Brine, then marinate? I have a chicken recipe that requires marinating. However, I'd like to brine the chicken as well. How do I go about doing this? Should I brine the chicken, then marinate it? Should I marinate it first, then brine? Or should I mix the marinade into the brine?

Brining and marination do two different things, contrary to popular belief.

Brines allow salt (plus possibly a very few other small flavor molecules) to penetrate into meat, at a rate of about 2-2.5 CM per 24 hours.  These deeply season your meat, change its texture, and help allow it to retain moisture when being cooked.

Marinades are a surface treatment, applying flavors to the surface of the food.  In actual practice, they do not provide any flavor deep into the food (except possibly salt).   Marination generally does not penetrate more than about 2 mm. They are mostly about the sauce adhering to the food.

Your best bet, if you want the best of both worlds is to:

Brine the chicken in a simple unflavored brine (just water and salt and/or sugar)
Marinate in a low salt marination for surface flavor.

You do not want to do the reverse, as the brine would essentially wash away the marinade.  You do not want to mix the marinade and the brine, as it will not adhere, and will not penetrate, essentially wasting the marinade ingredients.

It may also be helpful to treat the food with a low salt dry rub for flavor, or baste it with a flavorful sauce as part of the cooking technique.


Should I brown meat for a stew before freezing it? I bought some meat to make a stew sometime in the future. Is it best to brown the meat before I freeze it, or should I freeze it raw?

It might save you a few minutes when you decide to use it. Meat that has been frozen takes a bit longer to brown, since it will exude a bit more moisture.

But it's probably not worth it. Browning meat, then cooling it to freeze, is a huge hassle. Plus, you'll lose the fond on the bottom of your pan (unless you de-glaze and save that too.) That's a huge amount of flavor loss. You might as well just make the stew and freeze that (which is also good).

If you're going to freeze the meat, freeze it in the form that you got it. Defrost carefully (in the fridge, not the counter) and dry it thoroughly (e.g. paper towels) before browning.


How do I freeze and defrost lemons? Assuming that once defrosted, I'd most likely use them for their juice (but not exclusively; I occasionally use the peel for zest, whole slices for cooking with fish/poultry or preparing vegetables in brine).
Is this even possible?

After a quick Google search, I found chowhound topic that deals with this exact matter. They'll grate well and it's handy when (just semi-defrost them) you need some grated zest as you can just pull out a bag from the freezer and sprinlkle them into your recipe. They'll juice but you need to defrost them which I'm told is best done by 'zapping' them in the microwave for 30 seconds. Apparently you get more juice after they've been frozen as it bursts the cell walls releasing more juice.

Hope this helps!


My Sourdough Starter has a brown layer at the top? So my sourdough starter is about two weeks old, but it suddenly stopped growing three days ago (after a couple days of very active growth)and developed a brown layer on top.The layer is mostly brown with about 15 percent of it being normal starter. Most of what I researched is that it is hooch, but the brown layer is more solid (the same thickness as my starter) and isn’t separate from the top layer of the normal starter. I have been keeping my starter in the oven with just the light on. As for my feeding schedule, I feed it 1 cup of AP Flour and 1/2 cup of water every day. If anyone has an answer, please let me know; it would very helpful.

Your starter is drying out. Don't keep it in the oven with the light on. It's been too warm.

Depending on your comfortable room temperature, you should be able to leave it on a kitchen counter top. You should have a lid or other covering on it, too.


Tiramisu tastes bitter. How to fix this I made Tiramisu but the expresso was too strong.   It tastes bitter.  Is there anything I can do to counteract this?

Add salt. Sodium interacts with chemical pathways in the taste buds and affects how other flavours are perceived; one of these interactions is that it balances bitterness.

The interactions can be summarised in a chart:


Why do my burgers end up round? When I broil or grill my burgers, I end up with burgers that are round in the middle.

I grind my own beef blend and form my patties the same every time. When I cook my burgers in a pan I don't get the rounded burgers.

What makes the burgers rounded and smaller when broiling/grilling, but not with pan cooking?

I'm not sure what causes the bowing to be more pronounced from one cooking method versus another, but the solution is to put a thumbprint indentation in the middle, creating a slight "donutted" shape.   This will help to ensure you get the "patty" shape you want.


Technical terms for an oven that would resist to cleaning products wipping out painted symbols? Hi not sure if anyone could help with this but I aim to buy an oven that would keep its settings symbols for a decent amount of time. Would be great if ovens had a technical term(s) that would indicate the ability of the oven to withstand cleaning products from removing painted symbols?

I have spent already 30 minutes looking all over the internet and could not figure out how I could possibly find out the answer to this. Looking to buy online does not give you much of an indication whether the symbols are engraved, painted or behind a glass window?

Many thanks

In my experience, it is not an issue, I've been clean my oven, inside and out for 15 years and there are no problem with removing painted decals or not.

Unless you are using really harsh cleaning product or too much abrasive, you should not have an issue.


Substitute for fresh ham I have a recipe calling for fresh ham I have not been able to find a store in my area that carries them is there another cut of pork that can be substituted?

It might be called a 'picnic roast' (which is a front leg).  If you can't find that, it depends on the recipe (and what's available) for what I'd replace it with.

If it's a slow cooked recipe, I'd use 'boston butt' (which is actually the shoulder; butt means 'widest part'), but if it's fast-cooked, I'd go for  sirloin roast.

And if they don't have any of those, then a loin roast, but it'll be more prone to drying out.


Can I put any kind of bowl into a steam/rice cooker? due to some paranoia issues with the microwave, I would like to heat up my food using a steam/rice cooker instead. Can I just put all my refrigerated food in a bowl and just put it in the cooker, add a little water at the base, and turn it on?

Are there any health concerns to take note here? e.g. the bowl might melt, BPA issues, etc

For the amount of time it will take for this to work, you might as well use the stovetop, which is designed for this -- but if you must, read your manual for instructions on how to use the rice cooker as a steamer. Using a steamer basket inside the cooker pot should work; I'd recommend sticking with just the basket itself if possible; stainless steel is plenty safe.

If you are going to put a bowl or dish in there, use ceramic or stainless steel - both of those should be fine, and unlikely to leach strange things into your food. You might be able to use some plastics, but I'd think that heating up plastic with your food in it is more likely to put stuff you don't want to eat into the food than microwaving in a ceramic bowl would.


Can I use Yakult as a yogurt starter? I'm wondering if we can use Yakult as a yogurt starter to obtain drinkable yogurt?

Update: Yes, it is possible.
After a note in the comments, I tried researching and had to go no further than Wikipedia to see how it is done commercially: The incubation happens in the presence of glucose and continues for 7-8 days. I checked their source too, an article in an encyclopedia on food technology, and the information was correctly transcribed.
Method
I decided to try it out. As I didn't have glucose, I poured in a random amount of agave syrup (a mixture of glucose and fructose). Indeed, at 8 hours (my standard incubation time for Lactobacillicus Bulgaricus yogurt) it was still completely liquid. But after 24 hours, it started looking good, and now, at hour 36, it has firmed up as normal yogurt.
Result
The Shirota yogurt turned out to be quite interesting.
Visual
It looks like normal yogurt, with a small layer of whey on top, which looks somehow different from typical yogurt whey. The top slightly-fatty layer that builds on top of other yogurt is on top of the liquid layer and not below it. The colour is very slightly off-white, but nowhere near as orange as Yakult drinks.
Taste
The yogurt tastes differently from standard yogurt. It has a fruity smell, and is more sweet than sour, with bitter notes mixed in. I didn't notice acetic acid smells, the sourness must be predominantly lactic acid. The smell is rather subtle. The texture is unremarkable, just like standard Lactobacillicus yogurt.
Verdict
At first, I was afraid that the long incubation time and the need for dextrose might mean that L. Shirota is difficult to grow, and might not work well under not-so-precisely controlled conditions, producing spoiled milk instead of yogurt. Now, having smelled the yogurt, I am pretty sure that there is a lot of the original Shirota culture growing there. My new hypothesis is that they need long growth times to achieve a very high concentration, so they can dilute it to make the drink and still get a strong taste.

Long-term results
I left the yogurt to incubate somewhat longer than a week. I was not happy with the result.
Some of the glasses got a band of light-reddish colour, reminiscent of commercial Yakult but slightly paler, while others got no such band. Those who had it had the band in the top third of the glass, but it was not the top layer.
The yogurt smelled quite sour. I tasted just a little bit, the taste was sour, but not as much as over fermented L. Bulgaricus yogurt. I didn't smell much acetic acid if any. There was a bit of sweetness in the taste, but no more than at the beginning, it felt. The Shirota-typical smell was subtle, not much stronger than at 36 hours.

After some more resarch, L. Shirota is sensitive to the absence of certain nutrients, mostly aminoacids and vitamins. See https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2019.108735 for details. But note that even without nutrients, they reached a good (for typical yogurt, not for yakult) concentration after 31 hours.

You can use most yogurts as a starter, no matter the brand. The only requirement is that they contain live culture, and all the ones marketed as a probiotic should have it.
It should give you normal yogurt, not a yogurt drink. You will have to follow a recipe for a yogurt-based drink if you want it liquid - just water and sugar to taste should do, of you want to mimic  Yakult, or you can branch or into more interesting stuff.


Ought food processor blades be sharpened or replaced? My grandparents are deliberating if they need a food processor, and  if using knives is easier. They They can pay any amount ≤ $999 CAD. Consider only Consumer Reports's top 3 food processors.
I'm hoping  someone here with one can testify from personal experience.

How long do  the blades last, if they food-process raw hard unpiercable vegetables like 1 winter squash daily?
Can the blades be sharpened? r/cooking contends yes.
Even if they can, is it cheaper to sharpen or replace the blades?

First things first, as it was very well pointed in the comments - food processor is not a 100% substitution for knives. It helps to do bulk processing of the more laborous knifework (slicing, brunoise, etc.) and also to do things that you cannot do with other tools (pureeing raw stuff)

How long do the blades last, if they food-process raw hard unpiercable vegetables like 1 winter squash daily?

See first point above. The skin and seeds should be removed before processing. Winter squash is very pierceable with a sharp knife - I did dice a kabocha squash with only a knife yesterday. If you take good care of your processor and do not try to use it on things it is not supposed to be used, the blades last for a very very long while - it is more probable that your processor breaks instead of the blades going dull, especially if they're serrated blades.

Can the blades be sharpened? r/cooking contends yes.

Depends on the blade. If it is a smooth blade like the older models, yes, you can resharpen them. My mom has an old-school processor that is older than me and she had the blades sharpened quite a few times. If it is a serrated blade (designed for longer durability and less dulling), you need to go to a cutler / knifemaker if you really want to keep it because the serrration is very fine and difficult to sharpen using the sandpaper method.

Even if they can, is it cheaper to sharpen or replace the blades?

Depends on #2 and your location (i.e. how much would you pay for sharpening a normal knife and how much would you pay for sharpening a serrated knife), and whether or not you can exectue proper sharpening by yourself.


Why do some say my fried chicken tastes like peanut butter? When I cook fried chicken, my friends sometimes claim it tastes like peanut butter--especially after it sits for a while after cooking. Why?

I know I'm not the only one who has encountered this phenomenon because this Burger King commercial features a man who was quoted saying the BK chicken sandwich tastes like peanut butter after he microwaved it.

I like to eat some Asian food for the sole reason it's made with peanut oil. So it's taste like peanut butter but have different texture.
In the case of BK I would say that it's more of a metaphor because people from USA love their peanut butter and it's taste.

Anyway. If you make your chicken without peanut oil or spices that resemble in taste peanut butter maybe it's the chicken itself?
I've bought a few times chickens that was feed with fish flour. And guess what - they tasted like fish (not the best thing in the world). Chickens feed with corn have yellowish color and have a cornflakes taste.
So maybe chickens that have been feed with something peanuty?


How much is a cup of graham cracker crumbs in crackers and weight? I have a recipe that calls for one cup of graham cracker crumbs.   How many crackers am I going to need to crush?

I'm having trouble finding an answer partly because different people consider a "cracker" to be of various sizes.  I would consider a cracker to be a full sized sheet like this:

 (image source)

It would also be helpful to know what a cup of graham cracker crumbs weighs.   My box of crackers is 14.4oz.   I could estimate what portion of the box to use if I know how much a cup of crumbs weighs.

It should be about 7 crackers per cup, maybe 8, depending how finely you crush them. One of the inner packages from your 14.4oz box should be plenty (there are probably three packages with 9 in each, or 4.8oz). If you need to go the other way, that's 1/7 to 1/8 cup per cracker, or more simply, 0.5oz or 15g per cracker.

I know this from making graham cracker crusts - and you can confirm it by looking at some recipes. You generally need 1.5 cups of crumbs for a pie crust, and it takes 10-12 crackers. I've seen recipes ranging from 9 to 12 crackers (and checked ten or so when writing this), but I don't think I've ever used fewer than 10. One cup is 2/3 of that, 7 or 8 crackers. (Some people do say 20 or 24 squares, but they're clearly half-cracker squares, not the whole crackers.)

For what it's worth, the Martha Stewart crust recipe says "6 1/2 ounces graham crackers (12 crackers), finely ground (1 1/2 cups)", and 2/3 of that is 4 1/3 oz, pretty close to 1/3 of your box, maybe a cracker short, so by weight this works out too.


Is it ok to cold smoke steak before freezing? About to wrap up a 60 day dry aged ribeye. After slicing to 2" thick cut steaks and trimming the pellicle i was debating on cold smoking with cherry for two hours. I've done this before but directly grilled. Instead im looking to freeze this round but from my research I havent seen any direct issues.

So this leads me to ask are there any issues with cold smoking a ribeye before freezing or should I freeze and cold smoke the day I'm going to cook to temp? Steaks will be vaccum sealed and probably when ready to cook dropped into a sous vide for 6 hours. Doubt these will be frozen past 6 months

No issues, as long as you control the temperature and remain outside the danger zone.  In other words, can you cold smoke below 40F (4.5C)?

Time in the danger zone is cumulative.  Freezing does not re-set the clock.  If you can't stay out of the danger zone during the smoke step, I would smoke, sous vide, then freeze.  This is probably a more common approach.  You can then re-therm the steak directly from frozen when you are ready to eat.

As an aside, 6 hours seems like a long time to sous vide a rib-eye...even from frozen.


What can I use instead of clam juice? I would like to make a "Thai beef with carrot-basil salad" recipe. The sauce for the ground beef includes the following ingredients:

2 tablespoons lime juice
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 cup clam juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce

Is there something I can use instead of clam juice that will have a similar flavor and/or consistency contribution to the recipe? (I'm cooking for somebody who doesn't eat shellfish.)

Fish sauce! I think the clam juice is probably already a substitute for fish sauce anyway, so it should make a very good substitute. (If you look up recipes for Thai beef salad you'll find tons of things with fish sauce, and probably not much with clam juice.)

You probably want to use less, though, maybe starting with 2-4 tablespoons, though I've seen recipes using more.

It should be fine for the dietary restriction too; it's just made with anchovies, not an unknown blend of seafood, but of course check the label just in case.


How long does cooked TVP keep in the fridge? How long can I keep cooked textured vegetable protein (soy) in fridge and does it matter if it is mixed with for example some spices and rice? Will it then shorten the duration of how long it's good to eat?

I've kept mine in the fridge (unmixed with other things) for over a week without any issues. I'd say it's probably safe to keep slightly longer than meat because it doesn't have the same levels of naturally occurring bacteria.


What am I doing wrong with my rice cooker? I have a Breville rice cooker and follow the instructions exactly (for 2 cups of rice). There are two settings - on or off (keep warm). The manual says:

But no matter what type of (white) rice I use, there is always a layer of hard (overcooked) rice at the bottom. I've tried various timings, stirring between cooking and resting etc. but that releases the steam and I still had the same problem.

The manual has some tips:

But again, even changing the amount of water slightly (tip 1) seems to do very little to the end result. I must say, apart from the layer at the bottom the rest of the rice is absolutely fine. However when you're cooking only 2 cups and losing half a cup or more it isn't exactly efficient. Is it just because I'm cooking such a small amount of rice in a relatively large/shallow cooker?

I've already searched Google, and I'm going to try some other methods. I was wondering though if anyone can see anything obviously wrong with the manual that I have, or if I'm simply missing an additional step that would solve the problem?

I already rinse the rice beforehand. I came back from visiting the Philippines with a rice addiction after eating so much of it, but until now have never really cooked it much myself. Very much an amateur...

Any advice or constructive criticism welcome :)

EDIT May 2018: I've been using it as a steamer with the included thingy and for that it works wonderfully!

Does your rice cooker have a scale up the inside of the bowl?

With mine, you add a number of scoops of rice, then fill with water up to the correct number on the side of the bowl. Maybe it is just that the manual is badly worded, and this isn't clear?

It's a long shot, I know, but just thought I'd mention it in case you hadn't noticed :)


Best Practices for Cooking with Psyllium Husk? A couple months ago, I went on a diet primarily consisting of Nutraloaf (with Tabasco or other flavor-adding sauces) for meals, and sunflower seeds for occasional snacking. Three weeks in, I started experiencing some digestive problems and a general malaise, and my doctor referred me to a nutritionist. Long story short, my diet was seriously lacking in fiber.

I've found psyllium husk fiber to be far superior to traditional options, and have since been consuming it as a daily supplement. What I'd like to do, however, is integrate it into my cooking. There is a serious dearth of psyllium husk-based recipes on the Internet, which leads me to query the experts here.

How should I go about modifying my recipes to use psyllium husk? Also, should I worry about heating psyllium husk, and possibly changes its digestive qualities?

I'm guessing that you should be able to simply add it wherever you would add some sort of grain or flour. The wikipedia article mentions:

  Other uses include gluten-free baking, where ground psyllium seed husks bind moisture and help make the bread less crumbly.

If you add some to your Nutraloaf, if it's enough to have an effect, it'll help it bind together and absorb some moisture. You might have to add some more liquid to cancel that out, if you find that the result ends up too dry, but otherwise it should be fine. Cooking isn't going to destroy the fiber.

I'd also note that you don't necessarily have to go all-out on the fiber: there's plenty in other grains, too, like oats. You might decide that you simply like it better with a different fiber - justkt suggested a few in the comments; thanks! And I know you're not exactly looking for variety here, but I might as well suggest it. You really could get a little bit of variety for minimal effort, say by adding in a different canned or frozen vegetable each time you make it, or by varying the source of fiber.


Does the calorie count of these pistachio nuts include the shell? This pack of nuts states 600 calories per 100g.

Does this calorie count include the shell?

In general, in most jurisdictions, the calories would be based on the edible portion (or the commonly eaten portion), so oranges without the peel, nuts without the shell.


Can jam be made from frozen berries? During summer months, I love buying fresh raspberries and blueberries. I often don't manage to work through the whole punnet, so I freeze the last few berries before they go off. Now the berries have piled up and I'm not so sure if it would work to make Jam with them?

Yes.

Freezing can change the texture of the berries, but if you're cooking them down to make jam with, it shouldn't matter.  Some recipes using frozen berries suggest preparing the fruit for this purpose (adding lemon or crushing strawberries), others start with pre-frozen fruit that had no special jam-related preparation.


What does beating eggs actually do (chemically speaking)? When I look at a lot of recipes, any eggs usually have to be beaten before they're added. If it's all going to be mixed anyway (and well, in dough for example) is it really necessary?

The main purpose of beating an egg is to "denature" the protein within the egg.  Proteins are long chains of amino acids and they have lots of internal chemical bonds, which hold them together into tightly contained units.  When a protein is denatured, those internal bonds break and the amino acid chains unravel and become elongated.  At the same time, atoms that were previously bonded (as part of the internal bonds I mentioned) become available to bond with other molecules.

When an egg is heated to 40 degrees celsius, its protein chains become denatured and elongate, which allows chemical reactions to occur.  The egg changes from a liquid solution of protein into a solid mass.

A similar thing happens with you beat an egg.  The physical act of beating causes the protein strands to stretch, thereby causing the protein to denature (the internal bonds are broken as a result of the application of physical force).  So, rather than the protein chains being bound up into tight balls, they become long strands.  This is similar to gluten when it is developed.  These strands form structures that allow the trapping of air, which results in a lighter texture.

Beating eggs is not just about mixing.  It's about changing the structure of the eggs to produce a physical effect.  To read more about this, see "The Science of Cooking" by Peter Barham.


Is marinade safe if it has had incidental contact with meat? I just made a batch of soy based marinade, I then used a spoon to pour said marinade over some chicken, swirled it about, and mistakenly double dipped (put it back in the marinade). The marinade was going to be kept in the fridge.

Can I feasibly keep the marinade for future use or is this unsafe?

Not completely clear on what you've done. If you used the spoon just to pour over the chicken, from a few inches or more above, then the spoon wasn't actually contaminated (provided you didn't get splashes of chicken juice on it). If you used it to stir the chicken in the marinade, or to rub the marinade on the chicken, or it otherwise came into contact, then yes its considered contaminated.

Assuming it is contaminated, it is safe provided you treat it as you would chicken: store it in the fridge, not for more than a day or two; cook it thoroughly before consuming; don't let come into contact with other food (or that food will be potentially contaminated as well), etc.

You could also go ahead and cook it now; you can then store it like you would leftovers.

If you need to store it longer, freezing it will keep it safe. Most marinades will handle freezing fine, though you may need to re-mix it upon thawing.

I suggest labeling it—especially if you freeze it—so you don't forget that its potentially contaminated.


Pork shoulder discoloured in the freezer to a greenish grey colour. What happened? Yesterday I took a pork shoulder, removed some of the fat and sinew and skin, cut it up into smaller parts, and put them into the freezer in freezer bags. It took me just under half an hour to remove the bits I didn't want.

This morning I took a piece out to defrost to cook later in the week and I noticed that some of the fat that I had left on, had discoloured into a greyish-green colour.

Out of the 5 pieces I put in the fridge, 2 have fat that looks like this. The other 3 piece look alright.

Only the fat and sinew covered area was effected.

It was pretty warm yesterday when I did this. Maybe 32 degrees Celsius. The meat was still a bit cool when it went into the freezer.

What's happened?

If you got air in the freezer bag, my guess is the meat probably just oxidized. When meat is exposed to oxygen it turns a grayish color. The meat is not bad. You can still use it and you won't even be able to tell that it was gray at one point.


Why blanche vegetables before freezing? I have a bumper crop of french beans, runners, and (earlier in the summer) peas. I know that we're supposed to blanche vegetables prior to freezing and my general purpose cookbooks tell me how long to give each vegetable.

I believe that blanching helps retain flavour, colour and vitamins. But I don't understand how or why. It seems counterintuitive that the best way to preserve the vegetable immediately prior to freezing, as close to its natural state as possible, is to apply heat via boiling water.

You would think that just picking the vegetable and bundling it into your freezer as fast as possible would be the best way to preserve colour, vitamins etc.

To prevent the vegetable from going 'off' in the freezer.

From answers.com:

  Blanching is the scalding of
  vegetables in boiling water or steam.
  Blanching slows or stops the action of
  enzymes. Up until harvest time,
  enzymes cause vegetables to grow and
  mature. If vegetables are not
  blanched, or blanching is not long
  enough, the enzymes continue to be
  active during frozen storage causing
  off-colours, off-flavours and
  toughening. Blanching time is crucial
  and varies with the vegetable and size
  of the pieces to be frozen.
  Under-blanching speeds up the activity
  of enzymes and is worse than no
  blanching. Over-blanching causes loss
  of flavour, colour, vitamins and
  minerals.


Will a Dutch oven be a good investment in a motor home with a butane gas burner? I live in a Motorhome and only have a butane gas burner. Cooking over a butane gas burner is all I have and is limiting using just a pan for recipes. Does anyone have experience investing in and using a Dutch oven on this type of little butane gas stove? Any suggestions on recommend cookware is welcomed.

I don't think that it is a good investment. Without a real oven, you won't be able to bake or roast in the Dutch oven. Unlike historic applications, where the Dutch oven was buried in embers and could warm the food inside from all directions, a Dutch oven on a gas burner functions pretty much like a thick-walled pot.

Using it will let you make stews, soups, and some sauces. If you want to make sweet things, you will able to make cremes and syrups in it, but without an oven, you are limited to only combining these with fried dough and griddle/flatpan items like crepes. Many classic types of pastry require baking in an oven. And for both sweet and savory, there is not that much difference between a Dutch oven and a normal pot. It will give you a more even heating, but it will respond sluggishly to temperature changes in the burner. An advanced cook can use this property well, but if you are limited to a very small selection of cookware, there is no need to get both a pot and a Dutch oven, and out of the two, the pot is cheaper and easier to handle. So, my recommendation: get a pot instead.

If you want to cook more and your budget allows it, consider buying a toaster oven with a 30x30cm cavity. These take up very little space, and are cheap (mine was 50 Eur). They are good for baking practically everything - pizza, cakes, roasts, etc. I have never had a regular oven since I left my parents' home 11 years ago, and have made some pretty advanced stuff in the toaster oven. It is definitely a good investment.


Can I safely roast a chicken for 4 to 5 hours on a low heat? Hard pressed office worker and cook here. If I go home at lunchtime and put in a medium sized chicken to roast in the oven can I ensure it's ready to eat when the family get in in the evening?

I've found a recipe instructing me to roast at 120C (250F) for 5 hours, uncovered. The recipe mentions ensuring it reaches 85C (185F) internally.

Does that sound reasonable? Any other tips to ensure I don't risk a charred/undercooked bird?

Warning: Although I've cooked the following low-temperature chicken two or three times without a problem, I'm no longer convinced that it is safe (see this question). Nevertheless, it is advocated by a well-known and respected chef, so I won't delete this answer unless I'm able to establish to my own satisfaction that it is, in fact, unsafe.

According to this article, also backed up with data from the USDA, you can cook chicken as low as 140F (60C) as long as the internal temperature of the bird reaches and maintains that temperature for at least 35 minutes.

You may have to do a little calculation and experimentation to find a chicken weight and temperature that hits the five hour mark, but it seems that you can do it safely as long as you have,

an oven that can maintain a
temperature (I would invest in an
oven thermometer to be sure, most
oven dials are way out);
a good
digital probe. Probe the meat in
several places to make sure of the
temperature;

I would also leave the meat to rest a while so that cooking continues with the residual heat. I don't know how long you would need to feel safe, but I would probably wait 30 mins.

A tip taken from a Heston Blumenthal recipe is to brine the bird before hand. That way you will also kill a lot of bacteria from the skin.

Update:

Brining won't kill bacteria. The Blumenthal recipe involves dunking the chicken (see In Search of Perfection p.56) twice for thirty seconds in boiling water. I imagined, erroneously as it turns out, that this was a regular part of the brining process.


What oil is best for seasoning a cast-iron skillet I just cleaned up a rusty cast-iron skillet and I would like to season it. The thing is that I don't have lard handy and I'm wondering whether any of my other oils and fats would do.

I have: canola, olive, sesame and almond oil.

Also, I've heard that appying the oil and reheating multiple times improves the seasoning. Is it true? How many times does it make sense to repeat the process?

This question has been answered several times as part of more general questions about seasoning. See the (closely) related links in the related questions list.
This one in particular:
What's the best way to season a cast iron skillet?

Specifically about oil- you want to use an oil that has a high iodine value:
http://www.journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_yield.html#highiodine

Of those you listed canola (rapeseed) would be highest. If you can find soybean oil it would be even better.

These oils polymerize more easily. To create an even coating with good adhesion, multiple thin coats work well. I have read of people doing as many as 6 coats but, in my opinion, you should do at least 2 or 3.


kneading vs. stretch and fold with pizza I've read in another answer, that for bread stretch and fold and kneading is more or less the same. On the other hand, almost all of the pizza recipes say kneading and almost all of the bread recipes have stretch and fold. Is there a reason for this, or more of a tradition sort of thing or is just my sample of recipes very bad?

It is just a matter of your sample. "Kneading" and "stretch and fold" are not really the same thing - the actual relationship is that stretch and fold is a subtype of kneading. In some cases (mostly very high hydration), it is more comfortable than other subtypes, in others, any subtype will do. So, if a recipe directs the baker to just "knead", the baker will use their preferred technique, which might be stretch and fold. On the other hand, if a recipe author very much likes stretch and fold, they may write it into the recipe even if there is no technical need to prefer it over another technique. The baker may follow it, or decide to deviate.

So in the end, what gets written into the recipe is mostly a personal preference of the recipe author. And what gets done during baking is influenced by both the recipe and the baker. So the word choice is a bit random, and there is no reason to have one more commonly used in bread than in pizza or the other way round. If you noticed such clustering (and just "noticing" is actually not enough due to confirmation bias) then it is likely you got an unbalanced sample, which is a very common thing to happen.


How to prepare cockles for cooking? I collected some cockles from the beach today and would like to try cooking them tomorrow. In the meantime I have soaked the cockles in tap water and I have added some salt into it. I have not put them in the fridge. Is this the correct procedure?

I'm familiar with the preparation of what the Portuguese call Amêijoa and Berbigão (the former being a clam, the later a cockle).

A general advice upfront: make sure that cockles in your region at this season are safe to eat as shellfish tend to accumulate potential harmful substances in their tissue.

Cleaning with seawater
I (or already the fishermen that collected the cockles) usually put them in a container with seawater which was changed every five or six hours. The more often you repeat this procedure the less sand you'll have in your meal (however, even in restaurants it is not uncommon to find a bit of sand). You don't want to keep them in there longer than a day though. Keep them out of direct sunlight. Refrigeration generally is not necessary for half a day to a day. Afterwards discard all individuals that are open (= dead) and use the remaining cockles to prepare your meal.

Cleaning with freshwater
I have never put them into freshwater, therefore here only a guess: theoretically you can simulate seawater by adding the right amount of salt. You'll miss all other elements though, including nutrition, and therefore will generate stress for the cockles which will likely impede their ability to filter water (= clean) and survive. I advice you to use seawater if you have access.

A recipe
A Portuguese recipe includes white wine, a fair amount of garlic, parsley and olive oil. Heat the olive oil in a pot, cut the garlic in half or quarters (not too small) and add them to the pot. Once they are precooked add the cockles and the white wine. Put a lid. Once the cockles are open they are ready to eat (some will not open - Discard closed cockles). Add the parsley when nearly all the cockles are open and cook for a minute more. Eat them straight out of the shell, maybe with a bit of lemon juice. Use bread to enjoy the cooked white wine mixture. Eat the garlic, it should taste delicious.


African palm oil locusts seasoning & preparation? In Africa, frying locusts in palm oil is common. What kind of stores might sell them? What's the basic technique for frying them, and how would I add seasoning?

Good information at InsectsAreFood. Scroll down for a decent list of places to buy. There is also a site called BizarreFood.com that has a shopping page with all sorts of bagged and canned bugs. It appears that the UK has the best-developed edible insect markets. If you live elsewhere, you might want to research your country's laws, regulations and requirements before you order.


Can steaming cans of jams be safely used instead of boiling to sterilise? Can i sterilise my filled jars of marmalade, raspberry and cherry jam in a steamer unit, such as those used to steam vegetables or baby bottles?  I usually make batches of 15 jars so its difficult for me to double boil them all.

The key issue is getting the contents of each jar up to the requisite temperature for the necessary time, all the way through to the center of the jars.  It would be conceivably possible to use steaming to do so, if the requisite controlled temperatures and times could be regulated, and appropriate recipes developed.

However, according to the USDA as reported at the National Center for Food Preservation:

  Steam canners are not recommended because processing times for use
  with current models have not been adequately researched. Because steam
  canners do not heat foods in the same manner as boiling-water canners,
  their use with boiling-water process times may result in spoilage.

If purpose built steam canners are not recommended, I would strongly urge you not to improvise with other devices.

You should only use recipes and methods for canning that come from highly reputable sources, such as a University Extension.


Can you make chocolate from coffee beans or coffee from cacao beans? Coffee and cacao beans have some properties in common. I'm wondering can you make something akin to chocolate from a coffee bean or something like coffee from a cacao bean?

"Brewed Chocolate" seems like a no-brainer. In fact, I found this brand which makes it. http://www.drinkchoffy.com/

Making a solid candy from coffee beans seems a little more iffy. But would this theoretically be possible by crushing the roasted beans (coffee liquor) and extracting the oils (coffee butter) and mixing with the milk and sugar and other usual ingredients?

You don't need a brand for brewed chocolate. You just take cocoa powder (which is ground cocoa beans minus most of their fat) and put it into boiling water. You don't even need to strain. But I prefer to make mine with milk (btw, I sometimes brew coffee in milk too).

Solid candy from coffee is something else. What you call "coffee butter" is, in fact, coffee oil at room temperature. I can't find information about the breakdown of the coffee beans, but I am not sure if they have the starch content of cocoa beans (which helps hold a chocolate bar together). Add to this the potential for a heart attack inducing amount of caffeine per bar of caffeeolate and you see why this isn't commonplace.

I guess that the industry today would find ways around these problems. You can hydrogenize the oil (although I don't think it would attain the smooth texture of tempered chocolate, chocolate butter has some very special crystallization properties which allow a chocolate bar to have a silky but hard texture. It will be just grainy) and you can decaffeinate the whole thing, and then mix it with some starch to thicken it, and as much sugar as there is in milk chocolate to counter the higher bitterness of coffee.

But this will be as distant from real rich-flavoured coffee as 39 cent discounter chocolate bars are from real chocolate. There won't be an equivalent of premium dark chocolate (which is the one that tastes of cocoa beans instead of sugar).

If you love coffee so much that you want to try a coffeeolate bar, you are better off making coffee flavoured chocolate. If you want the least taste mix, start with a white chocolate bar. The easiest way would be to melt it and mix in a very small amount of cream with lots of instant coffee solved into it, but the taste will be bound by the instant coffee quality. The other way would be to brew the coffee powder in cream, very concentrated (more than an espresso) and add it to the melted chocolate. You'll have to work at chocolate candy making temperatures (30°C to 32°C), if you overheat, you'll have to retemper the chocolate.


Is my fancy cheese still safe to eat? A few weeks ago, I went to Amsterdam and bought several pounds of cheese, including one massive (3 pound) round of Edam.  It was wrapped in wax paper and was told that I could leave it out on cold, shady spot of the counter until it was broken up, at which point I needed to refridgate it.  I left it in the paper for a couple of weeks and imagine my surprise when I went to get a slice and it had what looks like white mold growing on the top.  It has spent only three weeks on the counter and appears to be in a yellow parafin wax (it's got printing on it, so I'm assuming it's wax).

Can I still eat it?  If I wash off the mold, would that make it better?  Should I have put it in the fridge?

If it is edible, how exactly should I store it after it's cut?

I was really looking forward to that cheese.

I believe that if you cut/scrape off the mold the rest  will be fine.

With a huge chunk of wrapped and refrigerated parmigiano reggiano, for example, I have been scraping it off before grating it for over 18 months now with no ill effects.


Bamboo Cutting board I recently purchased a bamboo cutting board and it's shedding fine splinters of wood.  Is there a way to clean this off or did I buy a bad quality board?

I've tried washing it but water doesn't seem to rinse off the fine splinters of wood very well.  In fact, the water makes the fine splinters of wood stick!

It sounds like the one you got may not have been of good quality. I don't remember them being terribly expensive ($40?), so I'd take yours back. If you get a good one, it should last you for years and years, so don't be afraid to invest a little. Your new one should NOT be splintering.

And don't put your new one in the dishwasher.


How to fold cabbage leaves for cooking? Is there a way to fold cabbage in a pot so that you maximize the amount you can fit?

I just split my cabbage head in 8 45° wedges and sort of flatten the leaves to layers. But I still was able to fit only one (albeit large) head plus some add ons and it's a 2 gal pot.

Try removing the core from the cabbage completely. This can be done by slicing it in half and using a "v" like pattern for coring it. After the core is removed, all the leaves should flake off very easily. It is usually easier to fill more in a pot when you lay the leaves flat on top of each other. Alternatively, and with a bit more work, you can also just peel the leaves away from the core individually. This is a good way to get bigger leaves (especially useful when making stuffed cabbage).


Is there any point in considering sous vide for unskilled newbie cook? I was considering sous vide as a present for someone, but - being wholly unfamiliar with that cooking method myself except it being trendy - don't know how use(ful|less) of a present that is for them.

Is there any point in considering sous vide for unskilled newbie cook who doesn't have too much time to devote to cooking?

Specifically, by that I mean someone who doesn't have the time, drive, or natural inclination to be a more expert cook. They don't even use thermometers. They don't cook fancy (or even simply complicated) dishes and most of the time cook same simple staples (steak, stew, soup, simple pasta, roast fish, stir fry, etc...). As far as I'm aware they never cooked a sauce, or anything requiring two stages of cooking. They don't usually have the time to cook anything that requires constant supervision for more than an hour; they are at home for 2-3 hours after work 6 days a week; during which time they are busy.

Assuming such a cook continues in the same vein of skill and interest of improving that skill and time commitment; what are the tangible benefits; if any (or downsides, if any) of their having and using sous vide?

I'm a fan of sous vide, and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't make a good present.

Sous vide is mainly a technique for improving quality, not speeding up already fast dishes. It can also help move the busy times around (e.g., so you're not so busy when all your guests arrive, useful at a restaurant or if you host parties).

First, it's slow. A steak on a grill, you start that something like half an hour before you're going to eat, and that includes starting the charcoal. Less time for gas. A quick sous vide steak would probably be around an hour twenty before. Most of that time is just a bag sitting in the water bath, you don't even need to be home watching it. But it'd be a very late dinner after getting home from work.

The basic workflow is first prep and sometimes brown ingredients, second get them in a bag, third they sit in the water bath for a long time (hours, typically), fourth pull from water bath, fifth finish (brown again, garnish with sauces, season, etc.).

And honestly, it's fiddly. At least with reasonably priced equipment. You can (and I often do) use ziploc freezer bags, but getting enough air out so they don't float takes practice (and good clips to attach them to a rack). Non-chamber vacuum sealers are often a pain, as they try to suck any liquids into the seal area (often resulting in a failed aeal).

I think most sous vide cookbooks, etc. are also intended for non-novice cooks.

But if you get it right, it makes an amazing steak!

For soups and stews, I'd suggest a slow cooker (Crock Pot). Prep in the morning, cook all day while at work, ready when you get home. Or, going the opposite direction, a pressure cooker. Personally I've only used stovetop ones, but I hear the electric ones are really easy to use, though slightly less capable than stovetop.


Bake frozen pizza without a tray - will it melt and drip? How can frozen pizza be baked in an oven without a tray, without running the risk of melting like in the picture below (found on teh internets)? Or does that just not happen?

I have baked many a frozen pizza without a tray and never had a pizza lose structural integrity like that.

The oven should be quite hot  (usually the box will specify at least 400°F).

Usually the difficulty arises when it's time to get the pizza out of the oven. I suggest a baking tray with no sides.


How do I make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies that are thick? I'm looking for a way to make "heavy" oatmeal choco chip cookies.
When baked, the cookie keeps the shape of the scoop instead of spreading out. Does using eggs or baking soda make cookies spread out?

Some keys to keeping cookies thick, beyond the chilled dough, are: use a starchier flour, use a fat with a high melting point, and use baking powder.

A starchier flour, like cake flour, will spread less than a flour that has higher protein, like all purpose. If you can't find cake flour, you could replace some of the flour in your recipe with a starch, like cornstarch or potato starch.

Shortening has a higher melting point than butter, replacing all or some of the butter in your recipe with shortening will allow the cookie to begin to set before the fat melts completely.

Finally, baking powder contains acids which help to keep the dough tighter. This helps it to "puff" more and spread less. If you can't use baking powder, you could add a bit of some other acidic ingredient to your dough (but cut the baking soda a bit as well or you might end up with cookies that are too cakey). A bit of a fruit vinegar, citrus juice, or cream of tartar would probably do the trick.


Cookware and methods for large quantities of rice On my next Catering job, I was asked to cook a large amount of rice. I will probably use about 15 to 20 cups of Basmatti or Risotto rice.

For the Basmati, my options are to either cook the rice 4 cups at a time (re-season, clean the pots, etc) or use my large soup / gravy pot to do the rice.
For the Risotto, I'm not really sure if cooking that much risotto is even possible simultaneously.

My question in a nutshell is how much water and salt should I put in?

Now I know that water and seasoning depends on humidity, weather condition, type of rice, where was it harvested from, was it drained ? washed ? drained and washed? soaked?, the moon and earth cycles, night and day, and that the amount of water decreases significantly as the amount of rice increases. I'm looking for a ballpark figure (+/- 1 cup)

EDIT

I'm sorry to be a pain in the rear; however, there is definitely a difference between cooking 2 cups of rice and 20 cups of rice. I ended up resorting to making my spice mix ahead of time and cooked the rice 4 cups at a time with about (5-6 cups of water for each batch).

I'll keep researching this and see what I can come up with

I would definitely not do the risotto, very hard to get and hold the right texture in those kinds of quantities. The basmati rice will work fine in a large pot. Cook it by the absorption method (bring to a boil with 1 3/4 cups of water per cup of rice, reduce to a simmer, cook covered, without stirring, until all of the water is absorbed).


How can I make cheap, smooth homemade Alfredo sauce? I've tried making Alfredo sauce several times based on a few online recipes.

It generally comes out pretty tasty, but also with one flaw: the sauce is grainy or gritty because the grated Parmesan cheese doesn't fully melt.  Doing searches online, most people seem to recommend starting with block Parmesan cheese and grating or shredding it at home.  However, at least at the stores around here, block Parmesan is much more expensive than the usual dried/grated stuff.

Does anyone have a technique for getting the cheaper stuff to melt smoothly into the sauce, or alternatively a cheaper source for the more suitable types of Parmesan?

The real stuff is expensive because it's still actually cheese. If you're gonna use the canned stuff, you're probably better off just leaving it out entirely (or sprinkling it on top at the table as-desired...)

It doesn't take a lot of cheese either - it's pretty strong stuff. You can probably get away with just a few ounces...


How do you clear food that sticks to the cutting knife? I am now typing this with 1.5 hands because like a moron I cleared parsley that stuck to the knife with the edge towards my hand. After a quarter cup of blood it is a powerful lesson to never clear the knife with the edge towards my hand.

But how then do you clear the knife? My first guess is to always point the edge away from the hand, but even the greatest knife masters will forget every once in a while to clean with the edge in the opposite direction.

How then should you clean the food that sticks to the knife?

even the greatest knife masters will forget every once in a while to clean with the edge in the opposite direction

No, they won't, not after cutting themselves a couple of times. It's natural to cut yourself while cutting food, occasionally, but I have never cut myself while slipping food from the blade.

Always keep the edge away from you, place the side of your finger against the flat of the blade keeping it absolutely rigid and straight, and run your finger down the blade. It's that simple. Using the side of your finger reduces the chance of you curling it around the cutting edge.


Older vs. newer stainless pans My newer pans scratch really easily but I noticed that my mother's older, (bought in the 70s I think) heavier stainless pans don't scratch easily at all. The inside of hers looks a bit like the bottom (exterior) of my newer pan, sort of like a stainless steel sink, heavy duty. Hers are super easy to clean, mine always need baking soda to clean. I have a bottom of the line Henckels pan and a reasonably good Denby pan, both 18/10 stainless I think but they are very thin on the sides. They also look like they have a bit of a finish to make them look shiny. I'm wondering if the older pans are a lot better than what is available now. I hope I haven't repeated any questions answered before. Thanks!

Without question, newly manufactured metalware does not match the quality of the same items made several decades ago.

I collect a classic style of (copper bottomed) stainless steel cookware that used to be manufactured in the United States. The oldest pieces are heavier and have a finer, more durable finished cooking surface than newer items.

A well-maintained old pan is a treasure, that can often be had for very little money at a yard sale or flea market, and will be far superior to similarly styled brand new cookware.


Why is there no sweet (as in 'with sugar') butter? I understand salted butter can be useful is some situations, but why there's no such thing as "sugar butter" that can be sold in stores? I mean, there is sweet milk (concentrated, for instance) and sweet yoghurt, but no sweet butter nor sweet cheese. Is it just cultural or is there some chemical explanation behind it?

Butter traditionally has salt in it as a preservative, mainly to stop bacterial growth on the residual whey, and to slow fat rancidity

Modern butter has a much lower amount of salt than is required for shelf storage in the pre-electric era. Now we have refrigerators, salt is not required at such a high level

Butter with no salt has nearly half of the shelf life of modern salted butter

Processed sugar is a modern ingredient, and therefore there is no culture in having it in butter.

Sweet yoghurt and milk are all "new" inventions

Using salt as a preservative is as old as recorded history. Many cultures used salt to preserve fruits, as well as meats and vegetables


Are sea bass fillets meant to be crisp on the flesh side when fried? I've just cooked some sea bass fillets (according to the instructions), and was instructed (by the instructions) to turn them from the skin side to the flesh side mid-way through cooking.

This led to the flesh side being slightly yellowed and crisp, which seems strange. Have I been led unwittingly into some form of cooking faux-pas, or is all as it should be?

If you want to avoid getting the flesh side crispy start pre-heating the oven and a frying pan, then fry it skin side down for a few minutes, turn it and fry it just briefly on the flesh side, then transfer to a baking dish and finish it for a few minutes in the oven. Keep the skin side up and place it high in the oven to ensure the skin stays crispy.


Cooking Large Quantity of Chicken Legs When I roast or bake chicken legs (about 10) I roast them for about 2 hours on 350 wet so they never dry out.   I am cooking today nearly 100 legs in 3 full size pans (32 legs each pan) for a buffet table.   How much longer will I need to roast them so the meat pulls back from the bone and they are tender.  I will still roast them "wet" and covered.   I also have access to commercial convection ovens.

Id suggest turning the heat down to 300 and giving them around 3 to 3 and half hours. Keeping it low means if the buffet is late which is often the case they won't dry out left in the oven.


Can't get beans to cook to tender I’m having a horrible time trying to get beans cooked to be tender and not bitter.  Overnight soaking and rapid soak methods aren’t making any difference.  If I add anything to the cooking process, it’s a piece of onion and/or a hot green chili.  These beans soak for at least 10 hours and cook for over 4!

Ok, so maybe at my store, the beans are old.  The packages are never past the pull date. How do you tell just by looking whether they’re “too old”?

There are three primary reasons why dried beans do not soften despite extensive cooking time: 1) they are old; 2) hard water; or 3) the presence of an acid.

If you don't think your beans are old, then perhaps your water is the problem. Beans cooked in hard water will never soften properly. If this might be your case, try cooking them in distilled water instead. That should help. It doesn't sound like acidity is a problem, given what you described.

For cooking advice, I often look to Christopher Kimball of America's Test Kitchen. His group does extensive testing of all sorts of recipes and cooking techniques.  Here is an excerpt from his blog on dried beans:

"Troubleshooting Hard Beans

Finally, if you’ve cooked your beans for hours and found they failed to soften, chances are they are either old and stale (and will never fully hydrate or soften), the water is too hard, or there’s a acidic element present. Food scientists universally agree that high acidity can interfere with the softening of the cellulose-based bean cells, causing them to remain hard no matter how long they cook. Alkalinity, on the other hand, has the opposite effect on legumes. Alkalines make the bean starches more soluble and thus cause the beans to cook faster. (Older bean recipes often included a pinch of baking soda for its alkalinity, but because baking soda has been shown to destroy valuable nutrients, few contemporary recipes suggest this shortcut.)"

Here is the link: https://christopherkimball.wordpress.com/2009/04/30/cooking-beans-101/

Good luck!


I need to quickly and safely thaw frozen ground beef, what are my options? Since reading the answers to my question about defrosting meat on the counter I've been good about giving my meat time to defrost in the refrigerator. However, my plans for tonight have changed and I'd like to defrost some ground beef that is completely frozen for dinner this evening. What are my options to do so quickly and safely?

Put the meat in a sealed plastic bag, place in a bowl in the sink, fill with cold tapwater, then set the tap running in a thin stream with the water overflowing the sides of the bowl.  The moving water will safely thaw the meat through convection.  Make sure you get as much air out of the plastic bag as you can.  You might need to put some weight on it in the bowl to keep it submerged in the water.


Can you make cheese curds with pasteurized milk? I have this recipe for cheese curds that I want to try: http://www.ehow.com/how_5106352_make-cheese-curds-poutine.html, but it specifically calls for raw milk which is near to impossible to get here. I make yogurt with pasteurized milk and it works no problem, but does cheese somehow work differently?

ehow is not a source of reliable information. It is a content farm, and therefore most of it's articles are effectively screen scraped (either by hand or using 'bots). People get paid to make content, but there is no peer review process

There are plenty of other sources on the web including this site :-) that explain the cheese curd (paneer) process, and that you can use pasteurized or even milk powder with perfect results

Raw milk is NOT a requirement to make curds, and in a blind test is not identifiable. The taste is affected by the fat content and the cows diet. How well you extract just the whey will also affect texture and taste

How do you make paneer?

Search SA for Paneer


What purpose could baking soda and cream of tartar serve in a meatball recipe? I came across a recipe for Italian-style meatballs today that includes two ingredients I've never seen used in any meatball recipe before: baking soda and cream of tartar. It also does not include any sort of bread or breadcrumbs, as is generally customary.

What could be the purpose of adding these ingredients? Does it somehow go hand-in-hand with omitting a bread filler?

Recipe ingredients:

1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon water
1 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons)
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves, minced (about 2 tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon Italian herb blend (or oregano)

According to Cook's Illustrated's article Tenderizing Meat with Baking Soda (possible paywall):

  Briefly soaking meat in a solution of baking soda and water raises the pH on the meat’s surface, making it more difficult for the proteins to bond excessively, which keeps the meat tender and moist when it’s cooked.

This is almost certainly the effect of the baking powder:  to help create a more tender product.   This is probably especially necessary given the lack of bread products (which provides starch that physically interferes with protein linking, and helps retain moisture in the, thus producing a more tender meatball).

The tartaric acid is probably there because recipe authors are used to pairing it with baking soda which is necessary when it is used to create leavening in baked goods.  In the meatballs, it will simply tend to help make them more acidic, although it will also neutralize some of the baking soda.

I have surveyed several recipes on the web which include baking soda in meatball recipes; they variously claim that it helps make the meatballs lighter or more tender.


I need to convert cocoa powder into unsweetened chocolate squares So if I  need 2/3 of a cup of cocoa powder and I don't have it how much semi sweet chocolate squares do I need in place of the cocoa

One ounce of semi-sweet chocolate equals 3 tablespoons cocoa powder + 1 tablespoon butter or oil + 1 tablespoon of sugar (from The Cook's Thesaurus)

2/3 cup = 10 2/3 tablespoons

If your recipe calls for 2/3 cup cocoa powder and you want to substitute semi-sweet chocolate, you will need to reduce the butter or oil in your recipe by 3.5 tablespoons and the sugar by 3.5 tablespoons (10 2/3 divided by 3 equals 3.5)

You will also likely incorporate semi-sweet chocolate differently than you would cocoa powder, depending on what it is you are making. For example, for brownies, instead of mixing the cocoa powder directly in as in Alton Brown's recipe for Cocoa Brownies, you may need to melt the chocolate in a double-boiler, let it cool, then proceed with instructions such as those for Ghirardelli's Classic Chocolate Brownies that calls for semi-sweet chocolate.


Residue in a cup of tea using household filter I'd like to ask some insights re potential cause of residue in a cup of tea when I used water from household filter but no residue when I used the water bought from purified water vendor. I boiled the water from both sources and used the same tea bags. The filtered water showed lots of residue while no tea residue using the water that I bought.  Both of them were very clear before dipping the tea bag. Hope you can shed some light.

Your tap water probably contains more minerals and your household filter does not remove them completely. (maybe your household filter is not working properly).
Bottled water use industrial food grade filtering techniques, they work better than home filters.
You could ask your city about the mineral content of your water, it should be
publicly available.


What is the relation between mixing the dough and the final result? I often see recipes that just ask to mix the ingredients until you get an homogeneous mix. Others ask to mix the ingredients to exhaustion.

What happens to the though while I mix it? Does that really make a difference? What should I expect, as final result (after cooking) from a dough that was only mixed to the point it gets homogeneous from one that I mix hard for a long time?

I am mostly talking about bread and cake dough. But I was wondering if there is a general rule so I know what to expect.

Okay, so I presume that we're talking about recipes containing wheat flour and you're putting together a dough (or batter) for a bake or maybe even a pasta.

In general, mixing wheat flour with water results in the production of gluten.  Gluten is pretty tough stuff; it's essentially what gives a finished wheat product its chew and contributes greatly to its overall structure.  The more you mix (or knead), the tougher the resulting dough and finished product.


Cumin-flavored vodka I want to make vodka or liquor which tastes similarly to Brennivin. The taste which dominates Brennivin is cumin so you can say that I can basically want to prepare cumin-flavored vodka or liquor.

The question is how should I process vodka to achieve such taste?

In Sweden we have a long tradition of herb and spice infused spirits, or "snaps" as we call it. Many of these are made with caraway and/or dill seed, which are also the ingredients which characterize the Aquavit type of spirit, common in both Sweden and Denmark. I have only made it myself once, but it was quite successful and extremely easy to make. I cannot remember the exact recipe I used, but the ingredients were dill seed, caraway seed and lemon zest. I think the proportions (to one standard bottle of vodka, 700 ml in Sweden) were something like a table spoons each of dill and caraway seed, and lemon zest from about 1/4 lemon. All of this was just combined in a jar and left to steep for a couple of weeks.


Are "shelled nuts" with or without their shells? I'm using MyFitnessPal to log what I'm eating, and I can't figure out whether 'shelled pistachios' are pistachios with or without their shells.

In cooking, "shelled" usually means "de-shelled" or "shell-less". This applies to nuts, peas, etc.

The opposite that I've seen most often is "shell" to indicate that they still have their shell.

"Shell peanuts" have their shell intact.
"Shelled peanuts" are just the meat that has been removed from the shell


Sources for authentic recipes Are there any sources for authentic versions of traditional dishes? For instance I believe that the version of Guacamole that I prepare is not traditional because of the use of coriander and lime so is there any where I can look up a tradiational version of the recipe so I can compare my version with the traditional version.

I know that even traditional recipes will vary somewhat with regional and family variations but I would have thought that there are enough elements of commonality that I could tell how my version differs.

Authentic is a very slippery question. Recipes change over time, and even the most down-home recipes are prepared differently from village to village and even house to house. As far as I know, cilantro and lime are very typical ingredients in guacamole - they are certainly included in both the Diana Kennedy and Rick Bayless standard versions, and those authors are known for their meticulous research in Mexico.


Why can't I scale up jam/jelly recipes? Pectin packages always explicitly state that jelly/jam recipes cannot be scaled up.

My own empirical evidence is limited but I did have a doubled batch not set so I no longer double the batches.

What is it about

((pectin + acid + sugar + water) * boiling) = jelly

that makes scaling impossible?

I haven't made jam in years and don't know first-hand, but this website suggests it won't scale as the jam won't cook as well.  This seems predicated on the idea that your cooking vessel remains the same size but the batch is larger.

From the linked site:

  Most jam recipes already call for you to use the widest pot you have, for maximum surface area. This large surface area leads to faster evaporation of water. Fast cooking leads to the freshest tasting, best textured jam.

  However, if you double the amount of jam in your pot, you greatly increase the cooking time, because there’s so much more product in the pot that needs to be cooked down. This can lead to rubbery batches, burning and jam that doesn’t set.

This is also supported by another site that claims doubling is difficult "due to inherently uneven heating of home cookware".

Per nico's comment, it sounds like doubling/scaling is possible - perhaps give it a try in cookware appropriate to the doubled batch size.


Why does my rice cooker's steam hole always clog? The lid on my rice cooker has a small steam hole that gets clogged from bubbles forming and the quinoa gets stuck and then the whole thing boils over and makes a mess. Am I doing something wrong? How do I keep it from doing this?

Note: this was taken from a deleted answer to How do I keep the rice cooker from boiling over? I don't actually have a rice cooker, so I can't provide extra details; answers about all potential causes and fixes are welcome!

If the foam from your rice cooker is reaching all the way to the lid, it may be over-filled. At least for very small grains, like quinoa, you may need to prepare it in smaller batches so that it can't be carried up to the lid.

Quinoa also has a coating of saponins on the outside of the grain. These soap-like chemicals can cause water to foam and also impart a soapy taste, they should always be washed off before cooking.

In general, adding a few drops of oil to the surface of the cooking water can help to reduce the amount of foam produced.


How can I keep greengage jam green rather than orangey brown? How Cani keep greengage jam green rather than orangey brown?

It sounds like it is oxidizing so you need an antioxidant for the jam.  First I need to know what ingredients Greengage jam contains.  Then I can advise you on natural antioxidants to add (like lemon juice for avocados).


How much water to add to rice cooker when cooking brown rice? I usually use 1.5 cups of water for every cup of 'white basmati' rice.

Today I used 4 cups of water for 1 cup of 'brown basmati' rice and it came out a bit watery.  however i did add more of the water after one round of cooking so maybe that had something to do with the visible water in the rice cooker?

A little experimentation with each machine is in order as boiling time and amount of steam lost varies.

A good starting point for short-grain brown rice is to cover by inch.
2 inches if rice is to be rinsed and further steamed.


What is the best way to preserve oyster stew? Now that the holidays are over, my local grocery store has a glut of pints of pre-shucked oysters they need to unload. I can't pass that up, so I thought I would make a whole mess of oyster stew or chowder and freeze it for later. But that had me wondering, what is the proper way to approach this with minimal damage to the quality/taste/texture of the result?

I could make it all up front and freeze it in pre-portioned amounts. But will it freeze well/properly? Pretty much every recipe is just a whole bunch of fatty dairy (butter, cream), maybe some aromatics, and the oysters. With all that fat, will it freeze well (not separate) and be easy to store without picking up freezer funk?

The alternative I came up with, since the recipe really is so simple -- sweat the aromatics if using them, heat up the dairy and drop in the oysters until cooked -- perhaps it would be better to pre-portion the uncooked oysters and freeze those, probably in a flat puck shape. Then when it's time to eat some stew, I just prepare the recipe as usual and drop in my frozen oyster puck and it probably takes a few extra minutes to cook but it's not really much worse than thawing and reheating the version made with the previous method.

I feel like the second approach will give a better result for the added cost of a few extra minutes when I want to eat it, but I've never frozen oysters in their liquor so maybe I am missing something. I've also never frozen heavy dairy so maybe I am missing something about that also.

If the stew is already prepared, you should be able to freeze it with very little problem.  I freeze cream sauces all of the time.  Individual portions are ideal because they freeze more quickly with less/smaller water crystals.

If the stew is not cold already, chill it in the refrigerator before before moving it to the freezer.  Breaking, or separation of fats, usually occurs when reheating.  Defrost the frozen stew gently, say overnight in the refrigerator or in a cool water bath, and then gently warm in a pan -- not a microwave.  Add a little fresh cream to smooth it out if you need to.

As you mention, any oysters in the stew will be frozen and reheated, so they will be end up more "well done" than those in a fresh batch.

As for freezing the oysters in their liquor, you can do so.  If you have a vacuum sealer that allows liquids, that is your best route.  Note that freezing will slightly change the texture and they will release more moisture when thawed.


When is the best time to freeze bread? We have a small household and most baked goods are not finished before they go stale.

For bread and buns, when is the best time to freeze?

After knead?

Before first proof?

After proof?

After second proof?

In the book Advanced Bread and Pastry, Michael Suas outlines three methods that he recommends to professional bakers (but also applicable at home) for freezing bread at various stages, roughly in decreasing order of quality:

Par-baked process.  The bread or rolls are prepared normally and baked normally, but for a shorter amount of time (just until the structure is set).  For best results, Suas recommends a relatively high temperature at first to maximize oven spring, then decrease to a much lower oven for the rest of the baking time.
Bread should be pulled from the oven before most substantial browning, with just the basic structure intact so the bread doesn't collapse.  Loaves or rolls are cooled to about room temperature and then frozen quickly.  They may then be removed directly from the freezer and baked immediately, usually at a relatively high temperature.  The biggest challenge for a home baker here is potential moisture loss and slight staling during cooling and freezing (as commercial bakeries tend to use a blast chiller).  But if done well, the results are basically the same as normally baked bread.
Frozen dough process.  The dough is mixed/kneaded, divided, shaped, and frozen immediately to minimize fermentation and gas activity.  Generally the only modifications are to use cold ingredients and to mix/knead more thoroughly, as the lack of a shaping step after defrosting means that the the gluten must be thoroughly developed during the initial mix.  High-gluten flour or added gluten may also help with the final rise.  (Gas production and fermentation is then limited to avoid more damage to the gluten structure during the freezing process.
It also makes it easier to wrap the dough tightly without much dough expansion during the freezing process.)  When frozen dough is to be held longer, a higher yeast content may be used as the yeast activity will gradually die off with prolonged freezing.  The best thawing method is slow and in the fridge.  This also allows the possibility of reshaping (if necessary) before the final proof at room temperature.  Final quality is usually okay but lower than parbaked results, either due to insufficient yeast activity/dough structure after freezing or excessive "yeasty" flavor if more yeast is added to the inital mix offset this.  This method is usually best for enriched doughs that can distract from the lack of good flavor development.
Preproof frozen process.  Here the dough is mixed in the usual fashion, then shaped and allowed to undergo a single proof to about 75% of the usual final size.  The dough is quickly frozen.  It can then be removed from the freezer and placed directly in the oven to complete its rise and bake.  This process is the most temperamental and least likely to produce bread of high quality.  Suas only recommends this method be used for things like breakfast pastries with a high butter content -- to distract from poor flavor development and texture -- that will be consumed relatively quickly after baking.  But it is very convenient to get a warm "fresh-baked" product quickly with little effort at the end.  Still, Suas strongly recommends par-baking over this process for most baked goods.  (And the frozen dough process at least allows the possibility for reshaping and controlling the final rise to get a better product.)

I've tried the first two processes myself at times, and they've both produced reasonably good results.  Like the information I summarized above, I wouldn't recommend letting the dough rise before freezing though, unless you're going to parbake.  More gas bubbles mean more ice crystals that will potentially damage the bread structure during freezing.

Other answers and comments have mentioned the possibility of doing a complete normal bake and freezing the final loaf.  That's also a reasonable possibility, but if I'm to that stage and I know I'm going to freeze some bread, I often pull out some of the loaves a few minutes early, so I can defrost/finish baking them in the oven.

The one concern to that is that parbaked bread (in my experience) tends to stale a little faster after it is defrosted and baked, partly due to moisture loss during two stages of baking and two stages of cooling.  If you don't plan on eating most of the bread right away after baking, I'd probably tend to either freeze fully baked bread (and defrost at room temperature), though the "frozen dough" method may be acceptable for richer bread doughs or doughs that don't depend on a high rise (e.g., pizza).  The choice of method really depends on how much work you want to do at various stages, the type of dough/bread, and how quickly you plan to eat the finished bread.


Is it okay to throw the food, collected in the mesh in the sink, down the drain, if it doesn't contain plastic? We know all food is organic (made of carbon).  So if we throw organic stuff down the drain, it should get decomposed by bacteria and shrink. So why should we be worried about blockages if all the food will get decomposed and the drain will open up?  I understand oil and grease is bad because it deposits and narrows the lumen of the drains. Plastics, are non-biodegradable hence will not decompose and should not be put down the drain.

So isn't it okay to throw food down the drain, because it'll never cause a blockage?

It's not safe to assume that food won't cause a blockage if there are other processes at work.

I've known multiple people who have had tree roots manage to break into their sewer pipes.  (odds are, there was a leak of water, the roots went towards it, and then opened the pipe up further).  If the drain is already restricted, larger particles can make the situation problematic.

In my case, when the state highway was installing sidewalks and curbs on my street, their contractors ended up crushing sewer lines along our side of the street.  I know that at least four of us were affected, as we started having issues with blockages and basements getting flooded by sewage ... but it took a couple of weeks for other matter to start filling in the crevices until we reached a complete blockage.

Even in the case where you don't already have an obstruction in your pipes, garbage disposals are quite inefficient as a way of disposal; you're wasting clean water in the process, and you're putting extra work on the sewage treatment plants.

Sewage treatment plant are designed to handle a specific volume of water and waste, and in cases of periods above their capacity, they may have to divert untreated water and hope that dilution will be sufficient.  This means increased nutrient loads in your waterways, which can cause algae blooms and kill fish populations.  (although the unprocessed food isn't as bad as the other stuff that's typically in wastewater).

Most carbon digestion is an aerobic process, with the result of the breakdown of food in the wastewater using up the oxygen in the water.  Discharging this low-ox water can also lead to  deadzones.

You also have to look at what a treatment facilities does with their extracted solids.  In some newer facilities, there is biogas extraction, and the decomposition of the materials is used to power the facility.  (sometimes, with excess capacity sold off).  In others, they have to truck it away ... sometimes it's spread on fields as ferilizer.  Other times it goes through a 'de-watering' process ... either pumped to the bottom of a lagoon to digest or spread out into troughs to air-dry, then hauled to a landfill for disposal.

Garbage disposals are convenient, and they're useful for the occassional scraps ... but if you can, compost your food scraps.  As for normal garbage vs. garbage disposal, there too many local factors -- if you're in a water restricted area that doesn't have a biogas system or sufficient capacity at the water treatment facility, normal trash is likely your best yet.  If you're in an area with lots of water, sufficient treatment capactiy and a biogas system, garbage disposal may be better.

For more reading on some of the hidden costs of garbage disposals, see:

http://www2.buildinggreen.com/blogs/garbage-disposals-and-worms-face-over-environmental-food-waste-disposal
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/the_green_lantern/2008/09/should_we_dispose_of_disposals.html
http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/trash-talking-the-garbage-disposal-examination-of-a-not-so-green-us-export.html


Can I replace brown sugar with white sugar without using molasses in cookies? I don't know if I can replace the brown sugar with white sugar because the recipe already calls for white sugar too.

Many recipes require both brown and white sugar. It is possible to substitute the brown sugar for the white sugar 1:1 but several things will change in your final result.

Taste - Brown sugar is essentially white sugar with molasses. The molasses adds a malty thick complex sweetness. With just white sugar your cookie will have a less complex flavor.

Note: To combat #1, you can add a little bit of: honey, dark corn syrup, maple syrup, brown rice syrup or barley malt syrup to make up for the flavor loss.

Texture - The white sugar will melt at a lower temperature meaning it will not be able to hold the shape of the cookie before the gluten sets. The sugar will melt and cause the dough to spread out. When using brown sugar, the dough will be able to set before the brown sugar melts. So when baking cookies, using all white sugar will result in a flat/thin crunchy cookie while using more brown sugar will result in a thicker, softer cookie.

Note: To mitigate #2 you can chill your dough before you bake the cookies to help prevent your dough from spreading too thin during the baking process.

If however you do have molasses, you can easily create your own brown sugar by mixing 1 cup white sugar with 1 tbsp molasses.


Whipped egg white snack texture and preservation I am trying to make whipped marshmallow egg white snacks. I would like the end texture to be between heavy whipped topping and a marshmallow and preserve flavors and texture for 5-7 days.

I have been following the following recipe.

However I ended up with an outcome which was more like a heavy whipped cream as opposed to a gooey like marshmallow cream snack, which is what is desired. Also, dipping it in the chocolate made it fall apart.

Note, the sugar syrup color and thickness was slightly lighter than what was in the video.

Would adding gelatin be a good idea for the desired outcome, if so at what point should it be added and at what ratio?

Adding cocoa powder for a chocolate flavored whipping caused the density of the cream to undesirably reduce.

What is the best way to preserve this to ensure it lasts 5-7 days?

The treat you are describing I believe is a meringue. These little guys are tricky to get right the first time, as it is all about how long you cook them for and how finely you whip the egg white mixture. What I like to do is add a bit of lemon zest on each one. Not only does it enhance the vanilla flavour (if you're using it), but it also serves to tell you when the meringue is just about ready (goes brown/near black). I have never tried adding gelatin but I don't suppose that would turn out well.

My suggestion: Cook the meringues at about 160-180 degrees celsius, checking on them every 5-10 minutes. Press your finger into one of them if you feel they are ready (the sacrifice of one for the survival of many, I know) and keep repeating this until you feel you have reached your desired texture. The beautiful thing about them is: you can cook them a little to leave them marshmallow-ey or you can cook them into crumbly, crunchy, snacks.

As for how long they last, meringue tend to last about two weeks without a significant change in quality in an airtight, sealed container.

Quick Tip: To keep them soft in texture, let them cool slowly in the oven with the door ajar.

Good Luck!


Why is my first batch of cookies out of the oven too flat? Every time I make cookies, the first batch out of the oven is a bit too thin and flat. Subsequent batches are as expected. What could be causing this?

It may be that your oven is not up to temperature before your first batch goes in. If it's not hot enough your cookies will have more time to melt and flatten before they cook. Try giving the oven 10 more minute preheating time before putting your first batch in.


Canning chili with beans We're going to try canning some homemade chili with canned kidney beans. Question: Would it be best to add the beans right before canning so they don't get over cooked or do you think there would be little difference if they were cooked with the chili before canning. I'm trying to avoid mushy beans but would like to cook a big pot and can the left overs. I usually add the beans in the last half hour of cooking anyway.

If you are going to be canning this for long term storage you will need to be pressure canning it, and as that will mean some pretty high heat you'd be better off not cooking you beans too long before canning. I'd add them in a few minutes before the end of cooking just to get them warmed up in preparation for canning it as a half hour of cooking plus pressure canning would probably mean mush.


What kind of reaction when you combine sodium bicarbonate and sodium acid pyrophosphate? Is it a single reaction slow raising agent?
It only activates when on a heat right?

My product is a Chinese fried dough known as youtiao...
And also going to add with ammonia bicarbonate

A quite readable explaination from a supplier of leavening agents : http://www.lallemand.com/BakerYeastNA/eng/PDFs/LBU%20PDF%20FILES/1_12CHEM.PDF

According to them, sodium acid pyrophosphate has indeed a "slow to very slow action, slightly bitter aftertast". But the bicarbonate will produce CO2 when reacting with the acid, regardless of heat.

I wouldn't use ammonia bicarbonate as its "ammonia taste limits [it] use to low-moisture products" : your batter might still contains too much moisture to get rid of the ammonia taste.


How much oil is absorbed by deep-fried donuts during frying? I am doing a comparison with baked to determine the amount of added fat.

I sold deep fry oil for a few years. According to company and industry studies, it could add 10%, but up to 1/4 of the weight if using the wrong oil or wrong temperature. Have you eaten a doughnut and it has the fatty taste and “bad mouth feel”- when the fat coats the tongue? They aren’t using the right oil (which melts at a lower temperature), and chances are frying below 350°F or not waiting for the temperature to go up again after frying a previous batch. A properly fried doughnut absorbs less oil and saves the restaurant or bakery money because they can buy less oil.


Egg sizes of yesteryear and today I have a great Mrs Beetons recipe for Almond Icing.  However, as it's a very old recipe and calls for the whites of 4 eggs what size egg should I use.  As eggs on the whole have been getting smaller over the years.  Yes I can see that egg yolk sizes have been discussed on the site, but not this particular problem that I have.

ALMOND ICING FOR CAKES.

INGREDIENTS – To every lb. of finely-pounded loaf sugar allow 1 lb. of sweet almonds, the whites of 4 eggs, a little rose-water.

Mode.—Blanch the almonds, and pound them (a few at a time) in a mortar to a paste, adding a little rose-water to facilitate the operation. Whisk the whites of the eggs to a strong froth; mix them with the pounded almonds, stir in the sugar, and beat altogether. When the cake is sufficiently baked, lay on the almond icing, and put it into the oven to dry. Before laying this preparation on the cake, great care must be taken that it is nice and smooth, which is easily accomplished by well beating the mixture.

There is no absolute conversion as egg sizes were not standardized back then.  For the USA, not England, the food timeline http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodeggs.html under the section "Egg sizes the USA" (about 1/10th of the way down) starts with (bolding added):

  What size hen's egg was used to make a cake in the 1840s? Excellent question with no simple answer. Today's consumers find eggs clearly marked with quality grades in different sizes. In the 1840s, many consumers found eggs under the chicken in the family coop. Pre-industrial American cook books regularly acknowledge the relationship between fresh eggs and best product but are silent on size. Cook books focus on identifying "good" eggs, proper storage, and preservation techniques. In those days, the size of chicken eggs depended upon breed, feed, season and cooping conditions.

Recreating old recipes with modern products always poses special challenges. When eggs are on the shopping list, think small or medium.

The section continues with various extracts describing approximate weights and other commentary.

From the above, I would go with Dorothy's comment and use medium, starting with two or three and adjust for consistency.  Don't forget to weigh what you use so that you can repeat your success with any eggs.


How do you clean and season a cast iron pot? Unlike a cast iron skillet I'm having a much harder time keeping a pot clean and rust free. I use it mostly for roasts on occasionally some stews, any tips or difference in care between the two?

First I would highly recommend getting the food out of the pot as soon as its cooked. Letting the food sit in the pot for several days is the main problem. The sooner you clean the pot the better. I would scrape the pot (i use a polycarbonate scraper) to get it clean and then heat the pot on the stove to make sure is dry, then finally add the oil after you're sure the water has evaporated. When you apply another layer of oil it is not exactly seasoning the pot unless you expose the oil and pot to very high heats. I would recommend making sure the pot is clean and seasoned well, then try to follow the cleaning above.


Nonalcoholic Substitute for Marsala Wine For personal reasons I won't purchase alcohol or have it in my home, but I'm a bit of a foodie and love Chicken and Steak Marsala.  I've found decent nonalcoholic substitutes for dry and sweet white wines and burgundy (Meiers Sparkling Juice), which covers most of the recipes I've wanted to make, but I've never found a good substitute for Marsala.  Are there any non-alcoholic versions that would pass in a recipe, or a decent mix of other juices or ingredients that would pass, even if I have to process it somehow?

I have cooked quite a few times for Islamic guests and finding non alcoholic substitutes for wine is never easy. In general you find a lot of solutions floating around on the Internet based on grape juices, but I have never been quite satisfied with the results that brings me.

My best results have been achieved through using non alcoholic wine instead of grape juice. Especially the brands of non alcoholic wine that are produced by chemically extracting the alcohol from the finished product come quite close to behaving like regular wine in sauce recipes.

Since you are from the US you might want to check out these guys: Ariel

Specifically for Marsala I have found some recipes calling for the following substitutes:

¼ cup white grape juice

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

1-tablespoon nonalcoholic vanilla extract

As said, I would replace the grape juice in this recipe with non alcoholic wine for the optimal result.


How much "compounded" asafoetida to use? I have a UK-Indian recipe that calls for asafoetida (1/4 teaspoons). I have bought this:

This says it is "compounded" asafoetida powder. Is this any different from what would be used for my recipe? Do I use the amount called for, or less/more? The listed ingredients are gum arabic, wheat starch, and asafoetida.

Asafoetida is most commonly found in a "compounded" form.  It's about 30% asafoetida resin mixed with rice or wheat flour, and gum arabic.  Use it as your recipe directs.  It's fairly potent.  I use about 1/4 tsp at a time.


Use Avocado instead of Butter to bake a cake? This may sound extravagant, but I have tried a very nice chocolate pudding made of avocado, chocolate, and some other ingredients. You could not tell there was avocado in the pudding and the texture was just perfect!

So I was wondering if avocado can be used instead of butter to bake cakes too.

Has anyone tried this before?

There are two things you care about when you are making a cake. First, ratio. Second, sequence.

The ratio is a weight ratio. For example, a muffin batter has 2 parts flour, 2 pars liquid, 1 part egg, and 1 part fat. You can use different types of liquid to make different kinds of muffins. You can make any amount of batter you want, provided you use the same ratio.*

The second point is the sequence of combining the ingredients. Look at pound cake and sponge cake: they are made with the same ingredients, using exactly the same ratio. But you combine the ingredients in a different order, producing two different types of cake layer.

If you decide to change a recipe for avocado baking, you must keep both ratio and sequence in mind. An avocado contains, on average, 15% fat and 74% water by mass. It also has 7% fiber, but as I assume that you'll puree the avocado first, it shoudln't roughen the cake too much, it will be nowhere like whole wheat cake. We can ignore the sugars (1%) and proteins (2%), as the amount is insignificant.

As for the ratio, you can try using avocado, and then removing some fat and liquid from the cake recipe. As fresh avocado has 5 times more water than butter, it isn't possible to substitute all the butter from the original recipe - I don't know any cake recipes with such high water:butter ratios. You should rather replace the liquid, calculate how much butter is being replaced by avocado fat, and then add the remaining butter needed. It will still need fine tuning, because some of the avocado water is already trapped in the fiber, and won't hydrate the cake flour. I'd try out using maybe 140-160 g avocado puree for each 100 g liquid in the recipe. This will result in 115-120 g. avocado water. It will also deliver 20 g fat. So for aforementioned cupcakes, we'll only need 5 g additional fat (they use 25 g fat per 100 g liquid). Of course, layers for sponge cake or sachertorte are out of the question, because they don't use liquid in the first place.

The second problem is the sequence. Some recipes expect you to cream the butter and sugar. These can't be made with avocado, as it is impossible to separate the fat and liquid in this case. Similarly, you can't use it to make a roux for a souffle (OK, that's not technically a cake). Other recipes don't require such careful mixing methods, and they should be fine with avocado puree. You can try practically anything where you are supposed to dump all liquid ingredients together, mix, and add the dry ones at once.

Of course, you want also to consider the taste. Avocado has a somewhat earthy taste, and you'll probably notice it in a baked product. So fine cakes (like chiffon cake) are better off with butter. But most of those are made without liquid anyway. You can try to hide the taste in cakes which have a very strong taste of their own. Chocolate batters will be very good for this, but some flourless cake bases with a significant share of ground nuts should work too. Another option is to use avocado in some more hearty, heavy cakes, where the taste isn't a problem. It should function in sweet cakes, and will probably be perfect in savory cakes (think zucchini & bacon cupcakes). It would be interesting to see what happens to a flaky crust where avocado puree is used instead of water (with butter accordingly reduced). If the texture remains OK, it should give a very nice note to quiches.

If you replace a sour liquid with avocado (e.g. yogurt or buttermilk), don't use baking soda. If the recipe calls for it, use baking powder instead, because baking soda needs acidic ingredients for its leavening action.

* But part of it waits too long for the previous patch to free the oven, the baking powder will bubble away and the muffins won't rise.