Why is sauteing beneficial? I've seen multiple recipes which say to saute onions, peppers, green beans, etc. Why not microwave the food to the temperature you want and then mix it (along with the oil previously used to saute) straight into everything else -- skipping the saute step?

In other words, what does the sauteing accomplish?

The flip answer is that sauteed food will taste good, and the microwaved version you're describing will not.

A more useful answer, however, would consider physics and chemistry. Microwaving excites molecules, resulting in heat, presuming an adequate supply of water molecules to excite. Sauteeing conducts heat from the heat source to the food by way of the pan.

Microwaving falls somewhere between radiant heating (like an oven) and steaming, though the results from conventional methods are generally superior. Sauteeing can transfer enough heat quickly enough that desirable effects like caramelization and similar effects like browning are effected with the help of fats and sugars (often referred to as a Maillard reaction), which produces volatile compounds that are very aromatic and contribute a lot to our perception of flavor. It's exceptionally hard to create the same effects with a microwave.


When sautéing vegetables, should I wait for the oil to heat up first? When sautéing vegetables in oil – for example carrots, should I wait for the oil to heat up and then add the vegetables, or should I put the vegetables in cool oil and then heat everything up?
What differences will these two approaches yield?

In addition to the fact that some oils get quite a bit hotter than other, (so that hot with one oil isn't the same as hot with another), there is an in-between here that some cooks rank as a default option whenever inexperience prevails, namely warm oil. Regardless of which oil one is using, this can be achieved by applying an initial lower temperature to the sauté pan and then cranking up the heat once the vegetable(s) are in the pan and can be visually assessed for how they're performing.

Hot oil with vegetables high in water content risks splattering or worse (fire) when suddenly introduced. It is also easy to burn more delicate ingredients such as garlic (burn, in this case, meaning no more than browning). Meanwhile, ingredients porous in nature (such as mushrooms) added to cool oil are certain to absorb (and retain) more of it than you would perhaps hope for. Stated here, (The Reluctant Gourmet),

  There really is no ideal temperature. It really depends on what you are sautéing and what you plan to do with the ingredients when you are done.

Since it's not therefore difficult to see that a rule of thumb toward how hot cannot be established, (though no saucier recommends cool, nor the wiki on Sautéing), decisions must be based on knowledge which is specific to the ingredient(s). If uncertain, go with in-between.


Garam masala paste for butter chicken I am trying to make butter chicken and most recipes call for adding garam masala powder to the mix.
I could not find the powder and only found garam masala paste instead.
Can i use the paste instead of the powder?
If yes, does 1 tblsp powder equate to 1 tblsp of the paste?
Thank you!

Garam masala powder is a spice blend, other than some anti-caking agents it's almost pure spices. Pastes are spices mixed with oil and maybe water and other ingredients like garlic, chili, pepper, tamarind, and others so they aren't an exact equivalent. Taking garam masala paste in particular if you look at patak's product the spices are only 23% of the total weight, the rest is water, oil, garlic powder and tamarind paste. You would need to add 4 tbsps of paste to get the same amount of spice as 1tbsp of garam masala powder, plus you will be getting extra flavors like garlic and tamarind in the mix.


Is it safe to eat mouldy bread? Is it safe to eat mouldy bread, even after cutting away the moulded parts?
And how can you tell if the mould is harmless or toxic?

In short, the answer is no, it is NOT safe.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/08/11/food.safety/index.html

  It's tempting to lop off the fuzzy
  patch, but the mold could have spread
  already.

  "Once you're able to see mold on
  bread, it means there's quite a lot of
  mold," said Nelken, a food consultant
  in Woodland Hills, California. "It's
  indicative that there's mold on other
  slices, just not at the level you can
  see it. Why jeopardize your health on
  a slice of bread?"

  Nelken likened mold to jellyfish.
  "Even though you scrape off the head
  of the jellyfish, the tentacles are
  still in the food product."

  Eating moldy bread could cause an
  upset stomach. Although most molds are
  innocuous, it's probably not going to
  taste good, food experts said. The
  U.S. Department of Agriculture Food
  Safety and Inspection Service
  recommends discarding moldy bread and
  baked goods, because of their porous
  texture.


What techniques or tricks make soft, flaky pastries instead of leathery ones? These are my first experiences with the lovely pastry, puff pastry.

 I loved it so much that I'd bake more and more of it everyday. The only problem I encountered is that my pastries had a tough crust and they'are somehow leathery, having a tough, hard texture. After a day, it's unpalatable. What techniques or tricks make puff pastry soft, flaky instead of leathery? Please tell me about your own experiences too.

Note: Left picture is Sunny-Side-Up Apricot Pastries – Michel Richard. Right picture is Puff Pastry – Michel Richard and I think the amounts are a little off since one cup of water is not enough at all for that much flour.

There are two ways that I make puff pastry. The first is Rough Puff Pastry which is a quicker way to make puff pastry and you get about 75% of the rise you get with normal puff pastry.

Here is a link for a Rough Puff Pastry that I use. I'd say that the most important tips to take from that recipe is that the butter must be cold when you start and make sure you're using really cold water to mix in. Using a knife instead of your hands is also a good idea to stop your hands melting the butter too much - you want to see the pieces of butter in your pastry. Making sure you chill the pastry after folding for an hour or as long as you can.

Secondly, to make 'real' puff pastry, you need to have to plan in advance as it is going to require a lot of chilling. Firstly, make your dough separately, roll in a ball and chill overnight. Then roll out your butter and make sure you then chill the rolled out butter again. You then continue with the folding and chilling as before. Again, the most important thing here is to chill for at least an hour in between the folds. This ensures that the layers of butter and pastry build up, and that is what gives you the best rise and the flakes you are after. Here is a good recipe that I use with lots of other tips and tricks in.

From looking at your pictures, in my opinion, the 'leatheriness' you are seeing looks like the pastry is a little under baked. The 'tough crust' looks to me like there aren't many layers of butter towards to the top of your pastry which is why it hasn't puffed out when it's been baked. Definitely try following one of the above recipes - if only to get the technique right - and go from there. I definitely find the trick is lots of chilling and keep everything cold! I sometimes even chill the flour!!


How long is Miso Paste good for in the fridge after opening? I'm not sure how to judge the fridge life of this stuff, does this salty stuff last awhile?

Miso paste lasts literal years in the refrigerator, although past a year it starts to lose flavor. It can also dry out if it isn't sealed well, which isn't a problem as you rehydrate it before drinking anyway - it just takes a bit longer to dissolve.


Is smell a bad way of determining whether meat is still good? I have always relied on my sense of smell to determine whether meat (most often chicken) is bad and I thought it was reliable. However, I have just heard that [1] smell is not always reliable, since some of the toxins produced by bacteria won't cause any smell whatsoever and you won't be able to notice that the meat is off until after you've eaten it.

Is this true? If yes, is this true for all meat or only for some? Is there a more reliable way of determining whether meat is still good.

[1] "Heard that" isn't very reliable; so that's why I'm asking the question here. :)

It is absolutely untrue and very dangerous to think that "if it looks OK, and smells OK, it must be OK." If that were the case, food poisoning would be very rare. Food that we can sense is spoiled rarely causes illness. For one thing what you don't eat can't hurt you, and people generally won't eat food that looks or smells spoiled. But less obviously, much of what causes spoilage that we can taste, see or smell is actually fairly harmless to humans. Spoilage and rancidity are terms that are often used interchangeably, but rancidity is actually a specific kind of spoilage, caused by the relatively harmless oxidation of fats which is unrelated to any kind of bacteria or other microorganism. It's just a function of time, temperature, oxygen, and light. Fancy dried cured meats get a fair amount of their special flavor from controlled rancidity. Molds and yeasts cause food to spoil, but are also used in controlled ways to create flavor. Dairy cultures are bacteria, and bacteria plays a major role in fermentation.
What causes illness and death are often things that we can't taste, see, or smell. Salmonella, E. coli and C. botulinum are usually undetectable by our senses. Mishandled food that has been heated to temperatures far hotter than is necessary to kill any and all dangerous organisms can still kill if those organisms have produced chemical toxins or deadly spores. We usually can't sense those either.
That's why the rules exist. You need to take care to keep food out of the dreaded "danger zone". Foods that are considered unsafe unless cooked to a specific temperature ARE unsafe unless cooked to that temperature (although government recommendations in that matter are often overly conservative, there is room there for assessing your own risk). Preserved foods must have appropriate acid, salinity, sugar or other tested preservatives. Stored foods must be kept at the proper temperature. Dried foods must be dried correctly. Canning procedures rules seem overly strict. They are not. Learn the rules, disobey them at your peril.
There is a lot of good information here under the food-safety tag. We are not making this stuff up. The CDC "estimates that each year roughly 1 in 6 Americans (or 48 million people) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases." That's just in the US where food handlers (home and professional) are mostly educated in basic food hygiene and just about everyone has access to a refrigerator. The worldwide figures are staggering.


Difference between chicken and duck eggs? Our local Korean grocery store carries duck eggs in addition to chicken and quail eggs (both of which I've eaten). What differences should I expect if I buy the duck eggs and use them in egg dishes such as scrambled eggs?

I ran across a good resource while looking into duck eggs. I'll let it speak for itself:

  The higher protein in Duck Eggs means
  they mustn't be overcooked, or the
  whites will go tough and rubbery. Some
  people say they will be too tough if
  you completely fry them: they advise
  to rather partially fry them then add
  a few tablespoons of water to the pan,
  cover and let the steam moderate the
  heat and finish cooking them. Most
  people, though, seem to say they don't
  notice a difference between fried
  chicken and Duck Eggs.

  Swapping Duck Eggs interchangeably in
  recipes for chicken eggs: some people
  say you can't; others who substitute
  all the time say nonsense, it's fine.
  When the Duck Egg whites are beaten
  they will come up a bit higher owing
  to the protein. They take a minute or
  so longer to start frothing up, but
  then make up for lost time.

There's a great deal more information on the page as well:
http://www.practicallyedible.com/duck-eggs


Water came out cloudy after steaming chicken, is it cosidered a broth? I was surprised since the chicken never touched the water but I guess it dropped some of its juices in it, I was doing a small batch and I tried to taste it but after adding some salt it just tasted salty, so If I make a larger batch in less water and the result comes out more concentrated could this taste good and be considered a broth ?

Broth is usually defined as having had bones/meat/veg boiled in it, so the dictionary says no.  The lack of flavour also says no, and I doubt reducing it would make much difference.  You could use the water to make broth or stock, if you have bones/vegetables to hand.

What's more likely to have happened is that condensation dripped into the water. This will always happen unless you take steps to prevent it, as the chicken is cooler than the steam, causing water to condense on the surface (more obvious with steaming green veg).  This water dripping would carry small amounts of protein (e.g. myoglobin from dark meat) into the water, and it doesn't take much of many proteins to make water cloudy (this is why milk is white, or a few drops of milk make water cloudy).  Small particles of fat will also contribute if they run into the water.


Why does my spinach pasta break when I run it through the cutter? Why does my spinach pasta break when I run it through the cutter? Too dry? Need more gluten?  Flour mix is half 00 and half semolina.  Spinach is high-quality spinach powder.

In terms of the science of the dough, there are three probable culprits to consider:

Insufficient hydration.  That is, your dough either doesn't have enough water (from any source, including for example, any eggs) to form a cohesive dough, or it has not rested long enough for the water to be absorbed into the starches of the flour.

The symptom for this is that the dough is in general crumbly and frangible, and doesn't want to hold together.

If this is the case, the remediation would be simple:  add more water, and let the dough rest about 30 minutes.
Insufficient gluten development.  Gluten is what gives pasta its strength.  It needs both enough water (see issue number 1), and enough kneading to develop.  You may need to knead your dough more.

If this is the case, knead by hand until it is cohesive enough to go through the rollers.  The first rolls not only thin the dough, they continue to knead it, further developing the gluten.

The symptom for this is that it holds together when pressed, but not when worked, compared to the first issue.
Excessive interference.  There may be too many other ingredients (such as the spinach powder) getting in the way of the gluten formation (see point number 2).  They can physically impede the gluten from developing.   You only want to add an accent of non-flour/water ingredients.

This would be the hardest case to recover from, as you essentialy would need a new recipe with a new balance.  You could try making a second batch without the interfering agent, and combining them, but probably not worth the effort.

It is hard to tell if this is the case, versus number 2, unfortunately.  If you are using a quality recipe, this is unlikely.


Checking food nutrients How can one check if the food does not have excess levels of pesticides?

The need of the hour is to have some machine/tool that checks what is the composition of the food that we are eating and advices us to stop or go ahead with it. I am not sure if there is anything created like that? To take the examples of the news: Salmonella in eggs

How can we ensure that the food that we eat is not unhealthy?

Practically, you can't. You should clean produce appropriately to remove surface pesticides, and cook food thoroughly to prevent illness from food-borne pathogens.

Checking for levels of pesticides or presence of pathogens would have to occur in a lab, involving microscopes, chemistry techniques, and bacterial cultures. This is impractical to do in the home, plus it would likely destroy the food you were testing.


Where can I find ancient ages/middle ages recipes and preparation techniques? I always had an interest for recipes from ancient ages (ancient Greece, Roman empire) and middle ages (i.e. after the fall of the Roman empire until the Renaissance). It's nice to experience what people who lived hundreds of years ago ate daily, or in special circumstances.

Does anyone know books or similar resources to propose on this regard ?

Thank you!

If you're looking for books, you could try "Roman Cookery" by Mark Grant or "The Classical Cookbook" by Andrew Dalby and Sally Grainger for ancient Roman food, or "The Philosopher's Kitchen" by Francine Segan, which combines ancient Greek and Roman cuisine.  Many of these recipes are derived from the works of Apicius, but are not solely based on his writings.  "Roman Cookery" has been praised for getting beyond just Apicius (the best known resource on Ancient Roman cuisine), but also may be harder to find than the other two.

For Medieval cooking you might try "The Medieval Cookbook" by Maggie Black, which focuses on English and French recipes, or "Pleyn Delit" by Butler, Heiatt, and Hosington.  Black's book was inspired by "Pleyn Delit" and the two books are somewhat similar, so you might want to only choose one, depending on your interest.  Another good choice might be "The Medieval Kitchen" by Redon, Sabban, and Serventi (translated to English by Edward Schneider), which focuses on French and Italian cuisine in the era before New World ingredients were introduced, which sounds like what you're looking for.

All of these books include a lot of history and discussion of ingredients and cooking techniques of these eras, and often include original texts so you can judge for yourself how close the interpretations are to the original recipes.

On the web there are a number of sites devoted to Apicius and ancient ingredients and recipes.
For Roman you might browse this page:

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mjw/recipes/ethnic/historical/ant-rom-coll.html

or for Medieval recipes you might try these:

http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/medieval.html

http://www.medievalcookery.com/recipes/

http://www.godecookery.com/godeboke/godeboke.htm

Medieval Cookery also makes it easy to browse by category or country.


Are there any guidelines for converting cooking recipes from Regular Ovens to Convection? I was looking to buy a Convection Oven and wanted to know if there are any general differences in baking methods between the two.

The forced movement (convection) of the hot air by fans is what improves the cooking in a convection oven.  The beautiful part is that it allows you to cook on ANY or EVERY single rack in your oven.  Here are the adjustments you'll need to make:

For baked goods you typically drop the temperature by 25°F (10°C).  If the recipe says to bake at 350°F then you'd bake at 325°F in a convection oven.  This is most important in baked goods so that the interior has a chance to cook through before the exterior is overcooked or burnt.

You also need to decrease the baking time by 10-15 PERCENT.  To make it easier to determine when to check, I usually suggest checking the item about 5-10 minutes earlier than the shorter time indicated in the recipe.  If a recipe says bake 25-30 minutes, then check it at about 20 minutes.  It may need a bit more time but you'll be pretty close.

When roasting meats and vegetables you can use the above method OR you can leave it at the regular temperature and then cook for 25-30 PERCENT less time.

In the instance of method #1 for meat you'll get less shrinkage and less chance of possibly drying it out.

In the instance of method #2 for meat, it will cook quicker and get better browning and therefore a bit more flavor.

A third option to take advantage of both methods is to cook it at the reduced temperature for most of the time but then turn it up 25-50°F for the last 20-30 minutes of cooking to improve the browning.


How to store red bean paste? I've bought some red bean paste to use to fill mochi. I don't think I'll use it all in one go and I'm not able to translate what the package says for how to store it.

What is the best way to store it once the package is opened and how long will it last for?

(This is the paste I am using: http://www.japancentre.com/items/maeda-hokkaido-red-bean-paste-koshian)

Many thanks :)

As a fermented bean paste, it should last for weeks in an airtight container in the fridge. For best results, make sure to leave as little head room (for air) as possible in the container.

To be honest, when I store Miso (for example), I just squeeze the air out and put a clip on the bag it came in, and then leave it in the fridge.

If you need longer storage than several weeks, you can probably freeze it, though at that point you might want to consider buying smaller packages.


What's the best water temperature for making Pizza dough I know the dry yeast proofing is at 100 - 110F, but what about the water that goes into the flour?

Choosing a temperature means choosing between proofing speed and flavor + gluten development. Higher temperatures (say 80-90 f) will get you a fast rise, but less flavor and gluten is not as well developed. A long, slow rise in the refrigerator takes much longer and typically gives you better flavor and texture.

Here's a link to a good page on temperature and yeast.


Making pie or crisp out of thawed fruit that is mostly juice Can I make pie or crisp out of thawed berries that the juice has come out?  Should I use more corn starch?
Phil, Thank you for your reply.  I don’t have a recipe.
Should I drain off some of the liquid,
Or leave it all in? I will make a crisp rather than a pie. I usually dredge fresh fruit in a mixture of sugar and flour or sugar and cornstarch. I add spices, then add the crisp. This is the first time I have tried to use frozen fruit that is in a big puddle of juice!  My question is, should I drain off some of the juice, or just add more if a thickening agent?
Thank you.
Edith

You should include the liquid and account for it in measuring your thickener.
Remember: fruit is mostly water. Take a look at a chart listing fruits by water content. Berries, stone fruit, and your other likely pie candidates all hover around 85% water; most of it escapes while the pie cooks. So to get a thick pie filling, you need quite a bit of sugar and starch.
When fruit is frozen, ice crystals break up some of the structure of the constituent cells. When it thaws, the fruit will be quite soft and juices may escape. However, no new water is introduced. Thus you need to retain the juices to get the same overall water content as fresh fruit.
I would caution against thickening without any measurements though. To get consistent results, you should really be thickening by weight. I follow these instructions from Stella Parks: she thickens fruit with 5.5% of its weight in tapioca starch and 25% of its weight in sugar. Cornstarch is a slightly stronger thickener; consistent with this chart from King Arthur Flour, you should reduce the amount of thickener by a third.
Thus my final advise is:

Weigh out the berries and any escaped juices.
Multiply the weight by 0.25 and add that much sugar.
Multiply the weight by 0.037 and add that much cornstarch.

Cornstarch sets at 203°F (95°C) so make sure your pie filling is bubbling before removing it from the oven.


Can I freeze chickpea curry? I've made chickpea curry which has canned chickpeas, canned tomatoes and coconut cream (and onions, chilli powder, tumeric

I can't imagine any reason why you couldn't.  There's nothing in there (like a delicate fish) that could possibly lose texture or taste from being frozen.


Can mold spread to unopened butter? My daughter left a crockpot of food in the refrigerator for over a month. Mold was crazy bad in the crockpot. 3 packages of unopened butter were in the refrigerator also. Should they be thrown out?

Butter is mainly fat - no nitrogen. (It is about 0.8% protein by weight.)  So it is not a very nutritive environment. But its principle protection is that it is “dry”. Although it is about 16% water, that water is emulsified and therefore protected from contamination.  The original wax paper wrapping, and the surrounding container, as well as the temperature of the fridge, would make it very difficult for microbial contamination or growth to occur.


Why are we frying in the oil, but not in any other liquid? (besides the temperature) Yes, water is boiling at ~100°C (212 F), but boiling point also depends from the pressure. If we could achieve 180°C (350 F) for water, at very high pressure, could we fry something in that water? Or oil has any other characteristics, that are important for frying?

We do cook over 100C in a pressure cooker, but not enough to brown food, as this would take very high pressures. It probably wouldn't be safe or economical at home, and doesn't have enough of an advantage over ovens (which may use steam) for it to be worth doing industrially.

Solubility is a big factor, for example salt dissolves in water but not oil, and capsaicin (chilli heat) dissolves in oil but not water. Hydration is important to the texture of many foods (starch, for example). Cooking in oil reduces hydration, while cooking in water increases it, so I doubt you could make chips (fries) in water even at 200C. New techniques would need to be developed unless this extreme pressure cooking was just a way of speeding up existing methods.


Is sugar a necessary ingredient to feed yeast? I consider myself a reasonably successful baker, including making my own bread dough from scratch. Lately, when searching for some new and different recipes,  I notice not all dough recipes call for sugar, or any form of sugar. I was always taught that sugar is food and life for yeast and crucial for a proper rise?  What would be the reason for this omission?

The answer is that there are a range of (natural) sugars in the flour and a range of sugars that can be generated by the yeast by breaking down the starches and other carbohydrates in flour. Yeast are a hardy organism and can metabolize many different carbohydrates to produce sugars for successful growth.

Carbohydrates are chemical compounds composed of Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen. Usually carbohydrates come in a monomer (single molecule) form such as glucose or they come in dimer (2 molecules joined together) such as sucrose (sugar; made up of a glucose molecule and a fructose molecule), after this they form short chains known as oligomers and then polymers. The polymers come in a huge variety, many of which we consume on a regular basis and know as "starch". Yeasts and many other organisms (including ourselves) can break down starches into their individual monomers - and derive energy from these monomers, just as they would from the monomers themselves.

There are also alternate sources of sugars in many recipes: Some recipes ask for milk - it contains some sugars too - you have probably heard of lactose; it's a type of sugar that yeast will happily metabolize - it turns out this isn't the case - lactose is a sugar, but, you need specially modified yeast for them to able to metabolize lactose. The milk provides some fat and protein in bread making. Many grains contain sugars in forms other than starch too - whole wheat grains contain things like raffinose, which the yeast can use for growth.

There's a nice relatively simple explanation of yeast metabolism here that is mostly targeted at production of alcoholic products - but the same mechanisms apply to bread making, which is often carried out with the same organisms.

Note that sour-dough loaves use a range of bacteria and yeasts that ferment sugars to produce the distinctive lactic acid sour taste. The mechanisms by which they do this are quite diverse, but they are equally adept at breaking down sources of sugar into simple, metabolisable sugars.


What is the upper limit of cake pan size before I definitely need a tube cake pan of angel food cake? I am actually making a giant cupcake and I have a paper mold that is about 6.5 inches and 7 inches high.  I am completely familiar with the mechanics of how angel food cakes and chiffons work, I just would like to know what the largest cake pan size I can use before I really NEED a center hole.

The answer, like most other things in life, is: "it depends". Angel food cake (and chiffon) can be very sensitive air pressure and humidity. You will find that on rainy days, the cake will rise higher and therefore have more of a tendency to collapse on you after baking. There really isn't a hard upper limit on when you'll need to use a tube pan.
That said, you might be able to get away with a 7-inch angel food cake if you do it at a low enough temperature and you're careful not to try baking it on a rainy day. You probably wouldn't get away with that using a 9-inch pan on any day, though. All you can do is try it and see what happens.


Tips for making lean ground beef patties tender? I have to eat 93% lean beef as part of my diet. I am trying to find creative ways of cooking it because throwing it in the instapot with some tomato sauce is getting bland. I'd like to try making it into a burger so I can pretend like I'm eating a burger.

Yesterday I added some salt, garlic powder, chili powder, and olive oil to 12oz of raw ground beef, and mixed it up with my hands. I then rolled it into a ball and slowly pressed it into a fairly thick patty. I then seared both sides on high heat and then lowered the heat and covered it for a few minutes. The internal temp (assuming my thermometer was correct) was 120 degrees F which is what I read online was restaurant style medium rare. Unfortunately, when I forked off a piece of the patty, the insides of it were still mushy like the ground beef. It also wasn't very juicy or palatable like I expected.

Does anyone have some cooking tips on making lean ground beef as tender as possible when cooked? In my next attempt I will probably try to make a thinner patty, then pan sear both sides and put it in the oven at 400 for 6 minutes.

I use only 5% fat beef - which I would assume would be considered 95% lean, though the UK doesn't measure it that way.
I cannot abide fatty meat, but that's a topic for another day ;)

For me, a burger is 500g beef mince, an onion, either finely diced, or pre-fried [different flavour profile], 1 egg, a good handful of breadcrumbs [somewhere between 1 & 2 tbsp, I guess] a little salt & pepper & often a hint of cayenne. You could get adventurous with a hint of dill or even some finely-diced pickled gherkin.

That will make 4 large patties or 6 - 8 small ones.
I shape to 'about 1.5x the diameter of the bun it will go in' to allow for shrinkage, maybe 5 - 7mm thick.

Grill, medium-high, one side until it 'looks done' [1], browning nicely & bubbling any fat/water off - I've never measured a temperature in my life - flip it, give it maybe half the time again on the 2nd side. Cheese optional, takes about the same time to melt the cheese as it does to toast the bun on the inside.
 Done.
If you still find that dull, try a side of home-made cole slaw. Add to that a dash of Tabasco for an instant hit, or some coriander [cilantro] & lime juice.

btw, there are a million things you can do with mince, even if many of them are tomato-based.
Chilli, curry [& how many different curries are there?] bolognese, shepherd's [cottage] pie, meatloaf, meatballs, kofte, kebabs, stuffed peppers...
& that's before you even think about chunks rather than simple mince.
Goulash, youvetsi, tagine, Ethiopian wat, rendang, Irish stew... the list just goes on & on...

Pick a different continent every day. [2]

[1] Until you get used to the timing, just break it in half when you flip it, so you can get a visual clue as to how far through it's cooked. After a while you'll be able to tell by just looking, or by poking at it with your finger.

[2] This is our family's cooking motto.


What causes popovers to rise so much? I recently made popovers and I knew they would 'pop over'.
Yet, I was surprised they came that high.
I'm curious how this is possible, since there is no yeast, baking powder, self-rising flour, beaten egg whites...

I think it's because of the egg, but I'm not sure.
So, can somebody explain this?

There is a lot of water in the milk. The high heat turns the water into steam. The egg and flour contains proteins and gluten that forms a "net". The steam can't escape without pushing the net upwards. This makes the dough rise.

It helps that the container is a narrow cylinder.


When Making A Pie With Graham Cracker Crust, How Can I Get The Crust Just Moist Enough? I love making key lime pie.  I've made it a few times this summer with this very simple and delicious recipe:

1 Container Cool Whip
1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 (or 1/3) C. Lime Juice
1 Graham Cracker Crust

Mix first 3 ingredients, pour into crust and refrigerate at least a few hours before eating.

The first time I made it, I used 1/2 C. lime juice (following the original recipe).  I found it a bit too acidic, so I lowered the amount to 1/3 C. the next time and I enjoyed it much better.  The first pie's crust got a little too wet after a few days of being refrigerated, but the second pie's crust didn't really get moist at all.  I would like the crust to be somewhere in between, but I would like to maintain the amount of lime juice at 1/3 C.

Is there someway I can control how moist the crust gets over a few days of being in the fridge without changing the ingredient amounts/proportions or the fridge's temperature?  For instance, something I can do before I pour the mixture into the crust or the temperature of the ingredients?

I've found by asking that most people don't bake the graham cracker crust before filling it. This is especially true if we're talking about a pre-made grocery store graham cracker crust.

It needs to be baked and "sealed" in the process and it will stay much firmer and hold up against the moisture longer.

I brush graham cracker crusts with an egg wash and bake for a few minutes until it toasts up a darker brown. The egg wash, when baked on, helps form a decent barrier against the moisture of the pie contents. This has the added benefit of a much better tasting graham cracker crust.

If you aren't used to doing this baking step, you'll probably be surprised how much better the pie turns out. You'll also start noticing how many unbaked graham cracker crusts show up at gatherings as it's immediately obvious the difference once you've seen both.


How long should a 4-5 pound rib roast take in an infrared cooker? I'm going to attempt to cook a 4-5 pound rib roast in an infrared cooker. Specifically, a Big Easy Infrared Turkey Fryer.

Everything I've read says that it's done when it's done. I understand the sentiment there, but I would like to know an approximate time so that I can have other foods prepared to hit the table at the same time.

How do I estimate how long this will take?

I'd use the recipe they have on their site for pork shoulder as a guideline, since it's very similar in terms of size and shape to a beef roast (just not as heavy).

They estimate 10 minutes per pound, which is more or less consistent with the per-side estimate of most broiler recipes (which is very similar to infrared cooking).

So start with an estimate of 40-50 minutes but do what they recommend and monitor the temperature very carefully.

I have to point out that 4-5 pounds is very heavy/large for high-heat cooking methods like broiling or grilling (or infrared); it's not the same as infrared "frying" a turkey or a leg of lamb which has a very high surface area/weight ratio. Steaks would no doubt come out great this way but larger roasts respond better to roasting, so don't be too surprised if your roast starts to get seriously charred on the outside before it's sufficiently cooked on the inside.

You might want to consider starting with smaller, 2-3 lb roasts, and move up the weight next time if those come out perfectly. Based on their claims, it should take roughly the same amount of time for one large item vs. two smaller items anyway.


Why Buckwheat Pancakes? I'm interested in buckwheat. What is it, what are the common uses, and why are there so many recipies (relatively speaking) for buckwheat pancakes? What does the buckwheat do to a pancake that makes it particularly well suited for that item?

Does it have certain nutritional or chemical properties that it is valued for in the cooking community?

Is it common among serious/enthusiast chefs, and I'm just out of the loop?

Buckwheat seems to have fallen out of favor in the US. In other countries it is still a staple.

In Russia buckwheat (grechka) is eaten as a hot cereal- just boil it until it bursts and add some sweetened condensed milk. Delicious. In fact- the best way I have purchased it locally is by finding international grocery stores that have a Russian section.

It has a very distinctive nutty, earthy flavor. You would recognize it if you have had it so it seems unlikely to me that there might be some clandestine usage and you are "out of the loop" at all.

Although it is very nutritious (a whole grain and all), it is used in pancakes just for the flavor. It's usage in pancakes seems to be purely traditional and taking informal surveys of my friends (in Texas) it is uncommon for anyone to know what it is at all.


Pork Tenderloin Safe to eat? I bought a 4 pound pork tenderloin and put it immediately in the freezer.  It was there a week or so.  Then I took it out and placed it on the counter Monday night to thaw.  I don't have central heat and my internal thermometer hasn't gotten above 40-45 in days.  I forgot about the tenderloin for about 20 hours.  I was prescribed a medication that made me rather violently ill the last two days.  When I remembered on Tuesday evening, I ran and grabbed it and threw it in the fridge.  It was cool (like it had been in the fridge) to the touch.  It was vacuum packed.  I took it out today to roast after asking for advice in a group I am in.  Everyone there said it would be fine.  I even read that the door in a fridge can get up to 59 degrees, so food stored there spoils faster.  I opened the roast and it had a slight smell.  I rinsed it and there was zero smell.  It is not slimy.  It isn't stinky.  Think it's okay to roast and eat?

Cryopacked pork (I am assuming that's the product you have) can stink when you open the package...apparently companies have lost a lot of money due to unnecessary returns of this product. If it was cryopacked, and the package's integrity remains unquestioned, AND if the smell is like eggs and that's your concern, well it's supposed to be safe...I however won't buy cryopacked pork again just because I don't want to second guess myself and wonder if I am going to make myself sick...

so as you can see, this is NOT a definitive answer really...

My answer is "it's supposed to be safe, but I still don't like it"


"Old wild west" secret sauce I don't know if the "Old Wild West" franchise even exists outside of Italy, but I'll give it a shot anyway.
In those restaurants they serve this sauce,

which colors resembles much the one of a cocktail sauce. In the sauce there is something solid that I believe to be tiny pieces of chili peppers.
It has a neutral smell and tastes creamy, slightly spicy. It is very good to eat with sausages or roasted meat.

I have asked the waiters to tell me the recipe, but they wouldn't. Once, a friend of mine told me that it was a mix of mayo, ketchup, chili peppers and worchester sauce. I tried several times to mix them with verious percentages of the components and nothing I could come up with tasted anything like that.

Can you help me to understand the recipe?

I've never been to Old Wild West but that looks very much like "fry sauce" or "secret sauce" as we use them here in the United States. In looking at Old Wild West's website, it appears to be geared around offering traditional US style burgers, fries, steaks, ribs, etc. so the inclusion of US style fry sauce would make sense. Here is a link to a typical version that would be used here: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/epicurious-not-so-secret-sauce-51261820


What is an alternative to chicken broth for Mexican rice? A recipe for Mexican rice calls for chicken broth. Where I live, this is difficult to buy and expensive. Is there any alternative?

Some recipes might be pickier, but Mexican rice is almost certainly the kind of thing where the broth is just there to add a bit of background flavor, and it doesn't have to be specifically chicken. So you can be pretty flexible. Your primary options are:

Use a different kind of pre-made broth. They'll all work for something like that, just provide slightly different flavors.
Use bouillon cubes/paste. These are likely to be less expensive since they don't have all that water weight/volume that costs money to ship. You can even buy them online, depending where you live. They do tend to be saltier, so be careful - if the recipe calls for any other salt, you can probably just leave it out.
Make your own. If broth is expensive but you can get a whole chicken you'll be in fine shape. And again, not-chicken is fine too; you can use any other kind of meat with plenty of bone in it. If you go to a little trouble, you can get something way, way better than you'd ever buy. (Just search online for recipes; there's no shortage.) But even just boiling a whole chicken in water will get you something usable.

And if somehow none of that works... water, a little seasoning (something with some umami in it) and salt if necessary? Water plus some kind of instant seasoning packet, even ramen seasoning? It's hard to say, since I don't live where you do and know what's easy to find.


blackened carrot cake I have a favorite carrot cake recipe that I have made many times.  it is always beautiful and tasty (although I am sure some would debate that since it contains pineapple).  However, that last two times I made it, it went into the pan looking normal, came out looking normal, and within 3-4 hours it turned a very dark grey, almost black even.

I am guessing that there was some sort of chemical reaction going on involving the pineapple.  i used a different brand than usual while everything else stayed the same.  I will say I haven't yet tried switching back to the original brand of pineapple to see if that solves it (haven't had a chance, but a good scientist - which i am not - would do that pronto).

The contents are :
2.5 C whole wheat flour
2   C brown sugar
2   t cinnamon
1   t nutmeg
1   t cardamom
2   t baking powder
1   t soda
.5  t salt
1   C chopped walnuts

4     eggs
1     egg white (or just another egg)
3   C shredded carrots
2   C crushed pineapple, with juice (no measure on the juice, just "some")
1   C veg oil
2   t vanilla

Anything there the pineapple would be reacting with?  And why oh why would it be great for many years and then start turning so sickly looking?

Two things come to mind
     1. Do you peel your carrots?
     2. Metal pan reaction .
Try peeling your carrots.  I have gone as far as cleaning my fresh carrots with a green scrub pad. But have found nothing works as well as peeling them. Even if you never peeled them before, when you said you did not have this problem, It could be a reaction to something thats being "added" to the carrots now days.
The other thing I had a problem with in the past was the type of pan I used. I found that some metal pans would discolor my cake. And the longer the cake is left in the pan it would effect the flavor as well.
Hope this helps someone. Have a great day!


How does vacuum packing affect safe meat storage time? I recently bought some vacuum-packed pork back ribs, with a sell-by date more than two weeks after I bought it. I don't think I've ever seen a date that far out on meats and I'm not sure how to interpret it. I assume it has something to do with the vaccum-packing.

I gather that meat isn't necessarily good until the sell-by date, because home refrigerators aren't as good at what they do as what the store uses. How long can I expect these ribs, and similar products, to last before I must cook them?

Vacuum-packing elongates food storage times because by removing the air you remove the oxygen, which aerobic organisms (in this case bacteria) thrive on. No oxygen means no bacterial growth. This is also known as Reduced Oxygen Packaging and can extend freezer life by years.

Some things to keep in mind:

If you open the package, it's life will drop considerably, and you
will be back to a few days tops
If your package fills with air, either the seal broke, or a significant amount of oxygen was trapped inside and bacterial growth is generating decomposition gases.
If your food provider is a reputable source then their dating is probably accurate. There are significant regulations regarding ROP, and they probably have a production plan that monitors how the food is processed, with dates that are then determined by how the process works.


Recommendations on how to have a hog butchered? I have commissioned a pig from a local farmer and it will be going to the butcher soon.  It turns out that I can have it butchered to my specific requests.  Has anyone done this before and have any recommendations?
Specifically, should I have the bacon sliced or leave it in slabs (Alton Brown says slab is better but how hard is it to cut)?
What is the best way to have the shoulder cut?  I am thinking a picnic roast and a butt.
What is the best way to deal with the loin.  Will each side give just one tenderloin and one "center cut loin" for a roast?  If I get those will there be any back left for pork chops?
Any recommendations for the  back leg?  Ham vs. roast?

Lucky you.  I usually have all the shoulders split in two, cured and smoked, hocks and shanks smoked, belly smoked (bacon).  Some roasts and the rest into chops and steaks.

Your cut and wrap (butcher) will put things up the way you ask, so have him put up meal size bits.  The usual way to receive custom cut and wraped meat is frozen, haven't heard of anyone getting it fresh..there's just too much of it.

I like my pigs between 105 - 110 kilos/230 -240 pounds on the hoof; seems to give the right lean/fat ratio.  They grow them much fatter in some places, China is one.

You can have the shoulders left whole, that is a fairly large cut of meat though, better to have them cut into hams and picnics. Have them cut your shanks and hocks up a bit too.

Custom cut and wrap outfits that are good are very good, some of them make excellent sausage, which brings this consideration into the mix, I would recommend trying the sausage you are thinking of having made first.

Finally, the smoke on your very own pig parts will totally blow any other smoked pork product flavors out of the water, there is just no comparison.

enjoy :)


Can Splenda be substituted for regular sugar when making your own sweetened condensed milk? Can you substitute Splenda for the regular sugar in making your own sweetened condensed milk

The answer is yes.  I found this link for you from Genius Kitchen
https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/sweetened-condensed-milk-with-splenda-412496

There are many recipes for both low carb and diabetic friendly Sweetened condensed milk.

Also the following:  https://www.yummly.com/recipes/sweetened-condensed-milk-with-splenda


How can I cut a tomato without a knife? I am trying to make a salad but I can't find a knife at my work. Is there a way I can cut the tomato without a knife?

I'd just cut it at home that morning and bring it. If that didn't work out, I'd bring a pocketknife.

I'm sure you can kludge things, but really, ripe tomatoes are one of the worst things to try to cut with a dull knife. It's so easy to make a mess of them, juice everywhere. And even if your tomatoes aren't that ripe, this still seems easier.

(And if I ended up at work with a salad and a whole tomato and no knife somehow, I'd probably just eat it like an apple while I ate the rest of my salad with a fork.)


Smoking 3lb Pork Butt I'm smoking a small 3lb pork butt we picked up at the farmer's market. If I plan on cooking it at 225 degrees, how long do you think it will take to get to an internal temp of 160? That's when I plan on wrapping it in foil before getting it to an internal temp of 190. Thanks for helping out a newbie!

It is difficult to predict when you will reach your foiling target, but the general rule of thumb for pulled pork at your stated cooking temperature is about 1.5 hours per pound, with some general allowances for margin of error.

I would plan on the entire cook taking about 5-6 hours, but be ready for it to be finished in 4. At about 3 hours, start checking temperatures to determine when you will want to foil your roast.

Final note: If your intent is to make pulled pork, do NOT assume that it is done just because it is at 190f. Your thermometer probe should slide in and out of the meat with virtually zero resistance.


What is bakery emulsion and how is it different from flavoring extract? I was in Ross for Less and saw (and bought) a bottle of lemon bakery emulsion because it just sounded good.  Looking online it seems that it is a one for one replacement for extract, but I have not found a real difference online.  I haven't had the chance to try it in anything yet.

What is the difference between bakery emulsion and a flavoring extract (there were other bakery emulsion flavors on the shelf, so it is not just lemon that comes this way)?  Are there certain types of recipes that benefit from emulsion over extract, and why?

I've added a bounty for this question, but I need an answer based on experience.  I know how to search the web.

A flavoring extract is flavoring disolved in alcohol, while a flavoring emulsion is flavoring suspended in water with an emulsifier. Citrus oils like lemon have a stronger flavor when placed in an emulsion than an extract, and that is why they often come that way. (source)

As far as uses go, bakery emulsions keep the incorporated flavors more stable while your mixture changes temperature, and they combine more easily with other emulsions (butter, sugar, egg for example) than extracts do. As this book indicates those characteristics make them especially useful for pastry cremes.


Why are salt and pepper the "classic" dinner table seasoning? Is there a reason we use salt and pepper on so many dishes and they can be found in any kitchen table at dinner time? Does it have to do with their flavor synergies, or were they just more available "back in the day"?

Salt is perhaps the most basic and effective flavour enhancer, and so it's fairly obvious why we have it on our dinner tables.

The popularity of pepper is down to the Romans, who were crazy about it. Thanks to the longevity of the Roman Empire, pepper was imported for hundreds of years, helping to establish it as the most popular spice, and keeping the price high.

Bill Bryson reports in At Home that:

  When the Goths threatened to sack Rome in 408, the Romans bought them off with three thousand pounds of pepper.


home made cough sweets didn't set properly Please could you help me find out what went wrong? I have made these before and they were slightly soft, but edible. This batch half set, but still runny

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Method:

Simmer for 20 minutes on low heat
Take off heat and allow to cool slightly
Drop onto baking paper
Dust with icing sugar

you need a Candy thermometer. Sugar needs to be heated to the soft or hard crack temps in order to set as desired. If the sugar does reach the needed temp, then it won't do what you wanted. Hard crack makes hard candies, soft crack makes softer but firm candies.


Help with finding pod-based Coffee and Espresso maker I'll preface my question by explaining that I'm not a coffee drinker myself so that whole world is a bit of a mystery. But I've been asked to buy a gift with the following specifications:

Must be a combination coffee and espresso maker
Must use pods rather than be ground coffee only
Needs to be compatible with various coffee manufacturers with Peet's Coffee as a specific example. (as far as I understand any of this I gather that Peet's only does K-cup of Nespresso OriginalLine)

I thought this would be simple, but it's surprisingly complicated! It seems that the various pod types can't interact with other makers, and some machines make "espresso-style drinks" but not espressos whatever that means.

Does anyone know of a good machine that would hit all of the points? I'm looking at around the $300 or less mark

The manufacturers of the machines and the coffee partner to make use of brand recognition. So I could buy Costa brand (2nd biggest coffee shop chain in the UK) for my Tassimo, but if I wanted Starbucks I'd need a different machine. Nespresso is part of Nestle so they're not going to licence rivals to make pods for their machines. The choice you can easily buy is as important as the overall range - while you can get the pods delivered it works out expensive. Pods from different manufacturers are completely incompatible, and these machines don't take normal ground coffee without hacking the packaging.

I've used a Nespresso and a Senseo and have a Tassimo (that I no longer use because the coffee is expensive and wasteful on non-recyclable packaging). Neither makes espresso, despite labelling. They make a reasonable imitation of a weak espresso. The nespresso is slightly better in that regard, or a Tassimo that allows you to adjust the amount of water (so not the most basic). But a moka pot is closer to espresso than either. Some also do you chocolate (though not very well); I'm only keeping my Tassimo to use that up.

Pretty much any pod machine that says it can do espresso can also do plain coffee. Overall you need to pick one for which the biggest range of suitable pods is available easily. Suitable depends on the user.


Is not using soap when washing cast iron pans safe? Most advice on cast iron pan care says that most of the time you shouldn't use soap when washing a pan. However, that may leave some residual fat/grease from your cooking on the pan.

It can be fat/oil with a low smoke point which is going to smoke then next time you heat the pan.

Would it be safe to cook in such smoking pan? Should you burn it till it stops smoking? Is this smoke in the kitchen safe for your lungs?

That residual fat is leftover from what you cooked in there before, so it would only be an issue after cooking something with a very low smoke point, washing the pan,  then cooking something with a high smoke point.

Wiping the pan with a paper towel will get rid of the vast majority of this, and if you dry it over heat you can carry on to cook off the last little bit, like a sort of half-baked or top-up seasoning. Doing this before storage gives the smoke smell time to clear before you next use it, but this should be minimal if you cook it off gently. I recommend turning on the cooker hood extractor if you have one.

I like the heat-retention of cast iron but I've gone over to enamelled (le Creuset). I still use a carbon steel wok that needs reseasoning after using the traditional metal spatula, so I actually rinse, dry with heat, wipe over with oil and heat.


Convert to tablespoons of whipped butter Recipe calls for tablespoons of butter but all I have is whipped butter. What is the conversion?

I would expect this to vary by how much air the manufacturer whipped into their butter.

I would recommend going by weight. Butter weighs about the same as water (obviously not exactly the same as it floats but close enough.) It is about .5oz per Tbs.

Either use a scale or use the weight/serving info on the label to measure out .5oz.


Cooked or Raw - Shrimp peeling I'm not very good at peeling shrimp, but I've been practicing lately with raw shrimp. I have the theory that raw shrimp are peeled more easily than cooked.

Every time I try to peel a cooked shrimp, the flesh sticks to the skin. Is there a way to peel cooked shrimp easily?

As for method, I guess it's the same for cooked as for raw.

Take the head off.
Take the tail between thumb and index finger and peel the legs off.
Take the tail and the first section and 'break' the next section lose.
Take the tail off.
Take the first section of the body between the palm and little finger and with the index finger peel the back off the shrimp.

Done.

Do you use the same method as I? Should I apply another method for cooked shrimp?

Edit I've had no luck with another batch of shrimp. This time no method of mine worked, as the skin would stick to the flesh. Is this a problem of freshness (too fresh or not fresh enough)? (Should I post this edit in another question?)

I was always taught to take the head and tail between your fingers of each hand, pull it out straight, push together slightly, then pull apart. That should pull the whole carapace back off the body. Then you can pull off the head (and legs if they're still there) and you're done.

However, I've seldom gotten it to work when raw, and less so when cooked.

I agree, cooked shrimp are harder to peel, and just add an unwanted challenge to the diner when included in most dishes.


is broth that hasn't been boiled safe? I was making turkey broth last night in the oven (turkey bones and leftover meat in a stockpot in a 170 F oven for 6+ hours). I read about this technique on a chef's blog, which I can find if needed.

Then I got to thinking. The broth certainly has bacteria in it from the turkey carcass. And all those bacteria are sitting in water, with plenty of proteins floating around in a nice toasty oven. Is all this bacteria + protein + water + heat safe? It seems like broth should be unsafe at the least. Is 170F enough to kill the bacteria that would be present here?

On the other hand, chefs have been doing this for quite a while and everyone seems fine.

170 degrees is perfectly fine.

To talk bacteria, you have to take into account two factors: temperature, and time. Anything between 40 and 140 is good for them, anything above 140 is bad. At the same time, food in the dangerzone that is eaten/cooked/frozen promptly, is fine, because it takes time to build up a colony of harmful proportions.

In this case your temperature is 170 degrees, which is hot enough to kill most common bacteria instantly (Milk is pasteurized in the 160s), and then you keep it at that temperature for hours? The toughest common bacteria (C. botulinum) dies very quickly at 180 degrees...It's the only one I know off the top of my head that doesn't immediately die in the 170 range. And keeping your stock at 170 for 10 minutes or so will kill any C. botulinum that may have somehow found it's way inside it.

You've got nothing to worry about.

(Basics of TDT calculation)


Can raw chicken share a top loading cooler next to RTE food like cheese and also Raw Ground Beef? The picture is of a top loading cooler ( freezer. Heh..) ground beef on the right. Raw chicken in the middle and RTE cheese on the left

That layout is a very bad idea, it would be very easy for the raw chicken to come in contact with the cheese and raw vegetables just to the left of it. Even if the chicken itself doesn't come into contact the chicken juices could drip or spatter.


Crispier pizza crust. What surface to go for in a home oven? After having read most of serious eats' recommendations for better home oven pizzas, I still have a question regarding the surface to be used to achieve a better and crispier crust.

I am on a budget an hesitating between a pizza crispier such as:
Airbake-Nonstick-15-inch

or a pizza stone like this one:
Fox-Run-13-Inch-Pizza-Stone

Both are under $20 and I was wondering which is a better performer to achieve the crispiness in the pizza crust?

The pizza stone, used properly, will work far better.  The heat stored in the stone will help brown and crisp the bottom crust.

The perforated pan just allows some better air circulation into the bottom, which has little effect.  Its only true value is that it is fairly dark, and will therefore absorb the radiant heat of the oven better than a shiny pan would.

Recently, it has become apparent that the extremely high thermal capacity of a small steel slab, preheated and used as a cooking surface much akin to the pizza stone, actually performs the best, providing an effective blast of heat to the bottom crust.  Sadly, these are currently being marketed at a much higher price point than the products you mention.

See also:
The Pizza Lab:  Baking Steel, Lodge Cast Iron Pizza


What are some best practices to cook salmon on a cedar plank in an oven? I know that cedar plank cooking is normally done on a grill but I want to see what I can do with it indoors.

What are some ways to get more of the wood flavor when cooking salmon with a cedar plank in the oven?

The experts at Outdoor Gourmet suggest:

Soak the grilling plank for 1-2 hrs.
Preheat the oven to 350°-400°.
Place food on grilling plank; place the grilling plank in oven. Put a baking dish under it to catch the drips.
Bake according to recipe until done.
Reserve grilling plank to use again in the oven or on the grill.


Adding 'swirls' to savoury bread dough I'd like to make a mustard bread that I can get at my local coffee shop:

It's got mustard swirls in it but is a normal loaf shape. When and how do you incorporate savoury sauces like mustard or pesto, and are there any tricks I should know about?

Any additional ingredients should be incorporated after the first proofing.

So after your bread has been set aside to rise in a warm place and doubled in size, knock it back to release the carbon dioxide, then add in your mustard any way you want.

It might be worth rolling out the dough, spreading the mustard along the inside, and then rolling up the dough and cutting it into small pieces to create the swirls.

The bread should then be shaped as you want it and left to rise for another 30-45 minutes or so. After all this it should be good to go.


I left creme fraiche out of fridge for 2 hours it turned bad How long can you keep creme fraiche out of the fridge before it gets spoiled

In most cases, you would have about 2 hours of time in the "danger zone" before the food should be considered irretrievably unsafe.... obviously this was not the case for you.  If the ambient temperature is especially high, or the product was close to turning anyway, you might get less time.


Can I save wet biscuits? In the rainy season biscuits and other dry goods become wet under their packing. Can they be recovered?

Just put them in the oven at 100 °C (212 °F, the boiling point of water) and all the humidity will dry out naturally.

The time depends on the size and amount of water in the biscuits:

smaller and damp: 5 minutes
large and very wet: up to 20 minutes.


How much salt do I use to ferment 1 quart of cabbage? How much salt do I add to ferment 1 quart of cabbage?

According to the batch of sauerkraut I made yesterday, and this recipe 3/4ths of a Tablespoon per quart of grated cabbage is sufficient to ward off infection without making the end result overly salty.
 http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-homemade-sauerkraut-in-a-mason-jar-193124


How do you get burned wood off of a glass stovetop? I accidentally set a cork trivet on fire on top of my glass stovetop the other week, and it's left behind a gray burned on spot that feels different to the touch. I can't figure out how to get it off; I've used stovetop cleaner, baking soda, the little scraper thing, vinegar, and glass cleaner spray. Its still there. How do I get it off?

Some people might be inclined to think your glass is damaged rather than dirty, and that's why you can't get it clean. In a comment you say that the discoloration is raised, which suggests that's not the case.  However cook tops are, by definition, heat resistant, and I'm also assuming you didn't let this fire rage out of control for an extended period of time. I believe you're correct and the glass is fine, just dirty.
You've mostly done what I would try except I would use a scrubber sponge designed for glass cook tops. Get a fresh one, spritz it with a bit of water (it seems to scrub less well if it's too wet or completely dry), apply a generous amount of cleaner and start scrubbing with as much force as you can muster. If your sponge turns black or grey then you know it is working, even if it's slow. Move to a new spot on the sponge if it gets dirty enough that it's not rough to the touch anymore. You may have to scrub a lot. You could also try a different brand of cleaner, some do work better than others.
You could also try a razor blade, unless that's what you mean by "scraper tool". This is a pretty common method of getting burnt-on stuff off of glass cook tops, though I've never personally had to resort to it. If there's a lot of gunk, it may save you some scrubbing.
I tried looking for solvents that are safe to use, but wasn't able to find any. I even found a note that you shouldn't use regular glass cleaner because the ammonia in it isn't good for glass cook tops. I'm not sure if that's true, but you might want to avoid trying that again. It's only good for smudges anyway, so there's no reason to risk it.
My only other thought is to try soaking a towel in hot water and putting that on the gunk for a bit before scrubbing, as maybe that will soften it up. Wipe up excess water before scrubbing so the abrasives in the cleaner can do their work instead of just swimming in water.
Good luck! If you do solve it, please report back what worked best.


How do I wash the "pokey" side of a box grater? I have this box grater, and one of the sides is "non-directional" (not sure what this is called) -- that is, the pointy "blade" things are on every side of the holes:

Close-up:

The fibers you see are from ginger.

My question is: How do I clean this side of the grater?

Sponges and rags get torn apart and the fibers are left on the grater.
Brillo pads same deal, of course.
I tried rubbing it out with my fingers but, you know: Ouch.
Even scrubbing from the inside doesn't do much like it does for the directional sides of the grater. The food isn't stuck in the holes, it's stuck on the little points.
Rinsing it under the highest pressure water my sink has doesn't blow away the food matter either, it's just all snagged there pretty tightly.
I found this page about graters and the author there seems to just avoid that side of the grater specifically because of how hard it is to clean, so perhaps there is no hope here.
I do not have a dishwasher.

Even though the above picture has ginger fibers on it, I'm not looking for techniques just for this specific case (that just happened to be what was stuck on the grater when I took the picture). I have the same problem with this side of the grater no matter what I grate, e.g. cheese, even hard cheese, leaves bits of cheese there, which are slightly easier to remove with hot water than tangled fibers are, but still not easy.

What can I use to quickly and conveniently clean this after each use? The cleaning difficulty makes this my least favorite kitchen tool. I'm never excited when it looks like I have to use it.

A dishwasher gets cheese off even that side - but that's no good if you don't have one, nor is it very effective against ginger and other fibrous foods.

The best I've found is simply a washing up brush (i.e. plastic bristles and a long handle) from both sides. I would then put it in the dishwasher for a final clean unless I'm doing a proper load of washing up, which is rare


pork shoulder roast roasting question I have 2, 10 lb pork shoulder roasts that need to be roasted in my oven and done by noon. What is my start time? I certainly don't want to cook them as if a 20 lb roast, but don't feel certain that only cooking as a 10 ob roast is sufficient.  Any help is greatly appreciated.

Pork shoulders should be cooked low and slow, which is great because it gives you quite a bit of wiggle room. I'd recommend 12  hours at 275 with a lid on each roasting pan. I'd also recommend searing them on high heat before roasting in the oven.

Here's some anecdotal evidence to back me up:http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1143833/how-long-to-cook-two-10-pound-pork-butt


Can an Angel Food Cake recipe be converted to cupcakes? I know "standard" cake recipes can be converted to cupcakes by adjusting bake time... is the same true for angel food cakes as well? Or do other things need to be changed as well? Thanks!

I've made Angel Food mini cakes before. It was just a matter of adjusting the baking time. Using the standard "clean toothpick" method to ensure they were done worked fine for me.


What can I substitute for Rice flour in a gluten-free pizza? I am going to try to make gluten-free pizza for my wife, and I'm going to start with this Serious Eats recipe.

The recipe calls for white rice flour, but my wife has just about everything EXCEPT that.  She has:  corn, oat, potato, rye, sorghum, soy, and tapioca flours.

Which of these (if any) can I substitute for white rice flour?  Or should I just go out and buy some?

For posterity, the recipe is:

1 (7.5 ounce) package Chebe Original Bread Mix (not Pizza Mix)
1 cup white rice flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water plus an additional tablespoon or two, if needed
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil

I would go out an buy some.

Dough textures for gluten-free breads are fragile and the result of extensive testing with various non-wheat flours (at least, good ones like Serious Eats are).  None of the other flours you have available will have the same water absorbsion or starch content which rice flour does.  If you substitute, you'd have to make the recipe several times in order to recalibrate it.

Besides, rice flour is generally pretty useful if cooking for someone who can't eat gluten.  So you'll use the rest of it.  And if you can find it in a bulk foods store, it's quite cheap.


How to rescue 'dry' carnitas? I made carnitas in a slow cooker. I did not get a pork shoulder/butt cut of meat to make the carnitas recipe. I used pork loin instead...and rubbed salt, pepper, cumin, oregano on the meat. I put onions, fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, & garlic.  I cooked it for 8 hours on low heat.
After it was cooked, I shredded the meat a bit.
Even though the pork was cooking in its own juices, etc. the meat is 'dry', i.e. when I eat it, it doesn't have a nice mouth feel.  Is it because the pork loin is not as fatty as pork shoulder/butt?
Now I have 4 lbs of 'dry' meat that I don't want to waste.
Is there anyway to rescue this?  Do I just smother it in a lot of BBQ sauce, for example?

It is the fat and connective tissue breaking down that give pulled pork the luscious mouthfeel you describe. Smothering it with barbecue sauce would probably help, but my favourite thing to do with leftover or less than successful carnitas is a pasta sauce. I just add the meat to a good tomato sauce with appropriate seasoning and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes.


How long should I cook a steak to make it medium rare? I really like steak and always manage to cook it right but I haven't got it down to a fine art. I like my steak medium rare and though I always manage to get it very pink in the middle I don't know the exact times. How long should I cook a steak, and at what temperature, to make it medium rare? Thanks.

This is a 'how long is a piece of string' question. The thickness of the meat, the thickness and material of the pan, your hob type and various other factors will all influence the cooking time. So it is impossible to give you a hard and fast answer.

The best solution is to simply remove time from the equation altogether. Invest in a quick read digital probe thermometer and measure the temperature! You want the steak to be 55-57C in the middle for medium rare. It will keep cooking while it rests, so take the steak off the heat when it hits about 53-54.


What non-alcoholic liquid can I use to store Ginger, both cooked and raw? I've read that storing Ginger in wine vinegar or vodka preserves it. Is there something non-alcoholic that will do the same thing?

Vinegar is non-alcoholic, and my suggestion would be a brine of some sort, essentially pickling it. Alternatively you could just dry it out.

I should also add - Ginger is a root, and can generally be kept fresh in a cool dark place (ie. a root cellar) for some time.


Adding spice to poaching liquid I have recently started poaching some of my sausages. I add a spoon of barbeque spice to the hot water when I poach it. The sausage turns out great but I'm left wondering if the spice I add to the water actually adds any flavour? I suspect I might be wasting spoonsful of spice.

So does it achieve anything to add spice to poaching liquid?

A spoon of spice is definitely a waste of spice since there is so little spice in a great quantity of water. If you want to add flavor when you're cooking sausages, you'd either at least triple the quantity of spice or you could rub the sausages in the spice and grill them instead, do you poach them and then grill them ? or do you simply poach them ?


Cream cheese cupcake icing too sour How can I cut out the sour taste a bit and make it sweeter? Overall the icing tastes good, I'd just like to tweak it a bit.

The recipe I used contains:

2 8-oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature
8 Tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Oddly enough, a little SALT might help. Salt has the effect of blocking some sour receptors in the tongue while enhancing sweetness.


Is it possible to extract the allergens from shellfish? What exactly is it in shellfish that people are allergic to, and is it possible to extract those chemicals from them?

Allergic reaction to shellfish is typically caused by the protein tropomyosin. Since it is present in basically all of the muscle tissue of shellfish, extraction is not possible outside of a chemistry lab. Said lab extraction would destroy the food and likely render it inedible.

Update

Just found this recent article which indicates that myosin and sarcoplasmic calcium-binding protein (SCP) are also responsible for some allergic reactions.


I ate undercooked steak, what can happen to me? What are the risks of eating undercooked steak?

I tried to cooked medium rare steak for the first time and I did not know about the palm trick to see it the meat is ready. I ate a bite and it was very soft. After I googled and found the hand/palm firmness trick,I realizes my meat was not cooked.

The risks of eating undercooked steak vary based on the the region, the risk status of the person involved (are they a child, elderly, or immunocompromised in any way).

For normal healthy adults, the risks of eating a single bit of under cooked steak in any of the industrialized nations are fairly small.

Nothing might happen
You might suffer from food-borne illness, most likely e coli. from steak, with consequences ranging from:

You might get a "tummy ache"
You might suffer flu-like symptoms or vomiting for a few days
You might die, but it is quite unlikely

Note that food borne illness normally takes at least 24-48 hours to develop, and is related to the quantity of contaminated food consumed.  One bite is lower risk than a whole meal (lower, not none).

If you are seriously concerned, you should consult your physician.

See also:  Foodborne Diseases Factsheet from Texas state government


temperature of food in the microwave Is there any way to know the temperature of food cooking in the microwave?

I am making candy in the microwave and need to be able to cook it to the soft crack stage [290-300 degrees].  How do I know when it reaches this temperature?

Some microwaves (not many) include a temperature probe. If yours does not, no luck there.

Don't just stick in a thermometer, it will probably result in arcing and damage.

So, you're back to the olde-fashioned methods where the various stages (soft ball, hard ball, soft crack, hard crack) got their names from - drip some into cold water and see what happens to it, then microwave for some additional time, or don't - or use a stovetop and a pan and a thermometer (the microwave is a challenging heat source for candy-making.)


Cooking a ham a second time I put a ham in the fridge to defrost earlier this week. It was from a half-hog custom order we got so I'm not 100% sure but I think the processors said it was cured.

Today I put it on a wood-pellet grill at 325 for 1.5 hours, then 350 for another 0.5 hour when I saw I was running out of time before I had to leave.

I ended up having to take it off as it was taking much longer than I thought to get done. When I took it off (after about 2 hours total) the internal temp read 115 degrees. I went ahead and put it back in the fridge.

My question is can I take this ham and put it back on the grill tomorrow when I have more time to let it get up to 145? Or is that not safe?

Thanks!

Somebody's going to tag this question as a "duplicate" pretty soon (as we have a lot of questions that address this sort of food safety issue before).

But let me just say briefly that according to standard food-safety recommendations, this is NOT safe.  Below around 130F, bacteria will grow in food, and many kinds of harmful bacteria grow the fastest in the range around or a little over 100F, which is where the center of this ham spent a lot of time.  Until the ham gets over 130F, those bacteria will not start to be killed off.

When you took the ham off the grill and put in the fridge, it will take the center a long time to cool back down, during which time it will grow even more bacteria.  And then tomorrow to heat it back up, it will likely take a few more hours, during which even more bacteria will grow.  It may end up spending 6-8 hours total in the "danger zone" where bacteria grow rapidly.  If the ham reaches a higher internal temperature for a longer period, that will kill off the living bacteria, but with so many hours in the growth zone with heating and cooling and reheating, those bacteria may leave behind toxins that won't necessarily be destroyed even with higher heat.

All that said, there are fewer bacteria in the center of a large hunk of meat, and cured meats with high-salt content, etc. will slow bacteria growth.  So, it's possible (even likely) your ham will be okay to eat.  The problem is without knowing how it was processed (and under what conditions), how long it may have sat at other times before you received it at temperatures that would allow bacterial growth, etc., you can't know whether it's safe.  That's why food safety organizations have strict recommendations, and they'd say your ham may be unsafe now.


Tray to hold a big turkey I have a 40 pounds Turkey. I want to cook it on the oven. Where can i get a tray big enought to hold it. The ones in walmart are not big enough.

That's a big bird!

I'd recommend buying something like the Nordic Ware Commercial Baker's Sheet, or picking something large off the list of Turkey Roasting Trays available on the linked list.

Another option is to break the turkey down before cooking, and then you won't need a big tray!


Material of my mixing bowl I'm using a handheld mixer with a melamine mixing bowl. Lately I've noticed that the surface of the bowl at the bottom of the bowl feels irregular, and dark spots have begun to appear. Should I use a mixing bowl made of other material? If yes, which other material?

Melamine is quite a soft material and wears quickly. Not only would metal and hard plastic mixing utensils wear it down, abrasive ingredients like sugar, oats and so on would take little bits off the bowl's surface. Over time, it is common to have pits and grooves carved into the bowl. These small indentations are hard to clean properly and could trap colours. In warmer and more humid climates, they are great habitats for molds, living off the trapped micro-scraps. Both or either could be the source of the dark spots. Melamine should not be microwaved or used with boiling water. At high temperatures (pasteurization temp is too high from memory), decomposition happens with toxic releases.

Glass (clear borosilicate or Pyrex), glazed pottery and stainless steel (in that order) are preferable in my view for abrasion resistance and non-reactive properties. I generally avoid using stainless with any wet alkaline ingredients. Also, you cannot microwave a metal bowl. I would however go for stainless if I need to heat or chill the contents rapidly.


Meat juice reabsorption sous vide I frequently cook sous vide at home--primarily for the sake of convenience. I have been generally satisfied with the results, and normally get tender and juicy meat.

One thing that bothers me, however, is the amount of liquid left in the bag when it's done. Even when adding nothing but, say, a steak, or a pork chop, patted dry, it is disheartening to see all the juiciness I could have had getting left behind.

A few weeks ago I saw notes from a class on khymos.org, where, in the context of a cook-chill-reheat scenario, Mr. Lersch relayed Bruno Goussalt's advice to cool in stages in order to maximize reabsorption. The reasoning seemed sound: "If plunged directly into ice water fat and gelatin can cause the juices to gel, thereby effectively preventing a readsorption of the liquid."

What I would like to know is how the same idea can be applied to the scenario in which the food is cooked and then eaten, without the chilling step. One idea I've toyed with is cooking to a target temperature (say, 155), then chilling to an acceptable serving temp (say, 130)

I've seen the same thing, and mostly just take it as an excellent excuse to improve my game with respect to gravies, au jus, and reductions.


Can you eat turkey eggs? I'm considering acquiring a few turkey hens and was wondering can you eat Turkey eggs? Has anyone eaten one? How do they taste?

Yes, you absolutely can eat turkey eggs. They are somewhat like duck eggs in that they are richer and creamier in taste. However, turkeys don't lay nearly as many eggs as chickens - perhaps 100 a year as opposed to a hen's 300, so don't expect to enjoy them too often.


lids popped loudly second day I pushed the dimple down after taking jars out of water bath.  Some popped after that and the second day I heard many very loud pops.  Are they sealed and is the jam safe?

You shouldn't press down in the lids when they come out of the bath although I must admit that sometimes the temptation is overwhelming.

As the bottles cool the resultant vacuum will pull the lids with a loud pop. It is obvious which bottles didn't seal. Pushing the lids may cause them to stay depressed even if the bottle didn't fully seal.

It should not take until the next day for the pop to happen. It generally happens within an hour or so.

Take the rings off your bottles and gently pull on the lid. If they are well sealed there is no risk of the lid coming off. If the lid does come off you can refrigerate and eat right away or check your headspace, clean the rim,  and try to process with a new lid.

After one day your jam is fine even if it didn't seal. It has too much sugar to grow anything but mold and not enough time for that, especially if the lids were not removed.


cake smells bad of egg, is dense and rubbery This was the first time bake a cake (basic sponge cake) with an electric beater. The final result was that the cake was smelling very bad of eggs, it was was very dense and rubbery.

I dont see this kind of cake  in bakery, there the cakes are fluffy, soft and dontsmell of eggs. what is that they use in bakery. or what could have gone wrong in making my cake.

This is the link which I followed to make the cake:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF7BlcIGNyo&t=96s

I did exactly as shown  in the video.

I put:

3 eggs,
1 cup flour,
1 cup all purpose flour,
1/2 tea spoon baking powder,
few drops vanilla essence,
1 cup sugar,
1 table spoon butter,
few drops of milk.

I made the batter this way:
I separated the egg yolks and egg whites, and whipped the egg whites untill it became like foam an it aside .Then I started beating the egg yolks with vanilla essence,butter, milk and sugar in batches and set aside. I mixed baking powder in the flour. Then I mixed then egg yolks in the egg whites. Then I mixed flour in the batter.
I preheated the oven at 160 degree for 1 minute. Then for 20 minutes I baked the caked at 200C.

Please help! :(

For any specific answer, the recipe and if possible pictures would help, but I will try a general idea which comes to mind.  If your cake smells like eggs, it is eggs. To me this would mean inadequate aeration of the eggs and mixing with the dry ingredients.  A dense, flat, rubbery cake again would be an indication of the same.  If it is also wet, under cooking may compound it.

The sponge I make calls for yolk and whites to be separated.  Yolks are then beaten to a ribbon state and whites to at least soft peak.  Yolks are used to make a batter and the whites are then very gently folded in.  This aerates the eggs enough that as long as there is not a delay before baking it is almost impossible for the cake to not rise and be soft from the expanding of air trapped in the egg.  Not having this air in the eggs would result in baked eggs with a bit of flour added.

ETA:  I would suggest online "Joy of Baking", look up their videos on sponge cakes.  You do not need follow their recipe if you have one you would rather, but they tend to do a good job showing the proper level to beat the eggs for a ribbon and folding in egg whites without collapsing the foam.


How to prepare tasty tea on induction cooktop? I used to preapre tea on gas stove. For two, my measurements were, 2.5 tea spoon of Tata tea, 1 glass water, 5 spoons of sugar. The measurements arent that important as they are in relation to spoons I have. I used to keep it on gas for 8 min with least flame and it used to turn yummy. I came with this formula over long time of experimentation.Recently, I bought Prestige PIC 16.0 plus Induction Cooktop and since then for a week I am not able to prepare tea well. First of all, even on least temprature within couple of minutes the tea boils down quickly and starts spilling. So I guess tea and sugar doesnt get enough time to mix well and tea turns not so tasty. I am not able to figure it out how can I prepare tasty tea on this induction cooktop as I am alredy operating at least temprature, that is 65 degrees Celcius.

This is 1900 W cooktop. I am guessing if 1200 W cooktop would have given lower temprature. Is it so? Should I return this cooktop and try some other?
You can view control panel of this cook top here. So it has eight modes: pressure cooker, curry, dosa/chapati, idly, deep fry, heat milk, keep warm and saute. I guess each option is nothing much but different combination of temperature and timer. I usually put it on saute and reduce temperature to 65 degrees. Still it never worked. I also tried pausing heating for some minutes and starting it again while continuously stirring it. It improved but still not satisfactory.
I also observed induction heat comes waves. It boils tea for some seconds, then stops for some seconds and then again boils and then stops again. Is it normal? Is it the reason for not so great tea?
I am now doubtful if I can prepare good food on induction cooktop similar to gas stove. For example, my chapatis on gas stove looks like this. Now I am wondering whether I will able to prepare same on induction cooktop as it gets hot quickly. Is it possible?

From what you are saying, my working hypothesis is that you are overheating your tea.

My first suggestion would be to forget all the modes of your cooktop (Pressure cook, etc.) and also the "degrees" scale. I have always found that a degree scale on an induction cooktop does more harm than good, since it has little relation to the actual temperature of your food. It is very obvious in your case: when a mixture of milk and water boils, it is at 100C, not at 65C.

So what you should do is to manually select the 120 W setting and try cooking with it. If it also requires you to select some mode from the lower row, then my guess would be that saute is indeed a good choice.

If using the lowest setting (the 120 W) doesn't work, there are two and a half other ways to make it cook slower. One is to make a larger amount of tea at once. The other is to place the pan farther away from the coil. A thin wooden chopping board might be enough for a test, but it might char with prolonged use, so if you are happy with that solution, you could try a pizza stone or a bathroom tile for permanent use. Don't use anything that can melt or catch fire, or anything that's made of metal. It is still best to combine that with using the 120 W setting - if you were to use something thick and a higher setting, you would be wasting energy.

The "half" way is to move the cooking vessel such that its bottom is only partially on the stove. It might not work at all, if the sensor notices that parts of the coil are uncovered, and if it works, it is inefficient and makes for badly cooked food. For me, it isn't worth doing it, but I am listing it here for completeness.

The observation that the heat comes in waves is perfectly normal, that's how induction stoves work (the technical term is "time modulation"). Without that, they would be much, much hotter (all the heat all the time) and the food would burn instantly.


Marshmallows are wet on the bottom as they set I tried to follow this recipe: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2011/07/marshmallow-recipe-candymaking/

Deviations from the recipe:
- I used icing sugar instead of the marshmallow mix.
- I could not find corn syrup. I wasn't sure if I could keep the sugar syrup from crystallising and for some reason I thought a bit of xanthan gum might help.
- My measurements for the gelatine are probably a bit rough since my scale is not so good for strange numbers like 17g.

I set the mixture in 2 pans, one pyrex, one steel after coating the bottoms with icing sugar. After about 3 hours I checked on them and tried a bit. The texture is good but maybe a bit firm. It is really more like a floppy meringue than store marshmallows.

What worries me the most is that the bottoms are wet. I have turned them out in the meantime to let them dry out a bit. Is this normal? Can I prevent it?

It's exactly your deviation which caused the problem. Stiff meringue weeps - the foam slowly loses the egg white moisture. When you mix cornstarch in it, the cornstarch absorbs the water droplets before they have the chance to make a big wet spot. So if you use the marshmallow mix, you won't have this problem.

As for crystallization, I am not sure that xanthan gum helps. It prevents crystallization in ice cream, but there you have too much water between the dispersed particles of the other ingredients, and this water forms ice crystals. Xanthan thickens the water and makes the water droplets smaller, so they don't freeze to big, crunchy crystals. In a sugar syrup, you have it the other way round. Sugar is better soluble in hot than in cold water, so once the syrup cools down, there is too little water and too much sugar. I don't think that xanthan is capable of doing for the sugar what it does for the water. But even if it helps, it will make your result firmer than you want it, you'd have to reduce the gelatin, risking to end up with marshmallows either too firm or too soft.

The usual way to prevent sugar syrup from crystallization is to add an acid to it. This splits the sucrose molecules into glucose and fructose, which don't crystallize at the saturation sugar does. Be careful what you add, you don't want your marshmallows to smell of vinegar. Cream of tartar is the neutral smelling choice, and citric acid has a smell, but it doesn't feel out of place in most sweets.


can tough brisket get softer? I am cooking a brisket in a pot with water and vegetables, on a stove top.

I meant to leave it on a slow simmer, so that it would get very soft. About 2 hours after I started cooking it, after having left the room for a while, I found it in a rolling boil.

The meat was no longer pink or red, but a grayish-brown well-done colour, and tasted cooked but was a little tough.  Will it get softer if I cook it longer on a slow simmer?

Well there is good news and bad news. The good news is, if you keep cooking it, the proteins will eventually break down and the meat will get softer. The bad news is, the boiling for so long may have spent the goodness of the meat.

More good news however. The meaty goodness has likely been transferred to the broth. You could convert your dish to a small bite stew, and no one would be the wiser, and the broth will impart some great flavor to root veg you might add to a stew. (Potato, parsnips, turnips, carrots, etc.)


Flattened chicken breast returns to original size when frying I like to fry chicken breast whole -- I always flatten the meat with a meat hammer first, to make it an even thickness throughout.

A few minutes into frying, the meat returns to almost the identical shape (big at one end, tapering towards the opposite end) it was before I pounded it. Any ideas why/how to stop this happening?

Thanks!

As you cook meat, the proteins in it contract and denature.  This is part of what cooking actually is.

This will cause all cuts to shrink, whether they are hamburgers, roasts, or pounded chicken breasts.

You can minimize the effect by not overcooking.   Different major protein groups denature and contract at different temperatures, the last one around 160 F.  Chicken is thoroughly palatable and safe at 155 F.  Of course, this is a tricky range to hit in a frying technique which is very fast.

To minimize the shrinkage when cooking chicken breasts:

Remove the tenderloins before butterflying or pounding.  They might be good in your recipe on their own, or can be saved for another use.  They contribute to the extra thickness on the fat end of the breast more than the thin end.
Butterfly or slice the breast in half before pounding.   This will minimize the amount of pounding you have to do, and start with a thinner base cut.

I know you prefer whole breasts, but they will simply shrink more, and have a more uneven size.   Whole breasts are more suitable for roasting, braising, or deep frying which are applications where they will not be pounded.
Pound only until the breast reaches a reasonable and even thickness.
Do not overcook.

Depending on the item you are making, you may slice off the narrow end of the breast, and then butterfly the thicker half of the breast, so that you have more even overall thickness across the pieces to start with.


Can I stuff peeled bell peppers? I enjoy stuffed bell peppers, but while green peppers are substantially cheaper than red or yellow, they're also more bitter. Reading on the web, it looks like peeling the pepper will reduce the bitterness. Can I use this technique for this application, or will that also destroy the integrity of the pepper, making it unsuitable for stuffing?

Absolutely. Look to chiles en nogada, or chiles relleno, for a common example of something similar. Poblanos are admittedly a much firmer and more flavorful pepper, but you can definitely stuff bell peppers with the same process.

By charring the peppers first - either directly on a flame (e.g. on a gas stove or grill) or under a broiler, you can quickly blacken the skin, making it easy to remove. Doing this quickly enough can help avoid making the flesh of the pepper too soft and fragile.

You can then (carefully) stuff the pepper with the filling of your choice, and finish in the oven. If you're really good, you can get it all in through the top where you remove the stem, but it's much easier to split it down the side in just one place, and carefully tuck it back together after stuffing. I've often seen stuffed bell peppers sitting upright, with the top removed; if you've roasted them first you'll probably have better luck with them whole, lying on their sides.