texts: When is Slow Cooking done - time vs temperature of meat

texts:
I have read that slow cookers manufactured recently (not sure what time period that actually means) rise to their cooking temperature faster because of FDA concerns of keeping a food at a dangerous temperature for too long. The recommendation is to perhaps cook things for a bit less time than the typical 8 hours on low to avoid overcooking.

To this end, I have been putting a thermometer in my meat and cooking to a temperature instead of to any set time.  However, I'm finding the meat gets to its "done" temperature at WELL below the time suggested.  For example, I have a chicken recipe (skinless, boneless) that suggests cooking for 8 hours on low.  In my slow cooker, the chicken gets to 165 degrees at only 2-1/2 or 3 hours!  Well below the 8 hour suggested cooking time.

So, my question is, should I say my meal is done at that 165 degree mark, or is there any slow cooker advantage to leaving it in for the full or close to full cooking time?  It seems to me the meat just gets dry if I leave it in longer, but maybe if I left it in the full 7-8 hours, some other chemical process takes place, leaving the meat more moist and flavorful than if I take it out at the 3 hour mark because of the temperature.


texts:
It's Burn's Night and I want to cook some Haggis. I froze my Haggis over a week ago. The packet advises to 'fully defrost before cooking'. After which it advises a 90 minute blast in the oven (or less so in microwave, but I would much prever oven).

It's 7p.m. here and I would love to eat my haggis tonight, is this feasible? How should I defrost it? Can I (as I'm tempted to) just stick it in the oven and let it cook through?


texts: Why is 180 degrees C so common in recipes?

texts: Is there any particular reason 180 degrees Celsius is so commonly called for in baking, roasting, deep frying?


texts: Why is there a noise and big flame when starting my gas cooker?

texts:
I installed a new gas bottle a few days ago for my stove and trying to find out why the following is happening.

When the gas hasn't been used for a few hours, the moment you turn the gas button on the stove there is what looks like a higher pressure wave that comes with a large flame and a 'wooof' sound when the gas ignites.

The the stove works normally. It takes 3-4 hours of not using it for this to occur again.

It looks like there is a pressure buildup in the gas line when it's not in use.

What could be the reason?

Here is a video: https://imgur.com/a/WTiI4id

If you want sound for a full experience: https://we.tl/p9CR4Dihok :)


texts: Need help I made this recipe and I doubled the recipe and it looked dry

texts:
I need help to fit these batches I already rolled them up can I go ahead fix it. what can I do to fix these batches so it doesn't crumble and look dry. i have I included the recipe I used. Like I said I doubled it . thank you

3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)
1 c


texts: What are the authentic traditional ingredients for Naan bread?

texts:
I would like to know what the authentic and traditional ingredients for Naan bread are. There are many recipes that use some ingredients but not others and the cooking method are not always the same. These are the ingredients which usually differ from what I have seen:

Milk
Yogurt
Water
Baking Powder
Yeast
Eggs

This recipe here does not use yogurt, this one here uses no baking powder or milk or yogurt, this one here uses no baking powder or yogurt. I can understand substitutions and variations, but I would like to know how it is originally made and what the ingredients are.

Also the cooking method varies. Some use a pan to fry the Naans prepared, some use only the oven, and some use the oven and then are grilled at the end for a short time.


texts: I recently made crepes with a crepe maker like this one. The first half of the recipe worked perfectly. Then, every time I dipped the base into the batter, when I removed it, the half cooked crepe would slide off into the pan of wet batter. Any suggestions?


texts: Does anyone know how to make pizza without pizza sauce? Maybe some kind of replacement?


texts: I make pectin stock from apples for use in jams and jellies, and I have lots of it. I would like to try using this stock as a fat substitute in baking, similar to replacing some of the fat in recipes with applesauce. Has anyone tried this, and what advice do they have to offer.


texts: What is this weird black and white stuff on my chickpeas?

texts:
I soaked my chickpeas for 24 hours and just cooked them in my pressure cooker. I added salt and pepper before cooking. I just tasted one and it was perfect. Then I drained them and saw that lots of them have this weird white and black stuff on them. Sorry the picture isn't super clear.

What do you think it is and it is safe to eat?


texts: Are all snails edible? I get in my garden snails up to 10 cm long, and very fat

texts: I live in Iran and get a lot of very large snails and slugs in my garden. Like to know if ALL kinds of snails & slugs, after detoxification, are edible?


texts:
I'm having a coeliac over for dinner and I've made croquettes from corn starch. I have a recipe with 100gr corn starch and 700ml liquid. That works fine. But when forming the croquette, the batter will stick to my hands... a lot.

Is there a way to prevent this from happening?


texts: Can I avoid overcooking my candied lemon decorations?

texts:
I've been tweaking my grandmother's fruitcake recipe all month, and as part of this adventure I tried to make it a little fancier by adding some candied orange and lemon slices on top.

This looked really cute and decorative when I put the candied slices on the raw batter before going in the oven. But this has to bake for 2.5 hours at 275°F. After that amount of time, the candied citrus was significantly darker (not burnt black, but definitely brown) and crunchy rather than chewy. It's not quite as unpleasant as I expected, but over-caramelized lemon crunches is not what I wanted.

I had previously tried just dropping candied lemon slices on the baked fruitcake, but it is not a moist cake and they fall off (in transport, when slicing, etc.).

Is there a way to affix the candied citrus slices to my cake without putting them through an apparently brutal baking process?


texts:
Please identify these. The beans are very large as you can see in relation to the iphone.

Inside:


texts:
I'm looking for a time-proven method for getting perfect egg ribbons in egg drop or hot and sour soup.  The result I'm looking for is a clear soup with the classic gossamer egg ribbons.  I'm not really asking for soup recipes(although feel free to share along with your answer!).  I'm asking for specifically how to add the eggs.

I've read plenty of "beat eggs, pour into soup", and I haven't quite been able to nail the technique.  I end up with some ribbons, but a cloudy soup.

This question is meant to delve into specifics.  I'd like to know explicit details of your ancient, family secret.  How far to beat the eggs...light, or foamy?  Drizzle in slowly, or fast?  Drizzle the eggs into the soup using chopsticks...fork...whisk?  Stir the soup while adding or not?  Before or after adding cornstarch thickener...or do you use a different thickener(perhaps another previous egg addition?)  Please provide as much detail on technique, tools, and process as possible.  I don't mind spending some time practicing a new technique, as long as I end up with a good product and am able to repeat it.

Thanks!


texts:
On a kosher diet, I can't eat bacon. Someone who knows this recommended turkey bacon as a close substitute. Is it really? That is, does turkey bacon truly have the taste and texture of bacon? Is there any particular kind of turkey bacon I should get for this purpose?

(I see that the question "Non Pork Bacon Alternatives" implies that turkey bacon is not a good substitute for bacon, but perhaps the asker simply ate the wrong turkey bacon.)


texts:
Does anyone know of any ball shaper for Falafel Batter?
I was looking for a shaper, that could i could load with some falafel batter and directly load it into the fryer in a shape of a ball.
-AFM


texts:
I just proofed my active dry yeast in water and sugar. When I came back a few minutes later, i found small red specks in the yeast mixture. I figured that it was just something in the water or something so I dumped the batch and started again, this time carefully checking each ingredient as I put it in. I saw the specks again when I put in the yeast. Does anyone have any idea what it might be? I took some out to look at it closer. It isn't bugs. The yeast isn't expired- I only bought it a week or two ago. I have been storing it in the freezer. Does anyone know what the problem might be?
Thank you.


texts: Is it okay for oil to smoke in stir-fry?

texts:
I've always been taught that when frying anything at all, it's of the utmost importance keep the oil below its smoke point. Once the oil starts smoking, I've heard, it's game over-- the oil is denatured and everything in it will have its flavor ruined. And, from limited experience pan frying and deep frying things (I'm still working on the basics), I've seen that this is true. Once the temperature climbs too high, the oil starts to stink and the food ends up tasting like rancid oil.

But, when I watch stir-fry video tutorials, there's almost always smoke. Not just a little bit, either-- it looks like they're thoroughly burning their oil. For example, here's Chef Hiroyuki Terada making chicken fried rice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzbRwICWODk (he adds the oil to his wok at 3:45). I have no doubt that Hiro knows how to make a delicious stir-fry, but would it be better if he didn't let the oil smoke? Is the high temperature more important than the integrity of the oil? Or, am I completely missing something, and the oil isn't being denatured at all?


texts: Interpreting a recipe from Mrs Beeton: "rather a brisk oven"

texts:
Old recipes are well-known for being imprecise, especially about temperature, but when they call for a "hot" or "cool" oven we can get a decent idea of what they're talking about.  This one:

SODA BISCUITS.

INGREDIENTS.—1 lb. of flour, 1/2 lb. of pounded loaf sugar, 1/4 lb. of fresh butter, 2 eggs, 1 small teaspoonful of carbonate of soda.

Mode.—Put the flour (which should be perfectly dry) into a basin; rub
in the butter, add the sugar, and mix these ingredients well together.
Whisk the eggs, stir them into the mixture, and beat it well, until
everything is well incorporated. Quickly stir in the soda, roll the
paste out until it is about 1/2 inch thick, cut it into small round
cakes with a tin cutter, and bake them from 12 to 18 minutes in rather
a brisk oven. After the soda is added, great expedition is necessary
in rolling and cutting out the paste, and in putting the biscuits
immediately into the oven, or they will be heavy.
Time.—12 to 18 minutes. Average cost, 1s.
Sufficient to make about 3 dozen cakes. Seasonable at any time.

[italics mine] is less clear. Presumably brisk=quick cooking=fairly hot, but that could still be anywhere from say 180°C to 250°C.  As I'm considering baking it to see how they turn out, finding a similar modern recipe to copy isn't really possible, because I don't know what constitutes similar: a biscuit (UK)? a scone?
I've asked about another aspect of the same recipe, and the idea of baking it was prmpted by a discussion about the meanings of biscuit at english.se.


texts: Why is cheese never used in Americanized Chinese food?

texts:
While working weekends in an Americanized Chinese food restaurant I realized while many ingredients are used, no dishes contain cheese.

This seems to be the case for every chinese dish I have ever seen in America, where as almost any other type of restaurants at least features some items with cheese on their menus.

Why is this?


texts: Should I maintain a carbon steel knife with oil?

texts: I just got a new All Clad chef's knife that is carbon steel. I've read that carbon steel knives require a lot of maintenance like wiping twice after every single use(once with a damp cloth and again with a dry cloth) and not leaving it in the sink for even a minute. I was thinking of buying an oil for carbon steel, but I've read that carbon steel SHOULD develop a patina. So should I buy this oil? Is that patina really a good thing?


texts: I left a fully cooked honeybaked ham out overnight, and i am planning on making it into soup-is that ok?

texts: I plan to make soup out of fully cured ham that was left out overnight-since it will cook another two hours, should it be safe to eat ?


texts: If I cook the turkey the night before then cut it up, put in refrigerator wrapped or covered in container is it safe to reheat the next day and if fluid added in pan will it moisten it?


texts:
A friend of mine came over the other day to borrow some agar agar from us. We had two boxes in the cupboard, and handed him one that was within its use by date, not knowing the ramifications of using the one that was past its use by date.

However, we were thinking about it, and couldn't really find any reason not to use agar agar even well after its use by date. The box in question is a year over.

My question is this: is the use by date merely there because everything must have one, or does agar agar go "off" beyond some point in time?


texts: How do I make my roti dough stretch thinner?

texts:
I have made roti a couple of times now, and each time have found that I can't get the dough super thin before it tears in order to fold it correctly. I'm using this recipe:

http://chefinyou.com/2009/11/roti-canai-recipe/

And using salted butter instead of ghee.

When it gets to the dough stretching phase, I can get it thin but not super thin. After I've folded it it's at least a cm thick and I have to roll it such that it's flat enough for cooking.

How do I get my dough super thin and stretchy?

it also ends up very crispy and doesn't tear like it should after cooking. What do you think I'm doing wrong?


texts: How to preserve homemade fresh cream for about a week in a freezer?

texts:
I get the full cream milk, boil it, and then let it cool down. I collect the thick layer of cream that gathers on its top and put it in the freezer in a vessel.

Next day if I get more milk I again follow the same process and put the new cream in the already stored cream vessel in the freezer.

What should I do to extend the lives of these creams such that they last for about a week?


texts: What kind of vegetable has pink and white concentric rings?

texts: What kind of vegetable is pictured here with the pink and white concentric rings? They look like they might be some kind of beet or radish.


texts: How to prevent overcooking of eggs in Carbonara sauce?

texts: Carbonara can be absolutely delicicious if everthing goes perfectly; but it can also be tasteless, chewy and lumpy, if the egg is overcooked. Does anyone have what they regard as a fool proof method for preparing Carbonara?


texts: Why does this entire carton of eggs have 2 yolks each?

texts:
I got chills this morning making breakfast as I cracked open 6 eggs in a row, all having 2 yolks each.

I've read this is caused by an anomaly that is considered normal in an egg here and there.

I guess the question is, is a whole crate of double-yolk eggs a "bad" thing or a "good" thing? I'm inclined to go with "good" because it seems there's a heck of a lot more protein and nutrients in a double-yoked egg. And yes, that omelette did end up tasting like a 12-egg omelette with half the whites discarded.

Yet, having no good evidence whatsoever I'm suspicious these hens were dosed with some fertility drug.

Thoughts?

Note: Yes all 12 eggs ended up having 2 yolks each.


texts:
I'm putting together an asian sauce to throw over some steamed greens & have made it a bit too salty (it contains soy, fish & oyster sauce).

What can I add to cut back the saltiness?


texts: How can I increase the shelf life of chocolate ganache?

texts: I'm testing out chocolate ganache recipes and they don't seem to have a long shelf life. The ganache begins to grow mold after the third week. Is there a specific percentage of cream, glucose, butter and chocolate that has to be used in order to minimize the growth of bacteria? I believe that there is too much water activity going on and therefore the ganache goes bad much more quickly. What am I doing wrong? Any insight would be amazing.


texts: Why does my omelet with Velveeta froth up in the microwave?

texts:
I like to make a quick cheese omelet in the microwave, in a bowl (no pans to clean up). I had the technique working well, but one day switched from shredded cheese to some Velveeta. The amount of cheese was comparable, but the omelet boiled or frothed up and overflowed the bowl (by a lot).

It does not matter whether I cube the Velveeta and mix in well, or just lay it on top in slices. In the latter case I've also tried adding the slices at the end (the last minute, on 50% power), and it still froths up. The eggs themselves to that point were bubbly but contained. Once the cheese gets hot it takes about 10 seconds to make it froth, after a 15 second cool-down period, so just stopping the microwave and stirring would add several minutes as well as requiring lots of intervention from me, which kind of defeats the purpose of fast and easy.

I like the taste of Velveeta in the omelet, but am tired of dealing with the mess. (Putting a plate under the bowl now gives me something else to clean, plus I want to eat the cheese, not wash it down the drain. Using an over-sized bowl also worked--though I still had to stop & stir a time or two--but I only have one of those so what do I do until it's time to run the dishwasher again?)

Does anyone know why this happens, and/or what I can do about it?


texts: How can I use Rosemary bulbs in cooking?

texts:
I pulled out a rosemary plant today and found a number of bulbs amongst the root system.   Can these be used for cooking, such as with a roast lamb?  How?

I also have lots of leaves, so if the bulbs are no good I don't need to use them but I thought it was interesting to try.


texts:
I’d like to make bread balls out of already baked soft and moist bread. The tool that I have in mind is akin to an ice cream scoop, but sharpened and thinner (since bread is much softer than frozen cream).
Is there a specialized tool for just that or a technique that would allow to form bread balls avoiding compression (and thus thickening)?


texts: Can oil be replaced with yoghurt in a cake recipe?

texts:
A cake recipe is asking for "one cup" oil!!

I don't want to eat so much "oil", can I replace it with yoghurt or something else?


texts:
I accidentally bought roasted, salted chickpeas (I've never heard of this - why would anyone want that?) instead of normal, dried chickpeas. To be clear, these chickpeas are dry and powdery, rather than boiled chickpeas roasted with salt to make a soft/crispy snack.

Can I still use them to make houmous? Or should I give this one up?


texts: I have raw goat's milk yogurt in my refrigerator. I made it 2 months ago. Can it still be used to bake with?

texts: Can yogurt made with raw goat's milk be used to bake with after 2 months?


texts: How do you dry fruit slices in a humid environment?

texts: In a humid environment, with an abundance of fruit at certain times of the year, what is the best method for drying fruit slices for later use? I don't want to use any type of equipment that needs power/active heating (like an oven)... is it possible to simply slice the fruits and leave in the sun/air?


texts: Cake with ganache on top going to the freezer

texts: I’ll pour the ganache over the cake, then freeze the cake with the ganache on top. Will it freeze ok together?


texts: How to save Omelette from breaking while keeping the oil quantity low?

texts:
When I make Omelette in normal pan (not non-stick), it breaks and then I have to make Egg bhurji instead. I did made successfully fully intact Omelette but for that I have to increase oil quantity, which is not a good idea.

So how I can save my Omelette from breaking while cooking. I only add egg, green chilies, pinch of salt and onion and use soybean or sunflower oil.


texts: I want to buy a cast iron skillet but I'm very wary of health hazards. I will use it every day to cook meat, eggs and other regular food. Is there any evidence that this usage of a cast iron will leak iron into my food to the degree that it becomes a health-hazard? I am a young, healthy male and I work out regularly if it has any significance.


texts: Good websites/cookbooks covering more tailored approach to cooking vegetables?

texts:
The produce I get in weekly CSA box are all quite unique. I get at least 3 different kinds of kale, 4 different kinds of lettuce, and so on. Even with the same kind of lettuce, sometimes it's young and pale and other times it's dark green and hard to eat raw (but it's yummy when sautéed). The carrots in winter are sweeter than the carrots in spring. Young onions are vastly different from normal onions.

The vegetables are all in high quality so I want to cook them with the most suited cooking approach (i.e., I don't want to simply substitute vegetables).
Is there any good website/cookbook that can help me search or learn more tailored approach to cooking different stages of vegetables?

I'm looking for a website/cookbook/other resources where I can continue to learn, rather than specific tips for specific vegetables.


texts:
I have to bake a white chocolate mud cake after work and I am always left with some batter, which I then use to bake cupcakes. As mudcake takes a couple of hours to bake (at least my recipe), by the time I will finish, it will be too late to bake the cupcakes.

Is it possible to leave the cupcake batter in the cupcake baking tray in the fridge to be baked the next day? Are there any tips when doing so?

EDIT: Here's the ingredients:

WHITE CHOC MUDCAKE

500 g butter (melted in microwave)
400 ml water
300 g white chocolate (melted in microwave)
2 cups caster sugar
5 eggs (large)
2 cups plain flour
2 cups self raising flour

The rest is just mixing wet with dry ingredients and baking at 150 degrees till baked.


texts: Can freezer jam not be frozen if sealed?

texts: I make my jam in sterile jars and use a freezer jam recipe. I then seal using a hot water bath for 15 minutes. I know you don't need to seal it but I always do. Something about it makes me feel safer especially if you gift it and they don't freeze it immediately. My question is can I leave it in the pantry on the shelf since I did seal it. The jam was only "cooked" during the hot water bath.


texts: Why flaxseed sealed in containers once opened needs to be refrigerated and yet has to be consumed within 4 days?

texts:
I have bought whole flaxseeds from a stationary store. The usage directions written on container says that the whole flaxseeds need to be grounded, stored in air tight containers and refrigerated. Even then it should not be used after 4 days. They have given no reasons for it. I find this quite strange. I want to know the scientific reason behind this.

Also my flaxseeds are already over 4 days. Should I dispose them off? They are very costly.


texts:
I have in front of me two recipes for Crema Catalana, one plain and one coffee and cardamom flavored.

The amount of milk in the former is equal to the amount of milk plus coffee of the latter. The other ingredients, i.e. yolks, sugar and cornstarch are the same in both.

The directions for the plain Crema go as follows. Whisk the yolks with half the sugar and, aside, mix a small part of the cold milk with the starch. Add the cold milk plus starch mixture to the yolks.

Bring to boil the remaining milk with the remaining sugar and flavors (cinnamon and lemon), filter it on the cold mixture and take everything back to heat to boil for a couple of minutes. Then put in ramequins and let cool.

The direction of the flavored Crema say to first heat the milk, half the sugar and the starch, then add the cardamom to and the coffee and let thicken, then filter this on the yolks mixture. Mix, and put back on heat for a couple of minutes. Then put in ramequins and let cool as above.

Is there a reason for the slightly different directions? What's the point of cold starch mixture vs hot?


texts:
I’ve been trying out various styles of thickening the sauce inside the bag while cooking. My focus is creating a marinade style/glaze while cooking my meat, so when it comes out, I can just flame grill.
My sauce keeps splitting (oil separation) - Is there anyone who has been successful in creating a glaze with the end product?


texts: Are chicken gizzards okay to eat if still pink inside?

texts: I sautéed chicken gizzards for quite a while, then added water and boiled another 15 minutes but they are still pink inside. Are they safe to eat even though they are pink inside?


texts: Seeking a creamy/melty Swiss Cheese commonly available in the US

texts:
My next kitchen project is killer Reuben sandwiches with all of the components homemade (home corned beef, homemade sauerkraut, homemade dressing, fresh homemade sourdough rye bread). The one thing I will buy is the cheese, but I want it to be special enough to stand up to the rest of the ingredients.

To me, Reubens need the unique unwashed feet funk of Swiss cheese. Another cheese just wouldn't be right, but Swiss tends to be waxy. I want the flavor of Swiss, but the creamy melt of Gouda or Gruyere. Is there a Swiss Cheese commonly found in US grocery stores that would deliver on both counts?


texts: Is it best to just cook with the oil that has the highest smoking point?

texts:
I was recently at my locals farmers market and someone was handing out samples (cooked) of what they were selling. The guy cooking said to never use olive oil and use grapeseed oil instead because olive oil burns too easily (lower smoking point). I've done a brief search into past posts, but nothing quite answers my question.

So I was thinking, for an amateur/home cook, is it just best to always cook with the oil that has the highest smoking point? (I believe those are safflower oil and sunflower oil). I am considering doing this to avoid wasting any more time scrubbing pots and pans (the brown residue that's impossible to scrub off) -- I don't like to use teflon pans, so everything is on stainless steel. However, I'm unaware of what the changes are in the end product.


texts: Modernist Cuisine-style BBQ brisket safety

texts:
I am going to try Nathan Myhrvold's 2-step BBQ brisket recipe: Smoke at 149F for 7 hrs, then vacuum seal and sous vide at 146F for 72 hrs. However, (due to travel for work) I won't be able to complete these steps in the consecutive days leading up to the party.

What I would like to do is smoke the brisket about 6 days ahead. After smoking, I would wait for it to cool just enough to vacuum seal, rapidly chill in an ice bath, and refrigerate until I return and start the sous vide bath. Can I be confident that a 10-12 lb brisket, after 7 hrs at 149F, will have reduced enough pathogens to be safe to refrigerate for 3 days? Or more practically, will it be safe to eat after 3 days refrigeration followed by 72 hours in a sous vide bath at 146F?


texts: Should I have been able to melt white chocolate and marshmallows together?

texts:
My daughter and I were making cake pops, and were a little short of white chocolate for the coating. We thought we'd try a white chocolate/marshmallow coating instead. I didn't weigh the marshmallows but they were no more than 25% of the total.
I used a bowl over a pan of simmering water as I usually do for melting chocolate. The white chocolate had mostly melted when I stirred in the marshmallows that were on top. They started to melt then the whole lot seized solid. Further heating didn't help. I was left with something that could be shaped like fondant icing
I've had that happen when heating white chocolate (alone) in the microwave, and always assumed it was local overheating, hence using the bain marie this time.
Now it's cooled, I'm left with something resembling out of date or badly stored white chocolate - grainy rather than creamy.
Is such a coating possible? Should I have gone about it differently? Or is there too much water in marshmallows?


texts:
Spring and the Virginia Creeper is growing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenocissus_quinquefolia

It is native to North America, and common.  I read on Wikipedia the berries have "dangerous amounts of oxalic acid" and I have not tried those.  The leaves taste good to me; sour and much like sorrel.

I wonder if anyone knows if historically, anyone ate this stuff.  Rhubarb has oxalic acid but is good if cooked a little, and cooking is recommended for old sorrel.  One would think that back in the days that people ate pokeweed someone would have tried creeper; it is everywhere.  But my googlefu is pretty strong these days and I have turned up nothing.


texts: What are these white flecks in my lentils and split peas?

texts:
I was cooking a pot of red lentils and yellow split peas, and noticed these white flecks all throughout. What are they? Are they safe to consume?

I have been using the same batch of lentils and peas all week, and just used up the last bit of both, so it is possible that these all collected at the bottom.

The flecks are moderately firm in texture.


texts:
I have an allergy to the histamines in various aged cheeses such as parmesan, romano, blue cheeses, etc.

Many recipes call for parmesan for saltiness and flavor. What possible substitutes are there for these flavours?


texts: Why don't the single serve coffee cream cups need to be refrigerated?

texts:
It seems to me that it would be subject to the same bacterial/spoiling processes that the larger containers are.

And if it's that opening a container exposes the cream to contamiants (which I believe), then why do the larger containers have "sell by" and expiration dates whereas the little packets do not?


texts:
I have added cayenne chilli pepper, instead of cayenne pepper, and (I think too much) to my green tomato chutney.
How can I reduce the spice and still be able to store the chutney?


texts: Can you put egg shells down the garbage disposal unit?

texts:
The Google has conflicting answers. I come from a background of "everything goes in the garbage disposal", my wife's background is "never put anything in the garbage disposal". I suspect reality is somewhere between us.

Note: I'm talking about the garbage disposal unit under the sink.


texts: What's the size of the plastic cup that came with my rice cooker?

texts:
I have a cheap-o rice cooker that works fine for me.  It came with a plastic cup to measure 1, 2 or 3 "plastic cup" units of rice.  Water is added to match the '1', '2' or '3' mark in the cooker bowl.   It was great until the cup vanished.

Now how to pour in the right amount of rice?

Do all rice cookers use the same standard "plastic cup" unit?  By any luck, would it be exactly 1 cup, or 1/2 cup, according to a standard measuring cup?  Maybe I could dump rice and water into the bowl in any amount as long as they're in the right proportion by volume.   Meeting the '2' or '3' mark isn't important, actually, just getting great rice in the end.

The actual model I'm using is CKRVRCM061 and yes, of course I could google it, but it would be great to have a general answer which could apply to any cooker I or anyone will use in the future - for those of us with a talent for losing small important items!


texts: What differences, practical and aesthetic, are there between egg washes?

texts:
An egg wash can be done in six major variations: [with | out egg white] mixed with [water | milk | cream].

My first hit when searching 'egg wash ratio' My Persian Kitchen where the use was for pastries. He advocated a ratio of 1 egg : 1-1.5 tbsp water for the purpose of browning.

He also mentioned the variations above. In my case I will be baking and frying (browning top of loaf in oven, then washing and flouring before frying), however use cases are not restricted to just those two.

What are the principal differences between washes, and what practical import do the six main ones have?

What chemical causes underpin these differences? (e.g. "...the higher ratio of protein to blah, blah...", "water promotes browning more than...")
What interactions do these chemical causes have between use on meat, vegetable, pastry, and bread?

Are there any other special washes/ratios for more particular uses? (i.e. egg white only, egg:vinegar,bourbon,etc)


texts: Is it safe to cook pancakes on a copper surface?

texts:
I've read a lot about copper cookware and how it's useful for heat management and its non-stick qualities, as long as it is tinned.
But after watching this video showing a Korean restaurant preparing pancakes on a copper griddle, it occurred to me to ask, is it safe to cook this way?
It looks like the original coating is gone, and the pancake is cooking on bare copper.
My further research said that it'll be fine as long as the thing I cook on copper is not acidic; is this true?
I've always wanted a pancake griddle but the cost is way out of my allowance, so I thought it might be better to just buy a copper plate and try it out.


texts: What are the triangular shaped markings on asparagus called?

texts: An Asparagus shoot has triangular shaped markings on it. I'm wondering what they're called and why there there (if possible)


texts:
I see glucose being used in cake to make them soft and moist. Now I'm wondering if glucose could have the same effect in bread.

Can glucose be used in a brioche type bread? Perhaps as part of complete substitution for the recipe's sugar. If so, is there a difference in using powder vs syrup?


texts: How can I save flour from little insects?

texts: Red and white little insects appeared in the flour.Are these harmful for flour? How can I save flour from those?


texts: What is this distinctive smell in some dry cured sausage?

texts:
A lot of good dry cured sausage, especially styles of salami with mold on the casing, has a very specific smell. I'm not sure how to describe it, but in my mind it's somehow strongly associated with umami. It's not present in all salami by any means, but very obvious in some, for example this kind or some of these.

What exactly causes that smell, and is there a name for it?


texts: 'Caramelization' of tomato sauce in slow cooker

texts:
For the last few years I've made my tomato sauces in a slow cooker ('crock pot'), or actually, in a machine that is sold as a 'plate warmer' but works great for low temperature cooking. I pre-heat the ingredients on my stove, then transfer it to the slow cooker for 10 or 14 hours to let all the flavors blend, then I puree and can the result. When I first learned this technique, I was told not to stir the sauce, because the long cooking time makes the sugars at the top caramelize and that would bring out a great sweet flavor. Indeed the top, after being in the cooker for that long, browns a bit, and the flavor is great.

However, recently I was learning a bit more about caramelization to understand my baking better, and it turns out that there are no sugars that caramelize at temperatures < 110 °C. So now I'm wondering - is this caramelization of my tomato sauce just a myth? The machine only goes up to 90 °C. I've checked the temperature at various depths in my sauce with an infrared thermometer, and indeed the temperature is nowhere higher than that. Anyone have more than anecdotal information on the chemistry of making tomato sauce?


texts: Does sputtering butter mean that water is present?

texts:
When I place a pat of butter in a hot pan, the butter melts and begins to sputter and steam. Then steam bubbles pop which sends tiny grease drops flying out of the pan. This happens consistently whereas oil into a hot pan does not show the same behavior.

Does this mean that the butter has been cut with water?
Is it humidity being incorporated during the churning?
Does a pure cream emulsion break down in a hot pan?
Is this a sign of the quality of butter?


texts: Can I prepare instant noodles in the microwave?

texts:
I want to prepare instant noodles in microwave. The instructions on the pack clearly mention a gas stove to be used, but I don't have access to one.

The instant noodles I am talking about are Nestle's maggy 2 minutes (that's how they brand it in India). Have a look at the the following Google image search link if it still doesn't ring a bell.

http://goo.gl/tBwF0


texts: Carrot soup and avoiding the use of a blender?

texts:
Most recipes for carrot soup I encounter require a final stage of blending/whizzing to get the creamy texture. Eg:

recipe1

recipe2

recipe3

Can the blender/whizzer be avoided? How must the recipes be modified in that case?


texts:
I have recently taken akin to making my own sausages. The flavor and texture is pretty spot on, but when I cook them the links 'unlink'. I use a natural casing, and reverse twist every link at about 6". When I cook them I boild them for about 6-8 minutes before finishing in a pan. Typically in the transfer from the water to the pan the links unroll and turn into one giant link. How do I keep the links separate, do I need to tie off each link individually when stuffing them, or am I missing some crucial step? Also, when I cut the links apart I lose a lot of the juices.

One liner: How do I keep my homemade sausage links separate during cooking, and not lose their juices when separating them.


texts: I have always roasted my beets in a bit of vinegar in the bottom of the pan like 1/4" or so.  It is how I was taught. But why do it?  What does the vinegar do for the beets?


texts: I would like to fill a medium sized fish (rockfish) with a pesto like marinade and broil it. Could I use very slim chicken wire to wrap a couple coils around the fish to keep the filling in or should I use something else? Toothpicks won't do because the skin at the edges isn't firm to hold. Any downside to using wire?


texts: How do I make gelatin gummies without adding sugar and still have it survive out of the fridge?

texts: I am on a no-sugar diet due to food insensitivity. I crave gummies and would like to make some without adding sugar (say with coconut water) and have them survive (stay firm and not grow mold) out of the fridge for my upcoming travels. How do I do it?


texts: How to obtain the soft and pillowy texture in bread?

texts:
Here's a bread recipe (probably a type of Turkish bread):

1 cup of warm milk (200 ml)
1 tea cup of warm water (150 ml)
1 tea cup of oil
1 tea spoon of salt
1.5  tablespoons of sugar,
half a
pack of fresh yeast (21 grams)
1 egg white
5 cups flour
50 grams butter
(glaze: 1 egg yolk + milk)

Preparation: Warm water in a bowl, warm milk, salt, granulated sugar, liquid oil, egg white and fresh yeast, and mix them together.  Then knead the dough by incorporating flour gradually. let the dough rest until doubled in bulk, then make 12 equal portions from the dough. put about 5 gr butter on each portion, pat the dough and then roll it and form a spiral out of it. cover and let rest for 20 minutes, then egg wash and bake until golden brown.
The only change I made was using instant yeast instead of fresh, and oat milk instead of regular milk.
This is how it is supposed to turn out like and this is how it actually turned out.
I tried the recipe twice, and it never came out as soft and pillowy as they look in the original recipe. The recipe poster advised that if the final soft texture is desired, cover the tray with a damp towel right when it is done baking and out of the oven for about 5 minutes. I did the same, but alas!


texts: What is the quickest way to evenly slice chicken breasts for jerky?

texts: I am using a dehydrator to make jerky from boneless skinless chicken breasts.  Cutting these by hand is too time-consuming and produces uneven pieces which finish dehydrating at various times.  What is the quickest way to remove the fat from and evenly slice chicken breasts for jerky?


texts: How do you know when a cultured item is no longer safe to consume?

texts:
How do you know when yougurt (for example) is no longer safe to consume?
Do I know it from the taste, how it smells, or something else?


texts: are syrup more flavorful than powder or similar?

texts:
I'm going to make a recipe which includes
45 Grams of vanilla powder
2 Syrup pumps of Fruit syrup (20 Grams)

but i'm changing some in the recipe so i will use vanilla extract instead of powder and after doing the math 1 syrup pump = 10-10.25 grams,
so my question is , are extracts more flavorful than powder or similar ?
so should i add 4.5 pumps of vanilla extract to the recipe or should i go lower.


texts: Can I make lemon curd more sour/tart after it's cooked?

texts:
I prepared a batch of lemon curd using an unfamiliar recipe and it just doesn't have what I'm looking for in terms of tartness and lemon flavor. I'd hate to waste it, so I'm thinking of zesting and juicing more lemons to add to the prepared curd - but I'm worried this will ruin the emulsion!
Is there a way to salvage this batch and get the tartness I'm after?
For the record, the recipe I'm starting with uses the following ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cold water
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
Juice of 1 1/2 lemons
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 Tablespoon butter

Going purely by taste, I'm a good 2-3 juiced lemons away from where I'd prefer to be.


texts: The next level of spices (Indian cooking)?

texts: Normally Indian dishes are spiced up with chilli, turmeric, coriander and pepper and that seems enough for most cases. However when I go to the supermarket these days, there seem to be too many exotic spices packed into little bottles (jalapeno, basil, white pepper). I would like to know whether these spices go well with Indian cooking. What are some of these spices that I should consider putting in my shelf.?


texts:
I'm wanting to stop having rice as my staple and try something else.  I was thinking to try wheat however I never heard that people eat pure wheat daily like they eat pure rice daily like in the far east.

What I mean to say is wheat is often associated with bread, biscuits, cereals which have extra ingredients which I want to avoid and I don't think you want to eat those as part of the main meal anyway.  I know it comes as pasta and sphaghetti but i'm not sure if that is the correct way to eat it as a staple?  Have people traditionally cooked wheat like they would rice or has it always been used as pasta and sphaghetti but never as a staple like rice has in the far east?

I've just seen a bag of wheat grain at my supermarket so I'm thinking do I just get it and cook it like rice but since this is unheard of(at least to me) as a staple I'm wondering if there's something wrong with it?


texts: What happens to lemon juice when boiled?

texts: Does anyone know what happens to the flavor of lemon juice when it's boiled?


texts: Does a 15,000 BTU Burner require a larger gas line?

texts:
I'm thinking of upgrading my cheap apartment stove to one with more heat.  The current stove's hottest burner is around 8000BTU; I'm looking at one which has one 15K BTU and two 9000BTU burners.  I'm located in California, USA.

My question is: if I have an apartment gas line which was installed for the old, low-heat stove, am I likely to need a larger pipe going into the kitchen for a hotter stove?  Or does a standard apartment stove natural gas line already supply more gas pressure than I can use?  And if the answer is "it depends", what diameter am I looking for?


texts: Is it okay to marinate brisket for 48 hours?

texts:
My wife and I had planned to cook a brisket for dinner tonight. Our plans have changed and we would now like to cook and eat the brisket tomorrow night instead. Yesterday, before we knew our plans would change we put the brisket into a marinade. Currently, our 3 pound brisket is in the refrigerator sitting in a bath of the low sodium version of Claude's BBQ Brisket Marinade Sauce.

Is it okay to continue to let the brisket marinade until we cook it tomorrow? Do we need to cook it today and serve the brisket as leftovers tomorrow? Or do we need to get the brisket out of the marinade, but still cook it tomorrow?


texts:
Is there any way to store avocados, so that if I buy them today from the supermarket (green and unripe), in about a month's time, I will have them just ready and ripe to eat?

[I don't think this is a duplicate, I've looked at the other avocado questions and none seem to answer this specific question.]


texts: Is this normal to happen  it doesn’t happen all the time. Just off and on when using oven


texts:
I bought some packed almonds and soaked them in water for about 24 hours. I then removed the water with a sieve, cleaned the bowl and put the almonds back. I covered the bowl with a paper towel and left them for about 48 hours. I then placed them in a plastic container and when I opened it the next day, the almonds were covered with a web-like substance.

Were the almonds infected by fungus? How could this have happened?


texts: Is continuously simmering or refrigerating cooked soup a more effective way to prevent spoilage?

texts:
I've cooked a large pot of soup for myself. I know it'll take me at least 3+ days to drink it, and I don't like to drink it after 4 days because it sometimes smells funny.

I was wondering which would be a more effective way of preserving the soup: continuously simmering it over a few days or refrigerating it?


texts:
So I got hooked onto "advanced" (dunno how to call it correctly) dessert making and that primary comes from two books that I accidentally got hold of:

"Daren Purchese - Sweet studio"

"Cheryl Wakerhauser - Modern French Pastry".

Now I would like to dig deeper into this subject. Since I'm not an English native speaker, How can I find similar books that are more advanced than a regular dessert cookbook (e.g. they require use of molds, use spray guns, etc.). Maybe this field has a specific name?


texts:
Fish seems to be one of the food items that is much better with fresh ingredients than frozen.

Why is this?

If I want to shop frozen food for my freezer, what should I buy?

Looking for

Very delicious end result
and/or Good result for the price
and/or types of fish where the frozen version is OK compared to the fresh one.

I was thinking mostly in terms of species of fish, but I see other threads mentions the quality of the freezing process.  Should I perhaps just try some species with a quality producer?

This is in Europe.

I am of course referring to frozen fish and fresh fish as you would buy it in shops.


texts: Do I need to boil filled jam/chutney jars?

texts:
I want to start making chutneys/jams at home, but am unsure of exactly how to proceed. Friends I've spoken to
have said to sterilize the jars, then just put the hot jam/chutney in, and some online recipes seem to say this too - http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/7565/marrow-and-ginger-jam . There are also a good number of recipes which need an extra step- boiling the sealed jars (eg: http://www.freshpreserving.com/guides/IntroToCanning.pdf ).

Is one method better than the other? Does it depend on the recipe? Ideally I want the least amount of hastle (ie: boiling the jars after filling)


texts:
My first attempt (RAW BEETS) - large mason jars, 2 tbsp sea salt, water up to 1" below lid.  After a week I opened the lid to "burp" the gas out, but there was nothing, no fizz, just dead beets in room temperature water.  I got sketched out and threw them out.

2nd try (COOKED BEETS)- I tried using 2 tbsp whey which I rendered from yogurt plus a tbsp of sea salt, after 3 days, same thing, no gas or fizz just warm salty dead beets.

My house is always at 70 degrees.

I am very disappointed. I have had great success with carrots in the past.

any insight would be appreciated.


texts: I made a delicious yogurt/cream/mint/garlic sauce the other day but the presentation was less than becoming.  I simply roasted some garlic and mixed the rest of the ingredients together.  I used very little cream because I didn't want the yogurt to get runny (or be too fattening).  what's a good trick to make a velvety smooth yogurt based dip?


texts: How to make celery root dish without parmesan?

texts:
I've used a recipe before (can't find it anymore, sorry) where I steamed sticks of celery root. The ingredients I remember are garlic (whole cloves steamed together with the celery), probably a small amount of water or vegetable broth and butter - or perhaps olive oil - (for the steaming) and Parmesan sprinkled over in the end. After steaming in a small amount of liquid covered with parchment until tender the vegetables were removed and the resulting broth cooked until thick and used as a glace.

My question is, what could I do to be able to cook this if I don't have Parmesan. As the dish does have a strong flavour on its own I think it would be OK but is there perhaps something (nondairy, non-meat, not from a special shop) I could substitute with? I am concerned with what would complement the tastes, not necessarily finding replica Parmesan taste in another product.
I want this to taste great, not just be edible!
Thanks


texts:
I have never cooked for myself and have just tried to cook split pea soup in a slow cooker. I tasted it after 3 hours and it had no taste at all. I simply put dry peas (pre split) in with water and a little salt.

What can I do to enhance the flavour?


texts: How to bake cake and pastries without oven?

texts: I don't have an oven and I am not planning to purchase one but there are lots of recipe that need an oven. My question is, is there any way I can get the same functionality on a gas burner stove by some use of utensil or trick or hack!


texts: I have left my cast iron pan on the heat for 2 1/2 hrs. How do I stop the release of black on paper towel and when first cooked onions?

texts: I left my empty cast iron pan on the stove top for 2 1/2 hrs.  My problem is not a rusty residue, but black that continues to wipe off. What can I do? I have washed with steel wool, rinsed well, but when I wiped with oil, the paper towel continues to wipe black.


texts: Is it incorrect when someones says you can lower acidity with sweetness?

texts:
It is commonly known that if your food is too acidic, you lower the acidity of the food by adding something sweet. Is this correct?

Acidity can me measured by pH. Does the sweet actually raise the pH(less acidic) or does the pH stay the same and the sweet only mask the taste of the acidity.


texts: Pectin vs Agar Agar vs Gelatin for Pate de Fruits

texts:
I was reading up on the difference between Pectin, Agar Agar and Gelatin.
From what I read for use in cooking as thickening or gellatinizing agents there isn't any real or significant difference.

So if I were to make Pate de Fruits or jam or anything that usually would require any one of those three, would it be OK to substitute it for any of the others?


texts: How to make shelf-stable chocolate milk?

texts:
Based on online reading, it seems like decreasing PH to < 4.5 is the way to reduce spore-former activity.

Is it possible to decrease the pH of milk without significantly affecting its taste and not letting it curdle?

I have thought about using an emulsifier to potentially prevent curdling, and am thinking about various kinds of acid (gluconic/lactic) that may be less strong in taste than citric. Any suggestions?


texts: How do I prevent food from sticking to a standard (non-coated) pan?

texts:
On cooking shows I always see cooks using ordinary pans without non-stick coatings, and nothing ever seems to stick to their pans.  But when I try the same recipes at home, my food always sticks.

What can I do to prevent sticking?


texts: How should I make jam out of coffee cherries or coffee cherry husks?

texts:
I would like to make a jam (or perhaps more like a preserve/conserve or even marmalade; see this question for distinction) out of either

the entire, whole coffee cherry (a.k.a. coffee berry; beans and all), or
the skin and pulp of coffee cherries (i.e., the flesh of the fruit -- everything except for the beans. Often discarded from "normal" coffee production, these skin, pulp, and pectin remnants seem to be called "husks", which sounds a little odd or misleading; thanks to @Jefromi for articulating this).

Edit: I tried to clarify the usage of fruit and husks; I'm trying to use the canonical terms as best as I understand them.

A bit of background for completeness: coffee beans (really seeds) grow inside a fruit that grows on the coffee tree. This fruit of the coffee tree is commonly called a coffee cherry or coffee berry, (looking a bit like a red cranberry or cherry when ripe). There are good pictures on that linked Wikipedia page, and a botanical diagram at wikia.

I found a source of dried coffee cherry husks (i.e., the dried skin and pulp of the fruit). In general, one can infuse these husks (or the whole, dried fruits), as a tisane, to make coffee cherry tea (also called cascara, or qishr -- see another Coffee.SE question for more on coffee cherry tea). I haven't (yet?) found any source of whole coffee cherries, so I intend to start with the husks (dried skin and pulp only). I could even consider gelling the brewed coffee-cherry tea as a jelly, if all else fails.

My questions are:

Has anyone (around here) made jam/preserves with coffee cherries or the pulp/husks?
Does anyone know the properties of coffee cherry fruit/husks, as pertain to jam-making? E.g., natural pectin content, if the skin/pulp is starchy or totally inedible, or other relevant factors.
Are there any traditional methods for doing this? E.g., recommended sugars to use, recommend gelling agents (pectin, agar, gelatine, ...), how to prepare the coffee fruit/husks for use, etc.

The credit for this question (and my obsession therewith) goes entirely to @EricPlaton over at Coffee.SE, by his original question about the topic, with a bit of suggestion by @Jefromi to ask about foodstuff-process-related topics here at SA. It sounds coffee cherry jam is made locally in some coffee-producing countries, so this concept isn't novel; however, prepared jam doesn't seem to be available more broadly.

As a side note, I've had coffee jelly, which is produced using (conventional, roasted, brewed) coffee and agar or gelatine, but that is not what I'm asking about. I'm also not here talking about using the roasted or un-roated beans themselves, which might be a separate, fascinating (to me) topic...


texts:
So I'm looking to make some simple syrups (lavender, basil, etc...).  In looking around I see that making 1:1 syrups via the "hot" process it should safely last two weeks and up to a month.

If I were to get a vacuum sealer, would that preserve it longer?  This would be a resealable system, not a one time seal process.   If the vacuum sealer would be effective what product specifically would do so?

Preliminary I was looking at this one:  http://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-T03-0023-01-Wide-Mouth-Jar-Sealer/dp/B00005TN7H

Perhaps there is something better or perhaps this is not meant for liquids.


texts:
On the mayonnaise episode of Good Eats, Alton Brown recommends letting homemade mayo sit at room temperature for 4-8 hours before refrigerating. The idea is to let the acid in the mayo kill any bacteria that might have been in the egg yolk. Sound crazy, I know, but I'm not the only one who saw it, so I'm pretty sure that he really did say that. AB has a pretty good track record, so I'm inclined to believe him, but I haven't been able to find similar advice anywhere else -- even Harold McGee fails to mention it.

Is there any evidence to support this idea? And is the acid in lemon juice or vinegar really so much less effective at 38 degrees F than at 68F that it makes sense to bother?


texts: Is my 3 years old loose leaf tea safe for me to drink?

texts:
I have some cinnamon orange tea in my kitchen that has been sitting there for 3 years. Would it still be safe to drink?

It is in a container with a lid.


texts: Rolling shop-bought pastry without flour

texts:
Last night I got a block of frozen shortcrust pastry out of the freezer as I'm planning on making a pie tonight.

It has just occurred to me that to roll it out, I'll need flour, and I don't have any!

Is there any way that I can roll pastry out without using flour? Or is my only option to go to the supermarket on the way home and buy some?


texts: freezing cooked turkey, ham and chicken slices

texts: I am having a large gathering and I want to do a lot of the prep in advance. If I cook the meats, slice and freeze all of the above, then thaw in the fridge before making the sandwiches, will the flavor maintain itself?


texts: Health check on Leafy Tea Kombucha SCOBY

texts:
I am trying to make kombucha using the SCOBY I have with a mix of Darjeeling tea.
Following is the content of it
10 tea-spoon black leafy Darjeeling
2 tea-spoon green leafy Darjeeling

I could see some black spots on my SCOBY but I am not sure whether it is mold or not. Here is the attached image, can anyone make out whether it is still healthy or not
Here is the image of the first batch which looks healthy

The second batch of SCOBY that is under the fermentation process and not sure whether it is healthy


texts: I had this delicious citrus fruit today that I'm having trouble identifying. I think it might be a tangelo, but I'm not sure. It was seedless and had a tangy/sour taste. Unlike a clementine, it did not peel very easily. It came with a delivery of other assorted fruits, so I don't know its geographical origin. In terms of size, it was about as big as a lime (too small to be a regular orange).


texts: Beef Short ribs still chewy after internal temperature reach 201F

texts:
so i currently start to cook beef short ribs on a vertical smoker.
The short ribs i used comes from australian company called hardwicks.
I cook the ribs at 250-285F. Vent are fully opened. Weather is sunny. I marinade them on sweet soy sauce overnight. I use black pepper, cumin powder, paprika powder, onion powder, garlic powder, and sea salt. I spritz them when it reaches 170, and when it hits 190, i wrap it on alumunium foil with some spritz. After hitting 201F i take it out, rest it for an hour, but instead of being butter-like texture, it still chewy.
I don't know how long i cook, i jjst focused on the internal temperature itself.
So does anyone know why it still chewy and not butter-like when it cutted?
Thanks everyone, sorry bcs english is not my first language. Cheers!


texts:
I have a lot of leftover double cream and I was wondering if I could substitute it instead of butter in a biscuit recipe? I know it's a different consistency, so there would have to be some calculations on it - but has anyone done it? Can anyone offer any advice!

I was also thinking I could use it in a butter cream filling? Or would that not be possible?

Any advice welcome!


texts: How can I get my bread to be more fluffy and less dense?

texts: I've been making bread for a while now, but I can never get it to rise enough. The bread comes out really dense, so it's not very useful for sandwiches. I give it ten minutes after kneading, bash it down again, then another hour before baking. I've tried adding sugar as well but this hasn't made much impact.


texts: I have a recipe that calls for garlic powder to taste.  Is there any reason why I couldn't use regular garlic?  Is there a time when garlic powder is preferable to garlic?


texts: Is it possible to create the flavour of a food by using the component chemicals?

texts:
For example, if I were able to identify the flavour compounds of bacon or cabbage, could I take just those ingredients and create the flavour?

Is identifying the flavour compounds something that has been done extensively by food scientists?

I realise that food companies have been trying for a long time to create synthetic flavour, but they are presumably trying to do it cheaply for mass production.


texts: How do I prevent burned chicken breasts when cooking on the stovetop?

texts:
Ok I'm going crazy with this. I've tried everything, but no matter what I do, it always results in my chicken breast burning and becoming black. Here is what I usually do:

Grab a chicken breast, wash it with water.

Next, I season it. I usually add salt, pepper, curry, and lemon pepper.

Then I grab a pan and I've tried these things to cook the chicken with:

Olive Oil
Vegetable Oil
Butter

All of them usually result in me burning my chicken. I set the temp at like 5.5/10 on the knob, so that it takes its time and doesn't burn. What am I doing wrong and what should I do instead?


texts: How can I keep ingredients cold while camping?

texts:
I am going camping tomorrow and I was looking for campfire recipes. People use hot dogs, bacon, cheese and other stuff regularly for campfire cooking. But these ingredients must be kept cold.

How do you carry these kinds of items with you? I thought about one of those coolers where you put a block of ice and it keeps cool, but those things are only for a few hours. How do you keep stuff cool on a multi day trip?

EDIT: Just got back from the trip. I used a cooler. It was wonderful. Tilapia, chicken breasts and eggs stayed nicely in the cooler for 2 days.


texts: Is it safe to keep house hold chemicals bottles near food shelves - after all if one is careful enough not to add them accidentally to food while cooking ? Or are they volatile and will settle on our food items ?


texts: Oil constantly smoking. What is happening?

texts: Even on an medium low temperature! And it is refined sunflower oil. It also happens with butter and other types of oil. I've been using the exact same oils and cooking on the same heat in the past and this has never happened before, but now it happens every time regardless of the type of oil or heat. And it is always a different pan. The only thing I can think of is that the stove is adding more heat than it should. What do you guys think?


texts: How can I cold smoke without any of the equipment?

texts:
I need to cold smoke a whole leg of lamb for a few hours. I have a barbecue and plenty of space, but none of the equipment for cold smoking.
What can I do? I'm looking for a quick, simple, one-off solution


texts:
I just tried my first batch of vinegar pickles and chose what is supposedly a high-quality, accurately diluted apple cider vinegar with an acidity of 5%. I followed a very basic recipe which called to dilute that with an equal amount of water when making the brine, which I did. According to the recipe I used, and also according to the official Ball guide on pickling, that should have produced a mellow taste and allowed the spices and garlic I included to really show through.

However, everything just tastes and smells like vinegar, even two weeks later.

According to the recipe and to Ball, I did everything right and should have ended up with a nice, simple, somewhat spicy batch of pickles. But the overwhelming vinegar flavor makes me think I probably chose the wrong vinegar. Is there a better one I should be using? Should I dilute it further next time?


texts: Should I throw away moldy Strawberries or just cut the bad parts off? They aren't super bad but I am a little paranoid when it comes to mold.


texts: As from the title, what is Bearnaise sauce thickened by? There are a few different ingredients in bearnaise sauce that helps in thickening such as egg yolks, but how is it thickened and what other ingredients are there that is considered as a thickening agent?


texts: How do I prevent crust formation when proofing pizza dough?

texts: While proofing, the crust can appear on the dough balls if in contact with air (oxygen). I tried preventing by damp cloth but it still happens. The only thing that works 100% is plastic foil wrap, but that would prevent the dough from rising. I'd like to proof for long time this time, so it is even more important to get that technique right.


texts:
I am cooking a brisket in a pot with water and vegetables, on a stove top.

I meant to leave it on a slow simmer, so that it would get very soft. About 2 hours after I started cooking it, after having left the room for a while, I found it in a rolling boil.

The meat was no longer pink or red, but a grayish-brown well-done colour, and tasted cooked but was a little tough.  Will it get softer if I cook it longer on a slow simmer?


texts: What to do if bread dough became hard in the refrigerator

texts: I kept bread dough in the refrigerator overnight covered with wet cloth. The next morning I noticed that my bread dough had become hard and caked up. Please help, what shall I do to soften it. What can I do with that dough? Will my bread be soft if I bake it?


texts: What are the effects of thawing food at low temperatures?

texts:
Context: I am a member of staff at a supermarket where customers within supermarkets frequently "dump" refrigerated/fresh items into freezers. As far as I am aware, the options I have to me for dealing with these dumped items are as follows:

Thawing the (partially/entirely) frozen item within the back-area chillers and selling as normal
Thawing the (partially/entirely) frozen item within the back-area chillers and reducing the price of the item, as we currently do with lesser-quality food items (eg poor cuts of meat, superficially damaged packaging or multi-pack items that are missing an item or two)
Discarding the item as not-fit-for-human-consumption

Background reading indicates that for most products - assuming that the food does not defrost within the "danger zone" (above 40f) - the main concern with thawing these items relates to food quality rather than food safety as the freeze-thaw cycle will damage the food's internal cell-structure.

This leads me to believe that option #2 is the best balance for avoiding excessive wastage and ensuring customer safety but these thoughts are based on extremely limited reading material and passing the smell-test of what "makes sense".

Please confirm the "best practices" / safety guidelines relating to this scenario and provide information on the caveats / what to look out for.

Many thanks


texts: Can you cook hot dishes with pickled onions?  I've never seen a recipe which uses them hot, is this just because they don't taste good hot?  What hot dishes might be appropriate to put pickled onions in?


texts: When I scrape out the seeds out of my vanilla beans and simmer them with milk or incorporate them into batter, they always leave little tell-tale black dots in the finished product. Is it possible to filter them out somehow and is it something commonly done in the professional kitchen? I don't think I remember seeing these dots in restaurant desserts. It's not critical, but I'd rather my panna cotta be pristine white :-).


texts:
I’m using a recipe that includes a can of tomato soup but i don’t know how much to use. I can’t find cans of it because I use cardboard boxes for it.
How much is in a can of tomato soup in milliliters or cups?


texts: Sometimes when baking the dough will quickly climb up one or both dough hooks of my handheld mixer and even end up in the machine if I'm not careful. Why is this? Is the dough too sticky, are the dough hooks turning too fast, is it something else?


texts: What is a good mortar and pestle crushing technique?

texts:
You'd think using mortar and pestle would be pretty straightforward, yet when I try to make pesto half of time is spent spooning the stuff that sticks to the pestle and shuffling around the contents inside the mortar so they don't spill over.

This serious eats video makes using one look so easy. If I tried to use my Ikea granite M&P like that video all the contents would spill over.


texts: How to deal with foul fishy odor of frozen shrimp

texts:
Note: I can't actually cook, I am just trying to learn to roughly assemble and heat things. Explain things to me like I know nothing.
A few weeks ago I decided to try out cooking some shrimp for myself. I planned to start off simple: cut out the veins, boil, and panfry. So, I bought a few meals' worth of shrimp and froze them. Over the last few weeks I've defrosted the portions and tried cooking them as planned.
Every time I noticed a foul fishy odor in the defrosted shrimp that made me gag. When I cooked it, I learned that it did not go away like the lighter ocean smell of fish. Overseasoning could not make the smell or taste go away. I have noticed this in some cod before, but it wasn't nearly as consistent as this batch of shrimp.
What on earth is that smell? Did the shrimp go bad? If it did, was it bad when I bought it or because I froze it? If not, what should I have done to get rid of that foul odor?


texts: Everyday drink that won't destroy my teeth/shoot up my sugar

texts:
I have this weird thing where I find it very hard to drink still water, as in it scares me to do so (yeah I know it doesn't make a lot of sense but bear with me) so I drink anything but. So to down food everyday I drink coke, fizzy water, beer and especially juices. Now, my dentist complains to no end that this is bad for my teeth and she's even threatened not to treat me unless I fix the root cause. Which I understand 100%. However in the meantime I have to drink something, so...

I barely drink coke as it's extremely sugary and acidic which is terrible for the enamel (and can't be good for my overall health either). So I switched to fizzy water (fizzy drinks go down easily, water or otherwise, for some reason) but that's bad for your teeth as well. Fruit "juice" isn't good either. (note quotes, stuff from the shop isn't really juice, it's probably more like sugary water). Tea is hot and anyway it's meant to be had afterwards, so it's out as well.

So, my question is, is there any drink at all besides still water that can be had everyday which won't destroy my teeth and/or get me killed earlier than necessary? Preferably something that can be bought, though I'm not sooo lazy that I won't prepare it myself if I have to.

EDIT: the main reason I'm asking this is that I can't really drink plain water. as in, it kind of comes back up when I try to drink it (but only if it's plain water and only when I am not 1000% thirsty) (yeah it's weird). it's not quite that I'm addicted to sugar and I want to knock it off.


texts: Weird white ball/crystal like formations on RXbar

texts: I am a fan of RX bars and have been eating them for a while now, but I've never seen something like this before. After browsing through the internet, I'm wondering if this is related to 'sugar bloom' on chocolate or sugar crystals that form on old dates, since both chocolate and dates are ingredients for these bars. I am wondering if I have to throw these all out or can eat them. I unpacked two of these bars in a set of 20 bars, so I really don't want to throw them out but I don't want to eat something that will do me no good. Most of these form on the packaging and towards one of the corners only, and there are only very few that are actually attached to the bar. Here are pictures for reference:


texts: Substitute for vegetable oil in brownies

texts: I'm cooking brownies; I have put everything together, and then find out I have no vegetable oil. What can I use to substitute for it?


texts:
A friend of mine got into a discussion about how awesome it would be to have really spicy Jelly for a number of things, or atleast just to try the taste.

It didn't seem like there was anything that would specifically make this impossible so I ask:

Is it possible to make Jalapeno jelly, and if so, what would I need to do to make it?


texts: Do I have to adjust anything to add seeds to bread?

texts:
I have a go-to recipe for Honey-Oat Pain de Mie. I'd like to add about 1/2 cup total of combined sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Since I do bake it in a Pain de Mie pan,

I'll pull a small dinner roll's worth of dough just to make up for the increased overall volume.

Do I need to adjust anything else? Will the seeds affect how the bread bakes?


texts: Freezing Mashed Potatoes - any way to prevent drying out?

texts: I am making shepherd's pie soon for freezing, and have been given conflicting advice regarding freezing the mash potato topping. I've been told both to freeze only the mince base and make the mash fresh (but as these meals are neede for quick heating and cooking that might be counter -productive) or to freeze the whole thing, but that the mash will be drier once defrosted. Has anyone any tips on freezing mash potato, or reheating it, that would prevent this? would cooking straight from frozen rather than defrosting first, make any difference?


texts: How to stop sushi nori tasting too strong?

texts:
Vegetarian here (who doesn't eat fish), I love sushi and I've made it a few times at home and the technique is relatively pain free but the taste is just... off.

From a shop, usually Yo-Sushi or recently Wasabi (which is an amazing oriental place I might add.) - it's delicious. The sea/fishy flavour of the nori is perfectly balanced but when I make it at home all it tastes of is seaweed. It feels like I'm licking an eel it's so damn strong.

How do I make the nori have less flavour? It completely over powers everything and by the time I'm finished I feel sick from the strong taste. It's not so bad the next day after it's been in the fridge but there must be something I'm doing wrong?

The nori I buy is from the supermarket and I believe it's Kikoman branded, I have some more authentic imported stuff sitting in the cupboard which I haven't used yet. Could it simply be that the stuff from the shop isn't fresh? Having said that I've had to wait for my sushi to be made and it was still delicious, so perhaps the nori I bought was just different?


texts: What term should i use to describe the taste intensity of a crop?

texts:
I am making a questionnaire about food and one of things people can rate is the taste intensity or taste strength of a vegetable/fruit/nut etc. Right now i just call it taste intensity and people can rate it from 1 to 10. Strawberry has a very rich taste so i would probably give that a high taste intensity score whereas a cucumber tastes very watery so i would give it a low score.

So is there a term that describes 'taste intensity'?

Edit: This is my full rating survey.


texts: Can over proofed dough be harmful to breathe in?

texts: I work night shift in a bakery and the people before me always leave unused dough in the mixer. Who knows for how many hours, but during that same day. It's a dough made from dry yeast. One night I went to scrape it out and got a strong spoiled yeasty smell that came from it, almost knocking me to the floor. The other bakers said it was fine and that the dough is still usable for baking bread, but I'm not sure. Is leaving dough in a mixer for hours a health hazard? Does the smell indicate a health hazard?


texts:
I have plans to make a roasted vegetable soup. The tentative list of veggies (that need roasting) is: sweet peppers, onions, carrots, garlic, zuchini (maybe), small weird purple potatoes.

I've roasted potatoes and garlic before, but usually I do them separately, for different dishes. Ideally, I'd throw all of these in the oven and roast them at once (more efficient than one batch at a time), though I don't know if that will work: Do different vegetables need different temperatures and durations for roasting? If so, what's the optimal temperature/time?

I was very roughly estimating 375F for all of the above, for an hour, but I don't know if that will work or not. Any suggestions as to the most efficient way to roast all of these? I have a small toaster oven that can help, if it's just not feasible to do them all at once.


texts: What counts as "anaerobic" re: botulism?

texts:
I've always heard that C. botulinum needs an "anaerobic" environment to grow.  But what exactly counts as that?

Presumably stuff like sous vide bags.  Or oil (like in herbs under oil).  Seems fairly clear.

But then I read this in a 2011 Harold McGee column (http://www.curiouscook.com/site/2011/08/bending-the-rules-on-bacteria-new-york-times.html):

  One such spore-forming bacterium is Clostridium botulinum, which can
  grow in the oxygen-poor depths of a stockpot, and whose neurotoxin
  causes botulism.

So what other not-obviously-anaerobic environments can C. botulinum live in?  The center of a casserole?  In the middle of an hunk of solid meat or plant?


texts:
I would like my shortbread to have more of a "crunch" snap to it; to also allow it to travel and not get damaged.

Is it too obvious to say cook for longer, or do I need to add more flour?
My recipe is as follows:  1034g flour, 924g butter, 462g caster sugar and 264g corn startch.  Oven temp 150 for 45min.  I am then cutting them into fingers.


texts: What does flushing mussels in water with flour do?

texts:
On Serious Eats, I read the following comment under a recipe:

  Why not flush before cooking? The correct spelling and translation, meuniere, means mussels a le miller’s wife. Because they add a bit of flour to the flush water before cooking.

For clarity, this is the comment I refer to:

If I understand correctly, the comment refers to soaking mussels in water with flour before cooking them. The water is often used to get the mussels to release some unwanted things in their shells, but I'm not sure what the flour does.

After searching a bit, found that Meunière is a French technique for cooking fish. It involves drenching the fish in flour to fry them afterward. That makes sense as the flour, some fat, and the high temperature make some sort of crust or roux.

When cooking mussels, however, there's liquid during the cooking to prevent reaching that high temperature. I've found that a roux cooks at temperatures upward of 300°F (~150°C), which the steam will not reach.

So my question is, what does the flour do when adding them to the mussels' soaking water? Is there any benefit, perhaps to the resulting stock (the linked recipe uses the stock for the sauce, but doesn't use flour)?


texts: Does temperature of water affect carbonation process

texts:
For sake of the question:

I'm using a Sodastream brand
I like max carbonation
Normally, I use cold water from my Brita pitcher out of the refrigerator

Sodastream's FAQ states:

However, we do recommend using COLD water to achieve best results.

I suspect that best results means max carbonation, and I should use cold water. Or a conspiracy theorist could suggest their lawyers promote cold water so fewer machines will blow up. Or maybe it has something to do with flavor..
Anyway, just curious about this. I don't have the physics pedigree to know the answer.


texts: I am from Gujarat,India.at restaurants in my city,they provide raw sliced onion as condiment.it tastes really sweet and not at all pungent. How can I remove pungency from onion?I tried soaking them in cold water but they become wet and I just want them dry.


texts: Is it safe to eat the white “dots” in peaches?

texts:
As you can see there are white "dots" where the seed used to be.

Is it OK to eat them?
What are they, anyway? (I was worried they're some parasite or disease of the fruit)


texts: Need to remove germ from garlic or onion?

texts: My mate always tells me to remove the germ (the center) from garlic and onions, especially if it's turning green. What are the pros and cons of the germs of these plants?


texts:
Let's say I whip a bowl of cream manually at a slow paced ~3-4 beats per second. The cream would be ready whipped after say 10-15 minutes.

Then I whip an identical bowl of cream at a faster pace of around 6-8 beats per second. The cream would be ready quicker, maybe in 3-5 minutes.

Does this mean if I whip the same bowl of cream with 100 beats per second, it would almost instantly turn into whipped cream? (maybe butter, but let's leave that out of the equation).

I guess it boils down to a somewhat obscured question about the chemistry and mechanics behind the cream whipping, which governs how fast cream turns into whipped cream.

Cheers


texts: I have a Kenmore stove, model number 911-735-9180. My burners are working fine (they click to turn on) but my oven does not work. I push the bake setting and it does not heat up although my broiler works fine.


texts: How to spread peanut butter that is required to stay refrigerated?

texts:
I recently bought some "natural" crunchy peanut butter from Harris Teeter. Other than natural my only other description is the oil rises to the top when it isn't stirred for a while. There is a very large message on the top that says:

Refrigerate after opening

However, I mainly use peanut butter for PBJ sandwiches and I cannot spread the peanut butter while its cold. I could set it out for a while, but that seems against the message on the jar.

Is there some secret to spreading this peanut butter when it must be kept in the refrigerator?

Even if you don't have to refrigerate I would like to know how to spread it. I live by myself and it could take 6 months to empty the jar, so refrigeration would help it last longer.


texts: Strawberry & Raspberry jam discoloration

texts: For about 3 yrs i have been using a jam/jelly maker. After a few months of storage, the strawberry&raspberry discolor. I do follow the canning bath directions. The only thing I do not follow is I decrease sugar to 1/2 or 1 cup (vs directions of 2cups). I have tried bottled lemon juice as directions say. Still discolors after 3-4 months. I have my water tested and it always passes the test. I water bath the jars after filling for 10 min as recommended. I’m at a loss and wonder if I’m overlooking something? I appreciate any thoughts!


texts: Is "blooming" cocoa necessary in baked goods?

texts:
I've read that dissolving cocoa in hot liquids is supposed to make it release its flavors and make it taste more chocolate-y.  This sounds useful for things like frostings or no-bake cookies, but does it make a difference if you're going to cook the final product (eg. chocolate cake)?

I tried an A/B test with chocolate cupcakes, but none of the tasters could tell there was a difference.  Did I mess up my test or is there really no difference?


texts: Why is the meat closer to the bones tastes better?

texts:
I like to bake (roast?) whole chicken and whole ducks. I noticed that the best meat is always the meat the is closest to the bone (whether or not this meat is close or far away from the skin). The meat closer to the bone is more juicy and more tasty. Why is that?

Is it because those muscles have a different physiology? Is it because the bones release delicious fats (or something else) that accumulate in the nearby meat?

Is it a general observation that also apply to red meat?


texts: What fruit pair well with spinach? This is for a cold spinach-based salad rather than cooked spinach, but I'd be interested in warm spinach too.


texts:
When I make small batches, 1-2 half pints at a time, they turn out perfect with great set and texture.

However when I make regular batches of 8 half pints, they have bad set and contain gritty granules of pectin. I use LM low sugar pectin, about 8-12 tbsp. per batch. I mix in the pectin with cool water and boil to dissolve the pectin, then I add the mixture to the cooking jam.

But it never works, and the set is poor and the pectin only half dissolves, leaving the granules.

I have tried adding the pectin mixture with just the cool fruit and also in the cooking jam, but it doesn't work. I have found the former is a little more effective. Does anyone know what the issue might be? How can I fix it?


texts:
I followed all of the tips.  Prime sirloin, taken out an hour before cooking.  Salted thoroughly 30 minutes prior.  Patted dry with paper towels.  Thrown on a high (650) degree grill for two minutes per side, finished on low for 3 minutes per side (internal temp was still about 400).  Rested 10 minutes.

Results:  Good sear, beautiful medium-rate insides.  Plenty of juice.  Enough salt.

Problem: the exterior was almost like bark.  It wasn't scorched or burnt, but just really really dry.

What was the misstep?


texts:
Because different rice varieties have different cooking times, I find it hard sometimes not to over/under cook them. I do it in two ways:

Boil off all the excess water, and fluff it with a fork.
Boil with excess water, and drain it afterwards.

What are the major differences between these two. I have noticed that method 1 produces more thick consistency, while method 2 is more soggy. Also, draining takes time, and I think the rice is losing some essential stuff (starch, maybe?). The problem with method 1 is that if I don't keep an eye on it, the rice might burn and stick to the bottom of the pan. Is there a right way to do it? Are there any methods other than these two to cook rice?


texts: Is it safe to use a HydroFlask (vacuum flask) with scratches on the inside?

texts:
When I was washing my HydroFlask out before the first use, I put a wet paper towel on the inside of the bottle and used the handle of wooden spoon to push the towel around the very bottom. When I took the towel back out, I noticed a new crescent-shaped blemish/discoloration from where I was sliding the towel with the spoon handle and this blemish will not come out. Upon further inspection, this blemish does appear to be an actual scratch, as water drops stick to it when they don't stick anywhere else on the interior of the bottle.

I am really shocked that such an action would have scratched it in the first place, as the wooden handle never came in direct contact with the bottle. There were several layers of wet paper towel between it and the bottle interior.

Does this scratch compromise the integrity or safety of the bottle? Like will the finish start to wear away and get into the liquid contents of the bottle?


texts: How can I improve rich taste of spiced milk tea?

texts:
I don't have experience in preparing milk tea. I do have good previous experiences with preparing lemon tea, ice tea and black tea. I mostly used to drink black tea or lemon tea, but nowadays I have started enjoying milk tea.

I tried to prepare it by several procedure and also googled for the methods of spiced tea but I still am not getting the desired results. Nobody seem to like the tea prepared by me. I need to prepare tea almost every morning and evening so I would like to understand where and what I am doing wrong.

Here is recipe I am currently using :

  1.Boil water and afterwards add milk to boiling water let it boil to 4-5 mins(equal amount of milk and water quantity).

  2.Add adequate amount of tea leaves(loose tea) to the boiling solution.

  3.After 5 mins, add sugar to it(as per taste) and tea spice/(ginger and basil leaves).

  4.Serve it after straining tea leaves from sieve.

When I make the tea, I always find it tasteless. Mostly I find that the rich milk taste isn't good enough. It has a brownish color and the smell of tea seems to be ruined. It still has fragrance but nowhere near as much as I am expecting from best quality tea leaves I am using.

Can any one suggest what I can do to improve my cup of milk tea? Are only certain types of tea leaves applicable to this method of tea making? Are there any steps I can take to maximize the rich milky flavor of my tea?Is boiling tea leaves more than adequate time may have negative impact to its essential oils, flavor and color?


texts: Baking flour and sour cream -US /UK terms

texts: What is the UK equivalent of US 'baking flour' and does the term 'sour cream' describe the same product in both countries?


texts:
For cooking it would be great to have a self made sub-product from ginger, but:

if refrigerated, you get rather something like thin ginger juice
I don't like the Asia shop variant where they put lots of salt

Any other ideas or well established experiences?

The goal: to find the optimum between "as long as possible" and "as fresh as possible".


texts: How do I butter popcorn without making it soggy?

texts:
I've tried buttering my popcorn in the past, and it always turns out inconsistent. A few pieces will be soaked with butter, and others have no butter on them at all.

Perhaps there is a way to get the butter flavoring without drizzling butter on after popping the kernels?


texts: Does chopping vegetables remove vitamins?

texts:
I hear some chefs saying on TV: "Don't cut your vegetables in the salad too small, because the smaller you cut them the more vitamins are lost."

Is that true?
and if it was really true, what is a way to make vegetables keep their vitamins while being cut into small pieces, becasue I like salads to be eaten when each vegetable slice is around a bite in size.


texts: What could hair-like protrusions from a banana's surface be?

texts:
I was peeling a banana, and noticed thin, hair-like protrusions coming from the stem-side top of the fruit. There were only 5 or 6, and they were sticking straight up, about an inch in height.

At first, I thought one of my own hairs had fallen onto it, until I looked closer, and noticed there were several of them.  One, which was slightly thicker than the others, was moving back and forth within the fruit. The others appeared to be moving as well; however, this could have been due to a draft.

Could these have been worms? Most of the objects were as thin as a spider web, except for the thicker one, which was about the width of a human hair, and were quite obvious with a quick glance.  I eat bananas often, and I have never seen the like before.

NOTE:  I picked up three bananas of varying ripeness; two of them have been like this. The third is at home, so I have not checked it yet.


texts: In a restaurants' kitchen in SC, is it DHEC approved to store raw meat next to ready to eat food?

texts: In a cold table, is it dhec approved to hold raw meat up top next to ready to eat food, provided they have lids.  There is a 3-4 inch steel spacer in between each top holding area.  It would not be above the ready to eat food in any way, and the way the table is designed, splashing is not likely. If anyone could refer me to the specific law that would be great as well.  Thanks.


texts: vacuum sealed kielbasa in a hot car for 18 hours - is it still good?

texts: I bought vacuum sealed kielbasa yesterday about 6:30 pm. It must have fallen out of the bag in my very hot car and I didn't notice until about 11:45 the next day...Is it still good?


texts: It calls for wheat.  is wheat germ the same?  If I can use wheat germ - the recipe says to soak the wheat in cold water overnight, would this be necessary with wheat germ?


texts: Why does my bread ferment in the middle?

texts:
I had been making bread reliably for a few years until we moved (from Sweden to Austria) six months ago. Suddenly, any loaf I make rots within a few days in the bread bin. Specifically, it goes soft and moist in the centre (the crust stays fine) and it starts to smell like rotting grapes.

I have tried:

Swapping the flour. I have tried various kinds and qualities.
Swapping the yeast (I use instant yeast)
Baking longer (at 230°C)
Changing the bread bin for a large tupperware with the lid very loose. In Sweden I did not have a bread bin, so I kept bread in a plastic bag, but we never had rotten bread.
Making sure the bread is completely cool before placing in the bread bin.

Can anyone suggest where I might be going wrong?


texts: Will potatoes discolor if I pre-make scalloped potatoes?

texts: I'm planning to make scalloped potatoes with russet potatoes and cream and cheese.  If I prepare and assemble the dish in the evening, can I store it (covered in the refrigerator) overnight and bake it the next day?  Will the potatoes discolor or soften in the cream?


texts: I have a Panasonic SD253 breadmaker. The function chart shows 2hr 55min - 4hr 10min rising times available for the French Bake program.  How do I make sure it rises for the full 4hr 10 mins?


texts: Can I make my own pizza dough and cook it in the microwave? Is there any chance that I could reach acceptable results?


texts: Help with what to bake leftover cake batter in

texts: I have a Jubliee bundt pan that is only 10 cups, but my recipe is for a bundt pan at least 12 cups.  I've only made the recipe once and it turned out great.  But since I insisted in using as much of the batter as would fit in the pan, it overflowed while baking.  I cut the overflow off and ate it separately, but I'd like to make it next time where it doesn't overflow.  Since the recipe uses a box mix as the base and alters the ingredients you add, it's not a good idea to cut the recipe by 1/4 (not only would I have to figure out what 3/4 of the box mix would be, I'd have to use 3/4 of an egg!).  My thought is to make the batter and the filling but only use 3/4 of it for the bundt pan.  Any thoughts on what size pan or how many cupcakes I could make with the remaining batter?  You can find the recipe here:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chocolate-irish-car-bomb-cake/


texts: What can I do with my failed tomato canning attempt?

texts:
Yesterday I canned a batch of tomatoes, chunked.  This morning when I inspected the jars, they all appeared to be sealed.  This evening upon inspecting the jars, I found one was no longer sealed.  I believe I broke the seal while checking the jar.

So what are my options with this failed jar of tomatoes?  Can I attempt to recan them or cook them up still?  It has been about 24 hours since removal from the water bath.


texts: Can one use SOS pad on Gotham frying pan?

texts: Stains remaining in frying pan after cooking meat that sticks to the pan. I have tried SOS pads, is that okay?


texts: Can I change the flour type of my sourdough starter?

texts:
I started my sourdough starter with rye flour.

But after some months I continued feeding it with wheat flour. I feel like there is less life inside than before.

Might it be due to the change in flour or must there be some other reason?


texts:
I made two kinds of cupcakes recently from Who You Callin' Cupcake? and both of them collapsed in the center.

The cupcake that collapsed the most was the Devil's Food Cupcake. This contained:

all-purpose flour
sugar
cocoa powder
baking soda
salt
canola oil
vinegar
vanilla
hot coffee

I baked them in a dark cupcake pan with white paper liners. Why did this collapse and how can I stop this?


texts: How long can frosting with butter, powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, and milk, that is covered with fondant be left out of the refrigerator?

texts:
I'm making a 9x13 chocolate cake, frosted with a vanilla buttercream, (not filled) and covered with black Fondarific fondant.

Here's the ingredients for the frosting:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1-2 cups confectioners sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon vanilla
up to 2 tablespoons milk

The cake is going to be finished tonight, and eaten tomorrow afternoon. Is it safe to leave it out of the fridge?


texts:
I never ate fish, I always disliked the smell and had a little bit of trauma with my father forcing me to eat it while I was a kid. I had two experiences:

Some years ago, I tried sushi. It doesn't have a strong smell of fish and I found it edible. But there is a very faint smell of fish.
Some days ago, I bought some chips made of Nori algae. They were vegan chips and yet, I felt the same soft smell of fish.

I conjectured that perhaps, part of this smell is common to all things in the sea. Lately, I decided to do indoor farming and when studying about fertilizers, I heard someone saying that "certain fertilizers with phosphorus have a smell of fish and that the sea is rich in phosphorus" so, this seems to be my first guess. I understand that my question is a bit vague.


texts: Chocolate pancakes using melted chocolate

texts:
I have a friend who wants to make American-style chocolate pancakes for breakfast in Mother's Day.
That's alright and there are plenty of recipes laying around, but the thing is she would like to use some bar chocolate she has laying around, melting it and using it in preparing the batter instead of using cocoa.

I've tried to convince her to use the chocolate for other purposes (chocolate chips, making ganache or syrup for the pancakes, using it in other recipes or otherwise saving it for later), but she seems... unbending.

I've found only a couple recipes using melted chocolate in the batter (and they don't have many reviews), but a multitude of well tested/reviewed recipes using cocoa powder.
Is there a reasonable way to adapt recipes using cocoa powder, or should I just tell her it's helpless?

EDIT: The chocolate is milk chocolate (which in my country must contain at minimum 25% cocoa solids), but does not divulge its percentage. Its ingredients are sugar, whole milk powder, cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, vegetable shortening, lactose, cocoa powder, anhydrous milk fat, emulsifiers (soy lecithin and polyglycerol polyricinoleate) and flavouring.
Nutritional information in the image below (quantities per 25g of chocolate).


texts: How do I calculate the nutritional values of a recipe?

texts:
I love to cook and experiment with recipes. While I'm aware that calories are not a perfect measure of what makes you gain weight and what doesn't, I would still love to have a rough idea of the energy values of the dishes I'm preparing, and ideally be able to fiddle with the ingredients just to see what happens to the calorie count.

How would I best approach this?

My vision is that of a tool that

lets you enter a recipe's ingredients and amounts, and can calculate an approximate calorie count for the most common ingredients
ideally, lets you add other ingredients and their energy values?

I know for a fact there is software like this, but all the good products I've seen are for professional diet advisors, nutritional consultants and the like, and tend to be very expensive.

I guess the basic functionality could be achieved with an Excel sheet, but where to get high-quality nutritional data from? Are there industry-standard databases for this?

This question matches mine in the title, but seems to be more about the calorie differences between cooked and raw food, which is not my concern.


texts: Substituting garlic powder for garlic salt?

texts:
I love using garlic powder but I also see recipes call for garlic salt. I thought that you could just add garlic powder instead of garlic salt (which of course is sold separately!) and then just add some actual salt if necessary. What is the difference in doing this as opposed to using store-bought garlic salt?

Thanks!


texts:
In our large commercial kitchen, which is seldom used, how long can we keep the oil in the large tilt braiser that is used for French fries and fried fish?
Can this oil then be disposed of in the floor grease trap?