Knife cleaning: safe to do without soap? Knife Skills Illustrated: A User's Manual suggests that knives can be cleaned with hot running water alone. "With sufficiently hot water, soap should not be necessary." Is this safe? What if I am only cutting vegetables? What if I am also cutting raw meat?

In order to "Sanitize" any surface you must wash that surface (in this case, knife blades) with water at no less than 190°F (~88°C) according to the (U.S.A) National Sanitation Foundation (NSF). Earlier this year the Conference for Food Protection recommended reducing that standard to 160°F (~71°C) as an "energy saving measure" citing a study at Ohio University that claims that it is equally effective. Additionally they recommended that the temperature could be reduced to 120°F (~49°C) with 'chemical additives' (soap).

So the question is "How hot is your hot running water?" According to "Wikipedia" (a dubious source at times, but I will accept it for this point) suggests that most home water heaters produce water at 104°F (~40°C) to 120°F (~49°C). This would suggest that to sanitize a knife blade something more than 'hot running water' is necessary. In fact since water over 131°F (~55°C) puts you at risk for scalding (Wikipedia, Ibid) and you certainly don't want a water heater putting out water that hot, I would have to disagree with your source and conclude that in household use soap is required to sanitize your knife blade.

note: in order to qualify my answer to the question of "safe", I have elevated the standard from "clean" to "sanitized", certainly you may 'clean' a knife with running water but that level of clean is not what I would consider 'safe'.


Is it safe to thaw chicken to have it brined and then freeze again? I didn't realize that I thawed so much chicken to brine.  I don't need half of it so is it safe to freeze the half portion again?  It was thawed in salt water in room temperature for couple of hours and then put back into the fridge for one day for longer brining.

In this case I would err on the side of safety and advise against refreezing the chicken for one reason - it was thawed in water for a couple of hours. Had it been thawed in the refrigerator it would be perfectly safe to do so.
It is well documented that it is safe to refreeze both raw and cooked foods as long as they have been kept out of the danger zone. With some foods, however, there may be a loss in terms of taste and texture.
People refreeze food all the time without even realizing it. Here, in the US, 'fresh' meats are most often shipped to grocery stores in a frozen state and then thawed in the meat case or thawed before placing in the case. Chicken is most definitely one of those foods. Consumers buy it 'fresh" out of the case and take it home and (re)freeze it.
From  The New York Times :

The notion that you cannot refreeze thawed foods “is a myth,” said Tina Hanes, a registered dietitian with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. Any raw or cooked food that has been thawed can be refrozen as long as it was thawed properly — in the refrigerator, not on the counter — and hasn’t spoiled. That includes raw meat, poultry, fish and seafood, Ms. Hanes said.
“It’s one of the most popular questions we get on our hotline,” she said, “but it is safe to refreeze raw meat, as long as it’s not spoiled.”

In this case, I would suggest that you cook the extra chicken, cool it quickly, and then freeze it for later use.


Are bread improvers really needed? I am new to baking and I am in the process of creating and starting my bakery in my country.

I got a few questions, my bakery is planning on making pita bread. I have a fully automatic machine that will create the bread.

I plan to product fresh bread everyday and when needed. My main fears are mold, bad texture, and taste.

My questions are:

1- Would it mold after the first (1st) day If i don't put any preservatives?

2- I really don't want to add to the cost, should I think of adding Bread Improvers, would it even help the taste?

3- Are Bread improvers that important?

Here are the ingredient:

Brown Sugar for browning
Baking soda to help neutralize the acidity that comes from the molasses in the brown sugar.
Salt
Water
Yeast

Thanks!

The bread improvers that I have seen simply encourage gluten development to improve bread texture. They are often called for for use in bread machines because those machines are not as effective at kneading. Many bread improvers are as simple as extra vitamin C.
Without knowing the details of the machine you are planning to use it is difficult to say whether a bread improver would help. I would try without it. If the bread is too crumbly then add some Vitamin C.

Bread improvers do not change the flavor of the bread so much as the texture. I don't think the slight change in acidity would make much difference to the shelf life but I've not read anything about that.

Whether bread will mold in one day depends greatly on how the bread is stored and what you climate is. If it is very humid and the bread is stored uncovered then it could possibly mold after one day. If the climate is too dry then the bread could be quite stale after a day.
There is a reason that preservative-free bread is usually sold the same day it is baked.

Note although not part of your question, brown sugar (and the soda to neutralize the brown sugar) are not at all required for bread to brown. A quick search for pita recipes shows either no sugar or just enough to activate the yeast in the recipe.


Is steaming causing food to lose more flavor than baking? I made two banana nugget with two different method. For those who have never heard one, that basically a thin (3 cm thick in a pan of 5x5 cm) banana cake with a lot more banana than flour.
One is done with baking in the oven and the other with steaming. Both aimed so that all part of the nugget is cooked. Baking in oven takes 20 minutes in 160 C, and steaming takes 30 minutes.
Even with the exact same recipe, I realized that the product has different flavor. The baked one is definitely more dry, more fragrant and I can feel the strong banana flavor when I eat it.
The steamed one is less fragrant, I can't really taste the banana flavor, and of course a bit more wet.
How is that possible? Is steaming really diminish/reduce the flavor? Or maybe I missed something?
For those curious with the recipe, the banana nugget basically consist of 6 part of banana, 2 part of flour, and 1 part of other ingredients (sugar, fat, baking soda, etc).

Yes it does, and you actually already described some of the mechanisms in the question already. It is an effect that is more widely known in vegetables (roasted have more taste than steamed), but I suppose that this is much rarer to steam cakes.
First, you already mention that the baked one is drier, and the steamed is wetter. This is already a factor - try dipping a bite of the baked one in water and eating it, then eat an undipped bite, and you will notice a difference there already. The "waterlogging" itself is already a reason for the taste to change.
Second, steaming leads to much lower temperatures, especially on the outside of the cake. If you have oil added, either in the batter or brushed on the pan, you are also missing out on reactions which happen between the hot oil and dryish batter in one case (these are the reactions which make fried food so tasty) and are impossible, or very reduced, between the not-so-hot oil and the wet batter (that is also covered in condensation where not in contact with the pan) during steaming.
Third, banana flavor itself is brought out by heat. For many applications using bananas, it is normal (but not so widely known) that heating/precooking your banana changes its flavor and makes it more intense - you can use this for ice cream, for example. And I suspect that the lower heat in the steaming case is not sufficient for this to happen as much.
Fourth, there is the concentration issue Spagirl mentioned in a comment, which is partly overlapping with the first one, but I suspect that there is a separate effect beyond the intermediate experience of wetness on the tongue.
So yes, it is very normal to notice such a difference, and it goes beyond banana bread and its relatives.


What are the pros and cons of various woods used in wooden utensils? Looking up wooden utensils on amazon, I've found bamboo, maple, olive wood and birch wood spoons/kitchen utensils.

Is there any clear benefit to one wood over another for cooking utensils? Is one wood clearly a superior choice? Is one wood more maintainable or sturdy? Does one wood spread heat to the handle less quickly?

I prefer Maple myself but the whole objective is to use wood species that have very tight grains and closed pores. The above that you mentioned all seem in line but as a wood worker I would think that birch would be on the bottom of my list as choices. If you look at hard woods like Oak you will notice a lot of open grain that makes the surface far to porous for this. You want it as smooth as possible so it can be cleaned well when you're done using it.

There could be other benefits that I'm not aware of so this is just an opinion from someone who works with wood a lot. When I mill birch it has a tendency to get fuzzy and it's very labor intensive to get the final piece smoothed out. I don't even bother with it any more.


Eating raw fish: what are parasite infection risks really: how big? I make sushi often, and i never use sushi-grade fish...i simply buy fresh fish from the market.  I know the requisites of frozen for 20 hours etc., but I know for sure there are many restaurants in europe that certainly do not (exclusively) use frozen fish. Moreover, I ate sushi often in the years I lived in Thailand, and well...pretty sure they use non frozen either. Never a problem, but, I realise that this does not prove anything..

Does anyone have an idea of the size of the risk, i.e. the incidence of parasite infection after eating non-frozen fish raw? I am asking after research..i cannot really find it.

These articles were informative, but no info on size of risks:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3374688/
http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/41/9/1297.full

This study gives a bit more information:
http://cmr.asm.org/content/23/2/399.full

"During 1973 to 2006, 188 outbreaks of seafood-associated infections, causing 4,020 illnesses, 161 hospitalizations, and 11 deaths, were reported to the Food-Borne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System. Most of these seafood-associated outbreaks (143 [76.1%]) were due to a bacterial agent; 40 (21.3%) outbreaks had a viral etiology, and 5 (2.6%) had a parasitic cause (Table 1)"

Now, considering this is not concentrating on raw fish only, but all fish consumption, I would say the chances of getting sick from eating raw fish with a parasite are microscopically tiny? Agreed?

Is there someone who could get me this report: this seems to be the basis of the safety measures

American Gastroenterological Association.
2000. Determination of the incidence of
gastrointestinal parasitic infections from the
consumption of raw seafood in the U.S.
[Report under FDA Contract 223-97-2328
with Life Sciences Research Office, American
Society for Nutritional Sciences]. AGA,
Bethesda, MD.

As I explained in another question recently, there is no meaningful answer to this. There is no way to make the prediction "you have a X percent chance of infection per parasite infested meal". Instead of predicting it mathematically, we could feed people infected fish and measure it, but as far as I am aware, no ethical board will approve that experiment.

Also note that beside the type of study you found (listing every single type of infection), there are also studies which take a more epidemiological point of view. They still don't attempt to give the kind of number you requested. That's another good sign that this answer does not exist - if it did, I'd expect these experts to have found it and incorporated it in their articles.

The best you can have is circumstantial data. For example, Phan et al. 1 sampled the incidence of trematodes in fish from a certain river. You can try extrapolating a chance that a parasite is present in your fish, although of course this depends on region where the fish was caught and on treatments applied during raising (e.g. preventive medicine or food type in fish farms) and after catching (freezing the fish). I am not aware of a resource which covers parasite incidence in all types of fish, but single studies can give you a starting point. The fish investigated in Phan's study for example had trematode infestation rates between 50% and 80% for the different species (and they did not look for other types of parasite).

Another statistic you can use: the prevalence of fish transmitted infections in countries where raw fish consumption is common. That's again not a reflection of your own personal risk, just a data point. One such statistic is for example:

  An estimated 20% of immigrants from southeast Asia to Europe or North America have fish borne trematode infections. In highly  endemic  areas,  such  as  northeast  Thailand,  the prevalence  of O.  viverrini may  reach  90% 2

A source which won't give you a numeric answer, but classifies risk as "significant" or "not" is published by the FDA. But as a consumer, you will probably not have the information needed to find out if you fall into the "not significant" category, or the equipment to do the processing recommended for unsafe fish. It is a government regulation, Fish and fishery products hazards and control guidance, chapter 53. Still, if you're looking for actual cooking practices beside the exact information you requested, it's probably interesting for you.

1 Phan VT, Ersbøll AK, Bui TQ, Nguyen HT, Murrell D, Dalsgaard A. Fish-Borne Zoonotic Trematodes in Cultured and Wild-Caught Freshwater Fish from the Red River Delta, Vietnam. Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases. 2010;10(9):861-866. doi:10.1089/vbz.2009.0134.

2 Deardorff, Thomas L. "Epidemiology of marine fish-borne parasitic zoonoses." Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health 22.suppl (1991): 146-149.

3 FDA. Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guidance. Gainesville 2011.


Substituting different types of eggs I know that it is unlikely but if I do at some point live in the country and have ducks, turkeys, and geese producing eggs as well as chickens and my chickens for some reason aren't laying eggs can I use duck eggs, turkey eggs, or goose eggs in a recipe that calls for eggs but doesn't specify the kind of egg(which usually means large chicken eggs are used)? If so are there any major adjustments I would have to make besides the number of eggs used?

Duck, turkey and goose eggs are larger in size. One duck egg could be the equivalent of 2 chicken eggs. I would think you would need to determine the difference by weight, once out of the shell.
The taste would not be discernable, except in an omelet or alone cooked for breakfast. The flavor would then be stronger. Hope that helps.


Techniques for cooking beef shin in the piece I have a large (1.5kg/3lb) piece of beef shin, in the piece with skin on. I normally use beef shin for stews, but I would like to try slow-roasting or pot roasting it in a single piece.

Have you tried this? Can you recommend any techniques?

I've never used beef shin, but it's probably a good candidate for braising. Brown the outside in a pan, add aromatics (carrot, onion, celery, herbs) and beef stock, cover and let gently simmer for about 3 hours or so, until it starts to fall apart.

Once it's done, you can separate it from the juice and reduce the braising juices to a sauce that you can serve it with (you might add a bit of cornstarch slurry or a roux if you want to thicken the sauce more).

This basic technique works well for types of meat that have a lot of connective tissue.


Over proofed dough still good? I decided to make a 2.5kg sourdough to make bread and pizza out of it. I used the following formula: 76% hydration, 2% salt, 20% of starter (100%).

I mixed the flour and water and let it autolyse for about 2 hours. After that, I purred in the starter and salt dissolved in water. I mixed by hand until the gluten was formed.

After that I left it to bulk ferment over night. I left it covered in the oven with the oven light on.

In the morning it grew a lot, I think it doubled. However when I took it out on the bench it seemed liquidy. It was very very hard to handle. I left it outside in the cold for about 30 min then I tried to shape it. It was still pretty liquidy, it lost structure.

Can I still bake with this dough? I put it in the fridge because I had to go to work.

Should I simply bake and see what happens?

Kind thanks!

Update:

So the pizzas were a disaster and the bread didn't spring too much but the taste was good.

You have no structure to the dough. There is not a strong enough network to support the weight and, from your description, it sounds like you only gave it one "turn". All the food for the yeast has been eaten up. If you bake it, you might get some minor spring but I wouldn't count on it.


Where does scarface pasta get its name from? I couldn't find anything within the first few pages of a Google search other than the fact that fettuccine al burro (it's original name) was named after it's creator Alfredo Di Lelio.

Scarface was the nickname of the early 20th century American organized crime boss, Al Capone. He was slashed in the face while working at a New York City nightclub. The injury left a scar that led to the nickname.

Capone's parents immigrated from Italy, and it is said that he enjoyed eating Italian foods. The notoriety and name-recognition of Al Capone (a.k.a. Scarface) has resulted in it being chosen, in one form or another, as the name for many restaurants and pizza parlors over the years.

Naming a dish "Scarface Pasta" is but a natural extension of that line of marketing. It is however, merely someone's suggestion of what Al Capone might have ordered — something that sounds cute on a menu, but may actually be nothing more than spaghetti with sauce.


How can I reliably bake pizza with no temperature control or pizza stone? How do I make a pizza in a gas oven, with no temperature control and no pizza stone?

I have all ingredients to make pizza without actually knowing how it's made and baked. So I did some research first off course, and it seems I don't have the right "hardware" for the job.

How do I make a good pizza without a pizza stone in an ancient oven with no control on the temperature or air flow?

For your missing equipment, calibration, and control, you will have to substitute vigilance and technique.

Basically, if you parbake your crust, you should get something good.

Turn on your oven, probably as hot as it'll go. Unless you have a thick crust and a very intense oven, it'll be hard to get too hot.

Roll out your dough into a baking pan/cooking sheet/pizza pan.
Bake in the oven until the dough is just starting to brown.
Take it out, add toppings to the more-cooked side of the crust (flipping the crust, if necessary). Put it back in until the cheese starts to brown.

The process above is the lazy-man's method, and it works with my oven at 350F or at 500F or out on the grill at 750F and all points in between.

The "ideal" pizza that is the target of most pizza aficionados may well be beyond your reach. However, I make pizza a couple times a week, and most nights I don't worry about that. Delicious toppings on good bread and excellent cheese is a great meal, whether or not it matches stereotyped image of "pizza".

P.S. If you do get some equipment, get the pizza stone and put the crust directly on it (w/ or w/o parchment paper). Your crust will be crisper. In a pan, sometimes your crust may seem closer to bread than to pizza.


Can I make drinking milk with evaporated milk? Can I mix evaporated milk with water to make milk to drink? I am finding it hard to get to the store to get milk.

You can make something approximately 'milk-like' though it will taste more like that revolting UHT stuff they put in hotel rooms with the tea & coffee.
It will never go back to being 'fresh milk'.

Try it & see.


Does full-fat milk contain Vitamin-D? I would like to know if full-fat milk contain Vitamin-D.

The reason is that in Norway, low-fat milk is enriched with Vitamin-D due to the lack of sunlight. However, there is no Vitamin-D enriched product for full fat milk! Is this because it already contains significant amount of Vitamin D?

If milk is not enriched with vitamin D, it usually contains very little when straight from the cow. This can vary based on the cow's diet and the breed of cow along with other factors.

To find out whether whole milk in your country has added vitamin D, you will need to read the labels on the milk you buy. If it's not mandated by your government, each brand may be different. Generally, if vitamin D is added, it will be listed in the ingredients list and on the nutrition panel under "vitamins".

From the UK dairy council page:

  There are two sources of vitamin D, it is made in the skin by exposure to sunlight and there are a few dietary sources, such as oily fish, eggs, and fortified foods including margarine (which is required by law to contain vitamin D), some yogurts and breakfast cereals. There is very little vitamin D in milk and in fact only trace amounts and in the UK milk is not fortified with vitamin D.

From an organic US dairy:

  Vitamin D: We add vitamin D to all Organic Valley fluid milks, with the exception of some specialty milk products. Vitamin D is naturally present in milk, but it can be low due to several factors like cow breed, seasonal exposure to sunlight, diet, and lactation. For confirmation, please reference the ingredient label.

From the Nutrition Facts on their "Grassmilk" page (which they state does not have added Vitamin D) you can see that it isn't even included on the chart:

If you compare this to the nutrients panel for their regular whole milk, it contains 25% RDV of Vitamin D and the ingredients list includes "Vitamin D3".


In what kind of recipes can I substitute stock for water? I imagine I could use turkey stock instead of water when cooking a box of couscous, but that boiling pasta in stock wouldn't work so well.  In what kinds of preparations could I use stock instead of water?  Could I use a 1-1 substitution?  (I've got a ton of turkey stock in the freezer, and I'm looking for ways to use it.)

Any recipe where the water is part of a sauce or is expected to be absorbed (including rice, couscous, and yes, pasta too), you can use stock instead to increase the deliciousness.  If you have an opportunity to add flavour, why waste it?

Of course, there are some caveats to consider when making the substitution:

Stock is going to contain a certain amount of gelatin (how much depends on how the stock is made).  This is often a good thing, leading to a richer mouth-feel, but if the thickening effect would be detrimental to your recipe, then don't use stock.
Stock can clash with other flavours, although less often than you'd expect, since it's effectively a mega-dose of umami.  In particular I'd probably avoid using it in recipes that are either very sour (sour meat is the taste of rancidity and highly displeasing) or very sweet (since the sugar will overwhelm the flavour of the stock).  So don't use it in your candies or in your pickling solutions, but any dish based primarily on meats, vegetables, and grains, is definitely fair game.
Because it's a meat product, it has a limited life span.  I wouldn't recommend substituting it for water in anything that's going to sit in the fridge for several days and/or be re-frozen, due to food safety concerns.
Oh, and I probably wouldn't use it in baking.  The effects of using homemade stock when the primarily role of the liquid is to develop gluten would be unpredictable, to say the least.  And somehow the thought of turkey-flavoured cake just doesn't sound very appealing to me.

As for the right ratio - that depends entirely on what went into the stock, how long it was simmered for and whether or not the stock itself was reduced prior to storing/freezing.  You're definitely going to want the same total amount of liquid, but if the stock is highly gelatinous then you might want to dilute it, and conversely, if the stock is very weak then you might want to reduce it.  There really is no golden ratio, but I'd probably stick with 1:1 for a "typical" stock.


Bacteria contamination inside a thermos bottle Let's say that I have a pot of boiling stew.
I then pour this, still boiling, inside a thermos bottle, and close the lid right away.

Everything inside the bottle should be sterile at this point, due to the high temperature which will be maintained for over an hour, correct?

Let's say then that I let this sit for maybe 24h.
In this time frame, the temperature of the stew will fall in the danger zone between 60°C and 5°C, and stay there for hours and hours.
Usually, that would mean that the meat in the stew is no longer fit for consumption.

However, given that the content of the bottle was earlier sterile, would it still be safe?
Can bacteria contaminate the content trough the lid?

The assumption that it was sterile is wrong. Standard cooking leads to a reduction of bacteria to about log6, so 1 in 100 000 survives. Afterwards, these bacteria multiply exponentially in your soup, potentially achieving levels at which people can get sick.

Your logic will apply to canning. But it is known that the "fill the cooked food into an airtight closing container" is an unsafe canning method even for high acid foods, and a thermos bottle is not guaranteed to be closed airtight. If you want to can soup, you have to follow safe canning procedures, which include a restriction of the ingredients you can use, a restriction in the liquid/solid ratio, the prescription of proper containers, and a sufficiently long sterilization step in a pressure canner.


Recipe says to bake chicken at 250 degrees for 5 hrs. how long does it need to be baked at 350 degrees? Recipe says to bake whole chicken uncovered 250 degrees F for 5 hours or until done. CAn I shorten the bake time if I increase the heat to 350 degrees F? if so how long does it need to bake?

Yes, you can.

In fact, one of the biggest, ever so often repeated mantras here is:

  Don't determine doneness with a watch, use a thermometer!

Measure at the thickest part of the thigh, not touching the bone. If you have reached at least 165°F or  75°C, your chicken is done.

Of course, the hotter your oven, the crispier the skin will be and the higher the risk of burning some parts, so check your chicken periodically and tent with aluminum foil if necessary. That said, 350°F / 175°C is a perfectly reasonable temperature to roast a chicken.

I won't and can't give you a time to bake the chicken, partly because I don't know how large your bird is and what temperature it was at the start, because I don't know how reliable your oven thermostat is and above all: because only a thermometer can guarantee that the meat reached a safe temperature.


Bacteria in steak from cutting with household scissors by mistake? I cut a steak up into small strips with a pair of scissors.
Fried it in a pan with olive oil and onions.
Tasted great.
Until my wife told me I didn’t use the food scissors. I used the “house” scissors. We open packages, plastic, zip ties, etc all with the “house” scissors.
Should I be worried that I cut the steak with these? Will bacteria from the house scissors pass onto the steak? Or will the heat from frying kill it?

You will be fine.
The food was cooked...
Just clean the "house" scissors with soap and hot water and dry them so that there is no rust.


Why are most juices sold for the same price? Surely, it can't be equally difficult to obtain juice from different fruits, but surprisingly, they usually cost the same at the store. One exception may be cranberry juice, which is sometimes a little more expensive than the other juices of the same brand (for various reasons, I suppose).

Does the price become the same for most juices of a single brand because of store pricing policy? Do manufacturers set equal price for them? Or is it really almost equally as hard to make the different juices, so the price is basically the same?

In retail stores everything is "priced" to what the targeted consumer will pay. There is little relevance to production cost to final price

The cost of most food goods is not for "growing", but the energy for fertilisers, tractors,  picking, processing, storage, shipping etc. Your finally price is mostly the cost of energy used (directly or indirectly)

For fruit juice you are paying mostly for picking (fuel), processing (electricity for water pumping and cleaning, electricity to running machines), storage (electricity), and shipping (fuel)

Cranberry juice is significantly more expensive to grow and pick, so this does show as a different price

e.g. Apple Juice. Concentrate purchased at US$1,500 to US$2,000 per ton. Reconstituted 1:5 to 1:7. So one litre of apple juice costs US$0.21 at best case. Yet you buy it for US$2+ per litre!


Is there a difference in gnocchi between baking, steaming, or boiling potatoes? I’m looking to make gnocchi. Lydia Bastianich says in her cookbook that we should boil the potatoes. Bryan Talbot says that we should bake them with a little bit of salt.

There are several styles of gnocchi.  For potato gnocchi, use starchy, russet potatoes.  Boiling, steaming, or baking will all work.  I prefer baking, as it is easier to control the moisture content when mixing with eggs and flour.  Pass your cooked potato through a ricer or food mill before adding eggs and flour (though some folks use a fork and like rustic, small chunks of potato.) Try to avoid over-mixing for the lightest gnocchi.  Avoid waxy varieties.


Cooked beef roast covered with red coloring After cooking a beef bottom round rump roast, a red coloring is covering, and penetrating, the meat.

The roast was purchased at a reputable grocery chain and properly refrigerated for two days before use.  The raw meat appeared normal, was placed in a seasoned, 10-year-old, cast-iron pan, and cooked four hours au jus.

When the cooked roast was cut, the inside of the meat was the correct color and smelled appropriately.  However, covering the outside was a strange red coloring penetrating 1/2" into the entire roast; top, sides, and bottom.   The coloring did not affect the flavor.
Could someone please tell me what this coloring is?  I have never experienced anything like this in my 50 years in the kitchen.

To quote a comment:

  According to Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking", when meat is cooked for an extended time below 120˚F or brought up to temperature slowly the myoglobin remains intact and there will be a distinct red color throughout the meat. –  Didgeridrew Sep 23 '13 at 16:39

Here is the Science of Cooking article @Digdgeridrew mentioned

To quote from there:

  When dark meat is cooked, myoglobin's color changes depending on what the meat's interior temperature is. Rare beef is cooked to 140° F, and myoglobin's red color remains unchanged. Above 140° F, myoglobin loses its ability to bind oxygen, and the iron atom at the center of its molecular structure loses an electron. This process forms a tan-colored compound called hemichrome, which gives medium-done meat its color. When the interior of the meat reaches 170° F, hemichrome levels rise, and the myoglobin becomes metmyoglobin, which gives well-done meat its brown-gray shade.

Now to address why it was on the outside I'm going to make an educated guess. Per Wikipedia:

  Myoglobin is an iron- and oxygen-binding protein found in the muscle tissue of vertebrates in general and in almost all mammals. It is related to hemoglobin, which is the iron- and oxygen-binding protein in blood, specifically in the red blood cells.

I have personally experienced this same phenomenon slow-cooking stews, roasts and even chili in the crock pot. All perfectly normal. Have you noticed when you cook red meat over high heat, like grilling a steak for example, the blood remains inside the muscle? I have noticed slow-cooking tends to "release" more of the blood content from inside the meat, likely due to more even cooking. This in my view would explain also why myoglobin would be found on the outside, rather than inside, of the meat.


How long will durian smell linger? My housemate just brought home a durian. I remember smelling one of these from four floors up in a dormitory years ago and it was overpowering but I don't remember if it faded away quickly or not.

Should I veto him cutting this open in the house? Will the smell go away?

Of course the smell will go away, given enough time.  The question is exactly how long you can tolerate it, which only you can judge.  Durian actually has a remarkably fascinating smell, featuring a huge range of aromatic compounds including some that haven't been identified in any other produce.  (This link is unfortunately behind a paywall, and I haven't read the whole thing, but even the abstract gives an interesting glimpse.)

If you're concerned, take precautions.  Open it outside, or in a room with plenty of ventilation.  Put down paper or plastic sheeting to catch any juices or mess that might leave a lingering smell (as this helpful article suggests).

A couple of sources (such as this blog post, and somewhat more lucidly, this About.com article) suggest that by running hot water over the expended shell, you can create a mild solution which helps neutralize the smell.  I can't vouch for the accuracy of this method but it's suggested in multiple places, so it seems unlikely to be a cruel prank.

There are actually other, more pressing concerns with durian.  For instance, one study suggests that durian fruit breaks down some of the enzymes that your liver uses to neutralize the toxic byproducts of alcohol.  It's apparently a bit of southeast Asian folk wisdom that drinking and durians do not mix, and more than one death has been blamed on the combination.  So, don't worry about the smell.  Worry about mixing tequila shots with durian instead.


Why does feta taste so terribly salty when grilled? I love feta cheese, and I can't get enough of it, just like my family. But unlike them, I only eat it raw. I can't stand the grilled feta sandwiches my mother eats every morning for breakfast, and the reason is that, when the feta is grilled, it turns terribly salty and sharp.

The reason can't be just melting, because I enjoy lots of dishes which are baked with feta in the filling, as long as it doesn't get any direct heat.

What is the reason for this taste change? Can it be prevented?

Just speculation: Since feta is a brined cheese (and can have up to 56% moisture content), and is already inherent salty, when melted and in direct heat, a lot of the water content evaporates, essentially concentrating the taste.


How Can I Spread Crepe Batter Before It Cooks? I am trying to make crepes in a non-stick skillet. I've got the batter ready, well refrigerated. However, I am having trouble getting the batter to spread enough to cover the whole skillet before it cooks too much to do so. So I'm ending up with small crepes shaped like a splatter, instead of pan-sized ones shaped like nice circles. Also, the edges are crisping way too much and folding up and down in unattractive ways.

I'm mostly cooking on low-medium heat, closer to low than medium because I don't want the batter to cook. But no matter what I do, it seems to cook almost as soon as it hits the pan and no longer flows. So when I try the 'dip and swirl' method to spread the batter, it's already too thick to flow.

Any help? Should I try higher heat?

Your batter is too thick.  You say it's refrigerated, but if that's the case it's likely thicker than if it was at room temperature.  Also, as it sits it gets thicker, and if you're making a solid batch, for a few people, you need to keep thinning it as you go. Take the liquid you were using to begin with (milk), and add very small quantities at a time, on the order of tablespoons, stirring and evaluating the texture after each one. If you go too far, you'd have to add flour again and get into an overly involved cycle of correction.

Crepe batter thickening is a common problem in crepe establishments in the US. The crepes early in the day are fine but they get thicker and thicker as the day progresses because nobody thinks to thin the batter.


Is sour cream in super markets made in the traditional way? Is sour cream in super markets made in the traditional whey? (Ha ha, just kidding.)

The traditional method of making sour cream is easy to describe: milk is spun using a centrifuge so as to extract a heavy cream, which is 1 part cream, 9 parts milk. (Cream for butter is lighter than this). The heavy cream is then cooled to thicken it, then the temperature is increased to about 85F. A small amount (1:20) of sour cream is added to initiate fermentation and the cream is gently stirred for 2 hours, then allowed to sit for 6 hours or to taste. When it is sour, it is refrigerated. In this state it can last for 2-3 months.

Modern recipes I have seen for home cooks obviously do not follow this method, because it requires having a milk separator and raw milk. Instead these recipes mix in buttermilk with light cream, or other methods, which are not true to the original method. However, I am wondering if store-bought sour creams follows the traditional method, or do modern commercial processes use light cream also?

Years ago I worked for Daisy Brand Sour Cream, and during the tour of their facility, it was mentioned several times that they used the original method of making their sour cream that they've used for 100 years.  I saw the cream loaded from the trucks and into various large containers for making the sour cream.

Indeed, their web site seems to bear this out.

They are the only sour cream brand that I trust when I'm cooking professionally.


Is there a way to cook hot dogs in a microwave without them bursting? Whenever I cook hot dogs in the microwave they invariably split and/or burst open. I've tried shortening the cooking time, but haven't found a happy medium where they are thoroughly cooked, but remain unmutilated.

Is there some trick to cooking them in a microwave without this happening?

Poke them with a fork in a few places. This will let the steam out in a controlled manner and prevent bursting.

or, even better, skip the microwave and boil them in a pan over the stove.


What causes chicken fat on the surface of soup, and does it add flavor to the dish? I was making a Japanese ramen soup recipe which involved cooking raw diced chicken thigh in the soup for a few minutes. Soon after adding the chicken to the soup, globules of fat started appearing on the surface.

As a very beginner cook I am wondering what happens in the process of boiling chicken thigh (which had a lot of fatty deposits), and if this fat content adds much taste to the dish?

Although the fat may add some flavor to the soup it also changes the mouthfeel. Instead of having a nice clear broth soup which is light and refreshing the fat in the soup with coat your mouth leaving a greasy feeling and taste. I cant be completely sure but if you were using the chicken thigh to just add flavor and not leave the meat in the soup you could use a chicken stock that your either make or buy from the store. As was stated above you could remove the fat from the soup. I would like to add another method to what Foodrules stated.

-Take a metal ladle and fill it with ice. Dip the ladle into your soup being care not to go deep enough to actually get any liquid in the ladle. They key here is that the cold ladle will solidify the fat and have it stick to it. You just remove the ladle wipe it clean with a paper towel and repeat until the fat layer is gone from your soup. Its very effective and easy.


How to take care of a sourdough starter? I am a beginner bread maker and just bought a San Francisco Sourdough starter.
The instructions ask to discard part of the starter on day 5 of activating the starter.
Why is that?

If some of the starter is not removed, it becomes overly acidic.  Too much acid reduces the leavening effect of the starter.  Removing and feeding keeps the acid in balance.


How do you properly wash hands after dealing with raw chicken? Whenever I get done dealing with raw chicken, I feel like I need to wash my hands repeatedly with hot water and soap. Is this going to remove the potential bacteria away or is there a different way I should be cleaning my hands?

As I recall from all my food safety training: to properly wash your hands, wet them with warm water (at least 100 F), apply soap, scrub all over your hands and in between your fingers for 20 seconds and rinse.  That should thoroughly remove the bad bacteria and any other debris clinging to your hands.  That should be all you need.


How to distinguish nutmeg freshness? Does nutmeg come with a good-before date? How long can nutmeg stay good? Is there a way to 'see' (observe) how old the nutmeg is?

I'm asking because I bought a bag of nutmeg seeds and one was moldy. Maybe just bad luck, but it made me wondering about the freshness of the rest, and how that must affect the flavor in a negative way.

According to the Wikipedia, freshly ground nutmeg has a psychoactive substance, but I guess that must be from fresh nutmeg. So, I'm looking for a way to distinguish between potential poisonous nutmeg and stale nutmeg.

Simple: grate it.

If you grate the nutmeg using a microplane, it should have a strong, distinctive odor you can smell from a couple feet away.   If it doesn't, it's lost its flavor, throw it away and buy new.

It's fairly likely you're going to end up replacing it.  I've never seen nutmegs get moldy before, and I live somewhere with 80% humidity.  It would have to be stored in some very poor conditions to mold.


Purple garlic color change I bought a bag of peeled garlic cloves as a convenience(I know, shame on me) I stored the unused cloves in the fridge and the began to show purple areas on the cloves. I don't think this is anything harmful but my partner didn't like it and insisted I throw away what was left. Is this just another natural color change for garlic such as the blue/green or green colorations that can occur. Anyone have a definitive answer? I'm not trying to one-up her, just trying to be safe.

The purple is just the anthocyanins in the garlic reacting to conditions. It's perfectly safe. Some types of garlic actually turn purple before they are picked if they are fertilized close to maturity; I do this now by choice, because I've decided I like the purple. The purple will occur more frequently and to a greater degree if the garlic is cooked with or peeled cloves are stored in contact with something acidic.


Pre-making pastilla filling I should start by stating my actual problem: this coming Rosh HaShannah, the latest I can buy fresh meat is on Thursday, but I need to serve it the following Monday. (Jewish holiday. I live in Israel, shops are going to be closed.)

I thought to circumvent having to either freeze the meat, or reheat a prepared dish, by way of pre-making pastilla filling on Friday or Saturday, keeping it in the fridge, and only baking the actual pastilla on Monday, before serving.

Would such a solution be safe to eat? Would the filling keep its taste, being refrigerated for several days?

I'm in the US and when we buy fresh chicken at the market it has a 'sell by' date. It's safe to assume that it will be good for one to two days after that date, as long as the chicken is stored properly. If this is the case for you, try and get your chicken with a sell by date of at least Saturday. Then you can be assured it will be okay on Sunday or Monday when you make your filling. Just be sure to get it home and in the refrigerator right away.

If this is not an option for you, there are a couple of things you can do:

Assuming you buy your chicken on Thursday, take it home and put it in the freezer right away. On the day before you wish to make your filling, place it in the refrigerator to thaw overnight. Then proceed as usual. A very short time frozen should not affect the quality or taste of your meat.
You can make your filling in advance and refrigerate it. After cooking, chicken should be okay in the refrigerator for three to four days. So, you can make your filling on Friday or Saturday and refrigerate it until you bake your pastilla on Monday. I wouldn't think this would hurt the flavor in any way. Many times the overall flavor can actually improve as the flavors have time to meld together.


How do I keep Glaze for Gingerbread cookies translucent need to glaze cookies that will be help at a cold temp. cookies are translucent when glazed, if refrigerated, they become chalky and opauque
looking for ideas on how to keep the glaze clear-
glaze formula
powdered sugar - 100%
water - 24%
thanks!

I believe you can combine 1 part water to 3 parts sugar in a saucepan and heat until the sugar dissolves and the liquid is clear. Allow it to cool to just above room temperature before applying to your cookies. It will harden when cool and be translucent.

Food.com has a recipe and directions here: http://www.food.com/recipe/simple-cookie-glaze-345260


Making dark chocolate at home I want to make plain dark chocolate at home.

The process is tricky in my experience, not simply mixing cocoa, cocoa butter, milk powder, sugar, etc.

Can you share some practical tips for doing the process and choosing the right ingredients.

Sorry to rain on your parade, but making good quality chocolate in a home kitchen without special equipment is basically impossible.

The magic tool is a conche - a machine that grinds the cocoa solids so finely, that you can't feel them with your tongue any more. We are talking about a particle size of 10-20 micrometers here. It also distributes fat and sugar in a very specific way. At the same time, temperature rises in a controlled way, altering the flavour profile of your ingredients. For very high quality results one batch took up to 90 hours. Modern technique recently brought this down to an hour or so for good results, provided the chocolate mass is pre-treated to remove unwanted aromatic compounds. Note that we are talking about an industrial scale here, small-batch conches still need 12-24 hours.

The bad news is that even if you committed yourself to manually "conch" for hours, the results would probably be not very satisfying: the precise parameters (time, temperature, humidity...) are a carefully guarded secret of each manufacturer as they significantly contribute to the specific taste and mouthfeel of the brand.


How should I clean this pan? I've been using this pan for a while, and have somehow scorched the bottom of the pan. Can someone tell me how I should clean it? Thanks!

The discoloration is from overheating the pan, not from stains. The actual metal has changed color through accidental tempering, so you won't be able to clean it off other than by grinding the metal down or re-tempering it (neither of which is a good idea).
The color won't significantly affect the performance of the pan. Just ignore it.


With what can I replace eggs? My girlfriend is vegan.

How can I replace eggs in a recipe?

Maybe with banana or soy? How much?

The egg is the key ingredient to keep everything from falling apart.

I have the giant box of Ener-G egg replacer sitting in my cabinet, but I've found that in most cases a flax egg will do.

   1 T flax seed
   3 T water

  Grind the flax in a coffee grinder or
  mortar & pestle and then mix in the
  water. Voila, you have one egg.


Espresso machine has to warm up halfway through pulling a shot I've had my espresso machine for a little less than a year. It's a DeLonghi EC155. It heats up fine (I assume so - a green light that means "ready" turns on, and I've followed the instructions and let it sit for 30 minutes heating before using it), but when I pull a shot, it makes the sound of the water being pushed through the grounds, but the green light turns off halfway through the process. I stop pulling the shot, wait for the light to come on, and finish pulling the shot.

Usually when I dispose of the grounds, they're very watery. Is there a way to make the machine hold heat longer, or is it a defect with the machine?

EDIT: It should also be noted that the light turning off halfway through is a relatively new occurrence. Before about a month ago the "ready" light would stay on until after I had pulled my shot.

Why do you stop in the middle ? Is there a drop in pressure ? does the coffee continue dripping down in the cup?

Let it finish.

I assume, if it is working like my machine, that the water is being re-heated for a next shot.

1st thing I would do is to clean the machine with a "descaler"; it should help with the water heating system and the pressure.

If that does not help, have the machine looked at.


Artificially marbled beef I was going to buy some supposed 'ribeye' steak today (in Indonesia). However it looked weird. The marbling did not look anything like any ribeye I've ever seen.

I found it was 'Meltique' http://www.meltiquebeef.com.au/, which is some lowgrade cut of beef injected with either canola oil or beef fat. Apparently the halal version (which they had) is canola, for fears about lard or something like that.
Anyway I passed on it.
Can anyone who has bought/cooked this pass comment on the quality of the product? My instincts suggest I'd just buy regular beef without fat injected and cook it some other way. But it seems to sell large volumes in Asia. Is this available in Western countries? I'd kind of expect low-grade restaurants to use something like this to save money? But maybe it really is that disgusting?

I have made my own experiments using Transglutaminase (TG), aka Meat Glue, which is a natural enzyme that has the ability to glue protein-containing foods together.
I have recreated steaks from trim cuts, added to burgers, re-shaped hanger steak into filet mignon "coins".
From everything I've read, there is nothing unhealthy about this process.
As to doing it on a large commercial scale… I don't know if they're doing anything beyond using TG, so might be worth seeking more info.
Also, try the meat. From the photo, it looks fresh and clean. I'm sure it'd taste great.


Is there a good test for whether a flat-top stove is working correctly? I live in a rented apartment, and I'm having an issue with the stove.

The stove is one of those electric flat top stoves.

What seems to be happening is that at least one of the elements, when switched on, switches between being fully on, or being completely off. Even when on minimum temperature, it the element will turn on to what looks like 100% power, and then switch off to cool down.

This has caused at least a couple of dishes to be burned.

My questions are:

Is this how flat top stoves are meant to work, or is this a fault?
How can I conclusively test that the stove element is working/not working correctly, so I can tell the landlord to fix it, (and which elements to fix).

This is, indeed, how electric stoves (flat top, coil top, or otherwise) work. It's also how most microwaves work, incidentally. The heating elements have two states: on or off. If you set a burner to an intermediate setting, the way it achieves that intermediate temperature is by turning on for a particular amount of time, then turning off for a particular amount of time.

Note that the burner doesn't actually cool down all that quickly just because it momentarily doesn't appear red. This is why it's so easy to burn things on an electric cooktop if you're not used to it: burners stay hot enough to cook food for quite a long time after being turned off. If you're done cooking something, you need to physically move it off the stove, or at least off of any burner that has been turned on in the last, oh, half an hour, otherwise you will continue cooking it, thus potentially burning it.

To test whether a burner is working, turn it to the highest heat and check that it stays on more or less constantly. Note that depending on your stove, you might have to put a pot on the burner for it to turn on at all. And if your stove comes equipped with a "boil-over" sensor, all bets are off: the burner may not stay on constantly no matter what you do. In any case, the failure state of most stoves is "stops working at all", not some sort of "works when it feels like it", so if you can get your stove to produce heat, chances are it's working as correctly as it's capable of.


Which product for white chapatis? I want to make some chapatis with water and wheat flour only.  there should preferably be no mineral fortification or added ingredients and it has to be white as I want it to be easier for digestion.

I cant seem to find it all the results show wholewheat or wholemeal and I believe that's the brown harder to digest version right?  This would be the wrong one too?
https://www.ocado.com/webshop/product/East-End-Premium-Gold-Chakki-Atta-Chapatti-Flour/260562011?from=search&param=chapati

What term should I be searching for?  Can I get it without minerals fortified? It should be white and free of chemicals.  Basically I just want the pure white wheat flour without any added nasties etc.

Just look for a "white" or "fine white" - many of the chapati flour companies make half a dozen types. Don't expect to find the full range at any of the "middle class" emporiums like Ocado, Sainsbury, etc, you'll have to dig a little deeper than that; but it depends where you live. My local Asda does 2 or 3 varieties, Sainsbury's... none.

Personally, I don't like Chakki flour at all as it makes doughy soft chapatis & I like mine with a bit of dry bite to them.
Basically, the finer & whiter the flour, the more doughy the chapatis, so going for whiter than white flour isn't always a winner, unless it's for health reasons as opposed to flavour. A 'medium' flour is going to make chapatis like your local takeaway makes.

This is a fairly random link rather than an actual recommendation, but just to show the varieties available - Elephant Atta's flour range
btw, I have nothing against East End's food range, I use it a lot - Elephant's just looked easier to navigate.

As for additives - I think you're just going to have to read the back of the pack. I think these days, 'fortification' is pretty much the norm for white flours; wholemeal is less likely to have additives.


How do you get a poached egg to coagulate evenly and professionally? Possible Duplicate:
  How should I poach an egg?

How do you make a poached egg without it getting all messy when you break the egg into a pot of boiling water?  I find that it is hard to get the egg to coagulate cleanly and evenly when making poached eggs. Someone suggested using balsamic vinegar which helps a little bit but the vinegar is messy in itself. I have also tried putting the egg into a special poached egg pod, but it is hard to get the egg out.

Acidify the water with lemon or white vinegar (balsamic vinegar would be a waste to use for this, plus would stain the eggs) to facilitate protein coaugulation.

When the water is boiling, break the egg in a small dish, then create a whirpool by stirring the water just before putting the egg in. This will help to make the white coaugulate around the yolk. Gently pour the egg from the dish into the whirpool.

Also, I find using eggs at room temperature works better, so if you are storing eggs in the fridge be sure to take them out a little bit in advance.


Making saucisson sec from salami at home I bought a peppercorn salami a few days ago.

I would like to make from it what the French call "Saucisson sec" in their world of Charcuterie, essentially cured dry sausage. But I am not sure about the best way to proceed.

What is the right process to get a good cured dry French style sausage at home starting with a salami?

While you might be technically correct if you were to call saucisson sec a salami, you do not make saucisson sec from commercial salami. Without knowing how the salami was produced it could be dangerous to try to do so.  The pictures you posted seems to be of a cooked salami, which is significantly more perishable than its uncooked cousins.

Traditionally, both saucisson sec and salami are dry cured sausages, but they can have significant differences in terms of ingredients and process. Saucisson is usually a coarse ground, pork based sausage lightly seasoned with garlic.  Salami is usually more finely ground, pork or pork-beef sausage often seasoned with coriander, ginger, and nutmeg. Salami is usually fermented with an added lactobacillus bacteria culture, saucisson sec can be made with or without an added culture. Both can be found with or without a covering of penicillium mold.

See also:

Is there a difference between 'Saucisson Sec' and 'Salami'?

http://www.popsugar.com/food/Difference-Between-Charcuterie-Salumi-Salami-3368740


cheese cake cooking times I usually bake a 10" New York style cheese cake.  cheese cakes. On my 10", I bake it for 45 minutes at 350 degrees, shut off the oven but leave the cake in for another hour before removing. I now want to use the same recipe and make a few 4.5" cheese cakes. How do I convert the baking time for these smaller ones?

Here's a recipe for four 4.5" cheesecakes that should be exactly what you need. I haven't used the recipe myself but it certainly seems reasonable:

http://www.food.com/recipe/four-4-5-inch-cheesecakes-with-nine-stir-in-variations-506199

The crust is cooked for 7 minutes at 300F and the while cheesecake is cooked for 40-45 minutes at 300F.


Advice on how to not over cook my steak Basically, I suck at cooking steak. I like med rare but not sure how to cook it right. Let's take my latest failure, 4 6oz top sirloin on center cuts. I let them get to room temp, and heated my clean cast iron on my. Electric stove to between the middle and high heat. I put them on and maybe 3 to 4 min flipped it. A few min later I put my digital thermometer inside and this is where things go bad, here is my situations. I'll read the temp at like... 101 for example before flipping then after flipping, with prob in dead center. It will be like 110. So I wait like 30 sec to a minute and then a combination of things happen

1) I flip and then temp is like 180 when on other side poking middle showed way lower

2) temp jumps up way to fast in like 1 min it will go from 110nto like 150

3,) one part of steak in center will be like 110 and another part 150

4) after the flip it suddenly cooks 50 times faster and over cooks

I don't know, I just can't seem to get consistent temp measuring without it cooking too fast or burned on outside and rare in inside.

It just seems no matter what I do, I can't get it to cook med rare. I over cook it when I constantly take temps and etc.

When I take temp I go at angle or through the side

Please help! Thanks in advance.

Update : I tried multiple thermometers and type of pans. My latest has been cast iron that has been heated with oil to smoke. Before cooking

I would suggest two options, but first, when taking the temperature of a steak, insert the probe through the side of the steak. Aim halfway up, and have the end of the probe as close to the center as possible. The probe should be level, rather than angled.  This might allow you to be more accurate.  You don't need to take the temp at several places...just the center.

The first option, is called the "reverse sear" method.  This works well for steaks of about an inch in thickness or greater.  Preheat your oven to 275F (135C). Place a rack on an oven tray.  Season the steaks well.  Place on the rack, and put into the preheated oven.  Cook until your desired doneness...maybe 125F to 135F  (52C - 57C). At the low oven temp, this will probably take at least 45 minutes, but this depends on thickness. Remove from the oven and rest for 15 minutes. Sear in a screaming hot cast iron pan for 1 minute per side.  Slice and serve.

Alternately, you can use sous vide to cook the steak perfectly.  This has been addressed here before.  Basically, you heat water to the desired internal temperature of your steak.  Place the steak in a zip lock bag, submerge in the water for an hour (the water temp must be maintained over the entire period, preferably with circulation).  Remove, pat dry, season, and sear as above.  Slice and serve.  ...poking your steak with a thermometer is not necessary with this approach.


How to set the temperature in a refrigerator without proper indication on the dials? My refrigerator is old, I don't know how old. I am unsure on how to set my dials.

First, figure out the temperature that you want to run the fridge at (35-38F is standard).
Then, buy a refrigerator temperature gauge.

Work the dial up or down accordingly until it's where you need it. The dial can even have worn off numbers, and this method will still work.


My cocoa powder won't mix with melted butter I was trying to mix cocoa powder into melted butter but instead of mixing in it had a grainy texture and wouldn't dissolve. The butter was still hot and it was only melted not boiled.

I use Heintz cocoa powder which I have used before with no problems.

I am however using a new kind of butter. Can increased moisture content or fat content in the butter cause this?

As others have noted, cocoa powder doesn't "dissolve"; it just becomes an emulsion in the carrier. Changing the water/fat content of the carrier could certainly change whether the cocoa particles stick together or spread out, changing whether they emulsify.


Do I need Malt Vinegar for pickling onions? I intend to make several kilograms of pickled onions.
Last time I made them, I just dumped in basically what ever vinegar i had to hand.
A combination of white malt, brown malt, unmalted, and rice vinegar; plus a tablespoon of cloves.

Turned out just fine (for the onions. Not great for pickled vegetables).

I thought (since my pickled vegitables didn't work),
I would look up and see if I had forgotten the recipe.
I see in all the recipes I've looked up that it calls for Malt vinegar,
or Pickling vinegar.

I'ld really like to use the very plains of vinegars (ie cheapest),
The kind that comes in 2L bottles and is marketted for cleaning mirrors (But is food grade).

Will anything go wrong with this?
Should I add anything to replace the lost flavour? (eg more spices)
Can I got 50:50 malted/plain?

As a serious lover of pickled onions, I have sampled many. You don't need malt for onions, and for some people using malt is a no no.

I confess to loving the eye watering tartness of onions picked in malt, but if that is a problem you can add white sugar which can cut the sharpness of the taste.

So I use malt for onions, and white for other pickles, the White vinegar I use is distilled vinegar something like this

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/asda-compare-prices/Oils_And_Vinegar/Sarsons_Distilled_Vinegar_for_Pickling_114L.html

The op mentions cheap cleaning / food grade vinegar.
If you use this you must not add water as it will affect the ph balance of the picking mix and the food might not pickle and spoil.  And are you really sure it's food grade - check closely

You could try a blend of 50/50 malt and white.

Here is a basic recipe for malt picked onions

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1826697/pickled-onions

But you can use almost any vinegar i.e.

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/pickled-shallots-in-sherry-vinegar.html

Also a general guide to pickling

http://www.pickyourown.org/makingpickles.htm

Top tips

Malt vinegar for onions

White distilled for others

Add sugar if mix is too strong

Experiment with vinegars - try pickling with Apple cider vinegar.

My favourite recipe is baby red onions pickled in a blend of balsamic and white vinegars.

Enjoy


What can you make with Dried Lemon Grass? A friend went to Cambodia for vacatation,  and brought back many packets of dried lemon grass.  Can someone tell me what its uses are,  and mention some easy to prepare dishes that make use of dried lemon grass?  I can prepare many types of Indian food,  never really come across this.

Thanks for the help!

Personally I don't find dried lemon grass that flavorsome and much prefer fresh (usually you can get several big sticks for cheap in the Chinese / Asian supermarkets).

But I'd probably try Thai based dishes - many of their noodle soups (e.g. Tom Yum, chicken noodle soup) will have slices of fresh lemon grass in.  I'd try adding the dry stuff when you are making the stock and see how it works out.

You could also try stir fries and looking around there are several drinks prepared with it (e.g. Lemongrass vodka (at the bottom of the page) and cooling drinks here).  Though I suspect again fresh would be better


What is the chemical process behind the way you cook a risotto? Cooking risotto seems to differ from regular rice in two important ways:

you stir the risotto regularly
you only introduce liquid a little bit at a time

What is the effect of these two steps chemically on the rice that yields such a different product than just throwing it in boiling water and covering?

I always thought, and one of my molecular cooking books indicates that, smaller batches kept the heat higher (less temperature shock), and the scraping released starch. The article Key success factor for tasty and creamy risotto on ideas-smart.com indicates something slightly different:

  Note that the instructions normally
  suggest that each batch of the stock
  needs to be absorbed by rice. In
  reality, something else is happening.
  Most of the water actually evaporates.
  The remaining “mash” gets warmer than
  boiling point. This speeds up the
  chemical processes, which create the
  intense taste of the risotto. These
  chemical processes are essentially the
  same as when browning meat.

  Other reason for pouring the stock in
  small batches and stirring constantly
  is to let loose starch from the rice
  kernels. Starch makes the mixture
  creamy. So the tedious process of
  adding stock in small batches and
  stirring constantly is the key to
  having tasty and creamy risotto. Only
  the reason for doing this, which most
  recipes give, is often misleading.

This matches personal experience and some (other) of my cook books.


Can I turn coarse coarnmeal into fine with a blender? I wonder if running your cornmeal (dry) through a blender for a couple of minutes might break it down a little? Like when you want finer sugar.

Note: taken from a deleted answer to How do I eliminate cornmeal grittiness?

In theory it's possible. However, not all blenders are created equal. This link mentions doing it, but in my experience to blend something into a super fine powder (a flour-like consistency) you need a really powerful machine like a Vita-mix. Also you may get inconsistencies in texture with a blender. This is one reason professional coffee bars use burr grinders instead of blade grinders: to achieve a consistent grind.


Should I rinse the flax seeds after soaking them when making flax milk? I started making my own non-dairy milk.

Having looked at multiple recipes, I saw that some call for soaking the flax seeds before processing them to make milk.

My questions regarding making flax milk are:

Should I soak the flax seeds before processing? If so, why?
If I should soak the flax seeds, should I rinse them (which removes
the jelly water)?

You should rinse them as if you were rinsing off rice. This allows you to remove the dust from storage and transport (may just be flax dust, may not...who knows?). Also, it allows you to do a final visual check and remove any big things (bits of stick, or staff) that may have made it through processing.

I don't have any sources to cite except personal experience working for Cargill in Uni. as well as making my own ground flax seed (can't rinse for a dry good but I did restrain it), soy milk and making these products as well as my work experience allowed me to see what can make it through filtration.


What is the name of a drink made with iced tea and orange juice? Iced tea and lemonade is known as an Arnold Palmer.  I mix mine in 50/50 proportions.

Lacking lemonade, I mixed 50/50 iced tea and pulpy orange juice.  I really kind of like the result and nick named it a "hairy Palmer".

Is there a legit name for this drink?

Having a citrus juice in iced tea certainly isn't a new concept. However, there is no official name for half orange and half iced tea drinks. So you may call it whatever you wish.


What water should be used in baking bread? Should I change the water or flour I feed my starter? I am using the same recipe provided by Chad Robertson's book 'Tartine Bread', only changing the water from Poland Spring to Nestle Pure Life Enriched with Minerals bottled water which is closer to a 7.0 pH.

Poland Spring is 7.3 and Nestle Pure Life is 7.2. It is highly unlikely that this is going to make any noticeable difference in your results. I'd say use whichever is convenient.


How can I tell if soy sauce is of good quality? How can I tell if soy sauce is of good quality? Is it possible to tell from the smell and colour of the sauce?

I'm aware of the differences of dark vs. light soy sauce (see this question: Soya sauce. Are they different for variety of dishes?).  There are also regional differences of soy sauces.

Just a simple rule-of-thumb would be good.

The simplest rule of thumb is to read the ingredients: Water, soybeans, wheat, salt (and maybe something to preserve it). Other brands, may list wheat before soybeans.

"Good quality" and taste may be two different things (like wine). So, it gets a bit tricky to answer. And then there's reduced sodium and light soy which may have other ingredients.

This link may be useful. It covers Japanese soy sauce and touches on the "Grades of Soy Sauce": http://justhungry.com/handbook/just-hungry-handbooks/basics-japanese-soy-sauce-all-you-need-know .


Is there a difference between Stew and Casserole? Is there a proper distinction between a slow cooked meat dish labelled a casserole and one labelled stew?

And if there is a traditional distinction would it be fair to say that the distinction is no longer observed?

Is there some dialectical thing going on here? I have always known stews as stovetop and casseroles as baked, just as Jared said in his comment. See for example on wikipedia: stew vs. casserole; or in Merriam-Webster: stew (click the verb form) vs. casserole. (Casserole refers to the dish as well as the food cooked in it; it's pretty definitely something you would only bake in.)

Now and then I see things get muddled when I'm reading recipes, but these are definitely the meanings I grew up with and see in the vast majority of what I read.


Cooking pizzas using two stones/steel vs one stone/steel in consumer oven So I use a regular oven to cook my pizzas, and I use a steel platform.

It works great, and the pizza comes out amazing. The throughput is low, so I was wondering if it would be a good investment to get a second steel platform so I can cook two pizzas at a time.

Would there be a huge difference in cooking two pizzas at a time vs one?
Would it take longer for the platforms to heat up than the hour I typically give it?

I use an electric oven, and it seems to work fine at 500 degrees (or whatever its true maximum is)

Having 2 stones/steels in the oven is totally workable, the top one would cook a bit faster than the bottom one but that's not a dealbreaker. 2 steels will take longer to get up to temperature than one, whether an hour is enough in your oven is not something I could say. I would suggest you get an infrared thermometer so you can take measurements and know for sure, they are cheap and take the guesswork out of it.


Finishing Sous-Vide Chicken Thighs en masse I'm throwing a party together soon and I wanted to sous-vide some chicken thighs. Because (1) It's tasty, (2) it's easy, (3) leaves open all my pans, stove and oven for other foods.

The problem lies in finishing it off. Typically I remove the chicken, put it in a ice water bath till cool, dry it off then finish it in a small pan till golden and crispy. It's delicious but there's no way I can finish off 30 of these in a timely and efficient way.

I tried broiling but they were not as golden and crispy and were overcooked by the time they had any crispness.

Any ideas? (I'll also take other ideas to feed ~15 people as a main that doesn't take much effort/time)

You could use a searzall with the chicken on a large baking sheet (make sure you have adequate space to do this without accidentally setting anything else ablaze).

I usually use one in conjunction with pan-searing, so I'm not sure it could do the total job for you, but you certainly could use the broiler method and then finish up with the searzall (or, slower, any culinary torch) to get the sear that you want.

Outside of that, a gas grill would probably be your best bet.

Bonus: It's a torch. Torches are fun, and possibly a neat way to entertain your guests.


What is this one-handed tool with five dull steel "blades" called? I've been using it to break down clumpy powders, it's the best thing I have for the job by far, and I need to buy more for people helping me.

It's a pastry blender, less commonly also called a pastry cutter or dough blender. The primary use is cutting (mixing) solid fat into flour to make pastry dough.

Another common variety has stiff wires instead of the metal strips yours has.

That kind also works fine for pastry dough, but likely won't work as well for your alternative use on clumpy powders; it'll tend to flex out of the way a bit, especially if the clumps are hard.


Can canned food (like tuna) be refridgerated for months then put back in the pantry? I forgot about the tuna I left in the fridge.

If you are talking about putting a still sealed can into the refrigerator and then after a few months moving it into the place where you normally store canned foods. All this without opening the can... Yes that is fine. As long as the seal of the can isn't compromised, the contents of the can won't spoil.


Preheat the Dutch oven (and the oven itself) for No-Knead Bread? I'm trying the America's Test Kitchen tweak of No-Knead Bread. The video segment on the website conflicts with the attached written recipe (sorry, paywalled). The video clearly says to preheat the oven and the Dutch oven before slipping the dough into the hot Dutch oven and baking it. The written recipe says to allow the second rise to happen in the Dutch oven and to place both in a cold oven, then turn the oven on to 425F (218C). Other places on the website say that the written information is kept up-to-date and supersedes any video segment, but oddly, it doesn't address the conflict in this recipe. I'll call ATK in the morning for clarification, but does anyone here have any experience that could shed some light on the subject? As a rule, should the Dutch oven for No-Knead Bread be preheated? Does it make sense to start baking the bread in a cold oven?

I did not get an answer from America's Test Kitchen beyond that the written recipe supersedes the video, so I proceeded with the experiment. I made two identical doughs following ATK's recipe for Almost No-Knead Bread with Olives, Rosemary, and Parmesan. Knowing that I would bake them two hours apart, I even started the doughs two hours apart, so the two doughs were truly identical in every way possible. They were both allowed 18 hours for the first rise and 2 hours for the second.

For the first loaf I followed the written instructions for baking. I did not preheat the oven or the Dutch oven. When I put the loaf in, I turned the oven to 425F (219C). One half hour later I removed the lid and continued to bake until the dough registered 210F (99C), which took about another 35 minutes.

For the second loaf, I followed the instructions in the video. I preheated the oven and the Dutch oven to 500F (260C), put the ball of dough in the Dutch oven, returned it to the oven and immediately reduced the oven temperature to 425F (218C). It baked covered for one half hour, then baked uncovered until it registered 210F (99C), which took about another 25 minutes.

RESULTS

The loaf on the right was made per the instructions in the video, it used a pre-heated oven and Dutch oven. That loaf is superior in every way. As you can see in the second picture, it rose higher and the crumb is lighter. The first loaf is dense. The crust on the second loaf is perfectly crunchy. The crust on the first loaf is just hard. And, on the first loaf, the bottom burned before the bread was done.

I didn't think starting the bread in a cold Dutch oven made any sense, this experiment clinches it for me. If you're going to bake bread in a Dutch oven, I recommend that you pre-heat it.


Making a sorbet by cooking or by pureeing the ingredients? For a sorbet that contains a fruit, sugar, water and lime juice, i would like to know which is the best way to make this sorbet; by putting all the ingredients on heat until the fruits are very soft (and then put this mixture in the blender) or just by puree the ingredients in the blender until smooth?

What changes in each case?

There are a few things to consider here. Firstly, sugar dissolves in hot water better than in cold water. So, regardless of other considerations, it's worth making a simple syrup of the water and sugar.

What will change by heating is a few things. From a taste standpoint, depending on how you cook the fruit, the sorbet may taste "cooked". If that's the flavor you're looking for, cook away! However, "fresher" tasting sorbets are made by just pureeing (and straining). Cooking the fruit also stops oxidation (and discoloring) which happens with some fruits. On the other hand, the acidic lime juice will help prevent oxidation. Speaking of lime juice, if it's freshly-squeezed, a large component to its flavor are the volatile citrus oils. Cooking will likely cause these to evaporate, thereby losing some "citrusy" flavor (the acidity will remain, though).

From a texture standpoint it depends on a few things. Cooked fruit is usually softer; when pureed it will contribute towards a smoother texture. Additionally, many fruits contain pectin which is released when cooking. Pectin will contribute positively to the resulting texture of the sorbet. However, overcooking does degrade the pectin.

One way to get the best of both worlds is to gently poach the fruit in the simple syrup to soften it and release the pectin. (Alternatively, you can sous vide the fruit.) If you really want the "fresh" flavor (my preference) but want the benefit of pectin you can add a hydrocolloid thickener like xanthan gum or guar gum in a small amount (usually under 1% by weight).


Storage of Pickle Brine (Without Cucumbers) How long can you keep sweet pickle brine without cucumbers in it? Or can you even do this?
I use sweet pickle brine in many of my recipes.

As the brine is the preserving agent (due to the acidity, even in a sweet pickle), not having the cucumber in the jar will not reduce its shelf life.

The brine should easily last six months (and probably much more) in refrigerator.


Leaving raw chicken uncovered for a day I sometimes leave some chicken unwrapped in the fridge inside the container, if I buy a two piece, and only want one. A girl who lives at my dorm told me it was a life threatening harm, to everybody’s food inside the fridge, since deadly bacteria’s spread,  to all the food. I read a similar post, where there was split descisions. Is there any danger to it, and if yes, how dangerous?

Food kept at refrigeration temperatures is relatively safe.  Any potential pathogens can not jump or fly about without something to propel them. Dripping can potentially contaminate. Cooking can render many things safe (if initially stored properly).  Keeping meats in closed containers is more sanitary (and respectful of others). However, to suggest that refrigerated unwrapped chicken, in a container, is "life threatening" sounds a bit extreme to me.


Baking concentrate using Hard Alcohol ex Jack Daniels I am trying to find a way to use hard alcohol such as Fireball, Jack Daniels, Sailor Jerrys and so on and turn them into a baking concentrate. This means the flavor of the alcohol cannot burn off at a high heat. Will xanthan gum or gum Arabic used to make baking concentrates with fruit juice provide the same effect? Or is there a way to take the flavor of the alcohols and turn them into a food concentrate? I just need the flavor not the alcohol itself so if burning off the alcohol which is the actual part that seems to be burning off since it boils at a much lower temperature than water I can do that. Thank you in advance for your time and help.

Cheers, Savannah

You can't. The compounds which make Jack Daniels taste like Jack Daniels are alcohol soluble and highly volatile. If you try cooking off the alcohol, the taste will evaporate together with the alcohol.

If you are thinking of "rum essence" for baking, that's not derived from rum at all. It's simply ethylformate, and it's produced in a lab.

You can mix xanthan gum or something else with alcohol, but it won't make it a concentrate in any way. In fact, it is likely to make the taste somewhat weaker, as these thickeners have a tendency of trapping taste.


I am canning quart jars of tomato sauce and heard a few "pop" before pressure was reached; is this ok Is it okay if my lids "pop" before pressure cooking is finished

That means the jars have been sealed, however it’s just one of the safety measures of pressure canning. The other function of pressure canning is to kill the pathogens by exposing the food to high temperatures for a certain time. You should complete the full process to achieve food-safety.


Why did my Tiramisu Cake become dry? I followed Dorie Greenspan's recipe http://clclt.com/eatmycharlotte/archives/2010/04/09/dorie-greenspans-tiramisu-cake for making the sponge cake. The cake was very soft when it cooled down.

However, after sitting in the fridge overnight, it was quite tough. It was left uncovered in the fridge. Not sure if this caused it - if yes, what is the best way to keep it in the fridge while the flavours blend?

I would say the refrigeration is the culprit. Fridges suck the moisture out of anything that isn't tightly covered.

I would either wrap the cake in plastic wrap or put in an airtight tub or cake tin before refrigerating.

This will also prevent the cake from absorbing any smells in the fridge: chocolate is very prone to this.


Utensils for stir frying ground beef I stir fry a pound of ground beef on a stove-top pan (made of ceramic titanium) on a daily basis. That is my "cereal" meal.

I use a spatula and a second one that looks like a large spoon (all nylon) to do this.

But is there an ideal utensil?

Pictures for reference

What I currently use:

Stir-fried meal:

I haven't cooked beef for a while, but a wooden spatula works very well, as it can break up clumps and is safe for non stick. I prefer the straight shape of the one I've got to any of my nylon spatulas, that are more designed for lifting.

The second implement matters less, but I may use a slotted nylon spoon so it's ready to lift the meat out of the fat, or if I'm not going to do that, a wooden spoon.


How do I impart "extra" flavor with Sous Vide cooking? I've been cooking Sous Vide 2-3 times a week for about 10 months now, and I absolutely love it. The control of temperature and time makes for some really interesting possibilities. But, one of the touted benefits of the method is better imparting of flavors during the cooking process, and I'm not getting this at all.

I'm not using a vacuum sealer in my process, instead I'm submerging an open bag in water and letting the partial pressure get all the air out before closing it up. Is this the reason I'm not noticing the additional flavor? Do the muscles in the meat need to be stretched by the vacuum? If that is the case, is a home vacuum sealer sufficient for that? I somehow doubt that a vacuum sealer gets much more negative pressure on the meat than my method. Do I need a chamber vacuum to get the effect?

Or am I just not using the right ingredients in my recipes?

What am I doing wrong? I love my Sous Vide Supreme, but I feel like I'm missing out on a piece of the experience.

Edit:
I tried looking for some of the recipes that I haven't had luck with last night, but because everything is mostly google searches, I couldn't really come up with anything concrete. However some things that haven't really added that extra flavor are: Olive oil, butter, bacon fat, rosemary, thyme, and garlic. Not all at the same time, but in different combinations. A lot of my initial reading was careful to point out that you shouldn't use too much seasoning as the tastes would be much stronger than you were used to. I'm not getting that at all.

Sous vide not only keeps the proteins (main component) at a lower temperature, but also the spices/oils/flavorings. Heat helps release the taste and aroma of all the ingredients, and the sous vide might not be hot enough to do that.

So, while it kind of kills the simplicity, you could always sautee the seasonings in oil before adding them to the sous vide bag (not until cooler though). Or just keep them separate and recombine for serving.  Sous vide itself (not the vacuum part) is mainly for maintaining/achieving a controlled internal temperature, and skilled cooks don't only sous vide a dish; they might sous vide and then finish under a broiler for texture, or with a torch. If the sauce isn't working inside the bag, make it work outside the bag.

Alternately, put the ingredients in the bag the day before, and let them marinate overnight in the fridge.  The vacuum action is essentially just a speeded up marinade, so this should do the same.

Also, make sure you're using enough (but not too much) SALT.

Finally, call the Sous Vide Supreme company.  They know their product's capabilities and limitations and might have some good recommendations.

Just my guesses.


How do I make soft chapattis? I have been trying to make chapattis (an Indian flat unleavened bread, somewhat like a wheat tortilla), using the following recipe for the dough: 300ml water, 250g whole wheat flour, 250g white wheat flour, pinch of salt. The dough rolls out fine, but the cooked chapattis turn out rather hard and/or rubbery instead of nice and soft. Any ideas why, and what I can do to improve the result?

Yogurt and milk might work, but those ingredients are not in authentic chapati.  When I hear the words "hard" and "rubbery" in reference to pan-fried bread, I'm almost certain that the problem is that they are cooking for too long on too low of heat. Increase the heat on your pan (it should be very hot) and cook the chapati very briefly on each side. This will still give them a nicely browned exterior, without turning them into sheets of rubber.


Can I replace rolled oats with instant oats in a cookie recipe? http://allrecipes.com/recipe/healthy-banana-cookies/

That recipe asks for rolled oats. I don't have them. Can I replace them with these instant oats? How much should be the quantity then?

(Disregard previous version:  I did not notice this recipe had no wheat flour.)

This recipe gets all of its structure from oats.

Instant oats are pre-hydrolized, so that they cook faster.  Regular oats are just the natural oat, perhaps cut, and rolled flat.  They need more moisture and time to hydrolize.

The recipe will probably work, perhaps with a slightly different texture.  They may bake faster due to the fact that the oats are already hydrolyzed.

If you choose recipe where the structure comes from wheat flour, the type of oats will matter less.


What is the reason to coddle an egg? I have a Caesar recipe that calls for 2 egg yolks from coddled eggs.  It prescribes submersing the eggs in near boiling water for just under a minute.  This is in contrast to merely separating the eggs.

When I separate these eggs from the coddling process, the only thing I notice different from separating a cold egg is it's warmer, some of the white has started to cook, and they seem to separate easier.  The yolk also seems more durable, but not overly so.

So what is the science behind a coddled egg for a recipe like this?  Or is it merely to make the separating process easier?

Eggs are coddled for a Caesar dressing in order to make the yolk slightly thicker. This in turn allows for a slightly thicker dressing. From your description, it sounds like you are doing it perfectly!


What part or kind of geoduck gives crunchy slender slices? I purchased a few shucked geoducks  from Sunny Supermarket in Toronto fresh, but froze this one. I wanted to ask this question before preparing it.

After I purged the fresh shuck (not shown), I sliced it, but slices are these squat wedges in pics 1-2.

I wanted these skinny crunchy strips like pics 3-5.

Did I buy wrong kind of geoduck? Or wrong part?

Bibliography - Pics 1,2, 3, 4, 5, Geoduck anatomy picture.

I suspect you cut your geoduck “the wrong way” (to get the specific shape, that is). If you want crunch, you should use the syphon, so that was a hit already. For the wavy slices, I suggest watching the first recipe in this video by chef Hung Huynh. In short, he

uses live geoduck
quickly blanches the neck by immersing it in hot water
peels the outer skin off and cuts the neck from the body. Then he
slices the neck lengthwise and washes it in cold saltwater.

When he thinly slices the halved necks at a bias, he gets longish strips that curl “due to the contractions of the muscles”.

While you can still cut your frozen geoduck neck in thin slices, I doubt that they would curl the same way fresh do.


How long can I hold spätzle in ice water or drained? When making spätzle, it is common to chill each batch in ice water to stop the cooking.  I need to make spätzle as part of a large feast for 10 people; I'm wondering if I can just leave the spätzle in the cold water bath for  4-5 hours to hold them aside, or if they will become gummy and waterlogged in that time.

If the answer is, yes they will become waterlogged, can I drain them and hold them in a bowl for 4-5 hours without them sticking together?

(if relevant, I'm planning to use a spätzle grater and not the board-and-knife method)

I would not keep them in water; they will absorb water and get soggy.

I'd just drain them and toss them with a little bit of oil, just enough so that they will not stick together and put them in the fridge.

A little bit like when you're making pasta salad.


keeping ice cream fresh for 12 hours while transporting Is it possible to keep it fresh during a long distance travel by train? Normal styrofoam boxes won't work I guess, what about thermos flasks?

My dad used to buy icecream after a long day work for us (it was a 3 hour drive.)
He used styrofoam boxes with some dry ice. Not sure if it can hold up till 12 hours.


How to make curly homemade flat noodles I know how to make egg noodles, and I either roll them out or use my pasta machine with the fettuccine cutter.  This gives me flat egg noodles.
I like the curly ones that I buy at the store for some dishes.
Is there a technique I can use to make my homemade noodles curly when I want them to be curly?
To clarify, I would like them curly at the edges, but still mostly flat, similar to most of the wide egg noodles in the store.

You can curl them at home with a little effort.. Cut your pasta into ribbons and then cut those ribbons into smaller ribbons. Let them dry for just a little while (not so dry that they have lost all moisture) and then pull them gently, twisting them slightly as you do. Let them dry again to set and you should have what you're looking for.


Why does asparagus microwave so fast? I've also been surprised by how fast asparagus heats up in the microwave. Is there a particular reason for this?

My understanding is that microwaves heat by transferring energy into the "polar" molecules (like those of water, oils) of a food. Is there something about asparagus that lends itself to this in a way that, say, peas/beans or certainly not potatoes, do not heat as fast?

Other reasons I could see this being the case:

I coincidentally happen to add oil or some other additive to asparagus more often when microwaving, and this is the real cause of the difference
There's no particular heat-transfer difference, but rather asparagus simply cooks faster given the same amount of heat generated

Does any one know the definitive answer(s) here?

A couple things... Yes the microwaves excite polar molecules. Water happens to be a very common polar molecule. So the first thing I would expect would make a major difference would be the ratio of polar to non-polar molecules or the percentage of water in most cases. Asparagus has a  high percentage of water at roughly 93%. Peas on the other hand have about 79%. Potatoes are also about 79%. Assuming to objects of the same shape and density, the one with more water will likely heat up quicker.
The second thing to consider is the shape (or more importantly the surface area). A potato is much thicker, and the surface of the potato will absorb most of the microwaves, causing the inside to stay cooler, much longer. The heating will be much less efficient and effective than heating the asparagus.
Edit: As Jefromi pointed out, there is also the fact that asparagus is always going to cook faster than a potato in absolutely EVERY cooking method.


How to bottle your own homemade salad dressing I would like to bottle my homemade dressing. The main ingredients are olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, lemon and dijon mustard. Once it is bottled, is there a processing time as there is with canning vegetables?

To can foods safely, you should always use a tested recipe. You can find safe recipes for most things on the site of the National Center for Home Food Preservation or on the Ball Jars canning site.

Sources like this recommend against trying to can your own flavored vinegar or flavored oil ... one could safely assume they would thus recommend against home canning of vinegar and oil.

I think this article is a helpful Q&A explaining why it's not recommended (or safe!) to create and can your own recipes -
http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/nchfp/factsheets/heatprocessingbackgrounder.html


How bad is it to freeze vegetables in glass for a maximum of 4 weeks? How bad is it to freeze vegetables, like broccoli, spinach, or cauliflower in glass pots? I am using glass pots from IKEA that are airtight. I will be storing them for no more than 4 weeks. How does it compare to vacuumed zip lock type bags?

The main effect that reduces the quality of food that is stored in the freezer is freezer burn. This is basically dehydration, caused by the very dry air in the freezer. Any container that seals airtight prevents this from happening, so your vegetables should stay good.

With glass containers, you may have to be careful to prevent them from cracking. If there is a lot of liquid in the food you want to freeze, you have to take care to leave enough empty space in the container to allow the water to expand as it freezes. With containers that have a very rigid lid (like jars with a metal lid) it can be a good idea to freeze with the lid placed only loosely on top, and then tighten the lid as soon as everything is frozen, to avoid having a lot of pressure inside the jar from the expanded water.


I've started to make dairy free cheese for cafes but have problem scaling up? I've started making dairy free cheese for cafes. Similar to whisking a sauce for 5 minutes. Ive tried scaling up using a bamix stick blender with large Raymond Blanc non stick pot on induction cooker this leads to problems with grey flex appearing in the cheese? Any advise much appreciated.

It is probable that the blades on the bamix stick blender are contacting the interior of the pot occasionally and scratching some of the non-stick coating off, and that's the grey flecks you see in your cheese.