Low sodium French Bread or Baguette Is it possible to make low sodium French Bread or Baguettes?  My husband is on a low sodium diet and will only eat French Bread. I know there is a relationship between yeast and salt.

Salt will kill yeast if directly exposed; furthermore it will have an effect on the texture as well as significantly altering the taste.

Just remember that if you are baking your own bread the amount of sodium is significantly reduced compared to commercial products (Most of the bread recipes I've used have very little salt in them anyway) and you may find that you will not need to modify the recipes to fit your husband's diet.

Also, you might consider using a low-sodium salt substitute.

King Arthur Flour has a great rundown of how salt affects bread here.

I've copied and pasted the text in case the link dies:

  Salt is a major component in bread, and performs several important
  functions. We will discuss these functions in detail, as well as some
  other attributes, with the goal of providing the baker with a thorough
  understanding of the characteristics and correct use of salt in bread
  baking.

  Salt provides flavor. Bread baked without salt will have a flat and
  insipid taste. On the other hand, bread made with an excess of salt
  will be unpalatable. Generally, the correct amount of salt in bread
  dough is 1.8 to 2% of salt based on flour weight (that is, 1.8–2
  pounds of salt per 100 pounds of flour). The lack of ability to coax
  fermentation flavor from bread sometimes causes the baker to use an
  excess of salt. But it should be kept in mind that, while salt
  provides flavor, it is not a substitute for the fine flavor of
  well-fermented flour, and the role of salt is to enhance, and not take
  the place, of true bread flavor.

  Salt tightens the gluten structure. The tightening gives strength to
  the gluten, enabling the dough to efficiently hold carbon dioxide,
  which is released into the dough as a byproduct of the yeast
  fermentation. When salt is left out, the resulting dough is slack and
  sticky in texture, work-up is difficult, and bread volume is poor.

  Salt has a retarding effect on the activity of the yeast. The cell
  wall of yeast is semi-permeable, and by osmosis it absorbs oxygen and
  nutrients, as it gives off enzymes and other substances to the dough
  environment. Water is essential for these yeast activities. Salt by
  its nature is hygroscopic, that is, it attracts moisture. In the
  presence of salt, the yeast releases some of its water to the salt by
  osmosis, and this in turn slows the yeast’s fermentation or
  reproductive activities. If there is an excess of salt in bread dough,
  the yeast is retarded to the point that there is a marked reduction in
  volume. If there is no salt, the yeast will ferment too quickly. In
  this sense, the salt aids the baker in controlling the pace of
  fermentation. Nevertheless, we should note that a careful usage of
  yeast, control of dough temperature, and the type, maturity, and
  amount of preferment used are better tools for fermentation control.
  Salt quantity, as we have noted, should stay within the 1.8–2% range.

  Salt indirectly contributes to crust coloring. This attribute is a
  result of the salt’s characteristic of retarding fermentation. Starch
  in the flour is converted into simple sugars by the amylase enzymes,
  and these sugars are consumed by the yeast as it generates
  fermentation. Since the salt is slowing the rate of the sugar
  consumption, more of what is known as residual sugar is available at
  the time of the bake for crust coloration. In the absence of salt, the
  yeast quickly consumes the available sugars, and the crust on the
  baked bread is pale and dull.

  Salt helps preserve the color and flavor of flour. The carotenoid
  pigments, naturally present in wheat flour, are responsible for giving
  flour its creamy color and wheaty aroma. It is extremely important for
  the baker to understand that an unbleached flour, such as all of King
  Arthur’s flours, contains a complete profile of carotenoids, and that
  bleaching flour destroys these fragile components. For this reason
  alone, choosing a high quality unbleached and unbromated flour is
  preferred for all breadmaking. Other than bleaching flour and thereby
  destroying the carotenoids, overoxidizing of the dough during mixing,
  which occurs when a dough is mixed too intensively for too long, also
  destroys them. Salt has a positive effect on the preservation of
  carotenoids, because dough oxidation is delayed in the presence of
  salt. For this reason it is preferable to add salt at the beginning of
  the mix. In this way, salt benefits the eventual flavor of the bread
  by helping to preserve the carotenoids during the mixing of the dough.
  When salt is added during the later stages of dough mixing, it can be
  detrimental to the carotenoids, which may become overoxidized.

  One other use of salt is useful to note. It is common to include a
  portion of salt in a levain culture during warmer and more humid
  months. This addition of salt, at a rate of 0.2–0.3%, retards the
  action of the natural yeast, and thus prevents over-maturing of the
  culture. In the preparation of German-style rye bread, there is a
  similar technique that is occasionally employed, called the Salt-Sour
  Method, in which all the dough salt is used in the sourdough phase.
  The result is to slow the activity of the sourdough yeast cells,
  reduce the production of acidity, and have a strengthening effect on
  the gluten structure.

Also, you may find this thread helpful.


What exactly is Korean chili paste, aka 'gochujang'? Is there any way of making it at home? I have recently started trying out some Korean dishes, some of which use the Korean  chili paste, gochujang. However, I can't seem to find this in any of my local supermarkets.

What exactly is in this paste, which gives it that distinct flavour? Is there any way of making this at home, in a relatively easy way?

It is a fermented chili paste made with rice and fermented bean paste.

You could make it at home if you can find all the ingredients. But it looks like a complex recipe and preparation.

For example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IqtT0HcXUE

Here's a simpler version (less traditional) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiWJor3DQgI

I would substitute with any other chili paste (sambal oelek...)


How much salt should I put in a vegetable stew? I'm making a vegan vegetables soup (i.e no powders or prepared stock - just fresh vegetables and fresh spices), and I'm not sure how much salt to put in to just bring out the flavor without getting the stew actually salty.

Any rule of thumb that I can use? I heard that potatoes absorb saltiness so you have to add extra salt when cooking with potatoes.

Salt is very much an individual thing. Luckily, you can always add more if needed.

The only rule of thumb I can think of is to add a little, taste, and see if it needs more.

I would also suggest sweating the vegetables before adding water, with some salt on them. Brings out the flavours better, thus needing less salt overall for flavour.


What is this vial for in this package of grass jelly? Recently I bought a package of grass jelly. My understanding of the instructions is that I should mix the powder in the package with a liter of cold water and 100g of sugar and then heat on a stove until it thickens. However, there is also a little vial of liquid in the package labelled "dầu chuối" which google translate tells me is "banana oil" and I don't see anything about it in the instructions. Is this something optional to add at the end for flavoring? Should I add it at the beginning? Or should I just not be consuming it at all?

Ok, did a little more hunting and found this link which says:

Some packages contain a sugar packet and a small tube of banana essence. The banana essence can be a bit strong, but if you enjoy it, add during the last minute of cooking.


Why throw pizza dough besides for show? What are the reasons to throw pizza dough beyond putting on a good show?

Related: How to throw a pizza dough?

A lot of it depends on the type of pizza you make. Where I worked we did thin crust pizza, and these were the reasons we tossed:

Speed. Trying to roll or pat out a 17 inch pizza would be very time consuming.

Consistency. Was easier to make the crust a consistent size and shape.

Space. Rolling or patting a person needs the table space 100% of the time. When tossing you can step back from the table and let another person get in to prep (or finish) their toss.

Job marketing. People wanted to work there just to learn how to toss, and it helped maintain that "authentic" vibe.

And as you pointed out, the show aspect of it. Kids loved to watch our staff toss.


Are vegetables poisonous if they have roots, are sprouting or are many weeks old? Can I use sprouting vegetables? Are they poisonous?
When cooked, does the sprouting have an effect to foods taste?

Can I use my potatoes or carrots if they already has some roots...?
How about when my onion is sprouting?

I'll second NBenatar but with a bit more info:

Carrots, onion, and garlic aren't dangerous when they sprout but they use their sugar reserves to make the sprout. They go downhill very fast and get rubbery and unusable. Whenever garlic or onions sprout I just plant them and use the greens instead.

Potatoes are a little different. Even after sprouting they can still have usable parts for some time. The green portions of a potato are toxic (not enough to be scary but I've heard they will make you sick if you eat enough). It's worth cutting away the green parts if the potato isn't soft yet.


Is Bar Keeper's friend safe to use on cookware? My wife and I recently received a set of All-Clad cookware. We loving cooking with it so far, but we're somewhat troubled by the recommendations we keep seeing and hearing to use Bar Keeper's Friend to clean them. So far, we've just been using the nylon scrubbing sponges, which work for the most part, but is already some spotting and bits of cooked on stuff that will likely need something stronger to get them off.

My gut tells me that regardless of what is in the cleaner, given that the cookware is made of steel, it will be rinsed off and won't be an issue. My wife is more skeptical. Are there any health concerns with using this stuff on our cookware?

Yes it is completely safe. It is even recommended by the manufacturer.

  •  To get rid of stuck-on food or discoloration, and stains from using too high of a heat, we recommend cleaning your All-Clad with a product called Bar Keeper's Friend.

Bar Keeper's Friend even has a cookware specific cleanser, Bar Keeper's Friend Cookware.

I'm not sure of the difference between this and their regular cleanser, since they aren't required to list ingredients, but it is marketed specifically for cookware, and priced equivalently.

Other manufacturers recommend this product as well, as noted on the BKF Recommendations page.

You should also check out this question on how to remove brown stains. The accepted answer there is BKF. If you have something particularly terrible that BKF can't handle, you can always use gun cleaner, though I daresay your wife will say no to this. :-)


What makes pie dough sticky? I am using this recipe Serious eats pie dough

Every thing went well until I added the water. I have put everything correctly (weighed) and the dough came out sticky. I tried adding flour but to no avail. What could have went wrong, and can I salvage the dough?

I think the temperature is your issue.  76F is a bit warm-- your recipe specifically states:

  Dough temperature should still be somewhere between 65 and 70°F (18 and 21°C); if not, refrigerate briefly before proceeding (see note).

If the fat gets too warm, it will melt and you will loose the chunks of fat which give the baked crust its flake.  Unfortunately, it looks like this is exactly what has happened, with a side of overmixing. You also mention whisking "it until it had a creamy, mash like texture" which is way too much mixing. Also from your recipe:

  With your fingertips, smash each cube flat—that's it! No rubbing or cutting. Stir in water, then knead dough against the sides of the bowl until it comes together in a shaggy ball.

That means basically "stir together until it forms a dough in a single mass" not "whisk until a consistent creamy consistency."  Pie crust should always have some remaining lumps of fat, as those lumps are what give the crust its flakey texture.

Chilling may help you get it rolled out, but this batch is likely to be unsatisfactory for a couple of reasons. First, there is the lack of flake.  Then there is the fact that you mentioned adding extra flour, which would have altered the proportions of the recipe and would affect taste and texture.  Lastly, by the time you get it rolled out you will likely have overworked the dough and developed too much gluten in it.  That will give you a very tough crust.  So if you bake this what I predict you'll wind up with is a poorly flavored, not at all flakey, tough and possibly chewy crust.  Not good eats.

If you have the ingredients and time, I would suggest starting over for best results, this time keeping everything well chilled.  In the future (if necessary), you can chill the flour and other ingredients ahead of time, and also in between each step, which will help keep this from happening again.


Other things made from Banana nut bread I have 2 loaves of banana nut bread that are not quite baked completely(they are very dense with lots of banana). What other things could I make with them as I refuse to waste food??

You can make pretty much any bread-like substance into french toast (slice the bread, dip or soak in eggs mixed with a little milk, then shallow-fry in your choice of fat) or bread pudding (cube the bread, if necessary spread it out to dry and/or toast it, pile it in a baking pan, cover in a milk + egg + sweetening mixture, bake). Heck, if you're feeling really decadent (or you can't make up your mind), you can make french toast bread pudding: fry the bread, then make it into bread pudding.


Is it possible to prepare store bought corn tortillas so they don't fall apart? Is it possible to prepare store bought corn tortillas so they don't fall apart? I know they are healthier than flour and they taste fine, but mine frequently fall apart to the point that it isn't a tortilla anymore.

If it is not possible, then can I make them at home myself so that they don't fall apart?

It sounds like you're just buying poorly-made tortillas, or old ones. A reasonably fresh corn tortilla is plenty sturdy for use in tacos or enchiladas. As they get older, they dry out and become more brittle. If you live in a place with a large Mexican population, you may be able to find a local tortilleria which makes fresh tortillas. Failing that, corn tortillas from the grocery store can be adequate as long as they're relatively fresh.

You can also make tortillas at home pretty easily using just corn flour (also known as masa, masa harina, or maseca), water, and a rolling pin. If you want to shape them more perfectly, or if you're going to be using lots of tortillas, you can get a tortilla press:

They are usually made of iron or wood and will let you press balls of masa dough into perfectly-flat tortillas.


Why was my Last Word cocktail red? Last night I ordered a Last Word cocktail, which I've had a few times before.  When it came, the waiter told me that the bartender had never made one before.  It was red.  It was very red.  It was also quite strongly cherry flavored.

A Last Word is usually made with equal parts:

Green Chartreuse
Maraschino liqueur
Lime juice
Dry gin

What could've caused this drink to be so red?  (I had to leave quickly or I would've pressed the bartender!)  My only theory so far is that he used a cherry liqueur instead of maraschino.

More likely is that he used the syrup that maraschino "cherries" are stored in.  It's sometimes used by those who don't know better in things like Shirley Temples.  It is bright, bright red, very sweet, very strongly flavored of cherries (or more properly a sort of sickly, artificial interpretation of the flavor).  I hope it's obvious that I'm not a fan of this stuff.

If this was his first time making the drink, it seems likely that he misinterpreted the term maraschino liqueur, which is altogether different.  It's distilled from marasca cherries (which are actually quite sour and bitter, not sweet) and has a much more subtle, complex flavor.

Quite frankly, I'd consider this a pretty dumb error - it's like using orange juice instead of orange liqueur.  If the bar doesn't carry maraschino liqueur, then they can't make a proper Last Word.  Brands like Luxardo are pretty ubiquitous at good cocktail bars in the US these days, so there's not much excuse for lacking it.

My advice is either to buy this fellow a good craft cocktail book, or stick to ordering beer and wine from him from now on.


Does "build up" on the bottom of copper-bottom stainless sauce and frying pans matter? I am not the most fastidious pot washer: over the years, my copper-bottomed fry pans have developed a layer of (I guess) burned oil residue.

Aside from any "ick" factor, does this affect the the performance of the pan? I've been trying to scrub a little bit off every time I wash them but when I have seen cooking shows, etc. I see pans that look like mine.

Does it matter? And if it does, is there a way to get this off aside from brute force with a ScotchBrite pad?

I think it depends on your cooking surface.

If you're using gaz, induction or coil, then it should be ok.

If you are using a glass top, then the contact between the pan and the glass will not be efficient, and you will loose some of the heat.

I would spend some time cleaning it up.


How do I ripen a Mango? I've bought a fresh mango for a recipe, I've not used mango fresh before and it's currently pretty green (there didn't seem to be any that were more ripe at the shop) and came with a sticker on informatively saying just "Ripen at home".

So, what's the best environment to help it ripen?
Should it be refrigerated during ripening and/or when ripe?
And how do I reliably tell when it's 'ready'?

You can let it ripe at room temperature.

If you want to slow down the ripening process, put it in the fridge, although this will affect the mango negatively. If you want to speed up the process, put it in a bag with a banana.

When the mango is ready to eat, it will be slightly soft if you press it and you can smell the mango flesh through the peel. The green colour will not totally disappear.


What are the grades of Italian pasta? I'm a Russian student. I'm writing a report about Italian pasta. There is no information on the Russian web sites, so guys, help me, please. I need to learn more about the grade/quality of pasta. What are the exact grades(e.g. in Russia we have three grades of pasta. it depends on wheat quality)?. Any information will help me. Maybe, you know some kind of sources where i can find the information. Any books?

After the clarifying comments, I think the question now boils down to reading the nutrition table and to the Italian classification of flour, in particular, durum since it's the most used for the pasta production. I can refer to the table on the Italian Wikipedia, where it's compared with the US classification. https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farina#Sfarinati_di_grano_duro

However, also concerning food, Italy is the land of exceptions. For instance, fresh pasta usually has a part of soft wheat and some regional types may use flours from other cereals at all. Not to mention the pasta for the gluten-free market.

Exceptions do not mean that something can be called pasta in a region and not in another. The regulations are the same for the whole country and are here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasta#Italy


How can I adjust a recipe for different grades/brands/types of gelatin? I'm trying to reproducibly make a specific jelly recipe. How can I achieve consistent results, using different grades/brands/types of gelatin?

Depending on what I can find in grocers nearby, I may have gelatin granules from a variety of manufacturers, or gelatin leaves from a variety of manufacturers. The area of a gelatin leaf seems to differ from country to country (I don't have accurate enough scales to test if the weight differs). Some packs of leaf gelatin say "silver" or "gold", and some specify a "bloom".

How can I convert between these different types of gelatin? Does 10g of gelatin from one manufacturer always have the same effect as 10g of gelatin from another manufacturer?

I found one web page which gave the following formula:

1 (0.25 oz.) envelope granulated gelatin = 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin = 3 sheets leaf gelatin

but the trouble with an unattributed formula like this is that I have no idea if it works across countries / brands. (Is the formula the same in metric countries?) I'm looking for a verifiable standards-based answer. Answers of the form "My great-aunt Maude always said that two farthings-worth of fancy leaf gelatin were the same as two rounded muckles of powdered, and she lived to be 102" will be down-voted.

Looked up 'gelatin strength' in Google and found this link. Very interesting.

There are two types of gelatin: A and B (I have no idea what the 'isoionic point' is).

Anyway, in the shop, I guess you'll find approximately the same 'strength' gelatin, independent of the format.

Normally, the gelatin sheets are 2g and the granular gelatin is packed in 6gr envelopes. 3*2=6.

6g of gelatin (1 envelope) will bind 500ml water for jelly (as per the instructions on the envelope). Substitute water for other liquid and you are set to go.

Edit: Personally, I don't think the precision is too important. This weekend I added too much water to a recipe (500ml) and the result was nearly perfect. That is, it didn't collapse but was hard to ration.

Also - Changed gr to g.


Is there something wrong with the corn kernels that don't pop? Usually, at the end of a bag of popcorn, or when you pop your own on the stove, there is a certain number of kernels left unpopped. Why is that?

Is there something that changes in the kernels that makes them different from the others or are they the same, but the heat isn't distributed to them well enough?

Is there any way to make more of the kernels pop without burning the ones that popped first?

Popcorn kernels pop because moisture is trapped inside of a relatively gas-tight shell. As the kernels are heated, the water inside the kernel turns to steam. The shell of the kernel keeps the steam from expanding, so pressure builds up inside of the kernel until the whole things blows open.

If the kernel doesn't have enough moisture inside of it or if the shell of the kernel is permeable enough to allow the pressure inside the kernel to dissipate before it reaches the critical pop pressure, then that kernel won't pop. Ever.

So to answer your question, no. Take the popcorn off the heat before the popped kernels burn.


Water Exploded in Microwave I heated water in the microwave and it exploded inside. Water was pouring out even though the door was shut. I now know that I'm not supposed to heat water in the microwave. But I did and now after the water explosion, I'm not sure if I can use my microwave. Twelve hours after the explosion inside the microwave, I tried to warm up some vegetables and there were crazy noises and flashes of orange. Is this because the water hadn't dried out yet or is the microwave completely ruined?

Joe is essentially right.   Bubbles form in a liquid at what are called nucleation sites -  small irregularies in the container or in the liquid itself.   If you look at the bottom of some beer glasses, there are little nodules (often in the shape of the brewer's logo) that nucleate bubbles of the CO2 that's dissolved in the beer.   Much the same occurs with water - to nucleate bubbles of steam requires nucleation sites and, without them, the water can superheat to beyond it's normal boiling point of 100 C.   When you then disturb the liquid, and so provide nucleation sites, a whole lump of it can turn to steam in an instant.

Permanent damage to the oven is possible but I'd leave it for a few days and then try again.


Given I have to make the batter now to eat in 3-4hrs, what's the best way to store my pancakes (or the batter)? I'm about to make some pancakes(1) for my daughter, and will want to make some for me and my wife this evening (in about 3-4hrs), since using a single egg should make at ~six I'll have too much batter for the one or two I wish to make now, so I'd like to use the same mix for both instances.

Is it better to store the mixed batter for 3hrs and then cook this evening's fresh or should I cook them now, store the cooked pancakes and reheat this evening?

What's the best way to store the batter/prepared pancakes?

Finally, what should I take in to account when cooking/reheating the stored batter/pancakes?

1. I know the term has different meanings, so to be clear, I mean pancakes like these.

Batter for pancakes is often nicer if it is left in the fridge for a few hours. I'd make them fresh tonight with the batter you're making for the couple you want now. Enjoy!


Bulk ingredient for keto/low carb flour substitute mix with gluten Minimising one's intake of carbohydrates tends to deprive one of some rather lovely culinary items such as pasta and bread, because grains contain a lot of carbohydrates thanks to the high amount of starch in them. Typical substitutes are non-grain flours such as almond flour or coconut flour, but those come with their own problems - a distinctive taste (especially for coconut), a crumbly texture and they're around 20 times as expensive.

Since I can happily eat gluten and gluten is not just apparently the key to the typical texture of wheat-based dough products but also a protein with rather low carb content, I decided to try and make a flour substitute mix that I can use more or less like wheat flour with the help of vital gluten. However, I am unsure about just using pure gluten as a flour substitute - partially because there's a lot of claims about its inflammatory properties even for non-coeliac/intolerant people and partially because I sort of just assume there's a reason nobody seems to be doing it.

Because of that I wanted to ask whether there was an easily available, halfway affordable and low-carb (let's say under 8%) edible substance that I can use as a bulk base for my flour substitute which doesn't have weird reactions when used in baking or noodle making and isn't too far off in terms of taste (as a scale: I can tolerate almond flour, but coconut flour is too much for me outside of cake). I'm considering adding some psyllium husk to jack up the fibre content, but I don't think it's suited for this purpose. Advice as to the ratio for mixing is also appreciated.

Konjac flour, which consists mainly glucomannan gum, is a natural low-carb bulking ingredient. I have never used it in baking, but I ate noodles made of it. It does have its taste though, so you should probably try eating some shirataki noodles before ordering and baking with this flour to know if you can tolerate the taste.


Cooking on the stove: what is "too hot" for a pan? I'm a novice cook and often hear about "learning one's stove". Obviously manufacturers, cooking methods, and appliance types vary and so "high" on one stove isn't comparable to another.

That said, many of the posts here suggest to heat a pan before adding oil, and the commentary that follows always has the sage advice, "...but not too hot!"

My question is thus:

How do you know you've gotten a pan too hot?

Flick water on the pan.  If it just sits there, it's not hot enough.   If it combines into balls and skates around on the pan, it's either too hot or just right for a wok or blackening something.  If it sizzles and evaporates within a couple of seconds, it should be good for a normal sautee or sweat.


Cast Aluminum Vs Cast iron Dutch Oven I have seen a lot of meat roasting recipes that require using Dutch ovens, most of the cooks doing the presentations have enameled cast iron Dutch ovens.

When I looked into what a Dutch oven is I noticed some internet sites are suggesting that there are cast aluminium Dutch Ovens as well, They are popular in the Caribbean and are sometimes called Dutch Pots.

I have seen the question: What to look for when choosing a dutch oven?, with an answer suggesting two material options. Plain (seasoned) cast iron or enameled cast iron. Cast aluminium was not mentioned at all. I would like someone to talk about cast aluminium Dutch pots a little because pots made from that material are much cheaper and easier for me to get. The only reason why I would not bother with cast aluminium is if it does a very poor job with meat roasting and caramelization of sugar.

Here are some of the things I already know or at least think I know:

The thermal capacity of the  cast aluminium compared to that of cast iron will lead to a cast iron pot having superior temperature stability for the same thickness and size.
Cast aluminium is lighter than cast iron, volume constant hence lighter pot for same size.
Cast aluminium Dutch pots are durable and cheap and easier to care for
Cast aluminium will probably react with some food items while enameled cast iron will be safer in this regard
The melting point of cast aluminium is lower than that of cast iron

Have I left any key issues out?

What are the likely problems with my output if I choose the aluminium pot given the above points where aluminium does not do well and the fact that I need the pot mainly for meat roasting and sugar caramelization stove top?

The biggest practical differences are going to be:

Nothing sticks to a well-seasoned cast iron pan.  Everything sticks to cast aluminum, even the brands that call themselves non-stick.  (I know because I've tried a few of them.)
While it's true the cast iron can crack, rust or chip if not properly cared for, aluminum is reactive and scratches easily, and even if you get one of the newer anodized ones, you lose the benefits of that as soon as the surface starts to chip and peel (which it will).  Cast iron will last much longer when properly maintained; I've seen some that are decades old and heard about some that are more than a century old.
Aluminum has better conductivity and will, in theory, provide more even heat than cast iron.  However, every cast aluminum vessel I've ever used has had major problems with hot spots.  Basically, both are poor choices in this respect, except in the oven, where hot spots are essentially a non-issue; if your oven is like mine and the element turns on and off to maintain temperature, you'll get much better results with a cast iron dutch oven because it will hold its temperature while the element is off.
Cast iron also works great with induction cooktops, aluminum doesn't work at all.  [Cast] Aluminum really works best on standard metal cooktop stoves, although it's okay for glass as well.  I say okay because most glass cooktops tend to have elements that go on and off, so depending on your particular stove, this might lead to uneven heat when using any kind of aluminum.
Cast iron is heat-resistant.  You mention the melting point, but it's more complicated than that; make sure you check the specifications on whatever cast aluminum you're thinking of buying, because a lot of it isn't even oven-safe (and if it is, it's only safe up to 400° F or so).  The term "dutch oven" can be quite a misnomer for those pieces as they can easily warp or crack at high temperatures.  Spun aluminum is obviously much worse but cast aluminum is only marginally better.
On the plus side, cast aluminum is obviously much lighter than cast iron and requires less care.  Enameled cast iron is also easy to care for but is obviously much more expensive than both regular cast iron and cast aluminum.

In your case, it would seem that your two primary requirements (caramelizing sugar and roasting meat) are at odds with each other.  For roasting, you want a very steady, even heat.  For caramelizing sugar you need precise control, you need to be able to reduce the heat very quickly when you hit the melting point.  Cast iron would be absolutely terrible for caramelization, but is a far better choice for roasting.

Personally, I use a regular (non-enameled) seasoned cast iron pot as a dutch oven and just use a small light stainless steel saucepan when I need to do something like caramelize sugar.  I'd suggest you do the same, unless you're really low on space and genuinely need one piece of cookware to do it all.

Honestly, the only thing that cast aluminum really has going for it is its price.  The ease of maintenance is overshadowed by the fact that the pieces don't tend to last that long, and everything else it's good at is handled equally well or better by stainless steel with an aluminum or copper core.  The few pieces of aluminum (or cast aluminum) cookware I still own tend to sit at the bottom shelf at the very back and gather dust, but YMMV.


What does non-tempered couverture chocolate taste like? I was reading that couverture chocolate is apparently "real" chocolate that requires proper tempering to have the right texture and shine.

What if I don't temper it and just eat it straight out of the bag in those little discs it comes in- will it still taste good?

And if I'm buying fancy chocolate candy how can I know it was made from couverture and not cheap (fake? I guess) chocolate?

Couverture chocolate is generally used in coating and molding because it has such a nice sheen due to its high cocoa butter content. It's usually very high quality and so should taste very good straight out of the bag, although the texture will be more creamy than non couverture chocolates.

Couverture is not better than other high quality chocolate, just for a specific application. You won't find much chocolate candy made from it, that's not because the chocolate isn't good stuff, it simply that the effect the makers intend requires a lower level of cocoa butter.

As for how to tell good quality chocolate from poor quality the best way to tell is to taste it.


How to prepare baby lima beans for this paella recipe? This paella recipe calls for frozen lima beans, but I only have dried baby lima beans. How should I prepare the lima beans beforehand so that I can treat them as though they were equivalent to the lima beans?

This really isn't a good substitution. Think of the difference between fresh peas and dried split peas - they are two completely different products. But if you are really set on doing this, simply soak and cook the dried limas like you would any other dried bean, then add the fully cooked lima at the same stage that that recipe calls for the fresh beans.


When to add fresh basil to a tomato sauce? Is it better to add fresh basil to a tomato sauce and then let it cook for say, 10 mins, or wait till the end and add just before serving?

Fresh herbs should, generally, be added closer to the end of a recipe. Dried herbs should be added fairly early on during the cooking process so that they have time to "develop" and more fully release their flavors. Fresh herbs and spices, however, will generally have more subtle flavors, and they are usually best used for seasoning at the very end of the recipe, rather than actual cooking. You can check out more details about how to use different kinds of spices in this article.

For your specific case, I would say to definitely add the basil in at the end—maybe five or ten minutes before the sauce is finished, as you said. It may even be a good idea to remove the pot from your heat source after you have added the basil so that the herbs can infuse their flavor without actually cooking into the sauce. You have to be careful not to cook too much of the flavor out with fresh herbs. If they simmer too long with the rest of the dish the subtle flavors can be easily overpowered by other ingredients.


Stuffed Dumpling Made with Rice Flour I have been working with rice flour to make homemade stuffed dumplings and have been able to improve my current recipe greatly except for one thing. I am stump as to how I can have the dough stretchier.

Currently the way I make the dough is: 2 cups rice flour, 2/3 cups potato starch, 1/3 cup tapioca flour, 1 tbsp flax seeds, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, 1 cup of water and 1 avocado (or 47 grams of spinach/1 Korean sweet potato) mixed, 2 tbsp sesame oil, and 1 tbsp olive oil.

So my question is: How can I make this dough have the same stretchy consistency like all purpose flour without using xanthan gum?

Use boiling hot water to gelatinize the  starch in the rice.

Instead of a cup of room-temperature water, use boiling water to mix with the rice flour. It will make the dough stretchable. You might need some more rice flour to use as coating to prevent sticking. This link of a recipe describes it best : http://kitchentigress.blogspot.sg/2011/09/how-to-make-soon-kueh.html

Note:

I added more information as requested by Doug.


Dry Brine time/thawed turkey time I've read that an effective dry brine takes 3 day on a thawed turkey, however, i read that you should not keep a thawed turkey for longer than 3 days?

Your question is somewhat unclear. If you are asking why there is a discrepancy: there is no reason for there not being one. Taste and safety are independent. If you are asking what you should go by, this is not a question we can answer. Choose whichever you prefer.

Raw turkey stays safe for 1-2 days in the refrigerator, no matter if it has been previously frozen or not (as long as it was kept safe while frozen). Source: StillTasty.

You can use a recipe with a 3 days refrigeration time or longer if you want to. It simply won't be safe. It may well give you a better taste than doing it for a short time.


Vegan alternative to Mozzarella I'm familiar with many fine vegan cheeses, ranging from cream-cheese to Camambert. Undoubtedly much progress has been made in this area in recent years. The one (important) cheese I have yet to find a suitable replacement for is Mozzarella.

More specifically, I'm interested in a vegan cheese substitute which successfully mimics both the flavor and texture of melted Mozzarella. All soy-based substitutes I've tried which did have stringy properties suffered from very high stickiness, and adhered to the roof of the mouth resulting in an unpleasant experience.

Another recipe I've tried is cashew based cheese combined with tapioca flour, though both flavor and texture were less than adequate.

Late but you have to try the vegan Mozzarella from Miyoko's kitchen. Its the only Vegan Mozz I've found that tastes great cold i.e. in a caprese sandwich but it also melts very well as I use it on pizza all the time. It may be sold locally in your area I would use their retail location finder.

https://shop.miyokoskitchen.com/products/fresh-buffalo-style-mozzarella-cheese?variant=5781995395


Why does this sourdough recipe call for 2 and 1/3 cups starter? Isn't that too much? The recipe at this popular site says 2 and 1/3 cups of starter and 3 and 1/3 cups of flour, along with water (1 cup). Is there a printing error? Other recipes are about tablespoons, not cups. http://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/sourdough/how-to-make-sourdough-bread/

Not the video, recipe below the video.

That is quite a bit of sourdough starter, but not extremely so. In sourdough recipes that also include yeast in the loaf, you might see measurements of a cup or less, but a tablespoon of starter in a loaf would be pretty negligible.

The recipe here does not include yeast other than what's in the starter, so 2 and 1/3 cup is not extreme. I watched the video; there is no reason to think that the recipe is in error.


Coffee flavored melted chocolate for drizzling over cookies? I am making coffee flavored biscottis that I want to drizzle with coffee flavored melted chocolate, which should harden after. I have searched but without much luck. I was thinking of mixing a bit of instant coffee powder with some water to make a thick paste and then added to melted chocolate. Does this method sound ok and do I have to keep anything in mind when mixing the 2 ingredients together? I am a bit worried about adding liquid to melted chocolate. Maybe I should just mix instant coffee powder directly with melted chocolate?

If you can get instant espresso powder (most big grocery stores in the US have it) that's what you want to use. NO WATER, small amounts of water will ruin chocolate, cause it to seize.

Just sprinkle some powder in while the chocolate is melting. It will blend right in.

If you can't get espresso powder, you can use instant coffee, just be sure that it's a fine powder, or powder it yourself in a spice or coffee grinder.

To be sure that the instant coffee is fine enough, you might consider sifting it. Either powdered regular instant coffee or even the instant espresso might benefit from that.


Do pies baked in disposable pans turn out okay? Do disposable pans affect the quality of pies baked in them? I'm worried that using a disposable pan may adversely affect the end result.

Yes, they turn out just fine.

As with any pie pan, if it isn't the pan you use every single time, you need to be aware that the surface on the bottom of the pan, and the material it is made of, will be a factors in the browning rate and cooking time of your pie, so keep alert. Even expensive high quality pans will behave differently from each other in the oven if, say, one of them is glass, and another may have a black metal surface, or maybe another has a shiny reflective finish.

The fact that a pie pan is an inexpensive disposable one is not relevant. It would behave just like a fancy name-brand pan that was lightweight and shiny.


Can you make thin crispy dosa without urad dal?? Can I use any other lentils in their place? I live in Finland and I can't find urad dal in the city where I live.

Can I make thin crispy dosa with different beans?

Urad dal is the most common legume used in traditional dosa recipes but it is by no means the only legume used.

Recipes for traditional dosa will sometimes use other high protein legumes such as chana dal. This variety of chickpea, or other chickpea varieties, may be easier to find.

My experience with Scandinavian countries leads me to believe that legumes in general are much less popular. You might have better luck just ordering urad dal online.


Can I turn a betty crocker angel cake mix into a normal sponge? I have a betty crocker angel food cake mix and we don't like the texture. Our usual box cake mix is the French vanilla which is super tasty and light and white. We love this mix.

My question is: can I substitute some of the water that is needed to make up the angel cake mix with and egg or two to make it more like a cake batter, as it's too much like meringue for us.

Angel food cake is a very different type of cake from a standard vanilla sponge cake it's mostly egg whites and sugar, other cakes have more flour, so if you want to try and modify it I'd be thinking more flour and maybe some butter.

If it was me I wouldn't bother though. It may be possible to modify the mix, but you'd have to reverse engineer the recipe from the box ingredients for both mixes, then work out the quantities to make one into the other. That is making big assumptions, and it's unlikely you'll get a good result without a lot of trial and error. It's a lot of work for little return when you can just go buy another box that you do like - enough work that you may as well make a cake from scratch rather than using a mix in the first place.


Reheating grilled hamburger patties We grilled a bunch of meats for a large party. Now I have leftover hamburgers, hotdogs, and bratwursts. Note these are still “bare” meat items, not assembled hamburgers etc.

What’s the best way to re-heat a hamburger patty and still have it taste good, not overcooked, and not separated from its juices?

Any advice for the other items would be good too, especially if they can be done together. But the ground beef patty has always been less than successful for me in warming the leftovers.

If you have a pre-cooked burger patty, I'd suggest heating it in a frying pan / skillet over a high heat, add a splash of water and then cover with a small heat-proof bowl (a cloche), or a lid on your pan. The water will steam the burger back into life, adding moisture and trapping the heat to more thoroughly warm it through.

I also use this technique when initially cooking burgers if you're not grilling outside - does wonders to melt any cheese you lay over the top of the patty in the pan!


Substitute for whipped topping? I know that when a recipe calls for "whipped topping" it's code for Cool Whip. I am not a fan of Cool Whip, but want to make a recipe which calls for it. Is there a substitute that I can make or purchase that isn't totally artificial?

Trying to substitute Cool Whip in this recipe:

Banana-Berry Frozen Yogurt Bars

10-½ Honey Maid Honey Graham's, broken into quarters (42 rectangles)

½ cup sliced fresh strawberries
½ cup chopped bananas
¼ cup blueberries

1 cup vanilla nonfat Greek-style yogurt
1 cup thawed frozen reduced-fat whipped topping

Line 9-inch square pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides. Arrange half the graham pieces, in 3 rows of 7 pieces each, on bottom of pan.
Pulse fruits in blender just until blended. (Some chunks should remain.) Spoon fruit into medium bowl; stir in yogurt and whipped topping. Spread over graham pieces in pan; top with remaining graham pieces, aligning over graham pieces on bottom layer.
Freeze 4 hours. Use foil handles to lift dessert from pan; cut between grahams into 21 bars. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

You could whip your own cream. Use 1/3 of the amount of heavy cream as cool whip, and whip with a splash of vanilla extract and a pinch of sugar to taste, either by hand or with a mixer. If a recipe calls for 1 cup of "whipped topping", you would start with 1/3 cup of heavy cream which whips up to 1 cup.


Premix dry herbs for easy oil pasta How normal is it to use premixed dried herbs with pre-toasted garlic as a quick oil pasta preparation? Is it presumable that one can just use supermarket brands in making one's own premixes, or is it still incumbent to use just-dried herbs?

In Italy, I was able to buy some packs of mixed dry herbs. Printed on them was an obvious "aglio e olio". The packs varied in content, but all contained garlic. One variant had sun-dried tomatoes, another had a lot of chili flakes. I think I spotted some dried basil and parsley.

Do it...taste it..if you like it go on doing it...there is no normal and abnormal in the kitchen as in life, it is subjective not objective. I do it sometimes. And I mix also the dry herbs worth dry bread for schnitzel or to sprinkle on oven cooked vegetables


Is there such a thing as a tabletop conche? Prompted by @JamesWilson's chocolate question, I am wondering if anyone makes a very small scale conche. I searched online but did not see anything obvious.

Stone based electrical wet grinders (not to confused with "wet/dry grinders", which are a type of blender), as are used in indian cuisine, have been used/modified by some chocolate enthusiasts as conches, and there are now some models by the same maker specially targeted for such usage, for example the Santha Spectra 11 model. Some models of unmodified stone grinders might be insufficient for that purpose due to restrictions on duty cycle (time the device can be kept running without overheating).


Moldy black truffles-are they edible? Help! My friend brought me 3 Italian black truffles in brine (according to the label), packed by the producer in a glass jar. When I received them they weren't actually in liquid. I didn't realize they were supposed to be refrigerated. I left them in the cupboard for a few days and now I have discovered a gray, fuzzy mold growing on them with a bit of slime on the bottom of the jar. This is very sad. Can I rinse them off and still eat them? It would be such a shame to throw them away. Also, as a side question, I've never used truffles before-are they supposed to be hard? Or is this another sign that they're old and moldy and should be tossed in the compost? Thanks for your input.

From Google:

  While you probably won't die from eating fungus, keep in mind that foods that are moldy may also have invisible bacteria growing along with the mold. The colorful mold you see on the surface of food is just the tip of what is going on inside. Most molds are harmless, but some are dangerous. Some contain mycotoxins.

My suggestion is that unless you are trying to make penecillin, throw them away. The risk is not worth it. Italy is still there.


How do I cut a blooming onion? A blooming onion is a deep fried onion which opens up during frying to resemble a flower.

Obviously, I start with a giant onion. How do I cut it?

Slice off 1/2" of the top of the onion (opposite the root)
Place onion root side up, and make slices all the way through, staying at least 1/2" away from the root
Flip it over and spread apart the leaves

This is best described with images.

Alternatively, if you're willing to drop a few hundred dollars, you can buy a bloomin' onion cutter. This is what restaurants use. There are cheaper alternatives, but I can't vouch for their quality or ease of use.


Is convex surface normal in cast iron skillet? I am new to cast iron skillet. I have cooked with it several times and found the Lodge 12" cast iron skillet has a convex surface which is not observable unless you pour oil on it.

When I cook, the oil move to rim of the skillet and makes the center short of oil. Is it normal?

EDIT: I added the photo of the stove and skillet for reference

Pans should be completely flat, and producers are usually very good at getting it right. Even very cheaply made pans are usually sold properly flat.

What you describe sounds like you warped your pan. When you heat a pan on a burner that is too small, it becomes convex when viewed from above, if you heat it on a burner that is too large, it becomes concave. I have also seen lots of claims that heat shock (too quick heating by placing on an already hot plate, plunging into cold water right after cooking) increases warping. With thinner materials, you usually can see the warp easily with the naked eye.

I have never seen this happen in cast iron pans before (I assume here that it is really cast iron - some people call all iron pans "cast iron" although forged iron behaves differently and warps easily). Combined with you saying that you only notice it when heated, I wonder if it could be that your pan is not really warped, but only temporary developes a hump on the burner. Just try it on a fslightly large burner (which is supposed to bend the metal in the other direction) and see if it changes something.

If the pan continues to be warped when used on a different size burner, it has to be hammered flat. I have never done it myself, but the Internet is full of suggestions. They say that it can get "very flat", I have no idea if that means enough that there is no pooling, or simply much flatter than at the beginning.


Cake burnt on top using both elements on top and bottom. Should I use only the bottom element for heating when baking cakes and brownies??

Yes, I would suggest you only use the bottom element when baking the actual cake. Using both elements is generally used for pre-heating the oven, or to brown the top of a dish. Maybe use the top element to bring the oven up to temperature, then turn it off when you put the cake/brownies in the oven.


What causes seals to fail when canning? My husband made and canned pickles 1 week ago. Tonight he noticed the seals were popped on all but one jar. One other time the same thing happened when he canned green beans. What would be the cause of this?

Aside from the notes in SAJ14SAJ's answer, if he didn't run the canning process long enough, there may have been residual bacteria (or spores) that remained active.

The failed cannings I've seen due to insufficient heat took exactly one week to pop their lids.


How do you "season" your oven racks? After running the self-cleaning cycle on my oven, the racks are now kind of bare and don't slide in and out easily. Is there a way to "season" them like you would cast-iron?

The racks are probably chromed, so you should not have to season them.

I'd remove them from the oven and give them a good wipe with clear water to remove and residues that the self-cleaning cycle might put on them (especially if you you cleaning products).

And also wipe clean the channels where the racks slide in the oven (on each side)


I overseasoned my food, what can I do to remove the strong smell? This happens to all of us - be it because we misread the recipe and threw in a tablespoon of sage when it said a teaspoon of sage, or because we were bravely experimenting with new tastes and suddenly noticed something amiss. The question also covers cases where the food is normally seasoned for the average person, but an eater hates a certain aroma and perceives it as strongly unpleasant, and cases where the unwanted aroma does not come from seasoning, but e.g. from burning the food.

In the end, we have a batch of smelly food and wonder where the Undo button is. How do we save it and make it tasty again?

The most important thing first: You can't remove the smell. If you are interested in reducing it to hopefully tollerable levels, and/or understand why this is so, read on.

This may seem very broad, but really, there are only very few strategies which you can try, and I will list them here. A word of warning: don't get your expectations too high. Only under some circumstances can you turn "terrible food" into "great food". In many cases, you have to settle for "acceptable food that's still somewhat off" or even "unsalvageable".

How does aroma work

There are molecules in your food which are volatile - they waft through the air. When you eat, they reach your palate and nose, and come into contact with receptor cells. The receptor cells send signals to the central nervous system, which processes that signal and gets activation of all kinds of brain nuclei, with one of the main results being that you realize "oh, this tastes/smells like X". There are thousands of different receptors, each responding to a single molecule, or a family of closely related molecules, and each food exudes hundreds of these perception-triggering molecules. The combination of them is what triggers the recognition of your food as smelling "of X". The reaction of the nervoius system is mostly triggered by the stimulus of the smell molecules docking onto the smell receptors, but it uses all other information avaliable to it - percepts from other senses (taste buds, visual stimuli, etc.), memories, emotional state, etc., to form its reaction and prioritize its "place" in your attention.

The job of the olfactory perception system is to discover new olfactory stimuli (aroma), react in a dose-dependent manner (it differentiates the spectrum between "it has a hint of sage" and "the sage taste is overpowering") and point your attention towards that information.

Note that our olfactory system is highly efficient - there are molecules which are detected at a concentration as low as a few parts per billion in the air - and that your brain doesn't respond linearly to the information provided. Some stimuli get more "air time" in your attention than others. This is especially devious when you hate a given aroma - your brain will concentrate your attention on even very small amounts of it.

The possible strategies

There are only a few places where you can hook into that process, with differing rate of success.

Reduce the concentration

If you can apply this strategy, you are most likely to get success in the sense of turning unpleasant food to pleasant. The prerequisite for such success is that the aroma was pleasant in the first place (so not the aversion case and not something like burnt food, these cases fall under the "nonlinear response" part of the background info) and that it is physically possible to change the concentration. But even in the aversion case and unpleasant smell case, it is frequently worth applying it if the unpleasant smell is moderate - it just won't be a complete success.

The strategy differs on the type of food you have. If the smelly ingredient is still present in distinct chunks in an otherwise stirrable or reordeable food (soups, stews, stir frys, some casseroles), you can just remove the chunks. Do take as many out as you can, even if you are left with zero of the original - chances are that even when the ingredient is completely gone, it will leave lots of its volatile molecules dissolved in the liquid phase of the food, or soaked into some of the other solids.

If you have a stirrable/reordeable dish and the ingredient cannot be removed because it is a liquid or a very fine powder, the way to reduce the concentration is to dilute with more of the same food. You have to make one ore more additional batches without the ingredient, and mix with the original batch. This is the most effective strategy, and has sometimes to be applied in addition to the "removing chunks" strategy for smelly ingredients.

If you cannot mix another batch into your food (e.g. you overdid the vanilla in a cake) or don't have the ingredients for another batch, you can still dillute the whole dish by extending it with new ingredients. For a cake, serve it with copious amounts of whipped cream, or with a creme anglaise sauce. For a stew, add more vegetables, and/or turn it into a soup by adding stock. If you have made a spicy green sauce, consider turning it into a dip by mixing it with 2-3 times its volume in yogurt or other dairy. An important point here is that there is no "magic ingredient" which somehow counteracts smells, no matter how many myths you hear about that. Just go for anything that adds a lot of volume per bite.

In some rare cases of shelf stable foods, you can absorb the excess smell. For example, if you made sugared petals and added a volatile essence that overpowers everything, you can keep them in a box with a bag of activated charcoal for a few weeks and see how much it has helped.

Reduce volatility

This is a somewhat unusual way to go. But there are ingredients which "trap" molecules so they are not as good at reaching your receptors. They are typically thickeners - xanthan is especially effective. Note that not every thickener will work, for example starch doesn't seem to have such an effect. The drawbacks:

you need a fairly liquid food to apply them, and it will be much thicker afterwards. Also, you are limited in how much you can use, for example xanthan will give you a snotty effect if overused.
all other aromas will also be reduced. You can try compensating by adding more seasoning of other types after the thickening, but you can't duplicate all of the flavor.

Distract the senses

As mentioned above, at each second, there are tons of sensory percepts vying for your attenetion. Even when you eat and try to concentrate fully on your food, the different aromas of the food arrive at once, and some are more noticeable than others. Also, the other sensory modalities mentioned can help.

Here, you can go very straightforward, for example by using something else that is fairly strong in smell and/or unusual for you, creating a stimulus which will compete with the undesirable aroma for attention. You can also use your sense of taste, and add something that strongly triggers it, again to outcompete the smell. Of course, if you overdo it, you will end up with a food which is unpleasant for another reason. Another strategy is to go more subtly about it, and add something which reduces the presence of other sensory information related to the smell - for example, if you used too much coconut in your yogurt, you can color it in a shade not associated with coconut at all, maybe a light purple. This will not be sufficient to combat your problem on its own, but it is worth doing along with other strategies.

What doesn't work

In practically all cases, there is no "antidote" which will magically neutralize the aroma you dislike and create an edible result. As we said above, the aroma is created by thousands by molecules, not by a single one, and it is impossible to find some chemical substance that will react with all of them (or even the worst offenders) and leave it clean. Rare exceptions could exist, where you react to a single molecule and there is the perfect ingredient that reacts it into something very different, but I can't come up with an example now.

There are also no selective "sponge foods" which go in, soak up the smell actively, and then your food is clean again. Foods which are rumored to work that way usually turn out to be simple dilutors.

Also, remember that you will never get rid of the smell entirely - see the part about our sense of smell reacting to parts per billion. You can only tone down its effect. So the more offensive the smell is to you, the less likely it is that a rescue attempt is worth the effort.


Using yellow instead of green zucchini in vegetable soup Can I use yellow zucchini instead of green zucchini in vegetable soup or is there a significant difference of between them?

In general, they are interchangeable unless the green color matters in your presentation. Texturally the differences are insignificant.

I've used patty pan squash, yellow summer squash (yellow zucchini), and regular zucchini interchangeably. There may be slight differences in sweetness or texture, but not enough to make your dish fail.


Why isn't my stock consistent I have been making my own stock for several years.  I make it EXACTLY the same way every time.  Sometimes it has a "gel" consistency,(which is awesome), and sometimes it is just a liquid.(still delicious.). What is the determining factor that dictates whether it turnes into a gel or not?

The difference is in how much collagen you can extract and turn into gelatin from the meat & bones.

If you can, split or crack the bones before you start, then place them into the pot, cover with relatively room temperature water, and then slowly warm it up.  If it reaches a boil, lower the heat.

I've been told that the reason for this is that if you put the bones into hot water, the marrow swells up, preventing the water from getting deeper into the bones.  I've never tried it the other way, so can't confirm this.

If you have any cartilage, add that with the bones.  You can also roast the bones first for more flavor.

Meat selection also plays a role -- lean meats tend to have less collagen, while the tougher cuts tend to have more.  For beef, try to find oxtail or shanks; for pigs, split hooves, ears; for chicken feet, necks, and wings.

... and if it still comes out too thin ... bloom some gelatin in room temperature water, and then stir it in.


How do you prepare fresh fennel for cooking? How do you prepare fresh fennel for cooking? My isntructions just say to "roughly chop", but don't say what parts of the plant to use.

Sometimes the outer leaves are a bit leathery (especially if the quality isn’t too god). When that’s the case I remove them first.

Next, I remove the green stalks – but Jefromi is right, the tiny leaves are delicious.

The kernel in the middle near the base of the fennel bulb is very hard. I usually cut it out by halving the bulb along its length and making two incisions with a sharp knife on either side of the kernel.

I chop the rest of the bulb so that it yields thin concentric slices.


What foods *require* a food processor? I've got an immersion blender, a normal blender, and will eventually be getting a stand mixer.  Are there any foods I absolutely have to have a food processor to make, where I can't use one of those?

I know I can do purees and mixing with the stick blender, and supposedly pesto too... but I'm trying to figure out if I need to plan on buying a food processor long-term. Thanks!

For starters, you'll almost certainly need a food processor for anything you need to mix dry, unless you've also got a heavy duty coffee grinder that you don't mind cleaning inside-out thoroughly and frequently.  Conventional stationary blenders, at least in my experience, are terrible at this task, and immersion blenders aren't designed to be run dry (in fact, most of the good models come with stern warnings never to do this).

Examples of this are: Nut butters, fresh herb purées, meat purées, and homemade bread crumbs and flours.  Pesto sauce also sounds like a long shot, but maybe there are customized recipes.

I've also never had any luck making cheese sauces, cheese dips, or other cheese preparations in a blender, and haven't had much better luck with my admittedly cheap stick blender.  It's difficult enough with a food processor, but usually with them it's just a matter of scraping down the sides a few times.  Whenever I've tried to make a manicotti filling, a mayonnaise-based tonnato sauce, a blue cheese dip or a goat cheese mousse with a blender, I've been totally unable to get a vortex going and have had to resort to the food processor to thin it out (after which I might transfer it back to the blender, but I usually don't bother).

It's an issue of viscosity, I think.  Too viscous, and conventional/stick blenders are practically useless.

Now a lot of this might be possible with very high-end equipment.  A Vita-Mix or Blendtec can blend just about anything, and usually comes with a tamper so you can force dry or viscous food down into the blades without risking life and limb.  Also, some very high-end immersion blenders - and when I say "high end", I mean that they are labeled as "power mixers" rather than "immersion blenders" - can be run continuously and possibly even dry.  But I would not want to try this on a consumer-grade stick.

I've also heard that you can do some of these things with a Magic Bullet.  For those not familiar with the product or infomercials, it's basically a really tiny blender that you can pick up and shake around while it's running - ergo, much easier to do dry preparations.  But the effort required is still much higher than that of a food processor.

I think that pretty much covers it.  If you need to purée anything solid or even semi-solid, you'll likely regret not having a food processor.


Forgot to put brown and white sugar in cookie dough I made cookie dough. I already put white chocolate chips and so on. I forgot to put in brown and white sugar... How can I fix this?

I suspect the cookies are baked now, but still:

If you increase the amount of dough, will you be in trouble?
You could just add the sugar now, but that will most likely mess up the texture (still, they are chocolate chip cookies, they are always good ^^)

Get the sugar you missed the first time.
Calculate your recipe down to the smallest amount you can make (this will most likely be whatever amount you reach when using only one egg).
Start this second batch as usual, but try to incorporate at least part of the "first batch"-sugar to the creamed butter... cream this REALLY well.
Finish remaining dough, as normal, adding any sugar you could not cream with the flour.
Fold both batches together.

This way, you should get at least some of the texture that the creaming creates :).


Is there a difference between a vegetable tray and a relish tray? Are pickles, beets and olives-green and black,radishes part of a relish tray? Where as carrots, cauliflower, celery, broccoli,small tomatoes are part of a vegetable tray. Right?

A relish tray emphasizes, but isn't necessarily exclusively comprised of, preserved/pickled vegetables.


How can I maximize ginger extraction? I want to make ginger drinks (bourbon, hot tea, ginger ale). In all cases, I want to create a ginger syrup that I can then add to bourbon, hot water, soda water to get my desired drink. I have tried the following methods:

Slice ginger thinly, put in boiling water for 1 hour
Chop ginger very finely, bring water to boil, cover, steep one hour
Chop ginger very finely, bring water to simmer for one hour
Puree ginger and small amount of water in vita mix

In all cases, I've found that I need to remove the leftover ginger, as it would just settle out of a drink. I've tried it with varying amounts of sugar (from none to 1:2 sugar:water). What I'm left with is a pretty good product, but the ginger has a lot of flavor left in it. In fact, I can use it again with the same process and still get a good result.

I would like to get a very strong product with minimal life left in the ginger, so that I can minimize the amount of ginger I use. I'd also like the syrup / extract to be as strong as possible to minimize the amount I add to my drink. To top it off, I would prefer the process not be to laborious or time consuming.

How can I maximize the extraction of ginger flavor in to a liquid?

To increase flavor extraction (and this applies to ALL flavors, not just ginger):

Simmer for a prolonged period (more time to extract flavor).
Puree or finely mince the ginger, then strain it out with a fine chinois or cheesecloth. Smaller pieces allow water to more easily penetrate, and allows flavor compounds to be extracted more quickly
Stir frequently; this greatly reduces the time you need to cook the ginger, by ensuring flavor compounds reach an equilibrium throughout the mixture, rather than being concentrated at the surface of the ginger pieces.
Cook the same ginger multiple times with fresh water each time.  This will extract more flavor than doing one batch cooked 3x as long, and also more than cooking the same ginger with 3x as much water.  Each batch will be less flavorful, of course, but after 3-5 batches, you should have most of the flavor out.
Reduce the ginger water after extraction to concentrate the flavor.  This will be especially helpful when combined with multiple batches.
Add alcohol to the water, as many flavor compounds are oils, and thus more soluble in alcohol than water.  This is excellent to combine with reduction, as the alcohol is easily evaporated.

All of these approaches are based both practice and the chemistry behind extractions, which is what you are doing here.


How to achieve a good steak crust with a blowtorch? I tried to torch sous vide steaks twice with a culinary blow torch, but it seems to take forever to get any kind of crust. So far I was not able to achive a really good crust. Should I simply do it longer? The following result took me several minutes per side:

Granted, I don't notice much of a gradient, so I suppose, that even if it takes a long time, it probably doesn't affect the interior temperature too much. Still I am not sure, how it is even possible to achieve a decent crust with this method. And I am also confused, why would this take longer, considering that the temperature of the torch is a lot hotter, than a cast iron.

It does take a couple of minutes to get a good crust with a torch, but judging by that photo something went wrong as there’s little crust on that picture.

As aris mentioned, you need to ensure that there is no moisture on the steak.
You mentioned adding butter on top and letting it melt at room temperature. This could act as a barrier for the heat but no kitchen test I know of tackled this specifically. Next time try without as I’ve always gotten and seen good results without butter on it.

Lastly, keep the torch at a moderate distance and linger slightly on a spot until you see some sizzling. Make small circles, but don’t move the torch all over rapidly. You don’t need to distribute the heat evenly while trying to get a crust.


What is the purpose of adding curry leaves? In India curry leaves are added almost all curries.

I personally hate them. You don't eat them, but just keep them on the side of the plate and throw them away.

1) What is the purpose of adding curry leaves?

2) Does the taste of the curry change when you add curry leaves? Does it make it worse or make it better?

3) Do any other country's recipes use curry leaves? If yes, which ones?

4) Are there any health benefits of adding curry leaves?

5) Is it better not to add curry leaves?

6) Are curry leaves added to any other non-curry recipes?

Most of your questions are a matter of personal taste!

1) What is the purpose of adding curry leaves?

  I'd say adding a nice taste to the meal (as long as you like it)

2) Does the taste of the curry change when you add curry leaves? Does it make it worse or make it better?

  yes it does. It will make your curry better... as long as you like the taste of it

3) Do any other country's recipes use curry leaves? If yes, which ones?

  I have seen curry leaves in many SE countries and cuisines.

4) Are there any health benefits of adding curry leaves?

  They are believed to have multiple benefits 1, 2, etc.

5) Is it better not to add curry leaves?

  Well, again, as long as you like it

6) Are curry leaves added to any other non-curry recipes?)

  I have seen them in many other meals than curry both in India and in SE Asia. Here is a primer for some recipes using them.


When comparing food processor models, why do some have additional blades? What are advantages or disadvantages to a middle blade in the food processor? Might this shape be harder to clean than a single-blade model?
It's also called top blades:

The Robot Coupe is widely regarded as the standard food processor for professional use.  Neither it, nor the industry-leading Cuisinart or KitchenAid food processors have those middle blades.  As such, it seems unlikely that they are requirements for a quality unit.


Can you premake mojitos? I work at a busy bar and every Thursday we have mojitos for $5. I am curious if there is some sort of way that we can pre make some of the drink to make the preparation easier and faster.
Thanks!!!

I don't know if having them pre-mixed would affect the flavor or not. One thing that could speed you up is having the limes already juiced. According to Dave Arnold at Cooking Issues people generally prefer lime juice after it has "aged" at least 4 hours. Maybe this changes with mojitos, it's hard to say.

This is assuming you are using fresh lime juice. Are you muddling fresh mint and sugar, or do you use simple syrup? You could perhaps make a mint syrup, then just throw a mint leaf on top as a garnish, that would save you some time.


Refreeze ground hamburger as hamburgers after thawing? Can I thaw ground hamburger, make hamburger patties, and then refreeze them? I am thawing then on the counter in their original packaging. It is from a half cow that I bought.

Never re-freeze raw meat. I have run 2 commercial food establishments and had to be qualified in food safety so this is what I know...

The freezing process arrests any of the bacteria in the meat from causing putrefaction but as soon as the meat defrosts these bacteria start their work again at an accelerated rate, re-freezing will cause a repeat action and food poisoning will ensue. And ground or minced meat usually has a higher bacteria level due to the extra handling, increased actual surface area due to many smaller bits and the fact that those tiny pieces warm quicker.

If you want to freeze individual hamburgers, make them up as soon as you get the mince and freeze what you don't want to use straight away.

I hope this helps


What are good techniques for getting gluten free bread to rise? I make gluten free bread in a bread maker, however I can never get it to rise as much as 'regular' bread and is usually a little heavy. What techniques/recipes/substitutions can I try to get my gluten free bread to rise more?

I currently use a recipe that is similar to this one here, but with a bit of tapioca starch instead of buckwheat flour.

Baking soda comes to mind. Irish soda bread can be gluten-free, and uses baking soda for its rising action. The crumb is fairly loose though, did you want something that would hold together better?


Rabbit that looks and tastes like chicken? OK, I know saying such & such a type of meat tastes like chicken is a total stereotype, but bear with me.

I am not a frequent eater of rabbit but I'd say have it 1-2 times a year, so I feel like I have a rough idea of the taste and appearance. All the rabbit I've ever eaten prior to last night I would describe as dark in appearance, somewhat tough, and slightly gamy.

Last night I went to supper at one of my favorite restaurants and ordered a dish that was "Rabbit five ways." The dish consisted of a total of a half rabbit done in the following ways:  leg confit, saddle done sous vide porchetta style, cabbage rolls stuffed with rabbit, a liver mousse, and head cheese. The cabbage rolls and head cheese contained meat I would say was very rabbit like: dark, a little gamy, and a bit tough.

Now, I know that there's the (IMO, philosophical) opinion that all rabbit meat is white meat due to its leanness. However, the leg confit and sous vide saddle were unusual to me in that they looked, smelled, and tasted like chicken. To be clear, I mean the meat was very white, like almost the color of a sheet of paper, like a chicken breast on the whiter end of the spectrum would be. And, as I mentioned, it also tasted a surprising amount like chicken.

Anyway, I guess I'm wondering is this restaurant trying to pass off poultry as rabbit? That seems unlikely since it's a mid-sized, non-chain, mid-high end place with a good reputation. The small monetary savings don't seem worth the risk that a restaurant reviewer spots what you're up to and trashes you in a review.

However, if it really was rabbit, then I'm curious under what conditions rabbit would come out being indistinguishable from chicken? Are certain breeds and/or cuts more like white poultry meat? Or is it some combination of cut and cooking method that would give this result?

Thanks.

It wouldn't be the first time that a high-end restaurant has passed off more expensive ingredients as cheaper ingredients, but it's pretty unlikely. What is the most probable reason is that you had farmed rabbit as opposed to wild rabbits, which have very different flavors and textures due to diet and lifestyle.

Wild rabbits eat lots of grass and flowers which give their meat that gaminess, and they get lots of exercise running around so their texture is tougher and color darker. Farmed rabbits are given a mostly grain diet which is bland and makes the meat bland, and don't get much exercise so they are more tender.


Can I freeze marinated chicken breasts? I bought marinated chicken breasts from the butcher and didn't realize I bought twice as many as I really wanted! Is it ok to freeze half of them?

The marinade is a garlic butter, so not acidic like a teriyaki. If the type of marinade affects the answer please let me know.

The breasts are still wrapped in plastic and then butcher paper, unopened since getting them home from the butcher, and have been kept in the fridge the entire time.

You can absolutely freeze marinated meat - defrost in the refrigerator, and it will continue to marinate as it defrosts. I find that it usually takes about a day to defrost chicken breasts in the fridge.

The meat is more of a concern than the type of marinade when it comes to freezing. Most marinades should be fine to freeze. However, if you're starting off with meat that was frozen, you may not want to refreeze it. There are a couple reasons for this:

1) If the meat was frozen and NOT kept refrigerated (i.e., defrosted on the countertop or in the microwave), there's a chance that bacteria could start to grow in the meat, and freezing it again won't kill the bacteria. This isn't a problem if your meat is refrigerated and kept in an airtight container. The USDA has a quick guide on freezing, defrosting and refreezing here.

2) Texture may be affected if you refreeze meat. Most meat dries out a little in the process of freezing and defrosting, so doing this multiple times will probably affect the texture. When the ice crystals form in the meat, they  burst cells, which then lose juice when the meat is defrosted. The result is often mushier, less juicy meat.

As a less scientific reason, the Food Network has recipes where they say you can freeze marinated chicken. Sometimes, if it's good enough for the Food Network, it's good enough for me... :)


By what reactions do moisture and light steal away my coffee's freshness? Typically, the standard advice for prolonging your coffee is to store it in an air-tight, light-tight, dry container. At a chemical level, what happens when coffee is left in humid or sunny conditions that causes it to lose "freshness?"

Specifically;

What compounds and characteristics do people identify as "freshness?"
How do light and moisture compromise these components?

There's a really nice write-up on this topic on Black Bear Coffee's website (which Aaronut linked above).

Though it's not mentioned in your question, oxygen is actually the first culprit in loss of freshness:

  Separation from oxygen has been the primary strategy, with good
  reason. Oxidation obviously contributes significantly to flavor
  degradation and loss. Ambient air contains 19-21% oxygen and only 14
  cubic centimeters of oxygen (or 70 cc of ambient air) are enough to
  render a pound of coffee dead stale....A common myth is that coffee is not able to take on oxygen immediately after roasting due to carbon dioxide degassing. However, Michael Sivetz estimates that instead of 21%, about 10% oxygen surrounds degassing coffee –certainly enough to initiate oxidation.

The article doesn't specifically mention the effects of light on the freshness of coffee, so I would assume that light's role is mostly related to increasing thermal energy.

  The common thread in all deterioration processes is thermal energy.
  The rate of staling will be a function of the thermal energy applied
  to the coffee and how it is distributed. An important mechanism of
  thermal energy distribution is moisture. Roasted coffee will also
  absorb water at any time it is exposed to humid conditions, especially
  in the presence of high temperatures. Water quenching can add
  additional water and some of the deterioration processes themselves
  create water as a by-product. Within whole bean or ground coffee,
  water will take one of two forms: free or bound.

  "Free" water is mobile and can increase staling processes by retaining
  and delivering thermal energy and oxygen to the aromatics, acids, and
  oils, or bringing together sugars and protein to initiate
  non-enzymatic browning. "Bound" water (bound to surfaces) is not as
  mobile or available to solvate reactants. The ratio between free and
  bound water is called "water activity." It is increased any time the
  coffee comes into contact with humidity or high temperatures ("bound"
  water often becomes "free" water upon heating). A relatively low
  ambient humidity of 25% can cause roasted coffee to increase its
  moisture content to 5%, with water activity also increasing. Lipid
  oxidation is accelerated at heightened water activities, but is not
  usually measured in coffee, despite its effect on freshness. Studies
  show that a water activity ratio of above 0.5 contributes
  significantly to increased rates of non-enzymatic browning and lipid
  oxidation. More studies on water activity and its relation to coffee
  freshness are currently being conducted.

"Freshness" does indeed appear to be a subjective term, so I'm not sure there's a canonical definition about the chemical components of freshness. The Black Bear does provide an example, though: "Coffees known for their delicate and sweet aromas (such as certain East African coffees) depend on aldehydes for their unique flavor and are not good candidates for open bins or ground sales."

Other sources allude to the chemical components of coffee's taste but do not always enumerate them or distinguish "freshness" from the overall "coffee"ness. Here's one such statement from a reprinting of an article that appeared in Chemical & Engineering News:

  A thousand volatile compounds have been identified in coffee, though
  just 40 or so of these substances "have been demonstrated to
  contribute to the alluring smell," Hofmann noted. They include
  β-damascenone (which has an aroma like cooked apples), 2-furfurylthiol
  (sulfury, roasty), 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy), guaiacol
  (spicy), 2,3-butanedione (buttery), and
  4-hydroxy-2,5-dimethyl-3(2H)-furanone (caramel-like).

  The flavor and aroma compounds derive from multiple chemical
  reactions, including the Maillard reaction, caramelization, polyphenol
  degradation, polymerization of carbohydrates, and pyrolysis.

The closest I could find to someone identifying the chemical compound responsible for "freshness" is further along in that article:

  "Unfortunately, the pleasant fresh-coffee aroma cannot be simply
  preserved," Müller said. Once again, it's the sulfury-roasty aroma
  quality that suffers during storage of coffee beverages. "This is
  mainly due to the decrease of the coffeelike-smelling compound
  2-furfurylthiol (FFT)." [said senior scientist Christoph Müller.]

The findings of this article reiterate Black Bear's claim that water activity is responsible for loss of freshness, and these processes are actually determined at the time of roasting as much as the storage conditions you have after you purchase your beans.

  Once beans reach the desired degree of roast, they are cooled rapidly
  with air or water. Air-cooled coffee beans contain just 1–2% water,
  while water-cooled coffee beans contain as much as 5% water.
  Baggenstoss studied the effect of the beans' water content on the
  stability of flavor compounds during storage. He found that aldehydes,
  pyrazines, and diketones such as 2,3-butanedione were unaffected by
  bean water content.

  On the other hand, compounds such as dimethyl trisulfide formed faster
  and reached higher levels in beans with higher water contents.
  Dimethyl trisulfide is formed by the oxidation of methanethiol, which
  is broadly related to the perception of coffee freshness. "Therefore,
  the coffee with higher water content seemed to lose fresh attributes
  faster than air-quenched coffee," Baggenstoss said. Furthermore, "some
  of the impact compounds are more rapidly degraded during storage of
  coffees with higher moisture content."


Can pasteurized milk turn into yogurt by itself? During the winter, I often leave milk on my porch to make room in my refrigerator.

During a recent warm spell, I had an unopened gallon of pasteurized milk on the porch for two days around 50 degrees Fahrenheit. When I opened the bottle to see if it had survived, it had no spoiled milk sour smell, but the consistency was similar to thin yogurt. I drank a little, and it tasted like normal unspoiled milk aside from the texture.

I was to nervous to consume the whole gallon, so I threw it away, but I'm curious about what process might have been at work here. Could it have been a yogurt like bacteria despite the pasteurization?

What you got is more properly characterized as buttermilk (in the current usage of the term) than yogurt. Pasteurization does not sterilize milk, and it can have been any kind of bacteria which can survive in milk. The process was the same as in any other cultured dairy: bacteria started multiplying, producing lactic acid which curdled and soured the milk.

The harsher the pasteurization, the less chance that you happened to have an abundance of a benign culture. You could have gotten something dangerous, or harmless-but-gross. Traditional buttermilk making by leaving raw milk unseeded with any culture out and hoping that it harbors no baddies is also unsafe by today's standards. So, if you want to produce buttermilk or yogurt, you are much better off starting with a culture. A few spoonfulls of prepared yogurt or buttermilk should work (unless their culture was killed), but for best results, you should match culture and fermentation temperature.


Ways to make my cooking routine more efficient? I enjoy cooking. In an ideal world, I'd spend some time messing around in the kitchen four or five nights a week. But as it stands, I'm very busy, on a very tight budget, and trying to keep up with my body's high caloric demands so I can put on some muscle.

In an effort to address these issues, I've been cooking in bulk for about a year. I set aside Sunday to do my grocery shopping and cooking, and just reheat things as needed throughout the week. Not only am I dissatisfied with the results, but I am consistently frustrated with how long things take. This week's batch cooking really stood out to me in that regard.

Cooking three large servings (1500 kcal each) of chicken fried rice took 2 hours, excluding prep for the marinade (15 minutes) and marinating time (1.5 hours). An orange ginger pork stir fry (no orange sauce, just an orange ginger marinade) took me 45 minutes to prep the marinade and vegetables, and another 30 minutes or so of cook time, just for the flavors to be weak and the texture unpleasant.

It seems I spend far too much time cleaning my cast iron pans; I've yet to cook a meal on them where something hasn't been burnt on pretty seriously and required multiple passes with salt and/or fat of some sort to get off. Today, I had to resort to the water-boiling method to get some gunk off, reseasoned both pans with a thorough coating of coconut oil and still had to take 10 to 15 minutes muscling through crud on my pans between each serving of fried rice, and to add insult to injury, I'm looking at one pan and seeing some sort of white coloration on it that I'm pretty sure isn't supposed to be there.

So, with that being said, is there anything about what I've described that suggests some clear, correctable problem? Please, no suggestions that involve 'buy this thing.' I'm on such a tight budget that let's just assume that's not an option. I have to learn to work with what I have more efficiently.

I have:

a 3 Qt. cast iron Dutch oven
a 10" cast iron skillet (serves as the lid on the Dutch oven)
a 2.5 Qt. stainless steel sauce pan
a 1.5 Qt. stainless steel sauce pan
a 1 Qt. stainless steel sauce pan
a 17.25" x 11.5" cookie sheet
an 8 Cup Rice Cooker
2 4-Qt. tupperware containers
2 2-Qt. tupperware containers
4 1-Qt. tupperware containers

My weekly food budget is $40, and I'm trying to get ~3000+ calories 3 days a week and ~2400 calories otherwise. I'm going for paleo compliance as far as I can--I permit myself the use of rice because it's cheap, has relatively low phytic acid content, and helps answer my high caloric needs. But other grains are a no-no.

I see a few issues with what you've described:

It sounds to me like a significant portion of your time 'cooking' is actually cleaning.  This might mean that you're not letting the pan heat up significantly, or that you're not using enough oil.  (yes, we're trying to be healthy, but it is fried rice).
By cooking in bulk, you're likely over crowding your pan.  This would dramatically affect the texture of the final result.  (see BaffledCook's reply)
The crud that you're scraping off is likely fond, the brown bits that stick to the pan and caramelize.  What you want to do is try to deglaze between batches with some liquid (ideally, whatever you'd be using in the sauce, but without any cornstarch), but keep the now dark brown liquid to make your sauce.  If you don't save these bits, then you're dumping the flavor down the drain.
I suspect that you're making the rice and using it in the same day -- this will result in more sticking.  You're actually better off making the rice a day ahead, spreading it out to cook, then putting it in a container to place in the fridge.

Personally, to speed up my fried rice, I actually make Nasi Goereng -- while the pan is heating up, chop up an onion and whatever other veg, then make an omelette or two in the hot pan (set aside, then cut into ribbons), cook the veg, add the cold, cooked rice + your spices (I often just use madras curry powder + soy sauce, mix in the egg ribbons.


Convert weight of Confectioners sugar to caster sugar If a recipe asks for 50g of confectioners sugar, what is the weight required in caster sugar. I am making a no bake cheesecake

In general in recipes measuring by weight, you can use the same weight, as 50g of one kind of thing is usually the same amount as 50g of another kind of the same thing (in this case sugar).  With volume measurements this is not the case, as certain kinds of things will pack into the measuring cup differently (flour is notorious for packing, for instance, and no two cups ever seem to come out the same).

In your specific case, however, a direct substitution may mot work as desired.  Confectioners or powdered sugar often has a small amount of cornstarch mixed with the sugar to prevent clumping.  Its possible that a no-bake style cheesecake recipe may be relying on that, so you may want to substitute a few grams of cornstarch for some of your caster sugar. I would try 45g sugar and 5g cornstarch.


Stainless nonstick, not vs, but both? What's the point? I bought a stainless steel 12" skillet and when it arrived it has a Non stick coating on the inside. I didn't realize that. I already have a non stick set, anodized aluminum I think, so I wanted to explore stainless. I'm seeing a lot of similar pans, from all the brands. What's the point of putting non stick in stainless? Is it just for style/looks or is there actually a benefit? Should I keep it and try it out? Or will I see the same results as my other non stick set?

Many stainless steels are ferric, so will work with induction cooktops. Aluminum cannot interact with magnetism, so cannot work on induction, so many companies offer stainless steel non-stick pans for the induction market.

You won't see much difference in performance, and since it's not what you want in the first place I'd send it back unused.


How to preserve squash I just got a squash from a coworker (he grows it) and it occurs to me that my wife likes to use fresh vegetables for making our own baby food. It also occurs to me that she's out of town for the next two weeks.

What options do I have to preserve this squash in such a manner that she can make baby food when she gets back? If it can sit on the counter for three weeks and be just fine, that works for me. Otherwise, what can I do to cook it that won't render it unusable for baby food? I don't really know what goes into baby food other than I think she steams the veggies so they're soft for our baby.

If it's a summer squash you could maybe try freezing it? Since it's being turned into baby food anyway, preserving crisp, freshness isn't high on the list of priorities?

Disclaimer: I have no experience freezing summer squashes, but a quick google came up with this and it seems to make sense: http://www.pickyourown.org/freezing_summer_squash.htm

A further search reminded me that Alton Brown covers freezing stuff in an episode of Good Eats. He explains why the above blanching method works for many vegetables.


How long do eggs last outside the refrigerator and out of the shell? How long would eggs last out of the refrigerator and out of the shell?

This may be a strange question, but I'm planning on baking them afterwards. And I'll leave them out only around 6 hours at room temperature.

The thought makes me shiver; but would you reckon this to be fine?

Eggs in their shell, uncracked

One day on the counter at room temperature is approximately equivalent to a week in the refrigerator.  When I used eggs at a rapid rate, baking every day, I always kept them on the counter, since they would not have to be brought to room temperature to beat easily to the ribbon or whatever.

They should be good in the refrigerator for several weeks past their sell by date, or on the counter for several days.

6 hours is fine, (but thats in shell, not cracked)

Eggs OUT of their shell

Out of the shell, eggs are highly perishable--what the health codes call a "potentially hazardous" food.  Don't hold them for any length of time at room temperature.  I would say no more than 30 minutes to an hour, less if you can.

Lots of egg facts, but they do insist that the eggs are refrigerated.


What is this cut of meat? Ideas on what to make? I have this leftover chunk of meat in my freezer, and I foolishly did not label it.  Does anyone recognize it?

I just need to know enough to be able to cook it.  At the very least whether it is beef or pork :)  Feel free to suggest what I should make with it.

Thanks.

It's difficult to guess based on the cut alone, as they butcher animals differently in the US / UK / France / Russia (and Jewish and  others), which can result in cuts that aren't easily recognizable in other countries.

I'm going to assume pork, due to the variation in meat color. (it's possible that it's an issue in monitor calibration, but the top left of that first picture is way more 'pink' than 'red' as compared to the muscle to the right of it. You don't typically see that significant of color change between two adjacent beef muscles, nor that pale of a color in beef)


How to set clear honey I have some runny, clear honey in a jar.

How can I turn it into soft-set honey?

I think honey sets over time, but how long does that take? Is there a way to speed it up? Should the jar's lid be on/off?

I've tried researching for answers but every single permutation and combination of search terms I try just gives me answers for the opposite problem.

Something I think most people are unaware of:

  Runny and set honey are made from different types of nectar.

For example, rape (which is grown a lot where I live) will result in very hard setting honey. We had to be careful to extract the honey as soon as the comb was full or it would set in the cells and is then impossible to extract.

This is often not known because most runny honey will crystallise when stored somewhere too cold.

Set honey (such as that made from rape nectar) will need to be constantly stirred whilst it sets to avoid the crystals forming too big and causing it to be solid - just like ice-cream!

Disclaimer: I have no idea if this will give you the result you desire, but theoretically it should work.

As I said, most running honey will set if stored somewhere cold, therefore I would suggest you use an ice- cream maker to set your running honey, or refrigerate it - but be aware that you will need to stir it often to avoid the aforementioned issues.

You will then need to keep that honey somewhere cold to avoid it melting again. It's pretty cold here in the UK so a cupboard is usually cold enough.

References: Beekeeper for 6 years and long time honey and bee enthusiast!

Also just to note that there is no set line for which flowers produce set and runny honey it's a sliding scale - most store bought honey is just a big mix from different flowers. I believe it's something to do with how saturated with sugar the necar was.