Carbonated drinks in cocktail shakers? I have a particular drink that is one of my favorites that I like to make at home.  It's sort of an Old Fashioned,  made with Jameson, Bitters, Cocktail Cherries (plus a little bit of the syrup), and a splash of either Soda, or Lemon-Lime soda.  I like to shake this drink in a shaker, because it gives it a nice looking foam when poured.

I've made this a million times in my old crappy shaker, that was kind of leaky. (I always had to shake over the sink, and still always made a mess)  I just got a new shaker that has a nice tight seal.  The problem: Once I get to shaking, the pressure builds up and shoots the top off the shaker, despite my best efforts to contain it.  I would have assumed that a splash of soda with all that whiskey wouldn't have that reaction, but it does.  Further more, I see bar tenders shake drinks with carbonated beverages in them all the time.

Is there a trick to shaking a cocktail with carbonated ingredients without it becoming a high school science project?  I must be missing something.

No, bartenders do not shake carbonated beverages.  I was a bartender for years and I have never known this to happen or be part of a recipe.  The carbonated sodas are always put on the top of the glass after pouring.  The foam comes from the sugar or egg whites in the sweet n sour mix.  You can find that recipe on line.  Here is one that is overly complicated, bars rarely (never to my knowledge) use fresh lemon or lime juice. However a good bar uses separate lemon & lime mix for different drinks, or they used to anyway. I personally use limeade or lemonade at home.  You can use one of the other or mix them together.  Throw that in a shaker & you will get some foam, it works in my blender.


Refrigerating leftover cooked potato My mom keeps telling me it is unsafe to refrigerate leftover cooked potato in any form because she claims refrigeration accumulates toxins in them (or something like that).  I, on the other hand, often refrigerate all forms of cooked potato, including but not limited to boiled, roasted, meshed etc.  Often, I will boil a bunch of potatoes, refrigerate them and then just slightly sautee them with spices before eating.

Who is right?  Can it be bad to eat leftover refrigerated potatoes?

Refrigerating cooked potatoes is perfectly safe.  The myriad of frozen and refrigerated potato products on the market demonstrate this, as do the experiences of millions of home cooks.

In fact, it is raw potatoes that should not be refrigerated, not because of safety concerns, but because they will convert starches to sugars and taste oddly sweet.  The ideal storage temperature is slightly higher, 45-50 F.


Should iodized salt be avoided when salting meat? Should iodized salt be a avoided when salting meat?

I have heard people telling me that iodized salt makes meat taste funny when using it for meat purposes. Is this true or can regular table salt still be used to salt meat?

Also should the salt water mixture be heated / brought to a boil before submerging any meat in it or is a brisk mixing adequate?

I assume you are making a brine?  Such as pastrami, corned beef, pickled pork, etc.

If so, you probably want to go with kosher or pickling salt.  Both are pure salt, and pickling salt is ground more finely to facilitate mixing with cold or lukewarm brines.

You can use iodized, table, or sea salt, but there are additives in them to prevent sticking that can affect the curing process or leave sediment in your brine (i.e. pickles or pickled meats stored in brine).  Sea salt may not have additives, but it may contain other trace minerals that could affect the finished product.

Here are some links on the subject:
Curing and smoking
More curing and smoking


Heated up oil for frying, stirred it, tiny bubbles appeared and rose slowly but with very loud popping sound - why? Last night I tried deep frying stuff for the first time.

As the oil heated in the pot, I thought it would be a good idea to stir the oil (I was really scared of it catching on fire). It was probably around 250F when I stirred it. Big mistake, should have just left it along.

For a few minutes after I stopped stirring, tiny little bubbles appeared in the pot, like the ones you would see in water just as it started approaching a boil. There weren't a lot of them, but they made these sharp, loud explosive popping sounds.

Why were they so loud and what is the science behind this happening?

Thanks!
  Matthew

It definitely sounds like you had some water on whatever you stirred the oil with. When water droplets get in the oil, they sink since oil is lighter than water. Then the water droplets turn to steam because the boiling point of water is much below the boiling point of oil. At this point, the steam rapidly rises out of the oil and escapes with a noise and a splashing of  oil.

It's good to be aware of the temperature of your oil when deep frying, but the oil will start to smoke long before it spontaneously combusts. Use a thermometer, and know the smoke point of the oil you are using, and you will be OK. The real danger is oil touching the burner, or the oil spilling on you, rather than the oil in the pot exploding. Stirring is unnecessary because the density of oil reduces as temperature increases, allowing the hotter oil to make its way to the top (but in a nice controlled manner, unlike water).


What is the best way to bake potatoes in embers? I have fond (and by now possibly largely inaccurate) memories of eating potatoes that had been wrapped in tin foil and baked outside in the embers of a fire.

I'd quite like to reproduce the experience for my kids, but preferably without my "tada!" being destroyed by a charred lump of organic matter, or a raw potato.

I expect it's mostly guesswork (and borderline 'cooking'), but do you have any tips or tricks for getting this right (or nearly so) first time?

It's actually pretty straight forward and fairly easy to do.

Build a fire. You are building a cooking fire, not a warm hands and look pretty fire. I use a log cabin style fire for this.
Wait for it to burn down so there are plenty of white coals. You don't want lots of "fire". Fire is pretty to look at, but more unpredictable to cook in then hot white coals.
While the fire is burning down, wash and prep your potatoes to bake as you would normally.
Wrap them tightly in tin foil.
Once the fire is burned down to hot, white coals, toss the potatoes directly onto the coals.
Wait until cooked (roughly 40 minutes for an average sized potato, on an average fire, adjust accordingly).
If you have a shovel or something, put some coals on to the actual potato as well, so you're completely surrounding it. It'll speed it up. If you don't have anything handy to handle coals, make sure you flip them half way.
Remove carefully and enjoy.

The moisture of a potato, will allow it to cook without burning. Just make sure you wrap them with no exposed areas, in order to trap the steam.


Why do you need to peel peaches to can them? I am going to be canning a bunch of peaches tonight, and I know that you have to peel them first (and I know how to do it easy), but I got to wondering, why do I have to do it?

I have always done it.  That is the way it was taught to me by my mother, but why?

The inside is the part that wants to rot, the out side is the protective coating (or so it seems).  Why do we need to remove it to can the peach?

My opinion- I haven't done rigorous testing:

Canning softens the interior of the peach but when I have (in my laziness) left the skins on they stay tough and quite unpleasant tasting.

I doubt it has any effect on the longevity of the product but it would make it a little less pleasant and versatile.


Why does the Instant Pot use pressure while steaming? I think this question falls under "equipment", but if it's off-topic, please close and I'll delete it.

I recently acquired an Instant Pot. To my surprise, its "steam" setting generates and uses pressure. If I steam something for 10 minutes, for example, I have to manually release the pressure or let it equalize naturally before I can open the lid. This has deleterious effects on certain foods. For example, idlis will not puff up the way one would expect; the pressure prevents it.

I hadn't thought that steaming food used pressure, generally speaking. The Wikipedia page on steaming explicitly contrasts the two:

  The food is kept separate from the boiling water but has direct contact with the steam, resulting in a moist texture to the food. This differs from double boiling, in which food is not directly exposed to steam, or pressure cooking, which uses a sealed vessel.

My earlier rice cooker (which the IP replaced) had a steam setting as well; on that one, steam escaped continually from the vent during the steaming process.

I'm trying to figure out what the advantage is of sealing the vessel and building up pressure if the intention is to steam food. The product manual is very sparse on detail regarding steaming, but does mention that steaming vegetables "require[s] 1~2 minutes pressure cooking time" and that pressure must be released manually after steaming.

Is it the case that the "steam" function of the IP is not actually meant for steaming, say for custards or dishes that rise? Is it meant for pressure cooking vegetables in a way that replicates the effect of steaming, but faster? I tried searching online to find out more about how the steaming function of the IP works, but found nothing useful.

TL;DR

The Instant Pot is primarily a pressure cooker and its "steam" function is for pressure steaming. I guess typically you do raw/frozen veggies and seafood with this function.
You can do normal steaming in "sauté" mode with a vented glass lid (sold as an optional accessory, or if you have a vented lid that fits).

Why?

  Is it the case that the "steam" function of the IP is not actually meant for steaming, say for custards or dishes that rise? Is it meant for pressure cooking vegetables in a way that replicates the effect of steaming, but faster?

  ... my question is about why the IP uses pressure for steaming, not how to steam with an IP. The technique described in the link doesn't use the steam function of the IP, it uses the sauté function.

Assuming it doesn't turn out to be user error (I don't own one to confirm), I believe the "steam" function is just intended for pressure steaming. After all, it is a pressure cooker. So you'd use it when you need to do pressure steaming.

It's possible that the button only says "steam" and not "pressure steam" because the designers felt the use of pressure was implied for this product. As for why it just says "steamer" in the product description, that's a question only their marketing department can answer. They could've gone 8-in-1 if they counted "air dry" (lid and electricity not required) or "funny hat".¹

Here is a long-winded YouTube video² about pressure steaming with the Instant Pot. At the very start he states:

  The steam function is mostly used to cook raw or frozen vegetables as well as shellfish and other seafood.

At 4:05 he uses the "steam" function. I'm not going to describe the video in detail because I suspect it echoes the manual for this particular process.

Note also about pressure steaming in the Instant Pot, the video states at 2:30 that a typical stove-top pressure cooker runs at 15 psi but the IP runs at 10.15-11.6 psi, and thus recommends increasing pressure cooking times for stove-top recipes by 7-15%. I can't personally comment on or confirm this as I don't have a lot of pressure cooking experience.

Regular Steaming How-To

As for normal steaming, I do not own an Instant Pot and can not say for sure, but I found this article about using it as a steamer (author is a different Jason), which pretty much hacks it with the "sauté" function. In particular (emphasis mine):

  I’m not talking about pressure steaming here, but simply using the Instant Pot as a countertop steamer.

  ...

  The optional Instant Pot glass lid has a small vent hole at the top that releases some steam. The power of the steam in the pot also causes the lid to rattle ever so slightly, the same way some slow cookers do.

The article gives the following steps:

  Place your steamer basket and 2 cups of water into your Instant Pot
  Set Instant Pot to saute mode, and adjust the heat level to ‘more’
  Place the glass lid onto your Instant Pot to allow the water to reach a low boil / simmer
  Add your vegetables to the steamer basket and re-cover the pot with your lid.
  Steam to desired doneness!

It also makes a note about the initial step:

  The water reached 203°F after 6 minutes without the lid on. The water will reach temperature a minute or so faster if you leave the lid on while preheating.

The key point here is there appears to be an optional glass lid with a vent hole. If you don't have this accessory you might have a vented saucepan lid that fits. Also don't forget a steamer basket.

Now, I don't know if that applies exactly to your model (not sure which one the author of the article has) or if the linked products fit, so that part's up to you.

1 For an extra $29.99 you can even get the 9-in-1 "leak stopper" version which can catch rainwater if placed under a leaky roof.

2 Which perfectly complements my long-winded answer...


Burnt candied pecans I made a pound of candied pecans (egg white, brown sugar, vanilla...) and I guess I baked them too long.  They are good except for a burnt flavor and I was wondering if anyone knew of anything I can do to them now to salvage them... a coating or something?  I was considering brushing them with melted butter and sprinkling a sugar cinnamon mix on them... or dip half in chocolate?  Any ideas?

Cut the pecans a bit smaller than whole, fry up a bunch of bacon, super crispy. Crumble that up and mix it in: meaty, protein-y snack, ... or sprinkle it on salads, veggies, and stuff. The bacon will set your senses up for a smokey burned flavor, and unless the pecans are completely carbonized, it'll taste great.


Sushi rolls opening up Last night I made sushi rolls for the first time.

The issue I encountered is that the rolls would open up when taking them with the chopsticks. The rice was super sticky and held very well, but the rolls would open up on the edge where they were supposed to close.

Any idea why this would be happening?

I assume you're making normal maki (nori side out) and not California rolls.

Are you leaving a 1/2 inch or so of blank nori (no rice) on the outside edge (the edge that you roll last)?

If you slightly wet the bare edge of the nori with a little water on your finger it should help it stick together.


What cut of goat is appropriate for stews? What cut of goat is appropriate for stews? My options are: leg, rack, shank, short loin and shoulder.  Please rank them if you can.

In the past, I've used neck pieces and the bones seemed to be an important part of the flavor.  This time, I don't have that the option of neck pieces but I would like to make the best choice of my available options.

I just made a stew with lamb neck and was not really impressed (also, I think I damaged by knife trying to hack the bones up). I plan on using shoulder next time.

Anything with a lot of connective tissue works well for "low and slow" cooking like braising/stewing. Cuts that are already tender like rack and short loin are better used in other preparations. Shank would work well, but you'd have to pull it apart before serving. The shoulder could be cut up before hand. Shank works better just braised by itself.

I'd order them something like:

Shoulder
Shank
Leg
Rack
Short Loin


What is a good substitute for full cream milk powder? I'm interested in making this milk bread recipe and noticed it called for full cream milk powder. I only have skim milk powder on hand, but read that using just skim milk powder won't provide the full milky taste that using full cream milk powder would.

I was thinking of adding butter to the skim milk powder, would this be a good substitution?

I wouldn't add whole butter if all you're after is some extra fat.

You could try gently rendering down some unsalted butter to get the fat you want.

Do this on very low heat, do not let it burn, take it on and off the heat periodically until it barely begins to foam, then skim off the fat with a small strainer or a tea ball.

Then, save the clarified butter for something else.

A small quantity of that stuff goes pretty far, so you'd have to do some experimenting. A stingy teaspoon per cup of skim milk powder sounds like a reasonable starting point, but try a small batch first for testing.


Why do eggs have expiry dates? And what will happen if I eat them after they're past the expiry date?

All of the answers you are looking for have been touched on in various parts of this question: How long can I keep eggs in the refrigerator?

Summary:

Expiration dates are for best quality only. Nothing magical happens on that date.
Truly fresh eggs (i.e. from the chicken) will hardly degrade at all even after a year in storage.
Supermarket eggs are washed, removing the protective layer and lowering the shelf life.
Some supermarket eggs are already contaminated with salmonella, and there's no test you can do to find out for sure (other than eating them raw). This will cause serious problems if you leave them in storage for several months, unless you freeze them.
Lastly, damaged eggs will simply go rotten.  You won't always see the damage, but you'll definitely smell it by the time you hit that best-before date.

As with just about every other food, you're better off interpreting the sell-by or best-before dates as a conservative guideline; any food can go off before the date if it's been damaged or mis-handled, and many foods will still be fine long after they "expire".  StillTasty.com is a good resource for finding out how long various foods actually last in storage.


Ideal pan temperature for frying meats (kangaroo, chicken etc.) using IR thermometer? I've recently bought a Thermoworks IR thermometer. I'm hoping to use it with my pan when frying meats, to get more ideal temperatures.

There's plenty of content online about what the internal temperature of the food should be (e.g. http://www.thermoworks.com/blog/2010/10/chef-recommended-tw-approved/).

However, there doesn't seem to be anything online on what actual quantifiable temperature the pan should be (it's all very unscientific - e.g. hold your hand over the pan, does it feel hot? Can you hold it there for 3 seconds?)

I know that the actual number will probably depend on a number of factors (e.g. type and cut of meat, equipment etc.). However, it'd be good to get a rough idea of the range for the pan's surface temperature I should be aiming for.

The pan I have is a Scanpan non-stick pan, reasonably thick (similar to http://www.amazon.com/Scanpan-Professional-12-5-Inch-Fry-Pan/dp/B000NI6DMS), and I'm using grape-seed oil.

The meats I'm frying are things like kangaroo burger patties (http://gourmetgame.com.au/products/kangaroo/), or chicken breast pieces.

Would 250 C be too hot? Lower?

How about frying eggs?

(I wish there was a table, like there was for internal meat temperatures...haha).

I was looking at this same question awhile back when I got an IR thermometer, what I found was 2 things. The first thing is that there are too many variables to have a single answer that would work. The pan temperature you want at the start depends on a number of factors including:

Material of the pan: how much heat it conducts
Mass of the pan: how much material is in the pan
Type of burner/element
Heat output of burner/element
Food being cooked

So you would have to develop all these numbers for each pan on each burner, with different heat settings through experimentation. Other people's numbers would mean nothing unless you are using the same equipment.

Another reason is that the pan's starting temperature isn't actually that important. When you put food in a pan the temperature is going to drop, how quickly depends on the factors above, however the total amount of heat it will take to cook your food and the rate you want to apply heat remains about the same no matter which pan and material you use. It's a question of heat supply to the pan over time, all you really need to know is that your pan is hot enough to start. It's the temperature of the pan while the food is on it that is important. You can measure it quite a bit but at the end of the day all you conclude is you need to have your burner set to a certain level.


How long is it safe to marinate meat? I started marinating some almost-thawed chicken and skirt steak in the refrigerator on Monday.  It's Saturday, and I still haven't gotten around to cooking the meat.  Is the meat still safe to cook and eat?

I made several different marinades consisting of lime juice, red wine vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and pepper.  I'm not sure if that makes a difference.

I can't see any reason for the marinating itself to make any difference. If it's safe to leave the (un-marinated) meat in the same conditions for the same length of time, then it's safe to marinate it for that long.

Five days in the refrigerator is definitely stretching it for chicken - usually no more than a few days is recommended, and that's assuming it was fresh when you bought it (not a day before the sell-by date).  Even if it's safe, it's not going to be very good.  I've accidentally left raw chicken in the refrigerator and forgotten about it before, and it started to smell "off" after about 4 days.  I hate to say it, but I wouldn't use it at this point.

As for the steak, you're probably okay, because you only have surface bacteria, but I would cook it well and right away.  Again, most cooks I know will recommend no more than a few days in the fridge.

P.S. I've heard people say that weak acids such as lime juice "preserve" the meat, but never from a reliable source; even if it worked, every marinade is different and it would be nearly impossible to predict the exact amount of time it preserves for.  You have no idea how much bacteria existed at the outset, and even if the marinade somehow helped to inhibit growth of new bacteria, the "spoiled-ness" of raw meat doesn't come from the bacteria itself but from the toxins they leave behind.  It's not a requirement for the bacteria to multiply in order for the food to spoil, if enough existed in the first place.

Unless somebody has it on good authority that marinating makes any significant difference, I refuse to put any stock in that bit of folk wisdom and recommend that others be equally skeptical.


Is liquid seeping from the fish normal when making gravlax? I'm currently trying to make gravlax for the first time! I bought about 2 lbs of fish, specifying that I wanted to eat it raw so they gave me something appropriate for that. I put lots of salt, a bit less sugar and some dill between 2 large pieces of fish, wrapped it up tightly in saran wrap, put it in the fridge with some weight on top.

This morning when I went to flip it, there was a lot of liquid in the bottom of the dish I put all of that in. It didn't smell fishy at all, I cleaned it up and flipped it and put it back in the fridge.

The lack of fishy smell makes me think everything is all right, but I wanted to ask if that's something to be expected, or if it's usual, or if it means the fish isn't safe to eat.

Thanks a lot!

Yes it is normal.

The salt (and sugar) will "extract" the water from the fish meat.

[...]On a technical level, what both the salt and sugar do is draw moisture out of the fish through osmosis. This decreases the moisture level of the fish, which in turn makes it less hospitable to microbial life. The salt, meanwhile, also helps ward off bacteria that would otherwise hasten spoilage. This extends the edible life of the salmon, but only for a short amount of time—gravlax is not cured in any long-term sense of the word. [...]

Taken from : http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/04/how-to-make-gravlax-cured-salmon.html


Why is my corned beef overly salty? I cured my own corned beef recently, and cooked it sous vide (a la J. Kenji Lopez Alt). The result was superior to the pre-cured joints I've boiled to oblivion in the past to be sure, but it was unpalatable salty.

I'm trying to figure out what I did wrong and how to correct it, and I'm going in a couple of main directions.

Too much cure. The recipe had kosher salt and pink salt. I substituted tender quick for pink salt. Perhaps the concentrations are different? Perhaps I don't need both kosher and TQ? I also noticed some of the salt took almost a week to dissolve. Maybe that points to an excessive amount of cure.
Salt couldn't escape. I suppose one downside of cooking sous vide in this case is that the salt can't really dissipate as it might otherwise. I did rinse the beef thoroughly before cooking it, but perhaps instead it should be soaked for a while (a few hours perhaps?) in cold water before getting vacpacked and cooked.

I think 2. is the most likely. Remember the beef has been brining for ages, a rinse will just remove the salt from the outside, and even then it won't do much.

Personally I wouldn't bother with the sous vide. 'Proper' corned beef should be gently simmered in a covered pot for about 2.5 hours. It doesn't need 'boiling' per se, and certainly not to oblivion!


A lot of foam while cooking a cod with steam I was cooking a cod with steam, but unexpectedly a lot of foam came out. First, I thought that the pot has not been cleaned but after re-cleaning the pot and refilling the water the situation repeated. My fish is surrounded by foam (like from the dish soap) instead of the pure steam. Any idea what is going wrong?

The fish was bought in the supermarket as "fresh" (not frozen), looked and smelled normally.

This sounded quite normal. Steam condensing on your fish is washing small amounts of protein into the steaming water below. It is quite harmless. As mentioned in my comment above, most of us have experienced that when boiling cold eggs too quickly causing the shell to crack and some egg white to leak into the water. That always make at least a bit of foam and often enough to overflow that pan.

There are a couple of things you can do to minimise that:

pat dry the fish before steaming
use a container under the fish to catch any juices so that none of it goes into the steaming water

More water in the pan and a gentler boil might help too


Colour fading strawberry Someone brought me some strawberries. After washing and wrapping in facial tissue, I found red color in the tissue. My question is will natural strawberry color do that? Or was the color painted on to make the strawberries good looking?

I have certainly seen red come off when drying strawberries I've grown myself. But I don't normally dry them (I don't even wash them unless they're dirty).


Substitute for marjoram Are there any herbs similar to or anything i can substitute marjoram with?

Marjoram is a type of Oregano, or rather it is from the Origanum family (origanum majorana, oregano is origanum vulgare).  So oregano makes the closest substitute I find, though it is stronger, so use less, oregano is often called wild marjoram.


How to reduce or eliminate the flavor of orange in a stew? I made a stew that required a couple of slices of orange, and it now has a strong orange flavor. It was cooking for over 3 hours and the orange skin was even dissolved. Any tips? Thanks.

I've normally found that acid (vinegar) and bitterness (sharp herbs perhaps) can lower the intensity of the sweetness of orange. I also think that a slightly bitter herb like rosemary or sage would meld nicely with the orange, burying the flavor a bit. It might already be a little bitter from the pith of the orange.


Can I substitute red onion for green onion Will red onions, instead of green onions, work with these other indgredients:

Pecans, Cheddar Cheese, Mayonnaise?

Thank you.

Red onion, or any other onion for that matter, is a pretty reasonable substitution for the white portion (on the right in the picture below) of the green onion/scallion.  They're all alliums, after all, and have a reasonably comparable flavor.  As @Stephie notes in the comments, you may want to use a slightly smaller portion; red onion tends to be a little more pungent.  Another way that you can deal with this pungency is to soak your diced red onion in water for a few minutes, which will dilute the heat. (Which works for white onions too, by the way.)

The green portion of the scallion (on the left) is a bit grassier in flavor and much less pungent; red onion isn't quite as good a match for this part.  If you have access to them, chives would be a better replacement, unless you're cooking the dish, in which case chives would lose a lot of their delicate flavor.

Given the other strong flavors you've listed, red onion will probably do just fine. I'm guessing that the onion is a relatively small amount at any rate, and just there to add a bit of textural contrast and a little extra sharpness.


Why doesn't my bread rise in the oven? (Not first rise) I've been trying to work on nice bread but am having issues with the bread not rising in the oven. The first rise after kneading seems to go well, as does a short rise after shaping but before going in the oven.

At this point I've experimented with longer/shorter times for everything and am at wit's end. The bread tastes fine and has some good bubbles in it. It's just very flat.

Oven spring is caused by the air pockets in the dough expanding from the heat. (Dough rises from gasses released from the yeast.)

After the shaping and final rise, often times there is a light, dry "skin" over the dough. By slashing a dough before it goes into the oven, you break this skin, and the bread is able to expand. If the loaf is a "fancy loaf" and you can't slash it without ruining the appearance (like a braided loaf), try to keep the loaf from drying out with a light mist of cooking spray after shaping and before the final rise.

Perhaps the bread is cooking too quickly when it hits the heat of the oven, essentially cooking a crust before the air pockets get heated enough to expand? Baking in a moist environment should help with that. Place an empty, sturdy pan (I use a cast iron skillet) on the bottom rack of the oven (or directly on the floor of the oven) before preheating. When you place the bread in the oven, pour about 1 cup of very hot water into the empty pan. This will create a bunch of steam, and help prevent the bread from crusting before it gets its "spring."

If you have a pizza/baking stone, use it. Having a hot surface to set your pans on helps with the rise. Think about it... you open the oven door, and out goes a lot of the heat... even though the walls of the oven are retaining the heat, it will take a little while before that heat reaches the bread. Setting the pan on the stone will give you that instant heat on the bottom, causing dough to rise from the bottom up, rather than just getting a small rise from the top area.

If you don't have a stone, invert a heavy baking sheet, cast iron griddle, or something similar, and heat that up in the oven the same as you would for a baking stone. Invert the sheet pan so it's easier to slide your bread pans on and off the hot pan without having to deal with a small edge.

If you haven't got equipment to do the other options listed above, you can try the "cold oven method." Just put the loaf into a cold oven, and set the temperature. Don't preheat. The gradual heat from the bottom of the oven as it preheats will give you some of that "oven spring."

I use a baking stone and steam, but I have had great success with using an inverted aluminum sheet pan with steam before I got the stone... and before I learned that trick, I used the simple cold oven method (no steam as the oven is cold!).


Why is 45 degrees Celsius considered the optimal temperature for coagulating milk? I heated pasteurized milk to around 80 degrees Celsius and let it cool down to 45 degrees Celsius (according to a few guides) before adding 50 mL vinegar. But I've been wondering, why is it considered the optimal temperature for coagulating milk? (Note: This was for an experiment and I don't intend to add any starter cultures. I'm just investigating the effect of acids on the coagulation of cow milk.)

45C is not the optimal temperature for the acid coagulation of milk. There are a variety of methods for milk coagulation. Different variables are at play in each system.  For acid coagulation, milk is heated to 80C for at least 5 minutes to denature the proteins.  The addition of acid, and continued heating causes the coagulation.  Perhaps you are confusing the necessity of cooling with adding live cultures, such as in yogurt making.  In this case, the cooling step is necessary to provide an environment that supportive for the growth of the live cultures.


Is there something I can do to keep ice-cream soft? I have bought a electric ice-cream churner, I have tried so many different flavours, different recipes, used alcohols.
Have read previous questions and a don't believe that leaving ice-cream out to thaw -scoop then refreeze is the only answer.How do the commercial companies keep them soft.
I generally find the next day it is fairly reasonable to scoop, but day after day -the longer it stays the harder it becomes.

Yes, actually, there are two magic ingredients: Guar gum and Xanthan gum.

Guar gum is a thickener, but in small quantities can also prevent the growth of ice crystals which would cause the ice cream to harden into icicles.

Xanthan gum is a stabilizer which helps keep air (called overrun) in the mixture.  Air is generally churned into ice cream by ice cream machines, but it won't stay that way without the stabilizer.


What is the best way to clean a roasting tray/baking tray that has sauce burned on to it? I made this recipe last week - chicken wings roasted in a marinade of soy sauce, brown sugar and white wine vinegar. It was delicious but lots of the marinade has burned onto my baking tray, and I'm struggling to get it clean.

I put it in to soak immediately, scrubbed and then tried washing powder, but it is still very firmly stuck on. Does anyone have any cleaning ideas that might help me in this case?

Half fill it with water, then put in on the stove top over a medium heat.  Work the burnt-on bits with a wooden spoon or spatula as the water starts to boil.  You should be able to soften it up and be able to get it off then.


How to season a giant cast iron cider press? How do I season an antique cast iron cider press that I just bought? It is substantially bigger than any stove, oven, or grill that I own, at about 48" diameter.

I'd consider other food-safe finishes too, but seasoning seems the obvious choice given that it is cast iron.

I would not heat up a large cast iron press - too much to go wrong there, little benefit. You are not frying on the thing.

Clean any oil/rust that's on it, dry carefully, oil it with mineral oil or wax it with beeswax (or paraffin wax, but beeswax will probably stick better,) use it, clean it up well, dry very carefully, and re-oil/wax before storage.


Bean selection for a chili recipe I am planning on making a new chili using grilled venison, Great Lakes Black Out Stout, and roasted corn (I'm in Ohio and sweet corn is getting good right now). My least favorite part of making and eating chili is the beans; I hate selecting them and pick around them in my bowl. (I will probably also be using chiles en adobo, serranos, and roasted jalapenos/tien tsin as my pepper trinity.)

The only ones I do actually like are black beans. What would your recommendations be for a good bean, both in choice and preparation to pair with the ingredients above? (Please include other ingredients or flavors to incorporate in the comments.) I want it to be dark and mysterious; typically I name things first and then build them up from there and this one I'm calling Bear's Den Chili (hopefully that will be a note to start you off with).

We make vegetarian chili every few months, and use a combination of many kinds of beans. You can use kidney, cannelini (white kidney beans), pinto, small red, small white, roman, etc. We like Goya's beans. If the meat is tough, you may want mushier beans to add textural difference, so you might want to avoid black beans or black-eyed peas. (Unless they're your favorite, of course!)


My once black cast iron skillet is now dark silver on the inside. Have I ruined it? the bottom of my pan is now a dark silver instead of black.  the inside sides of the pan is still black.  I used brillo pads to clean it and now I fear I have ruin this pan as well as another that have been passed down from generations to me.  Can they be repaired?

It sounds like you may have scrubbed the seasoning off your pan.  It is not ruined, but will need to be re-seasoned.  As you can see on the right (if accessing the site on a computer), where it says "related", there are a number of links to questions and answers about cast iron seasoning.  If you are accessing the site on another device, you can search for "cast iron care", or "cast iron re-seasoning" using the search bar.


How do I thicken tomato-based pasta sauce without adding starch? I like to cook from scratch and I like to make my tomato-based pasta sauce (marinara) by cooking fresh tomatoes with herbs etc.  However, the cooked tomatoes are always too runny for my taste and lacking the thickness that jarred supermarket alternatives do add to the pasta.

I have tried cooking the sauce longer to get more water to evaporate but never was able to reach the "processed" level of consistency/thickness. I am familiar with other forms of thickeners, such as roux or corn starch, but I'd rather not add starch.  Is there another thickening agent I could use in my home-cooked marinara sauce?

Fresh tomatoes are insanely watery, so you're starting at a pretty big disadvantage here. Trying to fix it with a thickening agent alone might not be the best plan.

That said, if you want a short answer: use tomato paste, whether homemade or storebought. It'll thicken and improve the flavor. Watery tomato sauce usually has watery flavor, not just watery texture, so any way you thicken besides tomato paste is likely to leave you with a thick sauce that still lacks flavor somewhat.

First off, try to make sure you're using more pasty less juicy tomatoes. It's hard to give very specific advice since this depends a lot on exactly which varieties you get. But everyday supermaket tomatoes are generally too juicy, with the plum tomatoes often (but not always) being somewhat better.

From there, the most common options leave something to be desired:

Remove some of the juice before cooking. This costs you some flavor, though.
Cook longer to reduce the sauce. This costs you the fresh tomato flavor.
Puree the sauce, so that the pulp gets spread around and thickens the liquid. This doesn't fix everything, but it helps a bit. You get this for free with longer cooking and reasonably small chopping, but you can also use a food mill, or grate the tomatoes, or find another way to thoroughly smash them.

So the best option, if you're looking for a totally fresh tomato sauce might be something like:

Make your own paste (nice and thick and rich). It's easiest to reduce without burning in the oven, but you can do it in a pot too with some care. This is the time-consuming part, but if you do it in bulk, maybe not so bad.
Make your own quickly-cooked puree (so you keep the fresh flavor as much as possible). If you have a food mill you can save a lot of time here by just hacking up the tomatoes and bringing them to a boil as fast as possible and cooking for 5-10 minutes, then using the food mill to get the skins and seeds out.
If you want chunkiness, either mix in some fresh tomatoes just before serving, or if you want the chunks cooked, accept that you'll need more paste to make up for their water.
Add paste until it's thick enough.

Then since that's all a bit time-consuming, you can save time by buying paste (it's cheap and easy). If you don't have a food mill, peeling and seeding is kind of a pain if you're making larger quantities, so you might consider just chopping reasonably finely and tolerating the skin and seeds.

There's a much longer writeup, "How to Make the Best Tomato Sauce From Fresh Tomatoes", of essentially this technique with an awful lot more attention to detail at Serious Eats. I personally find the lazier versions to be a better balance of time spent and resulting sauce quality, but you might think it's worth it.


Cooking up onions, without oil For a while now I have been trying to reduce my intake of fried food, or food otherwise cooked with oil. However I still make a lot of things with onions, and I end up sautéeing them with vegetable oil. If I use a non-stick pan, can I sautée onions without oil? What are some techniques to cook onions without oil?

Aaronut's answer to a related question outlined the differences between non-oil methods of cooking onions (such as steaming or sweating). The taste will be different because different chemical reactions are occurring.

If you want to sauté onions without a lot of oil, try oil sprayers (Pam, or hand-pump sprayers loaded with your favourite oil). This will minimise the amount of oil you use. Using less oil means you have to move them around more often to prevent burning. (If you fry onions by themselves, they will probably just dehydrate and burn.)


How long should I steam squid and cuttlefish? I have read that the squid and cuttlefish are more tender if they are cooked in less than 3 minutes in a pan. But what about steam cooking, how much time does it need?

I have always found that squid needs to be only cooked for 1 minute (2-3 minutes if battered and deep fried). Any more or any less results in very rubbery texture.

It can also be slow cooked for an hour or more in a soup so that it becomes tender.


Is it safe to put a baking steel directly on oven's floor? I have an electric oven with concealed heating elements, I am considering putting my baking steel directly on the oven's floor for the purpose of doing some cooking experiments.
Is this safe?
Would it damage the oven?
Manual here.

Since the manual specifically mentions not dragging anything across the bottom, this implies to me that objects can be rested there, as long as they are carefully set in place and removed.


Why did my jello not set? To a 3 oz. box of orange jello I added 1 cup of boiling liquid (mandarin orange), then a pint of orange sherbet and finally the drained oranges.  The jello had a bubbled effect on top and did not set well.  Vanilla ice cream worked just fine; do I need to change something in order to use sherbet?

A lot of fruits denature gelatin so it doesnt set.

All of the citruses, papaya (that has an enzyme called "papain" that breaks proteins), pineapple ("bromelin") and a lot of others cannot be used with gelatin without being very thoroughly cooked, as in boiled for one hour or so.

If you just brought mandarin oranges to a boil for using, that could be it. Or it could be the sherbet.


Temperature at which to pickle herrings If the pickling process takes approximately  2-3 days, should the pickling process take place at room temperature? Or can it be done in a refrigerator?

Herrings should be pickled in refrigerator. Before the pickling solution fully infuses the fish, there's little to prevent its spoilage - and depending on strength of the solution and size (thickness) of pieces of fish, if the process is fast enough, that's non-issue, but if it's to take 2-3 days in room temperatures, you may end up with pickled fish that's spoiled inside.


What is this cast iron skillet with diagonal ribs intended for? I'm not actually sure if "skillet" is the right word for this, but it seems close. We got this second hand, so not sure of its origin.
The particular feature that I'm not sure of is the set of diagonal raised 'ribs'. Seems like they would keep the food items from the bottom surface. Is this something like what you would use a wire rack for when baking?
It is 10 x 10 in. (25 x 25 cm) and 1 1/2" deep.
Is this skillet intended for something specific? We're located in the USA if that makes any difference.

That is a "grill pan" and it is intended to allow food to cook above the grease that it might release, and create grill marks on the food in which it is cooked.  It simulates grilling without the benefit of the juices falling into the fire (which creates the grilled flavors that many of us enjoy).


What do you do with left over tomato paste? I sometimes make sauces that use tomato paste. The problem is that usually I need only one or two tablespoons and I don't know what to do with the rest of the can. The smallest can I could find is 6 oz. and while it only costs 50 cents, I hate the thought of the rest going to waste. It's also not particularly flavorful.

Any ideas?

This isn’t really an answer to your question, but I have found that Amore brand tomato paste has better flavor than canned tomato pastes and it comes in a resealable metal tube, which you can store in the refrigerator and take out whenever you need a tablespoon or two of tomato paste. It’s also more expensive than canned tomato pastes but you actually get the opportunity to use all of it rather than just a spoonful or two.

America’s Test Kitchen reviewed tomato pastes (subscription required link) and came to the same conclusion:

  Sold in a 4 1/2-ounce tube and priced at $2.49 (considerably higher than other tomato pastes), Amore Tomato Paste shined in our initial from-the-tube tasting—no cooking, no sauce. Tasters described the product as “intense” and “fresh,” which may be because of the fat it contains. It also scored points because of its tube packaging. Just squeeze out what you need and store the rest in the fridge. No fuss, no waste.


What's the line between salsa and guacamole? I know there is guacamole dip you can buy in the store refrigerator case. I know there's guacamole itself. I know there's jarred "guacamole style salsa" which is a smooth salsa with avocado in it. But where is the line where guacamole becomes a salsa and a salsa becomes guacamole?

Part of the problem is that "salsa" doesn't mean just one thing to everyone. If you do a web search for "avocado salsa" you get images ranging from liquid to chunky:

Similarly, there's no one "correct" way to make guacamole. Some people like it smooth and thick - hummus-like, if you will, other people like it partially mashed and partially chunky... almost the same as the chunky-style salsa.

So, how do we set limits if the products are so varied?
We really can't. I could write long "definitions" claiming that guacamole should be X% avocado and must be mashed in an authentic molcajete rather than in chunks or pureed... that salsas should be X% or less avocado and must contain things like tomato, onion, tomatillo... but you'll always be able to find something that calls itself "salsa" but seems more like "guacamole" or the other way around.
The important thing is, it's all delicious. Enjoy it!

The other part of your problem is that guacamole is a kind of salsa. From Wikipedia:

Salsa is the Spanish, Italian, Greek and Turkish (salça) term for sauce, and in English-speaking countries usually refers to the sauces typical of Mexican cuisine known as salsas picantes, particularly those used as dips. Salsa, contrary to common belief, is in fact not a condiment, although it may be used to flavor various food items.
Salsa is often a tomato-based sauce or dip that is a heterogeneous mixture that includes additional ingredients such as onions, chilies, beans, corn, and various spices. It is typically piquant, ranging from mild to extremely hot.

If you look under the "types", you will find guacamole.

Guacamole is thicker than a sauce and generally used as a dip; it refers to any sauce where the main ingredient is avocado.

You'll also find "Creamy avocado salsa".

Creamy avocado salsa is a sauce made from avocado, lime, cilantro, jalapeño or serrano peppers, garlic, olive oil, cumin, and salt.

Still, they're both "salsas".
So, in the end, there is no way to separate the two... though, if I were at a restaurant and order "guacamole" and they give me the first image at the top... I'd complain. Any of the other three, I'll take.


Why do I need to put sablé dough in the fridge? I made a sablé base for a cake last night. It was the first time I made this, so I used a basic recipe containing butter, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and egg yolks. After everything is mixed the recipe says to put the dough in the fridge for two hours so it can rest.

I wondered why this is necessary? There is no yeast in the dough that would let it rise.

My only idea would be too cool down the butter so it can be rolled out more easily, but then I think two hours would be pretty long for the amount of dough I got out of the recipe.

Therre are actually two things that happen during the refrigerated rest period:

Obviously, the dough is cooled, which firms up the butter, making it easier to roll out without having it fall apart.
The starch granules absorb water, making the dough more cohesive, improving its texture, and making it easier to work

See:  What does an overnight chill do to cookie dough, that a 4 hour chill doesn't?


Can olive oil be substituted for vegetable oil in a box cake mix? Can olive oil be substituted for vegetable oil in making a box cake mix?

Yes.  As far as the mix is concerned, oil is oil.  You're not reaching high enough temperatures to worry about smoke points or anything, and you're not trying to use a weird substitution (applesauce or some such).

That said, I've done this before, so I can tell you that it may affect the flavor of the finished cake-- vegetable oil is called for because of its neutrality, but olive oil (especially the good stuff*) often has a distinct, fruity flavor.  Depending on the (quality, quantity) oil that you use, that olive-oil taste may come through in your cake.  Whether that's a bad thing or not is up to you.

(*I and many others would consider it a total waste to use good extra virgin olive oil in a cake.  I can't speak to any health reasons you may want to substitute, but if it were me and I just didn't have any vegetable oil on hand, I'd either go to the store now or wait to bake the cake.)


Does an electric crepe maker require a hood and ventilation? I have an electric crepe maker and was wondering whether it is required to have a hood with ventilation to the outside of the building?

Doubtful (assuming we're talking about something along the lines of this, if its some kind of commercial unit doing 10 at a time, get a hood).

Crepes don't typically output enough fumes or smoke of any kind in quantity and an electric crepe maker should be even better on that front.  There may be a bit of steam, but nothing that should warrant an vent outside.


How should I store this BBQ sauce for later use? Dropped by a video where a BBQ sauce caught my attention. The ingredients used are:

Olive oil, for frying
1 small onion, peeled and finely diced
2–3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
6 tbsp tomato ketchup

I was thinking about making larger quantities so that I can use it on sandwiches throughout the week. Two questions came up in the process:

Is it safe to assume the sauce will be ok if refrigerated for a week? Can I keep it in the fridge for longer?
Would it be a good idea to store such a sauce in the freezer? If yes, for how long until everything goes wrong?

If it's any good, it will be gone long before it goes bad in the refrigerator. :-).

I've saved my homemade barbecue sauce for at least two weeks in the fridge.  Store-bought barbecue sauce lasts for months.  You do need to put it in a sealed container.


Do plastic cutting boards harbor more bacteria than wood boards? I've heard on numerous occasions that plastic cutting boards harbor more bacteria than wooden cutting boards. I use a large wooden cutting board often, but recently I've been finding it heavy and it sometimes leaves behind a flavour on food despite good cleaning.
Is there any objective evidence that plastic cutting boards harbor more bacteria than wood boards? I'm hoping there have been experiments that actually measure bacteria in these boards and perhaps compare them in real-life settings.
I've heard anecdotes and I've seen people provide plausible explanations why wood would be better for killing bacteria, but I haven't seen any hard data.

For the best sanitation, you want glass, or ceramic cutting boards. (Stainless steel is also good, but hardest on knives.)
But folks tend to not like any of these because they're hard on knives. It depends on your priorities, I guess. I prefer to err on the side of avoiding food-borne infections and other grossness, and I'm willing to replace or sharpen knives.
The problem with wooden cutting boards is that they're porous, so juices (especially from meat) can seep down into the wood and provide a rich nutrient broth for bacterial growth.
The problem with plastic cutting boards is that, every time you cut on them with a knife, you make a tiny groove in the plastic, which can harbor bacteria. These bacteria growing down in a groove or fissure are difficult to wash away, even with manual scrubbing. Also, tiny bits of plastic can end up in your food.
Plastic has a slight advantage over wood in that it's easier to wash. Throwing it in the dishwasher is the easiest, but won't get it completely sanitized, especially down in all of the knife-cut grooves. Your best bet for sanitizing plastic cutting boards is soaking them in a mildly diluted bleach (sodium hypochlorite) solution. For obvious reasons, none of that is really an option with wooden cutting boards. (Small wooden cutting boards can be sanitized by heating them, e.g., in a microwave, but this doesn't work well for large "butcher block" style, which are, in my experience, the most popular kind of wooden cutting boards that are seen.)
You really never want to use a wooden cutting board for meat. For meat, use something completely non-porous that can be easily cleaned, like glass or ceramic. In a pinch, you can use plastic, but make sure to sanitize it thoroughly and regularly.
A wooden cutting board is acceptable for fruit, vegetables, cheeses, breads, etc., and many people find it easier to work with than glass or ceramic. Plastic would also be fine for these items.

If you're interested in the research, there's quite a bit of it out there, but I can't claim to have read it all. The above is a general summary, based on my background in microbiology. The classic study is by Dr. Dean Cliver of UC Davis. You can surely find links to it online.
Another study, focused on commercial kitchens and the realities of induced wear (especially with regular cleaning), was conducted by Welker et al.: "Bacterial Retention and Cleanability of Plastic and Wood Cutting Boards with Commercial Food Service Maintenance Practices", and this is freely accessible online. The conclusion (unsurprisingly) was that wood is more likely to wear out, developing "cracks […] sufficiently wide to entrap bacteria." Plastic is easier to clean than wood, and "after standard food service washing and sanitizing", wooden cutting boards promoted bacterial growth but plastic did not.
A study performed by Nese et al. ("Decontamination of Plastic and Wooden Cutting Boards for Kitchen Use"), also freely accessible online, confirms what I stated earlier about plastic being generally easier to sanitize, but the knife-cut grooves tending to interfere with cleaning. This paper also discusses the popular argument that wooden surfaces will absorb juices (bacterial inocula), thus inhibiting growth. This is true to some extent, but as other studies have shown, cannot be fully relied upon, especially as the wood ages and cracks, due to both use (knife cuts) and cleaning.
The relevant advice on the US Food and Drug Administration is, essentially, that both wood and plastic are acceptable, so long as you sanitize them frequency and replace them when they begin to become worn. (In my experience, people tend to know that plastic boards need to be replaced—not that they always do it—but they tend to assume wood lasts virtually forever, and purchase accordingly, spending lots of money on heavy, expensive wooden cutting boards.) The FDA also mentions bamboo as a possible option, since it's harder and less porous than hardwoods, meaning that it absorbs less moisture and is more resistant to scarring. I don't have experience with this, so I can't comment any further.
I leave you with a quote from Dr. Charles Gerba, a professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona, Tucson, who told Food and Wine magazine:

In most cases, it’s safer to make a salad on a toilet seat than it is to make one on a cutting board.  There’re 200 times more fecal bacteria from raw meat on the average cutting board in a home than a toilet seat. Most people just rinse their cutting board, but poultry and raw meat can leave behind salmonella and campylobacter.
People disinfect their toilet seats all the time, but they don’t realize that they really need to pay attention in the kitchen too.

Indeed. In case I haven't emphasized it enough throughout this answer, the key is thorough, regular sanitation of your chosen cutting surface, no matter what it may be.


Cheesecake in Fridge Can i I freeze? I've had a store-bought cheesecake in the refrigerator for four days.  Would it be safe to freeze it?

If the cheesecake was fresh when you bought it and your refrigerator is running at 40 degrees or lower, you should be able to freeze it without a problem. Make sure you wrap the cake very well before freezing. I recommend wrapping tightly in plastic wrap and then placing the cake into a bag that you can either seal or tie shut. This will prevent the cake from drying out in the freezer. To thaw the cake, place it in the fridge for a day or two and it should come back to life without a problem.

The downside of freezing and thawing is that your cake may be slightly watery in texture and the crust might lose some of it's crispness. If the cake is wrapped well, the taste should be fine, despite the change in texture.


What kind of cheese is the result of boiling milk with vinegar at home? With this recipe http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Cheese-at-Home, which out of the following required cheese will I get at home?
http://www.food.com/recipe/incredibly-delicious-cheese-garlic-bread-spread-18914

The resultant cheese in your first link will be a fresh, soft cheese, nothing like either of the Parmesan or cheddar cheeses mentioned in your second link.  It is also an acid-based cheese, not a made with either rennet or bacterial cultures as are most other cheeses.

Parmesan is a very long aged cheese.

Cheddar is a... well... cheddared cheese (cheddaring is a process which reduces the moisture content of the curds) that is then aged for varying periods of time.

The fresh cheese in your first link will not serve you well in the same roles as either Parmesan or Cheddar.  While I realize these products may not be available easily where you live, they are very distinctive and hard to substitute for with homemade products--they just also not the kind of cheese that is normally made at home.

The home made cheese described is most similar to an unaged feta (although not goat's milk), or a Mexican queso fresco.


What can be used safely (e.g. basalt "hot stones") to fill volume of shallow pan for deep frying? I have an electric hot pot that would be good for deep frying as it automatically controls heat. However, the pot itself is more of a pan - shallow and wide. I was thinking of things I could put in the pan (on one side) in order to:

Increase the depth of oil (on other side)
Decrease the volume of actual oil used
Retain heat

So far, my questionably "best" idea/hack is to use basalt "hot stones" typical of massage therapy.

Seems like basalt is used in some cooking forms, e.g. as a hot plate for steaks etc. Some sub-questions to go along with this idea:

Can basalt stones withstand deep frying conditions of 375F?
Are most basalt stone products pretty much the "same" kind of basalt?
Is it safe for cooking (e.g. leeching, chemicals, reaction to hot oil etc.)
Are there any other safety issues I'm neglecting?

If people have any other ideas that can answer the question I'm all ears.

Electric "hot-pot" and "hot-stone" reference:

It's a neat idea and basalt is definitely a solid at 1000°C and is only a fluid liquid at 1200°C, so it's quite safe except it takes more time to heat up basalt than oil...  So the oil you're going to save while using a large pan containing basalt is going to be offset by the extra energy you need to pump into the system.¹

On a camping site when you don't have enough oil? Yeah, go for it!
In your own kitchen? Up to you, but I would just buy a smaller pan.

Note¹: Basalt is volcanic rock and also takes more time to cool down, so be careful when you do use it; leave the pan overnight on your counter to allow the basalt to cool off...


How does the choice of vegetable ratio and processing steps influence the taste of mirepoix? There are sources on the internet, but each one touches only one or two areas and some contradict each other. For example they say "two parts onions for other veggies" but videos always show equal parts onion to carrot and celery ratio.

I believe that simply explaining the process behind making a flavor base (how the veggies interact with each other, the role of fat, how dicing size affects the end result etc) will help us all make better informed decisions for our own preferences in whatever flavor base we choose to make.

A bit late to the party but ....

Onion and celery have similar effect in the mirepoix, the leeks will have a similar effect but with more depth on the sweet side & carrot will bring some sweetness.

Based on that, depending on what you want to cook, there are some guidelines.

For stews, keep in mind that some of the next ingredients might add some sweetness to the meal, so it's ok to equal the onion and celery parts to the other veggies.
For broth you might want to reduce the onion and celery part to 1/2 part of other vegetables (carrot, mushrooms, tomato paste, etc.) knowing it will eventually reduce into a demi-glace and that you will season it with spices and aromates. Reducing mean the flavor will concentrate.
For soup / potage you should adjust to the main ingredient to balance it out, usually I go with onion and celery in equal part and no carrots unless you want the soup / potage to have a sweet taste, which is ok for pea soup, tomato, carrot, etc.

Hope it helps,


Am I using my knives for the correct jobs? I've got a limited collection of knives which I was moderately pleased to discover meet the "minimum requirements". But, recent activity on here has got me thinking - am I using them for the correct jobs?

I have:

Long (8 inch) flat-blade knife (Chef's?).
Short (4.5 inch) flat-blade knife.
Very short (3 inch) serrated knife (Paring?).
Long serrated bread knife.

We can, I think, ignore the last one as I'm hopefully managing to use that for its intended role.

I currently tend to use the serrated knife for veg with any sort of "skin" (e.g. peppers, tomatoes, onions, etc), the short flat-blade for anything else small enough, and the large knife for meats and anything too big for the smaller flat-blade.

From what I've been reading on here, I get the feeling I'm using them for the wrong jobs - am I?
And what's the best use for each of these knives?

Well your chef's knife should constitute about 90% of your usage I'd say. It should be used for slicing, dicing just about anything. Your paring knife is actually the 3-4" one you describe. Paring knives are typically used for delicate tasks like, coring apples, peeling, and some people use it for mincing garlic because it's so small.

I've never seen a 2" serrated knife before, so I'm not sure what I'd use that for if anything. If you're using it because it seems to do a better job on the vegetables, then that's a sign that your chef's knife is dull. I have seen tomatoes sliced with a 6" serrated utility knife due to their tenderness. However, you generally don't want to use a serrated knife on an onion, this will cause a lot of the gas to be released that makes you cry.


What types of cooking are pressure cookers most useful for? We were just clearing out our kitchen and stared at this brand new, unused pressure cooker we got for our wedding over 10 years ago!  We've never felt the need to use it before.  I know it's supposed to be able to cook things really fast, but is this really an essential appliance?  We're debating if we should give it to someone else.  Before I do that though, I think I want to try it a few times. What kinds of things would best demonstrate its usefulness?

For me, the best use is making beans. I find that home cooked beans have a much better taste and texture than from cans. The pressure cooker can make them in just about an hour from the moment you pour them in the pot to perfectly tender, and no presoaking is required, so I don't have to plan a day in advance.


My rhubarb pie is runny I have been baking rhubarb pie since the 60s.  All of a sudden I made a couple and they both came out runny.  What happened?  I always use the same recipe.

The answer from zerobane provides some reasonable suggestions for working around a few common problems. Of course, they require you to know you're going to have problems ahead of time, which is a problem if you're using a "tried and true" recipe that fails infrequently... So ideally, you find a way to identify these problems before you start making your pie, and adjust the recipe as needed.
Water content
To gauge the water content, macerate your rhubarb ahead of time:

Cut the stalks into small pieces
Mix well with sugar - most pie recipes call for a rather large amount of sugar in the filling, so add it all now.
Refrigerate for several hours.

The sugar will draw out moisture from the rhubarb, allowing you to estimate how much thickener you'll need before you start cooking. Which thickener you use will depend on the style of pie you're aiming to make. You could also pour off some of the juice at this stage, but this will tend to reduce the rhubarb flavor.
Pectin content
The other variable here is pectin. A high pectin fruit (like the granny smith apples zerobane suggested) will - when mixed with sugar - happily thicken its own juices. Pectin levels in rhubarb vary, but generally it is fairly low compared to self-jelling fruits such as apples or oranges so you'll generally always add some additional thickener or (if you're making a jam) additional pectin; adding apples accomplishes the latter, while tapioca flour / clearjel / corn starch accomplish the former. Note that if you opt to add grated apples, you can press the juice out of them first (press them into a sieve or wrap in a towel and squeeze) - this'll increase their ability to thicken the rhubarb juice.
If you were hoping to depend heavily on pectin to thicken the filling, you could estimate that ahead of time too. But for a pie filling this is probably overkill; as zerobane suggests, simply pre-cooking the filling (with thickener adjusted based on the liquid released during maceration) will quickly tell you if additional assistance is needed. To add additional starch-based thickener to the hot filling, first mix it into a small amount of water (or fruit juice, or reserved rhubarb juice) and then slowly pour it into the filling while stirring; then simmer for a few minutes until the filling reaches the consistency of gravy - remove from heat, pour into a pie shell, and bake to finish.


How to make flavoured salt for potato chips A chips shop offers potato chips (french fries, in the US) in different flavour like chicken, chicken roast, bar b q, et cetera. I saw they make simple potato chips and then add a salt type stuff to it which gives flavour to the chips.

How can I to make flavoured salt like that?

To make seasoned salt, just put salt and dry spices into a spice grinder.

A lot of times they have an additive that makes this salt/powder stick to chips.  Also if you are frying them salt and seasoning will stick to them for a few moments after they come out of the fryer.


Are these Indonesian milk products cheese, yogurt, or curd? In Indonesia there are various traditional milk products (excluding tofu, which is made from soya milk, which isn't really milk at all)
This is one I found on an Indonesian e-commerce site:

This is called 'susu/dali/bagot horbo/kerbau' ('milk buffalo' in Batak/Indonesian language).  As far as I can tell dali and bagot both mean milk, or possibly breasts. There is not an obvious etymological connection between 'dali' and 'dahi', which is a Hindi word for 'curd'.
They seem to use papaya leaves, sisal, grated unpeeled pineapple or pea eggplant
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaEVi-4_0Bo
Essentially the fresh buffalo milk is cooked with an acid to reduce the water. I think there is not necessarily any process of pressing, but you end up with curds, which I'm not sure is 'cheese'?
This is 'dadih', which is from the Minang region, which is not far away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ybKzbAXkKU
It seems to involve buffalo milk being boiled to kill bacteria, and then placed in bamboo where presumably lactic acid bacteria are, which fairly obviously make yogurt. (Which is not cheese) The word 'dadi(a)h' here seems to be close to Hindi दूध (doodh), or milk. There was a lot of commerce between Sumatra and India so this is not surprising
This is another 'cheese', dangke, from another island, Sulawesi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWQbA7pd7-0
The process involves the sap from papaya skin being extracted and added to boiling fresh milk to curdle it. The curds are then strained in a sieve and lightly squeezed, then traditionally placed into a coconut shell.
I haven't tried it, however whereas dali ni horbo seems to be sold in the same way as tofu, floating in its 'whey', dangke seems to be slightly drier, and is usually sold in banana leaves:

This blog claims that cheese is fermented
https://thehungrybiologist5889.wordpress.com/2018/03/15/indonesian-cheese-dangke-from-enrekang-south-sulawesi/
and it's possible that 'being fermented' is part of the definition of cheese. (E.g., yogurt is made by fermenting milk with bacteria; if you strain yogurt then you have what I believe should be called cheese.)
However I don't see any fermentation in this process. The milk curdles, because of the papein, or acids, or whatever, and then it's squeezed a bit, placed into coconut shells and then banana leaves for sale. It seems unlikely that there's any significant impact on flavour due to banana leaves. Possibly you could age it, in the same way that rotten tofu or tempeh is often considered tastier than fresh, but this does not seem to be an essential part of the process.
Perhaps the definition above of 'cheese' is wrong, or overly prescriptive. Is there a reasonable boundary between when something stops being 'curdled milk', and starts being 'cheese', or indeed stops being 'strained yogurt', and starts being 'cheese'?

As for the background of the question - no, there is no "reasonable boundary", and it would be highly irregular to have one. Linguistic categories (as opposed to, say, mathematical sets) always have clear centers and partial membership, which creates fuzzy boundaries and a lot of overlap. Especially in cases such as you describe, using a classification which was created in one cultural context (the distinction between cheeses and yogurts in European food) to describe items from a different cultural context (food from Southeast Asia), it is absolutely normal to find that most items do not fit any category particularly well.
And now to the concrete question you are asking. In the classification you are using, a cheese is created by curdling milk with rennet into curds and then draining and ripening them to get the final product. Prototypical cheeses in Western European cultures would be Gouda or Emmental. However, "unripe cheeses" are also known, which basically mean you consume a product that is closer to curds than to ripened cheese - for example, quark, cream cheese and cottage cheese. Yogurt and other fermented dairy wasn't even that popular I believe, before Mechnikov started promoting it in the 20th century. But it is made with only lactic fermentation, with the intention to be spoonable and sour, rather than firm and salty. It also behaves differently from fresh cheeses - if you try to bake a yogurt mixture as a pastry filling, you will end up with it splitting, while a quark mixture will work well. Cheese can be fermented after curdling (feta ferments in its brine, and the holes in Swiss cheese come from bacterial activity), this doesn't make them any less of a cheese.
Your confusion here may come not only from the classification, but also from a minor linguistic hiccup - in Indian English, the word "curd" means the same product which in British and US English is called "yogurt", it is just a false cognate. So don't be surprised when you find blog posts written by Hindi-speaking authors who use it this way. The word "curd" exists in BE and AE, but it is never used for a finished product, it is an intermediate stage in the making of cheese.
So for the three examples you mentioned (just based on your description, I haven't eaten Indonesian food):

Essentially the fresh buffalo milk is cooked with an acid to reduce the water. I think there is not necessarily any process of pressing, but you end up with curds, which I'm not sure is 'cheese'?

This is cheese, more specifically it should be categorized as an unripe cheese. Most Europeans would likely consider it a form of paneer.

It seems to involve buffalo milk being boiled to kill bacteria, and then placed in bamboo where presumably lactic acid bacteria are, which fairly obviously make yogurt.

Your description here is unclear. If a yogurt culture is added, then it is yogurt. If the fermentation depends on wild cultures, it is not a yogurt, the proper English term would be buttermilk (used in the modern sense, not in the classic one).

The process involves the sap from papaya skin being extracted and added to boiling fresh milk to curdle it. The curds are then strained in a sieve and lightly squeezed, then traditionally placed into a coconut shell.

This is again not a yogurt, but a cheese, and again it seems to be an unripe cheese. Again, just because the prototypical cheeses are curdled with rennet, it doesn't mean that cheeses curdled by other methods are not cheeses.


Do I put vinegar in the water when poaching an egg? Does the water need to boil or just be hot? Do I need to put salt and vinegar in the water or just salt? And if it needs vinegar, what kind? How long do I leave it in the water to get the white solid but not the yolk? I do not like raw egg white, so this is very important for me. But the tricky part is to have the yolk nice and runny though...

By far the most important factor in a nice poached egg is the freshness of the egg.

Fresh eggs shouldn't need vinegar to help them set, but It can help with an older egg, whose white has started to go a bit runnier. Vinegar does leave a flavor, but if you're poaching your eggs ahead of time and putting them in iced water to stop them cooking, that does seem to wash it out.

Salting the water will toughen an egg, better to season it after it comes out.

A large egg, starting at room temperature, in barely simmering water (trembling) will take 3 1/2 minutes to just solidify the white, and leave the yolk very fluid. If you want your yolk more viscous, another half minute.


How is gelatine sold in U.S. grocery stores? I'm interested in trying a recipe from Alton Brown for marshmallow. I'm not sure what exactly "3 packages unflavored gelatin" refers to.

How much gelatine (in weight) is included in a standard package of gelatine in the U.S.? And what bloom* would that be?

Probably has no bearing, but is that likely to be powdered or leaf gelatine?

* Actually not sure what bloom is used for gelatine from Swedish stores. Awaiting a reply from Dr. Oetker's customer service on that point :-)

The packs typically contain the equivalent of 15mL of gelatine and are in powder form.  Each pack is measured to set 500mL or two cups of liquid.  As far as weight, it feels like about 6-7 grams of gelatin.

The dominant brand seems to be knox.

As for the bloom, I'm not really sure as I haven't seen it published on the label.  However, I have actually made marshmallow using the same Alton Brown recipe and it seemed pretty tolerant.  So slightly different bloom should be fine.  I also deviated with the corn syrup and didn't use it (I avoid corn).  The end result was still awesome.


What is the difference between a Dutch Pot (Dutchie) and a Potjie? I think about buying a Dutch Oven. As this is mainly - and as the name says - an oven, I think also about buying a pot to cook in the fire/coal. After some research I found

a) a Dutch Pot, also called a Dutchie (which is mainly used in the caribbean, take a look here) and b) a Potjie (which is mainly used in South Africa).

They look different and I have the impression that they do also "work" different in a way I cannot specify (and there is not so much information about Dutchies in the web). So can anyone explain me the difference between these two?

I cannot speak for the Caribbean version but a traditional South African Potjie is more like a cauldron that a pot. It has three legs so as to be able to stand on its own.

Conventional wisdom dictates that you would not use a potjie in an oven seeing as that hurts the pot. Another differences is in the size. You get the standard number 3 Potjie that is the most common and then also the number two pots and the number one.

The number one pot is truly fantastic to use.


Identifying Cast Iron Skillet - with weird pattern My mother gave me an old skillet she had, and to me, it looked like a normal cast iron. I wanted to 'clean' it the way I normally clean and season my other pans, by scrubbing it with chain mail scrubber, then heating it up and oiling it. On the back of the skillet it just says "KOREA 8" SKILLET"

However when I got to scrubbing more layers came off than I anticipated and now it has me wondering if it is cast iron or something else? It has a weird pattern that was exposed that I have not seen before on other cast irons. The lighter rings in the spiral rust when exposed to water and let to air dry.

Anyone able to identify? Can I proceed with seasoning it in the oven with oil as regular?

I am not an expert on cast iron, but I believe this just means that it's a machine-milled piece, instead of one cast from a mold. There's nothing better or worse about it as far as I know as far as performance goes, I think it just means that it's a relatively newer piece, since pans made from casting tend to be older. Some people prefer the older ones.


How is white pizza sauce made? As far as I know, the only difference between white pizza and red pizza is the sauce.

I know that the white sauce is dairy-based, but what is it exactly? What are the main ingredients, is it thickened somehow? Is there something special to pay attention to when making white sauce? How thick should it be exactly? Should it contain herbs or not? Oil? How does it combine with the cheese, is the cheese supposed to melt "into" it?

White pizza sauce isn't nearly as defined as red sauce.  It's largely whatever you want it to be.

It's literally any sauce you top a pizza with that is white.  It is often dairy based (cream or cheese added), but it could also be a thin parsnip puree.  It may contain herbs, it may contain butter, its up to you.  Again, thickness is up to you and whatever works for your dish.


Making bread dough in the bread maker and baking it in the oven I am in the process of making bread in the bread maker, but I want to try to bake it in the oven. I am just making white bread. What temp and how long would you recommend baking the bread?

General answer: for bread in a bread pan, 350°F until 195°–205°F in the center. That'll probably be around 40 minutes, I'd guess (and it seems you found) but a thermometer will let you be sure (and then you'll know how long it takes for next time).


Are they're any ovens that have Programmable Stove top element features like an OVEN start stop feature? I love my Frigidaire Gallery electric Stove/convection oven.  It has made me a real fan of electric over gas. Most desirable is the superior control and evenness on the stove top. Especially for medium to low heat slow cooking and stewing. I could completely eliminate my crock pot if one or more of the heating elements had a delay/start/stop feature identical to the oven feature.  I can't seem to find that feature anywhere from any brand. Also i used to have an electric oven that allowed for 2 temperatures and times. THAT was cool also.  So say i wanted it to cook for 30 minutes @ 500 then turn down to 350 for 3 hours.  Also a cool feature hard to find.

It looks like some Siemans hobs have that feature.

http://www.siemens-home.com/Files/Siemens/Gb/en/Document/SiemensBuiltIn09_Hobs.pdf


Possible to thicken gravy without flour or cornstarch? I'm on a diet where I can't eat a number of things that I would typically use to make gravy, specifically corn and flour.  I'm planning on roasting a chicken tonight and I was thinking it would be great to have some gravy to go along with it.

Is there anything I can use to thicken the drippings besides cornstarch/flour?

Note:
I am also not eating potatoes, soy or dairy so I can't substitute with those either.

Another  thickener that is readily available is gelatin. This has the added advantage that its free of carbohydrate (if you are avoiding that).


My chocolate-chip cookie expanded after baking I have been making the same chocolate-chip cookies for a while.
Last week, after baking a batch and removing from the oven, they expanded and became flat.

Usually they stay in the same shape when removed from the oven, (thick and chewy) this time is the only time my cookies really expanded and became flat.

I bake them from the freezer.

What could have gone wrong? too much or too little baking soda? I usually put 1 tsp of baking soda per 3 1/2 cups of regular white flour.

There are many reasons why this can be happening, cookies will spread more if the oven is not at the right temperature, try preheating for 20 minutes before you put cookies in the oven. Our ovens sometimes change through time and it might not be  hot enough. Another thing could be that you added more sugar than before, sugar tends to make the cookies also spread if you add more that you were supposed too. Another one could be, since air will cause cookies to spread, you don't want to whip too much air into the cookie dough when you're creaming the butter and sugar together. Only cream for as long as it takes to combine the butter and sugar, which might only be 30 seconds or so. Beyond that and you're just incorporating too much air. SO check on this things and maybe something here rings a bell, this has happened to me when I have substituted margarine for butter, and sometimes yeah I tend to cream a bit long cause I get distracted. So yup check on this things :)


How can I get salt to stick better to buttered or oiled popcorn? I make popcorn with butter or olive oil, but still when I add salt, especially kosher salt or coarse sea salt, it won't stick. Is there anything I can do to get it to adhere better?

The key is to have the finest possible salt. One way to do this is to take any salt you like, and grind it fine in a mortar and pestle. This just takes a few seconds, and then you can customize to a particular sea salt you enjoy and avoid the need to buy a special popcorn salt. A rotating action in the mortar and pestle (as opposed to pounding) is most efficient for grinding salt.


Alternative to pan frying fish fillet? I have a recipe that calls for pan frying fish and my goal is to find a healthier way to do it. I want to stay true to the recipe, i.e. I don't want to use breadcrumbs when baking the fish fillet in the oven, I want it to be cooked but slightly crispy, especially the side with skin. Could I possibly, lightly baste it in EVOO and then bake it in the oven? Will this turn out about the same but with less oil?
If you have another suggestion or method that would result in a healthier option, I'd love to hear them!

Edit: Fish is black sea bass

Grilling/broiling would be a good alternative to pan frying, as the more intense heat will crisp the skin much more effectively than baking. It is a generally healthier cooking method because the food is not sitting in oil; any fat will drip off into the grill pan.


Does a sharpening steel ever need to be replaced? Possible Duplicate:
  Do honing steels wear out?

I've been using my sharpening steel for several years. The tiny little ridges that run along its length seem to be somewhat worn, although they're still visible.  I'm wondering if I'd get a better job from a new one, but they are rather expensive so I thought I'd ask first.  Is there a way to tell when a steel needs replaced, other than just by the performance of the knives that are honed with it?  I don't have a way to compare with a different sharpening steel, or a new one.  Or are they the type of thing that you can buy one time and use forever?

Standard grooved metal steels don't ever really become unusable.  The ridges will get dinged up over time with abuse, especially with cheap steels that are not of good quality; however, I've seen some seriously (ab)used steels and they are still quite usable despite looking like Rocky at the end of a fight.  In the worst case, the steel will become smooth... which doesn't hinder its ability do its job and align the blade edge.

Smooth (ungroved) metal steels cannot ever wear out, since they're just a smooth piece of metal.

Ceramic sharpening "steels" will never wear out, but the surface can get clogged with removed metal particles.  This can be cleaned out with a scouring pad to render them as good as new.  If banged against things, the brittle ceramic can chip permanently, but that is not part of normal use.

Diamond sharpening "steels" are the only ones which ABSOLUTELY WILL wear out over time; the abrasive is made of tiny diamonds embedded in the surface, which will be dislodged by normal use.  Eventually enough diamonds will be scraped off that the tool ceases to sharpen.


What does "lightly crushed" mean for cardamon pods? I am currently attempting to make the “Fragrant Spiced Rice Pudding” on page 136 of “Gordon Ramsay’s Home Cooking.”

I am a novice with cooking so forgive me if my question is common sense for those more experienced.

The recipe calls for “2 cardamom pods lightly crushed” along with some other spices which I heat in a pan prior to mixing in any other ingredients. In the image accompanying the recipe I can see he leaves in the vanilla pods, and thiis leads me to believe that I am leaving in the husks of the cardamom pods.

My question is regarding the phrase “lightly crushed.” Does this involve breaking open the husks and crushing the seeds inside or just crushing the husks so that they crack open?

I'm pretty sure it's just crushing the husks a bit so they crack open - that's how I do it when I see "lightly crushed" for cardamom pods.  It gives access to the seeds inside so flavor can infuse out of the pod and into the dish.  The whole pod should be visible in the recipe, and removed before eating (would be a woody bite, else).

If you crush the husk in smaller bits, which would be needed to get to & crush the seeds, it would be harder to find and fish out, and more likely some huskish bit would find its way into and leave its texture in a bite.  Its similar to how cinnamon would be used in big chunks of a stick that can be fished out, or else ground really finely into dust, but not left in a dish in in-between-sized little fragments - the texture is just not desirable

If the recipe wanted crushed or ground seeds to release the flavor, it would have asked for seeds instead of (or as well as) a whole pod.


Allergic to grapes, apple and cherry how to use recipes with wine Wine allergy is my problem... not alcohol. I am also allergic to grapes, apples and cherries. Many recipes call for wine... what can I substitute?

Getting the flavor without the classic source of the flavor, the fruit would seem difficult for an exact match.  For alcohol content a relatively neutral tasting vodka might work.  For the acid a mild vinegar.  In either case water to dilute to level of wine and match liquid volume.  Matching flavor without the fruit though will be tough.  Good results will probably depend on personal taste and the amount of wine the recipe called for and experimentation.


How to make a custard (royale) that sets up firm on the stovetop? I was trying to make royales for consomme for the first time, since I figured I already have spare yolks already. Following a recipe for custard in general that said one can use as much as 4 yolks per cup of custard to make it "firmer", I used the 7 yolks I had left with 1.5 cups of milk - more precisely, 125 g of yolk to 375 g of milk, and some salt, pepper, and chives.

I put this in a bowl over a pan of boiling water and whisked slowly, but the mixture never seemed to thicken significantly until it began curdling. (I tried to save this by immediately dumping the mixture into a pan and whisking out the curds as much as possible, which might be fine enough for slicing into soup, but I can't tell until this chills.)

Is there a method to follow to end up with firm, sliceable custard by double-boiling on the stove? I'd rather not have to fire up the oven for this. I also do have access to an instant-read thermometer, if stopping at a given temperature range will get me the proper result.

A custard royale is not stirred during cooking, this leads exactly to the scrambeled eggg effect you had. This is fundamentally different from the standard custard process you are probably familiar with.

The (preheated) cream is mixed with the egg and/or yolks, then put in the vessel it's supposed to be cooked in.

It can be cooked over barely simmering water or in the oven in a bain marie at 90C. You simply give it enough time to solidify, which may be somewhere between half an hour to almost an hour, depending on the thickness. Cooking in an oven tends to take a bit longer than on stovetop.

Let cool completely before unmolding and cutting.


Sanitization, disinfection, sterilization of Dishwasher? How to do more then just clean of dishwasher ? I mean: how to sanitize or even disinfect or sterilize ?

"Many people are misinformed about the difference between clean, sanitized, disinfected, and sterilized." - quote from ANFP

In place I currently rent there is Electrolux GA55LV220 Dishwasher and I am completely puzzled which methods are both: safe for dishwasher (it's not mine, rented...) and will clean bacteria&friends safely to our health after previous unknown users.

I allowed myselfe to post here, as maintenance category of this site feels like good fit, because regular sanitization of dishwasher (e.g. every 1-3 months) is recommended in couple of places like good idea.

So far reseach:
For example, I see in this and other articles, advice to use chlorine bleach, because of it's disinfection properties. However there is always warining to "not use it for dishwasher with a stainless steel interior" as it will erode metal. I tried to find if that applies to Electrolux GA55LV220, but the only note I found in user's manual on page 58, is "There can be water on the sides and on the door of the appliance. Stainless steel becomes cool more quickly then the dishes", so I am not sure if they meant it's stainless steel (IMHO it should be verbatim on other pages, like technical specs) of if they copied this part from other manuals.

Also we've bought "Javel Wasser Plus" substance for desinfection with following description of ingredients: "Inhaltsstoffe: unter 5% Bleichmittel auf Chlorbasis (Natriumhypochlorit)
"(according to Google Translate : Ingredients: less than 5% chlorine-based bleach (sodium hypochlorite)". So it looks to me like recommended in previously mentioned articles, but still I am not sure if it will not erode dishwasher and if there are other good alternatives.

I have never heard of bleach harming stainless steel in any way. However, you may want to clean it with bleach and then run the cycle with nothing or with white vinegar afterward to rinse the bleach off. I would not run the dry cycle after either of these cycles, of course.


How to eat a spruce tree Big farm to table dinner coming up. I'm showcasing the vegetables that are readily available this season. There is a beautiful spruce tree on the farm that I'd like to incorporate into a brisket. I have already kicked myself in the butt for not picking the spruce tips and or collecting the pollen. Timing is everything, I have to wait until next spring. But, there are still the needles. I understand the potency of flavor. Bitter is what I want. Plenty of fat to balance. I'm pairing with a black IPA that has piney and citrus notes.

So, my questions are:

If I was to do a long cold smoke with the needles and or wood, how long and how "hot"?
Should I just simply braise the brisket with the needles? Or both?
Sap?
What are your thoughts on cooking with spruce?

I have many years of BBQ experience smoking briskets.
I would not recommend spruce as a cooking/smoke wood for brisket or for anything.
It will not taste very well. Too much creosote.
Use oak, hickory, mesquite or any fruit or nut wood.
If you are cooking the brisket via another heat source and using the spruce needles as a flavoring agent, that may work. Not very appealing to me, but.


Dough getting into handheld mixer Sometimes when baking the dough will quickly climb up one or both dough hooks of my handheld mixer and even end up in the machine if I'm not careful. Why is this? Is the dough too sticky, are the dough hooks turning too fast, is it something else?

Sticky dough has the tendency to climb the dough hook. This is actually expected behavior and might only indicate that the dough has been kneaded properly and is done.

Whether the dough needs to be sticky or not does not correlate with its tendency to climb up the hook. Adding more flour to make the dough less sticky might create a dry product at the end.

Overall, kneading with a machine tends to need less time than with a hand, so if your recipe calls for a certain time and your dough starts to climb sometime in between, it just might indicate that you can stop kneading. The recipe should tell what the consistency of the dough should be.

Professional and semi-professional dough mixers have a mechanical baffle to prevent the climbing of the dough.


How long should it take my refrigerator to recover from adding new food to it? I recently bought a new refrigerator, and just to make sure it's working right, I bought two standalone fridge thermometers to put in it, one for the freezer & one for the fridge portion. (We replaced our last fridge because it wouldn't cool lower than 45°F, even though its digital readout said the temperature was 34°F.)

The new fridge was down to 34°F this morning (according to the standalone thermometer) and about 30% full when I returned from a big shopping trip, and added a large amount of already-cool food to it, now it's about 80% full. But it's been over 6 hours since I added all that (already cool from the grocery store) food, and the fridge is still measuring above 47°F!

From the advice I read, above 41°F is in the food safety danger zone, and 2 hours is the maximum time food should be allowed to be in the danger zone. But my new fridge apparently can't get the food back in the safety zone within 2 hours; is that normal? How long should I expect it to take my refrigerator to recover from adding a bunch of already-cold food to it?

Your fridge's recovery time will depend on the manufacturer and quality of appliance, how full your fridge is before adding new items to it, the density of those items, and the temperature, density, and volume of the new items.

If your fridge is normally pretty empty it's a good practice to put empty bottles in it (or better, bottles filled with water or other liquid — or, better yet, a bunch of beer :o).

Every time you open your fridge or freezer all the cold air falls out, so the less air there is to fall out the faster it will recover and the less energy it will use.

If your fridge is filled with items with a high thermal mass (such as potatoes, not that I'm suggesting you store potatoes in the fridge), then it will have an easier job recovering.

Never put hot foods directly into your fridge. If you make soup for another day, e.g., chill it in ice water first (obviously in a heat-proof container first) and then refrigerate it. If you put hot foods directly into the fridge it will warm up everything else in the fridge and cause the other foods to spoil faster. If you don't have ice then cold water from the tap will cool your items. If it's food that won't spoil quickly (such as a pot of beans with no meat) then letting it get to room temperature on your counter, covered, is fine.

In the case of soup or broth, putting it into smaller containers first will let you cool it more quickly and easily.

Also, make sure that the air vents for your fridge are not blocked. If you block them the fridge will not be able to chill itself very well.


How to crack several types of nuts in one batch? I have a big bag of mixed nuts (hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, Brazil nuts) in their shells that I want to crack open to enjoy later. I have tried to look up how to crack individual types of these nuts but they are all different. Can I just dump all the nuts in a barrel and soak them for a few hours until their shells are soft or will this ruin the nuts?

You really can't automate this. As you noted, each nut is cracked with a different technique and requires an individually independent amount of force.

Soaking the nuts won't accomplish anything desirable.


Can cooking oil selection effect Maillard reaction? Ignoring flavor impartation. When pan-frying: Does picking a higher smoke point oil like avocado oil affect the speed of the Maillard reaction? Will it occur quicker if a lower smoke point oil like olive is used?

The Maillard reaction occurs at temperatures greater than 285°F (140°C). So, ignoring flavor, the oil you use (if any) has no influence over the reaction.  It needs a particular temperature to begin happening.  For what is happening, see the link. Now, in practice, flavor comes from both the Miallard reaction and caramelization (apart from other flavor ingredients), so the oil and the temperature can have significant impacts in that regard.