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How can I prevent discoloration in lactic fermented vegetables/sauces?
I make lactobacillus fermented hot sauces and have noticed that they get a slight brownish discoloration over time. I'm curious if there is something I can do to keep the original color of the food. | If it's darkening that begins at the top, then I reckon it's oxidation.
Get air bubbles out first (vibration, tapping) then pick a technique to remove air or replace with nitrogen.
Freezing would also slow oxidation but not ideal for many textures. |
What is the best practice to making good fried rice without sticking to the pan?
I just made fried rice earlier in a stainless steel frying pan to test the extent as to how much it will stick. I coated the pan with oil and initially placed garlic, then once the garlic was brown and aromatic, I added the rice. The rice sticked to the entire base of the pan and I already knew it was disaster then. Then adding an egg will compound this sticky mess and start to burn as they stick to the base of the pan and will taste like overcooked egg if left for long so I had to transfer the rice to a non-stick pan and just finish off.
I believe it is essential for the stainless steel pan to maintain some level of oil at all times else there will be nothing between the food and the pan which makes it stick. So what I think happened is that there was either not enough oil and/or the heat of the pan wasn't hot enough as well. It may be also possible that the rice absorbed the oil from the pan making the rest of the rice stick. But will that mean that each grain of rice should be coated will oil like in chinese/asian style fried rice? Typically each grain is shiny and the entire dish is very greasy. Another thing to consider is that the rice we used even if it was leftover from the refrigerator, it does feel a bit more starchy and less firm than those used in restaurant fried rice that I have eaten where there is a bite to it. The rice I used has great texture for eating as plain steamed rice, but probably not the best for fried rice. I do think it has a factor in why the rice sticked to the pan, but I am not sure.
Another factor is choosing the right pan. We almost always use non-stick pan (teflon I believe) since we often use minimal amounts of oil and don't prefer using lots of oil as it is not as healthy. Also, it was obviously easy and didn't end in disaster. When I think about it, I don't know of any other way I can make fried rice without a non-stick kind of pan. Traditionally chinese/asian restaurants will use a wok (I believe a carbon steel wok) that requires a seasoning to build over time to make in non-stick. But I would say, most households won't have this kind of pan to begin as well as the firepower to use them with so that means the pans of choice are often either non-stick (teflon/ceramic) pans, cast iron, or stainless steel. Cast iron is similar to carbon steel where a coating is needed to create that non-stick coating while teflon pans cannot use high temperature (which is often a must for good fried rice). I heard ceramic non-stick pans are not as non-stick compared to teflon but can withstand higher heat but I have never tried these. I doubt plenty of american households can maintain cast irons properly and the fact that it is was not built for stir frying due to its weight and shape, it is not ideal. Most likely the pans of choice of american households would then be either non-stick teflon wok/non-stick frying pans or stainless steel most of the time. So there is a huge dilemma and a trade off for every pan you use and there is a certain level of technique needed to be used to properly make proper fried rice.
What I want to know is what I did wrong why my fried rice became a total mess in my stainless steel pan. As well as the best way to create high quality fried rice at home that taste as good or close to the amazing chinese/asian restaurant fried rice. | Three parts:
Use a carbon steel wok, cast iron pan, or non-stick pan (in that order of preference)
Use cooked rice that is dry with separated grains
Don't use a lot of sauce
You will not be able to make good fried rice without sticking in a stainless steel pan.
Fun watch, which talks a lot about the requirements for fried rice: Alex French Guy's series on making perfect fried rice. This video talks about what to use if you don't have a good wok, and the series in general covers a lot of what you need to know about fried rice. |
Pizza stone made out of multiple pieces
Would a pizza stone assembled from multiple pieces be smart/useful?
I have access to an old marble quarry, and I would like to go cut a stone there.
It seems too complicated to cut a huge piece (even more considering I need to sand it and all) so I wondered if I could instead cut "bricks" that would be easier to handle (and even to store). For example, 20 centimeter pieces I could assemble depending on the size of the pizza and when I'm done put it away.
Has someone ever attempted this? Or is there some fundamental rule that would ruin my plans? I expect to have something less performant, but not too much | Do not do this. Marble is, compared with ceramic brick or lava stones, extremely vulnerable to thermal shock. Your "bricks" will almost certainly crack within a few uses, and might even shatter dramatically. |
How to remove salt from sun-dried tomatoes
I have a large packet of sun-dried tomatoes, the type that are preserved dry with salt rather than the type sold in jars covered with olive or sunflower oil. It's a large packet so I don't want to throw them out but they are much saltier than the ones I usually buy, the packet says 11% salt. Even after pouring boiling water over them and leaving them to soak for 30 minutes (as the packet recommends) leaves them too salty for my palette. Any ideas would be appreciated. | Cook them in dishes.
I use sun dried tomatoes in my go-to pasta sauce. While mine are usually in oil, I have used others in the past.
I suggest thinking of them in the same way as anchovies. On their own, they can be near inedible, but when cooked in a dish, they almost dissolve into pure flavor. The same can be done with your tomatoes: After a while, cooking lets the salt migrate into the remaining dish, provided there’s enough liquid. Just adjust the salt as needed.
If you want sun dried tomatoes on their own, get another, less salty kind that suits the use case.
Sometimes all soaking isn’t worth the fuss in my opinion, especially as soaking (which would be able to dissolve the salt) kind of negates why they were dried in the first place and you would probably lose flavor. Plus, if you tried doing the whole pack in one go, you could end up with no longer shelf stable ex-dried tomatoes. |
Why does sweetness reduce sourness?
I hope I'm not using the wrong word here, since I know the "acidic" quality to a food does not change by adding sugar (same amount of free hydrogen ions).
But it's known that adding sweetness reduces sourness (the perception of acidity). For example a lemon and Coke both have a pH of around 2.5, but the Coke tastes far less sour because of the added sweetness.
My question is... why is this the case? Why does adding sugar reduce this perception? In all these websites it explains how this-paired-with-that creates such and such effect, and while I am sure it suffices to just "memorize that," I want to understand it better.
Is it known what's going on, on a molecular level, or a physical level, as to why introducing sweetness reduces the perception of acidity specifically? | Technically, sweetness doesn't reduce perception of acidity specifically - it reduces perception of everything else. And the estimated intensity of taste depends on the sum of intensities in the mixture - that's why we add a bit of salt to sweet baked goods.
The exact mechanism and how to predict the end results are currently largely unknown, although there are links drawn towards neural inhibition and adaptation (i.e. "acquired taste") |
How to preserve fruits for 10+ months?
Scenario. I drink fruit smoothies (e.g. apple, milk, nuts, with protein powder) on daily basis.
Goal. Minimise my costs.
Thought. I guess if I buy my fruits (e.g. apples) in large quantities in the peak apple season, and store my apples somehow for 10 to 12 months, then I will minimise my costs.
Question. What's the cheapest way to preserve fruits, such as apple, for 10 to 12 months, in such a way that they are useful for making smoothies or milkshakes? | It depends on what equipment you have and what flavour compromises you're willing to make, each preservation method will have its own downsides.
Freezing will give you good results, but you better make sure you vacuum pack the fruits to protect from freezer burn (might be counter productive if you have to re-seal it every day, or expensive if you use multiple bags). You can also use resealable bags, of course, but there will be some ice formation in the long run.
you could dry the fruits if you have a food dehydrator, but you'll need to re-hydrate the fruits before making a smoothie. Or use them dried but it might not have a nice texture.
canning could be a good option, provided you already have the equipment + canning jars. It will also change the flavour of the fruits.
I also drink smoothies on a regular basis, and I use two different methods:
For bananas I usually buy them unripe (it gets less bruised as I bring it home) then once it's just ripe I chop it and freeze it in a resealable plastic bag. It's easy enough to get just the amount of fruit I need and I'm not too bothered with freezer burn, since I consume it fast enough.
For berries I thought about also buying it for cheap when in peak season and freezing it myself, but I just buy the frozen version from the supermarket. Why?
it's cheaper when buying big bags
they're picked already ripe, so they are as tasty as they can
they're usually flash-frozen, so less freezer burn. I can't flash freeze at home with a conventional freezer
I can buy them any time of the year
For your apples you might consider chopping before freezing, and some people recommend pureeing (also bananas). I personally believe it's better to break down the fruit the least possible, so less of the fruit gets exposed to oxygen and subjected to oxidation (which will cause browning and change of flavours). |
How to properly brown cut-up chicken breast pieces?
Yesterday I was trying to cook "Chicken Tonight". The jar instructs to cut 400 grams of chicken breast in "small" pieces (we use two jars, so I end up with 800 grams), then to brown those pieces in a pan.
No matter what I try, I can't get the chicken to brown: I've got the pan as hot as it can reasonably go. I'm using an induction stove, I put that on 'boost' and leave the pan for minutes, just heating up. As soon as I add fat (sometimes butter, sometimes olive oil) to the hot pan, it starts showing small bubbles/sizzling almost immediately, and I need to drop in the chicken or it will start to smell burnt.
But no matter what I do, the chicken won't brown. Instead, it starts losing a lot of what I think is water rather quickly, and then it will be more like it ends up cooking in that water. Here's a picture of what I ended up with yesterday, there's a solid half cm of water on the bottom of the entire pan. This usually happens in a matter of seconds, and at that point I take the pan of the heat source. At this point, the chicken pieces are completely done, but except for maybe a slight brown edge on a few pieces, they're also all completely white. I just get rid of the fluid, add the sauce from the jars, and leave that to simmer at this point, because further attempts at getting the chicken to brown will end up with more fluid and drier meat, but no brown.
What do I need to change to properly brown small pieces of chicken breast? | You have overcrowded your pan. All you have to do is to brown it in batches.
Each batch should be so small that you have only one layer of chicken cubes on the pan bottom. The pieces will still lose their water, but it will evaporate quickly, leaving them dry, and they will brown on the bottom. Wait long enough that the first side is browned (don't stir even if you are itching to do something), then stir once until most pieces have fallen on a new side. Repeat until they are generally uniformly browned.
When the batch is ready, empty the chicken pieces into a bowl. You don't have to wash the pan, but you will likely have to add fat again before the next batch goes in.
The pan should be fairly hot, but induction with boost on will be too much. You have to make sure that the meat has enough time for the browning to happen, before it gets too overcooked. "happens in a matter of seconds" means the pan is way too hot. |
Should I use or avoid flaxseed oil when seasoning cast iron pan?
There is quite some contrary information out there on using flaxseed oil to season cast iron equipment. Some examples from the Seasoned Advice website:
This answer (67 upvotes; posted 10 years ago) says:
You want flaxseed oil (which incidentally has a low smoke point) but a
high iodine value, allowing it to polymerize readily.
Whereas this answer (27 upvotes; posted 2 years ago) says:
Don't use flaxseed oil, it's one of the worst.
Using flaxseed oil is further substantiated in the posts above and references linked, but I am not sure how to evaluate these contradicting claims. Anyone has any idea? | The way to evaluate the contradictory claims is to find a source who did careful, controlled-variable testing of flaxseed oil vs. other oils for seasoning cast iron. Neither of the sources cited in those questions is such a source; one is a chemist who arrived at flaxseed based on chemical knowledge but didn't compare with anything else, and one is a publication that rejected flaxseed oil based on reported problems, but didn't share their methods or apparently do direct comparison testing.
My personal experience with rescuing a couple cast iron skillets was that flaxseed works quite well, producing a hard, nonstick surface. I also use the heat-and-wipe method rather than the invert-in-the-oven method. But ... I didn't try to compare it with anything else.
So, did anyone?
The Kitchn & Cook's Illustrated tested and liked Flaxseed oil, but didn't test it head-to-head with any other oils. In fact, the Kitchn says:
There is one school of thought out there that says it’s not the flaxseed oil but the method that makes this work. In other words, season a cast iron pan six times for 18 hours with any oil and you’ll get a hard, slick surface.
Also, note the number of preconditions and steps in their method; certainly failures with flaxseed could certainly be a result of violating one or more of those "rules".
While one can find any number of comparisons of oil for seasoning, you'll find that none of them do any scientific testing. Grapeseed oil is also popular, as is refined coconut oil. The usual sources of science-based data for cookware are mute on this topic because cast iron is rarely used in professional kitchens and never in industrial-scale food prep.
So if you want The Answer on which is the best ... you're going to have to arrange testing yourself. |
What type of skillet is most suitable for vegetable frying/sautéeing?
I am a vegetarian and am wanting to buy a skillet. It's been a while since I last bought one and I am overwhelmed by the materials that exist. I am not sure which material would be most recommended for the following use case:
The skillet will be mostly used for frying or sautéeing vegetables. No need to ever heat meat/fish.
It will be exclusively used on a gas stove, and hand washed (does not need to be dishwasher-proof).
Gas consumption is of my concern. Heating a huge chunk of metal only to shortly fry some vegetables seems like a huge waste. So whereas some websites recommend cast iron because it retains heat so well, I see this as a disadvantage, assuming it takes longer and more energy to actually get it hot.
I would like the material to not stick too much, without using potentially hazardous non-stick materials such as Teflon/PFOA.
I expect daily use. In an ideal world I could season/repair the pan if the non-stick properties somehow wear down (rather than having to throw it out after heavy use).
There are many materials listed on websites such as this one or this one but I am not sure how the listed pros and cons compare when primarily using the pan for vegetables. | You already know what there is to know. I'm afraid we can add no new information, you just have to make your choice.
Vegetables only: this doesn't matter. Pans perform pretty much the same way for vegetables and meat. In a few very rare cases, you may notice that something which matters for different types of food is more pronounced with one of them, for example if a pan is prone to sticking, you will have more trouble with eggs than with other kinds of food. But in general, if you hear of something about a pan, it is valid no matter what you fry in it.
handwashing: this doesn't reduce your choices either. Any pan can be washed by hand.
Energy consumption: there is a strong correlation between the energy consumed and the quality of the food cooked. A thick cast iron pan, well preheated, will use the most energy but give you the tastiest food, and a thin aluminium pan will use the least energy and give you the least tasty food. Everything else falls in between. You seem to have made up your mind where your preferences are.
Sticking: Here, you cannot win. You have excluded PTFE. The other real nonstick option are the new ceramics. The problem with them is that they lose their nonstickness after some months of use, even if you use them properly (while PTFE only uses them on overheating), and this contradicts your intention to keep the pan for a long time. The third option is a seasonable material, which means cast iron, forged iron, or blue steel. It is both less effective in nonstickness, and contradicts your requirement for low energy consumption. Everything beside these three provides you no help with sticking.
If you want to repair a nonstick coating, you need either a pan which you will season yourself (see above), or a PTFE pan without wooden or plastic parts (handles, etc. - or at least they have to be removable) which you can send in for recoating.
We cannot comment on the claims in the websites you link, since they go in the direction of them being "unhealthy", which is off topic on our site. |
Why would plant-based cookie dough packaging say "Do not consume raw dough"?
I just bought some Kroger Simple Truth Plant-Based Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.
I always prefer to eat raw dough rather than bake the cookies.
But this packaging says:
DO NOT CONSUME RAW DOUGH
Why not?
As a kid, I'd always heard a recommendation not to eat raw cookie dough that had eggs in it (and even then, I'm not sure what the reasoning is or what the risks are, but I suppose probably something related to salmonella).
But when the ingredients are plant-based (no eggs, no dairy, no animal products of any kind), what are the possible unwanted effects from eating raw dough? | I was surprised at how difficult it was to find the answer, but I eventually found articles by the FDA and CDC.
Consumers should be aware that there are additional risks associated
with the consumption of raw dough, such as particularly harmful
strains of E. coli in a product like flour.
Flour is derived from a grain that comes directly from the field and
typically is not treated to kill bacteria[...] So if an animal heeds
the call of nature in the field, bacteria from the animal waste could
contaminate the grain, which is then harvested and milled into flour.
Common “kill steps” applied during food preparation and/or processing
(so-called because they kill bacteria that cause infections) include
boiling, baking, roasting, microwaving, and frying. But with raw
dough, no kill step has been used. [...] Common symptoms for Shiga toxin-producing E. coli are diarrhea (often bloody) and abdominal cramps, although most people recover within a week. But some illnesses last longer and can be more severe, resulting in a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).
That's pretty gross.
But then this number of people reportedly infected is so small that I'm surprised at the prevalence of the warnings (such as on packaging):
In recent years (2016 and 2019), two outbreaks of E. coli infections
linked to raw flour made more than 80 people sick. Flour and baking
mixes that contain flour have long shelf lives, so it’s a good idea to
check your pantry to see if you have any flour or baking mixes that
have been recalled in recent years. |
Can homemade vinegar be safely sealed in a bottle?
When I've read kombucha recipes a last recommended step was to bottle the liquid, allow some gas buildup to carbonate it, and then refrigerate it to stop the bacteria from continuing to produce gas. My understanding is that if you just left the kombucha at room temperature in a sealed bottle the bottle would eventually break or explode.
I'm now making vinegar instead of kombucha, and based on the few recipes I can find it seems to me that it is safe to seal the vinegar in a bottle but that's only because the recipes haven't told me specifically not to.
Is homemade vinegar safe to store in a sealed bottle at room temperature? With both kombucha and vinegar I start with a sweet mixture which I leave out for some time, and I understand that both should have some amount of both lactic and acetic acid producing bacteria to different degrees. I believe the answer should be yes because the vinegar contains primarily acetic acid bacteria but I would appreciate a confirmation and a bit of an explanation on the process. It seems to me that in bottling it I'm just gambling that I have one type of bacteria and not the other. I'd think the store bought unpasteurized stuff could be tested before being bottled to check this. | If you are sure, that there is no sugar left in your vinegar, then the answer is yes. https://www.urbanfermentation.com/how-to-store-homemade-vinegar/
Acetic acid bacteria use O2 to convert alcohol. If the bottle is closed and they used up the O2, the fermentation stops. Even if there is some air in the bottle when you seal it, the pressure build-up caused by AAB should be negligible. It is recommended to put the vinegar into smaller bottles when there is too much airspace, but only because the AAB starts to break down the acetic acid into water when there is no alcohol left(again using the O2).
The yeast however can work anaerobically (for reproduction it needs O2, but to produce alcohol, no oxygen is required). So if there is some sugar left, the yeast can build up some pressure by producing CO2. Also the lactic acid bacteria. This means, you have to make sure that there is no sugar left in your vinegar:
either by fermenting for a long time
or by checking the sugar content
I start the AAB fermentation only when the alcoholic fermentation has quasi stopped. At this point the simple sugars are consumed, only some complex sugar are left - these take a long time to be converted to alcohol, but there is not enough of them to cause real trouble. |
Can you put a clay pot into a preheated oven?
I was making salt baked chicken last night, and I didn't have a casserole dish big enough for the bird. So, instead I used a half glazed Chinese clay pot, and put that straight into a pre-heated oven of 250C. Mine is similar to this one.
To avoid any thermal shock I placed the pot onto a wire rack instead of the baking tray. But I read in lots of places you shouldn't put clay pot into a pre-heated oven as you will crack it. Is this people's experience? I put this clay pot over the gas hob with no problems, and I find it hard to imagine that the air to clay heat transfer rate is so fast that it will crack the pot, but a gas flame doesn't. | As a preface, understand that thermal shock (the phenomenon that causes ware to crack or even explode) isn't an all-or-nothing thing; often ceramic (and glass) cookware succumbs to thermal shock after being stressed several, or even many, times.
In your case, though, I wouldn't consider what you did a risky activity. Putting an earthenware pot onto the rack of a heated oven with a quantity cold food inside is generally considered safe. The mass of the food keeps the pot from heating too quickly. What would be risky would be either putting an empty pot in a hot oven, or putting the pot on top of a baking stone or other preheated solid surface. And even then, I wouldn't necessarily expect it to crack the first time you do it -- as you point out, the pot is designed to work on top of a direct flame (although also with food inside).
I hope the chicken turned out tasty!
(note: I am a potter who sells pottery for use in ovens) |
Whiskey sour: should the bourbon kill any germs in the egg whites?
Inspired by the TV show Mad Men, my wife and I made whiskey sours, which were really delicious. We followed the standard recipe, which includes a couple of ounces of bourbon and roughly half an egg white. We're not dead yet, but anyway, is it scientifically reasonable to believe that the bourbon would kill any germs present in the egg white? (I assume the lemon juice also makes it a very acidic environment.) | The alcohol is not enough to kill germs in your beverage. Typically alcohol content necessary for killing germs is between 60% and 95%.
Straight bourbon will not approach that.
You're "not dead yet" because the food supply is generally very safe, though consuming truly raw eggs is counter to FDA and USDA recommendations.
A recommendation compliant alternative to raw eggs is to use pasteurized eggs, which in my experience work just fine in cocktails. |
Does 'Non-cold/warm ice-cream' exist?
Is there a food that resembles the texture and consistency of ice cream but is not cold/does not have to be kept cold? | Much of the distinctive experience of ice cream comes from its temperature, so be prepared for disappointment. However, a set custard like in a crème brûlée or panna cotta is creamy and holds its shape, and can be flavoured as ice cream can be. Alternatively, a mousse has air bubbles incorporated into the mixture so is much lighter, although less creamy.
Because it cannot rely on ice crystals for solidity, it will necessarily be richer than ice cream so you'd want a smaller quantity (I'm imagining an ice cream cone filled with custard and it is way more than I would want to consume). |
What are the most yeasty fruits sold in supermarkets suitable for providing yeast for making bread?
Various fresh fruits, such as grapes, apricots, and dates, can be used to provide the yeast that is needed in breadmaking. But often in commercial production fruits are sprayed with pesticides, and then later they are washed, and therefore when they are sold in supermarkets they do not have much yeast left.
What fruits sold in supermarkets, whether fresh or dried, are most suitable for providing yeast for making bread? | Yeast on the surface of fruit and even flowers is a quite normal occurrence. For a start, I would recommend fruit that are commonly fermented for alcoholic drinks, so my first choice would be apples or grapes - also because they are quite easily obtained. Note that the yeast is on the skins, so using just peels or small fruit like berries or grapes is better.
However, any kind of “treatment” may interfere with the naturally yeasts on the skins, so I would recommend buying organic fruit and perhaps even skip washing them (ok, that’s probably debatable and personal choice). If you can get your hands on fruit straight from a garden or similar, that would be better than any fruit that’s been through a commercial packaging process and sat on shelves for a while. They may also have picked up mold spores that are harmless when you use the fruit as usual, but can increase the risk of failure for yeast harvesting. You also want fruit to be harvested as mature as possible, to get high sugar levels and subsequently high yeast levels - just to get things started faster.
During the recent Covid crisis and lockdown, some stores ran out of commercial yeast and while sourdough can be a substitute, yeast water had its renaissance, because it’s a faster method and can be made with fruit from storage. The probably most used candidates are raisins, but figs, dates and everything that gets dried with the skin can work. Note that raisins have a particularly high surface to volume ratio, so the yield is quite good. Apart from making sure you get the skins (which is theoretically enough, you don’t need the flesh for yeast), you also want untreated pure fruit, so neither sulfur-treatment (for „brighter“ fruit and preservation) nor those poached in sugar, like it’s often done for cranberries and other sour fruit.
Not part of your question, but maybe worth an experiment: some flowers have a high yeast content, so soaking a few elderflowers in sugar water gives you the same results as the raisins, but it’s a seasonal thing - and I have read (but not tested) about linden and sunflowers as good nectar yeast sources. |
High sodium Udon noodles
I am on a low sodium diet. Does soaking noodles with too much sodium and dumping the soak water before cooking reduce the sodium level? | While some of the sodium content will leach out of the noddle during soaking, unfortunately most of the sodium will remain. The sodium (salt) is added to the dough before the noodles are formed, making it difficult to remove most of it during cooking.
Instead, there are many brands of Udon Noodles - some will have less sodium content, or even no sodium.
If you're feeling particularly adventurous, you might even try making some of your own! |
Popped lid in pressure canning
One of the lids on a quart jar of green beans "popped" after sitting on the kitchen counter for two days. It was one of a batch of a dozen jars canned in that session. The others are fine after a week. The jars were processed in a pressure canner at 14# for 25 minutes. The jar was placed in the fridge. Should the contents be discarded? Also, ideas on what could have caused this? I'm thinking a defective lid? | Yes, the contents should be discarded. Putting it in the refrigerator after the seal fails is too late.
Time and temperature kill pathogens, so it's not so much the pressure as the through-and-through temperature of the food that matters... Something insulating in the beans could harbor bacteria. I've seen a fly grow an interesting little blob of an ecosystem.
A defective lid or something on the rim causing physical air infiltration are more likely to fail by the time it reaches ambient temperature. A delayed failure isn't impossible, but there should be evidence of a defect on the seal. |
Baking Bread in Dutch Oven with Hairline Crack
I recently bought a ceramic slow cooker insert at a thrift store. It has a glass top and is the perfect shape for using as a Dutch oven in baking bread, which I do regularly. When I got home, my husband found a hairline crack going down the side. I’d like to know if this is still usable. Here’s the method I currently use with my cast iron/enamel coated Dutch oven:
I preheat the oven to 500F with empty Dutch oven, with the lid on. When it’s reaches temperature, I take my shaped dough from the fridge where it’s been all night in a bowl on parchment paper. I slash it, then lift it by the parchment paper and place it in the Dutch oven. Sometimes I slip some ice cubes under the parchment before putting the lid on, although I could skip this step if it’s not recommended.
Question: would this procedure be ok for the Dutch oven described above, with the hairline crack? | I would not use it for this purpose.
Your main issue with using ceramic bread cloches (the standard ceramic "Dutch oven") with the kind of recipe you have is thermal shock: you're heating the vessel to 500F, then depositing a mass of very wet cold dough inside it. This can often result in a cloche cracking. This is why cloche manufacturers direct the owner to heat the cloche with the dough in it.
In your case, you're taking a vessel that was never meant for temperatures above 220F, which already has a crack in it, and preforming that routine. I'd fully expect it to crack in half as soon as you introduce the dough. |
How does adding vanilla extract help make a milkshake if the ice cream is already vanilla?
I recently purchased a professional-style milkshake mixer, and some recipes I've researched say that adding ice cream is a must for making shakes, along with adding a few drops of milk. But some of them also say to add vanilla extract as well, usually a drop or two.
What's the purpose of adding more vanilla to the shake if the ice cream is already vanilla? Wouldn't it just make sense to skip that and add any other flavour, or keep the ice cream and milk flavour intact? | Fundamentally the answer is just 'it is added for flavour; you can skip it if you want'. A few suggestions as to why it might be a good decision to add it:
Vanilla flavour can be stronger or weaker, and it might be that the recipe writer prefers their milkshake to have a stronger vanilla flavour than the ice cream they buy.
Depending on how much milk is being added, this will dilute the ice cream flavour a little, so more vanilla could be added to compensate.
The flavour profile of the ice cream changes as it melts, because some flavours are subdued in a very cold product (in particular, the sweetness is reduced a little, which is why melted ice-cream or ice lollies are often surprisingly sweet; more sugar is needed so that the frozen product still tastes sweet). It might be that when the ice cream is no longer solid the balance is 'off', so more vanilla is needed. |
How long can I keep chopped potato without soaking in a fridge?
I've read that you can chop potatoes up to 24 hours before cooking with them, and store them in water in the fridge. I'd like to know how long can chopped potatoes be left without soaking in the fridge? I'm not expecting them to last to the next day, but if I need to pop out for a short time before cooking can I chop the potatoes before I go out and avoid the need to find room in the fridge for a large bowl of water? For example, would they last okay for 5 minutes? 10 minutes? Half an hour?
Clarification: This question is about any deterioration in quality. From the responses here it sounds like discolouration will occur long before any safety problems, so that's what I would like to know about the timing of. How long can a chopped potato be left exposed to the air before it discolours? | This is not about the potato "going bad" or becoming unsafe. Chopped or sliced potato is placed in water to keep it from oxidizing, or browning. This might be unpleasant to look at, but is not a safety issue. Depending on the variety of potato, it can happen in a matter of minutes, or take longer. If you don't mind the browning, then it is not too much of an issue. If you like to maintain the natural color, use the water, which keeps the potato from oxidizing. |
Aluminum foil changed color after wrapping cooked corn
I cooked some corn in boiling water today, and immediately wrapped it in aluminum foil after taking out of water. 5 mins later, I found out the colour of the foil changed, I'm not sure whether the corn is edible... please help | There are two likely causes for this kind of discoloration in foil. Neither makes the corn unsafe to eat.
The more likely cause is that you cooked the corn in heavily salted and/or chlorinated water and it was still damp when you wrapped it up. Salt, chlorides, and moisture react with aluminum and cause it to discolor and eventually corrode.
The second possible cause is the same reaction you get from tomato sauce and foil. Very acid, moist foods like tomato sauce will strip metal ions from foil. Cooked corn is weakly acidic, and could produce similar but lesser corrosion. This is not the likely cause, though, because it would require the wrapped corn to be in contact with a second metal.
In neither case is there any issue with eating the corn, except some possibility it might taste bad. A handful of aluminum ions is harmless to you, as the corn itself natively contains more aluminum molecules than that. |
Carbon steel wok --- is this seasoning "good enough"?
I recently bought a carbon steel wok, and I've been trying to season it. I removed the protective coating (or at least, I hope I did) by getting it super hot on the hob, then scrubbing it with soap and steel wool. I dried it, then applied vegetable oil with some kitchen roll, buffed it in, and heated it all over until the smoking stopped --- I repeated this twice.
Now, I'm wondering if I've done it correctly --- the colour isn't uniform on the inside or outside, and there are definite streaks on the metal. My guess is that I've applied oil too liberally, and should maybe strip it and start again, but thought I'd check here.
Pictures
Questions
Have I seasoned the pan correctly? If not, what have I done wrong?
Even if it's not seasoned perfectly, is it ok to use? Can I go ahead and start using it with the hope that future cooking will provide additional seasoning? Or should I strip it and start from scratch?
Thank you in advance. | What you're seeing is the bare metal being exposed where the black coating has worn away.
That black coating is the factory's "pre-applied seasoning" - which is universally not a very good seasoning. The pre-applied seasoning is supposed to be a value-add, so a home chef can begin using the pan immediately. In my experience, this coating comes off easily and doesn't have much anti-stick properties - so you'll nearly always re-season the pan anyway. The pre-applied coating mostly serves as an anti-rust coating while sitting on the store shelf, in my opinion.
The lines you're seeing develop are likely from how you "buffed" in the oil during your seasoning - they look like streak and drip marks. The darker areas are thicker seasoning.
I season by pouring in my oil, rubbing it with a paper towel until the entire pan (inside and out) is coated lightly and the oil doesn't drip or run, then put it into the oven for an hour upside down (with a baking sheet on the floor of the oven to catch any drips). After an hour, turn off the oven and let the pan cool inside the oven. Repeat a couple times, then get cooking! If your wok has a wooden handle, you'll need to do it on the stove top instead, but the process is pretty similar.
Over repeated use (cooking, cleaning, re-oiling), the rest of the coating will come off and be replaced by your own developed seasoning. So, start cooking!
Just be careful how you clean it to not destroy your seasoning! |
Beating egg white and whipping cream
Both egg white and cream can be beaten until they form a stiff foam. So I tried mixing them and beating the mixture. The mixture will not rise (foam) no matter how hard I try. What is the reason behind this? | I assume by 'rise' you mean 'can be beaten into a foam' (rather than increasing in volume like leavening bread or a cake in an oven).
Egg white and whipped cream both trap air bubbles when whipped, but the bubbles are supported by different structures. Egg white forms a network of protein, which even small amounts of fat will disrupt (as is often the problem when eggs are not properly separated before whipping). Whipped cream relies on fat for the structure that holds the air bubbles (so cream below a certain fat content will not whip).
When combined, these mechanisms disrupt each other so you should not expect to be able to whip a mixture of egg white and cream. Instead, you can whip them separately and fold the results together until they are just combined (if you mix them too much the foam will be ruined). |
How are you supposed to eat mille feuille?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mille-feuille
It doesn't cut nicely for fork and knife. When I tried eating it with my hands like a sandwich, the fillings of cream sploosh and the layers of wafer accordion. | If you want to eat it in a less messy way, turn your mille feuille on its side and cut it from what is the top now.
It does depend on the actual make up how well it turns and cuts.
The way many people I know use is to lift the layers and eat them individually.
Either pick them up in their hands or put the layer on the plate and use tools to cut. |
Ignition temperature of most foods , or maximum theoretical cooking temperature ? Read below?
A house hold oven tops out at just 550 Fahrenheit or 288 Celsius , but lower than average temperature wood fired pizza ovens operate at about 650 Fahrenheit and average ones at 752 Fahrenheit or 400 Celsius and high average ones at 900 Fahrenheit . with the hottest restarting chain baking their pizzas at 1000 Fahrenheit or 538 Celsius . With one person reportedly baking them at 600 Celsius or 1112 Fahrenheit for 45 seconds .some steak broilers reach 1800 Fahrenheit or 990 Celsius . But what I’m curious to know what is the ignition temperature of a thin crust pizza made with special flour . And what’s the maximum temperature it can theoretically be baked at for 30 to 35 seconds without igniting or being way to charred to eat , would 700 Celsius or 1292 Fahrenheit be too high ? If so or not so , what is the maximum .for reference a piece of bread bursts into flames instantly when exposed to an open candle flame at about 2000 Fahrenheit or 1093 Celsius . And quickly chars beyond recognition , if you don’t watch carefully .it but takes a very long time to ignite when exposed to the small embers of a dying wood campfire at 760 Celsius or 1400 Fahrenheit Only answer if you are confident you know ! | This is not an answerable question. The most precise answer you'll ever get is "it depends". The most practical answer is "when you have installed your oven, use trial and error to find out".
First, to clear up an important misunderstanding. The auto-ignition temperature of pizza shouldn't be that different from pure flour - the first reference I found gives 311 C for a 5 mm thick layer. It may be that for a pizza, it is a couple of dozen degrees more and less, but it doesn't really matter. But that temperature is something entirely different from the oven temperature.
You seem to define the maximum cooking temperature as "the heat source temperature at which a pizza will char within 30 seconds". Such a temperature can only be defined with respect to a given oven. For example, the sun is at 15,000,000 C, and it heats the pizza, but cannot char it, while a paltry wood fired oven can do it, simply because of the different geometry of the pizza-"oven" setup. Oh, and it is also not about "any food" but specifically about a pizza, because the food's physical properties also matter.
Also, if you do have a specific oven in mind and want to know its maximum temperature for a 30-second pizza, it is not at all worth trying to calculate it theoretically. "Not worth" as in, the calculation would probably take up a full research group's time several years, and still require multiple empirical tests just to calibrate the models needed. So in practice, anybody who needs that information just bakes a few pizzas. |
Regular Cake Pan to Tube Pan Cook Time Conversion?
I took a recipe that a called for 45 minutes at 350 in a 2" tall 9" pan, doubled the recipe and put it in a 4" x 9" tub pan.
Are their any rules of thumb to use when converting a recipe over to a tube pan for cooking time?
This Answer: https://cooking.stackexchange.com/a/42163/6440 explains general pan size conversions, but a bundt or tube pan is not the same thing. | This article in the Serious Eats is pretty comprehensive about conversions and guesstimating baking times, but there is no precise mathematical formula, you'll still need to keep a close eye on your cake to define the final time
General rule of thumb in the article states that cakes in tube or Bundt pans require roughly 1 minute per ounce of batter (slightly faster compared to a simple round cake pan which takes between 1.2-1.29 minutes per ounce, since tube / Bundt pans have a higher surface to volume ratio than simple round pans)
A 9" pan filled up to 2", according to a table in the article, has 28 ounces of batter. Doubling up, that means 56 ounces of batter. Therefore, you should expect your cake to cook for something between 56 to 67 minutes and DO NOT MESS WITH THE TEMPERATURE.
Best approach would be to leave the cake baking for about 50-55 minutes and then keep an eye on it every 5-10 minutes for visual and texture cues before attempting the toothpick check |
Quantity of rice per diameter of paella pan?
In an effort to limit leftovers, I recently bought a 26cm steel paella pan to supplement my 40cm pan. Because such things do not always scale linearly, I looked for a guide on how much rice to use in a standard-shape paella pan of a given diameter, and was a bit surprised that there appears to be no good internet resource for this. This resulted in me trying 200ml rice with the 26cm pan, which was definitely too much.
So, my question is: can anyone give me a table of how much rice (and, optionally, stock) to use for each of several steel paella pan diameters, starting with around 26cm and moving up? Please cite your sources, even if that source is "I own these sizes and that's how much I use." | I don't think you'll find the information you are looking for, for multiple reasons:
The most direct one: because the same pan can serve well a really wide range of rations. We've cooked excellent paellas with the same pan from 4 up to 30+. (more or less 80cm pan)
The most practical reason: You usually WANT to cook too much paella, because the leftovers put on a fridge for a day or more and then re-heated on a microwave are tastier than the dish from the same day. You actually look for leaving half the dish or more. So quantity is usually the opposite of a problem: It was either soo fine that everyone took a second serving and cleared the pan, or it could be a little better, which it will be the next day. You literally can't go wrong, as long as there's a lot!
Lastly, but not less important: It really is not a dish prone to measurings, up to the point that the amount of rice is measured in fistfuls, and it really does not matter that much. The result depends too much on the quality of the batch of ingredients used, the meat and/or seafood, the quality of the broth, how well kept the wood-fire was, the proper judgement of salt point during cooking and if you timed each step appropriately. As long as the pan is big and flat enough, it will no longer be a deciding factor in the quality of the result.
If I was deciding upon sizes, I'd use the references on amount of servings provided by the manufacturer, but only as a guideline, and tend towards picking larger than smaller.
Edit: One serving, at least where I'm from, is two handfuls. If your hand is little, add another handful at the end to round up. Usually we prepare servings for 50%-100% more than people are there, for the sake of being able to serve a second round and/or letting some on the fridge for eating the next day. At home, this ends up being 17 handfuls for 4 people, 7 servings approx, on a paella pan more or less 80cm across.
Per serving, we also add what we call "tall" (translation would be 'cut', stands for the meat and seafood, excludes vegetables):
a pair of prawns, a pair of mussels, two or three "Clams" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venerupis_philippinarum), a "Galera" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squilla_mantis), a cuttlefish cut in dices and rabbit. The cut that needs to be cooked for longer than the rice itself is added to the same paella and cooked there before adding the rice and the broth or water in it, so the juice of it all stays in the dish.
Source: I've been eating paella cooked by my family my whole life, who are born and raised among the Delta de l'Ebre rice fields. And stringently judging among themselves each sunday paella (for 70 years!). Among the criticisms, the amount of servings for a paella has never been even mentioned. I'll ask the cooks at my next chance, but sadly I live abroad now, so it can be a while. I should make a video of the process, and upload it if it ends up a 8 or more.
A free tip: If it sticks to the bottom of the pan and that bottom is slightly crispier/darker than the top rice, as long as it's not actually burned, it's fine. In fact, it's the best part of the dish. |
Will ultrapasterized milk curdle?
Normally (e.g. here) the recipe for oladyi (thick palm-sized pancakes) requires kefir, a fermented milk drink similar to a thin yoghurt or ayran.
There is one well-tested recipe that uses milk with lemon juice (or vinegar) instead: to begin, one has to heat the milk up to 36C-38C (body temperature), add 1tbsp of vinegar, let it rest for 15 min. I am guessing this is done to curdle the milk, right? Will this process work as expected if the milk is ultrapasterized? | It will not curdle as well as regular pasteurized milk will, but probably good enough for the recipe you're making.
Ultrapasteurized milk, because of its "cooked" nature, doesn't form curds as well as other kinds of milk. Particularly, you cannot make cheese from it because the proteins have been changed by the high-heat sterilization. They have been denatured.
However, this recipe does not seem to depend very much on the texture of the curds made during the curdling process in the first two steps. If you were draining the whey, I'd say not to use UHT milk, but in this case everything is still mixed in. At worst, the pancakes would have slightly inferior texture to those made with regular milk. |
What is the code for the rings stamped on the top of canned food?
Canned food has rings stamped on the lids. What (or who) has the code?
Here is a photo with crab and tuna tops. Maybe the better word would be "indentations"? | There’s no hidden code in the rings, they are just there to stabilize the thin metal.
A flat sheet is weaker and more flexible than one with ridges - the same reason why roof and wall metal is usually corrugated. On taller cans you will often also find corrugated areas on the sides of the can, hidden by the paper label. |
What is the process of storing food in toothpaste'ish tubes?
You know what I'm talking about, these food tubes that are popular for tomato paste, or pesto.
Searching for 'food in tube' or 'how to make your own tomato paste in tube' yields mixed results, so I'm wondering if I'm even calling this preservation method correctly.
I personally think they are amazing when cooking with small quantities (as opposed to cans), and I would like to 'tube' my own pastes, pestos, creams, purees, mustards, and whatnot.
However I have a very hard time to find any DIY info on what to buy, what tools are needed, etc.
Any advice on where to look for information about this process on a DIY standpoint? | Tubes like that are assembled with the bottom open (so at that point it's a cylinder, closed at the cap end), filled, and then folded and heat-sealed at the bottom. The filling is done with a rigid baster-like thing to minimize air bubbles. Here's a video of the process. There's no particular reason you couldn't do most of this at home, with the exception of the heat sealer (though you might be able to repurpose a vacuum sealer). The real issue would be sourcing the tubes, which I doubt are generally available if you're buying less than a thousand.
If your primary goal is easy dispensability, have you considered a large food-safe syringe? Easy to find, similar in functionality, and while they're more expensive than foil tubes they're also reusable. |
Advantages and disadvantages of braising a pot roast covered in the oven vs on the stovetop
Obviously there are major differences if the pot roast is cooked uncovered in the oven. That aside, are there differences if it is covered? | Braising can happen in the oven or on the stove top, and covered or uncovered. Covering limits evaporation. Braising in the oven provides the convenience of keeping the stove top burners free, and provide a consistent radiant heat. This might be important if uncovered, as evaporating liquid could create an issue with burning on the stove top. Evaporation concentrates flavor. This can be an advantage or disadvantage depending on your desired outcome. Braises are typically low temp/long time cooks. While covering vs. not, might impact cook time, usually with a braise, I don't find the difference to be that significant. |
Coating fruit in Oreos
My (eight year old) son has come up with a dessert idea that he is in love with: fruit coated in Oreos. Specifically, removing the filling, crushing the cookies, then coating the fruit in the filling and then in the crumbs.
This works pretty well, except that the filling tends to stick more to the hands than to the fruit!
Is there a relatively easy (for an 8 year old) way to improve the consistency of the Oreo filling, so that it sticks better to the fruit and less to the hands?
I don't want to create a new filling or dip - it should be mostly Oreo filling, just adjusted some. I have also thought about doing a 3 layer - crumbs, filling, crumbs - which works for some fruit (wetter fruit, like an apple slice), but still the filling is not quite the right consistency to stay on well. | Have you tried mixing a small amount of water, milk, or cream into the filling to loosen it up a bit? Use small additions, because too loose and you won't have the same effect, but you might be able to achieve a thick, coating consistency. It is likely mostly sugar or corn syrup, perhaps even warming it a bit, or using warm water, milk, or cream would help. |
What is the point of washing produce in cold water?
You can find tons of tips online saying you should always wash your produce. What is the point of it though? I mean with some hard produce, say carrots you can obviously give them a good scrub with a brush and I can see how thoroughly it cleans them. What about soft produce though?
I've just read a question regarding raspberries. The answer was to wash them gently in cold water. I can't imagine that this is actually cleaning them properly. Obviously if they're very dirty, then it'd remove the biggest dirt. Let's say though that there are some bacteria on it or parasite larvea. Obviously gentle dip in cold water won't help, will it? | For the most part, rinsing produce in cold water is for the purpose of removing pesticides and soil that may contain bacteria. You're not washing off bacterial colonies - whole peel-on vegetables and fruit have a protective coating (the peel) which prevents them from growing for the most part. However, dirt particles may contain bacteria - particularly if, for example, there was animal manure used to fertilize the crops (one reason why you need to wash organic produce just as much as conventional produce!)
See for example the NHS England guidelines for washing produce:
Washing will help remove bacteria, including E.coli, from the surface of fruit and vegetables.
Most of the bacteria will be in the soil attached to the produce. Washing to remove any soil is, therefore, particularly important.
Of course, produce that has more dirt in it (such as lettuce, which grows in dirt) will need more careful cleaning than tree fruit (which probably doesn't have too much on it beyond pesticides). |
What's the deal with split-top bread?
What's the difference between split-top and round top bread, other than the look (caused by the split)? Like does splitting the bread top make it lighter/better crumb, etc?
I see at the supermarket "split-top white" is often cheaper than "round top white" or "sandwich white"
Why would I buy one vs the other? | Most commercial mass-produced bread is made using the Chorleywood process, which is heavily industrialized, using emulsifiers, enrichment and a highly controlled environment to quickly and cheaply bake bread. It produces the light and soft types of bread most people in the US, UK and Canada (maybe Australia and New Zealand too) are most familiar with.
'Artisan' bread is made using more traditional methods, with at least some of it being done by hand, and time being given for proofing and flavor development. This type of bread often has a good deal of 'oven spring', where the heat of the oven causes a rapid expansion, so bakers slash the bread to allow it room. Without the slash the bread won't be able to expand and will be too tight a texture, or the skin may rupture and ruin the shape of the loaf.
Chorleywood bread can be just about any shape, and doesn't need slashing as it gets very limited oven spring, so the appearance is a matter of marketing. A split top gives the loaf a 'homemade' look to some, and distinguishes those loaves from others on the shelf.
As for why you'd buy one or the other it's a choice between quality, price, convenience and personal preference. I prefer artisan bread (I bake my own regularly) to chorleywood process because I prefer the taste and texture, however it does cost a lot more. I do buy you standard chorleywood stuff as well because it's convenient at times, and I'm not made of money. |
Replacement for Pearl Barley in cottage Pie
I am making a cottage pie (mince with mashed potatoes on top) recipe that requires 100g of pearl barley, and 600ml of stock. Right now, I can't get either pearl barley or husked barley.
The first step is place the barley, stock and salt into a small pan and boil for 25 mins, and it gets about another 1hr of cooking after that.
I was hoping lentils would be a good alternative, I have red, green and black, but what would that do to the amount of liquid and that first cooking step?
I found the recipe online: https://foodism.co.uk/recipes/yeo-valley-beef-barley-cottage-pie/ | Cottage pie is essentially a ground beef stew with mashed potato on top, and barley is a completely optional ingredient in beef stew, so you could leave it out and not worry about replacing it, there's already plenty of starch from the potato topping. I make beef stew relatively often and I like barley in it, but if I run out I just leave it out and it doesn't make that much difference.
The big issue with a substitution is flavor - barley isn't flavorless but it isn't what I might call strong either, it tends to absorb flavor from the liquid around it. Lentils have a comparatively strong flavor, as do many other grains and pulses. Rice is the closest easy to find substitution and it won't effect your flavor profile. If you do decide to use lentils I'd suggest making a test dish to get the timings right and make sure you actually like the taste of the result. |
Canned Coconut milk is curdled when opened
I bought Coconut milk (88% coconut and rest water) in a sealed can, when I opened it the solid where already separated from the liquid. The solid part was at the top quite thick like frozen coconut oil.
It tastes perhaps (I am not sure) a little bit acidic. Has the coconut milk spoilt? Is there any use of it or I should just throw it? Can consuming it be harmful? | I didn't notice an exact duplicate of this question anywhere, but it's quite common for canned coconut milk to separate leaving an opaque white solid layer of fat and solids, and a thin watery/syrup layer of cloudy coconut water.
Coconut water is naturally a little tart, so I don't find that concerning. If the can is in date and showed no signs of swelling or leakage, then I'm thinking it's fine.
But do what makes you feel comfortable/safe. And to avoid this next time, thoroughly shake the can before opening. |
Temperature of a muffin pan right under a gas oven broiler
I have a gas oven stove that can go up to 550°F (~287°C), with also a gas broiler. If I place a muffin pan on the top or second top rack, under the broiler, after preheating the oven at its highest setting, what sort of temperatures might the muffin pan reach?
The end goal's to make some Portuguese egg tarts and I hear that generally it should be cooked as high as the oven can go, so I'm wondering what temperatures the muffin pan needs to tolerate. | Tins for pastéis de nata are typically made of galvanized steel or aluminum, without coating. In commercial bakeries it is also common to see disposable tins made with aluminum foil.
You can use a muffin tin made from the same materials: uncoated galvanized steel or aluminum
All recipes for that I've ever seen ask for a minimum temperature of 250°C (or as far as your oven can go, if it goes above that, which many ovens nowadays won't be able to go too far above it), so you can take 250 as a ballpark temperature for choosing your muffin tins
Use the broiler to finish them and get the charred spots after your pastéis are cooked (usually 25 minutes at 250 would do) |
"Red Pepper Flakes" for German-style Doener Kebab
I grew up near Munich, Germany and remember that I would love to eat my Doener by adding pepper flakes. I am pretty sure they were not the typical red pepper flakes you may put on pizza but I am not having any luck at finding the specific seasoning.
Does anyone have an idea?
Thanks! | Especially in Germany go to your next friendly turkish grocer and ask for „pul biber“. |
When washing ingredients, does it matter if the water is cold or warm?
Inspired by What is the point of washing produce in cold water?
Multiple times I remember reading or getting advice that [ingredient X] needs to be washed in cold water before preparing and that warm water will... not precisely ruin them, but somehow make it worse.
Now, I don't remember precisely which ingredients those were... fish maybe? Or mushrooms? Could be some other vegetables too.
Anyways, this advice always has seemed suspicious to me. The difference in temperature between cold and warm water is maybe 30°C, not really enough to do anything chemically I think, and warm water is so much more pleasant for the hands... And especially for ingredients that you intend to cook right afterwards anyway, what harm can it do?
So - are there any ingredients that actually need to be washed in cold water, otherwise it negatively affects the quality of the end result? Preferably ones that are not super exotic. | Indeed there aren't many situations where the temperature is relevant for the food quality. I can think of only one where this would be the case.
Cold temperatures help tender leaves stay fresh longer. If you were to submerge lettuce leaves or similar greens in warm water and wash them there, you might get a less crisp salad. The difference will be very small though, usually it wouldn't be noticed. |
When to add fresh basil to homemade pizza
I've made pizza from scratch (dough and sauce) a few times, turns out great. I want to try fresh basil on it. Current recipe: Oven, 425° F: blind bake crust 10 minutes, add tomato sauce & fresh mozzarella, cook another 10 minutes. When would be a good time to add fresh basil? With the cheese? 5 minutes later? After it is done? | I cast fresh basil leaves immediately after removing the pizza from the oven. I have found that cooking them with the pizza tends to reduce some (a lot) of the basil scent and flavour.
For dried basil, I can't say as I don't use it. |
An effective process to extract coconut oil
I have tried to extract coconut oil. Below is the process I have followed.
Ground the coconut flesh with some added water.
Milked the ground coconut flesh by cold pressing it and filtering all big particles.
Dried the milk for a few hours in a steel vessel using butane flame.
Filtering out the dried brown residue.
The resulting oil looks like the following.
My question is about the efficiency of my process. I have a strong feeling that the colouration is due to the heating or bad filtering techniques. I tried to rest it for the night, and it doesn't seem to have any "heavier" residues at the bottom of the oil bottle. I tried filtering it with 4-layer muslin cloth with no luck. Is there a process that does not involve heating (assuming my intuition is correct)?
P.S. I'm not a scientist and I don't have a lot of background in chemistry. Please explain to me in layman's terms if possible. | The color could be due to your heating. You can try a cold-press method to get a clear oil. While I have never done it, there are process descriptions online.
Make the coconut milk (should be the same as your steps 1-3)
Leave the coconut milk overnight to separate. You will get, from bottom to top: coconut water, coconut oil, and coconut cream.
Separate the oil from the other layers. I suppose a fat separator pitcher will work for that.
The oil will still have some water, milk and solids mixed in. Filter it well.
Leave the oil sit, not tightly covered, until the residual moisture has evaporated.
You can see the process (in a commercial setting) documented on YouTube. The interesting part (after step 2) starts at 3:30.
The factory in the video creates a completely clear oil with this process. Of course, they have some heavy-duty filtering system for step 4. If you are only working with a nut milk bag or similar, you will likely have some particles left over. But without the heating step, it is unlikely that they will brown to give you the yellow color you dislike. |
Can I roast a chicken over 2 time periods?
I currently work in home office but in the late afternoon I pick up my kids from school, we spend some time on the playground and usually only come home half an hour before dinner time. For soups I used the strategy to set them up during my lunch break and then let them cook for half an hour. Then turn the stove off and put it back on when we come home. The soup is ready just at dinner time. I was wondering whether I can do the same with a roast chicken in the oven. That is I put in the oven around noon, roast for half an hour and then turn the oven off, leaving the chicken in. Turn the oven back on when we get home. Have ready roast chicken at dinner time.
I was mostly wondering whether there is something that could go wrong here? Will this turn out any different from just roasting a chicken for 1 hour without breaks in between? | Can it be done? yes.
Is there a higher risk of food poisoning? yes.
The way to get around that is almost more of a pain -- you cook it in a low oven until it's just barely cooked through (which is a different temperature for the legs vs. the breast meat), then chill it, and then return it to a hot oven to warm it and crisp the skin up.
You're often better off fully cooking it, chilling it, and then warming it back up, and serving with a hot gravy that you can pour over it.
Another alternative would be spatchcocking the chicken (cutting the backbone out and flattening it, so it cooks quicker; see https://www.seriouseats.com/butterflied-roasted-chicken-with-quick-jus-recipe ). You could prep it in advance, so you just had to throw it in the oven when you got home ... but you have to cook it under the broiler for a chance at the 30 minute window: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/broiled-butterflied-chicken-recipe-1951266 )
There's also a technique where you quarter the chicken, start it on the stovetop (starting the leg quarters first), then move it to the oven that's been pre-heating ... and if you had the chicken prepped might take 30 minutes ... but I'm having difficulty finding the recipe. (I thought it had been on Good Eats, but I'm not having luck searching the Food Network website). |
How does deglazing work?
If you put a steak or a chicken into a hot pan which is not completely non-stick, it is likely to stick to it a bit and leave a residue when you flip it. That is our fond.
Later we deglaze the pan by adding some liquid which causes all of the small bits to release (yes, adding onion or mushrooms counts as adding liquid, since it will release enough water), this incorporate deeper flavors into our cooking, which is absolutely great.
But how does deglazing work? On the chemical and physical level, is it somehow a different rate of contraction when rapidly cooled by the liquid, or some other kind of reaction?
And how come when I heat my stainless steel pan and put water on it, the burnt bits stuck to the side are not just magically floating away? | It seems like there are 3 sub-questions to this question:
Physical level
Adding liquid in the pan creates steam, a moist, hot gas which is able to move between the solids of the fond and lift the fond from the bottom of the pan.
Chemical level
The majority of the relevant food molecules in the fond, created from the Maillard reaction and caramelization, are water soluble. (The Maillard Reaction produces hundreds of products, only 8 of which are relevant factors on flavor and aroma, 6 of which are water soluble.) Since the flavors inside the fond are potent, dissolving them into water makes them available to our taste buds.
Regarding burnt bits stuck to the side
I have to presume from the scenario you provided that, since you "heat [your] stainless steel pan", you have left the bits there from your previous cook and allowed them to dry. The lack of moisture content will make the bits more difficult for the steam to remove. When we deglaze the fond from the bottom of the pan, the fond already contains some level of moisture and is able to be easily removed by the steam. When you allow, presumably now overcooked and dried out, bits of food to sit on the pan and become moisture-less, hardened carbon, it will take more effort to remove.
For an analogy, think of clay. If you throw it in a pan and immediately wash it off, it will come off with relative ease, but if you let it sit (even without heat) and simply dry out, you would have to crack and and chip it away, or cover it in water and let it sit and absorb moisture for some time before you could wipe it away. |
How do you significantly reduce the calories in bread like Franz Keto bread?
Franz Bakery makes a bread that contains 35 calories a slice (the fact that it is keto is irrelevant to me, but may still be a part of the answer):
https://franzbakery.com/HTML/productView#category=breads.premium&id=breads.premium.keto
They also have hamburger and hotdog buns in the same line that have only 50 calories each.
Looking at their ingredients, forgetting mold inhibitors and unnecessary preservatives since the goal is to make this at home, it doesn't seem much different from classic bread ingredients:
BREAD BASE (MODIFIED WHEAT STARCH, WHEAT GLUTEN, INULIN OR CHICORY
VEGETABLE FIBER, OAT FIBER, WHEAT PROTEIN ISOLATE), WATER, SOYBEAN
OIL, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING: YEAST, SALT, SORBIC
ACID (MOLD INHIBITOR), FULLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, DISTILLED
VINEGAR, ASCORBIC ACID, CALCIUM PROPIONATE (MOLD INHIBITOR), ENZYMES.
I can tell there is a ton of fiber, since they're attempting to make keto friendly bread with 1g net carbs (12g carbs - 11g Dietary Fiber), but I'm wondering what they're doing that is making the bread so calorie friendly.
In most recipes for basic bread, a slice is usually between 100 to 200 calories per slice. I cannot (after plenty of Google search refinements) find a recipe that manages to come close.
How are they reducing the calories by at least half, and how can I do this at home instead of paying $6.50 a loaf/pack? | A comparable keto bread recipe is Diedre's Ultimate Keto Bread 2.0. It uses a combination of golden flaxseed meal, oat fiber, and vital wheat gluten as the flour ingredients. I've made that recipe probably over 100 times while making different tweaks to improve on it. I've arrived at a couple different variations, and there are some tweaks that I'd recommend if you'd like to lower the calorie count.
86 g golden flaxseed meal 26.38% 86.0 g (flour)
86 g oat fiber 26.38% 86.0 g (flour)
154 g vital wheat gluten 47.24% 154.0 g (flour)
100.00% 326.0 g (total)
------------------------------------------------------------
7 g Kosher salt 2.15% 7.0 g
16 g instant dry yeast 4.91% 16.0 g
8 g honey 2.45% 8.0 g
280 g water 85.89% 280.0 g
Sorry, the recipe is in grams and I don't have volumetric equivalents. The ratio of flour ingredients to each other is important, and the only reliable way to measure them is to weigh them. These are bakers percents. The top 3 ingredients are considered the flour ingredients that have a total weight of 326 grams. The percentages listed for the flour ingredients represent the proportion that the particular flour ingredient makes up in the total flour; their percentages will add up to 100%. The percents listed for the last four ingredients are based on how the weight of the particular ingredient compares to the total weight of the flour. For example, 7 g of salt divided by 326 g of flour equals .0215 or 2.15% of the weight of the flour. Bakers percentages are extremely helpful in trying to understand how non-standard recipes work. For instance, you'll always need the vital wheat gluten percent to be around 45% to 55% for it to be able to properly make bread.
Basically, I'd definitely recommend removing the xanthan gum from her recipe, as it inhibits gluten development and results in a tighter crumb. The butter in her recipe adds taste, but can be left out if calories are a concern. The 2 eggs she uses aren't strictly necessary but they may help strengthen and open up the crumb somewhat, while also helping as a drying agent (flaxseed meal and vital wheat gluten are very hygroscopic). In lieu of eggs I'll sometimes add 5% or so of resistant wheat starch or resistant corn starch though it may not be necessary. The honey serves as a source of food for the yeast, since none of the other ingredients are fermentable. Most of the honey will be consumed by the yeast so it doesn't add much to the overall carb count.
While she uses a stand mixer in her video I do want to add that it is possible to knead this by hand, though there is a bit of skill needed. Thanks to the vital wheat gluten, the dough comes together quite quickly, though it starts off somewhat slimy and sticky (from the mucilage in the flaxseed meal). Use a dough scraper to repeatedly fold it over on itself and knead into the counter. Eventually it may start to dry up and you can start kneading it by hand. It may take 10 - 15 minutes worth of kneading to develop and distribute the gluten evenly into a network that will trap the gasses of fermentation. You should be able to smear and stretch the doughball with the dough knife/scraper against the countertop and it shouldn't tear while doing so.
Unlike traditional bread, which uses a bulk fermentation and then another rise in the pan, you're better off doing a single fermentation in the bread pan (since there's not a whole lot of food). If the loaf ends up dense, it likely wasn't kneaded sufficiently.
How this recipe works: vital wheat gluten mixed with water makes a virtually solid rubbery mass. Oat fiber is a pure insoluble fiber that interferes with the gluten networks such that it prevents cross-linking and allows for air holes to develop during fermentation and baking. Flaxseed meal contains soluble fiber in the form of a mucilage network that can be woven in between the gluten network to help open up the crumb somewhat.
As far as calorie count: the recipe given is about the lowest I've been able to make it without taste suffering. Oat fiber is pure insoluble fiber meaning it has no calories, but it also tastes like cardboard (with the slightest hint of Cheerios). You can try raising it to a higher level to stretch the ingredients but taste tends to suffer. Flaxseed meal is very calorie dense: 28 g has 150 calories (from the fat). However, it's the only ingredient I've found that helps inhibit gluten development in a beneficial way (to open up the crumb). |
Can my freezer be too cold?
The FDA recommends a freezer temperature of 0˚F (-18˚C). Warmer temperatures risk bacterial growth and quality problems. But what are the reasons not to set the freezer colder? My Bosch freezer can be set as low as -8˚F (-22˚C).
The only downsides I can see are increased electricity usage, increased thaw times during food preparation, and more wear on the freezer compressor. But advantages include colder ice cubes and faster freeze times for new items. Are there any other reasons not to set my freezer to the coldest setting? | One possible consideration is that some frozen desserts (most notably ice creams and sorbets) can be very difficult to scoop if your freezer is too cold. Optimal serving temperature for ice cream is between about 5 & 10°F (-15°C & -12°C); colder freezers may result in difficult scooping and/or needing to leave the ice cream out to thaw.
The proposed advantage of "colder ice cubes" is relatively small, because the vast majority of heat absorption by ice (in a drink, say) is due to it thawing. To put some numbers on it, every gram of frozen ice absorbs about 2.1 joules of heat energy when it warms up by 1°C. In contrast, that same gram of ice absorbs 335 joules of heat energy when it thaws into liquid water. If you run the numbers, this means that ice at -22°C will only absorb 2-3% more heat from your drinks than ice at -18°C. |
Will dry ice damage kitchen equipment?
I have been reading an article on using dry ice to make ice cream. Aside from the usual safety precautions for dealing with a material that sublimates at -109.3F, I am concerned about what effects it might have on kitchen equipment. On my first attempt I used a hammer to break up the dry ice in the bag, but it took an excessive amount of time to powderize it sufficiently. It occurred to me that it would have been much quicker to break the dry ice into manageable pieces and then put them in the (electric) blender to finish the job. However, I am unsure what effect this will have and don't want to have to replace an expensive piece of equipment because the cold ruined the blades, cracked the glass of the container, or caused other issues.
Will powderizing dry ice in an electric blender damage it, cause excessive wear, or noticeably reduce its service life? Since dry ice sublimates, should I remove the rubber seal so it isn't damaged? Would I be better off getting a cheap "disposable" blender for this purpose or it is fine to use the one I have?
Update: Per the question in the comments, the specific model is Oster Pro 1200. | I haven't tried dry ice in kitchen equipment, but have destroyed a plastic measuring jug with liquid nitrogen (the scale had become illegible so I took it into work where it would be handy, then abused it). The failure mode could be expected to be relevant to plastic and glass used with dry ice.
Many plastics become brittle at low temperatures - this can even be seen when using some plastic food storage boxes in a domestic freezer. Cooling also causes thermal contraction, and most of this will happen by the time you get down to dry ice temperatures. Because of the low thermal conductivity of plastics (and glass) the inside shrinks but the outside doesn't because it doesn't cool much. In the case of my jug, the strengthening/supporting ring on the bottom stayed at room temperature when the rest cooled, and the bottom dropped clean out of it. While dry ice is far warmer than LN, it's still cold enough for embrittlement and a lot of thermal contraction.
That's not to say it will fail, only that it might. Dry ice doesn't make such good contact with the container as LN, but localised cracking could still be an issue with plastic parts. A glass jug would likely fail completely even with localised thermal cracking. Borosilicate (some Pyrex, either old or European - I don;t know if it's used in blenders but it's possible for ones that are mean to take heat) or metal should be fine (careful handling the metal).
I'd research the cost of a replacement part, but probably risk it, taking a few steps to reduce the risk:
precool if possible, in a freezer (for even contraction; this will also reduce the amount of dry ice you lose)
add the other ingredients first if possible (though you sound like your recipe breaks it up before mixing it in). When making LN ice cream, drizzling it into the ingredients while stirring is the usual method (this is me holding the bowl while one person stirs and another pours).
add the dry ice through a feeder cap if your blender has one (mine does) with it running
An experiment
Many blenders use polycarbonate jugs. This is a tough plastic that can handle hot liquids, so is a good choice if you're putting soup in there.
I had an offcut of polycarbonate (Lexan) at home, and while I don't have access to dry ice, I can get liquid nitrogen, which gets even colder. The first thing I tried was cooling a piece of aluminium to -100°C (a little cooler than dry ice) and resting it on the polycarbonate for a few minutes. There was no cracking . Even immersing the polycarbonate in liquid nitrogen for several minutes didn't make it brittle. So a polycarbonate jug (not all plastic blender jugs are polycarbonate, but many are) should be absolutely fine with dry ice.
Applicability to glass
The specific model in question here uses a glass jug. I can't find anything definitive on the type of glass. If it's borosilicate (as suggested by some branding, according to a review, but I'd be very wary of sharing that assumption) I'd expect it to be fine. If it's normal soda-lime glass, there's a small risk it could fail suddenly. |
Salmon slicer vs Brisket slicer? I can only afford one
At this time I can only afford to buy one slicer - a salmon slicer or a brisket slicer. I regularly cure and smoke fish (Salmon, tuna, etc) and love cutting it very thin. I also regularly cook large cuts of meat (roasts, brisket, etc), some of which I also like to cut very thin, and certainly nice thick slices for some too. I'm imagining that each knife will excel at doing the job that's in its name and maybe do pretty good at the other task, but I've never owned either of them so I don't really know.
In searching the internet, and watching videos on YouTube no one describes the characteristics of these two types of knives in a way that is useful to draw any conclusion.
Which of these two knives do you think would be the more effective at both tasks?
As examples, the two knives I was Oogling were the Wusthoff Ikon 12" salmon slicer, and the Dalstrong 14" Shogun slicer. | You're asking about two "types" of knife that are almost indistinguishable from each other, and in fact some manufacturers don't bother to distinguish at all, just calling their knife a "slicer". When I look at Bob Vila's recommendations for brisket knives, for example, most of his picks are these general "slicers" and do in fact look identical to knives being sold as "salmon slicers".
So, based on not owning either type (I just use a general 11" utility knife), I'd suggest that simply getting a highly-rated slicer will suit both purposes admirably. |
Is it possible to cook an egg in a thermos flask?
Scenario: I want to hard-boil a single whole egg with the least amount of effort and active cooking time. I don't own an egg steamer and don't want to buy another kitchen gadget that takes up space without being used most of the time. I also don't want to cook the egg in a pot of boiling water because it seems wasteful to heat up so much water for a single egg. (Edit: I only have 2 sizes of stove hobs, so the smallest pot I own is the size of the smallest hob: 14,5 cm / 5.7 inch diameter)
However, I do have a thermos flask with 1 liter capacity and an opening big enough to put an egg inside. Yesterday I put an egg in and filled it with about half a liter of freshly boiling water. After 25 minutes only a few millimeters of the outer eggwhite were cooked and the inside was completely liquid. I took the egg directly from the fridge, so that might have contributed to the fail.
I also thought about putting the egg directly into my electric kettle, but if the shell cracks it would be a nightmare to clean the kettle afterwards.
I know that microwaving an egg has an insanely high risk of the thing exploding in your face. There are many reports of people receiving really bad burns to their faces and hands.
Is it even possible to cook an egg in a thermos flask? Is there maybe another method I overlooked? I'm willing to wait about an hour for the egg to finish cooking, as long as I don't have to actively monitor the process.
Update:
I tried again with the 2 methods that appealed to me the most:
Joe M's method: egg in thermos flask. I only have the "keep things warmer for a little longer" kind of flask, not the "keep things hot for hours" vacuum kind, but if I fill it up to the brim with boiling water and gently tilt it every 5 minutes to even out the temperature insite, I can get a hard-boiled egg in 20 minutes.
Tjaden Hess' method: steaming in a pot. This works like magic. I made a little "throne" for the egg from aluminium foil and boiled a cup of water in the electric kettle before pouring it into the pot, which was heating up in the meantime. After pouring the water and adding the lid, I could turn the hob down to the lowest setting and forget about the egg for 10 minutes. It came out perfect and this method required the least effort and resources by far. | Yes, it is possible to cook an egg in a thermos.
After thinking about the physics some, I decided to try this out. In particular, I considered that the egg is maybe 50ml in volume; with 500ml of boiling water, it shouldn't be a problem to transfer plenty of heat to raise the 50ml egg from 4°C to 82°C on the outside (less in the middle, yolk is cooked by around 70°C).
The important thing is to make sure the egg is immersed in water that stays around 80-85°C for the duration of the cooking cycle - about 10-15 minutes. So:
A thermos must be a true Thermos® - or at least, a very close kin, double walled vacuum style. The "keep your hot food hot for 8 hours" type, not just a coffee tin that will keep your coffee sort of warmish while you hop on the bus to work.
You lose a few degrees of heat when you pour the water into a cold thermos - so I tested pre-warmed vs. cold thermos.
How much water is needed? I had a 500ml Thermos® and two 300ml Thermos®, so that seemed an apt comparison.
My experimental setup: 1 pre-warmed 500ml thermos, 1 pre-warmed 300ml thermos, 1 room temp 300ml thermos. One kettle of boiling water with about 1.5L water. Three "American large" eggs, pulled from the refrigerator just as I started the setup but well after I put the kettle on (so only out for a few minutes, no meaningful raise in temperature from the 4°C fridge).
Method: I poured some extra boiling water from a separate kettle about 2 minutes before the main kettle came to a boil into the 500ml and one 300ml thermos. Then right when the main kettle came to a boil, I poured those two out. Then I put eggs in all three (the warm 500ml one was very hard to do that in, it was very warm!). Then I poured 100°C water (temped from my electric kettle) into the three, filling each to the fill line (the metal band) and as quickly as I could topped them each with the screw on top.
Then, I waited 15 minutes. I left them alone - no mixing, no touching, me sitting at my computer ignoring them until my timer went off. After that time was up, I opened all three and immediately temped the water in them. Then, I quickly removed the eggs, placed them in bowls, and cracked them with a spoon, then cut with a knife.
My results:
The 500ml setup cooked an egg precisely how I like it - maybe even a tiny bit overdone if anything. Whites fully cooked, yolk medium to medium well with a great yellow/orange color. The water in the thermos after 15 minutes was 80°C, which is right where it should be. I'd pull this out a bit earlier next time, maybe after 10 minutes.
The 300ml "prewarmed" cooked a pretty decent egg also. It was less well done on the inside than the 500ml, but many people would like an egg boiled this way, and it's well within my "good egg" range. Whites firmly done, yolk not dry at all and a great yellow. The water in the thermos was 73°C, so a bit below the "done whites" temperature by this point, but likely it was within acceptable cooking range (80°C-85°C) for the 10 minutes needed.
The 300ml "room temp" was inconclusive. The egg was decent, but the color much lighter yellow - but also a much smaller yolk entirely, oddly small and pale compared to what I'm used to. It wasn't clear if it was underdone or okay; it wasn't runny, certainly. I don't know if the color was due to cooking or not. The water was 72°C, so basically the same as the other one - maybe the prewarming made a trivial difference, or maybe it made no difference at all; I don't necessarily think it's likely to, but who knows.
I also separately tried an egg in 1L of water not in a double walled thermos. This totally failed - the egg was still basically liquified; clearly partially cooked, but not something I'd want to eat, runnier than scotched eggs by a good bit. The water had dropped to about 60°C by 15 minutes later, so it clearly was not in the optimal cooking temperature.
In conclusion: yes, it's possible to cook an egg in 500ml of water in a thermos, provided you have a proper thermos that's capable of keeping the water at a high temperature! It likely is possible to boil an egg harder than I prefer, but the more water you use, the better for that.
My thermoses (the 500ml, and one 300ml, egg for scale): |
How do I extract the crab claw meat clinging to, and covered by, the shells?
I defrosted these Snow Crab claws, but the meat still clings to the shell. I can't yank all the claw meat out of the shell intact and in one go, because the meat keeps splitting and sundering at the blue line! How do I extract the meat still fastened inside the shell?
I bought a pair of chopsticks. But each claw takes 5 minutes to pluck out remaining meat with ONE chopstick! This is too unproductive! | Cut the shell lengthwise (best with a pair of kitchen scissors), open it up, and pull or scrape the meat out. |
How long should one steam food to reheat safely?
One of the big problems with reheating food in a microwave or an oven is that it dries out the dish. To safely eat reheated food, it requires to be brought up to 165F or 75C.
How long on average, would a dish take to come up to this temperature when steamed in a domestic steamer? I'm thinking of something like mixed fried rice or meat biryani etc.,something where the steam can penetrate easily. I'd also be interested to hear if this would be a suitable method of heating frozen food, e.g. lasagne.
My theory is that this method would keep the contents moist, but at the same time not dry the dish out excessively.
I'd be particularly interested to hear of those with exposure to commercial steam ovens, as I believe these are frequently used for reheating food in hospitals etc. | Steaming is an excellent method for re-heating. Your theory is correct, and can also work with frozen food. Most sources on the webs suggest steaming thawed leftovers for 5 - 8 minutes. However, a lot will depend on the density your product, or thickness of your pile of leftovers, and whether or not the product is frozen. This will be true regardless of whether you are steaming at home on the stove, or in a commercial steam oven. I don't think it's possible to be much more specific than that on time. The only way to be sure is to measure the temperature. This is, of course, one of the reasons why cooks who work in professional kitchens carry thermometers. |
I am making duck confit this weekend and will refrigerate it. I am curious though; what are the concerns for leaving it in a cool room?
I've made duck confit many times before and used it fresh. This time, though, I'd like to try to age it in the fridge a bit to see if I notice a difference.
To do this I've purchased some earthenware pots. I will salt the duck legs for 24 hours in the fridge. Then I will remove excess salt, and place them in a 230F oven, completely submerged in fat, for about 4 hours.
It seems safe to assume that all of the duck will spend at least 2-3 hours near boiling temperature. It follows that this would effectively sterilize it. This got me thinking... If I were to leave it in the oven, undisturbed in a now sterilized oven, to cool until the fat solidifies and then simply leave it in my unfinished basement (which is constantly around 60-65F) how could bacteria realistically get a foothold and create unsafe food? I come across many posts claiming this is not food safe, but none of them explain any vector for spoilage and it seems you have to take them at face value to "be safe".
To be clear I'm not advocating for being lax on food safety, I'm just curious about the science behind why this could be hazardous. | 2-3 hours at an unknown temperature, which you assume (but cannot prove) that is 'near boiling' will not sterilize it.
First, to kill all spores which might already be present, 100 C is not sufficient. You need to spend a certain number of time at a certain internal temperature above 100*, and that temperature will have to apply to all parts of the meat - I don't have exact numbers on hand, and the tables for canning are for the whole process, not just the "sterilizing" part of it. Basically, for any process that sterilizes, you have to prove that, when executed repeatedly, it always ensures the minimum time at the minimum temperature.
Second, your pots are not sealed canning jars. Both in your oven (which is also not airtight and will permit the entry of bacteria after it cools) and in your basement, the fat layer will have contact with bacteria. Now, pure clarified fat is not actually bacteria-endangered (that's why oil is shelf-stable), but the fat in confit contains some small percentage of meat solids and meat juices, which, in the worst case (and food safety always assumes the worst case) are sufficient to give bacteria a foothold.
* to go down to the nitty-gritty, there is a certain trade-off, you can spend shorter times at higher temperatures, or longer times at lower temperatures. But specifically for spore-forming bacteria, there is a minimum temperature, below which even infinite times won't give you safety. |
Why did my fruit tart cream/custard have spots in it?
I just made a fruit tart for the first time in my life. I searched for fruit tart recipes and I decided to use a 5-star recipe with the most ratings to try to minimize the possibility that anything would go wrong.
The recipe says the following for the cream/custard filling:
Ingredients: 2 cups whole milk, 1/2 vanilla bean, 6 egg yolks, 2/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup cornstarch, 1 tbsp cold unsalted butter
In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla bean to a boil over medium heat. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to infuse for 15 minutes.
In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the cornstarch and whisk vigorously until no lumps remain. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture until incorporated.
Whisk in the remaining hot milk mixture, reserving the saucepan. Pour the mixture through a strainer back into the saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and slowly boiling. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter.
The only thing I did differently from the recipe was to not include the 1/2 vanilla bean in Step 1. Instead, while stirring in the butter in Step 4, I also added 1/2 tbsp of vanilla extract. Besides that, I followed exactly what the recipe said to do.
So what happened is that during Step 3, while I was whisking the 1/4 cup of hot milk into the mixture, I started seeing some spots in the mixture. By the end of Step 4, there were a lot of spots in the mixture, as you can see:
Also, during Step 4, the cream/custard turned very thick very quickly, and I couldn't pour it out of the saucepan like the recipe mentioned. Instead I had to spoon it out into a bowl. So I guess I messed up the consistency, although the final result wasn't bad and seemed to taste fine.
So what caused all of those spots to appear in the cream/custard? | The spots are burnt cornstarch. It created a browned layer on the bottom, which you tore up with the whisk and incorporated into the custard.
The reasons for this are:
insufficient whisking
too hot burner
too thin pot
Of the three, the first is the one most people underestimate. From the moment the starch gets inside, you should never stop stirring, making sure that you are touching the bottom. In fact, a flat-bottomed spatula is better than a whisk, to make sure that you are really moving the lowest layer away from the bottom consistently.
I am not sure if you really messed up the consistency. There are custards with different thickness, and being pourable when hot is not any special sign of quality. If you are happy with the final thickness (when the tart has cooled), keep it as-is. If it is too firm for you, reduce the amount of cornstarch next time. |
Material used for Portuguese custard tart molds
From a previous question, it was recommended that for Portuguese custard tarts to use galvanized steel or aluminum molds, and also that the oven be heated to minimally 250°C (482°F). This video at ~2:49 has the oven temperature at ~380°C (716°F) so putting the oven to as high as possible does seem right.
However, in a comment right underneath, it noted that at these temperatures the zinc coating may strip, and while this website seems to concur in that the highest recommended temperature is 200°C (392°F) for long term exposure, it stated that 350°C (662°F) is fine for short term (<2 hours) exposure, which is definitely within the expected range of baking the tart, and also far from the temperatures that usual ovens can produce.
However, I'm also wondering about the differences between using different other mold materials like stainless steel, cast iron, carbon steel, tin foil, silicone, etc. in mainly how long they should be baked, but also whether there's any difference in baking methods (i.e., bake for x minutes, then blast underneath the broiler for y minutes). | The oven might be at 380, but the tins are certainly not: they're in contact with the pastry, after all, which cools them down. You'd know if they actually got that hot because the tarts would be on fire. (Not burnt. On fire.) So there's no concern with the zinc. The tins are thin enough that the difference in thermal mass and thermal conductivity between, say, carbon steel and aluminum wouldn't make much difference. And non-stick-ness wouldn't be an issue either, because of the high fat level in the crust. So really, any of the metal options would be equivalent. Choose based on price, durability, and ease of cleaning.
Silicone wouldn't work well (and is a bad idea for baking dishes in general). It has extremely low thermal conductivity compared to metal. It wouldn't crisp the crust effectively, and it could definitely break down in the heat. |
is my beet/horseradish relish safe? I changed the recipe
It called for cooked shredded beets, raw chopped cabbage, horseradish, sugar and salt, packed in jars and cover w. vinegar.Nothing else. That seemed inadequate, so I added a cup of vinegar to the mix, put it in jars, and did a boiling water bath for 12 minutes. I was uneasy, so have put the jars in the fridge. They all sealed. Should I throw out the lot? | Always post the original recipe for this kind of question if you don't mind. But you increased the acidity of the mix, pasteurized them, and refrigerated them. Nothing you did here was unsafe.
The flavor and texture are going to be different. Vinegar will actually halt the spicy-fying process that horseradish undergoes, so the mix might be milder.
But as long as you keep the unopened jars refrigerated, see no sign of spoilage, and like the stuff you've got, it should be alright.
The only thought I have against your process is if the vinegar was supposed to start a fermentation process, which might have produced more vinegar than you added. Your recipe should tell you if that's intended. So maybe it won't be as sour.
If you really feel uncomfortable at all though, there's no shame in tossing it and starting over once you've done more research into the preservation process you're using. Better safe than sorry. |
How to use this pan?
Does anyone have any idea what this pan is called? It has a bottom dish and a rack that sits on top with several “legs”. It has a cover. There is a hole in the center of both the bottom part and the rack. I'm told it's from Argentina. I'm not sure how to use it and I can’t find anything online. | It looks like a "smokeless" stove top grill very similar to the one my mother used to have. Unfortunately I can't find any pictures online but the setup is the same.
You put it on a burner and add water to the lower plate. Food goes on the perforated plate, and you put the cover on to prevent heat from escaping. Fat drips onto the bottom plate with water, so it doesn't burn and doesn't create smoke.
I don't believe it's a Korean grill plate; in those usually the center is closed, both for creating a hot spot and to prevent grease from falling on top of the burner. In the one from the question the food doesn't go directly on top of the burner, it cooks like in an oven not with direct heat. |
Why do we need to reheat food?
Among family, I have found radically different approaches to reheating food that has already been fully cooked. Some will not eat last night's leftovers unless they have been microwaved to the point where every single part of the food is piping hot. Said people consider food that is "cold in the middle" dangerous. Others are happy as long the the meal is sufficiently warmed for it to be safe to eat.
This gives me my question. Why do leftovers need to be reheated before they can be eaten? Is it just for pleasure or is there an actual safety benefit? | The primary reason for reheating is just that warm food is more pleasant to eat. How warm, that is a personal preference - and stirring or heating longer can ensure more throughout heating.
Reheating does weaken and kill pathogens. However, properly stored food should not have a dangerous amount of pathogens to start with. And some pathogens can either tolerate high temperatures or excrete toxins that are not destroyed by heat. Thus reheating food that already has a high amount of pathogens is only partially effective. Heating before cold storage is much more effective, as the pathogens do not get the chance to grow in the first place. |
Proper size of Portuguese custard tart
On Amazon, I see that most of the egg tart molds have dimensions
~7 cm top diameter
~4 cm bottom diameter
~2 cm height
However, I then see some other molds seemingly from Portugal with dimensions
7.2 cm - 7.5 cm top diameter
~3.6 cm bottom diameter
2.7 cm - 3 cm height
which is a slightly smaller bottom and considerably taller height. My question is how (or whether) these differences in sizes affect the tart, and whether the ones from Amazon or the latter site would give a result that'd be considered closer to a "proper" pastel de nata. | For what my personal experience is worth: The pastel de nata I ate in Portugal this year (at least from 10 different bakeries) were more in line with a 2 cm height than 3 cm I'd say. I could imagine having more headroom gives you more volume for custard and "protection" against overflowing, but other than that you could probably even use a muffin form and be fine. |
What use is salting salmon skin?
When cooking salmon, I often see recipes instructing to salt both sides, including the skin.
If I’m not planning to eat the skin, does this serve another purpose? | Salt is a curing agent, it draws moisture out of the fish. If the recipe calls for salting the fish and then leaving it for some amount of time then the purpose is to firm up the fish before cooking or smoking it, and salt can work through the skin of the fish.
If the recipe calls for salting both sides and then immediately cooking it then it's just for surface flavor, and if you don't plan to eat the skin you can skip salting the skin side. |
Brisket Temperature?
I have received mixed information what is the right target temperature for Brisket. A lot of online recipes call for 90+ Celsius (mentioning that otherwise it's too tough) but on the other hand I was told at the butcher that 54 Celsius (as for other meets) also goes for Brisket, just better slow-cook it at 90-100 degrees.
Which one is it? | Brisket is cooked when the connective tissue is properly rendered. This happens sometime after 195ºF (90.5ºC). But you don't use temperature to tell when your brisket is done, you use texture. Use temperature to know when you should start checking (e.g. at 195ºF).
There are many different ways you can do this. Depending on who you ask they will give you their favorite technique. Some of the popular methods are:
The meat should "jiggle" a bit like jello when you shake it
Poking it with a bamboo skewer will feel like poking smooth peanut butter
Your finger should easily penetrate if you poke a particularly fatty portion, usually somewhere on the Point.
I personally use the first method. Using it properly is really about experiencing it. It can be hard to grasp until you actually try it. For my first brisket I was unhappy with checking for "jiggle" since it didn't seem like a very precise way of cooking. After I actually observed the jiggle in my brisket did it become apparent that its actually quite an effective way of telling when it is done.
As per the 54ºC...while technically cooked, it will be a terribly tough brisket. I wouldn't suggest it. Unlike a steak, brisket benefits from rendering all the connective tissue. |
What’s up with this egg?
I’ve never seen anything like this before. It came like this from the supermarket.
EDIT: here's what happened when my wife boiled it: | Chickens aren't machines, so sometimes they will have an issue with feed or other factors which cause the material of the eggshell to deposit unevenly. It shouldn't indicate any problem in a commercially produced egg where the flock should be effectively monitored for any disease factors which are relevant.
From Poultrykeeper.com
If the white of an egg (or the Albumen as it is correctly known) is watery, it is harder for a shell to be formed correctly around the egg, and quite simply, this can cause an egg shell to be wrinkled or to have ripples on it.
As hens get older, the whites in their eggs will get thinner. It is one reason farms of commercial egg-laying hens are replaced after 18 months because it can look like an egg is old if the white is watery, and it ‘spreads around the pan’ when you go to cook it for breakfast!
....Some diseases, such as the viral disease Infectious Bronchitis (IB), can also affect the bird’s ability to produce thick albumen (egg white). This can cause wrinkled egg shells, even years after infection because hens will be carriers of the disease for life. |
Can I make grapes honey from grape juice only
Following this video, we can see how to make grapes honey from grapes. Is there also a way to make grapes honey from 100% grape juice (instead of the whole grapes)? As can be seen in the video the process is based on several times of boiling while stirring the grapes. | This type of food is known in English as a "treacle", and it can be made from a variety of fruit, not just grapes.
You can surely make it from pure grape juice. You don't need to add sugar, the whole point of treacle is to concentrate the sugar of the grapes to use it as a sweetener on its own. Adding sugar would be redundant.
You don't need to make it with whole grapes, in fact it is better to use juice only. The fewer dry mass you have, the less burnt off-tastes you will get. Also, some parts of the fruit will never dissolve fully, as Stephie mentioned, so with whole fruit, you normally have to sieve it. It is easier to start with the juice already, then you only have to boil out the major part of the liquid. The reasons that it is traditionally done with whole fruit is that 1) it is less effort to boil, then sieve, than to press juice (sieving all the while) then boil, and 2) you will get more treacle per kg of grapes if you start with the whole fruit (although it will be less refined). |
Is there a "standard" stove heat?
When I'm trying to replicate a dish from a professional chef's video, I notice that sometimes they make a point to call out what heat they are using on the stove, but often they don't, not even using terms I know like "boil" or "simmer." It happens often enough with a diverse enough group of chefs that it seems like something basic I'm just supposed to know. Is there some sort of standard guidelines to what heat to use on the stove if not specified? | There’s no ‘standard’ heat level, as it really depends on what type of cooking you’re doing. There are some things that you can look for to try to figure out how much heat they’re using. But be aware that ‘medium’ heat with a large pan is going to be relatively less heat than ‘medium’ with a smaller pan on the same burner, so these are relative, not absolute:
If they’re cooking with gas, and the camera angle shows the flame, you can get a relative idea if it’s low or high heat.
If they make any comments about how you don’t want to develop color, or they mention ‘sweating’, it’s low heat.
If they’re keeping solid chunks of food in motion, mention ‘sauté’ or ‘stir fry’, or are actively flipping the food into the air, it’s likely high heat.
If the food sizzles when it hits the pan, it’s medium (and given a chance to pre-heat) to high heat.
If they put food in the pan, and it’s quiet, it’s low heat.
If they put oil in the pan, and you see wisps of smoke, it’s high heat (or medium that’s preheated a while).
If they have oil in the pan, and you see a shimmer, it’s medium heat.
But again, these are estimates. If you have a slightly thicker cut of something, you actually need to turn down the heat, so the middle cooks through before the outside darkens too much. |
Why do Brussels sprouts only taste good when cut?
My mom always used to cook or steam Brussels sprouts whole. I always hated them and still do now if they are prepared that way. They tend to get a very sharp, slightly bitter vegetable taste, similar to over-boiled fennel.
But on the other hand, then cut in halves or quarters they taste amazing. Especially fried in butter/olive oil, but also when boiled, with a hint of lemon juice I started to absolutely love them.
I was wondering why that is that they do not develop that distinctly disgusting flavour when they are cut?
I have some theories, but I would love to hear your thoughts on this:
Maybe by the time the centre is cooked the outer part is already overcooked.
The caramelisation that happens much more on the cut side makes them taste better. Perhaps the sweetness from that overtones the bitter flavour?
Or is there actually some chemical compound in Brussels sprouts that can not evaporate when they're whole? | I think you're on to something with regards to cut pieces cooking more evenly than whole sprouts. But I also think you might be seeing causation where you should just be seeing correlation.
The "classic" way to cook Brussels sprouts is to leave them whole and steam them. That results in minimal flavor development. When overcooked, chemicals are produced with bitter, garlicky, and/or sulfurous overtones. Similar chemicals are produced when long-cooking many other other green vegetables, and are likely what you associated with overcooked fennel. Since no other "interesting" tastes are really produced by steaming, those tastes take center stage, no matter how much butter you put on the sprouts.
Cooking the sprouts at high heat, as restaurants generally do these days, results in caramelization and Maillard browning. Those taste good, and dominate the flavor profile, covering up some of the unpleasant tastes which steaming (but also other cooking methods) produce. Getting a good sear when shallow-frying Brussels sprouts requires cutting them, so there's an association between how they're cut and how they're cooked.
There's another aspect to "modern" Brussels sprouts. In the 1990s, agricultural botanists in the Netherlands bred Brussels sprouts with much lower bitterness than classic cultivars; over time, these new sprouts took over the market. So cooking processes aside, Brussels sprouts today are less bitter than the ones from your childhood. (For that matter: as you age, bitter tastes become less unpleasant.)
As I mentioned, you may be on to something with regards to cut pieces cooking more quickly, not giving the outside a chance to overcook, but I suspect what you're primarily seeing is just the result of modern cooking methods compared to the frankly unpleasant results of classic "steam 'em for a while" treatment. |
How many tablespoons of butter are in a tablespoon of butter?
The title may sound silly, but the question is serious:
When I buy butter, the package says Net Wt. 16oz, and I trust this because the authorities regulate such things.
Inside the package, each stick is divided evenly into 8 tablespoons. Now, although a fluid ounce of water might weigh almost exactly a 1/16 of a lb., butter is like 80% fats. There's no way a fluid ounce of butter (exactly 2 tablespoons) weighs 1/16 of a lb.
So, how many tablespoons of butter are there in a "tablespoon" (per the package marking) of butter? | 16 fluid ounces of water do not weigh one pound, they weigh a little more (about 1.05lbs), because the US fluid ounce is not based on water, unlike the liter.
You are correct that 16 weight ounces of butter aren't equivalent to 16 fluid ounces either, but they're pretty close. 1 fluid ounce of butter is 99% of one weight ounce. So if you're getting 16 weight ounces of butter, you're actually getting an extra 1% over 16 fluid ounces.
And who's going to complain about 1% extra butter?
So, your answer is approximately 1.01 tablespoons. |
Will lemon in a cast-iron pan with roast chicken cause problems?
I have two chicken recipes that I've perfected over the years:
Roasted spatchcock in the oven, in a pre-heated cast iron pan, using a rub with oil, paprika, and garlic
Rotisserie on the grill, stuffed with a lemon, and basted with a sweet tomato-based sauce
The oven-roasted version results in nice crispy skin and great pan juices from the fat melting out of the chicken mixing with the rub. The rotisserie version has a nice lemon flavor from the whole lemon.
Since I can't use my rotisserie indoors (it's a grill attachment), I'd like to figure out how to get that lemon flavor into the chicken as we move into weather where I can't cook outdoors.
I've seen several recipes that involve roasting chicken in a cast iron skillet with lemon (for example, here and here), but I'm skeptical, as I have previously ruined the seasoning in my skillet by using too much vinegar when deglazing, and I know that lemon juice can also be used for deglazing. I'm also aware that there can be issues with acidic liquids leaching iron out of the pan and/or corroding the pan.
But perhaps I'm asking the impossible. Is there any way to get lemon flavor into a chicken that's roasted in a cast iron skillet, without ruining the seasoning? | This really depends on your existing seasoning. I have a cast iron pan that I have maintained for years. I roast chicken in it, sometimes with lemon slices, I don't have a problem with the seasoning. I occasionally wash it with soap and water (though that is not the general cleaning practice I use), with no problems.
If you don't want lemon on the surface of the pan, you could marinate your chicken. You could also put lemon slices under the skin. |
Found a single fruit fly inside my batch of apple cider vinegar. Should I throw it all away?
I'm making apple cider vinegar. I strained the scraps from the liquid and some time later, found a single fruit fly inside the jar. I took it off, but didn't throw it all away. It's been almost 5 months since it happened, but I didn't use the vinegar also.
Should I throw it away or use it?
Thanks! | Fruit flies don't carry human diseases.
They are ok. When they walk on things we want to eat, we can still eat those things. The things don't turn bad. Really, even if the fruit are full of larvae they are still not poison. If you are hungry you can still eat them.
If the vinegar has been sitting for 6 months there are no other flies. Try a little. If you like it, use it. |
Does Challah bread need to be braided?
I need to bake Challah bread for sandwiches for a large number of people. Can I avoid the braiding? is it important to the final taste? | The most common form of Ashkenazi (Central and Eastern European) challah is braided. However, other shapes are not unknown.
For the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, Ashkenazi Jews eat a round challah. These are sometimes still braided, but often they are not. To make a round (unbraided) challah, we follow the same exact recipe, but after bulk fermentation, instead of divding the dough into 3/6/8 strands and braiding them, we form a log, or tubular shape, like a French batârd, then twist this log into a short spiral.
And, of course, we must remember that Ashkenazis are not the only Jews in the world. Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews do not typically make braided challah. They make round challah all year: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017858-sephardic-challah-with-whole-spices
Note: it's not "challah bread" - it's just "challah". Just like we don't say "baguette bread" or "ciabatta bread" or "brioche bread" or "focaccia bread" |
Does the addition of acid into flour inhibit gluten formation?
I want my dough to have minimal gluten formation. For that I will be adding boiling water to my flour. Also I am curious that does adding any acid such as lemon juice/vinegar will inhibit gluten formation or increase formation of gluten? | No, it will not inhibit gluten formation. On the contrary, it will make much stronger gluten strands. In fact, if you want the strongest gluten, you have to go either quite sour (pH 3.5) or quite alkalic (I don't remember the exact number). Working on the alkalic side of things is impractical in the kitchen, so there are very few applications (kansui or pretzels are the only examples I can think of spontaneously), but making bread more sour for stronger gluten is a very common thing. It can be done by different methods, for example through using sourdough, or adding orange juice, or using commercial dough improvers based on ascorbic acid.
If you want to inhibit gluten formation, stay neutral (pH 7). Or just shorten your dough with a fat, it is the easiest and most common solution that has been practiced for thousands of years and works great. |
Do I need to soak fresh beans?
I have scarlet runner beans in my garden this year. I just picked my first batch of dry pods and shelled them. Most of the recipes I find online assume that you are buying or using dry beans and call for a 4-6 hour pre-soak.
I have cooked dried black beans and pinto beans before using a pre-soak, and the beans are usually hard and wrinkled before soaking and smooth and plump afterwards. My scarlet runner beans are already plump and smooth straight out of the pod.
Do I need to soak them before cooking? What about other bean varieties? If I grew black or pinto beans in the garden, would I need to soak them? | No, you don't need to soak fresh shell beans.
Unlike their dried counterparts, shelling beans don't need a soak before using. Most fresh shelling beans require from 20 to 30 minutes to cook
The Spruce Eats
I'm not sure where they got the idea that most fresh shell beans take 20-30 minutes. You'll find recipes that vary from 10 to 60 minutes of cooking time.
Here's a recipe from the New York Times (maybe behind a paywall - sorry) that has you cook beans for 55 minutes: Shell Bean Ragout. And you may appreciate that this recipe specifically mentions scarlet runner beans as one of the varieties that would work here.
Shell beans take less than half the time to cook than their dried counterparts. Look for varieties such as mottled pink and white cranberry beans, also known as borlotti beans; large scarlet runner beans that are mottled and purple, despite the name; and pale yellow cannellini beans.
I have never seen fresh black or pinto beans being sold, but my guess is this has to do with economics, rather than edibility. |
Fermenting Peppers in brine with 1 table spoon salt to 0.9 L Jar, too low salt? Botulism risk?
I have fermented some peppers, but after doing so, I started to doubt the ratio of salt might be too low;
I used 1 table spoon of salt, for a jar of 0.9 L; does this create a safe environment against botulism?
It has been about a week, and there some big bubbles floating to the top | A brine like that will not by itself prevent bacteria such as clostridium botulinum from growing. But that’s not a problem. For lacto-fermented vegetables, it is rather the acidity which makes a hostile environment. Lactic fermentation is quite dependable and safe; if things go wrong, they will go obviously wrong (rotten smell, colorful mold everywhere), not silent-and-deadly wrong. |
How do taco trucks get their soft taco shells to have a slightly oily texture and more complex taste?
When I get tacos from a taco truck or the more authentic Mexican restaurants here, the soft corn taco shells often have a somewhat oily texture and are a darker color than the shells are prior to being warmed/cooked. Here is one example and here is another example
How do they get the texture to be like that? I've tried using some oil when I warm the tacos in a pan, but that starts to make them crispy (the shells that I'm trying to replicate don't have burnt crispy spots) and the color doesn't get darker like trucks and restaurants manage. It also seems like the good chefs get the taco shells to have a more complex taste, whereas when I've tried it with oil or with no liquid, the shells aren't as tasty. | The oily texture is from the oil. The normal way to heat corn tortillas for tacos, to make them soft and foldable without weakening them, is to briefly heat them on an oiled flattop grill.
The darkness comes partially from having oil on them, and partially from the type of corn used. They do not significantly darken while being heated. If you go to a Mexican grocery store you'll see various shades available; supermarkets with a limited selection of Mexican ingredients will probably just have the common light-colored corn tortillas.
If you've tried frying them and they've become crispy or gotten burnt spots, you're probably doing them too long or at too high a heat (presumably in an attempt to darken them). You shouldn't try to cook them at this step: once they're warmed, they're done. |
Why is pasta added to Turkish rice (sehriyeli pilav)?
In a follow-up on another question (What are these spaghetti-like strings in the rice I got from a Turkish shop?), I would like to know WHY pasta is typically added to Turkish rice dishes (like sehriyeli pilav) ?
Is it just a matter of flavor, or might there be another historical reason ? | There's no specific historical reason. Turkish folks cook a lot of pilaf, and as such they like to change it up by trying different kinds of pilaf. Examples:
rice pilaf with orzo
rice pilaf with vermicelli
rice pilaf with chickpeas
rice pilaf with saffron
bulgur wheat pilaf(video)
Asking why Turkish folks put different things in their pilaf is, then, just like asking why Italians have so many kinds of pasta, or why Americans make sandwiches out of so many different foods. It's because it's a dietary staple, and people like variety. |
Injecting Jack Daniels into pork
I have been smoking meats for a while now, and was recently given a marinade injector. I searched through a few forums, and found a few people really like mixing apple juice with Jack Daniels for their marinade for pork butts.
When doing this, do I cook off the alcohol first? Or should I just inject it the night before without cooking off the alcohol? | It really depends on what sort of end result you're trying to get.
If you don't reduce the alcohol before injecting it, you're going to end up with boozy pork. If this is what you want, go for it.
Otherwise, reduce the alcohol, mix in the apple juice, and then inject that. You could also try flaming the alcohol, which won't cook off as much alcohol, but can create other interesting flavors. |
Can fresh (frozen) beans be added directly to stew?
I am making a pressure cooker stew and have frozen butter beans that I would like to add. Since I generally use dried beans, my typical process would be to soak the beans overnight, cook them separately and then add them to the stew at the end.
With the fresh beans it seems reasonable to just add the frozen beans directly to the stew after cooking the stew, then pressure cook the whole thing together for 10 minutes.
Having never cooked frozen beans before:
Do fresh beans absorb a significant amount of water during cooking? If I add 1 lb of frozen beans, how much extra water should I add?
I pressure cook the stew for ~45 minutes. If I added the beans at the beginning would they be mush by the end? | It worked phenomenally!
I quick-released my stew ~5 minutes earlier than usual, added the frozen beans (no extra water needed- the beans were just covered by the liquid) pressure cooked on high for 7 minutes then allowed to release naturally.
The beans were buttery but totally intact. Would recommend. |
Do I have to dry the blanched and cool-rinsed basil leaves before freezing?
I harvested all my basil today. I plan to blanch for 3 to 5 seconds and cool quickly with ice water. (In batches.) Now what? Do I really have to spread out the leaves and dry them before freezing? Sounds tedious! | Because they are blanched, they will never be as good as fresh.
I'd squish the water out of them and freeze them packed in ice cube trays and store the resulting cubes in ziplock type bags |
How does the size of the ginger affect the candy process?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-MFpM74SNw&ab_channel=Carolineartiss
I'm interested in candying ginger, like in this video. I want tiny candied ginger pieces to use in ginger biscuits. I'm just curious as to how if you grate ginger instead of just cutting pieces how that would or should affect the way you candy them?
I'm also feeling like leaving the skin on. I just don't feel like going through the effort of peeling the ginger. I don't know how good or bad an idea that is. | In my experience, it's easy to accidentally burn very small pieces. Candying grated ginger is probably possible, but would require excellent temperature control to prevent burned ginger. I like to candy mandolined slices (on one of the thicker settings) for minimal effort. As for peeling, there are a number of "hacks" for how to do it easily. I personally like using a teaspoon to scrape the peel off. (And I spend some time in the store picking a nice, smooth piece that will be easy to peel.) The peel is kind of unpleasantly papery and tough, even when cooked as thoroughly as candying requires. |
What kind of pickle was this?
A while ago, I ate a charcuterie board that had, among other things, a strange pickled vegetable that I had never seen before and have not heard of since.
I say vegetable but it was probably a fruit.
It was green and round, only a bit larger than a nickel.
The pickle came with a thin hard stem attached to it, like a green bean's stem, only longer and thinner. I'd say it was about 2 inches and attached to the fruit with a very small cap (or calyx according to Wikipedia)
It had large hard seeds inside it, I think there were 8 in there. They reminded me of guava seeds.
It had lighter green striations running across parallel from the stem.
The taste was hard to describe. Vegetal like kale and sweet like a sweet pickle. It was pickled so I don't know how much of that taste was inherent in the plant and how much was the pickle.
Does anyone know what kind of pickle I ate? | It sounds like you may be describing a caper berry. Most folks are familiar with capers, which are the pickled or salted flower bud from the caper plant. However, if the buds are left to mature into fruit, it becomes a caper berry.
Caper berries (like capers) are usually pickled or salted, are about the size of a grape (and vary in size, like grapes), and often packaged with stems intact.
This image shows caper berries in the upper left, and also in the center of the salad itself:
This Amazon listing and this website both have some good images of caper berries up close as well. |
What is salt baking?
I have seen in cooking competition videos many approaches to salt baking vegetables and fish.
the vegetable is placed atop a pile of salt
the salt is mixed with egg white to make a casing that is hard packed around the object and baked
egg whites are whipped into a meringue and the salt is mixed as a sugar would be with french meringue. The object is "frosted" with the meringue like a baked alaska.
Are all of these valid approaches to "salt baking"? | yes.
Usually the food is places in a "coffin" of wet salt (water or most of time egg whites).
The food is sometimes wrapped in leaves to protect it from the salt; or in the case of whole fish, the skin will protect it from the salt.
There's also another technique to cook the food on a slab of rock salt; you slowly heat the salt slab in the oven and when it's hot enough, you can "grill" the food on it. (as far as I know, it's mostly useless). |
Bread dough flattens during final proof & almost no oven spring
Since several weeks I'm trying to get my bread to rising more in the oven. I experimented quite a bit but the results are still far from perfect. Everything goes fine until the shaping of the loaf. Although my dough has developed a proper gluten structure, it just falls flat during the final rise and has almost no oven spring (I'm pretty sure that it is not overproofed). Furthermore, when scoring the dough my knife often gets stuck which therefore leads to more of an tearing than cutting of the dough. I wasn't able to find any useful tips on the internet which is why I'm asking here for advice now. Has anyone of you had similar problems or knows the reason why this is happening?
My recipe:
Ingredients:
225g white flour
175g whole wheat flour (spelt)
10g salt
288g water
about 7g dry yeast
some bread spice
(room temperature: 22/23°C)
about 6-7 min kneading by hand (passes windowpane test)
1:40 h bulk fermentation, with 2 folds (after 30 min and 1h)
preshaping the dough; letting it rest for 15 min before final shaping
preheat the oven with a try of water at the bottom to 250°C
score the dough after 50 min and spray it with water
bake it for about 50 min; remove the water tray after 15 min and turn the temperature down to 200°C
In the second picture you can clearly see that the bread didn't really expand during baking (maybe a little bit). Even though the crumb and the crust look good and it also tastes pretty good, I would still like my bread to be taller and not to look like a pancake. (Sadly I have no pictures of the dough during rising)
Update
I made another bread today and tried to apply some of the advices. Sadly, the shape of the bread basically turned out the same (even though it tasted much better :D). Here is what I changed:
Reduced the yeast to 2g
Increased bulk fermentation to 4h
Increased final rise to 2h
Increased fold count to 5
Used a banneton (in this case a metal bowl with towel) for the final rise
Baked a little bit longer and put the bread under a metal bowl for the first 25min
Some further information which might be useful:
Bread dough passed windowpane-test
Dough wasn't overproved or underproved (As far as I can tell)
Dough passed poke-test after final rise
When putting the dough on the baking sheet it spread out into a puddle (not enough dough strength?)
Dough didn't rise at all in the oven (at 230°C - 250°C)
After thinking a bit about the result I came up with the following ideas:
Dough isn't strong enough
Oven too hot
Not enough steam
Is it worth pursuing these thoughts any further?
Lastly, here are some images of the second bread: | I can't see anything that wrong, it looks like you are getting a decent crumb and crust so you probably aren't that far off. Here's a few thoughts:
The middle looks denser than the outside, I suspect you under-proofed it before baking, which is easy to do when you work to a time rather than a result. In home baking you can't control for all conditions so your final proof may take 40 minutes or an hour and a half depending on the day, you need to give it as long as it needs until it gets to the right size
Your dough is somewhere around 72% hydration, so it's going to be a bit gooey and not hold shape very well. Unless you get the proofing in the right direction it's going to expand out, not up. This is often done with bread pans/tins, or if you want a traditionally shaped loaf you use a proofing basket in the shape you are looking for, in your case it's a batard (I think). A proofing basket will hold it in that shape as it proofs, then you turn it out just before baking. I'm partial to natural materials rather than plastic because you can turn the bread straight onto a stone and the basket won't melt. Another advantage of a proofing basket is that it's much easier to see how much the dough has expanded in proofing
Bad scoring can cause dough to collapse, it's important to have good technique and to use a razor. I have a box cutter reserved for this and only this purpose, but you can get a baker's lame which is a razor on a stick. Start the slash before you reach the bread so the razor is moving when it hits the dough. You can practice on un-proofed dough and then simply knead it a bit and re-shape. A few drops of olive oil on the blade just before you slash help as well. Your slash could be deeper too
15 minutes may not be quite enough steam to get full oven spring, I would go for half the baking time |
Managing a new, overactive sourdough starter
I began growing a sourdough starter a couple days ago. Things are going very well so far! Too well, in fact; my sourdough starter achieves 2-3x its deflated size in less than 12 hours.
My research tells me that this is not a capital-P Problem. It does not have an odd smell, and has none of the worrying off-colors. It sounds like I have a good, incredibly active starter in a warmish climate, and that with repeated feeding things will even out as the bacteria die off, the yeast takes over, and the starter reaches maturity. All I need is time.
All that said: what is the best keep this starter from overgrowing its container while in this unstable, infant stage? Is it okay to stir/deflate it when it grows too large between feedings? Should I try to reduce its temperature? | Sourdough starters perform best in the 70 - 80F (21 - 26.5C) range. Warmer will, of course, speed things up....cooler will slow them down. Over time, your starter will conform to your environment. In fact, this is an interesting element of starters. As different environments can create different flavors. I would suggest a larger container, or a smaller amount of starter until things stabilize, and you come to understand how your starter performs. You can easily adjust the quantity. It's all proportional. I keep a very small amount of already established starter alive and in the refrigerator, like maybe 1/4 cup. Then, when I want to bake, I remove it from the fridge, and take a couple of days to scale things up to the amount I want to use. |
War-zone chocolate brownies (edible decor)
I have been tasked with creating war-zone brownies: should contain visual cues that the brownie is a conflict zone and have edible props.
My progress has been very slow. After a few days, I'm still at the drawing board. I've only ordered some cheap toothpick props to stick in to cultivate the war-zone atmosphere: ak 47s, flags, ect. The trouble is these are not edible and betray the spirit of the project. In other words, I will still need some edible things too.
My online queries found no shortage of fairy-dust, unicorns and a slew of other goody-two-shoes edible confectionery decorations, but virtually nothing in terms of the macho-man, war-zone edibles I'm after, leading me to conclude that a store-bought solution is unlikely. That leaves me with improvising edible props.
To keep things simple, and to keep this question within a reasonable scope, I'll simply limit the universe of answers to help find edible solutions to my checklist, which is short:
Guns / gun-looking things (best I could do was pocky)
Bullets
Debris
Question
Given my needs and approximate aesthetic as described above, what edible solutions can I improvise to decorate my war-zone chocolate brownies? (note: answers should ideally pair well with the flavor chocolate). | Consider using fondant toppings.
Fondant is a confectionery topping with a consistency similar to modelling clay. It should be possible to cut a sheet of it into shapes such as firearms, bombs, military vehicles, destroyed buildings, flags, et cetera, or to hand-mold it into appropriate shapes. It's often used on cakes, and it should work well enough on brownies as well.
I question the wisdom of doing so, since it might offend or hurt someone who has lost loved ones in a conflict zone, but I guess it might make sense if you're doing this baking on behalf of a military unit, or you're raising awareness about a current conflict zone as part of an anti-war campaign. |
Can I substitute ketchup with tomato puree in marinades?
I want to experiment with various marinades the first time, and I've found great recipes but some of them require the use of ketchup.
While it sounds awesome, I find it unhealthy and prefer not to buy ketchup only for the sake or marinades. Can I achieve the same with natural tomato puree? If yes, what other spices should I consider for the same effect?
If the question is vague: I want to cook pork, mostly. | Ketchup has a very different flavour profile to tomato puree. Ketchup contains tomatoes, but also (from memory and Greg Nickoloff's helpful comment) salt, sugar, vinegar, and flavours like celery, allspice, garlic, onion and tamarind. A recipe that asks for ketchup is likely drawing on all of these to some extent; for example I have seen ketchup in recipes that echo tamarind sauces for stir fries.
By all means experiment with ketchup replacements for your marinades; you could use the list above (or just the ingredients list on a ketchup bottle) as a starting point. 'Healthy' is off-topic here (and pretty meaningless anyway) but assuming that what you're worried about is sugar you may find that with less sugar the end product has less colour and shine as well as tasting different.
Happy marinating! |
What done-ness is safe, but still juicy, to order wild boar cooked to?
I recently went to a restaurant here that claims to offer local fair. It was in a super touristy area so I have my doubts, but it plays the part well.
Anyway, what I ordered was the Shogun Farms Wild Boar loin, though I can't remember how it was cooked, but I think it was either on a grill or seared. However, I have always been told that you have to cook pork to well done or you will get parasites and die. And I learned from watching Monsters Inside Me on Animal Planet that you should cook wild game well done or you will get parasites and your life will suck. So basically, I ordered my wild pork game pork well done so I wouldn't get parasites and have my life suck until I die.
Now. The food was excellent. Even the boar loin. However, to paraphrase the famous Canadian food critic Squirrely Dan, it was drier than a fart. So my question is: at what done-ness should/could I have ordered this at such that it would have been juicy and delicious and I wouldn't get eye worms, trichinosis, or that thing where your skin will be itchy forever?
Addendum: I will accept answers that state that loin, due to its low fat, and boar, due to its lower fat, basically has to be cardboard to be safe. I will then at least be able to make an informed decision. | The linked website says the animals are trapped, dewormed, deloused and checked for other problems. As this is a USDA approved farm (according to their website), they will have to follow USDA rules around parasites etc. This also means that the USDA food safety rules apply. To quote the USD |
Can I freeze soaked+boiled (but not fully cooked) kidney beans?
I soaked too many beans for my chilli, and couldn't fit them all in my slow cooker. The kidney beans were the last to go in due to their need for a hard boil, so they're what's left.
I won't have the chance to use them up in the next few days, so I intend to drain and freeze them. I reckon I can assume they will be safe, so I'm interested in quality - things like:
Will I need to do anything special to them when I defrost them?
Are they likely to fall apart (still useful, but for different foods)?
Will they soften?
Storing rehydrated beans also mentions freezing, but was closed as a duplicate of How long can I store soaked beans before cooking?, which doesn't address freezing at all. So even if this question turns out to be a duplicate, it's not a duplicate of that one. | I tried it, and it worked.
Specifically having frozen the drained, boiled, but still hard beans for a few weeks I deforsted them in the fridge and added them to Dal Makhani, also made in the slow cooker. By the time the black lentils were fully cooked, after several hours on high, the kidney beans were also soft, and split but not falling to bits. So within the tolerance of slow cooking, there was no need to adjust anything. |
Defrosting meat in the refrigerator causes it to have dark spots
I defrost about 40g of meat a few times a day for my cat. I take the meat out of the freezer and put it into a small sealed container which sits in the refrigerator for a few hours.
Sometimes the meet has weird dark spots, but only on the inside of the bits:
What are those?
Is my technique of defrosting meat correct or am I doing something wrong? | You're not doing anything wrong. If you kept the meat fresh, in your fridge, eventually it would undergo color changes, as well. Freezing meat and then thawing it is also a pretty major set of physical changes to it's initial state. I'd think minor changes to its appearance would be expected.
Ask USD |
How can buttermilk marinade for raw chicken be used afterwards?
Other questions here ask about reusing chicken marinade. My question is not about reuse for a second batch but about options for using the leftover marinade immediately for another cooking purpose.
I've read comments elsewhere that this cannot be done due to food safety. However, these comments seem to reflect gut feelings and are not scientifically grounded. Sufficient heat kills bacteria in the leftover buttermilk just as it does in the chicken that is to be cooked. But if you think otherwise, please reference science in your answer. | I don't know about buttermilk marinade.
You can reuse marinade used for meat if you cook/boil it enough to kill bacterias.
https://www.thespruceeats.com/making-marinades-safe-331649
"The most effective way to kill the germs and make the marinade safe to eat is to boil it. This is an approved suggestion according to the USDA's food safety guidelines."
https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/Can-you-reuse-meat-marinade
"If some of the marinade is to be used as a sauce on the cooked food, reserve a portion of the marinade before putting raw meat or poultry in it. However, if the marinade used on raw meat or poultry is to be reused, make sure to let it come to a boil first to destroy any harmful bacteria." |
Is putting cold milk foam on hot coffee unsafe?
I've been told that its not safe because of the temperature difference, but I also know that people put whipped cream on stuff like hot chocolate, so why wouldn't it be safe to put cold foam on hot coffee? | There is no safety issue with adding cold milk foam to hot coffee. Coffee aficionados recommend against adding cold milk to hot coffee, because they suggest it compromises the flavor of freshly brewed coffee. Their recommendation is that any milk, foam or not, should be warmed, but it is not a food safety issue. |
Deterring mold on bakery bread
Lately we've been finding that we can only keep quality bakery bread loaves on the counter for about 5 days before they start to mold. We'd like to get a little longer out of them -- say 8-9 days -- because while stale at 1 week, they're still good for toast and croutons if not moldy.
We buy unsliced artisan bakery loves, sometimes from the bakery directly sometimes from grocery stores that get daily delivery. These are large French or sourdough loaves (1lbs to 2lbs), or 1.5lbs whole wheat sandwich loaves. They are generally preservative-free.
We store them on the counter, in a heavy paper bag during humid weather or in a thin plastic bag (like a produce bag) during drier weather (we don't reuse bags between loaves). They are in a shaded spot on the counter. We live in the US Pacific Northwest and do not have air conditioning, so ambient conditions are generally between 40%-70% relative humidity and 60F (15C) to 80F (25C) inside the house, depending on the season. The time-to-mold doesn't seem to vary much with the season, though.
I'd already tried cleaning our counters extensively using soap and vinegar and some moldkiller, and that didn't seem to change anything.
So, question: What else can I do to extend the loaves' time on the counter by a few more days before they go moldy? I am asking for practical tips that you have actually tried, or have citations for real-world testing.
Notes: not looking for advice that involves freezing or preservatives or changing bread brands. I read this question, but it's about changing the bread recipe, not about techniques to preserve a bought loaf. I saw the UV idea, but haven't been able to find anyone who has personal experience with using one and obviously it's quite a project. I've also looked at most of the advice in articles like this, but they don't give sources for their advice or any evidence that they've tested it, and some of it is contradictory. | Our baker suggests a stone ware or clay pot for storing bread and putting it with the cut, open side to the ground of the pot so that this side is protected and not in direct contact with the air.
Using a bread bin or putting the bread in a linen bag into a bread bin also works very well.
Usually we keep our bread fresh using these methods for a week, speaking for German baker made darker breads with a high part of whole grain flour. |
heat-induced leavening agent
there's baking soda (or sodium bi-carbonate) and and baking power for for numerous baking applications (if there's a cooking use, please call me out on that!). baking soda creates porosity via reaction with an acid, which generates carbon dioxide (the heat then increases that initial, induced unit volume). however, baking powder (as it is so marketed, "double-reacting") creates that initial porosity via carbon dioxide generation via acid AND heat.
so, my question is this: is there any leavening agent that provisions this initial porosity via ONLY heat alone? in case anyone is wondering, please forgo any kind of natural or "sourdough"-type approach to solving this question. | Kind of - you can use eggs as leavening. Actually what happens here is that beaten egg retains air in the form of bubbles. The air expands when heated, creating a leavening effect. It doesn't escape as it is trapped in the solidifying matrix of the egg as it cooks. |
Xanthum gum alternative to flour and heavy cream rather than milk
For dried beef gravy I use 6 TBSP flour to 6 TBSP butter to 3-1/2 cups of milk. Due to my grandson's medical condition, I need use xanthum gum instead of the flour & heavy cream rather than milk. Can you suggest proper proportions? I would appreciate any assistance you can offer. | I'm going to guess that your grandson is "gluten intolerant", and that you did some research and discovered that gluten-free baking often uses xanthan gum as a substitute for the structural effects of gluten in wheat flour.
Which is true, but not relevant to your situation. When you use flour in gravy, gluten formation is unwanted. (That's one of the reasons you cook the flour before adding the liquid: it prevents gluten from forming.) The important textural aspect of the wheat flour is the starch, which thickens the gravy.
There are other sources of starch which can thicken liquids like gravy. Cornstarch and arrowroot starch are the most common in American cuisine. You can use xanthan gum to thicken liquids, but the result has an extremely slimy consistency, particularly if dairy is also used. Trust me on this: you will not want to eat a gravy which is thickened with cream and xanthan gum.
Cornstarch is a slightly more powerful thickener than wheat flour, so I would use about 70% as much. It does not need to be cooked in a roux; thoroughly mix it with a bit of cold water and then pour it into the gravy while mixing rapidly. The appropriate amount of xanthan gum in this case is 0%. |
Adding dairy to non-perishable sauce
I am making cocktail sauce from mayo ketchup and pickle juice. I store it in room temp for months. Now I have an idea of adding some yogurt to it.
Can I still consider it non-perishable?
[Edit]
Current comment consensus is - No[citation needed]
How can I check it? Count pH? Measure pH?
Was this good idea in a first place even without the yogurt? | Each of the parts of your current recipe can be kept for months in a closed container, but once the container has been opened, you run a risk of spoilage.
Mixing two or more ingredients increases the risk of something going wrong, as with the ingredients you mix air and possible contaminations into the sauce.
You can mix a sauce like this for use that same day, maybe the next but should not store it for longer.
Adding a 'non shelf stable' ingredient will increase the risk for something going wrong by a lot. When you mix the yogurt into the mix you should use it within a few hours, even when you store it in the fridge. (It is not guarantied things do go wrong but the risk goes up again against the mix without yogurt.) Likely it will be alright for a few days but you better mix just before use and not store for later.
The pH value does help keeping bad things from happening but it can only go so far. When mold spores get in, they can develop into full scale molds. And that is just one thing going wrong. |
Why do most people in USA use Soyabean cooking oil even when it is refined?
I checked on this article that most used oil is Soyabean oil, in USA.
why the number of Soyabean oil still very high as compared to other oils like Olive oil? | We can't speak to health claims on this site, but common cooking oils in the US are canola, vegetable (a combination of canola, corn,soy, palm, and sunflower) and corn oils. This probably comes down to the fact that they are plentiful and relatively inexpensive. |
Alternative to fish stock
My wife has a strange variation of the common seafood allergy; rather than being allergic to shellfish, she can only eat shellfish but reacts badly to finfish (trout, salmon, cod, etc.).
I love seafood and would love to make some variations of common fish dishes I love, such as seafood soup. I'm fine with squid, clams, and such, but the poaching stock comes out way too thin. Is there a quality stock alternative from shellfish? I've tried canned clam juice from the grocery store, but the taste isn't as strong as I would like, and it's a lot of money for very little juice. I've considered picking up the dried shrimp from the Asian market and making a paste, although that won't have much clarity. Any suggestions? | I don’t know if there are commercially available products, but you can always make your own.
My mom would regularly make shrimp stock from the heads and shells of shrimp.
You can use the shells of crabs, lobster, or other crustaceans. I recommend steaming them, remove the meat, then put thr shells into a pot to simmer.
You’ll want to just barely cover the shells with water, so you’re not diluting the stock with too much water. If you want to further concentrate it, I would recommend straining it first, then reducing it.
If you wanted to use dried shrimp, it would probably work just as well. Just don’t make it into a paste, so you can strain them out easily. |
How long to steam tofu (extra firm) without predrying or what is cooked temperature?
I understand meats have recommended cooking temperatures to tell when they are done, but the extra firm tofu I buy says to fry it for like 8-10 minutes or something. I want to steam this tofu and was wondering if I should be doing it for X time or aiming for a certain internal temperature like meat. How can I determine when the tofu is done.
I am also very lazy so I don't thoroughly dry or press the tofu before cooking.
I'm just looking to cook the tofu to make it easy/safe tp eat, no particular culinary texture/flavor goals. | Is your aim to just "cook" the tofu or are you trying achieve a particular texture or flavor?
If the concern is safety or "rawness" of some sort, tofu is cooked and perfectly edible as-is. Really, just warming it up (or not at all!) to the temperature you want should be fine.
The instruction for frying has a set time because it aims to significantly change the flavor/texture of the tofu. If your aim is to change the tofu somehow, I don't expect steaming to do much, as the process of making tofu itself already involves steaming (or boiling, depending on exact method) the soybeans. |
Egg Yolk Sub for Vegan Potato Gnocchi
Attempts at potato gnocchi Piedmont style -no egg- has yielded rubber bullets or baby mush.
Tips from this site may help (ie old potato,freshly baked and riced) with a vegan version but their recommended egg yolk recipe has me hoping for a breakthrough:
Would other egg pasta substitutes have the desired effect of producing resilient pillows?
EVOO or Aquafaba show up in a few 'egg' noodle recipes; would that help? Or perhaps a potato protein based whole-egg replacer like Panaceg?
https://www.countrytrading.co/blogs/home-cooking/tips-to-make-perfect-potato-gnocchi | I prefer egg-yolk gnocchi but I’ve been successful in making yolk-free, pillowy, fluffy gnocchi by subbing out a couple of the russets (~1/5 the total weight of the potatoes) with yams or sweet potatoes in combination with my own invention that my spouse calls it “yuck yolk” because it looks like pet vomit. It's a combo of finely ground flax or ground chia seed soaked in a little aquafaba. The high Omega 3 content of flax can impart a fishy flavor so don’t overdo it.
The resulting gray mush should have a pudding-like texture. I lay riced potatoes on a cookie sheet as soon as they’re baked to let the steam out of them.
Then I sprinkle a small amount of the pudding-like ground seed/aquafaba mush over the potatoes and work it in with my fingers until it’s well distributed. I use about the same volume I would if I were using yolks (meaning, if I were using 1 yolk/lb potatoes, I’d use a seed/aquafaba pudding volume equivalent of 1 actual yolk).
Finally, I work in the flour until it feels right (holds together well enough to be rolled into the dough snakes from which the gnocchi is cut).
I’m afraid I can’t provide measurement guidance as I cook by feel, smell, taste, and never measure anything (unless I’m baking). I vary my recipe depending on intended use.
For example, if I want an ultra fluffy gnocchi for a light dish, I’ll use old dry potatoes and very little flour. If, on the other hand, I want to bake uncooked gnocchi in a sauce, I’ll increase the flour so that they hold together during a long submerged baking (this is a great thing to try with larger gnocchi baked in a marinara sauce).
Anyway, just have fun. Gnocchi is very forgiving. You can just make small batches and play around with proportions and egg substitutes until you nail it down. |
Substituting one cup creamy peanut butter with peanut butter Reese's chips to make peanut butter swirl brownies box made recipe
On the side of the chocolate fudge brownie mix family size box there's a peanut butter swirl brownies recipe and I'm trying to figure out how to substitute the one cup of creamy peanut butter with Reese's peanut butter chips if that's possible even if I have two previously melt them or something to get it to work I know chips are meant to stay solid and whole while in oven during high heat that's why I'm asking because the person that went to the store didn't read the side recipe and assumed that it called for peanut butter chips or that it didn't matter what form the peanut butter came in and so they got a pack of reeses chips and we currently don't have any regular creamy peanut butter like the recipe calls for. | Why not just add the chips to the brownies, and have peanut butter chip brownies? Those would be excellent on their own, and you don't have to figure out how to make melted peanut butter chips behave like wet peanut butter. |
Almond extract: oil- or alcohol-based?
Almond extracts can apparently be based on a base oil or on alcohol - what's the functional difference?
I was making some almond biscuits (cookies) the other day, decorated with a little almond icing. The icing was just glacé icing using a little almond extract as well as water. I was supposed to mix the two liquids together, and was surprised to find they were immiscible. Checking the bottle it turned out to be based on oil, not the more common approach based on alcohol (I actually have a bottle of the latter as well). It wasn't that I'd accidentally bought a deliberately alcohol-free product. The icing turned out fine, and the leftovers were evenly almond-flavoured.
To put it another way, is there a reason to choose one base, oil or alcohol, over the other for a user who doesn't avoid traces of alcohol? What about for the manufacturer? | It depends on how much you're going to use and for which application. Almond extract is basically bitter almond oil cut with something - alcohol and water for the alcohol extract, other neutral-flavored oil (in your case, canola / rapeseed), or water and glycerin (like this one)
The main issue with the oil based version is that it is... well, oil. So it doesn't play well with some applications of almond extract that are mostly water-based like cocktails, cordials, coffee flavoring (if standalone. If used as ingredient for homemade coffee creamer, that is not an issue). For this type of use, the best option is the alcohol-based extract or water+glycerin if looking for an alcohol-free option |
Cake flour weight
I have three sources for what 1 cup cake flour weights.
Americas Test Kitchen says 113 grams, Calculateme.com says 130 grams and
JoyofBaking.com says it is 120 grams.
Which is the correct conversion from volumetric to weight based measurements for a cup of cake flour? | Who’s right? In a way, all of them are.
The weight equivalent of volumetric measurements will depend on the packing, which in turn will depend on the baker.
The probably lowest value you will get if you use slightly older flour, stored in a dry environment, sieved, then spooned into the measuring cup and leveled. That’ll be pretty close to, I’d say 110 g. In contrast, a flour from a humid environment, that has settled during transport and storage and was then scooped directly with the measuring cup - you can get easily close to 150g in that case.
Admittedly, the latter isn’t good practice, but it shows the difference and the Achilles heel of measuring by volume. When a recipe requires precision and reliability, it’s usually written in weight-based measurements and ratios. In daily use, many recipes have enough tolerance built in for the kind of errors introduced by volumetric units, and some will explain the method (e.g. “spooned and leveled”). In baking there’s often a final step that says add “1-3 tablespoons of milk” or “as needed” - aiming to get the batter to the desired consistency.
If you need true precision, use a scale. There are e.g. macaron recipes that start with weighing the eggs, then weigh the other ingredients based on that. Likewise commercial recipes that will list “350g egg” instead of seven eggs - which is roughly the same amount, but not necessarily exactly the same. |
How to move powders to avoid spillage?
I always have trouble pouring coffee or cocoa powder. The containers are never designed with a spout so I use a spoon or pour it from tiny plastic container and my fine motor stability isn't fantastic. How can I avoid spillage? | Measure quantities by weight instead of volume, and measure them out onto a small sheet of waxed paper on top of your scale. When done measuring, crease it and pour into the receiving location.
Not only does this give you greater accuracy (particularly for cocoa, which is notoriously hard to pack), it means that precision in spooning becomes unimportant. |
Frozen stew on transit
I am travelling later via plane bringing a frozen stew in a Tupperware inside my luggage. I don't have a cooler with me so I'm just wrapping the container with cloth to hopefully maintain the low temperature.
I wonder how long will it stay good before it spoils during transit? I plan to reheat or freeze it again once I reach my destination. It will be outside the freezer for around six hours, and I'm not sure if it will stay good.
If it matters, here are some details about my trip and the food.
I'm travelling in a tropical country
Food contains goat meat and has tomato sauce used in it with some pineapple.
Food was prepared yesterday and frozen right after it had cooled down to be prepared for said travel today. | Probably not safe, but don't bother, airport customs will probably make you throw it away.
The FDA recommends that perishable food items such as anything with meat in it be thrown away after 4 hours at roughly room temperature. Depending on how long it takes to defrost, it may or may not reach that threshold during your flight- and it's unlikely to be easy for you to check its temperature while you're in the air to determine whether or not it's past the safe time window on a 6 hour flight.
Additionally, you don't state a location, but many countries around the world prohibit the importation of food items that aren't in industrially sealed containers (e.g. cans of soda, packets of potato chips, etc). If they catch you with it, they'll throw it away, and that's a waste of food.
Just eat it before you travel, or leave it in the freezer for after you get back. |
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