What does it mean to sort beans? I have some bags of dried beans.  The instructions say, for overnight soaking:

  OVERNIGHT SOAK: Rinse and sort beans in a large pot.  To 1 lb. of beans (about 2 cups), add 6-8 cups cold water.  Let stand overnight or at least 6 to 8 hours.  Drain soak water and rinse beans.

What does it mean to sort beans, exactly?

Sorting means a few things:

Remove foreign objects like small stones, other seeds, twigs.... that may have accidentally been packed with the beans.
Remove damaged (think insect damage, for example) or otherwise shrivelled, infected or moldy beans and loose skins. Hint: Hollow beans and skins float up.
Double-check for bug infections. Sometimes there are little hitchhikers, even if you have impeccable hygiene at home.

It boils down to making sure you have nothing in the pot that doesn't belong in your meal.


Stodgy crumpet-like crumb in overnight white Over the weekend I made an overnight white loaf, methodology was something along the lines of the following:

Activate yeast in water, mix with the bread until well incorporated. Leave for 30 minutes.
Add the salt, mix in with the dough. Leave for 30 minutes.
"Knead" the dough in the bowl, mixture was very wet and recipe said not to add more flour so this possibly wasn't sufficient kneading. Leave for 30 minutes.
"Knead" again, cover and leave overnight. As it was a Sunday and I'm lazy, was left for roughly 12 hours.
Place on floured work surface, knock back and shape. Place in oiled bowl. Leave for 2 hours to rest.
Oven to 200 Centigrade, container of boiled water at the bottom to make the oven steamy to get a nice crust.
Bake for 45 minutes, leave to cool.

The crust was lovely and I'm happy with it, but the interior was rather stodgy, and reminiscent of how it feels to eat a crumpet.
Which steps that I took from the above are likely causes of the crumb being sub par, and what is the correct approach to avoid "crumpet crumb" in the future?

Quantities were:

500g Strong white bread flour
390ml warm water
10g yeast
1 tsp salt

There are two likely causes:

 Insufficient gluten development.

 Wrong quantities (probably too much flour): you don't mention how you measured the flour. Measuring by volume is notoriously inaccurate. It is best to use weights for everything, including water.
 Weak flour: AP flour has less protein than bread flour, so there is less gluten development.
 Strong white bread flour needs a lot of kneading, or, for no-knead methods, several shorter kneads with plenty of time in between for the yeast to act and the gluten to develop. If you only knead once, I suggest at least 10 minutes. For very wet doughs, pouring the dough out of the bowl and using a stretch and fold technique works well. (It is almost impossible to overknead by hand.) But the autolysis and overnight fermentation should have helped here.

 Not enough heat in the oven. Did you use a preheated baking tray or a pizza stone? If the bottom of the loaf was particularly gummy, it may be that not enough heat got to the loaf. Generally it's better not to use the fan in a fan oven when baking bread. You want humidity (hence the container of boiling water), and the fan will disperse the water vapour. An alternative to messing around with boiling water is to use a preheated Dutch oven. This ensures all-round heat gets to the bread, which also cooks in a moist environment.

For more advice on trouble-shooting bread dough, I recommend the serious eats article.


Why does sauce go watery after freezing? If I freeze a sauce, particularly something with mince in it, when defrosted it produces excess water.

The sauce before frozen is nicely thickened.

I think it might be because the proteins in the meat are damaged in some way by the ice crystals so that they are unable to retain as much water.

EDIT The sauce I'm referring to is bolonaise and the only thickening agent I used is a bit of tomatoe puree.

Sauces separate when frozen for several reasons.

If it contains vegetables, the plant cells rupture when the water in them freezes.  This means the sauce gets watery and the taste changes as the contents of the cells escape.
With emulsions, the oil/fat microdroplets clump together when they freeze.  When you thaw the sauce, the emulsion is wrecked, giving a runny consistency.  You can defeat this by re-emulsifying as you thaw the sauce.  See How can I prevent bacon mayonnaise from splitting when above fridge temperature?
Due to colligative properties, areas of less concentrated solution will freeze first, and more concentrated solution freeze last. As the solution gradually freezes, this has the effect of concentrating dissolved thickening agents in the last regions to freeze.  When the solution thaws, the thickener isn't as evenly mixed.


Replacing quick-cooking oatmeal in a two-ingredient cookie recipe with cooked steel-cut oats - why doesn't it work? Right now, I have cooked steel-cut oatmeal, water, banana, cinnamon powder, sugar, and dark chocolate in my cookie batter in the following amounts:

2 cups of cooked oatmeal
1 banana
half teaspoon of cinnamon
~30 grams of chocolate
~2.5 teaspoons of cane sugar
enough water so that the batter is somewhat sticky

This is an adaptation of the "healthy two-ingredient breakfast cookies" recipe on CafeDelites.com.

When I baked it (at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes), however, the cookies came out as leathery, chocolate- flavored skins encasing a blend of bananas and chocolate- flavored oatmeal. It seemed as if the insides hadn't been cooked at all. I tried baking it for an additional five minutes, but doing so didn't change anything.

Why did this happen? And what should I do to fix this problem? Thanks in advance!

If you want to use steel-cut oats/oatmeal, you'll probably want to start with a recipe that calls for it. You can substitute old fashioned oats instead of quick-cook oatmeal in most (possibly all) cookie recipes but you can't substitute cooked oatmeal without making major adjustments.

In this case, old fashioned oats are specifically called out in the recipe as a substitute with the note that quick cook oats will give the best result:

  Quick oats give the best results, however you CAN use rolled oats. Use Gluten Free Oats for gluten free cookies.

Oats are a dry ingredient. There's no water in them so they absorb moisture from the other ingredients to cook. In this case, the banana. When you cook the oats first, you're introducing a lot of extra water and it's likely to make them take much longer to cook and change the texture.

In a recipe for cookies made from instant steel cut oats, I found this substitution note:

  If you’re using traditional steel cut oats (not quick cooking), you’ll want to cook them first, just like when you’re making oatmeal. To use cooked oats, simply substitute one cup of cooked oatmeal for the instant raw oats listed in the recipe, and add an extra half cup of flour (or more as needed to achieve a non-runny dough consistency).

You might be able to salvage this recipe by doing something similar but if you really want to use steel cut oats, you'll get better results by finding a recipe that actually calls for them. If you want to use this specific recipe, use old fashioned or quick-cooking oats.


Seasoning, freezing, thawing and then deep frying chicken I plan to season chicken parts (wings, legs), then freeze, then thaw them out to batter them, and then deep fry them. Will they keep their flavor? Is it safe to do this?

Safe? Yes, of course.
Wise? Probably not.
When you thaw the chicken, the surface of the meat will get wet, from both condensation and thawing ice chystals. Yes, proper handling minimizes this, but it can't be entirely avoided. So when you dry off the meat before battering (which you will want to do to make the batter stick), you will probably wipe off the seasoning applied to the surface too. With "wet seasoning" like brine that is supposed to "soak into" the meat, this will be less, but the main parts will be on the surface as well, as Jolenealaska pointed out in her excellent experiment here.

So seasoning when you are ready to prepare the meat is the more efective way - and IMHO you won't be saving time by pre-seasoning if that's what you are asking about.


How effective are modern home refrigerators at keeping other foods cool when hot food is introduced to the space? In the comments to this answer, there is some discussion as to whether putting significant mass of hot food into a refrigerator will unacceptably warm the other food already inside.

Elsewhere on Seasoned Advice, Athanasius argues passionately that with modern refrigerators, this is no longer an issue, including a personal story of measuring the temperature in their own fridge over time after putting in hot stock.  This is indicative, but only represents one particular refrigerator, one method, and one trial.

So the question is, is there substantive scientific or engineering data (as from manufacturers) indicating whether or not modern home-type refrigerators--and I do mean the more common makes (in the US, this would be brands like Kenmore, GE, or Whirlpool, not the premium "restaurant quality" brands like Sub Zero)--to address this issue?  (I failed completely to find such data using terms like "refrigerator recovery time" when googling myself.)

Can an average refrigerator from the last 5 to 10 years handle, for example:

One gallon (4 liters) of hot stock
or a full sized hot casserole dish, like a lasagna

put in hot (say 170-180 F), without allowing the temperatures of nearby foods to rise past the 40 F level (or at least not far past it, and not for long)?

Do the have sufficient flow of air to convect the heat away, and enough capacity in the heat engine to provide the necessary cooling?

I will admit, I have believed that putting volumes of hot food in the a home fridge is a bad idea, even for modern equipment since home refrigerators are not blast chillers.

Note:  this question is not about how fast the introduced hot food cools, and whether that is safe or wise.  This question is about the effect on other foods in the fridge.

In the answer linked in the question, I already provided the results of a simple experiment I carried out a few years ago with an infrared thermometer.  However, tonight I decided to try something slightly better with something closer to a worst-case scenario.  I don't think it definitively answers the question, but it gives another few data points.

I heated 4 quarts of water in a 6-quart stainless pot (with a glass lid) to a rolling boil.  I chose water since I didn't want to risk spoiling a large quantity of food.  Also, in some ways, water is a worst-case scenario.  It doesn't hold as much heat as, say, the equivalent volume of chili, but the heat circulates better in a thin liquid.  That means that the entire pot will stay at roughly the same hot temperature as it cools, rather than developing a cooler outer layer (as in a pot of chili), which will start to transfer heat more slowly after the initial burst.

Meanwhile, I inserted a digital probe thermometer with a cable to the display (usually for measuring meat temps in an oven) into a quart container of yogurt.  The probe was stuck through the seal in the top of the container, so very little air should have been able to get in or out.  The probe measures temperatures down to 32F accurately.  I taped the probe in position so the tip was immersed in the yogurt about 1/8 inch in from the edge of the container.

At the start of the experiment, the temperature of the yogurt was 38F.  Using an infrared thermometer, I could measure surface temps of many other items in the fridge, which varied from about 33F to 40F.  (There were a couple outliers, due to inaccuracies about the way infrared thermometers deal with reflective surfaces.)

When the water was boiling, I measured the temperature with a separate probe thermometer: it registered 212F.  I quickly put the lid on the pot and whisked it immediately into the fridge and shut the door.

The yogurt was less than 2 inches from the pot.  I allowed just enough room for a reasonable amount of air circulation.  The yogurt was oriented with the temperature probe toward the hot pot, so it should measure the area of the yogurt that would rise in temperature the most.  Also, as noted, the probe was only a fraction of an inch from the edge of the container, so any fluctuations even near the surface of the food should be registered.

Approximate times of temperature change in the yogurt are noted here:

0 minutes: 38F
~13.5 minutes: 39F
~26.5 minutes: 40F
~44.0 minutes: 41F
~64.5 minutes: 42F
~125 minutes: 41F

I was only checking the temperature every 10 minutes or so near the end, so the timing of the move back down to 41F may be slightly off.  At 150 minutes (2.5 hours), I stopped the experiment and removed the pot from the fridge, since I didn't want to waste any more time or energy cooling down a large pot of water.

Since little was happening with the temperature of the yogurt, I did open the fridge at 30 minutes to look around.  Using an infrared thermometer, I could tell that some container surfaces on the same shelf as the hot pot had reached the upper 40s with a maximum of about 50F.  (This included a dark surface container that is gray and black; it was not significantly different in temperature from the surface of the light-colored yogurt container.)  However, a probe inserted into these containers showed that no food inside was above 40F after 30 minutes.  Note that one large plastic container on that shelf had a large empty space near the top, and the surface temp for the empty portion rose to about 60-65F, but the bottom of container that actually contained juice remained about 40F, just like the yogurt.

Using the infrared thermometer, I measured the surface temperatures of food on shelves above and below the pot -- they barely budged a degree.  Nothing on any shelves above or below the pot was above 40F.  I checked these again every 30 minutes or so, with the same results.

(Note that 40F is not a hard cut-off point for bacterial growth.  Many types of spoilage bacteria grow in the 32-40F range, and they merely grow incrementally faster as the temperature gets warmer above 40F.  Spending an hour or two at 41F or 42F or even 45F is unlikely to cause problems -- this is a typical temperature range for most items kept on refrigerator doors -- though to be absolutely safe, avoid putting highly perishable items such as raw meats in areas with temperature fluctuations.)

I could feel warmer air circulating around the pot when the door was open, but it does not seem to have been enough to significantly alter temperatures other than in the items on the same shelf -- and there only by 2-4 degrees.

I also did check the water temperature a few times:

0 minutes: 212F
60 minutes: 156F
120 minutes: 128F
150 minutes: 116F

Since the temperature of the yogurt began to drop a little after 2 hours, it seems that even a gallon of water at about 130F wasn't enough to sustain a temperature increase in the fridge -- even on immediately adjacent items on the same shelf.

So, what do I conclude from this experiment?

Even a very large quantity of very hot food (a gallon of boiling water) was only able to move adjacent food items by a few degrees, and even that only might occur in outer layers of the food.  Items on shelves above or below were barely impacted at all.

I would note that I did not place any food directly in contact with the hot pot, because that would obviously cause an unacceptable rise in temperature (the pot continued to feel quite hot to the touch even after a couple of hours).  But with only a couple inches of space around the pot, the adjacent foods did not rise significantly in temperature.

I should also emphasize that surface temperatures of containers did rise up to 10-12 degrees on adjacent items in that first hour, even if the interior of the food varied much less.  (By about 1-1.5 hours, the surface temps had settled back down to within a degree of the internal food temps.)  I think this observation suggests that caution should be applied to keep highly perishable foods (e.g., uncooked meats) away from any very hot containers, though this seems like common sense.

Perhaps the most surprising result from my perspective is that the temperature rise was halted by the time the water temperature got down to maybe 140F or so.  I doubt many people are placing foods a lot hotter than 140F directly in the fridge.  Also, from a food safety perspective, the food could be cooled outside to 140F (which is when bacteria may begin to grow again), and then placed in the fridge for the rest of the cooling.  In my fridge, anyway, it seems doubtful that even a relatively large quantity of food 140F or lower would cause things to heat up around it.

Again -- please note that I am NOT advocating this practice, since the hot food itself could take quite a few hours to cool down in the fridge, potentially causing spoilage in the hot food.  (For large quantities, use an ice bath, or break down into small containers and allow plenty of air circulation in the fridge.)  But, except in extreme circumstances, there should only be a minor impact on the rest of the food in a modern well-functioning fridge.

In any case, putting hot food directly in the fridge is a safer option than leaving it on the counter to cool.


Cast Iron - Enamelled - Season or not? I have one of these - http://www.victoriasbasement.com.au/Product/Details/75766 - which I bought recently. Its an enamelled cast iron pan. I've been seasoning it by rubbing it down in oil and putting it in the oven. The seasoning doesn't seem to last very long though. Should I not be seasoning it because its enamelled? If so, should I try and get a non-enamelled cast iron pan if I want something with better non stick properties?

You don't need to season an enameled pot.  The enamel serves much of the same purpose as building up a layer of seasoning.

Although the enamel won't ever be quite as slick as seasoned cast iron, it protects the vessel from rust, makes food less likely to stick (with a little help from some oil), and easier to clean up afterwards.


Georgian dumplings (khinkali) sticking to the bottom of the pot Khinkali are boiled meat dumplings from the Georgian cuisine. They're formed putting about a spoonful of ground pork+beef meat with water and spices in the center of a few millimeters thick dough disk which is then sealed perfectly with a number of folds that depend on the ability of the cook and then cooked into boiling water until they float.
The dough contains water, flour, egg and salt.

Rolling the dough disks it happens that some flour gets on it, especially when the disks are prepared beforehand. Of course, a way to prevent them from sticking to each other in the pot would be not to cook too many at a time, but how can the excess flour on the exterior surface affect their possible sticking to the bottom of the pot?

The consequences of this would be of course breaking and losing the inside juice that is part of their eating experience.

I don't see the additional flour as the cause. It's there to prevent them sticking during manufacture & once in the pan will in seconds just be 'more dough'.

I see several ways to mitigate their sticking...

Bigger pan - obvious, but there's a reason your pasta pan is the biggest one in the kitchen.
Drop them a few at a time, so they don't touch until the outside has had a chance to start cooking.
Non-stick pan - at least then they can only stick to each other.
Keep them moving all the time - gentle persuasion is always a good idea, rather than having to prise them apart afterwards.
Add some oil to the water - pasta trick, ostensibly to prevent the water boiling over, but does very slightly coat the surface if you stir.


Red spots found in Active Dry yeast I just proofed my active dry yeast in water and sugar. When I came back a few minutes later, i found small red specks in the yeast mixture. I figured that it was just something in the water or something so I dumped the batch and started again, this time carefully checking each ingredient as I put it in. I saw the specks again when I put in the yeast. Does anyone have any idea what it might be? I took some out to look at it closer. It isn't bugs. The yeast isn't expired- I only bought it a week or two ago. I have been storing it in the freezer. Does anyone know what the problem might be?
Thank you.

Red spots in a starter are generally an indication of inedible mold; this has happened to me several times when a split of sourdough starter went bad.  My first thought would be that your yeast is contaminated at the manufacturer.


Cooking Small White Navy's giving me issues how long must I cook small white navy beans in my soup to get soft?  Seems like it is taking too long. So far I have cooked 4 hours!

Sounds like your beans are too old.  Buy a new pack in another store and start over.  It really shouldn't take more than an hour or so for beans to cook, especially if you have pre-soaked them (overnight in cold water, or an hour in boiling water).


Drawback of Kullenschliff (Granton) knives For many knifes are available with or without Kullenschliff while the price differs just a few $ (or few EUR).

The positive effect is that soft and sticky food such as cucumber sticks less on the blade due to air pockets.

For example these two identical knifes with and without Kullenschliff:

WÜSTHOF CLASSIC Cook´s knife No. 4572 / 20 cm (8")
WÜSTHOF CLASSIC Cook´s knife No. 4582 / 20 cm (8")

You can find similar examples for other manufacturers too.

What are the drawbacks of the air pockets?

When is the knife without air pockets the better solution?

(beside the very little higher price)

The biggest downside I can think of was touched on in the top answer to the question Catija:

  In fact, the thickness of the blade tends to have more of an effect than the voids in most cases.

Specifically, in order to have room to add those air pockets without them just being holes, the blade has to be thicker. This is a potential downside in a couple ways:

If you're cutting something big and sturdy, the knife can get wedged in more easily. Winter squash might be the best example. When you're halfway through, the squash is squeezing together on the knife, so it'll be harder to force a thick blade the rest of the way through than a thin one.
If you're cutting something delicate, you'll mess it up more. For example, crumbly or flaky desserts tend to fall apart more when a thick knife blade is forced through them than a thin one.

Of course, thicker blades are also usually heavier (probably still are even with the removed bits), which also has pros and cons. Nothing's ever simple!


How can I intensify the chocolate flavour in my yoghurt? When I want a healthy dessert, I add grated dark (70%) chocolate to natural yoghurt. If I want some sweetness, I add dried cranberries. The cranberries definitely have a much stronger flavour, but even without them, the chocolate flavour does not come through very much. I think this is because it is designed to melt in your mouth before being eaten and the flavour only comes through when it melts. If it's in yoghurt, it's much too cold to melt.
Is there an additive or some alternative chocolate form (perhaps cocoa powder + something?) which could give a stronger chocolate flavour to yogurt which will be eaten cold?

I almost do the same thing. I simply mix a scoop of cocoa powder into my (usually vanilla flavored when I decide to add cocoa) yogurt, and that's it.
But then again, I use sweetened yogurt, so maybe add some natural sweetener, like honey or maple syrup into your yogurt as well.


Can dried beans be pickled/fermented? Can dry beans, when soaked, be pickled/fermented, such as in vinegar or brine? Or would there be too much phytic acid in them?

Beans can be reconstituted and fermented or pickled.  While there is some controversy over whether or not phytic acid in legumes is problematic or not, most agree that soaking, cooking, sprouting, and fermentation all contribute to the the reduction of phytic acid.


Why does "hot chocolate powder" lose taste? Yesterday, I made hot chocolate with "Schokotraum Typ Trinkschokolade" from Krüger. I was very surprised, that it didn't taste sweet at all (which is bad; it didn't have a lot of taste overall).

The ingredients are:

  DE: Zucker, Süßmolkenpulver (32,3%), Kakaopulver (25,5%), Magermilchpulver (6%), Speisesalz.

  EN: Sugar, sweet whey powder (32.3%), cocoa powder (25.5%), skimmed milk powder (6%), salt

I opened it last year and it should be good until November 2020. I don't quite remember, but I think it was sweet last year

Why didn't it taste sweet?

The best before date is often only valid until the pack is opened.
I'd check the pack itself for confirmation, but many goods will say "Best before [2 years]" but then underneath something along the lines of "Once opened keep in [circumstances] & consume within [much shorter time]"

I first looked up shelf life of cocoa powder - essentially it will last several years if kept cool & dry, but will lose flavour long before eventually going off. Long-term it can go rancid & become unsafe, but long before that it will simply lose all its chocolate flavour.
I couldn't find any absolute authoritative citation for this; it was an opinion formed from many sources, quoting similar but not identical information.

Sweet whey powder, on the other hand, has a shelf life of only 6 - 12 months, according to Dairy for Global Nutrition*. Similar anecdotal sources to those for cocoa powder above say this will also lose flavour & eventually smell & taste like milk gone off. [This search is hindered by the number of results for protein whey powder, which rather bury those for sweet whey.]

  *Dry dairy products are known for having a neutral, mild dairy flavor.
  Storage at high temperatures and high relative humidity may increase
  the potential development of off-flavors. In many cases, significant
  changes in product flow and solubility will occur before any changes
  in flavor and aroma become evident. Flavor changes develop more
  quickly in agglomerated or "instant" ingredients.

 Emphasis mine

In conclusion, I imagine that what you tasted was not so much 'less sugar' as less 'chocolate' & potentially slightly past its best sweet whey.


how to cook boneless chicken breasts for curry? I am trying to make chicken curry my way. I have already prepared curry and now I want to add cooked pieces of chicken into it (cooked separately). I assume the chicken needs to be cooked separately, and I am not sure how to cook it. I am using boneless chicken breasts, and I want my cooked chicken to be soft and juicy.

Or should I be cooking chicken in the curry that I made? My curry consists of grinded onion, yoghurt, water and spices.

I'd cut them in small pieces (1 or 2 cm) and quickly sauteed them (1 or 2 minutes on hot temperature) to get some caramelization and toss them in the curry to finish cooking.

Or just toss them in the curry to cook them (one less pan to clean).


What's the best way to cook JD biscuit rollups? What's the best way to cook these Jimmy Dean's biscuit roll-ups?

The microwave directions aren't bad, but, as often happens with things cooked in the microwave, the biscuit is a little on the mushy side. The [toaster] oven directions (which can only be found on the website) take a long time (>20 minutes) and leave the biscuit a bit on the dry side.

If I had to pick one, I'd stick with the microwave — for a biscuit, I'd rather have mushy than dry — but... is there a better way?

Yes, there is a better way!

The problem is we want attributes of both cooking methods; particularly, we want the biscuit to be moist yet with a crispy crust.

The solution, then, is to combine methods!

I found that two rolls can be prepared quite nicely with the following procedure:

Microwave on high (1100 watt microwave) for 45 seconds, slightly less than the minimum time if using just the microwave.
Finish in a toaster oven on 'toast' mode on a light-to-medium setting. (I used "shade 3" on my Cuisinart Chef and placed them in a foil-lined baking pan. The foil is optional, but saves having to wash the baking pan.)
Remove and let stand for 1 minute (per both directions).

This produced an exterior that was delightfully golden brown and crisp, but did not dry out the biscuit nearly as much as using the toaster oven by itself.

This does require both a toaster oven and a microwave, but IMHO if you have both, the results are worth it.

It should be possible to prepare a single roll using this technique by reducing the time in the microwave. (I'm not sure if I'd go all the way down to 25 seconds, which would be the same 5 seconds less than the minimum time in the directions, or just use the minimum time of 30 seconds. Personally, I think one roll is barely worth eating. If anyone experiments, let me know!)


Expiration date for block cheese (mozzarella, Monterey Jack) How long after the expiration date is block cheese (mozzarella, Monterey Jack) safe to eat IF it has been kept refrigerated AND has never been opened? They LOOK as fresh as the day I bought them, about 6 months ago.
Thank you.

It is easy to see if mold is forming on block cheese.  I have, many times over the years, simply excised moldy portions from blocks of cheese, rinsed the remainder with cold water and if it looked and smelled okay, tried a nibble.  If I was satisfied that it still tasted good, I've gone right ahead and eaten it, with no ill effects.

Shredded cheese, on the other hand, can be difficult to evaluate.  Usually, once shredded cheese starts to go bad, the whole bag picks up the smell and off flavor, rendering it garbage.

Of course, I am NOT recommending that anyone (including you) eat foods beyond their expiration dates and I would NOT risk anyone else' health with such gambles.  I'm just sharing what seemingly silly, reckless behavior I've managed to get away with, unharmed.  Your mileage may vary.  Beware.


Steaks look light brown aren't charing I'm cooking steaks in a stainless steel pan. It's never getting hot enough to cook steaks and char them it's charring in a few places then starts to basically boil and lightly brown the meat which tastes bad and looks bad.

I should probably be using a cast iron pan which is thicker that can hold the heat longer. The steaks are about an inch or so thick not very thick. I'd like to get them charred on the outside and medium rare on the inside mainly on the rare side so they are still red, not brownish.

Any advice on a good type of pan for cooking steaks over a gas stove?

Thanks

I have made steak with a stainless steel pan and I haven't any issues achieving browning. Yes, a cast iron pan would be better, but a good stainless steel pan can work too.

Here is my technique (I am also using gas):

Heat pan without anything in it.
When it's hot enough, I add the oil to coat the bottom.
Then add the meat to sear both sides. I usually finish the whole thing in the oven. (Make sure to check your pan is oven safe).
Depending on the size of the steak, sometimes I just finish it there, sometimes I finish it in the oven.

Other notes:

Make sure the pan is hot enough
If your stainless pan is really thin, you may still have an issue. If this is the case you may want to invest in another pan. Cast iron pans last for ever and can be had for cheap.
Make sure your steaks are at room temperature. Take them out of the fridge 30 minutes prior to cooking.
Remove any moisture from the surface prior to cooking. You don't want to have to heat the water first (steaming the meat), and then browning. You want it to brown right away.

Edit: to add the info suggested by jalbee and Henrik


Why shouldn't a precooked pie be frozen? I bought a Selection brand strawberry pre-cooked pie. I just read the instructions on the pie and just realized it was pre-cooked but it says to not freeze the pie. Unfortunately, I froze it right away when I got home because I couldn't find my reading glasses and didn't read the instructions.

Are any health concerns here? If not, what could the reason be for being warned not to freeze the pie?

Generally, these warnings are for food quality reasons, not for safety reasons.

Assuming this is a fresh strawberry pie, I'd guess that - because strawberries don't bake or freeze particularly well - if you freeze the pie, the fresh strawberries will turn to mush and not taste very good, particularly if you try to bake it to heat it up.

Freezing something should never make it unsafe to consume... freezing is a preserving method.


Is it safe to eat a dish made with vinegar if the vinegar lid had black stuff on it? I stored some vinegar in a salsa container. When I opened it, I noticed some black stuff under the lid. The vinegar liquid looked good, so I used a little and started to cook with it. When I washed the lid, the black stuff under the lid dissolved. Is my dish safe to consume?

The "black stuff" is most likely mold. I have found it under the lids of many foods I preserved and ate without suffering any adverse health consequences, including various vinegars.


How do I make buckwheat pancakes without non-stick cookware? Recently I tried to make buckwheat pancakes, but failed miserably. I tried heating the stainless steel pan (about 12" in diameter) for a few seconds on medium heat, then I applied some safflower oil (about two teaspoons). When I poured the mixture on the heated pan, it immediately stuck...So I couldn't even get past the "flip the pancake" part of the instructions.

Is it possible to make pancakes still? If so, how?

"For a few seconds", if literal, is the problem.  You want to make sure that the pan is well heated before adding your batter.

My mom's test was to sprinkle some water on the pan, and see if the droplets danced around.  Leidenfrost effect.

As you're using quite a bit of oil, you can also look for the shimmering that will happen just before the oil starts to smoke as an indication of a well-heated pan.


What does dry ice to to ice cream besides freezing it faster? From what I've seen, using dry ice to make ice cream makes the whole freezing process a lot faster than a freezer. (Besides speed, the only other benefit I can think of is trapping some gas in the ice cream to make it fluffier/softer.)
What exactly can dry ice do to ice cream besides speeding up the freezing process? What kinds of ice cream are made with dry ice and not just a freezer?

The main reason for using something like dry ice is because of the speed in which it freezes the ice cream. The faster it freezes, the smaller the ice crystals, and the smoother the texture.
This is why thawed ice cream that’s refrozen in your freezer ends up so icy because it freezes so much slower than even a traditional machine, and has large ice crystals.
However, you may be thinking more about liquid nitrogen, which is used by some ice cream shops lately. Dry ice is harder to use because it leaves chunks in the ice cream that don’t melt (or “sublimate”) right away. Liquid nitrogen produces an incredibly smooth texture that I’ve never had from any factory or traditional machine.


Tips for cooking a classic French omelette in a carbon steel pan Are there any specific tricks or tips for cooking a classic French omelette in a carbon steel pan?

The main issue in cooking a french omelet in carbon steel it'll stick too much. As I was taught you should just try to use a different pan but if you must use that kind then be sure to properly lubricate the pan with fat before adding egg. Then again if and when the eggs absorb it. Then to change it on to a lower heat than typically then making a french omlete so that it will not burn or get stuck as easily. Be sure to cook it long enough so that the bottom is firm enough not to break before moving it. With the excess fat it should release from the pan much like meat does. Once it has released from the pan be sure to keep it moving so that it will not stick again.


How does the way chicken is cut affect the taste (if at all)? I wonder if a sloppily filleted chicken breast will yield a drier, less flavorful chicken. If it does, why is this the case?  And what is the proper way to filet a chicken?

The way meat is cut can affect it in a few ways. The most obvious is cooking time, a thinner cut of meat with more surface area will cook much more quickly than a thicker cut with less or equal surface area. Thus unevenly cut meat will cook unevenly, with thicker portions remaining raw while thinner portions are cooked through or overcooked. The way the meat is cut can also affect how well spices will stick to the surface of the meat, where again a higher surface area will lead to more spices sticking. This can be further increased by cutting the chicken in a jagged manner, which provides more area for spices or rubs to stick. The way it is cut can be especially important with chicken as it tends to cook and dry out very quickly, and so an unevenly filleted chicken breast will become very dry in areas while possibly remaining unsafe to eat in others. Thus, rather than cutting the chicken in a jagged manner to get spices to stick better, it is generally a better idea to make shallow cuts in the surface of the chicken breast and place seasoning or whatever you like inside (you have likely seen this before, called hasselback chicken, though it is more commonly done with steak), as the jagged cuts lead to differing thickness across the cutlet. Ideally when filleting a chicken breast you would make a single cut resulting in two evenly sized pieces of meat, then if you would like more surface area for your seasoning to take hold make shallow cuts across the grain of the meat. Here is a website that goes more in-depth on the proper method for fileting a chicken breast into cutlets.


Which cookware material should be used to retain the heat of the prepared tea? I have glass, plastic, stainless steel, earthenware, and melamine vessels.

Which one of out of them should be used to retain the heat of the prepared tea for a long duration?

Is there any better material too? Which one?

Update:

See the claim here. They say metal changes the taste of tea.
http://teamasters.blogspot.in/2007/04/dont-use-filter.html?m=1

If you had vessels of the exact equal shape, you could have gone by material. But in reality, you are likely to have different shapes and sizes, so there is no good way to tell which one to use. The general rules (each of which holds as long as the features in all the other ones are kept equal)

earthenware is better than glass, which is better than steel. Different plastics and resins have different insulation, but usually worse than earthenware and I believe glass.
a larger vessel filled with more liquid is better than a smaller vessel filled with less liquid
a smaller vessel filled with a given amount of liquid is better than a larger vessel filled with the same amount of liquid
a vessel with a narrower opening is better than a vessel with a wider opening
a vessel in which the width at the tea-air border is smaller is better than a vessel in which the width is larger
a vessel with a more compact shape is better than a vessel in which one dimension is larger than the others
a vessel with thick walls is better than a vessel with thin walls

If one of your vessels you have ticks all the criteria, it is superior to the rest. In the more usual case where one of them is better by one criterion and worse by another one, there is no simple way to predict which one is better on the whole. The simple number of criteria is also not guaranteed to give results, as a very bad performance in only one of them can "trump" the combined contribution of the rest. But in practice, it is probably a decent heuristic. So you could try choosing one which seems to fit the above criteria best.

The even better option (optimized both for material and for the other properties listed above) is to use an insulated mug or teapot. They are available in all sizes and shapes, and all of them are better than simple earthenware. Even an insulated mug without the cap will be better than a simple mug.

If you don't want to invest in an insulated teapot, or want traditional aesthetics, you can also use a porcelain or earthenware teapot in combination with an woolen cozy. You should really knit it in wool or another animal fiber like alpaca. Silk, plant fibers and artificial ones don't insulate well.

See also Ceramic vs Stainless Steel in coffee mugs for a related discussion.


How to deep fry cauliflower? I tried to deep fry cauliflowers (without breading; I am NOT making tempura), but they turned out soft.

I have seen that done on TV where cauliflowers are freshly deep-fried and turn out to be crunchy. But when I tried doing that, the cauliflower ended up soft and somewhat soggy. I increased the frying time thinking that may help evaporate the moisture inside the cauliflower but it then turned out soft and soggy with oil instead of water.

Are there preparations that I need to do to the cauliflower, or are there something special that I need to add to the oil?

You need to cover soft vegetables in egg or batter first. Normally the vege's are steamed first to actually cook, cooled, then egg washed or lightly battered and flash deep fried in hot oil just to set the thin batter

Try Indian style spicy pea/chickpea flour batters


Which type of pan can you recommend for pan-frying tofu? Which type of pan can you recommend for pan-frying tofu, stainless, aluminum, or carbon steel?

Cast iron rules! but if i was to choose from the options you provided i would pick the heaviest / thickest one regardless of the material.


Is it safe to eat baby-potatoes? I kept several potatoes in a box dark cool cellar. Now, after 6 months, I am surprised to see that they grew a lot of sprouts, and among them, many "baby potatoes", with radius between 1 and 10 milimeters. The "mother potatoes" look and smell OK, but they feel softer than usual.

I wonder if there is anything here that can be cooked and eaten?

I have read that the sprouts themselves are poisonous, and the softer potatoes are also unsafe. But what about the baby potatoes - are they safe?

Planting will get you a better return. Cut the potatoes up into sections with a sprout each, let the cuts callus at 70 F/21C for a few days, and plant.

If you remove the sprouts and the potatoes are not green, or any green parts are removed, they should be safe, if not of particularly good quality.

Planting the sprouted ones and buying others to eat would be your best bet, better quality, and not too costly. Next year, put some apples in the root cellar with the potatoes to help prevent/reduce potato sprouting during storage.

In the well-managed root cellar we're supposed to somehow find time to to go through every couple of weeks to check for and remove the various sprouting or spoiling food before the process gets too far along. I can't say I have arrived there myself yet...but if you at least look for the sprouted ones when you are grabbing tubers to use, you can remove small sprouts from firmish potatoes and use them up, and be aware if the whole batch is sprouting away and needs to be used up soon, before it gets to this point.


cooking vegetables for mashing Inspired by some of the answers and comments on a recent question on boiling potatoes whole or diced, I'm curious:

What's the best way to cook a combination of vegetables to be mashed? I'm thinking of a subset of potatoes, turnips, rutabagas, parsnips, carrots, and anything else that sounds good. Obviously if boiling, one wants to avoid waterlogged vegetables, but the cooking times of the various vegetables are different. Is there a reliable way to cook everything together (at least for some subsets)?

Edit: As mentioned in the comment below, I know that the best one can do may be starting with the longest-cooking vegetables and incrementally adding the rest. What I was wondering was things like if some or all were better baked, or if boiling is good, if some besides potatoes are better boiled whole...

After trying steaming a few times as renegade suggested, I've decided I prefer roasting:

As with steaming, everything stays in the vegetables, they're pretty easy to test, and they don't get waterlogged.
It gives some nice caramelization, contributing a little to the end flavor.
It leaves them drier than steaming, which I like because it gives me the freedom to add plenty of other liquids (e.g. milk).
It's easy to roast large quantities of whole vegetables (which wouldn't fit in anything I have to steam in), so I can make large batches. And cooking them whole means there's less to sort through when pulling out ones that got done faster.

To each their own, but this works for me!


When and how to add garlic to a dish? I want to make some chicken with ginger and garlic, and every recipe I look up puts the garlic in at a different time.

In Korean food, it is grated into the marinade.

In India food, it's mixed with ginger and ground into a paste that you cook down and then mix into curry.

In American cooking, you saute it after sauteing some onions in the fond/fat left behind after rendering the chicken.

In the specific Chinese dish I was looking at, you throw it in right at the end of stir-frying the pork. (video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhYEy3PA0RI).

In another thread on Cooking StackExchange, you flavor the oil in the beginning with it (no mention of taking it out).

So my question is, garlic do you determine when and how to add garlic to the dish?

I imagine the answer will be "depends what you want to taste", so if you can answer how it makes things taste, that would be great!

The key is to understand what impacts the flavor and texture of the ingredients your using.  Then, to use the appropriate techniques to achieve the result you are looking for.  If you keep a peeled clove of garlic whole it can have an aromatic effect if gently cooked in oil.  Smash that clove and the effect is more powerful.  Brown the clove, and you will get sweetened and caramelized notes...go to far, and it will take on a bitter note.  Slice the clove and the effect will be different.  Smash and chop (or grate)...more pronounced and more integrated. Roast without peeling...sweet.  ...the list goes on...

Greater cooking experience will allow you to understand all of the potential nuances that different cutting, crushing and cooking (or not) of garlic can bring to a dish.  Then, you can understand, adjust, and/or create the recipe you are looking for.


What is this plant I saw for sale at a Romanian farmer's market? I was at an agricultural market in Baia Mare, Romania and several vendors were selling this plant that looks like the tips of a pine tree. I didn't ask for a name and didn't handle it, so I can't tell you much beyond that each cluster of needles was about the size of a finger. Here's a picture:

That actually are tips of trees, probably spruce1. It’s this year’s new growth and a very seasonal product. The tips are harvested when the are (about) fully grown, but still light green and soft.

I can’t say for sure what the local customers would use them for, but one of the common uses in my area of the world is to make “honey”, i.e. a syrup by either layering the tips with sugar and let the sugar draw out the aromatic compounds or alternatively make a “tea” that’s them preserved with plenty of sugar and boiled down to a syrup. It’s both a honey substitute (it does resemble fir honey) and a folk medicine against colds and coughing. Other extracts are made with alcohol instead (or in combination with) sugar to create a liqueur, again served both for medical and culinary purposes.

1  This is not a botanical id. Various members of the genus Picea (spruce) and Abies (fir) are used, usually whatever grows locally and has a pleasant taste.


Harshuf -- Artichoke Stalks I come from a Moroccan background where they prepare a dish call 'Harshuf'. The name is from the main ingredient stalks of the artichoke plant. It is cooked with lemon and chicken.

Does anyone know what artichoke stalks are called in the US?

Cardoon is what I am looking for. Thanks to Jefromi for supplying the answer in the comments.

P.S. from Jefromi: according to the Wikipedia article linked above, it's also called artichoke thistle, cardone, cardoni, carduni or cardi.


Substitues for Vegetable Oil -Spread- A cake recipe of mine calls for ½ cup of Vegetable Oil Spread (Specifically stating 70% fat), which I don't currently have.

I found questions that deal with substituting either Butter for Oil, Oil for Butter, and Butter for Margarine and have read their answers.

However, despite now being able to extrapolate how likely substituting (which I think is the best alternative) Oil for (What is understand is) the Margarine-like product called for in the recipe, I found no questions/answers that address this swap specifically. Am therefore keen on the communities opinions on which is the best substitute, why and any caveats?

It's vegetable oil spread, not vegetable oil. It's just another name for margarine, which is normally made from vegetable oil. So substitute as you would for margarine, because that's what it is.

Without knowing the recipe, I have to assume oil is a bad substitute here, because generally you don't want to substitute a liquid fat for a solid fat. But if you're just melting it, for example, it wouldn't matter.


How can I avoid my knife from "dragging" across my unbaked bread when making slashes to let steam escape while baking? My slashes seem to be OK (not great) before I put the bread in the oven but never really open up during baking.  I'm thinking the slashes aren't deep enough but since I use a no knead method, I'm reluctant to press any harder.

Is there a trick to help the knife move more easily?  I use a serrated knife.

Professional bakers use straight razors. Chances are they are sharper than your knife, and easier to keep that way (or cheaper to replace, at least).

Also: wet the blade before making slashes. This helps lubricate the blade as it cuts, and keeps the cut bread from sticking.


Can you freeze almond paste? I've got some fresh almonds and they're starting to become stale. I'm thinking of making an almond paste with eggs and sugar.

Does this keep well in the freezer? I suppose it does, but asking doesn't hurt.

A basic Google search hit on numerous sites all which agree that almond paste can be frozen with no deterioration of the product.  The key is to wrap it up in several layers of plastic bags or plastic, then aluminum foil to keep out other flavors from the freezer as my experience has been that ground nuts will absorb odors if improperly wrapped.

Once in the freezer, hopefully in manageable-sized packages for easy thaw and use, the almond paste should keep for several months at least.

I've stored ground almonds in the freezer for a year with no harm to the flavor.

Best of luck!


How long before intended date of use can a ham be purchased? Hams are on sale now (end date of sale 4-11).  I want to bake my ham on the 16th.  Seems to me I would be cutting down on "eating time" for the ham. What do you think?  Thanks.

I don't believe it will make any difference, and here's why -

You may be buying the ham a few days earlier, and the ham may be part of a shipment that was received and stocked at a certain date, as opposed to a later date, but it's doubtful there is a significant difference in the dates that a ham on sale today, and a ham bought Wednesday next week was processed and packaged. That's a mass-produced product, with a huge bump in production near the holidays.

It's highly doubtful that the store would make a huge (with, assumed on my part, a certain volume discount or seasonal sales price) purchase of hams for the holiday, and then order more hams, not as part of that order, to be stocked before the same event/holiday.

What you will also see, depending on how well they gauged demand, is that hams will be deeply discounted a week or two after the holiday, as the remaining hams from their mass order start getting closer to the product expiration date.

Your best bet for determining how long before a holiday is (if you're not going to freeze it) looking at the "use by" date.  Any pre-holiday ham sale is going to have hams with a "use by" date that goes past that holiday.


Is there a loss of taste when pressure cooking bitter gourd? I like the bitterness of bitter gourd and it helps in a low insulin situation. Almost every recipe I've seen, recommends frying it. My objective is to lessen the cooking time, but it's hard to find recipes for cooking bitter gourd in an ordinary pressure cooker. The recipes I found, use some kind of a cooker with a timer, and they cook it only for a minute (which I assume wouldn't cook it fully).

I'm accustomed to pressure cooking mixed vegetables until the first whistle. But is there any special reason for not pressure cooking bitter gourd for as long as the first whistle or a reason that people almost always fry it? Is it because of some loss in nutrition (polypeptide-p or p-insulin) or crunchiness?

I'd really appreciate an ordinary pressure cooker recipe for bitter gourd, where it can be cooked with some masala's added (for extra taste). The point of using a pressure cooker is to reduce the cooking time and to be able to cook a large amount of bitter gourd in bulk and keep it in the freezer so I wouldn't have to keep purchasing it and cooking it every now-and-then.

Taking into consideration your purpose for eating bitter gourd, and your objective of cooking it quickly, to “lessen the cooking time”.

The fastest way to cook it is to stir fry it, with eggs, meat or just by itself with some oil, garlic and shallots. from prep to eat time is about 20 minutes. Or add it to a chicken broth for a quick blanch before consuming it as part of a soup.

From experience, pressure cooking it will not save any time, rendering the bitter gourd into something lumpy and not as palatable.  Part of the older generations belief is that it also loses its “medicinal” and nutritional benefits.


Why are standard cast iron maintenance practices compatible with food safety? How on earth is not washing a cast iron with soap not harmful? Since even if you wash it good with hot water and Salt, wouldn't there still be a possibility of harmful bacteria and such left in the crevices in the metal? I mean the metal is porous, correct?

Also same goes for the seasoning we use (bacon grease, oil, etc) How does this not get a bunch of bacteria on it?

Toxic?

Neither the seasoning (which is essentially polymerized fat) nor the rust (which is... rust) is harmful in small quantities.  Of course, I would not eat either by the spoonful.

Spray oil as seasoning fat?

See the many questions on seasoning, but cooking spray is far from ideal as a seasoning fat, as it contains emulsifiers and such, and tends to be a poly-unsaturated fat (that is, liquid at room temperature).  Saturated fats are better.  One of the most common household options is, dare I say it, Crisco.   Or bacon fat.

Why is scrubbing with salt sanitary?

Tradition is that cast iron is not washed with soap and water.  The purists will rail at me for saying this, but an occasional light wash with mild dish soap is not going to irreparably harm your seasoning.  As you cook, it is continually being rebuilt, at least in frying which is what cast iron pans are best for.

Nonetheless, the common method of just cleaning out with salt and then drying leaves a dry surface, which is not hospitable to bacteria or other pathogens.  They cannot grow in a desert.  Even if there are micro-crevices in the pan (there are), they would either be filled with the seasoning layer and irrelevant, or leaving the bacteria in direct contact with that active iron surface, which is also not good for them.  But the main issue is that the pan is dry.

Finally, since the pan is hot when being used (often even preheated in many applications) any tiny amount of bacteria which find a foothold will normally be killed quite early in the cooking process.

The seasoning—even from delicious bacon fat—that forms the protective layer on the pan is also polymerized, which makes it less available as a food source for bacteria, even if they could otherwise grow in the very dry environment of a properly cleaned and dried cast iron pan.


Why is lye used in some recipes for cookies? I have seen some recipes for cookies which include lye (water boiled with ash) among the ingredients. Does anyone know what the purpose is? Is there any other ingredient that can replace lye?

First of all, lye is not "water boiled with ash".  You might be thinking of potash, which used to be used as lye, but virtually all food-grade lye today is sodium hydroxide.

In terms of its function, it largely raises the alkalinity (pH).  Baking soda does too, but sodium hydroxide is far more potent - let's just say you don't want to get any on your hands by accident.

The reason some recipes use lye is that alkalinity is a major promoter of the Maillard reaction, which is responsible for the crisping and browning you see in many baked goods - most notably pretzels.  I haven't seen cookie recipes using it but I imagine that those recipes would produce very crisp and hard cookies - not my cup of tea but maybe that's what you want.

The only ingredient I know of that you can use instead is baking soda, but I wouldn't call that a replacement, more like a substitution.  It will work the same way, but in the end you'll have something much softer and less browned.

There is actually another substance that is in between the pH of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and sodium hydroxide (lye), and that is sodium carbonate AKA "washing soda".  It's listed as a food additive (E500) but it is rather difficult to find in food-grade forms.  As its name implies, it's more commonly used as a detergent.  However, it would be a better substitute than baking soda due to its higher pH.

One can make food grade sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) from food grade baking soda, sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), by baking it an oven spread out on a cookie sheet at 350° F for one hour; baking longer won't hurt.  This drives off water and carbon dioxide to form food grade washing soda (sodium carbonate) which increases the pH more than baking soda.

Here's the reaction for the above process:

  2NaHCO3 ---> Na2CO3 + CO2 + H2O


Is granulated sugar (American) the same as caster sugar (UK)? I have an american cake recipe which includes 'granulated sugar', would this be uk caster sugar? It is for the stage when you beat in with the butter?

I'm not familiar with the naming conventions for sugar in the UK so I apologize if I become patronizing.

Granulated sugar is the every-day table sugar here.  It's what I grab a spoonful for my cereal and such, and it is the kind used in almost all of the baking I've done.  Is caster sugar what you usually have around?

Caster sugar is called "super-fine" sugar in the States.  It is finer that granulated sugar but not as fine as powdered sugar (icing sugar for the UK right?).

Honestly, I can't say that I've ever bought any as I usually only see granulated and powdered, but Wikipedia tells me that "Castor sugar can be prepared at home by grinding granulated sugar for a couple of minutes in a food processor."

That being said, if you're just beating it into butter than I would think the caster sugar should be perfectly reasonable for the job.  Though I agree with bikeboy that you should go by weight if you use a substitue.

Running around This Site, I found that there are aprrox 7oz(200g) per cup granulated sugar, and 6.5oz(190g) per cup caster sugar.  So you would actually need more sugar if using caster sugar, as it is less dense.  Obviously not a lot though (200/190=1.053).


oil for cooking eggs I want to cook eggs and I want to know the amount of oil that I have to add for 4 eggs.
The eggs' weight is about 75-80gr.

Assuming you are talking about fried eggs, use a non-stick pan, and use just enough fat to coat the pan. If you're using an oil, don't measure, just use a few drops, and make sure to spread it thinly on the pan. You could also use cooking spray. The key is having a really, really slick non-stick pan. No pan with any kind of texture will do.

For scrambled, the same is true, but I'd suggest using butter, and just a little more than you need. For 4 eggs, I'd use about a teaspoon of butter. Of course, I also add whipping cream to my scrambled, do it over a double-boiler, and often finish with a small amount of melted butter on top as it is. Here, you want to really keep the eggs moving to keep from sticking.

If you're talking about another cooking method, please be a little more specific.


Why reoil a cast-iron pan after usage? I've been recommended to reoil my cast-iron pan by letting it absorb some oil on the remaining heat of the stove before drying it, each time after using it.

Is it important to do so, and what difference does it make? There should still be a lot of fat left from simply rinsing and drying the pan.

AFAIK you need to heat the pan to let the oil oxidize and polymerize¹ so that it will form a chemically protective and non-sticking coating.

If you wash your cookware with soap you will have to do it every time.  For that reason some people don't wash cast iron at all and wipe it with a clean cloth or paper towel after using.  (Burned oil is apparently not very tasty to bacteria and fungi so your pan stays relatively clean and bug-free.)

From my personal experience, meat sticks to untreated cast iron like glue, but on a well-maintained thick iron pan it glides like on Teflon.

__

¹ I don't know if it makes any chemical sense because all references to polymerized fats I could google up were in relation to reoiling (seasoning).


What would cause heartburn in marinara sauce? So there's this pizza place in Rhode Island which makes some of the best pizza I've ever had. I tend to order the "plain" pizza, which is just sauce. It's that kind of pizza where the sauce is thick and excessive, dolloped all over on an equally thick bread, but it's extremely good sauce. That's the style.

The problem is that after eating it, I get heartburn for hours. It's bizarre, and I would eat there more often if that weren't the case but it's really rather unpleasant. I do not experience this with anything else whatsoever.

What ingredient would cause such a phenomenon, and is there a way to change it? I'm hoping I can notify them of this.

Also, is this the sort of thing that doesn't affect everyone? My father gets the same effect from their pizza, and he stopped eating there. I haven't asked anyone I'm not related to, so I don't know if it's just a genetic thing or if this is a common reaction.

Tomatoes relax the lower esophageal sphincter, a muscle at the top of the stomach that contracts to keep stomach contents from going back up the esophagus. The more concentrated the sauce the more the relaxing effect. Alcohol does this as well, and over-eating can lead to the LES muscle being unable to overcome the pressure. So if you had a big portion of pizza with extra strong tomato sauce and a few beers or glasses of wine it's a triple-whammy.


How to store fresh coriander for future use, outside refrigerator, so that they don't lose their taste? Possible Duplicate:
  How to Store Fresh Herbs

I have seen this thread: How to Store Fresh Herbs, but I won't want to use a fridge neither I have any garden. All I have is the plastic bottle.

Buying coriander whole rather than ground is probably your best bet. As is the case with allspice and coffee, they're bound to eventually lose flavor, likely to light/heat/moisture, fresh grinding will bring back some of the spark.

If you're using fresh from the garden coriander you're not out of options. There's the floral option, and also the same rules apply here for drying herbs if you're willing to go down that route. If the fridge/freezer simply isn't an option, and having a bouquet of coriander isn't in the cards, then I would just hang them upside down in your basement/closet and then keep them in airtight containers away from direct light and heat.


Why is it not recommended to microwave UK or Canadian bacon? Following this thread (Is it possible to cook bacon without melting as much fat?), @Italian Philosopher mentions that this is not a good idea for UK or Canadian bacon.

I've noticed that most bacon I purchase in the UK says do not microwave, although I do occasionally nuke a few slices of back bacon for a short blast to get the water and phosphates out before frying.

Having eaten a few sandwiches in the past that the bacon has been microwaved, I'm still here to tell the tale. I assume the "don't microwave" advice is because the fat won't fry or render properly, but why is this OK for stateside pork?

If we are talking about bacon in these terms:

I believe it's because of the meat content difference. American bacon has a much higher fat-to-meat ratio and it's usually thinner, so when you microwave it the thin meat gets crispy (which is, arguably, a good thing in this case).

Canadian and UK bacon have much more meat, and if you microwave it the meat will dry out too much that both texture and flavour will be ruined.


Interruption in canning process I was processing venison in 14 pint jars at 10 lb. pressure. It had only begun to process, approx. 10 min.  I got an emergency phone call from my Mother and had to turn off the pressure cooker.  I left and did not get back for 5 hrs.  By that time the cooker was barely warm.  I turned the stove back on and began processing all over at 10 lb. pressure but left it go for 90 min. instead of the 75 min. for pints.  All sealed, looks great, good color.  However, would sitting and cooling down before the 2nd processing cause add'l bacteria to grow in the sitting jars?  Or, would the 240+ degrees from the pressure cooker take care of any and all bacteria, whether a little or a lot?  I have been canning and putting up foods for 51 years and have never had to stop and restart processing.  I'm unsure if the meat would be safe.  Anyone else ever have this happen to a low-acid food?

I would not keep it or eat it and just consider it a loss. That is a long time for the food to cool down/seal, etc. The processing time is usually carefully calculated so that the core of the product in the jar gets to the proper temp. With the processing time only being 10 mins it would mean only the jar and maybe a small amount on the edges would have gotten to 240 deg F.

I suppose it could make a difference if it was a hot pack vs. cold pack, but I would still not risk it.

Since you're an experienced canner, I assume you already know that it's possible to lose pressure during the process and then restart the time when the canner gets back up to pressure, but that is usually a few minutes at most, not hours.


Does boiling water deactivate malt enzymes? Will mixing boiling water with malt flour deactivate the malt enzymes?
I’m trying to adapt a recipe for mämmi that involves mixing mixing a combination of malt+regular flour with boiling water in a 1:2 ratio (by weight) and need to understand whether the point is to stop the enzymes or to encourage their action.
Overall it is add 3 parts boiling water to 1 part malt, then 2 parts regular flour, off the heat. Mix and let sit.

Yes, heating to boiling temperature will destroy amylase.
Depending on the ratio, the goal of that recipe may be to destroy the enzymes, to gel the starch, or to help the enzymes be most effective. It’s not uncommon for particularly old and traditional recipes to use a combination of boiling water, ice-cold water, and room-temperature ingredients to reach a particular temperature, as the ratio of inputs will determine the final temperature pretty accurately without a need for a thermometer. If the water to malt/grain ratio is about 1:1 by mass, that would put the enzymes at their optimum temperature for converting starch to sugar. If it’s a lot more water than malt/grain (again, by mass) then the purpose is more likely to deactivate the enzymes and/or gel the starch.


Extraordinary Beef Gravy? I recently overcooked a rib roast – not badly, but into the “well-done” class. The roast itself was still OK – but the gravy…the gravy was fantastic. I can only assume this is because I cooked a lot more juices out of the beef.  I enjoyed just having leftover mashed potatoes and gravy from this roast, so I don’t even need a roast to come along with the gravy!

What made the gravy so good? What tecnique can I use to replicate this type of gravy?

It's probably less to do with the amount of juices that came out of the rib roast and more to do with the extended caramelisation of those juices produced by overcooking. Those burnt, caramelised bits left in the bottom of the pan are full of flavour and it's probably that, that added so much more flavour to your gravy than you're used to.

Just replicate it the next time you make a rib roast. Once the roast is done, take it out, cut a slice or two of the meat off, chop it up into small pieces, put it back in the pan and continue cooking until the pieces are burnt and caramelised. Make your gravy as before.


What sauce / spices can make a tofu steak taste like a beef steak I had an unbelievably good tofu steak in a restaurant in Tokyo many years ago.  I have never been able to reproduce it.

It tasted uncannily like a beef steak.

What sauce / spices could I use to mimic the steak flavour?

I don't know anything about cooking tofu, so this is purely addressing the beef flavor part. If you want to make something bland taste more like beef, one the largest issues is going to be adding umami flavor. It is present to some degrees in meats, cheeses, mushrooms, soy sauce, and tomatoes. I'd start with a sauce containing several of these items, and then add some complementary flavors (peppers, citrus, sugar, etc).


Convert vitamin powder to something edible I would like to add a vitamin powder to some food I have but unfortunately the vitamin powder(I have read) degrades when I attempt to put in water for more then a couple days it looses its benefits according to this question.  What options do I have to add the powder to some food I have such that it doesn't involve heat/water?  I can't simple sprinkle it on top because well it the food I am trying to add it to is round and isn't an ideal solution.  Think trying to add it to check mix.  I am trying to prepare the food in advance if that isn't clear.

You could could mix it into softened butter (or a butter spread) and then top foods like toast or crackers with it.


How do I make wagashi with kashigata? I started collecting kashigata - special carved wooden moulds for making wagashi (sweets). But strangely enough I'm having a hard time finding information on how to use them.

From a search I found this simple recipe for Rakugan. Scan to bottom of page.


What can I use to substitute apple juice in a preparation of ribs? I am using a quick prep of ribs on a UV grill (that doesn't really hold a temp under 300'F; qed, no long slow cooking). I saw one other answer here where the ribs are wrapped in foil and quasi-braised in apple/pineapple juice.

Basically it goes like this: (1) trim, apply rub, and grill at 300'F indirect heat 30 mins, (2) wrap in foil with apple juice for 30 mins (which is supposed to quasi-braise the meat), (3) finish grilling apply bbq sauce.

Unfortunately I don't have apple or pineapple juice. On the other hand, I do have vanilla Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, iced tea, Sierra Mist, margarita mix, sweet and sour mix, and watery domestic beer.

From the list above, can I make any substitutions? For further consideration, I will be applying a chipotle rub and bourbon BBQ sauce.

In all honesty, I think that apple juice is just a euphemistic way of saying sugar-water.
The braising happens due to the sugar content mostly, which is why it doesn't really matter what type of juice it is (citrus excluded).
The flavour of the apple juice will be almost completely lost during cooking, so you don't need to worry about it too much.


What are some good ways to treat frozen vegetables such that they behave like fresh vegetables when stir frying them? Forgive me for being a novice. I like having frozen spinach, onions, broccoli, and vegetables since they're convenient and don't spoil. But I only know the practices for cooking, and in particular, stir frying fresh vegetables. As a basic example, you heat up the oil, toss in the onions/garlic, then the leafy greens (with maybe some salt to reduce them), then the other veggies like broccoli.

How can I treat the frozen veggies such that they behave and cook like normal freshly chopped vegetables? One thing in particular is I like them getting seared by the hot oil.

The only method I have now is to microwave them for a bit (with perhaps a bit of water), and then to use them when they seem sufficiently unfrozen, but this usually leaves 30% of it frozen, 40% fine, and 30% vaporized by the microwave.

Any advice? Bonus points for speed, convenience, and simplicity (I'm a lazy college student who likes using pre-chopped vegetables and only one cooking vessel).

The first thing is to do is thaw them properly before you cook them, half frozen vegetables will cool your pan too much. I often thaw frozen vegetables by soaking them in hot tap water, this is pretty quick and doesn't scorch them like microwaving them might. This might take a bit more time than microwaving but it's a much better result.

You will never get the same result as fresh using frozen vegetables, this is because freezing changes the structure. Water expands when it freezes, rupturing cell walls, which impacts some vegetables more than others. Peas, freeze very well, carrots pretty well. Green beans, broccoli, cauliflower freeze okay, they come out a bit more limp than fresh. Thin leafy vegetables like spinach don't freeze well at all, they come out very limp, almost as if they're cooked already. This isn't a deal-breaker, just something to be aware of. On the rare occasions I use frozen spinach I will squeeze the hell out of it after thawing as it's water-logged.

Cooking order will be important to sauteing them successfully. Water is the enemy of getting color on your vegetables, so you want to make sure they are relatively dry before you add them. Hardest vegetables go in first, like carrots, then medium ones like beans and broccoli, last you add the leaves because they take the shortest to cook and will give off a lot of water no matter how well you wrung them. You want the vegetables to be mostly cooked by the time you put the spinach in as the water will put an end to any browning. Peas go in last, they only need to be warmed through.


How to avoid ridiculously salty results when brining? Last time I brined, the ribs came out ridiculously salty.  Can someone provide me with a good brining method?

Did you rinse the ribs well enough before cooking? Brined food should be rinsed several times to remove brining solids from the surface of the food before cooking.


Does polenta freeze well? Does freezing polenta substantially change its consistency? I like polenta but would prefer to make it in batches instead of every time I want to eat it.  After I make it, I usually let it cool, cut it into shapes, and then pan-fry it.

Sounds like you want to pop frozen slices into a frying pan? That should work just fine. The slicing allows for quick freezing, which decreases the size of water crystals and the effect they have on food. And quick frying keeps the disturbance of the polenta to a minimum.

In general, basic polenta should be fine, since starch, the many component to consider, responds alright to freezing. Recipes with cream make things more complicated. Freezing and reheating cream can lead to separation, so reheating a big block in a pan could leave you with pools of oil.


Fresh pasta noodles in lasagna When making lasagna noodles from scratch, do you need to cook the noodles first? If I was making it the regular way, layers, I wouldn't think it would need to be cooked. But I'm rolling the noodles around the cheese mixture and so I was wondering if that was going to make a difference.

Whether the pasta is rolled for cannelloni or flat for lasagne won't make a difference, just make sure that the tops of the rolls are covered with sauce, too, or they will dry out and taste not nice.

For the pros and cons of fresh vs. dried pasta in "al forno" dishes, see the almost duplicate lasagne Q/A.


How do I replicate the unique crispiness of Korean fried chicken? I recently tasted Korean fried chicken and I was surprised at the crispiness and texture. It's unlike anything that I have had before. I looked up some recipes online and it seems that there's more cornstarch in the recipe than flour. Some recipes, like this one, uses potato starch and sweet rice flour with some regular flour.

What is it about these other dry ingredients that give the chicken this other kind of light crunchiness?

It's not so much the dry ingredients as it is the cooking technique, which involves double frying the chicken.

You'll notice that the recipe you link instructs you to double fry the chicken, and so do others like this one: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/04/dinner-tonight-korean-fried-chicken-recipe.html


How long can melted chocolate last? I would like to know how long melted chocolate can last in a freezer? My wedding is in 4.5 months and would like to start now to melt chocolate for the party favours

Freezing chocolate is not ideal, because when it defrosts it can 'bloom' - you may have seen this happen with chocolate that has been stored unwrapped in the fridge. It gets an unsightly white coating.

If you absolutely must freeze it, wrap it very well, and bring the temperature down slowly. First let it cool out of the fridge, then in the fridge for several hours, then in the freezer.


How can I rescue overproofed bread? If I make a loaf and slow proof it in the refrigerator, I find that sometimes it will collapse in the middle. I know this is happening because there is a large air pocket in the cling film above the bread.

Is there anything I can do to rescue a loaf once this has happened? The objective is to let it rise overnight so that I can bake it first thing in the morning without having to knock it back and do a second rise.

Normally, you would not be doing a final proof overnight—that is, the proof that you have done to form the loaf.  Instead, you would do the first ferment or proof overnight, then form the loaf, let it have its final proof, and then bake it.

The dough won't be wasted, but you don't want to bake a formed loaf that has over-proofed and fallen.  This is because the gluten network will have collapsed and you will have a very poor structure and strange texture.  You will need to reknead the dough, form the loaf, and reproof it:

Per The Fresh Loaf, you can almost certainly just punch the dough down, and let it proof again.  It may actually have an improved flavor.

Cook's Illustrated concurs:

Using your fingertips, gently punch down the over-proofed dough and reshape it into a ball, then allow it to proof again for the recommended amount of time although it warns your final loaf may be about 20% smaller.


How can I make a yogurt starter culture from scratch? Let's say for whatever reason that I cannot or don't want to get store-bought yogurt. How can I create a probiotic culture to make some from fresh milk?

I saw videos explaining how to make yogurt from chili peppers or lemon in milk. The resulting curds are used to create a real yogurt the same way you would make yogurt with store-bought. Another answer explained that this is not yogurt, but just fresh cheese.

It looks a lot like yogurt to me and also needs fermentation, so what is the difference between these two? What makes milk turn into yogurt if using this method?

The question may be conflating two different things.  First, let's be clear about what yogurt is: the word traditionally refers to a milk product produced by fermentation with some lactic acid bacteria strains.  (The exact strains of bacteria may vary depending on the culture and method, though the word "yogurt" tends to be restricted to thermophilic bacterial strains which ferment best when milk is above room temperature.)  The yogurt becomes sour through the production of lactic acid, which is created as a waste product from the bacteria as they grow in the milk ("fermentation").

The second aspect of yogurt beyond the sour flavor is the texture.  When milk's pH is reduced to a certain point through introduction of acid, the proteins in milk unfold (denature) and begin to clump together.  The milk thus begins to "curdle" and take on a thicker texture which is generally associated with yogurt.

Any source of lactic acid bacteria can potentially be used to create a starter to generate yogurt.  In India, chili peppers and particularly their stems are frequently used, as they tend to harbor several bacterial strains that can ferment milk.  The resulting product is a type of yogurt, known as dahi or sometimes simply called curd in English.

Dahi can therefore be considered a type of yogurt, produced through fermentation of lactic acid bacteria at warm temperatures.

However, the OP also mentions the introduction of lemon in milk and links to a previous question which states that this can produce "cheese" rather than "yogurt."  The reason for the difference is that the method of production is very different with lemon juice.  Usually, when people just add lemon juice to milk, they are trying to artificially sour it quickly.  The lemon juice will lower the pH, producing a sour flavor.  It will also cause the proteins to denature and the milk to thicken.  This process happens in the matter of a few minutes, rather than hours.

The resulting product is superficially similar to cultured yogurt or buttermilk in sourness and texture, but no fermentation has taken place.  No lactic acid bacteria were involved.  The resulting product here is simply what I'd refer to as "sour milk" or "soured milk" or "acidified milk."  Because there is no fermentation, and the acid flavor comes from lemon juice (with citric acid) rather than lactic acid, it's not what most people would refer to as "yogurt."  And, as the linked answer notes, this process usually won't produce a very thick yogurt-like product unless you use a milk with high fat content like buffalo milk.

In any case, I personally would not call it "cheese" unless you actually strained the resulting soured milk.  But it's not "yogurt" either, according to traditional definitions: it's merely acidified milk.

In sum, both chili peppers and lemon juice can be used to sour and thicken milk, but the process is a bit different and produces somewhat different products.


Why Does a Lot of Pastry Have an Orange Flavor? At several different bakeries I've gone to over time, I have gotten pastries from danishes to cinnamon rolls and so on.  Sometimes those pastries (the pastry dough itself) have had a slight orange flavor, even though the pastry wouldn't have an orange taste based on its name/description.

Is there some tradition or reason that I've come across this or is it some property of a common pastry dough recipe/ingredient?

Coriander perhaps; or, orange residue (by-product of orange juice production) often found in cake mixes, etc.


Why do sun-dried tomatoes taste different than fresh tomatoes? I thought that dehydrated produce only differs from fresh produce in containing less water, so why do sun-dried tomatoes taste so different from their fresh counterparts?

There are a number of reasons why the flavor of tomatoes changes during both the cooking and drying processes.

The first is that when drying the tomatoes, farmers and processors will dust the tomatoes in fairly high levels of salt, which helps to keep harmful microbes and insects from eating into the fruit and causing rot and infections.

The second is that when drying anything, you need to remove the water from the flesh of whatever it is you're drying. This causes all of the flavor molecules to become more concentrated. The resulting flavor is more intense because there is simply more flavor per bite.

The final and probably most important (and beautiful:) reason is chemistry. Tomatoes play house to something like 400 volatile aromatic compounds - that is, molecular structures that change and break apart during the acts of heating or drying. While I don't have the EXACT science in front of me right now (and can't seem to find it on the interblags) there's strong indications that it has quite a bit to do with the structure of sulfur-heavy amino acids, c6 volatiles, and glutamic acid breaking down over the course of the drying process - due to the evaporation of water and introduction of salt - and changing into different aroma molecules.

All of these, taken together together have a profound impact on the flavor profile of sundried tomatoes.


Are cockroaches a usable source of protein? Bear with me, this is an entirely serious if not necessarily particularly practical question :)

In The Damage Done, perhaps the best known notionally non-fiction Thai prison story (and, apparently, soon to be a movie), there are a lot of disgusting, gruesome and/or on occasion quite implausible stories, like elephants playing soccer using balls with prisoners inside.

One of these stories involves our hapless protagonist being thrown into "the hole" (isolation) for months, with only water and spoiled rice to eat.  According to the book, he survived because he was taught by Thai prisoners sharing the same fate to trap the plentiful cockroaches, feed the rice to them and then eat the cockroaches (yum yum!), which apparently also served as a source of protein.  Would this actually work?  More specifically, can cockroaches (or insects in general) convert a simple starch into protein, and would you get sick eating them?

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/31/travel/china-cockroach-farming-food/

They should not be much different than crickets which are commonly consumed.  An insect which does not inherently produce a toxin should often be fairly safe depending on what they had been eating.  A sewer roach for instance would not be a good idea while a wood roach would likely be safe in a pinch.  I recall reality shows which would routinely make contestants eat giant hissing roaches something that might not be pleasant but which would not hurt the contestants.


My fudge is getting thick when I start to stir in marshmallows, chocolate chips and nuts Using carnation famous fudge recipe, when I add the marshmallows,  chocolate chips and nuts it gets thick and the marshmallows are not melting completely.  Am I cooking it too long or not long enough, or do I need the temperature higher or lower? I have it  medium heat. Stirring constantly to full rolling boil, and then cooking for 4-5 minutes stirring constantly.

Most likely you need to turn up the temperature a little before adding the new ingredients. All those ingredients are about room temperature, and there are a fairly large quantity of them compared to the mixture in the pan. This means that they cool down the mixture considerably when added. The cooling means that the temperature is not sufficient to melt marshmallows any more, and the fudge begins to set (thicken). Increasing the temperature slightly will help the marshmallows still melt.


How long will this apple compote keep in the fridge? How long will this apple compote keep in the fridge?
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/savory-apple-compote

How long do you want to keep it ?
I'd say a couple of days.
If wanting to keep it longer, I'd freeze it in portions in freezer "ziplock" bags.


Do I need clarified butter to make mac-n-cheese? Ok, someone mentioned Mac-n-Cheese. Which led me to a mornay sauce. Which requires a bechamel. Leading to roux. Dropping me on the doorstep of clarified butter.  I haven't ever used or made it.  Is there a reasonable way to make it?  Can I make a huge batch and keep it forever? Should I even bother for a mac-n-cheese?

Clarified butter is rather simple to make. It's simply butter that has had the milk solids and water removed. It does last longer than regular butter, and can be stored for several weeks in the refrigerator. It also has a higher smoke point than regular butter, so you can use it when higher temperatures are called for without it smoking or burning.

Slowly melt your butter and let it sit for a bit to separate
Skim off the foam from the top
Gently pour the butter off of the milk solids which have settled

You'll be left with about 75% of what you started with. I'm not sure what you mean by huge batch, but I usually make about a sticks worth at a time, as needed.


What is the standard amount (if there is one) for a "glass" of wine? I have seen wine poured to various amounts in a wine glass; what amount is generally considered standard...4 oz, 6 oz, 8 oz?

It comes from two different measurements, typical wine bottle size, and government alcohol regulations

Typical wine bottles are 750 ml, and this divides exactly into five or six servings of 150 or 125 ml (thanks peter). So many traditional wine glass serves are "exactly" 150 or 125 ml (~5 or 4 oz) depending in which country you live in

For typical government regulation, a standard drink is; a 100 ml glass of table wine, or a 330 ml can of beer, or a 30 ml glass of straight spirits. Each of these contains on average 10 g of alcohol. So many liquor licensing guidelines recommend the serving of wine by 100 ml (3.5 oz) standard drink sizes

Governments will use this to produce such amazing guidelines such as:

For women: Two standard drinks a day, and no more than ten standard drinks a week
For men: Three standard drinks a day, and no more than fifteen standard drinks a week
And for both at least two alcohol-free days every week

In most western countries the standard drink range is from 8 to 12 g of alcohol, except in the USA where it is super-sized to 14 g

Update; references from ICAP

Standard drink sizes
Drink Guidlines


How long can I store a 'naked' Pavlova? I've recently explored many Pavlova recipes and some of them say its ok to store the pavlova 3-4 day, while others say that one day of storage is already too much. As I've never made a Pavlova, I am asking myself:

How long can I store a Pavlova (without topping, but with nuts in it) in an airtight container before it's texture & flavor change so much that it won't be fun to eat?

Actually, I have stored baked meringues for 2 weeks in the past and they still were fine, but as a Pavlova is supposed to be gooey in the center, I can't imagine how long it will be good.

In my experience, storing pavlova in an airtight container makes it weep and go soft. My mother's tip is to keep it in the oven (a cool, turned off oven), as it's not air tight but it is 'out of the air'. It's always worked for me.


Are all snails edible? I get in my garden snails up to 10 cm long, and very fat I live in Iran and get a lot of very large snails and slugs in my garden. Like to know if ALL kinds of snails & slugs, after detoxification, are edible?

My gut feel is that cultivated "Escargot" is a good thing and I would be risk-averse.  However, This article begs to differ and supports your thinking.


Can microwave safe glass vessels be used in an electric oven? Can microwave safe glass vessels be used in an electric oven?
I have this oven: http://www.cromaretail.com/Bajaj-28-Litres-2800TMC-Oven-Toaster-Grill-%28White%29-pc-469-468.aspx

I just checked and found the following written on the manual of the glass ware: http://www.borosil.com/products/consumer/storage/

  SUITABLE FOR CONVENTIONAL OVEN
  SUITABLE FOR USE OVER FLAME
  SUITABLE FOR MICROWAVE OVEN

Can it be considered safe (as it says)?

Sometimes. Basically, this is the same as asking if glass is oven safe:

Generally, glass is oven-safe if taken from room temperature and put in a moderate-temperature, preheated oven. The key thing is to avoid temperature shocks (which will cause the glass to shatter). Some glass is specifically designed for oven use (either by being tempered or made of borosilicate glass). Often glassware will say if it is safe for oven use or not, and under what conditions—check the packaging or instructions it came with.

You also need to take precautions when removing glass from the oven. Do not set it on something that'll conduct heat away rapidly, such as a wet countertop.

Before heating glassware, inspect it for damage. Scratches, chips, etc. make failure much more likely. This applies to the microwave as well.

Note that non-glass parts of microwave-safe glassware may not be oven safe. For example, if it has a plastic lid, that should generally not be used in the oven (even though its OK in the microwave).

edit:

In response to your update, that oven is what would often be called a toaster or countertop oven. Those change temperature much more rapidly than a larger oven (which can be electric as well). So, generally, you'd avoid glass in them.

But, your glass says it can be used over a flame, from the freezer. So it's clearly one of the very shock-resistant ones, possibly borosilicate. I wouldn't expect it to be a problem. Just make sure to preheat the oven.

Also, since you know who made it, you can of course contact the manufacturer to confirm.


Why is there such a big difference of carbs in dark chocolate? I'm noticing that there is a huge difference of the amount of carbs in dark chocolate.

For example, Lindt Excellence Cocoa 90% says:
100g chocolate:
592 kcal
55g fat
10g protein
19g carbs of which 14g is sugar in 100g chocolate.

Amedei Toscano Black 90% says per 100g chocolate:
741 kcal
53g fat
11g protein
55g carbs of which 32g sugar per 100g chocolate.

Both are 90%, similar protein and fat amounts but the carbs differs a lot. Why is that, what's going on here?

Nominally, high-quality dark chocolate is made of just two things, cocoa beans and sugar. In reality, nobody just chucks beans and sugar into a machine together. The cocoa beans get processed to different intermediate cocoa-derived products, and these get mixed with sugar to make a chocolate bar.

The cocoa-derived products can be very different. There is a range from cocoa butter (100% fat) to low-fat cocoa powder (about 5% fat, the rest is basically all carbohydrates), with other products with a fat content between these two extremes. The difference in fat comes from simple mechanical separation - once the cocoa butter has been "churned" from the cocoa liquor, what is left can be milled into cocoa powder.

The 90% number printed on the package means the total amount of cocoa-bean derived products. But their combination does not have to resemble the nutrient composition of a raw cocoa bean, it can be chosen by the producer any way they wish. So, apparently, Lindt Excellence uses a higher percentage of cocoa butter (or other fat-rich cocoa products) than Amedei Toscano Black.

If you are wondering about the sugar content being different, note that the ingredient "sugar" (the 10% added to the 90% cocoa) is not the same thing that gets counted in the nutrition label, where any sugars (including those already present in the cocoa bean) are included in the calculation. See this recent question for a longer explanation.


Are there any naturally sweet legumes? I'm just wondering if any legumes are sweet. Preferably, I'd like a sweet bean, but whatever works.

Peas are very sweet, especially when you eat them young. I don't think any others reach them, but I don't think I've tried every legume in the world, so it's possible.

If the natural sweetness of legumes isn't sufficient for you, they take very well to added sugar.


What fruits keep their sweetness when baking? I want to replace sugar with fresh fruit when baking. What fruit would produce the most sweetness? The fruit should not produce an undesirable flavor and be easy enough to buy in Florida.

Edit:
Kiwis caused me to think this.

You cannot simply replace sugar with fresh fruit in baking recipes.  Sugar is, well, 100% sugar.

Fruit is mostly water, on the order of 70-90% depending on the particular fruit in question.   The remainder is usually sugars, starches and pectins for the most part.

Any recipe not specifically designed to be sweetened with fruit is going to fail spectacularly if you try to substitute.   To do so, you would have to calculate the water weight in the added fruit and remove it form elsewhere in the recipe (if there is enough liquid elsewhere in the recipe to do so) at the very least.

Sugar is also extremely important to the structure and moisture retention of baked goods (with the notable exception of yeast raised breads), and simply substituting it out is going to have a deleterious effect on the texture.

Instead, you should search out recipes that are sweetened in a manner that meets whatever requirements you have.   Applesauce and cooked down pears, as well as bananas might be suitable, but it would depend on the specific application.

In any case, almost no sugar will be lost during baking; all fruits will retain essentially all of their sugar.

Except at the very edge of the baked good, where browning occurs (indicating caramelization and the Maillard reaction are taking place), the sugar will be unchanged by the baking process.   The amount of sugar lost to browning in the crust is vanishingly small.