Is there anything special about "homogenized" shortening? I'm interested in trying to make this "water whip" pie crust. Unlike a typical pie crust where lard/butter/shortening is cut into the flour, the shortening is apparently melted and whipped before the flour is added. I'm curious to try it. But the method will only work with a particular brand of shortening (allegedly):

  It's Spry's easy "Water-Whip" Method.... This time-saving method is
  possible only because Spry is homogenized -- pre-creamed to mix directly
  with liquids.

The recipe is from ~1950 and Spry shortening isn't around anymore. I am wondering whether another shortening (Crisco, etc.) would work in its place, or perhaps even another fat (butter, lard) -- is there really something special about Spry, or was that just a marketing claim?

There is no way to know what they meant when they said "homogenized" - this really sounds like marketing-speak.

But if you are trying to whip shortening with water, you will need emulsifiers. I could imagine that the Spry already had them in. The "With cake improver" sentence in the can also points in this direction, as cake improver often contains lecithine.

You can try normal vegetable shortening. If it does not whip but stays separated from the water (it will probably break up into tiny droplets swimming on the surface under the mixer, but if you let it sit around for a few minutes, they will start coalescing into larger droplets, with the tendency to join into a single oily layer on top of the water), then throw it out and make a second batch, but add an emulsifier to the water first. Lecithine, xanthan, or guar will all work. Then you will get a really whipped shortening, something of a poor man's hollandaise. Work this with your flour.

You must be aware that while the crust made this way will be tender, it won't be flaky. A flaky crust is flaky because it is made from two different textures, the flour-fat mixture and the flour-water mixture, and they separate each other in sheets after kneading. If you mix the water and fat into a whip first, you will not get any flakes. You will get a shortbread crust, which is fine - it tends to be the standard pie crust in continental Europe. But if your goal is flaky, then you should follow the traditional cutting method, Kenji's easy flaky method, or the traditional boiling method.


Can string cheese be frozen? Is it okay to freeze individually packaged string cheese?

I'm less concerned about what it does to the taste of the cheese, and more concerned about the safety of freezing the cheese with the plastic. I heard that there are certain plastics that should not be frozen, which is why I'm concerned.

If I had the name of the plastic being used, I'd probably be able to search for its safety online. However, the manufacturer does not list the type of plastic being used.

I've tried several searches online, but nothing yielded anything useful.

Likely Polyethylene / Polyethylene terephthalate

Despite internet rumors, freezing should be safe.

Your string cheese will likely be far more 'brittle and crumbly' than 'stringy' after thawing.


What size disher makes "1 inch balls of dough?" I am making cookies in bulk. The problem is, every version of the recipe I am making uses the measurement "one inch balls". Given the number of cookies I am making, I'm not really looking to eyeball this.

Does anyone know what size disher corresponds to a "one inch ball"?

Edit: To be clear - I am looking for terms of disher size (#40, #50, etc) or volume (1.5 tsp, 2 tsp, etc).

Well, a one-inch diameter sphere has a volume of 1.74 teaspoons, or 0.58 tablespoons.

It looks like the numbered sizes are in fractions of a quart, so if you could have any size you wanted, that'd be a a #110 disher. I assume that means you'll probably want a #100, which is 0.64 tablespoons, surely close enough for cookies. (From that same link, it looks like the sizes aren't that consistent to begin with, with examples often a few percent off.)

Note that this is based on the assumption that you care about volume, i.e. the amount of cookie dough per cookie. That seems right, but if you ever cared about the width of the scoop (something that doesn't spread, I guess) you'd need a larger scoop.

For general reading on scoops for cookies, this King Arthur blog post is good. They indeed suggest a #100 for smaller (2" to 2-1/4") cookies, where the recipe suggests a "teaspoonful" of dough - presumably a heaping teaspoon. For "tablespoonful" they suggest a #40 (4 teaspoons). They also mention using #30 and #16 for large cookies, but those don't correspond to common recipe instructions.

(The King Arthur scoops are also a great demonstration of the variation in size - they say their #40 is 4 teaspoons, when a #40 is nominally 4.8 tablespoons.)

For what it's worth, I took a list of standard sizes and did the same calculation as above to figure out what size sphere is equivalent to their nominal volume:

        Volume            Sphere diameter
        Tbsp    mL        in    cm
#4      16      236.59    3.02  7.67
#5      12.8    189.27    2.80  7.12
#6      10.7    158.22    2.64  6.70
#8      8       118.29    2.40  6.09
#10     6.4     94.64     2.23  5.65
#12     5.33    78.81     2.09  5.32
#16     4       59.15     1.90  4.83
#20     3.2     47.32     1.77  4.49
#24     2.67    39.48     1.66  4.22
#30     2.13    31.50     1.54  3.92
#40     1.6     23.66     1.40  3.56
#50     1.28    18.93     1.30  3.31
#60     1.07    15.82     1.22  3.11
#70     0.914   13.52     1.16  2.96
#100    0.64    9.46      1.03  2.62

Given the variability in scoop size across manufacturers, and the fact that you can scoop anywhere from level to heaping to full rounded spheres with the same scoop, this should probably just be a starting point.


Is it safe to sous vide chicken to less than 74°C for a longer amount of time? When researching cooking temperatures for sous vide chicken, I came across this website among others that claimed that chicken is pastaurized if held at temperatures as low as 60°C for sufficient time. However, the website provided no sources for this claim.
According to the FDA 2013 food code 3-401.11(A)(3), the only safe way to prepare chicken is at 74°C for 15 seconds. I was unable to find corresponding EU guidelines.
Does anyone know of official food safety guidelines that describe procedures for pasteurizing chicken at temperatures less than 74°C? They can be from any country, but preferably within the EU where I am located. I am cooking for someone who is in the risk group for food-bourne pathogens, so it is important that the procedure is equally safe. Even so, I'd like to avoid over-cooked chicken if possible!
I am aware of Douglas Baldwin's site which contains detailed information on the issue, however it all seems to be original research.

The USDA gives detailed guidance on time and temperature to kill salmonella. For cooking chicken at 60°C (which, to me, tastes undercooked) at a pessimistic level of fat, that's 35 minutes; at 65°C (tastier) it's 5.4 minutes. Note that these are holding temperatures: they refer to time once the target temperature has been reached, not from the beginning of cooking. And keep in mind that the chicken will never quite reach the temperature of the liquid it's in.


How would I add heat to a brine? I am interested in making roast chicken with a bit of a kick. I'm thinking about adding heat to the brine, but I'm not sure what the best way of doing that would be.

How would brine work with hot peppers?

Hot peppers won't work with brine, as brine is water-based and capsaicin (the pepper hotness) is not soluble in water. You would need an oil-based marinade to pass the 'heat'.


Can I Re-use Unfiltered Frying Oil From Night Before? I want to re-use some peanut oil I used to make wings the following morning.  I don't have any cheesecloths for filtering.  The used oil will be sitting out on the stove for less than twelve hours from the night before.  Is this safe?  Any advice on filtering without cheesecloths if it's a must?

As far as food safety goes, it should be safe to refry food with it (after all, you are heating this up to ~400 F again, bacteria stands no chance)

The filtering helps on the flavor department. As food particles/breadings fall off, they burn and impart a burnt flavor. If you reuse oil with much burnt parts, the burnt flavors will come through lot quicker.

Alternate to cheesecloths:
If you notice hardly any food particles in the bottom, you are good to go. if you have food particles, I can suggest either

Pour the oil slowly to another vessel, leaving the last half inches or so, and the food particles will remain in that last bit of oil. Discard that oil and use the remaining oil.
Use paper towel to filter.

Edit: If you want to go deeper in ther knowledge-base, heres an excellent source: http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/09/ask-the-food-lab-how-many-times-can-i-reuse-fry-oil.html


Water in the microwave to reheat pizza better I've seen this claim various times on the Internet; for example at http://imgur.com/vlh4M

  Put a small amount of water in a glass when you microwave your pizza to keep the crust from getting chewy

Does this really work? If so, could anyone explain why?

I just tested 3 individual slices on the pizza setting. That setting basically just turns the heat on and off so the food heats more evenly.

I tried:

A small shot glass of cool water
A mug of cold water
A mug of warm water

They were all the same. The only thing I noticed was that the pizza was cold where the shot glass was touching it. The #2 and #3 were done with the mug underneath the plate.

Stomach satisfied, but myth busted.


Are these courgettes overcooked, if so how can I avoid it? I set the double oven(I think) to 150 and left thinly sliced courgettes in there for about 20 minutes.
The skin of the courgette looked a bit dark to me and it tasted a bit dry:

How can one know if it is overcooked and how can I avoid this?

I think the biggest issue is you're baking them instead of roasting them. In order to roast them, you'll need a much higher temperature. 230c or 450f is about right. As Joe pointed out, the pieces are a bit thin for roasting. Spears or large chunks will serve you better. Roast them skin side down and brushing on a little olive oil will prevent the skins from drying out.


Substituting freezer paper for parchment paper I am making a brisket and the recipe calls for coating the meat with a tomato-based rub, which means I can't simply cover with foil... that would leave an unsavory taste in the rub because the aluminum would react with the tomato paste.  The recipe suggested parchment paper between the brisket and the foil; I am cooking at 200 degrees F for eight hours.

I read somewhere that parchment paper is sometimes coated with silicone; however, I also see that it's more than twice as expensive as freezer paper... locally I can buy 75 sqft of generic freezer paper for $2.50, but only 30 sqft of the same generic distributor's parchment paper is $2.68.

Is there a good reason why I can't substitute freezer paper for this
application (chemicals side facing the foil, of course)
Also, what kind of cooking situations is parchment paper best-suited for?

Parchment paper is not paper coated with silicon. It's actually paper that's been run through sulfuric acid, leaving it just a really thick matrix of cellulose. Long story short, extremely thick paper without the wood pulp.

Freezer paper is normal paper with wax applied to one side. I wouldn't use it for anything involving heat, as you'd end up eating the petroleum-enriched waxy bit in your food, and the paper might light on fire.

Parchment is used as a spill-proof surface in baking. Additionally, you can wrap foods in parchment (a technique known as cooking en papillote) and stick them in the oven, which effectively steams them in their own juices, so no flavor is lost. Salmon and vegetables are exceptionally delicious this way.


Can I leave cauliflower florets in batter overnight for making Gobi Manchurian? So I have this potluck party coming up tomorrow and I am supposed to bring an Indo Chinese version of these dishes - Gobi Manchurian and Veg Hakka Noodles! Since I am the only one who will be doing all the cooking myself for 10-15 people, I want to work out few things overnight so that tomorrow morning I am not stressed out by the scale and volume and can be ready in time with my dishes for lunch!

So what I really want to figure out is what happens to Gobi aka Cauliflower florets if I leave it on batter overnight and just deep fry the next morning! Will it retain the crunch and flavours required for Manchurian or will it become gooey and spread apart. I have left chicken overnight and fried it the next day but I am really not sure about this. Any suggestions??

Okay, so I seem to have figured out. If you leave florets in the batter overnight, the veggie will loose all the water and make the batter very very thin from what you would actually need for deep frying. So the answer is no. It shouldn't be done!!


What is the percentage by weight of meat in a split chicken breast? We are planning on canning chicken breast and wondered what percentage of raw bone-in "split chicken breast" is meat (versus non-meat like bone and skin)?

The USDA NAL has this to say:

  Refuse: 20%   Refuse Description:   Bone

In addition, you can compare the serving size weight of the breast with skin (145 g) to the weight of the breast with meat only (118 g), each derived from 1/2 chicken breast, so the skin accounts for about 18.6% of the deboned breast and 14.9% of the bone-in breast (accounting for the earlier 20%).

All in, it looks like a bone-in breast with skin is slightly more than 65% meat.

Breast meat is generally the most expensive part of the chicken to buy, even bone-in; if economy is really a factor here than you really should consider using the whole chicken.


Is it possible to use Coffee Mill for other grain? I'm in Argentina here I cannot fing buckwheat flour so I bought instead buckwheat grain and I want to
mill it to get flour....

but I don't arrive to find a tradicional Mill (at a cheap price)
I want to know if with a machine like this cofee mill I could get good flour?

That's a nice picture of a spinning blade type spice grinder you have there. The good ones will even do whole nutmegs. You can also use it to make limited quantities of powdered sugar, oat flour, wheat flour, buckwheat flour etc. About any non-oily seed may be turned into a powder with that grinder.
Trying to make peanut butter is a mistake. It goos up the blades something awful.


Beaten and poached eggs I once read an article by a chef who was tired of the regular ways of eating eggs and "invented" a new technique of first cracking the eggs into a bowl and whisking them before very very carefully and quickly dropping the whole mess into a vortex of boiling water.

The eggs cook in seconds and are retrieved with a strainer, and then served immediately with olive oil/salt/pepper. The texture is like scrambled egg but much lighter.

Two questions: does anyone else know of this article? I'd love to read it again but my Google powers fail me for such a generic recipe.

Second, has anyone else done this or seen it before? I quite like it an I'm surprised it's not better known.

You must be referring to the New York Times article from 2006, The Way We Eat: Which Came First?

According to the author, you need a few elements in order for this to work:

Make sure you use only the "thick whites".  That means either using farm-fresh eggs, or straining away the "thin whites" with a slotted spoon after cracking the eggs.
Beat the eggs with a fork (not a whisk), and don't add salt, because the grains will tear the eggs.
Create a whirlpool in the boiling water (low boil, not rolling), which is basically to help the eggs stay suspended instead of sinking to the bottom.

According to him, the eggs take about 20 seconds to cook, after which you should strain them.

Note: Personally, I haven't tried this.  I don't know about you, but in my kitchen, it usually takes less time to make scrambled eggs in a non-stick pan than it does to boil water.  It would appear that this technique was developed due to some completely unfounded concerns about the safety of non-stick pans.  If you are still worried about safety after reading that, or just feel like experimenting, then by all means try it out.  I'm just including this little disclaimer because the NYT article gives a lot of airtime to the rumours and not much to the facts.


Are paper kitchen towels food-safe? When I fry pierogi or potatoes, and even though the oil I use is minimal, I try to maximize the oil I discard by letting the fried food sit on a paper kitchen towel to cool down. (Specifically, "Bounty Plus" towels, if it matters.)

I'm concerned that the flow of liquids is not just oil from the food into the paper towel, but also chemicals from the towel into the food.

Is it safe to leave fried food on a kitchen towel? How do I confirm what kind of bleach they use to manufacture the kitchen towels (which are always a bit too white to not have been bleached at some point during manufacturing), and are there governmental (USDA, etc) guidelines forcing manufacturers of kitchen towels make them food-safe?

Is this product meant just to wipe your counter-tops, or would you also deposit fries on it? (It didn't come with a user manual, but FWIW the ads only present the first kind of usage.)

I will put this as an answer as I might be too long winded for a comment.

The US, and most places have agencies that set food and food handling standards.  I will not get into if those standards are the best, right, too high or low, ect., only state that those standards are when the agencies have deemed qualify as safe.  I will also not comment on how well those standards are followed and enforced, only that they are in place, and should in general be followed.  There purpose is to assure the public that what they eat and what they use to prepare food meets a reasonable health standard.  If, in my opinion, one does not assume that items made within that country and imported by reputable sources into that country do not adhere to those standards, then you will simply worry yourself needlessly over everything.

On this specific question, kitchen towels/paper towels/paper rolls, etc. are specifically manufactured for kitchen and general household use.  They should therefore be manufactured to food grade standards.  Should you simply eat one?  Well no, but it is not going to hurt you if you do.  It is paper and a bit of dye.  As intended for kitchen use, the dye is food grade, not fabric dye or such.  Is bleach used to make it, yes, more than likely since bleach is a common item used to make such paper, but there is not deemed to be enough residual to be a health risk, and certainly not enough to be a contact risk from draining of blotting food.  That does not mean it is recommended to start shredding them up and use them as a food supplement.  It means that board review says causal contact with food is OK.

That does not mean that any paper or cleaning towel is OK to use.  If it has been treated with cleaning or polishing solutions, like disinfection wet towels, those are not for direct contact with food.  It is not their purpose, and yes, they might very well make you sick.

Is plastic safe?  Well, it depends on the plastic.  If it is food grade, then yes, as long as it is used reasonably and as intended.  Take a thin zip lock bag and super heat it, well, that is not how it was intended to be used, and you may well have broken its integrity.  Use it to store a piece of fruit in the refrigerator for a day and it is fine.  Go to the hardware store and get a plastic bucket to mix something in?  NO.  That is not food grade plastic.


How do I remove turmeric stains from metal/plastic cookware? As much as I value tumeric for its rumoured cancer-battling qualities, I find its tendency to stain anything it comes into contact with (including 'stainless' steel) discouraging to the point that I use it much less than I would like.

In a previous question regarding a tumeric-stained marble mortar and pestle, it was recommended that bleach be used to remove the stain. Is this recommendation applicable across the board? Pots? Pans? Plastic colanders?

I hope there is some other way to remove these stains because I am starting to accrue tumeric stained clothing that I can't bleach, as recommended.

For hard, chemical-resistant surfaces such as marble, bleach or peroxide cleaners will help.  On things like counters, pots and pans, a Magic Eraser will often take off the stain.  Sometimes a harsher abrasive like Comet or Barkeep's Friend will be needed.

Softer or porous materials, including cloth and many plastics often CANNOT BE UNSTAINED.  In my kitchen we treat turmeric like a dangerous chemical -- isolate, contain, and plan ahead to limit exposure.  It's just that destructive.

You might as well tie-dye or bleach white any clothing you get turmeric on; it India it is used as a dye for saris because it will semi-permanently tint cloth.  You can brush off the dry powder harmessly, but when it is moistened and allowed to sit for a moment, the color is pretty much permanent.

Edit: UV+peroxide: I saw a patent for removing turmeric stains from upholstery using UV light and hydrogen peroxide.  You might try soaking fabrics in peroxide or Oxyclean (which uses peroxide) and leaving then out in the sun. Can't hurt right?

Edit: strategies to manage turmeric without making a mess

Plan ahead where you'll use it, and which utensils and vessels will hold it, so you don't mess up anything you don't need to.
Re-use already turmeric-stained items so you don't wreck anything new
Mortars and pestles, tupperware, wooden and soft plastic utensils are a lost cause.  At least the stain is purely cosmetic?
ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS wear an apron.
Keep spilt powder dry (it won't stain) and brush it off with a paper towel into the garbage.  Brushing away promptly keeps you from inadvertently spilling liquid on it, or wiping it with a wet towel during cleanup.  That is, unless you want a neon-green counter and towel?
Whenever you spill something containing turmeric, promptly wipe it off, to reduce staining.
Hard ceramic and porcelain are immune to staining unless the surface is rough. Try to use these for storage.  Glass will stain. Stainless steel is resistant but not immune.

With these strategies, I find I can use turmeric regularly without problems.


what thickener has the most waxy consistency? for nutcheese recipes.

Have tried
guar and xanthan  -slimy;
tapioca -gooey
Kappa -gelatin firm

really looking for an edam waxy consistency:
shall I try harder fats like cacao butter or is there a waxier thickener?

cheers,
Pat

If you’re looking into hydrocolloids, the best you can get will be a iota (0.45%) and kappa (0.35%) gel, which is used to coat food with a firm gel.

I think you’re thinking into the right direction in getting a real waxy texture will go through exploring lipids and lipcolloids (I don’t really know if there are food applications though).


What is the minimum time home baked bread should be left to cool before eating? I realise that a freshly baked loaf will need some time to rest to allow the starch to "set", otherwise the bread may not be the right consistency.

(Why should I let bread cool before slicing and eating?)

What is the shortest resting period I can get away with to allow me to serve warm bread to my guests? Are there any shortcuts I can take (e.g. cut the loaf in half to allow the steam to escape)? And how do restaurants successfully serve warm bread to their customers?

Giving a minimum time is not possible, because it depends on the size of the loaf, whether it is in a pan or not, and the ambient temperature of the location where it is cooling.  In general, the recommendation is to cool the loaf to room temperature. If you are baking rolls, this might mean 30 minutes.  For a larger loaf, it could be hours.  At the risk of providing information captured in other questions...There is a process called starch retrogradation that takes place as the bread cools.  This means that water absorbed by starches during the baking process is expelled at the molecular level, and evaporates.  Cutting too soon means you risk a gummy textured bread. Next, cutting your bread too soon releases trapped steam, this could mean that your bread is drier, later.  Finally, depending on the ingredients, flavor continues to develop as your bread cools.  All of this is carefully explained here. I would also suggest that you don't want to shortcut this process.  It takes a bit of effort to produce a good loaf at home.  My guess is you've already planned ahead quite a bit.  What you want is a loaf that has cooled to room temperature.  Then you can heat it for your guests, as restaurants do.


How to cook brown mustard seeds? Mustard seeds have a rich and spicy flavour and can be used as an alternative to chilli.

In order to get this flavor during cooking. say in a curry, do you need to fine ground the seeds and add them as a powder or can you just add the seeds whole and the boiling will extract this powerful flavour?

Typical in Indian cuisine, and I am sure it would work in other preparations, the first step is to heat some ghee or oil and then add brown mustard seed.  Now, these will pop, so it is helpful to use a lid on the pan.  Once the seeds are finished popping, the lid can be removed and you can continue with additional spices and/or other ingredients.  Just be sure not to burn the seeds.


What are some good gluten-free food alternatives? A friend of mine has recently discovered that she has a gluten intolerance, and thus she now has to avoid foods. It is somewhat challenging to find good tasting recipes or alternative products in grocery stores, especially because the labels are not always clear about gluten contents of products.

What are some good places for gluten-free resources, and recommendations on particular products or brands which are the best alternative to typical products?

I'm a coeliac from Australia and so my tips come from my experience here, but they should hopefully be useful regardless.

The first thing I suggest is joining your local society which can be invaluable in terms of support, information and even training. The training covers for example how to read ingredient lists to determine whether something is gluten free by ingredient.

As a general rule you need to avoid products containing [wheat, barley, rye, malts and triticale][1]. There are a few exceptions such as glucose syrup, caramel colour and dextrose derived from wheat where the ingredients are so highly processed that they contain no detectable [gluten][2].

Cross contamination and hidden sources of gluten can make it hard to ensure a gluten free diet. In my experience the hardest replacements are the bread based ones. They generally do not come close to the texture and taste of traditional breads. Baking your own bread may be the best option using gluten free bread mixes.

Eating out can become a bit of chore because many restaurants use gluten containing products such as sauces and fillers. I recommend contacting the restaurant beforehand.

The following products are some of the better gluten free alternatives I've found (couldn't post links because I don't have enough rep):

Zehnder Bread
San Remo Pasta
BuonTempo Pasta
Schar Products
Neumarkter Lammsbräu beer

References:

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten-free_diet
[2] http://glutenfreefamily.com.au/2010/07/glucose-syrup-gluten-free/


panna cotta gelatine and size/form Suppose I've found my "sweet spot" for the amount of gelatine for a recipe of panna cotta which has been tried only for individual portions that are either turned upside down on a plate or topped and served directly in the glass.

If I were to make a bigger loaf to be sliced, how would I need to change the amount of gelatine? Would it be a good idea to increase it?

It depends.

If your current “sweet spot” percentage gives you a panna cotta that’s sturdy enough to hold up on its own, so that you can make clean “cuts” with your spoon, you are fine also in larger shapes.
If your preferred ratio is rather soft and creamy, so that the upside-down servings sag significantly, go up. Of course it won’t be as creamy and melty as before, you are making it more solid on purpose.

Only you know how your recipe turns out.


Does my "bagel flour" need malt powder added? I purchased some "super bagel flour" that lists these ingredients:

Bleached Wheat Flour Enriched
Malted Barley Flour
Potassium Bromate

Is "malted barley flour" in this "super bagel flour" in essence a substitute for the traditional malt syrup or malt powder in bagels? Or is this something else, and I should still treat this flour just like "bread flour" that is commonly called for in bagel recipes and continue adding malt syrup/powder?

Malted syrup is a form of sugar (maltose). Malted barley flour is flour that has been partially germinated (sprouted) which increases your dough's ability to convert starch into sugar (maltose), making your bagel softer and more moist. Both will increase maltose levels in your bagels: one directly and one indirectly. I would probably try reducing some of the malted syrup in your recipe but would not eliminate it (unless you have a recipe specifically for this flour which does not include malted syrup). Also, the flour you are using is high-gluten flour which should also give your bagels the traditional chewiness.


Is there a way to add shine to a chocolate coating after it has hardened? My recipe calls for melting chocolate chips and pouring the liquid chocolate over the cake for a coating.  That works but, when it hardens, it returns to that dull gray/brown color of chocolate chips, i.e. to the color of the chips before they were melted.

Is there a way to polish or add some shine to the hardened coating?  Would rubbing a thin coating of butter on the surface work?

What you're looking for is 'tempered' chocolate.   Tempered chocolate has that sheen and snap to it.  When properly heated and cooled, the cocoa butter in the chocolate formed the correct crystalline structure for this to occur.  When the process is uncontrolled, you get dull chocolate that doesn't snap quite as well.

There's a few (1,2,3) different ways to do it.  But overall the easiest way - in general terms, is to heat chocolate to the correct temperature (check the links for correct temperatures for your type of chocoloate), stir in *pre-tempered chocolate (from the store or such) as it cools, and then slightly reheat.

Or, buy a tempering machine.

This should give you that gloss your after.

*Store bought chocolate is pretty much always tempered and the dull gray of the chips doesn't mean its not tempered - just scratched up.  You can use this to stir into your cooling chocolate at step 2.


When I boil cereals (rice, quinoa, etc.) to freeze, shall I drain water first? When I boil cereals (rice, quinoa, etc.) to freeze, shall I drain water first? (the water I want to drain is the water I used to boil which was not absorbed by the cereals during cooking)

I am wondering if water would favor or go against keeping the right moisture in the freezer

Order: Boil, drain, freeze

There shouldn't be extra water in your grains. If they are cooked properly and there is extra water you're using too much. If you do have extra water, however, drain it. Maybe save it for soup since it will have good things in it that you don't want to throw down the drain.


Can I use cream cheese in a sauce? I made a white sauce with butter flour and milk, intending to add cheddar for a cheese sauce.  Then I realized I'd run out the day before.  Could I have used Philadelphia cream cheese instead?  I'm in the UK if it makes any difference.

Yes, you can. The taste will be obviously different, but I don't expect any consequence that would make it unpalatable to the average person. You would be better off if you start with softened cream cheese, but if all you have now is fridge-cold cream cheese, that should work too.


Lysol on microwave, how to clean off? Honestly, I’m still learning about some cleaning products. I made an approximately 10% Lysol 90% water solution, dipped a small paper towel into it, and wiped all exterior sides (no interior) of a microwave (redipping up to 5 times as needed). I now realize I shouldn’t have wiped areas with vents. After about 10min I washed all sides with water. I’ve been rewashing with water the sides each day since. I read perhaps Lysol is inert when dry. What should I do additionally to try to make it safe to use? How long should I wait before using it?

To further @Tetsujin's answer.

The Lysol product you have specified as Lysol Clean & Fresh Multi-Surface Cleaner is made of a number of active ingredients. The primary decontaminating component is Alkyl (50% C14, 40% C12, 10% C16) dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride. This is a member of what are known as Quaternary Ammonium Compounds or Quaternary Ammonium Cations (QACs). These are all very effective disinfectants against most bacterial pathogens and a wide range of viruses (including SARS-CoV-2 the cause of COVID-19 - see the list and concentrations here). There are a bunch of other things in there too, but most of it is ingredients that allow the QACs to work better, this includes the alcohols (surfactant), EDTA and Tetraborate (mineral sequestering - for hard water, which can inhibit QACs), or ways to make it smell nicer or look pretty.

QACs are generally irritants - they make your skin red and itchy, but they can also cause more severe damage on more sensitive tissues such as lungs, eyes and intestines if inhaled or swallowed. Generally these compounds are safe to use on hard surfaces like your microwave, but not on porous surfaces because the porous surfaces can absorb the disinfectant. Note that they are pretty common as bacteriostatics in contact storage solutions, eye-washes and nasal sprays (see Dermal section) - so the risks are relatively low.

Use of QACs on hard surfaces is fine - just wipe with water a couple of times after use will dilute it enough that it is no longer a problem for most people.

The vents on your microwave are not considered porous - porous surfaces are things with small holes that will absorb the ingredients and not allow them to be washed off easily. Examples of porous surfaces are unsealed wooden surfaces (e.g. chopping boards), sponges (you can use these for cleaning with though - just don't eat off them) and unglazed pottery/crockery. If you have used a QAC cleaner on these sorts of things, you should throw them out or re-purpose them so that you are not eating off them

Long story short - wipe with water a couple of times and you will be fine.


Can avocado substitute the 'fat' in cake baking? Can avocado substitute the usual fat in cake baking? If so, what's the ratio to other ingredients?

The simple answer is not really.

Avocados have a high fat content relative to other fruit, but they're only about 20% fat, which is much less than any other cooking fats.

If you add enough avocado to provide the fat content for a cake, you'll also be adding too much water and all the other flavours of avocado, which I assume you don't want.


Black mold inside Misto oil sprayer collar There is some black mold I can see inside my sealed Misto internal clear plastic air collar that is just below the sprayer and around the sprayer tube when the sprayer mechanism is unscrewed.  I cannot find an obvious way to get into that apparently sealed plastic collar to clean the mold out.  Does anyone know how to disassemble the round donut shaped clear plastic collar?

I'm not sure if you can take that piece off, from what I can remember.  But perhaps you could run some diluted bleach solution through it to get rid of the mold.  Hopefully this will dislodge it and disinfect the area as well.


what is the best method to coat biscuits in chocolate I have made some Anzac biscuits and would like to coat half of the biscuit in chocolate.
Is it best to use a butter knife or dip them in a bowl of melted chocolate. Do you then place on baking paper or is there a way of standing them up?

Whenever I work with dipping chocolate, I put a sheet of baking paper on my working table and place a cooling rack over it.

This has two advantages:

Excess chocolate can dripp off easily, without pooling that can happen when when the cookies are placed directly on the paper.
The paper below makes cleanup very easy because the chocolate can be peeled off and reused if it contains no crumbs. (Admittedly I rarely reuse it because my children generously take care of the leftovers...)

Liquid ("tempered") chocolate will be too runny to be spread with a knife. If you let it cool down to a spreadable state, you will get a very uneven and streaky surface. If you have only a small amount of chocolate available, you can use a pastry brush (which may also leave streaks, but less), but usually dipping is the way to go: Melt enough chocolate that the height in your bowl is more than half of your cookies diameter. (Kind of obvious, but noted just for the sake of completeness.) Dip the cookie in, let excess chocolate drip back into your bowl, then lay it flat on the rack to cool. No need to prop them up or so. Leftover chocolate can be stored for your next batch or makes a good excuse for serving hot chocolate.

Some geometry:
Note that dipping half a cookie will also coat the underside because you hold the cookie's edge perpendicular to the chocolate. If you dip only the top, you won't get a straight line, but always a crescent-shaped undipped part. If, for some reason, you want a straight line and a chocolate-free bottom, you need the pastry brush again.


What should I look for when buying a pasta roller? I'm looking to buy a pasta roller but I have no experience with them at all.

What things should I look for to make sure I get a good one?

Can they be made of different materials?
Are there left-handed and right-handed models?
Do some have different available thickness settings or a different gearing ratio on the crank?
Is price a useful indicator of quality?

What things should I look for to make sure I don't get a bad one?

Are there features that turn out to be very bad, such as a motor driven roller?
Are there indicators of bad quality, such as gaps between parts that should touch?

Do they come with any optional extras or attachments and if so, which ones are most useful?

There are a few consideratons that I can think of:

How durable the device is.  Generally, this is going to mean that you want something metal & heavy, but I'd really look at reviews of any model that you plan to buy online, particularly from something like Amazon which lets you see those 1 star ratings, and you can see why people rated them so poorly.
How it clamps down to the work surface.  I don't care how heavy it is, if it's a hand-crank, it's going to walk all over the place unless it's well secured to your counter.  If you don't have a counter that's got a lip that you can clamp to, and you don't have a table that you're willing to possibly mar from the clamps, you might have to look for something else (or bolt/screw it down to a large board)
Size (width) of the feed.  There are some that are larger, which might be useful for making some pastries as well as pasta.  (and then there's dough sheeters, which are huge and expensive, but are 18" or wider, typically).
How many different thickneses the dial has, and what the min/max thickness is.  Again, a thicker one can be used for other pastry applications, but it also makes it easier to work the ball through that first time.  (I've only ever used one where the thickest size was a pain ... so it's not a common problem.  All I remember was it was a friend's, and it wasn't an Italian company)
Hand crank vs. motorized -- almost every hand crank roller can be converted (as the handle detaches for storage, so the motor just connects there), but the difference in cost is significant.  (~$50 vs. ~$150.  If you already have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, they sell an roller kit, but it's in that $150 range.)  Even if you got a motorized roller, I'd look to make sure that the motor detaches and it had a hand crank ... as it lets you keep working should the motor go into thermal shutdown, but it also means typically means that the company sells the roller and motor individually should one part die down the road.  (you should try to verify that, though)
Accessories -- so, other than an add-on motor, the two main accessories you'll see are cutters (fettucini and something thinner are typical), and ravioli stuffers.  Personally, I'd say the raviolli stuffers aren't worth it.  If you want consistently sized ones, get one of those little forms that you run a rolling pin over to cut, as the cleaning of the attachment ones means it's not worth it unless you're making a huge batch.  (which you can do, then freeze 'em, but I never have).  I think the cutters are worth it (and are typically included in even the $40-60 models) if you're going to make fettucini.  For the thinner strand pastas, I actually prefer extrusion over rolling.  (although, I think capellini/angel hair may need to be rolled vs. extruded, but I'm not a fan of that size of pasta).  For wider noodles, it's generally not a big deal to hand-cut 'em.

As for the question on price ... not really.  There are a few major price bands for the good motorized vs. non-motorized, and most stores keep 'em in those ranges.  The really cheap ones are going to break, or jam, as they just have a lower build quality.  If you see something much over $150, I'd question it.  Unless it had an exceptionally wide roller (and that was a feature you wanted), I can't think of a reason to shell out that much.

I'd try to stick with a model that I could find well reviewed  (with at least a dozen people having reviewed it if it's purchaser-submitted vs. something like Consumer Reports or America's Test Kitchen), and preferably, a model that's been on the market for years, as there's very little innovation -- a brand new model was likely made to trim costs, or because it's something the company never made before (and thus, untested).


Identifying a white crispy garnish to a pork dish We went to an excellent restaurant last night and one of us was served pork with an unfamiliar, edible garnish;

It was a crispy, long, white item which may have been a little salty and a little meaty, although I'm not sure.

Can anyone identify the White item on this plate?

I haven't got time to make a real answer but here's a recipe http://m.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/pork-rinds-chicharron.html

The reason it's white is all to-do with light diffusion and the fact the brown 1mm thick crisp pork skin has just been stretched to over 1cm thick.

Think... blowing up a balloon, it get lighter in colour as it gets bigger.


Cheese Extract - How to Use it? I've recently bought cheese extract (or essence - the seller didn't know the difference and the bottle says 'cheese flavour' and smells like a room full of cheddar).

I've never used it before but was sure there was something online for how to use it - but I can't find a thing. I just find recipes using cheese.

I imagine it's probably used to enhance the cheese flavour of dishes that can't afford to use much cheese but are their recipes that just use it as a flavour enhancer? My sister recently became dairy free (these diet fads are the bane of every family cook)and I thought it would be nice for her to have some flavours she likes.

Please help!

Best regards,

Amber

Cheese is often in a recipe for texture as well as flavor: it is stretchy and creamy, as well as "cheesy." One exception would be sauces, or baked into a casserole, in which the cheese is all melted in and is almost entirely there for flavor. I'd suggest attempting a cheddar cheese roux sauce, using soy milk instead of dairy milk and adding a small amount of the cheese extract.

You will need to experiment to get the proportions right, so hopefully your sister likes mac-n-cheese :)


Are gourd leaves edible? That is, the leaves of a gourd, I know a lot of menus include the fruit of the gourd, but not the leaves.

I am looking for a way to eat them, if possible maybe I can include in a dish or maybe a side dish? If not, can I eat it raw? Because this seems to be abundant here in the Philippines.

At least some cucurbit leaves are edible, and here.

The genus isn't known for producing toxins, but there may be a few wild cards in there.
Proceed with caution, if you proceed at all.
I'll stick with Habanero, Bell, and Jalapeno pepper leaves cooked in butter and lemon juice.

There are books with titles like "Edible Plants of the Tropics" or perhaps even "Edible Plants of the Philippines", that can probably tell you about your particular gourd, but you'll probably have to go to a college botanical library to find them.

Later, while cleaning out old files:
The book I was thinking of is called Edible Leaves of the Tropics by Martin, Ruberte and Metzner.
The third edition came out in 1998, so if your library doesn't have it, there are now lots of places to buy it.


If I burn my food, will I consume less calories as I have already burnt them? I was wondering, why do we say that we ‘burn’ calories. And then I came to this question.

Yes, if you were burning food that provided you exactly the caloric intake you need to maintain your weight, and if you ate only that and didn't replace the lost calories by adding additional food.  To carry it to extremes, you could oxidize your food to an inorganic ash.  Metabolic (food) calories are ultimately identical to the energy found in any non-food fuel.  They're just found in molecules that are digestible.  But you'd also be destroying vitamins, fiber, etc., as well as flavor. Slightly singeing it would destroy a few calories, maybe, of properly cooked food.


Savoury equivalent of choco-cornflake cakes I'm currently trying to work out a savoury equivalent to chocolate to allow the creation of a non-sweet version of chocolate cornflake cakes.

Currently the best equivalent of chocolate (in terms of melting point and water content) that I can think of is cheese. Another alternative would be to use egg and bake the cornflake cakes to get the egg to set.

Before I set off and possibly create a cheese and cornflake omelette, I wanted to check if there is an ingredient or technique that I've overlooked which would cement the cornflakes together without making them too soggy or burning them.

Any suggestions?

Similar to a macaroon, whip egg whites with cream of tartar and season with whatever savory spices and herbs you might like before folding with the corn flakes, corn chips, or crushed tortilla chips, and then bake at a low temperature until crisp and dry but not browned.


How do I keep boiled pasta from getting sticky overnight? When I boil pasta and store it overnight in the refrigerator, it sticks to itself. Is there a way I can avoid this stickiness?

Add I light amount of oil to the pasta 15 minutes after cooking. Mix well. You can also add in a very small amount of sauce after 15 minutes....than when ready complete it by adding the rest.


Oven baked cod fillets get soaked in their own liquid I baked cod fillets twice. The first batch was fine, the second had the fish soaked in its own liquid.
(Two different batches from the same shop, salted 1.5 hour before cooking, within expiration date).

I used a basic recipe:

cod fillets
olive oil
garlic
parsley
salt, pepper

Baked in pre-heated oven @ 180C/fanned air for 10-15 minutes

How can I prevent this loss of water?

As the cod fillets were two different batches, chances are you just where unlucky with the second batch. Even within expiry-date, the amount of water food loses while cooking can vary vastly with age and quality. And even good fish shops can have watery batches at times.

To generally avoid this soaking happening, I would rest the cod on a cooking grate or - this is a personal preference - on some pre-cooked potatoes.

A small factor may be oversalting, but chances are it is actually the cod.


Why can't chocolate be made caffeine free? I recently read this article which suggests that it's impossible to make caffeine free chocolate. Why would this be the case? If we can make caffeine free teas and coffees why can't we strip the caffeine out of chocolate too?

When taken literally, the article you cite is simply wrong. See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5302282/ -that's scientific proof that decaffeinated cocoa does exist. I have no idea if someone is actually making chocolate bars out of it, but there seems to be no theoretical hurdle for it. There is some remote  possibility that the decaffeination may change the physical qualities of the cocoa powder, or that it is not well suited to other cocoa intermediate products such as cocoa butter, which could make producing a decaffeintated chocolate bar challenging - but even if that's the case, I would expect professional food technologists to be able to work around that.

I won't speculate on why the site supplied incorrect information. My personal opinion is that I don't trust sites that feel comfortable making broad health claims, and the site you cite is very much focused on doing exactly that.


Are sprouting wheat berries safe? I soaked some wheat berries for a bit more than 24 hours and now some white stuff comes out of it.

Is it safe if I boil and eat it as I usually do?

From healthline.com:

In one study, sprouting wheat increased the absorption of iron by over 200% ( 16 ). Sprouted grains are higher in several nutrients, including protein, fiber, vitamin C, folate and beta-carotene. In addition, sprouting decreases antinutrients, making the nutrients in the grains more readily available to your body.

From
Cultures For Health:

How to Use Sprouted Wheat Berries. Add to salads, soups, bread, and other recipes. Ferment sprouted wheat berries to make Rejuvelac. Transfer to soil and grow wheat grass for making wheat grass juice.

From
Kitchn:

Sprouted grains, like wheat berries and rice, are super simple, don’t require any major equipment, and are fun for both adults and kids to make. To make them actually sprout, the soaked grains are then rinsed, drained, and kept moist inside a jar for a period of 1 to 5 days. Sprouted grains are often eaten raw, lightly cooked, or ground into flour.

Seems like sprouted wheat berries are a common edible food.


How to butter and flour the chimney of a bundt form I recently baked a rather sticky cake which called for a bundt pan. When I use a standard cake pan, I first put on the fat (either pouring oil and swishing it, or smearing butter with my fingertips) and then add some flour. Then I stand the pan in the position of a wheel and start turning. The flour gradually falls onto new, unfloured parts of the inner circumference and sticks to the fat.

When I tried it with a chimnied pan (actually a Frankfurter Kranz pan, but should go the same way with a bundt), no flour fell onto the chimney. No matter how I tried powdering the chimney, I found no way to move the pan so that the flour would distribute itself evenly. I then tried smearing the flour, but it stick to my fingers and the parts which stayed on the pan got overfattened instead of building a floury barrier.

What is a good technique to ensure that I have a nice fat-and-flour covering on the bundt? I am not asking about any kind of nonstick sprays, etc., just fat (solid or liquid) plus flour.

Use cake release. It's simple; just mix one part flour, one part solid fat (shortening), and one part liquid oil (roughly by volume). Assuming that your oils are shelf stable, your cake release will be too. (Or at least it will last for several months on the shelf. It may smell rancid slightly faster than the fats you used). Once it is mixed, you don't have to grease and flour cake pans. Just paint it on with a pastry brush. I recommend this one.


Lifespan of chicken stock in fridge I boiled some chicken last week, and saved the stock for future use. But, as I don't have enough freezer space, I just put it in the fridge, so it has been liquid.

Since, it has been a week, is it still safe to use?

Thanks!

Chicken broth is one of the most perishable foods there is—it is nearly a perfect growth medium.

The FDA recommends storing it no more than 3-4 days.


What modifications would I have to make when substituting veal for pork? I would like to make this recipe for Pork Osso Buco, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yNgna9mZoa4, but I'll be using veal beef shanks and not pork.

Do I have to make any modifications like the time it's braised or seared?

In the particular recipe you've provided no change in the cooking method is required. The only thing to keep in mind when cooking veal is that it is a drier meat. In your case however, the recipe cooks the meat in liquid which moisturizes it. Keep an eye on whether it is cooked all the way through and always note recipe times vary!
Hope that helps!


Pouring cold water on pasta after cooking it Some of my friends pour cold water on pasta after boiling it other don't. What do the professionals do? If they pour cold water on the pasta after the boil, what do they want to accomplish with doing it?

I would strongly suggest not pouring cold or any other kind of water on pasta; it will rinse the delicious starches off its surface, which would otherwise help your sauce cling to it.

To counteract the negative consequences of overcooking due to remaining heat (which, as belisarius suggests in his answer, is the reason other stuff is often rinsed with cold water), just serve it immediately. You want to have the sauce (hot and) ready just before your pasta is, so you can drain the pasta, mix with the sauce, and put it on the table.


Why did my fondant tear? I am having issues with my fondant tearing and cracking. I experimented a lot but didn't get the satisfactory results? What could be going wrong?

Some possibilities I thought of:

Am I using too much buttercream?
Am I rolling out the fondant too thin?
I read somewhere to apply piping gel before applying fondant. Could this be
the problem?

Kindly guide me through it, please.

Without more details from you...

Try kneading the fondant more to make it more pliable and soft.
Work quickly after kneading.
Roll the fondant a touch thicker.
Try using less icing sugar/cornstarch if you are using these during rolling out.
Freeze your cake for a bit to stiffen the structure to avoid edges cutting into fondant sheet.
Gently adhere the fondant on the cake, holding the side/base of the cake before smoothing the entire fondant sheet onto the cake.


Pepper mill - which color and length? I've decided to get myself a pepper mill and it'll be a manual Zassenhaus but I'm not sure about the length and color. I'm thinking about 18 or 24 cm but I guess it simply comes down to what you feel the most comfortable with and how much space you've got in your kitchen.

Is there a general "rule" such as white for salt, light wood for white pepper, black for black pepper, etc. or do you just go with the one that looks best in your kitchen? I'm considering light wood, dark wood and black gloss.

I'm wondering if there's any thinking behind the color choice of the mill or if you simply go with the one that looks best in your kitchen.

Executive summary

Buy the shortest pepper mill you can comfortably use and only fill it with two or three weeks worth of peppercorns. The colour should be light and if you buy more than one similarly shaped mill, be sure to buy contrasting colours if they are not otherwise easily distinguishable from one another. You should not chose a transparent mill for pepper unless the mill will be kept in the dark.

Length

With regards to convenience it is tempting to choose a pepper mill that is as large as you have space for to avoid having to refill. But pepper mills are not the best way to store your peppercorns. According to McGee's On Food and Cooking,

  Even whole peppercorns lose much of their aroma after a month in a
  grinder. (p. 428)

So if you care more about the quality of your pepper than the convenience of having a combined grinding/storage device, it's worth considering how much pepper you use per month.

One grind of pepper from my own pepper mill weighs about 90mg. This will obviously change from mill to mill, but I'll assume for simplicity that people use roughly the same amount of pepper regardless of how efficiently their mill grinds.

I estimate that I use, on average, about 5 grinds of black pepper per day. That brings me to about 13.5g (roughly half and ounce) of pepper per month.

The shortest pepper mill I've seen on the market is 3.5" (~9cm) and has a capacity of 0.4oz (11g). The next largest at 5" (13cm) holds about 1.7oz (48g), or more than three months worth of pepper for my own usage.

For me a 3.5" mill is a bit awkward to operate and a 5.5" mill feels about right. I suggest you buy the shortest mill that feels right for you and fill it only with enough peppercorns to last you two to three weeks.

Color

I have three mills, one for black pepper, one for salt and one for white pepper. The salt and black pepper mills are near enough identical except for the letters P and S printed on the top. Consequently I reach for the wrong mill about 50% of the time. I would certainly recommend choosing different colours if you purchase more than one mill.

One answer here suggests choosing a mill with a transparent casing to solve this problem. This may not be a good idea unless you keep your pepper mill in a closed cupboard. To quote the peerless McGee once more,

  Pepper is best stored tightly sealed in the cold and dark. If exposed
  to light during storage, it loses its pungency because the light
  energy rearranges piperine to form a nearly tasteless molecule
  (isochavicine).

I would also recommend light colours. I'm often guilty of reaching for the pepper mill with my hands dirty from some food-preparation stage. It would be good, when this happens, to later have a visual reminder that the pepper mill is now also dirty. With a dark coloured mill this is difficult to see.


Whipping heavy cream with melted chocolate This morning I put 60g dark chocolate (pieces) into a glass jug and heated it in the microwave for bursts of 10 seconds, while stirring, to soften it.

I then added a table spoon of cold, extra thick cream and gave it a couple more bursts/stirs to melt and mix them together.

Obviously, the mixture was fairly warm but as there was not much cream involved I thought it would be ok to mix and whip.

I added ~300ml of cold, extra thick cream, mixed it until smooth and evenly chocolate coloured and then whisked with a hand mixer.

The result was 10-20 seconds of smooth, but not "whipped" chocolate cream and a sudden change to lumpy, mud-like chocolate cream.

I tasted it and found it to be palatable, but not aesthetically pleasing as it was clearly not "whipped". If I wanted an edible scene which included a muddy garden I'd be winning. (I don't.)

Do I need to re-chill the chocolate+cream mix before attempting to whip it?

Did I curdle (and thus should avoid eating) the cream?

EDIT: I finally got it to work by melting chocolate into a small amount of cream with the most minimal microwave heating. This was the refrigerated and when I returned (after work) it had completely solidified, so I heated for 10 seconds and whipped into the rest of the cream. This worked perfectly.

If you are trying to make chocolate frosting using whipped cream, you need to:

Whip the cream first.
Melt the chocolate and add some amount of whipped cream to the melted chocolate (mix it by cut and fold method)
Add this mixture to the remaining whipped cream and fold it. Don't
over-mix it, it would knock out the air from the whipped cream.

To make chocolate ganache frosting, you just need to follow simple steps:

The ratio to make chocolate ganache frosting I use is 2 parts of chocolate to one part cream (by volume).

Heat the cream and bring it to the boil.
Once cream comes to boil, add the hot cream to chocolate. Let it sit for2-3 minutes. Now stir till it is well combined.
Let it cool completely. It would thicken up. Use it as your requirement.

If you feel that the ganache is too thick, you can add hot milk and mix it and then cool.

The images have been taken from internet.


How to make creamier and softer vegan coconut ice-cream? I was making vegan coconut ice-cream with coconut milk base. Instead of using a can of coconut milk, shredded coconut with hot water was squeezed through a towel for coconut milk replacement. Then almond milk added and whisked together before putting in the back of the refrigerator (no ice cream maker). Ice cream is really hard and icy after one night. Is it possible to make creamy and soft coconut ice cream with coconut milk from shredded coconut or coconut flesh?

As you froze the base without agitating it, larger ice crystals would have formed.

If you have a food processor, you may be able to rescue it by cutting it into chunks (to fit in the food processor), then whizzing it around 'til it's more like a smoothie, then re-freezing it.

If you don't have a food processor, you might be able to let it thaw completely, then re-freeze it, making sure to agitate it multiple times in the process.  One easy way to do it i to put it in a heavy zip-top bag, then a second one (double bagging it), then you can just shake & squish it around every so often while it re-freezes.


When making batter/dough, why is it really bad to clean your spoon by hitting it on the edge of the bowl a few times? Mom and I were looking at a holiday cooking tv-show a few weeks back, and during the part where the host made the dough for the oliebollen, he hit his spoon a few times against the bowl, to get rid of excess stuck to the spoon. Apparently, this was bad enough that mom felt she had to comment on that out loud (NOOO! You fool!).

According to her, when making oliebollen (or any other kind of dough/batter which includes yeast), you should never hit your spoon on the bowl, as this will prevent the dough from rising properly. I've tried to look this up on the internet, but found no such claims/instructions nor any explanation of why hitting a spoon on the edge of the bowl would prevent the dough from rising properly.

So, when making batter/dough, is it really bad to clean your spoon by hitting the edge of a bowl? If it is, why would doing so prevent the dough from rising properly?

Oh, those cooking myths!

Whenever you think you have heard them all, there's a new one. In a yeasted dough, the yeast is perfectly fine with being tossed, beaten and generally mangled. The little yeast cells couldn't care less about what you do in the initial stage of mixing and kneading. (That's obviously different when you consider the dough after the bulk raise: You want to keep the existing bubbles, sometimes more - think baguette or ciabatta - sometimes less, when you punch out the larger ones for a smoother texture, but I digress.)

What is an issue, is the kind of air that didn't come from yeast digestion and is safely entrapped in a gluten network, but the air that was beaten into the batter mechanically. In the oliebollen recipe I have, you make a fairly liquid yeasted batter and finally add beaten egg whites. Now, thats a material that doesn't take well to being jostled around. Just consider how carefully the egg whites are usually incorporated: There's even a cooking term for the method, you fold them in, instead of stirring like crazy.

Many bakers will handle a batter with incorporated egg whites very carefully, because they don't want to burst those precious bubbles1. But unless I am working with something super delicate, a gentle tap of the filled pan can help too-large bubbles rise to the top (and subsequently be pierced) instead of creating unsightly cavities or worse, darkened patches on the surface.

The kitchen rule of "don't bang the spoon on the bowl" may well originate from there - but then the rule applies to all kinds of batter with stiff egg whites. You can be on the very safe side and desist, but I am quite sure that it won't really matter if you tap gently. On the other hand, wiping the spoon with your finger or a spatula means you get all batter in your bowl, and not in the sink, which the frugal me appreciates.

Not tapping the spoon will also prevent chipping the mixing bowl, which in the past was often made of clay or ceramics, and avoid splattering.

1 That's something that fires back in macaron making, where you have to purposefully destroy some of the bubbles...


Pickling Frozen Fish As someone with few opportunities to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, I try to do as much preparatory work as possible on my day off and then just have things I can throw together and stick in the oven/pan/microwave when I'm ready to eat. I'm also trying to up my consumption of fish, so I've got some bags of frozen sardines in my freezer at the moment, and I want to do something with a bit more flair than thawing them the day-of and then sticking them in the oven.

I have interest in pickling the tasty little buggers whole in a mason jar--for small fish, I'm a fan of eating the whole thing, guts included--and pulling them out for a quick roast in the oven on the day I intend to eat them. I have three questions.

1) Is there any reason frozen fish would not be suitable for pickling after thawing?
2) How long could I expect them to last if pickled? Really, I only need them to stay safe for 1 week.
3) Any suggestions you fine folks may have for flavorings.

Cheers.

I have no personal experience, so I can only say what I've found on the web:

There's a guide to pickling fish on the University of Minnesota website:

  Pickling is an easy method of preserving fish. Pickled fish must be stored in the refrigerator at no higher than 40° F (refrigerator temperature), and for best flavor must be used within four to six weeks. Only a few species of fish are preserved commercially by pickling, but almost any type of fish may be pickled at home. Refrigerate the fish during all stages of the pickling process.

  Ingredients for Pickled Fish

  Fish — Use only fresh, high quality fish.
  Water — Avoid hard water, as it causes off color and flavors.
  Vinegar — Use distilled, white vinegar with an acetic acid content of at least 5 percent (50 grains means the same thing). This percentage of acetic acid is needed to stop bacterial growth.
  Salt — Use high grade, pure canning or pickling salt. It does not contain calcium or magnesium compounds which may cause off color and flavors in pickled fish.
  Spices

(Emphasis added as it relates to your questions)

From the above, it sounds like you've got a good window for pickling, 4-6 weeks, which is much longer than your one week need... though it will likely take a few days for them to get pickled.

As to the frozen fish question, I guess it depends on if you can guarantee your fish is high-quality... the article says to use "high quality fresh fish", which sounds like you might have an issue, though their page that discusses more directly the method of pickling fish, lists freezing them below 0 F (-18 C) as a method to kill tapeworms that may be present in the fish:

  Or, if you are pickling raw fish, freeze it at 0° F for 48 hours prior to brining. Either method kills the parasite.

This page from an Alaskan source says that frozen fish is fine as long as it's thawed and they recommend brining to kill parasites.

  Before you can properly pickle fish, it must be properly brined to draw out water to firm up the fish and to kill any excess creatures that might be living in the meat. The brining must be done at temperatures below 38 F (3.3 C) for an added measure of safety. This means you can either clear out a large space in your fridge or use the great outdoors of Seward’s Ice Box like we do.

  Ingredients:

  Fish fillets, defrosted (if using frozen), skin on
  White vinegar
  Pickling (non-iodized) salt
  Water
  A cool place below 38 F (3.3 C) – fridge or the great outdoors

As to recipe suggestions, that's actually out of our scope of discussion but there are tons of recipes out there on the web including some in the links I've included here.


Cornmeal won’t set up I feel this is violating at least one law of physics.  I’ve tried twice now to make polenta recently.  All my life it’s worked as expected.  But these last two times the cornmeal starts to setup within a few minutes of stirring, then progressively begins to reverse course until it’s just water and some grit at the bottom.

The cornmeal was bought about a month ago.

Does anyone have an explanation for what can cause this?

It sounds like maybe you have introduced an enzyme (such as alpha amylase) into your polenta. What is in your recipe? You might try cooking your polenta at a boil for at least 30 seconds.


Where can I find a hand blender like this? My mom uses this in India. It is very convenient, has 5 types of detachable blades - some are smooth for mixing, while some sharp for chopping. I haven't been able to find a similar product on amazon.

That's a hand blender, or immersion blender. They're common, Amazon has a bunch of them.

Here's one with interchangeable blades.


Can I pasteurize milk using a microwave? In our country, we get fresh milk from the milkman and it is usually boiled in a pan over a fire to pasteurize it before we consume the milk. In my office, we do not have gas connection, so I can't use that method.

Can I use the microwave as an alternate source of heat to boil the milk? Will the milk become pasteurized during the heating process in the microwave?

The process of pasteurizing milk is to treat it with heat to kill microorganisms such as Brucella, Campylobacter, E. coli O157:H7, Listeria, Mycobacterium bovis, Salmonella, and Yersinia that may or may not be in the milk. This is a precautionary step that is taken when you are not 100% sure whether your source of milk is disease free.

Pasteurization can occur at different temperature for a different amount of time but the easiest temperature to pasteurize milk in the microwave is to bring it to 161 F for at least 15 seconds.

Pasteurizing the milk in the microwave is a bit tricky because overheating it make cause it to boil over and it also heats the milk very unevenly. In the worse case scenario it can curdle if you overheat it. You will need to buy a thermometer for this method.

You first want to microwave the milk for a minute.
Then you want to stir the milk and take a temperature reading from the stirred milk.
Now you want to continue to put the milk in the microwave in short 15-30 second intervals(decreasing as it gets closer to 161 F) and stirring and taking the temperature reading each time.
When it has finally reach 161 F, you want to heat it for 15 extra seconds in the microwave and at that point it should be pasteurized.

Another thing you can do is to just pasteurize it at home using your usual stove method and store the milk for later use. Once it has been pasteurized, as long as you refrigerate the milk, it will be good for a while. Just remember to quickly chill the milk(using a ice water bath) after you pasteurize it before you put it into the refrigerator.


Substitute to milk in coffee? I'm looking for a substitute to milk in the coffee... something that will have the same effect on the coffee (tone down the bitterness of a coffee cup) put that wont turn bad after two weeks.

Here's the situation... I do like to take a good coffee when I'm a little sleepy on the job... that happens, well, maybe once a week.

But if I buy a 1L carton of milk, it will have the time to turn bad before I'm at the halfway point.

So is there a product that I could use to substitute the milk in my coffee that wont turn bad?

For coffee, there is milk in 10-ml portions. It is UHT, so it doesn't start spoiling until you open it, and you only open one of them per coffee. Alternatively, use powdered milk.


Is there anything I can substitute eggs for when making meatloaf? I have a great meatloaf recipe but I don't have any eggs! Is there anything I can use to substitute for an egg?

In Sweden, breadcrumbs or porridge oats are sometimes used as an alternative to egg for binding köttbullar (meatballs). The crumbs or oats are mixed with boiling water and left for a while until you have a porridge-like consistency and then mixed into the ground meat.

Unfortunately I don't know the exact ratios of dry ingredient/water/ground meat since I generally use both egg and breadcrumbs. I would guess somewhere between 4 tablespoons and half a cup of dry ingredient for a pound of meat.


How should I use extra summer squash? My CSA delivers me a lot of summer squash, more than I can actually find the time to cook in a week. Can I freeze the remainder in some way? Is there a quick recipe I should be making that stores well? I'm not thinking primarily of meals here -- if I had the time to cook dinners more regularly I wouldn't be overwhelmed -- but of things I can store for a while.

I feel your pain. If only I liked summer squash better...

You definitely can freeze squash -- thick slice it, blanch it in salty water briefly until almost tender, transfer to an ice bath until it's chilled, bag it, and put in the freezer.

Later, thaw and use with recipes that don't require ultra-crisp squash.


Substitute for lemon grass in curry dish I have a meal planned in a few days and it calls for lemon grass.  Problem is I've been to the store a couple of times and they don't have it.

(the store is a block away and I don't feel like driving all the way to the next one to look)

The dish is curry spiced noodles, basically a stir-fry.  Any suggestions?

Well I would suggest if you really can not get it, then leave it out altogether.  It provides accents of flavour rather than a primary usually in most curry recipes, so it can be omitted.

If you want to substitute it, then you can use lemon or lime zest, possibly with some mint leaves to freshen it a little.  But the end result will not be the same, just enhanced in a similar fashion to that which lemongrass achieves.


Tips/resources for learning how to plate dishes I'm getting close to pulling the trigger on a couple books about plating from Amazon (Food Styling, by Custer, Dishing with Style, by Trovato, perhaps Culinary Artistry, by Dornenburg), but before I do, I figured I'd ask if anyone here has tips or resources that may be of help.  I'm thinking websites or book recommendations, but any advice will do.

The lower the cost, the better, but since I'm willing to buy a book or two, I'm willing to put the money elsewhere as well.

Thanks!

http://www.tastespotting.com is everything you need. You will get hundreds of ideas there.

Also, remember what the director of my culinary school says: "Food should look like it fell from Heaven onto the plate." Don't get too fussy in other words.

Editing to add a more complete answer.

The ability to plate effectively and beautifully is a combination of two things: an artistic eye and technical skill.

The latter I will deal with in a moment. The former requires some inborn talent, but it can be nurtured. Teach yourself about basic visual concepts such as proportion (how things relate to each other in size), contrast, and negative versus positive space (positive space is the space actually taken up by what you are working with; negative space is the empty space. Much as in music, it's the spaces between the notes that bring interest to the whole assemblage).

Then start paying attention to the plates you see. What do you like about them? What don't you like. Then go out, buy some play-doh, make some food-shaped things and some sauces of various consistencies, and start playing with your plates. A note: almost every fine dining restaurant in the world uses white plates exclusively. There is a reason for this; it shows the food off better. That being said, there is a time and a place to break that fashion. Sometimes for tradition (charcuterie and cheese plates are often served on wooden boards) and sometimes for dramatic effect (a pure white cream soup in a black bowl, e.g.)

Now, on to technical skill. The first and most important thing to do is think about how you are going to plate the final dish before you even start prep. This thinking will inform how you cut your products, what shapes you are looking for, and what consistency you want your sauces to be. It will also inform how you prepare your garnishes--are you looking for something upright and dramatic? Something smeared across the plate? You need to plan ahead, and that means careful knife skills and sauce work. Keep colours in mind, too!

Then you need to start practicing on how you sauce your plates. Thinner sauces/flavoured oils will spread. Thicker sauces and purees stay in place, and thus can be shaped. The first real skill I learned for saucing a plate is using a thick puree, dropping a dollop on the plate, then quickly smearing with the back of a spoon. When done right, it can be very pretty, and for that reason is quite common. it's also the sort of thing you only tend to see at restaurants, to it often impresses dinner guests at home. The easiest way to practice this technique is with homemade mayonnaise.

You will also want to invest in a couple of squeeze bottles. This will allow you to place (thick) sauces wherever and however you want. Again, mayonnaise is a perfect consistency to practice with. Just whip up a batch and spend your afternoon playing.

Also, if you're putting sauce on the plate with a spoon, use the spoon end-on, don't drop it from the side of the spoon.. You will have much more control this way.

Then comes the rest of the food you're putting on the plate. With anything that has been fried, sauteed, or roasted with juices, always pat the bottom dry on some paper towel first, to prevent runoff on the plate (unless of course that is what you want). Tongs are invaluable until you get your fingers to a point that they can tolerate relatively high heat. And always remember: once you place something, that's it. Moving it around will cause mess and problems.

For more advanced techniques, look at things like ring molds (for packing loose products together) which are available in a wide variety of shapes. Plain tin cookie cutters also work very well for this purpose, and are FAR cheaper than ring molds. Also teach yourself to make quenelles, the football-shaped blobs made by shaping something soft in two spoons.

Hopefully that all helps.


What is the most efficient way to remove kernels from a corn cob? I have access to as much sweet corn as I want, so I would like to remove the kernels and store them in the freezer.

What is the most efficient (low time, high recovery) way to remove the kernels from the cob? I would prefer to get whole kernels if possible.

I have been using a paring knife, slicing down the sides of the cob onto a cutting board but I find that this slices through most of the kernels, leaving a good bit on the cob and allowing the liquid to escape.

I have read that if you get a bundt pan (see image below) and stick the cob in the middle hole, and then cut the kernels off as you have been, the pan then catches them quite easily. how to get them off the cob without slicing, though, I really do not know.


Which emulsifer to use for low viscosity emulsions of 10-20% fat and water I'd like to create low viscosity emulsions of between 10% to 20% fat and ~80% water, the hope was to have a viscosity somewhere around that of milk or cream. Slightly thicker could be ok as well but my goal is for it to be as thin and fluid as possible. I'd like the emulsion to be quite stable. I'll also add that this is for a dessert. The typical culinary emulsifiers we all have around like eggs seem to me to not produce particularly stable emulsions at low viscosity (basing my conclusions here on salad dressings). I have Methyl cellulose (which is my current best guess) and a number of other food additives from various projects but I've typically used those as part of specific recipes; I don't know how to use those as part of a creative project like this.
I'll add that I'd like to maximize flavor release and that this will be cold. I feel like aside from viscosity sauces thickened with various thickeners have different mouth feels to them. I've noticed kudzu root is more gummy than corn starch for instance and xanthum gum seems to be particularly gummy. I'd like to minimize that perceived gummyness however imperceptible it might be at low viscosity. Perhaps thats just my imagination.
What emulsifiers will give me the lowest viscosity and remain exceptionally stable in the fridge? I'm willing to buy stuff off of places like modernistpantry if need be.

Milk
You mention milk in your question, so let's start there. Milk is about 2-4% fat, 8-10% milk solids, and the rest water. It has your ideal viscosity, is great cold, and carries flavor well. Commercial milk doesn't separate & is remarkably stable. (It's important to note that fresh-from-the-cow milk separates rather easily, and is therefore generally called "cream top" milk.)
It is pretty close to fitting your parameters. So how do they do it?
Homogenization
Homogenization is done by forcing milk though an extremely narrow opening at pressure above 2000 psi (and as much as several times higher). The combination of extreme pressure and turbulence causes the fat to break up into tiny bits.
The ultrasmall fat globules combine with the naturally occurring emulsifiers in the milk solids (whey proteins, casein) to form an emulsion that is a impressively stable.
Home Homogenization
You don't, really. I'm not aware of any home homogenization methods that would produce something as stable as milk, as you describe.
Why not? When I think of "high pressure though a narrow opening," my mind goes directly to a pressure washer. Most of the home (especially electric-powered) pressure washers operate below 2000psi. Gasoline-powered and commercial pressure washers do get above 2000psi used at the low end of homogenization. Pressure washers are not rated for food safety.
Perhaps you could devise a way to ensure all the necessary parts of a gas powered pressure washer were food safe and sanitized, and spray your emulsion into a stainless steel tank for capture, and achieve some sort of very stable, low viscosity emulsion. But it doesn't seem practical, not to mention there being obvious safety concerns.
Another way?
Maybe? I focused on milk specifically because it's a concrete example. Your question is a bit more hypothetical, which makes a specific answer harder to nail down. Given a more concrete example, there could be simpler answer. Depending on what ingredients you want to emulsify, for how long you want to hold it, and how you want to use it, a reasonable combination of emulsifiers (like lecithin), thickeners (like starch, or agar agar), heat, pressure, mixing, and thinking differently might solve your problem. Whipped cream isn't a stable emulsion, but squirty whipped cream cans solve the problem a different way.


Ideal condition to make injera I'm trying to make Injera traditionally, without any starter, just teff flour (the white one) and water (tap water). I mixed it and left in a bowl, covered by dish towel, in my kitchen. After 60 hours I noticed the surface (just the surface) was grey with molds, something gone wrong! I'm investigating about the causes. First of all I live in central Italy, weather conditions are obviously different from Ethiopia. Maybe my kitchen is a too humid place? Could be something related to tap water (PH?)? Or maybe I let it ferment too long, as there were bubble even after 48 hours..
Any hints?

I haven't done injera yet but I make dosa which is similarly traditionally fermented and one of the most important factors to do this safely and effectively is temperature. My experience with dosa batter indicates that much lower than ~70F (~21C) really slows the fermentation down. I tried to find a more precise temperature recommendation and found a blog (Culinaria Eugenius) which recommends 30C (~86F) (and includes a really thorough walk-through, too).

I have a really good Ethiopian cookbook at home I can check later, but I don't know if it will have a precise temperature recommendation.

If your kitchen is on the cool side (and I hope it isn't a steady 30C for your sake :-) ), it may be helpful to ferment it in the oven. If you have a pilot light on a gas oven, that is enough heat to keep it warm enough, or if not, if you have an internal oven light you can turn on, that can be enough heat.

You would need to keep it out, covered, for some time first, though, as the oven is less hospitable to the wild yeasts you want to catch in the first place.

Your batter could have been ready after 2 days, although it will achieve a stronger flavor if you let it ferment longer.

Another recipe from Mesob Restaurant in NJ says that it can be anywhere from 2-6 days for it to complete fermentation, but for safety's sake, you really do want the fermentation to start quickly so that the good wild yeast can build up and get finished before anything bad gets a chance to take hold, especially in a humid environment that is friendly to such mold spores.

(Note, Mesob is a good restaurant and their injera is good, even if they do cut costs by mixing in other grains, so I trust their advice even though I haven't made it myself from this recipe.)

Regarding your current batch, another blog instruction for making starter says that you can simply remove the mold by skimming off the top. If there is enough alcohol in the mixture that may be safe, but I personally would be likely to throw it out and start over, which is what is generally recommended in answers to this question about sourdough starter.

Edit:
None of my books say anything more useful than "room temperature" for fermenting. Most indicate that it should be ready in 2-3 days.


Escoffier's four types of chicken I'm learning french and thought I would check out the master himself, auguste escoffier, and I bought "Ma Cuisine" on my kindle. In looking at the poultry section, he identifies four types of chicken.

The four types are:

Les Poulardes et Chapons (fattened chickens)
Les Poulets dits <<a la Reine>> (chicken that says "to the queen") ????
Les Poulets de grain
Les Poussins (chicks?? ewwwww)

I think 1 and 4 I basically understand, but I couldn't find anything on "dits <<a la Reine>>"

I am French, and while I am not an Escoffier specialist and could not guarantee what is exactly his recipe of "poulet à la reine" (which here would translate more as "chicken queens' style), but I can bring some elements of clarification :)
It is a recipe based on a vol-au-vent ("windblown") which is basically a little bowl of savory puff pastry in which you can put a lot of delicious things: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vol-au-vent
This vol-au-vent becomes a 'bouchée à la reine" when they are filled with specific ingredients like chicken, mushrooms and a sauce like béchamel (honestly now we tend to not make the difference anymore between vol-en-vent and bouchée à la reine, except for the purists).
It is called à la reine as an hommage to the queen Marie Leszczynska, Louis XV's wife, for whom the recipe was created in the 18th century.
There is no English Wikipedia page, so here is the French one: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouch%C3%A9e_%C3%A0_la_reine
Voilà ! Hope you managed to finish the book!


How can i optimize the use of my convection oven? Is there a resource i can use to learn how to bake in my convection oven?  I know that it can improve the results greatly and i am just not understanding it.  I know that you are supposed to bake at 25 degrees lower temp but it seems like all my baked goods seem to dry out or brown too quickly.  I thought it was supposed to just bake things more evenly.

A convection oven has a fan that blows hot air around the items being baked. The air flow will draw moisture from the food. To stop the drying out, you could tent the baking items with aluminum foil but that has two drawbacks: you waste aluminum foil and lots of times you do want your baking items to lose moisture during baking. Another issue as you noticed, it messes up the browning (Maillard reaction) of the baking process. Where you place your item to be baked with a regular oven has a big effect as well as the container.
The top of oven is hotter while the bottom of the oven is better for slow cooking. Place the dough in dark container for better browning.
Convection ovens change all of those variables. I recommend that you use recipes tailored for that type of oven. If you are concerned about being energy efficient. Bake more than one thing at a time. That's what I do. I use multiple timers and the location in the oven to place the various items for a fantastic meal or bake.


How to make creamy/starchy risotto with brown rice? I've been making risotto with a brown rice blend (Long Grain Brown Rice, Sweet Brown Rice, Wild Rice, Whole Grain Wehani Rice, Whole Grain Black Japonica Rice), and I quite like the texture, and how easy it is for the rice to cook al dente. However, I'm missing the creaminess that comes from arborio's high starch content.

So, a few questions:

Could I add starch (say, arrowroot powder) to get a similar creaminess?
If so, how much, and would this change the amount of water I would need to add to cook the rice?
Is there a better source of starch than arrowroot powder?

The "dissolved" starch is going to make a sauce or "gravy". Different sources of starch will have a somewhat different taste. So experiment a bit with different sources of starch and see which tastes best. You could even grind some of the brown rice in a mortar and pestle to get a brown rice flour that you could use for thickening.

My experience with a risotto is that the rice is breaking down somewhat when it gets to the point where it is cooked. So to make a gravy I'd have some extra water/stock for the rice, and then add a small amount of a starch solution which would thicken when heated. You wouldn't want to start out with a starch solution since that would be easy to burn. You can't add a dry starch to a hot liquid or it will lump.


Why does this entire carton of eggs have 2 yolks each? I got chills this morning making breakfast as I cracked open 6 eggs in a row, all having 2 yolks each.

I've read this is caused by an anomaly that is considered normal in an egg here and there.

I guess the question is, is a whole crate of double-yolk eggs a "bad" thing or a "good" thing? I'm inclined to go with "good" because it seems there's a heck of a lot more protein and nutrients in a double-yoked egg. And yes, that omelette did end up tasting like a 12-egg omelette with half the whites discarded.

Yet, having no good evidence whatsoever I'm suspicious these hens were dosed with some fertility drug.

Thoughts?

Note: Yes all 12 eggs ended up having 2 yolks each.

Double yolking tends to happen more often in spring and with young or very old birds.  As commercial egg producers do not tend to let their birds get old, unless you are getting farm eggs, they are likely young birds.

Automatic candles may be set up to separate these as suspect so they had to be re-run to verify they were not bad, which will result in them being grouped.

When I raised birds, it seemed like brown egg varieties have this occur more often than white eggs, but that is just my experience.  Some people actually try to breed for this and it is more common in some birds.  It also makes young birds a bit more profitable as the eggs are large than they would normally be for new layers.  There are considerable downsides as well for the birds though.  The eggs are not viable, almost always if incubated the egg will fail as if both are fertile, the egg cannot support twins, and one failing in the shell will lead to the demise of the other.  Also, the eggs are larger, so a young bird is laying eggs larger than it is physically ready to lay, and for an old bird the eggs can become monstrous.  This causes a much higher mortality rate in birds.

I have very seldom had double yolks in commercial eggs, but there seems to be something in the water this year.  Just last week I had a dozen also that 10 of the 12 were double.  Just my luck, I was trying to make angel food cake and did not want them.  lol


Storage life for goose fat When I roast a goose, I decant the fat, strain and freeze it. I typically get a pint or more. This seems to work well, I can chip off suitably-sized pieces from the frozen block and use them as necessary. But is this the best way to store it, and if so, how long can I leave it for in the freezer before it's no longer safe to use?

It won't go unsafe if it's refrigerated or frozen, but it might pick up off flavors or turn rancid eventually. You can probably use it for 6 months if it's well-sealed and not exposed to air.


Beating egg whites over a double boiler for increased leavening? I know that whole eggs and egg yolks whip up greater and have more air when beaten with heat, but does the same hold true for egg whites? Would it be beneficial to whip them over a double boiler or not? Thanks!

actually for egg yolks it does the heat help on that, for egg whites they should be at room temperature not cold because at room temperature reaches maximum volume faster than
cold egg whites, and the utensils used like the electric or hand mixer and bowl must not have any trace of grease because fat inhibits the raise process. with taking care of this you will get a good volume of the egg whites, also take into account that if the eggs whites contains sugar it will stabilize the egg foam,with this the meringe (yes now it has become a meringue is you gonna do that) wont go down after a long time, also depending in the manner that you made it either swiss,french, or italian way,if your recipe calls for that then do it, if not, dont.


Dalgona / whipped coffee without sugar? Dalgona coffee / whipped coffee is a hit recently, which is made from instant coffee powder, hot water and sugar.

I was wondering if there are any possibilities that we could have similar results if we do not use sugar? And if we could substitute the sugar with other stuff so to make the whipped-cream-liked foam stiff?

This answer is hopefully a work in progress, because this is a good way for me to make iced coffee to take to work in the morning and I don't know how to answer this question beyond experiementation. I don't really understand the molecular/particle-y science stuff behind it, but there is some science happening here lol. Hopefully someone else comes along with a better answer.

Emmymade described such science briefly at the end of her video that the micro-particles that form the instant coffee crystals become suspended in the liquid between the bubbles which grants the foam so much height and stability. She also tried making it with cocoa powder and matcha, since they're extremely fine powders, but those were not successful. I'd be curious to see if you could do something similar with kool-aid or instant tea powder, but I don't have any on hand, so I'm not sure. You can make a similar foam with dried milk powder, but it's not as stiff as the dalgona coffee foam.

As for sugar, I did indeed try a couple of experiments this morning related to the sugar, and sugar (or salt maybe) is required to get the full foam effect.

The basic dalgona foam, made with equal parts (1 teaspoon in my experiment this morning) coffee powder, sugar, and water will whip up to stiff peaks in a matter of minutes even using a hand whisk. I whisk things by hand a lot anyway, so I might have more speed/endurance than some, but it's still impressive. As I said in my comment, adding a little salt does not harm the foam.

I tried whipping up equal parts of instant coffee and water, and while I did get a foamy liquid.... it remained a sloshy liquid with bubbles that popped quickly. I could hear the foam breaking. It did not build up or lighten in color like the normal stuff. Adding sugar into it pretty much immediately stabilized it, causing it to lighten in color and build up serious volume.

I tried making a small batch of 2 teaspoons instant coffee to 1 teaspoon water, and while it was more stable than the equal parts coffee/water, it still never built up the same volume or really lightened in color. I got it to a soft peak-ish stage, but it still moved slowly across the bottom of the bowl, and the bubbles were visible. It was not a smooth marshmallow-y substance. But I did not hear the foam breaking down too much as I held it next to my ear.

I also tried adding a little heavy cream and vanilla to the basic 1:1:1 recipe, and... that failed completely. There was almost nothing left after I whisked it in for a minute. It maybe foamed up as much as the equal coffee/water experiment.

I tried adding a little vanilla to a batch, and while it did not destroy the foam, it did break it down a bit and looked coarser overall.

I tried adding a little cocoa powder to a batch, and like the vanilla, it did not catastrophically destroy the foam, but it did deflate it a little, and got a coarser texture overall.

I did make some with brown sugar which worked perfectly well, it lightened and blew up to stiff peaks like I wanted, but that's as far as I've gotten.

I don't have any artificial sweeteners on hand, but I might try making some with rice syrup or honey this evening just to see what happens.


Should I wash my pre-washed greens? This sounds so silly writing it out. I frequently buy Olivia's organic spring mix salad which says it's "triple washed." Out of habit, I guess, I wash / spin each serving before I eat it.

Should I wash my pre-washed greens, or is this step superfluous?

I think that washing pre-washed greens is an issue of emotional security, if you don't trust the purveyor.  As the FDA indicates:

  Many pre-cut, bagged, or packaged produce items like lettuce are pre-washed and ready-to-eat.  If so, it will be stated on the packaging.  If the package indicates that the contents are pre-washed and ready-to-eat, you can use the produce without further washing.

It certainly does no harm, but you then have to also dry them for most uses, so it is more work, and kind of redundant:  you have paid a premium price to buy the greens already washed.  If you are going to wash them yourself, why not buy less expensive produce, and perhaps have more control over what goes into your mix?