How can I minimize stirring when blending whole fruits? I usually quarter whole fruits, and toss them into my Vitamix blender.
But it blends only one or two quarters, and can't impact the other quarters. Then I stir the Suspension with my stick.

The blender again blends only one or two quarters, and I must repeat step  2.
I usually must repeat step 2 at least 4 more times, before all the quarters are liquefied.

If you don't add additional liquid, you will likely need to stir.  That is the reason Vitamix includes the plunger. So, if you want to minimize stirring, you will need to add additional liquid to allow the whole pieces to remain in contact with the blades.


How to save a dish with an onion paste base which tastes like raw onion paste? I was making a dish that requires the use of onion paste. Usually I'd fry the paste, but I had a bunch of other stuff that needed to be fried too, so I put that in first, and I guess by the time I added the onion paste there wasn't much oil left and it didn't get fried. Now the dish tastes too oniony, and is almost unpalatable. I thought I could fix it by boiling the hell out of it, as onion turns sweet when you boil it - it was a long shot, but I was desperate. That didn't help.

This is what I did -

Fried some ginger garlic paste, and then put in one chopped tomato. After the tomatoes softened I added the onion paste, and then some cashew paste. Maybe I put in the cashew paste too early. Anyway, that is the base of the dish. After a while I added some water and seasoned it. When I tasted it, it tasted only of onions. Nothing really helped - added more water, cooked the hell outta it.

Is there any way I can save the dish? Maybe heat up some oil in another wok and upturn the dish into it?

Guess my first instinct to heat some oil and fry it off was correct.

Had the base in the fridge and instead of throwing it away thought I'd try it out, and it worked.

Though there was still a hint of raw onion paste, it wasn't as bad as earlier, and could taste the other ingredients too.


Is rapid cooling and thawing worth it? I have researched a bit about the topic of "large crystal prevention" when freezing and thawing food. So far I have learned, that in order to prevent the formation of large crystals, which is what damages the texture of food, you need to minimize the time the food spends around 0°C. Which means you need to freeze it to -18°C as fast as possible and when thawing bring it to room temperature as fast as possible. I am talking about a home context here, not commercial.

I have come up with the following routine, which seems to incorporate most home tricks, in order to optimize for few large crystals:

When freezing:

vacuum seal the food in a sous vide bag, as flat as possible
put it in an ice bath
circulate the water in the ice bath with a sous vide stick
After say 20min put it in the freezer

When thawing:

Figure out the max temperature you need the food to be (say the temperature, at which it is going to be served, or if it is going to be cooked, below the target temperature)
Put the vacuum bag in a preheated water bath and circulate the water at this temperature

However, I would like to know, how much of this effort is actually worth it? Is vacuum sealing much better than zip bags? Is ice bath much better than simply putting the food in the freezer at room temperature? Is the additional step of using a circulator (which apparently does reduce the time greatly) really worth it?

Are there any case studies or side by side experiments on this subject? Is it possible to taste the difference?

I know that freeze burn is bad, so I do avoid standard zip bags already in favor of vacuum seal bags, but I am not so sure about the other stuff?

Edit:

It seems the claim, that defreezing quickly is as important as freezing quickly is not universally accepted, I base my belief in this on the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5-akBNZouM

  the longer something takes to freeze and defrost, the bigger the ice
  crystals...

at 0:23

This sounds like a lot of time and effort, that, for home use, might not be worth it.  Freezing as quickly as possible is generally recommended, but even with an ice bath first, you are not going to be able to freeze quickly enough to make that much of an impact using a home freezer.  At home we have more control over how a product is thawed.  For example, see this question/answer.  I would say that rapid thawing is probably where you lose quality, though I will admit that I often use the circulator to thaw meat that I forgot to remove from the freezer a day in advance.  Would I notice quality difference in a side-by-side comparison?  Maybe, but sometimes convenience outweighs a slight difference in the final product.


What can I make with the broken corn chips at the bottom of the bag? Once I've eaten all the biggish chips with salsa, there are a bunch of small-to-crumb sized corn chips left. I always think I'll eat them plain later, but I happen to want more salsa now...and they sit until they get stale. But they're so delicious (so full of fat and salt!), it seems to me I ought to be able to incorporate them into a dish. But what?

They're generally good for adding some crunch, too, not just the flavor. A few things that come to mind:

on top of a salad - my family does a roasted corn and black bean salad; also probably good instead of croutons in salads where they're a better flavor/style fit
garnish on a soup - tortilla soup, sopa de elote...
as part of a breading for fish or chicken (or anything else to bake or fry)

In general, anywhere you would use breadcrumbs, tortilla chip crumbles might find a place. If you're afraid they're too salty, you could always put dump them in a sieve and shake some of the really small bits out, leaving the more sizable bits of chip.


Size of pieces of fish for baking I want to bake salmon with some seasoning in the oven. I was wondering what whould happen if I were to cut fish in thinner pieces so I can have more surface area covered with seasoning. Will the fish bake worse? What should be the perfect size? Or is it get the fish as big as possible, like whole maybe?

In general, the size of the cut has the biggest impact on how long the food will cook. A thinner slice of salmon will cook much more quickly than a thicker cut with the same surface area. Cutting the salmon too thin with a large surface area can also lead to over-seasoning, which will overpower the delicate salmon flavour. I prefer to cut salmon into evenly-sized squares approximately 2 cm thick, possibly thicker (I do not normally measure). Using a whole salmon can be good if you are an experienced cook, however it can be difficult to ensure all the small bones, guts, etc have been removed, and some find the head to be unappetizing. If going that route, it is also important to remember to season underneath the skin, as skin creates a waterproof barrier that will not allow flavours from spices to seep through, and normally one would stuff the opening you cut for removing the bones with seasoning as well (try placing thinly sliced pieces of lemon inside along with whatever seasoning blend you like before baking).


What is a suitable Low carb rice alternative? For the first time since i started dieting, I'm making a stir fry dish for dinner. Usually, I include white rice with the finished product to absorb some of the sauce and provide that fluffy texture.

What is a low carb, or even carb free, alternative I can use that provide a similar texture and absorbent quality?

Quinoa. I only recently discovered it as part of doing P90X, and man, it's so, so delicious. It's kind of a nutty flavour that goes really well with sauces. It's also pretty high in protein, which is good.

Note that this isn't "no-carb", though it is lower in carbs than rice.

It's important that you wash quinoa before you prepare it. Otherwise, it's prepared in a very similar way, 2-1 water-to-quinoa, boiled and simmered.


How do I get seasoning to stick to home-popped popcorn? I've been popping my own corn and I want to season it with salt, but when I sprinkle it over the popcorn it just ends up at the bottom of the bowl without taking to the popcorn. How could I get the seasoning to stick to the popcorn?

If you want dry seasonings to stick to popcorn, you will probably need to add a liquid to adhere them with. You could try adding butter or oil to your popcorn while it is hot, then adding the salt and tossing it together. If you're avoiding extra fat, a few spritzes of a non-stick spray (like Pam) might do the trick without adding significant fat.


How does dried cilantro relate to fresh? Is coriander dried cilantro seed?  Has anyone used dried cilantro, and if so how does it compare to fresh cilantro.  I assume fresh is better but please describe the difference (less pungent, etc...)

Coriander, the plant, is the one whose leaves are called cilantro in many regions - the Spanish name for the plant. Of course, in some regions, the leaves are called coriander (or coriander leaves) as well. Coriander, the spice, is indeed the dried fruit/seeds of the plant, commonly sold both whole and ground. The seeds have a very different flavor from the leaves.

As for dried cilantro, the leaves? They're going to be pretty much flavorless compared to fresh cilantro. Cilantro loses its aroma quickly when heated or dried. Obviously there's still something left, or you wouldn't be able to buy dried cilantro, but it's not going to be a striking addition to a dish. If you can get it fresh, it's worth it.


How does fast food restaurants make grilled chicken In most of the fast food restaurants which do grilled chicken, when they get an order, they take a chicken which looks like it is pre-cooked as it is yellowish in colour, and put it on the grill

This is the case with restaurants like Nandos etc. During the grilling they apply the sauces and then serve

How do they precook the chicken? Do they marinate it and use an oven to heat it?

If you are wondering explicitly about Nandos, it is marinated for 24 hours before its cooked. It is then cooked before its ordered:

  [The chickens] are cooked in a special oven for an average cycle of 30 minutes,
  reaching a temperature of at least 75C, then kept in a warming drawer
  at a temperature of 63C.

Source

When an order is placed, they take the Chicken and finish it on the grill.


substitute for chickpeas in "bean blondies" I'm trying to make "chickpea blondies" However, my brothers won't eat them because chickpeas are estrogenic.

In the recipe, you have to puree the chickpeas, add some peanut butter for strength and taste, and then bake it. So it needs to be relatively firm, sweet or nutty, and hold up in heat. . Is there some other sort of firm bean/food item that could be substituted for the chickpea? They don't have to be beans. I've seen avocados used in recipes like this, but one brother is allergic

Please don't say flour, because making actual brownies defeats the purpose. The fun of it comes from making an  tasty imitation dessert out of unconventional non-dessert ingredients like *beans.

*excepting red beans

I've had great success with black bean brownies. Most recently I tried this recipe on recommendation from a friend and it turned out quite well! Very rich, great-textured brownies.

The batter is quite thick, though, so make sure your blender/food processor is up to the task!


how long to cook a turkey per pound I'm cooking a turkey for thanksgiving for the first time. I've got a beautiful 11 lb turkey and according to the websites I found, I should cook it for about three hours. When I asked my girlfriend's experienced cook mother though, she said that time was really low. Just looking for a second opinion.

The best way to know if your bird is done is by checking the temperature of the thigh with a probe thermometer. You're looking for about 160 F. If you don't have a probe thermometer, and you're cooking a turkey, this might be the time to invest in one.


Why doesn’t my gas oven cook well? I have a gas oven, and I use an oven thermometer. Even though I cook at the correct temperatures, it takes significantly longer to cook than recipes say, sometimes even double or triple the cooking time. I never had any trouble when I used to bake with a conventional oven in the Texas, but now use a gas oven and live in Guayaquil, Ecuador, which is at sea level and usually fairly hot. Could that have something to do with it? I’ve tried reducing liquids in my recipes and it doesn’t seem to help.

I had (have) a similar problem with my GE profile range oven.  I finally put a probe thermometer in there and tested it for at various settings.  I found the oven took much longer than it claimed to actually equilibrate to the set point.

For example, setting at 400 °F (~ 205 °C), the oven would announce it had hit set point in about 15-20 minutes.  The probe said otherwise - it might briefly hit 400 but within 5 minutes of the burner going off it would drift down around 340, and with similar or analogous results at other set points.  It took almost 40 minutes of preheat time to actually stick around the set point.

So now I either start the preheat earlier or set it 50-75 degrees high, wait 5 minutes after it claims it has hit set point, then put the food in and kick the set point down to the right setting.  Seems to work out well.

In another oven I had similar trouble but found out that was my fault.  I have 3 fairly heavy pizza/bread stones and used to store all 3 on the bottom rack.  The oven would hit set point but the stones would suck up all the heat.


Wooden cutting board turns black My wooden cutting board is turning black!

I tried reposition the cutting board and even tried hanging them but regardless of the different configuration, water still accumulate at a certain region during the drying process and blacken them. After the cutting board is dried, the black remains and is not fading away.

How to avoid it and how can I get rid of the black-ness?

The black spots can be one of several things, but are likely a variety of mold. Black stains can also be caused by a reaction to the iron in your knives (particularly if you use carbon steel blades instead of stainless steel). If it is mold, it is growing because even though the surface of your cutting board is dry, moisture has soaked in, probably because it needs to be oiled or waxed.

To recondition a butcher block or cutting board that is stained or gouged, you can sand the surface down, and reoil.

Use a sanding block to keep the surface from getting wavy as you sand.
Start sanding with 120 grit (80 if you are removing big gouges), and sand evenly, moving with the grain, until the stains are gone, or almost gone (if a few very deep ones survive, don't worry about it).
Repeat the sanding with 240, then 400 grit until the roughness from the previous sanding is gone.
Reoil with any Butcher Block Conditioner. There are many out there, and they are either food-safe mineral oil, or that oil with a few other waxes mixed in. Many are good, but my favorite is Howard's Butcher Block Conditioner. Follow the instructions, but it will amount to making a liberal application, allowing it to sit for a while, then wiping off the excess.
Maintain the new surface by drying the cutting board well before storing (as you are already doing), and wiping lightly with mineral oil briefly every few times you use it, much like maintaining a cast iron pan.


Can you tell if a food is fermented (in a "good" way) or rancid? The other day I took out a cubed pineapple from the fridge, and when I tasted it it tasted like it started to go "bad." But it actually tasted pretty good and I figured that kimchi and other foods are fermented and they are considered edible and healthy even. So that got me thinking, how can you tell if something gone past their date is fermented in a good way, or in a bad way (gone rancid)? Even meats are "aged" which means they start to decompose.. but that's considered a delicacy.
So how can you tell if it's good or not? Or only the process in which you used can somehow tell if the end product is safe to eat?

So that got me thinking, how can you tell if something gone past their
date is fermented in a good way, or in a bad way (gone rancid)?

Short of taking the food to a lab and testing it for the kinds of microorganisms in it, the answer is you can't, not really.  Lots of dangerous bacteria and other microorganisms don't necessarily make food taste bad.

Or only the process in which you used can somehow tell if the end
product is safe to eat?

Strictly speaking, yes: proper fermentation should follow a known process if you want to ensure safety.  The type of food and the conditions need to be correct to avoid dangerous bacteria and toxins in the end-product.  Many fermentation recipes use salt to discourage growth of bad stuff.  Others use excessive sugar or acidity or something else introduced at some point in the process.  Many industrial fermentation processes depend on inoculating the starting material with "good" fermentation microorganisms at the start, so they grow faster than anything "bad" might.  Often these "good" microorganisms produce waste products (like acid) that discourage future growth of anything "bad."
It seems like the move back toward fermented foods in the past decade has led to a lot of home experimentation in much less controlled environments.  Sure, if you toss quite a bit of salt together with many types of foods and let it sit for a week or two, chances are in many cases you'll end up with something tasty and okay to eat.  But true preservation recipes that make use of fermentation depend on exact ratios of ingredients (and sometimes other preparation steps) that have often been lab-tested with dozens or hundreds of samples to ensure safety.  If you're not using a known recipe and a known process, it's quite possible to end up with something unsafe to eat.
In the case of the refrigerated cubed pineapple from the question, it's less likely to grow nasty things due to the refrigeration.  While it's certainly possible to grow bacteria that will make you sick at refrigerator temperatures, it's more likely that most refrigerated foods will spoil first and taste/look awful and unappetizing before they are able to accumulate significant quantities of other toxins.  Still, this is just a general observation, and no one here can guarantee safety for something left in the fridge for a long time.  As the mantra goes: when in doubt, throw it out.


Urad dal used whole in thoran/rasam - how to correctly prepare? South indian recipes often seem to call for adding dry/rinsed raw urad dal (or even bigger pulses) straight into the oil with the spices at the beginning, or adding them into a tadka that is added later .. as expected, naively following that advice often leaves some or all of them very hard/crunchy/sometimes inedible in the finished dish. Is there a soaking/parboiling method that should be used and that recipe writers tend to assume you know to employ, and/or are there rules of thumb how the dish being cooked must/must not be treated after adding the raw dal or tadka to avoid such errors?

I believe raw urad dal is meant to be split urad dal as mentioned by @Athanasius .
Any dal you use make sure it is split and not whole otherwise i will not temper properly.
Whole dal becomes too hard or burnt in oil.
For me the dal becomes crunchy and it is supposed to be a bit hard(not teeth breaking hard but like bits of corn seeds in pop corn).
It would never become completely soft as you are tempering it. Rather than soaking in water i would suggest roasting them in oven or low gas heat before you use it to temper if your dal stays to hard for you.
Like Daliya (Roasted chana dal) that we use in Idli chatney, gives nice crunch to your chutney. I hope this helps.


Are vacuum pump effective to improve wine conservation? Is there any evidence for (or against) those "Vacuum Wine Saver" pumps (such as "Vacu Vin") that claim to improve the conservation of opened wine bottles?

By evidence, I mean blind tastings or equivalent. It is easy to find a lot of opinions on the topic, but I couldn't find any hard evidence.

Well, I can definitely point you in the right direction towards a Cook's Illustrated test of vacuum wine keepers. Unfortunately, I don't have a membership to their website, but this free portion of the article suggests that at least some of them do in fact work better than just replacing the cork.

For our wine stopper test, we evaluated several methods of saving leftover wine, ranging from pricey "wine preservation systems" and a much simpler (and cheaper) tool: an old water bottle. We went to the kitchen to test them all. First we drained 10 ounces of red wine from six identical bottles, sealed them, and then refrigerated the bottles for 10 days. At that point, we compared them all with a fresh bottle.
Tasters found little difference among the bottles. All but one kept the Merlot perfectly quaffable. Even a small plastic water bottle with an airtight, screw-top lid proved effective. It did have one drawback—you must fill the plastic bottle completely to eliminate air.
Following the taste test, testers limited their criticism to design flaws, most notably for the high-maintenance costly model and the model with the perplexing stopper which offered no written directions. Our winner proved to have a strong seal, was easy to use, and had a bargain price tag. In addition, its trademark click indicated when a vacuum seal has been achieved."

EDIT: Cook's Illustrated, America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country are now offering all three websites for one price, so I re-subscribed. The winner (by a large margin) of the test was this one: VacuVin


Making a test tiny roast If I am making a corned beef and after 10 days I want to taste it and make sure I got the seasoning right. If not I'll fix it and let it soak for another few days.

So I want to cut off a small piece and cook it.  Maybe 4 oz. what would be the best approach for cooking it? Would it follow the normal rules for making a corned beef such as internal temperature which will probably happen pretty fast or does it need a minimum amount of time for some chemical or mechanical processes to happen? Any other ideas?

I make a lot of home cured corned beef so the seasonings are pretty set. When I first started, I didn't try to make a soft tiny roast to test the seasoning, instead I sliced off a thicker slice and cooked in slowly on the stovetop until it was done to my liking then tasted it. I wasn't worried about making it soft and tender when I was testing for seasoning.
One of the best ways to make a roast soft and tender is to use a sous-vide immersion circulator. Set it to your final temperature, let the water heat up,  put the roast in a plastic bag, remove the air and cook until tender. You can find dozens of resources about sous-vide cooking on-line.


Help with sweet scotch bonnet sauce I'm looking to make a hot sauce that would be great for dipping and BBQing. I've made about 5 batches with different variations but generally the same idea. Some batches have been too hot, some too sweet, and some lacking depth. People have told me they like it, but I personally am not happy with it.

I have realized that I do not like the tastes of molasses or brown sugar and that it smells bad to me when cooking, so I am trying to perfect this recipe using only honey as a sweetener.

I wanted some feedback from the gurus here as to how I can balance the amount of heat, sweet, and acidity in this recipe. I like things pretty hot, and I also like pepper. I'd say on a scale of mild-medium-hot-suicide, I'm aiming for hot. As for pepper, a lot of the recipes I've read online don't even use pepper, but it is essential for me.

Here is my recipe:

2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 chopped onion
1 chopped bell pepper
3 scotch bonnets, stems removed, keep whole
5 chopped garlic cloves
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup lime juice
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp peppercorn
2 sm cans tomato paste

Here is how I'm cooking it:

step 1:
melt butter over medium heat
add chopped onion, bell pepper, garlic cloves, and whole scotch bonnets
cook until tender (approx 10-15 mins)

step 2:
add honey, lime juice, vinegar, sea salt, peppercorn, and tomato paste
bring to a boil and low rolling boil for approx 10 mins
lower heat and simmer for approx 30 mins

step 3:
let cool to room temperature
blend until smooth

I'm just looking for some feedback as to how I can improve this recipe and balance it well. What is it lacking? What proportions are off? Should I add ginger? Do I need more garlic? What better steps can I take during the cooking process?

Thank you for your time.

There are various ingredients you could play with to change the taste. Whether they sound appealing is up to you.

Fats
Do you ever use tinned anchovies in your cooking? You could substitute the oil from the tin for the butter when cooking the vegetable portion. You'd never notice a fish taste but only a richer flavour. (I regularly add some Thai fish sauce made from anchovies to my spaghetti sauce when I make it. My son who dislikes fish sauce likes the spaghetti and he knows I add it too. He says it builds flavour.) If you'd like a hint of Asian flavour, use regular cooking oil (your preference) plus a little dark toasted sesame oil in it. Supermarkets, as well as Asian grocers sell it.

Acids
I quite like lime juice but lemon juice would add a different flavour, if you wish. Personally, I don't use regular white vinegar that often in cooking. I find it a little too harsh and lacking any flavour. There are a wide range of different vinegars you could choose from that would add different flavours such as apple cider, red or white wine, balsamic, rice and malt vinegars. I normally stock 4-5 different vinegars for different foods and style of cuisine.

Extras
Would you try adding soy sauce to your sauce to replace some of the salt? It would suit a more Asian style of sauce. Ginger would go very well with this. Worcestershire sauce is something else you could add. Are you using regular clover honey? It's a very mild honey. There are different honeys with a richer deeper flavour you could try.

I wouldn't add too many variations, perhaps just try one at a time of those that appeal to you so you know what suits your taste or not. As for proportions, I doubt anyone would know what to suggest since we haven't the same taste preferences as you.


What does flushing mussels in water with flour do? On Serious Eats, I read the following comment under a recipe:

  Why not flush before cooking? The correct spelling and translation, meuniere, means mussels a le miller’s wife. Because they add a bit of flour to the flush water before cooking.

For clarity, this is the comment I refer to:

If I understand correctly, the comment refers to soaking mussels in water with flour before cooking them. The water is often used to get the mussels to release some unwanted things in their shells, but I'm not sure what the flour does.

After searching a bit, found that Meunière is a French technique for cooking fish. It involves drenching the fish in flour to fry them afterward. That makes sense as the flour, some fat, and the high temperature make some sort of crust or roux.

When cooking mussels, however, there's liquid during the cooking to prevent reaching that high temperature. I've found that a roux cooks at temperatures upward of 300°F (~150°C), which the steam will not reach.

So my question is, what does the flour do when adding them to the mussels' soaking water? Is there any benefit, perhaps to the resulting stock (the linked recipe uses the stock for the sauce, but doesn't use flour)?

I think you are confusing Meunière (mostly for pan fried fish) and Marinière which is one way to prepare mussels.

Cornmeal is often used to clean mussels; it is supposed to help remove grits and dirt from the mussels.


When can I entirely replace sugar with artificial sweeteners? Suppose I have a recipe calling for more sugar than I'd prefer to eat, for whatever reason, and I'd like to just use an artificial sweetener?

When can I just replace the sugar with an appropriate amount of an artificial sweetener, and when will that cause the recipe to fail, or the results to change substantially? What can go wrong?

I will take a bit of a shot, please feel free to edit/improve this.  Most this is lifter from or reworded from here.  I chose them as a diabetes help site so they should not be biased against substitutes.

Sugar is used for sweetness, and for this aspect any of the sugar substitutes likely can be used and many of them in much less quantities as they tend to be far more concentrated in the sweet taste than sugar with many of the marketed brands being mixed with ingredients to add volume to ease substitution.  However, sugar often plays more of a roll in cooking than just flavor and this is where using substitutes can yield varied results.  Sugar also effects the texture, color, and volume of items through chemical reactions.  It feeds yeasts for leavening.  It holds moisture, aids in browning, provides caramelization, counters bitter or sour.  Substitutes tend to handle taste, but cannot directly address some of these other traits.  Many can be used, but results will not be identical to that of sugar.  Common issues include:

•   A lighter color as the substitutes do not provide the browning sugar gives.

•   A flatter product as substitutes may not give the same rise when baking.

•   Texture differences as items made with substitutes tend to be drier due to the loss of sugar’s moisture holding trait.  This also sometimes leads to the item seeming stale more quickly.

•   Aftertaste.  This is a personal difference as some people do not notice an after taste with substitutes, some like the taste better and others simply cannot stand them.

•   Cooking time may need adjusting as with any substitution.
Some of these items may not be an issue for a given recipe or application or might be a big deal and often are a matter of taste.  Overcoming is them is often done by using a blend of the substitute and sugar to reduce but not eliminate sugar.

Some specific options:
•   Succralose  – Heat stable and can be used for baking, cooking and canning.  The commercial brand Splenda provides tips and advises to continue to use brown sugar in baked goods for texture and using small pans while adding dry mild and baking soda to improve volume in baked goods when needed (Spenda has advice).

•   Saccharin – Claimed to be heat stable as suitable for cooking, baking and canning, but it is advised to keep some sugar in baked goods to maintain volume and texture.  Increase liquid and add extra egg or egg whites will help.  (Sweet’N Low and Sugartwin have advice)

•   Stevia – Multiple brands and they have different make-ups.  They claim to be suitable for baking if one quarter of the original sugar is left in to help with browning and texture with a lower temperature and increased baking time. (truvia pure via SweetLeaf Zing)

•   Monk fruit extract – Heat stable, suitable for cooking, baking.  Can be used in sauces dressing, beverages, but recommended to be substituted for only half sugar in baked goods (Monk Fruit In The Raw).

•   Sugar alcohols – multiple brands, with various recommendations.  My reading gives mixed review including issues with volume, dryness, crumble and contradictory claims on heat stability.  I would think each brand would require separate research on suitability.

Many of the substitutes also offer sugar blends that are already mixed with table sugar for supposedly better results.  This however, and many of the recommendations to mix are against the request to do a full substitution for sugar.  More research may provide ways to compensate without the blending, however best results are likely to always be in cases where sweet is the only real aspect of sugar needed, such as in beverages, or when the approach of adding items such as powdered milk and leavening agents can compensate.


can whole milk with corn starch be used to make caramel sauce? I read through some of the other answers about substituting milk for cream in caramel sauce and it seems that the sauce wont thicken because of the fat content of whole milk being too low,....so I was wondering if corn starch would work??

@Brooke, I'm not sure you understand how caramel sauce is made. A mixture of sugar and water is cooked (much the way candy is cooked), basically till it reaches a thread stage - 110° to 112°C (230° to 234°F).  After it's finished cooking, the cream is stirred in.

I'm not discussing method but only giving a basic idea. If you were to thicken it with cornstarch, you might make something palatable to put on desserts but it wouldn't be caramel. It's important to cook the sugar till it caramelized.  There's no brown sugar in it. You didn't mention that but others reading this in the future might think it's needed.

It's possible you could use evaporated milk instead of cream but there's no guarantee. I've not tried it. Yes, real caramel sauce is rich and sweet but that's the purpose of it and not a lot is meant to be eaten ...or often.


What are these chocolate meringues called? I've picked these up at a swiss/ french patisserie and I'd love to try making them myself, but I can't find anything online similar to this.

They are dry and crusty on the outside and have a soft mousse like texture on the inside. They are not chewy or squishy

There is a 'merenguitos' recipe online and these look pretty much identical.

  Ingredients

  4 large egg whites without any traces of yolk
  1/2 cup Dixie Crystals Extra Fine Granulated Sugar
  Pinch salt
  1/2 cup Dixie Crystals Extra Fine Granulated Sugar
  1/2 cup unsweetened coconut

  DIRECTIONS

  Preheat oven to 200°F.
  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
  Prepare a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and set aside. (If
  a pastry bag is not available,  merenguitos can also be spooned onto
  cookie sheets.)
  Whip egg whites and first listed sugar to very stiff peaks. Add salt
  and stop whipping.
  Add second listed sugar and gently fold using a rubber spatula until
  well combined.
  Fill pastry bag with meringue and pipe large rosettes onto cookie
  sheets. If using a spoon drop two tablespoon amounts onto paper.
  Sprinkle generously with unsweetened coconut. (Sweetened coconut may
  brown too quickly!)
  Place in oven until merenguitos are very crisp. A good way to
  determine doneness is to break open a meringue and allow to cool for
  2 minutes. If the interior feels dry and is not sticky it is done.
  If not return to oven.

Obviously you would not use coconut and you would adjust this recipe to be more chocolate.


How to estimate amount of all purpose flour for roux? I was making some roux for white sauce for pasta and followed instructions to the dot. (All purpose flour == butter == 4tbsp. 2 cups milk.) But the milk was very very thin (the only variant we get around here) and I ended up with a very thick sauce.

Is there any way I can estimate when to stop adding the flour (which I predict the culprit for any inconsistency in the sauce)?

I usually

Heat butter
Add small amounts of flour and stir while adding some milk simultaneously.

Typically, you go for 1 tbsp flour, 1 tbsp butter for each cup of liquid.
You may have to adjust slightly, but that's a good starting point.

After the quantity of roux, the next factor to thickening strength is cooking time.  The longer you cook the roux, and consequently, how dark it gets, the less thick the final result will be for a given quantity of roux and liquid.

For a white sauce (i.e. Bechamel and Bechamel-based sauces) you want the roux to stay more or less white.
For a Gumbo, you cook it until it's light brown (sometimes called red).


Is it safe to store oils, vinegars and other sauces in reused gourmet oil tins? I'm trying to find a solution to counter-top storage of oils (olive, sesame, fish) and other sauces (balsamic, soy) that I use frequently.  I was thinking of reusing some of the tin containers that gourmet oils come in (e.g., walnut or hazelnut oil); however, I'm not sure how practical it is and am not sure how safe it might be for some of the more reactive sauces (such as the vinegars).

Would reusing those be safe?

If the key issue is safety, I imagine the cans of the type you indicate are probably as safe as any others, assuming that you can clean them adequately.  Those corners at the top are out of the reach of a bottle brush.  They will have a lining to prevent them from being overly reactive.

Still, I would not use them as they are going to be very difficult to clean, and you cannot monitor the contents.

I would recommend getting an oil dispenser specifically for the purpose, such as this type:

They will let you see inside, and make it easy and clean to pour.  With a funnel, you should be able to fill them easily, and they don't have corners (at the top) out of reach of a bottle brush, making them easier to clean.

Still, this type of dispenser is not meant for long term or bulk storage, as many oils and condiments should not be exposed to light and air (although the dispenser minimizes air exposure, especially when it is below the fill line).  You would use them for working amounts that you would consume in a couple of weeks.

The containers tend to be made of glass, which you know is non-reactive.


Looking For A Soy Flour Substitution I have found what looks like a wonderful recipe for a low carb yeast bread that I really want to make. It only has 3.4g of net carbs/slice, which is gonna be pretty hard to beat! Especially if this is as good as it looks! Gabi's Low-carb Yeast Bread I only have one problem. One of the ingredients is soy flour. I'm simply completely uncomfortable knowingly eating any soy product that is not fermented.

So my question is, is it possible to substitute another product in its place, and if so what? Could I possibly increase one or more of the other dry ingredients already used in the recipe? (ie: vital wheat gluten flour, cup oat flour, flax seed meal,coarse unprocessed wheat bran) I am also curious what soy flour "brings to the table", so to speak. What it does for a recipe that makes it such a "go to" ingredient in low-carb recipes.

I would greatly appreciate anyone's knowledgeable assistance!

It's a bean flour, so substitute another bean flour - chickpea/garbanzo is perhaps the most commonly available one, IME.

Beans bring protein, fiber and fat to the recipe. Soy has considerably more fat (oil) than chickpeas, so you might need to add some oil (or higher-oil things like nut or sunflower seed butters.)

"Fermented soybean powder" is available, and would presumably be more or less equivalent to soy flour.


Sour Dough Starter - proofing in less than 24 hours? I recently started with making sour dough. I created a new starter yesterday. After feeding it one time in less than 24 hours it's already doubling it's size. I'm not using self-rising flour just normal wheat bread flour.

Is it usual that it picked up so fast?

24 hours is above average but not unheard of, 24 hours is a realistic time. I'd say you have a healthy starter on your hands.


Looking to add some texture to my tomato soup recipe I have been working on perfecting a tomato soup recipe for the past month or so and I've reached the point where the soup itself is to my liking.

I am now trying to figure out the garnish and so far I've decided on a dollop of creme fraiche  and a few drops of basil infused oil.

Presentation wise, the red, white and green looks fantastic, but the one element I'm missing is texture. You see, the soup is very smooth as are the creme fraiche and oil, so I'm looking to add some contrasting texture. I am at a loss of what would pair well with tomatoes. Does anyone have any suggestions to add some "crunch" to my soup?

Croutons. They are a cinch to make at home, and just top with lemon and garlic. Or, if you are pressed for time, get some at the store.


Can a rice cooker be used to evaporate remove all water in a soup? Suppose I cooked a soup and now wanted to evaporate/remove all water from the soup leaving behind fat, oil, minerals etc.  Could I place the soup liquid in a rice cooker, switch it on and expect it to have the desired result?  If not why not?

Is there an alternate device I can use to get the intended result?

Just to be clear, you want to remove all the water from your soup? In other words, you want to make dehydrated soup powder, or a solid disk of dehydrated soup crust, out of your homemade soup?

The way I understand rice-cookers to work is they shut off as the temperature begins to climb above that of boiling water. Pretty sure that the temperature at the bottom of your soup would begin to climb above the shut-off level before the point where absolutely all water was removed from the rest of the pot. Judging from what happens on the stovetop when you burn your soup, it heats unevenly, and the bottom scorches while there is still plenty of liquid on top.

Even when your rice-cooker cooks rice, it doesn't remove all the water from the rice. So perhaps if you started with soup, the rice-cooker might possibly make a pretty good condensed soup concentrate (?). ...On the other hand I wouldn't count on it.


When to add Milk powder while preparing a cup of Tea (Chai)? Tea is prepared by adding water+sugar+tea powder in a bowl, and boiled it properly. After pouring into the cup, I added 2 spoon of milk powder (Nestle product) and stirred up well. But I found big granules of milk powder at the bottom of cup (after drinking it). How to avoid this? I mean, What is the proper timing of adding milk powder while preparing a cup of Tea?

Some powders mix better with cold water than hot, and milk powder seems to be one of them.  Making a paste using a small amount of water also helps.

You can make a paste of cold water and milk powder in the cup before adding the tea, or you can make the paste, add the tea, optional sugar and more water, then boil.  You may be able to put the powder in the cup, ad a small amount of tea and make a paste, then add the rest of the tea while stirring.

I do something similar with instant hot chocolate (which contains powdered milk) if making it in a mug. Another approach (which I use with instant hot chocolate when taking it out hiking) is to use a vacuum flask like a cocktail shaker: put the powder in and half fill with water, shake hard, then top up the water.  Unless you want the tea in a flask this is just a way of making more washing up.

As an alternative, milk-based powdered whiteners sold for tea and coffee have more soluble ingredients than milk derivatives, and don't form clumps.  The ingredient list for one I could easily buy is Glucose Syrup, Coconut Oil, Stabiliser (Dipotassium Phosphate, Sodium Polyphosphate), Milk Proteins, Emulsifier (Mono- and Di-Glycerides of Fatty Acids), Anti-caking Agent (Silicon Dioxide), Colour (Beta-Carotene).  Other whiteners have no milk in them at all.


How can I tell if a balsamic vinegar is good? I bought a bottle of balsamic vinegar, and it smells so sour when I put my nose over the bottle.

Is it supposed to be like that?

Well, it IS vinegar. However as you probably already know, higher quality balsamic vinegar is less sour and more rich tasting than its cheaper counterpart. It's unlikely that your balsamic is spoiled--in most ways vinegar is as spoiled as it's going to get.

More likely is that you've uncovered one of the issues with balsamic vinegar: Most of what you can get in a supermarket is of low quality, and is not produced in the traditional way (years of curing and evaporation in wooden casks). What you can get is more likely to be much more mundane wine vinegar with flavorings. And that is often more acidic-tasting and pungent than the real thing (which costs an arm and a leg).

I'd say sample it carefully and see if it's as sour as it smells. It might be OK, or you might want to find a new brand or get it at a store that goes through it faster (check the best by date, if there is one).


What are some alternative wines for Boeuf Bourguignon? Traditionally a Burgundy wine is used for Beef Bourguignon. What are alternative replacements for this dish?

Red Burgundy wine is made from Pinot noir grapes, so a Pinor noir from another region probably will work well. Wikipedia describes Pinot noir as “light to medium body with an aroma reminiscent of black cherry, raspberry or currant”, so any wine with those characteristics, such as a light Zinfandel or Shiraz/Syrah will be similarly substitutable.


Best way to clean copper pots? I got an awesome set of copper pots as a wedding gift. They are amazing, but the direct flame has created aggressive burn marks and discoloring. I'm aware that this is always going to occur. Is there a way to restore the original color?

First you need salt, then you need an acid. Some methods use flour because the paste with the flour is easier to control. For acid you can use vinegar or lemon juice; citric acid would probably work beautifully (from Ecnerwal in comments). One of the videos I'm posting here uses white wine vinegar. Their salt is probably Maldon Sea Salt Flakes, which would be even more ridiculous. Lemon juice or plain vinegar along with salt (coarser is probably somewhat better) are all you need to make your pans gorgeous.

Here's a video where he uses 1 TBS flour, 1 tsp salt, and enough vinegar to make a paste.

Dab it on and let it sit for 30 minutes.

Then wipe and rinse off the paste. Voilà!

This is another video where he uses white wine vinegar {rolls eyes} and coarse salt. He doesn't use the flour, and the technique is a bit clumsier without it. It's pretty much the same concept as the first video. He goes a bit further and uses a wee bit of elbow grease with a vinegar soaked scrubby sponge on the burn mark on the base of the pan.

Many other sources on the Internet, including The Kitchn use lemon juice or cut lemons instead of vinegar. It doesn't seem to make much difference, all of the related methods work.


Oil Dates, If a cooking oil has never been open how long past the "Use by date" would be acceptable? How long past the "Use by date" is cooking oil good for if it has never been opened?

It depends on how the oil has been stored. Light causes oil to oxidize and go rancid. If the oil is stored in a cool, dark place it will last much longer. The true test is simply to smell the oil. If it has any off aromas, don't use it. Neutral oils like vegetable or canola oil shouldn't really have a smell at all because they are deodorized during processing.


What happens to my cheese when I overcook it So I wanted to melt some raclette cheese in the oven but was unfamiliar with the settings. So I believe I overcooked it and it turns into this crunchy crumbly dry mixture which is really hard to scrape out. Is this burnt? What happened to it? Is it still safe for consumption?

It's overcooked. Maybe not burnt, but it will be grainy, crunchy, or rubbery. Depending on the cheese. I've never eaten that kind of cheese, but you can still eat it, probably, but you probably won't like it.

What happened is you basically bubbled all the moisture out of it and you're left with the fat and protein clumps that are usually uniformly dispersed throughout the cheese.


Bread proofing times fridge versus room temp I've recently started to try to make my own bread.  I am starting with baguettes because they seem like a fairly straightforward kind to start with.  Recipes I've seen online will either say to leave the dough at room temperature to proof, or in the fridge to proof for a longer period of time.  It makes sense to me that because the temperature is lower, the yeast takes longer to do its thing.  However since I work during the day, I can't really follow a recipe that has the dough proff for something like 6 hours and have it finish at a reasonable time.

My question is, is there a way to convert a recipe from proofing time on the counter to proofing time in the fridge or vice versa?  I.E. if it takes 12 hours on the counter, will it take 24 hours in the fridge?  Does the amount of yeast added factor into it?

Basic room temperature breads don't prove in 6 or 12 hours, 30 minutes to 2 hours is more typical. The overall process from start to finish including baking may be 6 hours. Sourdough breads and enriched doughs like brioche and challah can take much longer to prove at room temperature.

As for calculations no, there's no straightforward time conversion between room temperature and refrigerator proving because there are too many factors like actual room temperature and yeast potency which vary how long the bread will take to prove in other location. In home baking you prove to result, not to time, i.e. you prove until bread has doubled or tripled in size however long it takes.

Refrigerator proving really does slow it down by a very large degree, I don't have a figure for it but what I will say is that if you made a dough in the morning then put it in the fridge for 10 hours it still may not be fully risen. This isn't a bad thing, it means you have a lot of flexibility. I often make pizza base the night before then leave it in the fridge for an entire day before using it with excellent results (that won't work for all types of bread as it may be too much proving).

What that means for you is that you can be strategic with it; make the dough in the morning and then put it in the fridge to prove, when you come home if it isn't fully risen it's not a problem as you just take it out of the fridge and let it warm up on the counter until it has. Or you can make the dough in an evening, rise it overnight and bake it in the morning.


How Much Milk Should I add if I Already Have Butter and Sugar in my Recipe? I am trying to create a sourdough sandwich bread loaf recipe using baker's percentages and I want to replace some of the water for milk. However, I have no idea if it will be too soft or not at the percentage listed below. Is that percentage just right or would I need to decrease or increase it a bit? and I would love any feedback when using milk. I am not using high-heat milk powder, though. Instead, I am scalding the milk before putting it in my recipe. I am also using King Arthur's All-Purpose flour. Here are the following percentages:

Water: 31%
Whole Milk: 25%
Butter: 12%
Brown Sugar: 2%
Starter: 10% (100% hydration)
Salt: 1.7%

If I missed anything that anyone needed in order to help further I apologize. Thank you for your help in advanced!

This is impossible to answer. The minimum amount of milk to add is zero, the maximum amount is as much as you can work with the bread without the dough turning into a liquid batter. Between these two extremes, it is all up to personal taste. The only criteria you suggested was "if it will be too soft" - but one person's too soft is another's too hard. The only way you can do is bake it and decide how it relates to your personal taste.


How to substitute eggs in homemade pasta? I am looking to make pasta at home, but all the classical pasta dough recipes I know of are egg-based. While I have no problem with eating meat and animal products from time to time, I would like to avoid eggs here.

Could somebody guide me to good vegetable-based substitutions to eggs (Oil?) that might work just as well in this context?

I would also like to experiment with adding vegetables to the dough (e.g. Spinach or carrots) - I'm not sure whether there may be additional issues with the dough's stability when not using eggs.

Here is a complete flax seed pasta dough recipe for you (on allergickid.blogspot.com).

It uses the only egg substitute I've used: ground flax seeds and water. I've used it in several breads and cookies, but not pasta. I've found several different ratios online, you so may need to play with them, depending on the flax you use, but basically:

  To replace one egg: In a blender, blend 1 Tbsp flax seeds with 3 Tbsp water until thick and creamy.

You want the flax to be freshly ground, and it will add a nutty flavor.


Why is soaking water usually discarded when making plant milk? Most recipes that I see for soy and nut milks ask you to soak the seeds and discard the soaking water.

The only plant milk recipe I've used that keeps the soaking water (Scratch Soy Milk by Andrea Nguyen) turns out just fine.

I've also experimented with using the soaking water in almond milk, and this too is fine.

So why should I discard the soaking water? Is it just a matter of taste, or is there more to it?

Generally, we soak grains and pulses then throw away the soaking water. If we didn’t it would likely turn sour in a few days. Also soaking helps remove some of the phytic acid, therefore unlocking more nutrients. I suspect the phytic acid will be in the soaking water which we flush away. Phytic acid prevents absorption of a number of minerals.


Why does Chinese food reheats better on stove than in microwave? Especially when there is sauce in the food. It seems the sauce heats less evenly in the microwave. I suspect the kind of flour used in the sauce is the problem but am not sure.

There are probably several factors which lead to the perception that chinese food heats less evenly in a microwave than on the stove top.

There are lots of types of Chinese food, but due to the mention of sauce on the original question, I am going to assume its a dish with meat and vegetables in a sauce, like (as often available in US Chinese restaurants), Kung Pao chicken or beef with broccoli.  Since the liquid is thickened, and only part of the dish, little convection can occur--transfer of heat within the food itself will be by conduction unless the dish is stirred.

Contributing factors probably include:

Microwaves excite polar (usually water, sugar, and fat) molecules directly, creating heat.  However, the pattern of microwaves inside the oven cavity is not uniform due to wave interference, so different parts of the dish will be heated somewhat unevenly.  This is why modern microwave ovens have rotating platforms.
Fats seem to heat much more quickly than say, plain water, so parts of the dish with more fat (like meat pieces) may seem to heat faster.
Microwaves only penetrate a few centimeters into the dish, heating the food at the outside of the food volume.   The interior of the food, is heated through conduction or convection of heat from the outside of the food.

All of this leads to the main probable cause:  less stirring.  You are probably more likely to be actively stirring the food on the stovetop, where the heat only happens at the bottom, and may burn on the pan, thus distributing the heat throughout the dish.

With the microwave, stirring still is important due to all of the factors listed above, but you have to stop the cooking and open the oven to do it so it possibly doesnt' happen as much.

Truthfully, I find the microwave the superior method for reheating Chinese food.  Try these suggestions to make it successful:

Don't do it at full power for longer.  By lowering the power (which really just does full power a proportion of the time, in very short intervals), you slow down the heating, which gives more time for conduction and convection to move heat through the dish, evening out the cooking.
Reheat the food in a shallow, thin layer (like a wide soup or pasta bowl), rather than a more compact volume.  This will let more of the food be exposed to the microwaves, heating more evenly.
Stir a few times.


Can I use oil in marinades for dehydrated mushrooms? I have a new dehydrator that I'm looking to use to replace some of my unhealthy quick snacks with better alternatives.  To that end, I think I've found a great base for alternative-snacking in dehydrated mushrooms--they have a mild, earthly flavor that could work great as low-calorie comfort-food with some spice or barbecue added to it.  I'm currently experimenting with making my own rubs for my mushrooms, but I'm stymied when it comes to marinating mushrooms before putting them on the racks.

Most recipes I see for marinated vegetables utilize oil, and my understanding is that oil does not work well in dehydration.  Calorie concerns notwithstanding, the oil itself will not dry and thus the results will require refrigeration and have a short shelf-life. I'm really looking for something I can toss in the pantry to be eaten later when I feel like a snack without having to worry about it going bad, so this is a non-starter.

Should I worry about oil spoiling my vegetables?  Is there a good way to substitute a drying-friendly alternative for oil in recipes I find?

You can use oil in food you are dehydrating but you are correct that it will affect the shelf-life. The oil will become rancid before the dried mushrooms would have spoiled, but it will still be good for at least a few weeks and that can be extended to months, if you vacuum seal it.

If you want to avoid the oil, just skip it and use the spices in a bit of water (or diluted soy sauce, lemon juice, or vinegar).

I haven't done dehydrated mushrooms, but I have made dehydrated spice mixes that contained some oil. They were fine and dried like anything else, but I didn't use a whole lot of oil in them.


Heating charcoal on induction stove I would like to heat up charcoal in my house, so I can pour some oil on it and give my food a BBQ-ish aroma and slight smoky taste. How do I heat a piece of charcoal using induction stove? I suppose it is dangerous for the induction stove.

Induction cooktops generate heat on iron or steel elements. There's no fire involved.

You want to lit a piece of charcoal on fire. That requires a flame. Induction doesn't generate flames, just heat, so you won't be able to light up your charcoal with just that - I'm not even sure the induction will generate enough heat to light your charcoal piece on fire.

I'd recommend a small gas torch, such as those for searing or creme brûlée.


How can one use Thai basil stems and flowers? What parts, besides the leaves of Thai Basil, are usable?  I am making Thai Basil Chicken (Gai Pad Krapow) using the leaves but can I use the stems and flowers as well?

First off, I'm afraid you have been using the wrong type of basil for your dish!

In Thai cooking, three different types are commonly used:

"Thai basil" (or "horapha", โหระพา), which tastes a bit like anise / liquorice; it's slightly purple (as shown in the picture in Jolenealaska's answer).
"Holy basil" (or "kaphrao", กะเพรา), which tastes more like pepper/cloves; it can also be a bit purple, and (unlike Thai basil), it is a bit hairy, and the leaves have jagged edges.
"Lemon basil" (or "maenglak", แมงลัก), which (as the name suggests) tastes a bit like lemon.

Notice that "krapow" is just a slightly different spelled transliteration for holy basil ("kaphrao"). Preparing this well-known dish with Thai basil instead of holy basil will certainly make for a very good tasting dish (I've made it myself a few times when I couldn't get holy basil, and in fact I actually prefer it, since I'm quite a sucker for that anise/liquorice taste), but should really be called "Gai Pad Horapha" instead.

As for your question, I typically use the flowers (of either type of basil) to garnish a dish - if I haven't eaten them already while peeling the leaves off the stems.

I typically discard the stems, but on occasion I have chopped them up and mixed them with some honey and ginger (and some mint, whenever I had it), to be used as a dipping sauce for spring rolls.


What does simmer slowly mean with white soybeans? The instructions in the soybeans say that parboil first and then simmer slowly for two hours.

Let's consider this in the scale of my plate. The power-scale of my plate is from 1 to 6. I put it first to 2, then to 3 and then to 4. It started to boil little with 4. Therefore, I consider that simmer slowly means no bubbles in the water i.e. 3.

I assume that parboil means "put the power of the plate to 6 and wait that everything bubbles vigorously".

I explain what the technical definition between a simmer, boil and roiling boil is here.  A slow simmer would be a very thin but continuous stream of bubbles rising from the bottom of the pot.

Parboiling does not mean maximum heat. Parboiling means that you're only boiling until it's part of the way cooked, not completely cooked; so, you're cooking mostly at a full boil, then reducing heat to a simmer to finish them.  This ensures they don't overcook.

You'll have to figure what setting a boil and a simmer are on your plate, as it depends on the power and size of your pot.   On a stove, I'd expect 2 to be a simmer, and about 3 as a full boil, but it varies from one model to another.


Make bread with flour different from the starter I have been able to cultivate a strong sourdough starter with whole wheat flour and  semolina flour.

Now I want to make a bread with all purpose flour, show should I proceed ?

Get this already active started and make my bread or feed it with flour until it gets used to ?

Your starter should have no problem working with other flours, you don't need to acclimatize it or anything. Just use it as you ordinarily would.

I would suggest bread flour rather than AP, the higher gluten content will give better structure.


Storing Unopened Mozzarella I have an unopened vacuum packed ball of Mozzarella.  How long can I keep it refrigerated before it goes bad? I'm getting mixed answers.

My best advice would be to adhere to the manufacturer's guidelines, and push them at your own risk. Cheese doesn't usually go bad "all at once" but you can definitely get sick from eating spoiled or moldy cheeses.

The most common notice I have been able to find for various brands available for ordering online reads something like this:

  Freshness is assured in unopened package until the date stamped on the front of the package.  Use within 3-5 days after opening or freeze up to 2 months.

Though, I have a bag of mozzarella in my freezer right now, which I purchased at the local supermarket, for which the manufacturer's note states it can be frozen up to 6 months.

Generally, the expected shelf-life of Mozzarella cheese depends on many factors, including:

How the cheese was produced. Some methods spoil faster than others. Typically low-mosture cheeses last much longer (some claiming 6 months or more).
The packaging. Some mozzarella (like other cheeses) comes in specially designed packaging that claims to prolong the life of the cheese.
The temperature of storage. Frozen cheese lasts significantly longer, around 6 times as long.


Safe heating food in a chafing silver plated dish that is showing copper underneath? If our silver plated chafing dish has some copper showing ( the silver plate has worn off) is it safe to heat a cheese dip in and serve it from?

If you are considering heating any food in it, I would say no.

Silver itself is not especially pleasant (wikipedia and a more detailed CDC study). So, if you have a dish that is losing its silver plating, it would be wise to be overly cautious than casual about using it for food again.

Is the base copper or brass? There is copper in brass anyway.

Copper has far worse toxicity potentially (wikipedia ) when exposed to acids. Cheese could contain some lactic acid though not in significant amounts.


Replace cornflour in soup I used to add cornflour in my chicken sweetcorn soup or chicken and noodle soup for a thicker consistency. But then I stopped using it completely after watching some show on TV that recommended not using it (I didn't research this much, but all it comes up with is that cornflour can make you gain weight). The soups still taste equally good but I do sometimes miss the thicker consistency. I did try to replace it with plain flour with it just adds an uncooked flour taste to the soup, which isn't very nice. Can someone suggest any replacements to cornflour to give the soup a thicker consistency?

Cook the flour with some butter or oil before adding to the soup. You are making what is called a roux which is a traditional French method for thickening sauces and soups

Measure roughly two parts of general purpose flour and one part of fat (or equal parts by weight), and cook until bubbling and the raw flour taste has gone, or it is lightly brown

Approximately one teaspoon of flour per litre of soup

The other option is to use arrowroot, which is an alternative starch to cornflour


When do you hear the Ping sound of the lid sealing? I am new to canning. I made applesauce this morning and I pulled them out of the water bath and put them on a towel on my counter to seal, but I never heard the "ping" sound of them sealing shut. When does that usually occur? In the water bath? After the water bath? And if so, how long after you pull it out does that usually take? 5 min or 2 hours?

There's no real exact time it happens (at least in my kitchen).  I've had some jars that come out of the water with the lid depressed and others that take many hours.  By the next morning, they should be cooled with the lids depressed.  If they aren't, then they should be reprocessed or refrigerated to be eaten right away.  :)


Prevent thin pizza dough sticking Last time I made Pizza I used the same recipe as always to make the dough, but this time I rolled out the dough really thin to get a nice thin pizza.

As I put the pizza in the over I thought, "this is the best looking pizza ever made", but was massively dissapointed 7 minutes later when I was struggling to get the pizza off of my pizza tray. It was completely stuck to the tray.

So, when rolling out a really thin crust pizza, what can be done to prevent it sticking to its cooking surface?

This has basically already been answered, but: cornmeal on your cooking surface, cornmeal underneath when you spin out (don't roll; a quick look through all the recent pizza questions will find you my answer on how to shape your dough) your base.


What can I do with a lot of fresh tarragon? My tarragon plant has gone nuts and I need ideas for using it.

Most fresh herbs can be used to make infusions to use when the herbs are out of season.  You can infuse oil, vinegar, simple syrup or vodka depending on what sort of dishes you typically cook.

You can also make herb sauces (take inspiration from a chimichurri or pesto, but substitute for the herbs you have on hand) or herb butters (mix chopped herbs with softened butter, shape into a log, then chill or freeze).


What can I do to prevent the gaseous side effect of sunchokes? I'd love to eat sunchokes (aka Jerusalem artichokes or topinambour) more frequently, but the side effects (gas, abdominal discomfort) are a bummer. In a home kitchen, how can I prepare the sunchokes to prevent this side effect?

In On Food and Cooking (2004 edition), page 307, Harold McGee indicates that the... erm... flatulent effects of sun chokes (also called Jerusalem artichokes) are due to complex fructose-based carbohydrates that are not digestible by humans.

Long, slow cooking allows enzymes present in the fresh of the tuber will convert these fructose over time.  McGee recommends 12-24 hours at 200 F / 93 C.

He indicates that the result will be soft and sweet, akin to a vegetable aspic.

Note that the ogliosacharrides in beans are a different class than the inulin in sunchoke (galactose based versus fructose based, respectively), and evidently Beano is not effective sunchoke.

Short of this extreme measure, your best defense against wind may be smaller portions of the vegetable.


Found a kind of worm in my rice bag, what should I do? I poured some rice from a bag into a glass and noticed there was a worm(which looked like the rice) moving around in the rice.

How did it get there, would it have been packed in or would it have moved in since I opened the bag?
Can I remove the insect and still cook the rice, is it safe to eat?
Should I buy this brand anymore?

I was lucky enough to notice today since I poured it into a see through glass today but normally I've never been checking.  Assuming I've been eating this insect on previous occasions will it harm me?

In all grains there are insect eggs. It takes moisture for them to hatch. Or a insect could have laid eggs in the rice after opened. This includes flour even after milled. As insect eggs are very elastic. Can go threw milling into flour. Even inalators that shake flour to separate the yolk. In a few weeks the yolk in a insect egg reforms. So such will happen more than once in your lifetime. Does the whole bag have larva in it? If so feed it to the pigs or dog is best. But just one. That happens in life. So many insect eggs are allowed in all grain products. By Government standards. Chocolate is the worse or use to be. In parts per. million for this.


Sourdough starter hydration I’m making my first sourdough starter. Actually my second; the first one dried up and turned into cement. I figured that it wasn’t hydrated enough (the original directions called for 35g rye flour, 15g AP flour and 50g water), so in my new starter, I upped the amount of liquid by 25g.

Does hydration affect the fermentation process? Or rather, does over-hydration affect the process? Are there sourdough starters that are very liquid?

The hydration of sourdough starters can vary ...50% to 125%.  Some are kept very stiff and others are kept quite liquid.  A higher hydration starter will need to be fed more frequently.  The hydration of your starter relates to how you will use the starter.  Also, knowing the hydration percent of your starter is important when calculating the hydration percent of your final dough.


Is cooking with fruit liqueur comparable to cooking with fruit juice? I had some cranberries and blueberries that were past their prime, so to preserve them I made them into a liqueur. However I'm not much of an alcohol drinker, so I was thinking of using this liqueur for cooking. How does one use fruit liqueur in cooking? Will there be a noticeable taste difference from using the juice of these fruits once the alcohol has evaporated?

Sorry rumtscho that is incorrect. Alcohol will completely evaporate, what does stay "forever" is the flavor the spirit will impart but chemically ethyl is evaporative, to test my posit try wiping some rubbing or high proof vodka on a glass surface and you can actually watch it evaporate. The "How" depends on the recipe in e.g., deserts usually @ the end or in a finishing sauce. You could also make a chutney or in a marinade.

Cheers!

EDG


Is wheat gluten (wheat protein) an acceptible cooking substitute for soy protein powder or rice protein powder? I'm trying a handful of vegan dishes, and have found a broth recipe which requires a small amount of soy or rice protein powder (1Tbsp).  This eventually makes 30 cups of broth, so overall is a very small component.

I have wheat gluten available, and am wondering if it would be an acceptible substitute; or if I would be better off leaving it out altogether, or with another substitute (presuming the protein is used to slightly thicken the broth, would corn starch be a 1:1 substitution)?

Full recipe here

Vital wheat gluten will not dissolve as those two isolates will. Vital what gluten would likelier clot. Here its a description of the difference between soy flour and soy protein isolate; although VWG is basically a protein isolate (it is the leftover from washing away the starch in wheat), like those powders, the other two are gluten free. However, like with any flour, you can use it as a slurry to avoid this problem


How long is it safe to drink coffee after brewed? How many hours/days would you recommend to drink coffee (after brewed) and consider it safe? (For example if you don't want to waste it). What is the difference if it is refrigerated or not?

The question is not about flavor since (I think) it is probably ruined after at most a couple of hours.

If it's refrigerated, it'll last for at least a week, as long as you didn't pre-dairy it.

Unrefrigerated, I wouldn't trust it for more than a day. Coffee is a crappy growth medium and it should start out the next best thing to sterile, but, even covered, its going to start to get moldy.

Obviously if you add dairy, then you're dealing with that dairy shelf-life, and that isn't very long at all.


Can I substitute Glucose Syrup for Sugar in cake recipes? I need to bake a cake without fructose, so all forms of granulated sugar and most syrups (including honey, agave & maple syrup) are out. I've heard of granulated dextrose but can't find it. I'd like to use Glucose Syrup instead of sugar but need to know how to alter the recipe to compensate for using a syrup instead of granulated sugar.

Dextrose in powder form is very easy to get a hold of!  As mentioned before, it is a very common ingredient in brewing, and is readily available from homebrew stores.  While not as cheap as traditional table sugar, it isn't expensive either.  Search online to see if there are any homebrew stores local to you.

Here's one place to get it.

And another place

And why not one more for good measure


Fruit leather sticking to parchment paper Having some trouble making strawberry fruit leather for the first time. I'm pureeing frozen strawberries in orange juice then spreading the puree on parchment paper that I put on a pan. I then put it in the oven at 175 degrees. I've tried leaving it for 1 hour, 2 hours, or 3 hours. But it always ends up being really thin and sticking to the parchment paper to the point that it's impossible to separate from the paper. What should I change in my steps above?

Try a little cooking spray (pan release) on the pan, or, another option would be to use a silicone mat.


Do rice cookers bake good cakes? The new rice cooker I bought shows that it can bake a cake--like a sponge cake--in a rice cooker.  I have also read that cakes turn out misshapen when made in a rice cooker.  I've never baked a cake before and don't know too much about it, so using the new rice cooker to bake it is tempting.

My definition of good:

Not misshapen
Doesn't taste bad
is like a cake that is baked normally (not in a rice cooker)

Thanks!

I haven't done it myself, but since the "goodness" of a cake is largely subjective, I think you should try it and see what happens.

Be scientific about it: if you don't like it, change a variable and try again.

A cursory search on youtube might also help. Here is one I found:
Zojirushi Mother's Day Cake


Cooking baked potatoes I am an experienced cook, more than 50 years in the kitchen. I recently attempted to make a baked potato (basic Idaho baking potato) to go with my meatloaf. I gave it 1 hour and 15 minutes, which has always been plenty. It was hard as a rock. I gave it another half hour, and it had softened slightly at the ends. I have never had to bake a potato longer than 1 1/4 hours. The oven was set at 350°F and is generally accurate. Why would a potato not cook completely after 1 hour and 45 minutes?

All kinds of potatos soften by the time they heat to around 200F. Oiling the skip helps with the heating (it heats fast and "envelopes" the potato with heat). But even without oil, what you describe doesn't make sense.

Is it possible that the over didn't really heat to 350F? Could it be ill-calibrated, unclean (layers of dry fat and whatsnot that gather with the years could make the oven walls more... insulating. Sorry for the bad english), or maybe the heat escapes in another way? Some times the oven's thermometer is totally fine, but located in an area that's hot, while other areas in the oven don't get the heat, from the above reasons or other.

Here's how I suggest you check this: Get a cooking thermometer, the one you stick in meat. Stick it in the potato and follow its heat. Not the heat of the oven but the heat of the food. If it doesn't get to 200F within the hour, your oven is probably not 350F.


Chicken characteristics How would you describe the texture, smell & taste of chicken. Im doing a hospitality course at tafe and i'm finding it difficult to find the write description, any ideas ?

When cooked correctly, the texture of chicken is tender and juicy. When overcooked, chicken becomes dry and stringy.

The regular chicken you get at the supermarket doesn't have any distinctive smell or taste by itself, and it really depends on what you add to flavor the chicken.


Cooking beef: how to make it tender? I have been trying to sauté beef and make pan sauces, but the meat seems to always become somewhat dry and chewy. How do I avoid this? I have the same issue when stewing beef in a slow cooker or dutch oven.

The cut is important for both techniques. For sauteing, you need a lean cut - fillet, sirloin, or good rump steak. These should be cooked quickly over a high heat. As Cerberus has suggested, if you are cooking something else in the same pan, take the beef out and re-add it later; don't boil it in a sauce.

Stewing beef needs some fat and cartilage which breaks down during slow cooking and tenderises the meat. Packs of such beef are usually sold as such in the supermarket; look for a pack with plenty of fat marbled through the meat; 'Lean stewing steak' is as useful as a waterproof teabag! My personal favourite stewing beef is brisket, as it breaks down into nice tender fibres after 2-3 hours cooking.

Contrary to popular belief, browning meat does nothing to 'seal in the juices'. It simply provides a bit of extra colour and flavour by 'caramelising' the outside a little. So if you have a strong flavoured stew (like a chilli, for example), just throw the chunks of meat straight into the sauce.


I want to know if beet juice without the beets is available for making pickled eggs We have been making pickled eggs recently.  To do that we buy cans of cooked beets and just use the juice in the recipe.  It is a waste of the beets (you can only eat just so many cooked beets).  Is there a source for JUST beet juice?  The only products I am able to find are of the health food variety and they have other things in  them such as carrots and other vegetables.

The "juice" in a jar of pickled beets is pickle brine and flavors leached from the beet by the vinegar. To replicate in bulk, without wasting a lot of beets, make a batch of pickle brine following any recipe that tickles your fancy (lots of them on the internet!), and then add beet puree or juice to suit. You can make your own puree by roasting, blending and then straining beets, and juice by doing the same to the beets raw - or just send them through a juicer if one is handy.


Oil extraction from lemon Recently I have taken to natural aromas and colours. Does anyone have any idea on best method and equipment for extraction of oil from lemon rind?

I know that probably this is not what you want, but the simplest way to get lemon flavored oil is by infusion with a neutral oil. Non-polar dissolve non-polar, so this will do the extraction. But you won't be able to separate the pure lemon oil.

Now, if you really want pure oil you probably have to go for distillation. For that, you will need a distill like this or that.

Some people make it, but you can find either version on Amazon (which is safer). Once you have that, it is not that hard. There are many video tutorials like this one or this one for the pressure pan setting.

It is important to keep in mind that any essential oil extraction has an extremely small yield. As you can see from the video, you need a huge amount of initial material to even be able to see the oil layer floating above the liquid phase.


How can you measure the caffeine content of a liquid at home? I saw a question on here about cold brew vs hot brew caffeine content and was wondering what is the easiest (or best) way to measure this at home (if possible)

If you can find Ethyl Acetate (some nail polish removers), you can probably do this.


Why brewed coffee in a pot needs a lid? Coffee in an electric drip brewer (a model like this) goes all murky brown and opaque very fast, when the pot is left without a lid. With lid, it stays translucent and bright dark brown for quite a bit longer.

What is the process that happens without lid? Reference link to wikipedia or something would be great.

I need the information to educate certain co-workers who just take off the filter part and leave the pot open, when they take coffee...

Whether solid or liquid, when covering anything you are inhibiting water from evaporating. In this case this is because the air in the coffeepot shares some of the moisture of the coffee, removing the lid allows this moist air to escape and be replaced by dry air, in turn this dry air extracts more moisture from the coffee. Now, knowing that coffee mainly consist of minerals and water, you can conclude that on the surface of the coffee these minerals start to clutter, because less water is present in between them. This explains the visual aspect.
Also you could argue that when the lid is off the top layer of the coffee cools down more rapidly, due to this warm (moist) air escaping. And while the coffee may be hot, it is the outer layer that is cooler and has the typical opaque visuals of a cold coffee.
I am speculating here, but Im pretty sure this is whats happening. I couldnt find anything to reference my ideas but hope its a help anyway.


Why do potatoes cook more slowly in a stew? I recently made a stew, not for the first time either, and I've tossed in a few potatoes, cut into cubes. It took about an hour and a half until they were soft. The stew was simmering the whole time.

In contrast, if I put potatoes into water and parboil them, even if I add salt to the water (or things like peppercorns or some herbs), they will be soft in about 15 to 30 minutes.

Why does that happen?

This won't apply to all stews, but if there's something acidic in the liquid (such as tomatoes or vinegar), some items will not soften or break down as quickly.

I know this includes both potatoes, onions, pasta and rice, but I would assume that other starchy vegetables would have similar behavior.

But there can be other factors in play, too.  Many people cook potatoes to mash in a fair quantity of boiling liquid, while many stews are simmered.  As stews often have liquids other than water, we avoid taking them to a full boil for a few reasons:

they make circulate inefficiently, leading to scorching on the bottom of the pot.
if the liquid is viscous, it will create bubbles that pop and make a mess
it cooks off aromatic compounds ... and anything you smell while cooking is something that's no longer in the finished dish.


Verdigris on copper-bottomed pan I have a small stainless steel pan with a copper bottom. The diameter is around 4in or 10cm, so it is really small. I use it exclusively for tempering or what is known in India as tadka. That is, I heat a couple of spoonfuls of ghee, add the necessary spices (mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, chili peppers, asafœtida, whatever the recipe calls for), then add the tempering to the main dish, usually lentils or a stew.
Since the pan is tiny, my usual method of adding the tempering is just to dunk the entire pan into the larger pan that has the main dish. Then I scoop up some of the main dish with the smaller pan, swirl it around to gather any fat or spices left in the pan, and pour this back into the main dish, repeating the process a couple of times.
The last time I tried this (a couple days ago), I was horrified to notice that the copper bottom of the pan was beginning to develop verdigris. Here is a picture:

I'm obviously concerned about this. I have three questions:

Should I give up the habit of dunking this little pan into the larger pan? Will the verdigris get into the food and make it dangerous to eat?
Is there any way I can get the verdigris off the bottom of the pan?
Assuming there is, what can I do to prevent a recurrence? For example, I usually put this pan in the dishwasher. Should I be washing it by hand instead?

I want to avoid replacing the pan if possible. It is very useful and I don't know where I'd find a similar pan; the pan was gifted to me many years ago by someone who in turn had had it for some time before she gave it to me.

Corrosion like that can be scrubbed off with copper polish (or, in a pinch, with salt and vinegar). The result will be bright copper, which will quickly tarnish and darken through regular use. The pan is absolutely not ruined. As with other solid metal cookware, if it isn’t literally broken in pieces then it can be scoured into a like-new state. That pan likely has centuries of use left in it.
Dunking the pan like that doesn’t sound like a problem. The upper surface of the pan comes into contact with food, after all; no reason the bottom surface can’t. I think it’s a clever technique.
The dishwasher is your real enemy here. It’ll strip away the patina and bring the surface into contact with some pretty harsh detergents, leading to that sort of corrosion. Copper should be hand-washed.


Can I boil bratwurst in beer to cook them? I bought Red Hook Bratwurts today, and I'm making them tomorrow. Does anyone know if I could boil them in beer since it already was pre made with beer (Red Hook), or would it not be a good idea?

Also, how long do you cook Brats on the grill or oven?

Assuming that they are uncooked, you can certainly simmer your brats in beer (don't let them boil, that will burst them). I'd try to get a hold of some Red Hook and use that. Simmer them gently until they are almost done, about 15 minutes. Simmering in beer will only intensify the beeriness of the brat. If you like beer, go for it. If you've got time, do one in advance and see how you like it. You can dilute the beer with water or broth if you find the test brat too strong.

Consider adding some whole spices, garlic and onion to the beer and simmering them for 10 minutes before adding the bratwurst. Here's a recipe for exactly that. (That recipe looks outstanding, BTW)

Cover the pan and let the almost cooked bratwurst cool in the beer (seasoned or not). The recipe I linked to says to cool completely, but just 20 minutes or so is plenty. By then any carry-over cooking is done, but the brats would still be warm.  Then just grill or brown on the stove just for browning, they will already be cooked through, so it's just the browning that you're looking for. Just let your eyes be your guide and don't go past medium heat (again, they will burst if your heat is too high).


What does cleave mean with regards to a pan of batter? When pouring a Japanese Cheesecake into the baking pan recipe states do not "cleave"...
I have never seen this term Ina recipe.. Please advise!!
Thanks

The English definition of "cleave" is to split or sever something (at least according to Google, Webster has a slightly different take on it).

So, in a cheesecake recipe, it makes sense to me that it is asking that you pour the batter continuously, not in parts. I doubt such a thing would make a huge difference, but consider that it is a Japanese recipe. If such a thing could be expected in a recipe, I would expect to see it in a Japanese recipe.


Unsightly chicken soup The chicken in my chicken soup turns into little stringy pieces--i.e. it doesn't stay in nice bite-sized pieces.  It happens in chicken/rice and chicken/noodle recipes.  Is there a way of avoiding this?

It sounds like you are badly overcooking the chicken. Try first cooking the browned chicken pieces in the broth for a very short time, just until done, then getting them out and cooking the rest of the soup in the broth. Add the chicken pieces back to the pot after you have turned the stove off.

The above paragraph assumes that you are cutting white meat (chicken breast) into neat bites. I can't imagine this to work for dark meat (chicken thighs), but if you are using dark meat, you should cook it for a long time and live with the fact that it looks ugly. White meat gets tough and dry when overcooked, besides falling apart into strings; dark chicken meat is tough if it is just cooked, it only gets pleasantly soft after it has reached the stage where it shreds by itself.


How can I be sure my food is ready for a raw egg to be dropped on top? When I go to a korean restaurant and order BeBimBap, there is usually an egg placed on top that is done over-medium/over-soft. How do I know if the food I prepared is at the right temperature to do this?

I'd like to be able to do this to other foods, like steaks, or hash browns, not just make BeBimBap.

Note: I'm not concerned about safety. I'm interested in the texture of the half-cooked egg, and keeping the yolk fluid.

There is some slight confusion but there are two methods for this. You either cook the egg separately, which is how they make BiBimBop or you poach or bake the eggs if you cook the egg on top of your food. With the latter method, the eggs generally cook very quickly so it doesn't take a lot of time but you are still cooking the egg using a heat source, you are not relying on the food to cook the egg for you.

When you make BiBimBop using a whole egg, you fry the egg in a pan before you place it on top of the food. This is why the egg often has a bit of browning around the edges of the white.

Here's an image of a BiBimBop with a whole egg:

There is a "how to make BiBimBop" video here that shows (around 8:50 in) that you cook the egg separately and place it on top of the finished bowl.

The other option is to bake or poach the egg by placing them on top of the food (which is still on the stove) and then covering the pan (or putting it in the oven) to essentially steam the egg, which is often used for hash. This gives a different final product than frying the egg and placing it on top, as the steam will cook the top of the egg while the still-cooking food heats the bottom.

Here's a video of Venison Hash where they use this method at around 5:05.

And here's a recipe that uses the oven version of this method.


How to mix butter with meat I work in a burger factory and I have a question about a product we are trying to produce. We want to create a burger patty with butter in it. But when we mix all the ingredients (mostly ground meat and butter) in a metal device, most of the butter sticks to the metallic side instead of blending with the meat. Any ideas?

+1 @megha Grating frozen (or very cold refrigerated) butter is the way to go here. It's best to add the grated butter to the mince after the meat has been ground. Grating butter is easily done in a food processor (industrial or home) - we did it all the time at an old restaurant I worked at and I still do it at home for pastry crust.

Random source:
http://people.com/food/grated-butter-burgers-recipe-food-hack/

Alternative idea - America's Test Kitchen did a Butter Burger bit awhile back that people claim is amazing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAUpelESAXo


Tips for cooking something "bacon wrapped"? Whenever I cook something "bacon wrapped" the bacon comes out a little undercooked for my taste.  Should I be half-cooking my bacon before I wrap it onto something that I'm going to bake?

Yes you can. The term is called par-cooking.

Just fry it briefly in a skillet, drain, and wrap your item.


Why do potatoes discolour when peeled? I've noticed that potatoes will discolour when they're peeled; however, if they are submerged in water, or boiled and drained, they're fine (at least for comparable periods of time).  Why is this?

Short answer: Potatoes oxidize.

Slightly longer answer: Potatoes contain an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase (the same enzyme responsible for browning in apples), which when exposed to oxygen in the air turns that brown/grey color.  That process is called oxidizing.  Because oxygen is required to, well, oxidize, any means of preventing the air from coming into contact will keep them from discoloring.  Submerging in water is just an easy and convenient way of doing that.  Also, polyphenol oxidase is neutralized during cooking, so cooking the potatoes immediately prevents the discoloration.


Solder for steamed pudding mold My small steamed pudding mold has sprung a leak.  What type of solder should be use to repair the leak?  Thanks,

If it's copper or brass you should be able to use solder used for drinking water plumbing (tin with a little copper, and no flux in it). This will probably work on tin or tin plate as well.

You'll probably need to use separate flux as well. Again get something used for potable water. Give it a very good wash and rinse afterwards.

For more advice you can probably look at what people do for brewing. This has actually been discussed on diy stack exchange before.


Sourdough starter at elevation I started my starter from a friends thanksgiving gift of a sample. I live at 6200 ft. Elevation. My issue i've run in to is after feeding it grows and bubbles within 4 hours and thickens. The next day its lost it's expansion and bubbles are smaller and deminished. It gets very thin again. When it's at it's peak, it floats and i've baked with it. But again the next day issues come up and it wont float. Any thoughts on this?

Almost all starters go through a rise and fall cycle after feeding.  The starter will typically rise for a few hours (due to yeast growth), reach a certain peak volume, and then collapse (as gases escape, bubbles pop, and the increasing acidity due to bacteria growth weakens gluten).  This will happen regardless of elevation, and baking directly with a starter a day after feeding will not usually give the best results (unless one starts with a very small amount of starter and a very large amount of flour for it to consume).

At higher elevations, this cycle will happen a bit faster as the gas production of the yeast will cause the starter to rise more quickly.  The collapse will follow once it gets too high.

I'm not certain what remedy the question is asking for.  One should usually feed a starter with a timing so that it hasn't peaked before adding it to the final bread dough.  If the feeding is occurring too early, then feed the starter closer to the time it will be used.  One can also slow the growth of starter by refrigerating it, but I'd recommend only using this for longer storage (more than a day) and usually to plan on feeding again after refrigeration before reuse for most consistent results.

Generally speaking, one shouldn't depend on using a starter on consecutive days without providing it more food.  If you feel like you're creating too much starter (and throwing some out), then reduce the quantity of starter you're keeping so that feeding it more often won't result in as much waste.  (Even a tablespoon or less of a vigorous starter is plenty to keep in reserve and can be built up --perhaps with multiple feedings -- to whatever amount of starter is necessary for a recipe.)


How can I increase the longevity of my bananas? I have some bananas that I just bought at Trader Joe's.  They're nice, fresh, yellow, and full of general banana-ness.  But if I take more than a week or so to eat them all, they start to get brown and less appetizing.  Is there a way I can increase the shelf life of my bananas by a few days or so?

My wife freezes bananas since we buy so many for our two year old and they always taste perfect even after weeks. The peel practically gets frozen and prevents any freezer burn flavor!


Pickling whole cucumbers I know you have to cut off the ends to make the pickles not soggy when making cucumber spears...but if this is the case how do people pickle whole cucumbers?

We (my family) never had a problem, cucumbers always turned out crispy. I don't have exact recipe, it's all "when it tastes just right", but here are general steps:

Select small cucumbers. 2 - 5cm, 1 - 2 inch long.
Boil seasonings, water (and sugar if you want it) together. About 15 minutes of boil should be enough.
When you turn off the heat, add 1 cup of 10% vinegar for every 4 cups of water. May be bit more, may be bit less, it's taste preference.
Put washed cucumbers in jars. Tight but without forcing them. Add fennel (umbels), garlic, mustard seeds.
When marinade is cool, pour it to jars, it should cover your cucumbers. It does not need to be cold. If you can put your finger in it and don't feel uncomfortable, it's OK. If in doubt, assume it's too hot.
Put caps on jars and pasteurize them. 10 minutes of boil is abuot enough, but go by colour. Cucumbers will start to go yellowish. When almost all surface changed colour, it's time to pull jars off and left them to cool.
We let them cool upside down.

That's about it. Don't know which step is essential for crispness. For me and mine, this is what always worked.


Can I use sourdough starter (kvasek) to produce kefir? Is the yeast/bacteria balance in mature sourdough starter (fed on wheat and barley) correct for making kefir? If not, why?

No, you cannot. Kefir grains are a unique Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast (SCOBY). Kefir grains are a gelatinous mass of microorganisms including Lactobacilli, Leuconostic, Acetobacter, and Saccharomyces. By looks, it is more like Ginger Beer Plant than sourdough starter.

It is not possible to create kefir grains from scratch. You will have to buy a starter, or get a donation from someone you know.


How to keep aglio olio warm? I realize aglio olio is best consumed warm. When it cools it's not as nice as the oil thickens.

Am I putting too much oil or should I use a thinner olive oil?

If you are referring to the pasta dish, don't make the aglio e olio until you put your pasta in the water.  Then, when pasta is a minute or so from being finished remove it from the water and place it into the pan with the aglio e olio to finish cooking.  Add a little pasta water to emulsify.  Serve. In this scenario, it should never cool during preparation and the entire dish only takes as long to make as the cooking of the pasta.


Why must I return the chilled chocolate cookie dough to room temperature before baking? According to a chocolate chip cookie recipe, I chilled the cookie dough before baking but it was also written to turn the cookie dough to room temperature before baking. What is the purpose of doing that?

I found out research indicating that we put the cookie dough in the fridge to prevent the cookies from spreading too much in the oven. But then why do we have to return the dough to room temperature?

How long should I wait in order for the shaped cookies on the baking sheet to get the room temperature?

The resting is probably to hydrate to the dough, which will inhibit spreading.  See https://cooking.stackexchange.com/a/29298/14401.

The bringing back to room temperatre is probably for one of four reasons:

To help ensure you are baking each tray at a consistent temperature
Colder dough will cook on the outside a bit more before cooking through, so they may brown or crisp or dry out more than is desired before being cooked through
They might be somewhat easier to scoop at room temperature
The original recipe author was just used to doing it that way.

It is highly likely that by adjusting the baking time slightly, you could bake them from refrigerator temperature, with only a very small change in quality.  You would just have to try it and see.