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How much is "a ladleful"? I have a recipe that asks for "a ladleful" of something. The recipe book usually uses imperial weights and volumes, that I can convert to my metric units that I hold so dear. As I understand it, a ladleful is the volume necessary to fill a ladle - but how much is it? A ladle can take on vario...	Every sourdough starter has different characteristics, a ladleful of one will give a different result from the same amount of another. The recipe is right in that there's no way to say what result you are going to get, so why be exact. The point I would make is that you want repeatibility, and the capability to adjust...
Is it safe to put fresh hot soup in a glass mason jar? I make soup in a slow cooker and I'd like to store individual servings. If I take the freshly made hot soup from the slow cooker and ladle it into mason jars and screw down the lids, is that safe? I don't have any experience with canning.	Since you are asking about canning then what you are describing is not a canning process which will give you a result you can store long term at room temperature. Long-term storage of soup would require pressure canning to raise the internal temperature high enough to kill any foodborne illnesses. If you plan to freez...
Fluids in a turkey I've never roasted a turkey before today. I had an emergency with a freezer thaw and had to cook a turkey in a hurry. It had been in the freezer a bit and I was concerned that it would be dry. Having heard this before, I took a small bowl and poured in some beer, then mixed some rosemary, lemon, and...	Beer is about 95% water, so it's not that important to worry about the alcohol's boiling point— you can pretty much say that the beer will boil at 100ºC and ignore the alcohol. An oven is an enclosed space, and when you're cooking stuff with water in it (i.e. most foods) the relative humidity of the oven quickly reach...
What supermarket fish is good for frying, besides tilapia? I've been frying tilapia fillets in flour for a while and I like it, easy and tasty, just getting a bit tired of the same fish. Is there any other fish available in most supermarkets that is just as good for frying (I know some fish can't be fried easily)? I'm...	Farm-raised fried catfish is very popular in the US South, and not much more expensive than Tillapia.
Unused cookie dough I arranged my cookie dough on the pan when I noticed I was out of gas. I put the pan in the freezer and ended up without gas yesterday. Its the next day now and the cookie dough is still arranged on the pan (in the freezer). The recipe has egg, baking powder and baking soda. I have gas now but I'm...	What you've done is perfectly fine, and your cookies will bake as usual, although they make need an extra few minutes in the oven. As a matter of fact, the method you've used is what is recommended for scooped cookies, when you you want to prep in advance and bake days, or weeks, later. Since your baking sheet has also...
Can I use casserole steak instead of braising beef for this Chinese Beef Casserole recipe? I can't find braising beef easily, but I do have casserole steak. Are they the same? Would they work the same for this recipe? http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/9646/chinesestyle-braised-beef-onepot	For the recipe you are using, any flavorful cut of meat that is up for long cooking should work okay. Had to look up casserole steak as that is not something I've ever seen in the US, at least not by that name. From a Jamie Oliver forum , please see the following: Braising steak is often used in a casserole. Mostly ...
Why isn't my stock consistent I have been making my own stock for several years. I make it EXACTLY the same way every time. Sometimes it has a "gel" consistency,(which is awesome), and sometimes it is just a liquid.(still delicious.). What is the determining factor that dictates whether it turnes into a gel or not?	The difference is in how much collagen you can extract and turn into gelatin from the meat & bones. If you can, split or crack the bones before you start, then place them into the pot, cover with relatively room temperature water, and then slowly warm it up. If it reaches a boil, lower the heat. I've been told that th...
Clarified butter for gumbo roux I don't have much regular butter on hand to make a roux. Is it a good idea to use clarified butter instead? What could go wrong?	Making your roux with clarified butter will certainly work, and work well. Clarifiying removes the milk solids, which add nutty flavor when browned. Without them, the roux would be far less likely to burn, particularly if you want a lighter roux. Whether you're going for white, blond, brown, or dark brown roux, using c...
Is this broccoli crown safe to eat? Was cutting up broccoli crowns and this bug appeared (I'm pretty sure it was from the crown). Is the broccoli still safe to eat? I checked every single piece I chopped up to make sure.	Luckily you caught it before it finished the whole crown :) What you've got there is an earwig (probably one of the most creepy names possible for such a thing) and they're not known to be contaminants (they don't carry or transmit diseases to humans). Hard to tell from the picture, but that one seems to either have ...
Flour shortage in baking I have to make brownies but I am abt 3 tablespoons short of flour, can I replace it with all purpouse flour or should I make the brownies with the less amount of white flour that I have..	Sure, use all-purpose flour. I don't know what your original recipe said, or what exactly your non-all-purpose white flour is, but all-purpose flour is normal, regular flour, exactly what a brownie recipe that calls for "flour" would normally mean. Even if there is a difference here (e.g. cake flour vs all-purpose flou...
Does milk make eggs more fluffy? I just heard that putting milk in eggs make it more fluffy, but is it really a good idea? Some people say putting milk/cream in eggs makes it more fluffy, but some people say that it makes the eggs loses flavor. So, is is it true that putting milk in eggs make it more fluffy?	While adding milk may change the flavor slightly, such a small amount is used that it is not likely to be an extreme loss of flavor. Some people add a small amount of water. With a small amount, flavor loss should not be noticeable. And since most people scramble their eggs with butter or some other type of oil, there ...
Effects of correcting partially mixed/kneaded dough with flour or liquid Often, doughs (be it quickbread, enriched yeast bread or cake doughs based on these) turn out too dry or wet in home baking practice, be it by temperature issues, measurement imprecisions, properties of local ingredients, wrong assumptions. A ty...	The effect that adding flour or water after initial mixing will vary depending on what you are trying to build. Different techniques leverage different properties of flour, water, and fat and so will behave differently. The differences come down to fat and protein. I'm sure you know that wheat flour contains proteins ...
Does dirt sink or rise in boiling water? I need to clean a lot of sunchokes (for winter freezing), and was wondering if the dirt will fall off the tubers if I boil them long enough, before sending them through a potato ricer.	No, you can't clean your tubers by boiling them, you'll just end up cooking them in mud, which will stick to them when you take them out. You need to clean them first.
UV lamp to disinfect raw sushi fish slices I'm considering exposing raw fish slices to a UV lamp to kill bacteria before making it into sushi. Would this help? Is there a practice of doing this? And what could be the drawbacks, if any? UPDATE Thank you very much for your answers. A couple of points to clarify. I am ta...	That is an interesting idea, but I would not recommend it. It is true that UV light is able to kill microorganisms, and it has been used to treat water for quite some time now. It has also been used to treat some types of juices, and is even used in the food industry (factories). It is an alternative to pasteurization,...
What's the formula for cutting vinegar acidity? I have a vinegar based bar-b-que sauce recipe that calls for 3% acidity vinegar which cannot be found. How do I cut 5% vinegar to 3%?	Cut it with water. Commercial white vinegar is basically nothing but water and acetic acid. 3 units of 5% vinegar and 2 units of plain water give 5 units of 3% vinegar.
How to fix separating spaghetti sauce? I am making spaghetti sauce from home-grown tomatoes. They were standard garden tomatoes - not Romas or anything you'd traditionally use for sauce, but hey, they're what I had. The sauce has been simmering for a few hours and is reducing nicely. To stir, it has a lovely consisten...	Par-blending the sauce (eg with a stick blender) could thicken/emulsify it just enough to stop it from separating but without adding any thickener.
How do I properly cut leafy herbs like basil? I often cut herbs to top off my dishes or as a core ingredient in salsa, sauces, guacamole, or any other similar use. For most purposes I would want a fine chop but in some cases more of a strip is called for to top or garnish. What type of knife should I use and how shou...	Strips of herbs is called a chiffonade: Stack the leaves together. Roll the leaves into a cigar shape Slice across them. I typically use a chef's knife. If I have multiple herbs, I'll wrap the smaller leaves in one of the larger ones. (eg, basil & oregano) If you want it minced, then you should "run your knife throu...
How do I properly mince garlic? I often need to mince garlic to add to any number of dishes. If I don't want to use a garlic press or microplane, how do I mince it with a knife? What type of knife should I use and how should I cut it? I'm most interested in the techniques associated with efficiency and safety.	You can try to treat it as a really, really small dice if you have a sharp enough knife. But it's easier to use a chefs knife to cut it in one direction, and then try to start cutting it into sticks .... but when it starts getting difficult, just rock your knife back and forth, slowly moving it through the pile. After ...
What is a julienne cut? I'm not familiar with the term "julienne" in cutting and knife skills. What is the purpose of it? How do I safely execute the cut? Related question on applications of the cut: Julienne applications	The French have names for a lot of cuts, not just 'dice' and 'mince'. (and I don't mean 'large dice'). And that list is incomplete -- it's missing chiffonade ... I have no idea how many others. Julienne is a cut where you have items looking like small sticks -- a few inches long (about 10 cm) , and about 1/8" (3mm) ...
bread making remove butter Most recipes for bread machines have 2 tablespoons of softened butter in them. Will omitting this modify the recipes, and are there substitutes for butter?	Fat softens bread because it interferes with the gluten formation. It also gives the bread a richer flavor. Many breads, including standard sandwich bread, include fat for these reasons. Butter has great flavor but any fat will do. You should soften any solid fats. You can probably leave the fat out if there isn't much...
Substitute for Robin Eggs malted milk candy This summer, we made some great malted milk ice cream and mixed in some crushed Robin Eggs that we'd bought on sale after Easter. I'd love to make the same ice cream again, but the problem is: it's not Easter and I can't find Robin Eggs anywhere. Are there other candy that I...	I suggest Whoppers. There's no crunchy candy exterior and the chocolate is somewhat thinner (I think), but those seemed to be low on your list of requirements. They are somewhat unusual to find in grocery stores, but you may be able to find fun-size packs easily in post-Halloween sales.
What is the "Kamchin" can on the photo and what can I do with its contents? I found this can in my pantry - I don't recall buying it, but the date seems valid and I like the ingredients on the label (chives, coriander, parsley, fenugreek, vegetarian oil (?) and salt). Googling for "Kamchin" does not return anything in...	Kamchin is a mixture of herbs, used for making Persian stews such as Ghormeh Sabzi. In Farsi, Ghormeh means stew and Sabzi means herbs. A basic recipe for Ghormeh Sabzi is: INGREDIENTS 500g of Beef or Lamb I cup kidney beans 2 onions 500g Kamchin – these are Persian herbs, a mix that is mostly parsley and spinach METH...
Recreating an accidental crust effect For a bake sale, I made a pumpkin cheesecake with a ground ginger-snap cookie crust. It's the first time I had ever made the recipe. As I do whenever I make cheesecake, I cooked it in a 9" springform, and had the springform in a deep water bath as it cooked. The water bath had be...	I have seen recipes where a hot caramel was poured on the crust before the filling is added. It's designed to help help keep the crust from becoming soggy. Sadly, I can't find a recipe for you; googling turns up a lot of results for caramel sauces on top. But I can give you a basic approach: Prepare your crust in the p...
Storing spices against mold I'm storing spices and dried herbs, as I always did, in glass containers into a spice only-drawer. It always worked fine. But looks that this house is particularly humid, because ground spices, and even seeds like fennel, started to become moldy, and they're not THAT old... I don't always ...	Have you considered vacuum sealing? As you are buying larger amounts of spices to use for a whole year, here's what I would recommend. Obtain some vacuum seal containers sized for the amount of each spice you are going to purchase. Get some smaller glass bottles for your daily use. When you purchase your spices and ge...
Pressure cooker delay timer use case Many electric pressure cookers, such as my Power Pressure Cooker XL come with delay time feature. According to the manual this can delay cooking by up to 24 hrs. Apparently to accommodate user's schedule. But wouldn't the ingredients spoil by that time? Has anyone used this feature...	Dried legumes, and sometimes grains, are commonly soaked 3-24h before pressure cooking them, and this feature would allow useful automation of that method.
Why not to cut into the meat when scoring duck breasts? Every recipe about searing duck breasts I've seen says that you should score the breasts cutting through the skin, but not too deep: you should avoid cutting into the meat. I do follow this instruction but don't completely understand why. What harm could be done ...	The little bit (about 4 - 5 grams after cooking) of fat in the breast itself will render out faster, and you could end up with a dryer over-crispy duck breast by the time it's done in the center. A tiny ding shouldn't present a problem, but if you actually get the whole or most of the edge of the blade into the breast,...
Baking at a lower temperature than the recipe calls for The recipe calls for 350 degrees for 10 minutes, yet my oven only goes up to 260 degrees. How long should the cake stay in the oven?	Convert 350°F to 175°C - I don't think there's any lower temperature issue here. If your oven goes up to 260 degrees, I'm guessing that's 260°C, not 260°F. (260°C is 500°F, so that's not a surprising maximum temperature to see, whereas a max of 260°F would be a pretty useless oven.) A cake recipe that calls for 350 deg...
how to clean my enameled cast iron pot I burned soup dry in A week ago, I left soup simmering in my new Staub cast-iron pot (http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/2507416/) for too long, and all the liquid evaporated and what was left burned on the bottom. I've scrubbed and soaked in hot water overnight for a week b...	As this is an enameled pot, there is a difference to "standard" cast iron. First, if you really damaged the enamel, you cannot restore it. You can continue using it, but you'll have to deal with rust. From the picture, I cannot tell if that's the case - some spots are rust-colored, but they could be organic residue bur...
How to Calculate Scoville Heat? when combining hot sauces with different Scoville Heat Units (SHU), how do I estimate the resulting SHU? Say I combined 100 grams of a sauce that was 1,000 SHU with 100 grams of a sauce that was 2,000 SHU. Would the resulting SHU be the average: 1,500? I'm trying to make a super hot sau...	You cannot calculate it, you can only measure it. Scoville is a subjective scale. Wikipedia tells you how it is measured - by testing with human panelists, using a certain protocol. As all subjective scales, Scoville is ordinal. Even though it is expressed in numbers, these numbers are best understood as ranks - you ...
Can I store soft serve ice cream in my regular freezer? I was gifted with a soft serve ice cream dispenser. however it's such a pain to always keep the machine on and running each time I want ice cream--more so that it highly consumes electricity. I wish to know if there is a way I can produce my soft serve in a large...	The standard recommended temperature for a home freezer is 0°F (-18℃). Regular ice cream keeps best at -5°F to 0°F. However, the proper storage temperature for soft serve ice cream is 18°F (-7℃). While you could raise the temperature of your freezer to accommodate this, it really wouldn't be recommended for the rest o...
Spoiled beef suet I received beef suet from a grass fed cow. I have been storing the packages in my freezer. I was going to render some, and put 10lbs in my fridge to thaw some, and life happened and I forgot about it. That was 2-3 months ago. The packages are vacuum sealed. Are they still ok to render into tallo...	Most likely yes, if the suet was cut from around the kidney portion of the cow, which is very likely what you have if you live in any country where suet is an ingredient that many people use. If it's not then you could have some connective tissue and such in there, so check for any kind of mold or a really offending s...
Does the temperature increase the longer the food is on the stovetop? My physics knowledge is nonexistent, so I'm sorry for the ridiculously simple question. When you're cooking on a stovetop (say on medium heat), does the temperature continuously increase the longer you're cooking, or is there a point where the temp...	In your oven, or any cooking method which has a thermostat marked with temperatures, the heat source is designed to turn on and off as needed to keep your food [somewhat] constant at close to that selected temperature. On the stovetop, with say the burner on medium heat, the heat source just keeps putting heat into you...
Higher temp and lower rack for thicker crust in brownies? I would like to thicken the crust of my brownies. Will I be able to achieve this by setting the pan at a lower level on the oven racks and increasing the temperature? Or do I maintain the same temperature and increase the time? My oven uses a large heating elem...	Use your normal recipe and then leave the brownies in the oven with the heat turned off! Start with 10 minutes and next time increase the time until you've reached the crust thickness you desire. Why? Leaving them in the oven with the heat turned off will keep on drying the crust (thus thickening it) until the oven coo...
How do I adjust a bread recipe for long, cool proofing? I've got that recipe that calls for 21g of fresh yeast for buns that shall only rest for one hour: https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&nv=1&rurl=translate.google.de&sl=de&tl=en&u=http://www.chefhansen.de/2013/10/07/the-golden-october/&usg=...	Seeing the recipe now, my only advice is: don't. Long proofing is something which is done with white wheat bread to add some aroma. And it depends on the yeast having very good growing conditions. What you have here is a quite complicated dough. It has a ton of pumpkin in it, and most of the flour is whole wheat. And...
Does store bought barbecue sauce need to be heated/cooked before consumption? I have been thinking about buying barbecue sauce to use as a condiment (to use as a dipping sauce). A local store has many different brands, such as Jack Daniels and others. Is it safe to consume this sort of pre-made barbecue sauces uncooke...	These products are generally made to be shelf stable and do not require heating. Once opened, you should keep in the refrigerator.
what muscles should be present in a ny strip steak? I was delivered some NY steaks, but they don't look like what I'm used to. Usually the NY seems to have one muscle, but these seem to have another muscle (highlighted in yellow). Would these still be considered NY? Any info is greatly appreciated. Thanks!	Yes, it is a NY strip. The "strip loin" is like two feet+ long and at least 3/4 of it is what you're used to seeing. The last four or so steaks include an additional muscle or two at the "top." You got those last few steaks. (SOURCE: I'm a butcher ;)
When's the best time to buy a Thanksgiving turkey? I know this is about buying, not cooking, but gathering your ingredients is the first step, and right now this is the one worrying me most. I'll be cooking the Thanksgiving bird this year, due to my wife's work schedule. I know that in the past she's had issues with g...	It all depends what you want: Best quality: Fresh, organic, heritage turkey. Order now, pick up maximum 1 week beforehand Good quality, reasonable price: Frozen organic turkey. Buy now Good quality, normal price: Fresh turkey. Order now, pick up maximum 1 week beforehand OK price: Frozen turkey. Buy now Best price: Bu...
Searing boeuf bourguignon The other day, I tried to make beouf bourguignon. The recipe called for 6 lbs of beef, I had 5. Nevertheless when it came time to sear the meat I had to do it in batches. Which is fine, except that by batch 3 the fond from batch 1 began to burn. I want that fond! What is the best technique ...	There's two things you really need to control, the moisture of the surface of the beef and the heat / fat content of the pan. Always pat beef down with a paper kitchen towel (or whatever else you use) prior to seasoning it and searing it. It will sear considerably faster if you do this, which results in you having les...
Name of Vegetarian that Eats Insects There are different type of vegetarians, such as Lacto ovo vegetarian, Lacto vegatarian, and Vegan. Some cultures eat insects, which may violate the naming of these rules. I'm curious if there is a name for vegetarians that eat insects too.	Logic suggests entomotarian by analogy with pescatarian and entomo- as a root for words related to insects. Specifically entomophagy is the practice of eating insects. I'm not alone in suggesting this: a blog called the culinary linguist users of at least in passing, and there are other hits on Google
How to clean ginger for tea I have recently taken up making homemade ginger tea. I am living in Korea and most produce is very dirty and has to be cleaned. The ginger is very..curvy with small lumps all over it. I find it very hard to peel and clean..it seems to take forever. Is there an easier way? There are some ...	I drink ginger tea many times a day, so I purchase large pieces of ginger. They always have nubs, bumps and curves, as they are actually the root, or rhizome, of the ginger plant, and that's how they grow. I don't have one on hand at the moment or I'd do a pictorial demonstration. I call the sections that jut out from...
Dairy free popping candy? I am looking to recreate a dairy free popping candy chocolate I have no issues creating the chocolate but I'm sure popping candy contains milk... Is there such thing as a dairy free popping candy and if not is there any way I could make it? Thank you	Unfortunately, I don't think so. Milk sugars show up in the regular pop rocks ingredients list, and I also looked at the ingredients list for the culinary grade unflavored popping crystals, but those still contain milk sugars - it isn't just in the extra flavorings, but in the base material recipe. And as far as I kno...
How to make paneer at home like the packaged ones? whenever I make paneer, it is somewhat sticky on the teeth and doesn't give that 'squeaky' feel. I use the packaged pasteurized full cream milk.	You probably need a (small) cheese press and a proper cheese cloth. My attempts to improvise using chopping boards never drained well enough giving the effect you describe. It also doesn't brown nicely when you cook it, if it's too wet. When properly pressed it will cut into better pieces. You also need to press with ...
Can powdered citric acid be used instead of baking soda? So I couldnt find baking soda anywhere, went to a shop and the guy gave me citric acid saying its the same thing? I bought it anyway but I want to know if its same because I use baking soda in face masks as well.	No, those are absolutely not the same thing. They're completely different compounds: baking soda is sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), and citric acid is C6H8O7. And they're not even similar chemically: baking soda is a base, and citric acid is (surprise) an acid. Also, to help out in the future, Google is actually really go...
How does vacuum sealing something in a mason jar help? I use a vacuum sealer for sous vide cooking, and also have a lot of mason jars I use for juice glasses, storing leftovers, etc. I noticed a mason jar attachment for my vacuum sealer, but I'm a little confused as to the science and benefit behind it. Obviously afte...	The idea is to remove oxygen and moisture and get a good seal on the jar. The vacuum pulls the lid against the jar, forcing the gasket more tightly against the rim. Note that the seal won't be as good as with actual canning, though, where the gasket is also softened by heat, so it molds better to the rim. That may or m...
Which is the better substitute for tapioc	corn starch or potato starch? Which is the better substitute for tapioca in Chinese/South East Asian dishes, e.g. for thickener of soups and for meatballs? Is it corn starch or potato starch? I am asking because both corn starch and potato starch are more readily available in general supermarkets, whereas tapioca is a...
Can I bake pita bread on a pan? I wouldn't like to heat the oven just for making a pita bread for one sandwich. Could I bake it entirely in just a pan, just like some tortilla?	The answer is almost certainly yes. The almost is because I haven't made pita bread this way - but I have seen chapati made on a skillet, and under the right conditions it will puff up, even into one big pocket - so pan cooking doesn't specifically preclude that kind of development. Beyond the need for it to puff up i...
Why does broiled and roasted salmon give these different results? I ordered roasted and broiled(grilled) salmon form the restuarant and noticed both products tasted quite different. I don't have a great digestive system but noticed that the roasted salmon agreed with me more than the broiled salmon. I want to underst...	Roasting doesn't really imply a specific temperature. The roasted salmon you've had might've been done at 450F, or perhaps a lower temperature. Either way, it doesn't require tons of browning. You don't want to overcook salmon, so you'll cook it until it's cooked through, and even at 450F, that doesn't necessarily mean...
Is it OK to wash other things than dishes with the same sponge scrub? My friend does it and I argued with her that the dish sponge scrub should only be used for dishes and not the sink or the counter top because it will make the sponge too dirty for future uses for the dishes.	Yes, it's ok to wash other things with the sponge. You can easily use it for counter-tops, the sink, stove top, the floor - anything like that wthout a problem. The sponge will become dirty, of course, as you clean with it, but the same is true of washing dirty dishes with it. If you can clean a sponge well enough to ...
How to make Ghost Pepper Queso I have an event coming up and the person who usually brings the popular 'Ghost Pepper Cheese Dip' can't make it. I've order some 'Smoked and Dried Bhut Jolokia Ghost Chili Pepper Pods' but I have not idea how to deal with them. I figure I need to soak them, then mince them and integrate ...	The basic question is how to work with your dried bhut jolokia chili peppers. First and foremost, don gloves (and, afterwards, remove them so that they're inside out). To rehydrate the pods, put them in a bowl and pour boiling water over them, enough to cover them. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit unt...
How to make the Custard Bun so white? I'm trying to make Custard Bun following the instructions from : How to make Custard Bun- Milk Yolk Buns Everything goes well except the color of the dough and the bun. I can't make it so white as it looks in the images. Both the dough and the bun I made were white but yet a litt...	There can be several factors here. The first is the flour. Are you really using bleached cake or pastry flour? If you are using all purpose flour, especially if it is unbleached (and bleached is banned in some countries), you will get a more yellowish hue of the dough. This is the most likely culprit. If you are in Eur...
Want vinegar taste! I want to try fermenting sauerkraut but I love the vinegary taste. Can I add vinegar to the mix or is there another way to get a more vinegar taste?	Pickling by fermentation is accomplished by bacteria that produce lactic acid. The kraut will become more acidic and flavorful over time. Tasting the kraut, as it ferments, will help you learn where you like it the best. This is different from vinegar pickles, where a vinegar based brine is used to flavor the produc...
Brining vs Salting - what's going on? The issue of whether or not to salt a steak in advance is ancient, but I think it's fair to say that there is at least some consensus that salting meat is associated with drier steak, because of the moisture that the salt draws out. For other cuts/meats, it seems to be a more comp...	The question starts with an inaccurate assumption. Salt does NOT necessarily result in "drier steak." Salting a steak will draw some moisture out of the outermost layer of meat initially. That's true. However, salt also helps to break down the outer muscle structure of the meat. Thus, within 10-15 minutes after me...
Missing recipe name and method I have a list of ingredients but no recipe name or method - does anyone know what it may be? The ingredients are: 200ml strong coffee 1 Tabs Demerara sugar 75g plain chocolate Also listed separately: 100g white chocolate 4 eggs separated 75g caster sugar 500g mascarpone cheese I gue...	Absent the cake portion, the ingredients are precisely as listed for the Waitrose White and Dark Chocolate Tiramisu. Recipe and image courtesy of Waitrose.com As @ChrisH has suggested, someone may have been modifying the recipe to use ready-made cake, such as a Madeira. Coffee chocolate syrup 200ml strong coffee 1...
Scientific method to microwave octopus I want to cook about 300 g of parboiled frozen octopus. I am sorry to say that the parboiled octopus is white, not translucent but good quality, freshly produced. The octopus therefore needs to be boiled to soften. If I have a microwave, can I put the 300 g octopus in a glass di...	If you want to boil something in your microwave, you certainly can. I doubt it'll be as power-efficient as doing it on the stove, but it's possible. But there's no formula to get you a time and power level. You probably want to heat on maximum power until the water boils, then heat on the lowest power setting which kee...
How to make pre-baked pita bread I'd like to pre-bake pita bread so that I can store it in the fridge and use them one at a time by heating them in a pan. Any idea how to do that?	I normally make a full batch of pitta, freeze most of it and then defrost using the toaster. Contrary to Joshua Engel's answer, I've never had any trouble with the pitta toasting rather than defrosting; for contexts where I want pitta I'm happy for it to be hot. My toaster has a 'defrost' setting which I think reduces ...
Is there any way to bring an egg to its natural state (not boiled) after you cook it? This is probably a stupid question, but I'm curious now after I opened the refrigerator looking for eggs to make a cake and there was only one and it was cooked. Is there any way to undo that, whether at home or an industrial way?	No, there is no way you could do this in a kitchen. The process of denaturation is usually considered irreversible, a boiled egg stays boiled. Ok, it is possible to un-denaturize proteins if you have the right chemicals and a fast centrifuge available and it earned Colin Raston and his team an Ig Nobel Prize. But even...
How to contain trash/waste food smells? After using certain foods e.g. fish, spinach the remaining trash/waste food starts to smell and my tiny flat starts smelling of fish etc. I cannot take the rubbish out daily and if I put them in plastic bags I notice the smell keeps coming out, maybe these bags are porous. I'm ...	I put potentially malodorous food scraps in the trash if I know I will have enough to take the trash out that day (I hate wasting trash bags, blame my OCD). If not, I will put scraps in freezer bags and leave them in the fridge temporarily. The difference between freezer bags and regular plastic bags is they are much t...
Substituting canned pumpkin for fresh pumpkin? This question is essentially the reverse of this older one. Can I safely substitute canned pumpkin for fresh pumpkin in a pumpkin soup recipe? If so, should I expect any side effects in taste or consistency, and, if so, are there any corrections I should make to offset th...	As André Soltner is basing his recipe from recollections of growing up in Alsace, it may be that it was not the garden pumpkin, as it's known and which resembles the large US variety most familiar as decoration. Several of the many grown in the Alsation region might be better suited to soups and other recipes. The Hok...
Can we use white sugar, instead of brown sugar? I want to bake a cake but I don't have light brown sugar. Can I replace it with white sugar?	You can substitute white sugar for light brown sugar with no problem, in my experience. Make sure you substitute by weight (grams/oz), and not by volume(cups/spoons). This is because brown sugar is slightly more dense, so you get more sugar in a cup than you do with light brown.
Drying fatty meat in food dehydrator - is it okay for short time consumption? Well, I bought a food dehydrator. Every site told me to dry only lean meat, and so I did until now. However I was thinking of drying some ham in larger chunks to hopefully get sort of prosciutto substitute. I know that the fat can go rancid ...	Yes. It may be fine for immediate consumption. The problem is the air flow from the drying itself can also accelerate the oxidation of the fat. When I have dried fatty meat the fat already tasted a bit off. This is a matter of quality, not safety. If the fat isn't objectionable to you after drying then it is fine. As y...
How to incorporate quick soaked beans into a simple vegan chilli recipe I make a big pot of vegan chilli roughly as follows: Saute onion and garlic. Brown soya mince. Add 1 tin corn, 1 tin tomatoes, 1 tin chickpeas, 2 tins beans, various spices, cocoa powder, and tomato paste. Simmer for a while. I'm sorry if all th...	I would soak the beans for several hours, or overnight; discard the soaking water. Tinned beans have been cooked, so place the soaked beans in your usual cooking vessel and add fresh water to about an inch over the beans. You could add in your tomato paste, spices, and cocoa powder. While it simmers for about 20 minut...
Can one bake a cake with a cooked egg instead of a raw one? This recent question about a person who wanted to bake a cake but only had a cooked egg left suggested me an even stupider one: is it possible to bake a cake with a cooked egg instead of a raw one? After all, the egg is going to end up cooked inside the cake ...	I would say no. The function of the egg in the cake is to go in raw, mix with the other stuff, and once the raw egg has penetrated and coated the other ingredients thoroughly, bind it all together with that bouncy, sticky solidified eggy property which comes into existence as the egg cooks. Cooking the egg first all b...
How many calories does a home-made marinade add? I'm planning on marinating my chicken legs with Tabasco sauce. I have read that a marinade should be one part lemon juice and 3 parts olive oil. I'm going to be using two skinned chicken legs, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and Tabasco sauce The reason I want to ma...	Oil which ends up being eaten, no matter if it comes from deep frying, marinating or just adding it, clocks in at 7-9 calories per gram of oil. If you add any sugar or thick syrup, calculate around 4 calories per gram. Tabasco sauce, being mostly vegetables and vinegar, is truly trivial in calories. If you weigh the o...
Should I maintain a carbon steel knife with oil? I just got a new All Clad chef's knife that is carbon steel. I've read that carbon steel knives require a lot of maintenance like wiping twice after every single use(once with a damp cloth and again with a dry cloth) and not leaving it in the sink for even a minute. I w...	I write it as a seasoned carbon steel knife user and a hobbyist knifemaker. Use edible oil or nothing Safety first. You can use any oil as long as you are really, really sure you wouldn't mind it added to your food. Patina is good. There are two kinds of iron oxide. Let's call them red (rust) and black (patina). Black ...
Should I under-cook vegetables if I plan on microwaving them the next day? I usually make chicken and stir fry veg for my lunch the following day. Obviously I cook the chicken fully but I was wondering if I plan on only eating the meal the following day and heating it in the microwave for 2 mins @ 1000w, should I unde...	The vegetables are likely to cook more during the reheating process, so if you don't want that you'll have to cook them less initially. They won't be the same as if you'd stir-fried them to perfection and eaten them straight away of course, but this is something I do myself when preparing meals to reheat at work. So, b...
Are chalk labels on food jars safe to use in the kitchen? Despite their popularity, some believe that using chalk to label food jars can create unnecessary dust that can get into the food, is this a real concern, or has technology advanced enough where this is not a problem? Maybe the amount of chalk used on the label...	There certainly will not be enough chalk-dust-kick-up to warrant any safety concerns through inhalation or otherwise. The only concern I could think of would be to have to constantly rewrite labels after handling!
When rendering beef fat for tallow, must the fat come from the cow's kidneys or heart area? I purchased a package of "beef fat" from the grocery for making tallow. I cut it up into one inch cubes and placed in the slow cooker for 4-5 hours. I ladled off the fat and double filtered it through cheesecloth. The liquefied...	The source of the fat can make a difference in taste, texture, color, clarity, and fat composition. (And that's not just the part of the cow, but also the breed of cow, how old it was, its diet, etc.) The kidney fat, for example, is a particular area used from cows that produces a particular kind of desirable fat, bu...
Will I damage a plastic bowl with a marble pestle? The title should say it all. I have a pestle but lost the mortar that belonged to it and wonder if I can use it with my ol' plastic bowls.	Yes you will damage plastic. At the very least, you will scratch them. At worst, you will get plastic dust in your food. Don't do it. If you don't believe me, take empty plastic bowl (one you don't mind damaging) and push pestle against it's wall. You will see for yourself.
How to get rid of boiled chicken breast smell? I boiled sliced chicken breast in plain water for elders. It's their meal. Raw chicken was fresh, but cooked chicken smells not nice. I know it should smell, but I feel bad for them eating this thing. Is there any tips to get rid of the smell? Thanks!	There are a lot of simple hacks that you might try to get rid of the smell in the finished dish, which involves adding small amounts of herbs or spices etc. But of course, it needs to ensured that no-one will have any adverse effect with the additives. Some ideas: 1) Add lemon juice (fresh squeezed is better) and some ...
Cooking thick fresh egg pasta I tried making fresh egg pasta for the first time today, and generally I think the dough came out alright, except that, as I don't have a roller (and also because I just underestimated the thickness) my pasta was quite thick. I used 100g of 00 flour per large egg, that's all. I essentiall...	The hardness you're experiencing is a sign that you've undercooked it. It isn't really "hard" in the sense that dry pasta is hard. It's not brittle, just very tough and difficult to bite through. You can continue to cook it, but it's going to start becoming mushy on the outside before it becomes cooked through to the i...
Storage of Butternut Squash I've just bought a butternut squash. On the label it says "Keep at room temperature". Why shouldn't I store it in the fridge?	Two factors affect the storage of butternut and other winter squash, temperature and humidity. From Bonnie Plants : You’ll see best storage results when you stash squash in a cool, dry spot. For most winter squash, store at 50º to 55º F with relative humidity of 60 to 70 percent. Obviously, the temperature in our re...
How do I label already-frozen bags? We have a question about how to label things for the freezer in general, but that's for if you've managed to plan ahead. What if you have a bag in the freezer, already thoroughly frozen, so tape doesn't stick well and markers don't write well? What's a good way to label it at that p...	If you can’t get the marker to work, just add another bag around the old one.
Help with rubbery roti/chapatti I have been trying to master the roti for about a year now, and I've only made perfectly soft roti a handful of times. Otherwise they come out rubbery. The problem is NOT the dough. I make the dough with atta, water and about a teaspoon of oil. But my mother-in-law uses the same dough a...	If you are using the same dough then the issue lies in your preparation of the dough. There are too many variables to this, I would approach this systematically, eliminating variables as you go by watching your mother in law and measuring how she does things. Specifically I would look for: Maybe your roti is too thick...
I forgot the chicken out on the counter-top all night. How do I dispose of it? I left the chicken out on the counter top all night. Reading these comments, it looks like we should not consume it. So now how do I dispose of it?	You dispose of it like you would with any other meat-based remains that are unfit for human consumption. Depending on your local trash system that may mean anything from throwing it out of the window to wrapping it up and putting it in a specific trash or recycling container. Your local waste management company or mun...
When should one ice christmas fruit cakes It's that time of year again, where Christmas fruit cake have been baked and are being topped up with your favourite dark spirit. My favourite (and most successful) recipe suggested topping up with brandy weekly (without getting the cake too moist). However, no suggestions wer...	It's not unknown for me to keep a slice until April (well wrapped so it doesn't dry out). All that happens is that the icing gets a bit hard. I use fondant icing, and it takes at least a couple of months to get as hard as royal icing does almost immediately. This is with bought marzipan; if you make your own I don't kn...
Why aren't my chocolate chip cookies coming out the way I'd like them? I'm making chocolate chip cookies. Am I doing something wrong if my cookies look flat on top, and soft, and brown on the bottom. They're soft on top and are crunchier at the bottom. They taste fully cooked and good, but not exactly like cookies sho...	What you're describing is something that I'd consider normal in a cookie. Some cookies are more cake-like, some are chewy, some are crunchy, some are flatter than others - but they're all good. Almost any factor - from the type of fat, to the type of liquid, to the leavener, to the temperature of both the oven and the ...
Is it safe to reheat tea with milk? I have leftover tea from last night but it has milk in it. Is it safe to reheat it the next day and drink it? Or should I just bin it?	The official answer from your health department is no, it's not safe. After four hours at room temperature, you have to pitch it. That standard is a little on the paranoid side. Which is appropriate, since they have to protect people for whom a little salmonella is potentially life-threatening (the infirm, babies, the ...
Is there another way to prove dough? My dough is not proving because the room temperature is too cold in my house. Is there another method to make my dough rise without over-proving it?	Assuming you want to prove it fairly quickly (i.e. you can't wait for it to prove at a cool room temperature because of when you want to eat it), you have a few options: Find a warm place: If you have a stored hot water system, the airing cupboard is good. Although if your hot-water tank is badly insulated it may ...
Baking in drinking glasses -- heat vs. logo paint, other issues I've made this chocolate Guinness cake (Nigella Lawson) before. It's delicious and looks good. But it would look even better baked in pint glasses (or half pint). It's a moist, slow-baking cake so should be fairly forgiving on cooking time.What should ...	What you want to do has been done successfully. There is a video and instructions here: Guinness Cake baked in Guinness glasses I believe the greatest risk of thermal shock would come when you remove the cakes from the oven. Do not take the glasses out of the baking pan and place on a cool counter top (doing this can b...
Is this batch of sauerkraut salvageable? In researching sauerkraut recipes, I saw one could make it in a crock pot or jar covered with cheesecloth. Not having a suitable jar & not wanting to use my crock pot, I'm using a bowl & cheese cloth, checking for mold every day. I got on this site to find out why it doesn't li...	My kraut doesn't always show signs of foaming, and, even though it is fermenting, it is relatively crisp. Further, 11 days is not very long. The container you use is not that important. What is important is salt (and if you say it is "very salty" you probably have enough) and keeping the cabbage submerged. You will ne...
To Preheat Or Not I read a recipe that said don't preheat the oven when baking a pound cake. Why wouldn't you preheat the oven? Every recipe I've ever read said preheat the oven. This is really confusing to me.	I have seen (yeast) bread recipes that rely on an un-preheated oven and seem to take advantage of the slow heating process (give the leavener some time to act before incapacitating it by overheating). While pound cake is unlikely to use yeast, there was likely a similar idea on the recipe writers mind. Maybe getting a ...
Costa Rican empanada-like food? So I went to Costa Rica and tried a a savoury pastry that is similar to empanadas but it is not empanadas. The pastry had a yellowy-orange colour, the shape of it was rectangular and it was stuffed with some sort of flavourful meat. I really want to know what the name of this food is.	What you describe sounds like a Jamaican Patty. From Explore Costa Rica.com : A Jamaican patty or pattie is a pastry that contains various fillings and spices baked inside a flaky shell. Technically, it is a beef filled turnover. As its name suggests, it is commonly found in Jamaica, and is also eaten in other areas ...
Why would a recipe call for bone-in, skin-on chicken and then never use the bone/skin? This America's Test Kitchen recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken with "Roasted" Garlic Sauce has the ingredient: bone-in split chicken breasts, skin and ribs removed, trimmed of all visible fat The skin and ribs are never used in the r...	Bone in = the breast plate is still there. The ribs would typically be removed because in slow cooking the rib bones often have a habit of coming loose and being an annoyance or even a choking hazard while adding little or nothing to the taste. Leaving the breast plate however is referred to by many as cooking on the...
Does sputtering butter mean that water is present? When I place a pat of butter in a hot pan, the butter melts and begins to sputter and steam. Then steam bubbles pop which sends tiny grease drops flying out of the pan. This happens consistently whereas oil into a hot pan does not show the same behavior. Does this me...	Yes, your butter contains water - which is perfectly normal. While oil is 100% fat, butter is only around 80%1 fat plus some protein and ca. 15% water. Regarding your question where the water comes from - If you look at how butter is made, it becomes obvious that the water was there from the beginning: You start wit...
Finishing Sous-Vide Chicken Thighs en masse I'm throwing a party together soon and I wanted to sous-vide some chicken thighs. Because (1) It's tasty, (2) it's easy, (3) leaves open all my pans, stove and oven for other foods. The problem lies in finishing it off. Typically I remove the chicken, put it in a ice water b...	You could use a searzall with the chicken on a large baking sheet (make sure you have adequate space to do this without accidentally setting anything else ablaze). I usually use one in conjunction with pan-searing, so I'm not sure it could do the total job for you, but you certainly could use the broiler method and th...
Are ceramic plates generally oven-safe? Can you cook food in a ceramic eating plate in the oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit?	Yes, but make sure it's actually ceramic if you intend to roast for a long time. Some plates are a slightly cheaper (but still kiln-fired) clay dipped in glaze, and could be prone to cracking from thermal expansion and contraction. But at just 300 degrees for an hour or less, I don't think it would be a problem either ...
Can you ferment tomatoes in a fermenting crock with water seal? Going all the way, fermenting everything... Can tomatoes be fermented in fermentation crock?	Ripe Tomatoes I've fermented ripe tomatoes, not on their own but in mixed vegetables. They get very soft. I used a mason jar, but I imagine a crock would have similar results. Note that this was a brine style ferment (submerged in salt water), not a kraut-style ferment (mashed with salt and submerged in its own liquid...
What can I use as a substitute for canned refrigerated biscuits in monkey bread? I'm making monkey bread and I need refrigerated biscuits. I don't have any, however, and I don't really want to go buy them. What could I use instead of refrigerated biscuits?	Using refrigerated biscuits for monkey bread is actually just a convenient shortcut - if you don't have pre-prepared biscuit dough at hand, you can simply make your own sweet yeast dough from scratch, that's the classic (pre-Pillsbury-can) recipe. Either find a recipe that uses sweet yeast dough from scratch or substit...
Xanthan gum in bread baking I was under the impression that Xanthan Gum could be used in bread in order to increase the hydration and make it fluffier. I have tried it three times (0.5% - 1% of flour weight) in two different recipes (croissants and regular buns), but the dough was not noticeably easier to work with, n...	You seem to have misunderstood something, or been misinformed. The only reason that xanthan gum does something in gluten-free bread is that gluten-free bread cannot trap any air for rising and is a very moist and dense thing on its own. The xanthan gum is a kinda OK gluten replacement, imitating its role somewhat. It...
Will my bizcocho dominicano cake rise? I'm planning to make the cake batter from scratch on Sunday, refrigerate it (not freezing!) for about 3 days, and bake it up on Wednesday. But I'm cramped for time on that day. I've researched that the cake wouldn't rise as high, and one of bizcocho dominicano's known qualities i...	Sorry, but no. The baking powder aids in making the cake light, but the main "rising agent" is actually the air incorporated in the batter by patient whipping, together with the eggs. Now if you plan to store the batter for three days and then making up for the deflation by whipping again, you'll totally lose the fluf...
Why is my fresh pasta tough? I picked up a Marcato Pasta Maker and followed the recipe included to make both fettuccine and ravioli. The instructions that came with the machine offer two basic recipes: 500g soft wheat flour 5 eggs or 250g soft wheat flour 250g durum wheat (semolina flour) 5 eggs I've tried both ...	Try using double-zero (00) flour, available from Italian specialty stores. You might also prefer a recipe that uses more egg yolks, or only yolks and not whole eggs. For example: https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/fresh-pasta.
How to avoid vegetables sticking on heat-resistant glass dish? Sometimes I cook vegetables + fruits in a heat-resistant glass dish (yena/jena/pyrex, -40-300 Celsius degrees). I cut them into small pieces (carrots, potatoes, parsnip, mushrooms, onion, quince, apples, tomatoes, pepper, cauliflower, broccoli), I add some...	Butter has a fairly low smoke point, and may be burning in the oven. You could try using one of the "yellow oils" like canola (rapeseed), peanut, soybean or corn oil. Aside from that, it's not completely unexpected for cooking vegetables to stick to the edge of a dish. It may just be normal behaviour. My apple pies wil...
cooking in a plastic bag without removing extra air, at 100c? What happens if I just use a zip lock bag, and closed it on the food, without sucking out the extra air, and then used a heavy spoon at the bottom of a pot, with boiling water ? What i am trying to do is just get zip lock bags, without any other special equ...	During sous vide cooking, it is not uncommon to place food in a zip lock bag and leave the top unsealed and hanging over the edge (so water does not get in) of the vessel you are cooking in. It can easily be weighed down with some flatware, as you suggest. There is no need to suck a vacuum and seal, in most cases. Al...
Make sourdough starter without discarding I understand the point of discarding half the sourdough starter as the yeast develops so that you don't have exponential amounts of starter. Why not start with a half ounce of flour and just add the same weight as what's in the container? (I plan to try this.) On the fifth day...	While I have successfully begun a starter with only 10 grams of flour at the outset, I think I agree with Stephie that doing a little more is more efficient. I used to do very wasteful starters until I happened upon this site back in 2002 or something. (Amazingly, it's still there.) You can read the details there, b...
Sliced citrus in a pie? I've been considering making an orange pie - but something generally closer to e.g. an apple or pear pie than a key-lime. Something with distinct slices, not a custard(-ish) filling. From a cursory search, though, I can't find anything of the sort - no baked slices or chunks of any citrus. Is t...	Try searching for shaker lemon pie. You can also find a couple recipes for "shaker orange pie" but the lemon version is the more common one. It definitely works well with lemon. If the recipes specifically with orange don't work out, you could also try starting with a shaker lemon pie recipe, replacing the lemons with ...
Is there a spreadsheet with recommended heating and pasteurization times for different meats and temperatures for sous vide? For example, if I have a cut of beef or salmon, and I want to sous-vide cook either unpasteurized (rare or medium-rare) or pasteurized (medium+), based on thickness and temperature, how long sho...	The best resource I know of for sous vide pasteurization times is Douglas Baldwin's A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking. The recipes section has tables for pasteurization time as a function of temperature and thickness for fish, poultry, and red meat. Note that for red meat, there are pasteurization times down to 13...
How much Salt to Boil Chicken Breast Well you heard right how much salt,! I am a complete noob when it comes to cooking and I have never cooked before. I need to regain my muscle so i desire some boiled chicken. I want to know how much SALT and WATER is required to boil 500 grams about (1.10 pounds) of chicken breast...	You'll want to keep a couple of things in mind. Firstly salt is not necessary at all. Secondly, boiling a chicken breast will result in dry, chewy chicken. So, I would recommend poaching your chicken breast. That happens in a liquid that is simmering, just below the boil. You will need enough to cover the chicken b...
What does it mean for a menu to be a "set menu"? I hope this question isn't too off topic. What does it mean for a restaurant to have a "set menu"? The one I have in mine has three headings wit the descriptions: "starters...assortment as brought to the table to share family style"; "mains...each guest will chose their...	Collins dictionary gives a nice definition for a set menu: A complete meal in a restaurant or café for a stated price with a limited number of options to choose from for each course [...] The different serving options are family style: Like you would probably serve food at the family dinner table: every component i...
What are the 'acidity controllers' used in canned whole tomatoes? I was looking at the label on a can of Italian roma tomatoes (similar to San Marzano) and I noticed an ingredient called an 'acidity controller'. This makes perfect sense to me, but it doesn't go as far as to say what that ingredient consists of. It se...	It is normally just a mild organic acid like citric acid, they tend to act as buffers. But the reason to use a word like "acidity controller" is exactly to be able to use something else (say malic acid) so they don't have to reprint the label if they change the recipe. The reasons for acidity controllers is both safet...
How can I incorporate powdered peanut butter into a boxed banana bread? My husband has made this boxed Gluten Free Banana Bread Mix a number of times. It's easy, always comes out moist, and stays fresh for 3 or 4 days. Ingredients: 1 package Banana Bread Mix from Anna 2 jumbo eggs ⅓ cup oil 3 ripe medium bananas puree...	He's right. It likely would come out with a different consistency. That 1/3 cup of oil and maybe some egg would be partly absorbed by the peanut butter. That will affect the texture. For a first try: In a separate bowl I would reconstitute the 2 T of peanut butter with water (4 T in this case). For easier measuring 4 T...

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