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Delonghi Dedica rubber wand is propelled into milk pitcher I own a Delonghi Dedica EC685 and looking to get some proper microfoam for latte art, I removed the Panarello tube and tried to froth the milk using just the inner rubber tube. Problem right now is that it works for a few seconds and then the rubber tube detaches itself from the pipe and it's propelled into my milk pitcher. I did check the tube, it looks clean, nothing clogging it. Any idea what can I do to prevent this? <Q> I think the panarello is keeping the inner rubber tube in place, so it's normal for the tube to pop off under pressure. <S> You can hold the tube in place by using a cable tie as can be seen in this video: Frothing milk for latte art with the De'Longhi Dedica EC685 . <S> However, that solution will make it difficult to remove the tube for cleaning. <S> I suggest using a wire spring clip to hold the rubber tube into place, while still being easy to remove. <S> For reference, I'm using a Mikalor Double Wire Spring Hose Clip 12.9-13.6mm . <S> This is quite a tight fit and not so easy to place <S> /remove, so you might want to use a slightly larger clip. <S> Be careful not to use a spring clip that is too small so as not to damage the plastic over which the tube is slid. <A> Open the steam valve after it's heated up to release the built-up pressure. <A> The same question with answers is here: Pannarello wand on Delonghi Dedica EC685 for latte art <S> The possible solution is to enlarge a bit output hole on the rubber wand.
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Then use it for steaming to avoid the rubber tip from shooting off due to high sudden pressures.
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What is the best coffee brewing method to learn at home? What equipment shall i prepare? I have been watching youtube videos and all sort of guides and books. I have been watching pour-over method and wonder, does the equipment i have to buy to practice at home should be expensive? Im still in my 2nd year of college. What should i do to learn skills necessary to qualify to be a barista? <Q> I am unsure if you are comjng from the perspective of someone who wants to become a barista or someone who is interested in making quality coffee at home. <S> In my opinion learning how to brew quality espresso, and the different factors that effect a quality espresso and espresso drinks is most challenging and also requires the most knowledge (how to prepare the grinds, the whole milk steaming/foaming process etc.) <S> it also requires expensive equipment unfortunately. <S> I think these skills would be good if you are looking for a barista job though. <S> For brewing at home <S> i think you should master the french press which is a very inexpensive method to brew coffee (french press being like $20 for a good one) but <S> is also my favorite coffee brewing method. <S> This would be a cost of any brewing method should you decide to grind your own beans). <A> Actually, all someone requires to make a pour over is; hot water, coffee grounds, a napkin and a glass. <S> No special equipment is required. <S> You may want to google cowboy coffee to see the basics of preparing coffee without special equipment. <S> Whenever you feel you require special equipment, you can invest in that equipment. <S> Coffee brewing is the cheapest process all over the world if you are not into one specific kind. <S> You can even remove the filter (napkin) if you prefer Turkish brewing method. <A> To qualify being a barista you should work in a coffee shop. <S> Because it's basically a job description. <S> To become a home barista all one is to do is making coffee at home. <S> Of course you can be a shitty home barista if you make shitty coffee at home. <S> In order to become a good one, you should probably learn a few different brewing methods, of which Espresso is definitely not one. <S> Not because it is not a good drink, but because with home equipment you can never quite reach the quality you can achieve with professional equipment. <S> To buy quality professional grade home equipment you'll have to reach very deep into your pockets and spend probably something around 10k. <S> It thus really doesn't make much sense to invest in espresso equipment at home in my opinion. <S> A good alternative is a stove top coffee maker, the most known brand is Bialetti and they make in my opinion the best products. <S> It gives you a coffee in between filtered methods and espresso. <S> It's quite thick in texture and has a lot of body. <S> It's an easy preparation method and the initial investment is very low. <S> The way to go in my opinion though, as you have pointed out as well, is making pour-overs at home. <S> You could get a Hario V60 plus the filters, which would set you back around 20 bucks. <S> With that you can make filter coffee as good as any coffee shop, plus you can learn a lot about the main parameters that affect extraction and the taste of your coffee. <S> The coffee stack exchange has a lot of information on that to get you started. <S> Also most bigger specialty coffee shops have brewing guides on their websites and youtube. <S> Just check them out and start experimenting. <S> You will quickly get a feel for what you like and how to get there.
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It is also very simple to brew, you just have to make sure you get the correct ratio (using a scale is best) of water to coffee and grind the beans well (a burr grinder is best but can be kinda expensive.
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Pannarello wand on Delonghi Dedica EC685 for latte art I've read online that removing the sleeve of the pannarello wand and just using the inner rubber as a wand can create better micro foam, I was excited to try as I couldn't get my EC685 wand to produce nice foam for latte art. I've read that you need to release the pressure (purge) first before removing the sleeve. So I did. It worked for 5 seconds (and I can see it works so much better than with the sleeve). However...5 seconds later, the rubber flew into my jug and milk splashed everywhere. Has anyone had similar issues? Is it just not possible to use the EC685 wand without the sleeve? <Q> I have the exact same machine and the inner rubber wand is tightly attached. <S> It doesn't come off even if I pull it firmly. <S> If yours is falling off that easily it could be that either it is clogged (so the steam pressure is shooting it off), or it is lose (which you should be able to push it back in place) or it is defective (or missing a part). <A> Sometimes this part (inner rubber wand, Delonghi uses it not only in the EC680, but in many other models as well) has too tiny hole (output). <S> That's why it deattaches. <S> TheThe possible solution is to make a hole a bit larger using hot idle or a bradawl. <A> Easy fix is to just add a small cable tie to it, worked for me :) <A> Only the top ring needs to be put back. <S> -Remove <S> the entire tube, incl. <S> top ring.-takeout therubber inner tube and put the steel outer sleeve back on-Pull down the steel outer sleeve-saw through the junction between sleeve and ring-file down rough edges-reinstall rubber tybe and top ringCheck out the full how-to here, with some pointers to make it easier. <S> https://youtu.be/emA5NpS8epc Or my instagram under the same name. <S> Best,Michel
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I found the solution by sawing off part of the outer wand.
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How long do the effects of caffeine take to appear? Taking as a parameter the first sip of coffee we drink, and taking 10 minutes to drink a cup of coffee, how soon are the effects of caffeine to appear? <Q> I'm sure there are a lot of studies out there - but ultimately it's personal. <S> It's like asking, how long after drinking a glass of wine do you start to feel the affects? <S> (Assuming it's high octane coffee and not the lukewarm water found in some diners.) <S> I've seen several articles say that coffee takes ten minutes to kick in. <S> I don't know how they're measuring things but speaking for myself, and numerous others, the psychological affects kick in much sooner. <S> I don't think coffee would be as popular as it is if it took 10-45 minutes to kick in. <S> It takes around 45 – 60 minutes for caffeine to kick in after it is consumed. <S> https://www.scienceabc.com/humans/how-does-caffeine-work-affect-brain-body-adenosine-receptors.html see also: https://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-metabolism <S> and: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1100767/A-cup-coffee-works-just-10-minutes-drink-greater-impact-men.html <S> The scienceabc.com article continues with: <S> One of the reasons coffee remains <S> so popular is that the effects of caffeine can often be felt for 4-6 hours. <S> 4-6 hours? <S> Ha. <S> Maybe in a controlled environment, where one can measure things to the last drop. <S> In the work environment coffee addicts need to a boost in far less time than that. <A> The effects of coffee is (if not solely) mostly related to caffeine. <S> The science that considers the effect of any chemical on human body is known as pharmacology. <S> As a branch of this, the science that analyzes temporal effects is known as pharmacokinetics. <S> Therefore, I would like to provide a EU resource on pharmacokinetics of caffeine as it is from a more trustworthy body. <S> According to this presentation, the absorption of caffeine is around 30-120 minutes. <S> Means, it takes half an hour to two hours to feel a cup of coffee's effect. <S> It adds caffeine passes through any bodily tissue, and totally absorbed. <S> Then, it has an half life of 2-8 hours to metabolize. <S> This means, human body gets rid of half of the caffeine in 2-8 hours. <S> (But it doesn't mean it gets rid of all of it in 4-16 hours. <S> As the amount of caffeine decreases, human body cares less about it in the next cycle and gets another half at each cycle. <S> Think like that.) <S> So, a cup of coffee's effect may remain a few hours for some or during the day for some others. <A> A study was conducted by the University of Barcelona and published in 2008 . <S> The Stanford Sleepiness Scale was used to asses the decrease in somnolence induced by caffeine pre-consumption, post 10 min, post 20 min, and post 30 min. <S> Scores for "subjective activation" were also recorded at the same intervals. <S> Many previous studies assessed the effects of larger than normal amounts of caffeine 30-40 min after consumption whereas this study focused on the appearance of early responses in the subjective state associated to caffeine at typical doses between 100-250 mg. <S> According to the study: The appearance of such effect in our study was very quick, at 10 min after caffeine intake, and then it progressively increased at 20 min and showed the highest effect at 30 min post-administration. <S> They also mention that the results were similar to other studies conducted in 1998 and 2000 which state that the levels of caffeine may already be 50% of Tₘₐₓ within 10 min post-consumption, reaching a maximum plasma concentration (Tₘₐₓ) <S> around 30-40 min after oral administration. <S> It should be noted that the effects were documented or recorded at 10 min post consumption (50% Tₘₐₓ), meaning that the initial effects can be felt at least 10 min after drinking coffee but maybe sooner at 20%. <S> Caffeine is one of those drugs that your body quickly adjusts to which is why the effects wear off when the blood concentration falls to 50% roughly 5 hours after consumption but when you reach an initial concentration of 50% or less, it can be noticeably felt. <S> The full effect (at least 75% Tₘₐₓ) may be felt after an additional 10-25 min.
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So, if it takes you 10 min to drink a cup of coffee, you may begin to feel the effects as soon as you are finished with your first cup. As for me, it may be psychological, but I start to feel the affects seconds after my first sip. Averages can be arrived at but ultimately everyone is different. Others say 45 minutes.
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What does strong, mild, very strong mean with respect to coffee? If you click on the coffee menu in this link: https://www.devans.in/index.php?route=common/home you will see strong, very strong, mild etc. options. What do these options refer to in Coffee? Amount of caffeine? Amount of bitterness? <Q> So it's taste indicator. <S> Mild is very light, sometimes called washed-down (as some places try to pass medium strength as mild by diluting it with water). <S> It should have almost no dry aftertaste <S> (I think you mean that by bitterness). <S> It would also be not so acidic. <S> Strong coffe is the one that people usually ad milk or sugar as it most dry, acidic, and toasted taste. <S> Brew itself will also have oily/rainbow film on surface. <S> Light coffes <S> (so mild or any that was toasted shorter than 10 minutes) have the largest amount of caffeine. <S> But that also depend on beans type (Arabica, robusto and so on) <A> Specific to this website, where they enlist their "Arabica peaberry" dark roast and french roast as very strong , and their espresso and Viennese blend as Strong ; I can conclude that they use roast degree as a metric for strength. <S> I can easily say that it is not based on caffeine , as the most stronger one is an Arabica peaberry. <S> If it was based on caffeine amount, it should be a Robusta instead of an Arabica. <S> We know that being a peaberry bean or not does not really influence the caffeine amount. <S> Viennese blend is probably a Viennese roast. <S> Also, an espresso blend is a quite dark roast to decrease the acidity of the overall blend. <S> The reason is, the espresso preparation technique is known to add additional acidity to the final cup of coffee. <S> So, roasters prepare a bit more darker roasts to decrease the acidity for coffee that will be used for espresso. <A> I think it refers to how long the coffee was roasted. <S> Different roasting will result in different "flavour profile". <S> Taste each one, and pick the one you like the most. <S> I prefer light to medium roasted. <A> To me, people are referring to flavor preference when using terms like mild, strong, and very strong to describe coffee taste. <S> It can also be used to describe color or caffeine content. <S> Someone may like the flavor of a dark roast but call a coffee strong due to high caffeine content after drinking too much. <S> I always heard the dark roasts have less caffeine, but not necessarily, according to kicking roast ~ https://www.kickinghorsecoffee.com/en/blog/caffeine-myths-dark-vs-light "During the roasting process, a bean loses its mass. <S> The density of the bean changes; beans that are roasted longer are less dense. <S> That’s why you have more beans by mass of dark roasts. "
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It usually refers to how long the coffe was roasted as roasting give certain taste in beans.
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What's the volume of Brikka 2 cup water chamber? I received a used 2 cup Brikka without the measuring cup. Anyone knows what is the volume of this measuring cup? <Q> MT San' answer is not correct. <S> He gives a link for Moka Express measurement. <S> Brikka is different. <S> 2 cup version should be filled with 60-70 ml of water in the bottom chamber. <S> Check the upper chamber, if you have new version of Brikke (Brikka Elite) there should be a measuremnt mark like on this photo (look for "H20" mark): http://101coffeemachines.info/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/bialetti-brikka-valve.jpg <A> Actually, this and maybe a bit more has been discussed before in Coffee SE : <S> How to properly use the Bialetti Brikka <S> Under more details tab of Bialetti's web site , you can find a list of volume's for water chamber, which are: 60 ml for 1 cup and 200 ml for 3 cups. <S> The amount of coffee that you should use is also determined by the funnel size under Care Use tab, to use title, 2 nd article as : Insert the funnel and fill it with ground espresso (do not tamp). <S> Remove any coffee grounds on the edge of the funnel <A> The Bialetti Brikka comes in two varieties. <S> The 2- and 4-cup edition. <S> The water chamber of the 2-cup edition is 100ml and the 4-cup has 200ml volume water chamber. <S> I'm not entirely certain which measuring cup you are referring to though. <S> Bialetti offers a measuring spoon . <S> However they don't explicitly state the volume of it, so a best guess would be to use a standard "spoon" volume, which is approximately 15ml. <S> You may be referring to the coffee chamber, which you put, filled with ground coffee of course, into the brewing device. <S> The funnel of the 2-cup Brikka is exactly 2 3/8 inches wide (roughly 6cm). <S> Guessing that the height of the funnel (without the spout) should be roughly a bit over half of that <S> (3.5cm maybe judging only by looking at it, so it may be off), the volume of the gasket would be around 100ml as well, calculating the volume of a cylinder. <S> This doesn't account for the fact, that the bottom of the cylinder is slightly convex, but since I don't have a Brikka at hand right now, we are kind of in the guessing game anyways. <S> However one more thing. <S> To use a Bialetti stove top you don't need any measuring spoon anyways. <S> You just fill the funnel with coffee until it's completely full without tamping. <S> Then you fill the water chamber just right below the safety valve, you screw the top on and you are good to go. <S> The ratios are basically of fixed by design.
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I assume, 2 cup should be 120 ml. There is also no specification of volume, however the diameter is know and given by Bialetti.
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Coffee in bottom chamber of moka pot? I have recently purchased a new Bialetti moka pot and I've found that after brewing a cup of coffee and letting the pot cool down, there's coffee in the bottom chamber. Am I cutting off the heat too early? Or is this some kind of issue with the pot I'm using? Let me know what you think. <Q> I think you are on the right track with your idea. <S> To understand what's happening you need to understand how the moka pot works and how to correctly use it. <S> I'll explain it here quickly but there are some nice illustrations on how it works on the Wikipedia entry for it. <S> First, the heat should be cut off once you hear the first hissing sound. <S> That is when all the water has been pushed through the ground coffee and the brew is ready. <S> By construction there remains a little bit of water in the bottom chamber. <S> That is because the spout of the filter basket doesn't go all the way to the bottom of the chamber. <S> When the water starts boiling, the steam of the evaporated water pressurizes the chamber between 1,5 and max. <S> 3 bar (that is the pressure <S> the safety valve sustains without opening) depending on the grind size of your coffee, the amount of coffee and if you tamp it (which you should not). <S> The gas pressurizes the area above the water, which pushes the water through the spout, through the ground coffee and into the top part until the water level is so low that the steam exits through the spout. <S> That's the hissing sound. <S> So one of two things could be happening here: <S> There might still be a lot of water in the "brewing chamber", where the ground coffee is, when you cut off the heat. <S> Then the pressure in the bottom chamber will fall and the coffee in the middle gets sucked down into the water chamber. <S> Pretty similar but instead of the ready brewed coffee it is some of the grounds that get sucked into the water chamber and keep brewing there in the rest of the water. <S> It may be that it is ground too finely. <S> Both of these things are not a problem though, just flush everything with warm water <S> and that's it <S> (no detergent if it's an aluminium pot or you risk oxidation). <S> It only affects the coffee if you cut the heat way too early or too late. <A> During normal operation of a moka pot, all of the water filled in the bottom chamber evaporates and flows through the top chamber through the coffee grounds. <S> If the level of the filled water is not above the marked safety level you can safely wait to be sure till all of the water evaporates. <S> You can understand this easily as bubbling sounds end and you can only hear a stable hissing sound. <S> When heat is cut off prematurely some vapor may form droplets in the middle chamber and may flow back to the bottom chamber. <S> However, it should be lightly brewed and the amount should be really small. <S> If this is not the case, your pot may have a leak somewhere. <S> One last option, which is not clear from your question is, whether you mention coffee solution in the bottom chamber or ground coffee particles. <S> You should ask your roastery to grind them coarser. <A> there is a rubber seal (rubber ring) between top and bottom sections. <S> tightening too much can damage ring. <S> replacements can be purchased from amazon.
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Probably yes, prematurely cut down heat may be the reason. If you observe ground coffee particles either in the top or bottom chamber, it indicates that the grounds are too fine for a moka pot.
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How does moisture occur inside Trader Joe’s coffee cans? I’ve started trying Trader Joe’s whole bean coffee that comes in canisters. When I opened one today and poured the beans into the grinder, I noticed there was some moisture inside the can that I had not remembered ever seeing. The can says “nitrogen flushed can to help ensure freshness”. The can was fully sealed so I don’t believe anything happened after-market. Is it safe to assume the wetness inside the can is due to the nitrogen flushing or should I be concerned it’s something else abnormal? <Q> Are you sure it is water? <S> If you bought a dark roast, there is a distinct possibility that there is a bit of oil in the coffee. <S> Another possibility is a minor machine malfunction during the roasting process. <S> With large scale coffee roasters, a small amount of water is sprayed directly into the drum just before dumping to "quench" the coffee and speed the cooling process. <S> Almost all of this water evaporates immediately under normal circumstances. <S> As a technician in the coffee industry, I have seen a couple issues that caused more water to go into the beans than intended, and the whole batch had to be thrown out. <S> Hopefully it ends up being oil. <A> It's a possibility concerning thermodynamics. <S> During this depressurization, nitrogen losses lots of energy, thus the temperature around it decreases*. <S> **. <S> So, the water vapor in the air condensed on the metal itself <S> ***, which remains a wet spot. <S> (*) <S> This is the whole idea how our refrigerators work: we first pressurize a gas outside a chamber, then depressurize it to cool down an isolated chamber, which we call a refrigerator. <S> ( <S> **) <S> As metals are more thermally conductive we feel heat better through them. <S> That's why that you can move around an electric oven easily when air, which is thermally isolating, protects you. <S> Yet, you could hardly touch a pan on top of an electric oven as metals conduct heat pretty good. <S> ( <S> ***) <S> That's why the condensed droplets appear outside of a beer can easily when you take it out of the refrigerator. <S> Cold metal, good thermal conductivity, water vapor condensed on it easily. <S> Note that, my answer is just speculative as I cannot repeat the experiment. <A> I would not suspect the nitrogen. <S> It is used to displace air. <S> Air has oxygen and moisture and both are not good for the beans. <S> Most likely there was a problem and some moisture was on the beans. <S> Given they are roasted this should not happen.
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In either case, as long as the coffee isn't moldy or foul smelling, it should be just fine. Probably, the most thermally conductive thing around is the can itself as it is made out of metal Assuming that nitrogen is pressurized into the cans, it is released with a rapid drop in the pressure right after you unseal it.
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How can I clean a rusted moka pot? I got a moka pot about 1 year ago, I used only 2 times. After the first time I used it I cleaned it with soap and let it air dry. I noticed then some oxidation (rust) inside the pot, I tried to soak it in hot water and vinegar but it didn't work. So, is it safe to use it (although I smell the metal from the pot)? How can I get rid of the rust? And what is the best way to clean a moka pot? <Q> Based on your photo your pot appears to be made from aluminum based on the white corrosion. <S> This will make cleaning it a bit harder overall but no worries! <S> A great product that will take care of this issue for aluminum or stainless (many other materails as well) is Bar Keepers Friend. <S> From Wikipedia's article on Bar Keeper's Friend : Unlike more abrasive cleaning powders such as Comet and Ajax, Bar Keepers Friend uses oxalic acid as its primary active ingredient. <S> A similar abrasive cleaning product, Zud Heavy Duty Cleanser, also contains oxalic acid. <S> Prolonged use and extended skin contact may cause irritation, peeling and contact dermatitis, which is avoided by wearing gloves. <S> The product can also be an eye irritant. <S> I just used BKF to clean my stainless percolator pot and it did a great job it looks new! <S> I had baked on brown residue and it took it off in less then a minute. <S> Now my pot looks almost new. <S> For your specific pot I would get a good scrub brush and some BKF and give it a few minutes scrub and it will look new again! <S> I think BKF may be one of the most underrated tools for us coffee junkies. <S> It gets everything so clean, it even has taken those impossible stains out of the bottom of some of my well used coffee cups. <S> To prevent corrosion issues in the future the best course of action is to clean it and dry it completely after each use and not let coffee or water sit in it for prolonged time. <A> Moka pots can be Aluminum or stainless steel. <S> Yours looks Aluminum. <S> Stainless steel should remain stainless forever and should clean up with just soap, water and elbow grease. <S> If it is magnetic, it is steel not aluminum. <S> So check it with a magnet. <S> If yours is steel and rusting, then you might have a bigger problem, every-time you use it, it might rust, unless you dry it completely after every use. <S> To remove the oxidation, make a cleaning solution by mixing lemon juice and cream of tartar, or vinegar, with some water. <S> Then scrub it, rinse and repeat til your satisfied. <S> Additionally aluminum oxide is not black. <S> Aluminum oxidizes with a very thin layer that is hard for us to see at all and gives it a dull appearance. <S> So I might assume that what is on there is burnt stuff. <A> That honestly looks like baked on coffee stains and aluminum corrosion. <S> Aluminum is really bad for the body, so I would highly suggest switching to a stainless steel moka pot. <S> If you would prefer to keep using the aluminum one, try bar keepers friend as one of the previous answers suggests. <A> The bottom of your pot looks like copper and the crusty gunk looks like scaling (minerals left behind by water that has been boiled or evaporated away). <S> Bar Keeper's Friend will clean that stuff right off, or, for a milder solution, you could first try descaling solution of 1:1 white vinegar to water. <S> Simply dump descaling solution in to the point where the scaling reaches, let it soak for about ten minutes, then brush with a soft brush or sponge.
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To clean aluminum, start by using a mild dish soap and water to remove major debris.
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Will drinking coffee affect my physique? I am a 16 year old student who has decided to drink coffee so that I can study for a longer period of time at night but I am getting information that coffee can make me skinny. But what if I just a little bit of coffee, will it affect my physique? <Q> The only thing I can think of that would cause weight loss with black coffee consumption is if you eat less due to the appetite suppressant that coffee can be. <S> But then again, drinking more of anything is an appetite suppressant. <S> Even water. <S> So, my notes really only apply to black coffee drinkers. <S> It is true that caffeine makes it easier for you to expend more energy. <S> In the short run. <S> Your body will eventually adjust to your daily levels of caffeine. <S> You'll have to drink more and more to get the same energy effects. <S> Eventually, you'll have to drink coffee just to feel "normal." <S> I personally believe this also applies to any weight-loss potential. <S> The overall effects on weight loss are likely minimal, but will vary depending on how your coffee habit changes your eating habits. <A> For years I have added coffee to my sugar and creamer and haven't lost a pound. <S> I like a little coffee in my sugar and creamer. <S> However I then switched to cold brew, it's less bitter and allowed me to put significantly less sugar and creamer in <S> and I started loosing weight. <A> Stay away from heavy duty sugary creamers and you’ll be completely fine. <S> Avoid sugar altogether, that will do more detriment to your physique than a little milk or half and half, not to mention ruining the flavors of the coffee whereas fats (like in half and half) enhance the coffee (unless it’s a very acidic coffee in which case I would drink it black). <S> I’ve only ever added half and half and have never been worse for wear!
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On the flip side, you can gain a lot of weight if you ingest high-calorie confections, such as any ice-blended coffee drink. Well, I think that depends on how much sugar and creamer you put into it.
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Why can’t I find natural beans easily? I usually buy my coffee from dark arts, ozone, climpson & sons and workshop. I usually buy natural as I feel it has more flavour than washed and is better with Moccamaster. Why am I struggling to find natural lately? Is it out of favour? I can’t find natural at any of this places anymore. <Q> Consumers (and marketers) are expanding their vocabulary for describing coffee. <S> And at the same time coffee producers are improving and refining their methods. <S> Both of these I think contribute to what you're seeing. <S> The term "natural" process can be ambiguous. <S> You might try to search on a more specific, technical term "Dry Process," usually a synonym for natural process. <S> Here's some dry process green offerings from Sweet Maria for example. <S> As for processing, dry process is going out of style in favor of the (technologically speaking) superior wet processing techniques. <S> Wet process allows better removal of defects (bad seeds) and other benefits for making higher quality and more consistent product. <S> As you note processing has impact on flavor. <S> Wikipedia has a good overview of different aspects of coffee production, and roaster web sites like Blue Bottle have overviews with their philosophy. <S> Ethiopia and Northern Africa tend to use dry process more often than other regions, due to the dry environment conditions well suited for the dry process. <S> You might focus your search on beans sourced from that region. <A> Coffee producers tailor their production to worldwide demand for coffee. <S> Wet processing of coffee produces large quantities of green coffee bean for the lowest production cost. <S> The process is more automated and satisfies the world's demand for low cost coffee. <S> Dry processed (what you are calling "natural") coffee is the oldest processing method since it doesn't require large volumes of water, and compared to wet processing, is time consuming and labor intensive. <S> The resulting beans therefore tend to be more expensive. <S> Unfortunately it seems that people value low cost over quality coffee, at least on a mass consumer scale. <S> I drink exclusively dry processed Ethiopian coffees, mostly Yirgacheffe or something from nearby. <S> They are indeed slightly more expensive but since I roast my own beans, the cost is still quite low compared to buying roasted beans at full retail price. <S> You are correct in noticing the relatively scarce offerings of DP coffees, but I source my beans from several different online sellers, and am usually able to find at least one with a current Ethiopian DP coffee. <S> I would encourage you to also search for "dry process" or "DP" coffee, in addition to "natural" since there really isn't very good standardization of terms across the industry. <S> I should say that I began roasting my own beans only after I found how much I liked dry processed coffee and how hard it was to find, so I completely understand your frustration. <S> The upside to roasting my own was that it's guaranteed to be fresh, a critical part of really good coffee. <S> Good luck! <A> It's as easy as always to find natural coffee. <S> By chance your coffee shops apparently don't have any at the moment, so <S> I suggest you try other shops or buy online. <S> Due to the high storage capacity of green coffee beans (up to several years) all coffee is basically available all year round. <S> In fact there is increasingly more naturally processed coffee available on the market. <S> While it used to be the standard way to process coffee, the introduction of washing coffee after harvest has replaced dry processing methods. <S> This has reversed though in recent years again.
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There is a steady increase in the share of naturally processed coffee due to the rise of specialty coffee.
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How does Caffeine-free coffee affect your body? Is it caffeine or chlorogenic acid the ingredients of coffee stimulating the stomach? If it's chlorogenic acid, do you have coffee without chlorogenic acid? Or how to choose coffee with less chlorogenic acid? In short, love the taste of coffee, but wouldn't the reaction on the body, that is, no diarrhea, frequent urination nor excitement. <Q> I personally couldn't taste any difference between decaf and regular coffee but depends on the brand. <S> According to some resources is decaf the biggest source of antioxidants in the western diet and it has positive impact on health if you drink 2-3 cups per day. <S> There are lot of good brands of decaf where you don't taste any difference between it and regular coffee. <S> sources: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/decaf-coffee-good-or-bad <S> https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325502.php https://greatist.com/eat/is-drinking-decaf-coffee-better-for-you <A> I have read that actually decafs have caffeine but way less than regulars. <S> So there could be no reactions at all. <S> Espresso decaffeinated is a very good solution since it has a nice taste & better quality effects on body than instant ones for example. <S> Whether drinking regular coffee or not, make sure you drink enough water, it helps. <A> Disclaimer: I am neither a doctor nor a chemist. <S> The following statements rely heavily on the German Wikipedia article on chlorogenic acid and some other sources that are typically considered trustworthy ( <S> e.g. PubChem and others citing studies. <S> Individual reactions may vary. <S> So we have two suspects that may or may not be responsible for stimulating your digestive system. <S> Chlorogenic acid sounds like a good candidate for stomach issues (being an acid), but in animal testings it actually helped against ulcers and there are no indicators of other plants containing chlorogenic acid causing problems. <S> High contents in coffee can be tasted and the content is significantly influenced by the roasting method, slow roasting at temperatures around 200C will break it down, which will additionally make the coffee taste milder. <S> I suspect that the perceived flavor contributes to the ascribed properties that are sometimes mentioned on more popular (non-scientific) websites. <S> But I assume that <S> it’s not the chlorogenic acid per se, but the general roasting method and bean quality that matters here. <S> Caffeine on the other hand is a proven stimulant, which affects the nervous system - including the peristaltic movement of the colon, causing the known effect of urgent bathroom trips up to diarrhea. <S> It’s also an - albeit weak - diuretic, resulting in frequent urination. <S> The symptoms you describe in your question are classic caffeine effects. <S> If you are suffering, the dose is too high for you to stomach (pun intended). <S> You can develop a tolerance (we have some Q/ <S> As on the topic here on the site), but reducing the dose or skipping the caffeine is the logical way of avoiding the effects. <S> So my conclusion: If you want a “mostly harmless” drink, go for decaf and don’t worry too much about chlorogenic acid. <S> If you want a mild coffee and are ok with the caffeine effects, go for slow-roasted - which I would generally recommend. <S> Finding a coffee with both properties may be a good reason to get familiar with your local roaster instead of buying at the supermarket.
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From my personal experience, you can drink probably as much decaf as you want since it doesn't have any negative side effects, regarding regular coffee you might get breath problems and high blood pressure if you drink too much.
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opening a new unopened Starbuck's coffee bag is it possible to open a new Starbucks coffee bag by pulling the flaps apart, I've never been able to do so ? If you know of a way to separate the flaps by any other means withoutcausing a tear in the side of the bag, please let me know. <Q> I always prefer to cut this type of bag open. <S> There probably isn't TOO much chance of plastic ending up in your coffee grounds, but I feel better with a clean cut rather than the ragged ends. <S> With some other companies the heat seal on the bags is not as perfect, so the bags are easy to open. <A> Is it this kind of bag? <S> If so, there’s really <S> no way around opening it any other way than you would normally. <S> You just have to be very careful when pulling the top apart (one side at a time) <S> and I’ve worked at Starbucks for 7 years. <A> The Starbucks challenge! <S> Why I came to doing this. <S> I have lost hand strength and require these kind of solutions to keep myself independent performing routine tasks like putting on knee high socks, closing your trousers to get the button in the hole When they fit “just right”. <S> So they let your life be less challenging and in my case helps maintain my remaining strength by inventing possibly useless tasks but ones that serve my own ends. <S> So this is what I do to open a new Starbucks bag. <S> Take two needle nose players putting each one on opposite sides as close to where the inner sides meet. <S> Stabilize your hands by standing to do this and being directly over the bag. <S> Now tighten your grip on each plier and very very slowly separate the two sides pulling each away from the other until the first opening appears. <S> Now stop the make sure the players haven’t slipped, <S> so if so reapply to equalize the opposite pressures. <S> Careful and slow are the operant words. <S> No luck needed. <S> If you made a mess of it it’s not <S> these instructions <S> but you need more practice. <S> I have lost hand strength and require these kind of solutions to keep myself independent performing routine tasks like putting on knee high socks, closing your trousers to get the button in the hole When they fit “just right”. <S> Maintain your remaining strength by inventing possibly useless tasks but ones that serve your own ends. <A> The bags are a challenge to open. <S> I like the metal tab for closing the bag and found I can keep that part to fold over.1) <S> Square off the top of the bag as much as possible so that the gussets on the non-metal tab sides are flanged open and are easy to see.2) <S> The metal tab runs the length on the back side of the package. <S> From the opposite side (the front of package), cut the 2 gussets horizontally across the top an inch in on each side at a height just below the metal tab.3) <S> I can now easily open up ~1 inch on the left and ~1 inch on the right <S> (smell that coffee!).4) <S> Just take you scissors and cut across the remaining gap.5 <S> ) Clean up the top <S> however you like to remove excess packaging <S> , so you end up with a scissor cut across the front but can still keep the metal tab for folding. <S> ENJOY! <A> Yes it is. <S> Pull the top flap up to expose the paper-metal tabs. <S> Fold the tabs outward. <S> Hold the bag at hip level while standing . <S> Place your thumbs on each each side of the center of flaps on the long sides of the bag. <S> If the seam in the bag’s glue seal is a little off center, aim for that. <S> You want your thumbs inside of the flaps, next to one another. <S> Pinch your forefingers on the outside of the bag just above the seal with the rest of your fingers supporting. <S> I find it helps to “knuckle” my forefinger against my thumb to get a good grip on the flap. <S> While pushing your shoulders downward, as if to push the bag away from you, gently pull your thumbs away from one another. <S> Gradually apply more pressure until the glue starts to tear. <S> Don’t rip! <S> Just let the glue tear apart. <S> Too much pull will tear the bag, which is the problem. <S> Every time you open a bag of coffee, make note of how much strength you need to break the glue and it will get easier. <S> Source: <S> ~10yr <S> Starbucks barista
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Starbucks has top quality machinery, so their bags are always sealed very thoroughly, thus hard to open.
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Is it a good idea to keep a coffeemaker if I only occasionally drink coffee? Say just two or three cups of coffee per week. Is cleaning these a trouble? <Q> Cleaning is a hassle, sure. <S> But something else to consider is the recurring cost of the coffee itself. <S> Where I live, a bag of coffee costs almost as much as a coffee maker. <S> Cheap coffee makers can be found for as little as $10 - $20. <S> Small French presses are around $20 to $30. <S> According to wikipedia : A customary "cup" of coffee in the U.S. is usually defined as 4 fluid ounces, which is the commonly used as the measure for an amount of coffee. <S> So if you really mean just a few "cups" per week, then it might not be worth it to buy a coffee maker, because your bagged coffee will probably get stale before you can even use it all. <S> Just grab a drink from your local coffee shop occasionally. <A> To add to @MindS1's answer, To help preventing your beans/grounds from going stale quickly, store them in the freezer in an airtight container. <S> This mainly helps with preventing the oils from going rancid/off and helps prevent any unwanted flavours. <S> This works better for beans as they will remain colder for longer and prevent the oils from turning and remaining flavourful. <S> This will allow you to make better coffee using french press or moka pot. <S> However, that being said, if you only buy 2-3 coffees a week, its probably better to find a really nice cafe where they know what they are doing and make a moment out of your coffee. <A> Cleaning is definitely a nuisance, but for me it's definitely worth it to keep a coffee maker at home. <S> Even though during the week I drink all my coffee at work, I love to have the option of making at home on the weekends. <S> I agree with @J.N 's comment above that you should put the beans in the freezer to avoid spoiling-- <S> no point in wasting coffee beans even though you only drink a few times a week.
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It is most likely that a good cafe will easily surpass whatever coffee you can make at home (especially if you are only making 2-3 a week), and then it becomes easily worth the extra couple of bucks.
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Is it possible to overdose on coffee? I'm asking this question because I overheard someone talking about needing at least two cups of coffee in the morning to "function properly" . Also, they said this while drinking ANOTHER cup of coffee and then went on to have ANOTHER refill ~10-20 minutes later, and all of this was 3-4 hours after they woke up. Now, I'm no genius, but surely this can't be healthy. I have several questions regarding the matter: Can you die from a "coffee overdose" ? What kind of health problems could you get from drinking too much coffee? How is it possible for someone to need coffee to function, is it like how an addict needs drugs? If someone who's "addicted" to coffee stops drinking it, would that person suffer from withdrawal symptoms? Also, for the sake of curiousity, are there any recorded cases of a "coffee overdose" ? I've looked around but can't find any. Thanks. <Q> Caffeine overdoses and even fatalities linked to caffeine overdoses have been reported and a quick google scholar search will show that it is still an active field of research and new cases are being found. <S> A good overview of caffeine overdose can be found on healthline . <S> Some outakes: <S> Caffeine overdose may occur if you ingest more than [...] <S> 400mg. <S> 12 oz. <S> black coffee has 260mg of caffeine <S> Early symptoms: <S> dizziness diarrhea increased thirst insomnia <S> headache fever irritability <S> Severe symptoms: trouble breathing vomiting hallucinations <S> confusion chest pain irregular or fast heartbeat <S> uncontrollable muscle movements <S> convulsions <S> Prevention is kinda obvious, but I will quote it for completeness: To prevent a caffeine overdose, avoid consuming excessive amounts ofcaffeine. <S> In most cases, you shouldn’t have more than 400 mg ofcaffeine per day and even less if you’re particularly sensitive tocaffeine. <S> The short answer to your last two questions is that one can be addicted to or dependent on caffeine. <S> In a 2012 study investigating caffeine dependence <S> they found that a staggering 96% of subjects had withdrawal symptoms when taken off caffeine and thus had a physical dependence. <S> The article goes into a lot more detail for each of your questions and has a few more good references. <S> So if you want to investigate further that I would suggest that as a good jumping of point. <A> I am more or less the person you have described. <S> So, let me ease your concerns. <S> No, one cannot die from coffee overdose. <S> At least, by drinking it. <S> Refer to previous discussion here. <S> What is the limit to the amount of coffee one can consume? <S> If you are used to drink coffee, apparently, none. <S> If you are not, you may have tachycardia when you drink a lot. <S> Also, may have purgative effects. <S> These are not serious when you used to drink and know your dose. <S> What constituant in coffee has a laxative effect? <S> Is coffee bad for my heart? <S> Not really. <S> But this should not really effect their daily rıutine. <S> When they drink coffee, they feel brighter. <S> Will I be addicted to caffeine? <S> This is widely known as caffeine-withdrawal. <S> It may end up with dizziness and headache. <S> But, if someone insists on not drinking coffee, they disappear. <S> Why does coffee heal headaches in some people but causes it in others? <S> Please, check the health tag for more. <S> There are many other topics yu might find useful. <A> A sense of anxiety. <S> If you experience constant anxiety, anxiety, frequent heartbeat, sweating palms, you may have an overdose of caffeine. <S> These symptoms are caused by the fact that caffeine activates the adrenal glands, which is accompanied by the flow of a huge amount of stress hormones into the blood.
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Whenever coffee addicts do not take their regular dose, they feel a bit odd, sleepy, sloppy.
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Which produce more crema Arabica or Robusta? Which beans produce more crema Arabica or Robusta ? Is it the same for Espresso and Turkish ? Thanks <Q> There are some really amazing Robustas that give body and crema to espresso shots. <S> Kaapi Royale is probably the best Robusta you can get, here's a fact sheet . <A> I don't know the exact answer of your question. <S> However, I can say that whichever bean has more sugars, it should produce more crema. <S> I deduce this such that <S> , crema is composed of three things: some irregularities in coffee (e.g. microscopic ground particles) to trigger bubble production, CO 2 to fill into the bubble, and finally some oil that's extracted from the grounds during brewing to jail the CO 2 inside. <S> Irregularities are common. <S> So, this should not be the limiting case. <S> Oils... <S> I assume most quality beans have enough of that and a proper brewing extracts them. <S> The amount of CO 2 is relevant to the Maillard reaction during roasting. <S> As some of the organic compounds (hydrocarbons) in the bean, mostly sugars, crack down to smaller hydrocarbons and release it. <S> The released CO 2 is trapped within the beans' texture till you brew it. <S> Thus, I assume, the initial amount of hydrocarbons and correct roasting is the key factor. <S> Note that, if you leave beans for long, the trapped CO 2 will eventually be released so you cannot have proper crema with stale beans. <S> And about the brewing method. <S> The crema production is, for sure, affected by the brewing method. <S> Espresso always has more homogeneous crema as it is made by a proper machine and Turkish crema should be marbled that reflects the several phases of brewing. <S> But, the basic bubble formation is always the same. <S> I hope this helps. <S> Let's wait for another answer that may compare the crema characteristics of Arabica and Robusta. <A> Many coffee vendors add robusta to their blend because it adds more crema, but they do that because they are selling beans that have been roasted for months (not fresh). <S> Vacuum sealing cannot stop roasted beans from degrading. <S> Robusta beans are cheaper and have worse taste than arabica beans. <S> If your arabica beans are fresh (less than 3-4 weeks after roasting) you will get plenty of crema.
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Freshly roasted beans produce more crema, regardless of the variety.
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How to make a delicious cold coffee from ground coffee? I am new to coffee drinking and I just checked what I am drinking till now is instant coffee. So, I was wondering is it possible to make cold coffee? Not cold brew, just a normal cold coffee with ground coffee? And, how to make it an amazing one? <Q> What you have mentioning is widely known as iced-coffee. <S> Then, adding ice cubes in a cup and pour the coffee to fill the cup. <S> After that, you mix it to homogenize the temperature, add milk and sugar if desired. <S> Another method is known as Japanese brew. <S> In that method, you prepare an ice cube filled cup beforehand. <S> Then, pull your shot of espresso on top of ice. <S> (Optionally, filter/drip on top of ice.) <S> This method is known to preserve aromas better than the previous. <A> May i offer a nice way to do your cold coffee for great flaour? <S> If you do pour over for your ground coffee (like a v60) try a 60/40 ratio of hot water to ice To quote shamelessly from this recipe at squaremile <S> We use a 60/40 ratio of hot water to ice. <S> For example, if you’re making a 500ml brew, your recipe will be 32.5g of coffee, 300g of hot water and 200g of ice. <S> For best results, use filtered water with a low mineral content. <S> Ice goes in vessel; remaining hot water poured onto grounds as usual, and voila - stir coffee after to make sure ice is melted and - mmm <S> mm good. <S> Enjoy.mc <A> The other option you may consider is cold brew. <S> I personally favor this as it is less bitter and has more of the coffee flavor. <S> Works great with light roasts. <S> The downside is that it takes hours to brew. <S> There are all kinds of gadgets for this including some that can brew in under 20 minutes but <S> if you have a french press and a refrigerator you are ready to go. <S> Just throw the grounds and water in the press and cover it with saran wrap or something. <S> Throw it in the fridge overnight and in the morning press the grounds and enjoy a delicious cold brewed cup of coffee.
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The most widely adopted method is to brew any type of coffee: filter, drip or french-press.
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Moka pot sputters and gurgles despite my best efforts Videos like this one show a smooth, viscous flow of coffee from the bottom of a moka pot into the top. Moreover, I've read that you should cut off the heat as soon as you start to hear a gurgling sound, lest the coffee be bitter. However, I can't reconcile either of these with the behavior of my moka pot: The pot starts to sputter and gurgle as soon as the coffee starts to come up: there is never a smooth flow. Thus, if I were to cut the heat at that point, there would only be a tiny amount of coffee in the pot. I assume I'm doing something wrong. Here's my current procedure: Hot water up to the steam release valve. Bustelo grounds in the filter basket, leveled but not tamped. (Nope, not freshly ground.) Low flame. Turn off flame when gurgling becomes less steady. What, if anything, should I be doing differently? <Q> I make coffee with a moka every morning, and this is the procedure that works for me: <S> Use cold water: it will take a bit longer to boil, but the amount of steam in the chamber will be higher, thus you'll have higher pressure later on. <S> Water level must be at the safety valve, as others pointed out. <S> Coffee must fill the funnel without tamping. <S> It can be a little higher than the funnel edge (a few mm) so that it gets a bit tamped when you screw the upper part. <S> This is valid for a small-medium moka (up to 6 cups). <S> On larger ones the coffee must not fill the funnel over 2/3 of it. <S> Low flame usually gives better result, but if I'm in a hurry <S> I use a high flame... <S> no significant difference. <S> If you're experiencing this problem regularly, try changing the gasket and the filter on the bottom of the upper part. <S> This should be done at least every year. <S> If your moka is still not working as expected, consider to change it. <S> There is a chance that lower and upper part cannot be screwed tightly because of a weared-out or malformed thread. <A> When it is looser than "perfect" or tighter than "perfect" it throws tantrums. <S> Vary this and see if you get better results. <A> Do not tamp the ground. <S> The extra pressure this will cause could be dangerous. <S> Ensure you are doing the following: <S> Fill pot to just below the safety valve with water freshly boiled in a kettle Place funnel into lower chamber <S> Fill funnel with coffee. <S> You can gently shake funnel or even it out with a spoon (do not tamp with the spoon) to ensure the funnel is full. <S> It should make contact with the filter from the upper chaber Using an over mit or towel (because it will be hot) hold the bottom chamber and screw on the upper tightly <S> If this does not work, it could mean that the gasket between the upper and lower chamber is malfunctioning. <S> When you open up the pot after use, there should be an espresso puck that is flat against where the upper chambers filter would have been.
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I face this sometimes, and based on my observation, it seems to depend on how tight i fix the upper and lower cambers of the moka pot. A trick that usually works when your moka starts sputtering is to cool down the lower chamber under the tap until you don't feel any boiling on; then put it again on the fire with a very low flame.
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Tap water or bottled water? What is generally considered better for the perfect cup of filtered coffee. Tap water or bottled water? The water in London, UK is fairly soft but has loads of calcium in it. Bottled water I have heard has lots of salt in it. Which is best? <Q> Just think that your drink, coffee, is around 97-98% water <S> so you need quality water to make a quality cup of coffee due the following: <S> In order to get a fruity taste from your cup of coffee you need to focus on the balance between magnesium and calcium, magnesium will extract flavor from the beans ... <S> now you know why all the coffee shop coffee taste close to each others and is due the source of water is used( all use tap water) makes them high acidity and requires sugar+cream in order to enjoy that cup :( <S> Sodium does make the coffee taste acidic like the calcium does <S> so you need balanced or spring water to see difference or even distilled water but the coffee will loose drastically from the flavor ... unbalanced. <S> At least the bottled water you know has added magnesium for taste and is in a balance with other minerals including calcium(not looking does stay in plastic bottles ... <S> that is a different story and think tap water pipes and source of water/process used to make “safe” for drinking) <S> Note: <S> I roast the batches of coffee home and in order to feel the right flavor tried distilled water, tap water and spring water; <S> Currently I use only spring water fresh from the ground and filtered so coffee or tea doesn’t require butter, creamer or any other flavors <S> added in order to feel the real taste. <S> Same does come to sodium. <S> Even tea does follow same path when does come to the water . <S> One more thing, boil the water and check the sediment left to compare the “tap vs bottled”, “tap vs spring”, “spring vs purified/bottled”. <A> The water in London is hard enough to nail to the wall in sheets;) <S> High calcium [& magnesium] content is the very definition of 'hard' water. <S> It is so bad here <S> it actually forms a strange almost crystalline-looking scum on top of tea or coffee in some of the worst-affected areas. <S> Check this map from <S> https://www.aquacure.co.uk/knowledge-base/uk-hard-water-map <S> for a general guide to the UK's water hardness. <S> Light blue is soft, dark blue is hard water. <S> I grew up in Yorkshire with some of the softest water in the country [which is precisely why in older times it was the centre of the woollen industry - things wash better in soft water, using half the soap], but spent the past 30 years in London. <S> Until I moved here I thought water filters like Brita <S> * were just some affectation for rich people. <S> They're not, they're to stop London water tasting so bad, get rid of the weird scum on your cuppa & prevent your kettle looking like Mother Shipton's cave after two weeks ;) Image from Yorkshire.com <S> - Mother Shipton's Cave - a popular tourist attraction known for the calcification of objects hung in the dripping water. <S> With a jug filter, I need to descale my kettle every year or so & my coffee machine never, as it has its own similar filtration built-in. <S> Bottled water has too many variables. <S> It doesn't quickly indicate hardness, you have to read the small print & extract the relevant information. <S> It's also ridiculously expensive compared to filtration. <S> Drinking bottled water comes from the days before all domestic water was potable & remains only as the above-mentioned affectation. <S> There's nothing vaguely 'unhygienic' about any British water [nor the entire EU for that matter]. <S> So, buy a filter jug [or if you are rich, a tap filtration system] & enjoy your coffee. <S> *Other makes are available, this is just the most common in the UK, available in every supermarket. <A> Bottled water is not typically safer than tap water. <S> In fact more than haft of all bottled water comes from the tap. <S> Buying Bottled water is like pouring money down the drain. <A> I didn't know this till I just read it: <S> Why Your Bottled Water Contains Four Different Ingredients <S> Many of the ingredients that are added to bottled water occur naturally in tap water and in our daily diets. <S> If you like to drink your tap water then I would use it for anything, including making coffe. <S> Where I live in Portland <S> OR, our water comes from the Bull Run Watershed <S> and it's some of the best water I've ever drank. <S> But when I lived in Santa Cruz CA, that water was pretty bad and I would always use "bottled" water for everything except washing. <A> Reverse osmosis water is the best for making coffee and drinking. <S> It tastes way better than my tap water. <A> I would use distilled water. <S> It gets out more impurities. <A> We get our tap water from local sources, such as rivers and lakes. <S> This water may contain bacteria, industrial pollutants, agricultural runoff, and heavy metals and minerals leached from the soil. <S> In order to make the water safe to drink, a treatment plant must filter out particulates, disinfect the water to kill microorganisms, and remove any minerals or other chemicals that exceed the standards set by EPA. <S> And yes Generally speaking, thanks to municipal water treatment facilities, <S> the water that comes out of the faucets in our homes is safe to drink. <S> So simply bottled water is best
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Tap water, beside the calcium, will have additional components and too much calcium will give a taste of acidity to the coffee, calcium makes the water harder.
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How can I make coffee without a machine? I love coffee. As I am a student and living in a hostel I do not have any machine and I can not afford to go out for coffee everyday. I still want to make coffee, so how I can make smooth coffee without a machine? <Q> Cold brew, SUPER simple version. <S> A.K.A. <S> my college days version. <S> One tbsp of any coffee per cup of water. <S> Let it sit in the fridge for about 12 hrs. <S> Pour and drink. <S> In my college days I got a half gallon milk jug. <S> Washed it out of course. <S> Which is about 8 cups. <S> I would put 8 tbsp of any coffee <S> I could get my hands on and put it in the fridge over night. <S> No heating water, no other preparations, no shaking, nothing. <S> The next day I would fill my coffee mug and put 2 sugar cubes (about 40 calories BTW) or honey into the cup and microwave it to a drinkable temperature. <S> When you get close to the bottom it will be like mud, full of coffee grinds. <S> I would just toss that out and start the next one for the next day. <S> I think I calculated that with the cost of the sugar cubes and coffee it was like 15 cents per cup. <S> Tips: <S> the thought that more coffee will deliver more caffeine is true but I found that a ratio of more than 1.5 tbsp of coffee per cup of water can make it to bitter to enjoy. <S> Plus I found that the time in the fridge does not have to be precise if you stick to the 1 tbsp to 1 cup plan. <S> There were times when I left it in there for 20 hours <S> and it was still drinkable. <A> A "pour over coffee cone and paper filter" will make excellent coffee. <S> You'll only need to get good ground coffee and hot water to enjoy coffee aroma and taste. <S> Hope this is helpful <A> If you have access to an electric outlet, small coffee machines are cheap. <S> If you have access to hot water or a way to create hot water (a gas burner in a communal kitchen, perhaps) there are tons of options; a few examples would be a French press, moka pot, a 'pour-over', and single-serve coffee bags (just like tea bags, only with coffee). <S> If you have access to a refrigerator, you could make cold-brew coffee. <S> This can be nice because it stays good for 7-10 days - you can make enough for a whole week <S> and then it is always ready to go when you want some. <A> I used to do this method when my coffee machine had been broken: <S> Get any grounded coffee pour some hot water <S> give it a good stir for one minute <S> or so leave it to brew for <S> a couple of minutes get some tissues, yes tissues as we are gonna use them as a filter paper, andfold them to make a good thick layer place the folded tissues on a medium sized strainer then place them over your cup <S> This will prevent the tissues from accidentally dropping in your cup finally, slowly pour your coffee over the tissues, and see the clear coffeefluid comes through your hand-made filter machine and enjoy your drink mate! <A> Get a french press. <S> they are inexpensive and make great coffee. <S> You just need some boiling water. <A> For your situation, you can use the equipment that I travel with: an AeroPress coffee maker, a thermometer if you want to get the water temperature just right, a hand held burr grinder (here's a review of 7 products ) -- or buy preground coffee. <A> You can use a cesve, like they do in this place: <S> http://cezvecoffee.ru/ . <S> For this you need a very finely ground coffee. <S> In this photo you can see a cesve, which is a common device to prepare coffee in Turkey, Armenia, central Asian countries, and some of the Arab countries. <S> You take very finely ground coffee powder, put it into the cesve, add the water and heat it gently either by putting it on the stove and stirring continously with a small spoon; or for those who have a heated sandbath, put the cesve in until the coffee start to boil. <S> In this way, since the coffee has excellent contact with the water, you extract a very tasty and, typically, strong coffee.
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Well, when there is no grinder, plunger, filter machine, or espresso machine, and even no cone filter papers , you still can make a great cup of coffee. Assuming you have available: a microwave oven (or a stove or hot plate) to heat water.
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If I only occasionally brew at home, should I keep instant or grounds (or something else)? Related: Is it a good idea to keep a coffeemaker if I only occasionally drink coffee? At home, I produce less than 2 cups of coffee per week. Lately, I've been using instant to keep the hassle-payout ratio favorable. (hassle such as the actual process of producing one cup, as well as storing the requisite equipment) If I were to buy ground coffee, it would take me months (or longer) to finish even a 10oz tin. Is it better to keep fairly old coffee grounds for that occasional cup, or to use instant coffee? <Q> I've been that person - I kept ground coffee forever. <S> The difference in taste between fresh and old ground coffee is enormous, but so is the difference between old grounds and instant. <S> It's just a completely different beverage, so I would say if these are your two options, it's just a matter of personal taste <S> (I would go for old grounds). <S> If you're up for it, I would buy a small manual grinder and keep whole beans, it makes a world of a difference in taste and you can keep the beans for months without deterioration. <S> Adds a bit of work to the process though, and depending on your coffee maker would require a grinder with different abilities (espresso would require much finer grinding degree than let's say a mokka express). <A> Let me suggest different approaches that are much tastier, assuming that's your aim. <S> The best example I know of is Blue Bottle <S> Perfectly Ground coffee packets. <S> I have not tried them <S> but I can attest that their cafes serve great coffee. <S> In your situation I'd try them. <S> Another variation is coffee pods, but pods are mostly waste though you only use a couple per week. <S> There are compostable pods available but those might not be that much better. <S> See The Myth Behind Those Compostable Coffee Pods and look further into the composting situation. <S> Another approach would be to buy whole beans, premeasure them into individual servings, and pack those in little zip lock bags. <S> Take out one at a time, let it thaw at room temperature before unsealing, and then grind it in a counter top or hand held burr grinder. <S> Or grind them while still frozen if your grinder can handle that -- in fact research shows that they'll grind more evenly that way, according to. <S> NY Times article. <S> People may tell you not to freeze coffee beans but in my controlled but limited experiments, freezing did not make a detectable difference in taste. <S> Just don't remove some beans out of a frozen bag, letting air and moisture in, and put the bag back in the freezer where the air and moisture will decay the beans. <S> P.S. <S> An Aeropress is a great way to make one or two cups at a time. <S> I'm a big fan. <A> Fresh grounded coffee is the best. <S> I dont think arabica is good to keep as a ground for more than a day. <S> But, my hometown have few premium robusta roastery and from my personal taste it can last for 2 weeks before the taste turn into no-recommended
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You can get individually sealed servings of ground coffee, ready to brew, packed without oxygen to stay fresh.
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Where are high-quality coffee beans harvested? Which country produces high-quality coffee beans? Are the tropical countries producers of high-quality coffee beans? <Q> Guatemala, Peru, Ecuador, Hawaii, Jamaica, Kenya, Indonesia... <S> the list goes on and on. <S> Coffee is a fruit, a sort of cherry that can grow in wet or dry, temperate or cool climates. <S> The climate of a location and the specific times of planting and harvest will affect the flavor of the coffee bean itself (which is the seed of the fruit). <S> But there are other factors that affect the flavor to greater degrees. <S> How the seeds are processed (removal of the fruit and drying of the beans) after harvest is perhaps the biggest factor. <S> Of course roasting, staleness of beans when brewing, and brewing factors all also play significant roles in the final taste of drinkable coffee. <S> It's close to impossible to control for all these factors. <S> Specialty coffees can typically each be sourced to a single farm and a single harvest because that's the only way to ensure consistent processing of the beans. <S> But even then, logistics of sourcing present challenges to consistently roasting and brewing those beans. <S> And changing climates across the globe will challenge preconceived notions of "where the best coffee comes from" as we move into a bleak future. <A> The climate regions close to the equator have the potential to have excellent coffee. <S> This is especially true if there are areas with an elevation of around 1500 metres. <S> You can read the details in, for instance, Hoffmann: <S> The World Atlas of Coffee. <A> South America: Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica <S> The Arabian Peninsula, Persia, Egypt, Syria, and Turkey Africa: <S> Ethiopia Jamaica <A> There are two types of Coffee ;Coffee Robusta & Coffees Arabica. <S> Both types of Coffee plant are grown on countries on the Equator line. <S> Robusta is a cheaper & bold/strong tasting coffee mainly used in producing instant & adding to blends(typically 10-30%) to give the blend some strength/boldness especially for espresso or an ‘Italian’ style. <S> As well as many others they all have a variety of grades from poor to excellent. <S> Different countries have different grades ie Kenya AA - C . <S> Generally the better quality the more they cost.
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Many places with various climates do or could produce high quality beans. Arabica coffees grown across the Equator from the Americas inc Brazil,Guatemala,Colombia,Honduras,El Salvador,Costa Rica,Nicaragua .
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It is good for my health to drink coffee 10 times a day? I am working on a computer 15 hours a day, and I feel tired and sleepy a lot between the work. So I prefer to drink coffee to get rid of tiredness. Coffee gives me an energy boost and makes me able to focus on work. And if I don't drink coffee then I can't do the work properly and makes me very sick. It's not like an addiction but I need something that keeps me focused and coffee does that. So what should I do, I should stop drinking that much coffee or should continue drinking daily. It is safe and good for my body to drink coffee 10 times a day? <Q> Caffeine content of coffee varies widely depending on many factors. <S> How much caffeine does your 10 cups contain? <S> And how much is too much? <S> The Mayo Clinic website has addressed exactly what you are concerned about in their detailed article which can be read here: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/caffeine/art-20045678 <S> Important extracts: <S> How much is too much? <S> Up to 400 milligrams (mg) of caffeine a day appears to be safe for most healthy adults. <S> That's roughly the amount of caffeine in four cups of brewed coffee, 10 cans of cola or two "energy shot" drinks. <S> Keep in mind that the actual caffeine content in beverages varies widely, especially among energy drinks. <S> [...] <S> You may want to cut back if you're drinking more than 4 cups of caffeinated coffee a day (or the equivalent) <S> and you're experiencing side effects such as: Migraine headache Insomnia Nervousness Irritability Restlessness Frequent urination or inability to control urination Stomach upset Fast heartbeat <S> Muscle tremors <S> [...] <S> Most adults need seven to eight hours of sleep each night. <S> But caffeine, even in the afternoon, can interfere with this much-needed sleep. <S> Chronically losing sleep — whether it's from work, travel, stress or too much caffeine — results in sleep deprivation. <S> Sleep loss is cumulative, and even small nightly decreases can add up and disturb your daytime alertness and performance. <S> Using caffeine to mask sleep deprivation can create an unwelcome cycle. <S> For example, you may drink caffeinated beverages because you have trouble staying awake during the day. <S> But the caffeine keeps you from falling asleep at night, shortening the length of time you sleep. <S> That's also my personal experience as a long-time coffee 'addict', though I am also very sensitive to caffeine and therefore I can tolerate just 2 cups a day before I lose sleep and begin to experience strong physical effects. <S> If you feel the need to reduce your coffee intake, the same article linked above provides some useful guidelines. <A> Um. <S> I'd stop drinking coffee ten times a day. <S> Is it a full cup each time? <S> Also, even if it were safe, I guarantee it's not good/positive for your health. <S> Have you tried focusing on your breathing, stretching, or getting fresh air to help get you through your long work day? <A> I suffer the same problem, I only have 4 coffees at home <S> but they are large mugs with 4 shots per mug per day. <S> I find best to have a couple of detox days each week and even on the days of heavy consumption drink plenty of plain water to keep kidneys flushed. <S> I acknowledge it's a vice <S> and I have an addiction <S> however I have not drank alcohol in many years <S> don't have other substances or smoke <S> so it's either coffee or motorbike riding that will most likely shorten my life (lol).
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The key thing is to make sure you don't experience symptoms of caffeine excess, and that you get adequate sleep every day, which also varies from person to person.
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What was the minimum amount of grind that gave you a decent enough quality of coffee in an Aeropress? I am new to coffee and have recently purchased an aeropress. I know my question is subjective, but I would love to know what was the minimum amount of coffee grind that gave you a decent enough solution which you could have used to make a 200ml cup of Americano with. <Q> I think you'll have to do the experiment to find out. <S> Measure the beans by weight rather than volume. <S> A digital scale that resolves to 0.1 gram would suffice. <S> Use a binary search in order to converge on a result with as few trials as possible. <S> E.g. if a reference scoop holds 8 grams, test 4 grams, then if that's too weak, split the difference to 6 grams, and so on. <S> In only 5 trials you'll be able to get an answer to the nearest 0.25 grams; 6 trials to the nearest 0.125 grams. <S> If your goal is to use the minimum coffee to achieve acceptable taste, think ahead about how to judge if a sample taste is acceptable and how much time to wait between tastings for your mouth to clear. <S> If your goal is to use the minimum code without noticeably changing the taste, use the triangle test . <S> Control the other brewing variables as tightly as you can: grind size, brewing water temperature (with a thermometer), water volume in the press and in bypass (Americano), brewing time, stirring amount, <S> ... I think the most sensitive factors are water temperature and grind size -- and of course the batch of beans. <S> Please do report back! <A> It depends on your water. <S> Bloom, stir very lightly, fill to top, stir to break up clumps, flip, and press. <S> Start at 12.5g for 200mL finished volume and increase if drink is weak. <S> If drink is bitter, you might have the right amount of coffee but waiting too long on the brew, or you might have too much coffee. <S> You might also be stirring too much. <A> I drink 3-4 cups of coffee a day, and use 10g of beans for each cup. <S> Here's my Aeropress recipe: <S> 100g of water <S> 1m25s brew time Invert, and press Add some hot water to make a 150ml cup
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10g of beans, ground in Commandante Using filtered water (carbon), 12.5g with the plunger about halfway between 1 and 2 circles and inverted is about right for me.
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Issue pressing down French Press I haven't had this issue happen often, but its been a few times. When I make French Press coffee my steps are to: Boil water Put coffee grinds in French Press Pour hot water in Stir coffee grinds in the water Place the lid on top Wait 3 1/2 minutes and then press it down. Once in a while when I go to press it down, it just doesn't want to press. There is so much pressure resisting underneath. The one time I kept pressing, the coffee and grinds shot out the top and burned me. It seems as if too much air gets trapped underneath but I don't know how. Does anyone know why this happens; if I am doing anything wrong that causes this? <Q> A number of things aren't clear from your question. <S> I can think of three issues that might result in the problem you're having. <S> Clogged strainer <S> If the strainer is clogged, the air has trouble being pushed out. <S> That may make it harder to push it down as the air stays under your strainer. <S> The solution is easy, make sure the equipment is cleaned well, a bit of soap does wonders to remove oily residuals. <S> Equipment <S> You may be using large equipment to make a small amount of coffee. <S> That way, when you're pressing down the strainer is already near the bottom of your container meaning you cannot press much further. <S> To solve this, try using a container of an appropriate size. <S> Blooming Blooming is technique for letting gasses (mainly carbon dioxide) escape the coffee beans. <S> I don't think this is what causing you trouble, but I think it's worth mentioning. <S> To get a good bloom, you just need to take some time between step 4 and step 5. <S> After stirring the beans, you wait 30 to 60 seconds to allow some of the gasses to escape. <A> It's possible that the filter might be clogged, but as I've seen in your replies it sounds like you try to keep up with cleaning it. <S> Coffee should be ground quite coarse for a french press so the plunger can work properly. <S> I've seen people have coffee shoot out of the top in the past <S> and it's usually because they ground the beans too fine and the water couldn't easily pass through when plunging. <A> They will clog your filter. <S> General purpose coffee is ground for drip brewing, and French press uses coarser grinds <S> (partly so you don't get so much sludge in your cup and partly to minimize overextraction from long brew times). <S> The filter is designed for those coarse grinds and will clog with finer grinds like drip. <S> Avoid this by grinding your own coffee (many grocers offer in-store grinders with bulk coffee) or buying pre-ground coffee in French press grind. <S> Pressing should never require a significant application of force. <S> If you press hard, the pressure can be released suddenly and cause an explosive release of hot water and coffee, like you describe in the question. <S> Minimally very messy and possibly very dangerous. <A> My guess is that you're not waiting for the bloom before you stir. <S> Pour in water about half way. <S> Wait one minute. <S> Stir (it will have bloomed by this point) <S> Pour the rest of the water in. <S> Wait 3 minutes or so and then push down the filter. <S> It should be really easy even if you grind the coffee fairly fine. <S> I grind the coffee finer than is recommended and have zero issues pushing down the filter. <S> You will have to learn how to pour the last few sips of the coffee so that you don't inadvertently pour in grinds / sludge. <A> Reasons have already been covered Grounds too fine <S> You didn't wait for it to bloom …however, no-one has mentioned a 'fix'. <S> If it still fights you, lift the filter half an inch & press again, several times until you reach the bottom, that will slightly compensate for too fine a grind.
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If you're buying pre-ground general-purpose coffee for French press, the coffee grinds are probably too fine. If it isn't clogged, it could also be a problem with your grind. Lift the filter out completely & give it one more stir before you press it, that will let any remaining air out. If your French press is filled at least halfway at step 4 then this shouldn't be an issue, if it's much less, consider making a larger batch or using a smaller French press.
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Is an Americano the same as drip coffee? I'm curious about the difference between an Americano (espresso + water) and drip coffee (grounds + water). Does an Americano taste the same as black drip coffee? Whats the difference in caffeine levels? Process? <Q> Differences Crema : <S> an espresso has crema whereas drip brew coffee doesn't. <S> The reason for this is that an espresso is pulled under pressure. <S> Paper filtered : drip brew tends to be filtered by paper of cloth, filtering out oily components. <S> From Comparison of nine common coffee extraction methods: instrumental and sensory analysis (where the French press is similar to espresso in that it isn't paper filtered): The most efficient extraction of fatty acids was performed with French Press extraction. <S> Brewing with a paper filter resulted in coffee with the lowest fatty acid content, which is consistent with the findings of Peters. <S> Of course, this doesn't apply to all drip brews, metal filters don't filter out oily components. <S> (Possible) similarities Strength : <S> The opposite isn't true, you cannot make a drip coffee that has espresso-strength. <S> Ingredients : both are made using roasted coffee and water only. <A> Espresso is made from a much finer grind than drip coffee, exposed to much higher pressure and heat, diluted with hot water. <S> Supposedly, American GI's were put off by the stronger coffee while in Europe, hence the name. <S> If you're looking for a with and way way too make Americano-like coffee at home, try an Aeropress ($20.00) and don't dilute the produced coffee. <A> The short answer is no. <S> Drip coffee is made by running the water through the grounds in a paper or mesh filter. <S> This is a gravity-based brewing method used in most standard coffee makers and pour overs. <S> An Americano is an espresso-based drip-like beverage. <S> It's made by pulling espresso shots and adding them to hot (or cold if you're into that kind of thing) water. <S> The flavors will be different as well. <S> For example, drip coffee will tend to have a stronger flavor, while an Americano will usually be a bit smoother depending on how strong you make it.
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since an Americano is a diluted espresso, you can make it the same strength as a drip brew coffee by adding an appropriate amount of water.
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Which is better for grinding coffee: Food processor or blender? Which is better for grinding coffee for use in a drip coffee maker: Food processor or blender? Update: I noticed that my food processor makes evenly-sized course grounds, and my blender grinds smaller, but unevenly: fine, packed dust and medium-course grounds. Conclusion from my experimentation: A blender is overall better. <Q> I guess both food processors and blenders would act like big blade grinders. <S> Blade grinders give particles of a wide range of sizes, from fine dust to chunks. <S> This gives uneven flavor extraction (if you can taste it), and requires the use of the finest filter. <S> If I had to choose, a small food processor might be superior, since the blades on blenders are pitched to stir more than to cut. <S> Lacking a burr grinder, which gives more consistent particle size and therefore predictable extraction, I'd repurpose an old pepper grinder! <A> Faced with that choice, I would buy pre-ground coffee. <S> I suspect the results you will get with either a food processor or a blender will not rise to the level of a brick of vacuum packed Lavazza. <A> I used to use a spice grinder until I got a good burr grinder. <S> It doesn't give a perfectly even grind, but it works well enough. <S> The downside really is you have to dedicate it to coffee… unless you like cumin-flavoured coffee every once in a while. <S> A blender or food processor will make an even worse job of sizing the grind. <S> It's probably worth trying each once, but don't expect the results to be particularly good. <A> If you have to choose between those two evils, use the food processor. <S> It is made for reducing solid food to crumbs. <S> A blender is something entirely else - it is meant for turning mushy food into a uniform liquid. <S> While you can try throwing dry food into a blender, you 1) get a worse result, and 2) risk damaging the blender. <S> I will also note that neither of them is the right tool for the job. <A> You can't beat a burr grinder as they produce consistent sized grinds. <S> But, if you're trying to produce the best cup of coffee with either a food processor or a blender. <S> Post processing the grinds would probably be your best bet to avoid an inconsistent coffee grind size with an in uneven flavor extraction. <S> With no experience using the food processor or blender as a coffee grinder I'd choose the blender as a blender is going to stir and chop resulting in more even grind size. <S> (based on the blade slightly slanted orientation in a coffee grinder. is no slant on a food processor)
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If you try the food processor and the results are bad, that's not because the blender would have been better, it's because to get it done well, you need a grinder.
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Approximately how many cups (by volume) are in a pound of ground coffee beans? Note: I am not asking about the yield of brewed coffee. Edit:I'm asking how many cups (dry measure) of grounds are in a 1lb bag of ground coffee? Or does it vary by the type of coffee? <Q> In case the question is relevant to the coffee beverage: <S> The well-known recipe for the ground coffee to coffee beverage ratio is around 1:20. <S> One pound is equivalent of 453.6 grams. <S> Therefore; you may expect to have 9072 grams of brewed beverage. <S> When you assume that a cm 3 coffee beverage is around 1 grams, yo should have a bit more than 9 liters of beverage. <S> Again, this makes around 320 oz. beverage. <S> If you assume that your cups are 10 oz, <S> you should end up with 32 cups of beverage from 1 pound of ground coffee . <S> I admit that, using such a unit system makes it way harder than stating "1 kg coffee ends up two hundred 100 ml cups", at once. <S> In case the question is relevant to the density of coffee: <S> (Updated after Paul's comment) <S> The solution is simpler as it depends solely on the density of coffee. <S> Still, we may require a series of unit conversions. <S> This means, 453.6 grams (one pound) of coffee has a volume around 1.42 l. <S> This volume is roughly 50 oz. <S> Finally, a cup is 8 to 12 oz, let's say 10 oz on average. <S> Therefore, a pound of coffee should be more or less 5 cups of coffee. <S> Note: This density is for ground beans. <S> Green coffee beans has a density around 0.56 <S> gr/cm 3 . <A> There are far two many variables for a definitive answer. <S> All of the following will matter: exact type (and possibly batch) of bean, roast grade, grind, degree of compression in the cup, even the humidity on the day you measure. <S> The biggest factors will be grind, bean, and roast - assuming you don't try to "settle" the coffee in the measuring cup. <S> For what it's worth, it usually is possible to fit ground beans in the same bag that held the whole beans before grinding, with a little shaking to settle the grounds. <S> Assuming you have a practical problem to solve, that might solve it. <A> I did some measuring of my own. <S> I found that 15.9 oz of coffee beans filled a 4-cup measure about 1-1/4 cups left over. <S> So a canister that holds at least 45 fl <S> oz should easily hold 1 lb of beans.
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The density of ground coffee is around 0.32 gr/cm 3 .
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How can I get chewy chocolate chip cookies? My chocolate chips cookies are always too crisp. How can I get chewy cookies, like those of Starbucks? Thank you to everyone who has answered. So far the tip that had the biggest impact was to chill and rest the dough, however I also increased the brown sugar ratio and increased a bit the butter. Also adding maple syrup helped. <Q> I like my chocolate chip cookies chewy too <S> and I do it all the time. <S> Here is what I do: <S> Flour: <S> I use a higher gluten flour instead of AP, such as Bread flour. <S> Eggs: <S> An additional egg yolk will help Sugar: <S> A bigger Brown Sugar to Sugar ratio helps but not vital if you do not have brown sugar at hand. <S> Butter: Butter should be melted. <S> I think this is the key to chewiness. <S> The recipe is straightforward: cream butter with sugar, add wet ingredients, incorporate dry ingredients slowly and lastly add the chips. <S> Be sure to chill the dough for at least 30 min. <S> The more you rest, the better. <S> See this NY Times Article for effects of resting the dough. <A> This is the recipe for chocolate chip cookiesFor more details check out the Jan/Feb 96 edition of Cooks Illustrated. <S> 2 c. all-purpose flour plus <S> two tablespoons more ½ t baking soda ½ <S> t salt <S> 1½ sticks Butter <S> (melted and this is key! <S> also this is a bit less than typical) <S> ½ c granulated sugar <S> 1 c packed brown sugar 2 t vanilla extract 2 Eggs (1 whole, 1 yolk) <S> 1 12 <S> oz (bag) semi-sweet chocolate chips <S> Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. <S> Mix butter,granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla in large mixer bowl. <S> Addeggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition; gradually beatin flour mixture. <S> Stir in morsels and nuts. <S> Bake on un-greased cookiesheets for 15-18 min. <S> @ <S> 325 <S> °F. <S> Also this recipe works great with white whole wheat flour as well to add at least some nutrition. <S> I have had excellent success substituting 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed meal and 5 tablespoons of water for the eggs if you need to go egg-less. <A> at least 20 minutes before baking. <A> More fat generally makes softer cookies. <S> For a great desciption of how the fat / sugar / flour ratio affects the texture of cookies etc. <S> check out Michael Ruhlman's "Ratio" cookbook. <A> You could try cooking at a slightly lower temperature, spraying the walls of your oven with water or putting an oven-safe bowl of water in with the cookies to prevent drying out, and/or cook them for less time. <S> When finished cooling immediately put them into an airtight container or foil and they will stay fairly soft, but of course are best just after cooling. <A> You can do a number of things like using brown sugar instead of white, use more leavening, and use oil or margarine instead of butter. <A> On the Serious Eats Food Lab, J. Kenji Lopez Alt goes deep into <S> The Science of the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies . <S> He discusses a couple ideas for making your cookies chewier. <S> Use bread flour instead (or something with a higher protein content than your recipe calls for) <S> Replace some sugar with a touch of corn syrup. <S> The higher protein content in the bread flour than in AP flour will lead to a chewier cookie. <S> The bread flour reference comes from <S> The Chewy by Alton Brown. <A> I bake mine a minute or two less than it calls for and only let them cool half way and then place them in my cookie container with a layer of parchment paper between each layer and while still slightly warm cover tightly and the heat of cookies will keep them from getting hard and will stay softer and chewier. <A> I have had brilliant results using this recipe that incorporates instant vanilla pudding mix. <S> These cookies come out with an incredible texture that you just want to keep putting your teeth inside, aside from the fact that they also taste incredible. <A> I don't know why, but it does work for me. <A> The best way is a mix of both white and brown sugar. <S> Too much white <S> and they'll be tough too much brown <S> and they can break by their own weight. <S> Play with the two proportions till you find what you want. <S> More brown typically more chewy. <S> Another way is to make it with brown and to cool the dough in the fridge before baking so that the integrity is better.
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You can also put a piece of white bread in your container with the cookies, as it will help keep the cookies softer for a longer time. In addition to what everyone else has said (increase fat...), make sure you let the dough rest (in the fridge or freezer) for
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How should I cook bacon in an oven? I've heard of people cooking bacon in an oven by laying the strips out on a cookie sheet. When using this method, how long should I cook the bacon for, and at what temperature? <Q> I've always cooked it on top of aluminum foil, at 350°F (~175°C) for 20 minutes. <S> Flipping it once at about the half way point. <S> If you prefer crispier, go for 25 minutes. <A> Put on a cookie sheet. <S> Use a high temp (375F+) for 10-20 minutes depending on desired crispness. <S> For easier cleaning of the cookie sheet, line it with aluminum foil. <S> To let the grease drain, corrugate the foil. <S> (This is by far what I prefer.) <S> If you do this, remember before you tear off your sheet from the roll, you'll need ~2x as much foil for the same area. <A> I set the oven to 400F, line a half sheet pan with aluminum foil, place a cooling rack inside the pan, and then put the bacon on top of the cooling rack. <S> It takes between 20 and 30 minutes to reach the point that I like it, but you may want to stop it earlier. <S> Also good, blend some brown sugar and pecans until the pecans are well mixed with the sugar and then sprinkle the mixture on top of the bacon half way through cooking. <A> I place the bacon in a cold oven and then turn the oven on to 400F. <S> It takes about 15-20 minutes to get slightly crisp bacon. <A> You can use aluminum foil or silpat to accomplish the non-stick part. <S> Regarding temperatures, a lot depends on what you want. <S> This is pork remember, a meat that cooks beautifully at low temperature, and fries nicely too when salt-cured. <S> So, if you want delectably smooth soft bacon that melts in your mouth, try it at 225 for a few hours. <S> This is like slow cooking a pork shoulder. <S> 300 and up will more quickly cook it; at that point you're aiming for crispy bacon. <S> The hotter the heat, the faster it will get there, and the greater the danger you're going to burn it. <S> I usually do mine at 375 for the family, it takes roughly 20 minutes. <A> I bake mine on a cooling rack (to drain excess fat) on a cookie sheet that has been lined with foil for easy clean up. <A> I place the bacon on a cooling rack set inside a baking pan, to keep the meat above the grease. <S> Generally speaking, lower temperatures result in less bitter compounds forming than higher temperatures. <S> But you'll have to wait longer for your delicious, delicious bacon. <S> If you're baking something else, then just put the bacon in at whatever temperature the other dish requires. <S> It should be fine, anywhere from 325 to 425 or 450. <S> The bacon is done when it looks and feels delicious. <S> You can judge by color. <S> If you like it crispy, it should be dark but not burnt--it will still be a little soft until it cools a little. <A> I just cooked a pound of bacon yesterday.... <S> to make Blt Bites in cherry tomato halves. <S> Not knowing any better, I spread it out in a single layer on a rimmed baking pan. <S> And I cooked it for about a half hour at 300 (PRE=HEATED). <S> It was perfect. <S> No spattering. <S> Easy clean-up. <S> If you like it crisper, just cook it longer. <S> If it smells done, it is. <A> I use tinfoil (non-stick kind works well) on any old baking sheet and for an added boost sprinkle dark brown sugar and coursely ground pepper on top side first. <S> Cook at 350-400 for 10 min - no need to flip - watch at end it doesn't burn. <S> My family / guests can't get enough of this candied bacon. <A> I have a special pan which has a second bottom with holes in it that allows the excess fat to drain away. <S> With that I put it in about the middle or lower of the oven with the broiler on 500F on. <A> Use a baking tray with a decent lip to stop fat running away. <S> Don't use foil or anything extra <S> Lightly rub required tray surface area with Olive oil Roll each piece of bacon up into a tight tube (slight larger than a thumb) and place on tray. <S> You can use a pencil sized dowel as a former Balance each roll against the next to hold in place. <S> Use a toothpick or similar to hold the rolls on the ends Grill at medium to medium-high until done, around 20 to 30 minutes <S> Nothing gets burnt, and they are easy to handle once cooked. <S> And a nice tidy look on the plate too <S> Because nothing got burnt, cleanup is simple. <S> Just soak the tray <S> You can do more than 50 slices of bacon on one tray! <A> I have found the best method is to use parchment paper, put bacon on a rack that will fit in the pan to hold the bacon above the dripped fat, baked in a convection oven <S> so no need to rotate or flip. <S> about 20-30 minutes depending on thickness.... <S> thick sliced bacon works best. <A> Take two cookie backing trays that can be stacked into one another (just buy two non stick identical cookie trays):lay the first one's bottom with baking parchment.lay <S> the bacon flat on it.put another sheet of parchment on top of the baconstack <S> the second tray on top and apply a good pressure to make sure the bacon is flat. <S> you should have from bottom to top tray-parchment-bacon-parchment-tray. <S> (just to be clear) <S> bake at high temperature for 15 minutes ( <S> or until of the color you like it, raise tray to check and be careful of grease splashes).After baking absorb excess fat by laying on paper. <S> This will guarantee that your bacon strips will be cooking book picture perfect, crispy and delicious. <A> use silicone mats instead tinfoil or parchment paper. <S> much easier cleanup
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I start in a cool oven, 400 degrees for about 20 minutes for crisp turkey bacon. The short answer is "throw it in the oven, and make sure it doesn't stick."
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What is the difference between white and brown eggs? I always use brown extra large eggs, but I can't honestly say why I do this other than habit at this point. Are there any distinct advantages or disadvantages like flavor, shelf life, etc? <Q> The Egg Nutrition Center's FAQ page has an entry on this very topic. <S> Basically, the color of the egg does not affect the egg's flavor, nutritional value, etc. <S> It simply depends on the particular breed of chicken that lays the egg -- white eggs from white hens, brown eggs from brown hens. <S> It's also worth noting, as the ENC points out: <S> Generally, brown hens are larger and require more feed and <S> therefore their eggs may be slightly higher priced. <A> The only difference you might notice would be if you free range eggs instead of factory farm eggs. <S> There is a slight yolk color difference <S> and I think a slightly better flavor. <S> Mine come in a range of colors including green, brown, and white. <A> Cosmetic only, based on the breed of the chicken. <S> When I was growing up we had some South American Aracaña chickens. <S> Besides being able to fly, the two hens laid pale yellow and green eggs. <S> Kind of like pre-colored Easter eggs! <A> There is no nutritional or taste difference. <S> Brown eggs, IMO, look cooler, though. ;-)
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There difference between white and brown eggs is purely cosmetic .
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What is the difference between baking soda and baking powder? And can I use one in place of the other in certain recipes? <Q> Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate, while baking powder includes an acidifying agent (cream of tartar) and a drying agent (starch). <S> http://chemistry.about.com/cs/foodchemistry/f/blbaking.htm <A> Normal double-acting baking powder makes CO2 (thus giving a rising effect) in two ways: when it gets wet, and when it is heated. <S> Baking soda only makes CO2 when it gets wet. <S> From Wikipedia : The acid in a baking powder can be either fast-acting or slow-acting.[6] <S> A fast-acting acid reacts in a wet mixture with baking soda at room temperature, and a slow-acting acid will not react until heated in an oven. <S> Baking powders that contain both fast- and slow-acting acids are double acting; those that contain only one acid are single acting. <S> By providing a second rise in the oven, double-acting baking powders increase the reliability of baked goods by rendering the time elapsed between mixing and baking less critical, and this is the type most widely available to consumers today. <A> You can make your own baking powder using baking soda, cornstarch, and cream of tartar. <S> 1/4 tsp baking soda1/2 tsp cream of tartar1/4 tsp cornstarch <S> That will give you one tsp baking powder. <S> Increase as necessary. <S> Also, if you don't have all those ingredients, you can use 3 measures of baking powder for every measure of baking soda, although you won't get the same flavor profile with the reduction of acidity from baking soda. <A> In addition to forefinger's answer, I also believe baking powder has cream of tartar in it, making it more pH neutral.
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You can substitute baking soda for baking powder if you already have an acidifying agent in a recipe (like buttermilk).
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What ingredients (available in specific regions) can I substitute for parsley? I have a recipe that calls for fresh parsley. I have substituted other fresh herbs for their dried equivalents but I don't have fresh or dried parsley. Is there something else (ex another dried herb) that I can use instead of parsley? I know it is used mainly for looks rather than taste but I have a pasta recipe that calls for 2 tablespoons of parsley in the sauce and then another 2 tablespoons on top when it is done. I know the parsley on top is more for looks but there must be something about the taste otherwise it would call for parsley within the sauce as well. I would especially like to hear about substitutes available in Southeast Asia and other parts of the world where the obvious answers (such as cilantro) are not widely available. <Q> You might try Thai or European celery leaves as a substitute. <A> Can you find seeds anywhere? <S> Parsley is easy to grow in pots, so you could manage even if you live in an apartment. <A> Parsley is not 'just a garnish'! <S> Many dishes, like tabbouli, absolutely rely on parsley. <S> Parsley has its own flavor and texture (as you guessed when you said, "there must be something about the taste <S> otherwise it would call for parsley within the sauce as well"). <S> If your recipe calls for fresh parsley, you will want to use fresh parsley, or fresh something else in its place. <S> Dried herbs cannot give the same vivacity. <A> I found this answer on the Discuss Cooking forum. <S> If looking to substitute parsley for flavor do not use cilantro as "the flavors are nothing at all alike". <S> Instead you can use chopped chervil (closest to parsley that you can get, i think), angelica, dill, lovage, savory, basil, etc <A> You mentioned that you are making a pasta dish with sauce. <S> So, what cuisine is the dish that you are cooking? <S> I'd say replace the parsley with an herb or spice that fits the cuisine. <S> If for example, it was an Italian dish, I would have no hesitation in using basil. <S> It's a different flavor, but fits the cuisine. <S> Or a SE Asian dish, then cilantro might just work. <S> Second thing, try out other possibilities in the same plant family. <S> Here's a link. <S> http://www.clovegarden.com/ingred/py_parsley.html <S> Here's a possibility from the above link: Mitsuba - <S> [Japanese wild parsley, Cryptotaenia japonica alt. <S> Cryptotaenia canadensis subsp. <S> japonica] <S> Native to North America and East Asia <S> this plant is used as an herb seasoning and sprouts are used in salads. <S> It is described as similar to angelica. <A> Parsley is usually used more for looks than for taste. <S> If you don't have it, then you can probably leave it out. <A> Cilantro leaves might do, depending on what flavor you're after. <S> If it calls for fresh and you only have dried, don't bother though. <A> Some, but YMMV (meaning: I can't speak on availability, but I expect cilantro to not be a problem): <S> Chervil Cilantro <S> Earth Chestnut <S> I personally think parsley and cilantro are miles apart, but different strokes for different folks.
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Depending on what your original recipe is and what your tastebuds like, you could use any mild green herb although the character of the dish would be different: basil and dill do not taste like parsley.
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What is the internal temperature a steak should be cooked to for Rare/Medium Rare/Medium/Well? I'd like to know when to take my steaks off the grill and please everybody. <Q> Extra-Rare: 125F (52C) <S> Rare: 135F (57C) <S> Medium-Rare: 145F (63C) <S> Medium: 160F (71C) <S> Well-Done: 170F (77C) <S> Note: <S> Extra-Rare and Rare are not recommended by USDA <A> There are the temperatures recommended by the USDA <S> and then there are the temperatures recommended for taste. <S> For Taste: <S> Rare: 120-125F <S> Medium: 140-145F Medium <S> Well / <S> Well: not appropriate when talking about taste <A> I agree with the temperatures given for doneness by @BarrettJ, but especially when grilling flat cuts of meat like steak, pork chops, chicken breasts, etc. <S> , it's difficult to use even an accurate instant read thermometer to determine doneness. <S> In my case, I grill on charcoal most often, and it's practically impossible to avoid hotspots. <S> If I always relied on a thermometer reading, I'd have to test each steak or chop to know when I was done. <S> So, I'd recommend using the thermometer a few times, but pay close attention to how the steak feels when pinched or poked with a finger. <S> Here is an example of an article that describes this with rules of thumb for how to tell roughly how done a piece of meat is. <S> But rather than comparing how your steak feels with the firmness of the palm of your hand (as per the article), I'd recommend taking the thermo reading, feeling the steak, looking at how well done the meat is when it's cut open and adjusting accordingly on your next grill session. <S> Soon it will be second nature, you can save the instant read for roasts, and your friends will deem you "The Grill Whisperer".
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Medium Rare: 130-135F
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How can I make my Ice Cream "creamier"? My ice cream doesn't feel creamy enough. I got the recipe from Good Eats, and I can't tell if it's just the recipe or that I'm just not getting my "batter" cold enough before I try to make it. I let it chill overnight in the refrigerator, but it doesn't always come out of the machine looking like "soft serve" as he said on the show - it's usually a little thinner. Recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/serious-vanilla-ice-cream-recipe/index.html <Q> More fat! <S> Your recipe has two dairy components (half and half and whipping cream). <S> The half and half is half cream, half milk. <S> To increase the fat, experiment with using more cream and less half and half. <A> Try churning longer, making sure that your churn container is thoroughly frozen. <A> Eggs! <S> Try a recipe with eggs (especially freshly plucked from the chickens you have living in your back yard as we do). <S> My wife and I discovered this butter pecan recipe a few months ago and were quite pleased. <S> We subsequently tried a chocolate recipe with eggs (as well as melted chocolate instead of powdered ) and were quite pleased with that as well. <S> Better than previous batches made sans egg. <A> I like to keep the batter in the freezer until crystals form on top. <S> Then I'll take it out, and give it a good stir to raise the temperature just a wee bit to break up those crystals. <S> Then, and only then do I take the churning bowl out of the freezer. <S> There is enough "cold" in the bowl to absorb the latent heat of fusion, but not if you have to drop the temperature 5-10 degrees before it freezes. <A> Check to make sure that your running it long enough, and also that your container is cold enough at the start. <S> If it's too thin, likely you're not getting the ice cream cold enough while churning. <S> Make sure you put the container in the back of your freezer (often a little colder back there). <S> If it's still getting firmer, let it keep churning, you might just not be there yet. <S> Lower the temperature in the freezer (or use a deep freeze if you have one), to better chill the container. <S> Remove the container from the freezer at the last possible second. <A> I'm not sure what you're finished <S> ice cream product looks like, so this answer is based on conjecture, but I do have a few recommendations. <S> I think the main issue here is that the recipe calls for too much sugar. <S> If I were you I would reduce the sugar to about 3/4 cup. <S> Large amounts of sugar drastically lower the freezing point by interfering with recrystallization during freezing. <S> This would explain why you are unable to get the soft serve consistency that you are looking for. <S> It also explains the lack of creaminess because the ice cream is not able to freeze around the air, which is where the volume and creamy feel come from. <S> If that doesn't work, then I second the notion to try an egg custard base or to add more cream, but honestly it looks like the recipe already has plenty of fat. <S> Altering the fat content could be more damaging to the recipe because the proteins in dairy are essential to stabilizing air bubble formation in ice cream. <A> Add 1 ounce of alcohol or extract containing alcohol. <S> This makes it creamier.
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If you've got a frozen bowl type ice cream churn (like a Kitchen Aid) then the unwritten rule is to nearly freeze your batter before churning.
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Do I need to sift flour that is labeled sifted? Is there really an advantage to sifting flour that I bought that was labeled 'sifted'? <Q> Maybe! <S> Flour is unusually variable in how densely it will settle, so this can make a big difference for some recipes. <S> The purpose of sifting is to make the amount of flour in a given volume reliable. <S> (If you are measuring by weight, you don't need to sift.) <S> By moving around the sifted flour, or pouring it from one container into another, you are changing the way it is packed. <S> Therefore, you can easily "unsift" it in the course of normal handling. <S> Proper sifting is done straight into the measuring device. <A> Assuming you're baking: Sifting does more than just standardize the density of your flour (which it doesn't even do all that well). <S> It won't incorporate a large volume of air, but it will bring in lots of microscopic "seed bubbles", which will then provide lots of nucleation points for the leavening to form CO2 bubbles. <S> Without those seed bubbles, you'll get fewer, larger bubbles of leavening, resulting in a different texture. <S> (Creaming sugar into softened butter performs a similar function in many recipes.) <S> Also, +1 for hobodave's food processor tip. <S> Or a good whisking in a large bowl will do in a pinch. <A> It can't hurt. <S> I wouldn't trust flour that came pre-sifted. <S> Anything will settle during transport. <S> Random tip: <S> pulse your dry ingredients in a food processor instead of sifting. <A> Also by sifting flour ensures no foreign objects are in the flour... <S> bugs, toys, coins, large flour lumps, chocolate chips, cupcake sprinkles, pet fur, etc. <S> If you have small children that help you bake, or pet friendly kitchens, you'll be surprised what you can find in your baking ingredients!! <S> Bugs sound gross but they do happen, especially in old house kitchens, or if you use a tub or other container to hold your flour, better to find out if you have a problem before you start mixing! <A> Ideally your recipe will have the flour by weight, not volume, as you can't reliably tell how much flour you are adding when you measure the flour by volume. <S> You should search for baking recipes on the net that list the flour by weight (good books do this for bread baking; <S> the Bread Bakers Apprentice does this, for example). <S> After weighing the flour you should still sift it as this adds air and can help lend lightness to a quick bread or cake.
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Most recipes that call for sifted flour do so because it helps aerate the batter, as well as keeping the flour from clumping and forming lumps.
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Is it safe to leave butter at room temperature? Is it safe to leave butter at room temperature? If so, for how long is it safe to keep it out? <Q> Try a butter crock . <S> This will keep your butter fresh at room temperature for a fairly long time (weeks, not days). <A> It depends on the room temperature where you live. <S> At 65F (18C) or below, butter is often barely spreadable and will last for weeks on the counter in a sealed container. <S> At 80F (26C), it starts to get overly soft and doesn't last more than several days. <S> Our family goes through about a pound / week and we've never had any issues with keeping a half-pound block on the counter at any given time - we finish it off before it has time to lose any quality or flavour. <S> The rest we keep in the fridge until needed. <S> The most important thing is to keep it in a covered container - I'm sure a butter crock would do a great job, but even just any old small glass container with a lid will do. <A> The question seems to have been more about food safety than whether it seems palatable. <S> When the fat in butter decomposes (i.e. when the butter becomes rancid), it produces an unhealthy acid that actually inhibits mold growth. <S> So, don't wait for your butter to mold to determine if it's gone bad. <S> To follow strict food-safety guidelines, protect butter from heat, light, and air; store it up to two weeks in a refrigerator, below 40 degrees. <S> It can also be frozen for 6 to 9 months. <A> As long as you use salted butter it will keep in a covered container at room temperature for at least 2-3 weeks without getting mouldy or rancid, in my experience. <S> If you use unsalted butter there are more microorganisms that can live on it <S> so it spoils faster, but there aren't any common contaminants that can grow on salted butter other than moulds, and even they grow very slowly on it. <A> When it gets hard on the outside <S> I toss it. <S> This doesn't happen very often as I am now using 1/8 pound sticks. <S> Usually the sticks last about a month in the summer, longer in the winter. <S> If it has been a while <S> I'll smell it before using it or just toss it. <A> When I first got a microwave oven <S> I tried to use it for warming the butter when I took it from the fridge. <S> I found that the butter went rancid if you did it two or three times. <S> Although just microwaving a small portion to use was OK, it was difficult to time the warming so the stuff didn't melt. <S> Now I just keep it in a butter dish at room temperature, except in high summer. <A> I have always kept my butter, 1/4 pound at a time, out on the counter in a covered, pottery-type butter dish (Fiestaware) or a covered glass dish. <S> The latter is probably less desirable because of light exposure, but either way, I have never had a problem, and I am picky about food freshness. <S> We use the 1/4 pound within about a week, I'd say. <S> The exception is in summer, when it sometimes gets hot enough to melt the butter in the dish. <S> At those times, I put the butter dish in the wine refrigerator, which we keep at 55 degrees F. <S> If you happen to have a wine refrigerator, it's a great compromise - the butter doesn't spread as easily, but it isn't rock-hard either, and it's better than having it melted. <A> Yes. <S> Butter is cultured cream, meaning there are good bacteria fighting off the bad bacteria. <S> Cover it in a butter crock or similar and it should last a couple weeks. <A> I have left butter out on the counter uncovered for as long two or three weeks or more. <S> It has never gone bad are tasted any different . <S> We do eat butter everyday <S> so we use it quickly. <S> Sometimes I microwave it when I first take it out of the Frig. <S> if I'm going to use it right away. <S> I come from a family that has always left the butter out <S> and we never noticed a difference in the taste or had butter go rancid. <S> The only time I had mold on butter is when there was a hurricane and the electricity was out for weeks <S> and we had to throw out every thing in the Frig. <S> I use salted butter but occasionally unsalted with no problem. <A> My experience is that butter crocks just suck. <S> I was all excited when I first had one (what a great idea!) <S> , only to find that the butter would get really yucky tasting and even moldy quite quickly. <S> Then maybe fifteen years later (last year) I decided to try again. <S> Same experience. <S> I've also tried it without the water -- similar results. <S> A simple covered butter dish is much more effective, in my experience. <S> Butter keeps and tastes good for quite a while -- a couple of weeks, anyway. <S> I have no scientific theories to explain this (though I'd be vaguely interested to hear some). <S> Just the empirical facts, validated through repeated experiments with consistent results.
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I keep my butter in a covered dish next to the toaster.
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Does resting the dough for a long time reduce the need to knead the bread? In this article by Chef Michael Smith, he mentions a recipe where leaving the dough to rest for 18 hours removes the need to knead the bread. Is this a viable alternative? I've tried the recipe and found that the bread was more dense than a properly kneaded dough. <Q> This will reduce the need for kneading. <S> Personally I have experimented with this method but with a shorter resting time (8 hours) and have achieved crusty, chewy-textured bread. <S> Note though that the crustiness of the bread is due to the use of an oven-proof pot and not the resting period. <A> Kneading does two things. <S> First it mixes all the ingredients uniformly. <S> You have to do this no matter what, but you only really have to do it enough to mix the ingredients. <S> If you keep kneading beyond the mixing stage, you are applying energy (which equals heat) to the yeast which makes it ferment, generating the tiny bubbles which make bread fluffy. <S> The yeast will ferment on its own, but kneading just accelerates that process. <S> Historically, dough was proved (left in a hot humid place) for about 18 hours allowing it to rise slowly in order to make bread. <S> In 1961 a process was developed in England called the Chorleywood Process . <S> Essentially you work the heck out of the dough with high-speed mixers. <S> The extra few minutes of high energy mixing applies heat to the yeast, which dramatically reduces the fermentation period required, allowing you to make bread much more quickly... at factory-type speeds. <S> Factories can make bread in a couple of hours instead of having to prepare dough one day and bake it the next. <A> Kneading a resting do different things to the structure of the bread. <S> Depending on the recipe and the desired texture the kneading amounts may vary, but other than quick breads, it is necessary to evenly distribute the yeast and the associated gasses as well as develop the gluten. <S> The gluten, or wheat protein, is what enables the dough to stretch instead of collapsing when the yeast grows inside it. <S> If the gluten isn't developed, the dough won't rise well and will produce a heavy loaf - rather like a brick. <A> Yes it is a viable substitute. <S> I make a loaf every day from 4 pounds of dough I make up at the start of the week and keep in the fridge, just pinching off as much as I need. <S> Zero kneading, just stirring the ingredients until everything's wet (about 15-30 seconds). <S> I usually make a loaf after the dough has risen for a few hours, but it's never as good as the next day, or even 7 days later as a sour dough <S> flavor starts to develop. <S> It's taken a while to get a good feel for how wet the dough best be (measuring with cups or scales is no good due to compaction and humidity, respectively). <S> The loaves are not as light as loaves in a commercial bakery using chemical leaveners and steaming ovens, but they're as light as you'd ever find in a good bakery. <S> I basically use the technique in Artistan bread in 5 minutes a day , but instead of cooking on a pizza stone and adding steam (finicky), I cook the loaf in dutch oven. <S> The dutch oven traps in the moisture, stopping a crust forming prematurely and restricting rise.
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Allowing the bread dough to rest for the 18 hours will allow the bread to develop the gluten which gives the bread the chewy texture.
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How does a splash of vinegar help when poaching eggs? What does splashing in a shot of white vinegar to the simmering water do when poaching an egg ? Is it for taste or is it supposed to react in some way with the albumen? <Q> The quicker the proteins denature the less feathering there will be around the edges and the nicer looking the egg. <A> Egg whites need to be heated up to a certain temperature in order to coagulate ("set"). <S> Lowering the pH (increasing the acidity) of the cooking liquid is one way to lower the temperature required for coagulation of the egg whites. <S> So, in a way, this does prevent "feathering" of the eggs, but not because of any direct reaction; rather, the reason the eggs feather less is because they have less time to feather, because they don't need to get as hot . <S> Any acidic liquid will have a similar effect. <S> White vinegar is probably the most effective, but you could also add lemon juice or wine to the poaching liquid. <S> In fact, eggs poached in red wine sauce ("Oeufs en Meurette") is quite a popular preparation method. <S> For reference, the coagulation temperature is also proportional to the salinity (add salt to lower the coagulation temperature, add sugar to raise it), and inversely proportional to the number of eggs used (more eggs = lower coagulation temperature). <A> It's supposed to help with cooking the albumen in such a way that it doesn't get all feathery at the edges. <S> I have no idea what the actual chemical reaction is, though. <S> I've also heard of people adding a pickle to the poaching liquid instead of vinegar directly.
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Vinegar and salt both help the proteins (albumin) to denature (unwind) more quickly and link up to form a network of proteins, thus setting the egg.
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What are the pros and cons of storing bread in various locations? Why should/shouldn't I store my bread in the fridge/freezer/breadbox/plastic bag/etc? <Q> Storing bread in the freezer you can store for several days and keep it soft. <S> To eat, remove from the freezer and put in the oven. <A> Bread in the freezer will stay edible for a long time. <S> Freezing doesn’t much affect the texture of the bread either. <S> The downside is that you have to thaw or toast the bread before you can eat it. <S> The downside is that the texture of the bread changes when it is refrigerated. <S> I notice it quite a bit, but my wife doesn’t seem to. <S> Plastic is a good way to keep bread on the counter, but you want to make sure that it is completely cool before wrapping it. <S> If the bread is still warm, the plastic will trap the escaping water vapor and the bread will get soggy. <S> Warm fresh bread should be allowed to (at least mostly) cool either on the counter or in an open bag. <S> Once it is mostly cool, a paper bag is a good way to keep it if you need to put it in something. <S> Any remaining water that is going to come out of the bread won’t pool up on the bread’s <S> surface like it would while stored in a plastic bag. <S> For artisan bread, I usually wrap it in aluminum foil and keep it on the counter. <S> I don’t have any reason to believe that this is somehow better than other methods. <S> It goes stale after a couple of days, but if it’s not eaten by then we will toast it or make French toast for breakfast. <A> Bread goes stale in the fridge as you are storing it at the quickest stealing temperature. <S> The moisture migrates in the starch from alpha to beta cells. <S> You should never store bread in the fridge. <S> Trust me I used to be a baker <S> and it was one of the first things we learned at college in baking technology. <S> The fridge will inhibit mould but pointless if it is stale. <S> You can pop the bread in the oven for short while which will temporarily migrate the moisture back restoring freshness. <A> The best way to store bread I have found is in a good stone container that is keeps airtight. <S> The stone container keeps the bread away from light and keeps the bread in normal temperature. <S> It also keeps mold away very good, especially when washed every now and then with diluted lemon juice or vinegar. <A> If you take the danish "rugbrød" (I think the closest english version is rye bread)... <S> it gets really hard, dry and dull tasting if you put it in the fridge, though it'll be able to keep of the mold for a while longer. <A> The freezer is absolutely the best place to store bread you want to keep for more than a day or two (depending on the bread - baguettes keep fresh for only hours, multi-grain sourdough for much longer). <S> Suck the air out of the bag so it doesn't get frosty, and slice before freezing if you want to use it by the slice. <S> A few seconds in the microwave and the previously-frozen slice will be in very good shape. <S> This won't work as well for something really crusty - the crust will lose it's crunch <S> - but you really can't keep crusty bread long no matter what you do. <S> Don't keep bread in the refrigerator. <S> It will go stale and get moldy quickly. <A> Best way to store bread, including baguettes, is in the freezer where it can keep for months. <S> Reheat by placing straight into a hot oven from the freezer. <S> The bread will crisp up and be just as if you had just baked it. <S> Bread that has gone a little bit stale can be lightly moistened with water all the way round, then placed in a hot oven to crisp up. <S> Never store in plastic if possible. <S> A thick brown paper bag will keep it pretty fresh on the counter for a couple of days. <S> If you don't get through a loaf that quickly, it's worth freezing half. <A> I've always stored my bread in a dry, dark cupboard or drawer. <S> I would assume that a bread box would accomplish the same thing. <S> Bread stored this way <S> has generally lasted me 2 weeks before mold even begins to start growing. <S> Another thing to keep in mind is to keep your bread stored in an airtight fashion. <S> If you don't, you risk your bread drying out quicker. <S> My experience with keeping bread in the fridge results in faster molding, and dryer bread. <A> My favorite place to store bread is in my mouth/tummy :P <S> On a serious note: we've tried storing it in various places and each seemed to have enough downsides (coupled with how much we enjoy good, fresh bread) that we decided it was worthwhile to just buy and make it more frequently <S> then it was to try to preserve it longer. <A> I bake bread frequently and store it upright on the cut end on my breadboard. <S> It's a crusty loaf and the crust will get soft if wrapped. <S> It doesn't last long in our house <S> so long term storage isn't a problem. <S> There is a way to restore the crisp exterior if you must wrap it in plastic. <S> Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. <S> Sprinkle a little water on the loaf or pat it with a wet hand. <S> Place on the middle oven rack for a few minutes. <S> It will crisp up almost as much as when it was fresh but it must have had a crisp crust to begin with. <S> This doesn't work on the fluff from the supermarket.
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Bread in the refrigerator will keep longer without going stale or moldy.
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What are some good resources for learning Knife Skills? What are some good resources for learning knife skills? Specifically, is there anywhere that I can see video demonstration of different slicing techniques and when those techniques are appropriate? <Q> Why bother paying for instruction or books. <S> The best way to learn is watching a video and practicing. <S> Youtube Youtube has a great wealth of videos on knife skills. <S> I'm more a visual learner. <S> I like to see a video. <S> A book are not going to help me squat. <S> Knife Skills: Julliene with Ann Burrell Knife Skills: <S> Chiffonade with Ann Burrell Knife SKills: <S> Slicing with Ann Burelle and Beau Knife Skills: <S> Bias Cuts with Ann Burrelle and Beau <S> Honing a knife with Gordon Ramsey <S> (video is labeled as sharpening although he is showing a knife being honed) <S> Rick Theory, well respected on knife forums for good technique <S> Sundry old Martin Yan episodes across youtube. <S> Cleaver centric technique that requires paying attention to do safely, but can achieve a lot. <S> Chowhound Chowhound has a great wealth of knife skill videos. <S> How to make a chiffonade cut How to chop How to dice How to hone a knife Roll Cuts <S> Know your Knife Cuts <S> How to make julienne and batonnet cuts How to cut with a chef's knife : 5 Simply knife safety tips How to hold a knife Not totally related but - Should i buy a knife set Knife Skills troubleshooting How to make a bias cut Other Wusthof Knife Skills Series <A> I really like the book " Knife skills Illustrated "; it is a bit annoying that it has left and right handed versions of everything, though. <A> The Good Eats episode <S> American Slicer was devoted entirely to knife usage. <A> It is a motor skill that is best learned by trial, error, and the emulation of experts. <S> Your local culinary institutes might offer courses or one-day workshops on various topics for the general public and cooking enthusiasts. <S> For instance, here's a place in Maryland that offers classes: L'Academie de Cuisine . <S> I once gave my wife a gift certificate for their "knife skills" workshop. <S> She can now chop circles around anyone who isn't a chef! <A> Epicurious have some useful videos on knife skills, they can be found at: http://www.epicurious.com/video/technique-videos/technique-videos-knife-skills/1915458779/knife-skills-how-to-sharpen-a-knife/1915433332 <S> Another interesting source is Rouxbe, they have a large number of cooking lesson videos online, which include knife skills. <S> This site, however, requires a subscription: http://rouxbe.com/ <A> The basic skills are covered in this article (slice, chop, rock chop). <S> Other things to note include how to carve meats, how to cut herbs and tomatoes. <S> America's Test Kitchen is pretty good as well, since they go slow and show things visually though they often don't narrate their knife skills verbally. <S> I've also seen good material in Gordon Ramsay 's Ultimate Cookery Course and Home Cooking, though he's a bit faster and less detailed. <S> Some of the stuff is on his youtube channel. <S> Finally, I'd like to recommend Jaques Pepin's New Complete Techniques (though the original complete techniques is fine, the new one is in color). <S> He's very careful in explaining how to do things. <A> Mastering Knife Skills: <S> The Essential Guide to the Most Important Tools in Your Kitchen by Norman Weinstein is a great picture book demonstrating technique for specific fruits, vegetables, and meats.
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Serious Eats has some videos and what not in their Knife Skills section. The absolute best way to pick this up is to do it with the help of an in-person instructor.
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Shelf life of spices The common wisdom I've heard is that dried herbs and spices: have a shelf-life of about a year or 2 keep best in a cool dark place will release more flavor when crushed That's fine but some spices are expensive. We have over different 50 jars on our spice rack and can't afford to replace them annually. Also, it's hard to believe that all herbs and spices are created equal. What are some more specific guidelines regarding the shelf-life of herbs and spices? Which last longer? Which last less long? How much is shelf-life really affected by light or lack thereof? Do any actually become health hazards if left too long? <Q> Dried herbs really do only last around six months, certainly no longer than a year. <S> They're generally easy to get in small quantities, though. <S> Spices are trickier. <S> They'll generally last rather longer, but the time will vary. <S> If the spice is used for the colour and/or heat (e.g. turmeric, chilli) it will generally last much, much longer than one used for its smell and/or taste. <S> Whole spices last much, much longer than pre-ground; I generally buy whole spices from asian stores, they sell them in much larger amounts for the same prices as supermarkets; and use a coffee mill to grind the right amount just before cooking (and keep a separate one for coffee!). <S> If kept in the dark, in a dry, clean, airtight glass container, spices and dried herbs will certainly not become health hazards, and should not pick up unpleasant tastes or odours. <S> The strong-tasting / strong-smelling ones will, however, lose taste and smell, eventually almost completely; since that is the whole point of using them, you might as well not bother once they're off. <A> McCormick also has a cool flash application that helps you determine how old your McCormick spices are: http://www.mccormick.com/Spices101/HowOldSpices.aspx <A> And of course (setting aside any actual food safety concerns), you should just trust your nose and palate. <S> If you rub them and smell them and don't get a bright, strong aroma, or taste them <S> and you get flavorless powder, they are dead. <S> If the converse, enjoy! <A> The answer is different for each spice and grind. <S> Following is some information from " Spice Mogul ", some basic "Do's and Don'ts" <S> Do <S> * Buy spices whole, versus ground, whenever possible. <S> * Buy in quantities that you will likely use up in 6 months time. <S> * Mark the date you buy your spices and dried herbs. <S> If there are no dates on the package, take a marker and date each container when opened. <S> * Grind spices just before using. <S> Grinding releases the volatile compounds that give a spice its flavor and aroma. <S> The longer the spice sits around (either whole or ground), the more the compounds disappear and the flavors lessen. <S> Don’t <S> * Store spices and herbs on the counter or close to the stove. <S> Remember that just like with oils, heat, light, and moisture are enemies of a spices flavor and shelf life. <S> Cool, dry and dark should be your watch words. <S> * Forget to check for freshness. <S> * Use pre-ground spices if you can avoid it. <S> If you must, test for flavor by rolling a small amount between your fingers and taking a whiff. <S> If it releases a distinct aroma, you’re ok. <S> If you have to strain to smell it, pitch it and buy fresh. <S> There is no sense in ruining a dish full of other ingredients because your spices are not up to their full strength. <S> Spice Mogul also has a good collection of specific advice that you may wish to review. <A> Be aware that even if the aroma and flavor of a dried spice is retained after being ground, there are many ground/powdered spices (and many fresh undried spice/herbs) that lose all their flavor when cooked/heated. <S> One of the worst dried ground spices for losing all flavor when cooked is dried powdered fennel seed. <S> Even when it's recently ground/powdered, it will lose all of its flavor when heated. <S> In the case of fennel, if you don't want to use whole fennel seed, then only slightly crush the seed. <S> Do not grind it into a powder if you are going to cook with it.
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Most sources I have seen suggest that 6 months is the long case for 'fresh spices', but all suggest grinding in small quantities so that you will not need for them to last that long.
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Wok preparation and caring What is a good technique for initially seasoning a wok, keeping it seasoned, and preventing rust? <Q> Make sure to seriously wash the wok before initial use. <S> Scrub it with hot soapy water and dry thoroughly. <S> After drying, place the wok over the stove on high heat until it starts to smoke. <S> Rotate the pan so that all parts of the inside are exposed to high heat. <S> Then rub the wok with oil on a paper towel. <S> After this, try not to scrub the wok. <S> A rinse and rub down are usually all that is needed to clean it up. <S> That will help to prevent rust. <S> And the most important factor of seasoning a wok is to use it. <S> It's definiteily <S> my most used kitchen item, and it's just getting better and better with each use! <A> if you find you have things stuck to the inside of the wok that you might be tempted to try and scrub off, you can instead flip the wok upside down over the flame and allow the deposits to be burnt off. <S> Once they have been burnt for a while the ash should come off easily with a wipe (don't forget to let the wok cool first!) <S> and this helps avoid the scratching and keeps the wok seasoned <A> Good guide to seasoning a wok . <S> The wok may be seasoned like any cast-iron pan, by brushing the surface with cooking oil and baking in a moderate oven for an hour. <S> However, because of its shape and center of gravity, oil tends to flow down and gather in the center, resulting in an unevenly seasoned surface. <S> For this reason, I prefer to do the seasoning over a burner on top of the stove. <S> Probably the best fat to use is lard – <S> traditionally when you bought a wok you were given a piece of pig fat to season it. <S> I have also used peanut oil. <S> Polyunsaturated oils are not recommended as they can make the wok very "gunky." <S> When using lard you can carefully brush the lard directly on the wok, all over the surface. <S> Palm oil also works well. <A> To season my stainless steal wok I used pork fat. <S> First wash the wok thoroughly and place on burner to dry. <S> Cool the wok. <S> Cover interior of wok with pork fat. <S> Remove battery from your smoke detector if you don't have a range hood. <S> Heat wok directly on flame, rotating to get all areas of the pan smoking hot. <S> Add chives and push them around the pan. <S> Cool wok, wipe with paper towel, and oil the interior of pan (I used sesame oil). <S> If you have to wash bits of food off the wok, a teaspoon (or half tsp of each to clarify) of oil and coarse salt work well. <S> Each time I wet the wok <S> I heat it over the burner to completely dry it out. <S> It took a few days of consistant use for my wok to become nonstick, I varied my seasoning approach... cooking bacon in the wok, then smoking up the pan after I finished using it, smoking up the pan with sesame oil and garlic, as well as repeating the pork and chives method.
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Always rub the wok with a little bit of vegetable oil after washing/drying.
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How can I keep delicate food from sticking to the grill? When I grill fish or chicken, often much of the meat and/or skin ends up sticking to the grill. What's the best way to avoid this? <Q> Other people have answered similarly but definitely make sure your cooking surface is VERY HOT before the food hits the surface. <S> Cold food+cold metal=sticking! <S> In addition to this, you should also make sure you don't start trying to flip too early. <S> Let the food cook and get a good sear on one side before you try to flip. <S> If you do this with a hot surface, you shouldn't have any problems with sticking. <S> One more thing, it's important that the grill surface is clean, so cleaning your grill religiously after you finish using it each time, and then oiling it lightly before you use it, can be a huge help in this area. <A> I'll start with agreeing with the others -- oil your grill (after first cleaning it), and make sure it's hot. <S> Think of it like seasoning a cast-iron pan, but you have to redo it, because the heat from the grill can bake it off. <S> Next, don't keep trying to move it. <S> Things like chicken and steak will release from the (well oiled) grill once they've gotten a sear on them. <S> Fish, however, I go with an alternate, possibly controversial method -- aluminum foil. <S> Use a piece of foil slightly larger than the piece of fish (one for each piece, you want space between each piece for the smoke to come up) and oil it slightly. <S> When set onto a hot grill, you'll even still get grill marks. <A> I've found that if you brush on some cooking oil either on the chicken or directly on the grill it will help. <S> Also, if you move the meat slightly before it cooks too long it will help it from sticking so much. <A> The same principle applies when pan frying. <A> Generally the best way to prevent sticking is with fat. <S> One solution is to apply fat (oil) directly to the meat, or to the grill, right before cooking. <S> The other thing is to avoid cleaning the grill too much. <S> While you should keep too much junk from building up on the grill you do want to let it season, much as you would a cast iron pan. <S> As the fats and everything build up on the grill it'll help future meals from sticking. <A> All the books I've read say that oiling your food is the preferred method. <S> Having said that, I often oil my grill by using a paper towel with oil on it <A> You could season the grill. <S> Oil the grill before you start cooking and then heat up the grill. <S> The heated oil will create a 'non-stick' surface on the grill. <S> The more often you do it, the more non-stick <S> the grill will become. <A> I'd been using paper towels to oil the grill, and I just discovered that newspapers work a lot better. <S> Paper towels absorb the oil and then don't release it, and they leave fibers behind on the grill. <S> Newspaper transports the oil but then releases it onto the grill. <S> I tried this yesterday and after several applications of oil, the grill was terrifically seasoned, to the extent that the food was sliding around a bit too much. <A> Something I tried for the first time today: I used oiled green onions to create separation between my fish and the wire basket. <S> My fish came out perfect and the charred green onions improved the presentation and maybe even improved its flavor. <A> I am really quite surprised <S> no one has mentioned grilling on wood planks yet. <S> It's an extremely useful alternative to keeping the lighter meats/seafood from sticking to the grill surfaces. <S> Typically they aren't too expensive and you get the added bonus of the smoky aroma in your food. <S> Link to a decent primer on wood plank grilling for those interested: http://backyardprovisions.com/blogs/grilling-101/10784049-wood-plank-grilling <A> Yep. <S> As others have said, don't be afraid of fat or heat. <S> Let it sit for a while. <S> When the crust has formed and the food is ready to be flipped, it should release fairly easily with a bit of gentle nudging. <S> Additionally, I find that dredging fish in a bit of flour helps to prevent sticking.
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In addition to oil, make sure the grill is nice and hot before you start cooking.
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Is there an alternative to cornstarch when used to thicken a pie filling I made a some pies a couple of days ago. The recipe called for cornstarch and it thicken the filling after it came out of the oven. The only thing is I could taste a bit of the cornstarch when I was eating the pies. I would just use less of it but I am afraid of making my pies to runny without the cornstarch. Is there an alternative to cornstarch to thicken the pie filling or should I just use less and hope I still use enough? <Q> There are several alternatives, but the most common I know of are tapioca flour and arrowroot powder/flour. <S> That said, most cornstarch substitutes aren't appropriate for pies, because they break down under high heat. <S> Tapioca powder can be hard to find in some areas though; I usually get it at Asian grocery stores. <A> ClearJel is a product you may want to look at. <A> Did you whisk the cornstarch in water separately before combining it? <S> I think that reduces the starchy taste a little bit. <S> Otherwise, maybe try a roux? <S> I've never heard of using it in baking, but it will thicken things without adding a starchy taste. <S> See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roux <A> We have a person with Celiac disease in our family, so generally we make the substitution the other way around, but generally you can substitute 2-3 parts flour for one part cornstarch to get the same thickening properties. <S> Unfortunately flour generally imparts more flavour than cornstarch. <A> I like to use Xanthan gum. <S> It works really well and a little bit goes a long way. <S> It doesn't add any additional flavoring to the recipe either. <S> I highly recommend it. <A> Any starch will work, so cornstarch, wheat flour, tapioca flour, potato starch, whatever. <S> The results will be slightly different, as different starches require different ratios with liquid. <S> My guess is that you can safely reduce the cornstarch in the pie, as the amount required to actually taste it (on top of your fruit, sugar, etc!) is probably quite a bit. <S> Most pie recipes I've seen have used wheat flour, though. <S> What kind of pie? <A> Cornstarch will taste uncooked if it doesn't reach near boiling during cooking. <S> In the recipe maybe it would be better to cook the cornstarch first as if making custard, then stir it gently into the filling. <S> But if they are fruit pies, how about using more fruit and no thickener? <S> That's how I make apple pies, and they're fine. <S> Or arrowroot would thicken at a lower temperature than cornstarch so that might work. <S> It gives a clearer, more transparent glaze too, which could be prettier. <A> Absorptive thickeners - nut meals, breadcrumbs - work well in some pie fillings, though the texture and color is different. <A> One thing I do with apple pies (that I would suppose you could do with at least the pear half of this pie) is to mix some dried fruit (dried apples for an apple pie) in with the fresh fruit, to sponge up some of the juice - it also means that the filling collapses less than when it's all fresh. <S> I already upvoted <S> @Aaronut's tapioca suggestion - tapioca was the only thing we used for this purpose in my family. <A> If you cook the cornstarch in the liquid when you add it that will improve things. <S> It's expensive, but clear and quite amazing. <S> Also , Heston Blumenthal uses it Happy Pie!
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The only substitutes for corn starch that I'd use in a pie are potato starch and tapioca. Another alternative is to use Agar Agar, which is a seaweed derived gel.
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Why does a brown paper bag speed ripening? I often see this technique suggested as a way to speed ripening. Why does it? Also, is there any data available on how fast it ripens comparatively? <Q> Placing fruit in a bag will help hasten the ripening for only a few fruits. <S> Most fruits will not ripen (ever) once they have been picked. <S> The only fruits that ripen once they're picked are bananas, avocados, pears, mango, and kiwifruit. <S> Ripeness in fruits is based on sugar content, not color, thus most tomatoes in grocery stores have no flavor because they were picked green and exposed to ethylene gas to induce color change. <S> Tomatoes are what are known as a "climacteric fruit" which means they'll change appearance based on climactic conditions but they don't ripen. <S> Yes, they continue to soften but that's simply the process of cell deterioration know as decomposition. <S> Some fruits such as peaches, plums, etc. will seem to develop more sweetness as they sit on the counter <S> but that's because they're also losing moisture and the residual sugars are concentrating in the cell walls. <S> In fact, avocados and pears must be picked in order to ripen. <S> Pears that are left on the tree will simply rot. <S> As mentioned previously... <S> brown paper bags used to be something everyone had around their house <S> so it was a commmon item before the switch to plastic bags. <S> Have you ever noticed some people like red bell peppers and not green ones? <S> The reason is due to ripeness . <A> The ripening itself is caused by ethylene gas released by the food, which is trapped by any kind of bag. <S> Plastic ziplock bags have no ventilation, so they don't work nearly as well. <A> The secret is that the fruit produces ethylene (a hormone found in plants), and ethylene promotes ripening. <S> By placing fruit in a paper bag the ethylene collects (rather than dispersing in the room), increasing the concentration around the fruit and speeding ripening. <S> About.com has an interesting article on ethylene and fruit ripening called Fruit Ripening and Ethylene Experiment . <A> More importantly, brown paper bags allow moisture to pass through, so you don't get condensation that will accerate mold growth. <S> Just leave produce on your counter in a plastic bag and witness the flexible petri dish! <S> White would probably work if it is porous enough. <A> Some types of fruit ripen with increased ethylene production and a rise in cellular respiration (the ripening fruit draws in oxygen and gives off ethylene). <S> This happens in "climacteric fruit": Apples, bananas, melons, apricots, and tomatoes, among others (citrus, grapes, and strawberries <S> are non-climacteric <S> --you can do a search for "climacteric fruit" to see which are and which aren't). <S> The ethylene produced during respiration enhances the ripening process so when we put climacteric fruit in a paper (or plastic) bag, "none" of the ethylene can escape, thereby exposing the fruit to more and more ethylene as it continues to ripen. <S> Paper bags only restrict oxygen flowing in/out of the bag while plastic prevents essentially all oxygen flow. <S> Since climacteric fruit need oxygen for respiration, closed plastic bags will limit the amount of respiration to that allowed by the oxygen trapped in the closed plastic bag. <S> Opening a plastic bag will allow some oxygen in (while letting some ethylene out)...in that case fruit will ripen faster with an open plastic bag than fruit just sitting on the counter but will ripen slower than in a paper bag because the paper keeps more ethylene in while still allowing oxygen in. <S> The short answer is that paper bags keep the ethylene trapped in the bag which enhances the ripening process while at the same time permitting some oxygen to enter the bag, allowing the fruit cells to respirate and produce more ethylene. <S> Assuming brown paper bags are the same as other paper bags, then this should be true for brown paper bags as well.
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Placing fruit in a paper bag helps to concentrate the levels of ethylene gas which is what helps induce the ripening of the above mentioned fruits (bananas/avocados, etc.). As far as I know, there's nothing inherently special about a brown paper bag, other than the fact that it's porous and thus still allows some air to get in and out.
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Is there a milk-free sour cream? Is there some kind of milk-free sour cream available, to use as substitute due to an allergy? <Q> There are cultured soy and coconut milk products (generally sold with yogurt) which can be used as a sour cream substitute; it's frequently advisable to add a little extra vinegar or lemon juice as these products don't generally provide as much kick as real sour cream. <A> Sour Supreme is one brand of soy-based, non-dairy substitute. <A> You can create many vegan variations with silken through extra firm tofus; from ricotta cheese on down to sour cream. <S> There are many recipes out there for making your own sour cream . <S> The problem with some brands, such as Sour Supreme (whose product is very authentic to taste), is that (in responding to the vegan tag) some of their products contain casein (an animal by-product). <S> If you're just lactose intolerant then full steam ahead, but if you're vegan that is a choice you will have to make. <S> Some vegans have no objection to casein or other similar trace additives, others do. <S> Some do not eat honey because it can contain animal parts, others do eat it. <A> Avoid Yoso, for some reason it is sweet, it was disgusting on tacos, I also found that both their sour cream and yogurt taste powdery. <S> As someone mentioned above there are lots of recipes for making your own using silken tofu, lemon juice <S> and I can't remember what else (I remember making one from the cookbook La Dolce Vegan that was pretty good). <S> Another amazing veg product is Vegenaise, it is a mayo replacement, but it tastes great in place of sour cream on potatoes and some other recipes, depending on what you like. <A> Vegan Gourmet Sour Cream Substitute is <S> dairy-free, casein-free, does not contain any hydrogenated oils, and is very delicious.
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The Tofutti Sour Supreme does not contain casein, and is a great vegan substitute for sour cream.
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Can you hone a knife properly by using another knife? I recall seeing this in movies. Can it be called the poor man's steel? <Q> Absolutely not. <S> A honing steel is significantly harder than the blade of a knife and is specially textured for honing. <S> Rubbing two knives together is more likely to dull or knick the blades than anything else. <S> The blade of a knife should never touch anything harder than a wooden cutting board. <S> Not glass, not granite, and certainly not steel (except for honing/sharpening). <A> I wouldn't recommend it -- it can be done, but I think it's more for show than anything else. <S> They're actually pulling the edge of one knife against the back of the other one. <S> My mom used to always use the bottom of a plate to hone (sharpen) ? <S> her knives. <S> The plates were glazed stoneware, but the bottom was unglazed. <S> We never had a steel that I can remember. <S> Most home chefs aren't putting their knives through as much work as professional chefs, and likely aren't as aggressive with their knives, so likely don't need to be as worried about honing, so long as they're following @hobodave's advice ( no glass cutting boards!), take care of them (no dropping them in the metal sink with glasses) and aren't hacking through bones. <A> you can only hone a knife against something harder than itself. <S> steel on steel isn't such a good idea, the edges are so thin that you'll damage the edge. <S> ceramic (like plates), glass, and stone are all harder than your blade, but difficult to use as a sharpening tool (although it can be done) <S> i'll validate that home cooks don't punish their knives through proper use as much as professional chefs do, but they still will need to sharpen their blades eventually. <S> honing will keep the blade "sharp" in the interim and restore a dull blade to a sharp state. <S> it's when you hone a blade <S> and it's no longer sharp than you have to get the blade re-sharpened properly - not an easy task. <S> (and another topic) purchase a steel and learn to use it. <S> it's one of the most valuable skills in the kitchen (and underused). <S> it doesn't even have to be expensive, even a $20 steel can do wonders to a $150 knife. <S> NOTE: <S> even a factory edge can be made to be sharper through careful sharpening / honing techniques. <A> Years after the question was asked, but actually you can sharpen a knife on the back of another knife. <S> I was even taught to do this by a chef when working as a cook. <S> But, you are not grinding a sharp edge on the knife, you are burnishing a slight burr. <S> This is a lot more like the way you put an edge on a cabinet scraper, though with the burr aligned with the blade rather than at a right-angle. <S> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Card_scraper <S> (I am fairly sure that a sharpening steel works this way too, they don't have an actual cutting-tool geometry) <A> No way!! <S> you should never ever use knife on knife .educate yourself in the Rockwell scale. <S> You will damage your knife no true Chef will ever sharpen their expensive chef knives on another knife <A> I always hone my knives on other knives. <S> I have a solid steel chef's knife (by that i mean no plastic/wooden handle) which is really hard, 0 elasticity, and I regularly hone the rest of the knives on it (usually smaller). <S> By doing that I actually keep that knife razor-sharp as well as all the others.
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It can definitely be done if you are used to it, especially if you sharpened your knife and know the angle.
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What's the difference between pan frying, sauteing, and shallow frying? As I understand it, all of these terms refer to cooking food in a small amount of fat/oil. What exactly is the difference? <Q> Pan frying means letting the food sit in the pan and occasionally stirring or flipping. <S> It tends to be done with larger pieces of food, and at a medium to medium-high heat. <S> Sautéing means shaking the pan back and forth - making the food "jump", if you're translating directly. <S> It's done at a high heat, for a short time, usually with thinly-sliced or finely-chopped ingredients. <S> Shallow frying, according to some references, refers to the food being partially (halfway) <S> submerged in hot oil and flipped once, as opposed to deep-frying where the food is fully-submerged the whole time. <A> I prefer the answer in wikipedia : <S> Sautéing is a method of cooking food <S> that uses a small amount of fat in a shallow pan over relatively high heat <S> And it differs from pan-frying: <S> Sautéing is often confused with pan-frying, in which larger pieces of food (for example, chops or steaks) are cooked quickly, and flipped onto both sides. <S> Some cooks make a distinction between the two based on the depth of the oil used, while others use the terms interchangeably. <S> 1 <S> [2][3] <S> Sautéing differs from searing in that searing only cooks the surface of the food. <S> Sautéing is also different from stir-fry in that all the ingredients in the pan are cooked at once, instead of serially in a small pool of oil. <S> I've never heard of shallow frying... <A> Shallow frying : <S> Food is only partly submerged about halfway up to the side of the food to be cooked and it must be flipped in between. <S> It is usually used to prepare cuts of fish meat, and for fritters. <S> Deep frying : <S> Here food is completely submerged in hot fat or oil. <S> Stir frying : <S> The food is stirred and tossed out very rapidly using wooden or metal cooking utensils. <S> I wrote a blog post with more about this : <S> Food frying methods <A> All three frying techniques are different. <S> It is different wrt the amount of oil/fat used. <S> In deep-frying , the oil should cover the whole food. <S> In short, the food should float in the oil. <S> Similar to french fries. <S> In shallow frying , the oil should cover your food till half. <S> But, your food should touch the base of the vessel in which you are frying. <S> In pan-frying , you have to use very little oil. <S> Just enough so that the oil only touches the base of your food. <S> Sauteing is similar to pan-frying. <S> The only difference is that the oil should be on medium to high heat. <S> The food has to be cooked on small pieces until they all turn brown from the outside and are cooked throughout.
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Pan-frying : Cooking in a very minimal amount of oil with partial coverage.
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What makes fleur de sel different from regular salt? Fleur de sel is the salt from the top of the pot when you heat salted water. But what makes it different from the rest of the salt in the pot? <Q> I'm not 100% sure but I found this site <S> that explains what fleur de sel is. <S> It says that Like other sea salts, fleur de sel is harvested by evaporating sea water. <S> However, to harvest fleur de sel, workers gently skim the top layer of the sea salt from partially evaporated pools, before it sinks to the bottom again. <S> These salt crystals are very fine, light, and delicate, and must be handled with care and exposed to minimal moisture, or they will clump again. <S> It looks like you are reproducing how fleur de sel is made, through boiling the water which is the equivalent to "evaporating sea water". <A> It is harvested manually <S> It is a small portion of the evaporated sea-salt produced. <S> It is a lot more expensive <S> Unless you can distinguish it from other salts in a double blind randomized controlled trial I do not think that it is worth the trouble. <S> Setting a trail up with a few friends is a lot of fun :) <A> AFAIK, the mineral content of the salt is the major difference. <S> Also, the smaller crystals of Fleur de sel dissolve very quickly. <A> There is an incorrect assumption in your question. <S> Fleur de sel (flower of salt) is not salt collected from the top of a boiling pot of salted water. <S> It's salt collected from evaporated ocean water. <S> This is important and contributes to the following differences: <S> The mineral content of the ocean is different than the contents of a pot with water and table salt. <S> So the final salt is composed of more than just sodium chloride. <S> Fleur de sel also includes calcium, magnesium, potassium, and iron. <S> By virtue of the collection method and the fact that it is not agitated by boiling but evaporated by the sun, the structure of the flake is very specific. <S> Delicate "flowers" of salt that are texturally distinct from grains of table salt or flakes of flaked salt. <S> Fleur de sel is formed in open air ponds. <S> The resulting salt contains biological material as a natural side effect of it being made outside. <S> It's a specialty product. <S> It's harvested by hand on nature's schedule. <S> The sun is the heat source. <S> Winds can disrupt the formation of the flowers. <S> It's expensive. <S> Most importantly, I just tasted Maldon flaked salt, kosher salt, and fleur de sel back-to-back while writing this answer. <S> They taste different. <S> That's probably the most important thing to note. <A> Since the salt crystallizes in a manner that produces large flat flakes it makes it ideal for finishing a dish since it offers a small textural contrast while providing good salt coverage. <S> Compared to coarse kosher salt it provides a small crunch and adds texture to the dish without being overwhelming it. <S> It's also visible versus something like a fine grained table salt. <S> It's a finishing salt though, so get some nice cheap fine grain salt for your regular day-to-day needs, and keep your fleur-de-sel in a small pinch pot to throw on finished dishes immediately before serving.
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It has finer salt-flakes as normal evaporated sea salt.
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How long do you let a steak from the fridge come up to temperature, and when do you salt it? Before cooking a steak, you're supposed to let it sit out at room temperature. You're also supposed to salt it. What is the proper timing for these steps? How long do you let the steak come up to temperature, and how long before you cook it do you salt it? <Q> In this thread , Lorenzo notes that steaks may end up raw in the center if you only leave 'em out for 10-15 minutes to come up to temperature. <S> I recommend 30 mins, but it will probably vary on what room temperature actually is for you. <S> From Weber's Way To Grill , which recommends salting right when you take them out of the fridge, here's Mr. Purviance's take on why you should consider salting early: <S> It's true that salt draws moisture toward itself, but over the course of 20 to 30 minutes that's a good thing, because the salt begins to dissolve into that little bit of moisture. <S> When the steak hits the hot grate... <S> [you] create a delicious crust. <S> Any moisture you might lose is well worth the flavor of that crust. <A> Kenji Alt has done experiments in the The Food Lab: 7 Old Wives' Tales About Cooking Steak That Need To Go Away , and determined that bringing the steak to room temperature prior to cooking does not actually have any real effect. <S> It turns out that even an hour or two on the counter makes little difference to the temperature in the center of the steak. <S> The limiting factor for browning is the evaporating all of the surface water so that the temperature can rise above 212 F / 100 C. Due to the significant energy required for evaporation, the energy required to warm the steak from refrigerator temperature becomes insignificant. <S> On the other hand, when and how you salt does make a difference in the quality. <S> The best options are to salt at least 40 minutes before cooking, or right at the time of cooking. <S> The reason is that if you salt 40 minutes ahead, the salt dissolves, and then the juices are reabsorbed. <S> With less time, there is not time for reabsorption, so you would be better off waiting until the time of the cooking. <S> Kenji's conclusion is: <S> Don't bother letting your steaks rest at room temperature. <S> Rather, dry them very thoroughly on paper towels before searing. <S> Or better yet, salt them and let them rest uncovered on a rack in the fridge for a night or two, so that their surface moisture can evaporate. <S> You'll get much more efficient browning that way. <A> I don't salt my steaks / marinades until after they've been served - just put salt and pepper on the table. <S> Salt does add to the flavour, but it also sucks out moisture. <S> By skipping the salt the steaks stay juicier and the meal is more friendly for those of us with high blood pressure. <A> I leave them out at least 15 minutes. <S> The flavor penetration is very different from salt added after cooking and the meat stays juicy. <A> I usually marinate my steaks, so take 'em out about 2 hrs before and toss them in a zip-top bag coat 'em with a fair bit of worsteshire, then add in some soy sauce, seal, massage it, and leave it on the counter. <S> Needless to say, I don't add any extra salt, but I do pat 'em dry before cooking. ... <S> Also, I'd think that what temperature you keep your home at might be a factor (which tends to be a cultural thing) <S> My kitchen might be anywhere from 65F to 90F depending on the time of year. <A> I usually take it out of the refrigerator an hour prior to cooking and salt 30 minutes prior to cooking. <S> I think I heard these numbers from a Good Eats episode, but I could be totally mistaken on where I picked up this habit. <A> I have taken several steaks basically straight from the fridge and started to cook them. <S> My observations: <S> No noticeable difference from when I let them rest. <S> Most commonly people refer to the "blood" in steak. <S> There is no blood, it is a type of protein that is mostly water-based, called myoglobin. <S> Depending on the quality, cut, and the flavor you are going for. <S> I would use at most a little S & P (Salt and Pepper), on both sides. <S> Crucial mistake people make. <S> DO NOT FLIP MORE THAN A COUPLE TIMES. <S> Constant turning is not the way to go. <S> Hope <S> this helps! <S> Cheers, Pete The Cook
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Salt the down side just before cooking and then the upper side just before turning it.
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When, if ever, are dried herbs preferable to fresh herbs? Sometimes I see a recipe call for dried herbs. If I have access to fresh herbs, should I go for fresh herbs instead? Is there any benefit in using dried herbs with some recipes? <Q> Dry rubs are one case that I can think of where dry is specifically necessary, so you can grind them up properly. <S> The main advantage to dry herbs is that they're available year round. <S> When you're dealing with winter dishes, dry herbs would've been the norm to have used at that time. <S> If you are going to substitute, you'll need to add more (typically about 3x as much, as the dry is usually more concentrated), and you'll want to add it late in the cooking process, while dry herbs are usually added early. <S> One exception to the rule is bay leaves -- you'll still need to add them early, and you'll want to reduce the number. <A> Certain herbs are very mild when fresh and do not develop their full smell and flavour until dried; e.g. bayleaf, oregano. <S> Fresh herbs generally have short storage times. <S> When substituting you typically need to add much more of the herb, as drying shrinks it concentrating the flavour. <A> I tend to go fresh whenever possible. <S> Some useful tips: <S> When using dried, crush them first. <S> I typically smash them with my thumb a few times into the palm of my other hand. <S> This helps release the essential oils in the dried herbs. <S> When using fresh in place of dried use slightly more. <S> I'm not an herb-measurer, I eyeball, but I always use roughly 25% more. <S> The fresh herbs tend to have a fresher, yet milder flavor. <S> They also give up their essential oils much easier than dried, so the oils can evaporate and cook away quicker. <S> When using fresh in place of dried, add later in the cooking process if possible. <S> This depends a lot on which herbs in particular. <S> The reason behind this is similar to the previous tip, fresh herbs are tenderer and can do a flavor dump very early in the process. <A> There is no one rule that holds all when it comes to dry/fresh herbs. <S> There is so much variation between herbs in how they respond to the drying process. <S> Basil, for instance, loses most of it intense flavor in the drying process. <S> As pointed out to some others most kinds of oregano have a very different flavour when dried. <S> Rosemary on the other hand maintains its flavour very well when dried. <S> My advice is to make the decision on a herb by herb basis. <S> The above refers to regular drying. <S> Note that freeze drying often maintains flavours of the fresh herb more. <S> It’s however not common to find freeze dried herbs in regular shops. <A> Heating herbs can discolor them - if you've seen someone put fresh basil on a pizza before baking it, you can observe what happens. <S> Same goes for sauces like tomato sauce that simmer for hours. <S> If you want the flavor to infuse into the dish you will need to use dried. <S> In addition, fresh herb flavor is more delicate. <S> If you need to supercharge a dish but don't want to change the color, use dried herbs. <A> Dry rubs are a great use for dried herbs, but fresh can be pureed to a paste and used under the skin, so they can be useful for outer seasoning, too. <S> Choosing one or the other <S> can depend on how long a dish is cooking. <S> so they're mostly useful for longer cooking dishes. <S> Also, getting a piece of dried herb that hasn't had time to hydrate & soften can be really offputting to eat! <S> Often, however, I use both- <S> dried or sturdier herbs at the beginning & fresher/more tender herbs at the end when the dish is pulled off the heat. <S> That way you get layers of flavor , not just top notes.
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Dried herbs take a while to impart flavor
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Is there an alternative to condensed milk? In Denmark we don't have condensed milk in our regular stores and I've actually only seen it in an UK-import store a few years ago. Is there an alternative to it or can you craft it with regular cooking equipment? <Q> If you don't have evaporated milk on hand either, you can make your own by slowly simmering any quantity of milk in a pan until it reduced by 60%, and then adding the sugar. <S> Source: <S> http://www.ochef.com/125.htm <S> Another recipe that sounds like a lot more work and uses powdered milk: http://www.ehow.com/how_4903555_make-condensed-milk.html <A> Mix 2 1/4 cups of blue milk and 1/2 cup of sugar. <S> Mix. <A> One recipe of mine has peanut butter as a substitute for sweetened condensed milk <S> but I don't think this is appropriate for all recipes. <S> It is convenient, as I always have some peanut butter in the pantry. <A> Condensed milk and evaporated milk have the same consistency (almost) simply because both of them are made by the same process of evaporating 60% of the water content but the similarity ends there. <S> Because sweet condensed milk contains added sugar you cannot substitute condensed milk for evaporated milk. <S> Evaporated milk is not as sweet as condensed milk.
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To make sweetened condensed milk: The best make-your-own version is to mix 1 cup of evaporated milk with 1-1/4 cups of sugar in a saucepan, heat and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved, and let cool.
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Proper ratio of Water to Rice When making rice, what is the proper ratio of water that I should use? <Q> Depends on the rice, of course - here are the most common types: White rice: <S> 2:1 Brown rice: <S> 1.5:1 Jasmine rice: <S> 1.1:1 <S> Wild rice: <S> 4:1, but immediately wash with cold water and drain when done. <A> There isn't really a simple answer to this question due to the many variables of personal preference, rice type, water hardness, etc. <S> I suggest buying a proper rice cooker: <S> Zojirushi NP-HBC10 5-1/2-Cup Rice Cooker and Warmer with Induction Heating System, Stainless Steel . <S> (I love mine!) <S> The rice cooker has precise instructions and measurements for each type of rice, even the more obscure types. <A> (except minute rice -- my neighbor once asked me your same question, and I later found out she was cooking minute rice ... <S> oops) <S> If you're going for paella, where it's a really wide dish, then I go with about 2:1, but some of that liquid might come from tomatoes. <S> If I'm cooking risotto, I tend to heat up twice the amount of stock as rice, but I might not use it all -- and <S> if I think I might run out, after adding a ladle of stock to the rice, I'll add some water to heat up <S> so it'll get a chance to warm up. <S> (and it helps to have some extra liquid left over to deal with reheating leftovers) And mentioning leftovers -- unlike @Dinah, I never cook less than 2c. <S> of rice at a time -- leftovers come in handy for rice salad or nasi goreng <S> (Indonedian-style fried rice), or to package up with whatever the main dish was for lunches the next day. <A> We typically eat jasmine rice. <S> For 2 people we use 1/2 c rice to 3/4 c water. <S> After boiling and letting the boiling settle, cook for 7 min. <A> Totally depends on the rice - I usually read the back of the bag or whatever. <A> For simplicities sake, I go for a ratio of 2:1. <S> If there's still water in the rice after it's cooked, just keep it on the heat with the lid off for a while. <S> Also - If you're going to cook rice this way, it's important that you don't stir it whilst cooking. <A> I use a 1:1.5 ratio for boiling white rice, 1:2 for brown rice. <S> My method is to add rice and water (salt) to pot, keep a lid on at all times, bring to a boil, leave on low heat and turn off heat 5-10 min before done. <S> Aways successful that way, no stirring or draining needed. <S> White rice done in 20min. <S> Brown rice a bit more tricky but cooking on low heat for 40 min. <S> should do the trick. <S> Not using a lid would let more water evaporate, thus more water needed. <S> You can fluff it up with a fork afterwards. <A> It also depends how you want to cook the rice. <S> Steaming, boiling, in the oven, pilau...
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You're better off going with 1" above the rice as a guide, if you're boiling long grain white rice, rather than a ratio of liquid to rice. The ratio depends on how processed the rice is and on cooking method used rather than rice type.
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Differences/Similarities between cinnamon and nutmeg I read a while ago that nutmeg and cinnamon are really similar and you can easily substitute one for the other. Yet many recipes call for both cinnamon and nutmeg so it seems like there must be some kind of difference. What are the specific differences between cinnamon and nutmeg? And are they significant enough to justify buying both cinnamon and nutmeg? <Q> Try to remember where you read that. <S> And then don't read them anymore. <S> If you find your nutmeg and cinnamon tasting at all similar, they've both turned to dust and should be discarded. <S> And next time, buy whole nutmeg - it tastes much better freshly-grated, and keeps much longer without turning into vaguely-spicy-bitter dust. <A> They're completely different. <S> Cinnamon is warm, woody, hot, sweet, spicy, bark. <S> Nutmeg is eggnog. <S> If you want something to taste like Christmas, use it. <S> They're both delicious, versatile, and can work well together. <S> By volume, you can use much more cinnamon than nutmeg. <S> (Equivalent amounts of nutmeg would probably get you stoned, but that's for another forum). <S> Also, nutmeg shares flavor notes and aroma with allspice and cloves. <A> Cinnamon is from the bark of a tree, and nutmeg is a seed. <S> Cinnamon is the "hot" flavor in a lot of candies, e.g. "Hot Tamales", as well as being used in apple pie and cinnamon rolls. <S> Nutmeg is more subtle, often used with other spices, sometimes including cinnamon. <S> Beyond this, let your taste buds decide. <S> And yes, it's worth it to buy both spices if your recipes call for them. <A> For once, "substitute one for the other" would imply "in equal amounts" ... which would be an obviously nonsensical and unsafe substitution - <S> if you would sub in an equal amount of ground nutmeg for the amount of cinnamon in a cinnamon-heavy recipe, you would make it a) inedible to most - that would be an insanely intense nutmeg flavor, and b) poisonous if consumed in quantity (a tbsp of ceylon (see below) <S> cinnamon to a dish would be just a tad strong, a tbsp of ground nutmeg would likely make you sick from toxicity. <S> BTW, If you plan on using cinnamon in large amounts, get something labelled ceylon cinnamon; the commonly sold ground cinnamon is actually ground cassia, which tastes a bit more intense but can, just like nutmeg, become unsafe (has far higher levels of coumarin, a substance that is found in woodruff too and is used to make ... <S> rat poison!) <S> from when using a lot of it.
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Nutmeg is "a dash of" kind of spice, while cinnamon can be mixed with butter or sugar and slathered on basically any pastry.
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Best meat replacements for a vegetarian/vegan? Let's compile a list of vegetarian/vegan meat replacements. Generic replacements: Seitan Tofu Tempeh Quorn Quorn Vegan Alternatives Paneer TVP Commercial fake meats: Tofurky (Roasts, Sausages, Deli Slices) Lightlife Morningstar Worthington Foods Boca Simple Truth (not exclusively vegetarian/vegan brand) Similar products (nutrition): Beans Mushrooms (Portobello, oyster, trumpet, so many more…) <Q> Pardon my rampant vegerianism, but the trick is not to substitue meat at all. <S> I generally get my nutrition from other sources, without using meat substitutes at all. <S> Unless I really feel like a certain recipe that I used to like back in my meat-eating days. <S> Use beans, lentils and whole grains for protein. <S> Use nuts, seeds and avocadoes (or any other fatty fruits and vegetables) for B-vitamins. <S> Use beans (again) and leafy greens for iron and calcium. <S> So, it turns out my answer is a bit Zen. <S> Sorry. <A> For many dishes mushrooms are a great meat replacement. <A> Grilled eggplant is also quite lovely. <A> Quorn based products are quite good meat substitutes. <S> As a hardcore carnivore with a vegetarian partner I was pleasantly surprised at how edible her dishes such as stir fry and bolognese sauce are. <S> The texture isn't at all strange, sludgy or bouncy and it's the closest thing to a meat texture (probably chicken more like) <S> I've ever had that wasn't actually meat. <S> Quorn is also high in protein and not much else <S> so if you're after your balance of carbs and fats you need to make sure your other ingredients are supplying them. <S> Also quorn on its own doesn't have much of a taste <S> so you need to season your dish accordingly. <A> Generic replacements: <S> Seitan: <S> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat_gluten_(food ) Tofu Tempeh <S> Commercial fake meats: Tofurkey (Roasts, Sausages, Deli Slices) Lightlife <A> If you go to an Indian store you can find 'Nutrela.' <S> It is dried soy protein. <S> Very popular in India. <S> They have chunks and mince. <S> They are both nice, but I have only tried them Indian style. <A> Baking shiitake mushrooms lightly tossed in olive oil and salt for an hour on a baking sheet at 350F leads to a quite decent flavor and texture substitute for crispy bacon. <A> I've never had meat <S> so I don't know on a taste basis how they compare <S> but I like the Morningstar foods. <S> I also grew up eating Worthington and Loma Linda brands of fake meat <S> but they are hard to find in most areas. <S> Due to cost and a desire to eat healthier, I don't eat fake meat that much anymore <S> but I still sometimes indulge in Fri-Chik or Morningstar veggie-burgers. <A> These don't really taste like meat, but burgers made from marinated tofu are nice. <S> If you freeze the tofu first it gets a chewier texture. <S> Also, fresh paneer (indian cheese) is a nice addition to vegtable dishes, or can be fried on its own: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paneer <A> I'm partial to Boca fake chicken. <S> They also have spicy chicken patties that are great (although hard to find in our area). <S> Fake chicken nuggets are great with hummus and a glass of milk. <A> Gardein makes absolutely delicious vegan meat substitutes! <A> I generally agree with the top-voted answer that fake meats should just be avoided by and large (I feel like much of the perceived ickiness factor that omnis have of veg foods comes from these (often poorly-done) substitutions), but, for personal consumption, when you've got a hankering and anything that even asymptotically approaches the real thing, I suppose they do. <S> That said, I like using TVP (textured vegetable protein) to make quick taco filling and in spagehtti sauce, chili etc. <S> I get it super-cheap from the bulk section of a local natural food store, and it makes for really quick recipes. <S> e.g. dump a cup of TVP in a tupperware container with some taco seasoning; pour a cup of boiling water over top; mix, put lid on tupperware; wait 5-10 mins. <S> You've got taco filling. <S> Similarly, one can reconstitute TVP and then mix into spaghetti sauce for a faux bolognease. <S> These tend to be things I eat a lot of when I'm cooking just for myself and am on a budget <S> (I can get a pound of (dried) TVP for ~$2, which, since TVP is super light, makes a ton!) <A> Yves has a good line of meat alternative products, including the best vegan hot dogs I've seen anywhere. <S> (I'm not 100% sure that all of their products are vegan, so be sure to check before you buy.) <S> I've used them on several occasions to make chili. <A> It is 100% vegetarian, soy free, guilt free, and gluten free. <S> Most other replacements I did like the taste or texture, but Neat was different.. <S> because I really like it. <S> I have friends who are not vegetarians and love Neat because of how healthy it is and how it tastes just like meat. <S> Check it out! <S> http://eatneat.com <S> Easy to make <S> and all you need is an egg, water and the mix they provide in there package. <S> Healthy and fast food! <A> The Beyond Meat burgers that are coming out are pretty close to meat-tasting. <S> If you weren't paying attention, you might miss the difference. <S> Not sure how many stores carry them, but the A&W fast food chain carries them in Canada as Impossible Burgers. <S> (note: my comment about sodium content probably still stands with these <S> so I would not make a frequent treat out of them). <A> Simple Truth has some very good frozen meatless options. <S> They are a natural food brand, not a vegetarian/vegan brand, so a lot of their products are not vegan friendly but their meatless options are good enough I have had to reassert to my relatives (and prove with packaging) that I do not eat meat.
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My favorite meat replacement product out is Neat. Garbanzo beans (chickpeas) make for a delicious veggie burger. If you're in the southeast United States, Publix carries vegan tofu crumbles under their Greenwise brand name in the freezer section near the Boca products.
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How do you remove the pit from a mango? I've only attempted this once, and it was a complete disaster. Can anyone provide some tips for a beginner? <Q> Hold the mango upright - so <S> the place where the stem was is at the top. <S> Turn the mango <S> so the widest side is facing you. <S> The pit mimics this same shape <S> - it's tall, wide, and not very deep. <S> Cut all the way around as though you are creating two halves, one whole piece facing you, and one facing opposite. <S> Go ahead and peel this side (using a vegetable peeler). <S> Slide your sharp paring knife between the peeled flesh and the pit. <S> As you separate a section off the pit, slice it away from the rest of the flesh. <S> If you don't use a sufficiently sharp knife, you just end up with a mess. <S> Peel the other side and slice it the same way. <S> The reason I peel only half at a time is <S> so I have something (the remaining peel) to grip as I slice the mango. <A> The pit is flat and thin and surrounded with a lot of fiber and most of the meat. <S> The best solution is to cut the mango into 3 "slices" (||), starting at the stem end, and cutting as close to the pit as possible. <S> Use a sharp knife. <S> The middle slice will have the pit and a small amount of meat and skin around the edge. <S> You can peel the skin and chew the meat at the edge of the pit, but there isn't a whole lot. <A> I haven't tried this before but I found this youtube video <S> that shows you how. <S> Cut into the mango, starting where the stem was and going around the long way, just in to the pit. <S> Reach in with a spoon and scoop around the pit, separating one half of the mango from the pit. <S> Then scoop the pit out of the other side. <A> In most countries where mangos are native, slicing a mango is anathema - they're eaten at the point at which they're 'like a woman' (use your imagination) <S> i.e. fragrant, perfumed, melting, soft and very juicy. <S> If you must slice, generally you can get 2-4 'slices' as @Crispy suggest and then, with a bib on, or best of all, in the bath, you slurp away at the hairy delight that is the stone of a properly ripe mango. <A> If the mango ripeness is right (soft but not mushy) <S> you'll get nice chunks of mango and minimum mess. <A> There are devices <S> that can make this rather arduous task easier. <S> I haven't used on personally <S> but they have been reccomended by friends. <A> I've used Alton Brown's technique for preparing mango with success before. <S> It involves cutting a disk off the top and bottom <S> so you have a flat way to set the mango down and then slicing along the pit to cut off the two big "cheeks" and then the two narrower "fingers". <S> You can either peel the mango before or after. <S> He also shows an easy way to cube the mango. <A> Separate the meaty part or cheeks of the mango by slicing slightly above where the tree stem and the fruit used to connect. <S> After separating the cheeks", get a water glass and use it to slide half a "cheek" of the mango into the glass and separate from the skin. <S> You do that without peeling the mango.
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Typically you just cut the flesh around the pit.
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Removing fat from a recipe If I see a recipe I like and it includes a marinade or sauce where butter or oil is a significant ingredient, is there any way to substitute that fat and preserve a similar taste and texture? For example, I recently cooked a citrus shrimp recipe and simply skipped 90% of the recommended oil and it tasted pretty good, but I don't know what I may have missed out on. I know fat is pretty fundamental to food, so maybe the answer is no. <Q> Fat can work as a medium for flavors and heat, to provide texture (especially in the case of emulsification), and for its own flavor. <S> Blindly removing it from a recipe may "work", but leave you with something quite different from what was originally intended - whether that's ok with you is a personal decision. <S> Rather than looking to eliminate fat, look to maximize your benefit from it. <S> Find out what purpose it serves in a given recipe, then find an oil you like that fulfills that purpose and add only as much as is necessary. <A> To add to what @Knives said -- it also affects texture and moisture in baking. <S> It's also important to remember that butter has water in it, so removing butter from a baked good might remove water vapor that's needed for lift -- and you can't just add water back in or it'll mix with the flour. <S> All that being said, in quick breads you can get away with replacing about 1/2 of the oil with applesauce or mashed banana. <S> You might need to experiment to figure out how far you can get away with it. <S> (and remember to write down what you did! <S> I'm still kicking myself for the time when the low-fat apple/carrot muffins came out perfect <S> and I have no idea what I did). <S> This will not work for other baked goods, such as those where you have to cream the butter first. <S> ... <S> Oh ... <S> and when you see butter being stirred into a sauce right at the end ("mounting" the sauce ) -- <S> it's actually being used as a thickener, which will affect mouth feel. <S> You might be able to use a starch to thicken it slightly, but won't have the same feel. <A> I think it is more important to look for what fats are in your ingredients. <S> You should avoid transfats (mostly in prepared foods) and saturated fats, but unsaturated fats are very important for your health. <S> See also this website as an example were to find information about this. <A> For a sauce, fat can release a lot of flavor and color ( tom sauce). <S> Working around that, toasting spices first before grinding and sauteeing ing in the reduced portion of oil can mitigate the change. <S> As for body in a savory sauce, onions to the rescue:sauteed in min fat to desired color then cooked in own juice slowly under lid. <S> Puree til silky smooth. <S> I've cut my cocont milk way down this way. <S> Even aglio olio.
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It depends entirely on the recipe and how it will be used.
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How can I keep meringue pie-topping from falling? Nothin' better on a hot summer afternoon than a slice of cold pie... And nothin' says "summer" like a great big fluffy meringue topping over that slab of rhubarb/lemon/banana custard. Unfortunately, mine haven't been turning out that way. They bake up nicely, but fall within a half hour of baking. I whip egg whites mixed with 1/8 tsp cream of tartar (per egg) until they reach soft peaks, then mix in 1 tablespoon of sugar (per egg) while continuing to beat until it gets stiff - then spread over the hot pie filling and bake for 10-15 minutes at 400F. Topping doubles in size, then falls as it cools, ending somewhat less impressive than it started. Any suggestions? <Q> Ironically, it could be precisely because you're trying to enjoy the meringue on a hot day that is causing it to deflate so quickly. <S> Meringue are extremely sensitive to moisture, and a humid day can wreck your meringue's volume. <S> It's best to make meringue on a dry day. <S> However, there are a few things you can do to achieve better stability: <S> Use fresher eggs. <S> Fats are the enemy. <S> Make sure you have zero egg yolk in the mixture. <S> Also, avoid hand contact, as your oils can rub off. <S> Make sure the sugar is fully dissolved, because otherwise it attracts moisture. <S> Good luck! <A> Piet Huysentruyt (a famous Belgian chef) advices to break and split your eggs, keep the egg whites in the fridge for a day or two, get them out and use them if they reach room temp. <A> I struggle with this same problem; if I omit the cream of tartar (or cornstarch), then it stays nice and fluffy, no falling. <S> Of course, then I have the problem of it "weeping," as discussed here . <A> I let the pie cool before topping with the meringue and baking.
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And yes, in meringue, moisture is your enemy!It can help you, if you bake the meringue, to put a wooden spoon between your oven door,so that the vaporized moist can escape through the narrow opening.
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How to fix food that got extra salty? I imagine this depends on what the food is. With spaghetti, you can add water or change water if you detect it on time. But what about grilled meat? Or a tomato sauce? <Q> Determine correct ratio of food to salt. <S> Add more food until proper ratio is achieved. <S> Or just serve extra beer with it. <A> I sometimes add a bit of lemon juice... works to a degree. <A> Slice a raw potato and add it to the over-salted sauce. <S> As it cooks it'll draw in the salty liquid. <S> You may need to add more liquids to keep the sauce from drying out. <A> Good practice is to under-season food when cooking and adjust the seasoning at the end if necessary. <S> It's very difficult to fix over-seasoned food at the end of cooking. <A> Spice it generously with pepper, curry and/or hot chili! <S> When's very hot and spicy you don't taste the salt as much any more. <S> But you will be very thirsty. <A> Parsley, or other very leafy stuff. <S> It's good for almost any sauce you're making, as well as pasta or casserole. <S> Probably won't work so well with over-salted meat though. <S> Perhaps a parsley and mint sauce for the meat? <A> If the curry gets too salty, adding 2 to 3 wheat flour dough rolls helps a lot. <S> It just absorbs salt the same way as raw potato does. <S> And for dry cooked food (i.e. food without curry) adding lemon juice works perfectly for me. <A> I made a potato lentil soup and used some ham base..... <S> Wow... <S> Too salty.... <S> Added a couple of packets of spllenda and two TAB of balsamic vinegar.... <S> Really helped... <S> Slightly worried about it as it gets used up... <S> Wondering g if the salty flavor will return as some evaps....!???? <S> Thinking about adding more potato to help that?? <A> Well, rinsing the pulled pork worked wonders! <S> No problem bc we wanted to add sauce to it anyway. <A> You can't remove salt from a dish once it's added, so <S> Shog9 has the only correct answer to this question: add more ingredients to dilute the salt. <S> The commonly suggested "remedy" of adding potato in various forms is only really attempting to mask the salt flavor. <S> It does nothing to actually remove the salt from the dish. <S> Any starch will lessen your perception of saltiness, hence why so many starchy dishes (think baked potato) require higher levels of salt to taste good. <S> Adding starch to the dish (potato starch, cornstarch, etc.) or serving the dish with a starch (bread, pasta, potato, etc.) <S> can lower the perceived saltiness of the dish. <S> Do keep in mind that starch is not a panacea, as parts of the dish may still taste salty. <S> Also, while starch does mask our perception of saltiness, it also masks other flavors as well, so your dish will taste blander overall. <A> Like a chef-instructor told us in one of our first classes: heavy cream fixes everything. <S> Fat coats the tongue which prevents as much salt from hitting your taste buds. <S> If you have a very heavy, fatty sauce, it will need much more salt than, say, a tomato sauce. <S> This makes heavy sauces challenging to season, but it can save your ass if you oversalt something.
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Specifically, I've noticed that adding parsley to a dish that's too salty works wonders. Specifically, fat fixes oversalting if the dish can handle more fat.
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How do you clean a seasoned cast iron skillet? I have a seasoned cast iron skillet, and I don't want to mess up the seasoning when I'm cleaning it. What do I use and what don't I use to get it back to clean? I've heard not to use soap and to make sure it is dry, but nothing beyond that. <Q> Kosher salt and a small amount of vegetable oil. <S> Scrub <S> the pan with the salt on a rag or paper towel, if there are stubborn bits mix a couple drops of oil with the salt, wipe dry with clean towel. <S> If you use a wet method to clean the pan re-heat it after cleaning to make sure it is completely dry before storing. <A> Besides what @Janelle said, for really stuck on stuff, use a similar process as you'd use to deglaze the pan -- <S> While the pan's still hot (or heat it back up if you've let it cool), and then add some cold water. <S> Some should instantly steam, and should hopefully be hot enough to boil a little. <S> (don't add so much water that you cool down the pan). <S> Scrape <S> the bottom (I use a wooden spatula), dump out the water, and if there's still lots of stuck on bits, repeat. <S> Wait a minute, dump out the rest of the water that's puddled up, and wipe with a paper towel to dry, let any remaining water evaporate, and then a quick coat of oil before putting it away. <S> update : per comments from event_jr : this technique may not be safe for carbon steel pans. <A> Another alternative is to go to an East Asian grocery and pick up a wok cleaner, which looks like a tiny little broom made of stiff sticks. <S> It does more-or-less the same thing as the coarse salt. <S> I find it particularly useful for cast iron grill pans, as it's easier to get leverage on burnt-on material than when using salt. <S> It'll cost you maybe two dollars (US). <A> Then put it on medium heat on the stove until it's dry. <S> The heat will sterilize for you. <S> Why medium heat? <S> Someone told me it's better for the pan than using high heat. <S> It sounds logical but I have absolutely no real proof. <A> I run mine under cold water and gently scrub it with a brush to remove any large stuck-on bits <S> (it's well seasoned, so nothing really sticks to it). <S> Then I stick it on the stove on high and when it's good and hot, I rub it down with a paper towel that's been dipped in Crisco or vegetable oil. <S> This kills any germs, removes any fine bits that might be stuck, and re-seasons the pan. <S> Run the paper towel under water before you throw it out. <S> If you don't, the resulting trash can fire will make you feel stupid, if not worse. :) <A> Pretty much same as all else. <S> Wash with only a brush and hot water (while the pan is still hot) to get residue out. <S> Except when I have fried something that will leave a taste, like fat fish (salmon, herring or similar). <S> Then I also use dish-washing liquid along with the brush. <S> Dry off on the stove after cleaning with water. <S> The thing to remember is that cast iron will contain small hollows which should contain fat. <S> Otherwise everything will just burn. <S> Feel with a finger if it "feels" fat. <S> Otherwise pour on some cooking oil and let it simmer in low heat for a while. <S> Swipe off excess with a paper towel. <S> /L
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We use tap water + a cheap plastic-bristled kitchen scrub brush to get all of the food bits off.
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What are the advantages and disadvantages of various sugars/substitutes? Such as: Splenda Artificial Sweeteners Sugar "In the Raw" Honey Stevia Molasses Can they be used interchangeably in recipes or do they have to be used at different proportions?Aside from nutritional differences, can I expect drastically different flavors? <Q> I can tell you a few things about artificial sweeteners! <S> Most are also sweeter than sugar (sometimes by a factor of hundreds) so in the packets, you will find that they come along with alot of other, inert ingredients. <S> I found this link for you that lists various artificial sweeteners and their properties. <S> Since most of them are nothing like sugar, you can't do certain things to them: such as heating to high temperatures or for example caramelizing. <S> The link I gave you mentions which artificial sweeteners are safe for eg. <S> baking and includes some natural subsitutes as well. <S> I'm not really familiar with their health aspects, but I found this link <S> that discusses health issues with artificial sweeteners. <S> Hope <S> this is useful to you! <A> For baking I try to use honey instead of sugar <S> where ever I can. <S> However, honey is expensive <S> so I use for recipes that needs lots of sugar rather brown or raw sugar. <S> For cooking honey works very well too. <S> It often even enhances the overall flavour when a good honey is used. <S> I personally do not use artificial sweetener. <S> I don't like the taste, and I am not sure if it is shown that they do not have unintended side-effects. <S> Especially, aspartame is very controversial in this sense. <A> The various artificial sweeteners and stevia can in general not be used to feed yeast or produce caramel. <S> Most are much sweeter than sugar. <S> They are controversial in regards to health effects, but then so is sugar. <S> The various "raw" sugars can have very different flavor profiles, as an example dark muscovado sugar often imparts a licorice note. <S> Agave syrup is somewhat "in" because of relatively low GI and should be added to the list. <A> My wife had gestational diabetes so we tried baking with splenda and nothing turned out right. <S> Splenda has no nutritional value. <S> Raw sugar is great, but it has a slightly different taste than processed sugar, similiar to brown sugar. <S> Artificial sweetners would probalby have similar issues to splenda, but I've never tried them outside of sweetening tea. <A> There's a lot of variety, mainly depending on whether you want something else that's sweet or something that's sweet and has no calories. <S> Honey, molasses, maple syrup, brown sugar, raw sugar, cane sugar, and (per above) <S> date syrup are all sweet and caloric. <S> Honey, molasses, maple syrup and date syrup are more viscous (goopy). <S> Brown sugar is just regular sugar mixed with molasses. <S> Raw sugar is like granulated sugar but not bleached. <S> As for non-caloric sweeteners, you have splenda, xylitol, reb-a (Truvia), erythritol, stevia, and aspartame. <S> Splenda is made from sugar and the most similar functionally, although it's not identical. <S> Xylitol is natural but has a cooling aftertaste that doesn't work well in many dishes. <S> Rebiana is chemically similar to stevia's active compound and sounds good but doesn't work as well as it says; it's also mixed with fillers and erythritol. <S> Erythritol is a form of fermented glucose. <S> Stevia is a plant extract that has great sweetness but a lingering aftertaste; some preparations add bulk, but the liquid itself is much sweeter by volume than sugar. <S> Aspartame (nutrasweet) is chemical death, and I recommend you cut it out of your diet. <A> Artificial sweeteners - particularly those that are "zero-calorie" - are mostly fillers such as dextrose anyway. <S> Depending which particular filler they use, it may cause unexpected results in your recipe. <S> Under the Splenda brand they offer a bulk product that (they claim) can be used interchangeably for sugar in cooking and baking. <S> We typically use it half-and-half with real sugar. <A> Use glucose sugar for confectionary making as it does not cause crystalisation as you will find <S> occurs if you use normal cane sugar
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Alot of artificial sweeteners look nothing like sugar (in terms of their chemical makeup) and have very different properties. Splenda, besides giving you the runs, is very hard to bake with.
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How can I prevent pan fried chicken from becoming too chewy? Every time I cook boneless/skinless chicken breast in a pan over the stove-top it seems to end up slightly chewy. What am I doing wrong? <Q> Simple - you're just overcooking it. <S> A very common fate for chicken breast. <A> He'll leave the breast for a few moments and the finish off in a hot pan or griddle. <S> Another factor may be the quality of the breast meat you're buying. <S> It's a bit more expensive but you should always try to source free range organic chicken meat. <S> It's way more tastier and the quality of the meat is substantially better. <A> I tend to pan-sear chicken in butter on medium-high to high heat until browned, then finish it in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20-24 minutes. <S> Results in much more tender, juicy chicken than fully pan cooking it. <A> It is to do with (1) cooking time (2) fat content of the chicken (3) <S> the way you cook it <S> Chicken breast contains little fat, and thus if cooked, it dries pretty easily and dry meat + <S> heat = chewy. <S> If you insist on the chicken breast, you can try poaching it in for example chicken stock, first, before cooking it on a pan. <S> You may also want to make small cuts into the chicken so that (1) the muscle fibres are cut in short pieces which would lead to less contraction of muscle which allows for more fluid to remain in the meat (2) more surface area for faster cooking of the chicken breast <S> If you do not insist on healthy cooking, using boneless chicken leg solves the problem effortlessly because of the fat.
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My brother's trick as a chef is to poach the chicken breast first until just cooked (i.e. as soon as you think the breast meat is cooked through and absolutely no more).
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Is there any difference between chopped and crushed garlic in cooking? Often recipes say to chop garlic, but I usually cheat and just crush it as it's quicker. Is there any difference in doing this? Will it have much of an effect on the flavour of the dish? <Q> Chopped and crushed garlic have different flavors in dishes. <S> The smaller the pieces the garlic is made into (with crushed being super small), the more pungent and bitter the flavors. <S> Several food bloggers have reported their experiments on testing the differences. <S> This sounds surprising, but members of the Allium genus (which includes garlic, onion, leek ...) are booby trapped: around the cells there is a liquid that when combined with a chemical from the cell's interior creates a series of nasty sulfur compounds. <S> The more the cells are damaged and exposed to oxygen by cutting or crushing, the more of these sulfur compounds are generated. <S> If the garlic is fried, the size of the pieces also determines how much of it browns. <S> For crushed garlic this can happen before one has a chance to add more liquid to the dish, essentially burning the garlic and imparting a bitter taste to the dish. <A> I guess it depends upon the definition of "crushed" <S> If by crushed, you mean using a garlic press, then there is quite a difference between chopped and crushed garlic. <S> When you crush garlic, no need for a garlic press, the flat of a knife and a little salt is all that's needed, you release the essential oils, resulting in a stronger flavour. <S> You can also purée the garlic. <S> It's also important to consider the type of recipe, in some recipes, such as a pasta sauce, chopped garlic is fine. <S> In Asian cooking, especially Indian cuisine, it's common practice to use minced or puréed garlic. <S> In roast dishes, using the whole cloves in the roasting tin with the meat, can produce an incredible sauce. <A> Not much in my experience, what really does make a difference is between chopping/crushing it and slicing it. <S> Sliced browned garlic gives less flavor to the dish as a whole, but remain a tasty thing by itself. <A> I find some difference. <S> It's not so much taste as appropriateness for use in the dish. <S> But this is only as a result of the surface area and also the fact that there's more of the juice is released - it tends to be wetter. <S> However it tends to burn quicker as the individual components are smaller. <S> Therefore I find that crushed garlic is better in recipes where you cook briefly or add at the end for the stronger raw garlic taste. <S> Chopped garlic is better for recipes where you're just using it to accentuate a flavour - along with onions or shallots. <S> Because it's bigger it takes longer to cook as well (not by much mind). <A> For salads, you'd want to use crushed garlic, actually i find for any dish that is serves raw garlic, has to have it super duper minced/pureed. <S> Biting on a small piece of garlic usually leaves a bit of a bitter taste. <S> in cooking, if you're sauteeing, then the garlic has to be a bit finely minced / <S> chopped <S> so it doesn't burn as easily if it were pureed in roasting, slow cooking methods, low temperature cooking, that you want to have large chunks of garlic as that'll be the only way to extract all the flavors out of the darn thing <A> I'm hoping you know the knife trick, where you put the garlic between the cutting board and the broad side of a knife, and then POW: crushed garlic. <S> A little hit for bigger chunks, a big hit for pulverization. <S> A quick dice afterwards for really fine results. <S> I like adding garlic closer to the end, which isn't the traditional way of treating it as an aromatic. <S> It imparts a lot more flavor, and if you have good garlic, it works great. <S> But I like garlic a lot. <A> Crushing garlic in a press practically liquifies the garlic and releases compounds that give a bitter metallic flavour. <S> This is very obvious when making such things as garlic/cheese flatbread or pizza. <S> Slicing the garlic gives the garlic flavour without the raw metallic taste and smell. <A> NO <S> Both will do, but crushing is easier. <A> Chop garlic if you're frying it, crush garlic if you're adding it to a wet sauce or mixture. <S> For example, I prefer to cook a Chili by frying the minced meat first and adding the garlic later - crushed garlic works well for this. <S> However if I'm softening onions and adding garlic chopped works best.
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You get slightly more taste out of crushed garlic (by which I assume you mean crushed in a garlic press).
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What is the functional difference between imitation vanilla and true vanilla extract? When baking or using vanilla, most recipes call for vanilla extract. In the supermarket you can find imitation vanilla flavoring for less money. Obviously the imitation is meant to be as close to the real thing as possible, but: Is there a detectable difference between imitation vanilla and vanilla extract? Do any issues arise in baking/cooking resulting from using one or the other? <Q> Yes, you can detect the difference. <S> How much of a difference will depend on the quality of both the imitation and of the real thing. <S> That said, it's difficult if not impossible for me to pick out the differences in baked goods. <S> So I keep both around, and use the (much cheaper) imitation stuff for baking, and the real stuff for sauces, icing, custards, milkshakes, etc. <S> Incidentally... <S> In a pinch, bourbon makes a half-decent substitute for vanilla. <A> There's one more reason to sometimes use fake extract -- you can get it in clear. <S> The real stuff is always a shade of brown. <S> Not being brown is important for when you're trying to get really vibrant colors on a cake. <S> (you also have to switch to shortening as butter tints things yellow). <S> ps. <S> For some reason, people don't like it when I respond to 'this icing <S> is really good' with ' <S> that's because it's whipped Crisco'. <A> As mentioned in a previous response, Cooks Illustrated did a test some years ago (2003, I think), where they concluded that the preferred vanilla in a taste test was some cheap artificial vanilla from a local drugstore's generic section or something. <S> They have since done further tests (such as this one in 2009 ), and real vanilla sometimes edges out the cheap artificial competition (which here came in a close second), particularly for situations where the vanilla is uncooked and generally added in at the end (e.g., custards). <S> Somebody over at Chowhound tried a similar experiment and agreed that artificial vanilla clearly won in baked goods. <S> I don't have access to the full Cooks Illustrated article, but over here <S> is another interesting claim -- <S> that is, if you want to beat out all of the commercial extracts (both real and "fake"), just make you own at home. <S> Anyhow, there have been other similar tests over the years, but I find Kenji Lopez-Alt's test over at Serious Eats to be the most interesting. <S> He tried blind tasting of vanilla sugar cookies, cooked vanilla ice cream, and simply stirred vanilla into a eggnog recipe. <S> Like Cooks Illustrated , he found that in the cooked/baked applications, tasters couldn't tell the difference. <S> It was only in the (uncooked) eggnog application that the "real stuff" edged out the competition, but here Kenji went one step further and asked about the reason -- and it was just the "booziness" of the real stuff that people liked. <S> By spiking the eggnog with a small amount of vodka to make up for the missing alcohol in the artificial vanilla, the "fake" stuff actually performed about as well as the real stuff. <S> (Incidentally, the use of real vanilla beans actually suffered a similar problem and was declared as inferior to extract in some taste applications, since it didn't have the "booziness" element of extract.) <A> In a recent Cook's Illustrated blind taste test (not sure if it was double blind), testers unanimously preferred the flavor of imitation vanilla to some rather fancy 'real' vanilla extracts. <S> You might try a blind or double blind test yourself and see what you think. <A> Also, consider using real beans for things like custards and ice cream. <S> You end up with little black flecks (vanilla seeds) but I find these add character and authenticity to the dish. <S> My rules: Cold and/ or Creamy: <S> Vanilla BeanBaking: <S> Pure vanilla Extract. <S> However, I don't do all that much dessert cooking, so I can afford the real extract. <S> I suppose if I was baking daily, I would reconsider the use of artificial extracts. <A> <A> If you want less "boozy" extract use alcohol free vanilla but due to not being extracted by alcohol it cannot be classed as an extract but a flavor. <S> Alcohol free vanilla is mainly use for icing n cake decorating. <S> I keep imitation on hand just in case I run out of extract or powder but for baking its not bad... <S> I use Vanillin sugar too <S> if ya like it use it xD
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Smell both, you'll note the difference. Both can be used in baking but some people may have allergies to vanillin
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How do you open a coconut? Without killing yourself or others? <Q> The best way to open a brown hairy coconut, not a fresh green one (assuming you are right handed, I imagine that sinister people can reverse the instructions, but I've not tried it). <S> First image <S> the coconut is a head, everything is related to this, so the visualization is important. <S> The three holes are the eyes and mouth of the face. <S> They naturally form an eyes/mouth thing. <S> you'll see that it only really looks like a eyes/mouth one way up. <S> stare into its eyes (this bit is not so important, but I like to do it). <S> Now hold it in your left palm, under its chin/where the neck would be, with the 3 holes in the coconut arranged like the eyes and mouth of a face looking out to the right, mouth below the eyes, with the hair pointing up. <S> There will be a slight 'seam' running between the eyes and back over the top of the head. <S> Then take a large, heavy knife and using the FLAT side of the knife (not the sharp edge), a meat cleaver works best, strike the coconut hard across the coconut's 'forehead', where its hair line would be, aiming to impact exactly on the 'seam'. <S> You might need a few goes to get the crack right open, but sometimes it can be done in a single strike. <S> Get this right <S> and it will crack in a straight line from ear to ear along the hair line. <S> Works a treat. <S> And usually you can use the shell for something as you get a clean break. <S> Once you have the first crack you can either prise apart or rotate the coconut in your hand and hit it a couple more times on the uncracked parts, following the same line as the first crack, to completely separate the two pieces. <S> Alternatively you can stick it into the oven for 15 mins, @400F, after which the shell should have started to crack. <S> Then you can use the tool of choice to finish the cracking, rolling pin, hammer, wrench, flat of knife <S> another coconut, whatever. <S> But where is the fun in that? <A> The easiest way is to use oven. <S> I find that 190C/375F is convenient. <S> Before placing it in the oven you should drain the water from the coconut. <S> Drilling the 2 of the 3 holes with a hammer + screwdriver works fine. <S> After removing from the oven after about 15 minutes use a hammer to easily crack open the coconut. <S> If it's not easily cracked, let rest for a few more minutes. <A> The brute force way is with a machete :) <S> However, you can also do it with a small handsaw (which is useful if you want to use the shell for something - they make cool hiding places for fishes in an aquarium). <S> Otherwise, you can split it with a wide chisel and a hammer. <A> If you're just looking to get the milk out, poke two of the "eyes" and drain. <S> Be careful because the edges can get sharp.... <A> Along the circumference of the coconut, draw line with water. <S> This creates a fissure line. <S> Then hit hard on this line with a small rock or equivalent & Voila! <S> Dont believe me? <S> Try it! <A> Here's a video of how to do it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGcG3CwqHm0 <A> When I was a child, my father would bring coconuts home. <S> He would puncture the eyes and drain the juice, then my siblings and I would run up to a second-story window and drop the coconut onto the asphalt. <S> Worked pretty well.
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Don't laugh, but find a concrete floor and quickly bang the coconut and it will split into fairly even pieces.
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What vegan substitutes are available for cheese? Suppose I want a cheesy-tasting sauce that is vegan. How could I obtain this flavor (or something close to it) without using any actual milk or cheese? <Q> Many vegans use nutritional yeast as a cheese substitute. <S> There are also "vegan cheeses" that are available. <S> However, check the ingredients closely as many fake cheeses contain casein and thus are not vegan. <S> Some vegan cheeses will melt and some will not. <S> I've never tried them in a sauce. <S> Here's a link to <S> The Vegetarian Resource Group that has more information about vegetarian and vegan cheeses. <A> I've made a soy milk bechamel with nutritional yeast. <S> It's not exactly cheese, but for foods like lasagnas and bakes it gives you a nice flavor. <S> For the sauce, you make a roux with oil and flour, and whisk in soy milk. <S> If the white color is not important, some shoyu or white miso help a lot with the blandness caused by lack of butter. <S> Otherwise you'll have to use quite a bit of salt. <S> Then just add nutritional yeast flakes to taste. <A> the cashew cheddar cheese sauce from real food daily is fantastic. <S> and the agar makes it set after it cools down: <S> http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/000685.html <S> (ps: real food daily is a restaurant in LA, their cookbook is great for vegan comfort food) <S> the sauce tastes great on pasta and my omni husband loves it with mac and cheese. <A> There are actually quite a few vegan cheese products out there that you can look into. <S> Here are my favorites: <S> Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet <S> - Easiest of these to find, in my experience, but has the least realistic flavor and texture. <S> Daiya - Reasonably easy to find. <S> (I can get it at the regular grocery store down the road, though the local co-op has it for much cheaper.) <S> Melts really easily. <S> I have personally made some really fantastic cheese sauce for mac and cheese with this. <S> Teese - Best flavor, harder to find. <S> The regular stuff is difficult to melt properly, but they do make a cheese sauce, which might be exactly what you're looking for. <S> You can also look at the products offered by Pangea , but depending on where you are, the shipping can be prohibitively expensive, as they require you to have refrigerated items shipped with a cold pack. <S> Still, if you see one you want to try, paying a little extra to order it once and then asking your local co-op to stock it is always an option. <A> I make a pretty good creamy sauce which is just cooking butter beans with garlic, onion, salt and pepper in vegetable stock - blend that until you get a good sauce consistency - add some turmeric and adjust the seasoning to taste. <S> This is good for people who cant have soy/nut milks. <S> Doesn't necessarily have the exact same taste as cheese sauce, but has a similar consistency and big filling savoury feeling. <S> Plus beans are full of protein. <A> You could also add some miso paste for extra "cheese" flavor. <S> Just blend it with some unsweetened almond milk in a food processor until it's creamy. <S> It's so easy to make! :-) <S> Or you could also buy vegan cheese at the store. <S> I made a vegetarian breakfast casserole with vegan Daiya cheese last Sunday and even my boyfriend loved it <S> and he's usually not really into vegan substitutes. <A> Tahini is known to be useful for a sharp/tangy element... incorporating smoky flavors into the sauce (smoked salt/liquid smoke/smoked paprika...) also seems to kind of help the illusion...
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I usually use cashews and nutritional yeast to make a vegan cheese sauce. My favorite is Daiya
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Why do burgers sometimes fall apart on the grill? Sometimes when cooking a burger I have had it completely fall apart for no apparent reason. Is this due to using a ground meat that is too lean? I don't add anything to the meat and don't spend too much time working the meat in forming the patty. <Q> In addition to the fat content, making sure the meat is cold while forming can help. <A> I generally find that you need a binding agent in the pattie to ensure it stays together - either egg or breadcrumbs work well. <A> I always use a patty press when I make my burgers since it compacts them really well and helps them stick together. <A> <A> Try refrigerating the patties uncovered for an hour after forming. <S> This will give the proteins time to cement together and can give seasonings time to meld. <S> Handle gently while cooking as jwiley suggests. <S> Alternately you could a finer chop or work it with your hands or a mixer. <S> The more it's worked the stickier it gets. <S> But that kind of texture might not be what you are shooting for. <S> Cheers <A> Your guess is correct. <S> Sometimes it also sticks to the grill and gets damaged while turning it . <S> You can use a bit of vegetable oil to make the grill surface less sticky. <A> How long into the process are you turning it over? <S> In my experience I try to only flip the burger once, after the side it is first cooking on is done (you can see browning on the edge of the patty). <S> If you try to flip it too soon before the meat has had a chance to fully cook on one side, the meat won't be done enough on that side to hold the rest of the patty together, and it will fall apart much easier. <S> Oil isn't going to help keep the beef together, the high saturated fats in the meat should be enough to handle this. <S> I'd suggest either using a spatula large enough to fit under the size of the patty you're making, or letting it cook longer before trying to flip.
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Freezing patties before cooking them keeps them much more solid on the grill until they're cooked enough to hold together and reduces the amount of sticking to the grill.
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When baking, is it better to use a gas or electric oven? I'm looking for an oven and wanted to know if there is any difference between a gas or electric oven when it comes to baking things like cakes, biscuits and scones? <Q> For baking cakes and breads it is important to control the humidity in the oven. <S> In early stages of baking one typically needs the humidity to remain in the baking chamber, which is hard to do with a gas oven. <S> Two of the bakeries near my house use electric ovens with brick lined baking chambers; the other uses gas. <S> Expansion Gas and electric ovens can be built to bake the same way if cost is not an issue. <S> Most home gas ovens will circulate the combustion products (mainly water vapor and carbon dioxide) in the cooking chamber. <S> As the flames burn, combustion products need to be vented out of the baking chamber. <S> Electric ovens also need vents in the baking chamber to help maintain the pressure as the air inside expands. <S> Steam is essential in the initial stages of baking for good crust formation in breads and crack-free cake surfaces. <S> The oven cavity can hold much more steam than released from the gas combustion and it is my inference that the steam content of an electric oven will be higher <S> (I cannot find published steam measurements inside ovens). <S> After the dough expansion, the vapor coming off of the dough or batter needs to removed quickly for browning and for the inside to cook well. <S> The constant flow in a gas oven makes it better at that. <S> In an electric oven a peep or two during the last baking stages will handle excess moisture. <S> Two bakeries near my house use electric ovens, the other, which makes excellent French baguettes, uses a gas oven. <S> The baker there has had both electric and gas ovens and he prefers the caramelization of the gas oven. <S> But note that he can handle the moisture problem with the steam injector of his professional gas oven. <S> He also noted that using gas ovens require skill as they have temperature and moisture quirks. <S> Recipes may be adapted to either gas or electric ovens. <S> In the US the majority of recipes are designed for the electric oven (they're more popular). <A> Gas as it burns gives off a certain amount of water vapour and doesn't dry out the ingredients as much <S> and it may take slightly longer to get a golden brown finish. <S> There various schools of thought about this. <S> One thing I have noticed is that many professional kitchens still employ gas over electricity, but this may be due to economics rather than for effect. <A> The reason dual-fuel range/oven combination units are so popular is because (generally) a gas flame for the range is preferred, while the dry, even heat of an electric oven is preferred. <S> Also, though I cannot quote a particular source, the heat of an electric oven is supposed to be more consistent than gas, presumably because of the more easily controlled heating element. <A> Whichever oven you use accuracy is one of the most important feature for cooking - invest in an oven thermometer to make sure the thermostat is set correctly. <S> To even the temperature in an oven (reducing fluctuations from cycling) put a pizza stone or thick unglazed tile on the bottom rack of your oven. <A> First and foremost, add a pizza stone to your oven. <S> You could even use unglazed tile from a hardware store. <S> The extra mass will prevent oven temperature fluctuations. <A> As a baker of 23 years i can tell you, with electric oven <S> you have control over botom heat and top heat as you need for some products where a gas oven you dont have. <S> If you are making just bread great,however lots of other things need higher bottom heat than top such as sweet doughs so it will not be black on top! <S> And if you are using Tins! <A> I would say either, but do consider a convection oven. <S> The keys to baking are: Accurate temperature. <S> Even heat. <S> Humidity. <S> A couple of links on convection ovens. <S> http://www.finecooking.com/articles/convection-ovens.aspx <S> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convection_oven <S> There are a number of posts on the forum recommending the use of oven thermometers and also keeping a pizza stone in an oven. <S> These recommendations help achieve the goals of accurate temps and even heat. <A> Gas ovens always browned my moms nut rolls and there were no cracks. <S> My Aunt makes hers in an electric oven and the outside looks yellow and anemic and dry, not moist. <S> Give me gas for baking and browning anytime!
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Electric ovens produce a very dry heat, which for some cooking processes may be preferable.
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What safety precautions should be taken when attempting to flambe at home? Is this one of those things that unless you've been taught by an experienced person and you know what you're doing you probably just shouldn't try? If I did want to try, what precautions should I take? Is this a valid cooking method or is it mostly just done as an impressive visual effect? <Q> Flambe is a valid cooking method. <S> It allows you to flash off most of the alchohol from your chosen liqour but keep the flavour. <S> I'd suggest that you have a wet towel at hand or a fire blanket in your kitchen if you're going to embark on this cooking technique as a first timer. <S> Also don't run your extractor fan above the cooker if you're using your hob. <S> You have the potential to draw in bigger flames and ignite any grease present in your filters or pipe to the outside world. <S> My brother worked in a professional kitchen where this happened. <S> They couldn't get the extractor turned off for a while due to the resulting fire and they managed to light up a good length of the extraction pipe to the outside. <S> It was like the after burners on a jet engine. <S> There was a fire appliance involved that night. <S> Ultimately it's all about common sense because fire and alcohol are a fairly dangerous combination. <A> It never ceases to amaze me, the number of people who don't have one in their kitchen. <A> Kev's answer mentions the most important aspects, but I'd like to add another observation that I believe is very important. <S> Do not pour the liquor straight from the bottle into the pan. <S> Not only is it very easy to accidentally use too much, there also is a risk of the liquor or its fumes catching on fire earlier than planned. <S> This can happen especially easy with gas hobs because there's an open flame nearby. <S> If the liquor would happen to ignite while pouring, you'd much prefer to have a small container of it in your hand rather than a molotov cocktail. <S> So pour out the proper amount first away from the fire, preferably into something that won't shatter easily if dropped or heated, then close the bottle and put it away. <S> Then when ready to flambé pour from the small container. <S> Spectacular <S> though it may look, it is not something that only the most experienced chefs can attempt and is really not that hard. <S> Oh, and keep the pan at a slight distance during the whole process; it's not the time to hover over it and smell the aromas. <A> In addition to what other answers mention, I'd also recommend using a long match or a lighter with a long stem (as used for lighting fires). <S> You don't want your fingers close to the pan when the flames start. <S> If you watch the pros do this on a gas stove, they'll often tip the pan slightly to get the gas from the stove to ignite the vapor above the pan to get things going, but I'd caution against trying this at the outset. <S> It's harder to tell precisely when the flames will erupt, and without practice, it's possible to tip the pan too far, potentially spilling flaming liquid onto the stovetop (or the floor, or yourself). <S> I've also personally found that family members and guests like to hover around the stove when you do something like this, as it's not something they see everyday. <S> Be sure to keep them at a safe distance (and preferably practice once or twice on your own before doing it with a large audience).
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Make sure you keep a fire extinguisher handy, and make sure that it works. Just use some commons sense, think carefully about your actions, make sure proper precautions in case of trouble are in place before starting and stay calm if things don't seem to go well.
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Can cheesecake be cooked without a spring-form pan? I don't have a spring form pan but I watched a show where they seemed to cook their cheesecakes in regular pans. Is this possible or did I just not notice that they were in fact spring form pans? I like cheesecake but don't really have the space to add another specialty pan to the kitchen, so any alternatives would be worth considering. This is referring to a traditional baked cheesecake. <Q> Alton Brown says never to cook a cheesecake in a springform pan. <S> He uses a regular pan and lines it with parchment paper so that the cheesecake won't stick to the bottom. <A> You can buy precut parchment rounds for the bottom, and you can cut a 30 x 3" strip of parchment to line the sides of the pan (I line the whole thing - makes it come out easier, and WAY cleaner - looks picture perfect when it's done). <S> I use Crisco to "glue" the 30 x 3 strip to itself (not the pan) <S> so I don't have to hold it in place when pouring the batter. <S> The key is after it's set for a long time in the fridge (at least 8-9 hours), to cover the top with parchment too, that way when you flip it it doesn't mess up the top at all. <S> Then just use something to pop it out onto. <S> I use a cardboard cake round, and "pop" the sides and bottom of the pan with my hand or a butter knife handle, it takes a little practice. <S> You may want to run the knife around the pan on the outside of the parchment lining too, that helps. <S> Take the parchment off the cake and flip it back over onto whatever you want to serve it on. <S> I used to do springform, but once I got the hang of this, I'll never go back; it produces a much better end result. <S> And you can make it taller too because a regular cake pan is slightly deeper that most springforms of the same diameter. <A> Even a non-stick pan without parchment paper is fine. <S> Just cut it like brownies. <S> You'll definitely need to adjust down cooking times given that your cheesecake will be a lot less thick, but be careful in doing so, especially if trying to add a brownie layer. <S> If you start making cheesecakes regularly, however, I strongly recommend a springform pan for 3 reasons: 1) <S> It's more traditional and improves presentation 2) <S> It's standard, so it's more compatible with recipes <S> 3) <S> A springform can more easily be fit into a water bath, which is, IMO, the best of all methods for making cheesecake. <S> (and if surrounded carefully with foil, it will rarely leak, and even if it does the crust will provide some protection) <A> No, you do not need a springform pan. <S> I make both savory and sweet cheesecakes all the time. <S> You also don't always need a water bath, or a crust. <S> Then pull out and cool. <A> In my experience, the best cheesecake is made in a glass pyrex pan, 9 or 10 inches, if you can find it or most likely have it or your mom or grandma or aunt. <S> Bake it on 300 degrees, making your own graham cracker crust with unsalted butter, vanilla, and sugar, using 16 to 24 ounces cream cheese, 2 to 3 eggs, one half to three quarter cups sugar, real vanilla, fresh lemon juice, baked 40 to 60 minutes depending on your oven, on the rack, then, take out of oven, let cool 10 minutes, top with sour cream, vanilla, sugar mixture, put back in oven 5 more minutes, let cool complete, cover, put in fridge at least 12 hours. <S> Serve totally naked, please do not ruin with toppings, and enjoy. <S> The beauty is the cheesecake taste, not how it looks but how a cheesecake fanatic ends up eating the whole darn thing. <S> No springform pan, no parchment, just a pryrex glass round pie dish, old as the hills which I'm hopeful you have and no waterbath. <S> Oops, I just also Just gave you a receipe that is simple and very much sought after. <S> Enjoy <A> In addition to springform pans, there are also non-spring removable-bottom pans, e.g.: https://www.amazon.com/Ateco-Aluminum-Removable-Bottom-3-Inch/dp/B000FEM2XO <S> In use, they look like regular cake pans. <S> They're simpler to make and use, and they don't wear out. <S> Most commercial bakeries use them rather than spring-form pans. <S> The downside is that they leak more readily, since the bottom isn't locked in place. <S> That's fine for a cheesecake: the crust will prevent the filling from leaking (and the filling is usually too thick to leak much anyway). <S> They are inappropriate for cooking in a water bath -- unless you wrap them in aluminum foil, which you really should be doing for spring-form pans anyway. <S> They're superior to regular cake pans for cheesecake and other cakes that are too fragile to turn over, since you can just pop them right out when done, and you don't have to fuss with a spring. <S> If they didn't turn the cake over to remove, they may have been using a removable-bottom pan. <A> I do a lot of baking, from cupcakes to cheesecakes, but one thing I struggle with is getting the cheesecakes out of a normal, pan even a glass pan. <S> I found out that you could butter the pan before doing anything in it and you can flip the cheesecake over and it comes out nicely.
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I always make mine in a 9 x 3" Fat Daddio's anodized cake pan. Alton Brown's cooking method is probably one of the best, just a regular pan, in a water bath, or without, cook at 225-250 for 1 hour, then turn off the oven and let the cheesecake sit in it for another hour. You can cook it in a regular pan.
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Onion soup: How to chop the onion and what kind of cheese to put in it? What is your preferred type of cut for the onion in onion soup? And how do you put the cheese? A deep chunk submerged in each plate, on top? What kind of cheese do you like? <Q> When I make French Onion soup <S> I slice my onions very thin. <S> It also helps to use a small onion so the pieces aren't so wide. <S> For the cheese I use gruyere cheese. <S> It should be grated. <S> In order for the cheese to cook properly you need to have some stale french bread. <S> It should be toasted lightly on both sides and then sliced fairly thin. <S> Then you place the bread on top of the soup and then the grated cheese on top of that. <S> Next put the soup in the broiler so that it melts the cheese. <A> The cheese typically used is the French Comté but a good substitute is Swiss gruyère or even Swiss Emmenthal. <A> I prefer chopped onions, so you know you're eating onions. <S> The onions, if cooked long enough will be quite tender. <S> A smaller cut, say diced, won't hold up well once the stock is added; you'll get a pulpy soup rather than onions in stock. <S> For the cheese, any melting cheese works. <S> I prefer a medium cheddar, grated over the top and melted under the broiler. <A> I sometimes chop my onions, and sometimes slice. <S> If I slice them, I slice them in thin wedges, pole to pole. <A> I've had a very good response to a "french onion" style soup where I've used a combination of leeks (yes, leeks!), red onions, white onions and shallots, all chopped to about 1-2mm in thickness.
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In the classic recipe the onions are chopped, personally, I like mine very thinly sliced. As for cheese, I use a good Gruyere.
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What are some good substitutes for salt for those on low sodium diets? I try to keep my sodium intake fairly low to ensure that my blood pressure doesn't get too high. Salt is such a common part of cooking, and it's especially difficult to cook Asian-style food without a lot of salt due to its reliance on salty sauces such as soy sauce, oyster sauce, etc. I have tried salt substitutes such as potassium chloride but that can be particularly nasty on the palate, giving the food a chemical taste. What are some good substitutes for salt in food? <Q> There is no substitute for salt. <S> Sorry. <S> It has effects on the tastebuds and the body that cannot be replicated. <S> However! <S> They can be approached to a degree that most people will find interchangeable. <S> Acids can mimic the flavour-enhancing qualities of salt in a big way. <S> The more acid you have in a dish, the less salt you will need. <S> Beware of going too far, of course, as too much acid is just unpleasant and will need salt to counterbalance. <S> Heat--as in capsaicin, chili peppers--can produce much the same effect. <S> Echoing papin's information above; NA and K (sodium and potassium) exist in balance in the body. <S> Too far in one direction and you have a heart attack (too much K), too much in the other and <S> (if memory serves; I could be wrong) <S> you essentially drown (or is it edema? <S> I can't remember). <S> If avoiding sodium is related to a health concern, please speak to your primary healthcare provider before adjusting your diet in this way. <A> Our taste buds are tuned for salt (NaCl), but potassium chloride (KCl) comes pretty close in reproducing the sensation. <S> There are a few commercial salt substitutes that incorporate KCl ( Nu-salt , Morton Salt Substitute in the US). <S> As sodium is an essential mineral and potassium may be hard to get out of the body, make sure you ask a doctor before completely eliminating salt. <A> When my doctor told me to start cutting my salt intake, I headed to the spice aisle at the grocery store and bought every "salt-free" blend they had and started trying them. <S> It was one of the best things I did, because I discovered how much I'd been relying on salt for flavor and how inadequate that was. <S> I now buy my spices from The Spice House (much fresher than the grocery store) and really like quite a few of their salt free blends . <S> Most spice suppliers have a similar category available. <S> Buy a bunch and start substituting when you would otherwise use salt. <S> Some of the experiments will be fabulous, some not as much, but rarely are they actually bad. <A> I use lemon juice and vinegars to approximate saltiness in foods. <S> Lemon juice works particularly well in soups. <S> I use 1/4 cup of lemon juice as a flavor enhancer in pots of soup of eight to 12 cups. <S> Obviously, this is a subjective measure, and I'd recommend adding the juice by the tablespoonful, tasting the soup, and then adding more juice until you achieve the level of "saltiness" you want. <S> Vinegars take experimentation because they tend to be stronger and there are so many different kinds, but I like to use them with sautéed vegetables. <S> Malt vinegar is particularly good on roasted potatoes and french fries (I also add it to my baked potatoes before adding other toppings). <S> Oh, and because broth is so common in cooking as a flavoring component (and store-bought broth is so high in sodium), I recommend Herb-Ox Low Sodium Bouillon in packets because, while it's not as tasty as homemade broth, it's convenient to use when one only needs a little bit of broth. <A> Most of the time you use salt for making the food taste better. <S> If this is the purpose, you can substitute lots of different spices and herbs. <S> I cook Asian-style food without the usage of any salt. <S> Instead I use a lot of garlic and onions. <S> Ginger powder is quite good enhancing other existing flavours what salt is sometimes used for. <S> Otherwise, it depends on the particular flavour you want to create. <A> If you have high blood pressure, then you may be looking for low-sodium salt. <S> LoSalt is the only brand I've ever sampled and there is no obvious taste difference. <S> If, on the other hand, you are looking to add a little taste variety to dishes, then you might try fish sauce, soy sauce or anchovies. <S> Using parmigiano-reggiano or dashi will also give you the umami flavour. <S> All of these however have a high salt content. <S> Avoiding salt altogether, you might try various herbs and spices. <S> Really anything will add flavour, but sage has a certain saltiness, as does vanilla for sweet dishes. <S> You might also try a little lemon juice or vinegar in sauces. <A> If you are used to eating a lot of salt, you may first need to accustom your palate to enjoying the natural, un-salt-enhanced flavours. <S> You may initially find that you're missing the "salty" taste itself. <S> The cure for this is just to wait for your palate to re-adjust. <A> Lime juice, tamarind paste, vinegars, mango powder, sour yogarts are what I use with a little as possible of table salt.
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Lemon juice, spices, or other pungent/aromatic ingredients are a good way to keep your dishes flavourful without salt.
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How thoroughly do you need to clean the inside of a chicken before baking it? My wife's family breaks apart the inside and cleans out what is in between the bones. My family just rinses the inside and then bakes it. Do you need to be super thorough when cleaning a chicken or is the baking process going to kill all the bacteria? <Q> Providing you don't leave anything unpleasant inside the cavity a good rinse under the tap is good enough. <S> As you surmised, the process of cooking the chicken will kill all the bacteria. <S> Just make sure it's cooked correctly :) <A> America''s Test Kitchen just tested this. <S> No need to wash at all. <S> Pat dry and cook away. <S> Any and all badness will be killed in the cooking process. <A> No special cleaning needed. <S> In fact, I'd imagine that the germs on the surface in the cavity would get killed by the heat long before those near bone and covered by thick muscle. <S> If you are starting with the whole bird, check out http://butcherachicken.blogspot.com/ . <S> (Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like.) <A> My mother always poured boiling hot water through the vaity, from bum to neck and a good shake of salt as well. <S> This will definitely clean it, and cooking kills the bacteria.
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Assuming you're buying from a grocer or butcher (as opposed to gutting it yourself from scratch -- in which case, see below), as long as you cook it sufficiently, the heat will kill the bacteria in the cavities the same as it does the bacteria in the muscle.
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Does it take a special type of blender to make smoothies? Or am I just doing it wrong? I have what I consider a typical blender that you might find in any American kitchen. It's a glass container with a cross shaped blade. The problem I have is that pieces often get underneath the blade and don't get blended at all. With smoothies in particular as well, if it's too thick the blade tends to spin too fast and keep everything pushed out to the sides and not actually blend. This is mostly a problem if trying to make a thick milkshake. I have tried adding in thing like fruit while the blender is going in hopes that it wouldn't make it to the bottom without being blended but that doesn't seem to work really well. I've been reduced to blending multiple times (starting with a small amount of well blended material and slowly adding in the "chunks" from the previous attempt while the blender is running), but that is fairly time consuming. <Q> Ahh, the complexities of blending. <S> Have you tried pulsing the smoothie? <S> Short bursts tend to stir up some of the stuff that sneaks below the blades. <A> I find that I can great smoothies with a small stick mixer as it gives me better control. <S> If you don't have one you also try pulsing to mix things up <A> I make a smoothie every morning for myself and my wife to take on the drive to work, and I've yet to have anything get caught under my blades - so although I don't have a specific answer to your question, I'll relay my process and see if it helps :) Night: <S> Take out 20oz fruit and put in fridge. <S> Generally, 2 fresh bananas and a couple large handfuls of pre-bagged frozen fruit from our local warehouse store. <S> Allow to defrost overnight. <S> Morning <S> : Put 10 <S> oz vanilla soy milk, 3oz yogurt, 3 <S> oz greek yogurt into blender. <S> Pour defrosted fruit on top. <S> Blend on lowest setting for about 15 seconds, then increase speed every 5 seconds until I'm at the top speed. <S> It takes me about 3 minutes to get my dogs' food ready, so <S> I just let it run the whole time I'm doing that. <S> Pour, enjoy! <S> I forget our exact blender model, but I know that it's slightly squared off, not completely rounded, and it also came with a food processor attachment <S> so it's decent with a relatively strong motor, but far from professional or Blendtec-quality. <S> Even though I'm not working with frozen fruit, the smoothie is plenty cold between the dairy ingredients and the refrigerated defrosted fruit. <S> But, if I want a thicker/colder smoothie sometimes I'll throw a little ice in as well. <A> I had the same problem, and found that if you freeze the fruit beforehand it doesn't mush itself under the blades as much. <S> I also generally start blending on high and, as the smoothie gets more blended, work down to lower and lower speeds. <A> Stuff seems much less likely to get caught; the blade that came with it was almost useless as it would just cavitate under the food and spin uselessly. <A> Maybe you need to invest in one of these: <S> Blendtec :) <S> I have a Kenwood Smoothie 2GO . <S> It's pretty effective and I don't find ingredients getting stuck under the blades. <S> Make sure you get one that has one of the blades that points down, this catches ingredients that sit below the blade quite well. <A> It's best to add the juice before the frozen parts so that you prevent that the bottom gets icy, cold and sticky. <A> I tip the blender over at an angle and shake vigorously giving a pulse of power when stuff has moved around enough. <S> It works well. <S> I should probably add that I am using a stick type with a bowl attachment <S> but I would do the same with a table top blender.
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I have an Oster blender, and bought a special ice crushing blade for making smoothies.
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My Baba Ghanoush is too watery I tried cooking Baba Ghanoush for the first time and though tasty I didn't quite get the expected results. It was watery instead of creamy like the ones I had had. I used equal parts of eggplant and tahini and a bit of lemon juice and garlic. Now I wonder if I used too much eggplant or I didn't cook the eggplant enough as it was like a sponge full of water when I cut it. How much time and at which temperature should I bake the eggplant? Or is there some external sign to know it's ready to be used for Baba ganoush? To me it looked and tasted "well done" as it was. <Q> Sounds like you didn't roast sufficiently or not sufficiently hot. <S> The outside should be really charred, and the inside will be not so watery. <A> I slice my aubergines in half lengthwise and prick both the skin and cut sides many times with a knife. <S> Then grill them on a slightly oiled baking sheet, turning them over half way through. <S> The slashes let more of the juices out. <S> The skin should be very black and you can scoop the flesh away from the skin with a teaspoon. <A> I leave my eggplant whole but prick it all over. <S> I then roast it for about 55 minutes on 170 degrees c. <S> You should turn it over about half way through the cooking process. <S> Once cooked, you can remove the skin. <S> As the previous writers said, the skin should be very black and wrinkly. <S> This will give the eggplant a smokier taste. <S> I haven't added tahini before, as I tend to make a Persian version where I combine the eggplant with Greek Yoghurt, salt and a couple of cloves of crushed garlic. <S> The ratio is about 1.5 cups of cooked eggplant to 500ml yoghurt but this depends on your taste. <A> When you say that you added tahina, was that a prepared tahina or straight sesame paste? <S> The paste will set-up even a very watery aubergine (why pour off any juice?).
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Another alternative is to cook the eggplant on a BBQ grill (reduce the cooking time slightly) although this is only best if you have a lid.
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How does the way that I cut my garlic affect the taste of my food? I've seen recipes that called for coarsely chopped garlic and recipes that called for finely chopped or minced garlic. What affect does that cut have on the final taste of my dish? What about crushed garlic? <Q> @Adam A is close -- it's not an issue of surface area on potency, it's an issue of damage to the garlic. <S> The 'strong' taste of garlic comes from a reaction as chemicals are released so they can mix (alliin and alliinase) <S> When you cook the garlic whole (as you would for roasted garlic), you will never get this reaction, as you'll break down the chemicals. <S> Also, the chemicals break down over long cooking, so even if you add a head of crushed garlic at the beginning of a batch of slow-cooked tomato sauce (4+ hrs), it's not going to have as strong a garlic flavor as adding a clove or two at the end. <S> One other way that the garlic prep can affect the taste is when you're sauteing, stir frying or other cooking over high heat -- larger bits can be cooked longer before they burn ... and burned garlic is bitter, acrid and will ruin any dish. <S> (if you burn garlic, stop immediately, trash everything, clean the pan, and start again -- there is no way to save it that I know) <A> More surface area means more taste. <S> The more cuts, the more potent the garlic flavor will be. <S> You also are more likely to get some variety on each bite (which I think can make a dish more interesting). <A> @Joe said most of the thing I could, but maybe let me add some more information in terms of cold marinades and eh, perhaps, sous-vide cooking. <S> Cold marinades - Larger garlic coarsely chopped, provided that it is not cooked, allow for a fresh release of garlic flavor on chewing, this may be a desired or undesired effect. <S> Otherwise one can consider Fine, minced garlic paste for the job, which is usually easier to control. <S> Sous-Vide cooking <S> -if <S> you do it, you should be able to know, but just in case, use very small amount of garlic paste or powder if you plan to use garlic, anything more than a slight pinch would result in disaster. <S> I learnt it the hard way. <A> I've found that recipes that call for coarsely chopped garlic fully intend for you to get a mouthful of garlic to chew down on -- where garlic is a "star player" in the dish, whereas a recipe that calls for a bit of minced garlic is usually looking for garlic to play a more "supporting role" in the dish. <S> There are, of course, exceptions to this, but I'd be willing to bet that 9 times out of 10 <S> this would be the case. <S> Not exactly as scientific as @Joe's response, but it's an alternative way of thinking about the big pieces of garlic in a dish. <S> They might not flavor the whole pot as much, but if you get that one bite with the whole clove, you're definitely going to taste it!
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It also affects texture and homogeneity - if you're coarsely chopping the garlic, you're going to feel it when you bite into it.
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Soup is too salty! I made a mistake with my lastest batch of chicken soup, and it's too salty to eat. Is there any way to save it? <Q> Peter Martin at Chef Talk suggests adding sugar or cider vinegar. <S> He also mentions the old potato trick but says it's not effective for him unless it's only slightly too salty. <A> Make a second batch of Soup and under salt it, then mix them. <A> A trick that works sometimes is to put a potato in it and cook it a bit. <S> It'll tend to absorb some salt and not give flavor out. <A> Add water and/or unsalted chicken or vegetable stock... <S> though depending upon how over-salted your soup is, you may not be able to rescue it without a significant amount of added liquid. <A> It's the only way to save soup that's too salted. <S> Nothing else works. <S> If you need to thicken it up after mixing, use smash powder packet, and add accordingly. <A> Strain soup and set solids aside. <S> Put salty stock in a lg, by at least half, pot. <S> Add handful of parsley, couple quartered onions, celery butt (end) and heart with leaves, 2 or 3 chopped carrots, 2 med. <S> Peeled potatoes, quartered and small chicken that you cleaned. <S> Bring to a boil, reduce and summer a couple hours. <S> DON'T SEASON. <S> when meat is falling off bones, strain. <S> Pick meat off and mix in. <S> Freeze half th is in qt containers. <S> Add your solid from the early salty soup. <S> Now taste for seasoning. <S> Should be fine now. <A> Perhaps just more water , more chicken stock ? <A> Adding a bunch of parsley to the soup and cooking it for another hour <S> or so will usually work. <S> Parsley tends to soak up the salt somehow, at least flavour wise. <S> I'm not sure how it works, but it works for me. <S> Especially if I've been using fake chicken stock powder (it's we use instead of <S> chicken stock in my vegetarian household). <S> Anyway, a proper Jewish chicken soup should have parsley in it, so why not add more? <S> That's what my granny taught me. <A> I find it is easiest to: remove about 1/2 of the solids with a slotted spoon (meat, vegetables, noodles, beans etc.) <S> place them in a strainer or colander and give them a quick rinse under warm or hot water, next remove 1/4 of the broth and replace it with water <S> (You can save this broth if you want to use in future soups but please label it to not use alone nor with additional salt), add an additional 1/4 of the original amount of other seasonings (except no more salt, this includes no garlic salt or onion salt) add the rinsed meat and vegetables back into the pot and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes to give the flavors a chance to blend. <A> I made the mistake of using all the drippings from baked ham in making soup and it was much too salty. <S> I followed the advice from DebraMN and spooned out all the meat and vegetables from the pot, rinsed them well with warm water and drained them in a colander. <S> I poured out half the broth and added back plain water. <S> In tasting the vegetables before adding them to the pot I found that the rutabagas I'd used were very salty <S> so I fished out as much rutabaga as I could and then added the meat and veggies back to the pot. <S> I added around 2 tsp. <S> sugar and 2 Tbsp. <S> Cider vinegar to what was approx. <S> 2 qts. <S> soup. <S> I did add two quartered raw potatoes and simmered for about an hour and that helped some but the rutabagas really seemed to have absorbed the salt and the soup did turn out tasting <S> pretty darn good.
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Make another batch with no salt added to it, then mix the two batches together.
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How can I make macarons with "feet" in my oven at home? I've tried many macaron recipes, and all have tasted very good. The problem is they always end up as a meringue, or looking like cookies. They usually don't have the "feet" that macarons are known for. My success rate on every recipe I've tried is about 1 in 6. Does anyone known what my mistakes are or know a recipe that easily makes macarons with "feet"? <Q> http://joepastry.com/index.php?title=troubleshooting_macarons&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 <S> The point of leaving the cookies to sit on the pan is to dry out the skin so it'll solidify better. <S> I'd suggest resting longer (up to 50 minutes) or using a hotter oven. <A> The key to the feet, <S> according to the cookbook I used , seems to be letting the mix rest for at least an hour before baking at 145C for 10 to 15 minutes depending on the size. <S> This method did yield some pretty nice feet, though my first few batches also had a bit too many cracks to look perfect. <S> Note that I'm assuming you mean the type of macaron pictured on the book in the link above, since there are many variations. <A> I have the same problem. <S> During my experiments I found out that the cooler the dough is before you put it in the owen, the better. <S> The trick is to work fast, work with it as little as possble. <S> Also, I use food processor with metal bowl for mixing the dough (Kitchen Aid Artisan). <S> Before I start mixing, I fill the bowl with cold water and let it cool for few minutes. <A> these can be cooked as high as 180 deg ,time will depend on the size you make them humidity will only affect the drying time for the tops.or mabey <S> try raising the oven temp 20 deg to allow for the drop in temp when you are putting them in to cook this can be a common fault with baking good luck <A> Did you leave your macarons out to dry after piping them, before putting them in the oven? <S> They need to be left out about 1hr (depending on humidity) until they develop a skin and do not stick to your finger when lightly touched. <S> You should mix the almond flour and meringue just enough to get a 'lava' consistency. <S> Keep scooping up with the spatula as you are folding in the flour to test if the batter would droop down. <S> Once it starts to droop down in a thick ribbon, stop mixing. <S> My first batch of macarons had no feet too. <S> I overmixed and didn't wait for them to dry. <S> On my second batch I resisted overmixing, and allowed the macarons to dry before baking, and they turned out beautifully. <A> Most of the recipes/info I've read says humidity plays a big factor in these. <S> Definitely don't make on a humid day and try to have as 'dry' a kitchen as possible when you start these. <S> The fridge might be too wet of an environment to let these dry out. <S> Also, all the recipes I've read say to let the eggs "cure" on the counter for at least 24 hours. <S> To be fair - I haven't had much luck with these <S> but I only tried once and <S> it happened to be a crazy humid day. <S> Of course I read the "no humidity" bit after my somewhat sad results. <A> The Bouchon cookbook (page 310) recommends letting them rest at room temperature for 1-2 hours "to dry the tops", which I believe helps the development of the feet (the tops raise during cooking and the feet stick out). <S> The instructions in that book are detailed and have worked really well for me (even on my first try). <A> Letting them sit and dry is very important. <S> If it's more humid that day I turn the ceiling fan on on medium and leave them on the table under the fan for 30-60mins. <S> That helps A LOT. <S> They dry very nicely.
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i think your oven is not hot enough, if you have dry to touch tops, it should always pop the base. Overmixing can also cause feet to not form.
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What is the best way to store stock in the freezer? What is the best way to store stock in the freezer? I can think of ice cubes and plastic bags, but am looking for other ideas. Also, what would be the optimal portion size? <Q> Just spoon it into the tray and throw it in the freezer. <S> Easy! <S> Keeps very well, and makes it very easy to portion out later. <S> The OXO product is my favourite, but it's not too hard to find generic substitutes at any superstore. <S> Try to find one with a soft bottom <S> so you don't struggle for 5 minutes trying to get the cubes out and then scraping the sides for all the bits you left behind. <A> I don't like ice cube trays as the only freezing method, simply because of portioning -- I typically make large batches of stock, and I only have so many ice cube trays. <S> So I make a few different sizes, which are mostly just based on things I have, <S> and so I have a variety of sizes when I need it: <S> Gallon zip-top bags : fill about half way, close all but a corner, remove all of the air you can, seal, lay on sheet pans so they don't freeze in strange shapes. <S> Small bread pans (I think they were sold as 'mini loaf' pans, they're about 1/4 to 1/3 the volume of a 'standard' loaf pan, maybe 2-3 cups each Freeze, release, store in zip-top bags with as much air removed as possible. <S> Ice cube trays (for when you only need a Tb for a sauce, or when you just need to cool down a bowl of soup quickly without diluting it). <S> I've also been known to use muffin tins for freezing things that I'll be using about 3/4c. <S> at a time. <S> (eg, pesto) <S> Oh -- <S> and of course, for the plastic bags, you'll want to cool the stock down first. <S> I don't tend to refrigerate it first, as I use enough bones that it'll go gelatinous on me if I do. <S> I cool it down to near room temperature through use of a cold water bath <S> (I put my stock pot in the sink, then fill the sink with cold water and ice, and stir every few minutes) <S> I've never checked the freezing time of stock from hot / cold (Mpemba effect), but I'd be reluctant to put large volumes of hot items in my freezer .. <S> so maybe ice cube trays, but the rest I cool before freezing. <A> I use quart ziplock bags. <S> I fill them fully, and freeze them on their side on a flat surface. <S> I also often use 1 pint plastic takeout containers. <S> I have found that those two sizes nearly always are the right amounts for me. <A> I find the 250ml ideal portion for myusual needs. <S> One-use dozes are very cheap and Idon't have to care about cleaningthem. <S> They are also much thinner <S> andthat saves a lot of space in thefreezer. <S> Rectangular shape also saves space. <S> The stock doesn't really need to becovered with a cap. <S> As soon as itfreezes, it doesn't matter. <S> Buthaving a cap allows me to pile themup. <S> Again, this saves space in thefreezer. <S> My friend - a professional chef - has another method. <S> But it requires some equipment: <S> He puts the stock into a plastic bag. <S> Then he uses a machine that sucks all the air from it and seals it. <S> He freezes each flat bag individualy. <S> Once they are frozen, he stacks them. <S> This allows optimum use of freezer space. <S> When he needs to use the stock, he just cuts the bag open and break the frozen stock into pieces. <S> It's easy, because the slices of frozen stock are very thin. <A> I usually put 500 ml portions in a quart zip-lock bag and put the bags in a bread pan to help retain their shape while I freeze them. <S> But I recently bought some "tovolo king" silicone ice cube trays for freezing portions of baby food (about 100 mL per cube) and found that they're also good for freezing small portions of stock or broth. <S> Since they're silicone, it's easy to peel the mold off of the cube after freezing. <S> (I freeze them and then bag the cubes.) <S> The 500 mL bags are nice when I need a few cups of broth and the 100 mL cubes are nice when I need smaller portions. <S> They also make a smaller tray of 1 oz cubes, which are useful when you need a small amount of stock to finish a sauce. <S> (I also use them for leftover coconut milk.) <A> Plastic quart and pint containers.... <S> the kind frequently used for Chinese take-out in the US. <S> Inexpensive. <S> Reusable. <S> Microwave safe. <S> Dishwasher Safe. <S> Can write on with Sharpie... <S> Sharpie wipes off for new label.
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When I want to freeze portions of almost anything liquid (including stocks and sauces), I use a covered ice cube tray like OXO Good Grips . I store my stock in 250ml one-use rectangular dozes with a cap.
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What are the best potatoes for baking? What are the best varieties of potatoes to use for baking with a roast that will give a nice golden brown finish on the outside? [Edit: to clarify, I'm from Australia and we don't really distinguish between baking and roasting potatoes. What I'm referring to here is "roasting" potatoes to be eaten with a roast lamb or beef] <Q> Your clarification means a lot -- "baked" potato in the U.S. tends to be a whole potato cooked on its own, where the insides become fluffy and creamy, and is done with larger starchy white potatoes, or sweet potatoes work well, too. <S> Roasted potatoes, on the other hand, tends to be (in the U.S.) be smaller "new" potatoes, waxy potatoes, or even larger starchy potatoes cut up (eg, 'oven fries'). <S> The starchy potatoes only really hold up well when roasting if it's very high heat or a short amount of time -- if you're going to be cooking them with the roast as there's going to be moisture in there, I'd go for a waxy potato (eg, Red Bliss). <S> As for the browning -- probably coat them well with oil, and if they're not brown enough for your liking when you pull the roast, as you're going to have to rest it anyway, drain the meat juices, crank the oven up to somewhere around 450F (230C) and leave the potatoes in for a few extra minutes. <S> ps. <S> yes, I know a sweet potato isn't a potato. <S> And I also tend to use Yukon Gold for just about everything, as it makes great baked potatoes, and roasted potatoes (although, not sure how well with a roast at the same time) <S> and they're good in pot roast and stews if you don't add them too early. <A> Roasting (baking) <S> potatoes have a higher starch content than potatoes that are, for example, used for boiling. <S> They also tend to have a coarse skin. <S> In the UK/Europe I'd choose Desiree, king Edward or Maris Piper. <A> Your title and question seem to be a bit at odds. <S> At least in the US, a "baked" potato is typically a large, starchy potato served whole with a variety of optional toppings such as butter, salt, sour cream, chives, etc. <S> Russet is what you would see most commonly. <S> For boiling or cooking with other foods, a starchy potato would fall apart. <S> Instead, you want something more toward the waxy side of the scale, such as Yukon Gold. <S> There are some red potatoes that fit here too, but I can't come up with a name for them at the moment. <S> Waxy potatoes tend to be smaller than starchy potatoes.
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I'm not overly familiar with potato varieties from the US, but I know that Russets and Goldrush are both very nice roasting potatoes.
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What are good references for Gluten free baking I have several members of my family who are GF. Baking for them has become a real challenge. I'm looking for good references to learn to understand how to work with this limitation in my baking. What are good references (online or print) for good GF baked goods? <Q> This is a very subjective question. <S> For example: I find the recipes on Gluten-Free Goddess to use excessive Xanthan Gum (bouncy balls do not make good cupcakes). <S> That being said I highly suggest you start with the basics and make your own flour to learn the balance of how different flours effect the texture and flavor of baked goods. <S> A few good books with recipes (and discussions) about gluten-free flour are: Gluten-Free Quick and Easy <S> The Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy <S> Although I don't have personal experience with The Gluten-Free Gourmet <S> Makes Dessert or The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread , I do trust Bette Hagman enough to suggest them as potentially good resources. <S> There are also a number of gluten-free flour mixes available which can be used as flour replacements in regular recipes to achieve gluten-free results: <S> Pamela's Baking mix Arrowhead Mills Gluten-Free flour King Arthur Gluten-Free Multipurpose Flour <S> Just a warning: Be careful! <S> Many mixes say that they are 1-to-1 replacements, however they contain baking powder and sugar, so can cause things to go wonky. <S> Additionally you need to understand that most gluten-free flours don't hold moisture as well as typical wheat flour, and you have to replace the elasticity provided by the missing gluten (for some recipes the prepared flour mixtures take care of this for you, however you may still need to tweak things). <S> While I can suggest that you use meringue to help give cookies structure without having them crumble when picking them up, or that you use apple sauce in cakes to keep them moist. <S> A lot of this kind of information comes from simply understanding the science of cooking (and baking). <S> Suggested reading includes: On Food and Cooking BakeWise <S> Honestly there are a lot of resources out there and google is a great way to find them. <S> If, however, you have specific questions about what went wrong with a recipe this is probably a better forum for that question than this current one. <A> This is an excellent site to learn about gluten free baking: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com <S> I have personally tried many of the recipes and they have been excellent. <A> A handful of resources my wife (who is gluten-intolerant) suggested: Gluten-Free Girl Gluten Free Gobsmacked Books by Bette Hagman <S> One concern my wife mentioned (especially for others who come across this question who may not be aware) about non-gluten-free people preparing food for gluten-free people is the awareness of cross-contamination. <S> If your kitchen is not completely gluten-free, you have to be very careful to segregate anything that may have had exposure to any flour, bread, etc. <S> This includes things like spreads, tubs of butter, and the like that people frequently use with bread. <S> The best bet is to buy all your ingredients fresh, and keep them in a separate tote or shelf so that they cannot ever get mixed up with potentially-contaminated items. <S> The same goes for baking dishes, utensils, and other food preparation surfaces. <S> So, if you're making peanut-butter cookies, use a fresh jar of peanut butter. :-) <A> I believe it is important to consider that those who are cooking gluten free are often under a considerable amount of pressure to learn new cooking techniques in a short amount of time, as they are working with unfamiliar ingredients. <S> Finding reliable resources is often difficult. <S> A supportive and understanding environment is essential on this topic as the complexity of the diet is overwhelming to those who are just starting out. <S> http://www.livingwithout.com/ <S> The above link is an excellent resource for anyone who is interested in cooking for those with Celiac Disease or Gluten sensitivities. <S> Often those on a GF diet have multiple food allergies and sensitivities, this resource takes that into consideration, providing a wealth of information and recipes. <S> The site and magazine offer simple and delicious GF baking recipes. <S> The comprehensive approach on the subject of baking GF made it possible for me once again enjoy fresh baked goods in my own home. <A> In the book, they discuss the advantages/disadvantages of different pre-made gluten-free 'flour' mixes (as some worked well as flour replacements for some types of recipes, but not all ... <S> so one good for bread might not be so great for brownies or cookies). <S> They discuss some of the issues with wheat flour replacements (off tastes, too dense, too crumbly, no browning, overly starchy, etc.) <S> and things you can do to counteract them. <S> They have a lot of gluten free recipes, including one for making your own flour replacement. <S> They discuss using different hydration levels to reduce grittiness, adding powdered milk to improve browning, using potato flakes as a binder in recipes instead of bread crumbs. <S> etc. <S> (I'd list more things, but I gave my copy to a co-worker who's gluten free).
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Yes, this is an old question, but the book's new -- America's Test Kitchen's " How Can It Be Gluten Free ".
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I want to make my own cheese. How do I get started? I've seen people do their own mozzarella and it seemed easy. Any tips on how to get started (equipment, ingredients, recipes)? What about blue cheese and other stronger cheeses? <Q> Making Mozzarella is not fantastically difficult, but certain things during the process are critical, probably the most important is temperature. <S> These will provide you with all the important items you needm such as rennet. <S> If you feel brave, then you forego the kit and dive right in. <S> For Mozzarella try to find Buffalo milk, which is what 'proper' Mozzarella is made from. <S> It's lower in cholesterol than cows milk, has more protein and makes a much richer cheese. <S> If you can't get Buffalo milk use the best full fat, non-homogenized milk you can find. <S> Here's a recipe I've used before MOZZARELLA <S> Here's a link with the differences between Buffalo milk and cows milk <S> Cow Milk vs Buffalo Milk <S> Whilst it's quite possible to make virtually any variety of cheese at home, some cheeses, such as blue cheese, require a place to develop at the correct temperature and for quite long periods of time. <S> ideally, this would be a temperature around 10c with a humidity around 70% and a time for maturing at around 2 to 3 months. <S> Here's a good place to start: http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/cheese/blue_cheese/blue_cheese.htm <A> Ricotta would be a good first cheese to make. <S> It is a fresh cheese so doesn't need any aging, you can make a batch in all of about 30 minutes with very simple ingredients and the taste difference with store bought is spectacular. <S> There is a question that has several answers with ricotta cheese recipes (including one I've used) <S> Making (or substitute for) ricotta cheese? <A> I've actually had success making a soft cheese using kefir fungus to turn the milk instead of rennet; this has the advantage that you don't need to keep buying more. <S> After you've fed the fungus, keep the produced kefir in the 'fridge for a night. <S> Dilute with fresh milk, no more than 4:1 milk:kefir, and keep the mixture at room temperature for another night. <S> Heat to ~30 degrees, and keep at that temperature, stirring occasionally, until it turns - could take as long as half an hour or so to start, but once it goes it goes pretty quickly. <S> Drain through sterile cheesecloth or muslin to separate the curds, then proceed as usual. <A> Doing mozzarella at home is quite difficult. <S> The hard part is doing the curd (coagulation of milk with rennet or an edible acidic substance). <S> This is a common requirement for doing almost any kind of cheese, and although it may seem not so difficult, it is actually very hard to do a satisfactory curd. <S> This is the reason why the most easy cheese to do at home (ricotta) is actually not a cheese! <S> You can however try to buy from a dairy some curd to "practice" at home.
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If it's your first time making cheese, you might find the buying a 'starter kit' the easiest way to get up and running.
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What's the best way to store potatoes and maximize their shelf-life? What's the best place and way to store potatoes so they keep fresh longest? <Q> Best thing to do is to keep them out of the light in an cool dark dry place. <S> I usually put them in a hessian bag to try and keep the moisture away. <S> Don't store them in the fridge or anywhere that gets direct sunlight. <A> The starches in the potato will start to break down into sugars at temperatures below 7 degrees making for a darker, more bitter tasting result after frying or roasting. <S> Many people say that you shouldn't store potatoes in the fridge. <S> If, like me, you have a compartment in your fridge that goes above 7 degrees, I believe it is reasonable to keep them there despite common misgivings. <S> Air circulation is important according to one internet source to "remove the products of respiration". <S> The first article I linked to seems to suggest that you can store potatoes at lower temperatures for a few months. <A> I recently bought this jar to hold potatoes. <S> It has holes in the bottom to allow a little bit of circulation. <S> So far I am very happy with it.
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A cool, well ventilated cellar would be the ideal place to store them. Potatoes should be stored at temperatures between 7 and 9 degrees C (45 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit).
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A vegan alternative to Quorn? It seems that almost all meat replacements in the UK have eggs. Are there any good vegan alternatives? <Q> Also see @Pulse's answer. <S> Check out the China town for 'vegetarian food', they have all sort of fake meat from chicken to beef, from abalone to fish, all made of modified tofu fibres. <A> (Just a little time consuming.) <S> My measurements are not metric, so if anyone can translate, I'd appreciate it. <S> Bring to a boil about a gallon of water. <S> Add to that any particular flavors you like. <S> I usually add dried basil and oregano, some vegetable broth (about a cup), vegan worchestershire or soy sauce, and dried minced onions. <S> While waiting for that to boil, take one cup of wheat gluten. <S> Add just about a cup of water and mix until combined. <S> You'll have a ball of sticky dough. <S> Put that ball under running cold water for a minute, then knead underwater for five minutes. <S> You'll end up with something firm and rubbery. <S> Drop into the boiling broth. <S> Watch it for about five minutes to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot, then leave it to simmer for two hours. <S> That's all! <A> In the UK, you may want to have a look at the Vegan Society . <S> They endorse a range of products which can be recognized through their sunflower logo. <S> I'm rather fond of products made by a company named The Redwood Wholefood Company , they produce quite an interesting range of vegan meat substitutes, including ready-to-use slices. <S> You should be able to find these products at a wholefood shop; Hollands & Baretts carry them sometimes (and they may have other vegan offerings as well). <A> What about Tofu <S> It's essentially the coagulated soy milk, pressed into blocsk. <S> It's great in all kinds of recipes, especially Asian dishes, it really absorbs the flavours from the rest of the ingredients. <A> <A> Along Pulse's lines, seitan may work well. <S> Depending on the dish, sometimes I prefer seitan's texture over tofu. <S> In the US, you can find it in many health food stores in the refrigerated section, often by tofu, and sometimes regular grocery stores if you're lucky. <A> If you are looking for lunchmeat sliced thingies, I recommend the following companies: Gardein Tofurky <S> Yves <A> GO TO HOLLAND AND BARETTS <S> they are soooo good. <S> They also do lots of vegan cheeses, ham, pepperoni. <S> It depends what holland and barrett store <S> you go to some also have fresh pasties and sausage rolls etc. <A> For mince my favourite is Sainsbury's own brand. <S> They use eggs in other meat-like products but not in the mince soya protein. <S> It is by far the best I've tried and is about £1.5 for a whole bag. <S> You find it in the frozen section. <S> You can find them in most health shops and at online at Ocado.
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Get the vegetarian's choice sausages and burgers they are vegan and their texture is far better than anything i've tasted before. Seitan is good, and very easy to make at home. Quorn have introduced some vegan products themselves since that question was asked (as of 2017). For everything else Fry's Family is my first choice.
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What's wrong with using spin dryer to dry lettuce? I love lettuce salad. I eat it very often. I bought a spin dryer, which I find very handy and I use it all the time. But recently I heard Gordon Ramsay saying that you should never use a spin dryer, that it will destroy the lettuce. Is that true? How is it destroying the lettuce. I don't see any difference between spin-dryed and un-spun lettuce. <Q> I think the thing boils down to how much you need to get from the lettuce. <S> If you demand the best of the best performance for your salad, you want to blot it dry with paper towels, so that the texture is best preserved and the appearance is undisturbed. <S> For my purpose, in my kitchen, a salad spinner saves money (the paper towels), time ( my time), and allows me to do something more interesting than blotting it dry, and the time saved can be used to better decorate the dishes I love better than the salad. <S> In essence, there is nothing wrong with any method of cooking if you enjoy the result, and it doesn't involve health problems. <S> Thomas Keller also told us that after vegetables release the flavors in the soup we should discard them, and replace them with fresh cooked vegetables with better colors and better flavor for better presentation. <S> In my kitchen, I am not serving a Michelin 3-star soup to my family, and thus it is fine having those vegetables in the soup for some more fibres in our diet. <S> It is a matter of fine dining, it is not a matter of home kitchen. <S> Insist if you have to, but relax if you actually can. <A> It may refer to the use of lettuce in salads with lots of sauce or with very dense sauce, because it probably loses resistence (it'll break more easily.) <S> This is just a guess though. <S> Still, if you use it and like the results you get why stop using it because Gordon Ramsay says so? <A> A reason, I don't do it <S> is that I usually store the leaves in the fridge and eat them over a period of a week and more. <S> For that, I don't want them to be damaged mechanically, as even very small fractures rot a lot easier (as I also wrote in this post of mine ). <S> Since I'm way too lazy to blot it dry with paper towels, I just (very) carefully shake the water off after rinsing and then leave them in a sifter for an hour, arranging them in a steep angle with the leaf stalk pointing downwards so the water can drip off. <A> You could also wash, shake, angle (as above) and then roll the leaves up in a clean floursack (dishtowel used for drying delicate glassware), which preserves the leaves beautifully. <S> I generally remove the towel after a day or two and the leaves can last for a good few days longer.
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Spinning it dry is fine for me, and if you accept the result, there is little to hesitate using one.
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Slow cooking without a slow cooker I frequently hear people telling me about how wonderful their slow cookers (AKA "crock pot") are. In many cases they're right - meat that tends to come out tough in normal cooking comes out very tender from a slow cooker. But do I really need a slow cooker to pull this off? It seems like such a basic concept - simmer and/or steam at low heat. What's so special about these devices? For kitchens with very limited space, can a slow cooker be "synthesized" from other cooking implements, or is there really no substitute? <Q> Your best bet would be a dutch oven on a low to medium low heat in the oven. <S> You could use a regular pot in the oven, but you'd need to stir it regularly (maybe every hour) to stop everything from sticking to the sides and burning. <A> I don't believe there is anything that can be cooked in a slow cooker that can't also be cooked by conventional methods, in a casserole dish, with the same results. <S> The most important question is how to prepare the ingredients correctly. <S> Any cut of meat, if not treated correctly, can turn out 'tough' or 'rubbery' <S> so the first thing to do is get to understand how to prepare meat. <S> Believe me, it's not as simple as it sounds. <S> There are also downsides to slow cookers <S> , some of which have resulted in hospital cases through poisoning, simply because the slow cooker wasn't able to supply enough heat. <S> Vegetables loose more nutrients through slow cooking as well as their colour. <A> update <S> : @JulesLT's comment remind me of something -- before everyone had ovens in their home, and you'd take your stews and the like to the town baker to throw in his oven after the morning's bread baking was done, you might seal the dish with bread. <S> It doesn't have to taste good, as it's going to be thrown away, but you mix flour and water into a dough, then roll it into a strand that you can press into the top rim of the dish, then press the lid on. <A> I quite frequently cook thing in my oven (electric). <S> I simply place the meat in a oven-proof pot along with water. <S> Usually so that it just covers the meat. <S> Then place the oven at around 100˚C/212˚F and wait 4-8 hours. <S> Has worked like a charm so far. <S> Just consider the state of your oven if you dear this. <S> And make sure there if enough of water. <S> I also make sure that the lid is quite tight-fitting, so that if the food-stuff would attempt to take fire there will not be oxygen enough to sustain a proper fire. <S> Remember that when you cook meat first it's undercooked. <S> Then overcooked, then through-cooked. <S> When the ligaments and filaments starts to turn soft. <S> Good <S> luckLeif <A> Well, I've never tried but this is on my to-do list: Cook Your Meat in a Beer Cooler: <S> The World's Best (and Cheapest) <S> Sous-Vide Hack <S> The results seem to be very similar. <A> The thing with slow cooking, is that the temperature (for meat, at least) should be stable, and not fluctuate. <S> You can create your own, more portable and expandable sous vide equipment quite cheap: http://seattlefoodgeek.com/2010/02/diy-sous-vide-heating-immersion-circulator-for-about-75/ <S> An oven probably can't be used, as the temperature in an oven changes too much (100C setting on the oven might mean that the real temperature in the oven changes between 90C and 110C). <A> The key to slow cooking with a conventional oven is making sure the dish is piping hot before you put it in. <S> If you have an oven on a low temperature it will never get the dish up to temperature and wont cook it properly. <S> Make your casserole on a hob, get it all hot. <S> Then put in your casserole dish and in the oven. <S> (I usually use a casserole dish that can also be used on the hob). <S> You can then put your oven on its lowest possible setting and almost leave it as long as you want. <S> I often get the ingredients together in the evening, boil it all up on the hob in the morning, then put it in the oven all day whilst I'm at work. <S> Usually around 12 hours in the oven. <A> If the recipe is a small quantity (stew for one person), you can use an insulating container like a Thermos . <A> I found this book at my local library. <S> Her method is actually patented. <S> It's slow cooker-ish in that everything goes into one pot - dutch oven - all at once. <S> Layering ingredients correctly is the key for the meat to cook while also cooking the veggies but not over cooking. <S> Cooking time is less than an hour . <S> So far I tried the Pot Roast and it worked as advertised. <A> I have a Hamilton Beach 18-quart roaster oven. <S> You can use it as all those things (with accesories) and I love it. <S> Hope this helps you out.
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I'd go with @lomaxx's suggestion first of a dutch oven (or any heavy oven-safe pot or crock with a heavy lid) in the oven, but the trick here is either thermal mass or insulation to help even out the temperatures in the oven that @jmoeller mentioned, and keep the food temperature from fluctuating significantly You might be able to get decent results with a lighter weight pot by adding thermal mass to the oven (pizza stone, bricks, etc.), but I've never tried it for this purpose -- only for baking. Sous vide can also be accomplished with a PID temperature controller , a simple, electrical heatplate and a regular pot or a rice cooker with an analogue switch ( link ).
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How can I tell if fish is fresh? I love fish, and I love cooking it. The thing is, I don't have any idea how to buy fish. Considering common fish in a grocery store (salmon, whitefish, tuna, grouper, etc.), how can I tell a good specimen from a bad one? When the difference is not clear, which way should I err? Is there any different set of criteria, when I'm buying fish at an outdoor market? <Q> the skin/scales should be bright and shiny like metal <S> this fish shouldn't really smell of anything except 'watery' the flesh should rebound quickly <S> when pressed the eyes should be bright and clear really fresh fish is also quite slimey to touch if it's straight out of the water. <S> I remember being quite surprised at this from my first fishing trip a few years back. <A> If you can and if you like fish don't buy your fish at a common grocery store (unless you buy frozen). <S> The places nearby where I live all smell fishy and that's not a good sign. <S> Of course you don't want to be driving for hours, but if you can find a place known for selling fish and with plenty of customers, chances are that the fish will be fresher. <S> For a fillet, really your only hint is whether it just smells at most like the flavor of the fish and not fishy. <S> Other than that <S> , follow the advice on other answers. <A> A few tips. <S> Look at the eyes first, they should be clear and convex (a slight outward direction). <S> If the eyes are cloudy, walk away. <S> Also look at the gills, they should be bright red, not a dark brick red. <S> Finally, smell it. <S> It should smell clean or a little briny, anything else is suspect.
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As a rule of thumb for a whole fish, and not a fillet - the gills should be bright red
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Which is better to sauté with, stainless steel or Teflon? Lots of times in recipes, they'll specify using a stainless steel pan, but I find the non-stick aspect of Teflon to be an advantage. Is stainless steel really better, and if so ,What about it makes it a better choice? <Q> Also, you can get uncoated steel a lot hotter than you can get teflon (which will break down -- it's basically plastic). <S> So you can sear meats at a much higher temperature than you can cook them on teflon. <S> For some things it doesn't matter, like sweating vegetables, but anything where you want to get some real heat involved to develop browned flavors, you're better off without the teflon. <S> A good compromise is well-seasoned cast iron, which you can heat incredibly hot, and stuff doesn't really stick to it much. <S> Those pans are cheap, too, and last forever. <S> On the other hand, if you're cooking eggs, you definitely want the teflon, or cleaning the pan will be very frustrating! <A> The advantage of using stainless steel is the fond (tasty brown bits) that form in the pan. <S> It both flavors whatever you are sauteing and is often used as the base for a pan sauce. <A> As a follow-up to Harlan - I do my eggs in either a stainless steel pan (scrambled and poached) or an enamelled omelette pan (which is technically a kind of non-stick) - which cleans like a dream. <S> Which is to say, I don't even see the need for Teflon for eggs. <S> The only cleaning difficulty is if you leave eggy residue in a stainless steel pan - <S> but at least you feel you can attack it when cleaning, without fear. <S> Caveat : I've not spent the same money on non-stick cookware, and I am pretty good at having cooking accidents like putting an empty pan back down on a ring that is still on - the kind of thing that destroys non-stick coating. <A> There is a common misconception in the stainless steel vs. non-stick discussion that one of the two must be "better" than the other, but this doesn't necessarily have to be the case. <S> It is perhaps more constructive to frame the question in terms of which is "more appropriate" for your regular cooking style. <S> Stainless steel and non-stick cookware both have different strengths and shortcomings, but each one can prove equally beneficial when used in the right way. <S> Give this article a quick read for information about the differences between the two and the sorts of situations in which each type is more appropriate. <S> For example, stock pots and sauce pans generally do not need to be non-stick, as their contents will most often be liquid-based. <S> Frying pans, on the other hand, often benefit greatly from non-stick coatings, as they usually take a lot of the hassle out of cooking dry ingredients. <S> While you don't necessarily need both types of cookware around, it does improve the overall usefulness of your kitchen and will leave you ready to cook just about anything.
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Usually, a combination of stainless steel and non-stick cookware is the best way to cover your bases in the kitchen.
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How much salt should I add to a dish? I find it hard to figure out how much salt to add to dishes. I'm always afraid I'll make it too salty. Recipes always call for salt to taste, but what does that mean? Is there a good rule of thumb? <Q> I've noticed that salty food has somewhat of an addictive quality; people who eat a lot of it (i.e. fast food or other processed food) tend to bury their meals under a mountain of salt, whereas people such as myself who do a lot of home cooking hardly use (or want) any. <S> "Season to taste" means pretty much what it sounds like; add however much salt (and other spices) <S> that you, personally, like the taste of. <S> If you have a habit of eating a lot of salty foods, then you might want to add a little less than that, for the benefit of people like me who gag at heavily-salted foods. <S> If you use a lot of other spices, you won't need much salt - a few shakes of the shaker is enough. <S> If the food is basically bland aside from the salt (and maybe pepper), then you'll need to use more. <S> The best thing to do is add a little, then taste, and repeat as many times as it takes to get the flavour you want. <S> If the food you're seasoning is still raw (and can't be eaten raw), then just put in a small amount the first time you make it and keep track of how much table salt you needed to add. <S> Just remember, you can always add salt later, but a dish that's too salty is permanently ruined. <A> Salting food has a predictable trajectory. <S> Think of it like a roller-coaster. <S> /\ <S> At first it's not great <S> , then it's great, then it's not great again. <S> Food with no salt will taste one-dimensional and flat. <S> The flavors will not "pop". <S> Add a little salt and the taste of a dish will start to both integrate and become more complex. <S> With the perfect amount (differs by palette), the dish will just taste great, with all flavors easily identifiable and balanced (this partly depends on getting other elements of the dish right). <S> As you oversalt somewhat, the dish will begin to have a sharp but one-dimensional quality, an edge to it. <S> Some people like this. <S> It is what many people become addicted to. <S> As you go beyond this point, the dish begins to taste like, salt. <S> It has a briny quality that will make your mouth uncomfortable. <S> As many have mentioned, it's a lot easier to make something more salty than less, so add salt gradually and regularly . <S> Few beginning cooks know that adding small amounts of salt multiple times enhances the cooking process, allows flavors to meld, and lessens the likelihood of oversalting all at once. <A> It's a little more complicated to ask how much. <S> Different people have different palates, depending on what they're used to. <S> But more importantly salt doesn't just make stuff taste good. <S> We shouldn't jut sprinkle it on the end of a dish. <S> Otherwis <S> the dish just tastes... <S> Salty Salt affects the water balance in the cells, it can plump up moisture ( brining a turkey- brings in other flavour, and it can remove moisture ( salting sautéed mushrooms extracts more water, creating more browned / flavorful mushrooms. <S> Salt a little at various stages of your cooking. <S> Err on the side of caution. <S> And season at the end- to taste. <S> You'll end up with a much tastier, more complex flavor profile. <S> And you'll likely use less salt as well. <S> Unfortunately, there isn't much replacement for experience in this area. <S> With experience, you know exactly how much salt to use, which type of salt, at which time. <S> Practice and screw it up a lot. <S> In the interim, just keep trying General rules though:Foods served cold need more salt. <S> A properly seasoned hot dish will be under seasoned when cold Starches absorb salt - potato salad needs to be salty, the next day it will be less salty Or potatoes in a stew will suck out the salt, <S> you'll need to reseason For these reasons, chefs always season their mise en place, then when finishing the dish, alwfays check the seasoning. <A> I would say it depends. <S> Some recipes need salt to work. <S> If you use yeast, you need salt to control the gross. <S> If the usage of salt is for taste, I first look if I can use a healthier substitute. <S> This depends on the particular dish, however, since in my family we all like hot spicy food, we usually do not need any salt. <S> Instead we enjoy the healthy benefits of turmeric, ginger and other spices that even make the food tastier than with salt. <A> Salt to taste means exactly that. <S> You add a bit, taste it and then repeat the process until you like the result. <S> Of course that once you've done the process a lot on different dishes, you will have a feeling for how much to use and you'll have to repeat the process less or even skip it completely, but what's the fun of cooking without tasting. <S> For things you cannot taste and repeat (like when cooking meat on a grill) <S> my taste is to add a pinch on each side of the meat, evenly distributed. <S> No way to tell what's yours <S> so... <S> Rule of thumb: It's best to err on the side of missing salt than the other way around, so be shy. <S> At worst you'll have to use salt on the table to fix it, but it'll be edible. <A> Salt to taste. <S> As others have written. <S> Add a pinch of salt. <S> Stir. <S> Wait. <S> Taste. <S> Repeat. <S> I use very little salt for myself, so <S> my rule of thumb is that when I start tasting <S> it's salty , I'm done. <S> My wife need far more salt than that.
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The idea is that you shouldn't have add too much salt to get it right. We really should season as we go.
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Why is sugar a wet ingredient? The last time I checked, most sugar is really dry (unless it's something like brown sugar). So why is it categorized as "wet"? <Q> Sugar is not really a wet ingredient, it's just treated as one in certain types of baking (i.e. cakes). <S> When making a cake or other "fluffy" baked good, you want a fairly small amount of gluten to be produced, otherwise you'll get a chewy texture instead, and you definitely don't want a cake to be chewy like bread. <S> Dissolving sugar in the water inhibits the gluten-forming proteins. <S> It's a method (actually, the method) of adding more liquid to the mix without getting a tough, chewy cake. <S> It is for this reason that sugar is considered a "wet ingredient" - because the process only works properly if you add it with the water, not with the other dry ingredients. <S> It's even possible for sugar to be a dry and <S> wet ingredient in the same recipe; you might add just enough sugar to the water to get the right texture, and add more to the dry ingredients for further sweetening. <A> Aaronut's answer explains role of sugar well, but here one more explanation about the ontology side of the question. <S> No, it's not new, but when said in different words, it can make more sense. <S> Just stop thinking of "wet" and "dry" ingredients. <S> What we have is a method of making cakes which requires two separate intermediate mixtures to be mixed in one final step. <S> Home cooks are not process engineers, so they did not describe it as "intermediate product A" and "intermediate product B" or whatever you have. <S> They also didn't feel like saying "This goes into the bowl which will hold a liquid when it's ready for the final mix" and "This goes into the bowl which will hold a powder when it's ready for the final mix". <S> They just used a shortcut and called it "wet" and "dry" ingredients, because each of them is part of the final wet intermediate ingredient or the final dry intermediate ingredient. <S> Of course this is totally confusing for a novice baker. <S> But domain specific terms are created by experts, not novices, and to them, it is more important to have a short way of labeling the ingredients than to have a nomenclature understandable for non-experts. <S> You just have to get accustomed to the usage. <A> I'm not sure what the context is, but I dug up this article that mentions sugar being a wet ingredient when baking certain items such as cake. <S> A quick summary from the article: <S> "...the general idea is that Sugar and Water are Best Friends Forever, and they swear that nothing will ever separate them. <S> " <S> I'm guessing <S> Hope this helps!
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basically sugar is used with water (as opposed to being kept undissolved as a solid) so much that this is why it is considered 'wet,' at least in the context the article talks about.
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Knife chopping through bone or coconut Is it ok to use a chef knife to chop through bones (not too big, like chicken or pork ribs) or a coconut or will it ruin the knife permanently? I've done that on occasion and it did not seem to suffer damages but may be it's just that I haven't done it enough. <Q> Make sure it's properly constructed with the metal of the blade running all the way through the handle, though, or else you risk the handle snapping and the blade going flying during a strike. <S> For the coconut, the technique is actually to roll it along the blade to start a groove, then crack it with the blunt end of the knife almost as if it were a mallet. <S> This should be done with extreme care, of course. <S> For bones, place the meat on a very solid cutting board and use clean, forceful swings to break through. <S> For both techniques I recommend doing a quick search on youtube to watch others demonstrate them first. <A> For safety reasons I wouldn't attempt cutting into a coconut with a knife. <S> Try a saw instead. <S> For chopping bones such as ribs <S> I'd use a good weighted cleaver or heavy knife <S> so you reduce the chance of the knife bouncing back. <S> If you use the correct knife for the job and the knife is of good quality then no harm should come to either the knife or the operator. <A> I've ruined a cleaver opening a coconut, before I learned the correct technique -- use the back of the knife. <S> Hold the coconut in your off hand, and slowly work your way around the coconut, turning and hitting it with the back of your knife. <S> The goal is to crack the coconut, not to cut it. <S> If you hold the knife at a little bit of an angle, for most foods you'll be fine, but bones will quickly take the knife out of true. <S> You'll want to re-hone it after hacking through bones. <A> For smaller bones, like chicken bones, you may find a good pair of kitchen shears an easy-to-control alternative to a cleaver. <S> I have these Messermeister shears, which I totally love. <A> Standard answer: <S> No, you should not use a chef's knife for those jobs. <S> The chef's knife should be very sharp and is used mainly for chopping vegetables or meat. <S> Alternatives have been discussed here. <S> A cleaver, a shears, the back of the chef's knife even.
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As for bones with the chef's knife -- it won't do major harm so long as you have good technique. A good-quality cleaver can be the right tool for both jobs.
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What varieties of potato would be good for chips / french fries? What varieties of potato would be good for making chips / french fries that can be cooked in a deep fryer to give a nice golden crunch on the outside, but still be nice and fluffy in the middle? <Q> The potato is probably not as important as the method. <S> Simply frying them will not get you the fry you want. <S> Basically you boil them, then double fry them. <S> Here are the steps for <S> The Perfect French Fry : <S> Ingredients 2 pounds russet potatoes (about 4 large), peeled and cut into1/4-inch by 1/4-inch fries (keeppotatoes stored in a bowl of water) 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar <S> Kosher salt <S> 2 quarts peanut oil Procedure Place potatoes and vinegar in saucepan and add 2 quarts of water and2 tablespoons of salt. <S> Bring to a boilover high heat. <S> Boil for 10 minutes. <S> Potatoes should be fully tender, butnot falling apart. <S> Drain and spread onpaper towel-lined rimmed baking sheet. <S> Allow to dry for five minutes. <S> Meanwhile, heat oil in 5-quart Dutch oven or large wok over high heatto 400°F. <S> Add 1/3 of fries to oil (oiltemperature should drop to around360°F). <S> Cook for 50 seconds, agitatingoccasionally with wire mesh spider,then remove to second paper-towellined rimmed baking sheet. <S> Repeat withremaining potatoes (working in twomore batches), allowing oil to returnto 400°F after each addition. <S> Allowpotatoes to cool to room temperature,about 30 minutes. <S> Continue with step3, or for best results, freezepotatoes at least over night, or up to2 months. <S> Return oil to 400°F over high heat. <S> Fry half of potatoes until crisp andlight golden brown, about 3 1/2minutes, adjusting heat to maintain ataround 360°F. <S> Drain in a bowl linedwith paper towels and seasonimmediately with kosher salt. <S> Cookedfries can be kept hot and crisp on awire rack set on a sheet tray in a200 <S> °F oven while second batch iscooked. <S> Serve immediately. <S> Worth reading is also the science behind the perfect fries . <A> In the UK Maris Piper potatos are good for making chips. <S> A lot of 'chippies' in the UK use them. <A> Kestrel, if you can find some. <S> King Edward, although people don't grow them much nowadays because they are susceptible to disease. <A> Looks like the preferred potato for the Netherlands and Belgium is Bintje , that one is being mentioned in various places. <S> It also seems that a slightly floury potato gives better results than a waxy one. <A> White diamond are great they are from South Dakota in the United States. <S> They make a potato that has the perfect starch content for chips.
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Golden Wonder, the classic chipping potato.
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How do I make semisweet chocolate more liquid? My wife and I were making some dipped cookies in semisweet chocolate. But the chocolate was too thick. We tried cream and butter to improve the coating of the cookies, the results did not turned out. What could I add to semisweet chocolate to allow it to smoothly coat cookies? Thanks! <Q> Ganache is made from chocolate and heavy whipping cream. <S> You could add hot cream to the chocolate until you get the consistency you are looking for. <A> In a double boiler, I melt 12 ounces of semisweet chocolate chips with 1/2 a paraffin wax bar. <A> Make sure you keep the temperature up, and the water out of the chocolate. <S> If you have a small crock-pot you could use that for the dipping. <S> Heat the chocolate in a double boiler to avoid scorching, then use the crock-pot to maintain heat away from the water of the boiler. <S> I wouldn't try this with a large pot, but if you have one that's designed for chocolate fondue it should work.
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The recipe I use for chocolate coating on some cookies calls for paraffin wax to be added to the chocolate.
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How long should I saute garlic? I always have trouble figuring out how long to saute garlic for before adding it to a dish. How do I know when it is ready? <Q> Not long at all. <S> Usually 1 minute is enough. <S> If it starts to turn brown, it's been in there too long. <A> Exact time depends on the heat of the pan how you've cut the garlic (thick slices can go much longer than thin slices or minced), and if you're cooking it on its own, or with something else -- if you toss it in at the same time as onion, you're much less likely to burn it, but you might not get the exact same flavor out of it as it wasn't subjected to as high of heat. <S> When it's on its own (or with only crushed red pepper), minced, and the olive oil was shimmering when it went in, I maybe give it maybe 30sec before I toss in something else to cool down the pan. <A> It burns easily <S> so you need to watch carefully, but I've found smell to be the best indicator that it's done-- <S> as soon as you smell that strong garlic scent it's ready even though it often won't look much different. <S> Large pieces or whole garlic cloves are done (but not yet overdone) when they just start to turn brown, but with small pieces brown means burnt. <S> If you saute your garlic at the same time as (or after) the onions or other ingredients you won't get that strong scent and your garlic flavor will be less intense, but your garlic is also much less likely to burn. <S> In these cases it's usually best to focus on whether the other ingredients are done to your liking and let the garlic take care of itself. <A> Start with olive oil in a cold pan. <S> Add the minced garlic. <S> Prepare whatever you wish to be added in advance. <S> Turn on the heat to medium. <S> Just keep smelling it. <S> Once the harsh scent has gone away, and before it starts to get any more than slightly golden brown, add the other stuff to reduce the pans temperature. <S> The garlic will be flavorful, but not acrid or burnt. <S> You're on your own from there <A> Olfactorally, there is an unmistakable bloom of fragrance released. <S> As soon as you smell that, the garlic is done. <S> Visually, the color will just start to change. <S> You can use that as a queue to take a big sniff. <S> Use a medium to medium-low heat. <S> High heat can overcook parts of the garlic to a tan color before most of it has even gotten cooked enough. <S> I used to cook all ingredients together, adding them to a frying pan in the order of decreasing cooking time, but that in turn is related to how much is in the pot. <S> Garlic only needs 15-60 seconds, say-- if it is getting the full heat on the bottom of the pan. <S> If you have garlic and onions in the pan, then a garlic slice lying flat on the bottom can easily burn before another piece suspended in a nest of onion even becomes fragrant. <S> So, now, I cook the garlic by itself to perfection, either throwing it into a bowl while I cook everything else, or put everything else into a bowl temporarily while I cook the garlic exactly. <S> Warning: as you get experienced with garlic, you'll probably get more picky about it too. <S> I went decades not caring too much, but <S> once I realized how much is missing in undercooked garlic, and how bad overcooked garlic tastes, I'm too fussy. <S> BTW other answers mention mincing vs. thick slices or whole garlic. <S> Personally I cook thin slices in every cuisine. <S> I think they're attractive in the final product <S> so mince is usually a lost opportunity. <S> I also haven't ever seen a case requiring fried garlic to be any thicker than thinly-sliced. <S> I'll certainly braise or roast whole cloves <S> but I've never found cause to cook them in a frying pan.
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If you saute the garlic by itself it really doesn't take very long--depending on the heat of your oil it can take from just a few seconds to a minute.
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How to prepare stuffed peppers? I've prepared peppers stuffed with beef and rice a number of times, but they never turn out quite how I would like. How should I cook the peppers so that they end up soft and flavourful, but are not overcooked to the point they are falling apart? <Q> I pre-cook <S> my peppers -- after I've cut them open, I let them roast in the oven for about 10-20 min, upside down (so they don't end up with a pool of water in the bottom). <S> I then pull them out once they've softened up a little bit, fill them, and put them back in to warm through and melt any cheese, then switch it to broil to get them browned on top. <S> My filling is already cooked, as I typically use leftovers such as taco meat, rice & cheese. <S> (my mom always insisted them were 'planned overs' as there are a number of dishes where we intentionally cook too much so that we'd have it as an ingredient for the next night's meal.) <A> When I've cooked stuffed peppers in the past, I typically cut the pepper length ways instead of just taking the top off. <S> Once the filling has been added place tin foil over the dish for the first 15 minutes of the cooking time. <S> This way, the peppers are allowed to soften a little through a steaming process and then allowed to gain colour during the remainder of the cooking process. <A> I pre-cook <S> the filling - it doesn't need to be cooked all the way, I usually just start the cooking process on the rice by putting in half the amount of water needed to fully cook it and letting it all boil out, before stirring the mince in to the hot rice - this is sufficient to bring the cooking time down enough that the peppers remain well formed and have a bit of bite to them, in a sufficiently hot oven. <A> I wrap each pepper individually in foil, and stand them up in the baking dish so as little as possible is touching the actual dish (I use small ramekins to stand them in). <S> I also pre-cook the filling.
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If you don't already, I'd also suggest pre-cooking the filling, this helps to reduce the overall cooking time and will help the peppers to retain their shape and not become overly soft.
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Is it possible to preserve color in steamed vegetables? When I steam green vegetables, like broccoli, they come out bright green. A few minutes later though, and they have darkened and dulled. Is this a symptom of cooking them for too long or is there some other way to preserve the bright green color? <Q> Typically, vegetables will lose their colour if they are over-cooked, so it's probably worthwhile cooking them for a shorter period of time. <S> Different kinds of vegetables contain various pigments in their skins. <S> Green vegetables contain chlorophyll; red and white vegetables contain flavonoids; orange vegetables contain keratin. <S> Each of these pigments requires a different approach when cooking to preserve colour. <S> When cooking green vegetables, never add an acid, such as lemon juice or vinegar, as this will cause the vegetables to discolour quickly. <S> Always cook green vegetables rapidly and preferably without a lid. <S> With red and white vegetables, which contain flavonoids, the converse to green vegetables is true. <S> Adding an acid during the cooking process will retain and even restore the colour. <S> For red vegetables use a red or white wind vinegar. <S> For white vegetables use a slice of lemon. <S> Orange vegetables, which contain keratin and are generally fairly robust, for the most part can be cooked with or without the addition of an acid, and they will usually retain their colour. <S> Another way to preserve the colour is to blanch the vegetable in boiling water for a minute or so, then plunge them into ice water. <S> Doing this stops the cooking process instantly. <S> Using the method is useful if you intend to freeze vegetables. <A> you need a big pot of water to blanch small amount of vegetable, small portion at a time. <S> theoretical background: <S> there is gas in the immediate layer of the vegetable, which makes the vegetable appear a little bit dull. <S> you want to drive this gas out. <S> the color is provided by chlorophyll, which is destroyed by heat, acidity and vegetable enzymes. <S> the enzymes works at room temperature, works quicker when slightly above room temperature, doubling their speed for every 10 degree C elevation of temperature, but is quickly deactivated (thus, become non-functional) at temperature near boiling point the acid is released into the cooking solution, and the action of acid is dependent on the concentration of acid. <S> when temperature goes to near freezing point, all reaction slows tremendously thus, use large amount of water and small amount of vegetable, then stop the cooking by quenching the reaction using ice cold water: <S> the large amount of water relative to the vegetable ensures the constant boiling-point temperature of the blanching water - this ensures fast cooking with little time for enzymes to work. <S> if you use too much vegetable at a time then the temperature will drop due to transfer of heat from water to vegetable. <S> this allow (1) driving out of gas quickly, (2) cooking of vegetable quickly without yellowing (caused by degradation of chlorophyll), <S> (3) quick deactivation of vegetable enzymes the large amount of water allows quick dilution of acid released from the vegetables when you see the much-needed green colour you want, you want to stop the cooking process immediately to "freeze the moment" and <S> what you want to do is to let the ice cold water stop the cooking reaction from outside to inside (especially outside, since color's on the outside) <S> that's basically it <A> If you don't want cold veges but still want them as colourful as possible, I find the following technique works a treat, left until just before a meal will be served: <S> If you have frozen veges, ideally thaw them first for best result. <S> You can run them under cold water (cheapest) or warm water (quickest), or sit them in a bath of either (least attention required). <S> As mentioned in @bubu's answer, it's important to bring a good amount of water to the boil in comparison to the weight of veges you are going to cook (say 3-4 times the weight at least). <S> Keep the element on maximum. <S> Add the veges, and set a timer for them. <S> Choosing the appropriate time for each type of vegetable takes practice, and is a matter of preference anyway. <S> When using veges that require different cooking times, time them to finish at the same time. <S> eg <S> if I'm cooking carrot, zucchini and broccoli, I'd add the carrot first, wait 2 mins, then add the broccoli & zucchini and cook another 60 seconds (for total cooking time of 3 mins for the carrot). <S> Sieve immediately to avoid overcooking & serve immediately (leaving them sitting around while hot will make them lose colour). <S> Minimising the time the veges spend heated maximises their colour. <S> The reason a good amount of water is required, in comparison to the weight of the veges, is because when the veges are added the temperature drops, but the more water there is the less it will drop. <S> If you have too many veges, or they are frozen, the temperature drops too much and it takes longer for them to cook and dulls their colour. <S> One can use a similar technique with steaming, but if too many vegetables are used then the ones closest to the steam are overcooked before those furthest away are cooked at all. <S> The only solution to this is to produce more steam somehow (not possible in some cases), or to cook less veges at a time.
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Usually steaming is a great way to preserve the nutrients and colour of vegetables, as is stir-frying rapidly.
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Keeping the bubbles in sparkling gelatin desserts I've had a few attempts to make gelatin desserts (jelly if your English) using sparkling wine. While I get the flavour of the wine coming through I struggle to keep the bubbles. Is there a technique for doing this? <Q> As Chris says, its to do with the setting time of the gelatine vs the bubbly. <S> Ensure all of your containers are chilled (maybe even frozen? <S> - I put mine in 3/4 hours before making the actual dish) before you add the (chilled) champagne and get it into the bottom of the fridge as quick as you can. <S> I suspect though cannot prove also that a smaller container (I use wine glasses or similar) will work better than one large dish (trifle sized etc). <A> Most guides <S> I find report various degrees of success with carbonated drinks, but most agree that Club Soda is the best performer. <S> You may want to use Club Soda instead, or try a mixture. <A> It really has to do with the amount of time between the addition of the champagne, and when the gelatine sets, thus capturing a bubble. <S> Champagne releases gas fairly quickly, and gelatine sets slowly. <S> I would probably do the main preparation with a comparable white wine, and refrigerate it until nearly set, and then add the soda water for sparkle. <A> Ever notice that if you squeeze all the air out of a partially full soda bottle, it doesn't go flat? <S> Me thinks the negative pressure keeps the carbon dioxide dissolved (which is odd when compared to the usual positive pressure we experience when opening a soda bottle). <S> As such, you might try a food vacuum system (e.g. Food Saver) to apply negative pressure to the container in which you prepare the dessert. <S> Be careful during preparation, of course, to not agitate the liquid too much, or it may go flat before you're done. <S> Post back your results. <S> I'd like to know, too. <A> "Negative pressure" doesn't keep carbon dioxide dissolved, and carbon dioxide doesn't only dissolve like other gases in water, it changes with the help of water and pressure to carbonic acid (H₂CO₃). <S> That might be not as pretty (as you end up with a gel) - but it will be effective (and probably delicious). <S> Add your jelly into a cream siphon (or Soda Plus) and carbonate it. <S> If you wait for some time, you will end up with a perfectly carbonated jelly. <S> If you really would like to have a set dessert, which is carbonated, you can add dry ice into a container (e.g. cooler box) with the jelly and wrap clingfilm to have <S> it almost air tight. <S> However you would need to wait longer (over night), until it is properly carbonated. <A> Jello brand gelatin in the USA years ago had a recipe. <S> The soda was added to partially set gelatin. <S> But I cant remember the details <S> so I cant reproduce this <S> I did years ago. <S> Picture wont upload, sorry. <S> But looked great in clear glass bowl (4cups)
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The best way of ending up with a sparkling dessert is re-carbonating it.
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Why should I "rest" meat after cooking? I often read in recipes that I should "rest" meat after it has been cooked but what does resting the meat actually do? <Q> There are a couple of reasons why 'resting' meat is a good idea. <S> First, as the meat cooks the muscle fibres contract, which forces the juices out. <S> The second reason to let meat rest is to provide an evenness. <S> Basically as the meat rests it continues to cook slightly and it allows the meat to gain an overall 'doneness' <A> Also keep in mind that meat continues to cook once you remove it from the heat source. <S> The resting period allows the cooking process to complete. <A> Pulse is so correct that it is so important to let a piece of meat rest. <S> It is so evident when a steak is cooked placed straight on a plate and cut into , all blood that hasn't been able to settle back through the meat will be pooling on the plate in seconds and you are left with a dry overbooked piece of meat. <S> In large joints of meat I have found that a short resting time creates the meat to be tougher to cut through and again a loss of crucial juices then a rested piece. <S> Creates the question with many cooks is a slightly cooled piece of meat rested and relaxed better than a nice hot piece of meat off the grill or out of the oven <S> - I Believe Yes.
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Letting the meat rest helps the muscle fibres relax so the juices are re-incorporated into the meat and not lost on the chopping board, which would happen if carved immediately.
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Can I re-use rice if it has been used for blind baking? I often use rice when blind baking... and then I throw it out which is obviously a waste. Am I able to keep the rice and either use it again for blind baking or even to cook and eat later? <Q> I have cooked rice that was used for weighting a pie crust with fine results. <S> I should have cooked some that wasn't baked to see what the difference was, <S> but in any case it turned out fine. <S> Of course it may matter what temp the rice was baked at and for how long, and this could also affect the duration needed to cook the rice itself. <S> I have also boiled beans that were previously baked, and they turned out fine, too. <A> Whether using rice or beans (I've used both) <S> you first want to line the pastry dough with parchment paper or foil and then place the beans or rice on top. <S> You can re-use either over and over. <S> I have dried beans that I've been using for more than a decade. <S> Just let them cool completely before placing into a coffee can or other such storage container. <S> If you put them in the can while warm they will produce condensation and then get musty and stinky. <S> Make sure they're labeled so that no one tries cooking them. <S> I know Kevin said he's cooked beans that had been previously baked but <S> the more you bake them the drier and harder they're going to become. <S> I prefer beans over rice due to the small size of rice. <S> If it should fall onto the dough on the bottom of the crust while removing the paper/foil, it is hard to removed and can easily get pushed into the dough in the process (depending on how much it had been blind baked... <S> usually you remove the weights and continue to cook the bottom for browning/crisping. <A> you can always try it once, and let us know how it goes. <S> (I use beans for pie weights, myself, and save them for re-use) <A> I actually sprung for a few sets of ceramic pie weights , because I got tired of beans occasionally sticking to the crust, and then having to worry about storing slightly-used beans separately from their unused kin. <S> I'd watch out in the long term though: rice is really hygroscopic, and once it gets a little water in it, it won't be good for long. <A> I've never used rice for blind baking, I always use dried beans, which can be used multiple times. <A> Even if you choose not to re-use your rice or beans for blind baking or cooking to eat, both make great bases in vases for artificial flower arrangements or in hurricanes and candle holders as a base for your favorite pillars and votives.
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I'd say there would be no problem re-using it in the short term. You can use it for blind baking again, but I don't know how well it would work out for eating --
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