How can I chill ice coffee quickly? I brew coffee using a french press. After I've pressed it, how can I make it chill fast?

I've tried pouring it into a wider container (larger surface area) and putting it in the freezer. This is not optimal since I don't want to thaw the contents in the freezer. Also, this takes some time and risks spilling the coffee.

When it is cold enough I put some ice cubes in a drinking thermos, pour in the coffee, close the lid and shake it. This part of the process works well because the ice "only" transfers the cold to the coffee and not the surroundings. I guess I could use crushed ice instead for greater effect?

Is there a better/quicker way of making iced coffee?

Brew it strong and then add ice. Alternately, freeze some coffee in ice cube trays and use those frozen coffee cubes to chill the new batch without diluting it.

Agitation (shaking) with cubes is a good substitute for crushed ice -- both ensure that the hot coffee meets the cold surface of the ice quickly.

If you sweeten your iced coffee, using chilled simple syrup will help cool the brew and avoid problems getting the sugar to dissolve (sugar doesn't dissolve well in cold liquids).


How do I finely strain fresh coconut milk? I had a lovely bunch of young coconuts. I extracted the water of most of them, and I blended all the meats and enough of the water (in the right proportion) to make something like 3 gallons of coconut milk.

The only issue is that the milk has tiny coconut particles that I need to be rid of. I tried a fine cheesecloth (with multiple layers), but draining it is going to take days and if I force it, the tiny particles slip through. I thought about using a kitchen centrifuge, but I don't have one (if they make them).

Any ideas to extract a completely smooth solution from what I've got? The 100mL of said nectar I got from the cheesecloth after much patience, has tantalized me.

Alton Brown made coconut milk on his show Good Eats a few years ago, and he suggested using a clean tea towel and squeezing the pulp until it has given up all the liquid.

Here is more on it: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/coconut-milk-and-cream-recipe/index.html


How much minced garlic is one clove? I have a recipe that calls for 2 cloves of garlic, but all I have is minced garlic. How much minced garlic do I use per clove?

Well, it depends on the size of the clove. A heaped teaspoon will probably be about equivalent to two cloves of garlic, but it's cooking, not particle physics. Remember you can always add an ingredient, but you can't take it away - so taste your food and adjust as necessary.


Can I mix anything into cheesecake batter? When I say "anything" I mean things that might go well with cheesecake - ie, fresh fruit, chocolate chips, etc. In particular I've got cranberries in mind. All the fruit-related cheesecake recipes I've seen save the fruit for a topping.

Is mixing stuff into the batter itself before baking a bad idea?

There are plenty of recipes that do. You don't want your added ingredients to be too wet, and if they're strongly coloured the colour is likely to bleed into the mix whatever you do (e.g. blueberries).

The results will be different for baked cheesecakes and chilled cheesecakes, but in both cases it can work. I suggest you keep trying to find a recipe that adds them to the mix, a baked one as that seems to be what you feel like making. Or just try it. Here's a recipe with blueberries to get you started (not tested).

For chocolate chips specifically, you can just stir in the desired amount after mixing and before pouring it onto the base. They may sink though, depending on your recipe. But this isn't too bad. Citrus zest can also be added to taste (but it needs to be fine).

If you add a lot of weight or bulk, your cooking time might increase a little.


How is this lasagna pasta supposed to be cooked? I will try to do lasagna and I have doubts about how to deal with the pasta. The bolognese and bechamel sauces are fine (at least I know how to approach them).
The problem I am having is with these "pre-cooked" lasagna pasta sheets (this is in France, Barilla is a very common brand of pasta over here)

Instead of a written description of how to use them, they only went for a few icons:

What does the first icon mean?
It could be a part of the bechamel sauce recipe, but it misses everything else (the roux, etc.).
Am I supposed to boil 0.9L of milk, pour it in the flat bowl, then put the sauce (I cannot believe that, maybe a first layer of pasta on top of the milk? - still does not make a lot of sense) and then the layers of bechamel and sauce?
In other words: where does this 0.9L of milk go?
EDIT: on The French Barilla site they have a section with recipes, including a few lasagnas using the pasta I have. https://www.barilla.com/fr-fr/recettes/collezione/lasagnes-a-la-sauce-napoletana-et-legumes-grilles for instance mentions milk only in the context of the bechamel sauce.
FINAL EDIT: I got a message from Barilla telling me that the first icon is "the recipe for bechamel"... Well never mind. I had the bolognese sauce done my own way and I used a 50 g flour + 50 g butter (roux), + 0,9L milk and the texture & amount was perfect. Thanks everyone.

Barilla say their lasagne is no-cook (not all lasagne is), so I can only assume they expect you to make your béchamel with 900ml milk, then use a jar of their bolognese sauce in the alternate layers. It's a tad lacking in precision, for sure.
Personally, i'd just search a no-cook lasagne recipe online, as the liquid balance is pretty important for lasagne - too much & it's like soup & slime, too little & it's a brick.
I just checked Barilla sites & recipes around the world, most Barilla is no pre-cook - it also says that on your box - only their wavy lasagne is pre-cook.


Microwaving wine to remove alcohol? Does microwaving wine have the potential to remove the alcohol? If so, how long might be required?

(I'm specifically interested in the microwaving aspect, which is why the existing questions on cooking away article aren't exactly sufficient)

Cooking is not as effective at removing alcohol as many people think; the alcohol and water evaporate or boil together. At a simmer, it might only take 10-15 minutes to get rid of half of the alcohol, but getting rid of 90% of it takes more like two hours. See this previous question on cooking away alcohol for more detail.

In any case, a microwave can certainly simmer or boil liquids, and the alcohol/water evaporation doesn't care about what equipment you used to cook it, so you certainly could do use a microwave to reduce the amount of alcohol in wine.

However, it doesn't give you nearly as much control as a stove; even if you use a reduced power, it'll tend to boil on and off as it cycles the power. And microwaving for extended time periods is a pretty awkward method.

So in general, I'd suggest doing this kind of thing with conventional cooking methods, especially if it's as part of a dish. You can use the cooking time of a stew to help reduce the alcohol, for example. And even if you want to remove more alcohol than the cooking time of your dish permits, a pot on the stove gives you much better control.


How do you prepare Brie? My son enjoys the Brie that comes with the cheese plate at Starbucks.  That cheese has a mild aroma.  So I picked up some Brie from the market and it has a strong smell.  Is there a way to prepare Brie to reduce the odor?  Or if I knew anything about cheese would I even try?

Ammonia odor means over-ripe cheese. For both Camembert and Brie.

Next time don't buy it ...


Markings/smudges/wear on steel springform pans Hi folks.  Can someone tell me what the markings are on this steel springform pan?  I tried cleaning it with Bar Keeper's Friend already.  Also interested to know if they are still okay to use if they cannot be removed.

Looks like normal markings on well used baking tins. It's fat that polymerised from heat (same procedure as for seasoning cast iron, just unintentionally). It's perfectly safe to use the pan like that. It can theoretically be removed with outrageous amounts of elbow grease and heavy duty cleaning chemicals, but it's not worth the effort in my opinion.


Eggnog to Spirit ratio? I know, I know, I should be making my own eggnog, but when I'm in a pinch and I don't have the time to make my own eggnog, I have to rely on the store bought stuff.

With that being said, can anyone tell me a standard ratio of eggnog to brandy/rum?

There is no standard, it all depends on how happy you want to get, and whether you just want the flavor of the booze, or the actual effect of the alcohol. Also a factor is the kind of alcohol you want to add. Light rums, for example, have less flavor than dark rums, so you'd want to use dark rum if you want booze flavor over alcohol.

As an estimate if you are going for flavor an ounce or two per liter (or quart, they're close enough for jazz) will do the trick, or up to 6 or 8 if you want very happy people.

Don't forget to grate a bit of fresh nutmeg on top before serving!


Why let dough rise twice? I'm just wondering, what's the point of letting dough rise twice? I've seen a bunch of recipes in the form:

Mix dough together and knead
Let it rise
Knead again
Let it rise again

Why do they do this? Doesn't kneading just push the air bubbles out?

Allowing dough to rise twice results in a finer gluten structure than allowing it to rise once.  It results in a smaller crumb and prevents huge gaping airholes in your bread.  The reason that you have to let it re-rise is that you just pushed all the air out with the kneading you did developing that gluten structure.


Is it possible to make evaporated milk using powdered milk? I have read a related question about how to make evaporated milk, but the answer specifies that homogenized milk must be used. I was wondering if its possible to speed up the process by using powdered milk with less water and simmering it to get the slight caramel taste. On a similar note, if I am to substitute sweetened condensed milk for evaporated milk in a recipe where sugar is also added, by how much should I cut back the sugar(~30-35%?).

The primary difference between evaporated milk and a strong milk made from instant dried milk, aside from that great caramel-y taste, is the fat content.  Most instant dried milk powders are fat-free.  The fat in the evaporated milk is an important component in a lot of recipes.  However, that can be overcome with the addition of some margarine with the milk and water.

There is a nice discussion of this option with some recipes here:

http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20080525/PC1206/305259953

Perhaps that will give you ideas and a starting point for judging ingredient amounts.


Why did my salmon turn brown when I steamed it? A few months ago I took out a wild salmon fillet I had in the freezer and left it to thaw for about 15 minutes in water. After it had partially thawed to the point where it wasn't hard, I filled my steamer pot with water and put it on a gas fire for about 20 minutes with the salmon inside.
When I took the salmon the out, I noticed there were 2 brown patches near different ends of the fillet. I took a bite of it and it tasted quite bad and way different to the normal steamed salmon I had before. I couldn't eat it so I threw it away but I was confused as to why did the salmon fillet turn brown when I steamed it? All the other times I steamed this same type of salmon it always came out pink.
The fillet in question is wild salmon from the Pacific.

Most sources recommend anywhere between 5-10 minutes to steam a piece of salmon.
Bonappetit.com says:

Although oily fish can be easier to execute when steaming compared to white fish because of the fat content, you have to avoid overcooking it, since the bloodline between the flesh and the skin can let off a metallic flavor.

The most likely answer would seem to be that, in steaming for 20 minutes, you massively overcooked the fish.


Best practices for using taps while avoiding cross contamination What are the best practices when it comes to touching taps while handling raw meat? I have germ related OCD issues so I end up avoiding using raw meat at all costs because in my head the following would occur:

  Cut meat > turn on tap > wash hands > turn off tap > get germs back on hands

While i could work with a one hand clean method this would not work for every situation, spatchcocking, keebabs etc.

I've had a google and looked for other topics on the issue, but they all seem to focus on washing up post cooking or how cooking shows cut out all the repeated hand washing. None seem to detail the best practices or governmental guidelines for washing hands and cross contamination from the act of washing (if there are indeed any).

I often use the method described in mech's answer - using food-grade gloves when handling raw meat. Both at work and at home.

A secondary option that I often employ is the overall cleanability of taps. Just grab those taps with your raw meat hands with impunity. Give your hands a quick rinse then lather them up with extra soap and scrub. Then scrub the taps. Then rinse everything again.

There are also taps that can be manipulated with elbows and I have heard of heat sensitive taps that respond to touch as well.

Just remember the raw meat can't hurt you if you just clean up afterwards.That might include the taps you used when cleaning up.


Why to add garlic for pickles? My mom uses to add 2 or 3 garlic cloves for each pickle jar when pickling something.

She says that by this way she will prevent them from being overpickled, and stay one whole part.

However I tried pickling more than once without adding these garlic cloves, and they ended just fine.
Is there any hidden purpose from adding garlic to pickles, for the taste probably? Or is it just by chance?

Some websites list in their recipes garlic cloves too.

Garlic in pickling recipes is just for flavor.  It does not effect the chemistry of the pickle--either for vinegar pickling, or fermentation pickling (other than adding more vegetable mass to be pickled).

(This part of my little quest to close old questions with no answers, and no other substantive answer has been offered in the week since the question was asked.)


What is the best way to find a reliable pepper mill? After someone posted a link to a hand-turned coffee grinder, I was reminded that I needed to replace my pepper mill. My third one in about seven years.

After reading the 1 through 4 star (and skimmed 5 star) reviews of mills from $12-45, they often come down to the grinding mechanism wearing out quickly, the plastic around it somehow messing up, or something falling off while reading more pepper and rendering it nearly inoperable (which is my current predicament: some ring fell off during a refill, and now the knob that holds the top in place ends up dictating the grind coarseness loosens itself after 2-3 uses, and if you over-tighten it, you get no pepper).

What properties should I be looking for in a pepper mill, and why are my pepper mills failing so quickly?

Most basic mills with steel grinders will be OK

What breaks them are

Overly aggressive grinding; just grind gently and your mill will last much longer
Keep them dry; do not use a pepper grinder over a steaming pot. Grind pepper into a bowl or plate, and then pour into pot
Old peppercorns; as they age and dry, they get tougher to grind, and wear most mills out pretty fast. Store peppercorns in very air tight containers, so they can't dry out more than they are meant to be dried
Avoid those coloured peppercorn mixes; whatever makes the light colours, are also very tough. Stick with plain black pepper
Contaminants; pour your peppercorns onto a white plate and check for small stones or twigs before loading into grinder. Also check for "insect parts", most local food laws allow some of these, but who wants them!

I have gone through a variety of grinders over the years. Some expensive, some cheap. Price was not a factor, usage and care seem to have been

Acrylic grinders generally die quickly, as the acrylic cracks as it ages. Solid metal or wooden bodies are better as they last longer in general, and keep the pepper in a light proof container (which all food should be stored in, or in a light proof cupboard)


Chocolate and oil mixed When I melt 16 oz of chocolate I add 4 oz of oil how long can I keep this and how should it be stored. Someone said something about botulism ??

Botulism is a risk with unprocessed food which has been close to the soil, so fresh vegetables, or especially alliums (garlic!). It is not present in commercially produced chocolate - if it were, it would grow inside the bar. Remember, there is no oxygen in the middle of a chocolate bar either!

Normally, you can't expect that the mixture of two shelf-stable substances is also shelf stable, as you may add back the one factor which was keeping bacteria out. But in the case of chocolate mixed with an oil (or any other kind of pure fat, such as cocoa butter), this is not a problem.

Your mixture is shelf stable, and safe to consume for years. The only thing you have to care about is rancidity.


When I go to slice my meatloaf it falls apart on the plate Why does my meatloaf fall apart when I cut it for serving. I used 2 eggs and 1 cup of breadcrumbs in the loaf. I just don't get it.

Cook at a slightly lower temperature (until meat thermometer in center = 160 degrees). Let it sit before you cut it.
Cut with sharpest knife you can.
Less breadcrumbs (or no breadcrumbs) -- you can try using oatmeal instead.
Only one egg, and add some other liquid ingredients like tomato paste or sauce or Worscheshire sauce or even a little bit of Cream of Mushroom soup (not my fave but it works).
Add a small amount of water if desired.
Choose ground beef that is not the leanest kind, it holds together better. You can also mix different types (80/20 and 90/10) or mix another ground meat like pork in there too for slightly different texture.

Recipe I'd try:
1 to 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup bread crumbs [or oatmeal]* (optional)
1 can of condensed tomato soup (other kinds work too)
1 egg
1 small onion finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup water

Mix the beef, 1/2 the can of soup, bread crumbs, egg, onion, Worcestershire sauce, salt and black pepper in a large bowl. Place the beef mixture into a loaf pan and shape firmly into desired loaf shape. Pour the rest of the soup over the top of the meatloaf. Bake at 350°F  for 1 hour or until center reaches 160 degrees. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.


Adapting graham cracker crust to all-natural graham crackers Popular recipes for graham cracker pie crust are generally based on Nabisco Honey Maid or similar mass-market, not-really-graham-flour-crackers.

Example recipe (American measurements):

  1.5 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
  1/4 cup granulated sugar
  5 tbs melted butter
  Combine ingredients.  Press into pie pan.  Blind bake for 11 to 14 minutes.

Because I live next door to a natural foods market, though, what I can most easily are all-organic, real-graham-flour crackers (Midel).  These have less sugar and shortening, and more whole wheat than the Nabisco version.  I also appreciate the ingredient quality of the "all-natural" brand.

My question is: how should I adapt the standard pie crust recipe to work with this kind of "healthier" graham cracker?

I tried adding slightly more sugar and butter to the standard recipe, but the resulting pie crust was still too dry, crumbly and whole-wheat tasting.

Note: I'm not making any claim as to the health value of different brands of cracker.  "all-natural" and "healhier" are claims on the packaging of the crackers.  I also don't care about the sugar/fat content of the resulting pie crust; the filling has enough to make counting nutrients pointless.  I'm just trying to recreate the correct texture with the ingredients which are readily available to me.

I have used Midel brand ginger snaps, graham crackers, and lemon snaps in crust recipes and they all happen to perform well in standard recipes. They do in fact have a better taste with respect to the snaps; the graham crackers I didn't notice much return on investment. The wholesome ingredients are not detrimental to their ability to be pressed into a shell.

I would recommend trying the recipe as-is first with the Midel cookies. My guess is that you are concerned that they will be too dry or something to that effect, or would crumble rather than bind together. For a shell like this I would be sure to parbake and grease the pan with shortening rather than any kind of spray. When you remove the crust, if it seems drier than usual, I would brush a minor amount of canola oil over top.

If you want to improve on this with respect to things you can likely buy at a natural food market, I would begin by greasing the pan with coconut oil and brushing with walnut or almond oil oil. This will also add $3 to the cost of your crust.

In general, Midel bakes well as far as my experience has gone.


Onion has yellow center. Is it safe to eat? I cut open an onion I had and it had a yellow center. I read online it might be a sign of sprouting but I am uncertain if that's actually the case. Is it safe to eat? Should I just throw the onion away?

Sprouted onions are perfectly safe to eat. If far advanced the texture may not be ideal; yours does not sound very far advanced at all (not even green.) Considering you can eat green onions, there's nothing to fear from onion sprouts.


Flavor difference between marzipan and persipan I know that persipan is a cheap substitute for marzipan, using apricot or peach kernels in place of almonds. How do the flavor profiles of these two food items differ? Is marzipan really "better" in some sense than persipan?

If you want to give something the flavor of almonds, then starting with almonds, in my opinion, is superior to starting with the cousin of almonds. Of course, if your persipan is, in your opinion, indistinguishable from marzipan, then go ahead and use it in good health, but it is likely that it has added flavors to get it to that point (natural or otherwise, depending on manufacturer).

Modern, sweet, cultivated almonds have a stronger almond-y (and in my opinion, better) flavor than apricot kernels and, I would presume, peach kernels (I haven't eaten those).

Almonds, peaches and apricots are close relatives and the kernels are generally quite similar. Most peach and apricot kernels (as well as bitter almonds) are not edible in their fresh, raw state because they contain cyanide in the form of amygdalin. There are actually some apricots with kernels that are edible without extra processing and in my experience, they aren't as flavorful as almonds, although I guess there could be some varieties with more flavorful kernels, but I think the ones that are being used for the persipan are more likely to be leftover from fruit production and not a specific variety bred for the kernel itself.

When you make marzipan, you just need to grind up blanched almonds. When you make persipan, you need to process the kernels to remove toxic chemicals, which removes much of the bitterness, and then grind them up and probably add in some flavoring.

I expect it is possible to get the persipan to approximate the flavor of marzipan, and I would expect the texture to be about right to begin with, but personally, I would say that yes, making marzipan from almonds is superior. It's using the variant of that particular nut-bearing tree that was bred throughout the centuries to make the flavor that this food item is most expected to highlight. Marzipan IS almond. ...and sugar, sure, fine, whatever. ;-)


How to remove alcohol taste from vanilla extract? I bought Kirkland pure vanilla extract from Costco and it has a very strong taste of alcohol. I'd like to mix it into drinks, but it is really overpowering. Would boiling out the alcohol remove some of the vanilla flavour? I assume the alcohol is there to amplify the vanilla flavours in the first place.

If you have not tried mixing it into drinks yet then I'd encourage you give it a shot. Although the alcohol smell is strong in the bottle the vanilla flavor is much more concentrated, once you dilute it in something else the alcohol should be unnoticeable.

There's no way to get the alcohol out of the extract without destroying the vanilla itself, heating is just going to evaporate the vanilla with the alcohol. If you still have a problem with the alcohol your alternatives are to use artificial vanilla flavor (a poor substitute IMO) or real vanilla from vanilla pods. You can open a vanilla pod and scrape off a bit of the inside into a drink, then mix. One option would be to put some sugar and a whole vanilla pod into a food processor and whiz it all together, you could then add the vanilla sugar.

You could try vanilla paste as well if it's available in your area. It's more expensive than extract and doesn't mix as quickly, but it's less alcohol-y and has great flavor.


How to preserve custard apple? The shelf life of custard apple is very short and also it is very delicate. How can I keep it fresh for a longer time? Till now I have tried freezing it and also keeping it in a air tight box but they didn't work. Any better ideas?

In order to preserve your custard applies I would suggest canning them since you have already frezing it. It does lose it's freshness to an extent, however, the shelf life would last longer.

Canning is also a good method as is can use vacuum sealed packaging which restricts air into the packaging which is what causes micro-organism growth an multiplication.


How to crisp breaded foods the next day (especially panko) I breaded some fish today, and the other day, chicken. Unfortunately, I over-estimated, and fried a whole bunch that we didn't eat. If I nuke it (microwave it) the next day, it comes out soggy and limp.

Bummer.

How can I actually reheat this and regain some of the panko crisp? Baking seems to be the right answer, except that panko breading burns really, really fast (mine is already a dark-brown from cooking it on medium).

Reheating fried food is extremely challenging.

The least bad method is probably baking in a slow oven, about 250-300 F.  You want to reheat only enough to get the food warm enough to enjoy, but not so piping hot that it would trigger additional browning.

At these low temperatures, you should not get too much additional browning, although you will never have the ideal crispy texture that first-fried foods have.


Replacing red wine by vinegar to do a beef salami is it safe to replace wine by vinegar, rice vinegar or apple cider to do a homemade Salami?

Not all salami recipes call for wine. I would advise finding one that doesn't include wine, rather than trying to adapt one that does: modifications to cured meat recipes are risky and potentially unsafe. Although replacing wine with vinegar sounds intuitively safe (in that it lowers the pH), it might have the effect of messing up the initial bacterial culture you're looking for.

If you can find non-alcoholic wine (assuming the alcohol is what you're worried about), it should be fine to substitute that in. The alcohol level is quite low in the mixture as a whole, and doesn't serve any purpose.


What ingredients (available in specific regions) can I substitute for parsley? I have a recipe that calls for fresh parsley. I have substituted other fresh herbs for their dried equivalents but I don't have fresh or dried parsley. Is there something else (ex another dried herb) that I can use instead of parsley?

I know it is used mainly for looks rather than taste but I have a pasta recipe that calls for 2 tablespoons of parsley in the sauce and then another 2 tablespoons on top when it is done. I know the parsley on top is more for looks but there must be something about the taste otherwise it would call for parsley within the sauce as well.

I would especially like to hear about substitutes available in Southeast Asia and other parts of the world where the obvious answers (such as cilantro) are not widely available.

You might try Thai or European celery leaves as a substitute.


Chiffon gets stiff overnight I left a chiffon I baked on the counter, wrapped in tin foil. And after 5~6 hours it shrank and became stiff. I thought maybe it's too warm and dry in the room(25 C, humidity around 35
%) so I put the next one I baked in the fridge. It became stiff anyway. And the similar thing happens to all other cakes involving whipping egg white, but not to store-bought cakes. Is it natural for cakes to shrink so fast? And is there something I can add to the cake to prevent this? We can hardly finish an 8-inch cake in one day!

Check the protein content of your flour. Make sure it is not too high. Also, did you add too much sugar? Do not use confectionery sugar. And try using corn oil in your next attempt. Hope this helps.


What are the reasons for using an egg whisk to cook scrambled eggs? When cooking scrambled eggs in the frypan I use a spatula to gather the egg together. To me this doesn't damage the pan, and avoids the egg forming 'nodules'. It also saves the time-consuming hassle of cleaning cooked egg off the egg whisk, and possibly saves the hygiene risk of not properly cleaning all of the egg off the egg whisk.
Now I could be completely wrong or have missed something. I know of people who are strongly in favour of using an egg whisk to cook scrambled eggs.
My question is: What are the reasons for using an egg whisk to cook scrambled eggs?

I think, like several questions on this site about scrambled eggs, this comes down to ones preferred curd size. There are many different ways of making scrambled eggs: at one extreme one heats very slowly, stirring gently with a spatula, and getting very large curds. Some people say this gives a sloppy texture, others prefer the smooth mouth feel. At the other extreme, one heats quickly and whisks, breaking up the curds entirely, and giving a fluffy mousse like texture.


How does the baking time change if I scale up a cake recipe? I have recipes for chocolate cake, Maderia cake, lemon drizzle and champagne cake.

I want to increase the ingredients to make a bigger cake. Do I still use the same baking time and temperature?

The following rule of thumb comes from week 6 in a Harvard University physics course called "Science and Cooking". I took it as a MOOC in the website edx (https://www.edx.org/node/8086).

And the rule is: double the thickness, quadruple the time. If it takes a minute to cook the first outer 0.5cm of the cake, it will take four minutes to cook the first whole cm.

So if you double your cake's size, try to start with multiplying the time by four, without raising the temperature. If the change is smaller, then it might take some rough calculations. But that's the general rule.

Here's the video of the specific part of the lesson that regards discusses the matter: https://youtu.be/fqyVZ5Ifmio


Substituting Sugar with Caramel Syrup in Baked Cheesecake I want to cut out the sugar i use in my baked cheesecake and replace it with the caramel syrup i have.
the recipe is:

500 g cream cheese (~ 18 oz)
3 eggs
71.25 g butter
180 g sugar
18 g cornstarch

note that since me and my sister don't like the cheese cake too sweet we use about 95 g sugar instead (it is still too sweet for both of us).
how much caramel syrup should i use to substitute the sugar?
(I provide the nutrition facts picture below , though it is in german/french , which seems to contain 81 g sugar in a 100 g serving)

Cheesecakes are oddly forgiving in my experience. I'd considering using 100 g to replace the sugar and see what happens. If you're worried about the added liquid and fat, I'd leave out roughly half an egg (meaning you'd need to beat it separately before adding half of it.)

Having said that, my real recommendation would be to caramelize your own sugar. You can do so on the stove top and get it really dark if you're willing to crush it afterwards. (cook it in a pan until it's a nice mahogany color, then pour into a sheet pan lined with parchment or a silpat.) Or you can get lightly caramelized granulated sugar by placing it in a sheet tray in the oven at 300 degrees for several hours, stirring every 30 minutes, until it starts melting around the edges. At that point you'll need to stop.

I sat that's my real recommendation because you can do a real 1:1 replacement with table sugar.


How to judge the quality of pizza dough? What are some good guidelines for judging the consistency and texture of a good pizza dough? I would like to know so I could make some corrections before it's too late!

Maybe some people have some good rules of thumb or neat tricks to share?

I would be more interested in the thin base italian style. The thinner the better and the bigger the bubbles on the edge the better!

My targets for the final dough:

when I stretch it over my fist, once it has got to the size where it covers my whole fist, it starts to stretch under its own weight
if the inside of the dough is exposed it will stick to hands/surface
need to use semolina/cornmeal to transfer the pizza around
contains lots of visible bubbles before stretching, with the dough having enough integrity to stretch the bubbles without losing them.
can stretch it to be translucent without tearing too much (preferably without tearing at all)

What I look for at different by stages:

I have been making a lot of pizza dough over the last year, experimenting with different amounts of water and kneading techniques. In order to make a very thin base, (on you can stretch so it is translucent) but can still transfer into the oven I make a very wet (60% hydration) dough and either:

No-Knead approach: use small amounts of yeast and salt. Just leave the dough for approx 18 hours. Then put in the fridge, I find it is best after 2 days in the fridge. Because the dough is cold you can easily handle it, although you might need to let it warm up a bit before you can do anything with it.

What I am aiming for is that when I stretch it over my fist, once it has got to the size where it covers my whole fist, it starts to stretch under its own weight.

I expect to see a lot of bubbles, up to 0.5cm in diameter but most smaller, in the dough, but not to be able to pour it out. I will have to scrape it out of the bowl using a wet spatula. and will have to use a light dusting of flour (not too much) to stop it sticking to the surface or my hands. I sometimes let it rise again after shaping (need to at least let it relax for a few minutes) and usually have to add more flour to my hands to do the stretch. Try to use as little extra flour as you can. I usually have to only dust the dough once and lightly before stretching it. If you have to use any more it might be too wet or not have enough gluten development.
Hand Knead approach: using more yeast and salt. When I first turn the dough out to knead I do not expect to be able to handle it, it is to sticky and runny. I use tools to fold it a few times. You will probably need some flour to do this, but try not to use too much. After several folds the dough comes together enough for me to lightly cover it in flour I "roll knead" - which is rolling and stretching it, but not bringing the wet inside to the surface. If you start to fold or tear the dough it will stick to your hands and the surface, if that happens you have to put more flour on which will reduce the hydration of your dough so avoid it. You will have to work it for quite a while. Try to get your body weight applied to the dough as your roll it.

What I am aiming for is a dough which you can pick up without your fingers just going into it and that springs back when you deform it; but if you tear it or open it up the inside will immediately stick to your hands and the surface. When I get this I stop kneading.

I usually rise it for 80 mins but it depends on the temperature. After this rise, I will divide it and shape it into balls. I expect to not be able to easily rip the dough apart due to its wetness. It should contain quite a bit of air, and some largeish bubbles which I try not to knock back too much.

I have to use a wet spatula to divide it, and then use a small amount of flour on the outside to form a smooth surfaced ball. Then I cover it and rise it again for 20mins. The outside will be smooth with some bubbles visible and due to the flour dry enough to handle. The inside will be too wet to handle without adding more flour.

After this second rise I put a bit of flour on my hands and stretch it over my fist, it should behave pretty much the same as the no-knead version at this stage.


How to peel bell peppers effectively? We tried everything and there is no easy way to peel bell peppers without doing it with a very sharp knife. Peeled bell peppers are easier to digest (if you or someone in home suffers from Heartburn you should start peeling too :) )

Tried to freeze then dip into hot water, place in hot stove, and directly over a flame, hot oil works but then it gets cooked and soaked.

For those around world (like me), this is bell peppers.

Thanks for any help!

Put a flame to the peppers (either on the gas stove or a blowtorch). When it's black, it peels great. The meat will not be cooked.

Another way is to put it in the oven until done. When warm they peel great, but of course the meat will be done.

Edit: the method described here will be better, still.


A book about croissants/viennoiserie I am looking for a book which concentrates on croissants. I already have some recipes and other books which either present them or delve a little bit into them.

I am looking for a more deep literature about them, about techniques, about folds, about variations in proportions and variations of ingredients.

Does such a book exist?

I'm actually surprised that there is :

Celebrating Croissants: 40 Fabulous Fillings for National Croissant Day - Ideal for a Bistro Breakfast or Light Lunch

Your other option might be to go for a more generic one on French pastries:

Bake Like a French Pastry Chef: Delectable Cakes, Perfect Tarts, Flaky Croissants, and More

I'm not familiar with either of these, but the second one reads like a text book ... glossary of terms, explanation of ingredients, step by step instructions, and lots of pictures.  (although 'Look Inside' didn't take me to the puff pastry or croissant chapters, and Amazon didn't OCR the book, so text searching won't work).  The first one Amazon doesn't have a scan of, so I have no idea how much detail it might have in it.


Accidentally refrigerated Mayonnaise I did this at where I work.  I stock incoming orders for a restaurant and I was putting un-opened jars of mayonnaise in the refrigerator.  The chef did not see them in the dry food section and kept ordering more.  So we ended up with surplus of mayonnaise before the chef caught me in wrong-doing.

Was the mayonnaise ruined?  Is it O.K to just put it back in the dry food section?

There is no reason that they should be harmed in any way by their sojourn under refrigeration.  In fact, since the rate of chemical reactions is directly related to temperature, their shelf life may have been slightly extended.

You can move it to dry stores.

While there are some circumstances where very fresh mayonnaise should be kept at room temperature, that does not apply to the commercial product.


stove burner size vs efficiency I'm curious if there's a best choice for what burner to use (mostly for electric bill, but I'd be curious about any other unforeseen consequences), given that I have 2 options of burner sizes, and my pot of water is big enough for either one.

Of course if the pot is smaller than the burner, any "excess" burner size (any of the heating element touching air instead of the pot) results in waste (I would guess very close to 100%). But when the pot is large enough that the hearing element will reach out in both cases, that shouldn't be an issue.

This question and its answers note that the wattage of a small burner is lower, and it produces less heat. So to get a pot of water boiling (in a similar amount of time), I would set the smaller burner to a higher setting. Does that end up using the same amount of electricity?

I would cook on the largest burner available that is not too big for the pan or pot. The smaller the burner is the longer it will take to bring to temp and the more wasted energy you'll have from radiation from the pot and evaporation. I would also set the burner to its highest setting to bring to boil and then turn it down unless you are maintaining a boil in your recipe.


How to make tender oil cookies? I want to make some "Tortas de Algarrobo" cookies like the ones they make in my grandmother's village. The ones I like are tender but the ones I make are crunchy. How should I modify the ingredients or preparation to get a tender cookie? No eggs please.

The ingredients are: wheat flour, sugar, extra virgin olive oil (24%), aniseed, cinnamon, almonds and yeast.

Each cookie has one almond on top.

The nutritional facts are. For each 100g:

433 kcal
22.6g fat
57.1g carbohidrates
24.1g sugar
0.65g salt
4.8g protein

The ones I make are crunchy and they are based on this recipe:

60 gr of baker's yeast
1 kg of wheat flour
500 gr of sugar
1/2 liter of olive oil
2 tablespoons of aniseeds
1 glass of hard liquor
Whole roasted almonds
Mineral water

Preparation Mode

Slip the yeast into a little warm water and add it to the flour, along with the sugar.
In a pan, heat a little oil. When it smokes remove it from the fire and add the aniseed, stirring a bit so that it is evenly roasted. Pour it also on the flour.
Go slowly incorporating the rest of the ingredients, while you knead, except the almonds. Add a little water if you see that the dough is too compact.
Let rest at least 24 hours in the refrigerator and form cookies of about 100 gr each. Give them round shape and not too thin.
Bake for about ten minutes at 180 ºC, making sure they don't burn. Let cool in a rack.

The secret of Algarrobo
This is an approximation of the recipe of the famous "Tortas de Algarrobo", as the genuine and original formula is a secret jealously guarded by the grandmothers and confectioners of the town.

From the book "La cocina de La Axarquía y sus fiestas" Pablo Castro.

Your yeast is not happy.  Maybe it is the liquor.

I think a dough that calls for yeast should rise.  Because otherwise, why the yeast and the resting?  Dough that has risen will be tender.  Dough that has not risen could be crunchy.  Of course always proof your yeast - see if it bubbles in some warm water and sugar.  If it bubbles it is alive.  Dead yeast does nothing.

But I am suspicious of the glass of hard liquor added to the dough before rising.  I have heard of vodka pie crust (which does not rise) and I have heard of beer bread but never spirits in dough. Ethanol suppresses yeast because it is a waste product of yeast.

Try your recipe without the hard liquor.  Or if you really like the flavor of the liquor, cook it a little in a saucepan to drive off the ethanol before adding it.  The ethanol will all be gone after baking anyway.  I suspect your yeast will be happier without the ethanol.  Your dough will rise and you will have tender cookies.


Do quiet induction burners exist? I've owned and used a variety of counter top induction burners, ranging from 1200-1800 watts, including popular, well reviewed brands.
Between the electronic whines and the fans, they were all extremely loud; amongst the loudest items in my home kitchen, and annoying enough that I don't use induction as much as I'd prefer to.
Do any quiet induction burners actually exist?

Quieter, yes.  Quiet, no.
This was based on my recent research where I tested out 8 different portable induction burners, did a lot of reading, and ultimately decided not to buy one.
Induction burners make noise for two main reasons:

They work via a spinning electromagnetic field, which causes both the burner and the vessel to vibrate microscopically, creating a loud hum.
They have an internal fan to keep the electronics cool while the burner is on.  This is often the louder source of noise.

Higher-end induction burners produce less noise by having a heavier case (reducing vibration), and by having a better cooling fan. However, having tried some of these fairly expensive commercial burners, like a Waring and a Vollrath, I'd say they are quieter but not exactly something you'd use in a room with a sleeping baby.
Built-in burners can reduce noise further simply by having sound insulation built into the cooktop, and many do.


Would toasting a croissant make it catch fire Would toasting a croissant safe/ by accident with a person no paying attention would the croissant catch fire or would it just burn?

It's not uncommon for them to catch fire in the conveyor belt toasters common in hotel breakfast buffets. This is because they toast faster than bread, and the process is self-accelerating: the dark (hottest) bits absorb more heat, meaning that they then get very hot, which can ignite the fat, of which there is much more than in bread.

It doesn't help that in those toasters, there's no instant way to stop the process - the element takes a while to cool down after power is removed, and you can't easily extract the scorched bread in time. That's why there are often stern warnings about using them to heat croissants, even though it's perfectly possible to do so with care.

At home, with familiar equipment and your undivided attention, it shouldn't be much trouble, though warming gives a nicer result.


My mom says to knead bread doutgh after rising My mom's bread making bread process is to let the dough rise before kneading. She mixes well, then lets the dough rise, about one hour.  After that, she kneaded it briefly. Then immediately formed into roll shapes and placed into the oiled pan. Then she had a shorter rising time, about 30 minutes. Her bread is always wonderful and light.  Please explain why you say to knead before rising, and my mom always rises the dough before kneading. Thank you.

It isn't "rising". It's autolysing. What she's doing, knowingly or not, is letting the flour absorb all the added moisture which will let the dough stretch and trap expelled gas from the yeast. If one just starts kneading without autolysing, it's just stickier and messier until this happens sometime during the kneading process.

An hour is the longest I would let that happen and you can probably speed things up by kneading after 30 minutes or so. Check it by grabbing the dough and pulling. If it stretches without breaking, it's ready to go.


Why are drippings from restaraunt ground beef colored orange? I've noticed over the years that whenever I cook ground beef from the grocery store, the drippings in the beef are typically clear in color.

When eating out, if I order a particularly greasy ground beef item, the drippings are typically orange in color.

What accounts for this difference in appearance?

This should depend greatly on what the item is.  Hamburgers generally run clear, possibly slightly bloody if undercooked.  The only example of this I can think of would be the odd orange drippings from "taco meat".  The cause of that is soluble coloring agents or spices in the drippings.


How can I quickly save an unflavorful curry? I prepared an Indian curry last night for this evening's meal.  The dish I made is based upon a lamb curry recipe, replacing the lamb with pieces of aubergine.  The main ingredients are aubergines (eggplant), yoghurt, ginger, turmeric, cumin and chilli.  Note that when I was adding in the aubergines, I was not paying close attention to the original recipe's quantities.

After cooking it, I gave the dish a taste test, and the flavor is rather bland. I think the problem may be having too low a ration of spices to aubergines.
 Tonight, I will not have much time to fix the curry's flavor before dinnertime.  Does anyone know what the best way would be to quickly add more flavor into this pre-made curry?  Is it as simple as adding some raw ginger and spices, or is there a better approach?

Indian curry traditionally has - in addition to the ginger, turmeric, cumin and chili (I assume you mean chili powder) that you used - a generous amount of garam masala, coriander powder, and garlic.

Sometimes you'll see "curry powder" used in recipes instead of garam masala; they are similar but not exactly the same.

Either one of these would be fine, and arguably the most important missing ingredient here. I'm not even sure you could legitimately call it a curry without one of the above.

Depending on your spice tolerance, you might need to add more chili powder as well.

Note that most spices in a curry will need to be heated before they'll really release their aromas (and therefore flavour), so you can't just add them cold, and I definitely don't think you'd want the taste of raw garlic/ginger in your curry, even if it is presently tasteless. Give it a good simmer after adding some garlic (powder is fine) and garam masala or curry powder and you might be able to salvage it.

Or you could try heating the new spices dry, for a very short time, to give them a bit of a head start aroma-wise; just be very careful not to burn them.


Skillet rust (?) and next steps with regard to seasoning Yesterday, I got a cast-iron skillet, and the first thing I did was try to season it. I washed it vigorously with soap and water, then rinsed it for several minutes.

After drying it with a paper towel, I put it on the stove and started up flame on the medium setting. Then I took a brush, which I used to cover the entire (hot) cookware surface with oil. By this time, my oven had been preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and I put the skillet in for 30 minutes.

After taking it out and letting it cool, I found that the patina looked terribly sticky, and I could still see and feel the coarse original cast-iron finish.
A bit of research revealed that this is because (i) because I used too much oil and (ii) because olive oil isn't good for seasoning. Oh well. I washed it out (soap and water), dried it, and placed it on medium heat for 10 minutes so that it wouldn't rust. I turned the heat off after 10 minutes, and went to bed to try it again with canola oil today.

To my shock, I found the following on my skillet (two pictures of the same skillet). Look at the edges of the dark spots to see what I mean:

Is this rust? Or is it some strange transition material between the seasoning patina and the cast-iron? How did this get there, and what can I do about this (in the present to fix and in the future to prevent)?

Additional questions (I'm a beginner, so I have a few):

Do I need to remove what looks like a partial olive oil seasoning layer from the skillet?
What oil should I use for the new seasoning? At what temperature should I heat it?
Should my skillet be room temperature when I apply the oil?
Should my skillet be in the oven when the oven is preheating?
Does heating the skillet after washing and applying a bit of oil to it before storage promote rancidity?

The marks look like bare iron, as though the seasoning has actually been fully removed there. How hard did you scrub?

I use vegetable oil and use only about a teaspoon for the inside cooking surface and sides. Another teaspoon for the outside and underside and handle. You really don't want too much oil or it will become sticky because it hasn't broken down fully, which is probably what happened with your first attempt. I imagine your skillet was already pre-seasoned anyway.

To fix it, heat the pan on the cooker for a bit, then reapply the oil in a thin layer with a piece of kitchen towel, and use another clean kitchen towel to wipe away any excess. The pan should be hot but not searing, the heat apparently helps open the pores of the metal. The surface shouldn't look wet or have wet spots. It should have a sheen to it.

Put it in the oven, upside down, on the maximum temperate (around 240c or 450f) for an hour or longer. When you pull it out, it should be seasoned nicely. The surface won't have a sheen anymore, and it shouldn't be sticky to the touch once it's cool.

You can repeat the process a few times if you think it needs it.


How does soaking liver in milk work? Soaking liver in milk is said to be a common technique that supposedly helps to remove impurities, softens flavour, and tenderises the liver.

I tried it, and the liver turned out alright, but it got me wondering: how does this work? What's the chemistry behind it? Exactly what's happening between the milk and the liver?

Is it the acid in the milk tenderising the liver? That would mean I could soak liver in a marinade based on lemon juice or vinegar? (It doesn't seem like a terrific idea)

Or is there something else involved? I searched around, but nothing I found seemed terribly exact.

My knowledge about the phenomenon itself is limited but I did see it mentioned in "Modernist Cuisine" (Nathan Myhrvold, p. 147)

  Many recipes for foie gras, liver, sweetbreads, and other offal include a soaking step before cooking. For kidneys,
  this step serves a very simple purpose: to remove any trace of the animal's bodily fluids. Recipes often call for
  soaking foie gras, liver, and sweetbreads in milk. It is often said that milk improves the taste, purges blood, lightens
  the color, or affects some other property of the meat. We were skeptical, so we tried several experiments. With
  a mild-flavored organ meat like foie gras, we could taste a difference, but, frankly, in our tests, we prefer the taste
  of water-soaked to milk-soaked foie gras. With stronger-flavored organ meats, there is even less of a difference than
  with foie gras. So our suggestion is to simply soak the meat in water.

So, there you have it.


What is the term used for this type of biscuit What name is given to the type of cookie that has no icing?
Wanted the correct term to find on the internet the type of cookie that receives a mark like the figure:

You would be looking for a sugar cookie recipe to use with a stamp like that. Sugar cookies tend to hold their shape through a bake, so the imprint will still be clearly visible afterwards.


Oops left baby back ribs on warm instead of low for 7 hrs Would the meat still be ok to eat if I cooked it on low for another 8 hrs after being on warm for 7 hrs?

You have essentially incubated the food for 7 hours, positively encouraging growth from any existing fauna or pathogens.   You should definitely discard.


Can I cook lentils in a rice cooker? Can I cook lentils in a rice cooker? Would I need to adjust my lentils/water ratio?

Almost certainly: lots of recipes online.

I'd go with the 'porridge' or 'brown rice setting' if your cooker has it.
Concensus on water ratio seems to be about same as for rice.

Here's a question which lists More things you can cook in a rice cooker.

With a quality cooker, you can also make baked beans and tasty onion soup.


Can I make milk hot chocolate out of dark chocolate and sugar? Would it taste the same if I made a hot chocolate out of couverture milk chocolate + milk and a hot chocolate made out of couverture dark chocolate + more milk + more sugar?

Your premise appears to be that the difference between milk chocolate and dark chocolate is merely milk and sugar content, such that if one blends all three together, in any order or manner, the results would be 'the same' (or at least, taste the same). This is not the case. Not only would the ultimate ratios of cocoa-sugar-milk end up being 'off' dark chocolate contains ingredients that are not used in milk chocolate, lecithin (from soy or milk) to emulsify the chocolate liquer and sweetener in order to create a smooth product. This is a different process than simply melting solid chocolate into milk.

While you could ultimately end up with two similar products they would not taste 'the same'...at least to a discerning palate.

For some additional information see: What is the difference between Milk Chocolate and Dark Chocolate?  and Milk vs. Dark vs. Semi-sweet vs. Bitter-sweet chocolate?


Truly long spaghetti Something I recall from my childhood, but which I last recall seeing about 45 years ago, is long boxes (about 2 feet long, 5" x 5" in square cross section) of spaghetti pasta with very long noodles inside, each bent in the middle making each piece of uncooked pasta about 4 feet long.  Two of the brands I recall (of which I may be in error) were Salerno and Aligheri.  Recently I have been searching the web to try to find this, but cannot even find a reference.  Does anyone remember this, and does anyone know if this is still available?  If I recall correctly, the boxes also had the infamous "pasta number" on them, either "5" or "8", depending on the box.

I imagine you are thinking of spaghetti curvati (o spaghetti con curva, that is, spaghetti with a bend).

It is a pasta format typical of Southern Italy.

Some brands refer to those as spaghetti lunghi (long spaghetti).

I am not aware of a specific name for them, although I am fairly sure there are names in various Italian dialects.


Why do fry cooks use water to cook burgers? I'm sitting at a diner and I'm curious if there is a reason as to why the fry cook cooked my burger the way he did.

The process is different from the one I'd use at home. The cook put the burger on the flat top, the covered it with a metal domed item that looks like a cloche, the cook used a squirt bottle of water to squirt water onto the flat top and covered the burger and the now-steaming water. I've seen this done to quicker melting cheese onto the tops of burgers, but it's never something I've done at home.

Why is this the process that seemingly every diner cooks with? Why is it not commonly done at home or am I wrong, and it is?

I often use this technique at home to cook proteins.  It shortens cooking time by using steam as a heat transfer medium to cook the top of the item at the same time as the bottom.

You can also use this method on frittatas, dumplings, etc.

You can also use flavored liquids to impart flavor as well.  I particularly like hard cider with chicken and pork.


What does it mean that a pan is "anti jamming"? Lots of shops call their food pans "anti-jamming", but I have not been able to find out what that means.

I don't think it's related to radio communication or making fruit jam :)

Here is an example:

These pans (sometimes called chafing dishes) are designed to fit into a frame above water and a heat source to keep food hot. They are advertising that their pans won't get stuck (jam) in the frame.

As evidence, see this video (and this), which shows how even after pressure is applied the pan does not require effort to remove from the frame. (I found the video here, on a tradeKorea page advertising a similar pan, and it was produced by an account called 'ChefPro'.)


How can I keep meringue pie-topping from falling? Nothin' better on a hot summer afternoon than a slice of cold pie... And nothin' says "summer" like a great big fluffy meringue topping over that slab of rhubarb/lemon/banana custard.

Unfortunately, mine haven't been turning out that way. They bake up nicely, but fall within a half hour of baking.

I whip egg whites mixed with 1/8 tsp cream of tartar (per egg) until they reach soft peaks, then mix in 1 tablespoon of sugar (per egg) while continuing to beat until it gets stiff - then spread over the hot pie filling and bake for 10-15 minutes at 400F. Topping doubles in size, then falls as it cools, ending somewhat less impressive than it started.

Any suggestions?

Ironically, it could be precisely because you're trying to enjoy the meringue on a hot day that is causing it to deflate so quickly. Meringue are extremely sensitive to moisture, and a humid day can wreck your meringue's volume. It's best to make meringue on a dry day.

However, there are a few things you can do to achieve better stability:

Use fresher eggs.
Fats are the enemy. Make sure you have zero egg yolk in the mixture. Also, avoid hand contact, as your oils can rub off.
Make sure the sugar is fully dissolved, because otherwise it attracts moisture.

Good luck!


Dry chicken breast in slow cooker I like to use the slow cooker during the week. I usually leave at about 6am, and don't sit down and eat until around 6pm. I have a crock pot with a timer mechanism that automatically turns to warm after the specified cooking time elapses. The last recipe I made with chicken breast (i think it was some type of pineapple chicken) had a recommended cook time of 6 to 8 hours on low. I think I chose to cook it for 7 hours. Honestly, this is the first time I dried out chicken. It was so bad I ended up throwing it out.

The dish had plenty of liquid (actually probably a little to much), and I added some butter. Do you think my dry chicken problem was linked to the length of time I cooked the chicken, or the amount of time the dish sat in the crockpot at the warm setting? Ever since then, I've been avoiding recipes with chicken breast, which are a favorite.

So do I need to avoid recipes crockpot recipes with chicken?

A very common technique for maintaining moisture in meat is to dry brine it. That is, shake salt on both sides of the raw breast to the same degree you would to serve it. Wrap and let it rest for at least an hour. I like to add the salt the day before. Before cooking you can add other rubs or seasoning but be careful with store bought seasoning that is normally high in salt. Search on dry brining and you will find a lot of info.


Common ingredient to thicken the soup Yesterday, I had some cooked rice and poured in coconut milk. The can turned out to be bigger than expected so the contents got a bit too "loose".

One way was to cook some more rice, of course. However, I wonder, is there another commonly usable ingredient to thicken up things?

I'm thinking - if it's too thick, I'd pour in some water or milk. Possibly oil too. But what if I want to accomplish the opposite?

There are lots of potential thickeners, but you often need to select the one that works best with your given need (temperature, if it has dairy, resulting mouthfeel, etc).

In your case, you're already using rice, so you may want to stick with a starch -- corn starch, potato starch, tapioca, etc.  For these, you add a bit to cold liquid, mix it well, add it to the soup and heat it up.  As it approaches boiling, it'll thicken.

You can use flour (wheat, rice, yam, etc.), but in the case of wheat flour and possibly the others, you may have to deal with a raw taste.  You fix this by cooking the flour with butter or oil into a roux, and then adding that, and heating it up to a near boil.

You can also use pureed vegetables.  Cook them in the soup, then put it through a blender so the vegetables add body to the soup.


Cheesecake- adding cream Would it make a difference in my cheesecake if I used liquid heavy whipping cream instead of heavy cream? ( Husbandbought the wrong thing)

Heavy cream and heavy whipping cream are almost the same thing.  The only difference is the amount of fat they contain.  Heavy cream contains about 36% fat, while whipping cream contains only about 30%.  (That means that heavy cream actually produces better, thicker whipped cream!)

Since this is going into a cheesecake, I think that this will be an acceptable substitution.  The amount of cream included in cheesecake recipes is usually quite small, and used primarily for thinning the mixture.  Cheesecake is already high in fat, so the addition of a little more is unlikely to matter, especially in such a small quantity.  I would not expect any difference in flavor or texture in the finished cake.


Are English scones savoury? I know that scones are often seen as an unhealthy snack, but many English recipes don't actually include that much sugar and English scones contain much less sugar than American scones (why do Americans put sugar in everything?), so it got me wondering whether English scones were classed as savoury or sweet. They are often seen as sweet, but don't usually taste as sweet and are usually served with clotted cream and jam to make them sweeter.

Are plain English scones savoury, or are they sweet due to their sugar content?

They are both sweet and savoury.

You can use the same recipe & put clotted cream & jam on them, or butter [salted, of course], or slices of cheese, ham, anything you like… even Marmite.

This is what you get searching the BBC [good old Auntie Beeb, can't get more stiff-upper-lip British ;) - BBC Good Food - Savoury scone recipes  Because I specifically searched 'savoury' these tend to not include sugar - but there's no reason at all that they can't.

There's a particular tang to those foods which fall perfectly between the two stools… pancakes & crêpes are the obvious ones. There are British biscuits [cookies] that embody this sweet/salt dichotomy, even though they are in themselves considered 'sweet'. I'm thinking of the traditional Scottish shortbread & the modern pretender, the Hob Nob. Heck, over here we even put cheese on xmas cake ;)
This sweet/salt is not the same as sweet & sour, but a similar effect, I guess.


Can I substitute Ener-G Egg Replacer with Orgran No Egg? I'm interested in hearing any success (or woeful failure) stories on the behavioural differences between these two products. I've only found Orgran No Egg available for sale in my city, so my fingers are crossed.

In particular, I am curious to pursue this macaron recipe.

Unfortunately I don't quite have the budget to justify learning this by trial and error! Any input is greatly appreciated.

Based on their ingredients they should be pretty similar (Orgran: Potato starch, Tapioca flour, Calcium carbonate, Citric acid, vegetable gum (stabiliser): Methylcellulose vs. Ener-G: Potato Starch, tapioca starch flour, leavening (calcium lactate, calcium carbonate, citric acid), sodium carboxymethylcellulose, methylcellulose).

Do you have any bulk food co-ops / health stores in your area? Sometimes they sell Ener-G or similar products in bulk, that way you can just buy the few tablespoons that you need and try it out before investing in the whole box.


Vermouth for use in Drinks - can I freeze it? I have a well stocked bar at home so from time to time I mix some drinks.
Many popular drinks list Vermouth (e.g. Noilly Prat) as an ingredient. Basically, Vermouth can be compared to a special kind of wine as it also produced from wine.
This is where the trouble starts: As soon as you open a bottle Vermouth for the first time, you have to store it in a fridge and after 2-3 weeks have to throw the bottle away because you can't use it anymore. So to really empty the bottle, you have to drink a lot.

This is a common problem for many people and there are many ideas for solutions (spraying some protective gas into the bottle, filling many smaller bottles, sucking the air out of the bottle, writing to companies and asking for miniature bottles...) but none of them really works.
Now I just had another idea: Can I just fill an ice cube form with Vermouth and put it in the freezer and then just take out the amount I need? Or will it loose it's flavor due to the freezing process?

Water freezes at 0° C (or 32° F), but ethanol freezes at -114° C, so you can guess your vermouth with freeze somewhere in between those two temperatures.

Noilly Prat is 18% ABV, or 15% alcohol by weight, which means it would freeze at around -6° C to -7° C, or 19-21° F. Your freezer may or may not be tuned to be that cold, but if not, you should be able to crank it a bit and get your Noilly Prat just frozen.

That said, I would not really recommend leaving an ice cube tray full of vermouth hanging out in your freezer. You may notice that old ice tastes funny. Even though you may not notice your freezer smelling, that's partly because the cold blocks smells. Just because you don't notice them doesn't mean the odors aren't there to ruin your Noilly Prat. I would recommend leaving them for a day until just frozen (covered if you like), and then moving them to a Ziploc for long term storage.

All that said, freezing will not halt oxidation altogether, but it will help, as only the exposed surfaces areas should be able to be oxidized. Since ice cubes by design have a relatively high surface area, you may consider minimizing the exposure to oxygen by other means.

If you have a vacuum sealer, using that would be a fairly simple means to limit that exposure, but a similar effect can be done with a simple Ziploc bag, as described here (note this link is focused on using this technique for cooking, but it is translatable to your scenario). Drop your ice cubes in a bag, and then slowly lower the bag into a container of cold water (the colder the better, here, to minimize melting), leaving the seal exposed. I sometimes clip things onto the bag to weigh it down as well. Then begin closing the seal, and lower the bag further into the water as you continue sealing, so that only the unsealed portion is exposed. Finally complete the seal and you should have a reasonably low-oxygen environment to mitigate further degradation of your vermouth.


What makes steel-cut oats different? I've seen several people insist that steel-cut oats are better than regular oats. What makes them different?

They're coarser, so they have a better texture when cooked. Rolled oats are mushy and bland, even if you get the non-instant variety. Groats are a pain in the butt to cook: like millet, they take forever.

Steel cut oats are a nice compromise (technically steel cut groats). Get some yummy groaty flavor, but the prep time is much lower (a mere half hour, instead of a week or two for whole groats).


What can I use in place of allspice? I have a recipe for Dutch apple raisin cake that calls for a half teaspoon of allspice, which I don't have.  Would ground cloves or nutmeg or a combo of both work? I know that allspice is a spice unto itself.

The closest thing is to combine equal parts of ground cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and black pepper.


Tips for cooking pasta twice I would like to cook pasta twice, with a cooling phase before the second cooking. Unfortunately, I’ve found that reheating pasta isn’t easy: I would like to keep it al dente and prevent tangling/sticking. It is also important to heat it all the way through both times, and to cool it down completely in between.

So far I’ve tried simply cooking the pasta again, for a short time. But unsurprisingly it becomes soggy. It also became bland (I didn’t add salt the second time). Is there a better way?

(For what it’s worth, this is for store-bought, dried pasta; I rarely have the time to make fresh pasta, and I wouldn’t want to ruin it by cooking it twice.)

If anybody is wondering why cook it twice, it’s a matter of nutrition.

In college, I would oil the pasta lightly after cooking (so it didn't turn into a giant lump), then would steam it 'til it was warm, and add it to hot sauce.  I was typically working with linguini or other strand pasta.  I'd start it in the steamer for a bit, then turn the mass over.  As it softened up, I'd lift it with a fork or tongs to re-distribute it, and try to break up any lumps.

These days, I'm more likely to use a microwave than steaming.

You can also portion it out into oven-safe containers w/ some sauce, maybe a cheese or breadcrumb topping, and reheat it in the oven.  This works well for any size/shape of pasta (although I admit I've never tried angel hair or similar size, as I hate cooking them).  Reheat covered at 300 to 350F, then once the middle is warm, uncover and brown under the broiler


Should pizza be firm enough to be held by the crust? I've been to 4 restaurants already (with good reviews) and they all serve similar pizzas - they have to be eaten with fork and knife or else they will bend (because one simply can't hold them with a hand) and their contents will most likely fall off.Even cutting them with a knife completely disintegrates the pizza so in the end it turns into a weird salad of dough, tomato sauce, cheese etc.Is this what pizzas are really supposed to be like?

Speaking as an Italian, both Neapolitan-style pizza (thicker crust on the border) and rest-of-ITaly-style pizza will have a thin center that will normally bend when cut or held; the more so if there are lots of toppings. It shouldn't really disintegrate, that may be an indication of a bad knife, too.

Normally bending dough isn't a problem because you can fold the slice:


how to have fresh steamed bluecrabs in the late afternoon that I buy live in the morning I have a pretty awesome live blue crab hookup, but I can only get crabs there super early in the morning. I want to have a crab feast this coming weekend, but wont be able to have company over until late afternoon / early evening. I have heard they bluecrabs can live a long time out of water if you keep them in a cool humid spot, but i dont want to waste any of them. What are my options for having the best crabs when am able to have company over?

I assume my options are as follows, but I am not sure what I should do:

1.) Steam them in the morning and resteam them for a short period of time to heat them back up for the party. Tips for resteaming or reheating steamed crabs would be helpful. I had always considered that kind of a no no.

2.) Try and keep them alive, to be as fresh as possible. I am just worried that there would be too long of a gap between when i buy them, and when i will be able to cook them.

I think it's a fine question.  If I were in your position, I'd definitely go for option 2 - I think pre-cooked and re-steamed crab would end up a lot like oversteamed crab: mushy and gross.

As for keeping them alive, when I was a kid we used to go crabbing every weekend. Mom would just keep them in a cardboard box in the kitchen until we were ready to eat them for dinner (much to my dad's dismay).

According to Bluecrab.info:

  Crabs can live for several days out of water as long as they are healthy and are kept cool, moist, and stress-free. The optimal temperature is about 50° F., anything colder will ultimately kill them.

If I remember correctly, mom would keep a damp towel on top of the box.  But that may have been dad not wanting to look at them.


Extremely hard layer after cooking the burger on the grill It was the first time I tried making burgers at home. I did some research on the subject. I just put salt and pepper into the ground beef.

Then I heated the iron grill well and applied a small amount of olive oil on the hamburger patties and baked each side for 7 minutes.

I share the photos of hamburger meatballs before and after cooking.

What do you think is causing this situation?

1- Minced meat is too fat?
2- Cooking time?
3- To put olive oil on it before cooking?
4- Iron Grill?

I will be grateful if you could help me. I don't want my next attempt to end like this.

Thank you.

You did everything right except you overcooked your burgers. Those are relatively thin patties, they won't take 7 minutes a side on high heat, that is what caused that hard crust. I'd be cooking them 3 minutes a side at most.

A small thing but I'd suggest you replace olive oil with corn, sunflower or another high temperature oil. Olive oil will smoke at a high temperature and add off flavors. This had nothing to do with your thick crust.


How do you get a dry surface on gummie candies? I made this recipe for sour gummies:

Gummies

2 C / 473ml fruit juice (I used apple)
2.5 C / 600ml water, divided
4.5 tsp citric acid
6.6 oz / 187g gelatin
22.4 oz / 625g sugar

Coating

6 T sugar
3.5 tsp citric acid

[I'm skipping the actual cooking of the candy, which is not relevant
to my question, and going straight to the final step.]
Toss the pieces in the sugar-citric acid mixture and place on the
cooling rack.
Let the coated candies dry for 8 hours on the cooling rack until the
coating is hard and crunchy.

The coating did not in fact become hard and crunchy: it became slimy and sticky. The only remedy I could think of was to toss the candies in corn starch. That worked (the candies aren't crunchy, but they're also not slimy, which is what really matters), but I'm wondering whether I should have done something differently the first time around. Is there a better way to make gummies with a dry surface (that's practical for a home cook)?

Looks like I was on the right track with the corn starch: the secret seems to be two coatings (powdered sugar + cornstarch, then granulated sugar + citric acid). Details here.


How long does breakdown of collagen etc. take for sirloin cooked sous vide? I want to cook a sirloin steak cut (2cm thick?) sous vide.
Based on my preference for medium-rare and some prior experiences with beef at 60 C, I will put it at 55 C.

How long would it need to break down collagen? Will it ever break down? The reason I am asking is that I see higher temperatures referred when collagen breakdown is discussed.

Sirloin steak doesn't have a huge amount of collegen, which is why it's traditionally cooked over high heat for as short a period of time as possible. If I were you I'd be more worried about the meat become unpleasantly mushy if left in the bath for too long. I would just use the Douglas Baldwin tables for bringing the meat up to the required temperature:

Heating Time from 41°F (5°C) to 1°F (0.5°C) Less Than the Water Bath’s Temperature

Thickness   Slab-like   Cylinder-like   Sphere-like
  15 mm       35 min       18 min          13 min
  20 mm       50 min       30 min          20 min
  25 mm       1¼ hr        40 min          25 min


What differences, practical and aesthetic, are there between egg washes? An egg wash can be done in six major variations: [with | out egg white] mixed with [water | milk | cream].

My first hit when searching 'egg wash ratio' My Persian Kitchen where the use was for pastries. He advocated a ratio of 1 egg : 1-1.5 tbsp water for the purpose of browning.

He also mentioned the variations above. In my case I will be baking and frying (browning top of loaf in oven, then washing and flouring before frying), however use cases are not restricted to just those two.

What are the principal differences between washes, and what practical import do the six main ones have?

What chemical causes underpin these differences? (e.g. "...the higher ratio of protein to blah, blah...", "water promotes browning more than...")
What interactions do these chemical causes have between use on meat, vegetable, pastry, and bread?

Are there any other special washes/ratios for more particular uses? (i.e. egg white only, egg:vinegar,bourbon,etc)

Good question @mfg.  I hope I can help a little bit.  The basics behind the egg wash are to provide for a couple different thing.  These being shine, crispness, and color.

Shine
The shine is primarily provided by the egg yolk. The higher concentration of yolk the more shine.

Crispness
This come from the egg whites.  The whites make things a little crispy and sometimes can crackle a little bit (mainly when usually by themselves).

Color
This comes from the fat and protein.  Leaving the yoke in along with the shine will add color.  You can add water to lighten the color a bit.  I find that using the white also dilutes the color a bit but not as much (but the white also makes it crisp).  Add cream or milk to get it a little bit darker.

Salt
I often find people adding salt to an egg wash.  I does provide some flavor to the crust, but I have noticed that for some reason (when using a whole egg) it does allow it to get a little darker than it would normally.

Sugar
Like salt it adds flavor (sweetness) to the crust.  And it will also add some color.  Especially if baking at a higher temp and using a raw or brown type sugar.

Alcohol
I have seen the use of alcohol quite a number of times.  From the results I have seen it behaves like water.  Although not the the same degree.  My guess is that it has to do with how fast the alcohol evaporates.  As far as flavor, I can't say that it added much at the levels used.  I did once definitely get a hint of a bourbon being used in the wash on a pretty plain white loaf.  But they did mix in quite a good amount of bourbon to just an egg yolk.

That is all I have really used myself or seen.  I am sure that you can use other liquids although I don't know what vinegar would do.  Just keep in mind if they are high in fat, protein, or sugar they will add color.  Otherwise they will lighten the color.

I have also seen melted butter just used as a wash.  It adds a nice color and buttery flavor.  I haven't seen it added to egg wash but I would assume you could add to egg yolk to get a shine and probably darker color than cream/milk.

Another important thing to remember is to beat your wash well when using for a bread coating.  Unlike if your just using the was was to seal say a ravioli.  If your egg was is spotty not one nice fully incorporated mixture your crust can also be spotty.


Can putting frozen food in a hot ceramic pan cause a thermal shock? Can putting frozen food in a preheated ceramic coated non-stick pan cause a thermal shock and ruin the pan?

I'm gonna risk getting chastised and answer from first principles, rather than any referenced sources!
The pan will not be affected at all from this.  A home freezer will chill foods down to around -20C, a refrigerator to around 5C and the stovetop can heat your pan up to around 350C.  Putting food from the fridge into your preheated pan (its most common use-case) could expose the pan to a mass 345C cooler than it, from the freezer 370C.  The temperature differential between the two cases is really not that different (~10%) and well within the ability of any pan to withstand.  If it were possible to damage a pan with such a small variation from its most common use case, it would also be just as likely that a more efficient/higher temperature stovetop would also damage it.
In short, the only pan that would be damaged by this would be a pan that was not fit for purpose.


How to mix ingredients in bread machine? Following the catalog instruction I simply put ingredients into bread machine. However, when I got the dough, it contained particles of yeast.

Then, I decided to dissolve the yeast into water (as an ingredient) before adding to the mixture in bread machine. In this method, I found that the dough rises less.

What is the best way to mix ingredients for bread machine recipe? Is it helpful or harmful if briefly mixing the ingredient to be sure about dough consistency or it is better to leave everything for the bread machine?

Some (many) bread machines don't mix well, so you might not get a good mixture whatever you do. But it's worth trying.

If you are making the bread immediately after adding the ingredients, it probably doesn't matter much how you add the ingredients; just put the yeast and the sugar and such in the centre.

If you use the timer, it is important that the yeast stay dry up until the moment the machine starts mixing. What gave me the best result is this:

add water, sugar, salt, egg, fat;
mix this by moving the pan around until the ingredients are mostly dissolved (or stir with a wooden implement);
then put all the flour in a heap in the middle of the pan;
make a hollow in the centre of this heap, put the yeast in this hollow;
then set the timer.

Another tip: if you put the pan on a kitchen scale while adding ingredients, and you press "tare" on the scale after each ingredient, it's much easier to weigh everything. This only applies if you use ingredients by weight, of course.

Lastly, experimenting with amounts that differ from the recipe may greatly improve your bread. It depends on the machine. I also found that the "French" setting on the machine (= longer baking) gave the best crust.


Why does fat make chapati/parathas/pooris remain soft? I want chapati and parathas (same dough is used for both) to remain very soft for a long time. I originally asked in the comments here: Why doesn't my whole wheat dough pass the Poke Test?

and SAJ14SAJ said:

  Gluten development (or lack of it) is not going to help with that. That is a factor of staling, and flat breads are going to stale quickly, especially if they are lean and not enriched (not loaded with fat, sugar, and so on).

So, why does fat help keep the chapatis soft? And how do you calculate the amount of fat to be included in the dough to achieve soft chappatis?

The "moistness" of the bread - the soft texture - is actually from oils and fats as well as water - grain has some of these naturally, especially whole grain. Adding in extra fat, such as butter, shortening or cooking oil, makes the baked good seem extra moist and soft - here is a good overview of baking, and the role of various ingredients in dough. Fats are a tenderizer when added to a dough - it makes the baked good softer, which we associate with "moist."

Fats and oils also evaporate much more slowly than water, and prevents water from re-absorbing into the bread, keeping the bread from becoming brittle and hard and off-tasting (stale) for longer.

Without extra fat, the bread relies on the oils and protein found in grain, and the water content of the bread. This water will eventually evaporate, leaving the bread brittle - and worse, it will slowly re-absorb some moisture from the air, and this can lead to a dry, mealy, chewy texture and unpleasant flavor - staleness, in other words. (This is why croutons should be baked for best flavor rather than just left to go stale.) The natural oils and proteins will likewise firm up and stiffen as the bread cools.

For leavened flatbreads, preferment is a common technique to extend shelf life (and improve flavor) - this method of leavening does a good job of locking water-moisture into the bread without requiring extra fat or other preservatives. Here is a method of prefermenting naan.

For unleavened bread, Mexican cuisine is where you should look for techniques involving storage of whole-grain flour flat breads - in some regions, flour tortillas are eaten with every meal, but generally only prepared once a day.

Air-tight storage is key. A zip-close plastic bag with a cloth to absorb excess moisture is ideal.
Re-heat the bread in a microwave. It will soften the proteins and oils, without drying out the water content the way an oven or toaster will.


What does natural vanilla extract smell like? I bought a natural vanilla extract, but it had a strong aroma somewhat like spirit or what you get in almond essence? Is that normal? I've only used artificial vanilla so far and they smell really pleasant and warm and wonderful.

"Pure vanilla extract is made by macerating and percolating vanilla beans in a solution of ethyl alcohol and water."

[Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla_extract]

There is alcohol in it, that's why it smells like it has alcohol in it :)

So it is perfectly normal.

Personally, I find extracts and essences of vanilla to be a complete waste. To get that lovely vanilla smell and vanilla taste, add vanilla beans. To combat the relative high cost of vanilla beans, buy in bulk and store correctly, your vanilla beans can last for ages.


How to make my ice blend more slushy-like? I'm trying to make a chocolate ice blend from chocolate syrup, sweetened condensed milk, plain milk, and shaved ice (no measurements, eyeball and taste). I have a shaved ice maker and don't want ice chunks (also not sure how the blender can handle cubes), thus shaved ice instead of ice cubes go in the blender.
I want my ice blend to come out with a slushy consistency, but it keeps turning to liquid and more like just chocolate milk. I'm hesitant to add more ice since I like the strong taste I've got from the current (estimated) ratios.
How can I make the consistency more slushy-like?

You are fighting against entropy here because the heat of your ingredients and the heat generated by the friction of the blender’s blade are spreading out into the ice, melting it and giving you a homogeneous liquid.
So you have two things you want to reduce here: the total heat and the heat transfer to the ice.
Reducing the heat transfer to the ice is hard with shaved ice because it has an incredibly large surface area: hotter liquid can get everywhere in between the little tiny shavings. This causes rapid equalization and I do not see how you could solve that other than adding ice cubes.
For the total heat problem, try getting everything as cold as possible. This means putting everything into the fridge/freezer (even the blender’s jar if necessary) beforehand and minimizing the time it spends on the counter. You should also try blending for only the bare minimum. If everything still melts too fast, you could try freezing the milk or condensed milk (in something which will not explode when the milk expands, providing extra ice.


Squeezing excess water from seaweed I was making seaweed salad for the first time tonight and had just finished soaking my wakame for some time.  I rinsed it and put it in a colander, but just couldn't squeeze out very much water.  The pieces stuck to my hands, squished, and made gurgling noises; but for the most part remained sopping wet, and later tasted completely waterlogged.  Am I missing something here?  I know there's a way to get water out because I've tasted wonderfully light and refreshing seaweed salad before, but my wakame (even hours later) is just a slimy bowl of sopping seaweed.  Thanks!

Most guides I've seen recommend a salad spinner after the initial draining/squeezing. I've never had trouble with that method.

Failing that, I guess you could blot or squeeze it with paper towels; that's what I used to do with lettuce before I had a spinner, and it works... sort of... but not as well, and you'll go through a lot of paper towels that way.

Given that we are talking about seaweed here, I wouldn't try to get it perfectly dry. Restaurants actually use specialized (and very expensive) automatic "vegetable dryers" that I believe operate on a similar concept as a clothes dryer. You're not going to get that kind of result at home. Just squeeze or spin-dry enough to get it past the "sopping" stage.

It's also possible that you soaked it too long. More than a few minutes and it will just turn to mush, which may have been your problem. I've seen at least one ridiculous recipe for seaweed salad calling for a 5-minute rinse and a 15+ minute soak, which is pretty much guaranteed to give you slime.


Can I keep canned peaches in the fridge if water got in during processing? I followed all the rules to a tee.  Unfortunately, before immersing jars for final boiling, I apparently did not tighten the lids enough.  I just took them out of the boiling water after 30 minutes and the screws lids were loose and looks like water got into jars.  I understand that I can't keep them like this but if I removed them from the jars and put the slice in the refrigerator are they ok to eat within a few days?

Yes, basically anything cooked will last at least a few days in the fridge.

If you want it to safely keep it longer than that, you can freeze it. It's probably best not to try to reprocess the jars though, since you don't know exactly how much water got in (and how much acid and sugar got out), so if you're unlucky it could upset the recipe enough to make them unsafe.


Slow Cooker makes a mess I tried googling this one but I just kept getting recipes.

I bought a slow cooker (Proctor-Silex 33043 4-Quart Slow Cooker), which seemed to have good reviews. However I try to make stock, which I would normally cook for 12+ hours, every time that I do it bubbles over. It isn't to say that the liquid itself boils up and out of the pot but rather a ring of liquid forms on the edge of the pot and begins to bubble outwards.

It causes a mess by burning inside of the metal part of the pan (in-between the heating element and the stoneware part) and spilling down the outside walls of the slow cooker onto the counter.

What can I do about this? Is it just a bad slow cooker or is there a trick I'm missing. I haven't encountered this problem before with my old cooker or pot on the stove. I was considering inserting a toothpick in the edge or something.

Has anyone else encountered this? Is it because I'm making very liquid stock vs say a heavier dish like oatmeal? I've tried shallow (less liquid) and very full but it occurs in both scenarios.

The solution is real easy and you won't need do any of the crazy stuff mentioned above. Buy some baking paper (brown (sort of waxed) paper that you can line baking trays. The often come ready cut in baking tray sizes, which are plenty big enough. Fine the area that will be in the center of our crock pot when the lid is on. Take a sharp knife and cut an X shape in the center. Have someone, although, it can be done alone, gently pull the paper taut, not tight, and put the lid on your crock pot (with the X in the center) and gently press it down. You'll feel the paper seal the lid to the pot much better. Then as the steam rises through the paper it will condense on the lip and drip down onto the paper and will be funneled back into the pot by the X you cut in the center of the paper. Your problem will solved, for the price of baking paper. Best of luck and best of slow cooking without the mess.


Is it alright to store frozen meat above frozen prepared foods? Would this cause any cross-contamination issues since the meat is frozen and wouldn't be dripping down onto any of the frozen prepared meals that have already been cooked?

Are you not wrapping the meat (and the prepared food)?

Wrap the meat, put them in sealable bags (*)  (ziplock type) and you should be OK.

If your meat melts in tour freezer and start dripping, then you have a bigger problem than cross-contamination, fix your freezer.

(*) or better put the meat in a vacuum bag if you have the machine to do it.


Using Fresh Masa with Tamales I've always used the Masa Harina in the bag and made masa, but I don't have an electric mixer at the moment to make them fluffy. How do you use fresh masa when making tamales? Just add it to the corn husk and wrap? Thanks.

It's going to depend on the Masa itself. If it is just the fresh ground corn, then you still need to mix in your other ingredients, lard, stock, baking powder, etc, whatever recipe you decide to use.  Some places will sell fresh masa for tamalas already mixed up and ready to go, but it's typically labelled or sold as prepared masa.  Whether you have fresh masa, or masa harina, you will still want to whip your lard and make a light and fluffy texture before mixing in your dough, so an electric mixer is always a good thing to have on hand, or Popeye arms.

Fresh masa goes bad pretty quick, so make sure to use within a few days or freeze.


Pot stick to induction top not able to remove it plz advice Kindly advice me how to remove pot stick on induction top while cooking curry .I have tried almost all ways but nothing worked, it's not moving(sliding or lifting up)

Unfortunately this happens to me frequently. In my case it was always a thin film of liquid (water) that was holding the pot to the glass. Don't try to lift it straight up - that would take the most force. Instead, grab both handles of the pot and twist.  If that doesn't work, you can try heating up the pot again and twist.


How can i decorate homemade dog biscuits? I made a batch of dog biscuits for a Christmas gift, and I want to write the dog's name on them with colored sprinkles.  The biscuits are the texture of over-baked sugar cookies.  Does anyone have an idea of how I can get crystal sprinkles to stick without using a sugar glaze?  Or another idea for a pretty way to put the dog's name on the cookies?

You can use animal (hide) glue to make the sprinkles stick, similar to the adhesive on some envelopes that can be licked (or moistened otherwise) to activate the 'stickyness'. The content of the glue is not really that far off from the ingredients in dog food.

Any gelatinous based adhesive would also probably do. While they offer no nutritional value, they are edible.

Non toxic paste, such as used by young school children would also work, but I don't know if the color would ruin the presentation you're trying to achieve. I'd go with the animal glue if you're able to source it. Just melt it down and use a fine paint brush to paint the dog's name, apply the sprinkles and let dry, then shake / blow off the excess.


Grilling beef steak on a contact grill Should I use both sides of a contact grill when doing a beef steak or is it better to use just one side and flip the meat after some time?

The grill I own is Catler gr4011

You should use both sides. As Joe said make sure it is nice and hot for when you put the meat on, for 1-2 minutes, so it cooks the outer layer quickly and then reduce to med heat and cook for 4 minutes so you can keep a nice soft texture inside. Times apply for a 24 oz steak. Have a wonderful day!