every time, meaning pluck the leaves off the stems (I remove stems), clean them and chop them. The process takes 10 min easily. It would be faster if I cleaned the whole bunch all at once and froze it or I could even hire a maid to come in and do herb cleaning and other menial kitchen works a few hours a month.

However, I don't want to compromise freshness.  Is there a way to freeze ready-to-cook herbs yet not lose much freshness?


texts: What can I use to substitute apple juice in a preparation of ribs?

texts:
I am using a quick prep of ribs on a UV grill (that doesn't really hold a temp under 300'F; qed, no long slow cooking). I saw one other answer here where the ribs are wrapped in foil and quasi-braised in apple/pineapple juice.

Basically it goes like this: (1) trim, apply rub, and grill at 300'F indirect heat 30 mins, (2) wrap in foil with apple juice for 30 mins (which is supposed to quasi-braise the meat), (3) finish grilling apply bbq sauce.

Unfortunately I don't have apple or pineapple juice. On the other hand, I do have vanilla Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, iced tea, Sierra Mist, margarita mix, sweet and sour mix, and watery domestic beer.

From the list above, can I make any substitutions? For further consideration, I will be applying a chipotle rub and bourbon BBQ sauce.


texts:
Just looking for a safety/sanity check here regarding making biltong from cold smoked bacon.

I would like to make bacon biltong using a recipe similar to this one:

1 kilogram Back bacon
4 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chilli spice
125 millilitres white vinegar

How to make it

1. Place a layer of bacon in a glass dish.
2. Sprinkle with dry spice mix.
3. place next layer of bacon.
4. Spice and repeat till all bacon spiced.
5. sprinkle over vinegar.
6. cover with plastic wrap and rest for 4 hours.
7. Hang to dry, approx 2 days.

I make my own bacon (dry cure, EQC method with the cure + salt measured out to the nearest 0.01g using the calculator at http://www.diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html).

Recently I have moved from hot smoking to cold smoking and am concerned about the safety of making biltong from cold smoked bacon.

I understand the cure and salt kill off most/all micro-organisms, and a dry cure should in theory leave it fairly safe. Is this a reasonable assumption or am I being foolish? Would it be significantly safer to use hot smoked bacon or is there really no practical difference after 10 days of curing + smoking?

(Typically I would do 2 x 8 smoking sessions - the temperature is fairly well maintained/monitored through-out)


texts: If I want a complex, yeasty soy sauce, what to look for?

texts:
My local Asian food shop has many, many, brands of Chinese soy sauce, light and dark, most of them describing themselves as 'superior'.

What should I be looking for in the ingredients lists as a sign of quality?


texts:
I often enter BBQ competitions where we are asked to use a "star" ingredient (such as dark beer or other product).  In most cases, this means using it to marinate/brine your meat before putting on the smoker. My problem is that even with the injection technique it is sometimes very hard to detect the taste of the marinade after smoking.

So my question is: How can I ensure the brine/marinade is truly present in the product I am smoking?  I have considered boiling the marinade after I take the meat out and then using it as a sauce on the meat after it is cooked.  But sometimes that is not allowed.  I'm open to any suggestions.


texts: how to clean ginger residue from my plastic juicer containers?

texts:
I was juicing unpeeled ginger over the weekend, and even though I washed both the main juicing chamber/Auger housing and the juice container after using them, they seem stained, with slightly sticky residue in hard-to-get places and they're tinted slightly yellow.

The brush the juicer came with has helped a bit, but not fully. I watched this video, but it's not super clear how food-safe its recommendations (OxiClean, Sun Oxygen Cleaner) are.

Any pointers would be appreciated!


texts: How to not burn the sugars in veggies when simmering in a dutch oven for a long time?

texts: I cooked a vegetable stew (onions, carrots, cabbage, potatoes) in a dutch oven on the stovetop for about 30-40 minutes on medium heat.  The food turned out fine, but there's a thick layer of black residue in the bottom of the dutch oven when I'm done cooking (which I am able to clean off).  Is this the burned sugars from within the veggies?  Is there a better way to cook for a long time with a dutch oven on a stovetop without leaving blackened residue on the bottom?


texts: What material is best for cast iron handle covers?

texts:
I recently obtained* my first cast iron skillet with a lid.  I cleaned it up, seasoned it and am so far happy with the cooking results.

However, it has rapidly become obvious that I need some kind of handle cover, as juggling oven mitts and towels is not really cutting it.

I see that covers are generally made out of one of:

leather
fabric (like oven mitts)
silicone

Which of these materials is best for everyday cooking?  Unsurprisingly, leather seems to be the most expensive.  I also like the look best, though that's not a deal breaker.  Does leather justify its higher price here?

*My neighbor was moving and was about to throw the skillet in a dumpster!


texts:
I've recently become fascinated by the use of butterfly pea blossoms to add colour to alcoholic drinks. (Yes, I've been watching How To Drink on Youtube). It acts as a natural pH indicator--add lemon juice to blossom-infused gin, and it'll go from purplish-blue to pink.

The thing is, for Reasons I want to do the reverse! I'd like to make a slightly acidic beverage, then elevate the pH, so it turns purple in the glass.

I'm familiar with using e.g. bicarb to elevate pH in savoury cooking--for caramelizing onions, that sort of thing. But I'm concerned about the flavour effects on an alcoholic drink. Are there any edible ways to elevate pH that are flavourless, or would be easily masked by a cocktail?

If there aren't, would an Alka-Seltzer tab provide the right pH reaction? I'm not a chemistry person at all so I'm not sure if the acid-base reaction would provide colour change as well as the bubbles.

ETA: TLDR what I want to do is dye a spirit with butterfly pea blossom, add acid to turn it pink, then at the moment of service add (ideally flavourless) ____________ to turn it purple/blue again.

Thanks in advance, all!


texts:
I have a nice, healthy Type 110 wheat-based sourdough starter that I use to make bread and pancakes.

I've recently discovered that it may be possible to feed the starter with milk instead of water. Is this true? I'm a bit paranoid that rotting milk will introduce unwanted bugs that rotting flour won't. How would it affect my starter? Or should I just stick to water in the starter, but add milk to the bread, instead?


texts: Should I brown meat for a stew before freezing it?

texts: I bought some meat to make a stew sometime in the future. Is it best to brown the meat before I freeze it, or should I freeze it raw?


texts: What factors should I consider when buying kitchen tongs?

texts:
I consider kitchen tongs one of the most essential kitchen tools but due to a lot of moving around recently I no longer have a pair.  Rather than just picking up a cheap pair at the corner store I figured I would ask the experts and get something worth holding onto this time.  I'd like to know more about the following:

What material is best and why?  I'm familiar with metal tongs but would there be any advantages to other materials such as wood?
I have some non-stick pans.  If you recommend metal tongs, are there any available that have some kind of plastic on the tips or some other coating that would not damage the teflon? Cleaning would be a consideration. I don't want something that food is going to get stuck under.
What should I be looking for in a latching mechanism?  I've seen types that you can just tip upside down and close which makes closing them very quick, but have also experienced faulty ones that won't open right (usually when you really need them and have only one hand free!)
Is there an ideal length?  Obviously too long is going to be awkward and too short gets you too close to the heat, but what I'm wondering here is if I'm missing some advantages to having a certain length, for example, if shorter than X inches it's good for the stove top but dangerous for the oven.
Any comfort factors I should consider such as grips at the top or just go bare?


texts: We had some fairly new white vinegar get cloudy white strands in it. Wasn't much left in the plastic gallon bottle so we tossed it. Only thing I can figure is that it was too close to the oven and may have caused this. What I don't understand is that when we use vinegar for canning, it gets heated up as well but never get's cloudy. Curious what could have caused this to happen.


texts: I am trying to make a 10X recipe of a cooked pudding.  It uses flour and corn starch as a thickener.  I scaled up the ingredients proportionally, but it is not as thick.  Any recommendations on how better to scale the ingredients?  Is the sugar interfering with the gel?  Do I need to change the ratio of the thickeners? Should the proportions be different?  Any thoughts?


texts:
I'm thinking of making a few panettones for Christmas presents, this year. At what time would you recommend? This question is largely motivated by the potential for them to spoil or go stale; but also, if there's any maturation time, that would be good to know.

I'm guessing the water activity level is probably pretty low, so they won't spoil quickly and staleness would be more of a concern. I remember them being made commercially (in Italy) in October, but presumably they have access to better preservatives.


texts:
I was recently reading a cooking manga named Shokugeki no Soma, in which the protagonist uses unconventional methods to cook specific dishes. In one chapter, he uses honey specifically to tenderize meat in a short amount of time.  Here's the chapter page specifically:

I tried it for myself but can't seem to replicate the same thing he's done, if anything the beef remained relatively hard, and not soft as the manga describes. While some scenes are somewhat outlandish there is a certain truth to most of the cooking terms thrown around in the manga, so I'm curious: does honey actually contain proteases that tenderize meat quickly?

This article on LIVESTRONG.com seems to support the other fact in the same page which claims that pineapple can be used to tenderize meat, but it doesn't make any reference to honey at all.

If you're curious, this is the anime version of it:

https://youtu.be/5GCUzTyp9sE?t=6m36s


texts: I have a 4.6 kg frozen goose from the supermarket. I have cut it in half along the spine and am planning to roast both halves separately. Presumably the bigger surface area means I don't need to cook as long as an intact bird. What would be a reasonable cooking time?


texts: What is the spicy kick in "Kraft Tangy Spaghetti" box meal?

texts:
So, since I've lived at home, there has been a boxed spaghetti mix that has always been especially good to me. The thing I like about it is a subtle heat of some kind of pepper or spice. I've tried recreating it but have never even came close. I would love to be able to remake the sauce mix with fresh ingredients and tone down the amount of salt that goes into it. Has anyone tried this and able to identify what this spicy factor is?

For reference, here is what the box looks like (in America anyway)


texts:
I've been looking at the dough that Cinnabon uses: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtTIS6apXIc. How would one describe the property of their dough? It almost looks like Play Doh, as if it were some sort of rubbery-like material.

Is this property called "elasticity?" If so, what factors affect the elasticity of a dough? If I wanted dough that had similar properties to Cinnabon's, what would I need to look out for in my recipe?


texts: Dough safety and viability after overproofing

texts:
We made dough using the below recipe last night, and realised this morning that we had left it at ~70°F (covered) for ~15 hours.

Questions:

What would be the symptoms of dough going "bad"?
How long would one expect it to take before dough went "bad" under the above conditions?
What should one expect the baked dough to be like after the above proofing?

Recipe:

Mix:
      3/4c Luke Warm Water
      1T Yeast
      2c Flour
      1t Salt

Proof for 1.5 hours


texts: What's the best/easiest way to de-vein king prawns?

texts: I often buy raw king prawns (maybe they're called shrimp where you are, they're about 3-4 inches long) - they are already shelled and beheaded, but they've still got the blue vein running down the middle of them. My current technique is to put the point of a sharp knife just under parts of the vein and then pull it out, kind of like unpicking a thread of cotton. This takes quite a while, there must be a better way..? Is butterflying a way to achieve this?


texts: What type of yogurt is most similar to the yogurt used in authentic Middle-Eastern cuisine?

texts:
While looking at different recipes to make "yogurt sauce" commonly found in Middle Eastern cuisine, I noticed a descrepancy between the type of yogurt the recipe calls for. Some recipe calls for plain low fat yogurt, others calls for plain Greek yogurt, and then in this recipe, it calls for strained plain yogurt: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/tzatziki-sauce-yogurt-and-cucumber-dip/.

What type of yogurt should be used to make the most authentic yogurt sauce? Is there a specific type of yogurt or specific brand that most closely resemble the yogurt used in the Middle East?


texts: I have clay tajines from Morocco that I've always cooked in and suddenly new stove is smoking?

texts: When I lived in Morocco I purchased small clay tajines to bring home and I've been cooking in them ever since; several years. Mostly on convection ovens, and once on a flat surface stove. I've just bought a house with a flat surface electric stove and this first time I've used the tajine here, the stove is smoking and smells really strong of plastic burning! My husband had just cleaned the stove (with chemicals) which I was claiming HAD to be the reason, but really? Burning plastic smell? Any ideas here??


texts:
I recently thought about trying to make the Chicken Ramen recipe from Wagamama, however I will need to know how to get the correct ingredients from the best sources. I don't know any good sources to get the right noodles for making the Ramen.

Where should I look to acquire good-quality Ramen noodles for a recipe such as this?

Here's the recipe in the book I took a snapshot of.

EDIT: I found a website where you can purchase them from

  http://www.theasiancookshop.co.uk/fresh-ramen-noodles-400g-3570-p.asp


texts:
I recently began making doughnuts. I did a few experiments.

The first time I followed the recipe exactly and they came out perfectly. Large, airy, and soft. But on day 2 they were too dry and lost some of their texture.

To address this problem I did 2 half batches as experiments. One I added too much butter and the other I used my sourdough starter instead of yeast.

None of the butter batch cooked properly. All had raw centres. Only 1/4 of the sourdough batch came out right. The rest were also raw in the centre.

I purposely weighed smaller amounts for my test batches. They were 10-15gr lighter than my first batch. They were also less airy. I fried them the same as far as I can tell.

Why are the smaller doughnuts coming out raw?


texts:
I want to make big batches of Boerewors (A traditional South African fresh sausage) and was wondering if I could immerse it in fat or lard and then preserve it this way?

Can fat be used to seal the meat and keep it from spoiling or is this a bad idea? Does it still need to be refrigerated? The idea is to not have to freeze and then wait for it to thaw. Sometimes I just need a quick pick-me-up and a little sausage with some bread looks like it should do the trick.


texts:
I just made a pot roast on the stove, vaguely following this recipe.

My altered ingredients list would look something like this:

some quick sprays of oil on the saucepan and meat while searing

Chunky bits:

big hunk of meat (a few pounds)
2 chopped onions
a bunch of little potatoes
2 smallish carrots

Liquid stuff added to the broth:

a few good shots of Bragg's All-Purpose Seasoning
between ½ and 1 Cup of white vinegar
maybe ¼ C of molasses
last dregs of the Worchestershire sauce (a couple of tsps)
a tablespoon or two of garlic powder
some "pumpkin pie spice" — cinnamon, cloves, etc.  about 2 tsp.
maybe ¼ C of olive oil
enough water to cover the roast in the pot.

Other than the ingredients list, my deviations from the recipe were I think limited to the fact that I put the carrots and potatoes in at the beginning.  I may have let it simmer a bit (<= 30 min) longer than the prescribed amount of time.

The roast was not tied during cooking.

It turned out to be not unpalatable, but decidedly more bland and dry than I'd hoped for.  The broth, on the other hand, is a bounding meadow of savoury deliciousness.

Other than the obvious — adding more spices — is there something I can do to future roasts to encourage more flavour to congregate in the meat?


texts:
I am working on developing a new dish for our bar menu at work--pulled pork sandwich, with homemade potato chips. Frying chips to order seems like a silly idea, especially since chips (or crisps if you prefer) can have such a long shelf life.

Assuming a lack of preservative chemicals (we try to avoid that sort of thing), what is the best way to store chips/crisps to retain crunch?


texts: What causes mold to grow on frozen meats?

texts: About 8 months ago we had a beef processed a meat processing plant.  When we picked up the meat it was all pre-packaged and frozen.  We immediately put it all in the freezer when we got home to be sure it stayed frozen.  Now I am finding packages of ground beef that has blue and green mold on the meat while it is frozen.  How does this happen?  We have had to throw away at least 15 pounds of ground beef.


texts: I did the whole boiling process of canning the pickles and over night some did not seal but as soon as I placed them in the fridge they sealed. Do they need to stay in the fridge or can I put them in the basement with the others?


texts: A few years ago, I went to a restaurant on the water in Tel Aviv-Yafo called Manta Ray. They served this most exceptional bread they called Balkan bread. It reminded me a little of a focaccia in texture, but I don't think it was focaccia. I have a student from the Balkans whom I asked about it, and she didn't recognize any such kind of bread. Anyone have any idea what this Balkan bread might be?


texts: I have always cooked brisket in a slow cooker, to beautiful effect, but I'm going to be cooking for a crowd this week, and a slow cooker won't be available to me. (not to mention I cannot fit this brisket into my tiny slow cooker!) Are there good rules of thumb on how to cook a brisket in the oven (I don't have a Dutch oven, either) to make sure it turns out delicious and tender?


texts:
I would like to be able to cut peanut brittle into neat squares. Everything I have tried does not result in a 'neat, straight cut', a quick Google search shows some very expensive 'industrial' machinery...but nothing for the 'home'.

Any good techniques for how to cut peanut brittle would be appreciated. I would also like a technique that would work after chocolate has been melted on top, although I could add the chocolate after the squares are cut.


texts: Added sugar instead of syrup to sorbet mixture

texts:
I made a sorbet at work and I was in such a rush. I'm still new to the making sorbet (it legit is one of the simplest things ever), but I had the biggest bonehead moment ever and put sugar in it instead of sugar syrup. Just so you know our recipe is:

700ml sugar syrup
700ml feijoa juice
100ml of feijoa vodka

But I did the great thing of putting straight sugar in the mix. Do you have any suggestions own how to resolve it or make it smooth or anything?

Everything is added into one container and now it sits in the freezer (unturned) waiting for some genius to give me the answer I need :)


texts: Indian Mango Pickle producing gas is that normal?

texts:
I am trying to pickle some mangoes the Indian way. I boiled the jar in hot water, dried it and then added the mixture of spices, salt and mangoes to the jars after the mixture had cooled. I made the mixture in a frying pan to try and remove as much water as I could. After it was cooled, I put it in the jar and heated some mustard oil till it just barely started smoking. I let that cool and poured it over the mango spice mixture.

For the first three days it was fine. On the fourth day, I opened it to test the taste and ended up adding more salt. Now, there seems to be gas forming in the jar. I've noticed it a few times now. When I open the jar, I hear a whooshing noise as air escapes. It's quite a lot, since I opened the container about 3 times in a 10 hour period and each time gas escaped. Has this pickle gone bad? Or is this something that's normal?


texts: What is the shelf life for chocolate chips?

texts:
Have some semi-sweet chocolate chips.
They have been in a bag inside a plastic container in a cupboard for 2 years but expiration date on the bag says that's one year too much.

What's the shelf life for different kinds of chocolate chips and what makes them go bad?

Side question, am I okay to eat the ones I have?


texts:
If you're making fudge, does it matter whether you use butterfat or vegatable fat? Or is it important to get actual, real butter?

For that matter, I've seen recipies for fudge which demand single cream, double cream or even clotted cream. What effect is this likely to have on the final product? (Taking into account that presumably whoever wrote the recipe already took into account the different fat content of these products.)


texts: What is the best method/product for cleaning pasta's starch residue from colander and cooking pot?

texts: After cooking pasta, I typically drain it in a colander.  I have found the starch residue in both the cooking pot and particularly the colander is difficult to clean without hand scrubbing it.  I am curious if anyone knows a solution - either a method or product that makes clean-up quicker and easier.  Thanks for any ideas you may have!


texts: Why are Italian sausages so different from those in the UK?

texts:
I've just returned to London from a holiday in Puglia, Italy. The sausages (not salami) are so completely different to the sausages here. Their colours are pink/white or red/white and much more bright/bold, whereas here the colours are pretty drab. Here when I cut open the casing to crumble out the sausage meat to use in something else, I get a sticky and pretty disgusting texture. The meat in their sausages is much more like actual meat. When cooked I find the Italian ones taste so much better as well.

Basically I hate the sausages here and love the Italian ones. What's the difference between the two (aside from aromatics etc) and how can I get more "real meat" sausages in my life? Obviously I could buy from some of the specialist online retailers who stock them, and I probably will, but I want to understand why the sausages here are so completely different. For example, why is the sausage "meat" here basically a sticky paste?

Images illustrating the difference:

Italian sausages
UK sausages


texts: Can I save time by baking banana bread using the convection setting of my oven?

texts:
I am following a banana bread recipe that calls for you to heat a conventional oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and cook the banana bread batter for one hour.

I want the bread to be done sooner then one hour. Is it possible to cook the bread faster using a convection oven, and achieve the same or better results then with a conventional oven?

Some websites (here and here) seem to imply that you should cook cakes/cookies/bread for the same amount of time as you would with a conventional oven. I believe the idea is that you can not shorten the amount of time it takes for the bread to rise.

Other websites (such as here and another website I had open but cant find now) seem to imply that you can shorten the amount of time it takes for the bread to cook.

So which is it? Can I save time, by using convection setting to bake my banana bread, or am I asking for somehow lesser quality bread if I do so?

*Note, the batter is recessed within the bread pan so the whole "wind blowing your batter over" is not an issue or concern.


texts: Why does my cupcake texture end up with a watery-scrambled egg texture, with a sulfurish smell

texts:
I've gotten a batter recipe, but I fear that it might have something wrong with it.

Mix together 250 grams butter and 200 grams sugar
Add 4 eggs, one at a time
Add 2 tbs baking soda, 2 tbs Sodium bicarbonate, 300 grams flour
Stir; add food coloring and extract flavor, to taste

I did add some titanium dioxyde to make the butter whiter before adding the coloring. Then, I added a few drops of red, and a few drops of strawberry taste for the fun of it.

They were baked at 180c-(350F) for about 12 minutes. When I opened the oven, the front row of cupcakes fell together. I then closed it, and let them bake for another 5-7 minutes

I have tried it twice now: some of the cupcakes fell, those that didn't ended up smelling funky, and the texture resembled finely scrambled eggs.

Are there some ingredients that don't really mix together well?

I did taste the batter, and the batter did taste delicious; that's why I wonder why the cupcakes won't cook correctly and be tasty.


texts:
I just found out the little bit of water that forms right above Dijon mustard tastes great when adding it on top of meat! Problem is that there is not much of that water in a Dijon mustard jar. Simply beating mustard with water doesn't quite do the trick.

I know it sounds disgusting (by itself) but when you add it to things it gives a great hint of Dijon raw mustard just cant create.


texts: Tortilla or flat bread breaks and ruins inflation

texts:
If you cook flatbreads/tortillas they should ideally inflate on the griddle.
What might cause tortilla or flat breads to break or crack in places some time during the inflation process, letting out steam and thereby preventing a full inflation?
Is it insufficient development of gluten (not enough kneading)? Or is the dough too dry? Wrong heat? What might cause this issue?


texts: Can you use cookie cutters on sticky dough?

texts: I am a baking novice trying to make these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I'm trying to get them to be cute shapes with cookie cutters but the cookies keep spreading. I am wondering if maybe this type of dough is just too wet and sticky to hold a shape. Should I give up trying to shape these cookies?


texts: I am wondering what the difference is between a pressure canner and a pressure cooker? Will they do the same thing? Isn't the difference mainly in the size e.g.: width of the bottom?? Thanx...


texts:
So this sounds lame, but I have never cooked burgers before. Well my dad came over and since it's my first house I purchased we did the traditional grill out. I bought a charcoal grill and he showed me the ropes etc.

Now I don't have a Meat therm (I did but mine broke), but we cooked it with the grill at about 300 degrees for around 15-20 minutes. Burgers were good and no pink (well maybe very very slightly) in the middle, but thats generally how I like them (Btw is "Medium" aka little pink "technically" safe?)

Anyways i've heard that color is not a good indicator of doneness, but the meat was bought that day and used immediatly (so it was red) and apparently the color not being a good indicator is only valid the the meat has been stored for awhile?

Is this true/untrue? I guess im just a bit paranoid.

Thanks


texts: I made something wrong and the food becomes a but (but not totally) burnt and tasted like smoke, what can I do with it? Are there any spices that can change its flavour?


texts:
In an attempt to make (vegan) white chocolate I noticed that the sugar doesn't dissolve in the melted cacao butter.

For reference, this is the recipe I'm using: Organic Authority's "Four Ingredient Vegan White Chocolate Recipe"

I melt the cacao butter au bain-marie, add the coconut oil and melt that too. Then I add the vanilla and sugar. What happens next is that the sugar forms clumps and sinks to the bottom. Why does this happen? I'd love to understand this. (Putting the mixture in a high speed blender didn't help as well.)

In a previous attempt I tried heating the mixture directly in a sauce pan to the point where the sugar would 'melt' but this turned out to be a big mistake. The sugar seemed burned and the result was cacao butter with burned caramel. Needless to say I didn't eat it.

I have a hunch that I need an emulsifier in order to get a smoother result, however I have no experience in this at all.

When melting factory made chocolate au bain-marie I get a much creamier result which actually looks like melted chocolate. The chocolate I'm making is just very oily (with sugar lumps in it) and looks nothing like I would expect. What does it take to get such a result?


texts: I have made many loaves of bread, but I just got my starter done for my first Sour Dough loaf.  I’m following a recipe to the letter, and am now in the kneading phase, my question is that the dough is still quite sticky, it seems like it is working well between kneading, but is a bit difficult to handle. Can I give it a light dusting of flour before kneading to make handling a bit easier?


texts:
These are two chef's kitchens. In both images, there is a small oven(?) on the stainless steel shelf above the main oven. In each image, it appears to be the same device. Any idea what that is and who makes them?

Looks to be some sort of warming oven?


texts: Frozen Asparagus after thawed became extremely soggy and wet, any way to salvage?

texts:
So I bought a bunch of asparagus from Costco and because I didn't want to use them immediately, I froze them. This week I decided to take them out to thaw in the fridge so I let it sit overnight.

What ended up happening was the ice melted and the whole bag got soaked so now they are all wet and a little mushy? Is there a way to salvage them? I plan on just baking them but idk if they are okay to eat anymore. Or is it okay if they are wet? After reading how to actually store asparagus, I probably know now I don't need to thaw them.


texts: I just found a couple of salmon fillets in my freezer that seem to have been there for about two years. Are they still edible, or should I bin them?


texts: Ribs burned to a crisp following directions. What does "medium high" mean?

texts:
I'm learning about grilling by making mistakes. The instructions on some pre-seasoned "St. Louis Ribs" say the following:

  Remove ribs from package. Preheat grill to medium high. Place ribs on grill and cook on medium high for 12-15 min. Flip ribs over and cook for an additional 12-15 mins. Finish cooking ribs on indirect heat on medium high for an additional hour to hour and a half temperature should reach 175 degrees.

They seem quite clear that everything should be at "medium high" the whole time.

I thought things were going well when I flipped the ribs the first time. But when I went to flip the ribs the second time they were on fire and quite black.

Oops! This is a new grill, so I'm a little unfamiliar with it, but I actually had the dials set at about the halfway marker. I would expect that to be somewhat closer to "medium" heat than "medium high". But all nuance is lost when the food catches on fire! Should I have ignored the directions and done the initial searing for less time, or at a lower temperature?

I have another rack, and I'd like to try again tomorrow. What should I adjust about these directions to prevent setting St. Louis on fire? (And even with indirect heat, is medium high the right idea for 90 minutes of cooking?)


texts:
For a couple of years we have been using a microwave-safe cup to heat up milk. The milk is whipped until it's creamy, then we add coffee on top of it and we have a sort of cappuccino. Until recently this has worked well, but for the last few weeks we have found that the cup itself is heating up in the microwave. I burnt my fingers while taking out the mug by its handle this morning.
Is it possible that ceramic mugs take up more energy from microwaves over time? Or are there other explanations for our findings?


texts: Which is the most caloric, edible, single ingredient by weight?

texts:
There is a lot of articles among the Internet talking about the most caloric meals you can eat, but just out of curiosity, I would like to know which is the most caloric single ingredient you can add to you recipes.

At first I thought about sugar, but Wolfram Alpha gives an average result of 378 kcal/100 gr. So I tried with some other options and the winner so far is the extra virgin olive oil (very well known in my country, Spain), with an average result of 884 kcal/100 gr(1). Other similar products are sunflower oil, palm oil, and I suppose any similar oil.

So, is this the most caloric, edible ingredient? Or does anybody know of a more caloric one(2)?

(1) WA miscalculates the amount of fat in extra virgin olive oil, I don't know why. It says that there are 107 grams of fat in 100 grams of product, so I had to do a correction.
(2) According to the calculations in SZCZERZO KŁY's answer and following a clue given by MSalters's comment, lard has a bit more calories (902 kcal) per 100 grams of product. That should be (almost) the limit. These values seem to be taken from the National Nutrient Database made by the United States Department of Agriculture (olive oil, lard).


texts: Differences between cooking a whole duck vs chicken or turkey?

texts: I've cooked whole turkeys and chickens many times, but never a whole duck or any other "gamey" meat.  Is there a difference in what should be done or technique in general?  I've been told by others that duck is "more difficult", but never how or why.


texts: I would like to pre-blanch some asparagus to dress and serve later as a salad. Will it stay crisp?


texts: How is the chai latte in Starbucks made?

texts:
I can brew my own chai latte (without the foam machine). It smells great with different types of spice. However, it just doesn't seems to reach the taste of the chai latte from Starbucks. The chai latte from Starbucks has a sweet taste like fruit. I wonder if they add other ingredients.
Here are the ingredients I use: cardamom, clove, ginger, cinnamon, low-fat milk, and tea.


texts:
I've been recommended to reoil my cast-iron pan by letting it absorb some oil on the remaining heat of the stove before drying it, each time after using it.

Is it important to do so, and what difference does it make? There should still be a lot of fat left from simply rinsing and drying the pan.


texts: What are the advantages of "bathed" bread?

texts:
There is a technique of making bathed bread. For it, the dough is kneaded as usual, then shaped into a boule, bound in cheesecloth, and submerged in water for the first proofing.

When it floats up, it's considered ready. It is then shaped, final-proofed and baked. There is no knockdown and second proof before shaping.

This is a home technique, I've never heard of it being used professionally.

I realize that it's a convenient way for novice bakers to judge when their dough is fermented. But is this the only advantage? Does the technique somehow change the quality of the prepared bread?


texts: Does a splatter screen prevent grease build up in kitchen?

texts:
I love to stir fry. What I don't love is the sticky grease coating that over time accumulates on every surface near the stove, including cupboards, kitchen items and the floor.

I don't have a range hood and can't get one because my kitchen is not on an outside wall, so I'm thinking about getting myself a metal mesh splatter screen.

It's obvious that such a screen works well against the bigger splatters since the drops are simply too big to pass the gaps, but will it work against the fine mist of oil that causes the sticky coating as well?


texts: How to avoid burned layer on seared hamburger?

texts:
I usually make my hamburgers at home by putting a little oil in a pan and then just placing the patty in it on medium heat for 10-15 minutes.

Inevitably, while the meat ends up about medium rare, there's a semi-burned layer along the bottom, where it's browned and crusty. I always have to pick this off and I'm finally sick of it.

What am I doing wrong?


texts:
I am making spaghetti sauce from home-grown tomatoes. They were standard garden tomatoes - not Romas or anything you'd traditionally use for sauce, but hey, they're what I had.

The sauce has been simmering for a few hours and is reducing nicely. To stir, it has a lovely consistency, but when it sits, water collects at the bottom and the sauce becomes almost mealy until I stir it all up again.

In other words, it's not just thin and "watery," but the liquid (virtually clear by itself) is actually separating out.

The sauce doesn't necessarily need to be "thickened" (although it could be), but I'd like to stop it from separating like this. I'd rather avoid using canned tomato paste if possible. Any other ideas?


texts: Is cooking a chicken pot pie with a low power microwave safe to eat?

texts: The package says do not use with microwaves less than 1100 watts because it won't cook thoroughly. If I cook on a 700 watt microwave for 6 recommended minutes*(1+(1100-700)/700=8 minutes 10 seconds do I risk food poisoning or do I risk it tasting cold in the middle? I don't really know how these pies are made but the brand is banquet.


texts: I'm having sand in the cooked amaranth and teff if the package has some in it. Is there a way, how to filter it out before cooking it? Or I just need to find a proper brand?


texts: Can/should I freeze a pecan pie I plan to use 7 days after making?


texts: Unopened unrefrigerated kraft shredded cheese

texts: Unopened kraft shredded cheese left in dark and unrefrigerated for 2 weeks. Is it safe to eat?


texts: My lemon juice went out of date almost 2 years ago. It has been in the fridge the whole time but has been opened. I'm just wondering if its safe to use? I want to put it in a cup of tea.


texts: 'Sweet milk' substitute in an old recipe

texts:
I have an old pancake recipe (circa 1930) that I would like to try. However it includes as an ingredient "sweet milk." Having never seen such a thing in stores I'm trying to find the best substitute for this ingredient.

Given that the "milk" readily available in the 1930s was probably much fresher and full fat (and perhaps unpasteurized), I'm thinking that the best modern substitute would probably be whole milk or perhaps half-and-half. Would this be the correct ingredient substitution to make? And would a 1:1 ratio be acceptable?


texts: What temperature to cook a pork tenderloin at?

texts:
What temperature do you normally cook a pork tenderloin at?  I was searching on the internet and saw anywhere from 325°F (165°C) to 450°F (230°C) and couldn't seem to find a good answer.

Also, does it depend on how long you want to cook it or in how you prepare it before cooking?


texts: Substituting Chicken Breast for Chicken Legs in Korma

texts: I am looking at Madhur Jaffrey's Chicken Korma recipe as given at http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/creamychickenkormawi_90196; however I only have chicken breasts. In what manner should I modify the final simmering process or the spice/flavor balance or make up for this discrepancy?


texts: Process fresh salmon into Sushi / Sashimi salmon?

texts:
I am a Sushi and Sashimi lover, especially salmon flesh. I recently bought some fresh salmon from Taobao. It's not frozen and has been kept around 4°C for 24h (during delivery). The product page said it's suitable for eating directly. After eating a few slices I noticed something different from what I eat at a restaurant. I see some white fluidy solid in my sauce plate, which is possibly fat. I washed the flesh and applied juice from squeezed lemon to it before eating. I'd never met this phenomenon before.

What's that white fluid in fresh salmon flesh? (No quality issues)
Is it fat? It does not dissolve in water or sauce.
How is this fresh salmon different from that in a restaurant?
How should I process the salmon so that it gets consistent with the one in a restaurant? Or simplifying this question, how can I get rid of the "fat" (since there's no other issue)?

Edit: I can now confirm it's fat. It's exactly the white layer between red layers(fresh flesh). How do I stop it from "washing off"?


texts:
I have been a week in London and I enjoyed the English breakfast: scrambled egg, bacon, sausage, toasted bread, warm tomato (I skipped the beans as I shouldn't eat them).

Now, how can I do it at home, in Italy (with local bacon and sausages), for a single serving? I really need a step by step comprehensive guide, as I tried to do a couple of time egg and bacon with an awful result. I assume that people doing it every day will know a lot of tips and secrets, such things that may seem obvious to you but are obscure to a foreign.

Of course, being a breakfast, it should be reasonably fast to prepare, so "logistic" tips are appreciated as well!

PS: please don't give me the recipe for "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, baked beans, Spam, Spam, Spam and Spam".

Great answers, thanks to all of you. I really appreciated (and upvoted) the step by step guide provided by Aaronut, but I market as accepted Sam's answer for its reference to Italian availability of ingredients.


texts: How long can leftover pizza be stored in the freezer?

texts: Today I had a pizza party at my home. I ordered 10 large pizzas, but that was too much and five are left over. I don't want to throw them out. Can I freeze the leftovers? If so, how long can it be kept in the freezer without loss of quality?


texts:
What gives honey, maple syrup and corn syrup it's thick, viscous texture?

I recently used corn syrup for a sauce recipe and really liked the texture it provided. However, I didn't like it's sweetness. Basically, I am looking for a thickener that has a similar consistency to corn syrup.

This are 2 options I have thought of so far:

guar gum - might not work as my sauce has a high vinegar content, and guar gum does not work well in acidic environments.
Chia seeds - the aftertaste may affect the final product


texts: Sugar forming tiny bubbles in microwaved coffee?

texts: When I heat up coffee in the microwave and then pour in sugar, a layer of tiny dense bubbles forms at the top of the glass and stays there for the duration of the drinking, diminishing slightly over time. When I prepare the coffee by other means of heating this does not happen. What causes those tiny bubbles?