texts: What rice should I use when a recipe asks for "short grain rice"?

texts: If a recipe says "short grain rice", which would be the correct rice to use?


texts: Why is sourdough called 'sourdough'? Is it because it is sour to the taste, or for a different reason?


texts:
Have made many fruitcakes in a 7" metal angel food pan, for ease of time and cleaning. I was excited to try the 7" paper tube pans, but what I ended up with was soup on the inside. The paper pan was slightly thinner in width and higher in depth, so it held the same amount of ingredients.

I played with the time and temperature but for the most part I got dried out, and/or burnt, or gooey. What can I do to make this work?


texts: How many carbs I will lose by cold fermenting my bread dough?

texts:
I made bread dough recently, and I want to know how many carbs I'll lose using the specific method below:

Composition: 6.5 cups of whole wheat flour (21g of carbs per 1/4 cup, per the nutrition facts), 1.5 tsp salt, two packets of yeast (1.5 TBS).
Left it to rise overnight
Put it in Ziploc bags in refrigerator to let the yeast have at the carbs.

I am going to bake some at 3, 5 and 7 days for comparison, so I would love to have data for that, too.


texts: What is the best utensil kit for the cost?

texts:
Ideally I would like a set to build a kitchen around. Knives and the most vital and commonly used utensils. The best kit relative to it's price, and not leaving out important things like varied spatulas, whisks, spoons and other vital implements. Basically everything except cookware.

Similar post What knives are "required" for a serious home kitchen?


texts: Whenever I put breadcrumbs on chicken breast, they turn out soggy and moist

texts:
Whenever I make chicken strips with bread crumbs it comes out rather moist and soggy and not crisp and crunchy. I cut the boneless skinless chicken breast into strips, mix them with some egg and oil, add some salt and pepper, then roll them around in the bread crumbs. I then use my George Foreman Grill and even on maximum temperature they're too moist. Why does this happen and how do I fix it?

This doesn't happen when I'm cooking chicken without the breadcrumbs so I think it has something to do with them. I am using Panko bread crumbs.


texts:
I tried to make my own tea essentials oil by putting small pieces of tea leaves (dehydrated) into my local alcohol (29% vol).

After 1 week, the leaves turned brown, so I removed them out of the bottle. Now the remaining looks dark, strong smell of tea and alcohol.

I wonder if it can be called tea tree essential oil and can be used in beauty products like body wash or even in food?

This is my first time I've tried to make essential oil, so not sure what to do properly as there's no direct instruction on google that show how to make tea oil.


texts: What's the difference between heirloom and direct-set yogurt cultures?

texts:
Yogurt cultures seem to come in two varieties: heirloom and direct-set.

The difference between the varieties is that one is a carefully selected mix of bacterial strains (direct-set), and the other is a "mother" that's been cultivated and sustained over generations (heirloom).

Most direct-set culture will specify that the culture cannot be reused. This means that once the yogurt is done culturing, one should not use a part of that yogurt to culture more milk.

On the other hand, heirloom cultures are specifically meant to be reused and sustained.

Where does the difference lie?

My guess is that the direct-set is not a "stable" symbiotic mixture of microbes, so the fear is that if one reuses that yogurt AFTER it's been sitting in the fridge, it'll have some additional microbes it may have picked up in it, which may foul the next batch.

The heirloom variety may be more "stable" in some way, so any additional microbes may be out-competed and won't survive into the next batch.

Another question is: if contamination is the only worry in direct-set cultures, could one immediately freeze direct-set yogurt (to avoid contamination) and then reuse it to get similar results?


texts:
I'd love to make my own chocolate chips from scratch.  But everything I've produced seems to melt during cooking.  It would be nice to make them based on the percentage of coco I like and it would be fantastic to make sugar-free chocolate chips for some diabetic friends.  Any suggestions?

What I need is a recipe for making chocolate chips that I can bake with.

Update:

I now have a family member that is soy-intolerant.  Most chocolate chips and chocolates that can be chopped up have soy-lecithin in them.

So I still have this problem.  I'd like to make a sugar-free, soy-free "chocolate chip" for my family.  It doesn't have to be teardrop shaped or look pretty, that was never a goal.

So my question is still:  How can I make a chocolate product at home that can be broken into pieces and used like chocolate chips.  It makes sense to buy pure chocolate that has already gone through the conche process.  What should be done then?  What is the recipe to change the pure chocolate into something that has coco-butter, sweetner etc.


texts:
I made a loaf of bread and scored the top with a razor to regulate its expansion as it baked. However, it had its own ideas and pretty much ignored mine, as below:

Why? And how can I produce a more beautiful loaf next time?


texts: Has anyone successfully roasted potatoes at the same time as slow-roasting meat? I usually par-cook my potatoes then roast them for an hour at 180 degrees C to finish/crisp, but when I'm slow roasting meat at 150 degrees C I'm never sure how to do the potatoes.  Any suggestions that would allow me to finish the meal at the same time?


texts: If the pickling process takes approximately  2-3 days, should the pickling process take place at room temperature? Or can it be done in a refrigerator?


texts:
Most of indian housewives make chapatis like a boss! My wife misses her mom's chapatis, so I want to surprise her with "the ultimate chapati", so I would like to ask some questions about the process.

I've seen her mom make chapatis, and I can assure this are the ingredients she uses:

Atta flour of a brand I have.
Mineral water
Salt
Sunflower Oil

That's it. I know many recipes call for ghee instead of oil. What would be the difference?

What do you think is the perfect dough hidration to make a soft but also thin chapati? I've tried a few times, and sometimes my chapati becomes hard and crispy, so I have to make it thicker, just what I'm trying to avoid.

Mom doesn't let the dough rest for a long time, just half and hour tops. So if I want only 30 mins dough rest, it should be more or less hydrated? Also she does not knead a lot, the dough is kneaded in 10 mins, so what you think? Is soft and thin chapatis possible with 10 mins knead and 30 mins rest, or is mom a magician?

Then comes shaping.. what's better to let the dough rest before cutting? or cut the portions for each chapati and then let it rest? Mom lets the full dough rest, and makes the portions just when she starts rolling.

Rolling a perfect shape is just a question of practise, but I always find that putting dough portion into flour before rolling helps. Mom uses very little extra flour when rolling, only at the begining. Altough She puts few drops of oil, folds the portion, and the shapes it, round and thin. So what's better for rolling? Only flour or Oil? Do we put oil during kneading? How much, does it count into the hidration percent?

OK, once rolled, time too cook it. We have a "tawa" which is a flat pan. Guess gas stove is better but, can we do it with vitroceramic?. Just so you know, mom does not use the direct cook on the flame method, she only cooks on top of the hot tawa. Is it better to have tawa at medium high or at max temp? I think sometimes it became hard and crispy for me because of the high temp. Mom uses max temp on gas stove.

Mom's chapatis bubble up like a baloon.. Mine don't. Whats the secret of bubbling? I guess this is what makes the chapati soft, with those 2 layers. Why doesn't my chapati bubble?

Finally preserving softness. I eat mom's chapati half an hour later and it's still soft. Mine get's Harder after a few minutes. Why?

Please help me make the Ultimate chapati.


texts: Many sugar candy recipes ask for corn syrup to add polymerization to the final candy and prevent crystallization.  Body sugaring recipes call for lemon juice to prevent crystallization and maintain plasticity. When corn syrup is not available, would it work to use lemon juice instead?


texts: Does cooking vegetables increase their flavor?

texts:
Is there some scientific explanation for why one cooks vegetables?

I mean apart from increasing the ability to digest. Are there flavor enhancements going on? Does the temperature have to rise about 100°C, which means that just boiling wouldn't do?

I've heard of the Maillard reaction (with known chemical reactions, temperatures, etc.), but that mainly applies to other meats?


texts: Difference between instant cocoa and drinking chocolate

texts:
There's a question with answers detailing the difference between pure cocoa powder and chocolate; it boils down to the 'raw' cocoa powder being a very ungrateful, bitter substance difficult to use without making the results taste terrible. It takes quite a bit of processing to be turned into chocolate; the difference is obvious.

Still, there are nice friendly and tasty 'instant' cocoa granulates that make quite delicious drinks very easily, "Just add hot milk".

And then there's instant drinking chocolate, "Just add hot milk".

What's the difference between the two? Is it just naming/branding technicality or are they two different drinks?


texts: How do I control the smoke from a chimney starter?

texts:
I'm seasoning my new Weber Smoky Mountain smoker according to the excellent instructions, given for free, on Amazon, by a 20x BBQ grand champion. (What an amazing thing for this guy to do!)

Anyway, I'm using a Weber RapidFire chimney starter, and both times I've used it so far, it's completely filled the entire backyard with wood and paper smoke.

My upstairs neighbors sleep with their windows cracked when it's warmer (which is when I'll be BBQing), and so I'd really like to not smoke them out of their own bedrooms at 6 in the morning. Any advice for minimizing smoke when using a chimney starter?

There's some advice here about using only one sheet of newspaper doused with a bit of oil, but I don't know if that mitigates smoke.


texts: How can I keep from burning a pan sauce?

texts:
I'll make a steak or something on the stove and then try to make a pan sauce out of the fond.  Add a little wine and other fun ingredients and then I try to reduce it a little bit.  90% of the time, it seems to burn before it reduces to a sauce like consistency.

How can I reduce a pan sauce without it burning?


texts: Can you develop an immunity to chopping onions causing tears?

texts:
I just chopped a particularly strong onion, I noticed some slight irritation but no tears. I realized then that onions haven't made me cry for years, decades even. I use all kinds of onions and take no special precaution to prevent tears. I don't refrigerate them, remove the core, use goggles, light a candle, anything like that. Granted, I've gotten better (faster) at it over the years, but I remember hating chopping onions in my youth because of the eye irritation. It doesn't seem that speed alone could account for the difference in my reaction.

Can I chalk it up to a similar phenomenon that gives me asbestos fingers and my tolerance for extremely hot (spicy) food?


texts: How to achieve a thin caramel sauce/coating that stays fluid when refrigerated

texts:
I want to make a caramel coating for cheesecake, or other cakes, that stays fluid in the fridge, and doesn't become hard/solid.

I don't mind if the caramel sauce/syrup contains any butter/milk or not; if it's only made by sugar and water is OK.
I made a caramel sauce, which was fluid for some time, but when I coated the cheesecake and put in the fridge, it became solid and I just sticked this out and threw it away.

If you have a recipe for this I would be glad to hear about, just as long as it is caramelized sugar, not clear syrup (slightly heated water plus sugar).


texts: What kind of frosting doesn't need to be refrigerated?

texts:
I'm looking for a frosting that I can leave on the counter (under a cover of some kind) for a few days.  What kind of frosting (for a cake or cupcakes) would stand up to this?

Update:  Ideally, I would like this to be something that I could make from scratch.


texts: What pots work the best on electric ranges to sautee, fry and simmer?

texts: I end up burning my food because I can't get the right temperature in the pan to fry, sautee or simmer vegetables, rice etc.  The rice either burns on the bottom or doesn't cook.  My oil turns brown very quickly which ends up turning my veggies black.


texts: How can I get good spherification results with alcohol?

texts: I've been trying to make chocolatini (vodka, godiva liqueur, baileys) spheres, but I've had some issues with separation of the alcohols.  Also, I've been deciding whether the alginate solution should be placed into the mixture (vs. calcium lactate into the mixture)... and then placed into calcium lactate solution or alginate solutions respectively.  Anybody have any suggestions or recipes for something like this?


texts: How to classify the parts of a recipe ingredient?

texts:
I'm build a recipe app/website, and I'm interested in how to properly classify the sections of an ingredient (as you would find in a cookbook or on a website) with regards to the terminology.  Let me give an example of what I mean.  Let's say an ingredient reads:

  3 cups Ore-Ida southern-style hash browns

My best guess at terminology for the parts of this sentence fragment would be:

3 = quantity
cups = unit
Ore-Ida = brand
southern-style = variation
hash browns = ingredient

I'm not sure if this is correct, or if there's a more precise descriptive term usage for this.  I'm interested in learning the proper terminology if this is not considered to be correct.

One more thing worth noting is that in 99% of cases, there probably won't be a brand at all, or if there is, it's not of significance.  In addition, if an ingredient doesn't include a unit, I'm making an assumption that the unit is "count", (e.g.: "3 eggs" would mean quantity "3", unit "count", ingredient "eggs").


texts:
I have a Dutch oven that remained in storage for about three years. Apparently I covered it with oil prior to the storing. Now,it has that old oil smell to it that I can't get of.

Any advice on how to remove the oil and smell?


texts: Did I store these potatoes incorrectly (found a bug inside)?

texts:
I have a 3 pound bag of 'Idaho' brand potatoes that I bought a few weeks ago. They all looked good (firm and no sprouts) when I went to get them the other day except for one. This one had a white patch on it about 2 centimeters in diameter, and then a small red insect just crawled out of it! It was about a centimeter in length and was very dark red in color.

So my questions were:

Have I been storing these incorrectly? I have them in a kitchen cabinet since that is the darkest place I have and left them in their original bag.
Is it safe to eat the other potatoes? I threw the one in question out, but I am wondering if it's a good idea to throw the others out as well.


texts: Chicken stock in slow cooker - danger zone?

texts: How does one know if slow cookers are holding foods in the danger zone too long? I cooked chicken stock on high (a bit too full, water one inch from the top) but it wouldn't simmer, it seemed like 2-3 hours before it got to 140 F and then it eventually went to closer to 180 degrees F at about 3 to 3 1/2 hours. I realize that bacteria will be killed but will toxins build up in that time? I'm thinking that I should throw it out. My cooker is relatively new. Thanks!


texts: Exactly how much is "one glass", in Russian recipes?

texts:
In many many Russian recipes, measurements call for one glass or this one glass of that.

One glass in Russia, appears to be a similar concept to what one cup is in United States.

But here lies a problem, I will run down the list:

USSR mass-produced a certain type of faceted glass that pretty much everyone had in Russia.  The facets on the glass ended before reaching the top of the glass, thus marking a natural edge.

Pouring water into glass up to that edge == 200 milliliters
Pouring water till the top of the glass = 250 milliliters

It is NEVER specified if you are to fill up till the edge or to the top.

Now Russia produces all kinds of "glasses".  Looking around Russian native sites, I see that one glass can be anywhere from 180g, 200g, 250g.  Also, measuring water, sugar, and flour by volume this way, will produce different weight.

Does anyone have an experience in this?

I have a recipe that calls for "approximately 4 glasses of flour".  How much do I put?

I suppose I can use "one US cup" measure, but I know that one US cup, as a measurement vessel/quantity, did not exist in the recipe originator's minds in Soviet Russia.

Question:  how much is 1 glass?  Is it safe to use one cup?


texts: Is it safe to eat fish that has been left out in the cold overnight?

texts: It's snowing over here, and we had made a fish delivery that we assumed had been canceled. (The fish store didn't answer their phone yesterday and most schools and businesses were closed.) However, it seems that the fish was left at our door late last night. It was probably there around 9 hours...? Normally I would toss it, but it's really cold out there and the fish is cool to the touch. I live in an apt building, so it was not actually outside in the snow, but the temperature in the hallway outside our front door is nearly as cold as outside. I have no way of measuring the temperature out there. Is it safe to eat...? How cold does it have to be to consider it safe? (And yes, we will complain to the store.)


texts:
I plan to cook a thai dish this weekend and I search for drinks to serve along to that. In particular it will be a chicken dish with lemon gras.

This is forked from another question of mine.


texts:
When making e.g. spaghetti sauce, do I:

first sweat the onions and then add the minced meat?
first brown the minced meat and then add the onions?
do both at the same time but in different pans and add them together afterwards?

What are the advantages of preferring one of the options over the others?


texts: Why do potatoes cook more slowly in a stew?

texts:
I recently made a stew, not for the first time either, and I've tossed in a few potatoes, cut into cubes. It took about an hour and a half until they were soft. The stew was simmering the whole time.

In contrast, if I put potatoes into water and parboil them, even if I add salt to the water (or things like peppercorns or some herbs), they will be soft in about 15 to 30 minutes.

Why does that happen?


texts: Are there any cookbooks specifically designed for restaurant-level chefs/cooks?

texts:
It's fair to say most cookbooks are designed for the home cook. Not just in terms of quantities but also in terms of technique; it's very common to see recipes - even those written by giants in the catering world - edited "so you can prepare them at home".

Even a high-level book such as Thomas Keller's The French Laundry Cookbook boasts that "all [recipes] have been thoroughly tested in home kitchens".

Do recipe books for restaurant-level chefs exist? I'm not talking about catering or bulk-cooking recipes which focus on event cooking but rather books where the author assumes that you have access to professional-level equipment, unusual/exotic/technical ingredients. Books which actually document the way a restaurant chef would prepare and cook their own food every day.


texts: I made chicken and gravy in the crock pot. Later on I decided to add dumplings., for the next night. It wasn't hot, I figured it would soak up all the juices for cooking in the morning. Needless to say, my dumplings broke down they are stretchy and messy. Is it ruined now. Can I salvage my meal?


texts: I've seen a lot of recipes that call for a "scoop" of vanilla sugar. I know that this refers to the little scoop that comes with most vanilla sugar containers. However, I live in a country that sells vanilla sugar in little paper packets... How much is a "scoop" of vanilla sugar in tea- or tablespoons?


texts: What is the name (in Chinese) of the utensil that is used to prick lots of tiny holes in pork skin to make it very crispy?

texts: I have seen people mentioning this and I've heard it's available in Chinatown in NY or in Hong Kong but I can't find it listed anywhere for sale online.  I think this is because I don't know the term for it so if anyone can help with a name or a link it would be much appreciated.  NB: I have tried a German meat tenderiser that looks similar but it's not sharp enough.  The thing I'm looking for is wooden and has lots of very sharp pins coming out the botton


texts: Is this splotchy purple pattern on short ribs ok?

texts:
We’re making some short ribs, and noticed this weird pattern on the bone side of some of the ribs. What is this, and is it safe to eat?

As a side note, there is some silver skin on the other side of some of these ribs, but this pattern is distinct.


texts: Roughly chopping large batches of hard nuts

texts:
For my breakfast oatmeal, I use a variety of nuts. I tend to make large batches beforehand. My biggest issue with the way I do it now, is how to prepare large batches of hard nuts that I'd like to chop roughly.

I have tried several methods:

A blender, or food processor, which grinds the nuts into a paste
Smashing them (covered with a cloth or in a bag) with a rolling pin, which completely pulverizes some and tends to skip a bunch as well
Chopping them with a chef's knife

Chopping them with a knife gives the best results, but it's very laborious and I can only do a handful or two at a time.

I've been trying to search online for suitable methods, but they all seem to use nuts like pecans or walnuts, which really aren't an issue at all. My problems are with Brazil nuts, macadamia nut or even peanuts, for example.

Is there any other tool or technique I can use to get roughly chopped nuts (they don't need to be perfectly even) suitable for an oatmeal mix?


texts:
Recent scientific research indicates that there's a sixth taste, oleogustus. Responsible for the flavorful taste of fat in small quantities, and rancidity in large quantities. The research also indicates that the oleogustus is primarily attributed to the long chain fatty acids in dietary fats.

I'm looking for a way to add concentrated oleogustus flavor to dishes. Much the same way that MSG adds umami or sugar adds sweetness. One of the primary reasons being that low-fat foods could be made more palatable by the addition. For example lean cuts of beef cooked with oleogustus would take more like their well-marbled counterparts.

I've looked extensively to find any writing on this topic, but haven't come across anything substantial. My hunch is that high omega-3 fish or flax oils might do the trick. DHA, EPA and ALA are all 20-carbon fatty acid chains, which should give them a strong oleogustus flavor. But getting the ratios right is another problem, too much oleogustus is always bad tasting. And fish oil isn't exactly known for being tasty, so maybe it's introducing too many other undesirable flavors.

Any thoughts on how to distill an essence of oleogustus taste? Or whether it's even worth trying to add this flavor?

References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26142421
http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2015/Q3/research-confirms-fat-is-sixth-taste-names-it-oleogustus.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5537895/


texts: How can I achieve a good socarrat with paella cooked in the oven?

texts:
I'm cooking dinner for a friend who pointedly bought me a paella pan. Normally, I would never consider making paella in the oven, but my stove is electric and the coil is not nearly as big as the base of the pan. So I looked around and found this recipe from Bobby Flay.

I just made a test batch with just the sofrito and rice. Since the recipe didn't mention the socarrat, I figured I'd be slick by preheating my pizza stone at 500F and placing my paella pan on that. It didn't work for creating the socarrat, but other than that, I was mostly pleased with the results.

So, I'm pretty married to the technique in the recipe, but I'd still like to get that crusty rice layer on the bottom. I tried putting the pan on the burner for a few minutes after the rice was done, but that just gave me a burnt bottom layer.

Any ideas?


texts:
I have a go-to chicken dish that I like a lot. I marinate thighs in a soy based marinade and then brown them. Then I mix the marinade flavors, chicken broth and rice and put the thighs in skin side down, cover, and cook over medium-low heat until the rice is nearly done. With 10 minutes or so left to go, I turn the thighs skin side up, lay them on top and finish cooking, uncovered, until the rice is done.

I like the skin done this way. I start the browning in a cold pan which really renders the fat nicely (you can see the fat in the first picture, I added no oil), but I know that a lot of people only like chicken skin crispy. The skin here isn't flabby, but it isn't crispy either. Does anyone have a good trick for crisping chicken skin that is already fully cooked by braising?


texts:
The German restaurant where I worked was famous for their 'giant' cream puffs.  The shells are at least 6" in diameter and 4" high.  I know they used commercial convection ovens to bake them, but that is all I know.  Is it the fan that gives them the size?
I tried to bake them in a conventional oven and failed.  Small ones, no real size.
I have seen them in grocery store bakeries in that area so somebody knows how to make these.
Can anyone tell me how to make these huge choux pastry shells?


texts: If a chicken has released a lot of moisture due to freezing, will these cause soup water to flow back in due to pore enlargement?

texts:
If you have slow freezed chicken and noticed a lot of water has come out, you then cook a soup, would the freezing have caused pores to enlarge and will the soup water/marinade move into the areas of the chicken?

Have you ever tried this and what where the results like?

Thanks


texts:
I recently had some spicy chicken teriyaki.  It came with a side of what was just cabbage in some clear liquid.  I've not had luck identifying it online, any idea what it may have been?

It was a bit tangy and sweet, but nicely balanced out the spicy teriyaki.  It wasn't overly drenched in liquid, but there was a fair amount.  Again, I didn't see any other vegetables.  It wasn't creamy at all, like a coleslaw.

The cabbage was still mostly crunchy.


texts: What is the 'best' flour to use for brownies?

texts: Cake, Bread or AP? My goal is a 'chewy', 'moist' brownie. I have always used AP in the past, but am wondering if an alternative flour might improve the final result.


texts:
Completely genuine question
Background
I was just feeding my cat, I was giving her some cat food that had 'duck' on the front and I remembered that I had some of that duck meat when I went to a restaurant and thought it was nice. The cat food looked really tasty so I decided to get out a tablespoon.
My cat was obviously quite disappointed that I had put a spoonful of her cat food into my mouth. I only took one spoonful. I didn't think it was that bad.
Question
Am I going to get really ill?
Can I eat cat food again?
Please don't judge me...


texts:
Whenever I make pumpkin soup I always find it to be way too sour and I end up adding a Tbsp of brown sugar to correct. Are Pumpkins naturally tart, or is there a reason why this is happening? Are there other methods to correct this aside from adding sugar?

My method is to roast the pumpkin and then add to chicken stock with variety of spices (cayenne, salt, pepper, turmeric, cumin, etc.), and add cream or coconut milk to thicken.


texts: Can Soda Lime glass handle hot liquid? (Like tea, soup, etc.)

texts:
Can Soda Lime glass handle storage of hot liquid?

Like tea, soup, hot chocolate, etc.


texts:
I have a small stainless steel pan with a copper bottom. The diameter is around 4in or 10cm, so it is really small. I use it exclusively for tempering or what is known in India as tadka. That is, I heat a couple of spoonfuls of ghee, add the necessary spices (mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, chili peppers, asafœtida, whatever the recipe calls for), then add the tempering to the main dish, usually lentils or a stew.
Since the pan is tiny, my usual method of adding the tempering is just to dunk the entire pan into the larger pan that has the main dish. Then I scoop up some of the main dish with the smaller pan, swirl it around to gather any fat or spices left in the pan, and pour this back into the main dish, repeating the process a couple of times.
The last time I tried this (a couple days ago), I was horrified to notice that the copper bottom of the pan was beginning to develop verdigris. Here is a picture:

I'm obviously concerned about this. I have three questions:

Should I give up the habit of dunking this little pan into the larger pan? Will the verdigris get into the food and make it dangerous to eat?
Is there any way I can get the verdigris off the bottom of the pan?
Assuming there is, what can I do to prevent a recurrence? For example, I usually put this pan in the dishwasher. Should I be washing it by hand instead?

I want to avoid replacing the pan if possible. It is very useful and I don't know where I'd find a similar pan; the pan was gifted to me many years ago by someone who in turn had had it for some time before she gave it to me.


texts: How to tell if baked drumsticks are done?

texts: I have baked my chicken drumsticks for roughly 40 mins at approximately 420 F. I do not have a meat thermometer, so am looking for another way to determine its doneness. I did some research on this, and found that the juice should run clear; however, when I cut open my chicken, the juice that comes out is red.  Does it sound like my chicken is correctly cooked to a safe internal temperature?


texts: Are there any savoury dishes using matcha tea?

texts: I know that you can use matcha powder in a similar way to chocolate in sweet foods but are there any savoury dishes you can make with it?


texts: Advantages of metal vs glass stockpot lids

texts:
I just ordered a new 6 qt stockpot (that I use for soups and stews) and it came with a metal lid.  All the stockpots I owned before had glass lids with a small vent hole to release some steam.

An obvious advantage of glass lids is that you can see the food being cooked and monitor the level of boiling.  Are there any advantages of metal lids?  E.g. do they keep more heat inside if you keep it on vs letting heat out?


texts: How to preserve this alcohol free herbal bitter?

texts:
I have an alcohol free herbal liquid bitter.  The ingredients are:
“Vegetable Glycerin, Purified Water, Astragalus Root, Centaury Aerial Parts, Gentian Root, Ginger Root, Rosemary Leaves, Fennel Seed, Cardamon Seed (210mg).”
I know alcohol based bitters can last for a long time.  After opening this what factors can lead this bitter to go bad and how long can I expect it to last?


texts: I have some golden syrup in a plastic bottle, all looks normal. It has a best before date Feb 2010. Is it still ok to feed to kids on pancake day February 2015??


texts: I want to make individual sized chiffon cakes however most recipes call for a tube pan. Can I expect the same results (light and fluffy) if I divide the batter into mini cake pans?  I could turn the mini cake pan upside down As with instructions for a tube pan if that helps.


texts:
I've tried making this recipe a few times, and the glaze never really sticks to the asparagus.  I feel like there should be a better technique for getting glaze to adhere.  Is there a better technique for glazing asparagus or other smooth vegetables in general?

Would a dip in cornstarch or other binding agent help?


texts: Is bacon fat supposed to congeal at room temperature?

texts: My grandma told me its a good idea to save the bacon drippings in a sealable container to cook with later.  I remember when I used to watch her cook with it, it was always solid.  I have started saving the fat from my bacon, only the bottom of the can is the only part that ever congeals.  The top always seems sort of semi-liquid.  Is that ok?  When cooking with it, what part should I use and what is the difference between solid and merely viscous bacon fat?


texts: UK recipes give the  amount of eggs in a recipe in grams and I would like to know how many eggs I will need fpr 115 grams of eggs. So, what does the average large egg weigh?


texts: Does marinating break down proteins the way brining does?

texts: Brining makes meat tender because the salt (and some sugar) breaks down proteins. Shouldn't a salty/sugary marinade do the same thing?


texts: How do I preserve my mushroom stuffing for freezing?

texts: What do I have to do to preserve a mushroom stuffing with eggs, crab and cheese as ingredients so I can freeze it for use at a later date?


texts: How much experience is needed to work in a restaurant?

texts: I've always thought it'd be cool to work in a restaurant as a chef or own one (though I could be sorely mistaken). I'm speaking of small town, mom and pop kinds of restaurants; the kind you'd see on Food Network or other TV shows. I enjoy cooking quite a bit, but the only experience I have is cooking for myself and random learning (via here or talking with people or reading other things). I'm curious to know how much experience is needed to work as a chef in those types of places and what kind? Is cooking school pretty much mandatory?


texts: How can I check if a watermelon is sweet or not when buying?

texts: I buy watermelon from the market, sometimes they are sweet and sometimes they are not. How can I check if a watermelon is sweet or not?


texts: Could I substitute Anaheim chilies for Guajillo Chilies in a curry paste?

texts:
I am trying to prepare a red curry paste, and the recipe calls for dried Guajillo chilies. I could not find them at any of my local stores, but I did find dried New Mexico and Anaheim chilies (which I've discovered after the fact are probably the same thing).

I read that the Anaheims are a bit less spicy than the Guajillos (500-2500 vs. 2500-5000 Scoville Units). I wanted to mention that I'm already aware of the difference in spiciness, because I am not especially concerned about that aspect of the comparison. The recipe also includes some considerably spicier peppers, so this part shouldn't make much difference.

I am more interested in the flavor. Since I am not familiar with Guajillo chilies, I do not know if their flavor is sufficiently similar to that of the ones I have for me to use them in the recipe.


texts:
I'm cooking steaks in a stainless steel pan. It's never getting hot enough to cook steaks and char them it's charring in a few places then starts to basically boil and lightly brown the meat which tastes bad and looks bad.

I should probably be using a cast iron pan which is thicker that can hold the heat longer. The steaks are about an inch or so thick not very thick. I'd like to get them charred on the outside and medium rare on the inside mainly on the rare side so they are still red, not brownish.

Any advice on a good type of pan for cooking steaks over a gas stove?

Thanks


texts:
I'm trying to learn to fillet and skin fish, and getting conflicting advice.

Most sources say that the boning/filleting knife should be quite sharp. But when an instructor showed me how to skin a trout fillet, the knife wasn't particularly sharp, and the technique seemed akin to scraping the flesh off the skin in one pass. I've even seen some information on-line by a surgeon who got good results with the "blunt dissection" approach, skinning a fillet with the handle of a table spoon. I haven't bought a boning/filleting knife yet, but in experiments my chef's knife (I know, too thick and stiff) tends to cut right through the skin.

I'm coming to the conclusion that a knife for this purpose should be only moderately sharp. (Part of the problem may be standards-- I hone my own knives, and I don't call a knife sharp unless I can shave the hairs off my wrist with it.) Am I on the right track?


texts: Why does stock lose flavor in the freezer?

texts:
When storing chicken stock in the freezer, a lot of sources say that it should store up to 6 month and will lose some of its flavor after that.

What are the lost flavors and what chemical processes are responsible for this loss?

Sources:

How to Store Your Homemade Chicken Stock

Food storage - how long can you keep...

How long can I leave chicken stock in the fridge?

How to freeze chicken broth

How Long Does Chicken Broth Last?

How to freeze stock and other liquids


texts: Is a smoked pork shoulder a suitable substitute for ham hocks?

texts: In reference to a recipe for ham hocks and beans, can I use smoked pork shoulder instead of ham hocks and still get a good result? What will be the difference in end product, if any?


texts:
I'm interested in making my own Thai Peanut sauce. However, every recipe I see online says to use peanut butter.  I like Thai Peanut sauce I have in restaurants, but I  HATE peanut butter.  So when I see a recipe that uses peanut butter (which also has tons of extra crap in it that is less than good for you), I think that the final result can't be good.

How does one make a peanut sauce without peanut butter? Grind peanuts yourself?


texts: Multi-step Programmable Comercial Convection Oven

texts:
I have some Turbofan convection ovens which I use for baking. They have a program mode but it only supports one time and temperature setting. What I really need is to be able to create a program with 3 steps: hot, warm, hot, with tight control of the fan speed, time and temperature of each step.

There seems to be a new version of this oven which has a touchpad for programming up to 5 steps, although it only has a two speed fan, not a variable-speed fan like the old model.

Do you have any experience with the new version of the oven and does the fan speed pulsing feature make up for the lack of variable speed control?

Or, can you recommend another oven which supports: at least a 3 step program; preferably variable speed fan control; is value priced?

Or, have you hooked an arduino up to your manual oven and have plans to share?


texts:
Risotto recipes always call for adding the stock slowly. Why do we do that?

I've read in a couple of places it may help cooking the rice more evenly, or prevent it going stodgy?


texts: So I bought 3 kgs of beef tenderloin, I put it in the freezer for 2 days, I got lazy and didn't cut them up. I figure I will cut them the day after so I let it thaw in the fridge, I store them in a bowl unwrapped, but then the day after I check it's still frozen. I decided to wait for another day, except that I got really lazy and waited till today 4th day in fridge. It's still kind of frozen and I barely smell anything. Should I discard the beef or is it still safe to eat?


texts: How thick should be the sponge for a swiss roll?

texts:
How thick should be the sponge for a swiss roll to roll easily without breaking and hold its shape?

I saw some pictures that look perfect and then some where the sponge looks too thick.

How do I figure out the perfect thickness of the sponge?


texts: I would like a vanilla powder type to substitute for cocoa powder

texts: I do not like chocolate. I have a recipe for chocolate energy bites. What can substitute for cocoa powder?


texts: How can I create the equivalent of a fresh cake yeast from my sourdough culture?

texts: I essentially want to wash away the excess water and already consumed flour after I've fed my culture.  What I usually do is whisk the culture and pour off the excess down to 1 cup.  I then add more flour and water and then store it in a mason jar in my refrigerator until I feel like baking again.  This works, but I've always been curious how the commercial factories create a yeast cake that is sold in some grocery stores or specialty shops.


texts: What some effective techniques to ensure that wild turkey legs, wings, thighs stay moist when cooking them off for soup?


texts: Where is fat and what is this gel in refrigerated fish soup?

texts:
I simmered some mackerel and added some kale.

I wanted to remove the fat so refrigerated overnight.

I didnt see any fat layer existing as you would see with refrigerated chicken or fatty meat but I did see eat some while still hot the before refrigeration.

After refrigeration I didn't see any fat and instead saw the whole liquid had become like a thick gel.

Why wasn't there\should there be a layer of fat like i see with chicken or red meat?
What is this gel?  Is it the collagen from fish bones, the problem is that it was on the stove for 30 minutes and mackerel has little bones so how come there was so much?
i was wondering where all the water had been replaced by gel?  if its collagen does it absorb all the water which is why i cant see a separation of gel and water?


texts: How should I incorporate separated eggs in a cookie recipe without instructions?

texts:
I found a partial (ingredients only) recipe of my Mother's that called for 3 eggs separated for an "Italian Cookies" recipe.  I would love to try it but without any instruction\directions how would I manage this ingredient?
Other ingredients include:

10 Tbsp. butter

1 1/4 c. sugar
beat 2 minutes

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp lemon zest

3 c. flour

bake 350 15-20 minutes.
That's all I have.


texts: Is there a good way to cook a hamburger on a cast iron skillet?

texts:
So I'm trying to find a consistent way of getting good quality, medium-rare burgers without firing up the grill.  The burgers always end up cooked on the outside quicker; the inside is still red (not pink).

I have a large cast iron skillet on an electric stove and usually use beef between 80 and 85%.  Any suggestions?


texts: Any advantage to kneeding down pizza dough 3 times

texts:
I found though experimentation that while my pizza dough recipe said to only knead the pizza dough once then let it rise,
that the dough came out better if I punched it down, kneaded it, then let it rise a second time, like for bread.

Normally I don't have time for this.
I have some spare time, as I got the dough on its first rise around breakfast breakfast.
Punched it down around lunch,
and now it has risen again, and would have time to rise again. (Assuming the yeast still functions.)
Or would this be bad,
should I just leave it in my car (where it has been rising) til I prep it for dinner?
Maybe I should put in into the fridge?


texts: Heating part baked baguettes in lid-covered pyrex

texts:
Short question (TL;DR)
Is it possible to heat part baked baguettes (or part baked bread in general) in the oven, but keeping it inside a pyrex container with a lid? If yes, is there any change in baking time? (without the lid it would be 8-10 minutes) Would the baguette taste differently or would it be less crispy if baked like this?
I provide details and also motivation below (just to anticipate questions like "why don't you bake it normally?").
Details and motivation
Because of hygienic and health reasons I would prefer to put only containers with a lid in the oven, as the previous flatmates misused it and now even after professional cleaning there are still traces of potentially toxic black dust and I don't want it to fly over my food when heating it.
But regarding part baked baguettes, there is no information on the web about whether it is possible to bake them in a lid-covered pyrex container. I also looked for more general information about baking bread in pyrex, but the existing recipes usually say to use a lid for some time and then to remove the lid and put back bread in the oven for some other time, which would not work for me.
What a part baked baguette is
@Max A part baked baguette, also known as bake-at-home baguette, is a baguette which is already partially baked but still needs further 8-10 minutes baking at home in order to taste like freshly-baked bread. It is usually very long-lasting if its package is not opened (it may last for months) and it does not need to be refrigerated.
This is an example of part baked baguettes.


texts: Why is my first polenta not easy to cut?

texts:
I've cooked my first polenta.

it was too dampish, without shape, but also not easily sectile: it couldnt be easily cut.

What should I do better next time?


texts: Is there any way to sous-vide without a machine

texts:
I live in an apartment and have limited space to store kitchen gadgets. I don't really like the idea of having a machine that is dedicated to one specific task.

I particularly want to get into using sous-vide as a cooking technique, but I don't really want to buy a machine specifically for this task.

Is there any way to get a similar cooking method? I know that there probably isn't a way to get the exact temperatures like you get with a sous-vide machine, but I'm looking for some kind of alternative.


texts: Correct temperature and technique for frying in cast iron

texts:
I recently bought a cast-iron grill pan, in hopes to recreate the great taste of grilled salmon steaks I ate recently at a restaurant.

Before trying it, I had received advice that I should let the salmon stay in the pan until it was released from the pan by itself, instead of trying to turn it early. Then, according to the advice, it wouldn’t stick.

First attempt went bad. The fish stuck to the pan, I barely managed to turn it, in gazillion pieces. The opposite side of the steaks, after turning it, didn’t stick at all. Obviously, this might be because of all the extra fat in the pan after frying the first side.

By salmon steaks I mean what you see in the first picture here, that is, the flesh and not the skin had direct contact with the pan:

https://www.chabad.org/recipes/recipe_cdo/aid/4520/jewish/Salmon-Steaks.htm

Next time I tried pork cutlets (from the neck). In the meantime, I had found more advice, namely that I shouldn’t put the food into the pan before it was hot, but I didn’t know how hot it had to be.

This time, it worked exactly as the first advice had predicted: At first, the cutlets stuck immediately to the pan, in a tiny fraction of a second, like it had been glued with superglue. Then, when the time came to turn it, it wasn’t even the least bit stuck! It was completely loose, I could have easily turned it with one finger, without any residue, if it hadn’t been hot. Just like non-stick. But this time it was the other way around, after turning them, they stuck and when they were past done, they were still partly stuck. Despite way more fat in the pan, from frying the first side.

So, I decided to season the skillet. For three days I seasoned it according to the best advice I could find. Surface now dark, smooth and shiny.

So, I tried again with trout steaks this time. I used exactly the same oiling technique and amount as with the pork cutlets, and tried to replicate the frying technique w.r.t. heat and when to put it in the pan. This time it was glued to the pan when the time came to turn it.

So, this is not a question about seasoning, because there’s tons of advice about that on the internet. But the initial success with the pork cutlets was in a completely new unseasoned pan.

The question is:

What is the correct frying technique, as in, how do I know how hot it should be when I put in the food, does it matter w.r.t. sticking, basically, what are the details to achieve that effect that the food suddenly becomes released from the pan, that I had with the pork cutlets?

Finally, could it be a good idea to get one of the IR-thermometers, that measure the temp of the pan without touching it, to achieve the same level of control as with an oven?


texts:
The name pretty much says it all.

This cake consists of a brownie batter, on which is sprinkled brown sugar and coco. Then hot water is poured slowly on it and baked.

For the brownie:

3/4 c flour
2/3 c sugar
1/4 c coco powder
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c water (or milk)
3 tbs oil

Sprinkle on top:

2/3 c brown sugar
1/4 c coco powder

Pour slowly on top:

1 3/4 c hot water

Bake at 350f for 30 min.

Somehow this separates into a cake/brownie like upper layer and a custard/sauce layer below.

How does this work?

What is the science behind Magic Cake?
This question is similar but seems to not be the same thing and work differently according to the answers suggested there, as none of the reasons would apply here.


texts: Is it safe to eat moldy cheese if you slice off the edges?

texts:
Whenever my cheese gets too old and has a bit of blue/white mold on the side, I'm not sure whether I should throw it completely out or not. Is it safe to eat if I cut off the edge? Should I cut a bit off of all the sides just to be safe?

I'm particularly interested in the answer for cheddar cheese, but answers about other cheese are welcome.


texts: Can bitter almonds(or other nuts containing amygdalin) be made edible?

texts:
I am interested because there seems to be information scattered here and there suggesting this, but offering no such instructions on just how it can be done.  What I am curious of is not now to use amygdalin-containing nuts as a minor ingredient(such as to add flavor or scent), but if they can actually be eaten as food.

So far, I have read the following:

Amygdalin, when exposed to water, releases hydrogen cyanide.
Exposure to heat denatures either amygdalin or enzymes in the nut that allow it to hydrolyze.

If those things are true, wouldn't there be any information on making bitter almonds safe to eat?  I can find nobody describing(better yet illustrating) a process to leach the almonds, yet it seems hypothetically possible.


texts: How to Get a Nice, Round Home-made Corn Tortilla

texts:
My corn tortillas have been turning out great in taste but the shape is not so good.  I have a press that works OK, but I think it may be part of the problem.  The tortillas always have jagged edges, and are not perfectly round.  And I can't get them them to the size I want at the thickness I want.

When I try more masa mix, they turn out too thick, and when I use less masa mix, the edges split and they look like stars...

I once saw a gal at a Mexican restaurant making tortillas on a big flat grill.  She got the mix, rolled in her hands, pressed them out and they were perfectly round and very tasty...  I'm not so focused here on the taste because mine taste good, but the shape...

Still new to making tortillas and working with masa so any help would be great!


texts: How much oil should you use when stir frying a single portion?

texts:
I stir fry several times a week. When I do I do each portion seperately, made to order.

How much oil should I use? How do I figure out how much oil to use for each portion since some are bigger than others, i.e. I stir fry much less for a portion for my 5 year old daugher.


texts:
From what I understand, a "simmer" is when you start getting small air bubbles floating up, but only one air bubble breaks through the liquid's surface every 2 seconds.

So then what is a "lively simmer" as I've seen in many recipes?


texts: Could you tell me what is WINGY baking tray? It is used for baking pastry. The instruction reads: wingy/baton tray: 10/12 pieces.


texts:
Is condensed milk the same as sweetened condensed milk?

I have a fudge recipe that calls for condensed milk and I can not find strictly condensed milk, only sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk.


texts: Is "medium white sauce" a usefully distinct term?

texts:
I am familiar with a basic white sauce, or béchamel, and know how to make it. I recently came across a recipe (circa 1950's) that calls for 1 cup medium white sauce.

Is this the same as a béchamel? (What other white sauces [light/heavy? thin/thick? color?] was medium distinguishing from?) If not, do I need to adjust the "standard" white sauce recipe in some way to make it thinner or thicker?


texts: How can I make this very low hydration bread more home baker friendly?

texts:
The recipe is something like that:

400g of flour
180g of water
2g of yeast
7g of salt

Part of the flour and water can be used to prepare a biga or a poolish, let's ignore that to keep it simple.

Kneading everything for 8-10 minutes, which is not too much for this low hydration (45%) will result in a dough that will not pass any gluten test. To develop the gluten, the only way is to roll it down, bend it and roll it down again. For about 20 minutes. Then it rests only for 1h and it's baked.

Kneading could be done in a bread machine; what I really want to do is to develop the gluten in a more efficient way. With so little water, more time will not help as with the kneadless bread recipe. How can this

By the way, this bread is very common in the center of Spain, where is known as pan blanco or pan candeal and it's famous for it's dense crumb.


texts: How to prepare smaller amount of coffee than nominal in Moka pot

texts: I have a 6 cup Moka pot (about 250-300 ml) but I want to prepare a single cup of coffee just for myself. How should I reduce its load - reduce amount of coffee beans and amount of water or reduce only coffee amount? Will this reduction affect taste of prepared coffee?


texts: What is the US equivalent of Golden Syrup (UK)?

texts: Having recently moved from UK to US, when making honeycomb, what should I use as a replacement for Golden Syrup?


texts: What fruits, vegetables, raw meats, or spices are naturally blue?

texts:
So, here's an odd question.

A few years ago, my home ed. teacher told us that she would not eat anything that is colored blue. it's unnatural.

Thinking on this, I confronted her about blueberries. She argued that blueberries are purple. Okay.

What vegetables, fruits, meats, or spices are naturally blue (either before or after preparation)?

(For all intents and purposes, yes, blueberries are blue)


texts: What is the difference between baking bread in a loaf pan made of stoneware vs metal vs iron cast?

texts: Is there a significant difference between using a loaf pan made of this materials?


texts:
I have some polenta in the cupboard that I can only assume is a family heirloom.  The best before date has long since perished but the contents look okay.

Does polenta ever stop tasting of polenta?


texts: What type of salt for sourdough bread baking?

texts:
I have a sourdough bread recipe that calls for either Real Salt or unrefined salt. I do not have either of these and I’m not sure if these salts are fine or coarse. I have Himalayan pink salt coarse for grinding, coarse kosher salt & Morton’s iodized salt.
Are any of these comparable?


texts: How to stop mushrooms from discoloring everything?

texts:
A few times in the past week, I've cut up a few mushrooms (I'm pretty sure they're button) and sauteed or fried them with a few other ingredients for dinner. I absolutely love the taste and the texture, but they seem to give a dull grey tint to anything in the pan with them. This was most obvious when I cooked them with tofu and eggs.

How can I stop this from happening? I've heard that acids can stop discoloration, but I mostly heard that in the context of oxidation of fruits. I also thought of sauteing the mushrooms separately and combining everything at the end, but I'd like to avoid additional cooking time and dishes used.

Is there anything that I can do to stop this discoloration?


texts: Are trace amounts of lead in seasoned bakeware safe?

texts:
I want to order a custom-cut steel plate to use like baking steel in the oven, and I read that in common raw steels the trace amount of lead can get up to 0.36%.

If I season the steel like I would cast iron, and only use it to make pizza and bread on it, could that trace amount of lead be harmful?

Edit: I just found out that 0.35% is the allowed amount of added lead to machinable steels. The maximum amount found in common raw steels is limited to 0.1%, and in practice probably a lot lower than that.


texts: How to fry ground beef so it is well-browned

texts:
I have been using a propane torch to brown up the ground beef at the end of frying it on the pan, but there must be better way that does not involve the torch; can it be done? Here's what I currently do (before utilizing the torch):

Heat pan on high, until sizzling hot.
Lower heat to medium-high and add fat (duck fat)
Lay down the ground beef
Begin breaking it down to small pieces
Stir constantly as I break it down
Stop when no pink pieces remains

Note that I stir constantly, and leave no large pieces on the pan.

At the end the beef is still gray, and not the dark brown color I desire; which is why I use the torch to finish it up.


texts:
I am thinking of making a rice, salmon, and (chili) bean burrito, but I don't have any avocados.

After looking up some substitutes, I was thinking about peanut butter...but I am a little hesitant.

Has anyone tried to capture the texture of an avocado before?


texts: How to fix ghee which partly turned white and smells rancidly?

texts:
A friend of mine has mistakenly stored his ghee in a bowl which was not quite hermetic hence exposed to oxygen and the sun light. The result is that the ghee turned white and is rancid. See the picture:

Is there any method of fixing it? Or should I just throw it out? Thanks


texts: Which kind of cream do I use for creme brulee?

texts:
I'm following this recipe to make cream brulee: http://www.masterchef.com.au/creme-brulee.htm

I'm a little confused over the correct type of cream to use. They list "thickened cream" but because this mixure will be heated, should I be using "cooking thickened cream", and is it possible to use a light version of the cream, or will this alter the cooking process?


texts:
I've had a bottle of Muscat de Rivesaltes on the shelf for a while but opened it last night for cooking. How should I store the remainder, as I'll be using it rather slowly?

It's a very lightly fortified wine, only 15.5%. I'd keep sherry (18%) tightly stoppered and on the shelf for weeks, but  would freeze a strong red if it wasn't going to be used in a few days.

Drinking it up isn't an option as I'm not much of a drinker, especially alone. So should I treat it like a stronger fortified wine, or like normal wine?


texts: What type of fish is best suited for baking?

texts:
I have very little experience in cooking fish (of any type, using any method). So I was wondering, what type of fish is suited for baking?

For reference, recently came across this recipe: http://www.dinnerintenminutes.com/easy-dinners/baked-fish/ which looks nice and simple. However the recipe simply says "fish fillets - no bones".

Thanks!

ps. the last time I tried baking fish, it turned out to be horrible - tougher then over-done steak!


texts:
So today I went to a flea market and found a copper pan with a stainless steel lining. I cleaned it thoroughly  and the first thing I wanted to try is to caramellize sugar (because of the lack of fryable vegetables and meat in my fridge). While heating the empty pan it made some scary knocking noises as if I would take a spoon and tap the pan. Furthermore I saw steam escaping from somewhere at the pan. I thought this steam comes from the handle or somewhere else where I didn't dry the pan thoroughly enough.

Later on I searched for English, German, and Italian reviews and found a one and only bad review in German of a similar pan on Amazon. It basically says that water can be trapped between the copper and the steel and thus causes bulges and in the worst case an explosion. This review doesn't mention any noises.

Is the ingress of moisture between the copper layer and steel layer a thing? Was this pan a bad bargain? And how can I distinguish bad pans from good pans except by looking for reviews in the internet? Are there characteristics that I can look for (e.g. how the edge looks like where the copper layer and steel layer end)?


texts: I've made a bechamel sauce and added sherry to it, but too much: How can I fix it?

texts: I've made a bechamel sauce and added sherry to it, herbs, etc; the sherry is too overpowering. How can I correct that?


texts:
What cut of goat is appropriate for stews? My options are: leg, rack, shank, short loin and shoulder.  Please rank them if you can.

In the past, I've used neck pieces and the bones seemed to be an important part of the flavor.  This time, I don't have that the option of neck pieces but I would like to make the best choice of my available options.


texts: I'm working on a new recipe and want to make a spiced rum reduction without losing the alcohol. Don't just want it thicker or I'd use xanthum gum I want less liquid with stronger flavor and the alcohol content to still be as high as possible. Thought about reducing it in a covered pot at extremely low temp to condensate the alcohol back into it but not sure how it would work out because the water would condensate back into it as well. Any thoughts I'm racking my brain here lol.


texts: Adding Instant Yeast to dry bread mix for later use

texts:
I am considering selling my bread mixes online to serve customers outside of my bakery's region.

I will be vacuum packing the flour mix and sending them via post but to remove an extra step for our clients, I would like to know if there is any harm in adding the instant yeast amount to the flour mix itself. I don't have experience with such a scenario and am curious to know what the consensus is on this.

Thank you,
Chris


texts: How to differentiate sea prawns from farmed ones?

texts: Is there a way to differentiate sea prawns from farmed ones based on appearance?  Can we differentiate it based on Color of prawn, structure etc?


texts: Why does industrially produced tagliatelle come in nests?

texts:
I can buy industrially produced tagliatelle only in nests¹.
Why is it delivered in this form?

Some considerations I made myself or found in a dissatisfying Reddit on the subject are:

It might be somehow possible to exploit or preserve this form during preparation, yet I failed to do this.
A package of nest tagliatelle has more than six times the volume than a package of the same amount of spaghetti, so I doubt that it’s logistically advantageous.
Self-made pasta may be easier to produce this way, as it is easier to dry them, but I doubt that this translates to industrial scales. Also, if it did, why not deliver spaghetti in nests?
The price is the same as for other pasta of comparable quality, thus I doubt it’s a marketing gag.
It may help measuring the pasta, but then people are not that stupid.

¹ Currently this is the only pasta available at all, because it’s not very famous with hoarders, but that’s another story.


texts: Advantages of cooking vegetables before or after freezing them

texts:
I'm putting all vegetables in the same bag in the hopes that a general rule of thumb can answer many individual vegetable questions, but if at the end it depends on the vegetable, please answer what criterion you would use to decide wich order to use.

Suppose I have vegetables such as pumpkin, and I want to eat it in a month, suppose it will get bad if unfrozen. I want to eat cooked pumpkin someday. Should i cook today and freeze or freeze now and cook someday?

I want to know if cooking a vegetable before freezing it provides advantages or differences with respect to the other order, from a food preservation and vegetable eating quality standpoint, or from a flavor viewpoint. (See this accepted answer's cited block) for a example of cooking before freezing.


texts: Make bread with flour different from the starter

texts:
I have been able to cultivate a strong sourdough starter with whole wheat flour and  semolina flour.

Now I want to make a bread with all purpose flour, show should I proceed ?

Get this already active started and make my bread or feed it with flour until it gets used to ?


texts: How can I increase the longevity of my bananas?

texts: I have some bananas that I just bought at Trader Joe's.  They're nice, fresh, yellow, and full of general banana-ness.  But if I take more than a week or so to eat them all, they start to get brown and less appetizing.  Is there a way I can increase the shelf life of my bananas by a few days or so?


texts: How do you make dried blueberries?  Can I use an oven?  Is there a proper technique or do I just bake them on low for a few hours?


texts: Why stir sourdough only with wooden spoons?

texts:
When reading about sourdough (in german texts at least), they almost always say to stir it with a wooden spoon.

Why do they do that? Does metal or plastic somehow interfere with the sourdough?


texts: How to remove unwanted aftertaste from food

texts:
So I've just finished making about a liter of hot chocolate (lets ignore why for a minute here), and I've stored it in my refrigerator, inside a plastic bottle that was once used to store orange juice. Although I cleaned and rinsed the bottle as well as I could before using it, the hot chocolate has taken on an orange-y aftertaste. It's by no means inedible, but unwelcome nonetheless.

Is there any way to remove/mask the flavor? I'd hate to have to throw all this out.


texts:
If an oven is described as "fast", what does that mean?

I have always assumed it simply means a hotter oven, where the temperature on the dial is lower than the temperature inside the oven.

But a fan-forced oven also cooks faster than a conventional oven, does that count?

What exactly is the definition of a fast oven?


texts: Grilling burgers: flip once, or keep flipping?

texts:
When grilling burgers I usually flip several times, but have recently been advised to cook forever on once side, flip once, cook and be done.

Is that the best way to do it?

How do you know when a burger is ready to flip?


texts:
Frying eggplant is somewhat tricky, as it absorbs oil like a sponge. I read some tricks like brushing egg white or flour on the eggplant slices before frying. None of these tricks are good enough to avoid oil soaking into the eggplant body.

Is there any practical way to fry eggplant using minimal oil?


texts: Do I really need pastry flour in my molasses cookie recipe?

texts:
I have a recipe for molasses cookies that calls for 3 parts regular flour to 1 part pastry flour for the flour component. It mentions that you can use whole wheat flour instead of pastry flour if necessary.

Would pastry flour be better? What purpose does it serve?


texts: Are semi-frozen meat and vegetables safe to cook?

texts:
My refrigerator maintains a temperature between 0-5 degrees C. However, I quite often find that carrots, mushrooms etc. stored in the salad drawer are either coated in ice, or semi-frozen. Today I found some chicken that had been stored on the bottom shelf semi-frozen and quire hard, although sliceable with a knife.

Is it safe to cook with these items?


texts: How do I make a "baking powder" substitute in a pinch?

texts:
Every once in while we run out of "Baking powder".

What would be a good recipe for a substitute that you have used that works well?


texts: I came across this page (How to peel a mango) while surfing and I found it very interesting. What kind of methods and knives/kitchen gadgets do you use to peel fruits? Are there different tools to peel delicate and heavy skinned ones? According to the answers, I'm planning to buy suggested tools/knives to peel fruits.


texts: Pastry not "sticking" to beef Wellington

texts:
I've cooked a Wellington a couple of times and whilst I've been pleased with the overall outcome on each occasion the pastry comes away when serving. This is purely for aesthetic reasons.

I use a 1kg fillet, seared, then rolled in to a sausage on a bed of prosciutto ham and a mushroom duxelle with some chicken liver pate mixed in.

I chill this before wrapping in egg washed puff pastry and cooking for about 40 minutes. This has resulted in rare beef, a good crisp pastry that holds its form until cutting it for serving.

It wasn't too wet - it just seems the pastry doesn't want to affix itself to the contents.

Any ideas on how to improve this?

I adapted my recipe from this one http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2538/beef-wellington


texts: No Lava in my Pressure Cooked Lava Cake!

texts: I tried a youtube recipe for making lava cake in a pressure cooker. It really turned out very good except there was no lava, just cake. I think it was because I over cooked it. I'm not really sure. I preheated the water and then proceeded to pressure cook. I only pressure cooked for 5 minutes because it took 5-10 minutes to build the pressure.


texts: I need to know how long to cook potatoes at 350*F

texts: So the directions say to cook at 400* F. I need to cook them at 350*F, how long should they be cooked for?


texts: Making large batches of syrups and sauces without reducing the majority of what I originally started with?

texts:
I've recently come across the recipe to make one of my favorite glazes, "Jack Daniels Glaze" from T.G.I. Fridays and am close to perfecting it. The only issue I'm currently facing is that in order to get it to the thick consistency I want, I have to reduce down it to 1/4 of what I started with. For example, I started with 8 cups of water and end up with 2 with my heat on medium high for about an hour. I've tried this on something as simple as a run of the mil pot to my higher end copper core All-Clad sauce pan both yielding the same results. What's the key to making large batches of my sauce? Do I need even more water? Note that I've tried high and low heat. Here are my ingredients:

8 cups water
1 cup teriyaki sauce
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 cups of brown sugar
1 lemon
1/4 of a yellow onion
1/4 cup Jack Daniels Whiskey
2 cloves of roasted garlic
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablesppon of crushed pineapple

Original Recipe: https://hostthetoast.com/jack-daniels-burgers-t-g-i-fridays-copycat-recipe/


texts: What makes the Pillsbury canned biscuits puff up?

texts: What is it in canned biscuits that makes them puff up immediately upon opening the can yet stops them from raising further? What kind of food voodoo is at work here? Please explain the food science behind this and what additives cause this effect in the "food".


texts:
In the Big Man's Blog, there's a recipe for Banana Bread Muffins, which I'd love to make. The problem is the very first item below, since I have no oven. I have a microwave and an induction stove (and can obtain an insertion for the pot for steam cooking). No heated oven, though, regrettably.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line up muffin liners and grease lightly.
In a large mixing bowl, add all the ingredients and mix until fully incorporated.
Pour batter into muffin liners until close to the top.
Top with extra chocolate chunks and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden on top.

Is there a way to cheat around this problem using the available equipment? I've read blogs showing how some people describe black magic work-arounds but I'm not sure if they actually made it and also if perhaps the tricks work for their cakes and not in a general case.


texts: Will agar filtration remove proteases from fruits such as fig, ginger root, guava, kiwi fruit, mango, papaya or pineapple?

texts: I'd like to make a fresh fig gelatin, but of course the proteases in fig make this difficult.  If I make an agar clarification of the fresh fig puree, will the proteases be removed?


texts:
I have a bottle of store bought, commercially produced kefir that seems to have undergone a second fermentation in my fridge. It's normally tart and thick, but it's changed to really tart and even thicker, and has a slight fizziness. I've never seen this happen before; normally this stuff remains unchanged in the bottle for months.
What could have happened and is this safe to eat?


texts:
Regarding storage of sous vide chicken breasts. Should I store the cooked chicken with its juices (olive oil and chicken juices), or should I remove the breasts from the zip bag, wrap it in film, and store it that way?

Storage is refrigeration.


texts: Why non-flavored variant is usually vanilla?

texts: Usually the "flavorless" version of various desserts or drinks is in fact vanilla flavored -- why not leaving the product just as it is, especially when the "flavoured" versions usually don't contain vanilla? Any why vanilla, not anything else?


texts: What is a "fruit protector" as a recipe ingredient?

texts:
On reading a U. S. book about making one's own cordials, I came across
'1 tablespoon fruit protector' listed in the ingredients of a recipe.

Do you know what fruit protector is called in Britain?


texts: Can I rescue a bread preferment with unmixed flour lumps?

texts:
I started a plain 65% flour+water+poolish, mixed it up and left it to sit for a few hours before kneading. When I came back, I discovered I hadn't stirred all the way to the bottom of the bowl. Stirring it in after the fact, I now have horrible lurking lumps of flour that hardened into damp cement. They flatten and stretch when I squeeze them, but still don't incorporate evenly.

Is there a way to force them to incorporate, or do I chuck this 1kg of flour and start over?

Details:

400g 50/50 bread flour poolish from my ongoing starter
800g bread flour
450g water


texts: How to convert slow cooker recipes to pressure cooker with different cooking times?

texts:
Google results for this question either don't answer the question at all or don't address what happens when multiple ingredients have different pressure cooking times. I'm specifically looking to convert this recipe:

This site says if it takes 8 hours in the slow cooker, it'd take 1 hour in the pressure cooker. Okay, but the recipe involves parsnip and turnip, which my pressure cooker manual says to cook for 1-2 and 3-5 minutes, respectively. I have a 4 quart Presto pressure cooker that goes up to 15 psi which I believe is the standard pressure.

Is there a better conversion rule than 8 hour -> 1 hour (assuming 15
psi)? In my experience, at 15 psi, stew beef would fall apart after
only 30'.
What do I do about the different cooking times? Am I supposed to
cook the meat by itself for 1 hour, quick-release the pressure under
cold running water, add the turnips, bring the cooker back to
pressure, quick-release again, add the parsnips, and finally bring
the cooker back to pressure again?


texts: Substituting for Madeira wine in a mushroom stuffed with sausage recipe

texts: The recipe calls for Madeira but I am thinking about using another wine.  My choices are:  Pernod, Calvados, pinneau du Terrier or dry sherry.  What does anyone recommend on this subject?


texts:
i made marshmellows, came out very well. i cut it and rolled in icing sugar, for a while i was good, but then it stated to absorb the icing sugar and marshmellows are now wet, b ut still in its shape. Can anybody give me a solution to clean, dry texture.
Thanks,
Jubi..


texts: Can I use amaranth flour or another grain flour as a substitute for white flour in tortillas?

texts: I am trying to make a healthier tortilla, which I have always made with all-purpose white flour.  Is there another grain flour I can use that will produce a tastier and healthier tortilla, and still give me a tender tortilla?


texts:
Is it possible to remove sugar from condensed milk?
I got by accident instead of evaporated milk.


texts: Today I cut open a garlic bulb only to discover that the core was mostly black powder. What on earth was that? I've never seen it before in my life. From the outside the bulb seemed to be fine. It wasn't obviously rotten or dark or anything like that.


texts: Substitute for Nestle Semisweet Chocolate Chips in Australia?

texts: I am living in Australia and having a hard time finding a good substitute for Nestle semisweet chocolate chips. What should I look for in a good quality semi-sweet chocolate chip in Australia and where can I find them?


texts: How can I get my Starbucks coffee to taste like the Starbucks store?

texts: I use Starbucks coffee they sell in bags. I have used both whole beans and ground. I've bought bags from the grocery, bags from the actual Starbucks store. I've tried many different brewers. But it never tastes quite the same. Does anyone know how to emulate their brewing technique?


texts: Why is a tablespoon defined as 20mL in Australia?

texts:
In Australia, a tablespoon is defined as 20mL whereas it is 15mL in nearly all other countries.

I'm interested to know where this comes from, and also what other Australian people do about this because the shops here seem to favour the 15mL variety which isn't a whole lot of use for local recipes.


texts: Reduce the hot taste in a Cambodian curry

texts: I made a Cambodian curry, but it was too hot! They say dairy is good for cooling hot curries, but this one I made has coconut milk in it. Would it be ok to put cream in it? If so, single or double??


texts: Can you identify these chiles on sale in Serbia and Macedonia?

texts:
In the market in Niš, Serbia yesterday there were the most beautiful capsicums (bell peppers, red peppers) and chiles on display that I've ever seen.

But also on sale were these "ugly" ones that I first thought were some kind of root vegetable due to their characteristic dull finish. Note also the characteristic "etched" concentric rings going around them:

My Serbian host has little English and after much effort and phone calls was proud to tell me they are called "hot chille peppers", but hopefully the culinary experts here can find a much more specific name or description.

I don't mind if the only names you can find are in Serbian or some other language, but I am interested to know why they look so different to the shiny chiles and how they are put to use in this part of the world, especially uses which differ to the more familiar looking varieties.


texts:
Since dal is simply dried, split pulses I was wondering: how are the pulses split?

Is it that when they are dried they become easy to split, is the dal "cut" in a certain way, or is there some other technique that is used to separate dal into perfect halves?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How do I convert between the various measurements?

How to convert a cup to SI units? In otherwords, how many liters (or deciliters) one cup is?


texts: Thermal Properties of Seasoned vs Anodized Aluminum?

texts:
I recently made an Aluminum baking "Steel" for baking pizza. The entire point of Aluminum is that it is orders of magnitude more thermally conductive than steel and (relative to its weight) has a higher thermal capacity; While not sharing the same sort of cost as copper.
But one thing I have never heard mentioned is the thermal properties of adding an anodized/oxidized layer or a seasoned layer. Is their any research or scientific theory on what thermal peripheries a layer of seasoning adds to an aluminum cooking surface vs just lettings the surface oxidize/get professionally anodized?


texts: I have some agar agar powder to make a mixed berry gel using some berry coulee that I made. Lets say I want to make one cup of coulee to turn it to a gel, how much agar agar powder should I use. Keep in mind I don't want to turn it into a gelatin, just a gel so that it will still be liquid but very thick.


texts: Cooking time adjustment for large quantities of stew

texts:
First off a little backgound: I am a member of a cooking club in my local village center. We have a reasonably well fitted kitchen, but the logistics of cooking in it for 20 people are always a bit tricky. We start at 17:30 and our menus always consist of an amuse, 2 starters, a main and a dessert. The aim is to serve the main between 21:00 and 21:30.

For this question, please assume that the oven is always taken for a different dish, so the stew has to be prepared from start to finish in a large pan.

We have often found that we fail to get stews cooked in time for serving. I am aware of the following factors that will increase the total time from start of prep to serving:

It takes a long time to prepare and brown 20 portions of meat before adding it to the stewing liquid
It takes longer for the stewing liquid to get to simmering temperature because of the higher volume

Even when taking these factors into account, there seems to be a sizeable difference between the cooking times we are used to when cooking 4 to 6 portions and the time it takes for the big pan for 20 portions.

We have a theory that this might be due to a temperature gradient between the bottom and top of the pan, but I don't know if this makes any sense.

Can anyone come up with something resembling a formula to adjust our cooking times in this situation? It might help us decide which dishes are (not) feasible to cook in the available time.


texts: While making pepper oil with dry crushed red pepper, do I need to sterilize the jars to store for up to 6 months?

texts:
I am planning to make a large quantity of oil cooked with dry crushed red pepper.  I fry the oil on low heat with the dry crushed red pepper for awhile and then remove it.

I plan to distribute it to friends as a wedding favor.

I don't have any experience with canning.  Is there a risk for botulism if I just throw it in a jar?  Or will I need to fully sterilize the jars?


texts: Are there any good ways to chop fresh cranberries? It tends to end up a bit tedious for me, not catching too many at a time with the knife, and chasing after the ones that roll away. (And I don't have any machines that'd do this for me.)


texts:
I have become a fan of Alton Brown and Rick Bayless, both have shows on television that are immensely educational and entertaining, are there any other shows like Good Eats and Mexico - One Plate at a Time with people like them anywhere? I just can not get enough, I just have this feeling that there is something else that I have not discovered so I am asking here. Even something on the web would do.

Alton Brown on Good Eats usually presents graphical descriptions of the science behind cooking in a clear concise way. I particularly like the theatrical interludes, they are quite entertaining, it is indeed a fun way to learn. It is hard to sum up this show here so see this Food Network link for more information.

Here is an episode of him explaining Coq Au Vin, look at the visual aid on wine.

Rick Bayless quite often ventures out to the market place picking food products asking questions and explaining something about the products he works with, I like when chefs go outside the kitchen and give interesting information about some key food items they use. Sometimes you will see him in another chef's kitchen, usually Mexican, asking questions and getting informative answers, I like learning about food preparation in various places around the world I like mexican food so i take a liking to Rick's show.
it is just another fun way to learn. For more about Rick and his show see here.


texts: Reducing dried chestnuts to size of corn kernel

texts: We had a great Chestnut crop this year and would like to make Chestnut flour.  I dried about 4 Mason Jars of nuts in a dehydrator.  Before I use our Nutrimill, we need to reduce (smash is more like it) the nut (about the size of your thumb)to something no larger than a kernel of corn, so it an pass into the grist wheels.  Besides a big hammer, does anyone have suggestions on accomplishing this?


texts: I ran out of flour halfway through my recipe. Can I add more after refrigeration?

texts:
I started out making shortbread using a 1, 2, 3 recipe method:

one cup icing sugar
two cups butter
4 cups flour

Halfway through I realised I'm going to make just about 3 cups of flour. I continued, but the dough seems too soft and buttery. I refrigerated it.

Can I add another cup of flour tomorrow?


texts: What is the benefit of a tinfoil packet?

texts: I see a lot of recipes for tinfoil packet meals: various vegetables or meats and aromatics wrapped in tinfoil and baked/roasted.  What is the benefit of roasting using a tinfoil packet compared to just roasting in a normal roasting pan?


texts: What are the differences in bleached/unbleached flour for baking?

texts: I've heard various rumors suggesting that using unbleached [wheat] flour is better than bleached [wheat] flour when baking (cakes, squares, cookies...).  Is this true? If so, why?


texts:
So, there is this famous Turkish dish called menemen. It does not look very appetizing:

It is prepared using scrambled eggs, tomatoes, green pepper, onion and cheese. Here is a detailed recipe.

There are some variations which don't use scrambled eggs, but sunny side up eggs, which might be a nice solution. However, the original dish is with scrambled eggs and I don't want to alter the recipe.

Are there any ways to prepare menemen and not make it look like vomit?


texts: How can I move from subscription boxes to recipes successfully?

texts: As a beginner baker, I find services where they deliver a box of pre-portioned ingredients with instructions how to bake a cake very useful (and fun!). However, I find that I get kind of lost when I have to bake a cake on my own. I just assume that is due to my beginner skills (or lack of). What techniques should I use when trying to bake a cake from a recipe rather than a pre-portioned box of ingredients?


texts: I really want to make the SW coke gammon in the slow cooker, but I'm going to be out of the house for around 6 hours is it safe to leave it unattended?


texts: What's the best way to store unused sushi rice?

texts: Let's say, I only want to make 1 sushi roll right now.  Is there a good way to store the rest of the rice for tomorrow's rolls?  And what about storing the nori?


texts: What does "buttermilk" mean in an American pancake recipe?

texts:
I want to experiment making American style pancakes (I usually make Austrian style unleavened palatschinken). The recipe I found says "buttermilk", but I remember reading somewhere that the Americans sometimes misuse the word for milk thickened by fermentation. What should I use for the recipe, real buttermilk or fermented whole milk?

And if you have ever shopped in a German supermarket, do you know which product would come the closest to what the recipe author meant? I have the choice between buttermilch, sauermilch, dickmilch and kefir. Currently leaning towards sauermilch (it isn't really very sour, tastes actually less sour than yogurt).

Note I am not asking for substitutions trying to approximate acidity by curdling milk with different acids available in the kitchen. I know of this method and don't intend to use it. This question is asking which existing milk product is closest to the one used in the original recipe.


texts: There's a semi-local creamery that makes the loveliest Brie I've ever had. It's priced quite reasonably but the shipping costs more than the cheese itself, so it's a little impractical. I bought three rounds a while ago, but by the time I made it through the first two, the third had gone mouldy. Is there a way to store Brie over an extended period of time? I'd love to get a half-dozen rounds and portion them out over time.


texts: I have tried lining mini cheesecake pan (with removable bottoms)in parchment paper, as I do with larger cheesecakes. The parchment paper bends in the mini version. Can I use food-grade acetate in place of the parchment?


texts: I was making this tomato bisque and the recipe called for 1 cup sugar so I thought I added 1 cup of sugar. But what I added was 1 cup of truvia, an artificial sweetener so my 1 cup of sugar is really 2 cups of sugar. I have added 3 cans more of diced tomatoes plus some dill, even a can of tomato sauce. There is 1 quart of half and half and 1 quart of heavy cream. How can I salvage the soup?


texts: What ginger compound is responsible for the 'kick'?

texts:
Mint's minty kick mostly comes from menthol and pepper from capsaicin.

What is the equivalent dominant compound in ginger that gives it the characteristic kick?

All i can tell is it's water soluble :)


texts: What is a good substitute for oyster sauce (for someone with a shellfish allergy) that is also allergic to mushrooms?

texts: I just started to teach myself to cook some Chinese food recipes however a great deal involve oyster sauce. When trying to look up alternatives everything kept saying a form of mushroom sauce. Problem is I'm highly allergic to mushrooms as well. What is a good substitute?


texts: Why are these mushroom stems leaving a long, skinny fiber behind on the cap?

texts:
I was pulling the stems out of some mushroom caps today - we save the stems and make broth out of them - when I discovered that some stems weren't coming out all the way. Have a look:

Mushroom fanatics out there: Any idea what causes this? Is there something wrong with these mushrooms? Am I being paranoid because I just read this question?


texts: Kefir sensitivity to drinking tap water?

texts:
I had a batch of kefir go bad - a slightly un-nice parmigiano smell and bits and pieces of proper cheese-like consistency. I tried gently rinsing in water and putting it back into a fresh batch of milk (risking bits and pieces of "cheese" in the milk over overstressing the grains), but it ended up the same way after 24h - separating into "cheese" and whey and same un-nice parmigiano smell.

So I washed the grains through a bit wider retainer and made sure all bits and pieces are really clean under a stream of water.

So I'm wondering, how well do kefir grains handle drinking water? Can the kefir grains be dipped in water for 10-15 minutes to facilitate easier cleaning? (instead of exposing them to a stream of water from the tap). What if the tap water is chlorinated for drinking purposes? In my particular case the water does not have a chlorine smell, but chlorine and other anti-bacterial agents are almost certainly there.


texts: Hot water vs warm water for hot chocolate

texts:
First off, I don't normally do hot drinks. I don't like coffee or tea, and I only drink hot chocolate/cocoa or hot cider on occasion, so I really don't know what could make a difference in the flavor of using really hot or boiling water to make hot chocolate versus using hot tap water. Also, I don't like really hot drinks. I always let them cool down to what coffee drinkers think of as warm, luke-warm, or tepid. In fact hot tap water is usually hot enough for me and, unless it's unusually hot tap water, it's comfortable for me to drink right away.

So my question: is there something that really hot water does to a hot chocolate powder mix that makes it taste better than warm water? I've used the same powder mixes in hot water as well as warm water, and the hot water cooled down almost always tastes better than warm water, regardless of brand or style of mix. I find the warm water often tastes a bit bitter, if that's even the right description of the flavor difference. I know it just tastes a bit "off". I think I notice it more if there's a "marshmallow" flavoring involved, if that makes any difference.

Does the really hot water melt the chocolate and the warm water not? Is there a chemical reaction the warm water is not activating? Is it the length of time being hot a factor? Is it that my taste buds need to "re-calibrate" for hot liquids?

FYI, I'm aware of How to make Instant Hot Chocolate Taste Less Watery and Does Boiling Water, Instead of Warm Water, Hurt the Flavor of Tea/Hot Chocolate. The first one might be the be my real answer, in that I'm not adding enough mix to get the flavor I'm looking for, but I'm not 100% convinced on this. I put enough mix in that it settles over a short time, so I think I'm adding enough. The 2nd question has answers that just barely touch on hot chocolate, but to no real definitive solution, since they are geared almost 100% towards tea and coffee.

Edit (for a little more clarity):
The reason for this question was that I had just used a K-cup in hot tap water, since I didn't realize my job didn't have a Keurig when I bought the cups. (I thought they did, but was wrong.) I've used other brands of K-cups as well as pouches with the same results. Using a Keurig, I end up adding tap water or even ice to be able to drink it within 5 min of brewing.

I believe I've only purchased or used instant mixes, rather than mixes that require simmering/steeping or need milk rather than water.


texts: Oxidized Avocado: What's Going on & How to Prevent It

texts:
So what exactly happens to the flavor of avocados when it oxidizes? I made some guacamole and as many are familiar, it forms that yucky garbage-green color.

Now, it tastes different. I'm not sure if it's necessarily bad though. Maybe it's just an acquired taste. The essence is still kinda there and I feel bad scraping that first 1/8 inch off and just chucking it away. I can't tell if it tastes spoiled because it looks that way, or if it's just undergone a really crappy reconstitution of it's flavors and there's been a quantifiable decrease in yumminess.

Side note: a friend taught me to cover the top layer of guac with sour cream. This works awesome. I just didn't have any on hand for my last batch.


texts: Whole fish oven temperature and inside temperature

texts:
A 6 to 7 lbs Whole Snapper with head.
Broil or Bake is the first is part of the question?
With a convection oven what temperature should it be cooked at?
What the inside temperature should be?


texts: Bagels: Flat, no rise, gummy inside. Over kneading?

texts:
Edit: thanks for all the advice! I worked these half as much, and made sure to let them cool. Great, round results!!

To start, I'm using this recipe: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/bagels-366757

My first try I used AP flour and honey (both in the dough and the poaching liquid). Resulted in bready bagels that didn't have any of that chew on the inside, or the outside.

Second, I switched to diastatic malt powder on the dough, and bread flour instead of AP. I also increased the cooking time to 12 minutes per rotation (because after 8 and 8 they weren't golden brown).

The second resulted in almost crispy outsides (probably a little long in the oven, and the use of a dark pan, causing this), but gummy insides, and flat bagels. There was almost no rise at all, and cutting them resulted in most of the insides ending up on the knife.

Is this a proofing issue? Are the bagels not being allowed to come up to temp long enough outside of the fridge (they are passing the float test after 60 minutes)? Am I over-working the bagels (I'm doing 3 minutes per round, with a 5 minute break in the middle, on a pro series kitchenaid stand mixer with the dough hook).

Which step results in an underbaked-tasting gummy inside? What do I need to do to get a more tender (albeit chewy) interior and a good rise?

Attaching three photos. You can see the lack of rise in two of them (flat bagels, and holes that don't seem like they closed up very much). You can also see the knife in the background, with the gummy insides all over it. Last one is the dark bottom (again, I think this is pan related).


texts: Is cooking dark chocolate and simple dark chocolate same?

texts: In the supermarket I saw a packet of cooking dark chocolate and a packet of dark chocolate slab. I want to ask are they same ? Is there any difference between ccoking dark chocolate and simple dark chocolate.


texts: Has anyone successfully spatchcocked their Thanksgiving Turkey?

texts:
My T-Day turkey is looking like it's going to be in excess of 20 lbs this year, and I'm nervous about how long the darn thing is actually going to be in my oven when I have pies, bread, sides, etc. to prepare.

Martha Stewart has a brief article on spatchcocking a turkey (removing the backbone and breaking the breasts so the bird is 'flat') and I was curious as to if anyone has ever done it before with a big bird, and to what degree of success. Did you baste the turkey while it was cooking? Heaven forbid I feed my picky family a dry turkey, I would never hear the end of it.

I would practice with a large bird, but there's no way we'll be able to eat 40 lbs of turkey in a month!


texts: Why don't I have to refrigerate store-bought baby food but have to refrigerate home-made purees?

texts: If I make an apple (or fruit) puree at home, the internet says I have to refrigerate it and then only have a couple of days to feed it to my child. But I can go buy a jar of Gerber baby puree off the shelf at the store and have it sit in my pantry for ages (only refrigerating it if I open it)? Is there anything I can do to my homemade baby food to be able to store it in my pantry for weeks?


texts:
I have made sourdough bread several times using roughly the same technique that I use when I make artisan bread. I let it ferment several times folding between them.

I have found that when the dough has risen enough it is so acidic that even a gentle fold causes the top surface to pull apart. When the dough is risen the last time as a boulle it relaxes so much that it practically flows. The resultant bread is too flat and sadly dense.

I have experimented with adding more flour to provide more structure but this only make the loaf tougher- not higher or more open. I have tried with AP flour and various wheat flours and combinations thereof. Do I need more gluten? Would adding vital gluten be enough?

How should I change my process to create a sourdough loaf that is more open and can rise higher?


texts:
I'm trying to prepare a fillet red salmon which comes frozen.

Many times after I bake the salmon, it becomes really dry.

I once heard that you need to pan-fry a meat before cooking it so that the liquids it contains won't "leak" during cooking time.

Will that trick work for salmon?

I once ate a salmon in a restaurant, and it was very juicy. How can I achieve that at home?