instruction stringlengths 2 23k | output stringlengths 3 23.1k ⌀ |
|---|---|
What spicy ingredients hit the sinuses?
My sinuses are constantly congested.
I know some spices can help with clearing them. However, I also know that some types of spice affect my nose and sinuses while others merely burn my mouth (not helpful at all).
What types of spices hit the sinus? | There are several different compounds that affects our nervous system in a way that we colloquially call "spicy" or "hot". The most common ones in culinary use are Capsaisin, Gingerol, Piperine and Allyl Isothiocyanate.
Capsaisin is the type of spiciness you feel on your tongue and throat. This is found in the differen... |
What plant-based (non-dairy) milk do not separate when making caffe latte?
This is a little subjective, but what plant-based milk is best used to make a latte?
By "best" I mean one that doesn't separate (like plain soy often does) and has a creamy consistency that best resembles dairy.
Preferably this milk should also... | A good plant-based milk I've had success with is hemp milk. I'd say try coconut and almond milk, but these two are thinner in my experience, and tend to be less creamy. Hemp milk foams well, and is quite tasty. Like most things, don't get it too hot, or it'll break and be less desirable. That said, I never have problem... |
How do you finely dice an onion without crying?
This question addresses onion crying
But no one seems to say what should you do when you finely chop an onion. See, not cutting the onion core, using the Gordon Ramsay technique and generally pivoting away from the onion helped so far. But now I have upped my dicing skil... | Breathe through your mouth.
The tear-causing chemicals in onions are absorbed through the nasal mucous membrane. By breathing through your mouth, they don't get much contact with the fumes and won't absorb nearly as much. |
How to make cappuccino coffee at home without a machine
I do not have any form of a coffee machine. The closest is a kettle… I have tried to use strong/good quality instant coffee, filling half a cup then hot boiled milk in the other half. It just tasted like coffee.
So how do I make a cappuccino at home without all t... | Do you have a French press? If so, you can make coffee that is quite strong in there and you can froth your milk.
For the coffee, grind it course. If it's too fine, too much will go through the mesh and your coffee will be murky and over extracted. Buy a very dark roast, but something that isn't too smoky. Italian roa... |
How do I cook food in this square stone oven?
I've recently become the owner of this outdoor stone oven.
However, I am at loss how to cook in it.
It continues up into a rather large chimney. The bottom has two furrows about a thumbs length in it. There are about 6 bricks made out of clay (I think) that I guess are ... | It's a barbecue. The firebricks in the bottom can be used to contain the charcoal in a smaller region, and/or be stacked to raise the grill. I recommend raising the grill as going by the picture, it looks like the food would be too close to the coals and burn before it cooks through.
The chimney takes the smoke away f... |
Why was my carrot cake very heavy?
I made carrot cake but it turned out very heavy. Is this normal?
I followed this recipe:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp each: cinnamon, salt, vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup each: grated carrots, sweetened coconut, raisins, various nuts
2/3 cup oil
1/2 s... | If I had to guess, I'd attribute it to the huge amount of stuff that's in the batter, which makes it more like a fruitcake than like a traditional cake.
You only have two cups of flour but you have four cups of carrot, coconut, raisins and nuts. This is definitely going to make a very dense cake and it sounds like it's... |
Can I use coconut oil instead of ghee in curry?
I've run out of ghee and it's hard to get where I am. Will coconut oil be a good substitute when frying off onions and spices? | Coconut oil is used quite regularly in the southern part of India. It completely replaces ghee or sunflower oil in certain dishes. And as Chris pointed out, it definitely changes the overall flavor of your dish and it may not be a bad thing if it doesn't conflict with the rest of the flavor profile.
As for the original... |
Is it safe to eat expired hollandaise sauce mix
I have a really old packet of McCormick Hollandaise sauce mix - it's 5 years expired. Is it safe to use and eat? Main ingredients are Wheat starch, maltodextrin, egg solids, soy lecithin, etc.. | If it's a powdered mix, it's still powder (not clumped) and the pack is sealed, I'd go for it. Dried foods here are most likely to have a best before date, rather than a use by (real expiry) date. If it's clumped or the packet is damaged it may have absorbed water which wouldn't be good. It's possible that the flavour ... |
Do commercial yogurt starters (i.e.: store-bought yogurt) actually degrade over time?
I've seen quite a few sites make the claim that commercial yogurt starters will stop working after a few generations (example), so home yogurt makers should use "heirloom" starters. However, many of the people making these claims see... | Off the top of my head, I don't know of scientific studies that have tested this. But even if there were, I don't think they'd necessarily be meaningful in comparing a particular store-bought culture to a particular "heirloom" culture.
The general thing to remember about store-bought cultures is that they are bred for... |
Is my Frozen solid Lamb ok to roast I am asking for food safety reasons
I am asking for both food safety and taste reasons, and yes I do have a frost freezer.
Semi-boneless Leg of Lamb, double freezer wrapped date 12/26/14.
7.33lbs
Is it alright to roast? | In general, roasting it from frozen to properly cooked in the middle won't cause any food safety issues. It's former frozen-ness and the speed of defrosting won't mean that it grows more bacteria.
The problem is, at oven temperatures, by the time the centre of a large roast is thawed (never mind cooked) the outside wil... |
How reliable is determining cooking oil temperature with a thermometer?
Sometimes I dip my meat thermometer in the hot cooking oil and I wonder if the reading is accurate since I do not use a lot of oil so the metal rod is always making contact with the bottom of the pan.
Is this a reliable method? If not, what are th... | Given the description, I read the question as concerning "pan frying" in very little oil, rather than deep frying.
If the layer of oil truly is so thin that you can't reliably put the thermometer in without touching the bottom of the pan, you're probably not going to get an accurate reading regardless of whether you're... |
Caramel with sugar granules
I made caramel with condensed milk one month ago. Now I want to use it again, but it has sugar granules on it. So what should I do to make it smooth again? | If the crystals have formed in the same way the crystals form in Honey, then you could try warming the caramel. Honey forms crystals over time, and these are removed by placing the honey in hot water for an hour (you will need to keep the water hot, above body temperature but not boiling). |
What happened to my steak?
I have trouble cooking a steak 'medium', and to be honest, cooking it at all.
These were my steps:
Bought a steak (hip) that was about 1cm to 1.5cm in height. I let it reach room temperature (1 to 2 hours outside the fridge) and dried it.
heated a metal pan and added some oil when it was al... | There are many variables here that may or may not caused OP's problem.
The Pan sounds as it might not have been hot enough. How hot was quite hot, how long could you hover your hand above the pan?
Did you notice any change to the oil once you added it to the pan, did it streak, did it start to smoke?
[Personally I te... |
Are there any drawbacks to cooking with limp celery?
Crisp celery is important for salads and other recipes calling for raw celery, but what about when the celery is to be cooked, such as in a soup or stew? Celery loses its crispness when cooked so it doesn't seem to matter, but would I be missing something if I cook ... | There's limp and then there's limp. As the celery ages, it will get more and more limp (and more bitter), and eventually neither delicious nor safe. If you're sweating the celery and it's a little less than crudité crisp it should be fine. Just sample it first to make sure it's not too bitter. |
Benefits for different fats for flour tortillas?
There seems to be no standard fat for making flour tortillas. I've seen recipes using lard, shortening, butter, olive oil, vegetable oil, and canola oil. Is there a reason I would pick one of these over the other, or can I use them interchangeably? | I use lard or butter, because both are solid at room temp and will bind strongly to make a tortilla that can be moved and handled easily. When I use oils (which I prefer), the tortillas turn out too delicate to handle without special care. If I'm just using the tortillas as a layer in an enchillada casserole or the lik... |
When should you season sauce that needs to be reduced?
I just thought about how seasoning a sauce is not a wise decision because if it needs to through reduction like marinara then the flavors would get too concentrated. But I always see people put salt and pepper into sauces before they are properly reduced so maybe ... | First of all, people indeed often add some seasoning in the beginning, but are usually careful with the amount, especially with salt.
Flavor-wise, you could add it at the end, after the reduction and be fine.
However, salt can also affect the process of cooking. For instance, it can draw moisture out of some vegetables... |
Will chocolate eggs inside a cupcake melt when baked in the oven?
Easter is coming and I was interested in baking some cupcakes with a solid/praline-filled chocolate surprise inside. Please refer to the image below. Little side note: I will put smaller chocolate eggs inside and don't want them to be visible, they will... | Whether the chocolate melts will depend on which chocolate you use. One with more cocoa butter will melt, while one made with more soy lecithin will retail its shape. That is why most chocolate chips contain soy lecithin. You will need to choose your chocolate according to what you want it to do in the oven. |
Do frozen Lima Beans contain Cyanide?
I often buy frozen vegetables, defrost and eat them.
Recently, I came across an article that says Lima Beans contain Cyanide, should be thoroughly cooked and then eaten.
Do frozen Lima Beans come precooked or are they supposed to be cooked before consuming them?
Location: Canad... | Raw lima beans do contain a compound, a cyanogenic glycoside, which would release cyanide if ingested raw.
(1) http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp8-c1.pdf
(2) http://www.foodsafety.govt.nz/elibrary/industry/Cyanogenic_Glycosides-Toxin_Which.pdf
(3) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24863488
(4) http://article.sci... |
Silverfish in a restaurant
If I'm eating at a restaurant and a silverfish scuttles across the table top, what should I reasonably conclude? Should I be concerned about the food hygiene? | I would not advise eating there again. Silverfish or harmless to humans, but their presence can signify some serious hygiene issues. While silverfish are most known to feeding on decaying wood, in a kitchen setting, they are signs of 1) poor moisture control, which can include leaks and spills that are left unmopped, a... |
Why do my snickerdoodles always come out flat?
I've made a lot of variations of snickerdoodle recipes and I always seem to get the same results. I can make a thick chocolate chip cookie but snickerdoodles vex me. No matter what recipe I try, they always come out flat like this:
My oven is calibrated, my baking soda i... | While I haven't made this specific recipe before, I have made the Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen recipe many times. As you say, it is very similar - it uses slightly less flour and it uses white sugar exclusively.
One thing I will say - Snickerdoodles are, in general, pretty flat cookies. There are dozens of... |
Turn melted sugar back into granular?
Is it possible to turn common table sugar that has been dissolved in water back into its original granular form? | You probably can't achieve the size and uniformity of classic granulated sugar at home, not without finding some special equipment. But if you are OK with other crystal sizes, it is very simple.
All you have to do is to search for recipes for rock candy. It is nothing but re-crystalized sugar. Also considered to be th... |
Our oven consistently undercooks food
Our home oven consistently undercooks food when we follow the recommended cooking directions.
Case and point: We just bought some chicken skewers from Costco. The directions say to cook them at 350F for 25-35 minutes. I just took them out after 35 minutes, and our digital probe th... | Oven temperatures are conventions and really mean little. Plus, typical home ovens vary widely, so that when you set the dial to 350, the interior can easily fluctuate between 330 and 370, and that is when your oven is correctly calibrated, which few are! So, it is probably not getting to the temperature that the read... |
Why does food cooked in the microwave heat inside-out?
The other day I was heating a left over casserole that was placed in the freezer for 24 hours before I decided to reheat it. I heated it in the microwave for 4 min. What I noticed was the outside portion of the casserole was still cold but there was steam coming f... | Your microwave isn't exactly cooking your food from the inside out. Instead, what is happening is that some parts of your food that happen to be on the interior are being heated faster than those parts of the exterior that you observe. This sort of uneven heating is intrinsic with how microwaves work.
Microwave ovens ... |
Use orange juice instead of water for syrup to make Orangettes?
I used this serious eats recipe to make orangettes. After removing the oranges from the syrup in the end I further reduced it in order not to waste it. After tasting I though it could do with a bit more orange flavour and wondered:
Could I just squeeze ... | Letting the peel simmer in the syrup is to candy the peels, as they are too bitter to be eaten as is. In my opinion, adding orange juice to this syrup won't make that big of a difference. The peels in themselves has a much stronger orange flavor than the juice has. If it makes you happy, you can replace some of the wat... |
Adding flavorings & fillings to bread dough
I have a basic sourdough bread recipe that I've made a few times with consistent results, so I decided to try modifying it with different flavors and fillings.
My question is, are there general rules of thumb, specifically regarding how different additions affect overall h... | As you have already intuited in your question, what you do to adjust is going to vary based on the ingredient, and how much of that ingredient you add to the bread.
I can try to address some of the specific cases you mention:
Walnuts
This generally should not be a problem with adjusting hydration, other ingredients, or... |
Any reason to put cornmeal/semolina on hot pizza stone or steel?
When I first started baking pizza years ago, I read somewhere that one should toss some cornmeal on a hot pizza stone after preheating, just before putting the pizza on. Since I tend to bake pizza at the highest setting on the oven, the cornmeal (or sem... | I agree with you and don't do it either. Rather, like you, I put some cornmeal or semolina on the peel, upon which I construct my pizza. This, of course, allows the pizza to slid off and onto the steel. Clearly, some of the cornmeal or semolina winds up on the steel itself, but I don't toss it on intentionally. Nev... |
Substitute for Nestle Semisweet Chocolate Chips in Australia?
I am living in Australia and having a hard time finding a good substitute for Nestle semisweet chocolate chips. What should I look for in a good quality semi-sweet chocolate chip in Australia and where can I find them? | Semi sweet equates to our garden variety dark choc chips in Australia. If like me You're wanting a bit more of a cocoa hit try looking for 70% cocoa cooking chocolate or choc chips. I know Aldi get them from time to time and our Super IGA gets them so I'm guessing the other supermarkets will maybe have them or try euro... |
Are Chia Powder and Ground Chia the same product?
I've found a few recipes involving Chia powder, but locally, I've only found Ground Chia. I want to know if these are the same, and if it's safe to use ground chia in these aforementioned recipes (and vice versa). | I want to know if these are the same, and if it's safe to use ground chia in these aforementioned recipes (and vice versa).
The particle size may be different, and for some recipes that will be significant.
I am not aware of any regulations (US, EU or other) that regulate chia labeling with regard to ground or powder... |
Why use onions in cooking?
Onions are an ingredient in almost every recipe. I hate the taste(flavour) of them (I know I might be the only one). I always try to avoid eating them and try to pick them out of the food. Seeing that I am the only one in the house that doesn’t like the taste of onions not using them in a re... | Their primary purpose is flavor, although (as mentioned by @David Richerby) they can also be used for thickening in some cases. If you don't like them, but other members of your household do, then it becomes a cost-benefit analysis of every dish.
If your hatred of onions is visceral, yet other family members would just... |
Do these fish have bones, and are they dangerous?
I'm looking to start eating fish but I have never prepared any and never ate any except for smoked fish. I went to the store and saw that at least where I live, we don't have many fillets.
The best fish that I found were these, and I have no idea if they have any bones... | All fish have bones, some have more complicated bone structures than others. Generally the ones which you will find in the store are ones which are easier to deal with as that's what people want.
Preparation of them varies widely depending on whether they are smooth skinned, scaly, whether the skin is edible, and bone... |
best dairy-free yogurt for meat marinade (Biriyani)
I am cooking biriani for a party and one of the guest is dairy-intolerant. In biriani, marinading the meat with yogurt+spices is an essential step, and I dont have experience with non-dairy yogurt.
What non-dairy yogurt will be best for this purpose? | In a marinade it is the enzymes and acids in yoghurt which are the important factor so a non-dairy substitute may not work well.
Probably the best approach would be to use an oil and spice marinade. As biryani is a fairly dry dish the yogurt is probably less essential in contributing to a thick sauce as it might be in... |
Could all types of filling be used as macaron filling?
I've done a lot of research about French macarons recently and figured (every single recipe has a sentence describing macarons as finicky) the amount of ingredients for macaron shells cannot be changed. I'd have changed the amount of sugar used if I could, but the... | I don't make macarons often, and I really hate hunting around for fillings that work, so I use a very comprehensive list of ideas from Sortrachen. There are 20 recipes there, so it's not often I have to do a lot of searching. When I'm refreshing my mind as to the types of alternatives I could use, I head to Indulge wit... |
Combining dishes that need oven temps of 450, 425, 400, and 350
I have three dishes that need to be baked but all have different temps.
My oven is a standard, 80's range with oven and broiler - nothing special.
I am cooking
a Leg of Lamb of 5 lbs at 450, which gets reduced after 20mins to 400 degrees for an hour.
Ha... | If you're going to cook all three at the same time, something is going to be hotter than it should be or colder than it should be. If you're not making a soufflé, or something very small like cookies, you have a little flexibility and variation in temperatures.
if something is in a hotter oven than called for, it will... |
What is the difference between wildflower honey and Acacia honey?
I've read that Acacia honey is the best. How should I know which one to purchase if both are being sold at the same price?
What are the differences between raw wildflower honey (apparently sometimes called wild honey) and raw Acacia honey? | Different types of honey come from bees gathering nectar (and some incidental pollen) from different types of flowers. Acacia honey comes from acacia flowers, clover honey from clover. Wildflower honey comes from bees gathering from an unknown mix of flowers, when the supplier doesn't have control over or knowledge of ... |
How much Omega-6 does sprat have?
I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I couldn't find this information, I looked for two days. How much omega-6 do sprats have, does anyone know? | Fish contain very little n-6 (Omega-6 aka linoleic) fatty acids by nature. Most of the n-6 fats are contributed by vegetable sources during processing, such as vegetable oils used in coatings or pre-cooking. The amount of n-6 fats will depend on how the fish is processed and in which oil.
The US National Library of Med... |
Why did the skin of my tomatoes fracture after a few days in a refrigerator?
I purchased a bunch of red tomatoes on a twig a few days ago, and put them in a plastic bag in my refrigerator.
When I opened the plastic bag five–six days later, all the bottoms of the tomatoes (bottom tertiles) had wide fractures in their s... | Tomato Gardening Tips
This site's gardening tip says that tomatoes splitting on the vine is due to a lack of water - the plant gets dried out and the skin doesn't retain the elasticity to contain new growth.
The refrigerator is typically a dehydrating environment. Could be that's your culprit.
But for pity's sake, sto... |
Why is the milk used in latte steamed and not boiled?
Does it make a big difference in the flavor of my latte if I boil the milk, versus steaming it? | A latte is similar to a cappuccino but with different proportions. It's unsurprising that a similar method and equipment would be used. Cappuccino needs steamed milk to get the froth, so a coffee bar machine has a steam pipe. To boil the milk for a latte would require an extra piece of equipment and the associated spac... |
To salt or not salt broth for use in recipes?
Many recipes call broth, but broth recipes often omit salt and pepper or in some instances require only a small amount.
My question is this: when a recipe, let's say risotto for example, calls for broth, should I season the broth with salt and pepper before ladling it int... | It depends upon how much you expect the broth to be reduced while making the dish, and how salty the other ingredients in the dish are. Risotto is a good example of a dish that should be made with a broth less salty than would be ideal for just drinking. The broth will be reduced significantly while making the risotto ... |
Water turned brown
I put water in a stainless steel pot and a strainer on top and put spinach in the strainer to steam it all for a delicious quiche, but the water turned brown.
Why does this happen?
I know someone had a similar issue with simmering peas, but my case is slightly different; the spinach didn't touch the... | It's possible that your water supply could be high in iron, either from a well, or older city pipes. When you steam spinach, some of the iron in the spinach leeches out with the circulating steam, and this may be enough to turn normally clear high iron water into disturbing looking muddy water.
If this is the case, ... |
Safety glasses in the kitchen: why are these not common place?
A long time ago in high school, we used to have "home-ec" (short for home economics classes), which also involved some hands-on-cooking. No one needed to wear safety glasses (even though one does learn how to fry stuff).
In chemistry classes on the other h... | One reason is that food ingredients are generally safe to ingest, unlike most school lab or workplace chemicals.
Food items often don't contain as much stored energy as lab/workplace chemicals. Turning a standard stovetop to "High" may heat a pan to around ~650 degrees. This is much lower than the temperatures requir... |
Which side of the baking paper should face up?
My baking paper has two sides: one waxy looking silky-feeling side, and one clean looking side with more friction when you run your finger over it.
Which side should face up against the food? I've had the paper stick to pizza several times & I keep forgetting to check wh... | Baking paper has a silicone coating to prevent sticking. If yours is only coated on one side (the waxy side), this side should touch the food. |
How to make my scrambled eggs more yellow?
I make a very simple scrambled eggs combining two eggs with a knife of cream cheese.
Sometimes I've had this and it has been a warm yellow colour. Other times it has been a pale white colour.
My question is: How to make my scrambled eggs more yellow? | Ah, we consumers and our expectations:
Egg yolks are yellow.
But in reality, yolks come in a range from pale yellow to deep orange. The colour is determined by the food (wheat makes lighter yolks than corn, for example) and can be influenced by feeding "colourants" for a darker hue. Some regions allow even artificial... |
Can beef bourguignon be halal?
I'm preparing for the next master chef and want to show off. But I only eat halal. Can it be prepared without alcohol, bacon and cream? | By definition, Boeuf Bourguignon contains wine. However, non-alcoholic wine can work just fine. Bacon and cream are optional. You can tweak the recipes to make the final product exceptional. |
Why did my ricotta cheese did not completely melt in the Alfredo?
Today I sauteed a quarter cup mushrooms in 3 tbsp butter and added 250ml cream. Everything was set for me to add the ricotta and finish the Alfredo, but it only partly melted. Beyond a certain point, there were some "cheese crumbs" that no amount of hea... | Ricotta is not supposed to melt, or dissolve, or anything like that. It is made up of protein clumps. The only way it can appear very smooth is if the manufacturer created a cheese where the clumps have been made very tiny mechanically - because chemically, they are still clumps and stay that way after heating.
You sa... |
Advice on two-tier cake and height
What is the recommended height of cakes when making a two-tier chocolate mud cake? Or to get a decent height, should I make (as an example) two shallow nine-inch rounds for the bottom layer and two shallow seven-inch rounds for the top layer? | As a note before the post I am more scientist than baker.
The stress you can put on a structure before it severely deforms depends on a lot of things including it's Young's modulus. These are very well understood for construction materials but I came across this paper which discussed it for various cake recipes (PDF).... |
Freezing a frittata
I'm hoping to make a frittata to last a few days to take to work for lunch. Am I able to freeze it, if so are there any ingredients that do not freeze well and I should avoid putting in the frittata?
If they don't freeze well, how long do they typically keep well in a fridge?
Thanks. | Frittata freezes just fine. At least, mine do. There are a couple of drawbacks you might want to take into account when making your recipe, though.
One is that the individual tastes of the ingredients all meld together when the frittata gets thawed or reheated, so if you're looking forward to that bite that has a parti... |
My applesauce has fermented, is it safe to bake with?
I don't have access to refrigeration, so I use applesauce as an egg substitute. I have a plastic can (it's got a metal & rubber lid like a Mason jar but the container is plastic) of store bought store-generic applesauce that's been sitting on a cool windowsill for.... | It sounds like it's fermented, and more harmful bacteria or mold could definitely have grown without being visible.
So it's not safe, in that there's definitely some risk. It's hard to evaluate exactly how risky it is. It sounds like you're already routinely taking risks by eating iffy food that's not obviously rotten ... |
Why is a glaze applied to the top of a hot cross bun?
I am making hot cross buns and wondering why the buns have to have a glaze...
Any scientific answer or is it just because it's nicer? | I would say that it's not required for any scientific reason. I believe that, traditionally, it's common to put a sweet topping to add an extra hint of sweetness to the buns, which are generally not very sweet themselves.
It may be in the US that it's more common to make the cross out of the glaze rather than creating... |
Alternate seafood for etouffee
Last week I made etouffee for the first time, and it came out pretty good. Unable to find crawfish or raw shrimp, I used pre-cooked cocktail shrimp, which worked but was a little bland (and the double cooking made them a tad chewy).
I'd like to take a second stab at the recipe, and I'm ... | Shellfish is expected in etouffee, most commonly shrimp or crawfish. Crab meat is another option. Without shellfish it kind of isn't etouffee anymore, but it can still be great and you can still call it etouffee if you want!
For example, here's a recipe for chicken etouffee.
Where do you live that you can't find raw sh... |
Is it feasible to smoke meat with spruce needles?
I am thinking of constructing a makeshift smoker and smoke some meat out in the woods this weekend. When burning spruce needles they produce a lot of smoke; is it suitable to smoke meat with spruce needles or are there any health concerns I should be aware of? | It's feasible, but then you'd better really like the taste of turpentine and have the courage to take a chance on ingesting it. Turpentine comes from the oils of pine and -- you guessed it -- spruce. I wouldn't recommend taking a chance on smoking anything using coniferous materials. If you're in an area with spruce, t... |
Why are avocados so expensive?
Avocados are in my opinion one the most loved fruit in the world. I live in South Africa, for a ready ripe avocado you would easily pay between R25 (1.61 usd) and R40 (2.58 usd). For a South African this is ridiculously expensive. We are experiencing one of the worst droughts in our coun... | Supply and demand.
Supplies of avocados are declining due to droughts and unusual weather patterns. Not only drought can reduce crops, but unusual cool weather patterns can as well. Avocados dislike temperatures lower than 10°C and have absolutely no frost tolerance.
Demand for avocados is going steadily upward as more... |
Creating a specific cream for a cake?
My grandma used to make a waffle cake with chocolate cream filling, Romanian/Hungarian/Russian style.
My mom is trying to recreate it, without success. But she doesn't exactly know how to make the cream.
I had one recipe with sweet cream and chocolate pudding, but it didn't work... | I assume we are talking about a variety of the Eastern European treat called Oblatne (or a variety of that name)? Which consists of five to eight layers of store-bought wafers (not "waffles" - in some languages it's the same term for both, I know), "glued together" by a fatty or caramelly cream, pressed for a few hours... |
Are curd and sour cream typical middle-eastern food?
I keep going to restaurants around my city (São Paulo) where in certain days of the week, some of them serve middle-eastern food.
Curiously, there's always a whitey cream that some of the restaurants call "sour cream" and some of them, call the same cream as "curd".... | This looks like it's most likely labneh, a form of yogurt that's strained to remove some of its moisture. The texture can range from a thick sour-cream consistency to something like dense cream cheese, and it's common in the cuisines of the Mediterranean and Levant. Sometimes it takes the form of rolled balls, sometime... |
Vegan ice cream has chalky texture
I made vegan ice cream for the first time. The recipe:
350 g peeled bananas,
frozen 100 g raspberries,
frozen 100 g coconut cream
50 g agave syrup
I put everything through the high speed blender, until it was finely pureed. The texture was like soft serve ice cream, and it was ... | I don't make "vegan ice cream" though I do make sorbets that happen to be vegan, most of the time. I found that coconut cream gave me strange texture issues (much harder than it should be based on sugar percentage), "light" coconut cream was better than "normal" in this regard (opposite to what I expected, but I guess ... |
Is there a way to revive an old potato?
I was making mashed potatoes the other day and one of the potatoes I had was a little old. It was not as firm, and was slightly wrinkled than the potatoes I'd just bought. I didn't use it at all.
Is there a way to revive an old potato? For instance, with celery, I sometimes stic... | Cut out any green parts then remove the skin. If you can see any remaining green parts after the skin is removed then cut them out too. What you'll have at this point will likely look and feel like any other peeled potato except with bits cut out. If it still feels soft or looks unusual throw it out, otherwise its fine... |
What can I use as a substitute for grated coconut in heavy syrup?
I have a Latin American recipe that calls for grated coconut in heavy syrup. Apparently, you can commonly buy it in cans in Latin America, but not here in the USA. Can I substitute some mixture of dry coconut and syrup? What kind of syrup, in what ratio... | Typically when things are "canned in syrup" it's cane sugar and water.
I'd guess soak dried coconut in water (or coconut water) to rehydrate it; drain & save excess water, add twice as much sugar (volume or weight as you like, close enough to the same) as water, heat to dissolve, add coconut back to it, stir - should ... |
Why is honey heated and filtered for normal markets?
The honey which we get in the markets is of utterly low price as compared to raw honey. As we all know that this honey is heated at great temperatures and filtered.
My question is then why is honey heated and filtered and then sold in the markets?
The price of heat... | Filtering
The filtering reduces crystallization. It also is desirable because most people don't like random bits of wax, bee parts, or really any foreign-looking material in their honey. For better or worse, people like clear, clean-looking honey. The visible particles could be filtered without removing the much smalle... |
Why is rice parboiled? And how does parboiling change rice?
I have recently been using raw rice at my home. I have noticed that the non-parboiled rice sticks to each other while parboiled rice does not given the same amount of cooking time.
My questions:
Why is rice parboiled?
How does parboiling change rice chemical... | The following excerpt answers questions 1 and 2. Additionally it reduces the cooking time for the parboiled rice.
Also known as converted rice, parboiled rice has been pressure-steamed
and then dried in its natural outer husk (which is later removed).
This process hardens the starch in the grains so they remain fi... |
Creme Brulee did not set, can I fix?
My Crème Brulee did not set.
Recipe:
2 cups heavy cream
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup light brown sugar
Directions
Heat cream in heavy saucepan just until bubbles form around edge of pan.
In double boiler top, with electric mixer, beat yo... | I see several problems here. First, the recipe only has 3 yolks per cup of liquid, that's the bare minimum for thickening and does not produce a really thick custard like the one expected in creme brulee. Second, it is a stirred custard, not a baked one, which is a method for producing pourable or at least creamy custa... |
Tarragon: French vs Russian vs Mexican
In this question about tarragon lookalikes on the gardening stackexchange, I asked about whether I have grown a tarragon lookalike or whether tarragon can be tasteless if grown improperly. I added an update to that question today and I am hoping for a herb gardeners perspective i... | It is all a question of taste, so there is no definitive answer.
As a purist, you should plant "French Tarragon" which is the proper Artemisia dracunculus plant.
It is not an intense flavor; and this is why it is so good (IMO) and will not overpower a dish.
If you want something stronger, grow the "Mexican tarragon" (T... |
Does pre-packaged spaghetti sauce need to be cooked?
My daughter-in-law and I both prepare our spaghetti dishes with pre-packaged spaghetti sauce, bottled or canned. We both add it to browned ground beef. I use it as a base - to which I add sauteed onions, diced tomatoes, freshly pressed garlic, extra seasonings (b... | No. Canned food (when done correctly) is preserved properly and is safe to consume without further cooking. Imagine that it's jam or oil packed sun dried tomatoes or canned tuna... something similar that's jarred or canned and then never (or only sometimes) cooked before consuming. There's nothing unsafe about it.
If... |
How to get the most chili flavour out of a chili pepper?
I always find myself enjoying someone else's chili dish whether its curry, Mexicana pizza etc, more than my own. It's not the burning sensation that's lacking but more the chili flavour.
What are the guidelines to getting the most flavour out of a chili pepper i... | One technique, especially in Mexican foods, for recipes that use dried chilies, is to toast the pods before using them.
Toast them over medium heat until the pod blisters, but don't blacken too much. They are very thin, so going from done to ruined takes only a few seconds of in attention. Be careful! |
Pyrex pie plate on hearthstone
I recently read that one of the methods for keeping the (non-blind-baked) bottom crust of a pie from getting soggy is to preheat a baking pan with the oven and bake the pie on it so the bottom crust essentially bakes before it has a chance to absorb too much liquid (http://www.thekitchn.... | The stone should work just as well. And you'd presumably put the pyrex dish on a preheated oven shelf without worrying. That would give more thermal stress because some parts of the dish would be heated much more than others.
Of course there are no guarantees. And (domestic) pyrex literally isn't what it used to be at... |
Buy Omega 3 eggs in bulk?
I maintain to a high protein diet and consume a lot of eggs. No, seriously, a lot of eggs. I want to make the switch to Omega 3 eggs but I'm not really able to find these in bulk through your average grocery story. Whenever I ask for bulk eggs, they always show me the box of 5-dozen eggs from... | Step 1: Hit farm markets and organic co-ops to locate local producers. If the ones who are there can't supply you, they usually know a producer who can. If they don't have omega-3- eggs, they may know who does/
Step 2: Do your research. Ask prospective suppliers about their feeds (lots of greens, alfalfa and fish by-pr... |
How many risings for bread?
The background: I baked bread a couple of days ago, and I was out of yeast, so I borrowed a couple of packets of Fleischmann's Instant Yeast from a neighbor. I'm used to dry active yeast, which requires two risings. My neighbor told me that with the instant yeast, she kneads for only five m... | You should still use two rises if that's what the recipe calls for. The main differences are that instant yeast does not require proofing, and you can use a bit less of it because more of the yeast is viable.
The full article is behind a paywall here (https://www.cookscountry.com/how_tos/6140-yeast-101), but here's a ... |
should I let my sourdough loaf proof in the fridge or on the counter?
I've been watching tons of videos on making sourdough recently, and quite a few say to let the sourdough loaf do its final proof, or rise, in the fridge. Is this necessary? Would it speed up if I just let it rise on the counter? Thoughts? | Speed is not the point. Speed is the opposite of the point. Refrigerator rising makes for a long, slow rise and flavor development - it's not unique to sourdough, it's very common in pizza dough (though not usually the "final rise" in pizza, as that would be very difficult to arrange enough fridge space for.)
You can d... |
What can I add to this food to make it taste good?
I want to make some sprats + potatoes + some cheap vegetables like cabbage soup. What can I add to it to make it taste better? Some types of spices or some other cheap type of vegetables maybe? As long as it's cheap enough and makes it taste good, I'm fine with it.
Ma... | This question may get closed, but there are still some standard answers why broth doesn't taste good.
Number 1) salt, broth must have salt or some seasoning that gives the broth some character, otherwise no matter how else it may be good, it will taste dead and flat.
Number 2) there are certain triads of veg that need ... |
What happens if I use my sourdough starter too soon?
What happens if I use my sourdough starter before all of the good yeast and bacteria are fully developed? Would the bad bacteria make me sick? Or would cooking it kill all of the bad bacteria and make, whatever it was I made, safe to eat? For instance, I hear that y... | It won't be viable to leaven bread. Too soon and you'll just be using it in the leuconostoc stage which is bad bacteria and isn't good for anything. I wouldn't use the starter or discard till it becomes viable. |
Pasta edges break when being rolled in pasta machine
When I make pasta, and roll it through my pasta machine, the edges always end up cracking up a little. It becomes quite difficult to pass it through the machine without it tearing and dividing my pasta in half.
The resulting pasta is not bad per se, but it feels lik... | I'll added this as a comment, but it's probably close enough to a full answer, so I'll post it as one. My homemade pasta recipe is a little different. I initially got it from America's Test Kitchen TV show. I think they have a couple of different ones, but if I remember correctly off the top of my head, it's 2 cups of ... |
Can a clear glaze be made without gelatin or starch?
I'd like to press some edible flowers onto a cheesecake I will be making. I'll need some sort of a glaze, and my first instinct was egg whites, but then I learned that those tend to brown, which is why they're mostly used for bread and pastries. I then looked into c... | Bakery glazes are frequently made with pectin, so that is an option. It would still be a noticeable glaze, though it would be clear and could be flavorless. If you just want the flowers to stick to the top of the cheesecake, it's possible that it would be tacky enough without any glaze. They might just stick to the sur... |
Can I replace sugar with cane syrup in sourdough recipe
I'm baking my own sourdough bread (whole wheat-rye). Recipe calls for adding 2 table spoons of sugar with a bit of milk to get the starter, well... started.
I thought about replacing it with cane syrup (unsulfered molasses) as it contains more micronutriens. Is t... | I have been baking with honey and molasses for some time now and I see no much differences except that dough and bread gets much dark brown colour. |
Why does my ricotta cheese go bad in a few days?
No matter if I buy my ricotta by weight or by package it goes bad (funky smell, the puddle of cheese water gets grainy, some yellow tint on the sides of the cheese, losing its mellow sweet taste) within 2-3 days. I know it could have a fridge life of 1 to 2 weeks - why ... | Pasteurized ricotta should last 2-4 weeks in the fridge, unpastuerized 1-2 weeks.
So, A Few Possibilities:
Your fridge is way too warm, like close to room temperature. Ricotta will spoil if left out at room temperature or warmer in a few days. Have you checked fridge temp? Where in the fridge are you storing the ric... |
What does it mean to sort beans?
I have some bags of dried beans. The instructions say, for overnight soaking:
OVERNIGHT SOAK: Rinse and sort beans in a large pot. To 1 lb. of beans (about 2 cups), add 6-8 cups cold water. Let stand overnight or at least 6 to 8 hours. Drain soak water and rinse beans.
What does ... | Sorting means a few things:
Remove foreign objects like small stones, other seeds, twigs.... that may have accidentally been packed with the beans.
Remove damaged (think insect damage, for example) or otherwise shrivelled, infected or moldy beans and loose skins. Hint: Hollow beans and skins float up.
Double-check for... |
Can you cook off the acidity in wine?
My marinara was strangely too acidic than before even though I used canned tomatoes which are normally ripe, but then I remembered I added white wine to the flavor base (which i reduced).
First I do not know how acidic wine or white wine is (is it? how much?)
Second, considering w... | You can' "cook off" acidity, but you can balance it. Typically in marinara, that is done with a small amount of sugar, or, better yet, half of a grated carrot per 28 oz can of tomatoes, sweated with your onion. |
How do you know when your flavor base is thoroughly sauteed?
I have read that sauteing is basically taking all of the moisture and bite out of aromatic veggies. My assumption is as long as steam comes out of the flavor base (not fat burning smoke) there is some moisture to cook off.
Is it true? How can you know when y... | Usually when sauteeing (or more precisely, sweating) vegetables meant to form an aromatic base, you're doing three things:
Breaking down cell walls
Developing new flavors through mild caramelization
Driving off moisture
The first of these is really the most important; driving off moisture is a natural result of doing... |
How do I impart the flavor of mint to a tomato sauce?
I have dumped 2 tbsp of dried mint and 2 handfuls of crushed mint leaves into a reduced 28 oz tomato sauce but it only made a dent of mint taste in the sauce. I don't get it - a little dry or fresh basil or oregano is enough to give marinara a strong herb flavor. I... | The aroma and flavor of mint is destroyed very rapidly by heat. If you want a big mint impact, I would eliminate the dried (dried herbs can be good, but are a completely different flavor profile from fresh) and add a lot of fresh mint immediately before serving. |
Mixture of ingredients has a bitter taste
I put ginger, cilantro, red onion, jalapeno and garlic in a blender for a dish I'm preparing. This mixture was going to be fried in oil. I noticed that it had an extremely bitter taste - what could be the reason?
What's the best way to counteract this bitter taste? My dish has... | Likely the bitterness has nothing to do with this particular combination of ingredients. Rather, the blending process can break down the structures of each of the ingredients far more thoroughly then chopping and allows bitter compounds to leach out and saturate the overall mixture. Garlic in particular can be bitter i... |
Ceramic Cooktop (non induction) getting damaged after use
We just moved into a brand new unit(just constructed) and it has a Ceramic cook top. We have only been there 2-3 weeks, and cooked maybe < 10 times.
After a few of our cooking sessions, I am seeing some white coloration around the edge of the cooking circle. It... | It looks suspiciously like water that's been burned off at the edge of an overboiled pot.
On ceramic tops you get two kinds of stain. You get grease/food burned on, and that'll turn black like the inside of your toaster over, and you get the white mineral stains which comes from water drying around the edges.
The cente... |
What does the "operating range" of a thermometer mean?
http://www.thermoworks.com/pdf/thermopop_operating_instructions_web_a.pdf
The manual lists an "Operating Range" of "Between 32f to 122f". I thought this was the safe temperature for the entirety of the thermometer, but then it says " Do not expose the entire therm... | It's the range at which it will display an accurate reading.
Or in some cases, any reading.
Update : I guess the terminology is different for this thermometer, as it says "Guaranteed accuracy ±2°F to 248°F" suggesting that it can handle 248°F ... so I'm guessing that in this case, it's talking about the ambient air tem... |
How to remove commercial seasoning from skillet?
We bought a new skillet that was "pre-seasoned" a few years ago...but haven't really used it once yet because that seasoning is basically some black gunk that comes off into the food that's cooked in it. I don't know what this seasoning is - hopefully a food-grade oil t... | How to remove old seasoning and start over from scratch?
Very few cases actually require a full stripping of cast iron and restarting your seasoning from scratch. If you ruined your seasoning somehow, it can usually just be fixed by scrubbing and baking on a fresh layer of oil or two. However here are a few real reason... |
Why are olives always better at the restaurant?
Between olives I've been served at restaurants as a starter and various brands of olives I bought in supermarkets I have found that the ones in restaurants often taste much better. In particular they are often less salty, less bitter and more buttery in taste.
Is this a... | Assuming that you are buying from supermarket shelves,(and not, say, from olive bars that some supermarkets have) there is a quality difference between shelf-stable canned and jarred olives vs. olives available in olive bars like Whole foods or in a Mediterranean deli. These come oil cured or submerged in water, and ca... |
How to make mint syrup with minimum water?
Serious Eats recently ran a recipe for essentially water-free lemon syrup.
Is there a way to achieve something similar with mint as the flavour? The quality I'm ultimately looking for is "can be used to flavour whipped cream / cream cheese without making it break." | Well - not exactly. The reason that this technique works with lemons is that they actually do contain quite a bit of water. It's not so much "water-free" as it is using the residual water from the rinds and un-squeezed pips. Mint contains a lot less water by weight, so if you tried it in similar portions you'd wind up ... |
Are carrots dyed orange?
I was in the supermarket and I noticed that one brand of "organic" carrots was a very pale orange, but another brand of carrots was bright orange.
Is this color difference because the carrots are being dyed? | Probably not.
Carrots naturally (or due to selective breeding) come in an extremely wide variety of colors from white to yellow to orange to red/pink to purple. It's likely that you were simply looking at two different varieties, one of which was more pale than the other.
click image for source
Even the color being on... |
Is it safe to refreeze a tuna sandwich?
I made a sandwich two days ago that consists of white bread and canned tuna. I put it in my freezer immediately after making it and it stayed there until today. This morning I took it to work, planning to eat it for lunch, but am now going out for lunch instead. I'd rather not w... | The larger issue is the storage time that the sandwich has already been subjected to. 5 hours at room temperature is enough time for at least some of the tuna to spend significant time in the "danger zone" (the temperature range from 40 to 140 degrees F where bacteria grow most quickly).
At this point I would not consi... |
Are there reasons to use olive oil when roasting food at high temperatures?
I see many times chefs choosing olive oil as the fat for cooking recipes that undergo heats of 400f+ (very much above the smoking point of refined olive oil) for 30 minutes, and its virgin olive oil many of the times! But isn't olive oil suppo... | Just because the oven is reaching high heat does not mean the olive oil that is on the surface of what is being cooked will reach the oven temperature (or get past the smoke point, even). In a deep fryer, heat is transferred almost directly from the heating element to the oil. In a pan, heat is transferred from the hea... |
Why are there caraway seeds in rye bread?
I love rye bread, so something I have always wondered about is why there are caraway seeds in it. It seems to be some kind of tradition. | Caraway seeds in rye bread is - in some parts of the world - a tradition.
Generally speaking, certain flavour profiles are traditional in different cuisines, not ubiquitous (see your baguette counter example), for many types of food. For rye bread, taking European areas into account where there is a "rye bread traditio... |
Is unrefrigerated kimchi safe?
As the question states, is kimchi still safe to eat after spending a few hours unrefrigerated, the time it takes me to get home ?
I'm mostly concerned because my commute home involves time in a heated bus | I make kimchi regularly. It sits on a shelf at room temperature for a week or more, and slowly ferments. Some people ferment it for months. Sure, it likes a low oxygen partial pressure, but a few hours on a bus isn't going to hurt it. |
Physical method to season steaks
When seasoning steaks I use many different dry spices etc. What is the best method to apply spices to the meat without having to flip the steaks many times or have to wash my hands many times? | Use the fact that you have two hands*.
If you don't want to pre-mix your spices, open all containers you intend to use.
Assign one hand to be the "clean" one, one the "contaminated" hand.
Use the clean hand to shake or pinch spices or salt from their jars (onto the other hand, the meat or your work surface, depending... |
What should the consistency of pudding be?
Like the title suggests, I'd like to know what should the consistency of a (chocolate) pudding be.
We don't actually have "pudding" where I am from, so I am having trouble deciding if I have made a pudding or just some sort of chocolate creme or if pudding is nothing else but... | It sounds to me like you are making your pudding almost as thick as it should be.
It should be able to stand up a little. In other words, if you spoon some into a desert cup or small bowl, it should make a pile. It shouldn't be solid like ice cream, it should be smooth, but still stay in a pile shape.
Do you have custa... |
Can I add vanilla to pastry cream after its cooled?
I forgot to add the vanilla at the end of making my vanilla pastry cream for eclair cake. Can I add it now after its been in the frig overnight? I'm going to fold in whipped cream also. | If your pastry cream can handle being stirred (most do and as you will be including whipped cream anyway), you should be fine. Stirring will soften your pastry cream a bit, but not make it completely liquid.
You can even add the vanilla to your cream, whip it together and need not worry about stirring well enough or un... |
Air Fryer effect on Vegetables?
Does the Philips Air-fryer work as well as a standard deep-fryer?
Most of what I've been reading about Air Fryers is centered on:
Potatoes/ Fries
Some of fish/ chicken/ meat dish
Being a veggie, I am curious how Vegetables turn out inside an Air Fryer; let's say at a variety/ range o... | Having experimented with an air fryer I think it's an alternative to stir frying, but not a particularly good one. An air fryer is basically a device that blows hot air on food as it slowly stirs it around. It seems to work ok as long as the vegetables are hard, if they get a bit soft and sloppy (think cooked zucchini,... |
Why use gloves when handling food?
I watched this video yesterday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LerF1zgRDE . (Its a video that the manufacturer shows how they make candy and in this case its also seen they work the candy with naked hands). And reading the comments most people were shocked that they do not use glove... | I am afraid that gloves make things worse. Even with proper training, people who wear gloves seem to be more complacent that those who do not wear gloves. I have seen people handle dollar bills then turn around and touch my food with the same gloves on. Disgusting, and I refuse the food, and when I tell them why, they ... |
Split beans in a pressure cooker?
I just got a Presto 6qt. Pressure Cooker. Its manual states that I shouldn't cook split peas in it; does that include split mung beans or dal, or does it refer only to "green peas?" | Split beans and peas are tricky to pressure cook and you should not be attempting this if you're new to pressure cooking. That's because you first need to learn how to regulate heat so that it's not too high at the beginning (which will shoot the beans through the vent, muck it up, and cause a dangerous situation) and... |
Is Bisquick used as a standard in recipes for shop-bound products?
Are there shops that use Bisquick as a standard in their products that use flour mix?
I just noticed that Bisquick is a fragrant flour and seems of good quality. I thus suppose that for small retailers where freshly-milled flour is not as accessible, B... | I think there are shops that use Bisquick. It is good.
On ingredient cost alone, I think a home made Bisquick substitute would save you 20% or so.
But there are hidden costs:
Your time/labor cost weighing and mixing. You would have to cut in shortening..that equals cleaning labor time as well
Your distraction. Fewer t... |
Black Mold On Cheese
Black Mold.......How do I get rid of it? I have been adding some vinegar to my salt solution cleaning, recoated with salt and let stand for a day and I have used 100% vinegar solution to scrub the mold away. But it just returns. John | Black mold, regardless of what type it is, is not good news. It is almost always introduced by contact with contaminated skin. Your best bet is to trim the outside one inch from the entire cheese, ensuring that your hands are covered with latex or nitrile gloves that have been disinfected with bleach and then allowed t... |
How to make a passion fruit mousse without gelatin?
I am Brazilian amateur cook.
I wonder if there is any original recipe to make passion fruit mousse. Every time I do it, consistency is too runny and slightly aerated. Maybe the consistency to stay firm with the use of gelatine, but avoid using because I don't like to... | There are two things you can do to make the mousse stiffer:
Reduce the water from the fruit. So use some kind of concentrate instead of the pure fruit. For example, you could cook down a syrup or jam and add it to the mousse. Or see if dehydrating juice gets you somewhere.
Use more fat. Instead of whipping cream at ... |
Do the herbs which promote relaxation in certain herb teas have more efficiency when theyre warm/hot as opposed to cool/cold?
I had made Celestial Seasoning Sleepy Bear tea and left out too long and it got cool, and it just didn't quite have the same affect on me as when I normally drink it. | We're hard-wired to relax with warm drinks, right from our very first hours with mom, so of course, warm beverages tend to be more relaxing than cold ones.
Now for the physics of it all: Heat is an indication of the energy in any given substance. The energy determines how active (and reactive) it is. That is why sugar ... |
How to light this type of basic, old fashioned gas-cylinder-powered gas oven?
My rented apartment has an old rickety gas stove, fuelled by a hose connected to a gas cylinder. No electricity is used at all in any way. This is fine because in this part of West Africa we get constant electricity outages, but I can't figu... | Back when we had one of these, we used to turn on the gas, wait for a tiny while (I seem to remember 4-5 seconds), then drop a lit match into the front center hole. That would light up the burners. I'd err on the side of too little gas until you're used to it, and it may take a few attempts
Mom was pretty good at it,... |
Smoking Boston Butt and Smoker Went out
I borrowed a buddies pellet smoker to test it out. I got it going bright this morning. Got it up to about 225 and loaded it up a 6.5 pound Boston Butt. It never really stayed at 225, but hovered between 200 and 225 for the first 3-4 hours of cooking.
Then the fire went out, it s... | The standard metric for safety is the cumulative time in the 'danger zone' temperature of 40 to 140°F. Which we really don't know, as that would also include things like bringing it home from the store and stuff like that.
From the sounds of things, you left it out for less than an hour. As such, you should serve it ... |
Do sifting and whisking do the exact same thing?
Some recipes suggest to sift the dry ingredients while some others say whisk the dry ingredients. Do they have the same effect? | Sifting and whisking are not the same thing. Sifting breaks up lumps in dry powder ingredients, mixed powdered ingredients, and makes the flour less dense. Some people would say sifting makes flour "airier". I measured the volume of flour before and after sifting and I found a significant increase in volume for the sam... |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.