texts:
I want to make ginger drinks (bourbon, hot tea, ginger ale). In all cases, I want to create a ginger syrup that I can then add to bourbon, hot water, soda water to get my desired drink. I have tried the following methods:

Slice ginger thinly, put in boiling water for 1 hour
Chop ginger very finely, bring water to boil, cover, steep one hour
Chop ginger very finely, bring water to simmer for one hour
Puree ginger and small amount of water in vita mix

In all cases, I've found that I need to remove the leftover ginger, as it would just settle out of a drink. I've tried it with varying amounts of sugar (from none to 1:2 sugar:water). What I'm left with is a pretty good product, but the ginger has a lot of flavor left in it. In fact, I can use it again with the same process and still get a good result.

I would like to get a very strong product with minimal life left in the ginger, so that I can minimize the amount of ginger I use. I'd also like the syrup / extract to be as strong as possible to minimize the amount I add to my drink. To top it off, I would prefer the process not be to laborious or time consuming.

How can I maximize the extraction of ginger flavor in to a liquid?


texts: Ribs in Slow Cooker, then finished on BBQ?

texts:
I don't have a smoker, but I love slow-cooked BBQ ribs.

Would it be possible to cook ribs for 8-10 hours or however long I like in my kitchen slow cooker, then pop them onto a charcoal barbecue to brown / char when they're soft enough / cooked?


texts:
I come from Indonesia, but you might be more accustomed to Thai cuisine, so I use the term Thai curry in the title because the curries are similar. no, really. just a tad sweeter rather than sour.

So, from this "Indian Spicy" vs. "Thai Spicy"  ,
I gather the difference between thai and indian, and I want to enrich it with milk (no, I won't replace coconut milk, but I want to add milk to the coconut milk curry basically) .

how do I do that? or should I add Veloute,Bechamel etc to enrich Thai curry?
or is it not favorable (heh) to enrich a coconut-milk based curry with dairy?
I can't use ghee (hence won't go to Indian route) because it's too expensive in my country. and I will replace butter with BOS (butter oil substitute), real butter are quite expensive here.
any seasoned advice is welcomed. and... I use brown beef stock (roasted beef bone stock), if that matters.

EDIT: I won't use this with rice but congee. yeah, curry congee.


texts: A recipe inspired by Brat cheese sauce/Cooking in Wine

texts:
I followed a recipe to the effect of:

boil Brat sausages in 24 ounces of beer
remove sausages (do not drain the beer), pan fry or grill them
add 2 c. sharp cheddar, and 1 package cream cheese to the remaining beer, whisk over heat until you get a nice creamy cheese sauce.**

It was very simple. Very tasty. It was like a good Welsh Rarebit sauce.

Do you think this could be adapted to wine and white cheeses, to the effect of:

boil sausage or chicken in a dry white wine
remove meat; grill or pan fry it
add 2 cups motzarella, 1 cup grated parmesan to the boiled wine--whisk over heat until you have a smooth sauce.

Do you think that would work?  I've never cooked in large quantities of wine. I don't recall recipes that have done so. Any recommendations on the cheeses/quantities?

** I used store brand cream cheese. It didn't melt completely. Next time I will use a higher quality cream cheese.


texts: Won't fresh pasta sheets in lasagna overcook?

texts:
Most lasagna recipes require 30-45min of baking. Fresh pasta however only requires 2-4min of cooking. If I use fresh pasta in lasagne, will it not overcook?

Edit: The linked duplicate question is about a very different, even the opposite topic: how not to undercook pasta. I am talking about overcooking it.


texts: Too much water in box cake mix batter. Can it be fixed?

texts: I added too much water in my box cake mix and I already mixed the 2 together. What can I do to save the cake? Could I add another box of cake mix to the batter?


texts: Difference between old fashioned and quick oats?

texts:
What are the difference between old fashioned and quick oats?

Can they be substituted for one another in recipes?


texts:
How would you find a commercial kitchen to rent in the UK? I cannot seem to find any resources for them, the only ones i've found are attached to store fronts.

Would this be a case of renting a generic workshop/manufacturing space and kitting it out yourself, or are there specific facilities for catering companies etc

I had assumed this was off topic but found this: How do I find a commercial kitchen?

while my question is similar I'm specifically asking for the UK


texts:
At Aldi where I shop (in the United States), there are many foods that have the label "No Certified Synthetic Colors":

What exactly are certified synthetic colors? And why would a company advertise that their products do not contain them?


texts:
Today for the first time, I tested classic egg mayonnaise.
All I can say that it smelled strongly like yeast!

Is there a way to get rid of that smell? Do mayonnaise in general have that smell?

Enlighten please.


texts: Will different kinds of sugar or coffee affect coffee syrup flavor?

texts:
This coffee syrup is basically a 2 to 1 ratio of sugar to coffee, and you boil it to a thick syrup. A person who tasted the final dish said it tasted like espresso!

What kind of effects would it get from different kinds of sugar? Would brown sugar give it a molasses taste, for example?

Would different coffees have any effect on the coffee syrup?


texts: What white fish can be used in rolled sushi?

texts: I have been making sushi using salmon and tuna for a while, but i would like to know it there are any firm white fleshed fish that will work well in a rolled sushi paired with apple and cucumber. I tried cod but it doesn't carry a lot of flavor. I had also thought about tilapia but had never seen it served in a sushi restuarant and wasn't sure it would be suitable.


texts: Having been thoroughly indoctrinated about thoroughly defrosting poultry before cooking, I now find 1.5 Kg frozen turkey breast joints with the cook from frozen instruction. How can this work? Surely by the time the centre is defrosted and cooked the rest will be dried out.


texts: What is this brown deposit at the bottom of my Oil can?

texts:
We use Filtered groundnut oil for cooking at home. However, we recently changed the brand due to non-availability during COVID-19 lock-down. While pouring the last bit of oil I saw this at the bottom. The brown coloration was stuck to the walls of the can and some of it was floating in the leftover oil (not clearly visible here). It looked flaky.
Was the oil impure/adulterated/unhealthy? Or is this normal for filtered groundnut oil?


texts: Looking for a rice cooker, steamer, deep fryer, slow cooker combo that can cook rice and steam at the same time

texts:
I know this is slightly crazy, but I am a minimalist.

I try to get by on as little "stuff" as possible.

Basically I want a rice cooker that can steam my vegetables and chicken for a meal all at the same time, and it would be nice if the same appliance could be a deep fryer the few times I need one or a slow cooker.

Anything like this?


texts: How can I roast melon seeds, without oven or too much oil?

texts:
My mom lives Hong Kong when Toronto's cold. Here are strictures:

Healthy frying is OK. But NO deep-frying.
Her HK flat doesn't have a convection oven. She never bought microwave oven.
She could buy a counter-top convection toaster oven, but she feels it's too eco-unfriendly and waste of money. Let's rule it out for now.
If nobody comes up  anything, she will reconsider.  She has a rice cooker. Her kitchen looks like

This Salon.com article recommends roasting honeydew and cantaloupe seeds. My mom wants to roast seeds in pricey Japanese melons.


texts: Can I substitute agar-agar powder for gelatin in no-churn ice cream?

texts:
I saw that many no-churn ice cream recipes use gelatin to prevent crystalization. Unfortunately, I don't have any gelatin left but a lot of agar-agar powder.  Can I use agar-agar powder instead? And if yes, what is the best way to use it? Because normally I have to bring the mixture to a boil to cook agar-agar powder but I don't want to boil my milk.

Thanks for your help.


texts: How do I keep ground turkey or chicken from clumping when I cook it?

texts: When I sautee ground turkey or chicken for tacos or sloppy joes, I want the chunks of meat to be smaller and more like ground beef which breaks up easily.  But the ground turkey or chicken tends to form clumps and not break into a uniform texture.  Does anyone have any suggestions for getting smaller and more even chunks of ground turkey or chicken?


texts: Converting upright charcoal smoker to electric

texts:
I bought an upright charcoal grill/smoker years ago because it was cheap and I was interested in doing both grilling and smoking. However, I didn't find it to be a great grill (too small, and the airflow to the charcoal pan was lousy) and my one attempt to use it as a smoker didn't end well, either (keeping a constant, low temperature with the charcoal + wood was really tough). I've since bought a larger kettle grill and love it, but I would love to try to smoke again with the old upright...but this time, using an electric hot plate instead of charcoal (Alton Brown-style).

My plan is this:

Put the hot plate on the bottom rack (of three), running the cord out the bottom.
Put wood chips/chunks in a heavy pie pan and place directly on the hot plate's heating element.
Put the water pan on the middle rack.
Put the meat on the top rack.
Use one probe-style thermometer to monitor the air temp around the meat, and another thermometer to keep an eye on the internal temperature of the meat.
Add additional wood to the pan as needed through the access door.

Questions:

Do I need the water pan if using this method? I'm reading conflicting information about the purpose of the water. Most sources say it is to maintain moist air in the closed cooking space, but others say this isn't really true, and that it is used as a "thermal buffer" to absorb heat and/or smooth out temperature changes.
What is the best way to adjust the temperature up or down? My hot plate does have an adjustment knob, but should I also drill some holes in the smoker's lid (it doesn't currently have any) that can be opened/plugged as needed?
Is this going to work at all? :)


texts: The title pretty much says it all - I want to know (preferably in American units) how much juice you could get out of a regular-sized pineapple.


texts: Are bay leaves dangerous to (unwittingly) eat?

texts:
When I first started working as a cook, I was instructed in no uncertain terms to only use whole bay leaves when cooking so that when the leaves were removed, still whole, one could be sure that no pieces had broken off and remained in the stew (or whatever).

I was told that eating dried bay leaves was akin to eating broken glass in their potential effects on the digestive system.

Yet, just the other day I was eating a rabbit pie and I discovered a whole bay leaf in it. I asked the server, and she said that it was common practice for that restaurant to leave bay leaves in situ.

I guess they can't be that bad for you if restaurants can serve them hidden in the middle of a pie?


texts: I started my starter from a friends thanksgiving gift of a sample. I live at 6200 ft. Elevation. My issue i've run in to is after feeding it grows and bubbles within 4 hours and thickens. The next day its lost it's expansion and bubbles are smaller and deminished. It gets very thin again. When it's at it's peak, it floats and i've baked with it. But again the next day issues come up and it wont float. Any thoughts on this?


texts: I bought a 3 pound bag of peeled garlic. Some of them have white mold on them. Should I throw the lot away or pick through the bad ones & discard?


texts: Looking for suggestions on how much to serve on meat.  They would like pulled pork, ribs, and brisket


texts: Taste difference of bottled beer vs. canned beer

texts:
I think that the taste from a canned beer is different to the taste of the bottled beer. The same I experience for soft drinks. Is my sensory system distorted or do I suffer from an illusion?
Can this be true at all / could this be explained somehow by the used material?


texts: Foamy cakey layer on top of lemon squares

texts:
Every time I bake lemon bars (regardless of recipe), I seem to end up with a foamy cake-like layer on top of the lemon curd. I'm not really sure where I am going wrong, but it is definitely a technique over recipe thing because regardless of the recipe I have this problem.

EDIT:
I make my own lemon curd, I don't buy it. Despite me varying recipes, and trying to vary my technique I still end up with a foamy cakey layer on top. The lemon mixture on top of my lemon bars consists of around (depending on recipe):
4 eggs, 300g sugar, juice of 2-3 lemons, zest and 55g flour.


texts: How to chill and reheat three layer pork properly

texts:
Usually, I put the three layer pork on the table and let it cool before putting it in the fridge to store for later cooking if I could not finish all of them in a meal. (Wonder if I am doing is correct?)

However, when I took them out to cook again, I notice that the there is a layer of oil (that looks like rubber). Should I remove this oil or should I wait until it reaches room temperature? Or should I simply just heat it up or how should I reheat them?

Three Layer Pork


texts: Milk pasteurization in the bottle via water bath: fridge live?

texts:
I am frequently buying raw milk in bottle, which needs to be boiled for pasteurization. So far I always poured it in a pot, boiled it, and transferred it to a clean bottle after.

Since my old supplier dried up I need to travel a bit to get it, so I am thinking about ways to preserve it a bit longer, preferably 2-4 weeks in the fridge.

Would it be a good idea to put the glass bottles as they are in a water bath and wait until the milk starts bubbling? This way I won't need to do all the transfers and there won't be any air contact, it would be basically water bath canned. Would it hold for 2-4 weeks this way in my 4C° fridge? Any downsides?

I was also considering pressure canning, but I think this would be over kill for what I am trying to achieve here, which is slightly longer fridge life.


texts: how can I strip the surface from an iron alloy pan without harming the metal?

texts:
Got a Debuyer Mineral Element Pan for Christmas. It has a thin coating of bees wax. I thought it would be nifty to preseason the pan with flax oil and get an awesome surface on it before I started using it. Mostly based on what I've read about iodine values of oils and conditioning of cast-iron cooking pans.

I managed to get a great looking seasoned surface on it but now that surface is flaking off. I suspect it's due to the beeswax being under the surface and the polymerized flax oil not adhering to the metal.

I'd like to strip off the beeswax and polymerized flax oil and start fresh. How can I strip it off without harming the metal? I'm assuming oven cleaner, but want to make sure that won't ruin my pan.


texts: Can I let my bread dough rise in the mixer bowl?

texts:
When I bake bread, I often let the dough rise in the metal mixer bowl. I was wondering if this is a good idea, as the metal is probably colder than a regular bowl and may inhibit rising. Would it be better to transfer the dough to a glass or plastic bowl to rise instead?

(Note: I've done this often and my dough does rise, I just wondered if it might rise more if it wasn't in a metal bowl.)


texts: Poppy seeds with bitter aftertaste from boiling

texts:
I've followed the recipe here to make a poppy seed filling. The filling ended up with a somewhat bitter aftertaste, and I am wondering the following:
At what point of that recipe could something have happened to cause the bitterness? I tasted the seeds before and they weren't bitter, implying that something happened over the course of preparation. Could it have been something with the simmering (simmering too long, bringing it to a boil etc.)?


texts: Why does bread flour have lower protein content than all-purpose flour?

texts:
I decided that after six months of breadbaking, I'm ready to check flours. Up until now, I just bought the bread flour in the local shop (ok, the local shop is out of breadflour and yeast, because of covid, so the sourdough is a real saver now:)). Google tells me the most important difference between flour is the protein content. High protein for bread, low protein for cakes and in-between of all-purpose. Now this is a bit strange for me already, since I guess there are three important proteins that are in the flour: gliadin, glutenin and amylase, so this seems a bit generic, but the sources seem to imply that protein content is equivalent to how much gluten will form.

So I checked the labels of the local brand I use and was very surprised that the all-purpose flour (9.8 g) had in fact higher protein content than the bread flour (8.6 g). This would mean that the all-purpose would make a stronger dough (testing in progress). This might be a local phenomenon (Hungary), but it is more likely I'm not understanding something.

Some of the texts mention how fine the milling is, but I couldn't find any definitive answer to how the fineness of the milling would alter the properties of the dough. I also think the ash content of the bread flour is higher, but it is not exactly clear to me from the labels.

A translation of the table on the labels:

energy
fat
of which saturated fat
carbohydrates
of which sugar
dietary fibers
protein
salt

Could somebody clear this up for me? How can the bread flour protein content be higher than the all-purpose? Is milling fineness important (I'm not sure I could tell the difference between the too, so it can't be extreme)?


texts:
I have heard that using a Bamboo Steamer provides/preserves the nutrients/elements that are good for, or at least more so than a normal plastic/metal steamer.

Is this true? Or only for certain types of food/dishes? Or perhaps not at all?

Also, does either of these produce a higher quality result (in taste or texture) than the other?

Bamboo Steamer:

VS

Normal Steamer:


texts: Different sourdough starter behavior based on starter composition?

texts:
In general, what are the different "behaviours" of sourdough starter, based on their composition, all other things being equal?For instance a 100% white flour starter vs. 100% wholewheat flour starter vs. a white/wholewheat combination starter, all at 100% hydration. How would they each differently affect the final dough if incorporated in the same bread recipe?
Also is it recommended to use the same (or closest to same)starter composition as the bread recipe flour composition?
Thank you in advance!


texts: Making brownies but don't have a hand whisk? Can i substitute with electric mixer?

texts: Hey guys im making brownies but i don't have a whisk. Can i substitute with a electric mixer on low switching on and off occasionally? Would that lead to overbeating the mixture


texts: Would trying to boil blood that's been treated with an anticoagulant in an electric kettle break the kettle?

texts:
I read here it isn't possible to boil milk in an electric kettle without a very high probability that it will break it, though someone also mentioned that there are electric kettles that can boil milk. So far so good. But what about blood that has had an anticoagulant added to it?

It's similar to milk in some ways and dissimilar in others. Would you be able to boil blood in an average kettle that has a coil inside? Would a kettle capable of boiling milk also be able to boil blood? Or is it simply not possible to boil blood with any kind of electric kettle?


texts:
My wife's chicken cake recipe calls for mayonnaise as one of the batter ingredients. In my opinion, mayonnaise is completely unsuitable for high-temperature processing (as in baking), but I was unable to come up with a substitute for it.

So, my question is, what can we put into cake batter instead of mayonnaise?

Update:

I think mayonnaise is unsuitable for baking because it is an emulsion which separates into its ingredients when heated, emulsifying agents used in a commercial mayo are not particularly healthy, and mayonnaise does not taste any good when it is broken into its components.

The components of the batter are: 6 table spoons of flour, 3 eggs, 200gram mayo, 200gram sour cream.

The components of the filling are: chopped prepared chicken meat, chopped sauteed onions, boiled eggs, etc.


texts: I have one strawberry and one fig vincotto (bottle). What can I do with it ? Am having trouble finding recipes to use it in, other than fruit/icecream/salad related. I prefer a recipe with only a few ingredients, so the vincotto remains primary.


texts: Exact proportions of sugar to water in sorbet

texts: I am planning to make a sorbet from a cordial which I'm going to make (essentially a flavoured syrup). What proportion of sugar to water to I need to create a smooth, small-crystalled sorbet? Please take in mind I do not own or intend in buying a 'Baum meter' or many other kitchen gadgets although I do own a thermometer. The cordial does contain acid if that should change things.


texts: Why would heating salt in a pan prevent food from sticking?

texts:
Quote from www.saltworks.us:

  Preventing food from sticking - Rub a pancake griddle with a small bag of salt to prevent sticking and smoking. Sprinkle a little salt in the skillet before frying fish to prevent the fish from sticking. Sprinkle salt on washed skillets, waffle iron plates or griddles, heat in a warm oven, dust off salt; when they are next used, foods will not stick.

I've heard this more than once but never tried this, because I simply can't imagine why or how this works, and mostly the descriptions are a bit vague (for example, what temperature should a "warm oven" be?).

If it does work, how long does the effect last, just the next time it's used? And would there be remains of salt left in the pan when it's used next, so that one should use salt with caution after applying this procedure?


texts:
I will be having a graduation party for my twin daughters in june and i want to cook some large beef roasts on the spit. Although i have cooked plenty of beef briskets, prime rib, and sirloin roasts, I have never cooked for 150 people, except for a few pig roasts.

What I'm trying to find out is 1) what would be the best cut of beef and 2) what type of wood and/or charcoal should I use. My biggest concern is the meat drying out. And if possible maybe you can give me a few cooking tips.


texts: What are these white spots in my bread dough?

texts:
I'm making hot cross buns following this recipe: https://domesticgothess.com/blog/2020/03/09/vegan-hot-cross-buns/
About an hour into the first rise, I'm seeing these alarmingly mold-like dots in the dough. I didn't see these when I was kneading it.

The only things I might've done abnormally for this recipe were:

My soy milk might've been a touch too hot when I added the yeast. I was afraid it would kill the yeast, but it looks like the dough has risen normally. Not sure if that has something to do with the appearance of these spots.
For the soy milk, I made it using cooked soybeans blended up with water. It was done in a high speed blender and the soy milk appeared quite smooth, but could these be unblended soybean chunks?
I used kosher salt. Perhaps the salt was not fully dissolved by the time I let it rise.

Are there any other possibilities for what these spots could be?


texts: How long to sharpen Japanese knife with whetstone

texts:
I'm a fairly experienced home cook and I'm looking to upgrade to a good quality chef's knife. I'm thinking about getting a Japanese knife (e.g. a Shun Classic) but I've heard they can take a long time to sharpen using whetstones, on the order of 45 minutes to an hour.

So if anyone out there has experience with one of these knives I'd like to know how often and how long you sharpen them. I know there are a lot of factors that determine the answer, so you can make the following assumptions:

Japanese style knife
Rockwell hardness in the 60 - 62 range
I'll probably be used a total of 1 - 2 hours per week
Mostly cutting fruit, vegetables and soft meat, no bones
I'll be using whetstones of 1000 grit, 3000 grit, and a leather strop
I want the knife to be pretty darn sharp
I don't plan to let it get all that dull. I'd rather have frequent, shorter sessions than fewer long ones

Update

If you're not comfortable with the above question, how about this one?

Do any home cooks out there own a Japanese knife that they sharpen with whetstones? If so, about how often do you sharpen it and how long does it take to get it pretty sharp?


texts:
I just seasoned my wok for the first (three) times with vegetable oil. I noticed that the wok smokes a lot (as expected). What I find troubling is that the patina looks like it's blackened and burned.

To say that a different way, it seems like patina is essentially highly-heated, burned oil. Is that really what it's supposed to be? Am I supposed to "cook" it until it burns, or should I be stopping at some point prior to blackening?

(The wok is carbon steel, although I don't think that matters)


texts:
My cookbook has dozens of cookie recipes and I can find hundreds more online.

But...

If I want to invent my own cookie recipes how can I go about doing it, without wasting tons of ingredients on trial and error?

How must I balance the ratios of the basic ingredients, such as flour, eggs, water, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda?

Has anyone created any formulas or rules for creating cookie recipes?


texts: What is the upper limit of cake pan size before I definitely need a tube cake pan of angel food cake?

texts: I am actually making a giant cupcake and I have a paper mold that is about 6.5 inches and 7 inches high.  I am completely familiar with the mechanics of how angel food cakes and chiffons work, I just would like to know what the largest cake pan size I can use before I really NEED a center hole.


texts:
I've looked through a few recipes for Mille Crêpes and see that many use double as many eggs in the batter compared with most plain crêpe recipes (6 eggs per cup of flour compared to 3).

I'm not a fan of eggy crêpes so I'm tempted to go with my usual proportions. Does anyone know from experience whether the cake version really requires the extra eggs?


texts: Can flavoring extracts be added to inverted sugar?

texts:
I'd like to try doing a recipe with inverted sugar (hand pulled cotton candy), but am entirely new to candy making. I have the instructions to create inverted sugar, but would like to add a flavoring (as opposed to just the dye used in the video). I've tried googling it, but can't find too much information.

I've read the Honey is very similar to inverted sugar, but has some impurities that give it it's color and distinctive flavor, so I know chemically inverted sugar is entirely possible, but I don't have the time or resources to figure out how to make bees produce blue raspberry honey.

I've considered using jello, but I imagine with the gelatin the end result wouldn't be anywhere near the texture I'm looking for. Is there any way I can manage to impart more than just "raw pure sugar" into this recipe?


texts: I need a substitute for crushed tomatoes!

texts: I have tomato sauce, and I have fresh tomatoes, but I forgot to buy the 28oz can of crushed tomatoes for a sausage/pasta recipe.


texts: How to boil away water from a sauce without it splashing?

texts:
When "slow cooking" a certain recipe, I need to keep a lid on the pot, or the sauce slowly but surely splashes all over the place.

However, with the lid on, the sauce retains much more water than I like.

How can I boil away the excess water, or otherwise make the sauce less watery, without incurring significant extra cleaning?


texts:
What's the difference between serving from a ceramic plate and metal plate?
I think the ceramic plate lasts longer, but suppose the metal one is in good condition for a long time.


texts:
Whenever I don't have an ingredient I thought I had, or it is not sold around me, I often find myself running to my old cookbooks which have substitutes in the back of the book(s).

I don't always find a substitute for the ingredient in question and not every online source is reliable and could make or break a dish.

Is there a reliable source for substitute ingredients?


texts: I forgot to get my mince beef out of the freezer to cook tonight, so it's still frozen...Can I cook it straight from frozen or does it need to fully defrost?


texts: Calories in alcohol-based sauce brought to boil (bourbon chicken)

texts:
In the same spirit as this question, I came across a keto recipe for bourbon chicken. I don't usually trust the calorie-count of recipes like this from the blogosphere, I have no clue where/how they're crunching their numbers. So I usually put the recipes into Cronometer (awesome site, like MyFitnessPal on steroids).

Naturally, I would assume all the calories are burned off if you were to deglaze a pan, but seeing as the bourbon is brought to a boil with the chicken-stock, I don't think it's safe to assume all the calories are burned off... but then again I'm slowly learning how to cook, so I'm no expert.


texts: What is a good way for a beginner to start sous vide cooking?

texts:
I am just about to start experimenting with Sous Vide cooking. My plan is to start out with some very simple equipment (A PID controller and a kettle) and slowly build up until I have made my custom awesome Sous Vide cooker. (I'm an robotic engineer, so I'm looking forward to this bit).

To start with, I'd just like to try the simplest Sous Vide recipe I can. Something that:

Requires low accuracy
Is safe for a pregnant woman
Takes less than 2 hours

What meat is reliable for a first sous-vide attempt, and can be cooked in such a short time?


texts: How long is the longest I can slow cook pork shoulder?

texts:
Everyone seems to say "low and slow" for pork shoulder. 225f or 250f for 8 or more hours.

What is the longest / lowest you can do? (without big risk of illnesses) eg, what would happen if you did 225 for 24 hours? etc.

EDIT: presume a 10LB pork shoulder (about 4.5kg)
TIA


texts: Can thawing meat too quickly affect its quality?

texts: Can thawing meat more quickly (e.g. warm water, microwave, warm oven) than normal (leaving out at room temperature) affect the taste / texture of the meat? Is there a particular maximum rate of temperature change for various types of meat (beef, pork, and chicken is what I'm most interested in)?


texts: Does washing an apple with cool water remove most of the wax and residue?

texts:
Livestrong:

You'll remove most of the wax and residue by rinsing the apple under cool water

Is this true?
Ideally, I'd like for some actual scientific research that compares various methods for washing/cleaning apples.


texts: Will a lid with a hole in it work with a crock pot?

texts: I have an older crock pot, and the lid needs to be replaced. It's an odd size, and the only appropriate lid I could find has a tiny hole in it for venting. Will the crock pot still work normally if it's vented?


texts: What's the best way to season a cast iron skillet?

texts:
I just purchased a new cast iron skillet. What's the best way to season it?

And if I need to re-season an old pan, is the process any different?


texts:
I recently made this truffle ravioli dish, it was an easy enough recipe, but I was confused about one thing: it calls for 'musk'. I didn't know what this was, my research only turned up musk melon, which I think is probably different.  So, I skipped it.

So, my question is, what is 'musk' as used in this recipe, and what sort of flavor would it have imparted to the dish?


texts: Mould on top and bottom of white wine vinegar

texts: I didn't realize there was mold on the top and bottom of my white wine vinegar until I had added a teaspoon into the ingredients for Tzatziki.  Is it OK to use or should it be discarded?


texts: I made a Jell-O last night and it turned out too sweet for me. Is it doable to increase the amount of water used but the same amount of Jell-O powder? So instead of 1 cup of hot water, 1 cup of cold water, and 1 Jell-O pack, it would be something like 2 cups of hot water, 2 cup of cold water, and 1 Jell-O pack. Or would doing this result in the Jell-O not solidifying?


texts: Will dry roasting a chuck come out tender?

texts: I plan on dry roasting a beef chuck, I've only ever braised chuck before though. Is this cut suitable to a slow and low dry roast or will it come out tough? It's a 3 lbs roast, I'm thinking 300 degrees (convection) for and hour and 15 minutes.


texts: What to do with dried vegetables that feel like a chewing gum?

texts:
Several months ago I dried some vegetables, mainly cabbage and carrot. I cut them to thin small slices using a slicer, dried them in about 50 C, and stored in glass jars.

Now, I opened the jars and tried eating them. Their look and taste is OK, but their texture has become hard and chewy, like a chewing gum. When I eat them, I need to chew them for a very long time before I can swallow.

What can I do with these vegetables?


texts: Do lamb kidneys require their cores to be removed and what is the easiest way to remove them?

texts:
I am cooking lamb kidneys by frying them on a pan. If I do not remove the cores of the kidneys, that tissue in the core remains and is hard to chew afterwards.

Is there a way to cook the kidneys with the cores in place so that they become softer? this is because they are not easy to remove.

What is the easiest technique for removing the cores if needed?


texts:
When I see any recipe for octopus, it's almost always boiled first. Harold McGee says to chuck it in the oven (dry)

The point is, when ever any one fries/BBQ's octopus, they always fry/BBQ cooked octopus.

My question is about why does it have to be this way? My research potentially suggests one of 2 things, but I'm unsure.

By boiling/oven first, you get a more even cook
Frying only would make it chewy

In my case, I don't (think) I want to cook the entire octopus, but instead, semi defrost it (until I can chop the arms off (so it would remain mostly frozen)), remove the arms, refreeze and cook the arms as and when needed

If I were to cook an arm only by frying, is there any danger here or do people cook it twice (when frying) for taste/texture?


texts: How to prevent pureed blueberries from gelling?

texts:
I have a sparkling new ice cream machine. The first batch, Philadelphia-style plain vanilla ice cream, worked perfectly. I decided to try a sorbet, and made Lebovitz's Blueberry-banana sorbet, but used less blueberries than in the recipe, because I didn't have enough. I cooled the base in the fridge for 9 hours.

When I took it out to churn it, it was gelled, I assume due to the pectin in the blueberries. I whipped it a bit with a whisk, which broke it up into small lumps, but didn't really returned it to liquid. When I filled it in the ice cream maker, I discovered that it didn't have enough torque. The mass climbed up the dasher, and started rotating with it as one big lump. Eventually (after over an hour, although the instructions say that half a portion of well-chilled base should only take 20 min) it was ready. The texture was OK, not really crystalized, and definitely no lumps, but still I feel that it would have worked better if the mass had been liquid instead of semisolid from the beginning.

What can I do to prevent the blueberries from gelling during the chilling phase next time?

I used 1 banana (90 g peeled), 125 g fresh blueberries, 50 g sugar, 90 g water, and 7 g lemon juice. Everything thrown into a blender and pureed, no heating. Then chilled for 9 hours in the fridge before churning.


texts: I took out an unbaked apple pie from the freezer, thawed it out and baked it.  I was wondering if I could refreeze it now.


texts: Is there a way to treat any firm cheese so that it can be fried?

texts: Something like halloumi can be fried directly, other firm cheeses melt before it's done.  Can they be treated somehow so that they don't melt too soon?


texts: Do I need to bake my pre-made pie crust?

texts:
The objective was to quickly put together a banoffee pie without going through making the pie crust. But this store bought Graham cracker pie crust comes with some confusing instructions a t the back.This is the product with a picture. It says:

Ready to use.
For a golden crust, bake at 350 F for 5-7 minutes.

And then it goes on to outline some simple recipes for pies. What I understand from this is that there are two option, and I need to bake it only if I want the crust to develop a certain golden color. If I am strapped for time or any other reason I choose not to, I can use as is.
Is my interpretation correct or is it necessary that I bake it and let it cool before assembling my pie?


texts:
First time poster here.
So, I have always been a fan of homemade food and I wanted to try my hand with cheeses.
I live very near a milk farm and I could get some raw milk.
I am posting after 2 failed attempts at getting curdles to form to make quick mozzarella (and even ricotta). I tried making ricotta and paneer in the past and it worked flawlessly.
I have another 1.5L of milk available and I would like to succeed with that at least.
Here is my recipe, I'd love to understand what's wrong...

1L Raw Milk
2-3 Tbps Lemon Juice

Instructions:
Heat Milk to 44-46C and add slowly the lemon juice while stirring. Keep stirring until curdles are formed, keep the temperature constant.
That's it! I don't see absolutely nothing happening even after 30min of stirring gently.
I tried adding more acid (like a lot more) and even getting near to boil. I tried adding rice vinegar and red wine vinegar (at that point I didn't care about the taste anymore).
Can someone teach me?


texts: How long should tilapia filets of normal thickness be broiled?

texts:
I have a packet of fresh tilapia filets from the grocer, and I'm planning to broil them with BBQ sauce. How long should they stay under the heat and how far should they be from the heating elements?

My broiler is the "under-the-oven" kind which re-uses the gas flame that pre-heats the main oven.

Edit: Are there any additional preparation steps I should be aware of? I'm a novice when it comes to cooking fish.


texts:
The other day, I was going to roast a butternut squash in the oven to then cube and use in a stew. I noticed on the squash, there was a sticker suggesting to cook it in the microwave, with the following directions:

  Cut in half and remove seeds. Place cut side down in dish and add 1/2" of water. Cook on high 8 min or till tender. Let set 5 min.

I saw that, and I was very hungry, so thought "Why not try it -- 8+5=13 minutes sure beats waiting for the oven to preheat + 50 mins of baking time", so I gave it a shot.

I was cooking that sucker for darn near just as long -- it never seemed to get soft. I think I finally got it tender after putting it back in the microwave for 8 mins at a time like 5 times, and even then it was really spotty in its doneness - a few spots were very cooked and mushy, others still rock hard.

Any ideas of what I could have done wrong? Anyone had success in cooking a butternet squash in the microwave?


texts: Best potato varieties to use for mashing

texts: I use Maris Piper with butter, milk and seasoning, but I'm wondering if there is a better variety for mashing?


texts: I grew my own tomatoes this year and had success with making my own salsa.  Do you need a pressure cooker to can home-made salsa?


texts:
I really really really hate grease. I have a small house, my kitchen is next to my living room separated by a tiny hallway. I close the doors when I cook and generally don't have a problem. But when I do a steak, I like high heat to fry the outside well.

Its not on for long as I like the inside rare and I've followed advice to keep the smoke down which has helped a lot but... there is still smoke.

If there is smoke floating around, is that grease? Like, will it eventually settle down as grease?

I only ask because I have ocd about grease on electronics...and I hate the feel of it. To be fair, it doesn't feel like grease after the smoke has gone but I'm paranoid. Even thought about getting a tiny BBQ to use for just the steak but...maybe thats a little extreme


texts:
So the USDA lists that a person should consume ground beef if it's been in the fridge for 1-2 days.

If we purchased the beef Tuesday afternoon (and today is Thursday) obviously it should be fine if it's been sitting in the fridge since.

However this made me think...do they not count the time it's been sitting at the grocery store? I mean it's not frozen then and Im guessing they don't "throw out" what is bought so...how is it safe to eat if it's sitting in "refrigerator temps" at the grocery store for probably more tha n 1-2 days?


texts:
This comment suggests something about the true definition of "caramel":

  Actually, caramel is not made with "milk and/or cream, butter, and sometimes vanilla". While US recipes are fond of adding these things to caramel, they are not an essential part of the definition.

I am very interested in what a true caramel recipe and production is. What actually is the definition?

Also, I want to toy around with butterscotch, caramel and toffee - I like them all. Is there something along this line that uses molasses, even if it's not caramel per se?


texts: I have 2 loaves of banana nut bread that are not quite baked completely(they are very dense with lots of banana). What other things could I make with them as I refuse to waste food??


texts: I have a Tenderloin that was roasted to medium and seared. How can I best reheat it without it getting dry and tough?


texts:
I found this:

The bottle has a best by date of 2022 and was opened a few months ago.

Is that common that mold can grow in vinegar?


texts:
I have a couple of questions how to use fresh milk (not pasteurized) coming directly from cow in village (in traditional way, of course).

How long it should be boiled before usage?
Is it better to immediately boil it and store in fridge or store it in fridge and boil before usage?
How long it is can be safely stored in fridge?


texts: What is the difference between Devil's Food and Chocolate cake?

texts: I always thought they were (perhaps regionally) different labels for the same cake. While at a local fair, I noticed that there were separate categories for Devil's Food and Chocolate cake.


texts:
In the morning, I usually have porridge with a bit of fruit. The issue is that the porridge oats always seem to retain their shape and never become very sticky, even after I leave it for a few seconds after microwaving.

I use 40g of Kavanagh's porridge with 220ml of milk and put it in an 800 watt microwave for the specified time of 2 minutes and 30 seconds. I then add in cherries and blueberries then put it in the microwave for a further 30 seconds, before adding sliced banana. After waiting for a few minutes, the oats have absorbed the milk, but seem to retain their shape and don't become sticky.

I prefer to use the microwave instead of the hob, as their is less to wash up afterwards. I have tried adding less milk and putting the porridge in for longer, but this doesn't seem to have an effect.

How do I make my porridge thicker and stickier in the microwave?


texts:
Several times lately I have seen people recommend a particular brand of (very expensive) high powered blender.

Each time one of the main selling points for them is that the blender is so powerful that you can heat pureed soup in it.

Why would a person want to do this? It seems less efficient, more expensive, and more difficult to clean than using the stove or microwave.


texts: Would putting green grapefruit in water help them to not dry out and will they ripen?

texts: I have just gathered 5 green grapefruit that fell from my tree today.  I read here that they dry out when waiting for them to ripen. I was wondering if there was a solution like water, maybe water plus sugar or something, that would help them to ripen without drying out.  A couple are green-green. A couple are 3/4 green.


texts:
Just curious if you ever found where to buy those spatulas? (Re: Where did the thin, smooth plastic spatulas go? The dark blue one on the left)
Where did the thin, smooth plastic spatulas go?

My wife would like to get some too but I can't find that type either.

Thanks for any help.


texts: Scurvy grass - preparation and kitchen utensils

texts:
So, as many of you may know, I live on a boat, traveling the world by sea.  Though today in most places it is possible to obtain at least some decent nutrition no matter where (Azores sometimes impossible), I am interested.  Scurvy Grass, what is the best preparation for it and do I need any special utensils?

I have found this and that.


texts:
I am wanting to make these Kartoffelpuffer, which is german for potato pancakes. I am looking to use this recipe https://www.allergygirleats.com/potato-pancakes/

The ingredients are as follows:

Ingredients

500g Parboiled Potatoes

1/4 cup White Onion - finely chopped

1/4 tsp Salt

1 tbsp Potato Starch

1 Egg

1 tbsp Ghee

1 tsp Olive oil

This is a gluten free recipe but I was also wondering if I could make it vegan as well/dairy free? Which ingredients here would fall under vegan or dairy free?
I  saw the eggs, is there any substitution for that?

Thanks. (Need it more vegan than dairy free, that's the least of the priorities) Thanks!


texts: What happens if I use fresh mushrooms to make vegetarian Chinese mushroom soup (冬菇湯)?

texts:
What changes if I use fresh mushrooms, rather than dried, to make Chinese mushroom soup (冬菇湯)? I'll be shunning meat. Note that unlike Western mushroom soups, mushrooms aren't blended in Chinese soups.
Top. Middle. Bottom.


texts: How to test that a knife is sharp enough?

texts:
As per the question - how to I test that a knife is sharp enough?
And/or, how do you know when a knife needs sharpening?

Edit:
Yesterday I attempted (I feel quite successfully) to hone my knives for the first time ever (requiring me to purchase a honing steel), which immediately made a rather noticable difference (I shall be honing them regularly from now on).
Not sure whether additionally sharpening them as well would be a good idea?
The suggested tomato and paper tests make sense, and I shall try them in the near future and see..


texts: Is it safe to throw frozen meat in marinade?

texts: What if I don't wait for it to defrost. Does it affect taste in a bad way? Or is it unhealthy? How does it compare to thawed meat?


texts:
I was trying to make Alton Brown's Pomegranate Molasses, but had trouble converting his "medium-low heat" to my electric (glass top) stove.
I ended up with what commenters on the above link describe as "Pomegranate Candy" because I let it get too thick and it solidified as it cooled.
Other than starting again with lower heat or less time, is there any way to rescue it? Can I reheat it with more pomegranate juice (or plain water) added to rehydrate it somehow?


texts: Is marinating raw fish in sweet fortified wine safe?

texts:
Is marinating raw fish in sweet fortified wine safe, or will the presence of sugar foster bacteria growth ?
The wine is 16.5% ABV and the whole thing is kept in a fridge.


texts: I've got a recipe that calls for chestnut puree. I live in Australia and it's proving difficult to find. Chestnuts on the other hand are pretty easy to find so I googled around to see if I could find a recipe to make my own. The results really only returned other recipes that contain chestnut puree so I was wondering if I could make my own and if so, how would I go about it?


texts: I cooked some cod patties, then forgot to refrigerate one of the patties for several hours (3 to 4 hrs.). I left sit on top of the stove At room temperature, how safe is it to eat the next day?


texts: Rubber like skin on surface of chocolate mousse

texts:
When I make chocolate mousse, I usually end up with a slightly rubbery surface on the mousse.

To make the mousse, I do the following:

Melt dark chocolate in a bowl over simmering water
Separate 2 or 3 egg whites from the yolks
Whip the egg whites
Mix the yolks in with the chocolate and add a bit of sugar
Fold the egg whites in with the chocolate mix
Transfer to bowls and put in the fridge

Usually when I go to eat them the next day, there is a rubber like surface on the mousse, but underneath it's nice and soft.

I am just wondering what causes this, and how to prevent it?


texts:
I have seen multiple recipes that ask to cover the pepper after blackening?
What is the use for this?


texts: Why'd Cantonese restaurants desire 40,000 BTU for soup?

texts:
Out of curiosity, I was reading about this Metallic Mold Blower Wok Range (1 Burner 1 Soup Pot). Here's another.

Did I pin-point the Soup Burner correctly?
Residential gas stoves range  from 400 to 18,000 BTUs. Why the necessity for 40,000 BTU? Ceteris paribus, how does it affect the soup?


texts: I've made some apricot jam and I'm happy with the consistency.  I heated the jars and filled them with hot jam. Unfortunately the jam cooled before I got the lid on.  Can  I put a cellophane lid on cold jam?


texts: Can an open package of sausage lead to contamination of other foods?

texts:
My roommate has a pack of sausages in the fridge that has been in there for a week.
They opened the package tonight and left it in the fridge opened.
I don't know if I should throw it out or not?

Will it contaminate any of my food?
I had some meat in there that was covered by a plastic lid. Should I throw that away?


texts: When making bechamel, why does the roux need to be room temperature?

texts:
Most detailed bechamel recipes call for the roux to be brought to room temperature before adding the warm milk. What is the difference between that and pouring in the milk while the roux is still hot?

Also should the roux be a liquidy creamy texture or more of a grainy coarse texture?


texts: I was given a 3 oz pre-baked ham. I do not have an internal thermometer. As I have never baked a ham before, can someone please tell me how long I need to bake it? Thank you!


texts: Why do some say my fried chicken tastes like peanut butter?

texts:
When I cook fried chicken, my friends sometimes claim it tastes like peanut butter--especially after it sits for a while after cooking. Why?

I know I'm not the only one who has encountered this phenomenon because this Burger King commercial features a man who was quoted saying the BK chicken sandwich tastes like peanut butter after he microwaved it.


texts: Flour is many years expired but still looks good

texts:
I have a bag of flour in my pantry that expired 3 years ago, but it looks and smells perfectly fine. Is it still safe to eat?

EDIT: To clarify, today is July 3rd, 2018, and the flour best before date is "2015 SE 04"

Question is different from other existing questions on the topic because the duration of time passed is more extreme (other questions describe a few months).


texts: Sous vide octopus for maximum tenderness

texts:
A few years ago I had a delicious 15-hour slow-cooked (then charred) octopus at a japanese restaurant in New York.  The flesh was moist and tender without being gelatinous, and I could sense the layers in the tissue as I bit through it.
I've been trying to replicate the process using a sous-vide cooker, with very limited success as my results have invariably produced rubbery octopus.
As even food mega-nerd Harold McGee noted in a New York Times column, the recipes for tender octopus vary tremendously, and even his quest continues.
My instinct is that sous-vide is a good approach here.  The sous vide recipes vary, but generally recommend ranges of 170-185F for 3 to 7 hours.
I've tried variants of these (with medium, fresh octopus, bought whole, cleaned and done one leg per bag), but with invariably rubbery results.

Question:
Is it possible to get reasonably consistent, moist/tender, medium sized octopus legs using sous-vide cooking?

If so, what preparation/setting is recommended?
If not, what are the factors which make this so damn hard?


texts: How to tell if my young starter is mature?

texts:
I am trying to grow my starter for the very first time. I have two of them, one is 12 days old now, 100% hydration white flour at 1:2:2 ratio, feeding every 24 hrs; it's a little bit bubbly and not rising much, not more than 10% of its size. The other one is 10 days old, also 100% hydration, a mix of white flour and whole wheat at 1:1:1 ratio; it still has some bubbles but not much of a rise.

Both smell yeasty with a hint of acidity. My kitchen temperature is around 20 degrees. I wonder what I am doing wrong. I read that by now my starters should be doubling or even more.


texts:
Take pity, is there any way I can be better?
Here's a close-up (in case that, you know, helps)

I heat only normal real chocolate (i.e., normal bar eating or cooking chocolate), that is to say I am not open to using EZ-Net fake chocolate or any sort of additives or chemicals; FTR I melt it in this guy:

(Apart from anything else I don't really know how to get it the hell out of there and start netting; I guess if you had an incredibly steady/variable hand you could pour straight from the double boiler there; basically I just use a normal spoon and, as you can see, valiantly try my best.)
Laughter understandable, help appreciated!


texts:
For a science project I need to know how much juice is in 1 pear or apple.
I looked on the internet, but didn't find anything that answered my question.


texts: Can steam from my rice cooker's steam vent sanitize sponges?

texts:
My rice cooker will vent steam at the red arrow, when the rice is almost cooked. I've been holding my sponges and toothbrush heads over, but not blocking, the steam exhaust to try to sanitize them. Does this work?
I thought about microwaving my sponges, but "Stop Microwaving Your Sponges, Immediately"!


texts: How can brown stains be removed from pots and pans?

texts:
I haven't been cooking for long — recent college grad — so I'm doing a lot of experimentation and making a lot of rookie mistakes.  One of them is shown here for your viewing pleasure:

My mom gifted me this pan less than a year ago.  She used it for over 15 years and kept it spotless the entire time, so I'm more than a little embarassed.  I suspect that these stains were caused by stray drops of oil getting onto the bottom of the pan and getting burned on.  Is that right, or were they caused by something else?  I use an electric stove with resistive heating coils, if it makes a difference.  And more importantly, how can I get this pan clean again?


texts: What function would tartaric acid play in the making of gummy candy?

texts:
I just made my first successful batch of gummy candy after trying 5 or 6 diff. Recipes. The problem is that 95% of "gummy" candy recipes are basically glorified jello jigglers....not what I'm looking for. I finally found a British recipe (that was uber annoying as I had to weigh everything in grams). I finally got the texture and consistency right, thank God. The question I have is, during one of the last steps of the process, once everything was mixed and had cooled to 122°, the recipe called for 5g of tartaric acid to be stirred in. What function does the tartaric acid play in the candy? It didn't seem to make any visible changes to the solution and I'm wondering if I could have just done without it? Any help would be great. I'll include my ingredients below, in case one of them plays a role with the tartaric acid.

Gelatin (bloomed to a syrup in a water bath)
Equal parts glucose (corn syrup) and caster sugar (I just used regular sugar as I couldn't find my blender) 25g of both.
Once I mixed and cooled everything I added essential orange oil for flavoring and orange food coloring.
Then I mix the tartaric acid in. Is this a necessary step? If so, what does it contribute to the end result?


texts: What's the best material for a durable muffin pan

texts:
I make two or three dozen muffins a day for various customers. I don't like to use disposable cups, so I grease the pan each time. No matter what I do, after a certain time, my muffin pans end up giving a subtle metal taste to my muffins.

I was wondering what would be the most appropriate material for a muffin mold to avoid this situation. I'd be ready to pay the price for a pan that would last significantly longer... Bug which one should I choose?


texts: Using a French press with finely ground coffee

texts:
I usually make two grinds for my coffee - a fine grind for my Moka and a coarse grind to take to work so I can put it in a French press.

Today I zoned out and ground everything finely, and I don't have beans left for another batch. I've tried using my Moka grind in a french press before, but it always tastes burnt or extremely bitter.

Is there a way to make coffee using a French press with finely ground beans, without it becoming bitter?

This question seems quite similar, though the answers deal more with the sediment than the taste of the coffee itself.


texts: Do you need to rinse vegetables that can be peeled?

texts: When using garlic or onions - is it redundant to rinse them in water, being that you take off multiple layers before preparation?


texts: How much gypsum is required to coagulate one litre/gallon of soy milk

texts:
From what I could gather from the internet about homemade tofu, information on the subject is divided into two sources:
1. By gypsum manufacturers - they say one tsp of the coagulant is sufficient to 5 gallons.
2. Home made tofu bloggers - 2 tsp per gallon is required to coagulate the milk.

So, how much gypsum is required per gallon?! Confused...


texts: Solutions for when heating chocolate and butter doesn't mix well

texts:
Yesterday I tried to make brownies that started out with me having to melt unsweetened chocolate with butter in a frying pan on the stove. This did not work well. The chocolate kindof mixed with the melted butter, but parts of it remained solid. I then had to let it cool before adding the rest of the ingredients; the butter and chocolate separated, and the chocolate formed small to medium solid globs in the butter.

What did I do wrong? If this were to happen again how would I go about fixing it? Should I add something to counteract this and if so what and how much?

NOTE:

I didn't have unsweetened chocolate so I used Hershey's pure chocolate chipits.
I also used margarine instead of butter but have never had a problem with this substitution before.


texts: How am I supposed to heat a pie-iron-style pizzelle iron?

texts:
I found an old pizzelle iron in one of my cabinets. It looks like this:

Most of the pizzelle recipes I found — for example this one — are for a "George Foreman"-style pizzelle iron, and are self heating. What should I use to heat this pie-iron stlye pizzelle iron? An open fire?


texts: Why does rapeseed oil turn sticky but coconut oil doesn't?

texts: Whenever I season my cast iron pan with canola/rapeseed oil it turns sticky after a few weeks. It also gets sticky on the bottle and glues the cap on sometimes. When I season it with coconut oil, it doesn't get sticky and looks beautiful. Why does rapeseed oil get sticky but not coconut oil?


texts: What is causing my sauerkraut to smell sweet?

texts:
I've been fermenting a batch of sauerkraut and it's been going for about a month. It's tasted great and has just recently started to develop some winey flavors.

Today I checked the crock and there is a strong sweet smell that reminds me most of those cinnamon-sugar pretzel places that they put in malls and airports. The kraut is still fine and doesn't taste sweet except for the smell.

The only thing in the kraut was cabbage and salt.


texts:
I'm in the middle of trying to tackle making baguettes without all the fancy equipment of a typical bakery.

I'm getting closer and closer to a perfect texture on the inside and out, but I have yet to tackle why they always seem to come out bland. Is it the water I'm using or do these things just need a little butter?

Sample recipe: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/baguettes-recipe

Expert recipe: http://www.chewswise.com/chews/baguette-traditional-fromartz-recipe.html


texts: Why is DIY yogurt not as stable as sourdough starter?

texts:
I have a sourdough starter which is now close to 15 years old. It has survived everything - including long pauses where it stood in the fridge for over a month or longer. It is incredibly stable and very hard to kill (at least I was not successful so far). Presumably you can also make a backup by drying it completely and storing it long-term (I have made such a backup, but have not had to use it yet).

Sometimes I also like to make yogurt by sterilizing milk at 90-95°C, then cooling to 45°C, adding existing yogurt, and keeping it at 45°C for about 6 hours.

This always works very well for the first 3-4 generations (starting with storebought natural joghurt). The first generations are extremely nice, just like the original.

But after some generations, it inevitably does not continue to work as well. The next generation will not become as thick, and will be more of a soup; clumps of yogurt mixed with the clear watery substance you get in these processes (sorry, don't know the word in English - is that whey?). I'm quite careful to keep the whole process as identical as possible.

Do you know the reason for that, or if it is possible to get a long-term, stable yogurt running?


texts: Risotto and a complementing/contrasting broth corresponding to the meat

texts:
In most recipes I've found, risotto calls for a chicken broth, but if I'm making a seared halibut on top of risotto, for example, or a seared scallop risotto, shouldn't the broth be a seafood broth to complement the seafood meat atop the risotto, or is chicken broth the standard because of some reason that I don't know about?

Would the chicken broth contrast with a halibut or other seafood food in a positive way?

Does it even make a difference?


texts: Whats the best way to reheat leftover pizza? We usually use Boboli Crust with our own toppings, or sometimes we have frozen pizza.


texts: Safe to consume pork basting liquid directly?

texts:
I've been watching Sam the Cooking Guy a lot lately, and I was excited to see that his newest video featured my favorite sandwich, the Cuban.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj5kgvnzxDo

(skip to 2:30 in the video)

I trust Sam's skills, however I was a bit taken aback when he brushed some of the basting liquid directly onto the bread, using (apparently) the same container and brush that had been used on the pork during grilling.

Granted, he only brushed it on the meat after that side had been grilled.

Is this safe?  If so, why?


texts: Does anyone know the name of the knife this ice cream seller is using?

texts:
Here is an example of the knife being used.
ASMR - Energy Ice Cream Rolls Oreo | How To Make An Energy Drink Out Of Ice Cream || Chinese Food

Notice it is similar but like a cleaver. I have also been trying to find the name of this, but the closest I found was a Japanese menkiri.
Hope someone can answer this.
PS: it is similar to the knife that was used by BanBan from one piece anime, which was asked by another user.
What kind of cooking knife is this?
Updates:
I just found a clearer view of the knife at 3:58 in the video in the youtube link. Basically, it is like a cleaver, without the handle jutting out, but part of the blade it self.

It should look something like this:
I tried to use google image search, using this image, to find but no luck.

PS: The photo above is photoshop of what I think the cleaver looks like.


texts: I recently made a simple box cake, the one where you just add water and oil to the mix, but once I ate it I thought that it was way too sweet. I looked up how to temper this sweetness, but the best I could find was a suggestion to add lemon rind or - I assume - lemon essence (to a vanilla mix cake), to try and balance the sweetness. Is there a better way to do this? The best I could think of is to add flour, but the website also said not to do that as it would make the cake ingredients disproportionate. What could I do instead?


texts: Do I need to clean an oven that's not been used in 10 years?

texts:
My house has a built-in oven that I've never used since I moved in ~10 years ago. (I prefer to use the oven function of a combi-microwave.)

My wife, who has just moved in with me, wants to use the big oven but I'm rather worried about safety since its been standing there untouched for so long.

Assuming the thing even works, should I have it cleaned first?

(It's a fan assisted electrical oven.)


texts: During the rising process, does the yeast consume and break down any of the salt in the dough, or is the amount you put in at the start the amount you get in your final loafs? (just spotted some recipes I've been usijg have up to 10g of salt per loaf going in!! :s )


texts: So I made citrus sugar about a month ago... and in the process of deciding how to give it away I realized that I have been storing it wrong. During the last month it has been stored in a dark area in my house that is kept around or below 21 degrees celsius. Based on the previous question I learned that I should keep this in the fridge. If I transfer my Citrus Sugar to the fridge will it still be good? I only ask this because this question mentions that sugar used to be used for preservation and my Citrus Sugar is mostly sugar and is kept in a sealed jar.


texts: Should you layer Greek yoghurt on porridge oats or mix it in with the porridge oats?

texts:
I am experimenting with creating overnight oats with Greek yoghurt. However, I was not sure whether to layer the yoghurt on top of the oats with multiple layers of oats and yoghurt, or to mix in the yoghurt with the oats.

I was told by one person to layer the oats and yoghurt, but online tutorials seem to instruct you to mix the oats instead.

Should I layer or mix my yoghurt with the oats?

Are there any benefits of choosing one method over the other?


texts: Can I use parchment paper for all cookies

texts: I would like to know if I can use parchment paper for any kind of cookie?


texts: Increase re-heating oven temperature for cooked ham

texts:
I have an 11 pound bone-in preparation cooked ham.

It says to cook at 325°F for 15-20 min per pound.

Can I increase the temperature to 350°F without drying it out in order to speed up the reheat time?


texts:
I would like input from anyone that uses cumin in their food. I inherited a jar of the seasoning when my mom moved out of state. Better to give it away than throw it away. Unfortunately, I have no clue what to do with it. I've had this jar for a while. And I'd like to use it before it goes bad.

I was wondering what it's used for?


texts: How can I make a silky smooth, rich mash?

texts:
What are the key factors in making silky smooth (non gluey) mashed potatoes.

What technique has the best results?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Is there a substitute for Dijon mustard and if so, what is it?

i want to know if you can substitute Dijon mustard with something else and if so then what?


texts:
I bought a chicken that you cook in the bag. I put it in the freezer, when I took it out to thaw, I read on bag "Do not freeze".
Will it be safe to eat?


texts: How can I find out how to make clothbound cheddar cheese?

texts:
I am interested in learning more about the processes of making clothbound cheddar cheese as it is done in Somerset, England.

In the United States I like the clothbound cheddar made by Jasper Hill Farms.

So far, the best book I have found is The Cheesemaker's Apprentice: An Insider's Guide to the Art and Craft of Homemade Artisan Cheese, Taught by the Masters, but I get the sense that important steps and information missing from this books. Also, like many books, it focuses on "kitchen" methods using generic equipment, not specialized equipment.

I have mechanical ability, a shop, a biological laboratory and other capability to fabricate harps, centrifuges and other specialized equipment so I am interested in finding out the most advanced techniques for making high quality cheddar. How can I do this?


texts: What are the swirling attachments for on mixers?

texts:
I have a hand held mixer similar to the one here,

The egg beaters are straight forward, but what do people typically use the swirling attachments for? Do they put less air into the mixture??


texts: How do I incorporate chiles into a chocolate cake recipe?

texts: One of the traditional combinations of chilies and chocolate is a Mole sauce or the Aztec hot chocolate drink, it has also made a reappearance in the modern confectionery scene. How can I incorporate chili in to an existing chocolate cake recipe?


texts: Looking for a good text on science of grilling and barbecue

texts:
I am looking for a good scientific text about grilling and barbecue.

I am looking for something that scientifically goes into the thermal decomposition process of wood when heat is applied to it, what chemicals are exactly responsible for color and flavor, etc. and how we can use that information to produce better flavor and texture during cooking.


texts: how to quickly dry out home made marshmallows?

texts: I just made home made marshmallows for a birthday party in 7 hrs. How do I dry them out quickly? I used Ina G. recipe, she suggests to sit overnight, but on line it says to sit 8 hrs to dry. I need to dry them sooner, can I put them in the fridge for how long? should I put them in a cold over? Help someone, please.


texts: I attempted to make some hard sugar to use as windows for gingerbread houses. I thought I could do it without a candy thermometer as I have before, but obviously not. I tested it in ice water and it went straight from soft ball stage to a dry crumbly mess in a matter of 20 seconds. What did I do wrong?


texts:
Salted cod is a famous dish in Portugal and I would like to prepare it. It is common here to see the whole of a fish (well, without head, guts etc obviously) in supermarkets - like this:

Wikipedia

I expect that it can be stored at home for quite a long time without refrigeration. However I'm not sure. What is the best way to store salted cod? For how long can it be stored? And, as a bonus question: what to do against the whole house smelling like codfish? ;)


texts: Why meat gets tough after soaking it in vinegar solution for more than 24 hours?

texts: Vinegar is a marinade and i have tried marinating meat before too but if meat is soaked in vinegar solution for more than 24 hours then it gets tougher.Why?


texts: I have a hard time getting sugar to fully dissolve when I'm stirring a cocktail (for example, an old fashioned). I'm using granulated sugar (https://www.dominosugar.com/sugar/granulated-sugar) and I tend to stir a small amount in a shaker with 100+ quick circles and the sugar still hovers in the middle and sits on the bottom without dissolving. What am I doing wrong?


texts: How does hydration of a sourdough affect baking features?

texts:
Looking at different recipes for sourdough starters, there's everything from a mix as dry as cookie dough to as wet as gruel. In this (danish) recipe from the acclaimed chef Claus Meyer of a pretty wet sourdough (1:1 water-flour-ratio by volume), it says that:

  This type of sourdough is mostly used to give a nice and mild sour
  taste, to give the bread character, and not as much for its leavening
  features. Therefore, in most of our bread recipes we use a combination
  of sourdough and a very small amount of yeast.

This got me thinking, does the hydration of a sourdough affect its baking features? If so, in what ways?


texts: I want to make broccoli cheddar soup tonight and it says to blend the stuff after you add the broccoli. I have a blender but it sucks and would rather use my ninja. Can I put hot liquids in this? How do I deal with venting the steam?


texts:
I am trying to make these "cream biscuits". However, they just will not rise (tried 4 times) and end up looking very flat.

I thought my problem was that I work the dough too much, but I tried it again and didn't touch the dough much but it still doesn't rise. I am using newly bought baking powder.

I am thinking the problem might be one of these reasons:

I used double cream instead of heavy cream because I am in
the UK and we have single/double but not "heavy cream". (I just
found out heavy cream is whipping cream in the UK)
The first batch was made with the full recipe and none of them
    rose, so I experimented by cutting everything by 1/4 and made 2
    biscuits at a time.

Why won't my biscuits rise? Are there any other possibilities?


texts: Do I need to season an old cast-aluminum pan?

texts:
I received a cast-aluminum pan as a hand-me-down from my mother's grandmother. As far as I know it was never seasoned while in my mother's possession. A little food will stick on occasion and I wash it just as a I would a cheaper teflon-coated pan.

Can I / should I season the pan or am I better off just leaving it as it is? Anything else I should know about taking care of this guy? I'd like for it to last as long as possible.


texts: I've tried several times to temper chocolate and every attempt has been unsuccessful. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. I purchased quality couverture chocolate thinking that was the problem and I still can't do it. I followed directions and temperatures exactly. Heat, cooling, heating again, stirring like crazy. I tried the seeding method and without seeding, thinking maybe the chocolate I was using had bloomed. The chocolate won't set unless I put it in the fridge and as soon as it's touched it starts to melt. I have to learn to do it and I have no idea what I'm doing wrong.


texts: I like making buttermilk pancakes but usually the batter is too much for one day, after I put the mix in the refrigerator, the mix was a greenish color the next day. Does anyone know if this means it went bad or is this just a characteristic of buttermilk?


texts: How to effectively drain frozen vegetables?

texts: When using frozen vegetables, even if I let them unfreeze overnight, I am finding that they then render quite a bit of water when cooking. How can I drain vegetables more effectively, especially when I need to use them right out of the freezer?


texts: How do you properly cook stuffed cannelloni?

texts:
Up until now when I made cannelloni I stuffed it with meat. Now was the first time I made it with cheese and here are some problems I have discovered:

The cheese melts during cooking and escapes the noodle. Since the dish fills with liquid as a result and the noodle is drained of liquid, the noodle gets squished and loses its tube form. Basically it collapses on itself
The cheese adds more liquids and fats so the noodle is not crunchy or at least el dente. I recall at a restaurant the noodle was surrounded with pomodoro but it was crunchy, had good form and retained the stuffing.

How do I resolve these problems when making cheese cannelloni?

EDIT: Recipe:

You start by cooking 4 garlic cloves in olive oil, then you add spinach (i think 100g) until it wilts. Then you add 200ml bechamel sauce(basic bechamel with roux and milk and some cheddar), 125g ricotta cheese, and 75g parmegiano reggiano. This is the stuffing.

You then stuff it into the cannelloni (i used 15 pieces), line them in a buttered dish and surround them with pomodoro sauce. Layer remaining bechamel (200ml) on top, tinfoil wrap and bake for 25 mins. Remove tinfoil, let it brown for 10 and youre done.


texts: Is it OK to just have two cutting boards: one for stuff to be heated, another for other stuff?

texts:
Some say one should use more than one cutting boards because if you use just one board for raw meat and vegetables, bacteria from raw meat moves to the board and then to the vegetables, then you eat that vegetable raw, and you get sick.

Some uses more than two cutting boards: one for fish, another for raw poultry, yet another for dairy and so on.

What if I use just two rather than 3 or more? One for stuff to be heated, another for everything else. What do I gain by using 3 or more rather than 2?


texts: How to add flavor to potato soup (using minimally processed ingredients)?

texts:
I've made my first potato soup and it has no taste.

Just to get an idea this is how I made it: chopped and onion and a carrot and place them with some oil to fry. After the onion got brown, I added the potatoes, water and salt and kept it cooking until the potatoes were done.

It tastes like ... just... boiled water.

How do I salvage the soup, preferably using minimally processed ingredients (for example, avoiding MSG)?


texts: How do you convert a cake recipe to make brownies?

texts:
I'm wondering how to convert a cake recipe to make brownies. My intention is to use this recipe for Mexican Chocolate Cake With Mascarpone Frosting. The cake part calls for the following ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 Tablespoons vanilla

How can I convert that into a brownie recipe?

I'm thinking more oil/butter and less water would work, but I'm not sure of the ratios. I imagine I'd probably also cook brownies for a shorter amount of time.

What determines a cake's fluffiness and a brownie's dense chocolatey awesomeness? Is there a general formula you can follow for converting cake to brownies? (Since this question is about conversion, I suppose it could also apply to a boxed cake mix in case I'm too lazy to go to the store.)


texts: I have Elderberry extract and want to make elderberry syrup. Does anyone know how go from extract to syrup?


texts: Why did flatbread dominate the Middle East but Europe adopted raised breads?

texts:
This may be a history question so please move it if appropriate.

Culturally, local ingredients dominate cooking recipes and national dishes (e.g., soy in SE Asia), but why do Europeans add a raising agent to bread items to make loaf bread whilst people from the Middle East still favour flat breads?

Were raising agents discovered in Europe and never migrated?  Is there a taste difference?


texts: How to season a carbon steel pan on an electric hob

texts:
I have a de Buyer Mineral B Crepe Pan. It's unused, because I don't know how to season it using my electric hob. Most of the videos I can find reference gas hobs or using the main oven. Previous attempts to season other carbon steel pans on my hob result in uneven seasoning, because the diameter of the element is smaller than the diameter of the pan
Whilst I have an oven, heating this pan (including the handle) is not possible due to the rubber "button" on the handle, which is not heat resistant for the long periods required by seasoning. De Buyer state that this pan can be heated in the oven at 400F (200C) for only 10 minutes.
Does anybody have tips or techniques for seasoning these carbon steel pans using an electric hob?


texts: Cheese suggestions to replace melted Velveeta

texts:
I have been given the honors of making appetizers for the family Christmas dinner. One of the traditional recipe calls for melted Velveeta, to go over a cooked sausage "pate" on top of a small piece of rye bread.
To not hurt any feelings I'm going to make some of these with the traditional Velveeta, but for others I would like to replace the Velveeta with some other cheese. I'm assuming I'll have to make a thick bechamel sauce. I need help with what cheese, or up to 3 cheeses, I should melt down. Any suggestions would be considered.

FWIW the sausage is usually fairly mild, not much spicier then the rye bread it is on.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Is there any way to avoid grease splatter?

Tonight I cooked dinner, which involved sausages for me, and chicken drumsticks for my partner. The sausages went great, then I proceeded to add some more oil and start the chicken.

This is where my pain started. Soon after, the juices from the meat started coming out and caused the oil to spatter all over my arm. I'm only guessing that this is the cause, but it did seem related. I'm now sporting some minor oil burns and wondering if there's any way to reduce the spattering caused by the juices in the meat when cooking this way, as we both enjoy the taste.


texts: How long will Jalepenos last in the freezer?

texts: I have a big bag of ~50 jalapenos in my freezer, frozen less than a day after being picked. How long will they last in there, and how will I know they've gone bad?


texts: Why Do Bagels Take Longer To Toast Than Regular Bread?

texts: My brother's been bringing over fresh bagels in the morning.  I've noticed that it takes nearly twice as long for a bagel to develop a toasted surface than a regular slice of bread.  Why is that?  This is a bagel split in half, mind you. One would also think that since a bagel half is taller in height than a slice of bread it is closer to the heating elements in my toaster oven which should hasten toasting, but no. I tend to think that it has something to do with the chemical/molecular makeup of the respective doughs.  Can anyone shed some light?


texts: Cooking Toad In The Hole - preventing "burn on"

texts:
I've recently cooked Toad in the Hole following this recipe from TheFoody.com. The first time I used a non-stick metal roasting tray and the second time I used a ceramic dish.

Both times the batter adhered to the base of the cooking container quite firmly. What can I do / should I be doing to prevent this from happening?

Note: I was using plain sausages, not ones with any unusual flavourings that could release sugars and suchlike whilst being cooked.


texts: Im trying to learn all about bread making as im currently doing my svq as a craft baker. One question im having trouble answering is about dought recovory and why it is important. Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks


texts: How do I make my cheese "crackers" less greasy?

texts:
To provide my diabetic guests with a low-carb option for dipping, I make cheddar cheese "crackers" by melting small mounds of cheddar on a silpat at 400° F. Once the cheese has started to bubble very slowly, I remove them, dab them with a towel to remove excess grease, and then place them on paper towels or brown paper, flipping them once, to cool and wick away additional grease. Not surprisingly, the crackers are always very greasy even with the dabbing/wicking.

What could I add to the shredded cheese to make the crackers less greasy without dramatically increasing their carbohydrate count, and how much of that ingredient should I use (assuming two cups of cheddar per "recipe")? In lieu of adding anything to the cheddar, is there an ingredient with which I could dust the crackers to help cut down their greasiness without dramatically increasing their carbohydrate count?


texts: Are smoothies and milk shakes the same things with different names?

texts:
I put banana and milk in the blender, and drink it when everything gets mashed up properly.
I call it milk shake with banana.

Is that called a smoothie?

Is there a difference between milk shakes and smoothies?


texts:
I recently bought a cooking paste from a well-known retailer in the UK.

Yesterday I opened the jar. The lid made a popping sound when I opened it (that's good), and the paste is well within its "best before" date. However, the paste itself had a very strong chemical smell, something I would describe as "glue" or perhaps acetone.

The ingredients should be tomato, garlic and other spices.

I used 2 teaspoons in over 2l of stock / tomato juice, and the strong smell went away.

Is the paste safe to use?


texts:
I have a bread proofer machine and would love to make Sourdough bread.

I have no idea if I'm supposed to use active yeast or follow a recipe that calls for basic Sourdough Starter, and if so, what is the difference?

What purpose does the proofing machine serve? And when do I use it during the bread making process?

I'm very green at bread making, as you probably have ascertained.


texts: Why does prepackaged deli meat taste better when you take each slice and "fluff" it?

texts: If you take a package of deli meat and remove the slab, place it on bread and add your condiments in never tastes as good as when you take the slab and "fluff" up each piece as you lay it on your sandwich.


texts: Add gelatin to soup as a replacement for stock?

texts:
My wife made some chicken soup last night, but we didn't have any stock to start it with, so we used water.
Flavor-wise, the soup was fine - it was just lacking the mouth-feel associated with good soup.  There was plenty of oil floating on top of the soup, so it wasn't lacking in fat.
I was thinking it was probably because we'd started with water instead of stock.

We're planning on making our own stock soon (so many good tips here!) but we didn't have any on hand last night, nor were we prepared to run to the grocery store.
However, we realized after we'd eaten the soup that we had a couple of packets of powdered gelatin in the cupboard.

Would powdered gelatin have given the same mouth feel as stock?


texts: Chocolate mousse turned to scrambled eggs in cream

texts:
So I was trying to make a white chocolate mousse.

The recipe called for heating up cream, beating egg yolks, then combining the two and thickening over heat.

I must've cooked it too long as the egg seems to have been cooked, it smells like scrambled eggs. The egg has become solid but very small (but a lot) of pieces floating around.

At this 'curdled' stage is it safe to eat? If so is there any dish I can make with it or otherwise make it nicer to eat. Basically it's 8 scrambled egg yolks in two cups of thickened cream. So it's a fair bit which I don't want to just throw away.


texts: What is it about boring, normal ketchup that makes it "fancy"?

texts:
Ketchup, at least in the USA, is about as boring as a condiment can possibly get. It's hard to imagine anything "fancy" coming out of a tube like this:

Why, then, is it frequently called "fancy"?  Is there some other type of tomato ketchup that is less fancy, and has fallen out of popular usage, such that the "fancy" designation actually carries some meaning lost to history?


texts: I recently bought some mushrooms from the farmers market and have kept them in a brown paper bag on top of the fridge.  4 days later, they have started to have a slight odor between a mixture of dirt and dogs droppings.  I suspect I have stored the mushrooms improperly, so it begs the question:  What's the best way to store fresh mushrooms?


texts:
I have never known there to be a difference, until stumbling upon Papa John's extras menu where pepperoncini is listed separately from banana peppers.

When shopping, usually I find the names to be interchangeable. For example, if you go to Subway here in the US and ask for pepperoncini or banana peppers, the sandwich maker will grab the same vegetable.

What is the difference then, if there is any?


texts:
I make bulk pinto beans as follows:
Soak beans overnight in salty water
Cook until tender, adding chopped onion and Serrano pepper
Drain completely, place onto baking sheet to cool (~100F, this takes about 15 min)
Place baking sheet in freezer until cold, then place into ziploc bag
Okay, pretty normal. I can't really do anything more with the temperature aspect.
However, within 3 days the beans have a noticeable, but somewhat faint, farty odor when I open the bag.
I usually just mix them cold with freshly cooked rice, which immediately brings them up to temp.
I'm only on the fourth day now and I can smell fart just from the beans in my stomach!
Is this normal? What can I change to make them last a bit longer. I suppose I could just freeze them but I'd like to hear from those more knowledgeable about the fermentation process.


texts: How to tell the difference between sugar crystals and mold in dried fruit?

texts:
I am making dried pears and I noticed that there are some white lumps on the surface of the fruit:

This resource says that this phenomenon may occur in figs and that it is sugar crystallizing. However, pears are much less sugary than figs and therefore I am not sure whether this is the same phenomenon.

There is no bad smell and they still taste good. Is there some method that I can use to test whether this is indeed sugar?

The pears were pre-dried in hot-vent oven, then placed into a dedicated fruit dryer for a couple of hours, then placed on a clean sheet of paper on the radiator.


texts: How long will food last in a refrigerator that is turned off?

texts: We will be having a power outage in our building soon and our fridges are pretty full. The power will be off for about 10 hours. Will our food last safely during this time?


texts: Can I make fried chicken without a deep frier?

texts:
I've made southern style fried chick before and really enjoy it but found using all the oil to be quite expensive. Could I:

A) Pan fry it? (I know this one is a stretch but could it work if the chicken breast was precooked?)

B) Only make it so the oil covers half the chicken then rotate them half way through?

C) Could I add oil to the batter and bake them?

Would I have more success with these techniques if used thinly sliced raw chicken breasts and made them more like chicken fingers?


texts: Can I cook couscous for a chicken dish in my crock pot at the same time as the chicken?

texts: I'm wanted to make a lemon garlic chicken in a crockpot and I'd like to serve it with couscous. Is there a way to cook the two together? I know I can cook the couscous and then add it in the crockpot at the end but I'd prefer to avoid using an extra pot. Can I just add extra liquid (broth) and then add it in halfway, or add it in with the chicken right from the start?


texts: Does reduced fat milk contain additives to mimic the taste of whole milk?

texts:
I was told by a chef who trained me to make certain dishes, as well as certain baked goods that when using milk, the "healthier" option is to use whole milk over any other sort of reduced fat milk. I read the same thing on the Guardian but it's hardly a reputable source for cooking advice.

His reasoning is that milk that has had fat removed from it contains artificial sweeteners or other additives to closer mimic the taste of whole milk. He clarified that this doesn't hold true when cream comes into the equation, but was adamant that whole milk was the best option when a recipe specified "milk".

Is this a true statement? Do non-whole milks contain additives to mimic the missing fat content? Is whole milk objectively "healthier"?


texts: Is putting meat in the fridge to marinate necessary?

texts: I watched some cooking videos and sometimes I see that in order for the pepper, salt, sake, or whatever go into the meat, the meat needs to be put in the fridge, even for 30 minutes. Why is that? Is there any reason it needs to be put in the fridge?


texts: How do I convert a weight of dried chick peas to volume of cooked?

texts:
I'm following a recipe that calls for 200g of dried chickpeas, soaked overnight. I have two 28 fl. oz. (796 ml) cans of chick peas, packed in water.

This is made complicated by two things:

You can't easily convert a weight measurement to a volume measurement. (What is the density of a chickpea?)
The recipe wants me to measure dry chickpeas, and I have canned chickpeas. (How much of the weight is water?)

How much of my canned chickpeas should I use?


texts: Does putting pandan leaves' stems in water prolong its freshness?

texts: I live in a tropical area where Pandanus amarylliforius is a common cooking ingredient, usually for making rice smell better, or baked into bread. We have a pandan plant in our garden, usually we harvest it when its the right size to be a rice aromatic but then we'd have to keep it fresh. Would leaving the stem in water suffice?


texts: How to adjust oil in recipe when adding peanut butter

texts:
I made a peanut butter cake, but it had too much oil. I used a recipe I'm familiar with, but added peanut butter to it. I used natural peanut butter (only contains peanuts and a little salt).

How much should I cut back on the butter (the only oil in my recipe) when adding peanut butter? Do I need to adjust the eggs as well? I used approximately 1/3 c peanut butter for a single layer cake.


texts: Why are chickpeas sprouted before grinding them into flour?

texts: I am about to make (or at least try to) my own chickpea flour.  Having had a good look around, my understanding is that I need to sprout my chickpeas first.  My question(s) therefore:  Why do I have to sprout my chickpeas?  Do I have to sprout my chickpeas?  What happens if I don't sprout them?  And lastly any other help...


texts: Are steaks I had in a cooler over the weekend ok to eat?

texts: Over the Fourth of July weekend, we took steaks camping to BBQ but the ziplock bag I kept them in got water in it. They were kept on constant ice and never got warm, but they sat in a bag full of ice water. Are they still ok to eat? They look drained of their blood.


texts: How to get sprinkles to stick to the side of a cake?

texts:
I need to prepare a cake, but in my previous attempts, I can't seem to get the chocolate sprinkles to stick to the sides of my cake. The cake will have a layer of  icing as a base for the sprinkles, but I keep getting the cake squished or the sides lacking in topping. Ideally, I want the entire cake to be covered in sprinkles of the same density as the top of the cake.

Help :(


texts: can I freeze jalapeno peppers then use them for pepper jelly when my green peppers comne in?

texts: My jalapeno peppers plants are loaded, but my green peppers aren't ready to pick yet. Can I freeze the jalapeno peppers  then thaw them out to make pepper jelly?


texts: Pizza stone or firebricks to fix uneven cooking

texts: I have a Zanussi  commercial gas oven... probably 15 yearas old but in good condition....and it cooks unevenly.  Am wondering if placing a pizza stone  or fireplace bricks  on the bottom  will help even out browning and cooking?  The burners are at the bottom and run in a double row from front to back in the centre.  Dont, know if it is possible to put a pizza stone / firebricks on the base of oven? Will this damage the oven or be dangerous.  Has anyone done this before?


texts: Substitute for Parsley in South East Asia?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Parsley substitute

So I'm currently living in Thailand and I'd like to try and make some of the Italian-American dishes I grew up loving.  Most of the necessary ingredients are present and accounted for, except parsley.  I haven't seen parsley anywhere.

So what are some possible substitutes common to south east Asia that I can look for?


texts: How is it that zinfandel can taste spicy?

texts:
How can it be that zinfandel wines taste spicy (hot?)  I experienced this sensation for the first time recently, but never have sensed this before in cabernets, merlots, or other reds.  Subsequently I read zinfandels described as "spicy" elsewhere afterwards.

I'm certain that there are no peppers being used in the process of the wine.  Is there significant capsaicin present or is it from the alcohol level?


texts: What can be done with accidentaly oversalted beef?

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I mistakenly marinated some thin beef with regular salt for one day before barbecuing it, turns out you're not supposed to do that! Even after washing it, it is unbearable to eat it by itself.

I'm using brazilian "Coxão Mole" which I tink translates to topside.

I was thinking it has to be some kind of sauce, maybe tomato based, but how? Never done it with pre cooked meat before.

It feels horrible to mess up so much food, I can't throw it away.

Here's a photo if that helps, it's very soft:


texts: How to absorb/remove excess water that you've added to a dish?

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My cooking style involves putting a bunch of ingredients (e.g. chicken, rice, mushrooms, tomatoes) in a pot, adding water and seasoning, turning on the heat, and coming back half an hour later.  (Don't steal my techniques please.)

The problem is that this [highly scientific] method is sometimes inaccurate in the amount of water that remains in the dish after half an hour.  If the water is running low, I can just add more, problem solved.  But what can I do if there is too much water?

It's true that I can try to learn from my mistakes and add less water next time.  However, is there a way to save the dish?  I know I can just remove the top, turn up the heat, and let the extra water boil off, but sometimes that will overcook everything to a mush.

Is there anything I can add that absorbs the water?  Kind of like rice, but maybe faster?