What are the ingredients that make vegan meat taste like real meat? I tried making a vegan burger in my kitchen before, and it turned out all right. However, when I taste a vegan burger or a vegan hot dog at restaurants or in frozen foods, it seems much closer to the real taste.

So I was wondering, what are the ingredients that make vegan meat taste like real meat?

The meaty taste is Umami. It is the flavour of monosodium glutamate, in the same way that salty is the flavour of salt.

Both mushrooms and tomatoes of the right variety are quite rich in it, as is yeast extract. You can also just buy the stuff commercially.

Don't worry about the stigma attached to it, it's not actually toxic or anything.


How to make professional style burger buns? I've tried everything to try and get soft professional cooking burger buns; Tons of recipes and emulsifiers (lecithin , Vitamin C, Improvers, Vital Wheat gluten etc etc), Stretch and Fold method, but i still cant get them perfect like the stores/fast food chains.

The stretch and fold method is great for making breads, but most buns like this are made using something closer to the Chorleywood Process (or No Time method). Instead of resting time with stretches and folds and bulk fermentation time, this method relies on combinations of dough conditioners and heavy mechanical mixing. This usually means that the dough is mixed with a relaxer such as l-cysteine and an oxidizer like ascorbic acid. The dough is fully developed mechanically and shaped immediately, then proofed and baked.

This will be very hard to achieve at home primarily due to the conditioners used. L-cysteine and it's precursor, glutathione, are both extremely potent. A batch of hundreds of pounds of dough may require less than an ounce of conditioner, so it would be virtually impossible to scale this at home. You may be able to achieve similar results using a deactivated yeast, such as brewer's yeast, or by deactivating yeast on your own. The results will be slightly different though, as the amino acid profiles will be different.

Equipment used in a professional bakery will also make an identical result harder to obtain. Bakeries use enormous mixers that can provide more power than a home mixer, as well as special pans to help hold the shape of the bun as it proofs. Professional ovens also allow much more precise control of air flow and moisture retention than a home oven.

You may be able to achieve a good enough result with an enriched dough (like challah) and some tweaking, but it will be very hard to make an identical bun.


If a large can is divided into smaller containers, is it still shelf stable? Everyone knows that buying in bulk usually saves money. My question involves buying and saving bulk canned veggies and items of that nature. Can you divide a bulk or industrial size can of say green beans or nacho cheese into mason jar, vacuum seal the jar with my Foodsaver and it still be shelf stable without traditional "canning"? I don't want my "nacho cheese" to go rancid on the shelf but I don't want it taking up valuable fridge space either.

No. You can freeze items like that, and they will stay safe indefinitely in a fully functional freezer, but once you break the seal on the can, items like that are subject to same 2/4 hour shelf safety rules as any other cooked item.

See: How do I know if food left at room temperature is still safe to eat?


What can I do with a lot of bay leaves? I have a bay tree, and it's far too big. If I cut it back, I think I'll have around 40 pounds of bay leaves (and I'll still have a bay tree).

It seems like a waste to throw all those bay leaves away.

What can I do with lots of bay leaves? Are there any good recipes that use lots of bay leaves?

A nice thing to do is simply give them away. Last year someone dropped of a big pile of small branches of bay leaves at our child's school, with a "free" sign. You could do something similiar, maybe using your community email list or whatever depending on your personal circumstances. You may have many neighbors who have never experienced how amazing fresh bay leaves can be, and you might even end up with some interesting gifts in return!


why pepitas (pumpkin seeds) taste like blue cheese? Many nondairy 'blue cheese' recipes are pepita based.
It actually mimics blue reasonably well according to omnivores.
What constituent(s) creates this flavor?  Recipes include acid and salt and sometimes yeast but where is the blue?
I've looked at short-chain fatty acids etc like  propionic, butyrate, valeric (pentanoic), decanoic and lauric; even the goaty 3-methylbutanoic present in blue cheese.
Doesn't correspond with pepitas palmitic, oleic, and linoleic so what could it be?
This is a typical recipe by https://lowcarb-vegan.net/vegan-blue-cheese/
Ingredients
1/2 cup (70 g) unroasted pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup (60 ml) water
1/2 cup (120 ml) vinegar or lemon juice
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon tahini
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or a small clove of fresh garlic
1 teaspoon salt
200 gram (7 oz) firm tofu
1/3 to 1/2 cup (80-120 ml) neutral tasting coconut oil (optional)

I'm certainly not a food scientist or chemist, but could it be the umami that is being likened to, or substituting for blue cheese?  Pepitas are pretty high in glutamic acid at 13258mg per 227 grams of seeds. Glutamic acid, I believe, is a source of umami.


Is this okay or moldy? Sourdough starter question This was modestly active starter that I put in the fridge last week since I slowed my baking routine. Took it out today, a week later, to feed and saw this. Is it mold or normal variant? It’s ap flour fed 1x per week in the fridge. Stored in a dedicated starter crock I got from KAF.

Update:
Looks like this died but in any case I re-fed and looks great. So I baked a loaf which turned out perfect. Now...should I eat it? Anyway thanks guys.

It sure looks weird - but with just a blurry photo we’re mostly in the guessing territory. In the other hand, sourdough can look strange after a while in the fridge.
Activity means that you have at least a good amount of active yeast and the vinegary smell indicates lactobacillae, both indicators of a good starter. In a stable sourdough, the combination of the two will keep mold at bay by outgrowing any unwelcome bacteria or fungi and by creating an inhospitable environment due to the acidity.
Whether a sourdough starter that has developed mold spots needs to be discarded is a widely discussed topic - some count on the desired microorganisms’ power to outcompete the mold, especially if the obviously moldy parts are scooped off, others assume that the mold may grow alongside them.
In short:
We can’t say whether your started had mold or just some hooch (the latter perfectly harmless) and so can only give you the general ideas and concepts to help you make an informed decision.
On a very personal note (and this is by no means a recommendation or statement about food safety!), I would interpret the pattern as hooch and the grey patches as the beginning discoloration that often happens with a starter that has been stored for a while in the fridge. I see no fuzziness and no “weird” discoloration apart from the brown-grey of dark dough. But on the other hand, creating a new starter takes only a short while. Hint: Many bakers have a “backup” of their favorite starter for cases like this.


Mixing 60% and 81% dark chocolate to get 70% I need 70% dark chocolate for a cake recipe (actually 72%, but the recipe notes that slightly lower content will be fine), also, according to the recipe, high-quality chocolate is not a must.

In my local supermarket, 70% dark chocolate was priced extremely high, and 100 grams of 60% and 100 grams of 81% chocolates (of different manufacturers) costs half the price of 200 grams of 72% chocolate.

Will mixing 60% and 81% dark chocolates (the recipe requires melting the chocolate) give me similar result to a 70% dark chocolate?

Functionally, it should work out fine; but it is not an exact substitute.

Based on the fact that your recipe gives you a tolerance for both strength and quality of the chocolate I would say it is probably fine to proceed boldly with your plan to mix the two. You might try a small sample melt first (as suggested here) by mixing an equal but smaller amount to check your results first.

Will this create 72% (or even 70.5%) chocolate, actually no. There is more to chocolate than just the %cocoa. % of cocoa is just one element to the formula. The 72% 'on the shelf' almost certainly has different ratios of sugar, chocolate liquor, butter etc. Once melted these would react differently with the other elements of your recipe if that recipe were more exacting in it's requirements.

There is an interesting collection of articles on the chemistry of chocolate here, but nothing indicates that you should face any problems from an inexact match of 60+81 vs. 72


Freezing cooked chicken from the deli? I think this is a pretty basic question, but can I purchase cooked chicken breast from the deli at the local supermarket then freeze it?  Would it be unsafe in any way to unfreeze it later to eat?  Would I have to bring it up to 165 degrees F when unfreezing it, or would it be safe to just defrost to around room temp and eat it then?

Yes, you can freeze cooked chicken, no problem. As long as you follow safe food handling techniques, it is perfectly safe to defrost it for eating later.

Since it has already been cooked, you do not need to bring it back up to 165 deg F. Just get it to the temperature at which you want to eat it, and enjoy!

Do keep in mind that when you defrost your chicken, you should do it in the refrigerator rather that out at room temperature, where bacteria can begin to grow again. You can, of course, rapidly defrost it in a microwave, or just heat it from frozen, though this can give you uneven heating depending on how big the pieces are.

More info

As it pertains to bacteria, you can think of freezing as stopping time. So if your food is clean and safe when it goes into the freezer, it should be clean and safe when it comes out. The USDA has a guide to Freezing and Food Safety if you want more details.

Cooking chicken to 165 deg F mainly serves to kill salmonella bacteria. Once this has been done, your chicken is salmonella-free, hence you don't need to reheat to this temperature again.

Also see the very thorough post on food safety on Seasoned Advice with just about everything you need to know on the subject.


What regular product can replace Philadelphia cooking creme in a chicken pie recipe? This is the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/220694/philly-chicken-pot-pie/

It's perfect because it's so simple, except I don't like the "cooking creme", which is an unappetizing concoction of strange ingredients and too much salt.

What regular food (or combination thereof) can be used in this recipe instead?

Why not make your own cheese sauce. You could do something like; roux, milk and cheese.

Or you could always use something like ricotta cheese or boursin cheese that is a spreadable and more natural cheese.


Looking for Rubbermaid "Servin' Saver™" container I'm looking for a specific Rubbermaid "Servin' Saver™" container. My co workers and I are having trouble finding it.  Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Measurements are 9 in x 4.5 in x 2 in.

Measured as length width and height

These are listed as "vintage" on Amazon and eBay so I would think they are not being made any more. I found one on Amazon for $14.00 plus $5.49 shipping. There are some complete top and bottom sets on eBay but they are (relatively) expensive, around $15.00 each. I saw similar reusable containers on Amazon for a much more reasonable price, around $1-2.00 each.
And No, I am not affiliated with eBay or Amazon. :)


defrosting homemade frozen bread I made several loaves of bread 7 days prior to use due to time constraint, so I decided to freeze them after fully cooled, 8 hours after cooked.

Normally with frozen bread I would let out at room temperature while sealed for 4 to 5 hours.   Will bread be fresh if I assemble sandwiches with frozen bread, wrap air-tight, and wait 6 hours prior to eating? If not, what method would be best to retain freshness of bread, meats, and cheeses assembled in sandwiches?

As a possibility, here's what I do for make-ahead sandwiches with (previously) frozen bread. I'd suggest only a couple things beyond what you are planning.

After the bread is out of the oven and fully cooled (8 hours or over-night as you did), I slice before freezing. This allows me to take slices out of the freezer a few at a time. (As an alternative, you could take the bread out several hours ahead of time, then thaw enough to slice; I find this less convenient. Slicing frozen bread is something I try to avoid!)

Once out of the freezer, I toast the bread. This both gets the chill off and gives the bread some added freshening and ability to stand up to holding contents for some time (e.g., so the bread doesn't get as soggy). Making sandwiches directly with pre-sliced, frozen bread is possible, but I expect it would exacerbate the sogginess.

Assemble the sandwiches and wrap in plastic, foil, or a bag (as you suggest) as tightly as convenient. This procedure, for me, works adequately for several hours of make-ahead.


Is slow cooking safe? With the new trend of slow cooking (at very low temperatures for very long periods of time), is there potential for increased unsafe bacteria growth?

I suspect that you're not talking about 'slow cookers' but 'sous vide' as you mentioned 'new trend'.

Although food is often cooked at temperatures within the 'food danger zone' (below 140°F / 60°C), the increased time at that temperature results in pasteurization of the food item when done correctly.

The recommended temperatures to cook food so you can be assured that you've killed off bacteria and such are based on having it there for only a few seconds.  The further below that temperature that you are, the longer time that's required to kill off the bacteria ... although there is a lower limit of when you can't achieve pasteurization (practically it's 130°F / 55°C)

For more details, see http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html#Safety


Suitable alternative to cast iron pan for sweet potato cornbread I'm making sweet potato cornbread and the recipe calls for a cast iron pan to be use. What is a good alternative to it? Could I use a thin metal pan?

Hi Lisa and welcome to Seasoned Advice! What you don't want is a thin pan. You will run the risk of burning, especially on the bottom. But it's not all bad news.

Cast iron is thick and while it will take longer to heat up than a thin pan, it will provide a more even heat.

Another thing to consider is that a dark pan usually cooks a little quicker (sometimes compensated with a slightly lower temperature) and helps with browning.

One alternative would be a thick aluminum pan. I have a couple and use them interchangeably with cast iron for baking. If you have one, you might need to slightly raise your temperature as this is not a dark pan.

If all you have is a thin pan, I would suggest moving the oven rack up one notch and slightly lowering your temperature, perhaps 25° (F). With the other factors in consideration you will need to check it more often and watch your time, but you can make it work.


How can I make the best use of chocolate peppers? One grower at the farmer's market in the alley near my work recently started selling a crop of chocolate peppers. I've had some moderate success using them as an ingredient, but am looking for tips on additional uses for them; particularly in how to make them more expressive of their flavor (i.e. is it particularly important to roast them before use, etc).

(If you're unfamiliar with these, they are poblano-ish looking peppers with a purple-ish color to them; they have a subtle, sumptuous chocolate-y profile and pair very well with very hot peppers.)

For example, I have made Chile Rellenos with them and they were very good; but recently I tried to incorporate them into a simple rice and eggplant dish and they didn't flavor the dish very well at all. I'm wondering if pre-roasting them ahead of time might have made them a better ingredient or if perhaps some other technique could have made them more worth including.

What sorts of preparation techniques or ingredient combinations would best utilize this unique ingredient and help enhance its flavor?

In general, you can roast peppers to develop a richer flavor.  Then skin the pepper and you can use it for salsas, sauces, or just slice/dice it up for a sandwich.


Substitutes for beer... in beer cheese soup Sounds odd I know, but some preservatives in beer can be an allergen... I found a beer cheese soup that I really really enjoyed. My question is, are there non-beer substitutes for "dark" beer that might do well in a spicy beer cheese soup like the one linked below. I'm curious if anyone has found a sub that still gives off the same dark beer flavor in the end result?
Simply Altered Eats: Beer Cheese and Chicken Soup

Note: This is a suggested experiment, rather than a tried-and-tested solution
From the comments, yeast and malt extracts were suggested.  I'd go further and say both, as neither will replicate beer flavour alone.
Both are rather variable.  Some experimenting will be required.
In case you go too far with either of them, I suggest you have spare ingredients on hand to allow dilution (leftover soup should freeze well, to avoid waste)
I suspect that too much yeast extract will be worse than too much malt extract, so use caution on that.  Yeast extract (referring to Marmite/Vegemite or own brand equivalents) is used in some vegetarian recipes as a source of umami; it's useful in savoury dishes but can get overpowering. It also has salt, so you might need to reduce the salt in your recipe.
I'd guess at a starting point of 2 tbsp of the liquid malt extract I've used and 1 tsp of yeast extract plus 0.5l (1 pint) of water for 1 pint of beer.  That balance could be way off, but luckily both are highly processed and won't change much in cooking so you can add more to taste (as you can with salt).
A little acid wouldn't hurt (ideally lactic acid), maybe 1/2-1tsp of malt vinegar in that same substitute pint.
A way-out idea I'd be tempted to try (as I've got it on hand) is replacing the flour with dried sourdough starter, to bring in some yeast flavours and acid
Luckily that recipe doesn't call for a particularly bitter beer, as that's harder to get right.  I wouldn't worry about bittering agents.  You could though: hop extracts are rather strong (used at a few ml per gallon of beer, though they're available. If you wanted to try them you'd need to dilute the extract first then add, otherwise you might find one drop too little, two drops too much.


Cause for Popovers not Rising in Oven? Today, I was inspired to make popovers.

I followed this recipe, "Foolproof Popovers" but substituted the white flour with whole wheat white flour.

As for the rest of the directions, I carefully followed all the details: melting the butter, brushing it and preheating the the muffin pan, and heating the milk up, etc.

What would cause popovers to not rise in the oven? Would it be because of the whole wheat white flour. Is it just not possible to use whole white wheat flour?

I did try doing a search and reviewed this answer: What causes popovers to rise so much?

This one explains why they rise but don't give much into troubleshooting the issue.

I agree with the "fast rise" requirement. An additional suggestion: it might have been not the oven, but your muffin tin.

A hot oven is not enough for pop overs, you need well preheated containers. Originally, you would use iron ones, not just a muffin tin. If you do have to go with the tin, choose a metal one, the ones with silicone cups just don't hold enough thermal energy to give to the dough.

Be generous with the fat. It is not only the tin which makes them rise well; being dropped in sizzling hot fat does them good. The pastry brush suggestion doesn't sound too well; it might work, but you are on the safe side if you melt a bit of lard in each cup. It is even better to get it heated on the stove, it gets hotter than in the oven.

And a different suggestion: The temperature of the batter is important too. They tell you to use warm ingredients, and that is good. Too cold and you won't get the popovers to steam internally quickly enough. But be aware that you shouldn't make it too hot. If your milk and/or butter is hot enough to cook the eggs while mixing, the batter won't rise. Best to use all warm ingredients in the 40-50 degrees celsius (100-120 fahrenheit) range.


Is it safe to use a cast iron skillet over a chimney starter? I want to pan-fry a burger tonight, but I don't want the smoke or smell in the house (we don't have a range hood, just an anemic exhaust fan that dates from the Truman administration).  I considered grilling, but I don't want the trouble of cleaning up the grill.

So, in true mashup form, I figured I could combine the two and heat the cast iron skillet outside on top of my chimney starter.

Is this okay?  I've seen people sear tuna above a chimney starter, but I haven't heard of using it like a campfire.

Cooking-wise, I don't care too much about having the heat concentrated in the middle of the pan - I'm more concerned about unwittingly damaging the seasoning on the pan or something.

I don't think you will hurt the pan, cast iron skillets can take a lot of heat. I think the biggest risk is that you are building a kind of dangerous tower. If you were to somehow knock it over you could hurt yourself badly.


Does double-frying French Fries in an air fryer make it crispier? I didn't find this question asked on this site, and didn't find it being answered anywhere on the Internet.

I've tried the recipes that are given online. They're all more or less the same where they ask you to single fry the potatoes (and they all stress on shaking it in between).

There's got to be a better way. I'm sure that there exists another way to make the fries crispier. My question is focused on double-frying rather than "how to make fries".

I have gone through the other questions on this site and come to know that the normal process of making crispy french fries is to fry them twice (and freezing them in-between).

However, what about the case when we're making them using an Air Fryer? Should we follow the same procedure of frying them once, freezing them, and then frying them again after a few hours?

If not, then how can I make crispy french fries using an Air Fryer?

I tried out the following procedures with Air Fried french fries and concluded that the best way to make them is to cut, wash and air-fry.

Note: Any kind of "frying" here refers to air-frying. Also, the potatoes were picked from the same batch, they were cut in exactly the same way with the same width, using a cutting tool.

Blanching in water, freezing in the refrigerator overnight, frying the next day:

  Resulted in slightly sweet french fries. I don't prefer them sweet.

Blanching in water + salt + vinegar, freezing in the refrigerator overnight, frying the next day:

  Resulted in slightly sweet french fries. I didn't notice any difference in texture or crispyness as compared to #1.

Blanching in water + salt + vinegar, deep-freezing overnight, frying the next day: Resulted in much sweeter french fries

  Resulted in exactly the same kind of french fries as in #1

Cutting the potatoes, frying them immediately after that:

  Made the fries stick to each other. Also, the edges of the fries were burnt.

(Best) Cutting the potatoes, washing them with water to remove the surface starch from the potatoes, frying them immediately after that:

  This made the best result, IMO. It was almost the same as #1, except that it wasn't sweet. The fries were not sticking to each other and crispy.

Cutting the potatoes, frying them in one batch. Waiting for 15 minutes so that they cool down, and the moisture escapes. Then frying them again:

  The fries felt half-normal, half-hard like crusty cheese. I had to throw the ends of the resulting french fries because they were difficult to chew.

My two cents:

French fries cooking methods from oil-frying don't exactly port over to air-frying.
Air-frying is much quicker and faster. However, it doesn't reach the crispiness of oil-frying. That said, considering the health-benefits, I would go for air-frying any day.
The best way to fry is also the quickest way. Cut, wash, drain, and fry. I've also noticed that adding the spices after they are fried results in better french fries.


What is the proper oven rack height position for baking cakes and cookies? My oven has five rack positions.  When baking a cake mix, at what height should the oven rack be placed at?  If it helps, I usually bake using two 9" round pans.  The box of cake mix typically doesn't specify.  Is there a norm?

Also, at what height should the oven rack be when baking cookies (e.g. chocolate chip)?

Mid height for cakes in non-convection ovens, slightly above mid height for thin cakes, top for cookies. In a convection oven it doesn't matter because the airflow distributes heat evenly throughout the oven's volume.


What is the foam that comes out when making clarified butter? When making clarified butter you get a bottom layer of milk solids, the center layer of clarified butter, and the top layer of foam. What is in the foam? Does it have any uses?

That foam is more of the milk solids, brought up and made foamy by water evaporating. The Joy of Baking says it is whey protein specifically.

I usually discard it but you can eat it. Some people like it on toast or other places where you might use butter or a light sprinkling of mild cheese.


Where can I find yak butter online or in NYC? I was told by a Nepalese acquaintance that it's not available. Seems unlikely.

Often finding exotic ingredients means determining which cultures use that ingredient, determining where there's a high concentration of immigrants from those regions, and checking for stores in that area.

In this particular case, we know that yak is a staple of Nepalese cuisine, and searching for Nepalese restaurants in New York City, we find a cluster of about 8 near the intersection of Roosevelt Ave & 74th St.  There's a smaller cluster of three on Queens Blvd. between 39th Pl & 50th St.

... and just searching for 'nepalese groceries nyc' finds Himalayan Mini Mart, which is sort of between those two clusters (39th Ave & 64th St.)  There was also an article on the growing 'Little Nepal' in Jackson Heights.  Following a few leads in that article, I also found a Himalaya Bazaar closer to that larger cluster of restaurants.


Does a splatter screen prevent grease build up in kitchen? I love to stir fry. What I don't love is the sticky grease coating that over time accumulates on every surface near the stove, including cupboards, kitchen items and the floor.

I don't have a range hood and can't get one because my kitchen is not on an outside wall, so I'm thinking about getting myself a metal mesh splatter screen.

It's obvious that such a screen works well against the bigger splatters since the drops are simply too big to pass the gaps, but will it work against the fine mist of oil that causes the sticky coating as well?

I use a splatter screen any time I sauté or deep fry.  I like the Cuisipro 13" screen.  It's all steel, has metal feet on the rim so grease doesn't get on the counter when you put it aside, you can hand wash or just toss in the dishwasher. Mine is also sturdy enough to use as a makeshift cooling rack.


What does it mean in a Recipe to "steep the gelatin"? I'm making macaroons and I wanted to know what exactly this means and for how long generally do I need to steep gelatin?

Steeping the gelatin is the same as just soaking it in cold water. Because the structure of the gelatin is now changing, an other word for this is steeping.
You need to steep the gelatin until its softened (when using leaves). This will normally not take more then 10 minutes, but just look at the package the gelatin comes in to see what they recommend, and compare with what the recipe tells you. (I don't have experience with powder gelatin).


Is it valid to claim that a jam contains no preservatives? Some commercial jams state on the label that they contain "no preservatives", or are "preservative free". As I understand it, jam is a type of fruit preserve. Like most fruit preserves, it is protected against bacteria and mould before opening by the canning effect, and protected to a lesser extent against bacteria once opened, by its high sugar content (typically > 50% by weight).

Jams that I have seen labelled in this way also usually list citric acid as an ingredient, which commonly used as a food preservative.

My assumption is that food companies can get away with this labeling because sugar is required to activate the pectin during manufacturing, and citric acid can be said to be required for flavouring purposes.

My argument is that although jam wouldn't be jam without the gelling effect of the activated pectin, it also wouldn't be jam if it wasn't self-preserved after opening. It seems wrong to claim that sugar is not a preservative when used in jam, just because it has another function. It would be like claiming that full-cream milk is "fat-free" because the fat it does contain is required to make it appear white instead of having a blue tinge.

If another edible chemical that could activate pectin (but didn't have a preserving effect) was used to make jam, then would a manufacturer not get away with labeling the jam as having no preservatives, if sugar was added solely for the purpose of preservation?

I have not mentioned taste as a another function of sugar in jam because I don't think it is a relevant fact to consider. Jam tastes sweet because it is made with sugar for the reasons stated above, not because sugar is added to make it taste like jam.

Is "no preservatives" in jam a legitimate claim, or a marketing trick?

I have not researched the types of preservatives that are added to commercial jams that do not display the "no preservatives" claim, but I would be interested in this information if anybody knows.

From the FDA site: "The term 'chemical preservative' as defined by 2l CFR 101.22(a)(5), 'means any chemical that, when added to food tends to prevent or retard deterioration thereof, but does not include common salt, sugars, vinegars, spices or oils extracted from spices, substances added to food by direct exposure thereof to wood smoke, or chemicals applied for their insecticidal or herbicidal properties'.'

So that seems pretty straightforward. Legally, they don't have to claim sugars or acids as preservatives.


Why did my tiramisù cream become grainy? Late Friday night, I prepared tiramisù and refrigerated it until serving it the next day, I guess about 20 hours or so later. The texture of the cream layer seemed fine when I prepared it, but when I served it, it was grainy. It still tasted normal The graininess really is quite uniformly distributed and dissolves on the tongue. It's not an overcooked-custard kind of grainy, and the grainy bits seemed like fat, not sugar or ice. The uniformity makes me feel like it is something that precipitated out of the mixture while it was chilling.

Here's a picture, you can see the texture of the cream (although I guess it turned out a bit blurry).

I've made tiramisù successfully quite a few times in the past; this is the first time I've had this happen to me. I was following the Williams-Sonoma recipe which has you make a zabaglione (essentially) with the yolks and sugar, beat the mascarpone, whip the cream, fold the mascarpone into the cream then beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and fold the cream-mascarpone mixture into the egg whites.

I think I followed everything precisely EXCEPT that I currently only have one whisk attachment for my mixer and I was tired and didn't want to thoroughly wash it in-between to be sure every speck of oil from the cream was gone, so I beat the egg whites before whipping the cream (I rinsed the whisk after doing the egg whites, but didn't wash it) so the egg whites were standing for a bit longer than they should have because they stood the whole time while I folded the mascarpone into the whipped cream, and then of course I folded them in.

I was using room-temperature store-bought mascarpone, chilled heavy whipping cream, room-temperature egg whites.

Was the texture doomed by letting the egg whites stand too long, or did I over-whip the cream? Or do I wrack my brains further to see if I did something else?

Luckily, my audience on Saturday was not the picky type and it seems that only my husband and I were bothered by it. But I'd like to avoid it in future... (I'm already planning to get some toys to help with the ordering problem next time.)

It's funny google directed me to an unanswered question when I went looking for ways to keep my mascarpone from curdling.

That's what I think happened to you by the way. The same thing happened to my tiramisu cream last week. I probably shouldn't jump to conclusions since it was a different recipe, but I noticed when I was beating my mascarpone into my zabarengue (to use Chef John's parlance) it took on a somewhat broken appearance. It happened once before in a different dessert when I got impatient and decided I could fold my mascarpone into my barely warm berry syrup.

After much panicked googling, I discovered that mascarpone can actually be quite temperamental when combining it with ingredients that are different temperatures, but I also think the moisture content can encourage separation and curdling.

The tiramisu recipe I recently tried called for the yolks and whites to be beaten together with the sugar over a double-boiler for several minutes, allowed to cool, and then the mascarpone beaten into it. Either I didn't let my egg mixture cool completely (my guess), or the different fat content of the zabarengue disagreed with the mascarpone. It split at that stage, and after refrigerating, it had the exact same grainy texture you described.

EDIT:
After further googling, it seems like contrary to common law, it's better to use mascarpone cold. It's so high in butterfat, that it's very easy to overmix and essentially churn it. I recently made a bananamisu (tiramisu with bananas) and used the same previously curdled recipe, and by beating the cold tiramisu a little to soften it and then beating the zabarengue into the mascarpone a bit at a time, and folding the whipped cream in by hand, I can happily report no separation issues.


What kind of mortar and pestle is most food safe? Even after conditioning/seasoning one can expect microscopic chips from using a mortar and pestle.

Intuitively it seems that a metallic M&P would be more inclined to shed not so healthy chips, in contrast to a combination of a hard mortar (granite) and a (food safe) soft pestle (wood) whose chips are non toxic.

A granite mortar and granite pestle; this combination will do everything.

The granite is hard and dense and will not chip under regular usage.

You need to remember that the mortar and pestle must be harder than what you need to grind.

Serious Eats Mortars and Pestles is a good read.


Chili ended up tasting like indian food So I am making some chili for a work contest, and I decided to use a new recipe/approach for some reason. It was largely based on the food lab's chili.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/01/how-to-make-the-best-chili-ever-recipe-super-bowl.html

Here is what I did...
edit: To be clear, I did not follow the serious eats recipe. I just used elements of it and then used the steps that I have listed below.

reconstitute some dried chilis in chicken broth (and a fresh jalapeno). Blend this later to make part of the liquid base
brown some beef chuck in a dutch oven
Add some chopped yellow onion and some garlic that I grated on a microplane
add tomato paste, continue to brown for a bit
add chili broth, more chicken broth, oregano, salt, pepper, some cumin, and a single square of bitter chocolate
stew for several hours before adding some beans

The results are really just now coming together, and it honestly tastes a lot like a beef curry. That's not a bad taste by any means, but I'm wondering if it is the best thing to submit to a chili cookoff. Do you guys think there is anything that I can do to bring it slightly back to a more typical chili taste?

Normally I'd post this as a comment, rather than an answer, but it's getting a bit long.  The problem is, this is conjecture.

I'm guessing it's the cloves, coriander, and/or anise that might be throwing off the flavors towards Indian.  You have a few options : (1) make it so so spicy that no one wants to actually eat large amounts of it, (2) smother the flavor with something else.  Unfortunately, chili is so strongly flavored, this can be difficult, or (3) try to meld the flavors more.

Letting the chili sit overnight will help with #3, but you can also add more alcohol and let it cook down.  Instead of going with a neutral alcohol like the recipe calls for, I'd add beer or hard cider.  For more of #2, I'd also be inclined to add more tomato paste ... it might help to smother some of the stronger flavors.

You might also have to serve it with cheese & sour cream.

Unfotunately from experience, the one time I really screwed up a batch of chili, I tried all sorts of things, and the only way to save it was to eat it lukewarm (which kept you from noticing all of the flavors), but with lots of hot sauce (which kept you from noticing it was lukewarm, and covered up the flavor).


How to make smooth ice cream flavored with fresh fruit? What are the key techniques to create a smooth ice cream that's flavored with fresh fruit?  How do I prepare the fruit, and when is the best time to add it to the ice cream?

In the past, I've had trouble where all the juice came out of the fruit and I ended up with flavored ice.

Preface: I'm not a big fan of fruit-flavored stuff (I like fresh fruit by itself, just not in stuff...) so I can't speak to these from personal experience.

For fresh fruit, puree in a blender or similar.  Moist fruits can probably be pureed in their own juices; otherwise, you'll need to add some.  You'll probably want to add some sugar, but offset this by reducing the sugar you add to the ice cream mix.  (Seeds might be an issue too - get seedless if possible.)
As Manako suggested, you can also cook it down and then puree, though this will result in a wetter mixture than with their natural juices alone.  This will also present a different flavor profile from the fresh fruit, so experiment to find what you like.
Another possibility would be to cook out some of the water from your puree.
In any case, you'll want to reduce the liquid ingredients of your normal recipe by roughly the same amount as the pureed fruit you're adding.
In light of the previous item, you'll probably want to use a higher-fat cream than normal, since the fruit will add a lot of water.
Unlike "chunky" additions, you don't really care that the ice cream should be at a thick consistency before you add them.  (for suspension)  I'd just add it directly to the mix before you start churning.


I need to substitute fresh yams for canned, but I want the sweetness I have always used Bruce's canned Yams for My Sweet Potato Casserole.  Unfortunately, this year with the pandemic, I cannot find any available. I still want to make the casserole and want it to taste the same. I know to boil the yams, but what else do I need to do in order to get that sweet taste?

If you want to devote the time to get the maximum sweetness, you can take advantage of natural enzymes to accomplish your goal.  If you can  hold your yams between 135 and 170°F (57 and 77°C) for a couple of hours, you can dramatically increase the sweetness. They will still be hard at this point, so will need roasting to soften. A sous vide device will be the best way to do this, but you can do a decent job of improving sweetness by roasting, wrapped in foil, in a 300 F (149 C) oven for about 2 hours.  The science and process is explained in detail here.


What is a "nonreactive" pan? I just realized the recipe I use for Chardonnay Beurre Blanc requires the use of a "small nonreactive saucepan."

In the past, I have used my 1.5 quart All-Clad saucepan without problems.

What sort of pan materials should I avoid?

Similarly, I've seen recipes indicate one should use a nonreactive bowl. I typically use plastic in those cases. Should I be using something different?

Try cooking tomato sauce in a cast-iron pan some time... You'll learn a whole new meaning for "irony".

A non-reactive pan is one that allows you to cook or store acidic foods without dissolving, leaching, or otherwise causing contamination. Good materials for such pans include glass, stainless steel, food-grade plastic, ceramic, porcelain, and hard anodized aluminum. Bad materials include cast-iron, copper, and aluminum.

Plastic bowls should be fine for most purposes, however keep in mind that small scratches in the plastic may harbor contaminants that will be freed by the acid. So clean them well, or switch to glass.


Mixture of ingredients has a bitter taste I put ginger, cilantro, red onion, jalapeno and garlic in a blender for a dish I'm preparing. This mixture was going to be fried in oil. I noticed that it had an extremely bitter taste - what could be the reason?

What's the best way to counteract this bitter taste? My dish has tomatoes, some Indian spices like dried cilantro powder, chilly powder, turmeric, etc.

Likely the bitterness has nothing to do with this particular combination of ingredients. Rather, the blending process can break down the structures of each of the ingredients far more thoroughly then chopping and allows bitter compounds to leach out and saturate the overall mixture. Garlic in particular can be bitter if it's been pulverized, but it gets milder as it cooks. Did you notice that the bitterness ruined the dish after it was cooked?

Also, is there a reason to blend these ingredients? It's often preferable to chop ingredients by hand, or even use a food processor.

Also, I'd warn against cooking all of these ingredients at the same time anyway. They all cook at slightly different rates. For example, if you put onions and garlic in the pan at the same time, the garlic will burn long before the onions are done. EDIT: The warning against cooking them at the same time only applies if you are indeed intending to sweat or sauté them. If they are buffered with a liquid, then they won't burn. However, some of the ingredients might get mushy or even dissolve completely before the other ingredients are finished.


How do you remove the stickiness from reusable plastic container or lid? I have a blue plastic lid for my glass Anchor container.  I noticed that the lid is very sticky to the touch from both sides.  I've cleaned it thoroughly with soap but the stickiness is still there.  This lid is supposed to be microwave safe but I never used it while heating up food.

I also noticed a similar texture with with my semi-transparent Tupperware plastic container.  For this one, the lid is fine but the container itself is sticky on the inside.

Has anyone experienced that before with plastic lids or containers?  The stickiness is the same all year long.  Is there a way to clean it or has the product reached its end of life?

When I get this, it's almost always old grease that didn't get washed off properly in the first place. We have some newer storage containers that are, for some reason, really strongly attractive to grease and have to be washed very carefully with lots of detergent or they're sticky next time we go to use them.

My usual solution is to rub the whole thing with undiluted dishwashing liquid and let it sit a minute or two. Then I rub/rinse with the hottest water I can stand until it's all squeaky clean. This usually works.

If your grease is several layers deep or really old, you might have to resort to a grease cutter like Formula 409 or one of the citrus-based degreasers, followed up with plenty of detergent. I would not use solvent any stronger than a commercial cleaning spray because of the risk of damaging the plastic. I also would not scour the plastic. The scratching will make it exponentially harder to get all the way clean, and the deepest scratches can harbor bacteria (ask any home brewer who scoured his brew bucket how much it increases the risk of infection).


How can I make my sauces shelf stable, other than adding acid into it since my recipe doesn't include much of it? I would like to be able to can and sell my own sauces (brown gravy sauce, chile paste sauce). There isn't much acid in the recipe of the chile paste, and Mason Jar for pressure canning is cost prohibiting in my country. Is there any other way to preserve my food products and make it shelf stable? Can I use the jar as on the picture if I were to use boiling-water canning?

There is no way at all to do that.

If you made up your own recipe, pressure canning is out of the question. It is only safe for recipes which have been developed and tested with pressure canning in mind.

Water bath canning is generally also only advised with recipes which have been developed and tested for canning, in order to ensure that you have both the proper acidity and proper thermal behavior. If you have the skills and tools to measure pH, you might decide to go with that and do water-bath canning of your own recipes with testing each batch before and after canning. This might do it for you personally, but 1) you will have to develop recipes that taste pretty sour (which you don't want to), 2) you will still have to use proper canning jars (as answered to your previous questions, both pressure and water bath canning require Mason or Weck style jars, jars with twist-off lids as in your picture are not safe) and 3) if you are selling, your local food safety authority might not agree that it is safe just because you say you measured it.

The only feasible storage option available to you as a home cook is freezing, which makes it almost impossible to operate as a cottage food producer - you would have to ensure that the jars stay frozen the whole time until they reach the customer and the customer would have to consume them within 3-5 days of defrosting, plus it is likely to mess with the texture of some sauces.


How can I get my layer cake to cook more evenly/not burned? I usually make a two layer cake, and I have a family favourite cake recipe which is fool-proof. I now want to start making one layer (thicker) cakes and i am using catering grade tins. I just finished baking my first one.

Because this cake was thicker, I lowered the temp from 180° C, to 170° C. The cake rose well, but the center was liquid till the very end; it also burned on top and I had to leave the cake in for much longer than I usually do (45 minutes instead of 35).

The length of time I baked it for isn't a problem, the cake rose very well too, but what should I change to stop the cake from burning at the top?

In a conventional oven, the majority of the heat is at the top.

You don't mention lowering the oven rack to compensate for the change in height. I'm fairly certain that would solve your problem.

Center rack is normally recommended - if you used a higher rack then that's definitely the reason it burned. But even if you used the center rack, you might need to lower it for a particularly tall cake. You might also need to extend the cooking time slightly to compensate for the lower effective temperature.

Note that this doesn't apply to convection ovens, which have a relatively constant temperature throughout.


What characteristics should a bread peel have? A peel is the utensil used to transfer loaves into the oven:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peel_(tool)">Image source: Wikipedia

I've done a couple of them using some wood boards I had on hand. I made them for a home electric oven. But now I'm planning to make one from scratch for a wood fired oven.

What characteristics should one look for a peel?

Specifically:

What characteristics will have different materials: plywood, block of wood, metal, ...

If they are made of plywood, what kind of glue should be used to join the boards?
What kind of wood? Which metal?

Should they be flat? Wedge shaped (like the one in the picture)?
If they have a detachable handle, what system would be faster to change? Less prone to loosen?
How to choose the length of the handle? The material?
Any differences between a home oven one and one for a professional/large oven?

Note: I originally wrote the question thinking in making a peel, but actually it should be interpreted as how should a peel be, independently of how you manage to get it (make it, buy one, ...).

I know this question has been asked a long time ago, but as I have been shoving around 1000 loaves of breads in 2014 alone (we bake for charity), all in a traditional wood-fired oven like in the picture, I couldn't resist... The following points are geared towards wood-fired ovens, but are valid for most sizes, from the 8-loaves home versions to larger sizes. "My" oven can handle 100 pounds of dough / 50 loaves per session.

The Handle:

Must be long enough to reach all the way in and be still long enough to get a good grip with two hands. You need leverage. So aim for [door to back corner] + at least 2 feet/60cm. This influences the place for your oven: You need at least as much space behind you, so that you can move freely. (Often overlooked in home environements...)
Must be heat-proof, but non-conductive. This rules out metal, because even with gloves you'd be scorching your hands. Wood is a good choice. Use hardwood, round or rounded, make sure there are no splinters(!) (but use gloves, just to be sure). When placing multiple loaves, you will want to work fast in order to have roughly the same baking time for all of them and to loose as little heat as possible through the oven door. So basically you will be rather sliding the handle along your hands than using a hand-over-hand motion. Catching a spliter this way will hurt like h**l - check the handle regularly, e.g. after each baking session. This answers the question of detaching the peel part: your handle will be the longest part and should be in one piece. So a removable peel doesn't change this much. If you want to fix it with some kind of nuts and bolts construction, do it horizontally, making sure nothing sticks out at the bottom and no cavity gets filled with ash, preventing disassembly.

The Peel

Choose a size that fits your baking habits: Estimate the usual loaf size(s), determine the required peel size from there: I'd add at least 2 in / 5 cm to the largest meassurement and use tis to determine the diameter or side length of the square /see later). Same goes for pizza: The entire pizza must fit on the peel. For cakes, the tin or sheet should provide enough stability, and you might choose to simply place it at the front of the oven and then use the peel to gently push it in place (more on this later). But don't overdo it: The larger the peel, the more unwieldy. Do not include French Bread / Baguette in this calculation, get a special sword-shaped peel for them.
Use warp-free material. This may be metal (but some do warp, I'm no expert, ask a professinal before building your own), but wood is fine. It will not burn or scorch if handeled properly. Stay clear from plywood, its likely to warp, splinter and if too thin can't hold a larger loaf well. Also, there's the question of glue: food grade, yes, but appropriate at high heat? I'd by wary... Most peels I have worked with are solid wood, but composed of three equally wide strips, glued together (no idea on the glue used), running in the same direction as the handle. I strongly suppose this is to reduce warping, at least that's what my carpenter suggested.
Shape is somewhat a matter of choice. If you are making mostly pizza, a round peel is good. Square peels can be impractical if you want to reach the back corners of the oven. My preferred peel is basically square(ish), with heavily rounded corners, the radius of the corners is probably 2in / 5cm. I can easily reach all corners of the oven without "catching" on the corners of the peel. (Sorry if this sounds muddled...)
You do want a thin(ish) front edge, though, to slide easily under the bread / pizza / baking tin when removing them from the oven. For metal peels, this feature is obviously  "included", for wooden peels, you can either just taper the front edge - like a knife - or taper the entire peel - the "wedge-shape" mentioned in the question. The latter would be my coice, because it allows the front edge to always/automatically be the lowest point without having to lift the handle much. You do not need a razor-sharp edge, somewhere around 2-5 mm is thin enough. You may get some wear over time as the stone of the oven sands the tip down. If the edge gets to "serrated" (after a few years), just sand it down a bit.
There is one aspect of shape that is easily overlooked, though: The back side of the peel where it meets the handle. If you have a sharpish corner here, it can be used to pull a baking tin towards you, either from the side or from the top. Just "hook" the peel to the tin and pull gently. This is especially handy if you need to manouever multiple tins around because a back one is done before the front one. You can try to slide the peel underneath, but this can be tricky if a filling hasn't set yet or you are bumping the tin into something else.
Maintenance: Neither type of peel should require maintenance. Brushing or wiping off excess ash and flour should be enough. Be generous with the dusting flour and you should "never" get stuck-on dough on the peel. If you do spill something, just wipe it off and let dry. No seasoning required or recommended.


What is the purity test for Olive oil? At home, how should I know whether Olive oil, I purchased, is pure enough?

What is the purity test for Olive oil?

  What do you mean by "pure"? Could you please explain... –  Stephie

Pure here means that the Olive oil bottle purchased from market contains only the Olive oil extracted from the fresh Olives.

Pure means - not adulterated.

Any real test for purity in olive oil is going to require a lab (or at least lab equipment and supplies). The cost of that testing is going to far exceed the price of your bottle of oil.

For home use, then:

Buy from someone reputable. Unfortunately, even reputable folks sometimes get conned by their suppliers. (If you have a local farmer you can buy from directly, that risk can be avoided).
Taste it. Unfortunately, you'll probably only be able to notice bad fakes (even experts are fooled). As a side benefit, though, you'll also get to notice poor-quality (but genuine) olive oil.

A few countries have introduced labeling for olive oil that has been tested by an approved laboratory; if yours is one of them, you could look for certified oils.


How can I use roses in cooking? I have some very pungent roses in bloom at the moment, on smelling them my first thought was that they smelled like Turkish Delight. My Second thought that was it should be possible to use them in a pudding of some sort myself.

I have seen rose water in some recipes, is this the only way to use roses in cooking? What is a good way to get the flavor into food?

Rose petals are edible.  If you look for rose petal recipes, you will find many creative uses of them, including rice pudding with roses - so your pudding intuition was correct.  During colonial American times they were considered a treat.  You can candy rose petals with egg whites and sugar - typical cautions about appropriate raw egg white useage applies.

Before using your rose petals in culinary applications, make sure to remember what chemicals you used on them.  If they've been sprayed with pesticides, you don't want to be eating them.


How to save failed pie crust dough (warm butter)? OK, I've accidentally used warm butter in a common pie crust recipe (250 g flour + 205 g butter + salt + cold water). The dough formed before I could even add some water at it does not look like the dough you could form a normal pie crust from - it is barely rollable at all. What can I do to turn it into a more or less usable pie crust or anything else usable at all?

There's a recipe I saw a while ago that uses butter that's thoroughly incorporated into the flour instead of the usual cold chunks.  I think it creates a butter/flour paste, then cuts fresh flour into it just prior to adding the water (the idea being that instead of layers of tricky-to-work-with pure butter separating layers of water-dough, you would have more workable layers of butter-flour paste separating layers of water-dough).

In that case, assuming your mention of 'the dough coming together before you added water', means you have mostly butter and flour in the bowl at this point, you might add more butter to it so the ratios work out, and treat your whole first batch like that butter/flour paste.  You will need to cut fresh flour into it, since the paste is only supposed to contain 2/3 of the recipe's flour and all the butter, so it might take some math to figure out how to make what you already have fit into the ratios neatly.  Then add the water and gently bring it together into a dough, refrigerate for a couple hours, and roll as normal.

This might still work even if you've added water, maybe making a smaller portion of the butter/flour paste to cut into the dough, and adding a balancing amount of flour and water afterwards - you should still get some of the texture benefits, although not as much as if the whole batch were done the same way.

You will end up with more dough in either case, but you can either chill the leftover dough, or pre-divide and store the leftover portion of the butter-flour mix, and it should store pretty well (both flour and butter store well in the fridge).

(I have found the original recipe, it can be found here, and the sciency-rationale over here, at seriouseats.com)


How much foreign substance can I add to processed cheese? Recently, I decided to make myself a soup with a new kind of cheese nockerln. For the nockerln, I wanted to make nut-mushroom cheese.

I used roughly equal amounts of emmentaler, portobellos (pureed) and hazelnut flour, with some heavy cream, some gluten and a pinch of lecithin. The mixture turned out very soft and very gritty, even after prolonged refrigeration. The taste was good, but the texture was all wrong. I was aware that the end result would be softer than pure emmentaler, but I wanted it to be something which can be picked up without smearing (harder than the usual wedges of processed cheese).

Is there a good guideline/chart for what amount of proteins, solids, fat and water can I add to cheese to get a certain firmness of the final product?

I would experiment with more cheese and less added liquid to make it more firm, making sure the pureed mushrooms are as tiny as possible (Pacotize, homogenize, etc.), and if that still gives an inferior texture try adding some sodium citrate. It sounds like you want to add a minimal amount of liquid and enough emulsification to make sure the water-soluble parts of the mushrooms and flavoring stay put.


Should I actually add nutmeg to eggnog? Where did adding nutmeg to eggnog come from?

I've tried nutmeg before and can't really taste anything other than nog.

So where did the idea of adding nutmeg come from?

Add it if you like!

As mentioned in the comments, eggnog usually already has nutmeg in it, so when you say you say you can't taste anything other than nog, in reality you're probably tasting eggnog including nutmeg!

If what you add is pre-ground, the flavor probably isn't terribly strong. And even with freshly grated nutmeg, you're probably only adding a tiny bit. So if you sprinkle a little on, it's really more for looks than taste. But if you want to be able to taste it, definitely try freshly grated.


Can I replace a food processor in this brownie recipe? I'd like to make a "healthy" brownie recipe, but the instructions ask for a food processor, which I don't have. I thought about using a blender, but I've read it won't come out right using a blender.

Here's what the instructions say:

  Combine the black beans, dates, jam, and vanilla in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the flour, cocoa powder, and salt and process again.

What can I use instead of a food processor?

No, you can use the blender.  Use the slowest speed and manually do short pulses (1 second on, 2 seconds off).

You may have to use a spatula and mix it to get an even result. The pauses are so that the food doesn't get too hot (friction from the blades can actually boil things).  Stop early,  it's easy to make an unrecognizable paste in the blender.


Why does my pizza dough rise so inconsistently? I've been trying to make pizza dough from scratch for a while now, but I have real problems getting it to rise...

Sometimes it works fine and the dough is good, but sometimes it never rises and is edible in only the loosest sense of the word.  I can't seem to find a rhyme or reason to it.

If the yeast isn't out of date then the most likely sounding culprit is the temperature of your water.  It should be between 105-110.  If it's too cool then you won't activate the yeast and if you get it too warm you'll start to kill it.

Another possible case can be when you're adding the salt. If it's going in before or at the same time as the sugar you will arrest the gas production and activity of the yeast.

Get the yeast, sugar, water mixture going first and create a shaggy dough with your flour.  Add the salt as you're starting to bring the dough together so that it doesn't act too quickly to arrest the yeast development.

If you keep your flour in the freezer or refrigerator, make sure it has come to room temperature before adding it to the water or the chill of the flour will de-activate the yeast.


Is it normal for parts of fresh ginger to be chewy? I have been trying to select fresh ginger by buying hands which are not wrinkled, light brown, hand peel-able, etc.
What I have found is that on some days eating raw ginger complete melts in my mouth and an other days bits of it remain chewy.  Some parts also feel like strings.
I'm wondering if on those days bits of the ginger feel more chewy did I buy a less fresh piece or is it normal for parts of the ginger to be chewy so long as it's not the whole piece and therefore parts which feel like strings or chewy are still fresh so long as most of that piece was chewable?

Ginger is generally quite a fibrous/stringy root already, but will tend to become harder with time as it dries out or becomes less fresh.
However, the age of the ginger (i.e. when it was harvested) probably plays a bigger role in how fibrous it is; the older it is the more fibrous it becomes. Younger ginger is also sweeter and less spicy than older ginger as some sugars are converted to starches, and the colour of the ginger's juice also tends to become paler with older ginger.
Variance in stringiness in one piece of ginger might just be down to thinner parts drying out faster than thicker parts, but whether it's "fresh" is too subjective to answer - if you find it too stringy you could use it for something other than eating directly.


Problem making cakes and pancakes There is an issue I face whenever  I try to make cakes or pancakes in which egg yolks and egg whites must be separated. I try to achieve the thickened creamy mixture by whipping egg yolks with a portion of sugar and I  make sure I am doing it right by mixing for a long time, but when I pour milk/oil in the mixture as the recipe calls for, the mixture of egg yolks and sugar gets separated and I can feel the sugar when the mixer touches the bowl. What must be done to get the right texture for the batter and what am I doing wrong?

  Pancake recipe:

  1 egg
     2 tsps sugar
   1 tsp vanilla powder
   1 cup flour
  1 cup milk
  2 tbsps  oil
  1 tsp baking powder
  a pinch of salt

  separate egg white and egg yolk. whip egg yolk with sugar and vanilla
  until creamy. Add milk and oil. whisk flour, baking powder and add to
  the egg yolk mixture, mix until well combined. Beat egg whites to the
  soft peak stage and fold into flour mixture with spatula.

I'm not sure I see any major benefit in creaming the sugar with the egg yolk here.  And it's not going to produce a "creamy" texture in your batter: beating yolks with sugar is generally about lightness and/or to ensure eggs don't "clump" when cooked.  You will achieve both of those goals more effectively by (1) beating the egg whites, and (2) thoroughly mixing the egg yolk into the other liquid ingredients.

Most pancake recipes use the so-called "muffin method" of combining ingredients:

mix together all wet ingredients in one bowl
mix together all dry ingredients in another bowl
make a "well" in the middle of the dry ingredients to maximize surface contact when you pour the wet into the dry
add wet ingredients to dry ingredients all at once
whisk just briefly until the ingredients are barely combined and still often a little "lumpy" (this avoids gluten formation and toughness which can happen with more beating, as well as preserving a few "lumps" of leavening powder in some cases where moisture is the main activator for rising)
if the eggs are separated and the whites beaten for extra lift, the whites are folded in gently and quickly at the end

I have used variations of this sort of method for many pancake recipes.  I generally just add the (beaten) egg yolk to the rest of the wet ingredients.

If you were making a sabayon (zabaglione), you usually whip the egg yolks with sugar until the ribbon stage (or past) by introducing heat, which greatly speeds up the process and allows the sugar to dissolve more thoroughly.  But the point generally isn't to dissolve the sugar; it's to break up the egg so it won't be grainy when cooked.  It also creates a relatively stable mixture -- when you suddenly add a bunch of liquid to it (as in your recipe), it will break up and you'll likely lose quite a bit of "lift."

It's true that beating can add some lightness to the yolk mixture, but in the case of something like pancakes, I can't imagine this will produce a significant effect once the yolks are combined with the rest of the wet ingredients and then mixed into the batter.  Beating the egg whites for a few minutes will have a much, much greater effect on the lightness of your pancakes than if you whipped your yolks for an hour.  (If you had a recipe which had a significant amount of yolks, I suppose it might be justified in some cases.)

Lastly, I've never personally had a problem with sugar dissolving in pancake batter.  But if that's your problem -- I'd think dissolving the sugar in a larger quantity of liquid (e.g., the milk) will be more effective than creaming it with a tiny amount of egg yolk.

You also mention butter cakes.  Almost all butter cake recipes I can recall usually involve creaming the butter with the sugar and then adding eggs (whole eggs or just yolks).  That's a very different process than what you're doing here.  In the case of butter cakes, you generally want to cream the butter and sugar until it's no longer grainy -- even before adding eggs.  So I'm not really certain what the problem might be there.


Do you need more yogurt starter for more milk? I bought some Yogourmet yogurt starter packages and it says to use 5g per 1L of milk. However, if I am making a gallon at a time - is more starter actually required than it would be for just 1L?

Recipes call for a certain amount of starter to maximize the chances that your starter bacteria will crowd out undesirable wild bacteria.

If you use too little starter you will increase the chances that some random bacteria will win the incubation war. Since you don't know what you will get this can be actually dangerous.

I would recommend making an initial batch with the ratio the starter recommends and then using that finished yogurt as a starter for a second, larger batch. Since you would then have the entire first batch to use as a starter you can scale up your recipe for larger batches.


Should hot water be added to the already hot cooked vegetables for making a curry or even room temperature/cool water would do? Does it change the taste, the texture, or anything else?

And no, I am not referring to potatoes or anything specific. I am talking about vegetables in general.

This is my personal experience. It takes sometime to reach the boiling temperature (again) when you add colder water. As a  result, vegetables get cooked for a longer period than anticipated.  This makes some vegetables becoming mushy and not tasting as good as otherwise. (Example: Egg Plant)  Therefore, I make sure to add the right amount of water in the first place.


What white fish can be used in rolled sushi? I have been making sushi using salmon and tuna for a while, but i would like to know it there are any firm white fleshed fish that will work well in a rolled sushi paired with apple and cucumber. I tried cod but it doesn't carry a lot of flavor. I had also thought about tilapia but had never seen it served in a sushi restuarant and wasn't sure it would be suitable.

White fish are, as a rule, more delicately flavored than darker fleshed fish. Add farm-raised to that equation and you have the makings for a very bland meal, which is why you almost always see farm-raised white-fleshed fish served with heavy herb treatments and powerful sauces, or (in cod's case) fry batter. Tilapia and cod are two of the most common farm-raised fish on the market, so I'm leaning heavily on my suspicion that you're trying to make sushi out of the farm-raised varieties and not wild game.

If it's white fish you desire for sushi, talk to your fishmonger. Tell him what you're doing and ask for his recommendation. He'll direct you toward game fish that that are either very new and very fresh or that of the flash-frozen variety.


How to keep frozen puff pastry dough keep its shape Whenever I cut semi thawed frozen puff pastry dough with a round cookie cutter, the shapes turns oval when I bake them.  How can I prevent this?

It's the semi part of semi-thawed that's the problem, it needs to be thawed through and an even temperature throughout. If you have uneven temperature in the pastry when it goes into the oven you will have uneven baking. Keep it in the fridge until it's all thawed, then roll it.


Can I cook ribs by starting them one day and finishing the next? I am serving ribs at a party, but I can't be at home that afternoon. If I cook them the day before and then finish them off right before party, will them still be tender?

The easy (but potentially expensive) answer is sous vide.  If you can carefully control the temperature, you can cook your ribs for 24-48 hours before finishing and serving.  See this recipe for an example.

If sous vide isn't an option, you can still chill and reheat the ribs.  There are several brands of pre-cooked refrigerated ribs in grocery stores that exemplify this.  I believe the texture would be more firm, but it could still be very delicious.  For the sake of safety, please chill them as quickly as possible.  If you stack them into a large pile, it will take a long time to chill, giving bacteria a chance to grow.


What is this cast iron skillet used for? I picked up some cast iron cookware from a thrift store.  However, there is one piece I am not quite sure what its for.  I think its for eggs - or rather a single egg... However, its very shallow compared to the tiny skillets I have seen.  Its 5 inches in diameter and .5 inch tall.  Is there a specific purpose for it?  Its pictured below with a dime to give perspective on height.

I have seen this kind of skillets in packets with ingredients.
Both for brownies and for mini pizza's. Mix the ingredients as per the instructions, put in the little skillet and put in the oven.

It might be a bit big for the 'cook on the table' sets, but it might fit for that.

You can use them for whatever is small enough to fit in and on each kind of heat source that is not going to spill the heat around rather than under them. They do very well in an oven but, being iron, not in a micro wave.

A US based friend told me that around where he lives, this kind of small skillet are used for single eggs, meat patties or two egg omelets.

(I am not sure how widely the 'cook on the table' sets have spread in the world, if they are not known where you are, it is very unlikely to be one. The sets have a heated surface and you cook your food on the table in small pans on that surface, often with a griddle plate as part of the set for grilling meat and other things. I could not find an English name, in Dutch they are known as 'gourmet stel' and the kind of cooking as 'gourmetten' -to gourmet-.)


Cooling and diluting over-reduced stock down with cold water I've just had a brown chicken stock on the simmer for the last 8 hours, not planning for that long but got called out. Nonetheless, the liquid has reduced by about 1/2 - 2/3.

Would taking it off the heat now and adding cold water to both bring the liquid quantity back up and cool the stock for refrigerating be an appropriate rescue?

I have to ask, why would you want to add water? Chicken stock should simmer 8 hours. That is the optimal time to extract all flavours. What you have there is (probably) perfect. However, if you don't want as much flavour, add the water later, not now. Also, to cool, the best way to do it is in an ice bath or a cold water bath (one where there is a constant slow source of running cold water).


How to cook fall-off-the-bone beef spare ribs in oven or on stove top? All,

I would like to cook spare ribs to a fall-off-the-bone consistency.  I don't have access to a grill.

I know how to do that with pork shoulders (dry rubbed, then uncovered in the oven at low heat for 6-8hrs), but spare ribs are a different type of animal.  They are individually smaller pieces (my ribs are sawed in chunks), and they are fairly fatty, with a big bone.

What should I do?  Should I pan-sear them first, do I need some liquid in the dish?  Should I cover them?

Thanks,

JDelage

I've done Alton Brown's method for both spare ribs and baby back ribs, with good results.

Basically, you bake 'em in a low (250°F) oven in an aluminum foil packet with liquid for a few hours (2.5hrs for baby back, a little longer for spare ribs) completely untouched , then put 'em under the broiler at the end.


Why are my beef short ribs still chewy after 5 hours? In short:

Kamado at 250-275f
Short Ribs in for 4-5 hours

The ribs have a layer of meat, then a small layer of fat, and then the meat on the ribs themselves.  The top layer gets reasonably soft and edible, but the main chunk of beef is much too chewy still.

I've had two goes at this, the first time the temperature was closer to 300f, and a bit shorter cooking time.
In both cases, I stuck a toothpick in both parts of meat, and it went in as if the meat was soft and tender.

Basically, what am I doing wrong? Not enough time? Not enough heat?  I worried that I might overcook them and dry them out. So I might try again, but wrap them in foil halfway through...

EDIT: What I did that worked
First of all, it's a shame that I can mark both answers as answers, because they both helped.
What I did was to smoke the ribs at 270-285f for 5.5 hours, and they were bloody perfect.
I started at 270, and opened the bottom vent enough that the temperatures slowly went up to 280 over those 5.5 hours.
Thanks to everyone for the help.

Edit: And thanks to the user who edited my question and made it worse.
At least learn grammar first, and maybe contact the person asking what their intent is.

There is conflicting information on the Internet about BBQ short ribs,  so, I can see the confusion.

Serious Eats suggests that you want to grill short ribs to an internal temperature of about 130 F (54.5C) (medium-rare).  They suggest that any hotter, and the fat will start leaking out, drying the final product. Short ribs, grilled in this manner, are common in Argentinian and Korean cuisines, among others.

I see that your approach was different, going the low and slow, BBQ route.  There are folks who use this method as well.

The Big Green Egg forum has several examples. Almost all of the low and slow recipes that I see employ the "Texas crutch"; that is, after a couple of hours of smoking, wrapping the short ribs in foil with some liquid, and returning to the smoker.  The Texas crutch helps control moisture loss and helps with tenderization.  This is probably the route you want to take.

If you have the proper equipment, a third approach I have used with great success is to first sous vide the short ribs.  That way, I can cook to medium rare, for as long as 48 hours (greatly enhancing the texture), and finally tossing on the smoker or grill for a much shorter time to add the smoke flavor and develop a crust.


Is freezing browned meat the best option I've previously browned chicken in the pan before freezing it for use at a later date but recently a thought has occurred to me to prepare it 'white', freeze and then brown it when using it defrosted later. Is this a better approach and can it be done with other meats just as well?

To clarify, nothing is especially wrong with the chicken I prepare just now using the above method but if anyone else has experience with similar, have you noticed a better flavor from browning after thawing rather than before?

This all depends on your cooking and storing procedures.  Here is a scenario where it would work, with a chicken breast as an example:  Bring home your fresh, unfrozen chicken breast, give it a one minute or less sear in a very hot pan, package in vacuum bag with or without herbs or seasonings (but no salt), cook sous vide, chill, freeze.  When ready to use, remove from freezer and reheat in water bath, remove from bag, sear for crust formation, final seasoning...hey presto!  Dinner.

Here are the issues I see:

You brown for flavor and texture.  Texture is lost if you don't brown right before serving.
Freezer burn is always a risk, but can be mitigated by the removal of air from packaging, thus vacuum packaging.
All freezers go through freeze thaw cycles, texture degradation is also likely, whether this happens more readily with cooked vs raw food, I do not know.
The flavor will likely not be aided through this process, so I assume you are suggesting it for convenience.

You'll have to decide for yourself, but it could be worth it (weighing the quality pros and cons) to cook a lot of proteins when you have time and re-therm later when you want to eat.  It depends on your own workflow.


Substituting for Madeira wine in a mushroom stuffed with sausage recipe The recipe calls for Madeira but I am thinking about using another wine.  My choices are:  Pernod, Calvados, pinneau du Terrier or dry sherry.  What does anyone recommend on this subject?

I would say dry sherry was the closest equivalent to Madeira wine. I sometimes use dry sherry in place of dry white wine in cooking, I just use slightly less of it.


Vegetable Oil vs. Canola oil in DIY Spreadable butter I've been scouring the net for DIY spreadable butter recipes but nearly all of them use Canola oil, but all I've got available here is Vegetable Oil and Coconut Oil. What's worse is that none of them really seem to say anything about substituting either oil for spreadable butter.

Is there anything wrong with using either in a spreadable butter recipe?

UPDATE: So I probably should've mentioned that I was in the Philippines. That apparently makes a difference, as even the vegetable oil is actually coconut oil :-/. Palm oil and coconut oil seem to be all we have here.

I attempted it with the palm oil I had and while the softness was what i wanted the final product had a funny smell and a weird taste. I'm getting ready to try again.

In terms of spreadability, the real issue is the level of saturation.

Coconut oil is quite saturated (especially for a vegetable based lipid), and so it is far more solid at room temperature than most oils.   (Cocoa butter would be another exception; it is quite hard at room temperature).

Generic vegetable oil, at least under US labeling laws, may contain any number of vegetable oils including corn, soy, rapeseed (canola) and so on—or even a mixture of any or all of these.  They are all quite similar in the saturation and viscosity at room temperature, and so any of them should perform similarly in your butter application.

So go ahead and use the vegetable oil.


Over cooking shiitake mushrooms? I eat Asian cuisine a lot but I've started to use shiitake mushrooms in the stead of just about anything else because I think they're delicious.  I've had them in vinaigrettes, caramelizing with onions and outside of the stem (which I only use to flavors stocks and such and then throw away) I don't think I've ever had an overcooked shiitake.  Is there such a thing?  How does the taste change?

I have seen pot roast of Shitake. Pot roast = over-cooked obviously.

There were pot roast for: duck roast, chicken roast, pork trotters, buddhist faux meat, Buddha jumped over the wall roast. All of them amply roasted with shitakes.

Okay, for what I have tried, I encountered two kinds of shitake pot roast

sweet and sour
sweet and salted soy-sauced

The Buddhist faux meat:

I saw the usual buddhist faux meat the permutations of which I think are due to diverse combination of various flours, soy and other beans. The thick gravy is dark brown with obvious scent of dark sweet soy sauce and black vinegar. And the over-cooked shitakes are chewy juicy with the wonderful gravy.

Chicken pot roast:

Then there was another time, the chicken pot roast. The gravy was thinner but not sour. It was a whole chicken that was boiled in sauce with the shitake. From what I understand, the shitake roast was done first and then the chicken submerged in the boiling cauldron at the end of the roast. At the last 10 minutes may be. Shitake juiced up with gravy enriched with chicken taste/flavour.

Chewing on the shitake

You should try overcooked shitake that has absorbed the juicy gravies. Chocolate mousse cake is nowhere in comparison just as you sink your teeth into it and the juice runs down your chin. And then you lick your fingers after you had them wipe your chin.

Slow cooked shitake pot roast. I am sure there were spices involved. I also believe they used shitakes that had been stabilised by drying (i.e. dried shitakes). Otherwise, I doubt fresh shitakes could take the strain of being overcooked.


What caused my electric deep fryer to overcook violently? Last week, I was preparing dinner for my family. I didn't have much time, so I bought some frozen potato-balls to deep fry. Everything went well, I fried 2 or 3 batches without any problems, and also when I loaded the 4th batch nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

However, when the 4th batch was at it's third minute (cooking time was 4-5 minutes) the fryer suddenly started making a lot of noise. A lot more than normal. When I went to have a look, the oil was boiling very violently. I immediately pulled out the basket, expecting the boiling to stop, but only a second later I dropped the basket to pull out the plug ASAP, because I was afraid it would get worse.

I screamed at everyone to move away from the kitchen, because I didn't want anyone to get splashed with 200°C oil. Only a few seconds later, it turned out that we dodged a bullet there, because that's when the explosions started. Loud pop and bang sounds came from the fryer, and the oil shot upwards, all over the countertop. It continued doing so for over 15 minutes. Sometimes it would stop for 20-30 seconds, but then new "explosions" would follow. This continued for at least 15 minutes, but I only felt safe taking everything away 30 minutes later, because there was still an unusual noise coming from the fryer.

So... my question is: What caused this?
I know adding water to hot oil is a recipe for disaster, because the water gets trapped under the (lighter) oil, preventing it from evaporating.
Also, this 4th batch were the last pieces of the bag, so it's certainly possible that there were still clumps of ice attached to some of the potato-balls.

However... My issue with this explanation is: why did it bake without any sign of trouble for more than 3 minutes? I'd think that if you were to drop a small clump of ice in 200°C oil, it would get to boiling temperature in less than a few seconds?

Knowing the cause of the accident is important to me, because I want to know if it is safe to use the device again. Because for all that I know, it also might have been a faulty thermocouple? Maybe it didn't give the right feedback to the heating circuit, causing the oil to overheat?

Anyone care to give some insight?

Thanks in advance!

As you cooked by batches the last one add brought much more water than usual because

it was the last portion of the pack and usually ice pieces are coming down as well
the frozen balls kept condensing water on them for all time you fried the first batches.

Except if meantime you have discovered a malfunction of the fryer so that the T goes so high at the heating element to cause the oil to start fuming.


Can I use the leftover pickling brine? I have some leftover brine that was leftover from making canned pickles, it was heated up to put in the canned pickles to make them. Can I use this brine again to make more canned pickles? The brine never touched the pickles or anything else.

Not sure any of the above have read your question completely.  You are asking; can you store extra brine that you made but was not used in your pickling process.  I do this systematically when my  Green Beans are going crazy.  I mix up extra brine and store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.  The brine is simple pickling salt, water and white vinegar.  Then I can use it incrementally as my produce comes in. Saves me a few steps by simply reheating premixed brine instead of making it each time.  I like this approach because it allows me to put up a few pints at a time while the beans are fresh.  Have never had a problem with my Dilly Beans.


Is there any dessert that needs a knife? A friend of mine told me that there is no dessert that needs a knife to eat. I'm sure that this is not true, but I can't find a good example in the Internet. So is there any dessert that needs a knife to eat? And if yes, what kind of dessert?

In certain cultures whole pieces of fruit, like an apple, for example, will be served for dessert and the diners are expected to eat it using fork and knife only - no fingers. as far as traditional desserts such as pies and cakes, I'm sure you must mean whether the individual serving requires a knife because, of course, a whole cake or pie must be cut into individual servings. I've only seen dessert forks offered for traditional baked desserts.  There's an interesting website on manners that deals specifically with eating desserts using a fork and spoon, but no knife.

http://www.etiquettescholar.com/dining_etiquette/table_manners/dinner_etiquette/desserts/desserts.html


Using steamed rice the next day or later safety Can someone knowledgeable about Asian cuisine and cooking culture please give me a reason why it's safe to use old steamed rice in a recipe? I know people in Asia typically use old rice to make some common recipes (fried rice, congee, etc.) without a second thought, but I'm constantly told by Westerners that it is risky due to bacteria growth. Anyone know different? Thanks in advance!

Cooked rice is not generally considered among the things (like bread, dried fruit...) to which the 2/4 hour rule does not apply - and also, cooked rice stored at room temperature is known as a considerable bacillus cereus risk.

Some people storing it unrefrigerated does not mean it is safe to do so.


Why are eggs not stored in the fridge better in baking? I have always wondered why baking with refrigerated eggs VS room temperature eggs comes out much better. Can anyone explain why please?

This isn't at all exclusive to eggs, searing off a really cold (fresh, not frozen) steak will get you a tough steak. Unless the recipe depends on the behavior of a protein as refrigerated, proteins are better to work with at room temperature.

Think of the egg yolk and white sort of like ice cream; the warmer it becomes, the more distinctly the viscosity changes. Beating cold egg whites to stiff peaks is one heck of a workout :) Cold yolks are also very likely to result in 'broken' emulsions.

In your specific case, cold eggs simply won't incorporate into the mix in a manner that's consistent with what the recipe previously produced. The difference would depend on the recipe, but in most cases, not subtle. Things would be denser than ideal, or just simply not hold together very well. It really depends on what you're doing.


Gas grill flare up made flame covers look rusty I had a fairly intense flare up on my KitchenAid gas grill (too much canola oil) that lasted about 30 seconds. The inside of the grill is covered in soot (expected) but the flame covers (triangle shaped pieces above the flame) are now copper colored and look rusty. I got most of that off with cleaning, but it seems weird for a big flare up to have caused it.

Anyone else ever have that happen?

Thanks!

It is most likely rust. The covers over top of the burners will eventually experience that sort of decay. They have a constant barrage of high heat applied to them, which speeds oxidation of the metal. You will experience this effect with the burners as well.


What's the best way to stack a three-tiered wedding cake that is not covered in fondant/marzipan? I have baked the layers of a wedding cake and am left wondering as to my best stacking approach. It is a fairly dense sweet potato cake with buttercream frosting and I am worried about it sinking into itself. All of the videos/articles I've seen online seem to be for cakes covered in fondant.

The bottom layer is a one foot square, middle layer is a nine inch square, and the top layer is a six inch square. Each layer is 4.5 inches tall.

     ___
   _[   ]_     six inch square
 _[       ]_   nine inch square
|___________|  12 inch square

I've heard I should use dowels to support each layer (some say solid wood, others recommend hollow plastic). Also, I've received conflicting advice about using bases between the tiers -- should I use cardboard, plastic, or dowels only? I am really quite confused.

The issue of fondant versus buttercream is one of convenience.  Fondant is (relatively) sturdy, pretty, and can be held for long periods.  In a wedding cake, which might be prepared and decorated over several days these are advantages.   True buttercream does not hold very well (it is at its peak only for a day or so) and is much softer, and it requires refrigeration, so it is logistically more challenging.

Other than that, the fondant versus buttercream issue is not really relevent to the structure of your tiered cake.

Typically, each layer would be on a cake round (or in your case, square), supported by dowels through the layer below.  These dowels can be any food-safe material such as plastic or wood.  The cake rounds (typically coated stiff cardboard) are essential to the structure, as they provide direct support to each layer, while the dowels serve as structure to hold the round up.

The Wilton site has a pretty good illustration of the method.


ice cream with alternate sweetener I have been trying to make ice cream with sucralose. So far all I get is just a hard rock after tossing it in the freezer. when I try to thaw it, it goes right back to a liquid. I'm not very confident in trying to use eggs in this. I have tried in the past and it didn't come out well.

The sugar in ice cream isn't just there for the taste, it also has an important effect on the texture. Ice cream isn't a pure compound, and doesn't have a single fixed melting point but a melting traject. The more dissolved solids (sugar) you have, the longer the melting traject of the ice cream. It also starts to melt at a lower temperature.

That translates to a softer icecream (when it's stirred enough while freezing to avoid large ice crystals). When made correctly and served at the correct temperature, a sorbet isn't fully frozen.

When you use sucralose, you need a lot less for the same sweetness, and thus you end up with less dissolved solids. That means a higher melting ice, which is a lot harder at the normal serving temperature, and which goes straight from solid to liquid.

This is for sorbet type icecream (basically fruit and sugar sirop, with some extra ingredients to adjust the taste). When you make milk or cream based ice creams, the basics stay the same, but the extra fat helps getting a soft and smooth ice without large water crystals. If you insist on using sucralose or other artificial sweeteners, you could try starting with a custard base (traditional custard, from cream and egg yolk), and replacing only part of the sugar. Industrial ice creams include some ôlysaccharides to improve the texture, but those might be hard to get for home use, and have to be dosed rather precisely (and in small quantities).


why does my non dairy creamer not dissolve in coffee? I use Nestle's Everyday Whitener to make coffee. But with some brands of coffee (eg: Davidoff) the creamer doesn't seem to dissolve. It instead remains suspended as granules in the coffee.
But with other Nescafe brands of coffee the dissolution occurs easily.
What's the difference and how do I fix it?

It depends on the contents of the coffee and the creamer and how they react to each other. For example some creamers are just corn syrup solids mixed with emulsifiers, and they usually mix less effectively if the coffee isn't hot enough.

Or, as you mentioned, if the problem is with the brand of the coffee, then it's possible that the coffee that's giving you trouble contains more oil than the other.

If you've soaked oily dishes in detergent, sometimes if there's enough oil, once the water cools down, there will be bits of solid oil floating on the surface. It's basically the same with your coffee. The warmer the temperature and the less oil, makes a better mix.

That said, I prefer using milk if you can. If you're lactose intolerant or allergic to milk fats, I'd suggest substitutes like soy, rice, or almond milks. The closest I've found is half almond, half coconut milk. Or better still, just drink it black.


Should I brine a goose? I've had really good luck with brining turkey & chicken. I am making goose for this Christmas and have found mixed suggestions on whether to brine the goose. Does the fat content of an average goose lend towards not brining? Are their alternate techniques that would better bring out flavour in a roast goose (just do a straight roast, no brine)?

No. The fat content of goose, like most waterfowl, is very high. This makes it unsuitable for brining. Brining is intended to bring moisture to meats that tend to dry out, such as chicken and turkey.

See my answer to "What are the basics of brining meat?" for more details.


What is a substitute for spry? I have an old fruit cake recipe and it calls for spry, what can I substitute for spry?

Use any other shortening, Spry is just a brand name (not being produced any more).

We discussed Spry just a while ago in this post: Mystery ingredient in cookies with cream tartar


What is this dough called? Tonight I was playing around with pate a choux for the first time, and was delighted by it, splitting the batch between Parisian gnocchi and funnel cake.

However, I couldn't resist sneaking small samples throughout the process, as is my habit. In particular I was interested in the step before the eggs were added. Essentially, it was just a mixture of water, butter, and salt with flour mixed in until it thickened.

I've looked around for any references to this dough as its own creature, but have not found any. Is there a name for it, ideally so that I can find even more ways to use it?

First, I wouldn't call it a roux. There is a difference in flour gelation when the flour is presoaked in fat (as in roux) and directly mixed with water (as in pate a choux). The butter in pate a choux doesn't coat the flour first the way it does for a roux. Plus, a roux is prepared with way more liquid.

As for a proper name of this kind of dough, I don't think there is one - for the simple reason that nobody has a proper use for it. I mean, you don't give a name to every stage of the mixture when preparing a batter, so why should you do it for pate a choux?

This is what McGee has to say on pate a choux. Note that the eggs are important for both texture (the "richness of yolks" smooths it, probably more due to the lecithine than the fat) and structure (egg whites trap the air pockets). So why should anybody ever make it without the eggs? And if it isn't used as anything but a prestage of pate a choux, why give it a name?

As for the uses of pate a choux, Ruhlman gives a fairly comprehensive list in Ratio. It mentions

cream puffs/éclairs
profiteroles
gougéres
parisienne gnocchi
pets de nonne, beignets
churros, funnel cake
panade for pâtés
pommes dauphine
binder for potato pancakes
Gnocchi à la Romaine (made with durum semolina)
"There's no end to what you can do with this stuff."