How do price and quality relate in blenders? I've seen blenders for anywhere from $20* to $2,000, and I must say, the variety of marketing-speak has my brain in a tizzy. In plain english, what are the major price levels in blenders (general ranges, obviously there's some variety in quality at each price range) and what sort of features can I expect at each level? For example, I'd not expect a $20 blender to, say, heat up soups like one famous (but more expensive) model is known for.

* I use USD, but I can convert prices easily enough

Like any other product, price and quality don't always relate.  However, here are some notes and features to help you:

What food stuffs you can blend in your blender and expect good results, how often, and for how many years depends on the following:

Quality of the motor:  When the material you're blending gets hard to blend (say oil separated peanut butter mixed with dry almonds), you can easily send the blender up in smoke.  A better blender might hit its maximum-current/temperature switch, shut-down, and protect itself.  An even better blender might happily blend (saw a giant one with the motor made by Harley Davidson, it didn't care what it was mixing).  See the notes on power/wattage.
Speed of the blade (RPM):  Cheaper blenders tend to only reach a couple of thousand rpm.  The Brand you're (not)mentioning can go near 30,000rpm.  At that spin-rate, frozen fruit starts looking like Gelato (smooth and shiny).  In a $20 blender, they look like frozen fruit slushy with ice crystals remaining relatively large.
Wattage of Blender: Generally the higher wattage blenders are more powerful, although not in every case.  This is again one of those features that leads to being able to make apple/carrot/beat juice in your blender or make a contribution to your local appliance landfill.  Top Gear tried to make a Beef, Bovril and Brick smoothie with a V8 Engine.
Intended use: Commercial blenders are designed to be running practically all the time (like the ones at StarBucks), hence the $2000.  The 'Prosumer' ones, might heat up if under heavy and long duration use and shut-down for a few minutes at a time.  The low-ends can last you a lifetime if what you're blending is not very thick/viscus and you don't keep it running for long sessions.
Quality of the Jar, Blade, and Gears:  In the low-end of blenders, the ones with glass jar might be better since they're easier to clean and don't get foggy.  The high-end blender manufacturers (sort of) treat the jar as a consumable that you'll have to buy once in a couple of years.  Fresh blade, and clear jar.

Pro-Tip: Sometimes it costs you an extra $250 to get the model with the adjustable speed dial.  While there normally is a perfect blending speed for any given 'input', you're looking at diminishing returns since the two-speed type will blend just as well given minimally more effort.


What are the effects of thawing food at low temperatures? Context: I am a member of staff at a supermarket where customers within supermarkets frequently "dump" refrigerated/fresh items into freezers. As far as I am aware, the options I have to me for dealing with these dumped items are as follows:

Thawing the (partially/entirely) frozen item within the back-area chillers and selling as normal
Thawing the (partially/entirely) frozen item within the back-area chillers and reducing the price of the item, as we currently do with lesser-quality food items (eg poor cuts of meat, superficially damaged packaging or multi-pack items that are missing an item or two)
Discarding the item as not-fit-for-human-consumption

Background reading indicates that for most products - assuming that the food does not defrost within the "danger zone" (above 40f) - the main concern with thawing these items relates to food quality rather than food safety as the freeze-thaw cycle will damage the food's internal cell-structure.

This leads me to believe that option #2 is the best balance for avoiding excessive wastage and ensuring customer safety but these thoughts are based on extremely limited reading material and passing the smell-test of what "makes sense".

Please confirm the "best practices" / safety guidelines relating to this scenario and provide information on the caveats / what to look out for.

Many thanks

Not being in the grocery industry, I cannot advise you on what best practices are in your industry.

However, assuming you thaw the items in your chiller at safe temperatures (40°F or below) as you indicated, you do not have a safety issue.

Depending on the product, there will be damage from ice crystals forming during the freezing, which will make meats more watery and degrade their texture, change the texture of vegetables, and so on.  This is more true than commercially frozen equivilent products, because slower freezing produces larger crystals which cause more physical damage.  Commercially frozen foods are often frozen in blast chillers to minimize freezing time and ice crystal size growth because of this problem.

I cannot give you specific information on what to look for in terms of quality degradation, because it would depend on the specific item.  Think about what would happen if you froze it at home in your own freezer, and thawed it for use later.  The same type of quality change will occur.  Vegetables will tend to get limp; meats will tend to exude more juice.  Of course, the consumer deserves to know that this has occurred.

Therefore, I think your best options are 2 (disclosing that the item was frozen).  You may choose to discard the item as not of a high enough quality, but it is still safe and fit for human consumption.

It may not be practical for you to store, but you could also let the item freeze completely, and sell it at a discount frozen, allowing the customer to thaw it at their convenience.

I applaud your ethical approach in actually asking.


How to stop meatballs falling apart when frying I tried cooking meatballs as a change to what I usually cook but I found that they didn't stay together when being fried.

I made the meatballs with about 500g of mince, a chopped onion, some herbs and a beaten egg. I then mixed everything up in a mixing bowl and then fried.

After I realised that they weren't saying together when being fried I tried adding another egg, but it still didn't help.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I did wrong, or what I could try next time?

You might consider a different approach - don't fry them.  Drop them (carefully) into a pot of boiling sauce instead.  They come out perfectly even, very tender, and more flavourful than frying.  Usually the sauce we're talking about is a sweet tomato-based sauce, but it could be anything that's reasonably thick (so that the meatballs don't just fall straight to the bottom).

This sounds counterintuitive to a lot of people - you might think it would be more likely to fall apart this way, but in practice it sets almost immediately because it's suspended and has a much more even heat distribution.  When frying, all of the heat comes from the bottom; it's the combination of pressure and weight (gravity) that makes it fall apart.

Perhaps you want the rougher, browned texture of pan-fried meatballs, and that's fine; but I thought I would mention this anyway because I can distinctly remember dozens of guests having come to the family home (this is a family recipe, after all) asking "how are you able to make the meatballs like that?"  So if you have a chance, just give it a try; you might be pleasantly surprised.


English Breakfast vs Ceylon tea Which tea is stronger, i.e. gives a better puch for a wake up? I know that English Breakfast is a mix which among others includes Ceylon, and I read that Ceylon is a very strong black tea (the strongest apart from Chinese uberteas?). So, does it come out that English Breakfast is weaker because it only contains a share of Ceylon and the rest of the teas in the blend are of a weaker kind? Or is it actually stronger because of that and is used at breakfast to give a good kick?

There are two main traits of tea which deliver the punch you talk about:

Caffeine: this is a stimulant, and there is wide variation on the amount of caffeine in black teas depending on a number of factors. Here is a good article which goes into some detail on caffeine in tea. A simple way to put it is that variety doesn't mean much, one assam may have much more caffeine than another, so saying a tea is a blend of assam and ceylon doesn't mean it has more or less caffeine than pure assam.
Flavor: A stronger flavored drink provides more stimulation to the brain than a weaker flavored drink. The more something attacks your taste buds the more wake-up power it has. Orange juice has no caffeine but it still has eye-opening properties for most people

English breakfast teas are blends of strong-flavored tea varieties like Assam and Kenyon, they are designed to be drank with milk and maybe sugar. Ceylon is actually a lighter flavored tea, usually used in afternoon blends for a lighter taste, although it can be used in english breakfast tea. Caffeine-wise they vary but strength of flavor does not imply caffeine content if the quantity of tea used is the same. If you get a stronger tea by adding more leaves to the brew then you get more caffeine of course.

So english breakfast tea is a good eye-opener as much from its strong flavor as its caffeine content. Ceylon is less strongly flavored but probably similar caffeine content per weight of tea, so would be less of an eye-opener.


Need help reconciling quantities in this recipe Here's a recipe from a package of chocolate chips (edited, but not substantively):

  2¼ cups all-purpose flour
  1 teaspoon salt
  1 teaspoon baking soda
  1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
  ½ cup granulated sugar
  1 cup softened butter or margarine
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  2 eggs
  1 package [=12 ounces] chocolate chips
  1 cup chopped nuts, optional

  Preheat…. Combine…. Add…. Drop mixture by rounded teaspoonfuls onto non-greased cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Recipe yields approximately 2 dozen cookies.

Now, I figure we can't count powdery ingredients like flour as adding their full volume to the batter: they get condensed when wet. But the liquid ingredients should add their full volume: specifically, the cup of butter should account for a cup of batter. The cup of brown sugar is firmly packed (and it's pretty moist, too), so I figure it should account for another cup of batter, or very nearly. Finally, all the other ingredients — including 2¼ cups of flour, two eggs, and a lot of chocolate — surely add at least another cup to the batter. So we've got at least three cups of batter.

The yield is about two dozen cookies, so each cookie is made of:
(at least 3 cups of batter) ÷ (about two dozen) = (at least one fluid ounce of batter).

Yet the recipe calls for the cookies to be made of "rounded teaspoonfuls", surely not fluid ounces. (A fluid ounce is six (flat) teaspoonfuls.)

Where did I go wrong in my reasoning? (Or is there simply a mistake in the recipe as printed?)

That recipe, which I've made many, many times, yields approx 5-6 dozen cookies if a rounded tablespoon is used as a gauge.  For that amount of dough to only yields 2 dozen cookies, they would each be approx. the size of a golfball, maybe.  I believe your recipe has a mistake in yield.  Check out this link to a similar recipe (nestle Toll House cookies):

http://www.verybestbaking.com/mobile/detail.aspx?id=18476


Why would you flour your bread loaf pans? I found a recipe for white bread that says to grease the pan and then flour it. I know you do that with some cakes, but I have never seen a bread recipe that calls for flour in the pans. I thought I was reading it wrong, I had my husband read it he said I was not seeing thing. sIt really called for flour in the pans. Are there any benefits to doing this?

The same benefit as there is for cakes-- namely that it should prevent sticking. Usually is less necessary for bread since there's usually less sugar in bread and that makes it less likely to stick. Greasing and flouring does produce a thicker crust where the pan is.


What can I substitute for butter in Alfredo sauce? While I was cooking a very simple Alfredo sauce today for my lunch, I had already started my sauce before I realized I was out of butter.

If this happens again to me in the future, what is a good emergency replacement for butter in a recipe?

My recipe (if needed) was:

  1 1/2 cups butter, divided 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast
  halves - cut into cubes
  2 (16 ounce) containers whole milk ricotta
  cheese
  1 pint heavy cream
  1 teaspoon salt
  1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

  Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add fettuccini
  and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

  Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute
  chicken until no longer pink and juices run clear.

  In a large saucepan combine ricotta cheese, cream, salt, Parmesan
  cheese and remaining butter. Cook over medium heat until well
  combined, about 10 minutes. Stir in cooked fettuccini and chicken;
  cook until heated through.

What I ended up doing was adding some EVOO to the sauce because I figured it had a similar fat content. The sauce turned out ok enough, but I'm wondering what the difference would have been if I had used actual butter.

This is 100% about flavor. Butter will give you this, EVOO will give you that, ...

Butter will give you a 'richer' taste, whatever that may mean for you.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, generally speaking is far more powerful and may become overwhelming.
Any other oil will give you a different taste profile.

Sunflower oil may be the most neutral and therefor the most appropriate for Alfredo sauce. Cannola oil may be another neutral oil, but I've never used it myself.

Generally speaking, an oil is an oil is a fat (for emulsifying).


Keto King Bread Rise Problem I have scoured the net looking for answers but I can’t find any.
I’ve been making the Keto King bread and in my bread machine it just doesn’t rise much. It ALWAYS tastes great but doesn’t rise much.
So I’ve tried various different suggestions; changing yeast, water temp, ingredient amounts, proofing times..
None have worked. Someone I know has the same machine as me and their bread came out huge, I did it step by step (I found out I also hadn’t put as much honey in either so I matched that - 7g instead of the 4 I had been putting in) and it still came out small.
So I’m totally confused as to why this bread just wine rise.
The bread I’m making is here
The recipe:
1.25 cups of vital wheat gluten (190g/6.7oz)
1/2 cup of oat fiber (41g/1.45oz)
2/3 cup of golden flaxseed meal (70g/2.46oz)
1/2 tsp xanthan gum (2.5g/0.088oz)
1 tsp salt (6g / 0.21oz)
0 - 4 Tbsp powdered Sweetener (0g-60g/0oz-4oz : 30g/2oz is a good amount)
1 Tbsp active dry yeast (8g/0.28oz)

1 cup slightly warm water (23C - 25C / 73.4F - 77F) (240ml/8.1oz)
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
1 tsp honey (7g/0.25oz)
2 Tbsp butter (30g/1.05oz)

Any help or suggestions would be amazing, thank you.

First off, "Keto King's" bread recipe is basically an (unchanged) ripoff of Diedra's Ultimate Keto Bread version 1.0. Since version 1.0, she developed a much improved Ultimate Keto Bread v2.0. I've made that recipe probably a hundred times and have also tried tweaking many of the ingredients in order to better understand their overall effect. I can offer the recipe I now use, including how the ingredients work together, and also troubleshooting tips if you're still having issues.
Ultimate Keto Bread 2.x
86 g finely ground golden flaxseed meal
94 g oat fiber
164 g vital wheat gluten
6.4 g Kosher salt (or any salt)
16 g instant dry yeast
1 Tbsp non-nutritive sweetener (more or less as desired)

8 g honey
1 cup (237 g) warm water (100º - 120º F)
2 eggs (room temp, lightly beaten)
2 Tbsp butter (room temp)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Mix all the dry ingredients (including the yeast) together thoroughly. You want these ingredients to be room temperature. Since flaxseed meal should be refrigerated (and I also refrigerate vital wheat gluten), you may need to warm them slightly. This helps them hydrate more quickly and evenly.

Warm the eggs to room temperature, break and beat them slightly.

Heat the water to 100º - 120º F and then add to the honey and stir to dissolve it completely.

Add the water/honey mixture to the eggs slowly, tempering to make sure the eggs don't scramble.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix.

Begin kneading the dough and then add the butter. Continue kneading the dough in a stand mixer, by hand, or in a bread machine for 7 - 13 minutes.

Some notes on changes I made to this recipe compared to Keto King's recipe: I've omitted the xanthan gum, as it's basically a cheat in order to try to trap the gasses produced by fermentation. These gasses are normally trapped by the gluten network, provided it is strong enough and sufficiently developed. The problem with xanthan gum is that the network it creates competes with the vital wheat gluten for water, and can actually prevent the gluten network from developing sufficiently.
Another change I've made is to specify instant dry yeast instead of active dry yeast, and to include the yeast in the dry ingredients. Proofing the yeast separately is a hassle and isn't really necessary.
Okay, onto troubleshooting.
Failure to rise could be caused by a couple things. First, make sure your yeast is good if you're unsure. (Add some instant dry yeast to warm water and add sugar or honey; it should foam if the yeast is good).
If the yeast is good, then the main culprit is insufficient gluten development. Despite having a massive amount of vital wheat gluten (probably 50% of the total flour weight), sufficient gluten development is not easily guaranteed. To understand why, you need to understand how the flaxseed meal interacts with the VWG. When you add warm water to flaxseed meal, the soluble fiber creates a mucilage network that competes with the gluten network. Unlike with the xanthan gum, this milder competition is a good thing: it prevents the loaf from becoming one big rubbery mass from all the VWG. It takes me a good 10 - 13 minutes of kneading by hand to sufficiently intertwine these 2 different networks to create a matrix that's capable of trapping fermentation gasses.
If you were to use too much flaxseed meal and not enough VWG, it's possible that the gluten network wouldn't be strong enough to contain the gasses, and they'd simply escape out of the loaf and into the air.
Another issue with the flaxseed meal is that if it's too coarse a grind, the large seed shell fragments can slice through the gluten strands thereby weakening it and preventing sufficient development. Bob's Red Mill is a notoriously coarse grind. If you have a blender, or food processor, you can try grinding it a bit finer (freeze the flaxseed meal first before grinding, to counteract the heat generated during grinding -- too high of heat can accelerate the fats in flaxseed meal turning rancid). I also filter mine through a fine window screen to help weed out large fragments which I then regrind. If you must use a coarse grind, you might experiment with using a slightly lower amount (say, 10 g - 15 g less).
The other possible issue is the amount of variance possible if you're using volumetric measurements. That's why I've specified grams for most ingredients. While the amount of insoluble oat fiber can probably be varied quite a bit (say, 50 g - 110 g) without having much effect on the end result, the amounts and ratios of flaxseed meal to vital wheat gluten are quite important.
I've never used a bread machine, so I'm not sure how you might do something comparable to this: After placing the loaf in a prepared loaf pan, I'd spray the top with non-stick spray and cover with plastic wrap. When gluten development is insufficient and the overall rise is poor, when I peel back the plastic wrap, I can usually hear air bubbles escaping the top of the loaf.
With sufficient gluten development, you can get a good rise and good oven spring.


What to do with chicken scraps I just bought and cooked a whole chicken in the oven and I'm wondering if there is anything I can do with the scraps left over from slicing up most of the meat. Thank you!

Make stock: Take the entire carcass, brown it in the oven, put it in a pot with some carrot, onion and a bay leaf. Cover with water, bring to the boil and let simmer for an hour or so. Then you can strain it and reduce if you like.


Is it safe to eat raw green beans which have been in brine at room temperature? I've had some raw green beans in a brine solution for about one week at room temperature. Are they at risk for botulism? Can I put them into a vinegar solution and pickle them, or should I cook them first?

If you are at about 3-4% salt or higher and this sat around for a week, you probably have some lacto-fermented green beans.  They are technically pickled. Botulism will not thrive in a salt/acid environment.


Can I replace sugar with cane syrup in sourdough recipe I'm baking my own sourdough bread (whole wheat-rye). Recipe calls for adding 2 table spoons of sugar with a bit of milk to get the starter, well... started.

I thought about replacing it with cane syrup (unsulfered molasses) as it contains more micronutriens. Is this a good idea?

I have been baking with honey and molasses for some time now and I see no much differences except that dough and bread gets much dark brown colour.


How can I aquire (not avoid) sour blueberries? If I'm specifically looking for sour blueberries, what can I do to best avoid the sweet ones?

If buying from the store, do I just look for berries that are more red?
Perhaps there is a particular time of year when they'll be more sour?

Blueberries don't continue to ripen after picking so finding those that are blue and tart can be a challenge. If you see berries that are slightly purple or red, they may have been picked early and be a bit tart.

If you're in an area where blueberries are raised, you might visit early in the season, which is late July to mid August. Picking your own might do it, or finding a wild blueberry patch. And if you're really into them and have the ability, consider planting your own bush; early Spring is the time to do it.


Is it safe to par-boil chicken legs, (unthawed), then finish cooking them later? I boiled four chicken legs for 25 mins, put them in the fridge then took them back out to finish boiling them four hours later, is this safe?

It is safe, as long as the chicken doesn't stay more than 2 hours in the danger zone (40-140* F / 4-60º C). These 2 hours include preparation, cooking time and storage.

For further information: Is a partially frozen chicken safe if not immediately cooked at the proper temperature? and Can chicken not completely cooked then cooled be fully cooked later?


How to cook tofu without burning? I've been trying to eat tofu lately (not using much oil to cook it) and I don't mind it, my only problem is that I can't seem to cook it without burning the pan and setting the smoke alarms off (twice!!). The actual tofu turns out ok but the pan comes out pretty blackened and hard to clean.

Thanks.

If it is firm tofu: Don't use not much oil to cook it. If you want to get by with using very little oil, bake it - but cover it in either SOME oil or marinade.

For frying, shallow or deep frying (warning: press the water out well before deep frying!) simply yields better results than sauteeing, unless the tofu is crumbled or cut very finely (which gives more of a minced meat texture).

If it is soft tofu, consider boiling it in a sauce (like in mapo dofu), or even serving it steamed/raw with a sauce (check if you variety is safe to consume raw) as is not infrequently done as a japanese style desert.

If you are looking for recipes that work well with firm tofu, check indian recipes that involve paneer cheese - most of them can be easily adapted to make great tofu dishes.


How can I make my no carb sausages more succulent? I'm trying to find a way to make my home made English sausages more like shop bought English sausages (I'm saying English here as I'm pretty sure sausages around the world are very different - ideally I'm looking to make something like Black Farmer sausages)  The only caveat is that I'm trying to make them carb free, so can't use rusk or breadcrumbs.  I've been experimenting with kibbled onions, as I read somewhere that you can use anything as a binding component as long as it's very dry.

I've been using mostly pork belly, which seems to have a good meat to fat ratio - I've been careful to get meat with a fair amount of fat, but my sausages are still a bit dry when cooked.

Can anyone give me some tips to making sausages, especially how to make them moist and succulent?

Are you only using pork belly? No added fat? Even though pork belly has a high fat content, my experience is that sausages require even more. Add some ground, or finely diced, pork fatback and see if it makes a difference.


Missing recipe name and method I have a list of ingredients but no recipe name or method - does anyone know what it may be?

The ingredients are:

200ml strong coffee
1 Tabs Demerara sugar
75g plain chocolate

Also listed separately:

100g white chocolate
4 eggs separated
75g caster sugar
500g mascarpone cheese

I guess you must have to mix the two lots together and then combine but I'm just not sure how and what it makes!  Sounds good though.

Absent the cake portion, the ingredients are precisely as listed for the Waitrose White and Dark Chocolate Tiramisu. Recipe and image courtesy of Waitrose.com

As @ChrisH has suggested, someone may have been modifying the recipe to use ready-made cake, such as a Madeira.

  Coffee chocolate syrup
  200ml strong coffee
  1 tbsp demerara sugar
  75g plain chocolate, finely chopped

  Cake
  125g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
  225g caster sugar
  2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  1 tsp vanilla extract
  75g plain chocolate, melted
  175g essential Waitrose plain flour
  25g cocoa powder
  1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  200ml essential Waitrose soured cream

  Mascarpone and chocolate cream
  100g white chocolate, chopped
  4 large eggs, separated
  75g caster sugar
  500g mascarpone

And, in the interest of not presenting a full recipe, here is my abridged version of the directions; follow the link for the full details.

  Prepare the cake layers the day before you plan to assemble the tiramisu.

  The next day, prepare the coffee syrup. Pour the hot coffee into a bowl, add the sugar and chopped chocolate and stir until smooth and the chocolate has completely melted.

  Prepare the mascarpone cream. Melt the white chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir until smooth, then set aside to cool slightly. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar until the mixture has doubled in volume and leaves a ribbon trail when the whisk is lifted. Add the mascarpone and melted white chocolate and whisk again until smooth. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they hold a stiff peak. Fold the egg whites into the mascarpone mixture using a large metal spoon.

  To assemble the tiramisu, spoon a layer of the mascarpone cream into the bottom of each of glass and top with a layer of cake. Drizzle liberally with the coffee syrup. Add another layer of the cream, cake, syrup and a final layer of cream. Serve chilled, perhaps scattered with white and dark chocolate shavings.


How to Get a Nice, Round Home-made Corn Tortilla My corn tortillas have been turning out great in taste but the shape is not so good.  I have a press that works OK, but I think it may be part of the problem.  The tortillas always have jagged edges, and are not perfectly round.  And I can't get them them to the size I want at the thickness I want.

When I try more masa mix, they turn out too thick, and when I use less masa mix, the edges split and they look like stars...

I once saw a gal at a Mexican restaurant making tortillas on a big flat grill.  She got the mix, rolled in her hands, pressed them out and they were perfectly round and very tasty...  I'm not so focused here on the taste because mine taste good, but the shape...

Still new to making tortillas and working with masa so any help would be great!

I roll them into a ball and use a cast iron press, similar to this one:

I think the official name is a "tortilladora". You can find them online or at restaurant/cooking stores for $10 to $20.

I wouldn't worry too much about getting them perfectly round. Store-bought tortillas are perfectly round because they're made by a big machine.

If you're still having problems with a press, I would look into a different recipe or maybe use more shortening/lard.


What makes cake a Sponge Cake? And what doesn't? I've been watching the Great British baking show and they refer to basically every cake as a sponge. I live in the USA and grew up in Australia. We just called cake, cake.

I know how to make a victoria sponge, and a genoise and neither of these methods required you to cream butter and sugar as the step 1.
So would you say that a cake that requires you to cream butter and sugar for the first step is NOT a sponge?

I also have heard the terms foam method and creaming method...Does using one of these methods define what cake you have made ie. sponge or not?

Sorry for the long winded question!!! I just want some clarification as what is a sponge and what isn't.

You are asking for a firm definition where none exists.

Baking is not mathematics, and it does not have a heap of literature where everybody has formally agreed to use the same terminology. Thus classification of baking goods is done into intuitive categories. This means it doesn't work by strictly defining where the border of a category lies (everything that has feature X is a member of the category "sponge cake", and everything that doesn't have feature X is not a member). Rather, it works by defining a center of the category, or a prototype for what a sponge cake should be like. The more a cake reminds one of the prototypical sponge cake, the more likely it is that this person will consider it to belong into the category of sponge cakes. And through social interaction, people will partly synchronize their ideas of what is considered "prototypical", and how close is "close enough" to still be considered part of the category.

WIth that in mind, the best answer that can be given is to describe what a prototypical sponge cake is like. It has a specific texture, not that much different from other things called a "sponge", such as contemporary plastic sponges for dishwashing. It is basically a firmed-up foam, with many small, regular holes inside. It has a characteristic elasticity - not as brittle as a meringue, but not as soft as a marshmallow, it is rather in the middle of these two cooking extremes. It also has a characteristic type of being "moist" - it is not as dry as a baguette, but also not super moist like a brownie. It is chemically leavened, somewhat sweet, and vanilla flavored. (While there are variants like "chocolate sponge", they are not the category prototype). It is not noticeably oily in the mouth the way a chiffon cake can be.

There is a chef named Ruhlmann who has tried to standardize some recipe types by giving a basic formula for creating a prototypical dish of each type. The book is called "Ratio", because the formulas are represented as the ratio of the ingredients used. For sponge cake, he gives a ratio of 1:1:1:1 flour:eggs:butter:sugar, and he requires that the cake uses the creaming method. A cake created with the same ratio, but using the muffin method, is given in the book as "pound cake".

Following this ratio indeed produces a cake whose qualities are very close to what most people would call a prototypical sponge cake (with some cultural differences - I think that traditionally German and Austrian "bisquitboeden" are ligher on fat but else they are used interchangeably with Anglosaxon sponges). Making his pound cake (by mixing the same ingredients without creaming) results in a cake with a different, heavier texture with less regular holes. However, this does not preclude other recipes from creating a cake with a typical "sponge" texture without making use of a creaming method, or even from people finding the difference so insignificant that they would consider Ruhlman's pound cake to be a sponge cake too.

So, it is not about any specific method, or ingredient, or ratio. It is about whether people who eat it will agree that they associate it with the term, based on whatever triggers their feeling of similarity.


How do you thicken a cold filling? What product can I use to thick a filling that is sweet and does not get heated? The filling is made of butter and homemade marshmallow.

The number of available thickeners is very large. Some work for high temperatures, others for low temperatures. For your filling I would use Iota Carageenan (Its used for thickening in many commercial ice cream products). It might be a bit difficult to find. Your second choice would be Xantham Gum.

When using these thickeners be sure to hydrate correctly and measure thickener weight as precisely as possible (to the gram). Between 0.5% and 1% of the liquid's weight is a safe bet but it will require some testing.


What can I do with apple peel? I made an apple pie the other day and peeled 6 or so apples.  I ended up composting the peelings, and it got me wondering, what else could I have done with them?

You could use them, together with the core, to make apple-glaze (for your pie).  Cover everything with water, simmer about 30 min, strain, simmer until you reach the desired density.


Sourdough starter not buoyant If my sourdough starter does not float in water, does that mean it is not ready?

Passing the float test is a good indicator that your starter is ready to use, however, it is not a perfect science. An active starter will produce pockets of CO2, as well as alcohol, which is less dense than water, and will result in buoyancy. This buoyancy is a good indicator of a very active starter that will go on to produce a decent rise. That being said, I have used starters that did not float, yet went on to make a decent loaf.

It's important to note that the flour-to-water ratio (aka. hydration) of your starter also impacts its buoyancy. I encourage you to try this out for yourself.

Pour 1/4 cup of your active starter into two separate containers, reserving some of the mother starter, of course. Feed one container with a 2/1 ratio of water-to-flour. Feed the other with a 2/1 ratio of flour-to-water. Mix them up and immediately try the float test. The mixture with more flour (less hydration) is more likely to stay composed and not desegregate upon contact with water. This, combined with the fact that partially dry flour less dense than water give it a better chance of floating.

Answering the "is it ready" question is tricky as there are far too many factors in play for anyone to look at a starter and say "this starter is ready and is going to make awesome bread".

My suggestion would be to take your current starter and branch it off into separate containers throughout your house. Experiment with different feeding techniques (I use 1 part organic whole wheat, 1 part bread flour, 2 parts bottled spring water). You might try altering the flour types and hydration ratios to encourage yeast production.


How can I use corn meal more efficiently when making pizzas? When I make pizzas, I put down a bunch of corn meal on my wooden pizza peel. I then put the shaped dough onto the peel (corn meal), add the toppings, and slide it onto a preheated stone in the oven. This always makes a big mess, as corn meal slides off the peel with the pizza and onto the bottom of the oven (where it then burns). It gets all over the counter and floor. Sometimes I don't put enough down on the stone and the pizza sticks to the peel, so I lift that section and add more corn meal, occasionally leading to a big mound of cornmeal stuck to the crust.

When I take the pizza out of the oven, there is a lot of corn meal left on the stone, so it seems like I'm using too much. This related answer indicates the solution to pizza sticking on the peel is (more) cornmeal, but that's not my problem.

Is there a better method for "applying" corn meal to my pizza peel and/or the dough itself, to make less of a mess? I sprinkle the cornmeal on the peel gently, so most of the mess happens during the transfer from peel to stone and back. I typically use Quaker yellow cornmeal, if that makes a difference.

When I first started making pizza at home, I tried cornmeal then tried semolina.
Neither worked to my satisfaction

Despite that the box of Reynold's Parchment paper says 'Oven SAfe to 420 degrees F', I tested it at 550deg F for 30 minutes at 550 deg F (the max temp my oven can be set to) on a heated pizza stone with a 10" cast iron skillet on top. The parchment turned a light brown, there was no fire and the structural strength remined (I pulled on the paper to slide the 4+ pound skillet back onto my peel without it tearing)

I ceased using corn meal or semolina from that moment. No more pizza mess in the oven


Why to remove skin and seeds of tomatoes when we puree them? I tried a couple of recipes which demanded tomato puree which was eventually cooked as part of the gravy. The gravy turned sour even after cooking it covered for more than 15 minutes. Is that because I didn't get rid of the skin and the seeds? Is that why they remove skin and seeds after boiling them for making puree? I wonder if it's just for texture or for taste too. Also, recipes like butter chicken require ripe tomatoes. But even after using somewhat ripe tomatoes (directly blended in a mixer), the gravy stays sour. What exactly goes wrong here? I've seen a couple of recipes of butter chicken from decent sources that use a large number of tomatoes (e.g. this recipe uses 12 tomatoes for 400 gm boneless chicken), I just wonder why the heck it doesn't turn sour in their case? I know they add honey and cream, but still.

Too many questions I guess in one go, but they are closely related according to me.

Edit - At least the red-looking tomatoes that we get here in India have sour/tangy taste. But they are still eatable when raw. But a large quantity of tomatoes should make the gravy sour, shouldn't they? I wonder why they don't when chefs follow those recipes. Not sure if any of you guys have experienced this issue before.

Also, the reason I ask about tomatoes and sour gravies in the same question is that, is it just about ripeness of tomatoes or the way of cooking/pureeing them which makes difference to the sourness of the gravy.

For whatever reason, the brand of tinned tomatoes I used to buy regularly had somewhat bitter-tasting seeds; the flavour was definitely present in pureed soups / sauces.

I used to squeeze them all out by hand, but some still made it into my precious San Marzano tomato sauces.

Then I found the perfect tool for skinning and seeding larger quantities of tomatoes: the food mill.

For the next several years, I dutifully used my mill to remove seeds from my favorite brand of (already skinned) tinned tomatoes - boring, yes, but the bitterness was gone.

Sometime during this period, I switched to a different brand of tomatoes. Then I got bored of the food mill, and pureed them whole again... with no bitterness.

The moral of the story? Eat some of the seeds! If they're bitter, get rid of them before you puree. If you don't really notice, then don't bother.

My food mill still makes great mashed potatoes. Or are they milled potatoes?


Why does packaging indicate that a ribeye cut needs to reach 165 F? Even though the FDA recommends 145 F as the safe temperature for whole cuts of beef, this ribeye I bought, as per packaging instructions, needs to reach a minimum internal temperature of 165 F.
Could this be an indicator of poor meat handling/quality (cut was priced at $50 per kilo)?

Without more information, it's not possible to give a definitive answer. The two main possibilities are:
The producer is unusually risk-averse. They are erring on the side of extreme caution in their labelling, because for whatever reason they believe if they label the beef with a lower minimum temperature they will have more trouble in some way unrelated to the actual safety of the beef for consumption.
There is some reason this beef should be cooked to a higher temperature. For example, perhaps the beef has been tenderised using needles which could transfer pathogens from the surface to the inside of the meat. The manufacturer knows their product and has deviated from FDA guidance for the reason of food safety or quality.


when do I tenderize my steak? I have a roller meat tenderizer and I was wondering do I roll over the meat before I marinate it or after? Or does it even make a difference of when I do it?

It probably won't make a huge difference, but since marinade primarily flavors the surface of the food it contacts, it might affect how long you'll want to marinate.

If you tenderize first, the marinade will work into the small holes and cuts that tenderizing  will create. That means more of the marinade flavor. And, if using a marinade high in acid or containing fruits whose enzymes break down meat proteins (such as mango, I believe) any further tenderizing effect will be enhanced by greater surface contact. Accordingly you could marinate for a shorter amount of time.

This effect might be undesirable if you're marinating for an extended period of time (i.e. overnight). But there is no hard rule.


How to make flavoured rice like uncle ben's chinese rice? What can I add to my rice cooker to create a similar flavour? Also I find, rice comes out quite dry even when I put more water? There's a slight oily sheen to it. Will this help?

Thanks heaps!

The ingredients on Uncle Ben's Chinese Fried Rice are:

  LONG GRAIN PARBOILED RICE, SOY SAUCE (SOYBEAN, WHEAT, SALT), DEHYDRATED VEGETABLES (RED BELL PEPPER, CARROT, PARSLEY, ONION, GARLIC), MODIFIED CORN STARCH, GLUCOSE SOLIDS, HYDROLYZED PLANT PROTEIN (WHEAT, SOY), MALTODEXTRIN, AUTOLYZED YEAST EXTRACT, FLAVOUR, SPICES, HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (SOYBEAN, COTTONSEED), SILICON DIOXIDE, SALT, CARAMEL, VINEGAR SOLIDS.

First off, the rice: In a rice cooker, I wouldn't use parboiled. Just get regular long grain white rice, but be sure to rinse it pretty well. Extra starch left on the rice can cause it to come out sticky. When you complain about your rice being too dry, I'm not sure what you mean, so perhaps leaving a bit of starch in would help?

You can easily just add a bit of soy sauce to the water that you'll cook the rice in.

As for the vegetables, if you can find dehydrated vegetables, great. Otherwise, I'd just saute fresh veggies and fold them in at the end.

Next we have some industrial ingredients that will be harder to replicate at home. The corn starch I'd skip. Glucose solids can be replaced with a pinch of sugar. Hydrolyzed plant protein and autolyzed yeast extract could be replaced with a bit of nutritional yeast or some liquid seasoning like Maggi or Kitchen Bouquet.

Flavour and Spices get a bit tricky. I'd guess a bit of black pepper and a dash of sesame oil, which can be thrown into the water at the beginning. You'll need to adjust those to taste, of course.

Hydrogenated vegetable oil can be replaced with whatever you saute the veggies in and the sesame oil you threw on the rice.

Silicon dioxide is just an anti-caking agent to keep it from clumping up in the package, so you can skip it.

Salt, caramel, and vinegar solids: Your liquid seasoning (Maggi, Kitchen Bouquet) should provide these. You should, of course, salt it to taste though.


My oat milk is too watery Since shops around here are out of oat milk for past week I started running low on supply. I decided to make one at home. I'm targeting the Oatly full-fat milk.

I blended 1 cup of oats with 4 cups of water for about 30-45 seconds (I used wrong blender so the timing is not accurate as it started to spilling over when blend too quickly) and then put it through cheesecloth. Have I:

Added too much water
Blend too short time (timing was very innacurate)
Not soak the oats first?

Here are the ingredients that the manufacturer’s website gives for Oatly Full Fat:

  Oatmilk (water, oats), low erucic acid rapeseed oil. Contains 2% or less of: dipotassium phosphate, calcium carbonate, tricalcium phosphate, sea salt, dicalcium phosphate, DHA algal oil, sodium ascorbate (antioxidant), tocopherols (antioxidant), riboflavin, vitamin A, vitamin D2, vitamin B12.

I doubt that you can get the full-fat flavour or texture without adding fat.

The question then becomes how you keep the fat in an emulsion with the water and oats. As the use of heat has been suggested in comments, I would suggest experimenting with making a roux of the oil and fine ground oats and proceed as though making a thin white sauce.


How to modify a quick bread recipe to add spice / tea flavors? I have a trusty pumpkin bread that I make countless loaves of every year.  My wife and I love Chai Tea and I was curious how one could go about adapting the linked recipe above to include Chai spices or some type of Chai tea as part of the ingredients.  To me this seems like the best convergence of many tasty flavors for the fall.

I just noticed that your recipe uses water. That's an ideal way to get tea flavor into things - you can replace it with concentrated tea. Assuming you use teabags, you should be able to steep two in that 2/3 cup of water. Tea is a fairly subtle flavor, so you may not taste it too much in the bread, but this is easy and doable with what you have! There's also instant tea, if you want to try to boost it - but it of course won't be as good as real, fresh tea. (You could buy chai concentrate, but I think it's usually about double strength, so not really better than you'll do on your own.)

I'd then replace the spices normally in your recipe with chai spices. If you've ever made chai from scratch, you could use that recipe as a guide, but it sounds like you might not have. There's an awful lot of variety here, from region to region, and in Western variations; you could search around online for chai recipes that appeal to you. I'm not an expert (I'm from Texas!) but from what I know, here are some common spices, with the most standard ones toward the top:

cardamom
cinnamon
fresh ginger
black pepper
fennel
cloves

Cardamom is pretty much required, and that'll help give you a flavor very different from your usual spice blend. I'd mix/grind up the spices separately from the rest, smell them to see if they're what you're looking for, and adjust as needed before mixing into the rest. Aiming for a similar total volume of spices to that of the original recipe should work fairly well. It might be a bit spicier, since you'll also have the tea, but that's probably fine. (Fresh ginger obviously won't go with the dry spices, if you use it - maybe a teaspoon or two minced?)


Can I make a hot mayonnaise? I would like to serve a hot garlic mayonnaise (not spicy) ? Is it possible to do that and how ?

Edit : I do not want to make a Hollandaise sauce but a real hot mayonnaise. I had seen that served on the top of a steam fish filet.

You are basically talking about a Hollandaise sauce, which is similar to mayonnaise in that it is an emulsion of egg yolk and fat. The main difference is that in mayonnaise the fat is oil, whereas in Hollandaise it is butter. The main flavours in mayonnaise come from an acid (lemon juice or vinegar) and mustard - Hollandaise likewise uses lemon juice, and mustard can be easily added.

Recipes abound for Hollandaise, so you will have no problem finding one on Google.


Cooking smoke safety Whenever I make burgers (stovetop with cast iron), they produce a high amount of smoke.  I usually take extra precautions to ensure adequate ventilation, but I end up inhaling quite a bit a smoke.

Is it common for professional or semi-professional chefs to use protective gear in lieu of adequate ventilation? If I do this semi-regularly (once every two weeks), should I invest in protective gear such as a mask?

It's extremely common for professional chefs to have fans: most of the time these are mandated by regulations for the safety of those in and out of the kitchen. If you producing so much smoke to be considering protective gear my advice would be to change your method because as it stands you are at risk of fire and you aren't doing your lungs (or those of the people around you) any good.


Is it possible to thicken frozen cream? I know you can use frozen cream for cooking applications such as in gratin, but can I thicken the cream?

By thicken, I mean making it into something like a bechamel sauce. Would I pour the cream in a hot pan, add in flour and stir a lot? Or is there anything I need to watch out for when working with a frozen cream?

To thicken anything 'like a bechamel sauce' you would use a roux.You could just add flour to the cream, or any other liquid, but it should be added to a small amount of the liquid and form it into paste. Then return the 'paste' to the rest of the liquid and heat until thickened (it will have to boil).

A roux, however,  is a richer base for a sauce. Start with  equal amounts of a fat (butter, olive oil, sausage drippings...) and flour. Get the fat hot and then whisk in the flour until it has absorbed all of the fat into the flour. Then add your cream and heat, still whisking, until thickened.

If this is not what you are after, please be more specific. Perhaps describe what your end goal is. This can be used to create anything from sawmill gravy to nacho cheese sauce, depending on what you add to the cream or milk afterwards.


Eggs Benedict using Goats milk butter Hi I'm a new user to the group, having just used the Hairy biker recipe for hollandaise sauce as a treat for Sunday brunch eggs Benedict.

This are the ingredients:

225g/8oz butter, cut into pieces
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 small shallot or ½ banana shallot, peeled and very finely chopped
10 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
3 free-range egg yolks
a pinch of sea salt flakes
a pinch of caster sugar

And this is the preparation method:

  For the hollandaise sauce, melt the butter slowly in a medium pan over
  a low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and pour the
  butter into a jug. Add enough water into a medium saucepan to come a
  third of the way up the sides. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat
  to a simmer. Put the vinegar, shallot, peppercorns and bay leaf in a
  small saucepan over a high heat and bring to the boil. Cook for 1-2
  minutes, or until reduced to two tablespoons of liquid. Remove from
  the heat. Put the egg yolks in a heatproof bowl and place over the pan
  of simmering water. Whisk the egg yolks with the salt and sugar until
  pale. Pour the vinegar mixture through a fine sieve onto the yolks and
  continue whisking until well combined. Slowly add the butter in a
  steady stream whisking constantly until the sauce is smooth, thick and
  shiny.

It split terribly and would not be rescued by adding it to a new egg yolk whisked in a clean bowl over a pan of simmering water.
I had to use goats milk butter as I have a cows milk allergy. Would this make a difference? 225g of butter seems an awful lot? The taste was fine.

It's hard to know exactly why your sauce failed, but I can think of two main reasons-- first, your heat was too high; and second, you added the butter too fast.  The use of goat's milk butter should not be a problem, and the amount was fine.  Next time, here are a few things to try, if you haven't already:

When adding the butter, drizzle it in with the smallest stream you can, while whisking as vigorously as you can.  The rate of addition is critical; going too fast will overwhelm the process of creating an emulsion.  It is easier to do with two people, until you are comfortable with the technique.
Keep the heat down.  You need the water to give off enough heat so that the butter stays melted, but not much more.  For that, the water can be just short of a simmer (60-80C/140-176F).  If your water is boiling, you may never be able to keep an emulsion.
In fixing a broken sauce, technique matters.  Be sure the extra yolk is well beaten before adding the broken sauce.  Next, drizzle in a little buttter to start the emulsion.  Then, as before, drizzle the broken sauce into the yolk very slowly.
Try adding a little water, say, 1-2 tbsp.  Too high a proportion of fat to water will overwhelm the emulsion.  I don't think your recipe is clearly out of proportion, but the amount of water is low enough to suggest it might be tricky to keep the emulsion stable.


Mascarpone and Almond pasta Sauce? While in Italy I had a pasta sauce that was made with mascarpone and almonds (the almonds were ground fine) it had the look of Alfredo sauce. I cannot recall the name of the sauce. I have searched far and wide for such a recipe. Is anyone familiar with this sauce? If so, would you PLEASE share the name?

Try searching for "mascarpone e salsa di mandorle"

Here's an example recipe that I found.
http://www.subitoricette.it/ricetta-spaghetti-mascarpone-mandorle/


6 hour cooling contradicts 2/4 hour food use rule When potentially hazardous foods are cooked, it is said that cooling from 60 to 21 C should happen in 2 hours and from 21 to 5 C in 4 hours, does this not contradict the 2/4 hour rule which states that if food is in temperature danger zone should be discarded if its more than 4 hours. Reference http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/safety/faqsafety/pages/foodsafetyfactsheets/foodsafetystandardst857.aspx

The reference that was posted is from an Australian agency, so there is your explanation - you are comparing different standards.

There is not some natural border between "safe" and "unsafe" foods. You can see "safe" as more of a certificate, like the CE certificates for electronics - it means that a regulation body has defined conditions under which the food is considered "good enough" for eating. What is "good enough" depends on their risk aversion, the mathematical model they use for bacterial growth, the history of food poisoning outbreaks in their country, and many other factors.

So it is perfectly normal to end up with different food safety rules around the world. Food which has been cooled by that rule will be safe by Australian standards and unsafe by FDA standards.

If you work at a food business, you have to follow the standards of your own country. If you are a home cook, you can choose for yourself which ones to follow, if any.


What do I have to worry about when using a stainless steel pan as opposed to nonstick? I've been using nonstick pans exclusively all my life. Most recently, after doing a lot of research, I decided to buy a stainless steel sauté pan (IKEA).

Do I need to handle it differently during cooking? Do I have to be careful when washing? What are some things I will have to watch out for since I'm used to nonstick pans?

EDIT: I decided to split this question about cast iron and stainless steel pans into two questions. The question about cast iron skillets can be found here.

Food will easily stick if you're not careful.

That seems a little obvious and facetious, but it is a separate concern than cast iron vs. nonstick. With cast iron, a good seasoning reduces sticking; you just have to be careful to maintain it. There's no comparable treatment for a stainless pan (the closest thing is, well, a non-stick coating) and so you are almost inevitably going to get some adhesion, especially when cooking proteins.

This is not always a bad thing. A pan sauce, for example, requires some degree of sticking so that you can deglaze the pan and utilize the good stuff in the fond. Many proteins will also "release" once the outer layer is well-seared, and be easier to remove without sticking, assuming you can let them go that long without overcooking as a whole. You must generally take care to use enough fat, and you'll likely have trouble no matter what with delicate fish, eggs, and thinner cuts of meat (keep your non-stick pan around for those). I also recommend finding a decently thick pan with good heft, as a very thin bottom layer won't diffuse the heat of the burner as well and produce hotter/colder spots on the cooking surface; this can cause problems with inconsistent sticking and release.

Stainless can also develop a sort of "haze" on the bottom of the pan pretty quickly, which seems to be a mineral buildup of some kind. It doesn't really affect the performance of the pan, and it's easily cleaned off, but it can mar the shiny beauty of nice stainless.


Does marinating break down proteins the way brining does? Brining makes meat tender because the salt (and some sugar) breaks down proteins. Shouldn't a salty/sugary marinade do the same thing?

Brining does not technically "break down" proteins in meat. At least not the way marinating does.

Brining actually involves osmosis which carries salt and sugar inside the cell walls. This denatures the proteins causing them to unravel and interact with one another. This forms a matrix which traps moisture in the meat.

Marinating on the other hand actually does "break down" the proteins using acidity. The acid literally does consume the proteins and break down the texture of the meat. If the marinade has salt in it, then osmosis will occur as well and the marinade is also serving as a brine.

So, to answer your question: Yes, a salty marinade will brine your meat, but the protein breakdown that occurs is due to the acidity of the marinade.


"1 cup, drained" - does that mean measure before or after draining? I know this is similar to other questions like "1 cup chopped nuts" vs "1 cup nuts, chopped", but I wasn't sure about whether it applies to things that have liquid.

I was trying to make the pumpkin pie from America's Test Kitchen, and it calls for "1 cup of candied yams, drained".  If I follow the convention for nuts, then I would drain after I measure a cup.  But this seems imprecise, because there is a variable amount of liquid to begin with, so I would end up with a variable amount of yams afterwards.  It would be more precise to drain before I measure.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Drain them first.  Your concerns are spot-on, and if you measured and then drained them, you would end up with less than 1 cup of yams.  Generally, you can tell be cause the recipe called for 1 cup of drained yams, not 1 cup of yams in their sauce.

Drain them, but double check that you won't need the liquid for anything later on in the recipe... That's a mistake I've made too many times with canned foods.


Is there a way to un warp a pan bottom? I have recently moved into a new home, and for now, I'm stuck with a horrible electric glass top stove.  My old place had a gas stove with a continuous grate across the cooking surface.  All my pans are carbon steel or cast iron.  (I take good care of my pans, so it's not an issue of abuse or putting cold water in a hot pan, or immediately rinsing a hot pan in cold water.  With the exception of my woks, they are bullet proof).

I am finding that most of my carbon steel pans have a slight warp to the bottom, which was never a problem on the gas range.  But is proving to be rather annoying on the new electric one.  So in theory is there a way to unwarp or to lessen the warping on the bottom of the pan?  In a way this will be academic and I am willing to sacrifice one of my cheaper pans to experiment the unwarping theories.  Thanks.

A technique that works for some car dents is to apply dry ice to the warp and this may cause sufficient contraction from the cold the remove a warp. I think this is a low probability of success...but it might be cheap enough to try.

Second, you might consult a local blacksmith (yep, they're still out there) who has the equipment to heat the metal to where he can 'flatten' it for you. I suspect this would cost more than replacing it.


Blender vs food processor vs juicer When should a blender be used instead of a food processor or instead of a juicer? I'm planning on investing in one of them. I would use if for making smoothies and beverages. I've got a Magic Bullet which I put frozen berries in, but find the consistency is too thick to drink.

The three types of appliances you have listed have different primary uses, and best purposes, although they have some overlap in their capabilities.

Blenders. Good at, well, blending:  making smoothies, pureeing soup, grinding nuts to butter, and at the high end, making frozen ice drinks.

By far the best device for this purpose, but not very versatile.
Immersion Blender also known as a stick blender.  You didn't ask, but this device is very good at most basic blending tasks, although far less powerful than a full sized blender, especially the top of the line ones.   They are very effective at pureeing soup in the pot, or doing a quick puree on a tomato sauce, for example.  They are also good for small quantities of smoothies (at least the kinds without ice) where you can blend them directly the glass.

Convenient and often less hassle than a blender for small blending tasks, although not as powerful overall.
Juicers Good for extracting juice.  The main difference from a blender, which simply purees everything, is that juicers attempt to separate the solids from the juice.

I have never heard of a juicer that operates on frozen produce.

I won't comment on specific types of juicers as I am not expert in that area, and that really should be a question of its own.
Food processors Very versatile, depending on the blade or disk.  Can do almost everything a blender can do except frozen drinks, although perhaps not quite as well.  Can also slice (much like you would on a mandoline), shred, and chop.  Also useful in some bread and pastry making for working the dough.

Note that if your frozen berry puree is too thick for your liking, a different appliance is unlikely to change that.  Instead, you will want to either add some other liquids (like water or apple juice or yogurt) or let the berries thaw a bit.

You will have to decide which appliance will best suit your needs.  Based on your comments on what you will use it for, a blender might be your preference, although you might prefer the convenience of an immersion blender if you are not blending frozen drinks.


Does a pizza lose flavor/texture from cooling down and then heating up again versus keeping it warm from the original oven until eating? Let's suppose two (identical) pizzas have to be consumed some time after they are baked. One pizza is kept at the same temperature constantly. The second pizza cools down and is then reheated in an oven at a reasonable heat setting and on a bake plate, until it has reached the right temperature again.

Will there be a noticeable difference in taste and/or texture between the two pizzas?

Flavour

Keeping the pizza warm for an extended period will result in some volatile compounds evaporating, thus slightly changing the flavour of the pizza. On the other hand, reheating the pizza (which will probably require the oven to be at a higher temperature than the target pizza temperature) will do the same. It is difficult to predict which one will have a bigger effect, but I expect neither method to stand out.

Texture

This is going to be a bigger issue. Keeping the pizza warm in an enclosed space for an extended period will result in condensation, and make the pizza more soggy than it originally was. Conversely, reheating the pizza in a hot(ish) oven will add an extra dose of evaporation on top of the original cooking, resulting in a pizza and toppings that are dryer than it was when fresh.

Keeping the pizza warm, rather than reheating, might also do some weird things to any cheese present, which might get rubbery rather than melty.

Food safety

Keeping the pizza warm for an extended period might land you in trouble if the temperature is below 60 °C. See this answer and references therein for more information.

How to have hot pizza long after cooking?

This is going to be opinion-based, but I do have some ideas. Ideally, eat the pizza as soon as possible after its initial cooking. Keeping the pizza warm for a short amount of time (say up to 30 minutes) is acceptable. Any longer than that, and I recommend refrigerating the pizza, then reheating it in a dry non-stick skillet over medium heat (cover and/or add a splash of water to steam the top of the pizza if necessary). Also, cold pizza is still pretty tasty.


Reusing pickle brine So I just finished a jar of home-made pickles. They were excellent! Not too salty, a bit spicy, very good. They were so good that I'd like to get some more pickles out of that jar. I was thinking of pickling some eggs in that same brine. Is reusing brine ever done? Are there any reasons I shouldn't do it? I've never heard of this being done, but I don't see why not.

While reusing brine is probably fine in many cases, it's tricky from a food-safety perspective.  It seems like there are lots of threads on the internet these days about reusing "pickle juice," and there are great reasons to take your brine and use it in some recipe for salads, dressings, sauces, etc. that you'll consume soon after making (or at least sterilize by cooking).

But reusing brine to make more pickled foods?  That's another issue entirely.

If you've made homemade pickles or canned goods, you know that most reputable recipe sources have huge disclaimers saying: "Warning!  Always be sure to follow recipes exactly, and do not deviate from the given proportions."

If you make traditional lactofermented pickles, you need a certain salt concentration to inhibit growth of dangerous microbes in the first few days of fermentation.  After that, the acidity created by fermentation will prevent anything bad from growing.  If you make "fresh pack" pickles or refrigerator pickles, you depend on a certain concentration of acid (usually vinegar and/or lemon juice) and salt to prevent bacteria growth.

Particular concentrations of acids and salt are critical to keep your food safe, especially if you plan to store it for more than a couple days, even in the fridge.  Refrigerator temperatures slow the growth rates of bacteria, but they don't stop a lot of bad things from growing completely.  If you drop a bunch of fresh vegetables in old brine and come back in a month or two expecting pickles -- you'll probably have some great-tasting stuff.  But it could also be carrying harmful pathogens.

The main problem is that brine has salt.  Due to osmosis, salt will draw water out of things with high water content (like vegetables, eggs, fruits, and just any food you might think of pickling).  If water is added to your brine as it "leaks" out of the added food, you reduce the salt concentration as well as the acid concentration, perhaps leaving an unsafe solution to make further pickles.

Pickling recipes know this and will build in extra salt and/or acid into most recipes, knowing how much water on average will come out of particular foods.  By adding a second or third or fourth batch of food to that solution, the brine will become increasingly watery.

Boiling or heating the brine -- as suggested in other answers -- probably doesn't help much.  Your pickling brine was already designed to prevent growth of pathogens, with proper concentrations of salt and acid.  You shouldn't be worried about pathogens in the brine, but rather pathogens in the new food you're adding.  Cooking your new food first can help, but that sometimes ruins the texture of many pickled foods.

Also, even boiling the food many not be sufficient if the reused brine gets too weak.  Botulism bacteria, for example, has spores that are not destroyed even at boiling temperatures.  With proper acidity (and salt), they won't grow.  But if you mess with the recipe, they could.  At even lower acid levels, you could grow all sorts of stuff, Listeria, for example.  At refrigerator temperatures, it might take a few weeks or months to grow to dangerous levels, but long-term storage is exactly what people tend to do with pickles.

The only way to reuse brine safely would be to ensure that your new brine has the same characteristics as the old one: especially equivalent acidity and salt content.  If you really know what you're doing -- i.e., are an experienced pickle maker and understand how to vary recipes while ensuring safety -- you might be able to calculate how much salt and acid to add to keep your brine safe while adding new food.  (Trying to re-ferment lactofermented pickles is unreliable, so I'd discourage that route to obtain new acidity.)

In the vast majority of cases, reusing pickling brine won't result in any problems, especially if you keep it in the refrigerator and only put the new food in for a few days.  Commercial brines, in particular, often have excess acid and salt beyond that necessary to ensure safety, so reusing them once may be unlikely to cause problems.  But it's actually not a safe practice unless you know what you're doing, particularly if you store the new food for any length of time.  Whatever you do, do NOT leave pickles made from reused brine at room temperature, even if you've heated the brine and resealed the jars.  Without the guarantee of proper acidity, you could end up with botulism toxins or other dangerous spoilage bacteria.


An electronic tool for mixing while the pot is on the fire When cooking a pudding cream, we need to constantly mix the cream while it is on the fire, in order to prevent chunks from forming and keep the cream smooth. It takes a long time and the hand becomes tired. Is there an electronic tool that can be used to mix the cream while it is on the fire?

For thick sauces and puddings, I would think an immersion blender is the way to go. Some even have removable shafts, so you can change the length of stick attachment to fit your pot, or switch it out for different accessories, like a whisk attachment. And at risk of sounding like an infomercial, they even sell bowl clamps for hands free operation!

Me personally, I like a drill and mixer attachment.


Why does Black Gram Batter turn fluffy only when stone ground? Idly and Vada two major recipes of South India. For those dishes Black Gram Batter is the key ingredient. This soaked balck gram when ground in a mixer or food processor makes idly and vada hard and the batter is not fluffy. While if the black gram batter is ground in wet grinder it becomes fluffy and the idly, vada made out of it is more soft and tasty. Why?

A blender will cut or shatter what you put into it while leaving the structure of the pieces relatively intact. A grinder or mortar will apply pressure, causing cell walls to rupture, so molecules in the food that were previously kept separate can react, and fermentation relevant microbes (which, if I remember correctly, are important for idly?) have good access to all of the lentil and not just ruptured cells at the edges...


Breaking down fruit with sugar and water for cookies I just made some amazing date cookies. They were made swiss-roll style; you make the date-mixture, then spread it on a rolled-out layer of dough, and roll it; then refrigerate, and cut into 1/4-inch cookies.

Yum.

For the filling, the recipe required me to take two cups of pitted dates, and cook them on medium-low with half a cup of sugar, and a cup of water. As a result, the dates (which were dry, sticky, and very firm) ended up becoming a nice, sweet brown paste.

It occurred to me that perhaps I can apply the same method to other fruits. Does it work? Are there certain fruits (or classes/categories of fruits) that will break down well on a low heat with some water and sugar, and can hold their own inside swiss-roll style cookies?

Ideally, your answer should not be a laundry list, but some sort of general principle I can apply to any given fruit to figure out if I can use it or not. But a laundry list is okay too of which fruits will work well and which ones won't.

The cooking technique to make the filling is basically the same as any compote or jam so I would say it would work well for most soft bodied fruit and other jam favourites.

You may have to modify the technique slightly to accommodate for fruit with higher water content to get the same spreadable texture: i.e. simmer the fruit in the sugar water until it starts to break down, strain and reserve the fruit and then either reduce the remaining liquid or only use a fraction of it and recombine with the fruit.


Can onion based recipes such as bolognese be cooked in slow cooker? Slow cookers seem like an easy way to cook a meal if you are prepared to wait the 8 hours or so for the meal to cook.

Can you simply put all the ingredients, including onion, for something like bolognese in a slow cooker and expect it cook properly?  Will the onion soften like it does when fried with oil?

With regard to your comment, "what can you cook in a slow cooker", I cook almost everything in the slow cooker!

With regard to onions, I suggest that you precook the onions so that they obtain the texture that you want and then add them to the slow cooker. For example, when I cook stew, I caramelise the onions before placing them in the slow cooker, for the cooking temperature is too low for Maillard reactions.


Are the stems of rehydrated dried Shiitake usable? The stems of the rehydrated Shiitake mushrooms are tough, even after rehydration.
In the recipes that I checked it was advised to cut and throw the stems and keep the head of the mushroom.

I want to understand why the stems of Shiitake are not eaten. Are the stems edible? Are they usable in any way?
Is there any actual known (perhaps documented) use of the Shiitake mushroom stem? Like for example a dish in Japanese Cuisine that uses stems of Shiitake Mushrooms.

If they are so tough that they are unable to be cut, or unpleasant to eat, I use them in stocks and soups (they would have to be removed before serving).


Citrate buffer and pH range question What is the range of pH that requires the addition of sodium citrate as a buffer? Does wine, specifically port wine, require buffer?

I'm going to post a very general answer to this, since the question is rather vague about the application.

Since this was originally tagged molecular-gastronomy it seems reasonable to assume that this has to do with the use of some hydrocolloid for either a foam or gel.  Unfortunately, it doesn't specify which one, and that's important information because they all have different pH ranges for hydration and gelling.

The following table of the most common pH ranges is taken from the Hydrocolloid Recipe Collection:

Substance              | pH Range
-----------------------+-----------
Agar                   | 2.5-10
Carrageenan            | 4-10
Gelatin                | 4-10
Gellan (Low Acyl)      | 4-10
Gellan (High Acyl)     | 3-10
Guar Gum               | 4-10
Methylcellulose        | 2-13
Pectin (Low Methoxyl)  | 2.5-5.5
Pectin (High Methoxyl) | 2.5-4
Sodium Alginate        | 2.8-10
Xanthan Gum            | 1-13

Looking up a bunch of different results for port wine, the pH seems to commonly be anywhere between 3.2 and 3.8, although every wine is different and the exact pH is going to depend on the exact wine (not just the source, but the individual bottle).  The only way to know for sure is to use a pH Meter or some other type of pH tester.

If your liquid is outside the range for whichever agent you're using, then you need to use a buffer.  If it's inside the range, you don't.  Keep in mind that if you're at the extreme end of any of the ranges then you may need to use more colloid than usual.  It's not necessary to be in the exact center but I believe it is best to be 1 pH unit or more above the minimum (or below the maximum in the case of an alkaline solution) for best results.  Otherwise you might have to experiment with the exact quantities.  (Note that it's possible that the HRC ranges above already include safety margins; I haven't done in-depth experiments so I can't be certain.)

Generally speaking, for many hydrocolloids the answer is yes, you will need a buffer for something as acidic as wine, assuming you're not diluting it with anything else.  But don't estimate when you can measure; when making foams or fluid gels you need to be reasonably precise.


Buying a "blender" that can purée a potato My wife had a "smoothie" made by a co-worker that is based on green apples and raw red potatos.  Our smoothie maker can't do that and leaves unchopped bits and a gritty feel.

Her friend uses a Vitamix blender, and looking up the model number not only induced sticker shock, but reviews raised concerns with the item leaving bits of teflon in the food etc. And the price for just a replacement pitcher is so high that it appears overpriced.

What is it about a blender that allows it to make a good purée rather than just mixing things easily?  I think it might be the design of the blade and base, not just raw power: even a modest powered blender doesn't stall or run out of power; but it doesn't chop any finer no matter how long it is left running.  It might also involve speed vs torque usage of power.

Does anybody know what makes a machine capable of making a good purée as opposed to just blending, especially when both kinds are sold as “blenders”.

Should I be looking for ones with different options for blades like a food processor, to make it well suited to different purposes? E.g. I have seen blades just for milkshakes.

In general, how do you shop for one when the only information a seems to be total power and the number of presets?

Your requirements appear to be for a "raw food" blender, the motor on those units are typically well above 500 watts (1000+ Watts).  This enables harder/tough foods (such as ice, kale, nuts) to be broken down smooth enough that no sieving is required, with less risk of overheating the motor.  Note: when a blender has a nut bag, or a nut bag option, it alludes to potentially not able to break down harder food without leaving noticeable particles.

There are a few blenders suitable for raw food enthusiasts, depending on each model they may have a:

Tamper
Higher rpm (20,000+ rpm)
Higher power (500 Watts — 1000+ Watts/2–3 horsepower)
Compared to a standard blender (typically 200–400 Watts)
Different jug design/dimensions (width/height)
Different speeds and/or cycles/programmed settings (e.g. smoothie, 60 seconds, 90 seconds, clean, etc.)
Different Blade designs
Smaller portion containers (capsule/bullet shaped)

A tamper is usually provided to allow the user to push food items back towards the blade.  When a tamper is not included on some of the other blenders it may be due to a different blade design along with a different power motor.  This may cause all of the food in the blender to be pulled back to the blade by the vortex it creates, thus alleviating the need for human intervention.

The price variance between blenders is wide, and quite expensive for some of the higher performance models.  Intrinsically some research into refurbished models.

In direct answer to the questions from OP.

  What is it about a blender that allows it to make a good purée rather than just mixing things easily?
  Does anybody know what makes a machine capable of making a good purée as opposed to just blending, especially when both kinds are sold as “blenders”.

Mainly power of the motor, and the blade design enables the blender to breakdown hard foods completely.  Regular blenders do not have the power, nor the cooling ability for the motor to operate at long enough periods - even some models that market suitability for crushing ice can be known to overheat/fail.

  Should I be looking for ones with different options for blades like a food processor, to make it well suited to different purposes? E.g. I have seen blades just for milkshakes.
  In general, how do you shop for one when the only information a seems to be total power and the number of presets?

Blenders that have a high power motor, high rpm, and/or market its suitability for ice/nut butters/hard spices (e.g. nutmeg), indicate potential.  Where possible, check reviews (where blending nuts has been tested) or better still, when the blender has demonstrations.  You may be able to request a demo on nuts, if so you could taste or strain this into a sieve or paper towel/kitchen towel — to check for any particles that have not broken down.


Why does cold coffee taste sweeter with the same amount of sugar? I have observed that the same amount of sugar tastes differently in hot and in cold coffee. If I drink hot coffee, I feel I can add more and more sugar, without it tasting too sweet. However, cold coffee tastes overly sweet with only small amounts of sugar.

Why does this happen? Why does sugar taste differently sweet in cold and hot coffee?

This research paper suggests that, in general, pH, temperature, and ions don't generally significantly affect our perception of sweetness intensity.  Since temperature and acidity are the two major differences between iced and hot coffee (depending on preparation), this more or less rules out the possibility of a chemical difference.

  "The main finding from this three-part study was that temperature, pH, and ions had little effect on the perceived sweetness intensity of the sweeteners studied. Even when significant differences were found in the temperature study, the effects were very small."

This, to me, suggests it's either due to larger "sips" of cold coffee and more of an opportunity to taste the sweetness or because sugars dissolve less readily in the cold coffee and it's easier to perceive the sweetness when it's not in a solution.


How do you efficiently clean a leek? I've often found dirt deep within a leek, under several layers. Going through it all can be a very tiresome process. Is there any trick  you can use to clean a leek, without cutting it up and ruining it's natural shape?

Trim the tops and discard the out leaves. Then cut from 2 or 3 inches above the root to the top, turn 180 degrees and cut again (they should look like the picture).

You can then get the water down inside and get all the dirt out.


How can I fix hollow cream puffs? I'm very proud of how my cream puffs turned out. I followed this recipe although I did NOT use any xanthan gum at all. I also substituted Earth Balance for butter.

They rise beautifully and they're only half hollow. They're soft on the inside, possibly slightly undercooked. I'm concerned that if I bake them any longer they might burn. Here are some pics: https://imgur.com/a/mglMU

Which ingredients or steps are responsible for the hollow anatomy of these delicious beauties?

Does anyone have advice for either tweaking the recipe or my cooking time or some other part of my technique to ensure a nice hollow shell?

Recipe details:

  1/3 cup + 1tbsp gluten free flour
  2 Tbsp cornflour/cornstarch
  2 xl eggs
  50g Earth Balance in place of butter
  1/2 tsp powdered sugar

  Place 1/2 cup + 2tbsp water in saucepan with butter and heat to a boil that can’t be stirred down.
  Add flour mixture of all dry ingredients and mix with spatula until smooth
  Remove from heat and allow to cool for 2-3 mins
  Add 1 egg and mix until incorporated
  Incorporate the second egg
  Pipe and bake in a 425°F preheated oven for 25 mins

This recipe uses a substitution for a key structural ingredient (gluten), which is always likely to lead to compromises. If you omit the xanthan, it is even less likely to work, basically it has nothing to hold the structure. Some bakers are happy with the results of such substitutions, but for you the final structure seems to be quite important.

The first thing you should do is to use the xanthan. If that doesn't help, there isn't much else you can do except try to be perfect in your temperature at every step (while still using the xanthan).


Caramel Sauce Hard Crack Every time I have tried to make caramel sauce (with the wet method) it has been going fine during carmelization, but then everything just seizes up into a rock when I try add in the cream and butter. This makes sense, since carmelization happens above the hard crack stage, but no recipe ever mentions it, just crystallization of the syrup during carmelization. Is it something I am doing wrong, or do they just never mention that for some reason?

The butter and cream will lower the temperature of the sugar to the point where it can solidify. When you add it in, you need to keep the pan over low heat and keep stirring until everything heats back up and incorporates into a smooth caramel sauce. I personally take the pan off the heat when the sugar is caramelised, add the cream and butter, and then place it back on the turned off but still warm burner while stirring. It can take as long as a couple of minutes before the sugar has melted again and you have a smooth sauce, depending on how much sauce you're making.


What's the difference between dried split peas and dried snack peas such as wasabi peas? Wasabi peas (and similar snacks) appear to just be dried green peas (coated in wasabi).

Similarly, dried green split peas are also dried green peas (that have been split).

So why is it that wasabi peas are crispy and edible, while dried split peas are hard like stones?

Recipes for homemade wasabi peas involve soaking, boiling, and then low-temperature roasting (essentially dehydrating) the peas.  Split peas are produced by simply drying the peas after they're harvested and then removing their skins.  So the reason is that the snack peas are cooked while the split peas are essentially raw.  The cooking process breaks down cell walls and makes the peas tender, even after they're roasted to draw out the moisture again.


How to remove film from stainless steel pan I have an unsightly film around my stainless pan as shown here:

What is causing this to happen?

And how can I remove the film? I have soaked it in soapy water, scraped it with a plastic scraper, and run it in the dishwasher several times, but I can't seem to get rid of the film.

UPDATE: the pan is an All-Clad stainless, fully-clad frypan: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00005AL8C

As others have already said, it appears to be polymerized oil. It happens when oil is left in the pan hot for a long period (temperature depends on oil), or smoking for not as long. However, lye probably isn't required to remove it.

Bar Keeper's Friend and a bit of scrubbing will probably manage to take this off. As an advantage, while getting BKF on your hands will dry your hands out, it won't cause injury—unlike lye.

Alternatively, a scouring pad and plenty of elbow grease will take it off as well (though will also leave shallow scratches in the stainless—it'll not be polished anymore). Or, similarly, a sanding block or sandpaper.

I wouldn't put an aluminum core stainless (or tri-ply) in an oven on the self-clean cycle. Those get very hot, somewhere around 900°F, and I'd not at all be surprised if the pan warped.


Should I avoid meat broth when cooking for vegetarians? Yes, cuban rice and beans is usually cooked with meat... or at the very least with the broth of it. If I'm cooking for a vegetarian I don't know, should I avoid the meat broth? Is there anything vegetarian that would give an equivalent flavour?

People choose to eat vegetarian diets for a number of reasons. Not only might the flavor offend your guest, but it may cause them to be physically ill.

You can substitute vegetable stock or broth for the meat products you are accustomed to using.

Mushrooms lend a meaty flavor to dishes they are used in and could potentially be used to replace your meat. I would suggest cooking them separately first to draw out the moisture, then adding them to the beans near the end of the cooking process so they soak up some of the flavors and have a chance to marry. Remember mushrooms are little culinary sponges. They will take flavors and run with them, adding their own earthy notes in the process. Search for vegetarian rice and beans dishes to get an idea of the possibilities here.

From an etiquette standpoint, you may want to avoid the temptation to apologize to your other guests for having to make a veggie substitution as that would be a quick ticket towards alienating your vegetarian pal. I only mention that because some people don't think about things like that and I have a few friends who are on restrictive diets. They are sometimes embarrassed when people go out of their way to make menu changes for them.

Another alternative altogether is to find a way to prepare two versions of the dish. Meaning, you could use meat as you are accustomed to but leave a portion of the food vegetarian. When it's practical I like this option a lot. It just comes with the downside of increased cleanup and stovetop logistics issues.


Should I add broth to the bottom of the Dutch Oven? I am roasting a chicken in a dutch oven. Should I add any type of liquid to the bottom of the dutch oven before putting it in the oven?

If braising, yes. If roasting (lid off), no.


What can I do to stop hot sauce from separating? I make homemade cayenne pepper sauce every year. I do add some liquid pectin to slightly thicken it so it will stick to food rather than roll off. After a month or so on the shelf it seems to separate a bit. What can I add to this so that it won't or is there a method I can do to stop this. We are slowly working our way into marketing this product down the line and this won't work for that reason. We are using a water bath canning method, vinegar based, no sugar added.

It's normal for some separation to occur, especially based on the makeup/composition of the sauce is.

If it's a regular long-cooked vinegar and water hot sauce, then there would be very little separation that would occur.
If it's a vinegar and oil based hot sauce, then there would be quite a lot of separation.
If it's a vinegar based hot sauce, but made with peppers that are very oily (habanero, hungarians, etc) and it was not made in a long-cook format, then there would be a slight separation if left unshaken for a few days.

Remember that most hot sauces are vinegar based, with either water, juice or oil as an accompaniment, so some separation is expected, and is typically not indicative of a hot sauce gone bad.

As an example, back when I was still producing hot sauces, I had two long-cooked hot sauces (each about 4 hour simmer). One was an apple-juice and vinegar based sauce with jalapenos and lots of spices (more of a flavorful sauce than an extremely spicy sauce). The other was a vinegar and olive oil based sauce with bhut jolokia and habanero peppers. The juice and vinegar sauce suffered from nearly no separation whatsoever, as the peppers and spices were extremely well incorporated into the liquids by the long simmer time AND all the solids being ground and liquified as much as possible. The vinegar+water and oil based sauce suffered from quite a lot of separation, as the ingredients were not only not liquified, but the base by their nature tended to separate.


Colouring oil - chocolate look alike Does anyone have experience with colouring vegetable/olive oil? My goal is to end up with a brown-chocolate colour so that the result would be a chocolate look-alike.

If you really want to color oil, then oil-based food coloring would probably be the most straightforward thing. You should be able to get enough colors to mix to get the brown you want.

That said, I'm not sure how oil is ever going to be a chocolate look-alike. It might be the same color, but even melted chocolate is way thicker than oil; they aren't really going to look the same even if you get the color right.


What's optimal hardness for a kitchen knife blade? Many knife manufacturers provide the hardness value for the knife blade in the specifications - like 53HRC or 57 HRC.

What's the optimal hardness for kitchen knives? Do I always prefer the ones with higher hardness all else being equal?

Unfortunately, even hardness is a trade-off, all other things (like maintenance, appearance, balance, thickness, and so on) being equal:

Harder

Pro - Holds edge longer
Con - More difficult to hone on a steel
Con - More brittle, so more likely to chip

Softer

Con - Doesn't hold edge as long
Pro - Easier to hone on a steel to an extremely sharp edge
Pro - Less likely to chip
Con - More likely to get little dings and dents

I think the manufacturer's indicate the type of alloy they use to help indicate the quality of their product, as opposed to more generic knives.   Things aren't always equal, though--in choosing a knife, I would not consider this fact one of the more important ones compared to how it feels in your hand, the thickness of the blade, how much maintenance it requires (for example, so-called carbon steel knives need more loving care).


Ravioli filling to edge ratio I made ravioli for the first time the other day. I used a mix of eggs and water to brush the eggroll wrappers I was using. I was fairly paranoid about my ravioli opening up during boiling, and as a result, my fork-pressed edges seemed bigger than might have been necessary.

What is the usual filling to edge ratio for ravioli?

Usually I look for an edge about 0.5cm (1/4 inch) wide, unless they are very large (9cm or more) ravioli, in which case I'll allow 1 to 1.5cm.

However, if you're using egg roll wrappers, rather than fresh dough you made yourself, you might want to allow more generous margin than that, as you did.  Therefore the ratio depends on both the type of noodle dough used, as well as the size of the ravioli.

Other things which make ravioli pop open are:

not getting the edges wet or not pressing them enough
air trapped in the ravioli
filling or oil caught in the edge dough
overcooking
rough handling during or after cooking
a filling which is too wet (uncooked spinach, for example)


Is cooking with an air fryer similar, nutritionally, to baking? Irrelevant context: I've been borrowing a friend's air fryer, and I love how fast it cooks!  So much that I'm considering getting one of my own to cook 80% of my meals with.  But, my girlfriend is concerned because of how unhealthy "frying food" is.  So I've done some Google searching, and found a few articles claiming that it's a step up from deep frying, but is still significantly worse than most forms of cooking.  These articles specifically recommend baking, grilling, and boiling along with sauteeing and steaming, which seems suspect to me and I feel like I'm being given a line here.  These articles claim that the temperature at which the food is cooked causes carcinogenic by-products and removes nutrition.

I'm confused as to how air frying is different from baking or grilling, in terms of the nutritional effects on the food.  If I don't add oil (which, incidentally, I do add when baking, to keep the food from sticking to the tray), it seems to me that I'm just heating food up using air.  I'm using similar, or lower, temperatures as baking, and I am definitely using lower temperatures than grilling.  And my understand is that boiling also tends to involve removing nutrients as well.

I apologize if my question is OT - I realize that it's close to a general nutrition question, which is why I'm trying to specifically compare it to other forms of cooking.

Using an air fryer without oil is essentially the same thing as using a convection oven. This would make it no more and no less fatty than baking. If you use oil in the air fryer then my understanding is that you are being marginally less fatty than deep frying because the saturation in oil is just not as significant.

Incidentally your use of oil in a baking/grilling setting are not quite similar because the oil is allowed to drip off, it is not continuously reapplied or applied at the top and allowed to soak down. Rather it is usually on the bottom surface to prevent sticking (Note: basting with the oil would cause the food to absorb more of the fat and thus be fattier.)


Edwards Hersheys creme pie made in 2013 ok to eat? I just happened to see it in the freezer and it looks really good hasn't been opened or thawed but everywhere I look I seem to get a different answer on weather it would be okay to eat or not. Hopefully I can get an answer here before its thawed out lol :) Thanks yall

No question that it is past the expiration date for freezer storage. What does that really mean?  If it has remained frozen without any power outages, or thawed, refrozen kind of stuff.... then it stands to reason that the pie has never been exposed to a temperature which would breed (or encourage the growth of) bacteria. From that standpoint, yes, you can eat it.Here's the caveat: it might not taste the same as a "fresh one". Why? If you called Hershey they would tell you that they won't guarantee it. Basically the ingredients were not intended to be frozen for that long. Or, they never tested the stability of the ingredients to be frozen for such a long period. Either way, it's a gamble. Not a gamble in a "will I or won't I get sick?" kind of way. More of a gamble in a "is it going to taste good or not?" And there's really only one way to find out. (Let us know.)