texts: Why would dipping a cold item in chocolate "help" with tempering?

texts:
I took a chocolate dipping class last week.  The instructors gave us globs of chocolate to temper on a marble surface, and lots of ingredients to coat in the chocolate.  Some ingredients (hard pretzels, graham crackers, marshmallows) were room temperature, and some were refrigerator-cold (strawberries, raspberries).  The instructions said that the chocolate would temper better on the strawberries and raspberries, even if it wasn't well-tempered.

Why would the temperature of the item to dip improve the chocolate's tempering?  Could I exploit this to make the tempering on other ingredients (pretzels, for example) work better?


texts: Remedy a sourdough which used milled red winter wheat

texts: I followed a sourdough recipe that said to use bread flour, I thought a hard red winter wheat ran through our grain mill would suffice if I sifted out the bran... Apparently not. Is there any way to salvage this? The bread just is not wanting to rise at all. I have about 6 cups of wheat and 4 days of work invested in this dough. The dough started out bubbly with a rye base, but after adding the milled winter wheat it slowly began to lose its bubbles.  Maybe there is still microscopic wheat bran that the sifter didn't get... I'm open to any and all suggestions.


texts: Something wrong with pizza dough - 3rd time in a row

texts:
I was pretty sure I had my recipe and method nailed, done tens of pizzas with it but it failed me now for the third time in a row. It's driving me nuts, I had to throw away dough worth 15 pizzas.

The problem is it won't rise as it should.

First the recipe, which I took from popular Italian website and translated. I let it proof for 2 hours.

1/2 kg unbleached all purpose flour
4g dry yeast, half sachet, or 12g normal.
1tsp sugar
11g sea salt, 1tbsp
300 ml Warm water
3tbsp Olive oil

So, why it wouldn't rise is beyond me. What might be the factor?

1) Is it the brand of the yeast? Now I use Red Star, but I used some European before.Both fry yeast in sachets.

2) Too cold or too hot water to let the yeast soak (proof)?

3) Kneading for too long or not long enough?

4) Room temperature for proofing too low? It is winter now, and all the previous attempts were in summer. Although I did place it near the heat source.

Last thing I'm going to do now is I'm going to increase the amount of yeast by 2x, to see what happens. But originally I had to reduce by half from all the US recipes when I found an Italian and it worked much better. I still have to know what has changed in the overall conditions for such a huge difference.

UPDATE

Left it overnight and the dough seems perfect. It just needed more time it looks like.


texts: How can we make crispy fried beetroot chips with a bright red color? I tried several times with or without maïzena in many different temperatures but the result was soft chips or chips with a dark brown color.


texts: Cool bacon wrapped pork loin in slow cooker

texts: Quick question...I found a recipe for a bacon wrapped pork loin in a crock pot. It called for 3 lbs of pork and said to cook on low for 4-5 hours in a crock pot. I was only able to find a 1.4 lb pork loin. Should I still put it in a crock pot for 4-5 hours on low? What is your recommendation and what should the final temp be?


texts: How do I convert a recipe from a stew to use a slow-cooker

texts: How do I convert a recipe given as a slow-boiled stew to a slow-cooker recipe?  I assume that liquid amounts and probably onions and other flavorings need to change.  What are those changes?  What proportions?  Are there particular ingredients I should watch out for?


texts: How does one break long bones for broth?

texts:
When attempting to cook bone broths, what is the correct technique of breaking up long bones which do not fit inside the crock pot?

I can think of hammering or sawing off hand, but both seem to be rather messy techniques. Is there any good method to break off large bones (relatively) safely?


texts: Substitute sugar free maple syrup in baking?

texts:
We're trying to make trailmix chunks. Is it alright to replace sugar free maple syrup (springtree low calorie maple syrup) in baking for this case?

My concern is that the sugar free syrup would break down and isn't a real replacement for the real syrup.

Update:

  Recipe (roughly; as it was just eyeballed previously):

  1 lb pepitas
  1 lb raw diced almonds
  1/2 lb of flaxseeds
  3 cups of cranberries
  2 cups of maple syrup
  Several tablespoons of honey


texts: Can you call the stuffing you put in Turkey "filling"?

texts: They seem a bit similar to me, but a lot of people argue that the answer is "stuffing" and that you can't call it "filling".


texts: How did Cardinal Mazarin give name to a Swedish cake?

texts:
Mazarin is a classic Swedish pastry, well known in neighbouring countries as well in lots of variations. It seems that - as one with a bit of historic background may guess - it is of French origin.

  Mazarin tarts, cakes or pastries are said to have been named after the
  French-Italian cardinal and diplomat Jules Mazarin (1602 - 1661),
  successor of the powerful Cardinal Richelieu.

(Quote from here.)

My wife is running a Finnish bakery where she is baking variations of this cake; however, she couldn't find any more detailed explanation about the origins of this cake and how it is linked to cardinal Mazarin, not even from Swedish sources.

On another forum, I found this:

  i just found another referance to MAZARIN in LAROUSSE GASTRONOMIQUE
  guide , and they say that mazarin is a kind of a genoise cut that is
  shaped like a cone , covered with PINK fondunt and then inserted back
  to the genoise form with candied fruits and a little syrop and apricot
  jam.

Which could fit into the picture, considering Mazarin was born and raised as Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino in Italy (although not in Genova).

Could anyone with a background in French / Italian culinary history shed light on why Cardinal Mazarin's name was given to this cake, as well as how and when it became a favourite in Sweden?


texts: Bought a new pre-seasoned cast iron and not sure if seasoning is good

texts:
Noob on cast iron skillets here.

I've been in love with this type of cooking for a while and just bought yesterday on amazon my first skillet.

It's not a Lodge but a Utopian Kitchen (Chinese manufacturer).

I've used it yesterday for the first time and since it's pre-seasoned I didn't do anything before usage, just a quick wash with cold water.

I've noticed that on the first heating a circle in the skillet appeared. And it's still visible today after cooking some meat yesterday.

I'm not sure if the "circle" means that the pre-seasoning is not "well-done".
By looking at other questions here, a common practice is to season again the skillet.

Is it what I should do in my case?
What are the parameters to evaluate if a seasoning is good or bad?


texts: Is the appetizer of a three-course meal always a salad?

texts:
A dictionary says

  A three-course meal in a local restaurant will not cost more than $10.
  The three-course meal includes an appetizer, entrée, and dessert.
  The first course of the three-course meal is a salad.

It seems to indicate the appetizer of a three-course meal is always a salad, is it true? Is it true just in the U.S.?


texts: i want to know about this strange black thinng which is present inside this banana

texts: what is this strange  black thing inside of this banana is it safe to eat or not if anyone knows about this please let me.i'm worried.


texts: I would like to make a chunky dip using cooked broad beans, olive oil, white vinegar and Parmesan. Would mixing it together, covering and storing it in fridge for several hours in advance, keep the texture and flavours fresh?


texts: What are the keys to leopard-spotting pizza crust?

texts:
What are the most important factors to achieving leopard-spots on pizza cornicione?  I've tried so many different things but still can't get to the level of consistent leopard spots that I've seen others create.  I want a pale crust except very distinct charred leopard spots.  I do not want the whole crust to be brown or charred spots >1".  What am I doing wrong?

Recipe:

500g Antimo Caputo or KA Bread
360g-380g Water (72-76% hydration)
16-20g Salt
1g Active Dry Yeast

Process:

Day 1 Combine either by autolyse, stand mixer, or hand knead
Day 2 Ball into three equal parts ~300g/ea
Day 3-4 Hand stretch being careful to not push the cornicione much, bake at 1,000°F (dome), 800°F (floor) for 90-120sec in a Blackstone oven (yes it is possible in this oven)

This is what I've been able to achieve thus far, the pizza on the left is close but I ended up with 3 big burnt areas out of the frame that were undesirable:

This is what I'd like to achieve:

Images from pizza_jew and fortina pizza


texts: Which is a typically American way of seasoning spaghetti and other pasta?

texts: When I visit the States I see a lot of pasta and spaghetti in the supermarkets. I wonder which is the typical seasoning (sauce or similar) used by Americans when they cook spaghetti. Of course, when they don't cook Italian-style.


texts:
Is there any functional difference (not related to things like embedded diamond grit) between a smooth-surfaced knife (or honing) steel, and one that has visible ridges?   Would there be any reason to prefer one over the other?

Clarification:  the type of answer I am looking for actually addresses the effect (or lack thereof) of the ridges at the microscopic scale where honing takes place.


texts: Can a Toddler Eat Food Cooked With Honey in it?

texts: One of the recommendations for enabling a young child to pick up some of the more slippery foods is to coat them with bread crumbs or graham cracker crumbs.  While looking for graham crackers at the store, we found honey graham crackers.  Considering that exposure to honey can cause infant botulism, I was wondering if the honey graham crackers are safe for him to eat?


texts: Is it okay for preserved lemons to float?

texts:
I just a couple days ago started a batch of Moroccan preserved lemons, using a combination of recipes from 2 books I own and a few online.

Basically, near-quarter some Meyer lemons and stuff with salt, then squish them in a jar, releasing some juice and covering it with a little extra juice, close and store in a cool place for a month. Every day for the first little bit, shake them to mix the salt in more.

I've read that you really don't want your lemons sticking out of the liquid, because they'll go bad that way, but I'm a couple days in and mine seem to be floating...

Does anyone have experience with this process that would understand where I need to go from here? Did I use too much salt in the liquid? That could cause things to float more easily, but I haven't read anything about it anywhere, and I figure someone else has done this process enough to understand what's up.


texts:
I've heard from some that soups should be left with the lid slightly ajar when still left on the stove (heat off) because the soup can spoil when the lid is left completely closed, so you need to 'air' it out by leaving it slightly ajar.

Is this a myth? If not, what is the purpose of this?

I personally don't believe it and cannot find any reasons for that being the case, which is why I am asking everybody here, as there may be a culinary reason that I am not aware of.


texts: What is the easiest way to remove chicken leg/drumstick tendons?

texts:
I would like to make chicken drumsticks / legs (with skin on) easier to eat by removing the tendons and the fibula bone. Cook's Illustrated mentions this technique:

  Holding a paring knife just above the ankle and perpendicular to the bone, slice around the circumference all the way to the bone. This will expose the ends of about six thin white tendons.
  Using a clean pair of pliers, grip the end of each tendon and pull firmly to remove it. Repeat until there are no more visible tendons.

However when I use pliers and try to grip the tendon, they just slip. Is there something I am doing wrong?

I tried cutting the bottom tendon attachment and pushing the meat up and down and it is still very difficult/messy.


texts: Hey I'm making dole whip at home with my ice cream maker and when I made it, it was a bit too creamy and stretchy. Would there be anyway to make it taste less creamy? Would I have to reduce the ice cream mix or the water? I used 1 1/3 cups of mix and 2 cups of water. (Dole whip is supposed to be made without milk for those that don't know)


texts: How long can coconut liquid/cream last (open) in the fridge?

texts:
I'm usually left with an unfinished can of coconut cream or liquid when cooking, and I store them in a closed plastic box in the fridge.
How long can they last?
It says 3 (for the cream) and 4 (for the liquid), but I already checked it after a week and a half and it smelled and tasted just fine.
Both of the items have shelf life of around 2 years, and doesn't need to be in the fridge before opening, if this information might matter.
Are there any visual differences when it's no good anymore?
Is it possible to save them in the freezer after opening?

Extra details:
Coconut liquid:

The coconut liquid ingredients as written on the box are: coconut extract (60%), water.
The brand is AROY-D
Looks like that

Coconut cream:

17-19% fat

Edit: I checked out this question about coconut milk, but it's not the same - I'm asking about the two other types - liquid and cream (it might be that the answer is similar, but the question is different).


texts: What makes fleur de sel different from regular salt?

texts:
Fleur de sel is the salt from the top of the pot when you heat salted water.

But what makes it different from the rest of the salt in the pot?


texts: I have some old recipes that call for a box of powdered sugar. How many cups would that equal ? I buy powdered sugar in  two pound bags.


texts: How can I remove surface rust from a cleaver and keep it off

texts:
I was in Amish country in Ohio last weekend and found this in an antique shop. It seemed interesting and reasonably priced so I bought it. I did notice the surface rust. The cleaver is 9" from heel to toe on the blade and weighs almost 3 pounds.

Can someone tell me how to remove the surface rust and how to keep it from rusting? Does anyone know what kind of cleaver it is and what it is good for?

Thanks


texts:
Why does the coffee coming out of my coffee maker appear weaker or stronger, in correlation with the amount of coffee grounds, even from the first few tablespoons to drip into the carafe?

I would think that the first cups of coffee would be stronger and the entire amount would only lighten up as the last cups of water extract less from the grounds. Even when I miss by 1/2 tbsp in a 10-cup brew, it seems the coffee "knows" that it will be weaker and the first cup is light in color and watery.

What gives?


texts: I bought some marinated baby octopus that I am cooking for dinner in about 2 hours. This is the first time that I ever bought it and have no idea how to cook it. The instructions on the packet, just say light pan fry or grill but doesn't say for how long. Can someone please help me with tips to cook baby octopus? Is the head edible or do I chop it off?


texts:
I have a made a number of meat lasagne's that taste great (IMHO) but I have always had a problem getting them to preserve that "layered" effect. When it is cooked and even partially cooled the first slice out of the pan and it practically turns to goulash.

I would love some advise on this.


texts: How to reduce smokey BBQ liquid flavor in a Mexican soup

texts: I have Mexican soup with BBQ smokey sauce, but the flavor of it is to intense. I am trying to reduce the intensity, but I don't want to add more tomatoes. Is there a way?


texts:
Water is the arch-nemesis of chocolate. So how do you put water-based fillings into chocolates without splitting the chocolate? I've tried this a few times, and it never seems to work properly.

(Most particularly, I'm trying to do a fondant filling. But since fondant is just sugar with water in it... that's not going to work very well.)


texts: Will Asarum europaeum add a ginger flavor?

texts: I was looking through a cooking catalog, and came across GINGER, EUROPEAN which made me wonder if this is like normal ginger that you cook with.


texts: Can you identify this black sauce from this Kuala lumpur claypot chicken vendor?

texts:
There's this world famous claypot chicken vendor at Kuala lumpur who cooked chicken and rice in a claypot over charcoal.

In this video you can see him using a black sauce. www.TinyURL.com/KLclaypot

Assuming that it's a generic sauce  of asian cuisine, can you help me identify it? I want to know what particularly attributes to it's lustre!


texts: How to replace marshmallows in rice krispies cakes?

texts: I'm making rice krispies cakes, but I just realized I'm out of gelatin and marshmallows. My mate suggested mixing normal granulated sugar with some water and it will give me the stickiness I need. Is he right? If not sugared water, what else could I use here?


texts: Why are the corks of some of my Muscat wines popping out?

texts:
We have bottled Muscat wine and with a few bottles (three out of 30) the cork seems to be pushing out.
The storage area is 12 Celsius. The wine was bottled in mid June of this year, by a small winery. This is a very recent event. All the other bottle tops are still that tiny bit concave.

What can be going on ?


texts: Fixing Sticky Seasoning on Cast-Iron Pan

texts:
I screwed up the seasoning on my cast-iron pan. I forgot to flip it upside-down, so instead of that hard, smooth surface, it became sticky and gummy.

Is it possible to repair by reheating it again, upside-down, at the proper temperature?

Or do I need to strip it and reseason from scratch?


texts: Whats causing odd flavour in reheated chicken?

texts:
I make some chicken soup and it tastes fine.  However I notice that when I reheat it again it taste like sulfur or something other chemicals, not really sure what it is.

Chemically speaking can anyone tell me what is happening, and what this is?
I've read that it may be fat oxidizing.  Does that mean it, it doesn't matter whether the chicken is reheated, or eaten again when cold, they same chemical will form and be noticeable?

I don't just want to mask the smell, but would prefer to whats going on and how it can be avoided to begin with. Does one really have to cook a fresh batch twice in one day to avoid this?

Also if possible, please tell me chemically speaking what specifically is happening.


texts: How to get stable and long lasting high temperatures in charcoal grill?

texts:
I have Weber one touch spherical grill (18.5") and trying to cook steaks with direct heat.
I place steaks when grill thermometer shows 450-500F, but after 2 or 3 minutes temperature starts dropping and after turnover it can be 400F and continue dropping fast. Briquettes near the edge getting cold but briquettes in center still going.

I have tried with lump charcoal and Weber long lasting briquettes using chimney starter, yesterday I held briquettes in starter for 30 minutes, and briquettes were very hot and well burning, but got same temperature issues.

All vents are fully open, lid closed.
What am I missing?


texts: How do you clean and season a cast iron pot?

texts: Unlike a cast iron skillet I'm having a much harder time keeping a pot clean and rust free. I use it mostly for roasts on occasionally some stews, any tips or difference in care between the two?


texts: To slow down the fermentation process of a food in a can

texts:
I am particularly interested in the histamine's creation in a can because I need to deal with allergies. Possible Factors to me which affects to histamine's creation that is the speed of the fermentation process in a can:

temperature
humidity
concentration of salt in the liquid

Histamine is created as a result of fermentation so can-food has significant amounts of histamine compared to non-can-food. Assume we have food in a can. It ferments all the time little although it is in a salt liquid. Consequently, little amounts of histamine is created to the food. However, I am not sure how significant is the given factor compared to iron oxides, for instance.

My intuition suggests that to decrease the amount of histamine in a can-food, slow down the fermentation process that is keep the can in cold temperature at dry-air and select cans that have high salt amounts.

Some people keep cans in the refrigerator, I do not. I have noted that the can gets roasted a lot faster in old refrigerators without any humidity control. What is the ideal humidity and temperature to store food in cans to minimize the amount of histamine's creation? How much should the fermentation process slowed down?


texts: How do I make a cookie with a cream filling (similar to an Oreo filling)?

texts: I want to make a cookie stuffed with the cream filling you find in an Oreo. I've seen a few cookie sandwich recipes that use a filling made with butter. My question is, since this filling will be stuffed inside my cookie BEFORE baking, would the presence of butter cause issues while it's being baked?


texts: How should soda made with "ginger bug" smell/taste?

texts:
I recently fermented a ginger soda using a ginger bug that I made. The bug seemed good to me - no funky mold growing on it, and it fizzled when I stirred it. The soda I made was good, but tasted extra "yeasty" and had spots on top that I couldn't differentiate between fizz or small colonies.

Is this how a fermented soda using a ginger bug should taste, and if not any suggestions on what went wrong?

Ginger bug

250 mL (filtered) water + 3 tablespoons grated ginger (skin on) + 3 tablespoons sugar

Contents were mixed in a jar, with a lid placed on top but not screwed shut. Left at room temperature for 5 days, with daily feedings of 1 tablespoon ginger and 1 tablespoon sugar, as well as frequent mixing.

Soda

120 mL ginger syrup + 240 mL filtered water + 1 tablespoon ginger bug liquid

Contents poured into swinglock bottle, left at room temperature for 2 days. Bottle was "burped" after 1 day to relieve pressure.


texts:
I tried making panettone last night - although the recipe is really more similar to brioche.. 2 eggs, 5 egg yolks, 250g butter, 500g flour.  I kneaded the dough (by hand)for 10 mins as the recipe said ..but it was 'streaky' and hadn't got to the silky stage.. My house is quite cold so I put it in the airing cupboard to rise, which may have been a bit too warm - the dough rose very well but was leaking butter and was incredibly greasy when I was adding the fruit & peel before the second rise.. It took ages to bake and has turned out very heavy and cakey..

Did I knead it too much? Or not enough? And I'm thinking that I should have left it somewhere cooler to rise..?


texts: How to get a sourdough like effect without the hassle of a real sourdough starter?

texts:
I enjoy making bread, but the bread I make using standard yeast of course lacks that sourdough taste.   But the process of making and maintaining a sourdough starter frankly requires a bit too much work and consistent attention from me.  Is there a way to approximate that sourdough taste using a process less complicated and high-maintenance than a "real" sourdough starter?

(As a footnote, ideally this would be a process that could start the night before one made bread, but not much more than that).


texts: marinated vegetables on food dehydrators?

texts:
So there's a party I'm going to and I promised to make jerkies, but a few of them are vegans.

I'm wondering if there are vegetables (or anything non-meat) that can be marinated with roughly the same kind of stuff you use for jerkies, and then dehydrated to become some kind of tasty, savory snack?

I once had some pretty tasty dried peas which were quite savory, would using the same kind of marinade with jerkies and putting them on the dehydrator work? They were pretty crunchy, but the last time I tried dehydrating banana slices they ended up being rather chewy instead.


texts:
We currently make medical marijuana gummies and are experiencing an aftertaste on some batches. People describe it as chemical/metallic/dry. We have been using the same ingredients (modified potato starch, sugar,corn syrup, citric acid, sodium citrate, flavoring and cannabis extract).

Has anyone had any experience with this?


texts: Can I use a Dutch oven for cooking sauces?

texts:
Could a large enameled cast iron pot be used as a saucepan?

Most recipes I cook usually involve a sauce being cooked low and slow in a 20cm saucepan.

I was thinking of buying a 20cm enameled cast iron saucepan but now I'm wondering whether I should just buy a slightly larger 24cm Dutch oven style pot.

The main concern I have is the pot lacking a long non-conductive handle to stabilise it while stirring.


texts:
I was under the impression that Xanthan Gum could be used in bread in order to increase the hydration and make it fluffier. I have tried it three times (0.5% - 1% of flour weight) in two different recipes (croissants and regular buns), but the dough was not noticeably easier to work with, nor did it rise quite as much as normally. (I did not do a controlled test, so it's hard to pinpoint the cause.)

I know that Xanthan Gum is normally used in gluten free bread, but that's not what I'm after here. I have read (but can't remember the source) that it can be used in regular bread to make the crumb airier, but in my limited experiments, that does not appear to be the case.

What should I expect from adding Xanthan Gum to bread dough?

I have also seen some cookie recipes that call for it, but I couldn't understand what role it was supposed to have.


texts: For scones can I mix cold butter with self raising flour and then add the wet ingredients the next day. This is to save time in the morning?


texts:
I bought a carbon steel paella pan. I've looked up if people season it (link) but on Wikipedia I've read:

  As with other cast iron vessels, a seasoned pan or dutch oven should not regularly be used to cook foods containing tomatoes, vinegar or other acidic ingredients, as these foods will eventually remove the protective layer created during the seasoning process.

I think paella is pretty acidic food, so is it a good idea to season the pan?


texts: What's the correct temperature to prepare confit cod?

texts:
I've been cooking confit cod at 40°C (104°F). Once it reaches 40°C, I keep it for about 5 minutes and take it out of the oven. However, the thinner parts of the cod lose more moist than the thicker parts.

Is it safe to prepare cod at that temperature (I am referring to salted cod)?
Can a lower temperature produce a better result (for both the thicker and the thinner cuts)?


texts: What is the difference between Alaskan King Salmon and Scottish Salmon?

texts: I'm considering throwing a dinner party, and I don't have much experience cooking salmon. What are the main differences between these two types of salmon in terms of price, taste, and cooking methods?


texts: How much thermostat "range" in oven temperature is too much?

texts:
I recently renovated my kitchen and have a new Bosch wall oven. I've noticed many baking recipes that used to be reliable are no longer so. I have a ThermoWorks ChefAlarm and calibrated my oven according to the procedure on their website. The accuracy of the oven is pretty good - usually only 5-8 degrees lower than the display says. But the temperature swings are surprising: they're +/- 30 degrees. So if I set my oven for 350, the temperature ranges back and forth from 320 to 380 over time.

I've never checked the range on previous ovens so I can't say if this is normal. It seems to me to likely be a problem, especially when a cookie might only be in the oven for 10-12 minutes. Does anyone know? And a follow on: I'm tempted to reach out to Bosch customer service to see if there is a field modification to change this behavior. Anyone know if that's realistic?


texts:
I have a beer cake recipe which I've successfully cooked once.  Since then, I've had a new oven and just tried to bake it again.  It wasn't entirely successful.

It's baked in a 10", round, deep tin.  The base and sides were brown and a bit 'bendy'.  The edge of the top had foamed up and then crusted off.  The topping had crisped off properly.  The middle was nearly cooked and as you moved out towards the edge it seemed to get more cooked until about one-and-a-half inches from the edge when it was suddenly quite soggy.  So there is a ring of partially cooked cake-mix just before the outer crust.  I've done a picture of a cut through the middle of the cake (I'm a marginally better cook than I am an artist):

I cooked it 20°C below the recommended 180°C (350°F) because I was using the fan.  I put it on the middle shelf of the oven.

It was supposed to be cooked for 1hr 50 mins but after that long a skewer stuck into the middle was sticky so I stuck it back for another 20 mins.  The skewer was still a bit sticky but not as much and, as the outside was looking like it would soon burn, I risked it and took it out.  A bit longer might've cooked the middle better but what about the rest?

Next time, should I:

Stick to the recommended temperature?  Go lower still, or higher?
Try cooking it on a higher shelf?  Or a lower one?
Not use the fan?
Sing to it, shout at it or ignore it and hope it behaves?
Something else?

And, obviosuly, poke the skewer in all over, not just the middle, and trust it.


texts: I love crayfish flavor, and love to add ground crayfish to most sauces and stews.  However I now live in an area where this condiment is scarce to unavailable.  What other seasoning or condiment can I use for a crayfish-like flavor?


texts: Is sourdough more resistant to mold than other breads?

texts:
My partner works at a restaurant where they serve sourdough as the bread you snack on to tide you over while perusing the menu. They are closed Sundays, which means any leftover bread on Saturday evenings goes home with the employees (since it can't be sold as day-old at the adjacent bakery the next day, as with other days). This means my partner frequently comes home with five or so loaves of sourdough.

Occasionally she'll also end up with a loaf or two of a different sort of bread. A nice wheat, or this particular bread full of nuts and herbs that they make.

It takes a long time for two of us to get through five large loaves of bread, so when she brings them home they go straight into Ziploc bags to keep them as fresh as possible for as long as possible. The sourdough loaves last positively forever (albeit with a little bit of loss of texture), but the wheat loaves or nutty-herby-loaves-I-forget-the-name-of always end up with mold spots after five days to a week.

I know nothing about sourdough bread other than that it tastes delicious. Is it more resistant to molding than other types of bread?


texts: What are the preservatives in protein bars?

texts:
How are protein bars such as Quest bars and Buff Dude protein cookies able to last so long? What are the preservatives in it?

Ingredients for Quest Bars ("Birthday cake" flavor):

  Protein Blend (Milk Protein Isolate, Whey Protein Isolate), Soluble Corn Fiber, Water, Erythritol, Almonds, Palm Kernel Oil, Natural Flavors, contains less than 2% of the following: Sodium Caseinate, Sea Salt, Gum Arabic, Spirulina extract (color), Red Cabbage extract (color), Turmeric extract (color), Radish extract (color), Sucralose, Sunflower Lecithin.

Buff Dude No Bake Chocolate Protein Cookies ingredients (the link is to a recipe)

1c. Oats
3 Scoops Chocolate Whey Protein
2 T. Coconut (shredded)
2T. Baking Cocoa Powder
1/4 c. Peanut Butter (we like super chunk)
1/2 c. Chocolate Almond Milk

These don't have such good keeping properties:

  Keep these in the refrigerator (for as long as they last).


texts:
According to the Wikipedia article on shortening, it seems as though margarine is considered shortening.

Has anyone substituted margarine for shortening in any recipes, and can you report your results?


texts:
I'm making a sour cream pound cake for an event. I would ideally like to make the batter in the morning. I have something else I have to do around 11:30, though, and I won't be home for about an hour.

Would it be ok to mix the batter together around 11, cover it, leave and come back? Would my cake be messed up in any way? Should the batter be refrigerated if I let it sit?


texts: No-melt chocolate coating on ice cream bars

texts:
I just discovered the fascinating world of tempering chocolate.  I've read about it before, but I never tried it until recently.
So, being the adventurous fellow that I am, I tried making my own chocolate-coated ice cream bars.

My first attempts were not successful.  I ended up with melt-in-your-hand chocolate, which is exactly what I was trying to avoid.

It might be as simple as not having tempered the chocolate properly, but before I experiment too much more, I wanted to know if I could be successful at all.

Is it possible to make a chocolate-coated ice cream bar that doesn't melt all over your fingers?


texts: Is it safe to finish undercooked poached chicken on a skillet?

texts:
So here is a round-up:
1.Bought chicken breast today, it was fresh.

Decided to poach it in multicooker, set timer for 30 minutes.

Checking on the pot 25 mins in, realized that something gone awry with the appliance and it turned off somewhere along the way. The pot was warm (but not really hot), the breast was cooked on the surface, raw in the middle.

Chopped it up into pieces and decided to quickly pan fry it and sautee in some tomato sauce afterward.

My question is: I have read about food danger zones and how those can promote bacterial and toxin growth even if meat appears to be fully cooked without any signs of spoilage.
Perhaps I am being paranoid (as it had spent only 25 mins in its quasi-cooked state, and it never fully cooled down), but I just wanted to run it through you guys and make sure it is completely safe to eat it.


texts: Why did my bread bake on the top like spongs and higher than the bucket in the bread maker?

texts: I live at 4160 elevation, so I decreased the yeast by 1/4 tsp in the Mary Lunn bread recipe.  The dough rose up to the window of the bread machine 2" from the top of the bread pan. The top looked like a sponge, the dough went down the sides of the bucket, and it was hard to remove all the bread from the bread maker. I cut the top 2" off in order to find the handle then had to still gently dig to get the handle up to remove the pan.  I followed the recipe exactly, except for the yeast decreased by 1/4 tsp The bread baked in the tub perfectly great color, baked 4 hr 20 mins to get that color, normal time would be 4 hr and 10 min for lighter color.  Not giving up, please help~


texts:
I bought two 2-pound bags of frozen 41-50 count/pound shrimp. When I thawed them in cold water, one bag's shrimp all sank and the other bag's shrimp all floated.

           Bag 1          Bag 2
buoyancy   sink           float
color      more white     slightly brownish
rinsing    clear          frothy
marking    66H/15TT/976   668/21TT/0H354

I assume one of them is not nearly so fresh as the other, or possibly has been frozen and thawed multiple times. I did some searching but couldn't find any real help.

Assuming that one is not so fresh, I would like to return it to the store. But which one? I'm guessing the floating and darker color indicate a more advanced state of decomposition, but your input is appreciated. I'd like to have ammunition at the store in case they question me.


texts: Is it safe to eat pumpkins grown specifically for carving?

texts:
As it is coming up to Halloween, there is an abundance of cheap pumpkins in the shops now. I quite like to eat pumpkin rather than carve them. Are the large round orange pumpkins good to eat are are they just grown (with lots of nasty chemicals/fertilizer) to only be used as carved lanterns? From the outside, the shell seems very hard so maybe they will be quite tough. I would more than likely roast the flesh and use it for soup.

UPDATE

From the two other related questions highlighted by @Jefromi, one referenced this article that states:

"All pumpkins may be eaten, but there is a big difference among varieties. Decorative pumpkins, which American children and patient parents carve just before Halloween, are grown with color, structural strength, a flat bottom, and a sturdy stem as their main attributes. The flesh tends to be bland, watery, and fibrous. No one cares because they're going to be carved and smashed in the street (or disposed of properly)."

So from that I would assume that the decorative pumpkins are not very good to eat.


texts:
I find myself addicted to Chow Mein served at Panda Express, and have tried cooking it several times, failing each time.

I have followed these recipes:

http://www.mademan.com/mm/how-do-you-make-panda-express-chow-mein.html
http://www.chinesefood-eye.com/recipe_100232_panda-express-chow-mein.aspx

The secret seems to be sugar+chicken broth.

However each time I make it I can never get the noodles quite right.  They turn out mushy, and half of them stick to the pan.

I've tried vermicelli, Annie Chung's chow mein, and egg noodles.

How do I get nice, firm, golden chow mein noodles?


texts: I made a strawberry/cherry shrub for the first time with a 1:1 ratio of fruit juice to white wine vinegar, about 5 cups total, and it turned out just a little too strong for my taste. Is there anything I can add to lessen the vinegar flavor about 10-20%?


texts: Cleaning a clogged espresso machine Portafilter

texts:
Can anyone recommend a method for cleaning the clogged holes in a "Basket" of an espresso machine Portafilter? I had this problem with both DeLonghi and Saeco home espresso machines.

For example, in Care of Saeco Pressurized Portafilters (regarding
Saeco Manually Pressurized Portafilter) they caution against using metal pins.

Any suggestions of methods or cleaning materials?


texts: How can you judge whether juice is really freshly squeezed?

texts:
I already know that boxed or cartoned juice is less likely to have been freshly squeezed, but what about transparent bottled juice especially in the refrigerated section of supermarkets?

This article from the Atlantic and Squeezed: What You Don't Know About Orange Juice evidence that modifiers like 'freshly squeezed' and/or '100%' and/or 'pure' can mislead and prove false.


texts: Why do bananas turn black in the refrigerator?

texts: I've noticed that a banana in the refrigerator will turn pitch black in just a few hours. Why is this?


texts: substitution of whipping cream for water in jello

texts:
This is the first time I have been on the internet for over 5 years so please excuse my slowness with this site.  I have been successful using heaving whipping with unflavored gellatin mix  with added sugar and vanilla.  I have used both a mold and a big crystal bowl, depending on how much I was serving and how much I made.  May I substitute heavy whipping cream instead of water to make flavored jello or gellatin mix.  I would now like to use lemon or strawberry flavored jello or some other flavor of jello mix that has the sugar in it and the color to make a desert and use the directions as if using water.  To enhance it, I use fresh fruit or even cooked preserves such as raspberries or sour cherries.  This desert is called "Russian Cream".  I am also thinking of using lemon curd to put on the side, which is where one would put the cooked preserves or drizzle on top, slice fruit, lemon curd, whatever sounds good to you.  Other additions can be added to  the unflavored gellatin to make it lighter like half and half (diet version) or bolder like cream cheese or even slice up fruit very small, dry and mix.
Update in answer to comments---Here I am again with news of what has happened with the substitution.  It came out okay.  I realized I had to play with the sugar as the gellatin mix or "Jello or Jelly" already had sugar in it.  I did heat up the cream and mixed things up accordingly and put in the fridge.  I looked up Pannacotta and found that different various versions resembled what I was making, Russian Cream.  It is interesting that various cultures have the similar versions of same things and I realized that Flan was also included in this mix.  Today I made the original and nothing beats it.  Thanks for the adventure of the site.


texts: How can I freeze excess peas from my garden?

texts: Would you recommend blanching them first or freezing them raw?


texts:
I saw a picture the other day of roast beef in a Yorkshire Pudding wrap and thought I'd give it a try sometime. The problem is that all advice I can find on how to make yorkshire puddings well points at making them rise and crisp, which probably wouldn't be great for making a wrap.

My thoughts are to make it with a slightly higher egg content by proportionally reducing the amount of milk but thought I'd pass it by this site to see what people think.

I saw the image here:


texts: How much dry ground ginger do I substitute for fresh grated ginger?

texts: I don't use ginger enough to really justify getting it fresh, so how much of dried ground ginger should I use in recipes that call for fresh grated?


texts: Marinara sauce with too much oregano and tomato paste

texts: What could be used to de-oreganate a sauce with too much oregano and tomato paste? I used a store bought sauce to increase the volume of the sauce that I had started with onions, garlic, home grown tomatoes, sugar, wine.


texts:
People love hot dogs.

What is this hot dog grilling machine called in everyday spoken English?


texts: Why would milk form a dense emulsion when warmed?

texts:
About a week ago, I noticed that the milk I had bought a few days before seemed to curdle in coffee -- if you haven't done this before, it can happen with sour milk, and separates into tiny cheese like curds which end up in the bottom of the mug.

However, the milk was (and still is) not at all sour; the bags (milk is often sold in bags in Canada) are stamped January 3rd, and I've been drinking it all week (and using it my coffee and leaving the sludge at the bottom).

So today on a hunch, I took a bit of milk, put it in a rounded glass, and left this to sit warming on top of a mug of fresh java.  Low and behold, a few minutes later it had solidified into something indistinguishable from smooth yogurt.  Note the coffee was hot initially but not undrinkably so; there was no evaporation and the volume of the milk  has not changed.

It actually tastes quite pleasant, exactly like warmed milk.  But it has the texture of yogurt.  The milk is either 1 or 2% (I threw away the outer bag) and was probably subjected to a microfiltration process called "trutaste", which I sometimes buy (the long Jan 3 shelf life is indicative of that).


texts: Is sour cream in olde recipes the same as sour cream today?

texts: I have a really old cookbook (about 1890) that calls for soured cream or sour cream in some recipes. Is this the same as the stuff you get in a tub at the store or is it like sour milk where you put vinegar in say, heavy cream??


texts: Why is honey and mustard mixed together runny?

texts:
When I pour honey, it's very viscous.  Thick enough that if I put some on a plate, I could turn it upside down and back to right-side up without spilling the honey.

When I pour mustard, it's also quite viscous (although maybe not quite as much as honey, and it depends on the type and brand).

However, when I add the two viscous substances together, I get a very runny substance, closer to the viscosity of water.  Why does that happen?


texts: It is said, that the water you use to cook pasta should be as salty as ocean water. So can I simply use ocean water to cook my pasta without adding salt to it?


texts: Is clouding of lime added water a sign of spoilage?

texts:
I squeezed half an Indian (asian country, India) lime in a 1 litre glass bottle in the evening. Next day morning, its got a bit cloudish, even the smell & taste has changed.

What happened, is the water spoiled?


texts: How to substitute unsweetened baker's chocolate for powdered cocoa in cake recipe

texts:
My friend would like to make a chocolate cake using this recipe:
HERSHEY'S "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" Chocolate Cake.

The ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

The directions:

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.
Frost with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. Makes 12
servings.

They'd like to use baker's chocolate squares in place of the powdered cocoa.

Is this possible?


texts:
Is there an English word for the Spanish pepper called Ñora?
I have translated the following from Wikipedia

The ñora is a cultivated variety of Capsicum annuum or pepper, called
"bola" in Alicante and Murcia, where it became popular. It is small in
size, round in shape and red in color when ripe, and is then left to
dry in the sun. It has a sweet flavor and is widely used in the
gastronomy of the Spanish Levante, especially in the Region of Murcia,
the Valencian Community (Alicante) and in Catalonia.


texts: I made a pound of candied pecans (egg white, brown sugar, vanilla...) and I guess I baked them too long.  They are good except for a burnt flavor and I was wondering if anyone knew of anything I can do to them now to salvage them... a coating or something?  I was considering brushing them with melted butter and sprinkling a sugar cinnamon mix on them... or dip half in chocolate?  Any ideas?


texts: What compound can make crunchy biscuits?

texts:
I want to make Belvita like biscuits. What ingredients do I need to put or not to obtain a crunchy texture (but not a really hard like biscotti). Is "height of the biscuit a important factor ?

Here is my actual recipe, if needed :

1 cup of wholeheat flour
1/2 cup of butter
1/3 cup of sugar
3 eggs
1 tbsp of honey

I've seen on other sites that it can be a good idea to put the butter melted to avoid aeration. Right now they are a little too soft. Thanks for your replies


texts: What cultures can be added to pasteurized milk to allow it to clabber like raw milk?

texts:
I have a dairy cow, and when I leave its raw milk on the counter for a couple of days, I end up with clabber (also called clabbered milk). However, I am not willing to take the risk of consuming non-pasteurized milk products during a global health pandemic. I want to try out some recipes that use uncooked clabber. And since there are cultures that can be added to pasteurized milk to make kefir, yogurt, and cheeses, I thought surely there must be some that can be added to make clabber! Alas, I have not been able to find any information on this.
What specific bacterial, fungal, or yeast cultures can be added to pasteurized milk to create clabber?


texts: Sunflower oil reaching smoke point on medium temperature. Is this normal?

texts: If I turn the heat any lower I fear that the meat won't be cooked well enough. It's only a small amount of smoke. I'm learning to cook and I'm afraid I will start a fire.


texts: Can I increase my iron intake by eating food cooked with cast iron?

texts: Can I eat food cooked in cast iron to leach iron into the food?  Is it a significant amount?


texts: How to remove moisture from cheese that is stored in a liquid?

texts:
Certain cheeses, such as halloumi and mozzarella, are often stored in sealed packages that are filled with liquid rather than air (I'm assuming to help to preserve it for longer).

However, this tends to cause a problem when it comes to cooking, as a large amount of excess moisture inevitably leaks out. This sometimes really ruins certain dishes, for example when shallow-fried halloumi becomes almost poached, or when the mozzarella causes a pizza base to become soggy.

The only solutions I've found are to grate the cheese and squeeze out the moisture (which changes the texture) or to wrap the cheese in paper towels and leave it for a while to absorb some of the water (which takes a long time), neither of which are always an option.

Are there any more effective methods for removing the excess liquid from these types of cheeses immediately prior to cooking?


texts: Substituting white flour for maida in making Indian samosas

texts:
Indian recipes call for using Maida or All-purpose flour in making samosa. Disregarding for a second the difference between the two (as discussed in here - Difference between Maida and All purpose flour), is it possible to use "regular" white refined flour instead of all-purpose one?

To clarify - I live in a country (Israel) where it's not possible to get Maida. Until now I have bought what is called all-purpose flour for samosas, but actually what is sold here as "white flour" seems to have similar nutritional content (All purpose flour has 10.4% protein, while white flour has 10.5% protein, similar calories and fat values). The reason I would like to use white flour is because it is 30% of the price of all-purpose flour.


texts: Does food at room temperature spoil faster if refridgerated beforehand?

texts:
I've been told (with anecdotal evidence, by family) that if I put food in the fridge then leave it out at room temperature, even if unopened, the food would spoil faster than if it was never put in the fridge in the first place. I would usually put my milk in the fridge right after getting home, but according to the claim, I should just leave it out at room temperature until use in case the fridge goes down or something.
Is there any truth to this? Should I not put my boxed ingredients in the fridge until use?


texts: How much fresh yeast should I use if I want to use it instead of dry yeast?

texts:
I have a recipe that lists the quantity of dry yeast I need, but I have only fresh yeast.

How much fresh yeast should I use, knowing the quantity of dry yeast?


texts: What is the black, slightly sweet, flavour in some Asian food?

texts:
It seems to be a popular ingredient in Asian (esp. Chinese?) food. I encountered them on pork spareribs, and some side dishes. Apparently it turns everything completely black when it is added.

I can rule out soy sauce (which is too salty and tastes entirely different) and I realise that this question is rather vague. What additional information could I provide?

Edit: I can rule out oyster sauce. I asked in a restaurant what the black stuff was, but either she didn't understand me or she didn't want to (all she told me was that it contained salt). Finally she said she made it herself. Anyway, I bought Hoisin sauce:

and I think it's as close as it gets (perhaps the restaurant uses a slightly different version of the one I bought, as mine is a bit saltier and a bit less sweet).

Update: I finally discovered the exact sauce I was looking for. It turned out to be Black Bean Garlic Sauce.


texts: Ratios of flour-egg-chicken? Simple breading

texts:
If I am making 1lb of chicken, how much flour, and how much breading mixture, should I lay out to use?

The answer will differ depending on how thick you want the coatings of course, but what's a fair or solid amount?

I'm trying to make breaded chicken strips, but have no idea if I need to use the whole breading box, half the box, etc.

Measurements in grams preferred (I'm using a scale). For the eggs, they're Large AA iirc aka 70cal size.


texts: Converting Peppermint Marshmallow Recipe to Raspberry

texts:
I have the following peppermint marshmallow recipe that I know works well:

  1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for dusting the marshmallows' surface and the work surface
  1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold water
  2 1/2 tablespoons unflavored powdered gelatin (3 to 4 packages)
  2 cups granulated sugar
  1 cup light corn syrup
  1/3 cup crushed peppermint pinwheel hard candies
  1/8 teaspoon salt
  1/2 cup warm water
  2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  3 or 4 drops peppermint oil (optional)
  2 or 3 drops red liquid food color (optional)

(Source)

I would like to convert this to raspberry marshmallows.  My current intuition is to change out 1/3 cup crushed peppermint pinwheels for a strained raspberry puree and perhaps increase the corn syrup, but I am not sure this will work and don't know how much time I'll have messing around with the mass on the stove to get the exact sweetness right.  I also could use raspberry oil (when I've made the peppermint version I left both oil and food coloring out).  I'd like to have a pretty strong raspberry flavor.

The original recipe dipped the finished marshmallows in 55-65% cacao chocolate.  Am I right in thinking that a darker chocolate would be better for raspberry if I can figure this out?


texts: I read somewhere that sharkfin melons (Cucurbita ficifolia) keep for years, if kept dry. Is that really true? It seems an awesomely long time. I have some seeds on order, so even if no one else has experience here, I plan to find out.


texts:
I decided to make pad thai noodles from scratch.  The recipe I found for rice noodles said to let the rice soak overnight then grind the resulting mixture in a blender.  After that it called for steaming the batter in small batches then slicing into noodles.  The problem that I had is that these noodles did not cook up in my wok correctly.  They got extremely gummy and were grainy.

I have experience with pasta, but I have no idea where I went wrong with such a simple recipe.  Anybody have any ideas on how I can fix this?

EDIT: the recipe was this
1 1/4 cup rice
1 1/4 cup water
oil to coat steamer tray

Place rice in water overnight, blend until smooth (smoother better than not), ladle into oiled steamer pan one ladle full every five minutes, remove noodle sheets and slice noodles.


texts: I've made a few batches of Turkish Delight in different flavours. The Rosewater, Vanilla and Ginger flavours have set beautifully but the Orange and Mint flavours have set to a point, and are delicious if eaten immediately, but the cut squares remain wet and keep absorbing the icing mixture coating. As I'd like to package them together in cellophane packets (for Easter gifts) I'm afraid that the wet ones will ruin the lot. Can I do anything to fix them now, after the fact, or should I just start again? I've currently got them in the fridge, uncovered, with as much as the icing mixture dusted off as possible in the hope that this will dry them out.


texts: Why should I roll the meat in flour for a ragout

texts: Most recipes for ragout call for rolling the meat in flour before adding, including one recipe whre you don't sear the meat but add it with the vegetables and everything else once the onions are done. What is the function of the flour, especially in the latter case?


texts: So I went to Costa Rica and tried a a savoury pastry that is similar to empanadas but it is not empanadas. The pastry had a yellowy-orange colour, the shape of it was rectangular and it was stuffed with some sort of flavourful meat. I really want to know what the name of this food is.


texts: Old-Fashioned Candy/Deep-Fry Thermometer - How Shallow Can I Go?

texts:
I have a thermometer like this:

Today I'm making tostadas. I don't need or want deep oil for that, just over a centimeter would be plenty. In order to submerge the bulb of this thermometer in oil that shallow, the bulb would almost be touching the bottom of the pan. Would I get even close to an accurate reading that way? Is there an accepted minimum depth for using a thermometer of this type?


texts: How can I tell which fruits etc. contain proteases?

texts:
After my second attempt at making a ginger mousse with gelatin and finding that it fails, I've discovered that fresh ginger contains a protease. I knew that pineapple does, and that it complicates making pineapple jelly, but I didn't realise that ginger does too.

Is there an authoritatively sourced and fairly complete list of fruits etc. which require cooking when making jellies? (Note that I'm not asking for a bunch of answers consisting of a single fruit, and such answers will likely be downvoted). Or is there some quick and simple  way to tell whether a fruit contains proteases?


texts: Which Whole Wheat Breads can be crisped on the stove?

texts:
My aunt craves grilled bread, but her temporary residence for work has only an electric stove, and lacks an oven or grill. She loathes (pun intended) microwaves.

What types of Whole Wheat Bread should she buy, to imitate "grilled bread"? She worries that not all grillable breads can be seared on the stove.


texts: I trying to find out what I could use to substitute "Baking spread"? It is in a British recipe and in the US, where I live, I've never seen this.


texts:
I've made too much beef stew, and I'd love to be able to freeze it instead of letting it go bad.

It's a stew with cooked vegetables and chunks of beef.

Will this freeze and defrost well?

(If it matters, I bought the beef frozen, not fresh -- but I think the "don't refreeze" guideline is before cooking.)


texts: How to convert knife edge angle "ratios" into degrees?

texts:
European-style Japanese knives seem to be described (also here and here, and in my most recent post) in terms of "ratios" that always add up to 100. It's not exactly clear what this means in terms of angles off the center plane of the blade.

It appears that, even on knife forums, there is some confusion as to what these numbers mean. My first thought was that they were actually angles, since a 30 degree angle is common on European knives. Upon reflection, though, that can't be--when you're sharpening a 70/30 knife, dragging across a stone at a 70 degree would be a catastrophe. What, then, is that magic number, and how does it vary in relation to these "ratios"?


texts: Should I avoid meat broth when cooking for vegetarians?

texts: Yes, cuban rice and beans is usually cooked with meat... or at the very least with the broth of it. If I'm cooking for a vegetarian I don't know, should I avoid the meat broth? Is there anything vegetarian that would give an equivalent flavour?


texts: How to create fruity or grassy shortbread cookies?

texts:
I saw a recipe for green tea shortbread cookies with white ganache filling and fell in love with it. But here, it is quite hard to get any matcha, the few Amazon marketplace sellers have very high prices.

Now I want to use this as an inspiration to create a new recipe. I want to have a shortbread cookie which has a light, summery flavor added to the dough. As I can't get matcha, I don't think I can do something else from the grassy corner, but a fruity taste would be good enough.

The problem is that this recipe works because the matcha is a dry powder. I know of other recipes which include a dry powder, such as mandelkipferl, but I can't think of a fruity powder to use. And I am afraid that adding fruit-based ingredients will make the dough too liquid. My current best idea is to proceed like making raspberry leather, but after I have reduced the strained raspberry juice, to add it to the dough instead of letting it dry. I am not sure if it will work.

My questions:

Do you think the raspberry idea will work, and why (or why not)?
If you think that raspberries will work, what is the best form of incorporating them? How to get the product as dry as possible without it hardening?
How much raspberry juice/syrup can I add before it changes the dough too much?
How should I change my dough working methods after the addition of raspberry juice/syrup?
Can you think of any other method which will give me a fruity or grassy tasting cookie dough?

My constraints:

The taste should be incorporated in the dough itself. Not in the filling, and not be present as chunks in the dough (the way scones have raisins, etc.).
The taste should be of summer fruit or herb(s). Not maple, almond, nutmeg, chocolate, etc. - I know these are easy to incorporate, but it is not what I want to do right now.
The taste should come from the plant itself. I know I can get powder intended for flavoring water or milk, consisting of dextrose and synthetic aromas, but I don't want that.
The taste should pair well with the white chocolate ganache.
I don't insist on keeping the texture absolutely the same as a shortbread cookie. After all, I will be adding wet ingredients where there were none. But I still want it to be close enough to be recognized as a shortbread derivative, I don't want to create a baked pancake or a chewy cookie, or something else.


texts:
How can a bread have an expiration date of one year into the future?? The bread in questions is Deutsche Küche rye bread (from Aldi).  Yes, it is a dense bread, but it is not dry like a cracker, so there seems to be enough moisture for mold to grow.  There are no preservatives.

Edit (pictures added):


texts:
Currently, my home ketchup recipe involves using around 2.2 pounds of canned tomatoes to make 3.4oz/100ml of ketchup.

A full can of tomatoes costs me around USD$4.50 here. This means that 3.4 oz, or 100ml of ketchup costs me approximately USD4.50 to make. This is quite expensive if you compare to a bottle of Heinz ketchup which costs onl USD$2.80 for a whopping 32 oz/1 litre bottle.

How can I 'stretch' my canned tomatoes so that I can make more ketchup out of it?

I have thought of adding corn syrup.

This is my full recipe:
2.2 pounds of canned tomatoes
350ml white distilled vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
100ml of water
45g sugar
Salt to taste

Add water and blend the canned tomatoes using a hand blender or food processor.
Run the mixture through a fine mesh sieve twice, until you get all the juice out.
Add the juice and vinegar to a saucepan and simmer the mix until you reach your desired consistency. It normally takes me 2- 4 hours to reduce it fully.


texts:
I noticed that my super market sells packaged potatoes for different purposes, for example they sell:

potatoes for a salad
potatoes for baking
potatoes for frying etc..

They all look pretty similar to me. Are these labels just for marketing, or is there an actual difference?
I usually just go for whatever is cheapest at the time. I wonder if I'm doing something wrong if, for example, I buy potatoes for a salad and use them to make fries.


texts:
Hello I am cooking vegan today and I want to know, if I can use polenta to make some kind of food, that is similar to hamburger meat.

( I want to use polenta, because I already bought it and try to find a use for it. )


texts: Extracting the flavour of single vegetables for the purpose of sauce

texts:
I am interested in making vegetable sauces that are concentrates of a particular vegetable. So a concentrated sauce that has just the flavour of a chosen vegetable.

Which vegetables would be suitable to make such concentrated sauces?
What methods are possible to make a refined vegetable sauce?

EDIT: I want to attempt this with either: Carrot, Broccoli, Celery

I will steam the vegetable till softened but not mushy, then puree. I want the result to be a thick puree that I can place a 1/4 teaspoon (or the less the better) on a piece of Sashimi. Should I reduce the puree over low heat?

I am afraid that the result will be too flavourless, Is there a better method to reach the result? Can you detail any mistakes to avoid in the process? (i am not an experienced cook, it is a hobby i am getting into)


texts:
Is there a name in English for the process of turning ingredients of a dish into liquid through boiling them long enough?

Usually this happens as cook's errors, but at times it's the desired effect (e.g. you may create an excellent, smooth, creamy sauce by simmering the ingredients for a long time).

Judging by what Google Images show, it seems that "overcooking" usually means burnt or nearing burnt fried/grilled food, which is definitely not the same thing.


texts: Color of fried beef steak: sometimes dark, sometimes light-colored. Why?

texts:
I have noticed that sometimes when I am frying beef steak it does not turn dark but it becomes rather light-colored. I have also noticed that those steaks that do turn dark during the frying tend to taste much better (more juicy, more like beef) than the light-colored ones.

Just today I was frying a rump steak which turned out light gray.

What explains those different results? Is it the beef quality, the preparation or something different?


texts:
I love touring and I am trying to cut my dependency on my protein sources such as soy powder, beans and other supermarket stuff. Touring is a bit like camping but with longer distances and a bike. So how do you cook insects? How can I know whether insects are edible? Is it possible to eat all types of insects if I cook them in some way? Can I mix insects such as worms, butterflies and bees? I carry a storm heater, which runs on ethanol-stuff, and a small bottle of oil. How would you cook insects with such equipments? If someone has practical experience on this topic, I am also interested how you manage insects' cooking like preservation, harvesting and such things but try to keep focus on cooking.

Related but not the same

Cheap sources of protein?
Food during touring?


texts: Is there a "common" ratio for dumplings and added water when adding to a soup/stew recipe?

texts:
A while ago, I ran into this problem of trying to figure out how to adjust a stew recipe for added dumplings - I had made a dumpling recipe (for a family dinner), my brother had planned a stew, we could put one in the other to cook and be done.

Needless to say it did not work out.  There was not nearly enough water for both, which made the stew settle and scorch a bit on the bottom.  We hadn't been checking throughout, because the dumpling recipe in question (kinda) suggested a tight seal would help them expand and cook properly, and the stew recipe was alright with cover-and-cook.  We did manage to rescue it, by adding water, and gently loosening the stew back up - but the results were just a little bit watery, and the dumplings were a bit waterlogged and falling apart by the time the extra loosening happened... everyone said the flavor profile was pretty good, but clearly in the process of rescuing the stew, I had been a touch overeager on the added water.

I actually had made the dumplings before, but I had started with a very loose and brothy soup, since I was testing the dumpling recipe and flavor profile and avoiding distractions.  And my brother and I are both bad with recipes, but in different ways - I tend towards fast and loose, he is very by-the-book - so perhaps my quantity of dumplings was off (calculated for guests and not for amount of soup), and he had picked a recipe very specific on amount of water and cooking time.

So, is there some way to figure out how to adjust a stew/soup recipe for added dumplings?  How much water to add (per dumpling, or per volume of dumpling dough, or per volume of flour in the dough, or something) so it doesn't end up dried out, or watery?  Or maybe just how much liquid there needs to be in the stew in general per dumpling, etc, to make it work?  Anything needed to balance the seasoning of the extra water? I had thought not, since the dumplings and stew were both already seasoned, but if I am asking anyway... (shrug).

This is less about fixing that particular recipe combo, than figuring out how to make adding dumplings work for future stew plus dumpling dishes, since we have rarely cooked them in the past.  I figure there should be a way to adjust recipes generally, especially for those that need to stay closed to cook, which means they can't keep being checked along the way.  But if it helps, the dumplings were a (vegetarian) variation of a suet pudding, clootie dumplings rolled into little balls and free cooked in the stew, and the stew itself was a thick one of lentils and vegetables.


texts: Is there any way to keep  fresh-squeezed fruit juice (especially apple or orange) for at least one week without losing taste and vitamins in it? Would a jar with a tight lid be useful?


texts: Normal lifetime of non-stick teflon pans

texts:
Questions such as Are Non-Stick Bread Pans Destined to Fail? conclude that non-stick pans do not last forever, especially cheaper ones. I am trying to find some information that allows me to quantify this to some extent.

I normally use teflon non-stick pans some 3 times a week. I only use wooden and plastic tools on them, never metal ones. For some dishes, however, it is necessary to exert some rather punctual pressure (through the food) on the pan's surface, as well as dishes that require quite some oil (sometimes added in between, i.e. while the pan is heated) even in non-stick pans in order to not stick.

In my experience, my teflon pans live for some 3 to 4 years before they start showing some minor, but visible blank spots of one or a few mm² where the teflon has disappeared. Which is when I start considering looking for a new pan.

At my usage rate, is this within the expected lifetime range of teflon pans? or, asked more generally, What is the approximate expected lifetime for teflon-coated non-stick pans?


texts: I made chili last night and it is way too oniony.  I know you can use potatoes to make things less salty; any advice on making already made food less oniony?


texts:
When one heats oil in a pan, there comes a time when it starts boiling (bubbles coming up) just like water.

Now I know that water bubbles are formed to the the increase in the K.E of molecules and thus the breakage intermolecular forces.
Does the same happen with oils?


texts: Potato Starch Coating water to starch ratio?

texts:
I made some General Tso's Chicken last night using a batter of potato starch and water then frying in peanut oil. I used just enough water to wet the starch and make it somewhat pliable but if I let it sit for a minute it was so thick but if I gave it a bit of stir I could coat the chicken.

My question is, what is a good water to potato or corn starch ratio to be able to coat the chicken easily and give it that amazingly crisp coating even after tossing with the sauce? The type of coating I'm after is light and crispy, not doughy.


texts: Cooking polenta: is stirring for 30 minutes really necessary?

texts:
In every polenta recipe I have ever seen, the authors insist that the polenta has to be stirred over low heat for half an hour or so before it is thoroughly cooked. When I worked in an Italian restaurant, I would follow this process (commonly making many portions at a time).

However, when making it at home in small portions, I find it tastes just the same if it is whisked over low heat for just enough time for the grain to absorb the liquid.

Why the insistence on cooking small portions (4?) for half an hour?

Please note that I am talking about normal fine grain polenta here, not some sort of 'quick' polenta.


texts: What types of rice are appropriate to use in a rice cooker?

texts:
I have recently acquired a Zojurushi fuzz logic rice cooker.

What I am having difficult to find is the best kind of rice to use with it; I am looking for a good brown and white rice that can go with anything, and then maybe some more specialty types. I tried Uncle Ben's, but modified rices don't work that well.

It seems I have had the best luck with long grain white rice, thus far. I'm wondering if there is a better kind, or perhaps specific brands of rice that are made for rice cookers.


texts: Wine selection when dining on horse meat?

texts: I know there is a lot of received wisdom about what sorts of wines to pair with, say, beef or fish or chicken, though I couldn't quote any of it off the top of my own head, as I am the furthest thing from a gourmand in this world. Nevertheless, I am wondering: are there the same kind of "traditional" or "standard" wine recommendations for pairing with horse meat, and what are they?


texts: Should chicken be seasoned before vacuum sealing?

texts: I am going to vacuum seal then freeze several pieces of chicken breast. Is there a benefit to putting anything on it before I vacuum seal? For example I normally put spices on, but not sure if doing so before storing would have a benefit. Also if I decide to marinade, it wouldn't really work with the vacuum sealer as it would suck all the juice out. Any ideas or suggestions?


texts: Does creme fraiche contain live bacteria in the same way that yoghurt does?

texts: Is crème fraiche 'live', like yoghurt is? Or is it 'inert?'


texts:
I grow sauce tomatoes, roma and others. When they come in I blanch them, then run the thru a food mill. I then freeze the sauce in plastic freezer bags or cook it down into paste.

I recently tried pulling out several bags of the frozen sauce to cook down into paste, I sliced the bags in a couple of areas and let them defrost over night on a cooling rack set in a tray.

In the morning, the bags had just the solid tomato matter and all the liquid was collected in the bottom of the tray. Very cool I thought. . but then. . . the question came to mind. . . .

Am I losing any flavor or nutrients by just discarding this liquid or should it be cooked down with the solid tomato matter?


texts: I know how to make gluten from wheat flour. I've made my own by adding water to wheat flour until it was a stretchy dough. I washed it until the water ran clear. What I was left with after the starch was washed away was a glob of very stretchy protein  Is there a way to use this to make my own powdered gluten?


texts: Using garbanzo flour instead of canned garbanzo beans

texts:
If I wanted to substitute chickpea flour for a can of garbanzo beans in a recipe, how would I prepare the flour? should I mix a amount of water with it and cook it? and if so how much water?

Here's the recipe in question, Zero Sp Bananabonzo Bread.

Ingredients:

1 can drained garbanzo beans
3 very ripe soft bananas
5 eggs
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
2 packets of Trivia (stevia)


texts: Should I use oil to stop the steaks from sticking to the grill?

texts:
I tried grilling my steaks on a little sparse steel grill in a convection oven.

They came out great, with one annoying issue: they stick to the grill and have to be ripped off. This both damages the steak a bit, AND makes the grill hard to clean with the caked-on pieces of meat.

I was thinking of using a bit of oil to solve this, but don't know if it's OK?

If so, should I oil the steak, or the metal of the grill? And which oil do I use? The grill is set to 450 degrees.


texts: preserving leftover cooked rice from Chinese takeaway for processing in a cold salad afterwards

texts:
When getting Chinese takeaway, We never eat much of the normal cooked rice that goes with it, always opting for an extra dish of fried rice and/or noodles. My mother usually makes a cold salad the day after with some Cocktail sauce (with ketchup as the tomato sauce), a few varieties of canned fish (mackerel, sardines and anchovy) and some boiled eggs.

The problem is that this rice always turns out somewhat dry, somewhat detracting from the overal quality of the product. It's still edible and tastes good, but the textures are somewhat lacking in my opinion.

I have read "Instant" leftover rice? Making leftover-like rice without the wait? (as in for fried rice), but that's not what I need: I don't have control over the cooking process, and it's not for reheating afterwards. I also don't think this falls under the generic shelf live question, because this isn't about how long it will last, but how to store it short-term so certain negative effects don't occur, for which I cannot find a question (nor a tag).

I'm looking for a method to cool the rice without it turning dry that doesn't involve special attention immediately afterwards or changing the cooking process. With "doesn't involve special attention", I'm talking about something someone can do while unpacking the rest of the food and maybe putting a bit of the rice aside for those that don't like the fried kind.


texts: Why does my bread rise unevenly or from the bottom in the oven?

texts:
I recently started baking loafs from a sourdough starter for the first time. I fed and maintained the starter for 8 days before using it the first time.

On the first bake my loafs rose unevenly and didn't form a bottom crust, it just stayed moist like the crumb. The second time I got a weird rise from the bottom.

This album has additional pictures.

I baked these at 475 on a bread stone.
Any idea what is going on here? Thanks for any advice!


texts: Less sweet / lower sugar alternative to icing?

texts: When making a cake as a base line I usually halve the recommended sugar as I find it too sweet. Now I want to ice the cake for appearance and colour I notice that icing recipes are loaded with sugar.  Is there a less sweet / lower sugar alternative that will allow me to decorate the cake


texts: I often purchase chicken and fish that have been vacuum packed at the factory. Is the food, never having been exposed to air, susceptible to botulism or other anaerobic organisms? Is it best to sous vide these in their frozen state?


texts: Preparing/Storing freshly made noodles/pasta

texts:
We picked up a noodle maker recently - it mixes dough than extrudes noodles kinda like this

I figure I could prepare a large batch - and store it somehow.

What's a good way to store home made noodles? Precooking is fine (the 'proper' cooking time for this is about 6 minutes.) though I'd much rather not dust it with flour if there's any alternative to that.

Freezing would be awesome especially if we could avoid dusting it with flour.

A few days would be fine. A week's better.


texts: what's a good technique for freezing blueberries?

texts:
I'm taking a trip to the berry patch today. I'd like to get say 3 pounds of blueberries and freeze them. The problem is that when you defrost them, they're all busted up and mushy. So I wonder if I could put them in the oven at 150 for an hour or so and dry them out a bit before I freeze them.

Would that pull some of the water out and result in less exploded berries when the water in them freezes? What's the best way to freeze a blueberry?

Edit: years later, bought a food dehydrator. Gotta say, a dehydrated blueberry is much tastier than a previously frozen blueberry. Easier to store (use desiccant packs) and you can mix them in with trail mix too. Maybe not great for baking but heck maybe you can re-hydrate them overnight with some water.


texts: what muscles should be present in a ny strip steak?

texts: I was delivered some NY steaks, but they don't look like what I'm used to. Usually the NY seems to have one muscle, but these seem to have another muscle (highlighted in yellow). Would these still be considered NY? Any info is greatly appreciated. Thanks!


texts: How to use herb extracts or essential oils in drinks

texts:
What I am trying to do is make a drink called "Tarhun". It is, in its essence tarragon extract, sugar, water and lemon juice. I can not find fresh tarragon, so I must use either oil based tarragon extract or dried herb.

In the case of an extract - how would one create an emulsion with the essentail oil (or an oil based extract) for a drink? If you just put a drop of it in water it wont mix - it will stay a single drop of oil.


texts: what material should i use for cutting board?

texts:
What material should I use for cutting board? And which dulls more the knives?

As many cookers might know that wood cutting boards can be bad for use if it is not cleaned after use, because the growth of bacterias and even mold on there, also wood absorbs moist, color, and smells of what was chopped like garlic for example, I have also read that plastic ones also might be bad for use.

I have tried a glass cutting board which are really unconfortable for use, but safer for cleaning, though I have one but I don't use, because it's unconfortable when cutting and harmful because very it's sloppy though.

Also i think it would dull the knife a lot. I wouldnt use an iron,steel, or aluminium cutting board (if them exist) for same reason. btw i always keep my knives sharp with help ofthe bottom of a mug when they need some sharping. btw do you any trick to clean a wood cutting board of bad smells?


texts: I want to buy a whole piece of fresh salmon, head to tail intact, and fillet it.  Is there a technique that can be shared for a novice?


texts: I have been buying pre-cut and prepped stir-fry veggies at Trader Joe's and I was wondering if I could freeze my own bags of veggies. Would there be any issues with cutting up stir-fry veggies and freezing them in a conventional home freezer? Are there any veggies that do not freeze well to stay away from? Are there some that work especially well?


texts: Why didn't honey soy chicken breast brown?

texts: I cooked chicken breasts in my countertop convection oven with a honey and soy sauce mixture and they didn't brown at all. I guess the honey and soy slid right off. Is marinading the way to make it stick? Or is it because they are skinless? I didn't marinade the chicken but spooned the mixture on top of them before baking. I used boneless chicken breasts and a lower temperature than the attached recipe (375 degrees in convection oven so like 400 degrees in a regular oven). Similar to this recipe. Baked Asian-Style Honey Chicken


texts:
I love the flavor of rosemary but I don't like its prickliness. It's worse dried, but I don't even like that particular quality in fresh rosemary. I'm experimenting with a yeast bread that will include both water and fat (in this case, bacon fat). I want distinct pieces of rosemary (although they can be small), so I don't want to grind the rosemary. I also want to avoid a green tinge in the bread itself. I'm thinking of manually crushing the rosemary into a couple of tablespoons of water and bringing the mixture to a boil in the microwave, letting it cool, straining and adding the rosemary to the bacon fat and giving it a quick saute. I guess I'd add the rosemary water to the water in the recipe if it isn't too green. Does that sound like it would work? I want the flavor, but no sharp edges.

Edit...Hmmm, I've reached the point in the experiment that the crushed rosemary and water have been in the microwave and cooled. At first I was optimistic, the texture seems like what I am going for. However, the flavor is strong - even bitter.


texts: What is acceptable tolerance for heat distribution in frying pan

texts:
I have purchased a crepe pan but I think my question applies to any frying pan.
In my case I'm on halogen as a heat source but I don't believe that it matters too much.
I think the goal is for pans to distribute heat evenly. I appreciate there is like hundreds of reasons why this is hard to achieve for the manufacturers.
What is unclear is what type of tolerance should be seen as acceptable. For example, if my pan was at 200 degrees in the middle and 190 degrees at the side, I'd feel this is OK.
In my case, it is out by around 100°C

Please note, the crepe pan was in the middle of the halogen hob and the difference in temp was not due to the pulsing nature of the hob. The difference in temperatures was consistently out over a period of time
Is this type of loss normal or will it likely make cooking difficult. Is there a tolerance that people find acceptable?


texts:
I used to work in an office by a restaurant that served red ptitim - Israeli-style pearl couscous, today are cooked in some sort of tomato sauce and come out red tainted - but not wet: i.e they're not swimming in sauce: they're served just sightly moist like any other ptitim dish.

I tried to reproduce this at home by cooking the ptitim in tomato juice, tomato paste and even ketchup - but to no avail: they either come out in a lot of sauce or properly dry and not red.

What am I missing?


texts:
Today I bought frozen food for the first time and the brand is Mc Coin.

I read the instructions, which have the following instructions;

  Do Not Thaw and cook from frozen

I am unsure how to parse this. Can someone please tell me what the company is telling me in the instructions, and how I am to cook it?

Should I put my opened packet into freezer  ?
Should I cook it directly from the packet ?


texts:
I cook dippy eggs as follows:

Bring a pan of water to the boil (enough water to just cover the eggs)
Gently lower the medium-sized eggs (usually just one or two) into the water
Reduce the heat to a simmer
Time for 4 minutes

The problem is that when I crack the egg at the top to eat it, I am greeted with quite a substantial layer of water inside (floating at the top). Once I scoop the water out though, the yolk is pretty much perfect for dipping.

I've tried cooking for a bit longer (such that the yolk starts to harden - yuck) but I'm still finding water inside.

Why is this happening? And how can I prevent it?


texts:
Does almond milk curdle?

I tried to make it curdle to make vegan cheese. I added vinegar and cooked it and nothing happened. I continued to cook off all the water and was left with essentially an almond paste. How do you make a colloid like this curdle more to make it like cheese?


texts: What is the best time and temperature for taste when cooking a salmon fillet in the oven?

texts:
I have an Atlantic salmon fillet in my frig at the moment, but I really have no idea what the normal cooking temperature and time are for a salmon fillet.

What's the best temp and time to cook a 1lb salmon fillet in the oven?


texts: When I open a jar or a bottle of...well, anything (but especially juices or sauces), I have to put leftovers in the fridge if I want to finish it later.  What makes this food okay to leave on the shelf until I open it for the first time?


texts: It has a slightly thick skin like an apple, semi-dry and grainy texture, with a slight apple flavor, about the size of a large grape, with one pit, reminiscent of that of a date.


texts: Is my microwave still safe to use after accidentally heating metal in it?

texts:
My small kid used a metal bowl in a microwave oven and there was a spark. I immediately switched off the oven.

There was a burnt mark on the left side of the oven. Though the microwave oven switches on (Light is one), I am not sure if it actually works.

Will the microwave oven in general work even after such spark and burnt ?


texts: What is the range of pH that requires the addition of sodium citrate as a buffer? Does wine, specifically port wine, require buffer?


texts: When is a cooking oil not appropriate to substitute for another?

texts:
Frequently recipes call for a particular kind of oil for making use of certain characteristics (taste, heat tolerance, health, etc.). It's well known you can substitute cooking oils in most cases (vegetable oil for canola oil).

Are there circumstances in which it is not appropriate to substitute cooking oils?


texts: Why wouldn't manufacturers manufacture lids for their woks?

texts:
I was contemplating these ZWILLING Forte 30 cm  Wok (left beneath)
and Demeyere Alu Pro 5 30 cm Woks (right). Isn't it obvious why these woks should come with a lid, and why customers should have the choice of buying one? Because I don't want oil or contents to leap out of the wok, and dirty and smirch my stove!
I emailed Zwilling to confirm if these woks come with lids. The sales assistant replied no, but didn't know why. I escalated to a Supervisor who also didn't know why, but the Supervisor affirmed that she completely understood and agreed with my reasoning. She escalated my question to the Sales Manager, who also didn't know.

Full disclosure — I have  NO affiliations with, or involvement with, any financial or non-financial interest, in Zwilling.


texts: I've heard of two separate ways to use a water bath when cooking a cheesecake: placing the cheesecake in the waterbath, or placing a roasting pan full of water on the bottom rack of the oven, with the cheesecake on the top rack. I like the idea of not putting my cheesecake in the water, which avoids the need to wrap the pan in foil. Do these two separate methods create any discernible difference in the final result? Is one better than the other?


texts:
I am making pumpkin pie from scratch, the filling is way thicker than in the video recipe I followed. Will it still cook properly?

I used 2 cups of fresh pumpkin, 2 eggs plus one yolk and one cup of buttermilk.


texts: Do percentages on ingredient lists of cookies refer to pre- or post-baking weight?

texts:
Using Fox's Dark Chocolate Chunkie Cookies' ingredients as an example, per https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=273949462,

Dark Chocolate Chunks (28%)

refers to the weight before the baking, or is it the weight after the baking?


texts: How to store seeds so that they will not get full of insects?

texts:
I am trying to use my seeds in fruits, but when I store them they become very soon full of insects. Because I do not get a lot of seeds at once, I am not going to dry individual seeds in oven.

What is the best way to store the seeds? Could I freeze them?

Related question about eating seeds: Are seeds in melons and other fruits good to eat?


texts: Can I make "starter" with active dry yeast?

texts: I'd like to extend my supply of yeast (It's hard to get right now). My wife does not enjoy the taste of sourdough, so I was wondering it it's possible to create a self-replenishing culture, starting with store-bought, active dry yeast we already have on hand?


texts: How can I remove a stuck liquor decanter stopper?

texts: I had a decanter half full of vodka that has sat in my basement for about a year unused. Now the stopper is stuck on the decanter. How can I get the stopper off to get the sweet sweet vodka out for consumption?


texts: Why does processed meat contain preservatives, while canned fish needs not?

texts:
I've read that canned salmon typically does not contain any preservatives.

On the other hand processed meat (such as ham) contains them.

Why are preservatives needed in some cases but not others?


texts: I just found an old jar of Beef Bouillon cubes and although there is no expiration date, I'm a bit skeptical about using them - do they go bad?


texts: How did people transport food before aluminium foil was invented?

texts:
I know this question does not concern cooking, however I wondered how people transported their food before aluminium foil was invented (circa 1900, which is not too long ago).

Did people in the middle ages only carry preserved food with them on long journeys? Did they transport it in cloth or ceramic?

This question is really naive, but I want a definite answer.


texts: How do I make shelf stable legume dishes in vacuum bags?

texts: how do I make shelf stable cooked legumes in vacuum sealed bags at home?


texts:
I tried to make herb infused oil, but not matter how long I blend it it's still bitty.

I used 250ml of grapeseed oil, 15g of basil, 15g of chives, 15g of parsley, 15g of dill.
I blanched the herbs, then squeezed excess oils out.

I then poured all the oil into my first blender, waring pro. Fail
I then transferred into my magimix and blended again. Still bitty.
I then anded up using a powerful hand blender for about 10mins and I still had bits.

Any ideas?

thanks


texts: baking cupcakes in a commercial sized pan?

texts: I bought a 24 cup cupcake pan from a restaurant supply store because I am baking cupcakes for my daughter's wedding.  The cups are regular size, just in one big pan.  Should I place the pan on the middle rack, as usual, and do they need to bake longer?


texts: Is it less bad to refeeze bones than meat?

texts: I heard it's bad to refeeze meat. Someone told me it's less bad to refeeze bones. I have the bones from a venison shoulder someone gave me and thought it would make a nice gallon or so of broth but not right now, got plenty of other stuff. The shoulder was frozen when we got it, whole, and I wasn't able to saw off pieces to put back in the freezer and had to defrost it for processing. We're making a stew and chili with the rest.


texts: How do the nutritional values of bananas change as they ripen?

texts:
Unripe bananas are hard with thick skins and an unmistakeable raw flavour. As they ripen they shrink slightly, the skins become thinner, and the fruit becomes softer and sweeter; the raw flavour goes away.

How does the nutritional composition of the fruit change during the transformation?


texts:
Some of you might have noticed recently I am dabbling with pudding. Well - to no avail.

This is my recipe:

yolks -  1
cocoa -  30ml
sugar -  60ml
butter - 10ml
milk -   164ml
starch - 14ml

And the pudding just won't thicken. Once I even tried with double the amount of corn starch.

I have no idea what is going on, 14ml of corn starch is approx. 8.4g. I am using such tiny measures, because I am still testing it and would not like to end up with a big batch of yuck!.

In addition my hotplates are stupid and even the lowest setting is way too strong and burns anything you attempt to cook on it, that is why I decided to stir the pudding with a mixer/electric beater to ensure it will be stirred so fast - it will not have a chance to burn.

I will be getting a new oven soon, but in the meantime I would appreciate any advice.


texts: Is there a reason to peel onions for storage or sale?

texts:
I typically try to buy organic onions.  Recently the only organic onions that are available are already peeled (i.e., have the outer papery skin removed).

Why is this being done?

Presumably there is a cost to peeling the onions for the consumer so there must be a benefit either for the consumer (although none comes to mind) or during the processing of the onions.


texts: What is the reason my veggies cook unevenly?

texts:
Today I sauteed some onions and in some spots they were caramelizing nicely while in others they were slightly burnt.

Anyone knows who could be the possible culprit? I am betting on the frying pan but I wish to get some second opinion before buying something fancy.


texts: Side effects of overnight Oats , Overnight fenugreek

texts:
i started to eat overnight oats . But i want to know what are the side effects of it .

Because i am not cooking or heating the oats . So i am really worrying if any kind of bacteria will enter to our body .

I just mix oats and milk and honey in a glass box and put it in refrigerator in the night , and in the morning i take it out and eat .

So what about the bacteria, what about cold food . And even how can we trust the quality of oats that come in packed may be some dusts in oats .

  I am planing to eat fenugreek , that i put it on water yesterday . The
  purpose for this is hair growth . Is this good for health ? . Is there
  any side effects ? I hear that fenugreek will reduce the spam count of
  man


texts: Which side of the oven tray is the front one? Why?

texts:
The oven tray provided with my oven is not symmetrical: one side is slanted and the opposite side has holes in the corners.
The manual does not provide any hints, I could only see an image where it looks like the slanted side is the one facing the door, but I'm not sure.
See image.
Which side is which one and why are there holes? I have a normal electric oven without rotating grill.


texts:
At some point in the past, I had purhased a large amount (maybe a pound) of instant yeast at a restaurant supply store.  I transfered it to a glass container, and have been keeping it in the fridge.  I don't remember when I bought it -- I suspect it was 2 years ago.  (I know it was more than a year old).

When I make bread, it's still rising, and if I try proofing it, it works ... but the time to get bread to double in volume is taking longer (sometimes up to twice as long) as many recipes give as estimates.

Is there some good test that I can use to estimate what the decreased activity is, so I can adjust the amount of yeast that I'm using?  Or is there some other technique that I can use to compensate (eg, start proofing the yeast with sugar before using?)


texts: I live in a rural part of the country. NO BAGEL SHOPS! I've started experimenting on making my own. Bread flour makes the end product too dense. AP flour too light. Recipe calls for 4 cups bread flour a cup and a half of water. Anyone know what a good ratio of flours and water might be?


texts: Can I dehydrate chicken cooked in water, purreed and mixed with purreed vegetables and mashed potatoes.  Like a stew.  Something that would be crisp like a chips then dissolve easily when eaten.  All precooked. Blended then dehydrated.  This is for someone that struggles with swallowing and it needs to be tender and soft.  Can you mix things like that?


texts: Bell peppers become either crunchy or soggy

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Why can't I ever cook bell peppers to the right consistency?

Particularly in Asian dishes, and I have cut them various ways-- I continue cooking if they seem hard, then they become soggy and/or bitter.

Is there carry-over cooking that happens with bell peppers as there is with eggs?

Do the restaurants have a trick to get them to the proper consistency?

Maybe par boil or blanching prior to stirfry?