cooking canned veggies in a Korean clay pot? I just acquired a Korean clay pot. One of the first things I made was some celery and chicken. Both turned out great but the celery was esp great. Right now, I have a surplus of canned vegetables of all sorts--spinach, peas, mixed veggies, etc.
Can any of these be made in a clay pot without losing texture? I was considering making a stew using canned veggies but was unsure if they would turn into mush if cooked in a clay pot.

Generally, as canned vegetables are already cooked, they can be mushy regardless of the vessel you cook them in. Depending on the desired result, I would add canned vegetables near the end of the stew's cooking time, especially peas and spinach e.g. in some sort of pie filling. You could cook them further, but expect vegetables like carrots to disintegrate.


Can large pizzas be made in a convection oven? Can large pizzas be made in a convection oven? I have a large pan, but it is bigger than the rack. If I make pizzas on that pan, will the pizza bake evenly?

I cook a circular pizza on a pan as large as my consumer convection oven can accommodate and the pizza comes out great.
The biggest risk is that the pan must be kept level to prevent the sauce and cheese from sliding down as the pizza cooks.
In my oven, a pan two inches larger in diameter would nearly fit, but then the bent part of the rack makes the back just a little too high and causes the problem.


Isn't moisture a problem when measuring flour by weight? In this thread:

Is it okay to measure flour by weight by converting from volume?

The choice of measuring by volume and weight is discussed. I've always preferred weight, but have a lingering feeling of an additional error that is more prevalent when measuring by weight, namely any amount of moisture content in the flour.

Say, perfectly dry flour has a certain density d.

The flour that has a "maximum moisture content", have certain percentage flour, and a new density d_2. These two numbers conspire to change both the volume and weight measurments.

"Maximum moisture content" means "not obvious", I guess.

Are there any known results of this kind? How much more/less moisture may exist in the flour without being noticable?

To further complicate matters, I guess it also means that any added water should take that extra moisture into account?

I'm thinking of the similar discussion of mushrooms; weight vs volume, which always claims weight is better - to which I disagree; just think of dried mushrooms, at a fraction of the initial weight. Of course a powder isn't the same as a mushroom with cell walls, but I guess as single flour particle could absorb moisture anyway?

Here is a post on the subject I found interesting.  http://www.genuineideas.com/ArticlesIndex/flour.html

The findings may not be definitive, but seem logical enough to be at least close.  Basically, my paraphrasing, they find the difference between completely dry flour and very humid conditions for most of us to be real but much less than that from volume measure.  They get more technical on some of their justifications than some might prefer, but generally claim that weight should not vary by more than 3% for most of us, and that given most home scales are accurate to about 1% and we classify that as precise measuring, 3% is not huge.

Guessing here, but I would suggest that other ingredients may also be effected at least in this same range by humidity and this effect is less than altitude variations, and that volume measures are likely effected by humidity which would allow increases in compaction as much, maybe ore than weight.  Given 3% as a rough guide, I think this fits into feel and experience areas and normal variations in cooking.  For those outside the "normal" band, desert and high humidity coastal type areas, having lived in both, yes, it is one more curse of trying to get consistent results there.


Alternative to swiss cheese I am planning a fondue party.  I personally despise swiss cheese.  I am defining swiss cheese here as any cheese that has that similar flavor, like swiss, ementhalar, jarlsberg etc.  as they all have a similar flavor profile.

To edit my original question, which I had not asked as directly as possible; I need a cheese that performs the way swiss would in fondue.  The main quality is its ability to melt smoothly.  Again avoiding that similar flavor profile of what americans call swiss cheese.

The two cheeses I already am familiar with which will perform similarly are Fontina and cheddar.  Any other suggestions?

Are you opposed to "fake cheese", AKA "cheese food products"?  The best known at least in the US is Velveeta, but there are alternates including recipes you can find to make your own.  They would have a different flavor profile than Swiss and others that I call white cheeses.  Home made versions are usually a combination of America, Cheddar, and milk or dried milk.

Con side: It is what many refer to as cheese flavored plastic and cheese purist scoff at even considering it.  The flavor profile tends toward bland, not the more complex flavor of name cheeses.

Pro side: It was specifically developed to melt smoothly, consistently and without lumps and far less tendency to separate into a layer of oil than many real cheeses.  It is largely credited with the rise of popularity of grilled cheese sandwiches in the US years ago due to its ease of melting and that it will stay melted.  It is commonly used in many quick cheese sauces for the same reasons.

If you mess with one of the home made recipes to duplicate it, it will typically take a few hours to prepare it (some use gelatin and are faster), but also gives you the opportunity to customize the flavor profile.  Commonly spices and tomato are added.  You could then experiment with adding your own favorite cheeses to see if you could duplicate the ease of remelting while retaining closer to your taste in flavor.


How to make shelf-stable chocolate milk? Based on online reading, it seems like decreasing PH to < 4.5 is the way to reduce spore-former activity.

Is it possible to decrease the pH of milk without significantly affecting its taste and not letting it curdle?

I have thought about using an emulsifier to potentially prevent curdling, and am thinking about various kinds of acid (gluconic/lactic) that may be less strong in taste than citric. Any suggestions?

The major protein in cow's milk, casein precipitates at pH 4.6. It matters very little which acid you use to get to 4.6, casein will still precipitate. pH 4.6 is about the same acidity as canned beets, a food not known for its tartness, so you won't achieve a very sour flavor before things start curding up on you.
Adding emulsifiers could help some with the isoelectric precipitation, but emulsifiers have flavors too, and you'll have to add them at a not insignificant fraction of the protein (casein) concentration.

For shelf stable chocolate milk, I'd go with a mix of powdered milk and cocoa powder; just add water. All the storebought room temp chocolate milk products I've seen are ultrapasturized or similar.


How do I best cut florentines from a finished (baked) baking tray? I have baked a tray of florentine pastry, and I have spread chocolate on it (dark and milk). It's about 35 x 35 cm. Now I'd like to make cookies out of it.
I know recipes say to cut the pastry when it's still warm, but it was just far too thin and fluid to do so: it would basically have amounted to pushing a knife into almond flakes which are floating in a sauce; it didn't seem realistic at all.
The pastry is nice and crisp and thin now (as thin as I could get it, maybe 3–5 mm), as it should be. The consistency is a bit like semi-hard caramel. but of course with almond flakes over the entire surface (so much less hard, easier to break/cut). How can I best cut (square-shaped) cookies out of it?
I don't think breaking is an option, so it has to be cutting or sawing? I see no option but to use a large kitchen knife. Should I press it down until it snaps? Or should I move it along the length of the desired cut ('sawing')? Should I use a smooth knife or a serrated knife (probably not)? Or is there anything else you can recommend?
I'm afraid I might break the pastry into irregular shards and bits if I do it wrong, but I haven't tried yet without asking you!
P.S. It doesn't stick to the baking-paper much, so that won't be an issue.
P.P.S. You see the orange in the picture which I grated for the zest.

Epilogue: I ended up cutting them with a non-serrated knife, which I put in a pan of very hot water between 'cuttings', to partly melt the cut (wipe with paper towels in between). I cut by moving the knife up and down the length of the cut ('sawing'), but I did also exert some downward pressure. It worked well enough, except for some breaking at the edges which were not flat at the bottom (because of the uneven baking tray).

I find that it's easiest to cut fragile, hard things with a serrated knife. I would go with a bread knife and slowly saw though it. In the future, I would recommend waiting until they're slightly set but still warm and cut then instead of waiting until it's completely cooled.


Wet Cooked Ham Slices If you were to open a packet of cooked ham slices and they were wet, is that a bad sign? Are they gone bad? Is it ok to eat them?

Extra water in cooked ham is 100% fine to eat, see here. In general, you can use the printed "use by" date if you're in the US and you'll be safe. I'm adding my answer to provide an authoritative source for you, so you'll know for certain you won't get sick from it.

Quotation, for @adamlynch:

  HAM:  In order to be labeled as "Ham," the product must be at least
  20.5% protein in lean portion as described in 9 CFR 319.104. Added water is permitted in a product labeled as "Ham." In fact, water
  will be declared in order of predominance in the ingredients
  statement. This is how the cure solution is introduced into a ham.

  HAM AND WATER PRODUCTS X% of Weight is Added Ingredients: Product
  contains more additives than a "Ham Water Added," but the product name
  must indicate percent of "added ingredients." For example, "Ham and
  Water Product 25% of Weight is Added Ingredients" for any canned ham
  with less than 17.0% protein.

As you can see, water added to ham is perfectly safe to eat, as it's normal for it to be present in the ham.


I am looking for a substitution for milk in risotto I have Knorr four cheese risotto mix. It calls for 1/2 cup of milk. I dont have any. Can I use fat free sour cream instead?

So the milk does 3 things: 1 adds dairy flavor, 2 adds liquid, and 3 adds fat. Maybe if you mixed 2/3 fat free sour cream with water until it was a consistent texture, you might have a kinda-approximation. It'll be thicker, perhaps granier, and tangier. Personally I'd just add 3/4 that amount of water and 1/4 that amount of butter.


Does a Romanian omletă ţărănească (peasant omelette) have standard ingredients? I am currently travelling in Romania and have been enjoying a breakfast each morning of "omletă ţărănească", which can be translated to English as "peasant omelette".

What I'm wondering is whether it has a standard fixed list of ingredients or is it one of those dishes where you throw in "whatever is laying about" (or at least typical Romanian ingredients laying about).

The one I just ate seemed to contain at least tomato, mushroom, bits of bacon, and those pale green bell peppers common in the Balkans.

There doesn't seem to be an article on it in Wikipedia and I've seen it on the menu of two restaurants in the same small town which makes me think it should be a typical dish.

Judging from search results and the handy firefox babelfish addon, the peasant (or country-style) omelette seems to be, as you suspected, one of those dishes where anything handy is thrown in.

EDIT: the firefox addon is actually unnecessary as google provides an option on the search results page for translated versions of the search results.


What are these pans used for? I have these 2 pans and do not know what to cook in them. The square one is non stick; the lid has holes in it and is curved to fit the hump in the bottom part.

The second pan has a detachable handle.

Surely it is some sort of gimmicky bacon pan. You lay the bacon over the hump and clamp it down like you would with a bacon press, then the trough-like sides catch the grease.

I could see it maybe being used to make naan bread. Once it's puffed up you clamp the top down and flip upside down to blacken the bubbles like would happen in a tandoor. Seems like a little bit of a stretch though.


What is the trick to create 4 layer Chapati? More layers' chapati tastes delicious and looks soft. What is the trick to create 4 layers' chapati?

What I have tried --

Before rolling the chapati, I have made 2 folds by putting few drops of
oil in between the folds.
I rolled in similar fashion at all over the edges and middle
portion.

Till the date, I could make 3 layers' chapati but not 4 layers. I have tried more folds also before rolling the chapati but it doesn't help.

Layers depends on type of flour you are using. I suppose if you are using wheat flour, then before each folding add some cooking oil between folds. Repeat this process for each extra layer. Remember to add cooking oil in each fold to make sure that do not stick together again. Roll it gently, do not apply to much force.
To understand more about layer Chapati,
Click here


Can I hang cast iron pots and pans to air dry? I normally use chain mail and warm water to clean my cast iron pan, then dry with a paper towel before stashing away in a cupboard.  If the pans are well seasoned, is there any potential rusting issues with simply hanging them up to air dry?

The way you have worded it, the risk can never be reduced to absolute zero, so there is some potential risk. But the probability of rust happening is very, very low, so in practice, you can do this for ages and not experience any problems. Also, if you do, you can just strip and reseason.
Also there is an option you didn't mention: usually you still have a hot hob when you have just finished cooking, so you can wash immediately and place the slightly wet pan on the hot hob, where it will air dry in seconds. It doesn't work every time (e.g. if you served your food in the cast iron vessel in which it was prepared), but when it is available, it is best practice to make use of it.


Flour types and their effects in levain The first time I made a levain, I used all-purpose white flour. This took over a week-two weeks to become active. I recently started a levain using whole wheat flour, and found it to become active much faster from the more nutritious flour.

Now due to covid19 wiping all flour from the shelves I did not have enough to sustain my starter with the usual whole-wheat flour. Since it appeared to be stable and strong, I read that it is possible to use another flour for feedings though it may take time for the starter to acclimate. So, I used the only thing I had: white all-purpose. The starter did not acclimate, and I had to restart everything when I was able to get whole wheat flour.

My question:

If a levain can't use a different type of flour for nutrition and do so effectively, how is it working when used in an actual bread recipe?

Meaning, if it sits stagnant for days when fed all-purpose, why would I expect anything different from a recipe using all-purpose?

You can feed your starter with whatever flour you have, keeping in mind the following things:

1) If you want to change flour type you should start with an active, healthy culture (don't start with one that is dormant or low activity). I would feed it at room temperature using the normal flour for a few days and make sure it is robust and active. Your new flour will have different yeast and bacteria strains which will compete with those in your current starter, so expect there to be a period of lower activity while things adjust to your new food. If the starter is not healthy and active enough to begin you could end up with problems like you did.

2) You may need to feed it more often, and you should keep it at room temperature to give it the best chance of a healthy transition.

3) this will change the flavor profile of the bread. The extent to which this happens depends on the type of bread and method you're using.

4) some flours make more robust starters than others. Also, starters with some flours need to be fed more or less often than others. You need to judge the activity of the starter.


How to Make many pizzas for large party? I have to make 20 pizzas for a large party and am using wood fired oven. How do I do prep ahead of time so I'm not punching dough the whole time and not being able to talk to people? Could I shape the pizza dough after 2nd fermentation ahead of time and put them in the fridge, then pull out and let up to room temperature before putting toppings on? Suggestions please! Thanks!

Yes, preparing discs of dough ahead of time, separated by parchment, wax paper or clingfilm does work. The biggest risk is that the dough tends to dry out a bit, so keeping the whole mass wrapped up in clingfilm and possibly in wide closable containers may be worthwhile.

I don't know how long it would take you to pre-portion 20 pizza doughs; I'm not super-efficient on that yet so it would probably take me a good solid hour. That might be short enough so as not to require additional retardation.

Most pizza joints at least pre-portion the balls of dough, and they let them relax at (oven-) room temperature, so that they're easy to stretch.

If this is a casual party with friends, rather than a formal dinner or a catering gig, though, you may consider involving your friends to do the work; they may appreciate the social aspect of throwing/rolling dough together (depending on your technique preference), and even topping the pizzas themselves, with your guidance. You may want to make a bit of extra dough to accommodate errors.

I've actually been to an event where everyone brought their own preferred dough recipe to test it out on a wood fired oven, which was a leisurely several-hour event with many successes and a few "failures" (or lessons learned; brioche dough doesn't love 700F ovens). We all just grabbed space on the bench when it was practical, and queued up for the oven when practical.

An alternate strategy is to have plenty of dishes out on the table that aren't time and temperature sensitive, and let people nibble casually while you prep. Marinated vegetables, cold cuts, cheeses, bean dishes, etc. Then spend time chatting with each person you're making pizzas for while you prep them, maybe three or four at a time, to tweak to their preferences and whims.


Using toasted sesame oil in a cilantro "pesto"? Pesto, chutney, whatever. I go on flavor profile "kicks", right now I am craving Asian - soups, stir fries, curries, you name it.

Here's my thought. I want a simple condiment that I can add to anything (chicken soup for example, homemade or Campbell's condensed, even 40 cent ramen) to give that "kick" that screams 'Asian'. I'm hoping that it will last 2 weeks in my fridge.

Here's my thinking: How about quickly sauteing minced garlic and grated fresh ginger in a tiny amount of neutral oil and letting it cool. Then I whip out the food processor and pretend I'm making classic pesto but with cilantro instead of basil, sesame oil instead of olive?? Maybe I'd add some Thai basil just for fun. Toasted sesame seeds instead of pine nuts? Perhaps roasted peanuts? The big question is the sesame oil. I find it strange that I can't find a single recipe by Googleing. Is there something about one of my favorite ingredients that I am missing?

Any advice would be appreciated, I'm too broke to experiment randomly.

I actually really like your idea, and will do some experiments next time I can.

Anyway, sesame oil is much too intense a flavor, and way too expensive to use as an oil base for this. Add some for flavor, certainly, but the main oil should be one of the neutral "yellow" oils. Canola/soy/peanut/corn/etc.

Coriander (Cilantro) is definitely the leafy base, but I think you should add some Kaffir Lime leaves too, as they are a part of the distinctive Thai flavor.

Also, if you can get Galangal, use that instead of ginger, as it is a similar flavor, but more authentic to Thai food.

I would use roast peanuts instead of pine nuts, but only about 2/3 of the amount, as their flavor is stronger.

The last thing would be lime juice, though you shouldn't add that to your condiment but rather add it separately when using the condiment. Adding it to the main jar will cause the whole thing to spoil more quickly, if I'm not mistaken.


Which method of killing the lobster would cause the least pain and distress? The most common way of killing a lobster is to put it into boiling water, however we can read on Wikipedia page that it is one of the methods which cause pain and distress.

The killing methods most likely to cause pain and distress are:

Placing crustaceans directly into boiling water

Placing crustaceans in slowly heated water to the boiling point

Placing marine crustaceans in fresh water

...

Secondly, we can read here about the following study:

Dan Ward, then a grad student at the University of New Hampshire, once hooked an electrode up to a Lobster heart for me and boiled it. The heart beat for 1 minute 53 seconds.

So the question is, what is the most humane way to kill a lobster?

Put the lobster in the freezer for about 30 minutes, it will basically be in a sleeping/coma state when you take it out. Then cut into its head lengthwise to destroy its brain before it wakes up.

Some people say that killing the lobster in a less stressful way gives the meat a better texture/flavor. But personally I have not been able to tell any difference.

EDIT: Another solution, though not a clean or popular method for lobster; If you destroy its brain faster than the speed pain travels through nerves, it would be dead before the pain reaches the brain. Could be accomplished by shooting it in the brain with a gun... a common method used to humanely kill many things.


How to make "honeycomb" less sticky? I made "honeycomb" (otherwise known as hokey-pokey, not real honeycomb) using this recipe: http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/hokey-pokey-36

It tastes delicious but it is supposed to be crunchy / cripsy (like the inside of a Cadburys  Crunchie bar) but it actually came out really sticky, like a soft toffee.

Is this likely to be due to overcooking, undercooking, something else? How can I make sure it comes out crunchier in future?

Remember your stages of sugar boiling and how they come out, if it's too sticky or soft it is probably down to too low a final temperature (wrong texture) or more likely too much golden syrup.

Be sparing with the golden syrup / glucose syrup, the sucrose will set in to hard sugars, but the glucose/inverted sugar syrup acts as a crystallisation inhibitor, vinegar can be used to similar effect (though does not enrich the flavour so).  It sets too, but I find too much can lead to weeping.

Also, I have heard that an overly humid environment can be a problem.  People used to say not to cook toffee on a humid day.


White efflorescence on home-dried prunes After a year or so of storage in ZipLoc bags in the fridge, my home-dried prunes have developed a bit of whitish crust. At first I thought it was mold, but it seems like a crystalline efflorescence, and doesn't smell or taste bad. The prunes seem normal and taste fine.

The prunes, freshly picked from my tree, weren't pre-treated before drying, but after drying were lightly sprayed with a solution of potassium sorbate (mold inhibitor) at the recommended strength.

My current hypothesis is that this is sugar that has migrated out of the fruit and recrystallized on the surface, but I have no idea if this is right.

Thoughts?

I recently got a box of dried fruits (including plums) from a friend. There was a note on the box: 'never mind the white crust, that's just sugar'.

I'm quite sure your plums have sugar on their skin. Or maybe some dried potassium sorbate but nothing harmful.


Is "krapfens" commonly used to designate donuts? "Krapfen" is a German word which means "donuts".
I wonder if the term "krapfens" is commonly used in English to refer to donuts or if it may be pretty odd.
I have such doubt because it sounds similar to "crap" and it might sound not very good to designate food...

In other terms, if I say "Krapfens" in England / America does everyone understand what I meant to point out?

I can only answer as to the USA. In the US, English speakers do not say krapfen, nor would most English speakers be familiar with the word.


Why would a blended salad dressing change its color? Yesterday evening we had a barbecue and I made a tomato/mozzarella salad. Since I couldn't find my dressing shaker, I used my hand blender (an ESGE M180S, in case it matters).

I got my dressing as usual, dark brown in colour, it was just a bit more smooth than usual, which I expected. A few minutes after pouring it over the salad, the colour went from dark brown to a very very light brown, looking as if I'd used cream in it. The taste stayed the same as usual, but the colour change I thought was weird.

So, why would a blended dressing change its colour while a shaken dressing wouldn't?

Probably the ingredients are important to answer this, so here's what I used:

Olive & sunflower oil (4 tbsp each)
Balsamic vinegar (2 tbsp) , malt vinegar (1 tbsp), apple vinegar (1 tbsp)
Hibiscus syrup (2 tbsp)
Dried basil (1 tsp)
Mustard (1 tsp)
Salt (1 tsp), sugar (1 tsp), freshly ground pepper

It seems I was looking in the wrong direction here. It seems to have been the Mozzarella cheese. After pouring the dressing over the salad, the cheese started to leak some white liquid, which changed the colour of the dressing.

This was something I hadn't on my radar, since I had always used the same brand of cheese, and it had never happened before. I only found out because last week I did a shaken dressing, and this caused that behavior too. So it's nothing to do with the blender ...


Difference between "real mayonnaise" and "mayonnaise dressing" This is something I can't seem to make sense of, even after reading the ingredient lists.

The non-reduced-fat Hellman's dressing is marketed as "real mayonnaise", but reduced-fat Hellman's is sold as "mayonnaise dressing".  I've also observed similar differences in labeling with other brands of mayo, such as Kraft Mayo.

Why is the reduced-fat dressing not considered "real mayonnaise", and what is the difference between these two?  What defines "real mayonnaise"?

According to Duke University:

  Believe it or not, there's a standard of identity for mayo.
  Mayonnaise, as defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration must
  contain vinegar, egg or egg yolks, and at least 65% oil by weight. It
  may contain spices and natural seasonings except turmeric and saffron,
  since yellow color might suggest added egg yolk.

You can also review the complete standard.

Therefore, anything that does not meet this requirement cannot be marketed in the US simply as mayonnaise.

Reduced fat dressings, do not have the same amount of oil (necesary to meet the standard), since they need to eliminate it to reduce the calories.   Instead they emulsify in additional water via stabilizers.


How can you make a lot of water come out of chicken by freezing and denaturing it? I have noticed that sometimes when I freeze chicken a large amount of water pours out of the chiken and settles/freezes on the chicken surface.  From what I understand this is the result of ice crystals forming and damaging cells which then causes the liquid to pour out.  Usually we see only a small amount of water pour out however somtimes I have noticed a lot of water pour out.  I have noticed that when a lot of water has poured out if one marinades the chicken this seems to go deep inside the chicken, perhaps because of newly vacant space which becomes available for water.

I want to know, how can one ensure a large amont of denaturing occurs and a lot of water pours out during the freezing stage?  I mean do you have to ensure the chickens are well hydrated in the first place, do you simply just slow freeze, can you freeze-brine-freeze-brine etc in order to get the desired result.

How can one bring out a lof of water when freezing?

Thanks

EDIT:

Thanks for this answer.  Can you please comment on a few things:

I want a lot of water to come out since this suggest to me a lot of denaturation has occured.  Since it is the ice crystals that do the damage, is it correct to assume that if there is more water present in the first place then the better the damage will be?  In this case is there anyways i can increase the original amount of water that is present e.g. do you have to feed the chicken a lot of water or is there anything else you have to do?
You say if the chicken is left unpacked then it will dry out(water will come out due to denaturation?) however you also say to put it in a bag. Is it better to just leave the chicken in the freezer without a bag or to use a bag?  You have also mentioned not to use a bag, am i correct in assuming you mean do not use air tight bags or bags with less air? Again would more denaturation occur just leaving the chicken naked over using an air filled bag?
Is it correct to say that once the chicken freezes then it is frozen and no more damage/denaturation will occur? If my freezer says it will freeze in 24hours, will using the bag as you have mentioned still causes freezing to occur over many days despite what the fridge manual says?  If yes and if i check the chicken will i see more and more water over these days.
Does the denaturation I am talking about cause the pores in the chicken to enlarge and if cooking a soup, does this cause more water/marinade to move into the chicken?

Many thanks

A freezer is a very dry place and uncovered meat will eventually have all of its moisture pulled out of it. This is called freezer burn.

First of all- don't try the freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw idea. This would be a good way to start your own colony of interesting, meat-eating bacteria.

There are two techniques to minimizing freezer damage- freeze the food quickly to keep ice crystals small and seal it tightly to keep it from drying out. You should do the opposite.

Put your meat in a freezer bag and inflate it with air before sealing it. Then wrap the bag in a towel or other insulative cover. Freeze for a while. The chicken will freeze relatively slowly which will rip its cells up nicely. All the air in the bag will ensure that moisture is drawn out of the meat over the course of many days.

This will, of course, leave you with tough, inedibly dessicated bird meat and flavorless water. It's probably a delicacy in some culture somewhere.

You could experiment with the brine but I wouldn't. The salt in a brine will help keep meat proteins from over-coagulating when heated- it wouldn't have the same effect when the proteins are frozen and dried. At worst it would prevent water loss- at best it would just dry back out of the meat and you could have just frozen the brine without wasting the chicken.


Balti versus European cookware I've read about the Balti bowl (the cookware, not the dish). Apparently, one can cook specific recipes with it. For example, it is used to prepare a curry over intense heat. In particular, I was looking at this bowl from Le Creuset.

I have an electric stovetop so I cannot really use intense heat like from a hob. Also the bowl does not have a lid and it is probably not really stackable/nestable with other cookware. Therefore I'm wondering if it offers any other advantage over or has other noticeable differences from European pots that would justify spending that hefty amount of money and dedicated kitchen space.

It's a cast iron pan, it will behave like any other cast iron pan.

Le Creuset probably makes it "better" in some way (ie. maybe thicker material...), but that should not make it better than traditional ones.

From the description (google translate form german page you linked):
"Dishes from the Balti Dish are also called Karahi and are very similar to wok dishes"

From what I see from videos, it is used as a deep frying pan (like a cross between a wok and a regular sautee pan).

So in most case, there are not difference or advantages to the Balti Bowl over other pans.


Cheese from UHT Milk I live in a town where fresh or whole milk is not readily available.
I was wondering if I could make cheese from UHT Milk.
If so, what kind of cheese and what method I should use?
Or rather, Should I?

You can use UHT milk in cheeses that don't contain rennet, basically cheeses that are formed by adding acid to milk, allowing it to curdle, and then separating the whey. Quark, Paneer, Queso Fresco and Ricotta are all cheeses of this type. Opinions differ on whether UHT milk can make good cheese of this type, but it's clear that you can achieve cheese. Serious Eats discusses the use of UHT in Ricotta here. "UHT milk does not work as well as regular pasteurized milk. It has a smaller yield, and the curds do not cling together properly. The results weren't terrible, and would do in a pinch."

Even though Mozzarella can be made without rennet, it has a reputation for being particularly troublesome with UHT milk. Pictures of UHT Mozzarella Fail

UHT Pasteurization denatures the proteins in milk to the point that they can no longer hold the curd shape, they can't fully solidify. So you can certainly try UHT in Ricotta type cheese, you may find it perfectly tasty, but I'd recommend not even trying to make rennet cheese or Mozzarella.


How to make pizza without pizza sauce? Does anyone know how to make pizza without pizza sauce? Maybe some kind of replacement?

Focaccia dough stretched and rolled thin, painted with olive oil, sprinkled with fresh herbs and coarse salt then lanced about with a fork is a wonderful pizza with no need for any sauce or other toppings as a snack of side dish.  From there as a starting point you can start adding toppings, cheeses, even sauces to ones hearts content.  Herbs could be dried rather than fresh, but fresh basil or oregano are a good starting point.  I love a good sauce, but in no way is any sauce needed for a pizza.  If you want a sauce however, most anything that pairs with your toppings will work and there is no reason to skimp on creativity.  BBQ with chicken or shredded pork.  An Alfredo with shrimp or chicken.  A yogurt with fresh fruits for dessert.  There really are no rules.  Pizza is in my opinion defined by location and taste, not by some specific definition and is fully open to interpretation.  With a good base if needs no sauce.  With a lesser base, yes I want a sauce, but not to be limited to what some shop defined as appropriate.


Storing vegetarian sausages I often eat Linda McCartney sausages: Linda Mccartney 6 Vegetarian Sausages 300G   ...but, as I don't own a freezer, I have to store them in the fridge.

As the sausages come frozen, I imagine that means I'm supposed to keep them in the freezer. But I often cook them when I buy them, and then eat over the course of about 4 days while keeping them in the fridge.

I currently have an unopened pack in the fridge that has been there for about 4 days... would these be safe to cook and eat? and if so, how long could I actually leave them for (cooked or uncooked) and still be safe?

You could/should directly ask the sausage maker, if you do, report back and edit your question (or answer, I'm not certain which is proper).

lindamccartneyfoods.co.uk/contact-us


How to store smoked fish when traveling? We went to an island for a trip to explore local fish markets. This place is mainly exporting fish. We managed to get one of the best smoked fish (tuna, mackeral etc) from their local markets. This is different from smoked salmon and rather very hard in texture.

Just before the flight we packed them with original plastic bag (no ziploc) into a packaging box and taped it - put in the dedicated luggage. That was it.

This all led to a very painful experience just now. However, after coming back from nearly 8 hours of flight + another 2 hours, we opened the box and dropped dead to find the dust type fungas layer on all the fishes. It has become slightly moist.

Next time around I want to take precautions and have disaster management; how can I best store smoked fish when traveling? What sort of packaging material should be used?

Are you sure it was fungus, if it was just a dust? I don't know what else it would be, but 8 hours seems short for that to grow.

In any case. Keep it very dry, perhaps by wrapping in parchment or muslin and packing in rock salt before sealing all in plastic. Cool it with ice, sealed in a separate plastic bag, or preferably gel freezer packs, also separate.

I've never been in that situation, so I can't say I've tested this advice.


Eggless Belgian Waffles become unbreakably hard I am a big admirer of Belgian Waffles and hence have been trying to come up with the perfect recipe to prepare them. However, I cannot use eggs in waffles because majority of my cousins are vegetarian.

My Recipe:

389 gms All Purpose Flour
5 gms salt
12 gms baking powder
14 gms sugar
500 gms milk
50 gms oil
111 gms cornstarch
Vanilla Essence

I took this recipe from a website and later replaced eggs with 2 tbsp flour & water, 0.5 tbsp of butter and baking powder.

The only problem seems to be hardness. Using this recipe, I get crispy waffles but within 2 minutes, one cannot break the waffles because it turns chewy like rubber. I keep my wafflemaker at 200 degrees for 5 minutes. Waffles are quite crisp but not airy I suppose and one cannot break the waffles apart just after 2 minutes.

I would be glad if you may help me out in any way to prepare Eggless Belgian waffles.

Flour, water, butter, and baking powder does not sound like a great egg substitute to me.

Your best option is to just go find a vegan belgian waffle recipe. There are tons of them, and they should be much more reliable than trying to modify an existing recipe.

If you're really set on modifying that one recipe, look for a better egg substitute. There are products specifically designed to act as one, as well as a fair number of other things that will likely work better than what you tried. The problem is, different ones work better in different contexts, and it can take some tweaking to get recipes to work right.


How to make crispy French fries? Yesterday I tried making French fries, but they were not crispy.

I heard that if I use 2 spoonfuls of Mobil oil with soybean oil, the fries will be much crispier.

Is that true?

Or is there any way to make them crispy?

Not to take anything away from the answers already existing for this question, but I want to add one more reference:  Kenji Alt's in depth opus on creating the McDonald's style fry at home.

In summary, his method is to:

Blanche the cut potatoes in water lightly acidified with vinegar, to allow them to cook through while the acid keeps the pectin from decomposing and causing the fries to fall apart.
Par-fry the potatoes (first fry).
Optionally (but preferably) freeze the fries at this point, which actually helps develop the crispiness.  Of course this also lets you do almost all of the work in advance.
Finish-fry and serve.

You will note this is a variant on the traditional double-fry method outlined in Kevin Dickerson's answer.

See the linked article for all of the science, the details, and a linked recipe.


Can sour cream be made the same way as yogurt? Possible Duplicate:
  Is it possible to make Sour Cream at home?

I make yogurt by adding a small amount of yogurt to milk, heating it slightly (barely in this weather!) and letting it sit several hours. It's, of course, a simple process--that's rather what yogurt is all about.

I understand sour cream is made by the same essential process, but I don't know what changes I would need to make. Could I just add a little yogurt to some cream? Do I need to change the ratio of fresh to culture? Does the incubation time or temperature change at all?

You can make sour cream by adding live-culture buttermilk or yoghurt to regular cream. Use 2 tablespoons of culture per cup of cream, mix, and let it sit for 12 hours in a warm place before putting in the fridge.


Deep frying and burning eyes I live in a small 800 sq ft. apartment and will occasionally deep fry food. Any time I do, everybody in my household experiences a burning sensation in their eyes.

I'm monitoring the temperature of the oil the entire time, and I'm positive it never goes above it's smoke point.

What is / is there a way to avoid this?

Right so a couple things here.

That hood doesn't vent outside. It filters the air and blows it back into the kitchen. Ok, not ideal but get some charcoal, and keep the intake clean.

Cooking with peppers, including black pepper can gas a room. When my girl friend cooks with Montreal steak seasoning I have to vacate. I can't breathe while its cooking.

Reusing oil is fine, but it's going to retain what's already been cooked in it. So it that means pepper oils are in the oil, you could be gassing yourself.

Try using fresh oils with a high smoke point, filter them and reuse them a few times but when they noticeably discolor, then renew. This will reduce your buildup of material burning in the oil.


Substitute to grain mustard I am planning on doing a recipe of mustard sauce pork. Here is the recipe for the sauce (quantities are approximate, the recipe is inspired from a Gordon Ramsay Youtube video):

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp garlic
1 tbsp chopped shallots
calvados
chicken stock
cooking cream
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp grain mustard

Method

In hot pan, caramelize garlic and shallots.
deglaze with calvados, flambée if possible and reduce.
Add about 1 1/2 cup of chicken stock and reduce by half.
Add cream for richness and thickness, bring to a boil.
Add mustards and let simmer for 5-10 minutes to meet desired consistancy.

This previous is the sauce of a more complete recipe but it does not depend on the rest of the dish to be a fine sauce, asides from the pork residue in the pan for taste.

Now the problem is, I don't have any grain mustard, but have mustard seeds at home as well as regular Dijon mustard.

Would it be possible to substitute the grain mustard by the same quantity of regular Dijon plus mustard seeds without compromising the taste too severely?

Yes, add the mustard seeds to the Dijon mustard and add a splash of vinegar, stir well and let it sit like that for 24h.

For the impatient / I don't have 24h  ;-)

Microwave the newly created mixture for one minute @ 750W (without the metal lid on!) and stir again after microwaving. (Use oven mittens!)


Freezing bones for stock Is it ok to freeze a chicken carcass to make stock with another time? And if so, after I make the stock with it, is it ok to then freeze some of that stock or would that be refreezing & thus unsafe?

I freeze my bones for stock as I accumulate them, keeping a large plastic bag in the freezer and adding to it.  Then when I have enough, I make the stock, leaving the bones frozen.  They thaw as they cook.  I then cool the stock in an ice bath, put into individual plastic containers, two cups each (I find that to be a perfect amount for most recipes) and freeze them.


How to make pie filling which tastes like yogurt icecream? I have some ripe papayas and decided to create a new pie recipe with them. The papaya part turned out quite well. I used pureed papayas, dark sugar beet syrup, creme fraîche, egg, and some cognac. The taste is very earthy, somewhat buttery, and while it was nice, I didn't want the whole pie to taste like that. So I decided that a second filling would be nice. I want to make a filling with contrasting taste and color, and lightly mix both in the shell, like marble cake.

For the taste, I think that the typical Italian yogurt gelato taste will give the perfect combination - quite sour, somewhat sweet, no distracting fruity notes to compete with the papaya. The easiest thing to try was to just bake some yogurt. So I mixed 3.5% and 10% yogurt, added some sugar, vanila and cream of tartar, and mixed in dissolved starch. But after baking the pie, the taste is nowhere near what I need. The biggest problem is that it isn't sour enough.

Any ideas how to approximate frozen yogurt or yogurt icecream taste? I prefer a baked filling, but if all else fails, I'd settle for a cold-setting filling to be put into a blindbaked shell. Then I'll have to remove the egg from the papaya and think of a way to thicken it.

I'm not much of a pie baker, but I am something of a chemist.  So, I can tell you that the yogurt is pretty sour (pH around 4.4.-4.7), but the acidity comes from lactic acid, which tastes different than the acetic acid of vinegar or the citric acid in citrus fruits.

I think it's the flavor of citric acid you want, and are missing, not the actual acidity (with cream of tarter in there it should be quite acid).  In this case, lime is a natural partner to papaya. Rather than flavoring the yogurt with vanilla, why not use a healthy jigger of lime juice and its zest?  The juice has a pH of around 2, so it will also increase the acidity some.  The zest gives the essential oils of the fruit, giving a stronger lime smell and flavor (without actually impacting the acidity).


Replacing toaster oven with convection oven or convection microwave? I am getting new counter tops and want to move the toaster oven off the counter.

Would an oven with a convection function be an equivalent replacement for the toaster convection oven?

Alternately, would a convection microwave be a good replacement for the toaster oven?

Do these devices serve similar purposes?

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but if I've read your question correctly, you already have a toaster oven with a convection function and are considering options for replacing it. If that's the case, you know how convection cooking fits into your lifestyle, and when and why you like to use it.

Hopefully I can help with one part of your question! We recently bought a new regular oven and a new toaster oven, both with convection options. The convection functions work exactly the same way and serve the same purpose, which is primarily to cook food more quickly and evenly. My oven takes longer to pre-heat, which makes sense because it's bigger, but that's the only major difference. The actual cooking time doesn't vary, even though I originally thought it would. I use each appliance at different times depending on various factors, but I cook the same foods in both, and the end result is very much the same.

I don't have any experience with convection microwaves, so I'm sorry but I can't help you there.


How long do you have to cook adzuki beans in a pressure cooker before they're edible? I'm not talking about taste, I'm talking about them not being a health hazard.

I cooked unsoaked adzuki beans for maybe a little less than 20 minutes on the lower pressure setting (don't know the numbers) in my pressure cooker. Then I waited for that cap in the pressure cooker to fall down and put the cooker under cold water, just to be sure, before opening the cooker.

The thing is, I don't usually cook them longer, but I don't open the pressure cooker for 1-2 hours. This time I opened it earlier, didn't think it would make so much difference because the cap was down.

I tried tasting the beans and I like the taste, it's a bit more sour than usual and the texture is a bit harder. I'm used to soft adzuki beans, but these are more like chickpeas, there is a chewing sound when I chew them. Also, they didn't expand as much as when I usually cook them.

I'd like to eat them but I don't know if they're safe, so what I'm asking is, I guess, how long do you have to cook them before they're safe to eat?

Edit:
I found out my lower pressure setting was 60 kpa.

Consulting several sources about Adzuki beans (see below) they shouldn't take any special time to cook, about equivalent to Navy beans.  Normal cooking times should be 15 to 20 minutes for non-soaked beans at 14 PSI / 90 kPa.

However, you cooked them at low pressure, which is usually 7 PST / 45 kPa, and is too low to make much of a difference in bean cooking time.  I don't know how long they'd take to cook at that pressure, but I suspect it's not much less than they take to cook with no pressure at all.  That is, you'd probably have to cook them for an hour or more at that pressure.

Sources consulted:

Lorna Sass's vegetarian pressure cooking book
HipPressureCooking
MissVikie


What is the best way to store uncooked homemade beef patties? I'm planning to grind my own beef patties, but I don't plan to use them until the next day, or perhaps the day after. What is the best way to store them until the day of? Would sticking them in the fridge do, or do I have to put them in the freezer?

Store them as you would the unground beef. If it will be still be in date after a few days, store it in the fridge, otherwise, freeze them (separating the patties with a sheet of greaseproof paper).


Balancing out a good souffle and burnt cheese on top I have a  souffle egg recipe that calls for grated Parmesan cheese on the top. I want to also have the cheese slightly burnt without having the souffle collapse. Is there a way to do this? My ideas: If I use the upper part of the oven, wouldn't that overheat the souffle? Or Should I slowly bake the souffle at a low temperature and then for 60 seconds or so use the upper part of the oven. I don't have a blowtorch, if that's a possibility.

One thing you could try is pre-cooking the Parmesan. Basically, make crisps, like this:

But perhaps a bit darker. Allow them to cool, then crush them or even give them a quick whirr in the food processor. Top your souffle with the cooked cheese crumble instead of uncooked Parmesan.

BTW, that picture is from Giada De Laurentiis' recipe.


What is special about pork that makes it so suitable for curing? No other meat has as many preparations as Pork - you have Bresaola out of beef, and I've seen the odd artisanal lamb and venison product, but why do you not get the range of hams, sausages, bacons etc out of other meats? I'm guessing something to do with the stability of the fat - but I'm not sure.

I suspect that this is because in Europe, the pig has been a fairly common household animal. For example, in the past in Poland, all families that didn't live in closely packed towns would have their own pigs. Some of the reasons for keeping pigs is that they don't need much room and can eat almost anything - you can easily feed them household scraps, or anything else you can find.

For most of history, pretty much everyone has been very poor. Thus, people need to keep an animal that can eat anything. For a pig you don't need to find grass or keep hay like you do for cows and sheep. And likewise you find a way to use every part of the animal no matter what. You also no doubt get a bit bored of pork all the time, so a variety of different methods of preparing and preserving would be developed.

So basically, I think the number of European preparations for pork is due to our long and close relationship with pigs due to their practical nature.

Further to support the idea that this has a Northern/Eastern/Western European cultural cause, Halal butchers will apparently sell beef bacon, and pastrami is traditionally beef, and comes from the Mediterranean area (more or less) so I suspect that there are simply a range of beef and perhaps lamb products that many Europeans either don't know about or don't consider as essential or main-stream.


What is the name of this french food? One of my friends is in Paris (France), and he posted this photo from a restaurant there . Does anyone know the name of this dish ?

If it is a french dish (they have other cuisines in Paris, yeah?) then it is likely to be a mix of poached (baby) vegetables, with or without some poached protein (fish or fowl). No fruit. These delicate veg dishes are prolific, hard to cook cos they depend on a carefully crafted stock and best quality veg (& little else, bar the molecular gastronomy nonsense foam). They can be a revelation in taste if done well and expertly, otherwise they look and taste like the remnants of stock-making day, that over boiled sludge in the bottom of your colander.

I doubt this dish has a name, as such. Obviously the menu named it, but in Larousse I'm guessing it would be just the standard poached veg.


Measuring egg whites I recently made macaroons for the first time and followed the instructions to the T and they were perfect! The recipe called for exactly 90 grams of egg whites..

I then made them again but the egg whites i used added up to slightly over 90 grams (about 3 grams over) - i tried to remove the extra 3 grams with a spoon but nothing has ever been so difficult! They are just a mass of goo which is so hard to separate.. whenever i got any on the spoon it just slipped off again! so in the end i just gave up and obviously the macaroons were ruined!!

So my question is - is there a method of getting precise measurements of egg whites? something i could add to make them less gloopy so i can remove the excess with a spoon? How do people normally do this?

3 grams (contingent on the relative weight of the rest of the recipe) is not a big deal.

But, since egg whites are such a pain to measure, it's very simple in recipes like this. Beat your egg whites slightly, then weigh and remove three grams. Much easier.


How to dethaw multiple pieces of steak when not planning to use them all at once I had bought six pieces of steak and forgot to refrigerate them. They were in a bag overnight and the next morning when I realized what had happened I quickly put them all in the freezer. They are not individually wrapped. How can I thaw one out and leave the rest frozen? Or should I thaw them all out and keep them in the refrigerator and eat them over the next several days?

In your specific case I wouldn't eat them after being left unrefrigerated all night due to safety concerns.

However if I've frozen steak safely and later decided that I want single portion I've found found that a cold chisel normally used for metalworking does a good job of seperating them without defrosting the whole lot. The following image from Wikipedia illustrates what they look like:

I place the meat on a wooden cutting board on it's edge, press the chisel in between where the steaks are joined and give it a quick strike with a hammer. I've tried doing the same with a meat cleaver but the narrow edge on the chisel seems much easier and more effective.

Presumably the steel used may not be food grade in the usual sense but being tempered I can't see any realistic chance of anything nasty being transferred to the meat, assuming it's clean of course.


When is fish 'fully cured' using salt? I was looking at a 'cold smoked salmon' recipe and it says the fish must be 'fully cured' before smoking.

I want to cure using salt so I believe this mean once salt has penetrated throughout the entire flesh rather than a quarter way through or just the surface, it is considered fully cured.  After that you then cold smoke it.  In the context of my recipe, Is this correct?

I'm not sure if it's correct because wikipedia says 'Cured fish refers to fish which has been cured by subjecting it to fermentation, pickling, smoking, or some combination of these before it is eaten' however in recipe it says fully cured should happen BEFORE smoking.

Please clarify whats is meant by fully cured.
Also if one chooses to cure with salt, how do they know the fish is fully cured using salt?

To me fully cured would be when the moisture is removed from the meat to the extent that harmful bacteria cannot survive. You can generally speaking see when this happens, it is when your salt turns dark. When I cure my biltong it generally takes two hours for the salt to turn dark from the moisture it extracts. I have not done this with fish, so the time it takes should be different but still the cocept applies.


Substitute for Robin Eggs malted milk candy This summer, we made some great malted milk ice cream and mixed in some crushed Robin Eggs that we'd bought on sale after Easter. I'd love to make the same ice cream again, but the problem is: it's not Easter and I can't find Robin Eggs anywhere.

Are there other candy that I could use? I don't think regular milk balls would work as well since they don't have the same malted milk to chocolate ratio, and I'm more interested in the malted milk part than the chocolate part. The candy coating adds a nice crunch and color as well, but that's more of a bonus than requirement.

I know there are some online stores that sell them year round, but they tend to be pretty expensive.

I suggest Whoppers. There's no crunchy candy exterior and the chocolate is somewhat thinner (I think), but those seemed to be low on your list of requirements.

They are somewhat unusual to find in grocery stores, but you may be able to find fun-size packs easily in post-Halloween sales.


What to do with the olive oil from canned sardines? Olive oil is good for you, and it seems wasteful to throw it away.  Yet all recipes call for draining the sardines prior to usage.
Any good ideas on what to do with that olive oil?
Is it some bad kind of olive oil maybe?  Very low quality?  What would that even mean?  Some of the canned sardines say it's "extra virgin olive oil", which should be a good kind.

First, if you are going to use it, do so within a few days, and if you are not using right away, put in another container and store it in the refrigerator. As for uses, you can employ it anywhere you would use oil, and where the flavor works.  Certainly a vinaigrette or dressing.  I've seen suggestions for using it when roasting potatoes, and even on focaccia.  So, no need to dispose of it.  It is not going to be the best quality olive oil, and in some cases it is other types of oil.  However, if you enjoy the flavor and have a near term use in mind it can be used.


Mold from cheese on sausage, is it safe to eat? I stored some sausage together with some blue cheese. There's mold (I assume from the cheese) on the sausage casing. It starts to look like salami (except with less mold). Is it still safe to eat?

The sausage is a käsekrainer, it was stored together with roquefort cheese in the fridge, for about 5 days.

Thanks!

If it was normal blue cheese, there's a pretty high chance the mold is Penicillium roqueforti, which is harmless. However, if the mold comes from something else, it can be basically whatever. In order to assess what kind of mold it is, you need to evaluate if it could have gone from the cheese to the sausage.

What kind of sausage is it? Was it saucisson or a dry sausage, or a chipolata, or wurst, or something different? Do you mean that it looked like salami before the mold grew on it, or that now that it's there it looks like salami? Was it already cooked? Were they stored in the fridge or at room temperature, and for how long?

If it's a dry sausage or already cooked, it's pretty unlikely that a foreign mold would appear on it, so you could conclude that it's the mold from the cheese, therefore safe. However, if it was a pretty "wet" sausage that you stored at room temp, I wouldn't suggest eating it.


Weird problem with curry sauce For a family get-together, I bought 20 large containers of curry sauce from my favourite Indian restaurant - 15 Dansak and 5 Korma. I collected the sauces on Thursday evening. The containers were all hot to the touch. Then I un-wrapped and diced the appropriate amount of chicken thigh fillets. These were bought the day before, well in date and stored in the fridge. I browned off the chicken in batches with a little ghee and garlic. Then I put all the chicken in a big pan and boiled in water for around 25 minutes. Then I tipped all the sauces into two separate pans - one Dansak and one korma. The sauces were still quite warm. I then added the cooked chicken to the sauces, put the lids on and stored them in a very cold greenhouse overnight.

The following evening I took them to the party venue and warmed them up, simmering for a while, to be ready for the guests. Around 3 hours later almost all the Korma had gone, along with some of the  Dansak. At this point I decided to try some of the Dansak. Putting it in a bowl with some rice I noticed a very slight sour smell. I took a couple of mouthfuls and then I had a good sniff of what was left in the pan. Again it smelled a tiny bit funny so... To be on the safe side I removed the pan from the buffet and put it in the kitchen. Half an hour later I asked my friend to come to the kitchen to have a smell and tell me what he thought. Now it smelled pretty bad. It wasn't on any heat but was sort of fermenting by itself, with little light coloured bubbles. It smelled pretty bad (sour) so I put the pan outside. I was now quite worried that I might have poisoned some people. I went back and had a smell of what was left in the pot of Korma. This smelled just fine.

A couple of hours later I went outside to dispose of the contents of the Dansak pot. Now  smell was absolutely disgusting. Holding our noses, my friend and I tipped it into a double plastic bag and we could see that it was actually separating and was really horrible.

This was a couple of days ago. To my relief no-one has become sick. I can still 'taste' the horrible smell.

I have done this exact same thing several times before, with no problems at all. I just wonder if anyone might know what could have caused this to happen this time. It's really bugging me.

I think the times you did it with no troubles you used smaller portions, right? These big portions simply do not cool down quickly enough, and the temperature stays too long in the danger zone, say between thirty and sixty celsius. Bacteria grow very quickly around these temps, and so they spoiled your curries. Their waste is lactic acid or alcohol and carbondioxide, and that were the bubbles and the smell. You solve it by cooling down rapidly, so in smaller portions. The other option is that it stayed too long in the danger zone on the buffet, it was the last to go. Probably both... buffets are dangerous in the best of circumstances...in that case you also have to serve smaller portions on the buffet next time.


How to peel, cut and prepare prickly pears without getting the thorns in your skin? Peeling the cactus pear fruit, or better in known in some grocery stores as the prickly pear (or Tuna, Indian fig) can be painful, because of thorns on it. The skin of the fruit is covered in tiny needles (called glochids). They’re so thin that you don’t even feel them when they enter your skin. The problem is that they sting like crazy when you touch that area of the skin and are nearly impossible to find and pick out. They are also invisible if they fall onto the floor, counter or dish towel, so you can uknowingly get stuck even if you’re nowhere near a prickly pear.

So what methods do you use to peel prickly pears without pain? And how do you prepare it, to make sure that prickly pear thorns won't be lodged in the throat?

There are many ways to do it, so it is personal choice. Here is a google search if you need to know more. Here is how I do it. You are going to need two forks and a knife.

STEP 1

Place the prickly pear on a cutting board or a plate using a fork by firmly pushing the fork lengthwise into the skin of the prickly pear

STEP 2

With a sharp edge knife, cut of the two end of the prickly pear.

STEP 3

Now, cut through the skin lengthwise. The skin is quite thick, so you need to make a deep cut.

STEP 4

With the second fork, pull away the skin on one side from the inside of the fruit as far as you can

STEP 5

Now, firmly hold the fruit with the second fork by inserting the second fork into flesh of the fruit.

STEP 6

Remove the first fork and use that to peel away the rest of the skin from the flesh of the fruit.

STEP 7

The inside of the fruit is now free from the skin, so you can remove it. Place it on a clean plate

STEP 8

Discard the rests, and properly rinse all the utensils under running water before cleaning the next fruit

Other tips:

Wearing welding gloves also works well to handle the fruit To remove most of the thorns before hand, hold the fruit lengthwise between your fingers and gently rub the skin over loose sand. Rinse with water afterwards. Be careful when removing the gloves
A bottle brush or nail brush can also be used. Wearing gloves, hold the prickly pear in one hand while you scrubbing the skin of the fruit with the bottle brush/nail brush. Rinse under running water.

In both of the above cases, you still need to treat the fruit as you normally would as if it would still have thorns on.


How to make red wine sauce? I have tried to make red wine sauce using this recipe, but it didn't end up so well.

One problem was this step:

  Bring to a boil and let boil boil over high heat until mixture is reduced to a thin layer in bottom of saucepan.

How much is a "thin layer"?

Ideally, I would like to see a movie of how it should be done, but YouTube doesn't have such.

Does anyone know a recipe that is explained more in detail?

If the problem you're having is that it is too watery (I assume that's what you mean by "too thin"), there might be two causes:

The recipe you linked to calls for a sizable amount of stock/broth, relative to the wine. It might be assuming that you have something closer to homemade stock, which has a high concentration of gelatin, as opposed to store-brought "broth", which is more like meat-flavoured juice.
You might not have reduced it enough. A "thin layer" could mean anything, but it's not thickness you're concerned about, it's viscosity. When the sauce has been reduced enough, it should have the consistency of... sauce. As in thick, sticky, and slow-moving. If it still looks and pours like water, it's not reduced enough.

On the subject of taste, there's also the question of which wine you use. The wine sauce is going to taste like the wine (stronger, actually), which is one of the reasons why chefs will tell you not to cook with any wine that you wouldn't drink.

It's pretty easy to make a reduction - just continue to let water boil off until it turns into the consistency you want. If you overdo it, you can always add a little extra wine to compensate.

As noted in the comment clarification - if you're simmering at a reasonable temperature, expect to wait at least an hour, and for no less than half the water to evaporate.


Why does cooking oatmeal starting with cold milk make it creamy? I'd always made oatmeal according to the "traditional" method of bringing the liquid to boil first, then adding the oatmeal. I recently discovered a recipe that calls for adding the oatmeal to cold liquid first, then bringing the mixture to boil - the claim is that that technique results in creamier oatmeal.

Upon trying this recipe, I found that, indeed, the resulting oatmeal was creamier than the traditional method. Can anyone explain the food science behind why cooking oatmeal starting from a cold liquid yields a creamier end result than by dropping the oatmeal into already-boiling/simmering liquid?

Flour and cornmeal are well known to clump when added cold to boiling water. Such clumps arise when starch molecules unball and forming a mesh that traps other starch molecules, preventing them from hydrolysing in the same way. Hence lumpy gravy and sauces.

For oatmeal I've observed similar clumping behaviour, but not to the same extent. Anyway I suspect the same mechanism is at work. Since starch hydrolysis is the main reaction making oatmeal creamy, I'm not surprised that slow and steady heating is considered best.


What's the difference between latte, mocha, and all the other drinks on a coffee-house menu? There are many different coffee-based drinks on an average coffee-house menu.  But what makes them different from each other?  What are the differences / distinguishing characteristics between: latte, caffe misto, cappuccino, mocha, macchiato, Americano, and Cafe Au Lait?

I am surprised no one has mentioned this wonderful graphic (Credit: Espresso Field Guide by the aptly named Jay Mug ):


Is it bad to eat cheese after its expiry date? I accidentally ate some packaged shredded cheese without knowing its expiration date. It expired in December and it is now February. it tasted fine, and it wasn't moldy. will I be okay? or should I worry about being sick? if so, how long would it take for me to get sick?

Speaking in general about expiry dates, because I haven't seen them posted in other answers to this or other questions...

Expiry dates are (in some jurisdictions) entirely optional for most goods, and determined by the manufacturer (one example, anecdotally).

Another recent-ish article, which I found enlightening, from National Geographic that suggests that strict adherence to these "dates" results in wasted food that's perfectly safe. There's no doubt a balance between economics... and helpful suggestions for general health/safety.

There's clearly also examples and counterexamples: food that's spoiled before the expiry date because of poor storage, contamination, etc.; unopened shelf-stable food that might be safe indefinitely.

Plenty more questions about this topic, in general, also by searching SA for "expiry" and/or "expiration" in addition to the other suggested search topics.

Be safe out there! :)


Microwave door blew open when boiling water-vinegar mixture for cleaning The inside walls of a microwave have become sticky. I was attempting to be a smart cookie and tried to clean it by boiling a glass of water-vinegar mixture inside it. However, this DIY backfired as the water heated beyond its boiling point and the microwave door blew open. The glass survived the explosion.

Now the question is -

What do I do? Do I clean and use it like I normally would?
If I have to wait for it to dry completely, how long should I ideally wait?
How do I ensure it is safe to use?

I presumed the door just blew open rather got blown off and you were referring to the glass that held the mixture rather than the glass window in the door. I am unsure where the soap fits into your cleaning attempt.

With those caveats, unless there is more you have not said, I do not think it was as drastic an event as it appeared. Before I address your questions, it is worth looking into your cleaning attempt.

All the microwave instructions I have read to date (not that many just a dozen or so) suggest wiping the inside walls clean with a damp cloth or with a drop of dishwashing detergent (rinse with water-dampened cloth afterwards). All advised against using any cleaning agent.

When you boil a glass of water-vinegar mixture, you will have some vinegar in the vapours (Raoult's Law) and their condensates on the walls will thus have some acidity. While that may sound iffy, it is actually not outside of normal use. Imagine you have to heat up a sauce with lemon juice or vinegar in it, same outcome. Vinegar is normally 5% w/w acetic acid and you have diluted it further in water (no idea what ratio you used). At such low concentrations, the vapour phase is slightly enriched and you have a slightly more concentrated condensate, still very dilute. (Equilibrium diagram example) So, I would not worry about the effect of a hot and very dilute vinegar condensing or even splashing on the walls, provided that the inner electronics are not wetted. All this splashing and condensing is pretty normal if you were to heat up food inside anyway; imagine if you had to reheat a cup of lemon tea or hot and sour soup.

When microwaving water particularly in a smooth container, there is always a likelihood of superheating (something you clearly already understood) as the water molecules themselves are receiving the energy directly and rapidly unlike conventional heating. Pockets of water would abruptly and periodically find nucleation sites to form vapours and erupt into a full boil with a burst of volume expanion and a sudden spike in pressure inside the oven chamber, sometimes enough to blow open the door even though the chamber is not air-tight. Again, this can happen in normal cooking (too many shell-on and hard-boiled whole egg accidents reported) and I would be very surprised if manufacturers have not already anticipated that.

Now your questions:

I would wipe it dry thoroughly and then rinse the inside with a water-dampened cloth and dry it again. Then put in a cup of water and test heat it for say 30 seconds at a time to see if it is behaving normally. It would be best if you could just throw in one or two tea leaves or grains of rice or baking beads to avoid any superheating (this is a good idea normally anyway)
Answered in 1 above. If you are really paranoid, leave the door open and air it for an hour. Just bear in mind that when and after you heat food inside, the walls get wet normally.
If you are really worried, get an electrician to check it out. Next time you boil a clear liquid, put a few small food-safe particles into it to lessen the chance of superheating.

Aside from that, you might as well try cleaning the stickiness off while you are clearing up the mess. Use a hand-hot water dampened towel if you need to and a bit of diluted vinegar should not hurt either.


Can I thaw whole Ginger root to use later? Can I thaw a whole piece of ginger root to be used later to make candy? If so, how long can I keep the thawed piece? I froze a healthy root in an airtight container for two weeks, but when I thawed it in the refrigerator overnight it became slimy, mushy and was oozing juice so I threw it away. Many people use frozen ginger, but I've done a lot of searching and haven't found any information about whether or not a root can be thawed to it's original state. Would someone kindly answer me, or direct me to a place where this question has been answered? Thank you very much!

No, you can never restore a fruit or vegetable to its original texture after thawing. Physically, this is caused by the water in its cells expanding and bursting the cell walls. When it thaws, the water flows out of the damaged cell walls. It is not actually pure water, but cytoplasm, so it can feel differently from plant to plant, in this case slimy. It is not always slimy, but any thawed plant becomes soft and mushy, and there is no way around it.

While it may superficially look like rotten, there is no safety problem with it. You can use and eat it without any problems. The advice you found for using frozen ginger shows that, at least for the recipes it is intended to, the change in texture doesn't matter. If it matters for your recipe, then no, you cannot preserve it by freezing, because there is no way to restore it to its fresh state.


Is it okay to use stainless steel in oven? Its stainless steel dish so can I put it in the oven at 250c/482f ?

When you ask "can I put it in the oven?" you're actually not asking a whole question. Can you put it in the oven? Of course you can. Will anything happen to it and your food that you don't like? Ah, that is the other half, right? What might happen?

the pan might warp (if it is thin)
the food might scorch or burn (again, more likely if the pan is thin)
the pan might stain (especially if there are areas of it that have only oil on them - for example if you're roasting a piece of meat)
the food might stick to the pan and not come out well

If the pan is thick, and not a lot of it will be empty and exposed, then it should be fine. Another thing to consider is how you're going to get it out again after cooking. I don't see any handles.


How to inject carbon dioxide into hard candy, to make popping rocks? I have a great idea for a unique candy recipe, but to achieve this I need to be able to make pop rocks. The pop rocks would be inside the candy.

Doing some research I have learned that pop rocks have pressurized carbon dioxide gas inside each tiny rock. I would not have any problem trying batch after batch and getting the ingredients right to make these pop rocks. But it would be useless if I can't get the CO2 inside.

Does anyone knows of an easy way of doing this at home? If not, what type of machinery do you need?

Looks like it takes about 600psi CO2 to treat the liquid candy.
Patent search should reveal more detail: US patent 3012893

Patent links are notorious for decaying over a short time frame.
If the second link is dead go http://www.uspto.gov/patents-application-process/search-patents or here to find find out how the inventors did it.
Patents before 1976, are in image format, and are hard to look through, sometimes Google is a better choice than USPTO on these.

See also US Patent 4289794 (1981)

  Gasified candy which produces a more pronounced popping sensation is prepared by maintaining a sugar melt at a temperature of below about 280° F. ... Such a candy is made by a process which comprises melting crystalline sugar, contacting such sugar with gas at a pressure of 50 to 1,000 psig for a time sufficient to permit incorporation in said sugar of 0.5 to 15 cm3 of gas per gram of sugar, maintaining the temperature of said sugar during said absorption above the solidification temperature of the melted sugar, and cooling said sugar under pressure to produce a solid amorphous sugar containing the gas. Upon the release of the pressure, the solid gasified candy fractures into granules of assorted sizes.

High temperature, high pressure. Even as a hard candy, the stuff has a short shelf life.
Baking soda/acid mixture candies are just Fizzies in disguise. Feel weird when they bubble in your mouth, but they do not explode like pop rocks.


What is the best way to reheat leftover grilled fish? I have rarely (if ever) looked forward to eating leftover grilled fish.  What is the best technique to reheat the fish so that it has the best flavor and texture?

I understand that some of the quality is going to be simply lost.  If you have a certain technique for a specific type of fish, let me in on that as well.

Is it a lost cause?

If what you want is a piece of fish with the same texture and juiciness as fresh-off-the-grill, yes it is a lost cause.

My preferred method for reheating leftover fish is to break it up and use it in another application. Bouilliabaisse is excellent for leftover bits, any fish stew really. Also fish tacos.

Simply break up the fish and add to the stew in the last few minutes (to prevent overcooking), or toss briefly in a pan.


Chemically speaking, why do you have to add chilli pwder earlier rather than at the end? From other answers on this site I can see that people seem to agree that adding curry powder later or at the end will lead to a bitter, grainy and perhaps unpalatable product.  I'm assuming this applies to chilli powder too since I've been adding at the end and have what seems bitter and grainy.  Therefore I guess you should add it earlier on.

I would like to know, chemically speaking, why is this?  Is it because the water level maybe low and water is required to bring out the powders flavors, is it because the powder dissolves more with time etc?  I've been adding chilli powder at the end and not too happy with the results. I want to make sure I get it at the right time and understanding the chemistry of it helps you cook better and add it just at the right time.

Like you would describe colour or music, you add dark at the beginning & bright at the end.

Any type of deep curry or chilli flavour will improve over several hours in the pot, & even overnight, left to go cold then re-heated the next day.

The problem with that can be that you lose some of the 'brightness' off the top; some of the zing is missing.

So you add additional aromatics at the end.
Whether that's some garam masala in a curry, or some extra chilli powder [I favour New Mexico Red for warmth, or some chipotle or smoked paprika for aroma, or just a bit of generic cayenne if it's not quite punchy enough] to a chilli, the purpose is the same - to put back some 'highs' in the flavour palette.
If you need timings, add anything like this when you put your rice on - so you're about half an hour from serving.

Right at the very end you then add your brightest, most delicate flavours - a handful of coriander [US cilantro] or some flat leaf parsley, topped off with a squeeze of lime or lemon.

& there you have a symphony - all the colours of the rainbow.

If you're getting "bitter" or "grainy" you're adding the wrong thing, or trying to add "all flavours" right at the end, which isn't going to work.


How does one use cocoa butter in cooking? I'm experimenting with different vegan solid fats for baked goods, like pancakes.  This fat isn't only solid at room temperature, it's hard as a rock even on a warm summer day.  For baked goods, do I need to do any adjustments to the recipe, or do I just microwave it until it melts and use it like butter?

Cocoa butter has an exceptionally high melting point for a vegan lipid.

For most baking applications, it probably not ideal; you would be better served with a liquid oil, or if you need something solid but malleable, a hydrogenated vegetable oil product like a vegan margarine.

The main culinary use (in general) is thinning chocolate in creating chocolate coated candies or similar, which makes sense as cocoa butter is one of the primary components in chocolate.  Of course, when it is hardens and is in temper, it is literally as hard as chocolate.

Otherwise, you can fry or saute with it, although it would be easier to do so if you purchase cocoa butter grated as it is normally too hard to scoop at room temperature.

If you melt it (and it will melt just below body temperature), you could bake with it, but you may get a different texture than you expect, as when cool, it is much harder than other typical culinary fats.  You will have to experiment and see what the results are like.

It will be too hard to use with creaming method recipes.


How can I attach printed rice paper decorations to cakes / cookies? I bought some printed rice paper decorations (flat circles of rice paper printed with edible ink) for my son's birthday party. I'm not sure what the best way is to attach them to cakes / cookies and I don't have a lot of spare time to experiement.

The options I can think of are:

make my own cookies and press them in to the cookie - either before
baking or more likely after baking but while still warm and soft
place the rice paper circle on top of a pre-baked cookie or small flat-topped cake and pipe some form of icing or frosting around the
edge to hold it in place
pile butter cream icing on top of a small cake, press the rice paper circle onto the butter cream icing

What I ideally want is to be able to do this the day before they are needed, so as well as being held properly in place, I also would like the rice paper not to go soggy / curl up and the ink not to run or leak out of the rice paper.

When I've seen them used, they first frosted the cake, smoothed it out, then placeed the rice paper on top.

My understanding is that the moisture in the frosting can end up melting the rice paper, so that it basically disappears into the frosting, with the ink effectively transfering into the frosting.

As I've never done it myself, I have no idea if there are any special tricks to it, or if you need to use a particular frosting / icing recipe so that the paper will melt away.

update: after a little research, I have reason to believe that normal rice paper won't disolve into the cake but there are special 'frosting sheets' that will.  another recomendation was to leave enough white space around the image so that you can cover the edge of the sheet with a border if it starts to curl up.


How can I recreate the dipping sauce for the cream cheese wontons served at Pick Up Stix? The dipping sauce for the cream cheese wontons is delicious and I would like to duplicate it at home. Anyone have any luck reproducing this sauce?

(Note that this is a soy sauce based, and not sweet-and-sour based sauce.)

EDIT:

Sorry about the recipe request. Here is my take on the sauce.

I think the sauce contains sesame oil, soy sauce, some very slight sweetener, and I think I detect a subtle acid and ginger flavor. Whenever I try to recreate it, the ratios don't seem right but I don't really know which to change. The soy sauces I've used so far are Kimlan and Kikkoman.

Can't help you with this sauce in particular, but I can give you how I would approach it and maybe that will help you.

First, have some of the original around so that you can test against it.  Testing against your memory will never work, although you may get some great results anyway.  It just won't match the original.

Second, take good notes of each attempt.  You're going to be working in one of two ways to create the recipe, either method requiring excellent notes if you are going to duplicate your success once you achieve it.

Third step you're doing right.  What are the predominant flavors?  What is the base, most likely?  In this case you've identified soy as the base, and then sweet, acid and ginger.  Ginger is fine (although you will have to decide if it tastes like fresh or ground), but the others are too vague.  What could the sweet and the acid be?  When you are trying to duplicate something, think of the cuisine.  In this case we are talking Asian (although commercial Asian) so the sweet could be Mirin and the acid is most likely rice wine vinegar which is a mild vinegar.  The Mirin would be a sure thing if this were not commercial Asian...odds are it is just white sugar and it only seems mild because the vinegar is mild.

Now you get to choose which method you want to work with.  You can make several small batches, changing things with each batch, or you can make a single progressive batch, modifying as you go.  If this was a baked good, you'd have no choice but to do each batch separately, but since this is a dipping sauce, you can modify a base batch slightly to get to where you want to be, and is how I would approach this.

Start with your base (soy sauce) and pick an amount that is reasonable.  Since this is a dipping sauce I'd probably start with a quarter cup.  Not too much, but not so little that I have to measure 1/16th of a teaspoon of the ginger, say.  Taste the original sauce, taste the soy sauce.  If the soy sauce is WAY stronger than the original sauce, they probably added some water to it.  If needed, add water to your experiment, measuring and writing down each addition, until it seems a little stronger than the original.

Now go for the next major taste, probably the vinegar.  Add a little at a time (measure, write down) until the basic acidity is right, maybe a little shy.  Now balance the acid with the sugar (or Mirin) a little at a time, tasting yours and the original until they are close.

Now add your top notes (ginger and sesame oil).  You should at this point be close, and can adjust.  If you put in too much of something (say the ginger) you will need to add a proportional amount of everything else to bring it back to balance.  This is why you wrote EVERYTHING down...you did, didn't you?

In the end you should have a batch larger than you wanted, but you'll know everything that went into it.  Look at your actual amounts.  Readjust all of the amounts to be something that you might actually make.  If, for instance, you needed 1/8th of a teaspoon of grated ginger to make this taste right and you know you'll never get that right again, multiply everything by four, so you can do your ginger at 1/2 teaspoon.  It's all about proportions at this point.

If, by the way, you wanted to do this as separate batches, you'd do the first batch as described above.  Decide what is off (too much sesame oil? too much vinegar?) and rewrite the amounts the way you think the next batch should be and then make it.

By the way, if you believe that you didn't have enough of an item, you can always add it to the current batch to see if you were right.  Not enough? Try adding it to the current batch.  Too much? Either adjust the amount for the next batch OR using the progressive method above, adjust the other ingredients to bring things into balance and then proceed.

Note that in all cases I add less than I think I needed to get close, then sneak up on the amount.  Once you go past any amount, you have to do a more major adjustment.

And measure and write.  You will NOT remember the amount.  Really.

And, finally, have fun.  You may come up with something even better.


I need help with a bread recipe I have a cinnamon bread recipe. I am confused about some of the measurement's. It calls for 1 cup of shortening, unsalted butter and melted butter. It does not tell me how much unsalted butter or melted butter. The directions says add the butter to 1/2 cup of  sugar and salt, would this be the butter or the shortening? It does not say any thing about adding the shortening any were in the directions. The melted butter is for the top I think. The cinnamon and  more sugar have no amount either, those I think I can use my own judgement. I have never tried to make this type of bread before. Can someone  help me figure this out?
I've bolded the parts I'm not sure about:

2 pks of yeast
2 cups of scalded milk
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup butter flavor shortening or 1 cup real shortening
Unsalted butter
7 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
Melted butter or margarine
Cinnamon
Sugar
Directions
Mix yeast and water
Mix sugar and salt stir together add butter, but do not stir
Pour scalded milk over sugar, salt and butter.
Add 3 cups flour mix until soft dough forms.
Mix eggs and yeast into dough
Add more flour until dough is stiff knead for 8 minutes
Put into a greased bowl let rise until doubled.   Punch down let dough
double again
Then take dough out of bowl and let it rest for 5 minutes. Then Divide
in half roll into 15x7-inch rectangle
Brush butter over the top of rectangle (I think this is the melted
butter) Then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Repeat 4 or 5 times.
Roll up jelly roll style and put into loaf pans. Cover and let rest
for 45 minutes.
Bake at 375 for 45 minutes Add nuts over the cinnamon and sugar
(optional)

This is word for word. I do not have a phone so I cant put pictures on here.

A quick inspection of common 'Cinnamon Bread' recipes suggests that what your recipe is say is 1 cup of Shortening OR Unsalted Butter; plus some melted butter ('some' being enough to baste/coat the bread with). Shortening and butter are often interchangeable in a recipe, at least 'functionally' (that is for the chemical properties) Butter will most often produce the 'tastier' result.

Edit: After you added the recipe you are using I am revisiting what I wrote earlier to say that while the way this recipe is worded the distinction between 'butter flavored shortening', 'shortening', and 'unsalted butter' is unclear as written but that by ratio (fat to flour) would be consistent with the idea that 'unsalted butter' is offered as an option to the shortening. I would have to second @Jefromi's suggestion: find a better (more well written) recipe.


How to dehydrate nuts using an oven for a short time? The websites say after soaking nuts, I can dehydrate them using oven on low heat for 12 hours.

But can I do it using higher heat for 1 hr only?

and what would happen if I store nuts when they are not completely dried?

Thank you!

Dehydration (low heat, long time) and cooking (high heat, generally shorter) are two separate things. Dehydration lowers the water content, whereas cooking changes the chemical structures in the food but may also dehydrate to a greater or lesser extent.
To dehydrate you need to gently heat for a longer time so that the water evaporates without cooking the nuts.
Higher heat for shorter times may or may not dehydrate depending on the temperature - you run the risk of burning or cooking the exterior making a soft interior and hardened shell. This may result in the interior of the nut potentially being able to grow any contaminating fungus or bacterium, which you might not be able to tell from the outside.


What's the better substitute for Shaoxing wine? We've had a number of questions about Shaoxing wine, including this one.  However, I have one that I haven't seen directly addressed either here or on the outside websites I've been able to find:

Is straight dry sherry actually the best substitute for Shaoxing wine?  Or would a mix be better?

Details: I live in the US state of Oregon.  Due to liquor import restrictions here, I cannot buy real Shaoxing wine; just the awful "cooking" wine.  In addition to its low quality, I have to cook for someone on a low-salt diet so salted cooking wine is unacceptable.

The conventional recommendation for replacing Shaoxing wine is pale dry sherry.  However, this advice is usually based on the assumption that the asker has no access to Chinese ingredients of any kind.  So I'm asking if some mixture of sherry, sake, and/or Chinkiang vinegar might be a better flavor substitute. Since I plan to use this in a sauce where the wine would normally be the majority of the liquid, I'd like to do better if possible.

So, would a mix be a better substitute than straight sherry, and if so, what proportions?

I think mirin is going to be sweeter than shaoxing wine. This link however has much more information about shaoxing wine, and they say that a Japanese sake, sherry, or even a white wine could be substituted depending on context.

This is outside the scope of the question, but have you checked Uwajimaya?


Why do drinks drunk from a glass instead of a bottle taste differently? Cola drunken out of a glass instead to a bottle/can taste differently to me; it is much better. Is this due to more aroma smelled by your nose when drinking out of open glass changing the kind of perception? That is the only explanation I can think of. Does anyone know some detailed medical links on this topic?

It has long been known that receptacles influence the taste and appreciation of beverages.

Wine glasses, for example, are optimal for giving the nose an opportunity to experience the wine. They enclose a volume that allows you to swish the wine in the glass (without spilling it) to impart the aroma to air in the glass. The usually tapered opening keeps the aroma from dissipating before your nose can sense the wine.

Champagne flutes, keep the effervescent champagne or prosecco bubbly and cold long enough to enjoy the drink without it going flat.

Different beer glasses are optimal for showcasing the "head" and are tall for the same reason as champagne flutes (to keep the effervescence going as long as possible).

I think it is absolutely the case that the same kinds of considerations apply to cola and other effervescent soft drinks. My opinion is that the best glass for such beverages is a "collins" glass. It it tall and narrow and keeps the bubbles going for a longer time than a wide glass, it is like a champagne flute but holds a larger volume which is needed for soft drinks.


Pot-Roast in Advance Making pot roast right now for dinner tonight, but have a couple questions that I’m just not altogether clear on...
I used a Dutch oven and it’s in a 275-degree oven currently. Once it’s done, I was planning to put it in the fridge until I reheat it about an hour before dinner time.
Should I...

Remove the meat from the liquid and strain it before putting it in
the fridge or leave the vegetables and strain after reheating?

Cool the meat and liquid separately or together?

Slice the meat before or after reheating?

Just take it out when it’s done, let it all cool for 30 minutes on
the counter before taking the whole Dutch oven (meat and unstrained
liquid) and stick it in the fridge until ready to reheat?

You will end up with different results depending on which options you select, but people's interpretation of "pot roast" varies greatly, so it's impossible to say if any particular set of answers is "better" than another.
For instance, if you like your pot-roast fall-apart tender, you should shred it before you let it cool down too much.  It will be near impossible to get that same texture if the pot roast has been warmed back up.
Likewise, cutting up the chilled pot-roast will result in a much drier, firmer pot roast.  It's also difficult to warm back up a whole roast without over-cooking the outside.
Personally, for my preferences (being able to cool it down and reheat it quickly while having succulent meat) -- I would:

Separate the pot roast from the liquid to let it cool.  Simply because the liquid is a huge thermal sink, and would make it take much longer to cool down the roast.

Once the roast is cool enough to handle, I would slice it thickly across the grain.  (warm enough that it breaks apart some while cooking, but not so much that it shreds entirely).

Place the slices into a container, putting a little bit of the juices over each slice.  (to prevent it from becoming dry as the muscle fibers contract; if the meat is firm enough, you can dip each slice back into the liquid, then the storage container).

Store the rest of the liquid separately.  If it's a heavy dutch oven, I would move the liquid to some other container, so I don't have to chill down and reheat the pot, too.  If you have vegetables in your pot roast that you don't want turning into complete mush, I would put them in the container with the meat.

To reheat, I would heat the liquid first, and then put the slices into the liquid to let them warm through.


Making pickles using dill weed: ideas for containing the particles? I had to substitute dried dill weed for dill seed in a recent batch of refrigerator pickles because I'd run out of the latter. They came out fine and I like the slightly different flavor. However I find the dill weed particles floating in the brine and clinging to the pickles rather unappealing.

Is there any technique for avoiding this? I am thinking of trying a sachet "tea bag" sort of thing, perhaps made from a coffee filter but am wondering if it would allow the flavor to get distributed sufficiently.

The tea filter idea works well and is exactly what I would propose.

You can buy ready-made paper or fabric tea filters that are smaller than coffee filters and more porous. If you want to use metal filters, make sure they are not reactive (like stainless steel) or they can influence the taste of the finished product.

Put your herbs in a filter bag, tie off the opening and put it into the container of your pickles. If you need a lot of herbs, you should use several tea filters, each filled with 2 teaspoons of herbs.