Is it possible to "ripen" mushrooms after it's picked? Quite recently my world was shaken when I learned that the common button mushroom and the much larger portabello mushroom are both the exact same species, Agaricus Bisporus, but at different stages of maturity.

I've tasted both portabello mushroom and button mushroom and can noticeably taste that the portebello have a much fuller and developed flavor compared to the much milder button mushroom.

Because the price of portabello are much higher than the button mushrooms, I was wondering if there was any way to ripen/mature these button mushrooms? I'm not expecting a tiny button mushroom to grow to palm size portabellos but is there any way to mature the button mushrooms so that it has a fuller flavor?

Note that the mushrooms marketed as baby portabello mushrooms (button mushroom with a light brown hue) are the same as the button mushrooms. In fact they are the original button mushrooms. The common white button mushroom is a mutated variety that has been propagated due to its desirable white coloring. So baby portabello mushrooms are not "ripen" white button mushrooms.

EDIT: In reponse to the comments, I would like to clarify that I want to know if there is a way to "ripen" the flavor of the mushroom similar to how fruits can ripen after its already been picked. The color is irrelevant. The only reason I mentioned "baby portabello" is to make it clear that I know it exist and that isn't the answer I am looking for.

You can not ripen mushrooms after they've been picked because once they are removed they are disconnected from the mycelium which acts as the mushrooms "brain". Once picked they soon die off. You can only slow that process by cleaning them and keeping them at cool temperatures.


Can you tell how ripe a banana is by the actual fruit not the peel? Hi I am doing a research project on banana ripeness and cannot find a way to tell the ripeness of a banana from the inside of it. I cannot use taste to measure the ripeness but I would really like to have a chart of some kind and if possible a url where you found the chart. Thank you!

Ripe bananas are softer and sweeter. You can pretty easily tell how ripe a banana is simply by biting or cutting into it, or even poking it with a finger. Ripe bananas are also more prone to bruising, which is visible on the inside of the banana as well.

If you really want to try to measure, you could indeed try to measure the sugar content. As bananas ripen, they get sweeter because starch is converted into sugar, so the sugar content should indicate ripeness. You'd need a refractometer to do that, not generally an everyday household item.


Fat free oil substitute for frying/sautéing and curries I want to reduce fat for health reasons. Can someone please tell me a fat free substitute for oil in cooking (not baking) that will not compromise the flavour of the dish?

I am asking for a substitute in frying/sautéing vegetables and cooking curries. For example, when cooking chow mein what do I use instead of oil?

Debating health is off topic here, but I think I can answer some of your question. Since you mentioned Chow Mein. I would start by saying that technically speaking you can NOT cook Chow Mein without oil. Chow directly translates to "fried" and Mein translates to "noodle". As frying (even stir/wok/pan frying in this case) by definition requires oil...

Now, can you cook noodles and sauce without oil? Sure, but it'd make a slightly different dish. You could boil the noodles for example, grill or steam the meat/vegetables and then mix it all together with sauce. You could still probably make a good dish this way. You won't get a typical chow mein though.

Chow mein aside, you could probably take a really good non stick or seasoned pan/wok and simply cook the meat/vegetables with a bit of water/broth. You'd essentially be lightly steaming it.

Though as an alternate suggestion, I would instead start with looking for dishes that utilised other cooking techniques, boiling, braising, steaming, grilling as examples. Also, can you use a, very, very small amount of oil? With the right pan a little bit goes a long way.

If you're eating meat/nuts/other things you'll get fat anyway though, some oils suitable for cooking are pretty good for you. I'd also, suggest talking to a doctor/nutritionist about how much oils are okay and which oils are okay. Not all fats are equal and humans need some fat to survive.


Is it unwise to store oils etc above gas stove/oven? Due to space constraints I keep my oils and some various cooking sauces above the gas stove/oven. These can get VERY hot up there. Am I ruining my oils? The red wine seems like a bad idea in particular...

Yes, it's bad for basically everything.

Oils, of any variety, will go rancid much faster there. It'll be most obvious for the least stable ones, but they'll all go eventually. And if you've ever accidentally cooked something with rancid oil, you'll know, it's not a pleasant surprise.

Anything aromatic will degrade a lot faster too. Even before your olive oil goes rancid, it'll have lost all the nice olive oil flavor. Aromatic vinegars will lose their flavors as well, and the red wine will definitely go faster. And this is why it's also a bad idea to store spices there, though you don't seem to be doing that.

The soy sauce might do okay, since it has stronger flavor and is less dependent on aromatics (it has salt and some umami), but it's probably the only one.

My advice would be to try to find a wall-mounted rack for pans or utensils, and hopefully free up some space elsewhere in the kitchen to store those bottles.


How to prepare courgettes/zucchini? I'm interested in an techniques for preparing courgettes? I cook mine either in a stew or I lightly fry them until brown. Are there any techniques to prepare the vegetable before cooking in either in these styles.

When they're still young, I grill them --

trim ends
cut into planks about 1/4" to 3/8" thick (~1cm)
toss in olive oil
sprinkle with salt
grill over direct heat
flip when you develop good char marks.
pull from the grill once the other side is slightly charred.

As they get older, the seed cavity starts developing -- you can cut the sides off, leaving the middle, but it's just not as sweet.


Why do Vietnamese dishes feature cut-up meat with the bone in? Except pho, it seems most Vietnamese soups and similar dishes feature meat that is already cut up into bite-sized pieces.  It would seem that this is a very nice way to have meat served because you can simply eat each piece without having to cut it up yourself.  However, many times there's a bone in that piece of meat.

I just don't understand why someone would cut the meat up into small pieces without cutting around the bone.  Cutting through beef and even chicken bones isn't a trivial task so it must be a decision that is made because of the bone, not in spite of it.  Personally, it ruins a meal that might otherwise taste good (especially when it's soup) to have to try to bite around the bone in a piece of meat.  Is the bone left in the meat simply to preserve flavor?

Yes, those bones make a huge difference for flavor. If you just cook meat in water, you won't have anywhere near the rich meatiness that you get from a good bone broth.

Sure, you could get similar flavor by deboning the meat, then cooking with the bones and removing them before serving. But that's definitely more work, and in some cases it's pretty much impossible. (Want to try deboning a chicken neck?) Note that cutting through bones is not actually that hard; a sharp cleaver goes through a lot. It's one simple action, easier than deboning even for simple cuts of meat.

As for eating, you can just put the whole piece of meat (with the bone) in your mouth, then spit it out once you've gotten all the meat off. It's a lot easier than trying to hold onto the bone and bite it all off. That may not be common etiquette in Western cultures, but with cuisines that serve all kinds of food with small bones in it, I believe it's pretty normal.

In the end, there's of course still room for personal preference. Pieces of bone-in meat is easy for the cook (cleavers go through bones pretty well), and may or may not be pleasant for the eaters. If you don't like it, don't cook that way, just make a good bone broth instead. But it doesn't ruin the dish for everyone, and it's possible that if you just eat bone-in meat for a while you'll get used to it.


Baked tortilla chips: how to make them quicker and more consistent? I like to make corn tortilla chips by cutting up store-bought tortillas and baking them at 350 for ~20-25 minutes without oil or salt. However, I've found that the last few minutes are highly variable - they go from perfect golden to burnt brown very quick. I've had to toss quite a few sheets because giving an extra minute or two resulted in burnt chips.

I also try to flip and rearrange the chips about halfway through because another large source of variability is the chip's placement within the oven - usually chips near the front crisp up much quicker.

These issues are further compounded if I'm baking two sheets of chips at the same time, which is often the case.

I've thought of a couple things, but haven't tried yet:

Bake at a lower temp for longer.
Dehydrate the tortillas somehow before baking.

I'd rather avoid the first option, and I haven't thought of a means of doing the second.

Does anyone have suggestions for baking tortilla chips in a more consistent manner?

I broiled on low and just watched them. Didn't take more than a few minutes per side and they browned relatively evenly. Actually they looked store bought and they tasted delicious completely unseasoned


How do I make my pizza crust go from limp to crisp? Been in business for 30 years but my crust is mostly limp,like when you pick it up it takes two hands to hold it up so you can eat it. I want to pick it up with only one hand. What am I doing wrong?

Some bulleted advice without knowing your techniques and tools...I made pizza professionally for a little while (don't ask me where, it's embarrassing)

Use higher temps underneath the pizza, not just the air. If your equipment doesn't heat the bottom, get stones with feet so you can have a hot bottom.
thinner crust
let the pizza dough rise some more, or adjust your dough recipe to rise a little more.
don't over-knead the dough, or you just make it tough rather than crispy.
don't load the pizza up with too much stuff, it stays wet and cools the pizza down while it's cooking.
avoid center loading, the cheese pulls everything toward the center which makes the center more soggy, Leave a 1 inch hole devoid of cheese at the center and focus on even distribution of cheese right to the edge of the crust.


How to warm plates before serving? I realize that serving on warmed dishes is preferable to serving on cold/room temp dishes, so as not to leach the heat out of your freshly-cooked food.

How can I warm my plates?

I have two kinds of dishes: ceramic (cheapo from a department store) and Noritake china (circa 1955-60).

Neither says "oven safe" on the bottom, but would a warm oven do the trick? Or microwaving? Or a hot water bath?

I'm not sure how to achieve warmed plates, but I'm tired of eating cold fish.

We do this regularly with regular dishes and fine china. Neither say "oven safe". My mother has also done it for years. The process is fairly simple:

Put our oven on it's coolest setting (about 175°F or 80°C, I think)
Wait for it to reach temperature
Turn it off
Put dishes in and close the oven. We just stack the dishes. As Joe points out, they'll warm faster if you don't stack them. However, I usually do this when I've got 6-8 dishes, so stack is easier.

Be careful when taking the dishes out. They'll be hot. We've never had a problem with dishes using this method. However, if you don't think your dishes will stand getting hot, use your own judgement as there's a wide variety of quality and materials used in place settings.


Cooking pot with lid for saving gas but that doesn't overflow? I care about gas saving and for that I want to cook with the lid covering the pot. This allows me to reduce the fire power of the stove top (then using less gas).

I need to cook foods in cooking pots such as rice, noodle, etc. Everyone that cooks these foods know they tend to overflow and (also look at this for the why) if the lid is over, except if the fire is really low, (wich is indeed a possible solution to my problem, but read below).

Idea 1: Is there some ingredient (like salt) that reduces a lot the bubbles that overflow and doesn't affect compromise the food?

Idea 2 (I want this one): Is there a device that releases the pressure automatically when the pot is trying to overflow?

Edit clarification: It's unfortunate that I referred to the pressure associated with the heating boiling food inside the pot (wich is extremely small, but still enought to lift the lid (Is it or I'm wrong?) and pressure cookers in the same
post, wich have a HUGE pressure. This realization is important for me!

PD: Are we sure that my idea of releasing vapour periodically doesn't save more than just open? To me is not so cutting obvious, it needs a proof (sorry if it's basic thermodinamics, I'm ignorant on that).

PD2: This got all really good answers! I hope you don't get put off that Im not accepting right away, but I can tell you the discussion was very good!.

Is this device what I'm looking?

The device which "releases the pressure automatically" is a normal pot. You don't put the lid fully on, you leave a small gap on the side. It is sufficient for practically all cooking.

And yes, if it is still overflowing, you should reduce your temperature. Not only don't you win anything by cooking it at such a high flame that it boils over even with a gap, you are also wasting gas - which you said you care about.

As for the device you linked, it is a very different thing. It cooks food faster because at higher pressures, it can be heated to over 100 Celsius. Cooking with it is very different from cooking with a normal pot, and it is up to you if you want to get into it - but not having to leave the air gap is not a typical reason for it.

Trying to clear this thing up after some discussion with Jefromi:

You are pumping more energy into the system than it can hold. You have a few possible solutions:

Stop pumping that much energy into it (reduce the heat). It is wasted anyway.
Have an open system - one which can't withstand pressure and bleeds it off as soon as it starts rising. This is the "pot with a gap in the lid" method, no matter if you are using a standard lid or one with the gap and catch lip built in like suggested in the other answer.
Have a closed system which can keep in the energy (it will produce pressure higher than atmospheric pressure) and release it after you are done cooking. This is what a real pressure cooker is for. It does come with some advantages, I've also seen claims that it is more energy efficient (I don't know if it is, really), but it is really a completely different mode of cooking.

What you are proposing is a mixture of 2 and 3. Now, if you make it very close to 2, such that minute amounts of pressure are built up before venting, you are still expelling that same energy from the system, and haven't saved it in any way. You just have created a more complex (and so more expensive less failsafe) device, there is no reason to not stay with solution 2. If you make it very close to 3, in that you hold in a lot of pressure before releasing, you automatically make it almost the same as pressure cooking, only with some useless venting of energy, so there is no reason to not build a real pressure cooker. Basically, anything in between 2 and 3 is going to be worse than both 2 and 3.

The most practical solution, used by countless cooks over the world, is a combination of 1 and 2.


Croissant baking temperature The short story - cant get the temp in the oven right. It gets too brown, if I lower the temperature it is not cooked and the internal structure is not as good as it should be.
The long story - so far I tried the following.

Preheat   Baking     Time     Internal structure         "Brownishness"
------     220 *      7min          10                       10
then       180 *      10min         10                       10
225*       180 *      20min         10                       10
230 |*|    180 |*|    15min         4                        10
250 | |    180 | |    18min         8                        8

Legend:
* - convection
|*| - top/bottom plus rear fan
| | - top/bottom

So, whatever I try I get them too dark or not cooked/ugly internal structure
What I'm missing here?

I know of 2 methods, the temperatures are for convection:

Start at 200C and keep it 200C, turning it down if they start to get too brown
Start at a high temperature and then lower it partway through, so you get an initial blast at about 200C for 5-6 minutes and then turn it down to 165C for another 9-10 minutes depending on size. This gives you the browning on the outside while cooking the inside

I don't do croissants often but when I do I use the second method.


Sprinkled versus Rubbing Steak "Rub" We found a "wet" rub marinade and love how it flavors steak. But, watching a recent cooking show Chef Michael said you should not "rub" your steak but rather sprinkle your seasonings on and let them rest. Can you please explain to me why rub is suppose to be sprinkled?

(IMO)
Wet marinade need to be applied some time before cooking the meat (hours before) and works best on "difficult" meat like hangar steak or meat that needs to be cook/smoked for a long time (ribs,...)

My experience with wet rub is that my grill needs to be very hot and I need to remove as much marinade and dry the meat before putting it on the grill otherwise it will steam instead of grilling.

Dry rub is more or less simply seasoning and should be applied just before (10, 15 minutes) cooking the meat, and the meat must be cooked quickly (steak).

But if you want to do a dry rub on your ribs or a wet marinade on your steak, good for you, they will still be good (as long as the meat is cooked properly)


Boxed pancake mix - Allpurpose or Cake Flour? Is boxed pancake mix usually made out of Allpurpose flour, or cake flour?

Most pancake recipes call for all purpopse flour.  I assume boxed mixes do the same, or a mix of all purpose and cake flour for a lighter texture.

The difference between them is 'hard' and 'soft' flours.  Hard flours (AP, Bread, semolina, etc.) have more gluten/protein in them, which contributes a chewier texture. Soft flours such as cake are a finer grind and give cakes a crumblier (word?) and lighter texture.  If you used AP for an angel food cake, it would be dense and chewy, rather than light and airy.

AP is generally a mix of hard and soft flours, and can be used for many cakes, breads, and of course pancakes.  Since pancakes tend to have a chewier texture than many baked goods, they probably use an AP-type flour.

Since pancakes are reletively cheap to make, experiment with it. Try bread, AP, cake, and varioius combinations.  There is a recipe in Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything where you separate the eggs, whip the whites into a foam, and fold it into the batter before cooking.  I imagine this would go well with cake flour.

Wheat Flour (wikipedia)


Semi-Sweet Chocolate bits I have a recipe from maybe the 1950's that calls for 1 pkg semi-sweet chocolate  -  I seem to remember a smaller bag than what I find in the stores.  Might this be
6 ounces it is calling for?   The recipe is for a Chocolate Satin Pie.

A "package" of bittersweet or sent-sweet baking chocolate was historically 8 ounces, as eight 1-ounce squares (or 16 half-ounce half-squares).


How can I get more flavorful jasmine rice? I'm used to cooking basmati, which can stand on its own with just a few spices and a little butter.  With jasmine rice, I come away disappointed; the rice never seems to bring anything to the dish, and generally comes off a little bland, even with fairly potent flavorings.

Is there some technique or trick specific to jasmine rice that I should be using?  Are there particularly good flavor/ingredient combos for jasmine rice I can use?

Not sure how much rice you are making, but if making about 2 cups of rice, first heat 3 tablespoons of peanut oil over Medium High heat. Add the rice and toast it in the oil until it releases a nutty fragrance - about 1-2 minutes.  Then I like to use Chicken stock (3 cups) to finish it off.  Personal preference but I like to add scallions (green onions) and cilantro to the rice when it is done.  Cooking it this way I have not noticed a tremendous taste difference from different brands of Jasmine Rice.


For Boiling Water Canning (not pressure canning) can you use other glass jar other than Mason Jar? Does these type of glass jar (some may even refer to it as jam jar) works with boiling water canning? I asked a question about these glass jar for pressure canning and got answered it will not work for pressure canning. But will it work for boiling water canning.

Most commercial pint- and quart-size mayonnaise or salad dressing jars may be used with new two-piece lids for canning acid foods. However, you should expect more seal failures and jar breakage. These jars have a narrower sealing surface and are tempered less than Mason jars, and may be weakened by repeated contact with metal spoons or knives used in dispensing mayonnaise or salad dressing. Seemingly insignificant scratches in glass may cause cracking and breakage while processing jars in a canner. Mayonnaise-type jars are not recommended for use with foods to be processed in a pressure canner because of excessive jar breakage. Other commercial jars with mouths that cannot be sealed with two-piece canning lids are not recommended for use in canning any food at home.

That is from the National Center for Home Food Preservation which is  basically a clearing house for USDA rules.  They have a lot of good, tested, authoritative info and are well worth bookmarking.

As a practical guide, you can use most any jar that the two piece canning lids will fit correctly.  The rubber sealant and canning lids, both one piece and two are no longer made with a film that is at all reliable for more than one usage.  Attempting to reuse them, especially the commercial one piece shown in the question is not safe and will lead to high numbers of seal failure.  But if the jar is the correct size for a 2-piece, even, and undamaged, it can be used.

Know though that these recycled jars are not the same as years ago.  The thickness and quality of the glass is less to save the packers money and weight and since most will be trashed anyway.  They are far more prone to breakage even with tiny scratches you may not even notice.  They even can be used in pressure canning, but only if you are prepared to lose some and you will get breakage and failures.  It will happen with hot water bath too, just not as often.  Use caution though, because sometimes the sizes are not exactly the same as mason type and the slight difference will cause a higher seal failure rate.


What is the best gelling agent for gummies? So, today I did my first attempt at home made gummies using 35g of gelatine with 1 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar.  When it cooled though, all I had was really tough jello.  Should I just add more gelatine, or is there another chemical I could use?  I have looked at methylcellulose, carrageenan, agar, cornstarch, and pectin in addition to gelatine, but there doesn't seem to be a good comparison of these on the web.  Additionally, if anyone has insight into special techniques I could use, it would be really helpful.

Thanks

I believe the key element that you are missing would be corn syrup. The recipe I work with (in a link below) uses

1 box Jell-o gelatin
2 packages unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup of COLD water (the cold water is important to the consistency as
well)

If you want to skip the packaged "Jell-o", in favor of more gelatin, your own flavoring and sugar, do use extra fine sugar (caster) as this will also improve the texture of your finished product.

When I first started trying to make gummies I found "The King of Random" with this video.
I've made several batches since then and found them to be very good. (Even got the lego molds from Amazon, although he also shows you how to make the lego molds too...). Do watch the video as it contains several good tips beyond just the recipe.

Some of the tips include:

allow the syrup to rest to remove some impurities.
add ground up vitamin c to add a sour edge to your candies (and make them 'healthier')
use a condiment bottle (squeezable) to pour the syrup into your molds
allow the syrup to completely gel once and remelt (after cutting away the foam) for and even cleaner/clearer result

(note: as an added bonus this was how I discovered "The King of Random" and his collection of remarkable videos...only some of which are 'food related')


Is it safe to not wash mushrooms? Most chefs stress the fact that white button mushrooms, and others, should not be washed to be cleaned. They say to either lightly brush them or just pat them with a cloth or paper towel to get the "dirt" off to clean them, and then cook or eat them raw. Do not "wash" them, to clean them, because the chefs says the mushrooms get waterlogged, and they believe something happens to the taste.

Well, as a little girl my Dad took me to a mushroom farm. It was disgusting because of the smell of manure.  The mushrooms were in trays, enveloped totally in the manure in trays, that were stacked high according to the sizes and I don't remember what else.  We were in darkness, and my Dad would go from one area to the next buying trays from all over. Years later, I became the buyer and I don't remember much other than the awful smell, the sizes, the darkness and how much I still loved to eat mushrooms. To prepare I washed them with water, got off all the excess manure, and depending on how the mushroom was to be prepared, stuffed, quick boiled in lots of salt then kept in that same salted water to be eaten with sour cream, fried with butter, prepared them many ways.

My question is, why do chefs insist that you should not wash, only use their method, lightly brush or towel off the mushroom? Isn't safety a reason to wash? And washing doesn't change the flavor, right?

I have read a couple of experiments (in Dutch so I will not link them here) where people cooked the same dish from the same shrooms, with one batch brushed and the other washed.

The washed batch did need higher temparature to actually fry, instead of just boiling in their own moisture and the texture in the finished dish remained different. There does seem to to be some merit to the culinary traditions here.

As for the safety aspects, perhaps this will ease your mind somewhat:

Research minimizes effects of federal produce standards on mushroom industry:

  But a new study shows that heat generated during the traditional composting process -- originally developed to kill insect and fungal pests of mushrooms -- is adequate for eliminating human pathogens that might be present, according to researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

If you got sick from eating a dish, the cause may not have been in the nutrition beds the shrooms were grown on.


Do food courts with multiple restaurants share food? e.g. is there a common shipping and storage area? I've never walked behind the food court in the mall. But just wondering if, behind the restaurants fascia, the individual restaurants are receiving incoming food shipments together. e.g. is there a common freezer and storage area? Or does each individual restaurant do their own thing? e.g. order and separate and receive their food independently.

Can you imagine McDonald's sharing space with Burger King, or KFC?

I wouldn't even be sure they'd be allowed to even if they wanted. Each establishment would need its own compliance & hygiene certificate, which would be confounded if they shared space. Whose responsibility is each shared fridge in such circumstances? Who handles correct stock rotation? What happens if a KFC employee accidentally takes a bag of McDonald's fries?


What is the basic technique for cooking amaranth? I wanted to cook some amaranth grains. The back of the package said to cook 1 part amaranth and 3 parts water until soft, then let them soak for another 30 minutes. I ended up with amaranth soup.

Let's say that I want a very basic preparation of amaranth. What is the correct way to cook it?

what is a good ratio of amaranth to water?
should I cook it with the lid on or without (don't laugh, I have found often enough that it affects both the water ratio and cooking time)?
should I salt before or after cooking, and why?
should I add fat before or after cooking, and why?
is there a better way to recognize that it is done that "it is soft"?
should I soak before cooking, after cooking, or not at all?
is there something important about cooking amaranth I forgot to mention in the list?

I don't want a specific recipe, just a basic preparation which can be later extended to fit different recipes (savory or sweet). If you have specific recommendations for doing X, I'd love to hear why doing X is better than doing Y.

The basic cooking technique is the same for whole amaranth as for many other whole grains (e.g., barley) and grain-like seeds (e.g., quinoa): bring water to a boil, add the grain, simmer uncovered on low until the grain has reached the consistency you desire (that is the only true definition of "done" -- never be afraid to taste your food as you go!), then let cool.  Even when packaging suggest soaking, I do not soak my grains and I have never had any problems.  OF course, others will insist soaking is necessary.  My advice, if you are concerned: try it both ways and see which you prefer.

For each part of whole amaranth, here is the proportion of water:
-- porridge consistency, 3 parts water (some liquid will remain)
-- soft texture but with distinct grains, 2 parts water
-- firm texture (pilaf), 1 part water

If the water has nearly all cooked off but you want a softer texture, add extra water and keep cooking.  If you are not sure what consistency you want, err on the firmer side, and taste as you go.  Note that larger batches (say, over 1/2-kilo of grain) need less water than smaller batches, so plan accordingly.

Adding salt to the water at the start is optional but I encourage it.  The point of adding it early is to incorporate the salt into the grains evenly.  Under-salting will mute the flavors substantially.  Adding salt at the last minute will provide a burst of salt on the tongue that is not always pleasant or desired, especially if you serve the grain with some other moderately salty food.

As for fat, I don't add any because I usually serve the amaranth with something that is already fatty (like an enriched sauce).  If you want to add a fat, then I would do so before the water has completely cooked off to ensure the fat coats the grains more or less evenly.

Oh, and I love using an automatic rice-cooker for my grains, as it automatically turns off when the temperature of the food rises substantially above 100 C (meaning all the water has cooked off).


How to bake chips in microwave using grill? Is it possible to prepare tortilla chips using the grill in a microwave? Can I bake anything for example, Indian version of samosa in a microwave using a grill rack? Here is a picture of a microwave with a grill rack:

According to Consumer Reports, these microwaves typically have traditional heating elements in addition to microwave heat, or they're combo convection/microwave ovens. The rack is to move food closer to the grill element, or to allow better airflow for convection models.

In that case, you'd use the microwave like a small grill or convection oven rather than a traditional microwave - see the instruction guide for your make and model (typically available on the manufacturer's website.) In this way, you can prepare crispy items like oven-baked tortilla chips or samosas (I prefer oven-baked samosas over fried myself! Mmm.)


Why add breadcrumbs to meatballs? Besides getting them to stay together, what other reason would there be for adding breadcrumbs to meatballs. Do they impart any particular flavor or texture?

In meatballs or meat loaf or even burgers, breadcrumbs are sometimes added with egg.

The bread, if unseasoned, doesn't change the flavor much except to dilute it.

The texture is definitely different. It is smoother and spongier. The breadcrumbs also soak up liquid so the product doesn't lose as much and stays moister.

Purists often decry the use of breadcrumbs in things like burger patties. For myself- I will add breadcrumbs when I am in the mood for the breadier texture- often when I will be adding extra liquid flavorings like Worcestershire or liquid smoke and want to strengthen the structure a bit.


How can I buy black pepper with mainly black bits? When buying black pepper I notice it usually comes whole or grounded but it usually contains the outer black part as well as the inner white part hence a mixture of white and black bits.  When fine grounded it looks grey.

I prefer the taste of the black bits only however they dont seem to be sold with the black bits only.
How can I make it seperating the white and black bits and can I buy it like that also?  Do I have to search for a particular term because I can only found whole or ground both of which conain white and black bits.

I'm not sure this is possible.  For the best flavor, buy whole peppercorns from a reputable source and grind yourself in small amounts.  You might even enjoy the flavor more if you toast the peppercorns lightly in a pan before grinding.


Holding sugar syrup at a consistent temperature Can I hold a corn syrup and sugar and water syrup at 260°F (126°C) for a few hours and still maintain it's soft ball stage. Evaporation of the water would be my concern. Maybe I could cover it with a lid?

A fascinating topic for all those interested in sugar-work! Though it looks like OP has abandoned the question, I'm still interested. :)

Specifically, refinements to your question might include:

Why a temperature of 126C? Aside: at that point you're more like at hard-ball stage (you say soft-ball). Are you working with it after, expecting its properties to be like that?  If so, why not do this in batches?
Why for hours? Demonstration? Funsies? Coating tens-of-thousands of objects in sugar?

Assuming nominal conditions (pure sucrose-and-water, sea-level pressure, that you started with a water-sugar mixture that you haven't already been boiling it for hours, etc.), your sugar syrup will be about 92% sucrose and 8% water (you'll get to pure sugar at about 200C). That is, the boiling point of a solution of water and sucrose of that concentration is 126C. Many references available, such as this one. After reaching that point, your water will continue to boil off, the sugar concentration will increase, the syrup's properties will change (e.g., temperature / boiling point will continue to increase), and it will continue to caramelize.

Any time you add other things (corn syrup, invert sugar, acid, fat, heat, ...) you'll change all of the above properties.  Other stuff will happen: caramelization, inversion, etc... so you'll need to find what works for your application, your kitchen, your ingredients, your skillz, ...

A few brainstorm thoughts, basically revolving around the question: how about something besides pure sugar syrup?

Try isomalt, which has better tolerance at higher temperatures (read: doesn't caramelize). It has a melting point of about 145C-150C; e.g., you can just melt it (i.e., you can, but don't need to, dissolve like sugar). Since there's no water to boil off, and it won't caramelize like sucrose, this fixes two of the problems. I don't know how isomalt responds to hours at that temperature. It also crystalizes more slowly than sucrose and is pleasant to work with.  This will give you a hard candy when cooled, but you don't want to eat a ton of it.
Can you substitute something else, perhaps like a candied caramel apple, which may have similar-enough properties, while being able to be handled at a lower temperature for a longer period of time?

Again, further information about the application would produce a better ratio of helpful information over speculation. :)  I'm an enthusiast but no expert; helpful comments and critique or refinements welcome...


Can fresh basil cause tomato sauce spoilage? I added fresh basil to tomato sauce once it was bottled, just before sealing. Never done this before and I lost the whole batch within 2 weeks. Can fresh basil cause fermentation to continue? Should the basil have been cooked into the sauce before bottling?

Yes. The cooking sterilizes the sauce, but adding uncooked basil afterwards has contaminated the sauce again with germs.


How are savoury meringues made? I've come across occasionally mentions of savoury meringues with flavours such as beetroot. How are these made? What is used as a substitute for the sugar?

The eggs whites in traditional meringues are used to spread the sugar into a thin foam that is then dried in the oven (or dehydrator) leaving behind the sugar structure and some proteins from the eggs. To make a meringue you need something that dissolves to tangle up with those proteins. I would guess that the beet meringues from Café Atlantico are made with beet powder replacing the sugar with the goat cheese in the middle adding to the sense of savory.

I have never made savory meringues, but if I were to experiment I would mix freshly whipped eggs whites with sugar to those created by reducing a savory liquid and then adding powder egg whites to it.


How to make a restaurant style meatless Hot and Sour Soup I made a hot-and-sour soup based on an online recipe, omitting the pork, sugar and dried lilly buds.

The major flavoring components were:

1tsp White pepper (I used a supermarket-grade pre-ground variety)
2tblsp premium brand red wine vinegar
1tblsp good soy sauce
1tsp Sesame oil
1tsp Salt
Small package (3oz) assorted dried and reconstituted wild mushrooms
4c Chicken stock as the base

I also added a tablespoon of Asian chili-garlic paste for extra heat.

The color was pale clear, not the rich brown or reddish-orange I'm used to at Asian restaurants. It smelled terrible - a definite barnyard odor once the white pepper was added. The taste was off as well - instead of a pleasing tangy heat, it was vinegary in an unpleasant way without being tangy, and not particularly hot despite some extra white pepper and chili-garlic paste.

While I can fix the heat (more chili paste!), I'm not certain how to fix the sour, the color or the aroma.

(Note: I cannot add sugar or solid meat to this dish for medical reasons. Sugar substitute should be OK, if that will really fix it.)

For heat, I recommend chili oil as opposed to a paste. That and white pepper should give you a pretty solid heat component. Even though the thought initially made me go EEEEEEW, ATK does recommend a a 50/50 combination of Balsamic and red wine vinegars as a replacement for the ideal Black Chinese Vinegar, which is probably what great Chinese restaurants use. Do you eat eggs? If so, I'd certainly use one. Here's the technique, again from ATK " Without stirring soup, use soupspoon to slowly drizzle very thin streams of egg mixture (1/2 tsp corntarch, 1 tsp water beaten with 1 egg) into pot in circular motion. Let soup sit 1 minute, then return saucepan to medium-high heat. Bring soup to gentle boil, then immediately remove from heat. Gently stir soup once to evenly distribute egg."

You probably should considerably up your soy sauce. Consider too your mushrooms. "Assorted" can mean just about anything. Some mushrooms are very strongly flavored in a way that just plain clashes with Chinese Hot and Sour. That could very well account for the barnyard odor you describe. I'd recommend sticking to shiitake/oyster/woodear if you can.


How do I season my new pizza stone? I just bought my first pizza stone.  The instructions that came with it recommend that I wash it thoroughly with plain water before using it for the first time.  Is there anything else I should do to it to season it so it lasts and performs optimally?

I've never done anything in particular.  I just don't use soap on it.


What to do when curdling occurs? Are there any methods available to "fix" a sauce that has curdled?

Or, if I can't fix the curdling, is there any way to still use the sauce?  What can I do with it?

If you're making a sauce that isn't supposed to curdle, and it does, you throw it out and start over.


Why can boxed brownie mixes use so little "wet" ingredients? Be it Betty Crocker, Ghirardelli, or Pillsbury, I only ever have to use (on average) 2-3 eggs, less than a cup of oil, and a bit of water.

Somehow, these people have been able to make it so that these mixes result nearly perfect without so much quantity of "wet" ingredients.

My mind boggles as to how they've achieved this due to the fact that the majority of "from scratch" fudgy brownie recipes I've come across usually call for a lot more with respect to "wet" ingredients.

I've been trying for a while to replicate these fudgy brownies with around the same quantity supplied in the mixes. Since I don't have the exact measurements of each dry ingredient, I had to play around.

My attempts have failed and I don't understand why.

I shouldn't have to use more ingredients for something others have been able to get with less.

Why can they do it?

I've seen an awful lot of from-scratch brownie recipes with 2-3 eggs and a cup or less of butter/oil. I wonder if you're comparing recipes of the same size?

Beyond that, although brownie mixes may look like just dry ingredients, if you look at ingredient labels, they often have oil as an ingredient, so you may not be adding quite all of it yourself. Sometimes they also  have emulsifiers that can help out with one of the roles that eggs play. And it's hard to judge from ingredient/nutrition labels, but they often taste very sweet to me, so I wouldn't be surprised if they have a bit higher ratio of sugar and a bit less flour/starch to need to hydrate.

Anyway, if you're trying to replicate, it's probably easier to start from an existing from-scratch recipe and tweak it than it is to copy the wet ingredients and invent the rest yourself. It may be hard to get exactly the same results as you can with a mix that contains a lot of fancy stuff (emulsifiers, different starches, maybe corn syrup...), though.


How can chicken offal be cooked to be as tender as possible? Tonight I cooked a dish involving chicken hearts and gizzards, but I found conflicting instructions on the internet, so I essentially parboiled the offal, diced it, and then cooked it in butter in a covered pan for probably about 20 minutes.

The texture isn't too bad, but a little rubbery. Is this normal, or did I cook it badly? What cooking method will make chicken hearts/gizzards/livers etc as tender as possible? (And will it work for other kinds of offal?)

With every (edible) part of an animal, you should consider the former duty of the piece of meat at hand. This will influence the internal structure and thus the best method to prepare it.

So throwing all chicken offal into one pot at the same time is probably not the wisest idea.

Lets "dissect" what we are dealing with here:

Liver and kidneys
Basically no muscle fibers, just a very tender large gland. Keep in mind that there are no fibrous parts that "melt down" during a long cooking process, just tender stuff that gets very hard and dry when overcooked. So short is the key here - a quick sear in a hot pan and you are good to go. Depending on your personal preference, slightly pink or "just not pink any more" would be a good point to serve.
Note that especially for organs from larger animals careful preparation is important: remove all hard parts like "vessels" and excess fat and wash kidneys well or soak them for half an hour to an hour. Some suggest soaking in milk.
Hearts and stomachs
Just the opposite - a hardworking muscle, garnished with a good amount of collagen. Here, you need time to break down the collagen. When you heat heart or gizzard, first the muscle parts toughen up, then the collagen breaks down and the piece gets tender again. Braising is a common method to acchieve good results.
For chicken hearts, sources vary between 15 and 25 minutes braising after roasting/frying them in your pan. It may depend on the quality of meat at hand, where your personal "just right" is. Larger animals' hearts may need much longer, a very old cook book of mine suggests 1.5 hours for beef hearts.
Chicken gizzards are even tougher than hearts: did you notice the white lump of collagenous fibers on each side when cleaning them? Give it time to get tender. It may take from thirty minutes to over an hour - sources vary.


Can I make gyoza with raw meat? I know it's traditional to make gyoza filling with raw vegetables, but is it also made with raw meat, or should it be cooked first? With other types of dumplings I usually cook the meat before adding it to the dough. This time I'm not sure.. will there be any risk of salmonella or other bacterias if I make the filling with raw meat?

Edit: Just for reference, I'm planning on using chicken instead of pork.

Of course you can make gyoza with raw meat—that would be the traditional method.  You can find countless recipes, including raw meat ones, simply by googling "gyoza recipe".

While perhaps less common, you can also google "chicken gyoza recipe" to find many options using chicken such as this one, although there are some false hits mixed in that are not chicken based.

Gyoza (which are the Japanese version of pot stickers) are normally not much larger than bite sized.  This small size will help ensure that they are cooked through during the hybrid frying/steaming method that gives them their crispy bottoms, which is normally similar to:

Fry the dumplings, flat side down, until the bottoms begin to be brown.
Add water to the pan, and cover, creating a makeshift steaming environment to cook the dumpling through.
Allow the water to evaporate and the bottoms to re-crisp.

While it is is fairly difficult to take the internal temperature of a single dumpling (you probably can if you have a very high quality instant-read thermometer with a short probe distance, like a Thermapen), you can still judge their doneness indirectly by squeezing.  They will be quite firm.

The small size (even very big Chinese style pot stickers tend not to be more than an inch/couple cm wide, although they may be longer) helps make sure they can cook through very quickly; steaming is also a very effective method at transferring heat into the target food.

So yes, making gyoza with raw meat, done with some care, is safe.


How to store homemade bread? I made a bigger batch of bread than I was initially planning on, and I don't want it to go bad before I get a chance to eat it. Having it go stale isn't an issue (french toast, bread pudding), but having it go moldy is.

What do you consider the best way to store homemade bread?

EDIT: It's a No knead Sourdough bread. I wanted to double the recipe and ended up tripling it.

When I make home made bread, I decide how much I'm going to eat in the next day or two and leave that out on the breadboard, usually just covered with a tea towel. I usually put the cut side down on the board to help prevent it from drying out.

The rest gets pre-sliced, put in a zip-top bag, and stashed in the freezer. A few minutes in the toaster oven, and the bread is good as new. Pre-slicing it allows you to just use what you need instead of thawing the whole loaf. It lasts pretty much indefinitely in the freezer.


Forgot Brown sugar in cookies I forgot to add the brown sugar to a cookie mix. I have added all the ingredients including the flour. Can I still add the sugar to the mix?

Cookie mixes (and similar mixes) usually call for the dry and wet ingredients to be mixed separately, which is mostly to prevent over-mixing and to properly control the amount of time that the baking powder/soda (or whatever chemical leavener is in there) is allowed to start its reaction before going into the oven.

Of course you can still mix the sugar in later, you're just more likely to end up with a cookie that's drier and/or harder, with a "grittier" texture, due to the extra mixing.

The bigger problem is waiting; cookie mixes are usually designed to leaven very quickly once mixed, so if you let the mixed dough sit for an hour before baking it, you might end up with very flat cookies. They should taste more or less the same, and certainly aren't going to harm you, they'll just have a weird look and texture.


Why do some recipes recommend Kosher salt? Is it healthy or more tasty?

As Kosher salt goes there is also a difference in the types.  Many chefs (myself included) recommend and prefer Diamond Crystal brand Kosher salt.  Diamond Crystal (owned by Cargill) uses a patented process of producing salt known as the Alberger Process.  In in the interest of keeping the explanation simple, essentially it creates flat salt crystals with a hollow diamond shape and jagged edges.  The hollow shape provides for quicker dissolution and the jagged edges help it stick to food better rather than bouncing off as is the nature of the cubic structure of basic table salt.  For this reason many seasoning and food manufacturers use Alberger salt as a "dry emulsifier".  I was on a tour with Paul Prudhomme at his seasoning plant near New Orleans and he explained that the jagged edges help to keep it suspended and blended with other seasonings and dry ingredients.

Morton's kosher salt is composed of large crystals that are rolled to flatten them.  They are flat but not hollow so take a bit longer than Diamond Crystal to dissolve.

Morton's Kosher salt also has Yellow Prussiate of Soda added to it as an anti-caking agent ("when it rains it pours") which tends to leave a slight bitter (not as bad as iodine) taste in the back of the throat.  Diamond Crystal brand is simply salt.

Alberger salt has a lighter bulk weight than granulated salt so 1 teaspoon of Diamond Crystal salt is going to be less salt than either table or Morton's kosher salt.  Look at the two packages side by side in the store sometime.  They are both 3# boxes but the Diamond Crystal box is much taller due to the increased volume of the hollow crystals.  Looking at the nutritional information panels you'll also notice the serving size for each is 1/4 teaspoon but the Morton's has 418 gr. sodium per serving vs. about 200 for Diamond crystal (again, due to hollow crystals).  Some people recommend increasing salt by 25% when using Diamond Crystal in recipes.  In cooking you can easily salt to taste and know that since it dissolves more readily you should be able to determine seasoning by taste without oversalting.  In baking I typically use it measure for measure and haven't had any major issues yet.  In yeast doughs however you must be cautious to make sure that the crystals do dissolve in the liquid so as not to cut through the gluten strands during the kneading process (as well as to evenly disperse).


Is a top heat gas grill, capable of 800°C / 1500°F perfect for pizza and sous vide steak? I am talking about something like this:

The biggest problem with home made pizza seems to be the lack of temperature, which dries out the dough. Professional pizza makers bake a pizza for under 2 minutes at about 400-450°C / 800-900°F.

I also appreciate this machine's capability to sear a sous vide steak, without creating a gradient.

Basically, this looks like exactly what I am looking for, a steak / pizza machine, which can do grilling as well.

At first I wanted to get a Weber gas grill, but the problem is the low maximum temperature.

One downside of this machine is that it doesn't heat evenly at all. But I think I could get around that by turning the pizza.

Does this machine have any disadvantages compared to similar solutions, which are produced for home made pizza specifically?

The temperature checks out, but is it missing something critical? And also, would it actually produce crust without cooking the inside, similar to a torch, but hopefully a lot quicker?

If a grill existed, which could cover these two things (steak searing after sous vide and proper pizza) I would actually prefer something like a Weber gas grill. But my understanding is, that these have trouble achieving anything above 350°C / 700°F.

No, at least for pizza.

Pizza needs to be cooked as fast as possible from all sides so that the crust is cooked and the topping are not over-cooked/burned.

In the case of a top-heat oven, you will over-cook/burn the topping before the crust is cooked.

i think it would be OK for broiling the steaks after vacuum cooking them.


How can I reheat coffee without imparting bad flavor? I have a carafe of coffee brewed today that is still mostly full, and I would like to serve it tomorrow.

How can I reheat it without negatively impacting the flavor?

It's not going to be nice to drink a day later, no matter what.  I'd use it in baking a chocolate cake or something like that instead, if you can't bear to throw it out.

The problem is not just the reheating, which will further cook the coffee and affect flavour, but that it's been losing aroma and oxidizing for a day first.  If you're serving it to anyone you like even a little bit, serve them fresh coffee!!


Can cheese be sculpted? Could anyone offer some tips on how to sculpt or mold a large piece of cheddar into a knight of the realm. I have tried on a smaller piece but the cheese tends to crumple and doesn't seem sculpt in the way I expect.

Firm cheeses like cheddar can make excellent material for sculpting, which sounds like what you're after. If you really mean sharpening, well... you'll need a very hard cheese, like an aged Parmagianno Reggiano or Romano to get a good sharp edge, and even then it'll require frequent honing to keep the edge in good condition.


Adjusting an instant-rice recipe for regular rice I'm trying a very simple beans-and-rice recipe, but I noticed it calls for instant brown rice, and I'm using regular.

The recipe has me cooking the rice within a quick sauce (tomato, black beans, seasoning), but I'm worried (albeit with no actual specific foundation) that the sauce might not work well under a much longer cooking time. Whereas stirring it in mid-cooking sounds like a Not Good Thing for rice.

Do I need to do anything special to make this substitution work?

Instant rice is just parboiled rice made to cook faster. Since brown rice takes a significantly longer time to cook than minute rice, you might try cooking your rice first until its 1/2 to 2/3 done, then transfer it to the sauce to finish cooking and absorb the flavor.


What size of jar, proportionally, should I keep my poolish in to prevent overflow? This morning my ongoing poolish lived up to its troublemaking name. Over half of it (by weight) ran out over the counter overnight, through the screwed-down lid. This is after I saw it hitting the top last night and stirred it down before bed. In the photo below, the "after" photo is stirred down, but still pretty bubbly, so that's not even a completely fallen volume. I never fill the jar more than 1/3 full (at flat volume).

So, overnight, it at least sextupled in size.

Details: Commercial yeast 100% hydration bread flour poolish, maintained for about a month. Kitchen was probably 68F last night. I've let it rise and fall on the counter before, but the last two rest periods have been mostly in the fridge, if that matters.

So, primary question, what size jar, proportional to flat volume, should I use to be safe from overruns like this? I'd been going with 1/3 max, but then... this.

Secondary "why" questions to understand the answer:

Is this level of expansion normal, or at least somewhat frequent, or was this a bizarre fluke?
Did a counter rest after a couple fridge rests contribute to this explosion?
If the "Blob that ate Cincinnati" effect is expected now and then, would a biga be more predictable due to its stiffer consistency?

This is after I saw it hitting the top last night and stirred it down before bed.

You have been warned. But it's certainly not a bizzare fluke.

What could have helped the dough out:

at 100% hydration and low volumes you have a good chance that you get less-than-90% hydration dough by only a slight mistake in measurements; 90% dough can actually be pretty stable to support itself all the way up (especially if you have some better bread flour)
there might be a giant heap of nutrients left for the yeast/bacteria after 2 less-active fridge rests
your jar is quite narrow, which in fact provides lots of support to rising dough

In my opinion, to your original question, filling 1/3 for counter rests is on the edge, 1/4 should be okay. You can add some extra safety by having a wider jar, wetter dough, and feeding the starter much less for fridge rests (I actually always let the culture feed on the new flour for a day or two on the counter, before putting it to fridge).

About your "why"s:

Just 1 gram of consumed sugar produces ~0.248 litres of carbon oxide. Not bizzare at all, just a bit of bad luck that your dough was strong enough to be able to trap it. :]
IMO yes.
Biga is a short-lived starter culture, people usually don't keep it for longer than 1 day. Given there's much less water (40%) the dough usually starts to tear instead of rising very much. Btw. poolish is usually also taken to be short-lived; isn't your poolish actually sourdough-ish?


Why stretch and fold vs traditional kneading of bread dough? Many recent recipes I'm seeing for bread, this one for example, are using a strech and fold technique rather than a traditional knead.  Whats the advantage here?  It sure seems to work, but I'm not sure why it works well with so much less work.

The purpose of all kneading techniques is the same: as @rumtscho wrote, to stretch and align strands of gluten.

The traditional kneading method is to fold the mass of dough on itself, press it together with the palm of the hand, turn, and repeat.

With very high hydration doughs this is impossible because the dough will hopelessly adhere to the hands. The technique is, therefore, modified to reduce hand contact with the dough as much as possible.

A dough scraper is used to gather and fold the dough which is laid over on itself instead of being pressed. The result is the same as normal kneading but only the fingertips come in contact with the dough. After just a few turns the gluten sheets will align and the dough will still be tender but much less sticky.

As for why it seems more effective I can only conjecture. Gluten forms in the presence of water. Higher hydration doughs allow for faster gluten development. It is not that the folding is more effective but that kneading very wet doughs progresses faster.


Using spaghetti squash for 'pasta' I've recently gotten into making primal/paleo cooking, i.e. (no grains,legumes,processed foods) and have been meaning to try spaghetti w/meat sauce with spaghetti squash noodles instead of regular pasta. Is there a particular method of cooking the squash that helps form better noodles than others? Any other methods to help the 'pasta' come out more pasta-like?

Split the squash in half lengthwise, drizzle with olive oil, and place face-down on a foil-covered baking sheet. I usually roast for 45 min to an hour, depending on the size of the squash. The inside 'noodles' can then be scooped out with a fork for an awesome pasta substitution. Enjoy!


Could a cast iron skillet change its ways and be kosher for a vegan? If this sounds like a ridiculously neurotic question, that's because it is. That said, and discussion aside, according to Par[e]ve kitchen certifications and ordinances around the world (and especially in the United States), how can a seasoned cast iron skillet that browned a flank steak one night, be redeemed to serve an observant vegan or strict kosher meal the next?

What are ideal steps/rituals/best practices for rendering it compliant with:

Practical, reasonable steps to assure cross-contamination does not occur (i.e. should I take any special steps beyond a salt scrub?)
Any general religious observance could conscientiously be observed (an answer here would simply rely on advertising, and any regulation upon it based on health inspections or public safety departments)
Any strict religious observances

This is not a question about how to clean a cast iron skillet. I just don't want to have to bury mine in the yard in some odd ritual, but I want to know where people would stand based on any additional cleaning/sanitizing/sanctifying measures I might take.

There are a few aspects to consider, but will always boil down to "you have to ask the individual".

Making a piece of cookware "safe" for a given person involves two components:

Removing the contaminant in question in a manner that will prevent accidental ingestion of said contaminant.
Making the item seem un-contaminated. At first glance this is similar to the first part, but has less to do with the physical molecules, and more to do with people's perception of cleanliness, as seen through their cultural lens. If a toothbrush falls on the bathroom floor, many people will throw it away because of the persistant sensation of uncleanliness, even if a dishwasher cycle would be more than enough to satisfy point 1. "Is it clean?" is as much about physics as it is about perception and intent.

For vegans and vegetarians, there are no guidelines of any kind. Individuals who are vegan or vegetarian for primarily environmental or health reasons will probably be satisfied with any simple cleaning to meet condition 1, and are probably unconcerned with item 2, as it applies to meat. Vegans and vegetarians who are primarily motivated by ethics will be more impacted by item 2, and may prefer not to eat off the pan. While some may be satisfied by various "rituals", there is no standard for such rituals.

For people who keep Kosher, some sects of Judaism allow for "kashering", which is the process of making something previously un-Kosher into something Kosher. Kashering is partially about item 1, but is primarily about item 2 - in some cases the cleaning is highly ritualized. Note that while there are some common themes to kashering, different sects will see the acts very differently, and may or may not "allow" certain methods for their followers.

For some appliances the process is fairly easy - a stainless steel sink can be Kashered with boiling water. Porcelain is seen as porous, and in many cases cannot be kashered (exceptions can be made for valuable old items, but they must remain unused for over a year). Ovens and oven-safe cooking items can be put through a self-cleaning cycle (around 800F), and must be thoroughly cleaned of all debris. Cast iron pans and other fry pans must have their entire seasoned coating removed, abrasively and/or through extremely high heat. The bare pan may then be re-seasoned in a proper way. Many consider that to be too extreme to be worth the time, and simple replacement of the cast iron cookware is advised.

Some examples of Kashering processes, though various sub-communities will see these items differently:

http://kosherfood.about.com/od/kosherfaq/ht/htkoshkitch.htm
http://www.kashrut.com/Passover/kashering/

Ultimately, everyone will fall into a different place on the Item 1/Item 2 scale, and their habits or religion alone may not allow you to easily predict their reaction. In some cases, Jews determine that being an ungrateful guest is a greater sin than eating from a non-Kosher pan. Some vegans may find the pan forever unclean, but many will also take a more practical attitude when eating with friends than they would with their own cookware.

The best you can do is to take a good guess at whether someone is an Item 1 or and Item 2 prioritizer, and act accordingly. People who highly prioritize Item 2 will probably never be OK with your cast iron pan. People who prioritize Item 1 will probably be satisfied with any solid cleaning such as a heavy salt scrub with very hot water, and a re-oiled surface with an acceptable variety of oil.

In a world where wider groups of cultures are finding themselves in the same place, and individuals are thinking more about their own diets and making a broader range of food choices, it is becoming more acceptable to just ask. You should be able to ask someone, "Would you mind if this pan had been used to prepare meat in the past?" and not have them be offended, or yourself be offended at their answer (if they say "yes, I do mind"). I have so many friends with different dietary choices and traditions that I'm used to asking in dinner invites, "What is everyone's dietary situation right now?" No one is offended by the question, and their honest answers make it easy (and fun) to put together a meal that everyone will enjoy.


How to quickly and safely defrost chicken? What is the safest, quick way to defrost chicken? Microwave? Running water over it?

I suppose that depends on what you're defrosting it for.

The microwave (on low power) is safe and quick.  The downside is that you're using a microwave, which means there's a good chance you'll actually cook the outside slightly in the process, and you're killing enzymes that are normally part of the flavour.  The lower the heat, the less the impact of this, but it's still a problem.  If I'm preparing the meat for marinating, stir-fry, etc., something with a powerful or thick sauce, then I wouldn't worry about it, but if it's going onto a grill with just a little bit of seasoning, you might want to avoid this.

Running it under warm water would seem to work, but I've found that it takes forever to defrost this way (the exterior will loosen up but the interior stays stubbornly frozen), and you're soaking it in the process.  This really isn't suitable if you need to pound or fold the meat or do anything complicated with it.

I would use the microwave if desperate, but it's really best to thaw the meat in the refrigerator or, if you're in a bit of a hurry, the sink.  It takes longer, but it'll turn out much better than the microwave in terms of flavour and tenderness.

P.S. One other word of advice: If you're making a dish that requires the chicken to be cut or sliced, it's best not to defrost it all the way.  It's easier to cut when frozen, and will defrost very quickly once it's in pieces.  I'm mainly talking about the breast here, this doesn't work so well with meat stuck to bones.

Update: I'm noticing a lot of recent hubbub about the dangers of defrosting in the sink / on the countertop or using warm water and I wanted to clarify something.  Please note that that the advice above applies to chicken that will be immediately cooked after defrosting and that the defrosting is done over a period shorter than 2 hours.

Raw chicken must not be kept at any temperature above 40° F (4.4° C) for more than an hour or so.  Do not defrost a chicken breast in the sink and then toss it back in the fridge.  Definitely don't try to defrost a whole bird this way - stick to the refrigerator or very cold running water.

As long as you follow the above precautions and cook the chicken thoroughly (up to an internal temperature of 165° F), you're not in any serious danger of salmonella poisoning, even if the original piece of meat was contaminated - and most chicken sold today is contaminated, for the record.

If the meat is going back in the refrigerator for marinating or you plan to delay cooking for any other reason, then you need to either thaw it very fast (using the microwave) or at a very low temperature (using the refrigerator or cold running water).


How can I reheat oats in the minimal time without microwave? I warm up steel cut oats I cooked and stored in the refrigerator.
To warm the portion I use 4x the portion's size in water. I.e. for 50gr I use 200gr water.
This takes me 15 mins.
Is there a faster way to do this without a microwave?
Update:
I fill a pan with water 4 times the weight of the oats I got from the fridge.
I wait until the water starts to boil.
Then I put the oats in the pan (they are frozen and completely solid at this point).
I use a spoon to break the oats and after 2-3 mins I lower a bit the heat.
I wait until the water is fully gone (stirring) and the solid oats appear fluid. I like them warm

No, I don't see how you can do better.

To heat something quickly, you need quick heat transfer. Water is the most efficient liquid in the kitchen to use for that, and its maximum temperature is 100 C. You're already using water -> oats heat transfer at its maximum speed.

If you were to use a liquid which can be heated to higher temperatures, you'd need to switch to oil. But then you'd be deep frying the oats, which is not only messy, but also changes the flavor a lot.

Then you could just try radiant heat + convection: an oven. But if you want the oven to work quicker than boiling water, you'll have to have a very hot oven, like a commercial pizza oven or an Aga, already running at full temperature before you stick the oats in. It's not practicable in most home settings.

There is one possibility: that you are already using the most efficient method available, but are using it wrong. I didn't understand exactly why you are adding extra water and then waiting for it to evaporate. Have you tried using less water and waiting for shorter time? Is it that your oats were cooked with too little water the first time, or parcooked to too early a stage, or what's the problem there?


Using a vacuum sealer to marinate? With the vacuum sealers that have hit the market, they're have been a lot of toys added onto the products.  One such device is used for marinating meat.  It just looks like a tupperware bin with a nozzle on the lid, and you use a hose to vacuum all the air out.  The claim is that this will pull the fibers of the meat apart allowing you to marinade in half the time.

My question is, does this really work or is it just marketing hype?  If it does work, is this a better way of marinating?

This works by increasing the porousness of the meat inside the bag. When a vacuum is created, there is a natural tendency for matter to occupy that space. It does this by increasing the amount of space between particles, otherwise known as density. This increases the size of the microscopic holes in the meat, and thus effectively increases the surface area in which the marinade can contact the meat. More surface area means by marinade sticks to your food.

If you'd like to see the effects of vacuum pressure on foods greatly exagerrated, put a marshmallow in a vacuum seal bag and see what happens. :-)


How long to steam eggs for? (Instead of hard boiling) I'm steaming eggs, rather than hard-boiling (I want the same effect), because it's convenient as I'm using the steam from some boiling chickpeas underneath.

But I can't seem to find a definitive estimate for how long to keep them steaming.

One source says 20 minutes. http://www.communitychickens.com/2012/08/the-best-way-to-hardboil-eggs-is-to.html#.Uk0oAX-aejs

I imagine that's too long.

Another source implies 7 minutes. http://whatscookingwithkids.com/2011/05/27/forget-hard-boiling-eggs-steamed-eggs-are-easy-to-peel/ (In the comments.)

And then there is the usual time for hard-boiling, which is 10 minutes.

I don't want to cook them any longer than necessary.

I like to follow Alton Brown's approach: steam for 12 minutes, drop into ice bath. Always turns out perfectly for me this way (and as a bonus, they're much easier to peel than boiled eggs).

Here's the video from Alton's show, with some extra information in it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUHKpHek2E8

And while unrelated (since you want to steam them), if you want to know everything there is to know about hard boiled eggs, this Food Lab edition on Serious Eats has you covered: http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/10/the-food-lab-science-of-how-to-cook-perfect-boiled-eggs.html


Scratched Stainless Steel I have a set of stainless steel pans that I absolutely love, and my 12" frying pan has received LOTS of use since I bought it. This is my first ever stainless steel pan and I'm pretty aware of all the ways to clean it (deglazing, barkeeps friend, etc). Recently, my wife purchased some scotch-bright heavy duty sponges with good intentions but I didn't realize exactly how "heavy duty" they were. I was washing my frying pan one night and used the scouring side of the sponge to get some stuck on grease and I noticed that I actually scratched my pan. The scratches don't look very deep, but I'm a little concerned.

Will these scratches damage the pan and reduce it's life? Should I stop using the scouring side of the sponges on my stainless steel?

This is quite common and pretty harmless. The scratches you see don't go very deep, nor are they very wide. My All-Clad saute pan is nearing 10 years old and has a ton of micro-scratches on the interior. It still performs beautifully.

That said, the scratches can grab onto proteins and cause sticking. However, this is simple to prevent with both oil and proper pan preheating.

When a pan is preheated properly the metal expands, essentially closing all of the micro-scratches. This prevents the proteins from grabbing onto them and getting stuck. You obviously need oil/fat to assist with this as well.

To properly heat a pan to the appropriate temperature I suggest using the water drop method. If you put a cold pan on heat and drip a drop of water onto it, the water will sit there for several seconds then boil away. As the pan gets warmer this will happen more quickly, fizzling away in a second or so. Once the scratches start to close something weird happens.

First, the drop of water will break into a few mini drops which scoot around the pan as they evaporate. This is a sign that you are almost there. When the drop of water stays whole (mostly) and scoots around the pan like a mercury ball, this is the perfect temperature. I the water instantly vaporizes on contact, you've gone way too far and need to let the pan cool down. At this point you should add your oil/fat, swirl it around, and immediately add your food. (Make sure the mercury ball of water is gone before adding oil).

Also note that the mercury-ball phase is definitely too hot for unclarified butter, and may be too hot for some extra-virgin olive oils. They may instantly smoke upon adding.

Again, it's important to have your oil and ingredients in place (mise en place) before you start. It's quite easy to skyrocket past the mercury-ball phase if you have to open your oil, pour, and then season your ingredients.


Can you estimate how long it takes to reduce a liquid? In a lot of recipes, there is a step that includes reducing your liquid. In most sauces, this isn't a problem, since you just need to thicken it and that's something you can see and doesn't take a long time.

However, last week I was making a base for a sauce, that included water, vinegar and white wine. The recipe asked me to reduce it till it was about 1/3 of the original amount. I didn't think it would take as long as it did and as a result, everything was ready except the sauce.

Is there a way to calculate how fast something reduces? I can understand it would depend on the ingredients, on the surface area and on the temperature, but assume that I know these variables.

If you're boiling something rapidly, and it's not in a terribly deep, narrow pot, then essentially all of the heat output of the burner is going into turning water into steam. The latent heat of vaporization of water is 2260 kJ/kg, so if you want to reduce something by a volume V, and your stove has power P, the time required is:

t = V * (1 g/mL) * (2260 J/g) / P

If V happens to be in mL, and P is in W (J/s):

t (s) = V / P * 2260

This would be modified slightly if you're using a really tall, skinny pot, since the convection within the pot, from the bottom to the top of the liquid, would be less efficient, with more heat transferred to the sides of the pot and out into the air, but I doubt you're actually going to try to reduce something like that. The P here is the effective power; for example, a gas burner wastes a lot of heat out the sides, so the advertised power will be higher. See TFD's answer for approximate efficiencies.

If you don't know the power of your stove, in all honesty, the easiest way to measure it would probably be to just see how long it takes to boil away a given volume of water, and work backwards. To get an accurate result, you should not boil a pot dry - once the water is a thin enough layer, the heat transfer might start working differently, with the pot itself heating up more, and water splattering. So you could, for example, put in a liter of water, boil away at the stove setting you intend to measure until it's substantially reduced in volume, record the time, then pour it out to measure how much you boiled away. At this point, knowing the power output might be overkill, though; you can really just measure the time per volume reduction, and use that, unless you care about the power for other reasons.

Trying to deduce the power of the stove from, say, the temperature of an empty pot or of the burner without a pot on it (assuming it's electric) would be difficult; you'd have to deal with the heat transfer between metal and air, and the convection in the air.

Dependence on ingredients shouldn't be significant - you're still just boiling water, unless there's a substantial amount of alcohol, in which case the latent heat of vaporization will be different. Pure alcohol has a latent heat of vaporization of 841 kJ/kg; I haven't found a good table for mixtures.

For solutions, as I noted in the comments, the latent heat of vaporization should be that of water, plus/minus the heat of solution of the solutes (I forget which direction that's measured in). The most common solutes are probably salt and sugar, which have heats of solution of 70 and 16 J/g, respectively. (I found this table, and converted.) The next most common thing I could think of that might be present in substantial concentrations is citric acid; this paper reports a heat of solution of -57 J/g. In all these cases it's small compared to the latent heat of vaporization of water, so pretending the liquid is water should be a good approximation. It's possible that things change if you're reducing really far: heat of solution does depend on concentration. That is, things are different thermodynamically (statistical mechanically?) in a nearly-saturated sugar syrup than in slightly sweet water.


How do I cook beans without having too many that are split? Whenever I have cooked beans from raw (dried), many of the beans split. But if I buy canned beans, there are fewer split beans. How are the canned beans cooked so that there are fewer split beans?

Beans split because the seed coat isn't soft enough when the interior of the bean rehydrates.

Two factors that can help ease this problem:

soak your beans to make sure the seed coat is well rehydrated when the bean interior cooks.
This is the big one- heavily salt your soaking water. The salt ions will replace calcium in the bean skins and soften them. You will have magically whole beans.

Refer to the Food Lab article on chili which contains this image:


How long does cooked pasta last in the fridge? I sometimes cook more pasta than I intend to eat or use at once and store the rest in a container in the fridge (just plain, cooked pasta). How long would it store safely for?

http://www.stilltasty.com/fooditems/index/17887 is as good advice as any I'd give.

In my experience, it gets some slimy mold stuff on it. If it feels slimy, its probably not good to eat, although the mold might taste delicious, you never know...


Can You Blowtorch A Pig Skin to Make it Crispy? I like to try this recipe here.

http://panlasangpinoy.com/2014/01/11/crispy-oven-broiled-liempo/

Liempo means Pork Belly in our country. Anyway, my oven is a simple gas oven with no broiler option. It doesn't have a heat on top or slot at the bottom. I can't make the pig skin cripy with that oven and I don't have a broiler also.

Is it possible to use a blowtorch to make the crispy skin? Any alternatives?

I quite often use a bottom heated gas oven at work for my slow cooked pork joints as we can't afford to have our main ovens on such a low heat all day. Never once have we had an issue getting crispy skin.
Using a blow torch you will probably find the skin blackens on top and the underside still being chewy-er than out of date beef jerky...

If you're meat is burning on the bottom due to the high bottom heat required for crispy skin, make sure you lay your meat on chopped vegetables and a little water or wine. Use the veg for gravy after cooking :-)

If you really really can't get the skin to crisp up. Heat some veg oil in a pan till it's smoking and then carefully pour it over the skin. If you do this after the vegetables and juices have been removed you'll be able to repeat the procedure a few times until your skin is puffed up.

Another way would be to remove the skin after cooking the meat and return it to the oven, skin side down, while the meat rests.

Finally, again once the meat is cooked and resting. Remove the skin and deep fry it for instant "pork scratching" style crackling.

Good luck.


Why shallots over onions? It seems that in more advanced cookbooks and when watching professional chefs that shallots are used extensively. They seem to be used in the places where onions are in cookbooks which are aimed at home cooks.

I am familiar with the genetic similarities between onions and shallots. I have not personally cooked with shallots because they cost an order of magnitude more than onions.

If it is not just my misperception that shallots are preferred- what qualities do shallots have that make them more popular than onions?
Should I expect shallots to be much more expensive than onions or am I shopping at the wrong places?
In short- are they worth paying more for?

Shallots certainly aren't more popular than onions, otherwise they'd be far more abundant and less expensive.

I do cook with shallots from time to time and would describe them as most people describe them - as somewhere between the flavour of garlic and onion, but also a good deal milder/sweeter.

I prefer to use them simply when I do not want the strong taste of onions.  In fact, many of us are so accustomed to the harsh taste of onions that it's actually quite a surprise to find out how much better a certain dish might taste by substituting shallots.

They're especially common in Asian cooking, I find.  Very often you're providing a lot of spice or heat from other ingredients - chilies, five spice, curry powder, etc. - and don't want the overwhelming pungency of onions mixed in.  Shallots give just a little bit of "sharpness" without much of the sulfur taste.

Would I substitute them everywhere?  Absolutely not.  Some recipes really do call for the pungency of onions, for example almost anything involving ground beef.  But try it at least once - get yourself a bag of shallots and try substituting them for onions in a few recipes.  You may be pleasantly surprised.

I would say that ideal recipes to try this on, if you're unfamiliar with shallots, are stovetop recipes calling for a relatively small amount of chopped or sliced (not minced) onion; stir fries are ideal, which perhaps is why they seem to be so common in Asian cuisine.

Also, as far as pricing is concerned: Locally, where a 2 lb bag of onions might cost $1.99, a 1 lb bag of shallots would cost $1.49, which makes them roughly 50% more expensive, very far from an "order of magnitude."  If you meant that literally and are finding them close to 10x more expensive than onions, then you are either shopping at the wrong stores or living in an area where they are hard to find.  Try an Asian grocery store if you have one; they can usually be found for dirt cheap in those.


Custard Pudding tasting like raw eggs So this is my first time trying to make a custard pudding(I've watched a video). And of course it came out looking horrible but I left it on the stove for 30mins. I used 2 eggs and 250ml of milk and sugar. After I took out I tried it out but it tastes a little like raw eggs. But it's slightly consistent, I am just afraid of eating it since I've read some articles about diseases that one can get from consuming raw eggs. So my question is: Is it safe to eat it knowing that it was on the stove for more than 30mins ? Although it tastes a little like raw eggs, it was hot enough to burn my tongue when I took it out of the stove.

Note: The water on the pan even boiled.

If you heated the eggs above 160°F/70°C (and boiling is definitely above that), they're cooked, and any harmful bacteria has been killed. Can't say for sure that you did this without knowing the steps you performed.

Given, if it doesn't taste good, and it was cheap ingredients... sounds like an argument to discard it anyway. Even if its perfectly safe.

(Note: lower temperatures will also kill the bacteria, but it's no longer instant—you may have to hold it for a few minutes to a few hours, depending on the temperature.)


Is there any way to enhance the heat without changing the taste in a hot sauce? I have been making a three pepper chili for years, but the spice content leaves a little to be desired for some people.  I wanted to make a hot sauce that would complement this chili, but my first few attempts haven't been hot enough.  I used jalapeño and poblano as the base along with vinegar and garlic.  The sauce tastes exactly how I would like and tastes great with the chili, but it isn't hot enough.  So, is there any way to torque up the heat with out changing the taste?

(I did use a few habanero on one batch but all I can taste is the addition, it throws the sauces flavor off in a fairly noticeable way)

There are a few things that might work. I would probably just add more seeds. The majority of the capsaicin where the heat comes from is in the seeds, while the majority of the flavor is in the flesh. You could just add some seeds from a hot pepper like habanero or cayenne or even more jalapeno seeds.

You could also add some chili pepper that has heat but not a lot of flavor. Some examples include cayenne and chile de arbol. Thai bird and african bird chiles are hot and also don't have a ton of flavor in my opinion.

Another option is to try a chili extract. For example, a habenero extract will have some flavor, but a small amount will add an enormous amount of heat. So you may be able to get away with an amount small enough not to add much flavor, while at the same time kicking up your heat to the desired level.

Personally I like habenero, esp in El Yucateco sauce, which I often add straight to hot sauces.


how to regain moisture into already made cold rolls/spring rolls I made some cold rolls with carrot, cucumber, capsicum and chicken in rice paper rolls. we ate some yesterday but had some leftover. We put damp kitchen towel into the bottom of a container and one on the top of them. Now they are hard and chewy. I was wondering if there was a way to get the moisture back into the rolls.

You can't regain the original texture in the rice paper once it's changed.  Spring rolls need to be eaten pretty much the same day they are made.


What chemical(s) gives molasses its flavor so that it is used as an ingredient? I'm curious why there isn't a zero-calorie molasses substitute. The USDA nutrient database lists a bunch of minerals, but what is it that gives it the "taste" of molasses?

There is no single "molasses molecule". It's a complex flavor from a complex combination of chemicals. There is no "caramel molecule" either. It also contains several different types of sugar (mono- and disaccharides), which impart their own flavor and calories.

It will include residual sugars, all the types of molecules produced during caramelization, along with a wide varieties of proteins and miscellaneous not-sugar-things that are found in sugar cane juice. McGee lists a breakdown of 35% sucrose, 20% invert sugars, and 10% minerals (for blackstrap). There's also some water and other organic material, as that obviously does not add up to 100%.


blood in poultry farm white egg I brought four-five eggs day before yesterday and today when I cracked one I saw blood in it, rest others were fine.

It doesn't look like a drop of blood fall upon it, it looks like I can't separate it like someone pierced yellow part and blood burst out of it.

Question: What is it, chicken and I killed it? Is it safe to eat it, scrambled egg?

I regularly see these (although, not usually as big), and they are considered safe to cook and eat as usual.

The American Egg Board (which is, just to be clear, a US government-backed lobby and marketing group, not a scientific body), states that

blood spots are caused by ruptured blood vessels (which can happen for different reasons) of the hen (mother) at the time of ovulation (before the hard outer shell of the egg has formed)
they are not an indicator of fertilised eggs
they are safe to eat.

We don't see them (or don't see very large ones) regularly because they are normally detected by candling, and such eggs are removed (this is why blood spots are more common in eggs from local farms that might not be using such mass-production techniques).

Many other sites say things along the same lines, including the USDA. However, notice the other USDA comments on egg freshness and safety. Definitely make sure the eggs are cooked thoroughly (as always!), especially if they're from local farms and may have not gone through pasteurisation or other post-collection disinfection methods.

@BaffledCook might be right on the freshness comment (independent of the blood spot), although the photo you took is very bright and makes it a bit hard for me to tell how clear the egg white is or whether the yolk just broke when you cracked the egg.

The "err on the safe side" is usually a good rule to follow if you're concerned (it's just an egg!).


Soaked urad ki dal too long - Is it safe? I soaked black dal for too long (24 hours) and its colour changed from black to green and it smells very bad, can I still use it or not ?

If it was soaked in the refrigerator for that amount of time, it should not have a very bad smell, and should be safe.  However, if it has been sitting at room temperature for that long, and has developed an unpleasant smell, it likely has fermented, and should not be risked.  While there is no guarantee that it is yet harmful, it is not recommended from a food safety standpoint.


Can I defrost fish in the microwave? Is it OK to defrost fish in a microwave?  Any particular precautions?

Generally, what is the best way to defrost fish in 15 or 30 minutes before cooking?

Sometimes it comes in plastic, sometimes not.

If problematic, why? Except some parts becoming very hot

Assume the time from defrost until eating is less than 1 hour.
I am mostly thinking about quality.

Defrosting anything in the microwave is dodgy. They're designed for serious heating, and don't heat completely evenly, so they tend to start cooking food before it's fully defrosted, even on low power. It might not be quite as bad as "defrosting" in a pan on the stove, but it's not great either.

That's especially bad for fish, since it cooks and overcooks quickly. You can maybe get away with a quick partial thaw in the microwave if you're careful, but it wouldn't be my first choice - it's pretty risky in terms of quality.

If you're in a hurry, I'd definitely suggest thawing with running water, as described for example in this question/answer. Of the safe methods, it's the fastest one that won't also cook your food. Especially for small/thin things like filets, it's pretty fast, and on top of that you can err on the side of not fully thawing to save time, and let it finish thawing while it cooks.


Is it possible to make transparent / translucent pastry? I'm looking for something that works like pastry (malleable before baking, rigid after baking, mild unobtrusive flavour) that is transparent or translucent.

The idea is to use for topping savoury pies, where the base and sides are regular shortcrust pastry and the top is something similar but translucent, so that you can have a selection of different pies of the same size and shape on a sharing plate and people can see which is which - without leaving the top open so not exposing the contents to the elements.

Since things like glass noodles and translucent dough wrappings for Chinese dumplings exist, I'm sure it must be possible  - maybe based on corn flour, or pure starch like glass noodles? Apparently translucent rice is also a thing. The closest I've found are recipes like this one for transparent Chinese dumpling dough - but these aren't very transparent and are gooier than would be ideal alongside pastry.

If there's no such thing that has an established name or recipes, it would be great to have a few basic principles on how it might work: for example, how the pure starch that glass noddles are apparently made from could be sourced and adapted to be pastry-like without losing translucency? Perhaps simply making a starch dough, glazing it with oil then baking might be enough to make it work like pastry?

With great skill, a true artist could do what you describe with Thai/Vietnamese rice paper, the dinner plate sized, extra thin ones, like for Fresh Spring Rolls.

I will never apply for the job, I promise.


Can these Oktoberfest dishes be reheated without ruining them? I am hosting an Oktoberfest party tonight and would like to do much of the cooking this morning and just re-heat things before the party for time management purposes. Fortunately, I have a good friend that is a retired executive chef bringing schnitzel, but I am responsible for everything else. Here is what I'd like to make ahead:

German potato salad
Beer cheese (for pretzel dipping)
Beer brats (thinking of grilling early and then heating in the oven)
Saute peppers and onions as a condiment for brats

Can all of this be successfully reheated without making it awful? If so, what temperature? I have two ovens and can do two different temperatures if necessary.
Thanks in advance!

The potato salad, and the peppers and onions, are standard steam-tray fare. If you can, make them somewhat ahead of time and keep warm, covered, in a low oven. The brats can be treated likewise, though you won’t maintain the same crackle to the casing; your can re-crisp in a fan assist oven for 5-10 minutes at 200C.
Don’t mess with the preparation instructions for the cheese. It’s the least stable of the four.


cooking time and cooking temperature The recipe calls for my food to bake for 35 minutes at 425 degrees F,
But if I have another dish baking at 325 degrees F, how long should I bake the first dish at the lower temperature so it will turn out correctly?

Baking the two together is unlikely to work.

Generally speaking, dishes that cook for a short time at 425F are meant to get crispy and/or browned, or (in the case of yeast or egg-risen baked goods) are meant to have strong "oven spring" from the intense heat.  None of these things will happen at 325 degrees; depending on the dish, it will be soggy, greasy, or flat.

I would suggest, instead, cooking the 325 degree dish first, taking it out of the oven and wrapping it in foil and and thick towel to keep it warm, turning the oven up to 425, and baking the second dish.  When the second dish is done, you can put the first dish back in the oven for 5 minutes to heat it back up, should it need it.

Of course, a lot of that depends on what exactly those two dishes are, but you should get the general idea.


How do I cover up the white spots on my cast iron stove? My friends brought me a paper bag full of peaches. I set the bag on my fisher cast iron stove, and I forgot about them. Lastnight, I picked up the bag to find the peach juice has bled through the paper bag and ate the black finish on the stove. Now i have two large white spots on the stove. I have tried to rub olive oil on the spots. They are still there. How do i get the black finish back on the stove? Thank you! -Annie

Either something has accumulated on the stove or something was taken off the stove by the acids and sugars in the peaches. If you can't clean the spots, then you're looking at the latter situation.

Your stove has some type of finish on it. As Fisher stoves seem to be out of production, official information seems to be sparse. You could apply some type of high-temperature paint, of which there are many different color depths and finishes. Most products I found in 5 minutes of googling seemed to recommended doing the whole stove at once. This could be good for sprucing up the whole stove or could be more work, time, waiting and fumes than you're interested in.

You could also go for a polish or blackening agent, which works more like seasoning a cast iron pan – an organic, lipid wax or oil is applied gradually in layers and the heating and cooling of the stove transforms it into a polymer, which gives it that dully shiny hardened finish. If I had to guess, I would guess that an old school stove is more likely to have a seasoning based finish than a pain.

There are a lot of websites dedicated to wood burning stoves, such as Hearth.com and woodheat.org. With their help and a little research, you could probably identify the exact model of Fisher you have and the year or era it was made; or maybe someone can find a manufacturer recommended product directly.