Gas oven heated from the bottom I moved to a new place and I have an ancient gas cooker that I can't replace just yet. As the heat source is at the bottom of the oven (rather than the top), would a baking stone help even out the heat and help stop burning?

I’ve found lots of information referring to the beauty of baking stones when using an oven with the heat source at the top but cannot find anything that helps me.

There isn't anything wrong with ovens heated from the bottom, many actually are. It's actually better that way because heat rises, if the element is on the top you'll get an oven that is hotter at the top than the bottom.

With a baking stone the principle is the same no matter where the heat comes from, with the same benefits, just make sure that there's space for air circulation around the stone. Also, baking stones take time to heat up, so leave more time for preheating.


Roast almond for desserts I want to bake a cake that mimics the Sahne Nuss chocolate bar from Nestle. So my plan is a chocolate cake filled with a chocolate ganache with pieces of almond in it.

My question is: should I roast the almonds before adding into the ganache? I'm looking for a crunchy texture for the almonds.

Yes, roast the almonds. Be careful not to burn them. You can roast them in a dry skillet, tossing them frequently until aromatic and slightly darkened, or in the oven for maybe 25 minutes at 200°F (95°C).


Does the accidental discoloring during seasoning impair my steel pan in any way? I recently entered the realm of cooking with cast iron and steel pans, and am still trying to find my way around it.
Last weekend I went about seasoning my first bundle of pans (De Buyer Mineral B) using an induction stove and corn oil. I put the temperature to around 180 °C (350 °F) and filled the pan with a little oil. Quite soon the pan started to warp a tiny little bit, therefore exposing the middle and moving all of the oil to the side. As expected the pan now displays a range of tempering colors.
In the end the seasoning did not work very well, I will have to do it again, but this time I'll probably be using an oven. However, I am afraid that I might have damaged the pan.
Does the accidental tempering of the pan impair it in any way?

A couple of points…
I wouldn't have expected a brand new pan to immediately warp, especially at only 180°. I don't use induction, but on gas I expect a frying pan to last at least a year before I have to stand in the middle of it to flatten it down. A good saucepan never warps, a good frying pan will a bit eventually, because it gets a lot of fierce heat.
I don't own any carbon steel frying pans (only a wok) for comparison, mine are aluminium or cast iron. Aluminium eventually warps; cast iron, of course, does not.
If you could see the oil moving to the edges due to the warp you had maybe 10 times as much oil as you should have used. Put some on a paper towel, wipe it on, then wipe off. Repetition using the tiniest amount of oil is the key. If you have a visible pool, then the pan will not season properly. If you leave it heated until all that oil eventually plasticises, you'll have one chunky layer that will drop off the first time you you fry anything wet, like tomatoes.
If your induction hob is heating unevenly, use the oven next time. Full-tilt, maximum temperature. You want the oil to smoke, not to cook. 180° is nowhere near hot enough. (Open windows, close doors.)
But to answer your actual question… no, a bit of discolouration is nothing to worry about. By the time you have it fully seasoned, it will be almost entirely black.


Can I double a pumpkin pie recipe for 10 x 2 inch pan? Can I just double the Libby's recipe and bake the pie in a 10 inch by 2 inch pie pan?

Here's the classic Libby's Pumpkin pie recipe (makes one 9-inch pie):
1 can (15 oz) canned pumpkin
1-1/2 cups (1 can or 12 fl oz) evaporated milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 unbaked 9-inch (4 cup volume) deep dish pie shell

Combine everything but the pie shell, pour the filling into the pie shell.
Bake at 425F for 15 minutes, reduce temperature to 350F and bake 30-40 minutes
or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.

Source: the label on a can of Libby's Pumpkin from my pantry (Instructions paraphrased by me)
The note about the "4 cup volume" of the pie crust gives a helpful hint. This recipe should make about 4 cups of pie filling, so to substitute into a larger pie pan, you will need more filling. Based on moscafj's helpful information that a 10x1.5 inch pie pan has a 6.5 cup capacity, we can do the math to make a substitution.
The larger pan has the capacity for 1.625 times as much filling as the recipe makes. Since the recipe has two eggs in it, it can be easily scaled in increments of half a batch. Half-batch increments will leave you with some leftover pumpkin and evaporated milk, which can be frozen for later use. I have found from experience that this recipe is perfectly good made with regular milk of any fat content, so you could avoid having leftovers by using one can of evaporated milk plus 3/4 cup regular milk. If using all regular milk, bring it up to room temperature or the filling will be cold, which will make the crust underbaked on the bottom.
You can round down and make 1.5 times the recipe, and make a slightly shallower pie. Or round up to 2 times the recipe, and have about 1.5 cups of leftover filling. The leftover filling can be cooked in a smaller pan, with or without crust. Making it without crust is useful if you have gluten-free guests. Be sure to check on it and take it out of the oven earlier than the large pie, or it will burn.
Ingredients for 1.5 times batch of Libby's Pumpkin Pie (makes about 6 cups of filling)
22.5 oz canned pumpkin (you will need to purchase two 15-oz cans or one 29-oz can)
2-1/4 cups (18 fl oz or one and a half 12-oz cans) evaporated milk
1-1/8 cups (1 cup plus 2 tbsp) granulated sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
3/8 tsp ground cloves
3 large eggs
1 unbaked 10-inch pie shell

Ingredients for 2 times batch of Libby's Pumpkin Pie (makes about 8 cups of filling)
2 15-oz cans canned pumpkin OR 1 29-oz can
2 cups (2 cans or 24 fl oz) evaporated milk
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
4 large eggs
1 unbaked 10-inch pie shell
optional: additional pie crust to fit a smaller pan with 1.5 cup capacity (such as a Gratin dish or small tart pan)

Instructions: same as classic recipe, except that the final baking time at 350F will be different. The increased pan width would make it longer, but if the filling is shallower that would make the cook time shorter. Actual bake time will depend on how deep your filling is. Start checking on the pie at around 20 minutes, by jiggling the pan. Once the filling no longer wobbles, start checking with a knife. Expect your first attempt to have many knife slits in it. If you align the knife slits with where the pieces will be sliced, you can pre-slice the completely cooled pie and your guests will never know.
Note: The edges of the crust often burn when I make it in even a normal 9-inch size. For a longer bake time, I highly recommend shielding the crust edges with strips of foil or a purpose-made pie crust shield. Remove the shield for the final 5-10 minutes of bake time if it's not adequately browned already.


How to avoid burned layer on seared hamburger? I usually make my hamburgers at home by putting a little oil in a pan and then just placing the patty in it on medium heat for 10-15 minutes.

Inevitably, while the meat ends up about medium rare, there's a semi-burned layer along the bottom, where it's browned and crusty. I always have to pick this off and I'm finally sick of it.

What am I doing wrong?

Make sure you flip it reasonably frequently; that'll actually make it come up to temperature faster inside, so the outside won't have as long to burn.

Also make sure you haven't made your patties excessively thick. 10-15 minutes on medium sounds like a fairly long time for normal sized burgers, so possibly yours are on the thick side. If you do really want thick patties, you're probably better off using a more gentle cooking method like the oven for some of the time. You can bake until nearly done, then sear to finish, or start with a sear then bake til done.

Beyond that, if it's burning on the outside before it's done on the inside, the normal fix is to simply reduce the heat, so you cook more slowly, giving the heat time to reach the center without burning the outside. But at 10-15 minutes already, maybe you don't want to go much slower!


Bag-cooked omelettes turning gray when stored in the fridge So, we found the omelette in a bag recipe, and decided to use it. Pretty simple, beat the eggs, drop in ingredients, (Usually either Great Value Mozzarella, Fiesta Blend Cheese, or Cheddar) and some Jimmy Dean's Breakfast sausage, boil for 20mins, done.

We store them in the fridge since we don't have time in the mornings, and eat them throughout the week. They're perfect for my father who eats them at work (microwaves them, about a minute or so) and for me if I'm looking for quick meal.

Problem is, that at times they turn a grayish color, as they're put onto the plate and break up the omelette, you can see grayish/black spots.

Are we storing them wrong? Are they safe to eat? Any suggestions would be helpful.

Cooking, not storage, to blame
Storing cooked eggs under refrigeration for a week is not turning your eggs gray. Instead the discoloration is from the iron in the yolk reacting with the sulfur in the albumen at temperatures of 170F or higher creating ferrous sulfide.
Overcooking the omelettes initially, or perhaps hot spots from the reheating method, create the gray-green discoloration. While unappetizing, the discoloration is not harmful.


How to prevent a cookie from becoming spongy like a cake? I was following the recipe here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-chocolate-chip-cookies/
and the cookies came out a little like cake rather than cookies. It's NOT crispy, not crunchy. It's a little spongy but tastes good actually.

Is the temperature and timing off? 350F seems a little low. I'm not sure if it's visible from the below picture but still.

They're definitely under cooked. The recipe calls for a 10 minute bake at 350 degrees -- that's seems short. You want to pull them when the edges are darker brown, which probably would have taken another 4-8 minutes.

It's hard to tell with the lighting of your photo, but I think your tops weren't browning fast enough either. Before I got a new oven, I'd have that same problem when I baked cookies. I fixed that by starting the cookies on a lower rack (one or two slots from the bottom) and moving them halfway through to a higher rack (one or two slots from the top).

Letting the cookies cool on the pan also helps set them hold together better.

EDIT: As for the texture -- you aren't going to get a crunchy cookie from this recipe. This recipe is for a slightly chewy cookie with crisp edges. If your cookie is still cakier than chewy, you may want to make sure you are measuring flour correctly.


Can nuts be frozen and for how long? Can nuts be frozen in order to keep their flavour, and if so, for how long?

Yes, just put them in a freezer bag and squeeze out plenty of air from it before you tie it up. It doesn't matter if they're shelled/crushed etc. You can keep them for as long as anything else - some say 6 months, some say a year, some say indefinitely.


Bean based stew. Alternative to tomatoe sauce The basic bean meat chilli is as follows

Brown Garlic + Onion + ground meat (any) + boiled beans + tomato sauce + spices (e.g. chilli powder etc).

Now I want to know if there another sauce that can swap out for tomato sauce if I get tired of it. I need something suitable for students or working professionals who don't have the time to "make their own special sauce". But tomato sauce just seems to be a good combination of liquid + thickening agent that I don't know what can be its equal.

Sorry if the tags aren't accurate, I wasn't sure what would be appropriate.

I found I'd run out of chopped tomatoes when half way through making 3 bean & sweet potato chilli. I did add a little tomato puree, but only had a little of that, so had to find a substitute sauce.

The bulk of the liquid I used was beer, quite a bitter, tasty beer. I used more cocoa powder than normal (I always use some), and a bit of extra garlic. I thickened it a little towards the end, with just a bit of cornflour, and took some of the sweet potato out, mashed it and returned it for further thickening. I often use a little beer in chilli sauce, but not normally as the bulk, so long as I did some thickening.

A blended, slow-cooked, onion-based sauce, as is used as the base of some curries, should work nicely. This is something I make, and haven't seen it sold, but it freezes well.


Problems heating up pans on an induction hob I bought an induction hob to precisely control pan temperature; it’s a 2000W Hendi single hob, temperature and power can be combined independently.
I tested two De Buyer pans with it, a multilayer stainless steel and a carbon steel one; I heat them up empty and checked surface temperature with a thermometer.
I noticed that the temperature quickly jumps well over the set value and takes time to stabilize; this is especially true when I try to reach 100+ celsius and with carbon steel cookware the effect is magnified (I got a blue ring mark in the middle of the pan).
What am i doing wrong? Should I start to cook immediately?

Any electrical device that is used to maintain a constant temperature (ovens, induction hobs, immersion cookers, even thermostat-based space heaters) does so by first sensing whether the current temperature is below the set temperature. If so, the heating element/induction coil/etc... is turned on. Once the temperature reaches some upper threshold, the element is turned off again, and the cycle repeats.
Different devices have different ranges of thresholds. For instance, the temperature in an oven may vary by as much as 30°C, while an immersion cooker will keep the temperature range withing 1°C or so.
The reasons your hob overshoots the set temperature, then takes some time to stabilise, can be:

The hob is built to operate on a much wider range of temperature thresholds than you thought.
The hob is built to keep a pan with contents at a constant temperature, but heats up too powerfully for an empty pan (i.e., the hob makes the 'assumption' that there is something in the pan, and delivers power based on that assumption).
There is some distance between the hob's temperature sensor (often in the center) and the induction coil (a ring some distance from the center), and your pan does not conduct heat instantly. Then, while the pan has reached target temperature at the spots closest to the induction coil, it is still below the target temperature at the hob's sensor, causing the hob to add more power.

Using an empty pan will make points 1 and 3 worse as well. You can check if any of these are occuring in your case by heating a pan of water, and taking the water temperature (points 1 and 2), or by moving your surface thermometer to different spots in the pan (point 3). If the issue turns out to be 1, there is not much you can do. If it's either 2 or 3, you can mitigate the problem by starting to cook (almost) immediately.
Alternatively, you could force a slower heating curve by starting the hob at its lowest temperature and manually changing the temperature setting every minute or so.


What ingredients can you have in Hot Sauce? I'm researching in doing a hot sauce company. its been a constant struggle for me to find some answers so Ill go ahead and pitch them here

Assuming that I use a good amount of vinegar and sugar for my hot sauces, what other ingredients can I use so that I do not need to refrigerate? I.e. corn, ginger, figs, or things not at high acidity blended in

Food safety doesn't work that way. It is impossible to predict the safety of a finished product from the ingredients. There are a few exceptions when the ratio of preservatives is known, but they are basically a variation of a known recipe, and then it doesn't matter much what the last ingredient is. For example, if you make a jam with 1:1 sugar/fruit ratio and without pectin addition, it's known that it will be shelf stable, no matter which fruit you choose. For a random hot sauce, it does not work at all.

Whatever recipe you develop, the final product has to be tested whether it's shelf stable. If you have solid knowledge in food technology, you can do some good guesses at what to try and what not to try. This is however impossible to learn by asking one question online. You could

just try recipes at random and have them tested
learn about food technology yourself (note that it's a standard B. Sc. university major, not something you can pick up from a random tutorial). This will lead to fewer bad guesses before you make a recipe which passes the test
hire a food technologist to do the development for you

In all three cases, it will be expensive. The testing process itself is likely to be legally regulated. As you are having other legal concerns, it is probably best to consult a source on legal advice, they will probably be able to tell you what are the requirements to get your sauce tested, beside telling you whether you're allowed to sell it at all.


Harissa and Ras El Hanout (North African staple spice blends) I am counting the days until my first batch of preserved lemons will be ready. I've read several tagine and couscous recipes, I'm excited, this is uncharted territory for me.

In addition to my preserved lemons, a couple of exotic (for me) ingredients seem to be in order and I have found possible choices on Amazon.

Looking at the reviews, harissa is a product for which there is no clear frontrunner brand. The recipes I've looked at don't even specify harissa paste or powder, yet they are both about equally available. Are there quantifiable pros and cons to one type or the other? Is one type more traditionally seen in Moroccan and/or and other North African cuisines? Is there a difference in shelf life? (mine can live in the pantry or fridge, it makes no difference) I realize quality is subjective, but is any one particular brand more popular or more commonly seen in the region(s)?  For what it is worth, I like heat, so I won't be easily scared off by mouth burn.

Another issue is Ras El Hanout and saffron. I have found saffron to be a lovely addition to otherwise bland dishes, but in these applications, is it really worth the expense? How likely am I to even perceive it against olives, capers, dried fruit, preserved lemons, Ras El Hanout and harissa all playing a part in the same meal? Is there something amazingly indescrible/not to be missed about the combination? Or can I wait for the saffron until my next batch of preserved lemons?

Of course I'd apprecite any comments on any subject I've touched upon.

Harissa - I have only ever bought/used harissa paste. I have a tube in the pantry (brand: Le Phare du Cap Bon) that I bought in a
Tunisian store and it can last on the shelf for years.

When I discussed the powder vs. paste matter with the guy in the
store, he said that they always use the paste at home, which I got
confirmed also from many other people. Anyway, I guess from the
amount you usually add to a dish, powder shouldn't make an enormous
difference as most ingredients in most harissas are dry (chilies,
cumin, coriander, salt, ...) and you can always reconstitute it into
harissa paste.

The paste I have is alright to add some heat, but it is not
particularly fancy ... there are definitely some more artisan
products available. However, for really tasty results I recommend
making your own at home - it will be so much tastier ... there are
tons of good recipes online (I personally like to add some more
cumin) - depending on the ingredients this might need to live in the
fridge, but in general harissa should be fine on the shelf.
Ras El Hanout mixes - they will have mostly the same ingredients (from the meaning "head of the shop" you can already guess that it
will include probably most of the spices from an arab spice shop ;-),
but there can be quite big variations in proportions of ingredients -
which might make them taste quite different. If you walk along a arab
market you find that Ras El Hanout varies quite a a bit from shop to
shop, and then between different towns, countries you get again
bigger regional variations ... and at the end it depends on your
taste buds which one you prefer.

But to start with - my guess would be that no matter which one you
get they will all add a similarly nice North African/Middle Eastern
touch to your dishes - if you feel adventurous enough you can get a
couple different ones for comparison (you can always give them away
as presents if you end up hating them ;-)
Saffron has a very specific flavor that you will very likely pick out, no matter how many other spices/flavors you add. But is it
really necessary to have it? - No, but it will certainly add to the
dish. And I guarantee that you will be able to find a ton of great
totally authentic North African recipes that have no saffron. And
about the expense - it really is not so expensive considering how
little is required for flavoring a dish and it will last for a long
time (stored dry in an airtight container).

Just an idea (in case you end up liking this cuisine) - make bigger batches of preserved lemons, so you won't need to wait for another batch to be ready. I make mine in a 5 liter spring top jar - so they last me for about a year (and a month or so before they run out I transfer them and start a new batch in the big jar).

Now the rest is just some hints - trying to answer your (broader) question before your edit:

Some spices that are quite traditional North African/Moroccan/East-Mediterranean (and are already often included in the available spice mixes) would be:

cumin
turmeric
paprika
chili
sumac
coriander
saffron
sesame seeds
cinnamon
cardamom

some spice mixes will also include:

cloves
caraway
fenugreek

Some herbs that come to mind:

mint
cilantro
parsley

With this spices and herbs often some fruits and vegetables like lemons, olives, garlic, onion, fresh chilies and eggplants (often roasted or toasted to some extend) are the ones that add to the authentic flavors.

The savory dishes are often balanced out with some sweeter elements like raisins, dates and honey.

Some good condiments would be:

Dukkah ... it is super nice sprinkled on couscous.
Zahtar ... eaten with olive oil and bread.

Another nice ingredient is tahini  - sesame paste that is often used in arab countries (important ingredient in hummus and baba ghanoush).

There are some popular signature dishes that can be found in different subsets of the North African/East-Mediterranean countries: tajine, falafel, hummus, baba ganoush, ful, kibbe, shakshouka, kebab - meat skewers, tabouleh, mujadra and others.

Food is often eaten with different kinds of flat bread, couscous, sometimes bulgur or rice.

This is just some stuff that you can start with and slowly build on - and use in addition to your super exciting preserved lemons =D


How to cook rice for 60 people I have to cook for 60 people, and one of the things I am going to make is (japanese) rice. Normally I cook it in a rice cooker, or in a pan with an amount of water and let it cook until the water has 'dried up'.
Can I use the same way of cooking rice for 60 people? (Say I have 6 kilos rice that needs to be cooked) how much longer is it going to take me to cook rice this way? What can go wrong? Can I just leave it in the pan until its done, or do I need to stir it because of the big amount?

Three main factors you need to think about is the water ratio, method of cooking and portion size.

When cooking Japanese rice(short glutinous grains) the optimal ratio is about 1:1 of water and grain. Normally when cooking smaller portions you add additional water to compensate for the water that evaporates and turns to steam while you cook so in most recipes you will see recipes asking for 1 cup and a couple extra tbsp of water for each cup of rice.

However you are cooking a very large numbers of servings so the evaporation will be negligible. You can stick with 1:1 ratio.
To cook the rice you can use either a large stock pot on the stove top or put it into a large pan and bake in the oven.

For the first method, you need a really thick stock pot(a thicker pot results in better heat distribution which results in less burnt bits at the bottom). I would recommend doing 30 servings at a time. Measure out the rice and water and bring to a boil. Then turn the flames down really low and simmer with the lid on for 30-45 minutes. Then turn off the heat and let it sit with the lid on for at least 15 minutes.

To make it in the oven, measure 30 servings of rice and water in a large oven safe pan and bake at 325F for around 30-45 minutes. Turn the oven light on and check if all the water have been absorbed into the rice. Using this method I would increase the amount of water to about 1:1.1 of rice to water.
Rice will generally double in volume when cooked compared to its uncooked version. If you are making 60 1/2cup servings of rice you would need 15 cups of uncooked rice. Or if you are going with 3/4 cups per person, you would need 22.5 cups of uncooked rice. 6 kilo of uncooked rice is around 25 cups so your estimation was pretty close to the mark. I would cook all 6 kilo of rice. Its better to have a bit extra than to not have enough.


How can I keep from burning a pan sauce? I'll make a steak or something on the stove and then try to make a pan sauce out of the fond.  Add a little wine and other fun ingredients and then I try to reduce it a little bit.  90% of the time, it seems to burn before it reduces to a sauce like consistency.

How can I reduce a pan sauce without it burning?

A couple things:

make sure you're removing enough of the fat from the pan. Too much fat will keep the sauce thin (and will also tend to separate out afterwards). Also, fat will not evaporate—if your remaining liquid is fat, the temperature will rapidly rise, and very quickly things will burn.
depending on what you're adding, you may need to use a thickener. There is a reason three of the five mother sauces have roux. (Hollandaise has egg, which thickens, Tomate has tomato which has lots of pectin, which also thickens, so those two don't need it). A good stock or broth has plenty of gelatin, which will thicken especially upon cooling.
When you add your deglazing liquid, you need to thoroughly scrape up the fond and stir it in.
Keep stirring, especially towards the end when its somewhat thick. Also especially if your pan has hot spots.
Turn down the temperature. This should go without saying when things are burning. Some heat helps with deglazing, but after that you don't actually need anything more than a low simmer — higher evaporates faster (important, since the meat is often resting & cooling) but not burning the sauce is more important.


What do you call the eggplant cultivar commonly found in American grocery stores? In this question of mine I didn't know what to call the specific type/species of eggplant that is commonly found in American grocery stores. What is this called?

It looks like:

"The most familiar Eggplants to us, the large dark purple ones, are called "Black Bell" or "Purple Globe." They're also called Globe Eggplant, Western Eggplant and American Eggplant. It's not known who exactly it was that thought this Eggplant was shaped anything like a globe."

http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/pages/eggplant#ixzz0yQtZ0gpf


Why does milk curdle after being boiled with ginger? I had heard that raw or simply pasteurized milk does curdle if ginger is put in it before it reaches its boiling point.
Alright, so yesterday I boiled the pasteurized milk at 23:00. Room temperature was around 17 degrees Celsius.
In the morning I put in the ginger and then started boiling it, but the milk curdled! (I had put the plain tea leaves and sugar also along with the ginger).
When the milk had been boiled in the previous night, why did it then curdle with ginger in the morning?
I boiled the remaining milk separately and it was fine.

If you want to prevent the milk from curdling when adding ginger, you have to boil the ginger or at least add it to boiling milk.

Ginger protease (the curdling agent in fresh ginger) is rapidly destroyed at temperatures above 70°C. It does not matter if the milk has been boiled in advance if you add ginger to cold or room-tempered milk, it will still curdle.


What is the name and preparation style of this type of tofu? I am looking for the name of and the preparation style of a type of "shredded tofu" found in Vietnamese vegetarian style garden/spring rolls.

This is the style of roll I am talking about.

Shredded tofu vegetarian garden/ spring roll

This tofu has a rich meaty texture and deep umami flavor I enjoy. I have not been able to find it at "traditional" Vietnamese restaurants and have only seen this style at vegetarian / Buddist style restaurants.

Can anyone tell me if this stuff is available for purchase (I have not been able to find it at my local Asian market) and if not what the preparation and recipe is?

This is Bì Cuốn Chay (bì = skin , cuốn = roll , chay = vegetarian). The meat version is Bì Cuốn, using pork + pork skin + roasted rice powder (thính) as the main ingredients.

To make the vegetarian dish, you can either  use gluten meal (mì căn) widely available in all East Asian groceries, or use tofu as you mentioned. The gluten meal is sold either uncooked or seasoned & cooked.  I'd rather use the uncooked version & season it to taste as most cooked versions have heavy Chinese five spice seasoning & oil that don't go well with the Viet flavors on this roll.

The tofu is actually very simple and is nothing special. You can get a couple blocks of semi- firm or firm tofu, slice them to about 1 inch thick or slightly less, leave them to dry for a couple hours, then fry them brown. You can season them with a bit of soy sauce if desired or season after frying. Cut them to the desired pieces as in the pictures, coat them with thính and use the other ingredient to make your roll.

You can buy thính in a bag or small jar at the store, or simply roast some rice on a pan until brown, then use a grinder like a good pepper grinder ( be sure to wash all the pepper smell out first) and grind the roasted rice to a powder. I like to roast my own because the freshly roasted rice smell way better than store bought. Once done with the rolls, you can use nước mắm chay (vegetarian "fish" sauce) to make a dip sauce.

Here is a YouTube video for the tofu version (in Vietnamese)

Wish you success & Enjoy!


Why boil sugar for lemonade? I've started making home lemonade recently and all the recipes boil about one cup of sugar in one cup of water. I never questioned that until my father saw the process and asked why don't I just add water and sugar to lemon juice or add boiling water to the pitcher with lemon juice and sugar and I couldn't really tell, I just knew the sweetness was greater in my experience.

It's simply to allow the sugar to dissolve and mix into the lemonade.  Because of this, you can more precisely adjust your preferred sweetness level.


What is the best way to catch wild yeast for sourdough? What is the best way to catch yeast? I just heard you can do this and I had no idea that you can do this. Do you grow and catch or just catch? This is to make sour dough bread.

There are two schools of thought as to where wild yeast comes from for a sourdough starter. One is that is in the air, the other that it is present in flour.

Having made a few starters myself and trying different methods, I am of the opinion that the latter is more likely. I have had just as much success with starters I have simply mixed and put in a sealed jar as with the ones I have walked around the kitchen, vigorously stirring with my hands and so on.

You can maximise your chances of having plenty of yeast in your flour by buying organic, as there will have been no chemical treatments which might destroy the yeasts, but any decent flour should have more than enough yeast naturally present to make a starter with.

Yeast, however, is just one aspect of sourdough - you are also looking to cultivate various Lactobacillus species which produce lactic and acetic acid, which is what makes sourdough sour. These are everywhere and so there is no problem with finding them.

However, there are also 'bad' bacteria species that can make your starter go bad. To minimise the chances of this bad bacteria multiplying, it's a good idea to lower the pH of your starter, and for this reason I have had much more success with starters that use pineapple juice. Follow the recipe in this blog, replacing the water on days 1 and 2 with normal, unsweetened pineapple juice, and you'll be on your way.


Eggs in Pancakes, health hazard? I want to make pancakes. I have a powder mix that needs only milk to be ready.
However there is a note on the powder mix's box that says I can add an egg to the mix as well.

How safe is that? Are pancakes cooked enough to avoid risk of salmonella?

Eggs are completely safe in cooked food, and pancakes are cooked. Pancakes made from scratch have egg in the batter too. As long as you don't drink the batter, or more realistically, leave an uncooked bit in the middle of the pancakes, you're totally safe.

(And of course, it doesn't take much to kill salmonella, and a mL of uncooked batter right in the middle of a pancake has ridiculously small odds of getting you sick even if it's somehow still cold, but if you're trying to play by all the rules, then you should make sure they're fully cooked - you probably want that anyway.)


roasted garlic vs. raw Without giving it much thought, I've always roasted garlic for use in cooked preparations (hummus, spaghetti sauce, garlic bread, etc.), and used it raw for uncooked preparations (salad dressings, tzatziki sauce, etc.).

Cooking with friends recently, one said all that matters is how much or little garlic pungency you want in that dish; another said the acidity of the other ingredients in the recipe dictate which form tastes best (raw with tart or acidic flavors; roasted with more salty and savory flavors).

Of course, personal taste preferences will nearly always trump cooking traditions and rules of thumb, but is there science or logic behind choosing which form for a particular dish?
Other than roasted garlic being milder and sweeter than raw, does either go with a particular cooking method or set of ingredients better than the other?

As covered on wikipedia, raw garlic has a number of sulfur-containing compounds, among them allicin, which are responsible for the burning feeling raw garlic imparts to a dish. When cooked into food, these flavors mellow and the compounds are boiled off or denatured. Other enzymatic and non-enzymatic transformative and browning processes also take place as garlic is cooked.

Roasting garlic produces these changes in garlic before-hand, and in a more controlled way. As the garlic heats up and starts browning, the raw garlic character is lost, while sweetness from melanoidin (a product of the reaction of amino acids with sugar, per the Maillard reaction) and savoryness (from the denaturing, concentrating amino acid content) are gained. The extreme example of this is Black Garlic (discussed at some length on my blog), in which the sweet and savory content of the garlic has been processed and concentrated over the course of a month, with the flavor resembling non-sour Balsamic vinegar.

With that said, the inclusion of raw or pre-processed garlic will depend on the proportions of the two above-noted sets of flavors that are desired in a dish. If added raw to uncooked food, it will add very little savory or sweet, and plenty of aroma and burn. If added roasted to that same food, it will add mostly savory and sweet, with very little of the burn. Any further cooking that takes place after garlic's addition to a recipe will further discourage the raw flavors and aromas.


Reduce spiciness of chili I eye-balled the chili and cayenne powder in my chili and have made it painful to eat. What should I use to counteract this? I tried adding pasta sauce and cheese to a small serving, but it wasn't very effective.

According to the question "How can you make a sauce less spicy/hot?" the heat is coming from capsaicin:

  Capsaicin, the heat-producing compound in most types of hot peppers,
  is the highest on the Scoville Scale; extremely piquant and can
  produce a "burning" sensation in very small quantities. It is also
  poorly soluble in water, but is far more soluble in fat, especially
  oils. Adding some olive oil or a good quantity of butter to your
  recipe is a good bet for reducing capsaicin/capsicum heat.

From some various discussions on the internet, I've also heard dark chocolate and sour cream can be effective.

What can I add in minimal quantities without affecting the taste drastically?

To some extent chilli (capsaicin) is like salt in that the best way to reduce the taste is dilution. However with capsaicin you can also make use of the fact that it dissolves in fats. But you can't neutralise it - up you'll always be increasing the size of the dish.

To dilute you could make another batch without the heat, and combine the two.

A good source of fats is dairy, so you can indeed stir in sour cream (this isn't a time for the low fat version) or cheese. Both of these are often served with chilli, and take some of the heat away even then, but you need to mix the in. I use cocoa powder in my chilli, others use dark chocolate, which is easier to add at the end. Again, this is a source of useful fats, but be sure to get one with a high cocoa content unless you like your savoury food sweet. With all of these it's a good idea to cook a little longer, so you can also add a bit more of some of the other ingredients - beans, tomato, the liquid in your sauce (perhaps thickened with a little cornflour), etc. which will dilute the heat. You may be left with a portion for another day.


Glass baking lid broke - what to substitute? The glass lid for my pyrex 10x10 baking dish broke. What can I substitute? Tin foil doesn't work -- nothing cooks!  Ideas?

Thank you.

One "hack" to try is to put a larger glass baking dish on top (e.g. 9"x13" over an 8"x8"). It is heavy enough to make a moderately decent seal.


Pudding isn't setting? I made some coconut pudding using a recipe I had found, but I'm having some trouble getting it to set.  I used this recipe once before and ended up boiling it for probably closer to 2 minutes instead of the suggested 1 minute and it thickened up fine.  This time I did exactly 1 minute and it's still pretty liquidly after a few hours in the fridge.

I'm wondering if I should return the pudding to a pot and boil it a little more - or if I have missed my chance at this point?

Puddings, of the type in your recipe, are thickened mostly by starch gelling. The egg yolks and milk provide some thickening as well as the smooth, custardy texture.

Both the starch and egg proteins gel before the boiling temperature. Recipes call for a few minutes of boiling for an entirely different and fascinating reason.

There is an enzyme in raw egg yolks that digests starches. A few minutes of boiling is required to deactivate those enzymes. If your pudding didn't gel, and some time has passed, your eggs may have eaten your cornstarch. In this case, boiling it more wouldn't help.

You might try whisking in some more starch and then boiling it again. This would take some experimentation. I wouldn't replace the entire quantity of starch from the recipe at first.


Is there a way to make leafy green vegetables absorb salt throughout their tissue? For example you can make protein tissue absorb salt by brining/dry curing it.  What ways can I make say some spinach or kale tissue absorb salt?  I want the salt to be in and throughout the greens and not just placed on the surface.
Also if there is any penetration, I take it, it is just on the leaf parts and won't go into the stalk?

When the greens are cooked, the cells will rupture and more easily take on outside fluids (and salt), so salting them while cooking will get the salt into the greens. You could also brine or rub the leaves with salt, this is frequently done with cabbage before pickling. The effectiveness of this method will vary depending on the greens though, some leaves like kale have a more waterproof layer over the outside of the leaf, so just rubbing them with salt may not work. I have seen people "massage" the leaves with salt to tenderize them and break down some of the fibers, or blanch them in salted water.


What can I substitute for Mayonnaise in a traditional potato salad? I wanted to make a Potato Salad that was going to be exposed to fairly extreme heat during an upcoming picnic and wanted to make sure it wouldn't spoil as quickly as it does sometimes.  Is there something other than Mayo that I can use to bind it together - here is the rest of the recipe:

5 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons seasoning salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/3 cup chopped celery
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Direct substitution options would include sour cream, plain yogurt, or cottage cheese pureed in your blender to do a one-to-one substitution, but I don't know that these would necessarily solve your issue of having the salad sit out with ingredients that could spoil.

This question has a whole list of substitutes.  Tofu is one that might suit your needs, although it would change the flavor profile.

Consider instead a German potato salad, which does not have mayonnaise to begin with.  Yes, this departs from your original recipe, but it will definitely solve your issue.


How does the performance of a warped pan compare to a level one when using gas? Of course there will be hot spots when using it on anything besides gas because it won't sit flat.  But are there any performance disadvantages when using a slightly warped pan and gas? As far as I can tell even a brand new pan will still pool oil depending on how level your stove / floor is.

A slightly warped pan will perform the same as a flat pan on gas from an efficiency perspective, the shape isn't going to waste energy. As for whether the warp will impact your cooking experience it's hard to say, a warp can cause coatings to flake off, or make liquids pool in or run away from particular spots.


How to bake crushed peppermint into cake? I'm still fairly new to baking and I'm making cupcakes for a Christmas party on Thursday and I couldn't seem to find a recipe online for the the kind I want to make, which is a peppermint cupcake.  Instead of sprinkling it on top of the icing, I wanted to mix the peppermint into the cake batter and bake it.

Basically, should I play it safe and use peppermint extract/sprinkle the crushed peppermint on top? or is it possible to bake the candy into the cake?

Adding the crushed peppermint to the cake batter, you run the risk of the pieces sinking to the bottom of the cake (from personal experience). I had luck with sprinkling the crushed pieces over the top of the batter once in the pans. The pieces sunk into the batter, but not all settling onto the bottom. Were dispersed wonderfully into each bite :)


Cooking time adjustment for large quantities of stew First off a little backgound: I am a member of a cooking club in my local village center. We have a reasonably well fitted kitchen, but the logistics of cooking in it for 20 people are always a bit tricky. We start at 17:30 and our menus always consist of an amuse, 2 starters, a main and a dessert. The aim is to serve the main between 21:00 and 21:30.

For this question, please assume that the oven is always taken for a different dish, so the stew has to be prepared from start to finish in a large pan.

We have often found that we fail to get stews cooked in time for serving. I am aware of the following factors that will increase the total time from start of prep to serving:

It takes a long time to prepare and brown 20 portions of meat before adding it to the stewing liquid
It takes longer for the stewing liquid to get to simmering temperature because of the higher volume

Even when taking these factors into account, there seems to be a sizeable difference between the cooking times we are used to when cooking 4 to 6 portions and the time it takes for the big pan for 20 portions.

We have a theory that this might be due to a temperature gradient between the bottom and top of the pan, but I don't know if this makes any sense.

Can anyone come up with something resembling a formula to adjust our cooking times in this situation? It might help us decide which dishes are (not) feasible to cook in the available time.

Normally, cooking a stew (not counting prep) in less than a three hours seems like rushing it to me.  I can't imagine that you'd ever get the fall-apart tender meat that people expect from a stew, but...

There are a number of techniques that I've seen professional cooks use when they're in a time crunch that may help you overcome time constraint problems such as this one:

Cut the ingredients into smaller pieces
Use larger bottomed or multiple pans (even electric ones as mentioned in the comments)
Use a deep fryer (not recommended for a stew ;-), though it would certainly help get the meat up to temperature)
Use a microwave (works well for some ingredients, not so much for others)
Use a pressure cooker (if available, this is what I would recommend for a stew)

From a scientific perspective, it's going to take 5 times as much energy to bring 20 portions worth of ingredients to temperature as it would 4 portions.  Coming up with an exact formula would require some detailed information such as the BTUs put out by the stove, the spread of the burner, and surface area, shape, and material of the pan being used, etc.  However, we do know that a lower portion of the energy will be lost when cooking 20 portions due to more surface area of the pan being in contact with the ingredients (even if only on the sides).  I would guess that the wasted energy probably ranges from 50% if you're cooking small portions to 20% if you're cooking large portions (again, depending on the efficiency of your cooking arrangement, which will vary widely).

So, if F is the energy required to bring 4 portions of the food to temperature, and S is the energy per time unit put out by the stove, and t1 is the time required to bring 4 portions up to cooking temperature, and we guess that we have 50% efficiency when cooking 4 portions, we have F=.5*S*t1.  When we increase to 20 portions, assuming the efficiency increases to 80%, we'd have 5F=.8*S*t2.  Solving for t2 relative to t1, we get t2=5*.5*S*t1/(.8*S), or t2=3.125*t1, so (given the assumptions of course), bringing 20 portions up to cooking temperature would take 3.125 times as long as bringing 4 portions up to temperature.  To speed things up, you would have to alter the input energy (more burners, electric assistance, etc.), or increase the efficiency (more pan surface area, smaller cut ingredients).  A more general equation would be t=M*Eb*tb/(Mb*E) with tb, Mb, and Eb being the time to cook a baseline amount, its mass, and the efficiency for that volume, and t, M, and E being the time for the new amount, its mass, and its efficiency.

Of course this is just the time to bring the ingredients up to cooking temperature.  Once there, the volume of ingredients doesn't matter much unless there is a lack of convection due to the thickness during the cooking phase, so with more portions you may need to stir more (this would be the solution to the gradient problem). After coming to cooking temperature, adding energy faster or more efficiently won't help much (if at all), but changing the pressure will change how quickly the food cooks, which is why this is what I would recommend.  The cooking phase is the majority of the time, so a 10% savings there will save you more than a 10% savings during the 'coming up to temperature' phase.  Depending on the stew, you may or may not need some time at the end for reduction and thickening as well.

In addition to all this, if you're doing prep work during the time you've listed, I'd skip the mise en place and get whatever you can heating up immediately so you can get as much heat as possible into as much of the stew as possible as quickly as possible.


Can raw soured milk be used to make cheese I have 10 liters of raw cow milk and my fridge has stopped working for last 12 hours. Basically the milk has soured or spoiled, but I'm not sure. There are small culture particles in the milk and it smells a little sour. What can I use this for now? Can I still make cheese, say feta or ricotta? Would love some advice.

Actually, you might.
 Depending on the strain(s) of bacteria in your milk, you might be well on the first steps for making "Handkäs", a speciality from the Frankfurt area in Germany. It uses no curdling agent like lemon juce (for fromage blanc) or rennet.

Try this recipe, (english version at the bottom):
Handcheese with music


Tamago-su preparation In tamago-su recipe, egg shell is first dissolved in vinegar. Then the membrane is broken apart and the white and yolk are poured into vinegar. But I am not sure if these should be poured into the vinegar that dissolved the egg shell, or a new glass of vinegar.

Can you please tell me the correct way?

The way the recipe reads is:

  Split open the membrane and dump the egg back in Vinegar & mix well.

("Back" being the operative word there IE, "Dump it back into the vinegar") with the intent of consuming all parts of the egg, including the dissolved shell (the source of calcium), as reflected in the post-script to the recipe:

  ...Egg Vinegar tonic to be an important source of strength and power. The
  protein, Calcium, Vitamins in the egg are well absorbed by our bodies.

The recipe also does not mention any additional vinegar after the 1 cup used at the beginning of the recipe.

So yes. Pour it back into the vinegar with the shell dissolved in it.

Just a note, make certain to wash your egg well before placing it into the vinegar & keep in mind that from a food safety standpoint, you are consuming raw egg. You should probably try following food safety practices similar to those for home-made mayonnaise.


What is the best variety of rice or preparation of rice to use in soup? I've made chicken rice soup several times in the past and I've always ran into an issue of the soup coming out too starchy/thick because of the rice. Or in the worst case scenario when I added too much rice, the soup ending up looking like rice porridge.

Usually it isn't too much of a problem right after it's cooked. But after its been sitting in the fridge for a couple of hours, the issue becomes much more pronounced.

I recently had chicken rice soup at my work cafeteria and the rice grains seems fully in tact and the soup isn't overly starchy.

Is there a variety of rice that hold up better in soup where it doesn't disintegrate into a starchy mess? Or is there a preparation to help preserve the integrity of the rice grains?

I've found that the most consistent way is to use short grain rice that is prepared much like it is in Indian cuisine. I was taught to rinse it repeatedly until the standing rinse water runs clear. That seems to remove most of the starch that causes that sticky breakdown.

Also, I've found that making rice soups in a slow cooker can be made less sticky by adding the rinsed rice after the other ingredients have settled in and become well heated. I've only dealt with this a couple times, so I definitely recommend experimenting if you prepare your soup in a slow cooker. Good luck!


Whey separation making yoghurt: change in proportions I make yogurt about twice a week in an instant pot using 2qt of 1% milk and 3 tablespoons of whey from the previous batch as a starter (original starter was 1 Tbsp of Chobani plain non-fat). I normally culture for 8 hours, refrigerate for 8 to 10 hours and then strain for 3 to 4 hours. I usually end up with a quart of yogurt and a quart of whey. yesterday I forgot and left the batch in the pot about 2 hours past the shut off time, refrigerated for 10 hours and strained for 3 hours and got almost 25% less whey separation. I stopped straining after 3 hours because the strainer stopped dripping whey. the batch is as thick and tasty as always but I have 20 to 25% more yogurt. can you tell me why?

Presumably your culture was still doing its work after 8 hours (and cultures derived from old batches can lose potency so what was achieved in 8 hours a few batches ago may take a little longer now). The shut-off time turns off the heat I assume, but the temperature will drop very slowly from that point. It wouldn't surprise me if this batch was actually a little more tasty due to the longer fermentation.

However there could be another cause,  especially if you're in the Northern hemisphere. Even if you did everything exactly the same, including the starting temperature of all ingredients, one possible cause would be a change in the milk.  I don't know whether you always buy the same milk (and even then the ultimate source can be different from most shops.)

But then it gets more interesting, even if you get your milk from the same herd of cows: milk isn't a uniform product. See for example Seasonal variations in the composition of Holstein cow's milk and temperature-humidity index relationship..  The paper I link (among many others dating back over 100 years) would appear to suggest that both fat and protein concentration will increase as the weather cools off. More protein in particular would mean more to coagulate.


Air bubbles in semi liquid chicken sausage I'm facing a problem of existing air bubbles in semi liquid chicken sausage. The bubbles are tiny and mostly formed while mixing to bowl chopper machine. So when I fill the mixture into the casing there observed tiny air bubbles on the sausage. After smoking the tiny bubbles are clearly observed and it is the reason of rejecting much amount while sorting. I used needle for expelling the bubbles but it is a semi liquid mixture so the mixture gets out from that needled hole while knotting manually.
Can I be helped how to remove or expel the bubbles of chicken sausage.

Since it’s quite thick and in liquid form, the process inevitably causes air introduced into the product.
if you can’t change your recipe, you might want to consider applying vacuum to the mixture in a chamber, that should help dissipate the bubbles.


Do I need more fermentation? Why my sourdough is flattened? From a few weeks I've been trying to make sourdough. The most successful recipe for me and for the time I have I found is Easy Sourdough Bread Recipe using a stand mixer - Sourdough Lamination In the recipe it said that it needs 3 hours in room temperature + 30 min in refrigerator and then you bake.
Because I don't have that time in one I leave it on the counter for 1 hour then let the sourdough in the refrigerator overnight (10 hours) and bake it in the morning. The whole wheat flour I use is with 13% protein.
I found the dough "flattened" and without so much holes and somehow I feel like it's not so fermented. Is it possible for 10 hour fermentation in the refrigerator? How can I improve the dough and do I need more fermentation time maybe in room temperature? The dough is fine, not so wet it can be shaped. I added picture in the end to show what I mean.
The recipe is:

200 g. white flour
100 g. whole wheat flour
240 g. water
6 g salt
90g starter
40g pumpkin seeds

Totals:

345 g flour (45 from starter)
285 g water (45 from starter)
2% salt
82.6% hydration

First of all, that's quite a decent looking loaf. It doesn't look dense or overly pancaked. The crumb is consistent, with good bubble formation. A lot of amateur bakers would be quite proud to achieve that result. So give yourself a pat on the back before you start trying to improve further.
Now, 82% hydration is quite high, even for a whole wheat loaf. High hydration free-form whole wheat loaves are notoriously difficult to shape well, simply because the dough is so loose. Careful shaping and skillful oven control (including steam) are necessary to get a good loft in those circumstances.
Now, three hours at room temperature is not enough time to develop significant sourdough taste. Neither is ten hours in the refrigerator. (Ten hours in a cool room would be closer.) As more fermentation occurs, however, the gluten structure will weaken, leading to a flatter loaf.
So overall, I'd suggest you try a lower hydration and a longer cold rest (but, if possible, at a slightly higher temperature than your refrigerator).


Clear soup with snow globe flakes I've been searching for years to no avail for a clear cauliflower and blue cheese broth soup.

It looks like those Snow Globes, the one's you shake. The cauliflower snows in the dish each mouthful.

I presume it's cauliflower stalk broth with a vege stock, then baked florets are blended? Somehow with blue cheese.

Each time I try it isn't clear or when it is the cauliflower doesn't snow flake. The problem is if I blend it too fine it goes mushy and grating it creates slithers not flakes.

I think I need help, how do you do a snow flake soup dish?

It is not difficult to produce a clear broth or consume.  Traditionally, an egg white raft is used to capture solids, and one can remove the clarified broth.  There are more modern techniques for liquid clarification, which can easily be found online. For example, agar can be employed to gel the broth.  The gel can be broken, and the clear liquid can be drained.  Remember though, clear does not mean without color.  So consider your soup ingredients as you think about the color of your final product.

For your soup, to me, the issue is the blue cheese, which will cloud your clear broth if added as pieces of blue cheese.  So, I would experiment with getting the blue cheese flavor into the broth.

Then, chop cauliflower in a food processor, as if you were making cauliflower "rice". The cauliflower would have to be raw, perhaps being cooked by the soup once added.  I am guessing these small pieces will sink in your bowl of clear soup.   Stir them up and it will "snow".


How to prevent fish disintegrating in frying pan Twice now I've tried pan frying fillets of white fish (Swai and Flouder) in olive oil and butter.  Both times the fish has disintegrated into unsightly mush.  Is there some technique I'm missing?  How can I pan fry without the fish falling apart?

I definitely like what @moscafj said "flip once".
I am going to stick to your statement of "pan frying". - which is indeed different from deep frying, shallow frying, sauteing, stir frying. Looking at your description you seem to be mixing pan frying and stir frying...
So let's stick to pan frying which uses minimum quantity of oil.

Get the cleaned fish fillet and marinate it with any herbs you want, adding a bit of oil and lemon juice.

Get a shallow pan that is not as deep as deep frying pan. Heat it up with a good fire. When it's heated only pour the oil (if you require)

Lay the fillet on the pan while it gives you that sizzling sound of meat touching the hot pan - what a delight

Don't poke your fish now - let it be for few minutes

Now flip it - just once. And leave it for another few minutes

As the oil comes out of the fish and pan is drying out, fish changes the colour...

Tip 1: Try not to get a fillet as thick as 1 feet (I am exaggerating). But really a standard 1cm-2cm kind of a fillet would be easier to handle & cook if you are novice.. (salmon can be particularly thicker)
Tip 2: When fish is marinated with a base of oil and lemon - it helps a lot by making the outer layer rougher, tastier since herbs are absorbed into fish and you may not even need extra oil to fry the fish.
Tip 3: Don't over-crowd your pan by adding a population of fillets into the pan at once. Add two fillets with a relatively good space between them - based on the pan size and fillet size you use. So the heat distributes evenly among them.
Tip 4: This is probably the cheapest non-stick pan I have ever used - lighter and durable even I want to throw it away. And it's like one of those old Beetle cars - no matter what you do - it just lasts... You can start with a pan like this and go up as you mature with the frying experience.
Tip 5: The most important out of all, get your fish-monger to give you fresh fish. If you are not aware how to choose a fresh fish, then you gotta do some research and get familiar with that. Personally I never ever use or recommend those frozen fillets (like "forgotten" dory fish) in hypermarket freezers. You get a good fish, you will enjoy a good meal.
Tip 6: Don't forget to use a Fish Slice kitchen tool that's made for pan frying - if you aren't using one yet.

Reference link for you to get an understanding of frying techniques:

Frying techniques vary in the amount of fat required, the cooking time, the type of cooking vessel required, and the manipulation of the food. Sautéing, stir frying, pan frying, shallow frying, and deep frying are all standard frying techniques.
Sautéing and stir-frying involve cooking foods in a thin layer of fat on a hot surface, such as a frying pan, griddle, wok, or sauteuse. Stir frying involves frying quickly at very high temperatures, requiring that the food be stirred continuously to prevent it from adhering to the cooking surface and burning.
Shallow frying is a type of pan frying using only enough fat to immerse approximately one-third to one-half of each piece of food; fat used in this technique is typically only used once. Deep-frying, on the other hand, involves totally immersing the food in hot oil, which is normally topped up and used several times before being disposed. Deep-frying is typically a much more involved process, and may require specialized oils for optimal results. Wikipedia


My chicken soup always ends up with bones I'm an avid crock pot-ter. My favorite recipe by far is my dad's famous chicken soup. It calls for bone-in chicken. I usually use drumsticks because that is what my dad uses, but I ALWAYS end up with a ton of little pieces of bone in my soup and it makes this amazing soup kind of disgusting. I'm wondering if I'm doing it wrong? I always get out the big bone, but those little ones are hard to find once the soup is made and everything is just falling off the bone. Is there a better cut of chicken that I can use to minimize the bones I have to fish out of it? I've tried it with boneless chicken and it isn't near as good.

I generally make chicken soup in two phases. Phase 1 is chicken stock, simmering (roasted) bones with aromatics for a long time (often, overnight), followed by straining. Phase 2 is chicken soup, combining the strained stock with chicken meat, vegetables, and other ingredients.

Because the stock is strained, it has no bones, big or small. There can be vegetables in the stock as well, which will be cooked until they are mushy, giving up their flavor but no longer something you want to eat; they are also strained out. If you're using very meaty bones, or even whole birds, you can salvage the meat by picking it off the bones, and adding it to your soup (though most of the flavor will be cooked out of it.)

The bones and the meat don't have to come from the same bird. You can take bones leftover from a roast chicken or other meal, and make stock out of that. You can even save the bones in the freezer, accumulating them from a number of projects, then make one big batch of stock. Freezing the stock means you'll have it on hand any time.

Then you could make chicken soup by buying drumsticks (or whatever part you like), and removing the meat. That will turn into soup fairly quickly: it will take just half an hour or so to cook vegetables to the right point, and just a few minutes to incorporate the meat. The bones you removed can go into the freezer, and the process continues.


Are there any snacks that use a large amount of black sesame seeds? A dietician I was working with recommended eating 3 tbsp a day of black sesame seeds. If I can't do that, I'd at least like to do 1-2. Are there any snacks that uses a lot of black sesame seeds that I could eat easily (as opposed to sprinkling them over a dish or a salad, for example)? Only restriction is I don't eat seafood (so sushi is out).

Most of the recipes I've found online use it as a garnish, or are in something like ice cream / pudding -- which I would imagine are not the best things to eat every day.

You can make black sesame seed soup. It's mildly sweet and is often eaten at breakfast by Chinese. Black sesame seeds are unhulled unlike most (white) sesame seeds sold in North America and Europe which are hulled. So if you eat the seeds whole, you'll get little benefit from them as they basically pass through your digestive tract unchanged. The soup uses ground seeds.

I know we're not supposed to give out requests for recipes but you're not asking so I hope I'm not wrong in giving you a link to the soup recipe. I have no idea if there are other sites with a recipe for it. http://www.chinasichuanfood.com/black-sesame-pastesoup/

A suggestion in toasting black sesame seeds. It's easy to toast white sesame seeds in a pan on the stove and tell by the colour change to a light golden brown when they're done. Black ones aren't so easy to tell by looks though. I found that adding some of the pale coloured seeds with the black ones is a good way to know. When the pale seeds start showing a light golden colour, you'll know the black are also toasted enough. Be careful not to over-toast them or they'll taste unpleasantly bitter.

There are other ways of using black sesame seeds but this is the easiest.


Does the foam head affect the taste of cola? I was reading the other day about the importance of the head when pouring beer, and I wondered if there are any similar considerations when pouring cola's? I'm a huge fan of good Coke, and I'm just wondering if I can improve an already great tasting drink!

More head = less carbonation, which will change the mouth-feel of the drink, albeit largely imperceptibly for most people (myself included). Less carbonation will also change the actual perception of flavour; it will taste sweeter, mostly.


Fish for Sushi/Sashimi I finally learned how to make Sushi at home. Here is a link to a recipe that shows how to prepare store bought salmon. I tried it and it works beautifully. The chef's speaking and tone are annoying, but the recipe works.

I soaked my salmon for 5 minutes and my tuna for 3 minutes. Blot it dry and you are good to go. My question is, based on the attached video, what other fish or seafood can I do this with? Snapper, scallops, etc?

Any relatively firm-fleshed fish can be cured with salt & sugar, including by the speed method Chef John describes.  This would include "snapper" (usually actually rockfish in the USA), swordfish, mahi-mahi, striped bass, or halibut.  It would not include sole, flounder, trout, or perch, all of which are too delicate to slice small or brine.  Cod could theoretically be handled this way, but I don't think you'd appreciate the result; there's a reason you never see cod sushi on a menu.

However, fish other than salmon doesn't really need to be brined at all to be used in sushi.  Salmon is generally brined because it can otherwise carry parasites that infect humans and can survive freezing.  Most ocean-going fish do not.  So you could just slice, rice, and eat.


What defines a gui chow dish in Chinese cuisine? A restaurant near me makes a delicious dish they call Gui Chow Beef, which I want to reproduce. I've found some alternate spellings as "gui zhou" and even "aui zhau," but I've yet to find a recipe that represents what I've eaten.

The beef is thinly sliced and limp -- not battered or deep fried. I think there are bamboo shoots and celery. They use enough Szechuan peppercorns to numb my tongue; that's one of the most important ingredients to me. The sauce is dark and sour and there is always orange grease left on my plate when I'm done.

So. What am I eating, and how can I make it at home?

Guizhou is a province in china. Sichuan is also a province and is much different food than guizhou food. Guizhou dishes are sour and hot where Sichuan are more spicy and garlicky. Just do a search for guizhou cuisine and you will find those dishes related to that culture.

http://community.travelchinaguide.com/forum2.asp?i=38624

再建!


In cookie making, Does creaming time change with the amount of butter used? i cream 40  grams  of  butter  with  50 grams  of  sugar    for  2  min. i get  good  results. if  a cream  double  these  amounts,   would  the  creaming  time  change?  thank  you

Yes, larger amounts will take longer to cream than smaller, how much time that really means depends on how you are creaming it. If you are using an electric mixer of some kind then I would expect the difference in time between 40 grams of butter and 80 to be pretty small as 40 grams or even 80 grams of butter isn't much.

I wouldn't use time as a guide to creaming butter and sugar, the times given in recipes are guidelines and vary depending on conditions and equipment. Butter and sugar are creamed properly when the mix gets pale and fluffs up, expanding to nearly double its size, this may take more or less than 2 minutes.


Why do apples, when placed in a cool environment for extended periods of time, form a 'waxy' layer on their skins Living on an orchard, we grow many more apples than we can eat and so store them in the garage throughout Winter where it's cold. They are in a box, but with air circulating around them and newspaper between each of the layers of apples. Why does the skin of the apple go 'waxy'? Also, how can this be prevented?

This waxy coating is called epicuticular wax, as it forms the cuticle of the fruit. It is essentially paraffin. It acts to both seal in moisture and keep out fungi, dirt and microorganisms.

As rumtscho suggests in her comment, even if you could prevent it from forming, it's not a good idea for obvious reasons: it does no harm and keeps the apples fresher for longer.


How is flambéing different from just adding alcohol? A wonderful recipe in a book says:

  Slightly roast pepper with oil, then deglaze with brandy and light it up immediately, wait for the flame to go out. [Then add other ingredients]

Since that process felt quite dangerous, especially if the pan is hot and the alcohol vaporises quickly, I was wondering:

What is the difference between just adding brandy to burning it with regard to taste?

What is the difference between just adding brandy to burning it with regard to taste?

Time and theatric impact (flambe is often done table side in a restaurant) are the big difference.

Flambe:

very quick, almost instant reduction of alcohol
texture/composition changes to dish are limited due to short process
visually dramatic
subtle changes in flavor

Adding alcohol, then further cooking:

longer cooking time to reduce alcohol
longer cooking will have a different effect on texture/composition
there will be changes in flavor, but in a different way from flambe

With most recipes, it comes down to time. If a long simmer to remove alcohol is undesired, you flambe. Example: Bananas Foster, if you simmered that for a long time, you'll get a hot bitter banana mush. Flambe is the better choice.

Without seeing your entire recipe: if your peppers are cooked a long time, you could simply add the alcohol and let the cooking reduce it. But if the recipe is a quick saute or similar, if you don't flambe, you may not get the flavor change the author intended. And, you may end up serving alcohol.


Is the pouring method of beer really important? Beer afficionados and similar seem to adhere to some method of pouring beer. The reasons stated feel unscientific, and I'm wondering if there's any truth to it?

What I'm talking about is the method explained e g here: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/101/pour/

  Steps to a Perfect Pint

  Use a clean glass. A dirty glass, containing oils, dirt or residuals from a previous beer, may inhibit head creation and
  flavours.

  Hold your glass at a 45° angle. Pour the beer, targeting the middle of the slope of the glass. Don't be afraid to pour hard or add
  some air between the bottle and glass.

  At the half-way point bring the glass at a 90° angle and continue to pour in the middle of the glass. This will induce the perfect foam
  head. And remember, having a head on a beer is a good thing. It
  releases the beer's aromatics [...]

(emphasis mine)

Another common explanation is that a foam head actually works as a "lid" and thus keeps the beer carbonated bettter.

Is there any truth to either of these?

The release of aromatics is most certainly part of the reason for producing a head when pouring beer. You're creating a buildup of bubbles that contain carbonated gas coming out of solution; that gas can carry aromatic particles created during the brewing process. The more there are, the more aroma is released.

The "cap" theory is pretty dubious, on the other hand. The head isn't solid, it's just composed of gas bubbles that can be pushed aside by other bubbles as they escape out of solution.

Another reason not mentioned is that pouring a head allows one to carry a full glass more easily without beer splashing out. The bubbles in the head keep the liquid level below the edge of the glass, and they also provide a cushioning effect as the glass is moved around. It's odd, but from working behind a bar I can tell you that glasses with a decent head are easier to transport without spilling.

The specific pouring method described works consistently with most any beer, thanks to a moderate amount of contact with nucleation sites, which give the carbonated gas dissolved in the liquid somewhere to "grab" and form bubbles. Pouring the beer down the side of the glass provides contact and some (but not too much) agitation; straightening the glass then prevents any accidental spills as the level rises. Again from time behind the bar, I can tell you that this takes a little bit of feel and practice to do smoothly, but it's by no means difficult. You'll have to pour a few beers to try it for yourself.


How to get pickled mushrooms to be less sour? I like pickled mushroom from a jar but I would prefer if they were less acidy/sour.  Is there any way to increase the PH ?  Will it work if I drain the juice they come in and refill with oil or something else ?

Draining the juice, refilling the jar with oil and then storing to reduce the acidity won't work because:

Acid and lye can be diluted only with water or liquids like water (if I remember correctly, ethanol will also work) but not oil.
You might run into the risk of botulism. (Maybe not since the mushrooms are sour. If you don't measure the pH you can't be sure).

The only thing you can do is to soak the portion of mushrooms you intend to eat in water before eating. Replacing the brine with water of the whole jar beforehand to lower the pH will shorten the shelf life significantly.


Shallower bowl or longer dough hook for Kitchen Aid 7qt Stand Mixer? I have a 7qt lifter style kitchen aid stand mixer and use it often to make bread and pizza doughs.

Generally works great for very large batches, but I find that either the 7qt bowl is too deep or the dough hook isn't quite long enough and smaller batches end up with more than half of the ingredients hanging out below the hook.

Are the 6 qt bowls compatible, but shallower?   Is there a longer dough hook available?   Any suggestions?

It is most likely that your bowl is simply too big for the recipe batch size.
I habe a 5qt KA Pro Model lift bowl style.

For Easter 2018 I made half a batch of my buttorn roll recipe. That size batch called for only 1-1/4 cups of A-P flour and I quickly learned that I was going to make those for dinner, I was going to have to mix then knead the dough the old-fashioned way = by hand.

Turned out great and added a note in my cookbook to avoid the extra cleanup.


Where can I buy dark chocolate which was not produced in a factory that handles milk? According to an FDA study most plain dark chocolate has milk in it. If it is produced in a factory which handles milk, it almost always has milk in it, even if it says its vegan and dairy free.

Does anyone know where I can buy or know of brands of dark chocolate (70% cocoa or more) which was produced in a completely dairy/milk free environment?

If you want a product that is allergen/intolerance safe and/or compliant to a certain cultural standard - be it political (vegan, vegetarian), dietary (low carb, low fat), or religious (halal, kosher...), one statement of compliance usually does not make it safe to imply another.

How ingredients and allergens have to be labelled is very dependent on local law. If we are talking countries that are close to the european approach, everything intentionally added (and not considered removed again in the finished product!) will be in the ingredients list, and possible allergens will be in the allergen statement. If you find them provably present in relevant amounts without being in that list, do talk to the manufacturer and possible escalate to local food safety authorities.
It is important to know that even in these countries there are exceptions to mandatory declaration for certain food groups (possibly having to do with trade secret protection being considered more important than health relevant information on foods considered unhealthy/for moderate consumption anyway); these are defined in relevant law - alcoholic beverages and indeed chocolate are typically among these exceptions, so find and read the relevant laws. Allergen labelling SHOULD not be affected by these exceptions but COULD be excepted.

Your best bet for finding something that will meet your criteria is looking at local manufacturers - if there was a globally active chocolate brand that only did dairy free in their production it would have been mentioned here by now...

These brands seem to have "vegan AND lactose free" products in the european market, if it helps:

http://www.moofreechocolates.com/
http://www.dammenberg.com/
https://www.plamilfoods.co.uk/


Why does soda bread call for buttermilk? I've been looking for a soda bread recipe to try and I notice that most of them contain buttermilk.  Buttermilk is not a standard part of my pantry.  Part of the appeal of soda bread is that it's quick to throw together, so having to go shopping for a specific ingredient interferes with the spontaneous aspect.

I know there are lots of substitutions for buttermilk (using a bit of lemon juice in regular milk is the one I usually use), but I'm wondering what it is about buttermilk specifically that seems to be a standard part of soda bread. Is it just traditional?  Or will it add a particularly noticeable flavour/texture?

Edited to add: I know that its functional purpose is to provide an acid to react with the soda for rising; so is it just that it used to be the most convenient acid?

Buttermilk has a delicious flavor that is not at all approximated by lemon juice.

It's true that lemon or vinegar with milk will clabber it a little and provide the acid that the recipe needs but the flavor will be distinctly lacking.

Get some buttermilk. It's inexpensive and has a longer shelf life than normal milk. It is also exceptionally easy to make. If you make it a standard part of your pantry you will find yourself enjoying life more (or at least pancakes.)


What is this on sourdough starter? I have a sourdough starter which I feed roughly once every 2-3 days (throw away 95% of it, refill with water and flour).  Sometimes I forget and wait 5 days between feedings, and by that time it often has developed what looks to me like mold on the top.  It looks super interesting and I'd really like to know what it is.  A picture is below.  It's grown like this a few times, and the starter keeps rising and producing good bread, so it's definitely still alive and well.

I don't see anything that has grown there, except for the starter itself. The starter used to be more expanded, its skin dried up in the expanded state, then it fell back down and the skin tore in places and wrinkled up - this is what you are probably picturing as a growth. It also trapped some gas bubbles (the round warts). There also seems to be a layer of hooch formed under the skin. Where the skin is torn, a single untrapped bubble is also visible at roughly (45°, 0.2r).
If you had actually had a mold growing, I would have advised against baking with the starter, because it is unsafe, even if the bread rises.


What types of food are safe for short-term room-temperature storage? Federal food safety guidelines advise against leaving food in the "danger zone" (4-60° C / 40-140° F) for more than 2 cumulative hours.  However, not all food needs refrigeration; some obvious examples are bread, peanut butter, unpeeled potatoes or onions, even some pastries such as fruit pies.

How do I know if a particular food is immune to this danger zone and thus safe to store for several hours or days at room temperature? What about longer-term storage?

Note to answerers - this is intended to be a "canonical" or "reference" question on food safety. Please do not answer unless you can support it with a trusted source. General guidelines are also preferred over a list of specific foods.

Pie is a good example: fruit pie tends to keep for a good while at room temperature. I have found many sites which stridently claim this not to be the case, and many grocery stores that leave their bakery pies at room temp for about three days (even psycho Mrs. Cookwell says 2 days is fine). I'm siding with the grocery stores. Nut pies tend to last longer still, because they're drier: the presence of dairy and eggs is counteracted by the higher concentration of sugar.

Likewise cake, though it can vary depending on your frosting...The more things besides fat and sugar in your frosting, the more it needs to be refrigerated. In most cases cake will stay edible longer than you'd want to eat it. Again, grocery stores only bother to refrigerate decorated cakes, or ones with cream cheese icing.

Most store bought condiments are fine at room temperature. Obviously not mayonnaise, or anything creamy, but ketchup, mustard, A-1, worstershire...They last a good long time unrefrigerated. Likewise soy sauce, fish sauce, and some of the more popular asian condiments.

I've never seen a pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco) that needs refrigeration, and they'll last for years, though the color starts going off after a while.

There is no bacterial risk to leaving fruits and vegetables out, but this will dramatically increase the rate of spoilage. The exceptions are root vegetables, and bananas. Root vegetables will last a long time in a cool dark place, so just lump 'em in your garage if you're not going to eat them in the next week or two. And bananas will go south at the same rate regardless (though you can freeze them for future banana bread).

Fresh eggs (like, straight from the chicken) will last a couple of weeks without refrigeration (make sure they're not fertilized, or you may wake up to find baby chickens in your kitchen). The rule of thumb is "Every day unrefrigerated is like 5 days refrigerated." Once eggs are cracked, you should use them immediately.

I'd trust store bought eggs left out on the counter to eat, though its not good to let refrigerated eggs get warm again. Eggs have a wide array of natural antimicrobial tendencies, though the processing store bought eggs go through removes some of this. (citation). An easy way to test for internal contamination is to see if the egg floats in water. If it floats, toss it.

Bacon grease keeps a long time unrefrigerated, as does any sort of fat really, as long as it's strained and filtered. With fats you're more worried about them going rancid, which is a function of light and air (its a type of oxidation), so store your fat in a dark place, in a sealed container. (citation)

Butter can last several days unrefrigerated (it should be covered). I'd say as much as a week, but I have no way of knowing because it never lasts that long. It's much more likely to oxidize (see above) and go rancid than to pick up a significant bacterial colony.


Is it ok to cook beef from frozen in a slow cooker? It's my first time cooking with frozen beef. I'm currently making a slow cooker stew which will be on high heat for around 7 hours.

Is it okay to use frozen beef?

I also add in a kettle of bottle water, before adding the rest of my ingredients.

It's a good question since you need to be careful with keeping food in the "danger zone" (40°F-140°) for more than two hours (or more than one hour at 90°). In a 200°F oven, for example, a large chunk of frozen meat will take a long time to thaw all the way to the center.

Cooking from frozen is generally accepted as safe, and the USDA has an article dedicated to frozen meat. They say it is safe to cook from frozen and will take 50% longer to cook, but it's more complicated than this.

When you're cooking with direct heat transfer (such as sous vide or in a stew), the heat transfer is going to be much faster — especially with sous vide where convection is used. A steak in sous vide will probably thaw within 15 minutes depending on the thickness. In a slow cooker it depends on how much liquid surrounds the steak and what temperature you're using. I would probably add 30 minutes of cook time.

Also keep in mind that with a steak the bacteria is going to be on the outside, so cooking it first (as in searing) will kill most of that bacteria, making a slower cook for the inside safer. This is also a reason not to poke holes in your steak when cooking rare.

Cooks Illustrated also has an interesting article about cooking frozen steak.


Calories in (cooked) pasta I bought a 500g pack of Tesco penne pasta recently – https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/254878482

As you can see on the website, it states that 100g of the pasta contains around 176 calories.

But after cooking the pasta, I noticed it weighed a lot more. I found that around 1/6 of the pack weighed around 225g instead of the 80 or so grams that I was expecting.

So when the packet states the nutritional information for 100g of the pasta, is it referring to cooked or uncooked pasta?

I imagine it is referring to 100g of cooked pasta... I'm hoping that's the case anyway, I want as many calories as possible.

The best way to be confident is to check some clear nutrition facts directly.

The USDA reports that "Pasta, dry, unenriched" has 371 calories per 100g, and "Pasta, cooked, unenriched, without added salt" has 158 calories per 100g.

So your 176 calories per 100g seems to be for cooked pasta; it's way too few calories for 100g dry, even if your pasta is slightly different from the USDA's default.

Calories per gram when cooked is going to vary a bit, because if you cook it a bit more or less, it'll take on a bit more or less water. So the same amount of dry pasta, with the same amount of calories, may weigh slightly different amounts.

Also, I looked at the page you linked. Down at the bottom it says:

  When cooked according to instructions. 75g of uncooked pasta weighs approximately 170g when cooked.

And indeed, along with per 100g nutrition facts, it has a per 170g column. So yes, it appears that those nutrition facts are for cooked pasta.


What is the 'cleanest' way to roast eggplants indoor? Whenever I've tried to roast eggplants on the oven, it takes more time to clean than to cook. Any suggestions?

What is taking so long to clean, your sheet pan? Put a sheet of parchment paper underneath the eggplant.


What type of flour is ideal for sourdough? I have found a recipe for sourdough starter culture that calls for 50 grams of flour with 50 ml of water, but the recipe does not state what specific type of flour you should use. Can you use any type of flour for the sourdough starter or are there types of flour that will give a better result?

EDIT: I'm especially curious if Self-Raising flour would be suitable?

Tartine Bread by Chad Roberts (which is a wonderful book, by the way, and the bread is fantastic), recommends using a 50/50 mix of white and whole wheat bread flour.  He also says all-purpose flour is fine for a starter as well.

Self-raising flour would definitely not be appropriate, since it has baking powder in it.


Can I still cook on my propane grill with rust? I busted out my propane grill which I haven't used in over a year and noticed as I was cleaning it that there was a bit of rust on the grill.  I tried to get it off but it doesn't seem to want to.  Is it safe to grill with some rust on there?

Rust, or iron oxide, is not poisonous, unless consumed in large amounts. Thus it is relatively safe to grill on your barbeque.

What about the people who get cut by rusty nails and get lockjaw? That's not due to the rust, but rather, due to the bacteria on the rust, which is called, Clostridium tetani, which is found in the soil, and presumably, the nails have had come in contact with the soil, and so actually contains some of these deadly bacteria, and so, when a wound is made by the sharp object, the sharp object(nail) will also infect the wound causing tetanus, or lockjaw.

Which is totally irrelevant to your grill, as I assume, it hasn't actually come in contact with the soil has it?

So, it's safe, relatively


How do I recognize a silver utensil? Being visually impaired, looking at the color of a utensil doesn't tell me whether it's silver or not, so I'm wondering if there are other easy ways than simply "tasting the utensil" to tell if it is silver or (stainless) steel.

I'm wondering mainly because I've understood placing silver items in the dishwasher may cause discoloration in both the stainless steel and the silver itself.

This isn't a perfect test, but a magnet won't stick to a silver utensil whereas it will stick to most other metal utensils (i.e., stainless steel).


Is the double boiling canning procedure really necessary? It seems the usual procedure is to sanitize cans and lids by immersing them in boiling water, to fill the cans, and then to cap them and boil for a few more minutes.

If I sanitize a can and then fill it with boiling jam, and cap it with a sanitized lid, then why bother with the extra boiling?   It seems like a totally redundant step.

Conversely, if you are going to immerse the filled cans in boiling water to process them, then why bother pre-sanitizing them?

This makes no sense!

These various boilings serve different purposes.

The jam mixture is boiled to reduce the liquid and bring the pectin to its gelling temperature.

The bottles and lids are boiled to sterilize them as you said.

The final water bath kills any bugs that were introduced while filling the jars. Additionally this boiling ensures a good seal on the bottles. In the time it takes to fill the bottles the jam will have cooled somewhat and you might not get a good seal.

Killing bugs with boiling is not an instantaneous process. It takes time at those high temperatures to kill a high percentage. If the bottles aren't pre-sterilized then you are putting yourself at a disadvantage as those bugs would be distributed through the hot, but no longer boiling, jam.

Of course, all of these boilings will do some sterilization and are somewhat redundant. It's all about reducing risk. You can bottle with clean but unsterilized bottles and if you work quickly you can skip the hot water bath. Doing so will greatly increase the chances that one or two bottles might not seal or that some bug might survive and spoil your stuff. Reliable sources indicate that if bottles are not presterilized that the bottles should be processed longer in the water bath.

Anecdotally speaking- I have in the past skipped the water bath when my jam was very hot and acidic. I would usually have one or two bottles out of 20 that wouldn't seal. I no longer skip the water bath and I almost never have any bottles that fail to seal.

I have never had jams go bad but this is more luck than proof.


How to stop frozen bananas making everything else in the freezer taste like banana? I freeze peeled bananas for making ice cream. I triple bag them in three Ziploc bags. This works fine.

However, apparently they are making other things in the freezer taste like bananas.

Apart from even more bags, does anyone have a solution to this?

Use about 3-4 boxes of Arm and Hammer Baking Soda, one on each shelf in the freezer and use better sealing freezer bags and not ziplock. I would suggest a machine that heat seals them. Good luck!


Canning in a Pressure Cooker Well, unfortunately the present my mom got me last Christmas turned out to be a pressure cooker and not a pressure canner.   I've read that it is unsafe to can low acid foods using a pressure cooker.

But is it safe to can high acid foods in a pressure cooker? I'd like to do this because it uses a lot less water and a lot less energy than boiling water canning.

Does a pressure cooker actually cook to a lower temperature than a pressure canner? (My pressure cooker just has two settings (high and low) and I don't know what the PSI is on them.

Pressure cookers and pressure canners are the same thing; with the canners being larger, and often having a pressure dial. Both can reach the same pressures and therefore temperatures if designed and manufactured correctly

The pressure canners dial gauge is more accurate for adjusting for food types and altitude, as you can get exact numbers not just 10 psi and 15 psi as with typical weight regulated pressure cookers. But for low acid foods you need 15 psi anyway

Pressure preserving is done because of the higher temperatures reached. This saves time and energy, and some food react better to a short 250°F (120°C) cook that an long 210°F (100°C) cook

Pressure preserving high acid food is worth doing as long as the food does not deteriorate quicker due to the high temperature (some soft fruits will)

For preserving low acid foods you need a known good pressure cooker that can reach 15 psi (103 Pa) and therefore 250°F (120°C)

With a commercially published recipe that has been acid level tested, you will have a published time that will be safe. For a home-made recipe you have to take the worst case scenario for the acid level of the main content, and cook for that. Your local government health department will most likely publish tables for this that you should be using. Remember to use altitude adjustments for timings too

Just relying on adding a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice per jar is not a safe and scientific method for raising the acid level, though many people do it, and have not come to any trouble with it?

You pressure cooker should come with a manual that confirms what it can or cannot do. Download a new copy if this has been lost

Also see What kinds of pressure cookers are there, and what are they good for?


Seasoning No-Stick Frying Pan When I buy a brand-new Frying pan, the instructions usually say to "season" or oil the Pan. I just purchased one and it also says to "season" after every 10 dishwasher cycles. I always wash my pan by hand, so do I need to do this every 10 washings? What is the purpose of "seasoning" the Pan

"Seasoning" on non-stick pans is quite different from seasoning on older frying pans made of things like cast iron or carbon steel.  For something like cast iron, you are trying to create a durable coating of polymerized oil, essentially a "non-stick layer" of burnt oil.  That process of seasoning can require a lot more effort and specific steps.

Your non-stick pan doesn't need that, since it already has such a coating that is resistant to sticking.  But you still can benefit from an occasional lubricant to smooth out any microscopic irregularities in the pan's surface and to serve as an additional chemical barrier between the surface and the food.

This New York Times article has a good summary of care for non-stick pans.  The author interviewed a number of manufacturers of non-stick pans.  To the relevant section:

  So this is what I should have known. I should have “preseasoned” the
  pan by rinsing and drying it and rubbing it with a paper towel with a
  little oil on it. Pretty much any type of oil will do.

  It’s a good idea to rub about a teaspoon of oil or butter on a cold
  pan each time you use it, Mr. Winter [director of research at Nordic
  Ware] said, because despite the name nonstick, most of the cookware
  needs some kind of lubricant.

  Just don’t pour oil or butter on the pan and then slosh it around (my
  method).

  “Then the oil is not adhering to the pan but being absorbed by the
  food,” he said. Not only will you have butter-soaked pancakes, but
  after a while they’ll start sticking because there’s no grease."

And later in the article:

  Although I don’t usually put my cookware in the dishwasher, I did as a
  last-ditch effort — another bad idea. Most experts I talked to said to
  hand-wash nonstick cookware, because the high heat and harsh
  detergents can ruin the coatings.

To answer your specific question: oiling periodically may or may not be required.  It depends on how you use the pan.  If you frequently cook with oil or butter and only handwash the pan, oiling may not be necessary at all.  If you rarely cook with oil or fat, you may find it helps to rub oil on the pan once in a while.

Using harsh detergents will be hard on the pan's surface, as the above quotation says about using dishwashers.  If you're handwashing, I'd just do it "as needed."  That is, if you notice your food sticking a bit, then wash the pan, dry thoroughly, and rub a tiny amount of oil on.  (Note that there's little benefit in leaving excess oil on the surface.)

I rarely use non-stick pans these days, but when I have, I never bothered with "seasoning."  As long as you handwash and cook with oil or fat, you may not need additional oiling at all.


The use of chicken bones that have frost on them I have chicken bones in the freezer that have frost on them. Can I still use them to make chicken broth?

Yep, you sure can. Frost, freezer burn, anything like that will have virtually no effect on broth making.