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How to make stiff mashed potatoes? Some recipes call for stiff mashed potatoes, e.g. to help well formed shapes as in this recipe: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/crunch-swiss-and-ham-appetizers Should I just boil the potatoes, mash way too much, and add no butter nor milk?	The second easiest way to get stiff, but still edible mashed potatoes is to bake the potatoes whole, then put them through a ricer. The easiest way is to use potato flakes ... and then you can make them as thick as you want, and even thicken them further if they came out not to your liking initially. You can still mash...
Springform pan vs. regular cake pan Can a regular cake such as from a cake mix be baked in a springform pan? If so, will the results be the same as a normal cake pan?	Absolutely! "Regular" or springform pans is in my experience partly a cultural difference: In Germany you might have trouble to find a non-springform pan. As long as the diameter is the same, you can freely substitute one for the other. There is one exception, though: Most springform pans aren't watertight, so for a ch...
How to get more lactic acid vs acetic acid in sourdough? I want to start a sourdough culture with wheat flour. I don't want the vinegar taste to be too pronounced. What can I do to create a culture which produces a high ratio of lactic to acetic acid?	This is a theoretical answer based on several publications and it would require actual experimental tests. The most probable tip seems to maintain your sourdough at 32 °C as it will affect facultatively heterofermentative lactobacilli present in your sourdough. A lot of spread knowledge provides, without explanation, s...
Is an oil-based roux cooked the same as one made with butter? I have experience making a roux with butter and flour. If I want to substitute a non-dairy fat (e.g. olive or sunflower oil), will there be any cooking or consistency differences that I need to watch out for? Does the fat/flour ratio stay consistent?	A roux is just cooking flour in an equal amount (or thereabouts) of fat. If you've already done it in butter, you already know what you are doing. Butter is tricky because there is some water left in the butter and the fat itself has a low smoke point. After making a roux with butter, another fat is easy. Butter contai...
How can I get the most flavor out of cashews? I'd like to make a soup that uses cashews for much of its flavor. For some reason, I can only use a limited number of cashews, but I can use them in any way I want. How can I get the most cashew flavor into the soup?	By maximising first the flavour of every single nut and then maximising the surface: Gently roast the cashews, then grind them finely. If the resulting "gritty" texture is not to your taste, grind them further until you get a nut butter, which should dissolve nicely especially in cream-type soups.
With what can you maximise energy from an induction stove? This question concerns only an induction stove, which I abbreviate to IS (and not an electric oven with coiled elements). I already know that the energy from a Chinese Wok Range exceeds, and so is impossible to reproduce, with an IS at home, but can anything ...	An induction cooktop is already more efficient than a conventional electric range, but there are some "gotchas" due to the way it works. The way an induction heating element works is via magnetic induction (hence the name), which means it's causing electrical currents to flow within the pan itself, which heats the meta...
Normal lifetime of non-stick teflon pans Questions such as Are Non-Stick Bread Pans Destined to Fail? conclude that non-stick pans do not last forever, especially cheaper ones. I am trying to find some information that allows me to quantify this to some extent. I normally use teflon non-stick pans some 3 times a week....	America's Test Kitchen says that good quality nonstick pans last them about six months. They're presumably cooking with them several times a day, so if you use it once every couple days, and are as good as they are about not doing things that'll damage the coating, you might get a few years. So your experience sounds r...
Why is my bread falling flat? I've tried baking bread several times and I seem to always have the same problem. The dough seems fine, until I shape it and let it rise a second time, and then when it rises, instead of forming a nice tall round shape, it flows outward into a pancake shape. It bakes fine, not the best br...	Ok, this is going to be a long post, so patience, please. Ratios and gluten Your dough has a pretty mainstream ingredient list, meaning average hydration and a rather high yeast content. Whith the whole wheat you could go a notch wetter, but that is a question for another day. As you are not using any slow-raise / str...
What is the difference between acetate sheets and baking paper when making chocolate deco? I would like to make chocolate decorations with melted chocolate. After searching on the web, however, I am not quite sure I could find acetate sheets. But I can find baking paper. Would there be any substitute, like baking pape...	Acetate sheets posses a firm and rigid shape, with a glossy coating that assists the removal of decorations such as chocolate decoration. It also can be shaped without being indented at any point which baking parchment most frequently fails to do. Baking parchment is very agile, this fails to support decorations as a m...
How does good pasta dough feel to the touch? I have just been given an Imperia Pasta Roller as a present and have wasted no time in trying to make pasta. As advised in the instruction manual, I have made a small batch of pasta just using water and passed this through the rollers in order to clean any factory impuritie...	Pasta dough should be smooth in texture and be only slightly sticky. When kneading it out and folding it over onto itself, it should not readily re-stick to itself, but rather require a bit more kneading to do so. It should feel slightly tacky (less so than a post-it note) but not aggressively stick to your hands or ...
What is the most time efficient way to serve food fairly to ~100 people? I'm the food manager at a student cooperative residence with 140 residents. A cook crew of 5 residents cook dinner every night, and usually 60-100 people attend dinner on a given night. Right now, people line up to serve themselves from a large t...	Seems like a good use for "family style". Bring platters or bowls of each dish to each table. Then at that table expect decent behaviour such as passing the platters around so everyone gets some. It shouldn't take long to fill and distribute bowls or plates of things. Carving meat into slices might take a while but wou...
What is the best way to preserve oyster stew? Now that the holidays are over, my local grocery store has a glut of pints of pre-shucked oysters they need to unload. I can't pass that up, so I thought I would make a whole mess of oyster stew or chowder and freeze it for later. But that had me wondering, what is the pro...	If the stew is already prepared, you should be able to freeze it with very little problem. I freeze cream sauces all of the time. Individual portions are ideal because they freeze more quickly with less/smaller water crystals. If the stew is not cold already, chill it in the refrigerator before before moving it to t...
Lemon juice as drinking water preservative I drink water at work from a plastic bottle, refilled at cooler. I wonder if putting lemon cuts (0.25 lemon/L) in it will preserve it and decent way to keep water safe. Is there a chance that lemon can go bad if left in bottle for two or three days?	This is more likely to introduce organic matter (the lemon cuts) that can induce spoilage than prevent it... common experience shows that food that has "some lemon juice" added (and the amount you are suggesting is in the same order of magnitude) is not significantly preserved by that, so we can assume the acid (which ...
Should hands be washed after touching the outside of an egg shell?(UK) Say someone was to remove some eggs from their box to place them in the fridge. Assume this is in Britain(where eggs aren't cleaned before sold, I believe). Is there a risk of salmonella spreading if they do not wash their hands afterwards? What if...	Would you wash your hands after handing chicken poop? How about if you were digging around in the straw or dirt where chickens live? That's where your eggs come from. Contrary to popular belief, chicken eggs generally aren't contaminated by feces before they exit the chicken -- the two pathways by which feces and egg...
Baking concentrate using Hard Alcohol ex Jack Daniels I am trying to find a way to use hard alcohol such as Fireball, Jack Daniels, Sailor Jerrys and so on and turn them into a baking concentrate. This means the flavor of the alcohol cannot burn off at a high heat. Will xanthan gum or gum Arabic used to make baking co...	You can't. The compounds which make Jack Daniels taste like Jack Daniels are alcohol soluble and highly volatile. If you try cooking off the alcohol, the taste will evaporate together with the alcohol. If you are thinking of "rum essence" for baking, that's not derived from rum at all. It's simply ethylformate, and it...
Smoking pork shoulder in a little chief I got a little chief smoker for christmas, I tried smoking a 5lb pork shoulder today. FAIL! I brined overnight, dry rubbed 1 hour before putting in the smoker. Never got the meat over 85'. Tried going to the oven but it had already been to long in the danger zone. Couple othe...	I looked up the Little Chief, and I am of the opinion that it will never achieve a cooking temperature sufficient to cook a pork shoulder. The description suggests it cooks at 165f, which is not far from the 178f you were seeing. That is viable for "cold smoking" foods, but not for safely cooking barbecue of any sort. ...
Making spice pastes with a food processor I've had call to make spice pastes by using a food processor. Rather than using the full-sized bowl, which is way too big, my food processor has a milling attachment designed for coffee beans. However, whenever I try making spice pastes in this, it only gets so smooth before b...	It sounds like you are doing it wrong! :) Grind spices in a spice grinder first (a rotary coffee grinder works fine for that). See How do you finely grind coriander seeds? Garlic, ginger, fresh herbs and coconut are fine in a small bowl of a food processor, but they need some time and a few restarts after cleaning the...
How do I keep my zoodles from being too watery? Everytime I make zoodles, I spiralize the zucchini and sauté them in a pan but they're always too watery. I've tried removing the moisture with napkins, but they still release a lot of water. I would like them to have the consistency of pasta. Is there any way to achieve...	Here are a couple of options I've found online: Dry them in the oven Dry the noodles out in your oven at 200 degrees, for about 10 minutes or until they are finished “sweating.” You’ll want them dry to the touch, but still very flexible and moist on the inside. Stir them after about 5 minutes and see how they are d...
Potato ricer substitute I'm looking to make potato gnocchi again but won't have a potato ricer. Is there another way to make the potato flour with it? Will a fine cheese grater work on a baked potato?	You can scoop baked potato flesh out of the skins and press it through a sieve using the back of a spoon. This creates a similar effect to a ricer. The potato flesh needs to be hot/warm to push through the sieve well. You don't need to use too much pressure to get the potato through and be careful doing this as it does...
Scrambled eggs for a buffet At our cafe we will begin offering a Saturday brunch buffet. I would like to do scrambled eggs and am thinking that they would be best cooked in a hotel pan in the oven. Any advice for this method of cooking? Thanks!!	I cooked a brunch for a fairly high end restaurant when I was younger. They had us cook the eggs in a buffet pan on top of the griddle/grill. We used pre-cracked eggs in a carton and folded constantly until they were done. Then we would transfer them into a fresh buffet pan before setting them out. They did it this way...
Is it possible to mature shop-bought hard cheese? Is there a way in which I can continue the maturation process for blocks of shop-bought cheddar (or other hard) cheese of around 190g "packed in a protective atmosphere". The cheese is too bland for my taste.	Yes you can mature cheeses, most hard cheeses can be matured either in the refridgerator or elsewhere. Remove from the plastic packaging, the cheese will need to breathe, but not dry out - a cardboard box, paper towels, parchment paper would work. Just be careful on the amount of moisture & bacteria/mold growth. You'...
Steel honing rod vs ceramic honing rod I got a fairly expensive Kramer/Zwilling knife as a present and so now I am forced to learn how to at least hone a knife (or keep it on a shelf and never use it). I think for now I'll let a pro actually sharpen the knife since the knife sharpening sets are fairly expensive and I ...	It depends on how often you want to hone, what steel and edge geometry your knife uses, and how you use it. Generally, for the vast majority of kitchen knives -- even Kramer knives -- the following apply: The knife is made of stainless or light carbon steel, to hardness of below 62HRC The knife is double beveled altho...
Is it possible to reduce without boiling? I would like to concentrate flavour by reducing the water content but I do not wish to alter the temperature of the liquid. Is there a way to reduce the water content without boiling? Apart from waiting days for evaporation?	It's not necessarily a practical home kitchen answer, but rotary evaporators do this, by lowering the pressure over the liquid and circulating the liquid to increase surface area. There does exist a culinary vacuum rotary evaporator, for only $9,999.95 by special order! Note that it also captures the vapor to condense,...
How can I stabilize my hot sauces? I have started producing hot sauces, the taste and consistency is great! They are cooked sauces, I meant I cook the peppers and vegetables into the vinegar and water, then put them into a food processor. They are not fermented. In time the water and the pulp is separating in the bott...	These products are called thickeners. Gum Arabic is often used for this as well as karageenan, xanthan gum, sometimes corn starch or potato starch. You have to experiment with the different thickeners so you get the consistency you want.
what is the ideal ratio to mix mustard powder with flour? Hi I am making mustards and soon planning to do it commercially too. My question is the rate of mustard powder&wheat flour mixture ratio. Otherwise it's too hot and too expensive to sell. I welcome also other solutions to use less mustard powder. Any recommenda...	If want to sell mustard, make mustard, not a stretched fake mustard. You would be cheating your customers and depending on your location the authorities might be after you, too. The "sharpness" of a mustard is balanced by the ratios of different mustard seeds, white/yellow, brown or black and the temperatures used duri...
Is it OK to leave pans unattended on an induction stove that is turned off? I was just wondering if leaving pans unattended on an induction stove while it is turned off is actually safe? Could any external factor turn the stove on?	Last evening, I left one empty (but dirty) sauce pan unattended on the induction stove top as the dish washer was full. The stove was turned off, but dirty as well, and the pan was slightly touching the controls. During the night, there was a small power outage (2 computers were powered off this morning while one wasn...
How can I replicate the flavor of Mountain Dew? Mountain Dew is often described as 'citrus' flavor but that is a broad range of fruits with infinite possible combinations. It does have orange juice in the ingredients, but also "natural flavor". How can I recreate the flavor of Mountain Dew using ingredients available ...	OK, this is dangerously close to a recipe request, but far enough away that I feel OK to answer. Use the rule of two. 2 cups of sugar 2 two oranges 2 limes 2 lemons Juice and zest the whole fruit. Strain and and fill to 1 gallon with water. Filter if you want it to be clear. Carbonate using whatever technique...
Labeling Food for the Freezer I freeze stuff. Anything from Bolognese to stew. I portion these meals, after they've cooled, into meal-sized Tupperware boxes and stuff them randomly into my crowded freezer. The problem is that it's difficult to tell which stews are which, and also when they were made. So far, I've been...	As mentioned in comments, masking tape is an excellent solution. It's cheap, it holds well yet comes off easily, it can be torn off at whatever length you need, and you can write on it with just about anything. Both at home and working at restaurants, I've used masking tape and permanent marker for labeling items for s...
Soup 'fork' source So, this is more a question about food etiquette/trivia than cooking, but this community seemed to be the closest fit. Is there a specialized fork-like utensil that was used for soup in western high-society scenarios, or are you aware of a fictional source which may have made that claim (like in a j...	You may be thinking of a sketch from the comedy show "That Mitchell and Webb Look" in which a snobby waiter insists that a fork be used to eat soup: https://youtube.com/watch?v=YcPtJ2S-f-s
Best way to clean a countertop if you are preparing food on it Just had my kitchen remodeled and this is the first time I've had a kitchen with enough counter space that it's big enough to roll dough etc on. Plus it's the first time it's not a tile countertop so clean up is much easier. I've been cleaning the counter ...	There is a difference between cleaning and sanitizing. Cleaning If you have something greasy on the counter then you need some sort of detergent to solubilize the grease. (You might want to then use a vinegar solution to be sure and get all the detergent off the counter.) If you were doing something like kneading bre...
Can some dishes be washed with only water? How can you know when washing something with soap is a waste of time? If a quick rinse removes all residue - is water needed?	Not using standard practice might violate safety standards in a professional context. Technically, the important factor is whether the residues are made of something perfectly water soluble (sugar, salt, fat-free watery or alcoholic solutions, insoluble but not sticky solid particles...) or of something that is not wat...
Gloves for newbies pulling sugar? I have an upcoming project which is going to involve pulled sugar. Everything I've read on the project suggests that I'm going to end up blisters or at the very least first degree burns (similar to sunburn) until I've built up some callouses. Are there any heat-resistant gloves that a...	My preference for sugar work is to either use a pair of rubber-coated cotton gloves like this: or to use basic cotton gloves and put latex or nitrile disposable gloves over them.
How can chicken offal be cooked to be as tender as possible? Tonight I cooked a dish involving chicken hearts and gizzards, but I found conflicting instructions on the internet, so I essentially parboiled the offal, diced it, and then cooked it in butter in a covered pan for probably about 20 minutes. The texture isn'...	With every (edible) part of an animal, you should consider the former duty of the piece of meat at hand. This will influence the internal structure and thus the best method to prepare it. So throwing all chicken offal into one pot at the same time is probably not the wisest idea. Lets "dissect" what we are dealing with...
Sourdough Starter Crust forming I am creating a sourdough starter and read to use a "non-airtight" container and store in a warm location for the first 24 hours before beginning the feeding schedule. My issue is that 12 hours in my dough has formed a crust. It is obviously drying out from the open air. How do I pre...	You should be stirring ("aerating") your sourdough every twelve hours anyway. If a crust has formed, simply stir it in. If the crust really bothers you, stir more often, cover partially or use a closed container - it works equally well in my experience.
What was Indian food like before the arrival of the chili pepper from the Americas? One of the things associated with Indian cuisine is heat from chili peppers. Yet, chili peppers can only have been introduced to Asia from their Central and South American homeland after the Spanish conquests of the 1500s. What was Ind...	Hardly - pepper was exported from India before chillis were introduced. Some linguistic subgroups still use it in preference to chillis, and certain dishes use it in preference to (or in addition to) chillies. Ginger's also native (or at least an early import) to India (and while not always used in 'traditional' cookin...
Is that bechamel that Gordon Ramsay is adding to the lasagna? In this video, you can see Gordan Ramsay piping a white substance into his lasagna. Recently saw a post about substitute for ricotta or cottage in a lasagna. Several members agreed that bechamel is traditionally used. So is that what Ramsay is doing here?	Gordon says "white sauce", which is a simpler term for bechamel-based sauces and is quite common when making lasagna. Yet the stuff that gets stirred in the bowl looks somewhat "fluffier" than classic bechamel and when it's piped has a "raggedness" that plain bechamel doesn't have, but smoother that pure ricotta. My co...
How can I bake crunchy chocolate chip cookies? Since I'm British, I'm used to biscuits that are crisp, dry and crunchy all the way through, with no soft chewy centre. Most chocolate chip cookie recipes are trying to do the exact opposite. How can I bake chocolate chip cookies with a more British texture? Essentially, ...	The best way to achieve what you are looking for is to lower the temp and lengthen the baking time. Lowering the temp will slow the edges from getting burned while the center is allowed to continue to cook. Allow the top of the cookie to brown before removing from the oven. For soft cookies, the moment it starts to tur...
What is (was) cocavello? What is or what was a cocavello drink? Does someone know, what ingredients it contained and if it is still used (drinked) somewhere around the globe? What I managed to find out so far is: Mentioned in part III of Polish Positivist novel "Nad Niemnem" (On the Niemen) and this cocavello can be ...	Not a final resolution of this truely Babylonian mystery, but some additional pointers. Using Google Book search to also consider historical sources, it seems the word cocavello can be found mostly in Italian sources, as well as Portuguese, Spanish and Corsican, but for none of this languages automatic translators mana...
What type of sugar can preserve bread the longest? I believe that honey preserves bread the longest. Are there any other sugars or sugar-like solutions that can preserve bread from mold longer?	I don't think a spoonful of sugar, honey, etc added to a loaf to encourage the yeast will make much of a difference. Sugar can act as a preservative but only at pretty high concentrations, and the amount you use in bread isn't going to be high enough. My experience is that home-made bread will get stale long before it ...
Will store eggs turn into a chick if i leave it out in the warmth? I want a baby chick and i was wondering if i could leave a store egg our in the summer's warmth/ a warm place and let it turn into a baby chick.. does it really work???	No. In most (all?) places that sell chicken eggs in quantity, the eggs are not fertile. For that, there needs to be a rooster involved. The hen that laid your egg doesn't hang out with roosters. Your best bet is to acquire a few fertilized eggs from a farmer who keeps chickens. You can also buy fertilized eggs online, ...
Weird problem with curry sauce For a family get-together, I bought 20 large containers of curry sauce from my favourite Indian restaurant - 15 Dansak and 5 Korma. I collected the sauces on Thursday evening. The containers were all hot to the touch. Then I un-wrapped and diced the appropriate amount of chicken thigh fi...	I think the times you did it with no troubles you used smaller portions, right? These big portions simply do not cool down quickly enough, and the temperature stays too long in the danger zone, say between thirty and sixty celsius. Bacteria grow very quickly around these temps, and so they spoiled your curries. Their w...
Is it safe to eat the skin of a potato? Is it safe to eat the skin of a baked or boiled potato, or are there any health or sanitary reasons not to eat it? Contrarily, are there any reasons to eat it, e.g. does the skin contain vitamins or minerals which you would cut off by peeling? EDIT: There is a related question D...	It's usually safe to eat the skins of potatoes. If there is a greenish tint under the skin, you'll want to peel down to below the greenish bit. If you don't, it could lead to solanine poisoning. See Is it safe to eat potatoes that have sprouted? and Are Green Potatoes OK?
Nuke TV Dinner and then renuke it 3 hours later? I need to feed 10 people a Hungry Man TV Dinner each (please don't ask why--it's too long a story) and I have only 1 microwave oven. I need everyone to eat pretty much at the same time, but this is not possible since it will take 8 minutes for each TV Dinner to heat up....	I would try pre thawing them all so they don't take so long to nuke when the time comes. So maybe defrost them in the fridge a few hours before so you aren't microwaving from frozen. And just stack them in the oven to stay warm while you nuke the rest. The crazy part of me would disassemble the meals. 1: all veg in a ...
Why would a recipe be sensitive to the brand of cream cheese I bought? I have a chocolate chip cheesecake recipe I have made several times before without problem. My mother's recipe says to use a particular brand of cream cheese. I thought this was nonsense. Anyways, when I went to the store, they didn't have Philadel...	Philadelphia Brand ingredients: Pasteurized Milk and Cream, Whey Protein Concentrate, Salt, Carob Bean Gum, Xanthan Gum, Cheese Culture. Organic Valley Cream Cheese (don't know which brand you used) ingredients: Organic Pasteurized Milk and Organic Cream, Cheese Culture, Salt, Organic Locust Bean Gum. Nancys Organic...
Prepped beef mixed with other ingredients before tomorrow's stew I'm prepping for stew. I'm cutting "beef for stew" into smaller pieces. I put it in a Pyrex tupperware container. Then I chop mushrooms and add them to the tupperware container on top of the raw beef. I intend to cook all of it the next-day in a 6-hour s...	cut it they way you want, it does not matter at all, and produce and meat together woud be a mortal sin in the kitchen, but if you have a small batch, store one night, and you will cook them together anyway for hours, I dont see any problem with that either. But why wouldnt you store them separetely? If you cook your p...
What's the difference between a cobbler, crisp, crumble, buckle, and betty? I've heard all these terms at different times but never really understood the differences. What distinguishes various fruit-and-topping desserts such as a cobbler, crisp, crumble, buckle, or betty -- or are they all the same dish but with diff...	Some of the terms may be regional but they do generally describe variations on a theme. My general understanding of the differences are as follows: Cobbler - A cobbler is generally a thickened fruit mixture with scone or biscuit-like top crust. Cobbler crusts, notably "Texas cobblers" can also be made with thinner batt...
Are homemade versions of popular food more liable to spoil? I tend to make ice cream from frozen bananas and other fruits as flavors and would like to know how much time can I store it. In general, is the homemade version of a popular food item (bread, sauces and condiments etc) more liable to spoil if you bought thei...	Its less that the simple act of cooking it at home causes shorter life of the product and more that at-home cooks are cooking for the sake of avoiding the chemicals and preservatives that are what give the commercially made things their long shelf life. In some cases it is preservatives (sulfates in dried fruit (I thi...
Gas stove + Wok Vs. Induction top + Skillet I have two questions regarding woks: Can I achieve close to the same result with an induction top and either a kettle or high edge frying pan, or is a wok pan and gas stove paramount to achieving a great wok result? Is there any point at all in using a wok on a flat cooking...	A wok is designed to put food in heat at the center and relax some of the heat as you move away from center, and you keeping the food moving in and out of that hot spot so you get an even sear all around. To mimic this, use a wide 12 inch or larger skillet (depending on your quantity of food) with high walls, and make...
Umbrella term for the 'ingredients' and 'utensils' of a recipe? So every (good) recipe enumerates several lists of things: Ingredients: a list of all the foods/seasonings/etc. that you'll use when following the recipe Utensils: a list of all the tools, utensils and appliances that you'll use when following the recipe...	Supplies (which is way too short of an answer for the site to accept on its own)
Can I use store-bought orange juice instead of fresh squeezed Can I use store-bought orange juice instead of fresh squeezed? I don't have a juicer and the recipe assumes fresh squeezed juices... Is there a big enough reason to go through the hassle for a weeknight dinner?	Probably won't make too much difference for carnitas. FWIW, when I make them, I cut up an orange or two and cook it with the pork for a while. Then remove before cooking down completely
How long should I bake a hamburger meatloaf, and at what oven temperature? I invented my own recipe for meatloaf: hamburger, bread, 1 egg, dried onion bits, Worcestershire sauce, a bit of ketchup. Put into the oven at 350 degrees F. Please advise the ideal oven temperature, and length of cooking time. Also, should I c...	it will be cooked when it reaches the internal temperature corresponding to the "done" temperature of whatever meat you are using. From the US food Safety Chart: Category................................................Food.........................Temperature (°F) Ground Meat & Meat Mixtures......Beef, Pork, Veal, Lamb....
Is there such a thing as "sweet" carrots? These days I am trying to get my wife to eat her carrots. Usually we are just boiling them, and adding some spices and butter. But she swears that she used to eat sweet carrots, but she can't say how long ago. Supposedly I should know the difference, but I don't recall such a ...	Carrots get sweeter if they are left in the garden till after the ground freezes (generally under mulch to facilitate winter digging.) Then again, I personally consider cooking carrots a good way to ruin them, as I find them far better raw.
How do I cook large quantities of sliced bacon? This question is pretty straightforward. Are there ways to take a sliced slab of bacon (i.e. a whole large package) and effectively cook all the slices to be used in standard scenarios, like breakfast? Non-microwave methods are strongly preferred.	It really depends on how you're planning on using the bacon: If you're going to be crumbling it anyway, you can cut it across the strips, and drop it into a pan and slowly render it, then turn up the heat to let it crisp. You might also need to drain the grease part way through. If you're willing to take a loss in fl...
Which cream should I use for cream sauce? I was making a cream sauce last night to put over tortellini. My choices of cream at the store were heavy whipping cream and half and half. I used both and it turned out watery. Which should I have used?	Tortellini is a typical pasta from the region on Emilia in Italy, a stronghold of Italian dairy. It is the region where Parmigiano cheese and the company Parmalat originated, for instance. It is also the region of Parma ham. No surprise this recipe brings all of that together. The traditional recipe asks for Panna fres...
Is it possible for a potato to catch fire after 10 minutes in the microwave? Yesterday on reddit a user posted this picture of a potato: He said that he followed an online recipe. He put it in the microwave for 5 minutes, turned the potato, and put it back in for 5 more minutes. When he came back to check on it, the ...	"Should be fine" is like saying 'well, there's really low odds of something going wrong'. I have no idea what the odds are, but yes, it's possible. I had microwaved potatoes many times, and then had a rather strange incident that I described in another question about microwaving potatoes, and included links to other i...
Seasoning a wok, have I burned on the factory oil? I have recently purchased a new wok, it is a standard carbon steel one (Hancock/LondonWoks). I cleaned it in the sink using soap and water and then heated some water in the middle and coating started coming off, all good so far. I realised that it would be difficult t...	I would say the opposite and you have actually burned "off" the coating. When those woks come off the factory floor, they are dipped or sprayed with that anti-rust sealant you are talking about. Most if not all instructions want you to get rid of this coating before use. When using carbon steel/cast iron cookware, o...
Marinating venison? I have tried again and again to find a good solution to marinating venison as it never turns out right because of the natural jucies. So what is the correct process of doing this or what should i use?	In part you have to re-train your mind when eating any wild animal. It will never taste like grain fed cattle. They are wild animals and eat wild things. Other things that could affect the taste is the processing of the deer. If not bled out very well before butchering it could have a stronger taste to it. Also, the ...
Liquid Layer above Melted Chocolate Recently I was experimenting with bakers chocolate. I proceeded to add some butter and continued to mix until smooth. Afterwards, I added a small amount of whole milk and the chocolate didn't really change. Once I added more milk the consistency of the chocolate radically changed an...	Blending ingredients with cocoa solids are best added at the same temperature as the chocolate. If you used cold milk the fat in the milk heated before the water content and was absorbed leaving the water to float. Although I avoid milk and use cream I have rescued both ganache & chocolate with icing sugar and/or cocoa...
Does commercial sour cream still contain live bacteria? Does commercial sour cream still contain live bacteria? A family member cannot consume them, so I am looking for a way to recognize sour cream without live cultures.	Joe M.'s answer is correct that it's difficult to get this information, though you can always try contacting the manufacturer directly. But in general I would assume that commercial sour cream still contains at least some live bacteria. In the U.S., food packaging laws require sour cream produced with bacterial cultur...
When should I add diced vegetables to a pie, and how long to cook them for? Earlier this week I cooked my first meat & potato pie. It was quite good, however I felt that it lacked a little depth, and also seemed like a meager portion for the amount of meat that I used. I was hoping to bulk it out with other various ve...	There are two approaches you could use on this, which are to either make a stew with all the ingredients and then turn it into a pie, or prepare separately and then put together into a pie. Which to choose depends on your personal preference. Using the stew method blends all the flavors together and is less work and cl...
Why do BBQ sauce recipes specify that you must cook the sauce? Most BBQ sauce recipes specify that you cook them, why is this? Would it not suffice to just mix the ingredients together as they will be cooked when you use the sauce on the grill anyway?	Most of the popular ingredients for BBQ sauce (vinegar/ketchup/sugar etc.) tend not to mix very well together. I know whenever I've made BBQ sauce, placing all of the ingredients into a pan together they tend to separate and are difficult to combine. Heating up the ingredients, however, causes them to combine better, a...
Can I safely pressure can potato soup with milk in it? Can I safely pressure can potato soup with milk in it? I made potato soup and would like to can it for later use. Problem is I already put milk in it. Do I have any alternative ways to preserve it? I had 20 lbs.of potatoes I had to do something with before they...	According to USDA National Center for Home Food Preservation, no: Caution: Do not add noodles or other pasta, rice, flour, cream, milk or other thickening agents to home canned soups. If dried beans or peas are used, they must be fully rehydrated first. From Penn State Extension: ...there are some commercially prepa...
Can I reduce a prawn/shrimp broth I have a freshly made shrimp broth. Onions, parsnip, tomato paste and white pepper corns along with shrimp shells. https://www.msc.org/where-to-buy/product-finder/products/cfpsproduct-19BA7EBA-B7E7-40E4-8C33-8566D3AF25A0 is similar to the shrimp I have used. It was simmering for a...	Remove anything you suspect might affect flavour negatively (or, more simply, strain the whole caboodle), then reduce to concentrate flavour. For fish broth, you shouldn't simmer the fish bones / heads for more than half an hour and I assume a similar rule applies for shrimp.
How can I reheat oats in the minimal time without microwave? I warm up steel cut oats I cooked and stored in the refrigerator. To warm the portion I use 4x the portion's size in water. I.e. for 50gr I use 200gr water. This takes me 15 mins. Is there a faster way to do this without a microwave? Update: I fill a pan wit...	No, I don't see how you can do better. To heat something quickly, you need quick heat transfer. Water is the most efficient liquid in the kitchen to use for that, and its maximum temperature is 100 C. You're already using water -> oats heat transfer at its maximum speed. If you were to use a liquid which can be heate...
Substitute for Chinkiang vinager What can I sub for Chinkiang vinegar? It is for a dressing recipe I found. Just don't want to go to the store	In America's Test Kitchen's recipe for Hot and Sour Soup (sorry, paywalled), they call for 5 tablespoons black Chinese vinegar or 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar plus 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar. So a 50/50 mix of both vinegars for more than twice the amount of Chinkiang vinegar. I have made Hot and Sour Soup with Chin...
How can vegans alleviate the effects of spicy food? It's well-known that if you eat spicy food, you can neutralize the flavor (and thus stop your mouth from burning like a forest fire) by drinking milk. This is due to casein. Simply drinking water or something cold does not achieve the same effect. But I'm vegan, so ...	I have done no testing of this at all but I was surprised to find on this site that they recommend trying a spoon full (or cube of) sugar. Perhaps the easiest way of calming down a flaming mouth is by sucking on a sugar cube or holding a teaspoon of sugar in your mouth. This helps by absorbing the spicy oil that is co...
How can you maximise the shell life of milk in milk bags, after having opened them? My grandmother buys milk bags as they cost less, stores each milk bag in a pitcher as such, but can drink only 1/4 of the milk bag daily. So after opening each bag, she must close and fasten the milk bag, and to do so she has tried usi...	Like rumtscho I don't think there's anything you can do to reseal the bag and increase its shelf life. If anything resealing the bag just make things worse as the extra handling of the bag can only end up transferring more germs. My mom is in a similar situation, she prefers to buy bag milk as it offers the cheapest un...
How close are store bought broths and stocks to the real thing? Many of the sauces I wish to make require broth or stock. I quite fear the preparation which requires lengthy cooking and dedicating more precious storage space for the finished ingredient. Is using store bought broth or stock a good alternative? How clos...	There's a great deal of variation in the quality of the pre-made stocks you get from different sources, so there's no clear-cut answer. Here's the types you might find: Stock cubes: these are dehydrated stock, or sometimes just chemicals meant to taste like it. It's the lowest quality option. There's a lot of variatio...
What is the real risk of salmonella with modern food cleaning standards? I was always taught that chicken and eggs, if consumed raw, will lead to salmonella 100% of the time. In my experience I have found this to be patently untrue (not surprisingly). While I always strive for hygenic food preparation and adequate c...	If I eat 1,000 raw chicken breasts, how many terrible nights will I have? Impossible to say. You will ingest many pathogenic bacteria, but nobody in the world can predict how many times they will cause an illness, and in how many of these times the symptoms will be noticeable, and how many nights each case will take u...
How do I prevent opened canned tuna from going stale? I want to start buying those big tuna cans to save on costs, but I know that after one day at the fridge opened tuna becomes stale. It loses its tangy flavor and gets a rubbery texture. Is there a way to prevent that?	At the very least, transfer to a food storage container (smallest possible) and cover...for more than a day or two, Ziploc bag, with as much air removed as possible (use water displacement method)...or vacuum seal.
im doing kimchi but no rice wine available I made kimchi at home.and I can't find that sour taste and smell as it ferments.maybe because rice wine is not available.can I use the regular vinegar or apple cider?	You should use patience. The sour taste comes from lactic and acetic acid (more lactic than acetic) produced by the fermentation process. Kimchi is essentially "spicy sauerkraut" and both get their acidity from bacteria which are naturally present on the vegetables, aided (over other bacteria) by the right amount of sa...
Dough whisk as a substitute to a mixer or wooden spoon I made a short bread recently(it was my first try at baking) and the recipe said that I should use a wooden spoon. My question is this: could I have used a dough whisk instead of a wooden spoon? And of course any comments on experience using a dough whisk would ...	My dough whisk, Vera, is one of the most useful utensils in my kitchen. There's something magical about the loops that cause whatever you're mixing to combine easier and faster than using a spoon. Not to be confused with a wire whisk, a dough whisk won't whip very much air into the mixture — unless you want it to. For ...
Can I use agar as a coagulant to make homemade tofu? Good tofu is really hard to come by where I live, especially silken tofu. I want to try making my own tofu. There are tons of recipes online. BUT, some of the coagulants (gypsum, or nigari) are also a bit hard to come by. I don't want to use epsom salts because the...	Agar is a gelling agent and will not work as a coagulant. Give epsom salts a try. I have not experienced the graininess that you suggest.
When to season popcorn? I enjoy snacking on popcorn, and i recently found out you can pop it without losing flavour in the microwave. I have always seasoned my popcorn after popping, but i am not really sure what is best with the microwave. Would it be to salt and pepper my snack before, after, or both?	I worked three years in a movie theater in my early twenties. The butter is tricky. We would microwave it then separate the water from it. If the water is still in the butter and put on the popcorn the water will make the popped corn soggy and give off an unappealing smell. We would usually pour it off to separate ...
Eating raw fish: what are parasite infection risks really: how big? I make sushi often, and i never use sushi-grade fish...i simply buy fresh fish from the market. I know the requisites of frozen for 20 hours etc., but I know for sure there are many restaurants in europe that certainly do not (exclusively) use frozen...	As I explained in another question recently, there is no meaningful answer to this. There is no way to make the prediction "you have a X percent chance of infection per parasite infested meal". Instead of predicting it mathematically, we could feed people infected fish and measure it, but as far as I am aware, no ethic...
What is it in frozen food that makes chefs so mad? Gordon Ramsay's number two complaint (we know the first...) is that the food was frozen. But I am confused about the specifics. Does he mean the meat was not thawed before cooking? Does he mean that after being placed in a freezer meat cannot be "saved" even after tha...	I like chef Ramsay, he can be snobbish and course at times but he knows food and he's a straight shooter and tells it like it is. Sometimes he's just saying the food isn't hot or even warm in the middle, but some times he is referring to frozen vs fresh ingredients. Most food is better when it's fresh, because freezing...
Will egg whites still whip after being in the fridge overnight? I'm making ice cream tonight and chiffon cake tomorrow. I need egg yolks for the ice cream and whites for the chiffon cake, will my egg whites still whip if they are kept overnight in the fridge?	Certainly yes. In fact, aged egg whites can whip better - sensitive applications like macarons will frequently prescribe holding the separated egg whites for a day or two before using.
Can I use lye as a leavener instead of baking soda? I'm interested to try to make waffles using a concentrated lye water instead of baking soda as a leavening agent. I have three questions related to this subject: Would this potentially make my waffles fluffier (due to increased CO2 producing reactions or otherwise)?...	I got a pretty thorough answer to my question on the Chemistry sister site to this one. https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/43896/can-i-use-lye-as-a-cooking-leavener-instead-of-baking-soda In short, lye, while caustic, will not create a chemical reaction producing CO2, which is what baking soda does during le...
Can I create cream of tartar with tartaric acid and potassium hydroxide? Here in Poland, I have no trouble buying both tartaric acid and potassium hydroxide. I'm having trouble sourcing cream of tartar though, so would it be enough to mix the acid and potassium hydroxide? Or do I need to get them to react in non-powde...	Potassium hydroxide is not something you'd want to eat. It's caustic (the base form of corrosive), and you ABSOLUTELY should not mix an anhydrous (pellet or powdered) form of it directly into food, whether or not you mix it with another powder first. Also, if you get the proportions off and the acid and base do not f...
Egg In My Bread I'm tweaking the recipe I have for bread, as I'm always trying to make it better. It calls for 4c of ap flour, and uses honey rather than white sugar (there is no milk in it). I also use refined coconut oil (no coconut taste). Up to now, it's been quite satisfactory. However, next time I bake, I'm goin...	Since this is a bread you are accustomed to baking, you know how the dough should feel. You will either have to change the amount of liquid or the amount of some other ingredient(s) - probably the flour. I suggest that you start by adding some of the flour to the oat flour and all of the wet ingredients. Then, continue...
Frying a rooster rather than roasting? I know that usually roosters are roasted because rooster is tough. But I was wondering if there is a way to fry rooster and have it be tender without using so much meat tenderizer that the meat tastes like meat tenderizer(which is not a pleasant taste)? Also would you be looking ...	When meat and poultry are tough it is because because of connective tissue which transfers the muscle's work to bone. The harder a muscle in an animal works the more connective tissue it will have and the tougher (but generally more flavorful) the result will be. Connective tissue (collagen mostly in muscles) breaks do...
How should I improve my chopping flow? I already know basic cutting skills. But I am confused about the order of things and thus while I have an OK technique, my board and the surroundings are in anarchy. Do you chop from left to right or right to left? Should you pick up the diced veggies with the knife or push them ...	Although this is partially personal preference, in general you should have the uncut ingredients on the side of your non-cutting hand. This will set up a logical flow of material which keeps you from having to reach over your cutting hand. If you chop with your right then you'd have the uncut ingredients on your left, ...
Does yogurt maker keeps object at optimal temperature maybe around 40 centigrade, or current temperature of object? First of all, I'm in Korea, and sorry for my bad English. I'm trying to make yogurt at home, so I've searched out the best yogurt machine on the internet. Something weird is that most yogurt machines do ...	There are a variety of ways to make yogurt. One that might be "easy" would to use a thermal cooker (giant thermos flask) if you happen to already have one, which would be under the "maintain temperature" (actually temperature will fall, but slowly) classification - but if you already have one, it's no extra cost or equ...
Butter Alternatives for Baking Pastry I'm dairy intolerant but I really love to bake. I've found success by substituting butter with either lard or coconut oil. The other night, I made a short pastry dough that called for 13 tablespoons of butter to 1.5 cups of flour and instead of using butter I used coconut oil. ...	There are good quality vegan margarines (Earth balance, Alsan) on the market nowadays, often they are of the interesterified instead of the hydrogenated variety. They are designed to behave and taste similar to butter instead of (as many cheap margarines seem to do) staying spreadable at temperatures where butter would...
Is it safe to refreeze ice cubes? While figuring out how to create clear ice cubes at home, I found some instructions that require handling of the ice for several minutes outside of the freezer. They all claim it's okay to put it back there for later use, but I am a bit concerned about this. I am aware that ice cubes ...	Yes, it's completely safe. The main reason you don't repeatedly freeze and thaw food are that it makes things less pleasant to eat by messing with the texture. (If you thaw by heating, and you heat all the way into the danger zone, I suppose there could be safety concerns too.) None of that really applies to water. It'...
What is this part of the mushroom? Is it safe to eat? Is the part I indicated in the picture safe to eat? It looks like mold? Sometimes the mushrooms I buy have it, sometimes they don't. I wonder what it is! And what about this one?	This part of the mushroom is perfectly edible. It's a structure called a partial veil which protects the spore-producing gills on the underside of the mushroom cap, usually while the mushroom is still immature. They open as the cap grows larger, exposing the gills and releasing the spores which produce new mushrooms. I...
Why do fridge temperature standards between US and other countries differ? US recommendations always go for +4°C at most, and this would correlate with how the danger zone is defined in the pertinent literature. In Germany, most literature (and also the specification next to use-by dates on packaging) suggests +7°C or...	As a starting point, I found this article, which says: The suggested temperature specification for refrigeration of foods has been revisited from time to time as knowledge and technology have advanced. Initially 7°C (45°F) was considered the optimal temperature; however, technological improvements have made it economi...
How to reduce microwave power to prevent burned popcorn? I got a Nordic Ware "microwave popcorn bowl" for Christmas, that my dad and sister had been raving about. I usually make stovetop popcorn in my Whirley Pop popper, which does a great job, but wanted to give the microwave one a try. Unfortunately, my 1100 W micro...	A glass of water in the microwave will result in less microwave energy reaching the popcorn. I use a large glass of water (8 - 12 oz.) when I'm softening butter because I want the water to absorb most of the energy. For popcorn, you may get by with 2-4 ounces of water. I've also found that the amount of oil makes a h...
How do I measure the ripeness of my tomatoes? In my quest for a perfect shakeshouka (eggs in poultry) I figured out I need less acidity in the dish, and have read that acidity in tomatoes varies widely. I have read that very ripe tomatoes have lower acidity, but how do you know it is ripe? Most are picked before ripen...	Smell and touch your tomato. The softer it is, the riper. Also, the more it smells like a sun-ripened tomato, the riper. The smell is not only stronger, it is different from the smell of a badly ripened (but still red) tomato, or worse, previously refrigerated tomato. If you don't know how a good tomato smells, you'll ...
Chili ended up tasting like indian food So I am making some chili for a work contest, and I decided to use a new recipe/approach for some reason. It was largely based on the food lab's chili. http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/01/how-to-make-the-best-chili-ever-recipe-super-bowl.html Here is what I did... edit: To be cle...	Normally I'd post this as a comment, rather than an answer, but it's getting a bit long. The problem is, this is conjecture. I'm guessing it's the cloves, coriander, and/or anise that might be throwing off the flavors towards Indian. You have a few options : (1) make it so so spicy that no one wants to actually eat ...
What causing royal icing to get stringy? When I try to make small dots on my cookie decorations, sometimes the royal or syrup icing gets stringy so it leaves a trail instead of coming off the dot clean.	As Escoce mentioned, it's partially technique. After you finish your dot, you want to move the tip in a quick circle while keeping the tip against the dot, then lift off. This will help to minimize the peak created. If it's only a peak, and hasn't put icing all over the place, you can take a damp brush and knock down ...
Can I use a whole uncut green pepper that I accidentally froze or is it garbage? I accidentally froze a whole uncut green pepper. I haven't tried anything with it except take it out of freezer. Is this still usable or is it now garbage?	It is certainly still safe to use. Freezing vegetables will cause the the texture to soften, so it wouldn't provide a very enjoyable crunch, depending on how you plan on using it. It would be well suited for use in something like a pasta sauce, stew or chili.
What are the pros and cons of using clarified butter as opposed to regular butter? I am about to start making clarified butter and I want to know how removing the milk solids affects the end result when sauteing, making flavor bases and other things. I like the idea of cooking with butter that is harder to burn but I ...	Pros: Higher smoking point. Regular butter's smoking point is 325-375F while clarified butter is around 485F. But it can still smoke and burn! However the higher smoking point means it'll be much more applicable in terms of sauteing food without worrying about burning the butter. 100% fat. Often times its hard to calc...
Best way to bottle peri peri sauce? I am looking to bottle my father-in-law's peri peri sauce and sell it at markets. The ingredients consist of fresh and dried herbs, garlic, salt, lemons and oil (sunflower, canola and olive). This is the method I used with him in the past and make to make sure it's food safe to do ...	Sorry to rain on your parade, but unless you use an acid which you forgot to mention, this is a happy breeding ground for botulism bacteria (Clostridium botulinum). You are creating anaerobic conditions with the oil, which means this specific bacteria are happy to multiply there. Unfortunately, a simple boil, even for...
How do I promade I was following a recipe and it stated: In a mixing bowl add soft butter Make it promade. What does that mean?	En pomade is a French term used in cooking. It means "the consistency of hair pomade" For your recipe, it means to whip/cream the butter until smooth.
Non-flaky non-crumble pie crust For some reason everone seems to love the standard pie crusts and want to get it either flaky or crumbly. For me, both are equivalent to "dry and floury, and give me the same shills down my spine as nails on a black board". Thus, I've rarely eaten any pie crust that I like, and neither ...	What you are looking for is typically considered a kitchen mistake: Overkneading. Not-so gentle handling of the dough and some kneading plus a bit more eggs or a dash of milk will add density. There is actually one special use case where bakers go for that more elastic and less crumbly dough: Cornish Pasties Straight f...
Can I heat and then cool Shiitake mushrooms, and eat cold one day later? I want to cook them, then keep them in the fridge and eat them cold one day later. I have heard of some mushrooms becoming poisonous one day after heating, and you cannot eat Shiitakes raw. Will it be a problem to eat them cold?	Shiitake mushrooms are certainly not poisonous, either raw, cooked or as you posit in your question, after being cooked, stored in the refrigerator and consumed later. If you enjoy eating them cold, go for it. Just keep in mind that like any other cooked food, they can spoil if not stored properly (I have some leftove...
Cooking with papaya seeds - what does heating them do? I've got a bunch of papaya seeds left over from a ripe fresh papaya and I'm trying to work out what I can do with them. Pic from Livestrong Researching this comes up with precisely two types of page: Hundreds of dubious articles claiming miraculous health benef...	Clear answer: Nothing interesting food wise. I have lived in Asia between papaya trees for 10 years, and I have never seen them used. I tried drying them, brining, in vinegar, nope. They are inedible. Just like the papaya leaves. The only use is producing more papayas,
How many kilos of bread can I produce with one kilo of flour? I wish to calculate how economic a breadmaker is compared to store bought bread. Does anyone know how many kilos of bread can be made from one kilogram of flour? To make it simple, let's say generic white bread and basic simple white bread.	In my experience, it doesn't really save money, but it's still worth it because it's fresh and better than store-bought at the same price. For me, 1kg of all purpose flour yields 1.6kg of bread (as two loaves). Each 13x4x4" (Pullman) loaf weighs about 800 grams after cooling and yields between 24-30 slices depending on...
What is the reason my veggies cook unevenly? Today I sauteed some onions and in some spots they were caramelizing nicely while in others they were slightly burnt. Anyone knows who could be the possible culprit? I am betting on the frying pan but I wish to get some second opinion before buying something fancy.	Let's see how to GUARANTEE this undesired effect happening (if you do/have all or most of the things on the list): -Unevenly cut onions -Onions from different varieties mixed -Pan very hot -Not frequently stirring (or saute throwing) -Thin bottomed pan on a hob plate with low thermal mass and weak heat coupling (glass ...

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