texts: Why do I get a 'food burn' alert every time I use my pressure cooker?

texts:
I have an Instant Pot that I love to use to prepare food, and for the first dozen meals it operated without issue. Lately, however, I get a 'food burn' alert every single time I use it. As expected, my food has stuck to the bottom of the detachable pot and needs to be scraped off. What is surprising me is that it isn't happening when I cook a specific meal, it's on every meal I prepare using the pressure cooker.
The same recipes that used to be prepared without issue now need to be scraped clean from the pot. I'm not altering the recipes, except to perhaps add more liquid to prevent food from sticking.
Is there a common reason for this to happen? Is there a certain way I should load that Instant Pot that I may have stopped doing since I purchased it? Should I clean a certain part of the pressure cooker to increase the efficacy of the cookware?


texts: Is baking by weight really more accurate?

texts:
It's gospel among serious bakers that measuring by weight is far more accurate than measuring by volume.  However, I'm not sure that measuring by weight helps at all when you have varying humidity levels. It seems to me that, if the recipe author has much higher or lower level of humidity in their kitchen than you do, measuring by weight would tend to make differences in water balance even worse.

For example, I recently made the same pizza dough recipe in my apartment (65F, 80% humidity) and at my in-laws (75F, 35% humidity).  Getting the same texture of dough was a difference of 2/3 of a cup of water, or around 6oz of weight.  This water already was clearly in the flour in my apartment, adding to its weight but adding somewhat less to its volume.  This means that if a recipe was written by someone in Tuscon and I made it in San Francisco, I'd get a sticky mess of a dough without enough flour.

Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to make repeated experiments in measurement at different humidity levels to see if weight or volume is more accurate when the hydrometer is going up and down.  Is anyone?


texts: What is the difference between saute and caramelizing toppings?

texts:
I'm a huge fan of cooking up grilled onions, peppers, mushrooms, and many other toppings.

When I worked at a local sub shop I was always the one volunteering to grill up some onions and saute the portobello mushrooms.

When I made the mushrooms and the grilled onions it was the exact same process.

I would add butter to my fry pan, slice up the ingredients, and then add them to the pan to cook.

According to my past employer, I was sauteing the mushrooms while caramelizing the grilled onions.

I never added any sugar or anything to my grilled onions. I did cook them a wee bit longer because when you slightly burn(darken) the butter before adding the ingredients you get an amazing flavor. (This was my own step that I added and did not inform my boss so the process to her was the same)

My question is why was my employer saying I was doing two things when the process they told me to do was the same?

Is there a major difference between the two, or is it just depending on the time spent cooking? I just want to be saying the correct term when I'm cooking so I feel more fancy. :}

Any tips and advice?


texts: How can I replace canned tomatoes with fresh?

texts: I have a tomato sauce recipe that calls for 1 can (28oz) of diced tomatoes (including the liquid). How can I replace the can with fresh tomatoes? I'm not sure if there is a particular type of tomato I should use or how many of them to use. Also, what can I do to replace the liquid?


texts: Is it safe to use vegetables (e.g. Romaine lettuce) that may be contaminated with E. coli if they are fully cooked?

texts: I strongly suspect the answer is no, but I feel like there should be a question here about this for people to find more detailed information about as these outbreaks become more common.


texts: My resource for food shelf life is usually stilltasty.com . However, I can't find hot chocolate on the list. I'm talking about a small pot of hot chocolate - milk, cocoa, sugar, water. Is the guideline the expiration date of the milk? Or will it last longer/shorter?


texts:
I would like to make a foam using a cordial, lime juice and egg whites. SHould I add
lecithin and what would the portions be?
 Also what would the effect be if I used 1 charge each of NO2 & CO2?


texts: Is it safe to leave a broth simmering overnight on an electric stove?

texts: I am trying to cook bone broth in a pot on an electric stove like this one  and it needs to simmer for at least a day (so the stove is set to a low temperature). Is it safe to leave the stove unattended like this overnight? Assuming, of course, that there is enough water in the broth such that it won't all evaporate overnight. I know that a crock pot would be ideal for this but I don't have one (or the means to get one right now) and at this point the broth has already been simmering for a few hours.


texts:
Yesterday I asked advice how to prepare nice potato parts. I was recommended to not remove the peel/skin and cut the potato in parts. I was also said to use the oven, instead of a pan and baking/cooking them in olive oil.

I cut up potatoes... I used the oven... I set it to 200 watt. It had to pre-heat for 5 minutes. Then I put in the potato parts for 25 minutes. When I tried to eat them, they were partially raw, and the outside seemed dry out.

The goal was (picture from the internet):


texts: Keeping food slow cooking for indefinite periods

texts:
Here's a weird question for the food safety enthusiasts on the forum.

I've just moved into a new apartment without a refrigerator. The landlord has promised to supply one in three weeks - and I don't feel like wasting money on a mini-fridge for such a short period of time.

However - I also don't particularly feel like subsisting on McDonalds until then, so I have thought of a possible solution and wanted to put it to the crowd to weigh in on whether it is safe.

Basically, I've been slow cooking vegetable soup and keeping it on 'low' in the crockpot until the dish has been eaten - then, I repeat the process.

I have done this 4 times already with successful results on each occasion: to my surprise, the dish was still tasty after 3 days, although I was initially nervous about eating something that had been cooking for so long.

I measured the temperature of the food and it remains about 70C the whole time.

So here's my question.

Is this a viable solution until my refrigerator arrives or is there something unsafe about cooking foods for such long periods? Is there an upper limit on how long food can be cooked for and stay good?

TIA for any responses!


texts: I want to know how the tuna can be kept for so long in a can. Do they use preservatives? Or is it just tuna and water (or oil or brine)?


texts: If doubling a chocolate mousse, should gelatin be doubled as well?

texts: I am making a chocolate mousse that includes gelatin, and I want to double the recipe. Do I need to double both the gelatin and the amount of water it’s dissolved in?


texts: Most packages of ready noodles contain the information not to reheat them, for example: https://groceries.asda.com/product/noodles/asda-straight-to-wok-noodles/910002208900. It's safe to reheat rice, pasta etc., so I'm confused why reheating wok noodles would be different.


texts:
I tried thickening mint tea with cornstarch.  I was hoping for something with a more thick mouth-feel.  I got the consistency I was looking for, but the cornstarch imparted a slightly mineral/dirty flavor.  It certainly didn't ruin the tea, but it wasn't what I was hoping for.

My specific steps were:

Boil water
Add cornstarch slurry
Cook 4-5 minutes more
Take off heat, add tea bag and sugar (Splenda) then steep.

Will cornstarch always impart this flavor or was it my technique?

Will another common thickener work better (I don't want to have to buy some powder off of Amazon)?  Ideally, I would like a thickener that adds no color or flavor, though I'm perfectly happy with one that just adds color.

Thanks.


texts: How to know when to remove lemon squares from oven?

texts: I'm making a lemon bars/squares recipe that I've made a few times before, and I keep having trouble deciding when to take it out of the oven. I don't want to overbake it, but I don't want to underbake it either as I won't be able to cut it properly into squares. The recipe says "until set, about 25-30 minutes". My lemon bars have been in the oven over half an hour; the top has gone light brown, but it still jiggles around like liquid when I move it. How do I know when it's "set"?


texts: I have a questions about Pasta sauce spoilage

texts: After pouring a new  jar of sauce, I noticed dried sauce around the rim of the cover. Is it still safe to use?


texts: How to cook common bean in mess tin in campfire during hikers camp ? Possible?

texts:
How to cook common bean in mess tin in campfire during hikers camp? Each night would be in the other location. The challenge is to first soak the beans and then to cook them. Beans should be cooked on little fire, which is quite hard to achieve with campfire.

I thought about soaking beans in mess tin for the night, then on the next campfire boil the water and keep beans in boiling water keeping the right distance from the center of the fire. The water would probably one moment boil intensively and the other will be a few degrees under boiling point.

Is this possible to cook beans in such way? Is there the other way to prepare it?


texts: Deep frying - taste difference in saturated vs. unsaturated oil

texts:
In one of my questions I received answers that indicated using more saturated (Animal) fats would extend the life of my deep frying oil.

However - given proper maintenance / cleaning / good oil - how can the taste difference between fries made in saturated vs unsaturated oil be described?

(I use fries in the question as they are fairly neutral in flavor).


texts: When making a cherry pie is it best to use frozen cherries or canned cherry pie filling when you don't have access to fresh cherries.


texts:
Whenever I deep fry tortillas to use as poori (as in halwa poori) it becomes very crispy and hard. I want to know how can I keep ot soft?
I use uncooked tortillas.


texts: how do I get the salt out of my chinese take out

texts:
I bought some overly salted Chinese food ( I did not know it at time) and took most of it home.
Now I would like to get the salt out so i can it eat. Do you have any suggestions?


texts: Does ripening banans in a bag with other fruit harm the other fruit?

texts:
Our office just got its first fruit shipment, which included an apology for the under-ripe bananas and the suggestion to put them in a brown paper bag along with an apple to speed up the ripening.  Does doing this harm the apple?

I'm aware of Why does a brown paper bag speed ripening?, which talks about why this works, but the focus there is on what's happening to the ripening fruit, not what happens to the catalyst.  We want to know if using one of the high-quality apples they sent us would lead to regrets.

By browsing this site I've learned that there are other ways to ripen them, including apparently just putting them in the bag without the apple.  The instructions from the vendor made me curious about the apple, though, so that's the focus of this question.

(If you make alternate suggestions, please bear in mind that we're in an office with limited kitchen facilities.)


texts: Making miso in a jar too big for the amount of paste. Is it a problem?

texts:
we want to make miso and we have some koji ready. It's not that much though and we are wondering if using a 5L jar for about 1.5kg of miso might be a problem. Are there issues with air circulation or surface exposed to the air?

Thank you


texts: Liquid made with cream and penicillium roqueforti?

texts:
In a comment on this answer, Wayfaring Stranger mentions something I'd never heard of before:

  Incubating a walnut size chunk of blue with some cream for a couple days creates a lovely tasty thick blue liquid. The stuff has a fancy French name, but it's been too many years since I actually saw the recipe.

What is this? How is it used? Obviously cultures of penicillium roqueforti like the original blue cheese are safe when made correctly, but is this safe to make in a home kitchen? Are there any potential pitfalls to be aware of?


texts: What will the coriander, cumin and paradise add to the lentil soup and can I do without the paradise?

texts:
I plan to make lentil soup for the first time as I've heard it is a lean meal great for fat-burning diets. Anyway, the recipe ingredients I will be using goes as follows:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 pound lentils, picked and rinsed
1 cup peeled and chopped tomatoes
2 quarts chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground toasted cumin
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground grains of paradise

What will the coriander, toasted cumin and ground grains of paradise add to the soup?

What will I lose if I neglect to use ground grains of paradise?


texts: I have tried making buns and pizza muffins using all purpose flour (bleached/unbleached/bread flour are not available in my country)multiple times at 180-200C in the middle rack of my oven. They never brown from top. I have tried applying butter on top and even doing a milk wash.please suggest what to do?


texts: How does sourdough (wild yeast) starter differ from location to location?

texts: I understand that sourdough starter (made from wild yeast) will differ from location to location, based on the different yeast bacteria. How will this change the flavor and type of the starter? What factors will affect the yeast in the wild (e.g. climate, altitude, etc.) and how does this affect one's ability to make a good starter?


texts:
I have celiac disease and would like to make gluten free Udon Noodles. I have been unable to find a recipe and have never made homemade noodles. Does anybody know how to make these delicious, chewy noodles using brown rice flour?

Or have any advice as to what ingredients i should use in my attempts to develop a recipe for making them?

To be exact, what other ingredients could I use to substitute the wheat flour traditionally used in this noodle.
What should I add to brown rice flour, salt and water to obtain a chewy texture in a gluten free noodle.


texts: I have read that one shouldn't use ceramic knives for cutting THROUGH bones, but how about for cutting AROUND bones? Examples would include cutting breasts off a chicken, carving around bones in steaks, etc. So the knife would probably come into occasional contact with a bone, but not with any serious amount of force.


texts: I put a big chunk of honeycomb in my tea. And it looks like my boiling tea completely melted the comb. But now the water has a weird texture to it. And now I'm worried about drinking the wax. Is it bad?


texts:
I got into somewhat of a heated debate with a friend recently. He keeps on talking about fermenting meats. I told him that he should stop using the word fermenting when talking about meat because that would bring forth a big misunderstanding.

I was of the opinion that meat is cured and grapes get fermented. Also that if meat ferments then it spoils and becomes inedible. Am I correct or can you happily ferment meat and still eat it?

This may be just a case of semantics but I would just like to know what the correct culinary terms are.


texts: What might cause a tangy flavor in hummus?

texts:
I'm pretty sure that this is an intended flavor; there's a great and authentic middle eastern restaurant nearby and their hummus tastes noticeably tangy.  Others in the Yelp reviews have commented on the same flavor, so it's not a bad batch.  It's almost as if there's a fermented ingredient that has the same kind of "tang" as kimchi.  Their babaganoush doesn't have this same tang.

Is there a secret fermented ingredient in some hummus recipes that might give off this flavor?


texts: Does room temperature affect rising time for bread dough?

texts:
I've tried a couple different kinds of basic bread recipes (both active dry and instant yeast) and no matter how closely to the letter I follow the recipe, I can't seem to get the dough to rise in the time suggested in the recipe. It takes so much longer and I fear the longer rise time makes changes the taste of the bread (and serves as an I convenience to my timing, though I guess that's slightly less important). I'm starting to wonder if my room temperature might be slowing down the rise time? My house this time of year is usually mid to high 70's and I will try to put the dough in sunlight if it's shining that day.

Any thoughts on what I'm doing wrong and how I can help my dough rise quicker?

Edit:
Ok, after attempting the suggestions in the answer below, I still cannot get my bread to rise. This is an oatmeal sandwich loaf which I was able to get a great 1st rise (doubled in bulk after 2 hours sitting in the sun), but the second is taking longer. After 2 hours, this is the best I got:

Not to mention that I suck at kneading because I can never get the dough smooth. These both have visible folds on the top which will inevitably burn in the oven... When I leave the dough for the 1st rise, I spray the top with oil to hold in the moisture and cover with a lint-free linen. But when I split the dough and press the gases out, the top is always a bit dried out and slightly hardened. This makes forming it into loaves difficult and leaves this fold on top. I am told that handling it too much after the first rise is not good and will make the 2nd rise take that much longer. Maybe I'm wrong a out that?

Warm equipment, super warm day today (80+ degrees and super sunny), I did use sugar and butter and allowed for a longer rise. This recipe called for 1tbs instant yeast and I even threw in an extra 1/4tbs for good measure. I made sure the salt and yeast were not mixed in together. But I just can't seem to make my breads light and fluffy. They are always small and dense. What gives? I'm so frustrated :(


texts: Chicken texture: Store Rotisserie v. Pressure Cooker

texts:
I just cooked my first hen in a pressure cooker. As you might guess, it didn't come out nicely browned and attractive--because that isn't a characteristic of pressure cookers.

But the meat was incredibly moist, with a texture that is hard to describe (but it was good, maybe free-range like). It had discernable grain or strands, or strings of meat, and I now have some great chicken stock.

Which brings me to Rotisserie from the store: Yes, they look and smell great, and are wonderful economics--but the texture is off, for my taste at least. The last few had a breast texture hard to describe, I'll try these words: balsa wood like, pulpy, mushy, rubbery. In any event, it wasn't going to convey well into an enchilada.

Is my store doing it wrong? Will the rotisserie I get be like that more often than not? I really do like the cost and convenience, but the texture was a turn off.


texts: Proper Technique for Rolling Sugar Cookies

texts: I have an old recipe of my grandmother's for sugar cookies and I'd love for them to turn out just like hers. However, whenever I try to roll out the dough, I find I either can't get it thin enough, it is too sticky or it ends up tearing. What are the proper tools and techniques I need to roll out sugar cookie dough?


texts: Should I read  ingredient weight as prepared or unprepared weight?

texts:
Once I have made a recipe a couple of times, I tend to follow my instincts rather than strict portion sizes.

When following a new recipe, however, I have often wondered about how an ingredient's weight should be interpreted.

For example, if a recipe calls for 500g of pumpkin, diced into 1cm cubes, does convention expect me to use a 500g cut of pumpkin, that I then de-seed and dice, or 500g of 1cm pumpkin cubes pumpkins?


texts: What are the fundamental differences between citrus fruits that necessitate different cooking techniques?

texts:
I used to cook pastries and tarts quite a bit, and one thing that always intrigued me was how recipes vary in their treatment of citrus.  For instance, if you make a lemon tart, you can generally do the whole thing in one day and it'll set up just fine.  An orange tart like tart a l'orange seems to require the filling to set for several hours longer.

Aside from obvious flavor differences between citrus fruits (lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit, etc.) are there acidity or other variances that require different techniques to get basically the same results?  If I used limes in lemon tart recipe, would I get a lime tart?

This link on Wikipedia wasn't all that helpful...


texts: Grilling long beans, and a substitute for cooking twine

texts:
I've been experimenting with "uncommon" vegetables (in the US) and have recently fallen in love with long beans, which I buy at my local Korean market.  Because of their length, I'm able to grill them, and the taste is delicious.

I put them perpendicular to the grates (I have a typical three-burner propane grill), and the problem comes when I try to flip/rotate them so they char evenly on all sides.  Turning them (by kind of pushing them with the tongs or spatula so they roll) isn't very effective unless I try to do them one or two at a time, and I cook in large batches.  Flipping them by picking up with the tongs is also somewhat ineffective; because of their inconsistent length I often have some ends fall under the grate and burn as I try to lay them back onto the grate.  I can correct this individually, but I'm looking for efficiency.

I realize I could probably pick up both ends at the same time with two sets of tongs, but I don't know that I have the dexterity needed to flip from that point.  Also, this is only very effective if the beans are similar lengths, otherwise they'd fall from one end and I'd have the same problem as before.

One recipe I found suggested tying them in small bunches with cooking twine or scallions.  This makes a lot of sense to me, but I have neither on hand right now.  So, my questions:

If I were to use cooking twine, what would keep it from burning?  Should I soak it?  With direct flame like this I would expect the twine to catch on fire easily, is that an incorrect assumption?
What makes cooking twine special?  Is it just because it frays less than normal twine, or is there something that makes it food-safe?  Could I use, for example, braided nylon rope, or another type of string or rope that I might have in my garage?  Why or why not?


texts: Can You Blowtorch A Pig Skin to Make it Crispy?

texts:
I like to try this recipe here.

http://panlasangpinoy.com/2014/01/11/crispy-oven-broiled-liempo/

Liempo means Pork Belly in our country. Anyway, my oven is a simple gas oven with no broiler option. It doesn't have a heat on top or slot at the bottom. I can't make the pig skin cripy with that oven and I don't have a broiler also.

Is it possible to use a blowtorch to make the crispy skin? Any alternatives?


texts: How do we decide between gas, induction, and electric (ceramic) stoves?

texts:
I'm surprised I only found one previous thread on this topic and it was 5 years old, so i think it's worth asking again since I'm sure some things have changed.

We're going to be remodeling our kitchen very soon. I'm not a professional chef, but i do like to cook. This will be the first time I've had the opportunity to actually pick out what stove to use rather than using whatever came with the house or apartment.

I'm trying to decide which type of stove to get. Gas I have the most experience with and seems like the simplest to use. It's also a bit of pain to keep clean.

The induction cook tops seem very cool, certainly seem to be easier to clean. But i'd have to replace a fair bit of cookware. I'm not really concerned about having to do that - buying a new set of pots and pans will be relatively cheap compared to the remodel.

The ceramic ones - the only reason that seems worth considering is it should also be easier to clean than gas. But it also feels like it would be too similar to those cheap stoves that use those coils - and I hate those things.

Can anyone list more pros and cons of each to help me make a more informed decision. E.g., this one will heat faster, etc. No opinions, just comprehensive facts, please.


texts:
I was microwaving a potato cake, which definitely has no metal inside it (or any which would cause a fire), it was in the middle of the platter when suddenly the side of the microwave caught on fire, there's a small piece of what looks like metal built into the device, but I fail to see why it wouldn't have caught fire the hundreds of other times I used it.

Should I be replacing this microwave or is it a one off?


texts: Differences between cloth, fiberglass and silicone baking mats?

texts:
There are various reusable baking/parchment paper substitutes on the market now, and a quick trawl through Aliexpress reveals at least three kinds:

Cloth, reinforced with fiberglass (very cheap, from $1)
Silpat-style mixed silicone and fiberglass mats (from $4)
"Pyramid/fat reducing" silicone mats with a textured surface (from $4)

Is there a meaningful difference between the cloth and the silicone types?  The textured/pyramid ones obviously won't be much good for baking anything where you want a flat surface.


texts: Pork shoulder put in broken oven for 10 hours, safe to eat?

texts: So I didn't realize my oven was broken until 10 hours after I had my pork shoulder in there. I realized it and then cooked it for 16 hours at 220F. What are the risks of eating this after 16 hours of cooking?


texts: How can I get my layer cake to cook more evenly/not burned?

texts:
I usually make a two layer cake, and I have a family favourite cake recipe which is fool-proof. I now want to start making one layer (thicker) cakes and i am using catering grade tins. I just finished baking my first one.

Because this cake was thicker, I lowered the temp from 180° C, to 170° C. The cake rose well, but the center was liquid till the very end; it also burned on top and I had to leave the cake in for much longer than I usually do (45 minutes instead of 35).

The length of time I baked it for isn't a problem, the cake rose very well too, but what should I change to stop the cake from burning at the top?


texts:
Whenever I cook steak at home I usually grill it, but is this as good as frying?

I have usually grilled so it is not cooking in the juices and I thought might be healthier, but have been told that frying would make it tastier.

Also would a grill pan be good to use on the hob instead of a standard frying pan?


texts:
As soon as you grind a spice, it gets exposed to air and starts to lose its potency.  I'm trying to figure out how I can grind them and reduce/prevent this from happening.
I guess you could put them in an airtight jar, but wouldn't the air in the jar cause oxidation?
Would putting the powder in capsules help, like medical tablets?
Are there plastic bags or any bags where you can suck the air out?
I can't do a fresh one daily, but need potency after time.  What methods are there to preserve powder from getting oxidized?
Just to note the spices in question are black pepper, long pepper and dried ginger.  I guess the former two can be finely ground daily however I couldn't additionally dehydrate and grind ginger daily.


texts: What are the advantages of a Santoku over a French Chef's Knife?

texts: When it comes to general cooking knives the santoku and french chef's are generally the ones most often mentioned. Is the style of use very different? The only real difference I'm aware of is that you can use a "rocking" motion with the french chef's but not with the santoku. What is the difference between them and when would you use a santoku over a french chef's assuming quality between both was on par?


texts: What is the lowest possible temperature for stewing meat?

texts:
If you want to stew meat low and slow, how low can you go and still get collagen break-down?

And would there be any advantage to stewing at the lowest possible temperature?


texts: Is soaking beans 24 hours unrefrigerated safe?

texts:
It strikes me as an unsafe food practice to follow Cook's Illustrated's advice for soaking dried beans for 24 hours unrefrigerated.  I've also seen them suggest you soak steel-cut oats unrefrigerated overnight.

Is there some reason why these practices are okay?  Would there be any harm in refrigerating them, particularly the beans, while soaking?

From Cook's Illustrated:

  Dissolve 3 tablespoons salt in 4 quarts cold water in large bowl or
  container. Add [one pound] beans and soak at room temperature for at least 8 hours
  and up to 24 hours. Drain and rinse well.


texts: I bought ginger root months ago, and I didn't use all of it. I've kept it in the fridge and it still seems good. How long will it last?


texts:
I have about a dozen eggs which are very near the expiration date and about half a dozen week or so old eggs.

Now I thought I could either  take advantage and whip up a Creme Brulee.

My question is, do old or near old eggs have any sort of positive or negative impact in the cooking process... meaning whipping, baking, serving, eating the Creme Brulee?

Please keep in mind: I have little experience in cooking.


texts: How to properly vacuum seal and freeze food that may stick together

texts:
I had a mishap involving steak freezing together and am wondering what the best way to prevent it from happening again. I just got a vacuum sealer and have being buying large quantities of meat and putting them in one big bag and sucking the air out. This hasn't worked so well as

the meet got mushed together (especially sausages) and froze
together
after opening the bag I wasn't really able to
re-vacuum seal the same bag.

It was recommend to plastic wrap the meat individually. Does that defeat the point of using a vacuum sealer at all? Might I as well plastic wrap everything and then put them in the freezer just like that? It was also recommended to use "freezer paper", I've never heard of that. I guess I could try using it to not cover the individual pieces of meet but only where they would touch the others in the bag that I would vacuum seal.

Also can I reseal vacuum sealer bags? If no maybe the best option is to use small bags and put the individual pieces of meat into them right away.


texts: bread made with egg safe to leave outside?

texts: I have some bread that has egg in it.  Safe to leave the bread at room temp after baking?  Im asking because I wouldn't leave scrambled eggs at room temp but is bread ok?


texts: salmon + microwave = BLAM, any suggestions?

texts: Salmon fillets tend to go 'pop' and spatter bits of themselves around the container in the microwave. Anyone got a procedure that discourages this?


texts: Which type of chilli peppers for which cuisine?

texts:
Indian food typically calls for chilli powder, what I believe is called cayenne pepper in other parts of the world.

Preferring spicier flavors, I find myself adding a pinch of this to other dishes even when the recipe doesn't particularly call for it, but I find that it throws the flavor off and adds a Indian touch to it.

What type of peppers would suit other cuisines? Specifically mexican, italian and chinese? What peppers should I choose to marry well with the inherent palates of these cuisines?


texts: Can I swap sabji Masala for Tandoori Masala in this recipe?

texts:
thought I'd ask more experienced cooks on their advice for this recipe. Found it a while back on a Suhana sabji masala box. I made it and turned out fantastic. I want to make it again but I have all but the sabji masala and instead have tandoori masala.  Is it possible to switch? I understand it would taste different but I'm wondering how different.

1 potato diced
2 medium Onions-chopped
1/2 cup of cauliflower florets
1 medium bell pepper
1 tbsp sabji masala < *
1/2 tbsp chili powder
1/4 tumeric powder
1/2 cup of water
3 tbsp of oil


texts:
A cake recipe of mine calls for ½ cup of Vegetable Oil Spread (Specifically stating 70% fat), which I don't currently have.

I found questions that deal with substituting either Butter for Oil, Oil for Butter, and Butter for Margarine and have read their answers.

However, despite now being able to extrapolate how likely substituting (which I think is the best alternative) Oil for (What is understand is) the Margarine-like product called for in the recipe, I found no questions/answers that address this swap specifically. Am therefore keen on the communities opinions on which is the best substitute, why and any caveats?


texts: Does microwaving salmon soup exacerbate albumin release, why or what is this excessive white stuff?

texts:
If I immerse salmon in a bowel of water and microwave it I notice that a white froth quickly rises and builds to the top of the water. After the salmon is cooked there is an excessive amount of white frothy stuff that i need to use a sieve to remove.  The froth itself tastes ghastly.  When I cook in a pot on the hob however the soup water doesnt become frothy, rather it looks clear.

Is this albumin?
Why does microwaving specifically give this result but not when cooking the soup on a hob.
I notice alaska sockeye salmon produces far less forth even when in the microwave.  Know why this is, does it have anything to do with sockeye being wild caught rather than farmed?

In relation to Jefromis comment, I cannot see inside the microwave though it may not even boil.  I say that because water is almost to top of bowel and after removing i dont see traces of water from boiling.  After microwaving glass bowl is too hot to touch so maybe the water\glass is very hot though not boiled.  in case of hob, i bring to boil, add salmon then simmer for 5-10 minutes, no foaming occurs like the microwave.


texts:
It seems that butter is not good for frying things over high heat

because it can burn
However it IS widely used for sauteeing in many cuisines, and works well.
I looked at the cost of butter, which e.g. in the UK is around £6/kg, and ghee is £8/kg.
Although butter is around 18% water, this still makes butter cheaper, and life is easier if you buy one thing rather than two.
The question then is whereas both ghee and butter will impart flavours to a curry, is there a good reason not to use butter? I think ghee is misssing around the 1-2% of milk solids, as well as the water, and obviously if you wanted to deep fry then butter would be unsuitable (you can, I think, deep fry in lard, at around 160C, but butter won't get hot enough without burning). Or is this possibly a cultural issue, in that butter doesn't keep well in hot countries such as India without refrigeration, whereas I guess ghee is probably shelf stable?


texts: I located several jars of our home made tomato chutney from a year ago. It was a thin batch tho the taste is ok. Can we tip all contents back into a pan and either reduce or thicken with flour , and refill the jars for further months of storage? What’s best to do ?


texts: Can I substitute bread flour for AP flour in banana bread recipe?

texts:
I have bread flour (King Arthur) at home all the time, but I don't usually have all-purpose flour, as bread is pretty much the only thing I bake from scratch. I want to make basic banana bread following this recipe. I have never made banana bread before.

Can I substitute bread flour for the all-purpose flour? I also have stone-ground whole-wheat flour that I use for chapatis. Would some mixture of whole-wheat and bread flour be a better substitute? The reviews for the banana bread recipe say that it results in a dense loaf, so would using bread flour make it even more dense and thereby unappetizing?

I don't particularly want to keep all-purpose flour on hand in addition to bread flour and whole wheat flour, as my pantry has tons of flours already; ten at last count. I searched online and on this site but the questions typically seem to be about subbing AP flour for bread flour, or using some other flour instead of wheat flour. I was unable to find anything specifically about using bread flour instead of AP flour.

Update I decided to risk replacing 1/3 cup of the bread flour with rice flour. I thought that since rice flour is lighter and has no gluten, it would offset the increased denseness caused by using a high-gluten flour. The banana bread turned out fine.

I have posted a follow-up question about using maida in combination with bread flour to create an all-purpose flour substitute.


texts: Is it necessary to skim the scum off of fermenting pickles?

texts:
The sour (fermented) pickle recipe that I am following states:

  Check the crock every day. Skim any mold from the surface, but don’t
  worry if you can’t get it all. If there’s mold, be sure to rinse the
  plate and weight.

The only change that I have made to the recipe is to add 3 med tomatoes along with 4 lbs of cucumbers.

The pickles do seem to have more surface mold than sauerkraut. However, is there any real advantage to skimming the mold off of the top? It seems that if the mold is aerobic and restricted to the surface, then any skimming, especially if combined with removing the stone weight on top of the pickles, would simultaneously mix both mold and air in.

I would prefer to skip skimming every day, and the shape of my crock makes it somewhat awkward to do: the crock curves in at the top, and there is < 1 cm of brine between the surface and the stone weight.

Is there any disadvantage to not skimming every day?


texts: Is there a difference between coca, focaccia and pizza?

texts:
I've made a number of pizza's and coca's lately and I thought about making a focaccia... When reading about coca, focaccia was mentioned, and when reading about focaccia, pizza was mentioned.

I have an excellent book on Italian cooking, it explains that focaccia is unleavened (no yeast) because of the climate. However, the wikipedia states that it does contain yeast...

The pizza I make has yeast and some olive oil. The coca has baking powder and lots of oil, and the focaccia also has lots of oil, but no yeast nor baking powder.

But I've seen recipes with coca's with yeast and less oil (=pizza recipe)...

So, is there a clear definition or is it just the name you care to use?


texts: How to make coffee that closely resembles early 16-17th century coffees?

texts:
Making my coffee this morning, I found myself wondering what early coffee tasted like. I'm guessing quite different to modern coffee, both in how the beans were, and in how it was prepared or customarily expected to be drunk.

Foods and drinks change over time. I know that it's possible to find places and drinks that are said to more closely resemble historical "chocolatl" drinks. But I can't find the equivalent for early coffeehouse coffee of the 16-17th centuries, or how it was customarily prepared or expected to taste, in those days.

Also, perhaps early middle-eastern coffee from 16the century Turkey and Yemen were different again from the versions that gained popularity in Europe.

I also suspect that I'd have to use a specific type of bean, or prepare the beans a specific way, because the beans themselves have surely evolved and had some traits bred in or out, over time and with massive commercialisation.

Hence my question - if I wanted to experience these early coffees, what should I expect and how can I achieve it?

To be clear, I am excluding coffee that was so early it was basically chewed or bare berries - I'm thinking of early popularised coffees in both Islamic/Middle East areas, and in European areas, if that helps (they could have been quite different).

As an aside on this, if any "novelty" or "niche" source these days is actually claiming to make/sell something like this, it would be interesting to know for informational purposes or to perhaps try from them as well. I'm in the UK if relevant, for buying/availability purposes.


texts:
Every recipe I can find is for "fluffy" pancakes.  I prefer thinner, slightly crispy, (very) slightly chewy, non-fluffy pancakes.  Basically, the less "cake-like" the better.

Apparently I'm the only one, and these are all non-desirable qualities in a pancake, so it is hard to find recipes.

How can I make non-fluffy pancakes?  I will be using a cast-iron pan.


texts: How do I reduce the acidity of homemade honey lemon juice?

texts: I usually use 1 lemon together with 2 spoon of honey and 500 ml of water. I note that as I increase the water content, the juice does not taste as good but I would like to reduce the acidity of my lemon. So, are there other ingredients that I can add such that the taste of my homemade honey lemon juice will not be affected?


texts: How much vinegar should I use when making Salsa?

texts:
My wife's boss makes some absolutely great salsa, so we got the recipe from her so that we could try our hand at it with our fresh garden veggies. The recipe is below:

Salsa

16 cup tomatoes, peeled and quartered
4 cups onions, chopped
2 cup jalapenos, chopped (with without seeds) -- adjust this  (1 1/4 cup, 1/2 of seeds used)
2 1/2 cup white vinegar
1 cup sugar
1/2 c pickling salt
3 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 T chili powder
2 tsp black pepper
2 T cumin seed
1 tsp alum
2 (6oz) cans tomato paste

Blend together and cook for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, uncovered. Put into hot sterilized jars; seal and process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. Makes 8 pints
WARNING: When slicing jalapenos use rubber gloves and don't touch your eyes
(original recipe)

Last summer I made 16 pints with this recipe, and it was basically inedible due to the overwhelming vinegar bitterness. We ran this back by her boss who gave us the recipe, and she said she really just wings it on the vinegar.
So my question is, for this recipe how much white vinegar should actually be used? We have our garden veggies ready for salsa making this weekend, and I really don't want to waste all of them again this year! Hope I can get some help on the vinegar part!


texts: How do you remove the stickiness from reusable plastic container or lid?

texts:
I have a blue plastic lid for my glass Anchor container.  I noticed that the lid is very sticky to the touch from both sides.  I've cleaned it thoroughly with soap but the stickiness is still there.  This lid is supposed to be microwave safe but I never used it while heating up food.

I also noticed a similar texture with with my semi-transparent Tupperware plastic container.  For this one, the lid is fine but the container itself is sticky on the inside.

Has anyone experienced that before with plastic lids or containers?  The stickiness is the same all year long.  Is there a way to clean it or has the product reached its end of life?


texts:
I'm cooking for a friend that, for medical reasons, must eat vegan, and soy-free.  I was really wanting to make a vegetarian stir-fry for her, but I can't come up with or find any sauce that would be good in a stir-fry without meat nor soy-sauce.  Must be too dependent on butter+soy sauce myself. =P

I was thinking, I'd add mushrooms to the stir-fry to get the umami, use sherry+veggie broth to create the liquid, and using ginger+garlic+salt for flavor, but that seems like it'd be too light. There must be some way to get that dark rich flavor of soy sauce without soy?


texts: How do you make a deep spicy flavour that leaves you wanting more?

texts:
I'm not sure if this is going to make much sense and I apologize in advance, but hopefully someone understands what I mean.

So my problem is with spice, such as when I make curry, I'll add chilli powder and/or cayenne powder, which while it does make the dish spicy it's not a very 'deep' spice. Like it's only on the tip of the tongue if that makes sense.

What I want to do is have that deep spicy that while burns, still leaves you wanting more. I think in like chinese dishes, or if anyones had it in that packet ramen which says 2x spicy on it.

What methods/techniques/ingredients/etc can be used to achieve this?


texts: How to convert normal sponge to chocolate sponge

texts:
I have a recipe for a normal Victoria sponge. I also have a huge box of Swiss hot chocolate powder. (The kind you sprinkle onto hot milk to make drinking chocolate.)

Is drinking chocolate a good way to add chocolate flavour to a cake? Or is that likely to not work?
How would I go about using it? Can I just add it, or do I need to adjust the other ingredients? How much should I use?


texts: I wanted to make home-made pierogis. Is there a special dough that needs to be used?  I wanted the pierogis to be fairly thick - what type of dough would work best?


texts: I'm a Russian student. I'm writing a report about Italian pasta. There is no information on the Russian web sites, so guys, help me, please. I need to learn more about the grade/quality of pasta. What are the exact grades(e.g. in Russia we have three grades of pasta. it depends on wheat quality)?. Any information will help me. Maybe, you know some kind of sources where i can find the information. Any books?


texts:
I'm trying to add unsweetened non-dutched cocoa powder to a biscotti recipe (this one).

I've read that this type of cocoa is strongly acidic. Will I need to make any changes to the quantities of baking powder? Should I just use baking soda instead of the baking powder? Any other suggestions would be welcome.

Note:
I put in the biscotti recipe as an example. My actual question is quite generic as I tend to add cocoa/chocolate to everything! must.. resist..


texts: Cooking pizza in tiny gas oven with pizza stone

texts:
I currently have a tiny gas oven to cook with this summer and I like to cook a lot of pizzas, but I have always cooked them in standard electric home ovens.

I have been doing some reading here and here, but I don't think I have enough information yet.

Typically, I cook the pizzas on a 15" stone with store bought fresh dough and follow these steps:

Preheat oven with stone for at least 30 min at 425 F
Put dough in for about 2 min by itself
Layer on toppings
Push back into oven for 10-15 minutes (depends on the oven)

My current oven will fit my 13" pizza stone, has a single flame rod (whatever that's called) on the bottom that starts in the back and extends towards the front. I cannot see into the oven as I normally would to watch the browning of the crust.

So a couple questions:

How long will the pizza take to cook at some temperature? (<= 500 F)
Do I need to let the dough sit by itself in the oven?

Concerns:

Opening the door too much to check the pizza (I know gas fluctuates more)
Burning (one the SO references said 90 seconds to cook)


texts:
I have this Anchor Hocking glass bowl that I am thinking of using in my pressure cooker, curious if its safe or not? I used it in the microwave no issues.

I plan to throw some chicken in it with no water in the bowl, but outside the pressure cooker. I want to absorb any juices

Is this safe?


texts: Can dry aging beef and curing/fermenting/drying meat be done in same environment?

texts: Can dry aging beef and curing/fermenting/drying meat be done in same environment ? By environment I’m referring to using the same fridge or room for example. Do these processes require similar temperature and humidity ? I’d like to get a dry aging fridge, but maybe I would need two if I want to do it all (dry age beef and make salami).


texts: How do I ripen unripe oranges and grapefruits?

texts: Sometimes when I buy oranges or grapefruits I find out that they are rather unripe when I get them home. How do I ripen them?


texts: Why did my hollandaise sauce break when adding spices?

texts:
I just made my very first attempt at a hollandaise sauce, which of course broke.
The funny thing is, the sauce was perfect, and was finished. However, it was really, REALLY bland. So, to add some flavor as I've seen several other chefs demonstrate, I attempted to stir in spices (a little salt, a little chili powder, a little black pepper). As soon as the spices hit the sauce it instantly broke.

Sadly I am now out of eggs and butter, so there's no way I can salvage it. Down the sink it went.

So, what happened? What did I do wrong? Any help would be appreciated - it has to be something with those spices. Perhaps the salt??

I refuse to give this up, I need to learn these mother sauces!


texts: What is the inside texture of a Japanese croquette?

texts:
I made croquettes the other day using http://www.japanesecooking101.com/potato-korokke-recipe/ recipe
but it was really dry inside. I'm not sure where I made the mistake.
Is it expected to be dry or if it is supposed to be moist, How do I make it moist?


texts: Is it ok to let bread rise in a plastic bowl?  I got rid of my glass and metal bowls because they were too heavy for me to lift.


texts: What is this paste I got from boiling down coconut "whey"?

texts:
I have been fascinated with taking byproducts of a fresh coconut, and this time I got this sweet and very sour paste from boiling down coconut "whey"

First, let me explain what is this coconut whey :

Took the meat out a fresh coconut, did not remove the outer darker skin (Mistake!)
Put the meat with some water on the blender, strained it in a nut milk bag, repeated the process until milk was achieved
Set the milk in the refrigerator for 24h for it to separate
Used the top cream to make butter and buttermilk
The bottom leftover part after the cream was removed is what I call the coconut "whey"

Now, I thought this whey would be mostly water and sugar, so take the water of you have... sugar!

After boiling it down, I stopped when it began to stick in the pan, the end result was a very sticky gooey paste, that at first taste is sweet but then comes a very unpleasant sour, maybe acidic aftertaste, might be due to not having removed the darker outer skin, or maybe due to the lauric acid?

So, any idea what is this? What can I do with it? Did I do something wrong that it became so sour?

I know this isn't the same as coconut sugar you see in stores as that one is taken from the tree not the coconut itself.

Picture (trying to dry it in the oven because its too sticky) :


texts: Commerial-grade packaging (long shelf-life) for my cookie-like pastry

texts:
I have a cookie-like pastry that I would like to put in a commercial-grade packaging so that it can sold in stores.
How are products such as dates, nuts and cookies packaged so that they have a shelf-life of months or even years? How are small businesses able to package their products? Do they do it themselves or do they send their product to a "packaging company"? What equipment do I need?
My pastry is basically a no-bake almost-cookie-like pasty. It mostly consist of dry ingredients such as almonds, dried pineapples, and nuts but also has a wet ingredient which is either butter or vegan butter. The closest commercial product that I can think of is Larabar but the consistency and taste are different.


texts: How can I improve an asian sauté / stir fry?

texts:
When I make a sauté, I use bell peppers, green onions, beef slices, carrots, ginger and mushrooms. I fry all the ingredients together, add some lime juice, soy sauce, salt, pepper and oregano. Then, I serve the fried ingredients over white sticky rice. The results are good, but how do I make it fantastic? Any additional sauce I can add to make things more savory? Should I add the rice in the wok?

Edit
Thanks for your answers. I made a fantastic sauté last night!


texts: I want to make my own cheesecloth as to aid the make of Paneer. Is there any type of fabric I should avoid or any other pitfalls to avoid? Can I use just general cotton and will this be effective in letting the whey drip out of the curds?


texts: There are purple spots inside the freezer that look like mold, but I'm not sure. Is it safe to store food in there?


texts: Cold Smoking in the Tropics - Condensation

texts:
I am determined to find a way to cold smoke in the tropics.  The obvious problems we face here are a high outside air temperature (avg. 35° C) and high humidity (at times 85%)  In order to get around this I have had the idea to channel the smoke through a functioning freezer which I redesigned with copper tubing on the inner walls to cool the chamber.

This will lead to a large amount of condensation collecting within the chamber, effectively dehumidifying the air.

My question is: Will this condensation collect on the meat or will it only collect on the copper pipes and walls of the inner chamber?


texts: How do you make Yorkshire Puddings rise reliably?

texts: Has anyone got a foolproof method for Yorkshire Puddings? With the recipe I have they never seem to rise properly.


texts:
The feta package I bought does not have enough liquid to cover the cheese once opened. I would like make a brine to cover the block of cheese. How saline does the brine have to be to store feta? How long can I store feta with respect to (a reasonable) salinity?
(I assume a brine with water is sufficient. Or am I wrong? Some websites mention, milk, whey, yogurt, vinegar.)

After my quick research I've seen ranges from 2% to fully saturated brine. 2% seem too little to me conserve it such that feta could be stored longer than plain water (=a couple days).


texts: What is the white powder on sourdough bread?

texts:
I often see sourdough bread loaves with a white powder/dust on the crust.

What is this white powder?


texts: I am allergic to the corn starch that is often found in the ready made brands. I would like to be able to make some powdered jello up for when I want to make a quick jello. With my illnesses, at times, I am unable to cook the jello in the recipes that I have found in my searches. Does anyone have a recipe for the amounts of dried fruit juice, unflavored gelatin, and a sweetener that can be made ahead of time and then mixed with boiling water as though it was a store bought brand? `


texts: Can you reuse marinade used with raw chicken?

texts:
I marinated chicken a couple weeks ago, and stored the marinade afterwards in a jar. Can it be reused, or is that dangerous? I've been told conflicting stories here. The marinade is mostly teriyaki if that makes a difference.

Intended use of used marinade: Marinate chicken which will then be cooked in the oven. It will not be used with anything that won't be cooked (like a sauce).


texts: What are possible substitutes for pineapple in sweet and sour pork/chicken?

texts:
Most recipes for sweet and sour pork/chicken I see include pineapple example.

But what if someone does not like pineapple?

What are candidate substitutes?

Do they necessarily need to be fruits?

What purpose/taste-component does the pineapple serve?


texts: How do I rid my new plastic appliance of its plastic smell?

texts:
I've just purchased a new coffee maker, and it has a terrible plastic smell to it. It smells like something between new car and hot glue gun.

I've run two or three pots of water through it, but the smell lingers.

How do I get rid of this smell?


texts: Can I still use butter that's been left out for 2 days?

texts:
I bought butter in 1/4 sticks (one pound box) and left it in my trunk by accident.  It's been very cold 35-50° F (2-10° C) at night/day. It's been 48 hours.

Can I still use it? It's still in it's original container/box.


texts:
I'm cooking a lamb recipe from Donna Hays' book "Fast, Fresh, Simple" and it calls for a "small boned leg lamb" (1.6kg). I saw "bone" and "lamb" and went out and bought a lamb leg roast on the bone.

What exactly is meant by "boned"? Does this mean the bone is removed? If so, how do I go about removing the bone from the steak I have, and should I butterfly it?

Also, the recipe recommends cooking for 25 mins at 350F after browning, but the piece I bought is 1.2kg with the bone in, so likely closer to 1kg with it removed. How should I adjust cooking time?

Thanks.


texts: How to make crispy/dry potato chips/crisps?

texts:
I've tried frying chips a few times, but, even though it's fun and tastes relatively good, they did not turn out like commercial potato chips (such as Lay's). My homemade chips soaked up too much oil, making them slightly too 'wet', for the lack of a better word. Commercial chips in general are much drier than my homemade chips, and I presume less oil per chip correlates to less calories per chip.

So how can I make potato chips that are more like the commercial kind?


texts: How long will tuna salad stay good refrigerated?

texts: If you make tuna salad, how long is it safe to keep it refrigerated after the tuna is out of the can? I don't like to keep regular raw fish for more than a day but I guess this is different.


texts: Double key lime pie filling and increase from 9" to 10" shell, new baking time?

texts: I want to double the key lime pie recipe and put it in a 10 inch pie crust instead of a 9 inch pie crust. How much do I have to increase the baking time? The pie has a graham crust.


texts: Why to store olive oil in opaque bottles?

texts:
Nowadays it is common to store olive oil in opaque (dark green/brown) bottles to preserve its condition.

Does the olive oil get bad if I would use clear glass bottles instead?
Does the light "damage" the oil in general, or would this only appear in case of strong sunlight exposure directly towards the bottles (but not in case of placing within shaded areas)?


texts: What vessel to use for baking cheesecake

texts: I am wanting to bake my go to cheesecake.  It is baked in a 9" springform pan but I want to half the recipe.  (Well, I don't really WANT to, but my waistline says I should!!!) Anyways, what type of vessel would work best for this?  I am wondering if a large pie plate would work.


texts: How can I keep my waffle iron relatively clean when making waffles?

texts:
I do not make waffles overly frequently, but when I do I tend to make a mess of my waffle iron. I use a ladle to place waffle batter in the middle of my waffle iron. On accident I occasionally overfill the iron so that when it is closed batter runs out the sides. The obvious answer is use less batter, but then I tend to use too little. To complicate matters I rarely use the same waffle batter recipe and some tend to make a larger mess than others.

Aside from eyeballing is there a good ratio of batter amount to iron size I should be using? Is there a way to easily cleanup a waffle iron after use that does not take a long time?


texts: Can someone please give an explanation of different egg preparations?

texts:
When we go to a restaurant for breakfast and order eggs, we are often asked how we want them.  I have a handful of ways that I will eat them (I often prefer over-medium) and I am sure there a large number of ways to prepare eggs I am unfamiliar with.

I have a question then on the various technical definitions of these preparations if I were to go into the kitchen and prepare eggs for someone else.  Sorry if this question is too open-ended such that it would require pages and pages for a proper response. Like a good start would be the difference in over-{insert proper word} preparations or distinctions between some of the more popular methods.


texts:
I often buy Chinese tea by weight in some local stores and at times I find some inclusions that should not be there. Up to this date I have found:

A human hair
Some sand
Some white dots (presumably parts of a plant) that always come with Pu'er stones and float on the surface
Parts of other plants or a trunk parts of the tea plant that was not meant for tea
Some kind of fluff (https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/74851/identify-fluff-that-i-have-found-in-tea)

Finding the fluff finally got me and I decided to ask here.

Is it normal for tea to contain various inclusions like that? I understand that tea processing is a complex process performed by humans at factories in huge batches. So is it common for something like that to get into the process?

I ask because, for example, if you consider some kind of grain, there are often inclusions of other things (other grains or something else) too, and this is known and normal for lower quality (cheaper) grain. You don't throw away the pack if there are some other kind of grains and you simply remove them. Various manufacturers differ in quality and you can choose. You know that the more expensive grain should be better processed and have no inclusions, when a cheaper one is ok to have them. Now this is not the case with the Chinese tea. There's no (obvious) choice of the manufacturer, it simply comes from a particular part of China. I can only choose a local vendor and which tea grade to buy (where tea grade tells what part of the tea plant was used in the making, and nothing more, not the quality of the manufacturing).

I have started drinking Chinese tea not so long ago, and I don't have much experience of it. So my question is: are the inclusions that I have described above common and known for tea, or should I consider buying at a different store, from a different vendor? If the tea is coming from China, will it be different, or is it the same in all the shops? What would you do in a situation like this?


texts: Substitute apricot with some other fruit in this Sunny-Side-Up Apricot Pastries recipe

texts: This recipe (scroll down to the bottom of the page) calls for apricot to use on the topping of the pastries. What fruit do you recommend to use that will be as good, along with its jam for the glaze? What about mango? I have no idea about cooked mango, have never eaten one!


texts: What should I substitute for shortening: lard or butter?

texts: My recipe calls for shortening, I want to substitute lard for the shortening, will this work? Or can I just use butter?


texts: There is no coffee in any of the recipes I've seen for coffee cake, so why is it called that?


texts: How does cooking with whole peppercorns compare to ground?

texts:
If you buy ground peppercorns you should always go for fresh ground because they taste completely different imo.

In bangladeshi cooking I notice that they use whole black peppercorns in their curry and discard it at the end.  However would using it like this be equivalent to cooking with non fresh peppercorns as above?

My thinking is that if the taste between fresh ground and non fresh ground is so different, then cooking a whole peppercorn is like non fresh because the surface has been exposed to air for a long time.

Is my thinking correct or should cooking whole be considered cooking fresh, if so in what way?


texts: How does pineapple affect umami when used in vegan-fish-sauce recipes?

texts:
I have seen mushroom and wakame as ingredients in fish sauce substitutes but does pineapple just take the cake?

A number of recipes are simmering fresh chopped pineapple along with salty ingredients before straining: does that add umami or in any way help extract umami?


texts: How to know whether the whole unpeeled garlic is still edible or not?

texts:
My whole unpeeled garlic has turned "very soft". Its internal texture has changed too.

What are the indicators of non-edible whole garlic?


texts: How to make sugar glass without corn syrup or cream of tartar?

texts:
I'm trying to make a relief sculpture copy out of sugar glass. I don't live in the US, so the corn syrup is not easily available. I read in multiple recipes that cream of tartar can be  substituted with any edible acid, like citric acid.

I'd like to know more about the chemistry behind the ingredients, and find edible substitutes. Additionally, how can I make sure that it doesn't lose transparency and go brown? And what about preventing it from cracking too soon?


texts: Amounts of Potassium Sorbate, Calcium Propinate or Ascorbic Acid as preservative in dough

texts:
I bake homemade wheat bread, but after a few days it becomes moldy (dark), even the dough in the refrigerator. I understand that calcium propionate and potassium sorbate are safe preservatives, but I don't have any idea what amounts to use.

Normally I use to work with a whole bag (25 Pounds) of wheat flour in a Hobart commercial mixer. This SA question answers how much calcium propionate to use.

But: Can I use potassium sorbate as well? Can I change any of those two products by ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) or should I use all of 3? What amounts should I use then?


texts: Can anything be done with cooking apples that fall early?

texts:
Can anything be done with a large amount of cooking apples that have fallen early? They vary in size from golf ball to tennis ball but have fallen a couple of months before they would be expected to be ripe.

We normally have a few which fall early but this year have got a bumper crop.

Are they likely to be usable?


texts: How can I save a batch of truffles when I realized I only used 7 oz of chocolate instead of 9 oz and it doesn't seem to be thickening up enough?


texts: What is the difference between white and green asparagus?

texts:
Is there any difference between white and green asparagus in terms of taste, texture, etc?

I've had green asparagus lots of times but never white asparagus.


texts: Sous vide whole salmon at what temperature?

texts:
If I'm doing salmon fillets then I'll normally do 50c for 25 minutes, but a whole salmon is a different kettle of fish. I've done sous vide whole salmon on several occasions and I do 55c for 3 hours which works fine but dries out the fish a little more than I'd like.

I'm not really comfortable cooking anything at a temperature lower than 55c for long periods of time but I'd like a less dry whole salmon.

Does anyone else have any views / science on this one? Could I get away with doing a whole salmon at a lower temperature?


texts: How long can savory cream cheese dishes last?

texts:
I made this recipe here and have some of the black bean, onion, cream cheese mixture left.  My question is .. how long will this last?  For some reason, the thought of heating down the cream cheese to become a sauce will not last very long..

Thanks for any recommendation!


texts: How long can I freeze uncooked rice noodles for (not dried but in sealed bag)

texts: I live in a rural area and don't have transport so when I get chance to shop I tend to buy in semi bulk and I bought several packs of rice noodles (not the dried ones) and put them in the freezer. How long can I keep them in storage? Thanks for any advice.


texts:
A dove just laid an egg in my flowerpot, on the window on the third floor. I really wanted to let it hatch, however, my wife said the chick has no chance to survive in this environment, it will surely fall and die. So, I thought maybe it is better to take the egg and eat it - this will at least save the dove the incubation time.

But, I have no idea if and how it is possible to eat an egg of a dove?


texts: How do the batter and technique differ between crepes and pancakes?

texts:
What are the different ingredients in crepe mix versus pancake mix?

I'd like to try my hand at making crepes from scratch...

How is making crepes different from making pancakes?


texts: I cooked some bulls eye eggs with some onion, and after cooking there was some green stain on the albumen, but not before cooking, therefore I wonder what it might be. I thought it could have come from the onion but just a hypothesis.


texts: Does this picture accurately describe different kind of coffee?

texts:
In many place like blogs, facebook I have seen the following picture describing different types of coffee. Is it accurate?

Also one thing I do don't understand is how espresso is coming on top of steamed milk (Latte Macchiato) and in another place it is coming below steamed milk (Caffe Breve)


texts: Substitute yogurt powder for confectioners sugar when making royal icing

texts: When making treats, I try to make them as appealing as possible and like to decorate them.  I have been looking for an icing recipe that can be used for decoration that doesn't include sugar.  Most of the ones I have found call for yogurt, however they do not harden.  I recently purchased a mix which was yogurt based which worked really well however could get costly if I do a lot of treats.  I was wondering if I used a royal icing recipe and substituted the confectioner's sugar in the recipe with yogurt powder, would it work?


texts:
I have a cinnamon bread recipe. I am confused about some of the measurement's. It calls for 1 cup of shortening, unsalted butter and melted butter. It does not tell me how much unsalted butter or melted butter. The directions says add the butter to 1/2 cup of  sugar and salt, would this be the butter or the shortening? It does not say any thing about adding the shortening any were in the directions. The melted butter is for the top I think. The cinnamon and  more sugar have no amount either, those I think I can use my own judgement. I have never tried to make this type of bread before. Can someone  help me figure this out?
I've bolded the parts I'm not sure about:

2 pks of yeast
2 cups of scalded milk
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup butter flavor shortening or 1 cup real shortening
Unsalted butter
7 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
Melted butter or margarine
Cinnamon
Sugar
Directions
Mix yeast and water
Mix sugar and salt stir together add butter, but do not stir
Pour scalded milk over sugar, salt and butter.
Add 3 cups flour mix until soft dough forms.
Mix eggs and yeast into dough
Add more flour until dough is stiff knead for 8 minutes
Put into a greased bowl let rise until doubled.   Punch down let dough
double again
Then take dough out of bowl and let it rest for 5 minutes. Then Divide
in half roll into 15x7-inch rectangle
Brush butter over the top of rectangle (I think this is the melted
butter) Then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Repeat 4 or 5 times.
Roll up jelly roll style and put into loaf pans. Cover and let rest
for 45 minutes.
Bake at 375 for 45 minutes Add nuts over the cinnamon and sugar
(optional)

This is word for word. I do not have a phone so I cant put pictures on here.


texts: I have a rice cooker with brown rice setting. I struggle getting the brown rice cooked properly. I get it either too soft or too dry once it is done cooking. I usually put in 3-4 cups of water with the brown rice. My question is, what is the ideal way to prepare brown rice? Is it better to boil it in a pot?


texts: Adapting graham cracker crust to all-natural graham crackers

texts:
Popular recipes for graham cracker pie crust are generally based on Nabisco Honey Maid or similar mass-market, not-really-graham-flour-crackers.

Example recipe (American measurements):

  1.5 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
  1/4 cup granulated sugar
  5 tbs melted butter
  Combine ingredients.  Press into pie pan.  Blind bake for 11 to 14 minutes.

Because I live next door to a natural foods market, though, what I can most easily are all-organic, real-graham-flour crackers (Midel).  These have less sugar and shortening, and more whole wheat than the Nabisco version.  I also appreciate the ingredient quality of the "all-natural" brand.

My question is: how should I adapt the standard pie crust recipe to work with this kind of "healthier" graham cracker?

I tried adding slightly more sugar and butter to the standard recipe, but the resulting pie crust was still too dry, crumbly and whole-wheat tasting.

Note: I'm not making any claim as to the health value of different brands of cracker.  "all-natural" and "healhier" are claims on the packaging of the crackers.  I also don't care about the sugar/fat content of the resulting pie crust; the filling has enough to make counting nutrients pointless.  I'm just trying to recreate the correct texture with the ingredients which are readily available to me.


texts:
I've scoured the internet to find the recipe for one of my favorite childhood sweets, and since I'm away from home, I can't buy it by weight and I definitely can't afford to buy a tiny piece for $3 or $4 all the time.
I came across a recipe and I did everything exactly as the recipe said, but I ended up with this.

Now THIS is what I actually want to eat, I bought it at a Venezuelan place a while back, but they only sell singles.

Any ideas on how to end up with the fluffy sweet white one?


texts: What is the most common mozzarella used in Italian pizza

texts:
That's a curiosity I have after visiting Italy.

I ate pizza all the time but I couldn't differentiate the variety of mozzarella on them.

What is the most common mozzarella used on their pizza?

Mozzarella di bufala
Common Mozzarella
Fresh mozzarella
Burrata
Smoked
Curd
Other?


texts:
When using strawberries to make a preserve (canning process), they become limp and lose colour

Is there a way to avoid this?


texts: Should you, and how do you, grease a crockpot?

texts: I know that this may be a silly question but I came across a crockpot recipe that asks for the crockpot to be greased before adding the ingredients into the pot. Do you just grease the pot normally? In my case with a bit of olive oil and paper towel. Are you required to grease a crockpot or is it just simpler. I don't want the food to extra greasy.


texts: How to remove the rind from Citrus Sugar?

texts:
I made citrus sugar a while ago (basically chopped up lemon rinds in a canning jar with sugar) and have now decided to remove the lemon before giving the sugar away.

So far I have tried wrapping the mixture in 2 layers of cheese cloth and scraping/sifting the sugar out from the bundle but this takes a long time and the cheese cloth develops holes that the rind also goes through.

Is there an easier way to accomplish this?


texts: I have a sourdough starter which I feed roughly once every 2-3 days (throw away 95% of it, refill with water and flour).  Sometimes I forget and wait 5 days between feedings, and by that time it often has developed what looks to me like mold on the top.  It looks super interesting and I'd really like to know what it is.  A picture is below.  It's grown like this a few times, and the starter keeps rising and producing good bread, so it's definitely still alive and well.


texts: Would raw soy sauce marinated chicken be more salty when cooked the next day?

texts: If I had unused soy sauce marinated chicken, would it be more salty when cooked the next day?


texts:
Gordon Ramsey did an AMA on reddit. He said this:

  "I would go down the rouse of recently we've been using lots of dry
  spaghetti, with lots of coffee garlic, chili, preserved lemons. Once
  we've roasted off the garlic, the chili, the shallots folded in the
  spaghetti, olive oil. We've been putting some really nice cans, tuna,
  over the top of the spaghetti, so it's almost like a sort of quick
  fish past the dish but your using cans, very good cans, of tuna. with
  some fresh capers, parsley, and a little bit of preserved lemon.
  Delicious!"

I'm not sure if this is a typo or not but does such a thing exist as coffee garlic?  What is coffee garlic?


texts: I'm smoking a turkey for the first time and I've received different tips on how long I should smoke the bird. However, I struggle with getting my heat to stay at 225-250 for more than 2 hours. How do I keep a heat that will last me 8 to 10 hours?


texts: Should I be worried if my broth or stock has no foam to skim?

texts:
A lot of recipes tell you to skim the foam/scum. What if I'm making one of those recipes and there doesn't end up being any? Does that mean I did something wrong somehow? Or am I just lucky not to have to do that extra work?

Just a basic stock: simmering bones (or chicken carcasses) in a pot on the stove, along with whatever vegetables the recipe calls for.


texts: Is it okay to slow cook sausage casserole without pan frying the sausages?

texts:
We haven't got an oven/hob at the moment due to kitchen refurbishments and I'm currently slow cooking sausage casserole in a 2.5L slow cooker. There's about 6-8 thick sausages in there all cut up into quarters and mixed into the casserole.

It's been on high for around 5 hours now and I was wondering if the sausages would be edible? They're 97% pork Debbie & Andrews sausages (more info HERE)


texts:
Usually, I strain small batches of yogurt through a cheesecloth, but cleaning the cloth afterward is cumbersome. I'm thinking to buy an industrial stainless strainer (40cm / 16" diameter, 10cm / 4" tall) with a mesh, akin to a flour sieve.

What's the best mesh size that would work for full-fat yogurt? The factory has all the sizes from 12.5mm to 0.003mm (3µm).


texts: What is the highest melting temperature of chocolate?

texts:
A pure chocolate bar will always melt at 33 Celsius, as several of my books assure me.

But an answer to another question claims that there are chocolates with a higher melting point.

What kind of chocolate can do this? What does it contain? How much actual chocolate would be inside it, and what is the rest made of? What is the highest melting temperature which can be achieved by such a product? What would be some generic terms for it - if I wanted some and went to a chocolate shop, what would I have to ask for?


texts: How are food dyes affected by heat and ingredients?

texts: I made a cake today using bog standard marge, white sugar, eggs, self-raising flour and a pinch of baking powder.  I added enough pink food colour (supermarket brand that comes in the tiny bottles) to make it look dark pink to red.  It baked perfectly but lost the pink colour although it did look a bit more golden that it would have done if the colourant was not in it.  The date on the bottle was "best before November 2019".


texts: Placed pizza stone in 525f oven to preheat.  Smoke pouring out.  Opened window, exhaust & even the bathroom exhaust.  Thought it would quit eventually.  Put pizza in oven for approx 8 min.  Smoke still billowing... removed pizza with stone.  Stone as black as charcoal. Inside of oven, including window on door, soot coated everything.  Pizza turned out great!  Read on Pinterest & other sights, to put stone in oven on self cleaning cycle would work.  Was going to shower when I saw blue flames through the oven door. The damn stone was on fire!  Shut the self cleaning cycle off.  Scared the crap out of me!  What happened?


texts:
Since 1919, tin cans have been the symbol of the Tin Can Tourists organization (vintage trailer enthusiasts). I want to serve red beans & rice in a recycled can (actually cleaned all-meat cat food cans) and want to know if it is safe doing this. Would hate to make every one sick.  I've been soaking, then washing the cans immediately after emptying them. Now I've rewashing, scrubbed & put them thru the dishwasher.

Want to use them 1 time only at the rally.


texts:
I'm wondering if there is some online resource that compiles different flavors and their combinations.

I'm imagining some site that I could search one tag or several, say "orange" and "cake", and then give me results for different things that have orange as a main flavor (some creamsicle cake) or as a secondary flavor component like in a carrot cake.

I know this is a bit confusing, but if there's anyway I can make this better, please don't hesitate to ask.

Thanks!


texts: How does the order of mixing ingredients affect the resulting cake?

texts:
I wanted to bake a Devil's cake yesterday. I got my recipe from a trusted book and I was surprised to see that the order of mixing was as follows: sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, then mix eggs one by one. Then butter, then other ingredients.

This is contrary to the process I was used to i.e. butter & sugar, then eggs etc.

I was suprised to see that the eggs mixed very good and that, in the end, there was no sugar granules had remained. I was not suprised to see that the resulting cake was dense.

But it still baffles me. I guess there are different ways to mix a cake, depending on how you want your cake to be. Like, flour first -> dense cake, eggs first -> light cake, butter first -> standard cake.

While I can understand that beating the eggs first traps air, what the other methods do is not clear to me.

So, what result do the different mixing strategies give?


texts: How to prepare a KFC - like coating for fried chicken?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How to make extra crispy and crunchy breading like KFC?

Hi all.

What is your experience on this? I know that probably it is not possible to achieve the same flavour as for the oryginal recipe but I would like read your recipes.

I can not come even close to this on myself...


texts:
I'm following the "slit & peel" advice,  but I'm not getting consistant results.

Sometimes,  my ripe plantain (90% black)  has a peel that is impossibly hard to remove -  it's dry and sticks to a very soft flesh. I end up throwing most of it away -  even though the bits I mange to save are sweet and tasty.

Have I stored it incorrectly?

It would appear that I have no trouble peeling 50% black plantains, but as they get closer to full black (max sweetness), they tend to dry up and the peel sticks.


texts: How can I clean these brown iron stains in my pot?

texts:
I use a big aluminium pot to boil water. I think the water contains iron because after 4-6 months, the inside of the pot is full of brown stains. The colour is just like ferric.  There are lots of circular brown areas (1-4mm diameter) in the pot.

Is this stain caused by the iron in the water? If not, what is the
cause?
How can I remove these stains?
Can I do anything to prevent these stains in the future?

Pictures


texts: Can I put royal icing snowflakes and hard candy shards on top of buttercream icing one day ahead or will the buttercream dissolve the royal icing and hard candy?


texts: Can someone please help me with tips to make chocolate cups with swirly designs. Something like this. I've tried painting the inside of a cup with white chocolate first and letting it set. Once set, I tried painting it with dark chocolate. But somehow, they end up getting mixed and it just comes up as a normal dark chocolate cup.


texts: How long can I refrigerate cookie dough?

texts:
I made the made the mistake of making my neighbors these cookies peanut-butter-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies. Every time I see either neighbor they thank me again for the wonderful cookies, "Oh they were So Good!" hint hint

I'm breaking down and making them another batch tonight, but it got me thinking of a fun Christmas present for them. I'd like to give each of them a baking sheet, a cookie scoop, a roll of parchment paper, and a big batch of the cookie dough. Assuming the freshest possible eggs and butter, how long can I expect this dough to make tasty cookies if kept in the refrigerator? Freezing is an option too, but they're less likely to actually use it if they have to think ahead far enough to defrost it. (BTW, it is a great recipe.)

The recipe is in the link, but just in case the link dies, the ingredients are:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
½ cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Substitution ideas that might lengthen refrigerator life are more than welcome.


texts: Why doesn't my bread rise in the oven? (Not first rise)

texts:
I've been trying to work on nice bread but am having issues with the bread not rising in the oven. The first rise after kneading seems to go well, as does a short rise after shaping but before going in the oven.

At this point I've experimented with longer/shorter times for everything and am at wit's end. The bread tastes fine and has some good bubbles in it. It's just very flat.


texts: How do you correctly soften butter for spreading?

texts: How do you correctly soften butter for spreading on bread? Is it simply a matter of leaving it at room temperature for a few hours, or do tools like butter conditioners do a better job?


texts:
I know that there are formulas for switching from and to sourdough and or preferments, but even though my library grows I haven't found such a formula.
I have a general idea of the fact that a sourdough bread usually requires around 40% of sourdough and a regular yeasted bread requires something from .1% to a stunning value of 2% of yeast.
Other that this general idea I have not found anything in the literature I have at home since most of the books usually treat these subjects separately.

Is there a formula that transforms a recipe from fresh yeast to sourdough and vice versa?
What about preferments?

EDIT: The question is under the assumption that a started is intended as a 100% hytration one, if you know of a conversion for a 50% hydration starter or pasta madre feel free to pitch in.


texts: How should I adjust the baking temperature?

texts: I just baked a sponge cake, its sides are fluffy and fine but in the middle it's a bit stiff. When I stick a toothpick in the center it comes out clean and when I cut the cake up, it's not wet. So how should I adjust the baking temperature/time for this case? Thanks!


texts: Since rancid oil produces free radicals, would that rancid oil if mixed with fresh oil cause the fresh oil to go rancid as well?


texts:
I made an omelette today, and it turned out gray. I'm supposing this is because I did some things wrong, the question is what?

Beating the eggs too long
Mixing the eggs with cream cheese before beating the eggs
Too much oil in the pan

My guess is the first two reasons. Do you think that's likely or could it be something else?

The pan is a non-stick (probably teflon). I didn't stir, but did flip. The gray was throughout.The pan is new, but has seen some use already and is not defective as far as I can tel
The cheese is Kraft Philadelphia. I mixed the cheese, the other day, with walnut, hazelnut and chive. Straight from the fridge into the, fresh, unstirred, eggs.


texts: I have a sealed packet of Transglutaminase/Activa powder. However its much more than I need for this recipe. I know it deactivates quickly after being exposed to air. Whats the best way to store it for future use? Should I keep it as one mass of powder or split it into smaller packages?


texts: What types of cuts of meats are ideal for (beef) stew?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What is the best cut of beef to use for stews?

I had a conversation with a cruise passenger on my most recent vacation and he spoke a bit about stew. It inspired me to make stew. I've never really made stew before and I didn't get a chance to ask him this question:

What types of cuts of beef are ideal for cooking stew?

P.S. If you have suggestions besides beef cuts, i'm open to learning about them as well. But for specificity and scope of our discussion i'm primarily set on making a beef stew in the near future.


texts: What can a half-ripe jackfruit be used for?

texts:
We got a (fresh) jackfruit that was not so ripe... somewhat bland, not very tender and not enjoyable.

My question is: What should I cook with it?

I cooked it like I would a green jackfruit, but since it is somewhat ripe I figure I should treat it differently? I've cooked with canned green jackfruit before, but never as in this situation. I was planning a curry for the boiled seeds. I have no idea what to do with this boiled, half-ripe fruit!


texts: Is it possible to temper chocolate at home?

texts: I've read that tempering chocolate is the only way to get glossy, 'snappable' results. I've also read that it can be a complicated process involving precise temperatures. Is it possible to temper chocolate at home without lots of special equipment?


texts:
I often eat Linda McCartney sausages: Linda Mccartney 6 Vegetarian Sausages 300G   ...but, as I don't own a freezer, I have to store them in the fridge.

As the sausages come frozen, I imagine that means I'm supposed to keep them in the freezer. But I often cook them when I buy them, and then eat over the course of about 4 days while keeping them in the fridge.

I currently have an unopened pack in the fridge that has been there for about 4 days... would these be safe to cook and eat? and if so, how long could I actually leave them for (cooked or uncooked) and still be safe?


texts: Kneading and rolling fondant icing without air bubbles

texts:
I recently did a short cake decoration course and we rolled out fondant to prepare cake boards and then cover the cakes with fondant. The work surface there was absolutely clean with no scratches and when I kneaded and rolled out fondant, there were no air pockets or bubbles formed.

I then started making cakes at home and the kitchen bench here is not without scratches or bumps. So, I ended up buying a cake mat (plastic sheet) and every single time, there have been air bubbles in the fondant, which I had to remove using a toothpick. But it still leaves a mark on the icing once it goes on the cake.

The question is whether rolling the icing on the plastic cake mat can cause the air bubbles or am I doing something wrong when kneading the fondant? I am using the same store bought fondant as the one we used in the class.


texts: Creaming butter and sugar results in lumpy and grainy mixture

texts:
I was beating butter with sugar to make a cake. I used President brand butter (80% fat) and it was soft at room temperature before beating.
However, only after few minutes, my mixture started grainy just like over-whipped cream. I decided to continue and ended up with pale and creamy butter but it wasn't smooth.
What did I go wrong?


texts: Cooked Cottage Pie, refrigerated. How to reheat

texts:
Last night, I made a cottage pie and cooked it in the oven for 30 minutes, once cooled down I placed it in the fridge.

What would be the best way to reheat this? I've read somewhere that 180 for 45 minutes would do it, but I wondered if this would overcook the mash, which is already crusty from the cook last night?

Further to this, if I was just going to prepare (Cook mince and mash), could I do that and then cook in the oven the following day?


texts: Substitute instant coffee for brewed black coffee

texts: If I need to substitute 2tbsp of instant coffee for brewed black coffee, how much should I put in/ how much of the other liquids should I take out to compensate?


texts: How can I thin out my ice cream mixture?

texts: I'm trying to make a McFlurry/Blizzard-like dessert in my blender, but the ice cream isn't coming out at the consistency I'd like. I tried adding milk, but that didn't seem to do much. The ice cream doesn't pour well out of the blender and is kind of clumpy. Is there anything else I can try? Do different types of ice cream behave differently in a blender?


texts: Does Simmering peppers in oil bring out more flavor?

texts:
If I simmer a melange of sweet and hot peppers in peanut oil, will it bring out more flavor?  Chemically, what is the result of gently simmering veggies in oil?

My intuition is to first brown onions, garlic, sweet peppers and various hot peppers in bacon grease till aromatic. Then add the mixture to simmering peanut oil and simmer for a long time (several hours). Then let cool and refrigerate for long time (over night to 2 weeks). I'd think this would create a deliciously flavorful and spicy oil.

Maybe even strain out the peppers and blend the peppers to make into a hot sauce? After this simmering process, will there be any interesting flavors left in the peppers?


texts:
I am trying to make a multigrain/white blended bread, I want to break away from using a breadmaker and manually mix it.

My recipe:

  1 package (1/4 ounce - 1.5us tsp) active dry yeast (my previous attempts did not rise very much, suspected old yeast - new yeast was purchased, confirmed active)
  2-1/4 cups warm water (110° to 115°) (water verified this temperature range with thermometer before mixing begins. any extra added is less than 15ml and also the same temp)
  3 tablespoons sugar
  2 tsp salt
  2 tablespoons butter
  6-1/4 to 6-3/4 cups flour (using 2 cups of multigrain bread flour, 4 cups all purpose white flour)

procedure:

  Yeast is activated and dissolved in sugar water mixture before other ingredients are added. After adding, as per the above recipe I knead it for 10 minutes on a floured surface. Initial rising time is 30-45 mins or until doubled, dough is punched down and then shaped into loaves and divided into lightly greased breadpans. secondary rising time 30 mins or until doubled, placed into 350F oven for 30-40 mins or until lightly browned bread sounds 'hollow' when tapped.

Questions:

What should the dough look/feel like when it's ready? (can anyone post me a picture of the targeted product?)
What is overkneading?
Is the recipe alright?
Do you have additional steps to follow?

My background: I am a 260lb x-military veteran who regularly does 1000 pushups every 3 days, avg bench is 300lbs for several full sets, overhead press and pulls are roughly the same weights.

The point of me saying this - someone suggested I have kneaded the bread too much and too strongly.

Previous loaves were hard and did not rise very much.

Please offer this rookie some advice.


texts: Do you need to sterilize jars when making yogurt?

texts: I recently bought an Instant Pot and am curious about its much-touted yogurt-making capabilities. From this video it looks simple enough. What the video doesn't address, though, is the question of sterilization. Do I need to sterilize the yogurt jars, as though I were making jam? My guess is no, since you can also make yogurt in the steel liner, which isn't sterile, but it seems prudent to make sure.


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


texts: Aged cheese allergy, what would be a good substitution?

texts: I am allergic to parmesean cheese - any aged cheese really (due to the mold created from the aging process). However, I can eat blue cheese. I'm making a ricotta gnocchi that calls for parmesan. What can I use as a substitute?


texts: Ingredient to counter ammonia aroma/taste

texts:
I am a fan of surface ripened cheeses, and in particular Wisconsin-made Limburger. My favorite way to eat it is right at the use-by date on the label. At that point, the surface smells heavily of ammonia, so I cut it off, let the interior mellow for a day or so, then enjoy the creamy stinky goodness.

Out of a 6oz block of cheese, I lose about 2.5 oz this way. I don't like to discard the trimmings, but the ammonia flavor is completely overwhelming. I was thinking about trying to make a cheese spread with the leftovers. My first attempt just used water and sodium citrate along with the cheese. The consistency was good, and the water diluted the ammonia flavor a bit, but it was still too much.

Is there an ingredient I could add that would act to neutralize (or partially neutralize) the smell and taste of ammonia in the cheese spread?


texts: Is it okay to use oil that was used for deep frying for regular frying (for example frying your omelette ? For the sake of the argument, lets assume that the oil hasn't changed its color or smell at all, i.e. it WOULD be okay to reuse it for deep frying. If not - what is the difference in this regard to reusing it for deep frying?


texts: Am I unwittingly damaging my knives with amateur sharpening?

texts:
I had a bread knife that took a trip through the dishwasher and was frustratingly dull.  I bought a cheap sharpening rod to attempt to salvage it (this one specifically:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001910FOA).   It was a bit tedious to get into all the serrations but it was like having a new knife.  I was so pleased with the results I took to using it on my chef's knives whenever they were dull and the honing rod didn't help, finding the results better and faster than the electric sharpener I have.  It seemed pretty straightforward and I didn't put a lot of thought into the technique, but the knives were definitely getting sharper.  I'd guess I did this every few months (frankly I tend to get lazy about honing which probably makes the edge dull faster).

I decided I wanted to get something nice to get them even sharper so I invested in a whetstone, but as I have read about using it I've become alarmed by the number of people talking about how you need to use a beater knife on your first pass because you're liable to do some serious damage to your knife.  Others even say you shouldn't even try to sharpen a serrated knife yourself!  Frankly I find it hard to understand how it's even possible, since it's a piece of metal and you should (I would think) be able to remove more to fix it no matter how bad your sharpening job is.  But I don't even own any knives I'd want to use for practice and not care if I rendered them unusable.  All this talk has made me paranoid:  could I be destroying my knives somehow?  How, exactly?


texts: I'll be changing my dinnerware soon and I'm looking for something durable and non-toxic. Are glass bowls/plates more susceptible to spoon and fork scratches? Are scratched glass bowls/plates safe to use? Am I supposed to eat with wooden cutlery? The reason I ask this is that, I've got heatresistant cookware for oven and microwave and its user's guide says "don't use fractured,cracked or scratched products".


texts: Can of chicken left in hot car - okay or trash

texts:
I bought a can of chicken (chunk white meat) a while back. Because I wasn't "deliberately shopping for groceries" (I was at the store returning bottles for deposit, but had earlier realized my meal plans were short by one can of chicken), that was all I bought, and as a result, I ended up tossing it in the glove box and forgetting about it for about a week.
When I finally brought it in, it was rather warm, and presumably had been heating and cooling every day it was left in the car.
Is it still safe to eat? Obviously, if it was something that would normally be refrigerated, the answer would be a very emphatic "no", but being canned, it has already been cooked to death and (at least in theory) sealed into a sterile environment, and doesn't need to be kept refrigerated. (Note: the can is not bulging noticeably, which I do know would indicate that it is definitely not safe.)
p.s. I read https://www.stilltasty.com/fooditems/index/16796 but it doesn't say if exposure to higher temperatures is an issue. OTOH, a comment on this question suggests it may have already been exposed to similar conditions.
p.p.s. I don't plan on keeping this around for another 2-3 years; the intention would be to eat it within about a month.


texts: Can I eat beans that have had weeevils in it?

texts:
I put two cups of beans to soak overnight. The morning after, I realized there were dead weevils floating in the water.

Should I eat the beans after cleaning them or is it better to just throw them away?