Best natural green food dye I'm going to attempt a Sage Derby this weekend. I want to stain the large curd with green on the outside so that it has a marbled look after pressing. What could I use to soak the curd in and get the best results? Spinach juice was suggested but I'm wondering if their are better options? I saw another post here with some suggestions but it didn't really have any good answers specifically about green. It's going to have to be a very hardy, dark green to have any affect on the curd.

I ended up finding Chlorella algae at a local health food store in powder form. Dusting the curd before pressing worked out perfectly. I held back about 1/3 of the curd so that some marbling would be apparent from the outside. I can't wait to cut this open in a few months!


How to heat up already baked french bread in oven to get a crispy crust Where I live I do not have access to great quality bakery breads. Is there a way to heat up an already baked french sandwich baguette in oven to get a crispy outer texture? Water mist on top before baking, egg wash etc?

In my experience you have 3 choices. Lightly spray with water, oil of your liking (olive, canola, grapeseed, or sunflower not vegetable, and lastly, my favorite, brush on lightly sweet unsalted butter.  Preheat your over to 350 degrees F (give or take 25 degrees) and do not keep in oven more than 5-7 minutes depending on how round your bread loaf is.  Another idea is to slice the bread, spread lightly with unsalted sweet butter and bake for 1-5 minutes in preheated oven 350 degrees F and keep a very close eye on anything you do with all these suggestions because you don't want to end up with croutons. Good Luck and realize I myself would bake my own suggestions starting with less time, let's say 1 minute first, check then add a minute, etc.


What caused leakage in my cheesecake? I made a cheesecake this past weekend.  The firing schedule was two stages, cook at 350 F for 25 mins; then apply a sour cream top and insert back into oven for 5 mins at 450 F.
When I went to put it back in to brown the sour cream, I noticed there was a fair bit of smoke (although not enough to be alarmed yet).  As I inserted the cheesecake, I noticed what seemed to be a bit of liquid on the oven liner.
As the sour cream toasted, I thought about what could have caused the liquid.  I wondered if maybe something I cooked earlier (like a roast chicken) gave off some spatter.  I became concerned that at 450 F, the smoke would become worse.  Looking in on it, the smoke was indeed worse, and I shut the oven off and gave up on the cheesecake.
I am wondering specifically what caused the liquid.
I have some guesses, but I am hoping someone more experienced than me would be able to say for sure.
First, I will talk about the ingredients of the base cake, and see if that could have caused seepage.
The crust was an Oreo crumb, frozen (not baked), and there were several places where liquid could have gotten through.
The cheesecake itself consisted of:

1.5 lbs cream cheese
2 tsp vanilla
4 egg whites
1 C sugar

I am thinking one point of failure could be the egg whites.  The directions were to beat to soft peaks, then slowly incorporate the sugar and beat to stiff peaks.  When I separated one of the eggs, a very minute dabble of yolk may have gotten through.  I thought I read that if there were any yolks, then it would be nearly impossible to beat to stiff peaks.
After I beat the whites and sugar for what seemed like too long of a time, I settled for what I told myself were stiff peaks.  The recipe called to fold the whites into the beaten cream cheese.  This may have been another failure point: I am unsure I folded long enough.  When I took the cake out to top with sour cream, it showed definite segments of the cheese and egg.
And lastly I am wondering if the oven liner may have caused the liquid.  That is, I think the temperature of 450 F was too high and am wondering if that temp caused the liner to degrade.
Hopefully someone knows what the cause was.  I am looking to make this to an edible product.

Spring forms are not entirely liquid-proof, so anything liquid can leak out of the form while baking. I personally set off the fire alarm a month ago trying to make potatoes au gratin in a spring form. In my experience, what tends to leak from a cheesecake is fat from the crust. Many recipes recommend baking a cheesecake in a water bath, which both helps the cake bake evenly and neatly prevents anything from leaking onto the bottom of the oven.
I will say that using beaten egg whites for an oven baked cheesecake is somewhat unusual. Most recipes include whole eggs, and you would try to avoid beating any air into the batter to prevent cracks from forming.


How fast does water cool off after boiling? I don't have a kettle, so I use a cooking pot at home to boil water.  I boil water on high in the cooking pot and as soon as I see the big bubbles/steam forming, I assume the water has reached 100° C.  Is that correct?

If the water has reached 100° C and I let it settle off the stove for 1 min, what's the average temperature of the water after that period of time?

EDIT

I'm trying to make some coffee from my french press and from what I've read, people recommend to wait 1 min before pouring the hot water in the press.  I'm not getting a lot of coffee flavour from the french press after letting it infuse for 5 min.  I was curious to know if the temperature of the hot water can drop a lot in 1 min.

As long as you are talking about a normal pot with or without a normal lid (i.e. not a pressure cooker) and you are reasonably close to sea level, you're right, boiling water is at 100°C.
However, if you start to climb in altitude, that is no longer the case, at 300m, water boils at 99°C, at 600m, 98°C and so on. Wikipedia has a page with information about High altitude cooking that contains a reference table.


What were the primary reasons for different livestock consumption habits of countries and cultures? Whilst visiting a friend in Germany recently he told me that the prevalence of pork in the German diet was because the winters often killed cattle and beef was not readily available.
I began to think about the issue on a much deeper (but uniformed level) and wondered what the primary reasons were for particular meat consumption in regions.
Examples

Beef in the UK/USA
Pork in Germanic Countries
Herring in Scandinavia
Goat in Arabic countries
Lamb in South East Asia
Tofu or Soy based products in Far Asia
Mixed chicken and seafood in Romance-speaking countries

Is there a deep historical reasoning for the prevalence of one product over another?

Id'say availability, like others have commented on.

If you have access to sea, seafood is an easy choice.

You cannot keep cattle high up in the mountains, that's why goats and sheep are more popular in e.g., Greece, where there are no plains for cattle to graze on.

Chickens and doves are easy to keep and were cheaper than pigs or cows.

Pigs are omnivores. On the one hand, they are happy in forest regions eating acorns (which cows wouldn't like). Pigs also eat kitchen trash like potato peel and leftovers. On the other hand pigs compete with humans for food (potatos, fruit).

Other animals were primarily work animals (dogs to guard, cats to catch mice, horses to pull carts and ploughs) and were hence not eaten (there are exemptions to this rule like Sauerbraten which was made from horse meat of horses that were too old to be used as work animals).


What is the right temperature for deep-frying? I want to know what is the right temperature for deep-frying, for:
Schnitzels
French-fries
Crockets
and Onions.

I want to know the lowest temp for the right frying, because I want to keep the oil as much as I can.

325 to 375 for fries...

Most recipes shallow-fry their schnitzel, if you want to boldly chucks them in the deep-fryer instead, it presents two problems; it makes them super crisp, which is usually not what we're after, and it excludes the possibility of using butter, which, I think, is a must. I find the richness of butter unbeatable. Obviously frying it in just butter would present practical problems, as the schnitzel requires more fat than a mere splash, and butter burns easily. You could use a great dollop of clarified butter, but a mixture of that and neutral oil imparts flavour at less expense. The secret to great schnitzel is to "trap air in the crust when you cook the meat by moving and shaking the pan". It works – the coating is noticeably lighter.


Beer in Sourdough Starter Would there be any benefit to feeding a sourdough starter with beer instead of or in addition to water?

Actually, there is an answer in the question that I linked, which speaks to your question.  However, now that I've read the question again, you are technically correct that it is not a duplicate.  I'll also add that the folks here seem to think beer in your starter is not very beneficial, but I have found nothing definitive. Perhaps you could create two starters, one with water and one with beer, then bake two identical loaves and report your results as an answer here.


Alternatives to using yeast In baking Making cinnamon buns and recipe calls for dry yeast, I don't have any yeast and was hoping someone has encountered same issue.  Any suggestions to alternatives?

Probably the best advice is to look up a recipe that doesn't need yeast to begin with (searching "cinnamon roll without yeast" got me a bunch of recipes), or you can try looking for "quick" versions of cinnamon rolls - quick-bread is, well, quicker to make because chemical leaveners are faster than using yeast, so again you should be able to find recipes that don't rely on yeast among those labeled "quick", "fast", and so on.

It will be a lot, a lot easier to find a recipe with an alternative leavening, and even taking the time to find a good one that suits your needs, rather than trying to come up with an alternate leavening agent, and substitute it into your recipe, without risking unpleasant changes to your recipe when the substitution doesn't act like the recipe expects.

Alternately, you could, well, go out and buy yeast, or else grow your own yeast with a sourdough starter and look for cinnamon roll recipes that will work with a sourdough, um, dough - though that will take a lot more time than going out to buy yeast.


Ground turkey raw in crockpot I forgot to cook turkey first. How long should I cook ground turkey on high in crockpot?  It’s one pound of ground turkey already defrosted in spaghetti sauce.  It’s already in it.  It’s the original crockpot from 1980
Thank you
Karen

My slow cooker manual gives, for 500-800g (1-1.5lbs) of poultry 3.5-4 hours on high.  However I find this one a little fierce, so I looked in an older recipe book.  Recipes for similar amounts of poultry with sauce also come to 3.5-4 hours on high, but assume you brown the meat first (but nowhere near fully cook). This book says to add 1-2 hours if you don't pre-brown the meat.  It also assumes that you preheated the crockpot, if not add half an hour. On that basis I get to 5-6 hours assuming you preheated it, which fits with what I recall from when I used to cook this sort of thing in the slow cooker.


What is seeping out of my key lime pie? For Valentine's Day this year I attempted to make my wife a Key Lime Pie.  I followed Emeril's recipe, with one small modification: I replaced the granulated sugar in the crust with a 1:1 ratio of light brown sugar.  The key lime juice was freshly squeezed, not packaged.

In case the link ever goes away, the ingredients are:

Base: graham cracker crumbs, light brown sugar (original called for white), 1/2 stick butter melted
Filling: condensed milk, key lime juice, whole eggs
Topping: sour cream, powdered sugar, lime zest

The pie was delicious and held together great.  I'm a good cook, but a very inexperienced baker, so overall I was very happy with how my first attempt turned out.

However, after about 3 hours in the fridge this viscous liquid started seeping into the pie pan (see picture below).  My assumption is that this is lime juice and/or sugar somehow escaping, but I don't really understand how or why that would be happening.  My other thought is that it might have to do with the molasses from the brown sugar in the crust, although that seems less likely to me (I've made plenty of pies with similar crusts that didn't have this problem).

As described in the recipe, I baked the crust by itself, put the filling in, baked it for 15 minutes together, and then put it in the fridge for 2 hours before cutting.

So, my questions:

What is seeping out of my pie after about 3 hours of refrigeration?
How can I prevent this in the future?

What you have there is simply water seeping out of the gel and bringing some dissolved stuff with it. This is known technically as syneresis. What will help is to add something stabilize the gel. Xanthan gum is probably the easiest thing to use. You can find it at health food stores or Whole Foods because gluten-free bakers use it a lot. Start with 1/8 teaspoon pureed into your filling. Sprinkle it over the filling liquid before mixing, and put it through a sieve before baking to catch any clumps.


Oat starch to sugar conversion in oat milk I noticed recently that some commercial oat milks do not have added sweetener but rather say that their sugar content comes from oat starch which was converted to sugar.  Is there some reasonably gentle way one could replicate this with home-made oat milk?

Based on Fabby's suggestion in the comments on the question: oats can be malted (ref: Wikipedia: Malt], which produces the enzymes needed to convert starch into sugar.  I am still in the process of trying this out (and will probably edit this answer at a later time); adding some of the dried oat malt to freshly made oat milk should do the trick (ref: Oatly's description of their production process).


Why remove the skin and seeds of a tomato? Many recipes ask for peeled and seeded tomatoes, which I find both wasteful and too hard work.

What is the point of removing seeds and skin of tomatoes? Just texture and presentation?
Or can it actually change the food's taste?

Texture is the main reason, but if you're going to be blending the sauce, there can be off-flavors from cracking open the seeds.  Even if you don't blend it, they can be these slippery little things that I never much liked growing up.

To reduce the amount of waste, you can :

cook the sauce, then put it through a food mill to strip out the seeds and skins, thus keeping you from wasting the gel around the seeds.
freeze the peeled skins, to save for when you're next going to be making vegetable stock.
collect the seeds and gel, then put it into a muslin bag and hang to let drip to extract 'tomato water'.  (you typically use crushed tomatoes for this ... I don't know for sure if the gel will go through the muslin).  Tomato water is strange as it gives good tomato flavor, without the red color.


Using pectin as a fat replacement I make pectin stock from apples for use in jams and jellies, and I have lots of it. I would like to try using this stock as a fat substitute in baking, similar to replacing some of the fat in recipes with applesauce. Has anyone tried this, and what advice do they have to offer.

I found a study done in Korea in 2010 that said pectin can replace shortening in cookies and therefore, they concluded other baked goods.  The ideal amount was 30% replacement saying the texture was actually better and the cookies were more moist.  They don't recommend going higher than 30% as a 40% difference changed the structural integrity in a "negative" way!  It looks really interesting!  Here is the website I found:
http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Pectin-rich-ingredients-show-fat-replacing-potential
Good Luck!


Freezer doesn't have a temperature control. Does the fridge thermostat control freezer temperature? I have a Midea 3.1 Cu. Ft. Compact Refrigerator. There is a place to control temperature in the fridge part but not in the freezer part. Does making the temperature colder in the refrigerator make the temperature colder in the freezer or does the freezer stay at a constant temperature?

A brief google will yield access to the user manual. I didn't do an extensive read, but it looks like one temperature control for both compartments.


Will paprika taste good in my soup? I've been making a soup that has an onion + garlic + carrot + celery + flour base, and then chunks of sweet potato and potato as well as barley added. I've been spicing it with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and basil. Now I want to substitute paprika for the basil. Would that ruin the soup?

Paprika brings out the best in savory flavors. I'd go with something a little hotter to compliment the sweetness of the sweet potato - but not too hot, or you'll loose the regular spuds.


How long will a fresh herb paste last? I make a paste using ground fresh basil, ground fresh mint, ground dried ginger, salt, ground roasted coffee, and raw honey (enough to coat all of the ingredients well).  It makes a great rub, and can even be tasted straight as a flavorful herbal concoction.

I know fresh herbs don't last long in general, but I suspect the addition of honey, and possibly some of the other ingredients could lengthen the shelf-life.

How long will this last if kept in an airtight container and refrigerated or not refrigerated?

Specifically:  how long, what will spoil first, what ingredients might extend it, and any other ideas. Thanks!

Well of all your listed ingredients the only two that can really 'spoil' are the fresh basil and fresh mint. Honey never goes bad, and nearly any dried spice can last for a long time with just a degradation in flavor.

I'd say that if you washed and dried (sanitarily) your basil and mint before addition to this mix that you could get at least 1-2 weeks out of it unrefrigerated, and at least 1-2 months out of it refrigerated.

Please note that this is just a ballpark estimate and you may have to do some trial and error to determine a more specific window. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if you could get a significantly longer shelf life out of it than my estimates.

Update - I think the presence of salt does enough to "extend" the life of it.

Another Update - Some Googling has informed that honey is in-fact a preservative. Apparently honey is a rather hostile environment for bacteria due to the production/presence of hydrogen peroxide.

I still think my estimates are accurate, albeit a little conservative now. The best thing you can do is trial and error.

Sources:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/132772675.html

http://natural-products.suite101.com/article.cfm/honey_as_a_natural_preservative


Why did my piece of beef harden on crock pot? I cooked a piece of sirloin in crock pot with sliced green peppers, onions, and one can of tomatoes. It was cooked for 1hr on HI and 4 hrs on low. It was checked after this & was hard. Was it cooked long enough?

It wasn't cooked long enough. A long cook time in the crock pot dissolves the collagen in the meat and causes it to get tender, but before this happens the meat fibers will tighten (think an egg firming in the frying pan) and the meat will be tougher.

Here's a chart of high vs low cooking times on the Crock-Pot website. As you can see, cooking times on the low setting are around double the times on the high setting. So you can think of your sirloin as having cooked 6 hours on low, which is on the short side.

It's also worth mentioning that that hour set on high was largely spent getting up to temperature, so overall it was probably cooked less than the equivalent of 6 hours on low.

Try setting it to low and leaving it for 8 hours next time if you want to serve it in slices, and more if you want to shred it.

HIGH : LOW

3 : 7

4 : 8

5 : 9

6 : 10

7 : 11

8 : 12

*** It is not recommended to convert recipes with cook times less than 7-8 hours on "Low" or 3-4 hours on "High."


What are the best type of skewers to use for ground meat kebabs? We like to make ground meat kebabs. I usually use all ground lamb, but occasionally will use a mixture of lamb and beef or lamb and bison.

I have tried wooden skewers (both small and large) and metal skewers (both round and small flat). (Sizes refer to diameter, not length.)

The problem I have is that if I lightly rub oil on the skewers to prevent sticking, the meat often times gets loose around the skewer and causes the issues you would expect from this. If I don't use any oil, the meat will stick to the skewers.

The meat mixtures we use leans toward Persian or Iranian styles and do include quite a bit of chopped onion. I've thought about adding a very small amount of oil to the meat mixture but I was thinking that it might keep the mixture from holding together as well.

I also considered not using skewers but I like that with the skewers I can keep the kebabs just above the grill grate and don't have to worry about sticking or so much clean up.

My goal is to be able to slide the kebabs off in one piece for a better presentation. Can anyone share ideas, tips, or tricks? Is there perhaps a different type of skewer that may work better?

Easy!  You want fairly broad, flat skewers, which will prevent the meat from rotating around the axis, like these:

Quite appropriately, I've seen these referred to as "Persian-style" skewers.  Not having a decent Middle Eastern grocery nearby, I instead use flattened bamboo skewers that I can find at my local Asian market, which look similar but smaller, like so:

As with any other wooden skewer, you'll want to soak these first so that they don't burn.

The main thing is that the skewers be significantly flat.  Stainless steel versions like this which are quite thin look nice, but they don't grip any better than a round model does.

Alternatively, you can find double skewers which do pretty much the same thing, like these:

If, like me, you bought a massive pack of cheap, round bamboo skewers before you figured this out, you can approximate by using two of them running parallel.  This is basically the same concept as the double skewer without them actually being connected.  The only disadvantage here is that you can find up with twisting if you're not careful, and they're a bit more finicky to use.

It goes without saying that any of these options work very well with just about anything else that you care to skewer and toss on the grill.


What green tea has the highest caffeine content? How do these teas rank by caffeine content: Japanese dragon pearls, Matcha organic green tea, and gyokura imperial green tea? Is there any green tea with more than the ones in that list?

PS: Is it possible to get an antioxidant rating too? ie these teas rated by antioxidant levels, and if there are any other teas with stronger antioxidant levels, thanks!

I have no idea about what the absolute strongest teas are, but all three of the things you mentioned appear to have caffeine and antioxidant ratings here: Gyokuro Imperial Green Tea Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearls Green Tea Matcha Japanese Green Tea

I suppose that establishes a rough ordering - matcha is strong, the imperial green is next, and the pearls are last. But I'd take it all with big spoonful of salt; there's tons of variation even within a specific variety, and you can get lots of different kinds of matcha, lots of kinds of tea made into pearls, and so on.


Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich What year was the Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich first made available for sale?

Wikipedia's article on Wendy's says it was added to the menu full-time in 1996, and was a promotional thing before then. There's no source given, unfortunately, but I found this 1996 shareholder report saying "This year we added two permanent additions to the menu -- the innovative Spicy Chicken Sandwich...", and on youtube you can find tons of copies of their ad marked as being from 1996.

I think it was first sold as a promotional thing in 1992, but I didn't find a really solid source yet. The best I've found is this ad for the new spicy chicken sandwitch marked as being from 1992.


Making bread in a bread maker using regular yeast not bread maker yeast With Fleischmann's bread yeast, how much regular yeast in a packet is required for a recipe calling for a packet of breadmaker yeast?

We have three at least different kinds of Fleischmann's yeast - one for bread dough makers, and two others - I had one of the others and had no way to tell - the bread came out dense.

A packet of instant yeast is approximately 2 and 1/4 teaspoon of yeast.

Please note that instant yeast used in bread maker is slightly different from active dry yeast. Instant yeast will generally be much smaller granules and can be mixed directly with the dry ingredients without proofing. Active dry yeast will be larger granules and often times require proofing. However there are several brands that does not require this extra proofing step.

Note that not all instant yeast come in small packets. I have used SAF Instant Yeast with very good results.


Crunchy vs Chewy dried apples? When making dried apples, how does one control for whether the apples come out crunchy or chewy? Is it a matter of equipment (eg: dehydrator vs oven vs sun dried), the type of apples, additives, something else?

It's just how long you dry them.  Thin apple slices work best for crunchy chips and then just dry them till they're crunchy - sometimes as much as 18-20 hours.  Soft, chewy dehydrated apples just go for a shorter time.


Small portable grill for a studio flat? I'm about to move into a rather small studio flat, with a pretty tiny kitchen.

I'm wondering if there's a small grill (about the size of a small gas stove, i.e, you could hold it between your hands easily) that runs from electricity or gas. The kind of thing good for grilling 2 chicken breasts on at the same time. Is there any such grill on the market?

Whenever I search for grill on the net, all I find are the giant machines used for outdoor bbq's, that's not what I have in mind. I'm looking for something small that can be used to grill one or 2 chicken breasts, that's all.

If you have access to a well ventilated area and don't mind using charcoal, shichirin are my absolute favorite style of small grills.  They also come in various shapes and sizes.  You really should use them outside, though, since they release carbon monoxide and their temperatures of 1200°C+ can create a lot of smoke if you are grilling something fatty.

In my experience, small electric grills don't really get hot enough to do anything useful culinarily that a regular range/cooktop couldn't do.

If you must use gas, you could try getting a propane or natural gas camping stove, some of which come with grills.

It won't be as powerful, but there are also some small grills on the market (also see this one) that work off of convenient butane canisters.

Finally, if you already have a gas stove, there is a type of handheld grill that is popular in Japan.  It has a metal grill grate on top of a ceramic diffuser.  It looks like this:

The ceramic diffuser is the white part below.  You hold it over your gas stove and the ceramic evenly distributes the heat across the grill grate.  Unfortunately I don't remember what these things are named.  Does anyone know?


Substitute for fresh lemons - I need to make 70 liters of homemade lemonade I can not afford so many fresh lemons to make lemonade. What would be the equivalent for 6 fresh lemons if using citric acid instead?

Can Tartaric replace fresh lemons which are very hard to find where I live?

You can very likely buy frozen lemon juice or juice concentrate, even if you can't buy fresh lemons.  (This is different from frozen lemonade concentrate.)

This is what we do often when we're making large batch lemonade; while it's not quite as good as fresh lemon juice, it's usually close enough that it's not noticeable.

For example:

It's kept in the freezer section. That jar is roughly seven lemons' worth of juice; each one makes something like 2-3 liters of lemonade, depending on your strength requirements.  I usually put a few sliced fresh lemons in with the pitcher after that.


Advice for adding pumpkin to pancakes? free pancake recipe (see below) that requires applesauce and would like to know how I could best incorporate canned pumpkin, to make some really yummy pancakes for the holidays. Can I just replace the applesauce and add water until it is the right consistency?

  1 cup wheat flour

  1/4 teaspoon salt

  1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

  1/2 cup soy milk or applejuice

  1 beaten egg (or substitute)

  1/2 teaspoon vanilla

  1 1/4 cups applesauce

  1 teaspoon cinnamon

Alternative formulations also appreciated.

Thanks!

The excellent answer to the question Why can applesauce be used in place of oil? points out that one of the key reasons for using applesauce in quick bread type recipes such as pancakes is the pectin.  Pumpkin also contains pectin.  Therefore pumpkin should provide a similar effect on your recipe as the applesauce.

What the pumpkin puree won't provide is the sugar that applesauce provides.  You will likely want to up the sugar provided by your recipe to account for this, unless you routinely use unsweetened applesauce.  The water content between pumpkin puree and applesauce will also be different, as will the exact proteins.

I would suggest starting with a one to one replacement of pumpkin for applesauce for a very pumpkin-y taste, but you will have to experiment.  You will also want to add sugar to taste.  If you want a more subtle flavor, consider substituting only part of the applesauce with pumpkin.


Cracks Developing in Straight-Sided Stainless Steel Vessels Over the years I have acquired several grades and sizes of (straight-sided) stainless steel storage containers - some from India and some from US (origin unknown). My expectation had always been that these containers would endure, however, several have not.  The symptom is always the development of a vertical crack in the side of the container. Those with lids tend to crack near the top edge and over the excess band running around the perimeter upon which the lid lip would rest when set upon the container.  The net with these is an un-rounding of the shape of the container and a cumbersome fit for the lid.  Most recently I found a prominent crack in another container.  This one with a rolled lip and no lid, and normally used to store utensils on the counter top. It had no defects before I used it to brew yogurt and then store in the refrigerator.
Its' crack developed also vertically along the sidewall near it's upper third but well below the lip.  The others may too have spent time in the 'fridge, or otherwise exposed to cold, and or acid - eg salty pickle juice.

Now, while disappointing I'd like to avoid future failures and narrow the source of the problem down to quality, handling, or simply expectations.

Any solid knowledge or matched experiences welcomed.

Stainless steel, as you would know, is an alloy with more than 80 percent iron, with chromium and nickel being the other components. Chromium brings shine and nickel brings elasticity to stainless steel.

Nickel is a costly alloy, it costs 20 times iron - and hence most low-grade stainless steel is made from zero to 2 percent nickel, when it should ideally be 8 percent for a good grade.

When buying stainless steel you can see the grades are marked on it. A mark of 18/8 (18 parts of chromium and 8 parts of nickel) is considered a good grade which will normally not crack.

I hope I was of help


How to have flaky chicken breading How do you get this style of breading? I'm referring to this kind:

I'm doing Flour > egg > flour. but I dont get the results I want. I also don't want to use breadcrumbs for this. Can anyone suggest something?

The texture is little bits of fried dough. The way to reproduce it is to mix some of the wet into the flour and mix with fingers until some bits of dough form among the flour.

From Kenji Lopez-Alt:

  Finally, I used a trick that a friend, a former employee of the Chick-fil-A Southern fast-food fried-chicken chain had told me about. He'd mentioned that once the chicken was breaded, the later batches always come out better than the earlier ones as bits of the flour mixture clumped together, making for an extra-craggy coat. Adding a couple tablespoons of buttermilk to the breading mix and working it in with my fingertips before dredging the chicken simulated this effect nicely.

The Food Lab: The Best Southern Fried Chicken

And the result is:

More Flakes

However, if you want it to be more flaky than clumpy, add more wet to the dry to make lots of clumps and then pinch the clumps to flatten them into flakes.


Does caramelizing an onion increase its non-dietary fiber carbohydrates? I'm on a low-carb diet and would like to know if caramelizing an onion increases its carbohydrate content.  I'm primarily interested in "net carbs," so dietary fiber that's converted to sugar would qualify as increasing the carbohydrate content as far as I'm concerned.

Since dietary fiber is made mostly of cellulose that isn't broken down during cooking I don't think it should be an issue.  The browning that occurs is from the proteins and sugars already in the onion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutrition#Fiber


Is rice vinegar bad for my non-stick rice cooker? I have a rice cooker with a detachable bowl with non-stick (I presume teflon) coating on the inside. It looks something like this:

When cooking sticky ("sushi") rice, after the cooking is done, you are supposed to add rice vinegar to finish the rice. Is it safe to add the vinegar in the same non-stick bowl that I cooked the rice in? If possible I'd like to avoid having to do extra dishes.

It should be fine.  The acidity of the vinegar would be an issue if it were to come into contact and react with bare metal.  Non-stick cookware is fine for, say, making tomato sauces, etc, which means the coating in not especially reactive to acidity, which makes rice vinegar okay.

As a confirming point, when I was walking through Costco yesterday, I saw the latest generation of automated rice cooker/food steamer, and it had a sushi rice setting on the new ones, so they are clearly okay for that purpose.


Overpressurizing a cream whipper? This might be considered off-topic, but thought it was worth asking, as I have no idea where else to ask --

I'm trying to make something forcibly eject from a cake.  I've done some testing with a can of reddi whip, and I've found that I can get decent distance by restricting the size of the opening.  But I'm debating on getting my own whipper, thinking that I can then tint the results, but that I might also be able to charge it more than once to get a more forceful ejection.

Are there any problems with over-charging a canister?   In the response to the question about ragged peaks from a whipped cream dispenser, one of the responses said it might be from over-charging the container, so I'm a little concerned.  (not that much, as it just needs to shoot out, being pretty isn't necessary, so ragged peaks aren't an issue; the whole thing turning to butter and clogging the canister or being inedible would be)

(I also assume there's a safety margin so it's not an explosion issue if I only double or triple charge it... I seem to remember my mom once double-charging one, when it didn't dispense, only to find out she had clogged it up with home-grated nutmeg; there wasn't an explosion 'til she tried taking the lid off)

Charging a whipper two or three times is definitely not going to make it explode; for certain lower-density preparations you're supposed to charge it twice, but even if that weren't the case, consider that one of the chargers holds only a fraction of the volume of the whipper itself (8 g, to be exact), so if the chargers don't undergo explosive decompression then it's definitely not going to happen to the whipper.

As for it possibly turning into butter, that's a more realistic possibly depending on what you're putting inside it.  I can't verify whether or not it happens with cream since I've never tried it and probably never will; I wouldn't recommend it, since whipped cream gets very dense to begin with.

But honestly I think your biggest problem is going to be that whipped cream dispensers aren't designed to dispense upward.  The instructions are very explicit that you have to hold it upside down in order to dispense; if you hold it right side up then it's just going to vent the gas and make it impossible to get the cream out with opening it up.

Simply stated, the cream is much heavier than the gas, and I believe that whippers don't actually achieve saturated vapour pressure inside.  That's why the gas will always eventually end up on top no matter how you orient the whipper; the key to getting the cream out is forcing the gas back down through the cream by depressurizing it, which is why you need to hold it upside down.

So unless you want to eject it from the bottom of the cake, I'm sorry to say that I don't think this is going to work for you.

One alternative you might be able to try is to pre-whip the cream with a stabilizer or make a fondant, then put it into a hollow tube and eject the gas from the whipper into that tube.  That way you can guarantee that the "liquid" is actually in the path of the gas, and the gas should propel it upward.  I emphasize should; it's going to depend on the density of what you're trying to propel and how good your seal is, and you'll probably have to experiment a little.


How much vinegar can I safely add to bread dough? I'm making Russian Black Bread for the first time, and I don't tend to follow recipes exactly. (I do weigh ingredients and understand how to speak in baker's percentages, so this is generally in the spirit of experimentation.)

I added a fair amount of vinegar. (100g to 1400g dry flour-or-flour-adjacent ingredients, about 7%.) The recipe also contains yogurt, molasses, and coffee, plus I used a poolish, so there's a whole pH adventure going on in there.

This morning I see that it's rising even more slowly than I'm accustomed to with my poolish. I don't know how much of this is that it's a very wet (~80%), very enriched dough, so I did a little searching and the Internet warns not to use "too much" vinegar to avoid killing the yeast, but not in very precise terms.

Is there a recommended maximum percentage? Is it based in total pH and thus might shift with other ingredients?

Update: While I am still interested in answers to my question for improvisational food science reasons, I can now report for future vinegar-adders that the amount described above is not a problem. This batch had phenomenal spring.

These were patted almost flat like hamburger buns when I put them in the oven. They were almost spherical when they came out and are tearing along the score because they wanted more space:

Cool Russian Black Bread!

Since you gave an update I figure you might still be tracking the question.

Does your recipe use Baking Soda? That would react to your vinegar to create the CO2 needed to rise the heavy bread, but since it is a very fast reaction you would need to go from adding vinegar to oven in a matter of minutes.

I'm guessing the recipe uses yeast instead and that the vinegar is merely for a strong sour taste. I would think that much vinegar would inhibit your yeast, but since you got a good springy baked bread you are already on the right track.

Some traditional recipes rely on a sourdough starter where the yeast does the rising and the bacillus bacteria is teamed up to convert the milk's lactose into that tangy sour lactic acid instead of vinegar. You could create your own "wild yeast" by mixing your flour (rye & wheat) with buttermilk or yogurt with an active bacteria culture and adding commercial yeast (or praying to capture and grow your own wild yeast which can take a lot of time and will probably be the same yeast species based on the Sourdough Project tests).


What common household drink will remove burning from mouth? Possible Duplicate:
  Cure for burns from hot peppers / capsicum oil?

Ya, just ate something spicy and my mouth is on fire.  I tried drinking water and that didn't help.  I also tried orange juice, and that didn't help.

Any ideas?

You need something with fat or alcohol. The burning is caused by capsaicin, a molecule found in peppers, which is not water-soluble. If you go for the alcohol, you'll need something with higher percentage, not a beer, and it might result in more burning. It is easier to drink whole milk, especially because you might need lots of the drink if it is too strong.

You option beside a drink is eating bread. You want a soft, fluffy bread like a baguette. If you chew it for a longer time, it will absorb some of the capsaicin covering the inside of your mouth, like a sponge cleaning a pot. For best results, you can combine: bread first, milk afterwards.


Optimal type of wine bottle opener? The type of opener I typical use for wine bottles is the winged lever corkscrew type:

The main problem I have with these is that they don't actually pull the cork all the way out. You have to lever out the last quarter of an inch. Also, there is the chance that you could crumble the cork into the wine.

The other main types seem to be the prong type, the hinged corkscrew, and the gas injection needle. I have not experimented with those. Theoretically the needle would seem to be best because there is no risk of crumble and it will force the cork out in one movement, assuming a big enough pumping handle, but not having actually tried one, I don't know if there are any hidden gotchas.

If we ignore cost and size as criteria, and consider only speed and convenience, what is the best type?

How do different types of wine bottle openers compare for speed and convenience (ignoring cost and size as criteria)?

Simply look at what the vast majority of waiters at restaurants use.  Speed and convenience is their top priority.  They mainly use the hinged, "waiter's corkscrew".  It is also the choice of most wine "geeks" I know.  It's what I use.  That, and an "ah so" cork puller for very old vintages/potentially damaged corks....With any corkscrew, some care has to be taken, depending on the bottle being opened.

(While I think this answers your question, the question may be flagged as opinion based.)


What is the purpose of a spaced cross-hatch of grooves on the inside of a cast iron pan? I have been on a tenacious pan hunt, lately, looking for something that won't leach, degrade, or require me to look up the meaning of any 3 or 4 letter acronyms.

Iron seemed like a safe bet, here.

In my search, I found a pan that has a strange cross-hatching to it, like this:

Why would someoen intentionally make their pan harder to clean?

I thought it might be to change the appearance of browned food, but I don't think something so thin would be the only reason for the grooves.

Is this to store seasoning or something?

This kind of pattern seems to be added to a pan to increase its cooking capabilities.  This advertisement here suggests that the pattern itself is useful for making "crispy potatoes or a juicy steak", though it doesn't happen to say why the scoring helps, it does mean some people believe it will improve the food cooked in the pan.

It is possible that the lines give some texture to the sides of the pan, letting pieces of food be pushed up on the sides for a while without sliding back down, and so spreading the food out and giving better control over access to direct heat for browning, or letting pieces rest away from direct heat after they're done or until there's room for them.  Sort of similar to the theory of cooking in a wok, only not because woks depended on quick hot cooking, so smooth sides and falling back to the center were positives.

It is possible that when dealing with single larger pieces of food, the scoring gives a kind of access to the underside, letting oil or other liquids run underneath (and be wicked up by or rendered off of the food as needed) without disturbing the food before it is finished cooking - especially if there are reasons lifting or flipping shouldn't be done too often, if it needs the uninterrupted cooking time to hold something delicate together or form a crispy crust.

It is also possible that one of the reasons might be the pattern of grill marks or patterns of the scores left on food cooked in it (aesthetics does matter to some people), or that somebody had a theory as to why the score marks let the pan cook better, and so the pan is made whether or not it actually does cook better.  It is possible it had to do with visible effort - that this kind of pan was intended as art or display as much as cooking pan, and the extra difficulty cleaning it was secondary to that.


How to make meatball style food that keeps its shape How to preserve shape of meatballs and mince-meat shami kebabs? What ingredients help these items keep their shape? We tried chicpea flour, eggs but the bodies do not keep their shape but some chefs make it so solid that you can literally throw it to someone to catch and it will not loose its shape?

Overworking the meat is generally what you want to avoid for a burger, but in the case of kebab meat it may help. It will give it a denser and bouncier texture.

To do this, when mixing in the other ingredients, just mix for a bit longer than you normally would, especially with your hands as the heat will probably melt the fat slightly and help to bind it. Keep working it until the texture is smooth.


How do you raise your dough in cold seasons? It is winter down here in Australia and I find it challenging to find a warm spot to raise my bread dough. What I have been doing is placing the dough in the oven (not switched on) with a pot of hot water, replacing it once or twice. The oven becomes a warm and moist environment for the yeast to do its magic.

What other alternative spots are there to raise the dough in cold seasons?

A non-exhaustive list of ways to get your bread to rise when it's cold includes:

Just let it rise slowly over a long period of time, which does give you good flavour but requires serious patience
Put it in the airing cupboard, assuming Australian houses have such things, but in the winter the hot water tank will keep it nice and warm
If it's still in the rising in the bowl phase rather than having been shaped, you can carefully put the bowl in a larger bowl of warm water (not too hot though or it'll go a bit mad)
Sometimes I can get away with putting the pan with the shaped bread ready for the oven over a large bowl or bucket of hot water
Put it in the oven with the pilot light on if your oven has a pilot light
Put it in the top oven with the door open while you're cooking something else in the bottom oven, if you have two ovens (careful though, this can get too hot depending on your oven)
Encourage the cat to sleep on it


Calories in toast vs bread Does toasting bread change the amount of calories in the bread?
i.e Does a slice of toast have more/less calories that a slice of bread?

I know that some moisture is lost in the toasting process but does the browning of the bread change its characteristics in such a way that it changes the calories?

If you are interested in the theory, the answer is yes, there is a change. If you are interested in dieting, the answer is still yes, but it is quite irrelevant to you.

There are two types of browning reactions, Maillard and caramelization. Both start with highly complicated molecules and end with different kinds of highly complicated molecules. For a very precise answer to your question, one would have to know every possible chemical reaction occuring there, the energy trapped in the precursors and in the resulting molecules, and whether this energy is accessible for the human body (e.g. there is quite a lot of energy in raw petrol, but your body can't extract it if you happen to eat it). As these reactions haven't been studied in this level of detail, it isn't possible to give you a really precise answer.

On the other hand, the tendency would be for the calories (at least the digestible ones) to fall somewhat. First, the calories from amino acids and carbohydrates (which are the inputs for browning) are digestible; some of the reaction products can be digestible, but not all will be. Second, some of the calories will literally disappear in thin air - because some of the products of these reactions are volatile.

But if you are expecting to reduce your dietary calorie intake by eating toasted bread, it will probably make no difference at all. First, the calorie-reducing effects will only occur for a small part of the molecules involved. Second, and more important: even if it did occur for all molecules involved, browning only happens on the surface (theoretically, it could happen on the inside too, if you heated it in the 154°C - 190°C range. Practically, if you are doing that, nobody will want to eat that food). The surface is quite small as opposed to the rest - let's assume a slice with 1 cm thickness and a generous browning of 0.5 milimeter depth. (I know that the part which gets hard is thicker, but it doesn't really get browner). I'll disregard the surface enlargment caused by leavened-bubbles in the crumb (because I'm afraid I might end up with an infinite fractal surface :) ) and then we have ~10% of the slice browned. As I said, there is no chance that all the calories in this part disappear completely, and I doubt that the reduction will be really significant. But even if it was at really high 50%, you only get 5% reduction in total, or 10 calories per slice of white bread, less for diet-friendly breads (and this number is just an inflated best-case guess).


Glass bottle thickness ratings I notice that the popular Bormioli Rocco stoppered glass bottles have numbers on the bottom. Some higher quality ones I have are numbered "18" and some more recently bought ones have the number "14". Does anyone know what these numbers mean?

I did some some more research and Ecnerwal is right, it is a mold identification number.

Each manufacturer numbers their molds kind of like a baseball team has unique numbers for each player. This number is placed in the center of the bottom of the bottle.


How to authenticate food products? I recently encountered some sellers trying to pass off what probably was counterfeit food at my supermarket. The counterfeiting was easy to detect. Some products had labels that were faded and not as bright as they usually appear. Other items had crooked labels and strange blotches around the letters that appear to have occurred during, not after printing. Others, I only identified after eating and found the taste quite inconsistent with what I usually get.

Suppose I find food items that do not have such obvious printing mistakes. Are there additional ways I can determine if a product is genuine? Can any of the labels, such as the numbers printed on the bottom of canned soup, tell me if the product is authentic?

The marks and various labelling quirks might help you but this is something that's going to vary hugely from product to product. Ultimately, I can't see a good solution that doesn't involve talking to the genuine version's creators.

They might be able to explain printing errors or recipe changes,
They should be able to describe their product so you can compare (you could do this yourself),
They might be familiar with existing fakes out there,
They're the people who should be most motivated to end the fraud.

Even if this isn't a counterfeit, you'll help the manufacturer by reporting a dodgy batch. In my experience, they reward this with coupons that usually more than cover a replacement.

If after all this you still suspect something is wrong, you should probably also notify authorities. In the UK we have Trading Standards (local council), Action Fraud (police) and Brand-i (trademark body). You might have similar where you are.

But most importantly, check what you're buying before you buy it. By the sounds of it you've already eaten this stuff and that's just something I'd never do. The food is counterfeit for a reason: it probably doesn't meet standards put in place to protect your safety.


Can I soak and rejuice the pulp that comes out of a juicer? If I'm juicing Oranges it takes quite a few oranges to get a decent amount of juice. Would it be possible to soak the pulp in water and send it through the juicer again? If so, what is the best way to go about that? What ratio of water to pulp would be optimal?

The water soluble parts of the orange are all already solved in its juice. So in mixing the pulp with water, you aren't leeching any new orange components. The result won't be orange juice by any stretch, just water which has washed the last drops of juice your juicer didn't get.

If you drink your juice diluted (I prefer it that way: less sweet, less fructose, better value), doing it might provide it with a better diluting liquid than pure water. But it won't be anywhere near real orange juice for drinking on its own.

If you want to get some more orange taste out of the pulp, you can try boiling the pulp, or using a different solvent like alcohol or a fat. All will produce something very different from true orange juice (a syrup for the first if you add sugar, liqueur with alcohol or an essential oil with fat), and the amount will be rather small. So probably not worth the work.


Cooking Chicken in Cooker Versus Pan? I usually cook Chicken curry in pressure-cooker so that it gets done fast. I usually get advice for expert cooks that its better to cook it in a pan on low heat. But I don't really find a great deal of difference in the taste?

If we marinate the chicken well in advance, does cooking in a pan slowly really make the dish more delicious?

To answer your question about pressure cooker vs pan cooking, the answer is...it depends.

You're right about the pressure cooker speeding things up.  And if your recipe is pretty basic, you probably won't notice much of a difference in flavor between your pressure cooker method and a slow pan cooking.

But if there are a lot of spices and time for flavors to meld, maybe even different spices added over the cooking time, then the slow pan method is going to make a difference.  While the pressure cooker will make things cook faster, it won't necessarily make the flavors extract dramatically quicker, so you may find that the flavor hasn't really peaked in the shorter cooking time.  Or if you expect wine, for instance, to permeate into the meat, it will do more of that over a longer cooking time, than the short, but more intense time that your food spends in a pressure cooker.

An easy way to decide might be to think about if you have one of those recipes that is "better the next day".  That recipe is likely to benefit from the low slow pan cooking.

In the end, your best bet is to make it twice, in a reasonably short space of time, and then decide for yourself.

But there are some days when you just need to get the food on the table, and as you've experienced, the pressure cooker is one of the greatest kitchen time savers I know.


Can I make a good pizza in a home portable oven? I have a portable small oven with a max temperature of 250°C.

There are two hot bars, one at the top and the other at the bottom.

First of all, I'm not sure that I can get good pizza in that.

My crust never gets heated much, it looks like the base is not heated when it's on the plate.

So I want to ask if it's possible to get a good pizza at 250°C.

It depends on what you call "good".

On the one end of the scale, you have people who don't go to pizzerias with an electric or gas commercial oven and insist on wooden fired ovens which get the pizza ready in 90 seconds. On the other end, there are people who will be happy with anything flat with a covering of tomato sauce hot enough to sear the roof of the mouth. Without knowing where you fall on the scale, I don't know if pizzas from this oven will reach your threshold of "good".

But I will encourage you to make pizza in it. I have been using nothing but a toaster oven myself for the last 10 years, and it works well for me for all the usual purposes. It is better for pizza than the usual big home ovens, because its higher ratio of radiation vs convection heating is more similar to a fire oven than that of the usual electric home ovens. (Not everything is rosy though - this same quality makes it inferior for cakes and oven roasts).

So, go ahead and make your pizza.


Reheating whole Brisket w/out drying out I made brisket last night (to serve tonight) using a recipe I have made several times. I usually cook the night before serving, using a Large Le Creuset pot. Recipe uses carrot/celery/onion, red wine and canned tomatoes. Brown the meat, sauté the veggies, return meat to pot and cook nestled in the veggies, covered 3-4 hours @350. In the Dutch Oven I wind up with a very saucy result. I refrigerate overnight, slice meat cold, return to the liquid and reheat slowly. It’s great.
Last night I decided to use a roasting pan due to the size of the brisket. Followed same steps as above, but used tin foil to cover as tightly as I could. But the veggies reduced down MUCH more than in the past. The result is actually fabulous. The veggies are amazing and hearty, and the meat was unbelievably juicy, reminiscent of really good BBQ.
So I want to serve as such, sliced juicy meat, not in a sauce bath, w/ veggies on side. I’m concerned I will dry out the meat though. I have it wrapped tightly in tin foil. If I reheat in that wrap low and slow, will I maintain that juicy awesome brisket? If not, do you have another suggestion?
Any advice highly appreciated.

Reheating a brisket will generally dry it out a bit more. It will depend on the quality of the brisket whether this will lead it to become too dry.
Moisture in cooked briskets is actually mostly fat. Some BBQ joints will call their point slices "moist" while others call them "fatty", which is probably most accurate. What you will probably want to do is to avoid rendering additional fat as much as possible. I would aim for a maximum internal temperature of about 120-125 F (50 C) and go slow about it. If you have any juices left, leave them in. And when it's finished, rest it for a little while (20-30 minutes should be plenty).


Painted Pony beans pate I'm going to make a pate using Painted Pony beans as a base. I want to add roasted walnuts, but I don't know whether basil and garlic would be acceptable to put to the dish.

Would this make for a bad flavor combination?
What further spices would you recommend incorporating?

Well basil and garlic could fit well with the walnuts (think about pesto, basil, garlic, cheese and nuts).

With the bean paste... I don't know, I guess it depends what kind of tone you would like to give to the dish.
Stated that the only way to know is to try, I would also try with nutmeg and, if you're brave, maybe even a pinch of cinnamon!


Canned beans contain no liquid? I recently opened two cans of pinto beans from the same brand (whole foods organic). One can looked perfectly normal with a fair amount of liquid and no visible beans until drained.

The second can however was quite dry. The beans looked hydrated and cooked, but there was almost no excess liquid in the can.

Any idea what caused this? Would these be safe? I threw them out, but curious for the future.

Thanks in advance

You were right to throw them out, no liquid was a sign that something went wrong in processing and therefore a safety concern. When it doubt, throw it out!


How to have my solar system stick that would be edible I am doing a solar system project in my science bell. I have the choice to make edible food. So I wanted to make cookies for the solar system. Here's the problem, I can get all the colors I need with my parents, but I need to find out how to make it stick without using glue, or icing. How do I make it edible to eat afterwards. My project is due on May, 10th 2016 and any response before that would be great.

It's really easier to do with icing, but if you make a really pale dough such as a sugar cookie dough, you can color it.

I once made pie-chart shaped cookies by doing this, then making wedges in various colors & sizes, then squishing them all back together into a log, and slicing it into rounds.  I don't know if it was the colors that I was using, but I found that they lightened up a bit as the cookies baked, so you'll want to make the dough darker/deeper than desired.

The trick is in getting the mottled look of some of the planets -- what you want to do it color two or three chunks in the different colors found on the planet, and once they're each well blended, break them into little bits, then toss them together before squishing it all back into a single ball (or sheet).  You might want to be a little more specific in your squishing things back together with the earth, if you want to do the continents + oceans ... but you can cheat and do blue & white (oceans + clouds) so you don't have to be as precise.

If you wanted to do it in icing, you can get the mottled look by loading two colors in the bag, so you get a little of each color with each squeeze.  A star tip will help to make each less distinctive.  You can see the effect at:

http://geeked.gsfc.nasa.gov/?p=5355  (scroll down 'til you see the orange bits)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/4311777957  (top right one; waited 'til it crusted up a bit before I smoothed it down)


Is it possible to freeze nuts to keep them from going bad? For convenience, I like to keep a variety of nuts on hand for cooking and baking. Is it possible to freeze nuts to keep them from going bad?  Walnuts, Almonds, Pecans in particular.

Yes.

(do I need more of an answer than that?)

Okay -- the issue is the fats going rancid, and cold will help slow the process, but you should also try to get as much air out as possible.


Is it important to warm the flour before making bread? When I was taught to bake bread one of the tips I was given was to warm the flour first.

It's a step I often skip as I haven't really found a quick way to warm it through evenly (but gently) and I don't usually have the time.

Today, for various reasons, I had time to sit the flour by a nice log fire for 2-3 hours and ... hey presto ... the dough was a joy to work with, smooth and elastic etc.

How important do others rate warming the flour? Any tips for doing it quickly that don't involve a "low oven" since I haven't found that very successful.

Edit

For those who haven't heard of it before ... perhaps the intention is to avoid shocking/chilling the yeast when you combine the warm water (yes, of course the water has to be warmed) with the flour. Just wondering.

I beleive this to have some historical base (no citation just me) as historically, storage of flour in underheated homes was in cooler areas, or in a dark/cool place such as a cellar (in quantity) and adding enough heat (via water source) is insufficient to obtain a nice even yeast growth from a starter (also cool).

I say this as my great grandmother used to move her flour and she said this gave a more even texture (less holes) while having fluffy bread as it was stored in an unheated room - which also helped protect it from insects during long storage terms - this was a LONG time ago when I was a kid so I don't remember the exact way she said it.

EDIT: Just a thought: I wonder if kneeding on a warmed surface such as a granite block would do the same thing?  Now I have a reason to install high-end counter tops? :)


Are there any reasons not to include the zest when citrus juice is an ingredient? When following a recipe containing "juice of a lime [or lemon]", I can't help but find it wasteful to just squeeze the fruit. Usually, I'll include the meat of the fruit as long as it doesn't mess with the end result.  Are there any reasons why I shouldn't just always include the zest as well as the juice to minimize waste?

Can't comment on the nutritional side of things, but the main reason I can think of for not always including it is that it has a slightly different flavour. A much more intense lemon flavour is provided by the zest while the juice has the more tart elements (and of course water).

If you're just interested in avoiding waste, you can freeze the zest.


Making Malt-Free Bread The bread I make has been inconsistent in how it turns out each time. I follow the "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" method for making bread. Sometimes it rises really nice, other times it barely rises at all. I know their methodology uses regular all purpose flour, however due to a food allergy, I can't have any malt. So I usually use Gold Medal Organic All Purpose flour that does not have malt listed as an ingredient. Somehow I think these are related, though I don't know for sure.

I realize malt is a sugar that the yeast feeds on. Could this be why I have inconsistent bread from time to time? What can I add to make up for the lack of malt in the bread?

Added malt is not necessary for yeast action.

The starches in flour are huge sugar molecules. They are too big for our tongue which is why we can't taste them. They are also too big for yeast to break down.

Given some time amylase enzymes in the flour will break some of those starches down into natural malt. This gives dough more complex flavors as well as a considerable amount of sugar for us and for our belching yeasty slaves. For this reason it is added to some flours by millers. Peter Reinhardt has made a career talking about this.

However, this malt, while delicious, is not always necessary. The flour milling process produces plenty of damaged starches that the yeast will happily munch on. For many breads this is entirely sufficient for proofing.

If your flour does not have much amylase and no added malt (which can also add enzymes) then your dough won't be breaking down any of your starches into new sugar. If you age your dough for a long time your yeast could simply be starving to death. You monster.

If you consider your constant quest for convenience to be corrupting the quality of your carbohydrate-consuming companions and curtailing the quantity of carbon-dioxide- an easy way to test this theory would be to mix in a little sucrose (table sugar). Your indentured yeast will love you and will honor your reign with gassy uprisings.


What types of wine are suitable for Dijon mustard? I know that verjus (or verjuice- sour juice from unripe grapes) was originally used for Dijon mustard, and was replaced by wine as it became more readily accessible. However, I can't find much information on the types of wine one might use. I'm sure something comparably acidic would be ideal, and I haven't heard of anyone using red wine. Assuming I'm right, this still leaves a fairly large range from the relatively common Sauvignon Blanc to more esoteric varieties like Colombard and Kerner. Is there a standard wine, or some rule of thumb beyond matching personal taste?

I looked at the first 8 recipes that came up on a Google search. All but one just said "Dry White Wine". One said, "dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc".

So, I would say that's your answer. Any dry white wine will do, perhaps Sauvignon Blanc might be ideal.


Does it make a noticeable difference if I don't prepare the Turkish coffee in a Turkish coffee pot? Here's a Turkish coffee pot.

I don't have any of those so I use stainless steel vessel to prepare the Turkish coffee.

Does it make a noticeable difference if I prepare the Turkish coffee in a stainless steel vessel rather than a Turkish coffee pot?

No, you don't strictly have to, although having a pot with a similar shape helps. For people who want to have a clean pot of the right size at all times, it makes sense to have a dedicated pot. Whether to use a traditional one or not is a matter of taste.

Nowadays, it is likely that you have a smallish pot in your kitchen which is clean (not soaked in old grease like the typical clay cooking pot in a medieval Ottoman kitchen), so there is no pressing need to dedicating a copper pot to the task.

What is convenient to have is a pot with one long grip, because you can pour the coffee through the strainer easier than when you have two small handles like on a soup pot. You also want the surface to not be too large. The coffee should be at least 2-3 cm deep, else too much water will boil out during preparation, and the coffee may overheat and scorch. If you are drinking small cups, you will need a smaller pot. The material is not important, as long as it is suitable for boiling water on stovetop.

But as long as the pot allows you to have your coffee deep enough, and you feel comfortable enough with pouring, any pot will do. My father has been using a smallish saucepan for decades and has always been happy with the results.


How to cut a crumbly baked item (e.g. cereal bar) without it disintegrating? When baking something which needs to bind - like a (British) flapjack / cereal bar - I have mixed results when it comes to cutting it, even if I repeat the same recipe. Sometimes it binds really well, sometimes it's a crumbly mess, especially after cutting.

Apart from the obvious: a) pressing down hard and evenly before putting it in the oven and b) using enough binding agent (honey / syrup / fat), what other tricks are there?

e.g. Is it better to cut hot, warm or cold? Leaving it to go cold in its tray seems to work best, but my instinct and habit with all baking is try and get the item out of its tin/tray immediately and let it cool on a rack.

I suggest that you try to go against your habit! :) Cereal bars and the like don't really need to cool on a rack: just put the baking tray in your fridge when you're done baking the bars. That way they'll set much better, as the heated (and thus very soft) sugary components can cool down and firm up. You will find that it's much easier to cut the bars once they've been in the fridge for a while.
It also helps a lot to use a sharp and wet knife when cutting. That way you will slide through the bars more easily and the bars won't stick to the blade of the knife.


What to do with leftover egg whites? Possible Duplicate:
  How does one find recipes given an ingredient rather than the recipe name?

I am a beginner cooker.

I have just cooked Carbonara Pasta, and I'm left with three or four egg whites.

Instead of throwing them out, what can be made with them?

You could do something like an Angel Food cake. I'm not a fan of Angel Food so I would save and probably scramble them with some cheese and tomatoes (or whatever you like and have handy) the next day for breakfast. Another option is to make the Carbonara using whole eggs, no leftover whites to deal with then.


Can't stomach pumpkin flavor. How can I make it edible? Never been able to eat pumpkin really, I think it's a combination of it being mushy (texture) and sweet (but not in a good way sweet). My mom mostly used to make it without drying it out much, it was still pretty moist. Didn't like pumpkin in cakes either.
Is there a way to balance those flavors and textures and make it work?
I only recently started to experiment with various types of winter squash. Tried acorn yesterday and it was pretty good, mainly when sliced thinly and roasted (savory). I'm going to try the same with pumpkin (sliced thinly) but not raising my hopes too high. I wonder how I could incorporate acids in there and if they would help.

The pumpkins I grow only go mushy if cooked in water or microwaved , so I suggest cooking them without water, but with oil.
Diced fairly small and fried in hot oil with spices is a good way to start a tagine, curry, or chilli. You want even browning before adding liquid. The chilli I make then gets cooked slowly, and the pieces might go a bit soft for you, but any tasty recipe that fries pumpkin then just warms through sauce ingredients is worth a try.
Roasting is also a possibility, well seasoned, but leave it too long and you might not like it again. I'd be tempted to try a similar seasoning to what I use on sweet potato wedges - smoked paprika, cumin, herbs, black pepper and fine polenta to give a bit of crispness on the surface.


Potatoes in bread? How to estimate potatoes needed? Just found out that adding potato to a bread recipe can make it softer and more moist. I'd like to experiment with this. If I were following a recipe that didn't include potatoes, how could I modify it to include potatoes? Do the potatoes need to be a certain percentage of the flour? Do I add more liquids along with the potato? Do I remove some flour and replace with potatoes?

Also, will potato flakes work as well?

You'll want to be careful when trying to modify an existing non-potato recipe.

Potatoes, like any other agricultural product, have a variable amount of starch and water. Some are big, some are small, etc, so it's hard to tell just how much flour and/or water you'd want to replace in an existing recipe without doing some serious lab-testing or trying to remove all the water somehow.

The Non-risky method:
Look for published recipes that already have potato added:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/search/node/Potato

The Experimental Method
Take a recipe you like that could use a bit more moistness. Throw in a cup of baked potato. Remove a half-cup of flour and 1/4 cup of whatever liquid you're using.  You can also try using Potato flour:

http://www.bobsredmill.com/potato-flour.html

Bake that loaf and see what happens. Adjust the variables as necessary, and try it again, carefully documenting what worked and what didn't. If you develop something that you like, publish it so the rest of us can enjoy!


Is millet similar to lentils? I have not seen millet for sale in local supermarkets (Massachusetts).

What does it taste like? Does it taste similar to a lentil?

Millet is a small sized grain, and has a pretty mild, bland flavor. Lentils are legumes, and have a little bit more flavor to them.
To me the two things do not taste similar, but I guess that is a matter of opinion.

In some urban areas in the US, you can often find whole grain millet in food stores which have a "health food"/"organic" type orientation.


Egg yolk sizes changed over the years? Have egg yolk sizes changed over the years?   I have an old recipe from the 1950's I believe.  It's called Norwegian Crowns.  It calls for 2 hard boiled egg yolks.  You force them through a sieve and cream them with butter.  Then mix them with sugar and cake flour.  You then put the dough in a cookie press.  The dough never comes out of the press right.  I've been using large eggs.  Should I use smaller or larger eggs?

Hello @Dudie and welcome to Seasoned Advice. Regarding the size of egg yolks in certain size eggs, you may find this interesting. Here is the link to the  page .

  A change in the feed given to chickens has resulted in healthier eggs but the trend for buying larger eggs has led to there being less yolk to white.
  This is because of the preference for bigger eggs now compared with 30 years ago. The size of the yolk remains the same in a large egg as in a medium one, with larger eggs simply containing more white.

Looking at recipes for Norwegian cookies, I think that the recipe you are using is more widely known as Norwegian Butter Cookies. I found several using the same ingredients and they seem to be pretty consistent. The variations I found were mostly in preparation. E.g., one said to cream the butter and egg yolks together while another said to sieve the egg yolks.

The recipes I found for Norwegian Crowns used both cooked egg yolks and raw egg yolks (with the exception of one recipe that was nearly identical to all of the butter cookie recipes except that it called for vanilla).

So, in light of the information, I would offer these suggestions:

Stay with the eggs you are using. If you think you need more, add more. If you think you need less, use less.
You might give a look to other recipes and try a different prep method, e.g. creaming the egg yolks and butter together.
As I saw in several recipes you can use a cookie press or use a drop method. If you use a ball or drop method you can use a fork to press in a criss-cross pattern. See pic below.


Why are chickpeas sprouted before grinding them into flour? I am about to make (or at least try to) my own chickpea flour.  Having had a good look around, my understanding is that I need to sprout my chickpeas first.  My question(s) therefore:  Why do I have to sprout my chickpeas?  Do I have to sprout my chickpeas?  What happens if I don't sprout them?  And lastly any other help...

You don't need to sprout your chickpeas, but there are benefits when you do, as sprouting substantially increases nutritional value. By allowing the legume (or seed or grain) to germinate, the phytic acid within it is neutralized, as are enzyme inhibitors.

The Nourishing Gourmet Kimi Harris describes:

  Phytic acid binds with calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, and zinc, making it hard to impossible for you to absorb those nutrients.  It’s also irritating to your digestive system. By sprouting your grains, legumes or seeds, you are neutralizing phytic acid very effectively. You will also be neutralizing enzyme inhibitors, which unfortunately not only inhibit enzymes in the actual seed, but can also inhibit your own valuable enzymes once they have been eaten.
  Beyond even anti-nutrients that are neutralized by sprouting, there are other changes that take place during sprouting that make it easier for us to digest our seeds/legumes/grains.

In Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon writes that:

  The process of germination not only produces vitamin C, but also changes the composition of grains and seeds in numerous beneficial ways. Sprouting increases vitamin B content, especially B2, B5, and B6. Carotene increases dramatically-sometimes even eightfold.

Sprout People offers comprehensive nutrition information and a chart listing the proteins, vitamins, amino acids, and minerals.

As a side note, while chickpeas are gluten free, sprouting grains that do contain it breaks down the gluten, a benefit to those with gluten intolerance.


What are Good Resources for Baker's Percentage Ranges? I would like to try to apply the baker percentage concept to create my own baked good recipes (cakes, cookies, muffins, etc.).  However, I can't seem to find any resources that indicate appropriate ranges for each type of recipe.  I have found many resources that explain the baker percentage concept, but none that provide appropriate ranges.  What are some good resources that explain baker percentages for various baked goods?

You are confusing terms here. Baker's percentages are used for bread and bread only. In pastry baking, ratio is even more important as in bread, but traditionally, nobody calles it "baker's percentages".

The book you want is Ruhlman's Ratio. It gives exactly the information you want for pastry and some other things (noodles, mayonnaise). About the only common ratio he doesn't explain is ice cream. It also has some recipes, but the main focus is on the exact proportions of flour, sugar, fat and liquid you need for each type of baked good.


Ingredients injected into chicken breast What is in the broth injected into the Heritage Farms boneless skinless chicken breast I feed my dogs.  Dogs can't eat onions or garlic.

After a good search of the internet I could not actually find the ingredients of the broth. I think, as its a broth your dog will probably be perfectly fine.

However I've also been reading another post that seems to be totally against giving broth.. So I took a look for the toxic level for Dog's and found this:

  The toxic dose has been found to be as low as 5 g/kg in cats and 15
  g/kg in dogs.2 A medium-sized onion (2 to 3¼” in diameter) is
  approximately 150 g, and the average weight of a garlic clove is 6 g.
  A 10-lb dog would ingest a potentially toxic dose by eating only half
  of an onion.

So a Dog eating for example a 200g chicken breast pumped with 30% weight chicken stock (60g Chicken Stock) I'd hazard a guess at around 2g of the stock is Onion residue. So probably perfectly safe.

However

I would be more worried/concerned about the sodium content of these 'enhanced' chicken breasts. I've read on one page that the sodium in some chicken is 20% (440 mg) of an adult human's daily intake which I'm no vet but I'm guessing (I can't seem to find a figure anywhere) is close if not way more than a dog should be having.

Might be worth just buying premium dog food if you fancy treating your pooch?

Sources:

http://notinmyfood.org/posts/2839-what-are-they-pumping-into-your-chicken
http://www.pawnation.com/2013/08/16/what-can-dogs-drink/4
http://www.love61.com/other/pet-0347.html
https://www.vetlearn.com/_preview?_cms.fe.previewId=88ca0770-ed59-11e2-8f1a-005056ad4734&ArticleURL=https://www.vetlearn.com/compendium/hidden-dangers-in-the-kitchen-common-foods-toxic-to-dogs-and-cats


Botulism risk - homemade pizza sauce? I've read a bunch of threads on botulism risks in various foods, but had a specific question about a recipe I sometimes use.

This is for a pizza sauce. The recipe calls for:

1 can (28 oz) of crushed tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1.5 teaspoons of salt
2 tablespoons of olive oil

One just mixes everything together.  No cooking.  The recipe says you can leave it in the fridge covered for up to a week.  But I was wondering: if I put this in a plastic bowl, filled halfway, cover it tightly with Saran-wrap and then leave it in the fridge for a week, can it grow botulism because of the mixture of garlic and a small amount of olive oil?  Is a half filled bowl considered anaerobic because the garlic would be completely submersed in the tomato / oil mixture?  I've read that tomatoes may not have a low-enough pH to inhibit botulism growth.  Even though it would get cooked at a high temperature in the oven later on, I still wouldn't want to take any chances, so am curious if there's any risk with this.

I appreciate any advice you may have!
Many thanks.

First, a little context...botulism is extremely rare...only 145 cases in the US in 2015, and of those, only 15% were food borne according to the CDC.  You do need to be aware and careful, but not fearful.  There are lots of easier ways to get sick and die.

Secondly, the risk is higher in low acid vegetables (4.6 or higher) than high pH.  Garlic is an example of a low acid vegetable, but canned tomatoes range from 3.5 to 4.7 on the pH scale (the lower the number, the higher the acidity). Adding lemon, of course increases the acidity, but also impacts the flavor.

Third, colstridium botulinum spores are very heat tolerant.  You need at least 241 degrees F to kill them.  So, boiling, or a quick saute, would eliminate any toxins present, but would not eliminate spores. Cooking your tomato sauce makes it immediately safer (you have eliminated potential toxins), but not from the standpoint of eliminating the spores, because you will never get it to that temperature on your stove or in your oven.  That is why pressure canning (where you can achieve higher temperatures) or pickling (higher acidity preparations) or high sugar preserving are used. These techniques all reduce the risk.

Even with all of the risks accounted for, a week in the fridge, makes sense...probably not much more.  I would make that sauce and feel comfortable with it for about a week...even better if it was being cooked, such as on your pizza.  I would probably discard after a week or so.


Calculating homemade yogurt's fat I'm currently using a very "rich" whole milk with 3.8% fat. Out of one liter milk, I get 850cc yogurt (as some part of the water will evaporate throughout cooking.
The question is: how much fat will contain the yogurt?
A stupid calculation would be

3,8% divided by 1000cc = 0,38
3,8% divided by  850cc = 0,44

Is the math correct? Is this yogurt extremely fat?

This is the correct calculation. There is nothing going on in the yogurt to change its fat content. (You can't use a similarly easy calculation for carbohydrates, as the culture consumes some of them).

Your math is correct. Is it "extremely fat"? In yogurt-terms, not at all. I have regularly seen 10% yogurt from cow's milk; yogurts from other species can easily be fatter. So, compared to general yogurt numbers, it's just a normal yogurt.


What is the correct French word for brisket? What word can I use to accurately describe brisket of beef in French? I usually go to the butcher with a chart of US beef cuts and point to it but it neer seems to correspond to the same piece. Does anyone know the definitive translation?

It's not that simple. Every culture cuts their beef differently (or not at all!) and therefore has different names for it

Around the Belgium, Dutch, French low lands they call what the US call brisket and flank, just flank. And what other parts of France might call brisket is not always cut separately, it is just part of the chuck

Confused, we are...

Many butchers in cities receive partially processed carcass parts, so parts like the chest (brisket) may have been removed for processed meat etc

So you need to take a cutting diagram to a butcher whom displays whole carcasses and you should be able to get what you want

As I understand it the brisket extends from in front on the fore legs, between the forelegs and a short way past them? When we have a beast killed most of that goes into the salamis, yum!

Edit: Some common words used are:

Flanchet
Plat de côte
Poitrine
Tendron

A popular brisket cut is a long thin (10mm) strip of the full width of the brisket (left to right). A serving is a single slice slowly grilled and topped with a chunky sauce


Creaming methd for cookies. Help? I heard its a must method for cakes. But is it also a must for cookies? Cakes i understand since it needs to be light and fluffy. But cookies? Like sugar cookies or tuiles?

There are many cookies which are made via the creaming method, as it helps these cookies achieve the proper texture and leavening.

It is far from the exclusive method for cookies; there are many cookies which are made by alternate methods.

Many cookies, for example, are made with melted butter which does not have the ability to trap air the way solid butter or shortening does.

There are other cookies, such as French macarons, which have their structure and leavening from egg whites.


What does the halal label mean to non-muslims for non-meat foods? For example kosher berries or salad are checked more thoroughly for insects than usual as far as I know, so could be attractive to non-jews who don't want to accidentally eat insects.

Are there similar reasons to search out or avoid halal food for non-religious reasons?

I restrict this question to non-meat food because there is an existing question where the answers all focus on meat.

Since Halal food can't contain pork meat / by-products or alcohol, you'll see some ingredients substitutes (for example, Halal candy will not contain pork gelatin for sure; instead probably agar-agar will be used). So it might be advantageous if you can't consume alcohol or are allergic to pork.

As with any substitutions, sometimes you'll see a difference in texture / flavor, sometimes not.


Making miso in a jar too big for the amount of paste. Is it a problem? we want to make miso and we have some koji ready. It's not that much though and we are wondering if using a 5L jar for about 1.5kg of miso might be a problem. Are there issues with air circulation or surface exposed to the air?

Thank you

I have been into miso for a short time, so I am far from being an expert and I won't attempt a complete answer. However, let me raise two points which I think are relevant:

It is common to remove and dispose the thin dark layer that was in contact with the air when harvesting the miso. The reason is that LAB bacteria present in the air often proliferate on that layer, yielding a rancid and acid layer of miso which you are not looking for. A larger pot will likely have a bigger surface cross section which will yield a bigger layer in contact with the air. In other words: putting little miso in a large pot will yield you less finished product. In my opinion it is a pity to think you will be throwing away a good proportion of something you waited months to make!
According to the Noma Guide to Fermentation, you should put a weight of about 50% the total mass of the miso during the fermentation process. I believe that what is really relevant here is not the mass on the top of the 'miso cake' but rather the pressure exerted on cake. If that is correct, using a big pot for a small cake will probably require you to put more than 50% of the cake weight in order to get the same pressure 50% mass would exert in a smaller pot (and in the extreme case to distribute it well accross the surface).

Maybe you have already crossed these videos, but if you have not I recommend watching this, this and its follow up to see the recipients and weights they use.


Can cheesecake be cooked without a spring-form pan? I don't have a spring form pan but I watched a show where they seemed to cook their cheesecakes in regular pans. Is this possible or did I just not notice that they were in fact spring form pans?

I like cheesecake but don't really have the space to add another specialty pan to the kitchen, so any alternatives would be worth considering.

This is referring to a traditional baked cheesecake.

Alton Brown says never to cook a cheesecake in a springform pan. He uses a regular pan and lines it with parchment paper so that the cheesecake won't stick to the bottom.


How can I store Brie for a long period? There's a semi-local creamery that makes the loveliest Brie I've ever had. It's priced quite reasonably but the shipping costs more than the cheese itself, so it's a little impractical. I bought three rounds a while ago, but by the time I made it through the first two, the third had gone mouldy. Is there a way to store Brie over an extended period of time? I'd love to get a half-dozen rounds and portion them out over time.

IMO, It it not the best situation.

Freeze them up.

It will not be as good as the unfrozen cheese.

Cut them in manageable portions, wrap them up in plastic film and put in freezer bag, freeze as quickly as possible.

For the cheese you want to keep in the fridge, I suggest finding cheese wrapper and wrap the cheese in it while keeping them in the fridge (you can also use wax paper)


Adding rolled-in seasonings to pita bread Usually when I make flatbread, I roll-in seasonings (ie: minced garlic and celery) before cooking. There doesn't seem to be a problem with the dough being too wet or doughy if I only use about a teaspoon of seasoning per ball, and only roll the seasoning into the dough once or twice.

The rolled-in seasonings are my favorite part about flatbread- I prefer the thickness and fluffiness of pita much more. I tried combining the two by using my favorite pita recipe and rolling in seasonings before cooking. This completely changed the texture of my pita, and ended up a doughy mess (ie: it was slimy while cooking and tasted too wet after coming off the skillet- pockets did not form at all).

Has anyone tried this with different results, or found a way to successfully add seasonings into pita dough with real pita bread results? Or is it a lost cause? I'm wondering why it continually works with flatbread dough but not with pita.

I think the issue is that flatbreads are a single layer whereas pita and similar pan breads (there is an Indian version as well [paratha]) develop a pocket in between the layers (usually due to trapped steam).

For pan breads, I've noticed the amount of heat is very important.  Too much and it burns and too little and you don't get the pocket/lift.

In this case, the added wet ingredients might be preventing the steam from building up and forming a pocket.  Either by absorbing the pan heat in the area or stitching the top and bottom by sticking to both sides.

You might be able to add the extra ingredients after you've flattened the dough ball and still get a pocket (carefully making sure there is layer of clean dough between top and bottom).  Or go for reverse, take a look at this vegetable stuffed panbread which does not have any pockets but looks yummy none-the-less.

Otherwise, if you keep baking the wetness out, you might end up with a workable focaccia.  In general, adding wet ingredients to baked breads throws the formula out of balance.


Are there low-fat substitutes for shortening in baking? My husband has just had stints put into his heart and is now on a fat/salt/sugar diet.  I do all the cooking and enjoy making things from scratch.  I am trying to adjust my recipes for his new diet.  Shortening is used in rolls, biscuits, cakes, etc. (you get the idea) what can I use in place of shortening?  I need something that will not be greasey or tasteless.  I do not mind if I have to use a different ingredient for different applications (sweets, breads, etc.)  I just need a way to make the food compliant with the prescribed diet without losing flavor.

what you are looking for does not exist.

  a way to make the food [low fat] for him without losing flavor

This is impossible. Fat is very important in baking for both taste and texture. Assuming that your husband's fat/salt/sugar diet means that the substitute has to contain less fat per unit of weight than shortening, you will be losing lots of flavor and texture. There is no way around it.
The next best thing is to continue baking, but use recipes designed with low fat and sugar content in mind. Altering recipes is a very hard thing to do in general, especially when you are removing a major ingredient.
If you are determined to try altering, here some general advice:

Some baked goods depend a lot on (solid) fat. You will not be able to make any of them in a fat-reduced version. These include pie crust, Danish, millefeuille, and other pastry doughs. They can be made with butter or coconut fat or lard in the same amounts, but the result will have just as much fat.
Batter-based baked goods can be made with reduced fat. The taste and texture will suffer, and also the shelf life (they will dry out earlier). It is especially tricky if you are reducing the sugar at the same time. You will never have the same quality as with a normal recipe, but most people find fat- and sugar-reduced recipes good enough for their taste. You need something to make up for the bulk lost, but also hold moisture and provide taste. Typical substitutes are fruit purees (especially from high-pectin fruits), dairy products (e.g. sour cream) and, if you feel adventurous, emulsions with a little fat, a lot of flavorful liquid and an emulsifier such as xanthan.

This type of substitution works for cakes and quick breads leavened with baking powder. You can use baking soda, but will have to adjust for the new acidity levels if you are using fruit purees or fermented dairy. Other leavening methods will be much harder to get to work. Especially the bisquits (in the Southern US meaning of the word) will probably be impossible to make without a solid fat.

Yeast doughs don't need a substitute. Just leave as much fat out as you want to. The texture will change drastically towards plain bread, but there is no way around it.
Cookies are a problematic topic. Many of them need both fat and sugar. Some types can work with less, but getting these to work and finding a proper substitute will be very hard. It is easier to search around for new recipes; the chance that you can alter the ones you already have to get satisfying results is very, very low.  See also:  What are some low fat butter substitutes for cookies?


How to achieve great baguette crusts I have baked baguettes a few times, the recipe I used was something from the net which might or might not be good. It went like this:

13 dl wheat flour
5 dl clean, cold water
salt, some olive oil

  Mix, knead, allow the bread to rise to double size in a cool environment. Bake at 275 C.

Now, the first time I made this, I was surprised how well it went. Pretty decent crust, hard but not burnt, easily done and so forth. I noticed however that after a short while the crust was soft. I stored it in plastic bags.

The second time I did it, which to me was very consistent with my first attempt, the crust was soft from the beginning, even though the bread was approaching a color of brown almost burnt.

What techniques should I know of that can improve the crust? Store bread in paper bags would probably help the crust stay hard, but is there anything else? Am I doing anything completely wrong?

I tried to search the site but I find it is not entirely easy to find what you are looking for.

My knowledge of how to make bread is almost entirely from The Bread Baker's Apprentice, which cannot be praised too highly.

To make a crackling crisp bread crust, preheat your oven to as high as it will go with a pizza stone inside and a heat resistant pan capable of holding 8 fl. oz. of water elsewhere on the rack or on another rack (I do mine on the rack below).  Shape your baguette on a pizza peel or cookie sheet (not a jelly roll pan with sides) on top of lots of cornmeal.  As your oven is close to being done preheating, boil 8 fl. oz. of water (doing this in a tea kettle works well.)

When the oven has preheated slide the baguette or baguettes off of your pizza peel/cookie sheet directly onto your pizza stone.  Pour the 8 fl. oz. of boiling water into the pan.  Using a spray bottle, mist the sides of your oven with steam.  Do all this as quickly as possible to avoid loosing heat.

After 30 seconds, mist the sides again.  Repeat once more.  Then turn the temperature down to whatever is appropriate.

Not only will this technique promote a great crust, it will also promote oven spring which improves both taste and texture in your bread.

Cool your bread completely (recipes usually call for 30 minutes but up to 2 hours) on a wire rack.  This will remove any sensation of doughiness as the cooking process completes.  It also keeps the bread from sweating, which is what it was doing in plastic bags.  Store in a cool dry place, preferably a brown paper bag.