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What is the reason behind seasoning "from a distance"? I've seen some top chefs like Gordon Ramsay seasoning their food in the "air" or "from a distance". Please take a look on the following example, where Chef Ramsay is seasoning a scallop: https://youtu.be/SyBF8S_Ocf0?t=1m12s Why is this technique used? Chef Ramsay...	Looking at the Scallop-and-peas video, it just looks like the chef is trying to sprinkle seasoning evenly onto a relatively small area of food. If you rain seasoning down from a distance it is less likely to land unevenly than if you shake some on at close range. Imagine spray-painting a wall: for even coverage, you go...
Can I put my cast iron pan with wood handle in the oven? Can I put my cast iron pan with wood handle in the oven? This is what it looks like.	Personally, I would not put it in the oven. You may be able to get away with it if you are not broiling anything for an extended period of time, but heat does not play nice with wood and after extended use I would expect the wood on the handle to blacken or even crack.
What is arepa flour? I found a recipe for arepas that I want to try and it calls for "Arepa flour (precooked cornmeal)". What is Arepa flour? Side question: Would I be able to substitute masa harina?	From Cook's Info : Arepa Flour is a refined, pre-cooked corn flour ("harina de maiz refinada, precocida".) It is not the same as the masa harina that is used in Mexico; for Arepa Flour, large-kerneled corn is used that has large, starchy endosperms, making for a starchier flour than that which is used for tortillas. ...
Irish Coffee harder to get right than Baileys Coffee? On a cold winter's day I was in a Irish-themed pub/restaurant and ordered an Irish Coffee. Some time later (could have been half an hour or longer), the waitress comes with all the stuff other people at the table ordered but she was terribly sorry to tell me that m...	Some preparations for Irish coffee demand that the whiskey and sugar be caramelized together by heating them in a heat-proof glass over a burner and then topped with hot coffee and thick liquid cream. It takes some experience to get this heating step right. (Youtube video here) Baileys coffee is simply coffee with adde...
Lard isn't sold anymore? Is lard being sold anymore? I went to two different groceries, no lard, and no tallow. (Shame on anyone who even thinks of telling me to use a hydrogenated oil.)	I've seen it in a lot of grocery stores either with the baking ingredients or at the meat counter. If your grocery store doesn't carry it, you might be able to request it. You might also be more likely to find it at an ethnic grocer, as it is traditionally used in tortillas, tamales, ramen, etc .
Are purple spots in freezer safe? There are purple spots inside the freezer that look like mold, but I'm not sure. Is it safe to store food in there?	Thanks for the picture. (Worth 1000 words.) Those spots aren't what I was imagining when you said purple. They look just like what I was imagining when you said mold, though. Or maybe I would call it "mildew". Anyhow, my advice: do clean it, with wet baking soda & rinse with water, like people say you should clean a r...
What is the purpose of waffle irons that flip? I saw some local shops selling waffle irons that have a complicated gimbal mechanism (such as the Bella Rotating Waffle Maker listed here). What is the purpose of begin able to turn the waffle within this device? Does this have any advantage over a regular waffle iron tha...	Some waffle irons flip to evenly spread the batter. This is important in commercial applications where the visual presentation of the product is crucial and can save on batter - you can use less batter to get a thick, complete waffle. The waffle iron presses rely on the expansion of the batter to create a complete waf...
What is queso (the sauce/dip)? Is it short for Chile con Queso? Queso is the Spanish word for cheese but (in the US) it is often used to refer to a cheese-based dip or sauce for tortilla chips. When I google "what is queso?", Google says "short for chile con queso". Looking it up on Wikipedia leads to a disambiguatio...	Google is correct, in that it can be a shortening of 'chile con queso' (most typically in the US to non-spanish speakers). But 'chile' is not the same as 'chili'. 'Chile' refers to peppers, so the dip is 'peppers with cheese'. 'Chili' is either an alternate spelling for the peppers, but more commonly in the US, it's a...
Should I thaw cherries for a sour cream cherry pie? I have a bag of frozen cherries and want to bake a pie with them, adding creme fraiche. I'll probably use a recipe intended for sour cream, as they are easier to find. But they tend to use fresh cherries, so they don't have recommendations on how to add frozen cherri...	Thaw and drain them. If you use fruit as a main ingredient like for a [your choice of fruit]pie, using frozen cherries will cause two things to happen: They will significantly increase your baking time, because you need extra oven heat to thaw them. This may cause your crust and cream mixture to dry out or overbake. ...
Substitute nixtamalized corn flour for corn meal + corn starch I want to make mexican tacos, which are usually made with masa harina (nixtamalized corn flour + water). However I don't have nixtamalized corn flour, I have precooked corn flour. I read in the Internet that precooked corn flour is not a valid substitute ...	I don't think that substitution will work out as you wanted. Nixmatalization changes the composition of the corn hull, the treatment weakens the tough outer shell and generally makes it very different from untreated corn. And the precooked flour is, well, already cooked - boiled before grinding to flour. Their textur...
Must a lid for a pot used for steaming be vented? This is a follow-up to my earlier question about steaming using the Instant Pot. The answer there said that the "steam" function of the Instant Pot was only for pressure steaming; for ordinary steaming, one needed the optional lid that has a small hole for a steaming v...	If a lid doesn't have a vent and the pot does not have any sort of locking mechanism like a pressure cooker, then the pressure of the steam inside will lift the lid off the pot and steam will escape. That was the "dancing" of the lid that you experienced. Venting holes in a lid just let some steam escape so the lid do...
life without refrigerator I'm a student living in a dorm without a refrigerator. I decided to change my diet and be a pescetarian starting this year. But most of the food sold nearby doesn't fit my diet or my budget so I'll have to cook my own food. I'm not quite sure what items I can stock on because I have no refrig...	I turned the fridge off years ago (noisy, waste of electricity). Equipment I've found handy: A food dehydrator (or the sun when available) as many foodstuffs dry well. (Possibly also mosquito netting or screens, as bugs love to get into e.g. tomatoes.) Don't overlook things like mushroom stems as these can be dried th...
Kefir sensitivity to drinking tap water? I had a batch of kefir go bad - a slightly un-nice parmigiano smell and bits and pieces of proper cheese-like consistency. I tried gently rinsing in water and putting it back into a fresh batch of milk (risking bits and pieces of "cheese" in the milk over overstressing the grai...	In general, rinsing milk kefir grains is not recommended. Rinsing grains apparently washes off a layer of protective bacteria. An experiment showed that rinsing produced grains that were smaller, and kefir that was milder. I'm told that occasionally the grains build up orange fatty deposits that must be rinsed off, th...
In a cheesecake, what’s the purpose of creaming the cream cheese and sugar? I did a cheesecake following this recipe (first time). I didn’t know I had to use cream cheese at room temperature, so I took it directly from the fridge, and also I don’t have an electric mixer. So as you can imagine, it was extremely difficu...	Creaming the cream cheese (fat) and the sugar grinds the sugar crystals making them smaller and also puts air in the globules of fat. Later when you bake the final mixture the air pockets expand making the baked mixture fluffier (increases rise...).
Storing a bear roast after cooking in a crockpot How do you store a bear roast after cooking it in a crockpot until you're ready to eat it? It was done at 8:30am and I plan to eat it around 6:00pm. It was cooked in beef broth.	If your crock has a warm that you can trust is above 140 F but not so hot to cook it down then you can leave it in the crock. Otherwise you need to get it under 40 F. A better option would have been to start it at a time so that it finished at 6 PM. Why not just start it 8:30 AM? If you are going to cool then remov...
My chicken soup always ends up with bones I'm an avid crock pot-ter. My favorite recipe by far is my dad's famous chicken soup. It calls for bone-in chicken. I usually use drumsticks because that is what my dad uses, but I ALWAYS end up with a ton of little pieces of bone in my soup and it makes this amazing soup kind...	I generally make chicken soup in two phases. Phase 1 is chicken stock, simmering (roasted) bones with aromatics for a long time (often, overnight), followed by straining. Phase 2 is chicken soup, combining the strained stock with chicken meat, vegetables, and other ingredients. Because the stock is strained, it has no ...
Veggie burgers that Bleed I have found these veggie burgers that bleed; but as we can see the price is hefty (~$62 for 5 lbs). I want to replicate them at home. They would have to be very convincing - ideally, the person eating them will not recognize that they ate a plant product and not meat without being told. Wha...	The ingredient list on the commercial product already gives you several pointers to work with in building a recipe: A legume protein is used, with additional binders (tapioca starch). Probably not in plain flour form, since that would result in more of a pancake than a meat like texture. beet juice and paprika are use...
What differences will happen if you use a rectangular baker to bake cookies instead of a tray? Hey so I have these rectangular bakers that I use to make lasagna. Unfortunately I don't bake cookies that often so I don't have a standard cookie tray. I decided to bake some cookies though so I opted for using those since ...	They should be fine. It's possible that they'll be a bit gooey, or just a touch underdone. The high sides of the pan may shield the cookies from the heat, just a little bit. The glass pans will absorb a little more heat, and so take just a tad longer to heat up - partially balanced by the fact they take a tad longer ...
How can I make pierogi gluten-free? I'm half Carpatho-Russian, the love of pierogies is in my blood, but my recent gluten sensitivity has stopped me from eating them, and I really miss them as they taste great and give you a lot of energy (the potatoes really help). So can someone tell me what I need to swap out to ma...	The main source of gluten in pierogi (the plural is pierogi, the singular is actually pierog) is the flour in the dough. You should be able to substitute regular flour for a gluten free version (eg rice flour) to make them gluten free. The same goes for whatever filling you are using, if you would regularly use flour a...
Resources for cooking for Wilson's Disease? I have a friend who has been diagnosed with Wilson's disease, and needs to go on a low-copper diet. There are plenty of websites that spell out which foods are okay and which to avoid. (some are more complete or more detailed (2) than others ... but there isn't the wealth o...	When I saw this question a few months ago, I didn't want to answer it because: cooking for people with any kind of nutritional disease is not only difficult, but also dangerous, therefore, before you move on, please ensure: You have to have more than a basic understanding of (bio)chemistry You have to have more than a...
How does the way chicken is cut affect the taste (if at all)? I wonder if a sloppily filleted chicken breast will yield a drier, less flavorful chicken. If it does, why is this the case? And what is the proper way to filet a chicken?	The way meat is cut can affect it in a few ways. The most obvious is cooking time, a thinner cut of meat with more surface area will cook much more quickly than a thicker cut with less or equal surface area. Thus unevenly cut meat will cook unevenly, with thicker portions remaining raw while thinner portions are cooked...
Reducing stock and then adding water In the past I would simmer stock without a lid on, and the results were generally good. Strong flavor and good gelling after refrigeration. The only problem is that this resulted in very little stock to make soup out of, so I would have to water it down. Lately I have been trying l...	Basically, a good stock is fairly concentrated. In general, home cooks use too high a water to bones/veg ratio for a proper result. So, when you leave your stock uncovered you are concentrating everything and, perhaps, getting a good result...at least one you like. However, this is difficult to tell without knowing ...
Removing macaron paper template under silicone mat I'm a keen baker and am now buying silicone baking mats. However when I've realised when I am baking macarons, it looks like it is going to be quite difficult to remove the paper macaron template from under the mat. Does any professional have any tips?	Yeah, don't. Either don't use guides at all (you shouldn't need them after the third or so batch), or use good ones, like this. Macarons are difficult and fussy anyway - you don't need to add to the fussiness. Eventually, you'll either thank me or curse the very idea of those wretched cookies. I've tried to remove pape...
How can I cook more efficiently in a campervan using a single pot over a gas-powered flame? I am using a campervan 3 nights per week, 40 weeks per year. I have a single gas powered hob (like most camping stoves), a sink with running water and am seeking advice to cook efficiently with as minimal cleaning as possible....	I've done a lot a single ring camping cooking. My camper van has a bit more kitchen than yours but I still take a similar approach when staying in it and going to work. Here's a typical example that worked for me. I cooked a curry at home and put a portion in the fridge (freezing is also an option). When camping I bo...
Left crockpot unplugged for about an hour I'm making chicken chili. Or trying to... This morning I turned on my crockpot to high for about 40 minutes. I then drove to work and replugged it, about an hour after unplugging it. After cooking it for 5 more hours, should it be safe?	It likely depends on if the food came up to 140°F (60°F) while you were still at home, and how much it cooled off during the trip. Basically, your time in the 'danger zone' is cumulative, so it's the sum of: Time to heat up to above 140°F (60°C) Time from when it cooled down to below 140°F 'til it go back up to 140°F ...
Size of pieces of fish for baking I want to bake salmon with some seasoning in the oven. I was wondering what whould happen if I were to cut fish in thinner pieces so I can have more surface area covered with seasoning. Will the fish bake worse? What should be the perfect size? Or is it get the fish as big as possible...	In general, the size of the cut has the biggest impact on how long the food will cook. A thinner slice of salmon will cook much more quickly than a thicker cut with the same surface area. Cutting the salmon too thin with a large surface area can also lead to over-seasoning, which will overpower the delicate salmon flav...
rusty charcoal chimney starter, safe to use? My charcoal chimney starter is covered in rust inside and out, is it still safe to use? The grill and grill grate are still rust free and new.	Yes, it's perfectly safe to use basically until it falls apart. It gets very hot in use, which prevents any sort of rust-proof coating from sticking, but the rust is harmless. You could try oiling it after use if you wanted to reduce further rust - that oil will burn off every time it's used, but will help to slow rust...
How to increase the shelf life of Bechamel sauce? how to increase the shelf life of bechamel sauce and what is the actual shelf life of white sauce?	You cannot increase the shelf life of random food. There are databases with food lifetimes, if you can't find your food there, assume 3-5 days for any cooked, ready to eat dish - that applies to bechamel too. You can try freezing it and see if it comes out well; there is a chance it will separate on thawing. If freezi...
What type of lubricant should be used on oven door hinges? My oven has squeaky door hinges. There are many types of lubricant available ( traditional, silicon, Teflon etc.), all with different pros/cons. I'm curious, is there a "best practice" choice for what should be used in this case?	Although they don't get as hot as the interior of the oven oven hinges are exposed to a significant amount of heat, so you should pick a lubricant which isn't going to burst into flames when exposed to heat, dry out, or gum up. My usual go-to oil for the home is 3 in 1 oil, but I wouldn't use it here because of the hea...
How much do egg yolks and whites weigh, in grams? I have an Italian recipe that has been translated to English. The recipe calls for 360g egg whites and 240g yolks. Can anyone tell me how much this is?	The rule of thumb to divide an egg is: 60% egg-white 30% yolk 10% shell So it depends on the size of egg you use (note that the size definition varies between countries). Example: For a 60g (middle of the weight range) European M / American L egg, that's 60*0.6 = 36g whites and 18g yolk. -> So you'd need (ab...
What is 1 scallion? When a recipe calls for 1 scallion / green onion / spring onion, what does it mean? Is it A (a bundle as sold), B (a bunch of connected shoots), or C (one shoot)? Usually I just ignore the count and put in as much as I think makes sense, but I've never actually been sure what the count means.	B is 1 scallion. A is a bunch. C is just the green part which I usually dispose in favor of the white part you seem to throw out...
How easily can table salt be contaminated? In Alton Brown and The Food Lab Play With Chicken, Alton Brown (jokingly?) chides J. Kenji Lopez-Alt for touching raw chicken right before pinching salt from a tub. AB: So it's okay to put your hands on the chicken and then stick em back in the salt. Okay, also noted. Good s...	What's going to live in the salt? AB: Nothing's going to live in the salt at all. I'm just giving you crap. Is it true that nothing is going to live in the salt? Practically, how likely is it for salt to become unsafe for consumption through unsafe sanitation procedures? As far as I know, there are organisms which can...
Could you use a bread tin as a pate mould? I have bread tins and was wondering if they would work as pate molds? I'm just a little bit worried that they will rust. Also I have seen videos where youtubers line the mold with plastic to get the pate out of the mold easier, is there not a way to use something like "Cook a...	I've used a small loaf pan as a pate mold, worked just fine. I don't see any reason really not to use one as long as the size is good for what you intend. I don't like the plastic wrap idea, I'm not interested in cooking with plastic in a high temp environment. With sous vide you know that temps aren't going to get abo...
Is a rillette typically cooked in fat? I want to know if you have cooked your pork to the point where you can 'pull' it can you further cook the rillette in fat / lard in a similar way to what a confit is done or is the fat just poured over the the cooked pork when you seal the meat in the container? Can you use pink ...	Rillette is pork cooked in fat (not really confit, but close to). Most of what I've seen on the internets is that you can freeze the rillette for longer storage; if not, keep at most for 30 days in the fridge. You can pour a little bit of the fat on top of the rillette in the container, mostly for extra flavour, not fo...
How many teaspoon of milk is needed to melt 50g of chocolate? I am melting some chocolate on pan so I read that melting with water cause some lumps, and told that to use milk. So I want to know how much milk I need to use. I am using normal Cadbury Diary Milk chocolate bar approx of 50g.	You do not need any milk to melt chocolate. The goal with melting chocolate is to keep it within a range of heat so that it doesn't burn or separate. A bain-marie is a technique where you place a heat-proof bowl over a pot of simmering water to heat the contents of the bowl slowly. If you're melting chocolate for dipp...
Chewed artichoke turned blue I ate some cooked artichoke stems; some of the outermost skin is tough, so I just chewed it and then spit out the inedible bits. I left those bits in a container on my kitchen counter near the sink, still sealed. A day later, when I dumped the contents, the leftover bits were a bright blue...	We eat artichoke often. We pressure cook them in an old one quart aluminum pot. I have seen the cut stem (not chewed) butt turn and ooze blue from the cut stem when left in the fridge too long. In that condition the stem has a sour fermentation, but no obvious mold. I have eaten it like this thinking, I am getting extr...
How do these flavors of liquid smoke differ? When buying liquid smoke I'm generally faced with a choice of: Hickory Apple-tree Mesquite Pecan How do these differ? I'm interested in knowing things that'd help me decide what to pair them with.	Mesquite is a very assertive flavor that typically goes with beef, especially fatty beef. Pecan and hickory are stronger than apple, but milder than mesquite, and are great for pork or poultry, and work just fine with beef. Applewood is very flexible, a bit lighter and sweeter. It's the only one of the woods you mentio...
My oat bread is drier than the Sahara I made some high protein / low calorie oat bread using a recipe I found online. The recipe is: 12 egg whites 120 g oat flour (from rolled oats) 28 g psyllium husks 70 g whey protein 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt Mix all ingredients then bake for about 40 minutes at gas mark 3....	Your oat bread is a quick bread recipe. Keep in mind that advice for quick breads is going to be very different than advice for yeast risen / glutinous breads. In quick breads, the structure of the loaf is provided by egg protein and the moisture is mostly provided by fat. Your recipe uses only egg whites which, as J K...
Is there any potential harm to using warm water in my sourdough starter? My house is cold. It is regularly around 13 to 15°C (55 to 59°F) and it is only with a lot of (expensive) heating that I get it up to anything approaching "normal" room temperature. My sourdough starter is about three weeks old and is healthy eno...	I would limit the temperature of the water to around 110F. 140F is widely cited as the "Death Temperature". At 120F the yeast is at it's "injury point" meaning you are harming the yeast, but may not kill it. Some claims can be found stating water temperature as high as 95 can produce off flavors from the yeast when ma...
Butter burns when pan searing mahi mahi I have been trying to cook some new things, and I bought myself a good allclad skillet. I've tried pan searing fish a few times, using some hipster techniques I saw on YouTube. I heat the pan pretty high, add in some peanut oil, and add the fish (already seasoned on both sides)...	high heat saute: oil alone is best medium to high heat saute: some people do a 50/50 mix of oil and butter low heat saute: butter alone should suffice Line cooks in a restaurant will often use 1 ladle of melted butter from the steam table, and one ladle of a vegetable oil. If they scoop the butter just right, they avo...
Are there any general rules which can be used when determining tasty food combinations? It seems like with all the recipes in the world there must be some guiding principles on creating new recipes, but nothing I've read suggests this is common knowledge. I'm hoping someone with more experience cooking knows of some g...	While hitchhiking from Portland to San Diego I shared the back of a pickup truck with two men who loved to cook. Their recommendation: Smell the food, smell the spice, if your mouth waters. add the spice. Same goes for combinations of foods. Just as simple as that.
Can you become a chef without cooking school? Is there some other path to becoming a professional chef? If I wanted to teach myself, what would that kind of "program" look like?	Yes, you can be a chef without going to cooking school, there are plenty of great chefs who never had any formal training. Paul Prudhomme, Mario Batalli, Tom Coliccio, and Charlie Trotter are some famous chefs who never darkened the door of a cooking school and those are just the ones I can think of. Some top chefs hav...
Could you cook Chicken Galantine in stock? All the recipes I have seen for a Galantine just cooks the prepared chicken in an oven pan. What would you generally expect from the Galantine if it was cooked in chicken or vegetable stock?	Although many recipes call for roasting, poaching is actually the traditional way to make it. Cooking it gently helps keep it juicy, and cooks the filling without over-cooking the delicate chicken breast. Many recipes call for it to be tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, kind of an improvised sous vide. That prevents the...
Can I use fresh broccoli in quiche? I have some (not so) fresh broccoli I need use. I'm thinking of making a quiche with it. Most quiche recipes seem to call for frozen broccoli. Can I just use the fresh instead? Does it need any special prep?	Yes, you absolutely can. I do it all the time, in both quiche and omelets. It does need to be cooked which is most easily done in the microwave. Prep by removing much of the large stem, diving into little 'tree' segments, and placing in a microwave-safe dish or bowl. Add just a bit of water, not much, just about a tabl...
Does cutting sweet potatoes with non stainless steel knives cause oxidation poisoning? I have found when cutting up sweet potatoes prior to cooking that the cut edges go grey or black when soaked in warm water. I read on another site that using a carbon or non stainless steel knife causes oxidization. So my question i...	Oxidation is not a health hazard, no matter how you spell it. Your sweet potatoes are as healthy kind of brown as they ever were.
How to make less salty Fermented Black Bean Stir Fry I recently tried a variant of chinese stir fry using Lee Kum Kee Black Bean Garlic Sauce. I liked the flavor, but the end result was significantly saltier than I prefer. The rough recipe I used was: 2 Tbsp black bean garlic sauce 5 dried peppers 1 Tbsp garlic 1 Tbs...	There are two ways to reduce the saltiness of the finished dish: reduce the amount of salt you put in (in this case difficult, as it is in the sauce, so you'd have to put in less sauce) or increase the amount of water that stays in the finished dish. For the second option I personally have the following strategies whic...
Is Garden salad still good if it's past the best by date? I have an unopened bag of garden salad (lettuce, carrots and red cabbage) That is 9 days past the "Best if used by" date. I haven't opened it yet. It still seems crisp when I squeeze it and I don't see any wilting.	Many salad packages contain freshness preservatives. That is, if the salad remains inside the original packaging, it will maintain its freshness. Regardless of the "best by" date, you should look for crispness of the greens. If the greens are crisp and smell fresh, they are good to go.
What can I mix and store Kimchi in? I'm looking for ways I can use containers to mix and store kimchi from the thrift store. I don't want to buy special containers, unless I have to. I've seen plastic bowls and the like used to mix kimchi or when you do that initial salting (I've never made it, only watched others)....	To mix, use any bowl that won't be damaged by the salt. I would stay away from metal or wood, anything else would be fine. To store, just use a glass jar. I usually use a half gallon canning jar, but if you're making a lot you can use a gallon jar. Cover the cabbage with a big flat cabbage leaf. (Or a grape leaf). ...
How to easily minimize waste using a potato smasher? I have a new tool. At Walmart they didn't seem to have the kind of potato masher I'm used to, so I bought this thing. (The can of soup is there for size reference.§) From a young age I'm used to the tool with a long stiff steel wire extending out of the handle abou...	There is no need to remove potato from the holes on each stroke, which appears to be what you are describing doing. Just pick it up and smash it down on some un-smashed potatoes until there are no more of those. The potato already smashed through the holes will eventually fall back into the pot during this process. The...
Why does coconut milk separate when it is placed in the fridge? I have noticed that for many coconut whipped cream recipes, you are supposed to put the can in the fridge overnight to separate the fat and the liquid. Can anyone explain the food science behind why this separation happens?	Coconut milk is made of different components, like water, fat, minerals and protein. All those components have a different mass and when let sit in the fridge for some time, the components with higher mass (protein) tend to sink to the bottom as they are pulled by gravity and the components with lower mass float to the...
Sourdough starter issues I've been trying unsuccessfully to create my sourdough starter. First of all it starts off well, i combine 100g of bread flour with 100g of water (bottled) mix well and leave it in my jar covered with cloth for 24 hours. Next day i always have a bit of action in my jar, so i feed it another 10...	I would suggest you to keep feeding the starter a few more days before starting the 'discard and feed'. Fermentation is a process that requires a LOT of patience, as everything else in baking. On the other hand I tried and could successfully make a starter following these instructions. I love The Kitchn and Emma Christ...
If I want my garlic to taste in a very specific way (with bite or without bite) what should I do? I don't always want my garlic to taste the same way. Sometimes I want only the deep umami flavor without the bite (so I let it cook more) and sometimes I look for a strong garlic bite presence in the dish. I know it depen...	Garlic strength is mainly down to how much you cook the garlic, and how finely you chop it (different varieties of garlic notwithstanding). Simply put, the less you cook it and the finer you chop it, the more bite it will have. So you can alter those variables to achieve the effect you want. If you want super punchy g...
Mortar used to process paste containing candlenuts - risk of contaminating raw foods? If I use a mortar and pestle for working with candlenuts (who are considered mildly toxic when raw), to make a paste that is later cooked, how thoroughly and how does that mortar (not dishwasher proof, using soap is also best avoided...	Didn't even know they were toxic uncooked, and survived 40+ years of home cooking (both by me and my parents) without any ill effect, I would say 99% of the times ground uncooked. That is, however, not an answer, so I will just explain my point of view, and why I won't bother with extraordinary cleansing after grindin...
Why is the salt washed off the cabbage in kimchi but not on sauerkraut? All the videos I have seen always wash the salt off the Napa cabbage in kimchi but they never do in sauerkraut? How come? Is the brine necessary for fermentation?	The initial salting draws water out of the cabbage, otherwise the kimchi tends to get soggy/mushy. As you mention, it is frequently rinsed off after the initial salting. If you listed the ingredients that follow, I think you will see that there is quite a bit of salt re-introduced. The recipe I use, for example, inc...
breading/crumbing: mixing the eggs and flour? i was wondering why the recipes for crumbed/breaded foods always say that we should dredge in flour first, then dip in eggs, then coat with crumbs. Would it work if I mixed the eggs and flour to make a kind of batter, and dip the item (chicken wing, for example) in this ba...	In general, when battering, wet sticks to dry and dry sticks to wet, but they don't stick to themselves. Thus, if starting with wet food, like meat, the process is usually: flour (dry, sticks to the meat, which is wet) eggs (wet, sticks to the flour, which is dry) crumbs (dry, sticks to the eggs, which are wet) If yo...
Are there any advantages to freshly ground salt? Recently, I've seen salt grinders sold in stores. I understand that freshly ground pepper has a plus over pre-ground pepper in terms of freshness and strength. However, salt to me seems like a mineral, as opposed to pepper which is, well, a pepper from a plant. So, is t...	Not really in terms of flavor, no. Salt doesn't have a substantial number of volatile compounds that are released by grinding, in contrast to something like whole peppercorn, which releases a range of aromatics when the outer hull is breached. Even specially-sourced salts which contain a range of flavorful minerals don...
can ice help with spicy food? This is more just out of curiosity then anything. I just wondered could eating ice or somehow making you mouth colder before eating spicy foods, such as chill peppers or such, help lessen the spiciness?	No. The chemical action of capsaicin (the compound that triggers the burning sensation) is an effect on chemical receptors in your taste buds. It's perceived to a degree as temperature but it's entirely independent, so making your mouth colder wouldn't help. The only way cold would minimize a spice burn is if you made ...
Red v White wine in cooking with a stomach issue As with many people, my husband has an issue with red wine, it gives him an acid stomach. So, he drinks white. However, not wanting to irritate the issue, but wanting to continue to cook with wine on occasion, is there a difference (apart from taste and color) to cook...	The way red wine is produced vs the way white wine is produced might give you some insight. Red wine is produced from red grapes where the "mosto" (grape juice) macerates together with the skin of the grapes. This releases the typical red pigments and tannins. White wine is produced from red or white grapes where the m...
Goal of macerating fruit for marmalade I have a recipe for kumquat marmalade, it calls for 2 parts fruits, 1 part sugar and 1 part water. Before boiling the liquid it states that one should macerate the fruit in de sugar water first. How does this maceration help?	Macerating breaks down the fruit and extracts the juices. Especially when making jam, it can expedite the process, allowing you to prep the fruit a day in advance. While some recipes say to macerate for several hours, letting it sit overnight can produce better results, particularly when using dried fruits.
Can I freeze bread dough after the first rising? The bread dough that I am making calls for it to rise for 1 hour, knead for 5 minutes, then rise for another hour, shape into loaves, rise for 45 minutes, then bake. So can I freeze the dough after the first rise?	Yes, you absolutely can - this is the common way to freeze dough, actually. It's better to freeze after the first rise. Often the second rise will be done in the refrigerator along with thawing; and most of the recipes I've seen skip a third rise (so you freeze the dough shaped, and you're rising in shaped form along...
Can I / should I keep spices & dried herbs in the fridge? Common wisdom regarding spice storage (whether whole or ground) seems to tend towards cool, dark, dry places. However, I'm somewhat limited on kitchen cupboard space, and obviously the various spice rack options available don't do a great job on the "dark" fron...	Most fresh herbs do quite well in the fridge, so long as they're prepared appropriately. I would not put dried herbs and spices into the fridge, especially if they're in a hard-sided container. (unless maybe if you were in a really arid area) There problem is that if you're in a warm, humid environment, you'll be trap...
What is the point of roasting salt? This recipe for ginger-garlic paste roasts the salt before putting it in the paste. Now, I never thought I've seen someone roasting salt before. What is the point of this? How does it change the flavor or properties of the salt?	The recipe calls for heating a "pan" on medium heat. Without knowing what type of pan this is, there is no way of knowing what reaction is going on there. Let me venture a guess, though. I guess the pan is cast or mineral, seasoned, iron. The salt will react with some of the compounds from the bottom of the pan, making...
How to mince garlic efficiently without the garlic sticking to the sides of the knife? Whenever I mince cloves of garlic on a cutting board, it sticks to the sides of the knife making it a tedious task? Is there anyway to prevent this from happening when using a knife to mince garlic the old-fashioned way? Otherwise, ...	As with franko's answer, the reason why you use salt (preferably sea salt) is that it helps to crush and mince the garlic whilst you are chopping. If you are worried about too much salt in your diet, then do not use any other salt than what is used whilst mincing your garlic. Like above, I don't understand why you ha...
Butter melt inside the toaster My toaster is smoking and activating the fire alarm. I tried to clean the tray and the dust from the inside. I shook it pretty much and many black "things" came out. Although, it's still smoking. I believe that the butter melted inside it and has gone to particulars places that I can't c...	By toaster I am assuming you mean the type that has slots that you pop the bread into from the top. Normally they also have a removable tray at the bottom, which you say you have taken out and cleaned. Shaking does normally work, but this can also lead to breakage... so maybe not quite so vigorously would be a good ...
Does breadmaker bread need to include milk powder? I'm trying to make vegan bread but all of my bread maker machine's recipies have one or two tablespoons of milk powder. What is a vegan solution?	A basic bread is flour water yeast or sourdough (salt) With these base ingredients, just by varying flour type, ratios and preparation method, you already get a wide range of breads, whether made by hand, kneaded in a mixer or dumped in a bread maker. Extra ingredients influence the crumb texture and / or the taste ...
I am having an issue with leaving macarons to form a skin I have a few macaron orders, so I need to bake them. However, when it is raining and the air is moist they don't form a skin very well. What can I do to make sure they form a skin before they go in the oven when there is moisture in the air?	The need to leave macarons to form a skin is debatable, but if you feel it's necessary, put them uncovered in the fridge, which will dry them out nicely. Be careful that there's nothing else in there with a strong smell that may taint the macarons, however.
What is the proper way to eat lychees? Not long ago, my parents purchased a tin of lychees. They tasted ok when eaten straight out of the tin, but I was wondering: Is there a proper way to eat them (like rhubarb needs to be eaten in a crumble with custard) ?	No special way. You can eat them right from the can; they should be already peeled and without the big seed. You can add them up to a salsa, or a fruit salad; or even cooked dishes (curries).
Is there a way to keep bananas that are half submerged in milk fresh for at least 26-28 hours? I make a special drink that contains banana and milk and I drink it every morning, is there a way i can have it ready in a blender for up to 28 hours? I am unsure but i got a recommendation of putting the blender container i...	Assumption here: The main point where prepping what reads like two servings ("every morning" & "26-28 hours) might come handy, is when you have an uneven number of bananas per serving and storing half a banana is kind of impractical. Have you considered freezing your fruit? In pieces, so that one banana is cut in an ev...
Why does salt enhance the flavor of food? I eat a lot of salt. It makes almost everything taste better, including: Meat Cookies Vegetables Sauces Chocolate much more It seems to me like salt makes almost anything better, but it doesn't just make it better because now I taste salt. It enhances the flavor of whatever ...	Our brains are wired to consider food more palatable if the dedicated taste receptors (one of the six basic tastes) for salt are triggered. And in a non-urban world, salt/sodium is a valuable nutrient; the fact we might have it too readily available in the developed world doesn't change that we would DIE on a zero-sodi...
Are cockroaches a usable source of protein? Bear with me, this is an entirely serious if not necessarily particularly practical question :) In The Damage Done, perhaps the best known notionally non-fiction Thai prison story (and, apparently, soon to be a movie), there are a lot of disgusting, gruesome and/or on occasi...	http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/31/travel/china-cockroach-farming-food/ They should not be much different than crickets which are commonly consumed. An insect which does not inherently produce a toxin should often be fairly safe depending on what they had been eating. A sewer roach for instance would not be a good idea wh...
Dishwasher with side brackets for on top shelf: what are they for? I have a new dishwasher and the top shelf has several movable brackets on the side. I just don't know what they are designed to do or hold. I'm guessing they are somehow supposed to hold something in place. I just don't see how. Can anyone help. My dis...	They are for holding wine glasses upside down by the stem, safely, so they don't fall over and break during the washing cycle.
Egg sizes of yesteryear and today I have a great Mrs Beetons recipe for Almond Icing. However, as it's a very old recipe and calls for the whites of 4 eggs what size egg should I use. As eggs on the whole have been getting smaller over the years. Yes I can see that egg yolk sizes have been discussed on the site, bu...	There is no absolute conversion as egg sizes were not standardized back then. For the USA, not England, the food timeline http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodeggs.html under the section "Egg sizes the USA" (about 1/10th of the way down) starts with (bolding added): What size hen's egg was used to make a cake in the 1840s...
Does it matter which goes in the glass first when having half/half tea? I drink half/half tea. Half sweetened, half unsweetened. I think it tastes better when I put sweetened in the bottom of the glass. A friend says that's silly. It all mixes together. Is my imagination making me think it tastes better when sweet goe...	The answer of the question has little to do with cooking, and more with knowing how human cognition (= how do we know that we like something) works. To your brain, "X makes me think it tastes better" is the same as "it tastes better", no matter if X is the chemical composition of the drink or the knowledge that the swe...
What are the rings on the bottom of a frying pan called and can you use them on a glass cooktop? I got a 12" frying pan as a gift and it has many raised, concentric metal rings on the bottom, on the outside, where it would touch the stove. I don't know what this type of bottom is called so I can't find anything useful...	The concentric rings can serve a variety of purposes. In addition to helping to prevent the pan from sliding, they increase the surface area of the bottom of the pan, which helps it to get heat more efficiently from a gas range. On some pans, these concentric rings are made of different metals (aluminum or copper) and ...
How do you properly sear a sausage? I'm a huge fan of sausages, bratwurst especially. It always says to brown all of the sides, but I always find that they roll around quite a bit while I'm searing them. This makes for an odd assortment of cooking, and I sometimes lose the juices into the brine. How can I properly se...	If you are frying sausages on a hot pan then it's very hard to brown them on all sides for a couple of reasons: the curved shape will cause it to flop along the curve, they are hard to stand up if you do get them stood up only the small area touching the pan will get color So you are frying on a flat pan you can spen...
Are there food safety issues at a teppan restaurant? My family & I recently went out to a teppanyaki restaurant. The food was great and we had no issues with food poisoning, but it got me wondering about their food safety. The chef cooked everything (seafood, vegetables, fried rice, and chicken) on a large griddle. Du...	Food safety is primarily related to the environments that bacteria live in, thrive in, and are killed in. Temperature and time at that temperature will determine if a bacteria is able to survive. For example, if chicken, or other food items that come in contact with raw chicken, reach an internal temperature of 162F or...
How to keep shallots from overpowering vinegarettes Most recipes call for minced shallot in a basic vinegarette. However, whenever I use it, the taste of shallot overpowers everything else in the dressing, leaving an aftertaste that usually lasts through to the next day. I've tried reducing the amount of shallot, but...	I always rinsed onions and shallots, to remove the compounds released when slicing through the cell walls. Since reading the following article in Cook's Illustrated March 2011 edition, I prefer its baking soda method. Toning Down Raw Onion’s Bite We’ve often heard the claim that soaking sliced or chopped raw onions in...
How to make 'proper' Caribbean Roti Having been around the Caribbean a few times I got used to eating Roti from street vendors. Normally young guys and girls who would make them at home, put them into an insulated box and sell them on the street for a few dollars (ec). The wrapper that these delicious and filling sn...	Your question intrigued me and I'm curious to know what these rotis are like. I make rotis often and have for a number of decades but I learned how originally from a Punjabi family. I don't really make them the same way as I've developed my own method over time. I use a mix of white flour, whole wheat and soy flour wit...
Do you need to cook tomato puree? I'm making a tomato sauce cold from tinned tomatoes and I was going to add tomato puree to thicken the sauce. Is it ok to use tomato puree without cooking it?	While it is perfectly safe to eat tomato puree without cooking it, it is not generally recommended. Uncooked tomato puree in a sauce can be undesirably sour and have a rather raw, rough flavour. If you don't mind this then go ahead, but I would recommend simmering the sauce for at least another 10 minutes after adding ...
Does red wine vinegar and red vinegar taste same? I am going to cook salad for my lunch, I checked a for recipes. I just eat halal food and wine is not halaf, so I am going to use red vinegar (which I don't know even exist) instead of red wine vinegar. Do they taste same? This is one of the salads I decided to make; ...	Welcome to the site @User3176270. I'm not an expert in Halal but my understanding from my halal friends is that red wine vinegar is halal because the process of turning the wine into vinegar gets rid of all the alcohol. In fact, all vinegar is derived from alcohol, the sourness is created by bacteria that eats the alco...
What is the difference between making a cheesecake with confectioner's sugar vs. normal sugar? I would like to make a cheesecake with confectioner's sugar and though it's been awhile since I've made cheesecake, I believe I used normal sugar before. However, I only have confectioner's sugar on hand at the moment.	While you could use it, it would likely affect the finished product. As a substitute in baking, when the recipe calls for granulated sugar, powdered sugar is not always suitable. And, although it is granulated sugar which has been processed into powder, cornstarch has also been added to prevent clumping. With sugar, t...
Groceries left out on the counter I accidentally left my groceries out on the counter for an hour. Some frozen fish and frozen fruits and vegetables. Are they still good? Especially the fish?	It's all still safe, given that it was only an hour. Even very perishable food like fish and meat is safe for 2-4 hours in the danger zone (above 40F/5C), so even if it had fully thawed it'd be okay. If it was all still clearly frozen on the surface, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. If some of it was thawed ...
What size bowl for bread I have a bread recipe for 1 loaf of bread I want to try. Does it matter what size of bowl I use to let it rise in? I normally bake 2 loafs. Can I use the same bowl? I have a friend that told me it is to big and my bread wont rise correctly. I love her to death, but she really doesn't know ev...	Margalo is missing a detail in their otherwise good answer: Many bread recipes use two rises, one after mixing ("bulk rise"), one after shaping and before the bread goes into the oven. For the first rise you just want to make sure the bowl is large enough, so at least double the volume of your unrisen dough. For very l...
Can I use unbleached flour in quickbread? I'm back with another question. I have been baking zucchini bread for a long time. I always used bleached flour. Now that I am trying my hand in yeast breads I use unbleached flour. Can I use unbleached flour in my zucchini bread? I bake at least 100 to 130 loafs of zucchini b...	EDIT Cook's Illustrated (America's Test Kitchen) tested bleached versus unbleached flour in baking and in savory sauces. They found that unbleached flour works pretty much identically to bleached flour in sauces, but they caution that some testers could taste off notes in some baked applications using bleached flour. T...
Why are chickpeas sprouted before grinding them into flour? I am about to make (or at least try to) my own chickpea flour. Having had a good look around, my understanding is that I need to sprout my chickpeas first. My question(s) therefore: Why do I have to sprout my chickpeas? Do I have to sprout my chickpeas? ...	You don't need to sprout your chickpeas, but there are benefits when you do, as sprouting substantially increases nutritional value. By allowing the legume (or seed or grain) to germinate, the phytic acid within it is neutralized, as are enzyme inhibitors. The Nourishing Gourmet Kimi Harris describes: Phytic acid bin...
Will collagen, gelatine and mineral nutrients be lost when fat is removed from broth? For nutritional reasons, i am making a large amount of chicken & bone broth. I use a whole chicken, and simmer it in a large pot for about 24 hours. Currently however, i do not wish to ingest as much fat. I learned that chicken broth...	Most of what you're interested is in the water/broth, not the fat. This is especially obvious for the gelatin; the whole reason that broth has that nice mouthfeel and thickens or gels when chilled is that it's full of gelatin. The other proteins and nutrients are just as water-soluble. You may end up with some particle...
Technique for peeling boiled potatoes This recipe calls for boiling Yukon gold potatoes with their skins on, then peeling them. I don't really know why, I just decided to follow it. I find that I am unable to peel boiled potatoes in any reasonable amount of time because they are soft, slippery, and very hot. I have tr...	Remove a potato one at a time from the hot water with tongs, placing it in cold water for shock. Wearing dishwashing gloves, while under the cold water pull on the potato skin removing it. Place the skinned potato in a finished container and proceed to the next potato
What can I substitute for hot Korean chili oil in this pork noodle recipe? Our local supermarket sells fantastic pork, normally also on offer. Yesterday I bought a kilo of cubed pork (magro). Yesterday we had kebabs, today perhaps Asian. So, I've thought about making this Korean noodle dish. I have never been that g...	You can always just make your own Korean chili oil. For example, here's The Woks of Life formula for chili oil: 1½ cups oil (ideally a vegetable, peanut, or grapeseed oil…light olive oil is fine, but it has a tendency to set in the fridge) 5 star anise 1 cinnamon stick, preferably cassia cinnamon 2 bay leaves ...
To much green pepper in my chili, can I fix it? Can I fix it? What can I add, everything I see says about pepper. It has to much green pepper in it.	Add more of the other ingredients Add dairy Add acid Add a sweetener Serve with bland, starchy foods Options 1 and 5 provide a solution which will not alter the flavor of your chili too much. Source of ideas: The Kitchn
temperature of food in the microwave Is there any way to know the temperature of food cooking in the microwave? I am making candy in the microwave and need to be able to cook it to the soft crack stage [290-300 degrees]. How do I know when it reaches this temperature?	Some microwaves (not many) include a temperature probe. If yours does not, no luck there. Don't just stick in a thermometer, it will probably result in arcing and damage. So, you're back to the olde-fashioned methods where the various stages (soft ball, hard ball, soft crack, hard crack) got their names from - drip som...
Do scratches on electric range burner elements affect its performance or function? My electric range is about 5 years old and over time the burner elements have become scratched- it looks like coating is being worn off- is that normal and does it affect the performance or function of the burner?	Thanks for adding the photo, Ford, as I think I know what it is. Although your photo is nicely focused, it's not the real thing so I can't be 100% sure. It looks to be the built up bits of grease and other residues from the bottom of your cooking pans that have accumulated over the 5 years. Not saying you slopped lots ...
Preparing dishes for photos Some times it can be difficult for me to get the right look of a dish in a photo. I have used extra butter for a more glossy look, swapped corn starch for flour in sauces for the same reason, even once went so far as to use a fine water mister/spray. It seems that by the time I get around ...	What camera and what lighting? With plate only set up your shots so you are not messing around when the food is ready. Light, camera, and backdrop make a world of difference. Outdoor light unless you have a professional studio is the best. This is just a hack picture and I did not care about the backdrop but t...
Why does peanut butter become very hard when adding egg yolk? I'm making some peanut butter meringue-type cookies and I noticed that when I mix the egg yolk into the peanut butter, the mixture immediately becomes very hard and stiff. Based on the speed, I'm guessing there's some sort of chemical reaction. The peanut b...	Have you ever added liquid straight to tahini when making hummus? See this quote from Cook's Illustrated: 'You’d think that adding a liquid would thin tahini rather than thicken it. Why the opposite? Tahini is simply sesame-seed butter, made by grinding hulled sesame seeds into a paste. Much of its makeup is carbohydra...
How do I wash the "pokey" side of a box grater? I have this box grater, and one of the sides is "non-directional" (not sure what this is called) -- that is, the pointy "blade" things are on every side of the holes: Close-up: The fibers you see are from ginger. My question is: How do I clean this side of the grater? ...	A dishwasher gets cheese off even that side - but that's no good if you don't have one, nor is it very effective against ginger and other fibrous foods. The best I've found is simply a washing up brush (i.e. plastic bristles and a long handle) from both sides. I would then put it in the dishwasher for a final clean un...
Why is almond bark called almond bark? Almond bark (the candy coating) seems to have no almond in it, why is it called almond bark?	According to a representative from a company that makes it, it's packaged with the words “make your own almond bark". So "almond bark" (the coating) is a key ingredient in "almond bark" (the candy with almonds). Over time, according to the representative, the ingredient became called with the same name as the candy.
Should I fill up a double boiler or leave an air gap? I have a double boiler that looks like this: I have been trying to use it to warm soup, but the soup heats up very slowly. Currently, I have just an inch or two of water in the bottom, so the porcelain part is not actually touching very much of the water. Most of ...	What you do depends on what you are doing. There are sauces where the directions specifically call for "over boiling water" (as opposed to "in boiling water") which imply a gap. Heating soup is probably somewhat less demanding in requiring gentle heating, though a ceramic inner pot will slow that down anyway. However, ...
What is the best water to use for yeast being used in bread making? I'm just starting back on the road to bread making, and I have been wondering about the water that I am using, and how it will affect the yeast. Do I just use (1) the stuff that flows from my pressure water system, (2) the water from my drinking wate...	There's no single right or wrong answer to the question as it depends on the mineral content (ie hardness), acidity, and chlorine content of your water. Yeast and gluten development is affected by these factors, see this good summary from the King Arthur Flour site: The degree of hardness is an indication of the amoun...
Do tomato-based sauces change/enhance flavour when left in the fridge? I cooked some green beans in a tomato-based sauce then ate some and left the rest in the fridge 3 days ago. I tasted it today, and it was better than I remember: is this a known phenomenon or am I not remembering right?	Most sauces, tomato based or not, will improve in flavour after being left overnight. This is also true of stews and casseroles. The received wisdom is that it gives the flavours a chance to 'marry' and blend, though I'm not sure of the science behind it.
Do I need to worry about differences in produce in foreign recipes? I am from Egypt and so I think some produce is different from the ones in Europe or the US where most of the recipes found online are written. Should I stick to a regional cook book or is the variation in things like garlic, onions and tomatoes unnoti...	tl;dr: Yes, there are significant differences ... but use them as guidelines, don't just blindly follow recipes. (Jacques Pépin agrees) Part of the size issue that Jefromi mentioned is not only growing conditions (hotter/dryer/morning sun/in a greenhouse/etc), but there are typically different varietals of things. Egg...
Boiling potatoes with vs. without skin It seems I got me thinking ... When boiling potatoes in water or a steamer, what, if any, is the effect of peeling the potatoes before vs. after the cooking process? Does it matter at all whether they are peeled before or after? wrt. to taste in general wrt. to "texture" of the ...	I almost never peel potatoes. I like the flavor and texture of the skins, even in mashed potatoes, and unpeeled potatoes are less prone to becoming waterlogged. According to Tablespoon.com, the Idaho Potato Commission recommends that you leave potatoes unpeeled for boiling for reasons of flavor and texture, even if you...

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