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How can I portion out frozen cookie dough? A friend's kid was doing a fundraiser, and I now have two 3 lb tubs of cookie dough. It's frozen, which is great on one hand because it keeps for so much longer, but...when I want cookies, it's a bit of a hassle. I don't really want to thaw the whole tub, as I don't need that many cookies at once. I thought about thawing it and then portioning it into cookie sized pieces and refreezing it, but I was concerned about possible illness and such, because, well, it's raw cookie dough. If that's not an option, what's my best way to carve out just as much as I want of the frozen stuff? I tried a spoon and a fork, but that just left me with bent cutlery. My ice cream scoop didn't really work any better. I tried knives, but with how it is within the container (and so far I've not had a lot of luck getting it out to slice, either), I can't really get any purchase to slice through it. <Q> Thaw in refrigerator until soft enough to portion. <S> Portion total batch, then re-freeze. <S> Ideally, it should have been portioned before initial freeze. <S> At this point, unless you want to bake them all, you will be fine with a refrigerated thaw, portion, and re-freeze. <S> Store portioned, frozen, cookie dough with as little air in the container as possible. <A> You can dip a knife in hot water between each slice you cut. <S> The hot knife will make it easier to cut the dough, without thawing it. <S> You can also do this with an ice cream scoop, but as dough is more dense than ice cream <S> I doubt it will be efficient enough. <A> I have no idea how many cookies a 3# tub of dough would make, but I'm so curious! <S> My best suggestion is to thaw out 1 tub, bake all of the cookies and freeze them after they have cooled. <S> I freeze homemade cookies all the time! <S> You can reach in and grab 1 or 2 to nibble on at a time. <S> Most cookies almost seem better (to me) when they are frozen. <A> If you decide to partially thaw (you shouldn't have to entirely thaw), you might want to consider making a cookie dough log. <S> This is similar to what you can buy in the store (Nestle's Tollhouse cookies for example are available in most big US stores in the refrigerated section). <S> Basically, you shape the dough into a log-shaped roll that is the diameter of one cookie (pre-cooking), wrap it tightly, and then freeze. <S> Then, when you go to make a cookie, you can typically cut it with a knife, one cookie at a time. <S> You might slightly warm the knife, but it's common to be able to simply cut it even with a butter knife in my experience. <S> This assumes they are chocolate chip cookies or similar, where you can form them easily into a log, and the dough is fatty enough to be amenable to cutting when frozen. <S> You can read this page for more information and other options. <A> I have never needed to thaw or pre-portion frozen cookie dough. <S> I just use a sharp-bladed knife or a sharp-edged scoop to slice thin layers of dough, which immediately thaw, and roll them up and bake them. <S> The scoop should have a thin, sharp edge, like a melon baller or disher , or if you have one, a meat scraper . <S> The key is to scrape up multiple thin layers of dough rather than trying to carve out large chunks. <S> Thin layers will thaw extremely quickly, allowing you to work with the dough almost immediately. <S> If using a knife, you need a short, thin blade which will let you slice a thin layer from the surface of the dough. <S> This technique works well with other frozen foods as well, especially colloidals like butter or gravy. <A> You can also thaw it at room temperature, and within half an hour you should be able to slice off a few pieces with a sharp knife (and some patience.) and place the rest back in the freezer. <S> I'm not sure how easily you can tip the cookie dough out of the tub, or how evenly you can slice it. <S> I actually like portioning cookie dough when it's semi-frozen like this since it's easy to weigh and shave a bit off of larger pieces here and there to get uniform cookies. <S> The other benefit is my hands don't get nearly as covered in cookie dough. <S> This is something I usually do with Christmas cookies, and might appeal to you since it doesn't require fully thawing the dough, but please be careful. <S> I don't know your strength or the sharpness of your knives, so while I've never had any trouble, I want to emphasize that patience is necessary. <S> If the cookie dough is too hard to slice when you first try it, leave the knife in the dough and give it a few minutes. <S> If you try to force it you could cut yourself or end up tossing a chunk of cookie dough onto the floor. <A> An electric carving knife with a large serration will easily cut through frozen dough, vegetables and meat without the need to thaw or defrost, and without requiring you to whack at it with a cleaver or saw at it with a hot knife .
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If using a scoop, slowly scrape up a thin layer, allowing it to curl up as you scrape, rather than trying to scoop out a solid hunk of frozen dough.
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Is fresh pasta just good marketing? I noticed some questions about fresh Lasagne sheets and it reminded me of something I heard, but sadly too long ago to be able to attribute although probably a chef on TV (I'm un the UK), and that was that Italians always use dried pasta and that fresh pasta was just something that had become popular outside Italy, probably because anything "fresh" always sounds as if it should be good. So, great for supermarkets and chefs! Please note, I realise that certain pasta must be fresh, for instance when making ravioli. I'm really just referring to spaghetti, tagliatelle, linguine etc. Also, although Italians (are said) to use dried pasta it is not just a convenience; they are still concerned about the quality of the pasta and may even make it and dry it themselves. So, to summarise, is it true that Italians generally use dried pasta and that fresh pasta, other than where obviously required, is really just a marketing concept to get people to pay more? <Q> Firstly, there is no one way Italians use pasta. <S> Italian cuisine is defined regionally, and each region's cuisine approaches pasta somewhat differently. <S> Secondly, it might be better to consider fresh and dried pasta almost as different ingredients. <S> They produce different results and are used in different dishes. <S> I presume that more dried/factory produced pasta is consumed than fresh both in Italy and elsewhere, simply for reasons of convenience. <S> However, it is not just "marketing", in my opinion. <S> Fresh pasta, in the correct applications, is delicious, and the correct ingredient for the dish. <A> For others, fresh dough, cooking very quickly prevents overcooking of stuffing. <S> The texture in your mouth changes too, but which one is preferable is a matter of individual taste. <S> So, it would be very arguable to claim one or the other is 'better', but 'fresh pasta' simply caters to people who prefer it over dried, as a personal preference... and may accidentally capture a segment of the market of people buying into the 'freshness = quality' belief. <S> I don't think it was the main motivation behind putting it on market, and it's not some scam - just a slightly different product. <A> Traditionally, fresh pasta made with soft flour and eggs is used in the northern part of Italy (roughly Tuscany and northwards), while dried durum wheat pasta is used in the south. <S> The traditional recipes reflect this, at least according to Giulia Scarpaleggia the only traditional Tuscan dish using dried pasta is penne strascicate . <S> In the modern world things aren't so cut in stone, dried pasta is used extensively in the north as well because it's convenient. <S> If you're following a specific recipe you should use the kind called for. <S> Tagliatelle al ragù should be prepared with fresh pasta for instance, because it's from Bologna. <S> As you say filled pasta is best fresh.
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There is a definite difference in the texture of pasta cooked from freshly prepared dough vs dried - 'better' is a very subjective thing in this context; for some applications the more firm texture you obtain from dried pasta is preferable, e.g. helping the dish retain its structure.
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Should I be concerned about drinking tap water? I grew up in the United States and have been drinking tap water my whole life. More recently some of my friends have been making me feel a little bit guilty or awkward about the safety of tap water, usually recommending me to use either use a water filter, or to boil my water. I think this is just hyperbole, but after a long time hearing this from different people, I am beginning to feel unsure. I know some places in the United States and across the world have unsafe drinking water, but how do I know where the water is safe or not? Are there any certain tastes that are considered dangerous? Is it better for me to just start using filtered water? <Q> It really depends on the location. <S> Sciencemag.org has an article on this, which is backed up by this paper . <S> To quote a relevant part from sciencemag: Allaire and her colleagues downloaded EPA’s data and looked at the number of health-related water quality violations for 17,900 community water systems in the continental United States over a 34-year period. <S> Some were for elevated lead levels, the problem in Flint, but the data set also included violations for coliform bacteria—a group of microbes that is easy to detect and serves as an indicator of bacterial contamination in general—nitrates, arsenic, and other contaminants. <S> The researchers combined those data with information from the U.S. census such as housing density and average household income, to figure out which communities were most vulnerable. <S> The following sentence from the significance page from the scientific article's website leads me to the conclusion that you shouldn't be worried per se, but that it is certainly worth looking into the situation in your area: <S> Here, we show that health-based drinking water quality violations are widespread, with 9–45 million people possibly affected during each of the past 34 years. <S> While relatively few community water systems (3–10%) incur health-based violations in a given year, improved compliance is needed to ensure safe drinking water nationwide. <S> If there is something wrong with the water (as you might find after your research) then see what the specific advice is. <S> Some things may go away after boiling, others may not. <S> Use this website by the EPA to search for the 'Consumer Confidence Report' on drinking water quality by the EPA . <A> I would ask your friends what evidence they have to support their opinions. <S> They will be unlikely to produce anything besides conspiracy theory level information. <S> It’s similar to the vaccine debate. <S> Who do you believe? <S> The large, established scientific community, or your friend’s hunch? <S> Tap water is regulated by state and federal governments for safety. <S> Filters can improve taste, which is impacted by many factors, but neither home filters nor boiling would remedy a Flint, MI type contamination. <S> Mistrusting tap water would mean mistrusting our regulatory bodies (tempting right now, understandably) - but to do so would impact so much more than your tap water. <S> It would be like rearranging deck chairs on the titanic to filter your tap water if you believe the the functionality of our government has so degraded. <S> Meat, milk, household cleaners, detergents, eggs, bottled water, packaged and caned foods — all and more would also be compromised by regulatory corruption. <S> Also, the poor, hospitals, etc. depend on tap water — if it’a not safe, shouldn’t your friends and fellow citizens be more outraged? <S> Even if they filter or boil it, they still pay for the water, shouldn’t they protest or complain to their provider? <S> US tap water is safe, drink away. <A> Have you considered simply taking a sample of your tap water to your local water company and requesting that it be tested? <S> If you don't trust them to test it and give you the actual results, there are literally thousands of companies in America that will do this for you for a very small fee.
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Virtually all tap water in the US is absolutely safe to drink.
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Can I make "falafel" with different beans? I grow several types of beans in the garden, but the growing season is too short for chick peas. If I use a different bean - e.g., kidney, navy, cannelini, turtle (black) beans - do I need to make changes to a "standard" falafel recipe? <Q> Yes, you can, however if you want to use red kidney beans, or white kidney beans (cannellini), please boil them at least 30 minutes at 100 °C, otherwise you might suffer from food poisoning. <S> Source: <S> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytohaemagglutinin <S> Regarding taste, in the original recipes there is no need for eggs as an binding agent, so you can taste as you go. <S> Go with the usual onion, garlic, fresh parsley, coriander, cumin and flour (+ obvious salt and pepper to taste), but you can add also a bit of mint and/or rosemary that goes nicely with the beans. <S> Also, you can do test ping pong ball sized specimen, fry em up, and taste which one is the best, then season accordingly the whole batch before frying. <A> I know this question has been answered but I wanted to add that Akara is Nigerian dish similar to falafel and is made with black eyed peas instead of chick peas. <S> There are also regional variations across Africa, Brazil and the Caribbean with different names. <S> Recipes for Akara in addition to those for falafel may help you come up with some better ways of using the beans and lentils you have available to you. <A> Green lentils are a good replacement for chickpeas in falafel. <S> There are many recipes available online for such a substitution. <S> I can also confirm from personal experience that green lentil falafels usually taste great.
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Like chickpeas and unlike many other beans, lentils do not require boiling (you can just soak them for a long time) to make falafel.
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Will a crockpot brown ground meat? For chili con carne, can you brown the ground beef, onions, peppers, etc in a crockpot (without the lid on) and then add the other ingredients to finish by slow cooking? <Q> Most crock-pots are not designed for searing and as such do not get hot enough, quickly enough to sear the meat properly. <S> You also run the risk of cracking the ceramic pot due to uneven heating/cooling as you add the meat. <S> There are specific models of crock pot with a sear function. <S> If you were to try, I would recommend that you get one of these. <A> Another option I've owned in the past is a slow cooker in which the inner removable pan is non stick metal. <S> This was specifically designed to be used on the stove for browning before slow cooking. <S> Overall I prefer the traditional ceramic pot as the heat is much more even in normal use; the lack of a handle on the metal pot was also annoying for browning. <A> I have several crockpots and none will brown ground beef, onions, or peppers. <S> I recommend using a frying pan instead.
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It is possible, but only if you have the right type of crock-pot.
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Making salad dressing without acid or high fat or capsaicin One of my relatives has GERDs (acid reflux). I'm trying to find / make a salad dressing that avoids acidity large quantities of oil spiciness (i.e. anything with capsaicin or peperine) But I'm struggling to accomplish this because I don't know what type that would be. I bought a book called Garde Manger by the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). For "cold emulsion sauces", they listed temporary emulsions (e.g. vinagrettes) stable emulsions (e.g. mayonnaise) However both of those examples involve high amounts of fat or acid. For "dairy-based dressings", these seemed to rely on primarily cheese and cream, both of which are high fat. Salsas it said tended to have fruits and/or vegetables combined with an acid (e.g. citrus juice, vinegar, or wine). Again, won't work. So the options left were coulis and purees coating sauces: aspic Would either of these last two options work? It seems plausible since the book doesn't mention high fat or acidity as a requirement for them, but I wanted a second opinion since I've never made either. <Q> Acids and spices are generally used to add flavor to the mostly flavorless salad. <S> To adapt recipes for your relative, you could try: Use less sauce or dressing. <S> Of cause the fat content of a dressing is high, but if you drizzle just a little bit over the salad, the overall fat content is much lower. <S> Use less sauce to reduce the absolute amount of fat. <S> Use oils with a strong taste. <S> You'll need much less oil and can greatly improve the taste of a salad if you use oils with a strong taste like sesame oil, walnut oil or peanut oil. <S> Add herbs or spices instead of oils. <S> That's how the capsaicin usually gets into a salad, but there are very tasty alternatives: <S> salt, parmesan or a similar grated cheese, oregano, garlic or bears garlic, chives, basil leaves, mint leaves, cress, coriander leaves or finely chopped fennel all add taste to a boring salad without any fat. <S> There are so many more ingredients you could use that the combinations are endless. <A> Yogurt can be used as a dressing. <S> In a lot of instances you can make a nice dressing just by taking the recipe of a mayonnaise based dressing and then replacing the mayonnaise with yogurt. <S> (I don't mean it will taste the same, just that the recipes will produce a still nice but different tasting dressing.) <S> Also something like a traditional Greek Tzatziki is a real nice dressing. <S> For spicy-ness <S> look at adding fresh garlic, horse radish or onions. <S> Here's a nice recipe <S> :Get some no-fat yogurt, some mustard, honey and garlic, add salt and pepper to taste. <S> You now have a real nice base to work off. <S> It's a really fresh flavor because of the yogurt but also full because of the honey and garlic. <A> You can work with sweet and salty tastes. <S> A cold soy sauce and mirin/honey mixture is sure to add some good flavours to a salad. <S> You can also crush garlic and ginger, fry it up, then add soy sauce, honey/sugar/mirin and a corn starch slurry for <S> a teriyaki style sauce you can dress your salad with after it's cooled.
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Yogurt comes in low-fat variations and in my experience they work pretty well.
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Why is my tomato sauce getting pink? I was trying to make regular tomato sauce for on my pizza. And I didn't want to buy any processed goods. So I bought tomatoes: I put them into a blender and just blended them until it became smooth. For some reason, it turned pink, and it had a really bad flavour. It didn't taste like 'normal' tomato sauce. How can I make it red, and thicker and taste more like tomato sauce? <Q> Tomato sauce is not made by just pureeing tomatoes. <S> This is not a recipe site, but searching online will find you many recipes for a simple tomato sauce suitable for putting on a pizza. <S> They will generally include other ingredients (such as salt, sugar, and onions) and include some cooking time. <A> These tomatoes include a long list of varieties, but often are pear or teardrop shape, have fewer seeds and a dryer texture with less juice in them and a salad or slicing tomato. <S> Personally, when I make a sauce from scratch, I tend to mix slicing, and even cherry tomatoes in to up the flavor, but one of the costs of doing this is more juice so more cooking down to get to a thicker sauce as that extra water needs removed. <S> Often, dried tomatoes will be used to overcome this. <S> The seed issue is real, and will affect both taste and color. <S> But, the truth is, some people prefer to use seeds. <S> I do not as I do not care for the bitterness I taste with them in. <S> However, even when using paste type tomatoes, at the puree stage the product will normally be far lighter, more of a tomato soup color than the rich red sauce you were picturing. <S> This changes in the cooking down process. <S> As you remove water, not only will the taste intensify, but so will the color. <S> Additionally, as food cooks, the chemical and physical reactions that occur, such are carmelization will cause color changes. <S> In this case those changes tend to deepen the color. <S> Other ingredients will also tend to alter the color, either just by being added, say carrot in come recipes, or though reactions while cooking. <S> Note also, many fresh sauces will be lighter, more pink or orange, than processed, simply because many commercial sauces just like other products have added color. <S> That is, they simply add red dye. <S> OK, "food coloring." <A> The seeds are the problem flavor-wise, the skin also but less of a problem. <S> Tomato seeds have tannins and other compounds that aren't particularly pleasant inside, when they get cracked open they release these flavors into your puree. <S> The skins can be bitter as well, especially when you puree them, some varieties more than others. <S> Next time scoop the seeds out and think about peeling the tomatoes before you puree them. <S> A useful reference of why you peel and deseed is this answer . <A> Yes removing the seeds themselves is important to avoid bitterness. <S> However the jelly they are embedded in is a good source of umami. <S> When you scoop out the seeds you can put them in a sieve over a bowl along with the tougher pulp and add a little coarse salt for 20 minutes, and then add the strained juice to the dish.
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Sauces can be made with non-paste tomatoes, and sometimes are, but in general specialty tomatoes are used for most pastes.
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Can I make popcorn with any corn? Up until today I only knew about one type of corn for popcorn. Searching for Peruvian food I found out that in Peru there are different "popcorn" varieties. So that made me think: is it possible to make popcorn with just any variety of corn? If not, what properties do these corn varieties have that allow then to be popped and not any others? <Q> It seems that you need in particular a hard shell around the kernel that is not present in sweetcorn varieties. <S> I also suspect that it is harder to make than one might imagine, you need a specific percentage of water in the kernel to get it to pop - <S> this is why you can't store unpopped popcorn in the open and once opened needs to be used within a few months, as the water will evaporate and eventually the percentage will become too low to effectively pop. <A> It's a children's book, but The Popcorn Book by Tomie de Paola is actually a very comprehensive summary on the history and science of popcorn. <S> Popcorn pops because the kernels contain small amounts of moisture which, when heated, cook the starches inside the popcorn, causing them to rapidly expand and exploding out the kernel. <S> (This is my basic understanding; I'm sure food scientist will have a more comprehensive explanation). <S> What this means is that popcorn has to have a few specific features: <S> it must have some internal moisture <S> it must have a hard outer shell holding in that moisture <S> it must not be too moist <S> I imagine all varieties of "sweet corn", the type used for corn on the cob, would probably not work very well. <S> I don't think it would dry very well, and I think the shell would be weak (a feature when marketing it as something for humans to consume) <S> Dent corn, the variety used for animal feed, would also probably not work very well. <S> It is a tough kernel <S> and I don't think it would have enough moisture to explode. <S> I very well could be wrong about this, but I doubt that popping these other types (and I'm sure there are many more) would make for good popcorn. <S> Interestingly, there are other grains which also pop very well, including sorghum and amaranth . <A> No, you need popping corn. <S> Popcorn works because it contains the right kind of starch; <S> it has a hard husk that is quite waterproof; it contains the right amount of moisture (14–20%, according to Wikipedia ). <S> When you cook the corn, the water turns to steam, and the husk stops the steam escaping until the pressure builds up enough to make the kernel explode and the starch turn to a solid foam. <S> The other kinds of corn (dent, flint, flour, pod and sweet corns) don't have the right combinations of starch, husk and moisture to pop properly. <S> For example, sweet corn has a soft husk and is picked while it still contains a relatively large amount of sugar that hasn't been converted to starch. <S> Dent and flour corns have lots of starch <S> but it's the wrong kind. <A> My grandparents were Western Nebraska farmers who grew corn (and other things.) <S> Most was "field corn" which is suitable only for livestock feed. <S> Some was sweet corn, which is for humans. <S> Grandma used to make what she called "parched corn. <S> " <S> Sweet corn was dried out by pulling the husks back and hanging the ears down by tacking the husks to the side of the shed. <S> When the kernels were shriveled, she shelled them (that is, pulled them off the cob) and treated them like popcorn. <S> She popped pop corn by heating oil in cast iron skillet and stirring. <S> So she did the same thing to the dried sweet corn. <S> It didn't pop, per se, but the kernels became spherical and crunchy. <S> With a little salt, it was a great snack. <S> So, while you can't pop any kind of corn, you can still try, and what you get is still a treat. <S> I've always meant to try to reproduce this, but I've never gotten around to trying. <S> So YMMV. <A> In Bolivia we have this kind of giant popcorn, called "Pasankalla": <S> I do not know what type of corn is used to create it, but obviously is not the same one used to create ordinary popcorn. <S> Bon appetit!
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The answer it seems is - no, you can't just use any variety of corn .
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How to warm up canned beans? A recipe is asking for "canned black beans, drained, rinsed and warmed". I've never just heated up beans by themselves. How do I warm up these beans without using a microwave? Do I heat them up in a pan with some butter/oil or in simmering water? <Q> I'd use a microwave <S> but you've ruled that out. <S> Taking "warmed" literally as meaning made warm but not hot, you could put them in a bowl, cover with boiling water and wait a few minutes. <S> If you don't have an electric kettle, just boil a small pan of water and tip the beans in. <A> Pour the can into a small pot (without draining or rinsing), and heat on the stove over medium-low heat with a lid on, stirring/shaking frequently. <S> This is pretty common, even for just heating beans to be eaten. <S> Such as black beans on the side of some tacos or something. <A> There are a couple of different approaches I might take: <S> Reverse the order of the instructions. <S> Tip the beans and whatever liquid they come in into a pan and warm them gently on the stove top. <S> Then when warm drain and rinse. <S> or Drain and rinse the cold beans and stir them into the roasting vegetables for the last ten minutes of their time in the oven. <A> Drain, rinse, place in pan on hilltop or microwave. <S> Add small amount of low sodium chicken broth. <S> Works great with canned, drained green beans.
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I suspect that you actually want them hot, in which case you could put them in a small pan, pour over boiling water, cover, and return to the boil for a few minutes.
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How long to sous vide a tough cut of steak? With most steaks the recommended cooking time in sous vide is about an hour (of course depending on the thickness of the cut). I have done some sous vide cooks recently, and they always ended up perfect until last time, where I had a ribeye, which turned out tough and chewy. I have since learned, that ribeye in particular has some connective tissue, which can make it tough. I have also learned, that most tenderizing methods, like vinegar or baking soda don't actually really work, because they are only in contact with the meat on the outside. So I was wondering if I could improve the result, if I simply increase the cooking time to say 2h? Or should it be way longer than that in order to tenderize the connective tissue? What would be the downside of increasing the cooking time? <Q> Collagen (type-1, for the scientific folks), one of the major connective tissues in beef, begins to dissolve into gelatin starting at 55°C (131°F) but very slowly, long enough for the meat itself to become mush. <S> The pace increases with rising temperature to about 71 <S> °C (160°F), at which point further rises in temperature don't accelerate the process much -- but that would be medium-well, a crime for ribeye. <S> Unfortunately, collagen begins to denature at 68°C (154°F), which is also when the meat begins to constrict <S> /toughen substantially and release lots of its juices. <S> Cooks Illustrated <S> suggests <S> 54° <S> C/130°F for 2-3 hours, but in my steak that didn't melt the collagen at all. <S> I find the best trade-off is medium, 63-64 <S> °C (145-147°F) for 3 hours. <S> Yes, it isn't the deep rosy and extra-tender medium rare, but most of the connective tissue vanishes and is replaced with luscious gelatin. <A> In general, the longer you cook a protein at low temperature the more the texture will change. <S> However, it doesn't just get more tender. <S> It can get stringy, or mushy, and unpleasant over time, depending on the type of protein. <S> Thickness and type of muscle matters when calculating time. <S> In general, I cook 1 - 2 inch thick rib eye like any other traditional steak, for between 1 and 2 hours to achieve a typical mouthfeel/texture. <S> On the other hand, I have cooked oxtail for up to 100 hours using sous vide. <S> You can safely cook as long as you want, but there will be a point when you might not like the results. <S> Rib eye is not generally considered a "tough cut". <S> Two hours won't change things that much, but if you want to experiment, I would suggest cooking three identical steaks of your choice for three different times, then sear and see what you think. <S> This is a helpful guide that might also shed light on your questions. <A> There is one, albeit slightly risky way to tenderize a tough cut of sous vide steak without it starting to resemble pulled pork. <S> For a 1 inch thick steak, cook it at 121 deg F for 2-4 hours before you cook it to the final temperature. <S> You can tenderize it longer and get it more tender <S> but the chance of spoilage goes up rapidly at this temperature. <S> Over 130 deg F, the meat will slowly turn into a pulled pork texture. <S> My local grocery store sells some of the toughest ribeye at under $5 a pound... <S> but after throwing all these tenderization methods at it, it comes out pretty good.
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Another option is to vacuum brine/marinade the steak for a few days to tenderize it, though it will start looking like cured meat after a while.
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Can I find out the caloric content of bread by dehydrating it? If I microwave a piece of bread until all the water is evaporated and then weigh what is left, is the caloric content estimated by finding the calories in the same weight of flour? <Q> Conventionally, drying is only the first step. <S> The second is burning it and seeing how much energy is given off. <S> But this isn't always the best way to determine the calories that your body gets from the food, <S> as it doesn't deal with bio-availability - basically, can your body extract that energy from the food? <S> Diet foods often cellulose or other fiber added to them -- which can burn and have heat, but your body can't absorb. <S> So for nutritional reasons, they're considered 0 Calorie. <S> For the case of unenriched bread, we basically have only a few ingredients ... water, flour, yeast, and maybe salt. <S> Once we remove the water, the yeast and salt are lower percentages, so we can estimate (stress estimate), but we also need to know what type of flour was used. <S> whole wheat flour : <S> ~339 kCal / 100 grams white flour : ~364 kCal / 100 grams <S> (but this is likely for American whole wheat, which is white flour with bran mixed back in, not ground up whole wheat berries) <S> Of course, it's also worth mentioning that calorie counts on menus and food packaging in the US are only estimates. <S> There are tables of calories per item, and they just add them up in the amounts used to get a number. <S> (so all wheat bread is considered to have the same kCalories/gram, no matter how it was made) <S> Some of those values might just be estimates based on the ratio of carbohydrates, fat, and protein in the ingredient. <S> But how something is cooked, and the particular person (their gut biome, how well they chew, etc.) can affect how much energy they can get from the food, so it's always going to be a really rough estimate <A> It depends. <S> If your ingredients are just flour, salt, yeast and water, you’ll be reasonably close, but not really exact. <S> If you are dealing with a more complex recipe, added milk, eggs, sugar, fats, seeds... <S> the values will be way less precise. <S> But:There’s always some deviation, even between different batches of flour, and all values you will find in books, tables, the Internet, will be a kind of average. <S> You may assume that the differences even out over time and counting down to the last single calorie is except for very few special cases (where you would need a lab setup and scientific methods) less crucial than most people may assume. <A> No, because most store-bought bread is more than just wheat flour and water. <A> Bread is not just flour, as already stated. <S> It is flour that has undergone a variety of physical and chemical changes (even if we don't consider the other ingredient for simplicity's sake). <S> Those changes not only change the caloric content of the product (some may be exothermic, some are endothermic, meaning some lower and some raise the caloric content of the product). <S> It would be an interesting experiment to see the difference between the caloric content of a pound of flour as compared to a pound of bread created using that same flour.
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Many kinds of bread contain quite a lot of sugar and other additives with non-negligible calories.
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How much of the clove should I use when using big garlic heads? I recently bought some of those big garlic heads (unlike the small, pretty ones you have in the supermarket). It looks like this: My problem is that when I take out the cloves and try to cut them, they break apart like a small onion. Here is a pic As you can tell, there is a "whole" clove buried under the smaller outer layers. My question is - do you just take out the whole, smaller clove and use it, or do you use the outer layers as well? Do the outer layers have a different flavor? Are they bitter? <Q> I think that might be elephant garlic, which isn't really garlic at all. <S> It's in the same family, but is actually a kind of leek so it has a flavor that's a cross between garlic and onion, but milder than garlic. <S> Because it's not very strong you'll probably want to add the whole thing. <S> Just chop it and use it as normal. <A> I've never noticed a difference in flavour, and I normally crush mine. <S> I prefer big garlic when I can get it, for convenience when preparing as I tend to use a fair bit at a time. <A> Elephant garlic is super easy to grow, and the flavor is milder, so use the entire clove. <S> If in doubt, slowly cook in a toaster oven ahead of time to make sweet and gooey (and leave your home smelling amazing). <S> To grow elephant garlic, take 40 of these cloves that are in good condition and pre-soak in water while you roto-till a patch of your lawn, large enough to make an 8 in x 8 in space for each, preferably as close to a square grid as possible, with 8 inches to spare all the way around. <S> Do this ideally in September. <S> I used a sod cutter to remove the grass and move to areas of the lawn that needed them. <S> If in doubt, however, add seed-free grass clippings to the soil you are roto-tilling, esp, if it is full of clay. <S> A sunny spot at least part of the day is best. <S> Plant your little bulbs <S> according to how you should plant garlic in the fall, possibly with a little bulb-fertilizer. <S> Planting in the Fall allows your bulbs a critical head start over grass in the Spring. <S> Once you get pre-flowers, get out the scissors and snip yourself a stir fry with a little butter. <S> Yum! <S> Your 40 little "steers" will now focus on bulb making. <S> I got a 100% yield my very first year in SE Michigan -- 40 little elephants! <S> I dug a couple a little early as needed, and to check on progress. <S> Just in case you might get irradiated product from a corporate supplier, lean toward buying your parent elephant garlic from an organic/roadside source.
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You can generally use the whole thing unless there's another papery skin inside in which case discard that (some garlic may go with it) or anything that seems bad (soft or discoloured).
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Cooking pasta in a water boiler A friend of mine cooks pasta in a modified electric water boiler which has been modified to keep going even after the water placed in it boils. What are some advantages and disadvantages of this method over placing the boiled water in a pot and cooking it there over a gas stove? Thanks. <Q> Advantages: <S> You can make pasta in your water boiler. <S> Disadvantages: <S> Hard to clean. <S> Waste of energy, a water boiler is on or off, it willexpend full energy keeping the water boiling. <S> Incredibly dangerous , a big fire hazard. <S> Because it's modified to ignore the internal temperature sensor it will keep heating andheating even if all the water is vaporized. <S> Once this is the case, itwill start getting so hot it will melt the boiler and the metal ofthe heating element at which point your stovetop may catch fire. <S> Story about faulty kettle. <A> Advantages: <S> you free up one burner in your stovetop, and one pot <S> Disadvantages <S> : you might damage your equipment in the long term (starch might get in places where it shouldn't, and metallic parts will get damaged by the salt) <S> you can't boil clean water in that boiler anymore <S> (I doubt it will be easy to clean) if it doesn't have a temperature control, it will spill over - and you can't just "turn the heat down" <S> Others: <S> you still need to keep an eye on it to check if it's cooked, as with any other method <A> It depends on the nature of your electric water boiler. <S> I assume you are using a kettle-like device, but I may be wrong. <S> If this is the case, then your pasta will be sitting atop and within the metal coils. <S> You risk burning and deforming the pasta with this approach. <S> If you're in a bind and don't have access to a stove, I would recommend boiling water in the kettle, pouring it into a pot with the pasta, and replacing with the water with newly boiled water as it cools. <A> Even if you somehow took care of the safety issue that others have mentioned, for example by staying with it the entire time making sure there's always enough water in it, there's a practical issue that stems from this point (taken from Pieter's answer): <S> Waste of energy, a water boiler is on or off, it will expend full energy keeping the water boiling. <S> This is an important issue that's gotten overshadowed by the safety issue. <S> While the energy waste is one thing, it's not just keeping the water boiling <S> (like you would when boiling water on a stove) <S> but it's on full throttle all the time meaning it will produce a lot of steam . <S> Let's say you start cooking your pasta when the water is already at boiling temperature and it needs to be going 10 more minutes. <S> Assuming a water cooker with a power rating of 2000 watt (which is common in the EU) that means you're adding 2000*10 <S> *60=1,200,000 Joules to the boiling water. <S> Taking into account the heat of vaporisation for water <S> that means you're putting in enough energy to turn 1,200,000 /2257=532 grams of water into steam (assuming all the energy goes into heating the boiling water and no other heat losses). <S> When starting on this answer I'd expected it to be a bit more, but consider that half a litre is still significant if it coats stuff in your kitchen. <S> In the US this is probably less of a problem as <S> the average water cooker there runs at 1500 watt or so . <A> usually, i make it boil first, add the pasta, hit the button to quick reach back to the boiling point and let it sit about 5 minutes. <S> it is easy to clean and the pasta seldom sticks to the heating element, but I have occasionally thought about adding a metal mesh. <S> What i would consider the advantages: <S> speed of reaching the boiling point, on stovetops it can sometimes seem like forever to reach boiling <S> my boiler is not modified, so it stops when it reaches the boiling point, so like for rice, it sits and continue cooking more gently. <S> you have more control this way and can predictably have pasta al dente.
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i use a regular water boiler for pasta mostly because i don´t have a stovetop and pasta is horrible to cook on a microwave.
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Is Calrose rice a decent choice for paella? I'm making paella. Most of the recipes I've looked at call for specialty rice varieties that are expensive and/or difficult to find. I have a large amount of Calrose rice ( this stuff ) in my cupboard already. I know I want to avoid long-grain, very-non-sticky varieties like basmati, but aside from that I'm not sure what the important considerations are when choosing my rice. Is the Calrose I already have a good choice, or should I bite the bullet and buy something fancy? <Q> Some will say no, some will say yes. <S> I'm in the yes camp. <S> If you want to make paella, and that's the only rice you have on hand, don't let anyone stop you. <S> Use this as a learning experience. <S> Be warned that the rice might be stickier than other type or rice, especially paella rice, so be careful about the amount of liquid used. <S> Rinse the rice thoroughly to remove as much surface starch as possible. <A> Calrose rice is a medium grain rice, it will probably work okay <S> but it won't really have the right texture. <S> If you are in the US there shouldn't be any problem finding short grain Arborio rice, which is all that paella rice is. <S> You can spend a bomb on paella rice in fancy bags imported from half way across the world, but it isn't really a different product from the risotto rice or the arborio rice you get for a fraction of the price at many supermarkets. <A> You can use The Authentic Varieties, which are usually blisteringly expensive, or just head to your local Asian market for a good array of short-grain rice. <S> If you don't have an Asian market, the short-grain varieties are usually found at floor level in your supermarket, since long-grain seems to be the canonical fashionable type in the US at the moment. <S> Just be sure not to rinse off the starch as recommended by Max, since that will negate the properties you're getting the short grain for.
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Any cheap short-grain rice will work as well for paella as for risotto.
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Eggy cake with less egg is dry: what next? I'm working to a pretty standard recipe for cake (s.r. flour, butter, sugar, egg, flavours, etc), and it comes out too eggy. I can usually make a sponge without faff but to do that I use a different recipe. But for this cake, for non-baking reasons I need to use this recipe with minimal tweaks. I initially thought it was a cooking time/temperature thing but after a few trials it seems like it just has way too much egg in it. Assuming that it was originally written for smaller eggs, I just reduced the amount of egg and it's now too dry. Not remarkably dry, par for the course for, say, a cherry loaf cake, but this one is supposed to be moister than that. Is there a way I can add the moisture in a less eggy way? I was thinking of just adding milk or water (say 150ml per replaced egg). Is that too naive? I've heard about tricks involving cornstarch but I can't get my head around them. Would such a trick work? Current base recipe is (I've tried lots of variants around this and various additional flavour ingredients): 1/2lb each: c. sugar, s.r. flour, butter, 4 eggs. Seived and mixed at each step. Flour in last (which is new to me). 160C (fan) until skewer comes out clean. 4 eggs is v eggy; 3 eggs is dry. Running short of half-chickens to try in between! <Q> Substitute oil for some of the butter. <S> Here is a trick to reduce dryness that I just learned from The Perfect Cookie . <S> Omit a tablespoon or 2 of butter and swap in vegetable oil. <S> I used safflower last but any mild liquid vegetable oil would do. <S> It is awesome for chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal cookies. <S> I have gone 50/50 butter and oil in the banana bread that I made lately and the texture was good. <A> The "too eggy" taste shouldn't be from the amount of eggs, since a standard pound cake is 1:1:1:1, and that means that you would need 4.5 eggs for 1/2 lb of the other ingredients. <S> So the first thing to consider would be whether your cake is overcooked, or somehow not well enough beaten. <S> When the egg is incorporated that way, it shouldn't produce off tastes. <S> As for the potentially overcooked cake, just test it more frequently before taking out. <S> If you are sure you are mixing and baking it well and still want to reduce the egg taste, it is a bit difficult, because it is indeed the egg yolk which makes it moist. <S> If you can say that the eggy taste comes from the egg whites, then you can replace one of the three eggs with two yolks, or use three whole eggs and one yolk. <S> But if you find it too yolky tasting, do not replace with more egg white, since egg whites dry out the cake. <S> If you have to have less yolks and still moist cake, do not add liquid. <S> If anything, it makes for a drier cake. <S> The cornstarch also won't help, this is for making softer cakes. <S> You can try instead pure lecithine (make sure it doesn't taste slightly eggy with that too), a spoonful of commercial mayonnaise (homemade won't give you anything different from what the yolk already gives you), more sugar, or something with pectin content. <S> A couple of tablespoons of applesauce or quince jelly can help here. <A> Adding "moistness" to cake is easily done by just dumping in extra vegetable oil. <S> For your recipe start with an extra 1/2 cup vegetable oil. <S> You can make the batter more soft/"airy" while also reducing egg content by adding Xanthan gum, which acts as an emulsifier and thickener. <S> It will thicken your batter when it gets runny from all that extra oil you added to make the cake even "moister".
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I would try it with a creaming step, and really make a very smooth beginning before adding the dry ingredients - cream sugar and butter really well until very fluffy, then add eggs one at a time while keeping everything creamy, like making buttercream.
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Why is it faster to reheat something than it is to cook it? In my experience it takes less time to reheat a cooked item than it does to cook it. This is true for every single different "type" of cooked item I can think of. (Meat, soup, pasta, beans, etc etc). It's quite common for me to use the microwave to reheat things, and that might lead me to be biased in thinking that it's faster because the microwave itself is often the fastest way top reheat something, but this observation isn't true just for microwaving. It doesn't even seem to matter on the method of reheating, as I can reheat something faster if I use the same method of as I did to cook it (e.g. by frying). Note that I always check the temperature of something I've reheated via a food-probe, so I'm also not making a mistaking of cooking something to 70C and then reheating to 45C etc. So: Is it always faster to reheat something than it was to cook it, or are their exceptions? why is food faster to reheat? What's the food-science behind it? <Q> "Cooking" is often a chemical process. <S> Denaturing proteins, gelatinization, causing chemical reactions like browning, or even causing state changes like evaporation. <S> In many cases for these reactions to happen, we need to overheat the food. <S> (Cook it and let it rest to cool off back down to undo some of the changes that were made and/or bring it back down to a reasonable temperature to eat). <S> This is true when grilling meats, frying, baking bread, and lots of other types of cooking. <S> Other times, we need to bring something to temperature and hold it there for some period of time. <S> This holds for extracting collagen, starch gelatinization (eg, cooking pasta, potatoes, etc.) <S> but also just waiting for flavors to transfer in soups and similar dishes. <S> With warming, you're just adding enough heat to it to move it a few degrees, but you're not typically trying to change the state of the food, so less total energy is needed. <S> Now, it is always faster to reheat vs. cook things? <S> For the most part it's true, but I suspect that there would be an edge case out there. <S> Something that's cooked from room temperature, but then stored chilled and the chilling causes issues (like retrogradation in starches, maybe?) <S> that make them more resist than reheating. <A> This is because when you're cooking some foods you're not just heating it up. <S> A lot of foods are boiled, not because they need to be heated up, but because they need to absorb water. <S> We just boil the water because that makes the hydration go a lot faster (the high temperature is also needed to break down some of the starches, for more info, see here ). <S> With soup it should take about the same time, if you don't care about dissolving/softening the vegetables into the soup. <S> That also takes time, with vegetables the chemical reaction involved is mainly breaking down the pectin that holds the cells of the vegetable together. <S> With meat, dissolving/denaturing the collagen (stuff that holds everything together) into gelatin also takes time. <S> Also you want a different temperature for reheating than frying because with meat you want a nice crispy brown outside (Maillard reactions), and for that you need far higher temperatures than the inside of your meat. <A> Because heating up is merely rising the temperature of a body and how much its temperature change depends on its specific heat. <S> The sane is for the complex mix of the various items in the pot as we are speaking about kitchen. <S> Cooking involves a number of physical and chemica processes, each of which takes time. <S> Is this taking time the major difference <S> , that is why I've decided to add this answer alongside the others. <S> They aren't wrong at all, just in a way incomplete. <S> Cooking must be accomplished, and that will be the case anyway, see just here below. <S> Most of these process require heat as well, that is energy must be given to the system. <S> So the pot must stay on stove (or the meat on the grill, etc.) <S> longer. <S> Independent of this energy requirement, which for some chemical transformations can be even positive (ie the process releases energy and not vise versa), chemical reactions go faster higher the temperature is. <S> For instance, pasta could be cooked at lower than boiling point, just it will take longer. <S> This is why pressure cooking is somehow faster as well less energy consuming. <S> edited. <S> If cooking involved water intake, the specific heat of the cooked item might be bigger, for instance. <S> An example is likely pasta. <S> I would expect that it takes longer to bring a cooked spaghetto to 100 °C than doing it with a raw one. <S> But this analysis is certainly out of the kitchen (fine measuring, ad hoc experiments, way of heating....), as probably we never put raw vs cooked spaghetti on a hot plate and measure how long it takes for them to reach the wanted <S> T. <A> It doesn't even seem to matter on the method of reheating, as I can reheat something faster if I use the same method of as I did to cook it (e.g. by frying). <S> Note that I always check the temperature of something I've reheated via a food-probe <S> , so I'm also not making a mistaking of cooking something to 70C and then reheating to 45C etc. <S> That is not strictly possible. <S> If you are imparting the same amount of heat energy to the same thing at the same rate in the same controlled environment, then the resulting temperature must necessarily be identical. <S> If you are ensuring a consistent overall temperature resulting from the same source, then the time difference arises because you are heating different things . <S> One likely culprit would be water that escaped as steam during during cooking or evaporated during/after, which reduces the mass you are heating the second time around. <S> Water is also one of the slowest things to heat, because it has one of the highest specific heat capacities amongst common substances. <S> This alone would result in a very noticeable difference in many types of food. <A> Does this question really call for a scientific explaination ? <S> To cook, you heat something and let it stay hot until it get cooked. <S> To heat, you just heat it a bit until you can eat it. <S> So even it you want to eat it as hot as its cooking temperature (which you won't in most cases, with a good 100°C margin), you just ignore all the "cooking time" after you reached the right temperature.
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Specifically to question number 1, yes is at least in principle possible that a cooked item takes longer to be heat as compared to heat the original item.
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Use of duck fat at the time of cooking? When I broil breast of duck, I get a significant amount of fat that pools below the duck breast. What can I add to the dish that will soak up that duck fat and benefit from it? The only thing I have thought of so far would be to make a pastry. So the idea is that I would make a flat of pastry dough and place it beneath the duck while it is cooking. Then, when both are cooked and the pastry has absorbed the fat, I take the duck out, peel off the skin and discard it, then I put the duck breast back in the pastry, slice it, and serve it. <Q> I think the usual use for drippings is incorporating the fat into a gravy or pan sauce. <S> A bit of flour, a bit of water, salt and whatever seasonings. <S> I don't recall if it is common for duck specifically, but I see no reason it an't work. <S> As for your pastry idea, I don't think it usually works that way, the physical disturbance of the dripping and the uneven distribution might make the pastry texture not come out quite so well. <S> (I assume there's a reason pastry isn't commonly used to catch drippings). <S> If you still want to try something similar, you might be interested in yorkshire pudding - which was historically used to catch and use the drippings from a roast or similar, and being intended for this purpose it will probably work better than a random pastry recipe. <A> I would keep it anyway, and use it as a replacement for any fat you may use in your cooking like oil or butter. <S> It'll be great for roast vegs, either pan or oven. <S> Just make sure you cool it down fast to avoid the "danger zone" between 3 and 60 degrees Celsius, and keep refrigerated. <A> As already mentioned, roast potatoes would be an excellent choice. <S> Another option is to drain off the fat and keep it for fried eggs. <S> Eggs fried in duck or goose fat are wonderful.
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Roasting, or rather deep frying in that case, some already cooked potatoes(boiled or steamed) seems like a good common use of that duck fat to me.
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Rub Roast Before or After Searing? I just put the roast beef in the oven and I don't know if I ruined it already.So, what happened: I lavishly applied a rub of salt, black pepper, dried rosemary, and fresh garlic to the meat prior to searing. Then I tried to sear it in the pan. The crust of herbs got darker and darker but the meat underneath was still quite raw, until finally the kitchen filled with thick smoke as the herbs started to blacken and got charred. And I feel kind of dumb that I didn't see that in advance.I tried to make the best out of the situation, scraped the burnt herbs off, applied fresh herbs and put it in the oven at 90°C as planned. Now the catch: The order of operations was dictated to me beforehand.I painstakingly followed the rules set forth by my girlfriend - the rules for roast beef haven been handed down from one generation to the next in her family from ancient times, apparently Pharaoh Sethos I invented these rules and who am I to question them?And the rules say: rub before searing. Now I want to put the following question to the community:Rub roast before or after searing? What would you do if you were not bound by any questionable ancient wisdom and a proto-sumeric curse? <Q> I think there is a place for both. <S> Without being aware of the particulars of this received wisdom/commandments from on high, it is a little hard to say. <S> I have also seared roasts and then placed on a bed of herbs and garlic to roast - though not rubbed as such. <S> If you used seasoning as above and not a thick layer, then it would be reasonable to sear after rubbing. <S> However, if you applied a thick layer so as to form a crust, these will have to heat up to searing temp before the meat could even approach a temperature at which the maillard reaction could occur. <S> This would also be at or above the temperature at which the sugars in the herbs would also caramelize and start to burn, as happened in your case. <S> In such a case I would not sear, unless in a very hot oven for maybe 5-10 min, before turning down to cooking temp. <S> It could also be that the family recipe only applies the rub to a portion of the meat, perhaps just the top/skin side, and only sears the bottom (or vice-versa <S> I suppose). <S> Perhaps your girlfriend's family only use a thin layer of seasoning rub before searing. <S> It may be best to get an invite to her next family roast and ask to help in the kitchen while preparations are on-going. <S> If you are looking long-term, incidentally this, and helping with the dishes, are a way to get into the good books with her family too. <S> Another option is to simply ask her how she does it! <A> I agree with bob1 regarding burning and impeding Maillard reaction. <S> I would always limit pre searing seasoning to salt mainly with a little pepper and possibly dried herbs ( <S> unless it's steak au poivre which is a different story in regard to pepper). <S> Any fresh herbs, fresh garlic (which you cite), dijon, etc <S> I'd apply after searing. <S> It would also depend on how hard a sear you are trying for - you are implying its a hard sear. <S> Certainly get more details from the family, including how hard of a sear you should be trying for. <S> Given it seems to be a low temp cook, it might indeed be a fairly hard sear that they do, and so I can see your dilemma. <S> For a roast at a more normal high temperature, Id be doing a fairly light to medium sear and let the oven do the rest; and that gives a bit more flexibility on pre-sear seasoning. <S> If the family is under the misapprehension that searing keeps juices in, you may want to start a discussion about a more moderate sear and avoid burning. <A> So, I'm an "I've heard it both ways" kind of a girl <S> and I'm also crazy OCD about my cooking <S> so I work at learning new techniques until I find ones I am crazy about. <S> In this situation, my favorite is this: Apply thin dry rub over entire roast and wrap tightly in freezer paper and saran wrap. <S> (saran wrap first) Let sit in fridge <S> 30-45mins Remove from fridge and let sit on counter for 15-30 mins (whatever totals to 60mins of marinating time) Unwrap cut of meat... <S> the dry rub should have moistened enough (because of the wrap) that it will no longer burn so quickly during the searing process. <S> Personally, I like marbling when I cook a thick cut of meat <S> so I always buy a cut that has one side thick with marbling. <S> Once I unwrap the meat, I put a heavy coat of dry rub ONLY on the side with the marbling and then sear all other sides. <S> When I put the roast in the oven, I do so with the marbled side up so that, as it cooks, the dry rub will add flavor to the juices from the marbling and those juices will seep down into the rest of the meat to become trapped by the searing done on all the other sides. <S> My roast is tender, juicy, and full of flavor every time I do this. <S> I don't know if it helps, but I hope so! <S> ( P.S. to those who are more obsessive like me, and if you have the time and the thought to do so, you can always brine the meat overnight. <S> Making a brine is pretty quick & easy and it will absolutely help to lock in that moisture.... <S> and I really do mean quick and easy... <S> You can do it in 15 mins or less. )
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Seasoning of meat is often performed before searing (think steaks), but this is commonly only in the form of a thin layer of salt and pepper and maybe herbs too, not a thick complete covering.
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Why is shrimp rubbery after reheating? How can I prevent this? I don't frequently use shrimp in my dishes (once a month at most) because I tend to shop my proteins based off what is the best deal and I'm not usually interested in shrimp unless it is large (at least 15-20 count) and under $7/lb. Whether I make stir fry, fajitas, pasta, or anything else I can't figure out how to reheat it and have it not be rubbery. Microwave is the worst culprit (even a few seconds in the microwave will ruin the shrimp for me), but even reheating on the stove changes the consistency. When I eat it cold out of the fridge it is fine (other than being cold). What makes the shrimp rubbery after reheating? How can I reheat it and prevent (or at least reduce this)? FWIW, this happens whether I saute, boil, or bake the shrimp for original preparation. <Q> I agree with @Joe. <S> Once things like shrimp are overcooked I am not sure that there is a way to make them tender other than to cook for a long time, similar to slow cooking. <S> With squid the rule for cooking is less than 2 min or more than 20 min to ensure tenderness. <S> I think your best bet is to heat slowly and monitor as much as possible to make sure it is warmed but not heated fast so that it overcooks. <S> In the microwave I would spread the shrimp in a single layer on a plate and using a low power setting, heat in perhaps 20-30 second increments, testing for warmth after each step. <S> You could play around with time and power settings to see what works best for you. <S> The key is to make sure the shrimp do not get too hot, so make sure you turn them and shuffle positions on the plates. <S> You could also try heating in an oven, covered with foil at around 80-100 C for about 10 min <S> (this is a guess on time, it will depend on the size of the shrimp). <A> As it seems my comment was deleted ... <S> To figure out if it's an issue with overheating: Remove the shrimp from the dish (these are U20, so they're decent sized), and heat up the rest of it, then add the shrimp back up and let them warm up from the rest of the sauce. <S> If that's still okay, the problem is with overheating the shrimp. <S> ... <S> but I don't know a better way to reheat it for when you're dealing with smaller shrimp. <S> (maybe steaming?) <A> I have found that if I cook the shrimp to a temp of 125-130 degrees it is moist and tender on the first meal (Harold McGee recommends this) and then subsequent reheating doesn't affect the firmness too much. <S> Most people overcook shrimp in the first place. <S> If they are deep pink and tightly curled they are overcooked.
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It sounds like you are heating too much and overcooking the shrimp.
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What to use instead of cling film to wrap pastry I'm trying to stay away from single use plastics for the environment. The only kitchen thing I have not yet managed to find a substitute for is wrapping pastry in cling film to let it rest in the fridge before rolling and baking. What can I use instead that doesn't let the pastry dry out while resting? I'm interested in a substitute that's either biodegradable or ideally reusable. <Q> It is less useful than what you think <S> Frame challenge incoming... <S> Cling film is very light and made especially for such purposes. <S> The environmental damage is extremely low - which limits what alternatives you can choose. <S> Most alternatives (including those already mentioned in the other answers) will be so much more resource demanding to make, dispose or recycle for it to be worth it. <S> Baking paper, while extremely useful - is full of silicones, so don't put it in the "paper" bin... <S> and it is more resource demanding to make. <S> Teflon, cloth, etc - same deal! <S> Aluminium foil, for instance. <S> 75% of all Aluminium refined and made is still in use . <S> Because of the extremely friendly "recyclability" of aluminium, it is a very good material. <S> Just not for aluminium foil, it is rarely recycled . <S> People just throw it in the trash. <S> We destroy a valuable resource. <S> Cling film, on the other hand is dirt cheap to make and can safely be incinerated. <S> If you worry about polluting the sea - I'd see if there are any alternatives to landfilling your waste in your community. <S> As for carbon emissions - Walk once to the store instead of driving, and you'll be in the green even if you consider a life time supply of cling film. <S> Note <S> : Some cling films are made with PVC, I'd consider switching to the less clingy, but better overall alternative LDPE. <S> PVC contains chlorides and while the environmental impact is still low, if you go for LDPE or similar it goes to negligible. <S> Check the box it came in to find which you have <A> Use Tupperware, or a plate over a bowl. <S> Since those items are reusable the environmental impact will be less so long as you keep using them. <S> You can get Tupperware that is mostly glass too. <S> Lots of places do this with their dough. <S> All that moisture will still be in there as the dough rises or rests. <S> As long as it's airtight it should work. <S> Alternatively you can put a damp tea towel over a bowl. <S> This will allow the pastry dough to breath while maintaining moisture. <S> Make sure the towel doesn't dry out though. <S> If it does, your dough will too. <S> Just add some more water to the towel when it starts to get dry. <S> Bakers use some variation of tupperware and damp towels all the time. <S> Plate over a bowl won't work as well, but it should still work. <A> You don't have to use clingfilm (cling wrap, saran wrap depending where you are in the world), there are alternatives as long as the pastry is not sticky: <S> Plastic bags: I reuse zippable plastic bags as many times as I can, you can wash them by turning them inside out Baking paper: baking paper can be re-used <S> as long as it stays clean Aluminum foil: again this can be reused several times A damp towel: if all you want is to let pastry rest for an hour in the fridge then a damp tea towel works pretty well. <S> Just make sure it is damp, not wet, or you risk moisture from the towel getting into the pastry and making it too wet <A> Put it in a bowl, large enough so the dough doesn't reach the top (if possible), cover it with a damp dishtowel (not wet, just damp). <S> Voila. <S> Totally ecological, and works better than plastic wrap because the dough can breathe. <S> If the towel touches the dough, you might have to scrape it off depending on the dough and the time involved, but that's not really a problem. <S> Make sure to use a smooth towel, not a textured one which will both stick to the dough more and probably hold too much water. <S> And use a clean one of course. <A> I have reusable teflon sheets for lining cake tins and baking sheets. <S> They also work well for wrapping pastry and dough. <S> With pastry the easiest way is to make a folded parcel with the opening side underneath on a plate or dish. <S> They wash up by hand or in the dishwasher and also save you lots of baking parchment/greaseproof paper and some foil. <S> Another option is a plastic box only a little larger than the pastry. <S> With very little exposed surface area and very little air in the box it won't dry out noticeably. <S> The two options can be combined - ina box with a small piece of the teflon sheet (an offcut perhaps) on top <A> I have always used wax paper to wrap pastry for the fridge. <S> It's always worked for me. <S> (Note: <S> this is not the same thing as the baking paper/parchment mentioned in other answers.) <A> If your question can be changed slightly to: What to use instead of cling film to prevent pastry dough from drying out when resting (or storing) in the refrigerator? <S> , here is what I would do. <S> Place a ramekin (smaller than footprint of dough) in it upside down (or something else you have around your kitchen to elevate the dough), add a little water to the bottom of the container, place dough on ramekin, cover with lid. <S> Dough should not touch water, of course, sides, or lid. <S> This method is used by home cheesemakers to create a humid environment.
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Similar to what others have suggested, find a glass container or plastic tub with lid a little larger than the footprint of the dough.
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Alternative to swiss cheese I am planning a fondue party. I personally despise swiss cheese. I am defining swiss cheese here as any cheese that has that similar flavor, like swiss, ementhalar, jarlsberg etc. as they all have a similar flavor profile. To edit my original question, which I had not asked as directly as possible; I need a cheese that performs the way swiss would in fondue. The main quality is its ability to melt smoothly. Again avoiding that similar flavor profile of what americans call swiss cheese. The two cheeses I already am familiar with which will perform similarly are Fontina and cheddar. Any other suggestions? <Q> Are you opposed to "fake cheese", AKA "cheese food products"? <S> The best known at least in the US is Velveeta, but there are alternates including recipes you can find to make your own. <S> They would have a different flavor profile than Swiss and others that I call white cheeses. <S> Home made versions are usually a combination of America, Cheddar, and milk or dried milk. <S> Con side: It is what many refer to as cheese flavored plastic and cheese purist scoff at even considering it. <S> The flavor profile tends toward bland, not the more complex flavor of name cheeses. <S> Pro side: It was specifically developed to melt smoothly, consistently and without lumps and far less tendency to separate into a layer of oil than many real cheeses. <S> It is largely credited with the rise of popularity of grilled cheese sandwiches in the US years ago due to its ease of melting and that it will stay melted. <S> It is commonly used in many quick cheese sauces for the same reasons. <S> If you mess with one of the home made recipes to duplicate it, it will typically take a few hours to prepare it (some use gelatin and are faster), but also gives you the opportunity to customize the flavor profile. <S> Commonly spices and tomato are added. <S> You could then experiment with adding your own favorite cheeses to see if you could duplicate the ease of remelting while retaining closer to your taste in flavor. <A> A very young baby Gouda will melt nicely. <S> Also, a couple of Mexican cheeses, queso quesadilla and queso chihuahua, will melt well. <S> The queso chihuahua is usually a slight bit sharper than the others. <S> While these cheeses do melt very well, you may need a tiny bit of milk or cream to have them at a proper fondue consistency. <S> An upside to cheeses like these is that they shouldn't separate like a sharp cheddar or other more aged cheeses might. <A> Also worth noting is that the cheese product sold as 'swiss cheese' in the US has a very indirect relationship with Swiss cheese, i.e. cheese from Switzerland. <S> It's supposed to be reminiscent of Emmentaler, but the differences are greater than the similarities. <S> (At least in my rather limited experience.) <S> There are different cheese mixtures used when making fondue, and while some people use Emmentaler, it's by no means universal. <S> (I'd go so far as to say that it's a minority ingredient in most fondues.) <S> But that's a question of personal taste, rather than cooking, and as such is border-line off-topic here. <S> Of more interest is what happens in cheese fondue, and what kinds of cheese can be used. <S> Hervé <S> This looks at this in his excellent book Molecular Gastronomy : <S> A fondue is no more than cheese heated with wine. <S> The combination of water (from the wine) and water-insoluble fat (from the cheese) means that the successful fondue is necessarily an emulsion, a dispersion of microscopic droplets of fat in water solution and Connoisseurs of fondue know that the success of the dish has to do particularly with proper cheese selection. <S> Questions of flavor come into play as well, but well-ripened cheeses are best suited to the preparation of fondues because, in the course of aging, enzymes called peptidases have broken up the casein and the other proteins into small fragments that are more readily dispersed in the water solution. <S> These casein fragments then emulsify the fatty droplets and increase the viscosity of the aqueous phase and ... select very dry wines—indeed, wines that are excessively acidic and, if possible, very fruity. <S> Why are these properties useful? <S> Athony Blake has shown that such wines have high concentrations of tartaric, malic, and citric acids. <S> Malate, tartrate, and especially citrate ions are very good at chelating (or sequestering) calcium ions. <S> The acidic and fruity wines experts prefer help separate the casein micelles and release their constituent proteins, which stabilize the emulsion by coating the fatty droplets. <S> (Another option is to cheat. <S> Add some cornstarch, and it's highly unlikely to seize.) <S> ¹ <S> That should be Fribourg Vacherin , rather than the Mont d'Or variety. <A> It will be smooth and stringy when melted, but more fatty and will have a stronger flavour than American Swiss cheese. <S> The downside will be the price - especially in the US, Comté is a high quality, premium cheese more often found on cheeseboards than used in recipes.
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In the Jura region of North-East France, the cheese of choice for fondue tends to be Comté, with a splash of white wine and some garlic added. Personally I'm rather partial to 'moitié-moitié', which is a mixture of equal parts Gruyère and Vacherin¹.
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Could I use orzo instead of paella Rice? I'm making a paella but don't have paella Rice! Could I use orzo? <Q> It's not a direct substitution, but you can use orzo in place of paella rice as long as you vary the liquid. <S> When I make a paella I use 3x the liquid as the rice by volume. <S> With orzo that may be too much - if it doesn't absorb it you'll have a watery paella. <S> My approach would be to add 1.5 times liquid to the pasta by volume (not including your tomatoes) and see how it goes. <S> If it starts to dry out and the pasta isn't done you can add small amounts of liquid until it is cooked. <S> FYI, any short grain rice will do for paella, you don't have to buy rice specifically saying paella rice. <A> If you can find Arborio rice (which is what I use living in middle america rather than the more classical bomba or calasparra rices), that works great in a pinch. <S> You could probably make orzo work if you pay attention to the water content and make sure to cook all the water off by the end, without over cooking the orzo. <A> Rice is a grain, orzo is a pasta. <S> A small, rice-sized and -shaped pasta, but still a pasta. <S> In addition, you cannot expect the starch releasing effect of a paella/risotto rice with orzo, which would simply disintegrate, if you try too hard to stir it. <S> I would recommend any short-grain rice instead. <S> You can usually find perfectly adequate versions in any Asian grocery store, much cheaper than in more specialized stores. <S> Or just look on the lower shelves of your supermarket, if you're in the US.
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If you try to substitute, you will have no idea of how much water to use, and chances are you will end up with hideously overcooked orzo. I make paella often and any short grain rice is preferred to orzo.
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How to achieve a super leavened cake as the Pierre Herme ones? I made several cakes in my life. I know the difference between different leavening agents. I know that low temperature tends to make flatter cakes, but I never could get this kind of shape. If I use a super hot oven I burn the surface and I don't get this shape, there must be something else. Does anyone have experience doing this? Does anyone have a recipe from any modern pastry chef showing this kind of cake? Maybe gluten content in the flour could help? Thank you <Q> Pierre Herme's "Cake Ispahan" is basically a pound cake flavoured with rose, raspberry and litchi, then glazed. <S> Let's look at the ingredients as reported on PH's own online shop: <S> Sugar water wheat flour (GLUTEN) <S> EGGS <S> cream (MILK) <S> butter (MILK) <S> freeze-dried raspberries (2,6%), freeze-dried litchis (2,6%), hydrogenated vegetal fats (coconut and palm kernel oils) whole MILK powder cocoa butter natural rose flavor (0,6%) chopped ALMONDS baking powder (E450I, E500II and corn starch) emulsifier : GMO-free SOYA lecithin potato starch Guérande salt <S> natural vanilla extract dyes : cochineal carmine, E129 and E171. <S> Emphasis mine on the ingredients that are functional to the cake texture and leavening. <S> The above looks like the product of some serious food engineering. <S> It's a recipe highly tuned to keep cost down, be highly reproducible, keep well for long periods of time, and of course still be delicious. <S> Now, how do you get a good tasting pound cake with a huge, cartoon looking dome like Herme does, but without the resources (or just the time) to tinker until you find that 0,3% of potato starch is the right amount? <S> luckily you don't have many of the constraints that lead to that recipe <S> : you can increase food cost (since you don't want to make a profit on it), you can tolerate some variability in the product, and it doesn't have to keep as long (we all know it will be gone in two days after baking) <S> So, here's the key elements to obtain a big dome: <S> Cream <S> the butter in a stand mixer, and don't stop until it's very fluffy <S> Keep creaming while you add eggs (adding them slowly and at room temperature helps the stability of the emulsion or: Whip eggs in a stand mixer, and don't stop until they're very fluffy <S> Add oil or melted butters, keep whipping then: Use the weakest flour you can find You can make your flour even weaker by swapping 10% of it with potato starch <S> Don't skimp on chemical leavening. <S> Don't even think of skipping it entirely. <S> Either just before putting it in the oven, or as the crust is beginning to form (5-10 minutes), make a cut on the surface lengthwise, to make sure the crust will split there and not make different splits in undesired places <S> A smaller pan size seems to work better <A> You don't want a 'super hot' oven. <S> 50 <S> °F/25 <S> °C can make a big difference in how fast the cake rises. <S> It's likely he's also using a fan-assist oven. <S> You'll also get a more dramatic curve if you use a dark metal pan, as the sides will set faster. <S> I'd also suggest looking <S> How do you make a cake lift equally and minimize doming? , and doing the opposite of whatever is recommended. <A> Have you baked it in the right pan shape? <S> This is pretty normal rising for cakes baked in a pan with a narrow shape, so either the loaf pan your picture uses, or a bundt (guggelhupf) pan. <S> When you have a standard chemically leavened cake in it (the closer to a pound cake, the better, as opposed to some more demanding batters), it will almost automatically do this. <S> Or you could use a mufin recipe, technically there won't be much of a difference and they obviously tend to create muffin tops when baked in small cups. <S> Make sure that the pan is also quite full <S> , so the rising has no space to go but up. <S> Cakes in round pans have a much gentler rising behavior.
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You can reduce how quickly the top browns by either making the batter slightly more acidic or putting a sheet pan above it to reduce the radiant heat so that you can get more lift before the top sets.
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Why is tomato paste so cheap? So, at target, Tomato Sauce is $0.84 / lb. But, tomato paste is $1.00 / lb. However, tomato paste has 4x as many calories, implying that they reduced it by 4x. This makes sense, since reducing tomato sauce to tomato paste in a pot generally reduces it by 4x. But, why is it not 4x as expensive? How is it only barely more expensive if it requires so many more tomatoes to create? Generally speaking even boiling for longer costs money. Milk powder is almost always more expensive than milk, for example (In all of the grocery stores that I've checked, at least). I can't find tomatoes for less than $1 / lb, which upsets me because I want to homemade tomato sauce and tomato paste but it's just not cost effective. Where are they getting practically free tomatoes? <Q> What you are observing is that the bulk of the price of tomato products is not the tomatoes. <S> With fresh tomatoes <S> you are still mostly not paying for tomatoes. <S> You are paying for the gas and people to ship and stock your tomato and all the other tomatoes that were shipped with yours and thrown away damaged or unsold. <A> It's cheap because it is easy and cheap to make/produce. <S> They don't need to have perfect tomatoes to make tomato paste, compared to making canned tomatoes or tomato sauce. <S> (IMO) <A> one run at Google shows a more complex process to make tomato sauce. <S> https://image.slidesharecdn.com/rhidimaandvasudha-150515065227-lva1-app6892/95/tomato-processing-7-638.jpg?cb=1514799842 <S> https://image.slidesharecdn.com/rhidimaandvasudha-150515065227-lva1-app6892/95/tomato-processing-9-638.jpg?cb=1514799842 <S> but i guess this answer would depend on recipe for said product. <S> So the real question should be ' <S> Why is tomato sauce not 1/4th the price of tomato paste?'. <S> The answer should be 'There is increased cost due to other ingredients added to the tomato sauce in processing.'
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The price of the can and shipping far outweigh the few cents of tomatoes the can contains.
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How to increase Thai curry flavour without increase spicy I'm using this Curry paste but my girlfriend doest like too spicy, therefore the flavor is really bland.. how can increase the flavor without make it too spicy? <Q> I did a search for Gelbe Curry Paste and found the product in your pic in a result from Amazon . <S> Based on what I read in a review, you add coconut milk to this curry paste. <S> Therefore I'm hopefully correct that you are toning down the heat and flavors by adding more coconut milk or other milk. <S> So after you tone it down, you want to add flavor back but not add more heat. <S> The product description lists the ingredients as: Product of Thailand Dried Red Chili, Shallot, Garlic, Lemongrass, Salt, Galangal, Tumeric, Cumin, Coriander Seeds, Spices <S> You can add flavor back by adding some of the listed ingredients (to your liking), but not adding more chili. <S> In the US ingredients are listed in order of amount, highest to lowest. <S> While this may or may not be the case here, it may help with deciding which to add more of. <S> You'll likely have to play around a bit, but hopefully you can get that flavor back. <A> Buy a mild version if you can Add salt to enhance the flavors, so long as it doesn't end up tasting salty Add milk or milk powder to the curry, though that'll change the flavor (Milk is known to counter spiciness) <S> Have your gf eat more spicy food so that she gains a tolerance to it <A> why not try making your own curry paste? <S> but once i tried few recipes, I never looked back. <S> I like this one <S> particularly Also you can just add crushed ginger garlic while adding the sote ought curry paste
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I guess you can try messing around with adding sweetness or acid to somewhat attempt to counter the spiciness, but it won't really help that much I usually use curry paste from cans
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Does celery powder have any non-preservative use? Recently I've been seeing an increasing number of packages with labels such as "Contains no added nitrates or nitrites (except those naturally occurring in the celery juice powder)". Does celery powder have any use other than as a method of sneaking nitrates into things? <Q> Yes, it tastes of celery. <S> Celery is one of the three ingredients of mirepoix, the vegetable mix which is ubiquitous in French cuisine and has spread to many others. <S> Current large-scale food production rarely includes slicing fresh vegetables into small cubes and browning them in a pan, but they try to add the ingredients in more convenient form. <S> So, if you eat powdered soup or similar, it can be used for that. <S> On the other hand, if you are eating cured meat, then the most probable reason are indeed the nitrates. <S> If you are looking at a certain type of cured meat (e.g. bacon), it is impossible to produce the same cured meat without nitrates *, but there are customers who are scared of "chemicals" and are more likely to buy the food if the label states that the nitrates are coming from a plant source. <S> * <S> And in general, most types of curing are done with nitrates. <S> There are types done without nitrates, e.g. the prosciutto pointed out in the comments, but they are the minority. <S> And it is more difficult to create a safe process which cures without nitrates, since they have a preservative role. <A> But, as you are questioning, in cured items is has become in vogue to use it in an attempt to pretend that nitrates are not being used, which is misleading to say the least. <S> In those items it is being used as a source of nitrates and frankly for marketing. <S> I have seen multiple reports that bacon and ham for instance, sold as nitrate free but made with celery powder often are actually higher in nitrites which turn into nitrate than many made with refined nitrate and nitrite. <S> How can this be? <S> Well, in the US, the USDA considered celery powder to be a flavor additive, not a preservative, even when the actual use is as a nitrate source. <S> Frankly, any time the wording is similar to as you quoted, that no nitrates were added except naturally occurring..., then assume that is exactly the case, they added the item just for its nitrate content, not for its flavor or only marginally so. <A> It's used as one of the spices in KFC's Seasoning . <S> (Celery Salt being a 3:1 ratio of salt and celery powder) <S> Idk if you've ever made fried food using their seasoned flour recipe, but I recommend it. <S> I always have a bowl of KFC flour and it definitely enhances any chicken parm, croquette, etc, that I ever made. <A> I just want to clarify one element in response to this question's wording: <S> food producers are not necessarily "sneaking" nitrates/nitrites into food. <S> Another answer says that this is a misleading "attempt to pretend that nitrates are not being used. <S> " <S> I initially thought that too. <S> And it is true that some food producers may be "sneaking" these things past consumers. <S> But the problem is also at the USDA level, which requires meat producers who use things like celery powder to say that the products do not contain nitrates or nitrites. <S> Meat producers are required by law to label products as "uncured" if they do not use sodium or potassium nitrate/nitrate produced from synthetic sources . <S> (I assume such regulations date back to a time when those pure chemicals were considered the only way to cure meats consistently.) <S> Some "natural foods" companies have tried to fight this regulation, because they actually want to label their meats accurately. <S> See, for example, this petition from Applegate Farms to try to amend the USDA regulations to allow them to label curing agents like celery powder as what they are and to label the foods as "cured" (which they are). <S> But this is an area of law, not logic. <S> Nevertheless, I think it's important to realize that (1) celery powder is definitely primarily a curing agent when seen in traditionally cured meats, and <S> (2) at least in the U.S., meat producers have no choice and are forced to label such products as "uncured" even if they would prefer to be more honest about it.
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As stated, celery powder is certainly used for flavor, in some applications.
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Is spaghetti and bechamel sauce an authentic Italian dish? I have seen instances where people mix white sauce / bechamel with spaghetti or macaroni but never seen a reputable chef to do so. This mix is sometimes mistaken for carbonara since its creamy white. Is it authentic to do so? If not can please also expound what béchamel usually used for for added information. <Q> As for your question - is it authentic to just toss some pasta with it? <S> I would use the same method I'd use to answer the infamous "is X a sandwich? <S> " <S> questions: <S> if somebody asked for a plate of spaghetti at a restaurant and they came covered in besciamella , I think basically every Italian would be baffled. <S> I've never seen it on a menu, never seen it on a table at anyone's place and never heard it discussed until I read this discussion, which makes me inclined to say it's not authentic. <S> It could still be delicious though! <A> I use it to make a slightly less rich 'carbonara-esque' sauce with pasta; bacon [or pancetta] onion, garlic. <S> Make a roux round that, then milk, mushrooms, cheese, done. <S> I always considered it just a poor-man's carbonara - though it's fabulously tasty. <S> However, though it seems to have fallen in popularity under its original name, salsa colla, Béchamel actually originated in Tuscany & was later taken to France & renamed. <S> I'd say that gives us every moral right to put it on pasta & call it 'authentic Italian'. <A> Traditional (authentic?) <S> Lasagna is made with Bechamel sauce. <S> Anyway, what does authentic mean, and how long a food tradition makes something authentic. <S> For example, Pasta Grannies <A> I think the ground principle behind the use of bechamel can be worded by saying that it's used to keep things together (and wet!) <S> and to have a surface that becomes crunchy and brown when you bake pasta (or other things, for instance, vegetables)
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In Italy, besciamella is usually only used on pasta when it's going to be cooked in the oven: pasta al gratin , pasta al forno , or as part of lasagne .
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What time is needed for overnight oats I want to know what is the minimum time required to soak oats to make them overnight oats. Now a days it’s Ramadan and I have very tight schedule on which I get 2-3 hours to eat. I wanted to know how much time is minimum required for overnight oats? <Q> 2 hours would be pretty tight,but doable. <S> The problem is you'd get not very much nutrition--the soaking helps you digest. <S> Better off preparing for the next day to whether you're thinking of <A> As such, you could make the oats during the day for consumption when you are permitted. <A> I learned, long ago, that when a recipe calls for "overnight" it means eight to ten hours and sometimes twelve. <S> The range depends on what you are soaking. <S> Sometimes eight is enough and sometimes longer is needed because the ingredients are a variable that may not be consistent. <S> So the oats need to be tested. <S> If eight hours is enough then eight hours it is. <S> If not, you need longer.
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I'd take a guess at around 8 hours, which I would say is an average duration of sleep for an adult - assuming the oats are prepared just before sleep and eaten just after.
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How to make thick Asian sauces? Is there a common ingredient, or cooking technique, that gives sauces such as Teriyaki, General Tsos, Orange Chicken; their thick/syrupy texture? We sometimes make dishes in a crock pot; we have a recipe for a teriyaki chicken, and another for a honey sesame chicken, but the liquid we end up with is always very watery/liquidy. What can we do to thicken the sauce; so that it gets the texture that I am used to on Asian chicken? Note that this does not necessarily only apply to Asian cuisine; sauces such as A-1 steak sauce or even BBQ sauce seem similar; though it's quite possible that their thickness is due to completely different reasons. <Q> Thickening agents To thicken, you would mix in an agent designed to do so. <S> There are many options, but here are some that are directly applicable to Asian cooking: <S> Corn starch - Works well in small quantities, though I find it has a tendency to turn sauces into jello in the fridge. <S> If you have too much liquid in your sauce and use a relatively large amount of cornstarch, you can have unusual effects when trying to reheat the leftovers. <S> Specifically, cornstarch solutions can suffer from <S> shear thickening making it hard to return a gelatinized corn starch sauce to liquid form. <S> However, this is 'authentic' in the sense that it is probably what is in your neighborhood General Tso's purveyor's recipe. <S> Xanthan gum - Works <S> well in very small quantities; it doesn't take much to thicken a sauce. <S> I don't think there is anything very Asian about this ingredient, it's more of an 'industrial' food additive. <S> Still, it is flavorless so <S> won't impact the taste of your sauce. <S> Xanthan gum has the opposite effect of cornstarch, namely shear thinning . <S> I don't find the shear thinning to be an undesirable trait. <S> Potato or Tapioca starch - These are my personal preference. <S> These starches act more like flour, in my opinion, and since I have more of a cooking background with gravies and roux, I like these options. <S> To a certain extend, you will have the same shear thickining effect that you will get from corn starch, but I've never gelatinized a sauce with either of these ingredients, so that drives my personal preference. <S> The above listed don't need more than a few minutes at heat to achieve their thickening effect. <S> Be sure to stir in completely and be patient; if you add thickening agents in haste you can easily end up with too much (again, I find this to be a big problem with cornstarch). <S> Also, for all of them, be sure you don't have too much liquid in the first place; a sea of sticky sauce can often be overpowering. <S> There are plenty of other thickening agents in common use (flour/roux, egg whites, pectin, gelatin). <S> You could give any of these a try, but I wouldn't consider them "Asian" in any way, so I don't feel like these answer the question. <A> This can either be mixed with some of the cold liquid and stirred into the hot, or used to coat ingredients prior to adding liquid (with slightly different results). <S> In a crock pot you can do this at the beginning, or when everything is cooked, a few minutes before serving. <S> Some starches (e.g. wheat flour) need more cooking than others, so need to go in early. <S> You may want to use a little less liquid in the first place if you're adapting a recipe. <A> The standard would be rice flour, where a thickening agent is actually used. <S> Some of the sauce you mentioned in the original post are thick because they have been reduced rather than because they've had a thickening agent added.
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Many such sauces include a thickening starch, like corn starch.
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Why is baking soda included in sourdough cracker recipe? I'm following a recipe for crackers made with unfed sourdough starter (other ingredients are flour, oil, and salt). It also calls for 1/4 tsp baking soda and I'm wondering why since the dough sits on the counter several hours before baking, and can also be stored in the fridge for days. I would think the baking soda would no longer be active to work as a raising agent. Is it possible it is there for some other reason? Am I correct that the baking soda is no longer active in the dough after so many hours before baking? If so, how can it work as a leavening agent? I've added a photo of a cracker from the batch with baking soda. Not sure if the photo shows it well, but there's a big raised bubble in the middle, although hard to say if it's due to the baking soda or the sourdough starter. I'd say 80% of the crackers have a bubble of some sort. I read somewhere that baking soda might be used to make a more tender cracker and this batch is in fact not crispy (big disappointment). My next batch will be identical but without baking soda, so I'll see! <Q> In addition to leavening, baking soda increases the PH of the dough. <S> Since your recipe uses sourdough starter, it may be fairly acidic. <S> Adding baking soda will make the dough less acidic. <S> The PH level, in turn, is important for browning: a high PH level facilitates the Maillard reaction, giving you brown and toasty crackers. <A> To answer the question in the second paragraph: Baking soda is a chemical, sodium bicarbonate, not a microbe, so it is always "active" so long as it is still baking soda. <S> Once baking soda is "activated" it chemically transforms into something else through an acid-base interaction. <S> First, baking soda must dissolve in water. <S> This is the important part! <S> Acid-base interactions do not occur in solid form, they occur as solutions in water (not fully correct, but true enough for this answer). <S> Without the presence of water, you won't have a carbon dioxide producing acid-base reaction. <S> Baking soda is NaHCO 3 . <S> The carbonate anion (HCO 3 - ), once separated in water, can then interact with some other acidic molecules, such as those produced by the sourdough bacteria. <S> The interaction of the carbonate ion will usually produce carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), and this is the gas that causes the desired rising. <S> Baking soda that is dissolved in water in an acidic solution will rapidly "activate"; mix baking soda and vinegar and watch the resulting reaction. <S> But a dough is not a water solution, although there is water content present in it. <S> Therefore, the rising action will not proceed immediately, it was wait over time as sodium bicarbonate molecules come into contact with acids in the presence of water. <S> Therefore, the rate of rising action you get from baking soda depends on several things; temperature, water content, acid content, and mechanical agitation (i.e. kneading). <S> A cold, un-kneeded, low moisture dough with a poor sourdough starter will see very slow activation of the baking soda. <S> A warm, wet, well-mixed dough with a very active starter will see very fast activation and rising. <A> Baking soda decomposes when heated (T above 80 °C) releasing carbon dioxide and water. <S> While other answers cover true or untrue aspects, baking soda and other chemical leavures formulation work even without acid/base reactions and without letting the dough stands for raising. <S> I would say that in addition to the raising due to the starter, your crackers should get an extra raised texture, with inner bubbles typical of less compact crackers, those looking a bit layered, less dense. <S> This last raising would happen while baking. <S> https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/vanishing-baking-soda/
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Since sourdough (when present in water) will produce an acidic solution, there will be things for baking soda to interact with.
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How to deal with overproofed pizza dough? I’ve been making pizzas on the go with a portable pizza oven and it’s been going really well but sometimes if I don’t time things right I’ll end up with huge seemingly overproofed doughs that become harder to work with as they keep rising. When this happens should I knock them back down again and let the dough proof again in the box? <Q> Over-proofed dough can be saved. <S> So, if your dough is truly over-proofed. <S> Degas it, reshape it (in a ball for pizza), and allow it to proof again. <A> What must be happening is that your dough that is waiting while you model the others in the shape of pizza, is getting dry. <S> If you keep the dough well moisturized should facilitate your handling, I advise throwing some water using a spray in the doughs that are resting while you work with the others. <A> It depends on your dough type and recipe, but I personally don't find somewhat overproofed pizza dough to be a major problem. <S> Just pop any large bubbles as you are stretching it and handling it, but otherwise just bake it normally. <S> I frequently overproof my pizza dough on purpose, as I often like the resulting flavor a bit more. <S> I'm not sure precisely what "harder to work with" refers to in the question, but overproofed doughs can become dried out (if left out) and harder to stretch or more sticky (if kept in a humid environment). <S> The remedy for the former is just to cover the dough while you wait; for the latter, just be sure hands and surfaces <S> are well-floured. <S> The last thing that sometimes happens is that overproofed dough <S> can become very slack and less elastic, making it stretch very easily and perhaps tear. <S> In that case, only gentle handling is typically needed to stretch the dough. <S> Rather than tossing the dough or handling it roughly, all that is often needed is the weight of the dough itself to stretch itself over ones hands. <S> Once it becomes thin in the center, lay it down on the surface where it will be topped, and just stretch out various sides farther as needed. <S> The resulting pizza may not be as perfectly round as a tossed one, but it will usually still bake fine.
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If the size and number of bubbles in the dough still gives you an undesirable result, you can either knead the dough slightly and proof again (as OP suggests), or you can be more aggressive about degassing while stretching the dough for pizza, perhaps employing a rolling pin.
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Can I utilise a baking stone to make crepes? If I will heat the stone in the oven, will it retain heat long sufficiently once out of the oven to make a few crepes? Will the dough not stick to the stone and will it distribute uniformly or it will form patches? <Q> I think it's a bad idea... <S> Crepes are made with a batter (as opposed to a dough) spread thin over a hot metal plate (seasoned or oiled). <S> A baking stone has a porous surface and I suppose the batter would just get stuck to your stone. <S> It doesn't happen with a dough because it has enough structure to not fill every pore of the stone on contact. <S> On the other hand, if you had a baking steel instead... that might work, they usually have enough mass to hold heat for some time (and they don't crack). <S> (disclaimer: I'm not associated with the brand, but I do have one of these <S> and it's awesome) <S> Pre-heat it, brush oil over it and spread your batter. <S> I'm not sure how many crepes you can do before having to send the steel back to the oven, and then it will take a while to have it hot again, so it might not be practical. <A> No, don't do it. <S> Good crepes are made within narrow parameters of heat exchange. <S> You can observe this when making crepes on the stovetop - the first crepe is almost always bad. <S> The pan seems to be either not hot enough, or too hot. <S> After the first one, it somehow "stabilizes", or extra heat starts to creep on you. <S> In the second case, it will get too hot after a while, and your crepes will start throwing bubbles on the first side and burning on the second. <S> If you are in the good zone though, and decide to reduce the heat - say because you have been making nice crepes for the past 20 minutes and now it is your last crepe and you want to turn off the plate early - you will end up with a bad crepe again, even if you think that you have enough heat left over from keeping the pan (and the plate below it) hot for so long. <S> Given that crepes are so sensitive to temperature, I wouldn't even start experimenting with your stone setup. <S> If you don't have a stove, get a portable plate, they are cheap and versatile and don't take up much space. <S> I used to have an induction unit that was quite nice and made good crepes. <A> Otherwise you might find yourself holding pieces of your baking stone, with the rest of the heavy and hot stone falling on your feet, wooden floor, pet, etc.
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All of the baking stones I know need to be slowly heated and cooled down - i.e. they go into the oven before it's turned on, and stay in the oven (with the door closed) after it's turned off. So don't try this for safety reasons.
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Is there a kind of food like bread that I can use to absorb sauce but that doesn't dry out so fast? This is more related to eating than cooking: is there a kind of food that I can use to absorb sauce but that doesn't dry out as fast as bread? I was thinking in the context of using bread to get the remaining sauce from a plate. And rice of pasta are par meals whereas this would be complementary to a meal. when you say "dry out fast" do you mean over the course of the meal, or that the loaf dries out over a few days before you can eat it all? I mean over 1 or 2 days, which for me is a pretty short period of time, too short for it to be worth buying fresh bread ever. Depending on the meal, would thick cut chips be a suitable substitute? (UK chips FYI) Yes I guess it could work, although not as well because chips don't absorb as well as bread, but it does take more effort and time to prepare. I had something easier in mind but I realize that what I'm looking for might not exist. I was thinking of something like indian naan bread but I'm not sure that it is much better at staying fresh... <Q> Here are a few ideas, starting with how you can make bread work, based on my comment: <S> You can often buy them singly. <S> Demi baguettes are similar but about twice the size. <S> Part baked rolls keep for months (sealed, once open keep in the fridge and use within a few days). <S> You finish cooking them just before serving, which is easy if you've got the oven on anyway. <S> Bread freezes <S> well , at least for short periods, as does home made dough. <S> You could form it into rolls, freeze, defrost in the fridge, and bake twice a week. <S> Many of these ideas require using an oven. <S> If you don't have one or don't want to use it daily, you still have the option of flatbreads . <S> Chapatis, for example, are intended to eat sauce with, and cook in a dry frying pan. <S> They're simple to make fresh or, as with flour tortillas, you can buy or make a batch, keep in the fridge, and reheat in a microwave. <S> You can often find prepacked flatbreads in 2-serving packs; until opened they keep for weeks, after that, seal them up and you've got a couple of days. <S> If bread is getting a little dry, toasting <S> it makes it nicer (especially if you melt butter with crushed garlic and spread that on it). <S> Moving away from bread, rice and pasta don't really absorb much sauce, but couscous does (especially if you are a little mean with the water when cooking it. <S> Boiled, jacket, or even roast <S> potatoes can be mashed into gravy with your fork. <A> Frozen waffles. <S> These are great in so many ways. <S> They come in big boxes and stay good a long time. <S> Toast <S> some up when you need them as sauce mops. <S> Also they make a good PB&J. 2. <S> Corn flakes. <S> I keep corn flakes for putting under chili or beans. <S> 3. <S> Pancakes. <S> It is really easy to whip up some pancakes. <S> Scratch pancakes are so easy if you generally have those ingredients on hand: flour, baking powder, oil, milk, sour cream or yogurt or kefir. <S> Pancakes are as thirsty for sauce as they are for syrup and fresh pancakes <S> are awesome. <A> As long as you start with something very dry such as crackers, it should hold on to moisture well. <S> Keep sealed in a refrigirator. <S> You can also do the same trick with drying the bread in an oven and using it like that.
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Bread rolls often keep better than loaves, because they have a crust all round.
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Why is my Taiyaki (Cake that looks like a fish) too hard and dry? I was making taiyaki, and most of my friends said that the dough is too hard and dry. I have: 2 cups cake flour 4 tablespoons sugar 6 teaspoons baking powder 1 cup of milk 1/3 cup water. I use an electric whisk to combine the dry first, then add the liquid ingredients.I use the electric whisk/mixer again for around 30 rotations at the highest speed and let the dough rest in our refrigerator. I heat one side for 2 minutes in a taiyaki pan and then the other side for 2 minutes.Can you kindly help this newbie serve better taiyaki to children and friends? <Q> I have never made these, but this is what I observe from comparing your recipe to the most readily found online ones: <S> Your mix is dry. <S> Other recipes tend to have up to twice as much liquid as yours, by proportion to the flour. <S> Your mix has no egg. <S> Every recipe I found included egg, in quantitiesranging from 1 egg per 1 cup flour to 1 egg per 1/2 cup flour. <S> You include water in your mix. <S> Other recipes I've found contain nowater. <S> These recipe differences mean that your mix has much less liquid than most and also, importantly I think, much less fat. <S> Eggs and milk both contain fat which will give a more tender result. <S> You also mix all the ingredients directly together. <S> Recipes <S> I found recommended whisking the flour, salt and baking powder together then beating the egg in a separate bowl, creaming the egg with the sugar then adding the milk and only then gently combining the wet and dry ingredients being careful not to overmix. <S> I'm not sure how much difference this makes, but mixing the sugar and dissolving it into the egg rather than putting it directly into a lower hydration mix will allow you to capture tiny air bubbles into your batter which will also tend to make the crumb more tender. <A> The recipes I see online are slightly different from yours, and could help in solving your problem. <S> In addition to most of your ingredients, they include baking soda and egg. <S> While baking powder does most of the leavening when used in combination with baking soda, that addition, plus the leavening power of the egg will make a significant difference. <S> By the way, 6 tsp of baking powder seems like a lot for the amount of flour in your recipe. <S> Also, check the consistency of your batter. <S> It should be somewhere between the viscosity of pancake and waffle batter. <S> Finally, I would be careful not to over mix. <S> Like pancakes, you don't want to build up the gluten structure of the flour, which would make the cake's texture tougher. <S> This appears to be a good resource. <A> You need some oil. <S> I see these are basically pancakes. <S> Use an oil with no flavor or a flavor that will be good in the fish cakes. <S> I have some sunflower oil in the refrigerator <S> I use for making pancakes. <S> Corn oil is good too. <S> Or melted butter would be delicious. <S> A tablespoon per cup of flour would be a place to start.
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You need some oil or butter to make a good pancake, or it is too dry, like your fish pancakes have been.
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Jam with honey & without pectin has a saucy consistency always My orange jams and strawberry jams with honey are not getting set.. for some reason I don't use pectin (mental block maybe - though I know it's a natural ingredient).. reading a lot of blogs I found this could be the case when lower amount of sweetner is used..Is this correct? My friends love the saucy consistency so that's not a problem.. but I want to know if this is normal or should I let it boil more? Strawberry jam: 1kg strawberry + 100 grams water to boil initally to remove seeds (this was for a kid who doesn't like the seeds) 600 grams honey 3 tbsp lemon juice To start with low flame for 10 minutes and then at a medium flame for 80 minutes.. temperature was 104°C when I switched it off.. Orange : 500 grams orange juice 220 grams honey 1 tbsp lemon juice Low flame 10 minutes + boil in medium flame for 30 mins - end temp 104.5°C <Q> Jam is set with pectin or it is syrup. <S> Period. <S> If you are not adding pectin then you are relying on whatever pectin is available in the fruit you use. <S> Strawberries don't have a lot. <S> Oranges have a good amount <S> but it's in the peel- <S> thus the existence of marmalade. <S> Pectin requires sugar and acid to set. <S> The sugar is not going to prevent a normal jam from setting. <S> If you boil it longer you will just be removing water which will thicken your syrup and maybe it will be thick enough for your tastes <S> but it still is unlikely to gel like jam. <S> If you are deathly opposed to purchasing pectin, you can make it yourself by boiling tart apples. <S> It's a lot of work and you will end up with a product that is no better than commercial pectin <S> but you will have control of the process. <A> In addition to Sobachatina's very good answer : Some fruit contain a lot of natural pectin. <S> Black and red currants are a prime example of that (they also contain a lot of acid, to set the pectin). <S> I sometimes have the problem that my currant syrup becomes jelly by accident (one year even my currant juice started to set...). <S> My grandma always mixed high pectin fruits with low pectin fruits to get for example currant-cherry-jam or something similar. <S> However, currants have a very strong flavor, so it dominates most other fruits. <S> (this doesn't work for strawberries, though.) <S> It might affect consistency, taste, and looks, though (mostly not in a bad way). <S> EDIT : I talked this topic over with my mom. <S> She mentioned, that agar-agar could be used as well to achieve a jelly texture. <S> It is a common vegan gelatin substitute made from red algae. <S> It comes in powder or liquid form. <S> However, I haven't used it myself in a jam, yet. <S> During my baking experiments with it, it behaved a lot like gelatin, tough. <S> It can give of a ... "fishy" odor while processing it, however, in the final product it should be practically tasteless. <A> I use apple. <S> Just puree it in a blender, about 1/2 medium apple per 2 cups of other fruit (more if you like a thicker consistency). <S> I like the natural pectin. <S> Apple doesn't really impart much flavor or too big a change in the consistency of the other fruit. <S> But if you are worried, just quarter the apple and fish the chunks out before canning. <A> Beside the other answers, you are on the right track with the "add enough sugar and cook down more" part. <S> Alton Brown has an episode where he prepares orange marmelade using a thermometer, and explains that it is actually a form of candymaking - you take your orange-flavored sugar to a specific stage below softball. <S> I have seen marmalade from other fruit being made in the same way, even fruit with low or no pectin content. <S> If you insist on low sugar and/or short cooking times (the more you cook, the less flavor) you do need pectin for thickening, as Sobachatina explains.
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Another trick to reduce pectin in some fruit jams is to use the whole fruit to make jam out of purée, as the peel of many fruits contains the most pectin.
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Nonstick Pan Ruined in High Heat? I bought a nonstick Greenpan at Williams and Sonomo. It was kind of expensive like $100. It was working great. Then someone used it on high heat. Now it sticks a lot. Visually, I don't see anything wrong with the pan, but it seems to be totally broken. I'm surprised that using it just a single time with high heat was enough to ruin the nonstick surface entirely. Was this my fault? Or should an expensive nonstick pan be a bit more durable than that? (I am new to cooking so sorry if it's a newbie question. Any info appreciated!) <Q> Yes high heat can burn off the nonstick coating. <S> My roommate's girlfriend did one of my pans that way, heating it very hot while dry. <S> It was pretty spectacular. <S> Everyone in the house had this weird little cough like from dilute pepper spray. <S> Anything silver in the house tarnished. <S> I presume the nonstick was burned off and floated around in the house, causing these effects. <S> The pan was still usable after, just no longer nonstick. <A> Heating nonstick pans above 500 degrees Fahrenheit or 260 degrees <S> Celcius will burn off the nonstick coating <S> The toxic vapors released can cause serious problems for some animals like birds that are more sensitive to polluted air, which is why it is frequently recommended that a person be very careful with nonstick pans if they have those animals. <A> PTFE is base for the vast majority of all nonstick coatings, and goes by the brand name "Teflon". <S> Degredation can happen at lower temperatures (anything above 400F), but at 500F or above it is both certain and swift. <S> You haven't said how hot the pan got, but assuming that it did get to 500F, then (a) <S> yes, it is your fault, and (b) <S> no PTFE-based nonstick pan is going to be more durable against excess heat than that, no matter how much you paid for it. <S> At a high temperature, PTFE undergoes "pyrolysis" , during which some of its flourine compounds vaporize (which isn't good for your lungs, and can outright kill birds). <S> After pyrolysis, the coating loses a lot of its nontstick properties, even though it may appear undamaged. <S> In my personal experience, there is a subtle change to a more "matte" appearance to the nonstick surface. <S> Manufacturers of Non-PTFE nonstick claim that their cookware can withstand higher temperatures without loss of nonstick properties. <S> GreenPan, for example, claims to be good to 850F. <S> However, to date these claims have not been verified by independent authorities. <S> Also, note that some cookware which claims to be "non-Teflon" or "PFOA free" is still based on PTFE (such as ScanPan).
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A single session at temperatures above 500F/260C is sufficient to ruin any PTFE-based nonstick pan, regardless of price or "quality".
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Why does barbecue sauce break down and become watery in baking I have a great brown sugar, onion, spices and catsup-based barbecue sauce for pork spare ribs, but when I bake the ribs in the oven, the sauce turns watery and thin. What do I need to remove or add to keep it thick? Thanks. <Q> When you bake meat, certain proteins in it change and contract, squeezing out liquid. <S> That liquid will mix with any miscible liquid around it, of course. <S> The result will be colored like your BBQ sauce, but will be diluted. <S> Once you've added the glaze, make sure not to cover the meat: you want additional water vapor to float away, not to re-condense and rain on your ribs. <S> Now, if you'd like to improve the flavor and texture further and don't mind spending more time to do it, you can do a hybrid of those two methods. <S> Cook the meat with the BBQ sauce, tightly covered, until almost done. <S> Drain off and reserve the liquid. <S> and skim off as much fat as you can. <S> Boil the liquid down in a saucepan until it's quite thick <S> , then re-spread it on the ribs. <S> That process takes longer, particularly if you're being really careful about the fat, but the gelatin and flavor in the resultant glaze will be worth it. <A> It's not likely that your sauce is turning watery. <S> What's probably happening is that the water in your sauce is evaporating and condensing on the (presumably) foil you've wrapped your ribs in, leaving behind the solids of the sauce on top of the ribs. <S> The condensate will then be mixing with some of the sauce solids, but not to the same saturation as the pre-baked sauce, resulting in what looks like a 'watery sauce', but it's just separated into sauce solids and sauce liquids. <S> That's why normally rib recipes call for two applications of sauce: one pre-bake to flavour the meat, and one post-back to apply the sauce at the correct consistency. <A> The other answers here are bang on, but if you've already added the sauce to the meat then I usually add either cornstarch or flour as a last resort to it to thicken it up. <S> There are a few other ways listed here in case <S> they're helpful.
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If you'd like to have a thick glaze of BBQ sauce on the finished meat, the solution is to apply it late in the cooking process, once much of the liquid has already come out of the meat.
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What is this plant I saw for sale at a Romanian farmer's market? I was at an agricultural market in Baia Mare, Romania and several vendors were selling this plant that looks like the tips of a pine tree. I didn't ask for a name and didn't handle it, so I can't tell you much beyond that each cluster of needles was about the size of a finger. Here's a picture: <Q> That actually are tips of trees, probably spruce 1 . <S> It’s this year’s new growth and a very seasonal product. <S> The tips are harvested when the are (about) fully grown, but still light green and soft. <S> I can’t say for sure what the local customers would use them for, but one of the common uses in my area of the world is to make “honey”, i.e. a syrup by either layering the tips with sugar and let the sugar draw out the aromatic compounds or alternatively make a “tea” that’s them preserved with plenty of sugar and boiled down to a syrup. <S> It’s both a honey substitute (it does resemble fir honey) and a folk medicine against colds and coughing. <S> Other extracts are made with alcohol instead (or in combination with) sugar to create a liqueur, again served both for medical and culinary purposes. <S> 1 <S> This is not a botanical id. <S> Various members of the genus Picea (spruce) and Abies <S> (fir) are used, usually whatever grows locally and has a pleasant taste. <A> I'm French, and I happen to know someone that uses this kind of spruce tips to make alcohol. <S> It's well-known in the Alps region of France. <S> People tend to use these things to make "sapinette" (which means "small spruce"), a liquor appreciated by many peoples. <S> They let the spruce tips extract their flavour in a prepared-in-advance alcohol. <S> As for the final result, it most likely has a taste very close to spruce honey. <S> People may like it or not. <S> Its final degree of alcohol is around 35 - 40°. <A> they are used to make a syrup that is believed to have health properties - antibiotic, antiseptic, metabolism stimulator, etc.(pic taken from this link: <S> https://www.realitatea.net/sirop-muguri-de-brad_1939056.html )
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They are called 'fir tree buds' ("muguri de brad") - young tips of branches.
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Why is it recommended to mix yogurt starter with a small amount of milk before adding to the entire batch? When making yogurt with Yogourmet yogurt starters it is recommended to boil the milk, bring it down to 110 degrees F, then take out a cup of milk and mix the starter, then add that mixture back into the main batch of milk and let it culture. What is the reason for not just adding the starter directly to the batch of milk? <Q> If you skip this step you will have clumps of dry powder floating on top of the milk and it will take a lot more effort to mix in. <S> When you are using yoghurt as a starter for a new batch this step is not necessary and the starter can just be mixed in directly. <A> To avoid clumping. <S> It is much easier to disperse a solid into a small volume of liquid first by whisking or stirring to reach an even consistency and then pouring it into a larger volume of liquid where it will disperse readily, than it is to manage the solids being dumped directly into a larger volume of liquid. <A> in addition to avoiding clumping, thoroughness of mixing with less effort whether this is well understood or not, you're much more likely to uniformly mix a cup of something into a quart of something than you are to uniformly mix a teaspoon of something into a quart of something <S> this technique scales <S> well. <S> need a teaspoon of something thoroughly mixed into to 30 gallons of something else? <S> start with a cup, then a gallon, then 5 gallons, then the 30 gallons otherwise the original teaspoon would just be a thin spiral streak through the big batch
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Dry powders are easier to mix if you make a slurry first with a small amount of liquid and then mix the slurry in.
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How to tell if a vegetable steamer contains titanium How do I find out why steamers sometimes have titanium, and which ones, if so? Also, why is it there in the first place? <Q> If you mean metallic titanium - very unlikely. <S> If you mean titanium compounds like the oxides - it is very likely. <S> Titanium oxides are used in nearly all modern paints. <S> I expect a fused ceramic coating is equally likely to contain titanium compounds. <S> The people that write the info on the products are liberal arts majors and would not know titanium if it bit them. <S> Metallic titanium would be easy enough to identify ; First is it magnetic ? <S> If " yes" - not Ti. <S> Does it feel "cold" ( assuming it is around 75 F), if "yes" - not Ti ( aluminum feels cold because of high conductivity) . <S> Does it feel "heavy/dense ? <S> If "yes" - not Ti ( stainless is about 50 % more dense than Ti). <S> As these are relatively subjective tests ,it would be good to practice on known aluminum and stainless equipment first. <S> If necessary, grinding wheel spark test; aluminum - no spark . <S> stainless - limited orange/red sparks, Ti -bright white sparks. <A> As with all internet information, take this article with healthy skepticism, but it gives a summary: https://healthy-cookware.com/what-is-titanium-cookware-really-made-of/ <S> To cherry pick, Titanium is used particularly in some current non-stick applications because it is strong, very strong, light, readily available (titanium is a fairly common element on earth. <S> For durability is classified as self-healing because it forms a titanium-oxide surface that mostly prevents further degrading and when scratched will simply reform this film over time. <S> It is considered non-toxic, mostly non-reactive to acids and does not flavor foods. <S> Note, that some applications that use titanium only as a coating or reinforcement, thought the titanium is considered safe by authorities, not all the bonding agents and media are equally safe so it is generally recommended to purchase such items through reputable and known sources of reasonable quality. <S> You will find sources that dispute all of the safety claims of course and are free to believe the sources you wish. <S> In general, we do not debate such issues, rather we quote authorities that are responsible for testing and evaluation such as the USDA and equivalents in other jurisdictions, and they have apporoved titanium as safe. <A> There is a method you can try at home using a rotary tool and cutting wheel, but that's not 100% sure and it also will damage the steamer.
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There's no way to to know for sure whether a steamer contains titanium without sending a piece of the steamer to an analysis lab for testing.
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What would be a good sub for pineapple, any other fruit or veggie for a strawberry pineapple mint salsa I need to sub pineapple with something else, im highly allergic to it. <Q> Kiwi. <S> Don't knock it until you try it. <S> It will have a similar acidity and texture to pineapple. <S> Use ripe kiwi and maybe a touch extra lime juice! <A> Your pineapple in a salsa is going to add some sweetness, a lot of acidity, and crisp chunks that will be important to the texture. <S> While other tropical fruits would be have the sweetness and interesting flavor, I can't think of anything that adds the acidity and texture. <S> When ripe, mango and guava are quite soft and although there are delicious mango salsas it won't be similar to the pineapple at all. <S> You also need a fruit that will not be too distinctive of a flavor because that might distract from the strawberry or clash with the mint. <S> I think that I would use meyer lemons. <S> The meyers would be sweet enough not to bash you in the face <S> but they still have some of the tartness. <S> The texture pops kind of like a pineapple and the flavor compliments both strawberry and mint. <A> Mango, specifically green mango. <S> You'll get a similar texture, some tartness, and it is already a widely used thing in salsas. <S> You could easily pick how tart you want it by switching to s slightly riper Mango. <S> https://www.google.com/search?q=green+mango+strawberry+salsa&oq=green+mango+strawberry+salsa&aqs=chrome..69i57j33.4770j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 <A> <A> other possibilities to substitute for pineapple in that salsa: 1) fresh rhubarb 1/4" cubed, some extra rhubarb juice, and sugar2) <S> jicima cubed and gently steamed, tamarind paste, and lime juice3) <S> big blueberries, halved, and sugar 4) <S> tart green apples cubed plus sugar and a little apple cider vinegar
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I'd lean towards mango, with some lime juice to help match the acidity.
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What's the secret to pan-searing a steak with regard to oil's smoking point? Lately I've been trying my best to learn how to pan-sear a steak at home and the main takeaways I've gathered from my research and distilling tips from the likes of Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver etc. are: the pan has to be really hot and not made of a material that may have its coating disintegrate as a consequence, so steel is cool while non-stick materials aren't we put some oil in it we sear the steak I won't get into what point #3 branches into but the problem is, every single time I have problems with the first two points alone. I'm using an old steel pan, kinda like this one: So I put it on high heat for literally a minute, pour literally a tablespoon of oil and within seconds there's either A LOT of grey smoke which lets me know that I'd better turn off the heat or I'm going to have an emergency or the oil just plainly catches fire (this thankfully only happened once so far but still - it did). Why is that so? I've been using regular refined canola oil, I also tried extra virgin olive oil (that one was pretty dumb I have to admit as the smoking point on this one is pretty low but I didn't know it then - and I only did this once) but it doesn't matter to be honest. And I'm keeping the pan on high heat for literally under a minute, not 10 minutes to reach steel beam melting temperature like some people on YouTube seem to advocate. What am I doing wrong? Is the pan wrong? The oil? The temperature? I just have no idea, especially since the temperature definitely isn't anything to write home about and the oil is the most run-of-the-mill type you could think of, not some experimental type or brand. <Q> If your oil catches fire, it is indeed too hot. <S> But still, you cannot make a good steak without reaching the smoking point. <S> "the temperature definitely isn't anything to write home about" - here you are wrong. <S> Whether the tempreature is too much, too little, or just right, that's something you recognize by the behavior of your food. <S> If your oil billows large smoke clouds and your steak chars on the outside, that's way too much, no matter now easy <S> it was to reach it or how little you have turned the dial. <S> Just keep adjusting the temperature until your steak cooks well. <S> From what you are writing, the first adjustment should be down, but before you learn, you will probably at some time start undershooting it and will have to regulate it back up. <S> Just repeat the exercise until you get a good feeling for how to make the steak. <S> You can speed up the learning process if you start using an infrared thermometer. <A> The secret is to oil the steak, not the pan. <S> You only need enough to make good contact until the steak starts to produce some juices, which is less than a minute. <S> Adding oil to the steak means the oil is exactly where you need it to be, and you aren't using any more than you need. <A> Don't leave the oil smoking in the pan. <S> Once it's heated up, which takes just a few seconds, throw the steak on it. <S> That alone will cool the pan down. <S> As for smoke, it's perfectly normal for a lot of smoke to happen when searing steak in a pan. <S> If there's no smoke your heat is probably too low. <S> If your kitchen cannot handle smoke (weak fan), don't try to cook steak. <S> Adjust the heat as necessary once you have the degree of browning desired on each side. <A> I find the following works well for searing any kind of meat: <S> Get the pan good and hot! <S> Make sure there is some sort of oil <S> (personally I use a seasoned butter to match the final desired taste of the meal). <S> Make good contact with the pan and meat for roughly 30s <S> then go on cooking as you would for that dish. <S> For steak in general I may ensure contact with the pan a little longer (up to a minute) and toss in another knob of butter just before I toss it in the oven (usually between 250 and 350F) and cook until the desired "done-ness". <S> I hope this helps!
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In order to reduce the amount of smoke generated I both turn on the range hood to vent the kitchen, and use natural oils as I find they smoke less than processed oils (like Canola). A well seasoned cast iron pan (personal preference as I was raised cooking on these).
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Cooking a nice pan seared steak for picky eaters So here's the situation:I love a tasty steak. I also have really particular family. If the meat is not cooked all the way (aka very little or no pink left) it's still partly raw and no one will eat it. If the meat has globs of fat on or in it, they dissect it and remove them. My Mom buys steak on the principle of the less fat you can see, the better meat it is (and is therefore convinced that more expensive steaks are worse, not better, and not worth the outrageous price). Obviously, my goal is to convince my family that this is not true, so we can have some better beef sometimes. They like delicious food, so I know they'll still love the taste of good beef, IF I can work around the aforementioned roadblocks. After much pleading, I convinced my mom to get to some better steak as a treat for me. She brought me some NY strip (what I asked for), though it's thin cut (it is a bit under 1/2 inch thick, I think). I'm hoping that the thinner meat may actually work in my favor, since it has to be medium well to well done anyway or no one will eat it. So, a lot hinges on the results of the meal I'm cooking tomorrow, and I want to get it right. After much internet research, here's my game plan:Remove steak from fridge about an hour before cooking, pat dry and salt it. Heat a thick bottomed stainless pan to super hot (we don't have cast iron).Dry steaks off well, coat them in canola oil, and put in the pan. Sear a couple minutes on each side. A few minutes before finishing, add some butter and minced garlic and spoon over the steaks while they finish cooking.Take em out, discard the garlic, let them sit a few min while finishing other meal prep stuff, and then slice them up in thin strips (against the grain, of course!) and serve them. Am I missing anything? Anything else I should know? Thanks! P.S since I haven't cooked with these before I'm not sure about all that fat my mom is so offended by. I know the marbling makes the steak tender and juicy, but will it cook down somewhat and be less "present and offensive"? Or if I trim what's along the edge before cooking to help avoid complaints, will it ruin the way the steak cooks? Any help here on how to still make a still pretty tasty steak that my family can't be overly snobby about is welcome! Also, please: if the only thing you have to say is "if you're going to cook it near well done then you're ruining it anyway, so why bother?" DON'T. It's not helpful unless you also have some nice tips on how to make a more thoroughly cooked steak better. UPDATE: Steaks were actually closer to 1/4 in upon closer examination, and so they cooked really fast. Ended up a bit overdone even for what I had in mind. BUT they still tasted much better than what we usually have, weren't noticeably fattier after cooking, and even overdone weren't as tough as some of our usual beef. I got more compliments than complaints and they seemed to be a hit, so I consider this one a win. My brother said it was the best thing I'd made since I took over most of the cooking. :) The only thing I did differently from my original plan was I cut back on the amount of garlic I used, since I didn't want to overpower the meat's flavor too much, as someone pointed out in their answer. Thanks guys! <Q> The method you describe should work, timing wise you have it about right, except it will need longer if you are aiming for well done. <S> Salting and oiling before cooking works well, as does letting the meat come up to room temperature (if you are aiming for rare medium-rare a cold steak isn't a bad thing as it lets you char the outside more while having the inside less done). <S> Maybe you're better off leaving garlic out unless you know that's their taste. <S> If they don't like fat adding butter may backfire on you, plus, butter and garlic can cover up the flavor of the steak that you want them to enjoy. <S> You know your family and what they might like best, it's a judgement call. <S> The thing you are missing is that a steak doesn't have to be a monolithic thing, and by treating it that way you miss the opportunity to have something the way <S> you like. <S> If you have 4 steaks then cook 3 medium well <S> to well and cook 1 to your taste, if you have 1 steak cut a quarter off and do the same thing. <S> They don't have to eat your steak <S> and you don't have to eat theirs. <S> A couple of things: Don't trim fat before cooking as you will end up with a dry steak. <S> As you plan to serve it carved trim the fat after cooking as part of the carving process <S> If fussy eaters don't like the look of food raw <S> they won't eat it cooked, so keep them out of the kitchen if you can <A> This should help you prevent overcooking it. <S> (although the article says that steaks thinner than 1.5 inches are a problem using this technique, I suspect that the thinner steaks would still be better <S> so you get to well done without it taking an hour to cook) <S> If you're going to continue with your existing mention, you might want to read up on ' butter basting '. <S> Basically, the idea is that you add the butter after searing, and then spoon the hot butter over the steak as it's cooking, rather than waiting until it's almost finished to add the butter. <S> There's also a variation of butter basting where you sear the steak, cut it up, put butter over the top, then put it in the oven ... <S> but I've never seen recommendations for cooking a steak <S> well done this way. <A> I make these for breakfast all the time. <S> Consider <S> 1: Dredge steak in flour before pan. <S> Salt and pepper. <S> This will make tasty brown bits on the outside. <S> It is a pan fried steak after all. <S> 2: <S> Use butter to cook. <S> Warm it up and fry steaks in butter. <S> 3: <S> Picky people might be picky about garlic; too much or too little. <S> I love garlic but for picky people I offer it on the side in a condiment of some kind - as below. <S> Mashed potatoes are a good side for the picky. <S> Trim the fat from your steaks once cooked, mince it fine, put it back in the empty pan now with your garlic, melt it on low heat. <S> The flour left in the pan and the fat will be a roux of sorts. <S> Then add broth and make gravy for the mashed potatoes.
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It's a bit late, but for your next attempt, you might want to try a ' reverse sear ', where you cook it slowly first in the oven, then finish it in a hot pan.
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How to Save Overly Salty Tapenade I made a tapenade with the following ingredients: kalamata olives, capers, anchovy, garlic, thyme, lemon, olive oil. Although I rinsed the olives and capers (as per the recipe) the result is pretty salty. It's not inedible but would be a lot better if there was something to counter the saltiness even if it doesn't end up tasting like a traditional tapenade. I just want it to be eaten! Any suggestions what I can add? <Q> You could add walnuts or pine nuts and basil pesto style. <S> This would be a good pasta sauce. <S> I would eat it right now. <S> Stretch it out with chopped spinach or arugala. <S> Thin it with cheese. <S> A dip with your tapenade and feta cheese or a mild blue cheese 50/50 would be dynamite. <S> Or just with plain yogurt, which is very unsalty. <S> Top a pizza with it. <A> My 2 Euro-Cents worth: <S> Easy - Serve it with something un- or under-salted. <S> Parsley or spinach are great at this sort of thing. <S> You're not eating it with a spoon, so you can add some greens to your sandwich. <S> Medium Effort <S> - Puree some fresh parsley and mix it in. <S> Note that this will not only change the flavour of your tapenade, but will also significantly shorten how long it can be kept. <S> High touch <S> - Get some more olives, drain them and soak in fresh cold water for a few hours. <S> This will leach the salt out of them slowly. <A> we've been taste-trained to accept balsamic in lots of places where sweetness isn't the norm
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Then chop/puree the olives and mix into the tapenade to balance it out. Ideas: Veer into pesto. it's possible that mixing in just enough (2 parts grocery store balsamic vinegar to 1 part white vinegar) to tone down the salt without it tasting noticeably sweeter would do the trick, but be careful because sweet tapenade isn't tapenade any more if it's on something oily or acidic, just using less tapenade per serving might do the trick without making any changes to the tapenade Parsley is famously good at soaking up salt.
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Can I deep fry food in butter instead of vegetable oil? I was wondering if it is possible to deep fry food that would normally be fried in vegetable oil in butter or lard instead? Will the result be different? <Q> In fact, there are many foods that are traditionally fried in these fats. <S> They both have very high smoke points and are excellent for making crisp fried foods. <S> For example, Puri , Indian fried breads, are deep-fried in ghee (clarified butter). <S> And many Southern USA and many Mexican deep-fried foods are meant to be fried in lard, such as hand pies or sopes . <S> In fact, if you watch the videos of Cowboy Kent Rollins , you'll see that while many of his recipes say "frying oil", what he actually uses is lard. <S> As for the flavor question: yes, using ghee or lard will affect the flavor of what you're frying, but in subtle ways. <S> Both of these fats are mild-flavored (at least, high-quality lard is). <S> Generally, the extra flavor you get from the butter or animal fat is considered desireable; they fell out of fashion in the use due to concerns about cholesterol, not taste. <S> Only foods that are meant to have a very light, airy batter (like tempura) are unsuitable for frying in animal fat. <S> There are some other animal fats that can be used for frying and deep-frying, such as beef tallow, schmaltz, horse fat, or duck fat. <S> These have a much stronger flavor that is recommended for specific foods (for example, there are many aficionados of duck fat french fries ), but aren't a good general substitute for vegetable oil. <S> One other caution: if you switch to frying with animal fats, you need to make special provisions to dispose of the used fat . <S> It can't be safely poured down the drain. <S> This is actually true of all deep-frying oil, but animal fats are a greater problem: they may clog your pipes as well as hurting the sewer system. <S> ADD: <S> per @wjandrea below, clarified butter, ghee, and brown butter have different flavors based on the amount they were cooked while clarifying, which will affect the flavor of any fried foods made with them. <A> No, you cannot deep-fry in butter. <S> It simply can't handle the heat; it will brown and burn before you reach deep-frying temperatures. <S> In a comment you say that vegetable oils are unstable when heated, but it is in fact the opposite: <S> butter is much more unstable when heated. <S> Butter has a smoke point of 200-250F, around 120-150C. <S> Many vegetable oils have smoking points of around 375F or 205C. Lard has a smoke point of around 370F, 188C, which makes it possible to deep-fry with in theory. <S> You can clarify butter and turn it into ghee, which has a very high smoke point, and you should be able to fry in it, though I havent done so. <A> As @ElectricToothpick said, the milk solids in butter will brown and burn, so that's not a good option. <S> Since ghee has had the milk solids removed, that's not an issue. <S> Traditionally, rendered animal fats like lard were used for deep frying, and french fries were originally fried in beef tallow. <S> McDonald's followed that tradition until health-conscious people made them quit. <S> If you ever hear anyone talk about how McD's fries used to be better, its not nostalgia talking. <S> It's the truth. <S> Frying in rendered animal fats gives you a crispier and more delicious final product. <S> I should probably qualify that statement with "in my opinion," but I refuse to acknowledge people who prefer soggy fries. <S> Someone else mentioned flavor but not texture, so I'll add that animal fats have a very different mouth feel and foods fried in them are going to lean more towards buttery and crisp than to greasy and hard in my experience. <A> Electronic Toothpick is correct about deep frying in butter. <S> Lard, however, is perfectly acceptable for deep frying. <S> French fries taste better fried in lard (imho). <S> Solid fats in general are still used; especially in commercial establishments. <S> The biggest drawback is waiting for the fat to liquefy and heat up to temperature compared to vegetable oils. <A> You can deep fry with any oil, it's all about taste and reusability of the oil. <S> The higher smoke point doesn't just mean you can cook hotter, but generally the oil will last longer and can be reused more often. <S> I think taste is most important, it really depends on what you are cooking. <S> Peanut oil is used often as it has the least noticeable taste. <S> If I'm making tortilla chips I will use corn oil, shrimp is good with coconut oil. <S> Eggs deep fried in lard is yummy, I had a relative that had a cast iron pan of lard on the stove at all times, cracked the eggs right into the oil, along with breaded summer squash slices. <S> I've purchased frying oils that are a mixture of several oils, so mixing to get the flavor you want is always an option. <S> Ordinary butter is not good for deep frying as it has a low smoke point (~300F/~150C) and it consists of 17% water that would evaporate.
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You can certainly deep-fry foods in clarified butter (also known as ghee) and in lard .
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Olive oil in Japanese cooking I recently ventured a bit outside my usual European cooking and started making recipes from a "westernized" Japanese cookbook I was gifted. Some recipes for salads call for "vegetable oil" in the dressing. I usually make salad dressings with olive oil and didn't have canola or sunflower seed oil at the time, but I wondered: would Japanese cuisine clash with olive oil? Most dressings in the book use soy sauce and sesame oil, which are very aromatic ingredients anyway, so would olive oil be "masked" by those anyway, or do Japanese sauces/dressings nnecessarily need a more neutral oil? <Q> Olive oil is not native to Japan and is never used in traditional Japanese cooking. <S> (Yes, olives are now grown in Japan and olive oil <S> is readily available, but so are burgers and pizza.) <S> Your recipe's "vegetable oil" is almost certainly a translation of the Japanese サラダ油 sarada abura , literally " salad oil ", meaning any of a number of mildly flavored, neutral oils like canola oil (probably the most common) or sunflower oil. <S> According to the relevant JAS standard, olive oil is explicitly not a type of "salad oil". <S> That's the theory, but in practice, for things like salads you probably can use olive oil without significantly changing the flavor. <S> Salads are also not traditional Japanese food, so there's more room for experimentation anyway. <S> Stick to mild olive oils though, avoid funky extra virgin and the like, and definitely do use a "salad oil" if the recipe involves frying etc. <A> It just depends on the flavors you are trying to achieve in a recipe. <S> Sesame oil has a very strong, distinctive flavor. <S> Olive oil can as well, but it is clearly different. <S> It is certainly possible that flavors would be masked or changed, but if that is all you have... <S> This comes down to your goal. <S> Are you trying to reproduce a recipe or cuisine authentically, are you experimenting, or are you just trying to make something that you enjoy eating for dinner? <S> Did you use the olive oil? <S> How was it? <A> Welcome! <S> If your recipe is calling for vegetable oil, you would probably want something with a pretty neutral flavor. <S> If you have a light or extra light olive oil it would likely work well. <S> However, many people use an extra virgin olive oil for salad dressings, dipping, etc., and the flavor may not pair as well with the other ingredients. <S> You can try it with the olive oil you have and see how you like it. <S> I would definitely be interested to know the result. <S> And a comparison would be awesome!
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There are olive oils that are produced in Japan and used in Japanese cuisine.
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Advice for making/keeping shredded chicken moist? My dietician ordered that I eat chicken. I found that to eat the portion I'm supposed to eat (10oz), it's easier to shred the chicken and take 10oz of shredded chicken, rather than try to find 10oz breasts. I am trying to meal prep this chicken over the week. The way I currently cook my shredded chicken is I take raw chicken breasts, throw them in a steamer basket, put the steamer basket in the instant pot (pressure cooker), throw in about a cup of chicken broth and 1/2 cup of pineapple juice, and then pressure cook for 15 minutes with a 5 minute natural pressure release. I then pull out the breasts and shred the chicken breasts. I then store the shredded chicken in the fridge. The problem is that the shredded chicken is terribly dry. Whenever I reheat the chicken it tastes like I am eating chalk (in terms of texture). This makes it impossible to stick to my diet. Can someone give me advice on how to cook shredded chicken and maintain moisture for several days (at least 3)? I am not a good cook and I don't know if the problem lies in the cooking, the storage, or the reheating. Thanks <Q> The first issue I see is that you are over cooking your chicken breast. <S> 20 minutes in a pressure cooker is really over doing it. <S> Even a little over cooking dries chicken breast. <S> Chicken breast needs to be cooked more precisely. <S> A pressure cooker is not the correct tool for the job. <S> So you first need to correct your initial cooking. <S> You should get a good thermometer, ensure it is calibrated, and cook your chicken breast to an internal temperature of 160F (71C). <S> You can remove the chicken breast from the cooking surface when it is a couple of degrees below that. <S> Let it rest 10 to 15 minutes, and the heat will carry over and you will reach the final target temperature. <S> This will allow you to begin with moist chicken. <A> Chicken breast is not suitable for making shredded meat. <S> For that, you need collagen-rich dark meat, for example chicken thighs. <S> If you cook your chicken breast less, as moscafj suggested, you can certainly get tasty chicken breast. <S> For easy portioning, you can precut it into strips and keep a supply of pan-fried strips, for example. <S> But you will never get it to the point where it shreds properly. <A> Second, I'd put the breasts back into the liquid after you shred it. <S> Usually, when you introduce so much surface area to hot meat, it lets off steam, which is the moisture escaping. <S> By immediately putting it back into the cooking liquid, you prevent this from happening. <S> You then let the shreded chicken cool down in the liquid. <S> (although in your case, you might need to separate it at this point ... <S> it can be more difficult to portion out if sufficiuent gelatin leached into the water to make it a giant blob until you reheat it) <A> buy the whole breast with bone, bake them 350° for <S> 50 min keep the skin while baking remove it later if you want, i will say make it cubes not shreds and add some chicken stock to the storage container, that should keep them moist.
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First, I would recommend changing how you cook the breasts -- I usually poach breasts, starting it in boiling liquid then putting on a lid, turning the heat down to low and letting it sit for an hour.
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How to understand flavors and when to use combination of them? I want to be a home cook and at some stage to become a chef having my own café or restaurant. Marco Pierre White always says when he likes a dish in masterchef: Great dish. It tells me that you understand flavors. What does he mean? How to understand when to combine salty and sour, sweet and sour and salty, sweet and hot, umami and sweet, and all the other combinations? Should all dishes have flavor combinations? <Q> Yes, all dishes should have flavour combinations, unless the dish consists of one single ingredient with no seasoning added, no oil added, it can't help but have them... <S> even then a tomato for example has different flavour in the skin than it has in the pulp, than it has in the seeds, the inner leaves of a brussels sprouts will have less bitterness and more sweetness than its darker outer leaves... <S> flavour combinations are almost impossible to avoid. <S> So to balance flavours you do have to understand them. <S> Not everyone might agree with the combinations you choose to create and not everyone enjoys the same taste combinations, but even so, to reliably create the blend you do like, you need to understand how it is composed. <S> There are any number of resources online which will break flavours down to a few key groups, though not everyone describes it the same way. <S> Essentially you need to understand what is meant by basic terms such as sweet, bitter, sour, umami and salt. <S> To those five you can also add 'spiciness/heat' which is often considered to be more sensation than flavour. <S> You should read up on what it already accepted knowledge about the effects these flavours have on each other, how salt changes perception of bitterness <S> , how sweetness can counteract excess salt but leave the umami clear. <S> Read up what chefs have to say about these interactions and test them out, see if you detect the same effects they do. <S> Spend time tasting your ingredients and training your palate <S> (I was so busy thinking of flavours as a palette from which one can choose the equivalent of colours to paint a dish as you might paint a picture that I originally spelled 'palate' as 'palette') so that you can analyse a dish and detect what makes the difference between a combination you like and one you don't. <S> Understand your ingredients, both fresh and storecupboard ones well enough to know quickly what will make that difference. <A> No, not all dishes need to have flavours combinations. <S> I would also say that it's not about "sweet and hot". <S> IMHO <S> it's more about particular flavour. <S> Like when people drink wine and say "an earthy flavour with a note of pineapples and just a hint of pining for the fiords". <S> Knowing the flavours means that you know what impact have different ingredients on the overall taste. <S> For example you might not add nuts for nutty flavour but replace it with chickpeas. <S> Or that, in certain parts of the world, any combination of two out of "five Chinese spices" will give your dish "Asian taste". <S> Like GdD wrote in their comment. <S> You need to taste a lot of food, spices, herbs, make a lot of combinations and from that be able to know what you can mix to achieve certain goal. <A> To try take one small aspect of a really really broad topic... <S> Try making the simplest salad in the world. <S> 4 tomatoes, 1 onion. <S> Chop into chunks & put in a bowl. <S> A little salt & pepper & it's done. <S> .. <S> but wait - over there we have a choice of three fresh herbs we could add. <S> Cilantro [coriander], flat-leaf parsley or basil. <S> Add cilantro <S> it's instantly 'Mexican' Add flat-leaf parsley <S> & it's 'Turkish' or <S> at least 'Mediterranean'. <S> Add basil & it's 'Italian'. <S> So with just three ingredients we have three recognisably different cuisine styles. <S> You could easily dress those to accentuate each cuisine. <S> Mexican would take lime juice nicely. <S> Mediterranean, olive oil, vinegar or indeed lime juice again. <S> Italian, oil & vinegar. <S> This is, of course, vastly over-simplified - <S> but I bet even done as simply as that, each would be tasty ;) <A> In terms of just flavors, get to know each flavor on its own <S> and then you'll be better equipped to combine them in ways that show you "understand flavor". <S> Like colors to a painter, or sounds to a musician. <S> When you taste things by themselves, you begin to develop an intuition as to what to add to what to have the outcome you're looking for. <S> You want to be able to ask/answer yourself things like: what does garlic bring that onion doesn't, what does ginger bring that cayenne doesn't <S> or why would you choose to sweeten with agave syrup instead of muscovado sugar (or vice-versa)? <S> When you're doing it right, it blows people's minds :)
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Knowing what each flavor brings to the party (even if it's subtle) is literally what it means to "understand flavor".
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What are the effects of abstaining from eating a certain flavor? I've often heard that we become accustomed to oversalty food and that abstaining from eating such foods for a few weeks could allow us to taste salt in lesser quantities again. From experience I would say this is true, though it could be placebo, but does this also apply to other flavors? Are there any negative effects of doing this? By flavor I mean Bitter, Sour & Umami, since most answers so far already deal with sweets and salt. <Q> You nailed the correct wording in your question - "we become accustomed to". <S> We tend to get used to and like what we become accustomed to. <S> What we get used to becomes normal and what we like. <S> I've experienced the salt reduction due to a health condition my husband has. <S> We can no longer tolerate food with the same level of salt that we used to eat. <S> By reducing the amount we use, we became accustomed to food with less salt. <S> I did the same thing with sugar in tea and coffee many years ago. <S> I grew up with Southern style (very) sweet tea. <S> I didn't gradually reduce it but cut it out all the way. <S> To this day I don't use sugar in coffee or tea, add it to cereal (or buy frosted cereal) <S> and I find many sweet things just too sweet for my taste. <S> I also liken this to learning to like new foods. <S> There are many things I've tried and didn't like up front <S> but, after continuing to try them, eventually found that I had learned to like these foods. <S> One, for example is cilantro. <S> When I first started tasting it <S> I couldn't stand it. <S> I swore that it tasted like soap. <S> But after a while, I found myself really liking it. <S> So much so, that I started adding it to many foods that ordinarily I wouldn't have thought to. <S> While taste is subjective, we can become accustomed to new things and often times need to. <A> I have personally experienced this with sweet as I reduced the amount of sugar (and sweeteners) <S> I add to tea and coffee <S> and I can at attest that I did get accustomed to less sweet to the point that when I had tea with the same amount of sugar as before it was far too sweet for me. <S> I didn't do a "big-bang" reduce by half all at once <S> , I did it gradually over about a month until I was down to about half what I'd been adding. <S> However, I found I hit a limit, if I reduced too much it was never sweet enough no matter how long I gave my taste to acclimate. <A> About 40 years ago I thought that 4 sugars in a coffee was perhaps a tad more than I really needed ;) <S> It took me maybe 4 years of gradual reduction - including about 6 months when I needed just that quarter spoon for the first cup <S> then I would be OK without for the rest of the day. <S> Without actually intending to, by the time I'd got the sugar down to zero, I'd also stopped eating sweet things entirely. <S> This was not any kind of 'health' or 'diet' thing, it just coincided with my gradual reduction of sugar in coffee. <S> To this day I cannot bear sugar in coffee. <S> I rarely eat sweet things at all - it's not that I dislike them <S> , I simply have little desire for them & when I do try, they're usually just far too sweet. <S> I've never tried it with salt... <S> maybe it would work, but I have never felt the need to try. <S> [I have some theories about salt addition, but they don't really belong here.] <S> It doesn't work with chilli. <S> I've been a "chilli addict" since my teens & if I ever go a few weeks without anything seriously hot, it makes no difference; it's not suddenly 'hotter'. <S> I'm not in any way 'chilli immune' <S> but I do like it to bite back. <S> [This applies not just to the pseudo-mexican dish, but to any type of 'curry' too.]
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For the same reason that we get used to overly salty things, we can get used to less salty things.
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Tips for making lean ground beef patties tender? I have to eat 93% lean beef as part of my diet. I am trying to find creative ways of cooking it because throwing it in the instapot with some tomato sauce is getting bland. I'd like to try making it into a burger so I can pretend like I'm eating a burger. Yesterday I added some salt, garlic powder, chili powder, and olive oil to 12oz of raw ground beef, and mixed it up with my hands. I then rolled it into a ball and slowly pressed it into a fairly thick patty. I then seared both sides on high heat and then lowered the heat and covered it for a few minutes. The internal temp (assuming my thermometer was correct) was 120 degrees F which is what I read online was restaurant style medium rare. Unfortunately, when I forked off a piece of the patty, the insides of it were still mushy like the ground beef. It also wasn't very juicy or palatable like I expected. Does anyone have some cooking tips on making lean ground beef as tender as possible when cooked? In my next attempt I will probably try to make a thinner patty, then pan sear both sides and put it in the oven at 400 for 6 minutes. <Q> I use only 5% fat beef - which I would assume would be considered 95% lean, though the UK doesn't measure it that way. <S> I cannot abide fatty meat, but that's a topic for another day ;) <S> For me, a burger is 500g beef mince, an onion, either finely diced, or pre-fried [different flavour profile], 1 egg, a good handful of breadcrumbs [somewhere between 1 & 2 tbsp, I guess] a little salt & pepper & often a hint of cayenne. <S> You could get adventurous with a hint of dill or even some finely-diced pickled gherkin. <S> That will make 4 large patties or 6 - 8 small ones. <S> I shape to 'about 1.5x the diameter of the bun it will go in' to allow for shrinkage, maybe 5 - 7mm thick. <S> Grill, medium-high, one side until it 'looks done' [1] , browning nicely & bubbling any fat/water off - I've never measured a temperature in my life - flip it, give it maybe half the time again on the 2nd side. <S> Cheese optional, takes about the same time to melt the cheese as it does to toast the bun on the inside. <S> Done. <S> If you still find that dull, try a side of home-made cole slaw. <S> Add to that a dash of Tabasco for an instant hit, or some coriander [cilantro] & lime juice. <S> btw, there are a million things you can do with mince, even if many of them are tomato-based. <S> Chilli, curry [& how many different curries are there?] <S> bolognese, shepherd's [cottage] pie, meatloaf, meatballs, kofte, kebabs, stuffed peppers... & that's before you even think about chunks rather than simple mince. <S> Goulash, youvetsi, tagine, Ethiopian wat, rendang, Irish stew... the list just goes on & on... <S> Pick a different continent every day. <S> [2] [1] Until you get used to the timing, just break it in half when you flip it, so you can get a visual clue as to how far through it's cooked. <S> After a while you'll be able to tell by just looking, or by poking at it with your finger. <S> [2] <S> This is our family's cooking motto. <A> Increasing the fat content of the ground beef is the easiest way to improve the flavor and texture, but you mention you're on a low-fat diet. <S> In that case, I have a few suggestions: Cook to an internal temperature of at least 135°F. <S> According to https://www.reluctantgourmet.com/meat-doneness-chart/ , 135°F is medium-rare; 120 <S> °F is rare. <S> Note that the USDA recommends ground beef be cooked to 160°F for safety. <S> Don't overwork the meat when mixing it or forming a patty. <S> A looser texture to the meat allows it to "crumble" when chewed. <S> There's an art to pressing enough to form a patty that will stay together while not pressing so hard you get a single blob of texture-less meat. <S> Consider using a rougher grind of meat or grinding your own. <S> Some grocery stores will sell a "chili grind"; it's about twice as thick as typical ground beef. <S> This also changes the texture of the finished product. <S> Don't press on the patty while cooking -- it drives out the little bit of fat you have. <A> The texture of beef patties (hamburgers) is greatly influenced by the way they are formed and the ingredients added. <S> It sounds like you are creating a sort of meatball, and then flattening into a patty. <S> This compresses the meat a great deal, and makes the whole lump much stickier. <S> In addition, and perhaps more importantly, the salt you are adding to the grind is going to firm things up, and make the burger much more rubbery...like a sausage. <S> any addition of salt) until just before you cook. <S> These folks have more info.
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To make the most tender patty, regardless of fat content, I would recommend handling the meat as little as possible, adding few (if any) extra ingredients to the grind, and skipping the salt (including garlic salt...
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Why did my rum cake turn black? A friend baked a rum cake for me. She baked it in an aluminum pan. The cake was soaking in rum. Overnight the cake turned BLACK. I suspect this is a chemical reaction, but cannot find information to back my theory. Surely, this may not be safe to eat. Anybody? My gifted cake....well....it's a bit scarier...... <Q> This is an interesting question. <S> Personally I would throw it out, the discoloration and resulting taste are the result of a chemical reaction with the pan. <S> The brownish discoloration is a sign that the Aluminium (Al, the chemical symbol for the element from here on), is being attacked by a chemical reaction. <S> This is most likely by an acid, though salts can also cause this to happen. <S> In both cases what is happening is that the Al is being converted into the cation Al 3+ . <S> Al 3+ is bio-available and considered to be the main source of Al toxicity in humans. <S> Acute Al toxicity results in non-specific symptoms, like confusion, muscle weakness, and bone pain , however normal exposure is not considered harmful. <S> Not a lot of long-term data has been produced, but there are potential links to things like Alzheimer's disease , and breast cancer . <S> The European Food Safety Authority has a limit of 1 mg/kg of body weight/week for intake from foods. <S> This paper suggests in passing that some people are often at or beyond the EFSA limit, but this might not result in any problems, also mentioned in that paper <S> is that the WHO has a provisional limit of 2 mg/kg/week. <S> Now, as to how much of the Al has dissolved into your cake, and how much you are ingesting if you ate the whole cake is impossible to estimate without measuring the Al content of the cake and syrup. <S> Generally you will be able to taste the metallic taste of Al and other metals when they dissolve to this sort of level, though in this case, the already strong taste of rum might well overpower the metallic taste. <A> Aluminum cookware is "reactive", as opposed to "non-reactive" cookware like glass or stainless steel. <S> It would appear that the rum cake in question was acidic enough to cause this reaction. <S> While I have yet to come across anything that says this is dangerous, I have come across several discussions that say aluminum discolored food is "ruined." <A> It is unlikely but possible that it is unsafe to eat. <S> This study of aluminum leaching from pans during cooking of acidic liquids ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1397396 ) showed a levels as high as about 50mg/kg. <S> Let's assume your cake is about 1kg, so 50mg aluminum. <S> The European Food Safety guideline for aluminum according to this paper ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5651828/ ) is 1mg/kg/week. <S> So if you weigh only 50kg and you eat the whole cake in a week and it really leached about the most aluminum seen, you're up against that limit. <S> But probably not, <S> since the average human weighs more than that, the rate of leaching should be much lower at room temperature, the limits are for chronic intake and anyway WHO thinks you can tolerate twice as much. <S> Also, from the second paper: "The acute toxicity of aluminum is low. <S> No acute effects due to dietary exposure to aluminum have been observed in the general population."
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When cooking acidic ingredients, a reaction occurs that can discolor food and sometimes leave a taste of tin.
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what material should i use for cutting board? What material should I use for cutting board? And which dulls more the knives? As many cookers might know that wood cutting boards can be bad for use if it is not cleaned after use, because the growth of bacterias and even mold on there, also wood absorbs moist, color, and smells of what was chopped like garlic for example, I have also read that plastic ones also might be bad for use. I have tried a glass cutting board which are really unconfortable for use, but safer for cleaning, though I have one but I don't use, because it's unconfortable when cutting and harmful because very it's sloppy though. Also i think it would dull the knife a lot. I wouldnt use an iron,steel, or aluminium cutting board (if them exist) for same reason. btw i always keep my knives sharp with help ofthe bottom of a mug when they need some sharping. btw do you any trick to clean a wood cutting board of bad smells? <Q> There's a huge standing debate on that, and you'll find several articles contradicting each other. <S> While wood seems at first like a bad choice (it porous, so it harbours bacteria) <S> it's quite the opposite . <S> Researchers discovered that used, knife-scarred wooden cutting boards harbored no more bacteria than new boards, while knife-scarred plastic boards were "impossible to clean and disinfect manually. <S> " When the researchers scanned the plastic boards with electron micrographs, they saw "highly significant damage" to the surfaces from knife cuts. <S> Bacteria inside wooden boards don’t multiply and gradually die . <S> Comparing the bacteria found on wooden boards to those found lurking on plastic ones <S> when both have been cleaned manually, the researchers found more bacteria on a used plastic surface than on a used wood one. <A> I personally prefer using good quality wooden chopping boards. <S> Glass boards were never comforting for me to work as they make so much noise while chopping. <S> Wooden board have to be cleaned soon after its use. <S> More you keep it unwashed, more difficult it would get to clean later. <S> To clean the wooden board, sprinkle baking soda over the board and then squeeze lemon and clean it. <S> It removes odour from the board and cleans it. <S> This also works for plastic boards. <A> You might be surprised but the answer is polyethylene . <S> More economic and less heavy, easier to handle <S> and I'd say due to materials, less dulling than wood. <S> Wood has the problem of bacterias, and with heavy use, stick with the flavours of several food. <S> In the hotel/resutarant sector, they are used also because of something you might find stupid: COLORS . <S> Having different colour can help you to have several boards to cut depending what. <S> I personally have 2 different cutting boards at home, and it is quite useful to use one or another depending on what you are cooking. <S> If I were you, I'd give them a try! <A> Not sure the exact material, but I'd be inclined to say it's granite. <S> According to this , they do tend to dull knives considerably faster than plastic/wood cutting boards though. <S> One point the above article mentions is this, One advantage of stone boards is that they never become grooved or damaged by the knives, and there is an argument that this makes them more hygienic and less likely to harbour bacteria. <S> This is a rather weak argument, however, because if wooden or plastic boards are cleaned and disinfected with bleach regularly they will not harbour bacteria either. <S> However I think they are undermining this advantage quite a bit. <S> Stone cutting boards can easily be tossed in the dishwasher to be cleaned, unlike plastic or wood cutting boards which may warp. <S> As an average home cook who doesn't like to spend a ton of time cooking and cleaning, this seems considerably more useful to me. <S> I would rather be able to wash my cutting board alongside all my other dishes, than painstakingly disinfect a wood cutting board with bleach regularly. <S> Dullness of the knives definitely is a real concern, but for my personal preference, I think sharpening my knives every so often is less of a hassle than vigorously scrubbing my cutting board after every use. <S> To sum up my thoughts, I'd say avoid plastic. <S> Besides cost, it seems to have all the worst qualities going for it. <S> It can form deep grooves like wood and it can dull your knives if it's a hard plastic. <S> If you're willing to wash it thoroughly, oil it, sand it down once it has deep grooves, etc. <S> then I think that's the best option. <S> It's a bit more dedicated but worth the effort. <S> Stone if you're lazy about cleaning and don't want to use plastic cutting boards. <S> As I, and others, have mentioned, dulling your blades is a big issue with this type. <S> But for casual home cook use, a duller blade will basically never really struggle with simple tasks like cutting cucumber slices for example. <A> I use hard plastic ones. <S> They are easy to cut on and it may have a few scratches after a while though!
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Polyethylene is really easy to clean not only by hand but in the dishwasher, which ensures the cleaning quite better depending on the hurry when you are cleaning. Wood would be the "ideal choice" for the serious home chef who will take good care of their cutting board. Avoid using plastic as they aren't environment friendly and good enough for long time. I personally tend to use a stone cutting board.
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Does glucose used is added to sugar quantity in recipes like ice creams? I was successful making a new ice cream recipe from Pierre Herme: 100g Milk 135g Cream 1 egg yolk 45g sugar 15g glucose I replaced the glucose by honey. After churning the ice cream, it was smooth and creamy, but it was too sweet. And who doesn't know Pierre Herme, he is one of the best pastry chef in the world. And his desserts are well balanced in terms of sugar quantities. Is it because I replaced glucose by honey which added the extra sweetness? I know glucose will help the ice cream to be smooth but does it add sweetness too?I think honey contains fructose and glucose. Glucose is a glucose , so the extra fructose in honey was the reason I guess? The overall result: Smooth ice cream but it melt as fast as it get out of the fridge because of the extra sugar in it. <Q> You can substitute sugar straight over for glucose but you need to increase the wet ingredients or decrease the dry ingredients as glucose absorbs more liquids than regular sugar . <S> Take a look at this article and this one! <S> In pretty much every other regard when it comes to cooking/baking, glucose acts exactly like regular sugar <S> BUT it is not a direct substitute for sugar and works best in baked goods when combined with other sugars. <S> But it adds texture . <S> I remember I did mochi last week, filled with chocolate, green tea and anko paste. <S> To do the anko paste (which i ended up throwing to the bin due to the honey) <S> I needed glucose for the exact same thing: texture . <S> I did not find glucose anywhere <S> so I used regular honey , the same quantity as glucose, and it quite ruined the anko paste. <S> That is because honey is not glucose. <S> Honey also has fructose and depending on the honey, in different quantities. <S> I would use 2/3 or even 1/3 honey if you substitute it. <S> In the end, I find baking and cooking quite like chemistry. <S> If you do not measure this kind of things well, it is obvious the result is not gonna work! <A> Here is a quick answer: Fructose: <S> Sweetness of Fructose depends on temperature: at lower temperatures (i.e. ice-cream) is sweeter. <S> at higher temperatures (i.e. hot coffee or tee) is <S> less sweet Fructose is always sweeter than glucose <S> Amount of calories doesn't change: <S> cal of 1g of fructose equals cal of 1g of glucose <S> Here's a table: SUGAR <S> | RELATIVE SWEETNESS ----------------------------------- <S> lactose <S> | 40 maltose | 50 glucose <S> | 70 sucrose <S> | 100 fructose <S> | 120-170 As you can see, sweetness of fructose covers a range of values. <S> Honey: <S> Contains roughly as much fructose as glucose: <S> fructose: <S> 38% glucose: 31% other sugars: 10% water: 17% <S> Composition varies from honey to honey Fructose and Ice Cream: <S> Fructose sweetness is perceved faster than sucrose and it also vanishes faster leaving room for ice cream flavors like fruit, cream etc., <S> whereas sweetness persistance of sucrose can mask them. <S> Conclusions: <S> "Is it because I replaced glucose by honey which added the extra sweetness?" <S> Yes. <A> The reason your ice-cream was sweeter is simply that honey is sweeter than straight up glucose. <S> Ref. <S> BBC Good Food <S> This is because fructose is sweeter than the same quantity of glucous. <S> Ref. <S> from healthline BBC has a good guide to swapping sugar for healthier substitutes (I assume this is your aim!) <S> Link but nothing about ice-cream. <S> I would recommend experimenting a little bit, ice cream tends to be fairly forgiving when substituting.
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But mixing sugar and glucose is done in baking for the texture!
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soy milk production with no beany flavor does anyone know how big industries like Silk are producing soy drinks with no beany flavor? I read that a you should soak beans in boioling water (which temperature? for how many minutes?) in order to disable some enzymes. Then you should rinse the beans (is there anything to be careful to?)Finally you have to remove the skins. what else? How to bring a better texture? <Q> Ok - given your clarification try the following: <S> Rinse your beans before handling, through transport and storage dust accrues and can increase their natural nutty flavour. <S> Blanche them in boiling water for roughly 90s. <S> Then strain and rinse under cool water in your sink (have a catch of some kind to prevent bits of going down the drain). <S> Cook as normal but add a pinch of sugar (can't say for sure how much, as I don't know the volume you are making). <S> When cooked/milked, strain again, and then let it rest in the fridge until cool. <S> This is exactly how I make mine (I make both varieties though), and there is very little (if any) <S> beany taste left. <S> In fact, sometimes as a result (mind you I use the same beans everytime) <S> it comes a little bit nutty. <A> From Serious Eats : The quality of commercial soy milk had also improved, thanks to food science. <S> In the late 1960s, flavor researchers at Cornell University had definitively identified an enzyme called lipoxygenase as the source of soy milk’s reviled beany flavor. <S> When soaked soybeans were ground at temperatures below 180°F (82°C), lipoxygenase went on a catalytic rampage, converting fatty acids into a whole spectrum of rancid-tasting and unpleasant molecules. <S> Scientists also pinpointed oligosaccharides, or complex sugars, as the culprits behind soy-milk flatulence. <S> By the 1970s, it was possible to manufacture a bland, creamy, and fartless soy milk—a truly inoffensive beverage, suitable for mass consumption. <A> While all these answers are good, I will add in something that hasn't been mentioned! <S> You can probably get these in your asian food market.
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What we do in my home for homemade soyabean is that we usually will add in aromatics such as pandas leaves, which will most definitely enhance the flavour and also get rid the "beany" taste.
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Why should I cook the flour first when making bechamel sauce? Why should I cook the flour first with butter, instead of just combining all the ingredients until I get the desired consistency when making a bechamel sauce? <Q> This link explains the science behind what is known as "the mother sauce", béchamel . <S> Essentially, the steps of first creating a roux , then adding cold milk, are about manipulating the glucose chains in the flour. <S> Done correctly, the sauce is smooth and flavorful. <S> Done incorrectly and you have a grainy mixture that tastes of raw flour. <S> @David Richerby's comment below prompted me to investigate further. <S> So, I turned to Harold McGee's classic, On Food and Cooking. <S> He writes, on page 617, that: in addition to coating flour particles with fat, making them easier to disperse in a hot liquid, roux making has three other useful effects on flour.... <S> it cooks out the raw cereal flavor, and develops a round, toasty flavor... <S> second, the color itself...and third <S> , heat causes some of the starch chains to split, and then to form new bonds with each other. <S> He goes on to explain the importance of this step, but it generally achieves the desired texture and means the sauce is less likely to congeal on the plate. <S> From Wikipedia's page on starch: Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. <S> ... <S> and, yes, this correlates with gelatinization . <A> Flour has to be cooked in any kind of fat, butter or oil to remove the rawness of the flour. <S> If you don't roast and put all the ingredients straightway and cook for longer time, it would still work, but in that case you'll have to cook for bit longer and reduce the ratio of flour. <S> Otherwise the sauce will thicken up and it would taste raw as it wasn't cooked. <A> It's very difficult to just mix flour with a liquid. <S> It will set to the bottom of the sauce pan and clump when heated, unless you stir constantly. <S> This is why you make a roux first, combining the flour with some kind of fat. <S> (I use this technique when I want to thicken a sauce when it's almost done <S> and i find it a bit too runny.) <S> However, by first heating the oil and flour you take the raw edge of the flour as well, or even give it a nice toasted flavor profile, which is desired in many cases.
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You could just mix flour with cold butter until well combined and add it to hot liquid such as milk and it would thicken just fine
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Baking soda to cancel acidity? Simple question: can you generally use baking soda to cancel acidity in your dishes? For instance, sometimes tomato sauce is too acidic, or you put too much vinegar in some dish, etc. The simple acid$+$basic$=0$ concept should make it work, but do you get undesirable side effects? The production of CO₂ should not be that much of a problem if you let your dish breath a bit after adding baking soda. I guess the reaction is exothermic, so maybe you get heating… I'm not sure if you can get a a chemical reaction producing harmful stuff, depending on the type of acid you start with. So, what's the verdict? <Q> I regularly use baking soda for that purpose to protect what is remaining of my enamel. <S> To allow for the increase in volume as a result of any foaming, use a large container so that the top of the liquid does not go higher than the 3/4 mark. <S> It is also advisable to leave it overnight in the fridge to let the baking soda dissolve completely. <S> The taste is slightly saltier. <S> You may want to start with a ratio of a teaspoon to a liter of fluid. <A> Baking soda is ok but what I found work better is honey. <S> Especially in dishes that gain from sugar. <S> Like for example tomato sauce. <S> Sugar neutralize the acidic while not adding extra taste (like soda does) but just the sweetens that can embellish herbs. <S> Honey (especially if you have honeydew honey that have this natural "forest" feel). <A> The classical way to take the acid (taste, not literal acid) out of tomato sauce is a small amount of sugar (like a teaspoon). <S> I can't say I have put too much vinegar in anything, but I'd imagine the same method would work in that case. <S> But as someone else points out it has a taste of its own, and not a very good one at that. <S> And the taste of vinegar is not entirely based on its pure acid content. <S> So chemically neutralizing alone isn't all there is to overcoming a too-strong taste. <S> There is chemistry in cooking, plenty of it, but cooking goes beyond that. <S> The physiology/neurology component is also important.
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Baking soda is a base, and will chemically neutralize acids, that's true.
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Whipping heavy cream with melted chocolate This morning I put 60g dark chocolate (pieces) into a glass jug and heated it in the microwave for bursts of 10 seconds, while stirring, to soften it. I then added a table spoon of cold, extra thick cream and gave it a couple more bursts/stirs to melt and mix them together. Obviously, the mixture was fairly warm but as there was not much cream involved I thought it would be ok to mix and whip. I added ~300ml of cold, extra thick cream, mixed it until smooth and evenly chocolate coloured and then whisked with a hand mixer. The result was 10-20 seconds of smooth, but not "whipped" chocolate cream and a sudden change to lumpy, mud-like chocolate cream. I tasted it and found it to be palatable, but not aesthetically pleasing as it was clearly not "whipped". If I wanted an edible scene which included a muddy garden I'd be winning. (I don't.) Do I need to re-chill the chocolate+cream mix before attempting to whip it? Did I curdle (and thus should avoid eating) the cream? EDIT: I finally got it to work by melting chocolate into a small amount of cream with the most minimal microwave heating. This was the refrigerated and when I returned (after work) it had completely solidified, so I heated for 10 seconds and whipped into the rest of the cream. This worked perfectly. <Q> Melt the chocolate and add some amount of whipped cream to the melted chocolate <S> (mix it by cut and fold method) <S> Add this mixture to the remaining whipped cream and fold it. <S> Don'tover-mix it, it would knock out the air from the whipped cream. <S> To make chocolate ganache frosting, you just need to follow simple steps: <S> The ratio to make chocolate ganache frosting <S> I use is 2 parts of chocolate to one part cream (by volume). <S> Heat the cream and bring it to the boil. <S> Once cream comes to boil, add the hot cream to chocolate. <S> Let it sit for2-3 minutes. <S> Now stir till it is well combined. <S> Let it cool completely. <S> It would thicken up. <S> Use it as your requirement. <S> If you feel that the ganache is too thick, you can add hot milk and mix it and then cool. <S> The images have been taken from internet. <A> It's difficult to say what exactly happened to your cream so it got lumpy, but it's quite possible that it's overbeaten. <S> When making chocolate whipped cream you should make sure to chill the mixture thoroughly. <S> I always let mine stay in the fridge over night. <S> This of course only works if you mix enough cream with the chocolate, otherwise it gets too hard to whip it properly. <S> I always heat the cream and then just dissolve the chocolate in it, <S> let it chill over night in the fridge and whip it the next day. <S> Also: If you in fact over beat your cream, you can still use it. <S> It's just not suitable for a cake anymore. <S> When the whipped cream gets flaky you basically made yourself some butter. <S> I once made vanilla butter by accident <S> but it was quite nice on toast with some jam. <S> ;) <A> Whenever I've made chocolate whipped cream <S> I start with a cold bowl, cold mixer, and cold heavy cream and beat it until it starts to hold small peaks. <S> Then I add 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder and 3 tablespoons of powdered(confectioner's) sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla and mix it again until evenly distributed. <S> The sugar is necessary to balance the bitterness of the cocoa. <S> You might be able to get away with using chocolate syrup and mixing into plain whipped cream. <S> I wouldn't try mixing melted chocolate with the cream. <S> In this case, I think you probably needed more cream and less chocolate.
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If you are trying to make chocolate frosting using whipped cream, you need to: Whip the cream first.
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Am I cooking mushrooms wrong? Since I was a child, I never really liked mushrooms. To be honest, I was extremely picky, but now, I eat anything. Well... Almost anything. I can't stand mushrooms. Except, I can't understand why, and I want to learn to love mushrooms since they're really useful as a vegetarian. For example, yesterday, I made some pretty simple miso soup and added some, supposedly delicious shiitake mushrooms to it. I salted them and fried them at medium-high heat for a few minutes until they had a nice color and texture. Did doing that affected the taste in a bad way? I also remember making mushrooms risotto some time ago and getting the same disgusting taste. Am I missing something obvious here? Is this not how you're supposed to cook mushrooms? <Q> There's nothing wrong with the way you cooked those mushrooms, you fried them to give them some color and seasoned them, which is perfectly fine. <S> You didn't mess them up, you just don't like them. <S> , it's just how you are. <A> The answer to your question is: It was not a "wrong" way to cook them. <S> , people just like different things. <S> Mushrooms have glutamates and maybe you are either sensitive to them physically or sensitive to them taste-wise. <S> That said, if you fried (pan fried, right?) <S> at medium high and the edges got darkish, you likely intensified some of the flavors, which you seem to not care for. <S> Shiitake can be strong flavored to begin with. <S> Disclaimers: I adore mushrooms, pretty much any variety cooked in any manner. <A> Have you considered that maybe you're in the very slightest allergic to mushrooms? <S> Is it just the taste or is it also the smell and or texture of the mushrooms? <S> For example I'm allergic to raw cucumbers and, <S> I'm assuming as a defence mechanism, I can't stand the smell of them if someone is preparing or consuming them near me. <S> I also can't stand the taste and smell of most melons as they're in the same family. <S> It could just be your body telling you that it doesn't like mushrooms even if it isn't bringing on a full-on allergic reaction (vomiting/rash/anaphylactic shock).
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If you want to try again, I suggest trying a mild mushroom like a white button (at least that is the common name in the USA) and sautee at low heat with salt and pepper until they look cooked, but not "caramelized" or burnt on the edges. No matter how you prepare them you probably still won't like the flavor, there's nothing wrong with that
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What kind of dough staple is easiest to make, for soaking in mussel juices? No oven, eggs, milk With just a gas stove and rice cooker, what kind of food staple based on dough or batter can she make most simply? I don't know what you call the category of "bread, cake, pancake". My mom lives Hong Kong when Toronto's cold. Here are strictures: Her flat doesn't have a convection oven. She never bought microwave oven - the FDA However, FDA regulations require that microwave ovens are designed to prevent these high level radiation leaks. She could buy a counter-top convection toaster oven, but let's rule this out.If nobody comes up with anything, she will reconsider. Her kitchen looks like No milk of any kind, like coconut or soy as they taste icky to her. No eggs. She has medical issues and her doctor forbid them. Bon Appetit says 8. Mussels Without Bread Are No Mussels at All A mussels-must: Serve plenty of fresh, crusty bread with a pillowy interior alongside. The bread will serve as a vehicle for that aromatic, boozy, briny sauce you worked so hard to create. And if you want to flex even harder, throw a little mayo on that bread. Maybe a ginger-y, garlicky aioli? Just a thought. And here's one more. Don't forget to place a large bowl on the table for the empty shells. That's just common courtesy. <Q> In the southern US, people make what is known as flour bread. <S> (Also known as biscuit bread or skillet bread.) <S> It's made with biscuit dough that is flattened into a circle about 1/2" thick. <S> It is cooked on top of the stove, in a lightly greased skillet over medium-high heat on one side until that side is golden brown and then flipped and cooked until golden on the other side. <S> I typically use leftover biscuit dough that has been shaped into a ball, wrapped and refrigerated overnight. <S> (It doesn't have to be leftover <S> but I do find that the time in the fridge makes a difference.) <S> Typical southern-style biscuits are made with flour, salt, hard fat (vegetable shortening or lard), baking powder, and water or milk (cook's choice). <S> So, no need for milk, eggs, or an oven. <S> It's great for sopping up gravy or juices. <A> Bread dough can be pretty simple, flour and salt and water and yeast, so you don't need to worry about milk or eggs - though you can try adding additions if you want to modify the results, fats to make it softer, flavoring agents, etc. <S> I think you'd be looking for something rolled thick, to give as much contrast as possible between a crisp crust and a soft interior. <S> It might be helpful to cover the flatbread with a lid, to help it cook more evenly (with steam), and also keep it a bit softer. <S> I think you'd end up with something like naan, which has both soft and crisp areas and is quite good at mopping up sauces... though the flatbread will likely be a bit less tender and more lean since naan recipes <S> I've seen use yogurt while you're avoiding milk. <A> Flatbread like naan definitely seems like the easiest way to go. <S> For the best results I recommend a dutch oven or a cast iron pan with a cast iron lid. <S> Here are instructions for using a dutch oven with a bread pan . <A> Some flatbreads are cooked directly over a gas flame (at least on one side. <S> When a colleague made something similar they were rolled out rather thicker than naan and had a nice combination of thin crispy crust and soft interior. <S> The bread is held with tongs. <S> This dough is made from only flour, water, and oil <S> Another option that might work <S> (I've only ever done it over a campfire) is bread on a stick . <S> This is a leavened bread with yeast, and gives you something like a hollow bread roll. <S> Some experimenting might be needed. <S> Indoors I'd probably use a long-handled wooden spoon unless I could find thick/long enough bamboo skewers. <S> I recommend good ventilation, ideally an extractor hood. <S> The recommendation for crusty, fluffy bread is traditional - in French restaurants. <S> As this isn't a French restaurant feel free to choose a more suitable bread.
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The easiest dough staple to make stovetop is some kind of flatbread.
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What happens if I forget to feed my sourdough starter? Is there something wrong that can happen if I forget to feed my sourdough starter? I kinda forgot to do it twice, but it still appears to have a few bubbles in it. Previously it contained hooch, which I discarded. Also, my starter has a dense consistency because the whole grain flour I guess. So how should I feed it? I am using 5 tbsp of flour and 4 tbsp of tap water (previously rested for an hour or more to let the chlorine to fall to the bottom) <Q> Then feed it again In my experience, any issues with sourdough, up to and including a surface layer of fungus, formaldehyde smell, and rotten dirty socks smell, can be fixed by simply feeding it. <S> The worse the sourdough's condition is, the longer you have to feed it; if you don't have any of the above mentioned issues, two days consistent feeding should be fine. <S> Three notes: <S> Usually I put in 2:1 volumetric flour to water. <S> I have used whole grain wheat (and rye) before, with no difficulties. <S> The consistency will be a bit different, but whole grains can sustain a good long term sourdough. <S> In my experience, a sourdough "trained" exclusively on whole grains does a much better job on any bread recipe with bran in it; <S> whether whole grain or added. <S> If you are forgetful about a sourdough, consider putting it in the fridge. <S> I put mine in the fridge and feed it once a week. <S> You can miss a couple weeks, which will then cause the aforementioned smells, but it can be recovered in a few days of consistent feeding on the countertop. <A> Pour out 1 cup (or about 1/3 of the total amount if you don't have 1 cup) and feed with 2 parts unbleached all-purpose flour to 1 part water. <S> I keep my sourdough in a quart canning jar in the fridge. <S> Once a week, I set it out until it reaches room temperature, set aside 1 cup for bread, feed it with 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour and 1/4 cup filtered water, leave it out overnight, then put it back in the fridge the next day unless I'm making something else with sourdough. <A> Simple. <S> Cut feed back to half of total weight (minus container weight). <S> Add double flour to feed and same amount of water as cut back feed weight + 100 ml (approx). <S> Mix till combined and so on for 2/3 days. <S> It will recover. <S> fridge for few hours between feeds. <S> Have been working with sours for long time, experienced baker, they are so unstable but bulletproof if treated right.
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I always leave sourdough out overnight after feeding it.
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How to efficiently shred a lot of cabbage? I'm growing cabbages in my garden this year and would like to make lots of sauerkraut, to eat and to give as gifts. Gallons of it. Is there an efficient way to slice or shred a dozen cabbages at a time? Using a grater for that much cabbage is going to destroy my arms. I would buy a one-purpose gadget or an attachment for my Kitchenaid mixer that didn't cost more than ~$60 if that's the right way to proceed. <Q> There is a kraut cutter, a wooden board about 2 ft long with a diagonal blade. <S> We used all the time when I was a child. <S> We laid it on a large pot. <S> You cut heads of cabbage in half and push it over the blade flat side down. <S> Try google or an old fashioned hard ware. <A> You can be more efficient with a knife than any sort of kitchen aid attachment, which will require lots of prep, and slow going. <S> A better bet for home use would be the shredder on a food processor. <S> However, even then, while it will make quick work of shredding, you will have to cut the cabbage into smaller portions to fit into the processor...and, of course, empty the bowl relatively quickly. <S> Anything more efficient than that will cost you a few hundred bucks. <S> Maybe your best bet is some friends and sharp knives. <A> Haha, we were doing that every fall in my childhood in Siberia. <S> We used an enamelled bucket and "sechka" https://65.img.avito.st/640x480/4526427565.jpg Splice a head of cabbage in big pieces with a knife, put them into the bucket until it is full, then smash it all with sechka. <S> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ1HR9o4JGc - <S> that guy is using another kind of sechka, but the principle is the same. <S> I was able to fill about 30 three-liter jars in a couple of days being a kid <S> so that's very effective way to deal with a cabbage (not speaking of using any kind of machine). <S> The device costs around $10-20 in Russia, I don't know if you will be able to find and buy it in your location though. <S> At least now you know what to look for. <A> Do you have a food processor? <S> Most food processors come with interchangeable blades including a blade for shredding. <S> Put the shredder blade in, lock on the lid, cut the cabbage into wedges that will fit in the feed tube, power on, and feed in the cabbage. <S> You may have to empty the work bowl a couple times, depending on how much cabbage, but it's the fastest way I know of. <A> Knife, shmife. <S> You need a mulcher! <S> It is a $54 blower / mulcher from Home Depot. <S> Get a new one so it will be cleanish. <S> Quarter your cabbages then suck them up. <S> Your bag will fill with cole slaw-to-be. <S> Maybe wash it and set it aside for next year? <S> These things are merciless. <S> They will chop your cabbages fine. <S> Even if you use an old one and clean it first, the good thing about cabbage is that the pickling conditions naturally kill any bad germs. <S> You can make sauerkraut by lining a ditch with hay, putting in the cabbages, then more hay, then covering it up. <S> This is cleaner than that. <A> <A> You mentioned a Kitchenaid stand mixer attachment. <S> It had a wide hopper that could hold a quarter of a cabbage at once. <S> Unfortunately, the newer edition of this attachment has a smaller hopper and isn't suitable for cabbage, but the older style is still available from third party sellers. <S> Here's one example. <S> https://www.ebay.com/itm/Kitchenaid-RVSA-Rotor-Slicer-Shredder-Cones-Stand-Mixer-Attachment-New/163792960617 <S> I'm good with a knife, and I sometimes use this for a single head of cabbage. <S> It's definitely faster than hand slicing for anything more than two or three heads, even with setup and cleaning time. <S> It also produces a very consistent cut. <S> It's definitely still going to require cutting up the cabbage heads first, and won't be as fast as some of the more expensive options, but it's an affordable alternative to the professional grade options.
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Kitchenaid used to make a shredder/slicer attachment that's very good for this usage. You can buy a cabbage shredder on amazon for $20 Or delis often use a deli slicer to finely slice lettuce
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Bean based stew. Alternative to tomatoe sauce The basic bean meat chilli is as follows Brown Garlic + Onion + ground meat (any) + boiled beans + tomato sauce + spices (e.g. chilli powder etc). Now I want to know if there another sauce that can swap out for tomato sauce if I get tired of it. I need something suitable for students or working professionals who don't have the time to "make their own special sauce". But tomato sauce just seems to be a good combination of liquid + thickening agent that I don't know what can be its equal. Sorry if the tags aren't accurate, I wasn't sure what would be appropriate. <Q> I found I'd run out of chopped tomatoes when half way through making 3 bean & sweet potato chilli. <S> I did add a little tomato puree, but only had a little of that, so had to find a substitute sauce. <S> The bulk of the liquid I used was beer, quite a bitter, tasty beer. <S> I used more cocoa powder than normal (I always use some), and a bit of extra garlic. <S> I thickened it a little towards the end, with just a bit of cornflour, and took some of the sweet potato out, mashed it and returned it for further thickening. <S> I often use a little beer in chilli sauce, but not normally as the bulk, so long as I did some thickening. <S> A blended, slow-cooked, onion-based sauce, as is used as the base of some curries, should work nicely. <S> This is something I make, and haven't seen it sold, but it freezes well. <A> Typically chilli doesn't have any thickeners and uses diced tomatoes for volume, flavor and acidity. <S> You add them and let it cook until the liquid evaporates <S> and it is to the desired thickness <S> Possible substitutions that will still taste of tomato - so you'll still have the typical chilli taste: <S> Canned tomatoes (diced or whole, which you'll need to dice) <S> - this is my go-to substitution when I don't have fresh tomatoes on hand <S> Tomato puree / passata di pomodoro <S> Tomato paste or concentrate + broth for bulk <S> Possible substitutions that will NOT taste of tomato, meaning that your chilli will also NOT taste like typical chilli: <S> Beer + broth Dry cooking wine + broth Apple cider + broth <S> Essentially any slightly acidic liquid cut with broth will do, but bear in mind that it will significantly alter the taste of the original recipe. <S> Your chilli will taste more like boeuf bourguignon or something like that. <A> If you specifically want to get rid of tomatoes , then you could use a sauce made from grilled paprika instead (just blend them). <S> I used it and the results were really good. <S> You just have to accept, that it's not really a classic chilli anymore.
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Tomato sauce is already the "quick cheat" for the diced tomatoes, especially if you use ready-to-use tomato sauce or leftover marinara sauce.
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How to have poached eggs in "sphere form"? I have been trying to learn how to make poached eggs. The main issue I have is the shape of the egg whites. In a "perfect" poached egg, the white builds a sphere around the yolk and covers it completely. However, with my eggs, the white just hang on the side, next to the yolk, and the end result somewhat resembles a fried egg. I've been following the usual steps (sieve the runny white, move to cup, heat the water to almost a simmer, ..) so I'm at a loss as to why this is happening. <Q> The number one thing is having fresh eggs. <S> Older eggs have a looser inner white and there's not much you can do to keep the yolk from hanging on to the side. <S> Contrary to the other answer, I have not found that swirling the water helps the egg stay together, compared to dropping it in very carefully (the water should go into the cup before the egg comes out; you shouldn't be pouring it in, as much as allowing it to slowly slide along the side of the cup further down into the water). <S> The water should be well-salted, and a bit of vinegar can be a good idea although adding too much can cause the outer skin of the egg to become a bit leathery. <S> Cook the eggs in their shells at 64 degrees celsius for 1 hour, remove the shell and separate the loose white, and cook in simmering water for just a minute or so. <S> I actually find the result a bit off-putting in its perfection, but it's the closest to "sphere form <S> " you will ever get. <A> Jamie Oliver has a method (around 2:53 in the video) that involves poaching the eggs wrapped in plastic. <S> I've never tried this myself, but the gist from the video is: Tear off a roughly square piece of plastic wrap Line a bowl with it <S> Lightly oil the plastic <S> Crack the egg into the bowl <S> Pull the corners of the plastic wrap together and gently twist it shut, <S> until there's pretty much no air remaining Poach the egg <S> Carefully slice the twisted part off with a knife, then place the egg on whatever you're serving it on and gently slip the plastic off <S> He insists on fresh eggs as well. <A> You could try the "Arzak" egg , made popular by Spanish chef Juan Mari Arzak. <S> It is not difficult, but does require the extra step of wrapping. <S> Line a ramekin with plastic wrap, leaving enough overhand to enclose an egg with extra to tie off. <S> Brush with oil. <S> Crack egg into plastic lined ramekin. <S> Carefully bring the plastic end together, encasing the egg, and tie off with a piece of butcher twine, or the plastic wrap itself. <S> Lower into simmering water. <S> Alternately, use string to tie to a wooden spoon that is rested across the pot, so that the egg bundles hand below the surface of the water, but above the surface of the pot. <S> Cook for 5 to 8 minutes, depending on your preferred level of doneness. <S> Remove from pot, unwrap, and serve...or, chill in ice bath for later reheating. <A> Do the trick of swirling the water first at the moment you will add the egg, remember the water must be boiling, and then add egg by egg in the center of the pot, do not add them all (i meaning to cook more than 2 eggs at once), by doing this it will get the "sphere" form, and cook by the time that you like poached eggs to be. <A> That's a tall order. <S> Just to get the coveted "teardrop" shape on a poached egg is hard enough. <S> Some chefs use scissors to clean up poached eggs to get this shape. <S> A bit of a hack, but maybe you could do the same, and cut it into a spherical shape. <S> Personally, I tend to get the classic egg-drop-soup shape of my poached eggs. <A> Although I agree with all the answers already posted, I thought I'd add my approach as I'm pretty proud of how mine come out! <S> Bring a pan to the boil <S> Add around 1-2 tbsp of white vinegar to the water for a medium size pan <S> (more than you might think!) <S> Crack egg into a small flour-sieve (note everything previously stated about the freshness of the eggs) <S> Let any 'loose' white drain off slightly Transfer from sieve into a small ramekin or bowl Turn the water down until it's just on the point of simmering. <S> i.e. there should be very little movement but just a degree or two higher <S> and it would simmer Lower the egg gently into the water (out of the bowl) <S> Leave <S> until the white is just firm, you can test by lifting out with a spoon and poking the bit of the white next to yolk is firm but the yoke is still soft Use a slotted spoon to transfer onto a clean dry piece of kitchen towel before transferring onto toast Just a note, I used to be a French Chalet chef and would have to cook ~20 eggs every morning <S> so I do not swirl the water to allow me to cook more in one pan at a time. <S> I can't comment on whether this helps or not.
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If you want a truly absurdly perfect poached egg, you can use a sous vide cooker (or just a pot of carefully tended warm water).
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A strange cooker or fait-tout or... what can it be? We have this odd cooker. We have not been able to figure out what it is. The top can't be opened. EDIT : There's some liquid inside both parts, we can hear it if we shaken them. Even if we can't figure if it's water or something else as we can't see it. Does anyone know what this is? <Q> Makes healthy frozen treats in only 20 minutes <S> Simply place the Midas in your freezer overnight, once frozen fill with chilled ice cream mixture <S> Use to quickly chill soups and dips, as an ice bucket or a wine cooler Makes 2x1.5 litre batches before refreezing Hypoallergenic, durable stainless steel construction Non-electric <S> , no moving parts Dishwasher safe Recipe booklet includes 20 traditional and low-fat recipes <S> Here is <S> it's guide . <A> I suspect that's for cooling, not heating. <S> Each piece would be filled with brine (but only partially, to allow for expansion), to increase the thermal mass and yet maintain a high thermal flux while cooling. <S> The two-part design maximizes the surface area. <S> You freeze the two pieces, put the food to be chilled in the vessel, then insert the lid. <A> I suspect it is an ice cream maker. <S> Freeze the parts and put a solution into the gap to be displaced and maximise the surface area <S> but it remains accessible to scrape of and reinsert a few times and voila, Ice cream/ sorbet.
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It might be a Midas Ice Cream Maker , one of us found.
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In what ways can solid egg yolk from a boiled egg be processed/preserved? There is a lot of wastage of egg yolks in my college canteen breakfasts. Almost everyone who takes boiled eggs on his plates eats the whites and throws away the yolk. I live in a country with the largest number of malnourished children in the world; looking at the wastage daily bothers me quite a bit.Is there any way the yolk can be processed/preserved etc. to make it usable for atleast 4-5 days or so? I know about breakers which separate the white from the yellow while breaking, but my canteen is....as rudimentary as any. Nothing easier than just boiling the eggs and serving them. <Q> I'll add an answer that doesn't address your question directly , but does address the underlying concern: <S> If patrons regularly discard part of the dish, you should ask why. <S> With hard boiled eggs cooked in a large scale cafeteria kitchen it's easy to overcook the eggs, just leaving them in the water for hours on end. <S> This results in a greyish, crumbly and unappealing yolk, often discarded. <S> If you can get the kitchen to improve their process, perhaps with smarter egg boiling appliance, the end result will be more appealing and thus less wasteful. <S> This, of course, is extremely optimistic, and getting a cafeteria to invest in the tools and training for no immediate return will be very difficult. <S> Perhaps a more feasible alternative is to petition for less wasteful egg preparations, perhaps omelets, where the entire egg is used. <A> Cooked egg yolks can be frozen, in order to preserve them for a short a mount of time (I wouldn't store them frozen for long, though.) <S> After thawing they can be used for anything a 'fresh' cooked egg yolk could be used, even though the consistence might change during the freezing process. <S> That said: I only ever used this method at home and not in a commercial context. <S> I always am very careful when handling anything with eggs, cooked or raw. <S> The thing is, that egg yolks, especially, are a very good breeding ground for any kind of germ or other stuff , because they are very nutritious (after all they are made for nurturing a baby bird inside the egg). <S> So, anyone accidentally sneezing on the cooked egg yolk or handling it with dirty hands could contaminate an entire batch! <S> Hence, I, too, think that it is somewhat unsanitary for average western standards, but I find it very noble of you to think of any solution to this wasting problem. <A> Unless you use them in other recipes (for example, google for "what to do with extra egg yolks") there's not much else to do with them. <S> IMO, The best way to keep them longer would be to salt cure them and use them as a condiment on salad, pasta...
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I used frozen cooked egg yolks for something like egg salad, potato salad or to thicken any kind of spread.
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Is Glass and Ceramic cookware suitable for high-heat frying and stir-frying? Is Glass and Ceramic cookware suitable for high-heat frying and stir-frying? Can open flame (gas burner) make it shatter or crack? <Q> Speaking as a potter: <S> No. <S> Yes. <S> Stovetop glass and ceramic stovetop cookware are sold and used all over the world, and come in a variety of different types, including earthenware, flameware, stoneware, borosilicate glass, and high-temperature ceramic materials like vitrelle. <S> They have several advantages over metal cookware, primarily for slow, even cooking, like braises, stews, and oil-poaching. <S> All of them should be either heated slowly, or with a large quantity of liquid/food inside, to prevent them from heating too quickly or unevenly, which can cause them to crack. <S> Earthenware pottery like cazuelas are even soaked in cold water before heating. <S> This means that high-heat, empty-pan techniques like stir-frying or dry pan searing just aren't a good idea. <S> References: <S> La Tienda's cazuela FAQ <S> My Kitchen in Spain <S> , Cazuelas Howto make sure your Pyrex doesn't shatter Tagine cooking tips <A> Pyrex is the one people associate with oven-ware & is great in high heat, so long as the temperature change is slow & even... <S> But if you put it on a burner ring it will go off like a bomb! <S> [Believe me, I've seen it done a couple of times by accident.] <S> Visions , on the other hand, has such a low coefficient of expansion they even make frying pans out of it. <S> It's made of a material known as Calexium, which is a semi-crystalline ceramic having unique and useful properties such as coefficient of thermal expansion so low as to be negative in character, a true porosity of zero, and the unusual characteristic of being transparent despite a substantial crystal content (often greater than 75% by volume). <S> Thanks to Calexium's extremely high thermal shock resistance, food can be stored in the freezer in a piece of Visions and immediately taken to the stovetop or oven for cooking. <S> Both are made by the same company, Corning, & both can be found in the same colours, so care must be taken to not confuse the two. <S> Visions takes longer to heat & cool than almost any other pan type, so you need to adjust your cooking style to accommodate that. <S> LeClair has usage tips for Visions cookware <S> Having said all that... personally, I'd stick with metal pans. <S> Though Visions has a 10 year thermal shock guarantee, I'm still a little wary of it. <A> It's highly unlikely to be suitable. <S> Nearly all glass, and most ceramic, cookware isn't meant for for use over a flame at all (except possibly for keeping cooked food hot). <S> But there is ceramic designed for use over a flame (Arcoflam is one brand). <S> This should be heated gently to avoid the stresses caused by an uneven temperature, but can take very high heat. <S> It's not really suitable for fast frying though, as it takes too long to cool down when you reduce the heat
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You can get glass and ceramic cookware up to high temperatures, but you need to make sure to get there slowly ... and also to cool off slowly.
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Prepare something with unopened milk that sat outside the fridge? Unopened pasteurized milk sitting outside the fridge for 12 hours. It's now in the fridge and not yet open. To be on the safe side, will not be consumed as normal. Can something be made out of it? It's not a matter of cost - just of principle. The question is not at all a duplicate of How long does it take for milk to spoil unrefrigerated? because it's about a way to make use of milk that won't be used in a normal way due to potential spoiling. Are there not dairy products that make use of fermentation? Is that not "spoiling"? <Q> What is "spoiled milk"? <S> "spoiled" milk is not a thing, that needs to be avoided, in most cases. <S> However, it is perfectly possible that your milk didn't even start to ferment after 12 hours, depending on the room temperatures where you are. <S> In case it <S> has started fermenting it should smell sour and contain clumps. <S> If it smells normal and had a normal consistency you can use it as normal. <S> What to do with fermented/soured milk? <S> Milk that has started to ferment is called soured milk . <S> It is used in many places in Europe, though most commonly in eastern Europe as far as i know, but probably in many places around the world, too. <S> I'm from Germany and my mom <S> always used sour milk wherever you would use buttermilk. <S> It has a similar tanginess and texture, but of course contains a bit more fat. <S> You could use it in cakes and pancakes, but also in brines or marinades, as well in a base for breadcrumb coatings or similar things. <S> Speaking as a german, there are a variety of mostly forgotten regional dishes where soured milk is the main ingredient, mostly desserts and soups. <S> I've heard, before lactose free milk was a thing, many lactose intolerant people prefered soured milk over normal milk, because of its lower lactose content due to fermentation. <A> Make cheese! <S> You'll be heating the milk, which should kill any harmful bacteria, but essentially you need soured milk to make cheese anyway. <S> There are countless recipes online, but ricotta is the easiest (in my opinion) cheese to make at home. <S> Source: Food52 <A> Typically, it got saved for the weekend when my mom would make pancakes or waffles with it. <S> (It was put back into the fridge with a ' Mr. Yuk ' style face drawn on the side of it as a warning not to open it) ... <S> but we weren't typically dealing with a whole container, maybe a quart at most at a time. <S> Although you could make up a larger batch and freeze them for some other day. <S> If the milk got the point where it started to make cheese on its own (ie, it started to separate and get chunky), we disposed of it.
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The typical use in our family for spoiled/soured milk was to use it in baked goods. As long as it doesn't have any mold growing or something, it most likely just started fermenting in the warm temperatures outside the fridge. Some people even drink it as is.
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How to store parsley? Recently, I've bought a bunch of chinese parsley which I've used for garnishing and etc... However after storing it in the fridge for about 3-4 days most of the parsley had turned yellow and I have to throw them out. I was wondering does wrapping it with paper towels actually extends its life? Or rather, what is the best way to store chinese parsley? <Q> The way my parents always did it is to cut it up and then freeze it. <S> Whenever you need some just take the box out, crumble a bit of the frozen parsley into whatever you need it for, then put the box back in the freezer. <S> Obviously it won't be fresh, so <S> I suggest you only cut the amount that you don't think you'll be able to use before it goes bad, and keep the rest in the fridge, maybe with ice water as per Tetsujin's suggestion. <S> But it does keep basically forever while frozen. <A> Chinese Parsley == <S> Coriander [UK] == <S> Cilantro [US] It will store for up to a week if it started crispy-fresh <S> & you put it in the salad chiller in a fridge. <S> The best way to ensure its survival is either put it in a bowl of ice-cold water for an hour every day, then drain it thoroughly, pat dry & back in the fridge, or buy it growing rather than cut, keep the compost moist & the pot in good direct daylight. <S> It's not the most hardy of herbs [certainly not in my North London flat], so your gains may not be great. <S> I can keep some supermarket potted herbs going indefinitely but coriander isn't one of them. <S> Note: <S> if your supplier is a local market as opposed to a national chain supermarket then it may not arrive 'crispy-fresh'… though it may actually taste better… which is the conundrum where I live - buy too much <S> & it's a bit limp [but crisps up fabulously in cold water] from the local Turkish place, or just enough from the supermarket, but you can hardly smell it... <A> If you dry it after washing it, it will keep for a few weeks in the 'fridge. <S> I don't mean dried like dry herbs, just get all the water off, with a salad spinner or paper towels.
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Paper rather than plastic will prevent it 'sweating' [which will make it turn yellow or just rot with remarkable alacrity] but it will then dry out instead, so your gain may not be great.
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Is it possible to cook bacon without melting as much fat? I love Bacon, but I prefer fattier pieces of meat. However, I cannot seem to find a way to cook the bacon without melting most of the fat off. What I've tried so far: Searing at high temperature - Maybe the best results? Baking the bacon at 200*F(takes way too long, still melts) Also baking at 300 & 400*F. In the end, it may just not be possible to retain more fat. I just hate having so much bacon fat left over, and I cook enough that It would make no sense to save it all. <Q> I'm not sure this is really a sensible answer… but it's one way… <S> Deep-fry it. <S> Should take about 15 - 30s. <S> That way it will come out even fattier than it went in. <S> Any fat that comes off will be added to the next batch, though probably at an overall loss to the fryer, so you'll have to periodically top back with oil. <S> Late edit: I forget the US likes their bacon crispy. <S> My timings were for UK bacon to keep the fat soft but get the meat technically cooked, as the OP asked for 'more fat'. <S> Crispy <S> I guess will take longer. <S> I've never made crispy bacon in my life & have to assume it's cured differently to be able to make it cook like that. <A> This is something i've also struggled with. <S> I find that the traditional way of preparing bacon where I'm from (the US) sacrifices flavor and texture for "crunch". <S> This has given me an undeserved reputation for liking "bacon sushi". <S> I think the easiest route is the "low and slow" method already suggested by pete, but i'd also like to suggest another solution from the almighy J. Kenji López-Alt at serious eats, sous vide it : <S> Drop a package of thick-cut bacon into the water and sous vide overnight (and up to 48 hours) <S> Drain <S> the bacon Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high Cook the bacon on one side for 2 minutes (pressing on it) and then briefly on the other side for 10 seconds <S> You can store the sous vide'd bacon in the fridge for a couple of days (since it is fully cooked) and crisp up on demand (true confession: I just eat it straight out of the sous vide sometimes). <S> I've used this recipe on thinner cuts with some success (although you may want to tweak the crisp step so as not to lose too much fat). <A> Deep frying bacon is the best. <S> I use a thermometer and keep the oil between 300-350 or it will burn and be chewy. <S> You don't need to cook it dark for crispiness either. <S> cool on paper towel in a metal coriander, it will crisp up as it cools and can always be re-fried if not crispy enough. <S> to cook bacon with out rendering to much fat from it, choose leaner bacon cuts, lower your heat and use a non-stick pan or cast iron with no oil or butter, nothing. <S> Just the bacon, flipping it constantly. <S> Like every minute or less. <S> thin cut bacon will shrivel, be super wavy, and render a bunch of fat, with crispy tops and chewy inner bumps. <S> thicker cut bacon typically is leaner and render much less fat and will curl less. <S> deli's and cafes drop a press on it. <S> if you do a lot of bacon a press amazing. <S> the even heat and pressing will give you a more even grill rendering less fat and more even cooking. <S> Again, low-medium heat. <S> I never bacon on high. <S> For what you want, I think thick cut super lean bacon,on low-medium heat (about 300), on a cast iron skillet or grill plate, with a press or long spatula to press will give you exactly the taste and texture you are looking for. <S> I'm not a fan of oven or microwaves. <S> I'm mean it's good, but not the same. <S> Cheap thin cut bacon in packages are always going to render a bunch of fat, it's mostly fat. <S> You can go through the packages and try to find packages with less fat. <S> I've seem some cheap packages that are almost all fat. <S> You could also try other uses for the fat. <S> I've bought bacon fat, and it was $10 for a 10 oz jar. <S> Good bacon fat is well over $1 an ounce. <S> Blalock Lean Thick Bacon Slices https://blalockmeat.com/index.php/store/lean-thick-bacon steak and bacon presses <S> https://www.amazon.com/d/Cooking-Utensils/Steak-Weight-Bacon-Press-Libertyware large spatula https://www.amazon.com/Sabatier-5154549-Triple-Rivet-Turner/dp/B0176B7Y18/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=metal+spatula&qid=1565636660&s=home-garden&sr=1-4 <A> Do you care about crispness/chew? <S> If not, it seems to be more common to find raw pork bellies recently. <S> Bacon is relatively easy to cure and needs only curing salt, kosher salt, and sugar and roughly a week in the fridge. <S> Once cured, you can smoke, grill, bake it according to your taste until it is to roughly 140-150F at which point you really do not need to go further unless you want, you can simply slice some off and eat it. <S> It will be a bit chewy, no crisp, but the fat will be mostly translucent but in tact. <S> If you consider curing your own, this also gives you some other options such as flavoring it as you wish, such as cracked pepper crusted, maple sugar, juice infused such as apple, etc. <S> If cut thicker than normal, say 1/2-1 inch strips rather than slices it can also be cooked either in pan, deep fried or say on a grill to have a crisp exterior <S> but sill have the fat content you are looking for. <S> Curing your own can also give you the option of looking for bellies that are more or less lean to your liking. <S> This option is admittedly not for everyone, but if you really want superior customized results it is worth considering. <A> Use thick-cut bacon. <S> Put it into a cold pan, and put the pan on medium heat. <S> Cook slowly until done. <A> You can also experiment with micro-waving American * bacon. <S> It's somewhat messy, so make sure you use a covered dish to do so. <S> About 2-3 minutes for a slice or 2 gets you started. <S> But I've found that I can exert more control on the cooking duration because moving/not moving the meat <S> doesn't factor as much. <S> Note that I don't cook much else in a microwave which I normally find mostly works for reheating, not primary cooking. <S> Except to soften sliced onions before frying them. <S> * I wouldn't try this with Canadian/UK bacon.
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If you don't do that much bacon, like a pound a week or less, invest in a cast iron skillet and a long steel spatula to press it.
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Thai Curry seems more watery over the last year? I've made Thai Penang Curry probably ONE THOUSAND TIMES. Not quite weekly for 25 years. No joke. Over the last year or so, I've noticed it's surprisingly watery, however I haven't changed my method or my brands of ingredients so what could it be? Has the world standard for coconut milk simply changed, I wonder? (Something similar happened in the US when wheat varieties were changed practically nationwide over a few years; I hear they planned the switchover to be gradual so as not to surprise people.) I've always used Mae Ploy Panang Curry Paste, usually in envelopes but sometimes in the big plastic tub when I had a bigger refrigerator. I've always used Chaokoh or Aroy-D coconut milk. Sometimes I've used western brands and never noticed a difference up or down. One time by mistake I used LITE coconut milk and it sucked big-time. The difference I'm seeing now isn't that difference. (Aside: in Hong Kong, they don't allow the product term "lite" and when an importer brings in products labelled for other countries, which is quite common, they paint over the "lite" part of the label. That's good as it doesn't fool people into thinking it's low-calorie, but it's bad that the taste is utterly different. My method varies a little bit but doesn't affect the results. I always use chicken breast, same day I bought it if possible, sliced and fried in vegetable oil or sometimes the cream from the can. It doesn't seem to matter which. I used to always add a thin-sliced garlic and 5 or so Thai chilis and fry until fragrant before adding chicken, but now that I have kids I don't bother. I've NEVER fried the paste as is often recommended; I just pour in a can of coconut milk and put in the envelope of roux and squash the lumps out for a few minutes. Oh: also julienne 10 lime leaves as finely as possible after removing their spine. Also I boil a dozen pea eggplants 10 min in water separately, then add them to the curry. OK so for the last 12-18 months, it just seems more watery than I remember. Either my memory is somehow slipping, and it's always been like this, or something has changed (such as the world standard for how much fat coconut milk has). I've actually taken to sprinkling just a tiny bit of flour as a thickener and boiling briefly. Any ideas? UPDATE: I've now tried Merito brand "Certified Organic" Coconut Milk in Japan. Ingredients include only processed coconut and guar gum (the thickener missing from Chaokoh brand coconut milk, at least now in Japan, not sure about the past or in other countries). I added a whole small can of coconut cream (I forget brand and size) but no joy. Still seemed watery. And I've verified there's no water in the pan from the chicken that would be watering it down. I'll try a different brand of cream next time and report volume and brand. <Q> When I make thai curries, I use coconut cream and coconut milk (half and half) to get a nice creamy taste. <A> Looks like demand is exceeding supply . <S> An excess of old trees, and diseases are hitting production, and likely quality, as well. <A> OK, the problem's the chicken. <S> I usually cook the chicken, then pour in the coconut milk and roux and beat the lumps out in a time-consuming fashion. <S> Last night I moved the chicken to a bowl, so that I mix the roux and milk more smoothly, and was surprised to see that two big breasts had left over a quarter-cup of water/liquid in the pan. <S> I disposed of that. <S> By the time I had slowly mixed the milk in, smoothing out roux lumps, and getting a smooth sauce, there was another nearly 1/4 cup of liquid in the bowl. <S> After smoothing the curry, I added the chicken sans juice, jullienned lime leaf, and the dozen or so roach berries I throw in just for variety although I don't love them. <S> And the results were back to usual! <S> I was using a different brand of coconut milk from my usual <S> but it looked the same as always <S> so I don't think it was a factor. <S> Meanwhile I don't know what's up about this particular butcher counter's chicken that is so much more watery than other chicken breast I've bought in five different countries, and many many other outlets in Japan, in the past. <S> My current grocery for chicken breast is unique in that it's a butcher counter selling domestic meat. <S> Most other places I've bought have been pre-packaged meat (at least in styrofoam trays) or non-Japanese meat. <S> I've wondered whether they're somehow injecting the meat with more water to make it heavier <S> but I don't think so. <S> We've often noted that this counter's meat gives some of the best results we've had over the years, outside of this one dish.
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You're not alone, I've noticed coconut milk being watery too, it used to have a decent layer of cream on top and now there is practically none.
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How to make croutons crunchier throughout without burning? I've made homemade croutons a few times now and experimented with using more or less olive oil and cooking shorter/longer. My first batch was the best tasting, however they were a little chewy inside, which is great if that's what you're going for, but I want them to be consistently crunchy throughout. I wondered after first batch if I used more olive oil if it would soak in more and cause the inside to cook more like the outside. I tried but I also was experimenting with temp and time (I'm using a convection oven for the first time) so it was hard to tell if it worked because on the one hand I did get the desired texture that I wanted but on the other hand I over cooked them just a little. If you like a tinge of that burnt flavor then they are perfect but I don't. I'd love to not have to expirement for too much longer before finding my answer so hope you guys can help! What's the best way to get a consistent crunch throughout without burning your croutons? Oh, also I'm just using regular sliced bread. I think just using some other kinds of bread would solve the problem, but I want to be able to do it with this kind of bread so I can salvage stale bread in the future. <Q> It's easy to make croutons crunchy: Just dry the bread pieces in a dehydrator or low-temperature oven (around 125°C) for a couple of hours. <S> This should be done before adding oil or seasonings, since the process would cook off a lot of their flavor. <S> Afterwards, drizzle on the olive oil and seasonings, and bake or fry as desired. <S> (Be careful with the oil: the dried bread cubes will absorb it much more quickly than fresh or stale bread cubes would.) <A> My method of getting extra crispy croutons is to cube the bread rather small (~1cm or a bit less), add butter to the pan and melt(i guess, <S> ~20g for two slices of bread, but it's hard to say.), add the bread cubes, and pan fry them <S> gently over low(!) heat, stirring occasionally. <S> It takes quite a while. <S> When they take on a crispy outside and golden color, I take them off the heat and let them cool completely. <S> This allows them to dry out and any left over moisture to evaporate. <S> (If you want them warm or hot for your purposes, you can quickly warm them up in the pan.) <S> The choice of bread also plays a role in the final outcome of course, but not knowing where you're from, I can't really recommend anything. <S> It's a bit heavier and get's crispy rather quickly int he pan. <S> It has a nice roasted flavor profile as it is baked rather dark, which i really love in my croutons. <S> However, I also use regular white toast for croutons. <S> Here, in my experience at least, the drying and cooling process is even more important. <A> The method described by @Sneftel will certainly work. <S> However, if you do not have a dehydrator, this can easily done in the oven. <S> I regularly oil and season bread cubes first <S> , then place on a sheet pan in a low oven 225F (107C). <S> If you have a convection function on your oven, you use a slightly lower temperature. <S> Shake or mix every 15 minutes or so. <S> Total time will depend on the type of bread you are using. <S> So, keep and eye on them. <S> Also realize that they will become more crunchy as they cool.
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I'm from Germany, and my favorite croutons are made from a moist and chewy "Bauernbrot" (translates to "Farmer's bread"), which is a mix of wheat and rye.
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How to get a open crumb bread without a starter Is it possible to get an open crumb bread without an starter, and by just using active dry yeast? According to my research, to get an open crumb bread one needs a good gluten development, high hydration, strong wheat flour, and a good yeast. However, most of recipes that I have found are using sourdough starter, which I don't want to use. Is possible to get the same open crumb like sourdough bread, by using just active dry yeast? Can you provide some tips on technique? <Q> I haven't tried it as I don't have access to active dried yeast rather than the instant or bread machine variety, but I can't see why a no-knead dough method would not give you the results you want. <S> You would have to prove the yeast first by adding it to warm water rather than adding it to the dry ingredients which is the method I use. <S> Using regular and bread flour I have had great results with a proofing time of up to 18 hours. <S> In the baguettes I have baked the result has been quite light, with holes up to 1 cm in diameter. <S> If you baked your loaf using this method in a Dutch oven instead, you would get a different consistency due to the trapped steam. <S> Either way, the long proofing time will give you quite an airy loaf. <A> In my experience you get a more open crumb with yeast, compared to using sourdough, which tends to give a denser crumb. <S> The secrets are to use fairly high hydration and a long final rise. <S> (High oven temperature and steam will also help.) <A> I suggest looking at some of recipes from Ken Forkish's book to get some suggested folding techniques and timing or if you have a lot of time and patience read the 30-ish page recipe in the Tartine bread book. <A> folding I just leave mine in a bowl and with wet hands I grab the dough from one corner and fold to the middle and repeat this all the way around the dough then let sit for a half hour and repeat until 4 times, then shape the dough and put it in a banneton basket covered and refrigerate until the next morning <S> then I bake it off. <S> Remeber to score your loaf before you bake to allow for oven spring.
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I think the secret to improving gluten development in a high-hydration no-knead recipe would be to do a few rounds of folding.
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What can I use in lieu of white wine in this recipe? I would like to make the below recipe for a bridal shower, but it is at a church which forbids alcohol and alcoholic products on premises. What can I use for a substitute for the white wine, to still achieve the desired effect?- Also, there is a lemon and lime allergy, so nothing lemon or lime-y. Strawberries and Wine Flower Cheesecake (abbreviated recipe with only relevant steps/ingredients. For full recipe, visit the link above) Three 1/4-ounce packages unflavored powdered gelatin 1 1/2 cups white cranberry juice 1/4 cup granulated sugar 2 1/2 cups chilled sweet white wine, such as Riesling 1 quart medium strawberries (about 20 total) 10 to 12 canned mandarin orange segments (from an 11-ounce can), drained well Once the cheesecake is set, prepare the white wine gelatin. Pour the white cranberry juice into a medium saucepan and sprinkle over the remaining 3 packages of gelatin. Let sit until the gelatin is absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the granulated sugar and heat over low heat, whisking occasionally, just until the gelatin and sugar dissolve, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour the gelatin mixture into a large bowl and stir in the white wine. Use a spoon to scoop away any bubbles at the surface. Refrigerate, stirring every 10 minutes, until the gelatin just begins to thicken and is the consistency of thin fruit jelly, 30 to 45 minutes. Meanwhile, trim away the green tops from the strawberries. The trimmed strawberries should be no longer than 1 1/2 inches tall (1 inch is ideal). Slice the strawberries into 1/4-inch-thick pieces, saving any small end pieces for another use. Starting from the outside edge of the cheesecake, shingle the strawberries (pointed side outward and upward) in a circular pattern, leaning the tips of the strawberries against the edge of the pan, about 26 strawberry slices total. Continue this pattern, working inward and making 3 additional concentric circles with the strawberries overlapping each other, leaving at least 2 1/2 inches of empty space in the center of the cheesecake. (You may have strawberries left over.) Arrange the mandarin oranges in the center (rounded side outward and upward) so that the cheesecake is completely covered. Use a large spoon to stir the gelatin until mostly smooth. Gently spoon the mixture evenly on top of the fruit, then use the back of an offset spatula to smooth out the top as much as possible. (For a really smooth top, dip the offset spatula into boiling water, wipe it dry and smooth out the top further.) Refrigerate the cheesecake until the gelatin is completely set, at least 4 hours and up to overnight. <Q> Since the recipe call for sweet riesling, I'd replace the wine with white grape juice. <A> Make a lateral move to passion fruit juice . <S> It has a unique flavor that would really go well with the rest of this dessert. <S> It will bring something not present in the original but since you are ditching sweet wine and lemon, you need some razzamatazz and passion fruit has got it. <S> Plus the passion in passion fruit actually refers to the passion of Christ, so maybe the church people will dig that! <A> It looks like the wine is used in the gelatin topping, where it is used as a flavoring. <S> You could substitute any fruit-flavored essence (note many of these are dissolved in alcohol), though you would need to substitute water for most of the volume as concentrated essences are very strong. <S> As white cranberry juice is the base for this layer, you could just use that to fill the full volume (4 cups - 1.5 cranberry + 2.5 wine). <S> If you wanted to be super-fancy you could make 3 or so different jelly layers using different juices resulting in a layered appearance of different colors. <S> If you wanted one for the kids, just use a couple of packets of Jello/Jelly mix as you might buy at the supermarket. <S> As you have someone with what appears to be a citrus allergy - make sure you avoid the mandarin segments, as these are from the citrus family.
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You could also use white or red grape-juice, or indeed any clear/transparent fruit-juice, such as pear or apple, substituting 1:1 for the wine.
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How to properly boil egg white? I am trying to boil egg white. It's around 500gr. How to boil it properly? In previous attempt, I boil it using a stainless steel container with no lid and put it in a pan filled with water. I screw up since the water is able to reach the egg. This method also time consuming because the container is not hot enough. It also hard to clean after I do this. Are there better method for me to do this? The method should ensure the egg safe to eat (no salmonella). I dont want to use plastic to boil it. <Q> You might have to check from time to time for doneness. <S> It will harden in the shape of the container if you don't "scramble" it every 30s, and it might also explode from the steam trying to escape (hence the cover). <S> Brush some oil in the container to make sure the whites don't stick. <S> Personally for that much egg <S> I'd just cook them in a pan like an omelet, it's much less trouble. <A> You could bake the egg whites in a nonstick baking dish at 150 °C/300 F, eventually coating it with a little vegetable oil or nonstick spray <S> (I don't like that personally), as this Quora answer suggests . <A> As the method you are describing is actually steaming rather than boiling: <S> There are two components in the question that are relevant to the answer: volume and sticking For the volume, what you actually need is a container that will allow you to cook the egg white evenly in a relatively thin layer of about 2-3 cm (1 inch) depth, so as to increase the surface area:volume ratio. <S> To do this you need a large flat plate shaped container (similar shape to the one in the link) rather than a deeper pot. <S> This allows much more exposure of the egg to the heat from the steam and subsequently lowers cooking time and evenness. <S> You need to be able to suspend this over the water, so you need a large saucepan or wok with corresponding lid to hold the plate you are using and trap the steam so that the egg can cook. <S> You also need a trivet to raise the plate with the egg out of the water, where it can steam rather than boil in the water. <S> Something like the one in <S> this link is best, in my opinion. <S> With regards to the sticking - there's not a whole lot that you can do about this other than use a non-stick pan or a seasoned iron dish. <S> You can use a thin layer of oil (if you see it running you've used too much) over the surface of the dish to aid in stopping sticking, but I have found this to have varying success.
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You could microwave it, put the whites in a glass container with a loose lid and blast it, the texture will be very similar to a boiled egg.
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Can mayonnaise be infused with coconut, without getting watery? I want to make a mayonnaise-based sandwich spread with coconut milk in it, but I'm concerned that adding enough coconut milk for any flavor will make the spread too runny. Note, I do not want to make mayonnaise from scratch - I have seen recipes where you infuse the oil in homemade mayo first then use it to make mayo. I'm talking about using packaged mayo as the base, ending up with the texture of mayonnaise and the additional taste of coconut milk. <Q> You can add some liquid to mayonnaise without breaking it. <S> I've added smallish amounts of soy sauce and hot sauce and such to mayonnaise with success. <S> The question would be, could you get enough coconut flavor into the mayonnaise before breaking the emulsion? <S> Hard to say without trying. <S> If it doesn't work, you can try using coconut cream instead of coconut milk. <S> Like the name suggests, coconut cream has a higher amount of fat and a lower amount of water than coconut milk. <S> This should allow you to add more of it to the mayonnaise without making it too liquid. <A> Depending on the type of coconut milk you have access to, you could only use the upper, creamy part of the coconut milk. <S> Here in Germany (and the Netherlands, as we often buy there) the out of the box coconut milk is not homogenized, so the fat and the watery part have split. <S> Coconut Cream might be an option, but it is quite sweet. <S> Perhaps a light variant could do the trick. <A> Depending on how much you add, you might find that your mayo is too thick. <S> If that is the case, you could get around this by making up a paste beforehand with a little water. <S> https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/268726658 <A> This is speculative, as I've not tried this, and I'm assuming that by 'the flavour of coconut milk' you mean 'coconut flavour'. <S> Creamed coconut/coconut butter, rather than coconut cream, may be your answer. <S> It comes as a solid block, in solid form in individual sachets and jars. <S> Creamed coconut, also known as coconut butter, is a coconut product made from the unsweetened dehydrated fresh pulp of a mature coconut, ground to a semi-solid white creamy paste. <S> It is sold in the form of a hard white block which can be stored at room temperature. <S> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creamed_coconut <S> I use this rather than canned coconut milk or cream when making things like Rendang, because it doesn't have all the emulsifiers and thickeners of the brands I can buy locally, and at around 70% fats should incorporate more successfully into mayo than coconut milk which can be around 70% water. <S> When cooking you can just add solid chunks of the product to a sauce and it will melt and dissolve, but you can also melt it first and in this melted form you may be able to successfully whip it into a pre-made mayonnaise. <S> With the sachets you just place the sealed sachet into a jug of hot water until the contents liquefy, but you would also be able to melt some in a bain-marie as you would do with chocolate. <S> According to wikipedia Coconut oil melts at around 24°C, so in warmer weather it is a liquid paste. <S> so you may need to do very little to get it to a state suitable for incorporating <S> (I live in the north of Scotland <S> so haven't experienced it in that state.) <S> I would suggest that to improve the chances of spreading the flavour evenly through your mayo, it would be best to add the mayonnaise to the creamed coconut a little at a time rather than dumping the coconut into the mayo. <S> Having the mayo at room temperature rather than fridge-cold will also help avoid resetting the coconut cream before it is incorporated. <S> It is likely that quite a small amount would be needed as the flavour in this dehydrated product is more concentrated than in coconut milk, in my experience. <S> Edit to add: If it is just the flavour of coconut you are looking for, the other option might be a much more concentrated natural coconut extract. <A> If you want coconut flavor in something that is already a semiliquid I would not use liquid coconut products at all. <S> Use shredded coconut. <S> Unsweetened shredded coconut is powerfully coconutty. <S> You can put it thru a blender or coffee bean grinder to pulverize it further if you do not like the stringy consistency in your mayo. <S> The addition of these coconut solids will not affect the creaminess of your mayo base unless you add a lot. <S> It is worth mentioning that you can also just add coconut flavor if that is not cheating for you. <S> Coconut flavor comes in a little bottle like vanilla. <S> Along those lines I used to keep a bottle of Malibu coconut rum to add to stir fry; Malibu is also powerfully coconut flavored and you can cook off the alcohol in a few seconds using a saucepan. <S> If you go that route, cook down the Malibu by itself then add to mayo.
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If you do not want to dilute the mayonnaise with liquid, coconut milk powder is an option.
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Removing sugar from baking recipes I just baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies ( https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/bas-best-chocolate-chip-cookies ). I felt like they were just a tad bit on the sweet side, so wanted to know if there would be any negative consequences from reducing the sugar? (like 1/2-3/4 of the sugar in the recipe) Would the cookie not bake as desired or something like that? <Q> Sugar contributes to the texture in cookies. <S> In particular brown sugar is softer than white because of the hygroscopic molasses. <S> If you like your cookies soft I'd reduce/remove the white sugar first (plus you don't lose the brown sugar flavour). <S> If that's too soft you can adjust the ratio in the next batch (or, to some extent, bake a tiny bit longer, but the texture really only becomes apparent on cooking) <S> Baking time might change a little, so keep an eye on them when they should be nearly done. <A> You will have to experiment to find something that you like. <S> On the other hand - if you don't want to change the texture of the cookies, you could try to replace some of the sugar with Isomalt - it's a sugar substitute that has very similar mechano-chemical properties, but doesn't taste sweet. <A> It's fine to deduct the amount of sugar, just based on your desired sweetness. <S> Sugar will do more chemical reaction in Meringue-based desserts, like Macarons or topping creams on cake. <S> It's more likely to impact the result if the sugar amount changes then cookies, which texture comes primarily from flour and butter. <S> Anyway, just give a try and do some adjustment after tastes :) <S> (You could make small portion first, then to make normal portion while you've fix the sugar amount based on your desired sweetness.)
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Sugar does have an impact on more than flavour, so the texture of the cookies will change.
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Preheat and baking temperature I got a new otg and I found a bit of discrepancy with oven temperature.. When I preheat, the temperature is fine but after keeping the cake/ cookie, it shows a lower temperature. Example:I set it at 180°C and preheated for 20 mins - my thermometer records 180°C. After opening and keeping my trays inside, I set the timer (I did not change the temperature knob or the baking mode) and I see that it is 150°C. It's the maintained at 150°C throughout the entire baking process. Is there anything wrong with the otg or is it normal? <Q> After opening the door the temperature is supposed to drop a few degrees since it's exchanging heat with the outside air (which is usually colder than in the oven...). <S> The cake batter should also absorb part of the heat put out by the oven, by heat transfer. <S> So if your oven is very small (like an oven-toaster-grill), weak, leaking large amounts of heat (through openings or cracks) or you're putting a huge amount of really cold cake batter the temperature might not rise back to previous levels. <S> So I'd say it's not normal - <S> at least I never saw such a large temperature drop for such a long time. <S> Trying bake a smaller cake, or checking that the baked goods are not blocking the heating element or the air circulation inside the oven. <S> Try also putting your thermometer in a different position inside the oven and see what's the difference - maybe just part of the oven is not getting up to temp, since you said your cakes are baking fine. <A> That doesn't sound right to me, especially as this is a relatively small oven and should come up to heat again pretty quickly (smaller space to heat). <S> I assume here that where you are using this has a reasonable ambient temperature, and you are not using it in a cold place etc. <S> I would expect a drop in temperature when the door is opened, maybe 10-20 degrees or so depending on the oven capacity, but for the temperature to come back up again quickly, say within 5-10 minutes max. <S> This is the case with my extra-large one piece range oven. <S> There could be a number of reasons for this: <S> Some of the cheaper analogue rotary versions are not that good, the digital "laser" variety can also give false readings depending on the surface used to measure temperature <S> As mentioned previously, air circulation or blocked heating elements. <S> As the temperature seems more stable without the pan it could be that the pan is preventing the otg's thermostat kicking in, either due to heat being reflected or hot air being trapped The otg's temperature and thermostat settings are optimistic. <S> If this is the case, try setting a different temperature (say 10% higher both with and without the pan) and see what your thermometer says. <S> If the temperature is closer with the higher setting, that could be the issue Different thermal behaviour depending on oven mode. <S> If your oven has different modes, try the same experiment to see which is more accurate. <S> If the oven has multiple elements (and a circular fan type element) <S> one could be more accurate than another. <S> Be careful of using grill mode though, this could easily exceed any in-oven thermometer temperature specifications and damage it. <S> Having lived with many different ovens over the years, it is a probably a combination of 1-3, with 3 being the most likely culprit if the oven is a cheaper brand. <S> Many an oven I've had to set a bit higher than the thermostat settings to get decent results, but I've yet to come across one where I've had to lower the settings. <A> Assuming nothing is wrong with the oven (e.g., flaky thermostat), you can try adding thermal mass such as a pizza stone, brick(s), or even pebbles. <S> Also try making the batter with room temperature milk and eggs.
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Your measuring thermometer is not accurate.
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Homemade mac and cheese always loses its creaminess and gets dry after sitting out a short while How do I keep the pasta from absorbing all the liquid? <Q> Honestly, you either eat it fresh, or accept it will congeal. <S> There are 2 factors going on, the pasts will keep absorbing water until there's almost none left the cheese will set as it cools. <S> The upside is 'yesterday's mac cheese' is great in & of itself. <S> Your only 'fix' is make it wetter or eat it sooner. <A> There are different styles of mac & cheese. <S> One of my favorites is essentially just a béchamel sauce + cheese poured over cooked noodles. <S> You can eliminate the described problem completely by not incorporating the sauce and the noodles until it is time to eat. <S> If cooked noodles sit around they will clump up if left to their own devices, so you will have to solve that new problem <S> but it’s not insurmountable. <A> The idea is that the pasta acquires a hydrophobic oil coating that limits its access to the water part of the cheese sauce. <S> Also, if it doesn't work, it will still be delicious! <S> Tossing the pasta in oil or butter seems to help pasta salad. <S> Not sure about mac and cheese because it goes so quick around here.
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Try tossing cooked pasta in butter first, before adding cheese sauce.
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When making yogurt, why doesn't bad bacteria grow as well? I've been making Yogurt and Coconut Yogurt for a long time. I've always wondered why one can't leave milk out for more than an hour or so without it going off, yet when adding cultures or probiotics all of a sudden this isn't a concern. <Q> The initial heating of the milk, besides denaturing proteins to improve the texture, also pasteurizes the milk. <S> The culture needs to be added in a high enough concentration to crowd out harmful bacteria that might exist. <S> That said, if your tools or containers are dirty or if your starter is dead, or you don't add enough starter, your yogurt can grow accidental bacteria and go off. <S> Note <S> As Bob1 commented, this applies to the first few hours of fermentation before the milk has become acidic enough to inhibit other microbes. <A> Note that the milk you take out of the fridge has been sterilised (UHT or pasteurisation) <S> - it doesn't have any bacteria (etc.)[1]. <S> It also isn't very acidic or salty. <S> This makes it a wonderful breeding ground for anything that can get in - there's no competition. <S> Yoghurt (and cheese, and varieties of ham and salami, and...) is full of a bacterial cultures that are very prolific in that environment, which makes it very hard for any new culture to get established. <S> Most of the methods of preservation humans had in the past have been based on this; salting, fermentation etc. <S> Either you make the environment too harsh for bacteria to live in (too salty, too acidic, too dry etc.), or you promote the growth of harmless bacteria. <S> You can even buy bacterial/yeast cultures that you can add to pasteurised milk to make your homemade yoghurt drink (kefir). <S> A popular choice is the so-called tibetan mushroom (a mix of lactic bacteria and various yeasts). <S> The product is full of bacteria, but they're not only harmless, they actually digest lactose, which allows even lactose intolerant people to ingest dairy products without harm. <S> Most of the easy sugars have been converted to lactic acid, which in addition to the massive lactic bacteria culture means the product is very resistant to the introduction of any harmful bacteria. <S> As an aside, this mechanism is also the reason why some bacteria, like the botulinum, can still be dangerous - they do not colonise your body, they produce a strong toxin as a side-effect of their normal metabolism, so even a very small culture can make the food toxic. <S> But most bacteria are entirely harmless to humans, and most that are harmful are stopped by either the lactic culture, or the acidity, or the salt (in heavily salted products). <S> [1] Note that this varies - in the US, normal milk often uses low-temperature pasteurisation which doesn't sterilise the milk; in Europe, UHT is the standard, and you can keep unrefrigerated milk essentially forever (though the quality suffers after a few months as the fats separate, it doesn't become unsafe to drink). <A> So first off, when making yogurt hygiene is the single most important factor to successfully make yogurt without giving yourself food poisoning. <S> Your statement about having never had a problem and about cultured yogurt never going off concerns me that your luck will make you cocky about it. <S> inoculation with a known culture helps by prepopulating your yogurt giving your chosen cultures an advantage, but it’s not a guarantee. <S> However if your hygene practices are not spotless, you can add dangerous bugs into your yogurt. <S> I have had the misfortune it of being food poisoned by my yogurt. <S> Please don’t get cocky or lackadaisical about hygene and sanitation.
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Lactic bacteria have been our best friends ever since we started preserving food - they're harmless and extremely prolific, drowning out most harmful bacteria, especially if you help them with a bit of salt or a somewhat acidic environment.
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How do I make a pancake without egg? I'm trying to make a basic pancake, with traditional texture, fluff, and taste, but without using eggs. Is this possible? <Q> There are multiple recipes for eggless pancakes online. <S> Most increase the amount of baking powder to help with the rise. <S> Many use milk and butter, so they are not vegan. <S> If you are looking for a vegan recipe, those exist too. <S> They also tend to increase the baking powder, and often include non-dairy milk. <S> Whether or not they will sufficiently mimic the fluffiness of a traditional recipe is going to be completely up to you. <A> Upon searching different websites, I found these options as the best egg-substitute (usually I use the forth option at home). <S> ApplesauceUse <S> a quarter cup of unsweetened applesauce in place of one egg in most baking recipes. <S> Some sources say to mix it with half a teaspoon of baking powder. <S> If all you have is sweetened applesauce, then simply reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe. <S> Applesauce is also a popular healthy replacement for oil in many baked goods. <S> Note that this may impart a mild banana flavor to whatever you are cooking, which could be a good thing. <S> FlaxseedsHeart-healthy flaxseeds can be used as an egg substitute. <S> Mix one tablespoon of ground flaxseeds with three tablespoons of water until fully absorbed and viscous. <S> Use in place of one egg. <S> (You can use pre-ground flaxseeds or grind them yourself in a spice or coffee grinder.) <S> Water, oil, and Baking PowderWhisk together 2 tbspns water, 1 tspn oil (vegetable or corn oil), and 2 tspns baking powder. <S> Use this in place of 1 egg. <S> You can review the ( source website ). <A> I make (U.S.) pancakes often. <S> I rarely use an egg. <S> I use plain yogurt which I think gets more fluff out of the baking powder because it is sour. <S> Try <S> 1.5 cups white flour 0.5 cup wheat flour 1 tbsp. <S> baking powder 1 cup plain yogurt. <S> Not low fat! <S> Fatful yogurt. <S> Honey, approx. <S> 2 tbsp. <S> Oil (I am using sunflower lately) approx. <S> 1 tbsp. <S> Milk (whatever I have) to thin to pourable <S> No oil in the pan.
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BananaUse a quarter cup of mashed banana (from about half a banana) instead of one egg when baking.
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Can you eat acorns picked from the street? The streets and parks where I live in New York City are littered with acorns. Can I pick them up and cook them? Is it safe? Are they any good? (Taste-wise, nutrition-wise.) <Q> Acorns from which tree? <S> Acorns from California live oak for instance are edible, but only after a painstaking process of grinding and soaking, without which they can kill you. <S> And even the French don't as a rule eat them, which tells me they can't be that tasty :-) <A> I was going to just post this as a comment, but I do think it's a valid concern… <S> Maybe if I lived out in the country… but I'm not thinking New York is going to have any less of a traffic pollution issue than London, where I am… & I'd be as inclined to eat a dead pigeon I found in the street as an acorn. <A> I did this some years back. <S> I have no idea if it’s safe or not. <S> All I know is that I didn’t get sick. <S> Raw <S> it was pretty hard to eat and was bitter and dried out my mouth. <S> Roasted it was still bitter but a little easier to chew. <A> Licor de bellota <S> Quercus Ilex acorns are used to make " Licor de bellota " (acorn liqueur) in Extremadura region of Spain. <S> Acorn flour <S> In times of famine, it was produced flour to make bread (gluten free). <S> There are some companies that are introducing acorn flour for artisan breads. <S> But mostly they are left on the ground for pig feeding. <S> These acorns are sweet, but most other acorns tend to be bitter and astringent.
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European oaks have acorns that are more amenable to eating, but they really can't be eaten raw.
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Should I use my toaster oven for slow roasting? I have a couple small tomatoes (about the size of a plum tomato) that I'm thinking of trying to oven-dry to see if we like them. Most recipes I've seen call for roasting them in the oven for 4-6 hours at a low temperature. We have few enough tomatoes that they would easily fit in our toaster oven, but I've only ever heard of using the toaster oven for shorter toasting or baking. Is there any reason not to use the toaster oven for slow-roasting the tomatoes for multiple hours like this? The main things I'm considering are whether the larger oven is more efficient for long durations like this, and if the toaster oven will have any temperature issues operating for that long. <Q> In the question body, you say that you aren't trying to get roasted tomatoes, you are trying to get dried tomatoes. <S> This is a very different process from roasting. <S> To get a nice texture in your dehydrated vegetables, you want to be as gentle as possible. <S> You are trying to use very dry air, and just enough ambient heat to evaporate the wetness in reasonable time. <S> Blasting the tomatoes with heat or scorching them is exactly the opposite of what you want to do. <S> But you see, toaster ovens are very much on the "blasting" side. <S> They place the food close to the heating elements, which are frequently exposed, and let them heat the food pretty directly. <S> There is much more direct radiation in their heating than there is conduction from the warmed up air. <S> In contrast, the regular oven achieves an enclosed space in which the air is hot itself, and it conducts its heat to the food. <S> Also, the oven walls warm up somewhat, and the top and bottom are much more evenly heated. <S> You have gentler heat coming in from all directions there. <S> It gives you a much better drying environment, at the cost of worse roasting results (less crisp/browned surface). <S> So, if you want to imitate a dehydrator (for which an oven is already an imperfect substitute) at least do it with a regular oven. <A> Most of the toaster ovens I've seen have a timer that doesn't go much further than 30min / 1h depending on the model, so you'd have to reset the timer every time it ends. <S> It's probably ok to use, but it will be annoying to be monitoring your roast so often. <S> There probably won't be any temperature issues, except that these ovens also usually leak quite some heat over time so you might have to wait to do this roast in winter :) <A> Toaster ovens tend to not have very good insulation ... <S> so although there's less to heat up, they leak more heat into their surroundings over time. <S> For the length of time that you're dealing with, I suspect that there won't be any significant energy savings (if at all), and the time to pre-heat is negligible compared to the total cooking time, especially as you said you're dealing with low heat. <S> A regular oven can be left mostly un-attended for the time, so I'd go that route. <S> I also like the regular oven for this sort of task, as I know I can fit my pyrex pan, and that works really well for roasting tomatoes and cleans up easily. <S> (halve them, then place them cut side up in the pan, so the juices evaporate).
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Toaster ovens are great for roasting stuff, but regular ovens are much better at drying.
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Do household ovens ventilate heat to the outdoors? If I run my oven in the summer at 400F(~200°C) for an hour or two, this produces a great amount of heat. Is this energy vented outdoors once the oven is turned off, or does it simply dissipate from inside the oven to the inside of my home? I suspect it is the latter since I've never seen ventilation going outdoors from an oven, but I'm wondering if this might be the case for other ovens/homes. Running an oven in the summer while using air conditioning to counteract the heat seems like an extreme use of energy. <Q> I've never seen one that vents to outside, and I've used kitchens in several countries. <S> In many places we need to heat our houses for quite a few months each year, and the waste heat from cooking is very welcome. <S> I try to avoid using my oven in summer, choosing other things to eat instead. <S> Note that modern ovens are designed to be well sealed and well insulated, but many have a fan to cool the space in which the oven is installed; that's the source of warm air into the room with the door shut. <S> You can minimise the heat produced (i.e. the electricity used by both the oven and the air conditioning) by opening the door as little as possible, and by only preheating if you really need to. <S> A well-insulated oven can be turned off a few minutes early for many dishes as it will retain enough heat to carry on cooking. <S> In other words - cook as efficiently as possible. <S> The benefit of this is greater if you're using air conditioning. <A> So it's not directly fighting the air-con in summer, my usual trick is … Oven on, kitchen window open, kitchen door shut. <S> If you have an extractor hood that vents outdoors, that's going to help the job the open window is doing too. <S> After cooking, oven off - mine has fans that vent into the room, separate from the ones circulating the heat internally. <S> They keep going long after the oven is switched off. <S> That's lovely in winter but not so much fun in summer. <S> No matter how it achieves this, or whether you open the oven door to get the heat out faster, the laws of physics say that sooner or later, all the 'extra' heat in the oven will make it into your kitchen. <S> There's not a thing you can do about that. <S> Leave window open [& extractor on, if applicable] & <S> kitchen door shut until equilibrium is reached between indoors & outdoors, when oven is almost cold. <S> Close window, open kitchen door, let the air-con do its job once more. <S> It's imperfect, but until someone designs a cooker that will vent directly to the outside, in summer only, then it's the best you can do. <S> Depending on your architecture, it wouldn't be impossible to mount an extractor directly behind the oven, vented to the outside - though as I've never seen this done anywhere, I'm guessing grease build-up would make it either unsafe or just require so frequent strip/clean procedures that no-one considers it worth the effort. <S> Link to local UK supplier of kitchen vent systems . <S> Commercial kitchens have massive extractor hoods over the range area [which get cleaned every few months] but they're really to vent steam & grease, not to cool the room. <S> Temperatures near commercial ranges in kitchens reach two degrees short of "Why on earth would anyone want to do this for a living? <S> " even in winter. <A> There are no back doors in ovens. <A> There are some ovens that vent outside, but these are the exception. <S> Assuming we're talking a typical North American oven, check one of your rear burners; the oven is typically vented through there . <S> For induction or radiant cooktops, there's usually a vent above the rear elements. <S> Obviously there's no easy way around this, but if you were feeling inventive you could probably rig up some insulated flexible metal tubing (i.e. dryer vent hose) to pipe the heat out a window or range hood vent while you're cooking something for an extended period. <A> I have a swanky Viking oven that, when it decides to light and do some work, does exhaust heat to the outside via some interior fan. <S> It is not the same fan as it has over the cooktop where you can see it sucking up smoke and cat hair. <S> You can hear the interior fan go on about 5 min after the oven has been shut off. <S> So it is possible. <A> I've never heard of an oven being vented to the outside. <S> So, unless you have an exhaust fan that is vented to the outside, you're pretty much stuck with the heat. <S> Note, though, that the oven will gradually cool down after the energy source is cut off. <S> The entire amount of residual heat will not dissipate nearly as quickly into your house as long as you keep the oven door closed.
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In order for the heat of the oven to be purposefully ventilated somewhere else , there would have to be not only a fan, but a back door in the oven and some way to trigger the opening of the door and turning the fan on and off.
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Can I separate garlic into cloves for storage? I bought jar for garlic but it can store only two bulbs with most place being wasted. Can I separate bulb into cloves and store them? Or will it significantly shorten the lifespan of garlic? EDIT To clarify - this is jar made out of ceramic with holes in the bottom for ventilation. <Q> Traditionally (at least in Spain) garlic was kept in a braided string, hung in a dry place, so that they could last until the following season. <S> Separating them in cloves will cause them to dry prematurely. <A> Most advice I see is to keep the head whole, keep it in the dark, and avoid moisture. <S> This will allow you to keep garlic for several months. <S> In my kitchen, I go through several heads of garlic over the course of just one month, so long term storage is not really that critical for me. <S> Whether or not that matters depends entirely on how quickly you work your way through your garlic stash. <S> I would say you have little to lose. <S> Break them apart (keep the skin on the individual cloves intact), and try it for a few weeks (though, this seems like extra work to me). <S> If it turns out you use them too slowly, purchase less garlic and keep it whole. <S> Alternately, store the rest of your whole garlic in a dark, cool, cabinet. <A> You can separate them and cut off the end and freeze them. <S> We do this all the time. <S> I use a garlic press to use them when needed even while it's frozen. <S> They seem to last forever. <A> Breaking them apart to put in a jar - I see several issues. <S> You will almost certainly break through the skin on a good percentage of them as you separate them into individual cloves, meaning they will have lost their protective layer. <S> Unless the jar has some kind of desiccant, there is potential for the garlic to sweat & go off rapidly. <S> The air inside the jar, if anywhere near a source of sunlight, will also be warner than its surroundings, accelerating this still further. <S> They will all be touching, meaning if one goes bad, the rest will follow in short order. <S> There is often good, tried & tested sense in traditional storage methods. <S> The Spanish tradition of weaving them into plaits* is more than decorative - not only does it allow air to circulate to keep the bulbs dry, it also keeps them physically separated in case one goes bad - it's not going to directly contaminate its neighbours. <S> * <S> My British father used to do exactly the same with brown onions, so they would last until next year hanging in an outhouse. <S> I doubt he ever saw a garlic bulb in his life. <A> It should be fine if you keep the individual clove skins on, the way I see it <S> the outer skin doesn't really add that much extra protection compared to just the inner skin as long as it is not for very long periods. <S> The bigger risk would be drying out, and it will dry out faster, but the inner skin should suffice as protection almost as effectively as the whole head, so for short periods it should not be very significant. <S> In my kitchen we even peal individual cloves ahead of time and keep them ready for use in a small jar in the refrigerator. <S> These keep well for a few weeks at a time. <S> There may be slight loss of taste over long periods, but I have never seen any go bad. <A> An unglazed ceramic vessel should help to regulate the moisture issues that many of the others have mentioned (which would be true in a glass jar). <S> Glass jars are also problematic as they act as small greenhouses, with the light warming the jar which can cause it to spoil faster. <S> As you use the garlic, use the fragments first, then break into the whole bulbs. <S> But the more important thing is to only buy as much garlic as you're going to use in a reasonable amount of time. <S> If you're not using up your garlic within a month or so, you should probably be buying less garlic each time. <S> The whole/fragmented method should allow you to tell your older garlic from more a more recent shopping trip -- empty the jar, put the new garlic in as whole bulbs, then break the older garlic apart and fill the jar.
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I would recommend that you fit what garlic you can into the container as whole bulbs/heads, then add your remaining garlic broken up into smaller bits (unpeeled cloves or clumps of cloves). I suspect, technically, you would shorten the life span a bit.
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Is it more effective to add yeast before or after kneading? Let's say I want to make bread. In this case, kneading is what develops more gluten. So would it make any difference if I fully developed the gluten first (until it passes the "windowpane" test) by kneading the dough and then adding the yeast vs just kneading with the yeast already mixed into the dough? <Q> The whole idea of adding the yeast before kneading is to be able to mix it uniformly. <S> By adding the yeast after the dough is formed, it will be mechanically more difficult to combine it <S> and you might end up with lumps of yeastless dough. <S> Those lumps won't rise. <S> I suspect your bread will have a denser, non uniform crumb. <A> Kneading is only one thing that develops gluten, yeast assists in gluten development by opening up the structure when it releases CO2. <S> Opening up the structure allows the enzymes, water and gluten proteins to move more freely and form connections. <S> There are no-knead techniques that develop great gluten structure. <S> Adding yeast after kneading has loads of downsides but no upside. <A> I've seen/used a lot of bread recipes, but never even heard of one where the yeast was added after kneading. <S> You'd think there'd be good reasons for that. <S> Kneading actually has a double function: not just releasing gluten but also mixing, so why try to separate them? <S> Luciano is certainely right about the unformity of the texture. <S> I believe the texture of gluten would keep ingredients from migrating and make mixing more difficult, which would be catastrophic for yeast. <S> In fact, if you add some discrete chunks of something to the bread you usually add them after kneading or at the very end (olives, bacon bits...), but all ingredients that have to be mixed in uniformly (salt, spices) get added before kneading. <S> There are even recipes that separate out the initial rising of the yeast from the mixing. <S> I learned at first from the Tassajara Bread Book, which generally uses a sponge method where you allow liquid, yeast and a small bit of flour to start fermenting before adding other ingredients (especially salt). <S> I've often transposed this method into other recipes as I find that does give a good texture and a better rise. <A> The method i use follows this concept and works for me. <S> My favorite recipe is for a baguette dough where the first step is to mix (mix well, no kneading) only flour with 50% of its weight of water and let it sit, covered, for 45 to 60 minutes. <S> After that, add 10% of the flour weight of water plus yeast plus salt to reach 60% of water. <S> Mixing it is messy, but works. <S> Leave it covered for another 45 to 60 minutes. <S> Then knead it lightly, for 5 minutes. <S> Cover again and wait 45 minutes. <S> Here you can put in the fridge for 24h to make a tastier dough. <S> Or form and strike the baguette, leave it covered for last 45 minutes and bake <S> (hot oven, small ice cubes dropped in the bottom of the oven).Always work.
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If you add yeast after you develop the gluten you will have to knead a lot to make sure it is distributed throughout, and you will end up overkneading your dough leading to a tough result.
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Why are grape preserves so hard to find in the USA? When I was much younger my grandmother was always complaining that she could never find grape preserves anymore. That was maybe 20-30 years ago. I recently started looking for grape preserves and am unable to find them. I can find black currant preserves, blueberry preserves and just about any other fruit under the sun. But why is grape preserves so hard to find? I thought maybe it has something to do with fermentation and wine? But I cannot find any information. I am not talking about grape jelly, I am specifically talking about grape preserves. Other than making them myself, where do you find any in a store? ** If you do not know the difference between jelly and preserve, you can read about it here . In jelly, the fruit comes in the form of fruit juice. Jelly has the smoothest consistency and is usually clear. In jam, the fruit comes in the form of fruit pulp or crushed fruit. This makes jam less stiff than jelly. In preserves, the fruit comes in the form of chunks in a gel or syrup. Preserves will have more fruit in them than jam will. Marmalade is a type of preserve with citrus fruits in it. <Q> TL;DR: <S> likely because demand was too low to sustain commercial distribution <S> Barring any relationship to a specific historical incident, it's very difficult to find out why a specific food is no longer commercially produced. <S> In the absence of specific reasons, we can see a number of contributing factors as to why grape preserves would have gone off the market: <S> In the US, sales of preserves in general trail sales of jams and jellies considerably. <S> Grape jelly eclipses sales of grapes in other forms (sorry all refs behind paywalls). <S> This distribution is very skewed with 9 varieties constituting 80% of the market . <S> So it could be quite possible for grape preserves to "fall off" the bottom of the market. <S> For historical reasons having to do with the Concord Grape , Americans are used to eating their grapes as jelly, so preserves may seem quite oddball and hard to sell. <S> From what I could gather from the one grape <S> preserve recipe I found , the runny texture of grape preserves are possibly off-putting to most consumers. <S> Not terribly satisfying, I know, but that may be as much information as is out there. <A> Having made jam with a variety of grapes I have found that most of the grapes we buy as table grapes make a fairly ordinary jam whereas if you can get hold of older cultivars, grape jam/jelly is an amazing preserve. <A> I received the following response from Bonne Maman in France <S> Dear Mr. XXX, Thank you for contacting Bonne Maman®. <S> We are always happy to hear from our consumers. <S> You are the reason Bonne Maman is such a successful brand. <S> Bonne Maman is owned by Andros SNC, a privately owned, family run company, situated in the southwest of France. <S> Our products are manufactured and packed in the town of Biars, in the Lot region, and shipped all over the world. <S> All our Bonne Maman <S> ® Preserves have seeds as the recipes are made using whole fruits. <S> The products feature trademark pieces of fruit, along with the seeds in all of our Bonne Maman flavors of Preserves and Spreads. <S> Bonne Maman <S> ® Jellies are made with the juice of fruit and therefore have neither large pieces of fruit nor seeds. <S> This is true with Bonne Maman as well as all products labeled “Jelly”. <S> Consumers who prefer a smooth, consistent texture, often prefer jellies vs. preserves or spreads. <S> A sure way to distinguish between our Bonne Maman Preserves and Jellies is the color of the cap of the jar. <S> Our Preserves and Spreads (with seeds) have the red and white cap, our Jellies (no seeds) <S> have the navy blue and white cap. <S> The flavors available in the USA as Jellies are: Muscat Grape, Redcurrant, Blackcurrant and Blackberry. <S> You may find that they are not as widely available in stores as the Bonne Maman Preserves, but you can find them on our online store, www.bonnemaman.us, click “Shop Now” at the top of the page. <S> Bonne Maman has never made grape preserves. <S> Seeds and skin pieces would be too big and make it unpleasant. <S> I hope this answers your question. <S> Sincerely, Christine <S> Andros Foods USA Inc. <S> www.bonnemaman.us <S> The simple answer is: Seeds and skin pieces would be too big and make it unpleasant. <A> For what it is worth, in case you want to make your own grape jam. <S> The recipe calls for basically four things: grapes, sugar, lemon, butter. <S> And as I have gotten a lot of recipes off of SeriousEats.com, I figure this might be worth a look. <S> Check it out here .
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It could also possibly be because the modern varieties of grapes commercially grown for eating do not make a good jelly or jam.
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Order of ingredients when making Pizza dough I see all kinds of different dough recipes for Pizza. They all contain flour, salt, yeast and water. Some contain olive oil as well. The recipes are not consistent with the order in which ingredients are added to the mixture. So one recipe starts with the water and the yeast until it dissolves, then the flour is added and then salt. Another one starts with flour + yeast, then salt and water. Is there a preferable method? Can you explain to me the different considerations in each path? Thanks <Q> I read two or three different questions here: <S> Should I dissolve yeast in water? <S> a. <S> Should <S> I proof <S> yeast? <S> Should I mix wet ingredients into dry, or dry into wet? <S> 1) You don't need to dissolve active dry yeast in lukewarm water anymore (if you're using some other kind of yeast, this may not apply). <S> You may have heard over the past year or so that active dry yeast (ADY) has been reformulated into a smaller particle size, and can now be used without dissolving it first – as had always been the requirement.... <S> You don't need to dissolve active dry yeast in lukewarm water before using it. <S> (Even though it still says you should dissolve it on the back of the yeast packet, if you buy your yeast in packets.) <S> "Active Dry Yeast: Do you really need to dissolve it first?" <S> King Arthur Flour 1a) <S> Proofing yeast doesn't improve anything in the dough, it's just a means for you to discover whether your yeast is still active. <S> If you bought it relatively recently, from a relatively busy story, you probably don't need to worry. <S> Yeast packages often have expiration dates. <S> I've found them to be not all that accurate. <S> 2) <S> Typically we add wet to dry: <S> Order of combining wet and dry ingredients when baking <S> The gist is, dry powdery substances tend to float on top of water and form a skin. <S> Adding the water to the flour (better) prevents this and tends to allow the wet ingredients to be incorporated more easily. <S> So, putting that together, you should mix the flour, salt and yeast (unless you think you need to proof it), then mix in the water (and oil, if you're using it). <A> I make Neapolitan style pizza often, and I have been making it for years. <S> I've played around with my recipe and process for a long time. <S> I put the bowl in to the mixer, and mix. <S> I understand what you are asking, and have experimented with, for example, first proofing the yeast in the water, then adding flour. <S> Personally, I don't find it to be necessary, and it is just faster to dump all ingredients in and mix. <S> Technically, salt does inhibit yeast growth, but in reality, I haven't had an issue with lack of proofing. <S> So, for me efficiency is preferable, and I mix everything together all at once. <A> In Naples pizza is made water first. <S> Modernist Bread says it doesn't matter. <S> I think you'll have a much easier time with water first, plus it opens up resting/autolyze possibilities.
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My process is to put my mixing bowl on the scale, then add the correct amounts of flour, yeast, salt, and water.
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Can I counteract bitterness in apple sauce? I erred in making apple sauce by not coring and peeling the apples before cooking. Now I have a large quantity of bitter apple sauce. Is there anything I can add to counteract the tannic flavor? <Q> There's a similar question on here about soup , and part of the advice holds true -- try spooning small amounts out into cups, and experiment with various things that are known to help mask bitterness ( salty, sweet, and sour ), and whichever works best use for the whole batch. <S> I wouldn't recommend dairy for apple sauce, though. <A> I don't suppose this is something everyone has on their pantry shelf, but I press my own cider (not from Yellow Transparent apples!) and ferment it into any number of other elixirs. <A> Sugar and some acid is surely the classic answer. <S> That's pretty much how the extreme bitterness of cola is handled. <S> Caffeine is one of the most bitter substances known to man but <S> not all high-caffeine coffee tastes bitter <S> , the thinking is that tiny oil droplets coat your tongue and protect it from the caffeine. <S> Perhaps you could pick fat <S> you don't mind the flavour of, take a small amount of the apple sauce, make the separated sauce and the fat warm enough for the fat to be liquid, then process it in whatever high-speed blender/mixer/food processor you have and then mix it back into the sauce.
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Adding balsamic apple cider vinegar almost completely counteracted the tannic flavors.
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What green chilli is being referred to in an indian lamb sheek kebab recipe? I'm looking at a recipe for an Indian lamb seekh kebab and it says green chilli without specifying the variety. I am assuming green chilli can mean anything from green bell peppers to hot green peppers. So what would this typically be? <Q> For reference, a sheekh kebab is spiced minced meat pressed onto a skewer and barbecued. <S> There are no binding agents like egg or breadcrumbs in a traditional recipe, so you want to avoid any extra moisture in your ingredients or it may not hold together. <S> An authentic recipe will call for green chilies, not green peppers. <S> The chilies need to be the your birds eye style, narrow tapered chilies with thin walls, not thick walled chilies like jalapenos because they contain too much moisture. <S> Bell peppers are not a substitute for the same reason. <S> Which to use depends on how hot you want the result to be and what's available in your local area. <S> If you don't want that spicy and all you can find are hot ones then de-seed them and just add less - it's all getting pureed anyway. <S> Tips for making good meatballs and mince-based kebabs: <S> Microwave and then eat a small amount after mixing the ingredients to make sure you get the right levels of salt and heat from the chili. <S> Keep adjusting, microwaving and tasting until it's right. <S> Keep in mind that the spices won't necessarily come out right away which is why you do 2. <S> Let the mix rest in the fridge for at least an hour, preferably several, to let the flavors combine. <S> It also helps the kebabs to stick together <A> ! <S> [enter image <S> This type green chili is often used in seekh kabab to make it spicy. <S> It is optional to use you <S> can avoid green chili with red chilli powder or cayenne. <S> Lamb is a red meat, it is better to use red chilli powder than green chili. <S> You can use jalapenos as well if you finely chopped them. <S> Bell peppers are not substitute for green chili <S> but you can use it for a lamb seekh kabab. <S> You can read the recipe of lamb Gilafi Seekh Kebab in which finely chopped bell peppers are used. <S> https://www.hassanchef.com/2019/02/best-lamb-mutton-gilafi-seekh-kebab.html <A> Interestingly there is an Indian/Bangladeshi chili that translates directly to "Green Chili"; Kancha Morich <S> AKA the variant name Kasa Morris. <S> As I found in my answer to this question , this name is very non-specific to the type, but seems to be most closely associated with a form of longish green chili common in Indian green-grocery shops, very similar to those posted by Mobasir hassan. <S> These are moderately spicy chili in the sort of Jalapeno range of heat.
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There are many green chili varieties which would work in the recipe, and they vary from mild to tonsil-searing.
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Can I use 100% cotton bed linen as a pudding cloth? It's hard to find large pieces of closely knit food safe cotton where I am. (UK / EU) Can I use pieces of undyed 100% cotton bed linens with tags removed instead? What chemicals if any would the fabric be treated with? <Q> If you wash them first, there's no reason you can't. <S> Muslin is just fabric. <S> It doesn't even necessarily need to be undyed (although it can matter what color the dye is), and doesn't necessarily have to be cotton (although some synthetics won't pass enough moisture). <S> It's fairly traditional for cooks to use an old pillowcase for boiled puddings. <S> According to a Regency Fiction blog , most 19th-century pudding cloths were linen bedsheet remnants. <A> Another option is baby muslins (unless you need enormous pudding cloths). <S> They're often undyed, and you can find unbleached. <S> To be honest though, cheesecloth is easy to get hold of online anyway, or a decent kitchen supply shop should have it (certainly Lakeland and John Lewis stock it). <S> One of my cheesecloths is perhaps a little thin for some culinary uses, but the other isn't <A> However, by the time you would use them for that purpose (presuming well used sheets) the only chemicals left would be from washing, life detergents and fabric softeners. <S> Many of these products have scents added which could potentially transfer to your pudding. <S> The way to avoid this is to wash the sheets in clear water with no detergents or fabric softeners of any kind. <A> I personally would not use them. <S> Yvonne Chouinard claims in "Let my people go surfing" that a brand new 100% cotton T-shirt actually consists of only 73$ cotton and the rest are chemicals. <S> I find such a high number hard to believe, but the cotton industry is well known for being very pesticide- and herbicide-intensive, and there are lots of treatments applied to the yarn and the fabric during production, some as dangerous as formaldehyde or dioxin. <S> So, unless you are buying GOTS-bedsheets or something with similar standards, I wouldn't use them in applications where they touch food, much less where the liquid part of the food is soaked in them. <S> It is not really hard to find untreated cheesecloth online in Europe. <S> There are small stores that specialize in natural home textiles, but I've seen it on Amazon too. <S> I suggest that you get a product that was intended for this specific use, and be certain everything is OK.
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When you buy new sheets there may be some residual chemicals from the production process (formaldahide, dyes, etc), which is why it's recommended to wash them first before using them in most cases. Bedsheets are a good choice for jam filtering and pudding making.
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Ought I still buy a honing rod, if I'm buying multiple whetstones of different grits? I know that honing differs from sharpening . My grandparents never altered their WÜSTHOF 4596-7/20 Classic Ikon 8-Inch Cook's Knife since buying it on Aug 1 2018. It could effortlessly slash coconut and raw Winter Squashes , but now it can't even cut paper or pears or zucchinis ! Undeniably they must alter their knife. But they're buffaloed: ought they buy 1 honing rod + electronic sharpener or 2 whetstones (500 and 2000 grit) ? no honing rod, but ≥ 3 whetstones of different grits e.g. 500 + 2K + 4K? <Q> Maybe. <S> Should you have a honing steel? <S> Yes. <S> Should you use it regularly? <S> Yes. <S> Are you actually going to use it? <S> ... <S> well, many people don't get in the habit of it. <S> And unless you're in the habit of using it regularly, it's not going to do you any good. <S> And well, if they're like my grandparents (before they passed), it can be a challenge to develop new habits. <S> Once the blade has gotten bad enough to really notice, you need to actually sharpen your knife ... but that slowly grinds down the knife, and if you're not careful, you can change the curve of the blade. <S> I wouldn't recommend whetstones unless you're maintaining a lot of knives. <S> For one knife, just go out and get it professionally sharpened. <S> A professional knife store will do a phenomenal job, but for most german knives, you can just take it to most kitchen stores these days and they'll just run it through an electric sharpener (the same as you might) for around $10. <S> But honestly, a year is rather quick for a home chef to dull a knife to the point that you're talking about. <S> If you're going to splurge on something, make sure that they have a good cutting board. <S> (plastic or wood, not glass, stone, or other ceramic. <A> Honing rods are for truing the edge between sharpenings. <A> I would say that you don't need a steel, just a piece of good leather to strop it now and then. <S> A belt will do - <S> I use an old leather bound diary.
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Whetstones are for sharpening.
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Preventing Noodles from Sticking to the pot I have been having this problem with my macaroni and I'm hoping that I'll finally be able to find an answer here! I make my noodles in a pot on the stove. But I find that a lot of my noodles are sticking to the bottom of the pot. This severely complicates the pot cleaning process - plus it is hard to make sauce in the pot when there are noodles stuck there...Anyone know why this happens and how it can be prevented? <Q> When noodles or pasta is cooked in too little water, the starch released during cooking has nowhere to go, hence the stickiness. <S> If you are cooking plain noodles or macaroni, I would use at least twice the volume of water to noodles, preferably more depending on the size of pot available to you. <S> If you are cooking the "instant" variety that comes in a packet with pre-made flavourings, I would follow the package instructions but use a lower heat setting on your cooker, and ensure you give them a stir every so often. <S> That way, the sauce will not thicken or evaporate so quickly. <A> While Greybeard's answer is correct in any regard, if you want to make the now so trendy one-pot-pasta this of course is not an option. <S> Here, in a best case scenario, you have exactly the right amount of water/liquid for the noodles to absorb and to result into a creamy sauce. <S> The starch the noodles release is used to thicken the sauce, which of course is prone to sticking or even burning to the bottom of your pot. <S> This method isn't as easy <S> as many cooking videos (especially on youtube) want you to believe, but if you stir often enough (for some thick sauces even constantly) <S> it shouldn't be too much of a problem. <A> Both Greybeard and Gretel are right. <S> AND you need to stir. <S> In my experience, stirring early is the most effective. <S> You put the pasta in, you stir a couple times by the time the water is back to a roiling boil (that's another point, no simmering here). <S> And then you stir really well before you let it really cook. <S> Keep stirring every couple minutes. <S> I'm not saying you have to stand there and stir the whole time like it was polenta, but you really have to keep it moving <S> , that's what keeps your pasta from lying wanly at the bottom of the pot and sticking to it.
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You need plenty of water (because pasta expands as it cooks and absorbs water), probably a lot more than you're using (at least 3 times as much as if you were making rice, for instance).
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Coffee Grounds and Gritty Butter Cream Icing Is there any way to dissolve coffee grinds once added to a butter cream frosting? I used instant coffee crystals in the past and they have always dissolved when simply added to the butter cream during the mixing stage — without having to dissolve in any sort of hot liquid prior to adding. I have made this mocha butter cream frosting several times in the past, but didn’t think it through when I decided to use regular coffee instead of instant, which I discovered — albeit too late — that I was out of. <Q> Instant coffee is "soluble solids of ground coffee" - ie, they made coffee, then they dried the result. <S> Actual ground coffee will never dissolve. <S> There's no getting around the 'throwing away' part. <A> It's a bit late now, but if you've only got real coffee and want to make buttercream you can still do it. <S> I made a latte buttercream by brewing very strong coffee in hot milk, then straining it and adding the liquid to the plain buttercream ingredients, tasting and adjusting the proportions for texture. <S> It worked well. <S> I did this by: <S> Brewing 1 Tbsp of ground coffee in 3–4 Tbsp of hot milk for a few minutes and straining, Beating together 250 g slightly softened butter and 500 g icing sugar, adding most of the latte. <S> It must have been about a year ago <S> when I did this – they were pumpkin spice latte cupcakes because of a discussion caused by the drinks of the same name, but I've found my notes with the real proportions. <A> The particle size of regular ground coffee is too large to use in icing, as you’ve found; you’ll be able to see and feel the individual particles. <S> But coffee specifically ground for making espresso is much finer — <S> it’s much closer to a fine powder than “grounds” — works nicely. <S> It still won’t actually dissolve, per se, but the individual bits are undetectable. <S> Tastes better than instant, too. <A> As discussed here , the human palate is remarkably sensitive to granularity. <S> Even particles as fine as 2 microns have an effect on the subjective perception of food. <S> This means it's going to be very hard to grind something fine enough by hand that it doesn't significantly affect the finished product. <S> You can get away with adding cocoa powder to frosting because it has grains on the order of 10 microns in diameter. <S> For some perspective, this is about the size of what gets through a coffee filter . <S> Some googling suggests that the grounds themselves are on the order of 100 microns in diameter.
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When you make 'real' coffee you run/pour/pass water through the ground coffee, then throw away the solids.
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How to cook Mixed grains all together in one pot I purchased a bag of organic mixed grains with 7 different types together and any directions, which there does not seem to be any, is in Chinese so I have no idea how to cook this. this package includes brown and sweet rice, barley, millet, red, kidney and black eye peas. Help? <Q> Some of them aren't grains, and they'll be the limiting factor. <S> In particular red kidney beans must be boiled for a good few minutes to remove phytohaemagglutinin . <S> If you treat the whole lot as beans, you won't go far wrong, though the actual grains are likely to end up rather soft, a short of porridge with beans in. <S> This is probably intentional. <S> Then I'd drain and slow cook on high with whatever flavours you'd like for 6-8 hours, or simmer gently for a little less time. <S> Alternatively you could pressure cook them. <A> As the cooking time for most of the grains and beans falls into the same ballpark, around 50 minutes to 70 minutes depending on the exact heat, I think I would take this approach: <S> Rinse your mix in cool water (just as you would when cooking only rice) until the water runs clear. <S> This will eliminate excess starch. <S> Place the grains and beans in a pot with your desired cooking liquid. <S> This can be water with or without seasoning or some type of stock - whatever you like. <S> Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cover. <S> Check periodically and stir, making sure to add more cooking liquid if necessary. <S> After about 45 minutes you can start checking for doneness. <S> When done to your liking, remove from the heat. <S> If using as a soup type dish, you're good to go. <S> If you want the grains and beans dry, you can drain any excess liquid. <A> I do cook mixed grains (lentils, rice, quinoa) together many a times and the easiest way to start cooking them is on a stovetop (where we can keep an eye on the dish).As these mixed grains have different cooking temperature+time, it's best to cook them on medium to low heat. <S> It sounds like a vegetarian chili packaging, does it come with any seasoning too? <S> Since it has 'Red kidney beans + black eyed peas', I would suggest soaking the 1 cup of this mix overnight in water or atleast 5-6hrs. <S> I'd check the seasoning on packet and simmering the soaked mix (along with water) over medium heat. <S> Once it's bubble, reduce the heat and cover cook. <S> (I have couple of dishes on my blog with mixed grains and you can try with this mix) <S> https://www.easycookingwithmolly.com/2019/01/slow-cooker-curried-lentil-quinoa-chili/ Thanks, Molly
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So I'd soak overnight, then boil hard in fresh water for long enough to make the kidney beans safe (sources vary from 10 to 30 minutes).
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Does the oven door need to be toughened glass? The glass door of my oven toaster and grill has broken. Can I use a thick glass (not toughened/tempered) in its place? <Q> You can't use just any sheet of thick glass for your oven door. <S> Untempered glass will likely crack pretty quickly with regular use. <S> Moreover, an oven door usually made of glass which breaks into "rough pebbles" rather than sharp shards if it breaks, to decrease the risk of injuries if the glass does crack. <S> If you replace it with a regular thick glass pane you run the risk of (worst case scenario) very sharp, very hot shards of glass exploding all over your kitchen one day. <S> Like @M.K. stated in the comments, your best bet is to contact the company and ask about replacements, or a reputable company that repairs appliances. <S> They can easily secure an appropriate piece of tempered glass to replace the broken one. <A> I'm going to say, "yes", there is a reason that oven glass needs to be able to stand up to the heat. <S> Even for a toaster oven. <S> Safety. <S> What Kind of Glass is Used in Oven Doors <S> The online order/quote for tempered glass <S> I pulled up, guessing a 8"x12" sheet, quoted at $60 (plus taxes/shipping). <S> Then you have to take into consideration <S> : the glass for your specific toaster oven might have (pre-drilled) holes for a handle to be screwed on, or adjustments for the bolts that fit it so that it swings open. <S> Perhaps you could get a replacement part by contacting the manufacturer (if the appliance isn't too old). <S> But it might not be worth your while to go through all that trouble. <S> Check local discount shops (or even garage sales). <S> I bet you could replace or upgrade the appliance for less money and aggrivation that fixing it would cause. <A> If you use glass at all, it should be indeed special glass made to withstand the high temperatures. <S> However, there is no reason to use a glass door for your oven. <S> If you need a cheap repair, you can make a door out of any other material that is sufficiently food safe and can withstand the temperature. <S> A sheet of steel will work, and can be shaped as needed. <S> This assumes that you really have a pure toaster oven. <S> If your oven has a microwave function, do not try to replace the door with random materials, send it in for servicing.
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Glass for your oven has to be tempered to resist high temperatures.
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Is it okay to use these oregano leaves? I have an Oregano plant and I have rarely used fresh oregano. Is it safe to use the oregano leaves shown in picture? It has some white thing on top and at the bottom it’s a bit dark <Q> The dark underside is normal for some varieties, but the white on top is another matter. <S> It could well be powdery mildew which while seemingly not toxic will spoil the eating qualities, or it could be mould from damp storage. <S> I'd look for better leaves elsewhere on the plant. <S> Here's a little more detail <A> Fresh oregano is a wonderful herb, there's no reason you can't use it, just wash the leaves with clean water beforehand to make sure they are free of soil or other contaminants. <S> but I wouldn't expect them to taste very good. <S> Use the non-fungus ones and discard the rest. <S> If your plant has lots of fungus it may be in a very damp area and not getting enough sun. <S> Don't be afraid to aggressively prune it back to get rid of the bad stuff <S> so it can concentrate on new growth. <A> Your post suggests that you just picked these leaves. <S> Please check your plant to see if any other leaves are coated with this mysterious white substance. <S> If so, your plant may be affected by an insect, insecticide dusting, or fungi. <S> All things that you should address. <S> If you have a County Arboretum nearby, you could consult with them. <S> Take a sprig of the infected plant (preferably in a zipper type bag) to the Arboretum and ask for their opinion and advice. <S> Sometimes you only need to spray the affected plant with a diluted dish soap. <S> But you should determine what you are dealing with first. <S> As far as using the leaves you've picked: use caution and clean them thoroughly.
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In the case of the leaves shown in the picture some look like they have fungus growing on them, they are probably safe if cooked
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How much does freezing grapes longer sweeten them more? My grandparents in Toronto bought 10 kg of Ontario coronation grapes from Loblaws on Sep 1 2019, as they have been doing the past 10 years. They don't know why, but the grapes taste too sour and acidic this year, and they couldn't eat any more after tasting a few. So they placed them in a freezer to sweeten them . Today they thawed 20 grapes but these still taste inordinately sour and acidic! So: For maximal sweetness, how long ought they freeze them? How does the duration of freezing affect the sweetening? To wit, what are the 1st and 2nd derivatives of freezing w.r.t. sweetening? Did I formulate my question correctly with calculus? <Q> The time doesn't matter. <S> What you need is a single freeze-thaw cycle. <S> Once your grapes have been frozen solid, holding them frozen won't do anything more. <S> I get it that you are not happy with the results you got so far, but that is just because your freezing idea is not really suited to your situation. <S> I have never tried eating thawed bananas, so don't know how large the effect is there, but the article states the two reasons for more sweetness: <S> juices leaking out of cells, and amylase converting starch to sugars. <S> First, grapes are a juicy fruit, unlike bananas, and you easily have access to their juice once you bite into them. <S> Second, grapes have practically no starch. <S> The problem with your grapes are not that they are a mealy banana, it's that they are sour. <S> The acid is not going anywhere when you freeze them, and you can't create more sugar out of nothing. <S> They will stay the way they are, freezing or no. <A> You may be thinking of sweet ice wine. <S> But the grapes used for making that are not only frozen at some point, but juiced while frozen. <S> So the juice is a more concentrated solution of, well, everything that was in the grape before, because ice (from the water inside the grape) likes to form without any foreign molecules in the crystal lattice. <S> After thawing, though, everything is dissolved again in the same amount of water as before, so the taste should not change just because of that. <S> Edit: There are fruits that do change permanently in taste after freezing, even if thawed again (e.g. in sloe, the tartness is reduced). <S> But at least to my knowledge, grapes do not belong to that group. <A> If it's sour to begin with it will be more sour, if it was sweet to begin with they will be sweeter. <A> As Matthias mentioned: you might be thinking about Sweet Ice Winem which, traditionally, is left on the plant til the first frosts hit, and freeze the grape. <S> Micro-ruptures then allow some water to escape, concentrating the 'stuff' that is inside. <S> But these very late harvest grapes are high in sugar, because they have been left to ripen as long as possible. <S> So it is not the freezing as such that makes them sweeter - <S> the freezing just concentrates the sugar that is already there. <S> If the grape was sour, the freezing should simply concentrate the sourness eve further.
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When you freeze grapes you drive water out of the fruit, all that is going to do is intensify the flavor that is already there.
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Can I further ferment store-bought kim-chi? I find that store bought kim-chi is not very fermented. Real kim-chi, as I understand it, is pickled and then buried in the ground for a year. Can I just bury store bought kim-chi in my back yard for a year to improve it, or will that not work? (Note that I live in a place with a climate similar to Korea) <Q> First, as noted in Sneffel's answer, "real" kimchi is eaten at a variety of fermentation levels. <S> A lot of store-bought kimchi is pasteurized (depending on where you buy it), which would kill off the bacteria that would typically be used for fermentation. <S> Kimchi that is not pasteurized would typically be sold in a refrigerated section and would perhaps have a container/lid that would allow for gases to be released as fermentation continues. <S> (The only real way to tell would be labeling or contacting a manufacturer.) <S> In general, I would not advise trying to resume fermentation on a store-bought product, as you don't really know the conditions it was made under or whether continued fermentation would proceed safely. <S> (Chances are that commercial kimchi would be processed in a way to ensure its safety, even if stored at low but not refrigerated temperatures, but again, this is difficult to know.) <S> Kimchi isn't that hard to make to begin with, so if you can't find what you like in the store, I'd suggest just making it yourself and letting it ferment to the stage you prefer. <A> You don't need to bury it. <S> Just leave it, sealed, on your counter for a few days. <S> A couple of notes: the kimchi you are getting is "real kimchi". <S> Kimchi is eaten at a variety of maturity levels, anywhere from a few hours to a month or more. <S> (A year would be entirely too long.) <S> Some Korean families would make their own kimchi; others would buy it. <S> And it wouldn't ordinarily be buried in a clay pot. <S> In a glass jar in the cupboard would be more usual. <A> Not sour enough for you?Add in a Tbsp of sugar, tip and shake to dissolve. <S> Then give it 3 days or so for beasties to convert to CO2 and acid. <S> check daily for off-gassing then tamp down again to keep everything submerged.
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It is possible the fermentation would resume in store-bought kimchi, but only if it is raw and unpasteurized.
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Making bread fast and with few ingredients so I'm writing a story where one of the characters is trying to make some bread with minimal ingredients in a short amount of time. I'm not having much luck with my normal means of researching so I came here for some help. I'd like to know what bread takes the shortest amount of time. Breads that can be made with minimal ingredients. And also I would just like to know if you have to knead flat bread. <Q> A basic flatbread can be made by mixing flour, a little oil (if possible) and just enough water to make it stick together. <S> Salt is often added. <S> No real kneading is needed, just mixing, but a little kneading helps. <S> Then roll/pound/press flat and cook in a frying pan or on a hot stone. <S> In Egypt I've seen something similar cooked on the side of an old jerrycan over a wood fire. <S> This is basically what a chapati is, so very recognisably bread (but not risen). <A> Your two requirements are somewhat at cross-purpose. <S> The minimal ingredients for a fairly typical bread are flour and water, but then you need to have several days to weeks to establish a working starter. <S> If you are willing to have a three-ingredients bread, then your best choice is a soda bread. <S> You only need flour, water and baking powder. <S> The time would be about 5 minutes for mixing it and 25 minutes for baking (can be more depending on the shape of your mold). <S> Flatbreads like pita or lavash will also need this time for kneading and rising. <S> As somebody mentioned in a comment, if you are willing to relax your definition of "bread", you can have a tortilla or maybe something <S> cracker-like prepared in a very short time, and without the need for an oven, with only flour and water. <A> A cup of oats mixed with 2 cups of natural yoghurt will make a "bread" loaf in a lined tin. <S> Paul
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A yeast bread can also be made with three ingredients - water, flour and yeast - but it needs a couple of hours for kneading and rising before it can be baked.
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How long can I hold spätzle in ice water or drained? When making spätzle, it is common to chill each batch in ice water to stop the cooking. I need to make spätzle as part of a large feast for 10 people; I'm wondering if I can just leave the spätzle in the cold water bath for 4-5 hours to hold them aside, or if they will become gummy and waterlogged in that time. If the answer is, yes they will become waterlogged, can I drain them and hold them in a bowl for 4-5 hours without them sticking together? (if relevant, I'm planning to use a spätzle grater and not the board-and-knife method) <Q> I'd just drain them and toss them with a little bit of oil, just enough so that they will not stick together and put them in the fridge. <S> A little bit like when you're making pasta salad. <A> I agree that they should not be kept in water. <S> I usually rinse them well with cold water (from the tap, but no ice) after taking them from the pot, and then let them drain well. <S> After rinsing, they also don't stick together very much. <S> Before serving, I heat them by lightly sweating them in a frying pan with butter. <A> Plunge in cold water to stop them cooking any longer. <S> Wait 90 seconds. <S> Drain and leave as little water on them as possible. <S> Toss in mild olive oil, just a small amount to help prevent them from sticking. <S> Transfer to a bowl and cover. <S> You can then store them for up to 24 hours in the fridge.
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I would not keep them in water; they will absorb water and get soggy.
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