Iron cast cookware: rust-ish or black coat even on new cookware, is it safe? Some time ago I got iron cast dutch oven, alomost right away I noticed that when I wash it (just water, no soap) when I wipe it with white paper towel I get something black on it (see pictures).

Today I got a new cast iron fry pan (same manufacturer, Lodge) when I washed it with hot water and wiped with paper towel - I got rust-ish coar on the towel (see pictures).

Similar thing I saw in Martha Stewart's video where she shows how to season a fry pan, on 2:25 when she wipes just seasoned pan.

I notice this thing every time I wash my dutch oven after cooking (and I put oil on it when I store it), it it should not require seasoning, looks fine and oily. And fry pan... wel it is brand new and supposed to be preseasoned...

So the questions:

Is it safe?
Is it even possible to get rid of it?

I am seasoning my cookware while writing this post, will see in couple hours when I will have a chance to wash and wipe it again, but I am not sure it will change anything.

UPD: So I seasoned fry pan, one layer (like in video below) and tried to fry some meat and potatoes on it - it suck and burn a little :) I didn't want to use washing liquid so i scraped it with tools i had. After that - i got the same black residue on my white paper towel, same as on photo I took wiping my dutch oven.
So, I guess I will have to season it again, this time couple of layers.

Lodge is an ideal choice because it comes pre-seasoned. While I expect to wash a bit of muck out of them after bringing one home, it should only be stuff the pan has accumulated after it was seasoned in the factory. And I don't mind that, because they're pans after all and designed to accumulate things. If you're still seeing that after uses and washes, I'd get in touch with them.

You might be in need of replacements, which the warranty (fortunately also great) would cover. I can't tell from the photos if it's iron oxide or not, and obviously you can't either - I'd call the warranty line and let them know what you're seeing.

It's certainly not what I've seen (I love them!) after an initial rinsing with hot water and drying prior to first use. Something seems off to me.


What is causing my homemade soy milk mayonnaise to have a different consistency than one made from store brought soy milk? The mayonnaise I made from the store bought soy milk was creamy and thick tasting, while the one made from home made soy milk has a bit of a watery feel to it. The store bought one's ingredients are soybeans, water, oligofructose (dietary fibre) and vanilla flavour. I wonder if I added different amounts of oil each time.
Recipe used-
1)Take about 150 ml of cold soy milk in an electric blender jar.
2)Add a pinch of salt and half tablespoon of sugar and blend for 10 seconds.
3)Add two tablespoons of oil and blend for 30 seconds.
4)Repeat step 3 until a thick emulsion is reached.
5)If oil becomes excess and the mixture becomes liquidy again, add two teaspoons of soy milk and blend again.

This kind of eggless recipe depends on the lecithine in the soy milk to emulsify the oil with the water phase (the soymilk). Emulsification is a complicated process, and it does need all the starting conditions to be right.
From your description, it looks like your homemade soymilk either doesn't have enough lecithine, or it is in a form that isn't available for emulsifying the fat (maybe it is already bound to something else). This is actually to be expected, the process for making soymilk at home is relatively crude and you don't have much control over what happens to specific compounds in the soy. The food technologists at industrial producers can finetune their process to make sure their soymilk has a lot of lecithine available, and in the proper form to uphold a good emulsion. They are likely not doing it for mayonnaise purposes, but to prolong the "best by" date of their product (prevent their soymilk from separating in the fridge) but you are now seeing the side effects - not any old soymilk will do, you need one that is optimized for making emulsions.
As a side note, when producers list the ingredients on a processed product, they are not obliged to keep the ratio of derived products the same as in the natural ingredient - in fact, that would defeat the whole purpose (can you imagine a "soy milk" with the same ratio of solids to liquids as a soy bean?). So with the ingredient list you gave us, it is entirely possible that they used some soybeans to extract soy lecithine, purify it and do whatever is necessary for it to have its best emulsification powder, then extracted some soymilk from other beans and added the purified lecithine. The ingredients on the label can still say "soy", because the added lecithine is also "part" of the soy. So the most viable solution for your case might be adding extra soy lecithine to your mayonnaise. It will be tricky to hit the right ratio and best process, but it should give you a creamy emulsion.
In support of my line of argumentation, apparently not even all industrial soymilks are equally suited for this type of recipe, see this old question and OP's answer: Vegan mayonnaise never emulsifies?.


Orange spots on dry chickpea I have had some dry chickpeas for quite some time (~6-12 months) in my pantry and now I'm looking to cook them.

Most of them have some orange spots, which I'm not sure are normal (See picture below). Are they safe to eat?

I ended up cooking the chickpeas and eating them, without any discernible stomach problems


How can I make my fried potatoes not fall apart? I cut the potatoes up. I boil them for 7 minutes and then I fry them 15 min in some olive oil, but they fall apart quickly.

When I remove the water from the boiling pan after 7 minutes, the potatoes are already almost falling apart.

I have tried to fry potatoes without bowling them for a while, but they still weren't done.

How do I get the potatoes not to fall apart and get at least a bit crispy?

A few possible ways, which can, of course, be combined:

Use waxy ("new") potatoes. These potatoes have a lower starch content, as well as a different ratio of starches (more amylopectin) which helps them maintain their shape.
Microwave then cool the diced potatoes rather than boiling them. Do this in a microwave-safe bowl with microwave-safe plastic wrap over the top. This process should also help maintain potato integrity while cooking them through.
Fry them in small batches in vegetable oil (or another high-smoke-point oil) at med-high to high heat (depending on your pan/stove combination) rather than the lower heat required for frying with olive oil. To get a nice brown crust, you're essentially searing the outside of a pre-cooked potato.


I had unopened block cheese in my fridge for 8 months is it still good? I had unopened block cheese in fridge for 8 months is it still good?

Mold is usually the first sign of degradation.
I just cut that stuff off.
Listeria tends to hit softer cheeses, but there's always a danger.
If it's not moldy, not Brie or similar, I'd eat it. I've eaten 2 year old fridge cheese before, and not died. But as with all matters involving health, you're on your own, and the question is really outside the purview of this stack.


Are the white crystals on my American Cheese safe to eat? I have some American Cheese with fine white crystals on the outside of each slice. They have a gritty texture. Is this a sign that the cheese is spoiled, or just lactic acid salts like aged cheese gets?

It is calcium lactate crystals.  It is safe to eat.  On regular cheeses it is a sign that it is aged well.  For packaged, sliced american cheese I am not sure I would care for it.  But it is a matter of personal preference.


How long should I cook herbal ghee? How long do you simmer the ghee with the herbs?  Does it depend on what herbs I'm using?

Dried herbs take less time than fresh (dried herbs are usually more concentrated than the fresh).  That said, I can't say that I stick to any certain time, just simmer until the ghee begins to smell aromatic.


How to evenly spread butter in each square of a waffle? We made large Belgian-style waffles tonight and I found it incredibly difficult to evenly spread the butter in each square. In fact, it was so time consuming, by the time I was done, the waffle was barely hot :(

As a second attempt, I cut a tablespoon of butter into 16 tiny cubes and let each cube melt in the waffle butter receptacles. This was slightly more effective but it got butter all over my fingers in the process :(

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Melt the butter and brush it on with a pastry brush.


During flambé, what is the powder that is shaken into the fire to create sparks? My apologies for a lack of link, although hopefully my description will suffice. I saw some transient video of chefs making Bananas Foster in, I believe, New Orleans. They were shaking a powder into the flames to produce a dramatic sparks effect. What is this powder? I can't find any YouTube videos of it, so I believe it might be a lesser-known, regional flourish. At any rate, it looked spectacular and I would recommend it to anyone flambé-ing in front of an audience.

just a cinnamon or cinnamon blend with nutmeg and other spices will make sparks when tossed into the fire.

You do need a big flame for this; I typically use a camp chef stove with a modified propane regulator to get the big flame needed.


Does a silicone cutting board really work well? I tried a silicone cutting board, and I noticed two problems so far.

First, it had a strong smell, it only disappeared after two weeks of use. Second, I noticed scratches after chopping on it.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of silicone boards when compared to other cutting board materials?

I would expect a silicone board to be quite keen on scratches as it's soft. The same applies for plastic ones.

I've found the best chopping boards are those made of wood. They are also safer.
Some kind of woods, like bamboo, are natural antibacterial:

https://www.ncsu.edu/bioresources/BioRes_08/BioRes_08_4_6501_Xi_Qin_Antibacterial_Perform_Natural_Bamboo_Fiber_4310.pdf
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00405000.2011.614742#.Ve2BQBHBzRY


Does any blender also do up-down shaking movement? I have a blender. When I try to blend vegetable, I need to hold the blender, shake the blender up and down to make sure the blade cut the vegetable. Does any blender do all for me?

Yes, that is completely normal while trying to blend solids. It's just that the vortex/space doesn't allow for the large chunks of veg to fall onto the blade. Try a food processor.


What is the maximum temperature at which cream will still whip successfully? I recently tried to whip warm cream and was surprised to find out that it would not hold air. After some limited research, I have discovered that in order for the fat in cream to form the matrix and hold air it must be cold.

What is the event horizon at which the cream is too warm to be whipped?

The ideal temperature for whipping cream is between 35 degrees F and 50 degrees F (1 2/3 degrees C to 10 degrees C).  In order to maintain this temperature, you may want to chill your bowl and beaters in your fridge until cold, but you should be able to whip cream just fine as long as you do not let it rest once you remove it from the fridge.

Above 50 degrees F (10 degrees C) you won't be able to whip your cream.


What is the boundary between beef aging and its decay? It sounds like it could be tasty, but there is also a risk of bacteria contamination isn't it?

Here is what some will definitely label a biased description of aging and packing that might help a bit.  It goes into the difference between wet and dry aging and gas packing which has become more common.

My description of dry aging, and wet aging for that matter, and how I was taught to think of it is that it is decay, but controlled.  Enzyme action breaking down tissue for a more tender product, and and improved and more concentrated flavor is the goal and this enzyme action is definitely decay.  As to bacteria, even the above article a supporter of aging, in its description of dry aging points out that the outer layer absolutely is contaminated by bacteria.

  During the dry aging process, mold and bacteria forms on the outermost layers of the beef which must be cut off and thrown away.

Also, the dry aging is done at 30-35 degrees (F), an area of slow bacterial growth and outside of the 40-140 (F) danger zone of fast growth.

Wet aging is also done, or at least should be, at these same "safe" temperatures and is normally done is vacuum sealed bags so should again not be high risk for contamination.  Dry is at more risk because it is in less sealed environment, but is also high price/high value so tends to be carefully inspected and cared for.  As normally 10-15% weight is lost during dry curing, and additional is lost to trimming for safety, plus the additional holding time and handling, prices are much higher.

ETA:  Their description of 10-11 days for dry aging I would definitely put at the low end of premium aging.  All descriptions I know of that is about the limit of water loss, but only the beginning of some of them big changes in flavor.


Should we start making dough with water or with flour? We have a recipe and it tells us to put X grams of flour and Y ml of water. And some of this type of recipe tells us to add flour slowly according to the consistency of the dough. Some say add water slowly.

So in the first approach, I put all the water in the bowl at first and add flour until I get the desired consistency.

In the second approach, I put all the flour in the bowl at first and then I try to obtain the desired consistency by adding water slowly.

My question is; Which approach is more correct if we make a mixture with flour and water? Does it differ ?

Thank you for your help

The best thing is to do as your recipe directs it, because there are several considerations that play together here.

First, if you have a very exact recipe where you measure each ingredient and mix together in a mixer, it doesn't matter that much. Just dump it in the mixer and turn on, making sure to scrape or rest as needed until the texture is right.

If you again have an exact recipe but are mixing by hand, I suggest that you do it flour-first, because that reduces lumps.

If you have a recipe where you are starting with one ingredient and are going to add more of the other until the desired consistency is reached, the main constraint is the yeast. If you are starting with the yeast in the flour (as is typical with dry yeast), then you should always start with the measured flour+yeast mixture and add water until ready. If your recipe has you start with the yeast in the water (needed for cake yeast, but some converted recipes also suggest it for dry types of yeast) then you should be adding flour to the water and not the other way round. Here, you can avoid the lumps problem by not dumping flour on top of the water, but using the volcano method where you add the water to a depression in a flour heap and slowly mix in more flour from the crater walls until you have it the way you want it. The volcano method works better on flat surfaces rather than bowls, you can use a baking sheet or a big baking tin to gain some control of the mess.


Fish bone broth separating after long long boil Right then.. just had my first go at making fish bone broth. Boiled/simmered bones, heads, skins for 8-9 hours, strained and then next day simmered the strained liquid for a couple of hours. When I returned to check on it, it seems to have separated into what looks like leather/pork crackling and 'oil'? What's happened? is the leathery bit solidified collagen and the rest fat?

I'm not sure what might have separated in your stock, but I do know that 8-9 hours is way too long for a fish stock.

While its common to simmer beef, chicken, and other meat stocks for that length of time, it's much too long for fish stock.  Because fish bones are so thin, they cook and soften much quicker than harder bones from land animals.  This means that a delicious and flavorful fish stock can be made in as little as half an hour and rarely takes much more than that.  Overcooking fish bones can lead to a bitter and unpleasant flavor, so your stock was likely ruined to begin with even before it separated.

The leathery bits you describe are likely proteins released by the fish parts used and re-coagulated by extended cooking time.  I would guess that the oily part is at least full of fat/fish oils, if not completely made up of it-- you don't say how much you have, so I suppose it is possible that if you've been simmering it all day you've managed to cook all the water out.  If that's the case, then you may have accidentally made fish oil, which many people take in capsule form as a health supplement.


Why does diluted half & half not make a substitute for whole milk? I noticed that cutting half & half with water does not make it taste like whole milk. What is the reason for this?

I'm trying to apply some systems thinking to my understanding of ingredients.

The difference between whole milk (or any milk, really) and half-and-half is one of fat content, not overall concentration. Half-and-half gets its name from being a 50/50 blend of milk and cream, which normally separate because the less dense fats concentrated in cream float naturally to the top of the mostly-water milk. However, milk also contains a number of other proteins, sugars, etc. that give it flavor. When you dilute half-and-half with plain water, you're diluting the fat content (potentially down to a similar range as contained in whole milk) but you're also diluting all those other flavorful components. You wind up with something that has the right fat level but not enough of anything else, and which tastes somewhat flat and flabby by comparison with proper milk.


Is there a cholesterol-free substitute for egg noodles? As the title says, I am looking for noodles that I can use to replace Japanese egg noodles, that are also low in LDL cholesterol.

Can someone please suggest an alternative that is similar to egg noodles (in taste and consistency) but with low levels of LDL cholesterol?

While I found many references to Chinese egg noodles, I did not find much information on Japanese egg noodles.

Digging into the edit history of your question, it appears that the actual product you would like to substitute for is Plain Tops Noodles.  Their website is parsimonious with information, but does call the product vermicelli, and only indicates that they are made with wheat, and does not mention egg.

Kikkoman, a producer of Asian ingredients for the US market, suggests using suggests substituting Italian style fettuccine or spaghetti for Chinese egg noodles.

Putting this all together, you should be able to substitute dried Italian vermicelli, spaghetti, fettuccine or angel hair in the your recipe with good results.   Check the package to ensure that the ingredients are only semolina (and water), as some Italian pastas are made with egg (this is most likely with the fettuccine shape).

Any non-egg based semolina pasta will be completely cholesterol free.

See also: Asian pasta reference from Recipe Tips.


Why do my cakes turn mouldy? My cakes get really mouldy/sticky within days if I don't refrigerate them during rainy season or when it's too hot. My cakes pass the skewer test before coming out of oven. This has happened for most of the recipes I have tried.

I try to make my cakes with lesser sugar and wholewheat floor instead of white floor. My temperature knob is wrecked - takes twice as long to bake. Has any of it got anything to do with my cake rotting sooner?

Any thoughts?

This is completely  normal.   Cake is a perishable item, much like almost any prepared food.  It will spoil if left out unprotected.

Although during the baking process, almost all bacteria and molds that are present in the batter will be killed or reduced to trivial numbers, there are still countless mold spores present in the air.

The cake can also absorb water from the air if it is very humid (you mentioned the rainy season).

If the cake does absorb water (as opposed to drying out and getting hard), it will present a hospitable environment to the mold spores that settle from the air, and they will begin to grow.  Very warm conditions only help to accelerate this process.

This is essentially the same process described in the answer to this question:
Is bread that can go mouldy better than that which does not?

Two of the best sources for shelf life agree that an non-refrigerated cake should last 1-2 days.  These sources probably assume prevailing conditions in the US, including air conditioning in the summer.  They are also looking at quality; cakes are also subject to staling.

Eat By Date - How Long Does Cake Last
Still Tasty - Butter Cake, Unfrosted


How to grow baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) at home without creating a sourdough starter? I've got some commercial yeast (fresh and compressed, the one in cubes) at home, which, as I've understood, is mainly made of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. My question is, is it possible to feed it and let it grow at home.

I don't want to make sourdough, though. I suspect that if I let it feed on flour, I'll contaminate it with lactobacilli. Can I feed it with some sugar (sucrose, for example)? Or should I just give up?

You can try it on agar.
Or you could imitate the industrial method. The industry uses diluted molasses and aerates the solution - yeast needs oxygen to multiply, in anaerobic conditions it does not multiply but converts sugars into alcohol.
You could also try to sterilize the flour (pressure cooker / oven).

Note: air contains wild yeast cells and lactic acid bacteria. So the chances that they contaminate your culture is high.

Also note: if the culture is not well aerated, it produces alcohol, which in turn attracts acetobacter, which turn the alcohol into acetic acid.

When culturing mushrooms, the growers try to make sure that the selected mushroom strain is the one, that colonizes the substrate first, because it can then outcompete moulds and bacteria. I think if you have a high yeast ratio, it might be able to outcompete lactobacilli. This way you could probably use flour without having to worry that it turns sour.

Edit: lactic acid bacteria likes anaerobic conditions, in the presence of O2 it forms H2O2 which limits its growth. This could also be used to improve your LAB/yeast ratio.


How warm is "warm water?" I'm following a recipe for making dough for a challah bread, and the recipe calls for warm water. How warm should the water be (in degrees)? Do I need to heat it, or is room-temperature good enough?

And, whatever the correct answer is, does it apply to all recipes that call for warm water?

As a rule of thumb- you can comfortably hold your finger in warm water.

100°F (38°C). Yeast wake up well at this temperature.
http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/bread/yeast_temp.html

This time of year my house is 80°F (27°C). but I heat my water a little past that (~120°F or 50°C) to compensate for cooler ingredients- you really want the dough to be around 80F.

This will apply to all yeast recipes that call for warm water.


How do I convert a weight of dried chick peas to volume of cooked? I'm following a recipe that calls for 200g of dried chickpeas, soaked overnight. I have two 28 fl. oz. (796 ml) cans of chick peas, packed in water.

This is made complicated by two things:

You can't easily convert a weight measurement to a volume measurement. (What is the density of a chickpea?)
The recipe wants me to measure dry chickpeas, and I have canned chickpeas. (How much of the weight is water?)

How much of my canned chickpeas should I use?

There is no exact conversion because there are so many different varieties of chickpeas or any bean types for that matter

Their water absorption rate and amount is effected by many things including how they have been stored, have they been heat treated on import, and what time of year they where grown!

My rough rule of thumb for beans in general is 2.5 ±.5 times the volume and 2 ±.5 the weight after an overnight soak

With our local chickpeas it's 2.2 times the weight after 10 hours at 20°C (on the bench)

200g should be around 440g of soaked chickpeas. 1 cup of chickpeas is around 240g, so just shy of two cups of soaked chickpeas should do it


Too much gin in potato-scallion soup I made this recipe for Scallion Soup but made substitutions for what I had - beef stock instead of chicken, and coconut milk instead of cream.  I added gin because I saw a similar recipe that called for dry sherry... but I think I added way too much.  (Also, I think I cooked it too long because I can barely taste the scallions any longer!  Although I just followed the times in the recipe.)

I also added sweet potato, another ingredient that pretty much just tastes like mush.

Any ideas on how to make this soup better?  It's pretty bland other than the gin taste.

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Scallion-Soup

You have cream of beefy gin soup, with no scallion taste?  Unless you are desperate not to lose the ingredients, it might be time to let this one go the way of all things.

If you really wish to recover it, and are willing to risk more good ingredients, I would get some chuck, and braise it with onions, then add it to the soup.  Finish with fresh scallions, perhaps lightly sauteed.  This would give you strongly flavored meat to compete with the gin, akin to venison and juniper.  Also, hot sauce :-)

But it may not be worth it... you could braise the beef with the onions, and then just eat it!


Mayonnaise Substitutes I love pasta salads, tuna salad, sandwiches, and sauces; but I don't really like the texture of mayonnaise or the feeling I get after eating mayonnaise.

What mayonnaise substitutes have you found work well? For what dishes do you believe your substitute to be appropriate?

MiracleWhip, of course...

If it's just the taste of the oil that bothers you, you can easily make your own mayo using whatever oil you wish. A cheap extra-virgin olive oil makes a delicious mayonnaise, IMHO.

Otherwise, use vinegar. It's a great general-purpose condiment, can be flavored easily, and there are plenty of varieties to choose from. Naturally, this won't work well if you need the body of mayo, so go with some form of prepared mustard in those cases - it's like emulsified vinegar (in that it's emulsified vinegar).


How can I efficiently make single-serve porridge? I usually eat and cook porridge when I have other people around to eat it, but when I am alone, I feel like it is wasted time and just eat something simple like bread. I still like porridge with fruits but I do not want waste time on it. I have wondered whether I could save time with ideas such as:

Cook porridge in the evening and warming it up in the microwave in the morning;
Leave it with a lot of water on the warming iron at the lowest temperature;
Buy some sort of automatic porridge cooker with a timer (probably a water-cooker so there is less worry about burning it)
If some automatic cooker exists, could I at the same time cook eggs, porridge and bacon with some sort of automatic timer?

You can cook a single serve of porridge in the microwave very easily

Place oats and water or milk (or water and milk powder) into a microwave safe serving bowl, and cook on high for about 3 minutes. Stir and let stand for a couple of minutes, and it should be just like "mums"


question regarding repulsion to dishes prepared with garlic in a certain way I normally don't use garlic paste but I like the taste of garlic, I love garlic pickle, but I use garlic only in finely chopped pieces along with ginger paste in curries.  I never had any problems with that. I have seen that in many recipes the use ginger-garlic paste and decided to try it.
Recently I ground ginger and garlic together, and honestly it smelled different. I added it to sauteed onions, and boiled potatoes and spices to make a curry.
The dish had a distinct garlic-like but not exactly garlic smell or taste and almost made me vomit, even when I think of that, I nauseate. But everyone else I served the dish to, they said there was a garlic smell, but they did not feel repulsed and ate my dish.
My question is that how is this phenomena by which a particular person is repulsed by only a certain preparation of food, while the other people are not, possible?
Also is there a workaround for using ginger-garlic paste and eliminate its repulsive taste?
Edit: I noticed that the particular repulsive smell and taste occurred after several minutes of sauteing with onions.

The garlic clove contains a lot of volatile chemicals, and they get brought out when the physical clove that contains it gets cut or smashed.
Pushing the clove through a press, or grinding it brings out all the different volatile chemicals, in full force, compared to leaving the head or a clove intact, or versus a coarse chop or fine chop.
There are probably some bitter aromatics or the strength being brought to the fore that you don't care for.
It's also possible that those flavors are interacting with the ginger in a way that you don't care for. It's not easy to say, since that's a matter of personal preference.

Garlic bulbs contain a sulfuric compound just like onions, shallots, and other members of the tasty allium family. In the wild, this acts as a defense to ward away animals. In our kitchens, the same sulfur compounds transform our food into aromatic, mouthwatering dishes – though raw garlic is still a bit too potent for many of us to enjoy!
The sulfur compounds are released as soon as we cut into a bulb of garlic and expose the inside surfaces to oxygen in the air. More chopping will release more of the compounds, so it follows that minced garlic and garlic paste will have the strongest taste.
We use garlic paste and minced garlic in dishes where we want a strong garlic flavor permeating the dish. The small little pieces will also dissolve into the other ingredients over long cooking, leaving sauces smooth and evenly seasoned.
Whole garlic is at the other end of the spectrum. Since the sulfur compounds are never forcefully released, whole garlic will simply add a subtle and slightly sweet garlic flavor to dishes. Crushing the cloves releases a little of the sulfur, making the garlic flavor a little stronger. Roughly chopped garlic dials up the flavor yet again.

TheKitchn.com: Whole, Crushed, or Minced Garlic: What’s the Difference?


What to do with excess fat in meat? Recently I was preparing kotlet schabowy from pork tenderloin. The tenderloin had a bit of excess fat in it and I cut it out(a small slice, approx 3-5mm x 1cm x 5cm).

What can I do with those? I don't really like throwing things away and it looks like it could be useful. I cut it into small pieces and roasted it in a pan to get a nice brown color on it and it gave off a bit of that fat into the pan. Looked nice too, but was chewy(well, it's a fat), so definitely not something I would try to eat.

Do I have to toss it away, or is there any way to make that edible?

What you describe is known as 'rendering' the fat -- you cook it until the liquid comes off.  But the goal isn't to eat the fat, but to create something oily that you can cook with.

If I'm just rendering for later, I'll strain the fat before putting it into a container to keep in my fridge.  If I'm going to be immediately cooking with it, I'll chop it up first (it helps to put it in the freezer for 10 to 30 minutes so it'll firm up before cutting).  Chopping it up also gives it more surface area so it renders faster.

But it's important to note -- there are a few things that get trimmed from meat besides fat:

tendons : ribbons, usually bright white; used to connect muscles to bones.  They need to be removed, as they're always tough and chewy.
silverskin : slightly greyish shiny film; Also needs to be removed, as it's like chewing rubber when cooked.

If either of those two are in there, you'll want to discard the fat bits after they've been rendered.

In other situations, you can cook the fat bits until they're browned, remove them with a slotted spoon, and let drain on a paper towel.  You'll end up with crunchy bits that you can add back into the dish later (like the fatty part of bacon)

...

Some other uses (besides feeding to birds) :

Throw it in when making a pork stock.  The fat will help to cap the stock when you store it in the fridge.
Save it to grind up when making sausage.  (if you make sausage)


Substitute for calcium oxide (lime) to keep pumpkin from falling apart The recipe for this pumpkin dessert from Mexico says I should leave the pumpkin pieces submerged in water with calcium oxide (lime) for 3 hours, so that the pumpkin doesn't just become puree when I boil it in a later step.

I read on the internet that lime sold for construction work can contain harmful adhesives and, since I'm not currently in Mexico, I don't know where to buy lime that is safe for the kitchen.

Is there another method to keep the pumpkin from turning into goop?

Your problem is that you're looking for the wrong kind of lime.

Calcium oxide, or Quicklime, is indeed only used for building and chemical purposes.  You want Calcium Hydroxide, otherwise known as Pickling Lime.  You can but it online, or from any store that sells pickling supplies.

And it's a good thing you didn't try the calcium oxide, there's a good chance you'd have blown up the stew.  It heats up when hydrated.


Can I make shelf stable cocktail mixers by pressure canning? I'm trying to essentially make my own cocktail kit to send a friend (sans alcohol). Rather than asking them to buy a lot of the ingredients, such as fruit juices, I'm wondering if I can basically create the mixer for them, then pressure can it so all they have to do is open, shake with ice, and pour into a glass. Has anyone ever done this? One recipe I'm looking at is here: https://smittenkitchen.com/2015/03/the-consolation-prize-a-mocktail/

Not quite sure what timing to use for this even, would likely be using 8 ounce mason jars.

Or alternatively, could I just get a bottle capper, and do it that way? Would I need to process for food safety?

I wouldn't pressure can most cocktail ingredients. The heat will ruin some of the aromatics of the ingredients (like how the citrus juices you get from the grocery store taste dead), and textures may change due to heating.

Depending on how far the friend is, one thing you might want to do is freeze the cocktail mixes, then send them over packed in dry ice. Then, they shove the thing in the freezer when they get the package, and thaw it out when needed.

Make sure to try freezing and thawing and preparing the cocktail before mailing it out.

Some cocktails will probably work better for this than others -- I suspect the cocktails designed to be made in big batches in Joy of Mixology by Gary Regan would be a good starting point.

Also, note that shipping the cocktails sans alcohol is likely to be quite expensive if you're sending a reasonable quantity (in either the canned variety, where glass bottles are pretty heavy, or the frozen variety in which case you have to use a styrofoam cooler and maybe some freezer bags, freezing the cocktail in sheets and packing accordingly).

Look at the costs involved, and you might find that buying your friend the tools necessary (if they don't have them), and sending a book of recipes may be a lot cheaper. You could also see if there is a grocery delivery service in the area which can send reasonable quantities of the required ingredients to your friend for a reasonable price.

If you pick the right cocktails, you won't need too many ingredients to ship.


How can I cook my dumplings without a bamboo steamer? My company is having a potluck. I want to make Chinese dumplings, but the dumplings I make require a bamboo steamer and pot to cook.

I have a steamer that I use at home, but at work, I have no access to a stove top.

What other alternative ways do I have to cook my dumplings?

Should I cook them at home, freeze them and microwave them day of the potluck?

A couple thoughts... I haven't tried this, but I've heard of people doing it.

The microwave works relatively well to steam things. You could try "steaming" the dumplings in the microwave with a bit of water at the bottom of the dish or better yet, cover with a wet paper towel. You'll probably need to do some experimenting unfortunately. Under "ideal" circumstances, I'd probably prefer proper steaming, but this might work in a pinch. I imagine re-heating them would work well, but if cooking them works to your liking... no sense cooking them twice.

If you have a rice cooker, you could easily rig that up to "steam" as well. Just rig it up as if you were using a pot to steam it. Just make sure it isn't dry....


Do you de-hull seeds when making pumpkin seed flour? I was interested in finding ways to use leftover pumpkin seeds, so I thought I'd try to grind them up into flour.

Although I found a few websites (e.g., here and here) that mention doing this, none of them explicitly mention whether you should de-hull seeds before grinding them or not.

So, do you de-hull pumpkin seeds before grinding them to make flour, or do you just include the hulls in the flour, too?

Whether or not "you" specifically choose to de-hull pumpkin seeds before grinding them to make flour, pumpkin seed shells are certainly edible, both raw and roasted. The first source you name certainly seems to be referring to pre-shelled pumpkin seeds, not just because they mention it being green, but also because their image of finished pumpkin seed flour is comparable in color to the ground pumpkin seed flour I've made from just the kernels.

  Note 1: It is green…so you might not want to use it for almond flour
  vanilla cake (or other such light colored dishes). I am sure even if
  you used sucanat for a sweetener in a baked good it would be enough to
  cover up the light green color.

Hulling pumpkin seeds is a chore without a hulling centrifuge, but the easiest way I've found is to roast them, chop them in a food chopper, and then separate the kernel bits from the hull bits using a bowl of water (the kernels will sink, the hulls will float).

While pumpkin seed hulls won't damage your GI tract the way other nut hulls will, they're mostly fiber and some carbs, with a little boost of zinc in the attached endosperm. Thus, the relative difference in protein/fat/simple-carb/fiber levels will affect the texture and nutrition of your final flour product, so the choice of whether to hull or not depends primarily on whether you want this to be more of a protein powder or more of a baking flour.


What are the fundamental differences between citrus fruits that necessitate different cooking techniques? I used to cook pastries and tarts quite a bit, and one thing that always intrigued me was how recipes vary in their treatment of citrus.  For instance, if you make a lemon tart, you can generally do the whole thing in one day and it'll set up just fine.  An orange tart like tart a l'orange seems to require the filling to set for several hours longer.

Aside from obvious flavor differences between citrus fruits (lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit, etc.) are there acidity or other variances that require different techniques to get basically the same results?  If I used limes in lemon tart recipe, would I get a lime tart?

This link on Wikipedia wasn't all that helpful...

There are three (to the best of my knowledge) main factors at work here:

Pectin.  This is a gelling agent, a bit like gelatin.  Fruits such as apples and plums are very high in pectin; citrus fruits are not that high in pectin but citrus peels are incredibly high, so if you're using any of the peel, you're getting tons of great pectin.
Obviously, the more pectin, the faster and firmer it's going to gel.  If the fruit doesn't contain much pectin then you're going to have to cook it down a lot or just add actual pectin (you can buy it in stores).

Acidity, as you suspect, makes a big difference.  It's not just acidity, it's the relationship of acidity to pectin as above.  For more details read The Role of Acid in Jelly Formation.  Basically, pectin gels best at a pH of 2.5 (almost exactly the pH of lemon juice) to 4.5 (about the pH of sweet grapes).
It's best to hit the sweet spot in the middle rather than the extreme ends, so you won't generally be using pure lemon juice, you'll be adding some sugar and other ingredients.  Which leads me to the final factor:

Sugar.  As described in The Role of Sugar in Jelly Formation, sugar precipitates the pectin, basically making the pectin molecules less soluble which mimics the effect of a higher concentration.  Therefore, more sugar makes the jelly set faster.

So: Pectin-rich fruits + high acidity + high sugar content = fast setting.
There are actually various other factors that affect the pectin (which is pretty much the only gelling agent at work when working with natural fruit jellies) like salts and even alcohol, but in the vast majority of recipes, it's acidity and sugar that are your primary concerns as well as the actual pectin content of the fruit itself.


For a beef stock, why should I roast bones at 450? Everything in a beef stock seems to be about going slow and taking time.  When it comes to roasting the bones though, it seems that most people recommend roasting at a really high heat.  My instinct would be to roast them at a lower temperature to prevent burning.  Is the higher temperature just to save time, or is there another reason?

This idea is to use the Maillard reaction (the reaction between amino acids and sugars as meats are heated and browned) to enhance and concentrate flavors. The reaction begins at about 280 degrees Fahrenheit, and tops out at 330 degrees Fahrenheit, so, you could use a lower oven. It would take longer. Caramelization flavors are more pronounced at higher temperatures.   As long as your bones are well-browned, you will be in good shape. A lower temperature doesn't necessarily prevent burning, keeping any eye on your product is a better strategy.


Why does my bread still smell like yeast? I wonder why my bread still have a yeasty smell? Did I put too much yeast? I use instant yeast, 11g for 500g wheat flour. Is that too much yeast for that amount of flour?

You are using to much dried yeast.
11 gr should be used with fresh yeast.

To get an idea, divide the amount of fresh yeast with 2,5, so you should only use 5 gr (11:2.5) of dried yeast.


Why does frozen bread sort of taste different? If I buy a packet of bread:

And put it in the freezer, in it's packet, when I take it out to defrost it tastes different, sometimes drier as well.  Why is this?  I would of thought moisture would be locked into the packet.

Over the short term moisture is "locked into the packet". As bread freezes moisture from the bread often condenses and freezes on the inside of the packaging. If you then defrost the bread slowly in the same packaging this moisture is reabsorbed. If you only defrost a few slices at a time this moisture is lost when you take those slices out of the bag. These ice particles can also end up in your freezer rather in the bag.

To keep the moisture level closer to the original: freeze bread in portions you are likely to defrost them in and make sure any bags or wrap you use is suitable for the freezer. If you freeze whole loaves double bagging them or wrapping in some way helps.

These steps will also stop other flavours from your freezer being absorbed which should help.


Why so many fruits/veg fall into these color categories? Disclaimer: This question is not about cooking per se, rather about food itself; please let me know if this is not appropriate for this SE.
I have noticed that there are many fruits and vegetables which seem unrelated that come in two color varieties, red and yellowish-green. What I mean by this is that we have red onions and yellowish-green onions, we have red apples and yellowish-green apples. I will put a list of all such foods I have thought of; but I can't seem to find a reason why? Does this have to do with the chemistry, or the environmental conditions that cause different varieties to have different colors. I've tried looking online for this, but I cannot seem to formalize my question in a succinct and clear way to obtain results.
Here is a list of fruits and vegetables which have red varieties and yellowish-green varietes.

Apples
Onions
Raddish
Bell Peppers
Potatoes
Figs
Dragon Fruit (Yellow Dragon fruit are called Kirin)
Peaches (Green Peaches are common in the middle-east)
There are a few more which I cannot remember; I will add in edits.

I am of course open to the possibility that this is all random correlation and for every instance I've found here there are more instances in some other arbitrary pattern. But there seems to be something happening here.

There are 3 primary colors, that being red, yellow, and blue. Most foods are red and yellowish due to the fact that blue is very rare in nature. Here is an article you can check out Why is the colour blue so rare in nature?
Now, you might ask, why is green so common then if green is a combination of blue and yellow, and blue is so rare? The pigmentation for green is usually chlorophyll, which is an important pigment that plants use in photosynthesis. That's why it is so common in leaves and other parts of the plant as well.


Difference between Pan-Frying and Searing What exactly is the difference between pan-frying and searing? They both use the same principles -- high heat, oil, flip once or twice -- and they both create the same result, namely that wonderful golden crust.

Is there a difference?

Pan-Frying is a complete cooking technique. When something has been 'pan-fried' it is done and ready to serve.

Searing is an incomplete process, a step in a larger process. Searing can happen before roasting, braising or other finishing method. It is even good to sear before marinading.


Why didn't my 100% whole wheat bread proof? After enjoying many of the recipes out of The Bread Baker's Apprentice I moved on to Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads to learn about how to make hearth-style 100% whole grain bread.  Unfortunately my first loaf reminded me of the total flops I used to make before reading through BBA and using its recipes.  It was like a bread brick.  I ended up deciding that croutons were the only suitable use.  Since then I've made more recipes from the book, but always using his "transitional" variant of half bread flour, half wheat flour.  These have risen and proofed perfectly.

The technique from Whole Grain Breads involves pre-doughs.  Flour, a very small amount of yeast, and water make up one dough ball that is placed in the refrigerator overnight.  More flour, salt, and water are left as another dough ball on the counter overnight.  Both enzyme activity and the rise in the fridge contribute to the texture and taste of the resulting bread, at least as far as I understand the theory.  The next day the final dough is formed, allowed to rise once and proof once, and bake.

With my first loaf I attempted a free-standing boule.  I know that surface tension is critical to getting a boule to rise up and not out, but I am pretty sure that my surface tension on the boule was correct.  For the transitional loaves since I've used a loaf pan and a sandwich shape, which may have helped them to rise.  I've also done transitional pitas which seemed to puff up just fine during rising, even during proofing as small boules before rolling out.

I don't want to try the 100% whole grain recipe again without knowing that it will work.  I know that some bakers add vital wheat gluten to 100% whole grain recipes to ensure that they rise, but it seems like Reinhart's recipes should work without the additional gluten.  Any other ideas for what may have gone wrong?

You said that the dough rose but then didn't proof.

Lightly textured whole wheat bread is difficult for two reasons-
1- There isn't as much gluten.
2- The gluten that is there tends to get cut up by sharp wheat fragments.

The result is, as with all poor gluten development, that the loaves have trouble maintaining their structure, don't rise as well, and the result is the dense, tough, or doughy bread that most people think of with horror when they think of whole wheat.

There are a couple ways to deal with this problem-
1- Use very very finely ground wheat flour. If you can feel gritty shards then it will have trouble rising.
2- Add vital wheat gluten. This may be seen as cheating and is similar to the transitional recipes that you said you had success with. Many whole wheat recipes call for extra gluten.

If you don't add more gluten in some form you can make a successful boule but don't expect it to be as light and open as one made with white flour.
What you might lose in delicateness you will more than make up for in flavor and nutrition.


Equivalent tomato products: paste, sauce, puree, diced, whole Doctor says low sodium so now I have to make my own tomato sauces ( pizza, spaghetti etc ).
So I look up a bunch of recipes online to decide what to add and in what proportions ( using no salt added tomato products of course ).

The problem is that one recipe calls for whole tomatoes, another calls for diced, another puree and paste.

What are equivalent amounts ( in terms of "tomatoness" ) of each so I can compare these recipes?

To clarify as asked by Jefromi.
I'm basically trying to compare ingredients and instructions

For example (made up off course ):

Recipe 1 calls for
15 ounces Tomato sauce
8 ounces Tomato paste
1 lb ground beef
3 cloves of garlic
1 large onion
...

Recipe 2 calls for
32 oz Diced Tomato
1-1/2 lb ground beef
5 gloves of garlic
3 medium onions
...

I want to "normalize" each recipe so that they contain the "same" amount of tomato product, then see which contains proportionally more beef, more garlic, more onions etc.

So in these recipe, if the 32 ounces of Diced Tomato is the same as 1-1/2 times 15 oz sauce +8 oz paste  then they contain proportionally the same amount of beef, Recipe 2 calls for slighty more garlic ( about 10% more ) etc.

You can get a decent idea just from nutrition labels. Tomatoes are the only ingredient, so pretty much all the numbers on the nutrition label are proportional to the amount of tomatoes in the can. Calories have the most granularity, so:

peeled whole tomatoes: 0.21 calories/gram
diced tomatoes: 0.21 calories/gram
tomato sauce: 0.33 calories/gram
crushed tomatoes (aka puree): 0.41 calories/gram
tomato paste: 0.91 calories/gram

No big surprises there; whole/diced tomatoes have plenty of water in the can, then sauce, crushed/puree, and paste are in order of thickness.

I'm sure it varies plenty by brand, but it doesn't sound like you need a lot of precision (it's not like the recipes specify a brand either), so hopefully that's good enough.

That said, I would probably focus more on just finding recipes you like. You can always adjust the amount of meat and other ingredients to suit your preference, no matter what recipe you start with, but a sauce made with diced tomatoes is never going to come out the same as one made with crushed tomatoes, even if it the same amount of raw tomato went into it.


How long would fruit in a water bottle last? I have a plastic, refillable water bottle that I fill with water from our purifying pitcher. I have recently begun adding sliced fresh fruits, like strawberries and kiwis, inside the bottle to give the water a natural, fruity flavor.

How long would these fruits last in a water bottle? How often should I replace them with new fruit.

I recall a few years ago my mother made cucumber-flavored water through the same concept, only she put the sliced cucumbers directly in the pitcher and put it in the fridge, so it was constantly refrigerated. The cucumbers seemed to last a while, but my water bottle would not be refrigerated often as I am constantly sipping from it throughout the day.

The technical answer based on food safety agency recommendations is about 4 hours, but fruit is not exceptionally perishable.   If you are not in any high risk group, you might choose to go a day.


Is there a way to deliberately explode other food than corn kernels? Since popcorn can be tasty, I started to think if other kinds of food could be modified to explode when rapidly heated.

Corn explodes because of the water vapor pressure inside it finally exceeds the level that the hard and mostly moisture-impervious hull can take, causing it to rupture violently.

Is there any edible substance that could be used to coat other small pieces of food (say, pieces of apple) to achieve a similar effect?

I bet you could explode number of vegetables with a waxy skin.  Maybe a pumpkin.  I bet you could explode a water melon.

Do NOT try this in your oven or microwave!  If it works it would have lot of power.  Try this out doors like in the middle of a fire pit like you would do a dutch oven.

Any food that has moisture and skin that is only slightly permeable to water vapor.  And it would need to be a skin that does not break down at the boiling temperature of water.  Will the skin survive long enough is the question.

No I am not going to try this.  This answer is my engineering best guess.

Popcorn is the only thing that would explode in a manner that you could recover something useful that I can think of.

Kellogg's has puffed wheat and puffed rice cereals.


Where can I buy fresh, live yeast for making bread? (NOT active dry yeast) Where can I buy live yeast? Who sells it? Can I buy it non-commercially? Does anyone sell it online?

I've found it difficult to find, at least in the United States's grocery stores.

Another option-- if it is available to you-- is a grocery store in an area with significant population of recent Eastern European immigrants. There was a Polish store in Ann Arbor, MI (until it closed last year) where the live  yeast was available by weight (cut from a big block, of the same consistency as cake yeast).


Is it possible to use a commercial oven range in the home? I'm moving house soon, and the kitchen needs a complete re-fit. I've always been disappointed with the power of my current gas hob, where even the 'fast' ring is only 3kW, and while looking for a more powerful hob noticed that you can get commercial oven ranges for much the same price as decent domestic equipment.

For example, the Lincat OG7002/N has 6 x 6.1kW burners and can be picked up for little over £1000 if you shop around.

I realise that the commercial oven ranges tend to be a bit deeper than normal domestic kitchen equipment (~700mm rather than 600mm) but assuming that can be designed around, are there any other potential problems with installing a commercial oven range in the home?

You seem to be speaking of gas, but I am not entirely sure. Gas might be easier. A commercial electric oven needs more electricity than usual, in Europe they go on a 380 V line. I don't know if there are 380 V lines in the USA, I think I remember seeing somewhere that they manage it somehow with 240 V for commercial.

The other point is that there may be regulations. You are not allowed to operate any electric or gas device you want to. This is why you can't import a range meant for sale in another part of the world. I think ranges must pass some tests after they are installed in a kitchen, and I can imagine that the safety criteria and maybe even the overall legality differ between home and commercial type ranges. So you should clear that with your regulation body (I have no idea who this might be, just that they exist) before you spend any money.

A completely different thing to consider is that there is an optimal temperature for preparing most kinds of food. If you are making steak on a 3 kW burner turned all the way up, you are doing it very wrong. A stronger burner won't give you steak faster, it will give you raw meat with a charred shell. There are foods which need the high temperature (anything prepared by strong boiling or deep frying, some stir-fry dishes), but for normal cooking amounts of them (4-6 portions at once), a 3 kW gas burner is more than adequate. You will need more power if you are preparing bigger batches at once. If not, the problem may be with your cooking method and not the burner.


How to slow down evaporation when cooking? Does water evaporate faster when rolling boil with a lid or simmer without a lid? If I use a certain stove plate with a certain sauce pan set to its lowest setting it will cause the water to roll boil with lid on and just simmer without a lid.

My question is, will the lid compensate for that water that evaporates faster (I assume?) when it is rolling boiling compared to when it just simmer?

The context is brewing tea. I have found a new tea that should be cooked for as long as possible (an hour is not too much) and I want to leave it unattended.

How to avoid too much evaporation?

Covering (using a lid) will greatly reduce evaporation, whether at the full boil or just simmering...or sitting on the countertop.


How can I prevent my texas toast from sticking together? It's a real problem. Can't cook em stuck together.

If you're making it yourself... freeze the slices separately before putting them in a container. Put them in a single layer on a baking sheet, then put the sheet in the freezer. When frozen, seal them tightly in a bag or wrap in plastic wrap. Since they're already frozen, they won't stick together.

(They do similar things commercially with shrimp, fruits, and other things. It's called Individual Quick Freezing.)

If you're having a problem with store-bought bread, you're kinda stuck. You can try defrosting it in the microwave to make it easier to separate the slices. But really, they should have been IQF frozen or otherwise prepared. They may have defrosted and re-frozen, which is a sign of improper handling (either at the store or by you).


What to place underneath a convection microwave oven? I bought a Sharp convection microwave oven months ago but to date, I have only used its microwave functions. The reason is because I am worried about the heat generated by the oven in the convection mode and what it might do to the wood-based countertop. What can I place on the countertop to protect it from the heat of the oven?

I'd get a small granite or marble "cutting" board just the size of the oven.

It will help diffuse the heat.


How long do vine leaves need to be cooked for? I have a grape vine with a lot of fresh leaves so I thought I'd make stuffed vine leaves. I'm going to precook the filling, so the final cook only needs to be enough to cook the leaves. Most recipes for stuffed vine leaves cook for long enough to cook the filling as well, so I can't get an idea of how long the leaves need. Other recipes are based on oven cooking them until crispy. I'm planning to simmer them in a covered pan or steam them over some new potatoes, as I can do that outside to avoid heating the house (we're having a heatwave here). I expect to par-cook/blanch the leaves first as apparently that makes them easier to roll.

So how long do vine leaves themselves take to steam/simmer?

As you're going to blanch the vine leaves until they are easy to roll, no additional time is needed to cook them...

If you add cold ingredients like cheese to the filling or if you freeze them, it's a good idea to steam them a bit more for perfectly warm and properly cooked Dolmades...


How to tell if my young starter is mature? I am trying to grow my starter for the very first time. I have two of them, one is 12 days old now, 100% hydration white flour at 1:2:2 ratio, feeding every 24 hrs; it's a little bit bubbly and not rising much, not more than 10% of its size. The other one is 10 days old, also 100% hydration, a mix of white flour and whole wheat at 1:1:1 ratio; it still has some bubbles but not much of a rise.

Both smell yeasty with a hint of acidity. My kitchen temperature is around 20 degrees. I wonder what I am doing wrong. I read that by now my starters should be doubling or even more.

A good rule of thumb as to when a starter has enough oomph to raise a loaf is whether it will float in water.

I can take the properties of my starter pretty much for granted these days, but when I was making it from scratch I made sure to test a spoon of the portion that I was discarding for its flotation properties.

If you feel your starter is not making progress I would suggest two things:

Keep it slightly warmer. The method at https://www.sourdoughhome.com/starting-a-starter-my-way/ which I more or less followed, suggests a temperature range of 18-30 degrees C, so your 20 degrees is at the lower end of that.
Discard a lower proportion. If your starter isn't racing away and exhausting its food supply, it may help to build its population if you follow the SourdoughHome recommendation to discard only half of your starter at each feed and replenish with 50g each of flour and water.
Check that your flour is as fresh as possible and consider switching to fully wholemeal until you get more activity going on, the meal being more likely to carry the necessary yeasts and bacteria, apparently.
experiment with a different water supply, perhaps bottled spring water; some people report that chlorinated supplies are problematic for starters while others have no problem, there may be variations in the exact chemicals used.


What's the proper way to package dough? Say I wanted to make a large amount of dough, then divide it into smaller portions to send to cafes, etc. How would I package the divided dough? Do I just put it in a plastic bag or something similar?

Note sure if this matters: the dough will come from an overnight cold rise. Refrigerated shipping will be required.

I would wrap in freezer-safe cling wrap and then put that into freezer-safe ziplock bags. Use sharpie on the outer bags before bagging to write the date and what's in it (or put a sticker on it if this is more of a professional operation or if it's something the public will be buying directly). If this is something you'll be doing a lot you should get a vacuum sealer for the outer bag.


What are the bubbles on the surface of cooking bacon? As you can see in the picture, this bacon is just about ready to be removed from the heat.

Just what are those bubbles/foam(?) on the surface of the bacon?
Note: this is fresh bacon from a butcher-- not processed or packaged-- if that makes a difference.

I'm pretty sure that's just steam and hot air bubbling in the layer of fat/grease that's all over the bacon.


How can I extract menthol powder from fresh mint/peppermint? I have peppermint/mint growing in my garden backyard. I want to make Ice Cream for children and they are asking for some flavour paan ice cream in Hindi (mint ice cream) and for that I want Menthol powder to mix into plain ice cream. How can I make Menthol Powder from Mint/Peppermint Leaves?

This is a fun question, but your plan is not very practical.

If you indeed insist on doing it, you have three steps in the process of menthol extraction:

Extract the essential oil from the leaves
Separate the essential oil from the solvent you used
Freeze the menthol out of the essential oil.

For the essential oil extraction, the only method doable at home is a steam/water distillation. (OK, there are also absolue methods, but they are less practical, and not necessary for mint). So you are left with a mixture of a hydrosol and mint essential oil.

Here is where it becomes difficult: the second step is to separate the oil from the hydrosol. Most methods I know of will produce something which is not food-safe. The popular ones are to use a nonpolar solvent and then boil it off (I hope you don't plan on handling diethyl ether in your kitchen!) but I also found a reference to "passing it through a bed of anhydrous sodium sulphate". This is probably your best bet edibilitywise, but getting the supplies and learning the process won't be easy.

In the end, you have to freeze the essential oil to a sufficiently low temperature (the source with the sodium sulphate uses -60 C but I also found references to -22), then keep it for a few days and harvest the crystals.

If you are brave enough to do it at home (and live in a place where it is not illegal to have a distillation still, and found a freezer that goes to -22) you will need time, space for the apparatus, and mint. Lots of mint. Here I found an article for a portable still which weighs 635 kg, has a 500 l distillation tank, can process up to 9 kg dried mint per distillation (you'll first need an area where you can hang 72 kg of fresh mint to dry out for a month or two, or find a dehydrator and pay for the energy to process it) and yields about 100 ml of essential oil from peppermint, half that if you use spearmint. The oil consists of about 50% menthol, but I couldn't find references for the actually recovered amount when using crystalization only (chemists tend to follow up with a boric acid distillation) but let's say you can recover half of the contained menthol, this would be 15-25 grams of pure menthol crystals.

If your children want just a few portions of ice cream, you should be able to downscale this to 1/10 or less, and get away with a much smaller still. But you'll still need several square meters worth of mint plants, and your children will have to wait a few weeks for their ice cream.


How can I modify my banana bread recipe to make cookies from it? I love banana bread but it is troublesome to find a proper container to store it or even a bag big enough. For that reason and also for convenience, I would like to try to use the banana bread recipe, but make them into cookies. The thing is, I'm not sure how I would have to change the recipe because banana bread and cookies have difference in the recipe that make them cook differently.

Here is the link for the banana bread recipe I use--though I modify it by adding more bananas, some butter, and a touch more baking soda and baking powder to adjust for the difference in volume of ingredients. I also add cocoa powder because chocolate and bananas are wonderful flavors together.

How can I turn this recipe into one that I can use to make cookies?
Will the cookies be like bread or more solid like a typical chocolate chip cookie?
How should I adjust the temperature and cooking time for cooking?
Is the consistency of the dough really important? (Should it just be enough to make cookie blobs)

As DrRandy said in the comments, cookies are really far from banana bread. It's going to be pretty difficult. I would suggest instead looking for a banana cookie recipe. Even if you don't like the first one you find, you can use it as a starting point or find another, and you'll go through a lot fewer failed batches than you will if you try to start from your banana bread recipe.

If you do start from a banana cookie recipe, the things you'd most likely want to modify:

adding more chocolate chips - just do it
adding more chocolate flavor - replace a bit of flour with cocoa powder
adding more banana flavor - you can try adding additional banana puree and flour to compensate for the water, but it'll make the cookies more cakey and crumbly, less chewy. You can also just use banana extract.

If you do try to convert it into a bona fide cookie recipe, I'm pretty sure you'll discover fairly quickly that the idea doesn't make a lot of sense. In order to make a cookie recipe, you're going to take all the ingredients besides bananas and chocolate and completely change their ratios. To figure out how to do that, you'll use a cookie recipe - so you'll be converting a cookie recipe into a banana cookie. You'll have to reduce the amount of bananas , too, because a cookie can't hold that much liquid. No matter how you get there, all that'll be left of your banana bread recipe is the fact that what you baked contains bananas, chocolate chips, and cocoa powder.

So to try to answer your specific questions:

(how to convert) If I had to guess, I'd say the best starting point might be a chocolate chip cookie recipe that uses melted butter. You could replace half of the butter with bananas and see what happens. From there you could possibly add additional banana and flour, turning it into a cakier cookie with more banana flavor. And to get cocoa powder in, just replace a bit of flour with it. But why not instead start from an existing banana cookie recipe? It'll be much closer to what you want, much less trial and error. And I don't really see any way to think of this as modifying the banana bread recipe; you need a cookie base for your cookies.
(will they be like bread) Well, if you just tried to make cookies using your existing recipe, yes, they'll be like bread. If you use a cookie dough as the basis, they'll be more like cookies.
(temperature and time) No matter what you do, the time will be way shorter (smaller things cook through faster). You probably won't have to adjust the temperature that much, maybe 25 degrees either way depending on the kind of cookie you decide to make.
(is the consistency important) Totally subjective. If you want to make something that's obviously a cookie, well, the consistency is the big difference between a cookie and a quick bread. If you want it to be easier to keep (not crumbly, less moist so it won't mold) then again, that's all about consistency. If all you want is to make something that tastes good, it doesn't matter at all. You can spoon sufficiently thick quick bread/muffin batter onto a baking sheet and bake it, and you'll get basically muffin tops.


Can a "regular" eggplant be substituted for a chinese eggplant in a recipe? I'm going to attempt this hot and sour chinese eggplant recipe which calls for chinese eggplant. However, I only have a "regular" eggplant that you find in the typical American grocery store.

Can this be used as a direct substitution?
Are there any caveats I should be aware of?
My eggplant is 9" long and 4" thick at it's widest. Is this equivalent to 2 long chinese eggplants?

The Chinese eggplant will have a thinner skin, less seeds (read: less bitterness); as a result, it will have an overall more delicate flavor.

You can substitute a globe eggplant (the kind usually sold in American grocery stores) equally; just be aware you'll get extra "eggplant" flavor.

Since the recipe you're using has strong flavors already, this should not be a problem. However, if the recipe were using more delicate flavors, it would not turn out quite as the recipe author intended.


FLOUR tortillas as a crust? I am making a chili cheese tater tot casserole and would like to know could I use flour tortillas on the bottom or would that be a bad idea since I am baking it at 350 for 45 minutes

Yes, you absolutely can use flour tortillas on the bottom of your casserole. I disagree with @Rob's answer as I've never found the need to pre-heat the tortillas whether used as you intend, or when rolled. And I've never seen a recipe calling for that step. (Except when there is no further cooking.)


Tips on cooking fish/meat when not even thickness Sometimes, I have cuts of meat/fish (mostly fish) that have dramatically uneven thickness. I like to pan sear, so how would I cook it so the thinner ends are still tender, but the thicker ends are not undercooked?

It's quite the challenge. The two things I do are lift the thin end off the hot surface with something spatula-like or the edge of the pan, leaving the thicker part on the heat. The other thing is sear relatively quickly and then move the whole pan with fish in it to the oven, this method good with very thick meat. There's also the option of sous vide.


Cashew flour in Kaju Katli All of the recipies for Kaju Katli I've looked at says I should make my own cashew powder but I was wondering if I could substitute it with store bought cashew flour. I'm not sure what the difference is if there is any to begin with.

Some nut flours have had oil removed from them (they're actually ground-up "oil cake", a byproduct of extracting nut oil). If your cashew powder doesn't say "defatted" or "oil cake" or "press cake" in the ingredients list, then no, there shouldn't be any difference.


Does meat need to be washed before preparation? I don't even remember where I have learned that, but I've always thought it common knowledge: Before a piece of meat gets seasoned, or malleted for tenderizing (sorry, don't know the English word for that), or marinated, or thrown into the pan, or ground, it should be first washed under the faucet, and then patted dry. When I think of it, it also makes sense to me, because the bacteria are always on the meat surface, never inside. So I don't think it is a vestige of the time one got bloodied cuts from the village butcher, but that it applies to the modern meat pieces sold on absorbent pads too.

And then I read this question, which presumes patting (but doesn't mention washing). Most of the answers and comments seem to indicate that patting isn't always considered necessary, and there is no mention of washing the meat or of the dripping water from the washing. In fact, the answers and comments wouldn't make much sense if one assumes that the meat has been just washed.

So is washing compulsory, is it optional but a good idea, is it plain useless, or does it even have disadvantages for the meat?

It's neither necessary nor a particularly good idea; it does little to remove bacteria from the surface of the meat (which you're about to cook, remember) and runs the risk of spraying/dripping bacteria all over the kitchen.

The FSIS has an article on it here:

  Washing raw poultry, beef, pork, lamb, or veal before cooking it is not recommended. Bacteria in raw meat and poultry juices can be spread to other foods, utensils, and surfaces.

The only exception would be something like vac-packed, wet-aged meat where you need to remove the salt, but that's a matter of preference.

I have never washed a piece of meat in my life and I'm still here!


Lemon peel thickness Long story short,

Is lemon peel thickness sign of the fruit age?

Long story: half-cutting lemons (this worth for oranges and other citruses, as well), I noticed younger fruits have thicker peel (the white spongy flesh between the exterior skin and the internal juicy pulp) than older fruits.

Thus the question is: is there any correlation between this thickness of lemon peel and the age of the fruit?

NB: I am aware of the fact that exists different varieties of lemon, thus the peel thickness would be a natural physical aspect of the fruit; the question above relies on the fact I am talking about two identical lemons.

Well, weird question but don't worry

I would say, scientifically, this would make perfect sense, liquid in the lemons will eventually evaporate, as they give off water to the environment they are stored in. Especially when you have your lemon storage in your refrigerator, they give off humidity to the low relative humidity in your fridge. This also happens with Oranges and generally almost all fruits. With lemons, this is especially visible in the white outer layer, as the lemon 'wants' to protect its content and its DNA (the seeds) and thus will probably give off liquid form the outer layers first (like when humans freeze in winter, it is the skin that suffers first in form of dry skin)

Long story short: I would definitely say that there is a certain correlation.

I hope this helps, Max


Getting rid of chewy chicken I am looking for exact instructions on how to cook chicken. I have bought fresh chicken numerous times and its mostly chewy. It can be in gravy, oven cooked, tandoori style etc etc I just want it cooked perfectly.

No instructions are going to be that precise; there are too many variables at play. What temperature was the chicken before you started? Exactly how big are the pieces? How precisely can you measure and maintain the temperature of the oven or cooking medium?

What you need to be sure that your chicken is perfectly done is an instant read thermometer. At first, aim for 165F (74C), that's the minimum "safe" temperature. After that, you may choose to go a little higher, especially for dark meat. Some people prefer a few degrees lower, especially for breasts. Whether temperatures under 165F are safe is a bit controversial, you need to assess any risk on your own.  Once you know the exact temperature that seems perfect for you, that's where to aim. The temperature will continue to rise after you remove the chicken from the heat. For small pieces that "carry-over" temperature rise will be pretty negligible; a whole chicken will rise a few degrees.

Whatever recipe you follow, take the temperature a few minutes before the time in the recipe. As you gain experience, you'll get better at zeroing in on doneness by appearance.


Slow cook beef brisket slices method What's the best method for cooking beef brisket slices? I see tons of recipes for the full brisket, but I only have a couple of slices that are about an inch thick, and 9 inches long,total weight 800 grams with no bone.
I am planning to do them in the slow cooker for 8 hours on low, salt and pepper, paprika, half an onion sliced, and some chicken stock to half cover the meat, sort of like a braise.
Would love some advice from anyone!

The process for cooking slices of brisket is the same for a whole piece, the time involved is needed to break down the tough collagen. Slices the size of yours will take a bit less time to cook than a whole piece as they will heat up faster, but it's not that much of a difference. Your proposed method should do fine.


When is Slow Cooking done - time vs temperature of meat I have read that slow cookers manufactured recently (not sure what time period that actually means) rise to their cooking temperature faster because of FDA concerns of keeping a food at a dangerous temperature for too long. The recommendation is to perhaps cook things for a bit less time than the typical 8 hours on low to avoid overcooking.

To this end, I have been putting a thermometer in my meat and cooking to a temperature instead of to any set time.  However, I'm finding the meat gets to its "done" temperature at WELL below the time suggested.  For example, I have a chicken recipe (skinless, boneless) that suggests cooking for 8 hours on low.  In my slow cooker, the chicken gets to 165 degrees at only 2-1/2 or 3 hours!  Well below the 8 hour suggested cooking time.

So, my question is, should I say my meal is done at that 165 degree mark, or is there any slow cooker advantage to leaving it in for the full or close to full cooking time?  It seems to me the meat just gets dry if I leave it in longer, but maybe if I left it in the full 7-8 hours, some other chemical process takes place, leaving the meat more moist and flavorful than if I take it out at the 3 hour mark because of the temperature.

The answer depends on the type of cut. If you have a tender cut of meat then there's no reason to cook it any longer than then desired doneness. If you are using a tough cut then there's lots of collagen that needs to be broken down, and that requires moisture and time. You want to cook it until all the collagen is broken down as that will make the meat tender. That may take 2 hours, it may take 6, it depends on the cut and the thickness.

I have a similar experience with my slow cooker, it goes way too fast. To get around this I've ended up putting in big chunks of meat and veggies because anything else is completely nuked after 8 hours! I've also thought about using a light timer to have it start 3 hours after I leave home.


What do I do if my turkey is done way too early? From a user who posted as an answer elsewhere:

  I cooked the 22 pound turkey way to early. It's done at 10:30 and we aren't eating till 4:00. Right now I have it sitting in the roaster covered with towels and aluminum foil. What should I do? Should I keep it there for the three hours? Then it's still another 2 hours till serving.

Whatever the exact specifics, what can someone do if they end up in this situation? Similarly, what if someone wants to cook the turkey early like this - is there anything they can plan ahead for?

If possible I'd remove it from the oven and slice it up and put it in the fridge to cool it down as fast as possible to stop the cooking.

When closer to serving, just reheat the meat.

You can pour some of the juice on the carved slices to keep them as moist as possible.

For christmas, this is what we will do (more "extreme) and cook the turkey one day in advance.


Why cheesecake needs hard base? I love cheesecake. I am sure you loves it too. One thing I don't know that why cheesecake needs the hard base that too made up from biscuits? Can't we just put normal base?

Edit :

Hard Base : graham cracker crust
Soft Base : Pastry Sponge

A cheesecake doesn't need a hard base, or any base at all. The cheese part of cheesecake is sticky and will stick to a pan, although there's ways to get around that. A base (whether spongy or hard) also gives a texture and flavor contrast which many people find works well for them.

It's just tradition really, you can do what you want with it, I've seen cheesecakes baked in individual ramekins with no base, it's really up to you.


How to thicken watery gravy? I cooked a chicken dish with a watery gravy. The dish is already fully cooked and flavoured well, but the gravy is thinner than I would like. I know that gravy can be thickened with cornstarch, but I would prefer not to add cornstarch to the dish.

Is there any other solution to thicken a thin gravy?

Your options are really limited to:

Reducing, i.e. simmering until you have less of a thicker gravy, but then (i) you might not have enough and (ii) you risk overcooking the chicken (and some other ingredients) unless you remove them.
Thickening.

Corn starch is a common way to thicken but many other starches also work. You could even make a roux of flour and butter, then mix plenty of the gravy into that, and add back in. Depending on your dish, you may be able to use a compatible thickener with some flavour (coconut flour works in some curries, for example) but in general you're best using a neutral starch. I suggest being sparing with it - in my opinion a slightly thin sauce is preferable to an over-thickened cloying one.


What are the acceptable methods to thaw food items? What are the proper ways to thaw foods?   Are there any advantages or disadvantages to them?

There are four methods for thawing frozen foods which are recognized as safe:

In a refrigerator
In the microwave
Under cool running water
As part of the cooking process

These four methods all meet the criteria that they minimize the amount of time the food spends in the danger zone (40-140 F, 4-60 C) where bacteria can grow.

The pros and cons of the following often-recommended methods are also reviewed:

Leaving food on the counter overnight
Thawing in a bowl (or sink) of water
On a metal pan or with a "miracle thaw" device

In the refrigerator

Thawing food in the refrigerator is slow; it can take a day to thaw several pounds (a kilogram or two), and even more time for larger foods like a whole frozen turkey.

The advantage is that the refrigerator is at a safe temperature, and bacterial growth is already inhibited, so there is little risk.

This is probably the preferred method for many foods, if you have the time.

In the microwave

Thawing in the microwave is fast, but it has several disadvantages:

It requires a lot of attention, turning or rotating the food to get even coverage from the microwaves; for items like ground beef, you might even need to scrape off the thawed portions and continue defrosting the frozen portion.
It is easy to accidently go to far and start cooking the food, especially if it has an odd shape or small pointier parts sticking out (like wings on a chicken).

For this reason, microwave thawing is best done only for foods like soup or stew, where you can stir them and if one part boils a small amount while another part is frozen, no harm is done.

Under cool running water

This one is most surprising, but it is true:  the fastest way to thaw food safely is under cool running water (at or below 70 F / 21 C), like the cold water from your tap.

The reason is that that water has an extremely high capacity for carrying heat, and the forced convection from running water ensures that it transfers heat from the food item as rapidly as possible.  In the Good Eats episode What's Up Duck, Alton Brown thawed several frozen ice duck sculptures by various methods.   The one under cool running water was almost completely melted, even when the one in the oven at 200 F was still fairly recognizably bird shaped.

It is important that the water be running, to ensure strong convection.  You can do this by setting the food in the sink under a very small stream of water.

If the food should not get wet, you can put it in a zip-type bag or similar to keep it dry.  Try to remove as much air as possible, to get the best contact between the water and the food (through the bag).

This is the best method for forced, rapid thawing (at least when microwaving is not appropriate or inconvenient), but it is probably less convenient that the refrigerator method.   You also have to monitor the food, and remove it when it is thawed, or it will come to the ambient temperature of the water, which is probably in the danger zone.

As part of the cooking process

Some foods can be cooked starting from the frozen state, thawing and then cooking in one operation.

Among the ones most suitable for this are are smaller or thinner items, such as:

Cookie dough lumps
Hamburgers
Chicken parts
Pizza
Stew meat
Frozen, chopped vegetables
Frozen stock (at least in smaller quantities)

Bad idea: on the Counter overnight

This is a bad idea, especially for meats and other highly perishable items.   You have no control over the temperature the surface of the food will reach, and it may begin to spoil at the surface before the center is thawed.

Bad idea: In a bowl (or sink) of cold water

Again, a bad idea.  Without the convection, the thawing speed is reduced.  There is also no source of newer, cooler water, so the temperature of the water itself will rise.

Some parts of the food may reach dangerous temperatures before it is fully thawed.  Also, if you don't check the food frequently, the temperature can get into dangerous territories, facilitating spoilage.

Risky: On a cast iron, stainless steel or other metal pan, or a "miracle thaw" device

This method is most often used with thin foods like steaks or frozen hamburgers.

Physics are with you, as the specific heat capacity and conductivity of the metal are very high (higher even than water).  The large surface area of the metal acts like a radiator or heat sink in reverse, conducting heat away from the food more rapidly than air alone would.

This method is not approved by health codes for commercial use, and carries some risks.  You need to monitor the food closely, and cook it or move it into the refrigerator as soon as it is thawed.  Failure to do so will allow the food to spoil, and the conductivity of your metal will become your enemy, more quickly bringing the food to ambient temperature.

While this method is not officially sanctioned, you may choose to assess its risks for yourself.

See also:

USDA Food Safety Fact Sheet
How do I know if food left at room temperature is still safe to eat?


Is using chocolate instead of royal icing for a gingerbread house more difficult? Heston Blumenthal's recipe states royal icing or melted chocolate to build his gingerbread house.

Until now I've used an eggless substitute for royal icing with adequate results, although it's trickier. Am I asking for even more trouble with the chocolate?

I have some experience dipping truffles in tempered chocolate. I won't burn or tighten the chocolate, but I don't know if it will hold up.

Tips?

A light touch of melted chocolate on the roof never hurt anyone. I already tried and the house holds up very well!


Cranberry Beans, probably any beans; medium-term storage options? I am planning on cleaning out the lady at the farmer's market of her cranberry beans this Friday. I am hoping to use in three different recipes over the course of the next 6 weeks or so. They are sold fresh, in the pod. Obviously if they were dry or frozen I wouldn't be having this question, but since they are an heirloom I am wondering if they are temperamental, and what best practices are for preserving fresh beans medium-term.

How should I preserve them for use 4-6 weeks from now?

My recommendation would be to shell and wash the beans, blanch for 3-4 minutes then quickly plunge in an ice bath, drain and pat dry, and seal in a freezer bag (squeezing out as much excess air as possible).

I have done this with fresh green beans by cutting into 1-inch pieces and they lasted 3 months in the freezer with no problem. I realize cranberry beans are quite different, but I think the same method would apply and work well. I would think the cranberry beans would be less temperamental than regular green beans.

As an aside, I have similar plans and this is how I am going to try to store them long-term.


How much alcohol remains in strawberries soaked in alcohol? I know that the alcohol content of food that is prepared with alcohol is a tricky study, as evidenced by the fact that food left out overnight stored overnight loses, by one study, 30% of its alcohol content.  Several weeks ago I had some chocolate dipped strawberries that had been soaked in liquor before being dipped in chocolate.  I thought I could taste alcohol, but my dining companion didn't taste it.  So it wasn't a strong flavor.  Is there any information out there on how much alcohol may have been transferred to the strawberries?

I don't think this has a single answer: The amount of alcohol would depend on the alcohol content of  the soaking liquor or liqueur, soaking time, temperature of chocolate, and how thick the strawberry was.

I suspect uncut strawberries would take at least several days to fully absorb alcohol and reach equilibrium, but the surface should take up alcohol fairly quickly. If they are cut up, exposing the more porous interior, I imagine an overnight soak would be sufficient to reach maximum alcohol content.  The enormous, bloated mutant strawberries you sometimes see at stores could take considerably longer than others to absorb their maximum alcohol.

Alcohol is much more volatile than water, so the immersion in warm, melted chocolate would remove some alcohol, but once the chocolate cools, it should trap any remaining content.

The flavor of alcohol is easily masked by other flavors at under 20% content; this could explain why your friend didn't taste it, but you did.  It's quite possible the strawberries packed a sobriety-busting punch, but it was disguised by the chocolate and fruit tastes.


After how long is boiled milk tea consumable? I made tea with milk in the morning and had it in the evening. Is it is safe? After how much time, does it become unconsumable?

Probably not. Perishable food and drinks are considered unsafe after being in the danger zone (40°F - 140°F, 5°C - 60°C) for more than 4 hours (EDIT: when I was a cook in Massachusetts, four hours was the cut off. Apparently the USDA recommends two hours). And note: that's a cumulative four hours over the course of the foodstuff's lifetime, not four hours in a row. If the milk sits on the counter for an hour, then it's boiled and put into tea which then sits out for three hours, it's considered unsafe.

  Leaving food out too long at room temperature can cause bacteria (such
  as Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella Enteritidis, Escherichia coli
  *O157:H7*, and Campylobacter) to grow to dangerous levels that can cause
  illness. Bacteria grow most rapidly in the range of temperatures
  between 40 °F and 140 °F, doubling in number in as little as 20
  minutes. This range of temperatures is often called the "Danger Zone."

  Keep Food Out of the "Danger Zone"

  Never leave food out of
  refrigeration over 2 hours. If the temperature is above 90 °F, food
  should not be left out more than 1 hour.  Keep hot food hot — at or
  above 140 °F. Place cooked food in chafing dishes, preheated steam
  tables, warming trays, and/or slow cookers. Keep cold food cold — at
  or below 40 °F. Place food in containers on ice.

Also crucial to remember when food safety is concerned: FAT TOM. FAT TOM is a mnemonic device which stands for:

Food
Acidity
Time
Temperature
Oxygen
Moisture

All of those things are a factor in the growth of bacteria. With room-temperature milky tea that's been sitting out all day, we've got the full gamut:

Nutrients from the milk (food)
If it's milky tea, it you probably didn't put lemon in it, because let's face it, that'd be gross unless you have a thing for curdled milk.
Time - you said it's been there since this morning
Temperature - at room temperature
Oxygen - I doubt this is space tea or that it was stored in a vacuum.
Moisture - it's a cup of infused water and milk. Doesn't get much more moist than that.

Remember: When in doubt, throw it out.


Coriander substitute? I have a recipe where one of spices I need to use is coriander. What other spice can I use to substitute coriander and don't change taste very much?

In the recipe coriander is used to season meat before cooking.

The coriander seed has a fresh lemony flavor. I really dig it. It isn't very similar to the coriander herb, cilantro, but it has a similar freshness.

The problem is how you are cooking the meat. Coriander is dry and can be toasted; other substitutions such as herbs might burn.

These suggestion won't taste just like coriander but they are filed in similar categories in my mind. They would create the same mood.

If you need dry or toasted spice- such as for a rub you might try lemon-pepper or a little toasted fennel for the sweet freshness.

If this is a marinade and you aren't worried about burning the spices you could try lemon zest with a little cilantro.