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If you add spices to boiling pasta, will it absorb spices/flavours? If you are cooking pasta via simmering, and you add some spices e.g. pepper to the pot, will the pasta absorb the spices/flavors or will the spices just go to the top of the pot and not really get absorbed?	Poorly. Pasta doesn't absorb all that much flavor from spices in the water, other than maybe salt (and even then you must add excessive amounts of salt to make the resulting pasta evidently salty.) Add spices to whatever sauce you pour on the pasta, otherwise you're wasting like 90% of them. An alternative would be kn...
What are the minimum ingredients for a pasta sauce? I want my pasta to absorb a sauce which consists of herbs and spices only. What are the minimum ingredients that are needed for this? for example do you really need oil, tomatoes, onions or is one of these sufficient? Would you say using things like tomatoes doesnt...	Spices don't melt. Tomato is not necessary. One could eat plain, cooked pasta (undressed), however, at minimum you probably want a fat to carry the flavor of the herbs, spices, and/or other ingredients, and lubricate the pasta. Pasta with garlic and oil is a simple two ingredient condiment, for example. There are s...
Convert weight of Confectioners sugar to caster sugar If a recipe asks for 50g of confectioners sugar, what is the weight required in caster sugar. I am making a no bake cheesecake	In general in recipes measuring by weight, you can use the same weight, as 50g of one kind of thing is usually the same amount as 50g of another kind of the same thing (in this case sugar). With volume measurements this is not the case, as certain kinds of things will pack into the measuring cup differently (flour is ...
Removing Pesticides from Herbs like Cilantro Not too long ago I read a study saying that mixing baking soda and water and cleaning your fruits in this solution removed upwards of 90% of the pesticides from them. I was wondering if something like this would work when cleaning herbs. Would it be safe to soak herbs with ...	Fruits are fairly easy to clean things off of, because they tend to have thick rinds and/or hard exteriors (apples, oranges, bananas, etc.); so pesticides sit on top, and we just have to wash them off. Baking soda and water will do that to some extent (plus rubbing, which is quite important!). Greens, though, don't ha...
Are chicken gizzards celiac safe? Wheat is frequently included in chicken feed. Partially-digested wheat, therefore, would likely be present in chickens' gizzards before butchering. However, the chicken gizzards seen for sale in grocery stores don't appear to have any leftover feed residue in them -- apparently, any m...	Chicken gizzards have a tough membrane on the inside (the only part that gets in contact with the bird's food) that holds the stones + grit + food during the grinding part of the digestion process. That membrane is always removed before selling the gizzards, so I don't believe there will be any residue there - I never ...
Why can't you reheat pasta in a microwave, grill, or wok? I understand that to reheat pasta it must be done by boiling in water. Why must this be the case? Why can't you just microwave it, stir fry, or even quickly grill it?	If you're going to reheat pasta, microwaving is a good way. Adding a few drops of water and covering helps the texture if it doesn't have sauce already on it. You can actually do something close to a stir fry - heat some oil and use it to cook tasty ingredients (onions, garlic, herbs, spices) and then stir in the past...
How to recover cast iron skillet with melted fiber on it So I decided to try seasoning my cast iron skillet in the oven. After a few hours I made the mistake of thinking I could take it out and look at it with some pot holders. It turns out pot holders than will be just fine at 350 can't stand up to the max heat of my...	First, you should never scrub cast iron with a brillo pad, as the steel in the brillo is harder than the cast iron, and can not only strip off the seasoning but scratch up the iron itself. The same would be true with sandpaper or a dremel. Instead, you should plan to completely strip and reseason the pan, using lye or...
Canned beans contain no liquid? I recently opened two cans of pinto beans from the same brand (whole foods organic). One can looked perfectly normal with a fair amount of liquid and no visible beans until drained. The second can however was quite dry. The beans looked hydrated and cooked, but there was almost no exces...	You were right to throw them out, no liquid was a sign that something went wrong in processing and therefore a safety concern. When it doubt, throw it out!
Balancing Flavours I've been taught that various taste can be countered with others. For example, if something is too acid or spicy I could bring it back down with fats and sweetness. I understand that there are abundant ideas surrounding these balances with many overlaps along with many radar charts and star graphs (...	Do they mask the other contradicting flavours, meld with them, or is there a chemical reaction causing for it to mellow and or enhance the flavour? Is it just perceived to us weaker or stronger instead of actually being that? Possibly and most likely a mixture of both and many other factors, chemical, perception, place...
What is the historical origin of the sauté cooking technique? Although the term sauté is used colloquially in the US to refer to other types of frying, it is a specific cooking technique that involves high heat and constant movement of the ingredients in the pan. According to Wiktionary's entry for the word sauté: De...	According to The Oxford Companion To Food (1999 ed.): Originally, in France, a sauté was a dish of meat of poultry cut into pieces and cooked only in fat, but the French now also use the term for dishes which simply involve browning a food before adding a liquid. It also says: The word ... has succeeded in mig...
What makes sea food have similar smell? I never ate fish, I always disliked the smell and had a little bit of trauma with my father forcing me to eat it while I was a kid. I had two experiences: Some years ago, I tried sushi. It doesn't have a strong smell of fish and I found it edible. But there is a very faint smel...	The American Society for Nutrition explains it thus: The answer has to do with some interesting physiology unique to sea creatures.Water in the open ocean is about 3% salt by weight, but the optimal levels of dissolved minerals inside an animal cell is less than 1%.In order to maintain fluid balance, ocean creatures m...
What type of devices, could increase dim sum output, short of a complete expensive, automatic machine? I am getting irregular requests for dim sum catering and would like to increase my dim sum output, but am not yet ready to invest in something like this: Dim Sum Maker Video What other ways are there, to increase my ...	Three sets of tools would help you speed up your operation, with some caveats: Circle cutters, particularly ones that allow you to cut a lot of circles together like this kind. Dumpling molds in a variety of sizes. There are even some that mold-and-cut, but that's not actually a big help since you have to "pre-cut" t...
Himalayan salt in a brine I would like to brine a brisket for pastrami but would prefer not to use curing salt. Does himalayan salt in brine make brisket pink as if using curing/pickling salt?	No, not really. There are plenty of curing recipes for pastrami that do not use curing salts and you can use Himalayan for them. It is really just rock salt with some iron oxide (rust) in it. Some people claim an improved taste, others say it is imaginary, but it is a substitute for table salt, not curing salt. As s...
Are egg-less pasta typically made with durum flour? When making an egg-less type of Italian pasta, which type of flour should I use for the dough? And why? Or, can you make decent egg-less pasta using all the same types of flour from pasta recipes which include egg? I was skimming pasta recipes and videos (such as...	This answer is valid only for what I can call Italian type pasta. The best then is to use durum as it is characterized by a high content in protein, specifically those of the gluten group. Proteins changes upon cooking results in a reticulated structure that retains starch and gives the typical "al dente" feature as we...
What does "season it to taste" mean? I hear chefs like Gordon Ramsay say this and many, many others. When a chef has boiled potatos or bacon or spinach... Be it my family or Betty Crocker ... What are the "seasons" they are talking about???? [Please note] I am not asking "How much" but "What is"	Add your preferred level of salt and pepper Seasoning usually refers to salt and black pepper, but occasionally to other flavor-enhancing ingredients in the dish such as acid (vinegar, lemon, etc.) and heat (red pepper, sriracha, etc.). "To taste" means to the degree you enjoy it.
handling sticky bread dough What is the best way to handle sticky "batard dough" to shape it before putting it in the oven? I have tried flouring my hands and the crust comes out too white. I have tried using cooking utensils and find that I cannot shape it properly.	For really wet dough, wetting your hands works (that is, quickly dip them in a bowl of water, let the water drip off a little, and keep doing that as you work the dough). Depending on the dough, you could also oil your hands (see the "Is there a reason to NOT use no-stick spray (Pam) for handling dough?" over to the ri...
How to mix parmessan (or any hard cheese) into oil sauce When making sauces from a roux or starchy water (like cacio e pepe), I find it's quite easy to infuse hard cheese like Parmesan into it. However, is there anything I can do when working with oil-based sauces? In particular, I'm looking at this recipe. To sum it...	It's not traditional to add cheese to fish dishes in much of Italian cuisine. Historically, this may be more closely connected to economics and religious beliefs than for any culinary reason. As far as flavor development goes, if you like parmesean cheese with your fish based pasta dishes, by all means, use it. Gettin...
My Challah is bland I have recently started experimenting with baking breads: beer bread, focaccia, and most recently - challah. Problem: my challah came out rather bland. The recipe I used called for: 20 gram dry yeast 540 ml warm water 50 gram sugar 1 kg flour 60 ml oil 1 tbsp salt (also 1 egg, 1 tsp su...	Challah bread normally has a couple eggs in the dough, partly for flavor. If you're making a sweet challah, such as cinnamon twist challah, it may have milk in the dough as well (plus cinnamon, of course!). Challah with no eggs is, generally, rather bland. I suggest making French Toast with what you have.
Can I make Jachnun in a Dutch oven? Jachnun is prepared from dough which is rolled out thinly, brushed with clarified butter, rolled up and baked overnight. The preparation calls for a Jachnun pot. Trouble is, I don't own a Jachnun pot, and I don't feel like paying for a pot that I can only use for one dish, that I've...	While a jachnun pot is traditional, many recipes mention alternatives: "an oven proof pot" "grease a pan that has a cover or use aluminum foil" "a 9 inch by 13 inch cake pan or casserole" "Generally, jachnun is baked in a round oven-safe metal pot with a tight-sealing lid, but I've also had fine results baking it in a...
Does anyone know what this dark red colored discharge is from this grilled chicken? I'm grilling marinated chicken (I'm following a Tandoori chicken recipe which involved marinating the chicken in lemon, curd, Ginger, garlic and some other spices for 3 hours in the refrigerator). While grilling them I see a dark red c...	@pb2q is right, it's blood. This happens during processing. When the meat isn't allowed to bleed (i.e.; drain blood) long enough, then some of the blood remains in the muscle structure and cooks along with the chicken. It might look odd, but it's not a concern as far as eating it is concerned. It won't "hurt you". If i...
Cast Iron Skillet / Pan stains I just bought a new lodge cast iron skillet today and used it to cook a Japanese Waghu A5 10+ BMS Ribeye... was worth the hype, yummy. I washed the Skillet with hot water and salt and then heated it again to dry all the water, but there are some stains left... Do I need to clean this or...	But there is some stains left... do I need to clean this or is this normal and leave it ? As long as the "stain" is hard and dry rather than gummy or sticky, it's probably fine. As commenters have noted, it looks like polymerized oil. You probably cooked your steak at very high heat with some oil in the pan. If you di...
Non-spicy substitute for chili peppers when making a Thai curry paste from scratch I'm making a green Thai curry paste from scratch. I'm very happy with the recipe, and I've made it with much success in the past, but today I am cooking for someone who can't take much heat. Or well, only very little; I can put a single...	Let me take a wild swing - I think trying to generate the volume required by using jalapeños would be too hot for your friend & you're right that a regular capsicum/bell pepper wouldn't have enough flavour to water ratio. Also 'bell peppers' don't taste like chillies. How about Hungarian or Banana peppers? Now, this...
Sweet yeast-dough too yeasty I am struggling with yeast again, doing "Milchbrötchen", basicalyl buns from a sweet yeast-dough. My current process leaves me with "ok, but not great" results, and I am hoping for pointers on two things: 1) The crust is still a bit too hard, I am looking for a very soft crust. 2) The resu...	It’s too yeasty because you are putting too much yeast in. Yes, the majority of recipes states one 7g sachet per 500g, but that will give you a yeasty taste. It will also give you quite quick results. As a first step, I suggest you consider a cold rise - reduce the yeast to 1-2% fresh (or about 3g of dry yeast), use co...
Should I soak old-fashioned oats? I have eaten quick cook oats for a while, but I now found a wholesale supplier selling what I think are old-fashioned oats. That is, the oats are larger and they seem less 'processed'. When I add water to them the water quickly turns white. Also see here. My question is: should I soak...	You don't even need to cook them, let alone soak them. They form the bulk of most mueslis, to be eaten raw. However, if you're going to be making porridge... The basic recipe has as many variations as there are people who cook it, but take any or all of Water Milk Salt Sugar [or honey or anything sweet] Oats Use appr...
Cast iron skillet iron leakage I want to buy a cast iron skillet but I'm very wary of health hazards. I will use it every day to cook meat, eggs and other regular food. Is there any evidence that this usage of a cast iron will leak iron into my food to the degree that it becomes a health-hazard? I am a young, healthy ...	The amount of iron that you need is going to depend on your age, sex, and health. NIH: Iron Fact Sheet WebMD: Iron: What you Need to Know Having indicated that you work out, you may need more than you think, but you are wise to be concerned about having too much. A typical adult male only needs 8mg. How much iron is l...
Banana bread edges are burnt, top and middle is underdone I use a recipe from Food Network for banana bread, no modifications. I bake it in a glass pan which has a nonstick coating on it (I think it's an Anchor Hocking pan). Every time I make it, by the time the regular baking time is up (1 hour at 325F), the top of t...	The usual remedy for something both burned and undercooked is lower heat, longer cooking time - it lets the temperature equalize a bit more, so it cooks more evenly. You might try 300F for your usual 1:20 cooking time, and see if it doesn't burn and/or needs more time. Alternatively, since the overcooking is direction...
Will seasoning cast iron skillet with vegetable oil leave trans fats? I've read that when I buy a cast iron skillet I need to "season" it with any vegetable oil, or buy from a company that has already done this process, i.e cooking the vegetable oil at really high temperatures. Doesn't this produce trans fats? Will th...	Trans fats, as in hydrogenated fats, are not created by heating oil. The process of seasoning a pan involves polymerizing, drying, and carbonizing the oil, which is different from hydrogenation of the oil (how trans fats are created). Per @craPkit, there are confusing references to trans fats and overheating oil. How...
My gravy for my mash potatoes tastes bland So I'm completely lost on what to do. I have no idea why my hamburger gravy for my mash potatoes is so bland. 1lb ground beef, 2tbsp worcestershire sauce, 1onion, 1/2 tbsp of garlic powder, 2cup milk, 3tbsp flour, and salt&pepper to taste. I doubled everything except only 3c...	The recipe says "Salt and pepper to taste" maybe you did not add enough ? In any cases, the recipe looks really bland; there's not much flavor in there. You need to build the flavors from the start. This is what I would do. I'd cook the onions first to golden brown and put aside. I'd cook the meat until brown and cri...
Alternatives to coffee I'm very fond of coffee, in fact, I have a grinder, grind my own beans and use a coffee stove to make it. However, I've recently been advised to stop drinking anything containing caffeine (at least for a few months). I've always avoided drinking decaf because I read an article about the way tha...	Wikipedia lists a few substitutes, some of which are fairly readily available. These may be based on roasted grains (like barleycup), chicory (though this is often combined with coffee), or both. There are several processes for decaffeinating coffee. Not all rely on the organic solvents you're trying to avoid. The Swi...
Fan oven temperatures I have had installed two new Neff top of the range ovens. My question is : if you cook cakes in a fan oven at 20 degrees less than you would in a conventional oven ie 170 instead of 190 (as instructed in recipes) does the temperature in the oven rise to 190 even though you have it set 170 fan? T...	No, the temperature remains at 170C, fan ovens heat faster because the air is kept moving. It's the opposite to wind chill, where it feels colder because the wind is blowing more cold air molecules over you than if it was calm. In an oven the fan is blowing hot air over the food, making more hot air molecules touching ...
Does the LPG stove flame intensity reduces during winter? My LPG gas stove flame is little low now a days. I have cleaned all removable parts myself, but not helped. I suspect the low temperature on winter (~18°C in winter mornings, tropical region) might affect the LPG performance, may be I'm wrong. Anyway, I'm tryin...	If the cylinder is outside, it could well be too cold for the liquidified gas to evaporate fast enough. Propane is OK but butane is useless this cold. A mix of the two is often sold as propane is more expensive. A mixture can become richer in butane when used for prolonged cold periods, reducing its performance. If thi...
Are kidney beans that split and wrinkle during soaking process safe to consume? After 5 hours of soaking I find my dried kidney beans' skin wrinkled and some split in two, however my main concern is phytohaemagglutinin and the fact now that some beans are split open and lost their skin (shell) microbes have access to ...	Phytohaemagglutinin is found in the highest concentrations in uncooked red kidney beans and white kidney beans (also known as cannellini), and it is also found in lower quantities in many other types of green beans and other common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), as well as broad beans (Vicia faba) such as fava beans. Pois...
Why is mustard irritating for me? I thought I bought mustard, but when I put it on a hot dog and ate it, it didn't taste like mustard. It irritated my nose and sent a shockwave through my skull. So I bought a different brand, but there was not much difference. I feel that irritating, tingling sensation rippling throug...	As a straight answer to "why" it's the quantity of mustard oil in any given mustard type. There are many types of mustard, but the two you may find the most confusing visually are English & American. Though both are a fairly bright yellow in colour, that's about as far as the similarity goes. Mustard seeds themselves c...
When and how to add garlic to a dish? I want to make some chicken with ginger and garlic, and every recipe I look up puts the garlic in at a different time. In Korean food, it is grated into the marinade. In India food, it's mixed with ginger and ground into a paste that you cook down and then mix into curry. In Ameri...	The key is to understand what impacts the flavor and texture of the ingredients your using. Then, to use the appropriate techniques to achieve the result you are looking for. If you keep a peeled clove of garlic whole it can have an aromatic effect if gently cooked in oil. Smash that clove and the effect is more pow...
Croutons from scratch? All the recipes I've known for croutons required pre-made bread, fresh or old. Do restaurants always use pre-made bread as well? Is there ever a case for making croutons from scratch, and what would be a basic recipe?	I can't speak for all restaurants, but those where I've been served obviously home made croutons also served similar bread with other dishes. Bread is cheap and readily available. Why would a restaurant bother doing anything more difficult? If you can get day old bread from a bakery it's even better, because that's rea...
What makes this hot sauce last half a year in the fridge? What makes this hot sauce last half a year in the fridge? (as stated by author @7:40) This recipe uses very little salt, no sugar, no vinegar, no oil, the PH wasn't modified, and it wasn't fermented or cultured to introduce live bacteria as a preservative What ...	Nothing Your instinct is right, there is nothing that would prevent botulism or other bacteria from growing at room temperature. This is a classic “but we’ve always done it that way, so it must be ok” case. Looking at the protagonists in the videos, I would assume that those are simply family recipes. The problem is th...
After I eat some foods beer tastes weird? I'm an obsessive home brewer. So I'm always trying to critically evaluate the flavour of beers I make with a view to constantly improving their quality. In particular I am searching for off-flavours, like by-products of fermentation, or is some-ingredient too prominent in the...	Even sugars can affect the flavour of the next mouthful or two. This includes the dextrose added to quite a lot of savoury snacks (and similar foods, often before cooking so it caramelises), which might explain why some crisps (chips) have this effect and others don't. I find that a couple of small sips are enough to r...
Is it necessary to add vegetables to slow cooker pot roast? I like slow cooked roast for tenderness but hate the taste of 'pot roast' vegetables. Is it really necessary to cook vegetables with the roast?	If you're doing it as a pot roast, the vegetables are mainly there to deliver flavour (unlike in a stew, where they're a major part of the dish). Sometimes they're eaten, sometimes discarded (which seems like a waste to me, so I would choose vegetables I'd want to eat). They take on a role similar to stock or a flavou...
What is the boundary between beef aging and its decay? It sounds like it could be tasty, but there is also a risk of bacteria contamination isn't it?	Here is what some will definitely label a biased description of aging and packing that might help a bit. It goes into the difference between wet and dry aging and gas packing which has become more common. My description of dry aging, and wet aging for that matter, and how I was taught to think of it is that it is deca...
Does bacon exists that is shelf stable, but has to be cooked for safety? I have come across a website in the UK which delivers bacon through the normal post. They claim that their bacon is cured by a process that does not require refrigeration. Bacon through the post? Does it not need to be chilled? In a word - No...	By USDA's own standards, dry cure bacon is room temperature safe, if sliced for 10 days, slab up to 3 weeks (see here). Would I do it, probably not, but it is classed as safe without refrigeration. The salt and nitrite levels in the product are high enough to keep pathogens killed for that long at levels the USDA cal...
Are baked recipes containing cream cheese safe at room temp? We had a potluck thing today at work, and one of the employees made bars with cream cheese in them: https://tornadoughalli.com/peanut-butter-cup-cheesecake-bars/ I learned that they were NOT refrigerated, which sort of freaked me out, but then I remembered I...	Your question is not really answerable. Also, it is based on quite a few misconcceptions about how food safety works. remembered i've made cookies with cream cheese in them... You seem to think that you can predict, based on an ingredient, whether the final product is shelf stable, or not. This is impossible. The f...
Avoiding too much residue when deep frying Wanting to deep fry just the outer surface of chicken, I prepared a mix of dry wheat flour, maida (Plain flour/All-purpose flour), pepper powder, red chilli powder and salt. Since the curd-marinated chicken pieces were wet after cooking in a pressure cooker, I rolled the piec...	When deep frying, there is no way to avoid residue collecting at the bottom of your pot. You can shake off excess flour before frying to reduce this effect, but you will always have some residue. The main difference between deep frying in a pot on a stove, and a dedicated, restaurant-style deep fryer is that the rest...
How to make sure that I do not break the glass bowl in a double boiler? I used a glass bowl as a double boiler for making scrambled eggs and it broke. I know that rapid cooling and heating caused glass to break. for some reason I thought the thick glass bowl would not break. so how do I ensure I do not break anothe...	Thickness is not an indicator of heat-proof glass, just think about laboratory glassware, which is sometimes quite thin. It’s rather the other way round, thermal conductivity is low for glass which can increase inner tension when heated quickly. Thicker glass will be more robust against mechanical force, simply because...
Serious buildup outside of cast iron skillet I recently was given an old family cast iron skillet and noticed that the outside of it had serious buildup. Basically I can take my fingernail and lift several, thick, black pieces off. The inside of the pan is fine. I was wondering where this comes from and if this affect...	The inside looks absolutely fine, so assuming you will protect that if you do any actual work on the outside I see a couple of routes you can take... You can ignore it & see if it will reach a new equilibrium with your own cooking equipment & technique. You can clean it off & quite quickly return the outside to a less...
Less sweet / lower sugar alternative to icing? When making a cake as a base line I usually halve the recommended sugar as I find it too sweet. Now I want to ice the cake for appearance and colour I notice that icing recipes are loaded with sugar. Is there a less sweet / lower sugar alternative that will allow me to d...	It's loaded with fat but less sweet: Cream cheese icing (example recipe) goes very well on some cakes (like a rich chocolate cake). It does however need to be refrigerated so is best for use on cakes that are to be eaten up when they're served. It can also be flavoured, e.g. with lemon/orange zest, with will further ...
Recreating a bread I want to recreate a bread that we used to eat when I was a kid. The bakery is out of business (as of about 2 years ago), so I can't ask them for a recipe. It was called "Honey Wheat" bread, or perhaps (in later years) "Honey Health" bread. I've found recipes for those, and they sound similar, but t...	Adding molasses or brown sugar will add a brown color to the dough, how much to add is a bit of a trick to get right, but it should be proportional to the amount of sugar in the dough. Most 1 lb recipes I have from American sources use about 1/3 cup of molasses. The shine might well be additional gluten added to increa...
Can I substitute gelatin for aspic? I saw a terrine recipe that looks interesting, but it calls for aspic. I'm not sure I can get hold of the bits and pieces I would need for that. Could I just dissolve a few envelopes of gelatin and use that instead?	Aspic is a type of stock which is high in gelatin, and which sets into a jelly when cooled. Unflavored gelatin will have basically the same mechanical properties as aspic, as long as the gelatin concentration is roughly the same (1/2 tbsp of dry gelatin will set about a cup of liquid). But the taste will be very differ...
Îles flottantes vs. oeufs à la neige Long ago, I ate at someone's house and was served pieces of meringue on chilled crème anglaise.* The hostess called it îles flottantes, but I have since heard it called oeufs à la neige. Meanwhile, I've seen île flottante used to refer to a single meringue atop crème anglaise. So a...	The short answer appears to be: îles flottantes and oeufs à la neige are two different names for one dish. First of all, you can find some recipes, in English and in French, using the names interchangeably: "Floating Islands (Oeufs a la Neige)", Saveur "Recette de Ile flottante, le classique...POUR LES OEUFS EN NEIGE",...
Can yeast be used without water If the dough only has flour and oil instead of water will it proof? And should I use the same amount of yeast as I would if using water? In the case that water is needed, what is the minimum proportion that will make the dough proof? I'm working on a pastry recipe which ingredients are:...	Yeast is a living organism that has basically been put into suspended animation by being dried out. Like all living organisms, water is critical to support life. Trying to use yeast without water will not work.
Chopped onions in metal or plastic containers Which preserves diced onions better? A plastic or metal container?? I'm trying to figure out which is a better storage container.	The key thing to look for is that the container closes as tight as possible. Metal or plastic doesn't matter. However, I would probably use metal or glass, since plastic can absorb some of the flavour of the raw onions. This would then make that container unsuitable for storing other things.
How long do I boil store bought or canned tomato sauce for spaghetti? How long do I boil store bought or canned tomato sauce to use for spaghetti? I know that tomato sauce can be cooked in cans that are available from the grocery store. Why should it take 4-6 hours?	If the canned good is already "spaghetti sauce", it simply needs to be heated. There is no need to cook it for hours. If you are beginning with canned tomatoes, and making your own sauce, 20 to 30 minutes is usually enough to cook a basic Italian tomato sauce.
Is it safe to eat pumpkin seeds with peel? I dried pumpkin seeds but now don't have the patience to peel them one by one. Could I just eat them with the skin? I suppose I could but they won't taste very good. Therefore, bonus question: in which form could pumpkin seeds with peel be used? So far I would try to blend th...	We never peeled them growing up. We'd coat them in some oil, roast them in the oven (stirring occasionally), then season them when they came out.
What's a substitute for pastis? I ran across a recipe (bouillabaisse) that calls for pastis, but grocery stores in my area don't carry pastis. Is there a substitute for pastis? Thank you!	Yes. In recipes like bouillabaisse, Pernod, Ouzo, Sambuca, or Ricard would all work as substitutes. Basically, almost any anise-flavored liqueur will work, although you might steer clear of high-alchohol ones like Raki. If your local liquor selection is really poor, then maybe either skip it entirely, or add 1/4 tsp ...
What's the purpose of adding water to a skillet when cooking solid food? I recently came across a recipe for cinnamon skillet apples. One of the steps was to put the chopped apples into a skillet, along with half a cup of water and ground cinnamon. This reminds me of the instructions on seasoning packets, which involv...	In this case, you are braising the apples. The water is the braising liquid, which helps to cook the apples, reduces, integrates with the other ingredients, and becomes a sauce. It also keeps the apples from sticking to the pan and burning.
Recipe interpretation I've been following a recipe, and two things confuse me. One is the "what" for most steps, and the other is a "why". The recipe is here. But look at the steps, which I've abbreviated here to save reading. Whisk flours and yeast together. Dissolve honey in water. Using dough hook on low speed, sl...	In bread baking, you do each step until you recognize that you achieved the correct end result for each step, then stop, wait until the appropriate changes have happened, then continue with the next step. An expert baker would work from a much more abbreviated recipe than the one you posted, and if something doesn't ha...
Recognize grass-fed beef? I am in the process of losing weight and I am using a meal prep service to help me with portion control. I choose the ingredients, order online and they deliver via fedex. One of the options is to order grass-fed beef and, naturally, there is a premium on this meat (and the meal prep service ...	Grass-fed beef will have yellow fat rather than the white fat of grain-fed beef. This is because of the beta-carotene in the grass, apparently.
Does Pressure cook work for hard to soften soybeans? I do not have a pressure cook in my house. But the soybean I bought remains really hard after soaking for 24 hours and boiled for 1 hour. I saw someone saying that some old beans will never soften no matter how long I cook. Is this really true? One of the poster m...	Tried it. Failed utterly. If the beans won't soften with overnight soaking and an hour of cooking, you should forget about them.
Can I use cream cheese in a sauce? I made a white sauce with butter flour and milk, intending to add cheddar for a cheese sauce. Then I realized I'd run out the day before. Could I have used Philadelphia cream cheese instead? I'm in the UK if it makes any difference.	Yes, you can. The taste will be obviously different, but I don't expect any consequence that would make it unpalatable to the average person. You would be better off if you start with softened cream cheese, but if all you have now is fridge-cold cream cheese, that should work too.
Is the meat curry powder mentioned for use in Malaysian curry puffs similar to western chili powder I was going to make some curry puffs following this recipe, in which some "meat curry powder" is used to flavor the fillings. I was just gonna use the regular store-bought curry powder I can find in my local supermarket...	Store brands of curry powder sold here in the UK (and I assume most western countries) don't usually contain chilli powder at all. Chilli is generally added separately to taste, because many westerners can't handle the heat of a hot curry mix. The typical yellow colour of these mixes is because they contain turmeric. H...
Bitter Taste: Beef Stew OK, made another beef stew in the crock pot and again, it has a bitter flavor. No tomatoes, only 2 T canned tomato paste and 1 C cabernet. Thinking maybe a lighter wine to fix this and/or eliminate the tomato paste? Add brown sugar?	It's the tomato paste. Many brands of tomato paste can have a bitter, almost metallic flavor if it isn't fried off first. I don't use it in crock pot recipes for that very reason unless I saute it in some oil for a minute before adding it. You can add some sugar but that doesn't counteract the bitterness. Also you are...
What variety of tomato is typically used in Italian, canned, peeled tomatoes? I'm experimenting with different brands of canned tomatoes and I just bought some Italian peeled tomatoes, the brand it Petti. Here is a image of the can. I was looking into what variety of tomato was used in it, but I couldn't find this in...	Based on what they say on their web page they use both early and late varieties. The type of tomato therefore probably changes throughout the canning season. Since they source their produce locally (they are based in Livorno) I would guess that two of the varieties are Pisanello and Perino (the last variety is similar ...
How Can I Spread Crepe Batter Before It Cooks? I am trying to make crepes in a non-stick skillet. I've got the batter ready, well refrigerated. However, I am having trouble getting the batter to spread enough to cover the whole skillet before it cooks too much to do so. So I'm ending up with small crepes shaped like a...	Your batter is too thick. You say it's refrigerated, but if that's the case it's likely thicker than if it was at room temperature. Also, as it sits it gets thicker, and if you're making a solid batch, for a few people, you need to keep thinning it as you go. Take the liquid you were using to begin with (milk), and a...
How can I bake Cannelés more evenely with a big silicon pan? I purchased this cannelés pan which lets me cooks a whopping 77 mini cannelés at once. I have tried it multiple times, with multiple recipes but no matter what I try, I have this result: The outer ones are overcooked (often on one side only) an the inner o...	It's the cookie sheet that's the problem as it impedes air circulation to the middle of the form. The hot air circulates around the outside but it can't get to the middle, so the outer ones get over-baked and the inner ones under-baked. Changing the baking time or temperature isn't going to help. As for the solution y...
How do you know if your starter is powered mainly by yeast or bacteria? One quick follow-up question to this postMy sourdough starter is bubbling but not rising, suggestions?: How do you know if your starter is bubbling because of yeast (and not bacteria)? I've been feeding my starter at 100% hydration (35g spring wat...	Unfortunately many kinds of fermentation produce CO2 as a byproduct, so the presence of bubbles hardly give you more information than 'it is alive'. If what you want is a precise identification of what strain of yeast and bacteria are present in your starter, I see no easier way than looking under a microscope or makin...
Gravlax still red on skin side after 24h of curing I am trying to make gravlax (lox). Method Clean off salmon fillet (~200g tail portion) Mix 50/50 table salt and sugar Coat skin side in salt/sugar mixture, rub in Coat non-skin side in dill Coat non-skin side in salt/sugar mixture, rub in Place in covered container P...	So, first, I don't think that gravlax looks that bad. Gravlax is never going to be the uniform peach/orange color that cold smoked salmon is (lox). It just looks a little bit under-cured. There are two things I do that are different from you, when I make Gravlax: I cure it for a minimum of 72 hours, turning every 12 ...
What are "B/E-inch slices"? What does the phrase "B/E- inch slices" refer to in a recipe? I'm working on a recipe that calls for chicken breasts and that statement is used when telling how to slice the meat.	It seems that B/E is a corruption of ¼ (as MaxW has suggested in a comment). A Google search for "B/E- inch slices" finds https://www.drperlmutter.com/recipe/zucchini-yogurt-gazpacho-saffron-marinated-chicken-breast/ (which I guess is what you are trying to follow), but it also finds the PDF file http://www.fasttrackto...
Green spots on bullseye egg I cooked some bulls eye eggs with some onion, and after cooking there was some green stain on the albumen, but not before cooking, therefore I wonder what it might be. I thought it could have come from the onion but just a hypothesis.	I'm assuming clean pan, no green die/residue, transfering to the egg whites. In which case green spots would consider mold/bacterial contamination based on this, in which case "DO NOT EAT". However if the whites are cloudy or overall green tint would be safe caused by vitamin B2. If you are getting fresh high quality e...
How to make Tortas de Algarrobo? I want to make some "Tortas de Algarrobo" cookies like the ones they make in my grandmother's village. The ones I like are tender but the ones I make are crunchy. How should I modify the ingredients or preparation to get a tender cookie? No eggs please. The ingredients are: wheat flour...	Your yeast is not happy. Maybe it is the liquor. I think a dough that calls for yeast should rise. Because otherwise, why the yeast and the resting? Dough that has risen will be tender. Dough that has not risen could be crunchy. Of course always proof your yeast - see if it bubbles in some warm water and sugar. I...
Is it good to store a salt block with silica packs? We recently started using an Himalayan salt block. We cleaned it as per the directions, and the storage said to scrub it, dry it, let it air dry, and store it in an airtight container. It seems clear that these storage directions are intended to make sure we keep th...	Depending on your climates humidity, if its too humid salt works like a big silica pack. It absorbs moisture, and you might get liquid salt runnoff. If you live in Denver Colorado, you could probably store it on your porch. General suggestions are to wrap salt blocks in plastic wrapping. Therefore if you double up that...
Frying then finishing breaded pork chops in the oven I want to pan fry first then finish in the oven. For 1" pork chops how long to I bake & at what temperature. Thanks	A quick google search give multiple results. Most are in the range of oven at 350F, pan fry 3 minutes each side and put in oven for 10 minutes or until around 150F internal temperature.
What type of lavender is normally used in tea blends? I was looking through a plant catalog, and am confused as to what type of lavender to grow this year to make tea with. Does each species taste different? Which ones are easier to pick?	If you want the “real” medicinal plant, get Lavandula angustifolia (formerly Lavandula officinalis), the true or English lavender. The flowers (medical term Lavandulae flos) are harvested when about half of the flowers on a stalk have opened up and the rest is still closed. Cut the whole flower stalks when the morning ...
Will Asarum europaeum add a ginger flavor? I was looking through a cooking catalog, and came across GINGER, EUROPEAN which made me wonder if this is like normal ginger that you cook with.	Short answer: kinda-sorta, in a weak way. Long answer: European wild ginger is grown as a ground cover, not for culinary purposes. It is closely related to American Wild Ginger, though, which can be used to cook with, but it has a weaker flavor than Chinese ginger, less pulp, and you shouldn't actually eat the roots. ...
Attempted to season my new cast iron pan and was left with a ring Is my pan ruined? I coated it evenly with vegetable oil, put it on low to medium heat, came back after about 20 and the centre where the now circle is was dry and the oil was around the dry circle. I cleaned it under hot water, gently scrubbed, the hard...	From the look of that, I'd say there's two possibilities. your burner is too small, and is heating the pan in the middle only, producing the ring. The solution for this is to heat it in the oven as explained in this answer. as Tetsujin suggests, you may be using too much oil and it's pooling in the middle and burning...
Why can't one reheat wok noodles? Most packages of ready noodles contain the information not to reheat them, for example: https://groceries.asda.com/product/noodles/asda-straight-to-wok-noodles/910002208900. It's safe to reheat rice, pasta etc., so I'm confused why reheating wok noodles would be different.	The "do not reheat" is standard text on food that's already cooked (like these noodles) with the expectation you'll cook it again. So they expect you to reheat once by stir-frying, then not again. You don't need to heat them before adding to a wok, but that's not what they're referring to. The reasoning is usually abou...
What is the measurement of 1 1/2 cups of cilantro leaves into ground cilantro Recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of cilantro leaves. I only have a 0.43 oz (12g) bottle of ground cilantro. How much of the ground cilantro should I use?	The two are not interchangeable. One is fresh leaves; the other is ground seeds. They don't taste anything like one another. At a push you could use fresh flat-leaf parsley. It would add some 'freshness' to the flavour, but wouldn't be a proper substitute, even then. A late thought - is your ground herb actually labell...
How long is too long for sous vide steak I have sous vide for a while with mixed success. Mostly good, but still mixed. One thing I question which I hoping to get opinion on is time to sous vide beef (steak specifically, e.g. ribeye or strip). I have read and heard where people have left beef in the bath for 24+ ho...	When cooking low temperature, over time the texture of the protein that you are cooking changes. For a tough cut, like a shank, or short rib, this is desirable, and where you would see cooking times of 12, 24, 48 hours...or longer. Most people want to enjoy a steak that chews like the traditionally cooked product. A...
What do you call this Chinese Popcorn Cooking mechanism? In this video they have this really cool popcorn pressure cooking thing,	Chinese Puffing Gun You can see one for sale on dhgate for $600 You can see it in use here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiD3YJD2RVU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baQT0pwvXKQ
I forgot to rinse lentils before adding them to soup. Is the meal still safe to eat? I get a bit too freaked out about health and safety when it comes to cooking. I am cooking a lentil soup today and have just added a whole bunch of lentils I forgot to rinse. Is the food safe to eat? Is the rinsing for hygienic reason...	I can only speak for UK supermarkets and you haven't said where you're from, but our lentils are clean as bought. A typical packet doesn't say to rinse them. With red lentils the only reaosn I can see for rinsing is to (slightly) reduce foaming; with Puy lentils and some others even that's not an issue and you may los...
Should I preheat glass and ceramic pans before baking bread? I never bake a loaf of bread before and I would like to bake a no-knead bread. For your information, I have an electric oven, a glass and ceramic pans. Should I preheat the glass and ceramic pans in the oven before baking?	Assuming the pans are made for the oven (e.g. Pyrex or a similar brand), I would say no. At least, I never do. Also, unless a recipe specifically calls for it, I think you are risking overcooking the outside of the loaf, especially with glass baking dishes. If you are worried about some sort of thermal shock crackin...
Factory canned grape juice Is grape juice ok to drink in an unopened can with the expiration date 5 years ago. It has also been refrigerated though unopened.	As long as the can is undamaged, and in good condition, it is safe. Expiration dates are typically used to define a period of time when the product is of the best quality, rather than to define safety. Since this was very likely a pasteurized product, it most certainly did not turn into wine or vinegar. It might not ...
Does salt prevent water from absorbing nutrients and falvours from food? A long time ago, I read somewhere, that there is a very specific reason, why we put salt in the water for cooking past	The point is to hinder the water from absorbing flavor and nutrients from the pasta. With soup its the other way around: We want to absorb the flavors into the water, which is why we salt it only at the end. The explanation was, that salt "ionizes" water, which somehow makes it less likely to absorb things. Is there an...
Keeping cream pies set while browning meringue topping My cream pies set up great until I put them back in the oven to brown the meringue. When I take them out & let them cool, they are no longer set up. What am I doing wrong?	There could be a few things going on here: If it is the meringue that is not holding - you probably need to beat it longer (stiff peaks will hold in bowl if turned upside down for a short time) and add the sugar slowly to ensure that it dissolves before spreading. To test if the sugar is dissolved, pinch a small amou...
My pizza dough has risen for a second time I had already made the dough into a pizza and while waiting to put it together it has risen. What should I do?	It does that if it gets the chance. You can either roll it thinner again or (my preference) have a slightly thicker, fluffier pizza,which may take a minute or two longer to cook. If you knock it down with your knuckles after rolling it tends to spring most of the way back. This, by the way, is almost inevitable if you...
How do I make restaurant quality pizza? I've been making my own pizza dough for years but almost always the results are stodgy and thick dough. Ideally I'd like to make thin, crispy pizza bases with those bubbly bits. Measurements for flour and water always go out the window when my hands are sticky so that might be o...	The most common problem is that your consumer oven is not as hot as a professional stone oven. Pizza stones are created to replicate this effect, but there's no way to really achieve the same result if you cannot heat your stone to the same temperature as a professional pizza oven. My advice to get better results is: ...
Animal Stock from Vegetable Stock I always seem to accumulate vegetable scraps faster than I do bones, so would it be possible to create a vegetable stock in a pressure cooker, to then create a chicken /beef stock at a later date when the bones are available? Specifically, would there be a considerable loss in flavor,...	I'm not certain what you are asking? Are you wanting to start a vegetable stock and use it as a base for the bone stock at a later time ? IMO that would work. Do a vegetable stock when you have enough vegetable scraps, portion it and freeze it. When you have enough bones, do the stock using the vegetable stock use mad...
What does stp yeast stand for in an old recipe? I saw an old recipe that called for an stp of yeast and salt...all other measurements were standard. What does stp mean?	Could it simply be a typo? -> tsp for teaspoon? Check if the overall proportions make sense with this, then that's probably what it was ;)
If I want a complex, yeasty soy sauce, what to look for? My local Asian food shop has many, many, brands of Chinese soy sauce, light and dark, most of them describing themselves as 'superior'. What should I be looking for in the ingredients lists as a sign of quality?	Soy sauce should only contain at most 4 ingredients - soy beans, wheat, salt and water; Chinese ones often leave out the wheat, which is a more typical Japanese ingredient. The quality of the sauce depends on the fermentation and maturation processes (like a good wine or beer), so is not reliably predictable from the ...
How to compensate for high altitude when baking bread in a bread machine? I have heard that high altitude can create bad results when making bread in a bread machine. I live at 7,000 ft above sea level. If I bought a bread machine, is there some way to compensate for the altitude, so that the results are still good?	This site claims that you should add some extra flour and liquids while reducing yeast and sugar, while increasing temperature and reducing time. I'm not sure that I accept their reasoning behind increasing the amount of liquids (supposedly to counteract dryer air), but at the same time increasing the amount of flour. ...
Oat powder is moist after blending for two minutes. Safe to store? I filled my blender about half way with instant oats and blended on high for about 2 minutes. When I took the lid off, I noticed moisture all inside the lid and and the oat powder is a little moist as well. Is it safe to store the oat powder in the ori...	There must have been some moisture in your blender. You could bake it off the oats, or you could freeze the wet powder, or just make whatever you were going to make. But I think moist oat powder will go moldy within a few days.
Why are sourdough crusts thicker? I'm used to the crust on sourdough bread being thick and chewy, but had always attributed that to the longer rise, and baking with steam, that one normally does with sourdough. However, this week I made a hybrid sourdough* in my bread machine, and its crust was thicker, browner, and ...	Here's a scientific breakdown: Sourdough starter is the primary leavening agent in any sourdough, including your hybrid here. Technically, it's just water and flour. The flour already has all the yeasts and bacterial spores it needs to ferment, and the water activates the fermentation process via an enzyme called amyla...
How much temperature control does an emergency food cache need? I just bought a massive amount of wholesale food to prepare for a winter storm this coming weekend. Since I will not use all of it, and want to keep it around for future emergencies, I'm curious about some of the items I have. None of the items I bought w...	Short answer: you need to keep those goods above freezing, below 85F, and in a low-humidity environment. Long Answer: Freezing: Canned goods, jars, and tetrapaks that are frozen can leak, split, or even explode, and are often unsafe to eat after thawing. Heat: canned goods safe and nutritious lifetime decreases at tem...
What would be considered thick milk in old recipe I have a cake recipe from my Grandmother that calls for thick milk? Anyone know what this might be? Not sure of the cake name, handwriting is hard to read. Full recipe is 1 c sugar, 2 eggs, 1 c thick milk, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cream of tartar, 1/2 c butter.	I am pretty sure she means milk which went sour naturally, or spoiled milk. Before refrigeration and even after refrigeration but before ESL and UHT milks, a milk that got sufficient microbial activity would visibly curdle and get thicker and somewhat sour. Such milk is unpleasant to drink, but people used to not want...
What makes cake a Sponge Cake? And what doesn't? I've been watching the Great British baking show and they refer to basically every cake as a sponge. I live in the USA and grew up in Australia. We just called cake, cake. I know how to make a victoria sponge, and a genoise and neither of these methods required you to ...	You are asking for a firm definition where none exists. Baking is not mathematics, and it does not have a heap of literature where everybody has formally agreed to use the same terminology. Thus classification of baking goods is done into intuitive categories. This means it doesn't work by strictly defining where the ...
Baking spread equivilent in the US I trying to find out what I could use to substitute "Baking spread"? It is in a British recipe and in the US, where I live, I've never seen this.	"Baking Spread" is what used to be Margarine, before most of the ingredients of margarine were banned [predominantly the hydrogenated vegetable oils & trans fats]. In the UK, the most famous baking margarine was Stork, which still exists in a new form. It is owned by Unilever, who publish this data on its formulation -...
How to apply ascorbic acid ppm in bread baking? According to Effects of different doses of ascorbic acid on alveograph and bread making quality of wheat flour with average quality as starting material : the best dose of ascorbic acid that can be added for the improving average flour quality is 50-70 ppm If I want t...	Just for the record, she replied and for what it is worth: Dear Sir, Ascorbic acid dosage in milling and bakery it is based on the weight of the flour. The recommendation dosage ( medium dosage) for maturate the flour is 2g/100 kg flour (Ascorbic acid can be added in the milling or in bakery in the mixer with the y...
Flavorful beef broth without bones? is it possible to make flavorful beef broth as a base for Pho/Soup etc without bones? I'm not minding the body/gelatinous or not, just the flavor. on our market here the butchers sell meat scrap gained from bones i'm planning to use that for economic reasons	To have the most flavor, you will need to roast/brown the meat scraps. Let them get a nice brown color. you could add aromatic vegetables (onion, carrots, celery) as well to the roasting pan.
How far ahead can I prepare this coleslaw recipe? I'm making a coleslaw to accompany dinner tonight which consists of: 1 Apple, julienned 1 Carrot, grated 2 spring onions, sliced 1tbsp Mayonnaise 10ml cider vinegar 10g chipotle paste 1/2 red chilli, de-seeded and chopped Juice of half a lemon 1/2tbsp tomato puree 1 g...	That looks to me to be a lot of 'wet' to 'dry', so without really having a definitive answer I'd have 2 considerations. How far you want your fresh garlic to 'mellow' [I really don't know the correct term for leaving crushed garlic so the sharpness goes off a bit.] How much water is going to be pulled from the apple...
can i use yeast instead of baking powder in a cookie receipe? I currently have no baking powder in the cupboard and I'm just wondering if i can use yeast in a cookie dough recipe instead of baking powder	Your usual cookie recipe can't simply be adapted, but there are plenty of yeast cookie recipes (chocolate chip example). Some of them look rather interesting, but unlike the one I linked have significant rise times.
Does microwaving fully cook chapatis? I saw a video on how to make chapatis and someone made a comment saying you must allow chapatis to fully inflate because it is the steam inside them that cooks them and not fully inflating means you have raw dough evidenced by areas with lighest colour. This makes me wonder then d...	I have made chapatis many times, although I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination. Most of my attempts have come out just fine. Chapatis/rotis are usually cooked on a tava (or tawa) - which is basically a flat or slightly concave cast iron pan. A flat griddle pan or even a frying pan(skillet) could be used ...
Plastic Bowl for Bread Is it ok to let bread rise in a plastic bowl? I got rid of my glass and metal bowls because they were too heavy for me to lift.	It really shouldn't be a problem. A thick-walled bowl is usually preferred to help maintain an even rising temperature. As long as it is food-safe, you keep it in a draft-free area, and it remains at a consistent temperature, you should be fine.

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