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What is the difference between jus and stock?
They seem to be made very similarly.
They both can be made from bones, veg etc. I know technically au jus refers to using the juices of the meet that you're cooking but i've seen people make a "jus" with bones and offcuts... which sounds exactly like what you do for a stoc... | Jus generally refers to a sauce or accompaniment, served alongside or on top of some other food.
Stock is a (generally gelatin-rich) broth used during the cooking process, whether as a braising/cooking liquid, or reduced/thickened into another sauce.
There are varying ways to make both; the terminology mainly refers to... |
What can I use instead of powdered milk to turn dark chocolate into milk chocolate?
I am a chocolate lover and recently figured out I have to completely remove milk from my diet (due to problems with casein). I figured I can make my own milkless milk chocolate from dark chocolate by adding soy milk and... thickening i... | Milk chocolate is made with powdered milk; adding a liquid will make it break or it'll be unable to set. If you add something with enough fat to keep it from breaking, like coconut milk, you'll end up with a delicious chocolate ganache, but it won't set like a chocolate bar. I would instead look for a vegan milk chocol... |
How well does freshly baked sandwich bread fly?
I'm going on vacation soon and wanted to take homemade bread with me, but I'm unsure as to how the bread would last through the long plane flight. How does bread usually fare when flying? | About the same time it fares not flying. Flying is not something the bread is aware of. |
What does it mean when a chef says a dish is a "rustic" dish eg. a "rustic pot roast"
I've been watching some cooking videos and frequently the chef would say that something he cooked was a "rustic" dish eg. "rustic pot roast"? What does rustic mean? | There's no standard definition - it's a descriptive term, not a standardized culinary one. In practice, it's often used in fine-dining contexts to denote a deliberately less subtle or carefully assembled dish. Stews are often considered "rustic", in contrast to highly precise cuisine like sushi. A loaf of irregular sou... |
Chocolate mousse for frosting?
Can you use a basic chocolate mousse as frosting for a cake? Would it be stable enough or is my layered cake going to fall apart? | My favorite chocolate mousse recipe uses gelatin as a stabilizer. I've used it as a filling between cake layers and it works really well. I don't see why you couldn't use it on the outside of the cake as well.
You'll want to keep the cake refrigerated. I don't know exactly how long it will remain stable, but I've ke... |
Avoiding clumps in cacio e pepe?
I've been trying to make a very basic three-ingredient cacio e pepe over the last few days and have found it difficult to create a smooth, creamy sauce.
I'm using only two cups of microplane-grated pecorino romano cheese, a handful of spaghetti, and crushed black pepper. Salt in the pa... | Achieving a creamy sauce for cacio e pepe, and dishes like it (carbonara comes to mind) is not as straight forward as some would have you think. Fortunately, while we strive for the perfect emulsification, those attempts that don't exactly work are still delicious.
Here are some tips:
(1) Make sure your cheese is gra... |
Heating part baked baguettes in lid-covered pyrex
Short question (TL;DR)
Is it possible to heat part baked baguettes (or part baked bread in general) in the oven, but keeping it inside a pyrex container with a lid? If yes, is there any change in baking time? (without the lid it would be 8-10 minutes) Would the baguett... | I would expect the cooking time to increase significantly, and the texture to be very different (probably not very baguette-like. To mitigate this, you could preheat the pyrex container (put it in the cold oven, turn the oven on, and leave a few minutes after the oven claims to have heated up). I would also look for a ... |
Adjusting yeast and rise times in recipes
Is it possible to reduce the amount of yeast and increase the rise times for leavened doughs? If so, is there a simple method to calculate the changes? Does 1/2 the yeast mean twice the rise-time? | It is definitely possible. However, there are many, many factors that are going to guide yeast activity: sugar levels, water temperature, gluten development, etc. If I can, I normally cut back the yeast and just keep an eye on my dough, the less yeast, the more the flavor can develop. |
Why is chocolate generally sweet?
Apparently there is very little sugar in a cocoa pod so sugar is generally added in the chocolate production process.
My question is why has it become the complete standard to have sweet or semi sweet chocolate, and not savoury chocolate (or savoury cocoa products)? | It's not. The original consumers of chocolate, the Native Americans, had their chocolate in bitter teas and savory moles. They mainly were after its caffeine effects. We could speculate about the overuse of sweeteners in general, especially among peoples of European descent. Other ingredients like mint, cinnamon, and c... |
Two different gynostemma teas taste completely different, why?
So i've ordered 2 different brands of gynostemma (or jiaogulan in chinese) and they each taste very differently. The first one I've ordered tastes extremely bitter, the second one I've ordered tastes light and sweet, even though I can detect somewhat of a ... | "However, it is known that the chemical constituents of GP planted in different areas are very different in composition.17,18 Furthermore, there are two taste variants, sweet and bitter, for GP herbs, which have different clinical application in folk medicine in China.18-21"
Chemical Differentiation of Two Taste Variants ... |
Scratched coating in old ice-cream maker: is it safe?
I got an old ice-cream maker at a thrift store (Vitantonio's Gelato Modo II). The bowl has a Teflon coating. There is a chip in the bottom about half the size of a dime, below which there appears to be plastic, not metal.
What I've looked up about Teflon safety see... | I would not use it given the fact that you will be using it to make a mixture for ice cream, pieces might end up in the mix. You can try it out a couple of times and if no parts fall out then should be good to go. Would not recommend to use it at a business but for personal use only. |
My egg roll wraps smell sour. They expire in 2 days. Are they still okay to use?
I'm cooking egg rolls and my egg roll wraps smell sour. They say they expire in 2 days. Are they still okay to use? | The dates provided on packaging are not precise. They make excellent guides but too many factors can alter the timeline (as mentioned by @Joe, being mishandled in the market or being previously opened among other things).
As a general rule, if something smells unusual and off, it probably is. I would personally throw ... |
Black apple crumble!
I used the apple crisp recipe from Joy of Baking and I'm quite sure I followed it to the dot (didn't add blackberries, though, only apples). But for some reason, after I took it out, let it cool a little and cut into it, I saw that the apple had turned a strange purple/black color! These were perf... | Walnuts are most likely your culprit. Black walnuts have more of this tendency than common cooking walnuts, but I have had it occur with both. I especially have seen in with port chops stuffed with walnuts and applesauce getting a very purple stain to them. I have seen multiple theories on why purple, but with walnu... |
New green leaf vegetable in the family. What is it called?
Every week I get a box with regional vegetables, and this time this one came. I tried looking for cabbage, but I could not find anything similar. Do you know what is it? How is it cooked? | This looks a lot like a sweetheart cabbage... it does not look very new though. |
Fully baked cookies in a 90 F car
I made some cookies about four days ago - a modification of a fairly standard chocolate chip cookie recipe augmented with cocoa powder in the dry ingredients, and marshmallows in the center. They are moist at the center and crisp at the outside. Baked at 350 F for about 15 minutes.
T... | Baked goods are generally considered to be a 'low risk' food when you're dealing with health codes. That is to say, you don't typically need to worry if they've been kept in the 'food danger zone' for too long on a period.
In fact, I'd say that some of the best cookies I've had in the past decade were chocolate chip c... |
Uses for meat that has been in the freezer for 2 years?
I have some old chicken breasts, thighs, and a steak vacuum sealed in my freezer. I think it is between 1.5 and 3 years old.
I'm assuming it won't have a good texture if I cook it and eat it normally. What can I do with it? Can I at least toss them in with the re... | It's perfectly safe, even if not a perfect texture, so I'd cook it and eat it. The only question is how.
I suggest that you first mince or finely chop it (even in a food processor) then brown it and cook it in a sauce. Chilli would work well, or curry, or pasta sauce (perhaps in a lasagne). If just cut up small, risott... |
How can I keep my burgers flat?
I have tried to keep my burgers flat for a while but they always end up turning into a ball and I have to flatten them out as they cook, even tried the little hole in the middle of the patty but it doesn't work.
It's ground beef (90/10 angus beef) and I'm only adding salt and pepper bef... | Many chefs in the USA recommend pressing a large dimple in one side of the meat patty before cooking it on the nondimpled side first, to prevent the problem you are experiencing |
What actually happens if you pour a glaze over a loaf cake before it has cooled?
Taking a regular loaf cake, say a pound cake, and a glaze of about 3/4 cup confectioners sugar to 2 Tablespoons liquid:
What actually happens if you pour a glaze/coating over a still hot or warm cake?
Does it soak it through, set up as it... | The icing will seem like it's melting and soak though the pound cake. The effect will be similar to soaking the cake with simple syrup. A pound cake is fairly 'solid' so the consistency shouldn't be affected very much, unless you use enormous amounts of icing. |
How to make homemade cooking spray
I think I tried to put oil in a spray bottle before and I don't recall it working very well. how can you make a cooking spray that will not gum up a spray bottle? | For several years, I've been putting canola in a plastic squeeze spray bottle and using that.
I do not recommend 'vegatable' oil, which in the USA is usually 100% soy oil and I have found that it gums up and can leave a difficult to clean residue
Yes, my system can apply too much and do so unevenly too. just use a pape... |
Can I use cilantro instead of basil on a bruschetta?
Ran out of basil at the last moment, can substitute the basil for cilantro? I know people will notice the difference but would still be acceptable? | It will obviously not have the same flavour, but I imagine it will still taste good. It will not be a traditional Italian flavour, since cilantro is not native to Italy, but there's nothing inherently wrong with that. There is no chemical reaction that needs to happen with the basil in particular for a bruschetta so yo... |
My yeast doesn't bubble but kinda works?
I only have regular access to 2 yeast products here - active dry yeast from company #1 and active dry yeast from company #2.
I'm proofing them by mixing 6g of yeast + 1tsp of sugar + 325ml of room temperature water but unlike I've seen in youtube videos, neither of them makes a... | I whisk together active dry yeast with water at 105 to 115 degrees F (40.5 to 45 degrees C), not room temperature water
If the kneaded dough rises properly (as expected) I believe nothing is wrong and no action is required
Your yeast is alive and fine! |
Should parboiled rice be washed/rinsed before cooking?
Should parboiled rice be washed or rinsed before cooking? If yes, on average how many times it should be washed. Should it be rinsed in water for more than 10 minutes? | Par boiled should not be rinsed, it is ready to be cooked as-is.
It was already rinsed and cleaned and, erm, par boiled.
If unsure, check the instruction on the package. |
How can I judge if vacuum-packed mussels are fresh, when they're invisible behind the seal?
I work in a small town in northern Canada that has only 1 supermarket, which sells only 1 form of mussels: see beneath. There are no other options for mussels. It feels impossible to judge freshness by the little aperture at th... | Unfortunately I don't think you have a good option. You can try to determine what you can through the small tight section at the top. You should also be prepared to take them back and ask for your money back if you get them home and the freshness isn't acceptable. |
What are the two unnamed parts that came with new Char-Broil gas grill?
I just purchased a new Char-Broil gas grill today. It came with a manual, which I read before doing anything else. What puzzles me are two unidentified parts that are not mentioned in the product manual. Does anyone know what these two parts are c... | I just bought the same grill earlier this week. The second item is a match holder as moscafj mentioned. The first is used when assembling the bottom of the cabinet: the two pins slot into a pair of holes on each wheel mount, which locks the wheel in place allowing you to screw the wheel in. After the wheel is in, you r... |
Drying fish before cooking - Is it okay to leave it uncovered in the fridge?
I found an article where a restaurant chef shared a trick to prevent fish from sticking to the pan : leave it on a plate, uncovered for about an hour in the fridge to dry it out.
When I tried it, my housemate complained that it was "unhygieni... | Totally safe to have uncovered
Bacteria can't jump off the fish and fly through the air. They can't crawl, swim, walk or ride bikes between items in the fridge by themselves. If you carefully place it in a clean container it is safe. The aroma may carry, but if the fish is fresh it should have little aroma and this wil... |
Why is soaking water usually discarded when making plant milk?
Most recipes that I see for soy and nut milks ask you to soak the seeds and discard the soaking water.
The only plant milk recipe I've used that keeps the soaking water (Scratch Soy Milk by Andrea Nguyen) turns out just fine.
I've also experimented with us... | Generally, we soak grains and pulses then throw away the soaking water. If we didn’t it would likely turn sour in a few days. Also soaking helps remove some of the phytic acid, therefore unlocking more nutrients. I suspect the phytic acid will be in the soaking water which we flush away. Phytic acid prevents absorption... |
Is sour cream in olde recipes the same as sour cream today?
I have a really old cookbook (about 1890) that calls for soured cream or sour cream in some recipes. Is this the same as the stuff you get in a tub at the store or is it like sour milk where you put vinegar in say, heavy cream?? | In a cookbook that old, the sour cream referenced is probably a home-fermented variety, used as a preservation method in the days before widespread home refrigeration. You can still do this with the appropriate bacterial cultures, but most of us now buy our sour cream at the store instead. That product is similar, but ... |
Slow cookers - capacity and mess
I am thinking of buying a slow cooker because the communal kitchen is usually really nasty and I want to save time. I will use it for cooking up big amounts of meat (chicken fillet, minced meat mostly).
The biggest I found has a capacity of 6.8 Liters. Would it be possible to cook 2 k... | Is everything sealed or is it like when cooking normally?
Slow cookers are definitely not sealed. It'll release odor while cooking (which, depending on what you're making, might be pleasant!) and there's no way to get around the potential mess of transferring food to/from the cooker. You'll want at minimum to have a r... |
Coconut cream pie needs more coconut flavour
I have just made one of my favourite pies (coconut cream) and it was delicious, but it didn't pack a ton of coconut flavour as I was striving for. I made a shortbread crust with coconut that I toasted, nice and brown. The filling contained coconut, a full can of full fat co... | Maybe your tastebuds are getting saturated by all that coconut, and your receptors failing to register the coconut sensation since they have become acclimated. I wonder if it is time to work on contrast. I.e. make the filling very coconutty (and it seems you are doing that already), but keep the crust & whipped cream t... |
Silty bottom (precipitate) in ginger ale
For the first time, I'm fermenting ginger ale using my 7-day enriched ginger culture and a large batch of sweetened ginger tea using 50/50 brown sugar and muscovado sugar. Before combining the tea and culture, I first filtered the warm tea throug a very fine strainer (i.e., it ... | That silty precipitate is just a thing that happens when fermenting - it's the yeasts dying off and settling out of the solution. I've seen it with mead, yeast-based soda recipes, and other fermented drinks (like fermented lemonade etc) - your ginger ale would be yeast based soda, by the way, if you drink while fairly... |
Is nonstick cookware safe to use after overheating
I know that nonstick can release chemicals / gasses / toxins after being overheated but is it safe to use again once cooled? I have a frying pan I like a lot but it got overheated a few times - there are no signs of damage although the pan is very so slightly warped (... | Based on a search of sources covering health risks around Teflon (PTFE) cookware, nobody has found any evidence that cooking with previously overheated cookware is dangerous to your health. Breathing the fumes during overheating is bad for you, and cookware that has been overheated may cease to be nonstick, even thoug... |
Is Ciao Bella's "Rosemary and Olive Oil Gelato" savory?
I am about to make ice cream (for dessert) from The Ciao Bella book for Gelato and Sorbetto and was thinking about trying the Rosemary and Olive Oil Gelato. It says something about being savory, but it has the same amount of sugar as most of the other gelatos the... | I can be both savory and sweet; that is the point of that gelato.
It is one of those dessert component that needs to be served with something else to balance it out.
I'd serve it with a lemon biscotti or a lemon pound cake. |
Why doesnt curry powder completely dissolve when heating in oil?
When I grill store bought sheek kebabs I notice the oil drips out and it is coloured while being free of any curry powder though I imagine curry powder is added to the mince before they make it.
I wanted to create the same thing directly so got some satu... | As Max correctly points out, curry powder is not soluble in oil. It's basically just crushed-up seeds, and that kind of bulk plant matter isn't going to dissolve in anything. The exact reasons why a given substance is or isn't soluble in a given solvent would be a better question for chemistry.se, but you could get a... |
Can I use a sieve to increase frying oil life?
I want to start deep frying at home in a pot. I read that you can reuse the oil a couple of times and that the quality and taste decreases because of the bits at the bottom, that are being burned (basically sauted, right?) while the rest is frying.
I was thinking of using... | Your pasta sieve will not be fine enough and it will not prevent what you think it will. The particulates in the oil that burn are burning because your oil it hot enough to burn them. Keeping them suspended above the bottom won't prevent the burning. They will still be submerged in hot oil.
When your oil starts to get ... |
Pizza stone as floor pizza oven vs firebrick
I’m building a pizza oven stainless steel and what i have seen is that they normally use firebrick as the floor but I would like to know if I can use pizza stone 3/4” as the floor having all the woodfire over it.
Thanks | Short answer: No.
Long answer: this could probably be made to work, but only for a short time. At some point, and probably within a few uses, the rapid heat cycling from the fire would cause the pizza stone to crack.
Pizza stones are made from corderite or clay, sometimes with grog. This offers a smoother surface tha... |
How should I dehydrate sage?
I have access to a dehydrator, but have never dehydrated sage. How should I dehydrate it? | Sage dries well, I dry mine by cutting off whole branches and hanging them up in a dry, warm place for a week. Once dried I strip off the leaves by hand. However, if I had a dehydrator I'd strip the leaves off the branches and then stick them in the dehydrator until they're crispy. It's no more complex than that. |
Heating a premade tlayuda?
I just picked up some ready-made, already-toasted tlayuda at a Latin American market. I'm wondering:
What is the standard/traditional method for heating these with toppings?
Is there a way to heat them on the grill? They're big enough (like 40cm diameter) to be hard to fit into my oven.
... | You can absolutely heat them on your grill. I would recommend a medium temperature, probably around 350° F. You want enough heat to thoroughly heat your toppings, but not so much that it kills the tlayuda while the toppings are getting hot.
I would also suggest placing a thin piece of foil under the tlayuda. I often do... |
How do I tone down the flavor of garlic in spaghetti sauce
I am taking a meal to a family tonight, my sauce is cooking, it will cook for several more hours. Right now, it is much too strong, ( I know, I did not think it possible). How do I cut that flavor? | The punchy, raw flavor of garlic is very volatile, and it'll change as the sauce cooks. Garlic (like all alliums) gets a lot more mellow as it cooks, and the extremely intense flavor you're tasting now will fade into the background.
So you simply may not need to do much now - taste the sauce again in a couple hours and... |
How can I recreate canned whipped cream from scratch?
I tried by using two quarts of heavy cream, two cups of sugar and a spoon of honey and mixed it all together but I feel like it's missing something to the flavor.
I'm trying to create something similar to what you get out of a can of whipped cream. Reddi-whip to b... | Sigh, I was trying to avoid answering this, but feel compelled to provide some information after all your revisions. I'm answering only this part of the question:
Can someone explain what these are: (maltodextrin, inulin (chicory
extract), cellulose, mono- and diglycerides polysorbate 80, artificial
flavors, carr... |
Is allspice traditional in the Levant?
From the Wikipedia entry for allspice:
Allspice is also indispensable in Middle Eastern cuisine, particularly in the Levant, where it is used to flavour a variety of stews and meat dishes.
I am confused by this because I thought allspice was a Central American spice. Is this s... | Allspice is, indeed, the only commonly used spice* native to North America. It is also very commonly used in various Arabic, Central Asian and Middle Eastern cuisines. It is a standard part of the cuisine-defining North African spice mixes baharat and ras al hanout. The vast majority of global Allspice is still grow... |
Cooking at, or below, the boil. Is there any impact that the actual boil has?
When cooking in water, is there any difference between 98°C or 100°C ? In the second case water is boiling, and in the first it isn't. | The usual difference comes because there are foods which have to reach certain temperature to get done. For example, the collagen in beef needs to be held at above 68C to transform. But I don't know of any food for which the turning point occurs between 98 and 100 C. So, in theory, if a recipe calls for boiling food fo... |
If I mix rum, gin, vodka and scotch whisky, put it in a water bottle, and leave it for a month will it be safe to drink?
I mixed gin, vodka, rum and scotch whisky together, put it into a water bottle, and left it for about 1 month, would it make me sick If I drank it? | Gin, vodka, rum and whisky are all distilled spirits, so you'd be essentially mixing up essentially four versions of same thing and get to a different version of the same thing. Individually the alcohol content in these spirits more than high enough to prevent microorganisms from growing when stored for years in a clos... |
What's the recommended temperature for chocolate to set?
I have been making various kinds of chocolate bonbons for about 8 months with great success. (Once I had mastered tempering, that is.)
I had read somewhere (but I can't remember the source) that chocolate that's allowed to set in the fridge will not set with the... | The recommended temperature is 20°C. This is 12 to 13 degrees Celsius difference to the actual chocolate temperature. 1-2 degrees deviation will not be a problem, but more than that and you will get subpar results.
This temperature should ideally be the same on all sides of the new chocolate shape. This means, if you ... |
If I make my own jerky, will I expect the same amount of protein in the finished product as what I started with?
If I look up top round steak, it has about 65 g of protein in an 8 oz serving. If it takes roughly 3 lbs of top round to create 1 lb of jerky, I would expect the jerky to contain about 24 g of protein per o... | Yes, it's mainly because they use different muscles.
For example here's jerky that contains 21 gram of protein Fatman beef Jerky.
During dehydration you don't remove any calories so you cannot have lower amount of protein, fats or carbs. You just remove water.
What is more important when looking at jerky is that lit... |
Why did flatbread dominate the Middle East but Europe adopted raised breads?
This may be a history question so please move it if appropriate.
Culturally, local ingredients dominate cooking recipes and national dishes (e.g., soy in SE Asia), but why do Europeans add a raising agent to bread items to make loaf bread wh... | I'm going to agree with Szczerzo about this being an anthropologic question, but I'm going to disagree about the cause. While nomadic lifestyles was an influence, it's not causative.
I'm also going to ignore the distinction made about raising agents in the OP, because it's factually incorrect; most Arab/Levantine/Turk... |
Bell peppers become either crunchy or soggy
Why can't I ever cook bell peppers to the right consistency?
Particularly in Asian dishes, and I have cut them various ways-- I continue cooking if they seem hard, then they become soggy and/or bitter.
Is there carry-over cooking that happens with bell peppers as there is ... | There is a slight carry over with most things you cook. However I think the answer to most "Why is my stir fry not like the restaurant's?" questions, has to do with heat. Their stoves are much, much more powerful. You simply can't get that with a typical home stove.
So, the way to get closest at home is to preheat your... |
Is this sponge cake recipe correct?
I found an old family recipe for a big size sponge cake. Are these measures correct?
10 eggs
6 heaped tablespoons of flour
3 heaped tablespoons of corn starch
10 heaped tablespoons of granulated sugar
1/2 heaped tablespoon of baking powder
The recipe uses the separated eggs method. | Different types of cakes are recognizable by their ratios. Recognizing the ratio of your recipe is very hard, because it is given in nonstandard volumetric measurements. In fact, the use of "flour" (without differentiation of the type) together with cornstarch, and the formulation "heaped tablespoon" suggests that this... |
Why is tin loaf bread not usually scored like other forms of bread?
Here is what I already understand, Bread needs to be scored so that there a clear path out for the pockets of gas that will expand when heated up, if there is no scoring the gases will burst from a seemingly random place which could miss up the way it... | If you look at your videos again, you will notice that the loaves did rise a lot during the second rise in the tin. They were fully proofed and therefore the oven spring (the expansion in the oven) is minimal. Plus, they are both baking at relatively low temperatures.
Bread can be baked at different stages of proofing,... |
How can I tell if this is baking soda or powder?
Sure it'd be easier and cheap to just buy new soda and powder but I'm curious.
I had a jar of either baking soda or powder. The marker with which I'd labeled it rubbed off during a house move and I do not recall which one it was.
Is there an easy way to test if I have... | Baking powder contains starch, which is insoluble.
Baking soda is completely soluble
Take a small bowl, and put 1/8 tsp of the substance in the bottom.
Add water.
If the substance is bicarbonate of soda, the solution will be completely clear.
If it is baking powder, a cloudy/powdery residue will remain.
(You can also u... |
How do I clean a refrigerator with no removable shelves?
I believe this has been asked already but I'll ask it again. How do I clean a refrigerator with no removable shelves? I am renting an appartment so this fridge isn't mine exactly. I have no idea what make or model it is either and I'm guessing it's pretty old (7... | 200 proof alcohol to the rescue! (If you cannot get that locally, use the cheapest vodka with the highest alcohol content you can buy)
Pour a bit into an atomiser for best results (but a good spray bottle will do¹), spray a tiny amount inside the fridge and wipe it off with a kitchen towel after a few seconds. It'll s... |
Home-made Burger buns food safety
How can I make burger buns that I can keep for a long time?
I have tried making some, but fungus starts growing on them after just two days... | Best way to keep bread for a long time, more than 1 day, especially burger buns, which are more fragile than regular bread is to freeze them.
Slice them open and freeze them as quickly as possible, but in a freeze bag.
(edit)
If your buns start having fungus after just a couple of days, maybe there is something wrong w... |
Can you freeze or can buttermilk syrup?
I like to make buttermilk syrup in bulk to have on hand. I am wondering if I can can(preserve) it, and if I would need to process it. Or if I should just freeze it. It has buttermilk, butter, sugar, corn syrup, vanilla and baking soda in it. | There is no science-based way to safely can dairy based products at home.
From Clemson.edu
Despite what is found on the internet, there are no science-based methods for home canning of cheeses, milk, butter or other dairy products. Clemson Extension and the National Center for Home Food Preservation do not recommend a... |
Can meat flavored tomato sauce be used without heating?
I saw similar questions but I can't comment as I'm new.
Is there any tomato sauce with meat chunks? Can those be used without cooking? | Yes, you can buy tomato sauce with meat chunks around here
Yes they're safe to eat cold |
How long do vine leaves need to be cooked for?
I have a grape vine with a lot of fresh leaves so I thought I'd make stuffed vine leaves. I'm going to precook the filling, so the final cook only needs to be enough to cook the leaves. Most recipes for stuffed vine leaves cook for long enough to cook the filling as well,... | As you're going to blanch the vine leaves until they are easy to roll, no additional time is needed to cook them...
If you add cold ingredients like cheese to the filling or if you freeze them, it's a good idea to steam them a bit more for perfectly warm and properly cooked Dolmades... |
What are these two vegetables called?
For bonus points how do I cook the one on the top?
The bottom one I already cooked but here it is now: | The top is a kohlrabi. Two approaches I like a lot:
treat it like a potato. Peel it, cut into chunks, and boil it (and optionally sliced the boiled pieces and fry them in a little butter)
treat it like cabbage or jicama. Peel it, julienne it raw and toss with grated carrot and whatever you dress coleslaw with (mayo a... |
Fix for Greasy Pulled Pork?
The Problem: Recently, I've been on a pulled pork kick. My go-to method has quickly become pressure cooking, since it's relatively quick and it allows me to set the timer and forget about cooking for a while. The problem is that my meat frequently ends up being greasy, occasionally up to th... | I doubt that your meat is really greasy. If it is really overly fat, you will notice it when buying it, your meat will be marbled through and through. But it is difficult to get such meat nowadays at all, since it is rather expensive to produce.
The mouthfeel you describe is more likely to come from the gelatine. When... |
How do I make sure I don't overheat my teflon pan?
I cook in my teflon wok pans all the time. I recently saw an answer here suggesting to preheat a pan to a high temperature and cook in small batches when preparing stir-fry food. I would like to try that, and several other things like roasting peanuts or spices. Howev... | To best check temperature, you need a thermometer, and if you can, use a non-contact thermometer (infrared thermometer).
Teflon start degrading at around 260 °C (500 °F).
So check the pan temperature, adjust the heat of your range (electric, gas...) so that the temperature stay below that.
If you want to use high tempe... |
Why and how does the egg white stick to its shell when cooked sous vide?
I've been cooking eggs sous vide and love the control over the consistency of the yolk; a perfectly jammy egg yolk is one reason the sous vide approach impresses me. However, there is one sticking point for me: the egg white sticks to the egg she... | It is because the outer most layer of egg white is not firm/tough enough to survive being peeled without ripping apart.
If you do not want to ice and boil it, you can torch the outside of the egg for up to a minute. This will cause localized boiling under the shell and physically separate the egg whites from the shell... |
How do you saute anchovies in a flavor base?
Once in a while an Italian recipe asks for dissolving a couple anchovy filets in the oil before adding other veggies.
Should you chop your anchovies before, or break them in the oil? Also what degree should the oil be in? I feel like I always burn my anchovies. | You can both chop or not chop the anchovies.
I do not: I just crush them in the pan, and thus do not have to clean up anchovy oil from my cutting board.
I usually use anchovies like that in combination with garlic or onion, so the heat is never high enough to burn anything. If your anchovies get burnt, lower the heat... |
What is this fruit, anyone knows?
What fruit is this?
Please see photos, thanks. This is from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA. It is about 3 inches in diameter. | Update: Now that the OP added a photo of the inside, I think Cos Callis was right, and it's Guava, it definitely doesn't look like an apple from the inside.
It looks very much like a Pond Apple:
The form of the leaves and the stalk/stem(?) looks also very similar. |
Flour is many years expired but still looks good
I have a bag of flour in my pantry that expired 3 years ago, but it looks and smells perfectly fine. Is it still safe to eat?
EDIT: To clarify, today is July 3rd, 2018, and the flour best before date is "2015 SE 04"
Question is different from other existing questions on... | I would advise against the use of that. However, it's still okay to a certain extent as it is only a best before date - not use by. |
How to make Instant Hot Chocolate Taste Less Watery
How can I make hot chocolate drinks made from using instant hot chocolate sachets taste less watery?
I work in an office with limited kitchen appliances, we only have access to a tap that dispenses boiling hot or ice cold water and a microwave.
I have tried adding mi... | I can think of four possible fixes. One is simply, use less water - a smaller amount of a richer drink may well be preferable to a larger amount of a watery drink. Another is the reverse, use more mix, which uses two packets (if not all of the second is necessary, you might share with someone else who wants extra, sa... |
How to grate cinnamon using a microplane
What is the best way (force/position/type of cinnamon) to grate cinnamon sticks using a microplane? I've tried several times, and although I get a finely ground, very aromatic powder, it took me five minutes to get a quarter of a teaspoon--and took serious elbow grease/constant... | I think using a microplane to grate hard spice is only useful for small amount, either it will take you a long time (as you experienced) or will damage your microplane (render it blunt).
The best way to grind spices is with a electric grinder (coffee grinder), even with that, grinding harder spices like cinnamon is dif... |
What does 'white' alone mean in cocktail recipes?
I've come across the two following cocktail recipes:
East Meets West
Absolut Raspberry vodka, Cointreau, St-Germain
elderflower liqueur, pomegranate juice, lime juice, white
The English Writer
Tanqueray gin, Aperol, pink grapefruit, acacia
honey, lime juice, whit... | As mentioned in a couple of comments, this almost certainly means egg white, which is used in some shaken drinks to create a stable foam on top of the finished cocktail. It can also "round out" the flavor of a drink and prevent them from seeming overly sweet or tart. Neither of these is explicitly identified as a shake... |
Do onions help to sweeten tomato sauce?
I have a school project. We are to create a recipe of our own and also explain the effects of the ingredients used when cooking.
I would like to know if adding onions to tomato sauce helps to sweeten the sauce and how it helps to sweeten the sauce.
Can someone help me? | Onions contain a good amount of sugar; that is why they brown and burn easily.
The sweetness is more than often hidden behind the sharp onion smell and taste.
Some onions like the vidalia onion varieties are really sweet.
One way to test if an onion will sweeten the tomato sauce would be to prepare two similar batches,... |
Is it safe to boil sweetened condensed milk in the can to make dulce de leche?
Is it? I am talking about metal poisoning not the explosion risk, will the can leak dangerous metals into the dulce de leche product when boiled or is it safe to eat? (I am hoping it is because it is very convenient but if its not what to d... | Yes, it is perfectly safe. Nearly all if not all canned foods sold commercially have been processed in retorts (industrial pressure cookers) to kill microrganisms
The metal from the can is not going to leach into the food contained in it |
Why does my banana bread have a moist top?
My mother always made banana bread when I was growing up, and my favorite part was the the fact that the top of the loaf was sweet and moist, to the point that it would leave residue if you touched it! Hers is the only banana bread that I've seen that does this.
When I first... | You've partially answered your own question:
When wrapped in foil, the water contained naturally in the ingredients will re-moisturise the banana bread.
a. To reduce:
don't wrap it
leave it in the oven to cool down with the oven slightly open so that most of the moisture can escape
b. to enhance:
make a dome of tin... |
How to toast whole nutmeg to put in coffee?
Playing mad scientist a bit, I tried putting some ground nutmeg in coffee, and I really thought it tasted neat, especially with brown sugar. I think it'd taste even better if I used whole nutmeg, toasted/roasted it a little, and ground it up with the coffee beans. Since nutm... | You can break up a whole nutmeg with a hammer - just wrap the nutmeg in a kitchen towel first so none of it goes flying. Give it a couple solid smacks with the hammer, right through the towel, laid on a hard surface. This should break it up into larger pieces. (Add a couple more whacks if it doesn't, but try not to bre... |
Pros and cons to cooling gelato liquid?
So, I'm new to the world of desserts and am getting into making some gelato. My ice cream maker is the type that has a cooler in it so it pre-cools the bucket and continues cooling it while churning.
Given that, I've seen some recipes that specifically call for heating the gela... | Cooling the gelato liquid is important when your ice cream maker does not include a chiller built-in. Some makers rely on a bowl that is put in the freezer, so you have to get the mix as cold as possible or the bowl won't be able to freeze your base.
If you have a chiller in your ice cream maker then there's no need t... |
What is this bean called?
Please identify these. The beans are very large as you can see in relation to the iphone.
Inside: | They look a lot like fava beans (also commonly known as broad beans).
This link has some images to compare to. |
How do I avoid my food becoming brownish/dark while cooking?
I recently encountered a few recipes where food is not allowed to 'get colour', or become brownish while baking.
A few examples of what I mean:
Chicken turns a golden-brown colour.
Burgers get a very dark crust.
Onions turn brown.
How do I avoid my foo... | The "browning" or "coloring" of food during cooking and baking1 is a reaction of temperature and/or time. As a rule of thumb, the hotter your pan or oven, the faster the food will brown.
There are two chemical reactions (or rather chains of reactions) that play a significant role in cooking:
The Maillard reaction, whi... |
Tempering untempered chocolate
I would like to know how to temper chocolate without seeding it with already tempered chocolate.
Possibly this comes from a misunderstanding for the reason for tempering:
My understanding is that pretty much all shop bought chocolate (at least for cooking) is tempered already and melting... | Tempering chocolate is ensuring melted chocolate has a nice shine and there are a few methods to do that:
add grains of unmelted chocolate and stir (which is the seeding method you're referring to)
let it cool down while stirring
(which is the most labour-intensive method, but the easiest to do if you've never done th... |
How to mix alcohol with cream?
I recently wanted to make a 100% Baileys panna cotta. The idea was that because Baileys has a significant amount of cream, I could just add gelatine.
I should note that my typical panna cotta has just thick cream, gelatine, vanilla and icing sugar.
I ended up having to use about 60% crea... | There are a few tricks to get an alcohol-cream mix right:
Pour the alcohol into the cream and not the cream into the alcohol
Stir gently while pouring
Don't overdo it: don't pour more than 15% alcohol into the cream
(yes, Baileys is 17% but they're professionals and you're not ;-) )
Don't forget that you're diluting ... |
Does traditional Pesto Genovese contain garlic?
.. I'm hoping a native Genoan can tell me. Every recipe for Pesto Genovese I've found out there includes a fair amount of garlic. But I barely cook the sauce. I really just warm it through, tossing with the pasta and a little pasta water to form an emulsion. This means t... | According to the CONSORZIO DEL PESTO GENOVESE, which defines what is considered official Pesto Genovese, it does contain garlic. They suggest that traditionally it contained less garlic than the current official recipe calls for - one clove for 600g of pasta versus two. Later on they mention that it contains one clove... |
plastic cutting sheets. how to use properly
I bought some plastic cutting sheets in a pack of two. One side is smooth, the other side has a rough texture. Which side of the sheet should I cut on? | The rough surface faces downward to prevent the board from slipping on smooth surfaces. |
Cooking kidney beans in a slow cooker, how do I make sure they're safe?
I'm making 15 bean soup from a bagged dry bean mix that contains red kidney beans. Following the instructions, I soaked them overnight and threw out the water, but then thought I'd be clever and throw them in the slow cooker instead of cooking on ... | I found this question interesting because I'd never heard of poisoning from red kidney beans before, and have certainly cooked them solely in the slow cooker without ill effects that I can recall, so I did a little internet research. Here's the most authoritative opinion I found:
The US Navy Medical Corps thinks that... |
How to adjust this salad dressing recipe to extend storage life?
Following this question: How long will this homemade vinaigrette salad dressing keep in the fridge?
Which of these adjustments will prolong storage life to a significant extent?
remove garlic
add honey
replace lemon with (or add) vinegar
change acid:oi... | Some answers:
Swapping lemon juice for vinegar will extend storage life, because lemon juice contains volatile compounds that break down in a few days, whereas vinegar is a fermentation product that is shelf-stable for long periods of time. Also, vinegar has a slightly higher acidity, and (all else being equal) highe... |
What is this paste I got from boiling down coconut "whey"?
I have been fascinated with taking byproducts of a fresh coconut, and this time I got this sweet and very sour paste from boiling down coconut "whey"
First, let me explain what is this coconut whey :
Took the meat out a fresh coconut, did not remove the outer... | "Coconut Sugar" is actually made from the sap of the plant, not the nut. Basically, you made a type of "coconut whey paste". Since it lacked the fiber and most of the oils it was viscous and sticky. Also, since it included "milk" from the "testa" (Peel of the coconut) it was sour.
So you reduced the whey down to it... |
How do commercial sauce companies remove seeds from tomatoes?
When I remove seeds from tomatoes it is a tedious process. I scoop out the pulp which is in different compartments inside the tomato and push it through a strainer. It takes a long time.
How do food companies automate this process? Is it something I can do?... | In a commercial setting, i.e. a food processing plant, industrial, large capacity equipment is used. This equipment is specifically designed for this purpose and is part of the production line.
In a home setting, there are a couple of options. First is an electric tomato mill. These can be a little pricey, but are desi... |
Best way to improve my pizza crust
Here's how I prepare the dough: 500g of bread flour + 325ml of water + 6g of instant yeast + 1tsp of salt. Mix with the dough attachment on my hand mixer for ~20 min, cut in 4, form them into tight balls, put into plastic bags sprayed with olive oil, store in the fridge.
They then d... | You've definitely got a problem with your oven heat. I feel like an oven is an expensive investment so I'm reluctant to suggest buying a whole oven just to improve pizza crust, but a more capable oven helps in many ways. I prefer gas ovens and I have also highly enjoyed convection ovens.
I've found pizza stones to be e... |
How much mace to use for a sauce?
I am making a quart of sauce and want to use just enough mace that it can be detected. How much should I use?
Is there a general set of guidelines of quantities of spices per volume of sauce? | There are no such guidelines. The needed quantity will be different dependent on all other ingredients in the sauce (both spices and others) but also on the food habits of the eaters.
The way to get it right is to add incremental small amounts and taste. |
How to know when meringue has been over-whipped?
I have seen many recipes, SO's and videos where the baker/chef/etc put egg white in a machine and whip it on high speed for anything up to and over 10 minutes.
I have been warned about over whipping my egg whites when making meringue...
Though I will start adding sugar ... | The sad fact is: you usually know it when, half an hour after you are done whipping it, it floats in a puddle of liquid.
The problem is that it actually continues changing after you have stopped whipping. So, you really have to learn what the previous stage looks like, and stop whipping when that is reached. That's wh... |
What does it mean that a pan is "anti jamming"?
Lots of shops call their food pans "anti-jamming", but I have not been able to find out what that means.
I don't think it's related to radio communication or making fruit jam :)
Here is an example: | These pans (sometimes called chafing dishes) are designed to fit into a frame above water and a heat source to keep food hot. They are advertising that their pans won't get stuck (jam) in the frame.
As evidence, see this video (and this), which shows how even after pressure is applied the pan does not require effort t... |
How long can refrigerated eggs last past their date?
I have a set of eggs that expired last week, would they still be okay to cook with? Generally in the USA, can refrigerated eggs be used past their expiration date? | Yes, you can use eggs well past their "sell by" date. A week past shouldn't have a noticeable difference.
The older the eggs get, the more evaporation that will take place (because the eggs are washed, so they don't have a protective layer).
You will notice in older eggs that there's a growing pocket of air inside the... |
What is "fine ground cornmeal"?
I frequently run across recipes in books that require "fine-ground cornmeal", which isn't a classification that exists in the USA (particularly baffling when the cookbook was published in the USA). This leaves me unsure of what to substitute; whether I should be using medium-grind corn... | I'm an American cornbread lover living in the UK, so I have some experience with this. In the UK and commonwealth corn flour = US cornstarch, and in the UK corn meals are coarser then their US counterparts. Coarse polenta is like ball bearings, fine polenta is still too coarse for decent cornbread and fritters. You can... |
Does the "plunger" type cherry-pitter work?
In short has anyone tried this type:
... of cherry pitter?
(example of the type).
Machinery for pitting cherries is a real art form. Anyone know if these work?
What concerns me is that: with the more traditional type:
I guess you "have to" align it nicely (I suppose, with... | I actually just pitted about 10 gallons of cherries using a plunger style pitter very similar to that one.
The cherries are gravity fed from the hopper into the chute. Only one cherry can fit at the bottom of the chute and it lines up nicely with the plunger.
From time to time cherries would fail to fall into the chute... |
Best practices for using taps while avoiding cross contamination
What are the best practices when it comes to touching taps while handling raw meat? I have germ related OCD issues so I end up avoiding using raw meat at all costs because in my head the following would occur:
Cut meat > turn on tap > wash hands > turn ... | I often use the method described in mech's answer - using food-grade gloves when handling raw meat. Both at work and at home.
A secondary option that I often employ is the overall cleanability of taps. Just grab those taps with your raw meat hands with impunity. Give your hands a quick rinse then lather them up with ex... |
Is it normal to find something in tea?
I often buy Chinese tea by weight in some local stores and at times I find some inclusions that should not be there. Up to this date I have found:
A human hair
Some sand
Some white dots (presumably parts of a plant) that always come with Pu'er stones and float on the surface
Par... | Short Answer: No. Change your tea vendor.
Long Answer:
My sweetie is a tea drinker, and gets Chinese teas from many premium vendors in the US, including Ten Ren, Jasmine Pearl, Silk Road, Vital Leaf, Red Robe, and others. We currently have a kitchen cabinet so full of teas that bags fall out every time I open it. Mo... |
What went wrong with my yuzu cheesecake?
Having seen an episode of The Great British Bake Off, I decided to bite off more than I could chew and made a yuzu cheesecake. As yuzu was described, on the program, as having a taste somewhere between mango and kiwi I was expecting a nice, fruity cheesecake. What I got was som... | Given that you were using bottled 100% yuzu juice (assuming this is what you bought), which although not as flavorsome as fresh yuzu, still tastes generally similar, I would say the 'disappointment' comes from how it was used.
When I have had yuzu based desserts they have nearly always used a yuzu syrup or jam or yuzu ... |
Does the fruit label get put on a bad spot, or does the bad spot develop as a result of the label?
So often when I take the little barcode sticker off the piece of fruit when I'm washing it, I discover a blemish under the sticker. Is that because the sticker was placed so as to cover up the blemish, or because the ac... | A few years ago I had the rare chance to take a look behind the scenes of the largest manufacturer of fruit sorting, labeling and packaging equipment in the Pacific Northwest and it was impressive to see how much effort and planning goes into designing everything in a way that damage to fruit is avoided at all costs. W... |
How can I control ice crystal size in home made pure juice lollies
With the recent hot weather we've been getting through so many Ice lollies (popsicles) that we have started making our own.
We are primarily using freshly squeezed orange juice (with bits *8') and freezing them in a frost free freezer regulated to -18°... | I have been experimenting with vegan frozen desserts lately and I've found that using invert sugar and 0.5% to 1% locust bean gum really helps in slowing down the crystal formation.
I would hydrate LBG by combining with water and then bringing it to a boil while mixing; then mix it into the actual liquid you'd want to ... |
How can I examine fruits or vegetables in a market, while minimizing mechanical damage?
From this answer and the discussion in comments:
[T]he problem is mechanical damage: every time someone picks up a
piece of fruit and puts it down again it may cause small soft spots
and local damage - And think about the shop... | The first step is to only pick up items you're likely to buy. Then you should only have to put down items that have an actual problem already.
For some things you want to check for ripeness, but under-ripe items are more robust, so it should be possible to pick them up gently without damage and put them down again. Aft... |
Can I use Portobello Mushrooms in Lasagna?
I'd like to make a lasagna with mushrooms finely chopped and cooked with some Italian sausage to make the base for the meat sauce. However, all I have are Portobello Mushrooms. Will they work for this? | The simple answer is Yes. Of course you can use Portobello in your lasagna. You can dice them up and add them to your sauce, no problem at all.
If that is the end product you want then you should make it that way but I would recommend slicing the Portobello into long thin slices. This will accentuate the lovely texture... |
What method can be used to remove the seed from a peach other than just trying to pull both sides after cutting it?
I tried to find an answer to this question in this community but I couldn't find one. Therefore I'm asking it. So far the method I'm using is cutting the top and the bottom with a knife and then carefull... | If you have the right kind1 of peaches (freestone, ripe), cutting around the stone along the side seam and further on will be enough to let you separate the two halves and lift out the stone. In all other cases, this is where the fun begins.
When working with peaches and nectarines, I always start with that initial onc... |
Why is my custard eggy?
I have followed the instructions in this video from Delia Smith precisely, twice:
https://www.deliaonline.com/cookery-school/second-term-perfect-eggs/lesson-6-separate-ways-eggs-part-2
What I get from the final product is a custard which is very egg-like is taste. Not overpoweringly so, but eno... | With the full recipe, it does not seem to me that the egg ratio is particularly high. Most recipes I have seen and use tend to be around 2 eggs per cup (US), and yours is 6 for about 2 1/2, so slightly higher than what I have seen as about average, but well within range.
To me, egg custards always have some amount of ... |
Braising brisket internal temperature
I am going to braise 22 pounds of brisket for 6-8 hours at 225°.
What temperature should the brisket be internally before I pull out to cool? I have been told many mixed answers. | After 6-8 hours at 225° your meat's going to be 225°, there's no value of measuring its temperature. After a couple of hours any piece of meat will reach the same temperature of the oven. When cooking tough cuts like brisket target temperature is immaterial, you're never going to serve them less than well done, the poi... |
How do I preserve papalo?
I have a lot of papalo in my garden, and want to preserve it. What method should I choose to do this? I want to use it throughout the winter, and maybe some next year. The internet suggests that drying is not a great option, so I am looking for other preservation methods. | It seems that you've already done some research on the subject, as you mention that it doesn't dry well. Searching for 'papalo' using an internet search engine found http://www.appalachianfeet.com/2010/05/07/how-to-grow-and-use-papalo-wrecipes/ :
It doesn’t dry well, but it can be frozen if it is pureed with water or... |
Can you roast soybeans directly in a popcorn popper or microwave?
Howdy, I just wanted to ask if it was possible to roast this type
of soybean directly in a microwave popper contraption or a dedicated popcorn popper without any prior water work, just straight out of the box? And If they'd be edible if I did such a th... | No, you can't cook dried beans just by roasting them. All this would do is it dry them out even more and that wouldn't make them more edible. Indeed, dried beans are used as baking beans to weigh down pastry during blind baking and they don't pop like popcorn.
All recipes for roasted soybeans require some combination o... |
What is the shelf life of vermouth?
I like the occasional Negroni or Manhattan, but I'm not a heavy drinker. As far as I'm concerned liquor is pretty much immortal, but what's the rule on vermouth? | Opened, at room temp: A week or two without serious flavor changes.
Opened, but kept in the fridge: a month, at least. (I'm still working my way through a bottle of dry vermouth with no noticeable degradation in flavor in ~3 months, ymmv of course).
Unopened: A year+ at room temp.
Source: Serious Eats experiment |
Fermentation: volume vs. time
This is specifically a question about chiles, but I hope it can be (semi)universally applied.
I was watching a documentary on how they make Tabasco and it was effectively: age chile pepper puree in oak (whiskey) barrels with salt poured over the top for about two years. Cut the resulting ... | So, I checked Wikipedia, and want to make sure you plan to add salt into the barrel WITH the chile puree. I'm not sure why they would add more on top, but I'm not judging, here. However, if you want fermentation and not nightmare juice, you NEED to mix salt into that puree. It looks like you want 2.5% salt.
Another ge... |
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