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What is the proper way to make a fruit purée?
When making a fruit purée, specifically raspberry, to be used as a filling or a layer for cakes or chocolates, what is the proper way to do this?
Should the berries be cooked? Should the cooking occur before or after straining the seeds? Should a food processor be used before removing the seeds? Should acid or sugar or pectin be added to the purée?
How does this change for other fruits like strawberries? Blueberries? | The proper way is the one described in the recipe you are making.
All of the variations you listed above will give you a fruit puree, for any berry (or even other fruit) you choose. The purees will of taste differently depending on how you make them, but none of them is somehow less "proper" than the other.
It is the recipe author's job to choose a preparation method in which the puree's texture and taste harmonizes best with the rest of the recipe. So, just follow it, and you will get the intended result.
There are two cases in what you listed in which the combination of preparation steps could be problematic (so if you see it in a recipe, you should choose another recipe). First, if you have small seeds (such as a raspberry or blackberry) and need a seedless puree, but use a bladed implement like a food processor or a blender before straining. In that case, you will most likely end up with sharp seed pieces that are left in after straining, defeating the purpose of a seedless puree. Second, thickeners need the correct conditions to work. As you listed pectin, you have to make sure that you are within the correct ratios of sugar and acidity for the type of pectin you are using, and you have to warm the puree to the needed temperature. With other thickeners, you have to again ensure that their requirements are met. |
Why would a fully-developed dough lose consistency (elasticity / extensibility)?
I've been experimenting with panettone and I've come across the issue time and time again of losing dough consistency while mixing the secondo impasto (i.e. the final panettone dough). What makes this super bizarre to me is how I can go from fully-developed gluten to puddle of mud in only a minute or so after adding some fats/sugar.
The new dough consistency is similar to cake batter, or pudding, or thick mayonnaise. You can stick your finger into this gloop, pull it out, and it literally forms "stiff peaks" (a reference to whipping egg whites). It's kind of glossy and can definitely be described as similar to choux dough. I guess it could be also compared to a very very over-fermented high hydration sourdough (i.e. a dough left to ferment for days or weeks). The viscosity is high -- I can "pour" the dough from a Teflon coated container as a single big thick blob (without it sticking to the bowl). (It's unfortunate that I don't have pictures to give a visual.)
Thus far, I've determined that the issue does not stem from
Using a flour that is too "weak" (though I'm unsure if using an even stronger flour would decrease the likelihood of the dough losing consistency)
Adding too much water (I've tested adding a tad bit extra water, but not a whole lot)
Over fermentation
I'm assuming overfermentation isn't the issue because over-fermented dough can be identified before the second mixing is initiated. (But perhaps the byproducts or acidity produced during the fermentation process can aggravate the issue?)
I've found references to this issue online,
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/comment/26611#comment-26611
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/5232/panettone
http://hilda.hhandg.com/?p=1483
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/69835/panettone-trouble
And they seem to point to sugar being the culprit in the loss of dough consistency. The comment mentions how mixing for another hour turned the "milkshake" to "finally...where it [gluten] needed to be".
But I've experimented with a very long mixing time to see where things would go. It doesn't take too long for the dough to overheat, so the first thing I'll notice is that the dough is leaking oil. After a couple or a few hours, the dough seems to solidify to form a somewhat grainy paste (like stiff/thick icing), which can be shaped and isn't sticky -- however, it has no elasticity.
Currently, I suspect too much fat and sugar/erythritol*** as being the main contenders for causing this issue.
I'm aware that fats prevent long gluten chains from forming, and that regular sugar can compete for water which hinders gluten formation. (Well, the thing is, gluten was already fully developed...and then, well, all the bonds seemed to break down and refused to reform.) Furthermore, erythritol is not hygroscopic and is less than 1/5 the solubility of plain sucrose, but I'm not sure about how that would change things. Perhaps undissolved sugar actually cuts gluten (just speculating)? Does adding sugar slowly actually have any meaning/effect?
Could overmixing be contributing to the issue? Is it even possible to overmix panettone/brioche dough (assuming you don't overheat it)? I haven't tested this but I was wondering if too much mixing could result in an irreversible puddle, as referenced in this post
I'll also note that I add diastatic barley malt (~0.6% flour weight) in the final dough, but I doubt the proteolytic activity from diastatic barley malt could be fast enough to cause the issue (correct me if I'm wrong).
More testing definitely needs to be done on my end, but I was just wondering if there are any experts out there that know the chemistry behind this fiasco and how to prevent it.
***: I'm using a erythritol+monkfruit blend in place of plain sugar; in total it's about 7% of the final dough weight (before adding dried fruit), or about 20% of the flour weight.
Update: After some further research, it looks like mixing definitely plays an important role. From what I've read mixing (improperly or over) can result in the trouble I'm facing. | Let me address your last sentence specifically, since it is such a great summary of your post.
the chemistry behind this fiasco and how to prevent it.
The chemistry
There is nothing special or convoluted going on here, it is simple dilution. When you mix two substances with a different consistency, the default result is to get a consistency that is somewhere between the two. For example, if you mix sugar and flour, you get something that is neither completely a soft powder, nor completely sandy, but in between. In this case, you are mixing dough with sugar (which hydrates) and butter, and you get something that is somewhere in between bread dough (which is elastic), butter (which is plastic), and dissolved sugar (which is liquid).
This fiasco
It is not a fiasco. This is how the dough for pannetone, brioche, and other super-enriched breads of this kind feels like.
The one thing that you should do is to ensure that you have kneaded the dough sufficiently that it no longer flows. I have never made pannetone and don't know its exact specifics, but brioche, kozunak and the like are expected to be shaped by hand and baked in a pan, not poured into a mold. If you have a super-fat-rich recipe, it may flow at the beginning of the kneading, but you have to just persevere until it becomes cohesive. If doing it by hand, the process starts a bit like pouring the mass from one hand into another, and gradually develops into a stretch-and-fold.
A side note: I suspect that you may have learned baking based on American literature. It has the advantage of being ubiquitous, accessible and in-depth, but it is of course based on the categorization of baked goods inherent in American culture, which prescribes a sharp delineation between "bread" (which is made with yeast dough) and "cake", which is made with batter. This is not a relevant distinction in most European baking traditions. There is no prescription or expectation that a brioche, etc. will have a breadlike texture, neither before nor after baking. It has a briochelike texture, which is considered a thing of its own.
How to prevent it
If you have a preference for a more breadlike texture, choose a recipe which is lower in fat and sugar. There are many "gradations" of this class of baked good (I am hesitating to call it "bread" or "cake after my last paragraph!) and you can pick your favorite along the continuum. |
double boiler (temp?)
It seems that almost everywhere, I see the advice to keep the top of a double boiler away from the water in the bottom--with the explanation that the top will get too hot if it touches or is semi-immersed in the water. But steam is hotter than water, as I understand it. Therefore, I should think that the problem with touching the water would be under-cooking rather than over-cooking as well as uneven cooking if (say) half of the food is subjected to the water temperature but the other half is subjected to the temperature of the steam.
This may not be very important at times, but if you are cooking some things (e.g., with eggs), it seems that it would be worth fully understand what is going on.
Your thoughts? Thanks. | The temperature is less of an issue. The water is at the point where it turns into steam (if you are working with boiling water, some techniques go for barely simmering or just very warm water), so that the water and the air/vapor mix is pretty much at the same temperature, give or take a few Kelvin.
But there’s a huge difference in specific heat capacity. Water can store a lot of thermal energy, gas can’t. That corresponds to heat conductivity:
When your upper bowl doesn’t touch the water, it can absorb only a relatively small amount of energy from the vapor per time, then it cools down the vapor which has to be heated up again. So the contents of the bowl will warm up slower, giving you time to stir and ensure evenly rising temperature. (Remember that the top of the bowl is touching room temperature air.) Whereas when the upper bowl touches the water, there’s a huge thermal mass that can give you a much larger flow of energy to the bowl, which can overheat the food or create local hot spots (at the bottom), simply because it gets heated too fast, so that e.g. egg dishes get fully cooked or curdle. |
How can one recreate the main workflow techniques used in a restaurant to serve quality food at home?
I'm curious as to how a restaurant can serve a table with different dishes which take widely different times to cook - hot, fresh and simultaneously. I often want to do this at home, but often fail on the timings.
I'm assuming here that a lot of this will be compensated by "Hot holding", either in pans or by quickly blitzing food under a grill or boiler. There is also the number of staff involved, and as each chef will deal with a specialty dish, this will be a lot easier to coordinate than than with just one person in the kitchen.
So how can a home chef up their game and approach the same level of variety and quality, or is there a point where a commercial restaurant will always beat the home chef? | The fact that there are often different cooks working different stations makes the timing and completion of different dishes possible. You generally answered your own question... they are pros, and do what they do repeatedly, many times a night and many nights in a row. You probably can't recreate this at home. Everything is prepped in advance, when the order comes in the item is finished and plated, timing this among the cooks so that individual dishes are done together.
At home, many things can be streamlined with good prep work, a solid understanding of timing and cooking procedures, warm or cold plates, and patient guests. You are probably not serving different meals to individual guests, so "up your game" by serving a coursed meal where you can have the majority of the dish completed ahead of time, with just the finishing and plating to do before the same course is served to all of your guests. Enjoy with them, then head off to the kitchen for the next course...even better if the kitchen is in close proximity or they are dining in the same room! |
Best Texture for Vegan Ceviche
Which main ingredient is most reminiscent of fish for Ceviche?
Recipes out there with hearts of palm, tofu, cauli and young coconut. Or some other?
I hated fish when young, and certainly won't try it now as a vegan but would like to know how much chew, snap etc is appropriate to ceviche. | Speaking as someone who adores real ceviche, I would say that avocado is actually the best texture substitute for whitefish ceviche. Most fish cured in citrus acids is actually quite soft and buttery in texture. Ripe mango or ripe plantain would also be a good texture match, but has a strong flavor.
Shellfish, however, toughen up in the curing, so I'd use hearts of palm for those. Young coconut would also be good texturally, but also has a very strong flavor that would throw people off. Underripe jackfruit, the standby for vegan everything, might work well also.
So ... if you're preparing a "vegan ceviche", I'd recommend a mix of avocado and hearts of palm, in lime juice and spices. Which is a good salad even if you weren't trying to imitate anything.
Tofu is just wrong for all varieties of ceviche. |
Should I parbake the bottom crust for a savory pie?
I'm making a savory pie - basically stew in a pie crust.
Do I want to parbake the bottom crust of my pie for this? Will doing so make it more or less likely that the bottom crust ends up as a soggy mess? I'm not sure if or how the contents being stew instead of fruit will change how the whole thing cooks.
My plan for cook time is "until the top crust looks good." The filling (stew) is essentially done when it goes in, and the ingredients are ones that are pretty resilient against overcooking, so I'm not worried about harming it regardless of how my cook time comes out. | No, simply because there's no way to attach the top crust to the bottom crust, once the bottom crust is parbaked.
In general, pot pies are not pre-baked. |
Name of the alcoholic products of fermenting sugar and distilling mead, analogous to fermenting grapes to get wine and distilling wine to get brandy?
As I understand it
Ferment grains and you get beer. Distill that beer and you get whiskey.
Ferment grapes and you get wine. Distill that wine and you get brandy.
Ferment sugar you get ???. Distill that and you get rum.
Ferment honey and you get mead. Distill that and you get ???.
What are the names of the ??? pieces above? If they don't exist, why not? | The interim step in rum making is called 'Wash', which unlike beer or wine isn't sold separately. I don't know exactly why, but I suspect it's because it doesn't taste good. The same is true of just about every spirit, including brandy and whiskey, you don't want to drink the first stage product.
To be a little bit technical, the first stage of whiskey making is an ale, or very similar to an ale. However, the fermented product that is made in whiskey making isn't a product you'd bottle and drink, again because it doesn't taste very good. Whiskey makers use different yeasts and encourage bacterial growth to add character to the end product after it's distilled, I'm told it's sour, unpleasant and very strong.
Brandy is made from wine (not always grapes, you have apple brandy, apricot brandy and others), however what makes a good table wine doesn't make good brandy. Special wine is produced for brandy that isn't bottled for consumption because it's acidic and not sweet. |
I accidentally put my canned tuna in the fridge
I accidentally put my unopened canned yellow fish tuna into the fridge for about a day. I took it out and put it in the pantry. Is it safe to eat? | It is perfectly safe. You've got a pasteurized product that is shelf stable while the can remains sealed. All you did was make it colder for a few hours. This is not a safety issue at all. |
Efficient way to make good mashed potatoes at a restaurant with questionable gear?
I am newly working as a prep cook at a restaurant, and one of my tasks is to make mashed potatoes. Right now we don't sell that much (rice is WAY more popular), so I just fill a third every couple days. However, tourism season is going to be starting very soon, and everything the prep kitchen does is going to be quadrupled (at least). So I'm going to need a better way to make mash.
Here's the problem - the kitchen isn't really that well equipped. The previous chef almost scuppered the restaurant due to terrible management (despite it being one of the most profitable ones in the city), so all the gear I have to work with that might sort-of do the job are:
a single generic low-quality long-handled masher. Just about adequate to the task of doing one batch in a lumpy mediocre manner with a lot of effort kinda slowly.
2 big 'ol immersion blenders. The internet tells me this will result in gummy gluey mash, but would be faster and more even.
My own personal potato ricer from home. This does not scale to restaurant quantity very well, but is probably about as fast as the masher, and would be much higher quality.
China caps I could ostensibly use like a tamis? This seems like it would be laborious and difficult, though.
Given all this, despite my knowledge of solid home-cooked mash, I don't know how to make decent mash at high volumes at a poorly-equipped restaurant. If anyone has any advice, it would be highly appreciated.
Thanks for the responses! To respond to some questions:
Quantities currently are a deep third insert needed every day, i.e. a fairly large, but reasonable for a family (with leftovers), home pot of mash. This will be quadrupled within a month when tourist season properly hits.
Stand mixer = no.
They're profitable, but don't seem keen to actually spend any money. This restaurant is owned by a corp that also owns 2 of the other most profitable restaurants in the city. For an example of how shit they are re: money-spending: we have a tomato dicer that's needed a part for multiple months, and we have to make bruschetta in large batches basically every day. Also the prep kitchen sinks don't work now despite them knowing about a problem months ago. I literally collect water in a bus pan and dump it in the toilet, and wash my hands in a bucket I fill with hot sanitizer. It's a mess.
The chef at this restaurant is my actual friend (part of why I got the job with no experience - he just knows I have a breadth of knowledge), and he hates many things about how the restaurant/company is run. He's also basically saving the restaurant and consistently trying to make better/more efficient dishes. I don't think he can make them spend money. He also technically isn't the chef despite having all the duties and being paid the same as a "chef" would be.
I've only been working at the place for a month, and I've had minimal dealing with the GM, so I am just now starting to get comfortable with questioning things. My de facto superior has been working at the place for 3 months. The actual experienced people got poached by the chef who nearly got the place shut down, and was literally stealing from the company. I still don't understand why people left to go with him, but that's apparently the case.
I will ask the chef about dried flakes, but based on him trying to actually improve the restaurant top to bottom, I'm not sure he'll be down with them. | Consider instant mashed potatoes.
Mashed potatoes from dried potato flakes are a lot better than most people given them credit for, and would probably be superior to "real" mashed potatoes made with poor tools in a hurry. More importantly for you, the process of cooking them scales up to any reasonable quantity; you just add the correct ratio of flakes, butter, and milk on the stove and you can make up to 8 liters at a time.
If the chef isn't OK with that, then he should buy you the equipment to do better. |
Is hydrolyzed vegetable protein available in consumer quantities?
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
(HPV)is vegetable protein, principally soya, hydrolyzed such that it is split into its constituent amino acids. It is a very strong stimulator of the umami taste receptors. It is used in many food products, of note are cheap gravy granules which are largely potato starch with a little HPV, and cheap soy sauce which is largely HPV and burnt wheat in water. As I understand it these would include milligrams of HPV per pack. I think it has similarities to monosodium glutamate in use and quantities.
One can purchase it in kilogram/tonne quantities in China, in the price range $5 - $20 per Kg.
Is it possible to buy HPV in consumer quantities without having to have it mixed with something else, such as potato starch or burnt wheat? | “Bragg” brand liquid amino acids (which I’ve seen at most health food stores I’ve gone to) is hydrolysed soy protein and water |
How high is too high to air fry a hard boiled egg?
Everything I see says to air fry your eggs at around 270 degrees. Why not 400 at shorter time? Will this cause problems?
I know I could try, but hoping someone else already has so I don't have to clean up an explosion in case that would happen. :) | It sounds like you're talking about roasting eggs in the shell in your air fryer, rather than frying them.
All recipes I found for doing so (example) limit the heat to 325F/160C. Above that, the eggs will reportedly explode. The reason for the even lower temperature limit on the air fryer is probably because, with its rapid convection, the air fryer heats the eggs even faster. |
Is it obvious when an oil reaches its smoking point?
I like fried eggs dropped into very hot coconut oil so that the white crisps up (seriously, try it). However, I worry sometimes that I might be getting the oil too hot and consequently releasing toxins into my food.
I've always assumed that taking an oil beyond its smoking point would result in an obvious tell - visible smoke! But I want to be sure that the situation isn't more subtle than that. Perhaps different oils behave differently when approaching their smoke point? Is it safe to assume that if I don't see smoke, the oil hasn't reached its smoke point and therefore won't have any toxic impact on the food I'm cooking?
Also, is there any practical way to measure the temperature of transparent (coconut) oil that is being heated in a fry-pan? Will an IR sensor work, or will it simply pick up the temperature of the pan beneath the oil? | The definition of smoke point is the moment when oil stops glistening and begins to smoke. So, if you are not seeing smoke, you are below the smoke point. IR gets confused by a stainless pan (really, any shiny surface), but could help you when shallow frying in cast iron, or dark surfaced pan. If you are just using a coating of oil, the surface temperature of the pan is probably what you want anyway. In a deep frying situation, I use IR to measure oil temperature...much faster, safer, and cleaner than other approaches. |
If I grill a bacon-wrapped chicken skewer, does a significant amount of bacon fat seeps into the poultry?
I have cubes of chicken breast wrapped in bacon in a footlong bamboo skewer grilled in an electrical barbecue grill.
One of my guests said that if you remove the bacon and eat only the chicken, you get the flavor but not the fat. I was skeptical.
Does the fat content of the chicken meat increase significantly? | Your cooking method will clearly increase the fat content of the dish. If the bacon is removed after cooking, I don't think it is possible to say how much bacon fat remains. There are probably multiple variables. Even with some fat remaining on the surface, or possibly getting past the surface, removing the bacon itself would eliminate a significant amount of fat. Simply because most of that fat resides in the bacon (though a bunch dripped off during cooking, and some stayed on the chicken), so the now bacon-less chicken would have more fat. Whether or not that is significant, I don't think we can say, but I would assume that is what your guest meant...not that all traces of fat would be gone. |
Difference between curry and tikka masala?
Let's assume that they are both made with chicken, and that the curry is a traditional Indian curry, with tomato and traditional spices, not with "curry powder" tossed in it.
Various articles claim to describe the differences, but they disagree with each other.
Recipes for both use the same seasonings, and appear pretty much interchangeable, except that curry often has coconut-something in it, and tikka masala is heavy on butter and cream.
How are they actually supposed to be different? | 'Curry' is a very general term, generally applied on cuisines from an outside perspective. In a particular area there may be a 'default' curry but this will differ widely in different places and contexts – "traditional Indian curry" is an understandable misconception, like saying there's a specific dish which is "standard Italian pasta".
Tikka Masala is a more specific dish although there will be variation, a staple of British 'Indian' (which also includes Bangladeshi and Pakistani) cuisine.
So as noted in the comments, tikka masala is a type of curry. |
The right custard for baking with a cake
I’ve seen a bunch of videos (eg on YouTube) which show a custard and chiffon cake recipe. This custard is essentially:
Egg yolks
Condensed milk
Milk or evaporated milk
My preferred custard is quite thick and uses the Delia Smith recipe, which I would usually put on/in a meringue (great with pavlova.) This is typically:
Cream
Egg yolks
Corn starch
I would like to use this custard recipe inside (or under) the cake, but I would like to know if it will split? Would baking custard in a cake be better using the condensed milk version or could the Delia recipe work just as well?
I’m asking because I can’t try it now or any time soon due to travelling :( | These aren't the same kind of custard. Delia's version is a traditional English pouring custard. The other is a set custard.
If you try to bake Delia's it will likely split and not set. I would use the recipe that is intended for baking. I'm pretty sure Delia will have other recipes that use a set custard though, as these are also pretty common here in the UK.
In fact she does have one she uses for traditional English custard tarts |
How to retain the saltiness and spicy flavour of biryani rice?
When preparing chicken dum biryani, the chicken and rice are first partially cooked separately. The steps for cooking the rice go like this:
Wash the rice.
Soak the rice in water for 30 minutes.
For each cup of rice used, take two cups of water and boil it.
Add some whole spices to the water, and add some ghee or oil to the
water.
Add just enough salt to the water that it tastes like sea water (one
recipe actually mentioned this 'sea water' bit).
When the water starts boiling, take the rice and add it to the
boiling water. The water will take some time to get to a boil again.
Once it does, cook the rice for 8 minutes or until it is cooked 80%
(al-dente).
Switch off the flame.
Immediately strain the rice in a colander or pour cold water to cool
the rice and stop it from getting cooked further. Drain the water from the rice.
For step 8, one recipe was ok with washing the partially cooked rice further, to get rid of any extra starch floating around.
My questions:
Question 1. When I cooled the rice by pouring cool water in step 8 and then drained the water, the rice lost the saltiness that's crucial to the biryani taste. The end result was a bland biryani. Even the spiciness of the whole spices added to the water was missing. What exactly is the point of adding salt, spices and ghee to the water, if the water is to be thrown off? How can the salty taste be retained?
Question 2. If I do not drain the water, the rice tastes good (because the salt and spices are retained), but it ends up getting cooked further and becomes mushy or sticky. Is there a way to cook the rice without it become mushy, but also not having to drain the water? The rice should get fully cooked eventually though.
None of the recipes I checked, mentioned the details of how to retain the taste and flavour while still ensuring that the rice does not get mushy or sticky. I primarily use jeera rice, but sometimes use basmati rice too. | From all the biryani recipes I've followed, I agree that it seems strange that after you par-boil the rice that it is rinsed in cold water. This would wash off any flavouring on the outside of the rice, but shouldn't affect any flavour absorbed by the rice. If the stock the rice is cooked in is well flavoured with spices, it will change colour slightly and this should be reflected in the colour of the partially cooked rice, which is a good indication the flavour has penetrated. This is the method I use, and is pretty much common in all biryani recipes.
Wash your rice well in cold water to get rid of any excess starch. You need at least 3 good changes of water to do this, you will not manage to get the water completely clear but it should not be milky. Some recipes call for the rice to be soaked for 15-30 minutes in cold water, I avoid this as some varieties of rice can easily overcook. Place the rice in a sieve or colander to drain well.
Bring a large pot of water to the boil with salt, hard masala (e.g. bay, cinnamon, cloves, mace, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cardamon etc.). After about 10-20 minutes gentle simmering with the lid on, the stock should be salty and well flavoured with the spices. Apart from taste, the stock should have taken on the colouring of the spices and not be completely clear, it should have a slight greenish-brown tinge to it.
Add your rice, return to the boil and reduce the heat so it is just simmering and cover. This is where you need to be careful, different varieties of rice will take different times to cook, even the same brand across batches can differ slightly. You need to wait until the rice is partially cooked through, but the outer layer has not burst, which causes the stickiness. You can tell this by breaking the rice apart with your thumbnail, if a tiny white spot is present in the middle, it is perfect. If you can easily squash the rice between your thumb and forefinger, you have gone too far. You could cheat by adding a little turmeric or food colouring to the water before adding the rice, you can then tell how much stock has been absorbed into the rice by how far the colour has penetrated inside.
One the rice has reached this point, drain immediately, and it is important that you work quickly here as the rice is still cooking. In a pre-prepared pot with some oil or ghee smeared on the inside, add a small layer of rice on the bottom, but do not push down. Add your meat and or vegetables etc, and repeat with more rice until all your ingredients are used. Finally, cover the pan with some tinfoil (dough or dum was traditionally used), place a lid on top and ensure there are no gaps to let the steam escape, and place on the lowest heat possible for 30 minutes. The rice will continue to steam, and will absorb the juices from the meat etc. Take off the heat, empty onto a large wide plate to prevent the rice continuing to cook.
The critical part is point 3. How long will this take? It all depends on many factors, your variety of rice, how high your burner is, how freely the rice can move in the stock when cooking etc. I try to use 4-5 times the volume of stock to rice, but this allows the rice plenty of room to expand and any excess starch to go into the water rather than stick to the rice.
Using this method, I've not had a sticky, flavourless biryani yet. Provided the rice is not too raw at step 3, you can always err on the side of caution and add it to the pot a bit harder than you think is right, you can always steam it for longer with the foil on provided the meat or vegetables have sufficient liquid to generate some steam. |
Preparing To Teach Someone How to Bake a Whole Wheat Yeast Bread
I'm going to be teaching a friend how to bake bread. She has never baked bread or had any experience with a bread-like dough. Since it'll be a one-day thing, it won't use sourdough as I'm used to doing since I want her to learn from start to finish and take the loaf home. All yeast recipes I see online are for enriched whole wheat bread. I have no experience baking a whole grain bread with yeast, but here's what I typically do with sourdough (I do not include starter ingredients in my 100%):
hydration: 80-83%
salt: 2%
starter: 15-20%
For a dough with 80% home-milled whole wheat flour (of the 80%, I might use a small percentage of whole grain spelt and rye, maybe 8% each) and 20% bread flour, I have the following questions:
is 80% a good hydration level? (I want a dough that will be easy to work with)
should I do an autolyse?
how do I determine the percentage of dry active or instant yeast (I have both)?
do I ferment and proof until double the size (I do much less for sourdough)?
why do some recipes say to "punch down" the dough after the first rise? This is not typically done with sourdough.
Thank you. | Your plans sound pretty good to me. I'd treat yeasted breads almost exactly the same as sourdough. The only real difference is the proofing time. The only negative I would say is that whole grain breads really do need a long fermentation to help improve their flavour, and I find if you don't do that, then the bread tends to taste a bit like a field of wheat, and a bit grassy. You can perhaps add a teaspoon of malt extract to dissolve in the water to help improve the flavour. Otherwise it might be better to go with a predominantly white flour mix, and only use a small amount of whole grain flour, maybe like 30%.
It is possible to do a long ferment with yeast, you just start with much less yeast - like only pinch, and leave overnight, but obviously you don't have time for that. Other possibilities are to use some of the flour to make a pre-ferment such as a poolish/biga, and use this as you would use a sourdough starter. But again, these are usually done overnight - of course you could prepare it in advance.
Anyway, to address your points . . .
Yes, sounds like a good idea. 80% hydration will be easier to handle
Yes, do an autolyse. It will help hydrate the flour, just as it does with sourdough.
Use 1% to 1.5% active/instant dry yeast. Makes no difference which kind of dried yeast you use. If you use active yeast, add it to warm water to dissolve and let it activate for around 10 minutes before adding to the flour. Instant yeast can be added directly into the flour.
Whole grain doughs don't rise as much as white flour. I wouldn't expect it to double in size, so again just as you would normally with sourdough. It will likely be fully risen within 1 to 2 hours, depending on how warm your room is and how much yeast you added.
Usually punching down is for very gassy/bubbly doughs. You likely won't need to do that with a whole grain dough. It doesn't rise as much, and you probably want to retain as much gas as possible - same as with a sourdough. |
Can flavoured syrups be dried to powder, and if so how?
I've made some rather good ginger syrup by simmering chopped ginger root in equal parts sugar and water, then straining. I made rather a lot, nearly half a litre, and used less than planned. Most is frozen but some is currently in the fridge.
I'd like to make it both shelf-stable and more portable. In particular it's a very component of the energy/electrolyte drinks I use when cycling long distances* so a dry form would be lighter and more compact than a small bottle of liquid.
So I'd like to dry it to flavoured sugar. Considering my options:
I have a dehydrator, but that's meant for solids, and would be very slow at shifting that much water.
I'm sure I couldn't simmer off all the water, but a stovetop reduction might be a good first step.
Can it be done in the oven? My instinct is that I'd end up with a solid layer stuck firmly to a baking sheet, but perhaps putting it in/on something flexible would allow me to crack it off the surface.
* As well as improving the flavour dramatically, it appears to help against the nausea I sometimes encounter on such long rides. | You made a syrup with equal parts sugar and water, infused with ginger, and strained.
While theoretically you could eventually dehydrate the water out, have you considered turning the syrup into candy? You might not be able to mix or into your drink, but you could chase it instead. Although if you make a fudge, there might be a way.
In your place I'd try cooking the syrup to 240 F, letting it cool back to just warm, and beating into a crystallised fudgy mass. While you can chop that up directly like fudge usually is, overheated and overworked fudge can become powdery and prone to shattering. You may be able to gently crush it into a coarse powder. It won't be a dry powder, but clumpy like brown sugar. I think that's your best bet at turning your syrup into a powder of sorts.
If you heat the syrup anywhere between 235 and 265 F, and don't beat it, you should get a chewy candy. Towards 235 F will be softer and stickier, while closer to 265 F will be much firmer and chewier.
Just pay attention to the color and smell. It's possible the ginger components could start browning and burning at lower temperatures, so be vigilant. |
Is sassafras root and licorice root the same thing?
I don’t want to make root beer I just want to know if licorice root and sassafras root are the same thing. | Sassafras is the plant with the botanical name Sassafras albidum, which is native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.
Licorice/Liquorice is the plant with the botanical name Glycyrrhiza glabra, native to Western Asia, North Africa and Southern Europe.
Both are traditionally used in herbalism and folk remedies, but they are not the same plant. |
Is there a difference between a Convection Oven and an Air Fryer?
I'm in the market for a new range. As the subject line asks, “Is there a difference between a Convection Oven and an Air Fryer?”
I ask because I can't tell the difference. They both seem the same to me. They are both dry heat circulated by a fan.
I'm looking at ranges that say they are air-fryers, at a cost over ordinary convection ranges. I have a counter-top air fryer that I love, but how is it different from an ordinary convection oven? Does the code word air fryer really carry any science with it?
EDIT UPDATE: I understand the marketing behind the little countertop Air Fryers. I have one and enjoy it. It's great when you need a small quantity. My confusion is when large convection (fan) ranges advertise an Air Fry function. Such as this one:
I'm trying to imagine the difference between convection (fan) mode and Air Fry mode for such a range. To me, I don't see any difference between fan mode and Air Fry mode--I'm beginning to think it's a gimmick so that they can charge slightly more. | Yes, when you switch the fan on, it is essentially a large air fryer. The only real difference is that air fryers have a smaller volume of air to heat, which makes them more efficient. It's not all just marketing hype, these little fan ovens do have benefits over large fan ovens.
Just a note here about oven nomenclature - what Americans call a "Convection oven" is called a "fan oven" here in the UK, and I suspect some other English speaking countries. For us "convection" means without a fan, using natural convection currents, precisely the opposite of what it means in America. It's a total mystery to me as to why/how this has happened. |
What are the proportions of the parts in a broken down chicken?
I'm debating whether to start buying whole gizzard-less and organ-less chickens and breaking them down myself into parts. I would only do this if it was more cost effective than buying the parts themselves. What would the proportions of the parts be to the whole on average? This is so I can do the math to see if this would be cost effective.
I'd be looking for something like:
breast: x%, y lbs
wing: x%, y lbs
thigh: x%, y lbs
drumstick: x%, y lbs
bone: x%, y lbs
total: 100%, y lbs
where variables are replaced with actual values. | I do not think this can be answered in a satisfactory way because there's way too much variation in chickens - breed, age when slaughtered, living conditions, feed, etc. all would affect the proportions, with rather large margins.
That being said, the folks over at seriouseats have an article claiming it's economically viable to buy whole chickens (with guts, even!) and trim and portion them yourself. One thing that definitely makes sense to me is to use a trimmed carcass for really good chicken stock, which can be easily frozen. That alone makes it worth to me to buy a whole chicken: trim the bird, use cuts for whatever, then use carcass for chicken stock. Almost 100% usage, lower cost per weight.
But, on the other hand, if you wanted to make, say, chicken wings for 5-6 people, you wouldn't buy several whole chickens just for their wings. Unless you can effectively store and use frozen temporarily unneeded parts of your whole chickens, I think it makes sense to only occasionally buy whole chickens. That is a) if you cook a lot of chicken and can use up the different cuts shortly after the other or b) if you want and can manage larger masses of frozen chicken that you then use as you need them. |
Replacement for lemon juice in aioli
I want to make a garlic aioli as a sauce for a burger, however, I do not have any lemons nor lemon juice on hand. I also don't have any limes. However, I do have white, apple cider, and rice vinegars. Which of these, if any, would make the best substitution for lemon juice in garlic aioli?
Thanks. | Any vinegar will work, and is simply going to be a matter of taste. I see some recipes online that call for 2 tablespoons per 3 egg yolks. You can adjust from there. Here is one example. |
Is this beef rib ok?
I am cooking beef ribs for a chemo patient and don't want to take any chances. The fat on the ribs is bluish greenish. See the photo. Is it normal or rotten? The meat looks good.
Imgur pics | While visual cues are often helpful, there is no way for anyone to let you know whether or not this product is a safety risk from the photo. More important would be to know whether or not it has been handled and stored in a food-safe manner. |
How do I make a chicken cheesesteak that isn't dry?
When I try to make chicken cheesesteaks, this is what I do:
thinly slice some chicken breasts
saute some chopped onions and green peppers
put the meat in a frying pan with some olive oil
add some salt, pepper, and dried Italian herbs
chop the meat some more and cook it thoroughly
add in the chopped onions and green peppers
put slices of cheese on top of the meat/veggies and allow it to melt
The meat always turns out dry.
Then I read that chicken thighs are juicier and don't dry out like chicken breasts do (especially if you cook them longer and at a higher temperature, up to 195 degrees), so I tried doing the same thing except with thinly sliced chicken thighs. I monitored the temperature with an infrared thermometer and the temperature didn't get higher than 195 degrees. The meat still ended up tasting kind of dry. Also, a lot of liquid came out of the meat during cooking, before I added the veggies.
How do I make a chicken cheesesteak that isn't dry? | Your chicken is dry because you over-cook it. 195°F is far too high for chicken, I cook chicken breasts until they are 165°F and thighs to 175°F, but with thin slices it's very hard to get an accurate temperature with a probe so I'd check for doneness by cutting through it.
Thin slices of chicken won't take more than a couple of minutes to cook thoroughly, if you put the slices in first by the time your peppers and onions are done the chicken's had all the goodness cooked out of it. Try cooking the peppers and onions first, then add the chicken when they are just getting done. Cook until they are just about done, then melt your cheese on. |
How do I make even layers of puree for dehydrator?
"Fruit" leathers are useful to store all the goodness of orchard - and garden! - produce. But, uneven layers of puree result in uneven dehydration. In particular, the edges of the puree dehydrate more quickly than the rest, but I also wind up with thick areas that require significantly more dehydrating time and attention.
Is there a tried and tested method of achieving an even thickness of puree, short of reducing its viscosity to the point that gravity does the work? (A too-thin puree would leak through the drying surface and would take longer to dehydrate.) | If the fruit leather will slump somewhat, I would recommend a V-notched spreader from the hardware store or a ‘cake comb’ from a cake decorating or craft store.
It looks like a plastic scraper, but they have a series of notches along the front edge. It allows you to put down a consistent amount per area if you hold the angle of the spreader consistently. (Creating a thickness of roughly half the height of the notch at the angle you’re holding it if the notches are the same size as the material left on the spreader)
After you’ve spread out the purée, you may want to tap the side of the tray or whatever you’ve spread the purée onto to get it to slump and even out any ridges that would’ve been left by the spreader. You may need to take an offset spatula to it if it’s exceptionally thick.
They usually sell for $2-$3 at hardware stores around me; cake combs usually come in sets so might be a higher initial outlay. |
What was this "gravel gum candy" product from the early 1990s?
This is such a massive long-shot, but it's been eating me up for decades now. I need to at least try.
In the early 1990s, my brother and I used to walk to this local little grocery store (long gone) to buy these small Tetra Pak-contained little "gravel chewing gum" candy products.
I do not remember anything about the name, the logo, or even the illustration of the package, besides a vague memory of bright green, blue and pink shapes. I do, however, vividly remember what the actual product inside looked like. It was chewing gum of some sort, shaped like gravel (little blue rocks) of slightly varying sizes.
It is extremely unlikely that it was made exclusively for/by/in Sweden; this is almost guaranteed to be some sort of bulk-imported product from "somewhere in Europe" or indeed "somewhere in the world". I'm somewhat confident that the text/title on the product was in English, or at least not Swedish. I probably would have remembered it if it had been in Swedish, and I have never heard anyone mention this product or seen it for sale in any other store, even back in the day. I would know it instantly if I saw a photo of it.
I have created a little illustration which represents 100% of everything I remember visually about the package and the product inside.
Can anyone please identify this product for me? I would be very surprised to learn that it's actually still sold, because all such nice things from my childhood seem to have just disappeared long ago, but even just knowing the name and perhaps being able to find a photo of it would stir up such nostalgic feelings that it would almost be enough.
And if it's actually still sold, somewhere, well, then I'm going to order a few at any cost, even if they have likely changed to a "new improved recipe" several times during these years... | Oohh I remember this!
I loved the apple juice ones. My dad used to get them every time he went to the US.
A quick search with "candy" "gum" "apple" "milk carton" got me to this link:
Topps Bubble Gum Juice Cartons!
Hope it helps! |
Why do North American Chinese restaurants advertise "We use 100% Vegetable oil"?
I was reading my local Chinese take-out's menu that somehow ended up stuck to my fridge door and I noticed under their logo a marketing bullet-point advertising:
We use 100% Vegetable Oil
That sounded unusual to me - and it's unhelpfully vague too: doesn't that include olive oil, avocado oil, peanut oil (-ish?), canola oil, etc.
I searched for the phrase on Google, but but a broken search result page, so I used Bing and saw that over 48,000+ web-pages use this stock phrase.
So what is "vegetable oil", exactly, and why do so many North American-Chinese restaurants advertise it so frequently? If a restaurant does not use vegetable oil what does that imply about the restaurant? | Odds are that anything sold in the US as ‘vegetable oil’ is soybean oil, but it might mean something different to a restaurant.
The issue is that it used to be fairly common for restaurants to uses rendered animal fats such as lard for cooking, as it imparted a lot of flavor to the food.
Some restaurants make a point of mentioning it (eg, ‘duck fat french fries’), while others may prefer to cater to vegetarians or people who avoid certain types of animals (eg, pork). |
Why is this (and other?) pizza oven so unnecessarily tall?
I was watching a live stream from a pizzeria. I noticed that the oven appears to be at least twice the size vertically as it has to be. A pizza is flat and even with lots of toppings, it could very easily fit in half that size, or they could have two ovens stacked on top of each other if they need to make lots of pizzas at the same time.
But they just waste all that space for no reason? Why? Am I missing something? Other than just taking up more space, doesn't it also waste twice the electricity/fuel to keep so large of a space hot compared to half of it (vertically)? | Pizza ovens aren't unnecessarily tall. Pizza ovens often go three pies deep, depending on the size of the pizzas, so the space is needed to maneuver pizzas in and out, as well as to see how they are cooking. Many restaurants use the same ovens to bake pasta dishes, meatball heroes and other things which are thicker than a pizza, so the space is important there as well. |
Why do some egg products smell like spit and how can I prevent this from happening?
There's a certain gross smell I notice with certain egg products that smells kinda like spit and kinda like a wet dog, very different from the smell of rotten or overcooked eggs.
People I've asked about this have no idea what I'm talking about, so it's possible that I'm sensitive to it but that most people aren't.
Foods with the smell:
frozen custard from ice cream restaurants
homemade fried rice that gets raw egg thrown in while it's cooking
homemade spaetzle egg pasta
Foods without the smell as far as I can tell:
scrambled eggs
over-easy eggs
poached eggs
meringue
raw eggs
bread pudding
I've fixed fried rice by just cooking the eggs separately before adding them in and frozen custard by just eating ice cream instead, but I have no idea how to fix spaetzle, which is a shame, because I like the shape and texture.
My (not very confident) best guess is that undercooked egg yolks exposed to water cause some sort of microbe to grow and give off a smell, which is presumably also the process that causes wet dog and spit smell, but I don't know how or why it would happen so fast in water that's boiling or nearly boiling (frozen custard is pasteurized, right?), and I'm not sure how to prevent it. If that's the problem, maybe cooking longer or hotter or adding salt or something would discourage the bugs from growing? | I am afraid this is the question to which you are unlikely to ever discover the answer.
It is completely normal that you can smell some molecule that others cannot smell. When somebody smells an egg, several hundred compounds (of the thousands or more present in the egg) dock to receptors in their nose, and the combination of the information of these receptors, plus all other information available to the brain (including seeing an egg, being in a kitchen, etc.) leads to the recognition of an egg. And the set of receptors one has is pretty much unique to them. So, for everybody, there is a different subset of compounds their nose detects when they are around an egg.
It so happens, that in an egg-eating culture, pretty much all of these compounds have a positive association. I may smell A, B and C and think "oh, egg, tasty!" and my neighbour might smell A, B and D and think "oh, egg, tasty!". But apparently, you have a rare case where you smell A, B and Z, and for some reason, Z is very unpleasant.
In the current situation, it is highly unlikely that this comes from a microorganism. Such an explanation is both unnecessarily complex, and, as you already noted, it doesn't give the microorganism time to multiply. It is probably a chemical thing where either something that was bound up in other molecules gets released in certain preparations, or a chemical reaction happens during the preparation and a new compound gets created. (And if it was, against all odds, a microorganism, it is obviously not a safety-relevant one: people would have noticed if these egg preparations were causing food poisoning left and right, even if they couldn't smell it).
So, the situation is:
there are myriads of chemical reactions happening when you prepare an egg
one of them has a product which you can smell and is very unpleasant
the ability to smell this is really rare (else it would be common knowledge that there is a subpopulation of people who hate eggs prepared this way).
Finding out which exact chemical docks onto your receptors would be a multi-year task for a team of scientists with access to highly specialized equipment, involving regular experimentations with you as the subject. And if somebody did do it, then... all you have is a molecule's name. If preparing the eggs in a certain way releases that molecule, it will continue to get released. It is unlikely that you can do anything about it, short of selectively breeding a new race of hens whose eggs don't contain that compound, something that would take decades, if possible at all.
So, the most realistic thing you can do is to accept that you just hate that smell. In the grand scheme of variations one's genes can encode, that one idiosyncrasy is pretty compatible with a happy life - just stay away from eggs prepared in ways you dislike :) |
Dispensing fair shares of inhomogeneous soup
I love noodle soup and doling out bowl after bowl of it, but I have noticed that ingredients are not evenly distributed between bowls. However I have noticed that the bowls, even when filled to the same level, contain different quantities of solid ingredients, potentially very different quantities of noodles, solid ingredients, garnish and liquid! With long noodles this is exacerbated by the tendency of the noodles to come out together and it is particularly difficult to ensure that subsequent servings have similar distribution to initial ones.
As this issue is visible to the naked eye I imagine that only the tip of the iceberg is being observed and there is much more unobserved unevenness.
How can I effectively dispense roughly even compositions of home served noodle soup with solid ingredients into multiple bowls a) served at the same time or b) in sequence?
Things I have tried:
Google searches for fair serving noodle soup - nothing relevant found
Cut or break the noodles into much smaller pieces - this reduces the
clumping issue for noodles and puts them in the same class as other
solid ingredients but sometimes one wants long noodles
Zig-zag over
the bowls adding a little bit at a time - this is time consuming and
particularly susceptible to clumping effects | Maybe take a cue from Ramen and prepare the broth and the add-ins separately. Evenly distribute the add-ins in bowl, then top with broth and garnish. |
Suggestions for binding together popcorn into large, edible structures?
So far we have tried using a hard ball syrup as a glue, but it is challenging to evenly coat the popcorn and get consistent results. We have tried drizzling the hot syrup over warmed popcorn and then mixing by hand in a large bowl but the syrup just does not spread out enough.
We'd love to be able to replicate the process they use to make Popcorn cakes where they seem to be breaking down the starch and then solidifying it.
Any and all suggestions welcome! | We ended up using straight corn syrup heated to soft ball stage. Two critical factors were (1) use the right proportions and (2) do the mixing/coating inside a big wok to keep it from cooling before adding to the mold.
Getting the right proportions takes trial and error. Too little corn syrup will not hold the popcorn together well and too much will make the mixture too sticky to press into the mold. We ended up using about 1/4 cup per batch of air-popped corn.
The biggest wok we could find was 18" but even bigger would have probably have been even better. |
What type of mint in tzatziki?
Most recipes I see for tzatziki often call for dill and/or mint. However none of them ever state which kind of mint is needed, it's always just listed as mint.
So which mint is best for tzatziki? Spearmint or peppermint?
Obviously there are many other less common types of mints which may also work but spearmint and peppermint are the only two common mints (at least from where I am from, maybe it's different elsewhere. Maybe there's only one common type in USA, where most of the recipes seem to come from so perhaps that's why there's no distinction?). | The standard "mint" is spearmint, and peppermint would usually be called "peppermint". You wouldn't want to blend peppermint into any kind of sauce, it's much too strong for that. |
Non-nut substitute for ground hazelnuts
I found this recipe for chocolate cake that I’d like to try, but I need to make a nut-free version.
Here’s the ingredients list:
240g unsalted butter
7 eggs, separated
260g caster sugar
80g blanched hazelnuts
240g dark chocolate
1 ancho chilli, stem and seeds discarded, or 10g ancho flakes, soaked in boiling hot water
2 tbsp blanco or reposado tequila
1 tsp vanilla extract
25g cocoa powder
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
A large pinch of salt
The nuts aren’t much by weight but they seem to be about the only dry ingredient aside from the cocoa powder so I imagine they’ll be fairly important in holding everything together.
I’ve never cooked with ground nuts so I don’t have any experience with how they behave in a recipe. Any suggestions? | This cake is primarily relying on the eggs and sugar for structure. Keep in mind too the chocolate also contains cocoa powder, so you have some hidden dry ingredient there, which will hydrate and thicken when exposed to the liquid in this recipe. The hazelnuts will mostly provide flavor and maybe hold onto some extra moisture to prevent the texture getting too eggy or rich is my thinking. So while any substitution will result in a different end product, you probably don't have too much to worry about.
Realistically, you could substitute with regular cake flour without risking much. Using wheat flour might lighten or dry the overall texture a bit, but not severely. The main issue I perceive is that wheat flour doesn't have a flavor that's particularly recognizable. Similarly, you could use a starch, but any starch would not contribute flavor, and could cause dry, gooey, or gummy texture. Wheat flour is definitely a better option than starch.
For the flavor aspect, I'd be more inclined to toast and grind some oats to add a little nuttiness without adding anything too identifiable.
Cornmeal could also be an easy sub which would provide some nutty (albeit distinctive) flavor. You can also use ground coffee, for all or part, to coordinate with the chocolate and chili flavors. Other flavorful options would include various seeds (poppy, sunflower, and pumpkin come to mind). Seeds might be the best direct substitute due to the similar fat/protein/carb profiles, but there's plenty of variation, and you're unlikely to find a perfect match, and of course the flavors are both different and recognizable.
Most importantly, make sure you double-check with whoever has the allergy to make sure your sub is actually safe! |
How to measure 4tbsp of coriander
I am following a recipe that mentions 4tbsp of coriander leaves and 5tbsp for Mint. How can one measure leaves in the weight of tbsp? | It’s possible that the recipe is intending for you to use dried herbs, which are easier to measure by volume than fresh herbs. If so, it’s an important distinction to make because dried herbs will be much more potent than fresh.
It’s also possible, and maybe more likely, that the recipe is calling for a volume measurement of chopped or minced herbs. Usually that would read something like:
X Tbsp. mint, minced
The real answer is that we can’t really know. The best way to resolve this ambiguity is to find a recipe that is more specific. Generally when cooking from a recipe, I survey 3 or 4 versions of the recipe to try to get a feel for what they have in common. It can give you an idea of what amount seems normal. Then go from there.
Ingredients like herbs are essentially just added “to taste” in most applications anyway. It’s unlikely to make or break your dish if you estimate and use your intuition. It can be easy to add too much dried herbs, though, so id suggest starting small if that’s the case. |
Doctoring cake mix to make it denser
I am being lazy and making a cake from a box mix but I want it to be denser. Would adding more flour or less egg accomplish this? | If you’re looking for a pound cake like density, add a box of instant pudding in with the cake mix.
(This was a recommendation from an instructor from a cake decorating class that I took 15+ years ago, but I’ve never done it myself, or at least I don’t remember doing it) |
How to mix chocolate into flourless ground almond cake?
TL;DR: When should I add melted chocolate to a ground almond cake recipe?
Needing a gluten free recipe for cake, I have been using the following ground almond cake recipe as a base for my cakes:
Ingredients:
6 eggs
200g ground almonds
50g sugar
Method:
Whisk eggs and sugar on high speed until fluffy (~10 mins)
Fold in the ground almonds in 2 or 3 batches until combined
Bake in a greased, spring-form pan for 25 mins at 180c in a pre-heated oven, or until a skewer comes out clean
Note:
To make this a chocolate cake, 50g cocoa is added during the whisking.
Question:
I recently tried adding 75g melted and cooled callebaut ruby rb1 chocolate into the (stage 1) whisking process, hoping that I would still get the fluffy eggs. I did not. The eggs stayed very liquid. I expect adding melted chocolate to the folding stage 2 would produce the same result (though I don't have the ingredients to test this right now.)
Can anyone suggest when the appropriate time in this recipe would be to add melted chocolate? I ask because I cannot get ruby cocoa and being able to combine melted chocolate would (I hope) open the door to being able to combine many other ingredients (and, thus, produce many other variations on this cake.) | The typical way for this kind of recipe is to fold the melted chocolate into the beaten eggs. Make sure you are really folding it, not stirring vigorously or beating with a mixer, to ensure minimal loss of volume. When the chocolate is semi-incorporated, continue adding the almond flour in batches.
The resulting cake will be denser and less dry, but that is normal for chocolate cake.
open the door to being able to combine many other ingredients (and, thus, produce many other variations on this cake.)
I am afraid it doesn't work that way. What you propose are not some kind of minor variations (those would be e.g. adding a few drops of aroma, or a food coloring, or baking it square instead of round). If you start adding main ingredients, you will not only get a very different texture, you will have to change the rest of the process too - basically, you would have to create different recipes. Not impossible, but it is a huge amount of work, and it is much easier to just use existing recipes.
For example, the addition method I described above is specific to melted chocolate. If you wanted to add, say, sour cream, or a fruit puree, you would have to interleave it with adding the flour, and start with flour - so 1/3 flour, 1/3 puree, 1/3 flour, etc. But the almond flour is also not absorbent enough, so you would have to experiment with different flour combinations until you get something that works well, and you like the taste. You can do that of course, but the more pragmatical way is to just follow an existing recipe, instead of creating a new one out of nothing, when you are not an experienced baker already. |
What is the relationship (if any) between natto and miso paste?
Just curious. I believe they both come from fermenting of soybeans. So are those completely different processes or is natto simply an earlier product of the same fermenting? | They are completely different. They use different fermentation conditions and different cultures. The result is also totally different in taste and texture, with natto being slimy beans and miso being a paste. They are also used differently, with miso being more of a seasoning.
You can think of it as similar to two kinds of cheese, maybe emmentaler and camembert: they are both made from fermented milk, but the process is not the same, and the result is not the same either. |
Is there a way to proof a wet dough in the same container?
I'm here not questioning that a second rising (a.k.a. proofing)
of a
wet
dough
is necessary. It is, or else you'll get what someone termed "elephant skin".
But I am baking a wet dough too frequently to appreciate a counter that needs cleaning so often.
Is there a way to second-rise (a.k.a. proof) a wet dough in the same container?
Update
The basic steps (I use) are (video):
First Rise (a.k.a. bulk rise) Mix (by a spoon works well; unlike a traditional drier dough, the heat from your fingers is not needed). Let rise/ferment for 12+ hours. I started with a flour:water weight ratio of 1:1, but that invariably remains too wet all the way. I'm working my way down and am at 10 parts flour to 9 parts water. I'm also working my way considerably up from what Jim Lahey @Sullivan St Bakery suggested, and am at 3/4 teaspoon dry yeast for each 400g flour (that's just under 1lb=453.6g) to get improved puffing with nice big pockets of air.
Second Rise (a.k.a. proofing) Pour on a floured clean surface. Shape (again, with your hands or with utensils). Fold to create seams where it will open (or else slice the top after pouring into the preheated container). Let rise for 1-3 hours.
Baking Transfer the dough to a preheated closed heavy container. It's nice if you dust (flour, cornmeal, ..) on top.
The critical steps to save cleaning are "pour" and "transfer". Pouring (step 2) means to pour the dough as a lump. Transfering (step 3) means to carry the dough to the preheated baking vessel. | I didn't fully understand the question until I watched the video. Some of the terminology may have evolved in the last 16 years or just not been common parlance for amateur bakers at the time.
What you're calling second rise is what most would call proofing. What you're calling first rise would usually be called bulk fermentation - because you often divide after, but even if not dividing by convention it's still called "bulk". In-between bulk ferment and proofing is shaping.
When bulk fermentation is finished you turn the dough out onto a (usually) lightly floured surface for shaping. You want to get rid of large gas pockets but you're not kneading. You gently stretch and fold (and roll, etc. - everyone has their own method) to develop tension so the dough keeps its shape in the oven. This would be nearly impossible to do correctly inside a bowl or fermentation vessel. Other than getting a large cutting board for this purpose to keep your counter clean - and personally I've never had great results with those vs. the smooth bare counter - there's really no way around dirtying your counter.
For proofing, the best method depends on the kind of bread. For a baguette or some round loaves you can wrap in a linen couche or just a kitchen towel to give it a little bit of structural support, and proof on a flat surface, which is what he does in the video. For batards and boules people usually use a banneton or proofing basket, sometimes lined sometimes not. Could you re-use your fermentation vessel? Possibly, if it has the right shape and you line it with a heavily floured towel to prevent sticking. But you're really better off just getting a banneton or two which are very affordable and require no cleaning, even when lined.
You can of course proof in a loaf pan and go directly to the oven to avoid the transfer step, but you're not going to get the kind of result I think you're looking for. It'll be more like sandwich bread than a crusty artisan loaf like is shown in the video.
For transferring to a Dutch oven, I find it much easier to proof in a banneton and then carefully turn it out onto a decent sized piece of flour dusted parchment. Then I lift the parchment with the loaf on it into the very hot Dutch oven. (I also tuck two ice cubes under the edges of the parchment before popping the lid on for extra steam). Works flawlessly for me. I really wouldn't worry about the temperature and the parchment. It might get a bit brittle but it's not going to combust at 450 degrees in a humid Dutch oven. After 25 minutes when you move to the uncovered portion of the bake, you can take the whole thing out, remove the parchment if you're concerned (I don't bother and still have never had a problem), and finish on a stone until it's done.
What he does in the video - lifting the dough off the flat surface and into the oven directly - is not as easy as it looks. Definitely not for a six year old. |
What is the point of a "Friendship Bread" starter?
Recently I started a "Starter" for Friendship Bread with some active (non wild) yeast. I thought it would be a good way to keep an active culture of yeast around in general and get some nice cake / breads too. However as i've been going though recipes paired with the starter for cakes, cookies, and muffins. I've noticed that all the leavening is coming from other means. So that becomes the crux of my question. If not for leavening, what value does a friendship bread starter provide? | I see Amish Friendship Bread recipes that create a starter with dry active yeast, but also notice that once they are active, they are kept active by feeding with flour, water, and frequently sugar. After the first addition of active yeast at the creation, no further dry active yeast is added, from what I can tell. This is a similar process to creating a sourdough, however, with sourdough, no dry active yeast is used. Anyway, over time, the starter you've created will pick up lactic acid bacteria, and perhaps other strains of yeast. The pH of the starter will become more acidic. So, in addition to leavening, the starter adds flavor to the recipe and adds acidity to your recipe. Baking soda and powder also help leavening, but might be more important here to preserve the correct level of acidity and encourage browning in the final formula. Baking soda helps keep acidity in balance, particularly when used with baking powder (one can use less soda). The proper alkalinity is also important to encourage browning. |
Where can I purchase calcium disodium edta preservative?
I'm trying to make homemade mayonnaise with a longer shelf life. I see all the commercial brands list calcium disodium edta as a preservative so I was wondering where I could find this ingredient.
I see it being sold as a supplement on bulksupplements.com but I get the feeling that this isn't what I'm looking for. | Calcium disodium edta is added to food items as a preservative and flavoring agent. However, don't assume that "preservative" means an ingredient keeps your food safer longer. This particular preservative is probably added to maintain color and flavor, rather than to extend shelf life. Homemade mayonnaise is a product with a fairly short shelf life...generally only a few days in the fridge, even if you are making an egg-less version. There are online recipes for lacto-fermented mayonnaise, which could extend that life for up to a month. Maybe try that route....or make less mayo more frequently. |
Will adding water to a grill pan to use the remains of previously cooked food (deglazing), damage it?
Situation: I have been using this technique for some time, and I personally think it's great. But I have been told it ruins the grill pan due to the difference in temperature.
Example:
This is my (anti-stick) grill pan. At least in my country, when we say 'grill cooking' it means with a small amount of oil, just spreading it over the surface with a silicone brush. It's not 'dirty' or always like this. I was still cooking (chicken breast in this case, still a piece left that took longer). I took this picture on purpose for this question.
What I like doing is, after the meat or whatever is done, I add and brush the surface with a little bit of oil and water (usually boiling hot from a kettle). With a silicone spatula I "clean it" to get all the remains and colors/flavours in the liquid, and then I add leftover rice (made in a rice cooker after rinsing it). I might add some soy sauce or oyster sauce as well.
More or less like a mix between Mediterranean and Asian methodologies. But I have been told a few times: "You will damage the grill by adding water.". One of the main arguments is that the difference in temperature can ruin the iron/material. As I mentioned, the water is boiling hot (approx. 100°C). My findings tell me that temperatures in the pan/grill can get to 250°C.
Will this difference in temperature damage my grill? Does it matter if it's non-stick for this case?
PS: I added the "durability" tag, but I am not sure if that is accurate (maybe "maintenance"?). If I made a mistake, please feel free to edit it! | The answer is: it is likely that you will damage it indeed.
The technique of deglazing comes from iron pans. It can be used on them, or on other kinds of uncoated pans, without any problem. It does come with a tiny risk of the pan suddenly breaking apart, but this is an exception, pans frequently survive daily use across family generations without breaking.
But you say that your pan is non-stick. From that information and the looks of it, as well the information that the previous one was "spoiled", it is most likely teflon-covered. Teflon is a very sensitive material, and easy to damage.
There are two mechanisms which can (but do not have to) happen to damage your pan here. The first is exactly what you mentioned: temperature difference. The thermal shock of deglazing leads to a sudden contraction of the pan material, and it is not possible to make a coated pan in which the Teflon and the metal beneath it contract with the exact same speed. This creates stress on the border between the coating and the pan body, which is already a rather weak border, because the teflon simply doesn't like sticking to the metal. With time, the repeated stress on that border can certainly damage the bond between coating and pan.
The second mechanism is a bit more indirect: temperature. To do a proper deglazing, you need a hot pan, else you end up with an unappetizing greasy soup instead of a nice fond. On the other hand, teflon coatings are not suitable for using at high temperatures, they start to degrade at around 200 C. So if you want to do deglazing, you will have to damage your pan by heating it up.
The good news is that, in the second mechanism, there is no double damage. So, if you are already overheating the pan during cooking, then you are not doing extra heat damage by deglazing, there is only the damage caused by the differential contraction.
In conclusion, if you want to do deglazing, you might consider learning to cook on other types of pan. They frequently come with a learning curve and reduction in comfort, but give you better food quality and don't need to be replaced regularly. |
Are those white things in my lentil soup worms?
I just made this soup but I noticed these white things in it are they worms? | Those look to be radicles (embryonic stems, the part the root grows from) that have separated from the lentils. If you look closely at the less squished lentils in your soup, you'll probably see some with the radicles still attached. |
How can you 干/乾 燒 lobster on an electric cooktop, in a residential apartment?
I don't know the English translation of 干燒/乾燒? Perhaps dry sear, or dry sizzle? I don't use "grill", because Cantonese restaurants confirmed to me that they don't use grills for this dish.
How can I replicate the following with frozen lobster meat, and my Frigidaire electric cooktop? I have no oven.
My priority is flavor and taste! I don't care about looks or presentation, or char or grill marks.
Top, Middle from TripAdvisor, Bottom from Yelp. | Short answer: you can't, but probably not for the reason you think.
Longer answer: the phrase you're quoting above, 干燒/乾燒, means "dry-fried", which generally (and somewhat paridoxically) refers to putting food through a brief and very hot shallow fry before the finishing stir-fry. This technique is absolutely doable at home, even on an electric burner as long as you have a good flat-bottomed wok.
So what's the problem? It's that you're using "frozen lobster meat". Thawed lobster meat, with no shells, is already dehydrated and tough due to the freeze-and-thaw process. If you "dry-fry" that meat, it's going to have the texture of vulcanized rubber or even wood.
So, my advice to you is either get a fresh whole lobster, or at least frozen shell-on tails, if you want to try making dry-fried lobster. Or, if you need to use up that bag of frozen lobster meat, batter and deep-fry it instead. |
Why is my cream cheese frosting so soft?
I am using (almost) the CupcakeJemma recipe for cream cheese frosting:
150g soft unsalted butter
240g cream cheese
320g icing sugar (confectioner’s/powdered sugar)
The listed recipe says to use 960g sugar (admittedly this is an increased amount to make the cake in the video a stronger structure.)
Though I’m using much less sugar, my frosting is coming out much softer than I expected. What can I do to make is less runny/firmer (other than adding more sugar? | There are 3 ways to approach this without changing the flavor of your frosting:
Add cornstarch or arrowroot
Add gelatin powder or sheets
Add Xanthan or Guar gum
However, as you are adding far less sugar than the recipe says you may have to add a lot of these, and that will impact the structure. If you have gelatin I'd go for that first, then arrowroot if you have it or cornstarch if you don't. If you have gums and know how to use them they can work magic, but if you go overboard the result can be, well...gummy. |
How does the folding make the dough stronger?
Folding the dough (coil fold, stretch and fold) is a typical step that is found in many homemade bread recipes. The motivation for this step is that it contributes to make the dough stronger. What does it mean? How does this action make the dough stronger? What is the impact on the final result? | A "strong" dough is a dough which holds together well. Bread doughs and pasta doughs, when compared to other doughs, are strong in the sense that they are not crumbly, but very cohesive.
Within the spectrum of bread dough, a strong dough is a dough that feels like play-doh. Right after kneading, it sticks little or not at all, it is elastic (wants to return to its original shape after deformation), and when it rises, it is capable of trapping lots of gas.
This is caused by the internal structure of the dough. It is held together by an elastic mesh of a protein called gluten, and when bakers say "strong dough" they mean a dough in which the gluten mesh is stronger than in the weak dough. The mesh is denser and holds together better.
The way kneading (including stretch and fold) makes dough stronger is by creating gluten. Flour contains the precursors of gluten, glutenin and gliadin; when they meet each other in the presence of water, they stick together. When enough of their molecules stick together, they form the mesh, in which the starch and other dough substances stay embedded. The physical action of the kneading makes these molecules meet each other and stick together, creating the gluten structure.
The stretch and fold technique is used mostly in very wet bread doughs, where traditional kneading doesn't work well. It creates a better-aligned gluten than traditional kneading, because you are always working in the same direction. But I wouldn't call the stretch-and-folded dough stronger than traditionally kneaded dough. |
How long does a souffle stay up?
I recently made a chocolate souffle for the first time and it came out pretty much like I was expecting: slightly gooey middle, a crust on top, fluffy, risen to a little less than double.
But after 10-15 minutes they started deflating, until around an hour later they were back to the size when I put them in the oven. They became a dense mush. Is this supposed to happen?
Some reports say that proper souffles only deflate a little, while others say deflating is supposed to happen. Which one is true? | A soufflé is simply a hot air balloon. It stays up as long as there is hot air trapped inside it. Your 10-15 minutes sound reasonable, although it is a gradual process and starts as soon as they are out of the oven.
There are tons of kitchen lore about non-falling soufflés. These are either wishful thinking, or marketing trickery. The laws of physics cause a soufflé to fall quickly. |
When stretching and folding dough and it gets tight, is that time to let it rest?
When I make my sourdough, a rested dough will stretch and fold 3-4 times before quite suddenly going tight. At this point it's likely to tear if I stretch much more. Should I put it down and rest it again, keeping stretching with some tearing, keep stretching but more gently, or what?
My typical loaf is a 50% wholemeal seeded* sourdough. I'm not going for the very open crumb found in many white sourdoughs, but more of a tasty sandwich loaf - I also bake it in a tin. But it's perhaps a little dense. It's initially kneaded in my stand mixer at 59% hydration, then after 30-60 minutes I add the seeds, salt and more water bringing it up to 65-70% (hard to judge exactly because I soak the seeds and they bring some water with them). Once the dough comes together again in the mixer, which normally involves some resting, I stop it and let it rest. Then I stretch and folding every half hour or so until bedtime (a variable number of times depending on when I started). After the last stretch I roughly shape it and put it in a loaf tin, pressing it into the corners. The tearing happens preferentially at the seeds but can occur anywhere. This routine works with my evenings, and is adapted from the recipe I got with the starter.
*about 9% (baker's percentage) seeds - sunflower, pumpkin, linseed etc. in variable proportions depending on where I've been shopping. | In my experience, yes, the stretch and fold is about 3 - 4 times. It doesn't need more than that. I only do 3 to 4 sets of stretch and folds, 30 minutes apart, then leave alone for the rest of bulk fermentation. However, especially if you are using sourdough stater, a lot depends on your local conditions. The point of stretch and fold, and resting, is to strengthen the gluten structure. If you find this strengthening to happen sooner, you need fewer stretch and folds....if your dough needs more strength, add a set. In the end, don't do it until it tears, because then you are disrupting the structure of the gluten that you've worked to create. |
Basic Instapot Operation - setting the cooking time under Manual/Pressure Cook button
Plug in the instapot - display shows OFF. Then press Pressure Cook (Manual) button, the timer shows a minute or so. Press "+" button and timer increments by seconds, up to 4 minutes then resets to zero and counts up again. Cant't set to my desired cook time - say 10 min. What am i missing? | timer increments by seconds, up to 4 minutes then resets to zero
The most probable case is that you are misreading the label. It probably shows minutes, increments up to 4 hours, then resets to zero.
My Instant Pot is an older IP-Duo model, and its display is in minutes only, so above 60, it just goes 61, 62, etc., not 1:01, 1:02. But it still resets after 240.
Different Instant Pot models have different programs, but I doubt that anybody made a program counting down in seconds, since that precision is not needed in pressure cooking. When combined with the info that they are already restricting my model at 4 hours (which makes sense too, for recipes longer than that, you probably don't want the pressure cooking mode anyway), I would say you are just assuming the wrong unit. |
Exploding leaf lard
The title says it all...almost.
I was preparing a warm (90-100F) mixture of tap water, EV olive oil, and leaf lard (each about 50-60g). At first, the oil and water were added and brought to said temperature. Then, I added the leaf lard from a bag, squeezed out the end - similar to past from a tube/bottle. Perhaps that's too much detail there but just mentioning it JIC. Upon the lard reaching the somewhat warmed water-oil solution, it started popping in basically the same way that high-temperature oils do when water is added at frying temperatures.
What chemical/physical process is facilitating this phenomenon? | Oil heats up faster than water. Water being more dense sinks. When it reaches the boiling point, steam has no where else to go. That's the typical experience, but also consider that water can evaporate at a temperature lower than the boiling point. So, as your initial mixture was heating, the layer of oil on top was protecting steam from escaping. When you dumped in the leaf lard, you broke the surface and added more moisture (which is likely contained in the leaf lard). The escaping steam caused the popping. The physics here is the difference in heat capacity of oils and water, the density of the materials, and the temperature at which liquids evaporate. |
Risotto too grainy
I've been toying with my risotto recipe but I still can't make rice nice and smooth. Here is what I use;
Cup Arborio rice (from Whole Foods)
Kettle and Fire Chicken Broth 32oz
small diced carrot, garlic, celery, shallots leeks
slices of shiitake (about 3-4 whole shiitake)
I make risotto as follows;
Sauté carrots,and celeries and then garlic, shallots and leeks.
Add 1 cup of rice, sautéed a bit and add white wine.
When wine is almost gone, start adding a scoop of hot(almost boiling) stock.
Stir occasionally and add additional stock when the precious stock is almost gone.
Add butter and seasoning.
The whole thing takes about 30-40min. At the end, I check and make sure risotto is nicely done. It gets creamy but when I taste it, arborio rice is still grainy; it is almost like a grain of rice breaks down in small pieces.
I followed some of the suggestion in the previous post; How can I make my risotto less firm?
but I am still getting the same result. I'd really appreciate any pointers to this. | That grainy feeling is a classic sign of undercooked rice. For white risotto, you can check for doneness visually by looking for the opaque white center of the grains of rice. If the kind of risotto you're making is too colorful, you can also bite into a grain and examine the core that way.
It sounds like your liquids are evaporating too quickly before the core of some of the rice grains can properly gelatinize. Try using a shallower/wider pan, lowering the heat, using a bigger ladle for the liquids, and stirring the risotto more often. Doing these will help promote even heating of the grains.
If your risotto gets too thick really early on, you may have to add more liquid than the usual ammont so that it doesn't evaporate or get absorbed by the released starches before it gets to the actual rice. You can also cheat a little bit by adding the liquid, bringing it up to a boil, then turn off the heat and put a lid on. Let it sit for about 5 to 10 minutes to absorb, then back on the heat to finish the risotto with butter and seasoning. |
How much does a dL of flour weigh?
I have a baking recipe that uses metric volume measurements. I’d like to convert deciliters to weight.
How much does a deciliter of flour weigh? | There can be no exact general conversion because flour's density depends on how it has packed into a space and also a little on the specific flour – this is why mass measurements are preferred for most serious purposes.
However, there are plenty of resources that will give you a suitable answer and any recipe using volume measurements for solids shouldn't be too dependent on small variations: the first one that came up for me when I googled 'dl flour in grams' was this which gives 52.1g. (The implied level of precision here is misleading of course.) |
Conflicting advice on which knife to use when cutting up a chicken, which should I use?
I recently took part in a knife skills workshop and during part of that workshop we were taught how to cut up a whole chicken into different sections.
I was expecting to use a boning knife for this task, but in fact our instructor had said that the best knife to use was in fact a paring knife as it is easier to use and handle when getting around the chicken. As a group, we typically worked around the joints, rather than trying to cut through them, to keep the cuts as neat as possible.
From looking online, almost all advice seems to advocate using a boning knife. I would like to go through the exercise of cutting up a chicken a few times at home, but I am now unsure which knife I need to be using for this task? | Boning and jointing are two different tasks. Cutting up a chicken into pieces is jointing, removing the meat from the bones entirely is boning, it sounds like you were jointing the chicken to me. Either knife will do the job, it's partly down to personal preference and what you have to hand. I've found that knowing where to cut is far more important than what you use to do it, and I've used used virtually every type of knife to joint chicken one time or another.
I've found that the flexibility of a boning knife is not helpful for many tasks, and between the two I would use a paring knife for boning as it's more direct. In my own kitchen I would use neither, instead I would reach for my 12cm (4.5in) utility knife, which is a slightly scaled up paring knife, it has more reach but it's still easy to handle. Boning knives are great for boning fish, but really not that much else. |
After rolling pizza dough, how do I move it to a pan without ruining it?
On multiple occasions now, I have rolled pizza dough out to a circle about 14" in diameter, and then I have trouble moving it to my pan.
First of all, I roll the dough on a granite counter. Even though I sprinkle flour on the counter beforehand, the dough still ends up sticking to the counter. As I try to lift the dough off the counter, sometimes it will stretch and tear because of how stuck it is. (One time I tried rolling the dough on parchment paper, but the dough stuck to that too.)
Then after I have gotten all the dough off the counter, it is obviously too big to fit in my hands, so much of it will droop as I move it to the pan. Some parts of the dough might even fold onto itself by the time I have it in my oiled pan. Then I have to try to unfold it (nearly impossible) or flatten it out and reshape it in the pan. This results in some ugly dough that doesn't rise uniformly. One time the dough had folded onto itself so badly that it didn't seem salvageable, so I threw it out and started all over.
How can I roll my pizza dough without it sticking to the counter, and then how can I move it to my pan without it folding onto itself? (BTW, I am using a recipe that calls for 227 grams of water and 346 grams of bread flour.) | Either your dough is too wet, or you're trying to roll it all out in one go.
You cannot get enough flour under a ball of dough to survive being rolled out to 12".
Roll it, flip it, turn it; flour it each time, under & over.
Then, assuming you don't have a specific pizza peel, then one hand & an egg/fish slice/spatula [international terminology differences, see comments] will get it into the pan in one piece. You can even get a bit cavalier & hold it like a duvet - flip into place.
Then you can start decorating it.
I can make 14" pizzas by this method; that's the size of my pans. |
When should I use a rounded balloon whisk attachment vs a bulb-shaped balloon whisk attachment
Many electric whisks come with two balloon whisk attachments: A bulb-shaped whisk and a rounded whisk. Is there a specific reason I should prefer one or the other? Both seem to yield similar results. | This is a little speculative, but I'd use the taller one for larger depths, and the more spherical one for shallower work.
You could use the elongated one for everything, except if you have a small amount of something stiff, when the longer wires might flex too much. The shorter one might splash a little less in a shallow container as well
But I've never had both for the same mixer - my Kenwood stand mixer has a different shape again, closer to the ball shape but tapered at the bottom, to better follow the shape of the bowl, while handheld ones have always been the tall sort. |
Bell Pepper cooking in the microwave
When I microwave sliced bell peppers, they spark like they have metal in them.
Does the bell peppers have any metal pieces? | Yes. But probably not the way most people think of "metal"
Certain vegetables are very rich in minerals. These minerals, like iron, are an important part of nutrition. It's not metallic in the way we usually think of "metals" being shiny, sharp, and hard.
It's the same iron that in it's pure state gets used to make cast iron pans--but it's in relatively tiny amounts scattered throughout your food and water.
⚡
So why do some veggies cause "arcing" in the microwave? Arcing isn't necessarily caused by a lot of metal. It's actually caused by uneven metal content. A flat, smooth sheet of aluminum may not arc at all, but a smaller ball of aluminum foil can cause a major lightning storm in your microwave. Veggies that are particularly mineral rich will be more prone to having uneven distribution between different plants, or even within a single plant.
That means two pieces of bell pepper, either from different peppers or different ends of the same pepper, can have different metal/mineral content, and result in arcing.
Leafy greens in particular have a high iron content, and are prone to this behavior. I've had fresh kale cause some big sparks before. This NPR article goes into more detail. |
Do the conventional round ovens have any advantage over an OTG?
The "conventional round oven" (can be used for baking, grilling and roasting, as per the claims on the packaging) I'm referring to:
The typical Oven Toaster Griller (OTG) I'm referring to:
My objective is to buy an oven with which I can bake:
Bread
Cakes
Biscuit
Samosa (for baking it internally after frying externally)
Puffs (vegetable pattie)
Chicken
I have a vague memory of someone mentioning that the conventional round oven can bake cakes more uniformly than an OTG. Additionally, some OTG's have a temperature dial like this:
This makes it really hard to figure out if I'm baking at the right temperature. Even a 10 degree temperature variation matters.
Apart from price, is there any other reason the conventional oven should be preferred? | Cons of the conventional oven:
From what I read on this website, and some Youtube videos, the
conventional round ovens are manufactured by local brands, some of
which may be imitation brands. For example, there's one with "Tosiba"
written on it.
The conventional ovens do not have a timer.
In some ovens, the heating coil gets rusted or spoilt in a year. In
some, the coil lasts for many decades. However, in today's times, if
the coil gets spoilt, it's hard to find a replacement (though I do believe local electric appliance repair shops can fix it).
The temperature setting may not be accurate.
The thermostat is of a cheap quality, and can come off or stop
working, and it's hard to get a replacement now.
There's no rotisserie and no props to be able to bake items one on
top of the other.
OTG's have the option to heat from various directions and also have a
fan. Conventional ovens don't.
Pros of the conventional oven:
If you buy from a reputed brand (which were available many decades ago), you'll get one that cooks uniformly.
You can easily bake a 1kg cake in it, whereas in the smaller OTG's
you have to settle for smaller cakes.
You can view what is being baked, directly from above, so it's easier
to spot if it's getting burnt or not.
The oven is less than half the price of the OTG's. |
Is it just me or do you have to cook for a long time for it to be intuitive?
I have started trying to cook for about two years.
I'm familiar with most ingredients, spices, and tools, but I still can't do anything good without a recipe. It takes me a long time to make things. Sometimes things spoil in the fridge.
Am I lacking volume? I tried focusing on only one cuisine and built up a pantry, but I can't realistically spend hours a day cooking breakfast and dinner.
I can't necessarily see what I'm doing wrong as a beginner because I'm like a fish in water. Any advice?
Neither of my parents can cook well. Perhaps my standards are high as well? | If your goal is to cook more intuitively (i.e. to make food without always following a recipe, and to be comfortable adapting a known recipe to suit your ingredients/preferences), then you will need to practice doing that – if all your cooking processes at the moment involve closely following a recipe then you are not practicing the skills of making decisions about ingredients, quantities, cooking methods and so on (although you certainly are practicing your technique and gaining general kitchen experience of course).
If you are used to working closely to a recipe then moving 'off-road' can be intimidating; a few suggestions to ease the transition:
Cook together with someone who cooks intuitively, and ask them to explain their thinking as they go along. Not everyone is good at cooking together with others but hopefully you have a friend or family member whom you can learn from.
Look for recipes that include flexibility: a very popular book recently in the UK is Rukmini Iyer's The Roasting Tin which includes lots of suggestions for building up a dish from principles like 'grain + protein + vegetables' and substitutions in the recipes.
Try to combine different recipes; for example, use the main ingredients from one thing you like and the sauce from something else you like, and see how they work together.
When you haven't got the specific ingredient for a recipe, look at what ingredients you do have and think about how you could use that instead. |
How to make mellow vinegar?
I made pineapple vinegar by just putting all of the fibrous and hard to eat parts of the fruit in water with some sugar. It did ferment and make vinegar, in that it's sour and pretty acidic (pH is between 3 and 4, in my testing), but it's a bit harsh and not very subtle in flavor.
How can I age or rest or store this vinegar to get something pleasant for eating or cooking? | As Unlisted said, real balsamic is indeed matured in elaborate ways, using storage in wood. But most of the cheaper stuff you can buy is not made that way.
When you buy a very tasty fruity vinegar, it is usually just a mixture of actual vinegar and fruit syrup. Sometimes also fruit juice, if you want to keep more of the sour taste. This is very easy to achieve - just get some fruit syrup or juice, maybe adding some other sweetener like beet syrup, and add some to the vinegar. Work on some minimal test batches first, and start with very low concentrations, until you know your preferred mixture - you don't want to make it too sweet all at once.
If you want to try aging, you don't have to buy an actual barrel. Even in industry, it is common practice to use wood chips inside of nonreactive vessels - and you can dose the chips for any batch size. Just make sure you get untreated wood.
An alternative way to infuse taste, combining both of the above, is to take ripe fruit, cover it in vinegar, and let it stay for a couple of weeks. The vinegar will take on the taste. |
Is chicken with yellowish parts spoiled?
Moved to new place (Europe), no nice butchers around, only store found has chickens with yellowed parts like in the attachment. I never seen tint like that on a chicken and wondering what does it mean? | Yellowing (particularly around the hocks) can be an indicator of the breed, and is more prevalent on younger chickens. For females it can fade as they reach laying age, although diet (high in corn) can also keep the yellowing. |
Cloudy sediment in home canned pickles
I've home-canned some pickled vegetables recently and there is a cloudy sediment in the brine. I'd like to know what causes it and how to prevent it.
It is not spoilage. It only seems to affect the visual aesthetic of the pickles.
Here is an image that shows the sediment near the bottom of the jar
The recipe I'm using is "End of Garden Pickles" on page 323 of Ball's Complete Book of Home Preserving. The ingredients are zucchini, green beans, carrots, pearl onions, bell pepper, vinegar, sugar, dry mustard, mustard seeds, pickling salt, ground cinnamon, ground ginger. I've seen it with other recipes too though.
It seems like the cause is probably hard water or starch in the vegetables from this document's mention of "white sediment". Also, this document on judging pickles acknowledges the occurrence of sediment and suggests it's preventable. Unfortunately, neither document shows a picture to compare against and neither gives a tip to prevent it if the problem is starch.
Does anyone recognize this sediment and know how to prevent or reduce it? | "Fresh, whole spices are best to use for pickles. Powdered spices may cause the product to darken and the brine to become cloudy."
https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/prevent_pickling_problems |
Edible silicone?
I'm trying to replicate the firm but flexible texture and translucent look of molded silicone using edible gels.
The mold I'm using is difficult to extract the final shape from. It's shaped somewhat like an egg cup with a post on the bottom. The gel needs to be pretty resilient to stay intact - maybe like the firmness of a gummy bear.
I've tried various concentrations of agar but it's always too brittle coming out of the mold. After reading the free ebook about hydrocolloids, I'm thinking of adding locust bean gum to add strength and flexibility, but are there any other options I'm overlooking?
I thought about using gelatin but I'm worried it would melt at room temp (it's warm where I live).
Thanks in advance for any ideas or tips. | So gummy bears are typically made with gelatin. At high enough concentrations, it will not melt at room temperature, and is quite bouncy.
I would buy unflavored gelatin, and make a batch with four times the recommended amount and see how that works for you. That concentration will likely get a little soft, but will not melt at room temperature. If you still need it firmer, add more gelatin. If it's too firm, add less. Unfortunately, I can't know exactly what texture you want.
If you want it to be even more stretchy and rubbery, then look into making gummy candy. I've used a recipe from Sugar Geek Show that's made in a microwave, and it's quite simple. The issue I had with it was with air bubbles in the mixture, but I'm guessing this could be prevented by using gelatin sheets and a stove top method instead. I also reduced the amount of liquid for an even chewier texture. That said the ingredient proportions worked really well for me. To summarize:
50 g water
50 g granulated sugar
21 g gelatin
71g flavored liquid like juice (I reduced this to 20g safely)
85 g corn syrup (or honey)
1/4 tsp citric acid powder (optional)
1-2 drops candy flavoring (optional)
Combine the water, sugar, gelatin, and flavored liquid in a pint measuring cup, and give the gelatin 5 minutes or so to bloom. Then microwave for 30 seconds at a time and stir gently until completely melted, then add the corn syrup/honey and other ingredients if using. You should have about 1 cup of gummy candy goo. Then you can pour the hot mixture into your molds and let it set. Pry the gummy candies out of their molds and allow to dry at room temperature for a few days if desired, flipping occasionally. They will shrink a bit if you allow them to dry, but this will give them an even chewier texture.
Using plant-based gums or cooked starch could also provide you with a gel, but I think gelatin might be the easiest way to go. |
Holes inside Siemens IQ700 Microwave, Are these holes causing the microwave to switch off?
So my ~11 year old Siemens IQ700 microwave oven has developed a number of small holes right through the enamel & metal on the inside - I noticed these when the microwave developed an issue where after running for a couple of seconds it resets itself and goes back into standby mode - the oven and grill functions work perfectly its literally only the microwave function. My question is, if i repair these holes will the resetting issue be fixed and if so what is the preferred method to fix them? - i can open it up and repair from the inside, probably using aluminum tape or something and then touch up the enamel | It's possible that the holes are causing the problem, but it's also possible they'd been there for a while and you only noticed them because your microwave is broken.
In any case, if you try to repair the holes, you run the risk of accidentally creating a resonant circuit which could start a fire. You've gotten a good eleven years out of this microwave; now it's time to buy a new one. |
Does this tool where a knife edge is dragged between two angled abrasive pieces hone or sharpen?
A few weeks ago I bought an awesome Global knife. I ordered this tool from Amazon:
My question: Does this tool hone the knife, or does it sharpen it? | This is a sharpener. Everything that pinches the blade is. It's good for returning a dull knife to reasonable sharpness, to a point where it can be honed. If you put a sharp knife in it, it will make it less sharp.
This is the type for honing. |
Flat griddle pan for Weber Spirit II E-320 BBQ
I'm trying to buy a flat griddle pan for a Weber Spirit II E-320 Gas BBQ and not sure what will fit/what is compatible.
Currently I have these cooking grates installed:
So I'm not sure if:
a. There's a flat griddle pan that will replace one or more of those grates.
b. You're supposed to have the flat pan sit on top of those grates.
c. I need to buy separate grates that are compatible with a flat griddle.
I'd also preferably get a “knock-off” version of the pan for cheaper as the Weber ones are very expensive. | b. Make it easy and less expensive by putting a cast iron pan on top of the grates. Thats what I do. I have a Genesis and just put a regular round cast iron pan on top of the grates. I know there are flat griddle style cast iron pans that you could do the same with. It does get hot enought to smoke off the "seasoning". I learned to do this at a restuarant I was grill cook at in order to make blackened steaks. |
Why do I find rocks inside bags of lump charcoal?
I frequently find golf ball-sized rocks in bags of lump charcoal. Usually after the fire has burnt out.
Is this some by-product of the charcoal manufacturing process or an under-handed attempt by the manufacturer to cheat on the weight of the bags? | I've often seen small stones in charcoal, and it makes sense.
Charcoal is often a byproduct of logging, made from lower quality wood such as branches and thin growth at the top of trees. During felling and trimming, this will lie in the dirt while the more valuable wood is dealt with. Then it will be picked up by machinery, loaded, and taken away to be burnt into charcoal. Some contamination from soil is inevitable, and that will include a few stones as well as smaller stuff that adds to the dust in the bottom of the bag. Even treestumps can be used, and digging those out is also likely to bring some soil with them. |
Why do falafels crack open when frying?
I've used the same recipe for years: soaked ground fava with enough chickpea flour to bind, sesame seeds, salt spice, baking soda.
Using thawed frozen portions of the mix, sometimes I get little cauliflowers instead of balls.
Next try, from the same batch, all perfectly fine.
They never disintegrate; just crack open after a minute in enough oil to cover.
I believe my uncrowded oil temp is stable at 170ºC.
Is this a temp issue between cold raw falafel and hot oil?
Maybe baking soda not distributed well, expanding too much?
I have thrown raw balls not entirely free of ice crystals into hot oil without it happening.
It seems so random, what could be the issue? | Fundamentally, the falafels crack open because the outside wants to shrink (due to dehydration) and the inside wants to expand (due to evaporation, gas expansion, and the action of the leavener). The variation you see -- some managing to stay together, others cracking -- is likely due to things subtly affecting the cohesion, such as the distribution of sesame seeds. So I wouldn't suggest trying to determine why the effect is intermittent... it's balanced on a knife edge, and sometimes it falls off the wrong side.
Using more chickpea flour and less fava beans might help. Grinding the fava beans more finely might help. Adding some wheat flour might help. Basically, anything you can do to promote cohesion. Additionally, reducing the baking soda might help, but it's not the first thing I'd try.
In a comment, Joe makes a really good point that the shape determines how much strain the expansion/contraction causes. A sphere is already at minimal surface area, so expansion has to involve cracking. But a smooshed sphere (or disc) can bow outward instead, flexing instead of rupturing. |
Slightly undercooked chickpeas
I have cooked some chickpeas and then frozen them. They taste as if they are slightly undercooked.
If I now defrost and cook them further, can I expect them to soften more? | I see several references to freezing cooked chickpeas, and references to freezing soaked (but not yet cooked) chickpeas on the internets, so have no reason to believe that you can't do the same with par cooked chickpeas. You should be able to cook to your liking after freezing. |
Why do some springform pans have bumps all over the bottom piece?
Some springform pans have a perfectly flat bottom piece, but other springform pans have a bottom piece with bumps all over it, such as this one:
Do the bumps serve any purpose? I have never used a springform pan before, but I would imagine the bumps might make it more difficult to completely slice all the way through a cheesecake, resulting in a lot of crumbs breaking off the crust as you try to remove a slice of cheesecake from the bottom piece. I would imagine that fewer crumbs would break off the crust if the bottom piece was flat. | According to Bustle, the purpose of the texture is to ensure even baking:
Some springform pans feature textured bases, which provide more even air and heat distribution while baking.
Clearly, though, many manufacturers do not agree that this is a real advantage.
I recommend always lining the bottom of the pan with a circle of parchment paper regardless of whether or not the recipe calls for it. This not only ensures clean release, it also prevents you from scratching the pan if you cut the cake while it's still on the pan base. |
Can salted capers be un-salted?
A family member picked up the wrong jar at the supermarket and now we have a (small) jar of salted capers instead of the brined ones they wanted to buy.
We were wondering if we could somehow wash the salted capers and remove enough salt to put them in the brine from the previous jar and not notice the difference.
I think the capers might have absorbed the salt, and that they're unsalvageable, but who knows? | Yes.
Brined capers also have a lot of salt, so you're not really trying to remove the salt, just dissolve it a bit. The way I've done this is to simply take out about 1/4 of the capers, add a tablespoon or so of wine vinegar, then fill the bottle to the top with water, shake, and wait a couple hours.
Alternately, if you want to use them immediately and they're just too salty: dump them in a sieve, rinse off all the exterior salt, and then dry. They will be somewhat different due to the lack of vinegar, but swappable in most recipes. |
What is this elongated plastic and metal utensil?
I inherited this utensil as part of a larger cutlery case containing lots of other stuff, all related to the kitchen somehow.
I do not know what this is supposed to be for, it might even be part of something else.
There is what seems to be a hole for a screw, and a long elongated plastic thing squishes between the metal frame. | It's a handle that has become unbolted from the pot it was attached to. For example, with that angle it would fit a wok. It may even be intentionally removable. |
How much salt in "only salt" beef jerky
I'm getting ready to smoke a batch of beef jerky, but am setting some aside so that the only seasoning will be the salt and the smoke. 1) I normally put so much seasoning that it hides most of the smoke nuances, and 2) I have a friend who needs to taste them side by side so I plan on doing this with one batch mesquite smoked and one batch hickory smoked.
My normal recipe calls for 1/2cup soy sauce per 2lb beef. My soy sauce bottle says 15ml=.960g sodium Assuming nearly water density of 1ml = 1g, that's 6.4% sodium. Online shows salt is 40% sodium, so my math gives 2.4g salt in 15ml of soy sauce. 236.5ml per cup would be 18.92g per half/cup water.
So 1) is that right. and 2) Is that actually "the whole story". Is that enough salt without all of the other seasonings (worcestershire, which I'm sure adds more salt, plus spices and such) to aid the preservation? Or is it going to be too much salt without all of the other flavors to offset it?
Or would I be better off just enthusiastically salting the individual slices for a "dry brine" like I do a brisket or something? | Beef jerky, as a preservation technique, clears safety hurdles by reducing water activity and creating an inhospitable environment for bacterial growth. Salt and dehydration accomplish this, so, it that regard, any ingredient besides salt is simply for flavor. This guy wrote a book about charcuterie (and also many other things). I count him as a reliable source. He uses 20 grams of kosher salt per kilogram of beef. You can, of course, leave out the other flavoring ingredients in his recipe. I sampled a few other sources, and they come in around the same salt percent.
A couple of other pieces of info: If you want to calculate salt from a label that specifies milligrams of sodium use this formula -- milligrams of sodium X 2.54 = grams of salt. (Got this from Dave Arnold on Cooking Issues podcast May 20, 2022 episode).
Also, FWIW - "dry brining" is just salting, as a brine is defined as being wet...sorry, it's a personal pet peeve. |
Can one prepare yogurt in sealed glass jars?
I prepare yogurt, which I place in 200 ml jars with lug/twist off caps.
When I prepare the yogurt, the milk is first heated at 145F and cooled to about 108F before adding yogurt inoculant. The content is placed in jars for incubation, but they do not seal in the process (for obvious reasons).
To seal jars properly, they are normally submerged in boiling water with their content. In the case of yogurt though, this would probably cook the yogurt and kill off all the nice bacteria.
Is there any way to achieve sealing yogurt-filled jars without damaging the yogurt content? | Short answer: No. More detailed answer: strictly yes, you can seal it, but it is useless for any purpose, and specifically, it won't preserve your yogurt.
Yogurt is not preservable at home, in any way. Industrially, it is possible to produce shelf-stable yogurt-derived products, such as yogurt powder, but not completely shelf-stable yogurt.
To get a misconception out of the way: canned food is not canned only because it is sealed; in fact, your yogurt is probably sealed in the sense that there are no new microorganisms entering the jar after you have closed it. You don't actually need the strong vacuum of properly canned food to avoid this, that vacuum is more of a safety margin, and a marker of fermentation activity.
For preserving canned food, you need the full combination of:
a food that is capable of being preserved by canning. This applies to most fruits and vegetables, and, with some methods, meat.
a packaging which prevents contact of the ambient atmosphere with the food
a method for creating a temperature high enough to kill off whatever microorganisms may be present.
For all dairy, you are already outside of any possibility of home canning. There are no methods which can give you canned dairy, no matter how well you secure your packaging against air ingress.
I kept the answer of the literal question for the end, because it is likely to be uninteresting. But in principle, yes, you can seal yogurt which you are making in canning containers. I am skeptical that this will work with the screw-top jars common in Europe, but it works for certain for the old style weck jars with glass lids with separate rubber gaskets, and possibly with mason-style jars where the screw threads are not built into the actual lid.
To seal one of these glasses without heat, you have to place it into a larger container with a small hole in the lid, and use a home vacuuming device to create a vacuum in the outer container. This will also create a vacuum in the inner container, strong enough to seal it airtight. It is a neat trick to use with things like spices, to prolong their freshness. But it is not a preservation technique. |
Is it advisable to cook cilantro or mint leaves and store them, instead of blanching them?
The problem:
The grocer only agrees to give a large bunch of cilantro (coriander) or mint leaves, and I need it to last a month or more, because I don't use the herbs as frequently.
What I've tried earlier:
I've poured some water into the plastic bags containing the cilantro
or mint, so that their roots (and leaves) were wet, and this was
stored in the fridge. (turns out, wet leaves tend to rot faster)
I've blanched cilantro leaves, placed it in a plastic zip-lock bag
and kept it in the freezer. When I took it out and let it thaw, it
looked like greenish yellow seaweed, and a good amount of water had
collected in the plastic bag. The cilantro didn't smell too good
either.
What I'm asking about:
I want to know if it's advisable to chop up fresh cilantro or mint leaves, boil some water or oil in a thick-bottomed container, and simmer the chopped cilantro or mint in it until it gets fully cooked. Then I could store it in the fridge or chill-tray (or if it's cooked in oil, I guess I could store it in the freezer). I'm hoping this would make it last longer and preserve the flavors too. One thing I'm worried about is, whether cooking it in this manner will make the cilantro taste bitter. When making mixed vegetables curry or chicken curry, whenever I've added cilantro before adding the chicken or vegetables, the curry ended up having a slightly bitter taste.
ps: From this answer, I see I can store them in the freezer without blanching (but it needs to be kept within a paper towel). It is said to mess with the texture though. | No, it is certainly not advisable.
Cooking reduces the fridge life of plants. If you cook your herbs, they will only last 3 days in the fridge. Besides, you will also change the taste, and not for better.
The advice you found on freezing is indeed the only way to keep herbs for a month. They do indeed look unappetizing when thawed, but you are supposed to use them in soups and other hot dishes, where the change in texture won't be noticeable. You should just throw them in without thawing, it is not only less work, but all that juice leaking out will go into the dish, instead of getting thrown out with the bag.
If this does not work for you, the only other methods are to either switch to cooking with dried herbs (much more convenient, but very different taste) or to grow you own. But you cannot preserve the picked herbs in their fresh state by any method. |
What is the distinction between baking and roasting?
Both baking and roasting refer to cooking things in the oven. The only foodstuff I am aware of that can be either baked or roasted is potatoes, and the distinction is that roast potatoes are cooked in fat/oil while baked are cooked "dry".
Meat is always roasted, but that comes with its own fat. Vegetables are always roasted, even when cooked without fat, or even alongside baked potatoes treating them identically (eg. squash). Cakes and bread are always baked, and are not generally cooked in oil.
Is there any particular rule about what makes cooking in an oven roasting or baking, or is it one of those english words for which logic does not apply? | I don’t know if there’s a true separation, as they’re fuzzy categories. (Ie, the edge isn’t a hard separation)
They’re both applications of dry heat, but baking typically assumes it’s in a relatively contained vessel (an oven, which may have a door or other way to access it that doesn’t close).
Roasting can be done over a fire, such as a rotisserie, in a fairly open environment. (It’s also worth noting that a ‘pot roast’ is braised, not roasted, as ‘roast’ also refers to a large hunk of meat)
Roasting implies high heat. It’s never done over low heat. As such it usually implies browning the surface of the food.
Baking tends to be a more controlled heat. The vessel mentioned earlier tends to be clay, metal, or other material with thermal mass so that the heat being applied can remain constant.
Roasting tends to have a high proportion of radiant heat, while baking tends to be more heat from the air (either conductive or convective)
Roasting implies fat to some degree, but it might be coated in fat or oil (such as potatoes), or just a hunk of meat dripping its own fat as it renders. But you can also brush butter onto bread before baking, so this isn’t a clear boundary.
Roasting also tends to be more hands-on. You have to baste, or flip or stir items while it’s cooking.
Baking usually implies that something is cooked all the way through. Although there are dishes that intentionally aren’t (such as ‘lava cakes’), we have expressions such as ‘half-baked’ to describe things that weren’t done correctly. Roasting can brown the outside of vegetables while leaving it crisp in the middle, or cook meat to medium rare.
… and then we get into the even fuzzier issues.
People often assume that baking a batter or dough being cooked (cakes, breads, cookies, or what we collectively call ‘baked goods’, although that category also includes pies and things that may be filled or otherwise processed after baking). And this potentially includes techniques that are closer to roasting (such as a creme brûlée, broiling a meringue)
So… baked Alaska is roasted, not baked.
I’m not sure if naan is baked or roasted. And I would say that campfire bread (wrapped around a stick, then cooked near the fire) is roasted. |
Is this grass-fed beef?
Question 1: If I buy Australian beef, can I be almost certain that it's grass-fed?
Question 2: Does the beef below look grass-fed? | If I buy Australian beef, can I be almost certain that it's grass-fed?
There is a high probability but you cannot be 100% certain. Read on.
Around 97% of Australian cattle are raised on natural pastures and are considered grass fed. While grass makes up the the majority of the animal’s feed, they may also be fed grain to supplement their diet when pastures are poor. Different breeds of cattle along with changes in the seasons can influence the style and quality of beef produced as a result of being 100% grass fed.
Source: Grass fed vs. Grain fed beef explained | The Neff Kitchen
There are two main farming methods in Australia – grass fed and grain fed.
GRASS FED (OR PASTURE FED) BEEF
In Australia, the majority of beef is raised on pasture and this meat
is usually described as ‘grass fed’ or ‘pasture fed’. The breed type,
as well as changes in seasons and nutritional value of the pasture,
can influence the style and quality of beef produced on grass.
All Australian cattle spend the majority of their lives in a pasture
fed environment. For an animal to be classified as grass fed it means
that they have spent their entire life grazing pastures. Grass fed
beef is often said to have a complex, robust flavour and yellowish fat
colour.
GRAIN FED BEEF
Grain fed beef comes from cattle that have spent part of their lives
being fed a ration of grain in order to achieve a more consistent
product. On average, cattle that are grain fed spend between 50 and
120 days on grain after having spent 85-90% of their lives in a grass
fed environment.
Source: What's the Difference between Grass Fed and Grain Fed Beef?
Look for an appropriate certification.
In the UK that would be:
How do you find real grass fed beef that only had grass all its life? Look for beef that is labelled as 100% grass fed or carries a Pasture For Life Certification. No, you won’t find such meat in a supermarket.
Source: Do you make these 4 mistakes when buying grass fed beef?
In AU that would be:
In Australia, cattle can be certified grass-fed (never eaten grains),
by the Pasturefed Cattle Assurance System (PCAS). If you want to be
sure of grass-fed beef, that has never been fed grains, this is one to
look out for.
PCAS certification also allows cattle to be certified as growth
hormone and antibiotic-free.
Coles, somewhat controversially, introduced their own standard with
their grass-fed range called Graze. They say their standard is based
on PCAS and contains all the same requirements e.g. regarding not
being fed grains, access to pasture, feed-lotting, traceability, and
dietary supplementation.
Source: Grass-Fed Beef in Australia - Fairfield Nutrition
Look at the label on the packaging
Australian consumer organisation CHOICE decided to cut the fat from the farming jargon with a simple guide to beef labels. Its table will give you an idea of the various farming methods employed in Australia and how it affects the taste of the beef.
Source: Grass-Fed, Grain-Fed Or Organic? Confusing Beef Labels Explained
Does the beef below look grass-fed?
That is a more difficult question to answer. You would have to compare Grass Fed and Grain Fed beef side by side and see if you can spot the the difference. Here is what to look for:
Due to their diet, grain-fed beef tends to have whiter colored fat and typically has more marbling. The marbling is responsible for a lot of the flavor and tenderness of beef and is used when grading quality. Grass-fed beef typically has a more yellow-colored fat and is leaner with less overall marbling and fat.
Source: Grain-Fed vs Grass-Fed Beef- What’s the Difference? | North Carolina Cooperative Extension
The below image shows a side by side comparison:
Source: Difference between Grass Fed Beef and Grain Fed Beef | Difference Between |
Significance of liquid in packaged chicken breasts
In the last year or two we've had increasing problems with fresh boneless skinless chicken breasts that come out tough and stringy. Same recipes and cooking methods as always. Usually baked in some form.
Beyond the many good explanations given here - Will cooking chicken longer in soup make it less tough and stringy?...
I'm in a rural part of the western US, maybe 5+ hours additional transportation from distribution the store.
In the stores, I often find some packages that have a lot of fluid in them. Others have none.
Understanding that the fluid could be from unintended freezing/thawing, or from water added to the chicken, what is the best method to judge the best condition in the store?
Those with fluid in them or those with no excess fluid? Or maybe it's not so relevant? | I don't think the amount of water that's 'escaped' from the meat before cooking has any significant effect on your end result. If it's been frozen it will have some effect, but if it's 'supermarket water-injected' it won't.
I don't know about the regulations where you live, but in the UK if you buy 'fresh' meat that has been previously frozen there will be a warning on the pack not to freeze it at home.
Chicken breast will only ever get tougher the more you cook it [it has none of the collagen mentioned in the link], & so many people are scared it's going to leap out & kill them that they over-cook it.
Chicken breast is at its best when it's just done, after that it's all downhill.
Poached or roast, chicken is going to need a maximum 20 mins; but if you butterfly it first, halving the thickness, then you can halve the time.
Do you have a meat thermometer? If so, test the temperature in the centre is 75°C, 165°F.
If not then 'sacrifice' the thickest piece - cut into it & make sure there's no pink.
Once you get used to this check method & get better at timings, note you can take it off the heat slightly early rather than late. Residual heat will keep it cooking even on its way to the table. |
Which pasta shape can I make without any equipment?
I would like to try to make fresh pasta. However, I do not have equipment like rolling pins and pasta machines. Is there any pasta shape which I can make without this equipment? | There are dozens of types of fresh pasta that are made without any special equipment. Many are not difficult at all, but might take some practice. Some examples include gnocchi, pici, orecchiette, cavatelli, farfalle, garganelli...there are many others. Some use a textured board to create ridges, this can be approximated with an unused (new) hair comb, other use "tools" you probably have at your home (such as a dowel or chopstick). There are many videos on You Tube that can help you understand the shaping technique, just search by the name of the pasta. Here is a good one for starters, though it also includes types of pasta that you would need a roller to make. You might also pick up some tips from this terrific project called Pasta Grannies. |
Pre-soaking pulses - Is there a way to slow down fermentation?
The Scotch broth mix I use consists of pearl barley, yellow split peas, green split peas, blue peas and red split lentils. Prior to use, it requires soaking for 8-12 hours and then draining and rinsing before cooking.
Due to other commitments, I often cannot return to changing the water for 18-24 hours. This results in the mix starting to give off a distinct undesired aroma, I assume down to fermentation.
Is there a way to slow down this reaction? | Refrigeration is a very standard way to slow down fermentation. Use it.
I've soaked beans in the fridge for more than a week without off-flavors (but I do generally change the water every day or two, as I'm not a fan of preserving extracted oligosaccharides.)
In my personal experience presoaking would only make much difference to the lentils, in your mixture. I came to split peas from other beans, and maintained my prior practice of pre-soaking them, but found there was very little difference if I did not do that. Well, other than making felafel with them, where they obviously need to be pre-soaked. |
Can onion be eaten raw?
Can onion be eaten raw? I am not sure if it first has to be cooked. | Onion can be eaten raw, and there are many cultures that have food preparations making use of raw onion. There are, of course, many varieties of onion, and many types alliums (leeks, chives...etc.), each with their own flavor profiles. You certainly might like some raw more than others, and these different alliums are often used (cooked or raw) according to their individual flavor profiles and applications. |
Texture of Raw or Roasted Chickpea
I read some article if raw chickpeas are not safe. I was given chickpeas by someone. He didn't know if the chickpeas were raw or roasted. The chickpeas I got have a crunchy texture and when I press them with two fingers, they easily turn into a floury. Is it roasted chickpea and safe to eat without cooking? | Dry chickpeas which you can easily crush between your fingers may or may not have been roasted, but have definitely been cooked. |
Mixing pineapple with Curd/Milk
Today I made Pineapple smoothie with milk. It was tasty. But I kept it in fridge cause I wanted the drink to be even cooler. I forgot that pineapple will curdle the milk and turned the smoothie bitter. However, what I don't understand is that I always thought curdling happens with heat. And I used chilled milk with ice cubes and even frozen pineapple and I immediately put in the refrigerator. Is there any way to make pineapple smoothie with milk/curd and not let it get bitter? | Pineapple contains bromelain, which is a powerful enzyme that breaks down most animal proteins. As such fresh pineapple will always curdle milk. The bitter flavor is a side-effect of this curdling.
The only way to prevent this is to break down the bromelain by cooking the pineapple. So you can make a smoothie either by cooking the pineapple yourself, or by using canned pineapple. |
Resealing canned food in Aluminum bags?
I'm a person who goes on long outdoor expeditions and there are many canned foods that I would like to bring with me but the weight of the can is just too much. I would like to be able to open a can such as this:
and then pour the contents into an aluminum bag such as this:
Will this work? how long will this stay good?
What is a way I can keep canned food to last a couple weeks or more when opened and put into a light weight bag?
Thank you. | Cans, pouches and jars are sterilized once they are closed to kill any pathogens, which is why they store as long as they do. Once you open them the magic is lost as they'll be exposed to bacteria and other organisms that cause food to spoil - without refrigeration they will go bad very quickly. So no, you can't transfer the food from one package to another and keep them from spoiling without reprocessing them, which is a lot of trouble.
Bottom line is you'll need to buy hiking food which is already in foil packets. Fortunately there's plenty of choice. |
DIY Frozen boil in the bag meals
I am hoping to replicate the commercial "Frozen boil in the bag" meals for consumption at home. These seem to be mainly fish in sauce these days, but I vaguely remember meat dishes of this genre from my childhood (e.g. beef curry).
I was intending on following this process:
Cook a stew/casserole/pasta dish etc. as normal with fresh produce
Cool quickly using a water bath if necessary
Portion and place in an open Sous Vide bag
Freeze, once solid, vacumn seal extracting as much air as possible
Store for up to 6 months in a domestic freezer
Reheat by adding to a pan of boiling water and boil, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes
My questions are threefold:
Is there any hidden food safety risks here?
What (if any) dishes would not benefit from this process?
Are standard Sous Vide bags capable of being boiled? | There are no food safety considerations, as long as the food is cooled quickly enough it will be safe whether the food is in bags, plastic containers or whatever else you want to put it in. Sous vide plastic is designed to be in hot water for long periods of time and be safe, so there shouldn't be considerations if it's boiled for a relatively short period of time. The packaging should tell you whether it has a maximum rated temperature.
As for what dishes would not benefit, it's the same as any other frozen food, you are just taking a long-winded approach to cooling it down, freezing it and then re-heating it. Boiling it in a bag for 30 minutes will be a great way to turn whatever it is to mush, you'd be better off gently heating reheating it. |
Simple Vegan cookies recipe
I am trying to make a recipe with the following ingredients.
2 cups blanched almond flour (240 grams)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (4 grams)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt (2 grams)
1/4 cup melted coconut oil (54 grams)
1/4 cup maple syrup (85 grams; at room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5 grams)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (5 grams)
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (88 grams)
Does any one see a problem with me switching the almond flour with regular all purpose flour?
If switching is okay, then how would the other quantities change. | You cannot just swap almond flour for wheat flour and expect a recipe to work. The properties of the two flours are far too different. Likely the cookies would end up as hard rocks. You could play with butter content and several other things, but it doesn't seem worth the effort.
I strongly suggest starting with a recipe for regular wheat-flour cookies instead; there are many such vegan recipes. |
Convert dill pickle chips to bread and butter pickles?
Bread and Butter Pickles (sweet and tangy pickled cucumber slices) are not available locally (Mexico) but Costco carries dill pickle chips(slices).
Can I convert these believably? | I don’t believe you’ll get a decent Bread & Butter pickle using your plan.
Dill slices are pickled in a water/vinegar/salt solution.
Bread & Butter pickles are made with a vinegar/sugar syrup. Spices are also different between the two.
If you really want to start with the Costco dills, I would drain and rinse them well, then add the sweet syrup with appropriate spices. It will take a few days for the flavors to develop.
To make good refrigerator Bread & Butter pickles from scratch is not much more work than your plan, if you have cucumbers available (small pickling are best, and may be available at your Costco). Look for recipes online, there are plenty. |
Can I use air fryer to dry out rice in preparation to be fried in a wok?
This is one of those questions that's hard to find any results for on google because there are so many more popular similar but not at all the same questions/answers that it impossible to find the right search terms to target the desired results.
Here's what I want to do:
1 Make white rice in an Instant Pot
2 Dry it out in an Air Fryer
3 Cook it in a Wok
I'm just not sure about step 2 and whether it will work, and if so what a good time/temp combo would be to achieve this. Basically, I want to be able to make fried rice on a whim and not have to leave it in the fridge overnight first. I've tried putting a fan on the rice while spread out and such to dry to dry it out faster but it just doesn't work as well as leaving overnight. Has anyone tried to dry out rice in an Air Fryer with success? | No, it won't work.
You don't need to dry out your rice for making fried rice. Instead, you want the starch in your rice to undergo retrogradation. Starch retrogradationis a process which starts out with cooking the starch and continues over a few days after the actual cooking has finished - it is the same process that makes bread stale. And the quickest way to achieve retrogradation is at fridge temperatures. So, you are already making your fried rice by the quickest way possible, which involves an overnight stay in the fridge.
If you were to dry your rice by some other means, be it an air fryer or something else, you might get it dry quicker, but it won't be the right texture for making fried rice. |
Are Ramshorn Snails edible?
I find websites telling me that many but not all sea snails are edible. I'm wondering if the Ramshorn variety is edible? | My understanding is that "edible" snails are those with substantial enough muscles in their foot to make them worth eating as a delicacy. There are a few sea snails that are poisonous, such as Cone Snails, but I do not think any land snails are. Therefore all land snails are technically edible.
The primary risk when preparing and eating land snails is parasites, particularly nematodes. These will be killed by cooking so make sure the whole snail is well heated through. The gut contents may include poisonous plants, but you do not want to eat that anyway. |
Making rice in a thermos flask
Would mixing white rice grains with boiling water and pouring the mix into a thermos flask and letting it stay there for an hour work (to make edible rice)?
p.s I don't have a thermos flask to try and check but if this technique has chances of working, it would be useful while traveling when boiling water is available but not cooked rice. i.e. use an industrial heat gun to heat up the water and also point that heat gun inside the empty flask for a couple of seconds to heat it as well before pouring the water, add rice and get out of the place in 2 minutes | There are several sources of information on line that illustrate people cooking rice in a thermos flask. It should be easy to google, and it certainly looks possible. They basically do as you suggest, add boiling water to rice and seal. Some use instant rice, others I've seen use brown rice. Time until done (or at least until they used it) seems to vary quite widely. I would think you could read these posts, and then experiment with your own thermos and specific rice. |
How do I cook meat without it forming an unsightly scum?
When I cook any kind of meat, no matter whether roasted or sautéed, there is a scum in the midst of it.
It's also unappetizing mixed with any vegetables.
What am I doing wrong? Is the meat bad? | The scum is most likely albumin, the same protein found in egg whites and some salmon.
It's perfectly safe water-soluble protein, and like other such proteins it can 'weep' through drip loss with freezing/thawing.
Normally it's white in colour, though like with an egg raft it can trap hemoglobin/myosin/other red muscle proteins that turn brown with cooking.
For stocks and broths, you can pre-soak your meat in cold water and slowly bring it to a simmer, then discard the water and rinse the meat to remove the albumin and other loose proteins before proceeding with the full cook. This method is used in Korean/Vietnamese/other Asian cuisines, though benefits tougher more flavourful cuts and bones as you would be losing some tasty protein-rich liquid.
It's easier to deal with on dry cooking methods like roasting, searing, or grilling, as you can just pluck it off or even keep heating the surface to turn the albumin into part of a crust.
In my experience a lower temperature allows more albumin to be expelled from the inside of a piece, and I get plenty of albumin from sous vide and reverse-seared meats prior to the finishing sear. It rarely occurs with only intense quick searing. |
Water concentration of butter post-melt
Perhaps this is different for various kinds of butter and of course the temperature that is applied to it...
Most (USA-generated, I assume) butter is ~18% water. Without approaching the steaming temperature point of pure water, does simply melting butter and then allowing it to return to its initial saturated (solid) state affect the water concentration?
In case I'm seeing this from the wrong perspective, perhaps this should be seen as a matter of distribution rather than concentration. | The proportion of water will not change significantly unless you leave it hot for a while (evaporation will occur even below boiling temperature); the only substance that will evaporate in any meaningful quantity is the water so you can check if this has happened by comparing the original mass to the mass after melting.
However, the changes to the butter will be more significant than merely redistribution: see the information at this answer for more detail. |
What is the difference between Pate Sucree and Pate Sablee?
What is the difference between Pate Sucree and Pate Sablee? I'm specifically interested in the difference from the bakers perspective, as I understand the final product for sucree to be a bit more flaky, and sablee a bit more 'sandy'.
I thought it could be either the method of adding butter or the use of yolks vs whole eggs, but I've found conflicting recipes on google, some suggesting that sucree needs creaming and others suggesting that sablee does, or others suggesting both. Same with yolks. I thought it might also be sifting the dry ingredients, but that doesn't seem consistent either.
What is the difference and how do the ingredients and process cause it? | Since my comment was deleted I will post what I can remember from it as an answer, even though it is highly incomplete. In 'On food and cooking', McGee writes 'Pâte sucrée and pâte sablé — "sugar pastry" and "sandy pastry" — are versions of crumbly pastry made with sugar. The large proportion of sugar in pâte sablée gives a distinctly grainy character to the pastry'. In the table on page 570, a baker's percentage of 50% sugar is given for pâte sablée. Annoying pâte sucrée is not listed.
In summary, this seems to point to a textural difference caused by undissolved sugar. |
Some instant yeast went into my sourdough starter
This is how it all began,
I have a 100% rye starter for about a year now. I used a spoon that had some other dough on it, that dough was from a bag of flour that had mentioned at the bottom of the packaging, it had some leavening improvers. Assuming that's commercial yeast?
Either way, will this commercial yeast, should it be in my starter, wreak havoc on my natural wild starter?
Will the wild strands kill it off? | "Flour with Leavening Improvers" generally means baking powder and/or chemical dough conditioners.
Your sourdough will be unaffected. |
How can I know when are chickpeas done soaking?
I am trying to make tofu out of chickpeas with this Any Legume Tofu recipe (which seems like Burmese Chickpea Tofu), which states:
Ingredients:
200g dried legumes (chickpeas, beans, lentils)
Method:
Soak the legumes overnight or for at least 8 hours.
The next day, drain the legumes and pulse them in a food processor to break down slightly. Then add 500 ml of water and blend until smooth.
Filter the blended legumes through a sieve into a sauce pan and use the back of the spoon to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Discard the pulp or use in baking (you can mix it into Sourdough Rye Bread dough). Add 1/2 tsp of salt to the liquid and whisk it in. You will notice that some of the protein has already sunk to the bottom of the pan. Make sure to loosen it with the whisk or it will burn.
Bring the liquid to a boil, whisking constantly. Keep simmering for 1 minute, whisking every now and then, until the mixture sticks to the whisk and doesn’t instantly level out when you stir it. Some legumes, like chickpeas, might need a little longer to reduce. So keep cooking if it feels too runny. Pour the mixture into a mould and let it set for an hour before using.
My procedure and problem:
I left the chickpeas to soak overnight. When I woke up (approximately 7h later), I realised they had soaked a lot of water and they were not covered anymore (my bad, should have put even more water). I would say they were covered 3/4 or 3/5. So I added more water. Now they will have soaked approximately 10h, but there is no way to know when did they stopped being fully water covered. I have seen several articles/websites (reddit, soaking them for too long?, how to soak and cook chickpeas, same v.2.0, , why won't my chickpeas soften, even in here Seasoned Advice and hard chickpeas even after soaking.
Most of them agree on an at least 12h soaking time (also depending on factors like altitude and water properties). Even the chickpeas bag states 12 hours of soaking (they are from the same place I am right now, so I guess altitude and water won't matter much?).
So I will stick to those 12h. But how can I know more or less a good timing, not knowing how much time there were left half-soaked while I was sleeping? And why would the recipe state AT LEAST 8 HOURS, if even the bag (and most recipes) says 12h? My guess is that, in other recipes I saw of burmese chickpea tofu, they use chickpea flour, so maybe it's not that important for this recipe specifically, to let them soak 12h, as long as it can be blended properly?
To end this, a picture of a soaked chickpea right now, another soaked chickpea which I split in half with a knife (I also could split them by hand by pressing a bit with 2 fingers), and 3 raw chickpeas (not soaked). I put 3 as I know chickpeas may vary in size, so the soaked (and grown in size) chickpeas may also vary in size. | Your recipe may be wrong, or the instructions on the packaging could be over-estimating the time it takes to re-hydrate to ensure people aren't disappointed. I would go with the higher number to be sure.
From my own experience I've found that dried beans and chickpeas soak up a lot of water in the first 2-3 hours, then the rate of absorption slows down, so I would work on the assumption that in the first 2-3 hours the top of your chickpeas became uncovered, which means you'd want to soak them for 9-10 hours longer if you are working to a 12 hour soaking time. They'll probably need less than that, but you don't want to under-soak or you may not get a good result. |
What web sites have recipes for a Philips Pasta Maker Avance Collection
Help! I bought a Philips Pasta Maker.
I love pasta and Asian noodles. The first time I used this machine the pasta was wonderful. Ever since, there have been problems. Mostly, the pasta is dry and in some cases, half of it has to be thrown out. I was using the recipes that came with the machine.
Searching online, I found a number of complaints from owners that the recipes that come with the machine are poor.
I always made pasta by hand and never had a problem. And I want to love this machine, but so far I am disappointed.
I am sure that this can be fixed with proper recipes for the pasta mixture. I am using a combination of semolina flour and all purpose flour (4 to 1).
Any suggestions for URLs for sites that promote recipes for this machine, will be greatly appreciated. | Even with restaurant and high end home pasta extruders with more power and brass dies, extruded pasta is extremely finicky and at the mercy of local ingredients and environmental conditions. I would begin with 25% water to flour (try all semolina first or your mixture), then adjust until you find something you are happy with. I've seen anywhere from 20% to upper 40% water noted online. This is something you are going to have to play with. I doubt you will find a formula online that works, simply given the nature of this type of pasta and the tools available to produce it. You note that your product changes during the process, this could very well be a result of the machine itself, simply because of the power output and the parts used for extrusion, rather than your dough formula. On top of that, once you get a noodle you are happy with, drying correctly is another issue you will have to deal with. |
Can you soak clams in a salt water pool for a couple of hours
We changed over to a salt water pool this year. Can we soak clams for a couple of hours in the pool before we serve them? | The vast majority of purchased clams have already been purged, so this might not be necessary at all. However, if it is...as far as I can tell, on average a salt water pool is abut 10 times less salty than the ocean. Correct salinity is important so as not to kill the clams. You also need to consider the temperature. This article is helpful, and describes the purging of clams. He uses seawater, or approximates it with 35 grams of salt dissolved in each 1000 grams of water. He also discusses temperature ranges and the need to avoid "shocking" the clams when soaking. If it were me, I probably would not use the pool, but rather, use seawater or approximated sea water and be sure to consider time and temperature. |
Does dish soap exhibit effects when washing non-fatty dishes?
I know that a soap's main effect is to bind fats to water, i.e., to make fatty substances water-soluble. When washing fat-free dishes, e.g., a bowl that was only used to temporarily hold a can of tomato sauce, I wonder whether there is any point in using dish soap, or whether rinsing with water is just as good?
Assumptions:
Only fat-free foods were used in the dish, such as many vegetables or fruit.
No relevant skin fats from mouth or fingers, i.e., I am not asking about glasses that someone drank from, cutlery, or items that where touched/handled a lot.
Ignore pure optical effects of dish soap, e.g., substances to make glass shinier.
Does dish soap (detergent) have relevant effects in such cases? | While not all foods have visible fat, anything that came from plant or animal cells will have trace amounts of lipids (building blocks of fat) and lipid-soluble/non-polar (like to bind with oils & fats) compounds. These include:
lycopene, the pigment that gives tomatoes their red colour
capsaicin, the spice in peppers
various other volatile compounds that contribute to tastes and smells
Since plastics have a non-polar composition, these compounds easily adhere to plastic food containers and can bind strongly enough to resist being rinsed off with plain water. Length of contact time between food and container, and the specific type of plastic used, affect this. These compounds can also form thin films on glass with the trace amounts of lipids present. Surfactant ingredients in soaps help remove these as you described in conjunction with agitation from scrubbing.
One way you can test this is rubbing the skin of a tomato, rind of a cucumber, some tumeric, or ghost peppers on a clear bowl and see/smell the residue from rinsing vs soap washing.
Additionally, as noted by @Tristan Beckwith above, some soaps will have bactericidal additives. Most surfactant ingredients will have some capacity to kill microorganisms, but for consistently achievable results - i.e. in a commercial food service setting - the application of heat or use of chemical sanitizers are needed. |
Is the green button on this frozen young turkey breast to be removed before being cooked in a slow cooker?
Is the green button on this frozen young turkey breast a thermometer? should it be removed before being cooked in a slow cooker? How can I remove it? Thanks | That looks to me like a pop-out turkey thermometer, yes; it's basically a spring-loaded plunger that's stuck to itself with a food-safe adhesive that, at a certain temperature, unsticks, which means the spring built into it can 'pop out' the little button to give the cook an indication that the turkey breast has reached a safe internal temperature.
However, I would nonetheless recommend that you remove it, for the following reasons:
These thermometers are typically calibrated for use in an oven, with the turkey being roasted; the different cooking environment of a slow cooker might effect how the heat spreads through the bird and make the thermometer's reading less useful.
The temperature these thermometers are set to pop at, even under ideal conditions in an oven for roasting, is often significantly higher than even the FDA standard temperature for safe poultry and generally results in what most would consider a dry, overcooked bird (at least for the breast meat). The more advanced wisdom is to bring your turkey to a lower internal temperature - around 160-165F or 71-74C, check using a meat thermometer, ideally an instant-read one - and make sure it stays there a little while, generally by resting the meat after you take it out of the oven.
If you can get it out easily without mangling the breast before cooking, it's one less thing to have to remember later; if it's stuck in there, though, it might be easier to take out later once the meat is cooked. |
Should I store chili crisp in the refrigerator?
Generally speaking I only refrigerate things that say something along the lines of "refrigerate after opening" or "keep refrigerated" on the label. I opened a new jar of chili crisp today, used some, and am now wondering if I should refrigerate it.
It has a lot of words on the label, but nothing that indicates that it needs to be refrigerated. On the other hand, it does say no preservatives, and its ingredients include oils and garlic. I know there's a risk of botulism if you (for example) put some garlic in a container of olive oil and leave it at room temperature. Is there a similar risk for this product? Should I refrigerate this jar? | Chili crisp does not have to be refrigerated. However, if it will take you months to finish off a jar, refrigeration may keep the flavor better. |
Can I freeze ice cream base before creaming it?
I recently acquired an ice cream maker, and successfully used it to make sone chocolate and coffee ice cream. The ice cream maker is actively cooled, but I doubt it makes a different.
Most ice cream recipes call for preparing some sort of mix of egg yolks, sugar, milk and cream - sometimes cooking it, sometimes not. To this base you then add the flavor, which can be almost anything.
My idea is the following:
prep ahead a high quantity of base, 8 to 12 yolks worth
freeze the base as it is, in 1 or 2 yolks portion
when I want ice cream, fully thaw a portion, add flavor, then cream it in the ice cream maker
It seems to me that this process should theoretically work, as the big crystals that form during the first freeze are then fully melted before the creaming process starts, but I am wondering if there is some additional unwanted effect. As an example, freezing vegetables destroys the plant cells, so you can freeze vegetables to make a soup, but you cannot freeze celery and then expect it to be crunchy, as the texture is irreversibly affected. | There should be no problem with your approach from a safety perspective as long as the base doesn't spent too long in the danger zone. From a consistency standpoint you are fine as long as you use a stabilizer like guar gum. Pure cream and egg custards may not take kindly to an extra freeze-thaw cycle.
The issue you may get is getting your flavors mixed in a cold base. Chocolate will solidify at that temperature, so if you are adding chocolate you'll either have to re-heat the base to mix it in, or add some oil to the chocolate once it is melted to keep it from solidifying. Coffee, mint extract and other liquid flavorings should mix in fine, as should Nutella, although you'll need to use a stick blender to get it incorporated. Real mint ice cream needs the mint leaves to be steeped in a hot base to extract the flavor.
Re-heating the base shouldn't be a problem, just make sure you build in the time to chill it again. For me going through the steps to re-heat and cool the base again would defeat the purpose of what you are trying to achieve, so it would be best to stick to flavorings you can mix in cold. |
What is the perfect way to boil hakka/chowmein noodles?
Edit: I tried the method and this is the result:
New left, old, right. Click for full size
What is the correct way to boil noodles? I am talking about the packaged noodles and not half-boiled noodles. I see conflicting information online, and their noodles, irrespective of their method, comes out non sticky. Mine always clumps or sticks together when cooking.
This is how I boil them:
I boil a lot of water in a wide pan with salt (adding oil or not doesn't change anything for me).
I keep the flame on high until the water comes bubbling. Then I put the noodles in it.
I cook them until al dante (a very thin white line is there when I squeeze a strand.)
I immediately drain the water and wash them with cold water.
Then I drizzle some oil on it and mix them well. Up to this point, they are all non sticky and light.
Now the problem starts. A lot of people say that you should never cook the noodles right away and you can also store them in fridge for up to a couple of hours. However, no matter the amount of oil I drizzle, mine starts sticking to each other and so I have to was h them again with cold water to untangle them. Now if I cook them, they tend to again stick when I cook them. They are never separate and always become this mushy kind that they kinda stick and form clumps. I don't understand how mine sticks but the ones I see in Videos are always so fluffy with separate strands.
How do I prevent the noodles from sticking it when cooking? | For Asian-style noodles, drop them into boiling water, then switch the heat off. Leave in the water 4 minutes, drain, oil & either serve immediately or move on to stir-frying.
They should be OK to store in the fridge using this method, but stir them as they cool.
If you boil them a lot more starch is released, making them sticky.
Traditionally, fresh ramen noodles are cooked in running water which constantly takes away any extra starch, but you can't really do this for domestic noodles, especially dried.
Update, after many, many comments…
If you can't get this right with dried noodles by the second attempt, use fresh. They are infinitely easier to handle. |
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