Bread doesn't split at the score I've got to the point where my bread springs beautifully (I can see it grow). Unfortunately, no matter how I score it, the score always spreads open gently, then hardens along with the rest of the crust. Then, 5 minutes later, the bread splits open at the side.

I usually bake a batard shape, with 80% hydration. I make a single score, using a kitchen knife, about 0.5 to 1 cm deep cut straight down. I spray the oven walls three or four times with a plant sprayer after I put the loaf in.

What can I do to get better results? Should I invest in a razor, should I angle the cut a bit more?

Since the answer is a combination of the things mentioned, I'd thought I'd edit the question to summarize my findings. I've tried most of the things mentioned below. The following things stand out:

It's perfectly possible to get a  properly opening score without a lamé.
There's a spectrum ranging from doughs that immediately open up when you cut them, and those that stay firm and re-seal immediately. This mostly depends on hydration. If you have the first, you'll want to make very horizontal cuts. This gives you a kind of flap that holds the cut closed long enough to keep it from hardening during the first minutes of the oven spring. This is why the score looks asymmetrical after baking.
I resisted the method of putting a dutch oven inside my oven for a long time. I have a small oven and this reduces the effective space a lot. Also I can't watch the dough spring anymore, which I find the most magical part of baking bread. But I tried it and, holy cow, what a difference it makes. Of all the tricks mentioned, this one made by far the biggest difference.

I agree with many elements of the previous answers -- it could be due to the wet dough "resealing" and/or to the crust hardening too early and preventing further expansion.  Doing a more horizontal slash than a vertical one is helpful to get good "ears," and extra moisture will keep the crust softer for a little longer to get more oven spring.

Frankly, although I did it for years, I don't find the plant sprayer method to do very much -- and if you're opening the oven periodically to spray in the first few minutes, you could be losing significant heat that could actually reduce oven spring.  I concur with the steam pan method or using an enclosed pot.  Note that pots don't have to be cast iron: any enclosed pot will significantly improve your crust as long as it is oven-safe at the baking temperature.

That said, I think this particular problem is difficult to troubleshoot without observing your specific loaves and slashing technique.  Slashing deeper (whether vertically or horizontally) is definitely NOT always the answer and can actually deflate your loaves significantly if done incorrectly.  With proper hydration, shaping, and oven steaming, it's very possible for quite shallow slashes to lead to great expansion.  (As an aside, serrated knives are also about preference -- if you don't keep your straight-edge knives very sharp, serrated may be a better choice.  However, they can leave your slashes jagged on the final loaf, which may not be as pretty and may result in unevenness for shallower cuts.  I keep some of my straight-edge kitchen knives really sharp so they can be used for things like this.)

A lot of it depends on shaping and the stage of proofing your dough is in when you bake it, as well as the hydration.  If you do a very thorough shaping (i.e., preshaping, bench rest, then very tight shaping of the final loaves), the outermost skin of the loaf may be very taut.  Even a shallow slash could be enough to allow the loaves to open up significantly.  If, on the other hand, you do a very gently shaping (little or no pre-shaping, trying very hard not to deflate the dough at all), the "skin" will not have the same characteristics and deeper slashes may be necessary.  (As an example of this, you might consult the different advice given by Peter Reinhard and Jeffrey Hamelman -- the latter emphasizes detailed and tight shaping and thus advocates very shallow slashing; the former encourages gentle handling when shaping and advocates somewhat deeper cuts.)

The stage of proofing is also critical here: a loaf that is somewhat underproofed will likely have a more taut skin but will also hold its shape better even with deeper slashes.  If the loaves are somewhat overproofed, they have a better chance of deflating or at least losing height with deeper slashing.  The apparent moisture of the dough and its susceptibility to "reseal" the cut will also change depending on proofing stage.

Again, there are a lot of factors to consider.  I would pay particular attention to the behavior of the loaves right after you slash them.  Do the slashes spread significantly immediately (indicating a taut surface)?  Or do they just remain close together (and thus risk re-sealing)?  If you slash more deeply, does the loaf deflate?  And if it does so, does it seem to reinflate in the oven, or do your permanently lose height?  These observations can help troubleshoot the exact issue.  A final concern -- sometimes if the dough is likely to reseal, waiting too long between slashing and getting the loaf into the oven can be a problem.  A few seconds should not be an issue, but if you're taking a few minutes to slash and load a few loaves before getting them to the oven, that can be enough time for some cuts to close up again.


Make popcorn: Cover fully or not? When making popcorn what is the best practice?

Cover the pan lid completely?
Leave a small vent to let the heat out?

I have always got mixed responses to my query, where some say cover it completely and some say you should leave it a bit open so that the heat/steam lets out.

Can someone share their personal experiences with both the methods and which one is more appropriate?

I have a theatre-style popcorn machine that lets the steam escape (ever so slightly) as the pot is overflowing.  When I want to make a smaller batch, I do it the old-fashioned way: in a fully covered saucepan on the stove.  When both are preheated properly, oiled and salted properly, it's hard to tell the difference.  I do know this: a tightly covered pot will heat up more quickly (because it's retaining more heat), resulting in the kernels popping a little faster.  That's simple science.

From the time the popcorn starts popping until it's removed from the heat, it's only a very short time.  The average popped kernel is probably in that environment for a minute or less.  Whatever steam the popcorn absorbs in the covered pan it quickly lets off when poured into the open bowl.

There might be a minor difference, but if you have to ask, you are probably better at making nearly perfect popcorn than anyone you're likely to ask.  Getting the heat, oil, salt, and other flavorings right along with having fresh kernels of a variety that pops to your liking are going to have far more effect on the finished product than minor venting of heat and steam during the popping process.  Once you have perfected the rest of the process, you'll be able to tell for yourself whether to cover tightly or not has much effect.

The great thing about figuring it out for yourself is all the popcorn you get to eat. :-)


How to make a strong mug of instant Coffee? I am not an avid coffee drinker.

Yesterday, I tried Bru Gold coffee brand. I mixed one teaspoon milk with 1 teaspoon coffee and added the remaining 200ml hot milk premixed with 2 teaspoons of sugar.

The result wasn't great. The coffee was NOT strong nor did it contain any froth.

I want strong, not bitter coffee.
How do I know how much coffee to add to how much milk?
Secondly, do I have to mix coffee in whole milk and then boil the whole thing like it is done for tea?
Does the amount of time I spend in mixing coffee with milk also have an effect on the outcome?

What is too bitter is likely to be primarily opinion-based. That said, when I make instant coffee, I usually use one teaspoon per 200-250 ml of water - not milk. The result is a nice, even cup of coffee, which is not what I would characterize as strong. If I want strong coffee, I will use as much as four teaspoons to the same amount of water.

The milk will have a mellowing effect on the end result. In combination with the sugar, it has been my experience that the milk masks the bitter taste of coffee that many people do not enjoy.

I would recommend playing around with how much coffee you use. Once you get the strength you want, you can add or remove sugar to reduce the bitterness.


Fruit Flies and Storage of Fresh Produce What is a good way of keeping fresh produce (in particular, from the garden) and herbs in the kitchen without attracting fruit flies? We dispose of tomatoes etc as soon as they start to go bad, but it seems like leaving out the produce that would be kept out is attracting fruit flies.

There weren't fruit flies before so I am wondering if there might be a better way (ie a ventilated canister?) of keeping the produce?

I've never had luck keeping them out of food. Sealed containers work, but cause fruit to ripen and spoil quickly, and they are small enough to get in anything with an opening.

However, a simple fruit fly trap can keep them in check:

Cut a 2l soda bottle where the top taper ends (above the label). Add a few drops dish soap to a few tbsp of apple juice, beer or cider vinegar. Pieces of fruit can also be used. Invert the severed top of the bottle (sans cap), and seal with a piece of duct tape around the edge.

Set near the fruit and wait. Open it up to empty every few days.

Google will give you a variety of other designs that you can build if you are more ambitious.


Italian meringue: how to adjust sugar? I've been having amateur pastry classes and one of the things we've done is Italian meringue.
However, I found the result to be overly sweet.

I am much more familiar with French and Swiss meringues, for which I've had good results with various reduced sugar:egg white ratios.
Egg whites can be whipped with no sugar at all, so it should come as no surprise that French meringue can be made with very low ratios.
Most Swiss meringue recipes I see hover around 2:1, but I've made 1:1 meringues that still had that smooth, silky texture.

The recipe for Italian meringue we used had a 2:1:0.8 ratio of sugar:egg white:water.
I understand that Italian is the most stable of all meringues, but how can I tweak these ratios to obtain a meringue that is less sweet but still stable?
Should I drop the sugar and water proportionally when cooking the syrup?
Should I just cut back on the sugar?

Generally speaking, I think experimentation is the way to go. There are a lot of recipes for Italian meringue (and Italian meringue frostings) you can try to see what effect the different sugar content has. Reducing the sugar can definitely reduce the stability, but stability is a somewhat subjective term. That's why I recommend experimentation. It's hard to say what would be an acceptable reduction for your personal preference/needs.

That said, the amount of water you use to initially make the syrup should make no real difference. By the time you add it to the egg whites, the sugar's at softball stage, which means that all the water you added is gone. The vapor you still see is actually evaporating from within the sugar itself. So don't measure the water. You just need to pay attention to the amount of sugar and egg whites, same as with another meringue. The only complicating factor here is the heat from the sugar syrup. If you reduce the amount of the sugar syrup, you will reduce the overall temperature your egg whites get heated to, and that could reduce the stability.

I have not experimented extensively with pure meringues, but rather with meringue-based buttercreams, and that is a different situation. However, I have managed to make a successful meringue base using sugar syrup heated up to hardball stage (it was an accident, but it worked.) If you did make less sugar syrup but heated it to a higher temperature, that might help maintain stability, but you could risk some sugar crystals, depending on how quickly the syrup tries to cool as you pour it into your mixer. You could also risk some scrambled eggs. I doubt that, but it could happen.

Another option would be to make the same amount of a caramel syrup. Cook your sugar until it's taken on a nice deep caramel color, remove from the heat, and avoid the giant cloud of steam as you pour in some new water. Then cook that less-sweet caramel syrup until it's softball stage and proceed as usual. Obviously, that will impart a caramel flavor and color. It's up to you whether that's a bad thing. On the plus-side, that caramel syrup is great for coffee. And ice cream. Seriously, you should do that even if you don't want to make a meringue with it.


Can I double cook apple? When making, say, Apple Crumble? I am new to cooking.

I like to cook in batch because I want to come down to kitchen and pop something in microwave and return to my desk.

I only like apples (Granny Smith) cooked, so I steam them, i.e. wet cook them about a pack of 8 with a cup of water after I have peeled, cored and sliced them.

Then later, when I want a pudding I heat them up in microwave with some brandy butter.

In order to expand my range, I think I'll try cooking some Apple Crumble.  Recipes say put the crumble mix on top of raw apple.

Can I put crumble mix on top of already cooked apple?  Or will double cooking apple turn it to mush?

Yes, you can precook most fruit. Apples are among the best fruit to cook like this as they keep some texture after light cooking. (Stone fruit should be OK - I've used plums. Soft fruit much less so).

If you buy ready made fruit pie filling (and I don't recommend you do) it's precooked. Those of us who grow our own fruit sometimes cook up (and freeze) a batch of pie filling when we have a glut. The main trick is to not precook too much, where "too much" is a matter of taste (some people like mushy fillings; some would rather have a bit of bite) but also depends on the fruit (e.g. the variety of apple) you're starting with.

Do be careful not to keep it too long after precooking - cooked fruit doesn't keep like fresh fruit and is also more likely to spoil in ways you won't spot. So a few days in the fridge, or freeze it.


What is the white swirl in my bread and is it safe? I just bought a loaf of wheat bread and in an attempt to use it I noticed that there are thick white "swirls" throughout the whole loaf.

I thought it might be that it was not mixed properly but I have not found anything stating what it could be.

I am just wondering what it is and if it is safe to eat?

I think you're right that it wasn't mixed properly.

Many types of whole wheat bread are actually partially whole wheat flour, partially white flour. That could just be some white flour that didn't get mixed.

Alternatively, it could have been a clump of flour that either didn't get hydrated or didn't get yeast mixed in, so it didn't rise, and thus didn't bake the same.

It could also be some dough conditioners or wheat gluten that didn't mix.

Assuming there isn't some other reason to doubt it (e.g., its old, was stored improperly, tastes or smells weird, etc.) I'd guess it's safe.

Best bet is to call the manufacturer, or just return it and get another...


the yeast wont rise in my bread machine I have a bread machine and when i follow the recipe putting  boiling water, sugar, one packet of yeast, then let if foam for 15 minutes the yeast still isn't rising. What should do differently?

Never use boiling water with yeast!
Using boiling water almost guarantees instant death.

Baker's yeast is a live organism, a unicelluar fungus saccharomyces cervisiae, very closely related to and in fact bred from brewer's yeast. And yes, it's alive even in those dried granules in small packages or boxes. It's metabolism digests carbohydrates and produces CO2 (what we want in baking because it creates a light and fluffy dough) and alcohol (of interest in brewing and winemaking).

Yeast is heat sensitive and while it will happily grow and multiply in lukewarm water, it starts to die at about 45 to 55 degrees C. Note that yeast does even grow at refrigerator temperatures, albeit slowly, in fact, many bakers prefer the long and slow fermentation over a quick warm rise.

This question/answer discusses temperature thresholds in detail.

If your recipe suggests the use of boiling water, it's faulty and I suggest simply using lukewarm water instead or finding another recipe altogether.


How can I pan fry zucchini without making it soggy? I really enjoy pan frying zucchini in a small amount of olive oil with some salt and pepper.

It always turns out tasting great, but it is often times really soggy.

Is there any way to pan fry the zucchini without making it soggy?

The key to this is really high heat and pan-fry in a single layer, very quickly. The goal is to get that nice brown caramelized surface and barely cook the interior and then get it out of the pan before it starts to seep water. Also, wait to season with salt until it comes out of the pan so it doesn't draw out the water prematurely.


How long does it take botulism spores to germinate in the fridge? Based on this question, I started wondering how long I could keep an anerobic food in the fridge before I have to worry about botulism colonization.  1 day?  3 days?  2 months?  Clearly it's not a short period of time (hours) or we'd all be dying of botulism poisoning by now.

Unfortunately, nothing I've been able to find on the net seems to be based on solid studies of germination times.  So, if I put a pre-prepared sous vide packet in the fridge, or homemade garlic oil, a low-acid sauce, or lemon curd, or similar, when do I have to toss it to be safe?

This completely depends on all of the other factors involved in botulinum growth, not to mention the particular strain you're concerned about (there are several).

Salt, acidity (low pH), low moisture, and extreme temperature (low or high) will all slow botulinum growth significantly.

There are proteolytic and non-proteolytic types of bacteria. The proteolytic C.botulinum bacteria will never grow in the refrigerator - they cannot grow at temperatures below 12° C source. The non-proteolytic strains can grow at temperatures as low as 3° C. That is very close to refrigerator temperature so clearly they will grow very slowly - again, the exact speed depends on other factors - but they will grow.

According to other sources, the proteolytic strains (the ones that cannot grow in the fridge) are the ones that tend to produce gas and off-odours, so they'll be more easily detectable. They also have far lower heat resistance, so they are easier to cook away. But of course, if they've grown to a sufficient level, it's too late to do that.

As far as I know, there aren't specific guidelines for vacuum-packed foods, whether commercially packed or simply cooked sous-vide. I'd ask you to consider that botulism is not the only type of foodborne illness that can grow in the refrigerator. There's also listeria, salmonella, and possibly some others I'm forgetting about. Cooking (especially sous-vide cooking) doesn't kill every last one of them, just enough to make the food safe. By the way, listeria and salmonella are both facultative anaerobes which means that they can grow with or without air.

There's also the small matter of your actual refrigerator temperature. Although the theoretical temperature (4° C) is lower than that required for all but the hardiest of bacteria, once you move up even a single degree to 5° C there are many more kinds that can start to grow.  How cold is your fridge, really? I've heard of some being as high as 10-12° C in parts! If your fridge temperature is even slightly high, botulism will be the least of your worries.

Honestly, given the incredibly tiny number of actual documented cases of botulism (less than a dozen per year in the U.S.) compared to the insanely high total number of food poisoning cases every year (1 in 4 according to some sources), people seem to place far too much emphasis on that particular species. I realize that it's one of the scariest on account of that whole "instant death" thing, but even if you could prove that your improperly-stored food is 100% free of botulism toxin, you could still get seriously ill from eating it. You're literally worrying about the least probable vector for food poisoning.

Bottom line, I'd strongly advise you to treat sous-vide food just like any other food in terms of food safety and freeze it if you plan to store it longer than 4-5 days. There are just too many variables at play to conclusively say otherwise.


Substitute spelt for white flour I heard Spelt flour is lighter and easier to digest. Can I substitute spelt for white flour in my standard white bread recipe that I make all the time? Or, do I need a spelt specific recipe?
What kind of dough does spelt flour make? Is it very sticky? Hard to work with? Any tips to keep in mind before giving this a shot?

I disagree with the answer from Phil. Spelt flour has more gliadin and less glutenin than wheat flour. (See Escarnot et al, Reactivity of gluten proteins from spelt and bread wheat accessions towards A1 and G12 antibodies in the framework of celiac disease.) One would expect this to affect the gluten formation in bread.
My experience is that substituting wheat flour for spelt flour makes for a 'cakier' loaf. That is, the loaf is softer, less structured, and less chewy. All this suggests less gluten formation.


Are these parts of the ginger plant edible? Are these tiny roots edible? My home grown ginger has lots of them and it seems a shame to throw them out if they're edible.

Given that you can eat most of the rest of the plant, it is likely that they are edible.
Note that edible != palatable. I can't find any references indicating that they are eaten anywhere. It may be that they have a texture that is odd or are just not flavourful in any way.


Will tomatoes keep for longer if you keep the stalk in? I know that avocados are supposed to keep longer with the stalks; I would like to know if it is also true for tomatoes?

Removing the stem from a tomato opens up a hole where air, moisture, and bacteria can pass through. Keeping the stem in, or somehow sealing the "scar" from the stem, will prolong shelf life.

(Published in Cook's Illustrated - requires subscription - http://www.cooksillustrated.com/howto/detail.asp?docid=1173)


What is this hinged tool with a box full of wicked grooves and teeth? Recently, while cleaning out my mother's kitchen, we came across this tool:

When closed, it is about 8 inches long (the box at the end is maybe 2 inches by 2 inches by an inch or so).  The two sides come apart very easily.  The tool is quite light-weight, and seems to be made of aluminum.  Other than that, I have idea what it could be, and there seemed to be no identifying marks or branding.
Honestly, I would not be surprised to learn that it is not even a kitchen tool (my money is on Medieval torture device), but it came from one of the kitchen cabinets, so maybe it belongs there?

This is an ice crusher.

You put some cubes (or use your ice pick to cut a hunk off from a large block), put it in the compartment, and squeeze it closed. Those gnarly bumps and teeth will crush the ice.
I would personally consider it more "home bar equipment" for crushing ice for cocktails, though that's certainly not the only use. As mentioned in the comments, it probably doubles as a decent nutcracker, though that's not it's intended purpose.


Is it okay to put a hot pan on a granite counter? Is it okay to put a hot pan/pot on a granite counter? Or will it burn it? I don't know if there's a sealer on it.

In general, the chances of significant heat damage to granite are very small, though depending on the pan, the granite, and any products that may be on the granite (not only sealant, but residue from granite cleaning or polishing products, etc.), you might sometimes get some staining/charring.

I would also take into account the amount of heat that will transfer from the pan/pot/tray -- a small pan which is nearly empty and not very hot is a very different thing from a giant cast iron dutch oven filled with chili or superheated cooking oil.  I personally wouldn't risk injecting a huge amount of heat into a small area, because it will cause the material to expand and contract unevenly.  When done repeatedly, it could even lead to cracking.  Unlikely?  Yes.  Impossible?  No, particularly if the granite is thin or lower quality (e.g., with some minor fissures or weak spots already in the stone, etc.).

Another issue is a safety one -- granite countertops that absorb heat from very hot pans can stay exceptionally hot for a quite a while.  Since there's often no visual cue about the temperature (unlike a stovetop), it can easily cause burns if you forget that that part of the countertop may be hot.

Other answers have mentioned that most references on the internet say it's safe, but with just a quick search in the first 10 links or so that came up, I see a number of places that actually manufacture or install granite do NOT recommend placing hot things directly on granite.

See, for example:

here: "Trivets or cloths are highly recommended."
here: "Repeated exposure to high heat can eventually leave black marks and gashes on granite slabs."
here: "The darker the material the more dense and therefore the more heat it will hold. The biggest issue with putting a hot pan on granite is that if you touched the spot it could be as hot as the pan itself and therefore cause you an injury. You should especially be cautious with black granite since it is the most dense and with repeat exposure may actually crack."
here in a list of myths: " 'Granite is heat resistant, so it is perfectly okay to place hot pots on a granite countertop.' While it’s true that granite is quite resistant to the sorts of temperatures encountered in kitchens, excessive heat can damage or discolor some types of granite sealers. Rapid heating can also generate internal stresses that could cause a crack at a weak spot, such as a natural flaw or fissure in the stone. An easy way to eliminate potential problems is by using a trivet with feet."

Many sites agree with these cautions.  There are other sites that say it should be okay, or it's safe up to X degrees, or it's okay but you shouldn't do it repeatedly, or whatever.  Everybody seems to have their opinion.  And you can find sources that claim the cracking is a myth.  This video, for example, heats small blocks of granite in a toaster oven and with a blowtorch and observes no damage.  But the heat damage (if it exists) is not going to be caused simply by heating, but by thermal shock created when a large slab is heated unevenly and thus expands and contracts unevenly (usually repeatedly over a period of years).  If you look around a bit, the internet does have anecdotes of people who have had granite countertops develop cracks or discoloration.

Personally, I have granite, and I avoid doing it on a regular basis.  However, in a pinch when I have a lot of hot pans or trays around the kitchen, and I need to set something down, I don't worry too much about doing it once in a while.  I think the chances of damage are quite small.  But with the cost of granite, why take any risk when you can just use a trivet or something (as you'd do on just about any other surface)?  That's just my habit anywhere.


Why is rice parboiled? And how does parboiling change rice? I have recently been using raw rice at my home. I have noticed that the non-parboiled rice sticks to each other while parboiled rice does not given the same amount of cooking time.

My questions:

Why is rice parboiled?
How does parboiling change rice chemically?
Is it possible to get (unprocessed) cooked rice not stick with each other when cooked?

The following excerpt answers questions 1 and 2. Additionally it reduces the cooking time for the parboiled rice.

  Also known as converted rice, parboiled rice has been pressure-steamed
  and then dried in its natural outer husk (which is later removed).
  This process hardens the starch in the grains so they remain firmer,
  less sticky, and separate when cooked. It also forces the vitamins and
  minerals from the outer layer of the grains into the endosperm, which
  is the part we eat. This makes parboiled rice a more nutritious option
  than regular (unenriched) white rice, which doesn't retain any of the
  goodness of the nutrient-rich husk.

There are several techniques you can use to prevent unprocessed cooked rice from sticking to each other:

Use medium to long grain rice.
Rinse the rice until the rinsing water is completely clear.
Use the Boil and Steam method to cook the rice. In this method boil the rice for 5-10 minutes. Then pour off the excess water and steam the rice for an additional 10 minutes. This method of cooking the rice reduces the most starch on the outside of the rice which is what causes the sticking.

Source:
The Science of Cooking Rice


Chemical process behind hardening ice cream We made a simple ice cream by mixing whipping cream, sugar, and Nutella.

After 5-6 hours (surely enough time for the ice cream to cool to the temperature of the freezer), it was soft (mechanically soft, while getting it out with a spoon). After 20-30 hours it became hard. Is there some chemical process involved? What is it?

I don't think there's a chemical process here. It just takes a really long time for it to freeze solid. After 5-6 hours it was probably firmer around the outside than in the middle, and after a day it was probably fully frozen. (I've made a lot of ice cream, and have reliably seen this.)

It takes so long because the heat transfer is so inefficient. It's already bad since there's no convection, just slow conduction from the outside in. And the conduction is slow because your ice cream is basically insulating itself: it's full of air.

If there is something on top of that, it's probably that your emulsion is breaking as it freezes, so water gets forced out and freezes into harder ice. This would be pretty noticeable - you'd get a grainy, icy texture. (If you really are mixing whipped cream and nutella I can certainly see that happening.)


Can wine be made from tomatoes? Can wine be made from tomatoes? Do they have enough sugar to feed the yeast? Are they too acidic?

Tomatoes can be fermented, and many folks enjoy the result, using them in savory culinary applications  To make a wine, you would probably want to add some ingredients to balance the acidity that most tomatoes bring to the final product.  Here is an example of one such recipe, but I am sure there are others.


Easiest way to bread chicken for frying? I usually toss the flour and chicken in a bag and shake it up. The problem is that pieces of chicken will often stick together and not get evenly coated. Is there an effective way to bread my chicken evenly without getting clumps of chicken?

One piece at a time? Into the bag, shake to coat, out of the bag, shake to remove excess flour, put aside for subsequent egg-washing and breading once all pieces are done.

Also helps to have one hand only touching dry ingredients, the other only wet.


Is there a way to make a generic cheese sauce? Scenario: I have some nuggets, and thought it would be nice to dip them in some cheese sauce. I do not have that, but I thought I could make one with the ingredients I have. But I am not sure if there is a way to make a MORE OR LESS generic cheese sauce.
This is the cheese I have:

Ingredients in dutch: melk* (milk), zout (salt), zuursel (starter culture) and stremsel (which is Rennet, I am not sure what kind of cheese that is).
My main idea was melting the cheese with an amount of butter, salt, and maybe some milk or cooking cream. (No need of quantities right now but more of the process to follow).
I think that adding flour would be like making a cheesy bechamel, and I don't know if that is good to dip (or put on top of nachos, whatever is fine, as a cheese sauce, it's nice anywhere). But maybe flour is necessary for this process (specially if the cheese may be quite generic as well).

'Cheese sauce' is really anything semi-liquid that tastes a bit like cheese & can be poured or dipped, depending on how liquid.
Some fast ideas:-
Camembert, brie etc - put it in the oven for 20 mins. Cross-cut the top, dip.
tbh, you can do this with most cheeses, just the French-style crusted cheeses provide a cool looking container.
Generic roux - oil or butter in a saucepan, add the same quantity of flour. Combine 2 mins, add milk slowly, stir. Add cheese, stir, serve.
Welsh rarebit - throw cheese, flour, milk, beer, worcestershire sauce in a pan, heat & stir until it's homogenous.
There's not really much you can do to hot cheese to spoil it ;)
The only two cheeses I can think of that don't work are haloumi & paneer, because they're both pre-cooked & don't melt.


Reasons my sourdough attempts failed? Last March I started adventuring into the world of Sourdoughs by following the advise of The Fresh Loaf Bakers's handbook but using wholegrain rye flour all the way and it went pretty well; after a week or so I started having nice sour rye breads. For context, this was a typical spring in Mallorca, known for its usual high humidity, with temperatures at home between 18-20ºC to about 30ºC by the time I left.
Then, I moved to Vigo (northwestern Spain) in the middle of July and sure shortly after I decided to make a new sourdough from scratch following the same recipe, but this time no orange juice.
For context, I set up a humidity/temperature sensor and got some values ranging 70% and 99% (crazy weather here) and intense 29-32ºC at home. The result was a rather smelly (and not in a good sense, nowhere similar to what I had before) sourdough after a few days, which after four or five days developed a thin white layer of something I thought would be mold.
I had searched for this at the time and found it might be mold, so I discarded it. Then I said to myself, it must be the orange juice, so I went and tried again with orange juice only to obtain the same results. This experimentation process went for about 4 cycles.
I tried feeding it twice a day, I changed the jar in which I was keeping it, I covered the jar, I uncovered the jar, I sealed the jar, all to no avail. By then I decided not to waste more time and wait for colder climate maybe (haven't done so yet, though).
Now I'm thinking I want to start again, but I'd like to get some feedback from more experienced users into what might had gone wrong. I even started to suspect it was related to the quality of water (which I purify with one of this Britta filters, any thoughts?) or of the air.
For reference: my sourdough would get a layer, not as bad, but close enough, to this: The Fresh Loaf post

The temperature is indeed the most likely reason behind it. In sourdough, you are creating a small new ecosystem niche, and depending on the environmental conditions, different strains of yeast and bacteria will "win" and outgrow the others. And for microorganisms, there is a huge difference between the 18-22 C when your successful colony established itself and the 32 C when you made the second try.
The air humidity is less important, since it is the humidity within the sourdough itself that drives the growth of the microorganisms. There may be a small effect in the initial seeding, with different microorganisms drifting in the air in the different climates. However, I am not sure how much that matters - there are all kinds of conflicting information out there on where your microflora comes from (air or not) and how much influence it has on the final outcome.
I don't think there is much you can do about the whole thing, if you cannot control the temperature. I am not aware of sourdough recipes developed for fermenting at 30 C. If you want to use this recipe, you will have to find a temperature-controlled environment at the right range. Assuming that you don't have that, but have a fridge, you might alternatively try a recipe intended for starting in the fridge. These will give you a different style of sourdough, you will have to decide if you like baking with it.


Can I approximate stock using gelatin, MSG and water? From looking at different sources about stocks and broths, I understood that the main goal of simmering the bones for a long time is to extract as much gelatin and glutamate as we can from them. So I was wondering if it would be possible to approximate stock by just boiling water with appropriate amounts of gelatin and MSG. Would this work? Maybe I could boil the aromatics like mirepoix in the water along with the aforementioned ingredients. If there is any research into this subject I'd be glad if anyone could share it with me.

Yes, you can do it and it will work.
In fact, there is a huge market for products doing exactly that. You may know them as "bouillon cubes" but they exist in versions other than cubes, such as powder or liquid. They are a combination of MSG and aromatics, usually also salt. They rarely use gelatin, since the gelatin is actually a side effect of making stock and not necessary for the taste, but there are a few products which include thickeners, if you prefer those.
So, if you want to experiment, go ahead, if not, you might find it more convenient to use an existing product that has been formulated so it "just works".


Baking soda for soaking chickpeas This source claims that adding baking soda is crucial when soaking chickpeas. Is this true, and if so, what is the reason that this works?

Crucial? No.

I regularly do really tasty chickpeas without baking soda.

Beneficial? Maybe it gets done quicker.

The baking soda makes the soak basic(pH wise). This is known to smoothen maize flour to make tortilla dough pliable enough. I would guess it has the same effect on the chickpea shell.

This answer is a shot from the hip guesstimate. Upvote/downvote as appropriate.


Shaking Method for Garlic I can't pinpoint why, but this method fails for me. At best, shaking only peels two or three garlic cloves. I've ensured that all garlic bulbs and metalware are dry.

Would someone please help? What other factors may have been overlooked or neglected?

I tried http://blogs.plos.org/retort/2011/09/30/so-why-does-the-garlic-trick-work/.

I've had a few times where it just didn't work well.

I'm starting to suspect that the variety of garlic is also a factor -- I've had days where it works great, and others where it barely works, and I don't think it's an issue with technique.    Unfortunately, I don't have a place near me where I can just go and buy many different varieties of garlic to test with ... the best that I can do is disctinguish between hard neck and soft neck garlic ... and sometimes I get ones with purple streaks.

It might also be age of the garlic, rather than just variety.

You also need the right sized bowls for the amount of garlic that you're preparing -- I suspect that if it's too large, they don't beat against each other while shaking; too small and they're not getting momentum before they collide with each other.

update : I just did a quick test ... all garlic came from the same head of soft-neck garlic that I had (bought a few weeks ago), gently prying them from the head (did not smash the head).  I used two variety of bowls :

smaller Corelle bowls, about 6"/15cm across, 2"/5cm deep
larger metal bowls, about 18"/45cm across, 6"/15cm deep

I used clean and dry bowls for each test.  Each round of shaking was about 5-10 seconds.  After the first test, I did a slow count to 10 for each shake, to try to make sure I was being consistent.  I removed the naked cloves and loose paper after a given shake cycle unless otherwise noted.  Results are as follows:

4 cloves, small bowls.  After the first shake, three were clean, one wasn't (and it was wide).  Two more rounds of shaking, and it didn't look like anything was happening, so I added back in the three naked cloves.  One more round, and it was naked.
4 cloves, large bowls.  As I suspected after #1 that shape of cloves mattered, it was 1 wide + 3 more roundish-ones.  After the first shake, the wider clove was naked, and I removed it and the paper.  After the second shake, all were clean.
1 clove, small bowls.  Took three rounds of shaking, but it did come clean without additional cloves added.
2 cloves (one wide, one round), small bowls.  After the first round of shaking, I discovered that the round 'clove' was actually the middle of the head, and was 2 small cloves (one of which was particularly tiny), the larger of which was now clean.  I left it in, and after the second shake, the wide one was naked.  4 more rounds of shaking, and I added back in the other 2 cloves.  Two more rounds (8 total) and I noticed that the paper on the small one was loosened enough that I could peel it free without much effort (but it wasn't naked on its own).
1 wide clove, small bowls.  After 2 rounds, the paper was loosened that I could've peeled it easily; one the third round it was naked from only shaking.
1 round clove, small bowls.  Naked after 2 rounds.

Analysis : Oversized bowls don't seem to be an issue (undersized may still be).  The large, wide cloves seemed to be an issue at first, but peeled easier in other rounds than the mid-sized cloves; a small, tiny clove gave the most problems.  Although a single clove did require more time, and multiple cloves seemed to help, a single clove is not impossible using this method.

As they all came from the same head, I have no idea how much age or variety of garlic is a factor.  I'd say that I've removed the 'smashing the head' as a problem (as I did 6 rounds without it)


Do Asian groceries carry vital wheat gluten? I want to buy vital wheat gluten for bread baking but I've only had luck finding it at health food stores where it's quite expensive. I know seitan is made from vital wheat gluten so I was wondering if the powder is something that is commonly found at Asian groceries? If so, what would be the name for it?

Some Asian stores do carry it as it is used to make seitan. However, there isn't a blanket yes or no answer as it is up to the individual stores. The only thing you can do is to check the stores you can get to.

It may also be called gluten flour but, if you see this, be sure to read the label to ensure that it has 75% or more protein.


How can I make very small quantities of balsamic reduction? Last night, a dish called for a drizzle of balsamic reduction. I thought that, in order to get a good reduction and not burn anything, I'd need way more balsamic than the recipe called for.

Is there a way to make very small yields of balsamic reduction?

I've sometimes made small reductions in the microwave. Just put the liquid in a much deeper container than it fits in so it doesn't make a mess, and run it on 50% power, check every 30 seconds or so until it is reduced to the degree you need.


What's the right way to add extra gluten to dough? I was lacking bread flour, which has 15% protein content. I needed to make something where this is crucial, since you need to roll out the dough really thin. I have all purpose flour with 10% protein content.
So I decided to extract some gluten from flour following this video.
The gluten extracted is already clumped together like in the video. I'm not sure what's the right way to add it to my dough to enrich it.
I can think of three ways:

Dry it and let it powder, mix it in with powdered flour
Mix powdered flour with it, mixing it well with water perhaps
Stretch it out and add to kneaded dough and knead more

The main concern here is that since it's already clumped together, will it become a part of the gluten network of my dough and actually enrich it uniformly, or will it stay together as a strong sub-network within my dough which will continue to have a shallow gluten network.
So I can also think of some bad ways of doing it:

Mixing it with flour without dissolving in water
Mixing it with kneaded dough without stretching it out

I did #3, since I mis-sequenced my moves. I'd have wanted to do #2 instead. But I think #1 would be the most effective, if you have the time.
I don't know enough about molecular level details of gluten network formation to judge which of these will be effective and which will be ineffective. I'll have some empirical evidence for #3 but nothing to compare it with.
Is my concern valid? Are the methods 4 and 5 actually bad? Are methods 1-3 alright or is one of them bad as well?

Making gluten per that video is useful for an experiment but not so useful as a recipe addition. As Steve points out, the right solution here is to buy Vital Wheat Gluten. I buy it in the bulk food section at two local stores (WinCo, Central Market) and I've also seen it in the specialty flours section (usually in a Bob's Red Mill package) at better grocery stores.
Vital wheat gluten is a powder. Just add it to your dry ingredients when making bread. I usually grind my own flour so I know exactly what level of protein and gluten are in my wheat berries. If I'm using hard winter wheat or I want a denser loaf with smaller holes (think: sandwich bread) then I don't add any gluten. If I'm making a whole wheat or mixed grain loaf, then I always add some. For a whole wheat loaf, adding a tablespoon of vital wheat gluten is about right.


What alternative gelling agents can I use for jam and marmalade? Rather than using natural pectin from the fruit being used or added pectin I am looking for an alternative setting/gelling agent that will enable me to get more jam from my two principle ingredients (fruit and sugar). In other words, if I want to stretch my ingredients to create more volume, what else could I use to ensure it gels to the correct consistency while at the same time not losing its flavour?

Tapioca Jelly is interesting stuff:

  A typical recipe for tapioca jelly can be made by washing 2 tablespoonfuls of tapioca, pouring a pint of water over it, and soaking for three hours. It is then placed over low heat and simmered until quite clear. If too thick, a little boiling water can be added. It can be sweetened with white sugar, flavored with coconut milk or a little wine, and eaten alone or with cream.

Of course, not all tapioca jelly recipes are yummy at first go, so you'll have to experiment.

Powdered tapioca starch is the starting material of choice, not the pearls or cubes etc.


How do I practice piping icing without wasting icing and money? Is there some cheaper alternative to real icing so I can avoid wasting good icing and money while practicing? Or can I avoid having to throw the practice icing away? I do not want to waste good butter just to practice my piping skills =)

If you're just practicing piping, you can just pipe onto parchment paper (or a clean counter) and then scrape it off with a spatula and save the frosting. That way you can actually practice with the frosting you'll be using and not be thrown off by different textures and consistencies.

ETA: This is what we've actually done in a few bakeries where I've worked. If you had an odd request, you'd mark a section of the counter the same size as the cake and pipe the outline or lettering onto that to check sizing/kerning etc before doing the actual cake.


Is it a good idea to clean bacon with water before putting it into the pan to remove some salt? I don't like too salty food but I like some fat, so my goal is to reduce the salt content of my bacon by one third, but keep the other tastes as original as possible.

Is cleaning bacon by water a good way to do? or should I put some water in my pan while frying so the water could absorb more salt?

The answer to this is no - the salt in bacon is not generally on the surface, it is impregnated into the meat to cure it. Because of the cellular nature of meat, the diffusion of salts out of the meat is quite slow; washing it in water before or during cooking will not remove substantial amounts of the salt. Having said that, you can lower the salt content of cured meats by soaking them in water for several hours (or boiling when you make stock). How much salt these processes remove depends on the meat type, the salt content, and how much water you are putting them into.

There is some salt in the brine that is often packaged with wet-cured bacon. This would be best removed by blotting with a paper towel; you could rinse, then blot dry. Using water and then placing directly in the pan will affect the cooking process, so that you end up with flabby unappealing bacon.

If you are worried about your salt (usually sodium) intake - try cutting out the bacon, apart from on special occasions. A general lower salt intake will be what you need to aim for - slow reduction in amounts added to cooking or switching to potassium based salts can keep flavors similar to what you are used to.

If it is a matter of taste, @rumtscho has pointed out that frying results in saltier tasting bacon. This may be because the salt is concentrated by evaporation or loss of water within the bacon or because of flavor changes associated with cooking.


What's the chemical difference between normal coffee beans and Kopi Luwak? Is there any actual difference in the chemistry or components of a Kopi Luwak coffee bean, and a more traditional coffee bean?  If so, what are those differences?

Actually they recently came up with a reliable test for civet coffee. Apparently a great deal of supposedly authentic stuff never actually traveled through the bowels of a cat.

According to the abstract, the levels of citric acid, malic acid, and the inositol/pyroglutamic acid are so much higher in kopi luwak that their ratios can be used to validate mixes with other beans where the proportion of kopi luwak is 50% or greater.


Dicing Hot Tamales (candy) I wanted to cut up some Hot Tamales candies for cookies, but had a horrible time cutting them.  I couldn't get the candies small enough and they stuck together.  I tried cutting with a knife and a food processor, the candies stuck to the blades.  The hot tamales candy are large and difficult to cut. I wanted pieces about the size of medium chocolate chips. Any suggestions?

Freeze them. After they are frozen, put them in the food processor and you should no longer have the issue of them sticking to the blades. As Dougal mentions below, you can also freeze the blade to help keep the temp down.


What additional ingredients and steps to take to make fast cooking oatmeal from oats? I am specifically dealing with oat flakes, however I would be happy to hear answers from the spectrum of oats.

Preferably cheap, healthy, fast and easy but a comparison of the different possible methods would be great. If anybody could tag this post with oatmeal that'd be great.

I bought a bunch of oats (a nice bulk bag), and have learned the distinction between oats and the quick cooking instant oatmeal which I love.

Upon adding boiling water to the oats, I am left with softened oats but how can I get a product similar to instant oatmeal with the bulk oats I have already purchased?

I use large flake oats. Two-to-one by volume tap water to oats in a bowl. Don't even stir, you'll have to do something with the wet spoon if you do. Handful of dried raisins and/or cranberries. Microwave for 2 minutes at 70%. Add a few shakes of salt (salt is really important for oatmeal) and give it a good stir. When you take it out of the microwave it will look done, but stirring will reveal there are less cooked oats under the ones at the top.

Give it another 2 minutes at 70 and stir it well again. I often stir in a little milk at this point, which can cool it as well as making it creamier. If you find you would like it sweeter, a little brown sugar or maple syrup over the top and not stirred in work wonderfully.

If instead of large flake you have quick oats, you'll need less time in the microwave. Instant oats need only boiling water, but they generally only come pre-flavoured and sweetened. If you did get plain instant, you'd probably want to cut your dried fruit small so it would be ok with just boiling water. Steel cut oats need significant cooking - most people I know use a slow cooker over night. If you're not sure what you got from the bulk store, either experiment with different cooking times until you're happy, or look for pictures of various oat forms until you know what you have.


How to tell if it is honey, super filtered honey, or corn syrup? There is this article here in Australia that an importer has labeled corn syrup as honey. It has been imported from Turkey and it has been sold to people. I think this is not just happening here in the land of OZ. Just with a little bit of searching I found out that there is some international conspiracy against the humble bees and people messing up the natural processes. There is even super filtered honey that does not have any pollen at all. I always thought the pollen is the most important part of honey. You might as well just have corn syrup instead.

I would like to know if there is a any way to tell the difference between corn syrup, super filtered honey, and natural honey.

The article:
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/honey-actually-corn-vic-buyers-100510448.html

Buying local honey is one way to be sure that what you are getting is "honey".  I've never heard of people passing off something else as honey.  Isn't that why we have the fda?  If you are buying it in the store, check the lable... my honey has one ingredient; honey.


What are "rye sours"? Not the drink.

I'm interested in making this bread: King Arthur Flour Caraway Rye. The recipe recommends the addition of vital wheat gluten or King Arthur's rye bread improver. This is how the King Arthur product is described on the web site: "A blend of rye flavors and sours, diastatic malt, vital wheat gluten (for a good, strong rise) and potato flour (to help combat the "dry crumblies")". I'm disinclined to buy the King Arthur product mostly because their shipping fees to Alaska are ridiculous, and also because I've been meaning to try this: Honeyville Dough Conditioner. But am I missing something without "rye flavors and sours"? The recipe suggests possibly replacing some or all of the water in the recipe with pickle juice, a concept I find rather intriguing, and it gives a range for caraway, which is one the flavors in the King Arthur rye bread improver.

The King Arthur website lists the ingredients for that item:
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop-img/labels/1416587131567.pdf

It looks like the "sour" flavor comes from several acids (acetic, lactic, and citric). I assume the recipe calls for "sour" flavor instead of being a sourdough recipe like a traditional rye bread would be. Pickle juice may be a good substitute, since it's mainly vinegar [i.e. acetic acid]. The "bread improver" also includes wheat gluten, which may be helpful if you're using a non-bread flour (bread flour contains more gluten than whole wheat or AP flours).


What are the coloured pieces inside cupcakes called? I have been searching and searching online but can't get the answer. Inside cup cakes, without the frosting, you can find some coloured sweet pieces of "I am not sure what", but they look like pieces of hardened jelly.

What are they called?

In comments, how you described what you're looking for is exactly what they are. It's dried fruit, usually candied or packed in syrup. Commonly seen in baked goods are dried candied cherries, candied pineapple, candied citron, currants and raisins. This Google Search will show you a lot of examples of fruit used like that. This Amazon page will show you the actual products the recipes ask for.


How can I tell when ground beef is fully cooked? So, how do you know that the ground beef is fully cooked when you are stir frying it on a sauce pan ?

Ground beef cooks quite fast. It doesn't need more than 5 minutes (depending on the base of your pan and the amount of meat of course). Just take a piece and rip/cut it open. If it's brown inside, and not red or pink, it's fully cooked.


Is this a bad apple? I cut my apple open this morning and found that it had an unexpected consistency emanating from the core. I couldn't find much about what's going on here other than maybe this is some kind of mold (seems unlikely).

What's going on with this apple?

This particular apple was part of an Amazon Fresh delivery. I've had about 10 of them up to this point, all of which were good apples.

I took a bite before throwing it out. It tasted fine and the texture is the same as far as I can tell (dense, fibrous). Ultimately I decided to toss it erring on the side of caution.

This appears to be watercore, specifically radial watercore, from the image you have posted.  It should be safe to eat, according to this site and this site.

According to an article from Washington State University, watercore is a disorder of some apple variants, which can cause the internal flesh to appear glassy [shiny and translucent] later into the growing season.  In some studies, low levels of calcium have been shown alongside the condition.  As well, it should be noted that the condition 1) does not occur after harvesting 2) may cause an increase of sweetness, and 3) cause the apple to quickly degrade during storage.

As to the causes of this disorder, there are a number of theoretical factors for causation:  Genetic defects, water regiment, temperature, minerals, leaf-to-fruit ratio, maturation and ripening, sorbitol metabolism and altered transport.  These are discussed to some degree in both the WSU article and this MSU article


How do I reconstitute vacuum sealed Tibetan Barley Wine? Last month I stayed in a homestay in Sichuan Province that was owned and run by a Tibetan family. At dinner they served an amazing barley wine made from Tibetan barley that they called "qingke" barley. Though it wasn't as syrupy, it tasted a lot like port or sherry, owing to how sweet it was, but the taste was slightly more earthy than fruity. Anyway, we were thrilled to learn that they made this themselves and also sold dehydrated packets of the Barley Wine in their restaurant that would be easy to make at home. At the restaurant we bought three packets. Each one weighs about 350 g and is vacuum sealed. The barley inside is wet and I assume it is already fermented. The shelf life, according to the owner, is three months, and we bought it only a month ago.

There were no written directions, but the owner explained quickly how to reconstitute the wine. She said that 5 minutes in 1 kilogram of water (1 liter), hot or cold, would do the trick. She didn't mention sugar, but I assumed that if it was not sweet that I could add it to taste.

We came back home and opened a packet and dumped it into 1 liter of cold water and waited five minutes. We tasted it and it tasted like... nothing. Like water with a hint of something glutinous and vaguely fermented added in. Couldn't taste alcohol and it was not sweet, either. We decided to drain the water and pour a liter of boiling water over the mixture, but after five minutes the result was nearly the same. We tried sweetening at the end but all it tasted like was sugar water, nowhere close to what we had at the restaurant.

I've looked online and I can't find any resources on how to make this work. Can anyone tell me how to reconstitute vacuum sealed packets of Tibetan Barley Wine? Related information and tips would be more than welcome.

I wonder whether something was lost in translation, as @Echerwal points out and also suggests that your packet may be yeast.

From a Tibetan friend in the US, here's how he makes dru-chhaang, the barley wine.

Briefly wash the barley before putting it in a large pot and adding twice the volume of water as you have barley. Simmer until the water is absorbed, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and let cool for 30-45 minutes.

Using a clean dish cloth (or plastic wrap)a, spread out the barley in a layer, and sprinkle evenly with distiller's yeast (also called wine yeast or phap). Mix gently with your hands. Put the mixture into a container with a lid. Wrap with a towel or cloth, and put in a warm, dark place. The barley will begin to ferment in several days, although it could take as long as 4-5 days. You'll know from the smell when fermentation has begun to take place, and the longer it goes, the stronger the wine.

When ready to use, make a well in the center of the mash, scoop out the liquid the settles into the well and strain it through a cloth into a clean container. Add enough water to the mash to cover, let sit for another day, and repeat the process of scooping out the liquid and straining (add to the first batch). You might be able to get a third round. Store in the frig, but remember that it's alive and will continue to ferment and can erupt in some containers (like plastic).


Best container for making sauerkraut We've tried this a few times. First time we used an old ceramic container and it started sheding on the inside and ruined it. Next time we used a new metal garbage can with one of those super sized 10 gallon zip lock bags as a liner. It went rank very quickly. This could have been due to our packing though. Before we get into this again, what is you recommendation for a good container? I hate the thought of plastics but it seems it might just be the best choice as long as it's made for food storage.

I use the German ceramic crocks. They come with stones that keep the kraut submerged and they have the lid that sits in a water filled moat. The company that made mine went out of business but there are other similar German/Polish fermenting crocks available.

The water seal does three things...it allows you to see bubbles coming out and lets you know fermentation is occurring. Secondly, it prevents organisms from the air getting in, and lastly, the oxygen gets forced out so all you have left inside is the CO2 given off by the anaerobic fermentation. You can use home brew airlocks to achieve the same effect. You would drill a hole in your plastic bucket lid, insert a rubber grommet and then add the airlock. Add some water to the airlock and then watch for the bubbles to start.

The only problem with the moat is the water can evaporate out and you lose the seal. Oxygen gets in and your anaerobic environment is lost. There are jars that only use an airlock, no water seal, so in that sense, the jars with the airlocks are better.

The side handles on ceramic crocks are sometimes not very functional. They can be hard to get a solid hold on, especially if your hands are wet.

I know lots of people use the open crock method. I have only used the closed crock. I believe anaerobic is best for getting the best bacteria but I am sure there are people who will argue open crock is better.

In the end, what's "best" is subjective. Functionally, I don't see why the food grade plastic bucket or the garbage can wouldn't work. Why it went bad...maybe the kraut wasn't covered or your brine concentration was too low. Use canning salt for your brine. It has no iodine and no anti-caking agents. It takes a while for the lactic acid to build up. That gives the kraut its flavor but also provides protection from unwanted microorganisms. Avoid the temptation to look inside (if using a closed crock) for the first 10 days. Let your kraut ferment at least a month. You could start eating it at 10 days but it needs more time to really complete the ferment.

Funny thing is...I don't even like kraut. I have some home made in the fridge right now. It's been in there a year and I am sure it's still perfectly fine to eat.


How crucial is cornmeal? I have a recipe for bread bowls that are made from scratch and seem to be lacking cornmeal.

From the recipe:

  Place loaves on lightly greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal.

Is cornmeal necessary?
If it is, is there a substitute?

This will be my first time making bread properly, and I don't want to mess up anything crucial.

The cornmeal gives some texture to the end result, and helps prevent the bread from sticking to the surface by acting as little ball bearings. It's not essential unless you have a very sticky dough, then I'd suggest using baking parchment if you have it. Otherwise, if the dough is not super sticky grease the pans really well and you ought to be fine.

A good substitute for cornmeal is semolina, but if you can find that cornmeal isn't likely to be an issue to source.


One time sourdough starter Is there a way to make sourdough bread without the long term commitment of feeding a starter?
My kids and I love sourdough bread, but I also work 2 jobs, so making bread is, sadly, a once in a blue moon type of thing.  Taking good care of starter would get lost in the shuffle, and I don't want to waste/ruin/starve any starter.  Essentially, I want to make sourdough bread once.

I would recommend you find a (hobby) baker locally. Almost everyone who maintains a sourdough has some extra that they would otherwise discard. I have read about local Facebook groups etc. of people sharing their starters during the pandemic (when sourdough suddenly was “a thing” and weirdly enough yeast was hard to get at times), including  contact-less drop-offs and similar. I have shared my starter(s) freely with everyone who asked for it in the past. Even repeatedly for one-time-bakers as you are planning to be.
The charm of this approach is that you can make new acquaintances that way and that the shared starter most likely will come with a bit of an explanation as to the specific culture’s temperament. They might even be willing to share a few favorite recipes and give you some hits that a generic recipe doesn’t have.
That said, if you have an established starter, it’s really not that much of a problem if you bake only once in a blue moon. Mine is parked in the fridge, sometimes for months on end, without further care. A bit of pampering and it’s as good as new, ready to climb out of the jar.


Discolored ring in squash Our yellow squash has some brownish discoloration inside in a ring down that extends length-wise. Is this normal variation and safe to eat, or is this an indicator that the squash has gone bad?

This can be one of two things:
1) If you bought this from a store the squash is a bit old. It own't hurt you as mentioned in one of the comments above it just isn't pretty.
2) If this is a fresh squash, if you had a heavy rain storm or a higher than normal concentration of smoke in the area (like forest fires) then it is possible for excess minerals to be deposited in the meat of some veggies (squash is among that list).

Either way it won't hurt you.


How can I make a last-minute birthday cake without using artificial flavor or color? My dad's birthday party is tomorrow, and I do not know how to decorate his cake.  He does not eat foods containing artificial flavoring or coloring.  What are some methods I could use to accomplish this last-minute effort, and still suit his dietary needs?

The options are very wide. You are not telling us what kind of cake you have in mind, so I'll be making a few assumptions here. But once you start thinking outside the box that equals "birthday cake" with "cake with different colours of icing", a whole world of options opens up.

Birthday cakes need not be (multi-)coloured.
A one-tone cake that plays with texture can be very elegant, from luscious glossy chocolate ganache to swirls of light and fluffy frosting. You don't even need great piping skills (although it's a neat thing to master some day), heaping on the frosting and texturing into big fluffy "clouds" either with a spoon or a knife can be very beautiful and even my 7yo can produce very impressive results.
Find edible decorations for that pop of colour.
A bright red strawberry or raspberry on a white frosting, a few sprigs of mint or chopped pistachios for a touch of green. Some lemon or orange zest, perhaps. Even some jam or a fruit compote will do, put on top or served as a sauce on the side. Or go for a nature walk and find edible flowers.

Choose non-edible decorations.
Birthday candles aren't edible, so you can add more non-edible elements. Little flags on toothpicks or even a small garland held up by two or three large skewers come to mind. Perhaps spell out "HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD" on bunting? Print a photo of your dad and mount it on a skewer or two? I have in the past even used toy figurines as cake topper. As long as everything that actually touches the cake is food safe, you needn't worry. You can use some parchment or plastic wrap to create a barrier under a topper, if necessary. The flags in the picture below are made from origami paper, masking tape is very handy, too, because it needs no extra glue.


Is there a difference in appearance between semi and unsweetened chocolate? I bought semi and unsweetened baking chocolate in bulk but forgot to mark which was which....is there a way to figure out which one is which?

There is no simple visual difference.  A small taste will reveal all though--unsweetened chocolate is quite bitter.


Baked apple that was left out overnight? I made a baked apple recipe with a crumb stuffing (recipe here), and then accidentally left one of them out in the dish overnight. Is it safe to eat? (Checked stilltasty.com, my reference for such things, and couldn't find it)

While not an exact match, Still Tasty indicates up to 2 days for an apple pie at room temperature; one would expect the baked apple to have similar properties.

So yes, I would expect eating your baked apple the next day should be fine.

I would not hold them much longer than that, though, as the cooking helps bring out moisture which will foster growth of molds over time.


What to do when I accidentally put too much salt on the meat? I'm still learning to cook, and yesterday I put too much salt on the meat when I was cooking it. What I can I do to not waste the meat?
I still have some raw meat but I'm afraid to make it too salty if I mix both together. I heard I can put the meat in boiling water to try to get rid of salt, but I'm not sure if that Would work. Or should I make soup/stew with the meat and not use salt on it?
What else I can do to make it edible?

There's no single answer, as there's a few considerations here:

Was it ground meat, or a larger chunk?
How far cooked was it already?
How far over-salted is it?
Is it being cooked in some sort of sauce or other liquid?

Depending on the answer to those:

If it's not over-salted by much ... serve it with a sauce that hasn't been salted, serve it on top of a bland starch (rice, pasta, baked potato) or mix it in as the flavoring to something else that's unsalted.  (eg, a casserole, soup, stew, etc.)
If it's uncooked larger chunks, you can rinse it off (in cold water), pat dry, and then cook it.
If it's uncooked ground meat ... the salt will cause the proteins to start tightening, and make things start to stick together if it sits before you cook it.  If you haven't stirred in the salt yet (for those times when the lid came off a salt shaker), you might be able to get the worst of it off with a spoon, or even pick up the block of ground meat and shake it off.  Rinsing is still an option, but it's more difficult to dry back off before cooking ... you might have to resort to other options.

If it's while cooking ... you might still be able to rescue it.

If it's not in a liquid or sauce, for the 'lid came off the salt shaker' situation, for large hunks of meat, just pick it up and shake and/or brush off the salt.  For ground meat or smaller chunks ... you might need to add some water, and then pour the water off (a strainer helps with this).
If it's larger hunks in a sauce, you can pull it out and remake the sauce.  Depending on the type of sauce, you might want to save it to use it as flavoring in some other dish (casserole, soup, etc.)

Your most difficult case is ground beef in a sauce.  If it's wet enough, you can rinse if off in a colander ... for thicker sauces, if it's not so salty to be inedible, you can try serving it over rice, pasta, a baked potato ... or turn it into a casserole.

Note that all of these assume that you've caught the problem quickly ... if the meat's been cooking in the salt for an extended period, you might have to go with the casserole route, as it'll have absorbed the salt.


keep house hold chemicals bottles near food shelves Is it safe to keep house hold chemicals bottles near food shelves - after all if one is careful enough not to add them accidentally to food while cooking ? Or are they volatile and will settle on our food items ?

As a chemist this makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. One cardinal rule in a chemistry lab is not to eat or drink in the lab. So you are not going to instantly die, nor will you grow another ear, from have cleaning supplies near food items, but to me it is a really bad idea. The cleaning supplies should be stored in a separate location. Under the kitchen sink is typical.

In other words - !! PLAN AGAINST STUPIDS !! You don't want to accidentally spray your frying pan with roach killer instead of a spray oil.


Baking Sirloin in Oven on Pizza? Ordinarily when we make pizzas we throw all of our toppings on and then put raw chicken right on the pizza. Put it in the oven at 425 for about 30 minutes and it's good to go.

This week, the supermarket was out of the chicken we normally buy, so we decided to mix it up and try sirloin.

If we try the same thing with the sirloin (putting it on the pizza raw and cooking it at 425 for 30 minutes) will it be safe to eat? Will it get tough and flavorless being in that long? Would it be a better idea to pan-fry the sirloin and then put it on the pizza after we pull it out of the oven?

EDIT

Took Navajo Dreamchild's advice. Ended up using a marinade with pineapple and soy sauce (who says pineapple's not allowed on pizza). Sauteed the sirloin to just about medium rare and then threw it onto the almost done pizza with a little more cheese before putting it back in the oven to finish.

I wish I'd taken a picture to post here, but it was all gone before we knew it. Absolutely delicious--thank you for the help!

I would think that if you were using fresh sirloin and the pieces were small enough you would be alright using the method you mentioned. I would think that if you were to pre-cook your sirloin and then cook it on top of the pizza for that long you might get tough sirloin. I would suggest cooking the sirloin until just about done, while the pizza is cooking then putting the sirloin on the pizza (I would add a little more cheese at this point- but that's just me), and giving it 2-3 minutes under the broiler to melt the cheese and cook the sirloin the rest of the way.
To avoid losing the flavor of the meat, you should marinade it for at least 30 minutes and season well before you precook or put on your pizza(use a meat tenderizer in your marinade to avoid tough meat- vinegar or pineapple juice works well.) Good Luck- I hope it turns out delicious.


How to deal with "no precooking required" lasagne sheets? I've always been a bit suspicious of "no-precooking-required" lasagne sheets.

What are the benefits and detriments of these sheets?

What would happen if you ignore the instruction and cook them a little in any case? I tend to do so - am I wasting my time?

They work fine. Here is an example of a vegetarian lasgana where I use them. The key is to make sure that there is plenty of well-seasoned liquid for them to absorb. You don't need to parboil them.


Is my tomato ketchup safe to eat? I pressure cooked my tomato ketchup for 10 min, then simmered for 12 hours (internal temp 150 degrees).This was lower that I intended. Is it safe to now freeze it in small containers?

It was safe  to consume after the pressure cooking.  It was safe to consume after the simmering. It will be safe to consume from the refrigerator or freezer.  You might want to edit your question to explain what you did with it after simmering and before freezing.


Safe to cook with alcohol I want to cook with wine as the recipe I want to make calls for it. However I cannot have any alcohol in me because I have to drive and my country calls for a 0 BAC.
The recipe uses 750ml of wine, 1 cup of water and no other significant source of fluid. Most of the cooking time the dish is supposed to be covered tightly to reduce boil-off and around 250ml of the wine is only added 10 minutes before the end.
Will all of the alcohol evaporate in the 2 hours it simmers for? Or is there an alternative to using Chianti.
Recipe:
Ingredients

3 to 3 1/2 lbs boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
2 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 TB olive oil
1 bottle (750ml) Chianti
1 cup water
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch thick rounds
3 stalks celery, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
10 cloves garlic, chopped
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 bay leaves
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 TB unflavored gelatin powder (I use Knox brand)
1 TB tomato paste
1 tsp anchovy paste (don’t skip this)
2 tsp cornstarch

Steps

Pat dry cut-up beef well, using paper towels.Toss beef with salt in a bowl and let stand at room temp 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350F with rack on lower middle position.
In a large Dutch oven, heat oil over medium high heat until starts smoking. Add half of the beef in a single layer and cook until well browned on all sides, about 8 min total, reducing heat if it begins to burn.
Stir in 2 cups wine, water, onion, carrots, garlic, rosemary, bay leaves, pepper, gelatin powder, tomato paste, anchovy paste, and all remaining beef. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce to simmer. Cover tightly with foil, followed by lid (helps retain moisture.) Transfer to hot oven and cook until beef is tender, about 2 hours.
In a bowl, whisk the remaining wine with the cornstarch until dissolved. Add to the pot of braised beef. Place pot on stovetop and bring to a boil over medium high heat; immediately reduce to simmer. Simmer (low boil) uncovered, stirring,10 minutes. Should be somewhat thickened. Season with additional kosher salt and pepper to taste, if needed.
Serve with crusty bread, rice, noodles, or potatoes.

In general, we can assume that it will never boil off to zero. By a combination of reduction and dilution we can get to undetectable levels, less than in ripe fruit and some breads.  The "zero BAC" requirement has to be able to handle people eating normal foods, so tends to have some margin, just not enough to have a drink.
To do this you'd simmer the wine on its own until significantly reduced, top up with water to the original volume, then use. The amount of wine per portion in many dishes is low anyway - not in everything of course, but there's often more stock than wine, further diluting it.
If this doesn't go far enough, de-alcoholised wines vary with jurisdiction but are often 0.5% or even 0.05%, the latter being less than some fruit juices, and less than vinegar (link to a recent answer of mine, where I discuss a relevant scientific paper). The alcohol in those has been removed by a more effective process than simple simmering.


Why do the inserts in pasta pots not go all the way to the bottom? I love using a pasta pot/steamer where there is an inner "colander" pot so that you can pull all the pasta out easily.

BUT... in all of the ones I've seen, the inner colander doesn't go all the way to the bottom. There is a gap of about 1.5 to 2", plus the 1/4 space of the bottom of colander itself.

The means I have to boil a LOT more water. That takes more time, uses more water and energy.

It seems like a gap of just 1/2" or so would be sufficient to "insulate" the bottom of the pasta from the hot bottom of the pan. (And I've boiled pasta for years without a colander inside (so zero gap) fine).

You might have given the answer in your question.  If the device is to be used as a steamer as well, then there has to be enough room at the bottom of the pot for steaming.  How much is enough?  There are two things to consider:

The bottom section should hold enough liquid that there won't be concerns about boiling the pot dry for anything you might want to steam.  Longer steam items might include mussels, lobster, or tamales.
There should be some 'air margin' for foods like tamales or broccoli, so that the boil splatter doesn't render the food soggy.

Based on FuzzyChef's comment, it sounds like there are tools that suit your needs better.  Perhaps it's time to put your steamer on Craigslist? :)


Can you make whipped cream with half and half? Can you make whipped cream with half and half?

If you can, what, if anything, do you have to do differently?

A general rule-of-thumb is that a butterfat content of 30% or more is required to produce whipped cream. Half and half (called half cream in the UK), which is comprised of half milk and half cream has a butterfat content between 10 - and 12.5% butterfat, based on various sources discovered in my research.

That being said, I've read that half and half can be foamed by beating it and can even achieve some very soft creaminess if whipped while almost frozen.  It certainly would not taste like whipped cream or have the rich mouth feel of whipped cream - at least without adding something to stabilize the mixture which is beyond my experience.

As an aside, I have a "light, no-bake" cheesecake recipe that requires evaporated milk to be beaten but it must be thoroughly chilled before it will work.

Here is a link to a wikipedia page that includes a chart with explanations of all milk products:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cream#section_3


Could B.Subtilis ssp. mesentericus develop in proofing stage? My last breads suffer from B.Subtilis ssp. mesentericus infection - the bread became sticky in hours and apparently ill.

I exchanged the flour, performed cleaning and cleansing but still the disease came back.

My subjective feeling is that the dough became sticky already in the proofing stage.

My question is can Bacillus Mesentericus develop in the proofing stage and can I diagnose it by some means?

My last breads suffer from B.Subtilis ssp. mesentericus infection - the bread became sticky in hours and apparently ill.

Bacillus mesentericus is a spore forming bacteria, known for causing rope/ropey like bread.  It's a soil/grass based bacteria so may have been in the flour.

  I threw away all the disposable utensils and washed the whole kitchen with vinegar and detergents. I am aware that these means are insufficient, but I had not other options

You may have been a bit hasty, the information in the link below suggests cleaning everything with vinegar for 3 consecutive days.

More information here including on diagnosis & treatment (under 3.5.3)

If you would like to know more, you can have a search there's a wealth of information especially academic articles.


Why do some ingredients in baking recipes need to be at room temperature? I've been starting to bake more cakes and cookies recently, and many recipes say to have some ingredients that are usually stored cold, like milk or eggs, to be added at room temperature. Why is this? Will having cold ingredients affect the outcome of the baked goods much?

The exact reason depends on the particular ingredient and recipe.  Some common ones include:

General temperature.  By having all of the ingredients at room temperature, the time it takes to bake the overall item(s) is easier to predict, leading to better, more consistent outcomes.
Egg whites  Egg whites form the protein network that creates the foam when whipped more easily at room temperature than they do cold, so will whip up more quickly and with more volume.
Butter   Butter is often desired slightly cooler than room temperature, for its plastic properties; it incorporates air for the creaming method best slightly below most room temperatures.  Otherwise, it is easier to spread or incorporate when warmer.
Cream cheese  Easier to mix with sugar or other ingredients at room temperature than when cold.


How to clean an octopus - and is it worth it I've bought an octopus from my fish monger, but, when I asked if he could clean it, he openly admitted he's never done octopus before and doesn't know how. Well, neither do I but I've taken it on myself. This is clearly a poor decision, I don't even like gutting fish!

I'm reading up on this, and a certain website says the following

  Octopus must also be cleaned, so you may want to ask your fish monger to do it if you're uncomfortable doing so yourself. Hold the head under running water to simply remove and discard the ink sac, stomach, and eyes. Then use a sharp knife to cut out the beak, which is found at the bottom of the head

I'm very lost with this statement; it seems like the article suggests by holding the head under water, everything will just fall away (doubtful otherwise it would have a rubbish time being a sea creature!). Has it glossed over the 'how' because it's very difficult?

More reading on other sites suggests that the head is very gelatinous and the vast majority of meat/flavor is  from the arms.

So, based upon my own research (if it is correct), is it worth cleaning an octopus (and if so, can some one explain how) or would I be better off just chopping the head off (and removing the beak) and discarding them, keeping just the legs/arms?

This a a great video that explains every step. She cuts the head off by slicing above the eyes, so removing the beak is a part of cleaning the tentacles.

These are your first cuts.

Cut the head off above the eyes, and slit the head open. Rinse out the guts, there will be some connective tissue that needs to be cut away or broken to get to all of the yucky stuff. Rinse thoroughly and peel. It's easy.

Cut the tentacles away below the eyes (the slice now that contains the eyes can just be tossed). That will expose the beak, which is at the center, where the tentacles meet. That just pops out.

The tentacles can just be rinsed and cut as desired.

Easy, and totally worth it. Good luck.

Of course you can keep the octopus "whole" by slicing out the eyes in a kind of pie wedge shape cut, exposing the beak and guts to be cleaned away but keeping the connection between the tentacles and head intact at the "back", otherwise following the instructions in the video.


How to get threads in a yeast dough? I think I may make some traditional food for Easter this year. What I love most is a type of rich sweet bread called kozunak. The perfect kozunak is defined by many qualities, but what I find hardest is the texture. First, it should be really tender. Second, it must be very airy. Third, it should be juicy, not as dry as normal bread, but not doughy. Fourth, it should have threads. This means that the bread is broken instead of cut, and the dough should easily separate along lines made by pulling while kneading it. The best way to imagine that is to think of collagen-rich meat taken out of the slow cooker and pulled apart into its muscle fibers. Here is a picture of what the threads should look like (I hope the colours of the original are off, else it isn't the perfect kozunak with that colour ;) and the crumb is denser than usual).

The ratio of the recipe is probably important. It is a very wet dough for yeast, and has enough fat to make a quiche envious. (Also, this is the only bread I know of which is kneaded in oil instead of flour to prevent sticking). A typical recipe is:

1 kg flour [assume all purpose]
55 g live yeast
300 g white sugar
250 g milk [can be partially or wholly substituted for cream]
250 g butter
8 eggs
lemon rind, zests
vanilla extract
1 tbsp rum
yolk for glazing
raisins (optional)
almonds (optional)

I am not very good at getting it this way, because there is at least a year between each of my tries, meaning that I don't remember what I did when it went good and when it went wrong. My grandma and all of her friends love to give "surefire advice" on how to get it that way. And the advice of one friend contradicts that of another one (if it isn't internally inconsistent at to start with). I think that you SeasonedAdvicers are less likely to just perpetuate old myths without understanding them than these nice old ladies. So if you are experienced with yeast doughs, I will appreciate your opinion on following factors.

Fat type. This recipe says butter, but there is lots of advice to use lard instead, to make it "more tender". I am not sure that this has any consequence in yeast dough, probably some well-intentioned home cook decided that if it works for pie crust, it works for bread too. But I'd like to hear your opinion.
How many times should I let it rise? The usual procedure is something like Rise yeast in milk - mix everything, knead - rise (ca. 2x volume) - knead - rise (ca. 3x volume) - knead, pull, braid - rise (ca. 2x volume) - bake. But some leave the middle rising out, letting rise a bit more the other times. Is it a simplification, or is the procedure outlined overkill? Are there disadvantages to that much rising?
How much should I knead it each time? Some say lots of kneading in the beginning, the least amount at the end. Others say that the least amount of kneading every time is best. What do you advice?
Optimal oven temperature? It gets thick, because it increases in volume another 2x to 3x before setting, 10 cm isn't unusual. That would speak for a lower temp, around 160°C. But the years I followed this instinct, it got quite dry (maybe I didn't check properly for doneness). So maybe less time at a higher temp. But this is theory, what would an experienced baker suggest?

I think that's about it, but if you have other useful suggestions, please tell. This type of dough has a reputation for being tricky (or is it just the fact that it is rarely made so home bakers are inexperienced? Or that the expectations on the final product are high?) and I'll check the theory again, but help from more experienced bakers would be appreciated.

Edit: maybe I didn't make it entirely clear what puzzles me most. As I see it, I need exuberant gluten formation for the threads (and the long rising supports this theory). But to make it tender and airy I'd think that I want less gluten. So the theory just confuses me this time. I hope that at least the juicy part is taken care of by the abundant fat.

Damn, that looks good. I've never made this particular type of bread before, but here are some things that I do know which might help:

Butter is (roughly) 10% water and 90% fat, while lard is 100% fat. So if you substitute one for the other, you should adjust the amount of water in the recipe accordingly. The flavor will be a little different, but I bet either one would work.

I would not assume AP flour. In fact, I'd assume high-gluten bread flour. The gluten is what creates those fibers. It's the fat that keeps it tender.

This looks very similar to a brioche, so you might want to look at brioche recipes to learn some of the principles. One thing that most of them will tell you is to to knead the dough to develop the gluten fibers, and then add the butter. This I think is the key. I know that fat can keep gluten molecules from sticking together into strands, so if you add the fat later, you should wind up with strands of gluten surrounded by fat.


Is there any way to avoid grease splatter? I often cook fries in a skillet. I put about 1/4 cup vegetable oil into a large skillet and heat on high, then I toss in some frozen fries.

As soon as I toss them in there is an explosion of grease that makes a huge mess. After it simmers down though, I can cook the fries without spilling anymore grease.

Is there anyway to avoid the initial uproar?

Use a deeper dish. Fries shouldn't be fried in a skillet. Use a 4+ quart pan.
Then cover with a metal screen to reduce the splatter.


Does reduced fat milk contain additives to mimic the taste of whole milk? I was told by a chef who trained me to make certain dishes, as well as certain baked goods that when using milk, the "healthier" option is to use whole milk over any other sort of reduced fat milk. I read the same thing on the Guardian but it's hardly a reputable source for cooking advice.

His reasoning is that milk that has had fat removed from it contains artificial sweeteners or other additives to closer mimic the taste of whole milk. He clarified that this doesn't hold true when cream comes into the equation, but was adamant that whole milk was the best option when a recipe specified "milk".

Is this a true statement? Do non-whole milks contain additives to mimic the missing fat content? Is whole milk objectively "healthier"?

In most countries, ingredients have to be listed. Are there any additives listed where you are? There aren't in the UK.

The sweetness of milk (lactose) is soluble in water and not in fat, so removing the fat won't remove lactose. In fact it will slightly increase the concentration. Whole milk has 3.7 g fat and 4.7 g sugars per 100 ml; skimmed milk has <0.5 g fat and 5.0 g sugars. Replacing the lost fat. Within rounding error the extra sugar is accounted for by replacing the fat with more of the non-fat components of milk.

If the manufacturers were going to add stuff to make it more like whole milk, you'd think they'd do a better job of it. I normally have semi skimmed on cereal and to make hot chocolate, and the difference between that and either whole (rich) or skimmed (watery) is significant.

When you come to processed dairy products it's a different story, and this may be the source of someone's confusion. Fruit yoghurts take this to extremes, as fat-free versions are more likely to include thickeners (typically corn starch or pectin, so nothing unusual) and "light" versions have sweeteners, water, flavourings, and in this particular example gelatine.
This is also the case in the Guardian article you link - the relevant quote is

  Often, flavorings such as chocolate and strawberry and sugars are added to low-fat and skim milk to make up for the loss of taste when the fat is removed

which is pretty clearly referring to milk-based drinks and not to milk (it goes on to mention added sugar). So the article isn't (necessarily) wrong, but isn't particularly useful.

As for recipes, most specify, if they don't, use whatever you have anyway/prefer. Preferences vary with time and place; many years ago the only way to get skimmed milk was to skim it yourself, probably to use the cream for something.


what is the ideal ratio to mix mustard powder with flour? Hi I am making mustards and soon planning to do it commercially too.
My question is the rate of mustard powder&wheat flour mixture ratio. Otherwise it's too hot and too expensive to sell. I welcome also other solutions to use less mustard powder.
Any recommendations would highly be appreciated.

If want to sell mustard, make mustard, not a stretched fake mustard. You would be cheating your customers and depending on your location the authorities might be after you, too.

The "sharpness" of a mustard is balanced by the ratios of different mustard seeds, white/yellow, brown or black and the temperatures used during preperation. Typically, vinager is added and sometimes other flavouring compounds like other herbs, spices or honey.


Are there any vegetarian applications for transglutaminase ("meat glue")? Transglutaminase is an enzyme that is popular among modernist chefs for two main purposes - to glue different meats together for special effects (like a modern turducken), and to create consistently shaped and sized portions for even cooking.

My question is whether there are any known vegetarian applications for this enzyme? Has it been used with (say) tofu, eggs, or cheese? Is there a way to combine it with another protein to get it to glue lower protein things together like most vegetables?

As a matter of fact, here is a link to a PDF of a technical article that talks all about using microbial transglutaminase on vegetable proteins.  This article is not for the scientifically faint-of-heart, and it does not contain recipes, but it does review ways industry has found to use transglutaminase in making vegetable-based food products, using things such as soy, wheat, rice, pea, sunflower, and sesame.

I have never tried using it to mix vegetable proteins with animal proteins, but chemically speaking it should work.  Unfortunately, I have no source of recipes; you might just have to experiment.


Substitute clarified butter with sunflower spread Background
I am making a sweet recipe of Baklava, which calls on ghee or clarified butter.
So the butter substitute would be used to paint on the layers of filo pastry before baking.
My problem
When reading the ingredients list I instinctively substituted butter for sunflower spread as an acceptable dairy free alternative, not realising the process I would have to expose it to.
Question
Now given what is the desired outcome of clarified butter, I’m assuming this wouldn’t work by using sunflower spread? .. Or would it?
If not, any suggestions to how I can get around this mess without butter?
The instructions I have for making clarified butter
Melt the 1 1/2 cups (340g/ 12oz) butter slowly over medium low heat until the milk solids have separated from the butterfat. and collected on the bottom of the saucepan. Remove the pan from heat, let the butter settle for 10 minutes, then carefully skim the foam from the surface with a spoon. Slowly pour the clear butterfat into a bowl, leaving all the milk solids behind in the saucepan. You should end up with about 1 1/8 cup (255g/ 9oz) clarified butter.
Any thoughts, suggestions or workarounds much appreciated!
I'm making baklava, so the butter substitute would be used to paint on the layers of filo pastry before baking.

"Spreads" are not an effective substitute for clarified butter for filo pastry, because they contain water and emulsifiers. The purpose of the clarified butter in filo pastry is to keep the layers separate, and water-containing spreads will encourage the layers to stick together. If you don't want to use butter, substitute vegetable shortening, like Crisco.


When making a sauce, at what point should you add the wine? Should you add it right after heating the fat? Or after youre done sauteing all the veggies so they soak all the wine? Or should you start with the wine THEN add the fat?

In sauce making, you would add liquid (wine, water, broth, etc.) to release the fond (browned bits) that adhere to the bottom of your pan.  Therefore, as related to your question, after sauteing.  The purpose is not to soak into anything, but to incorporate the flavor from the fond and the liquid into your sauce.