What is the least amount of vinegar needed to fully curdle milk for cottage cheese? I found a recipe that states to use around 1/2 tsp of vinegar for 1 quart of milk(0.5% vinegar to milk by weight) and another recipe that says 1/2 cup of vinegar for 3L of milk(3.7% vinegar to milk). That is around 7 times more vinegar. I want to make cottage cheese with the least amount of "vinegary" taste as possible, so how much vinegar do I need to use to effectively curdle the milk and produce cottage cheese. I am using distilled malt vinegar (which has a stronger taste than white vinegar)  which I don't like, but that is the only available one in the UK.

Don't use vinegar at all.  Use citric acid, which you should be able to get from a brewing or cheesemaking store, or get it online.
Not only does it have a "cleaner" flavor than vinegar, it also allows you to control the pH of the solution more precisely. A given quantity of citric acid diluted in distilled water always has the exact same acidity, which is not true of vinegar.
If you really can't get citric acid, lemon juice is going to have a less pronounced flavor than malt vinegar.
In terms of using the least acid necessary, that's an interactive process of adding a little acid, then watching what happens.  Per Modern Farmer:

Many cheese recipes call for a specific amount of curdling agent – the juice of one large lemon, a quarter cup of vinegar, or one teaspoon of citric acid per gallon of milk is typical for farmer’s cheese – but the exact amount needed varies considerably based on the unique properties of each batch of milk (especially with non-homogenized, farm-fresh milk). It’s advantageous to use the least amount of acid possible to avoid an excessively tangy flavor. As soon as the curds form, stop adding the curdling agent.

I'll also add it's beneficial to use the minimum quantity of acid in order to get the softest curd texture.
Happy cheesemaking!


How to solve under-baked cookie centers? I've made 3 batches of this recipe for "The Best Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies" but I can't figure out how to keep them soft and have them fully baked.

I baked the batches at 350 degrees with the following variations:

Exactly like the recipe, baked 10 minutes. Under-baked centers.
Made with browned butter. Baked 16 minutes. Fully cooked centers, but not soft.
Made with browned butter and refrigerated dough. Baked 13 minutes. Slightly under-baked centers.

Any suggestions? I'm not attached to the recipe, so if someone wants to recommend a totally different one, I'm listening.

I agree with @Catija completely. Your oven may be running too hot. If the outside of the cookie is 'cooking' more quickly, or sooner than the middle, then your oven is too hot. Trying backing the temperature down 30-40F and see how you fair. Going to a hotter oven, would exacerbate the situation, since the outside would be crunchy and set, while the inside raw.


Preparing / pre-cooking hash browns / home fries (Inspired by, but broadening, Can you parfry hash browns in advance? )

In American diners, when you order home fries or hash browns, they are cooked to order, but are brought to the table in much less time than it would take me to fully cook them at home.

How can I prepare potatoes, then pause cooking, so that they can be finished off quickly to a high standard of crispy home fries / hash browns? Is there a technique whereby I can freeze the part-made dish?

(Note, I'm talking about fried loose potato, sometimes with onions. Not the dense patty of grated potato that's labelled 'hash browns' in British freezer sections, or rostis which are also patties)

This answer is for sliced or diced home fries, such as this type:

Shredded style hash browns are much more difficult to pre-cook at home, since the shreds are fragile and go from under cooked to over cooked quickly.

Note that restaurants tend to simply have home fries on the griddle, in a warm section, essentially fully cooked.  This is why they tend to be more cooked at the end of breakfast service than the beginning in many restaurants.

For home service, there are several effective techniques for making home fries cook more rapidly, or at least more conveniently.

Par-cook the potatoes

The easiest for pre-preparation is simply to par-cook the potatoes.  In either case, the potatoes should be peeled (optional), and diced or sliced.

Cook them until they are just slightly under-done, but begining to be fork tender.  This will depend on your type of potato.  If you are using a waxy potato (such as a Red Bliss), you can cook them until they are fork tender as they hold their shape quite well; if you are using a starchy potato such as a Russet or Idaho, you want them just slightly resisting in the center.

After they are par-cooked, you may optionally refrigerate or even freeze them before finish cooking.

There are several methods which are effective for the par-cook, depending on your volume:

Microwave, suitable for a couple of potatoes.  Put plastic wrap or a loosely sealed lid on the container so they steam as well, and stir them fairly frequently to be evenly cooked.
Steaming.  Probably more work that it is worth, but very effective.
Simmering/boiling.   Start the potatoes in cold water.  Depending on the size of your dice or slice, they may be done about the time the water begins to boil; in any case, simmer them until done as described above.  Drain well, or even dry with towels.

To finish cooking them, fry them on a hot griddle with generous butter (or other fat, to taste), salt, pepper, and other additions that you desire such as onions, peppers and so on until they are brown on all sides, and somewhat crispy.  This will take about 5 minutes per side depending on your heat.

Hybrid wet-dry

This is the method I personally use the most, as the results can be outstanding, although you need experience to judge exactly how they should come out.   It is also only for reducing the cooking time, more than for pre-staging some of the preparation.

Dice or slice, and optionally peel your potatoes
In a wide pot where the potatoes will form a shallow layer (preferably non-stick, or they will sick a little and form a lot of fond, which will make it harder to get them crispy), add the potatoes and water to barely cover.  You will learn how much water over time for your cook top (hob), dice or slice size, and flame level.

You can also add butter, salt, pepper and such at this stage.
Cook the potatoes on high for about 10 minutes or until the water is gone.  Ideally, if guaged correctly, this will leave you potatoes at the "almost done" stage described in the par-cooking method.
Add fast cooking vegetables such as onions or peppers.
Continue cooking on medium high heat, stirring once or twice, until the potatoes are nicely golden brown and delicious.

Oven hybrid method

This method can be used for pre-preparation.  The finish cooking takes longer, but is hands off.

Prepare potatoes as usual, and pan fry them until browned.  They will still be essentially raw inside.  That is okay.
At this point, you can reserve and pause.
To final cook, place (with salt, pepper, slightly pre-cooked onions or peppers, and other enhancements) in a moderate oven to heat through and re-crisp.    Depending on temperature, this can take 20-30 minutes.

This method will not give perfectly crispy potatoes like the first two methods, but is suitable for having a large quantity, as for a brunch party, ready for service at the same time.


Can I make choux pastry with an electric hob? I would like to make choux pastry, and the recipe I have emphasises bringing the pan quickly to a boil after the butter has melted into the water at the beginning of the procedure.

I only have electric hobs available, which can take a few minutes to go from a simmer to a proper boil.

Will this have a negative impact on my pastry, and if so is there a way I can work around it?

I really don't think it's necessary for this application, Didgeridrew's advice regarding the pastry seems spot-on to me. However, if you really want an instantaneous temperature change for any reason and you're stuck with a problematic stove, you can make that change if you can control individual burners separately.

Keep another burner set to "high" while you're working on the burner set to "low". Then when you want a quick increase in the heat level, you just switch burners. (Hobs = Burners, right?) You only need to keep the "high" burner on for the length of time it takes to heat, or just keep a pot of water boiling on the "high" burner until you're ready to make the swap. Of course, the process works just as well in reverse.


How to ensure that the Pancakes get cooked evenly? The last time I made pancakes, while they were nicely cooked on the outside, they were still a bit "battery" in the middle.  Does anyone has a simple solution to try?

You might try reducing the cooking heat a little, say on medium heat.  That way, the middle will finish cooking without the outside being overcooked.  And usually when you flip a pancake it should be almost entirely cooked through anyway.  You want to flip when the bubbles are pretty set on the top.


Making chocolate covered strawberries without parchment paper What can I use to set the strawberries on to cool if I don't have parchment paper or a cooling rack?

If you are glazing only a few strawberries you can pick up the strawberries with a (wooden) skewer (toothpicks might be too short) and then poke the other end into styrofoam, a sponge or anything similar or put these into a tall and heavy glass.

Source


Cooking cakes on asbestos mats My mother tells me when she was young her mother would bake cakes on an asbestos mat inside a lidded electric frypan. I'd assume the practice is gone now because of the reputation of asbestos, but what was the idea behind the asbestos--a simple heat spreader?

Health Risks Associated with Asbestos

The reputation of asbestos is indeed well-deserved.  Inhalation of asbestos fibers can cause a wide range of potentially fatal conditions.  It is unlikely that normal home use of a product that contains asbestos will expose one to asbestos fibers.  However, people who work with asbestos, whether mining the raw materials or processing the asbestos into finished products, are at much higher risk of lung cancer and mesothelioma than the general population.

In other words, as long as no one ground up your grandmother's asbestos mat and blew it out into the room, there is no reason to be afraid of it.  However, the people who mined the asbestos and the people who formed it into a mat at the factory may have gotten very sick later in life.

Thermodynamic Properties of Asbestos

Specific Heat Capacity

The reason why asbestos was a good choice for your grandmother's baking rig, other than the fact it wouldn't catch fire, is that it has a high specific heat.  Specific heat is essentially a measure of how much energy it takes to raise the temperature of a given material.

Other consequences of a high specific heat are that the material will both heat evenly and loose temperature slowly.  Water, for example, has a very high heat capacity.  So, water takes a relatively long time to heat up, heats evenly, and cools down slowly.  Of course, you can't make a baking mat out of water....

Looking at a table of specific heat capacities of various materials, we can see that the specific heat capacity of asbestos is only about one quarter that of water, but is more that twice the heat capacity of iron.  If you made a mat out of iron, it would have to mass more than twice as much as the asbestos mat to have an equal heat capacity.

However, heat capacity is not the whole story.

Thermal Conduction

Thermal conduction is the transfer of heat between two objects that are in contact with each other.  For example, cast iron transfers its heat to what it touches about 400 times faster than asbestos mill board.  So, an iron mat would not work well at all, because it would, as you'd expect, burn the bottom of the cake.

Your grandmother needed a material with a high specific heat capacity, but low thermal conductivity.

Ovens

Baking cakes in a normal oven works similarly to how your grandmother baked cakes, and for the same reasons.  The air in an oven also has a high specific heat capacity (about the same as asbestos), but very low thermal conductivity (about 1/6th that of asbestos).

An oven is much more expensive than an asbestos mat and an electric fry pan, and will take up a lot more space.  It's just a trade-off.


Irish Coffee harder to get right than Baileys Coffee? On a cold winter's day I was in a Irish-themed pub/restaurant and ordered an Irish Coffee. Some time later (could have been half an hour or longer), the waitress comes with all the stuff other people at the table ordered but she was terribly sorry to tell me that me that the person possessing the abilities to create this particular mix drink was currently not here and she asked whether I wouldn't want a different hot drink instead. Now, from my recollection the only other hot (alcoholic) drink on the menu would have been Baileys Coffee and I thought that surely the same would apply here and I opted for something cold instead, she asked me then explicitly whether I wouldn't want another hot drink but I reiterated my new choice.

Now in hindsight I can't stop thinking about whether I was right in my assumption that if Irish Coffee was not possible Baileys Coffee wouldn't be either. That's assuming it's the same only with Baileys instead of good whiskey (which would explain why latter was also cheaper). The thoughts even made me read up a bit on creating either drink and indeed in Irish Coffee recipes in particular it was often mentioned that getting the cream to float can be a tad tricky but I didn't get any clear answer.

So therefore I'm asking here:
Is Irish Coffee significantly harder to get right compared to Baileys Coffee?

Some preparations for Irish coffee demand that the whiskey and sugar be caramelized together by heating them in a heat-proof glass over a burner and then topped with hot coffee and thick liquid cream. It takes some experience to get this heating step right. (Youtube video here)

Baileys coffee is simply coffee with added Baileys liquour (cream optional), like many other [coffee and alcohol] combinations.

Of course there are lots of other sources where "Irish coffee" is simply whiskey + sugar + coffee + (even whipped) cream, probably the "original" preparation served to warm up travellers, so without knowing what standards your pub/restaurant follows, it's nearly impossible to say whether you could have ordered Baileys coffee.


How to clean silicone ice cube forms? I bought silicone ice cube forms and when I used them something white swam on the water. I guess some silicone that dissolved from the form.
First I made ice three times and threw it away, but the problem persisted. Then I tried to put them in the dish washer. Now I bought another product from a different manufacturer and the problem is even worse.
(I am NOT 100% sure if they may still be products from the same factory or made in a similar way, but I explicitly tried to buy another product)
Are silicone forms just crap, am I doing something wrong, or is there a good way to clean them before the first use?

I do not have the problem using the same tap water with the hard plastic ice cube maker that came with my fridge. The general water quality here is quite high and I even use the water with a sodastream and making tea in the same glasses and it looks perfectly clear.
Before freezing the water looks clear as well an I do not see such dirt even when I let a glass of water stand somewhere.
Update:
I made an experiment by freezing one form with and one without lid. Here is an image of the forms and the lid:

The blue one was used without lid. They seem tp be both silicone and the lids are all the same, only the forms have different colors.
The result after dissolving all cubes looks like this:

Left: blue form without lid  (Little dirt, but still too much)
Right: white form with lid (Larges flakes of some dirt)
The cubes in the open form were quite easy to remove and well-separated. The lid stuck a bit on the cubes and I needed to break the cubes apart by bending the silicone, because the lid hold the water surface flat.
The open form stood on the closed one.
Update 2: Boiled water has the same problem. I'll try a water filter next.
Update 3: Water hardness as published by my water supplier:

Hardness  4,7 – 8,1 °dH (soft)
Magnesium     5,2 – 9,0 mg/l
Calcium   24,6 – 43,5 mg/l
Natrium   11,3 – 21,9 mg/l    200 mg/l
Chlorid   23 - 39 mg/l    250 mg/l
Nitrat    10 - 21 mg/l    50 mg/l
Uran  < 0,0002 mg/l   0,01 mg/l

Update 4:
Same result with the water in another city (unknown hardness). In some of the forms white sediments after the water rest dried. Next I try a water filter.
Update 5:
I tried a water filter and got the same result.
Using a water filter I still get white flakes like in the right glass after melting all 24 ice cubes of the new form (not the one pictured above, but also silicone) with lid.

Silicone does not dissolve in water.
The scum you see floating on the top looks very much like lime-scale. This is in your water supply. It will also give you an encrusted kettle & white/grey blobs stuck to the nozzle of the hot tap after some time.
You could try distilled water, or invest in some kind of hard water filtration system. As mentioned in comments, using cooled, boiled water may also help a little, as the boiling will drop some of the calcium out of the water… & stick it to your kettle element instead.
Many places in the world you can enquire with your local water company as to how hard your water supply is - how much calcium, basically - & they will advise on softening methods.


What's wrong with my technique in this Belgian Liège Waffle recipe? I've been using this awesome recipe to make Belgian Liège waffles, but my results are never consistent. Could you guys help me reverse engineer the recipe a bit?

During the butter-adding phase in step 5, my dough typically balls up on the paddle very early on, even before the second mixing. What could be the most likely culprit? It drives me crazy that I can never get this step right!
What's the point of resting the dough for 1 minute between mixings in step 5?
What's the point of letting the batter bubble up in step 3?
Why refrigerate the dough overnight? Couldn't it be used to make waffles right after the 4-hour rising?

Thank you!

the amount of flour is likely the culprit.  Flour is very sensitive to moisture and can change volume a surprising amount so that the two cups may not be two cups.  Also make sure you are not scooping the flour out with your measuring cup,  but filling it with another implement before leveling off the top with a straight edge.
As you are after a not-quite-bread-like consistency, even though you are using high-gluten flour (in the bread flour called for) you don't want a full bread-like texture
Letting the yeast rise
Many sweet breads do something similar.  Cinnamon buns for example.  It again affects the crumb and texture of the final product.  It also slows down the yeast as it notes in the recipe when you refrigerate for just a little bit.  The rise the next morning should give you nice small bubbles.


How to keep my (deep frying) oil usable as long as possible? I have a new deep fryer. I am pleased with its results so far. I am not a 'heavy user' though - say once every 2-3 weeks. I want to re-use the oil a couple of times. The deep fryer is covered but not airtight, however.

The new deep fryer has a cold zone, which means the oil won't become dirty due to particles over-frying. I don't overheat the oil either. So, in principle, I'm frying correctly, I think.

So, how long can my oil safely sit in the deep fryer, if I ensure it's thouroughly heated next time I fry? Should I be allowing the oil to cool and store the fat in (sealed) containers instead, if there's going to be this long a gap between uses?

Edit: yes, I've seen this question and answers: Frying Oil Reuse

First thing, a cold zone doesn't prevent particulate build up, it just cuts down on the amount that will remain suspended in the oil. You should still filter if you want to keep your oil as long as possible.  You can detect bad oil (meaning rancid) by a few ways, like smoke point or smell.
You should store your oil someplace dark and cool, which could be the inside of your fryer as long as you filter and clean the sides before you stick the oil back in.  Another thing you can do to extend the life of your oil is switch to tallow (beef fat) or rended pigs fat (lard) as saturated fats do last a lot longer than the poly-unsaturated.

Once again, you should lose the oil when the smoke point drops, or if it is to dark, or if it develops any foul odor.  And as I said before, once you use the oil once, you should NOT use it past six months under any circumstances, if you do, you are taking your gastro-intestinal tract into your own hands.


How to extract raw honey from honeycomb? We recently had to get a swarm of bees removed from our house and moved to an appropriate lodging. We have been left with about 2kg of honeycomb - some of it clean, some of it with old honey/larvae/debris in it.

How do you extract the honey with the following restrictions:

No heating, the honey must remain raw
All items need to be common household items
End product needs to be filtered and clean of any debris or bee leftovers

Ok so this is what I did, and it worked :)

Gently cut/scrape the outer caps with knife
Mashed the comb with a fork and moved it into a fine sieve, placed over a bowl
Put it in the oven on a very low heat <35 degrees Celsius for 30 min

This happened over 2 days, I would gently warm it, then mash it a little and move it around so that it kept seeping out.
It's not 100% efficient but I would say I probably got 90% yield.

My dogs were very happy to take the leftover mash as "treats"! (as an side note, it's really really good for them).

Thank you @GdH and @EugenePetrov for the input!


Baking chicken while respecting maximum olive oil temperature I normally cook chicken on a pan with some olive oil (which supports a maximum temperature of 160C) but I am trying to bake on the oven instead.

I've found a recipe where some olive oil placed at the bottom of tray together with some balsamic vinegar and some spices but the recipe indicates to set the oven temperature to 200C.

Knowing that the maximum temperature for the olive oil is the 160C I set the oven temperature to that and increase the cooking time for the chicken (instead of 20 minutes I used 1 hour). On the last 5 minutes or so, I increased to 190C.

The chicken looks cooked inside but I am concerned now if whether or not it had reached a safe temperature after reading Can I safely roast a chicken for 4 to 5 hours on a low heat? .

If I set the oven temperature to 200C, will it cause degradation on the portion of olive oil, considering its maximum recommended temperature of 160C? Likely the oil will not reach the 200C but what temperature should I use?
How safe should it be to eat this chicken now? Should I apply some extra cooking to be sure?

thanks in advance

I think I got my answer. Thanks to GdD to put me into the right track. I was using an olive oil not suitable for cooking. I got now one now capable of handling up to 210C. I think I need to do a lot of salads to make use of the previous 1 liter olive oil bottle though :P

BTW, i tried the chicken, not problems so far by eating it. Likely was still enough well cooked.


How smooth is peanut butter? I want to make 'cookie butter' (cookies, oil,  powdered sugar, Xmas spices).

My food processor doesn't grind the cookies fine enough. It still feels gritty on the tongue. So I am looking at buying a grinder, but I want to make sure it will do the job.

What is the mesh size or size in microns of the particles in smooth peanut butter?

Bonus question: does any one have a chart of size vs mouth feel of various foods?

Madehow.com discusses the entire process of making peanut butter.

  Peanut butter is usually made by two grinding operations. The first reduces the nuts to a medium grind and the second to a fine, smooth texture. For fine grinding, clearance between plates is about .032 inch (.08 centimeter). The second milling uses a very high-speed comminutor that has a combination cutting-shearing and attrition action and operates at 9600 rpm. This milling produces a very fine particle with a maximum size of less than 0.01 inch (.025 centimeter).
  (Emphasis mine)

However, creating the correct emulsion of fat and particles may have a greater impact. As with ice cream, the fat coats the tongue and helps prevent a grainy texture.

EDIT:
This report from Micromeritics, a rheological analysis firm, shows the particle sizes of three (unnamed) chocolate bars. However, it has a useful graph of particle diameters. For the smoothest chocolate bar, approximately 50% of particles are smaller than 5 nanometers, and nearly 80% are less than 10. The lowest quality bar has only 25% of particles smaller than 5 nanometers, and only 45% are less than 10.


Should I use salted or unsalted butter if the recipe doesn't specify? When recipes call for “butter” but doesn’t specify “salted” or “unsalted”, which should I use? Does it matter?

Generally, you should use unsalted butter. You can always add salt to your unsalted butter, but you can't take it out if you want it less salty!

If it's just being melted on some vegetables, then salted butter is probably fine. However, different brands of salted butter have different amounts of salt added, which makes it difficult to know how much total salt is going into your food. This is more problematic in baking. It's possible to easily oversalt or undersalt just by using a different brand — leading to unpredictable results. By using unsalted butter, the only salt remaining in the recipe is what you have added, and you have more careful control over the outcome.

If you need to substitute one for another, you can estimate how much salt is in salted butter and adjust your recipe accordingly.

If you are not sure whether a particular recipe calls for salted or unsalted, look for clues.

Is there additional salt in the recipe? (If not, it may expect some salt from the butter. If so, it may expect unsalted butter!)
How old is the recipe? (Newer recipes tend to assume unsalted butter. Older recipes tend to assume salted butter.)
Where was the recipe written? Different cultures assume different butters (and salt levels may vary between countries for salted butter!); I will not give an exhaustive list here, mostly because I don't know, but it's worth researching.

If you have the time, interest, and money, you can try making the recipe twice (once with salted, once with unsalted butter) and see which tastes better. This is a bigger investment, though, so only worth doing if you really want to get the recipe as good as possible.


Melting yellow cheese for savory pancakes or crêpes Due to differences in cultures I will begin with explaining the terms I am going to use:

Savoury pancake - It is a normal pancake or a crêpe by US standards, but instead of being eaten with jam or similar sweets we instead use non-sweet ingredients like ham and cheese which are put on top of the (cooked) dough and subsequently rolled in it.
Yellow cheese or Kashkaval which is a specific type of cheese made from cow milk and/or sheep milk. It looks like this.

What we usually do is make a savoury ham and Kashkaval pancake. We do this by making the normal pancake mixture, pour it on the pan and when one side is ready we flip it, then we put the yellow cheese in a row on the middle of the now cooked side and while the other side is still cooking the cheese starts to melt. When the other side is almost done we add the ham on top of the cheese and wrap it all up.

My problem is that I want to add more cheese for a hefty snack. However adding more cheese means making the row thicker and sometimes not all the cheese melts. I am looking for a way to add more cheese while still getting it all to melt, that is why I thought maybe I could melt some cheese in a tiny pot and pour it onto the ready pancake but melting this type of cheese doesn't produce very good results and I don't think I can get my hands on processed cheese.

One simple option is to shred the cheese.  The heat moves from the surface of the pancake into the cheese - so a thick slice has to melt all at once, and from the bottom up, and it may not melt in time.  Grated or shredded cheese has a lot more surface area, and warms quicker, and traps heat in the air between the shreds, and so will melt much quicker than sliced or chunked cheese - even if the layer ends up being fairly thick.  Also it will help if you sprinkle it all over the pancake instead of just a row in the middle - again more surface area, the better it melts.

Another option is to warm the cheese just a bit - even if it's just room temperature it will melt quicker than fridge temperature, which might make the difference depending on just how thick the layer you want is.  Of course, there's nothing that says your bowl of shredded cheese can't be put somewhere a bit warmer, like next to the stove, so that it melts really quick when you sprinkle it on the pancake.

Another option, if you know you're only making sour pancakes, is to put some of the cheese into the batter to begin with - not all of it, or it will change the texture and cooking time by a lot, but some of the cheese can be added in without changing too much, and that means the amount added on top can be less, and so will melt quicker.

You might, depending on how runny your pancake batter is, even make filled pancakes - use just a little batter, half a pancake's worth or less, and quickly spread it thin, sprinkle on some of the cheese with your other hand, and immediately top with the second half a pancake's batter (spreading or dabbing it around as best you can), and flip immediately as you've probably been cooking the first side just a tad too long.  Sprinkle more cheese if you want, or add the ham then.  It will work best when the batter is a particular texture, runny enough to spread but thick enough to stay in place... the point is that if you're quick and careful it can be done it is just relentlessly fast and a lot of work.

Or you can make something more like quesadillas - pour the batter, add the cheese and ham, fold in half, and flip back and forth until the center is cooked (the outside won't overcook as much if you can keep flipping it, same basic principle as an omelet).

And, of course, you can make a processed cheese, or a cheese sauce - carefully shred or grate your cheese, add to a white sauce (fry flour and butter, add milk very gradually, add cheese gradually), and add as much cheese as you wish to make it as thick as you please.  The cheese sauce can be poured when warm, or spread when cool, and if you folded in enough cheese it might even be slice-able when cold (this is how processed cheese slices work, cheese thinned just a bit with milk and butter) and again, it will melt much more easily than regular cheese.

And finally, you can warm the finished product.  If you're making just one, turn off the stove as soon as you flip the pancake - the second side will cook in the residual heat, but it will take longer... more time for your cheese to melt without overcooking the second side.  If you're making a few pancakes, you can fold them over and set them aside as you're cooking, and once you're done set them back on the (now turned off) stove once they're all made, and let the residual heat warm them up again... it shouldn't overcook too much since the heat is lower and tapering off, but it should warm them enough to help melt any last cheese (already warmed by the pancake).  And if you're making lots, turn on the oven (or have a pan on very low heat on the other side of the stove), to put the mostly-finished pancakes in, so they can finish warming and melting while you're cooking a whole batch, and you can serve them all at once.


Substitute For Cream of Tartar I recently bought tartar sauce instead of cream of tartar as my recipe said. The thing is I can't decide if tartar sauce is the same thing as cream of tartar.

Please advise whether I can use this as a substitute or if there are other substitutes or a recipe for cream of tartar.

Cream of Tartar is potassium bitartrate in the form of powder. It is acidic, and is used in cooking mainly to stabilise meringue.

Tartare sauce is a mayonnaise-based sauce made using cornichons, capers, and tarragon or dill. It is usually served with seafood.

The two items are completely different and cannot be substituted one for the other.


What is the difference between Paris ham and French ham? My supermarket sells two kinds of pre-sliced ham. One is called Paris-style and the other French-style ham. Both kinds of ham are from the same company and the names are no indication of where the ham is made.

Are these names widespread terms to used describe different types of ham?
If so, what is the difference between how these are made?

Jambon de Paris (Paris Ham) is a slow cooked ham. The slow cooking means it retains a large percentage of its moisture and absorbs the flavours of the ingredients with which it is cooked.

Jambon de Bayonne is a dry cured or smoked ham that may or may not be further cured in red wine and given its name from the region in which it originates.

Both are sometimes identified as French Jambon ham. French-style ham would probably indicate the use of one or both methods to produce the final result. But as Elendilthetall mentioned it is just marketing speak for an imitation.


How to cook a pot roast without it tasting like vegetables I usually cook a beef pot roast by putting the meat and vegetables (potatoes, carrots, onions) in a slow cooker with a little bit of water and letting it go for ~8 hours on low. This works well int hat everything is well cooked, the meat is moist and tender, etc.

The one issue I have is that the meat tends to have an overly strong taste of vegetables. I don't really know how to describe it beyond that. Particularly from the carrots. I prefer my meat to taste more like meat. What can I do to accomplish this? Should I try browning the meat first to try and "seal" it up? Add the vegetables later?

I think you've answered your own question. Browning and adding veggies later will both help.

Browning doesn't "seal" the meat to keep flavor or juices in, but it does create a very nice flavor that's almost always associated with meat, caused by the Maillard reaction. I think browning could go a long way to resolving your flavor issue.

This is a little counter intuitive of cooking with a slow cooker, but you can start the meat with a bit of water (or wine, stock, other juices) and then only put the vegetables in much later in the process. Of course, then you have to tend your crock pot, which is often not the point. That would decrease the time that the vegetables had to affect the taste of your meat. You could even experiment with which ones to add later and which to add at the beginning. If it's just the carrots that are offensive, that may be the only thing you need to throw in later.


Which oils or fats make the crispiest roast potatoes? Which oil or fat is the best option for crispy on the outside fluffy on the inside roast potatoes?

I think it's more about technique than what fat you use when you're looking for crispy outsides (I'm sure there is at least one question here already that has the technique answers).

About the only solid advice I would give is that you need to find a fat that tastes good to you, or is neutral if that's your preference, and make sure the one you use won't burn at the temperature you're using.

Beyond that, it's all about taste and technique.

edit: I looked for questions that might have solid technique answers, but didn't find any. So I looked out on the greater web and found some advice from Cook's Illustrated. Crisp Roasted Potatoes

It doesn't have the recipe for free, but the advice is good:
Parcook at a fast simmer, get a little rough with the parcooked potatoes to rough up the outside, choose the right potatoes (they liked Yukon Golds).


Graphing oven temperature over time Someone asked about measuring oven temperature. That's great for seeing how well an oven does as far as getting to a certain temperature. However, just because an oven can be guaranteed to achieve a certain maximum temperature, doesn't mean it stays at that temperature.

Is there a probe that can handle oven temperatures (lets assume 600 degrees, ignore broiler temperatures) that can send temperature data to a computer while in the oven? I basically want to graph temperature over time. Also, are there know acceptable fluctuations of temperature?

Not sure about the acceptable fluctuations but probably the most common sort of sensor for those high termperatures is a thermocouple. There are three easy ways to get the data to a PC that come to mind:

Logging the data using a temperature datalogger with a thermocouple interface so it can later be downloaded to a PC. That might be good if getting your laptop / PC near the oven is a hassle.
A dedicated USB to thermocouple interface.
Using a multimeter with a USB interface and a thermocouple interface. That might have a bit of a learning curve to setup but might be useful if you see yourself ever using the other functions of a multimeter.

Thermocouples come in several types (type J, K, T etc) but the main thing to check is that the datalogger you select is compatible with the thermocouple, that they have similar connector types so it's easy to setup and the thermocouple covers an appropriate temperature range.

There are quite a few places to buy that sort of gear but it should give you a few search terms to use. For example on Amazon a pair of products I found searching on "USB thermocouple" and "thermocouple sensor" that might be suitable are:

USB Thermocouple Measurement Device for Windows® Linux®, and Mac®

3 Meters 9.8ft K Type Thermocouple Sensor Probe -30 to 400C

Another thing to be aware of is that some thermocouple sensors (mostly described as probes) are only designed to be inserted into hot substances, the cables attaching them aren't rated for the same high temperature but you can check with the supplier if unsure and it's not mentioned in the specifications. Also I'm not sure of the food safety of thermocouples so I wouldn't use them for measuring the internal temperature of meat without checking into that side of things, but it sounds like that won't be an issue for you.


After refrigerating cookie dough overnight, should i leave my dough at room temperature or go straight to the oven? I usually leave my cookie dough in the fridge overnight.

After taking it out, should I leave it at room temperature for a while or should I scoop it and go straight to the oven?

From the Fridge:

If you can scoop it (some doughs are too hard), go straight to the oven, though you will likely need to give them a minute longer baking time. This is actually beneficial for some doughs that spread a lot and some recipes actually call for a quick refrigeration.  I like to do this with sugar cookies (particularly snickerdoodles) as they don't get quite as spready.

Be careful when you say "for a while" though... most cookie doughs have egg in them and it's best practice to not leave that out for any length of time.

From the Freezer:

I also freeze dough (already scooped) and then bake a couple (or 12) at a time when I want a treat after dinner... or lunch or whenever I want a cookie... these can go directly into the oven and will similarly take a little longer to bake. Though, if you freeze the entire batch (without scooping), that won't be possible.

I do this regularly with homemade cookie dough and I've also worked somewhere that made the Otis Spunkmeyer cookies from the frozen dough balls and the directions clearly state to bake from frozen, do not thaw.

Here is a source that supports this:

StillTasty.com

  How to Freeze Cookie Dough:

  •  Wrap unbaked dough tightly with plastic freezer wrap or pack into a heavy-duty freezer bag or an airtight freezer container.

  When you’re ready to bake the cookies, thaw the frozen dough in the container in the refrigerator. (Thawing will take a few hours.)

  •   If you’re making drop cookies, you can also use this timesaving method: drop spoonfuls of cookie dough onto a baking sheet and place in the freezer until the dough is frozen (about an hour). Transfer the dough balls from the baking sheet into a heavy-duty freezer bag or an airtight freezer container.

  To bake the cookies, simply place the frozen dough balls directly onto a baking sheet and bake a few minutes longer than indicated in the recipe.

  •  If you’re making sliced cookies: form the dough into a log, as directed in recipe. Wrap tightly with plastic freezer wrap or place log in a heavy-duty freezer bag.

  To bake the cookies, you don’t need to thaw the frozen dough log — just slice off what you need with a sharp knife. Bake the frozen dough for a few minutes longer than indicated in the recipe.

  •     Use frozen cookie dough within 4 to 6 months for best quality.


Sourdough more rise in the oven It is a while sinse I baked any sourdough. After 6 days of feeding the starter and 2 12 hour proofs the rise in the loaf was not fantastic but about doubled when I baked it. Is this normal?

Yippy for you. The term for the expansion of the loaf in the oven is " oven spring " and it is a good thing. Artisan bread bakers cut the top or sides of the loaf so it does not tear when it springs. There is tool called a lame' for this purpose. It is a razor blade mounted on a stick or wand so that it is curved. To use you need to perfect the technique of scoring the loaf with a flick of the wrist. Sounds like you have nice healthy sourdough.


How to make "white" jello using aloe vera jelly pack for broken glass dessert I've heard that it is possible to make the base of broken glass jello with aloe vera jello and milk/cream/vanilla ice cream. I attempted to do it but at first I brought milk to simmer then one pocket of aloe vera jelly but it got a lumpy mixture! At my second attempt, I did what I usually do with a packet of jelly and mixed together the jelly and boiling water until the jelly has dissolved and the mixture is smooth, let it cool. Then I poured milk to have the white color but the same thing happened. I wonder how should one add milk/melted vanilla ice cream/cream to a jelly mixture to prevent curdling?

I wouldn't use unflavored gelatin, that's why I would use aloe vera jelly.

I have not seen this "aloe vera jelly" you describe, but from its behavior (clumps milk, needs a boil), it seems to be a pectin based thickener. If it is HM pectin, it will need enough acid, and this will clump the milk.

The simple answer is that you will not be able to make a milk jelly with this thickener. Your options is to either use a different white liquid, or to use a different thickener. There aren't that many white liquids, but a nut milk might work. Especially if it's stabilized, it might not curdle under acid (but I'm not 100% sure). As for thickeners, you could try LM pectin, it will even get its calcium from the milk. Other thickeners are available, but the thickened texture will not be as gel-like, but have a somewhat different texture. Agar might work.


What does the Cinnamon in my coffee turn into? I few years ago I put Cinnamon in my coffee. After a few hours (I'm a slow coffee drinker) I started to take my last sip and a big clump of mucus hit my tongue and I almost puked. After recovering, and almost getting into fist fights with several co-workers (They loved pulling pranks) a few of them said cinnamon always does that. I'm still not so sure? What is up with Cinnamon and coffee and are there any other spices that does that? Or should I have continue to punch my co-workers?

Cinnamon is made from the ground bark of a variety of trees in the Cinnamomum genus. All of these barks contain starches, soluble fibers, and insoluble fibers to some degree.

Lower grade cinnamons such as Cinnamomum cassia contain higher amounts of lignins, bassorins, pectins, and mucilages; accounting for almost 80% of the mass of the powdered cinnamon.  These compounds form gummy, mucus-like masses when hydrated or dissolved in water.  The mucilages in cinnamon can be dissolved in cold water, but it takes heat and time to fully hydrate the bassorins and other compounds which creates a gummy mass.  Higher quality cinnamon from different species may contain less mucilages or other compounds, but all powdered cinnamon will form a mass to some extent.  Herbs and spices such as cardamom, chicory, nutmeg and many others contain many similar compounds in various proportions that could also form gummy masses, but it would take research and/or experimentation to figure out the amounts needed.

Cinnamon flavors can be added to coffee without ending up with sludge in your cup by adding the cinnamon to the brewing chamber or by adding cinnamon extract or cinnamon essential oil to the brewed coffee.


I put my cheddar in my kitchen cabinet I don't know why I did this and still can't believe I did it in the first place. I was cooking yesterday and had taken out some cheddar cheese. When I went to put things away I put the cheddar cheese in a Tupperware container to put away. Instead I put the container with my cheddar cheese in a cabinet and didn't find it until this morning. The cabinet was warm. My cheese was obviously very soft to where you can see oils from the cheese.

Is my cheddar bad now? I put it in the fridge this morning trying to save it. Is it going to be safe to eat or should I throw it away?

Some cheeses can be left out without any real problems, there are some aged cheeses that I buy regularly that can sit on the counter for two weeks.. I believe that cheese was created to help preserve other foods that would go bad if left out.

I think it depends on how well the cheese was sealed. I typically seal with plastic wrap, I will cover the entire block of cheese with the wrap and ensure that it is air tight. I don't know how well your cheese was sealed but I don't know that a tupperware container is the proper way to store cheese.

I would probably still eat the cheese though, I love cheddar.


Turmeric sprouted - is it safe to eat I had a glass container with turmeric roots. When I was preparing curry I noticed that they have sprouted but seems to be firm and not problematic in other way (no mold etc.). Is it safe to use them?

Yep, it's perfectly safe. The only time you should discard it is if mold has formed, or if the roots give easily when you squeeze them.

You can store them in the fridge in an airtight container along with a desiccant pack to prolong shelf life, but much like any other root they're at peak flavor within a few days of purchase.


How do you coat perfectly round truffles with melted chocolate? How do you coat perfectly round truffles with melted chocolate. Preferably with the least amount of mess. Normally, I just dip the truffle into a bowl of melted chocolate and remove the truffle with a spoon. I then will place them on a sheet of wax paper.

However, this leaves my truffles looking ...well not so round. The chocolate drips down causing the truffle to have a flat surface. And the ball is not smooth.

The recipe I am following can be found here and an example is shown below:

I don't know about perfectly round, but you can do better.

Stick toothpicks in the truffles before dipping. Dip them using the toothpick, let it drip enough to make sure there's not a ton of excess, probably while spinning it a bit to let it cool slightly and make sure it doesn't all accumulate in one place. Then stab the other end of the toothpick into something to hold it with the truffle at the top. (A block of foam works, as does cardboard, though you might need to pre-poke holes.)

This avoids having a lot of excess coating chocolate, which it looks like you're getting a lot of when scooping out with a spoon. There can still be a little excess, but it'll drip down the toothpick, not get smeared all over. It also avoids having to mess up any of the surface by touching it with the spoon.

Beyond that, they'll be as perfectly round as you managed to roll the centers, which is mostly just a matter of a bit of practice and obsessiveness. So they won't be perfectly round, but they'll be a lot smoother and rounder, definitely enough to impress people. You do get a small hole on one side of the truffle, possibly with a tiny bit of excess chocolate around it where it collected against the toothpick, but I don't think that's terribly ugly. Plus as long as a decent fraction are pretty, you can just eat your mistakes.

Here's what a friend and I managed on our first try:

As you can see, they're definitely not perfect. But we got better at it as we went along. A lot of the irregularities are from initial inexperience, variation in chocolate temperature (we didn't have a great water bath or hot plate setup), and simply not having terribly round centers.

Finally, you might want to practice tempering the chocolate a bit better. Having nice glossy smooth surface makes them look a lot cleaner even if they aren't perfect.


How can I improve sealing of bags for sous vide? I am occasionally using my vacuum machine to pack bags for sous vide cooking. The model is the FuturaVac clamp-style table model (see e.g. http://www.sousvidenorge.no/produkt/sous-vide/vakuum/futuravac-bordmodell)

Recently, I have experienced that the sealing of the plastic bag does not function as it ideally should. This morning, for example, I was packing three frozen chicken breasts. They had thawed a little in the fridge, but still had some ice crystals on them. I added some oil to the bags and vacuumed them using the machine. The seal for two bags was not 100%. I even tested it by packing one bag within another, and I could see liquid (oil) moving up towards the machine in the innermost bag, which it should not had the sealing worked as it should.

My question is this: How can I avoid this poor sealing? Are there any tricks one can use?

Edge sealing vacuum machines like yours are not really designed to cope with liquids, either water or oil. In fact, you can permanently damage your device if those liquids get sucked into the pump. There are ways around this, one is to feeze any liquids you wish to add to the vacuum bag or if your model supports it you can follow the advice from eGullet here:

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144300-sous-vide-recipes-techniques-equipment-2011/page-2#entry1779665

  Sealing liquids is possible with clamp-type machines. Other members stated this long ago. I did not manage to do so at first, but now I have learned the trick. It does not work with fully-automated machines that have no "seal"-button and no external vacuum-port.
  Place the machine in a way that the bag can hang down vertically. Place the adapter on the external vacuum-port (without the tubing). When you start vacuuming, air will enter through the external vacuum-port, so almost no vacuum is built up. By closing the port with your finger, vacuum will rise and so will the liquid in the bag. Before the liquid approaches the sealing bar, reduce vacuum by lifting your finger, and press the seal button. Make a second and eventually third seal in case the first one should not be perfectly tight.


lemon juice curdling white chocolate I was trying to make white chocolate truffle.....but when I melted my white chocolate and added lemon juice to it, it curdled and there was huge chocolate butter floating on top of my mixture...can anyboody help with this.

Lemon juice is still mostly ... water.

Water to molten chocolate (white or not - there is cocoa butter in either), unless in the form of cream and in a sufficient amount that completely changes texture (giving you a ganache), is generally known to do exactly what happened in your case - seize the chocolate.


Tips for remembering recipes I often find myself remembering the ingredients that go in a recipe, but forgetting the exact amounts.  Are there some tricks/tips that professional cooks use to help them remember recipes so they don't have to keep their eyes glued to a recipe list?

Thanks!

The best way to remember a recipe is to understand the relationships between the ingredients. If you know what determines how much butter you need, you'll never have trouble remembering how much to put in.


Can I use guar and gelatine together? I am baking a fancy cake recipe for the first time, and have trouble with it.

Basically, the cake has three layers. The first one is a flourless bisquit. Then there comes a guar thickened puree made of fresh mangoes and grand marnier , and above them JI am supposed to smear a thick wallop of a mascarpone-sour cream combination.

I have all three ready (not yet combined), only the puree is quite runny. I expected it to get as hard as starch-based custard does when it cools (frankly, I have never yet tried to achieve something actually stiff with guar). But I have already put three times as much guar as the recipe called for, and it is a very viscous liquid - when you pull the spoon out of it, you see ridges which slowly run back to smoothness. It is yummy, but there is no way it will carry a thick layer of the dairy stuff (which is not quite hard itself). There is a lot of puree, about 750 ml for a 28 cm cake, so the layer is supposed to be thick.

The best solution I can think of is to mix some gelatin into the mango stuff. But I have never used gelatin and guar together, so I am not quite sure what the result will be. First, will the taste suffer (I know that thickening agents shouldn't have an impact on taste, but I've actually had too much gelatin ruin the taste of the thing). And second, will some weird physical effect caused by the guar prevent the gelatin from setting?

And if you have any better idea than the gelatin, I'd be happy to hear it.

You'd have to use a whole lot of gelatin to ruin the taste.  My guess is that when you experienced that in the past, you were using (perhaps unknowingly) flavoured gelatin or "dessert gelatin" instead of ordinary, pure, unflavoured gelatin crystals or sheets.

Erik is correct in that gelatin does not do well with tropical fruits (including mangoes), nor acidic environments, nor alcohol, and you have all of those things.  Stay away from gelatin.  A much better idea here would be Agar (also "agar agar") - again, make sure it's pure agar, not the flavoured dessert stuff - and use about 0.2% agar by mass.  You need very little of it compared to gelatin, so it most definitely won't affect the taste.  In fact, I might go as low as 0.1% because you don't really want setting action, just thickening.  By the way, make sure you hydrate it properly; agar needs to be boiled before cooling in order to set.

Of course one of the nicest things about gelatin is the fact that its gelling action is reversible and it has a melting point of around mouth temperature, so gelatin desserts or fillings will literally melt in your mouth.  But if you combine it with guar gum then you'll get a lot less of that anyway since guar is not thermoreversible like gelatin is.

Xanthan gum is another interesting choice due its shear-thinning property.  What that means is that it won't literally "set" like agar or gelatin, but will hold firm as long as it's not moving.  That can get you a little bit closer to the melt-in-your-mouth feel of gelatin, but you also risk having it all ooze out while you're slicing the cake, or fall apart on your fork.  It's really more useful as a stabilizer than as a gelling agent, but I thought it worth explaining in more detail since Erik mentioned it in his answer.

Any of these things can be used with guar gum, corn starch, or any other traditional thickener; just don't use too much or else you'll end up with Jell-O (or worse) as your filling.

By the way, another thing you can use (which is quite common in fruit fillings) is pectin crystals.  The most common kind of pectin does well with high acidity and sugar, which I believe is what you want, although I'm not sure about the acidity of your filling - you'll need quite a bit of acidity (around that of orange juice) and quite a lot of sugar (60-80% according to Khymos).  It's a little trickier to get this right, and I'm not 100% sure about any possible negative interactions with guar gum, so I'm leaving this as more of a footnote than a recommendation.


Proofing pizza dough with an electric oven I used to make pizza dough effortlessly when I had a gas oven.  The pilot was enough to keep a warm temperature.
My last two ovens have been electric ovens.  I have tried many approaches, including keeping a hot water bath in the oven with the dough, and leaving the light on.  But have had no success in getting a good raised proof.
Are there any surefire methods to proof pizza dough with an electric oven?

No, an electric oven is not especially well suited as a device for speeding up dough proofing.
The closest you can get is by turning the oven on at the lowest level, without preheating, and babysitting it. Provided that you have a standard, large oven, it is unlikely that you kill the yeast - but you really have to pay attention to it, so it is labor-intensive, and not actually surefire.
If you insist on a warm proof, you will have to buy or construct a separate proof device.


How long can oil sit for? My brother is having a go at me because I apparently destroyed his Tefal fryer because I left the oil sitting. He said that "the oils been sitting too long, it's messed up the wiring underneath, and it doesn't work".

Can the oil stop the wiring from working?? I believe it can't as oil cant seep through metal, can it?

If oil is even in contact with the wires the unit is defective or has been modified, making it impossible for the oil to be the cause of electrical failure of a correctly working, unmodified unit. In addition, most oils are mostly non-reactive, that is why they are used for frying applications and can be used repeatedly.  Some exotic oils may be a bit more reactive, but are not used for deep frying.  The fryer units are made with the expectation they will have oil in them most of the time.  Letting a unit sit too long may result in spoiled or contaminated oil, but not issues with the unit.  I would respectfully suggest that your bother is mistaken and attempting to cast blame where it does not belong.  I say respectfully as the actual words that come to my mind are more harsh.


What is direct heat? Why is it that when I check google images for Direct heat, I see pictures of a flame under a grid like surface?  Is that direct, or indirect?

And what'd you call sticking a marshmallow directly in a flame to toast it? no grid at all. Is there a unique name for that?

Direct vs. Indirect Heat are terms usually used when referring to American style BBQing or grilling. While the terms can apply to other areas of cooking as well their usefulness makes the most sense in this context.

Direct Heat

A method of heat transfer in which heat waves radiate from a source (for example, an open burner or grill) and travel directly to the item being heated with no conductor between heat source and food. Examples are grilling, broiling, barbecueing, and toasting. (source)

Keep in mind that the grill itself doesn't really act as a conductor as much as a way to hold the food in a static position relative to the heat source. To better understand direct heat, understand it's complement:

Indirect Heat

When using indirect heat, your goal is to never have any part of the meat directly over flames or charcoal. You can only do indirect cooking with a charcoal or gas grill that has a cover. In this respect, it acts very much like a convection oven... the heat swirls around the inside of the grill and the meat is cooked from all angles. This also eliminates the need to 'flip' or turn your meat during the cooking process. (source)

This is generally used to cook large pieces of heat that need a long time to cook. A smoker is an example of the kind of equipment used to cook with indirect heat.


Why does my Heavy whipping cream pound cake have an aftertaste between flour and metallic? All of my dry and wet ingredients were perfectly measured and at room temperature.   I did not use baking powder as the recipe did not require it.  I substituted vanilla extract (McCormick) for vanilla flavoring (McCormick).  I baked the cake in the oven on 325 in a pre-heated oven for 90 minutes, let it cool for 20 minutes, and then removed it from the baking pan and onto a cooling rack for 3 hours.   Otherwise the cake baked perfectly and was delicious until I finished the first slice.

The recipe was as follows:
Ingredients

1 ½ cups (3 sticks) of salted butter, softened
3 cups of white granulated sugar
6 large eggs (room temp.)
3 cups of sifted Swans Down Cake Flour
½ tsp of vanilla extract
½ pint of Heavy Whipping Cream
2 cups of sifted powdered sugar
¼ cup (½ stick) of butter, melted
2–4 Tbsp of heavy cream
Extract/flavoring, if desired

Steps:

Preheat oven to 325°F.
In large mixing bowl, cream butter then gradually add sugar beating on medium speed until creamy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.
Add Swans Down Cake Flour and heavy whipping cream alternately beating on low speed until just blended as over beating will yield a dry and heavy cake.
Add vanilla; for richer flavor, add additional 1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract.
Pour into prepared pan
Bake 90 minutes

I think SuperWild1 is on the right track here. Some people get a strong metallic taste from cornstarch, and its presence in this recipe might be doing strange things to the flavor. I'm not even sure why powdered sugar is in this recipe - nor cake flour, for that matter. Seems someone might have been trying really hard to make a "lighter" pound cake...?
Anyway, if you want to try this recipe again, you can either make your own powdered sugar in a food processor, or you can use the same amount of caster (or ultrafine) sugar and see how that works for you. Also, be careful with "vanilla flavoring" in baked goods because it can include things that are not vanilla pods and ethanol, which can also create off flavors.


Brand new KitchenAid Professional 6500 makes clicking/ticking noise when under load I bought a brand new KitchenAid Professional 6500 from "kitchenaid.com" just a week ago and set it up today, I used the flap beater attachment to make cookie dough.
When mixing butter with sugar and eggs until it creams, no clicking noise can be heard.
But when adding 3 cups of flour to the mixture, clicking noise can be heard.
All of the above was done at speed: "stir".
I do not like this annoying clicking noise for a $500 mixer, completely absurd.
Had I knew about this "normal, common, not-a-big-deal" problem among the KitchenAid mixers (specially in the "professional" series) I would've originally spent $700 for a Bosch or an Ankarsrum mixer.
What exactly is causing this clicking noise when under light load such as cookie dough?
Is it the gears or the retaining pin bumping with the attachment connector? Thinking to return this...
Thanks!

I suspect that one of two things is happening:

The gears aren't aligned correctly, and they're far enough apart that the teeth are just barely touching, so under load, they start slip rather than mesh up correctly.

The sacrificial gear is failing.  Basically, there's a gear that's designed to break rather than have forces get transmitted back to the motor and cause damage that can't easily be fixed.

The first one is obviously a problem.  I don't really see this happening unless it was dropped at some point.  If you saw damage to the box, or the packaging inside the box, it's possible this is the case.
The second one is specifically designed to happen, although I wouldn't expect it to fail this quickly.  It's also designed to be repaired relatively easily.  I would recommend contacting the manufacturer, especially if you can easily reproduce the sound.
Note : I know that when repairing a friend's Kitchen Aid, I got a pair of special pliers to remove some retaining rings ... I can't remember if the sacrificial gear could be removed without it ... but there's also been a whole lot of variants of the Kitchen Aid mixers through the years that look nearly identical, but are different internally.


Cassolette Pans - Cooking on the Stovetop and in the Oven So, I'm a hobbyist and like to play with new recipes.  Recently I've found a few recipes which want me to fry something, then put the pan directly into the oven and roast for a bit.  Then maybe move it back to the cooktop a bit.  It seems a bit odd, although deglazing seems a fairly common example.

Well, the problem with this is most pans intended for the stove are very thin and perform poorly on the cooktop.  Most pans intended for the cooktop have plastic handles or other bits which seem like a poor idea to put in the oven.  I can get along passably with a dutch oven (one without legs) but those tend to be round and often an oval pan is good for roasting things.  What I've heard I need is a cassolette pan.

Unfortunately, I'm finding the same problem in the stores.  Either pans don't have the weight for cooktop cooking, or they have plastic or rubberized handles.  Although I have found a very expensive line of colored dutch ovens in a couple of stores.

Is there some way to determine if the rubberized bits are oven safe?  Other than buying one and voiding the warranty?  Any advice which would help determining whether a pan might survive?

A few ideas for you:

You can use cast iron.  Depending on what you are cooking this works quite well - but beware what you deglaze with, you might take your finish off or impart a taste to your food.

You can read the label on your rubber/plastic handle cookware.  Many are oven-safe to 350F or so, the label should tell you.

You can use stainless steel or other all metal cookware.  Paderno is my (Canadian!) favourite.  Alternately go to your local restaurant supply store - so-called professional gear can actually be quite reasonable, because a kitchen has to buy so much of it.

Good Luck!


Substitute for Chinkiang vinager What can I sub for Chinkiang vinegar? It is for a dressing recipe I found.
Just don't want to go to the store

In America's Test Kitchen's recipe for Hot and Sour Soup (sorry, paywalled), they call for 5 tablespoons black Chinese vinegar or 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar plus 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar. So a 50/50 mix of both vinegars for more than twice the amount of Chinkiang vinegar. I have made Hot and Sour Soup with Chinkiang and with the red wine and balsamic substitution. I can vouch for the substitution.


Fix a bad vegetable soup I threw a whole bunch of vegetables in the crock-pot with water and realized I had forgot to buy meat for it. I cooked it anyways and it is extremely bland. Any ideas on what I can do to fix it now? I don't want all this to go to waste...

I basically just threw a bunch of random vegetables that I picked up from the farmers market in there: 3 squash, 2 zucchini, an onion, kale, a handful of green beans, 4 servings pearl barley (I had half a bag laying around I needed to use up), 2 handfuls black beans, half a head of cabbage. I put some salt & pepper, about 6 teaspoons of chicken bouillon, garlic powder. It's a big crock-pot and I filled it to the brim with water (besides all the veggies).

Any suggestions would be great...

With such a random collection of ingredients, I'm hesitant to suggest anything lest it conflict with one of the flavors.  With that in mind, add extra ingredients a little at a time to make sure it doesn't go overboard or taste jarring with something already in there.

Suggestions to improve the flavor:

Celery salt or celery seed (preferably ground).  Fresh celery is normally part of the mirepoix in veg soup, but it's probably not a good idea to add to a cooked soup, so we're adding the next best thing.  It is amazing the difference celery can make.
White wine vinegar (for acidity and a richer flavor, and pairing with the cabbage and onions)
Dry vermouth or white wine. Some flavor compounds are more soluble in alcohol than water, so this can help bring to the front additional flavors that are already present but undetectable.
A jigger of sherry or cooking sherry (the latter has salt, so add it before salting the soup). This is a common suggestion when serving canned soups to guests, to make the soup taste fancier.
Rosemary, thyme, and parsley flakes/stems (adds aromatic and herbal flavors)
Worcestershire sauce (use carefully, it's potent stuff) -- this adds umami and spiciness
Paprika and a pinch or two of cayenne -- adds warmth and back heat, and smokiness
Dijon mustard (use sparingly).  Adds front heat and a little richness to the soup
A little more salt and pepper
Parmesan or parmesan rind (for the rind, plan on simmering for a long time to extract flavor).  Self-explanatory here.
Balsamic vinegar -- adds sweetness, acid, body, and umami.  Use caution, it may conflict with the cabbage here.


Sweet potatoes: to cook or not to cook? I would like to dehydrate some sweet potatoes. Here I found a recipe for dehydrating fresh sweet potatoes in low temperatures without cooking them first. But here they say that fresh sweet potatoes contain toxins and should not be eaten without cooking. So what is the truth? Is it safe to eat dehydrated sweet potatoes that were not cooked first?

I would prefer cooking them first. Sun-dried sweet potatoes do exist in some parts of Asia as a snack. They are chewy chunks rather than crispy slices as shown in your link. There are also freeze-dried ones around these days. Anti-nutrition contents are not overwhelming in sweet potatoes to my knowledge. So, uncooked should be fine. I think you will get better texture and avoid browning by cooking them first.


Pan size affecting evaporation time I've got a pasta sauce which I create from scratch. I currently add various ingredients like vegetables or tinned chopped tomatoes that come with some water. One of the steps in the recipe is to simmer away the vast majority of the water.

The issue is that the quantity of the water implies 4H+ simmer times.

Can a bigger pan affect the time taken to simmer, assuming all else is constant?

Edit: The previous pan was roughly the same size as the hob size. The new pan is a bit bigger.

The amount of energy required to evaporate the water stays the same, no matter what the size of the pan is, but a bigger pan could potentially collect more energy since the area in contact with the cooktop would be larger. There is also a larger portion of the water in contact with the pot, making it easier for more energy to transfer to it.

This question on the physics stackexchange basically ask the same question you do here, and states that the surface area of the water will have a significant effect on the rate of evaporation if the stove transfers enough energy. Given that there is no change in the temperature of the sauce during the reduction, the rate of evaporation will be proportional to the surface area of the sauce (as stated in the final formula there).


Differences in creme fraiche recipe In all the recipes I see for making creme fraiche, the ingredient amounts--though all over the place--are something like 2 tablespoons of buttermilk to 1 cup of cream and many variations thereof. However, in 'Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cooking Techniques', they show 2 cups of buttermilk to 1 cup of cream.

I can't find any errata online so I'm wondering if there is a reason for that. Is this a French thing or possibly an uncaught typo (though the book is several years old)?

A quick search of the internets confirms your basic recipe of 2 tbs buttermilk to a cup of cream. This is likely a modern formula. Keep in mind that today's cultured buttermilk is not the same product as buttermilk (the liquid left over from churning butter...which could then be left to ferment) or "soured cream" (fermented cream) of years past.  In fact, I did find this Julia Child recipe that more closely aligns with the recipe from Le Cordon Bleu, which you reference. Julia calls for 1 cup of "soured cream" to 2 cups of heavy cream.  So, I don't think your reference has a typo.  I think it is from a time when we didn't use modern "cultured buttermilk." The bottom line is that you need some type of starter to get a lactic fermentation going.  While it might sound like too much liquid, remember that the fermentation process would thicken things up.  I would say that you could probably reproduce the traditional recipe, but it's probably more convenient (and would likely result is a very similar product) to use the smaller amount of commonly available cultured buttermilk that can be found in many markets.


Can frozen raw meat be defrosted and frozen again A frozen joint of turkey was partly defrosted cut into 2 and the other half was re-frozen

Surely this is not safe

It's perfectly safe if the turkey wasn't kept in the danger zone for longer than the maximum recommended time.

If it was kept appropriately cold for the minimal amount of time possible, there's nothing "unsafe" about refreezing anything.

What you do lose with refreezing is quality. Freezing is a damaging process for many products, meat included. The reason you're warned to not defrost and refreeze is generally for quality reasons, not for food safety reasons.


How do I make coconut milk at home? I rarely use coconut milk, so it's not something I like to keep around the house. On the rare occasion I do use it, most of it goes to waste because I only need a little bit. How do I make it at home, and can I make a low calorie version?

Most fair sized Asian markets carry boxes of powdered coconut milk/cream. The shelf life on these products is generally quite good, and allow you to make just the amount (and strength) of coconut milk you want by simply adding water.


Pound cake sticks to pan - need alternate solution My pound cakes stick to the pan regardless of the efforts I take. I have used baking spray, olive oil, butter, butter & flour, and tin foil strips. I have cooled completely, placed in the freezer until solid and still have to chip it out. The recipe is 3 cups granulated sugar, 1 cup butter, 6 eggs, 2 cups all purpose flour, 1 cup self rising flour, and for the liquid I use 8 oz of either sour cream, buttermilk, sweetened condensed milk. One time I added 6 bananas, chopped pecans and mini chocolate chips and it did NOT stick quite as bad. What can I do to prevent this?

What can I do to prevent this?

You can line the pan with parchment, including folding it into the corners, so that the pound cake never even touches the pan.
You can liberally lube the bottom of the pan and/or use parchment just in the bottom. When you remove the cake from the oven, run a knife between the pan and cake on all four sides to release it.
Before adding the batter, you can make sure the pan is very clean, i.e. no burned on bits, solidified oils, caramelized sugars, etc. Conversely, if it's a cast iron pan, you could try to season it again by coating in a neutral oil and baking it (empty) at high temperature for an hour or so.
You can use a different, possibly non-stick pan. Loaf pans often get scratched up when people use knives to cut slices of loaf cakes right in the pan, and those scratches can make it hard to get the cake to release. And just switching to a different material might make a difference for your recipe.
You can use a different recipe. Proteins and sugars both like to stick to surfaces, and moisture level plays a role too; fats should help to promote better releasing.
You can make sure you're baking at the right temperature and not under- or over-baking the cake. If the cake isn't sufficiently cooked it may be too moist on the bottom, which can prevent it from releasing. If it's overcooked, it may start to burn or at least really stick to the pan.
You can lower your standards a little. Cakes and quick breads made in loaf pans often have trouble releasing from the pan without help. Unless you want to present the cake outside the pan, it's often easiest to slice them in the pan. (Just avoid using a knife with a sharp point so you don't scratch you pan. ;-)


do I need to adjust the cooking time for a pound cake baked in two separate bundt pans instead of one regular tube pan? one pound cake recipe baked @300 degrees in tube pan for 1 hr 20 min
same pound cake recipe baked in 2 bundt pans  n
Need to know if I need to adjust the cooking time

If I understand your question, each cake has 1/2 of the batter. If that's the case, each cake is smaller, so it will bake faster. You will need to reduce the baking time, but it's difficult to tell by how much, especially without knowing how deep the layer of batter is in your pans compared to the one used by the author of the recipe. Usually the bake time for half a cake will be more than half the original bake time. My guess is your final bake time will be between 45 minutes and 1 hour. The way to approach this is to bake for about half the bake time, then check on the cake occasionally until it's done. Your initial checks will be infrequent, but increase the frequency as the cake gets closer to done.
I would bake for 30 minutes, then sneak a peek and see how they look. If the cakes still look soft/gooey/liquid in the middle, wait 10 minutes and check on them again. Keep baking until the cakes no longer look raw. Then take one out and stick a cake tester, thin knife or kebab skewer in the middle. Pull the tester out - if it comes out with liquid batter or partially cooked batter (that looks like a thick goo or paste), the cake isn't done yet. Wait 5 minutes and test again. Repeat until the tester comes out "clean" - that is, with no batter on it, but maybe some crumbs and a sheen of oil.
Since bundt pans have ridges that make some sections of the cake thicker than others, try to test in a thick section, because those will be the last to finish cooking.
Tips:

Try not to open the oven any more often than necessary, because you lose a fair amount of heat every time, which will slow down the baking.
When you move the pans, try not to knock them around, because this can knock air out of any liquid portions of the batter, which will make the cake sink in the middle.
With two cakes baking at the same time, they may bake unevenly. The first time you check on them, swap their positions. That will even them out, so they don't get over-done on one side and under-done on the other.
Pound cakes usually develop a crack in the middle of the top - try to sneak the tester in through the crack so the hole it makes is hidden by the crack.


How can I cause (yes, cause, not prevent) bloom in chocolate? I've had a few Hershey chocolate bars in the past that had a white surface coating. After a bit of searching, I found this is called bloom. I'm not sure if this is sugar bloom or fat bloom, but it was from a newly bought chocolate bar. I actually, and apparently unpopularly, enjoy this effect. Is there a way to induce it in store bought chocolate?

Sugar bloom is a bit more stable than fat bloom, so if you like that effect I'd suggest that you try to leave the chocolate first in a slightly warm and damp environment, the sort of temperature that would make it really soft, and once it is "sweating" move it to a freezer.

Sugar bloom is caused when the moisture from the chocolate gets slight separated from the chocolate, it dissolves the surface sugars and then evaporates, leaving sugar crystals behind. So it might be possible that spraying a soft warm mist of water might help accelerate it.

I never tried to have sugar bloom intentionally, but I'll give this mist technique a shot and let you know.


Why don't most non-East Asian varieties of rice stick together? Having tried a number of different kinds of rice, I've noticed that the only ones that seem to have grains that "stick" together are white varieties often used in East Asian cooking (jasmine (to some extent), Calrose and other "Japanese" types, etc.). (Glutinous rice also has this property, albeit to a much more pronounced extent, for obvious reasons.)

Conversely, a lot of other types don't (at least not to the same extent, and when they're not overcooked). For instance, the rice often served at Middle Eastern restaurants doesn't "stick". Nor do basmati or red/brown varieties. I've also had mixed experiences with white rice of the American long-grain variety, although there's the possibility that the place that was serving me it was undercooking it.

For what it counts, the only types of rice I've had experience cooking with (either stove-top or in a rice-cooker) are jasmine, Calrose, and red and brown varieties. I rinse my rice, but would not know if the rice I've had in restaurants or other types of eateries has been, and I'm not sure if this might result in a difference.

Thus: why is there such a difference in "stickiness", in terms of chemical/physical differences? Are there also differences in preparation (e.g. washing rice) that might affect things?

Please see the excerpt below from  this page . There is also a chart that lists different types of long, medium, and short grain rices and their characteristics and usage examples.

  Rice is composed of two different types of starch molecules: amylose and amylopectin. The amounts of these two starches determine the texture of rice when it is cooked.

  Rice with higher amylose content, such as long grain rice, is firmer and fluffier. Rice with lower amylose content, such as short and medium grain rice, has a softer, stickier texture.

  The Effect of Starch on Rice Cooking:

  Dishes such as risotto and sushi rely on rice that is low in amylose to create their characteristic soft and sticky textures.
  Rice dishes that have fluffy separate grains, like rice pilaf, are best made with rice that is higher in amylose starch.
  Some sticky rice dishes, like many Asian desserts, are made from varieties of rice that contain no amylose starch. These varieties of rice are called sweet, waxy or glutinous rice.

In general, the shorter the grain, the stickier the rice will be.


Best way to Sous vide two steaks to different temperatures What's the best way to prepare two steaks via sous vide if you want to cook a medium rare and a medium steak? Is it best to cook the medium steak first at its temperature, then lower the temperature, leave the medium steak in and cook the medium rare steak?

Pretty simple, cook the two steaks separately at the required temperatures the day before. Cool in an ice bath and reserve in the fridge. The next day rethermalise the steaks in the bath at say 55C: you really only need to heat them for around 25-30 minutes, as all you want to do is take the chill out of the steaks before you sear them on as a high a heat as possible. Do not season your steaks before they go in the bag because the meat will cure slightly overnight in  the fridge.

There's some good info on Cooking Issue around the cook/chill method, especially the pre-salting question:

http://www.cookingissues.com/2011/10/12/to-salt-or-not-to-salt-thats-the-searing-question/

  There are two main types of low-temperature cooking – direct-serve and
  cook-chill. For direct-serve you cook foods and serve them right away.
  For cook-chill, foods are cooked, chilled, stored, and rethermalized
  at service time. Here is a typical sequence for cooking a steak:

  Sear the raw rib-eye. This step kills bacteria on the surface, starts    the browning reactions that contribute to good meat flavors,
  and    ensures that a nice crust will be formed quickly later when the
  meat    is seared again.
  Put meat in a bag with butter.
  Cook the steak for 1-4 hours at 55 C. The optimum length of time    depends on how tough the particular steak is.

  Now, either:

  Pull the steak out of the bag, sear it (to make a nice crust) and    serve it. This is Direct Serve.

  Or:

  Chill the meat and store.
  Retherm it at 52 C.
  Pull the steak out of the bag, sear it and serve it. This is Cook-Chill.


Is there a difference between a lot of yeast and rising a short time vs little yeast and rising a long time? I have heard some people say that to make the best bread, you should use little yeast, and let the dough rise for a long time (about 24h). However, I am wondering if you can achieve the same results by just putting more yeast in the beginning, and rising it for only several hours. Chemically I don't see what the difference would be.

Yes, there is a lot of difference. In principle, having food prepared under different conditions while keeping some total variable the same, tend to have different outcomes - having the same outcome would be the exception, not the rule.
Yeast colonies live and metabolise differently under different circumstances - imagine how people live in the Icelandic countryside and in Hong Kong, something similar happens to your yeast.
What is most pertinent to the taste are some compounds which get built in hot, overcrowded conditions (a quick rise), but not in the slow ones. These are most notably ammonia and thiols, and some people experience them as too harsh in taste. Also, if you do a low and slow rise, you get a tiny bit of lactic and acetic acid formation, as in sourdough. During a slow rise, the texture also changes, with extra gluten formation through autolyse.
The current trend is for artisan breads to do slow rises and to have the flavor profile from retarded doughs. Quickly risen breads have a homemade quality to them, and are not perceived as very refined. It is up to you which one you prefer.


Where do you find gums, acids and glucose ingredients? If I find a recipe that contains any of those, I just won't make it because I don't know where to find such ingredients but now there's a series of desserts I want to make that use most of them. I don't think you can find most or any of those at the corner grocery store. I can probably get a five-pound bag at the commercial supplier but that's not the quantity I want.

So do you folks order those online or is there a general type of store I can find in a big city? I don't need a specific store recommendation (and that might not be allowed here).

Many of those are available online; that's certainly where my wife and I have obtained most of these sorts of ingredients. That's usually the "quickest" way to get them, in the sense of least effort to find something (not necessarily quickest to actually arrive of course).  Citric Acid, Gum Arabic, etc. are easily available in "moderate" quantities (think a pound or so) online.

Some are also available at larger grocers, depending on exactly what you're looking for.  If you're in a larger city, there are also often specialty stores that carry some of these ingredients; especially if they're frequently used in a particular culture's cuisine, for example there is a Korean market near my work that has quite a lot of specialty ingredients that I can't find easily elsewhere or even easily find online in moderate quantities.  Look in the "bulk" area of the store - next to the bulk nuts and seeds and such; often you'll find other powders, like many of the gums and acids.

I'd also check with the larger spice shops - while what you're describing isn't a spice, sometimes they'll carry them anyway due to the similarities (and, probably, the similar distributors).  I've found for example gum arabic at my local (larger) spice store.


What makes meat overly juicey? Yesterday I cooked a steak and today I cooked another (from the same cute). Today it turned out much better and on reflection it was because it was LESS juicy. Now, I find this surprising as I always thought juicy is something desirable for meat. Also today I added olive oil where yesterday I didn't add anything but spice.

How do you control the level of liquid that comes out of a piece of meat when you bite it? When is it desirable for meat to be juicy?

I cook steak on a George Foreman Grill with slanted grills that are non-stick. I heated it up to 450 F but it always looses temperature quickly so I expected it was 375 when the steak was actually in it.

How do you control the level of liquid that comes out of a piece of meat when you bite it?

Did you rest the second steak, the one you liked better?

Resting meat after cooking is an influential variable in controlling juice release. This article discusses [I am not affiliated with the link].

From the article:

  ...as one surface of the meat hits the hot pan (or grill), the juices in that surface are forced away towards the center, increasing the concentration of moisture in the middle of the steak. Once the steak gets flipped over, the same thing happens on the other side. The center of the steak becomes supersaturated with liquid—there's more liquid in there than it can hold on to—so when you slice it open, all that extra liquid pours out. By resting the steaks, you allow all that liquid that was forced out of the edges and into the center time to migrate back out to the edges.

A picture from least rested to most rested steaks, from the article linked above. Cut at 2 1/2 minute intervals.

\

Important distinction: The rested steak is not less juicy, it has the same moisture. It's just that it is better contained in the meat while you eat. I suspect that's what you liked about your second steak.

There could be other factors in your experience: seasoning, grill temps, starting temp of the the cut, etc. But resting is probably the most influential.

I rest my steaks for 7 to 10 minutes with a piece of aluminum foil lightly laying over the top.


Requirements for a Good Chef I'm an amateur cook and an aspiring Culinary Manager. I'm almost done with my program and I'll be opening my restaurant soon. I'll be hiring soon so I wanted to know what are the certain requirements that make a chef great. What differentiates a great chef from the mediocre chefs in the field. Please Note: I'm not fishing for resumes I'm just a curious manager looking for a good chef.

Quality control of food

A good chef should be able to explain what his/her methods are for controlling food quality and determining whether the price is appropriate for the quality delivered.

Inventory control

A good chef should have an understanding of the inventory required to serve the expected guests. He/she should be able to talk about methods how to make sure that you don't run out of items you need or throw too much food away.

Menu price

A good chef should be able to calculate the price for a menu.

Composition

A good chef has a thorough understanding that the eye is as important as the tongue, when serving meals.

Food safety
A good chef knows that food safety comes before profit. You could try this with a trick question like:"You have made the last four Kobe beef steaks for four guests, but the waiter dropped the plates just before leaving the kitchen. How do you save the situation?"


What is the difference between Alaskan King Salmon and Scottish Salmon? I'm considering throwing a dinner party, and I don't have much experience cooking salmon. What are the main differences between these two types of salmon in terms of price, taste, and cooking methods?

Alaskan King, or Chinook, salmon is generally wild, generally caught in the Pacific Northwest, often but not exclusively in Alaska. Scottish salmon is generally farm-raised Atlantic salmon, and as far as that goes is essentially identical to farm-raised salmon from Chile or Norway.

Price: hobodave's comment is correct that the price will vary based on location, but in fact the king salmon will be more expensive almost everywhere. Generic farmed Scottish salmon is a commodity product that generally sells for about $1 more than other farmed salmon for no particularly good reason, but wild salmon can easily cost twice as much regardless. Short of actually being in the Pacific Northwest it's likely that the Scottish is substantially cheaper.

Taste: the quality comparison is the big one here rather than species. King is usually treated much better (shipped quicker, wild diet) because it's not a commodity, but not necessarily. Scottish will vary depending on the farmer, but I think you have to prefer the King to any generically-farmed Scottish salmon.

Cooking methods: no necessary difference. Smoked on a plank is a common method in the Pacific Northwest, but no real reason you couldn't do either in that way. Pick your favorite method.


If you brine a chicken and then boil it in soup, how much salt, if any, will come out and go into the liquid? Suppose you brine a chicken in a heavy solution e.g. 10% saline.  Suppose you now boil this chicken in water which does not contain salt or contains a little salt e.g. 5g.  How much of the salt, if any, will come out of the chicken and go into the soup.  Will it try to equalise via osmoses and keep putting salt out until an equal concentration is present in chicken and soup or not?  If it does, i take it a large amount of salt will ditribute into the soup liquid leaving the chicken less salty?

I'm not exactly sure why you're trying to brine then boil; you should be able to simply boil your chicken in salty stock and get plenty of salt into it. It won't take nearly as long as brining, because things happen faster in boiling water.

Assuming you boil for any significant length of time, much of the salt will indeed come out into the cooking liquid, and you'll end up with your soup approximately as salty as the chicken. (If the chicken is in large pieces, this of course only applies to the part the brining and cooking liquids can actually reach.)


Substitute nixtamalized corn flour for corn meal + corn starch I want to make mexican tacos, which are usually made with masa harina (nixtamalized corn flour + water).

However I don't have nixtamalized corn flour, I have precooked corn flour. I read in the Internet that precooked corn flour is not a valid substitute since tacos tortillas should be thin and this kind of flour is thicker.

So I thought I might be able to compensate it by adding cornstarch.

Do it make sense?

I don't think that substitution will work out as you wanted.

Nixmatalization changes the composition of the corn hull, the treatment weakens the tough outer shell and generally makes it very different from untreated corn.  And the precooked flour is, well, already cooked - boiled before grinding to flour.  Their texture, cooking time and taste will be different - especially if you're looking for specific or authentic textures or flavors from your recipe.  They will also have different nutritional values, since making the nutrients in the corn more accessible is one of the effects of the nixmatalization.  Corn starch is something else altogether, it is just the inner starchy parts of corn (no hull and no grain) - it can't replace the textural or flavor elements that come from breaking down the hull with lime or lye which makes nixmatalized corn distinct.  Additionally, I sort of think it would make the dough thicker rather than thinner, as corn starch is a binder or thickener - so I wouldn't think it would work to make a flour that's too thick work like a thinner one anyway.

One article mentions that the precooked flour (henceforth called masarepa) cannot be made into a glutinous dough.  Gluten makes dough stretchy, so I'm sort of assuming that the dough won't stretch to make the tortillas thin, it may crumble or smear instead.  The fact that it is traditionally used to make smaller, thicker flat-breads and corn-breads instead of tortillas (and many sites say they cannot make tortillas with masarepa) suggests to me that there is a textural problem.  Another article mentions that the taste will be different - masarepa is milder, and it also cooks up denser and grainier.

So, here are some suggestions.  You might be able to make up something closer to a tortilla by mixing a little wheat flour into your masarepa - you need something like gluten formation to make it stretchy - but between the masarepa's milder flavor and the dilution with wheat flour, it will not taste quite like a corn tortilla.  You could just go get some masa harina, and save your masarepa for other dishes.

You could just go ahead and make actual arepas - mix up a dough (possibly find a recipe to your liking), and it should shape into thick disks.  It won't be like your corn tortillas, but it is an authentic dish and can probably serve a similar role in the meal - as a starch, as a taste contrast and buffer to other foods, as a vehicle to carry your main dish (arepas are sometimes stuffed - it would just be more like a sandwich).  If you mix in the corn starch... I think you'd still get arepas, with a thick pasty dough and not a stretchy one, possibly a bit less corn taste (since corn starch is not strongly corn flavored).

If you really wanted to try making a thin crisp flat structure from the mesarepa, you might have decent luck making a very thin batter and treating it like a dhosa (pour a ladleful, spiral the batter out thin, and cook crisp).  If the problem is that a dough made with masarepa won't stretch, using water as the medium to let it spread thin should work.  It still won't be quite like corn tortillas, but it is as similar-ish as I think you can get.