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Do gums have any nutritional value? Do gums (e.g., xanthan, guar, cellulose, glucomannan) have any nutritional value, or do they pass undigested like chewing gum does? Are there known allergies to any gums?	Gums are considered fibre because they are ignored by our microbiome. Besides, industry (at the contents of any product that we buy) also consideres fibre anything that is not processed by our digestion.
What is an alternative for ginger? Some people don't like ginger taste in meal. What can I use instead of ginger? Actually I want to cook cauliflower, so what can I use instead of ginger.	Something with a sharp, bright flavor. Maybe garlic, shallot, or horseradish.
Can I save wet biscuits? In the rainy season biscuits and other dry goods become wet under their packing. Can they be recovered?	Just put them in the oven at 100 °C (212 °F, the boiling point of water) and all the humidity will dry out naturally. The time depends on the size and amount of water in the biscuits: smaller and damp: 5 minutes large and very wet: up to 20 minutes.
What are the major causes of food poisoning? People may die due to food poisoning. What are the major dangers? Sometimes in restaurants people eat a meal and get sick. How can we see that the food is dangerous?	Welcome to the forum! Food poisoning may be due to many reasons, some of which are restaurants leaving food unrefrigerated, not washing produce thoroughly or not cooking meats and eggs to a high enough temperature ( varies among meats, poultry and eggs). Sometimes you can tell it's moldy from smell or color, but other...
How can I use bitter or hard water for cooking and specially in soaking beans? How can I use hard water (with a bitter taste) for cooking and especially to soak dry beans. Normally beans do not soak well in hard (bitter) water. In that case, what should I do?	In most countries, hard water is caused by Calcium and Magnesium Carbonates. These can be easily removed by using an ion-exchange apparatus (best results) or can be converted by adding an acid to the water. In the case of vinegar: 2 CH3COOH + CaCo3 → Ca(CH3COO)2 + CO2 + H2O So the Calcium is not gone: it's just conv...
How to clean molten plastic from a pizza stone? I have a pizza stone, which has molten plastic on it (it touched the edge of a plastic chopping board briefly, while hot). I cleaned as best as I could with water, but when I put it in the oven it fumes very strongly. My idea was to try to burn the plastic off in the ove...	For anyone interested: I ended up scraping the stone with a butter knife and some steel wool, removing all visible plastic, after which I put it in the oven and heated it up to about 275°C. After about an hour it stopped fuming, and from what I can tell there was not much left on it, although it was still kind of black...
How can I reduce the bitterness of onions? Sometimes onions are too much better and can't use for salad. Then what should I do for reducing onions bitterness?	Although I've never encountered bitter onions, if something is bitter the best thing to do is counteract the bitterness with more sugar. If you're eating them raw I would recommend mixing sugar and lemon juice in a bowl and mixing with the onions and leave for about 20 minutes. The sugar balances out the bitterness an...
Mint vs Peppermint Are mint and peppermint the same thing? Can we substitute one for the other. How can we differentiate between mint and peppermint?	Peppermint is a hybrid breed of two plants belonging to the mint genus, spearmint and watermint. In my experience, when 'mint' is referred to by itself without any other descriptors, it usually refers to the spearmint flavour people are used to (from things like green restaurant mint candies, toothpaste, etc). Peppermi...
Difference between cooking apples and eating apples What is the difference between cooking apples and eating apples? With so many varieties of apples to choose from, how to choose the apples that are suitable for baking and cooking.	There are many different varieties of apples, some are good for baking because they hold their shapes, some others do not, but can be good for apple sauce or jelly. Most of the apples are good for eating raw. There are many lists and charts available on the internets that show all that. For example : https://bestapple...
Olives in French Beef Stew What is the use of the olives in this recipe: https://www.diningandcooking.com/38945/french-beef-stew-with-red-wine-garlic-mashed-potatoes/ In the stew, the meat gets marinated in wine and herbs, then simmered for two to three hours. Fifteen minutes before serving, pitted olives get added. ...	If the recipe said to simmer them slowly with the meat, you might be pleasantly surprised as they could blend in with the other flavors. (Or not, but it might be worth a try with a smaller amount.) But in the given recipe, a not-so-small amount gets added shortly before the end of the cooking time, which seems intended...
How to make a batter that is hard and hold up to sauce I am trying to recreate Beijing Beef like they have at Panda Express. Most copycat recipes are recommending a batter made from some combination of cornstarch and flour. I am finding that the batter is too delicate and quickly turns to mush when mixed in with the ...	It sounds more like they're frying, then baking the beef in the oven to finish it. Fry the battered beef until in floats (to ensure it cooks all of the way through,) then bake in a 350° oven until it reaches your desired crispness. The longer it bakes the harder it should get.
Ideal Coffee Grind for dough-like recipes Is there an ideal coffee grind for culinary (i.e. actual food, not beverages) use, particularly in dough? More particularly, when the coffee is the main ingredient (in matters of flavor)? What effect, if any, does the kind of grind have on a solid recipe taking ground coffee?...	If you're putting the actual ground-up beans in the dough rather than brewing/extracting, I suggest one of two extremes, depending on the effect you're aiming for: A very fine grind so it's evenly incorporated and not easily detected by feel (think of nut flour for the texture you'd be aiming for). As you're replacing...
How can I save apples pieces that became black? Apple pieces became black very quickly. How can I save them?	Apples turn brown due to contact with air and there are a couple of things (that I know) to slow down the process. Toss the apples with a little bit of lemon (or lime) juice Submerge them in ice water both will retard the brown (oxidation) on apples and a lot of other fruit too.
What is the best alternative for tomatoes in chicken curry? Some peoples do not like tomatoes in chicken curry. What alternative should I use instead of using tomatoes?	Tomatoes can be a fairly fundamental part of a curry, and attempting to substitute them would change the dish radically. I suggest instead you look for a recipe that doesn't use them in the first place (sauces based on things like yoghurt, slow-cooked onions, or coconut). You could use a similar mix of spices to your f...
How can I save flour from little insects? Red and white little insects appeared in the flour.Are these harmful for flour? How can I save flour from those?	There's no way to make your flour completely safe after it gets infested with bugs. You could sieve the flour and the mesh will separate the bugs, however any diseases carried by the bugs would be left in the flour as will bug droppings (i.e. insect excrement). Cooking it may kill whatever nasty stuff the bugs leave be...
How can I save bread from mildew? Because of mildew we waste breads. How can I save breads from mildew?	You can eat it quickly, or you can freeze it. Keeping it in the fridge is sometimes an option but for bread that is to be eaten as bread (rather than toasted) you end up with stale/dry bread (safe but a poor texture). Warm, humid rooms encourage bread to go bad more quickly, so you can sometimes get slightly better lif...
How to store spinach to extend its shelf life? How do you store spinach long term? What is the best way to store spinach in order to extend its shelf life?	Fresh spinach, like other leafy greens, is best stored in the fridge in some way that keeps it dry but not too dry. The things that cause spinach to wilt and spoil are: dirt & insects being wet or too damp getting too dry cut, crumpled, and broken leaves I've included a number of references below, but here's my meth...
How can I manage sugar in tea? I don't know how much sugar I use in tea for a gathering. Because some are like more sugar and some less. So how can I manage sugar in tea?	In the Western culture it is common practice to prepare tea without sugar and then add an individual amount of sugar in the cup. At a larger and informal gathering where guests serve themselves, you would provide a pot of unsugared tea and a pot of sugar with a teaspoon in it. You also provide a teaspoon to each guest....
Is there any way for me to reheat mini beef wellingtons without toughening the meat? I've been asked to bring an appetizer to Thanksgiving dinner and my father requested that I make him my beef wellington so I'm wanting to try a bite-sized version. It's a family potlock and there won't be time to cook a dish but we'll...	Very doable, you just have to fool around with them a little. Watch the meat carefully, and check the internal temperature in several pieces with a meat thermometer, as they're heating. If you're concerned about a hot spot in the oven, you can rotate the pan every couple of minutes. Pull from the oven once they've reac...
How long to bake a pre-baked ham? I was given a 3 oz pre-baked ham. I do not have an internal thermometer. As I have never baked a ham before, can someone please tell me how long I need to bake it? Thank you!	Pre-baked hams just need to be warmed through. You can augment it with a glaze or other flavorings, but really it just needs to be warmed up. But 3oz seems really, really small. If it were larger, I'd possibly heat it up covered so that it doesn't dry out before it warms through in the oven. If it's really 3oz, I'd a...
butter fat on top of frozen roux. Is it still good to use? I made a brown roux and froze some. Now there is a thin layer of butter fat on top of the roux. Is the roux still good? Do I need to remove the butter fat, or just start all over again? Thank you.	No problem, just melt it gently over low heat, stirring, and go ahead with whatever you were going to do.
How does the quantity of salt change after the steaming stage when cooking pulao? When making pulao1, I taste the salt in the broth before the steaming stage (also called dum). At this time, the saltiness is just right. But after the rice has finished steaming, it is less salty than before. Why does this happen? What...	Dum is the steaming stage of the cooking. This is the stage where rice absorb water and the flavor. From my experience and what all our generations have been told on how to cook pulao/rice, you taste the water/broth just after adding rice. It should be a bit saltier than what you would normally like. This way the salti...
How to peel tomatoes easily? I went through several websites and found that the easiest way to peel tomato is to boil them . So, How long do we need to boil tomatoes so that you can easily peel them?	You don't want to boil them, you want to blanch them. This means you bring the water to a boil, cut a shallow cross into each tomato (scoring the peel), add the tomatoes (few enough compared to the amount of water that the water doesn't stop boiling) and let them boil for ~1 minute. Remove the tomatoes and dump them st...
I am cooking beef stew in the crockpot and accidentally put a little flour in the beginning not end I am cooking a beef stew in the crockpot and instead of adding a little flour at the end I accidentally added it at the beginning. What do I do to fix this? Will it mess the stew up? There was extra broth so will it jus...	You should be fine, as long as you mix it in thoroughly. Flouring the beef and browning is a very common first step, so there is maybe some in there already? Any extra flour to thicken needs some time to cook or it will make the gravy feel grainy. Stir, stir, stir, and if you see any lumps, take them out. Be careful th...
Why are bay leaves used whole and then removed rather than crushed up like other spices? Recently when making a 5-bean-stew "kit" my son finely crushed up the bay leaves and added them to the other spices, rather than adding them whole to be removed after cooking. When I pointed out his error, he asked me why bay leav...	Dried bay is sometimes left in, for example this herb mix from Schwartz includes bay leaves (at less than 3%). Dried they can easily be crushed and added as a powder, but you don't often want a lot of dried bay as the flavour can be quite overpowering. I only use fresh bay as I have a plant outside the kitchen door and...
How do I check stew doneness? I'm doing beef stew in a slow cooker. When cooking slabs of meat (e.g. steak), I can check doneness with a meat thermometer, but I'm not sure that method really applies in a stew. The broth will heat faster than the meat, presumably, and I don't think I can get a good reading off a 1" bee...	Stew meat is generally from tough cuts. Meat is tough because of collagen, which takes time to break down into gelatin, and gelatin gives a luscious mouth feel. The meat will get up to temperature and stay there for hours, the way tell it is done is with a fork - if it falls apart it's done.
What's the musky taste in curry? I often order curry when eating out, and enjoy it enough to try my hand at making it at home. However, roughly half the curries I've eaten (usually the water based ones) have a strong, overpowering "musky" taste that kind of masks everything else. It's dark and very unpleasant - not un...	If the flavor is so clear and overpowering to you, and you haven't noticed it in other dishes, it is most likely a spice (or another flavor agent), not some of the vegetables. There is no way for us to tell you which spice it is. The words people choose to describe smells are mostly arbitrary * so calling it "dark" or ...
Homemade cream cheese I like to make no bake cheese cake when I checked few blogs and I got to know that cream cheese is important for this but I don't have cream cheese in the nearby shops. When I further started searching I saw one more blog where they used yogurt and crumbled paneer which is easy for me to use. I j...	Cream cheese is a distinct product, with a flavour and texture of its own. I don't think you'd get the right texture by crumbling paneer into yoghurt, but if you can make paneer you can make cream cheese - or rather [an easy form of ricotta] (https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/nov/14/homemade-ricotta-recipe...
why my brownies taste bitter? I made brownies with the recipe of this: egg : 2 coco powder : 1/2 cup white flour : 1 cup milk : 1 cup baking powder : 1 tea spoon oil : 1/2 cup sugar : 1 cup then i put oil, egg, and sugar in the bowl and beat it then i add coco powder and white ...	Unsweetened Cocoa powder is a very bitter ingredient, and 1/2 a cup of it seems like a lot considering the ratios. If you want your brownies less bitter then you may want to reduce the cocoa some, or add more sugar, or do both. Try reducing your cocoa by 2 tbsp and adding 2 tbsp more sugar, adjust the ratios that way u...
How to make a cake sweeter without adding too much sugar into it? How can make our cake much sweeter without adding too much sugar into it or what can we add in our cake instead of using too much sugar that make our cake sweet.	If you don’t want to change the cake itself (because it needs experience and just using less or more sugar can ruin the cake texture), you can always add a small amount of something very sweet to the baked cake, either when finishing it or when serving. For example, consider a sugary glaze a syrupy drizzle a sweet ...
Do I need to peel butternut squash when roasting it in chunks? It seems like the peel is probably still inedible after roasting, but I'm not completely sure.	Peel is still inedible after roasting. It's a lot easier to get off after cooking. I usually cut squash in half, deseed, cook for an hour, then cut into pieces if I want to. You'll have to let it cool a bit before pulling the skin off the pieces. Why even do that. I've served squash with skin for decades, and mo one ev...
What is the difference between an herb and a spice? What is the difference between an herb and a spice? I would think an herb is from a plant, but then I have no idea what specifically a spice is. Not being much of a cook, they all seem related to me, and I often hear them referred to them all as "herbs and spices".	From fooducate.com The difference between the two is where they are obtained from a plant. Herbs come from the leafy and green part of the plant. Spices are parts of the plant other than the leafy bit such as the root, stem, bulb, bark or seeds. Examples of herbs include basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, parsley and mi...
Should rice be started in cold or boiling water? There are two main methods, either putting the rice into water already at boiling point, or putting them in cold water and then putting on the heat. Which method is the best to cook rice? Does it make a difference if you add rice to cold or boiling water?	It doesn't make much difference. A few things to consider and also why I use cold water. Once you bring the water to a boil you need to turn it down to a simmer. Adding cold rice at this point can thriw off this process. Rice is typically cooked based on ratios of volume. Boiling the water first won't effect this unl...
Why do brinjal change their color when they being cut? How to keep them not to change color? Why do brinjals (eggplant, aubergine) change their color(mostly black or brown) when they being cut? How to keep them not to change their color after cutting them?	Aubergine change colour because they are oxidizing, potatoes are in the plant family(night shades) and turn brown too. The best way to prevent browing is to immerse in water as soon as they are cut. Rubbing them with oil will help too, but not as much as soaking them in water.
How much and what seasoning to should I use in a turkey brine? Brining at its basic level is about opening the cell structure of the meat with salt and allowing osmotic action to take effect and allow the meat to become a bit juicier and bring a salty flavor to the meat. Many people have dumped everything but the kitc...	Before I try to answer some of your core question with my best from the gut answer, I want to address a bit of an issue with the question itself. Since I am the author of the question and answer upon which you base your question, I feel uniquely qualified to suggest that your source could be a lot better. The single ex...
Why is putting hot milk in a thermos not recommended? A colleague of mine just got a new thermos (inox), this model, and actually read all instruction, and we were surprised to read that it is not recommended to pour hot milk in the thermos. My opinion was that: Unlike tea of coffee, a lot of micro-organisms live in...	The cleaning is one thing (there are flasks without hidden crevices that can be easily cleaned), but there’s also another point to consider: A thermos flask that is doing its job will keep food warm, or rather, slow down the cooling process. Even if you fill it with fairly hot liquid, it will slowly cool. If you do tha...
Why is the English word "curry" used for all these different dishes? More like meta-cooking question, but I believe it fits here better than on travel stack. Why is English so poor at differentiating all those different things hidden under one common name: curry? Is there a historical reason for that, such as similar ...	"Curry" is based on the Tamil word "Kari", which refers to any of various highly-spiced side dishes intended to be eaten over rice. Englishmen from the British East India Company encountered the Tamil word in their first explorations of the subcontinent, applied it more broadly to pretty much all Indian dishes, and use...
Can I make a cake with finely ground coffee instead of cocoa powder? I used all my cocoa powder. Will it taste good if I use coffee instead? If anyone has done this before, please share your experiences and hints.	Coffee cake is good, but it's better to start from a recipe for coffee cake than try to adapt a chocolate cake. Cocoa powder brings an appreciable amount of fat and bulk to the recipe. You need to be very careful about terminology. Coffee powder in many places refers to powdered instant (soluble) coffee, which isn't...
Using baking strips vs. submerging in a water bath I've just recently become aware of baking strips, which are strips of fabric submerged in water and wrapped around a baking pan to reduce the heat transfer to the sides of a cake, preventing the sides from browning and eventually having a perfectly flat cake. If the p...	Cake tins aren't necessarily sealed. Springform tins in particular can leak in a water bath, leaving you with a boiled mess (foil can be used to cover the bottom, if it's big enough in a single sheet without tearing). Some other loose bottom tins can also leak even if well greased. In addition to these leakage issues ...
Too much Baking Soda in Banana Bread I accidentally put in banana bread 1 1/2 tsp of baking soda instead of 3/4 tsp of baking soda. Is it going to be edible?	Edible, yes. The best banana bread you've ever had? Probably not. Over-leavened quick breads tend to just get uneven in texture - you may get an uneven loaf with one section that's a little too dense and other sections that are a little too airy, or the whole thing may end up coarse and a little flatter than you'd pref...
Recalling poultry known to have Salmonella In the recent news, there was 91k pounds of turkey recalled because it was known to contain Salmonella, If I've always been told to cook my poultry to full doneness to kill off Salmonella and other baddies, so why is meat often recalled if its known to have Salmonella? I a...	You may have good food safety practices but not everyone does, and mistakes happen. A hurried food service worker accidentally cross-contaminating some food could be deadly to someone with a weak immune system, or make someone with a strong immune system very ill (I've been there - awful!). Recalling the food reduces t...
Homemade salt water taffy Are there any techniques to aerate homemade taffy, particularly saltwater taffy. The professional saltwater taffy makers in Atlantic City, NJ and Ocean City, NJ use machines that pull the taffy over and over. But they are making massive quantities at a time. I need a tip, trick, hack or tec...	To manually pull taffy, either you can stretch out the taffy between your arms by gripping one end of the taffy with each hand and extending your arms. This is extremely strenuous, and a lot of work especially when the taffy is cold or when starting. Another option is to get a Taffy Hook, which looks like this: It doe...
Chocolate cake vs Brownies I have heard people saying that brownies are simply a smaller version of chocolate cakes, is that so? If not, then what could be the differences between brownie and chocolate cake?	Brownies are denser then cakes in general. This is achieved through the different cooking methods and some slight differences in ingredients. The main difference in ingredients is that chocolate cakes tend to get their chocolate flavour from cocoa powder, whereas brownies use melted chocolate (and possibly some cocoa p...
Film on top of my almost vegan potato / onion / parsley soup I make this soup from a very simple recipe - except from a little butter, it's vegan: 1 yellow onion 1 garlic clove 2 medium potatoes 1 bunch of parsley with the stems removed 1 bouillon cube 1 1.2 liter of water I sweat the onions / butter / garlic - I the...	Since you mention the film develops after cooling, it is likely to be a very thin layer of fat. There are some sources of fat in your recipe: the butter you sweat the onions and garlic in, and the bouillon cube. Both of these are very minor sources of fat, but it's still present. A quick stir after warming should incor...
how to figure out cooking time I seared by prime rib at 450 degrees for 30 minutes and then I was supposed to reduce the temp to 325 for an additional 3 hours. I forgot to turn down the temperature and caught my mistake 25 minutes into cooking. How much time should I reduce my cooking by?	It's hard to tell, since it depends on a lot of different factors. I would estimate that you should reduce the cooking time by about 20 minutes. For the future, I would recommend investing in a meat thermometer. Then you can tell when the meat is done without relying on oven temperatures and times.
Which sugar is used in pastry more often, white or brown? Which sugar is used in pastry more often, white or brown? Which sugar provides more taste/flavor?	For a short answer, I recommend using brown sugar in your case. Brown sugar has more of it's own flavour, while white sugar is very plain, so when you ask "which one give more taste", you probably want brown. Brown sugar tastes this way because it contains molasses (a juice from the sugarcane). An alternative to brown...
Is IKEA frozen salmon safe to eat raw in sushi? I was wondering if IKEA's frozen salmon was safe to be eaten raw in a home cooking environment? It's farmed which is a plus from what I've read, but I couldn't really find any data on their freezing process (except their little note about customer storing conditions that...	Unless if it's labelled "sushi-grade" or "sashimi-grade", they probably don't freeze it deeply enough, so I wouldn't recommend it as-is. This is because of Salmon's high risk of parasites. However, you can turn it into sushi-grade fish if you have a freezer that reaches -20°C, and don't mind waiting. Here in British Co...
What are things like Bread, Rice and Cereal collectively known as? I'm not sure if this belongs here or in the English language stack exchange but here goes: We have broad classifications like "Fruit" and "Vegetable" and "Meat"/"Protein". What do you collectively call bread, rice, pasta, cereal etc. My first guess wa...	There are several terms which you can use, depending on the context of writing (or speaking). A very simple one is "the starch". It is mostly used in the context of meal planning, such as "What starch are we going to serve tonight" or "When planning a vegetarian meal, it is best to first decide on the starch and then ...
Preserving taste when freezing fish As some sort of continuation to this question: Is IKEA frozen salmon sushi safe? Will the freezing process to make fish sushi safe alter the taste of it, compared to raw, just caught and cleaned fish (assuming the latter would be safe to eat, which is not)? I always wondered if maki...	So, if you've has sushi in the USA, you've had sushi that's been previously frozen. US regulations do not allow serving raw-from-the-ocean fish. For that matter, even in Japan, salmon is frozen before serving as sushi, because as a fresh-and-salt-water fish, salmon has multiple parasites that are directly transmissab...
Slow cooker - start from 'cold' or boiled? I'm pretty handy with my slow cooker. I use it a lot - pot roasts, stews [curries, chilli, paysane etc] However, I've always been a little paranoid about having everything completely up to temperature before I drop it into the slow cooker element itself. I start by frying off...	According to official Crock-Pot website when asked about refrigerating the insert with food overnight, then cooking the next day: Yes, but it is very important to understand that starting to cook with cold stoneware and cold food will affect the ramp up time of the slow cooker. Always add sufficient time into the cook...
Using baking soda What is baking soda used for, and how much should be added?	Baking soda is used in cooking for two purposes: As a leavening agent, in order to make baked goods rise. It does this by reacting with acids in the batter or dough, and producing carbon dioxide gas. To soften beans during cooking, particularly chickpeas. The alkalinity of the soda helps the complex carbohydrates and...
How to clean up the smell of egg from a pot? When I cook eggs, the smell spreads to other dishes, such as glasses or cups. This is very embarrassing. I used hot water to wash them, but failed to remove the smell. How do I clean them to remove it?	I've never heard of lingering egg smell from eggs. Is there a possibility that there is a certain amount of sulfur content in your water? Sulfur water (or sulphur water) is a condition where the running water contains a high amount of hydrogen sulfide gas that escapes into the air when the plumbing line is opened, giv...
Why isn't "pasta" water salted in Chinese cuisine? I'm American-born Chinese and my parents never salt the water in which they boil noodles and there's never been an issue - at least with my palate - with seasoning or the texture of the noodles w.r.t. clumping or sticking together. I don't think I've seen the water fo...	All the Chinese noodles that I have ever cooked were made from salted dough, while Italian dried pasta was made from unsalted dough. Hence the difference in cooking methods. As per Wikipedi
Which part of green onions can we use in recipes? For recipes calling for green onions, how do we know that whether we have to use the white root of the onion in recipe or green leaves?	Both the green top and the white bulb are edible, so once you've discarded any dirty or yellow bits, it's up to you, but here are some suggestions. If it's something like a stir fry, use all of it. Generally if it's going to be cooked in with other ingredients this works, but you might have to chop very finely is some ...
Can I make cranberry sauce from frozen cranberries and re-freeze it? I have cranberries which were fresh, and then accidentally placed in the freezer. They are now frozen. Can I make cranberry sauce with them and then freeze that until Christmas?	Yes you can. I see no reason otherwise.
Hot cocoa settling My cocoa powder settles in the bottom of the mug when I make hot cocoa using half-and-half (the dairy product). Is there any technique to prevent this?	Stir! It's normal :-). If you want a really smooth suspension, you won't be making it with real cocoa powder, or real dairy. However I always make a paste with the cocoa and a bit of cold milk while the rest of it is heating up. That gives the best texture to the final product. If you don't do that, try it.
How to efficiently separate bad from good pomegranate arils? I've read about various techniques to get arils out of a pomegranate, including from this StackExchange site ( e.g. how to peel a pomegranate efficiently? ), but a problem that continues to vex me is the "bad" arils: those that are mushy and turning various ...	I always cut the skin along the ridges as described in this answer to your referenced question. This has the advantage of breaking the individual segments out of the fruit mostly undamaged (with all arils still in place). Once you've broken loose a segment, it's easy to seperate the arils from the white flesh by gentl...
Poppy seeds tough after a long simmer I was trying to boil some poppy seeds in some milk, along with some sugar and some lemon juice. After more than 1.5 hours of simmering this mixture, the seeds were still tough and crunchy, when some recipes I found online suggested simmering for ~20 minutes. What do you suppose I ...	There are actually three types of poppyseeds, the “blue”, the “grey” and the “white” kind. The “blue” is the more common one in Europe, it’s dark blueish-grey as grains and produces an almost black mass if prepared as described below. It has a robust, assertive, earthy flavor that is used both in sweet and savory dis...
Pasta cooking time vs. box instructions I understand that it is hard to define when pasta is properly 'cooked'. It's a subjective topic. But I think that 'really not cooked enough' is a state that most of use would agree on. I noticed that regardless of the continent, city, stove type (electric or gas) and pasta type,...	One very likely explanation: did you start your pasta in cold water? These times are given for pasta that gets immersed in a very large amount of already-boiling water. If you either started from cold, or had a rather crowded pot of pasta (such that the water cooled down when the pasta was added), then the time needed ...
How to make safe sushi I'd always assumed that if you start with safe fish (appropriately stored/frozen), stay with "normal" fish (i.e. don't try to prepare poisonous puffer fish at home), and follow normal food hygiene practices, it was "safe". And indeed, for years I've been going to the local Japanese market fish c...	The safety of making sushi at home really boils down to Ensuring that your fish meets the criteria for sushi-suitable fish, and Following standard food safety practices for everything else. There are regulations meant for businesses which confirm that, you can find them under Guidance for Processing Sushi in Retai...
How to cook oily fish whilst minimising odour? I like fish. But oily fish cooking smells differ tangibly from their taste. As such, I never cook oily fish, I'll buy smoked mackerel or a tin of sardines. Salmon is an exception. I was wondering if anyone who had any tips to minimise oily fish cooking odour. Is it t...	My experience is that techniques which cause the oils to become aerosolised, microscopic droplets suspended in the air, are the most problematic.Those techniques tend to be those that use higher temperatures and shorter cooking times. On that basis I avoid frying fillets of oily fish or cooking them under the grill/bro...
How to bake cake in pressure cooker instead of microwave? I have tried many time to bake a cake using pressure cooker,but every time it was not baked properly sometime it became very hard and sometime it will not baked overall,i am not getting that how to bake a cake properly using pressure cooker?	You should pre-heat the cooker for 10 to 15 minutes and not use the rubber of cooker while baking the cake. Place your cake on some sort of steel ring or on another pot so it will not be directly heat from bottom and bake your cake on low flame for 20 to 25 minutes.It will perfectly baked. I also bake the cake using co...
When thawing meat in cold water, why must one change the water regularly? When thawing meat in cold water, why must one change the water regularly? I've heard two contradictory explanations: The water warms to match room temperature, which is unsafe. The water cools to match the meat, and no longer thaws it efficient...	The second one. If you tried it, you'd see ... it becomes ice water
how long to boil rice for Biryani? Whenever I boil rice to cook biryani, I end up over-cooking it and rice break into pieces after the steaming stage 1. So I want to know how long to boil rice for biryani? 1 Biryani is a rice dish, very popular in indian subcontinent and surrounding regions, made with Indian spices, ...	Different rice varieties have different cooking times. This is how I do it. Wash and soak your rice according to the packet instructions (usually about 20-30 minutes). Bring water to boil in a big pot (I use roughly 3 litres of water for about 1.5 cups of rice). Once it starts boiling, add the rice and the required a...
Cast Iron Skillet with Lid Rusted togethe I want to use my mom's cast iron skillet which she used primarily for frying chicken but the lid is sealed/rusted/won't come off from the skillet. How can I get this lid off without breaking it?	There is a product called Naval Jelly that is designed to remove rust from metal items. Its available in our area at most hardware stores. Menards has it. Use a toothbrush to work the jelly in between the lid and the skillet and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. It literally changes the rust into a water-soluable paste ...
White wine vinegar query How long does white wine vinegar last if kept in a sealed bottle? Does this apply to the age of all vinegars kept in a sealed bottle?	For white vinegar: basically forever. Vinegar is acidic, so most bacteria won't grow in it. Plain white vinegar in a sealed container will keep longer than you'll be around to use it. Some vinegars (balsamic, wine vinegar, etc) can experience flavor changes & other undesirable effects when exposed to air, light, or ex...
Can you cook cut potatoes in a nonstick frying pan without oil? Will it still cook properly this way?	That would depend on the cut of the potatoes, the heat and whether or not you put a lid on your frying pan. If big cuts without a lid: They'll still be raw If cut into small dice, heat not too high, with a lid on, you'd basically steam the potatoes in their own moisture and that would work. if cut into small dice, hig...
Oven timer functions in (likely) Admiral oven? I have been trying to figure out my highrise rental unit's oven timer functions for years. I don't have a model for it, but based on this post, it looks like an Admiral. Here are medium-range and close-up shots of the controls: I was able to figure out how the countdow...	Based on trial and error, I found the following The clock (leftmost dial in the 2nd picture above) only advances when the Time Bake is selected on the rightmost dial The Start time dial doesn't always stay pushed in, even if the Start time is set to a time after the clock time, but it sometimes does Based on limited o...
Is only roe from sturgeon considered as caviar? Is only roe from sturgeon considered caviar? As sturgeon can only survive in cold waters, it cannot naturally occur near the Equator. What are substitutes for the sturgeon caviar so that one would be able to utilize fresh unpasteurized caviar in a country like Pakistan?	It's even more specific than that: traditionally, only eggs from the sturgeon of the Caspian or Black Seas are considered caviar. Other fish eggs that are eaten in the same manner as caviar are: sturgeon eggs from elsewhere, paddlefish eggs, salmon eggs, trout eggs, carp eggs, or lumpfish or whitefish eggs. Of these, ...
Is it necessary to peel aubergine? Do we really have to peel aubergine before cooking? Or can we cook it without peeling?	It depends. The skin of aubergines can sometimes be a bit hard after preparation, especially if you are working with older fruit and apply dry heat (e.g. grilling). During cooking, the skin should get soft, but some people dislike the texture difference between the very soft inner flesh and the noticeable firmer skin. ...
Why does unpeeled fruit rot? Generally, pathogens does not enter into fruits even if plant is irrigated with contaminated water (Link). Hence , an unpeeled fruit should not have pathogen inside to rot it. Why does then an unpeeled fruit rots ? Does a rotting fruit is caused by pathogens ?	Rotting occurs as cells break down and autolyse together with other chemical reactions and aided by microbial (fungal and bacteria) contamination. It is not initiated by pathogens, but is rather a normal cause of events. Note that ripening (i.e., the earliest stage of rot) and fermentation (e.g., beer and kimchi) are ...
keep house hold chemicals bottles near food shelves Is it safe to keep house hold chemicals bottles near food shelves - after all if one is careful enough not to add them accidentally to food while cooking ? Or are they volatile and will settle on our food items ?	As a chemist this makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. One cardinal rule in a chemistry lab is not to eat or drink in the lab. So you are not going to instantly die, nor will you grow another ear, from have cleaning supplies near food items, but to me it is a really bad idea. The cleaning supplies should be ...
Gingersnap Pie Crust - how to sub butter as binder I made a delicious pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving using Trader Joe's triple-ginger gingersnaps. The ginger flavor really complements the pumpkin. Following a basic recipe, I added a fair amount of butter to the ground gingersnaps. Although it was delicious, I'd like to ...	I have seen some recipes that use milk instead of butter. They would be slightly healthier, but I find that the crust burns easier and feels drier and more brittle. Keep in mind that a lot of the calories come from the ginger snaps that themselves contain sugar and butter. I haven't done the math, but I think the calor...
Is a flan a pastry? Is a flan classified as pastry or does it just contain pastry? I've searched online without fruition.	From Wikipedi
Is there any method to boil a cracked egg without making a mess? If we boil an egg which already has a crack on its shell before boiling, it will break and spread into the water. In many cases if we put an egg into hot water it will crack also. So, is there any safe method to boil an egg like that, or should it be fri...	If an egg is already cracked then it will almost certainly split open when boiled, there's no way to avoid it, it would be best to cook them using another method. Be aware that once eggs are cracked they no longer have protection against microbes, if you don't know how long they have been cracked it may be best to thro...
How can I be more frugal with salt when cooking (dried) pasta? When cooking pasta (from dried), I currently need to add a significant amount of salt to the water to add flavour. As the pasta itself is extremely cheap, and the water is completely free - it can at times feel like throwing money down the drain as the maj...	It's perfectly possible to cook pasta with no salt at all, so you may be able to wean yourself onto a lower salt level, reducing it gradually. I don't know what, if anything, you're eating with your pasta, so getting that to have more flavour might be an option. If you're actually eating plain pasta and want it salty b...
Cooking English Muffins Without Burning I've been using this recipe but I can't get the centers cooked without burning the outside. Does anyone have any suggestions? What am I missing? I cook the muffins in a 10-inch skillet on a gas stove over medium heat. Here are the techniques I've tried: first time, heat was too...	After a discussion in chat with @FuzzyChef I decided that I was trying too hard to keep the dough dry. I wasn't using all of the milk (just a bit left over) and struggled a bit to get all the flour incorporated into the dough. Using all the milk made the dough more sticky, so it required more careful handling, but the ...
Can I fry an egg in water? I loved fried eggs, but I hate all the grease that come with them. I have been told this is like a poached egg. I don't want to fry my egg in oil or butter. How can I fry eggs in water?	You can fry an egg on a non-stick pan without any oil or butter, however you will get a better result with some oil or butter. The reason you use oil or butter is to: Seal the pores of the pan Provide quick heat transfer from the pan to the egg Water doesn't do either for you, all you'll do is cool off the pan. Your ...
What beginner friendly tools can be used to sharpen a dull knife to a razor edge and polished result with no prior knowledge? Okay. I really tried to avoid going too broad in this question and before of all I did some research on my own in this community and here's what I found. This post addresses which things should...	The tools you're looking for are: Money and a phonebook. Call a professional, and pay him to do the work. It's safe to say that after finding 9 posts covering how to sharpen knives, which all state more or less the same "..yes you can do it yourself, it's not too difficult, but it does require practice...", there is n...
Is is ok to use slightly sour curd for chicken marination? The last time I used slightly sour commercial curd (it usually isn't sour and was well within the expiry date) for marinating chicken. An hour or so after cooking, there were little bubbles bubbling up to the top of the curry, and I had stomach trouble after e...	There are types of curd* that are supposed to be sour. If the kind you are using is not supposed to be sour, then do not use it if it is. Expiry date is not everything. How it was stored in shop plays a big part in food safety, and dairy products that soured uncontrollably are safety risk. You can make sour dairy produ...
Can Splenda be substituted for regular sugar when making your own sweetened condensed milk? Can you substitute Splenda for the regular sugar in making your own sweetened condensed milk	The answer is yes. I found this link for you from Genius Kitchen https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/sweetened-condensed-milk-with-splenda-412496 There are many recipes for both low carb and diabetic friendly Sweetened condensed milk. Also the following: https://www.yummly.com/recipes/sweetened-condensed-milk-with-...
Oven temperature when increase bread recipe? I increased my bread recipe by 50% to get a larger loaf. I used the oven temp for the original (smaller) loaves I baked consistently with success in the past.After the same baking time the center bread temp was too low (i.e., it was not done on inside). Did I need to increa...	You need to increase something and time is the easiest: for 50% more weight add 50% more time is the rule of thumb for an increase up to 100%. You can also increase both temperature and time but then you should halve each so 25% hotter and 25% longer. Note: This works up to an increase of 100%. Larger than that, volum...
Ground turkey raw in crockpot I forgot to cook turkey first. How long should I cook ground turkey on high in crockpot? It’s one pound of ground turkey already defrosted in spaghetti sauce. It’s already in it. It’s the original crockpot from 1980 Thank you Karen	My slow cooker manual gives, for 500-800g (1-1.5lbs) of poultry 3.5-4 hours on high. However I find this one a little fierce, so I looked in an older recipe book. Recipes for similar amounts of poultry with sauce also come to 3.5-4 hours on high, but assume you brown the meat first (but nowhere near fully cook). This...
Is it safe to use vegetables (e.g. Romaine lettuce) that may be contaminated with E. coli if they are fully cooked? I strongly suspect the answer is no, but I feel like there should be a question here about this for people to find more detailed information about as these outbreaks become more common.	From what I have read, some strains of E. Coli are heat-resistant, so it's not a good idea to think that cooking it will kill the bacteria if present. Also, you might contaminate your cooking utensils or other surfaces that do not encounter the heat. It's safest to just get rid of it.
Why when I add garlic to an existing flavor base with veggies, it rarely gets golden brown? Many sources suggest to add the garlic a minute or so before adding the main ingredient (tomatoes, cream etc) because if you start with the garlic, by the time the mirepoix has properly been sauteed the garlic would have burnt....	One thing you can do is push the rest of the contents aside and make a little well into which to add your garlic directly onto the bottom of the pan. Give it a little stir (I assume it's crushed or finely chopped) and then mix the other veg back in. If you haven't got room to do this your pan is probably too crowded al...
When pureeing tomatoes for a fresh tomato sauce, should you throw out the juices or not? One benefit is reduced cooking time since you need to evaporate all the juices before the tomatoes start caramelizing. On the other hand, wont these juices contain flavor you might waste if thrown away? How much flavor will I miss...	I would not throw any part away. There is flavor in all parts of the tomato, particularly the interior (see my comments under an alternate response below). Plus, if you are pureeing first, don't you think the flavors are being mixed, resulting in the loss of at least some flavor if you remove some part of the mixture?...
What is the proper term for real oil vs. flavoured oil? Is there a better term for flavoured oil? For example, a "chili oil" is clearly not same as "grape seed oil" or "snake oil".	Chilli oil has at least touched chillies (or chilli extract). Pizza oil on the other hand is neither made from pressed pizzas nor flavoured with pizza extract. English isn't logical. French isn't either, but at least it would use Huile de pépins de raisin, huile (aromatisée) au piment fort (or more commonly huile pim...
Is a blowtorch suitable for browning/caramelising steamed food? I have started using a microwave steamer to quickly cook the bulk of meals, including mushrooms, gem squash, sausages, steak. These specific examples are extra tasty when browned or caramelised (that is, when fried or baked instead of steamed) but of cour...	Browning with a blowtorch is the standard method for finishing meat and fish cooked sous-vide. I see no reason why it couldn't also be used for microwaved or steamed dishes, with the caveat that dishes that have too high of a water content will never brown properly (instead, the surface will pop and boil). I'd advise...
what is the exact time to add food color in sweet rice? I always confused to add the color in sweet rice .what is the exact time to add food color .As i add color when the rice is boiled. is it right?	No it is not perfect time to add color after boiling the rice. After boiling the rice you should add sugar and other ingredients of your choice and than at the time of steaming stage you should add color in your rice.
Finding cheap but quality steak for grill We recently moved to a nice apartment building with great rooftop grills. I have started to learn about grilling, and it was a mistake, as now I really like prime ribeye steak off the grill (I think, we buy Whole Foods, grade 3 meat) The problem is that such steaks are relativ...	There are a few things that you can do: Buy in bulk. There's typically a major discount for buying a 'family pack' (usually 5+ lbs) at once. I like shopping at Wegman's, because they sell steaks that are on sheets where each one's individually wrapped, so I can leave some sealed for later in the week or even freeze ...
What else can I do with Caputo Blue Pizzeria Flour? So I use Caputo Blue Flour to make pizza dough, but out of the 25kg bag I use I only use 24kg per batch. I tend to measure a kilo out of the bag and put it aside and then use the rest of the bag to make my dough. However this leaves me with a lot of left over flour, ...	00 flour is the closest to 'plain white flour' in English speaking countries. For instance, if you were in Italy and would like to do a pastry you would use 00 flour. However, it is quite difficult to compare to 'plain white flour' because this term is not well defined, and you find wide variations in different brands ...
Are there different grades or styles of bacon? In commercials and when I go to restaurants (even fast food!) the bacon that I get is a reddish brown color and seems to be mostly meat, or at least meat textured. However, when I buy bacon at the grocery store, it's inevitably almost all fat. It curls badly when cooked...	In the UK there are two main cuts of bacon. There's "streaky bacon", which is cut from the pork belly. This is mostly what you get in the US. There's also "back bacon" which is cut from the pork loin. This is generally more popular and is very much leaner than streaky bacon. In the US you call it "Canadian bacon". ...
Is Julia so off re roast leg of lamb I followed the recipe overshooting for the duration (2 hours) to aim for medium-well, but dispensed from using my (too slow to rise) thermometer. I ended up with which is less than very appealing. I know "individual ovens vary", etc... but this is off by a mile. Can you suggest h...	There are a lot of variables here: Oven temperature: As you mention, this definitely can be plenty off, but honestly most newer ovens are all right and meat isn't the most sensitive thing to baking temperature. You'd probably have had other issue before if it were the cause here. Meat weight/shape: Bigger means longer...
Best practices for seasoning cast iron, currently getting mild food poisoning I have been cooking with my two cast iron pans for quite some time now. Tracking the occurrence of when my wife and I have tummy trouble leads me to believe that my seasoning of the pans is not optimal. The reason is most likely because I d...	Seasoning pans is a method for preventing rust, and it has nothihng to do with food safety. It is done once in a pan's lifetime, and only repaired if it flakes off. There is no prescription in food safety to cook in sterilized vessels. The germs you eat come from the food, not from the pans. Even if a colony were to f...
Make a buttery sauce less oily There is a sauce that I make that uses browned butter as its base. I love the taste but it just feels incredibly oily. Is there anything I can add that will fix some of the oil feel or is there a different base for the sauce I can use that will taste similar but not be as oily? Edit: Ing...	You want emulsification. Emulsification is the breaking up a fat and dispersing it into a liquid (or vice versa, dispersing a liquid in a fat). A classic example of an emulsification, also known as an emulsion, is mayonnaise. There are at least two good ways you can emulsify your brown butter, soy sauce, and lemon jui...
How long to keep defrosted vegetables in the fridge I normally buy frozen bags of vegetables from the supermarket, but I currently don't have a freezer to store them in and have been putting them straight in the fridge instead. How long will they keep there and still be safe to eat?	The cell walls are now damaged from the freezing, so they cannot keep like whole, live vegetables. They are in the same position as if you had damaged the cell walls by heat = cooking them. So, apply the rule for cooked food. They will be safe for 3-5 days.
Pumpkin substitutes for lasagne I have a lasagne recipe that has pumpkin, sausage and collard greens in it. Is there another vegetable that will replace the pumpkin as I do not like pumpkin?	(simple answer) I suggest finding a lasagna recipe without pumpkin in it. Lasagna is a simple recipe and easily adaptable. You can add and remove ingredients to your liking as long as you keep the basic structure of the lasagna (pasta/sauce layers). Make certain that if you add ingredients to the lasagna, that they wil...
Marinating fish When I fry fish it's not spicy or crispy. I marinate it with fish masala, lemon juice, and garlic paste for 2 to 3 hours. How long should I marinate to get a crispy and spicy final product?	Coat the fish and fry at high temperature I'm making some guesses about your brief question, but I don't think the length of time the fish is marinated is going to make it crispy unless moisture is extracted in the process. What I would recommend is, after marinating the fish as you have, dust it with flour that has th...
How to Avoid Soggy Chopped Nuts in Baked Goods I avoid putting chopped nuts inside quick breads because they tend to result in a soggy texture, not crisp as nuts should be. (I think it's less of a problem in cookies.) I'd like to hear how others deal with this. Is coating them first with something an option? Related ...	Relating to your second question: toast, then chop. When you chop first, it is too easy for the smaller pieces to burn.
Can I use red wine instead of white wine for chicken scallops? There's dry white wine used in chicken scallops , is it possible to substitute it with red wine ?	I would avoid using red wine in a recipe that calls for white. Whites and Reds taste different, so you should expect a switch from white to red to be reflected in the finished dish. And, it will also change the color/presentation. I was taught that white wine can be substituted with water and vinegar mixed in equal amo...

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