Why my meatballs sweated all of their fat? I have made simple meatballs with red onions, some eggs, drizzle of olive oil and chopped scallions. Put them into the oven at 220c (440f) and this is what came out:

They sweated all of their fat and juices. What was left was very dry meat with almost no flavor. They weren't in the oven that long at all. Why did my precious meatballs sweat all of the fat they worked so hard to gain at the farm?

Regarding the chemistry of what happened here, @rumtscho's comment addresses that very nicely.  Quoting from the relevant portion of the linked answer:

  This scum is made from proteins. Meat contains muscle fibers (the proteins actin and myosin) as well as some loose proteins swimming in the fluids within the meat (the cell plasma). When you cook meat, the protein-rich fluids are expelled (that's why overcooking makes meat dry). Under hot temperature, the proteins in the fluid coagulate, making it firm.

As to why that occurred in this case and what you can do about it: you've provided a list of ingredients that includes a lot of moisture, with very little to help bind everything together.  Eggs contain a lot of water, and onions will release quite a bit as they cook too.  This exacerbates the problem of fluid expulsion noted above.  This is why you will very often see breadcrumbs (and sometimes a dry cheese such as parmesan, especially in Italian recipes) included in meatball recipes.  They're not just filler; they help to absorb the juices expelled by the meat itself as it's squeezed out by the cooking process.  It's a little counter-intuitive, but the dry breadcrumb helps to keep the meatballs moist and shapely as they cook.

Next time consider reducing the amount of egg (you don't specify how much you used, but I rarely use more than 1 egg per pound of ground meat) and adding a bit of breadcrumb to your recipe: perhaps 2 tablespoons per pound of meat as a starting point, up to about 1/4 cup depending on other ingredients.  Given the onion and other things here, I would err on the high side of that.


Does cast iron have a coating from the manufacturer? I have an old Wagner Ware cast iron skillet (marked as model 1056T; measures about 7 inches inside bottom). This was given to me by my grandmother.

Where the handle meets the pan, you can see a marked difference in material. It looks like the pan used to have some sort of coating that has now come off.

I have another one (bought at a thrift shop) that has no markings except "No. 10  12 7/16" on the bottom. It also looks like it had a black coating and a more silver color is showing through on the round ridge on the bottom outside and on the rim edge of the pan.

I keep these seasoned, but neither behaves as well as the Lodge pan I bought new a few years ago.

So I'm wondering if they originally would have had some sort of coating. I thought not, but they just look so odd.

It depends. Traditionally cast-iron did not come pre-seasoned.

Lodge, as you know, specializes in pre-seasoned and enameled cast-iron pans. Lodge pans work great, but there isn't anything exceedingly special about their seasoning; it's simply vegetable oil (soy) baked onto the pan. You should be able to achieve a similar seasoning quality at home using the methods described here:

What's the best way to season a cast iron skillet?

Wagner skillets do not come pre-seasoned from the manufacturer. However, they did typically come with some coating in place to prevent rusting. This coating, while safe, is not intended to be a "seasoning". It wears off over time, and it's role is subsequently filled by proper seasoning.

Update

Based on your photos, that looks to be the coating I described above.


Can I substitute decaf coffee for espresso I'm baking cupcakes and the recipe calls for espresso but I was wondering if I could substitute decaf coffee instead since it's for children.

Yes, probably.  I've substituted decaf coffee in a number of recipes that called for regular coffee or espresso, particularly when it might be served to kids.  (And frankly, also for myself, because I don't like to consume caffeine late in the day anymore either.)

Some substitution guides will tell you to brew the coffee a little stronger than usual, which might imitate the stronger flavor of espresso.  The problem with that is twofold: (1) the high-pressure espresso extraction process highlights different flavor components compared to just a normal strongly brewed coffee, and (2) decaf coffee often has unbalanced notes to begin with, given the processing necessary to remove the caffeine.  By brewing it stronger, you risk bringing out the unpleasant "stereotypical decaf coffee" flavors even more.

Of course, in many recipes the amount of coffee is minimal, so this may not matter.  But unless you're certain your decaf coffee is pleasant when brewed strong and will complement the other flavors in the recipe, I might just brew it as usual, rather than trying to "amp it up" to make it more like espresso.


Packed meat unrefrigerated storage I have a 1kg beef brisket, still in store packaging, sitting at room temp for 24 hours. Is it safe?

No it is not safe it has exceeding USDA time and temperature guidelines.

See the following for guidelines

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/safe-food-handling/danger-zone-40-f-140-f/ct_index


Are there any natural preservatives that can be used in Soups or Stews? I make a lot soups and various stews and they don't seem to last more than a few days - are there any natural preservatives that can be added to them that will increase their refrigerator life?

If cooled and stored properly (minimize air space in the container), most soups will should last in the refrigerator up to 5 days.  Do you really want to be eating the same soup that long?  I would suggest dividing your soups into smaller sized containers and freezing it so you have a wide selection available at any given time.

Depending on the ingredients most soups can be succesfully frozen for long term storage.

Dairy based items are more likely to curdle/separate after thawing so you'd be better to add the cream/milk when you're reheating it.

Chunks of potato or pasta are likely to break up a bit and have a more mealy consistency so it would also be better to leave the potato out and add to it and cook when reheating.


problem with flame control in a natural gas grill I have a natural gas grill and replaced the burners a couple years ago with generic adjustable length burners. Lately I noticed I was getting yellow flames so I adjusted the air flow on the burner and got blue flames but when the grill heats up, it goes back to yellow. I thought to get new burners again but the flames are blue when I start the grill, they just turn yellow when it gets hot. Any ideas what it could be?

Firstly, tune your burner for a good flame when hot, rather than a good flame on start. Without knowing anything specific to your burner, I can only speculate on the more generic aspects.

Two most probable causes: reducing flame and sodium flare.

The most likely which is also what you suspected - flame stoichiometry, your air to fuel ratio. There are several possible causes. It could be a not so carefully designed air intake path or valve(s)/adjustment mechanism not holding settings any more because of age or corrosion or fouling from grease/soot/char/salt. You might want to to some cleaning, look for blocked nozzles and grease/char on the moving parts of the burner adjustments. Grease in moving parts can be a nuisance as they soften upon heating. Another common problem is that prolonged small flame settings could sometimes burn out the jets (design dependent) and upset flow rates (more an issue for surface mix type rather than pre-mix type burners).

What you have is a reducing flame, insufficient oxygen flow to match the flow rate of the methane so that it burns incompletely in the time available. It is not so unusual for a blue neutral flame to end up as either as an oxidising flame (blue but with too much oxygen) or a yellow-orange reducing flame in a poorly designed burner as it heats up, either the air path is heated up or the gas path is heated up or both.

Combustion, like all reactions, is about mass not volume, and more precisely about molar mass. As gases heat up and expand, the same volume contains less mass, fewer molecules. If your air intake path is heated up, the same volumetric flow has fewer molecules in it. So what was a well adjusted air flow for your natural gas flow gradually became insufficient and you end up with a reducing flame. You will need to readjust your air-fuel ratio again when it is hot. More likely is that both your methane and air paths are heated equally, but the two expand differently, and more importantly, the volumetric molar masses vary with temperature unequally for them.

I can go into a numerical explanation if you wish (let me know and I can add that in an edit later).

There is nothing you can do about your burner design. You can still make it work by increasing your air flow to achieve a neutral flame once everything is hot (you have to choose at what temperature you wish to have a neutral flame). If there is no way of adjusting that at temperature, you will just have to do it when cold by trial and error.

What you will likely end up with is an oxidising flame (long blue central cone, hissing flame) on starting. Depending on your burner, you may end up with a difficult start with an unstable flame, even blowing itself out when cold or an acceptable one. Once heated to your chosen temperature, you will have a neutral flame (blue, shorter central cone, perhaps even with a yellow tip in that cone). And at temperatures higher than that a reducing flame that is yellow again.

I would still give it a good clean. It is possible that you have an accumulation of salt on the burner emitting sodium flare when heated. When cold, nothing happens, but when heated, salt does not really burn but emits a yellow glow like some street lamps despite having a perfectly balanced neutral flame. This is also very probable actually.

Numerical part (requested by @joshua_engel)

Assumptions:

30,000 BTU/h burner output, 80% efficient

Air is just 21% oxygen and 79% nitrogen by volume, natural gas 100% methane with complete combustion heat of 891kJ/mol

Perfect stoichiometric combustion for neutral flame

In moles: 1CH4 + {2O2 + 7.5N2 } → 1CO2 + 2H2O + 7.5N2

In kg per hr to produce 30,000 BTU:

0.71CH4 + {2.84O2 + 9.36N2 } → 1.95CO2 + 1.60H2O + 9.36N2

12.2 kg air and 0.7 kg natural gas every hour

At an ambient temperature of say 20C and around 50% relative humidity (ignored in air ratio calculations), you need about 10m3 of air and a touch over 1m3 of natural gas every hour.

Natural gas is piped in at pressure (will cool when expanded at burner) and air is just pulled in from the immediate surroundings. Thus, gas temperature is much less affected by the burner's heat than air is. Burner air settings dictate volumetric flow and not mass flow. If air at the inlet to the burner was heated from 20C to 70C which is a likely underestimate (relative humidity would have dropped to around 3%), then the same 10m3 of air would only have 10 kg of mass. Within that, there would be only 2.4 kg of oxygen instead of 2.8 kg. You no longer have a complete combustion and there would be carbon monoxide (burns blue) as well as soot (glows yellow or red). Your air adjustment has to go from 10m3 to almost 12m3 to compensate.

If it was propane, fuel temperature would likely be much lower than ambient because of vapourisation cooling and adiabatic cooling when released from the tank. That would mean much denser fuel and much more air needed.

Of course, you would always set your burner to run at say 5-10% or so excess air, but even then, a modest 50C rise in air temperature would drop air density by 15%, enough to push the flame from neutral to reducing.

This is a fairly simplified illustration. In reality, humidity, flame temperature and gas densities are circular.


Why my croissant dough are always having butter going out during folding Every time I make croissant. While I am folding the dough with a simple or double turn, I start to see the butter going outside of the dough and stick to the working surface.

Usually I make pierre herme recipes, and I let the dough rest between the folds in the fridge for 30 minutes.

The second problem is, always I cut my croissant as big as I can but the end product is like small ones.

The recipe says that I can get 12 large croissant, but I usually get 8 small ones.

Here is the recipe:

500g flour
12g yeast
100g milk
75g sugar
12g salt
35g butter
145g water
15g milk powder
325g cold butter
1 egg

The technique is in this link.

Having some butter squidge out is par for the course.
However, if this is more than can be folded back in (I've seen beautiful croissants from mis-shapen dough) then the question is: was your butter pliable or brittle? Brittle so that chunks fall out like ice sheets?

More pliable butter is achieved by adding 10% it's weight in flour (lower gluten variety).

Also 30min chilling is optimistic. Doable with a blast chiller and very cold tray. The whole 'tourieren' of 4X was done over several hours at my apprenticeship bakery. The later folds rested longer and longer.

Th final roll out for cutting too benefits from being relaxed enough to get a larger triangle cut that doesn't immediately shrink back.


How should I reheat beef tenderloin? Possible Duplicate:
  How to Reheat Beef Tenderloin?

At what temperature should I reheat my smoked beef tenderloin and for how long? It was smoked to rare and I do not want to heat past medium rare.

Depends on the method by which you plan to reheat the meat.  The end result should be that the meat is slightly warmer than mouth temperature.

The most precise method is to heat a large pot of water to 90-100F/32-37C, and hold the temperature strictly in that range.  Put your meat in an air-tight bag and suck out the air.  Submerge the meat in the water and leave it there, stirring occasionally, until the meat reaches 90F/32C -- the more meat, the longer it stays (a steak would probably take about 20 minutes, while a big, solid hunk of the tenderloin may take an hour).  Of course, you have to mind your water carefully, to keep it at the right temperature, so this method is a pain unless you have some specialized and expensive equipment.

If you are reheating your meat by oven or microwave, don't rely so much on the settings on the equipment as on the readings of a good thermometer taken from the center of your meat.  Still, you want gentle heat only, to avoid overcooking the outside while the inside comes up to temperature.

For me, however, I simply allow my leftover tenderloin to lose its refrigerator chill, then "heat" it by dipping each bite in very hot sauce or gravy.


pork went over internal temperature, can I make it tender by putting the oven in a lower temperature for a couple of hours? I cooked a piece of pork shoulder and i put it at 250 celcius for 30 min and 130 celcius for 1 hours. Now the internal temperature is well above the 71 celcius mark and the meat looks tough. If i put the oven at a lower temperature can the meat soften up and make it tender?

Your pork will not become tender for quite a while. If you plan to shred it, you'll want to aim for about 205 degrees F / 96 degrees C.

You don't have to go that high if your goal is to slice.

Either way, a cut like pork shoulder is best cooked low and slow to allow all of the marbled fat to break down. It's an incredibly resilient cut of meat, but it requires patience.

While it is technically "done" as in safe to eat, it's not reached its culinary potential.


Finishing pre-cooked prime rib, day-of? I’m ordering a 6lb. bone-out prime rib roast from a local butcher. I want to have them season and (mostly) cook it for me in their rotisserie on Christmas Eve (pickup at 4pm) so I can just finish it quickly in my oven Christmas Day (12pm).

I have a couple questions:

what internal temperature should I ask them to cook? Thinking 110°.
what’s the best method to finish it? I’m thinking rest to room temperature then 375° uncovered oven roast until 120° internal to get a crisp herb crusted exterior (as opposed to a foil tent or foil wrap).
am I insane? Should I just roast it all myself?

Thanks!

Two stage cooking is generally not a safe practice unless the food comes to at least 130-140F during the first stage, held there an adequate amount of time to kill off bacteria, then is chilled quickly, and then reheated relatively quickly.  Commercial food service has a lot of fairly complex rules dealing with these sort of "pre-cooked" and reheated situations, because they are one of the places where it's most likely to cause foodborne illness.

Since you likely wouldn't want to go to temperatures that high (and I don't blame you), I'd recommend cooking it all yourself at one time for safety reasons.

Also, aside from safety concerns, I agree with moscafj's comment: I'm not sure what the purpose would be here.  Is it to get some benefit from the "rotisserie"?  It's possible to get somewhat similar effects by roasting slowly (at low temperature) at home, even without a rotisserie.

EDIT: Since the OP has identified the goal as decreasing cooking time, I agree with AMtwo that this process won't help.  I'd only add to AMtwo's answer that it might actively hurt the quality of the final result, as both the butcher's rotisserie and OP's relatively high-heat oven temperature will likely cook the outer layers of the meat further, while leaving the interior very rare.  Doing this twice will actually compound this problem, so if the goal is a rare roast (as I'm guessing from the target temperatures mentioned), this will actually result in a thicker layer of more "done" meat near the edges with more time to dry out.  Better to just cook it once.


What's the trick to wrapping tightly in plastic wrap? In grocery stores, they seem to have some trick for wrapping produce and other items tightly in what appears to be standard household plastic wrap.  At home, I always struggle to get a nice airtight seal, typically with cheeses.  I can usually get the "main" four surfaces nice and tight, but I can't figure out how to get the remaining two sides of the block very well sealed.

Is there some magic wrapping technique, say for a block of cheese, that will ensure a nice airtight seal against each side of the block?

The wrap used in most grocery stores isn't the same as your household wrap.

Most of the consumer brands of plastic "cling" wrap are now formulated from low-density polyethylene. It's rolled very thin to give you the best price per unit of length, and has reasonable stickyness.

Most stores use a product called "meat film" which is most commonly made from PVC. It's a little thicker, more wrinkle-resistant to give the product contained inside a better appearance, and it's stickier.

The other thing that grocery stores do to make the seal better is they use a heat sealer on the plastic. These are heated pads where they'll place a wrapped piece of plastic for a few seconds. It's not enough heat to melt the plastic, so in most cases you can still pull it apart, but it is just enough to shrink the joint together, and pull it taut across the front of the packaging.


Beating egg whites cold vs. warm - Japanese cheesecake Namiko Chen's recipe for Japanese cheesecake specifically requires that the egg whites be beaten chilled. I have also asked my Japanese friends to check other Japanese recipes and they get the same instructions. On the other hand, Western recipes for Japanese cake calls for the egg whites to be beaten at room temperature. I assume that since Japanese souffle cheesecake is originally from Japan, the Japanese version is the "correct" one and that the room-temperature requirement is a modification by Westerners who copied the recipe.
I have tried Namiko's recipe with great results. The egg whites took quite some time to beat, but they remained stable even without cream of tartar. I presume beating the egg whites cold will take a longer time but will give more stability, but is this something that's well-known? I know that the same holds for cream, I just have never read it for egg whites.

I've always heard beat egg whites at room temperature, but cream when it's cold.  I was only able to find one study that included this information.

According to Miller and Vail 42 the whipping temperature of the egg white affects its foaming capacity and stability. Beating egg whites at room temperature (70–80 °F/21–27 °C) resulted in improved whipping quality, more stable foams and tenderer cakes with greater volume than egg whites beaten at lower temperatures.38, 42 Conversely, beating egg whites (to the soft peak stage) at 2 °C or 22 °C did not show any significant difference in the time needed to achieve such consistency nor in the final volume of the cake

Essentially colder eggs tend to be less stable when made into meringue, but shouldn't take a significantly different amount of time.  They go on to say that if you're using an electric mixer it probably doesn't matter as much.

McGee6 recommends using eggs at room temperature but also states that eggs kept under refrigeration warm up while beating and will whip just as well, especially when using electric mixers.


Is it OK to freeze chocolate? is it ok to freeze chocolate and for how long? I received 50 lbs of chocolate chips from my sister.  I want to freeze some but not sure how long they will last.

Yes, perfectly fine to freeze it. It will last approximately forever, frozen.

Related: How long can you keep chocolate in the freezer?


Food Rancidity Question Since rancid oil produces free radicals, would that rancid oil if mixed with fresh oil cause the fresh oil to go rancid as well?

Short answer: No.

Long answer: No - because the free radicals are very short lived and highly reactive - each free radical will generally only interact with one other molecule before being destroyed. This could cause degradation of reactive nutrients such as vitamins and other nutrients in the oil, but is unlikely to cause much problem with other foods (I would guess). They also have a very limited interaction with the food which the oil is covering (surface area only), so they have a limited chance of causing damage. You are much much more likely to have bacterial or fungal degradation of the food than free radical.

I would have thought that you are more likely to throw the other food out because it is coated in unpleasant tasting oil rather than be worried about the degradation of the food.

Note that rancidification is the production of smelly compounds, mostly aldehydes, from the long-chain fatty acids found in fats and oils. This is a property peculiar to fats and oils and is generally not a problem for other food types as they do not contain large amounts of the fatty acids, so can't get "rancid" as such, though they can be considered spoiled if the fats within them (e.g. fat in meat) go rancid.


How long would a homemade pancake mix keep? I am planning on gifting someone a "pancake mix in a jar" by mixing together ingredients for a vegan pancake, putting them in a jar, and gifting them, so that they can make pancakes in the morning quickly. The dry ingredients are oat flour, all-purpose flour, almond flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and chocolate chips.

My question is, will any of these ingredients cause the whole mix to spoil if kept for a few weeks/months?

A dry mix should keep essentially indefinitely if well sealed, and these are all dry, shelf-stable ingredients. We used to mix the flour, baking powder and sugar for pancakes when camping, then add an egg and measure the milk to the top of the handle on a mug. This simpler mix kept from one year to the next in a sealed bag. Using the earliest best before date on any of the ingredients would be logical.

The chocolate chips won't keep quite so well as my mix did - they'll possibly bloom. You could present them separately as is often done with the garnish in gift hot chocolate kits.

If you add the liquid, then it's a few days in the fridge. So consider how you present it to achieve your goal of ease. Perhaps a big jar and n tablespoons of mix to m of milk (or whatever your recipient uses for milk), or a jar a day with a mark for how much milk to add.


Double Omelette pan? My husband wants an omelette pan that will allow him to make 2 omelettes at the same time. Does such a thing exist? I have come up empty in my searches. Anybody have a solution for me?

An alternative suggestion for producing multiple omelets (rather than frittatas) at once would be to get a griddle pan or electric griddle and then he'd have to learn to cook on a flat top, which would probably only take a short time.


Vegan binder for chinese style dumpling fillings Common recipes for potsticker/wonton-style (thin wrapper) dumplings use egg as a binder for the filling, to make it easier to work with and to displace air. For comparison, if you make a filling with no binder, it will be hard to place without getting bits of it in the way of sealing the dumpling, and there tends to be too much air inside causing oil ingestion if fried, bad heat transfer if steamed, and bloating/water ingestion if boiled.

Legume flours, flaxseed and other binders good in baking have the issue that they need some cooking time to set - typically longer than you can cook a dumpling. Starch-thickened sauces would be a possibility but the result will be likely too much on the gloopy side.

What non-animal ingredient works well to fill this gap without weighing the filling down too much?

You can use any type of starch-paste. For example, flour paste (mix water with flour to form a thin-paste-like consistency) works good and is traditional in many parts of the world. similary, arrowroot paste, rice flour paste also works good.

Another option---boiled rice, the more glutenous the better (basmati, jasmine, any japanese rice). Boil them in extra water than directed, and then smash them with finger----excellent glue paste.


How many grams of gelatin are in stock/broth? How many grams of gelatin are in 1 cup of stock made from cartilaginous sources such as pigs or chicken feet?

This is going to be tough to answer. Too many variables.

I pressure cook all my saved chicken bones until they can be pulverized easily between two fingers (only about 1 hour). Then I reduce the stock from 3 quarts down to about one. When cooled and poured into a can-and-freeze jar it will typically gel at room temperature.

The answer depends highly on the amount of feet used, the amount of water it was cooked in and how much reduction is preformed.


Pre-pounding chicken I usually buy chicken about 1.2 kilograms at a time. I eat half of that in a day. I store the rest in the refrigerator. The usual recipe is breaded chicken and as such, requires pounding the chicken. When done once, pounding chicken isn't that hard or that of a hassle. When done regularly though, I feel that things can be done more efficiently. Is there a problem with pounding chicken at least a day or so before breading and cooking them (such as the chicken easily drying)?

If you cover it well before refrigeration, it should be no problem.


Why is cocoa powder sometimes used in chocolate cakes when chopped semisweet chocolate is already used? I found a flourless chocolate cake   recipe that I want to try, it uses semisweet chocolate which I thought would have enough cocoa solids already but it calls for  cocoa powder, why is this?

You can't add too much chocolate into a cake, as you'll end up adding too much fat, which will change how the cake sets up.  They likely wanted more chocolate flavor than what they felt they could get from chocolate alone, and so opted to add cocoa powder as well.


Must this Bhut Jolokia (ghost) powder actually be cooked? I've recently purchased this powder after having a small sample of Bhut Jolikia (ghost) powder previously in a miniature powder selection received as a gift (that one didn't come with this warning). This one has this warning on the back of the packet: "Must be cooked before eating".

Is this warning just there to ward off carelessness with this very seriously hot powder? Or would there be an actual reason this powder must be part of some cooking process?

The ingredient list is really short, so I guess it's just dried and ground up Bhut Jolokia peppers. I could imagine that if you were to take this fine powder "raw", it could go into your airways after triggering a cough response because of the intense spiciness. That could lead to respiratory problems. If you dissolve it in e.g. curry or chili, this won't happen.


Why does processed meat contain preservatives, while canned fish needs not? I've read that canned salmon typically does not contain any preservatives.

On the other hand processed meat (such as ham) contains them.

Why are preservatives needed in some cases but not others?

These are two different ways to preserve food.

The canned salmon was boiled and then sealed into a can while it was still boiling sealed into a can and boiled under a specified combination of time and temperature that has been empirically proven to kill enough bacteria. All the bacteria in the can are dead, and no more can get in, so it's sterile and won't rot until it's opened.

The ham is preserved differently: instead of being sterile, it has enough preservatives that whatever bacteria get in can't grow, or at least grow very slowly.

The difference is between canning and curing, not between fish and meat. It's also possible to can meat (in which case it doesn't need preservatives) and cure fish (for example, smoked salmon).


Anybody know where I can get some Stanley spatulas? Back when Stanley had home parties, the demonstrator would hand these out as a hostess prize or thank you. It’s my absolute favorite spatula and I cannot seem to find one anywhere! It’s a soft, pliable, probably nylon spatula.

Having looked online and using the excellent Google image matching facility, this appears to be an antique item, circa 1950. The closest match I could find was on an auctioneers valuation site, which suggests not only are they rare, but valuable as well [1].
I can't recommend these spatulas enough [2], they are not cheap, but they are a joy to use.
[1] https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/maid-honor-spatula-slotted-spoon-1854740164
[2] https://www.dontwasteyourmoney.com/products/di-oro-heat-resistant-nonstick-silicone-rubber-spatula-3-piece/


How do I follow a recipe if my oven doesn't go as high as the recipe states? I want to bake bread. I found this recipe from Alex French Guy Cooking on YouTube.. His recipe says that the oven should be 250 degrees Celsius. My oven only goes to 220 degrees. I bought an oven thermometer to confirm and it taps out at 230 degrees. Do I just bake the bread for longer? If so how much longer?

UPDATE:

Here are the instructions from the comments section of the video. I did link the video in the original question but I see the link isn't very visible. (Just in case there is anything else you want to check)

  Ingredients you need : Flour, Water, Yeast, Salt and a Dutch Oven. Yes a dutch oven. It's the perfect way to bake your bread at home. Also, No need for sugar, modern yeast are powerful enough. No need for oil either.

  Instructions :
  40 grams of fresh yeast,
  in 600 ml of tepid mineral water, or 15grams dry yeast.
  In the bowl of the mixer drop 18g of salt.
  Then add 1 kg of bread flour and start slowly mixing.
  Add the water and the yeast.

  As soon as everything is properly incorporated, set the speed to minimum, and knead the dough for 10 minutes.

  First proofing : Place the dough in an airtight container and let it proof in a warm and dark place for 1 - 2 hours.

  Then, Press down the dough, shape as seen in the video.
  Second proofing : Place the dough in an airtight container and let it proof in a warm and dark place for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

  Meanwhile, Heat dutch oven to 250°C or 480°F.

  Out of 2nd proofing, Sprinkle the dough ball with flour.
  Now using razor's blade, score the surface a few times.
  Squeeze on oven proof gloves, get the dutch oven out, place the dough ball inside. Back in the oven.

  I bake my bread at 250°C for 30 minutes, then at 230°C for another 30 minutes.

How much longer depends on the type of bread, the size and the shape of the loaf. The solution I suggest is to obtain a probe-type thermometer (like a meat thermometer) and use that to determine if your bread has baked for a sufficiet time. Many breads are completely baked at around 195F(90C) though I have seen a couple of recipes that call for 205F(96C)


Properly melting butter and sugar together for butterscotch bar recipe I've been trying to make butterscotch bars. I'm not a new baker, but I don't have much experience in melting brown sugar and butter together.

The recipe (included at bottom of post) I'm using says that I need to melt butter and add brown sugar, and stir until sugar is melted.

When I first tried it, everything went well. Butter and brown sugar were mixed as one and it kinda looked like toffee. On my next attempts, I couldn't get the same result anymore. When the brown sugar melts, it doesn't incorporate with the butter anymore and it turns really hard like candy. So, what I get is hardened (but still grainy) brown sugar in a pool of melted butter.

Please give me some tips and techniques to properly melt butter and brown sugar together so that the result is like gooey toffee. I hope it can be done without candy thermometer. The author of the recipe didn't use one, and I think the quantity of the sugar-butter mixture is too little for me to dip a thermometer in it.

Thank you!

The recipe:

1/4 cup unsalted butter,
1/4 cup butter compound (I think it's half butter half margarine),
1 cups dark brown sugar,
1 large egg,
1/2 tsp vanilla extract,
1/2 tsp baking powder ,
1 cup flour,
1/8 tsp salt

In a small pot, melt the butter and butter compound over low heat. Add the sugar
and stir until melted. Turn off the heat. Preheat the oven to 325°F and
grease an 8" baking pan.
In a large bowl, sift the flour with the baking powder. Add the salt.
When the sugar mixture has cooled, add the egg. Mix well after addition.
Add the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Add the vanilla and mix one last time.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cake
is set.

P.S.: I haven't tried to actually let the mixture come to a boil because, as I said, the brown sugar becomes so hard and candy-like when it melts, and I'm afraid it gets even harder if I let the mixture boil. Please give me tips regarding boiling it. Thanks a lot for helping this newbie out. :)

In the past I have had a similar issue with making a butterscotch drink recipe.  What I have found is that adding a bit of water to the melted butter (1-2 tsp/1/2 c, 5-10mL/120mL) helps dissolve the brown sugar and prevents graininess and seizing.  Sugar is not readily soluble in fat, so it needs water in order to dissolve.

I suspect one of three things happened:

Different batches of butter may have different water contents.
The brown sugar may have lost some of its moisture as it sat around in the
pantry.
Some of the water may have evaporated off while melting the butter.

If you heat brown sugar in butter without enough water some will dissolve in the water present from the butter and the brown sugar, but it will become grainy and seize as the water is evaporated and the undissolved sugar granules act as nucleation sites.  Meanwhile the undissolved sugars are being lightly fried in the fat from the butter.


Does it matter if I freeze dough before proofing? I made some pizza dough today and only used 1/3 of it. The other portions I decided to put in the freezer to use later on. I froze them before proofing though. Does this matter? Should I have let them proof first, then freeze?

I'm mostly worried that this might affect the future proofing, once I get them out.

I can honestly say I've done this on many occasions. Especially for pizza dough, I defrost in the fridge for 24 hours in a cling filmed bowl which allows it to prove slowly through the day. Never once had an issue with it.


It seems, acidity prevents pasta from being overcooked? Usually I cook the pasta in boiling water... add it to sauce in the pan, another 2-3 minuts and done.

But today I've tried to cook pasta in the sauce.

Sauce: pepper + onion + garlic + flour + tomatoes + wine.

I've added a little bit water + Raw spaghetti. They were cooking, covered by the water (sauce). And if usually they done afer 10-12 minutes, at this time it took 20+ minutes. It's because sauce was acidic?

Is there reason to add a little bit acid to the water, where spaghetti usually are cooking? To prevent them from being overcooked.

No, it has nothing to do with the acidity of your sauce.

It took a lot longer to cook because of the prevalent temperature throughout the pan, and the mass of the material being heated.

Sauce + Noodles is a lot to heat up, a lot more than just a pot of water. It's also unlikely you fully boiled the Sauce + Noodles as you would have with water (to a full rolling boil).

If you had left it cook long enough on high heat, eventually the noodles would get overdone and soggy, and if left even longer, the sauce and noodles would burn too.

If you've ever had an overdone Lasagna, you'll have tasted noodles cooked in sauce too long - they're mushy and unappetizing. (Traditionally lasagna noodles are pre-cooked before being layered into the lasagna dish and baked, but it would be a similar effect to cooking while in sauce)

Probably worth noting: by cooking the raw pasta in the sauce, you're adding a lot of starch directly to the sauce, probably making it quite a bit thicker than normal. This may or may-not be good, depending on your preferences.


What makes a pasta shape pair with a sauce? Spaghetti goes well with tomato sauce with ground meat. Fettucini goes well with a creamy sauce. Why? What general principles about the characteristics of the pasta and the sauce make them work well together? When is angel hair superior to spaghetti, and why does macaroni work well with cheese?

This question suggests some related reading; The Geometry of Pasta looks especially interesting. I'm hoping to get science-y answers that will talk about surface area, viscosity, etc.

Fats adhere to broad or flat areas nicely (fettucini, linguine) and press the creamier sauces against more tongue surface to enhance/emphasize their smoothness
Pooling sauces needs nested, medium pasta (round or flat) that help to punctuate the sharper and more diverse flavors of a smooth, acidic by alternating between pasta and sauce
Angel hair and other fine pasta do well with a chunky sauce as it is effective with pick up but doesn't obstruct the sauce's texture once you get it in your mouth

My basis for this is (1) ease and volume of transport, plate to mouth of sauce; as well as (2) how the pasta interacts with the sauce to create mouth feel and churn of sauce against tongue. As for gnocchi and other variously shaped pasta; if it has a cavity, it should have fats, if it has a textured surface acidic sauces will cling nicely.

Obviously, I would shy away from pretending any of these were definitive answers, they are reasoned and seasoned, based on sauce/pasta dynamics and experience preparing them.

This book has a listing of specific pairings of sauces to pasta.
This book, upon which Geometry was based, also has a listing of
sauces with additional options.

I don't seem to be able to find any good, objective maxims for when to use what; but, considering the variety of pastas and the prolific diversity of sauces (i.e. a different ragu for every house), it seems only appropriate that every person should have an opinion on why a particular sauce works with a particular pasta.


How do I baste barbecue chicken while grilling? I am going to barbecue 1/2 chicken on a gas grill. I want to use a water mixture with cider vinegar and salt, to baste while grilling. Can you give me any tips as I do this, like time and temperature?

Try a 'Beer Can Chicken' stand. Use an empty (or not) beer (or soda) can to hold your basting liquid and properly place the chicken on the holder (as pictured) and put that on the grill.

As the chicken cooks your basting liquid will steam your chicken to a wonderful effect. IF you keep your lid down the steam will have the effect of continuously basting your bird.


Chili powder substitutions I'm having trouble converting the chili recipes I find to use something other than of-the-shelf chili-powder. Thanks to a simply wonderful local spice shop, we have several different kind of chili-flakes. We've already learned that grinding them and substituting 1:2 with powder is ("$@$^@ ow, pass the milk") not correct. What is the ratio-neighborhood we should be exploring for this substitution?

Chili powder is typically a blend of ground chilies and other spices (and maybe even herbs).

I'd go with a blend of:

paprika (smoked if you can find it)
cayenne
cumin
oregano
garlic powder

You can also try mixing in onion powder, other chilie powders, and black pepper.  Some pre-mixed blends also include salt.  If you have access to other dried chilie powders, you might consider using ancho or new mexico chilies for a 'dark' chili powder, as opposed to the more red powder you'll get from the cayenne.  (but cayenne's more available)

Search online for recipes -- you'll find lots of variation out there.


Removing the onion layers in an intact way without cooking them I was wondering if there is a way to remove the onion layers in an intact way so they're not broken or damaged. I've done this before by slightly baking the onion until it softens

I once made onion bowls by slicing the onion at the point where it just starts to curve back in and soaking in water while I seperated the layers.  It worked for my purposes but I did destroy a few in the process.  I think I might have added some salt to the water they were soaking in to boost the water content of the onion, which could have affected how easily they seperated.


Does cheese have to be made with rennet from the animal whose milk it is? I read this article claiming that cheese must be made with rennet from the stomach of the animal whose milk the cheese would be made from. Is this the case? I'm very doubtful due to the existence of vegetable rennet.

No, the article is bogus. There are many ways to coagulate proteins (although the exact method chosen will make a big difference in what the final result looks like). Heat, acid and enzymes all work for coagulation. And while you can't use heat to make milk, both acid and enzymes from various sources is OK. The enzymes suited for cheese making are called rennet.

There is some difference between proteins in the milk of different species, so not every rennet will work with every milk. But the fit is nowhere as specific as the article you linked implies. Bovine rennet works for sheep's milk too, I have personally helped in the process of making that cheese. There is, as you mentioned, rennet from non-animal sources. I hadn't heard of plant-derived one (although I'm not surprised), but bacteria-derived rennet is widespread in the industry.

I also remember reading somewhere about actual human cheese, although I must admit I don't remember it being a reliable source, and have no first hand experience with it, so I am not 100% confident about it. Still, from a chemical point of view, it should be possible to turn human milk into a solid slab No guarantee about tastiness, and you may need to try a bit around until you have found a suitable coagulation agent, but it should be possible to create one without chopping up baby stomaches.

The argument from the article wouldn't hold anyway, even if the species' rennet was required, because there is a wide variety of acid coagulated cheeses which does not use rennet at all.

Seeing that the article you linked is presented as an answer to a two-year old's question, maybe just the person who answered thought that they needn't bother fact checking for such a "simple" task. On the other hand, the strange statement, coupled with an article ostentatiously aimed at a two-year-old but mentioning protein coagulation, make me think that it may be some kind of joke rather than intended as a serious description of the problem.


Dark grey residue from newly purchased stainless steel kitchen items? I have had this happen a few times now. What happens is that I purchase a new kitchen item made of stainless steel. When cleaning it, I find out that there is some kind of dark grey residue that comes off of it. The items that have done this are supposed to be used to cook or they come into contact with food.

Is this metalic residue? If not, what is it?

It could be stainless steel and abrasive residue created from polishing.

  Method for Removal:

  Hand wiping with alkaline cleaners, followed by hot water rinsing.
  May require multiple applications until wipe testing results are satisfactory.

http://www.ispeboston.org/files/july_2010_tech_talk.pdf


Are eggs in the US safe if stored at ~45°F for a week? I have moved my eggs to a mini-fridge and, despite attempting to get a good-quality one, it seems as though the temperature even on max cold doesn't get below 40°F throughout the refrigerator. I really hate food poisoning and, especially now, would very much like to avoid going to the hospital or damaging my health. Are US eggs (high quality, from Alexander farms) left in a fridge above safe temperature for over a week still safe to eat? Does the float test work to detect salmonella? Is there something I can use them for that's high enough temperature to eliminate the risk?

Thanks in advance!

The float test has nothing to do with quality or safety, only with the age of the egg (the air cell in the age will expand as the egg ages as the shell is porous).

When eggs in the US are processed the protective coating on the shell is removed, so they need to be refrigerated. Only about 1/10,000 eggs has salmonella. While I won't, on principal, advise whether your eggs are safe to eat, I will say that I believe the risk is low based on what you have told us.

The risk of spoiled food has many factors. Temperature is one. Time is another. Origin and processing are others. You should always keep your eggs in the back of the fridge where it's colder. Keeping them in the door (where the egg keepers are often built in) is the worst place because you open and close the door all the time so temp goes up and down, contributing to additional risk/premature aging.

If you are worried, using the egg in a way that cooks it through will reduce your risk (baking, scrambled medium or hard—yech, hard cooked (aka hard boiled)).

You can also pasteurize your eggs using sous vide which allows them to be used safely for many recipes where the yolks are not fully cooked. This might be your best bet if you are concerned. If you don't have a sous vide device (and every kitchen should!) there are alternate methods that will work well. In the case of eggs, since you only need them to be 135°F for about 75 minutes, you may be able to use water from your tap put into a beer cooler. If your tap water is only 120° (depending on your water heater setting), just boil some to bring up the temp of the rest. Check with an instant-read thermometer and I'd suggest a little above 135 so you maintain that temp for 75 minutes. You can check the temp after 30 minutes and add a little more boiling water if it's starting to dip a little too low. Make sure the lid of your container is kept closed. If you have a probe thermometer (which every kitchen should also have), then you can keep it in the water with just the wire feeding through the top with the lid closed.


How does cooking with whole peppercorns compare to ground? If you buy ground peppercorns you should always go for fresh ground because they taste completely different imo.

In bangladeshi cooking I notice that they use whole black peppercorns in their curry and discard it at the end.  However would using it like this be equivalent to cooking with non fresh peppercorns as above?

My thinking is that if the taste between fresh ground and non fresh ground is so different, then cooking a whole peppercorn is like non fresh because the surface has been exposed to air for a long time.

Is my thinking correct or should cooking whole be considered cooking fresh, if so in what way?

For freshness, it is always best to purchase whole spices and use whole, crack, or grind them as needed. With respect to peppercorns (or, really any whole spices) the effect will be different when they are used whole, just cracked, or ground.  The flavor will also be impacted by toasting the spices before use, and when they are added during the cooking process.  The taste difference between all of these options can be significant.  The bottom line is that you should have some idea of the effect you are trying to create with the spice, and how the treatment of that spice achieves the result you are looking for.


baking a Souffle to make it as much liquidish as possible I have found this explanation for example:

Bake the soufflé: For maximum lift, it’s best to heat your soufflé
from the bottom up — in other words, the direct heat of your oven
should ideally be coming from below. Also, place the soufflé on the
bottom rack of your oven so it’s as close to the heating element as
possible. Alternatively, you can preheat a baking sheet in the oven
and place the soufflé on top of this to bake; the baking sheet acts
like a heat source.

But I can hardly agree with that. Is there a way to use only the top heating element in the oven so that the top will get crust and not burned and the bottom will get baked properly?
Maybe the solution is just to use narrow and taller cup?

I get your point.  A souffle is often just set, but sometimes, as in when making something like a chocolate lava cake, the cooking is completed early so that the inside remains liquid. I would not use the top element of your oven, as this simply over cook the surface.  I would just use the oven rack in the center, rather than placing the souffle on the bottom rack.  That has always worked fine for me.  This is a time sensitive product, and much depends on the size of the container you are baking in.  It is often best to bake these in single serving ramekins so that you have greater control over the timing. For a liquid center, keep a close eye on it.  Remove after it has risen and the top has set.


What kind of teaspoon is this? I have a cutlery set that came with 7 teaspoons. Six of them are the same, but one is different. In the following image I have three of the six on the left side of the picture and the different one on the right.

Unfortunately I don't have the box the set came in, but on the back of all the cutlery it says "justinus edelstahl 18-10". I was unable to find information online about what teaspoon that is.

What is the one on the right used for? Why does it have a flat tip? And why was there only one in the set?

The set was for 6 people, so I have 6 spoons, 6 knifes, 6 forks, 6 little forks, 6 (normal) teaspoons, a few other things, and this strange teaspoon. It had its own special place in the set, so it is not a defect. And it doesn't look cut or chopped or smoothed. It was created like that. It definitely had its purpose.

Like dlb suggested it is a spoon for sugar. At least in Germany this type of spoon is not uncommon with sets of cuttlery.

Update:

For an impression of various forms of spoons check a picture search. I searched for "Zuckerlöffel" (German for sugar spoon) and found a wide range of different forms.

As for the specific form I don't think there is a special reason other for having a different looking  spoon that fits the design of the cutlery set.

Historically sugar spoons where of a complete different design than your everyday cutlery as sugar was quite expensive and not used everyday. There are even examples of sugar pots that have small locks on them so that the servants weren't able to nick some sugar if laying the table.


Substitution for hagelslag (chocolate sprinkles for bread) I live in Spain but I am Dutch. Does anyone know a substitution for "hagelslag" (chocolate sprinkles to put on bread) for making boterhammen (open-faced sandwiches)?

Hagelslag is fideos de chocolate in Spanish, the coloured sprinkles are fideos de colores.

You should find it with the cake decorating stuff in at least the larger stores or online. (e.g. here or here)


What are the benefits of stewing on the hob over cooking in the oven? When slow-cooking something like shin of beef in a gravy, what is the difference between cooking it on the hob and cooking in the oven?

I tend to use the oven for slow-cooking but a lot of recipes tell you to stew on the hob. Is there any particular reason for this?

Thanks

The most obvious thing is it keeps your oven free; a range has only one oven, but four or so burners. Its also often easier to check on it, add ingredients, etc. stove-stop. Stove-top also lets you quickly turn up or down the heat. Stirring is easy stove-top, more annoying in the oven.

For what you're doing, the biggest difference is going to be where the heat comes from. Stovetop, of course, comes almost entirely from the bottom of the pot, the lid for example can remain fairly cool, meaning moisture evaporating can condense on it, and drip back in. In the oven, the heat surrounds the pot, so the lid will be just as hot—or hotter, even—than the base of the pot.

To take a recipe designed for stovetop, you'd perform all the browning steps stovetop (of course). Maybe add a little more liquid. Then bring it to a simmer stovetop, and finally transfer to the oven.

Putting a piece of aluminum foil over the pot (under the lid) can help keep moisture in.


How long is coffee with creamer added safe in a thermos? I'm not sure if this or this questions' answers satisfactorily cover my question but I am seeing a lot of answers that talk about the shelf-life of coffee and say things just "change" when adding sugar or dairy.

I make about 20oz. of coffee each morning and put it in a thermos.  I then add my creamer to this at home and take it to work.  Most days I get through it within a couple hours of being there, but some days I don't go through the whole container and the coffee is still pretty hot by the time I get home (go thermos!).  I understand that if it was plain this should be fine, but does the dairy creamer break down over the day to the point I shouldn't be consuming it by the time I get home (about 9 hours after brew time) given it has been kept pretty hot most of the day ?

If I should be tossing this sooner by a certain time when is that?  Does keeping it hot prolong life beyond the 2-4 hours in the danger zone I am seeing on other posts?

The clock on the danger zone starts when the food temperature drops below 60 celsius. It should be 4 hours for coffee - two hours are for meat, where it is assumed that bacteria in it have had some chance to grow while it was being butchered, transported, and stored in a supermarket. In coffee and creamer, there will be no bacteria growth at all in the ingredients, it will start after you have brewed the drink and mixed in the creamer, and the temperature has fallen below 60.

If you want to go by the book, measure the temperature of the coffee inside the thermos 5 hours after brewing. If it is above 60 Celsius, then it is still safe up to 9 hours after brewing. Do it on several days to have a significant result.

(For those of us on my side of the pond, that's 140 degrees Fahrenheit. )


Why does my cocoa syrup overflow? I work in a coffee shop, and we stock Ghirardelli Sweet Ground Chocolate and Cocoa flavored sauce.

However, this sauce is constantly overflowing.  We are losing approximately a quarter cup per day (if not more) due to chocolate dripping from the pump.  Is there any explanation or remedy for this?  Note that it occurs even if the chocolate is kept cold.

This is likely due to capillary action drawing the syrup up the tube from the bottle - viscous syrup + a narrow tube = strong capillary action. Since it's one of those pesky laws of nature, there's not a lot you can do about it.

You might try transferring the syrup to a container with a wider pump tube (since capillary action is stronger in a narrow tube). Or you could transfer it to a container with a tap attached (like a keg) rather than a pump, but that prevents you from using measured doses. Finally, by the looks of it, the nozzle on the bottle might rotate, so you might also try turning that to point upwards and hope gravity keeps the syrup in place.

Failing that, the only other alternative would be to keep a drip tray underneath the pump to catch the syrup, then replace it in the bottle, but I imagine that has food safety implications, not to mention being a PITA.


Dry roasting nuts and spices beforehand I have recipes that call for dry roasting peanuts, coconut, and sesame seeds.
I make these recipes a lot — so theoretically it would be easier to dry roast everything I have one time, instead of each time I'm making a dish. Would that in any way diminish the taste of the dish?  And does the same apply to spices?

Properly stored, dry roasted nuts should lose none of their flavour. Keep them in a well sealed container and they will be fine.

Spices, however, should be freshly toasted, because the point of doing so is to encourage them to release their flavourful oils.


Cooking Scrambled Eggs ends up with excess liquid Every time I cook scrambled eggs with veggies or meat in them, there is always liquid at the bottom of the bowl I'm eating them from. Even if I super cook the eggs, even if I super cook the extras first. Always liquid. It's very annoying. I think maybe it is because I put the eggs in a bowl right when they are done cooking and that is creating some sort of condensation. Should I wait a bit before plating? Maybe it's something else? I could really use advice. Having runny eggs is a disgrace.

You've already spotted two of the possible reasons for scrambled eggs to sit in a pool of water: condensation, and the other ingredients in the scramble seeping moisture.  The condensation you can deal with by leaving the eggs to sit (off heat) for 2-3 minutes before plating them.  You're already taking a stab at making the fillings not wet; aside from cooking them well (and making sure to cook off any moisture), some wet fillings (zucchini, tomatoes, etc.) can also benefit from salting and blotting with paper towels.

However, there's another place for moisture to come from, and that's the eggs themselves.  This problem is called "weeping", and affects cooked eggs in all forms (scrambled eggs, quiche, meringues, even boiled eggs).  Over time, as cooked eggs sit, their protein structure squeezes out the water in them.  Various problems can cause that to happen within minutes, as it is in your case.

Here's some tips for avoiding weepy scrambled eggs:

Add very little, or no, extra liquid to the eggs.  This means that if you tend to add milk or cream to your beaten eggs, it should be no more than 2 tsp.
Make sure to scramble the eggs uncovered, so their moisture can escape as steam.
Salt the beaten eggs 15-30 minutes before cooking them, instead of salting them while cooking.  This changes the protein structure of the egg white so that it's less likely to lose moisture.  If you forget, or don't have time, then wait and salt the eggs on the plate; salting them in the pan is almost a guarantee of weeping, in my experience (and Kenji's).
Avoid overcooking the eggs.  If you cook them "dry", they're more likely to weep. If you like your scrambled eggs dry, then cook them until almost firm, and let them continue setting up off-heat.  Try cooking over low-medium heat until you get the hang of things.
In addition to wet fillings, fillings that are very acidic (like fresh tomatoes or tomatillos) can affect the eggs and cause them to weep, so consider adding these as a topping instead of cooked into the eggs.

Some additional references:

Why do Scrambled Eggs get Watery
Serious Eats tips on Scrambled Eggs


Macaron Help - Hollows and Little Feet I've been attempting to make French macarons using an Italian meringue and aside from a few lucky hits, I've never gotten a perfect batch. Each time is roughly the same outcome; little feet (a quarter of the height most pictures show) and hollow shells. The last two batches tried also had cracked shells, first time for that one.

Aside from a possible faulty recipe, what could be the culprit? I live in GA (USA) so humidity can play a factor I know. I've baked them at 300/325F and I let them rest until no longer tacky each time to get the shell but they barely rise and always are hollow. I've never had a lumpy shell however which leads me to suspect that I may be overfolding the batter but wanted to get a larger audience opinion.

The culprit would be the Italian meringue (unless you've got the name wrong). Italian meringue is made with egg whites and hot sugar syrup. The hot syrup cooks the whites, so there is no need to bake it afterwards. It is often a component in soft deserts like mouses, or just served as is, slightly browned with a burner. If you do bake Italian meringue, it comes out very dry and crisp - no at all like macarons are supposed to be.

Other problems that could be affecting your meringue:

Egg yolk in the whites (would refuse in the eggs refusing to get beaten into hard peaks, and then refusing to rise)
Temperature that's too hot. You know how pitas are made? A significant amount of water, and very hot oven. The water evaporates fast, but has no room to escape since the outer crust has already formed, so you get a pocket of air inside. The same might be happening to your meringues. (Consider that while French and Swiss meringue add sugar to the egg whites, Italian meringue has sugar syrup - sugar and water.


Is it safe to deep fry two turkeys in the same oil for Thanksgiving? Should you deep fry two turkeys in the same oil or is it better to use fresh oil for the second turkey?

Reusing deep frying oil is fine (up to a point - you can't refry indefinitely), and in fact the flavour often improves with use. You should be absolutely fine frying two turkeys one after the other for Thanksgiving. Have a good one!


Is there a way to make this bread recipe's crust less crunchy? This is a challah recipe I inherited:

1 cup warm water
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp yeast
Knead, let rise, braid, let rise, egg wash, and bake at 375°F for an hour.

I like the flavor of this and the consistency of the bread inside. However, I don't like how hard and thick a crust it gets. I've tried leaving off the egg wash but it's still crispy and tough. (This hasn't always been a huge deal, it's just how this loaf bakes... but my daughter recently got braces, and she's finding it very difficult to eat!)
Are there tweaks I can make to ingredients, baking time, or oven temperature to get a more pliable crust?

I make the same Challah bread recipe every year, and mine says to bake at 350°f for 35 min and the crust is chewy but not crunchy or crisp.  I've never had it under baked either.


Why does my beet kvass taste bad? I took 4 medium beets, chopped them up in a medium dice, put the beets in a 1-gallon Pickl-It jar. I added 1 ½ tablespoon unrefined sea salt, added filtered water to ½ inch below lid, and closed with an airlock.

I allowed this to ferment for 1 ½ weeks in darkness. I then tasted it, and the taste was bad, like an acidic fizzy vinegar. I have tried this many times, and I keep getting this same result.

Any ideas on what Im doing wrong?

PS I found the recipe here http://bit.ly/1hdbx7S

The recipe's goal is to use the natural bacteria in the beets and beet peels to cause the fermentation. The thing about using natural bacteria is that you never know what these are going to be, so it's a crapshoot what flavors you are going to get. Beets produced in one farm may have radically different bacteria in them, different varieties grown in the same patch of land could also vary significantly. It's the same process as making a sourdough bread starter using natural yeasts - you may get a nice smooth and delicate flavor, or you could get something that will take the paint off of a door. The point is that you may be doing everything right, it's just that's what you are going to get from the process.

Looking at the science of the natural yeasts and assuming the recipe writer is not talking complete BS, it could be that the delicate bacteria spoken of in the recipe is being out-competed by the other natural bacteria in the water you use, and on the surface of the container, lid, and airlock. The thing to do in this case is to reduce or eliminate these other bacteria so that the beet bacteria will be the only game in town. To do this use sterilized water (buy distilled or simply boil your water for a few minutes before letting it cool completely), or run your water through a filter which will remove or kill bacteria. Then use a chlorine solution to sterilize every single piece of equipment you will use. That means the container, lid, lock, spoons - anything that will come into contact must be very clean. Wash your beets in sterilized water as well. I'd do that to the equipment even if I used a culture, it will increase my chances of a good result.

If that doesn't work you may have to accept that is the way natural kvass will taste. It could be that the writer of the article likes it that way, or simply doesn't know what he/she is talking about. In that case consider using a culture - there's no dishonor in it and you'll get something drinkable.


Can I use expired cream cheese spread? I bought cream cheese (Milkana), didn't use it, and I found out it already expired on 5 August 2013 (over a month ago).

Taste and smell are still good. Can I use it for baking?

Taste and smell are good indicators, and most companies take a very safe approach with labeling, and are quite conservative in their estimation of expiration. Dairy products tend to spoil in a manner that isn't stealthy (no sneaky botulism*). I might eat it, if I was really in the mood for cream cheese.

But you have to ask yourself, "Do I feel lucky?"

Well, do ya, punk?

*Probably. There have been scares, but the incidence of botulism in dairy products is vanishingly small. Dairy comes with its own suite of microfauna that outcompetes nearly all other types of bacteria.


Chopped tomato-onion-ginger-garlic into paste vs sliced tomato-onion-ginger-garlic when making curry base for indian dish When cooking chicken curry and other curries it is required to have a curry base that will me made from onion, tomato, garlic, ginger and perhaps a few other things. I have had this problem that either the onion would be fried too less or burn or the tomato would not fully dissolve to become paste. Thus at the end I did not have a full paste as I would expected.

I solved this problem by buying a chopper and putting in these ingredients and chopping them into a paste and then putting this paste into the pan, this gave me quick curry base.

Since I am not able to follow the first method to perfection as many people, can you tell me if there is a difference in taste/texture of the curry created by these 2 methods? Which is considered superior?

The main issue I see with making a paste out of the ingredients is not being able to caramelize the onion.

Onion caramelizes at around 230 degrees Fahrenheit. When you make your ingredients into a paste, you will not be able to achieve a temperature this high in your mixture without drastically reducing the water content in your mixture.

To get around this, first caramelize your onion then add it to the other ingredients to make a paste.

The main difference of making the paste is having a homogeneous taste throughout your base. It'll taste exactly the same as you eat it. If you chop it will taste slightly different based on the different ratio of onion, ginger, and garlic bits you have on that bite. Both can be good depending on your taste preference.


What is a "fruit protector" as a recipe ingredient? On reading a U. S. book about making one's own cordials, I came across
'1 tablespoon fruit protector' listed in the ingredients of a recipe.

Do you know what fruit protector is called in Britain?

To the best of my knowledge there is only one major brand of fruit/vegetable preserver, Fruit-Fresh. In the U.S. it is often found in the canning section of grocery stores. It is available on Amazon UK (Fruit-Fresh) so you may also be able to find it in local markets.


Why is my mac 'n' cheese grainy? I need to make a large batch (to serve 30) of mac 'n' cheese, and rather than bothering with my standard roux - cheese sauce, I thought maybe I could cheat with a short cut.

I dug up an old recipe for crock pot mac 'n' cheese. I have used it with great success many times over, and never had it fail. I  thought I'd do a small "trial run" of it since it's been a while since I used it. Failure. I have a few theories on what may have gone wrong, but I'd love input from impartial cooks.

For what it's worth, the recipe calls for 4 cups cheddar, 1 cup jack, 2 cups milk, 2 cups cream, salt, pepper, dry mustard, few dashes hot sauce (optional), a pound of macaroni and a half cup of sour cream. Throw everything except macaroni and sour cream in crock, cover and cook on low for 1 hour. Stir in mac and sour cream, cover and cook for another hour to an hour and fifteen.

When I stirred in the macaroni, the sauce did look a bit "gloopy" but it wasn't really very warm yet, and If I recall correctly, that is how it always looks at this point.

I did use all milk instead of part milk/part cream, as I didn't have any cream on hand.

The problem is your putting all your cheese in at once. These cheese is going to settle on the bottom which would cause to clump up and be gloopy.

you need to stir small portions of the cheese at a time until it is melted. rinse, repeat and continue.

of course this is a crock pot recipe....

your probably best to make the cheese sauce portion on the stove first, then combine in a crock pot after.


Should I rinse canned beans before using them? Certainly, if I were making a salad with canned beans, I would thoroughly rinse them first. But if I'm making soup or chili with canned black beans or kidney beans, should I drain and rinse them first? Goya brand beans have recipes on the side of the can that call for undrained beans.

On the one hand, I've heard claims that using the liquid in the can will increase gassiness, and that in some brands it can contain a lot of sodium. But I've also heard that it contains lots of soluble fiber that is lost if drained. Is there merit to either of these claims? Are there other nutrients that get lost if I drain and rinse? I always feel bad throwing out anything edible.

I finally found what I'm looking for, from the University of Michigan - some actual data on the subject!

They say that rinsing canned beans can reduce the amount of sodium by half, and also reduces the amount of complex sugars which humans can't digest (but the bacteria in our intestines can, with uncomfortable results!)

It appears that draining the fluid is likely to improve the flavor and texture of the resulting food by concentrating the flavor of the beans -- unless you're following a soup recipe that specifically suggests retaining the liquid to thicken the soup.

I still haven't found any information about what healthy nutrients might be lost by rinsing the beans, but the general consensus seems to be that it rinsing will do more good than harm in almost all cases.


How to keep lemons, oranges and grapefruits fresh longer? I like adding a few drops of citrus juice into my drinks, but they don't usually stay fresh for long in unsqueezed form (if I only cut a small piece and use that) and in juice form (with or without some sugar) and spoil in about 10 days while there's still half a fruit left.

How do I preserve a cut citrus freshness longer?

There isn't a whole lot you can do to preserve the actual fruit for what you describe. You could freeze juice in ice cube trays and transfer the cubes into a freezer bag, but even that would lose something compared to squeezing a fresh fruit segment into a drink.

There is one thing I have done for a similar kind of application that you might like. There a huge amount of citrus flavor in the zest of the fruit. Using a vegetable peeler, a sharp knife, a zester or a microplane, remove just the colored part of the peel (the zest), avoid the white pith below, the pith is very bitter. If you have large strips, cut them up tiny before proceeding. If you've used a zester or microplane your zest is already ready for the next step. Mix the zest with perhaps double or triple its volume of sugar, and process in a food processor until the sugar is super fine and no chunks of zest remain. The sugar can now stay in the freezer for months (indefinitely?), it can live on the counter for several days or perhaps much longer. A pinch of that in your drink may just add to your drink what you are looking for.


How long will Sake last in the fridge? We've had Sake chilling in our fridge for about a year now. It has been opened. Is this still safe to drink or is it time to throw it out?

Unless contaminated by, say, drinking straight out of the bottle, it will likely be safe to consume, but it will probably have deteriorated in quality.

Sake which is no longer appealing to drink may be suitable for use in cooking; if you're not accustomed to cooking with sake, consider something simple, like potatoes simmered with a modest amount of water, sake, salt & pepper, soy sauce and butter.

Low-alcohol beverages, whether fermented or slightly fortified, tend to deteriorate in quality over time, although they will become stale less slowly if their containers are sealed airtight and chilled. Port, marsala, sherry, vermouth, wine and sake all typically best consumed within a short time after opening, although the specific chemistry may vary.

Some folks consider a sake that's been open, unrefrigerated, for more than a few weeks undrinkable. I don't know if I'm that rigid, but it's a good benchmark. I've seen certain sakes do ok for a few months in the refrigerator.


What defines cooking wine? What makes cooking wines and cooking sake considered only for cooking? My thoughts would be how cooking sake has more spices added to it but I'm not sure for wine.

At least in germany "cooking wine" is more a reference to a cheap wine that just does not taste good if drunken (or is of a low percieved quality).  For example a cheap lambrusco, which you get if you order a few pizzas at your local pizzaria, is considered "cooking wine" in germany.


Egg replacer for bread dough? I've been reading (most) questions and answers (here) about baking bread (which I love) and how to replace eggs in many recipes (which I wish I didn't need). Turns out, I too have egg allergy (not too severe) and a few of my favorite breads require one or more eggs.

So far I've seen two options, in many threads, that look promising: Ener-G egg replacer and replacing eggs with flax. However, not a single use case I've seen here is about bread. I'm looking for an option to replace 1-3 eggs in a bread dough with: 500 g of white wheat flour, 200 ml of milk, 50-80 g of butter, a variable amount of sugar (5-50 g) and 20-30 g of fresh yeast.

Examples of this dough are the Swiss züpfe, the Polish chałka and a similar recipe from Galicia (northwest Spain) with even more eggs. And so many other breads, but these are my favorite ones :)

Has anyone tried flax or ener-g on a similar bread dough?

I've successfully used flax seed as an egg replacer in my sandwich bread. 1Tbs ground flaxseed mixed with 3Tbs water (per egg), mix & let sit 5 minutes before adding to recipe. Flax adds a bit of nutty flavor, but worth a try for your bread.


"tomato sauce" vs. "tomato paste" amazon returns almost 50 hits for "tomato sauce" and just 3 for "tomato paste"
Do "tomato sauce" and "tomato paste" mean the same thing?

Tomato sauce and paste are not the same thing.
Tomato paste is essentially a concentrated tomato with some water removed that is then preserved. It is generally only used as an ingredient.
Tomato sauce is immensely variable and usually has a variety of other ingredients added resulting in something to actually eat.


cinnamon in bread dough Is there a reason, besides the beautiful appearance, that cinnamon is added as a swirl instead of added directly to the dough? I heard once that it inhibited the yeast but I can't find confirmation of that.

I think there is no reason except tradition. Cinnamon rolled buns just happen to be a common food in Central Europe, and they were exported to the USA.

While I have no source to back this, I have frequently made breads where the cinnamon is kneaded into the dough. One common example is Peter Reinhart's Greek recipe from the book Bread Baker's Apprentice. The bread is enriched with honey, olive oil and a good amount of cinnamon, and it rises and bakes just like any other bread with similar hydration.


Why do mushrooms freeze in fridge at temps above freezing? I noticed mushrooms freeze in my fridge when nothing else does.  Can anybody explain the phenomenon?

Your fridge is infact below freezing temperature, perhaps just slightly. Water (the main liquid in mushrooms) never freezes at temperatures above freezing (0C/32F).

Mushrooms have a lot of surface area and are very light so their temperature can match the fridge easier.  Try placing dry lettuce there and you'll notice the same thing.

If it's a small and not so full fridge, you can raise the temperature a bit.


Alternative for shake and bake? I want to make my own shake and bake at home. The shake and bake you buy at the store is full of unpronounceable, non-organic ingredients and seasoning.

I'm looking to make a good crust out of something that has whole grains any suggestions?

Oh p.s. this is for Chicken.

The way restaurants do it is simple, straightforward, and  also very easy to make organic by using organic ingredients.

Standard 3-bowl breading

1) Bowl One: Seasoned flour -- flour, salt, pepper, and seasonings (for me: thyme, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, and parsley flakes)

2) Bowl Two: Egg wash -- Beaten egg with a 1-2 TBSP milk per egg yolk added

3) Bowl Three: Panko (or other bread crumbs) -- alternately, add some salt, pepper, and seasonings to them

Procedure:
Dredge the item to bread through the bowls in order, then repeat if desired to build up a thicker layer.  You only need to change your seasonings to switch from breading chicken, fish, or even doing fried green tomatoes.

If you make your own bread and breadcrumbs, the ingredient list will read: flour, water, milk, eggs, yeast, salt, and spices. Hard to get more straightforward than that!

It's simple, fast, and works beautifully every time.  Here's why it's the best way: the flour sticks to the wet surface of your item, leaving a dry, starchy surface for the egg wash to adhere to.  The egg wash allows the panko to stick.  For the next layer, the flour fills in the gaps between bread crumbs and absorbs residual moisture from the egg wash.


What is this Vietnamese Food? Several years ago, I had a friend of Vietnamese descent.  She went back to visit her home country and returned with gifts.  I was given a box (possibly yellow) containing several foil-wrapped cubes or rectangles.  They were a sort of caked or compressed powder, and somewhat unpleasant to eat.  I have since lost touch with my friend, but I would love to be able to track down (or at least identify) this food.

I remember that the first ingredient listed was "grease pig."

Does it look like this?  I have some in my pantry now.  (Don't tell anyone.)

By request, the box contents: inside a cellophane sleeve, 4 foil-wrapped cubes.  Here's one:

Texture is very much like a boullion cube - hard, with a bit of sticky give when pushed.  Salty, as expected, but also sweetish with a distinct flavor of caramelized onions and star anise.


Safe to use non-sticky pan with scratches? Everyday I have to cook using some share kitchenware, and I came across some old non-sticky frying pan that have significant scratch marks on them.

I was told by my parents that I should not use any non-sticky cookware with scratch marks on them, they said cooking with them will cause some harmful/toxic substance release to the food. I have asked if they got any reference to that claim but they never told me about it. I just don't understand if those non-sticky layer can contaminate my food, why it will only be dangerous when there is scratch marks on them but not in normal condition.

Could anyone tell me those frying pans are safe to use? Although there are new one in the share kitchen which I can use, I would still like to know if that safety issue is true. It would be nice if there is also reference given.

Related question here.  A few years back, I spent a lot of time researching this issue over at Chowhound.  There have probably been hundreds of scientific studies on this stuff, so you can read about some of them I found over there.

I haven't looked at this in a few years, but my understanding is that most people tend to be concerned about products from off-gassing when Teflon is heated.  The concern about "flaking" Teflon pans seems to be that you might ingest small pieces of the coating.  However, that inert solid form of Teflon seems to be the least concerning from a health perspective.  If there is a potential safety problem with Teflon (and I'm not really convinced there is), it's something that might come from gases, not from ingestion of the solid form.  (Also, this is not unique to Teflon: keep in mind that inhalation of fumes -- which takes a substance directly to the bloodstream -- often results in much more significant exposure for many substances than ingestion.)

I suppose another element of concern comes from people who have heard that overheating a Teflon pan will cause danger.  They therefore assume if the pan is damaged during overheating that consumption of the remaining Teflon bits will be hazardous.  However, again, the main concern -- if there is one -- is in the potential gases, not the solid form.

The current scientific consensus seems to be that ingestion of small quantities of Teflon is not a hazard.  When it degrades or flakes, it remains very inert -- which means it won't react with just about anything, including your body or digestive system.

Bottom line: IF you're concerned about Teflon (for whatever reason), you shouldn't cook with it at all.  The hazard posed by flaking pans is NOT greater than intact ones.  The only greater concern is that your food will tend to stick more.


Can I use a meat grinder to grate cheese? I have a large block of cheddar cheese that I would like to use for burgers. But grating is such a pain. I do have a meat grinder. Can I use that for "grating" cheese? Has anybody done that before? Will it mess up the grinder?

I know someone who says it's perfectly fine, but he never did it before. I know another person who's friend says it's not because cheese is sticky and may jam the grinder. I cannot find anything on google either. Has anyone had any experience with "grating" cheese with a meat grinder?

During my younger days working in restaurants I have grated many pounds of cheese using a 'meat grinder' (or rather the meat grinder attachment for a hobart stand mixer)...I have also used my home Kitchen Aid meat grinder for cheeses (cheddar, jack and mozzarella mostly). So, it depends on the grinder and the attachments you have but yes it can be done.

You want a fine grinder plate and cold cheese (so it stays together better). You probably also want to be doing a "serious quantity" as the set up/tear down/clean up will be an endeavor. If your having friends and family over for a Mexican Fiesta, perfect. If you are making a quick plate of nachos...OVERKILL.. For a few burgers, do it once and decide for yourself if you want to do it again.

It won't be bad for the grinder
It won't be bad for the cheese
Expect Leftovers...

(note: IMHO near frozen mozzarella for lasagna is a perfect place to use a grinder for cheese...)


How can I get unsweetened gluten-free chocolate brownies to hold together? I would like to make a chocolate brownie which has no added sweetener. It would be great if it were gluten-free as well, but that is less important.

I tried a recipe from Dinah Alison's "Totally Flour-Free Baking" which had as ingredients:

140g butter, 215g sugar, 2 eggs, 75g ground almonds, 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder, 200g chocolate, 85 g walnuts, 1/2 tspn of vanilla essence and 50g choc chips.

I adapted this by losing the sugar, replacing the choc chips with more walnuts and using pure "cacao" from this site:

http://williescacao.com/fine-chocolate/products/

The result was quite nice to eat, but much, much too crumbly. The brownies just had no cohesion.

I tried a second attempt by adding cocoa butter - figuring that I hadn't got enough fat in - but that didn't help much, and the cocoa butter made it less chocolatey.

What am I doing wrong? I suspect that maybe her recipe doesn't have enough egg, but is there anything else I should adjust?

Note that its really important there's no sweetener. "Sugar-free" recipes on the net all seem to have something else - bananas/dates/sucrulose/apple mash. The recipe above is as sweet as I ever want it to be.

Edit: the flour-free nature of the recipe is a plus but not vital. If I can get a plausible sugar-free brownie working then I can worry about the flour later.

I would use stewed apple as per assorted recipes on the net - if you stew cooking apples with no added sugar then they won't make it any sweeter.


adjust flavor from inexpensive brandy I put cheap brandy in my sauce for stew and it smells like gasoline. Can you adjust this in any way? Of course I made enough for a big group coming over tonight!

Well, the good thing is, what you smell is everything that left your stew in order to float around in the kitchen. My attempt, with no guarantee for success, would be to seriously reduce the sauce down to jus/gravy and then fill it up with water again. Then use some cream to soften any remaining taste.


How to cook Parmesan Cheese into a broth without making globs? I've been trying to cook this recipe recently, but I keep running into a problem with the parmesan cheese. Basically the last step is to mix the cheese into the chicken broth.

When I do this, it just gets all gloppy and I have a hard time stiring it in. I can mitigate it a little by adding the cheese in parts, but eventually it builds up. Additionally, when I go to clean the pot, I find that a bunch of the cheese has ended up stuck to the side of the pot.

Is there a way to cook parmesan cheese so that it melts into the broth, rather than sticking to everything and just making globs?

That recipe relies on starch exuded by the pasta to thicken the broth enough to emulsify the cheese. If your brand of pasta throws off less starch, the broth won't be thick enough to keep the cheese from globbing up.

I suggest adding some corn starch slurry just before the cheese. Remove a quarter cup or so of the broth, allowing it to cool slightly; add some corn starch (say, 2 tbsp as a starting point? I'll leave that to the group) and mix, then pour the slurry back into the main soup and stir for a minute or so over low heat, then add the cheese.

EDIT: Joe's comment made me realize something else -- you're not using pre-grated Parmesan, are you? You shouldn't use that for cooking. (Or anything, really.)


Getting flavor into chicken I made a chicken recipe tonight that was really good, but I want MORE flavor in the chicken. It had a rub on the outside made from Chinese five spice, brown sugar, grated ginger, and minced garlic. The cavity of the chicken was stuffed with slices of orange and chunks of ginger. The recipe then called for a mix of orange juice and soy sauce to be poured over the chicken then cooked (covered) with the lid coming off for the last 15 minutes of cook time for the chicken to brown. My first issue is that when I poured the liquid over the chicken (as directed by the recipe, the rub came off and pooled in the bottom of the dish. My second issue is that the flavors were good, but not IN the meat. Any suggestions of how to get the flavor all through the chicken? I'm wondering if I pulled the skin back a bit and put the rub underneath? Pour the soy/orange mix on the bottom? Baste every so often? Inject some of the liquid? Please help. Thanks!

If you're going to use a rub, i'd recommend rubbing it a day or two before cooking and leave it in the fridge. That lets the flavor set in properly. Also brining as mentioned in the previous answer is a great method of getting flavor into the meat. With chicken, however, I find it's best to create a sauce or gravy to serve it with. Getting flavor actually IN to chicken meat as you're asking is pretty hard, so sauce / gravy is the way to go.


on proper thermometer poking? When you use a thermometer and poke a large hole in the meat, can you use the same hole to accurately gauge temperature later on?

I wouldn't recommend that, most likely it will alter the results somehow.

But why do you get huge holes? My Instant Read Thermometer makes only little holes, so you don't kill your steak etc. again. When you have an older meat thermometer, most likely it is designed to stay in the oven the whole cooking time.


Where can I source Mexican chilies in the UK? I've traveled to Mexico and the US and seen different chilies available there, but at home in the UK (or even worse, in my fiancée's home of Finland) I find it very hard to find Ancho, Poblano and Chipotle chilies.

Oaxaca Restaurants lists a lot of interesting-sounding chilies, but I have no idea how to source them.

I have once found dried Chipotle chilies in a supermarket, but at that time I was not entirely sure of the right way to rehydrate them (and I'm still not).

Where should I look for North American type chilies? And if I only find dried, can I use them instead of fresh?

Mex Grocer has an excellent selection: http://www.mexgrocer.co.uk/. I've ordered chillies once from them in the past with success.


Can you boil milk and let it fully cool then bring it up to 100 degrees F for yogurt? I brought my milk to a boil but I don't have time to let it cool. I don't want to put in the enzymes now because they will die off. Can I let it cool in the fridge and bring it back up to 110 degrees F then add the enzymes? My understanding is that bringing the effects of the boiling will last.

Yes, you will be fine.  As stated in this question, the main reason to heat milk for yogurt making is to improve texture.  Heating it twice should not be a problem.  It would be interesting to know if twice heated milk (heated, cooled, and reheated) has an impact vs. the traditional heating, then adding the culture at the correct temperature.  There is also useful information in this question and answer, as I was trying to understand the variables in yogurt making.  If you are interested in playing with the texture of your yogurt, you will have more information here than you need!  If you don't care so much about dialing that texture in to your liking, and just want any yogurt, your process will certainly work.


Does the strength of the barrier between egg yolk and white indicate freshness? Often you can plop eggs out of the shell on a pan nicely, so that the yolk remains whole and doesn't leak out to mix with the white. But other times, the barrier between the yolk and the white is so fragile, that there is some disintegration and some of the yolk leaks out when you try to get it on the pan. Also it becomes difficult to separate the yolk and white.
Does this indicate the eggs are less fresh?
I have the eggs sitting in ambient temperature of 30°C (around 86°F for those using exotic units), this is the room temperature. I have a suspicion that this (egg yolk leaking) happens more for eggs which have been sitting more days since collection, but I am not sure yet if there is a correlation.

It can be a sign of lack of freshness, as yes, the membranes will break down the older the eggs are, but it can also be a sign of another type of age or the general health of the bird producing the eggs.


Sausage patties dry when cooked I have a problem with homemade sausage patties that I make. They come out too dry on the inside. Could it be the difference in kosher salt and iodized salt? The recipe is as follows:

Ground pork with high fat content
Chopped onions
Ground nutmeg, ground cayenne,powdered oregano,cracked anise seeds
iodized salt, pepper
Minced onions
Mix. Grill as is, with no oil whatsoever.

When I first tried this recipe, I was using kosher salt, and the result was good and juicy. However, I remember transitioning to iodized salt, and I still got good results, however I may be remembering things in a blur.

Update. I've drastically changed some parts of the recipe. (1) the meat is now fresh ground twice thru the KA meat grinder, so it's super moist and I suppose it's preserved inside the patty (wrapped in film, frozen), (2) using kosher salt, and a less amount of it. With the test fry, it's more moist now.

The most important difference here is the grain of the salt. Kosher salt has a coarse grain, whereas table salt ("iodized") is fine grain. Yes, it will affect the juiciness of your meat.
Here's an article that discusses it.

Cooking with Kosher salt: I generally reserve Kosher salt for meat and recipes that call specifically for it. Because the larger flakes hold onto moisture, Kosher salt essentially holds the moisture inside of the meat. It keeps pork chops tender, steaks juicy, and chicken breast moist.
See for yourself. Salt one chicken breast with table salt and another with kosher salt. The one with kosher salt will retain its moisture much better than the chicken breast salted with table salt.


Can you store frozen dinners in the refrigerator for up to a week before eating them? Given that this is "Seasoned Advice", my question may be considered blasphemy, but I'm going to take a chance anyways as the good people here are likely best suited to know the answer. ;)
Is there any harm in storing store-bought frozen dinners in the refrigerator (not freezer) for up to a week before eating them?
Many frozen dinners are labelled with "do not thaw", implying there is a problem with doing this, and I am hoping people here can shed some light on the topic.

Update: In the comments, I was asked why I would like to do this, and what I am trying to achieve.  Good questions!
The reason I would like to do this is because the freezer is completely filled, and a bunch of frozen dinners are being delivered (as a result of mistakes outside of my control).
Also, I know people will be eating several of the frozen dinners within a week, so it will conserve energy to place them in the refrigerator before cooking them in a microwave oven.

I wouldn't recommend it for a couple of reasons:

Food in general degrades much faster in the fridge than in the freezer, so you risk spoilage during that time.  Most prepared foods are not recommended to be stored that long in the fridge.

Most "do not thaw" meals are designed to be cooked from frozen.  So you're not only left guessing what the correct cooking times are, but there may be elements such as a sauce that placed in the container as a puck that's intended to no interact with the other item in that compartment, but that would now have a week to get soggy from the sauce and dramatically change how it cooks up.