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Why does some mayonnaise burn when toasted?
I've been toasting sandwiches with mayo on the outside, and Sir Kensington's Classic Mayonnaise leaves burnt/black stain on the toaster.
Other mayo (kraft...) leaves no black/burnt residue.
Sunflower Oil, Egg Yolks, Water, Lemon Juice, Salt, White Vinegar, Raw Sugar, Ground ... | With the exception of the water and salt, any of those ingredients will burn if you heat them hot enough. If you're seeing it more with a particular brand, though, and if it's happening at temperatures below 200 degrees Celsius, it's probably the egg. Mass-produced commercial mayonnaise like Kraft has relatively little... |
How tight should the lid be when braising?
Much of the braising guidance I've read emphasizes the importance of a tight-fitting lid. For example, in All About Braising, pp. 18-19, Molly Stevens provides instructions for sealing a braising pot with parchment paper. The goal is to reinforce the seal since "much of the... | As so often in cooking and life, the answer is a solid “it depends”.
Braising means preparing food with some liquid, in a humid environment, usually after a roasting/browning step to develop roast flavors through the Maillard reaction. There’s just a few rules of thumb as to how much liquid is appropriate, and cooking... |
Does leavened bread made with yeast require gluten to rise?
I want to understand which flours can and can't be used with yeast to get a rise for baking bread. From what I understand, yeast consumes sugar and produces carbon dioxide, which gets trapped inside the dough and causes it to expand during proving.
Does glut... | Yes, rising is very dependent on gluten. In almost all cases, you won't get any rising without a gluten-rich flour. Even if you use wheat flour, but one that has the wrong proportion of gluten, you will get a disappointing rise. If you were to try making a bread recipe calling for AP flour (8-10% gluten) with bagel flo... |
Pasta water usable with lentil pasta?
I'm planning on making a pasta dish tonight that uses the pasta cooking water in the sauce. Something like cacio e pepe. The pasta I've got is the high protein pasta that they make out of lentils or chickpeas. Since it's not normal pasta, will my pasta water still be usable in th... | Yes, you should be fine. Pasta water is used to loosen a condiment, and allow it to be incorporated with the pasta during the final tossing/dressing of the pasta. The water from traditional pasta will have some starches from the pasta in it, and does sometimes help "thicken" (to a pretty small degree in my experience)... |
Is natural yoghurt & soured cream a good replacement for khatta dahi (Indian sour yoghurt/'curd')
Dahi is a natural unpasteurised yoghurt eaten as-is and an ingredient in India, aka curd in Indian English (different to curd in Br/Am E. though). Khatta dahi is more soured (khatta means sour).
What's a good commerciall... | There is quite a big difference in the process of making dahi vs yoghurt (aside from pasteurisation), as yogurt is made with bacteria (called yogurt cultures) and curd is made by curdling milk with an acidic agent (like lemon juice).
I would personally use full-fat greek yogurt and add a little fresh lemon juice to the... |
Can I use a saucepan to cook non-liquid things, like making omelets?
I know that saucepans are good for cooking things in a liquid or with decent liquid content, but are they good for sauteing or making omelets, just things that don't involve little liquid? | Yes you can.
BUT.
Saucepans have high walls and will make handling something like an omelet more difficult; spatulas will have a hard time getting under the omelet.
The small surface area compared to a frying pan will not make it perfect if wanting to sautée vegetables (for example); if you put too many ingredients in ... |
How to smooth a wooden rolling pin
My wooden rolling pin has a rough patch on it due to the grain of the wood. When I roll out pastry with it, the pastry tends to stick to the rolling pin at that point and lift. Is there anything I can do to get a smooth surface all over the rolling pin or will I have to buy a better ... | Woodworker and cook here. Here's something that might work (without having seen the actual problem). You'll need some 220, 320 & 400 sandpaper, alcohol and shellac (which is food safe). Create a small amount of thinned shellac by mixing it with the alcohol. Next use the alcohol to raise the grain in the affected area... |
Pork substitute for Game Meat Pie
I found out my friend can’t have fatty pork products (grew up not eating it for religious reasons and now if she has really rich fatty pork products it makes her sick) but she was super excited to try a Game Meat Pie I make with elk and rabbit. Unfortunately, the recipe calls for some... | Duck fat.
You could use butter, of course, which would make it delicious like everything made with butter is. But duck fat has a higher melting point than butter and in that respect is more like lard. Duck fat is super delicious. Also it seems to me duck fat is more in accord with the overall ethos of a game meat pi... |
Why does my cake lack air bubbles and looks like a molten mass?
I have tried to do cakes many times and I frequently have the problem of my cake not having the bubbly structure I expect, but rather looking like a smooth mass on the inside.
So far I have attributed this to user error, but after my mom also had the same... | This is a very vexing case, I douobt that anybody can tell from looking at your cake. So you will have to troubleshoot it yourself by first trying to bake a successful cake by following a traditional recipe and using best practices, and then, if that cake works well, start changing it back towards your preferred recipe... |
bread made with egg safe to leave outside?
I have some bread that has egg in it. Safe to leave the bread at room temp after baking? Im asking because I wouldn't leave scrambled eggs at room temp but is bread ok? | Food safety categorizes each food on its own. You cannot take the categories of the ingredients that went in ("flour is shelf stable, eggs need refrigeration...") and decide on the shelf stability of the product based on the ingredients. For detailed information on the basics of how food safety works, read our tag wiki... |
panna cotta gelatine and size/form
Suppose I've found my "sweet spot" for the amount of gelatine for a recipe of panna cotta which has been tried only for individual portions that are either turned upside down on a plate or topped and served directly in the glass.
If I were to make a bigger loaf to be sliced, how woul... | It depends.
If your current “sweet spot” percentage gives you a panna cotta that’s sturdy enough to hold up on its own, so that you can make clean “cuts” with your spoon, you are fine also in larger shapes.
If your preferred ratio is rather soft and creamy, so that the upside-down servings sag significantly, go up. Of... |
Cooking pasta in water temperature range?
I'd like to know what is the temperature range in which pasta can be cooked in water.
I'd be interested in this in order to waste less energy/heat as opposed to cooking it in rolling boiling water and then draining away water that's still over 90 C.
If say the temperature wind... | Cooking pasta (i assume dried pasta here) has two stages:
hydration
starch gelatinization
The hydration can be done completely off the stove, earning you back come of the cooking time and energy. Just soak the pasta in water, it depends on the type of pasta and thickness, if your soaking time is more than 4 hours, i... |
Cumin in Taco Seasoning?
I've noticed that I never taste cumin in the tacos I get at restaurants, yet cumin is often the most noticeable flavor in pre-made taco seasonings. When and why did cumin get associated with tacos? Why is it not used in most restaurant preparations? | I'm going to supplement Cindy's answer, by addressing this part of the question:
When and why did cumin get associated with tacos?
According to Wikipedia, Serious Eats, and History.com, the cumin was brought by workers the Spanish imported to Texas from the Canary Islands in the 1500s, who themselves were the desce... |
What is the thick black soysauce that they pair with Hainanese Chicken Rice
In Singapore, whenever you order Hainanese Chicken Rice, they will give you three dipping sauces, including a thick black, slightly sweet soy sauce.
It's very different from normal soysauce. What products or recipes should I be looking for?
U... | Soy sauce is not all the same. The dipping sauce with Hainanese chicken rice is dark soy sauce.
The soy sauce that is most well-known around the world is what we call "light soy sauce", or often just "soy sauce". This is liquid, about as viscous as water; a small amount of the sauce ranges from light to dark brown. It ... |
How do I know if water in supermarket's seafood tank is salty enough?
Undoubtedly no body is to taste water tank in supermarkets with live seafood!
Don't ask me rely on supermarket salespeople. When I ask, they either don't know or can't answer straight. They say "Oh water's fine. Don't worry!" or "There's got to be ... | There are several ways to measure water salinity (water salt content), most are impractical for that situation. A very effective and quick way to measure salinity to use a salinity meter, these are small electronic devices which measure the conductivity of the water. You just dip it in the water and take a reading. Mor... |
Dairy substitutes for various purposes
I've been considering trying to reduce my dairy consumption for environmental reasons (I've long since reduced my meat consumption), but I'm not sure what to use for various substitutions.
I generally go through one to four gallons of whole milk per two weeks. Uses include:
A li... | I’m a huge dairy lover but I recently found out a couple years ago that I am lactose intolerant and had to make the switch over to non-dairy almost everything.
If continuing to use butter isn’t a problem for you, keep that one. I bake a ton and butter is still the best option for popovers (my grandma was British, I m... |
What is this white powder on my grill?
I have a ceramic grill that I have only ever cooked organic chicken breast and organic steak on. I have occasionally added spice but not for months as it makes too much mess. After cooking, I drizzle warm water mixed with washing up liquid on it from a soft cloth, whilst the gr... | These could be proteins precipitated from the meat and denatured resulting in coagulation on the surface of your grill by the heat of cooking. These come out of the juices that run when cooking meat.
Denatured proteins are generally insoluble, and are fairly difficult to remove (think cooked egg when it sticks to a sur... |
How do I make this no bake tart filling less runny?
I made this tart for the first time: https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/mango-passionfruit-australia-day-tart-recipe/xr2rx1q4?r=recipes/australiaday&c=9336f356-56fb-44e5-8053-e711fe431650/Australia%20day
It was delicious, but I could not get the mango filling to solid... | Welcome to the site Elle! This tart filling is a custard as the thickening agent is egg yolks. If it isn't thickening up enough then one of two things is happening:
The mix isn't being brought up to temperature. The recipe's instructions aren't very good because it talks about a time rather than a target temperature. ... |
I removed some of the black metallic covering of my pan, is it still safe to use?
I have a Seagull "4 star" "Marathon" "non-stick cookware" pan.
I have decoated much of the black metallic coating of that pan with a stainless metallic scotch brite.
I made the above decoating the above after a few months in which the pa... | Looking at the close-up, I'd say that the 'black stain' is where the actual non-stick Teflon coating has already been scratched off.
The bare metal is where you finished the job & also removed the substrate, which was probably used to get the Teflon to stick to the aluminium.
I think you've reached the point where it's... |
Syracuse Salt Potatoes - what's the deal?
Recently I've learned about salt potatoes, which is a regional dish from Syracuse, NY. Basically, you put about 1 cup of salt to 6 cups of water and boil unpeeled potatoes in that water. I've also watched this video before trying to cook - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IochM... | I've made these before, and in fact found them to be as you describe; well-salted new potatoes, but not somehow substantially more creamy than standard boiled baby new potatoes. You don't say if you used actual new (young) potatoes, but I did, and did not get different results from yours.
Should it have been different... |
How to make microwaved porridge thicker
In the morning, I usually have porridge with a bit of fruit. The issue is that the porridge oats always seem to retain their shape and never become very sticky, even after I leave it for a few seconds after microwaving.
I use 40g of Kavanagh's porridge with 220ml of milk and put... | There are 2 main points that will affect the thickness of your porridge :
The oatmeal/milk (or water) ratio
The temperature reached by the oatmeal. Litterature says the oat starch gelatinization (that gives said thickness) happens at around 80°C. From experience, higher is better (probably because heating isn't hom... |
Is it better to freeze crepe batter or cooked crepes?
I sometimes make crepe pancakes with the following recipe: 200g of flour, 350ml of milk, 2 eggs and a table spoon of vegetable oil.
I was wondering whether it was better to store the crepe batter in the freezer and cook some when I want it, or to cook the crepes th... | It is a compromise either way. Neither will be as good as freshly made, but both methods will work. As far as frozen batter, you will either need to plan ahead, or be willing to wait for it to thaw. If you go this route, I would suggest zip style freezer bags, and freeze flat, so that it will thaw more quickly. Als... |
Why does milk turn yellow in a silver glass?
I boiled some milk and started to poured it in a silver cup by mistake. There was just some drops in it. The glass was clean and nothing was added to it.
But after an hour, I found that the milk turned bright yellow. Never seen milk in that color. What happened? Is somethin... | tl;dr It looks like your milk has curdled. It is unlikely to be related to the silver cup.
Milk is composed of casein, albumin proteins, sugar, some amount of fat, and vitamins including riboflavin. The solution of protein and fats is opaque white. When milk is curdled- usually by exposure to acid and/or heat, the case... |
Putting freeze dried strawberry into my soft cookies,the texture is more like cake -how to make it more chewy
I love strawberry cheesecake and soft cookies, so I created a recipe and added a large amount of strawberry powder (made by putting freeze-dried strawberries into a grinder).
I have tried two recipes. Both hav... | I used all purpose flour. It results in cakey soft cookies; the texture is not smooth and not gooey/chewy. They can break quite easily.
Recipe B: I used bread flour. It results in a better texture, more dense and smooth but still cakey and not gooey/chewy. However, while they are great right after taking them out of th... |
Can I use pearl barley instead of rice in baked rice pudding?
I want to make a baked rice pudding with plums. I was wondering since pearl barley is sometimes used for risotto if I could use it instead of rice here too. Will it bet the sticky, sort of slimy consistency rice gets when boiled in milk? | In case anyone else was wondering too, I tried it and it worked fine. It's not exactly the same consistency as when using rice but I still enjoyed it very much. |
Should you layer Greek yoghurt on porridge oats or mix it in with the porridge oats?
I am experimenting with creating overnight oats with Greek yoghurt. However, I was not sure whether to layer the yoghurt on top of the oats with multiple layers of oats and yoghurt, or to mix in the yoghurt with the oats.
I was told b... | The point of overnight oats is to allow the oats time to hydrate slowly at a cool temperature, rather than cooking them in water. So it's best to have them well-mixed with the liquid they'll be absorbing. If you put them in (sufficiently thick) layers, it's likely that some of the oats will be less hydrated than others... |
What is the best substitute for sugar when cooking thick jam?
I like cooking my own food and I often try to make it as healthy as possible. I would like to make my own jam with dark red cherries, but recipes often have loads of sugar. There are lots of different recipes without sugar, but they all have different subst... | The conservation issue aside: It depends heavily on what fruits you want to use. Fruits that contain a lot of fiber might not need any thickening agent to get a good, spreadable consistency. This includes for example certain variants of apples or pears, but also things like plums if you don't discard the skins. The con... |
Are "shelled nuts" with or without their shells?
I'm using MyFitnessPal to log what I'm eating, and I can't figure out whether 'shelled pistachios' are pistachios with or without their shells. | In cooking, "shelled" usually means "de-shelled" or "shell-less". This applies to nuts, peas, etc.
The opposite that I've seen most often is "shell" to indicate that they still have their shell.
"Shell peanuts" have their shell intact.
"Shelled peanuts" are just the meat that has been removed from the shell |
What to use to cut things on non stick surfaces?
I had brought brownies baked in a non-stick pan to a potluck. My friend used a metal knife to cut the brownies and scratched up my pan. I plan to bring a non-stick safe knife in the future to save my other non-stick pans from getting scratched up.
Can I use a ceramic ... | I'd pre-cut them myself - I tend to cut mine in the tin using a plastic spatula; after all they're soft and easy to cut. Then
There are stiff plastic knives (for some reason sold for use on lettuce). They're much better than metal and will easily cut brownies.
If you did want something disposable, some of the wooden di... |
Using salmon in 2 days, freezer or fridge?
I have a fresh cut of salmon I plan to cook for dinner in two days. I know that fish is best cooked as soon and as fresh as possible or should go right into the freezer.
Which is the best storage method? Should I put it in the freezer for just one day, and then take it out to... | It depends. Temperature works on a scale, the cooler it is, usually the less active bacteria will be.
With this in mind, my fridge has a special zone for meats and fish, very very close to zero degrees. The food won't freeze, but bacterial activity will be slowed enough that I would put it there a couple of days withou... |
Should I consider water temperature in kettle or in cup to infuse my tea?
Most, if not all, teas have an ideal infusing temperature. Is this temperature the real water temperature at the time of infusion, or the water temperature while pouring it from the kettle ?
For instance, let's say that I have a kettle that ca... | 75°C is the temperature you want your tea to brew, so if your temperature drops by 10 degrees when you pour it in the cup you'll want to heat it to 85°C, pour it into the cup and let it warm up the cup before you add the tea, that way it is at the ideal temperature.
The other option is heating the cup up with hot water... |
How to prevent my wide rice noodles from breaking after cooked?
I’ve been making Pad See Ew a number of times. I cook my wide rice noodles according to the package instructions (place in boiling water for 6-8 minutes) followed by draining in a strainer and rinsing under cold water. However, they break when I place the... | Two reasons I can think the noodle would break apart.
Your noodles are overcooked.
The noodles are sticking.
If you are stir-frying a noodle after cooking, likely I think the first would be the biggest factor. I would typically suggest undercooking the noodle first.
Cook it a minute or two shy of al-dente. It should... |
Cook chickpeas directly in soup?
I just started cooking dried chickpeas in my pressure cooker. It made me wonder... I have some soup recipes that I make in my IP that call for canned chick peas. At first I was subbing in my cooked chickpeas. Is there any reason I can't just add my already-soaked chickpeas directly to ... | I don't see why not.
I make channa masala from scratch - fry onions, garlic, chilli, add spices, drop soaked chickpeas
...and enough extra water so it will absorb and evaporate in the required time.
That's your only bit of guesswork, but for soup that's probably not as crucial as for a dish which is served almost dry. ... |
What would "Disintegrant", "Ammonium", or the units of measure "glass" or "gl" mean in a non-American book?
Just purchased a baking cookbook online which, while written in English, is clearly from a country outside of the U.S. Units are metric, which is fine, but there a couple of terms with which I am unfamiliar. Cou... | "Ammonium" is probably "baker's ammonia" or "ammonium carbonate" -- this is an old-school leavening agent, which has mostly been replaced with baking soda & baking powder in modern cooking.
A "disintegrant" is the opposite of a binder. Without context, knowing what it is specifically talking about is hard to say. In ph... |
What made my veggie scrap broth turn very bitter?
About once a week I cook up a lot of food and recently I've been inspired to make a vegetable broth out of the veggie scraps that you'd normally throw away. Tried it once with some broccoli stalks and onion and it turned out well.
Today I put in a whole bunch of veggi... | Both the broccoli stem and the lemon are likely culprits - they probably accentuate each other in a bad way. The lemon (pith) will definitely add a bitter taste on its own - as Spagirl mentioned, the zest and the juice are the non-bitter parts that you would add if you wanted lemon flavor without the bitterness. The br... |
How to make my chicken taste more tender?
I have been trying out Korean Ginseng Soup recipe but the chicken meat usually turns out dry. Is this to do with the heat and the time taken to cook? I use an induction cooker for all my dishes. Thanks a lot!
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
5 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup glutinous ri... | This is normal. Chicken breasts are leaner than legs, thighs and wings, so they dry out faster. I often make a similar dish, but I use pre-cut pieces and dark meat for this very reason. 80 minutes sounds like a long time to me, you could probably reduce that and get a better result. You could also cut the breasts off a... |
Why do Chinese grocers advise cutting and discarding flowers in Chinese vegetables?
Many times when buying Kai Lan:
and Choi Sum
Chinese shop staff heartily say
Cut flowers. Don't eat them. Flowers have insects.
Are they correct? How do the flowers harm you?
Were they referring to pollinators that land on those ... | When a plant arrives in the kitchen, the ecological perspective doesn't matter any more. Any insect present on a plant destined for human consumption is considered a pest by the consuming humans and by the cooks preparing the food for them, no matter what the plant considers it to be (pollinator, parasite, whatever). ... |
What happens to lemon juice when boiled?
Does anyone know what happens to the flavor of lemon juice when it's boiled? | When lemon juice is boiled, it reduces, which means that water evaporates. This concentrates the flavor. This concentration and cooking also changes the flavor. The now cooked juice, while still clearly identifiable as lemon, will be much less bright. Keep going, and eventually you will get a syrup. Soon after that... |
Why don't I have to refrigerate store-bought baby food but have to refrigerate home-made purees?
If I make an apple (or fruit) puree at home, the internet says I have to refrigerate it and then only have a couple of days to feed it to my child. But I can go buy a jar of Gerber baby puree off the shelf at the store and... | Shelf-stable wet foods in cans, jars, plastic pouches, and the like are generally sterilized by heating them under pressure, to the point where literally every microorganism that might be inside dies. The containers need to remain sealed to maintain the sterility -- verifying the seal is the purpose of the little "pops... |
Can dry aging beef and curing/fermenting/drying meat be done in same environment?
Can dry aging beef and curing/fermenting/drying meat be done in same environment ? By environment I’m referring to using the same fridge or room for example. Do these processes require similar temperature and humidity ? I’d like to get a... | No, you can't do both in the same environment because the two need very different temperatures. Dry aging beef requires a cold environment (34-38°F or 0-2°C). Curing salami needs a higher temperature (42-60°F, 6-16&devC) and slightly higher humidity (70-80%). Beef would rot in the temperature range you'd cure salami. |
Why are my red potatoes so bitter
Is there something in red potatoes (and possibly some others) that is very bitter that only some people can taste? And if so how/can I get rid of it. The reason I think so is I boiled some for potato salad and it was inedible. I figured that it was just that season/batch. So Ive tried... | Have these potatoes started to sprout? According to this article from Caroline Wright, a lecturer in horticulture, "there can still be a bitter flavour to potatoes that have begun to grow." Exposure to light produces solanine. Solanine is a bitter toxin and even when pared from the potato, can have imparted bitterness ... |
What forms the pocket in Arabic/Pita bread?
I have always been curious of why a pocket is formed in the Arabic/Pita bread, what causes it & why does it NOT happen frequently, for example, in flatbread with yeast, it doesn't split and form a full pocket.
What's the science behind it?
Thanks! | The crucial ingredient is water - which turns into steam in a very hot oven.
Let me explain based on a standard pita bread process. A comparatively simple dough (flour, water, salt, yeast) is kneaded, shaped into balls and left to rise. Before baking, the balls are rolled out in thin circles or ovals and baked on a hot... |
How can I make regular rice more sticky?
I have two children under four and the little one (15 months) likes rice a lot but he has trouble eating it because the grains separate, making it difficult to pick up with his uncoordinated fingers.
To help with this, I was thinking that I could make my normal (long grain) ric... | Those are all good ideas, and will work together.
For "use more water", what you really want is to use more water but not end up with wetter or softer rice. (For rice I want to be sticky I'll generally use about 1.25 volumes of water to one volume of rinsed and drained rice, but this will vary widely with cooker and am... |
Replacing red wine by vinegar to do a beef salami
is it safe to replace wine by vinegar, rice vinegar or apple cider to do a homemade Salami? | Not all salami recipes call for wine. I would advise finding one that doesn't include wine, rather than trying to adapt one that does: modifications to cured meat recipes are risky and potentially unsafe. Although replacing wine with vinegar sounds intuitively safe (in that it lowers the pH), it might have the effect o... |
How to ensure that the bottom of blind baked pie crusts brown properly?
This happened to me yesterday with pâte sucrée, and it has happened before with other kinds of dough too (like the traditional American flaky dough).
When I try to blind bake a pie, I usually do as follows: I lay out the dough over the bottom and ... | I then chill or freeze the dough
That's your problem, right there. Especially if you are using a ceramic pan, like a traditional quiche pan.
For a long time, I also followed the ubiquitous advice to keep pie crusts as cold as possible, even freezing, and struggled with the same problems as you. Then, with more exper... |
Hard boiled eggs in "insta-pot" type device
I am trying to hard boil my eggs so the yolk isn't mushy at all, and the yolk doesn't contain a greenish cast around the outside (which I think means they are overdone).
I am doing this in an "insta pot" style device, on a trivet above the water (the eggs aren't submersed)... | I use eggs right out of the refrigerator, large or extra-large (today's were AA Large, average 57 grams). I have also used room temperature eggs, and the difference was tiny. We can tweak for those variables.
The rack keeps the eggs at least a couple of centimeters above the water. This one has another tier so I can do... |
I was trying to take off the absorbant pad while my chicken was still frozen, and it broke
I rinsed the chicken as well as I possibly could, to make sure all the gel was off. What if there are small pieces of the gel stuck, and now I'm cooking it? Is it safe to eat or is it trash? | Don't worry, the materials in those pads are non-toxic. The absorbent material is silica (purified sand) or plant cellulose, and the plastic is thin and non-digestable. So if a small amount sticks to your food it's no big deal, just make sure it's cooked through as that will kill any bacteria in the gel that happens to... |
Am I at risk for botulism?
I am a little.paranoid because just today my son had some fried rice he was going to bring to school in a thermos like container. The food wasn't really that hot and I explained to him by the time he ate it it would be at room temp for almost 6 hours and he could get sick of he ate it. So no... | It doesn't sound like you have anything to worry about. It's very possible that botulism or some other organism grew in that time in those conditions, so you were right to throw the food away.
You can't get botulism or other foodborne illnesses from smelling food, you'd have to actually eat the food to get sick, which... |
Fruit leather sticking to parchment paper
Having some trouble making strawberry fruit leather for the first time. I'm pureeing frozen strawberries in orange juice then spreading the puree on parchment paper that I put on a pan. I then put it in the oven at 175 degrees. I've tried leaving it for 1 hour, 2 hours, or 3 h... | Try a little cooking spray (pan release) on the pan, or, another option would be to use a silicone mat. |
Keep temperature at exact 62C/143F for an hour
Is there an appliance with which I can keep something at a specific temperature, in this case 62C, without constantly checking manually? I have been looking at thermostat controlled induction plates but haven't found any that go that low.
Edit for more information:
the ... | Are we talking liquid or solids? Water has a high specific heat, meaning you need a lot of energy to change their temperature. That being said, I'd either go for a sous-vide approach, seal whatever you want to keep at that temperature in bags and toss it into a pre-warmed 62° C water bath, or buy/rent a medium/upper qu... |
Marjoram substitute
Has anyone tried Mexican oregano as a substitute for marjoram? I have a recipe for marinated ancho chiles, and the recipe calls for thyme and marjoram. I live in Latvia, finding marjoram is impossible- but I do have a big bag of mexican oregano | See Substitute for marjoram - which says you can substitute oregano. The thing is, that Mexican oregano isn't actually oregano at all, but a completely unrelated plant that tastes a bit like oregano… though not enough to actually be confused if you have them side by side.
I'm surprised, if you're living in mainland Eur... |
Why boil sugar for lemonade?
I've started making home lemonade recently and all the recipes boil about one cup of sugar in one cup of water. I never questioned that until my father saw the process and asked why don't I just add water and sugar to lemon juice or add boiling water to the pitcher with lemon juice and sug... | It's simply to allow the sugar to dissolve and mix into the lemonade. Because of this, you can more precisely adjust your preferred sweetness level. |
Remove residue from bacon grease
I use bacon grease for cooking during the week. I have an issue though. I always get residue from the meat when I poor it out of the pan.
How can I filter this out? I can use a spoon for some of it, but it's just not effective to get more than 2/3 of it. | Fat can be filtered through a coffee filter. It's slow, but it works. Make sure the fat stays well above the temperature at which it congeals.
Alternatively, you can "wash" the fat by mixing it well with some boiling water and then letting it cool and separate. The impurities (at least, the particulate matter) should g... |
Are English scones savoury?
I know that scones are often seen as an unhealthy snack, but many English recipes don't actually include that much sugar and English scones contain much less sugar than American scones (why do Americans put sugar in everything?), so it got me wondering whether English scones were classed as... | They are both sweet and savoury.
You can use the same recipe & put clotted cream & jam on them, or butter [salted, of course], or slices of cheese, ham, anything you like… even Marmite.
This is what you get searching the BBC [good old Auntie Beeb, can't get more stiff-upper-lip British ;) - BBC Good Food - Savoury sco... |
Pink Tinted Quinoa
After rinsing some white quinoa today I noticed that some of the seeds had a pink tint. The quinoa is from a new bag, so I don't think it's bad, but I also can't find anything about pinkish quinoa elsewhere on the internet.
Does anyone know why this might be? | Over time, I noticed the same thing in various bags I had purchased from Natural Grocers. I used to just pick out the pink ones, worried they might have been contaminated with pink mold, but during the pandemic, when the store's stock was lower than usual, I didn't have any choice but to buy the bags with the pink-tin... |
Deep frying with tallow in a stainless steel pot
I do not have access to a cast iron pot, only a thin, lightweight stainless steel pot.
Will I be able to deep fry potato slices in beef tallow in it?
I am afraid the heat distribution will be uneven and that the tallow will catch fire even if I monitor the temperature... | I don't think you will have the risk of fire, as long as you keep the oil in the pot. Temperature will modulate more quickly than in cast iron, but it is not going to vary much within the pot itself. I use a wok because the slanted sides make for safer deep-frying. So, you don't need cast iron. In a pot, you need to... |
What is this seafood that I bought in a Chinese market?
Can someone tell what is the food here? | That's abalone (鮑魚 bàoyú), a popular and expensive delicacy in Chinese cuisine. |
Accidentally wolfed down a rare burger
I got an Angus burger patty from the meat counter at my local Kroger. I cooked it for about 5 minutes on each side on medium heat with a lid on the pan. The burger was a bit thicker. I was so hungry and ate it really fast and didn't realize that it was somewhat undercooked in the... | There is no way of knowing, from your picture, if there is E. Coli present in your burger, nor is there any way for us to let you know if you will get sick. However, we can identify the risks and what increases or decreases the risk of infection. If E. Coli is present, it is typically present on the exterior of a who... |
Are bread improvers really needed?
I am new to baking and I am in the process of creating and starting my bakery in my country.
I got a few questions, my bakery is planning on making pita bread. I have a fully automatic machine that will create the bread.
I plan to product fresh bread everyday and when needed. My mai... | The bread improvers that I have seen simply encourage gluten development to improve bread texture. They are often called for for use in bread machines because those machines are not as effective at kneading. Many bread improvers are as simple as extra vitamin C.
Without knowing the details of the machine you are planni... |
Would it be a good idea to mix brown sugar with white sugar in bread?
I was curious, but would the brown sugar feed the yeast and if I mix both of them would it be a good idea? So I can get the benefits of both sugars. If I were to mix what effect would I get? | Brown sugar is equivalent to sugar plus molasses. If you mix brown sugar and (white) sugar, you'll get slightly brown sugar. Any benefits you were expecting from the (white) sugar, you'll still get. Any benefits you were expecting from the molasses, you'll get less of. |
What type of baker percentage should one use for brown sugar when compared to white sugar?
I was told not to substitute by Brown sugar by weight since it weighs more.
How would I go about substitute then? I saw a few questions addressing this issue, but it does not say the Baker's Percentage and doesn't say how I woul... | First, be aware that substituting brown for white sugar will result in a different product. Brown sugar has molasses flavors, and absorbs water differently from white sugar, so both the taste and texture of the final baked goods will be different and no amount of adjusting quantities will change this.
With that in min... |
What is the best ingredient to add to a normal French toast recipe to make it taste pumpkin flavored?
I'm just wondering. I like experimenting with French toast recipes. What is the best ingredient to add to a normal French toast recipe to make it taste pumpkin flavored? | Not meaning this as a snippy answer at all, but I would say: pumpkin.
I would suggest substitute pumpkin bread and continue as normal. This one I have done before. It is a heavier French Toast (or eggy bread, pain perdu or many other names around the world), but turned out quite nice in my opinion.
Another option w... |
What can I do about peeling wok seasoning?
I bought a carbon-steel wok, seasoned it, and it worked great for a couple weeks. Now however a small portion of the seasoning right in the very middle seems to have peeled off. While the sides are perfectly non-stick, the middle is, if anything, slightly sticky to the touch.... | The most likely problem is that you let oil pool in the bottom of the wok during seasoning, so it didn't polymerize properly. Personally, I would scrub that portion off, and reseason only the bottom, using this method:
Heat the wok to smoking hot.
Turn off the heat, and immediately polish with a lightly oiled cloth o... |
Is there a name for this French Toast variation?
Recently we made french toast for lunch at home. However there was come miscommunication, and my better half made pikelet mixture instead of prepping the milk/eggs mix one would normally expect.
Pikelet mix would be similar to pancake or flapjack or perhaps even waffle... | What you made is generally called batter dipped French Toast, which a lot of people say is better than regular French toast, and you seem to agree. I may have to try it!
There's one person calling the recipe German Toast, so you aren't alone, but it isn't a common name for it. German Toast is one of the alternate names... |
How can I use Rosemary bulbs in cooking?
I pulled out a rosemary plant today and found a number of bulbs amongst the root system. Can these be used for cooking, such as with a roast lamb? How?
I also have lots of leaves, so if the bulbs are no good I don't need to use them but I thought it was interesting to try. | I don’t know what you dug up, but rosemary doesn’t have bulbs so do not eat this!
For plant id questions (which is outside the scope of this site), I recommend our sister site Gardening SE. |
How much should I season meat before sous vide cooking?
I’m referring mainly to salt. I’m starting to Sous vide steaks and chops etc. I do a fast hard sear after the sous vide is finished.
When the steak comes out of the bag I pat dry very thoroughly and remove the sprigs of herbs garlic etc. Then I lightly brush ... | Ahh, a long-debated question in low-temp cooking circles. Dave Arnold, an early low-temp (sous vide) cooking instructor, ran a test when he was an instructor at (what was then know as) the French Culinary Institute in NYC. The three variables were (a) salted - cook - chill, (b) unsalted - cook - chill, and (c) salted... |
What is this Thai tea, spiral plant-part?
I bought these, for me, nicely spiral looking dried fruits(?) in a tea-specialized shop in Bangkok in the area of the bridge leading from Phra Khanong towards On Nut (pictured below a cooked product).
I made a gentle tasting tea from these before bed time ; it was very nice fo... | These are fruits of the East Indian screw tree (Helicteres isora). The plants are native to Asia and Australia and its fruits are used in folk medicine. |
Hot liquids in Ninja blenders
Are there health reasons for not using hot liquids in Ninja blenders, such as leeching of chemicals from the plastics? | I suggest you avoid putting hot liquids in any of the Ninja blenders that do not allow air to leave the blending vessel. Models like Nutra Ninja Pro, for example. When you blend a hot liquid in a closed system, it creates a lot of pressure and you can easily make a mess or injure yourself with flying hot liquids.
We ar... |
Can you butter-baste steak without a gas stove?
I'd love to try butter-basting a steak but the method involves tipping the skillet to one side so that you can scoop up the melted butter and pour it onto the steak. I have an electric stove and if I tip my skillet, it stops making contact with the heating element. A gas... | The couple of seconds it takes to scoop up the butter won't have any significant effect on your pan's temperature, especially if you use something that retains heat well, like cast iron. |
85% hydration tangzhong sourdough bread - what went wrong?
I tried Foodgeek's 85% hydration tangzhong sourdough bread recipe (video here, text here). I only made 2 changes to the recipe:
I used 100% bread flour (no whole wheat).
I don't have a banneton, so I put the shaped loaf in a small rectangular storage containe... | It's hard to say exactly what went wrong, I've worked with plenty of high hydration doughs and sourdoughs so I have a few ideas though. I can see from your picture that you did get yeast action in your dough, with lots of holes and good structure, so you did something right, probably most of it.
Shape
Firstly, whole w... |
Yogurt, overcoked
I have a yogurt maker - I heat the milk, add the starter and plug it in. Easy peasy! After 7 - 9 hours, I (usually) unplug the maker and put the yogurt in the refrigerator overnight and it's ready to eat in the morning. Last night I forgot to put it in the fridge and I JUST did it so the yogurt incub... | It will be fine. It may be a bit more sour tasting than usual, but it will not be unsafe. |
Is risotto or paella rice a better substitute for my Japanese dish?
My supermarket has stopped stocking Japanese ingredients, just as I decided to make a Katsu Curry for my dinner party tonight!
I have Paella rice and Risotto rice (Arborio) - both by Sainsbury's and I know that they should both be ok substitutes as th... | As it looks like this won't get an answer (presumably because they are as good as one another/no one has tried side by side) I thought I'd update with what I did.
I used the Paella rice because it had a shorter grain and Japanese rice also has a very short grain.
All the recipes I found online (I browsed about 5/6 of t... |
What can I add to soften too hard peanut butter ice cream?
My staff is having a hard time scooping our Peanut Butter Ice cream. It's too rock hard. We make the Ice cream in-house using a 15% Super Premium base.
I want to know what can I add to soften the ice Cream.
Here is the Recipe:
52 oz of liquid Peanut Butter
1 ... | Heat the scoop?
source
If you are serving lots of ice cream maybe you already have one of these. If not it might come in handy. The flowing water warms up the scoop which then more easily cuts its way thru the hard ice cream. |
Maximum oven temperature for glass cookware
Is there a maximum safe temperature for cooking with a glass casserole dish in an oven?
Got some Dutch ovens on the bottom rack at 240C (450F) and wondering if I dare put a Pyrex dish on the top rack for half an hour... | A glass casserole dish, with a casserole in it, will be safe at any temperature your oven can reach.
As Ring mentioned, the issue is not absolute temperature, but fast changes in temperature, leading to a temperature differential and thermal stresses inside the dish. Your oven cannot heat the dish fast enough to cause ... |
How can I get a very thick or viscous paste (e.g. caramel, ganache, thick mayonnaise) into small-necked squeeze bottles without heating it up?
This is a problem I've had with several types of food/sauce.
I'll make a big batch of something like a thick caramel sauce or an extra-thick mayonnaise and it simply won't pas... | What about a piping bag? Fill the bag with a spatula, pipe into the bottle. |
Extremely hard layer after cooking the burger on the grill
It was the first time I tried making burgers at home. I did some research on the subject. I just put salt and pepper into the ground beef.
Then I heated the iron grill well and applied a small amount of olive oil on the hamburger patties and baked each side fo... | You did everything right except you overcooked your burgers. Those are relatively thin patties, they won't take 7 minutes a side on high heat, that is what caused that hard crust. I'd be cooking them 3 minutes a side at most.
A small thing but I'd suggest you replace olive oil with corn, sunflower or another high temp... |
Reheating Frozen Brocolli Fritters
Bought some frozen brocolli fritters from a restaurant. But as it was closing time and the cooks had left, I couldn't get any proper instructions on how to reheat them.
I have a very basic baking oven with a dial for temperature and timer. Have the following doubts:
Should I thaw th... | In a comment, you say that you were told to bake the fritters rather than frying them. That implies that they're already cooked, and just need to be reheated.
A fan-assisted oven would be ideal for this, but a regular oven will work too. Put the fritters, still frozen, on a baking sheet or metal baking pan in the middl... |
Why does adding lemon juice before baking cause a thick layer of dense cake to form?
I am trying to adapt a recipe for lemon cake. I want to add actual lemon juice to the batter and omit the lemon zest. The recipe I have goes as follows:
250g butter
250g sugar, half and half powdered and granular
4 separated eggs
... | The original recipe is leavened with baking powder, which these days is a mixture of baking soda, an acid, and a special acid which activates at high temperatures.
Lemon juice is strongly acidic, and will react with all the baking soda in the baking powder. This means you won't get as strong a leavening effect during b... |
Making 1% milk into whole milk
I have a yeast Roll recipe that calls for 1 cup of whole milk. I only have 1% milk. What can I do to make the 1% equivalent to whole milk. | You can't directly make whole milk out of lowfat milk and milkfat. But if you like, you can try adding back some fat to the recipe -- melted butter or vegetable oil -- at the concentration of, I suppose, 2.5%. (If the recipe already includes one of these, just increase the amount.) The result will not be quite the same... |
Wok Seasoning Fail(?)
I was recently trying to season my wok. I cleaned it, dried it, applied a thin layer of oil and put it in the oven for 1hr at 400°F.
I dont know what I did wrong. | I think what happened here, and I've seen this with a few woks - is too much oil. You can see the pooling issues at the bottom where likely you've got some flakes that might come off.
The seasoning process is best not rushed, and when you apply the oil - if you can detect more than a subtle sheen - that's too much oil... |
Burned pan health issue
I cooked my eggs with my pan and forgot to turn the stove off after removing the eggs. Later on, my pan got a huge burn mark and so I threw the pan away. Should I replace the electric stove as well? I'm worried that the chemical might leak from the pan to my stove. | It is unlikely that the burned residue from eggs warrants either tossing the pan or the stove.
In fact, depending on what the pan is made of, you could likely clean it and continue to use it and the likely worse thing that would happen would be the next thing you cook in the pan might have a burned flavor.
If stoves ha... |
Are the stems of rehydrated dried Shiitake usable?
The stems of the rehydrated Shiitake mushrooms are tough, even after rehydration.
In the recipes that I checked it was advised to cut and throw the stems and keep the head of the mushroom.
I want to understand why the stems of Shiitake are not eaten. Are the stems e... | If they are so tough that they are unable to be cut, or unpleasant to eat, I use them in stocks and soups (they would have to be removed before serving). |
How to use rehydrated Kombu after making Dashi?
To prepare a Miso Soup the first step is the preparation of the Dashi.
The Dashi will most certainly contain Kombu. Can the rehydrated Kombu be used in the Miso? What kind of preparation does the rehydrated Kombu need, before consuming?
Is the Kombu actually used in Miso... | You can chop it and eat it or add to your soup, stir fry, dry and crush into a powder to use as a condiment, etc. |
Tofu substitute in no bake chocolate cake
I recently tried a no bake chocolate cake which used tofu to give it its consistency. It would have been great if it didn't have that slight tofu taste.
What could I uses as a substitute for the tofu to avoid the tofu taste but keep the consistency similar?
The recipe I used:
... | This almost sounds like someone converted a classic mousse recipe to use tofu instead of dairy. My suggestion is to simply use any dairy with a consistency similar to your soft tofu, in the same ratio as the tofu. You can use cream cheese, if you are accustomed to the combination with chocolate. If you aren't, you migh... |
Dragon Beard caramel too soft
I had a few attempts at making Dragon Beard candy, and I can't seem to get a handle on the consistency of the caramel.
Here's the recipe I use:
200g sugar
13g dextrose
1g lemon juice
130g water
- mix ingredients
- heat up to 135°C
- immediately remove from heat
- pour into silicone conta... | The time to reach the given temperature is not particularly important. When making sugar candy like this, the target temperature determines the amount of water remaining in the mixture; as long as it gets to the target temperature, it doesn't matter what it did along the way. (With one exception: If you cooked it to to... |
Risks of allergen cross-contamination (and how to avoid)
Is there any evidence regarding the risks of allergen cross-contamination in a typical residential kitchen environment?
Specifically, I'm wondering about situations like:
1) If a seasoned cast-iron skillet comes into contact with an allergen (e.g. gluten, soy), ... | If you do need indeed an allergen free kitchen, you have to ban the allergen in question from the kitchen. Cross contamination will happen in all situations you describe. Even for non-porous surfaces, your allergens will live on in your dishsponge and get redeposited. The other option beside outright banning is to keep... |
Soggy Italian calzones
Why are my calzones always wet after I cut them? If I let them cool, the bottom is wet. Other then runny or soggy they're so good. | Possible causes of soggy calzones and their fixes.
The oven is too hot. It seems counter-intuitive, but this browns the crust to golden perfection before the internal temp of the stuffing reaches an ideal point. It won't get hot enough for long enough to steam out the sauce and ingredients. Cook at a lower temp for lon... |
Baking 2 dishes needing slightly different temperatures and time
In one oven I need to bake 2 dishes: one needs 35 minutes at 375ºF, and the other needs 45 minutes at 350ºF. How much time should the second dish cook at 375ºF? | On a practical basis? 40 to 45 min. That is, bake it for 40 min and then check it to see if it's done (or otherwise check it 5 minutes earlier than you otherwise would).
The difference between 350F and 375F in actual cooking is generally dwarfed by the temperature inaccuracy of home ovens. |
Is MSG soluble in oil?
I know that salt is not soluble in oil. I've tried seasoning oil with it and the salt never dissolved. I was wondering if MSG behaves the same way as salt in oil? | No. Monosodium glutamate is a salt, and like most salts is essentially insoluble in oil. |
What does adding water during the cooking process do to a curry?
I am learning how to make chicken tikka masala. Here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_weLAzB1nFk.
In this video he adds water many times to the curry. Many of the other videos I watched I did not see them do this.
What is the effect of the... | Firstly, a good rich curry can become too rich (too concentrated and even too salty) as you continue to cook it and water evaporates - that is, cooking reduces the curry. Adding a little water can restore the balance. Yes, it “dilutes the flavour” but that may be desirable.
Secondly, keeping the water content of you... |
Is there a difference between mirin (미림) and mijak (미작)?
I was shopping online for a few cooking ingredients and among other items, I bought what was advertised as Korean mirin. However, once I've got the bottle in my hands I noticed it's labelled as "Marinade with Ginger (Cooking Sauce)" in English rather than a cook... | No. Mirin is a sweet saki for cooking, with a very neutral flavour. Mijak is a ginger flavored wine. If you are cooking a dish that calls for mirin and ginger, you can skate by using mijak. Otherwise, no. |
What were the main ingredients of the Thai cuisine before global trade?
The traditional Thai cuisine was very different than the current one in a holistic perspective.
At some point in history the Thai nation started trading globally, directly or indirectly with Indians, Iranians, Arabs and also Portuguese who brought... | Thailand, if you define it as the country where Thai is the dominant language, is a relatively new nation. Sukhothai was established in 1238 and from the beginning there was international trade. As soon as ingredients from the new world started to spread to the old world they would have arrived in "Siam/Thailand" and a... |
What is the uncured pork belly called?
wiki says
Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork ... typically from the pork belly.
What is the uncured pork belly called? | In all seriousness, it's called pork belly. |
Stirring honey in room temp. water vs. boiling honey water?
I read Is lemonade better when made with simple syrup?, but does the answer differ if I use honey rathe rthan sugar?
In their videos on making lemonade, Rachel Farnsworth and Laura Vitale counsel boiling sugar and water to make simple syrup on the stove. But... | Honey has volatile flavor compounds like floral overtones or orange flavor which you likely want to keep. High heat will cause you to lose some of these, so I'd advise against boiling. Honey is already a sugar syrup so boiling is totally unnecessary anyway, some heat can help with getting the honey mixed in, but a blen... |
What is this hot dog grilling machine called in everyday spoken English?
People love hot dogs.
What is this hot dog grilling machine called in everyday spoken English? | After looking at a few examples on Amazon, I'd go with "hot dog roller grill". There isn't any correct or non-correct way to say it, but any American would know what you mean. |
Reducing acidity without creating "soapy" taste
It is well known that sugar is used to reduce the acidity in tomato sauce.
Yet there is no chemical reaction going, just a shift in taste. The PH remains the same. (Does adding sugar to tomato type sauces affect acidity?)
To be clear: I'm not looking for ideas on how to ... | I use Calcium hydroxide, (pickling lime, Cal, slaked lime), to raise the pH of my tomato sauces. It does not take much, and you don't get that nasty flavor that comes with using sodium bicarbonate. You can find the stuff in the canning aisle in a U.S. grocery store. Mexican and Asian stores also usually carry it. The ... |
How does the food industry know the expiration date?
I always have this question in mind whenever I see the EXP date on different products. I wonder how they can know a chocolate bar will spoil after 1 year or 6 months, and why they have such longer shelf life time compared to homemade chocolate bars, for example. | Just to clarify:
"Expiration dates" (or sometimes "Best if used by" dates) are the dates when a product may no longer be of high quality. It is not a safety indicator. It is a quality indicator, and it is just a guideline.
Companies determine expiration dates during storage studies or stability tests. More detail ... |
What's the difference between natural honey and supermarket honey?
Would either one affect glycemic index for consumption purpose?
Are they the same in terms of food safety for normal people and diabetics. | Both are natural honey - the difference is that commercial honey is often pasteurized to prevent growth of yeasts and the like. These growths are generally not nasty for you - it's how mead (alcoholic drink) is made, but honey can contain botulinum spores, which are bad for infants.
Honey comes in two forms - creamed ... |
Incorporating fruits in creme brulee
Does anyone have any idea on what precautions to take while combining fruit puree with custard for creme brulees? I added strawberry puree ( which I added some lemon juice to) to my custard and it split the custard while baking. I'm guessing the lemon was the culprit but can strawb... | This is a tough question. Fresh fruit puree is very unsuitable for incorporating in custards if you want a strong flavor. It contains tons of water, and dilutes your creme brulee a lot, and also brings the pH balance out of whack, interfering with the setting. You can only incorporate small amounts for color and a hint... |
Overnight oatmeal still underwater?
So this is a little embarrassing, but following the standard overnight oatmeal instructions on a can of McCann steel cut oats isn't yielding the expected result. I'm simply bringing four cups of water to a boil, dropping in one cup of oats, and letting it simmer for a minute or two.... | The instructions on www.mymccanns.com that I can find read:
Quick Soak Method
One of the quickest and easiest ways to prepare McCann’s® Steel Cut Irish Oats is to soak the oats overnight. Before going to bed, boil 4 cups of water in a pot. Then add one cup of oats and simmer for 1 minute. Cover the pot, cool, and stor... |
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