Using cast iron pans only Some people use cast iron pans for certain foods or dishes but not much else. I have a beautiful set of copper pans and, like cast iron, they're heavy and cook beautifully but I hate cleaning them. I have a complete set of cast iron cookware and have been tempted to start cooking with them alone.

I've cooked eggs without issue on one well seasoned pan so I believe I can do everything in cast iron. Does anyone here cook with cast iron alone? What issues am I not thinking of? Or is this just a bad (or good) idea in the first place?

EDIT: I have a gas stovetop.

First, I'll say that I used to be a big fan of cast iron.  I never used it for every kitchen task, but I have a lot of cast iron pans and pots, and at my peak a few years back, I was probably using it for 80-90% of my cooking.  However, I now use it only rarely for specialized tasks, which I'll explain.

Cast iron and copper have completely different thermal properties, which will impact their usefulness for various tasks.

Copper is one of the fastest conductors of heat (the fastest that is practical for making pans out of), so it has very fast response time.  Cast iron is one of the slowest conductors of heat among the materials for pots and pans, so it will take a long time to change temperature.

Also, cast iron's response is slow enough that it's easy to generate hot spots or hot areas in the pan.  I know there's a lot of kitchen lore out there about how cast iron "heats evenly," but after years of using it and being frustrated by pancakes that were brown on only one corner on my cast iron griddle or grilled cheese sandwiches that would brown in only one area on my skillet, I decided to do some serious testing.

Before I get to the details of that, let me just give a list of places where I think cast iron would be a bad idea:

Cooking custards, milk dishes, and other things that could burn easily and quickly
Sensitive sauces, particularly egg-based sauces which depend on fine temperature control
Other thick sauces (e.g., tomato), gravies, etc. particularly if they need to be cooked down (low simmering might be okay with a large burner)
Acidic dishes that need to be cooked or simmered for a long time -- it's okay to cook them for a short time in a well-seasoned pan, but simmering tomato-based chili for a whole day in your dutch oven will often end up adding a metallic flavor
Temperature-sensitive dishes where you want to avoid browning (e.g., French omelets)
Any dish that you want evenly browned or for which even doneness across a large surface area is important, unless you have a burner that heats evenly under that entire area of the pan's surface
Boiling water or applications where you might evaporate water out of a cast iron pan (e.g., steaming an oven) will eventually strip off the seasoning on cast iron if you do it too much

In sum, cast iron fails to heat evenly, and it can't change temperature quickly.  So, if you need to be able to stop the temperature rise in your Hollandaise sauce at a moment's notice, keep the copper pan.

Anyhow, I know cast iron fans (of which I used to be a big one) sometimes don't believe me when I say things like this.  Well, that's why I ran some tests.

With an infrared thermometer one weekend a few years back, I tested the surface temperatures of various pans placed over various levels of heat.  If you look up the conductivity numbers for cast iron compared to other kitchen metals, that should tell you enough.  But I needed to test it myself to see how bad it was.  Basically, with a 10-inch cast iron skillet, I would usually see a temperature difference of at least 100 degrees Fahrenheit between the center and the outer edge of the bottom of the pan -- and that was even after preheating slowly until the skillet came to equilibrium.  (At some burner levels, that differential was even as great as 200F.)

In contrast, an aluminum skillet had a differential of around 50F or a little more between the center and edge of the bottom of the pan.  Copper was only about 25-30F.

A minimum differential of 100 degrees is a huge difference in cooking.  Again and again, I saw dishes that were unevenly cooked because of cast iron, and not just on my own stove.  Unless it's something you're planning on stirring constantly, it's just not worth it.

To be clear, I was testing this on a gas range with reasonably sized (not professional giant) burners.  Even very large ring burners will create a ring-shaped hot "spot" in large pan on higher heat.  If you have an electric stove whose burner size is roughly the size of your cast iron pan, the numbers will get a lot better, though still not as good as copper.  Induction should also work better than gas.  Even so, imperfections in the manufacturing process for cast iron (which are generally cheaply made) will result in magnified actual "hot spots" in the pan.  So, even with a reasonably even heat source under the whole bottom of the pan, you'll still have more hot or cold spots than in most other materials.  On an electric stove with a large burner, I've still seen temperatures vary by over 50 degrees F over a cast iron pan's surface, particular on high heat.  With copper, temperature is incredibly even.

Now, if you put liquid in the pan or something, that will help, but it still won't stop the problem.  Since I did my initial tests a few years ago, I moved and now have a high-end electric stove (not my choice -- at some point I will probably replace it).  With the electric stove, I've started to use cast iron again somewhat.  But just a few weeks ago, I tried cooking a chicken and rice dish in a large enameled cast iron Le Creuset dutch oven.  I used the largest electric burner on my stove, but it still wouldn't reach the edges of the oval-shaped dutch oven.  After nearly an hour of slow simmering, the rice in the center was mushy, but the rice barely beyond the burner wasn't even cooked.  The chicken pieces in the pan stopped the liquid circulation a little, but the main problem was the cast iron.  Eventually, I had to put it into the oven to finish it (which I probably should have done in the first place -- I was just following directions for a new recipe).

All of that said, cast iron does have some good uses:

I like to do high-temperature searing in a cheap pan, and cast iron does hold quite a bit of heat while hot and takes a little while to release it, so it browns well
Even at lower temperatures, the color and surface characteristics contribute to browning better than a lot of other materials, so (for example) if I want to cook a grilled sandwich in a skillet, I'll often use cast iron (as long as it's not larger than the burner)
Its slow response to heat changes make it good for slow braises, stews, etc. baked in the oven.  It's better than, say, a ceramic dish in this regard when you need to brown or sear something first on the stovetop.
Again, because of slow heat response and browning (here mostly due to the color), cast iron dutch ovens and pots are often ideal for baking bread inside when preheated.

In sum, I agree with other responses that say: use the right tool for the task.  If I only owned copper and cast iron cookware, I'd probably use the copper 90% of the time and the cast iron about 10% of the time for the kind of things I just mentioned.  Depending on the kind of cooking you do and the kind of stove you own, cast iron might be a good choice more often.

By the way -- I assume you're talking about cast iron manufactured in the past couple decades, probably by Lodge.  If you do want to start using cast iron for a lot more cooking, I'd highly recommend trying to find vintage cast iron pans, which often are thinner and have a machined inner surface.  Thinner cast iron is not only lighter and thus easier to maneuver, but it also responds a lot faster to heat changes.  You'll still have hot spots, but if you forced me to do 100% of my cooking in cast iron, I'd make a lot of use out of the skillets I inherited from my great-grandmother, which are lighter, thinner, and have a slicker surface than any plain cast iron I've seen manufactured recently.

One last thing -- I'm not sure why you find copper pans harder to clean.  Neither cast iron nor copper pans can go in the dishwasher, and I find taking care of cast iron by hand to be slightly more cumbersome than other pans.  (It's not a big deal, but they do need upkeep to maintain a slick surface.)  I suppose if you have tinned copper, it can be annoying to be careful with the soft interior surface.  But if you have stainless-lined copper, cleaning should be pretty easy.  And if you're worried about the exterior of copper pans... don't be.  Unless you have actual corrosion, the darkening doesn't really make a huge difference in performance.


Mustard-fried burger patty One of the signature items of the California-based burger chain In-n-Out Burger is the "Animal Style" burger from their secret menu, which features a mustard-fried burger patty.  It has a slightly tangy flavor to it, with a crispy, almost caramelized surface but a juicy center, and is often quoted as the best fast-food burger available.

I know the basic idea behind the process: squirt some mustard on the grill before putting the burger down.  But I haven't tried it, and I'm curious if anyone has, and what specifically works best.  Is it better to put the mustard on the burger, or directly on the grill?  What type of mustard to use, and how much?  At what point in the cooking process:  just once before adding the burger, or a second time before flipping?

I know this falls under the restaurant-mimicry category, though I think I did a decent job of following the rules;  If not, feel free to edit, or leave a comment and I'll try to clarify.

Here is Kenji Alt's in-depth recreation of the double-double animal-style burger.  The core of his technique is:

  The process is simple: Sear the patty on one side, and squirt some
  mustard on it as it sizzles. Flip the patty over so that the mustard
  cooks into the second side.

  The patties are covered with the cheese, then the caramelized onions
  are applied liberally to a single patty before topping it with the
  second, fusing all the elements together into a single cheesy, beefy, sweet, oniony, gooey, salty, oozy, crispy, meaty, savory, melty, delicious mess.

He uses basic yellow mustard, btw.

In response to the question from comments about how long to cook, here is what the recipe says:

  Add burger patties and cook without moving until well browned and
  crusty on first side, about 2 1/2 minutes. While they are cooking,
  spread 1 tablespoon mustard on raw side of each patty with a spoon.
  Meanwhile, top each bottom bun with up half of spread, 4 slices
  pickles, 1 slice tomato, and lettuce. Flip patties with a thin spatula
  so mustard side is down and continue to cook for 1 minute


Should chili peppers be seared? I've seen some recipes call for chili peppers to be roasted until the skin is charred but not burnt, and then peeled.

How does this change their flavour? (Do they become hotter?) Should the skins be discarded, or do they contain some flavour on their own?

I am not sure if you are confusing roasting with charring but both are the same basically, though roasting the pepper by charring the skin would be a more accurate nomenclature.

Roasting brings smokiness to the pepper and softens its bite. It allows you to remove skin more easily. When you char the outside of dried peppers in a dry skillet with spices, then soak, it allows you to remove the pith more constructively than tearing it open and it adds depth to the flavor.

For fresh peppers they become somewhat less spicy, for dried peppers it allows them a more expressive flavor (think of roasted sesame or pumpkin seeds or coffee beans for a comparison). Roasted peppers add a different dynamic than their raw counterpart and you should definitely look into the difference (if you enjoy chipotles end adobo you already have a taste for them without knowing it).


How to make a sauce based on tea I have some pu-erh tea, and I love the smokiness of it. I was thinking about trying to incorporate it into a dish somehow. Specifically, I was thinking about using something like pacific cod. Then I could potentially create a sauce or a rub for it.

Any suggestions for how to incorporate the tea into a dish without losing it's smoky flavor?

Interesting question. My first thought would be to try just poaching the fish in the tea. That should transfer more of the flavour than, say, steaming it. Google finds this recipe where they use an unnamed green tea.


How to make an apple pie like KFC/McDonalds? I'm trying to figure out to make an apple pie like KFC/McDonalds, something crispy and delicious, such as one of these:

(above - McDonald's Apple Pie)

(above - KFC Apple Pie)

I do not want the consistency of a typical homemade or store-bought apple pie, such as the one below:

What is the difference between the first two pies and the last?  What do I need to know in order to make the crisp, gooey pies in the first two photos?

McDonald's' et al pies are essentially fried pies, a feature of Southern US cooking, adapted for cooking in fast food facilities. A Google search for 'fried apple pie recipes' turns up plenty of results. Try this:

http://southernfood.about.com/od/apples/r/bl90416c.htm


Does sugar turn sour after prolonged cooking? Growing up, my mother always told me that sugar should be added at the end of the cooking process for things like red bean soup or paste. These things are cooked for quite a long time, several hours (at least, in my house it was; I know it's possible to cook adzuki beans soft in less time) and she claimed that prolonged cooking turns sugar sour. Is that true?

Now, I know sucrose breaks down into glucose and fructose, but I wasn't aware that either of those sugars tastes noticeably sour. If it were a chemical breakdown of that kind, wouldn't the dish simply taste less sweet? I do get a sour aftertaste when I eat sweet things, is that the same thing?

No, sugar will never turn sour after long cooking, no matter how long you cook it. This must be some myth.

If you take your sugar beyond caramel and into a burned stage, it can become acrid with a faintly sour taste. But this cannot happen as long as there is any moisture in your food. The whole content of the pot will have to be a single black lump of charcoal before this occurs. It is not possible for the dissolved sugar in the soup to burn to this stage.

Peter Taylor's suggestion is interesting. In any fermentation process, sugar will be turned into acid. But cooking temperatures are way too high for a fermentation. You'd have to keep the food for hours below 45 Celsius to sustain a bacterial or yeast colony; it would flourish at even lower temperatures, around 37 Celsius, giving you obvious fermentation effects. This is a temperature which many people would find not hot enough for a bathtub, less alone to cook a soup. If the myth was born from this effect, it must come from a tradition in which the beans were soaked in warm water for hours, then cooked for a shorter time at higher temperatures, instead of being cooked all the time.

There are other ingredients which should be added at the end, for example fresh herbs. They are likely to lose their flavor, not turn sour or something else. But this doesn't apply to sugar, which has no aroma to speak of.

Sugar also doesn't get inverted by cooking. It stays as a single molecule (sucrose) until it starts reacting into more exotic stuff, undergoing complicated irreversible chemical reactions and turning into caramel. Inverting the sugar (= breaking it into glucose and fructose) is possible, but cannot be done by temperature, it needs acid or seeding. Even if you were to invert some sugar with acid, it would 1) happen almost instantly, and 2) any sour taste will be due to the acid you used. Glucose and fructose are both sweet and not sour at all. So, if your sugar is getting inverted in the soup (which will happen if you are already using other sour ingredients - but I can't imagine why you'd do it if you want to avoid a sour taste) it is not making it sour.

So, I can't know what associations created this sugar-turns-sour myth, but it isn't true.


Nutrient impact of squeezing water out of frozen chopped spinach Many recipes using frozen chopped spinach instruct one to thaw and squeeze out the water from the spinach.  When I do this, how much nutrition I am squeezing out?

One way of looking at it is that nutrient density is increased due to the removal of water. Minerals will not have been drained away at any rate.

Example from nutritiondata.self.com:

                            water content, g per 100g  Iron     vitamin A
Unprepared thawed spinach   90.2                       1.9       11725
cooked drained              88.9                       2.0       12061

I assume more nutrients are cooked away rather than squeezed but that was the data available.


Can I freeze (raw) Brussels Sprouts to mimic the effects of frost? This year has been a very mild winter and all the Brussels Sprouts in the shops are quite bitter as they have not undergone any overnight frosts.

Can I mimic the effects of an overnight frost by leaving raw Brussels Sprouts in the freezer for some time? How long should I do this for?

I have access to both individual sprouts that have already been picked from their "tree" and also some "sprout trees" that are still intact but have just been sliced off above the ground.

All the answers that Google can find relate to freezing already-cooked Brussels Sprouts for later consumption, but I assume that once cooked it is too late to reduce the bitterness in this way - although I could be wrong about this.

I tried this recently. Washed & dried them and put them in a plastic bag in freezer for 30 mins only. It worked well for me - they were much tastier and a better texture.


Devising a first-scratch bread recipe I have some cracked wheat, some bran flakes, wheat germ, bread flour, and whole wheat flour (among other various things).  How could I, using those ingredients and whatever basic principles (what I'm looking for here) apply, invent a new recipe that at least worked reasonably well?  What are the principles I could use?

How do I decide how much of the non-flour type grains to add so that the bread both tastes decent (I know first attempts are not going to be perfect) and doesn't collapse or explode?

How do I know approximately how much water I'll need to add short of slowly adding until it feels right, or is that the only way?

If there is no water estimator, how do I soak the cracked wheat without going past the moisture point of the whole bread?

In other words, what are the things I need to know in order to be able to throw together things I have available that seem like they might make a good bread?

I think that first you need to decide on the type of bread you want to achieve, which basically means deciding which leavening agent and which baking method to use.

Leavening.
Common leavening agents are yeast, sourdough, baking powder/baking soda, unleavened bread, and eggs. For creating a new recipe, you should pick a method you are very familiar with. Eggs and unleavened are more likely to fail if the proportions are not optimal, so I'd say you shouldn't create a recipe with them from scratch, it is much safer to alter an existing known-good recipe. Also, experiments with nonsweetened dough using baking soda have taught me that while it is no problem to achieve a good leavening, the taste is often bland and dry. So I'd say to go classic with yeast or sourdough. As I don't have much experience with sourdough, I will describe the yeast case here. If you are a sourdough expert, you'll probably be able to duplicate my reasoning for sourdough.

Baking. As for baking methods, the oven is the traditional one, and a bread-baking machine should be equivalent. There are types of bread made on a stovetop (with or without fat) and also some which require open fire, but oven is the classic one and probably the easiest to work with.

Non-flour grains. Now we have decided on yeast and oven/machine, we want to determine the proportions. The most important variable should be, as you mentioned, the moisture content. I think that the easiest way to ensure that the non-flour solids (cracked wheat, bran) don't soak up too much moisture is to precook them. Then you can also time the baking after the doneness of the crumb and the crust, without worrying if the bran etc. are already done. So just boil them separately (or together if you are sure that their cooking time is similar), until they are al dente (completely done is probably too much, as they will be spending time in the oven). While still hot, put them through a sieve and then spread them on something (e. g. baking sheet) so they can lose the excess moisture while cooling down. This is only for dry grain products; if you decide to use something else too (e.g. sunflower seeds), it doesn't need the precooking.

Water. Now your additional ingredients are rendered more or less moisture inert, you can determine the ratio of water to flour. All bread yeast recipes (and lots of other yeast dough recipes) I've come across require you to add between 35% and 65% of the flour's weight in water (35% for some hard rustic breads, but very uncommon, and 65% for soft airy breads like baguette). (Edit as derobert pointed out, this range is somewhat low, you can have bread which uses much more water than that, though probably not kneaded, and the 35% dough will require additional sources of moisture. So trying to create a recipe from scratch on the lower end of the range would be quite risky). As the additional ingredients still present some risk regarding moisture (and I cannot tell you if they tend to lose the already soaked moisture or start getting more from the dough), you should steer well away from both extremes and stay in the middle, at somewhere like 50-55%. As the whole wheat flour will need slightly less water than the white flour, I'd say go with 50% (and also because of the fat - see below). So if you use 500g flour, add 250ml water. And yes, you have to work with flour by weight. Flour by volume is way too risky for a new recipe, especially if you are mixing two different types.

Fat. A good way to reduce the risk of getting bread which is too dry is to add fat to the dough. For bread, it is more typical to use a fat which is liquid at room temperature, but for some richer breads, butter is also used. For your whole-grain kind of bread, I'd tend to use either a neutral or a nut-tasting oil (canola, refined safflower, walnut, pumpkin seed, maybe even hazelnut if you want to go exotic). But too much fat would be a problem, not only because it hampers yeast leavening, but also because the whole grain stuff cannot soak it up as well as white flour. So a tablespoonful of fat per 500g flour should be enough.

I wouldn't use any liquids other than water and oil the first time, it makes things more complicated. If you make it and notice that you have some leeway in moisture, you can experiment with other stuff.

Yeast. Now about the yeast. Normal bread calls for between 10 and 25g fresh yeast per 500g flour. More yeast results in more leavening, with big air pockets in the crumb, but the bread dries more quickly afterwards. As your dough contains lots of inert mass beside four and liquid, my intuition go for about 20g yeast per 500g flour. (I am assuming here that your so-called "bread flour" is just a white flour and not some premade baking mix already containing a leavening agent. If it is premixed, it is best to leave it out completely and use normal white wheat flour instead. If you don't want to, you have to read the ingredients list very carefully, calculate the proportion of leavening agent, salt, and other stuff it contains, and change the ratios of the things you will be adding). Just remember to put it in a big enough pan for baking, because under perfect conditions, dough with this amount of yeast can increase its volume up to 2.5-3 times while baking. If it turns out well moistened but with too big air pockets in the crumb, either use less yeast, or add an emulgator (lecithine, egg yolk).

Don't forget to use some salt, it is very important for a yeast dough. Typical dosage is one teaspoonful per 500g flour.

Amount of "other" ingredients. As for the ratio of the atypical ingredients, I'd say that mixing too much of them up is too risky. There is bread made completely without flour, but not yeast bread. I think that it is best to add no more than 50% of the flour's weight in inert (=non-flour & non-liquid) ingredients, maybe even as low as 15-30% the first time and then increasing if the initial batches turn out well.

Preparing the dough. For the mixing, the traditional method is time-consuming, but the least risky. Make a predough from some water warmed to 35°C, a flush tablespoonful of sugar, a tablespoonful or two of flour, and the yeast. Mix your flours, the salt and any dried herbs you are using in a bowl, make a hollow in the middle. When the predough becomes foamy, pour some of it in the hollow and mix it with enough flour to make a thick fluid, like pancake batter. Then add some more predough, mix in some more flour, etc, until the predough is used up. Then pour the oil in, stir well, and continue stirring while grabbing some more flour, until it is too thick for stirring. Then start kneading. Continue until you have a dough of the consistency you wish. Then take it out of the flour bowl and knead the wheat, flakes, etc. into it, as well as any non-dry herbs.

This kneading method is much more work than dumping everything into a bowl and using a handheld mixer or the bread machine for quickly kneading it, but it ensures that if you miscalculated your amount of flour, you still end up with a good consistency. Once you have determined the actual amount needed for your recipe, you can start using the easier methods.

Let the kneaded dough rise in a warm place, then re-knead it and shape it into a loaf. Don't make the loaf too thick, 5 cm should be the maximum.

Crust. The only thing left to decide is how you want your crust. For a thick rustic crust, just bake it in the preheated oven. You can even spread flour on it first, then brush it off, leaving a very thin layer clinging to the dough. For a baguette type crust, you must have lots of steam in the oven while baking. Heat water in a wide pan to a rolling boil and put it on a lower rack in the oven while preheating. Leave there while the bread is baking. For a fancy crust, brush melted butter on the bread and shortly before it is done, take it out and brush egg yolk or whole egg on it. For a seed crust, put on the seeds before baking. Or if you like lye-baked goods, bring a strong baking soda solution to boil, and put your small loafs in it for about 30 seconds, then drain before baking. For a soft crust, wrap it in aluminum foil, trying to not leave any air pockets. But for your whole-grain bread, I'd go for the rustic crust or, if you use seeds inside, for the seed-covered (or cover with dry bran flakes if you don't use seeds).

That's about it when baking fairly standard bread. If you want to go fancy (you could add quinoa, ricotta and agave syrup and still get a good bread), you should better start from an existing recipe and try a single new ingredient per batch.


Volumetric conversion between frozen and fresh spinach I like to freeze my spinach and use it in smoothies.  When I bring it out of the freezer, I crush it as much as I can.  I then measure it out in 2 cup quantities.  How much would this equal in fresh spinach.
Thanks in advance.

Best to use a scale. Measure how much fresh spinach you normally use and use the same weight for frozen. Moisture content for frozen spinach may be slightly less than fresh but it should not matter that much. There are very few occasions when volume measurements are actually necessary and a weight measurement is not appropriate.


How can I ensure a juicy beef burger patty? Also tell if i need to mince the beef lumps before mincing the beef to make patties

Using a coarse grinder attachment. Take the meat straight from grinder, leaving it with the grain from grinder like a "log". Do not mix it up. Do not add any extra ingredients after grinding

If your grinder output is not very wide, make three or four "logs", and lay them parallel to each other to make a cluster

Cut the burger patties across the grain of the "log", and gently press the outside edge inward to hold the disc shape

Cook on high heat till rare or medium rare, and enjoy


Why are red wine glasses wider than white wine glasses? I understand that one of the important aspects of a wine glass is that it has smaller opening at the top, which is going to help concentrate the aromas.

But why are glasses for red wine generally wider than those for white wine?

Also are there any reasons for white wine glasses to be narrow?

Summary of the question is really; why have two different sizes for wine glasses?

As baka has said, more volatile components of the wine will be released with more wine surface exposed.

Also, this not only releases aroma but also helps the wine to "breathe" and oxidize, which is why you open the red wine bottle half an hour before serving it (so that this process starts), and why you might pour the wine into a decanter.

This process accentuates the flavors and aromas of the wine. It is not very much necessary with younger, colder served wines (e.g. vinho verde).

In young, sparkling wine, a larger glass will disperse the bubbles faster, as well as warming it. This is undesireable, hence the smaller, narrower glasses.

Aged white wine should behave similarly to aged red wine, although it doesn't need to breathe as much.


Best way to make pizza with limited options? So essentially I have three options since I only have a microwave oven(with convection and a grill) and something called as a "gas tandoor". A gas tandoor is like a grill placed directly on a stove but is covered by a dome shaped metal top.
What I want to know is among the following methods, which will give me the best results?(like fluffiness and crispy bottom)

Baking the pizza in a pan to get a crispy bottom and then transfer it to a microwave oven and baking it further in convection mode.
Baking the pizza in a pan to get a crispy bottom and then transfer it to a microwave oven and baking it further in grill mode.
Placing the pizza in a pizza pan and putting it in the gas tandoor.

I want to make a NYC style pizza or a Neapolitan style pizza, NOT a Chicago style deep dish pizza.

It's possible to make a good pizza on the stovetop (with a lid), but it won't quite have the same consistency as a New York style pizza.
Serious Eats had a write-up on 'skillet pizza' years ago.
Basically, the idea is that you cook the crust first in the skillet, flipping it twice (so the flat side is on the bottom again), then top it and put a lid on it to melt the cheese ... which should work pretty well in your tandoor.
A few words of advice :

If you like lots of toppings on your pizza, you will want to pre-cook them.
Flip the crust shortly after it sets up on the first side, as you'll be returning it to that side when you're melting the cheese.
A pan with sloped or curved sides makes it much easier to get in there rather than something with steep sides.

I actually use this method even when I have an oven, especially when I'm cooking for a lot of people -- I cook the crusts on both sides on a cast iron skillet or griddle, then move them to a sheet pan and let people add their toppings, then put them in the oven to melt the cheese.


Why does oil transfer heat to food more gradually than water? While working on the homework for week 2 of Harvardx's Edx course, SPU27x Science & Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science, I came across this question:

  The difference in the specific heats for water and oil is important
  for cooking. For example, oil heats faster and you are less likely to
  overcook food if you cook it in oil than water. Briefly explain these
  observations, using the scientific ideas from this week.

We are asked to write a short response to it, and after submitting it, we are given a grading rubric and asked to do a self assessment. Here is my response:

  While it is true that oil heats faster than water due to its lower
  specific heat capacity, it is not true that food is less likely to be
  overcooked than water. The boiling point of oil is generally much
  higher than that of water (about 250-350 degrees Celsius compared to
  100 degrees Celsius). This means that when cooking food in oil, it is
  very likely that your food will reach temperatures much higher than if
  they were cooked in water. Knowing that a liquid's temperature stays
  constant at the boiling point, food cooked in water will never go
  beyond 100 degrees Celsius, so you are less likely to burn food in
  water than if you were to cook in oil, as the reactions that result in
  burns do not occur at that temperature, but do occur in the boiling
  point of oils.

and the rubric we are given states:

  A full answer contains at least two of the following ideas :

  Oil has a lower specific heat than water.
  Oil can be heated to high temperatures with relatively smaller input of energy than water.
  At a fixed temperature, oil transfers heat more gradually to food than water at the same temperature.
  In liquid form, oil can be heated to a higher temperature than water.

  You may use different words to express these concepts, so judge
  your response based on the meaning of your answer, rather than
  expecting your wording to match this exactly.

So it looks like my response is quite different from the suggested answer. In particular, I am confused that the provided answer does not explicitly address whether it is true that food is less likely to overcook in oil. I am also unsure why oil transfers heat more gradually to food than does water.

I would really appreciate it if anyone could clarify my questions, and also give me some feedback on my response.

First, I don't think the question you are asking about is written well (your question about this question is better). We don't have the benefit of the course's context, but alone this question seems poor. The phrase "you are less likely to overcook food" is problematic because the techniques for cooking with oil and water are quite different, as would be expected based on the specific heats and boiling points. Although oil may transfer less heat over a fixed time period at the same temperature as water, it is unlikely you would have the oil and water at the same temperature. You simply don't cook with oil and water in the same way.

In the original question and answer, the term overcook seems to refer to the core temperature of the food. Your answer considers overcooking as burning, which is not the same thing. Perhaps they are thinking of the case where your steak will not get well done (overcooked) before you notice the outside is unpleasantly charred when pan frying in oil, but boiling the steak may result in a past-well done product without visual indication.


How are fresh fish shipped across continents? I am currently wondering when I see in US fish markets "Fresh Scottish Salmon" or in Europe "Fresh Alaskan Salmon".
How do you ship fresh fish across continents? By plane over night? Or there is no way it will be frozen then not fresh?

Thanks

If the fish is fresh (not frozen) then it will typically be put in insulated or double-insulated packaging with dry ice and/or gel packs and flown to its destination.


What is "Fish Sauce" typically used for? A while ago I bought "Fish Sauce" for a recipe (that I've long forgotten) and ended up not using it. Now we don't know what to use it for because none of the Asian cuisine recipes we come across seems to use this stuff. It says the contents are anchovies, salt, and sugar, and it comes in a little bottle with a cap. The smell is pretty strong and fishy. What is this used for (soups, stir-fry, bbq, everything)?

I grew up with a Vietnamese mother that used to put fish sauce in nearly everything. While I can't exactly recommend all of her uses (she once used it in a texas beef chili -- was not good), there are a few techniques that are good to know.

A common method to create a savory sauce is to use fish sauce with sugar at a 2:1 ratio. For example, you can make Dau phu sot ca chua by sauteeing fried tofu with diced tomatoes and adding 2tbsp of fish sauce to 1tbsp of sugar. This ratio can also be used in stir-fries. I would make sure to turn on your air vents when doing this -- the smell of fish sauce hitting a hot pan is... different than what most people are used to.

It works as a savory salt alternative in a lot of dishes. I use it to season fried rice instead of using salt or soy sauce. It generally is a good idea to add this during the cooking process, so the liquid can reduce and meld with the food.

It can also be used to quick brine ground pork for savory asian dishes. I'd add somewhere in the vicinity of a tbsp per pound of ground pork. I use this technique when making Thai Krapao. There are probably other marinating/brining applications, but I don't have much personal experience with that.

You can also use fish sauce to create a wide variety of dipping sauces -- in general it is paired with something sweet (sugar or rice vinegar) to help balance out the saltiness. It is also commonly watered down (Nuoc cham) in vietnamese dipping sauces to keep it from being too overpowering.

On a personal note, my favorite use is straight up on crispy fried eggs (slightly runny yolk) over white rice. It isn't for everyone, but it's something I've been making and enjoying for years.


Chemistry of different brands of baking powder The Clabber Girl FAQs say:

  Rumford Baking Powder's reaction is approximately 70% with moisture (or in the bowl) and the rest when heat is applied. Clabber Girl's reaction is approximately 40% with moisture and the rest when heat is applied.

So Rumford and Clabber Girl aren't chemically the same.  My first question is,

  Can anyone say what the chemical difference between the two is?

I understand that a double-acting baking powder has a base, two acids, and filler.  The base will react with one of the acids at low temperature, creating carbon dioxide bubbles when I mix my batter.  It reacts with the other acid at high temperature, creating carbon dioxide bubbles when my batter is in the oven.  What I think the above FAQ is saying is that Rumford has a 70/30 split between acids that react at low temperatures and high temperatures, while Clabber Girl has a 40/60 split.  But I don't know what chemicals the two baking powders are formulated with, and I don't know how the split between the two acids is being measured (volume? weight?), so I don't know how much carbon dioxide they generate during each reaction.  That leads me to my second question,

  Is there a practical difference between different brands of baking powder, or are they all formulated so that they function the same?

It could be the case that the two baking powders are formulated so that Rumford and Clabber Girl release carbon dioxide in the same proportions in their first and second reactions.  This seems possible to me.

There's another possible way in which two baking powders could differ.  Most recipes specify volumes (like "1 tsp").  They assume it doesn't matter whether you're using Rumford or Clabber Girl or anything else.  But even if two baking powders release carbon dioxide in the same proportions in the two reactions, they may not release the same total amount of carbon dioxide.  A teaspoon of one might release more carbon dioxide than a teaspoon of the other.  A manufacturer can control how much carbon dioxide gets released per unit volume by adding filler, which leads me to my third question,

  Is one of the purposes of filler to make sure that the amount of carbon dioxide per unit of baking powder is the same between different brands of baking powder?

Can anyone say what the chemical difference between the two is?

I can't say definitively. Here are the ingredients of Clabber Girl:

Here are the ingredients of Rumford:

The ingredients are similar, but different ordering. That is significant. Also note that Clabber Girl brand has aluminum as an ingredient, Rumsford does not.

(I learned from these images that Clabber owns Rumsford brand, I didn't know that)

  Is there a practical difference between different brands of baking powder, or are they all formulated so that they function the same?

In my home baking experience, the brands have been pretty similar. I opine that this is due to competitive and mature markets--you would want your product to be interchangeable with other brands. Few people want to retool recipes to accommodate a rogue baking powder.

Maybe one of the professional bakers here has insights regarding characteristics of different brands.

  Is one of the purposes of filler to make sure that the amount of carbon dioxide per unit of baking powder is the same between different brands of baking powder?

I believe that to be true. The fillers also prevent clumping or caking of the product.

When I first read your Q, I went to look up regulations on Baking Powder content. I didn't find any in the US, which is unusual. Then it occurred to me: Baking Powder invention was well before vigorous food industry regulation. So each brand could do what they want, and still call it Baking Powder.

I also searched patents, and came across this odd formulation:

  ...my invention consists, broadly, in the combination, with the ordinary ingredients of a good baking-powder viz., cream of tartar and an alkaline bicarbonate, mixed in the usual proportions of a small quantity of crystallized saccharine material in a finely-pulverized state. As illustrations of those substances in which this crystallized or crystallizable saccharine material is to be had, I name, first, sugar of milk obtained wholly from milk; second, cane-sugar obtained chiefly in a direct form from the sugar-cane plant, the beet-root, and the sugar-maple, and indirectly from. various other substances by conversion, and, third, grape sugar obtained chiefly from grapes and honey. This latter sugar is, however, not practically available by reason of the difficulty with which it is made to assume the crystalline form. Of these substances the sugar of milk and the cane-sugar are both easily crystallized...

Sugars in Baking Powder?


Thai noodle dish with peanuts When I lived in Thailand many years ago, I used to love a fried noodle dish with fresh peanuts on top that was called something that sounded like “goytio hang”. I never saw it spelled in English (or Thai) so I have no idea how to search for a recipe. Can anyone help with the name?

Perhaps you are referring to guay teow haeng sukhothai (ก๋วยเตี๋ยวแห้งสุโขทัย). It has peanuts on it and it's not pad thai (ผัดไท่ย). Unfortunately, a search using English does not yield a recipe. Lucky for you I can read Thai. Here is a translation of the ingredients list posted in Thai at Chompoo Kitchen.

snake beans, sliced diagonally
cabbage, trimmed
bean shoots
thin rice noodles
crispy fried garlic
fish sauce
salted white radish, finely chopped
roasted bird pepper powder
roasted peanuts, ground
white sugar
parsley, chopped
lime wedge
deep fried dumpling or pork rinds

Along with that they give a recipe for the braised pork

5 coriander roots, can substitute coriander seeds
30 cloves of asian garlic (small cloves)
1 teaspoon green peppercorns
(almost) 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
(almost) 1 tablespoon fermented soybean sauce (not soy sauce)
5 cups water
500g pork sirloin, 2 inches thick, leave whole
300g pork skin
1/2 cup white sugar
3 teaspoons salt
light soy sauce as seasoning

Method for sliced pork

Roughly crush coriander root (or seeds), garlic, green peppercorns to form a paste then add it to a cooking pot
Pour in the water and add the pork and pork skin then put the pot on a medium heat
Bring it to the boil, reduce the heat to low, season with the white sugar, salt, hoisin sauce and soybean sauce
Adjust the seasoning with the light soy sauce and allow to simmer
When cooked and still soft remove the pork and pork skin from the pot and allow to cool
Slice the pork and pork skin, place in a container ready for serving time

Method for completing the dish

In a pot bring water to a boil then add the noodles, cook until al dente then remove them and put them aside
Combine the crispy fried garlic with a little vegetable oil and then combine that with all the pork
Blanch the snake beans, bean shoots and cabbage for a few seconds making sure they are still crispy.
Add the vegetables to the noodles followed by the pork, vegetables, bird pepper powder, peanuts, salted radish, parsley, lime wedge and fried dumpling wrappers
Enjoy

Serves 4 people

You'll find a stack of photos on the original recipe page to help you along.


What is considered to be an ideal roasting time and temperature for Cauliflower? If I just want to make the simplest roasted cauliflower, what is the best temperature and roasting time?

I have never roasted it, only boiled and fried it before.

There's a lot of range of acceptable outcomes for this, so let me give you the parameters I work with.

I generally start by mixing the cauliflower with some oil (olive oil typically; others substituted depending on the flavor profile I want) on a baking sheet, then sprinkling with salt. This part is important; if you skip the oil, you'll likely just end up with dried out cauliflower. So every other bit of guidance I give is based on that. Additionally, it's important to try to spread out the cauliflower so that it makes just a single layer.

350F works well when I don't want to pay much attention while roasting. It usually takes 30-60 minutes, depending on how finely I break the florets. Larger pieces take longer. I usually check it every 15 minutes or so and flip pieces around. In most cases, you'll get more gentle browning with this temperature than with higher temperatures. You'll probably get the softest, sweetest cauliflower this way.

If you are more impatient but you are willing to check on the cauliflower more frequently, you can easily go up to 425F. I can shave off a fair amount of time, and I've had good results with even large pieces cooking fairly quickly, often in the 25-40 minute range. The caveat is browning is much more aggressive, and you need to rotate pieces more frequently, possibly every 8-10 minutes. You will often get a more caramelized result than with lower temperatures, and you may find cooking slightly less even. I sometimes prefer this because I like a balance of chewy and soft texture and I like the extra caramelization on the surface.

Generally seasonings other than salt are best added near the end of the cooking process so that you don't burn them; spices, herbs, and garlic in particular can't typically handle much more than about 15 minutes baking.


Cod as a sub for salmon Will my recipe for roasted red pepper salmon still taste great with cod as a sub?

I have a freezer full of cod, but no salmon. The salmon goes faster. Thank you.

Salmon is a much stronger flavor, to stand up to peppers.   So your dish will be different with cod; the only test is making it and seeing if you enjoy it.


I accidentally boiled away most of my soup, what can I do to recover it? I wanted to reheat my chicken tortilla soup and walked away and forgot about it. When I went back to the stove very little liquid was left in the pot, it was practically all boiled away.

I used a Mexican tortilla soup stock by Swanson. Other ingredients in this recipe are black beans, corn, diced tomatoes, onions, jalapenos and tomato paste, plus the chicken. This is the only Mexican recipe that I make.

What should I do?

What would happen if I poured in 3 cans of water for example? What would happen to the flavor of the soup?
If I add preheated water will the water dilute the flavor?
Do I just put in 1 cup/can or can I put in 3 cups/cans of water?

If you add preheated water, you don't need to reheat the soup--just mix in and enjoy!  Depending on how strong it is, you could also just eat it as-is--IMHO the best soups always reduce the stock anyway.


How do you prolong buns/rolls/scone/crumpet softness? I thought this community is appropriate for this question so I want to know how to keep buns/rolls/scone/crumpet softness longer. In English I see several translations for subject but I feel this picture sums up what I am asking about:

Is this method different for white bread? If yes, I will appreciate advice regarding keeping white bread lasting longer as well.

Thanks.

I am living in a new location and must buy onion rolls from the local supermarket.  No matter how fresh the date stamp, the rolls are dry and to my taste, taste stale.

I discovered that if I pop them in the microwave for 5 - 10 seconds the moisture is somehow redistributed and they soft, and moist, and almost taste like bakery rolls (ahem).

If they are too hot to handle you have microwaved them too long. If they are soggy, you have microwaved them too long.

With the sugar topping, I don't know if it would work without also melting the sugar. Give it a shot for 2 or 3 seconds.

Good luck.


How can I make shami kabab without chana dal Shami kabab are patties traditionally made with minced meat and chickpeas (chana daal).

What could be a substitute for the chana daal that still produces reasonably similar results.

More than likely another bean that has a firm texture like Chickpeas. People use black beans for vegetarian hamburgers because or their firmness.


Cooking away alcohol When you cook with wine or spirits, when does the alcohol cook away? Obviously high temperatures will do it, but how low of temperatures will work? Also, does it vary by the type of alcohol?

You will never fully cook away alcohol, only reduce the amount.  See Alcohol retention in food preparation, or for the quick table, see wikipedia.

They covered this on an episode of America's Test Kitchen, and concluded that surface area matters -- a wider vessel would cook off more alcohol; it wasn't just a function of time.


Substitute for coating ramekin in a chocolate soufflé. I know that when it comes to chocolate soufflés, the substance to coat a ramekin to help the soufflé climb is sugar.

Here's my question: can I use something else, like salt? Or cocoa powder?

I only ask because sugar can be a little too sweet for me, and I know that salt and chocolate can sometimes work together like in chocolate coated pretzels.

Any thoughts?

Yes, you can coat the buttered edges of the ramekin in anything you like that will withstand the heat during the cooking process.  Chopped Nuts, cocoa, flour, whatever you wish to go with your chocolate souffle.


How long do I bake a stuffed butternut squash at 325 degrees with a fresh Turkey when the squash recipe calls for 2 hours at 375 degrees? I have a fresh farm raised Turkey that calls for cooking at 325 degrees but I also want to bake a stuffed butternut squash in the same oven where the recipe calls for ithe stuffed squash to bake for 2 hours at 375 degrees. I am assuming that the stuffed squash could cook longer at the lower temperature, but since I have never made this dish before and it IS Thanksgiving with lots of people , I’d like to have an idea of how much longer?
Thanks!

The way to approach this is to ask how much hotter 375 degrees is than 325 degrees from the starting temperature of the food, then use that factor to multiply the time.

Doing the calculations, if your food starts out at room temperature (assuming 65 degrees) then (375 - 65)/(325 - 65) = 1.1923, or 1.2 rounded up a tiny bit. So 120 minutes * 1.2 = 144, in other words 2 hours and 24 minutes. It's a rough calculation, but I've used it pretty successfully.


How to prevent fat splashes when I fry a burger? The question How do you grill a perfect burger? tells me the best solution is to fry not grill, but I find frying makes such a mess I spend ages cleaning up afterwards.

So I grill burgers using my oven grill, but I think the temperature of my oven grill isn't high enough even at full gas. If I cook burgers long enough to get the outsides nice and caramelised then they are too cooked inside and have gone a bit dry. Even preheating the grill for an extended period doesn't help much. Grilling outside on a barbeque works and doesn't mess up my kitchen but it isn't a practical everyday solution.

So my question is how to cook a perfect burger in my kitchen without making a mess? I'm open to all suggestions, though obviously I already have some ideas and top of the list is to use a George Foreman grill or something similar. Do George Foreman grills get hot enough to cook burgers nice and brown without them going dry?

To make a perfect burger in the kitchen, a hot cast-iron skillet is your best friend.

To keep from making a mess, use one of these:

That's a splatter screen. It allows air to move freely, but keeps grease in the pan and off of your walls.

EDIT: In comments, Cindy Askew recommended the above plus using the cheapest available aluminum foil to protect surrounding areas from the grease and noted that the aluminum foil used in that way can continue to be useful as a disposable spoon/utensil rest. In a sense, this answer being accepted encompasses that comment as a part of this answer.


Why don't I have to refrigerate store-bought baby food but have to refrigerate home-made purees? If I make an apple (or fruit) puree at home, the internet says I have to refrigerate it and then only have a couple of days to feed it to my child. But I can go buy a jar of Gerber baby puree off the shelf at the store and have it sit in my pantry for ages (only refrigerating it if I open it)? Is there anything I can do to my homemade baby food to be able to store it in my pantry for weeks?

Shelf-stable wet foods in cans, jars, plastic pouches, and the like are generally sterilized by heating them under pressure, to the point where literally every microorganism that might be inside dies. The containers need to remain sealed to maintain the sterility -- verifying the seal is the purpose of the little "pops up" button on the top of jars which are processed this way (the processing leads to low pressure inside the jar, so a popped-up button indicates that the seal has been broken.)

If you have a pressure canner, it's entirely possible to make and can (well, jar) your own baby food. There's a variety of online resources describing how to do this. (I advise ignoring any which aren't on a domain ending in .edu or .gov; this is not something you want to follow amateur youtube advice on.) Note in particular that it is not possible to safely can baby food using just boiling water; you need special equipment.


Are the white dots mould or part of the bread? The bread is called Malted bread, 9/10 I see this I believe it’s mould but does anyone actually know if it’s actually part of the bread or not? Top right corner.

Thanks.

Malting is when a grain is sprouted then dried.  Often it is then ground, or in the case of some well known and often appreciated drinks fermented. In your picture, I see malted grain kernels in the upper right.  Completely normal for a malted bread if whole grains rather than ground is used for some of the malted portion.


Remediation Methods for Rice Contaminated with Broken Glass A picture is worth a thousand words...

I dropped a glass jar filled with rice. I've picked up the macro-sized pieces of glass, but am wondering if there is any way on earth to make the rice safe to eat, given that I am sure it contains small fragments and shards of glass. I could, naturally, go through it grain-by-grain, but this is only a couple of bucks worth of rice, and I don't think it warrants the time.

Does anyone have any suggestions? (Or is this too localized?) I would also welcome suggestions for a better tag than "rice."

I would throw it out. The rice doesn't cost as much as a new digestive system.
Sure, it's a waste. And I'm sure you would look very carefully. But the risk of one glass splinter still in it is existent. Therefore, I wouldn't try it.

Good luck with cleaning that up though. :)


Do liquorice roots expire? Four years ago I have harvested some liquorice roots in a field. After a brief cleaning with fresh water I have sun dried these roots for a day. These were very tasty. I kept these in a cardboard box. Now are they edible?

I think that they'd be safe, presuming they're free of mold. However, I'd imagine that the flavor of the roots have likely diminished. Give them a try, let us know how the flavor was after four years in a cardboard box.


Homemade chocolate problem! Good afternoon all!
Just a query regarding making your own chocolate, I literally did the exact same process yesterday and it turned out great, however the batch today has ended up a disaster.

Let me explain my process:

1 cup cacao butter melted in a double boiler (I was very careful to make sure no water gets in)
I then added 1/2 cup of honey, vanilla extract, pinch of salt, 1tsp soy lecithin powder, and 1 cup of cacao powder, and mixed in the double boiler.

The consistency is now very fatty, as opposed to silky and smooth which is what I got yesterday.
The mixture isn’t consistent, it’s clumpy and then really thin liquid inside there too, which prevents it from all blending together smoothly.

I was pretty confident I got no water in, the only thing I can think of is maybe I cooked it at too high of a temp? Did I need to wait for the butter to cool before mixing the ingredients first?

Any suggestions appreciated!!

The chocolate has "seized". This is what happens when you add water into the melted chocolate.

  I was pretty confident I got no water in.

No, you added honey and vanilla extract. Both contain water.

The standard solution to seized chocolate is to stir in boiling water, a bit at a time, until the mixture is smooth. The result is not useful for confectionery, but can be used to make hot chocolate or chocolate sauce.


Physics/chemistry behind the observation This is purely observation based. Any time I have cooking something on the stove, if I change intensity in any direction - reducing or increasing the heat, it seems like water vapor threads shoot out from the pot.

I can understand if I increase the heat, more energy, but don't have any explanation for reducing the heat. It seems like state change any direction causes some water vapor to release.

Don't think it matters, but it's gas based stove.

What causes the vapor or threads of mist to shootout when there is a change ?

It's hard to say without seeing it, but I suggest that this phenomenon happening when you turn up or down the gas may be caused by your arm reaching out in the vicinity of the pot to turn the knob.

The air above the pot should be saturated with water vapor at a higher temperature.  Motion nearby will create eddy currents that carry that moist air to where it can meet cooler air.  You see the moisture when it condenses to fog.


How keep prepared courgette fresh? I am making a pasta dish at school that has courgette in it. The recipe says grate the courgette and because I don't have much time at school to do it, I want to do it at home.

I do not know how to keep them fresh when they have already been prepared.I heard that if you keep grated courgette in water, it stays fresh. I am leaving the house at 7:50 and my lesson starts at 9.

You could totally just grate courgette (zucchini) the morning of your lesson. It will be fine, you don't even have to put it in water. Just put it in a baggie. It would be fine at room temperature for several hours, it's not even going to notice two. If you want to grate it the day before, just put the baggie in the refrigerator overnight.


Turn melted sugar back into granular? Is it possible to turn common table sugar that has been dissolved in water back into its original granular form?

You probably can't achieve the size and uniformity of classic granulated sugar at home, not without finding some special equipment. But if you are OK with other crystal sizes, it is very simple.

All you have to do is to search for recipes for rock candy. It is nothing but re-crystalized sugar. Also considered to be the easiest candy to make, you'll find it in many "cooking with children" books and blogs.

The one problem may be that you are not crystalizing sugar, but a combination of fruit juice and sugar. If the juice has enough acid to invert your sugar, it might not crystalize well. You'll have to try and see.


Forgot to add cornstarch to my dough which is already proofing I am in the middle of making cinnamon rolls and the recipe called for cornstarch in the dough recipe. Well I forgot it and the dough is already proofing. Do I need to make my dough again or can this be salvaged some how?

If the dough is proofing correctly, which it should be if the cornstarch is the only thing missing and everything else is correct, then you should be fine without it.
Depending on how much cornstarch was asked for the texture will be different, probably a tad less tender. But it shouldn't be anything that ruins the dough.
If you can get sweet dough like that through its first proof with good rise it's pretty much smooth sailing after that so I wouldn't worry about it.
If you want you can post the recipe and I'll take a gander at it.


Why should one always use the same kind of coffee for an Espresso machine? I recently got a new espresso machine, a Gaggia Classic, and I sometimes hear statements like the following:

"Always use the same kind of coffee for this machine!"
"If you've found one that tastes good, stick with this!"

Is there any truth behind these statements?

More concretely:

Are there any mechanical issues that stem from using different kinds of espresso in the same machine over the course of many years of usage?
Or is it only a matter of taste?
Is a machine somehow "branded" with a kind of coffee after some time of use? (Bad comparison: Like string instruments that sound better if they are played long enough, some are actually treated with sound)

There are a lot of good detailed answers on this page already, but I guess I could add my own $0.02 to the conversation and maybe a different angle to the answer..

I have been home roasting and brewing for about 2 years now and I think the #1 thing I've learned about pulling espresso shots is that it is all about consistency.

In order to effect consistency you have to control your variables, and the more variables you get control of, the better chance you have of maintaining consistency.

Over the past two years I have continuously refined my process by modifying the entire chain of coffee production, whether it meant ordering a new piece of hardware or changing how I did something.

For instance, I installed a PID on my Racilio Silvia in order to control brew temperature, I bought a naked portafilter to get better feedback on the quality of my shots, and bought a pressure gauge to make sure I was getting proper brew pressure at the group head, the list goes on and on.

So when I saw your question about "always using the same coffee" I interpreted it as just another one of those variables that you can get control of and that will effect the quality of the shots you pull.

In the beginning I stuck with the same coffee and roast to try to minimize the number of variables I was working with. Once I was more familiar with how each variable effected my shot and how I could manipulate them to get what I wanted, I began to experiment.

So I guess for me keeping the coffee the same boils down to removing some noise from the system to make it easier to manage...


Funnel-like device for putting non-liquids into a whipped cream dispenser? I use an iSi whipped cream dispenser to make things besides whipped cream, such as microwaved chocolate cake, or coffee foam to top desserts.  Pouring cream or sugar into the small opening at the top is easy.  Pouring things like cake batter or coffee in gel form is not as easy.  I tried using a funnel, but it just got clogged and made a mess.  The best technique I've found so far is to fold some parchment paper in half to create a channel, and have a helper hold it while I pour the mixture onto it.

Does anyone have a better technique for this?

Are you sure that the problem with using a funnel isn't just the size of your specific funnel(s)?

There are plenty of wide-mouthed funnels out there that you should probably try, if you haven't already, such as this Cuisinox:

Or this Norpro:

Either of those look like they'd fit into my own iSi pretty easily, but if you're sure that none of them will work for you, then I think the next best thing would be a piping bag with no tip or coupler. If you don't have one then you can always use the "snip a corner off a ziploc bag" workaround.


Raw Salmon on a green cutting ( RTE ) board Is this legit ok? My bosses tell me it doesn't matter because the board is going to get washed, when I say there's colors because the dish machine might not get to 165 from time to time and bacteria can be on the RTE cutting board.

I don't care if it is legit, it is unwise.

You do not train people to use these incorrectly, for several reasons:

Next time they will be sloppy with other colors as well
Someone who did not know this happened will 'lend' the board for further use with vegetables (between dishwasher cycles)
As you correctly said, someone who did not know, will wash it at too low a temperature or too short
You will arouse suspicion about the hygiene in your kitchen, if anyone sees this


Is there a preferred tequila age for Strawberries Por Mi Amante? I'd like to soak strawberries in tequila for a Por Mi Amante.  I'm not concerned about the brand, but I'm curious if there is a flavor difference as a result of soaking in blanco vs reposado vs añejo.

The Cocktailians recommend Reposado: "use the 100% agave stuff, and definitely go for the reposado -- you want something with a little age and character". Paul Clarke quotes cocktail luminary Charles H Baker's recipe from 1939, which is non-specific, but Paul also uses Reposado.

Blanco is likely to be a little too light and easily dominated by the strawberries, a good Añejo is probably overkill, so a decent Reposado fits the bill.


Refrigerator freezes I have a refrigerator/freezer in our unheated garage.  During the lower temps of winter the refrigerator section freezes and the freezer section is fine.  What do I do to keep refrigerator from freezing everything?

If your refrigerator is in an unheated part of your house and that area regularly reaches temperatures below freezing, your refrigerator will eventually freeze.  Good fridges are certainly insulated well but no amount of insulation will prevent temperature change over time, particularly if you're opening and closing the fridge. Refrigerators only cool. They don't have heating elements.

The only possible way to keep your fridge from freezing during the winter is to store it somewhere that stays above freezing or work out some sort of hack where you hook a heating element (say a heat lamp) up to a thermometer and whenever it hits below 33F (1C), it turns on for a short period of time to bump the temperature back up again.

When we were brewing beer during the winter we occasionally had to do something like this as our fermenting fridge needed to be kept at 70F (21C). We had a special setup, though, which allowed one compartment to have the heat lamp and a fan to blow the warm air into the beer compartment. This prevented hot spots, which would be really bad for you in the case of perishable foods.


Why are oil bubbles when cooking bacon only around the bacon? When bacon cooks it is in oil.
The oil does not bubble anywhere except the edges of the bacon.
Why?

The bacon has some moisture, while cooking the water that gets out of the bacon reacts explosively with hot oil (as it quickly turns to steam) and causes the oil to bubble. Similarly other substances when cooked change phase quickly and turn to gas forming the bubbles and splashing.

See this for more detailed explanations.


How to preserve homemade chocolates? I make my own homemade chocolates, fillings are also prepared by me.

The question is how to preserve the chocolates for a long period of time?

As in keeping it in a refrigerator is it the right way to make it stay for longer period of time? If I keep the molded chocolates outside of the refrigerator it often changes its shape; though keeping it in dry cool place, if its more than 80 pieces? If an order is been placed the quantity and quality is absolutely up to mark, but some times I lack in presentation because of the change in shape of some few pieces.

The refrigerator will prevent the melting of the chocolate, but will add more serious problems - moisture through condensation. This causes sugar bloom, where the water dissolves the sugar, which basically ruins the piece.

Usually this can be mitigated with airtight sealing and proper handling, but this works best for square chocolate bars. As it seems that you want to store more elaborate chocolate pieces, I would worry about this approach being successful.

As you do this semi-professional, my recommendation would be to get a wine cooler; they usually have an operating temperature up to 18°C/65°F. This is the ideal storage temperature for chocolate.


How can I make a BBQ sauce from my dry rub? I would like to use my dry rub to make a BBQ sauce but don't know how.

You haven't given us much information to go on here, but I'm assuming your dry rub is a mixture of dried spices and possibly sugar.

If that's the case, I would fry some onions and garlic and add the spices (not the sugar, which will burn) to them while they soften. Then I would add the usual BBQ sauce staples - ketchup, vinegar, some water, and the sugar before simmering for a while to reduce and thicken. Put through a blender and sieve and you're good to go - if your spice rub is distinctive enough, it should translate through into a sauce well.

If there is a particular flavour that makes your dry rub stand out, you could add another 'version' of it to the sauce to emphasise it - for example, if you have fennel seeds in your rub, you could add a shot of aniseed liqueur like Pernod to the sauce, or if you have orange zest in the rub, use orange juice instead of water.


How do I add citric acid to my hard candy without it burning? Every time I try a recipe and add the flavoring and citric, within seconds the citric burns and gives the candy a horrible taste. How or when should I add it so that this won't happen. I'm using a powdered form of the citric acid.

Colors and flavors, including acid, are added after the candy is taken off the heat.

The syrup is still blisteringly hot (literally) but I've never had powdered acid burn in it off the stove.

If your acid is actually burning in the hot syrup then I would recommend finding a new source.


Is wood a good alternative to charcoal for bbq fuel? Instead of buying lump or briquette charcoal every time, can I just burn some birch and use that as the heat for my charcoal bbq?

You can use any non-poisonous wood you like.

Every wood has a different heat and smoke profile. "Soft woods" like birch will generally burn very hot for a short time, so OK for sausages, small meat cuts, and small vegetables, but not so good for large meat cuts, roasts, or for BBQ'ing covered for the full smoke effect as you will most likely need to re-stock the fire every 20 or 30 minutes.

Most people let the wood burn off the main smoke (which usually doesn't taste too good), and BBQ on the red/white embers. The wood stage is now similar to charcoal, but a lot more smokey, which is great if you like smoke.

For sausages, small cuts and small vegetables, hardwood is basically wasted, as they will cook in ten minutes, and the hardwood has 20 to 30+ minutes of burn time in it.

You can BBQ small stuff using a few handfuls of dry twigs or even driftwood if you want too. Twigs from fruit trees or lavender bushes make great smoke!

We always travel with a small lidded BBQ (metal box 60x40x40 cm with vent holes on sides), we use a handful or two of driftwood, once the smoke dies down, add a few peppered steaks, pre-cooked potatoes, oiled asparagus, soaked corn on the cob. Put the lid on, and come back in 15 to 20 minutes, smokey slow cooked heaven.


How to buy a molcajete and/or paellera Is there a way to get a quality molcajete and/or paellera in the U.S., specifically the eastern seaboard?  I'd prefer not to fly to Texas, Mexico, or Spain to get them.

I've seen a few horror stories of people buying "genuine" molcajetes, only to find out that they're made of some mix of stone (and no basalt), and that they're utterly worthless.

What's the best way to get real foreign cookware like this?

You can buy very reputable paella pans from The Spanish Table. I got mine there in person and have been very happy with both the pan and the advice I received in buying it.


Using sugar when making pizza dough A lot of the recipes that I've seen on YouTube and different forums have used four main ingredients when making pizza dough - flour, water, yeast, and salt. I'm confused because I though sugar is also a main ingredient since yeast feeds on it. Would y'all recommend always adding sugar to the pizza dough recipe? Also, what if the flour that's being used already has a few grams of sugar - should I still add sugar to the list of ingredients?

There are plenty of fermentable sugars in the flours commonly used in pizza making.  Additional sugar is completely unnecessary.


Selling food online nationally (US based) I’m wanting to sell a dry-mix product online.
I am aware of the required local/state licenses as well as the need for food handler certification and commercial kitchen.
However, I am unsure of what is required in order to sell nationally.

Do I have to send my food in to a lab to have the contents analyzed or is there a less costly way to make a legitimate FDA nutrition label?

Is there anything else that is required to sell nationally online?

Do you know of any good resources for this general process?

The threshold for needing proper nutritional labeling in the US is something like $500k and 100k units (not sure the exact level). If you're selling in low enough volume, you essentially fly under the radar, though certain retailers may refuse to carry your product.
If you're going to meet labeling requirements, there are no shortcuts--you need to have proper nutritional analysis done and follow all the rules for ensuring it's accurate. Using a co-packer to manufacture and package your product comes with the benefit of their expertise in this sort of labeling and quality control.
If you're going to be doing any significant number of sales, or generating a significant amount of revenue, you probably want to look into having proper business insurance and finding an attorney to help you navigate legal requirements related to your venture. But that's far beyond food & cooking, and gets to be off topic for this forum.


How do I brown nuts without burning and without taking forever? Whenever I roast nuts (walnuts, sesame, ...) to add to dishes, I either choose a very low oven temperature and then it takes far too long, or I use a very high temperature and I struggle to get them just golden, without getting any higher notes of oil that reached the browning point.

What is the right temperature and the range of duration to obtain strong tones of roasting in nuts? Is this different for different nuts?

I know that most oven based recipes I've seen suggest 350 F and checking every 3-5 minutes. I personally prefer to use a skillet over medium heat - this way I can move the nuts around as they roast and I have more control over how dark they get. The time, of course, depends on the size and type of nut, etc.


How to whip up a small quantity of Italian meringue? Sometimes, I want to make a recipe (or train one) that involves Italian meringue, but I find it very difficult to whip one up when using small quantities of egg whites.

I find it very hard to whip Italian meringue without using a stand mixer.
My experience with hand mixers is that it's difficult to properly beat the whites when adding the sugar syrup.
It's hard to ensure I'm getting the beaters to evenly cover the bowl, and then the max speed of a stand mixer is not too fast either.
Should perhaps I use a bowl that's deeper but not as wide for this purpose; would that work?
Is there some tip or trick to doing it with a hand mixer?

On the other hand, if I do use my stand mixer with too little egg whites in the mixer bowl, the whisk won't quite reach them and I'll be left scratching my head.
Should I 'pre whip' the egg whites to gain volume before dumping them on the stand mixer bowl, so the whisk can reach them?
Is there some other tool or way to circumvent this?

Any tips on whipping small quantities of Italian meringue are appreciated.

Grab a bowl, put a folded towel under it in the way the bowl becomes tilted. This will make it easy to whip, because the whites will concentrate in just one side of the bowl (thank you, gravity!); you also won`t have to use one hand to hold the bowl. With one hand free, you can pour the sugar syrup.

Jamie Oliver has a YouTube video doing some aioli this way. You just need to practice, and for me the most difficult thing is to whip it by hand without injuring your wrist.


How can I keep pasta shapes intact? I frequently make wagon wheel (rotelle) pasta (Racconto brand and probably others) for my kids, but the shapes rarely stay intact.  Pieces of the outer edges often break off of most pieces, and some wheels are completely severed in two.

I noticed that pieces are already breaking apart during my initial constant stirring to unstick it from the bottom of the pot.  I do stir it fairly frequently, especially at the start.  I also use plenty of water--three or four inches above the pasta, about three quarts water and one cup pasta.

What can be done to cook the rotelle and help keep it intact?

Try starting with the pasta in cold water. This lets you stir it to wash the starch off the surface of the pasta while it's still completely hard, so you can't possibly damage it. Then it'll stick way less as it cooks, so you shouldn't need to stir nearly so much, and hopefully it's not breaking just from cooking.

This works because the starch doesn't actually get sticky until it's heated, so this way you have all the starch dissolved before it's sticky. On the other hand, when you add pasta to hot water (even if it's boiling) the starch instantly becomes sticky, and it's only the motion of the water and your stirring that saves it from all sticking together. (And as you've seen, if there's enough starch, sometimes this isn't enough.)

If you still have trouble with sticking, I suppose you could even remove some of the starchy cold water, effectively partially rinsing it. Some brands and shapes of pasta do seem to have more starch on the surface, so I could see that being necessary. You could also simply try using more water (but still starting with cold water!) so that the starch is more diluted; this is roughly equivalent to rinsing a little.

And if all of that fails, you may want to try another brand, as suggested in various comments here. The fact that it breaks during the initial stirring, before it's had time to soften much, is not promising.

(And before someone comes along and says "no, the water has to be at a full boil when you add the pasta!" yes, I have done this many many times, it works fine, and Harold McGee says it works too.)

For one more bit of evidence, simply starting with cold water even keeps orecchiette (dry, not fresh) from sticking - and that's by far the worst-sticking pasta shape I've ever tried. They fit together so that once they're stuck, the water can't even get in to rinse off the starch.


Are there any negative effects to kneading bread dough longer? Is there such a thing as over-kneading bread dough. From what I understand, kneading the bread dough is what allows the gluten strands to align and form the beautiful gluten networks that create bread with all the little air bubbles.

If that is the case, is it always, "the more you knead the better", or are there any negative effects that occur if you knead it longer than what your bread recipe states.

There are several negative effects from over-kneading bread dough:

Overheating - if the dough gets too warm, it will ferment too quickly (or over ferment) and will therefore lack flavour.
Oxidisation - kneading for too long can cause the flour to oxidise and bleach, again impairing flavour.
Breaking down - eventually the molecular bonds of the gluten will break, which is obviously not what you want to happen!

The latter two are really only possible with electric mixers, however.

Most doughs are ready for fermentation when they reach an internal temperature of 77-81ºF (25-27°C). You can also check the gluten development with the Windowpane Test: pull off a chunk of dough and stretch it with your hands. It should stretch to form a very thin translucent sheet, without tearing.


Looking for the name of a Peruvian dish I used to work with two people from Peru.  One day, they brought in a dish that they called "Planta", although I think that just referred to the fact that it had a lot of mashed plantain in it. What I remember from it is that there was a base of mashed plantain, and I think it was fried into a patty of some kind.  On top of it was ground meat and vegetables.  It was quite good, but searching for "planta" yields basically nothing.  The closest I've found seems to be "Majado de Verde", but that seems to be a vegetarian dish that's for breakfast.  This was definitely a lunch/dinner thing.  It also had a nice sauce with it.

Any ideas?

Sounds like you're describing tacacho, but those are usually balls. It could be patacones, but those are more typical of Colombia


How to turn froth into juice? When I make juice from vegetables and leafy greens about 1/4 of what comes out of the juicer is froth.

Is it possible to mix this froth back into the juice rather than throwing it away? That would save me a lot of leafy greens (which cause most of the froth because they are least juicy).

Advice I have read is:

get a juicer with a better blade
use a juice press (good ones are pricy)

The truth is even better juicers put out froth, so is there a way to turn it into juice? Simply stirring it with a spoon doesn't seem to do the trick.

I have the brand of juicer (Champion) mentioned by the OP in comments.  It's a rather unusual design that isn't used by most other companies.  They are somewhat notorious for producing a lot of foam.  I bought it perhaps 15 years ago, but rarely use it for this reason.  (It still has other uses other than juicing.)

Anyhow, the solution I found to this problem was simply to strain the juice through a fine-mesh sieve.  It won't go quickly and will get clogged with the pulp, so you'll need to a take a spoon or something and stir it around to force the juice through.  It takes a long time, but it's effective because the bubbles dissipate when they go through the sieve.  Given the construction of these types of juicers, I would generally just place a bowl underneath and a large sieve in the bowl to catch the juice coming out.  After finishing juicing, you can turn off the machine and then spend 5 minutes stirring and straining to get rid of the foam.

I have seen others on the internet mention success using a French press to do a similar straining action to destroy the foam.  I tried it once but it didn't seem to work as well (perhaps the stirring action within the sieve also assists with the foam).  Nevertheless, it still made an improvement.


How does substituting Butter for Margarine/Shortening affect the Recipe I know that Margarine / Shortening are usually softer than butter, but what other differences are there? Can I just melt the butter and call it good or will this effect my final Product? I have seen Margarine / Shortening a lot in cookies, but I am looking for a general answer.

Here are the players:

butter (~80% fat, salt varies)
margarine (~80% fat, added salt)
vegetable oil spread (less than 80% fat, salt varies)
shortening (100% fat, no salt)

I only list it that way, because some people think a vegetable oil spread = margarine. It is not.

If you substitute an oil spread for butter, you could have problems.

My experience is that butter and true margarine can be substituted freely without negative results. Though, most people believe butter has a better flavor profile.

Salt content could also be a factor. Salt varies in different butter/margarine brands. I'm not sensitive to salt levels, but you might be.


What sous vide parameters for entrecote? I want to cook an entrecote using my sous vide waterbath. The piece is approx. 5cm thick and currently frozen. I would like it to come out as medium-rare. It has a quite a bit of fat on it. At what temperature and for how long should this piece be cooked?

My own guess would be 3 hours at 57, but I after googling my eyes out, I see several different numbers that diverge to a confusing extent.

I confess I'm not familiar with the term entrecôte, but looking it up, its pretty clear this is a already-tender cut. So you don't need to tenderize it.

In fact, you probably don't want to tenderize it—at some point, it'll go from tender to mushy. Unfortunately, from frozen, at least according to the Baldwin tables, you'd need over five hours. If you additionally want it pasteurized, that'd probably be over six hours, but he doesn't have a table for that. Either of those times is risking mushy, at least on the outside.

You can reduce the heating time substantially by thawing it in the fridge. This also gives you the opportunity to sear before bagging (killing any surface bacteria, and also improving flavor). You're probably looking at around 3–3½ hours this way (maybe up to 4 for pasteurization, depending on exact thickness).

Finally, once its thawed, you could split it in half, giving you two, 25mm steaks (split before searing, of course). Then you're looking at around an hour in the water bath, or two for pasteurization.

Even with a pre-sear, you'll want to sear after cooking as normal, too.

Your final option is to up the water-bath temperature a bit, and pull before the steak reaches thermal equilibrium. Basically, the last few degrees take forever—heat transfer is proportional to the difference in temperatures—so if you're OK with a doneness-gradient, as you'd find in traditionally-cooked steaks though not as extreme, you can do this. Problem is, I don't have a table for this, so I'm not sure what the time would be at, say, 59°C. You could attempt to rig it with a probe thermometer to find out, but beware cheap probes are not waterproofed where the wire enters, and will be break if water gets there. There are i-Device apps that will calculate these times for you (PolySci Sous Vide Toolbox, Sous Vide Dash) but I haven't used either (no Android versions...) [This is called the deltaT method]


What to do with a failed cake? Yesterday, my wife baked a cake. Unfortunately, it was a disastrous fail. Instead of fluffy and juicy it turned out to be a compact and painfully chewy mass (not to say mess). It is so compact that the raisins lying around started orbiting it.

Now we were discussing on how to utilize it. Flushing it down the toilet is no option, since it is still food and we are worried about the damage it might cause to the pipes. The organic waste bin might be a way to dispose of it, however, I'd feel sorry about throwing out all the valuable ingredients. It basically consists of semolina, yogurt, quark, sugar, eggs, carrots and milk.

Do you have any suggestion on what to do with it, eventually how to reuse it culinarily (chopping it is still possible, I got the right tools)?

EDIT:
Thank you everyone for your ideas. Dehydrating worked quite well. I added some of it into my crunchy Muesli mixture and I'm keeping some of it for the ice cream thing. Since it was quite a bit, farmer friends of ours were pleased to get the rest of it as chicken food. We got some fresh eggs in turn for baking a new cake.

...mix into ice cream...dry in low oven or dehydrator and use as "breadcrumbs"...use as struesel topping on another cake....??


Comparing different binding agents (Konjac, Xanthan Gum, Guar Gum, Corn Flour) Is there any way to figure out the potency of different binding agents, such as: Konjac, Xanthan Gum, Guar Gum, Corn Flour, before purchasing them?

I'm not familiar with cornflour being used as a binding agent, but as a thickener or as a key ingredient in things like Turkish Delight as a gelling agent. When cooked it releases starch which gels things up.

Xanthan and guar gums are used as a substitute for gluten in flour blends that cater for coeliacs and other sufferers. Since they replicate gluten's role in baking it's safe to say that they're quite sticky when wet.


Why is it recommended to leave the last segment of shell on a shrimp? The question title pretty much says it all.  Many recipes (such as this one) specifically recommend that the tail/last segment of shell be left on when preparing shrimp.

Is there any reason for this?  When I'm eating shrimp I generally prefer having all the bits of shell removed by the chef so that I don't have to stop and manually remove the tail from each shrimp in the dish (which can get messy when eating, say, a Thai curry with shrimp in it).

Why should tails be left on if the shrimp are easiest to eat when all of the shell has been removed prior to cooking?

The shells do have strong shrimp flavor that can contribute to a sauce, and are also left on for visual reasons. But personally, the choice of whether to leave it on depends on how I'm planning on eating the shrimp.

If they are going to be picked up and eaten, it is nice to have a little "handle" to grab them by. If they are part of a curry or heavily sauced dish, or the occasion is formal enough to demand using a fork and knife, the tails come off regardless of recipe advice. (If you really want the tails there for their flavor, you can pop all the shells into a cheesecloth bag, cook, and remove the bag before serving.)


reheating improperly stored pasta sauce and meatballs My meatballs and pasta sauce were left out in 55F temps for 18 hours. I'm guessing I should toss the homemade meatballs with commercial pasta sauce? They were thoroughly cooked, then covered to cool before refrigeration. It didn't make it to the fridge, sadly. Can I re-heat to temps above 175F to salvage the food?

Reheating the sauce containing the meatballs, the meatballs alone or the sauce alone would not be a good idea. 18 hours is a long time for bacteria development. I don't think you would necessarily get sick from reheating it and eating it but because of the time it stayed outside safe temperature and the bacteria development that followed, I cannot recommend such course of action. My recommendation is to throw it all away and be more careful next time.

When you cook, you should ideally cover the food partially and put it in the fridge right away if you own a large commercial fridge, and 20 minutes later if you own a normal household refrigerator. If you cover the food/sauces completely, chances are it will turn sour and goes bad. Partially covering hot preparation is paramount when cooling it down.

Hope I answered your question.

Cheers.


Excess oil in fan grease trap after stir frying in a wok I use a steel wok on induction. When I weekly check the fan grease trap, there's enough oil to run a 1957 DeSoto through the Nevada desert and still have plenty left over for John Travolta's hair.

When I travelled Asia, the chefs always seemed to douse the food in oil (and stock), and my own impression is that without sufficient oil, it feels as if "nothing's happening" in the pan.

In particular, vegetables like broccoli, seem to absorb oil like there's no tomorrow. I use rapeseed oil and run my wok on 85% of maximum heat, which seems to be the perfect temperature.

My question: How much oil is required for a standard one person wok meal, and how do I make sure the oil goes into the food, not into the fan?

(I'd also appreciate a physical/chemical explanation of why this happens. I assume it's because of the high temperature, that the oil is transported along with the "smoky" streaks from the cooking.)

Update: An important part of the problem is how the Swedish quality fan is constructed: The oil caught in the grease trap will slowly drip down outside the outer edges of the fan screen onto the induction top. Is this a problem with all kitchen fans, or could I solve the problem by replacing it?

Partial answer to the new formulation:

  how do I make sure the oil goes into the food, not into the fan?

You don't. The oil is not supposed to go into the food that's being fried, it should be fried at the temperature where it does not soak through, else it becomes quite unappetizing. It is normal that you get a lot of oily vapor when frying, especially at higher temperatures, you cannot prevent that. A splatter screen is sometimes used, but it is not suitable for wokking, because you can't move the foodd items with it.

As for what is the right amount of oil, I can't help you exactly because I don't do much wokking on my own. But I suppose good temperature control will indeed use up more fat than modern Western cooks tend to use.

There is a related question of a user complaining about oil splatter, and the conclusion is the same: you have to live with it. Good way to prevent grease build up in kitchen?.


How do you cook corn on the cob on BBQ? Do you remove peel and wrap it in tin foil ?

Do you put it directly on gril (with peel) ?

How much time ?

The best way I have found is to soak the ears in husk for several hours before grilling. This lets the husk soak lots of water. Then place the corn, still in husk, on a hot grill for about 10 minutes, ~1/4 turn, 10 minutes, turn... until the husk gets brown, even burnt.

You should be able to tell when the corn is cooked by the smell. The sugars in the corn will start to caramelize and brown in the husk and it will give off a delicious caramel smell. You can check them by peeling down the husk to make sure that they are cooking well.

Times will depend on your grill and how much patience you have. In general, it is difficult to overcook. You want to watch out for drying, but that usually takes a while if you soak the ears beforehand.

Foil is a poor substitute for the natural wrapper. The husk both protects the cob from too much direct heat as well as holding water close to the cob to gently steam the kernels. And its just prettier with the browned and burnt husk, au natural.


Why is it recommended to mix yogurt starter with a small amount of milk before adding to the entire batch? When making yogurt with Yogourmet yogurt starters it is recommended to boil the milk, bring it down to 110 degrees F, then take out a cup of milk and mix the starter, then add that mixture back into the main batch of milk and let it culture.

What is the reason for not just adding the starter directly to the batch of milk?

Dry powders are easier to mix if you make a slurry first with a small amount of liquid and then mix the slurry in.

If you skip this step you will have clumps of dry powder floating on top of the milk and it will take a lot more effort to mix in.

When you are using yoghurt as a starter for a new batch this step is not necessary and the starter can just be mixed in directly.


How to get rid of the bitterness in home-made mustard BASE FOR Q:
I took 2:1 yellow, black mustard ratio, i dry-grounded only yellow part. Mixed all together. Made brine 1:1 apple cider vinegar/water. Added sugar and salt to taste a poured this liquid over the above metioned mustard mix. Let it soak.
It tasted bitter. I read billion of opinions. After week I got upset and just spread the entire batch in 1cm layer over big tray and let it breathe for 3 days. It did mellow big time. I put it into glass and it did mellow further over next months.
I wanted hot mustard so no cooking. Cooking makes mustard not hot.
Q:
Is it just time and air, or is there anything else and better scientific with explanations, what mellows and finally removes bitterness in homemade mustard?
How are theese super hot mustards made wiyhout being bitter at all?
EDIT: Superhot is when you dont cook the mustard at all, or for just a short time.

I made an experiment, with tottaly different method and same ingredients.
The biggest change in bitterness is when seeds ground or whole, are soked in water. And there is no acid present.
1.) In bitter scenario I poured mixture of vinegar/water brine also all spices, sugar and salt over and made it ready mixture. It stayed bitter for long time.
2.) Not bitter ready to age scenario was that I added to the mix of seeds water from the recipe first and let it sit 24h. Than I added the rest of ingredients.
It would be great if someone can elaborate on this chemicaly.


Any good substitutes for tamarind in Beef Rendang? I have seen recipes for Indonesian Beef Rendang that call for tamarind (here is one), but tamarind is a little difficult to find here in Japan. So I have two questions:

What could serve as a substitute for tamarind in a Rendang recipe?
And what does tamarind do for Rendang, exactly?

Tamarind gives a sour and slightly molasses note to food, including rendang. To replicate it, you thus need something sour, like lemon juice, and a dark sugar flavour, like black treacle, molasses, or dark brown sugar.

For your recipe I would add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of dark brown sugar.