How to make a jellyish sauce for plate design I'm looking for a method to make a plate sauce with a jelly consistency. The type of suace you would typically see on a plate in a restaurant, where they place a dallop of sauce on the plate and spread it with a spoon.

I don't want to use mayonnaise as a base, but rather something with a jelly consistency, with preferably little or no flavor, this way I can add flavor to my liking.

I have tried to make a jello using beet juice and a packet of clear unflavored jello, letting it harden and then blending it up in a food processor, but the final product would not smear, it just recongealed despite the blending.

Any ideas?

Hmmm. this will be tough. Most sauces that are dolloped and smeared are based on heavily reduced vegetable base, or a bean or legume, or a 'mayonnaise' or aioli base.

To get a thick, smearable sauce with jelly or gelatin is tough, as it will want to 'set' to thicken, which will not allow smearing.

There are new thickeners like Xantham Gum and Carageenan that might help. Cook's Illustrated has a nice piece on Xantham Gum and alternate uses here:

Xantham Gum at CI


Pasticcio vs Lasagna What's the main difference between this two dishes, Pasticcio and Lasagna?

I think pasticcio has ham and I think both have béchamel sauce. They both need to be baked (as far as I know) but honestly, beyond that, I don't know the main/real difference.

Thanks in advance!

Lasagne is the Italian name for the noodles used in a lasagna casserole. So it would be technically incorrect to use it for a casserole made with a different type of noodles. And I'm not aware of any other use of lasagne noodles, so while you will probably have to call your soup "lasagne soup" if it contains them, and Italians will also use the term "lasagne al forno" when they want to be specific about the dish. But in practice, I have never seen recipes for anything else made from these noodles, and Italians shorten the dish name to just "lasagne" too.

Else, any casserole made with lasagne noodles should be called lasagne. The other ingredients don't matter much - there are versions without bechamel, without meat, etc.

Pasticcio is a wider category of casseroles which doesn't have a strict definition. It is the Italian spelling, you will also see other variants such as pastitsio. It usually has noodles, but not always.

Lasagne is a subtype of pasticcio, and the most common pasticcio in Italy - note that on the Italian Wikipedia, "pasticcio(cucina)" redirects to "Lasagne al forno".


Keeping strawberries sweet I read that giving strawberries a vinegar bath will keep them fresh for up to 2 weeks, but will they be sweet? I haven't tried this yet, but would like to make chocolate covered strawberries for the holiday and don't want to ruin it.

Ideally strawberries should be picked the day they're eaten.  Adjusting your shopping plans to the day before or so would be best in any case.  I've never heard of this vinegar bath trick, but I've sometimes kept strawberries overnight that I had mixed with lemon juice.  They're not less sweet, but the texture is blah, going on mushy.  I would experiment at least a day or two with your vinegar bath before relying on this for an actual holiday.


Is there any way to sous-vide without a machine I live in an apartment and have limited space to store kitchen gadgets. I don't really like the idea of having a machine that is dedicated to one specific task.

I particularly want to get into using sous-vide as a cooking technique, but I don't really want to buy a machine specifically for this task.

Is there any way to get a similar cooking method? I know that there probably isn't a way to get the exact temperatures like you get with a sous-vide machine, but I'm looking for some kind of alternative.

I have succeeded using this beer cooler method described by Serious Eats.


Is it necessary to remove the seeds of Tinda before cooking Tinda sabji? Is it necessary to remove the seeds of Tinda before cooking? And if so why?

Tinda also called apple gourd, indian round gourd and most commonly Indian baby pumpkin is despite its name actually a gourd rather than an pumpkin. It is consumed when the gourd is very young so the seeds of this plant will be very soft.

When you are preparing Tinda, you typically peel it and then slice it in half. A huge majority of the time the seed should be very soft so you can use it without removing the seeds. However since these plants are harvested before its fully ripe, there will be discrepancy with exactly when they are harvested. Riper Tinda that was harvested later might have tougher seed in which case you want to remove them. You don't have to throw it out. It can be roasted in the oven and consumed much like pumpkin seeds.

Here is a photo of a Tinda dish where you can distinctly see the seeds still in the Tinda. The photo was from here.

Note: The photo is of Tinda Masala which is a type of Sabji. Sabji refers broadly as vegetables cooked in spices and curry flavors.


Should you wait certain amount of time after steak reaches 170 degrees internal temperature I was wondering if the steak reaches internal temperature of 170 degrees (for well done) is it done at that instant or should you still wait a certain amount of time after the thickest part has reached the desired internal temperature?

The first question I would ask yourself is, why do you want your steak to be 170 degrees? The temperature and "well done" is just an arbitrary measurement and you really should look deeper to get a better answer. I see a few potential answers to that question.

1 - You are worried about getting sick from under cooked food

If this is the case, you really don't need to be as worried about steak. But, if you are still worried, cooking longer never hurts to kill more stuff. The problem is you will find your steaks to generally by dry and not very flavorful (or maybe too flavorful if you get burn it). Cooking the steak slowly (at a lower temperature) will help to keep the steak a little juice while getting it to be well done. You might also want to get over being scared of getting sick and move on to option 2.

2 - You don't like steaks that still show some pink

If this is the case, then maybe some experimentation is needed. Cut your steak once it hit 170 degrees. If you don't like the look, leave it on a bit and know that in the future you need to let the steak sit for a bit longer. If you like the look, then take it off. After a few times of repeating this process, you will learn what you like. Remember the end goal is to get a steak cooked how you want, not reaching a specific temperature.

You will get to the point that you no longer need to cut your steaks to check them. You should also keep in mind that steaks will cook for a bit longer after removing them from heat. You may end up with a slightly pink steak during this trial and error process, just use it as a learning experience.

3 - You pride yourself in being able to grill, but you received a request from a friend for a well done steak

In this case, you don't have the ability to perform experimentation over time and may very well be scared to cut a steak before serving it to some one. Get over yourself and be willing to tell your friend that you are inexperienced with well done steaks and ask for some help telling when it is done. They may not be experienced themselves and will end up just cutting the steak to see where it is at anyways.


(Why) do onions taste sweeter when cooked at lower temperature? I use onions to add a sweeter taste to some dishes, for example in tomato sauce for pasta. I cook them in oil, with some salt, before adding the other ingredients. It seems to me that when I turn the temperature too hot, the onions don't become sweet at all, but rather retain some of their spiciness. They also look less "glassy". Why is this?

Well, you're definitely right. Onions cooked at a high temperature act differently than ones cooked at a low temperature, per "the bible" aka On Food and Cooking. However, it doesn't go in to much of an explanation as to why. Probably the most relevant aspects of what is in there are:

  When onions and their relatives are heated, the various sulfur compounds react with each other and with other substances to produce a range of characteristic flavor molecules. The cooking method, temperature and medium strongly affect the flavor balance. Baking, drying, and microwaving tend to generate trisulfides, the characteristic notes of overcooked cabbage. Cooking at high temperatures in fat produces more volatiles and a stronger flavor than do other techniques. (p.311)

Since a low temperature produces less volatiles, I assume that the natural sugars of the onion shine through instead.

It's probably also important to understand where the oniony flavor comes from. The spice, as you describe it, is the onions natural defense mechanism. However, it doesn't exist defacto in the onion, but is rather the result of a chemical reaction. The onion stores very reactive sulfur in the cell fluid, and a seperate trigger mechanism in a storage vacuole. When you cut / crush / cook/ peel the onion, you break the vacuole and the enzyme and sulfur cause a chemical reaction giving off the spice. (p272 & 310)


Pressure cooking vacuum sealed meat Can a meat that is vacuum sealed for sousvide cooking be cooked instead in a pressure cooker and appropriate results be achieved?

This probably isn't safe, and there's no reason to do it in the first place
The purpose of sous vide cooking is to get your food to a very specific and even temperature throughout, in order to guarantee a certain degree of doneness and minimise the possibility of overcooking. It achieves this by holding the food in a water bath at that appropriate temperature until the food has equalised with the water in temperature.
Pressure cookers, on the other hand, work by preventing steam from escaping from a boiling liquid, thereby raising the pressure in the vessel and hence raising the boiling temperature, which will allow certain reactions in the food to proceed more quickly than they would at a regular boil. This means that a pressure cooker is held at a much, much higher temperature than a sous vide water bath - indeed, if i wanted to overcook food without burning it, an extended stay in a pressure cooker is the most effective method I can think of.
If your sous vide bags can handle the elevated temperatures of a pressure cooker (and I don't think that's true for you; a quick Google suggests that pressure cookers are generally capable of hitting 250 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the number you provided for your specific bags) there may still be a danger in putting them in your pressure cooker; when you release the pressure, the liquid inside your pressure cooker boils rapidly to come back down to a temperature that makes sense at its new pressure; the liquid sealed inside your sous vide bags, however, can't vent to the atmosphere, meaning that your sous vide bags are suddenly themselves tiny pressure cookers, except they're not built to withstand internal pressure like that and will likely burst, spraying boiling liquid out of the pot.
In summary, cooking food sous vide inside a pressure cooker will generally drastically overcook it, and then, if you're not careful, spray boiling liquid around your kitchen. Personally, I wouldn't try it.


How to make agar less brittle Is there anyway to make agar less brittle, I have tried using locust bean gum and this did make the agar softer, but it was still quite brittle. Is there something I can add to the agar to get it as close to the properties as normal gelatin (soft, elasticity).

It doesn't seem like you can get a soft, elastic gel using agar, Modernist Cuisine lists an elastic one but classifies it as firm(4-140):

Texture     Firmness    Gelling Agents       Scaling
----------------------------------------------------
Elastic     Firm        Locust Bean Gum      0.15%
                        Agar                 0.10%
                        Xanthan Gum          0.20%

Although, they do have an elastic gel in the coating gels section that is classified as tender (4-151):

Texture     Firmness    Gelling Agents       Scaling
----------------------------------------------------
Elastic     Tender      Sorbitol             3.00%
                        Agar                 0.60%
                        Xanthan Gum          0.25%


can shortening be used to replace lard in baking bread? I have a bread recipe that calls for lard. Is it possible to replace it with shortening and still get the same soft texture in the bread.

Yep, shortening is a very standard substitution for lard. I can't swear that you're going to love the results, or that it will be every bit as soft, but there is no good reason not to try.


Buying chocolate transfer sheet I've just found my new-found love for making chocolate cups. And on one of the videos of how to make chocolate cups, the lady used a chocolate transfer sheet to get a really pretty chocolate cup, which she then filled with some mousse.

I wanted to buy some chocolate transfer sheets myself and started to look on ebay and found a lot of very beautiful sheets at very good prices. Before I go ahead and buy them, my question really is if they are safe to use (health-wise) and if I need to be aware of any issues with them, for example, should I only buy brown ones and avoid any that use colours.

Here are some pictures of them.

Yes, they are safe for three reasons:

They are approved by the food safety organizations.
You work the chocolate at a very low temperature.
You transfer the chocolate very rapidly.

Even with 'unsafe' plastic, nothing bad would happen.


Savoury summer soup recipe ideas I often make a zucchini, lemon and sage soup (blended with a slow immersion blender) that we eat at room temperature (or lukewarm) during the summer, sometimes with a good white bread (such as a baguette), either as a starter or as a side. It is a very simple soup but it is so pleasant in the summer. I am looking for ideas of recipes for "similar" soups.

The conditions are

Must be a soup to eat at room temperature (or lukewarm)
Light in taste. Pleasant for a hot summer day
Not too fat
No red meat
No shellfish / crustaceans (shrimp, crab, crayfish, lobster) (because I'm allergic to them)
Savoury. Not sweet
No fruit (tomato is considered as a fruit here, so no classic gazpacho)

I live in Vancouver, BC, Canada and if the produce can be found at the local farmers market, it is even better but please don't consider this as a requirement for posting your answer.

Roasted veg/squash soup is one of my goto summertime soups. I roast the veg on the grill and combine it in the blender with some stock made during the spring. Heat in cast iron on the grill side burner to keep the kitchen cooler.


What is this seafood that I bought in a Chinese market? Can someone tell what is the food here?

That's abalone (鮑魚 bàoyú), a popular and expensive delicacy in Chinese cuisine.


Why does salted cod turn chewy? We recently bought half a salted codfish. I did a Spanish recipe (and asked a question about it). The fish had a very nice texture (although it was way too salty).

This weekend, my wife did the same Spanish recipe, with the same codfish... but the texture of the flesh was chewy (her fish was less salty).

Any idea why? My guess is that the fish was overcooked. But I'm not sure.

Assuming the cod was the same quality as before and you de-salted the fish in the fridge for 24 to 48 hours, then I would also guess overcooking.  Rendering the gelatin at 45°C (as suggested in the paper @yossarian uncovered) should prevent the fish from cooking and give enough time to get it into the oil.  You can always cook the fish in a separate step after you made the pil pil.

Modern techniques for salting cod use less salt and create a product that will not be edible by future archeologists, so store in a dry cool place (tightly wrapped in the fridge).


My pepper sauce looks unsafe I canned some pepper sauce. It had peppers and green tomatoes. After 3 days of being refrigerated , the peppers are floating on top and has blobs of cloudy material stuck to the peppers. The tomatoes are on the bottom.
I am wondering if adding olive oil has caused this and are they safe

Cloudy material will be fungus growing in the culture. It is not safe to eat.
Where the contamination has come from is impossible to work out, there are several steps in the canning process during which a failure in the step could result in the canning not being sterile and growing something.


What kinds of frostings have a lighter texture? It seems like the frosting is either an inch of sweetened shortening or just simple whipped cream. The recipes for frosting that I have tried have always been sickeningly fatty and sweet. I do find creme cheese frosting good but it is still a bit too rich.

Straight whipped cream has its place, such as on tres leches cake, but for a regular white cake it is too light.

I have heard of frostings that are beaten or cooked to make them creamy and thick without using too much fat but I don't know what they are called.

What name or types of frostings are still creamy and thick without being overpoweringly fatty?

Have you ever tried Italian Buttercream?  I learned about it in culinary school and it is now my favorite!  LIght, airy, not too sweet.  It has a wonderful texture!

Here is the recipe we used - It's a keeper!
http://www.grouprecipes.com/92114/italian-buttercream-from-the-culinary-institute-of-america.html

Italian buttercream is made by blending butter into Italian meringue.


Simple syrup end result When making a simple syrup, my ratio was four cups water to three cups sugar, what is the end volume?

I ask because i messed up a drink recipe by measuring the next step against the amount of the water and forgetting to take into account the increase in volume due to the sugar.

6 TBS (3 ounces by volume) of granulated sugar, mixed with 4 liquid ounces of water (1/2 cup US), brought to a hard boil in the microwave yielded just over 6 liquid ounces of syrup. (A drop of color added for readability)

I would suspect that it didn't reach 7 ounces because of the air included in the volumetric measurement of granulated sugar.

So 4 cups of water plus 3 cups of granulated sugar would yield just over 6 cups of syrup if not allowed to reduce on the stove.


sauce pan vs. dutch oven vs. stock pot - any difference besides size? I have to admit, I've been pretty ignorant about cookware terminology for my whole life - I've had a set of pots and pans of various sizes, and I've used them.  Now I'm in the market for a nicer, new set, and am pretty confused.  My question here is if there's really any difference (aside from size) between sauce pans, dutch ovens, and stock pots.

I'm looking at a few sets:

T-fal C798SC64
Cuisinart MCP-12N
KitchenAid Stainless Steel 10-Piece

The T-fal set has a "5.5 Quart covered Dutch oven."  The other two sets have 8 quart stockpots.  They all have sauce pots of various sizes (1 to 3 quarts).

Are these all just pots that happen to be different sizes, or is there something fundamentally different?  What advantage does the dutch oven have over the stock pot?  In other words, is there something else I need to consider other than just buying the sizes that make the most sense for me?

While all of these are large pots (or may at least come in large sizes) they have different purposes, which lead to differences in typical construction.

Saucepans are intended for general purpose cookery, and usually have solid construction, and permit searing in the pot, reducing, and a variety of other tasks.

They are the most difficult to characterize as there is tremendous variation in quality levels and design among the products available.
Stock pots are purpose built to make large quantities of stock.  Since they are not used for searing typically, and liquids circulate via convection making hot spots not a priority, they are typically constructed from thinner metals (steal or aluminum) and don't have good general purpose cooking qualities.

The main virtues in a stock part are low cost, size, and light weight.
Dutch ovens (at least real Dutch ovens) are a legacy from the time when cooking was done in hearth or campfire.   They are designed to be nestled into the coals or embers, with more coals or embers placed on top of the lid, creating a hot oven like interior--thus the name.

True quality Dutch ovens will be fairly thick, usually cast iron, possibly enameled, and may have little legs to help nestle it into the fire above the coals; similarly, a the lid may actually fit into the pot, allowing coals to easily be piled on top.

Dutch overs are actually fairly versatile cooking implements, and can serve for searing, roasting, braising, stewing, biscuit making, soup making, and even some bread applications even in the modern kitchen.   Many are large enough to make stock in for home purposes, although they are not absolutely ideal for the task.

You will have to ask yourself, given your own cooking patterns, would the general versatility of a dutch oven, or the size of a stock pot serve you better.  None of the sets you linked to has a true dutch oven, however; the one that purports to be a dutch oven has a glass lid!   It might be an okay pot, it is not one I would ever choose.

For stainless steel products (without the specialized legs and concave lid to nest coals in), there is very little difference between a dutch oven and a very large sauce pan.


BBQ Beef Brisket on a Propane Grill? Is it possible to make really good beef brisket, with a smoke ring and everything, on a Propane Grill?

A good charcoal grill/smoker is on our list of things to get, but it's probably not going to happen this summer. Am I doomed to have mediocre brisket, or are there tricks that will work with a propane grill to approximate the results I'd get with a "real" grill/smoker?

You can get extremely edible results, which is good enough for me.  The smoke-ring may be lacking from a competition grade result, but the flavour will be fine.

Presume you have a big-enough BBQ to have at least two burners.  Only use the burner the meat is not on.  If you have any prevailing wind and are not completely sheltered, make the hot side the upwind side.

Either get a smoke-box, or do what I used to and use foil.  Soak 1/3 to 1/2 your wood chips in water to slow them down.  Foil worked just fine for me, made a pouch, put in the chips and poked the up-flat-side with a knife to make smoke holes.

If you have a larger BBQ, consider adding in bricks or stones (no river stone!) to help maintain even heat.  By having less air and more thermal mass, you will do better.

Let me meat come to room temperature before you put it on.  Also no need to smoke right away, as the meat will not take it until it heats up further in the BBQ.

Happy Eating


Preparing eggplant with less oil I love cooking with eggplant (or aubergine/brinjal in your specific English flavor).

However to get rid of the bitter taste and slightly spongy texture, I end up using huge amounts of olive oil, which tends to make the dish heavy overall. I've had some success with grilling the eggplant, but for sauté or oven baking I always grab my oil and apply liberally.

Are there any tips/preparations I can use to reduce the bitterness and sponginess of eggplant using less oil?

Put salt on the eggplant and let it sit for an hour to drain out the bitter fluids. Rinse with water afterwards to remove the salt.


Help - Thawed frozen Lasagne issues My wife purchased 2 M&M Family Frozen Meat Lasagnes and left them in a thermal freezer bag in the rear of the Escape. I found them two days later as I was taking her vehicle in for service, and they were thawed. Are these lasagnes still safe to eat if cooked, and if so, can they be refrozen? According to the ingredients the noodles are cooked and I assume the beef has been.

Per Foodsafety.gov, you can refreeze a casserole if it "still contains ice crystals and feels as cold as if refrigerated", but if "thawed and held above 40 °F for over 2 hours", it must be discarded.


What other names are scallions known by? If I can't find anything named "scallions" at the store, what else can I look for?

According to Wikipedia:

  Scallions (also known as green onions, spring onions, salad onions,
  green shallots, onion sticks, or syboes), are the edible plants of
  various Allium species, all of which are "onion-like", having hollow
  green leaves and lacking a fully developed root bulb.

In the grocery stores I've been to most (east cost of US), if they aren't called scallions, they're called green onions. I've never seen grocery stores label them with any of those other names from Wikipedia (though I've seen recipes calling for syboes).

Then of course there are stores / vegetable stands where nothing is labelled, in which case knowing what they look like is the most helpful ;) (Google image search yields plenty of decent results.)


Thawed shrimp floating vs. sinking I bought two 2-pound bags of frozen 41-50 count/pound shrimp. When I thawed them in cold water, one bag's shrimp all sank and the other bag's shrimp all floated.

           Bag 1          Bag 2
buoyancy   sink           float
color      more white     slightly brownish
rinsing    clear          frothy
marking    66H/15TT/976   668/21TT/0H354

I assume one of them is not nearly so fresh as the other, or possibly has been frozen and thawed multiple times. I did some searching but couldn't find any real help.

Assuming that one is not so fresh, I would like to return it to the store. But which one? I'm guessing the floating and darker color indicate a more advanced state of decomposition, but your input is appreciated. I'd like to have ammunition at the store in case they question me.

According to this study, frozen seafood has a density ranging from 972 to 1017 kg/m3.  Thawed, raw seafood at 20°C has a density ranging from 1042 to 1093 kg/m3.  Since the density of water at room temperature is about 998 kg/m3, it is certainly possible—and most likely normal—for one batch of frozen seafood to float while another sinks.  Thawed seafood that has been brought to room temperature, on the other hand, should almost always sink since its minimum density (1042 kg/m3) is higher than water's.  Therefore, I would only worry if the shrimp continue to float after they have been thawed.  If they are shell-on, there is a chance that there could be air stuck between the shell and the body, though, which would of course be perfectly fine yet affect the density/floating.

Edit: What are the ingredients listed on the bags?  Very often nowadays salt and salt-based preservatives are added to frozen shrimp in order to retard water loss.  It could be the case that one bag has preservatives while the other does not.  This could of course affect buoyancy by changing the density of the shrimp.  (In general, one should try and only buy individually quick-frozen shrimp where "shrimp" is the only ingredient.)


Should a gas Aga be left on when not in use? We've recently moved into a house with an Aga GC3 cooker; though have no experience with this type of oven.  Reading up on Agas, people talk about them being left on all the time; though this seems like a waste of gas for our usage (1 cooked meal each evening; unused the rest of the day).  When people say they can be left on all of the time I'm not sure if they're envisaging scenarios where the Aga is an old solid-fuel style (where this would have been far more practical), or cooks who are baking throughout the day, or making use of the waste heat for drying their wellies and wet dogs.
We've found that it takes about 2 hours to get up to the required temperature for cooking; so if not left on all the time requires a lot more planning than the gas hobs we're used to; but leaving it on feels wasteful.
Is it best (in terms of efficiency / our described usage pattern) to leave an Aga on full time (e.g. is it more efficient to keep it at temperature than to have to bring it up to temperature each day), and if left on, when not in use is it best to keep it on the Full setting, or to put it to Low Heat or Pilot Light mode?

Looking at the economics angle the Aga is expensive to run. Energy prices in the UK (not sure where you are but most of the Agas I know of are there) are about £.15 per kWh. If an Aga uses 20,000 kWh of energy per year to run, which is a reasonable figure if it's on all day, it would cost £3000 per year. If you modernize it with a schedule to run 8 hours per day, say, it's £1000 per year. Those figures could be less with your model, exact information is hard to find.
If you scheduled it to only heat up for an evening meal then it's probably 4 hours per day, which would be about £500 per year with those energy estimates, which doesn't sound too bad, however that would limit you your flexibility.
A good quality new cooker (i.e. range in the US) costs about the same as 8 hours usage on an Aga for a year, and would be ready when you need it. Used Agas in good condition get around £3000 on Ebay, you could potentially sell it, buy something different and come out cash positive from the deal.
So Agas are expensive to run unless you need the heat from it, if you buy a programmer it can save you money, it's still probably more economical to replace it with something else. It all comes down to whether you like the Aga style of cooking, if you do then spend the money happily, if you don't it'll get snapped up on the used market faster than I wrote this.


Is there a way to heat a precooked ham in a 425 degree oven? Is it possible to protect a precooked ham while heating in an over hot oven?

For example is it possible to heat a precooked while cooking a turkey at 425 by say wrapping it in a double layer of foil, or placing it in a pan of water, etc?

425° F is so hot that it will surely burn over-do the outside of a ham before the inside will get warm.  However, you can slice the ham then warm it for about 10 minutes.  Slicing it will allow the whole slice to get warm, while not over-cooking the outside.


Proper way to prepare shrimp? Yesterday I tried to prepare shrimp for the first time. Basically the idea was to prepare shrimp and pasta. I bought frozen shrimp and followed the recipe. It was something like this:

  Heat olive oil and fry garlic.
  Add frozen shrimps and fry them until they become soft.
  Add cooking cream + Parmesan or Parmesan cream.
  ...

The problem was that I fried the shrimp for 30 minutes and they never got soft enough. They were pretty hard. Obviously something went wrong.

What is the best way to prepare shrimps?

Shrimp are extremely lean and have very little connective tissue, which means that the longer they cook the harder they get.  Fresh shrimp, for example, only need to be fried for about one minute per side (depending on their size).  This makes cooking frozen shrimp very difficult: By the time the outside has thawed and is perfectly cooked, the inside will still likely be frozen.  If you cook them long enough for the inside to thaw and cook (e.g., 30 minutes), the outside will likely be extremely hard.

I would recommend thawing the shrimp before cooking, for example, by leaving them in the refrigerator overnight.  Another quick way to thaw them is to place them in a bowl and run a stream of cold water over them in your sink.  Next, thoroughly dry the shrimp, which will help prevent splatter and promote the Maillard reaction.  Only cook the shrimp until they turn slightly pink and begin to curl on one side, then flip.  Depending on the size, this should be no more than, say, two minutes per side.  Then proceed with the remainder of the recipe.  Also take into account if the recipe calls for simmering the shrimp in the cream sauce; if so, then this will continue to cook the shrimp and you will not need to fry them as long.


How long should I marinate Chicken? I will be preparing a dinner which includes chicken which will be stuffed with different types of cheese, tomatoes and spinach but before that I have to marinate the chicken. In one of the recipes it was asked to marinate the chicken for 2 hours,  but the chicken I bought is pretty thick. So how long should I marinate it?

Marination is generally a surface treatment, so the thickness of your chicken is  irrelevant.  Really, the only thing that can penetrate is salt, primarily because of molecule size.  You can read a good explanation here.  I would say you're good with the 2 hours, but as you will see when you read the article, you might not even need that long...or you might want to rethink the marinade altogether.


Should dry salami develop green mould? I recently (5 weeks ago), purchased a set of dry salami from a food festival. I kept them in the plastic bag that they came in; however, when I recently checked them, they were completely covered with furry-looking green mould.

My understanding of dry salami is that it is supposed to be able to be kept for (in some cases) several years without risk. So I am confused, What could have caused the mould growth that I experienced?

Take the salamis out of the bag.

Are they complete sausages or has it been sliced? Whole sausages should not be kept in a plastic bag without desiccants even if it's just a ball of paper towels.

Sliced salamis shouldn't be kept for more than a couple weeks.

If they are whole, don't be fooled that you can just wash the skin, molds grow tendrils into its food, not unlike roots, so don't risk it.


my chicken broth did not separate with layers I put frozen organic chicken bones that I have saved over the past year in a 6 quart crock pot, some bay leaves, pepper corns some celery, garlic and cooked everything on low for 24 hours.I let it cool but there was no layer of fat that came to surface. The liquid is still a creamy colored liquid 2 days later...is it supposed be cream colored???

If you didn't roast the bones, then yes, it's going to be pale. Many recipes suggest browning the bones (I like to bake them at 450 for 45 minutes), for extra flavor and a nice color.

As for the lack of fat layer... the bones themselves don't have much fat. If you've got just cleaned bones, then I wouldn't expect a separate fat layer. If you'd included skin, then you'd expect it to have fat.

Either that, or your crock pot is broken, and it just sat there are room temperature for 24 hours.


Which containers to boil dulce de leche for 7 hours? I want to make dulce de leche by boiling it. As the store bought cans leach plastics like BPA into the food, I want to avoid using it.

What are jars/cans, preferably reusable that you can put inside some food, close it and boil for several hours and are made from safe for humans material?

This is exactly what Mason Jars are for.  They're glass, so they can stand long periods of heat without leaching, and are designed to be boiled.  Unlike a can, I'd suggest leaving the lid secured loosely so that it can bleed off pressure.


What cut of beef is this? My dad asked me to clean out his freezer and I found this cut of beef.  It said "rib" on it, but it looks like no rib I've ever seen.

(click for full size)

Is this an ankle?  How can I identify which cut it is?

The photo on the left, specifically the upper left quadrant appears to have a concave shape that would make one think (at first glance) of the short ribs, but the ball joint and size definitely is the give away here. Assuming the dish it rests in is an 9x13 casserole dish you are right that this is probably from a lamb rather than a beef. But the folks at Victorian Farmstead provide a photo that makes it completely clear that we are indeed looking at a "Bone In Leg of Lamb"


What is the difference between quick cook and traditional steel cut oats? I've noticed a grocery store sells both Quick Cook steel cut oats and Traditional steel cut oats. Quick Cook take only 5-7 minutes to cook on the stove, while traditional require 25-30 minutes.  Traditional also require more liquid, but I assume this is due to evaporation during the longer cook time.

The question Difference between old fashioned and quick oats? appears to be talking about rolled oats, but my main takeaway is that the quick rolled oats are processed into smaller flakes.

On the other hand, I'm aware that minute rice cooks faster than normal rice because minute rice has been precooked and dehydrated.

Are quick cook steel cut oats just cut smaller, or is there also some other difference?

Bob's Red Mill makes quick cook steel cut oats. According to them, they're just cut smaller.

  Quick Cooking Steel Cut Oats are simply whole oat groats that have been cut into neat little pieces on a specialized rotary granulator mill. We use high protein, whole grain oats that have been lightly toasted to create our hearty steel cut oats. Also known as Irish oats or pinhead oats, steel cut oats create a chewy, full-bodied hot cereal. Our Quick Cooking Steel Cut Oats are cut a little smaller than our Regular Steel Cut Oats, making them ready in a scant 5 to 7 minutes.


Why did some leaves of my fresh Fenugreek turn yellow after a few days of purchase, and how to prevent the leaves from turing yellow? 5 days after I purchased fresh Fenugreek, I noticed some of its leaves turned pale yellow.
What does that indicate, and how to prevent it (if it is a bad thing)?

The Fenugreek was placed as a tied bundle on the kitchen counter for 5 days.

It's a sign that chlorophyll, the substance that enables photosynthesis and gives the plant is green colour is fading from the plant due primarily to lack of water and nutrients. When chlorophyll fades you're left with the underlying colour of the leaves.

It's simply a sign that water is evaporating from the leaves.

If you don't like the yellow colour, just remove those leaves, it doesn't have any effect on the overall flavour or usefulness of the herb.

The only way to prevent it, is to keep the stems in a glass of water, which helps to preserve the chlorophyll, but it won't do so forever, eventually the leaves will still turn yellow. However, if you're trying to dry the leaves that's rather counter-productive!


How to tell pre-sliced, raw mutton from beef? Given two plates of raw, thinly sliced meat (e.g. hot pot or Korean BBQ), how can one reliably disambiguate beef from mutton?

Both appear as thin slices of red meat, with similar texture and marbling. Tasting them is not an option, nor is asking someone involved in preparing the meats.

What you are asking for is a classic task for learning pattern recognition, also known as the "chicken sexer problem" (derived from the people whose job at a farm is to throw recently-emerged chickens into one crate if female and another if male). The way to learn this is only one: practice. And not being able to taste is making it much harder.

Note that this is not a case where somebody could get you a description of how to recognize the difference and you could go through it and make checkmarks. Even people who succeed at the task will not be able to tell you how they know which it is (they may have a subjective explanation for it, such as "one of them smells faintly like a barn, the other doesn't", but it is not necessary true). The way to do it is to sit together with somebody who is adept at it, and watch their process intently over several hundred to thousand samples, until you realize you can tell the difference yourself. If there is no such expert available, the other way is to have those several hundred to thousand samples prepared by somebody who knows which is beef and which mutton, and you will have to start doing the process on your own, getting a correctness feedback after each sample. It will be slightly slower than sitting with an expert.

The task is likely to be rather context-dependent: you will probably have to go through a separate learning process for hot pot, and a separate one for Korean BBQ. The number of samples you need is also likely to be context-dependent, for example it is much easier to tell apart beef and mutton when grilled (there you will probably need less than one hundred samples) than when presented as salami.


How long can I keep espresso in the fridge? I often make espresso with a bialetti moka. I made some espresso martinis for my family at a party earlier this year and I have been asked for some more over Christmas.

How long can I keep espresso coffee made with a bialetti in the fridge? If it can be stored for a long time, can I top it up with more coffee as I make it, or should each batch be stored separately?

I don't know for sure how long you can keep it in the refrigerator, but it should be essentially indefinite in the freezer. You could freeze it in ice cube trays, then when the cubes are set, transfer them to a plastic bag for easy storage and access. You could even make each cube the right amount for a single drink.


What should the results of my chocolate soufflé be like? Should chocolate soufflés in their entirety have the same texture and solidity as its somewhat firm outer shell through out its body(excuse my redundancy)?

I made soufflés for my girlfriend and I and she noted there were creamy parts and suggested that they might be raw.

I bake them at 390 degrees for 14 minutes using 7oz of chocolate melted with 6 large egg yolks, and 5 tbs of butter and a pinch of salt.

I wanna make them for us again for valentines day and was wondering if I should change up the procedure.

A chocolate souffle should be warm and gooey in the middle, if it is solid throughout it has been cooked too long.  It sounds like you have it right, I wouldn't change it. If you want to prove it to her do a google image search on chocolate souffle, you'll see what the result should look like.


Arby's Roast Beef - what cut of meat? What cut of meat does Arby's use in their roast beef sandwiches?

Looking at the slices (see: https://arbys.com/desktop/images/the_meats/beef_n_cheddar.png), they don't seem to have the muscle fibers I would expect to see in beef (e.g. https://www.eatdrinkri.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/20110315_charcutepalooza_mar_corned_beef_8.jpg). I wonder if this is a result of the specific cut of the meat? Or the method of slicing (e.g. very thin against the grain?), or something else? This video might help identify the meat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otDoG1OjBZA

I'm hoping to do a copy of their roast beef at home.

The "Arby's we grew up on" was a Steamship Round. That is the entire "round primal" shown in diagram. However, several years ago they went to a processed version in order to make production more uniform, I believe it is likely still 'mostly' round that has been pressed and shaped.

You are unlikely to find a steamship round on your grocers shelves, you will need to go to a butcher. The 'whole round' is usually only purchased for restaurants and caterers, it is the cut you are most likely to see in a 'serving line' (think Furr's/Luby's etc.) as it is a very large piece. Commercially the round is broken down into smaller cuts, tri-tip, rump roast, eye of round, etc. for sale in the market. If you want to make it at home the closest you can probably get is an eye of round roast. You will definitely want to slow roast it in order to get it tender.


Why is bacon commonly baked in a cold oven? When cooking bacon on a sheet rack in the oven (for about 25 minutes at 400 ° F), it's common to put the bacon in the oven when the oven is cold, so that the oven is "pre-heating" while the bacon is inside.  What is the purpose of this? Why start the bacon in a cold oven when so many other things use a pre-heated oven?

As the oven heats up, the bacon will slowly warm, and slowly start to render its fat.  This minimizes the curling from shrinkage.  It is not absolutely necessary, and makes the total time to the bacon being done shorter, if you start timing from when the oven is turned on.

For more insight, see the various answers to Cooking Buffet-style Bacon


How long and at what temp should I roast a 22lb fresh ham? I’m roasting a 22 lb fresh ham and want it to be tender. I’ve been told low and slow.

First wash the Ham in hot water with a rough rag. This removes the vinegar mold. Improves taste. Should feel dry to the touch. On the skin. Next glaze the Ham. I use wild honey for this. But can be done with a hard tack mix & pepper. To seal the Ham. Put in roasting pan. Place in oven at 6pm to 8 pm. Let roast at 170 to 180 F all might. 200f max. Slow cook it. At 6 to 8 AM. turn up heat to 350f. Place thermomitor at bone Bring ham at bone up to 180 f to 200 f. Remove & cool. Remove lid on roaster before turning oven up.. This is were you brown the Ham.


Is low sodium salt really effective? In Israel, there are some low-sodium salt substitute, which brag to have "60% less sodium than regular salt".

I suspect that there's a catch. I strongly suspect that indeed they contain 60% less sodium than the regular salt, however, you need to add 60% (or 50%, but a larger amount) more of the salt-subtitute to get the same taste.

Is that true? Did anyone else think about that?

I'd say that's not strictly true,mostly because no salt substitute I've ever seen can get the same taste anyway.

"Real" salt is sodium chloride (and maybe iodine, or minor impurities if it's sea salt). Most salt substitutes are partly or mostly potassium chloride. This is technically a salt (chemically speaking) and does have a similar salty taste, but it doesn't taste quite like sodium chloride, and can be bitter or metallic-tasting. Some salt substitutes add herbs or other things to help make the potassium chloride more palatable. Sounds like your has some "regular" salt as well, if it's got a significant sodium content.

So while you are right that there's likely a "catch," it's more likely to be that your salt substitute will never taste quite right, or will be bitter, and less likely that you'll be piling loads of extra on in an effort to get the right saltiness.


What's the best way to grate chocolate? What's the best way to grate chocolate without getting it messy and melting  all over one's fingers? I've been using a fine cheese grater, and while it does the trick, the chocolate melts in my hand as I hold it... How can I improve this process?

I would recommend staying away from a grater and either using a knife or a chocolate chipper (http://www.amazon.com/Lee-43198-Chocolate-Chipper/dp/B00005NUVX). The less friction and the more you keep your hands off it (because your hand will melt it as you have discovered) the better.


Does it matter which goes in the glass first when having half/half tea? I drink half/half tea. Half sweetened, half unsweetened. I think it tastes better when I put sweetened in the bottom of the glass. A friend says that's silly. It all mixes together. Is my imagination making me think it tastes better when sweet goes in first?

The answer of the question has little to do with cooking, and more with knowing how human cognition (= how do we know that we like something) works. To your brain, "X makes me think it tastes better" is the same as "it tastes better", no matter if X is the chemical composition of the drink or the knowledge that the sweetener went there first, or something entirely else.

It is possible that there is some objectively measurable difference in the drink. It is also possible that there is no such difference. In both cases, the outcome is the same - you have some reasons to like the drink sweet first better. Dividing them into "objectively measurable properties of the drink itself" and "anything else" is irrelevant to the outcome (your taste preferences). It specifically does not mean that, if your reasons turn out to be "anything else", your liking is somehow less real, or that you are being silly.

So, the answer is basically tautological. If for you it matters that the sweetened goes in first, then for you it matters that the sweetened goes in first. And it has nothing to do with whether if matters for your friend or not, whether you could taste the difference in a blind test or not, or any other possible tests of the "reality" of your feeling of liking.


Is a pizza like this unheard of in the USA? My idea of a pizza, bought from a pizzeria in Sweden (at least growing up and when I last did, which was a few years ago now), is as follows:

A standard pizza dough is grabbed and turned into a flat circle. It's very thin.
Some tomato sauce is put in the middle and circled around to just cover the dough.
Small shreds (or flat, thin squares) of ham are sprinkled over this, in a reasonable amount which doesn't add significant height.
Cut pieces of standard "champion" (Agaricus) mushrooms are added, complementing the ham pieces but not "taking over" them in quantity nor taste.
Standard pizza cheese shreds are added on top, causing the entire thing to still look very thin and absolutely not anywhere near a "pan" pizza.
It's put into the pizza oven for a few minutes. (I don't remember exactly how long.)
The finished pizza has some oregano sprinkled on top from a jar.

It could also be that the cheese is put on before the other "toppings". I'm foggy on that detail.
The pizza described above is called "Capricciosa". If you remove step 4, it instead becomes what is known as a "Vesuvio". These two pizzas are what I consider "real pizzas". I have tried many other versions, but (almost) none of them taste good at all to me; it seems like this is the "gold standard" for what a pizza is.
However, Americans (and probably Italians) seem to have a completely different idea of what makes a pizza. At least judging by countless movies, TV series, live streams, videos, cartoons and photos I've seen. Most notably, the USA pizzas seem to be much thicker, what I'd call a "pan" pizza, with both way more bread part and fillings/toppings, and seem to never, ever contain the ingredients I mentioned above. It seems like "Pepperoni" is by far the most common. That is, little round slices of Pepperoni sausage. While that can be good for sure, it really gives the pizza a very different taste compared to the ham or ham + mushroom kind which I like.
I tried to locate a good photo, but sadly didn't find any. These two pizzas (which don't look very appealing on these photos) at least give an idea of what I'm talking about, I suppose:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Pizza_bella_vista.jpg (also includes pineapple and shrimps, so please ignore that)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Italian_pizza_from_stockholm.jpg (Vesuvio)

Is this "thin" kind of pizza, with specifically ham and mushrooms (or ham only), entirely nonexistent in the USA? Is that just something that nobody makes over there? Would perhaps nobody even want such a pizza? The typical American pizzas do look tasty, but it seems like they would be just "too much" with such enormous amounts of toppings.

There is a fantastically wide range of pizza styles available in the US. The traditional American "fast food" pizza, such as one would get from Domino's or Pizza Hut, has a fairly thick, doughy crust, but thin-crust pizzas are nearly as widely available, and have become more common over the past two decades.
In the US, it's less common for pizzas to be ordered by a particular well-known "standard" name like "capricciosa" or "pugliese". A pizzeria will often have its own menu of topping combinations with their own names. Depending on the pizzeria, people might tend to order one of those, or they might be more likely to specify the full set of toppings directly, e.g. "ham and mushroom" (definitely not an uncommon combination, and one that would be available from virtually any pizzeria).
I've only had pizza in Sweden once, but what I had would not have been at all unique or remarkable in the US.


Will a grill pan reduce oil splatter when pan-frying steaks? I have recently started cooking steaks at home and I really enjoy it.  BUT I really hate the oil splatter all over my kitchen floor and stove top after I'm done cooking.  I am already patting my steak dry and using very little oil.

Would using a grill pan reduce this problem?  I'm think it would as the oil will collect in the ridges as opposed to being caught between the meat and the pan.

Yes, a grill pan will help some, for the very reason you have already identified in the question. Another advantage to a grill pan is charming grill marks.

I don't think that's your best solution.

If you like a serious sear on your steak, I don't think you can do better than a wickedly hot cast-iron skillet. (more on that: Why did my attempt at pan-searing beef filets fail miserably?) To mitigate spatter, I recommend a spatter screen.

The surface is a fine mesh screen, it allows free exchange of air, but holds grease in the pan and away from your walls.


Is blowing on a frying pan unsanitary? Does this look sanitary to you? I think if I wanted to put out a flame I'd use a pan lid.

Incomplete common sense answer (no idea about local regulations. If this should have been a comment, somebody tell me! :) People breathe in kitchens while there are open pots, and blowing is a form of breathing. Food is not ever considered completely sterile unless pressure cooked/canned, cold sterilized (chemically or by pickling in extremely harsh pickling solutions), or irradiated. Also, unless things are served straight after that, they will be rather thoroughly cooked in the depicted scenario - if there are germs in that breath, they are cooked to death; spores will not matter much with food immediately served; if there was poison the cook would be dead or ill too. Virii could be a problem too,


corned-beef cure/brine: viscous, snot-like substance - is this safe? Please click here for a video showing the problem

Causes for concern:

The container ended up pressurizing somewhat, so whatever was in there was breaking down and gassing, so when I opened up the container some fluid shot out
There was an indication of some film on the top of the solution, which you can see in the video
The meat has this snot all over it, see near end of video for a good look at the viscous stuff coming from the sieve

I used roughly 6 cups of water w/ a little more than half a teaspoon of Prague Powder (6.25% Sodium Nitrite) w/ .780kg beef brisket, which I believe matches ChefSteps 75ppm curing level. Put it in the fridge for about 10 days, didn't shake the solution past the 3rd day, should I have?

I used this ChefSteps recipe:
https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/...

and I used this Nitrite calculator:
https://genuineideas.com/ArticlesInde...

Unfortunately I dont have a concrete answer for you but both the gassing and the snot would make me lose confidence that it was safe to eat. However, in this question they person answering said it might be sugars breaking down. Another commenter also lists spoilage signs for corned beef brining:

White slime and foam on top.

Milky color with or without foul odor. Cloudy is ok, milky is not. If it’s milky but has no odor, it’s still bad. The odor will come if given more time.

Brine turns blue in color or has a bluish hue/tint.

Brine becomes very tacky (gluey) to touch. There is a difference between being gluey and being slimy. Slimy is ok, gluey is not.

There are certainly other bad signs, but in general, these are far and away the ones most encountered.

Another commenter here says the slime is normal.
I've seen lengths of brine time span from 5 to 10 days, but if you're worried you could cut it down to 7 days in the future. The USDA seems to be in agreement about the 5-7 days in the fridge at 40F or less.
In summary, I would be a little nervous with your current situation but in the future, maybe a little clear slime after 5-7 days would be fine. 10 days seems to be stretching it, and it seems like you've got a lot of slime in your video.


Should peanut oil be stored in the fridge? I know walnut oil should be stored in the fridge. Is the same also true for peanut oil?

No. Peanut oil has a similar fat profile to that of sunflower, corn, and soybean oils, all of which do not require refrigeration after opening and are typically used for frying. Walnut and other edible nut-based oils more easily oxidize after exposure to air, light, or high temperatures. They are primarily used for their light, subtle flavors. Any oil will go rancid given enough time so unless you're using your peanut oil very infrequently, there is no need to store it in the refrigerator.


How to retain the smell of frying green onions/scallions in cooked dish? I have always loved the smell of frying green onions/scallions but was never able to retain the smell of it when the dish is done cooking.

I was in Singapore about 1.5 years ago and in a small food court, I enjoyed a plate of fried rice noodles and the aroma of the frying scallions was very much present which made the dish much better.

I was not able to replicate it at home, no matter when I put the scallions in, the aroma always disappeared at the end. The smell of it was quite strong in the dish I had and I have no idea how it is done.

Is there a trick to retain the smell of frying scallions? or maybe it's something else that producing the smell?

You were probably having a dish with green onion oil, something I'd also recommend as a solution to the smell/taste you're looking for.  It remains aromatic for a couple weeks after you make a batch and bottle it. I make one with darker brown onions like this, which allows me to store it even longer.


Cutting the stems of banana instead of wrapping them when preserving them I am searching for a ways to preserve the banana, and most of the time they said that I need to wrap the stems in a plastic or scotch tape so the gas wont come, they said that this gas is the reason why banana ripens fast.

I am thinking that maybe by separating each bananas then cutting the stem of each one of them instead of wrapping them will effectively preserve the bananas? It is very time consuming to wrap each one of the stem.

I eat a ton of bananas and was excited when I heard about this...but it’s a total lie. I did it for 2 weeks (2 bunches) and saw no difference. So, I did an experiment. I did 2 with and 2 without...then took a pic...then left them untouched on my counter for 4 days. Then took another pic. The ones wrapped looked EXACTLY the same as the ones with no wrap. Both equally spotted and soft. No preserving what so ever! I’m going back to using the “green bags”. They don’t work great but definitely better than doing the “plastic stem wrap”. I don’t see an option to attach the pics here but I’ll find another site that I can.


Why am I not getting any smoke out of my smoking pouch? I am cooking some brisket on a gas grill. Following YouTube tutorials I made a smoking pouch/smoke bomb just like the ones they do on YouTube and filled it with newly purchased smoking pellets. As suggested I sealed the pouch, poked holes in it, placed it on top of a burner on one end, and turned the burner on high. I placed the brisket at the other end. Initially the temperature reached 300 degrees Fahrenheit with that single burner on high. Later I lowered it down to hold the temperature around 225-250. Strangely I haven't seen any smoke coming out of the smoking pouch. No action there whatsoever. One of the holes has gathered a tiny bit of brownish gooey stuff. That's it.
Temperature too low? A tutorial says hot smoking works in the range of 180 degrees and 275 degrees Fahrenheit.
For reference, I followed these tutorials: 1 2

It is possible that you didn't poke big enough holes, or that the heat from the burner was not enough to cause the pellets to smoulder. You need to place the packet on the burner directly (actually on the rack above the burner, removing the diffuser), not on top of the diffuser (see Step 2 in these Step-by-step instructions). One way to test would be to fire up your grill, place a packet on the grill and visually check what setting you need to use to see smoke coming out of the packet.
Hot smoking is usually only done for a portion of the whole cooking time not the whole time. Generally you only need 30 min to 1 hour of smoking at the start, along with a long slow (~225 F/~110 C) cook for the rest of the time.
Also note that the temperature on the grill thermometer in the lid is not measuring the temperature at the cooking surface. The temperature on the lid is an indicator of the heat inside the grill at the point of the probe only!  Ideally for smoking/slow cooking you need the temperature measured at the meat. This is especially the case with gas grills as they are not well sealed (won't work if they are), so a lot of the heat and smoke escapes out the gaps, but the probe is usually near the top of the lid, where heat accumulates.  If you are inexperienced at smoking I wouldn't be too concerned about fine temperature control at this point - a little too hot at the start shouldn't matter too much in the long run.


Food grade lye on counter tops Long ago, I bought some food grade lye to make pretzels. Then I became afraid to use it cause I didn't think about the potential damage it could cause to my sink and some baking materials. Specifically, baking sheets and my kitchen counter top.
This answer solved the problem with my baking sheet and stainless sink but my biggest fear still remains with spilling lye on my quartz counter top, fake wood cabinets or ceramic tile flooring.
Does anyone know if I need to worry?

The biggest problem with lye lies (pun intended) in the fact that it is a strong base (lye is a metal hydroxide, usually sodium and/or potassium hydroxides) and will attack some metal surfaces such as aluminium strongly. Generally most other compounds are non-reactive unless they can form some sort of acid-base reaction.
Quartz countertops are engineered stone - that is finely ground stone powder/chips held together with resins, usually polyester or epoxy resins. Polyesters are readily attacked by alkali, while epoxy resins are more resistant (see entries for potassium and sodium hydroxides) so, in absence of knowing which resin has been used to make your countertop, I wouldn't allow lye to sit on your quartz for an extended period. Indeed use of such chemicals is not recommended for quartz countertops at all - partly because it can permeate into the pores in the stone surface and contaminate food later.
Lye will dissolve lignin (the main component of wood) to some extent, but I think this is fairly limited. However, as with the countertops, fake woods are held together, with - you guessed it - resins (different type). In the case of MDF and particle board, these are held together with urea-formaldehyde resins, which seem to be quite resistant to hydroxides (Warning: PDF). You will find that the biggest problem with these sorts of woods is water getting into them and causing the wood component to swell and mechanically break apart the material. However, this problem isn't specific to lyes.
Ceramic tiles should be completely resistant, but the grout between them probably isn't completely resistant as that is usually made up of cement with some epoxy resin as binder. Hydroxides will attack the grout slowly (as noted above for epoxy), but so long as you can clean the lye off fairly quickly, it should be fine.


My sauerkraut has mold covering the surface, is it ok? I had a batch of sauerkraut fermenting in the basement.  During the fermentation I had to leave for over a week and left my roommates with the basic instructions to check it a couple times and skim off any mold that might form.  They forgot about it, and when I returned I found the brine level was down to the weights (but not exposing the cabbage), and that there was a full cover of dark greenish/grayish mold on the brine surface.

I've removed the mold carefully and found the submerged cabbage smelled and appeared ok, with the exception of some being slightly darker where the weights were not directly on top of it.  This kraut was removed and thrown out, and only totaled about 1 cup.  The mold did not contact the kraut, and the kraut itself seems to have remain submerged.

Overall I'm leaning towards it being ok, and might try small samples in cooked dishes--is this reasonable, or should I just toss it and start a fresh batch to play it safe?

Per NC State's Extension's article on pickles and sauerkraut (some emphasis added):

  Pickles or sauerkraut mold during fermentation.

  Answer:

  Unsafe—microorganisms are growing  improperly.

  Possible reasons

  Fermentation temperature was above 75°F.
  Too much salt was used,
  not allowing adequate lactic acid production.
  The cloth on top of
  the kraut was not kept clean during fermentation (may need to be
  replaced after skimming).

Per Penn State Extension's Saurkraut Guide (emphasis added):

  Do not taste it if you see mold on the surface, feel a slimy texture, or smell a bad odor.

Their PDF on Saurkraut says:

  To avoid surface mold  growth, keep the cabbage submerged at  all
  times by covering it with a plate just  small enough to ft inside the
  fermentation container or with two or three clean  quart jars filled
  with water. An acceptable alternative is to fill a large, sealed,
  food-grade plastic bag containing 4½ tablespoons of  salt and 3
  quarts of  water.

Again, no indication of acceptable types of mold.

I cannot endorse the existing answers which indicate that mold  is an acceptable part of the saurkraut making process, unless credible science based evidence is presented, from reputable sources such as University Extension Centers or, better yet, peer reviewed journal sources.


Machine washed my cake pans I got two circular cake pans for Christmas, and finally put them to use for home-made yellow cake layers. Feeling lazy, I tossed them into the dish washer afterwards instead of hand-washing, and realized afterwards that I didn't know if they were safe for it.

After coming out they've turned from silvery to looking like they have a chalky white "coating" all over, that won't wash off. It feels very strange to the touch, almost like a chalk board.

The "coating" (I'm guessing it's actually a lack of coating, that the dishwasher destroyed) is very uneven over the pans.

Nothing comes off on your fingers when you rub or scratch at it, though.

Are these still safe to bake with? I'm perplexed and don't know what to do with them now.

That sure looks like anodized aluminum that has been put through the dishwasher. I have never seen a non-stick coating that washes off in the dishwasher.

If it is anodized aluminum then it is harmless to continue using the pan.

I suggest contacting the manufacturer (stamped on bottom) if you want to be safe.


Choricitos a la sidra -- raw or cured? I was shown this recipe for choricitos a la sidra -- small chorizo sausages cooked in cider. From the pictures it's not obvious if the sausage used is fresh (raw) or cured (ready to eat).

 (Image courtesy of https://cookpad.com)

I'm thinking that there's not much sense in boiling cured choricitos (if such thing even exists) and the recipe implies raw sausage. However, I'm hoping to learn from those more familiar with Spanish/Portuguese cuisine: what's the usual way of making choricitos a la sidra -- from raw or cured chorizo?

The typical recipe from Asturias uses slightly cured (3-4 days) chorizos. But that's just the traditional recipe, you may want to try different chorizos (there are basically endless different kind of chorizos through Spain) and see what suits you.

Personally, I don't think a completely raw chorizo will withstand the cooking without coming apart, and a more cured one will probably end up being a flavourless dry bunch of meat.


Special twist to make pasta noodles like the ones at Take Aways / Kebap Huts You people out there are my last hope for finding my holy grail.
I have tried dozens and dozens of recipes - none of them came even close to what I am searching.

I look for a way to make noodles like they sell on Kebap Huts, Asia Take Aways and many
other shops. Not the slimy spongy likes - I have lots of recipes for them and can cook them
to perfection. Even the hand pulled ones.
No.
I look for the classic noodles, squared, about 2 x 2mm to 3 x 3 mm. Color like normal
classic italian pasta - but taste much softer and the surface will absorb sauces very nicely - which is important as they are fried in pans or on grills.
Squared seems to be important as they are done with a classic pasta machine where you roll the dough
and not press it through a hole - or even pull them.
I even thought it might be potatoe starch in there, cause the noodles have that fleshy soft kind
of touch. But at least the way I tried it was definitely the wrong one.
Lye water, baked baking soda - all kinds of flour. I tried so many things, I even can't remember all
I tried.

And yes, I looked on Google and not only there - does not bring me a milimeter closer to my goal.

There are no recipes except for the classic Asian Noodles - which are NOT what I am looking for.
I think it must be a special twist with the flour, or an ingredient I have not even thought of.

The picture looks like the 'Hokkien Noodles' you can buy at the supermarket here in Australia. The pack I have is made by Fantastic Snacks. The ingredients are wheat flour, water, wheat gluten, salt, colours (carotene, annnatto, turmeric), and canola oil. They have 6.5g of protein per 100g, 33g carbohydrates (of which 1.8g is dietary fibre), 1.5g fat and 160mg sodium. Maybe that can help you reverse engineer the recipe.


What is the benefit of a tinfoil packet? I see a lot of recipes for tinfoil packet meals: various vegetables or meats and aromatics wrapped in tinfoil and baked/roasted.  What is the benefit of roasting using a tinfoil packet compared to just roasting in a normal roasting pan?

The packet keeps in most of the moisture, and also changes the way the food is heated - less radiation and convection, more conduction. These two factors change the taste of the food. It gets better heated throughout, less browning, and on the whole, it is more similar to what cooks call "wet heat" than "dry heat" despite being in an oven. This is what makes "packaged" recipes culinary different from the same food, simply roasted. It used to be even more important back in the age of wood fired ovens, which gave much less even heat. Note that tinfoil is just one of the options - you can wrap in other inedible substances like banana leaves, or edible ones, like making dolmas or meat pies.

A second very important difference is the matter of presentation, taking a piece of wrapped food gets perceived differently than taking a few spoonfuls of roasted vegetables out of a pan. Many en papillote preparations are more aesthetically pleasing than the ones that use tinfoil, but even the foil ones are, if not prettier, at least different.

Then you get into edge cases like the problem of baking a lump of cheese without losing all the fat, and so on. But for most foods, open roasting is an option, and wrapped roasting gets done because it is a different option, not because it is how it has to be done.


How can I make my risotto less firm? I've prepared risotto from scratch a handful of times in the last few months.  While I've been happy with the flavor, the texture left a little something to be desired.

In specific, it tasted like it was undercooked even though I ended up cooking the rice well past the time called for in the recipe.  Any thoughts on what could be causing this?

Time has nothing to do with cooking risotto -- you cook it 'til it stops absorbing liquid.  I don't even cook by amount of liquid added, as it's more a cook-it-until-it's-done type recipe.   When the rice stops aborbing liquid well, it's generally done, but an occassional check for texture never hurts.

Type of rice will affect things, as will elevation from sea level, temperature of the cooking vessel, and surface area of the cooking vessel.

See :

Why do I need more time and liquid than my risotto recipe calls for?
How should I prepare Risotto


What kind of olive oil should I use? When you cook pasta, something you have to mix the pasta in the pan with olive oil and various ingredients. For example, in this recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/02/spaghetti-cacio-e-pepe/

Afaik, there are 4 grades of olive oil, which one should I use in this case?

I've heard that extra virgin olive oil have low boiling point, and the nutrient goes away upon high temperature. I have only a bottle of olive oil which is extra virgin olive oil. Should I use some lower quality olive oil?

The grades of olive oil actually depend on the particular legislation of the country you live in.

In Europe it is regulated by directive 136/66/CEE, reg. CE 2568/91 and reg.CE 1989/03 (PDF).

The denomination depends on the acidity of the oil. Although the law does not specify it, you also have another characterization, based on the number of "pressings" and the strength of the press that olives had. Therefore, commercially, you have different grades of extra-virgin olive oil: first press olive oil, for instance, is derived from the first press of the olives, with 10-12 kg/cm2 force, has very low acidity and a strong amazing taste, but has a very low yeald, so it's quite expensive.

In particular, 8 grades of olive oil are defined, see page 4 of the linked PDF.

Traditionally you would use extra-virgin olive oil for this kind of recipes.

However, which one you choose goes down very much to your taste. For instance, I know someone who loves to use first press extravirgin olive-oil, but to me that tends to dominate too much the flavour of the dish (and it's quite expensive).

That said, I wouldn't heat the olive oil almost to smoking point to do this kind of recipe. I may almost use the oil a crudo (without heating it at all) just let the pasta heat it up. When the recipe requires to heat the oil up (e.g. spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino where you need to fry the garlic and the chili), heat it up slowly and don't let it go for too long, unless you want a burnt garlic taste, that is.


Influence of salt on gluten How does salt influence gluten development in sourdough bread dough? Does it inhibit or enhance it?

This question is a bit tough to answer, since it depends on precisely what is meant by "gluten development."  If you mean "the gluten is stronger and tighter, providing greater structural support for the loaf shape," then salt clearly enhances the gluten structure.  If you mean "the gluten can form more chemical bonds and develop connections most rapidly," then salt can have different effects, some of which are mildly detrimental to certain types of gluten development.

Basically, bread dough (sourdough or not) without salt will have a looser structure.  Doughs without salt are noticeably more sticky, slack, and hard to work with.  The final loaf volume (and particularly height) are usually less, due to inadequate gluten structure support.  In that sense, salt is ultimately necessary for a loaf to hold its shape and have adequate support during the final proof and bake to make a tall loaf.  Dough without salt will generally rise faster and higher initially, but it will be more prone to collapse if you're not careful.  (It's possible to still get a decent loaf shaped without salt -- see traditional Tuscan breads, for example -- but the final size will usually still be smaller.)

However, that isn't the whole story.  Many bakers practice some form of autolyse step, which traditionally consists of mixing only the flour and water and letting them rest for at least 30 minutes before completing the final dough.  (Some people do an hour, or several hours, or even an day.)  While yeast is occasionally added to an autolyse, particularly when using a sourdough culture, many people insist on keeping the salt out.

There are several effects of autolysing without salt, including greater activity of some enzymes which can break down more food for yeast and ultimately make the proofing stage shorter.  But in terms of the gluten structure, salt will tighten it immediately and remove more free water, making the formation of a large number of random gluten bonds slower.  (Some experts claim there are also different types of gluten networks that form easily without salt, and when salt is finally added, they are tightened up into an even stronger result.)

In any case, doing an autolyse step in many cases can result in a dough that's easier to work with, as well as a greater final loaf volume with a lighter, airy (sometimes creamier) crumb.  That said, many bakers find that adding salt to an autolyse step won't make a big difference.*  It really depends on duration of autolyse, whether you add any levain (sourdough yeast) to the autolyse, and how effectively and evenly the salt is ultimately incorporated after the autolyse (which can be hard to do, particularly by hand).

Bottom line: Salt mostly stabilizes the gluten structure and makes it stronger, but it can also inhibit development of new gluten bonds somewhat, particularly when the flour is initially hydrating.

*Note: The traditional method of autolyse developed by Raymond Calvel specifically excluded salt.  Thus, many purists say that it's impossible to do an "autolyse" with salt; instead, you're just "resting the dough" or something before kneading/mixing further.  I see the point, but the word "autolyse" in other contexts simply means "breaking itself down" etymologically, and those who rest dough even with salt are usually trying to achieve some of the benefits of autolysis -- including enzymatic breakdown of starches, flavor enhancement, and gluten formation without as much mixing -- just on a smaller and slower scale.  So I'm not pedantic about the word use here.


How to remove the excessive saltiness from gammon? I've tried a few time to roast gammon, typically my method is to soak the gammon and then roast for a few hours.  The result is typically just this side of editable.  I've even tried boiling it first (after a suggestion that this removes the salt), but to no avail.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Soak at least overnight. In addition to that, consider a sweet glaze like apricot, or an acidic one like one that includes cider vinegar. Best yet might be all three, an overnight soak (change the water a few times) and a sweet, acidic glaze.

If you still find it too salty, go ahead and try boiling briefly in fresh water (blanching) after soaking, and then plunging in ice water before you continue to glaze and roast. If all of that isn't enough, and you are choosing the lowest salt gammon available to you, then gammon isn't your thing. Try a fresh ham instead.


Why is there a small piece of iron sponge in my electric water boiler? My electric water boiler has a small, yet dense bit of iron sponge, about the size of a Brussels sprout. I think it is something to prevent the water from superheating. However, I'm not sure that's the only reason, because they could also just make the inside of the boiler somewhat rougher, a solution that doesn't involve a loose element hanging around in the pot that can get lost. I think there's another reason for that loose element, but I'm not sure what that reason could be. Could there be another reason beyond superheating?

They are claimed (I don't know what research has actually been done) to prevent the build-up of limescale.


How to make nut butter without a food processor? I want to make peanut butter and almond butter. My food processor heated after a couple of minutes last time, so this time I first used a mortar and pestle to grind it a little and then use the processor. After 3-4 minutes, the motor just stopped and I had to press the reset button. I'm a kid and have to use my mum's food processor, so I'm really scared that I'll break it. Any other way to make the butter? I don't add any oils or anything and would prefer not to.

There usually is no good way to do this, since most home appliances in an average kitchen are simply not suited for making nut butters.

If you really want to do it, the preferable tool would be a masticating juicer. It is an expensive thing which also uses up quite a lot of counter space, and the process is messy.

All other electric tools you can misuse - food processors, blenders, mills, etc. - run into the problems you already noticed, because they are not designed to make nut butter. For all, it is easy to burn them out. If you take the risk and grind away, and the motor survives, you are as likely to end up with a collection of nut pieces and nut dust as you are with a butter. And not adding oils reduces your chances of success.

The mortar and pestle approach would work, but you will probably have to spend several hours for a jar of nut butter. It is usually not worth your time when compared to buying the nut butter.

See also earlier questions like What features should a food processor have in order to make nut butters?, What features should I look for in a hand grinder (for peanut butter)? and How to make ground almonds creamy?.


Why does tomato not dissolve when I make curry when I am cooking curry, I add chopped tomatoes. I cook the tomatoes for 30+ minutes.  In spite of this the tomatoes do not fully dissolve by the end of cooking. There are still whole pieces of tomato that have become cooked but still not become a paste. I have also added water and let the food to simmer, but the tomatoes do not dissolve.

How do I make sure that all tomatoes dissolve into paste when cooking curry?

If Tomatoes aren't cooking quickly. What i do is heat enough oil to high temp and add finely chopped tomatoes and let them cook in oil. Do not add water. Tomatoes have natural water in it. keep stirring till they break down and dissolve. Let all of its water nearly evaporate. Once oil starts separating from tomatoes that means its done.


What is the difference in blanching and parboiling? From the time I was very young and just beginning to cook, I always heard about blanching but never heard of parboiling. I learned how to blanch vegetables to prepare for freezing, removing skins from tomatoes and nuts, etc., all pretty standard.

However, in later years I hear the term parboiling quite frequently. Wondering if it was the same thing, I started searching for information. Believe me when I say that there is no shortage of it!

My problem is that there doesn't seem to be any consistent answers. I found answers saying they were the same, that one used the ice bath and the other didn't (but one site will say to use the ice bath when blanching and another will say when parboiling), and even lengthy descriptions of either. What I can't seem to find is anything consistent.

Is it just a case of semantics with the terms being interchangeable? If they are different methods, can anyone give me the true answer of what each is from a credible culinary source?

Both involve boiling water, but there are a number of differences:

blanching has two meanings -- it's mainly used when talking about setting (or enhancing) the color of vegetables, with minimal cooking (only the outermost layer is cooked).  As such, it's typically only a few seconds to a minute dip in already boiling water, followed by a shock (dip in ice water) to halt any further cooking.  It's often used for vegetables that are going to be eaten raw.
parboiling means that you cook something in boiling water to give it a head start.  (Parcooking in boiling water)  Typically, the purpose is to cook an item to speed up the cooking time for some following cooking method.  (eg, partially cook some items in a casserole so that all items will be done at the same time after baking).
And then we have the overlap case -- when you cook something in water to change the characteristics (other than color) of an item before some other cooking step.  For example, we might be trying to extract bitter compounds, or soften a food such that some other processing step can be performed (eg, soften cabbage leaves so they can be used as a wrapper).  In this case, you're typically cooking the item more than just superficially, and the pre-cooking results in a different result than you'd simply get by increasing the time of the final cooking  (eg, the oil blanch for pommes frites, softening the skin to peel a tomato)

So, to help make a decision on which term to use:

if the goal of the step is color change of the ingredient : blanch
if you cook it for only a few seconds, or up to a minute and shock in cold water : blanch
if there's no additional cooking done after this step : blanch
if you could skip this step with no change in other cooking times : blanch
if you could skip this step by increasing the cooking time at some later step : par-boil

... for other cases, where the step can't be omitted without causing problems in the recipe (eg, cabage breaks because it wasn't softened), or final result (too bitter) ... you can often use either term.  You might consider how far 'cooked' the item is after the step if you want to prefer one or the other.  (under about 25% cooked, go with 'blanch', if over 50%, go with par-boil)


Drying fresh produce after washing Washing fresh produce before cooking is important for safety and hygiene. However, the water left on them after washing causes oil to splatter in a pan or pot. What is a good way to dry them up before cooking?

There are three major things you can do:

Use a salad spinner
Dry the produce with towels (paper or cloth—something that doesn't produce lint)
Let the produce sit and air dry

The method you choose depends mostly on how sturdy or delicate the particular items are, and how much time you have.

Salad greens are difficult to dry, mostly because it is tedious to carefully dry each leaf or piece with a towel, although rolling the greens in towels and letting them sit for a while is very effective.   For this reason, salad spinners are very popular.

If you have time, letting your produce air dry is almost always effective, even for salad greens.  While they are damp, they will not wilt, so if you will use them without a reasonable period, this method works even for greens.

Otherwise, a salad spinner is good for greens; and a towel will suffice for almost everything else.


What is the lowest possible temperature for stewing meat? If you want to stew meat low and slow, how low can you go and still get collagen break-down?

And would there be any advantage to stewing at the lowest possible temperature?

As far as I know, Collagen starts to break down below 60°C/140F, time play a big role, i.e. to get the same breakdown at 60°C as 80°C you might need 24-48h instead of 3-4h.

The higher the heat the more the meat is contracted and it will get dryer, in a stew that might not be as obvious as in other cooking methods but it should still be the fact. Compare tough cuts of meat cooked sous vide at 55°C-60°C for 24-100h, they get very tender and moist.

So the benefit will be moister meat. I think you must cook the veggies at much higher temperature (80°C-95°C) so you would have to separate the two. If the end result is worth the effort I do not know, I have wanted to try doing a 'stew' with meat cooked sous vide at 55°C - 60°C for 24h+, with the veggies done on the side at 80°C-95°C, normal stew style, to see if it would be better, but I have never tried.

Sources

Hum, I'm sure you or anyone can find enough sources to argue that you need 70-80°C(160-180°F), see e.g. On food and cooking(2004) pg 163 "...Meats with a significant amount of tough connective tissue must be cooked to a minimum of 160-180°F/70-80°C to dissolve their collagen into gelatin. "

The only potentially credible and official (what do you mean by that?) source that potentially can trump On Food and Cooking is Modernist Cuisine, I will quote.

MC 3.78-79 "When meat is cooked at temperatures above 50°C/122°F, a different chemical reaction -- the conversion of collagen into gelatin -- becomes prominent." it continues and says "Cookbooks and some scientific sources commonly claim that collagen converts to gelatine "at" some particular temperature. Usually the cited threshold lies between 60°C and 75°C / 140°F and 167°F. In reality, the hydrolysis of collagen is simply another example of a chemical reaction whose rate varies exponentially with temperature." it goes on describing that the exact temperature have not been measured and that it depends on what type of collagen, e.g. breed, cut and age. Finally it says "Tough meats can be cooked until tender at any temperature above 55°C/130°F (and even a bit below, if you are patient enough)."

Also see lots of sous vide recipes on the net saying that you can cook tough meat at much less temperature than 70°C/160°F and get it very tender. Or try it, I have and it works!!! I have stopped eating primary expensive cuts, flank, shin and brisket tastes much better!

See also SAJ14SAJ reply and Stefanos comment below, as per Baldwin which should be almost as good a source as oFaC and MC

Conclusion

The answer to the question, "how low can you go and still get collagen break-down" I would answer 55°C/130°F or even a bit lower. That is NOT a realistic temperature for cooking a stew, especially not if you will put veggies in it, but as far as collagen breakdown goes that is the lowest temperature for 'stewing meat'.


How can I make whole wheat bread and biscuits with out the bitter taste? When I use the command recipe to make biscuits using an organic whole wheat flour it has that bitter brown wheat flavor.  how can I change it, or what can I add tot he recipe to make it taste better, more like using white flour?

Part of the problem is that whole wheat flour goes rancid pretty quickly after it's milled (I believe it's from the natural oils in the germ). The usual advice is that whole wheat flour has a shelf life of six months or so, much less than white flour. If you're using old flour, try getting fresher stuff.

If you're willing to go through extra effort, consider milling your own whole wheat flour; after reading this article: http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2006/11/rose_levy_beranbaums_100_whole.html I got a grain mill attachment for my KitchenAid mixer and started milling flour, and I've become a total convert. Fresh-milled whole wheat flour has an incredible taste. My standard loaf these days is 50% whole wheat and 50% bread flour, and it tastes great. It has a nice nutty flavor without the tree bark or cardboard you'd normally associate with bread with so much virtue in it. I've done 100% whole wheat loaves before, and while they're very good, they're just not my thing.

If you want to get even further into it, Peter Reinhart has a book on whole-wheat bread making, which has special starter techniques to get the best flavor possible. I realize your question is about biscuits and not necessarily bread, and his book doesn't have anything to say about biscuits or quick breads.


homemade fermented soy sauce safe raw? I am fermenting homemade soy sauce for the first time, and followed this generic recipe (that has no pictures).

Technically I made tamari, because i did not to put wheat / gluten into the mix (just soy bean, water and salt)

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Soy-Sauce

I am about 3 weeks into the 'in salt water' fermentation part, and am wondering 3 things:

1. is it safe to eat raw?
2. is the soy sauce supposed to turn black, or is brown normal?
3. subjectively, is it done?

below is how it looks now.

Here is how 'moldy' the wet soy beans were before i started drying them. Only one piece had a big visible piece of mold but i did leave it out for a week.

and this is 'how brown' the dry soybeans were before putting them into the salt water

it has smelled pretty bad the whole time, but now its not smelling so bad, it feels like it smells better, or i am just getting used to the smell.

thanks

Pretty much all the commercial soy sauces, after fermenting is done, press the mash, and the final step is to pasteurize the sauce. This not only kills mold and bacteria, it also alters the flavor in a favorable way, as well.

Cook's Illustrated: Brewing a Better Soy Sauce

For both safety and for a better homemade product, I'd recommend heating it, though I don't know enough to say it's dangerous when "raw", specifically.


How do I make dosas smooth and shiny? I tried my hand at making dosas for the first time this weekend.

I was following this recipe for the dosa batter.

I soaked the dal and fenugreek seeds together and the rice by itself. The rice and dal were then blended together. They were then fermented.

At this point real life happened and I didn't have time to actually make them. They fermented for two days. By this time the batter was very aerated and fragrant.

I then used non-stick spray on an electric griddle and cooked them similar to crepes- spreading them thin with the back of the ladle.

They were delicious! More sour and nutty than restaurant dosas but they had entirely the "wrong" texture. Where restaurant dosas are smooth, shiny, brown, and crisp; mine were much paler and, although they could get somewhat crisp, they were never smooth or shiny and didn't stay crisp for long.

Indian coworkers have told me that there are variations in traditional dosas and just one style is used in restaurants.

Is there a tradition style of dosa that ferments longer and is more sour?

I would like to perfect this recipe and make my dosas more like the restaurant style. Obviously the batter fermented far longer than required. That would account for the aeration, acidity, and minimal browning.

Is the fermentation also responsible for the lack of shine and crispness?

There are a few variables that could also come into play:

Cooking on a griddle is not traditional (I think). Could the cooking temp be wrong?
The pan is usually oiled with an onion dipped in oil. I used non-stick spray.
I was unsure of the batter thickness.
At one point I thinned it with water. This may be hard to answer, but what consistency should the batter be? Would thinner help?
I've read that the ratio of rice to dal greatly affects the texture. I followed the proportions from the recipe. Is the ratio in the recipe to blame?

The crispness comes from the very high heat of the very thick cast iron skillet used in restaurants. The usual non stick pan, unless it is made of heavy cast iron, cannot produce that crispness. Kind of the American reason why oven pizza does not come out nice and crusty like the stone oven pizza.  The ingredient is the very high heat that is missing here.


Minced beef or lamb clumping - how to stop it I've noticed that sometimes, I'll cook mince and providing I stir and chop the meat, it doesn't clump, but sometimes it does clump and I can't seem to work out any kind of pattern for when it does doesn't... except to maybe say that it tends to clump less the wetter it is.  What causes mince to clump, and how can it be prevented?

(the really annoying thing is that when I make burgers or something and WANT it to clump - it won't)

You answered your own question. Add cold water and break up the clumps with your hands. My Italian grandfather used this method for his meat sauce. I also see hot dog stands use the same technique to make their chili sauce. So long as you don't boil all of the liquid away the meat will not clump.


What pepper is used in Sriracha sauce? I am a great fan of hot sauces. Usually, they advertise what pepper they are using.

I cannot find that type of information on the Sriracha bottle I have at home. The only information I have is "chili".

What is the pepper use in that recipe?

Huy Fong Sriracha Sauce is made with a specific variety of red jalapeños which, at this point, is grown only for them.

Note that this is different from traditional Thai sriracha, which is made fruitier and less hot peppers like the goat pepper.  If you haven't had this, I recommend picking up a bottle to keep alongside your Huy Fong, it's quite different tasting.

Non-traditional sriracha sauces, now made all over the world, may be made of any red, fleshy, hot pepper you can imagine. There's even a few green ones.


When should you season sauce that needs to be reduced? I just thought about how seasoning a sauce is not a wise decision because if it needs to through reduction like marinara then the flavors would get too concentrated. But I always see people put salt and pepper into sauces before they are properly reduced so maybe there is a reason to season before a big reduction?

First of all, people indeed often add some seasoning in the beginning, but are usually careful with the amount, especially with salt.
Flavor-wise, you could add it at the end, after the reduction and be fine.

However, salt can also affect the process of cooking. For instance, it can draw moisture out of some vegetables when frying them first, meaning that they will be cooked a bit faster. That is why some salt can be added at the beginning. At the end, after the reduction, you should taste and add some more seasoning, if needed.


Cloudy white vinegar We had some fairly new white vinegar get cloudy white strands in it. Wasn't much left in the plastic gallon bottle so we tossed it. Only thing I can figure is that it was too close to the oven and may have caused this. What I don't understand is that when we use vinegar for canning, it gets heated up as well but never get's cloudy. Curious what could have caused this to happen.

Mother of vinegar is a the bacteria acetobacter, which produces vinegar from wine, beer, or any other alcoholic source. In vinegar production, if the mother eats all the alcohol, it will then eat the vinegar and convert it into carbon dioxide. Vinegar mother will turn vinegar cloudy, and will form a film on the surface of the liquid. My guess is some acetobacter found its way in to your vinegar. It is harmless, but will lessen the strength of the vinegar over time. Vinegar mother also likes to live in warm places. It's best to store vinegar in a cooler place, like a pantry.


How to grease a parchment paper for SugarVeil? How can I  grease a parchment paper, for making SugarVeil? Because I want to do my own SugarVeil design. I already tried it with butter for greasing, but after lace is dry, it stick on the parchment paper & can't roll out.

If you want to use parchment paper, you'll need to use Crisco, not butter. The downside of Crisco is you may end up with a small amount of undesired flavor/texture on your SugarVeil.

Alternatively, you can purchase SugarVeil Mats, which are basically silicon mats with imprints of various designs on them.