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How can I store wonton wrappers in the freezer? I have found that authentic frozen egg roll wrappers from an Asian food store work well for canneloni and ravioli. Just thaw, fill, and roll. You can cut them to any desired length. Also, frozen wonton wrappers work exceptionally well for ravioli. While I haven't tried i...	I happen to have watched a TV show the other day about this very problem and they suggested making a big batch of whatever filling or fillings you are thinking of using (presently or in the future) and go ahead and make them all up and freeze them ready to cook. They were making several kinds of ravioli that day. The...
Why is it advised to freeze meat before eating as opposed to eating it fresh? I am not sure, is it right to wrong "It is not good to eat meat just after killing, it should be stored and deep freezed for at least 24 hours". But I had heard same like this through national media. What could be the logic behind this ?	What kind of meat is it, maybe pork? There are many kinds of pathogens in meat. One type are bacteria. They don't die from cold temperatures (not even freezing), but die from high heat. Unfortunately, heating the meat throughout so it's hot enough to kill all bacteria will turn it into a shoesole. So, meat is cooked t...
How to make XXL Watermelon Jell-O Shots without falling apart? I was trying to make XXL Watermelon Jell-O Shots but the Jell-O was not firm enough and fell apart. Should I use more Jell-O and less water next time? The recipe requires unflavoured gelatin but I can't find it in the grocery store nearby, hence can I use ...	I'm totally retracting everything I said in comments. Doing this with just Jello (no unflavored gelatin) works just fine. The key is A LOT of Jello. After reading your question I researched the question of "How much gelatin is in a box of Jello?" The only answer I was able to find was that a 4-serving box of Jello cont...
How can I make 'Santon sauce' My local Chinese restaurant (Happy Chef on King St, Sydney for anyone who's interested) does a very simple dish of a half crispy skin chicken, served with rice and a sauce that they call 'Santon sauce'. It's the most ludicrously tasty sauce I've come across, but I have no idea what the ma...	From what you have described it sounds like Santon sauce may be a variation of Shandong sauce which is often served in Chinese restaurants alongside Crispy Skin Chicken. Here is a basic recipe that can be found on many internet sites. Perhaps it can be a starting point for you. 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 chilies...
Can you candy salt? Bear with me... I'm working on a pretty amazing ice cream. It's Dulce de Leche, made the kind of scary traditional way of boiling cans of sweetened condensed milk, then mixing that with a custard and freezing it in my ice cream maker. As a recipe, it's getting there. I use the scraped seeds of a va...	Thank you, all of you, who contributed by answers or comments to the thinking that leads now to this answer. I listened to all of you, and it worked. I can't describe how tickled I am. Your suggestions opened my mind to thinking that this could still "work" even if it didn't quite go as I had hoped. As it turned out, t...
What can be used to thicken chili other than masa harina? We like to make our own chili and it seems like masa harina is pretty traditionally used as a thickening agent. However, I don't particularly like the flavor it adds and I always have to add more spices after using it. Does anyone know of other ingredients that...	There are several ways you can thicken Chili than adding Masa Harin
How do I cook brain to achieve a firmer texture? Most of the time we fry brain and eat it. But due to its semi-solid state, it doesn't seem good. Also Wikipedia says: Consuming the brain and other nerve tissue of animals may be hazardous to health. How can I cook brain and avoid both the semi-solid texture and the p...	As far as I know, neither one is possible. The brain is supposed to be very soft and creamy when cooked. It is prized for this texture, there are languages where the idiom "it is soft as brain" takes the place of the English "it melts on the tongue". All recipes for brain are written to make it softer, not firmer. Ph...
Is raw coconut safe to eat? I recently came across this study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC546945/?page=1 and I am worried about potential salmonella infection in raw coconut meat and whole coconut picked up from my local grocery store (i.e. thai grocery, local organic shop). Is it necessary to pasteu...	IMO, stated again, IMO... It is an old research paper (1967) about mostly transformed (grated and dried) coconut. A quick googling does not really give more warnings for whole coconuts (FDA or other sources). Like all things "exotic", wash the exterior under clean water before opening and use properly clean knives and ...
Why does the sour taste in yogurt increase with time? If we let yogurt sit for more days, the yogurt becomes more and more sour. Why does that happen?	Lactic acid is produced by 'probiotic' bacteria breaking lactose into lactic acid. Over time, more lactose is converted, producing more byproducts, thus more sourness. The byproducts of this reaction are responsible for the distinctive flavor of yogurt. See a more complete description here: Lactic Acid Fermentation
Breed of chicken My question has to deal with breed of chicken not really cooking, but my friends insist that those rotisserie chicken you often find sold at costco are overcooked and chicken not fresh thus the meat just "falls apart". The chicken used for rotisserie's are of a different breed from the chicken you nor...	I would argue that if the meat 'falls apart' it would be due largely to the cooking process used, and very little due to the choice of breed. As other commentators have stated, there's probably a variety of chicken breeds used in Asian markets across the US - whether any of them use the same as Costco is anyone's guess...
What is the origin of fish sauce in asia? wondering about the history/origins of fish sauce, specifically in Asia. I haven't found anything after Googling a bit.. My friend claims that fish sauce was invented in Italy (the Romans?). Can someone help clarify?	It was called garum, and indeed the ancient Romans used it, as did the ancient Greeks: Garum was prepared from the intestines of small fishes through the process of bacterial fermentation. Fishermen would lay out their catch according to the type and part of the fish, allowing makers to pick the exact ingredients they...
Flavors in Fresca I was trying to reproduce the flavors in Fresca without very much success. Supposedly it is a grapefruit-flavored drink, but in all honesty it doesn't taste like grapefruit to me, and when I make grapefruit-flavored sodas with various lemon/lime balances they taste nothing like Fresca. Does anyone ha...	tl;dr: Grapefruit oil is the most likely missing link. Squeeze some grapefruit peels into your mix, or pick up a "food-grade" or "therapy-grade" essential oil (for extremely sparing use). In the absence of more information, I'll go ahead and take a broad pass at this. As I mention in comments, more data will help u...
How do you coat perfectly round truffles with melted chocolate? How do you coat perfectly round truffles with melted chocolate. Preferably with the least amount of mess. Normally, I just dip the truffle into a bowl of melted chocolate and remove the truffle with a spoon. I then will place them on a sheet of wax paper....	I don't know about perfectly round, but you can do better. Stick toothpicks in the truffles before dipping. Dip them using the toothpick, let it drip enough to make sure there's not a ton of excess, probably while spinning it a bit to let it cool slightly and make sure it doesn't all accumulate in one place. Then stab ...
Why use citric acid and sodium hexametaphosphate in cheese sauce? I was watching a YouTube video from ChefSteps on how to make cheese sauce. They used sodium citrate and sodium hexametaphosphate. What are the reasons for including these in the recipe? What are the alternatives to using these ingredients?	Citric acid and sodium hexametaphosphate are often used in processed cheese as emulsifier. These kinds of salts improve the protein's swelling capacity and emulsification and thus inhibits the leakage of water or fat from the product (forms metal complexes). Some salts are also acid buffers. 1 In this wikipedia article...
Is there a table showing the shelf life of basic food at room temperature? Probably a table showing the shelf life at room temperature for food like bread, peanut butter, butter, sausage, ham, chicken nuggets, fish filet, etc	There is no need for such a table, so I doubt that you'll find it. There are two types of food, food which is spoiled by disease-causing organisms, and food which is spoiled by other mechanisms or not at all. Food which is spoiled by disease-causing organisms has the same safe shelf life outside of the fridge: 2 hour...
What is the Chinese celery and cabbage appetizer called and how is it made? My favorite Chinese restaurant for 30 years closed a few months ago. Back many years ago they had an appetizer that they served when you were seated that was excellent. It was very simple, only fresh, crispy celery and cabbage. It usually cam...	For those interested I googled images of the dishes Cindy mentioned and tried to match the description. This is what I found: First Celery, Second Baby Cabbage.
How does velveting work? The Chinese technique of velveting works. It creates a lusciously tender bit of meat, and I'm a complete advocate of making the small additional effort. If you've ever done it, you're already a believer, it's amazing. (I usually do it this way BTW) I'm velveting shrimp as I type this, and once...	I think what's really happening here is mostly physics, rather than any magical reaction between the meat and the "velvet" (i.e. egg and cornstarch; I'm going to use this term for brevity). The largest effect is that the velvet adds a thin, clingy coating to the outside of the meat. When introduced to heat, that's pro...
How can I rescue an undercooked pastry cream? Yesterday I attempted to make pastry cream (my goal was to use it as a filling for creme puffs). After taking it off of the heat and letting it cool to room temperature I put in the refrigerator. That evening I checked on it to find that it is still very thin and liquid, I...	When this happens to me, I am distrustful of a simple reheat. It is possible that it was undercooked, but also possible that it was maybe overcooked/understirred and that most of the binding proteins solidified on the bottom and too little of them remained in the milk, or maybe that the ratios were simply wrong. Your ...
Do I have to cook salame My specific query is to the products on http://www.columbussalame.com/products/italian-delicacies The website says that it is "cured and naturally aged" Does this mean I dont have to cook it before eating?	The website specifically says : All of our salame are cured and naturally aged. Other salumi items like our Mortadella are spiced and cooked in the Italian tradition. The problem is that there are two classifications of meat that only vary by a letter: Salami (the plural of salame) are cured, air-dried meats. They ...
Why did my salsa go bitter? Recently I made 2 separate batches of salsa from the same ingredients: 1x Red Capsicum 1x Brown Onion 3x Green chilis Half a head of garlic Salt Sugar Lime Juice The first batch was great. I dirced all ingredients to smaller than 2mm pieces, mixed it all together and it was lovely. For the...	While I haven't heard of it happening for the specific ingredients you list, yes, the blender can make stuff really bitter. There are two ways this can happen. First, a chemical reaction. A blender really churns the stuff through, driving lots of air bubbles into the mixture with some force. It also causes friction he...
Potatoes in bread? How to estimate potatoes needed? Just found out that adding potato to a bread recipe can make it softer and more moist. I'd like to experiment with this. If I were following a recipe that didn't include potatoes, how could I modify it to include potatoes? Do the potatoes need to be a certain percent...	You'll want to be careful when trying to modify an existing non-potato recipe. Potatoes, like any other agricultural product, have a variable amount of starch and water. Some are big, some are small, etc, so it's hard to tell just how much flour and/or water you'd want to replace in an existing recipe without doing so...
Effect of potato water on bread (early experiment results) Inspired by another question here, I am going to make potato bread. I am using the King Arthur Flour recipe. (For 2 loaves) 1 tablespoon instant yeast 99g sugar 283g to 340g lukewarm water or potato water (water in which potatoes have been boiled) 170g soften...	I found this, it's Ask.com so even though I'm posting it as an answer, I don't consider it the answer. I'd still love to hear what some of the expert bakers here have to say. (emphasis mine) As you begin to bake different types of breads, you will come across some older bread recipes that call for potato water. Potato...
Should I taste-test food before serving it? Do all chefs sample food before serving it? I ask because I feel like there is a huge sanitary problem here. If the chef gets a taste of the food, doesn't he risk his saliva getting into the food itself? When I cook at home, should I sample all food before serving it? Is it...	Any halfway competent chef should indeed be tasting. The only way to know whether you're putting up good food is to check it yourself - and you'd better be consistent if you want to continue getting paid for it. That's not to say that all chefs do, nor that there's any one standard for how frequently to taste or what ...
Additives to make bread soft and moist? Given a recipe for bread/buns, what can I do to make it softer and more moist? From what I have gathered in various recipes on the net: scald the milk use buttery sweet dough emulsion use diastatic malt powder use bakers special dry milk For #2, #3, and #4 -- are there any gui...	Recipes will generally call for either dry milk or fresh milk. You can (and probably should) always scald fresh milk. You can freely substitute dry milk (either regular non-fat dry milk or "bakers dry milk") for fresh milk by reconstituting the dry milk per package instructions. You can also substitute the other way (l...
Can anyone tell me what kind of squash this is? Last year we planted some hybrid yellow round zuchini. We had one going bad and my husband pulled it and just threw it in the garden. This year we had some volunteer plants from the seeds. I understand that for heirloom seeds you can expect the same variety. The same is ...	To me, it looks a bit like a birdhouse gourd, albeit a different variegation. Or perhaps a kabocha squash, which to me has a rather mild and mediocre taste and texture. I guess you've ended up with some wacky gourd hybrid, resulting from open pollination of your desirable (F1?) hybrid. As is the nature of hybrids, the...
Why are Cinnabons so soft and moist? This is a question about the science of baking. What factors contribute to the softness and moistness of the Cinnabon® brand cinnamon rolls? Particularly, I'm interested in: The type of flour to use (e.g. cake, AP, bread, etc.) The amount of water and other liquids (i.e. the effec...	I'm not sure whether you meant cinnamon rolls. If so: These are made of yeast-leavened dough which is quite soft. (Yeast-leavened dough is also part of toast, pizza, bagels, some kinds of donuts etc.) In addition, it's a kind of not-so-fine puff pastry (Danish pastry): Between two layers of dough there is a layer of so...
Is white rice bleached before being processed? My dad is being especially paranoid of this. He claims to have read a paper years ago that said that the standard in rice processing was bleaching the rice to produce "whiter" rice. I've been searching everywhere, and for only weird fringe sites, most of the main sites (W...	No. It is not general practice to add bleach to rice. The brown rice bran is removed through mechanical processes. As to whether he should continue to indulge this worry...I'd be more concerned about [insert common American male problem here] before ammonia in rice. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3138007/ ...
Is it safe to eat chicken that is still frozen? I ate half of a pre-packed chicken sandwich before realizing it was still partially frozen. Is there anything to worry about, and can I eat the rest?	Aaronut's answer is fine, I'm just coming at it from a slightly different assumption. Sandwiches like these are common in gas stations and convenience stores in the US. You can buy them in multi-packs at grocery stores or places like Costco. In multi-packs they are sold frozen, in convenience stores they have often be...
active dry yeast vs instant yeast This Mediterranean breakfast bun recipe calls for active dry yeast which is dissolved in tepid milk. What should I change if I use instant yeast instead? Mediterranean Style Breakfast Buns (Yield: 12) 1 3/4 oz. (50 g) fresh yeast 1 cup + 1 tablespoon (250 ml) tepid milk 1/4 ...	Active dry yeast and instant yeast are pretty much interchangeable in recipes (although instant may have somewhat more activity that an equal amount of active dry) However, your recipe calls for fresh yeast. The general rule of thumb (referenced here) is to divide the amount of fresh yeast by 3 to convert to active dr...
Utensil to thaw meat A very long time ago, I was at a friend's house where her father took out this piece of ribbed metal from the cupboard. It was a dark piece of metal about the size of an adult hand. It had grooves on one side, and was smooth/flat on the other. He asked me to touch it and it felt cold to my touch. ...	How nice to have a question I can just answer. I remember the ads for that thing. You can still buy it, it is called The Miracle Thaw. Now there are knock offs. I am so pleased that you didn't ask how. It's too close to my bedtime for that.
How does a Miracle Thaw work? Miracle Thaws are utensils for rapidly thawing foods. Put an ice cube on one and it melts before your eyes, yet the whole thing stays cool to the touch. How do they work? (Inspired by this question: Utensil to thaw meat)	reference: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/conductive-heat-transfer-d_428.html Let's take a moment to look at the heat transfer equation. Looking at it, we can see the ways to get more efficient heat transfer q / A = k dT / s q / A = heat transfer per unit area (W/m²) k = thermal conductivity (W/(m·K)) dT = temper...
Bamboo Steamer VS Normal Steamer 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 qual...	The only difference between a bamboo steamer and a metal/plastic steamer is that a bamboo steamer will absorb (some of the) moisture from the steam, rather than allowing it to recondense and drop into the food. It's possible that recondensed moisture could take a small amount of water-soluble nutrients with it, but b...
How is "nacho sliced" jalapeño different from regular sliced? I noticed that my grocery store sells jalapeño that is "nacho sliced". How is this different (if at all) than just normal "sliced"? I do understand that the product on the right is labeled "no heat", and that is a significant difference between these produ...	As near as I can determine, "nacho sliced" is simply a marketing term for such pre-sliced, pickled jalapeno peppers. A quick Google for the term brings up several brands which appear identical to one another. There are also similar combinations of the words such as "nacho jalapenos, sliced". The bottle on the right ...
How long will durian smell linger? My housemate just brought home a durian. I remember smelling one of these from four floors up in a dormitory years ago and it was overpowering but I don't remember if it faded away quickly or not. Should I veto him cutting this open in the house? Will the smell go away?	Of course the smell will go away, given enough time. The question is exactly how long you can tolerate it, which only you can judge. Durian actually has a remarkably fascinating smell, featuring a huge range of aromatic compounds including some that haven't been identified in any other produce. (This link is unfortu...
What is ganache, and how it is used in truffles? Does it differ from chocopaste? I need to know what ganache is and how it is used in different truffle recipes. Also, how it is different from chocopastes?	Ganache is a mixture of cream and chocolate, made by heating the cream and mixing in the chocolate until smooth and fully incorporated. Butter is then often added to give the final product a characteristic "shine". Ganache can be used as a filling or as a coating/topping in truffles and is a frequent component in oth...
Does cooking with solar cookers preserve the nutrients in food? Reading on google I found that cooking with solar cookers preserves nutrients. But if the solar cooker reaches high temperatures, I don't know if that's true. Also does solar cooking make the food more nutritious?	Also does it modify or make the food more nutritious with solar cooker. Not more than any other kind of similar cooking by radiant heat, like baking. There is simply no mechanism by which that could happen. Let's examine some claims I found from Google: from http://www.greenbuild.org/uncategorized/3-reasons-solar-cook...
Why was my Last Word cocktail red? Last night I ordered a Last Word cocktail, which I've had a few times before. When it came, the waiter told me that the bartender had never made one before. It was red. It was very red. It was also quite strongly cherry flavored. A Last Word is usually made with equal parts: Gre...	More likely is that he used the syrup that maraschino "cherries" are stored in. It's sometimes used by those who don't know better in things like Shirley Temples. It is bright, bright red, very sweet, very strongly flavored of cherries (or more properly a sort of sickly, artificial interpretation of the flavor). I h...
Ingredients for Cocktails I've recently taken an interest in mixing cocktails - I've never done it before or anything similar and I have a question about sourcing ingredients. I want to try making lots of different cocktails, and I've been looking on thebar.com for recipes and it looks like I'm going to have to buy lo...	I agree with @logophobe; open-ended and/or subjective questions are frowned-upon as you probably know from your other SE sites. That said, I like mixology (though I despise that term...), but I am no professional. I'll try to pick off a few parts that were helpful for me as I started this hobby, and hope that will eit...
Cajeta with powdered goat's milk? Or evaporated? I have fallen in love with Dulce de Leche, which I make by long boiling unopened cans of sweetened condensed milk. I've heard wonderful things about Cajeta, the same thing but made with goat's milk. I want to try it. Alas, sweetened condensed goat's milk doesn't seem t...	By golly it worked! :) Short Answer Yes, evaporated goat's milk works just fine in Cajeta and you can start with at least 50% less water than you would use to fully reconstitute the milk. That being the case, powdered goat's milk would probably work just the same way, but that has not (yet) been tested. EDIT one year ...
Can I season cast iron without using an oven? I recently got a Lodge cast iron pan. I've never worked with cast iron before, and I've read that it needs seasoning before use. However, the Lodge one says it's already seasoned and ready for use. Does that mean I can skip the seasoning part? Which brings me to my main ...	Lodge claims their pans are pre-seasoned. It's a great company, but don't believe that pre-seasoned malarcky. Yes, they do treat the surface with oil, but not nearly enough. No worries though, you really only need a good seasoning layer on the bottom, cooking surface. Scour the cooking surface of the pan thoroughly, t...
What method yields best result for washing breads? I've seen many bread recipes and they used different combination as egg-wash. Egg white plus water, egg yolk plus milk, beaten egg plus milk or water, and I myself sometimes give it a sprinkle of saffron ti get a goldener final result. Is it better to use egg white or...	I have always used egg and milk. Two thirds egg to one third milk. Use a spray bottle to ensure that you get a nice, even coverage. Also make sure that you have a full proof on your goods, because (obviously) anything that gets exposed to the heat due to oven spring will not have color. Just the way I have always done ...
Crunchier breadcrumbs I made chicken goujons coated in breadcrumbs last night and had a go at making my own breadcrumbs. I cut two slices of bread (high end sliced loaf, not cheap white) into cubes and blitzed them in a food processor. Then I put them in the oven on 200C for 15 mins to dry them out. The end result was...	You can make very crunchy crumbs using a dehydrator (probably also a very low < 200 degree F oven). I frequently crumble leftover cornbread, then dehydrate, to produce super crunchy cornbread crumbs. I am sure it would work with any bread. Using this technique with cake also works nicely to produce a crunchy topping ...
Margarine vs Butter in cinnamon roll schmear What properties of margarine makes it better as a schmear in cinnamon rolls? According to an online source: The oil-based fat holds up better than butter under the oven’s heat, so the goo doesn’t ooze out into the bottom of the pan. What's so special about oil-based fat...	The claim is probably based on the higher melting point of hydrogenated vegetable oils. While butter melts between 90F and 95F, hydrogenated oils can have melting points up to 120F. This can give an advantage when baking as proteins begin coagulating at around 120F and starches start to gelatinize around 130F. This is ...
Where to get precise recipies? I'm currently trying to learn how to cook and my main problem are the lack of precise recipes. Most of them tell you what to do in very abstract steps but lack a way of verifying if what you do is right. For example: When cooking polenta you have to mix the corn semolina into water. If y...	For the beginner wanting explicit instructions, I don't think you can do better than a 14 day free trial of the America's Test Kitchen website. They break everything down to where it's almost foolproof (which can actually be a bit of a negative to highly experienced cooks); it's great if you're stepping outside of your...
Why can't this ice cream scoop go in the dishwasher? I have an ice cream scoop that is labeled with something like: Do not immerse in water hotter than 140 °F / 60 °C. Do not wash this item in the dishwasher. What is the real reason for these warnings? I have found mentions of things like: Hot water will "dry out" ...	I've accidentally run my scoop, a Zeroll with conductive fluid inside the handle, through the dishwasher. I don't know this for a fact because I didn't cut mine open to check, but I believe what happened to mine (and what's happened to yours) is that the fluid is meant to work at normal body temperature and when it get...
What are the fault tolerances on the FDA food handling guidelines? Sometimes I have suggested that food that sat out a little longer than optimal may be safe to eat. Granted, this is based on my experience, and I always qualify that it shouldn't be served to guests (and by extension, customers) and that one should d...	The recommendations (in the US at least) are based on a risk model, which takes into account a number of factors: frequency of outbreaks and occurrence of illnesses severity of illness, taking into account illness duration, hospitalization and mortality likelihood of contamination growth potential/shelf life manufactu...
Quick pressure release vs natural pressure release I have read recipies that suggest letting the pressure naturally release when cooking grains in a pressure cooker. I've always just released the pressure quickly through the pressure relief valve. What does releasing the pressure quickly do to grains as apposed to le...	The main reason for using the quick release is to prevent overcooking, think about what would happen to white rice if you left the cooker to de-pressurise naturally: it would be mush. Of course, you could factor the time taken to come back to normal pressure into the original cooking time but that's fraught with diffic...
Ways to Store Carrots for more days I recently brought a whole 2KG bag of carrots. They seemed fine the day I brought, but eventually, the skin of the carrot evolved to a black layer. However, when I peeled them off, the carrot looks perfectly fine. Is it good to continue using these carrots ? Are there any precaution...	I have worked in the CPG industry for almost 30 years. A few years back I had the privilege of representing one of the largest produce brands in the US. I learned quite a bit about produce storage and what speeds up the deterioration rate. One thing I noticed in your picture is that there appeared to be moisture (conde...
Calories in a lava crunch cake From where do the most of the calories in a chocolate lava crunch cake come from? From the crust or the molten chocolate that's inside?	From online comments, this copycat recipe seems pretty accurate. So, they're not dissimilar to traditional lava cakes. The soft, flowing "lava" is just batter that isn't cooked. From the copycat recipe: Domino’s makes their cakes in the pizza oven. The secret to the gooey center is that the cake is baked at a high tem...
How do I make prettier fried eggs? I have no problem cooking fried eggs to my desired doneness or keeping them intact while cooking and serving. But eggs cooked by professional chefs and diner line cooks look like this: The white is round and mostly white; the yolk is basically centered. My fried eggs look like thi...	One factor you may not be considering is the quality of the egg itself. The highest-grade eggs have firm whites and more regular shapes when cracked onto a flat surface. The fresher the egg, generally, the higher the grade. If you've ever cracked a grocery store egg next to a fresh-laid egg, the difference is clear. Th...
Why isn't my bread machine making any bread? I bought a new 1-pound bread machine. After many tries, the machine has yet to make any bread. I am using all raw ingredients, as the local supermarket does not sell any bread machine mixes. I tried following some of the recipes in the included recipe book and marketing vi...	It sounds like you may be missing a very important piece. this belongs here:
How to make this shawarma hot sauce? I'm not sure how to ask this question so bear with me. This shawarma place nearby has this amazing hot sauce but I have no clue whats in it! I want to re-create it if possible. I talked to the clerk and he said that it may be BBQ sauce and hot sauce. I originally thought it tasted ...	Harissa Sauce is likely what you want, the sauce has found different names, it's origin includes Lebanon. I found one of many recipes at: https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/harissa/
Which nuts are typically paired with raspberry and white chocolate? I repeat: Which nuts go well with raspberry and white chocolate? I was just wondering about typical combinations that are known to go well with raspberry and white chocolate. Like regular chocolate and hazelnuts. Or tomato and basil. I don't believe t...	As far as flavor profiles go, almonds and macadamia nuts work well. But my all time favorite is hazelnuts (filberts). I have heard of recipes that call for pecans. While I absolutely love pecans I haven't tried them with raspberry and white chocolate. I would like to say the flavor combination should be good but I ca...
How can I clean the brush that I am using for burnt pots? How can I clean the brush that I am using for burnt pots? It is black and greasy..	Automatic Dishwasher I toss a number of my cleaning tools (sponges, brushes, etc) into the dishwasher anytime there's a bit of extra space. If done regularly it keeps the grime buildup from happening too much. If yours is REALLY greasy, you might want to try heating some soapy water in a pot and simmer it for a littl...
Can I freeze tzatziki sauce? I've got a bunch of cucumbers from my CSA and one can only make so many pickles in a season :) Can we prepare a large batch of tzatziki sauce and freeze it to use later? Cucumbers have a lot of water, so I'm not sure it'll turn out well. Anything we can do to make it turn out better? (You ...	I tried freezing tzatziki sauce but wasn't happy with it when thawed as it seemed to separate easily and even when mixed thoroughly it seemed to have a different, more watery texture than when fresh. What I do now if I have cucumbers I need to use is to prepare and process them exactly as I would for fresh tzatziki sau...
What are the coloured pieces inside cupcakes called? I have been searching and searching online but can't get the answer. Inside cup cakes, without the frosting, you can find some coloured sweet pieces of "I am not sure what", but they look like pieces of hardened jelly. What are they called?	In comments, how you described what you're looking for is exactly what they are. It's dried fruit, usually candied or packed in syrup. Commonly seen in baked goods are dried candied cherries, candied pineapple, candied citron, currants and raisins. This Google Search will show you a lot of examples of fruit used like t...
How to prevent fat splashes when I fry a burger? The question How do you grill a perfect burger? tells me the best solution is to fry not grill, but I find frying makes such a mess I spend ages cleaning up afterwards. So I grill burgers using my oven grill, but I think the temperature of my oven grill isn't high enoug...	To make a perfect burger in the kitchen, a hot cast-iron skillet is your best friend. To keep from making a mess, use one of these: That's a splatter screen. It allows air to move freely, but keeps grease in the pan and off of your walls. EDIT: In comments, Cindy Askew recommended the above plus using the cheapest ava...
Balancing out a good souffle and burnt cheese on top I have a souffle egg recipe that calls for grated Parmesan cheese on the top. I want to also have the cheese slightly burnt without having the souffle collapse. Is there a way to do this? My ideas: If I use the upper part of the oven, wouldn't that overheat the sou...	One thing you could try is pre-cooking the Parmesan. Basically, make crisps, like this: But perhaps a bit darker. Allow them to cool, then crush them or even give them a quick whirr in the food processor. Top your souffle with the cooked cheese crumble instead of uncooked Parmesan. BTW, that picture is from Giada De L...
Why is supermarket bread soft? Nearly all "good" bread (from a traditional bakery, made at home by a competent baker) comes with a thick, hard crust. However in every supermarket there are shelves and shelves full of soft (white, brown and everything in between) bread. I want to know how they make such soft crusted br...	I don't know much of the science behind the super-soft bread on supermarket shelves, but I can give some insight into the history that led to it becoming so ubiquitous in the US. The idea that whiter breads are classier than darker breads goes all the way back to the 5th century BC. The belief that white bread was sup...
Can I substitute green cardamon for black cardamon in curry? There is a curry recipe I am following right now and it says i need black cardamon. I live in an area that is a little difficult to buy all the indian spices. My local market only sell ground cardamon (I don't know what colour) and green cardamon. If you are...	There is quite a difference in the tastes of black vs. green cardamom. In fact, they come from different but related species of plants. Try asking your Indian grocery store for badi elaichi or badi welchi. It is the Hindi name for black cardamom. Green cardamom has a minty flavor and is highly aromatic. It is also slig...
hardened residue after high heat cooking (carbon steel and cast iron) Here is my one month old De Buyer pan: I've seasoned it off and on in the last month at least 10 times, using thin layers of oil and on the stove top. It's very dark brown to black over the entire cooking surface. This is my first pan that requir...	Your residue looks like burnt on carbohydrates to me. It can happen with both sugar and bread, but bread gives it a different shape, it chars in a crumb-like texture. Yours seems like viscous caramel flowed until it burnt on. The seasoning of a young pan is indeed quite sensitive. Don't make sticky stuff in it. What ...
Fiber Drink that are homogenous solutions I have come to know fiber as either insoluble fiber, which doesn't disolve completely in water, and therefore doesn't make a homogenous solution, or soluble fiber, which does dissolve but also gels up. I have known for a while a drink that considers itself to be a fiber drink;...	Think soluble fiber. The following excerpt from WebMD explains very well the difference between soluble and insoluble fiber and lists foods where each can be found. Soluble vs. Insoluble Fiber Soluble fiber dissolves in water. Insoluble fiber does not. [...] Soluble fibers attract water and form a gel. [...]
How to make more than one good cup of coffee with a moka pot? I have a moka pot I'm really happy with the coffee from this. However, after I've poured the first cup out, if I leave the heat on (however low), the coffee gets a metallic taste to it. If I turn the heat off then it goes cold. So, my questions are: is t...	America's Test Kitchen recently tested Moka Pots. In the video, they specifically say to pour all of the coffee immediately when it's done brewing. They don't mention a metallic taste, but they do say that not leaving the coffee in the pot is important for flavor, and that it was equally true for all of the models they...
How to make frosting very white, fluffy, and shiny? Given a typical recipe for frosting (preferably cream cheese), what can be done to make it fluffy and shiny -- even in a chilled state? I've noticed that my cream cheese frosting tends to do this if I put it in the refrigerator. I'm wondering if there is a technique...	Here are some suggestions: To make the frosting whiter: If you use butter, eliminate it. Use all of the other standard ingredients but substitute heavy whipping cream for the butter. Add until you have the consistency you want. While I can't say I would do this, a viable option would be to substitute a good brand of ...
Turkish coffee foam Hello Turkish coffee lovers, Could anyone tell me how I can have a lot of good coffee foam? When I boil it 3 times, all the foam is gone. I want to make a coffee similar to this:	Have you actually boiled it three times? Boiling coffee makes it smell like old floor rags, don't do that! What the Turkish method essentially is, you bring your coffee pot thrice up to, but not actually reaching, the boiling temperature, and you must never ever stir it. My favourite temperature is 70°C near bottom (...
added more yogurt to curry - can I fix it? I've accidentally added more yogurt than I should've (I tipped the box of yogurt rather than spoon it out) and now the flavour / smell of yogurt and its sourness are overpowering and coming through. I've cooked another onion down separately and added a tbsp of demerara, a gl...	You can't take the yogurt flavor out, what you can try to do is balance the undesirable flavors and smells out. This may or may not be effective but it's worth a try. You can balance the sourness with sweet and/or bitter flavors. You've added some demerara sugar which is a good idea, for bitterness you could add fenugr...
How to keep celery crisp? I like celery, but it seems to go limp very quickly when I buy it. What's the best way to store it to keep it crisper longer?	Trim the root end, then set the stalks upright in a tall glass, add a few inches of water, then stash in the fridge. You'll want to change out the water every couple of days, or can get strange on you. You can also cut it into shorter lengths, and store it completely submerged in water; this may be necessary to do with...
When using fresh corn in place of canned or frozed, should I cook the corn first? I have a couple recipes that call for frozen or canned corn. If I want to use fresh corn instead, should it be cooked first or will it cook with the rest of the ingredients (like a casserole for example)?	Good question! Corn is very versatile. I've found that fresh and frozen whole kernel corn are very interchangeable when used in casseroles. Most casseroles cook long enough that you could use either without making any adjustments. However, canned corn is a different animal. Because it is more processed I would use it i...
Knife heat treatment I visited a chef knife shop and spoke to the owner. He mentioned that he didn´t like Shun knives because they become dull so quickly due to bad heat treatment. When I asked him about details he tried to change the subject. How does heat treating affect the blade quality in knives and is he corre...	Heat treatment changes the allotropy of an iron alloy. Steel doesn't equal steel; first, there are chemical differences (different amounts of carbon, nickel, etc. added) and second, there is a difference in the microcrystalline structure of the metal. The different allotropes (= same material in different structures) ...
Coca Cola's Secret Recipe If only two executives know the secret recipe of Coca Cola at any one time, and it is so well guarded, then how do they manufacture Coca Cola in plants without giving away this secret to the workers?	It's no secret; here it is! Complete with the cocaine that was removed from Coke's production in 1903: Picture and text from This American Life The radio broadcast recording on the above link makes a compelling case that the picture at the top of the page is the original formula for Coke. Of course, it has changed ove...
Tetrasodium pyrophosphate How do I use this ingredient in making marshmallows? I've tried all other recipes and they just don't come out like the store bought ones. They also don't roast like them to. Instead the just melt.	I would be a little surprised if you could get your hands on food grade tetrasodium phyrophosphate(TSPP), but maybe you're a Sigma-Aldrich employee or something... TSPP is commonly used in commercial food applications to inhibit bacterial growth, especially where animal proteins are present. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.go...
How do chefs come up with recipes for good food? I have been cooking for some time now, but I have always been a sort of recipe follower. I know the basic composition of flavor components (sweet, sour, umami,...) but I have never been able to come up with something new, nor have I really made an effort attempting it. ...	I am not a professional chef, but I have worked in restaurant kitchens, and have been lucky enough to befriend some enormously talented people - line cooks, pastry chefs, culinary school graduates, and executive chefs. I'm basing this mostly on my observations of the way they work, and the conversations I've had with ...
Out of Salt! But I've got a seasoning blend. How do I figure how much to use? I'm making fried chicken. I'm sort of following a recipe that adds 1 TBS salt and other seasonings to buttermilk to brine the chicken, and then adds 1 tsp salt and other seasonings to the flour dredge. OMG! I'm out of salt. But, thanks to a ...	If the label on your product lists the amount of sodium per some amount of your blend, then this answer should be useful to you. In the US that information is required on all manufactured food items sold. IF YOUR LABEL LISTS SODIUM There are three things you need to know to calculate substitutions involving salt. Edib...
Can flour be used interchangeably with starch? I don't know if the question I'm asking is suitable for this site, but can the word flour be used interchangeably with starch?	No, flour and starch are very different things. Starch is a molecule consisting of a chain of glucose rings. It is one of the main ways plants store energy. In practice, it is extracted from many different grains and tubers such as potato, wheat, tapioca and corn. Flour is a food ingredient made from milling a grain ...
When adding eggs to scratch cake batter, why are you supposed to add them one at a time? When making a cake from scratch I have always added my eggs one at a time, mixing in between each, because this is how I learned from my mother. I just can't remember why this is supposed to be beneficial. Does anyone know why thi...	The key thing here is a substance called Lecithin and it is found in your Incredible, Edible Egg! Doing the adding of the egg one-by-one, plus a few other things are... in the service of creating a stable emulsion of liquid and fat in the batter. When this is done correctly, the cake will have a springy, even crumb, g...
Will mustard seeds soften in a sauce? do mustard seeds melt into a dish if they are an ingredient in making a sauce? if not, would they be strained out after a specific lenght of time? Do they get softened in liquids? I wanted a sauce that reminded me of a sweet and sour sauce from a chinese dish and would complimen...	They will not "melt" into the sauce, but I think your desired effect depends on how long they cook in the sauce. I frequently make "pickled" mustard seeds, which result in a softer seed that pops in your mouth, rather than remaining crunchy. A great garnish or condiment. Not crunchy at all. There are two ways to do ...
How many hours can you store raw eggs in warm car? I many times wonder if I can buy eggs now because not going directly to home. The temperature in cars is often very high (probably more than 40 C at direct sunlight). This answer talks about accumulation of heat to the object - maximum 4 hours at 5-60 C. However, if...	No, your reasoning is incorrect. Food safety rules are dumbed down because they have to be taken literally without any reasoning. if the temperature is very high all the time during that time, I think the maximum time is shorter. The maximum holding time isn't shorter for higher temperatures within the danger zone...
Why does my pan always splatter when I make chicken breasts? I've been cooking for myself since summer started and have been pan-frying a lot of chicken breasts in Sunflower oil. They taste great, but from about halfway through, there's a TON of splattering. Even with the splatter shield it makes a mess of the stove. ...	The reason why fried meat splatters is that correct frying temperatures (~ 180 Celsius pan surface) are well above the vaporizing temperature of water (100 Celsius). Each droplet of cell plasma which comes into contact with the frying fat creates a tiny steam explosion. And explosions splatter. If you were meaning to ...
Is there a difference between tepid water and lukewarm water? Is there a difference between tepid water and lukewarm water? Are the terms interchangeable?	The terms are interchangeable.
How does irradiated beef spoil? So I usually buy irradiated beef. From what I understand, the beef is packaged, sealed, and the absolutely blasted with radiation. I'm a nuclear engineer for a living, so I know that most things tend to die when exposed to the levels of dose that this beef is subject to. Normally foo...	Your assumption that there is nothing living inside the package is incorrect. Food irradiation does not sterilise the food. It is very, but not totally effective. Therefore, given enough time, the meat will still spoil. Irradiation does effect the quality of the food, so I imagine a balance needs to be struck between s...
How can I avoid getting swindled? How can I detect polyphosphates in fish fillets? Fish fillets are treated with polyphosphates for several reasons, but mainly to increase their weight (and hence the profit). According to this FAO paper: The first and universal effect of all polyphosphate treatment is to increase the...	Put the fish under a blacklight and dab a bit of 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole stain on it. If it changes glow from blue to green, its been treated with polyphosphate. You can purchase DAPI stain here: http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/sigma/d9542?lang=en&region=US I would suggest cutting a piece of the fish ...
Is "medium white sauce" a usefully distinct term? I am familiar with a basic white sauce, or béchamel, and know how to make it. I recently came across a recipe (circa 1950's) that calls for 1 cup medium white sauce. Is this the same as a béchamel? (What other white sauces [light/heavy? thin/thick? color?] was medium d...	After spending more time on search engines and thanks to the comment from belisarius... Medium refers to the thickness level of the final sauce, and is controlled by the ratio of roux (butter/flour) to milk. For 1 cup of milk: thin = 1 tablespoon each flour/butter medium = 2 tablespoons each flour/butter (a "standard"...
Why does my rice smell? I don't understand why my rice smells like eggs.. We have a new rice cooker that we used for two months now. I wash it, but should I deep clean it? Also, I put my rice in a big plastic bin so I won't have to keep going into the bag and have the rice spill all over. Would anyone know the reason ...	Have you considered your water source? Where we live it is a normal for our city-supplied water to smell like swamp water (nasty) or like sulphur (strong egg smell). We never drink or cook with this water. We found out early on after moving to this area (10+ years ago) that the water affected the taste of everything we...
How far in advance can I prepare a fruit cup? My work used to sell fruit cups that were simply just plastic cups filled with cut fruit pieces, no syrup or anything. I quite liked having a mini fruit salad like that, and would usually buy ones containing pineapple, grapes, apples, and/or strawberries depending on the s...	I would recommend vacuum sealing. I have found that, if done properly, vacuum sealing should remove all of the air and thus prevent the oxidative process that discolors and deteriorates foods I have tried this with various cut fruits and vegetables including, but not limited to, avocados, apples, onions, tomatoes, etc....
How to extend the freshness of salsa? I often make salsa containing tomato, onion, garlic salt, green pepper, red pepper, lemon, and salt. I store it in a Glasslock container in the refrigerator. By the second day, the taste is still reasonable. By the third day, though it starts to get a strange smell and has a stran...	Acid is your friend here. You have some lemon, and tomatoes are acidic, but apparently that isn't enough. You should get at least a good week out of fresh salsa (mine lasts longer than that). Try adding a good shot of plain, distilled vinegar. Many recipes for salsa (including my own) include vinegar; add as much as yo...
How do I stop my pans from boiling over? Yesterday the wife and I decided to boil some potatoes in a normal non-stick pan. We added salt, potatoes and boiling water. We put this on an electric hob, with no lid at maximum heat (marked at 6, which is ~10 times hotter than our 5 setting. From experience, the remainin...	You are doing precisely the opposite of 'normal' procedure, which is to put the lid on the pan until the water starts boiling, then remove the lid (either partially or completely) to prevent boiling over. A reduction in the hob temperature will also probably be necessary, and is in any case desirable - mercilessly boil...
Can an opened pack of dried yeast be stored for later use? I purchased a 25 gm active dry yeast. It says to use it with 500 ml flour. However I just want to make a couple of pizza bases, 100 gm each max. So can I use 40% of it today, and use the rest later? How to store the open pack, do I need to seal it and pack?	Yes, you can store an opened pack of dried yeast without a problem. Seal the pack as well as you can (plastic clips for just that purpose are very common, or you can just use an office 'bulldog' clip), and put it in the fridge.
Smoker Ideas, something between Ribs and a Brisket Got my smoker going and the food is turning out descent.. smoked ribs and a beer can chicken quite well so far. I'm thinking of trying a brisket, but that seems intimidating with my limited smoker skillset/experience. What's a good intermediate meat to experiment with...	If you want beef, try smoking chuck roasts ("chuckies"). If you want pork, try making pulled pork from pork shoulder. Both will produce nice results, but take less time than brisket.
Smoking a whole duck - when to remove from heat? I am going to be smoking a duck on my grill in the next few days, and I'm finding a ton of conflicting information. I was hoping you all could help sort it out. What breast/thigh temperature am I trying to get to for medium rare? I'm looking for the real answer, not the...	You cannot find the correct final internal temperature for a whole duck, because it doesn't exist. If you stop the cooking when the white meat is tender, you'll have very tough red meat. If you cook until the collagen is melted, you'll get very tough white meat. With whole birds, it is more popular to go the collagen ...
How can I concentrate citrus juice at home? I used to make no-bake pies as a kid that consisted of whipped topping, condensed sweetened milk, and frozen lemon- or lime-aid concentrate (thawed) mixed together and poured into a graham cracker pie crust then chilled to set. The recipe I learned called for a small can o...	Some fruit juices can be heated to drive off excess water (especially those with a higher sugar content) but citrus doesn't tolerate this well. Fresh-squeezed citrus will get bitter and acrid if reduced. Instead, squeeze your citrus as normal and freeze the juice in an open container. Once it's set into a solid block...
What is bearnaise sauce thickened by? As from the title, what is Bearnaise sauce thickened by? There are a few different ingredients in bearnaise sauce that helps in thickening such as egg yolks, but how is it thickened and what other ingredients are there that is considered as a thickening agent?	The thickening in Bearnaise, as in mayonnaise, is not so much in the ingredients as in the technique. These sauces get their thickness by being emulsified. An emulsion is formed by rapidly mixing, whisking or blending two ingredients that shouldn't mix (oil and liquid). The emulsifier (egg yolk and often mustard in the...
How can I incorporate brown lettuce into something appetizing? I have four bags of lettuce that have gone brown. A nice fresh salad is obviously out of the question. Is there anything I can do with it?	Brown lettuce may or may not be harmful to you, it depends on how far gone it is. We get a lot of questions on this forum asking about how to use ingredients which may be past their prime, and the advice is almost always not to try - mixing bad ingredients with good ingredients is almost always going to ruin your good...
How to choose a pan for making caramel? Is there any noticeable difference in taste and texture when making caramel on a non-stick pan versus a normal pan? I have seen a few cooks making caramel on a stainless steel saucepan and others on black frying pans most probably non-stick. But, is there a difference? Surely, ...	You ask about coating, but it is actually not very important. There are other criteria with much higher priority when you are making caramel or other types of candy. The important thing about pan when making caramel is even heating. Especially when making your caramel dry, you cannot afford hot spots, because you canno...
Water vs. milk/cream (or nothing) in traditional (French) omelets Previous questions here have addressed the reasons why water or milk is added to scrambled egg mixtures in cooking. However, the two questions I've linked seem to parallel a distinction I've noticed sometimes in recipes or in instructions given by chef...	Americas test kitchen has tested this in a prior issue. I cannot put my hands on the issue right now which explained their process and the results. It also contained a good deal of explanation about the science of the process. They tried all sorts of liquids in their omelette and scrambled eggs recipe. They found tha...
Are limes and lime juice more acidic than lemons and lemon juice? I attended a business meeting in the Midwest and one of our clients took our management team and a few other business partners to dinner at an awesome Mexican restaurant. When the appetizers were served I commented that it was a wonderful presentation a...	I'm culling a lot of information from one of my favorite cocktail books for this one. Yes, limes have a slightly higher acid content (on average) than lemons do - about 6% for limes, compared to 4.5% for lemons. More importantly for their flavor, lemons have about 2% total sugar, while limes have somewhere between 0.5...
What is the temperature range for food not to burn your mouth? I'm trying to get a temperature range for knowing when food is too hot to eat. Most of what I am finding is temperature ranges for food to kill bacteria instead. For example, if I'm serving a hot drink or a soup/stew which was recently simmering or boilin...	I made myself some spicy chicken and macaroni soup, and put it in a bowl while it was still boiling. I put a thermometer in it as it cooled and I started to eat. I figured the soup was a good thing to test as I could take big bites that included liquid and solids that required chewing. I took a bite every minute or so ...
Are there similar scales like the Scoville scale? Are there any scales that have been applied to any of the five basic tastes or other types of food sensations that have been quantified based on their affect on people, similar to the Scoville scale? Sure you could say that people's experience of something like sweetne...	Yes, and Wikipedia has a brief summary of these scales (with some further details in other portions of the article and the links). Basically, at least four of the five recognized primary "tastes" have a reference compound that other foods are compared to subjectively. For sweetness, a solution containing the test comp...
Roasted duck carcass - what is this dish called? I've never broken down a duck before, so I found myself briefly watching this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTJR6-HU6OY At the end, the chef mentions that in southern France, the carcass is sometimes sprinkled with coarse salt, roasted in a fast oven for some a...	I found this recipe on supertoinette . The name of the dish is "Carcasses de canards grillées" which translates to roasted duck carcasses. It states below the name that "These carcasses of roasted ducks are a specialty of the Southwest!" If you use Google, you can translate the page and get the recipe and instructions...
How can I make fizz free and alcohol free mojito? I want to make alcohol free and fizz free mojito. Is this possible? I don't mind carbonated water; but my family does not drink alcohol for religious reasons. We also avoid and have avoided fizzy sugar drinks for years due to harms. My family are just fizz paranoid so ...	Harms? Meh, that's silliness. You can make your own fizzy water if you're so inclined. Sodamakers. If you really don't want fizzy, then just substitute still water in any of the recipes in a search for Virgin Mojitos. Choose recipes that use soda water, club soda or seltzer water, not ginger ale. Ginger ale adds flavor...
How much can I change the height of a cake? It's pretty common to find cake recipes with pans that don't match the size of pans you have. I know ideally you would make sure total area of the pans is the same as in the original recipe, so that the batter is the same depth and it bakes properly. For example, two 10-inch...	I have found that, for most cakes, variations in the height of the layers doesn't cause any problems. As you noted, you need to keep any eye on them for proper doneness. If the layers are substantially thicker you may need to slightly decrease your oven temperature to ensure proper doneness without drying the cake out....

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