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Why would different types of pots/pans (made from different metal) give a different taste to food? There's many types of pots and pans: from copper to stainless steel. I own several different types at home. I have been using them, and I've noticed a slightly different tastes each one give on the same food. I want to u...	Some metal react differently with some food, mostly with acidic ingredients like tomatoes. Stainless steel and ceramic are non-reactive and should not impart different flavor to the food. Aluminium, "regular" steel, iron(cast-iron), copper are known to be reactive and will react to ingredients and will change some of t...
Charles Darwin high altitude cooking of potatoes I just read about Charles Darwin's attempt to boil potatoes while at high altitudes. In The Voyage of the Beagle you can read: Having crossed the Peuquenes [Piuquenes], we descended into a mountainous country, intermediate between the two main ranges, and then took up...	My guess of what happened was that the potatoes were sitting in an open pot that was not in a rolling boil. I'm going to assume that they went down from the pass and the place where "they took up [their] quarters" was at 11,000ft. This region was then, as it is today, almost destitute of vegetation. Darwin notes in ...
Can I keep canned peaches in the fridge if water got in during processing? I followed all the rules to a tee. Unfortunately, before immersing jars for final boiling, I apparently did not tighten the lids enough. I just took them out of the boiling water after 30 minutes and the screws lids were loose and looks like ...	Yes, basically anything cooked will last at least a few days in the fridge. If you want it to safely keep it longer than that, you can freeze it. It's probably best not to try to reprocess the jars though, since you don't know exactly how much water got in (and how much acid and sugar got out), so if you're unlucky it ...
How to avoid stiffness and crispness of toasted/oven baked bread sandwiches I would like to know whether there is any solution to avoid the stiffness and crispness of bread of oven baked sandwiches which uses normal white bread as the base. I used to make sandwiches with bread and always these bread after baking turns...	Wrap the sandwich in foil before baking so the moisture stays in the bread. That will prevent it crisping up.
What is the difference between Seed, Grain, Nut, Kernel, Pit, Bean? What is the difference between Seed, Grain, Nut, Kernel, Pit, Bean? Seed (as in apple) Grain (as in wheat), fruit Nut (as in almond) Kernel (as in corn) Pit (as in olive) Bean (as in fava/broad bean) Hierarchy: Bean <- Seed <- Grain Is Bean super ty...	Your assumptions and "hierarchy" are incorrect. "Seed" is the most basic term, the other terms are characterizations of seeds. However, the use of any given term in a culinary settings may have little to do with the term's strict botanical definition. For culinary purposes there are no definite rules for which things...
Is it safe to use non stick cookware over a flame? I have recently started to learn how to cook. Whenever I am trying to make a chapati or to cook a vegetable, I start experiencing an acute headache, most likely because of the steam or maybe the flame in burner gas stove. I am using non stick cookware. Can this be the...	Are you using non-stick cookware? Beware because there is a well-documented medical effect caused by the fumes released when various non-stick components are heated starting at about 300 °F (149 °C) and beyond. Polymer fume fever You should always have something in a non-stick pan when it is over a flame.
Deglaze in iron pan I know the pan will not suffer for just a glass of wine, but wine is acid, and I know I shouldn't use any acid into it. Also, water is not advisable in a frying iron pan. Can this remove the seasoning? I'm thinking into buying a stainless steel pan for this.	An occasional deglazing in a well seasoned cast iron pan is not a problem. I wouldn't do it in a brand new one, however. The pan continues to "season itself" each time you cook something in it. Cast iron pans are wastly superior to steel ones, for almost all applications.
How to cook rice for 60 people I have to cook for 60 people, and one of the things I am going to make is (japanese) rice. Normally I cook it in a rice cooker, or in a pan with an amount of water and let it cook until the water has 'dried up'. Can I use the same way of cooking rice for 60 people? (Say I have 6 kilos r...	Three main factors you need to think about is the water ratio, method of cooking and portion size. When cooking Japanese rice(short glutinous grains) the optimal ratio is about 1:1 of water and grain. Normally when cooking smaller portions you add additional water to compensate for the water that evaporates and turns ...
Carbon steel seasoning I know there's dozen of posts and discussion everywhere, but I'm getting pretty confused. Everyone has something different to say : use rapeseed oil, coconut, olive oil, flaxseed, someone in the oven, someone on the stove.. I found two good videos, made by professional people, but they use a dif...	For any plain steel; carbon steel, cast iron etc, but not stainless or non-stick Remove previous bad seasonings, or on a new pan remove containments and manufacturing residues Check the pan surface for any metal protrusions, usually a quick scrape with a hard metal spatula will remove these, if not, consider other me...
Michelin Three Star Restaurant; but if the chef is not there When going to Michelin three star French restaurant in Paris, should I first find out if the star chef is actually cooking or at least present? I have been visiting a French restaurant in Paris that is highly rated and I never questioned myself if the star...	3 star restaurants are a business (*); for (probably bad) example, if I was to buy a Tesla car, I would not expect Elon Musk to build my car or even be at the auto-dealer. Chefs will rarely cook; they will create the dishes, they might cook the prototypes and do trial plating to show his staff how the dish should cooke...
Sweet and sour chicken not sticky I have been trying now for a while to make sticky sweet and sour chicken. It tastes great. But its not sticky. How do I achieve this? I only use chicken wings for this. I make a sweet and sour sauce in a separate pan first, where I followed the recipe found on the internet. •3/4 cup ...	I would consider adding some soft brown sugar. The molasses content should increase the stickiness and thickness of the sauce overall. You may want to reduce the amount of white sugar to compensate.
I added more water to my ciabatta dough by accident I just realized that I added about 4 cups of water to 4 cups of flour for my ciabatta dough. It only calls for 2 cups, but I added 4 for some reason. It’s been rising for a bit over 4 hours and there are a lot of bubbles, which I’m happy about, but it’s very runny. I...	Your recipe should call for the dough to be folded a few times during proving. Do this on a thick bed of flour, and sprinkle more flour on top as you fold, and you'll find it will come together more and more with each fold. Remember, when it comes to bread, the wetter the better!
How do I know when my sauce is reduced enough? I followed this recipe over the weekend to try out something new: Eric Ripert's Red Snapper and Morels in Port Reduction My biggest issue was the sauce. It was very liquidy. I don't think it reduced properly and perhaps not enough butter? But I'm really not sure. All the ...	The whole thing should've been done with the lid off. Any time you're reducing a sauce, you want the steam (moisture) to escape. As for 'how thick', the standard test is 'coats the back of a spoon'. If you stir with a spoon, you should be able to lift the spoon out vertically, and the sauce doesn't immediately drip o...
Other ways to preserve red cabbage We have 3 nice heads of red cabbage to pick soon. We are most likely going to can it all as sweet and sour cabbage but before we do that I was wondering if there are other ways to preserve it using the canning method.	We most commonly braise it under some confit duck legs. That recipe is altogether more complicated than the method we use (usually just a bunch of herbs, an onion or two and some red wine, not red wine vinegar) but I'd start with theirs and simplify. Like a lot of fresh veg, it can be frozen if you blanch it first. Ess...
Is it possible to determine if fish caught from fishing is safe to make into sashimi or sushi? I know that fish bought from a grocery store isn't always great quality or safe to consume raw and this was elaborated in this question. However, is it generally safe (if prepared properly) to turn a fish caught from a loca...	The biggest concern with fish caught in the wild is the presence of parasites. You'll have to look up which species of parasite are present in the species of fish that you wish to use, and treat it accordingly. Tapeworm is common in salmon, and several other varieties of fish have various parasites capable of infecting...
Yeast dough won't go "stretchy" I am getting the feeling yeast-dough just hates me... I have been using a basic pizza recipe: 500g flour 1/2 cube of fresh yeast 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt. 4 tablespoons of olive oil 250ml water make well in flour add crumbled yeast and some water mix up a bit, dust with fl...	Ok, this is going to be long. And you just wanted to fire up your oven and slap the sauce on the dough...but bear with me. Gluten The Holy Grail of elastic dough that can trap all these nice bubbles: CO2 from the yeast and steam from evaporating water. Fact is, gluten is basically a protein (ok, scientifically speakin...
How to bake salmon What temperature should the inside of the salmon reach? And for how long? Is 450F an acceptable preheated oven temperature? How long per pound should salmon be cooked at 450F?	The baking time doesn't really depend on the weight. It depends on the thickness, and how well done you want it. The FDA recommends cooking to 145F, but you'll probably find it a lot nicer in the 120-130F range. There's a lot of room for personal preference, so it's hard to be too precise. It doesn't need to be held at...
is it okay to use shredded zucchini that smells a little sour for baking I've had some shredded zucchini in my refrigerator in a plastic container for about a week or two is it okay to use for baking bread or cake if it smells a little sour or maybe like vinegar	Fresh zucchini has a fairly neutral or sometimes "greenish" smell. An acidic or vinager-like smell is an indication of some kind of fermentation that has set in. We can't say what exactly has started to grow (there is lacto-fermentation, which is typically induced on purpose, but also a good chance that your zucchini ...
Do defrosting plates work in reverse? Does heat transference go both ways? Can I use the defrosting plate to cool something more rapidly, say a hot pot or pan?	Does heat transfer go both ways? Generally yes, the conductivity of a material is the same if you reverse it and you could use a defrosting plate to cool hot food. The plate would require good contact with the hot food to allow the heat to be conducted into the plate. This heat would then be conducted through the...
How to stop Xanthan Gum from clumping? Every so often, I make Irish Cream. The problem I have with it is that the cocoa and some of the cream split a bit in the bottle. It's still drinkable, and shaking the bottle fixes it, but I'd rather this not happen. The usual stabiliser for Irish Cream is eggs, but that shortens...	I use an immersion blender angle @ about 45 degrees to create a vortex. I gently and slowly sprinkle the xanthan gum into the vortex then use the blender to make sure all of it is incorporated. I have not had any problems with clumping unless I add too much at a time.
Whatever Has Happened to This Fork? I left some dirty dishes over a summer internship. Now, cleaning up, I have found that some of the silverware has developed a rough surface. After sitting overnight in a soapy bath, it persists, although can be scrubbed off. Here's a fork, which appears to be stamped stainless ste...	I have seen similar deposited after stainless cutlery and plates were soaked in hard water from bores and from areas with hard water. Its just a collection of salts that like making a home on metal surfaces. You can remove it without scrubbing by adding some citric acid powder or a little white vinegar to some warm was...
Why are foods often packaged in weird measurements? Whilst shopping I have noticed quite a number of products having very weird measurements. for example my jar of peanut butter is 127g, but I can't spot a pattern here. Is this just a random part of production, or is there some reasoning behind this?	Quite often, it's because a manufacturer prefers to decrease the size of a packet than to increase its price. Customers notice when the price goes up but don't tend to notice the product getting smaller. For example, jam in the UK used to be sold in jars containing one pound, which became the equivalent 454 grams with...
BBQ-style baked beans without mustard? My friend has some kind of weird food sensitivity to mustard. He's coming over for dinner and I wanted to make baked beans, but just about every baked beans recipe I've seen calls for mustard. I have a feeling I can probably just leave the mustard out, but I feel like it might le...	Just omit the mustard. In just about every recipe I have seen for beans, it is proportionally a very small component. And while we tend to think of mustard as being bold in flavor, it's really the vinegar that makes it seem that way. You should also stray from any recipes that call for store bought barbecue sauces, as ...
Guacamole Sitting out? So I find it odd, that every site says "Don't leave guac sitting out more than 2 hours or you'll get sick!" But a lot of recipes (like alton browns for instance) actually say to let it sit out for a couple of hours at room temp? Proof: http://altonbrown.com/guacamole-recipe/ I ask because my bud...	Nobody is telling you "or you'll get sick" What they are telling you that it's unsafe. This is a completely different thing. You can eat unsafe food if you like. The people who publish unsafe recipes do it too. They just count on not getting sick. 2 hours vs 4 hours The actual "danger zone" time is 4 hours. For foods...
Discolored ring in squash Our yellow squash has some brownish discoloration inside in a ring down that extends length-wise. Is this normal variation and safe to eat, or is this an indicator that the squash has gone bad?	This can be one of two things: 1) If you bought this from a store the squash is a bit old. It own't hurt you as mentioned in one of the comments above it just isn't pretty. 2) If this is a fresh squash, if you had a heavy rain storm or a higher than normal concentration of smoke in the area (like forest fires) then it ...
How do I avoid fibrous, dry beans? I've recently started adding beans to my diet to get more fiber. I've never been a fan, but it's better than the alternative. I've also discovered refried variations, which helps a lot. What I'm looking for is some kind of bean that isn't as "fibrous" or "dry" as the red kidney beans...	"Fibrous" and "dry" are good descriptions for bean which haven't been prepared properly. Mostly, they have either not been soaked long enough, or haven't been cooked for long enough. Normal times for beans are about 12 hours soaking in water and another 1-3 hours cooking, depending on the desired texture. Also, sometim...
Is eating uncooked spaghetti dangerous? Sometimes I like to eat some (15 to 20 pieces) uncooked and dry spaghetti from the store as a snack. Still, I am worried a little about salmonella and other such things, so my question: How safe is eating uncooked spaghetti? Thank you	Yes and no; in smaller quantities; no problem. If you sit down in the morning and eat bowl daily; you will cause some serious long term issues. Raw flour is full of lectins and phytates; which can pose a danger in higher amounts; damage the lower GI and cause IBS; other issues Nutrient problems can develop from th...
Water Exploded in Microwave I heated water in the microwave and it exploded inside. Water was pouring out even though the door was shut. I now know that I'm not supposed to heat water in the microwave. But I did and now after the water explosion, I'm not sure if I can use my microwave. Twelve hours after the explosion...	Joe is essentially right. Bubbles form in a liquid at what are called nucleation sites - small irregularies in the container or in the liquid itself. If you look at the bottom of some beer glasses, there are little nodules (often in the shape of the brewer's logo) that nucleate bubbles of the CO2 that's dissolved ...
Why are store bought paninis only par baked? I bought some mini paninis from the super market and the packet had instructions to bake them again for another 5-6 minutes before serving. Why are paninis sold par baked and not completely baked like other bread?	Convenience and longer term storage, plus a closer to freshly baked result compared to a pre baked item that has or is going stale to some degree,
Beef fat for frying Where do I purchase beef fat for frying fish? I have been using a solid fat of half vegetable and half beef fat, but have not been able to find beef fat only.	beef fat or tallow can be found on amazon or gourmet cooking stores. Other then that; local butcher. If all else fails; you can render your own; the best cut is “leaf fat”; from around the kidneys on the cow. Then you just render down; similar to clarifying butter. Really depends on how much you need. note: Do not bu...
What temperature to scramble eggs? We switched from an electric stove to a gas stove. The new stove doesn't seem to get hot enough to scramble eggs. How hot should the pan surface be to scramble eggs? All the recipes I've found just say "heat until hot". EDIT: I measured my pan with an IR thermometer, it never got abo...	First off, measuring the temperature of an empty pan will only tell you so much. That temperature is a result of the balance of your stove putting heat into the pan and the pan transferring that heat to the surrounding air, which means it depends on the pan, and as soon as you put anything in the pan the temperature is...
Strange orange gel on surface of zucchini? There's a strange orange gel-like substance on the surface of a zucchini that's been sitting in my kitchen for a few days. It's a bit like tiny globs of orange marmalade. Any idea what it could be? Is the zucchini going bad? EDIT I tried wiping the "gel" off with a paper towe...	The cut end of your zucchini (courgette) looks like it's exuding some water/sap that was previously in the fruit. The colour is due to the rest of the "stuff" in the sap besides water: e.g., perhaps sugars, starches and other stuff. As the water evaporates, it looks like what you show in the picture, which will also ex...
Putting a solid chocolate bar inside cake dough: what's the outcome? Let's say I'm making a plain vanilla cake in a rectangular shape. If I were to put a solid chocolate bar in the middle of the dough before baking it, what would the outcome be when the cake is removed from the oven and has cooled down? The bar will ...	As other answers have said, the result will NOT be (3). The chocolate may melt somewhat during baking, but it will solidify again as it cools. How much it sinks will depend on the thickness of the cake batter -- in some cases it may end up on the bottom, and in other cases it may not sink very much. To achieve your d...
how long can you keep uncooked lentils - red and brown how long can I keep uncooked lentils in my pantry?	Lentils are good for a long time: Many claim that they stay safe "indefinitively". While that is clearly an exaggeration, properly stored lentils stay edible for years if you keep them well-sealed in a cool, dry and dark(-ish) place. Note that dry storage keeps mold at bay, closed jars protect from insect damage and co...
Do sprats need to be gutted? Do you need to gut sprats before cooking & eating them? i.e. is it safe to eat them (so long as they're cooked). do they taste ok (to the average non-squeamish person happy with a bit of fish offal). Research so far I've searched online but can mostly find the question asked without answ...	It is safe to consume the guts. Many people do. More Info: After digging deeper into the above article I spotted it contains the answer. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/oct/07/features.food7 They're so small (only up to 12cm long) that they're often cooked whole - head, guts and all. If you prefer, howeve...
Can fruit juice be used to hold a cheesecake crust together? I'm thinking of changing a Mocha-Mint Cheesecake recipe of mine to a more plain Peach Cheesecake. Among the other things that need to be modified, I was thinking of instead of using butter as an "adhesive" to hold the (oreo) crust together, I would use graha...	I've experimented a bit with liquid flavorings in tart crust (not specifically replacing butter -- I still had butter in there) and I find that it does tend to make the crust soggy, but if you are baking the crust first, you can cook it longer to counteract this and it comes out a little more like shortbread. I don't t...
Does kimchi always have live cultures? A lot of the kimchi I see in stores doesn't say "live and active cultures" like yogurts and kefir. I'm trying to up my probiotic intake, but I'm not sure if all the kimchi I get is helping me towards this end. If a kimchi doesn't list "live culture", does it mean that the culture...	At least in the U.S., there is no legal requirement to list "live cultures" or whatever on food labels. Short of contacting the manufacturer, there's no way to know for certain whether or not it may contain live cultures. Kimchi, like sauerkraut and similar cultured foods, will continue to ferment and change flavor an...
Vegetarian replacement for pork mince in Chinese style stir fry In Chinese cuisine it's very common to start a vegetable stir fry with a bit of minced meat, typically pork, to give the dish a deeper flavor. To make a vegetarian version I usually just leave this out, but I've been wondering if something else would give...	It seems like you are primarily interested in reproducing the umami of the meat. Tofu does in fact have glutamic acids that will add to the umami; just make sure to thoroughly dry the tofu (extracting as much liquid as possible) before use. In addition, you can use minced mushrooms, as Stephie mentioned in the commen...
Does the fatty acids in olive oil convert into trans fatty acids when heated? There is not much I can add on the title without going off topic, just was wondering about it. Any seasoned advice?	No. Trans fats require a specific process to form. Oil is heated under pressure, and hydrogen gas is injected in the presence of a catalyst. This forces a chemical reaction to occur, resulting in what we call trans fats. No kitchen is likely to have the ingredients (e.g. hydrogen gas) and equipment necessary for making...
Smoking without wood chips I am smoking baby back ribs using an electric vertical smoker. Given that most food absorbs smoke for an hour or two before saturating, what will happen if I stop adding wood chips after about two hours? Will I get the same result as if I continued to add wood chips, given that the ribs are ...	The meat doesn't really "absorb" the smoke, as much as the smoke sticks to the meat, for the most part. The real answer here is strictly what your preference is. While there are some preservative qualities that are delivered through smoking food, you should consider smoke a spice no different than salt, pepper, garlic ...
Can you save garlic powder that has clumped due to moisture? Every time I have garlic powder around, it always ends up forming into a hard sticky lump. Is there any way to reconstitute this into a usable form? Placing it in warm water seems to take forever and it never really dissolves.	I've had this happen with other types of spices as well. I put it in the blender or coffee grinder to loosen it up again. Works well for me.
Can deep frying oil be too hot? Some days ago I made some "eggplant meatballs" (no meat inside - not sure how you would call them in English). The recipe was quite simple: bake the eggplants for 45 mins to soften the pulp, put it in a bowl with a spoon, add some seasoning, grated cheese and egg, make same small "meatb...	Yes, certainly. Deep frying only works well in a very narrow temperature range. The optimal temperature is different for every food, but it's in the 180 to 210 Celsius range. The needed temperature is determined by the starch type and the amount of wetness on the outside, and is chosen such that it crisps immediately ...
Making super-sour sweets -- issues with stickiness I've successfully home-made gummy sweets -- my preferred flavour currently is scotch bonnet chilli. They are made of sugar -- heated until just below hard-ball temperature, gelatin, chillies. The problem I'm having at the moment is that I want to give them a super sou...	Like most candy with a coating there is some degree of processing, drying time and technics. Anhydrous would be more preferable because its moisture free. The less moisture on a coating of any sweet the better. Citric acid just like sugar attracts moisture. I've had success with the Sour Patch Kids recipe from Classi...
sourdough starter splits So on my second day, my sourdough starter split pretty big and I'm wondering if this is expected behaviour. This is 30/30gr water/fullwheat flour from the first and second day. Here is a picture of the result: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_9zXCYnMBMlNXhTOU1vQk9yMjQ/view?usp=docslist_api ...	tl:dr; Do another batch. It is not expected but not a full indication of a failure, but - There is a lot of colours in the picture which is suspicious. Also beyond vinegary after two days is suspicious. That kind of separation is indicative of the flour no longer having feed for their bacteria, which might explain th...
How long should I cook a steak to make it medium rare? I really like steak and always manage to cook it right but I haven't got it down to a fine art. I like my steak medium rare and though I always manage to get it very pink in the middle I don't know the exact times. How long should I cook a steak, and at what tempe...	This is a 'how long is a piece of string' question. The thickness of the meat, the thickness and material of the pan, your hob type and various other factors will all influence the cooking time. So it is impossible to give you a hard and fast answer. The best solution is to simply remove time from the equation altogeth...
Ceramic pans vs PTFE pans I want to buy ceramic pan. The shop keeper told me that ceramic pans are more durable. But they need oil. Here, I found a different info. They claimed PTFE is more durable. It says that none of them need oil and oil damages both of them. When I look for ceramic pans on shops none of them ment...	Ceramic pans are more non-stick than PTFE. They don't need oil. Ceramic pans are less durable. They fail within a few months of use. Ceramic pans don't scratch, they are too hard. No, don't throw it away. They don't contain the halogen elements found in PTFE. I wouldn't say so. Mine and my mother's failed earlier, ...
Why did my Chickpea water congeal? I cooked a bag of chickpeas in a slow cooker, just water and the peas. Once the peas were soft I ate them with the water they were cooked in, like a bean soup. Once that cooled the "soup" congealed like jello. I didn't know it would do that. Is that good for you...I mean it looked li...	Chickpeas are starchy, so it's natural that the liquid they are cooked in will thicken when it cools. It will not 'clog your arteries' - food doesn't travel directly to your bloodstream in the form in which you eat it.
Can I use whole eggs instead of egg yolks in a lemon bundt cake? My lemon bundt cake recipe calls for 8 egg yolks. Can I substitute 4 whole eggs instead of just egg yolks? I don't want to perhaps waste 8 egg whites or use 8 eggs when 4 would do.	In principle, you'd probably be able to find a recipe that uses ~2 eggs with a similar net volume, but it may not be so easy to retrofit your existing recipe, as it's reasonable to expect that the recipe is relying on some property of the yolk (emulsifying power, fat content, etc). You may find the result satisfying, b...
Moisture in Vegetable Bin There is moisture in my vegetable bin. What can I do to prevent this? I do not have a separate control for the drawers. The refrigerator temperature is set at the manufacturer's recommended setting.	Unless you are not storing produce in the vegetable drawer (aka crisper) you want moisture there. It keeps your produce from drying out. If there is excessive moisture in the crisper , make sure you are not putting in overly wet produce. You can line the drawer with paper towels to absorb excessive water and to help ma...
Can frozen peaches be made into jam or other things? I have over ripe peaches. I have scaled them and pitted them and they are in lemon water. Can I freeze them to make jam later? Can I put them in the refrigerator to make jam later?	You absolutely can make jam from frozen fruit. Freezing is like "stopping time" (or at least slowing it down almost to a stop) for the frozen food. Freezing water breaks cell walls, that's why thawed fruit is mushy, but so does boiling when making jam, so no problem at all here. You can also freeze leftover fruit befo...
Can I put any kind of bowl into a steam/rice cooker? due to some paranoia issues with the microwave, I would like to heat up my food using a steam/rice cooker instead. Can I just put all my refrigerated food in a bowl and just put it in the cooker, add a little water at the base, and turn it on? Are there any health c...	For the amount of time it will take for this to work, you might as well use the stovetop, which is designed for this -- but if you must, read your manual for instructions on how to use the rice cooker as a steamer. Using a steamer basket inside the cooker pot should work; I'd recommend sticking with just the basket its...
Seasoning none stick teflon pans Before the first time I use a none-stick teflon pan, how should I do seasoning? 1- Should I first rub oil on it then heat it? [ref1] or first I should heat it then remove heat and rub oil on it? [ref2],[ref3] 2- How long should I heat it for 30 seconds (ref3)? an hour (ref4)!!! or 2-3...	Absolutely not A non-stick pans surface will be ruined when any oil becomes polymerised onto it. The whole idea of a non-stick pan is that it's surface is non-stick to food. Permanently layering it with anything else will make it less non-stick Only use non-stick pans for low to medium heat cooking, and use no, or very...
Do egg whites thin out when salt is added, which will make them easier to mix? Does adding salt to eggs cause the white to thin out and increase in size, making it easier to mix?	Salt, sodium chloride, is slightly chaotropic towards protein colloids, so it should loosen up the egg whites slightly by decreasing protein-protein interaction. That should make the whites easier to mix, but I doubt you'll get a significant size increase out of it.
Replacing dry white wine with bubbly I have an onion soup recipe that calls for dry white wine. Can I replace the dry white wine with simple white cava/lambrusco? NOTE: I'm aware that there are a number questions regarding substitution of wine, but they seem to refer to non-alcoholic substitutes so none of them mentio...	I would not mind using a Cava in the Brut range. To me that would be like substituting hints of pears with hints of green apples. French onion soup can be made with different stocks, so I am assuming you are using a chicken stock recipe, which typically calls for a dry white wine. If you are using a beef or veal stoc...
Can I use fat-free milk in béchamel? Can I use a fat free milk to make the sauce? Should I add more butter to the roux if I do so?	Yes. The important fat is the one the starch first goes into. The higher temperature reached by fats (as compared to water or milk) helps cook the flour, creating flavors. The liquid added later dilutes the mixture into a sauce. The liquid's fats are not as crucial for the sauce's thickness as the liquid's proteins. I...
"Old wild west" secret sauce I don't know if the "Old Wild West" franchise even exists outside of Italy, but I'll give it a shot anyway. In those restaurants they serve this sauce, which colors resembles much the one of a cocktail sauce. In the sauce there is something solid that I believe to be tiny pieces of chili...	I've never been to Old Wild West but that looks very much like "fry sauce" or "secret sauce" as we use them here in the United States. In looking at Old Wild West's website, it appears to be geared around offering traditional US style burgers, fries, steaks, ribs, etc. so the inclusion of US style fry sauce would make ...
Adding liquid to Le Creuset Casserole during cooking My Mum had just purchased a Le Creuset Casserole with enamel coating and is wondering how you add liquid to it when it is already hot without cracking the enamel? This not only includes water, but wine and beer as well.	Adding cold liquids to a hot enameled pan is not going to crack the enamel, you can add a cold beer to a dish without worrying about your cookware. The main thing to keep in mind when adding cold liquids is that it will bring the temperature down below your desired cooking temperature, you will need to either crank up ...
Canning lids twisting doing hot bath for sauerkraut. Cleaning jar rims, adding more salt water to 1 inch of top, putting new lids and rings on jars. Screwing rings on tight. Put jars in canning, filling with cold water and bring to rolling boil for 30 minutes. When we turn off stove and remove lid to canner we are...	You should not put the bands on "tight". From Fresh Preserving Water Bath Canning CLEAN mason jar rim and threads of jar using a clean, damp cloth to remove any food residue. Center lid on jar allowing sealing compound to come in contact with the jar rim. Apply band and adjust until fit is fingertip tight. Place fill...
How to make Banana juice I have looked up how to make Banana juice because I wondered if it was possible. It turns out that it is. I read that it is best to use a blender for this. Wouldn't I just end up with a banana puree if I use a blender to try to juice it?	If you microwave bananas for a few minutes in a bowl covered with plastic wrap and then dump everything into fine mesh strainer to sit for about 15 minutes, you will get a bunch of juice out. Freezing the bananas before microwaving them works even better. This technique was used in a (really good) banana bread recipe ...
Meat alternative for tempura? I am having friends over and plan to make tempuras. Two of them don't like seafood in general so my choice of shrimps and squid might not please them so I was looking for a meat alternative for them and everyone to enjoy as well. As I have never made meat tempura I am full of doubts abou...	AFAIK, meat is not really used for Tempura. Do vegetables. (I assume you already do that). If you want to do fried battered meats, I would suggest cutting them as small as possible. Cut the meat into thin strips. You could also use cheese, look for grilling cheese like Halloumi.
Why would the first few pancakes come out perfect, but only get worse from there? I have never been a pro at making pancakes. I tried again yesterday making them, using this recipe: Ingredients 1½ cups flour (375ml) 2 eggs 600ml milk pinch of salt Method Mix all the ingredients until bubbles form on the top of the mix...	Ah, the worsening pancake debacle. I know it well. We have all been there, even after training for countless hours to make the perfect soufflé at the Culinary Institute. The pan is getting too hot. You should cool the pan with a quick rinse. This will also have the effect of resetting the surface, to get rid of any bu...
Can I cook ribs by starting them one day and finishing the next? I am serving ribs at a party, but I can't be at home that afternoon. If I cook them the day before and then finish them off right before party, will them still be tender?	The easy (but potentially expensive) answer is sous vide. If you can carefully control the temperature, you can cook your ribs for 24-48 hours before finishing and serving. See this recipe for an example. If sous vide isn't an option, you can still chill and reheat the ribs. There are several brands of pre-cooked re...
Opaque green tea, what is that? If you order green tea in Thailand you get a long drink in a plastic cup that resembles a sweet, frozen shake. (Then you can put the cup in a plastic bag, hang it on the steering rod of your motorbike, drive around and sip it with a thick straw on hot days.) The Thai green tea is very d...	If it's "green tea powder" it's probably matcha. Matcha is finely ground powder of specially grown and processed green tea. It's special in two aspects of farming and processing: The green tea plants for matcha are shade-grown for about three weeks before harvest, and the stems and veins are removed in processing. The...
Spray oil with hydrocarbon propellants on non-stick pan surfaces I have heard that using spray-oils with hydrocarbon-based propellants (e.g. butane, isobutane or propane) can, over time, be detrimental to the effectiveness of non-stick pan surfaces. Can anyone categorically confirm or deny this with references? There ...	I don't know about the propellants, but you're probably doing yourself a disfavor if you are using an oil spray on nonstick. The problem is that you're using way too little oil with them. It won't matter if you're making stir fry, but people tend to plop a single piece of meat or fish on the pan. Then what you have is...
Will smoked-then-fried foods impart smoke flavor to cooking oil? I am preparing for a chicken wing cooking competition later this month. One way I've been making wings lately is starting with a ride in the smoker to par cook and add a hint of smokey goodness (think apple wood smoked roasted garlic butter wings). Durin...	The smoke flavour will definitely impart into the oil and you will have to cook the wings separately to achieve the desired flavour difference. Cheers Dean
Small charcoal grill - raise fire grill? Here's a typical small-cheap charcoal grill ... These are only about 20 dollars (the "Weber" branded items are popular). Regarding the lower wire grate that holds the coals. Is there a way to set the grate to a higher or lower position? (Many big expensive charcoal grills have...	The issue of raising or lowering the fire is effectively a question about how to raise or lower the amount of heat that's getting to the food. For the type of grill that you've mentioned, the typical procedure is to put the coals on one side of the grill -- either in a pile, or as a sort of crescent shape along the edg...
Why boil and cool jam before using it in a cake? When putting marzipan on a fruit cake recipes sometimes state that we should first boil and cool the apricot jam used to coat the cake and make the marzipan stick. I have now found the same advice for the strawberry or raspberry jam used in the centre of a Victoria Sand...	This step is not about food safety, it's about consistency and in fact about three properties of your jam: Jam comes in a wide variation of consistencies, one parameter is "stiffness", another "water content" and a third "smoothness". In baking, you want smooth (no lumps) jam that is speadable enough to form a thin lay...
Residue in cork I opened a recently purchased wine (a Grenache 2012), and the part of the cork that was in contact with the wine looked like the picture Part of the residue looked like small crystals, some whitish and others reddish. What is that residue, and how did it get there?	Tartrate crystals, they are formed from tartic acid which occurs naturally in grapes. From Wine of the Month: First, let's deal with tartrate crystals. They are formed when a method called cold stabilization is performed on a wine. Cold stabilization is often done in white wines to remove excess potassium bitartrate, ...
Can cashew milk go bad, and how do you tell? How can you tell if your cashew milk has gone bad? If it is past the freshness code on package?	Yes, it can go bad. The date on the package is one indication, but it may be a "best by" date and does not guarantee the milk will go bad by then. It doesn't necessarily mean it is guaranteed safe, either, although most stores will give you a refund on product that spoils early. Look for the following signs (written f...
What nut did I find? I ask this knowing that it's possibly borderline off-topic, but I don't see a Botany SE site where I could ask, so... A few days ago I stumbled (literally) upon an odd little fruit that had fallen onto the sidewalk. It fascinated me because it had three large lobes and a hard, mottled outer textur...	That is a buckeye, fruit of Aesculus glabra, also known as the Ohio buckeye tree. The seeds (the "buckeye" part) look sort of like a horse chestnut, but the fruit is different. Do not eat it! The fruits contain tannic acid, and are poisonous to cattle, and humans, as is the foliage. (Wikipedia) (You can, however, mak...
"Place pan in a large pan; add 1 inch of hot water to larger pan." -- Why? I have found a cheesecake recipe which says, for the cooking phase: Place springform pan in a large baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan. Bake at 325 °F (160 °C) for 60--65 minutes or until center is just set and top appears dull...	Couldn't I just use a lower temperature setting? No, you can't. Ovens are very bad at keeping a constant temperature. Not only is the oven thermostat usually off, it also cycles around its mean temperature a lot. So your food is subjected to constantly changing temperature. If you were to set your oven to 100C, you ...
Preparing cut vegetables for the next day? To speed up lunch cooking, I'm considering pre-cutting some veggies the day before. I often do quick meals with zucchini and eggplant and both do seem to be not too well suited for cutting and then storing them in the fridge for like 18 hours. (If I cut them the evening befor...	I find that a small amount of acid helps prevent the ugly browning and "sliminess" that may occur, however many foods like eggplant, okra, etc. that rely mostly on their moisture for structure, tend to be the poorest performers. I've had more luck cooking certain vegetables like this in advance then refrigerating, than...
How to Cook St-Hubert À La King Sauce? I have trouble cooking the St-Hubert à la King Sauce, though I was able to cook it right with another stove and saucepan. The issue I have is that the sauce does not get thick enough. Moreover, the sauce is a bit burned at the bottom. Sometimes, the sauce, at the end, is almost a...	I found out that by removing half a cup of water, the sauce is thick enough.
Does using powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar make cookie dough drier? I was baking cookies last week using granulated sugar (white and brown) and they were great. The recipe says to put all 3 sugars into the molten butter and to stir for a while. Yesterday I thought it would be easier to grind the sugars int...	This answer touches on the problem: Superfine sugar will dissolve too quickly and won't allow enough air to be incorporated. Powdered or superfine sugar will still give you the same sweetness property as the granulated sugar. However, the step of creaming butter and (granulated) sugar is not just for mixing. It also ...
help me identify the factors which make grass-fed beef tender or tough I have been buying grass-fed beef straight from the farm both in Germany and in Poland. The beef I bought in Germany was invariably tender, regardless of the cut and what way I prepared it, while the beef from the farm in Poland was usually tough, ...	Some breeds are more tender. Aging beef for at least 2 weeks allows the protease enzyme naturally present in beef to relax rigor mortis. The way the beef is chilled initially can cause something called "cold shortening" in which protein fibers contract, and so are more chewy. The amount of exercise that the animal gets...
Advantages to "burning off" grill My father insists on "burning off" the grill by letting it run on high after each use. Is there any advantage to doing so?	The idea is to clean the cooking surface. I typically fire up the grill, then, just before placing product on, use a wire brush to clean the grill surface. No reason that you couldn't do this at the end of a cook, preparing for the next cook. The advantage to cooking on a clean surface is that there is reduced chanc...
How can I get weak-tasting tomatoes? I love the weak tomatoes that you get at fast food restaurants like Subway. Whenever I buy tomatoes from the grocery store or the farmer's market, they're too strong and I end up throwing them out. Do restaurants like Subway use weak breeds of tomatoes, or do they have some kind of...	Buy "hot house" tomatoes, particularly off-season. You'll be good to go.
What does tin foil do when baking a pot pie? If you buy a pot pie at the store, the cooking instructions say to fold a strip of tinfoil around the edge before putting it in the oven. I've seen what happens if I forget to do this: the edge gets all burned. Apparently the foil helps keep some of the heat off. Somethin...	There are three modes of transfer of heat, as you already mentioned: convection, conduction and radiation. In everyday life, practically all heat sources employ all three of them, although the ratios differ. You certainly have all three of them in an oven. The foil slows down all three modes of heat transfer, but not ...
How can I make my own Super Noodles/instant noodle seasoning? I like BBQ Beef Super Noodles, but they don't taste the same as they used to. The flavour sachet is not as strong as it used to be (maybe they use more filler nowadays). I can buy plain egg noodles, but how can I make the seasoning? The ingredients are list...	Find a good Asian food market. They should sell small jars, tins, or liquid in sachets of soup flavours. I find the jars most convenient. About a teaspoon per serving is plenty, store in the fridge after opening. Some of the liquid in sachets can be the most authentic for the Asian style, but for just a beefy broth, on...
How to inject carbon dioxide into hard candy, to make popping rocks? I have a great idea for a unique candy recipe, but to achieve this I need to be able to make pop rocks. The pop rocks would be inside the candy. Doing some research I have learned that pop rocks have pressurized carbon dioxide gas inside each tiny r...	Looks like it takes about 600psi CO2 to treat the liquid candy. Patent search should reveal more detail: US patent 3012893 Patent links are notorious for decaying over a short time frame. If the second link is dead go http://www.uspto.gov/patents-application-process/search-patents or here to find find out how the inve...
When spicing rice, should you add the spices in the water beforehand or after the rice has cooked? Newbie cook here. I use a small inexpensive rice cooker to cook my rice. Are you supposed to add your various spices to the water when you put the rice in the pot? Or should you add the spices in at the end when the rice...	I can only answer from a perspective of the Indonesian kitchen, and my own personal experience, but in general the answer is: In the water, with the rice I quite often use saffron, turmeric, cloves, daun salam (The English Wiki entry links to bay leaf, which, completely, utterly, is not the same thing), and lemongrass,...
How to make tea essential oil? I tried to make my own tea essentials oil by putting small pieces of tea leaves (dehydrated) into my local alcohol (29% vol). After 1 week, the leaves turned brown, so I removed them out of the bottle. Now the remaining looks dark, strong smell of tea and alcohol. I wonder if it can be c...	You have basically made tea-flavoured vodka. The tea tree (for essential oil) is unrelated to the tea plant for the beverage. Commercially, tea tree oil is produced by steam distillation of the leaves of the tea tree, specifically Melaleuca alternifolia. Though possible to obtain leaves and perform the distillation, i...
Hot sauce; Remove seeds? I use a recipe that calls for removing the top third or more of Cayenne peppers in order to remove most of the seeds. Seems like a waste to me. Aside from having to strain out the seeds after cooking, what would it hurt to just cut the stem and cook the peppers with the seeds in there? Would i...	I just made a batch of hot sauce that was very cayenne-heavy myself. Keep the seeds. You want to get every last bit of heat out of those babies, especially if you are diluting with a significant amount of vinegar. The only use case I can think of for chopping the tops off as described in your recipe is if you aren't ...
How can I make and store multiple pizzas before a potluck? My job is having a potluck soon. I plan on making 2 Buffalo NY style pizzas, 2 Papa Johns clones, and 2 Traditional NY style pizzas. How should I store the pizza once i'm done cooking it? Once finished making the pizzas, should I put them straight in the frid...	If you really want to blow them away, the best option is to cook them on-site, at least partially. If you can prepare and partially bake the crusts in advance, the rest of the process won't take as long to cook and the results will be better. If that isn't practical, 2 hours is a long time for the pizza to sit out bef...
What is a black, preserved egg called? I remember some eggs which the egg yolk is solid and black, but forgot the source(seems like preserved), what is it?(if any)	The current most common term in English appears to be "century egg", but it's also been known as a thousand-year egg or hundred-year egg. It's typically produced by aging in a solution of table salt, calcium hydroxide, and sodium carbonate, but traditional methods involved less refined versions of those chemicals wrapp...
What effect have bay leaves in a meat/tomato sauce? A bolognese-type sauce recipe I usually do uses ground beef, canned tomatoes, onions, carrots, chilli, garlic and bay leaf. The bay leaf gets cooked with the rest for a while and the sauce tastes wrong if I forget to put it in. Now my question is, does the bay leaf d...	It doesn't do anything, it's your second suggestion. The feeling of "right/wrong" and "like/dislike" is highly correlated with familiarity. This is proven not only by psychometry, but even physiologically, with fMRI scans. People like most whatever they are familiar with, up to the point that unfamiliar things seem wr...
Issue starting a sourdough starter I'm making my second attempt at a sourdough starter. I tried once in the past and I now know that I just didn't stick with it long enough and had a bad bread recipe, but with a little more knowledge, I've had the urge to give it another try. I came across a tutorial when browsing ins...	Don't over think this. If you know somebody who already makes sour dough, they need to refresh their culture once or twice a month. Get their "throw away" starter and use it to start yours. I bought a starter from King Arthur about 10 years ago. Still using the same starter today. King Arthur still sells sourdough sta...
Chinese crispy beef with minced beef instead of slice steak? I've read up on a fair few recipes for Chinese crispy beef, but they all call for a beef steak to be sliced up, such as topside, rump, sirloin. But I cannot find any info or recipes on substituting slicing a steak with using minced beef instead. I presume ...	What kind of frying does the recipe call for? Stir-fry? Deep-fry? Anyway, your best bet when trying to make something crispy is to dip it in tempura and then deep fry it, but stir-frying on a high heat will probably give good results as well. Substituting sliced-steak for minced meat will change the texture, but you ca...
Rice for paella The recipes recommend calasparra or bomba rice. Neither is easy to find. My pantry has long grain Basmati, short grain Kokuho, and some Arborio. Which one is the best substitute?	The best substitute from the three rice you have on hand would be the short-grain Arborio rice. Both of the recommended rice are also short grain rice from the same general area geographically. Basmati would be the worst choice as the it will result in the most difference in the texture of the rice and you would have ...
Is it possible to "ripen" mushrooms after it's picked? Quite recently my world was shaken when I learned that the common button mushroom and the much larger portabello mushroom are both the exact same species, Agaricus Bisporus, but at different stages of maturity. I've tasted both portabello mushroom and button mush...	You can not ripen mushrooms after they've been picked because once they are removed they are disconnected from the mycelium which acts as the mushrooms "brain". Once picked they soon die off. You can only slow that process by cleaning them and keeping them at cool temperatures.
Is it safe to boil water in a microwave? Our electric kettle broke. So this morning I used the microwave to boil water for the first cup of coffee. Only thing is - the water in south Africa is not really the best of quality when you get it from the tap. I presume using a kettle kills of some of the bacteria that is s...	There is one very different issue to be kept in mind - water in a microwave can overheat and "explode" once it is disturbed. Another poster had exactly this problem a short while ago: Water exploded in Microwave So follow the usual precautions, e.g. putting a wooden toothpick or a small, very clean stone (chemists hav...
How can I control humidity levels when curing salami? I have a problem with a fridge I am converting to a curer, namely high humidity. I have read a similar question on this forum, however my problem is slightly more complicated. I will start off by saying I live in the UK, where humidity is on the whole higher than i...	Instead of salt, you could get silica gel. These crystals can be found by the bucket, not just in tiny packets. They also make a variety with an indicator that turns pink when they need to be changed. Bake to refresh them. Silica gel is amazing stuff. There is no way you'll not be able to keep the air dry with a mass...
Eggs sticking to the pan Everytime I fry eggs, in any pan, it sticks. If I add oil or butter it helps, BUT if I go to make a second egg, it sticks unless I add more butter or oil. And when I add more, the butter or oil burns and makes my eggs taste gross. What am I doing wrong?	If it's a stainless steel pan then the eggs should not be sticking. Your pan is too hot I think. It is always best to cook eggs over low heat, they won’t stick that way. I always remember this: “More butter less heat”.
Why doesn't any of the Instant Pot recipes I find use the preset buttons (Rice, Bean/Chili, etc.)? I bought an Instant Pot pressure cooker recently. One of the features is its "Smart Cooking Programs" that can program the settings with the touch of a button. I haven't seen any recipes the use of these buttons, and eve...	For the most part, the buttons just have pre-set cooking times. For other times, then it's best to just use manual modes. A few of the programs are particular, like the bean, multi-grain and porridge programs have a long pre-soak before pressure cooking. And newer models (SMART, DUO-ENW) have the rice program pre-se...
Hot pink spots on surface of ham steak I bought a frozen ham steak (natural pork from local farm/meat processor), and noticed when I went to cook it that there is a bit of very bright, hot pink on the surface. Is this safe?	Perfectly safe. From the Henning's Market FA/nhuman: The shiny, greenish, rainbow like color on sliced ham is a sign of oxidation that occurs when the meat is exposed to the metal on a knife or slicer. The nitrate-modified iron content of the meat undergoes a chemical change that alters the hams pigmentation. This ef...
How to tell when water reaches 100 degrees Fahrenheit without a candy thermometer for the purposes of disolving gelatin? I found a recipe for a gelatin desert I'd like to try. But there was one step I don't feel prepared to tackle: In the meantime, in a small sauce pan heat ¼ cup of water to about 100 degrees. Add ...	Gelatin is quite tolerant, but with a few restrictions: Never boil gelatine, because it looses it's binding/gelling properties. Liquifying gelatine requires temperatures that feel "warm" to the touch, but not all recipes handle warm additions well - e.g. whipped cream. Cooling liquid gelatine for heat sensitive recipe...
Why are wire beaters becoming more common in hand mixers? It seemed to me that most hand mixers in the past used centre post beaters. They seemed more sturdy and durable, thicker construction. I saw one recently by Kitchen aid and the wire beaters seem very minimal, thin, with little surface area compared to the cen...	Different beaters are used to achieve distinct effects. We ask a lot of our electric home mixers: they have to aerate cream, knead dough, mix cakes, among many operations. Various forces and mixing patterns are needed for these operations. To aerate air needs to be mixed into a liquid. A fast moving, half immersed...
Best container for making sauerkraut We've tried this a few times. First time we used an old ceramic container and it started sheding on the inside and ruined it. Next time we used a new metal garbage can with one of those super sized 10 gallon zip lock bags as a liner. It went rank very quickly. This could have been ...	I use the German ceramic crocks. They come with stones that keep the kraut submerged and they have the lid that sits in a water filled moat. The company that made mine went out of business but there are other similar German/Polish fermenting crocks available. The water seal does three things...it allows you to see bubb...
Why cook stewing meat low and slow? I know that you're supposed to cook cuts like beef chuck at a low temperature until they reach a high enough internal temp for the collagen to melt, which is why the same method wouldn't work for steak cuts that lack that collagen. But why the low temp part? If the goal is to melt c...	If the goal is to melt collagen, couldn't that be done just as easily at a higher temp? No, it won't be. The reaction which has to happen to the collagen doesn't go quicker when the temperature is higher. You have to get it to 68 Celsius and wait for it to happen. If it is at more than 68 Celsius, it won't happen qu...
Food safety with broken glass in dried tomatoes I have a very large jar of dried tomatoes and somehow the lid broke so that broken glass fell into the tomatoes. Is there any safe way to be able to eat them?	Simple, the answer is no. Throw them right in the trash.

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