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Can cheap vodka be used for cooking (with good results)? A friend left about half of a bottle of some questionable, admittedly very cheap plastic-bottle of 80-proof grain vodka at my house. I should have remembered the name, but I'll edit it in when I get home if need be. Anyway, I don't drink very often, but have a few recipes in mind, so I just want to know if A) low-quality vodka will lead to the same culinary results as, say, a low-quality wine, and B) is there anything I can try to see whether or not this particular bottle is suitable? In case you're wondering, I'm looking to make my grandfather's borscht recipe and some hazelnut liqueur (for baking and occasionally adding to coffee). Also, I did read this answer , and like the... ah... answerer, I suspect that any differences in this vodka have something to do with it being at the very bottom of the price range. EDIT : Both the borscht and liqueur came out great. At first I thought the liqueur was far too harsh, but it seems that letting it sit for a few days after filtering let it smooth out. <Q> Cheaper spirits can certainly be used in culinary applications. <S> The results won't be identical, but inexpensive liquors are a lot more cost-effective since the subtle differences in flavor between middling and quality spirits tend to get masked by other flavors. <S> This is especially true <S> when you're applying heat, which will burn off much of the alcohol (though not all) and change some of the volatile flavor compounds in the spirit. <S> For things like a tomato sauce made with wine, a pan sauce deglazed with brandy, or a dessert flambeed with rum, the difference between bottom-shelf and high-end product will be evident only in the cost. <S> Poor-quality vodka will have some "rough" flavors if you're drinking it straight, and those might carry over into the liqueur in particular. <S> Chilling will help, so you probably won't notice much difference in your borscht, and once you bake the liqueur into something I doubt any flavor difference will be noticeable in the final product. <S> As a rule of thumb, the more you manipulate the spirit, the less you'll notice its provenance. <S> I can say confidently that using free, leftover plonk in a culinary application will be a much better use than drinking it! <A> <A> You can also use a charcoal/carbon filter and remove some of the harsh impurities in the cheap neutral spirits such as your vodka. <S> Here is a link if you would like to read more. <S> Here a second article that discusses same approach, just different insight.
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I make liqueurs and always buy the cheap stuff, makes no difference at all in the final product.
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How to cook the food such that no acrylamide is formed? How to cook the food such that Maillard reaction doesn't form acrylamide? http://sciencefare.org/2011/06/01/maillard-reaction/ When food is cooked quickly at a high temperature, the Maillard reaction takes place within the food. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/10/10/162636059/100-years-ago-maillard-taught-us-why-our-food-tastes-better-cooked There's a downside to the Maillard reaction in cooking, too. In certain circumstances, the reaction produces cancer-causing substances, like acrylamide and furans. Which type of cooking can prevent or minimize Maillard reaction's production of acrylamide? <Q> Salt your food well. <S> See for example <S> this article (paywall, but the abstract is sufficient). <S> You are unlikely to have calcium chloride in your kitchen, so you probably can't use the divalent cations route. <S> But "monovalent cations, such as Na+, almost halved the acrylamide formed in the model system". <S> Now, a model system is not a pan, but they at least found that the calcium example transfers well to frying, so (wet) salt is likely to work too. <S> But note that they had to lower the surface pH of the potatoes to 4.0, which you may not want to do. <S> Note that the literature seems to concentrate on frying potatoes. <S> We can hope that the methods are applicable to other foods, but I have seen no evidence for it yet. <A> First off here is my source <S> www.cancer.org <S> Acrylamide does not appear to be in raw foods themselves. <S> It is formed when certain starchy foods are cooked at temperatures above about 250° F. Cooking methods such as frying, baking, broiling, or roasting are more likely to produce acrylamide, while boiling, steaming, and microwaving appear less likely to do so. <S> Cooking at high temperatures causes the Maillard reaction <S> a chemical reaction between certain sugars and an amino acid ( asparagine ) in the food, which causes acrylamide to form. <S> Longer cooking times and cooking at higher temperatures can increase the amount of acrylamide in foods further. <S> So according to my source, you would have to eliminate these factors. <S> I don't see how you would be able to caramelize anything without using the Maillard reaction although, let alone use the Maillard reaction in your cooking, these factors are beneficial in successfully and properly performing the Maillard reaction. <S> Although read my comment above or visit the cancer.org website <A> The short answer is acrylamide can form in many foods when heated above 248F for an extended period of time. <S> If you are a big "griller" you may want to rethink that. <S> Eat golden toast versus burnt toast. <S> Eat golden fries versus brown crispy fries. <S> http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/diet/acrylamide-fact-sheet <S> http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodborneIllnessContaminants/ChemicalContaminants/ucm053569.htm
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Acid also seems to help, as shown in another paper .
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What's the best way to execute a pulled pork dish? Like most people, I am a huge fan of pulled pork anything. But what I don't get is the actual pulling process of the cooked meat. Any cook book or cooking show will tell you to cut across the grain of the meat, especially a tougher cut like a pork butt or shoulder, for maximum tenderness. Even though I am able to cook this cut of meat until very tender,I have much better results chopping it up, instead of pulling it! Based on the grain of the meat, the title and the process seems to be an oxy moron. Am I the only one who "chops" my "pulled" pork? <Q> The best way I find is to allow little "clumps" of pork to permeate the mix. <S> Note that while books talk about cutting against the grain of meat, that is for raw or cooked meat meant to be sliced and served. <S> The reason you cut against the grain in that situation is to tenderize the meat by cutting the connective tissue. <S> In the case of pulled pork, the connective tissue is already broken down and dissolved, so you will have a tender product even when you are pulling with the grain. <A> Personally I do the pulling with my fingers. <S> Makes it easier to pick out any gristle, veins and fat. <A> You need to cook the meat until it's basically falling apart on its own. <S> And you need to cook it for a long time over low heat <S> -- high heat will cause it to toughen up. <S> Once it's cooked, you should be able to pull it apart pretty easily with your hands, or with a couple of forks. <S> If there are bones, you should be able to easily pull them free of the meat without any significant effort. <S> Once it's bone-free, if you're in a rush, you can just smash it down and it'll start breaking apart into fibers, although not quite as much as if you were to pull it. <S> (and as Doug mentioned, you then can't pull out the globs of fat and such). <S> I'll often use a mixed technique -- break the meat (typically pork, but also sometimes chicken) into larger chunks, exposing some of the middle, and let those cool down some while I'm shreading another chunk. <S> If the meat's allowed to cool too far it won't shread easily, but if it's too hot <S> it's uncomfortable to work with by hand. <S> You can always use the two-fork method (hold one in each hand, reach into the meat, and pull them apart, tearing the meat), but I find it to be slower... <S> and I'm not a fan of the blobs of fat and such. <S> Once it's shreaded, I'll put it into a container and top it off with whatever liquids were extruded during cooking, so that it remains moist. <S> If you don't, the exposed hot meat will exude a lot of steam and dry out. <A> Chopped pork is not an uncommon thing to see in Southern barbecue. <S> Though it is largely in whole hog barbecue. <S> With whole hog, you have to cook the tougher cuts a little less than desired, in order to keep the cuts with less connective tissue from becoming overcooked. <S> If you want some unsolicited advice, I would suggest giving your roast another hour of cooking time, so you can pull it apart more easily without the help of a knife. <S> BUT, there is absolutely nothing wrong with how you are doing it, especially if you are happy with the result.
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You definitely want to pill the pork apart with a pair of forks or your fingers.
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Is it safe to drink the water that basil seeds are soaked in? Is it safe to drink the water that basil seeds are soaked in?Also would it be okay to drink that water with and/or without removing the soaked seeds? Thanks and regards :-) <Q> If the basil seeds are safe, the water should be also safe. <S> I think soaked basil seed last as long as soaked chia seeds, 2 weeks . <S> There are even desserts / drinks with basil seeds and the water in which they were soaked in. <S> Source <A> Assuming food-safe seeds (are there basil seeds that aren't?), yes it is safe, both to drink the water and to eat the seeds. <S> That's the point. <S> Just now I have been experimenting with different ways to drink soaked Sacred Basil seeds. <S> Other types of basil seeds seem to work just the same way, as evidenced by the results of an Amazon search for "basil seeds for drinking" . <S> The first recipe I tried was a Thai recipe for Sweet Basil Seed Drink , but I used Sacred Basil (tukmaria). <S> I can't tell the difference between the different varieties of soaked basil seeds, but they do produce basil plants that are quite distinguishable from each other. <S> I love Italian sweet and Thai basil and I have a little summer garden to plant. <S> Hmmm... <S> The mucilaginous outer surface after soaking the seeds is a fun thing. <S> I have found that hot water (even near boiling) works faster than cold for getting the seeds properly soaked, and that the soaked seeds seem just the same immediately after soaking and after three or four days in the fridge. <S> Sugar seems to make no difference one way or another, but something about certain fruit juices (acidity?) will dramatically inhibit the desired swelling of the seeds. <S> In some cultures, drinks from these seeds are commonly sold in cans and bottles, and are reputed to have health benefits. <A> I have just discovered basil seeds in Asian drinks and am currently enamored with them. <S> I bought seeds and have soaked them and made my own drinks. <S> I make a simple syrup that I flavor and tint slightly with food coloring. <S> What I noticed is when I mix them with water and simple syrup after a while <S> the gelatinous part of the seeds holds the sweetness. <S> Thought I would share. <A> You can make great drinks for hot weather by soaking the basil seeds for some time and then adding other ingredients like lemon juice and (self-made) yoghurt. <S> Such a drink cools your body.
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If you have food-grade basil seeds (i.e. non-teated seeds) and didn't soak them for too long (so pathogens had enough time to grow), this should be safe.
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I followed the instructions, but my food still stuck to the wok I bought a very expensive Stainless Steel Baccarat Wok only last week. I followed instructions as told by the shop assistant (to wipe with a small amount of oil before I started to cook), but when I started to cook my wok had gone all brown like burnt and all my food was destroyed. Where have I gone wrong? Is there any way to keep this problem from happening again? <Q> Stainless steel woks burn and stick very easily and are expensive and can't really be seasoned however they last forever. <S> They are only used for foods that would attack a normal carbon steel wok and give the food a metallic taste, e.g. acidic foods. <S> Carbon steel woks are used by Chinese chefs and after proper seasoning they are like non stick but able to handle extremely high temperatures that Teflon can't. <A> This sounds as if you have only cooked in non-stick pans before. <S> They are very forgiving, and you can throw any food at any temperature into them. <S> For a wok, this is a piping hot temperature, enough oil (not just wiping it), and moving the food constantly around, shoving the almost-through pieces up the rounded wall, where it's colder than in the middle of the hot bottom. <S> For other stainless steel pans and other types of food, there are other techniques. <S> In every case, you have to be aware of what is happening in your pan, and what you can do without it sticking. <S> This is mostly learned through experience and experimenting. <S> As for the "going brown" part, your description is too short to be sure what it is. <S> Pictures will help. <S> If by "brown <S> " you mean it looks like this , then you mistakenly seasoned the pan by wiping it with oil first. <S> Follow the advice in the linked question to clean it. <S> If you mean you have a film of burnt-on charcoal, you'll have to soak it in acid before scrubbing it off. <S> If the wok simply darkened from the intense heat, there is nothing you can, or should, do. <S> Woks are taken to very hot temperatures, which discolors the metal. <S> This is normal, and does not cause problems. <A> Did you clean the manufactures clear coat sealant off <S> before you started seasoning it? <S> I actually have a nice wok sitting waiting to be seasoned, because I haven't had time to scrub the clear coat off of it <S> yet it takes a bit of time! <S> You just need a brillo pad or such, then heat add oil wipe out with paper towel till there is no more brown color on the paper towels! <S> Thats the instructions that came with mine. <S> I've seasoned pans before, but its been just about 15-20 years! <S> So thats what i'm looking for now <S> is how to season a SS pan insert for a electric pressure cooker. <S> Everyone keeps saying oh it doesn't need it... <S> YES it does! <S> I don't want everything sticking and it turning ugly colors! <S> I hope this helped a bit! <A> Stainless steel is an unusual Material for a wok; an idea or recipe calling for a wok will probably assume and work best with: a seasoned carbon steel/cast iron/wrought iron wok (which would be the right choice for high heat stir frying, or deep frying technique. <S> Nonstick with some but not all things you might throw at it.) <S> OR a nonstick wok (best for handling starchy stuff with little oil at moderate heat, eg certain noodles, or for braising stuff in aggressive sauces that will stress the seasoning). <S> Stainless steel is the same surface you have on normal, old school cookware, with the same limitations.
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On a stainless steel pan, you have to cook it at the proper temperature, using the proper technique, so it does not stick.
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specific temperature vs "medium heat" on an induction cooker? Some recipes call for "medium heat". . .What is the SPECIFIC temperature range for "medium heat" on an induction cooker? <Q> Low, Medium, Medium-low, Medium-high and High are weasel-words so that manufacturers/recipe writers cannot be blamed for misuse of equipment/recipes, so a specific temperature range for medium heat cannot be given for just any cooker out there. <S> For an oven, I use as a rule of thumb: 50-100° <S> C (100-200°F) Low heat, 100-150°C (200-300° <S> F) Medium low, 150-200°C (300-400°F) Medium high and 200+° <S> C (400+°F) for High... <S> For an induction cooker, my personal rule of thumb would be: <S> Low, Medium, High: <S> 1/3 strength, 2/3 and just below boost respectively Low, Medium-low, Medium-high and High: 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and just below boost respectively <S> As I've seen induction cookers go from "〰" to "15" (excluding boost), above rule of thumb should be taken with a shovel of salt... <A> I know that many induction cookers come with a display which shows some kind of "temperature" setting instead of just a number. <S> This is a useless feature, and does not correspond to any real temperature anywhere. <S> First, if they try to implement it with a firm amount of modulation (= percentage of time the coil is on), it will be the same thing as the "wattage" setting, only translated to some other number. <S> The problem is that depending on the size of the pan, the amount of food, and many other variables, you will end up with different pan temperatures at the same setting. <S> Second, I think there are models which try to be more clever, and they hold a constant temperature at a sensor, changing the modulation as needed. <S> The problem with this approach is that the sensor is somewhere below the glass plate, far far away from your pan. <S> So the real temperature in the pan is not at all the one shown in the sensor, and the shape of the pan bottom also means that, with different pans, you will get different in-pan temperatures for the same sensor reading. <S> The best you can do is to forget that this setting is there, and to use the induction cooker as any other cooker, that is, reading the different "temperatures" or "wattages" as a simple ordinal scale without any meaning between the number, similar to the "1 --- 6" settings on a standard hob. <S> As usual, you will have to learn to recognize a medium heat based on the way your food cooks, and for temperature critical applications, to use an infrared thermometer. <A> To expand on what's already been said -- even if you use 'medium' heat on a given burner, the size of the pan vs. size of the burner, plus the maximum heat output (BTU) of the burner makes a significant contribution to the resulting temperature of the pan. <S> Also, you have to consider what's in the pan -- a dry pan is going to heat up more than something with lots of moisture, as you both have thermal mass to absorb heat and the possibility of evaporative cooling. <S> You're better off going with other indicators of temperature like 'shimmering oil' if the recipe mentions something to that effect.
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There is no specific temperature for "medium heat" on any cooker at all.
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Clean fridge shelves which can't be removed? What's the best way to clean out the parts of a fridge that can't be removed? I found that on my fridge, for whatever reason, some shelves on the inside of the door can't be taken out. Is there a cleaner that can be used that's food safe that I can use in the fridge without washing it off? <Q> You have to wash cleaners off, there's no other way to remove the dirt. <S> The gunk is not going to magically evaporate, you will have to wipe. <S> If your fridge is really dirty then I suggest a tub of soapy (dish soap) water, a sponge to clean and wipe, and a towel to dry. <S> A pair of rubber kitchen gloves would be a good idea. <A> There are specialized "fridge cleaners" in the drugstore, but if you take a look at the ingredients list, you'll find out that you are paying lots of money for a small amount of alcohol and tensides. <S> You can follow GdD's advice and use soap, then wash it off, then wipe <S> it dry Other cleaners such as window cleaner can also be used, they are safe enough - gulping them down won't be pleasant, but if small amounts come in contact with food, nothing will happen. <S> The other way is to use alcohol and sponge it off, without washing it off with water afterwards. <S> It will evaporate on its own. <S> Any tenside based cleaner should be washed off, even if the manufacturer was brazen enough to say that there is no need for it. <S> Else you are left with an invisible tenside film on the fridge wall which catches and holds fast to any piece of dirt flying around. <A> I try to clean shelves regularly so the sludge doesn't get too thick, but if it did get thick, I would probably break out the steam cleaner. <S> It's great for cutting through thick dried-on sludge. <S> I would be careful of any glass, however, because the temperature shock might break it (most glass shelves are removable, though). <A> Bleach (1-10% depending how bad the fridge is) <S> water, rag or sponge, wipe clean, wipe off/ <S> dry, rinse with plain water, wipe clean/dry. <S> Ideally park all the food in a cooler so you can air the fridge out throughly after cleaning.
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If it's not that bad then a kitchen safe spray cleaner and a sponge or paper towels will do fine.
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Adding parsley at the beginning of making chicken stock I've heard that parsley is supposed to be added at the end of cooking, but this article mentions using it in making chicken stock, and I can't imagine adding it at the end since it would just be strained out. Does it make sense to add parsley at the beginning when making chicken stock? <Q> I regularly do so along with other herbs: rosemary, thyme, or whatever else is on hand. <S> This is an optimal place to use up dried herbs (I'm fairly sure a lot of kitchens have a sad, half-used container of dried parsley stuffed in a cupboard; <S> might as well gets some mileage out of it). <S> There's really no need to use fresh parsley when cooking for an extended period, as much of the light, fresh, grassy flavors will be destroyed during the long simmering. <S> In fact, some fresh herbs can even develop a pronounced bitterness after lengthy cooking; I haven't noticed this with parsley, but you might if using a lot of it. <S> So sure - add your parsley <S> right when you start making your stock, and feel free to use the dried stuff that you can't readily substitute for fresh in other places. <S> The only exception is if you really want to get those lighter, fresher flavors; then there's really no substitute for fresh parsley. <S> You'll have to add it toward the end of cooking, and plenty of it to make sure you get ample infusion. <A> Absolutely add parsley in the beginning. <S> I believe the French call it a bouquet when they tie many spices and herbs together or put them in a bag (bouquet garnet) and put them in the soup and in the end take it out. <S> Myself I chop the parsley up once I make the stock from the chicken and add it when I add just a few veges (that's how my late Mama taught me) and cook it for at least another half hour. <S> I showed my Mama that when you make the stock with the raw chicken that if you add the parsley uncut with other veges it makes a very flavorful stock and then soup. <S> If you are a purist, then no, you do not add parsley or anything else because you are trying to achieve, in my opinion a consume, and that's what my late Papa loved, what my Mama and what I was able to do for him, without any veges or even the chicken in it. <S> I ended up throwing away the chicken because it was cooked to death, but <S> every chance my Mama would get she would show me that it could be reused, so <S> I learned that in the food processor, with onions, mayo, celery, spices, parsley, etc. <S> dead chicken came to life. <S> Parsley adds flavor and it is wonderful. <S> Hope this helped you out. <A> A typical French Bouquet Garni would indeed have parsley in it, added at the beginning of simmering time. <S> It may be a sprig of thyme, a bay-leaf, and a small bunch of parsley tied up in a neat little package, rolled in a leaf of leek. <S> When I'm making stock at home, I'm less sophisticated, and more frugal. <S> I save everything I plan to use in a stock in a zip-bag in the freezer (carcasses, bones from joints, skin, green of leek, soft (but not bad) carrots and celery) ... <S> and ... parsley stalks. <S> If you use the leaves in some other dish, don't throw the stalks away! <S> They're full of flavor, and perfectly good to use in this way, where you're not looking for parsley's more volatile fresh perfume. <A> Might I mention (from my understanding), when making a longer cooking bone broth, the purpose of the parsley is for adding mineral ions to the concoction, not necessarily for flavor enhancement. <S> I had always assumed that a long cooking process would dissipate the mineral ions or make them less effective, hence why they are added at the end. <S> If anyone knows for a fact the history/science/practicality behind any of this, please share. <S> Anderson
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It certainly does make sense - adding herbs at the beginning of the process (not just parsley) gives them ample time to infuse their flavor into the stock.
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Can I refreeze sauce made from frozen tomatoes Hi I have some frozen tomatoes and I would like to blend them in my Vita mix and make sauce. My question is can I re-freeze the sauce once it's been cooked. <Q> Probably. <S> Depends on your sauce; some sauces do not tolerate freezing (e.g., they "break"). <S> The fact that your tomatoes were frozen at one point doesn't matter. <S> Mostly warnings about not re-freezing foods are due to quality loss. <S> For example, each time you freeze a vegetable, it will turn closer to mush. <S> Safety warnings are primarily about quick thawing (e.g., in the microwave) where the food may get into the danger zone (between 4°C–60°C/40°F–140°F); the recommendation is to cook it before freezing (if you thaw in the fridge, this is avoided). <S> You've already got a cook step between the thaw/freeze, so even with a quick thaw method, there aren't any extra safety concerns. <A> I frequently freeze for up to 6 months various homemade tomato based pasta sauces, bbq sauces and hot sauces and have not had any trouble. <S> Just thaw and make sure you mix well. <A> The fact that any raw ingredients were frozen is irrelevant for the sauce you intend to freeze. <S> You can test it first if you like, put part in the freezer and keep the rest refrigerated. <S> Thaw the frozen sample the next day <S> and if it is still acceptable add the rest to the freezer. <S> If not you may consider different options for storing the sauce.
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It is 100% safe to freeze a cooked sauce, though the quality of taste may be affected.
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How can I cook dried noodles with just hot water? I'm looking for any tips for making a meal with dried noodles without needing to actively cook them. My problem is that the kitchen in my office has nothing, not even a microwave. It just has a hot water dispenser (not sure of the exact temperature, standard models generally dispense it at 94ºc so I would assume this one is the same). I'm fine with salads and sandwiches, but sometimes I want something hot. A particular favorite is noodles, but whenever I have instant noodles I get terrible indigestion, probably because of all the terrible things that are in the flavor sachet (I actively avoid reading the ingredients for my own sanity). I want to make my own similar thing adding my own spices/ ingredients, and also preferably vegetables, but it seems unreasonably expensive to buy lots of individual packets of instant noodles, and get rid of the flavor sachets to make my own. I've tried searching on the internet, but all of the things I've found are cooking it inside a kettle (which isn't an option), or using a microwave (also not an option). So are there any tips/ advice for cooking noodles (like dried egg noodles) simply with hot water? More specifically, optimum noodle weight:water volume ratio, and amount of time they are left in the water before ready to eat. If there are any other type of noodles that can be used for this specifically, egg noodles aren't required. I also don't mind if it ends up more like a soup, but I would rather there be as little liquid remaining as possible. <Q> I would boil your chosen noodles 2 minutes under the package recommended time. <S> Then rinse and chill the noodles and toss with a bit of oil and chill it. <S> Take this to work in an insulated bag with an ice pack. <S> A "saucy" noodle dish would be simpler to prepare at the office. <S> Put both the noodles and veg in a heat proof container with your own seasonings and additions of choice, add hot water, let stand for 2-3 minutes <S> and you'll have a whole meal in one bowl. <S> Serious Eats has a whole "food lab" series about it, including several suggested "DIY Instant Noodle" recipes: <S> http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/09/diy-instant-noodle-cups-food-lab.html <S> However if you want "dry" noodles you could also pour on hot water to your par-cooked noodles, let stand for 2-3 minutes, then drain the noodles, and continue with your preparations. <S> I'm thinking a plate over a pyrex bowl could serve as a simple colander. <S> The draw-back of this technique is that you have less direct heat exchange into your seasonings and veg. <S> If you're just hoping to melt some butter and a sprinkle of parsley, that would be fine on the hot noodles. <S> If you're hoping to heat up a heavy tomato and meat sauce, it probably wouldn't work. <S> I also really enjoy cold soba noodles, if you're just looking for a change from salads! <A> Rice noodles or egg noodles can be prepared in a bowl of hot water. <S> At home, I usually make 300-400 grams of noodles in about 2 litres of water, and that serves 4 people. <S> It's best to err on the side of more water, though. <S> So 100g of noodles, which is a large portion for one person, in about 750ml of water should be fine. <S> My rice noodles (3mm) take about 10 minutes to be ready, but the time will be longer for thicker noodles. <S> Seasoning is easy, as you can just mix some spices at home and combine with soy sauce (or anything else) and the noodles once you've drained the water. <S> If you want vegetables with your noodles, I'm not sure how you would do it. <S> If you pre-cut fresh vegetables (carrots, red peppers, scallions, mushrooms) <S> you could just add them raw to your noodles and mix. <S> For a real hi-tech solution, you could bring a small steamer and place it on top of the bowl of noodles with the hot water. <S> It won't be enough to cook the vegetables, but it may heat them through a little. <A> Your best bet is probably to use rice noodles (like Vietnamese bánh phở ), since they can rehydrate very quickly in hot water. <S> When they reach the desired tenderness, you can then discard the water and mix in whatever sauce/broth/seasonings you like. <S> Some soy sauce, fish sauce, <S> and/or sugar would work well, since they're all shelf-stable and you can keep them at your office without needing refrigeration. <A> You can parboil @ home as suggested or hydrate in cold water. <S> We used to do this @ the restaurant all the time as it lowers the cook time to that of fresh pasta. <S> IF you continue to let it soak depending on the type of pasta, it will re hydrate itself in cold water. <S> Then you could just add the hot water you have @ work and the seasonings you wish. <A> @Carmi, Thanks for this share. <S> If one has only a kettle: To overcome the limitation of No open flame, I tried simmiar method, taught by a friend. <S> This method works better in a flat pan / baking flat1, and method works best when intention is not to break apart noodles. <S> NoodleS <S> :If a metal strainer/collator is available place noodles in mesh over heated container2 till boil. <S> Kettle <S> :Heat water till vigorously boiled. <S> Apply 1+1/4tsp hot water to CENTER of noodles ('top ramen' will fold out. <S> two weaves if preheated with steam)A <S> Wait till fluid is absorbed (keep hot water @virgorous boil)B <S> Apply 2tsp more hot water. <S> Wait(keep hot water boiling)Add 2tsp hot water. <S> Wait(keep hot water boiling) <S> Remove excess water after 2 or so mins and reset noodles very flat (in said pan/pot as possible.) <S> Continue above steps until noodles are 50% soaked from middle (center) outward. <S> At this point noodles look soft @ center. <S> Now prepare noodle <S> seasoning:(Any natural spices available + salt + oil based sauce, etc.) <S> Dispense approx 1-3tsp of hot water in a pot. <S> Apply Your Seasoning to the water. <S> Continue to add a simmiar portion of fluid until you get NEARLY enough to form the 'soup' of your noodles. <S> Return to your soaking Noodes and Apply 2tsp hot water along remaining portion of noodles (50%). <S> When the noodles are roughly 90% as soft as you would like remove all excess water. <S> Now apply very hot water to your seasoning pot and stir. <S> Add mixture to your noodles in serving container, Mix and Enjoy.
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Par-boiling the noodles at home would allow you to finish cooking them with just hot water.
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Are avocado seeds edible? I've seen article about great benefits of eating avocado seeds . And another here . Does it mean avocado seeds are edible? How do you eat it then? On Wikipedia page we can read: Avocado leaves, bark, skin, or pit are documented to be harmful to animals; cats, dogs, cattle, goats, rabbits, rats, guinea pigs, birds, fish, and horses can be severely harmed or even killed when they consume them. How about humans? Somebody from here suggested that the avocado pit is mildly toxic. <Q> I can't advise on any of these, so I'd normally put this in a comment, but it's a bit long. <S> Searching on 'how to cook <S> avocado seeds' found a few articles on the topic: <S> http://www.livestrong.com/article/31737-eat-avocado-seeds-nutrition/ : calls for grinding it in a 'powerful food processor' and warns that it might damage lesser ones. <S> http://www.wisegeek.com/can-i-eat-avocado-pits.htm : calls for drying it for several days, smashing it with a hammer, and then putting it in a food processor or blender (against warning that it might damage them) <S> http://eattheweeds.com/forum/index.php?topic=973.0 : mention roasting then grinding (and has links to the various reports on toxicity in animals) <S> http://www.veggieboards.com/forum/188-raw-food-support-forum/138169-eating-avocado-seeds.html <S> : mentions drying then grating it (but they were making a facial scrub, not food). <S> http://www.ehow.com/how_8171238_boil-avocado-pit.html <S> : calls for grating it (without drying) then boiling it (but this one also seems to be for facials, not eating) <S> The only common thing between all of these is that they call for getting it smaller before eating. <S> Most make it into a powder first if they're planning for consumption. <S> I don't know if grating it first might make it safe to go through a food processor without damage. <S> (or if you could grate + boil then process) <A> However when consumed by domestic animals in large quantities it is dangerous. <S> It is an oil-soluble compound structurally similar to a fatty acid, and it leaches into the body of the fruit from the pits. <S> Negative effects in humans seem to be primarily in allergic individuals. <A> Just because something is harmful for animals, you can't conclude that it is harmful to humans. <S> Some examples: Grapes and raisins can kill a dog or cat, they cause renal failure. <S> Sugar alcohols which are used as artificial sweeteners in a number of foods can also kill animals, they cause a sudden drop in blood sugar which can be deadly. <S> So avocado seeds may or may not be toxic to humans. <A> Well, the truth is avocado seeds are toxic. <S> But that doesn't mean you can't have them. <S> At the same time, they are helpful with lowering blood pressure and losing weight. <S> Avocado seeds contain this toxic compound in a minuscule amount and whatever little that is present in it can be detoxified by our body easily. <S> The only thing to note here is that moderation is key. <S> You can read the following article for in-depth info on the same: Are Avocado Seeds Poisonous?
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Persin is a fungicidal toxin present in the avocado which is generally harmless to humans.
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(How) can I store and cook leftover rice so it isn't soggy? My wife and I like Asian meals (Curry, Niku Jaga, et cetera) and without fail we tend to make more rice than we need. I would encourage her to cook less rice, but a preferable solution would be to use the rice with the meal - since we tend to have leftovers anyway, and it would be more convenient to cook the amount of rice needed to go with the meal and leftovers. However, rice in the microwave always comes out either soggy, grainy, or both at once. This is hardly appetizing, and I suspect the reason for it is an improper method of storing leftover rice. Normally we simply put the rice in a plastic Tupperware container in our refrigerator and then microwave it when we want to use it. Is there a better way to store or cook our leftover rice so that we don't wind up with soggy, unappetizing rice leftovers? <Q> StillTasty suggests adding 2 tbsp. <S> of liquid per cup of cooked rice, and about 1 minute on high for each cup in a microwave (5 minutes flat for stovetop re-heating). <S> Another thing it hints at, though doesn't outright state, is that cooked rice should be stored in an airtight container separate from the food it is meant to go with - <S> this is likely where I went wrong, and why my rice is always soggy and unpalatable. <S> It also suggests that 2 hours is the maximum allowable time for cooked rice to be kept at room temperature, and that it can stay stored in the refrigerator between 4-6 days, or up to 6 months if frozen under ideal conditions. <A> I frequently make more rice than I need -- I store it because I love to cook fried rice and the best fried rice is made from leftover rice. <S> Make sure that you let the rice cool before you put it in a container. <S> I always store mine in ziplock bags. <S> Adding a little water to it when you microwave it will help to reconstitute it. <S> Otherwise, if you're going to fry it or cook it on the stove, it should be fine right out of the refrigerator. <S> When I make big batches, I use a little less water than normal, because it tends to cook a little more in bulk. <S> There is so much rice that, unless you constantly stir it to cool it down after cooking, the rice on the bottom will still be hot for a while after taking it off the heat. <S> I think that stirring it frequently after cooking will help keep your rice consistent and firm. <A> Freeze it! <S> See Safe to wash rice the night before and leave overnight before cooking? <S> If there were one thing I could stress more than any other, it would be to freeze leftover rice.
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It seems that the secret to re-heating rice is to use a little bit of liquid during the re-heating process.
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Dissolving sugar in a beverage I have a hard time getting sugar to fully dissolve when I'm stirring a cocktail (for example, an old fashioned). I'm using granulated sugar ( https://www.dominosugar.com/sugar/granulated-sugar ) and I tend to stir a small amount in a shaker with 100+ quick circles and the sugar still hovers in the middle and sits on the bottom without dissolving. What am I doing wrong? <Q> Most cocktails use sugar syrup (e.g. simple syrup with a water to sugar ratio of 1:1 or 1:2) instead of granulated sugar. <S> This eliminates the need to dissolve the grains in - typically cold - liquids. <S> When you consider powdered (confectioner's) sugar because of the smaller grain size, remember that they will most likely contain anti-caking agents like starch or tricalcium phosphate. <S> I'm not entirely sure how much this would influence the final taste, though. <A> You should use 'superfine' sugar, which is broken down much smaller so that it'll dissolve better in cold liquids. <S> You can make your own by putting some sugar into a food processor and whizzing it around for a bit. <S> You can also make a simple or heavy syrup, so you don't have to worry about sugar dissolving. <S> Heavy syrup will keep longer in the fridge, as the sugar in large amounts is a preservative <A> For instance, if following a mojito recipe that calls for 1 oz of simple syrup -- which is normally made with equal parts by volume of sugar and water -- I'd mix 1/2 oz of sugar with an 1/8 oz of hot water, and then once mostly dissolved, add the remaining 3/8 oz of cold water. <S> If making several drinks, scale accordingly, or just do this mixing in each glass. <S> (On a side note, you can allegedly make superfine sugar by processing granulated sugar in a food processor; however, I've seen others online complaints that it ruined the plastic on their processors, so take this suggestion with a grain of salt/sugar.)
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Joe and Stephie's recommendations of simple syrup and superfine sugar are the best way to go in my opinion, but if you're lazy, in a hurry, or don't have superfine sugar, you can make a "poor man's" simple syrup by kickstarting it with hot water.
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If a US recipe specifies 'vegetable oil' what type of oil should I use in the UK? The recipe requires heating the 'vegetable oil' to exactly 375 degrees Fahrenheit with the aid of a candy thermometer. But aren't most oils made from vegetables? Some have a smoke point less than 375. I'm thinking of using groundnut (peanut) oil or rice bran oil as they can both cope with the temperature and don't impose too much taste. Are there any culinary transatlanticos who could please venture an opinion on my proposed plan? I also need to find out what the UK equivalent of 'yellow squash' is. Could it be our readily available butternut squash? <Q> Peanut (groundnut) oil is a great option. <S> In the US vegetable oil generally means soybean oil or a soybean oil blend. <S> The main things are that it be neutral (little or no taste of its own), with a high smoke point. <S> On those scores, you can't do much better than peanut oil. <S> I have not used rice bran oil. <S> Yellow squash generally means this: (the long one) <S> It can also mean the other yellow vegetable in the picture or this: <S> What it is not , is butternut: <S> That is a different flavor entirely. <S> Yellow squash is more like zucchini, butternut squash is more like pumpkin. <S> Welcome to Seasoned Advice. <A> I looked to the wiki I've been maintaining on translating between English dialects, but I realized that the 'yellow squash' distinction was a bit muddled in there: Summer <S> Squash <S> (US) are members of the squash family with a short storage life typically harvested before full maturity; typically available starting in the spring and summer; includes zucchini, yellow and crookneck squash. <S> Winter Squash <S> (US) are members of the squash family that are allowed to reach full maturity before harvesting; typically available in the fall; includes pumpkin, acorn and butternut squash. <S> I wouldn't substitute butternut squash, as it's a much sweeter, firmer variety. <S> You want something that's an immature squash -- it still has thin, edible skin and hasn't yet formed a distinctive seed cavity. <S> As Jolenealaska has mentioned, zucchini (courgette in the UK) will do, but if you can find it, a pattypan squash <S> might be a bit closer. <A> In Canada "Vegetable Oil" is generally taken as 100% unblended canola/rapeseed oil <S> Refined canola oil has a smoke point of 400F, according to: http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/collectedinfo/oilsmokepoints.htm <S> You can choose from that chart any of the oils that fit your temperature range, and provide the degree of flavouring you desire. <A> In Britain the two most common vegetable oils are Sunflower oil and Rapeseed Oil. <S> Sunflower oil has a smoke point of over 400F, and Rapeseed oil similar, assuming both are refined which is almost always the case as sold in supermarkets. <S> Rapeseed is reported to have higher omega-3s than <S> Sunflower oil so is increasingly popular, but Sunflower oil is very commonly used. <A> (In many cases, of course, you could substitute another neutral oil with a similar smoke point, if canola isn't available.) <A> In the U.S. Yellow Squash is the second one pictured. <S> It is a staple here during the summer months. <S> Also tasty sautéed with Vidalia or sweet onions.
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"Vegetable oil", in the US, generally means canola oil (aka rapeseed oil).
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Can I use amaranth flour or another grain flour as a substitute for white flour in tortillas? I am trying to make a healthier tortilla, which I have always made with all-purpose white flour. Is there another grain flour I can use that will produce a tastier and healthier tortilla, and still give me a tender tortilla? <Q> You might try to add some amaranth flour or any other kind of flour, but it's difficult -impossible <S> I think- <S> you can make a bread or a tortilla out of 100% amaranth flour. <S> Wheat flour (that you call "all purpose white flour") contains gluten , that is functionally used to make dough stick together. <S> If you use amaranth, rice or other kinds of flour you'll find that it's difficult to make the dough. <S> If you want to make a healthier tortilla use whole wheat flour, and add whatever you want inside: amaranth, sesame seeds, linseed, nuts, peanuts, almonds, etc. <A> I've been to a restaurant which proposes pizzas made of 100% of amaranth. <S> So it is definitely possible to make some kind of dough, although I'm not sure how much complicate and lengthy it can get. <A> These doughs from nixtamalized grains are known as masa . <S> Corn is usually used for this, however, but other things are possible. <S> You can buy masa harina, which is dried and powdered masa de maíz (which is masa from corn) at the grocery store and make corn tortillas with it. <S> If you use regular corn meal, it will probably fall apart and be grainy (or else thick like fry bread). '… nixtamalized amaranth flour can be used to replace maize for tortilla production.' <S> This is an excerpt from Pseudocereals and Less Common Cereals: Grain Properties and Utilization … , edited by Peter S. Belton and John R.N. Taylor (p. 236). <S> So, yes, what you suggest is possible, although it might take some learning and time. <S> Companies should really sell masa from all kinds of grains and pseudocereals, although advertising it to people who don't know what it is might be the hard part. <S> They could call it tortilla flour, I guess ( <S> but I imagine there are many more uses). <S> You would probably need to nixtamalize the amaranth before grinding it into flour, however. <S> That's how it's done with corn. <S> So, I wouldn't buy amaranth flour for this purpose. <S> Nixtamalization may make the food more nutritious in certain ways. <S> It does for corn, anyway. <S> I'm not sure about amaranth. <S> Other gluten-containing grains (e.g. barley, rye, kamut, spelt) might be workable for tortillas, but likely not as ideal as wheat flour, without some kind of process like nixtamalization. <S> Apparently, you can make tortillas with oat flour , with a very simple recipe. <S> FYI: <S> Oats don't contain gluten. <S> However, they are often contaminated with it (hence gluten-free oats being sold particularly) and they contain a similar protein called avenin. <S> Even with gluten-free oats, avenin can cause issues for people who need a gluten-free diet if they haven't been on the diet for a certain amount of time. <S> You can even make a flour from wheat that has been nixtamalized: <S> Masa de harina de Trigo. <S> I imagine it's even easier to make tortillas with it than with regular flour <S> (however fine or white it is).
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You would probably have to nixtamalize most gluten-free grains and pseudocereals (including amaranth) in order to use them successfully in tortillas if you don't want to add gluten.
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How to get the pits out of clingstone peaches for peach butter I'm making peach butter. The recipe I have uses the skin on the peaches (you put the peaches in a blender, put them in the slow cooker with sugar and spices, then use an immersion blender at the end to blend it all again). Unfortunately the peaches I got are clingstone. And they are small (like tangerines maybe), but the flavor is really good. If I just roughly chop the peaches and throw them into the slow cooker (pits and all), will the peaches eventually cook away from the pits, making it easy to remove them? Or will cooking the pits give off a yucky (bitter) flavor and taint the peach butter? Or is there a super simple way of removing the pits in clingstone peaches? Thanks. :) Update 20 May: I forgot to mention that the peaches were about the size of plums. Of course a little more challenging. I ended up cutting chunks off with a paring knife and was able to get pretty close to the pit. Of course it was really messy, especially with the much riper ones! All the peaches have been blended and are in the crock pot slowly turning into peach butter! Next time I ask someone else to get me a ton of peaches, I'll make sure to specify freestone! :D Update 21 May: I came home to a disgusting smell and mess in my slow cooker yesterday. I guess the temperature was too hot (it was on low) and it all burned into a horrible mess. I only had three ingredients in the slow cooker. $40 worth of peaches, 2 1/2 cups brown sugar, and 1/4 cup homemade vanilla extract (bourbon and vanilla pods). It was on for five hours overnight and looked great in the morning but it was still very thin (in fact it seemed thinner than the night before), so I left it on low while I went to work. I was gone eight hours and came home to a gross looking and smelling mess. Unfortunately I don't seem to be able to attach a picture. :( <Q> You may try a mango pit remover. <S> Slide the peach up as far towards the small size as possible. <S> This is just a thought, I have not tried it. <A> Cut the peaches all the way around following the cleavage. <S> Twist the fruit apart, then carefully trim the pit out of the half that held on to it with a paring knife. <S> If you were making slices for a presentation, then cut all the slices down to the pit. <S> The first slice will need to be removed by rocking the knife back and forth across the pit to get it out, but the rest of the slices can be either snapped out or pared out if the fruit isn't coming free very well. <A>
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I have a small handheld thing that looks like a spoon with sharp sides and a wooden handle that works great for clingstone peaches.
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Chilli con carne - chocolate, cocoa powder or nothing? I am about to prepare chilli con carne. I have found more recipes than I would even like. I have quite an idea what ingredients and spices to put in. The last question is whether to use chocolate, cocoa powder or nothing. How do mexicans cook chilli con carne? <Q> The origin of chili con carne is actually from the American southwest, not Mexico. <S> It's tex-mex, not mex. <S> There are many variations on chili con carne, however if you go back to the earliest known recipes cocoa or chocolate are not on them. <S> It's pretty basic, flavored mostly by cumin and chili. <S> However, there are many good recipes out there which have chocolate or cocoa in them <S> and they are as valid as any other, so it all comes down to personal taste. <S> I add unsweetened cocoa powder to my chili because the bitterness balances out the acidity of the canned tomatoes, and I like the flavor combinations you get. <S> The umami from the chocolate enhances the flavor, and I like the way it hits the tongue, it gives it more punch. <S> Once I made a chili and split it into two, with one I added some cocoa powder, otherwise the chilis were identical. <S> I served both and asked people which they liked better and the vast majority preferred the one with cocoa in it. <S> You can also add a tsp or two of instance coffee instead although I don't think it's as good. <S> Adding sweetened dark chocolate instead of cocoa powder works just as well <S> , there's no much difference except the chocolate adds a bit of sweetness. <S> The main benefit of using chocolate rather than cocoa powder is that you can try different varieties, however as it's just an undertone <S> you aren't likely to notice. <S> So it's all down to taste. <A> Cocoa powder (unsweetened) by all means. <S> It adds a bit of smokiness. <S> The other thing to add is a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. <S> Even if I add tomatoes to my con carne, I find the acidity of the vinegar brightens the flavor. <A> If you go to Mexico and look for Chilli con carne , the closest thing you can find is a dish called "Picadillo Rojo", both of them are very similar and I can say that cocoa/chocolate is not used in the preparation of it
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So if you want to make the most authentic chili to the origin then skip the cocoa.
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Does a strong smell when cooking spinach indicate anything? I have some frozen spinach that I fry in a pan along with some other vegetables and meat. While it’s heating up, the spinach doesn’t smell like anything, but after several minutes, it starts to give off a fairly strong smell. I don’t know how to describe it, but it isn’t especially pleasant. Each time, the rest of my food was cooked at that point, so I stopped cooking. The spinach looked and tasted fine. Does the smell from the spinach mean anything in particular? Does it mean that the spinach is probably done cooking? Did I overcook it? <Q> True, you may have cooked it too much and spinach is cooked when it reaches 160 degrees F. <S> If the spinach overcooks, it does not necessarily mean it is bad, it is just overcooked. <S> In my opinion, eat it, I have because mine did not taste bad as I understand yours did not taste bad. <S> Now, another idea is that when you have smelly spinach, you might have cooked in on very high heat and you burned it or overcooked it, you could still eat it. <S> Again, if it does not taste bad, it is ok to eat it. <S> Another idea is that you used rancid oil, which using the rancid oil on the spinach would taste bad and you would then get rid of it. <S> That would taste bad. <S> Also there is the problem of listeria, which is some kind of a bacteria, I think, and the spinach is bad to begin with and will or might make you sick. <S> Please look that up, lettuce also has that problem. <S> I think the spinach would have a blackish hue to it and taste bad. <S> Get rid of it. <S> Lastly, what I read about spinach is that you do not re-heat cooked spinach, eat it cold. <S> I make big batches of creamed spinach, my family loves it, takes it to their homes, nukes it, and nobody has gotten sick. <S> I am no doctor, so take that info for what it is worth. <S> Lastly secondly, I use frozen spinach to make dips. <S> I make too much of that also <S> and I make my own creations of that. <S> My family likes to take that home also. <S> What I do with any dip is put out smaller portions at a time and fill up as necessary. <S> It is time consuming but <S> as a safety issue it makes me feel good and when you feel you are doing your best to keep people eating safer, it is worth it. <S> At very Last, use your judgement, don't take chances. <S> When in doubt, throw it out. <S> I do what I do because I have a lot of experience, but that does not mean I don't get into trouble once in awhile. <S> Good Luck <A> From Fresh-cut baby spinach: off-odour development inside the package still an unresolved problem <S> In the case of spinach, the ammonia is produced as a consequence of protein catabolism: the accumulation of ammonia is responsible of leaf dark deterioration. <S> The effects of MAP conditions on the quality maintenance of fresh-cut spinach have been widely evaluated. <A> I was curious about this too. <S> Not in a bad way though! <S> I like oysters! <S> Here is my theory: <S> Spinach is high in ironOysters are high in iron <S> Spinach contains chlorophyll (in cells)Oysters eat chlorophyll (from plankton) <S> So I think it could be a combination of iron and chlorophyll being boiled that gives off a smell we think is fishy. <S> It's just my guess. <S> I'm not a scientist or anything haha!
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I am cooking fresh spinach and to me it smells like oysters.
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To make a cream cheese icing, can I use cottage cheese? Can I use cottage cheese instead of cream cheese to make a carrot cake icing? <Q> It is true that you can use the cottage cheese, you could even use ricotta cheese which Italians have a Ricotta Cheese Pie and Sambucca Liqueur is used as a flavoring. <S> It is delicious. <S> Either use less cream cheese with less powdered sugar and no butter for the frosting or just dust it with the powdered sugar. <S> no matter how finely you blend it. <S> So my answer is no, don't do it. <S> Good Luck <A> I actually used cottage cheese for a pound cake frosting, because I had no cream cheese. <S> I took the cake to church, and everyone loved it. <S> Do not use the same amount of cottage cheese ( use 1 1/2 cups instead of 2 cups), puree the cottage cheese in a blender, then add other ingredients. <S> I chopped strawberries and added them to the frosting, to increase the flavor. <A> I have also used cottage cheese in place of cream cheese. <S> The end result was just fine. <S> It's fine to say "use cream cheese", but when one has a milk allergy, something has to take it's place. <A> You can, <S> yes and you use the same amount as you would cream cheese. <S> Refs: <S> http://ni.lovefoodhatewaste.com/node/1414 http://dish.allrecipes.com/common-ingredient-substitutions/ <A> Of course you can BUT, your final product will suffer greatly. <S> I'm a professional Pastry Chef and wouldn't consider doing it for any reason.
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Using cottage cheese, which I have, really does not taste good, not only in my opinion but others who have tried to cut calories. The first answer is correct, yes you can, but the taste ruins your carrot cake
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Is this soup, stew, or something else? I ate some East Asian dish recently and it looked something like this: [image source: http://www.thetabletopcook.com/images/tabletop-cooking-homemade-taiwanese-hot-pot.jpg] I had never eaten anything that looks like it. I was confused, is it a soup with some solids added to it? I want to know about nomenclature for this type of food and how they would be classified (not according to taste, but according to how they look/are arranged/are mixed). <Q> It's a hot pot or steamboat as we call it in Malaysia. <S> It's a clear soup made from stock. <S> Raw ingredients are gradually added to it as it simmers. <S> Soup and the cooked ingredients are fished out when they are done (each time when the pot boils). <S> At the end, you are left with a rich, delicious soup that has flavours of all the ingredients intermingled and it is usually eaten with noodles. <S> Going by this, it would be classified as a soup or broth. <S> It wouldn't be a stew as flour has not been used to thicken it. <A> The image you picked specifically calls it a "hot pot". <S> http://www.thetabletopcook.com/images/tabletop-cooking-homemade-taiwanese- hot-pot .jpg <S> Hot Pots are classified as "stews" according to Wikipedia: <S> Hot pot (also known as steamboat in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Brunei), refers to several East Asian varieties of stew , consisting of a simmering metal pot of stock at the center of the dining table. <S> While the hot pot is kept simmering, ingredients are placed into the pot and are cooked at the table. <S> Typical hot pot dishes include thinly sliced meat, leaf vegetables, mushrooms, wontons, egg dumplings, and seafood. <S> Vegetables, fish and meat should be fresh. <S> The cooked food is usually eaten with a dipping sauce. <S> In many areas, hot pot meals are often eaten in the winter during supper time. <S> But I'd argue that they're more soup-like. <S> They remind me a lot of a Mexican dish called "caldo de pollo/res", which is literally "chicken/beef broth". <S> From the definition of " stew ": Stews are similar to soups, and in some cases there may not be a clear distinction between the two. <S> Generally, stews have less liquid than soups , are much thicker and require longer cooking over low heat. <S> While soups are almost always served in a bowl, stews may be thick enough to be served on a plate with the gravy as a sauce over the solid ingredients. <S> Your image, and this one of caldo are very broth-y, which is why I think they're more like soup. <A> That is certainly a stew. <S> I might further refer to that as a hot-pot if the ingredients were raw before added to the broth, particularly if it's cooked at the table. <A> That particular dish looks to me like Chinese hot pot, or a similar Asian hot pot (not to be confused with Lancashire hotpot , which is a kind of stew!). <S> The main feature of the dish is that you have a pot at your table with a burner underneath, and a number of raw ingredients which you add to the broth and pull out at your own convenience. <S> These may include meat, root vegetables, leaf vegetables, noodles, eggs, seafood or fish. <S> I would argue that it's not a soup or a stew, because the components are fished out and eaten, and are the main part of the dish. <S> You can optionally drink the broth when you are finished, and I guess you could call that part of the dish a soup (though I would say "broth" to connote the thin-ness), but the dish as a whole is just hot pot. <S> You don't call it a stew when you boil ravioli, right? <S> ;) <S> From Wikipedia : <S> Hot pot (also known as steamboat in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Brunei), refers to several East Asian varieties of stew, consisting of a simmering metal pot of stock at the center of the dining table. <S> While the hot pot is kept simmering, ingredients are placed into the pot and are cooked at the table. <S> Typical hot pot dishes include thinly sliced meat, leaf vegetables, mushrooms, wontons, egg dumplings, and seafood. <S> Vegetables, fish and meat should be fresh. <S> The cooked food is usually eaten with a dipping sauce. <S> In many areas, hot pot meals are often eaten in the winter during supper time. <A> As far as I concerned it's Tom Yum Soup <S> http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/tomyumsoup_85069 <S> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_yum
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It's definitely a kind of soup or stew.
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Solid honey in dragon's beard candy? I saw a video of a street vendor making dragon's beard candy in Korea and at the beginning he started with what he described as a block of "fermented honey two weeks" and a bowl of corn starch: The honey is quite solid, like a lump of plastic (he knocked it against the walls of the display stand). How is it that he obtained solid honey? I have read that honey will rapidly crystallize if it is unpasteurized. Is that what this is? Raw, unpasteurized honey, that has been allowed to sit for two weeks? <Q> I've imported a dragon beard candy product from Hong Kong in the increasingly-distant past. <S> They'd typically heat the puck in a microwave or hot water bath before shaping the dragon beard candy so that it would be soft enough to work, but still have the tensile strength to hold together while stretching and pulling. <S> I would seriously doubt that uncooked honey, even fermented, would be sufficient to obtain the structure required for dragon beard candy. <S> What honey does provide, though, assuming this is 100% honey, is a good mix of fructose, maltose and glucose to help control crystallization as it cools. <S> It's not clear to me whether that vendor (I presume you're referring to the one in Insadong) "ferments" the honey before or after boiling, but I expect they would have fermented it beforehand. <S> This is likely to affect the ratio of sugars present and maybe result in a bit of alcohol, but there are several mechanisms possible to ferment honey, including raw honey. <S> I'm not sure how critical the fermentation step is for a honey-based dragon beard candy; for a wheat germ based or barley-based sugar, the amylase reaction is essentially what yields the maltose (since otherwise you're just eating the grain germ). <S> In any event, ultimately the boiling step is what controls the crystallization needed to produce dragon beard candy. <S> Thanks to some combination of trade secrets and language issues, I never learned with absolute certainty whether traditional dragon beard candy is boiled to soft crack to hard crack stage, though I'm inclined to believe the versions for which storage is possible reach something very close to hard crack stage and therefore need the softening step. <S> For what it's worth, I've done the hand-stretching process with the guidance of the master confectioner of the dragon beard candy company and it's quite stiff. <S> Attempts at duplicating it at home with my own sugar solution had mixed results; it does take some experimentation (or training) to get it right. <A> Freeze it. <S> I thought I heard him say "very cold" in his dialogue. <S> Im making it in the morning, and letting it freeze over night tonight. <S> I will let you know how it goes. <A> It could be that fermented honey has everything nessecary to replace the sugar, corn syrup, and vinegar. <S> Note <S> that fermented honey is not crystallized honey. <S> You can buy it, or I'm sure there are recipes somewhere online. <S> Also fermented honey is a non alcoholic fermentation, like vinegar, which is probably why it has whatever vinegar adds to the recipe. <S> Futher I already know plain honey can be used to replace sugar and/or corn syrup in baking. <S> That's why I conclude that fermented can replace 3 of the 4 ingredients in dragon's beard candy. <S> One last thing <S> rather you follow the online recipe, use fermented honey, or use plain honey and vinegar <S> you need the temperature to reach soft crack. <S> If you go to hard crack it won't work.
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Most recipes you find for dragons beard candy call for granulated sugar, corn syrup, and vinegar to be boiled in water. The company I worked with used a maltose-based solution that had been boiled (wheat germ sugar).
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Using cream cheese instead of cheddar in a grilled cheese sandwich If I want to make a grilled cheese sandwich with cream cheese instead of cheddar, can I get it melted like cheddar? <Q> No. <S> Cream cheese will simply go runny if you melt it. <S> It is in no way a substitute for a hard cheese. <A> Cream cheese sandwiches are tasty, when prepared properly, but you cannot grill them the way you grill grilled (hard) cheese. <S> But you don't need it to melt - it's already nice and malleable, and has the oil in a soft enough state that it hits your tastebuds properly. <S> Some good options for cream cheese sandwiches (or any similar soft cheese, really): <S> Toast or grill the bread as if for grilled cheese, but leave off the cheese. <S> Then when it's done, let it cool just briefly and apply the cream cheese. <S> Top with a flavoring agent, such as dill, parsley, etc.; very similar to toppings for a bagel with cream cheese. <S> Can be eaten open-faced or closed. <S> Eat with cold bread. <S> This is what my wife often does: just put cream cheese between two slices and eat. <S> Works <S> well with thinly sliced relatively bland bread, for a "comfort food" effect. <S> Not all that flavorful, but for some it's a reminder of being a kid. <S> Cream cheese and lox sandwich. <S> Or any strongly flavored cured meat, really. <S> Prosciutto, for example. <S> Yum. <S> Again, bread toasted or not toasted at your discretion. <A> That sounds... unpleasant. <S> It has more moisture and a very different structure. <S> Where cheddar will retain some structure and a "stretchy" texture, cream cheese will just flow more freely. <S> Layered between bread, it would probably just squirt out of the sides of the sandwich when you bit in. <S> The extra moisture would probably also be partially absorbed by the bread and leave the sandwich soggy. <A> If you have tried to spread cream cheese on a hot bagel, you can see how readily it melts and oozes out the sides. <S> It wouldn't make a very good grilled cheese. <S> As the above answers indicate, spread it on bread, toasted or not. <S> I love it with raspberry jam in there, too.
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Cream cheese will melt, yes, but it won't melt in the same way as cheddar.
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making cream with almond milk and fat I want to make a replacement for heavy cream. I'm considering almond milk blended with a fat. I have a high powered blender on the way for this purpose (yes, it will blend). Some fats I'm considering: Coconut Oil Butter Tallow (wet rendered, pretty neutral in flavor) Blending the almond milk and fat together, is it possible to create a reasonably stable suspension with a consistency similar to cream this way? Will the fat invevitably separate after a few hours? Do I need to add an emulsifier or other ingredient? <Q> You should be able to mix almond butter into almond milk to raise the fat level to that of cream. <S> That should be enough, assuming you want the cream as cream, or for a ganache or something. <S> I've certainly done this with coconut milk and coconut oil, and used in a ganache for a chocolate cake. <S> For whipping, you'll need something with more stability than almonds. <S> Adding gelatine or xanthan gum should help with that. <A> I have made what I call a mousse using full fat/lite coconut milk or unsweetened almond milk with the same results. <S> I have always added chocolate (a mix of unsweetened cocoa powder and solid). <S> I've not tried it without adding the chocolate component but have eaten it on its own and as a topping. <S> It keeps for a few days in the fridge. <S> 14 <S> oz can full fat or lite coconut milk, or 2 cups unsweetened almond milk, divided;1/4 cup or 1 oz solid dark chocolate;2 T cocoa powder; <S> 1/8-1/4 c. granulated sugar of your choice; 1 packet or .25 <S> oz unflavoured gelatine; 1 large egg separated; Refrigerate coconut milk over night. <S> Open and take out the solid stuff on the top and put in a pot. <S> Put the left over liquid in a bowl and sprinkle gelatine over it and let sit to the side. <S> (If using almond or lite coconut milk, put half in a pot and sprinkle gelatine over remaining cup). <S> In the pot add chips, cocoa powder and sugar to milk. <S> Bring to a slow boil stirring it constantly until chips are melted. <S> Separate egg ad put yolk in bowl. <S> Whisk yolk while slowly pouring hot chocolate mix into it. <S> Once incorporated pour back into the pot. <S> Whisk slowly, <S> but well, while bringing it back to a slow boil. <S> When it thickens, add to gelatine mix and whisk until completely incorporated. <S> Put in fridge until it sets. <S> When it is, whip the egg white to stiff peaks and fold into pudding. <S> Cover and put back into fridge until ready to serve. <S> I usually eat it by itself with toasted shredded unsweetened coconut and/or toasted nuts. <S> It can be used as a pie filling or as a whipped topping alternative. <S> I've not tried piping it. <S> There is a commercial stabilizer called Dr. Oetker Whip It! <S> that might help give it more structure for piping. <A> If only want to increase the fat content, adding an emulsifier is sufficent (e.g. lecithine or xanthan) . <S> According to rumtscho's answer the emulsion can be whipped but I doubt that the cream will be very stable. <S> For futher studies, I recommend this question: Could coconut cream be used to create a non-dairy ganache for whipping? <S> This question deals with coconut cream <S> but it's close enough to your issue. <S> Gelatine and xanthan gum should work. <S> Please note that the actual fat content of the discussed mixture in the mentioned question is higher due to the chocolate.
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If you want to have a stable whipped cream you will need a thickening agent.
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How should I prepare the coffee to be used in my tiramisu? I'm making tiramisu. Coffee is a large component of the recipe, so I imagine that the choice and preparation of the coffee used will have a big impact on the final taste. Or will it? I'm not a coffee expert; perhaps all the sugar and other ingredients will overwhelm it to the degree that you can't taste the difference. If that's so, using fancy coffee would just be a waste. Will there be a noticeable taste difference if I just use instant coffee to soak the ladyfingers in, or is it worth using something of higher quality? If the latter, how should I prepare the coffee that is to be used? <Q> Someone will be able to notice. <S> In matters of taste, there is always variation. <S> Some people can't taste the difference between stale Folgers and fresh high quality coffee. <S> However, many can. <S> I the case of your dessert, <S> without more data, I can't tell if you would be able to tell or not. <S> But, for sure, someone would be able to tell. <S> That being the case, it's worth doing with the best ingredients you can reasonably use. <S> My personal opinion for my cooking is any ingredient that isn't high enough quality to stand on it's own shouldn't get used. <A> This does depend substantially on your standards: how sensitive are you to subtle flavors? <S> It also depends on the exact recipe: how much coffee liqueur, how much cocoa powder, and so on. <S> The difference between instant and real espresso is pretty large, enough that I'd expect the nice flavor notes of real espresso to come through. <S> But noticing details of those flavors, with everything else going on in tiramisu, will probably be tough. <S> The coffee liqueur especially is going to make it hard to notice details; you'll essentially be tasting the combination of its coffee flavor and your espresso as a single thing. <S> So my very rough answer would be that it's definitely worth using real espresso if you can, but it's most likely not worth obsessing too much over the quality, and definitely not worth obsessing about the exact method of preparation. <S> Keep in mind that tiramisu calls specifically for espresso, not just coffee. <S> Strongly-brewed coffee, like from a moka pot, will work well too. <S> But if all you have is a regular coffee maker, you're probably better off using instant espresso powder, or running out to buy some espresso at a coffee shop. <A> Use a med-roast espresso blend and brew it using a Moka pot (stovetop espresso maker). <S> You're going to buy expensive ingredients for this dessert. <S> Don't skimp on the coffee, it is by far the most aggressive flavor in the dish.
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And you'll certainly notice the difference between coffee and the concentrated flavor of espresso.
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What hot cereals can I cook by just adding hot water? I eat instant oatmeal at my office desk every morning. I think I can also get instant grits and maybe cream of wheat or something, but what other hot cereals can I make by just adding boiling water? I don't like flavored stuff and I'm not looking for recipes, just a little variety in my admittedly very bland breakfasts. <Q> If you try regular oats and like them, then you might try flaked/rolled barley, if you can find it. <S> If you have refrigeration at work (or just bring in one-day's worth each morning), you could also add wheat germ (I can't imagine having a bowl-ful of it, but adding some to your oats would change them up.) <S> Late recall - "Grape Nuts®" is another one that can be done hot, even if it normally isn't. <A> You can also prepare fine bulgur by just soaking it in boiled water. <S> This website says to let it sit for 20 minutes, but I've done it with less. <S> I wouldn't normally consider it a breakfast food, but if it's variety you crave, maybe you'll like it. <S> Couscous is another option. <S> It's not a cereal, though. <A> Consider also hot instant buckwheat cereal ( one possibility from Arrowhead ; I thought that Kashi used to have one also <S> but it's not listed here ). <S> Must it be instant? <S> If not, you could try... <S> Go for a hands-off microwave-based preparation; boiling water with old-fashioned oats takes 5 minutes at very low power, and steel-cut oats perhaps 15 minutes at very low power (the latter is what I do most every morning...) <S> You could also (overnight) pre-soak grains to shorten the cooking time. <S> Here's one example for pre-soaked steel cut oats from ATK . <S> Consider also making up a large batch at the beginning of the week, then heating/eating a portion each day; it will keep for several days in the refrigerator. <A> You can prepare semolina by adding boiling water to it. <S> Of course, adding a boiling milk would yield better results, but that is the matter of taste.
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Wheetabix or shredded wheat can also be prepared with boiling water for a hot cereal. Most couscous you'll find in grocery stores in the US is an instant variety that can just be soaked for 5 minutes.
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What device to use to chop/dice tomatoes? I make chunky salsa in 2 quart batches. I have terrible knife skills, it takes me way too long to dice the amount of tomatoes needed for a batch. I am looking for a piece of equipment that will chop or dice the tomatoes into appox. 1/4 inch pieces in a quick and efficient manner. <Q> Working as a cook myself... <S> unless you really like chunky I would go with a blender. <S> Blender <S> quick but half will be a purree ? <S> Dicing <S> all of it will be nice even dice but takes longer. <S> Which is more important nice and chunky or speed? <A> I cut the things in thick slices and put them through a french fry cutter .That <S> gives me nice tomato cubes without much hassle. <S> Incidentally, the cutter works great on peppers, bell etc, too; nice square bits, little effort; plus of course you can make french fries or cottage fries. <A> I have something similar to this . <S> The size of the pieces it chops into just depends on how long you run it <S> - the longer you run it, the smaller the pieces.
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Issue with a blender about half the tomatoes will be a purree before you get rid of all the big chunks and if you start cutting up the tomatoes it wont take all that much longer just to dice em..
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How to clean an all-clad stainless steel pan I accidentally left one of my all-clad stainless steel saucepans on the stove & the water in it boiled off... I used Bar Keeper's Friend(BKF) & I was able to remove all the spots in the interior of the pan but the shiny finish on the exterior is yellowed now and BKF did not remove this stain.It almost looks like when sterling silver starts to tarnish.Any ideas? <Q> Brillo/S.O.S pads (the real metal ones) and Barkeepers Friend. <S> Use the Barkeepers Friend first or just trade off. <S> Brillo/S.O.S last. <S> There has never been crud or discoloration that has survived these two products. <S> There have never been scratches with Brillo/S.O.S on my stainless steel both inside and out All Clad. <S> I think that Brillo/S.O.S works to really put a shine on the interior of the pan. <S> Eggs do just slide around. <S> Not too shabby. <A> If it's a really bad stain you can use steel wool. <S> It may leave some scratch marks, but that just means you use your pan! <A> Get as much of the burnt black little parts off of it as possible. <S> Put bread around the top of it and remove when it is seared. <S> Finally put in peeled potatoes, then put it in the fridge to cool off. <S> It works very well. <A> This isn't the only way to get that off, but it's easiest.
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Recently I found a liquid Barkeepers Friend that works well also. Polish it with 'Brasso' or some other metal polish that is acidic and claims to work on stainless.
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Why do the Japanese eat a lot of raw fish? Was trying to answer this question for a school age child writing an essay about Japan. Short of Wikipedia's "hundreds of years ago, you arranged for fresher fish by transporting it live" nothing meaningful popped up in my searches - and that doesn't offer explanation because of course you can cook fish after you transport it live. So, is there some reason why eating raw fish became so popular/prevalent in Japan's seaward areas specifically (compared to other sea-adjacent areas of other nations)? Was it some specific quality of fish native to Japanese sea waters? Or just an accident of culture? <Q> I did a little bit of digging on the topic and found this TapTrip blog post: A brief history of Sushi: why do japanese eat raw fish? <S> It also references a Cultura Bunka article in Portuguese called Uma breve história do sushi. <S> To quote: During Muromachi Period (1336-1573), japaneses [sic] used to transport the raw fish inside of baked rice to keep it conserved during long trips. <S> Then, they started to eat this meal which was called sushi. <S> [...] <S> But, making sushi was hard because took a long time and was a little expensive. <S> Only during Edo Period (1603-1868) japaneses started to eat the raw fish freshly caught from the ocean with rice thanks to a sushiman called Hanaya Yohei. <S> So it appears the short answer is indeed "just an accident of culture" (or history) <S> so-to-speak. <S> I will also quote from a short article Japanese Food Culture of Eating Raw Fish <S> * <S> Raw fish dishses have been eaten since the Nara-era. <S> At first,people ate raw fish pickled with vinegar as "Namasu". <S> Then, from the Muromachi-era, peoplestarted to eat "Sashimi". <S> And a bonus small bit on careful preparation of Sashimi: Sashimi is the main dish in the Japanese cuisine,and the cooks consider carefully the best way ofcutting the fish, arranging the fish, shellfish andsquid, give importance to the proper use ofcondiments, and the best combination of fish species when serving. <S> The thickness of sashimi isdetermined according to the collagen (main proteinin the connective tissue)content of the fishused. <S> * <S> [Foods Food Ingredients J. Jpn. <S> , Vol. 212, No.8, 20] <S> Keiko Hatae Wayo Women's University 2-3-1, Kohnodai, Ichikawa-shi, Chiba 272-8533, Japan <A> Because they like it that way. <A> Japanese do not eat "a lot" of raw fish. <S> Sushi and sashimi are a delicacy. <S> Neither is eaten more than once in few weeks or even months. <S> Good fish is more expensive than meat. <S> Eating raw fish is quite recent, from last century, when fish boats got fridges. <S> Before to get fish fresh enough for eating raw it had to be kept alive and that was very expensive, so usual people could not eat if they were not involved in fishing. <S> TapTrip blog is wrong, or better to say full of nonsense. <S> Fish kept in rice was not raw, it was fermented. <S> Yohei did not serve raw fish, edozushi he made was using marinated fish. <S> Fish pickled with vinegar is obviously not raw, it's pickled.
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Many Japanese eat raw fish only few times a year, many even don't like raw fish.
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What is the difference between marinara and spaghetti sauce? The title pretty much says it: What is the difference between marinara and spaghetti sauce? I Googled and got a bunch of hits but none of the answers left me feeling like I actually understand the difference. If anything, I'm more confused now than when I started. The one thing that a few of the answers I found had in common was the idea that marinara sauce is simpler, with fewer ingredients than other tomato-based sauces. Still, the idea does not present the full picture. I guess another way to approach this question would be to ask: What would one add to "marinara" sauce to make it "spaghetti" sauce? Thx <Q> Marinara is a style / <S> kind of a sauce that originated in Napoli usually made with tomatoes, garlic, herbs, and onions. <S> A spaghetti sauce only says where to sauce is used (obviously on spaghetti ) but doesn't say anything about what the sauce is exactly like. <S> There are many dishes which are basically spaghetti + sauce: <S> Spaghetti alla marinara – which literally translates to "spaghetti mariner's style" Spaghetti aglio e olio – "spaghetti with garlic and oil", originated in Napoli Spaghetti alla puttanesca – "spaghetti whore-style" Spaghetti alla <S> Carbonara – "spaghetti coal worker's style" and, <S> uhmmm... <S> Spaghetti with meatballs – an Italian-American invention <A> In the U.S. Marinara is a vegetarian Italian style tomato sauce and it may have olive oil and cheese like parmesan mixed in. <S> But never meat or anchovies. <S> Spaghetti Sauce in the U.S. is culinary slang for manufactured tomato sauce served over spaghetti. <A> Marinara sauce is actual a thin tomato sauce used originally on fish foods, hence the name Marinara! <S> In Naples Italy when the fishermen came home with the fish they caught for the day the wives would fix a thin tomato sauce used in cooking and serving the fish. <S> Marinara sauce is not started with any meat or meat flavoring or onions like a thick tomato sauce for pasta is. <S> Spaghetti sauce starts with sauteing onions and meat such as neck bones, garlic and olive oil in the bottom of a pan before adding the tomato sauce and paste or adding meat balls to flavor the sauce besides the oregano, garlic, basil, etc., while it is cooking down. <A> I don't think there is a big difference. <S> Spaghetti sauce is a littleThicker and can come with meats added to it and more vegetables. <S> Marinara sauce is more liquid but you can add meat and vegetables to it or leave it as is. <S> Either way they are both good! <A> The biggest difference I found in spaghetti sauce and marinara sauce is the use of oregino. <A> My family (from Italy) makes both, and the only difference I have noticedis that marinara sauce is a thinner sauce. <S> As for spices, that varies from Person to person and does not effect how thick the sauce is. <A> Im Italian and Sicilian which is kind of a greater mix of the two because it's rare when they don't get along <S> and we do use oregano in spaghetti sauce and <S> , out here in the US they do say that pizza sauce is marinara sauce <S> you can use it all the same and yes meatballs and (Italian sausage) which is not mentioned <S> is part of Italian I would say one of the biggest part not US. <S> So let's get your facts straight and correct.. <S> however <S> yes and all in all actuality it is and does vary from person to person <A> My family is from Naples where Marinara originates. <S> Marinara never has meat. <A> In my Italian opinion, spaghetti or standard "sugo" tomato sauce is fairly smooth, whether thick or thin, likely using strained tomatoes. <S> Marinara is a little more chunky or pulpy in texture, or "rustic" lets say, probably using crushed tomatoes. <S> Gotta love Italian cuisine, huh? <S> Both are interchangeable depending on application and preference. <A> Sonny Silvaroli had the best if incomplete answer. <S> Marinara should never be cooked for more than a half hour. <S> Where as spaghetti sauce more correctly know as Sugo di pomodoro usually cooks for an hour or two. <S> But marinara was made by the fishermen themselves usually on the beach or on board the boat and would never have meat in it.
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Typically spaghetti sauce does not have oregino in it and a marinara sauce does which is usually what gives it is flavor. either way there is not no much difference and yes they both taste the same well both taste great This will definitely vary depending on who you ask and where so you probably won't get a definitive answer.
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Should I refrigerate hot sauce? I am an avid hot sauce collector. I own about 2 dozen bottles in various states of completion, some of which are a couple years old. They are currently in my refrigerator. Is that where they should be? Frank's FAQ says yes. This article on Chow.com says no. What do the hot sauce experts say? <Q> Most hot sauces are pretty inhospitable to foodborne illnesses, and can safely stay in the cupboard rather than the refrigerator. <S> Nevertheless, the flavors in the sauces will break down over time, storing them in the fridge as opposed to room temperature will slow deterioration and keep the sauces fresher longer. <S> If you use your sauces quickly enough then you probably won't notice a difference, but if you like to keep them around for awhile <S> it's worth the fridge space. <S> There is an argument that making hot sauce cold will dull the flavor, and this is true. <S> However, given how small the amounts used are they will come up to temperature very quickly, a dash of cold sauce on hot food will be warm by the time you get it to your mouth, <S> so it's not a good reason to keep hot sauces in the cupboard. <S> Then I will keep it in the cupboard (not exposed to sunlight). <A> I mostly agree with GdD's answer, but I'll add a couple more comments. <S> This may be an obvious answer, but I'd generally follow the recommendation on the specific bottle . <S> Some sauces will clearly state "refrigerate after opening," and others won't. <S> The Frank's FAQ linked in the question <S> is an example of these sorts of instructions: <S> two specific products recommend refrigeration, but in other cases for Frank's hot sauces it isn't required ("but doing so will keep the product fresher for a longer period of time"). <S> I've also seen an occasional product that said refrigeration "recommended" or something on the package. <S> I'd generally assume that if a manufacturer bothers to say something about refrigeration, it's a good idea to do it. <S> Sometimes it may be for food safety, but in other cases it may just be a product with ingredients that will lose flavor or degrade rapidly at room temperature. <S> Most hot sauces won't degrade noticeably at room temperature even over a period of several months, and many will be stable for a couple years. <S> Others will change flavors slowly over time at room temperature, but not necessarily in a negative way. <S> (Some sauces are deliberately "aged" or fermented at room temperature for periods from a week to several years, and sometimes these processes will continue to change the product even after it is bottled. <S> Some sauces will undergo natural browning reactions at room temperature as well, which can alter flavor. <S> I know some people who actually prefer hot sauce this way, though I'm personally skeptical.) <S> If there's a "best before" date on your sauce and no instruction to refrigerate, you can probably assume the sauce is supposed to maintain quality at least that long without refrigeration. <S> However, that doesn't guarantee that it will stay <S> exactly the same over that period. <S> As GdD said, refrigeration will almost always keep the sauce more stable. <A> Your typical hot sauce is vinegar based, and loaded with sugar and salt. <S> These are all agents that inhibit foodborne pathogens, so there should be no issue with keeping them at room temperature. <S> Perhaps if it were nothing more than pureed hot peppers, you would need to refrigerate, but not a hot sauce that is essentially pickled. <S> Personally, I do refrigerate my hot sauces, but that is only because I live in a very humid climate, and I have had mold start growing in my hot sauce bottles fairly rapidly. <A> I have a couple jars of pepper jelly (cranberry-pepper, pineapple-pepper, etc.) <S> where the jars specifically say not to refrigerate after opening. <S> The vinegar in the jelly will make the sugar crystalize when refrigerated. <S> While it might not be harmful, it's unpleasant to look at and probably unpleasant to eat crystalized jelly. <S> Based on this, I would say that it depends on the vinegar to sugar ratio in the hot sauces. <S> The ones that say you can refrigerate after opening probably have a lower sugar content, whereas the ones that say don't refrigerate most likely have a higher sugar content. <A> Unless it is recommended, I don't refrigerate hot sauces. <S> As Gary said, it dulls the flavor. <S> If someone in my house puts the hot sauce in the fridge, I throw it away. <A> Putting even fermented sauce in the fridge will NOT kill the "culture". <S> It will continue to ferment, just at a slower rate.
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The only time I would store a hot sauce at room temperature is if it will thicken up too much to come out of the bottle easily (presuming it does not say it requires refrigeration of course).
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Are there gas ovens that come with a thermometer? Is it possible to buy a household gas cooker with a built in thermometer. All of the ones i have seen so far don't have these so there is no way of knowing what temperature the oven has reached. I can see that i can buy a separate thermometer to hang in the cooker but i was wondering if any manufacturers have produced a cooker that has a built in one with an indicator when the temperature has been reached? UPDATE I am based in the UK <Q> Many ovens in the US have such a feature. <S> However, ovens lie. <S> Even if thermostats and thermocouples in ovens were scientifically accurate (they are not), they are positioned on the outside walls of the oven, not the center of the oven where you are actually doing the cooking. <S> This might not be an issue if you are baking a frozen pizza (if this is the level of cooking you are intending on doing, go for it, and use such an oven), but would be a problem if you attempt any sort of finicky baking. <S> Don't trust the knob or readout on your oven, it isn't telling you the whole story. <S> If you need precision, use a bulb style thermometer on the center rack of the oven. <S> And unless you have very basic oven needs, don't let the presence or lack of a thermometer be a prime purchasing decision. <A> Welcome! <S> You don't say where you are located. <S> Some may have a light indicator. <S> However, even though most have this feature, many people still keep a separate thermometer in the oven (at least until they learn the nuances of their oven) as oven thermostats are not always exactly accurate. <A> I have not seen ovens with built in thermometer where I live in Indonesia. <S> To resolve this problem with my 6 burner Imperial oven (a US make) I drilled the oven door at the height I cook at and inserted a dial thermometer with range to 500C. <S> This is the rack height I normally cook. <S> However using a laser thermometer and black stones in various positions there is a variation of temperature even at that rack height. <S> The inner right side being hotter. <A> Leo, I was wondering the same!! <S> Answer is that there's nothing you can trust. <S> I use an oven thermometer that either sets on or hangs from a rack. <S> I hang it as close to the center as I possibly can. <S> It hasn't failed me yet. <S> If a recipe says 350 for 30 minutes, the baked item is done just right.
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In the U.S., most ovens have an audible sound such as a beep or a buzzer to let you know that the set temperature has been reached.
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How Did I Explode A Saucepan? I am a complete amateur when it comes to the world of cooking. My recent attempts to teach myself have unfortunately lead to me needing to ask: How did I explode my saucepan? I'd put some garlic/onion/olive oil in the saucepan and left it on low heat to soften on my electric hob. After about five there was a loud bang and I turned to find the saucepan falling through the air (which I just caught by the handle). The base of the saucepan had come away from the body. Cue jokes about taste explosions from my flat mate I am fairly sure this wasn't supposed to happen. The same thing happened when I was cooking meatballs with some onion on the side - though to a much lesser degree. Did I just have a duff saucepan, or is there some explosive quality to onions I missed!? On the plus side, the meal came out okay in the end. <Q> I work in a commercial kitchen and I've seen this happen before, which is why we do not use copper-plated cookware. <S> This can happen whenever you have two different alloys welded together and apply heat to one side or non-uniformly; <S> An effect known as 'thermal shock'. <S> What happens is one metal expands faster than the other, causing a deformation or fracture. <S> Think of it as one side trying to 'pull' the other at the edges. <S> The pop you heard was undoubtedly this delineation occurring, followed by the kinetic reaction of the pot jumping. <S> I find your claim that the pot leaped through the air difficult to believe, but I have observed audible pops and visible movement when they fail. <S> If you have a flat top (like an electric stove), it could skid for up to a foot from this due to the lack of friction and possible presence of condensate (water) on the surface which can at certain temperatures act like a nearly friction-less cushion. <S> Oil doesn't do this, only water. <S> If you've ever been in a commercial kitchen you'll notice every cookware item is made of a single cast of metal (most usually stainless steel) because of this. <S> Welded alloy pots and pans just don't last very long -- the effect observed <S> so violently happens at a smaller scale with every heating cycle, eventually resulting in ruined cookware. <S> Also, being a line cook means being exposed to things exploding, dying, catching fire, <S> etc., on a near-daily basis, not to mention an assortment of knives that would make most Hollywood bad-asses blush, so obviously we try to limit the number of things that can go wrong. <S> Do yourself a favor -- if you stick with the copper-bottomed pots and pans, make sure to put plenty of water or oil in them. <S> Heat with nowhere to go will cause failure quickly. <A> (if I understand correctly) <A> If your electric hob is anything like the one I had when I was younger, it has small rings in the metal of the hob top. <S> If the pan was wet, the water can pool there and become superheated, until the weight of the pan isn't enough to contain the force of the expanding steam. <S> At this point, the pan jumps, pushed upwards by the steam. <S> If the pan is cheap or old, the force of the jolt might be enough to break it. <S> My pans used to dance on the hob when wet, as the steam let off in small amounts all around the hob. <S> After a few minutes, the water would be gone and the pan would sit normally. <A> I've seen similar things happen with the flat kind of electric hob with the little hollow in (this kind: <S> https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Electric_stove.jpg ) <S> This can happen when the stove is wet. <S> If there is water in the hollow when you put your pot on it, and the flat bottom of the pot closes the cavity, the water underneath will start to boil. <S> If the stove/bottom of the pan is also oily, it can stick to the stove. <S> When the water in the cavity starts to boil, it will rapidly expand. <S> With nowhere to go, it's possible for a pot to go flying when that happens. <S> This is not, as you already had a gut feeling about, supposed to happen. <S> If it does happen though: Don't catch it. <S> The best thing that comes from that is that you can say "hey, did you see that, I caught it". <S> More likely scenarios involve burning yourself or cutting off fingers (for knives). <S> When things fly through the air, it's likely you're going to have to clean the floor even if you catch it. <A> Not so much "plate tectonics" but "pot and pan tectonics". <S> This is likely a manufacturing defect. <S> The thermal expansion answers are correct, a sudden shock occurred when a "critical point" was reached and the base has sprung back into its "relieved" state.(I <S> do not think there would have been enough heat for annealing to be a factor.) <S> As for super-heating, water will "knock" if superheated and detergent is added (or any surface active agent). <S> But normally ceramics or stoneware is involved (something with vertices). <A> There are many companies which produce glassware that is safe for the oven. <S> Although many of these products resemble sauce pans or skillets, they really are casseroles for use in the oven. <S> If you place them on an electric eye or a gas flame, within a minute they will explode into tiny fragments, usually leaving the handle behind. <S> I had purchased a rather expensive version of these some years back <S> and my roommate did this, not once, but at least 3 times, ignoring the large embossed letters on the pan: <S> "NOT FOR STOVETOP USE" <A> yes this can happen,its caused from the saucepan being placed into cold water over time,the sudden temperature change from very hot to cold causes decontamination (the saucepan to heat sink / copper base ) partially separating allowing water to enter,once the saucepan is heated again the trapped water turns into steam increasing its volume by 1000 and going off like a bomb.
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You probably used a cheap and very thin saucepan, and on the heat the metal expanded and had stressed to the point of failure, it buckled and acted as a spring.
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How to cut peanut brittle I would like to be able to cut peanut brittle into neat squares. Everything I have tried does not result in a 'neat, straight cut', a quick Google search shows some very expensive 'industrial' machinery...but nothing for the 'home'. Any good techniques for how to cut peanut brittle would be appreciated. I would also like a technique that would work after chocolate has been melted on top, although I could add the chocolate after the squares are cut. <Q> Move the knife back and forth many times, but apply little to no downward pressure that could cause the peanut brittle to fracture. <A> I think your best bet would be to try and cut it while it's still hot and hasn't set all the way. <S> Once it cools completely, it's crystalline form is more likely to shatter than cut. <S> For an example, see the strips in this pepita brittle recipe http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2008/11/pepita-brittle/ <S> As for the chocolate, I would add it after cutting and letting it cool/harden all the way. <A> Here is a rolling cutter. <S> its an effective way of cutting the peanut brittle. <S> I also agree you have to cut it while its still warmish. <S> This is how I would do it: bring the brittle to flat table. <S> Add into steel frame, Roll the brittle out, with rolling pin. <S> Until the level is even with the height of the steel frame. <S> Remove steel frame and cut with rolling cutter in to desired size. <S> Also note if you recipe is wrong or anything with your cooking procedure, it might be an added reason to not cutting it perfectly.
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Try using a finely serrated knife (I'm thinking like a dollar store steak knife).
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How to bake cake and pastries without oven? I don't have an oven and I am not planning to purchase one but there are lots of recipe that need an oven. My question is, is there any way I can get the same functionality on a gas burner stove by some use of utensil or trick or hack! <Q> When I was young in Asia, my mom would bake a cake on a coal stove in a cast iron pot. <S> Hot coals were then added on top of the lid as a secondary heat source. <A> No, no standard recipe for baking will work on a gas stove. <S> The recipes are fussy, the result is not as good as oven baked, and they are exceptions. <S> User2052413's answer is an example for one of these recipes. <S> Almost all of the things you could bake in an oven (such as pastries) cannot be made this way at all. <S> If you want to bake cakes, you need an oven of some type, the standard domestic electric oven being the easiest solution. <S> There is no way around it. <A> I am disappointed in some of the answers given to you. <S> Without an oven, the best place to get cooking cakes, biscuits, bread, etc. <S> is on an internet camping site. <S> Try Pininterest or any camping blog, or camping cookbook. <S> You will find out you can cook almost everything without an oven. <S> Some recipes will need a little modification. <S> But cast iron skillet, 10" pan and dutch oven with lid, should enable you to make almost anything you want. <S> Peggy <A> There is a pan like thing from the Czech republic called a remoska that has a heating element in the lid, and apparently is surprisingly good for things like pies. <S> There is also the option of a Dutch oven which could go on your hob, or for some specific purposes <S> a pie iron, which can be used over a fire, but also probably on your stove. <S> I found this question/answers after making pastry for a quiche and then finding that the oven didn't work. <S> Subsequently I had reasonable success with two deep baking trays inverted one over the other on the hob, with some metal skewers under the enclosed muffin tray to raise it slightly and prevent burnt base. <S> I also put a large lidded pan of just boiled water on top to stabilise the temperature. <S> The remoska would be much more energy efficient. <A> I don't have the use of an oven at the moment either. <S> I can't just go buy a new oven or bench baking thing etc. <S> I attempted to pull a toaster apart and put it back together again in an old fish smoker so that I had like a top & bottom element, or just a top one. <S> It worked really well... once... <S> I managed to get my flaky pastry to rise and turn golden brown, and looked fantastic. <S> Well, until blackish smoke started to pour out of it and a horrid burnt aluminum smell filled the air. <S> But keep thinking or use heaps of cigarette lighters. <A> Use a large Baking tray on top of the gas burner hobs, place what every you want to cook on the backing tray <S> then cover with aluminium foil, making sure the whole tray is covered and tuck the foil around the edges. <S> Not too tight though, you need to ensure that the foil can rise. <S> Ive used this method with mulitple vegetables,chicken, fish and recently, puff pastry mini pizettes :) <A> I have done so in a gas grill. <S> Lid down. <S> You need to be able to hold even heat. <S> put on top rack in a double baking pan. <S> For a few simple things. <S> But be cheaper to use a oven & better.
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There are a few forgiving types of baked good (like some quickbreads) for which you could find special-tailored recipes which can work on a stove.
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Cooking Indian curry with yogurt So, I've worked with Thai curry before and reviewed the post about " When to prefer yogurt, cream, and coconut milk in an Indian vegetarian dish to make it creamy? " but these seem to be concerned with ingredients, not cooking methods. While working with Thai curry, the best way to keep the milk from curling when it is cooked with the curry paste is to heat the separated coconut cream as you would with butter and then cook the curry paste in the cream until dark grease lines form in the mixture. I'm not sure what the process is called officially (any help here would be appreciated), but it seems to bond the curry paste to the fat of the cream and makes for a smoother dish, and it also allows the thinner part of the coconut milk to mix in smoothly without any separation. Now that I've explained the method I'm used to, I was wondering how one might prepare traditional Indian curry in a similar fashion. I can see how cream might be prepared in the same way, but does this hold true with yogurt? I read that whole milk yogurt is usually used in Indian cuisine, and maybe that has the appropriate fat content to prepare curry with a similar consistency. Any insight would be appreciated. <Q> It depends on what you are cooking. <S> Yogurt is added at the end and is cooked no more than 2-5 mins for the simple reason it separates water when cooked at high temperature, which reduces its sourness and creaminess to some extent. <A> Whisking some cornstarch into the yoghurt before adding it is an effective method to limit curdling and is also often found in recipes (caveat: can thicken the sauce more than intended). <S> In other cases, some gram flour (besan) is added (caveat here: needs to get cooked in the dish for a couple minutes, or roasted beforehand, raw besan tastes vile). <A> Yoghurt is indeed used in some Indian curries. <S> After preparing the curry paste just add yoghurt and stir. <S> Stirring is important. <S> Stir well till the yoghurt blends in with the curry paste into a smooth curry or it will separate. <S> Yoghurt is not suitable for all curries in general. <S> Add it for a little sour flavour in the curry.
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Yogurt is used as marinade for a few barbeque dishes like tandoori chicken, paneer tikka, and it's used in making curries in many dishes as Srilekha mentioned.
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How can I make sugarless chocolate brownies more moist I am making chocolate brownies without sugar using the following ingredients: cocoa nibs, 1 & 1/4 cups carob powder, 1/4 cup margarine, 125 g flour, 50 g stevia, 1 tablespoon vanilla essence, 2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon 2 eggs How can I make the brownie less dry and have more flavor? I don't want to add sugar as it aggravates my skin. <Q> That 1/4th cup margarine and the 2 eggs are not enough to give those brownies the moisture they need. <S> I suspect you want something low in sugar and fat. <S> Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD created two books that talk about substitutions for fat and sugar in recipes. <S> Does it work? <S> I made her brownies that substituted baby food prunes for traditional butter. <S> The brownies were super moist and I couldn't taste anything "prunes". <S> This recipe is in her first Healthy Homestyle Cooking cookbook. <S> For right now, substitute cup for cup baby food prunes or applesauce for the butter/margarine. <S> I suggest half margarine and half the chosen substitute. <S> That way you get the flavor of margarine but without the fat. <S> Or, if you don't mind the fat just add more margarine. <S> The average brownie recipe usually calls for nearly a full stick (or more) of butter or margarine. <S> It's the margarine that adds moisture to brownie crumb. <S> Or oil, or any kind of fat you prefer. <A> First, I agree with Tarak'ha's suggestions because it looks like you're trying to keep things somewhat healthy. <S> Since it looks like you're trying to make healthier brownies, I just wanted to mention yet another less heard of healthy fat replacement in baking: Finely shredded / pureed beetroot . <S> I learned this trick from a show called "Cook Yourself Thin" for their chocolate cake . <S> In the show they talk about how the moisture from the beetroot replaces most of the moisture and fat that is usually added by vegetable oil. <S> It's just another alternative to consider. <S> Here is a brownie recipe that uses beets & coconut oil for the "fat" component. <S> It uses coconut sugar, but you can substitute for your stevia if you'd like. http://www.theroastedroot.net/fudgy-paleo-beetroot-brownies/ <A> Hi I use dates for sugar. <S> I use only 4 ingredients and they are bakeless. <S> You put the ingredients in the food processor and then just press into pan and cut into squares. <S> They are really good and you don't get that sugar rush feeling. <S> I think I found the recipe on Pinterest. <A> you could use shredded zucchini, about a 1/4 cup---you will never taste any of it, but it will add moistness to your brownies and not the sugar.
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One technique to replace fat (like butter) in a recipe is to use baby food prunes or applesauce .
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Boiling rice - drain or boil off water? Because different rice varieties have different cooking times, I find it hard sometimes not to over/under cook them. I do it in two ways: Boil off all the excess water, and fluff it with a fork. Boil with excess water, and drain it afterwards. What are the major differences between these two. I have noticed that method 1 produces more thick consistency, while method 2 is more soggy. Also, draining takes time, and I think the rice is losing some essential stuff (starch, maybe?). The problem with method 1 is that if I don't keep an eye on it, the rice might burn and stick to the bottom of the pan. Is there a right way to do it? Are there any methods other than these two to cook rice? <Q> If you are burning your rice on method 1 you either have too little water in it, cooked it too long, or have it on too high a heat. <S> Assuming you are using white rice the general rule of thumb is to use double the volume of water as you do rice, so 2 cups of water for 1 cup rice. <S> You then cover and bring it to a boil and then turn it down as low as you can and cook it until the water is absorbed, this could be 10-18 minutes depending on the variety of rice you are using. <S> I sometimes bring it to a boil on a big burner and move it to a small burner to finish. <S> I use method 1 for all white and brown rice as once you get the technique down <S> it's pretty much foolproof, and less muss and fuss than method 2. <S> If your rice is soggy with method 2 you have cooked it too long, plain and simple. <S> All you need to do is cut down your cooking time. <S> I use method 2 for wild rice as every variety needs different amounts of water and the packaging is usually completely wrong. <S> Using more water than can be absorbed takes the guesswork out of it and makes cooking it more reliable. <S> As for the starch part of the question rinsing your rice to get more separated grains does remove some of the starch from the surface of the rice. <S> As starch = carbs = energy this does mean you are reducing the amount of absorbable energy from the end product. <S> However, this is vanishingly small and nothing to worry about, it's all personal choice of how you like your rice. <A> Method 2 is simply cooking rice the same way you would cook pasta, cook with rolling water until tender then strain (and rinse if needed); It will make for rice with separated grains; some people like that over rice prepared with method 1. <S> I don't think rinsing off the starch will change much in regards to nutritional values of the rice. <S> If you have problem with burn rice for method 1, then either add a little bit more water or use a lower temperature or a heavier bottomed pan. <S> Remember that some rice variety will cook better with method 1 (asian rice, italian rice) and some with method 2 (long grain rice) <A> Boiling in excess water results in leaching out of water-soluble nutrients including starch and their loss when the cooking liquor is discarded. <S> For example, 0.8 percent of the starch was removed on two washings of three milled rices, but 14.3 percent of the starch by weight was in the rice gruel after cooking for about 20 minutes in 10 weights of water (Perez et al., 1987). <S> Protein removal was 0.4 percent during washing and 0.5 percent during cooking. <S> Boil-in-the-bag parboiled rice in perforated plastic bags makes cooking in excess water simple and convenient. <S> In the rice cooker or optimum-water-level method, the leachate sticks to the cooked rice surface as the water gets absorbed by the rice starch. <S> The bottom layer is more mushy than the top layer. <S> http://www.fao.org/docrep/t0567e/T0567E0i.htm <A> Cooking rice is one of those things that you gain intuition the more you prepare it. <S> Generally you should always boil off the water in your rice. <S> In some restaurants I've worked in they will drain the rice and let it steam with the lid on for 10-15 more minutes. <S> However, this is because we were cooking large amounts of rice quickly in giant pots, and this was the easiest way to ensure consistency in preparation with other prep cooks. <A> Cooking it off tends to work better for me, but if there's a lot, it can lead to mushy rice. <S> I'm not sure the time for white rice, because that's always been a rice-cooker thing for me, but I like the results better with brown rice this way vs rice cooker on the brown rice setting. <S> After boiling off the excess, the brown rice is cooked in about 15 minutes of covered steaming. <S> If there's still a bit of moisture after the 15 minutes, you cook it off, fairly quickly.
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The "two fingers" method where you start with excess water (the arbitrary "a couple of fingers width above the rice" measurement), bring it to a boil, boil off the water above the level of the rice, then lower it to a simmer, cover it and let it finish steaming, works really well.
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How long can rye bread last? A while ago, I obtained, on a Friday afternoon, a bag of pareve rye bread from the supermarket. The ingredient listing was: high gluten flour, rye flour, water, yeast, salt The bread was also covered in caraway seeds. The best before date (or possibly expiry date -- it was not clear to me which) was a week after the date I bought the bread. I am unsure if the bread was released on the same day, since I generally do my grocery shopping on Fridays anyway, but I'm inclined to suspect that it was indeed put on the shelf on the same day I bought it , since I have only ever seen kosher bread sold around the weekends at my supermarket, presumably put there in time for Shabbat. In any case, I was suspicious of the week-later best before date, since the ingredients listed no obvious preservatives (beyond salt) and the packaging claimed that the bread had no preservatives. Is this normal "behaviour" for rye bread? Or is this reliant on cooler North American climates and possibly the inclusion of salt? (But I would assume that the salt was merely there to restrict the amount of rising in the dough.) Or perhaps I can assume the label on my bag of bread was wrong? <Q> While legal specifics vary from place to place, the "best before" on a product is often a requirement, but exactly what it is is left up to the manufacturer. <S> In other words, they have to provide one, but it can be anything they want <S> (there may be rules about guaranteeing nutritional content for the duration, if that is subject to degradation). <S> So presumably they want to make it as long as possible, but not too long, because they need to discourage distributors from distributing and consumers from purchasing product which will tarnish the image of their brand. <S> With bread there are probably three concerns about degradation: drying out, getting stale, and going moldy. <S> Is this normal "behaviour" for rye bread? <S> Pure rye breads are made with a sourdough starter and no wheat, so they do not rise to the same extent as normal bread. <S> This is part of why they are more dense and moist . <S> I think the "high gluten flour" ingredient in yours implies it is not pure rye, but it probably still has this advantage over pure wheat. <S> Dense, moist breads stay moist longer versus light, dry breads -- although on the other hand, lighter breads go stale more slowly. <S> 1 <S> But more importantly, the sourdough starter is what provides most of the leavening in a pure rye bread, not normal yeast. <S> Sourdough is pre-fermented and acidic, which discourages foreign bacteria and mold from taking hold -- i.e <S> , it is a natural preservative. <S> It is also not an insignificant part of the bread's mass, and the flour in the sourdough starter has undergone chemical changes which make it less likely to give up the water with which it was combined -- hence sourdough based breads are considered to have a longer shelf life than any other bread. <S> is this reliant on cooler North American climates <S> Rye is a northern grain, which is why rye bread is associated with northern cultures. <S> However, I think the logic of rye flour + sourdough starter will hold regardless of climate. <S> 1. <S> Staling, a gradual hardening, is not the same thing as drying, since moist bread may become stale (and attempts to keep bread moist will not prevent staling). <S> Also, stale bread may be made less stale by heating it. <S> This is because "staleness" is actually a crystallization in the starches. <A> Bread is a shelf stable food. <S> lasts indefinitely food safety wise, and this has nothing to do with preservatives. <S> It is simply dry enough to last. <S> So the date on it doesn't matter. <S> We throw out bread when it's too hard to bite into, or repurpose it for something else (breadcrumbs). <S> The exception is when it's stored under somewhat humid conditions. <S> Then it is prone to get moldy (but still won't be degraded by bacteria). <S> Mold colonization is visible, so you can throw it out when you see it. <S> But it can mold very quickly in the right (wrong?) <S> circumstances, this is not what the date should be based on. <S> The date you see matters for taste. <S> If it's packaged in plastic, it's also a rough indicator of how likely it is to get moldy in the near future if you leave it in the plastic or if your kitchen is humid. <S> It's not a "throw out by" date. <S> There is nothing to be suspicious of. <A> Rye bread will last about 4 to 5 days in the pantry and up to 3 months if you store it in the freezer. <S> To prevent freezer burn, wrap the entire package with aluminum foil. <S> Keep as much air out of the bag when not in use and close the bag tightly. <S> I wouldn't store bread in the refridgerator. <S> It tends to dry up and go stale.
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If you store the bread in the freezer at 0°F, it could be stored for much longer.
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What temperature should I serve salami at? I have recently found out that certain foods are meant to be served at certain temperatures. I really enjoy salami, but I normally eat it from the fridge. Is it meant to be served chilled, at room temperature, or at a higher temperature? <Q> Room temperature for sure! <S> Eating something like salami chilled detracts from its flavour. <S> Obviously you want to be a bit careful about leaving it out for a really long time, but I usually take anything I want to eat out of the fridge well before consumption. <A> It depends on how you wish to cook it. <S> If you're making a sandwich then, of course, room temperature is the best, even taste wise! <S> However, sometimes I like to add salami or sausages to an omelette or pasta <S> and I heat it up in the pan as I'm cooking the food. <A> Salami was always meant to be eaten "as is", and by that, I mean not cooked. <S> It was originally designed as a method of preserving excess meat to be eaten later on in the year, when meat was scarce. <S> IF you decide to heat up or cook your salami, no harm will come to you, but you will lose all the textures and flavours that you pick out when you eat them "raw",and at room temperature. <S> Oh,and by the way, salamis can keep for years, if kept at a constant humidity and temperature, for example, in a cellar, or deep cave! <S> I make my own salamis, hams and bresoalas, and can confirm that a salami made back in '91 <S> tasted surprisingly good, despite looking like biltong! <S> IF you currently keep your salami in the fridge, take it out to get to temperature about 2 hours before you intend to eat it. <S> Only take out as much as you need though, as it doesn't respond well to constant temp change (being taken out of the fridge,then put back in again) etc. <S> If you have some salami left over,cover it loosely with cling-film (cling-wrap in the USA), and it's good for 24-36 hours. <S> HAPPY EATING. <A> Warning, ambient/room temperature means different things for different people; there is a big difference between 20c and 30c (google to convert to F). <S> I will usually keep the salami in the fridge and take it out 1/2 hour before eating (depending on the actual room/ambient temperature). <S> If you decide to slice the salami in advance, remember that each slice will warm up faster than if you keep the salami whole and slice each slice on demand.
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In general, I think the serving temperature of salami all depends on personal opinion and how you're serving the dish. Always at ambient temperature.
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How to simmer bone broth safely with an overnight pause? I'm making broth using beef bones and vegetables. I started by roasting 3lbs of bones with a bit of meat on them in the oven. Then I added them to a large stockpot, covered with cold water, and added 2T of apple cider vinegar. After 30 minutes rest, I added my veggies (celery, onions, and carrots) and seasonings to the pot, and brought it to a rapid boil. I turned it down to a simmer, where it's been for just the past 30 or so minutes. I started this process late at night, knowing that it takes 12-24 hours of simmer time for a good stock. But I didn't realize my family is not comfortable with me leaving the stove on all night, so I'll have to turn the stove off in about 2 hours. How can I save my stock? Can I leave the covered pot on the stove (in the off position) for a couple hours? Should I put the whole pot in the fridge? Or should I take it off the heat now and do something else with it? <Q> You definitely can't just leave it on the stove; that'd mean far longer than 2 hours in the danger zone. <S> (See for example <S> How do I know if food left at room temperature is still safe to eat? ) <S> Putting the whole pot in the fridge might not be the best approach, though; it could take quite a while to cool down. <S> Even if that's less than 2 hours, you're going to go through another cycle later, and the time is cumulative. <S> The best thing you can do is probably to use an ice bath to help chill it faster. <A> Personally I side with your family here, I have a gas stove and the idea of leaving something on all night is not one <S> I'm comfortable with. <S> However, leaving the pot out overnight is not a good idea from a food safety perspective or a results perspective. <S> You won't get a tasty result even if it is safe to eat. <S> A good option would be a low power electrical appliance like a slow cooker, these are designed to be safely left unattended for long periods. <S> If you don't have one then your best option is to cool your stock as quick as you can. <S> For this you will want to maximize the surface area - a shallow tray will cool much faster than a stockpot. <S> A way I've cooled things down quickly in the past is to take all my stainless steel flatware (sometimes even small pots) and put them into the freezer for 20 minutes, then put the frozen flatware into the pot. <S> The flatware will absorb some of the heat and once they are hot - which takes just a few minutes - I take them out. <S> If the contents are still too hot I will repeat the process. <S> It means you gave to clean all your flatware <S> but it is less cleanup than having to put stock in every small pan you have to cool. <A> According to this NYT article , it is safe to leave overnight with the stove turned off. <S> In the morning, bring to a rolling boil for 10 minutes and then continue to simmer. <S> " <S> What about my lazy method of letting stock cool overnight, then reboiling it first thing in the morning? <S> Dr. Snyder gave it a pass because it would spend only a few hours below 135 degrees, not enough time for the bacterial spores to germinate, start growing and reach hazardous numbers." <A> Use the oven. <S> When I do this slow simmer thing I use the oven, not the stove top. <S> It seems like even at lowest setting on the top, stuff always burns to the bottom of the pot. <S> It is hard to get the heat low enough <S> and there is no control over what temperature a burner produces in whatever is above it. <S> Put the pot in the oven at lowest setting. <S> The nice thing about the oven is that it will keep itself at that temperature. <S> It is like a slow cooker in that respect. <S> I put a cookie sheet with a raised edge one shelf down to catch drips in case it boils over. <S> Having the oven on 220 degrees all night might be more acceptable to your family than having the burner on all night. <S> If you are compelled to turn it off it will stay warmer in there than up on top. <S> Leave the pot sealed; no final stir when you turn the oven off. <S> If it got hot enough to simmer it should be sterile in there until you raise the lid. <S> This oven method makes great chili too. <A> If you're worried about food safety and have an oven which is considered safer by your family, you can put the pot in the oven heated to a temperature which is below the boiling point of water, but high enough to prevent bacterial growth. <S> It would also give the broth a couple hours of sous-vide cooking.
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If cooking until it's done is out of the question, you need to try to chill it.
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Does soy sauce expire? Being mostly made of salt, I often used soy sauce well beyond (as in "two years and more") its expiration date without ever having a problem. Is that a bad idea, and did I actually take some health risks doing so? <Q> Still tasty implicitly says that the sauce stays indefinitely technically edible. <S> The expiration date is only for quality purposes. <S> Storage time shown is for best quality only — after that, the sauce's texture, color or flavor may change, but in most cases, it will still be safe to consume if it has been stored properly. <S> If sauce develops an off odor, flavor or appearance, it should be discarded for quality purposes. <A> It depends. <S> Are you talking tamari, shoyu or western soy sauce? <S> Good tamari will improve with age (which is why I buy it in 5gal quantities even though I use far less than a gal/year). <S> The same is probably true of shoyu as well, but westeren soy sauce has additional ingredients which may affect shelf life. <A> Doesn't seem like it to me. <S> I have a bottle in my cupboard from 1997 and it's still fine on the (very) rare occasion when I actually put any on my rice.
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I think the sauce probably doesn't have an expiration date but rather a "Best By" or "Best if Used By" date.
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How to cleanly cover the dough while it rise? When I leave dough pieces (for pizza) to rise, I put a wet towel on top of them, and leave them for a few hours. The problem is that when the process is finished, the dough sticks very strongly to the towel, and it's quite hard to scrap the dough from it for washing. I've tried to top the pieces with plenty of flour, which improves the situation, but it doesn't work fully. I've also tried with a food tent cover covered with a wet towel, but the dough gets drier, so I don't think this is an option. Is there any clever way to cover the dough, in a way that it's also easy to clean? <Q> Spray the dough with oil, dust with a little flour, and either cover loosely with plastic wrap, or if the dough is on a tray, slide the whole thing into a food safe plastic bag. <A> I always let pizza dough rounds rise on a flat surface. <S> A few options: <S> Use plastic wrap or a large bowl covered by towel or plastic, as others have said. <S> The dough can still stick to plastic wrap, but at least you're not cleaning it off a towel. <S> Invert a bowl over the dough that has a slightly larger diameter than the estimated final diameter of the dough. <S> The dough will likely not dry out much, if at all. <S> This is my preferred method. <S> You just need a way to create a somewhat enclosed area of higher humidity. <S> This can generally be accomplished with a cup filled with hot or boiling water initially. <S> Some people use a microwave. <S> Shut door. <S> Let proof.) <S> Others use a small oven. <S> If you need more space, you can use an inverted large pan if you have one, or an inverted plastic bin. <S> It won't be a "tight seal," but it will be enough to keep the dough surface moist for a while. <S> (For a very long proof, you can replace the water periodically as necessary.) <S> Professional bakers often have climate-controlled areas with higher humidity for these purposes. <S> There are smaller proofing boxes manufactured for home use, though they tend to be quite pricey. <A> Use a linen towel, a cotton towel that has no nap, not a terry cloth or velour finished cotton towel. <A> The easiest thing you can do, like already mentioned in a comment by goldilocks , is simply use a larger bowl. <S> It will let the dough rise as much as it wants to. <S> It won't require you to alter your dough in any way.
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If you don't have any of that and want to go really cheap, you can even make a larger box out of a cardboard box -- just tape up the bottom to "seal" very roughly, cut off the top flaps, and invert over your dough, along with the cup of hot water. Make a proofing box with higher humidity. (Place dough in microwave along with cup of hot water.
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Is wood a good alternative to charcoal for bbq fuel? Instead of buying lump or briquette charcoal every time, can I just burn some birch and use that as the heat for my charcoal bbq? <Q> You can use any non-poisonous wood you like. <S> Every wood has a different heat and smoke profile. <S> " <S> Soft woods" like birch will generally burn very hot for a short time, so OK for sausages, small meat cuts, and small vegetables, but not so good for large meat cuts, roasts, or for BBQ'ing covered for the full smoke effect as you will most likely need to re-stock the fire every 20 or 30 minutes. <S> Most people let the wood burn off the main smoke (which usually doesn't taste too good), and BBQ on the red/white embers. <S> The wood stage is now similar to charcoal, but a lot more smokey, which is great if you like smoke. <S> For sausages, small cuts and small vegetables, hardwood is basically wasted, as they will cook in ten minutes, and the hardwood has 20 to 30+ minutes of burn time in it. <S> You can BBQ small stuff using a few handfuls of dry twigs or even driftwood if you want too. <S> Twigs from fruit trees or lavender bushes make great smoke! <S> We always travel with a small lidded BBQ (metal box 60x40x40 cm with vent holes on sides), we use a handful or two of driftwood, once the smoke dies down, add a few peppered steaks, pre-cooked potatoes, oiled asparagus, soaked corn on the cob. <S> Put the lid on, and come back in 15 to 20 minutes, smokey slow cooked heaven. <A> You should be able to cook on your grill using various types of wood such as hickory, mesquite, cherry, maple, apple, etc. <S> Per <S> Recipetips.com <S> , birch can be used also. <S> Birch is a softer wood and can also be syrupy. <S> Also hard woods cook longer than soft woods. <S> Be sure to use large chunks rather than chips or small pieces. <S> Just keep these things in mind when cooking with birch. <A> I use wood all the time (including birch). <S> Size and type will depend on what I am trying to do. <S> For a slow smoke I will use a slow burning hardwood for coals and add small pieces of fruitwood or Hickory on the coals for flavour. <S> If I am needing a quick hot fire birch with no bark works good. <S> The bark normally comes off easily after it’s been seasoned in the wood pile. <S> The bark creates all the dirt smoke and bitterness. <A> Birch is far too hot and quick-burning for a barbecue. <S> Even hardwood (oak, maple, etc) will have too much flame and not enough heat for good grilling. <S> You need a fuel that burns long and with a lot of radiated heat, which is why charcoal is the classic fuel. <A> Wood is fine it is just a lot less practical. <S> Wood takes a fair while longer to make coals and is not entirely as hot as charcoal. <S> That being said it does stay longer so if you want a more gentle longer lasting fire it may be better. <S> Charcoal is in essence just half burned compressed wood anyway <S> so you are not loosing anything substantial by just using regular wood.
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Birch - A softer wood, Birch is best used when grilling or smoking cuts of pork and poultry, providing a flavor similar to some varieties of maple.
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Thin crust pizza on barbecue I want to make a pizza on my charcoal barbecue. I saw a few videos from Weber, but none show how to get a thin crust. What is the secret to a thin crust pizza and can it be done on a charcoal bbq? <Q> It's that simple. <S> Pizza dough is flour, water, salt, yeast: there is no magic ingredient that will make it thinner. <S> Simply use less dough per pizza. <S> You may find that when you first shape the dough it will try and spring back. <S> In this case, just cover it and leave it for 5 minutes for the gluten to relax. <S> As for the charcoal grill, there is no reason why a thin crust pizza should be done any differently to any other pizza. <S> It's entirely doable. <A> I mostly agree with Elendil's answer: most kinds of pizza dough can be made thinner simply by stretching the dough more (and pausing to rest for a minute or two if it starts to spring back). <S> Wetter doughs will generally stretch more easily with less "spring back," but they can also rip more easily. <S> Which you prefer is kind of up to you. <S> I would add three further comments: The main "essential" aspect to any thin-crust dough is full gluten development, which can mean more kneading, using a higher gluten flour, <S> and/or changing your fermentation process. <S> (Longer fermentation will allow better gluten development up to a point; after that, excessively long fermentations may cause the gluten to begin to break down.) <S> If you don't have sufficient gluten development (or have gluten breakdown due to excessive fermentation or dough acidity), your dough will rip more easily if you try to stretch it very thin. <S> Recipes for pizza dough vary significantly. <S> While flour, water, salt, and yeast are the basic ingredients, dough can also include some oil, sugar, and occasionally other ingredients. <S> There are many "traditional" opinions on what proportions are appropriate for various kinds of "thin crust" pizzas, from Neapolitan style to New York style, etc. <S> Most pizza doughs can be stretched thin, but you should probably narrow down the style of pizza you're going for in order to determine the appropriate ingredients and proportions in your recipe. <S> The type of dough should also be determined by the baking process. <S> If you can achieve a very high temperature in your grill, that will reduce your bake time, but it can also require certain dough types. <S> For example, thin doughs baked very hot <S> shouldn't have excess sugar, since it might cause excessive browning. <S> There's no single answer to which dough will be "best" on a grill -- lots of people have different opinions. <S> But you should calibrate your ingredients a bit to the temperature and time for baking. <A> From the phrasing of your question, it sounds like you want to put the pizza directly on the grate of your grill (without a pizza stone). <S> If that's true, then I think the secret to using a thin crust is how you handle it as you transfer it to the grate. <S> To have your thin crust survive, build it on a flat board (e.g. a wooden cutting board) with enough cornmeal spread thinly under the crust so that shaking the board lets the pizza slide around. <S> Once built, and when the barbecue is hot, hold the board over the grill, tilted down so the far side of the board almost touches the far side of the grate. <S> Then, jiggle the board from side to side as you pull it towards you, keeping the edge of the board close to the grate. <S> If you do it right, the pizza will slide off the board and onto the grate with very little stretching and trauma. <S> (If you do it wrong, you'll have a cleaning job ahead of you.)
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The secret to getting a thin crust is... use less dough.
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What is the difference between boiled vegetables and stewed vegetables? I would like to know what the difference is between boiled vegetable and stewed vegetables? Are the methods for preparing these different? How do these differ? My understanding is that with boiling nothing is mixed with the vegetables, whereas with stewing something is added to the water (powders, vegetable cubes, etc.), so that such flavors may enter the vegetables and make them more tasty. Is this the only difference, or am I missing something else? <Q> The distinction is not so much what you add as what you do with the liquid. <S> If I am making boiled carrots, when they're done I drain them, throwing the water away or possibly saving it to make soup with some other time, and serve the carrots. <S> If I am making a vegetable stew then not only do I add things to the liquid (to flavour or thicken it, or both) <S> but I keep the liquid, and serve the vegetables and liquid together in a bowl. <A> The words are not really comparable. <S> They are rarely used as adjectives, actually. <S> But when they are, their meaning can overlap or also not overlap. <S> "To boil" is primarily a verb. <S> It denotes the process of cooking vegetables by immersing them in water at roiling boil. <S> "A stew" is primarily a noun. <S> It denotes a kind of meal which has a liquid component, but not enough to count as a soup, has a mixture of many solid components in smallish pieces (you don't need a knife to eat it), and has been cooked for a long time, until everything is quite tender (especially if there is meat in it). <S> Preparing a stew could, in principle, involve boiling on stovetop. <S> But tastewise, it turns out better if you use other techniques, such as simmering on stovetop or baking it in an oven. <S> "Stewed vegetables" is a construction which the language allows, but it's not really common. <S> On a menu, you'll see "vegetable stew", not "stewed vegetables". <S> If somebody would serve them nevertheless under this name, you'd really expect to get the whole stew (soft vegetables + liquid, as Kate Gregory said), and not only the vegetables alone. <S> "Boiled vegetables" is also rather unusual. <S> It is the word a cook would use if a more specific one isn't applicable. <S> For example, chefs rarely or never say "boiled vegetables" when using blanched vegetables, even though blanching is a special type of boiling. <S> It is so unspectacular and connected to memories of bad cafeteria food that restaurants don't use it on a menu, frequently opting to leave the descriptor out altogether where it would have been applicable. <S> You get "lamb ribs with peas and mint sauce", not "lamb ribs with boiled peas and mint sauce". <S> But because "boiled" is used when nothing more specific is available, if you happen to see it, you can really expect to get "naked" boiled vegetables, not stewed, creamed, or prepared by another method which involves boiling. <A> Taking some inspiration from here , I would guess the difference has to do with the way they're cooked. <S> Boiled vegetables are tossed in a pot of water (brought to a boil), and are done as soon as they become tender. <S> They are usually preferred a bit crisp, al dente, and if overcooked would be watery and flavorless, and are intended to be prepared and eaten quickly. <S> Stewed vegetables, well - as mentioned in the above link, stewing is a slow, moist-heat method of cooking. <S> A vegetable, stewed, would be cooked for much longer, and probably at a lower temperature - perhaps a simmer , or baked. <S> The goal would be a softer vegetable, with concentrated flavor. <S> Additionally, I would assume that a vegetable described as boiled was simply cooked in water, with perhaps a bit of salt. <S> Boiling is quick enough that other flavors wouldn't penetrate very far before the vegetables are drained (and if the water is retained, that isn't boiled vegetables but soup), so boiled vegetables are usually seasoned once they're out of the water. <S> Stewed vegetables would be more likely to be seasoned - low, slow cooking methods are quite good at infusing and melding flavors. <S> This may partially explain why you saw the addition of other seasonings as a difference between the preparations - though aromatic vegetables may season those cooked with them even without other herbs or spices. <S> Stewed vegetables may improve in flavor the longer they are cooked or let stand, as the flavors concentrate or meld, and are probably descendants of recipes meant for long cooking and large numbers. <S> And, since others have mentioned vegetable stew... I think that is again something different. <S> Stewed vegetables emphasizes the vegetables, while vegetable stew emphasizes the whole dish. <S> A stewed vegetable may be drained, or have a much higher proportion of solids to liquids - think vegetables in gravy vs soup - or be only one or two vegetables ( stewed carrots , <S> stewed turnips , stewed tomatoes ). <S> I would assume a stewed vegetable is primarily that vegetable and/or intended as a side dish or an ingredient in a larger recipe.
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A vegetable stew is usually many vegetables, balanced for flavor, and is usually a main course.
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Can I eat Chia leaves? Just out of curiousity I planted some Chia seeds in a pot. Turned out they grow like crazy and seem pretty undemanding. Now I also noticed that they smell quite nicely, a bit like basil and wondered if the leaves can be eaten. Like for a salad or as a herb, because it seems super easy to grow them. I acutally wondered why we can’t eat the leaves of way more plants (I know you can eat nettles when boiled). <Q> Wikipedia says chia is a plant that belongs to the mint family . <S> According to the wiki article the FDA generally recognizes mint as safe §182.10 Spices and other natural seasonings and flavorings, including mint, are generally regarded as safe (GRAS) for food uses in the United States. <S> but the wiki article also enumerates two mint species in particular <S> and I don't know why <S> (Peppermint Mentha piperita L. and Spearmint Mentha spicata L.). <S> I just can't access the original website to check the original terms due to a server error. <S> Edit: The server works now. <S> Only Peppermint (Mentha piperita L.) and Spearmint (Mentha spicata L.) are generally recognized as safe by the FDA (§182.10). <S> The word "mint" in the cited paragraph from the wiki article doesn't mean the Mentha family but only the plants that are commonly called "mint". <S> I have the impression that in the chia article this mint (Lamiaceae, a family) was mixed up with this mint (Mentha, a genus) . <S> As @rackandboneman pointed out, chia ( Salvia hispanica ) belongs to the family <S> Lamiaceae <S> (common name: mint ) and belongs to the genus Salvia (common name: sage ). <S> Edit 2 <S> : Sprouts are probably edible . <S> The link directs to an online shop which sells chia seeds with growing instructions. <S> I leave this answer for the sake of completeness <S> even it doesn't really answers the question. <A> I would just like to say that you can't decide on edibility based on the plant family. <S> For example, both potatoes, tomatoes and deadly nightshade belong to the same family. <S> However, chia leaves can be used for herbal tea, which means they could probably also be eaten safely. <A> I snip my chia greens and top them on my salads. <S> They are one of the few plants that grow in this SW Florida Summer heat. <A> Since I wasn't crazy about the chia seeds, even though they were considered very nutritious, I found that they grew very easily in my garden. <S> I sprinkled them on the soil and they sprouted and filled the area with a lot of soft, rather tasteless little plants. <S> I clipped them off at the base by the handful and put them in my green smoothie or sprinkled them in my salad. <S> I couldn't taste any particular flavor and never had any digestive problems.
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They are so easy to grow and I've had zero digestive or health issues and have been eating the leaves all Summer!
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What's the difference between Yorkshire Tea (red band) and Yorkshire Gold? The descriptions on Yorkshire's websites (reproduced below) are quite vague. There is a link for "More info" but that simply directs you to betty.co.uk where the same info is reprinted. Gold is more expensive. Right now, at betty.co.uk, for a box of 160 bags (500g), Yorkshire Gold is £5.29 and Yorkshire tea is £4.29 (excluding shipping and all that). On Amazon.com (USA), the prices (with 5% S&S discount) are $19.09 and $13.00 respectively. My questions are: Do the tea leaves for Yorkshire Tea (red band) and Yorkshire Gold come from different sources? Is there any objective sense in which Yorkshire Gold is better (hence justifying the higher price)? In taste tests, could one tell the difference between the two? (Right now I happen to be having a cup of Yorkshire Tea and it seems to be a tad weaker than Gold, which I last had a couple of weeks ago, but I could just be imagining things. Briefly Googling, I see some discussions on various forums. Many claim that Gold is better. But some claim it is not as good.) Descriptions from Yorkshire's website Yorkshire Tea (red band) : A proper brew. Pure and simple. To give our blend its refreshing flavour, strength and colour we use top quality Assam and African teas. In the tea trade we’re renowned for paying more to get the pick of the crop. Our experts travel the world to find the people who grow the best teas, which we then blend together using our secret recipe to create a traditional, satisfying brew. Yorkshire Gold : Here at Yorkshire Tea we know that the best tea is about the best blend of leaves. And the finest blend we make is Yorkshire Gold. We choose teas from our three favourite origins and buy them from the top ten tea gardens in the world. Back home in Yorkshire, our master blenders bring these luxury leaves together to make a rich, smooth and incredibly satisfying brew. <Q> Speaking very generally, there are three bands of quality when it comes to black tea in the UK Market. <S> Brown (Economy) is your lowest grade, it is the cheapest in the shops and usually very dusty and fibrous. <S> The flavor is weak and the color with milk is a dull brown. <S> Teas can come from central Africa, south India, Argentina and the middle east. <S> Red is the middle of the road tea, covering about 80% of the black tea market. <S> This is your Tetley, PG, Yorkshire Red etc, that have good flavor and strength and is with milk the color comes out red <S> (there's a pattern here).Teas for this type of blend usually originate from central and east Africa. <S> Gold is the premium quality blend, tasting full of flavor, strength and character. <S> These blends are your Yorkshire Gold, Dorset Tea, Clipper Gold,M&S Gold using the highest quality gardens including Rwanda, Kenya, Assam (North India) and Sri Lanka. <S> In case you haven't guessed already, the color with milk is gold. <S> There are no official perimeters in place for these categories which means some tea companies abuse this, but with Yorkshire, Gold is definitely better than Red. <A> I deleted my previous answer as, after doing more research, there doesn't appear to be as much difference in the two as I initially thought. <S> After reading more information on each tea, I think this post on teadog.com sums it up quite nicely: Yorkshire Gold Tea and Yorkshire Red are among the most popular English Teas in the US. <S> Do you know the difference? <S> Both come in tea bags and loose tea. <S> Yorkshire Gold has won an award as the best cup of tea in England. <S> It is a premium version of Yorkshire Red (also known as Yorkshire Tea or Yorkshire Original). <S> Both are a blend of tea leaves from the best tea gardens in Africa and India. <S> Finally, make sure you are getting the genuine article. <S> Make sure your tea is Taylors Yorkshire Tea, the original and only. <S> The only way to determine which you like best is to try both. <A> It is certainly true that there are different types of teas that can refer to either the color of the leaves or the color of the brew (While by no means an expert explanation, a quick and dirty way to sum it up is that non-Chinese tea "colors" tend to refer to the color of the leaves, while Chinese tea "colors" tend to refer to the color of the resulting brew.) <S> However, with regards to the specific question asked--i.e. red band Yorkshire Tea vs Yorkshire Gold--the gold band is intended to be a designation of premium quality, as they are both considered to be "black" teas. <S> That said, I've also been on a mission to find more information about the difference between the two, as Yorkshire Tea makes my favorite "basic cuppa" that I've yet tried, and I'm keen to know whether Yorkshire Gold could truly be even better. <S> I've finally had to resort to purchasing a box of Yorkshire Gold to do a comparison myself. <A> I like the flavor of Gold much better. <S> It's more full-bodied. <S> I've also noticed another. <S> The Red teabags leak terribly and fill my pot with tea dust and debris. <S> The Gold teabags are better constructed, and have never given me any trouble. <A> Yorkshire Gold is a lot more mild. <S> Yorkshire red is blended with Kenyan and Assam tea and tastes a lot more strong and intense. <S> I tend to prefer the 'red' brand of Yorkshire tea as the taste is a lot more strong to me. <S> I have had other 'red' types of tea and 'breakfast' types of tea and prefer those for black tea blends since they all have tea from Assam India and they taste strong and malty. <S> It is best to drink these types of tea with milk. <S> A lot of times the 'gold' types can be a bit too mild when steeped for 2.5-3 minutes <S> so I steep them longer. <S> Also, as odd as it sounds sometimes the more mild 'gold' tea tastes better with sugar. <S> I have also found that 'gold' teas taste better when you dip a biscuit in them and then eat the biscuit while you drink the tea. <S> 'Gold' teas also will taste more flowery and not malty, but this is since they add tea from Rwanda in their blends. <S> This is also the case with the Irish brand of tea Barry's original blend also sold as Barry's Irish breakfast, with just milk <S> it is very plain and mild, but if you add even a small amount of sugar it tastes better. <S> Try both types of tea and see which one you like best, or if you like both. <S> Also, teas for the UK-including Northern Irish tea and Irish tea brands, are blended for the water quality like if the water is hard or soft. <S> Yorkshire tea makes a tea for hard water (red), and extremely hard water (green bag) as this is the type of water in Yorkshire in this area of the UK. <S> Other types/blends/brands of tea are made for areas or countries which have soft water. <S> Also teas that are marketed or sold as 'Afternoon' types or blends have some Ceylon tea in them. <A> My wife and I, via repeated side to side comparisons and using uniform technique to prepare the two cups of tea, find Yorkshire Red to be less <S> full bodied, not stronger than Yorkshire Gold... <S> This is the opposite of RedEyedNewt's observation above, but in keeping with Leslie. <A> On the website it says it comes from the 'top ten tea gardens'. <S> That's rather subjective, there's no official ranking of tea gardens. <S> I guess you can just consider it higher grade in general.
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I have had Yorkshire 'gold' before and other 'gold' types of tea from different brands of tea from the UK, and they are good but just taste different from the standard 'red' or 'breakfast' blends of tea.
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Can I substitute almond meal for breadcrumbs in meatballs? I am gluten-free and want to make some turkey meatballs. I was thinking about putting almond meal in the mixture. Would that be okay instead of breadcrumbs? If not what would be a good substitute? I don't really want to buy breadcrumbs or bread for one thing of meatballs. This is not something I make very often. <Q> Go right ahead and use the almond meal. <S> In its list of uses for almond meal, this source says: Use almond meal in place of breadcrumbs in meatballs. <S> In fact one of the recipes on the site is for Meatballs Parmesan. <S> It calls for ground meat without specifying a type, so I assume your turkey would be fine. <S> In addition, the description of this almond meal product states the following: Use almond meal in place of bread crumbs in meatballs, or as a coating for chicken and fish. <A> Breadcrumbs in meatballs (and meatloaf) will help to keep them moist by absorbing fat and juices that are given off as they cook. <S> I don't think that almond meal would have quite the same effect. <S> I tend to add some extra moisture through additional vegetables (finely minced in a food processor, then cooked to soften them up and evaporate any liquid that they extract. <S> (you'll still have plenty of retained moisture in there). <S> I typically stick with the italian standards -- carrots, onion & bell pepper, but you could mix it up depending on what flavors you're trying for. <A> I'm 50 been cooking since 8, and for 42 years I've used ground almonds in meatballs and only sometimes bread crumbs. <S> Both do the same job but almond IMHO is the better one to use.
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Whilst bread crumbs are good, so is almond meal.
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Blue garlic during pickling How do I make the garlic not come out blue during pickling? I know it is safe to eat, I just do not like how it looks. I have used minced garlic but sometimes I prefer cloves. There has to be a way, you can buy pickled garlic in the store and it is not blue! <Q> Yes, I also got pickled garlic that got blue after I got it from market. <S> What I always do is as soon as I get them from a market, <S> I insert few cloves in it for a short duration of time because I don't want the flavour of cloves and blanching it does help. <S> The heat in blanching will destroy the pigments for coloration. <S> How to blanch: - Dip garlic in cold water- <S> Heat it - Repeat again and again (Preferably 4 times) <S> The blue color is mainly due to the enzyme (sulphur and amino acids) and is harmless. <S> Hope <S> this helps.... <A> The people I talked to regarding the "blue garlic" have long since died, but were the ones who taught me how to pickle veges and pickles. <S> Supposedly it is due to the freshness of the garlic. <S> When we buy garlic in the markets, we don't know how long the garlic is there. <S> Also, there are many types of garlic, and if you get your garlic from farmers markets, it is supposed to be fresh and usually bigger cloves in the flowers (the bunch). <S> Personally, I usually make about 10 gallons or so of picked veges at a time <S> , my family and friends want it <S> and I am the only one who makes it, and sometimes one or two gallons have blue garlic, not all but one or two gallons. <S> I have even rubbed them in salt and put them in white vinegar to marinade while preparing the veges. <S> Till now, even the little kids don't get sick, on the contrary, they love to eat blue garlic. <S> Go figure. <A> I am pickling the garlic myself-when I put it in with my cucumbers to enhance the cucumbers <S> flavor it's normal garlic color <S> and then after I add the brine it turns blue. <S> I also read somewhere if you refrigerate it for 2 weeks prior this may prevent the discoloration <S> but I don't always plan that far ahead of time. <S> Thanks for all the replies.
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From what it looks like blanching and/or buying brand new garlic is the only way to prevent this.
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What natural emulsifier can I use for almond milk? I am a vegan and I make my own raw almond milk (blend soaked almonds, strain through a nut milk bag). The trouble comes when I want to warm the milk for a warm drink or to put in my coffee - if it gets too hot the fat separates from the liquid part and it's really gross. It loses its flavour too. Is there a natural, vegan emulsifier I can use that will stop this from happening? <Q> Your best bet for this is xanthan gum, which is an excellent stabiliser. <S> Whilst the distinction between 'natural' and 'unnatural' is fraught with difficulties, insofar as xanthan gum is a product of microbial fermentation <S> then it is no more 'unnatural' than alcohol or vinegar. <S> Be careful not to use too much though (unless, of course, you want your drink to have the texture of mucus), you really only want to use about 0.4% of the volume of the liquid you're trying to stabilise: so if you have 500ml of milk then you would use 2g of gum. <S> Add it to your liquid and use a blender or an immersion stick to incorporate, a few pulses should do, any more than that <S> and you'll just incorporate air <S> and you could just end up with an annoyingly stable foam! <A> You can add things like lecithin or flax seeds to help keep your milk emulsified, but it will still probably separate in hot liquid. <S> To prevent that, you might try to add something fattier to your milk, like coconut. <A> You can purchase soy lecithin from good cooking suppliers or online, about 0.5% lecithin by volume of fat will emulsify it well. <S> Many soy lecithins are not GMO free <S> I have not tried soy lecithin with almond milk, but it works for soy milk <S> It is more likely to be GMO free, works as well, and tastes more interesting <S> As SourDoh, there may not actually be enough fat in almond milk for the emulsifier to hold
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For an alternative, try sunflower lecithin, usually available in health food/supplement shops.
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Could I get sick from accidentally cooking an olive can metal lid in my spaghetti sauce? I accidentally cooked a metal lid from an olive can in my spaghetti, but didn't find it until everyone had already eaten. Could my family get sick from it? <Q> Very unlikely. <S> Cans are made from either steel (uncritical) or aluminum (dito), covered with a thin layer of tin (dito) or epoxy coating. <S> These materials are explicitly choosen because they are food-safe 1 , even at higher temperatures than you use with home cooking: Tin cans are sterilized after filling to make the food inside shelf-stable. <S> So the only way where non-foodsafe components might be introduced would be any printing/laquer/paint, which is typically on the side of the can , not on the lid. <S> 1 <S> The epoxy in the cans may contain Bisphenol-A, which acts as endocrine disruptor (influences the hormone system) and is banned for baby bottles in some countries, e.g. all the EU. <S> The FDA considers its use for food packaging safe. <A> Simply, anything is possible. <S> When you introduce a foreign object into a recipe, you don't know for sure what you are bringing into the fold. <S> Regardless of whether these tins are made to be sterile themselves, there is no telling what was resting against the lid in question. <S> I won't enumerate the possibilities of contagions. <S> To put it another way, if you drop a surgery-grade sterile scalpel into a sauce, it won't get you sick. <S> (lacerated, maybe) <S> But if you dip the scalpel into the gutter out in front of your house first, then drop it in your sauce, you will be cooking with new flavors. <A> This answer is a copy-paste of my answer on a dupe question . <S> Since it deals with food safety , I feel it important enough to copy here. <S> Though <S> the lid is harmless, what was dropped into the soup was the lid and additionally everything else on that lid . <S> I had once briefly worked at a warehouse that handled, among other things, some food products. <S> There I learned that the outside of the can is no less important than the inside. <S> I have seen rat poison distributed on a pallet of canned soda, which was later distributed to stores to be put in vending machines. <S> If the lid was properly cleaned , then there is probably no worry. <S> I like the "lick test": If you would comfortably lick that lid, then the food is probably safe. <S> If you wouldn't lick the lid, then don't serve the food. <A> Modern "tin cans" are made from rolled steel covered with epoxy plastic Epoxy plastic may release potential carcinogens when heated somewhat above 100°C, and it is not recommended by their manufactures to do so for food purposes <S> In this case it will be fine assuming a water (tomatoes?) <S> based liquid sauce
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But if the lid was exposed to chemicals, poisons, or dirt then it would have to be properly cleaned to be safe.
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Supply of Boiling water without power outlet This weekend coming some friends and I will be running a cake stall at a local vintage fare.We would also like to sell hot beverages such as tea and coffee. How can we cheaply and easily heat water up for tea and coffee without access to a power socket? <Q> Do as others do and use a camping stove. <S> They come as gas stoves like this one or even as wood- or charcoal-fired versions ( see here ). <S> Perhaps an avid camper among your friends could even lend you one, means you'd only have to buy the fuel. <S> But before you do this check with the local authorities / people responsible for the event whether they are ok with these open-flame stoves at a public event, keep a fire extinguisher ready and ensure noone can accidentally get hurt, especially if lots of people are attending. <S> Ensure the stove is set up properly and on solid ground, not wobbly or uneven. <S> Be careful not to burn yourself or your partner, especially if business gets hectic. <S> You'll also need the corresponding equipment, e.g. a stovetop kettle, a hand-filter or french press for the coffee, and fresh clean water (unless available on-site). <A> This would match the vintage theme. <S> Larger ones have taps near the base, and can boil 10 cups of tea in a few minutes. <S> These were coveted by construction and rail road worker gangs, as they could have a 10 minute break for a cup of tea and a biscuit (cookie in North America), including the time to boil the water. <A> Use a Vacuum Flask <S> An every-day thermos is not big enough for this task, but food service professionals have provided hot coffee and tea with larger purpose built containers. <S> Background <S> In China boiling water is often put in large (maybe about 3 liters) vacuum flasks. <S> These are used at tea conventions, on trains, and at roadside stops. <S> The water stays very hot and makes fine tea and instant noodles. <S> Selection <S> The following images show a couple of the smaller containers suitable for this task. <S> Each of these are about the same capacity. <S> The one on the right is similar to coffee dispensers at bagel or breakfast shops. <S> It has a lever that can dispense the liquid inside. <A> If your event is (a) outdoors (b) in a warm climate... <S> you could have some fun with (and attract a fair bit of attention to your booth..) with a solar heating method. <S> There are several videos available online to show you how to do this, one example is from the king of random but a quick google search will reveal many ways boil water.
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You need a Thermette (Kelly Kettle or Storm Kettle in North America - they're all brand names).
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Difference between French bread and Japanese bread I have lived in Japan for 1 year now, but I cannot find French bread - baguette - in Tokyo like the one we have in France. Their bread is not crunchy nor crispy at all, and it's chewy, I kind of feel like I am eating a sponge... like old bread. What is the difference between the bread made in Japan and the one we have in France? Do they use different flour, different way of baking? Do they wait for the bread to become chewy before selling it? <Q> One of the best known (if not the best known) breads in Japan is, in fact, very much like a brioche. <S> Japanese Milk Bread contains butter and egg, it also contains a fair amount of sugar. <S> Another sweet bread known in Japan is Maple Bread <S> , it's even sweeter and really does taste like maple syrup. <S> If you are looking for something more like a French Baguette, Catija's advice in comments is excellent. <S> The Japanese aren't big into sandwiches. <S> The Vietnamese, however, have a huge French influence (whether they want it or not). <S> The bread traditionally used for <S> Banh Mi is a short baguette. <S> If you ask for Banh Mi in Tokyo, someone will know just what you mean. <A> While I am not 100% sure what you are eating and looking for and am relatively new to bread making myself, I'm going to guess that what it comes down to is a matter of fat content in the bread. <S> What gets called "French Bread" (in the baguette sense) is usually a mixture of flour, water, salt, and yeast (similar to the recipe in The Bread Baker's Apprentice ). <S> It uses a pre-ferment (usually pâte fermentée, which is itself just flour, water, salt, and yeast) in combination with a mixture of flours to produce the final loaf. <S> Variations on this (e.g., pain de campagne ) which maintain that characteristic texture still basically come down to a mixture of flours, walter, salt, and yeast. <S> These are what can be characterized as lean breads : breads with very little (if any) fat added. <S> My guess is that most of the "chewy" breads you are encountering have a higher fat content. <S> These are more like what in the US <S> we'd call an "Italian" bread (which is frequently shaped in a similar manner to some french loaves, another example would be breads like Challah bread) all the way up to something like a brioche (which has a very high fat percentage). <S> The fat adds some flavor and can provide a sort of softer mouth feel, which is what I suspect you are picking up on. <A> I think that different countries (including France and Japan) use flour with different ash and protein content. <S> eg. <S> I cannot create the proper chewy/crunchy texture for baguettes, using the kind of flour commonly available in my own country. <S> (And actually, I can't make very soft Japanese bread with our flour either). <S> French flour for baguettes use type 65 flour, which is high in ash and protein. <S> It helps create the chewy, strong texture of the bread you are used to. <S> I suspect the French type 65 flour is not commonly used or available in Japan. <S> The characteristics of the standard flour used in different countries vary a lot, producing very different textures in baking products, even if they are called similar/same names (eg.'bread flour'). <S> I think Japanese (and Asian) flour has a composition that can only produce very, very soft style breads and cakes.
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The Japanese think of bread more like a sweet than a staple.
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Coconut rice; should it taste like coconut? I made coconut rice yesterday with a simple recipe (coconut milk, water, tsp sugar, pinch of salt, rice, all in the rice cooker). I was a little bit underwhelmed by the output; the rice was cooked perfectly, but lacking in the the flavour and aroma area. My coconut milk can was a bit old (passed expiration date), but smelled OK and tasted OK; do it loose flavour over time? Is the rice supposed have a subtle flavour or should it be more "in your face" ? Thanks. Max. <Q> When I visited Malaysia and Singapore, the nasi lemak I tried had very little taste of coconut - many of the people I traveled with even got surprised when they heard the rice was cooked in coconut. <S> The name literally means 'fatty rice', which indicates that the coconut milk is added only to make the rice fatty , i.e. more sticky. <S> When I made it myself, the taste actually resembled a less sweet Nordic rice porridge, which you might have had a variant of. <S> If you want a more interesting aroma, you could add pandan leaf, if you know where to buy it (probably East Asian groceries). <S> I've heard that bay leaves might give a similar taste, but a single leaf didn't give much of a change when I tried it. <S> Substituting your rice with basmati rice is also an option. <A> Coconut has a very mild flavor that is easily drowned by other things. <S> I notice that many recipes call for salt and sugar, which are both flavor potentiators. <S> Perhaps you could try these. <S> At the end of the day, though, I fear you may have to use natural flavor, often falsely labeled as an "extract." <S> (I have not been able to extract real coconut flavor well, and I've never found a commercial product that does, either.) <S> Unfortunately, for some ingredients, this seems to be the only way to get the flavor I have come to expect from restaurants. <S> Another such ingredient is pistachio. <A> Use a can of cream of coconut.. put it in the pot on high, continue to stir it, it will thicken and carmelize wait until it turns a brown color. <S> Then add a can of coconut milk .. continue to stir. <S> Then add water and salt and make the rice as you normally would. <S> It’ll taste like coconut then. <S> My mother made that often when I was growing up:) enjoy.
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In my experience, coconut rice does not end up tasting very strongly of coconut, although it is richer and slightly sweeter.
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Reuse of Food Grade Tins I am interested in using a food grade tin (such as this ) to store small amounts of food, in particular for storing summer sausage or cheese for short periods of time (1-2 days). What are the food safety concerns (if any) for this? My searches online seemed to concentrate on reusing industrial canned food containers (verdict: not recommended), and I'm not sure if this type of container warrants different treatment. <Q> And as mentioned previously, linings can chip when the tin is being cleaned. <S> Food grade does not mean that they are reusable - I'd contact the source and ask them. <S> Usually the I&I (industrial and institutional) market has sturdier packaging than home use. <S> If the I&I is not to be reused, I'd really doubt yours is suitable, especially for moist products. <A> The problem is that many 'food grade' tins are coated, and not solid. <S> As such, cleaning them can end up flaking off the coating that's been applied, making them reactive. <S> Unless you're dealing with antique materials, I suspect that the majority of 'tins' are going to be either coated steel, or stainless steel. <S> Although I mentioned looking for tooling marks, and if it's matte or shiny, an easier test might be to use a magnet -- <S> if the magnet sticks, they're most likely steel , and thus prone to rusting. <S> Even if they're coated, if you put something moist in there, it can seep into any cracks it finds, leach at the metal, and then ruin your food. <S> I had this happen with some Pecan Whiskey Cakes that I had put up, as they need to soak for a couple of months ... <S> I now understand why my aunt wraps hers in (alcohol soaked) cloth, then a plastic bag, then whatever she's going to store it in. <S> You could probably do the same thing as you're only dealing with a few days -- wrap it in plastic, then put them in the tin. <S> It's possible that some (non-stainless) steel containers might have a more durable coating ... <S> but unless it's specifically sold as being re-usable (or as wombar mentioned, for the industrial/institutional market), it's likely made to keep the costs down and not intended for re-use. <S> You should also avoid acidic or salty items, as they're known to pit stainless steels, especially when there's moisture and/or poor ventilation. <A> People have been storing food in tins for generations with no negative effect. <S> I remember crackers being sold in tins when I was a kid. <S> Have at it. <S> You'll be fine. <S> You may not want to store moist food in it once you start seeing rust though.
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Different types of tins are intended for storing different types of foods (dry crackers are very different from cheeses that contain some moisture).
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converting a muffin recipe to a cake recipe I have a muffin recipe for chocolate zucchini muffins. The recipe calls for a 325 degree oven and a baking time of 20-25 minutes. I want to bake these in a 9 x 13 pan as a cake. How long should I bake my cake and at what temperature. <Q> Most of the bake times that recipes give you are very general ideas of how long you should bake something. <S> This is why most of them are given in ranges rather than in specific values. <S> (20-25 minutes instead of specifically saying 21 minutes) <S> The reason for this is because there are a lot of variables when it comes to baking including the thickness and material of your pan and the type of oven you have. <S> If the batter sticks to the toothpick then it is not done. <S> You can check it every 5 minutes to start off but as the "cake" start to stick less to the toothpick, check more often. <A> As you know that the muffin dough is always thicker than the cake dough. <S> In this case I am not clear if you are changing the recipe thinning it or not. <S> If you are only considering the size, then of course you have to increase the time, adding from 5-10 minutes. <S> The temperature is usually 325 for most of the cake and muffin baking options. <S> I bake my cake (cake or muffin recipe) for 30-35 minutes. <S> Be confident for 30 minutes and then start to observe. <S> Hope <S> it helps.... <A> I would raise temperature up to 350° and start by putting it in for 30 minutes and check it every 5 minutes after that. <S> I did something similar a while back and my cake took 50 minutes to bake. <S> Since muffins are smaller, it takes less time for the heat of the oven to reach the centre of the muffin to bake it, which is why cake takes longer.
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The best thing to do when you are trying to bake batter for muffin/cupcake in a cake pan is to start out with the initial time the recipe gives you and then there after, check it periodically with a toothpick in the center.
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Are cooking thermometers essential? I've been watching some cooking shows, and they seem very keen on there thermometers.They have prob thermometers, oven thermometers, meat thermometers, confectionery thermometers, oil thermometers...(Possibly these are all the same device, I don't know anything about kitchen thermometers). Only thermometers I ever saw in real life, was my mother's roast thermometer (and I've made plenty of roasts without owning one), and her confectionery one that I broke as a child (and I've made plenty of toffee, with just the cold water test.) So I've got on for quiet a while without owning one, and I've never seen one (out side of TV) used to check the oven temperature, or the oil temperature. I'm wondering what the big deal is?Will using the right temperature change my cooking? Am I perhaps doing something unsafe in using any of the many methods for estimating temperature ? <Q> For example, I do not cook beef roasts often, so I will use a thermometer to not mess up my cooking and waste a good amount of money on a good cut of meat. <S> Thermometers are essential for confectioneries where exact temperature are needed, mostly for sugar caramel stages. <S> Thermometers are also essential if you decide to try "molecular" cooking techniques with different chemicals; where temperature needs to be precise for certain reaction to happen (I do not have examples for that). <A> Cooking thermometers aren't essential, but they sure are damn useful. <S> They simply take the guesswork out of temperature, which is of course critical to cooking. <S> Why guess when that expensive steak is done to your liking when you can stick a $10 digital doohicky in there and be certain? <S> Why do something incredibly dangerous like drop water in hot oil when you can use a thermometer? <A> Before a thermometer in my low-price oven, I didn't know if it was well calibrated or not. <S> My mom's was way off, explaining some burns. <S> I also adjusted the pre-heat oven time, sometimes completely unnecessary. <S> I also found out that steps of 30 C/50 F are enough to adjust up or down, ignoring smaller 10 C/25 F intermediate steps. <S> Before a thermometer in my low-price refrigerator, I didn't realize I needed to adjust thermostat dial - and how much - depending on season in order to maintain the same temp. <S> I also learned the various spots to organize what food goes where inside, sometimes contrary to what usual people say. <S> Before an infrared gun thermometer, I couldn't figure how high of a setting I could push my various non-stick pans on the stove top. <S> I learned about checking frying oil temp in a flash, without immersion, if the bottom of the pan is dark as reflecting surfaces are not reliable for this type of reading. <S> Before a probe thermometer with wire, I had to rely on time per pounds, confused with what type of meat and which cut it was. <S> With a stand-alone probe, I can double check the final results, or find out if I need more rotation time on my rotisserie. <S> Many more, <S> but you got the point. <S> However, a probe in a one inch thick steak on the pan on the stove is a bit of overkill. <A> This largely depends on what you cook, and how picky you are about the results. <S> If you cook steak and eggs type dishes, and aren't too picky about steak done-ness, then sure, skip the thermometer. <S> Although I would definitely use one for steaks. <S> But I'm very picky about how done my steak is. <S> Larger meats, such as roasts, I would consider a thermometer essential for. <S> Time per pound is just too inaccurate, particularly given the different shapes of different cuts (or just different roasts). <S> You want it even close to done correctly, your best bet is a thermometer. <S> As for baking, candying, etc.; it's certainly possible to manage without a thermometer, particularly if you're reasonably experienced, and again, if you're not too picky about exact results and/or not doing anything too cutting edge. <S> But I'd say it's similar to saying, can I cook without a measuring spoon? <S> Sure, you can estimate the amount of flour in a loaf of bread, and if you're good at it you can probably get something that works and is decently tasty. <S> But, will it turn out exactly right every time? <S> Probably not. <S> Even a loaf of bread is better with a thermometer, in fact!
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Thermometers are really practical when you do not have a lot of experience cooking things; it let you keep track of the proper food temperature.
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How can I use a large quantity of raw almonds all at once? I have a big practically unused bag of raw almonds that's been sitting in my pantry for a couple years. I got them as a gift when I used to munch on them more, but after a few major life changes it just has never been pulled out again. What can I possibly make with all of these almonds? I'm looking for something that uses the almonds as I primary ingredient rather than a garnish so I can get rid of them in one fell swoop instead of slowly whittling them away. I've thought of almond butter and almond flour, but I don't see myself using either that often, so it doesn't really help. <Q> As Stephie implied, after "a couple years", I'd bet your raw almonds are rancid and whatever you do with them would just be throwing good ingredients after bad. <S> But eat a couple and see for yourself. <S> If they're ok, I'd make almond butter, that would let you use all of them quickly. <A> Some things that are made almost entirely of almonds (plus elbow grease), and thus will use up a large quantity of almonds: Almond butter (need to add: nothing. <S> Well, salt, if you like.) <S> Almond milk (need to add: water) <S> And then there are more dessert recipes than you can shake a stick at, but they take increasing amounts of other ingredients, and thus decreasing amounts of almonds. <S> Marzipan (need to add: sugar, rosewater) <S> Macarons (need to add: sugar, eggs, some sort of icing/frosting) <S> Almond torte (ditto) <S> Almond brittle (need to add: sugar, corn syrup, butter, salt) Almond pasta [variation on Hungarian dióstészta ] <S> (need to add: cooked pasta of your choice [e.g. broken-up fettuccine or small egg noodles], sweetening of your choice [sugar or honey or even artificial sweeteners will all work]) <A> Almost all nuts, so long as they haven't gone rancid on you, are very versatile: <S> Whenever I travel, I bring a bag of raw almonds. <S> (raw simply because I prefer the flavor to roasted). <S> If I end up missing a meal (not enough time to grab food when changing flights, sessions ran long and I'm tired from jetlag, meetings over lunch, etc.) <S> , then I have something easy to snack on. <S> If you go hiking, you can make a trail mix -- nuts, dried fruit, maybe some candies (m&ms are less messy than bare chocolate) or granola. <S> You can add them to many types of quick breads. <S> (although walnuts & pecans are typically my go-to nut for this) If you grind them up, you can use them as the breadcrumbs in most three-part dredges. <S> (I don't know if I'm use it for deep frying, but it's great for pan frying ... especially fish) <S> They're great in deserts -- chop & sprinkle over ice cream or frosted cakes, mixed into brownies, etc. <S> There are so many uses, that I'm guessing this question <S> will likely get closed. <S> You can put it on cereal for breakfast, a small bag with your lunch or as a snack, etc. <A> Assuming that they are not rancid ... <S> almond brittle (or mixed nut brittle... <S> with other nuts, pecans, cashews, peanuts). <S> There are many recipes out there like this one: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/almond-brittle . <S> This one will use them up about a cup at a time (1 cup whole == <S> 3/4 cup chopped +/-) <A> You have a lot of answers already, but I'd like to add Curries as another solutions. <S> Using nuts in curries is a fantastic idea in my opinion! <S> The last curry I did had some pistachios ground up in the blender with some broth, you end up with a really thick, sustaining and delicious sauce. <A> my raw almonds were two years old as well <S> and I just used this recipe to make candied <S> slivered almonds that are delicious! <S> http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/caramelized-almonds-57033.aspx
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They can be an appetizer -- heat in a dry pan, add a bit of butter, then spices and maybe a little bit of sugar to make spiced nuts.
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Make fruit last longer in fridge? I am single. When I buy strawberries or blueberries they don't always last until I get to eat them. Would they last longer kept in water? (in Tupperware) I know strawberries can be frozen in syrup. I don't want to do that. I sometimes make muffins with half the blueberries just so I can eat them all. <Q> No, they won't last longer in water. <S> Fruit freezes very well without the need for syrup, and can be defrosted quickly simply by running cold water over it. <S> If you're baking with it, you can just bake with fruit still frozen. <A> As Elendil says, for long storage, you can just freeze as-is, in a plastic bag or other container. <S> As for refrigeration, there are all sorts of guidelines for various fruits, and other questions here have covered storage recommendations for specific types of fruit. <S> You specifically ask about strawberries and blueberries. <S> Never put fresh berries in water, and don't even wash them until you are ready to eat them or use them (assuming you want them to last longer). <S> For reputable information on strawberries, see here : <S> The optimum storage temperature for strawberries in the home is 32° to 36 <S> °F (0° to 2°C). <S> The optimum humidity for storage of berries to prevent water loss and shriveling <S> is 90 to 95 percent. <S> Store the fruit in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator. <S> Keep strawberries packaged in closed plastic clamshell containers or place fruit in a partially opened plastic bag to maintain high humidity. <S> Do not wash berries until just before eating or preserving. <S> Washing will add moisture and will cause the berries to spoil more rapidly. <S> Strawberries can only be stored for up to 7 days under optimum conditions, and that shelf life also depends on how ripe the fruit was when purchased or picked. <S> The same general recommendations apply to blueberries : <S> keep your fridge cold (just above freezing), keep humidity high by storing in crisper drawer and in containers, don't wash until ready to use. <S> Blueberries which are picked and cooled properly should last at least a week in the fridge, perhaps even a couple weeks if you buy them relatively freshly picked. <S> Check on a regular basis and remove any berries showing signs of rot or mold. <S> There are various myths about keeping berries at room temperature until they are cleaned or washed, or washing fruits in vinegar to preserve them, or whatever -- <S> don't believe them: no scientific tests have shown them to work. <S> Just keep the fruit cold and the humidity high by keeping them in their containers (though not in a completely sealed container: that will also cause faster rot, which is why the little holes exist in the plastic supermarket containers). <A> I've had really good luck with these Rubbermaid produce containers. <S> I was skeptical but decided to try them. <S> I've had blueberries and strawberries keep for over 3 weeks and raspberries keep for over 2. <S> There's a tray with drain holes that sits in the bottom that elevates the produce and lets moisture/water drain through. <S> Your berries don't sit in their own water then. <S> There's also tiny little vent holes in the lids. <S> They work as far as I can tell, though I've done no scientific tests. <S> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012DS4GG
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In general, keep the berries cold as much as possible, keep them dry, and store in high humidity.
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How do I add spice after cooking gravy? I have made chicken gravy. It tastes good but I think adding a little more spice to my gravy will be fine. Can anyone say how to add more spice to it after cooking? <Q> Carefully! <S> You can always add more, but you can't really remove spices once they are added. <S> Salt, you can add any time. <S> If your spices are whole, you can simmer them for a while in the gravy and them remove them. <S> You can also toast them in a separate dry pan, grind them (see here ), and then add them to your gravy. <S> Again, carefully! <A> Simply adding spices later doesn't always work. <S> If your spices were supposed to be sautéed in the recipe then you have to sauté them first and then add them <S> or you will get raw spice flavour. <S> Look at the recipe and find out how your spices were supposed to go in. <S> If you are sautéing separately then you have to be careful because spices can burn really quickly if sautéed by themselves. <S> Once you have recreated the spice flavour just mix it in and cook to finish. <A> If your gonna add spices after the fact put the gravy back in the pot heat it up add spices and if it gets to thick add more water. <S> Most spices need to "bloom" so to speak in liquid to get to full potency so add some spices cook for about 5 mins then taste ...
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If your spices are ground, you can just add them to the gravy and stir them in.
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What to do with leftover almond peel? I always soak almonds at night and peel them the next morning. I'm just wondering if I can do anything with the leftover almond skin. Any suggestions? <Q> I made bacon Mixed together 2 tablespoons oil, 3 tbs soy sauce or tamari, 2 tbs nutritional yeast, 1 tbs woostershire, 1/2 tbs maple syrup, 3/4 tbs hot paprika in a bowl. <S> Mix in 3 cups loose Almond skins. <S> Bake 375 for approx 20 minutes on non stick surface until crispy. <S> BLT waiting to happen. <S> Or use as bacon bits on salad... <A> They're really thin, so it's a really small amount of food. <S> I wouldn't feel at all guilty about pitching them, but if you do want to use them, that means the main way it'll really matter is if you use them for texture or appearance. <S> But usually we do the opposite: <S> remove the skins from nuts to make something with a smooth texture and uniform color. <S> So I don't have a lot of really exciting suggestions in that department. <S> I suppose you could grind them up a bit and mix them into something that you want to look speckled, probably baked goods? <S> If you don't want that look or texture in anything though, just don't use them. <S> Sure, you could grind them up fine and put them in something that's got its own color so you can't see them, but they won't really be adding much of anything at that point. <A> You can use them in baking cookies, cupcakes,or you can even dry them, grind them and then add in yoghurt or condensed milk or ice cream. <S> Hope this helps...
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You can even use them to cleanse your skin by simply grinding and mixing with your daily face wash.
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The right amount of jalapeño Often when I make soup I add a minced jalapeño (with the seeds) into the soup. I know that the pepper has a (I believed) 1,500-2,500 heat range and so when I add a full pepper on the low end of that scale it's fine and I get that tongue numbing heat sensation. When the pepper is on the higher end I get the throat burning dire-need-of-milk sensation. If the pepper is on the low end and I only add half then the heat is also undetectable. Though on the high end with only half then it's just the right amount. How can I use the right amount of jalapeño? <Q> The heat of individual peppers varies. <S> Add a little bit at a time, tasting as you go. <S> You can put more in, you can't take any out! <A> Cut the tiniest amount off the tip of the jalapeño and put it on your tongue: after a few times, you'll get a feel of how hot individual ones are <S> and you'll just know after a few times if you have to add the entire big not-throat-burning one or half a tiny running-around-screaming-hot one. <S> No, it's safe: the tip contains the least amount of capsicum (If fresh! <S> All bets are off for the pickled ones!) <S> ;-) <A> Keep the rest in the fridge for later. <S> The law of averages should mean that the chilli blend as a whole is neither too hot nor too mild.
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I go through quite a lot of chillies, so what I would do is mince a bunch of jalapenos, and add it to your soup a spoonful at a time.
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Omiting salt in baking recipes that use chemical leaveners? I'm trying to reduce my salt intake. I've noticed in baking recipes where baking powder is used they add salt. Can I omit the salt or would the recipe fail? <Q> I completely agree with Cascabel's answer. <S> I do want to add a bit. <S> Salt is an amazing flavor enhancer and most (sweet) baked goods use very little (1/4 to 1 tsp) considering that most of the recipes make 12-24 servings (more for cupcakes/cookies etc) <S> but it does make a difference. <S> Most baked desserts gain quite a bit from having the added salt... <S> and they don't even have to be baked. <S> Even in things like buttercream frosting, adding a little salt greatly helps to balance the overwhelming sweetness of the frosting and makes it more palatable to adults. <S> All of my favorite buttercream recipes have a small amount of salt. <S> Anyway, removing the salt won't cause the recipe to fail... <S> I'm sure I've accidentally omitted it several times in the past when I'm in a rush to get stuff in the oven... <S> it can just make the flavors not as strong or remove some of the flavor contrast, so things can taste a bit flatter. <A> In baking, salt is generally only for flavor: things won't taste as good without it. <S> So you can reduce it or leave it out if you want, just be aware that you may sacrifice some flavor. <S> This shouldn't have anything to do with the baking powder. <S> Baked goods that don't use baking powder usually contain salt as well. <A> I would just note that salt does sometimes play other roles in baking, particularly in yeast breads (but also in relatively lean doughs raised chemically, like soda bread). <S> Salt concentration slows down yeast growth, and it can also alter gluten formation early on. <S> It can also affect final texture and even browning to some extent (as a side effect). <S> And of course there are notable bread traditions that are simply made without salt, like much bread in Tuscany. <A> I stopped using salt 40 years ago, therefore I never use salt in baking. <S> I have never noticed any issues. <S> Once your palate adjusts, you will enjoy the fresh flavour of food rather than the salty overtones. <A> I disagree with the other answers. <S> I've heard this opinion frequently, but never seen it work that way in practice. <S> I live in Europe, and baking recipes here rarely use salt in baking. <S> I certainly don't, and frequently omit it from American recipes too. <S> I don't notice much of a difference between making it with and without the salt. <S> My best guess is that If you are accustomed to eating baking goods with salt, you'll miss it if they don't have it. <S> If you're not accustomed, you won't. <S> This would explain my observations in salt being used in some local cuisines and not others. <S> Salt preferences can certainly be changed for savory dishes by simply changing the amount of salt eaten until one has grown used to a new level; I've done so myself, and I've known others who do it. <S> There is a good chance it works the same way for sweet goods. <S> So, if you want to eat less salt, just omit it. <S> Even if it is a bit unusual at first, it will likely grow on you. <S> Just note that if you're serving to a crowd which expects salt, the results can be perceived by them as underwhelming. <A> I know this thread is old <S> but I'm going to post anyway. <S> All the previous people may not be aware that people who are "reducing salt" might actually mean reducing sodium. <S> Check your baking soda and baking powder labels if you're thinking home baking is not a source of sodium! <S> This still adds up. <S> Consider my recipe that uses 2 eggs (70 mg sodium each), ½ tsp baking soda (600 mg), and ¼ tsp baking powder (70 mg). <S> Divide that by 12 (muffins) and that's 67.5 mg of sodium per muffin. <S> That is without any added salt ! <S> And just as little as ¾ tsp salt adds another 1770 mg of sodium to my recipe, which would make EACH muffin have 215 mg of sodium. <S> Please be aware it does add up bakers! <A> Salt is generally used for flavor in cooking, but when it comes to baking it plays more of an important role. <S> In baking, salt is used to activate the leavening agent in the product-like baking powder or baking soda. <S> This means that if you omit salt all together your product won't rise as much or at all. <S> You should be able to reduce the amount of salt you use and still get your product to rise, but I would not recommend omitting it all together.
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It is possible to modify most bread recipes to bake without salt, but it may require altering the rising time (and perhaps how much you knead/fold/shape).
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How much meat should I serve per person? Catering a small event tomorrow for twenty people. Serving beef brisket, pulled pork, and veggie lasagna. Question is how much brisket & pork should allow for each person? also serving three sides, rolls, etc. <Q> About 8oz or 225g/person is probably a good place to start. <S> Think about when you have a standard steak or a piece of chicken in a restaurant. <S> The pre-cooked weight will usually be in the region of 8-10oz. <A> A good rule of thumb is to allow 1lb of meat (before cooking) per person, not counting small children who will obviously eat less. <S> It's better to have too much than not enough - you can always use leftovers. <A> It depends in part who you are serving--hungry college students (or those with that mindset) eat considerably more free food than do wealthy health-conscious professionals. <S> You also need to keep in mind that while you don't want to overshoot massively, it also looks bad to run out of food. <S> You may also need to keep in mind that a significant number of people do not eat pork for personal/religious reasons, so you want to not run too short of other options. <S> That said, the best way to estimate is to see what people who do this all the time provide. <S> For instance, CityBBQ provides 8 lbs of meat for 20-24 people . <S> Famous Dave's seems to offer about 8 lbs also , if you can count their 60 chicken wings as equivalent to your lasagna. <S> (This is likely cooked weight, though neither site says.) <A> That's size per portion after cooking. <S> You are making pulled pork and brisket, and each of those will lose just over 40% of their weight during cooking. <S> So if you assume 5 ounces of brisket and 5 ounces of pork per person, that's about 8.3 ounces of each meat pre-cooked per person. <S> So you'd probably want <S> (number of meat eaters times 8.3) divided by 16 pounds of each meat type, plus or minus any fudge factor you wish to include. <A> In the past, when I host a party at home and I serve Buffet style with sides, Rice, Potatoes, Mc & Cheese, Salad and veggies, I end up with about 2oz of beef, whether is flank, tenderloin, etc per person. <S> Remember, you have appetizers as well before the main and I serve, Garlic Shrimp, plus an assortment of dips & chips. <A> Depending on where you live, your local government food or health departments will publish a food guide or food pyramid <S> In many western countries that eat red meats, you will find this showing about 120 g (4 oz) of red meat, about the size of a pack of cards or <S> a typical hamburger patie <S> At many functions and restaurants the host will serve more than this, this is marketing, not love <S> In the case of pulled pork, a generous tong load into an open roll is about 50 to 60 g (2 oz). <S> I did a 50+ person event recently, and there was only about 1.2 pulled pork rolls per person consumed. <S> Pulled pork loses nearly half <S> it's weight from raw to cooked. <S> See https://cooking.stackexchange.com/a/57059/3203 For brisket, the loss is less (depending on beef type). <S> And again about 50 to 60 g is a roll full, especially by the time you add some coleslaw, sauerkraut etc. <S> So even with if everyone has a brisket and a pork roll, you are still at 120 g cooked, or 240 g (8 oz) raw. <A> I have grilled, barbecued, smoked brisket whole my life. <S> I would say you´ll actually need about 2 pounds/person. <S> This is because as this homepage also tells, http://goodporkbadpork.com/how-much-brisket-per-person/ the brisket will lose about 40% if you plan on trimming it!
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For entertaining purposes the rule of thumb I've most commonly seen in your case, where the meat is the primary food being served, is about 8-10 ounces per person. Always over cater, as you never know who is going to turn up, and pulled pork makes great left overs
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How do I prevent jams from turning brown? I have been a jam maker for years. We live in an area of fresh fruit so it's always naturally sweet. I decrease the sugar in each recipe by at least 1 cup and I always add fresh lemon juice. My question is: do I need to water bath the jam to prevent it from turning dark on the top? It doesn't affect the taste but it doesn't look very pretty. I have jams I recently made & I'm also wondering if I could water bath them now even though I made it a few weeks ago? I pack hot jam into scalding hot jars with hot lids. I always have good seals & I love the sounds of the jars sealing! I call it the Canner Symphony! <Q> Turning brown on top is usually a sign of too much oxygen in the jar. <S> The NCHFP FAQ covers this exact topic (search for "dark"). <S> There are a few primary causes: too much headspace, or bubbles left in the jam before processing; not enough liquid to cover bits of food/fruit; or not enough processing time. <S> All of these result in the surface of the jam being exposed to oxygen. <S> The first two are fairly direct: there's too much air on top. <S> The third is because processing drives some of the air out of the headspace, leaving lower pressure air, which not only prevents browning but also creates a reliable vacuum seal. <S> Too much headspace is an easy possibility for you to check. <S> The right amount varies depending on the jar size , but you might well have too much. <S> The processing time is the really worrying thing to me in your case; you're not processing your jam at all, just packing it in hot and letting it seal. <S> That's actually a good way to get unreliable seals, but it sounds like you're getting lucky <S> and it's working out. <S> (But be really careful to test the seal later just to make sure after it's cooled - push down on the middle and make sure it doesn't pop back up.) <S> Still, I might suggest trying a couple batches of jam with a tested recipe that involves water bath processing just to be sure. <S> It might well solve your problem, and it'll make your canning safer. <A> What turns your jam brown is the same substance that turns cut fruit brown: Oxygen. <S> The head space in your jars is filled with air, albeit less than at normal pressure. <S> A jam jar has no genuine vacuum (= nothing there), but low pressure. <S> To decrease the amount of oxygen that can react with your jam, you need to reduce the amount of air in the headspace. <S> One way is to fill a bit more jam in your jars (check with the manufacturer on appropriate fill level, different systems have different requirements), another to can your jars after filling, which typically expells a bit more air. <S> You can boil already filled and cooled jam jars, but if the surface is already brown, it won't reverse the process. <S> A third method is to pour some (1/2 tsp. <S> or so) high-proof alcohol in the jar after filling, light it and close the lid. <S> Don't burn yourself, though. <S> The alcohol will burn off some of the oxygen. <S> If you use too much, the taste will be quite discernible and you might even get some caramelization on the surface, so <S> this is method can have it's disadvantages. <S> The trick is to use the right amount and find the right moment to close the lid so that "all" alcohol burns off yet uses up the oxygen. <S> (And not set the kitchen on fire while doing it ^_^.) <S> On a more general note, I found using some citric acid (or lemon juice) in my jam helps with thickening and prevents browning. <S> I think it also improves the taste, but that's subjective, obviously. <A> My mother and my wife have been making jams for a total of about 90 years. <S> Lighter coloured jams, such as peach, show it more obviously. <S> The taste is generally unaffected. <S> We have always eaten these and never had any problems. <S> I don't think you have to tighten the lids super tight, it's more important that the lid and top of jar are clean. <S> I don't believe any bug was let loose to turn the jam a bit brownish. <S> Jars are sterilized in the oven. <A> Darkening could be caused by several factors including: Stored too warm, too little sugar in the recipe & improper sealing. <S> More details here <S> Canning Questions <S> Open kettle canning (filling hot jars with hot ingredients) is no longer recommended due to a higher likelihood of spoilage. <S> While your jam may not spoil, you may not be removing enough air to stop oxidation of the jam at the top of the jar. <S> You can reprocess the jam. <S> You will need to put the jam back into a pot and bring to boiling, then process in water bath as described here making sure to leave the proper head space and processing for the proper time for your altitude.
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Based on what I have seen, I think all jams made with either hot bath or open kettle method oxidize a bit near the top of the jar.
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Is a (British) wedding cake just a tiered fruit cake I'm trying to find a good recipe for a wedding cake. I'm going to keep it fairly simple, one or two tiers, plain icing with some small decorations. Many recipes seem to be variations on classic fruit cake or Christmas cake. Is that the case? Am I safe scaling up a recipe like Delia's Christmas Cake (a favourite of mine) or is there something specific about the flavour of a wedding cake I need to be sure to include or omit? <Q> A traditional wedding cake is certainly more or less a Christmas cake - a dense, dark, 'matured' fruit cake with marzipan and royal icing. <S> However, nowadays you will find that anything goes - flavoured sponges are extremely popular. <S> The main criteria is that the cake should be sufficiently dense to hold the weight of a tier or two. <S> This means your standard light-as-air Victoria Sponge won't cut it - <S> it will just collapse. <S> You need to be looking at denser, moister cakes. <S> Basically, a wedding cake is whatever the happy couple want it to be! <A> Traditions for wedding cakes have varied so much over time and throughout the Pretanic Isles as to make "the tradition" impossible to settle on. <S> Having different cakes for different tiers is both long-standing and popular today, as well as being of practical benefit (having a relatively solid cake like chocolate-biscuit at the bottom for example). <S> Fruit cakes go back to the when <S> Bride's Pie stopped being savoury, and have secondary traditions associated with them (its sometimes done to store the smallest cake layer in brandy and use it as a Christening cake for the first child born to the couple) which may make it a particularly desired choice. <S> It's common to have it in the mix for that reason. <S> A cake like Delia Smith's Christmas cake would certainly be in line with that. <S> Of course, one of the oldest wedding traditions is that everything about the celebration is "bride's choice", of which the modern version is that it's all up to the couple. <S> That overrides everything else. <A> My Partner used to be a pro wedding cake maker <S> and I've helped her do a few over the years for friends and family. <S> The tiers can be any cake these days, but only a fruit cake is dense enough to support tiers above it without dowels, use of a cake stand neatly gets around this. <S> It used to be a tradition that the top (smallest) tier would be a fruit cake that would be kept until the christening or birth of the first child. <S> For the cake to keep it would need to be a fruit cake and carefully iced so that it is sealed to the cake board to keep air out. <S> If tradition is important then also consider royal icing, hard work and most people would be surprised to hear that the cake had been sanded down between layers! <S> I know the Delia recipe that you are talking of and have made it numerous times because it tastes great :-) <S> use light muscavado sugar to keep the taste of treacle from being too strong. <S> It scales up with no problem at all but fruit cake mixture is hard work to stir be careful not to overload even a strong mixer or your arm. <S> Another thing that wedding guests often don't realise is that there is far more cake than they saw being cut; It is really common for slabs of cake to be supplied, they will be iced to match the displayed cake but without decoration. <S> This way the tiered cake could be all fruit but there can be many other types / flavours of cake for the guests who because of the icing never knew what was in the tiers.
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These days, wedding cakes can be pretty much any kind of cake.
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Can I substitute vodka for rum in tiramisu? Specifically in this recipe: Tiramisu-II The reason why I'm asking this is I only have vodka at home, and I rarely drink. So I don't want to buy any kind of liquor just for three tablespoons of it . Plus, alcohol is very expensive where I live. <Q> Rum used in tiramisu is mainly for flavor. <S> It's not a fundamental ingredient that will completely change the outcome of the recipe. <S> That being said if you wish, you can omit the rum without adding the vodka. <S> As Jefromi mentioned in the comment, there are plenty of other better substitution in terms of flavor you can use. <S> Kahlua is a very common liquor found in tiramisu as it's coffee based. <S> Chocolate porters might also add a nice touch. <A> If you don't want to buy the alcohol but you have a good baking section in your local market or a nice baking shop, consider using the vodka for the alcohol content (just in case it does matter) and get the rum flavor using an extract. <S> You would probably need about one teaspoon or so, depending on how strong you want the flavor to be. <S> You may also want to reduce the amount of vodka by the amount of extract you use. <S> I see rum extract or imitation rum quite a bit in the US, anyway. <S> You can also use almond extract (or a tiny amount of almond oil) if you prefer the amaretto flavor that some have mentioned. <S> If you use almond oil <S> you only need a few drops, usually. <A> What I ended up doing was using 1/2 tsp of almond aroma and 1 tbsp of vodka. <S> The taste was good, but I could have put much more vodka. <S> I'll do that next time.
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The vodka will add nothing to the tiramisu recipe since vodka is made to be flavorless.
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How to make crispy crepes? I make very thin crepes using batter made of 500 grams of flour, 3 eggs and 250 ml of milk. They turn out thin, soft and pliable. My wife on the other hand remembers fondly her mothers crepes, which used to be a bit thicker and had a bit of crunch. How should I modify my recipe or technique to make them more like that? I'm guessing using more fat (I try to use as little as possible) could help, but then I run into problems spreading the batter over the pan surface. <Q> A crisp crepe is less about the recipe and more about the cooking technique. <S> You simply need to leave it a little longer before flipping it, allowing the edges to crisp. <S> A little more oil than usual will help, but it should still only be a thin coating wiped on with a paper towel. <S> To make a thicker crepe, simply use less liquid. <S> You can also look at using alternative flours like buckwheat which alter the texture. <A> If you are filling the crepe: <S> Depending on what you're filling the crepe with, you can put in the oven for a few minutes after it's filled. <S> This way, it will be soft and flexible when you're filling it but will get crispier after it's filled. <A> Less eggs or none. <S> Just as with cookies, eggs will make them cakier. <S> Corn syrup instead of sugar helps as granulated sugar holds water. <S> The easiest, surefire way, is to make them ahead of time <S> , let them dry a bit, fill and roll, refry on hot griddle.
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If you're not filling the crepe: just cook it a little longer. And lower temperature longer cooking time will help too as it gives time for the batter to spread out and evaporate moisture.
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How do I achieve a light and even 'dusting' of paprika? I'm trying to perfect my seared and roasted pork loin chops, and I'm hitting a bit of an obstacle. Part of my recipe involves a very light dusting of smoked paprika after being seared, prior to going into the oven. That seems easy enough, but it turns out to be quite difficult to sprinkle a very light, and even dusting of it on the chops. I'm holding the paprika back because it gets a tad bitter on a very hot skillet, needed for searing. Because paprika (smoked or otherwise) is so finely ground, trying to release an even amount from pinched fingers far above the chops results in too much (or a blot) landing on the chops randomly. This is quite difficult to fix post-sear, as the chop is on its way to the oven; paprika has a very distinct and immediate color. I have tried very fine mesh strainers, cheese cloth tapped with a spoon, and I still can't manage to get a very light and even coating of it. Normally, I'd just combine it well into whatever seasoning I was applying for the sear, which distributes it pretty evenly, but how can I manage the spice on its own in a manner that doesn't create random tiny dots where there's much more of it? What ends up happening is it concentrates in flavor on random bites, and fixing that means ruining presentation to an extent. I thought of holding back some salt that I'd normally season the chops with before searing, and mix the paprika with that, but I end up with a selectively permeable sear where the salt just collects and alters the taste negatively. What else can I try? <Q> I use a 3 inch Tea Infuser Ball and hold it at a good distance above my cookies when dusting powdered sugar so that it will spread out even further. <S> It will most likely work for paprika as well. <A> There's a gadget for that – a mini sifter, or "chef's duster" as it's apparently called by some. <S> They're meant for powdered sugar, but since these are smaller than, say, a flour sifter, you should be able to use it for small amounts of any powder you'd like, included powdered paprika. <A> Your initial theory is good, your technique just needs to be tweaked. <S> The further away your "dusting" hand, the more evenly your food will be dusted. <S> So hold a pinch of paprika far from the chops, perhaps even over your head, do the little sprinkling motion with your fingers as you toss the paprika kind of into the air but in the direction of your chops. <S> With powdery things that clump, like paprika or cinnamon, the tossing motion almost feels like snapping fingers. <S> Once you get good at it, you won't waste much paprika (or salt, or pepper, or cinnamon... whatever), but you will achieve an even dusting on the food. <S> Here is Chef Gordon Ramsay demonstrating exactly what I am talking about. <S> The video is cued up to 25:10, as he says, "season from a distance." <S> [sorry, video removed by YouTube, see comment] <A> Have you tried a flour duster ? <S> I find it an extremely useful, multi-purpose tool for creating an even dusting (light or heavy) of… whatever. <S> It's multi-purpose and reusable, and it's small enough that you can just dip it into the container of whatever you want to creating a dusting of. <S> You wave or tap the edge of it over what you want to dust, then just drop the remainder back into the original container. <S> I find it much simpler and much more variable/flexible than the various screen "sifter" tools that tend to get somewhat messy everywhere <S> you don't want it. <S> Squeezing the handles opens it just enough to pick up the [paprika] you need, and then it says closed by default until you apply it to the surface you want to dust. <S> Very handy. <A> That way you can control the amount of the spice that will transfer to the chop. <S> On the downside, you'll need at least as much surface area as you have chop to cover. <S> Let me know if that works. <S> Another possibility that I tested on a poached egg is to put a pile of paprika in one palm and carefully brush it off the edge of your hand with a finger on your other hand. <S> I was able to get a fairly light coating in this way: <S> One advantage of this method (if it works as well on your meat as it did on my egg) is that you can more easily fill in areas that are too lightly covered (such as the front edge of the egg in this photo). <A> Here's what I do: pick up a little paprika on the back of a teaspoon (i.e. so the teaspoon is upside down with the paprika resting on what would normally be the underside of the spoon). <S> Hold the teaspoon a couple of feet above the chop using your left hand (assuming you are right handed). <S> Now gently and repeatedly tap the shaft of the teaspoon with another teaspoon held in your right hand. <S> A little paprika falls on each tap. <S> This works fine for sprinkling any dry fine powder (e.g. icing sugar, chilli etc.). <S> As an alternative to putting on an upside down teaspoon, you can also try putting it on the (flat) handle of a teaspoon. <A> Not exactly what you asked, but pork is often glazed. <S> You could make a glaze with honey and smoked paprika and apply it after the searing. <S> See for example this recipe for glazed ribs for some ideas on how to do it, or take inspiration from char <S> siu if you feel more "oriental".
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I've not tried this, but I suspect you'll get better results by lightly coating some flat surface (such as a cutting board) with paprika and dipping the chops in after searing.
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Is there supposed to be a difference between General Tso's and Sesame Chicken besides the seeds? There are three very similar dishes I see on Chinese restaurant menus: Orange Chicken Sesame Chicken General Tso's Chicken I know Orange Chicken is at least a little bit different (it's typically spicier, I can see the orange rind pieces, I can taste a difference), but with General Tso's and Sesame, it's not so clear. Anecdotally, a while back I ordered Sesame Chicken from my local place, and when I got there they were still making it. She asked me "General Tso's?" and I said, "No, sesame" and she proceeded to just sprinkle some sesame seeds on it. More recently, I ordered Sesame Chicken, but upon opening it at home, it had no seeds, and I assume I got General Tso's instead. I kind of feel like it had a slightly different color and flavor, but I couldn't put my finger on it. So I guess I'm asking a few things: Is there supposed to be a difference between General Tso's and Sesame besides just adding sesame seeds on top? If yes, what is the difference? If yes, is it standard procedure to just use General Tso's and add Sesame seeds for simplicity/laziness/cost reasons? <Q> These recipes aren't very standardized. <S> Your mileage will vary greatly from one restaurant to another. <S> That said, generally these are three distinct dishes. <S> Orange chicken is... Orangey. <S> General Tsos is typically sweeter with a little more heat and served with broccoli and carrots. <S> The sauce is usually more red in color than the brown sauce served with sesame chicken. <S> I would say it is not widely accepted practice to sprinkle sesame seeds on General Tso's to create sesame chicken. <A> None of these are authentic Chinese dishes, so it's hard to say what is supposed to go into each one. <S> In truth, Chinese restaurants tend to believe quantity on the menu trumps quality. <S> In that spirit, they will likely offer many similar-tasting things under vastly different names. <S> (I've seen places where Szechuan Beef and Hunan Beef contain essentially ingredients.) <A> In my experience sesame chicken is more sweet and generals is more spicy. <S> I do believe them to be similar and suspect most take out places have very similar recipes for both. <A> In many Chinese takeout places, the three dishes you mention are essentially made from the same base, i.e. coated deep fried chicken nuggets, using the dark meat. <S> The difference is only in the sauce and other additions. <S> Since these are not traditional Chinese dishes, there's really no standardization, as Preston Fitzgerald noted, apart from that. <S> You can appreciate how, in a fast-food operation, starting with a common base for multiple recipes can be cost- and time-effective. <S> This is really why it's done here, and in fact, my favorite local Chinese takeout restaurant here in Chicago does this exact thing with the three dishes. <S> Not fooling me, but I still like to eat the variations, nonetheless, knowing I'm not getting anything truly authentic <S> (Check out the Wikipedia entry on General Tso's Chicken, along with the Netflix video). <S> Bottom line: don't sweat it.
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Sesame Chicken is typically salty with a hint of sweetness, served with sesame seeds. Every restaurant is free to give their own interpretation.
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How many cups is 8 whole peaches equivalent to? I have some fresh peaches that have been peeled and sliced and mixed with some sugar and a little lemon (approx 1/2 a bushel). All the recipes I can find only call for "8 peaches" or similar values. But my peaches are already cut up. Does anyone have a suggestion as to how many cups of peaches is equivalent to 8 peaches? <Q> If I gave you any number I'd be almost certainly wrong - peaches come in many different sizes. <S> (And personally I'm led to believe that any recipe that gives only a number like "8 peaches" is either crap because is's imprecise or tolerates a lot of difference.) <S> So I suggest you either find a recipe with a weight <S> My first guess is jams that often use equal or specific-ratio parts (by weight) of ingredients. <S> or one that gives volumetric meassurement for the cut fruit "add two cups of sliced peaches" or choose something that can be imprecise because you add ingredients to taste. <S> Compote, for example. <S> Less sugar for ripe fruit, more for tart ones... <S> And if all fails and you have only sliced your fruit, try to "build" a whole peach (sort of, you don't have to find the original pieces <S> , this isn't CSI) and weigh that. <S> The rest is simple math. <S> If you want to be very precise you could weigh 1c sugar as well and subtract from the total amount, but for 1/2 bushel of fruit <S> I'd probably ignore it. <A> As they say in the US state of Maine " You can't get there from here. <S> " <S> You need to know the peach size before you cleaned an syrup'd them. <S> I checked USDA Table 8 , it has nutrition, volume and weight information, and found: <S> Does anyone have a suggestion as to how many cups of peaches is equivalent to 8 peaches? <S> Based on the chart above, here is my guesstimate: <S> the recipe is written for medium peaches (150 grams each) [ medium is an assumption ] 8 peaches times 150 grams = 1200 grams of peach needed 1200 grams of peaches / 154 grams for a measuring cup gives, just under 8 cups of peaches = 8 medium peaches <S> As you can see, there's allot of wiggle room in there. <S> Consider keeping notes while cooking with goal of writing your own future recipe in grams. <A> <A> That would depend on the size of the peach. <S> You don't say what you're making but I would suggest, adding a small amount of peaches at a time to whatever you're making, see if it looks like enough ,add more, make sure you add a small amount at a time, you may not be able to remove <S> but you can always add more. <S> Make sure you measure the amount you add <S> so if you like the outcome, you can make it again. <A> 8 peaches equal five and a half to 6 cups of sliced peaches
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I've found that 2 medium size peaches is a cup, give or take, and this works in a recipe I like that calls for 8 peaches.
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Lots of water coming out of chicken breasts when cooking in pan. Why? When I cook chicken breasts in a pan, a lot of water comes out of them. I've seen this answer: My chicken breasts release a lot of fluid when cooked. How do I prevent this? where some people suggest that this has to do with the quality of the chicken and that certain producers/supermarkets will actually "pump" their chickens full of water. However, what i don't understand is that I'm buying those from Whole Foods and that they are supposedly air chilled (which someone in the above-quoted answer suggests getting), so shouldn't they be high quality? Is the reality that even WF is scamming its customers by pumping chickens full of water? Is their chicken just not that high quality? If that's the case, where can you possibly get good chicken? (Serious question if you know a place, I live in Cambridge MA, US) <Q> If you're using high heat and a frying pan, you don't really notice it because it evaporates quickly. <S> That brown stuff you see in a frying pan after cooking meat on high heat are the evaporated juices. <S> If you're baking them at around 350 F, you'll also notice water being released. <S> This is amplified if you overcrowd the cooking vessel. <S> You don't see it in a whole roasted chicken or roast beef for example because the liquid coming out caramelizes and creates those lovely browned bits to make a sauce or gravy. <S> I doubt that WF is selling water and phosphate tumbled chicken breasts. <A> There is no way to completely prevent the chicken breasts from releasing water. <S> Not crowding the number of pieces in the pan is the most effective, followed by searing the meat when you first put it into the pan, then turning down the heat to complete the cooking. <S> Searing to lock in a lot of the water will result in a cooked meat that is moister and retains more taste than one in which the water is allowed to stew itself out during cooking. <S> Finally, cook with the lid on the pan only for five minutes at most. <S> After that, cook the chicken in an open pan to encourage evaporation or water and to help prevent over-cooking. <A> Yes, Whole Foods (much like other supermarkets) is now selling chicken loaded with water. <S> It did not used to be this way. <S> One result -- beyond the overcharging -- is that it has become impossible to sauté chicken in the United States. <S> When you think you're sauté-ing, you're actually steaming.
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Liquid naturally comes out of all meats as they cook. However, you can minimize it by the way you cook.
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Old stone mortar and pestle cleaning My roommate has an old mortar made from stone that had been outdoors for quite some time. She rinsed it thoroughly,put it in a big pot, and boiled it to kill any bacteria that could be crawling in there. The mortar has great sentimental value for her, and I'm unsure about what products use for cleaning, if at all, since the stone might absorb the chemicals and render it unusable. This related question seems to indicate that soap is not to be used with porous materials, such as stone. Why are stone ware and dutch oven items exempt from bacteria? Before using it for food preparation, is there anything else we should do to avoid health issues? Can we use it already after boiling it? <Q> What type of stone, lava, marble, granite? <S> Bleach makes for a nice general purpose disinfectant, as it degrades on its own over time. <S> Let the thing soak in bleach (1 part bleach 9 part water) for a few days then boil again, and you should be good to go; once you find a pestle that fits. <A> I think you are all obsessed with 'germs', cut off from nature so much you imagine everything a threat! <S> You all need to get a grip! <S> Children who grow up messing about in earth come to no harm, they have healthy immune systems which can cope with anything nature has. <S> Same with dogs, kids who grow up with a dog and their less than hygenic habits are healthier than kids who don't, and get fewer childhood illnesses. <S> Botulism? <S> Are you mad? <S> You could damge an antique mortar by boiuling it or using bleach. <S> Get real, we are animals just like all others, we have an immune system. <S> You have more to fear from the burgers America eats in vast quantities! <A> Boil in pressure cooker or oven. <S> I think the worst you have to worry about is Botulism, and it dies at 240. <S> So the pressure cooker would allow you to get the temp high enough to kill anything real bad. <S> And make sure to let it cool completely before you move it. <S> The vinegar is also a good thought. <S> Not sure I would go the bleach route.
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All you need to do with something left outside is wash it out with water, and if any stains some detergent. Oven would work too, but be careful not to go too high because the stone could crack.
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Is heated up bleach dangerous? I put my electric flattop oven on self cleaning. This heated up the top of the oven. I then bleached the flattop. The bleach steamed up and made it nearly impossible to breath. The entire room is now unenterable due to the fumes. It is not merely a typical bleach smell. I can't breath when I am inside and my eyes are on fire. Is there something about heating up bleach that is particularly dangerous? <Q> Probably generated some chloramines by reaction between the hot bleach and proteins on the stove surfaces. <S> There's no telling exactly which chloramines you created, as we have no idea what amines were on your stove top. <S> However, these things can be quite nasty .Open <S> windows if possible, and leave home for several hours. <S> Your eyes and lungs are giving you important warnings. <S> Heed them. <A> Bleach contains sodium hypochlorite . <S> Bleach usually contains strong warnings not to mix with any other cleaning chemical, as some of them will tend to rapidly decompose its active ingredient and release a lot of gaseous chlorine. <S> I expect applying heat has a similar effect. <A> Bleach fumes are already unpleasant, and heating will inevitable: <S> cause any volatile compounds dissolved in a liquid to be more volatile - what's in it will be cooked out rapidly; and most any chemical reaction (including bleach degrading into gas, or reactions with contaminants) to proceed much faster (chemists describe the general relationship in the arrhenius equation, which is not linear, though not downright exponential) - whatever the bleach turns into, it turns into at a much faster rate. <S> The same applies to the aggressiveness of a liquid chemical upon contact - most corrosive substances <S> will be much more than doubly corrosive at 60 <S> °C vs 30°C. <A> Never burn a cloth recently soaked with bleach. <S> By recently I mean 2 days. <S> Also place <S> at least a 50 yd. <S> distance from the fire. <S> I must have inhaled the fumes. <S> I was out for about 24 hours, headaches, low energy, nausea, slight fever, loss of appetite.
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The fumes being released are almost certainly chlorine , which as you have observed, is quite hazardous. You are unlikely to have done yourself any serious harm as you're sitting there typing about it, but breathing any more of it is definitely to be avoided.
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How do we decide between gas, induction, and electric (ceramic) stoves? I'm surprised I only found one previous thread on this topic and it was 5 years old, so i think it's worth asking again since I'm sure some things have changed. We're going to be remodeling our kitchen very soon. I'm not a professional chef, but i do like to cook. This will be the first time I've had the opportunity to actually pick out what stove to use rather than using whatever came with the house or apartment. I'm trying to decide which type of stove to get. Gas I have the most experience with and seems like the simplest to use. It's also a bit of pain to keep clean. The induction cook tops seem very cool, certainly seem to be easier to clean. But i'd have to replace a fair bit of cookware. I'm not really concerned about having to do that - buying a new set of pots and pans will be relatively cheap compared to the remodel. The ceramic ones - the only reason that seems worth considering is it should also be easier to clean than gas. But it also feels like it would be too similar to those cheap stoves that use those coils - and I hate those things. Can anyone list more pros and cons of each to help me make a more informed decision. E.g., this one will heat faster, etc. No opinions, just comprehensive facts, please. <Q> Induction <S> (I never actually read this , but thought it looked useful; used my own knowledge) <S> Only work with certain metal pots Will not burn non-metal items, as long as they haven't had a metal (kid-friendly) <S> Cost-efficient once installed (if not in CA or other states with expensive electricity) <S> Easy to clean: water and soap <S> Gas Works with all types of pots Dangerous, may catch items on fire (stay away from curtains, plants, etc) <S> Generally less cost-efficient than induction stoves (unless in CA or other states with expensive electricity) <S> Harder to clean: occasional scrubbing is needed <S> Ceramic Works with all types of pots <S> Remains hot and dangerous for a longer time than induction/gas stovetops Less control over heat <S> , may burn food or reduce quality Takes a long time to prepare and heat up Medium cleaning difficulty: no hard scrubbing, but not just a wipe away; may affect performance if not clean Brands: <S> There are sooo many brands out there. <S> You might want to check out GE, Home Depot, Sears, and IKEA first. <S> But for ceramic cooktops, a deeper search might be in question. <S> TLDR: <S> Depends on what you're looking for. <S> Induction is the generally best (cost, safety, maintenance, control) but only works with certain pots. <A> Gas <S> This is what you're used to using The control of it is reasonably accurate (if your gas stove has better control than high/low/off) <S> The response time is immediate (if you lower the setting, it has immediate effect and less energy is transferred to the pot) <S> Reasonably energy efficient <S> Electric <S> It's quite a change from gas, requires new cooking habits (mostly due to the response time, see below) <S> The control is very accurate (on a modern stove you'll have ten power levels) <S> The response time is quite slow (takes a minute or two to heat up initially. <S> Worse is that changing from power level 8 to 4 takes a few minutes, with the pan being too hot for that time) <S> Low energy efficiency (relative to the other options) <S> Induction Doesn't require a major change in habits, but does require thought (I used to heat a pan with oil on the gas, then lift it to move the oil around to cover the bottom. <S> On my induction stove, picking up the pan turns off the coil after a few seconds) <S> The control is very accurate (usually ten power levels) <S> The response time is very fast. <S> Faster than gas on initial heating of the pot, equivalent to gas when turning down. <S> Reasonably high energy efficiency. <S> Simply put, a 3kW induction stove can boil a 5 litre pot of water in about three minutes. <S> Note that for a good induction and electric stove, you'd probably need a three-phase electrical connection in the kitchen. <S> You should check the model before talking to the electrician, though. <A> 1 great feature with gas is that you can still cook if your electricity is out. <S> This feature has come in handy on a few occasions but is certainly not a deciding factor.
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A powerful induction stove can transfer more energy than gas for equivalent safety, as the gas would require a large flame. Aside from the differences in cleaning and price, which are important, I find that the biggest issue for me is actually cooking on the stove.
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Can I still save my solid block of jam? So this morning I made some blackberry jam (just blackberries, lemon juice and sugar). But apparently I overcooked it, because after dropping it in the pot and sealing it, it cooled off and now it's rock-solid. Is there anything I can do to save it? I was thinking about trying to scoop it out and re-cook it and see if it'd soften up, but considering how much work it'll be to get it out, I'd rather be sure it'd actually work. If not, is there anything else I can use it for? <Q> From the description "Rock-solid" you guess correctly that you have overcooked your jam mixture. <S> The process of overcooking your jam mixture results in most of the water content evaporating. <S> In candy terms, your jam is probably somewhere between Hard-Ball stage to Caramelized stage. <S> For jelly/jam you want the temperature around 220 degree F. Hard ball stage is about 250 degree <S> F. Depending on how far your "jam" is into these stages you may be able to save your "jam" by introducing more water back into it. <S> Try and out a small portion of it into a sauce pan and adding a little bit of water to it. <S> If you are able to turn that mixture into something resembling jam by adding water, that means you haven't cooked it beyond saving <S> and you can do that to the rest of your jam. <S> Note that fruit flavors are volatile so cooking further will result in the blackberry flavors deteriorating. <S> Otherwise treat your jam mixture as a candy. <A> You just made hard candy. <S> Chisel some off and see how it tastes. <A> If this is the case, then heat your jar in boiling water to soften it, then pour it into a pan and reboil it, adding a little extra water. <S> Then when it cools it will simply be a thick syrup, and shouldn't crystalise <S> (Think how honey crystalises). <S> Careful, if you cool it in your fridge it may still crystalize. <S> If your jam is using gelatine or pectin then this may not work at all, though you should be able to get a syrup at the very least. <S> Tip: If you know the amount of sugar in your Jam and the weight of fruit, by measuring the weight of your solution you can test at 100 C if it will oversaturate: <S> The maximum solubility of sugar in water at Room Temperature is 2 grams per mililitre of water. <S> 1 ml of water = <S> 1 gram <S> so your solution should weigh just over 1.5 times the mass of sugar you used. <S> Aim to be below this but as close as possible to it (maybe 1.8).
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If the Jam or Syrup is simply crystalizing, then you simply have a too high sugar:water ratio; the sugar is dissolved at 100 C but oversaturates and so crashes out of solution when it cools to room temperature.
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How can I keep food hot for extended periods without an active heat source? Say I have a hot dish, and I want to keep it hot and safe (i.e. >140F) without any heat source (no electricity, no fire) for as long as possible, say morning to evening, or even over a day. Just using something insulated won't be enough for more than a few hours, so what else can I do? <Q> The long drive is easy. <S> There are 12 volt cooler/warmers available that would cover that need. <S> But you have to do your homework. <S> I found several that say they heat to 140° F or above, but I did see a couple that don't go over 135 <S> ° <S> There are several other options that could be used for a long drive or camping, etc. <S> Instant, disposable ice packs or heat packs; don't require a heat or cold source and can be replaced as needed. <S> Hotpots - Transfer hot food to the hotpot <S> and it keeps hot for several hours. <S> Hot pot casseroles <S> Other ideas for camping: <S> A chafing dish type setup. <S> A camping stove. <S> * <S> Both have certain time limits and shouldn't be left unattended. <S> If you use the 12 volt cooler/warmer you can plug it in as needed. <S> However you need to be sure that you don't run your car battery down. <S> You can avoid this by running the vehicle while heating/cooling. <S> (Not the most efficient.) <S> Also, in some cars (like mine) <S> the plugs will not work unless the car is on. <A> It looks like a popular solution is a good ice chest with heated bricks. <S> I found several variations of this technique on various sites. <S> It's an improvement over simply insulating since you have a lot of additional thermal mass and it's starting out at a much higher temperature. <S> You wrap the bricks in foil and heat them in the oven (e.g. 30 minutes at 450F) so that they're holding plenty of thermal energy, then line the ice chest with towels to protect it and place the bricks in. <S> You might want another layer of towels around the food too, and you can place additional insulation over the top to fill any remaining space. <S> Depending on the food, I expect this could actually result in cooking it a bit further, but it'll definitely stay hot a long time. <S> I haven't actually tried this and people's assessments of how long it lasts vary wildly. <S> But given that ice chests can stay cold for a day or two in good conditions, I suspect that if you get the details right, this might well do the same for staying hot. <A> And then there is this one, out of Dutch antiquity. <S> It really, really works. <S> http://www.rootsimple.com/2011/12/hay-boxes-or-fireless-cookers
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F. There are also reusable hot and cold packs that can be used in an insulated cooler or carrier that will keep food safe for 4 - 6 hours. - Food can be cooked in and carried or stored, staying hot for several hours.
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How do I decrease the saltiness in pork meatballs? If I simmer salty pork meatballs in low sodium tomato juice or sauce would it decrease the saltiness in the meatball? <Q> Another option is to make the sauce a bit spicy. <S> Both sweetness and spiciness will lower your tongue's perception of saltiness. <S> Note that it will not make the meatballs noticeably less salty themselves. <S> This only hides the saltiness, so if you are trying to lower the sodium due to dietary restrictions, this will not help in that regard. <S> If the meatball is so salty that the sweet/spicy sauce doesn't mask it, you can re-purpose the meatball in other ways. <S> Some ideas include: Break them up into little pieces and sprinkle on top of a salad (treat it like how some people treat bacon bits in a salad). <S> Try eating the meatballs in a sandwich with the sweet/spicy tomato sauce. <S> Sandwich bread is very neutral in taste and can help with the saltiness. <S> Break into bits and add into a baked pasta dish. <S> Add it into a vegetable or noodle soup. <A> Yes, cooking a salty meatball in a low sodium sauce will reduce the saltiness a bit as some of the salt will be cooked out, however the effect won't be that much. <S> If you want to try it keep in mind that canned tomatoes have a fair amount of salt added (it helps preserve them), so you'd be best off making a fresh tomato sauce. <A> You can soak them in water for awhile then rinse out some of it out. <S> Can do two three times. <S> Or boil it out however this might make them tougher.
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The easiest way to make the taste of the meatball less salty is to make the tomato sauce a bit sweeter than you normally want it.
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Why does my horchata have too much sediment? I've tried a few times to make horchata. My process is as follows: Put 1 cup of long grain rice, one cinnamon stick, and 4 cups of water in the blender. Blend briefly to break up. Let soak for 3+ hours. Blend thoroughly. Strain through a fine mesh strainer. Sweeten and chill. The flavor is fantastic but there is a large quantity of rice sediment and the texture overall is gritty. This sediment is fine enough to pass through my muslin so I don't think more straining will help much. What do I need to do to improve the texture of my horchata? <Q> Dave Arnold's research on agar clarification culminated in an approach which uses agar, an ice bath, a whisk, a cheesecloth or muslin, and about an hour. <S> Measure out 0.2% agar by weight (as a fraction of your total liquid quantity). <S> Whisk it into 1/3 of the liquid to disperse, then bring to a simmer while stirring and hold it there until the agar is hydrated. <S> Pour in the rest of the liquid slowly while whisking, keeping the temperature about 35C. Leave to set in ice bath. <S> Gently break up the gel with the whisk and then sieve through the cheesecloth. <S> The gel will trap the sediment, but leak liquid. <A> Does the sediment "settle" at the bottom of the container if you let it sit for a few hours, undisturbed? <S> If so, it might be an option to use a siphon. <S> We have one for our beer brewing. <S> It looks like this: (image from Amazon ) <S> Attach a piece of vinyl tubing to the top and it has a pump action to start the flow. <S> As long as your receptacle is lower than your starting container, you're golden. <S> But, as I've said, this will only work if the particles settle out of the solution and you have to be very careful not to stir them up when you start siphoning and to cut off the flow before you suck up the particles. <A> The softer rice is, the easier the mix can be homogeneus. <S> You left it 3+ hours after blending it, other ones left it 1-12 hours before crushing it on a blender. <S> Some use mortar and pestle <S> (There are hardcore ones called "Molcajetes" made of volcanic stone in México).You can even forget about crushing rice when you acquire rice flour instead of simple rice. <S> If you use boiled rice, instead of the unboiled one, the mix can remain homogeneous easier, and the Horchata will have a nice taste closer to the dessert rice pudding (known in other cultures as simply rice+milk) preferrably adding some milk-related, vanilla flavor or the other ones used adecquately in the dessert. <S> There will be less sediments that way. <S> In fact, horchata can be the answer for when you've made too much rice pudding to be consumed on time. <S> Alternative uses for remanents <S> are already covered in site. <A> My method is I COOK the rice, then blend, then sift. <S> The flavor is so much better and creamier and there is NO grit, just a little bit of sediment, which is normal. <A> Wow I had no idea <S> horchata was so easy! <S> I'm going to try it. <S> Maybe my mead making can come in handy... <S> Try adding guar gum. <S> It is like cornstarch, but 8x as strong, so you don't need as much (1/2 teaspoon). <S> It is an emulsifier <S> so it binds fats with water, and thickens up smoothies and lattes. <S> I use it when I make green tea frappuchinos to prevent the milk from separating from the ice water. <S> I don't know if it will work for this as there doesn't appear to be any fats, but it can't hurt and it will definitely thicken it a little. <S> To clarify mead, I use bentonite clay and Sparkalloid. <S> One attaches to the to the positive particles, and the other attaches to the negative particles, and they drop out as sediment. <S> After it settles (about a week), I rack it with an auto-siphon (mentioned in another answer) to siphon off the top liquid and leave the sediment behind. <S> I don't know if this will help or hurt you. <S> Cinnamon flavor does not settle out as I use cinnamon flavor in mead too. <S> However it may strip too much of the rice flour out. <S> Try with only the siphon, then with either bentonite, or Sparkalloid, then finally both. <S> You would have to keep it in the fridge long enough to settle (about 4-5 days with bentonite and 7 days with Sparkalloid). <S> Strain with a coffee filter after you use your other filter.
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One technique which seems to be effective at straining out fine sediment is gel clarification with gelatin or agar.
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How to keep cake topper from toppling over I have a wedding cake to do this weekend and the bride wants each cake tiers on separate tree stump. The top tier will be a 6 inch layer with a 4 inch layer. The tree stump for this top layer the bride wants the tree stump height to be 20 inches tall. But the cake topper is a Burlap heart shape with the base of 2 1/2 inches wide. The topper is 6" tall and I'm using buttercream frosting for the cake. What can I do so that the cake topper will not topple over? I thought about using white chocolate to adhere it to, but don't have any way to heat the chocolate when setting it up. It's an outdoor wedding with no electricity. I suggested to the bride that she let me glue the topper to a dowel rod but the bride doesn't want anything screwed or glued to the base. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciate. <Q> You can make the base wider with white chocolate. <S> No glue, and you can do it in advance <S> so you don't need to have any electricity at the site. <S> Put a parchment paper round into an appropriately sized cake pan or a plate or shallow bowl. <S> Stand the cake topper in the middle of the parchment paper. <S> Carefully pour or pipe melted chocolate around the edge of the base and build it up, coating the base and widening it. <S> Allow the chocolate to cool, carefully peel away the parchment paper. <S> If the weather is likely to be warm, you may want to make the additional chocolate layer thicker so that it will not melt quickly and release the topper. <S> You could also widen the base with some other material (cardboard covered with foil, for example -- make a large cardboard disc, cut a hole in the middle for the stem of the topper, cut a slit on one side of the hole the size of the base, slide the base through and center it) and cover that with chocolate or frosting, but I think plain white chocolate would work well <S> and it sounds like the bride wants to keep everything touching the cake edible (except the topper itself, of course). <A> There are lots of other ways to attach a topper to a dowel that don't involve glue. <S> (eg, screws) <S> Here are some other alternatives: <S> fix the topper to a wider base, so that you can just set that on the cake. <S> Something like plasticard (thin, white, can be drilled & screwed from underneath (use stainless steel pan-head screws; might want to wash them first to make sure there's no cutting fluid on anything else on them)). <S> You can then cover the new base in flowers, fruit, fondant, or icing (either to match, or to make 'moss') <S> Insert dowels (or stiff straws, or similar) into the cake to support the topper, all the way to the base of the cake, and then trim them flush with the cake. <S> Set the topper on the dowels. <S> (mark the dowels when all the way down <S> so you have a reference mark, then spin them as you lift up to minimize friction ... <S> you might want to set a central dowel just to test if this is going to be problem with your cake or not, so you know the topper will cover it if something goes wrong). <S> update: <S> Make a wider base from plasticard, but afix it with something non-damaging that you can let set up before you get there. <S> (eg, frosting as a mastic, or hot glue) Attach a dowel to a wider base (eg, a counter-sunk screw that just barely catches a fender washer ... <S> you'll want a larger dowel, and pre-drill <S> it so it doesn't split), then use frosting or hot glue to affix the topper to it. <S> As another alternative that doesn't require as wide of a dowel, find an appropriately sized T-nut that the dowel fits tightly in (the threads should compress the dowel some). <S> The dowel should be shorter than the height of the cake (as we're not going to be able to trim it once it's inserted). <A> I would suggest a miniature "tree stump" made of sugar; will match the theme and hold well if you stick the topper in the sugar. <S> Something like : http://www.foodmigration.com/2005/11/pulling-sugar-burning-thumbs.html
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If you're using slick plastic, you might be able to lift the dowels back up an 1/8" after finding the bottom plate before trimming flush, so that the topper can sink just slightly into the cake.
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Is butter required to caramelize onions? Caramelized onions are great but I've only seen them prepared with loads of butter. Can you caramelize onions without butter and still achieve the same effect? Or is butter what creates the caramelized effect? <Q> Onion can be caramelized without butter. <S> Or any other type of oil. <S> However, unless you are actively avoiding using fat, there really is no reason not to. <S> The main benefit of using oil when caramelizing onion is the fact that oil can reach a higher temperature than water. <S> To caramelize onion you need to reach about 230F. Water boils at 212F and will not go higher than that. <S> So to caramelize without oil, you would first need to draw out the water and "dehydrate" the onion a bit before they reach temperatures that can caramelize the onion. <S> Note: <S> Never put water into the pan if you wish to caramelize onion. <S> The reason you very commonly see butter used is because it can reach temperatures above 230F <S> and it's flavor profile works really well with the savory sweet flavor of caramelized onions. <A> As others have said here, butter isn't required. <S> The browning and good flavour come from the maillard reaction: <S> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction <S> You can use oil instead of butter, though the flavour will probably be a little different. <S> You can also add a little baking soda, as the increased pH will increase the maillard reaction, which gives more great flavour faster. <S> This article has pictures comparing caramelized onions with butter vs oil, and with vs without baking soda: <S> http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/01/how-to-make-the-best-french-onion-soup-caramelization.html <S> You can also use a pressure cooker, in which case you can achieve a temperature high enough that the maillard reaction occurs, even in a wet atmosphere. <S> At normal atmospheric pressure, you'll never get past 100 degrees when there's water, but under pressure the temperature is higher. <S> That's one of the reasons pressure cookers are a great tool, you can use them to pack more maillard goodness into soups and sauces, for example. <A> Butter is not necessary. <S> The browning of the sugars in the product is what creates caramelization. <S> To caramelize without fat, chop or slice onion, place in pan with a little salt. <S> Cover and cook at medium for about 5 minutes. <S> Uncover and cook any water out. <S> Stir often. <S> Deglaze the pan with a bit of water. <S> Cook and deglaze until you reached your desired effect. <A> No, you don't need butter to caramelize onions because they are very very sweet, and the sugar inside of them is what become brown as you caramelize your onions. <S> They do however get pretty sticky since you are basically creating caramel, so if you're not using butter, you should use some oil, or have a very nonstick pan, or you will struggle trying to scrape the brown bits at the bottom of your pan, and they might burn. <A> They brown and become flavorful for two reasons, not one: Two different browning reactions are at play in the process: caramelization, in which sugars break down into hundreds of new molecules ... and the Maillard reaction, in which proteins and sugars transform into an insane number of new flavor and aroma molecules. <S> https://www.seriouseats.com/2019/06/how-to-caramelize-onions-classic.html Serious Eats is a very good site for the best methods bc <S> they focus on the science behind the techniques and also are invested in creating the tastiest, most appealing food they can. <S> (Its director, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, is a James Beard winner.) <S> With respect to an earlier poster, you not only can put some water in the pan, you'll have to (as the fond increases and needs to be scraped up). <S> Also, I'm pretty sure I learned years ago on America's Test Kitchen (another science-based resource) that certain bitter compounds in the onions will break down in butter but not in oil, but I can't substantiate that claim. <S> (I've tried both and find that the onions retain some bitterness when cooked in oil. <S> I share this info unhappily bc <S> it's at odds with my concerns about animal welfare.)
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In fact, you can caramelize without any fat.
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How do I clean a George Foreman grill? I find that the scouring side of a blue ("non-scratch") kitchen sponge, with water and dish detergent and lots of elbow grease, is effective, but it does require lots of elbow grease and I'm wondering if there's an easier way. <Q> Deglazing is the easy way that I've found over the years: Unplug the grill, but don't give it a chance to cool down. <S> Drip water along the top edge of the grill (squeeze from a sponge, or a soaked paper towel). <S> You should see the water turn murky brown as the stuff releases ... if it doesn't, add more water. <S> After 20-30 seconds or so, wipe it down. <S> It's a bit more difficult to clean the top ... <S> you have to learn it back. <S> You can also wipe it down with a soaking wet paper towel. <S> You might have to scrub a little bit, but the water should get off the majority of the gunk. <S> Beware that you'll tear up paper towels on the little nubs at the bottom edge of the lower part ... <S> I typically save that area for last, as anything to clean above it would drip back down there anyway. <S> Also, if the grill cools off too much, you might need to let it re-warm some. <A> For me, I find the best way to clean it is, with the grill still on, get a big piece of paper towel, wet it very well, put it on the grill, and close the lid for a few seconds. <S> Lift the lid, relocate the paper towel using a pair of tongs, close the lid. <S> Repeat until all is clean, letting the steam do all the work. <S> The worst will be cleaned and easily removed with another piece of paper towel. <A> Whenever practically possible, wrap your food in aluminium/kitchen foil. <S> It will prevent a lot of cleaning later on. <S> And it will preserve all the flavors and juices. <A> Personally I clean it while it's turned on. <S> I used to work in a kitchen and this is how we always cleaned the more industrial versions. <S> The surface is non stick anyway <S> so shouldn't be too difficult to clean. <S> Just take a cloth or green/yellow scouring sponge heavily soaked in water and give a scrub on the top and bottom.
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And as others have suggested, I find it easy to clean with a piece of dry or wet tissue and then water while it is still warm.
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Is eating olive pits a problem? I have been eating fresh and brined olives for years. I like the olives with the pits and usually consume the whole pit without removing it. It was recently pointed out to me that this is not a healthy practice, and even though I have been doing this for some time, I began to wonder whether it is 1)abnormal to eat the whole olive, pit and all, and 2) will the pits have a long term adverse effect? I have never met anyone who ate olive pits, and I find the with-pit olives to be the best, so I thought I would ask. Note that I do not grind up and chew the pits, as I am sure that my teeth would not like that! <Q> I'd avoid this practice. <S> The olive pit husk is very hard and should not be eaten, however, as it is indigestible and might injure the intestinal wall if sharp edges are present. <S> Also, do not chew the husk, as it is so hard it could break a tooth. <S> Swallowing the husk is also a bad idea, as it has sharp ends that could be dangerous. <S> It is also quite indigestible and will come out just as it went in. <S> ( source ) <A> In our culture we eat olive pits (especially Kalamata) for generations and no one has ever had a problem with eating them in small quantities (3-4 max). <S> They seem to be digestible (never noticed any of them coming out! :) <A> I swallow olive pits occasionally,not more than 2 if they are not too big. <A> I used to eat the meat in the olive pit. <S> It is white and oblong shape, and it is very tasty. <S> I have not had it since when I was a child. <S> I will ask the herb store in Chinatown next time. <S> this delicacy is very expensive probably because it is hard to break the pit and extract the meat.
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Heard for some old folks in Greece they have done it for whole life(in their 80s still kicking and olive pits eating:)) and they believe that pits protect their intestines as they are digestible
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Why is my chocolate fudge not that dark? A UK chain's chocolate fudge is very dark. When I do chocolate fudge it comes out more looking the colour of milk chocolate. Is this because they use whipping cream or for some other reason? <Q> It's possible that you need to add more chocolate, or use a different type of chocolate. <S> Dutch process cocoa has a much darker color than natural cocoa, for example. <S> It's also possible that the color is being lightened by microscopic air bubbles. <S> This can happen if you use a fluffy ingredient (such as marshmallow cream) or if you mix a lot of air into the fudge. <S> Although, I imagine it would take a lot of air to make a big difference. <S> If all else fails, try dipping pieces of fudge in dark chocolate. <S> I know that's cheating, but who's going to argue with chocolate covered fudge? <S> Sounds good to me! <A> and this shows in the final product. <S> I have made the exact chocolate or marble cake with cocoa powder (same processing type) from different manufacturers and the results were optically quite different. <S> This won't necessarily influence the taste, though, at least if the "visual expectation" of darker is more chocolate-y can be ignored. <A> Are you using soft brown sugar?My fudge <S> is very dark just using 20 grams cocoa powder and dark brown sugar recipe. <S> The best fudge I have ever made is from Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang, by Ian Flemming. <S> It is available online. <S> That recipe will offer you two values: one for white sugar one brown sugar. <S> Use the Brown sugar for darker fudge.
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Probably it's the cocoa/chocolate used - there are some brands/breeds that are a lot darker than others
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How to avoid stiffness and crispness of toasted/oven baked bread sandwiches I would like to know whether there is any solution to avoid the stiffness and crispness of bread of oven baked sandwiches which uses normal white bread as the base. I used to make sandwiches with bread and always these bread after baking turns out really crispy and stiff and sometimes it get burnt. I butter the bread sometimes and sometimes not. Either way I end up with crispy bread sandwich which is difficult to bite and affects our mouth skin. How can we make the bread base of the sandwich soft? <Q> Wrap the sandwich in foil before baking so the moisture stays in the bread. <S> That will prevent it crisping up. <A> The bread gets crispy and "stiff" because it dries up completely. <S> A good toaster should toast a slice of bread quickly so that the exterior is toasted and the interior barely hot; a bad toaster will not be warm enough and will dry up the slice of bread. <A> You say "toasted" in your title but there are various ways to achieve this, different ines dominating in different countries. <S> If you have a slot toaster (common in the UK, much less so in the rest of Europe, and apparently common in the US/Canada) there are toastabags (although this link is lakeland, they're on e.g. amazon as well). <S> These are reusable bags made of non-stick sheet, open on one edge. <S> You make the sandwich, put it in, than stuff it into the toaster. <S> I tend to give the sandwich 20 seconds in the microwave before toasting to make sure the cheese is nicely melted. <S> Alternatively if your oven has a grill setting that will work a lot better than oven mode.
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Same thing when you do an oven baked sandwich, it should be done on high heat so that the bread toasts up and crisps up on the exterior while not drying up the bread.
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Cleaning a Teflon pan with burnt rice residual Here is the rice cooker I own: There is a removable pan which is Teflon coated. A few days ago, cooking 2 cups of rice I thought it was too slow so I put it on direct heat (oven) to make it faster. After 5 or so minutes, the rice was slightly burnt. I tried (hot water + dish washing liquid) and (lukewarm water + washing powder), let it rest for 24 hours but to no avail. I don't know how to properly clean the burnt residual from the Teflon pan. <Q> You can try pouring some grain alcohol in it and leaving it to soak for a couple of hours. <S> After that, a normal scrubbing with dish soap should be enough. <S> Use the cheapest vodka/ouzo/gin you can find. <S> The second option is vinegar, with the same usage. <A> You can leave it for around an hour, and the hot water is the important part. <S> I clean pretty much everything in this way because it's natural and clean. <S> If this doesn't work, try to boil the solution. <A> For really tough stuff in Teflon-lined frying- and sauce-pans <S> I use sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and bring the pan to a boil. <S> Because of the higher temperature, you can supersaturate the solution by adding a lot of baking soda, making it very alkaline. <S> Because it looks like the vessel which contains the charred rice isn't supposed to be put on direct heat, you might want to boil water, add the baking soda, and let it sit. <S> I also use the cleaner SimpleGreen, which is an effective soak for many messes, especially burnt grease.
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You can add some vinegar and hot water, it should do the trick.
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Michelin Three Star Restaurant; but if the chef is not there When going to Michelin three star French restaurant in Paris, should I first find out if the star chef is actually cooking or at least present? I have been visiting a French restaurant in Paris that is highly rated and I never questioned myself if the star chef is actually cooking. At my last visit and it was lunch time, I ordered from the grand menu, not express lunch menu. I thought something was different with food but was not sure what it was. Then I was invited (the first time, it was my birthday that day) to the kitchen and was greeted by the those who are responsible for different parts (dessert, sauces, bread, etc) and the chief chef, who was not the Chef I wanted to meet (I didn't say that). I go there because I like the food which is prepared by the Chef(at least that was I believed til then) but what is the point of spending the same money if the chef is not there and if the taste is not the same? Is it a damn question to ask if the chef will be there the day I will be visiting? P.S. I read the first few. I'd like to thank each of you for taking time to reply my question. All answers are exactly what I wanted to know! <Q> 3 star restaurants are a business (*); for (probably bad) example, if I was to buy a Tesla car, I would not expect Elon Musk to build my car or even be at the auto-dealer. <S> Chefs do high-level business management (human resources, produce handling and buying, do PR,...) <S> and that takes time, they are not superman, they need to sleep and rest. <S> If they have to cook or be in the kitchen, then they need to be there early in the day for lunch preparation, they need to be there in the evening up to late because client will usually leave dinner at around midnight-ish; it is impossible to keep that schedule. <S> They will even be traveling to their other restaurants or do special appearances at food festivals around the world. <S> For example Pascal Barbot of the 3 star L'Astrance in Paris will be in Montréal for the Omnivore festival this week-end, so he will not be in Paris to "cook" or handle vip clients (in that case, maybe the restaurant is closed in august, I don't know). <S> (*) <S> All restaurants are business, but 3 star michelin are the top of the pyramid. <A> It's not a bad question. <S> You can always ask, you're a customer, no harm done in asking. <S> Asking or assuming that he/she will personally cook your food would be an entirely different matter. <S> The Chef does not do Everything. <S> Just approach it from a different direction: If The Chef thinks his kitchen is in good hands while absent, why shouldn't you? <S> He/she is (presumably) more qualified to judge than you. <A> Quite simply, "the chef is not there" ⇒ "the taste is not the same" seems to be a logical fallacy. <S> I suppose that could be true – if the food you ordered required special skills that we assume could only be replicated by the head chef. <S> But I think that's unlikely to reflect reality. <S> The quality of the restaurant as a whole is more likely to hinge on factors such as recipes, ingredients, freshness, and preparation, as opposed to the abilities of one all-star performer. <S> A kitchen staff can be trained. <S> It's an interesting question, though, and <S> I've thought of a few analogies: Is a Broadway musical quite the same on a night when an understudy replaces the lead actress? <S> Would you enjoy a concert by The Black Keys as much if they played with a substitute drummer? <S> Is watching the San Antonio Spurs the same on a night when Tony Parker is sidelined by an injury? <S> Interesting questions. <S> Assuming the understudy can hit all the right notes, though – assuming the drummer can keep time and add fills, and assuming the rest of the Spurs play to win – you are still likely to have an A-1 experience. <S> Similarly, if we assume the kitchen is staffed by competent professionals, the absence of a head chef is unlikely to affect the taste of a single meal on his or her night off. <S> That said, if the actress was your favorite actress, or if your sister dated Patrick Carney back when he was in high school <S> and you really wanted to watch him play on stage, or if Tony Parker has been your favorite point guard for some time, then I suppose there would be a tinge of disappointment that you didn't get to watch exactly what you were hoping to see. <S> C'est <S> la vie! <S> If you happen to know something about the chef and you want to eat there on a day when he is on duty <S> , I suppose there's nothing wrong with calling the restaurant ahead of time, inquiring about the head chef's schedule, and planning accordingly. <A> In a large restaurant with many staff the chef does not cook, they just tested, planned, and managed some stuff <S> beforehand <S> You are buying their menu creations/themes, and their location, décor, and staff selection <S> Personally I would rather not have to work so hard <S> (work less, earn less, spend less), and cook a nice meal for my family and friends at home with top quality ingredients
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Chefs will rarely cook; they will create the dishes, they might cook the prototypes and do trial plating to show his staff how the dish should cooked and presented; and the team will do the cooking day-to-day.
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Storing chicken of the woods mushrooms How can I store stored chicken of the woods? Last year I tried dehydrating but it really doesn't bounce back too well. Could these be sauteed and then frozen for later use in sauces? They only come around once a year so I don't want to screw them up this time. <Q> You should freeze it. <S> Sauté your mushroom in small chunks, (I would do it with onions and olive oil, but you don't have to), let it cool, and then put it in the freezer in an ice cube tray. <S> Once it's fully frozen, pop the cubes out of the ice cube tray and put them in a plastic bag in the freezer. <S> Whenever you want some chicken-of-the-woods, you can just take out some cubes and add it to a soup. <A> Sheephead (or Hen of the woods) have done well..... <S> I clean and then coat in a seasoned flour mix. <S> Lay out on baking sheet and freeze. <S> Then put in freezer bag. <S> When ready to use, heat oil in pan, take from freezer and put straight into hot oil. <S> (Do NOT THAW FIRST) <S> They cook and crisp up, and taste like you just picked them. <S> I will do my COW the same way. <S> Cut in strips and fried taste just like chicken fingers. <S> Enjoy <A> This would only serve to increase the concentration of toxins that likely cause the allergies in the first place. <S> As Stephie mentions in her comment the safest solution would be to pick and sauté only fresh young brackets, then separate and freeze them in portions as needed. <S> As a side note, most of the brackets you have there are quite large and mature. <S> If you haven't eaten this particular mushroom before or are not sure of its origin, I wouldn't recommend eating them as they may cause the allergic reaction I mentioned or even vomiting and diarrhoea. <S> As another side note, try sautéing the fresh ones with butter a hint of Chardonnay and some teriyaki sauce.
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As a mushroom variety that is associated with allergic reactions to some, I don't think it is advisable to dehydrate it.
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Why are foods often packaged in weird measurements? Whilst shopping I have noticed quite a number of products having very weird measurements. for example my jar of peanut butter is 127g, but I can't spot a pattern here. Is this just a random part of production, or is there some reasoning behind this? <Q> Quite often, it's because a manufacturer prefers to decrease the size of a packet than to increase its price. <S> Customers notice when the price goes up but don't tend to notice the product getting smaller. <S> For example, jam in the UK used to be sold in jars containing one pound, which became the equivalent 454 grams with metrication. <S> But, more recently, that's shrunk to 400g and even 350g in some cases. <S> Similarly, according to Wikipedia , Yorkie bars used to be 70g, which then became 64.5g, 61g, 55g and now 46g; packets of crisps that used to be 30g are now often 27g (10% smaller) or even less. <A> While 127 is a weird number, 227 isn't - it's the grams equivalent of half a pound. <S> In most cases where something is a weird (nonround) size in metric measurements, it's 10 fluid ounces or a quarter of a pound or something else reasonable in imperial units. <S> Why so many 454g packages instead of 500? <S> So the same machine can be used to make 1 lb packages (just need different labels) for the US market. <A> The one thing that's not been mentioned: the size of the package needs to be something easily shipped. <S> A standard pallet in the U.S. is 48" by 40" (not sure about Europe, but I'm sure they have a similar standard). <S> While boxes can overhang the 40" side a bit, it shouldn't be by more than a few inches, and they certainly shouldn't overhang the 48" side, or the forklift/pallet jack won't be able to operate safely. <S> Say your food came in boxes 20" by 10" by 4 <S> " - so you can fit say 8 on a pallet row. <S> This is a chocolate bar, say 4" by 2.5" by 0.5", which works out to 4oz. <S> So you can fit 5 deep 4 across and 8 high- total of 160 bars per case. <S> Great. <S> Now you want to shrink the bar by around 25% (so to around 3 oz). <S> But a 3" by 2.5" by 0.5" bar now won't fit neatly in a 20" by 10" box - you'd have 2" extra the long way. <S> That's bad news all around. <S> So you make it 4" by 2" by 0.5", which fits nicely (5 deep 5 across 8 high, 200 boxes/case), but isn't quite a 25% reduction in volume per bar - so it's now 3.2 <S> oz. <S> Well, okay, make it 0.4" high - okay, now 5x5x10 or 250 per case, fantastic, a bit more than 25% reduction though, now it's 2.56 <S> oz... <S> Of course you could switch box sizes, but in some case you can't really do that - either because the company is a smaller company with a more limited box size choice (and perhaps a ton of pre-printed customized boxes they don't want to toss), or because of some other restrictions. <S> Very large items particularly have this problem. <S> As such, sometimes sizes are chosen for volume-to-ship criteria rather than just round-number-on-box. <A> This will not be a direct answer to your question, but bear with me. <S> When a producer is choosing their packaging, they have several options. <S> They can portion by weight or volume (or amount, but that's useful less often for produce). <S> They can then choose whatever serving "size" they want; producers of new products may have to determine sizes by themselves, but most often there are already standardized or normalized packages out there. <S> This means that different products have different preferred sizes. <S> Added to this, different countries use different measurements (e.g. the US's imperial system or regional trends like dozens) and, finally, what's to say that 127 g is any more random than, say, 100 g?
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Either way, though, these sizes are based on a combination of how much we - the consumers - are the most comfortable with buying, but also based on average consumption.
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How do I avoid fibrous, dry beans? I've recently started adding beans to my diet to get more fiber. I've never been a fan, but it's better than the alternative. I've also discovered refried variations, which helps a lot. What I'm looking for is some kind of bean that isn't as "fibrous" or "dry" as the red kidney beans I've been trying. Are there different tastes? Different textures? Any beans considered "safe for beginners"? <Q> "Fibrous" and "dry" are good descriptions for bean which haven't been prepared properly. <S> Mostly, they have either not been soaked long enough, or haven't been cooked for long enough. <S> Normal times for beans are about 12 hours soaking in water and another 1-3 hours cooking, depending on the desired texture. <S> Also, sometimes beans can be cooked with about quarter/half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, which softens them nicely. <S> That should be a start towards solving your problem. <S> Cooked chickpeas are great as-is, and can be seasoned with cumin, salt and lemon juice for a nice snack. <A> It sounds like your beans were undercooked. <S> You should try this recipe. <S> You do not have to pre-soak dried beans or spend hours cooking them to have soft creamy beans. <S> Put your beans in an oven safe pot with a tight fitting lid. <S> Dutch oven and caldero would both work. <S> Pre-heat <S> the oven to 250F. Boil the dry beans in water (3:1 ratio water to beans) for 15 minutes. <S> You can use soup stock instead of water, or add spices and garlic/onion to the water. <S> After boiling put the lid over the pot and put the pot in the oven for an hour and 15-25 minutes. <S> Afterwards your beans should be perfectly cooked. <S> For a first timer I think pinto beans or black beans are the easiest to cook. <S> Larger beans like chick peas and kidney beans may require a little more boiling before baking them in the oven. <S> Beans like lentils or split peas do not even need to be baked, they cook through in 15-20 minutes of boiling on the stove. <A> When you use canned beans, you pretty much have to make do with what's sold. <S> Cooking from dry beans gives you greater control over the end texture. <S> Most recipes that start with dry beans involve pre-soaking the beans before simmering. <S> If you add 1 T salt / Gal to the pre-soaking water (this is called, 'brining') <S> you can get really creamy beans after simmering. <S> This is because sodium ions disrupt the pectin gel that binds the bean cells together, which loosens them to the point that water can better penetrate and hydrate the core of the bean during the pre-soaking period. <S> This means they cook more evenly, giving a creamy texture. <S> The folks at Cook's Illustrated did a great write-up on this technique in a recent issue - I'll try to track down the reference. <S> Making the cooking water more basic in pH (rather than acidic) can also help. <S> Baking soda both supplies sodium ions and makes the pH more basic. <S> This makes for even creamier beans, but in my hands it can also be overkill (i.e. the beans fall apart into mush). <S> Don't forget to switch out the brine before you simmer, or you'll have a super-salty dish! <S> Source: <S> A nice Cook's Illustrated instructional video <A> Different beans do have different flavors. <S> I find that kidney beans and black beans have a fairly strong and distinctive flavor compared to most beans. <S> Black-eyed peas and most lentils have a milder flavor, but still, if you were to cook them separately and taste test you would find they do taste different from each other. <S> I don't think there is any particular bean that is harder or easier to cook if you are open to experimenting (which it seems that you are). <S> They can mostly be interchanged in recipes (with the knowledge that there will be a slight difference in the resulting color, texture and flavor) and they are generally quite forgiving as long as you err on the side of over-cooking. <S> ;-) <S> If you're having trouble with getting them cooked well enough, you might try either a slow-cooker or a pressure-cooker. <S> Either one is a good way to make sure beans get thoroughly cooked without having to watch them on the stove for a long time. <S> For the slow-cooker, soak the beans overnight then add the beans and other ingredients to the cooker in the morning and let it go. <S> In general, for beans in a slow cooker, you will probably need double the time they would have taken boiling on the stove, but you don't need to watch them. <S> For the pressure cooker, start soaking the beans in the morning to cook them in the evening. <S> You need about 1/4 the "boiling in a pot on the stove" time (or less) in the pressure cooker. <S> There are some good references for cooking times around online, or converting a recipe from "regular" to slow-cooker or pressure cooker. <S> Note that the pressure cooker time starts from when it gets up to pressure, which will vary based on the volume of the cooker and the volume of the ingredients being cooked. <S> http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/10-top-tips-using-slow-cooker http://www.fagoramerica.com/my_fagor/common_cooking_times <A> try lima beans , they are soft and creamy when fully cooked, yet I suggest brining overnight to boil it faster then <S> , I usually stop to boil when shells start to come off and float on top <S> If cooked with kidney beans they look more like a sauce when kidney are just getting soft.
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To answer your question, I think that white beans and pinto beans are a good start (you can make a chili, for instance), and that chickpeas are also a very good starting point.
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What temperature to scramble eggs? We switched from an electric stove to a gas stove. The new stove doesn't seem to get hot enough to scramble eggs. How hot should the pan surface be to scramble eggs? All the recipes I've found just say "heat until hot". EDIT: I measured my pan with an IR thermometer, it never got above 260F, is that too cold for eggs? <Q> First off, measuring the temperature of an empty pan will only tell you so much. <S> That temperature is a result of the balance of your stove putting heat into the pan and the pan transferring that heat to the surrounding air, which means it depends on the pan, and as soon as you put anything in the pan the temperature is going to change. <S> (See also What temperatures do low-medium-high on the stove correspond to? .) <S> So, 260F is certainly hot enough to scramble eggs. <S> They'll be fully cooked by around 160F, though at that point they might be a bit softer than you're used to. <S> But the fact that the pan only reaches 260F really suggests that the stove isn't putting much heat into the pan, so once you add eggs to the pan, it might take an awfully long time for them to get hot enough to cook. <S> And a stove that can only heat an empty pan to 260F sounds like incredibly low power. <S> You might want to see if you can get the stove repaired or replaced. <A> There are two main types of scrambled egg: The omelet style and the cream/custard/hospital style <S> For the first see Better Scrambled Eggs , you can cook it at a bit below maximum stove heat, but that's not as flavoursome or fun in my book <S> For the cream/custard style, it's a medium stove top heat (no exact figure), but check with Mr Ramsay? <A> Temperature is only half the equation. <S> Different kinds of metal will transfer heat at different rates. <S> For example, a copper skillet will transfer heat differently than a cast iron skillet. <S> When water is drizzled on a skillet it should dance and spatter, but should not steam. <S> If it bubbles, it is too cool. <S> If it steams, it is too hot. <S> The key to making good scrambled eggs is to mix constantly and not let the egg dry out. <S> As you mix the egg using a hard-edged spatula the mass should glisten slightly and appear moist, but not slimy. <A> I made some measurements with an IR probe:At 135 to 140 Celsius (275-285 Fahrenheit) I get a decent result. <S> However, it seems it would be even better with a slightly lower temperature. <S> So 130 Centigrade or 265-270 Fahrenheit ought to give a good result.
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Most stoves can easily get empty pans up to at least 400-500F.
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Strange orange gel on surface of zucchini? There's a strange orange gel-like substance on the surface of a zucchini that's been sitting in my kitchen for a few days. It's a bit like tiny globs of orange marmalade. Any idea what it could be? Is the zucchini going bad? EDIT I tried wiping the "gel" off with a paper towel; it's firm, like resin. <Q> The cut end of your zucchini (courgette) looks like <S> it's exuding some water/sap <S> that was previously in the fruit. <S> The colour is due to the rest of the "stuff" in the sap besides water: e.g., perhaps sugars, starches and other stuff. <S> As the water evaporates, it looks like what you show in the picture, which will also explain the beads of goo being stiff or tacky. <S> That is common to occur with certain fruits, especially squashes, and especially at the stem-end, as you're showing in your picture. <S> You can see the same thing happen when cutting the fruit cross-wise (across the fibers), and especially with freshly-picked specimens. <S> I notice this especially with fresh butternut squash. <S> Unless it's soft, moldy, or otherwise showing signs of rotting, <S> it's probably fine to eat . <S> Cut the ugly bit(s) off and discard just before using... or otherwise the newly exposed flesh will exude more sap! <S> It's probably got some temporary protective properties against fluid loss. <S> With fresh (summer) squashes, at room temperature, they'll start to get starchy and soft rather quickly. <S> Putting them in the refrigerator (i.e., humidity/temperature control) can slow this process, but you've really only got a few days until the fruit starts going downhill quickly. <S> So in this sense, it is "going bad" -- this process starts as soon as it's picked! <S> Eat it up. <S> With winter squashes, on the other hand, you've got much more time. <A> Apparently, someone by mistake cut the fruit and not only the stem, which will lead to "weeping". <S> The photo below shows an extremely fresh zucchini that was harvested midday in full sun <S> (= lots of water rising within the plant) and then cut into the flesh, mimicking the cut on your specimen <S> : Note the clear drops appearing within seconds. <S> This liquid is nature's way of "bleeding" and closing the wound, forming a scab-like layer on the fruit, preventing mold and bacteria from entering, at least up to a certain level. <S> See below how these drops appear on a "wound" created by a vegetable peeler. <S> When the sap dries, it darkens and solidifies, turning orangeish. <S> Unless you notice any soft spot or mold, your zucchini is absulutely fine. <S> In fact, it "preserved itself". <S> Cut off a slice at the former wound because the scab is dry and rubbery and use as usual. <A> It's a bit hard to see on the picture, but could they be cucumber-seeds? <S> Some seeds create a gel-like covering before sprouting, and cucumber may be among them (You can observe when when sprouting cress on paper-towels or similar substrates, as well). <S> I am not sure about how it affects the edibility, though.
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Your zucchini (courgette) was loosing sap at the stem end.
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Vegetarian replacement for pork mince in Chinese style stir fry In Chinese cuisine it's very common to start a vegetable stir fry with a bit of minced meat, typically pork, to give the dish a deeper flavor. To make a vegetarian version I usually just leave this out, but I've been wondering if something else would give a similar effect taste-wise. Typical meat replacements like tofu or seitan don't work here because they focus on providing the texture and protein of meat, but not so much the flavor. <Q> It seems like you are primarily interested in reproducing the umami of the meat. <S> Tofu does in fact have glutamic acids that will add to the umami; just make sure to thoroughly dry the tofu (extracting as much liquid as possible) before use. <S> In addition, you can use minced mushrooms, as Stephie mentioned in the comments . <S> You can also experiment with adding Bragg's Liquid Aminos, since it has a lot of umami but has less than half the sodium of soy sauce. <S> Keep in mind, though, that the meat in the original recipe is also relied upon for its fat; tofu does have some fat, but not as much as meat, and it's unlikely to render out during the initial fry. <S> Therefore, I would suggest adding 7 grams of fat (e.g., vegetable oil) for every 100g of meat you are replacing. <A> Let's recapitulate the textural options you have: <S> Crumbled firm tofu, sauteed (with or without some soy sauce and/or wheat <S> paste - mind the color you want too!) <S> Brunoised/minced fresh/reconstituted shiitake mushroom (potent taste, and you get a great stock from rehydrating :) ), sauteed. <S> Brunoised/minced "perfectly normal, western mushroom" (Cremini, Champignon or whatever it is locally called :) ), sauteed thoroughly. <S> TVP mince, cooked in strong soy sauce broth. <S> Firm (baked) seitan, chopped. <S> Now about the umami you are missing: <S> Most of the things mentioned are absorbent (mushrooms, crumbled tofu...), so they will soak up umami rich sauces when sauteed with them, especially when you add them when most of the water is fried out. <S> Other are made with or cooked in a liquid (seitan, TVP). <S> So let's look at some umami sources we have: Soy sauce. <S> Try korean gukganjang (strong, but doesn't discolor things much). <S> Shiitake broth. <S> Or Soy sauce with shiitake extract (commercially sold). <S> Or a full shiitake + kombu dashi. <S> Tian mian jiang (sweet bean sauce). <S> Nutritional yeast. <S> Straight, unapologetic MSG. <S> Doenjang (strong taste) or Miso. <S> Marmite. <S> Various Chinese pickled vegetables (strong taste). <S> Doubanjiang (strong taste). <A> Jackfruit supposedly works well as a pork substitute. <S> [ Source ]. <S> When jackfruit is ripe, it has a sweet taste and can be used in desserts but when it’s unripe, the taste is savory . <S> The texture is similar to chicken and pork and is often called “vegetarian meat.” <S> The part of the fruit used as a meat substitute is the fleshy coating around the seeds. <A> Serious Eats used a dry fried minced mushrooms to substitute for, in that case, beef in a dish. <S> I don't know if it will substitute for pork mince in the same way, having no firsthand experience, but it may be worth trying. <S> The results are, reportedly, rich and savory and deeply flavored, lots of umami - which sounds like it would do a similar job of adding depth and flavor to your stir fry, even if the specific flavor added is different. <S> To make the mushroom mince, they used button mushrooms, well minced and fried until the water had mostly evaporated out <S> and they were deeply browned, and added them to the minced mushrooms they had on hand from the broth in that recipe. <S> With a bonus of very mushroom-flavored oil, to fry in. <S> That's a nice addition, adding flavor and, also, fat (since meats usually add both). <S> They should give the flavor some of that extra depth and savoriness, just as a meat mince would do. <S> You might want soy sauce or liquid aminos or even something like kombu to touch up the umami flavor a bit more - your stir fry might need a little more since that recipe had other flavors to rely on. <A> Don't know many dishes that start with pork mince because my experience is limited to North China, mostly Beijing. <S> There, mince was added to noodles mostly; with veg was eggplant, sometimes mushrooms; and of course in Mao Po Tofu. <S> I believe it's the mince browning that adds the flavor. <S> Getting some good caramelized flavor can be done by adding just a bit of sugar -very typical in wide range of recipes- allowing to really brown. <S> Also, black vinegar from Shanxi adds some caramel flavor. <S> Not really a sub but <S> adds depth: couple of drops of szechuan oil (prickly ash)with dribble of toasted sesame oil, replacing a bit of plain cooking oil. <A> You could try pressed bean curd. <S> If you chop it up, it might have a similar texture, and it does provide protein. <S> It comes in plain and seasoned kinds that you can try. <A> This idea works for me when I'm cooking Italian-style foods, but it should translate to Chinese cooking with some modifications. <S> I use green lentils, cooked through and then mashed and spiced. <S> For Italian-style, I use cumin, smoked paprika, nutmeg, salt and pepper. <S> For Chinese, I would suggest some hoi-sin sauce, with cumin and ground coriander.
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For your stir fry, it seems like a similar substitution might work - start with a few minced mushrooms, making sure they get quite dry and brown by the time you're done. Minced fermented black beans. Consider also adding just pork seasoning: a bit of 5 spice.
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Making super-sour sweets -- issues with stickiness I've successfully home-made gummy sweets -- my preferred flavour currently is scotch bonnet chilli. They are made of sugar -- heated until just below hard-ball temperature, gelatin, chillies. The problem I'm having at the moment is that I want to give them a super sour coating. I've done this by covering them with citric acid, which gives exactly the desired taste effect, however... Within a few days, they go more and more sticky and gloopy until they congeal to form a gloopy, sticky mass. This is not desirable. How do I avoid this? And how do things like Tangfastics and other super sour gummmy sweets work? <Q> Like most candy with a coating there is some degree of processing, drying time and technics. <S> Anhydrous would be more preferable because its moisture free. <S> The less moisture on a coating of any sweet the better. <S> I've had success with the Sour Patch Kids recipe from Classic Snacks <S> Made from Scratch: <S> 70 Homemade Versions of Your Favorite Brand-Name Treats . <S> The quantities are merely an indication for the coating recipe. <S> Just see how much you used and then subtract or multiply the recipe accordingly. <S> Coating recipe: <S> • 2 T powdered sugar for dusting • 2 T cornstarch <S> • 2 T granulated sugar • 1 t citric acid (anhydrous) <S> Whisk the powdered sugar and cornstarch together in a small bowl, and whisk the granulated sugar and citric acid together in another small bowl. <S> Set aside. <S> Set a wire cooling rack in a rimmed baking sheet, making sure the rack fits comfortably inside the "walls" of the sheet. <S> Lightly dust a cutting board with powdered sugar, spreading it with your hand to make an even dusting. <S> The moment your gummies are ready take them out of the pan you had them in. <S> Flip over each gummy once on cutting board so that both sides have a fine coating of sugar. <S> If the candies are starting to "weep" and get goopy and sticky first dredge them in the cornstarch-powdered sugar mixture, a few at a time, tapping on the side of the bowl to remove excess powder. <S> Then toss them in the sugar-citric acid mixture. <S> If the candies are dry to the touch, simply coat them in the citric acid mixture. <S> Let the coated candies dry for 8 hours on the cooling rack until the coating is hard and crunchy. <S> Store the candies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week. <A> Once cooled, put them in a sealable container. <S> Add two or three tablespoons of cornstarch (or more, as needed) and put the lid on and shake until each gummy is lightly coated and then remove. <S> Another option if you make sweet gummy's is to mix together half powder sugar, and half cornstarch, and toss gummy's in this mixture. <S> I use this combination also when rolling out cookie dough so it doesn't get stiff. <S> You can store them in a tight container with one of the above mixtures which should help to absorb moisture. <A> Use fumaric acid, not citric. <S> That’s how sour gummies are made without the sticky coating mess. <S> Fumaric in the mix, and then mixed with sugar for a coating.
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Another option would be if the citric acid is a powder then mix some cornstarch with it and then coat your gummy. Citric acid just like sugar attracts moisture.
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How to make Banana juice I have looked up how to make Banana juice because I wondered if it was possible. It turns out that it is. I read that it is best to use a blender for this. Wouldn't I just end up with a banana puree if I use a blender to try to juice it? <Q> If you microwave bananas for a few minutes in a bowl covered with plastic wrap and then dump everything into fine mesh strainer to sit for about 15 minutes, you will get a bunch of juice out. <S> Freezing the bananas before microwaving them works even better. <S> This technique was used in a (really good) banana bread recipe from Cooks Illustrated several years ago. <S> Once the juice is extracted, it is reduced, allowing more real bananas in the bread without making it too wet. <A> I've made banana juice a number of times. <S> And I'm referring to a relatively clear liquid extracted from the bananas. <S> It's a pretty straightforward process that produces a high yield. <S> The water in bananas is chemically bound to the starch in bananas and this liquid can be released by breaking down the starch using an enzyme called amylase that is present in bananas. <S> Here's how I do it: (Yield 1 liter of juice) <S> Take 2 kilograms of bananas, peel and puree them. <S> Pour the puree into a vacuum bag and seal. <S> Alternatively, you can put them in a VERY securely tied plastic bag with the air pressed out or you can put the puree into a canning jar. <S> Next place this in a pot of water at around 150 Fahrenheit/65.5 Celcius and let sit for 5 hours. <S> This allows the naturally occurring amylase in the banana to fully breakdown the starch in the banana and release the liquid. <S> Strain the liquid through a nut milk bag (my preferred method), or you can use several layers of cheesecloth, but a nice nut milk bag makes this so much easier. <S> Squeeze (and massage to get the highest yield) <S> the juice through the bag. <S> You should get about a liter (generally a bit more than that) of fresh, delicious banana juice! <A> The people of North West Tanzania and Southern Uganda have been making alcohol from banana juice for years. <A> hmm... I imagine that a method similar to getting liquid to make jellies could work for this. <S> Freezing would break the cell walls and allow more liquid out, then you could blend it to a lovely mush and then put it into a jelly-bag or cheese-cloth and suspend it over a bowl in the fridge for a day or two <S> and you should get some liquid out :) <A> You can make banana juice by using enzymatic breakdown of the starches. <S> It is not a difficult process, and can be accomplished in the home kitchen, but would require some ingredients and techniques that you may not have or be familiar with. <S> The details can be found here: https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/banana-juice--11 <S> While this produces excellent results, you could speed the process greatly and achieve a higher yield if you have access to a food safe centrifuge.
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They blend ripe bananas with grass and mix with there feet or hands until the enzymes break down to get clear juice.
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Meat alternative for tempura? I am having friends over and plan to make tempuras. Two of them don't like seafood in general so my choice of shrimps and squid might not please them so I was looking for a meat alternative for them and everyone to enjoy as well. As I have never made meat tempura I am full of doubts about which type and which part of meat to chose for that. Nothing substential can be found on the internet (just recipes about using the batter to do something else, but nothing about puting something else with the rest that will be good in association). Beef feels weird, chicken could work but the fast cooking of tempura might not suit poultry, pork is not as light as seafood. I am also totally open to something a bit unusual. <Q> AFAIK, meat is not really used for Tempura. <S> Do vegetables. <S> (I assume you already do that). <S> If you want to do fried battered meats, I would suggest cutting them as small as possible. <S> Cut the meat into thin strips. <S> You could also use cheese, look for grilling cheese like Halloumi. <A> I've had chicken tempura at a couple different Japanese restaurants, and it was very tasty both times. <S> As Max suggests in his answer, they cut breast meat into thin strips that I could pick up with my chopsticks. <A> Tempura bacon is a thing. <S> Par-cook the bacon and then finish as tempura . <S> Tempura hot dogs are apparently also a thing. <S> They have the advantage that they're fully cooked when you buy them. <S> So you just need to worry about getting a crisp coating. <S> If you want to make something more refined, you could probably take any kind of sausage, par-cook it, and then finish it as tempura. <S> If it's in link form, cut into bite-sized pieces. <S> Otherwise, shape into meatballs. <A> Crab sticks, that's what they do in thailand, shitake mushrooms, carrots <A>
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Cervelat or thuringer tempura (with some mustard or wasabi powder in the batter) it is a most excellent unorthodox tempura.
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Why would the first few pancakes come out perfect, but only get worse from there? I have never been a pro at making pancakes. I tried again yesterday making them, using this recipe : Ingredients 1½ cups flour (375ml) 2 eggs 600ml milk pinch of salt Method Mix all the ingredients until bubbles form on the top of the mixture. Then simply pour into a non-stick pan on medium heat. Flip the pancake once bubbles have formed on the surface. The first 3 of 4 come out perfect: fluffy, slightly brownish and not breaking apart when flipping. From there it only gets worse, going to big black spots, not fluffy and the spots that aren't brown are undercooked. Why is this? <Q> Ah, the worsening pancake debacle. <S> I know it well. <S> We have all been there, even after training for countless hours to make the perfect soufflé at the Culinary Institute. <S> You should cool the pan with a quick rinse. <S> This will also have the effect of resetting the surface, to get rid of any built-up grime or grease. <S> Good luck and happy cooking! <A> Short answer: <S> The pan is too hot. <S> That explains why the outside is overcooked or burnt and the batter on the inside is undercooked. <S> Lower your heat. <S> Your batter comes into the equation too. <S> If you have thick batter the inside will take longer to cook. <S> So you need less heat so the outside doesn't burn but the inside batter gets completely cooked. <S> Because you're using raw eggs, you need to make sure the pancakes are cooked through. <S> Although remote, there is a chance of salmonella poisoning. <S> Salmonella and eggs is a whole another topic by itself. <S> I put a little cooking oil in the batter <S> but otherwise I don't grease the griddle. <S> The browning is more even (attractive). <S> Keep in mind <S> I am using non-stick. <S> Generally speaking, I don't like non-stick <S> but I do keep a couple pans around for eggs, omelets and <S> ... pancakes. <S> Medium heat is correct. <S> I have a non-stick griddle that covers two burners on the stove. <S> I heat it until little droplets of water "dance" and the surface and quickly evaporate. <S> Just stick your hand under the faucet and flick a few droplets onto the griddle. <S> That's when my first pancakes hit the griddle. <S> After the batter bubbles appear and the edges start looking dry, I will lift the edge to check for the proper brown-ness. <S> For your subsequent batches, you may have to adjust the heat up or down or adjust how long you leave the cakes on the griddle. <S> If you want to be a little more scientific, you may want to invest in an infra-red thermometer. <S> That will tell you what the temp of the griddle surface is. <S> Most non-sticks should not be heated to more than 450-500 degrees. <S> If it's a PTFE surface <S> i.e. Teflon, overheating may give off toxic gases. <S> Those gases will kill pet birds. <S> If they can kill birds, they probably aren't good for you. <S> All things considered, lower your heat. <S> When you have the right temp, your batches should come out perfect and repeatable. <S> There is a certain amount of "knowing what's right" that comes with experience. <A> I can't cook a whole lot <S> but I make some mean pancakes and NEVER have this issue. <S> My griddle is on 200-250F depending on the type of pancakes <S> I am making (blueberry and chocolate chip are options) and <S> how fast I want the pancakes made. <S> You should have your pan or griddle on and going and hot before pouring your first set. <S> If anything your first set should cook faster because it is on a new surface. <S> If you are closer to the 250F range you will be flipping quickly (1 minute max on both sides depending on size) but you can still have golden brown pancakes. <S> In the 200F range this will allow you to control the pancakes more <S> but you might have a hard time getting the brown. <S> Honestly for plain pancakes <S> I like to hover around 230F. <S> And like I mentioned before your first batch cooks quickest and the dropping of the batter cools down the surface for the rest. <S> The last thing I will mention. <S> I don't use grease or any oils. <S> I feel like this is impossible to even out and produce a consistent product. <S> Also I don't want to be unhealthy <S> (my pancakes are almost fat free) and I especially don't want the oils to taint the taste of my round deliciousness. <S> Instead I opt for PAM. <S> I use the butter flavored PAM and there is no oil taste or film on my griddle or pancakes.
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The pan is getting too hot.
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Opaque green tea, what is that? If you order green tea in Thailand you get a long drink in a plastic cup that resembles a sweet, frozen shake. (Then you can put the cup in a plastic bag, hang it on the steering rod of your motorbike, drive around and sip it with a thick straw on hot days.) The Thai green tea is very different from Japanese and Chinese (usually hot) green tea. The Thai drink is light green and completely opaque. I read that Thais use "green tea powder", condensed milk, "oriental spices", crushed ice and more to produce this shake. When I drink this I remember having been served "similar" in Japan. Opaque, green tea in small clay cups. Much more filled with "small particles" than is "normal" tea. It was hot and not sweet, at least as I remember. When I Google I just find entries like Oolong tea which is not what I am looking for. Oolong tea is clear and more resembles traditional tea. My question mostly relates to what I have had in Japan. What is this brew that is green but differs very much from "normal" green tea by being opaque? <Q> If it's "green tea powder" it's probably matcha . <S> It's special in two aspects of farming and processing: The green tea plants for matcha are shade-grown for about three weeks before harvest, and the stems and veins are removed in processing. <S> The traditional Japanese tea ceremony centers on the preparation, serving, and drinking of matcha. <S> In modern times, matcha has also come to be used to flavour and dye foods such as mochi and soba noodles, green tea ice cream and a variety of wagashi (Japanese confectionery). <S> The drink you had in Thailand is probably an iced matcha shake of some sort, made with condensed milk. <S> In Japan, the drink is served by itself as part of tea ceremonies and is opaque even without milk added to it. <S> There's a guide to how tea ceremonies work and the process of making tea here , if you're interested. <A> Green tea powder = <S> matcha tea ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matcha ) Pics for matcha: <S> https://www.google.com.au/search?q=matcha&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CNABEIkeahUKEwiG4OqP6NnHAhWHsJQKHc-6CMA&biw=1298&bih=911 <S> It's originally from China, but it's most often thought of as a Japanese tea. <S> They dry the tea leaves and then pulverise them to form a powder. <S> Because it's a powder it doesn't get strained after brewing, which is why it's .. <S> grittier than tea leaves that then get strained out. <S> The higher the quality of the matcha, the less gritty it will be, it'll be smoother, almost creamy. <A> Tea is originally from China but matcha is from japan. <S> It is the heart of the Japanese tea culture. <S> Uji Kyoto matcha is known as the highest quality matcha. <S> Though Thai green tea is not matcha ... <S> the Thai’s have their own styles of tea. <S> They prefer their tea sweet and often add a lot of spices and sweetened condensed milk. <S> The green milk tea <S> there is either a powder made from grinding their own tea leaves and the spices and powders milk put all together to easily make a Thai green tea or if you go to a higher end restaurant they will make the tea themselves with the leaves and add the rest fresh for you on spot. <S> Sometimes they even make a batch and have it in a container or in the fridge all day on call for when you order it. <S> Just needed to set this straight though. <S> Thai green milk tea is not matcha.
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Matcha is finely ground powder of specially grown and processed green tea.
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Does a silicone cutting board really work well? I tried a silicone cutting board, and I noticed two problems so far. First, it had a strong smell, it only disappeared after two weeks of use. Second, I noticed scratches after chopping on it. What are the advantages and disadvantages of silicone boards when compared to other cutting board materials? <Q> I would expect a silicone board to be quite keen on scratches as it's soft. <S> The same applies for plastic ones. <S> I've found the best chopping boards are those made of wood. <S> They are also safer . <S> Some kind of woods, like bamboo, are natural antibacterial: <S> https://www.ncsu.edu/bioresources/BioRes_08/BioRes_08_4_6501_Xi_Qin_Antibacterial_Perform_Natural_Bamboo_Fiber_4310.pdf <S> http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00405000.2011.614742#.Ve2BQBHBzRY <A> I didn't know that bamboo has anti-bacterial properties. <S> Learn something new every day. <S> You want the cutting board to take your knife's cutting instead of dulling the blade. <S> So it's not necessarily a bad thing to have cuts on your cutting board. <S> Silicone is not as porous as wood so less places for bacteria to hide. <S> Plus you can heat the living daylights out of it in the dishwasher... <S> Auf Wiedersehen bacteria ! <A> I like the silicone board more than wood or bamboo. <S> From my point of view, silicone boards are easy to clean and dishwasher-safe, protect the environment, are non-slip and non-germ. <S> I was used to use the wood & bamboo board. <S> After only several months the board was dirty and full of the scratches. <S> Now I'm trying the silicone cutting board <S> and I'm much happier with it. <S> This is just my own opinion.
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It has always been my generally accepted belief that silicone is better than wood because wood has more little microscopic crevices where bacteria can hide.
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How can I make my own Super Noodles/instant noodle seasoning? I like BBQ Beef Super Noodles, but they don't taste the same as they used to. The flavour sachet is not as strong as it used to be (maybe they use more filler nowadays). I can buy plain egg noodles, but how can I make the seasoning? The ingredients are listed as: Noodles (Water, Wheat Flour, Palm Oil, Antioxidants (Butylated Hydroxyanisole, Citric Acid, Propyl Gallate)), Sugar, Acidity Regulator (Sodium Diacetate), Salt, Skimmed Milk Powder, Flavour Enhancers (Monosodium Glutamate, Disodium 5’-ribonucleotides), Yeast Extract, Sour Cream Powder (Milk), Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Tomato Powder, Citric Acid, Tartaric Acid, Flavouring, Colour (Paprika Extract), Spices, Anti-caking Agents (Silicon Dioxide, Tricalcium Phosphate), Rapeseed Oil, Celery, Wheat Flour. I suspect I won't be needing any of those chemicals! <Q> Find a good Asian food market. <S> They should sell small jars, tins, or liquid in sachets of soup flavours. <S> I find the jars most convenient. <S> About a teaspoon per serving is plenty, store in the fridge after opening. <S> Some of the liquid in sachets can be the most authentic for the Asian style, but for just a beefy broth, one of the jars will do fine. <S> If you like a more tomato flavour, buy bulk cans of tomato paste, freeze in ice cube trays, then bag in zip style freezer bags. <S> One or two cubes per serving works fine, and they just melt into the hot noodle soup base. <S> Use low salt noodles <S> , as most of the soup flavours are very salty for preservation reasons. <S> Here are some examples I use. <S> Click on pictures for full size view. <A> To make the seasoning, you'll need to experiment. <S> You'll need at least some of those chemicals, but you can probably find them with friendlier, less chemically-sounding, names. <S> Looking at the ingredients list, I'd guess that the key ingredients in that list, flavour-wise, are probably Monosodium Glutamate, Yeast Extract, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Tomato Powder. <S> Those are all easy enough to source. <S> A decent supermarket will likely have several of them, and the rest are easy to find on the internet. <S> Tomato powder might be the trickiest, although I expect you could simply take some sun-dried tomatoes and blitz them in a grinder. <S> MSG is commonly used commercially, but you also find them in other common foodstuffs - yeast extract, parmesan, anchovies, fish sauce, soy sauce to name but a few. <S> I'd start with some Marmite/Vegemite, a mix of the three vegetable powders and a sprinkling of MSG if you have some, fish/soy sauce if not. <S> Play with the proportions until you find something you like the taste of. <S> You'll need salt too, but you may well already have enough from the other ingredients. <S> You'll wind up with a paste rather than a powder, but you can use that to season the noodles just as easily. <S> Bovril might be a good addition for a meaty flavour too. <A> Go to the S&M store. <S> (That is a Philippine package you show, and S&M stores are nationwide.) <S> They have a good selection of BBQ dry mix packs (and instant soup packs) near the spices. <S> Start with the base from the packet. <S> Add extra to it: hot pepper, garlic, etc. <S> Store small jars with lids (like baby food jars). <S> you now have your own flavor to use. <S> For example, I might use about 3/4 red Korean soup base, 1/4 BBQ seasoning, dried crushed hot peppers, and some extra spices to taste. <A> I'd recommend looking up spices used to make barbecue sauces such as smoked paprika, onion and garlic powder, tomato powder, cumin etc.
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The key to most of the 'beefy' flavours I've come across in products like this seems to be in the glutamates - those are the things that give that rich umami-flavour to things.
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