How do different types of thickener actually thicken? What I'm asking is not chemically how they do it, but rather how do each practically thicken.

For example:

Thickening with wheat flour is thickened when at boiling point - cooking further does not destroy the sauce/liquid. The thickening effect is increased alot when cooling.
Thickening with potato flour yields a goopy, gummy liquid when boiled. Etc

What I'm mainly wondering about is:

Wheat flour
Potato flour
Potato starch
Corn flour
Corn starch
Gelatin
Tapioca

Of course, if any of these can be grouped together, that's great aswell!

There are a number of different ways in which gelling agents are classified. Off the top of my head:

Viscosity (firmness/thickness) of solution and gel forms
Thermoreversible/irreversible (does it "melt"?)
Hysteresis (water loss)
Hydration, melting, and setting points
Appearance (in particular transparency)
Sensitivity to heat, cold, alcohol, and pH

Starches are all very similar in this regard. They all form viscous solutions and gelatinize to a stiff and elastic consistency. They are all opaque-to-translucent, have very slow hysteresis, hydrate in cold water and gelatinize in hot water. They tend to tolerate some alcohol and a fairly low pH.

Tapioca has the lowest gelation point, and the most heat stability, and potato starch is similar. Corn starch is particularly weak against acid, heat, and cold (especially freezing), unless it's been modified. There's also arrowroot which is somewhere in between.

Wheat flour is something completely different because it has proteins which form gluten in the presence of water and heat. I wouldn't even consider comparing it to the others, it's sometimes used in gravy but generally you would only use flour to make doughs or batters.

As far as gelatin and all of the other E-numbers are concerned, you can find a lot more about their properties in Kymos' Texture and of course, Modernist Cuisine if you want to shell out the cash. There's quite a lot to read about.

Gelatin, specifically, is thermoreversible, hydrates (blooms) in cold water, disperses in hot water, sets below 15° C, melts at 25-40° C (mouth temperature), tolerates alcohol but is weak against all of the other usual inhibitors, and forms a soft, transparent gel. It's nothing like starches but is a lot like a lot of the other E numbers (Gellan, Agar, Carrageenan, Pectin, etc.) Refer to the aforementioned link for more information.


Sourdough calculator I've been making bread with commercial yeast but now I would like to try sourdough. I read about sourdough making and I was wondering if there is a calculator that can tell me feeding times based on temperature. I have a wine refrigerator that is around 10 degrees celcius, so its pretty steady. Can this even be calculated?

Thanks!

There are plenty of technical scientific papers out there that show how the main components of sourdough cultures respond to temperatures, but there's not an easy formula that will distill this down to a simple calculation.  The problem is that feeding schedule can depend a lot on the hydration level of your starter (i.e., how much water per how much flour), the type of flour used for feeding, the unique microorganisms in your particular starter, etc.

Since you apparently haven't worked much with sourdough yet, you should know that 10 degrees Celsius is a bit low for more sourdough cultures to function continuously.  Instead, most bakers will bring their sourdough up to room temperature (around 20-25C) for feedings periodically.  Bakers who make bread on a daily basis may not even refrigerate their starter at all, merely feeding it each day to prepare the preferment for the next batch of bread on the following day.  Those who bake on a less frequent basis will use a cooler storage location, generally bringing the sourdough culture up to temperature for feeding and growth before mixing a batch.

All of that said, it is possible to grow sourdough starters at a constant 10C range, but in that temperature range, you tend to risk producing a more sour flavor (as the lactic acid bacteria that produce the sour flavor will grow better than yeast at such low temperatures).  That can be mitigated somewhat by using a very low hydration firm dough and diluting the starter culture with multiple feedings to build up a final dough, but that's rather complicated and time-intensive for someone just starting out.

Instead, to start I'd recommend instead bringing your sourdough up to room temperature, feeding and growing a bit, then removing what you need for a batch of bread, and storing the rest at a cooler temperature until you need to feed it and bake some more.

Edit: From a comment, I remembered that it is possible to maintain a starter continuously even under refrigeration.  I don't know much about that process, though I remember seeing such techniques mentioned.  Most standard sourdough starter feeding techniques I know of usually involve removing the starter from the fridge, feeding, then leaving the starter at room temperature for at least a couple hours before returning to the fridge.  In my experience, it does lead to stronger yeast growth to do so, but perhaps those with more experience keeping starters continuously at cold temperatures can give better answers.


White wine substitute in potato leek soup In this recipe, can I substitute or do without the white wine? Is there a non-alcoholic substitute?

Why substitute anything? Cooking is all about tasting, if you like how the soup tastes without the wine then there's no need to add anything to replace it. The white wine supplies acidity, which you may not actually want if you've already added sour cream. It also supplies fruitiness which again may or may not be to your taste. If you want more acidity then squeeze some lemon juice into it, if you want fruitiness add maybe 1/8 cup of white grape juice. Add a bit at a time, tasting as you go to make sure you don't overdo it.

If you decide you like the soup without the wine then don't add anything, your recipe won't miss the 1/4 cup of fluid.


Can I use coconut oil instead of ghee in curry? I've run out of ghee and it's hard to get where I am. Will coconut oil be a good substitute when frying off onions and spices?

Coconut oil is used quite regularly in the southern part of India. It completely replaces ghee or sunflower oil in certain dishes. And as Chris pointed out, it definitely changes the overall flavor of your dish and it may not be a bad thing if it doesn't conflict with the rest of the flavor profile.
As for the original question of frying onions, you surely can but they don't end up very crispy but on caramelization you have a sweet, soft textured onion.


What tastes like marigold? I'm  looking to make Georgian Satsivi (example recipe), which has a complex unique flavour that is hard to describe. The recipe asks for marigold as an ingredient, which I can't find in my area.

I've got no idea what marigold tastes like, but I've got a feeling it's quite important to Satsivi's unique flavour, so I'd prefer to substitute it than just skip it.

I'm looking for a substitute that matches the flavour and I don't mind if the appearance is different. The only relevant discussion I can find speculates that marigold might be used in Georgian cooking for colour as a cheap saffron substitute and suggests tumeric, but that doesn't seem like a great match to satsivi in terms of flavour, and I'm not sure I believe the source.

So, is there anything that tastes similar to marigold?

(and what does marigold taste like, anyway?)

Apparently marigold is quite common in Georgian cooking. I found the following excerpt on this  page :

  Marigold is the "saffron" of Georgia, and although only a little is used, it does make a difference to the colour and flavour. Now, you might think it might be hard to get the spice marigold in Japan, but you would be wrong! I know of at least 3 sources (1) super-premium organic marigold, (2) reasonably priced marigold tea, and (3) super-cheap marigold petals from my favourite spice shop, Ohtsuya (I am sure I saw the powdered spice in their shop, as well).

Most references I found say that marigold has a citrus flavor as noted below from this  link :

  Marigold (Tagetes tenuifolia - aka T. signata) - The marigold can be used as a substitute for saffron. Also great in salads as they have a citrus flavor.

Also, in looking at recipes for Georgian Satsivi I found several that called for saffron rather than marigold. Personally I would try saffron as I think it would work well with the flavor profile of the sauce.


Should I read  ingredient weight as prepared or unprepared weight? Once I have made a recipe a couple of times, I tend to follow my instincts rather than strict portion sizes.

When following a new recipe, however, I have often wondered about how an ingredient's weight should be interpreted.

For example, if a recipe calls for 500g of pumpkin, diced into 1cm cubes, does convention expect me to use a 500g cut of pumpkin, that I then de-seed and dice, or 500g of 1cm pumpkin cubes pumpkins?

In your example, it means 500g pumpkin before preparing.

In general, you might see this two ways:

500g pumpkin. Dice the pumpkin.
500g diced pumpkin.

The first option refers to the weight before prepping while the second refers to the weight after prepping. In general, the second one is far more exact for the actual recipe while the first one is more exact for shopping. I assume ease of shopping plus presumption of yield is why the first one is so often used, although in high end cook books (Grant Achatz, Thomas Kellar, etc) the weights are often given post prep for precision.

You will see the same thing for volume measurements (i.e. one cup of nuts chopped vs one cup of chopped nuts).


Liquid glucose in marshmallows What does liquid glucose do for a marshmallow?

Has anyone replaced liquid glucose with golden syrup or any other syrup for that matter?

What are the effects of using alternatives for marshmallows?

I see a lot of American recipes have corn syrup as a ready alternative but this is not widely available in the UK.

Glucose is used to supersaturate the refined sugar. Without it, the refined sugar would crystallize after some time. We don't want our marshmallow to be like that.


Keeping meat in salt water Let's say that I want to keep meat in my fridge for a week. From what I read, this is frowned upon, as it leaves time for bacteria to develop and to produce toxins which won't be destroyed by cooking the meat. However, I also read that in cold, salty conditions, only favourable bacteria develop, and that's how sauerkraut and other pickles are made.

So, can I safely keep raw meat in the fridge for a week (or more) if submerged in salty water ? What would be the appropriate salt concentration and maximum keeping time ?

I can only partially answer your question but still:

Cold : yes, absolutely
Salt : yes, that would help.
Water ??? No.

Bacterias love water. When trying to preserve meat you actually want to do the opposite, you want to keep it dry. That's how curing works actually. Absorbant paper is often used to prevent the meat from deteriorating by swimming in its blood.

You mentionned pickles, pickling works thanks to acidity. And pickling meat isn't a good idea, as the acid will deteriorate the meat fast.

Now I will NOT tell you here that keeping meat 1 week in the fridge is a good idea or guarantee that it's safe. But cold and salt will definitely slow down bacterial growth.

Lastly, keep in mind that what's most important is to know what meat you bought. I mean who you bought it from, how it's been processed and preserved...


Preserving taste when freezing fish As some sort of continuation to this question: Is IKEA frozen salmon sushi safe?

Will the freezing process to make fish sushi safe alter the taste of it, compared to raw, just caught and cleaned fish (assuming the latter would be safe to eat, which is not)?

I always wondered if making fish safe altered the taste, and if there was a way to make this effect minimal

So, if you've has sushi in the USA, you've had sushi that's been previously frozen.  US regulations do not allow serving raw-from-the-ocean fish.  For that matter, even in Japan, salmon is frozen before serving as sushi, because as a fresh-and-salt-water fish, salmon has multiple parasites that are directly transmissable to humans.  Don't eat it raw.

Speaking from personal experience, I have had actual raw sushi while in Japan (some fish and shrimp were even killed in front of me).  It does make a difference in taste and texture, especially for toro (fatty tuna) and ebi (sweet shrimp).  Beyond that, it's a bit hard to tell the difference between the effects of freezing and the effects of quality differences in fish (I had raw fish in the Tsujiki fish market), and unless you can get "caught yesterday" fish you don't want it raw anyway; fish degrades quickly.

So, so sum up: if you have access to caught-this-morning, ocean-only fish (not salmon), you should try it raw for sushi, but previously frozen is still pretty good, and safer.


How to change the texture on dulce de leche? I recently made dulce de leche using the can in boiling water method.  It came out tasting delicious but it was way to runny. I boiled it for two hours and used sweetened condensed milk and was expecting something that would be able to hold up a spoon. Instead, it was more like a thin sauce. Anyway how do I fix this? or is this the way that it is supposed to come out?

The texture is controlled simply by time; 2 hours isn't enough. Try 3 to 4 hours. Or use a pressure cooker, it goes much faster in there - about 45 minutes should do it.


Why doesnt curry powder completely dissolve when heating in oil? When I grill store bought sheek kebabs I notice the oil drips out and it is coloured while being free of any curry powder though I imagine curry powder is added to the mince before they make it.

I wanted to create the same thing directly so got some saturated fat, added curry powder and fried it.  Now while the colour does change the powder just remains in the fat.

I could filter the powder however I'm wondering where does the powder go when grilling sheek kebab\why doesn't it come out?

Is it become Ive added to much or maybe because I haven't cooked for long enough e.g.few minutes frying whereas grilled sheek kebab tends to be for longer.

Thanks.

As Max correctly points out, curry powder is not soluble in oil.  It's basically just crushed-up seeds, and that kind of bulk plant matter isn't going to dissolve in anything.  The exact reasons why a given substance is or isn't soluble in a given solvent would be a better question for chemistry.se, but you could get a quick primer from this page.

However, the spices that make up curry powder contain chemicals that are soluble in oil.  This is likely what you're seeing in the oil from commercial kebabs.

Three possibilities:

They're heating the oil with spices in it, then filtering out the spices, leaving their soluble components behind in the oil (which would cause it to both change color, and keep some of the flavor of the spices).  This process is called infusion, and infusing oil with spices is common in Indian, Middle Eastern, and African cooking.
The spices are just stuck in/on the food.  This might be the case if the curry powder is incorporated into the meat, rather than mixed into the oil like it sounds like you tried.  This would be basically the same process as above, but the "filter" is just the stuff being fried.
It's a suspension, like Max's answer suggests.  In this case, they would have had to use very finely ground spices, then mixed them thoroughly into the oil.  In this case, I'd expect the oil to be at least a bit cloudy/gritty, as ground spices won't truly dissolve in oil no matter how fine they are.


Does butter really penetrate a steak when allowing it to rest after cooking? I understand that when a steak rests after cooking, the muscle fibers relax, allowing the juices to reenter the meat as described here. I've heard that while the meat relaxes and the juices flow in, they can draw melted butter in as well. Is this true? I've tried the technique and find it tastes great, but I'm not sure if its because the butter really penetrated or because the surface is just coated with it.

I'm not sure the butter penetrates, but it tastes pretty good on the surface. ;)

I think it's pretty obvious that marbling plays a huge role in juiciness, so it stands to reason that if you bard or lard the meat it would also make a difference in juiciness (and indeed, the standard filet mignon with the bacon barding would seem to bear this out).

In the end though, it's always been my experience that once you cook the juice out of something, it's gone for good. I've always considered the idea of "resting" meat to be more about letting it cool to the point where the temperature isn't going to force out juice that would otherwise linger.


Why add pasta water to pasta sauce? I've noticed that many Italian chefs add to their pasta sauces some of the water they used to cook their pasta.  What is the purpose of this?

I believe the primary reason is that the pasta water is already hot. When you need to thin your sauce on short notice, you add hot pasta water and it will not cool down your sauce. Secondary benefits are:

The pasta water has nice salinity, so you're not diluting the salinity level of the sauce. This assumes you salted your pasta water. You did, right?
There is some starch in the pasta water. However, since the pasta water has already achieved a high temperature, any thickening benefit would already be achieved. If your pasta water is anything like any I've ever seen, it's just about as runny as any other water. So this benefit is probably negligible. Perhaps it has more of an effect once the pasta water added to the sauce has reduced.


What's the difference between Santa Cruz Rum and Jamaican Rum? Reading through a book of cocktail recipes from the late 1800s, I notice some recipes call specifically for Santa Cruz rum and some call for Jamaican rum. Is this a mere place of origin reference, or is there some qualitative difference? For example, would one of them be what we now call spiced rum? Or light rum vs dark rum?

The difference seems to have been smaller than that. (I'm not an expert on the subject, but I did read this page.)

You can probably use any aged rum here; light rum would probably have too little flavor and spiced rum probably wouldn't fit. Of course, it depends on the specific recipe.


How long can you store a mixture of old bread in a no-oxygen-container? I watched a TV-program where they made a mixture of old breads. It has no water in it so it is mainly carbohydrates. They used it to fry up such as chicken and fish.

How long can you store such a mixture?

It sounds like you're talking about bread crumbs--you use these to bread the outside of anything you'd want to fry up (i.e. chicken breasts).

If you stored this in a sealed container and kept this in a cool place, I would say a few months, at least.  It's possible that something like this would last for over a year or longer without going moldy.

After a few months, I would just give it a close visual inspection and taste a small amount.  Are the bread crumbs moldy?  Are they stale?  Do they still have any flavor (if there was any to begin with)?  If it passes all these tests, I'd use it.  Even if it's stale, I may still try to make a small batch of food with it because baking and frying heats water out of foods anyways.

Side note:  My parents have some ground spices in their kitchen from over a decade ago.  The spices haven't gone moldy and I don't get sick eating food with these spices in it.  However, the difference in flavor between these spices and new ones are like day and night.   When I cook there, I don't bother using their spices, but I won't complain if they use it for food served to me.


My pizza crust is very hard and tough and not light and crispy, why? I'm having trouble getting my pizza crust light , airy and crispy. I'm not sure if it's the mixing of the dough because I'm using a smaller mixer 20qt as opposed to my old 60qt. The bowl is not smooth and shiny and the dough hook doesn't appear to get close enough to the bottom of the bowl. It looks like the bowl was used to for everything except for making dough.

Do these sound like conditions that would cause my crust to be tough? The dough is stiff and is difficult to work with when I remove it from the refrigerated proofing box. It's elastic like.

This is frustrating because I owned a pizza shop a year ago; I had a recipe from New Haven and my crust was perfect: light, airy and crispy. I now reopened in a new location with a different oven and I'm still using my old recipe and the pizza crust is awful and I can't figure out why.

The recipe is as follows:

4-gal water
4oz yeast cake
12oz salt
50 lbs flour-gold medal bromated bleached flour full strength

The recipe is fine since I had a perfect new haven style thin crust using it for a year at my old location.

Your 60 qt mixer is going to mix dough at a much different rate than your 20 qt, even if their rotation speeds are the same. Your hook to bowl clearance shouldn't be an issue unless you're getting an excessive amount of crusty dough on the bottom of the bowl. The condition of the bowl is negligible too. Most likely your issue will be over/under development of your dough.

Does the dough from your other location pass a windowpane test? How about your new dough? Assuming your relative humidity, proofing box temperature, and oven temperatures are the same, its going to be dough development. Experiment with different mixing times until you find the sweet spot. Also, if you are scaling a recipe down, occasionally you'll need to adjust hydration levels just a touch.


Storing spices against mold I'm storing spices and dried herbs, as I always did, in glass containers into a spice only-drawer. It always worked fine.
But looks that this house is particularly humid, because ground spices, and even seeds like fennel, started to become moldy, and they're not THAT old...
I don't always have access to new spices, so I must buy them all around once in a year.
Is there amy storage  tip for avoiding mold?

Have you considered vacuum sealing? As you are buying larger amounts of spices to use for a whole year, here's what I would recommend.

Obtain some vacuum seal containers sized for the amount of each spice you are going to purchase. Get some smaller glass bottles for your daily use.

When you purchase your spices and get them home, fill the small bottles with enough of each spice to last 2 or 3 weeks.

Then vacuum seal the remainder of each spice in the larger containers.

As you use up the spices in the small bottles, you can refill them from the sealed containers and then reseal them.


How do you prevent your lasagne from being watery? As you can see there is a lot of liquid that assembles at the sides. This lasagne has bechamel and marinara sauce. The bechamel is reduced, with a chunky (but watery) red sauce. The lasagne pages were boiled and drained (but not pat dried).

What could be done to reduce the liquidity of the lasagne and make it more gooey and stable?

Moisture comes from several source. Meat, cheese, sauce, noodles (if preboiled). There a variety of things you can do to address each of these. As mentioned in my answer to your previous question, letting the lasagna rest prior to service will help. So too, using dry noodles, without boiling, will cause the noodles to absorb some of the liquid, leaving you with a still firmer result.

Lasagna is a dish with such a wide variety of recipes that there is no 'one' answer to resolve your issue. But, in addition to the input from your other recent lasagna questions I would add these points to address, in general terms, your question:

To deal with 'water'(or myoglobin) from the meats, brown the meat separately and thoroughly so as to 'boil off' these liquids.
If your meats are particularly 'oily' (say 70/30 ground beef or sausage) you can add some flour (2-3 tablespoons) after the water is boiled off and continue to cook the browned meat to for at least two more minutes while stirring the meat. This will form a roux on the meat that will both absorb the oils and then thicken the sauce as it cooks into it. Then build your sauce on top of your meats. Once your roux is formed begin to add the sauce elements to the meat. First add any broth, wine (or beer) to the meat pot to deglaze the pot and get up those wonderful bits of flavor that have caramelized to the bottom of the pan. After that add your tomatoes followed by the seasonings.
(note: do NOT rinse/strain your meats, this will carry away far too much flavor)
For moisture coming from the sauce (tomatoes, broth, wine...)allow your sauce to simmer longer before adding it to the lasagna dish. Again this 'reduces' the sauce and will leave you with less liquid at the end.
Cheeses, choose well aged cheeses over some of the cheaper alternatives. (Ricotta over cottage, real mozzarella over that pregrated stuff in a bag, etc.) these cheeses are 'relatively' drier and will leave you with less liquid at the end.
On more thing... if you still want to tighten up your lasagna some more, add a quarter to a half cup of panko to the sauce just before you begin to construct the lasagna. This will help absorb some of that moisture as well.

(a word of caution: your milage may vary...use these techniques sparingly to reach your desired outcome. If you over do it, you will end up with a 'too dry' dish)


Water boiling and cooking time Will there be a difference in the time for which it will take for eggs to be prepared in the cases mentioned below?

A. Cooking eggs in a pot on full gas power until the water reach boiling point - and then lowering gas to mimimum power.

B. Cooking eggs in a pot on full gas power until the water reach boiling point - and then leaving gas maximum power.

Question rephrased: in which case will the eggs be prepared faster?

As long as the water is actually boiling the whole time, then there is no difference whatsoever.

Boiling water can only have one temperature (around 100 C, but adjusted somewhat for altitude or impurities in the water), and it stays at that temperature as long as it's in a state of boiling. Keeping the heat up only serves to hasten the transition from water to steam.

The heat transferred into the eggs (or whatever you are cooking) depends only on the temperature of the water, not on the vigor with which it is boiling. As a result, keeping the gas on high will generally have two effects: (1) wasting more gas by heating up the room more and turning more water into steam than necessary, and (2) increasing the chances that the eggs will be tossed around enough to crack. On the other hand, if you turn the gas so low that the water is no longer truly boiling, its temperature will drop below the boiling point, slowing the cooking process (and possibly even changing the end result - cooking is a complicated chemical process that relies on the right amount of heat being applied over the proper length of time).

Of course, there are cases where a recipe may call for a particular level of boiling, but my guess is this usually has to do with keeping the food from sticking to the pot or some such thing, with vigorous boiling replacing the need for constant stirring.


Ambiguities in Gravlax recipe I am going to make Gravlax and found the following recipe:
http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2011/11/30/chef-hamid-salmon-gravlax/

Ingredient list:

2 or 3 salmon fillets, deboned with skin on
2 lemon, peel rasped/finely grated
1 orange, peel rasped/finely grated
300 mills sugar (by volume)
150 mills kosher salt (by volume)
50 grams dill, finely chopped
1 tbsp fennel seed, toasted ground

Question 1: I am assuming that by "mills" he means milliliters. It seems highly unlikely that it could mean anything else, but I hate guessing. Does anybody know for sure?

Question 2: By "2 or 3 salmon fillets", does he mean 2-3 whole sides of salmon, or 2-3 portion-sized pieces of salmon fillet? Judging by the amount of salt and sugar (assuming of course that I am right in thinking that "mills" == milliliters) I think it should be the former.

When making gravlax, both the ratio between salt and sugar and the amount of dill or other herbs is more or less a matter of taste. Personally, I am not a big fan of dill and find that its strong, distinct flavour does not necessarily match gravlax very well.

I use the same amount of salt and sugar (which is common in Norway), and enough to cover the fish fillets. Cover the bottom of a pan or dish with salt/sugar, lay the fish fillet on top of it, sprinkle a generous amount of salt/sugar on the fish and repeat if you have more than one fillet. Don't be afraid to use too much salt or sugar, the fish will only absorb the right amount anyway.

What makes it important in your recipe to use kosher salt (and not any other type of salt)?


How does one glue together fried onions with an edible, savory adhesive? I'd like to make a bar that consists of fried, crispy onions (also known as “Bawang Goreng”) that are glued together. The glue should be edible and savory. I wonder what the best recipe would be for this kind of glue. With some quick googling, I found that some people use a mixture of water, flour, and salt as an adhesive paste. I'm afraid, however, that the fried onions won't be that crispy anymore if I apply this mixture to it.
So my question is, do you have any other ideas for a savory food glue? In particular, one that would somehow fit the taste and bite of fried, crispy onions?

Oooh! This is interesting! I think the first thing I'd like to know is there a requirement for the entire bar to savory? Because a lot of foods mix flavors and textures. Salted Caramel with nuts is an easy example. I can't remember the episode but there was an interview with David Chang of Momofuku on the Splendid Table where he spoke about his grand unified theory of flavor where the most satisfying dishes contain sweet, bitter, salty & sour (often now with hot and umami added in). If you are willing to add in others you expand the range quite a bit as most sticky things are sweet. And you could have just that binding layer be sweet.
If not the next question I'd have centers around what sort of textures are acceptable along with how long until consumption? If, it short term maybe something  Tamagoyaki would work. That's more adhesion by pressing into a softer material and obviously wouldn't work if you are thinking bar as in a packaged bar that gets sold in a store.
Modified corn starch and rice are options. You could enrobe or possibly even spray those.


What is the purpose of using ping pong balls on top of a Sous Vide Bath? I recently saw a picture of expert Douglas Baldwin with his sous vide equipment in this article.  One of his immersion circulator baths was covered with ping pong balls.

What is the purpose of covering the immersion circulator bath with ping pong balls?

It is to lower the water evaporation from the bath, and keep the temperature of the bath even.

The concept has been used in chemistry labs for years! But normally, the balls are smaller and made of polythene - those are a bit big.


Frozen prawns - blue dye I'v been given some prawns from parents where they bought in bulk. The prawns leak a blue dye? Does anyone know if this is normal?

The color should not be a problem for you as long as red coloring in beef packaging doesn't bother you.

That's right, that blue dye is blood. Crustaceans, like the prawn, crab, and lobster, and horseshoe crabs have hemocyanin in their blood to transport oxygen instead of hemoglobin, which we have. Hemocyanin has copper in it to give it its color rather than the iron hemoglobin has.

So to answer your question specifically: Yes, it is normal.


Making Pumpkin Preserve I have ate the most wonderful pumpkin preserves (in chunks about 1-2 inches).  I have bought very small jars from Armenia and Russian stores in the US and the preserves were very expensive, but delicious.  Here is my problem.  I do not need a recipe as I have made good preserves of many fruits, whole and chunks, for over 35 years.  My problem with the pumpkin is should I take off the skin by peeling it and then cutting it, or, should I first cut it, clean the insides, quick boil it for a few minutes, then peel it and then continue on to preserve it?  It's a long process either way, but our hearts want it, so Mama gonna make it. HELP

This site recommends washing, slicing in half, removing seeds, slicing into 1 inch slices, peeling the skin, then chunking, and giving each chunk a brief boil for 2 minutes. Then going on to pressure can the product. It cannot be safely preserved with out pressure.

http://nchfp.uga.edu/tips/fall/pumpkins.html

And I hope you save the seeds and roast them! One of my favorite fall treats.


Is it possible to make pan roasted garbanzo beans creamy in the center? I've been messing around pan roasting garbanzo beans recently, and I'm wondering if it's possible to make them creamy in the center and slightly crispy on the outside, like good potato home fries.

I don't have a lot of experience with garbanzos, so I don't even know if this texture is possible to achieve. I'm currently getting somewhat of a chalkier texture than I'd like (using canned beans and pan roasting on medium heat for 10-20 minutes).

I usually serve these as an appetizer, they're so good with a smoky seasoning blend.
Using canned beans is where your process is falling down. Use fresh beans that you soaked and cooked. The age of the beans are the deciding factor between chalk and cream. I like to use a crock pot and all manner of seasonings.
Other things I've found:

Slightly overcook the beans. It makes them softer, and therefore creamier.
Let them drain completely, while still wet dredge with garbanzo flour (or some flour).
Thoroughly dry them on a flat surface.
Fry on pretty high heat using as little oil as possible, and not for very long, either.

Another note:
I usually make two or three large batches of beans every couple of months. I separate the yield out into 1-2 cup servings and freeze them. I have found that beans which were frozen, but not for very long have that delightful creamy center when fried, but not as crisp an exterior.


How can I keep pasta from sticking to itself? Whenever I boil pasta (specifically spaghetti), it always sticks to itself before I'm ready to use it. What can I do to avoid this without it becoming mushy (which happens if I keep it in the water)?

Of course, if I happen to have the sauce done by the time the pasta is ready and am ready to serve it, I can immediately add the sauce and it's a moot point. But I inevitably screw up the timing and have the pasta sitting there cooling, and then it becomes impossible to separate...

Italian here :) I know that the oil is a well known trick everywhere ... but Italy. The main problem about pasta is that people just tend to cook it too much. The cooking time for pasta should be between 8 and 12 minutes, above this number it will be sticky. Spaghetti is the quickest kind of pasta to get ready, so just cook it around 8-9 minutes and it won't stick.


How to increase butter fat prior to browning? I like to create recipes utilizing Brown Butter however when I am in other countries outside the USA the butter fat is lacking.  May I add heavy cream to the local butter to increase the fat solids when cooked to obtain better flavor results?

The way to get more butter flavor is to use more butter.

The water's going to evaporate, and the solids are what brown.

So even if it's a high-moisture butter, you just need to cook it down 'til the water stops foaming (water evaporating), then brown it to the level you like.

Adding cream or something else in there is just going to make a mess.


What does the clock-like symbols under plastic containers mean? Under many of my food storage containers of plastic, there are circles with numbers and an arrow in the middle pointing at one of the numbers. What does these symbols mean?

Could it be recycling information? Plastic type? Production date? Serial number? Suitable for a special type of food?

Here is a picture of a food storage container of plastic from IKEA:

(click for full size)

This is the date the item was manufactured. The upper dial gives the year, the middle one, the month.

The bottom indicator could be a mold identifier, and in some cases, it might be a shift indicator (although this would typically be a clock going from 1 to 3, 4, or 6 depending on how shifts are allocated rather than the example showing 0 to 5).

See e.g. this manufacturer's datasheet on mold indicators: http://www.plastixs.com/pdfs/datecodeti.pdf


Honey changing into unusable, hardened clump I buy raw, unfiltered honey from the grocery store in jars sold/packed directly by the farmer.
When I had used the last jar to about half, I noticed the honey beginning to dry(crystalize?) to the point where I couldn't use the honey around these spots.
Not too long after this, the entire jar had crystallized into a block of unusable hard stuff.

I didn't do anything differently with this jar than the last jar, but only now am I having the issue. My question(s):

Why is the honey crystallizing, and why so rapidly?

1) Is the honey unusable at this point?

2) Should I store the honey differently after purchasing it(move from jar to other container)?

3) I've never seen this happen to the filtered, strained(fake) honey from the store, so what causes this to happen in the raw and unfiltered form?

Honey is entirely useable after crystallization. This is a natural and spontaneous process and doesn't affect the honey negatively in terms of flavor or quality. It's dependent upon the sugar content of the particular honey, and in particular the crystallization speed is determined by:

the nectar source collected by bees (the sugar composition of honey),
the methods in which honey is handled (processed) and
the temperature in preservation.

To re-liquefy, gently heat it in a water bath in its container, up to 40°C (104 °F) - the temperature of a beehive in the summer. Beyond this will damage the honey.

Don't store honey in a cold area - the optimum temperature is 20-27 °C (70-80 °F). Ideal crystal formation occurs at 11-18 °C (52-64 °F), and storing in the refrigerator accelerates the process.

More information in the PDF at the bottom of this post.

Reference:

www.montcobeekeepers.org/Documents/Honey_Crystallization.pdf


How to make a complex novelty cake at home? how would one make a cake like this?

This is my drawing of what i want my LOs cake to look like. The bakery estimated it at being over 500 dollars! So I'd rather make it myself.

If you want a sculpted cake of this type:

then I would advise against trying it at home. This is a skill you have to learn over years. Basically, you have to be an experienced sculptor in working with cake materials, which are harder to use than the typical art materials like clay. Look up "cake sculpting" on YouTube to see what they are doing. Or search for Cake boss episodes, taking into account that this "reality" TV is heavily edited - they are showing you a very clean and quickened version of the process. Really, I think that 500 dollars is cheap for having your drawing sculpted. By the way, the airbrushing tool alone used for finishing the cake in the picture runs at around 200 dollars, although of course you don't strictly need it for making the cake in such a shape.

You seem to be good at drawing. If you can make a finished, colored drawing out of it instead of just a sketch, you can go to a bakery who has a foodgrade printer, and have it printed on the cake. They mainly advertise it as "your cake with your photo on it", but of course they can print a digitized drawing too.

If you don't want a picture, it is also doable as a 2d picture piped onto a flat cake. If the 500 dollars are for a sculpted cake, then having the picture piped can be much cheaper (I don't think that they would have required 500 dollars just for piping, but who knows, maybe you live in Manhattan). It would be this type of cake, but with your drawing on it:

If you have steady hands and some artistic experience, this kind of decoration is a skill that can be learned in maybe 20 hours. Take a piping bag, make icing, and practice on other surfaces first, even stretched plastic wrap. When you are good enough, attempt the drawing on a practice surface. Then you are ready to make the cake. Fondant or marzipan will look best as the background for the piping, but they are very hard to work with. If you have never done it before, use a cake frosted with buttercream as the background. If you have the time and inclination, you can learn how to make marzipan flowers and add them as 3-d elements on top of your drawing.

The basic skills you need are:

bake consistently good bisquit layers. You can cut off domed parts, but it is a hassle, and if you are not good at getting the leavening right, you are risking cutting into a metallic tasting cake after all this work.
Making buttercream. It is not hard, but requires a bit of exercise and a few tools. You should be accustomed to baking by weight, know the feel of butter and eggs at the right temperature and the right stage of beating, etc. If you have never done it before, again, make 2-3 batches of buttercream before you try the actual birthday cake.
Frosting cakes. Your drawing will probably require a large rectangular cake, which is harder to get evenly frosted than a small round one on a turntable.
I already covered the piping. Marzipan flowers are a further skill I mentioned, but optional.

The Internet is full of tutorials on decorating cakes, watch YouTube videos about the more visual parts. There are good articles on making icing too, and we also have one or two older questions on that.


Cooking stove vs cooking on open camp fire What are the advantages/disadvantages of cooking over an open campfire made with firewood as opposed to cooking on a propane gas stove? And which should one use for which occasion?

EDIT: Thanks everybody for the answers. For a propane stove, if we are carrying it to cook in wet weather, how does this help? We cannot light it inside the tent and if we take outside, the stove will surely go out in case of rain. No?

Campfire

Advantages: Less equipment to bring, you can do everything from grilling to roasting to steaming to baking, makes you feel more awesome for having cooked over a fire.

Disadvantages: Longer to set up, can darken pots, harder to control and regulate heat, more prone to burning food/hands.

My Usage: BBQing/Grilling (Steaks, burgers), roasting (anything that can be skewered), no dish steaming/baking of foods (Tin Foil wrapping), anything else that benefits from direct heat.

Stove

Advantages: Quick to set up, It's just like cooking on the stove at home. Much better control of heat.

Disadvantages: More equipment, you're limited to what you can do on a stove (which admittedly is quite a bit).

My Usage: Anything cooked in water (soups, noodles, hot drinks), Stuff that is really better done on a pan (eggs, french toast)


Will any sugar substitutes brown in a crumble topping? As a diabetic (but unfortunately with a sweet tooth!!), I would welcome any recommendations for a sweetener as a substitute for sugar which will allow browning as in the topping for a fruit crumble.

As breadcrumbs in a savoury topping brown quite nicely (and so does unsweetened pastry) I should think you'd be able to find a mix that would work.

The recipe would probably involve both fat and some sort of starchy ingredient(s). You might need to switch from oven to grill for a few minutes when it's cooked to get enough browning -- and getting just the right amount of browning might be harder, as some ingredients might burn quite suddenly. Of course, only browned sugar tastes like browned sugar (unless you can find a suitable caramel additive).

Perhaps a good place to start would be a "flapjack crumble" recipe, modified in a similar way to the many sugar-free flapjack recipes out there.  A crumble topping that's more like pastry crumbs should also do work but the texture is likely to be less forgiving.


How to eat this kind of cheese I have seen so many of these cheeses but I don't know how to cook or eat them.

I am new to Europe, and have never seen this in my country of origin before.

Could you tell me how to cook the cheeses? Is it just a matter of cutting and eating?

By looking around, it sounds like this is called Gouda Cheese (but I am not sure)

Whatever you do, don't eat the wax rind.

You may think this goes without saying, but the number of times I've seen people unfamiliar with a wax-coated cheese slice and eat with the wax still attached might surprise you.

(Source: lived in the Netherlands for 5 years, across the street from an incredible cheese shop.)


Brisket Smoking - Rest Time I smoked a brisket last night and it got finished (up to 200F) faster than expected.  Took it out to rest wrapped in tinfoil in a cooler.  Fell asleep and it rested for 6 to 6.5 hrs.  Is this too long for food safety? We aren't planning on eating for another 6 hours. Should I refrigerate?  If so whats the best way to reheat and serve?

You want to be careful with food safety. The "danger zone" is generally cited between 40°-140°F, and you don't want your meat in this zone for longer than one hour if about 90° or two hours if between 40°-90·. You should start your timer when you think it reached this temperature. Wrapped in foil in a cooler it probably took some time to cool down to 140, and also it's not exposed directly to new sources of bacteria (though there will always be some that cooking did not kill, and they will start to propagate).

Did you take a read of the temperature once you woke up from your nap? That would be useful info. I don't want to advise you on whether it's safe to eat because I don't know enough about your specifics and in any case you'll be taking a risk, but there are mitigating factors in your case which could ameliorate the risk.

In answer to your second question, if you feel the food is safe, eat it right away. Any other course will increase your risk. Cooling it will continue to grow bacteria, and bacteria can release toxins which are harmful, so reheating it may kill the bacteria but not these toxins.


How to store Curry Leaves for many days? I've used polythene bags and they remain good for at-least 3- 4 days. Then the leaves are becoming dark. How can I store them for at least one/two week(s)?

Put almost all your herbs and leaves in the freezer if you want to keep them for more than 2-3 days. Either in a tight sealed container or ziplock bags. Keep them dry (eg. between layers of kitchen paper as suggested in the comments) so it's easy to separate them when you want to take out some and leave the rest.

Some herbs like cilantro or softer basils will loose their structure when frozen so they are not suitable as raw garnish after freezing (Suggestion in the comments).


Why marinade meat with acid or enzymes? This might sound like a queer question, but why do we marinade meat with acid / enzymes? Given that marinading doesn't tenderize meat, it just turns the outer fibers into mush and releases the juices when cooking? Why not just go with a flavored brine instead?

In other words: Why is it customary to use such marinades, and why is it commonly said that it tenderizes the meat?

Source Shirley Corriher:

http://www.finecooking.com/articles/marinades-flavor-tenderize.aspx

  At first, water molecules are attached to and trapped within this
  protein mesh, so the tissue remains juicy and tender. But after a
  short time, if the protein is in a very acidic marinade, the protein
  bonds tighten, water is squeezed out, and the tissue becomes tough. If
  you've ever tried marinating shrimp in highly acidic ingredients, it's
  likely that you're familiar with this result.

Also

  My experience with tenderizing enzymes mirrors that of Dr. Nicholas
  Kurti, a famous Oxford physicist who tried tenderizing a pork roast by
  injecting half with pineapple juice, leaving the other half untouched.
  A noted chef, Michel Roux, was to judge on television which side was
  better. After cooking, the half treated with pineapple was total mush
  and looked like a pile of stuffing. Not surprisingly, Chef Roux
  preferred the untreated half.

Hardly a queer question.  We marinate in acidic liquids because it tastes good, really.  As Alton Brown said in the Good Eats episode, "Raising The Steaks":

"Acid doesn't tenderize meat nearly as well as enzymes.  But acids can help you tenderize your own food.  That's because acids taste tangy, and tangy tastes tell our saliva glands to do their stuff, and saliva is full of enzymes."

As that same episode shows, we generally don't marinate in enzymes, as it would turn meat to mush, and not in a good way.


Replacement for pasta that is natural and fairly low carb I'm looking for something with the physical properties of pasta (spaghetti or similar, not lasagne). Something that I can toss with a sauce or oil and serve in a large bowl for a weekday supper. Something grain-free and natural.

I've tried a large onion cut into thin strips (probably the most successful) and leeks (tend to be too floppy / wet).

Any other suggestions?

The classic example would be spaghetti squash.  It has the unique property that when you cook it, it can be pulled apart into long, thin, pasta-like strands.

You can then sauce it or use it in a manner analogous to pasta, but its nutritional profile is far more similar to squash, because, well, it is squash.


Is cornstarch and AP flour really a good substiture for cake flour? I was just putting away my cornstarch when I saw this on the label: To make cake flour: For 1 cup cake flour combine 3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour with 2 Tbsp. Argo Corn Starch.

Of course I see this two days after paying a ridiculous amount of money for Softasilk.

I usually use AP flour for simple cakes, but I'm making some really fussy desserts for the holidays. Some of those recipes call for cake flour and I've always gone ahead and bought cake flour for that kind of thing. Would I really get as good a result with that substitution?

It all revolves around gluten and gluten chains.

Cake flour is low protein, and bread flour is high protein, and everything else lies somewhere between. Individual brands have different levels of protein depending on their formulation. That protein, when combined with water, is what makes your stretchy gluten chains, and those are the difference between soft crumbly cake and a french baguette that could serve as a weapon in a pinch.

As with many chemical reactions in cooking, however, you can interfere with the "natural" reactions by means of some clever chemistry. Cornstarch works very simply...Corn just doesn't have any gluten, so you're just "watering down" the gluten content of your flour.

Acid retards gluten formation. Water is critical for gluten formation, unless you use a whole lot of it, in which case it weakens it (a wetter dough will make for a less gluteny final product). Mixing makes more gluten (helps the little proteins make friends with each other), so mix MORE for more gluten, and less for less.

But fat is your friend. Fat waterproofs your flour, and keeps gluten from forming.

Long story short, pick a method you're comfortable with, and stick to it. If you're used to using AP flour, you're going to have some headscratching moments when the cake flour doesn't behave the way you expect it to. On the other hand, cake flour will be more forgiving if you overmix.


Fried Dough Balls Too Doughy I'm (attempting) to make homemade Cinnamon Dough Balls. However they seem to always come out a little doughy. How can I eliminate this problem? I've tried to poke holes in them but they just get hard. I want them to be cooked but so it's still a little chewy. Any ideas?

The balls are about 1in. to 1 and a half inches in diameter. There is no hard recipe I'm making theses as like an experiment.

You're probably overmixing the batter, which is making the gluten form a "network" and rendering the product chewy. Mix just until there are no streaks of flour remaining.

Try not to roll the dough too much in your hand when forming balls. Instead scoop with a spoon and then lightly form in to a rough sphere.


How do HK restaurants keep wok-fried scallops white, with no visible sear marks? After I add oil to pan on cook top and stir fry them, my scallops get brown sear marks. See photos:

But when ever I order Jade Scallops (西蘭花炒帶子  in Chinese) in HK restaurants, their scallops stay white! I phoned them all yesterday and they confirmed they wok fry them  – I don't think they're lying. Top to bottom – House of Canton in Kowloon Tong (first photo beneath),Ming Kee Restaurant in Wan Chai, 金龍冰室 in Tai Po  大埔, Joy Point Dim Sum in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Your scallops are (beautifully) seared on the outside because they are cooked all the way through in a very hot pan. The scallops in the Chinese stir fries stay pale because most of their cooking is done at low heat.

They are likely cooked twice: first they are velveted (meaning marinated and oil-blanched) and then very quickly stir fried to reheat. In more detail, we have three steps:

marinate in a mixture of cornstarch, wine, and egg whites
blanch in oil at a very low temperature (at most 300F/150°C)
make the rest of the stir fry over high heat, and add the meat at the very end of cooking

Unfortunately, velveting is an involved project. It involves an oil-blanch which leaves you with a lot of waste oil. For home cooking, some recipes suggest to replace the oil-blanch with a water blanch.


Is there something special about bubbly water? Based on this answer: Why add salt to potato water?

I always thought that water boiling was about getting the water to a specific temperature.  You can't really get the water to a temperature past that point because as soon as it does it becomes vapor.  You can stick it in a pressure cooker (again, the whole point from what I understand) to reach higher temperatures, but you'll never get past boiling.  Also, it always takes longer to boil things at higher altitudes because of the reduced pressure and thus reduced vapor temperature of water.

But, I don't know everything (almost, but not quite).  Is there something special about water that's vaporizing when it comes to cooking things?  Could you really reduce the energy spent cooking something by lowering the vapor temperature of the fluid you're cooking in?

You're basing this question on an incorrect answer. Like you said, the boiling temperature of water is lower at higher altitudes, which means it takes longer to cook things in boiling water, due to the lower temperature. There's no benefit that I'm aware of in intentionally lowering the boiling point of water (which a pinch of salt does not do, anyway). If you wanted to cook something in water at a lower temperature, you can always just use less heat to keep it below the boiling point.

Put another way, water that is boiling at 190°F does not cook food at the same rate that water boiling at 212°F does, even though they are both boiling.


Cheese substitution in casserole recipe The recipe calls for:

200 g (each): broccoli and cauliflower.
200 g: cottage cheese.
100 mL: water.
1/2 tsp (each): nutmeg and thyme.
Salt & pepper.
30 g: Parmesan cheese.
Coconut oil.

So in the directions, you start chopping vegetables. Then you make the creamy sauce: mixing cottage cheese, water, nutmeg, thyme, salt and pepper. After that you pour this cream in the casserole with vegetables and sprinkle Parmesan cheese. Finally you just bake.

What cheese, or other ingredient, can I use instead of cottage? It can be anything but cottage. I'm looking for one as high in protein as cottage (so, would yogurt work?, but that's more nutrition-related, so a substitution for the texture and flavor would be the answer I'm looking for.

As ricotta is often substituted in lasagna with cottage cheese, it seems like you should be able to do the reverse in this recipe.

Other options mentioned in this similar question include sour cream and cream cheese.


Can I prepare wasabi powder in advance? I've got this little 30 gram container of "wasabi" powder. I'm on a little kick of trying to perfect my sushi rolling technique, so I'm likely to use it up within a month or so. It's just the typical Japanese export to the USA, mostly horseradish with a tiny bit of actual wasabi root.

It's a pain to mix up every time. Will it lose its flavor if I make it all up at once, and keep it in a tiny air-free (as close as I can get it) Ziploc for a month in the fridge?

This is actually quite a good question, and I think one you can only answer it properly if you have actually tried it yourself, so it would be nice if you can post your findings in a months time :-).

Here is my take on this, and also some considerations:

I would actually try to vacuum pack it rather than using an airtight container. There are always some air in an airtight container which can spoil food.

Also, I would rather make enough for a week, a month is quite a long time to store something like this. I believe it will last for a month if properly vacuum sealed and stored correctly, and if it does not get openend regulary. The only concern would be if it will keep its spicyness for so long. Vacuum sealed or not, frozen or not, food still breaks down at a certain rate. You can't stop it, but you can slow the rate of deterioration down.

Another issue that I see here is that it would also become another hassle of continueing opening and re-sealing your stock. This might and will most probably lead to that by the end of week 2 or 3 that your wasabi has lost its spicyness or even have spoiled to some degree. My advice would be to split your paste in say maybe 4 portions, a portion per week, and sealing them separately. You can even decide to split them up into smaller portions. I really do think that the key here will be to not open, seal, re-open and resealing your stock.


Can containers that held spoiled food be cleaned and be safe again? Came home from trip to a broken fridge and spoiled food in both glass and plastic containers.  All was a lukewarm mess.  Can I clean the containers and reuse them, or should I throw them out?

If you can stomach opening the containers and the associated smell, most plastic and glass containers can be re-used with appropriate washing/sterilization.
I would discard the contents, rinse out the debris and scrub out any residue, including removing seals if possible. I would then soak in a 0.25% available chlorine solution (most household bleach is approx 4% available chlorine, dilute appropriately) for 30 min, then rinse the bleach off, wash in warm soapy water and dry. Bleach is very effective against bacterial and fungal contaminants. However, this approach can damage some components of containers, such as rubber seals, so treat with caution. Silicone seals/lids should be fine.
Plastic and glass containers can take up smells from the contents, as can the seals, so it would be worthwhile to give them the sniff test afterwards and see if you can smell any unpleasant smells that might be passed onto food subsequently stored in them.


What's the purpose of sugar in a pickling solution? This might seem like a dumb question, but I am going to make a pickled pepper relish of sorts that is really just chopped carrot, onion, and habanero pepper cooked briefly in a pickling solution and jarred. In reviewing several recipes for pickled peppers, all use vinegar and salt, and some but not all use sugar.  I'd rather just count on the natural sweetness of the habaneros and carrots for flavor.

My specific question is: does the sugar do anything to the texture of the vegetables or affect the preservative qualities of the brine in pickling recipes, or is it just for flavor?

UPDATE: I just cracked open the first jar of the pickled peppers, and I have to say that I don't think the sugar would have added anything to the flavor of them. The carrots and habaneros are both naturally pretty sweet (if you can taste it past the habanero's capsaicin bonfire).  The onions also mellowed with just the vinegar brine. I've made pickled onions and jalepenos (which are less naturally sweet), and even there I've had to be careful to avoid making the pickling solution cloying.  All in all, in this case I'm glad I didn't use it.  Thanks everyone for the info!

The sugar is mostly just for flavor.  I use sugar when making pickled beets and eggs, but don't use it in my dill pickles or pickled peppers and onions.  It just depends on if you are trying for a sour, sweet and sour, or sweet pickle (note that there is no vinegar in many fruit pickles).

Before you decide to run off and leave out the vinegar, however, I would note that for pickling safety purposes there has to be enough acid to keep botulism causing bacteria from forming and peppers are a low acid vegetable.  If you wanted to eliminate the vinegar, you'd have to move to pressure canning.


Making buckwheat crepes buckwheatier I want to make "real" crêpes au sarrasin. I tried twice, but the result does not have as strong buckwheat taste as the ones I tasted in France. I am at loss since it appears impossible to increase the concentration of the buckwheat flour any further. Namely, at the latest attempt I used buckwheat flour (260g), a bit of salt, two eggs, and enough water to make the batter sufficiently liquid for the resulting crepes to be reasonably thin. The previous attempt was similar, but with milk in place of the water.

You may need fresher buckwheat flour.

Also, If you have access to a grain mill, you could buy buckwheat groats, lightly toast them, and then mill them to make your own flour.   The toasting process would amplify the flavors, just as it does when toasting nuts or spices.


How can I measure the performance of my stovetop pots and pans? Am I looking for the ratio of burnt dishes to fine dishes? Well-cooked to not? My general happiness? When should I replace a pot or pan? I am unsure where to begin.

I second Joe's advice.

Your pans may be too thin, that would make your dishes burn easily.  You can test your pans with a simple experiment.  Place a thin layer of water in your pan (an eighth of an inch, or just enough to cover the bottom).  Turn on your burner to high.  If you have an electric stovetop let the burner glow before placing the pan on the burner.  Watch how the bubbles form in the pan.  If they are uneven over the bottom, you have hot spots.

This photo is actually uneven heating from the burner, not from a bad pan, but it shows the idea:

you have hot spots.

If your pans have hot spots you need to stir more often and maybe lower the heat from what the recipe calls.  Pans with thicker bottoms and made with good electric conductors (copper or aluminum) have fewer hot spots.

Then there is what I call the Remick Maxim.  Three years ago when I decided I would learn to cook better, I went through many cookbooks and asked a lot of people for advice.  A great friend (a French restaurant level cook) told me the best advice he ever got was from the actress Lee Remick, a good cook herself.  She said: “the secret to great food is to cook it in low heat.”  Best advice I got on cooking.


How did Cardinal Mazarin give name to a Swedish cake? Mazarin is a classic Swedish pastry, well known in neighbouring countries as well in lots of variations. It seems that - as one with a bit of historic background may guess - it is of French origin.

  Mazarin tarts, cakes or pastries are said to have been named after the
  French-Italian cardinal and diplomat Jules Mazarin (1602 - 1661),
  successor of the powerful Cardinal Richelieu.

(Quote from here.)

My wife is running a Finnish bakery where she is baking variations of this cake; however, she couldn't find any more detailed explanation about the origins of this cake and how it is linked to cardinal Mazarin, not even from Swedish sources.

On another forum, I found this:

  i just found another referance to MAZARIN in LAROUSSE GASTRONOMIQUE
  guide , and they say that mazarin is a kind of a genoise cut that is
  shaped like a cone , covered with PINK fondunt and then inserted back
  to the genoise form with candied fruits and a little syrop and apricot
  jam.

Which could fit into the picture, considering Mazarin was born and raised as Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino in Italy (although not in Genova).

Could anyone with a background in French / Italian culinary history shed light on why Cardinal Mazarin's name was given to this cake, as well as how and when it became a favourite in Sweden?

Well, it seems that Mazarin's predecessor (and at the time, mentor), Cardinal Richelieu, was instrumental in the creation of the Treaty of Bärwalde, which made Sweden and France steadfast allies (with the French basically funding nearly forty thousand Swedish soldiers). Once Mazarin replaced Richelieu there were already strong diplomatic ties between the two countries. Mazarin was also on amiable terms with Anne of Austria, the queen of France, and as they were both food lovers and promoters (Mazarin in particular worked to spread pasta throughout France) it would make sense that Mazarin, spreading some Italian pastry (perhaps crostata di mandorle?) to Sweden, would end up with the local variant named after him. In short, diplomatic ties brought a new pastry to Sweden, and the Swedes named their version of that pastry after the diplomat in question, Mazarin. I don't have any direct evidence of this happening, but it seems to make sense.

Sources:
http://www.cmariec.com/?p=9157
http://acuriouslittleblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/cardinal-mazarin.html
http://samples.sainsburysebooks.co.uk/9781134741274_sample_496911.pdf
My friend's mother is a Swedish baker and knew Mazarin was some sort of diplomat with ties to Sweden


Is cooking a raw steak in the microwave safe? I only have a microwave in my room and I'm moving away in a month, so I don't want to buy an oven or any kitchen appliances, but I still want a steak, is it safe to cook it in the microwave?

Yes, it is safe. It is really more a question of quality. I would suggest that, in your specific situation you get a browning dish. (It would be something that you could still use after your move, if you like.) Please see the excerpt below from  this page .

There is nothing like a charbroiled steak straight off the grill. But for the times when you don't want to fire up the grill - or even get the broiler dirty - there is a way to sear steaks in the microwave on an accessory called a browning dish.
A microwaved steak will not brown well without one, and the dish is really the only acceptable way to brown in the microwave.
Browning dishes can be either flat rectangular plates or black skillets that are designed for the microwave.
Embedded in the plate or skillet are metal strips that cause the microwaves to couple or link, producing an electrical current. The dish also is coated with a metal that is resistant to the electrical current.

You can read the rest of the article and the how-to information by following the link.


Can I continue to age store bought cheese? I know that many cheeses are considered to be better when aged.  After I've purchased a nice block of Parmesan or such, can I continue to age it at home?

Is it practical? Will I get the same result?

Continuing to age a "nice" block of Parmesan is not going to do anything for you. It has already aged for over year and has changed pretty much all it's going to.

Similarly aging cheap, canned, Parmesan-like product that is aged only a month to cut costs will also not be good because it has too much surface area and will oxidize. It isn't very good to start with of course.

Where this will work very well is with cheap, young cheese. Buy an inexpensive block of young cheddar that doesn't have any crazy additives. Cover it and let it sit in the fridge for a month (or more). The bacteria in the cheese will continue to munch on available lactose and turn it into lactic acid. If you ever see mold wipe it off with a paper towel and a little vinegar.

At the end of that time you will have a much sharper and more valuable block of cheese. You've traded your time for money which is the trade-off cheese manufacturers always make.


How to make this shawarma hot sauce? I'm not sure how to ask this question so bear with me. This shawarma place nearby has this amazing hot sauce but I have no clue whats in it! I want to re-create it if possible. I talked to the clerk and he said that it may be BBQ sauce and hot sauce. I originally thought it tasted like ketchup and hot sauce.

Having said that any ideas of the recipe for this sauce?

Harissa Sauce is likely what you want, the sauce has found different names, it's origin includes Lebanon.
I found one of many recipes at:
https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/harissa/


Maintaining a sourdough starter There seems to be (much like everything else) different recipes, though most call for equal parts starter, flour and water for maintenance.
However, one particular (and popular) blogger calls for the following recipe:

  Scoop in 50 grams of the mixture from the jar that fermented
  overnight. To this, add 50 grams rye flour, 50 grams all-purpose
  flour, and 100 grams water

Is there a "correct" answer here, and what's the difference between the two recipes?

The difference is the time until the starter matures. Without going into the maths behind, just remember that growth is exponential, not linear.

My favorite source (in German, sorry), uses 10-20 % of the flour weight. That means that the starter will need feeding about once a day, as opposed to the equal weights approach, where you feed twice a day (or even thrice, if you have an exceptionally active starter). I wouldn’t go below the 10%, just to make sure nothing unwanted can get a chance.

So “correct” is what fits your feeding and baking schedule, as long as the starter ratio is somewhere between 10 and 100% of the flour weight and you give it the correct time to mature.

Remember - the principles of sourdough have been used by humans since way before the invention of scales. So while weighing is something we often recommend (at least as in “use a scale, not a measuring cup”) for bakers who aim to get reliable and reproducible results, learning about the characteristics of your specific sourdough, its demands and behavior, and how to tweak it to match your needs, is in the end way more important than the ratio of starter to flour.


What is the spicy kick in "Kraft Tangy Spaghetti" box meal? So, since I've lived at home, there has been a boxed spaghetti mix that has always been especially good to me. The thing I like about it is a subtle heat of some kind of pepper or spice. I've tried recreating it but have never even came close. I would love to be able to remake the sauce mix with fresh ingredients and tone down the amount of salt that goes into it. Has anyone tried this and able to identify what this spicy factor is?

For reference, here is what the box looks like (in America anyway)

I love the Kraft Tangy Italian spaghetti sauce seasonings and I just experimented with several of the suggestions listed above. I added some dried crushed red peppers into a blender along with Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Dried parsley leaves and an off brand "Italian Seasonings" blend of dried herbs and blended them all together. That was a good start, but then I added a little white vinegar and blended up some mushrooms and poured it all into an 18 quart roaster because I needed to make enough spaghetti and sauce for 50 adults. I began with 1 29 oz. can of canned tomato sauce and also added to it 1 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes with onion basil and oregano already in it. That was close, but needed to add some pepperoncini peppers about 1/2 of one per the above measurements of sauce. I added a teaspoon of powdered onion soup mix and a drop of Worcestershire sauce a drop of Louisiana hot sauce and 3 drops of soy sauce and then it tasted really close to it, or so much so that my wife and kids as well as my own tongue could not make out the difference. Hope this helps and works for you as well.


Silicone molds: transportation and storage I'm not quite sure if this is a proper question for this website, but I hope it is.
My question regards silicone molds you'd use in patisserie for baking (like cakes) or freezing (like mousses).

I am considering bringing back from a trip overseas some items, including silicone molds. However, I'm afraid if packing them in luggage or airplane travel could significantly damage the molds, for instance by leaving dents in them. Should I be worried? Are there any particular precautions I should take when transporting them? Of course, I understand they should be kept away from objects that could cut or tear them.

Since we're already here, I think I'll make the question a bit more general and ask about storage. Is there any care in particular one should take when storing them in order for them to keep their forms or otherwise quality?

I have a couple of silicone cupcake moulds (only cheap ones), and they recover their shape instantly after being stored at the bottom of a pile of cake tins for months (I don't use them as often as many of my metal baking utensils). If they're the same as mine, you don't need to worry about them.


What natural emulsifier can I use for almond milk? I am a vegan and I make my own raw almond milk (blend soaked almonds, strain through a nut milk bag).

The trouble comes when I want to warm the milk for a warm drink or to put in my coffee - if it gets too hot the fat separates from the liquid part and it's really gross. It loses its flavour too.

Is there a natural, vegan emulsifier I can use that will stop this from happening?

Your best bet for this is xanthan gum, which is an excellent stabiliser. Whilst the distinction between 'natural' and 'unnatural' is fraught with difficulties, insofar as xanthan gum is a product of microbial fermentation then it is no more 'unnatural' than alcohol or vinegar.

Be careful not to use too much though (unless, of course, you  want your drink to have the texture of mucus), you really only want to use about 0.4% of the volume of the liquid you're trying to stabilise: so if you have 500ml of milk then you would use 2g of gum. Add it to your liquid and use a blender or an immersion stick to incorporate, a few pulses should do, any more than that and you'll just incorporate air and you could just end up with an annoyingly stable foam!


Lumps of flour in my sauce During the thickening of my sauce I accidentally poured too much flour into my sauce. This resulted into lumps of flour.

Is there a way to get rid of these lumps?

Once this has happened, about the only practical way to remove them is with a strainer.  Of course that will remove anything else in the sauce like onions as well.

In the future, you can use better ways to thicken your sauce.  See some ideas in this question, which while phrased for mushroom sauce, has a very general answer:  How can I thicken my mushroom sauce?


Can ghee be used instead of butter in dessert recipes? Butter is an inevitable ingredient in most of dessert recipes. By definition, ghee is just clarified butter, but to me, the taste is completely different. The taste of butter is more close to heavy cream, while that of ghee is more close to cooking oil (at least to my tongue).

Is it good to use ghee instead of butter in dessert and pastry recipes`? Doesn't it ruin the taste to be far from the original standard?

moved here from a comment:

Ghee does have a different aroma and consistency, so, depending on the use of it in the recipe (wether it is used for frying or in the frosting for example), it will quite likely change the final result.

So in some cases substituting butter with some neutral flavored oil or margarine might be better than ghee. Which, I know, might not help if ghee is all you've got.

Also wanted to include what @rumtscho adds in the comment above:

  in recipes where the fat ratio is important, ghee (which is 100% fat)
  can ruin the ratio because butter is 83% fat.

And as to standards, they can be quite relative (making something that tastes slightly different doesn't necessarily ruin it) ... if you are making the desert for an indian audience, using clarified butter might taste quite normal =)


Why does my soda fizz so much when making an ice cream float? When pouring a standard glass of soda (usually Diet Pepsi), whether on ice or not, the soda fizzes a bit and quickly dies down. When pouring soda over ice cream (again, usually Diet Pepsi but also Root Beer) the soda is particularly fizzy and "foamy" and takes significantly longer to die down.

Why is this? Is there anything I can do to help the soda to not foam up so much or to die down more quickly? (Not interested in flat soda)

When carbonated root beer comes into contact with the ice cream, carbon dioxide bubbles are released. Likewise, the soda helps to free air bubbles trapped in the ice cream. The fat in the ice cream coats all these bubbles, protecting them and allowing them to expand to create the huge heads of foam you see on root beer floats.

https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/why-is-there-so-much-foam-in-a-root-beer-float

To expand on the first point, I believe they are referring to the ice crystals providing a nucleation site for the dissolved gases.


Using muffin/cupcake pan for basque burnt cheesecake I've seen images of regular cheesecake (crust + filling) baked in muffin tins,

Will basque burnt cheesecake be as creamy as the original in muffin/cupcake pan?
Here's the pan I'd like to use, each tin around 7.5 cm/3 inch:

I expect that you will need to change the baking temperature or (mostly) the cooking time.
The smaller muffin pans have a large surface area so the heat will penetrate quicker and cook your cheesecake quicker.
I suggest you experiment, check to see if there are cheesecake recipes that use muffin pans to have an idea about cooking time and temperature.


What is the best frying pan for even heating, using a large pan on a much smaller burner? Most often in the past I have cooked on a gas range, which I prefer rather than electric. But recently we moved and since I am renting stuck with a rather modest electric range.

The elements are 5" and 7" diameter, and frying pans I have are around 12" diameter and non-stick.
I have had real problems where the center of the pan cooks hotter than the edges and I have to move food around alot to get even cooking.

I am not looking for brand recommendations, but what kind (material-wise) of frying pan is most suited for even heat distribution? Either regular or non-stick does not matter to me.

Aluminum and copper are the best heat conductors you'll find in a pan (actually they are about the best heat conductors in general). Get the thickest you can get/afford, possibly a layered (clad) construction.


What is the best way to turn the chunks of jaggery into fine powder? I have big chunks of jaggery. I want to turn them into fine powder.

What is the best way to turn the chunks of jaggery into their powdered form?

I usually grate my jaggery block on a microplane grater although your standard cheese grater will work too. I haven't tried a food processor yet, although that would probably work.

Next time I'm going to get granulated palm sugar as I've found working with a jaggery block too much hassle.


Freezing Tomatoes for Winter? Local farmers are currently dumping tomatoes with about 0.5EUR per kg. It is a very low price. I know how to branch small things but tomatoes are large. The video here mentioned to use C-vitamin against the enzymes and sugar against crystallization. It also instructed to cut larger fruits into pieces to increase the area. Does it work with tomatoes with so much juice?

Is it possible to freeze them for winter and how?

When I freeze tomatoes, the main thing I worry about is getting the skin off. To do this, score the bottom with an X, then blanch. After cooling in ice water, pull the skin off. I haven't ever worried about the details you mention, or about cutting them up, and I have had great success.


Can you put a bottle of whiskey in the oven I was in the mood to give someone a bottle of whiskey, but to customize it, I wanted to decorate it with polymer clay. But to set polymer clay, you have to put it in the oven and so therefore I would have to put it on the bottle of alcohol and then put in the oven.
My question is, is it safe to keep the bottle unopened with alcohol inside or should I just pour out the alcohol and reseal it with wax?

In general, you wouldn't want to put a sealed glass bottle filled with any liquid in your oven.
If you want to try and are still working on it, remove the cap, empty the alcohol into another container, bake the bottle and cap covered in clay separately leaving room to screw the cap on.
Let the bottle cool completely, then add the alcohol back in.
It's imperative that you let the bottle cool to room temperature, the shock of the oven hot bottle having liquid poured into it would probably shatter it.
In my opinion, baking a sealed, full bottle, is just asking for either a dangerous accident or a big mess.


What is the liquid often ladled onto the grill top in restaurants? At some restaurants, I've often seen the cook place something like vegetables onto the grill top, ladle a small amount of liquid on top of them and then cover it with a lid. My assumption is that this is water so that the steam will help cook the food faster, but my fear is that it's just a bunch of oil.

What is this liquid?

What you describe is grill basting - where a liquid is poured onto the grill and covered (with a metal salad bowl or a basting cover) to more evenly cook the food and maintain its moisture. The liquid is added towards the latter half of cooking, as adding it in the first half of cooking has no real beneficial effect. Additionally, the steam will melt cheese more evenly if grilling burger patties.

Typically, this liquid is a stock (chicken or pork stock if cooking chicken, vegetable stock if cooking vegetables and beef stock if cooking beef) or water.

On a personal note, I sometimes dissolve a pinch of salt in the water if I don't have any stock available.


How do I keep fruit from sinking to the bottom of my cake? I recently had the opportunity to cook a series of yoghurt cakes.  The first batch were tasty yet somewhat dense.  For the second batch, I (successfully) attempted to lighten the cake by first beating the egg whites until foamy before folding in the rest of the mixture.

Both times I used fruit (raspberries) in my mixtures.  For the dense batch, they 'floated' throughout the mixture.  In my second, lighter batch, they all sank to the bottom.

As I found the second, lighter mixture to be better in general, is there some trick to keeping fruit from sinking like that?

Dust the fruit with a little flour before adding to the cake. It will act like a glue and prevent the fruit from sinking.


Substituting Dried Shiitake Mushrooms for Fresh I have a recipe that calls for 12 oz of fresh Shiitake mushrooms.  Due to cost and availability concerns, I decided to get dried instead, figuring I would be able to find information about how to substitute dried Shiitake mushrooms for fresh, but I have been unable.

What would an appropriate ratio be for substituting dried shiitakes for fresh?

I answered a question like this previously. How to work with Dried Mushrooms?

Cold water - the best way to keep the original flavour.

It will take at least couple of hours.

I would soak them in cold water for about 15 mins
Pour all the water out. Put in fresh water and keep soaking it. I will do this step couple of times. Remember you may retain the water as flavour, but you have to clean the mushroom and make sure the bitterness is gone. Also, I must say the imported Chinese mushroom must be handled carefully as there have been reports their process may contain some chemicals.
After a couple of hours, make sure the mushrooms are soft and take them out of water and drive them thoroughly. You may keep the water if you wish. The mushrooms are good for steamed and stir-fry.

Hot water

If you are in rush, then you may use hot or warm water. You still have to go through the cleaning process, but the time required will be less.


Mothballs in food cabinets I tossed mothballs in my kitchen cabinets about a month ago, now everytime I open cabinets all I smell is mothballs, and the food smells like mothballs too. Can I eat the food or should I throw it away?

Mothball is a mild poison.  msds

Contamination via vapor to food may only be mildly toxic but not a good idea.

You can keep food in unopened cans and air tight glass containers. Wipe them down with a mild detergent. Sealed plastic containers is questionable. Remove everything then wipe the cupboards and walls with a light detergent. Let them dry / air out thoroughly before returning food to the cupboards.


What is the benefit of using a Mezzaluna Knife over a traditional knife These seem popular in many modern knife sets, and I have seen them used (somewhat clumsily) in Europe.

I have briefly tried some before, but couldn't see the benefit of it. But then again no one seemed to know how to use it correctly

Does anyone actually use these to good effect? If so, what is actually gained over a normal knife?

Which type (single or double blade) and size does this apply to?

Examples:

Advantages

no hand needed to hold the food, therefore safer for children or those lacking knife skills
quicker for those lacking knife skills
no need for gloves when cutting foods that can irritate the skin, like chillies.

Disadvantages

Awkward and dangerous to wash in between the blades for the double-blade version.
Difficult to store safely
A unitasker really only suited for chopping herbs and spices. The most common items chopped in many cuisines, onion and garlic, would require rough chopping first with a traditional knife, making it hardly worth it.
Inhibits the development of valuable knife skills.


How can I impart bacon flavor into collard greens without losing crispness? I have tried cooking collard greens several times and each time I have been somewhat disappointed in my results. Specifically, I have tried cooking the collards by adding bacon and never feel like I add it at the right time.  I want there to be enough flavor from the bacon without cooking it so much that it loses its crispness.

Any ideas on how to correct this?

One way to do it is to render the fat from the bacon first. Once the bacon is crispy you can remove it and add the greens. Cook them down until finished and right before serving you can add the bacon crumbled. If it's served right away the bacon will be crispy. If you leave it out too long or go to re-heat the next day then they will be softened. There is no need to add anything to the bacon grease unless it's not enough to cook all the greens in. In this case just add a couple of tablespoons of butter. This is definitely not a low fat way of cooking greens, but it's the best way I know of getting that bacon flavor into the greens. Hope that helps!


What is French couscous? In the US some supermarkets carry several varieties of couscous in their bulk sections, one of which is labeled French couscous. How does it differ from the other varieties of bulk grains called couscous?  Is it just a matter of shape?

My guess is that what they call French couscous is really Lebanese couscous in marketing disguise. The Lebanese speak French, and calling it Lebanese might put people off due to their political leanings. French is probably just more palatable. Kind of like creating the term canola oil in favor of trying to market rapeseed oil.


How long do vitamins last in multivitamin juice? I like to drink multivitamin juice similar to this, but it takes me a 3 or 4 days to drink whole carton.

How long will these added vitamins last, when kept in the refrigerator?

How long will they last, when I keep the juice in a room temperature?

I'm not asking how long the juice will be safe to drink, but only about the vitamin content (A, C, and various from the B group).

If you drink up your juice within 3 to 4 days, the vitamin content will not decrease significantly. Usually, if properly stored, vitamis last for years.

Here is a link to some more information. Although not specifically talking about juice, I still found it informative: https://labdoor.com/article/do-vitamins-go-bad


Substitution of root beer concentrate for extract I'd like to make these root beer float cupcakes. The recipe calls for root beer extract, but I haven't found any locally, and the cost plus shipping on Amazon is a little more than I'd like. I've tried googling this, but haven't come up with a definitive answer: can I substitute root beer concentrate (easily bought locally)? If so, what adjustments have to be made?

Usually extracts are used for flavoring foods, but in this case root beer extracts and concentrates both are for making root beer at home, so I would suspect that you could use concentrate in this case as long as you get the proportions right and use a non-sweetened concentrate. The products out there vary in concentration and sugar content, you'll probably have to buy one and experiment to get the amounts right.


Sponge cake with only three ingredients - will this work at all? I have a recipe for a sponge cake only consisting of sugar, eggs and flour. To be honest, I am a bit afraid to to try it.

How can this create a fluffy cake - where does the air come from? Won't it be really dry because there is no fat in it?

Also, when doing a cake like this, do I need to pay special attention to something? I am really skeptical that this will work.

How long can I store the undecorated cake? Where and how to store it?

Edit:

Ingredients

6 large organic eggs
180g caster sugar
180g plain organic flour (sieved)

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C.
Break 6 eggs into a very clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk the eggs gently to break them up, then add the caster sugar and whisk on medium high speed until the ‘thick ribbon’ stage is reached. This means the mixture will be light, have increased substantially in volume and be of a moussy consistency. When you lift the whisk the mixture should fall slowly in thick ribbons.

While the eggs are whisking, grease three (22cm diameter) cake tins and line the bottom with a disk of parchment paper.

When the thick ribbon stage is reached, add the sieved flour and fold in very gently to fully incorporate without knocking the air out of the mixture. Very carefully apportion the mixture between the three cake tins and pop in the oven for 15-20 minutes, turning two thirds of the way through the cooking time. You will know when they are ready as they should be golden brown and coming away slightly from the edges of the tins.
 Remove from the oven and cool in their tins for 10 minutes before carefully turning out and leaving to cool completely on a wire rack.

source

The key to this cake is the whisking of the eggs and sugar to the ribbon stage.  This incorporates a significant amount of air into the batter.  You didn't mention it, but I imagine the flour is then folded in.

The cake will work mechanically.

However, I cannot imagine it will taste very good:  there is no salt to enhance flavor, no fat (other than from the eggs), and no flavoring such as vanilla.  So the only significant flavor will be from the eggs themselves.

As to how long it will keep, I imagine it would freeze well; it will probably keep at room temperature for 2-3 days.

Update: I see from the link added to the question that these layers are intended to be used in layer cake with other flavors and components, where its neutrality is actually a virtue.  I still think it needs about 1/2 tsp of salt, and maybe a touch of vanilla or even pistachio extract if you can get it, but the neutral flavor makes sense in context.


How to achieve a crispy skin when roasting a chicken? I have an accurate electric oven, but when I attempt to roast a chicken, it always seems to come out more steamed than roasted. A lot of liquid seeps out during the cooking, could this be causing the chicken to seem more steamed than roasted?

Here’s what I do:

I bake a 3-pound roaster chicken at 325-350 deg F, in an electric oven. I place the chicken uncovered on a wire grate over a sheet pan or shallow roasting pan. I seasoned with salt and pepper, following what seems standard procedure in most recipes. I use a meat thermometer and remove the chicken when 160 deg.F. is reached.

I tried dumping out the liquid during roasting, which didn’t help. I even tried browning in a skillet first, but that was just a mess.

I would like to crisp up the skin. How can I do this?

The issue in achieving crispy skin is managing the moisture content. At least one day (but as many as 3) before you plan to roast the chicken, salt the exterior and interior with kosher salt.  Place in the refrigerator uncovered.  This will draw out moisture.

I also prefer roasting at much higher temperatures, in the 425F to 450F range. This will help as well.

Finally, try to use chickens that were not frozen first...or, if they were, plan ahead so they thaw very slowly in the refrigerator.  Quick thawing pf chicken causes the release of an excessive amount of liquid when cooking.


What is this double-serrated knife good for? I was recently given an unused knife from an elderly relative who downsized her home. It is stainless steel with a sort of "double serrated" edge.

Out of curiosity I gave it a try and it more "shredded" than cut my meat and almost destroyed my plastic cutting board. It is also a pain in the proverbial to clean because food particles cling to the tiny spikes and it catches on the cloth and towel.

I don't really need it - my kitchen is fully equipped for my needs - but before I delegate it to "garden duty" (makes a good impromptu saw), I'm asking for your input:
Am I missing something here? Does it have a special use or advantage I just don't see?

You are not missing anything, that is a cheap serrated "no sharpening" knife from a set. The only possible advantage to it would be when cutting soft tomatoes, where having a bit of serration helps. For that I use a bread knife anyway, so I'd say you have no use for that knife at all in the kitchen.


Rescuing contaminated home made jam - possible? I had a bash as making some home-made 'apple & blackcurrant' jam today and had reached the stage of testing to see if it had reached 'setting point'. I asked my partner to spoon a bit of the jam on to the cold saucer I was holding, expecting him to use the wooden spoon with which I'd just been stirring the jam.

However, before I could stop him, he grabbed another spoon and pliunged that in to the jam instead. When he asked me what was wrong, I explained to him that the spoon he was holding, had been used about ten minutes earlier ,to bast a roast chicken - and had not been cleaned since!

Is the jam too contaminated to be edible now or can it be rescued by re=boiling it -for a set period of time), in order to kill off any cross contamination?

One thing to remember with food safety is that questions like "is my food safe/contaminated/edible" can't be answered with a simple yes/no. There's no way to be certain if eating a given food will without question make you sick; even if you were to sample and test for bacteria and toxins, you could simply have missed a contaminated portion, or there might not be enough of a contaminant to make you ill. Conversely even food prepared as safely as possible can be contaminated immediately by bacteria in the air.

All you (or anyone) can do is determine how preparation affects the probability that food has a chance of making you ill. In commercial/professional settings, there are known-good, legally-enforced standards for practices that promote low levels of risk and avoid the potential for serious contamination (which still vary by country and setting!) At home, no such standards exist - there are guidelines, yes, but you as the person eating or serving the food have to determine whether a given level of risk is acceptable to you.

So - all that said, concerns around chicken usually center on salmonella or e. coli, two bacteria that are relatively common in chicken (due to factory farming practices) and which can make you seriously ill. Both are destroyed by sufficient heat, which is in part why we're instructed to thoroughly cook chicken; they can also spread easily, which is why cross-contact with raw chicken should be avoided. Once chicken has been cooked and the pathogens killed, it doesn't present the same level of risk. It sounds like that's the case here; a spoon used for basting would mainly come into contact with (very hot) basting liquid, and perhaps the (very hot) outer surface of the roast chicken. So there's not the same level of risk as if your partner had used, say, a pair of tongs used to handle the raw chicken.

A properly prepared jam is also not terribly susceptible to contamination. Even though it's largely sugar, there's so much sugar that it "locks up" most of the available water; there's not enough free moisture for bacteria to thrive. The exception for jam is if you're canning it for storage at room temperature. In this case a much higher standard must apply; long-term storage provides ample time (and the right temperature range) for even small amounts of contamination to grow to hazardous levels. For canning, just about any deviation from a known-good recipe must be regarded cautiously, including incidental cross-contamination.

Some other things to consider are possible high-risk individuals who might eat your jam. For people with compromised immune systems or other conditions, even generally harmless amounts of contamination present an elevated risk. If either you or your partner have an immune deficiency or are pregnant, exercise greater caution. The same applies if there are small children or elderly adults who will be eating your jam. You should also consider allergies; an adverse reaction to chicken itself isn't that common, but it is possible, and allergic response can be triggered by very small amounts of incidental allergen. Anything that was in your braising liquid could now be present in very small amounts in the jam.

Overall, I wouldn't say that this presents an egregious or unmanageable risk. If you don't have health reasons to be specially cautious, and if you keep the jam stored in the refrigerator, it probably presents a relatively low risk. I wouldn't advise canning with it, nor breaking up with your partner over an honest mistake. In the end, you must determine for yourself whether this is sufficiently safe to justify the small potential risk that the accidental cross-contact introduced.