What does "bring to a simmer" mean? First, a confession: I work in software, so I'm probably paying way too much attention to the state of liquid that is "a simmer". That written, I love to cook, and no recipe direction gives me more confusion, sadness, and googling than "bring to a simmer". Accept no substitute. I find this to be the most vague direction in all of culinary science, and it drives what's left of my organized mind insane.

So here's the setting. I'm making vichyssoise, because I'm intrigued by the possibility of making a dish that has no color at all. I've been instructed to "bring to a boil and simmer the soup for 35 minutes."

The internet is filled with unsatisfying and at times contradictory answers. My research yields a few prototypical examples:

"Simmer" means "low or off position," suggesting basically no heat at all.
To "simmer" is to heat to a temperature point just off boiling, generally acknowledged as somewhere around 95 degrees C or something like 195 degrees F.
"Simmer" is something like a "soft boil," a vague state that appears to be between "not bubbling" and "roiling", but which by definition must boil in some way, since you know, it's bubbling.

Each of these examples mean fundamentally different things. As far as I can tell, a "simmer" is a phase transition whereby the suspension in question, whatever the soup, sauce, or solid (apparently you "simmer" bratwurst, you never boil it) may be, cooks in a way that only years of experience or training can identify. Hence, my question:

What does "simmer" mean? Does it differ per recipe or is it universally defined?

EDIT: Did a bad copy/paste job from another window.

Personally, I would argue that 2 and 3 are actually the same, and they are your answer.

If you heat a pan of water you'll notice the bubbles forming before the water is actually boiling, hence the talk of between not bubbling and full on roiling.

Also, when you're making your soup, it isn't pure water, so the boiling temp will not be a perfect 100 degrees C in any case.

So, I would say, that simmering is when you keep it just under a full boil. Watch what you're cooking, there should be gentle movement, but not a full roiling pan of whatever it is you're cooking.

To get something simmering away, you need to bring up to a full boil, then reduce the heat until you're getting movement, but not full bubbling.


Using beef jerky cuts for stir fry? I have some cuts of beef intended to be used for beef jerky.
I have not yet dried them -- the meat is still fresh.
I don't know what cut of meat was used.  Can I use it for stir fry?

Just my own opinion but I think if the cuts are made across the grain rather than with the grain it should be fine. With the grain might be tough to chew. There are 2 camps on cutting jerky meats so it really depends on how it was cut.


How to soften homemade butter I like to make homemade butter from cream using a churn, but it's super super stiff and I can't spread it on food without ripping it apart. Is there something I can add to make it softer?

I tried leaving it out in a butter try, but it starts to grow mold in a day or two.

I make butter spreadable-from-the-fridge by adding grapeseed oil (recipe here -- 1:1 ratio for very soft "butter") and blending in a food processor for a smooth consistency.

This is done after the butter is churned, or after leaving store-bought sticks to come to room temperature. Pretty much any oil can work for this, but a neutral-flavored oil will keep the mixture tasting like butter.

I don't recommend using this for anything besides buttering bread; changing the consistency in this way can affect baked goods.


How can I make a soft Turkish bread? I want to make flatbreads like in the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbZ123IwD9w

I use the same ingredients (water, flour, yeast, salt) and make a 70% hydrated dough. I let it rest for like 7-8 hours and gently stretch it into the final shape trying not to press out the bubbles. Then I bake them in my Uuni Pro at about 400°C.

However, I have two problems:

Mostly the bread puffs up like a baloon. I want it to hold its shape, just like in the video.
The bread gets very chewy, especially when it gets cold.

How can I achieve a wonderful fluffy and soft bread just like in the video?

So, I've checked some books (see below), and according to them you have two issues: (1) your finger dents aren't deep enough (puffing up), and (2) your oven is too hot.

All three of the recipes I found for pide bake it at 220C.  Cooking it at 400C is likely what is causing it's more pizza-like texture.  The oven in the video appears to be hotter than that, given that it's wood-fired, but we don't really have a temperature, and all three recipes I found baked it at 220C for between 13 and 25 minutes.  Even if you don't drop all the way down to 220C, you might want to try lowering the heat in the oven, and taking the bread out sooner.

The pide recipes I consulted were:

"Pide" from The Complete Book of Turkish Cooking by Ghillie Basan;
"Pide" from Savory Baking from the Medditeranean by Anissa Helou;
"Tirnak Pidesi" from Istanbul & Beyond by Robyn Eckhardt.

Of the three, the last recipe is probably the closest to the one from the video.  The first two recipes use yogurt and/or olive oil in the dough, which would tend to make it more tender.  I don't recommend trying that in your Uuni, though, since olive oil doughs tend to catch fire at 400C.

Eckhardt's recipe, though, is just flour, water, salt, and yeast, plus an egg wash like the bakery.  She even has instructions on a "stretched" version, like the video.  She recommends "bread flour", which probably means high-protein flour.  Her ratio is 4 1/4 cups flour to 1 7/8 cups water (American measurements), and she kneads it for 8-10 minutes, and rises it for 2 hours. She lets the dough rest for 15 minutes before denting and stretching, which if you haven't been doing it, might help with the texture.

Hope that helps; see if you can find a copy of the book.


Making meat pies for the freezer I realise a 'pie' may mean different things to different people.
In my case it's chicken mushroom and tarragon pie with shorcrust pastry base and a top fully enclosing the filling.
If i'm eating the pie on the day then I usually blind bake the bases in individual metal trays, let it cool down and then add the cold filling and seal with a top of raw pastry.
The re results are great with relatively wet filling and no soggy bottom and a golden crust.

However, as I made loads of filling I was hoping to make some more pastry and freeze the pies.
What's the best way of doing this?

I guess the options I thought of were

Bake as above then freeze when cool and then warm them up in the
oven
Blind bake the bases but leave the top raw - freeze and then
cook them in the oven from frozen
Raw pastry for base and top - and bake them from frozen
some variation of above but allow them to defrost in the fridge first

If there any experienced bakers out there, i'd really appreciate some advice.
thank you! Ww

Short pastry is fragile in the freezer, and tends to crack from even minor impacts

For meat pies try a flaky pastry which is more resilient to shock when frozen. Blind baking will not be as necessary with flaky pastry too

Partial pastry cooking pies with their pre-cooked filling works well (say up to 50% to 75% done). This allows for proper reheating time from frozen without killing the pastry


Can I soak liver overnight in milk? Can I soak liver in milk overnight? And if yes, does it matter if I soak it for 2 hours or overnight, or will there be no difference?

On one hand there is theory that keeping the liver in milk overnight (in the fridge) let it get more tender and flush bitterness even better than for two hours.
But if it was the "success rate", the overnight soak would be the advised time for soaking.
The main times for soaking I've seen are "kissed" when you cut the liver in small pieces and soak for 30 minutes. The second is whole liver for two-three hours.
When leaving in milk for overnight I usually see adnotation that it help cook it quicker as liver is "fluffier" thus helping the heat go through it.


What are the important traits of a good popcorn machine for home use? I am aware that this question is somewhat subjective, so I did my best to ask a good subjective question, instead of "What popcorn machine should I buy?".

I recently shared my popcorn-related troubles and got several suggestions on how to improve my microwave popcorn experience. After a discussion I had today, I was suggested to invest in a popcorn machine, as, supposedly, it would make my popcorn better than a microwave.

When looking at some available machines, I saw a vast difference in price, ranging all the way from 20€ up to 100€ (ignoring the professional machines).

This made me wonder what determines the quality of a "good" popcorn machine? Is it only about size? Are there different internal mechanisms? What should I look out for when choosing a popcorn machine for home use?

There are three non-microwave ways to pop popcorn:

an air popper
a plug-in dome popper
a stovetop popper

Each of these makes different popcorn.

The air popper uses no fat, though if you're going to add melted butter you probably don't care. In fact the absence of fat means salt and other powdered flavours don't stick well. You can't burn the popcorn. My air popper also used to blow unpopped kernels all over the kitchen. We eventually repurposed it as a coffee roaster.

The plug-ins require a plug, you add a little oil, and you need to pay attention or you might burn a few kernels.  I use coconut oil in mine, and add less butter than I used to add to air-popped corn.

The stovetops are apparently terrific if you want to melt a coating (eg caramel corn) onto the popcorn. I haven't used one.

===

ETA:  Two additional options.

If one already has an electric skillet, such as:

With a bit of oil and corn it will hold a steady temperature and do the job without a separate space eating devise.  This option takes a little practice to get the temperature that works best for you, and shaking the skillet a couple times while hot is a pain, but this was always my grandparent's preferred popper.

If you do not wish to eliminate the microwave option, several makers produce these:

These dry pop for those who are concerned with oil.  Or for those of use who prefer, we dry pop it, then dump on the butter after.  This gives the option though of using spices and such after much like an air popper, but in my experience had a higher pop rate that air poppers of packaged microwave popcorn and was much less prone to burning.  They do require little concentraters that are inserted and would each hold up for 4-6 batches though.


Oven semi-baked semi-fried potatoes starting from raw (for the lazy cook) The objective of this question is to avoid spending time in front of the stove, moving a stove-top method to the oven to enable, in particular, quadrupling the amount that can fit in a skillet, without also quadrupling the cooking time.
My batch of peeled russet potatoes now sits in salted water for about an hour, to absorb the salt. The idea is that fried potatoes are, from experience, tastier and crunchier when the salt is deep inside, not just on the surface.

Next, I'll cut the potatoes into wedges and fry them. Deep frying is unnecessarily unhealthy. My standard method is to parboil and fry in the same pot/skillet. For that I mix water and oil, boil the wedges in the water/oil base semi-covered until the water evaporates. Frying starts on its own once the water is gone. The remainder of the time I must be near the stove—to turn frequently. This method doesn't scale easily (cooking quadruple the batch takes quadruple the time in front of the stove). Worse, it requires a teflon coating, which I'm trying to move away from.
This all works well, but I'd like to do nearly the same in the oven, to avoid the labor of standing in front of the stove, and to be able to handle a larger batch for a larger number of guests.
How will the following work out?

After cutting into wedges, air dry for a few minutes in a colander—long enough to dry, but not so long as to turn color.
Coat the wedges in oil. I'm planning on melted coconut oil, imagining absorption into the outer layer of the starchy potatoes.
Bake in the oven at 425F for an hour (in glass).

When I see semi-baked semi-fried potato wedges at restaurants, I'm sure no one stood in front of a stove, turning frequently in small batches. Am I on the right track? Is turning halfway (or, worse, multiple times) absolutely necessary? What stops the oil from falling all the way down; or, alternatively, how can I encourage absorption to make this an oven method?
N.B.: I know I can do this using a bag from the supermarket. I'm avoiding hydrogenated oils.
Results
1
I'll put here pictures of experiments using the ideas suggested in the answers.
Using Max's answer (parboiling wedges, briefly air drying, coating with oil, then baking) produces the following.

The texture and taste were perfect. The only fault perhaps is that baking (in a preheated oven) did not seem effective. It was necessary to broil on low. This meant that the labor to produce the fries, even though less than turning over the stove, was still more than I wanted. In particular, it would be nice if the amount can be doubled with only doubling the necessary parts (peeling, if done, etc).
2
I see that Willk anticipated the broiling step. What's odd in aiming directly at broiling (rather than as a rectification) is that the oil will navigate down, hence the top, the part with the least oil, will be the side to broil. Is there then no higher oven temperature (450F? 475F) to experiment with that enable full-surface oven frying, foregoing both the frequent check-if-they-re-burning and the turn-them-over steps?
In the following experiment, the potatoes are sliced rather thin (~4mm; ~1/4") to ensure they cook through. They are then brushed with oil on both sides, and are turned halfway under the broiler.

The outcome is somehow not quite as satisfying as the first (parboil). Perhaps it needs fine-tuning. Mainly, though, this doesn't scale. If instead of cooking for two people you want to suddenly cook for eight, thin slicing will mean that your oven time will quadruple, which would sort of make you yearn for deep frying.

Restaurants usually pre-cook (either parboil or parfry) their potatoes and freeze them in serving portions.
I would just parboil the potato wedges, then coat with oil and put in oven until golden brown (or just brown-ish).
When baking potatoes, I prefer using a metal pan sheet instead of a glass bakeware.


What if anything make a liquid a good candidate for a reduction? What if anything makes a liquid a good candidate for a reduction?  Often you see things like wines and fruit juices called to be reduced for recipes.  Why are they so common?  What specifics about them make them so?

If I am wanting to play around with making different reductions is there anything I should look for and what are the expected results of the liquid having that content (i.e.  high sugar content, does acidity levels have an effect on the reduction).

The most important reason reductions exist, is because they intensify the flavour, so that's the first point you should pay attention to. Will the flavour accommodate the rest of the dish? White wine is often used in reductions for fish, red wine more often for meat. Everything that you think will fit, can be a good fit (other (stronger) liquors, vinegars (but don't use too much), ...). That's why you won't see liquids as coffee appearing in reduction recipes.

Wines and fruit juices give a fruity, softer taste, so they are a good fit with a lot of things. They also are largely water, so easy to combine with.

I must confess that I don't know how sugar content or acidity level will effect the reduction, but I do know that sugar and vinegar/lemon juice can be a component of reductions.


Can I skim mold off verjus? I recently bought a bottle of verjus and used a little of it as part of a non-alcoholic cocktail recipe.  I assumed that, due to its high acid content, it would be shelf-stable like vinegar.  Turns out it's not!  A week after opening, it's got a few floating spots of white mold on the surface.
Now, with some liquids (like molasses or vinegar) I could skim any mold off the surface and the remaining liquid would be safe to use.  But I don't know if that's true about verjus, or if I need to throw out the entire $22 bottle now.
Anyone know?

Versus literally means "green juice" in French (I know there's a "te" in French, but it's not pronounced).
From Wikipedia:

Verjus is a highly acidic juice made by pressing unripe grapes, crab-apples or other sour fruit.

So versus is sour juice, nothing more, and we should treat it like so in our research for food safety.
From StillTasty:

If grape juice develops an off odor, flavor or appearance, or if mold appears, it should be discarded.

Pretty vague, but I stumbled upon this article from The Bulletin

Moldy or fermented juice is not particularly dangerous to drink, said pediatrician Dr. Kathleen Berchelmann of St. Louis Children’s Hospital. One concerned parent recently took a Juicy Juice box filled with mold to the St. Louis hospital; the juice was not past its expiration date, and the child who drank it had no symptoms.

There's more context in the link above that backs up how mold in juices might not be that dangerous.
Also, from Childrens MD:

If even a tiny bit of air gets into the container molds can grow. The good news for my patient is that moldy, fermented juice is usually not very dangerous to drink.

Though symptoms are possible, from Rainbow International:

But luckily, swallowing a few sips or bites of a moldy item typically isn't a big deal thanks to stomach acid, which is strong enough to kill most pathogens. Some may notice transient GI upset – nausea, cramping, and diarrhea - but most who've imbibed a moldy mélange will notice nothing.


does steam elongate bread cook time? I placed a loaf of bread into a a 350 preheated oven with a rack directly below the pan containing two wet towels to create steam.  It sprung up beautifully but the bread has been cooking 40 minutes and the inside is gooey @ 140 degrees F.  I have made this loaf before consistently without the wet towels.  Did I miss up the loaf or does the steam result longer cook time? Or does the steam cause the internal temperature gauge to be inaccurate?

Creating steam at the beginning of the baking cycle has one goal: to keep the crust soft and pliable to allow for maximum oven spring.

Most breads are supposed to expand during the first phase in the oven. If the outer crust is already hard, it will prevent the expansion, either causing a dense interior or uncontrolled tearing of the crust - and in the worst case, both. Apart from steaming, slashing a loaf causes intentional weaknesses in the crust that allow expansion.

So how long should you steam?

Once the internal structure has started to solidify, the steam is no longer necessary. For my average two-pounds free-form loaf on a baking stone, I pour a generous cup of boiling water in at the beginning and then after about fifteen minutes I open the oven door wide to let the excess steam escape. Typically I also lower the oven temperature at this point.

For loaves in a pan, misting the loaf surface or adding a wash will also keep the crust pliable, similar to steaming.

But if I read your question correctly, I actually have another suspicion, why your bread stays cool inside or bakes longer:

If you used wet cool towels, they will

absorb a lot of energy from your oven and
act as a kind of "shield" or "barrier" that unintentionally protects your bread from the oven's bottom heat.


How to properly handle an all clad pan I just bought all clad's chef's pan (HA1) and their 10 piece set.

However, I quickly find out it's very uncomfortable to hold it by gripping the U shape handle from upper side or sideway, the edge of the handle cut in to my palm. And because the pan is very heavy (for good reason), it becomes very hard to lift it up and tilt it.

I did some research and find lots of people having this complain. There are some solution like this YouTube video, but it does not actually solve the lift and tilt problem.

I wonder what did professionals did when handling such kind of job?

If impressing guests is not in order, some string and cork (possibly cut to shape) is the cheap way to improve a handle. E.g. I got tired of the all-metal tea pot handle being hot and probably in hindsight used too much string


Is there really a difference by throwing the vanilla pod in as well? Recipes with milk and/or cream (panna cotta, ice cream, pastry cream, ...) often ask for the seeds of a vanilla pod (in Europe at least). A fair proportion of those also mention to throw the pod in the dairy as well. Since I re-use the pod afterwards (for vanilla sugar or vanilla extract), I have to clean them and I don't like to do so.

Is there a real flavour difference in adding the pod as well, given that you can scrape almost all the seeds out? Do recipes just ask you to do so, because you'd get more seeds in the milk or cream, or does the pod itself give a special flavour?

I think you've answered your question yourself. You use the bean itself to make vanilla sugar, so obviously there is much flavour in it as well and not just in the seeds.

My experience is that you get much more flavour out of the pod if you let it simmer in warm milk/fluid.


I don't have a large cutting board, but I do have a large table with a wood top So I want to start making bread, specifically, brioche.

But I don't have a large wooden cutting board. I do, however, have a table with a wooden top.

Are there any consequences(negative ones of course) to using your table as board for making bread?

There's no reason to use a cutting board for making bread, in fact I would recommend against it. Cutting boards are not big enough for good kneading and they slide around. You are better off using a large flat surface which won't move around. As for what that surface is it doesn't matter much as long as it is clean and doesn't have materials which may come off on your dough. As an example many people use spray polish or furniture wax on their tables which would make the surface unsuitable for bread. You don't want to eat polish or wax!


How do I properly cut leafy herbs like basil? I often cut herbs to top off my dishes or as a core ingredient in salsa, sauces, guacamole, or any other similar use. For most purposes I would want a fine chop but in some cases more of a strip is called for to top or garnish.  What type of knife should I use and how should I cut it?  I'm most interested in the techniques associated with efficiency and safety.

Strips of herbs is called a chiffonade:

Stack the leaves together.
Roll the leaves into a cigar shape
Slice across them.

I typically use a chef's knife.

If I have multiple herbs, I'll wrap the smaller leaves in one of the larger ones.  (eg, basil & oregano)

If you want it minced, then you should "run your knife through" the pile.  Which in expression to mean in this context to rock your knife over the pile, turn it, rock it some more ... and keep repeating until everything's the size you want it.

update :

Even though the question clearly stated 'like basil', for other sizes/shapes of leaves, there are ways to efficiently get them into a cut up pile (possibly strips) that you can then mince finer:

For longer-leafed herbs (eg. culantro), you don't need to roll up the leaves. Just stack up what you need, hold them from the stem end, and rock/slice them.

For small leaf herbs, you're not going to get what I'd call strips.  It's more like confetti.  If you don't have a larger leaf in the recipe to wrap them in (basil, mint, sesame, or even vegetables like spinach), then you'll want to keep the leaves on the stem.

For tender stem plants (celery, parsley, etc. (except for cilantro (green coriander) -- throw that out and use culantro instead, as it doesn't taste like soap), you just hold the stem end and rock/slice your way from the top.

For woody stems, you work similarly, but slow down when you're getting close to the woody part.  Then you turn the stem so you're cutting more parallel with the stem, and cut in from one of the sides.  Roll the stem over, and continue working in from the side.  Repeat until you've gotten off all you can without cutting into the woody stem.  If there's still a lot of leaves left, break off the branches of the stems, and either work them  individually or stack them up to try to work a bit faster.  (For some plants, it's easier to break it off before you start, and work each one individually.)


What are the major differences between yams and sweet potatoes? I was just wondering what the major difference between yams and sweet potatotes. I know yams are more orange and I love yams!

Actually, yams are often white, and may be purple or other colors..  In the US, what we get labeled as yams are actually sweet pototoes.  (They were similar to the african yams that people were used to, and the name stuck, sort of like how 'pepper' is used for chilies, but they're not even close to the same thing.)

update A longer explanation of the confusion between yam & sweet potato in the US.


How much water to use when cooking pasta in an Instant Pot The de facto Instant Pot manual at hippressurecooking has a page on cooking pasta but doesn't explain how to determine a proper amount of water to use when cooking pasta.

  Figuring out the liquid is easy (no sputters) The hip method for
  pressure cooking pasta does not actually measure any of the cooking
  liquid.  As noted in the recipe, only the amount of water that is
  needed for the amount of pasta to be cooked is used.  This ensures
  that there is almost no liquid left in the cooker by the time the
  pasta is finished cooking – nothing left to foam or sputter when
  pressure is released.

There follows a recipe that instructs to "Pour in the pasta, the tomato puree, and just enough water to cover the pasta".  2 cups of tomato puree.

So not much help there.  Presumably the amount of water that is needed for the amount of pasta to be cooked is related to the weight of the pasta rather than its volume—covering farfalle or rotini is going to require a lot more water per cup of pasta (but perhaps the same amount per gram) than is covering lasagne or spaghetti, because their shape makes these flat pastas more dense.

Is there a simple ratio of water to weight of pasta that will give consistent results with a variety of pasta shapes?  If not, is there a chart somewhere that gives a water-to-pasta ratio for various shapes?

You're correct, the water ratios may be slightly different between different types of noodles. In general, you're covering the noodles so that they will actually have a chance to soak up the water though, as with a pressure cooker, you don't have a chance to stir the noodles and ensure equal saturation.

When making pasta in the instant pot, you'll also need to keep in mind the layering effect of your ingredients. Tomato based sauces are prone to burns, so you want to keep them on the top of the pot. Put your noodles on the bottom, and if you feel that it's taking an excessive amount of water to cover them, you can leave the last 1/2 inch or so exposed, so long as you cover it with your tomato sauce, or some other liquid.


Is there a website on how to store specific foods? I ask if there are websites which explain how to store/preserve (in the fridge, freezer, out) all kind of foodstuff.   Examples: eggs, milk, meat, specific fruits, specific vegetables, etc.
This book provides such descriptions.

The resource we generally use here on Seasoned Advice is stilltasty.com.

Feel free to edit this answer to include other resources.


Which fresh herbs goes well with an omelette? I'm playing around with omelettes, and was wondering which fresh herbs (and fresh spices) are commonly used in omlettes?  Also, are there some that are often avoided? I'm looking for personal experiences from people who like to experiment.

Plain omelette: parsely and chives.

I'd be careful with woody, stalky herbs like rosemary; not because of the taste but because I don't want to chew on the hard pieces. Keep in mind that the omelette does not get cooked as long as other dishes where these work well.

Then depending on the filling: anything with cream and fish may work with dill. Italian style with sage and thyme. (Not herbs, but for completeness: Paprika with mushrooms and red wine. Garlic with fried onions.)


I'm baking an acorn squash. How long should I bake it for? I'm baking an acorn squash. How long should it bake for and at what temperature? I also noticed on the spaghetti squash question that those are baked sliced face down. Should acorn squash bake face down too?

To roast acorn squash, set your oven to 350 and roast for about 30-35 minutes.  I normally roast cut side up, unless I am using some kind of sauce to go with it.  I find that the squash cooks to a more even color than when you place it directly against a metal pan which can develop diffrent temps across the surface.

You can also baste with some butter as long as it is face up, which is pretty good.


Is unrefrigerated kimchi safe? As the question states, is kimchi still safe to eat after spending a few hours unrefrigerated, the time it takes me to get home ?

I'm mostly concerned because my commute home involves time in a heated bus

I make kimchi regularly. It sits on a shelf at room temperature for a week or more, and slowly ferments. Some people ferment it for months. Sure, it likes a low oxygen partial pressure, but a few hours on a bus isn't going to hurt it.


What is the term for the "amuse-bouche" at the end of the meal? At several restaurants I've been to, in addition to  serving an amuse-bouche at the beginning of a meal, there is an equivalent complementary small desert served at the end, sometimes before or after the check.

What on earth is the name for this "course"?

I believe you're thinking of "mignardises." This is what they call it on the french laundry menu, and others.

Another possibility is "Petit Fours", which are small pastries typically served at the end of a meal.  I believe there is some overlap in the use of the two terms.


Is the rapid ice bath chill post-sous vide actually necessary when putting the meat/fish in the freezer? In the past, I would frequently cook (in the oven) 6+ lbs (3+ kg) of salmon fillets (usually took ~25 min) to an internal temp of 145-150 F (62.5-65 C), take them out, let them set on the counter for an hour or two, and then throw them in vacuum-sealed bags and into the freezer.

Then, when I wanted to eat one, I'd take it out and throw it in the microwave. Understandably not the tastiest thing, but it worked well enough. I've never tried it with meat, only fish. As far asI know this never made me sick.

Now, all of the sous vide literature emphasizes a rapid chill in an ice water bath if you want to freeze something. Is this really necessary? For a very thick steak (say 2 in (5 cm)) it could take 3+ hours to fully chill down to 41 F (5 C) in the middle, so if that's still safe to eat, why must you chill thinner cuts? I'd expect anything 1in or less to chill within 3 hours in the freezer. Obviously, you can extrapolate this out and say that, e.g., a 0.125 inch (0.3 cm) cut wouldn't need to be chilled in an ice bath, so the blanket suggestion is only necessary above a certain thickness.

If anyone has found graphs of time/temperature when freezing meat from a cooked temperature, that would be helpful. If that doesn't exist, what's a best guess for the thickness at which pre-freezer ice baths become important for safety?

Yes, fast chilling is critical because it minimizes the production of new bacteria and potentially deadly toxins from the spores of anaerobic pathogens such as C. botulinum and C. perfringens. The spores are not killed by the low temperatures usual in sous vide, and the oxygen-free environment of the bag brings them back to activity. But they require time and temperature to become active and dangerous, so fast chilling -- either refrigeration or freezing -- and limiting the refrigeration time (to about 5 days at around 5°C/40°F, longer for lower temperatures) are absolutely critical to deter them.

The question starts with a situation that is different: cooking in an oven, which is not an anaerobic environment and thus does not trigger the same activation of the spores' lifecycles as cooking in a vacuum does.


Help with what to bake leftover cake batter in I have a Jubliee bundt pan that is only 10 cups, but my recipe is for a bundt pan at least 12 cups.  I've only made the recipe once and it turned out great.  But since I insisted in using as much of the batter as would fit in the pan, it overflowed while baking.  I cut the overflow off and ate it separately, but I'd like to make it next time where it doesn't overflow.  Since the recipe uses a box mix as the base and alters the ingredients you add, it's not a good idea to cut the recipe by 1/4 (not only would I have to figure out what 3/4 of the box mix would be, I'd have to use 3/4 of an egg!).  My thought is to make the batter and the filling but only use 3/4 of it for the bundt pan.  Any thoughts on what size pan or how many cupcakes I could make with the remaining batter?  You can find the recipe here:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chocolate-irish-car-bomb-cake/

Use a muffin tin (cupcake pan).  The upside is that you don't need to know in advance how many you will get.  Just keep scooping until you run out, filling each cup about 3/4 full.


Can a sauce with dairy be jarred? I've found when making spicy sauces they usually taste better when they've had time to rest in the fridge for a few hours, for example curry or chicken tikka masala. To obtain full flavor I've debated on making the sauce in a batch and canning it in a ball jar using balls recommended canning process but because these two sauces have cream I was wondering if this is safe?

All sauces would be consumed or tossed if not consumed in six months. Also, not wanting to add any preservatives. The sauces do have acid which is more than the dairy but I'm unsure. Can a dairy based sauce that contains dairy be canned?

All sauces would be cooked. If this isnt a good idea the other alternative is to bring to desired vacuum sealing temp, bag, vacuum seal and freeze but prefer to can if I could.

As already mentioned - no, don't keep dairy for extended periods.

Have you considered making just the sauce base without the dairy - or even without the final elements that would differentiate it from being 'generic curry' to being a masala sauce?

Sauce bases can be stored for months in the freezer.
I usually have containers with just enough to make a single meal for the family, perhaps 4 to 6 different types of sauce base portioned out at any given time.


Can fermented dosa batter cause bacillus cereus poisoning? Dosa batter is made by allowing urad dal and rice to ferment for upwards of 24 hours, letting natural yeasts develop in the batter. I've read that bacillus cereus poisoning is a concern with rice left at room temperature for a long time, and that bacillus cereus can survive even when the rice is cooked.

Since the batter for dosas sits out for so long, is bacillus cereus poisoning a concern? And are there ways to prevent it?

I don't have a completely definitive answer. However generally, fermentation produces lactic acid which inhibits the growth of harmful bacteria, which is why it is a successful food preservation method.  The yeast and bacteria that are responsible for the fermentation are often naturally occurring on many raw foods.  For example with lacto-fermented vegetables often all you have to do is submerge them in a salt solution and the naturally occurring yeast and beneficial bacteria will usually just do their thing and begin the fermentation process, which inhibits the growth of bacteria.

This is similar to how sourdough starter works, you simply add water to flour and the naturally occurring yeasts are activated.  As the starter ferments, lactic acid is produced, which reduces the pH of the solution, which inhibits the growth of bacteria.  This is why you end up with sourdough starter rather than something spoiled. This is also why fermented foods (pickles, sourdough bread, etc) are generally sour in flavor.

Incidentally this same thing is true of wine grapes, if you harvest ripe wine grapes and just leave them somewhere, fermentation will begin because of the naturally occurring yeasts on the fruit, which will eventually produce wine.  These yeasts are variable and can be mixed with various bacteria and produce uneven results, so wine makers generally do not roll the dice and add their own preferred yeast instead. But I suspect that this is how wine was made for thousands of years before that technology was developed.

Back to dosa, the dosa batter is usually prepared by combining dal and rice and sometimes salt with water.  The dal especially typically has a significant amount of lactic acid bacteria, and the salt, if used, inhibits the growth of harmful bacteria.  Many recipes call for fenugreek seeds (not ground fenugreek), which usually contain naturally occurring yeast which helps kick off the fermentation. The rice is usually raw (soaked) before it is ground, and so has not had a chance to sit cooked at room temperature to develop harmful bacteria. The goal of the recipe is to ensure the beneficial fermentation happens instead of the growth of harmful bacteria.  The recipe is pretty foolproof which is why dosa have become a dietary staple in such large parts of the world.


What's the difference between jerky and biltong I had another awkward conversation this week. I was saying how I liked to make jerky and my mate (who is South African) was saying he likes biltong and that jerky is nothing compared to biltong.

I've had packaged jerky and biltong before and I couldn't tell the difference. What is the difference?

According to Wikipedia, the main differences are:

  Biltong differs from jerky in three distinct ways:

  The meat used in biltong can be much thicker; typically biltong meat is cut in strips approx 1" (25 mm) wide – but can be thicker. Jerky is normally very thin meat.
  The vinegar, salt and spices in biltong, together with the drying process, cure the meat as well as adding texture and flavour. Jerky is traditionally dried with salt but without vinegar.
  Jerky is often smoked; biltong is never smoked.

The same source states that typically Jerky is cut prior to drying, whereas biltong is dried first, then cut.

Apparently the different seasoning and curing/drying procedure leads to a technically similar but taste-wise remarkably different result.


Why is syrup added to a cake before frosting? Why is syrup added to the inside of a cake before frosting? Maybe the cream sticks better with each layer of cake?

Brushing a cake with simple syrup before frosting is done to prevent the cake from drying out too quickly, and sometimes to add flavour (if a flavoured syrup is used instead of just water+sugar).


I may have incorrectly seasoned my wok; can I fix it? I seasoned my new carbon steel wok, and think I may have made a mistake. I scrubbed off the coating it came with using a scouring pad, and then heated it on a high BTU stovetop until it turned a nice blue hue, as the directions told me. Finally, I let it cool a bit and then added some oil around the inside and outside, putting it over the heat. I washed it with warm water only after the first addition of oil (once cool), then added oil again over heat, and repeated a third time (this time with onions, ginger, and garlic). It was still blue (I had heard it was supposed to turn black), but I figured (I suppose incorrectly) it was okay and ready to use.

My first attempt left food sticking to it and I figured I had messed up. Once clean, I tried scrubbing the center to get any coating off, and then re-exposing it to heat and then to oil again (canola), applied with a wet paper towel. I did this about 7 times, but I tried cooking again and an egg I added to a sitr-fry stuck during the first attempt.

It looks like I probably messed up the oiling part of the seasoning process. Can I simply scrub the wok down using steel wool or something and start the process from scratch, or is my wok a lost cause at this point? I have read different things about how to add the oil, what temp to keep it at, and for how long. Could you clarify the best approach?

One thing that might help is more heat after applying the oil. I use a metal wok spatula in mine, which scrapes the coating on the bottom, so after cleaning (water and if necessary a plastic scraper) I dry it on the heat, add a little oil and get it good and hot. While the oil is warm I swirl it round then wipe off the excess, then I get it hotter. If I don't do this, and don't use it for a week or two, it rusts where the seasoning gets scraped.

This is a cheap carbon steel wok I've had for about 20 years, and I didn't put much effort into seasoning it in the first place. I'm generous, but not authentically so, with my oil, and if anything sticks it's high up the sides above the level of the rest of the food.


How to make baking soda I'm in a place where buying baking soda is proving to be quite difficult*, so I was looking for substitutions, and it seems there really aren't any.  So this got me thinking:  Baking soda is made (or otherwise harvested from nature) in some way.
How can I do this?
I realize the answer is likely to be so involved or expensive that I won't want to undertake the project, but for the determined baker, how would it be done?
*I eventually found some.
NOTE: The question is about making, not sourcing or substituting, baking soda.

Sodium bicarbonate, the chemical name of baking soda, has always been manufactured using industrial processes at an industrial scale. I can't see how it could be practical to make at home. You'd need specialized equipment and you might well find that the materials you need aren't any easier to acquire.

Baking soda is known by different names, in addition to sodium bicarbonate according to Wikipedia it's also known as bread soda, cooking soda, and bicarbonate of soda. So it's possible it's available in your area on under one of these other names. If you live in area where a language other than English is used then you might find other alternative names in that language's version of the Wikipedia page. If you still can't find any you'll either have to pay to have it shipped to you or find a substitute recipe that uses some other leavening agent.


Veloute consistency after being refrigereted Not been into French cuisine much so I started to try to make the mother sauces for some fun.  I cooked up some chorizo in clarified butter and used that fat to make a roux, blonded it, then stirred in some chicken stock.  Turned out to have an excellent velvety texture.  What will happen to the consistency of the sauce after being in the fridge for a night?  Also, my sauce had the consistency of tempered chocolate, is this on par or thicker than what would be considered 'normal'?

The sauce will thicken when cooled. And as for consistency... It really depends on individual taste. The usual test is "When you did a spoon into the sauce, does the sauce coat the spoon upon removal?"

However, I like my sauces a bit thicker. Tempered choco. is about my tastes, however alot of people would like it a bit thinner. It's all a matter of taste.

Also note, the sauce will thicken on cooling, but will return to it's chocolatey consistency upon reheating.


Fatty liquid vs non fatty liquid in dough I have been making bread at home over the past month or two using a simple 4 ingredient recipe with 60 - 75% hydration and have become familiar with the soft, light consistency of the dough when the gluten is fully developed.

The other day I tried an enriched dough for the first time, it included additional eggs, sugar and oil. I noticed it handled like a completely different animal.  It didn't feel as silky as the plain dough after kneading and felt a bit more dense and was not as fluffy when baked.

Since then,  I have been experimenting with different liquids in doughs with different fat levels. milk, buttermilk, oil, water. These have all turned out slightly differently from my usual bread and are richer but not as light as I've achieved in the past.  I understand that the water hydrates the gluten which makes the dough light and stretchy and silky, but what happens when a more fatty liquid is included in the mix, perhaps a mix of oil and water? does the fat inhibit the absorption of liquid by the gluten? The recipe usually calls for adding less water than I would normally because oil is included.  Does this reduce how much hydration I achieve?

Is this the reason why these doughs tend to handle differently and not be as light, or is it possible to achieve the same consistency even when making an enriched dough?

The reason that your enriched bread handled completely different than your initial bread is because eggs, sugar, and oil all inhibit the formation of gluten. Sugar attracts water, so it competes with the proteins gliadin and glutenin in flour for binding to water (glutenin+water+gliadin= gluten) added to the mixture.

Egg Yolks contain a high percentage of fat and liquid oil by definition is 100% fat. Fat uses a different mechanism than sugar to inhibit gluten formation. Fats coat the individual gliadin and glutenin proteins. Because fats are hydrophobic (not attracted to water) they effectively shield the gliadin and glutenin from water, which inhibits gluten formation.

With this collective reduction in gluten, the bread becomes much denser because the carbon dioxide produced by the yeast doesn't have enough gluten to use for expansion of the bread. If all other ingredients and factors were the same between your initial and enriched bread recipes, but you increased the amounts of sugar and fat the result is a denser bread.


If I am blending parsley for soup, can I use the parsley whole or should I still remove the stems? I am making my Grandma's parsley soup - it's chicken stock, onions, potatoes, garlic and parsley. Since the whole combination is blended, can I use the parsley stems or might not removing them have an adverse affect on taste?

There is a lot of flavor in parsley stems, as is true of most "soft" herbs.  In my kitchen, if it is soft/palatable, I use it.


What is a "moist" salt? I have been looking into buying some gourmet salt, and several of them are described as being "moist salt".   What does that mean?

Moist salts are naturally harvested sea salts from which not all the water has been removed.   They are noticeably wet, often caking up or forming more of a "slush" than a powder.

Some aficionados only believe that sea salt is "real" and "natural" if it is moist.  Me, I have enough humidity in the apartment.


What is a good pine nut substitute for pesto? I'm allergic to pine nuts, is there another nut I can use to make pesto?

Almonds and walnuts are good alternatives as they have a similar texture and relatively subtle flavour. I'd go with almonds personally, as walnuts can be a little bitter.


How should I clean, or care for, a banneton (brotform, proofing basket)? How should I care for a rattan (cane) banneton?  It would seem that washing it in water would eventually warp or ruin the basket since the wood can easily absorb moisture.  I've seen people suggest that a quick washing is OK, but it still feels like the wrong thing to do if I want to prolong the life of the basket.

I usually just tap out any loose flour and store it. Some people are concerned about bacteria, but if used regularly, I don't see it as too much of a concern.

If one makes too wet a dough, it's possible that it could stick to the banneton and make a good mess.

A stiff brush and a set out in bright sun is about all I've felt the need to do with mine.

Normally I'll just tap out any extra flour.
If I've got a dough that sticks (like last night when I didn't flour enough), then I just take a stiff brush and get all the bits off.
If they do get a bit wet, dry them with a towel and then in a warm oven.
If I think there's been enough moisture to be concerned about something growing, I'll set it in bright sun (or my UV exposure box).  Strong UV is a good inhibitor for much of that.


What is the authentic way to cook pierogi? I've been buying pre-packaged pierogi from Trader Joe's and local Polish delis. But I can't seem to get a straight or consistent answer on how you are supposed to cook them. Should you steam pierogi, boil them, or saute them with butter?

We have a Polish & Greek place by us (don't ask), and theirs are always boiled.  They are delicious that way (usually topped with bacon and sour cream)...

Personally I always grew up w/ them boiled then sauteed, which is my favorite.


Lemon juice and kale/green leaf lettuce salad produces a very horseradish-y taste and smell This is the strangest thing I've ever experienced with food.  I have a salad, a kale and green leaf lettuce salad, sprinkled with lemon juice.  As I'm eating it, when the lemon juice and kale leaves mix together, it produces the typical horseradish scent and taste - I even feel it in my nose as you do with horseradish.  It's very spicy as one would expect from horseradish/wasabi.  Very strange - what is the reason for this?

Interesting question and even if I am just speculating, there is a probable chemical explanation to this.

If you are used to handling horseradish, you may have noticed that it must be cut or grated to produce the typical smell. What actually happens is that myrosinase and singrin from the broken cells react and produce allyl isothiocyanate, the compound causing the typical pungent smell of horseradish, wasabi and mustard. If left open in air, the grated horse radish looses its smell, since allyl isothiocyanate is rapidly oxidized (it reacts with the oxygen in the air) and form other compounds.

Now, kale contains both myrosinase and singrin as well, but not nearly as much as the horseradish root. Probably, the content is so low, that the produced allyl isothiocyanate is oxidized so fast, that the pungent smell is not noticed. If you however throw in some lemon juice, the contained ascorbic acid acts as a strong anti oxidant, preventing the reduction of the allyl isothiocyanate and potentially keeping a noticeable smell.

If I am right, sprinkling lemon juice over freshly cut broccoli should have about the same effect. I don't have any at hand, but it would be interesting to know if someone tries.


I'm making cook n serve vanilla pudding can I add vanilla extract to it to make it taste more vanilla? it's for boston cream puffs. I'm making Boston Cream puffs. Can I add vanilla extract to the vanilla cook and serve pudding to make it taste more vanilla?

Sure you can. However, there is a limit to how much vanilla flavor tastes good, and without more information there's no telling you when that limit would be reached; in fact, the existing vanilla pudding may already be there.

You can test this by adding a smidge of vanilla to a spoon of pudding and then tasting it. However, be careful; after multiple tastings it could be easy to get used to the vanilla and end up putting in way too much for non-habituated tongues.


Pressure cooking beans with salt and spices I am trying to pressure cook beans. In order to to soeed things up eben further I add salt before cooking rather than after. While I know that salt toughening beans is an unsubstantiated myth there are still some ingredients that can make beans cook  slower like tomatoes, vinegar, etc.

The salt i am using is approximately 70% salt while the rest being curry mix with ingredients like several green herbs, turmeric, ginger, cumin, etc.

I have 2 questions about this:
1) Is there any reason why the non-salt part of my spice mix could slow cooking or reverse the effects of salt?
Any special spice to avoid that offset salt?
2) Is it alright to add spices BEFORE a session of pressure cooking? Any reason I should be concerned? Like taste, health or anything else?

Thanks a lot

The main impact I find is on flavor. If you're in a hurry and just want a one-pot recipe, go for it, throw it all in and let it cook. Most Indian spices are fairly robust and should withstand the pressure-cooking process. But you may get better results if you cook some of separately, especially if you're already going to be cooking onions, garlic and ginger to add in. I do often include some salt during cooking because I feel that it helps to flavor the food better, similar to the way I was taught to cook pasta (salt the water the pasta cooks in and give a lighter hand to the salt in the sauce).

You really can still generally get reasonably good results without worrying too much about this stuff. It's just that you may get better results if you pay closer attention to when you add what. :-) But if the main result that you want is no-hassle, quick cooking, then who am I to tell you what you really want from your food?

You will certainly get a slightly different flavor from spices depending on how you handle them. Some herbs become bitter if they're cooked a long time (oregano), others lose their flavor pretty much entirely if you cook them longer (dill, mint). Others develop a more complex flavor profile if they are roasted first (cumin, coriander seed).

If I am cooking with cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, cardamom -- really aromatic things that I usually remove after cooking -- I usually include these during the pressure-cooking and remove them when I open the cooker. They will have imparted a strong flavor and aroma into the beans and the cooking water and I don't need more from them. My mom always removes bay leaves before she packs away any left-overs because she finds that they continue to impart an ever stronger flavor into the food while in the fridge. I find the same is true of cinnamon sticks. (Cloves and cardamom not quite as much, I just don't like to bite into them as I'm eating the food.)

I usually cook the other spices separately in another pan with whatever onion/ginger/garlic/etc while the beans are cooking, then add those all together to the beans after the beans have finished cooking.

If you're starting from a pre-blended spice mix, I would probably treat that like the latter and cook it with the onions, etc, and add it towards the end. That doesn't mean you can't throw all of it (onions and all!) into the pressure cooker and have it cook together, but an onion that goes into the beans and water raw will impart a different flavor from that of a caramelized onion. The same goes for raw vs cooked tomato and various other ingredients in Indian cooking.

There are some recipes where I like the effect of just throwing everything in together raw (usually soups, stews, chili, baked beans) but for others I find that taking the extra effort of handling some things differently pays off. (I also find that starting from fresh spices IF you use them frequently makes a big difference vs pre-mixed spice blends, but then again, sometimes having the pre-mixed blends to fall back on can be a nice change, too.)

From a health perspective, cooking vegetables and spices in the pressure cooker will raise the cooking temperature vs boiling. Any nutrients that are adversely affected by high heat may be further affected by pressure cooking vs cooking on an open pan on the stove. Most herbs and spices are of fairly negligible nutritional value to begin with (at least, in the quantities we cook with) so I wouldn't worry about this type of nutrient loss from spices.

Water-soluble nutrients from the beans or from greens like spinach and kale are still present in the cooking liqueur, so as long as you don't discard that after cooking, you aren't losing a lot of nutrients there, either.

From a time perspective, I have never noticed any difference in the time it takes to cook lentils if I have the onions, tomatoes and spices in with them, but I also haven't tried to shave the time down to the minimum there, either.

If you're in a really big hurry or if you have some older beans that are being stubborn about rehydrating, you can add a little bit of baking soda to the cooking water to help them to soften up.  Use very little (<1/2 tsp in a big pot) or plan to discard the cooking water. If you are using baking soda you can change the water half-way through and add the spices at that point for a compromise.

This is based on how I learned to cook American food from my mom and that side of the family and Indian food from my in-laws and college roommates, etc, as well as a lot of experimentation. :-)


Preparations for outdoor grilling As summer has finally arrived, I am planning for a picnic involving grilling.
We have some parks around here, with the tiny grills on the ground. Can someone give me a list of things to bring in order to really grill some food ?
Also, what are the usual meats/veggies for outdoor grilling ?

A decent grill.  Yes, really.  If your park has one of those crappy little close-to-the-ground ones (instead of the great giant cast-iron ones in the national parks) you're in for an afternoon of heartbreak and frustration as you try to grill on it.
Quality charcoal.  Hardwood is more expensive, harder to light, slower to heat up but burns hotter and tastes good; briquettes are easy-lighting but don't add much to the food.  Best results: half and half.
Handi-wipes to get the charcoal off your hands.
A "chimney"-style charcoal starter, and some newspaper to use in it.  "Easy-lighting" charcoal isn't.
A "fireplace" lighter.
Long-handled metal tongs and a long-handled, wide, heavy metal spatula.
Oven mitts or thick leather gloves in case the handles aren't long enough.
Spray bottle full of tap water for putting out flare-ups, clothing, and hair.
Meat, fish, chicken, and/or vegetables, preferably some which have been marinated in a sauce or rub for a while (several hours for meat) beforehand.
Serving plates and eating plates and other picnicware.  No, you can't put the cooked meat back on the dish the raw meat was marinating on.
Chips & dip or salsa for while everyone is waiting hours for you to get the charcoal going.
Bread and side-dishes to go with the barbecue, or more likely to be eaten instead while everyone waits for the meat to be done.
Headlamp flashlight for you to use while it's getting dark because the charcoal isn't ready yet and you can't see if the food is done or not.
Beer.


When using fresh corn in place of canned or frozed, should I cook the corn first? I have a couple recipes that call for frozen or canned corn.  If I want to use fresh corn instead, should it be cooked first or will it cook with the rest of the ingredients (like a casserole for example)?

Good question! Corn is very versatile. I've found that fresh and frozen whole kernel corn are very interchangeable when used in casseroles. Most casseroles cook long enough that you could use either without making any adjustments.

However, canned corn is a different animal. Because it is more processed I would use it in recipes that call for it but I would not consider it a substitute for fresh or frozen.


How much powder does 1 TBSP of Cumin seeds yield when crushed? How much powder does 1 TBSP of Cumin seeds yield when crushed? I have a recipe that calls for Cumin seeds to be crushed but I could not find whole seeds at the store.

A little bit less than 1tbsp, maybe 4/5ths of a tablespoon.


I want to invest in some hotel pans for home cooking, what size and quantities should I buy? When I watch cooking shows and observe equipment in restaurant kitchens, I see a lot of different size hotel pans.

I see that various sizes can be used to hold sauces, hold mise en place, hold cooked product, etc.

What would be a good set to invest in? What sizes and how many of each?

Hotel pans are primarily used in institutional settings because everything is already made to fit them. Steam tables, prep coolers, etc, are all made to fit hotel pans and their fractional sizes. While I agree with the comments that they aren't generally the best pan suited to many tasks, they are great because they are fairly inexpensive and can be stacked and nested so easily.

There are not, however, any specific sizes that you must have. Even restaurants only buy sizes that they need for specific tasks. For instance, I have worked very few places that had more than one or two full sized hotel pans, as those are usually only used as the water-holding layer of a steam table (or occasionally to do roasts and the like). Basically, get the sizes that you think you will use. For instance, if nothing bigger than a 1/2 pan will fit in your oven, don't get any full pans. If you primarily want them for refrigerated storage, only get the plastic cold table pans and lids in sizes that will fit in your refrigerator.

If you are primarily using them for storage, I'd highly recommend getting Cambro or Carlisle storage containers instead. They come in standardized sizes, have color coded lids, and nest neatly. They also have snug fitting lids, which hotel pans lack. The plastic cold table pans generally have loose lids that work in institutional settings for things that won't be stored longer than a few hours, but wouldn't be practical at home.


Shiny side or not for foil? Does it make any difference when you wrap food with aluminum foil for grilling or baking or making a steam pouch whether you put the shiny side in or the shiny side out?

I've seen at least one answer to a questiong about grilling that made mention of this.

I've been told that the shiny side should go on the inside for cooking, and the outside for freezing.  In other words, do you want to reflect the heat into the food, or away from the food?

However, common sense (which fails very often) tells me that with the temperature ranges involved, any benefit is marginal, if it exists at all.

The only time it might matter, is if you were trying to warm something up in the sun.  Then it might make a difference.

EDIT:  From The Straight Dope:

  The truth is that the shiny side is
  not treated with a dangerous chemical.
  Mineral oil is used as a lubricant
  during the rolling process, some trace
  of which may remain on the finished
  foil--but it's not dangerous. The
  shiny side is shiny because of the way
  foil is made. During the last pass
  through the rolling mill, a double
  thickness of foil is run between the
  rollers. The side of each sheet that
  comes in contact with the polished
  steel rollers comes out shiny. The
  other side has a matte finish.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1135/should-a-baking-potato-be-wrapped-in-foil-shiny-side-in-or-shiny-side-out

ALSO

  The official word from the Reynolds
  aluminum people is as follows: "It
  makes little difference which side of
  the Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil you
  use--both sides do the same fine job
  of cooking, freezing, and storing
  food. There is a slight difference in
  the reflectivity of the two sides, but
  it is so slight that laboratory
  instruments are required to measure
  it."


How long will cayenne peppers extend shelf life of cooked ground pork? I am wanting to make a spicy Korean soup broth and the recipe calls for ground pork.

I was wondering how long the cayenne peppers would extend shelf life of cooked ground pork?

Or is the broth still "bad in 3 days" as most sites suggest when referigerating ground pork?

Opinion and learned knowledge without doing searches for citations to back it up to follow:

Spices, including peppers have a history of being used to extend the life of foods including meats.  This is a false reputation and representation of that history, IMO.  The spices in reality were used in large quantities to cover up poor quality proteins and produce and hide the deficiencies and early stages of spoilage.  It hid these qualities only, it did little to nothing to reverse or slow them.  Under poor storage conditions 100 years ago a bite of pork might have turned your stomach to taste it at two days, but spice it up enough with peppers or a stout curry sauce and at four days you still might not have noticed.  This does not mean it will still not end up with you locked in the loo for a few hours or worse.

With improved meat and produce quality and storage capabilities today in most of the world (yes, really, even as much as many of us complain), this is no longer necessary. We make things spicy because we are used to the taste and like it.  But stories and traditions of it being a preservative continue.  Salt for instance is a preservative, but only in the quantities used in curing and pickling and such, not in the quantities we use to spice food.  That is for flavor, not to kill bacteria or extend the useful life of the food.


How to clean melted plastic from oven My mother recently bought a sheet of what she thought was aluminum foil to line the bottom of our oven, in an effort to make cleaning easier.

It turned out that the "foil" was actually plastic, and after preheating the oven, the sheet melted onto the bottom of our oven (so much for making cleaning easier!!!)

We are now left with this unfortunate aftermath:

How do we clean this up? Will the oven even be usable afterwards? I am very worried about the carcinogenic plastic fumes.

Your help is desperately appreciated ...

Ugh. Obviously, the oven isn't usable like that. Well, if you can't pry it up without damaging the enamel, or the surface isn't flat enough to scrape it off with a razor blade, the next step is probably to see if a little temperature might loosen it up. I'm guessing that a freezing attack like gum remover would shatter the enamel, so warmth without enough heat to produce a bunch of fumes might loosen it up. If that doesn't work, if the package says what kind of plastic it is, then you can try a solvent for that plastic. My guess is that it's mylar, which is pretty resistant to solvents. If it is, this chart says that Sodium Hydroxide (Lye) will attack mylar, and that's a common ingredient in oven cleaner. I can't find any information that discusses the safety of this interaction but I'd consider it if I had good ventilation... but it would probably be a good idea to check with a chemist.


How do I make my cheese "crackers" less greasy? To provide my diabetic guests with a low-carb option for dipping, I make cheddar cheese "crackers" by melting small mounds of cheddar on a silpat at 400° F. Once the cheese has started to bubble very slowly, I remove them, dab them with a towel to remove excess grease, and then place them on paper towels or brown paper, flipping them once, to cool and wick away additional grease. Not surprisingly, the crackers are always very greasy even with the dabbing/wicking.

What could I add to the shredded cheese to make the crackers less greasy without dramatically increasing their carbohydrate count, and how much of that ingredient should I use (assuming two cups of cheddar per "recipe")? In lieu of adding anything to the cheddar, is there an ingredient with which I could dust the crackers to help cut down their greasiness without dramatically increasing their carbohydrate count?

I'd first try experimenting with different cheeses; different brands or ages of cheese may behave differently.  You can also try hard cheeses, as I've made something similar with hard grating cheeses (parmesean, pecorino romana).

Also, how you buy your cheese may be significant; many packaged pre-shredded cheeses contain cornstarch to reduce clumping, which might help to reduce the 'greasiness' of the final item (although adding carbs).


Difference between freezer bag and storage bag We accidentally used Ziploc "storage bags" instead of "freezer bags" to package some meat for the freezer. We noticed this after the fact and it got me thinking: what is the difference? Marketing aside, they both appear to be resealable zipper-like air-tight and water-tight plastic bags.

Freezer bags are slightly thicker plastic, and more forgiving of sharp or pointy foods (like meat with protruding bones).

I know some freezer bags include a white place to write a label on, I don't remember if storage bags do as well.

The press-to-seal bags do a better job of not spilling if accidentally dropped compared to the zipper versions.

http://web.archive.org/web/20130105063349/http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/2010/march/home-garden/storage-bags/overview/index.htm


domestic bread steaming -> will my stone be okay? Trying to maximise the oven rise of my loaf, and think I will try the steaming method, but what is the best way to do this in a domestic electric oven, and will could it damage my bread stone?

I would not go ahead and just toss water on the oven floor as this can both damage your oven, as well as lower its temperature.

Instead, I would use a baking pan with some boiling water, put it on the lowest rack. The temperature of the oven will keep the water boiling, and thus releasing steam throughout the baking.


Does the cooking time, adding more water and using high quality and expensive rice help to produce soft and non-stick rice? Most of my friends told me that to prevent the rice from sticking at the bottom of the rice cooker pot (as shown in the picture below) and to prevent the rice from becoming very hard at the bottom of the rice cooker port, I have to do the following:

Decrease the cooking time
Adding more water and
Using high quality and expensive rice (e.g. Paw San Fragrance rice)

Currently, for each cup of rice that I added, I add two cup of water. The current cooking time is about 1 hour for two cup of rice and the rice use is the normal plain rice.

Would appreciate if anyone can confirm that I should decrease my cooking time to 30 minutes and add 4 cup of water for each cup of rice and the use of high quality and expensive rice?

This is what I do for cooking ONE cup rice:

Soak one cup rice in one and a half cup water for 20 minutes.  This should be done after rinsing the rice properly since, the water used for soaking is NOT to be thrown away.
After 20 minutes put the vessel with the existing water on the gas stove (with a loose lid on) on a high heat.
When the water reaches the boiling point (indicator: water starts to pour out of the top of the vessel), reduce the gas to a minimum.
After 4-5 minutes check whether the rice is done by taking the lid off sightly. Keep it on the minimum gas till the water bubbles on the top of the rice vanish completely.
Switch off the gas.
Let the rice vessel (with the lid on) be on that switched off gas for 15 minutes. The inherent heat of the gas helps in setting the rice properly and reduces the chances of the rice getting stuck at the bottom.

Also, using a thick bottomed vessel for cooking rice is a must. In a thin bottomed vessel, the food is more likely to get burnt if less water is used.


Beef Bourguignon Wine Question I'm hoping you can help me with an issue I have. I had a co-worker whose spouse made a very large pot of Beef Bourguingnon. It was delicious. I found out she had used Ina Garten's recipe. You can find it here Ina Garten: Beef Bourguignon.

I made it to the recipe, with the exception that I couldn't find pearl onions, so I used regular. My co-worker's batch was excellent and there was just a hint of wine. Mine tasted extremely boozy. I think I even let it cook a little longer than the recipe called for, hoping the alcohol would cook out, but it didn't. It was very strong.

I'm not a wine guy. I don't drink it and don't know anything about it. The co-worker didn't know which wine his wife bought. I probably grabbed something red colored, possibly a cabernet sauvignon, because I know a guy that drinks it and I probably recognized the label.

Can you guys tell me if a different red wine would taste less boozy or do I just need to reduce the amount of wine in the recipe and up the amount of stock? Thanks for the help.

Edit: By 'boozy' I meant it had a strong alcohol flavor to it. It could partially been stronger because of the tannins one of you guys said was heavy in the cabernet. Also, I attached this recipe, because the co-worker told me the one they handed me was Ina Garten's recipe. I just read through this one and the one I was handed uses much more wine. I know I've experienced in the past where a chef will have two version of a recipe posted around the internet, where they've improved it. The one they handed me and it said it was Ina Garten called for adding all the ingredients back to the pot and then adding a small bottle of wine. I think it was 750ml. You're supposed to then add beef stock to bring the level of liquid up to right below the top of the beef. I didn't have to add much beef stock. Looking at this recipe, it says 1.5 cups. So the version I had basically adds 2x the amount of wine. That could very well be the issue, though the co-worker made the same version with the same ratio of wine I did, so I guess it's also the type of wine used. I probably need to use one of the types you guys suggested.

After Deglaze the pan with the red wine and cook on high heat for 1 minute, scraping the bottom of the pan. but prior to adding the beef stock, reduce the wine to almost a syrup. Most of the alcohol will be driven off, along with most of the water. When the, relatively large volume of beef stock is added, the concentration of alcohol will be greatly reduced. You may need to add additional liquid to make up for the missing wine and You may need to adjust how the garlic is handled, so to not over cook at high heat.

Edited to remove wrong chemistry.


What can I use instead of corn syrup? I saw the question about UK, but I don't think I can find treacle of any kind in Germany.

I am looking for a substitute which will keep the physical qualities of the pie filling reasonably close to the original. I don't mind if the sweetness changes (in fact, I'd probably like it if it is less sweet than the original) and I don't mind introducing new aromas into the recipe.

My first idea was to make a very light caramel, and eventually keep it sticky with a dash of lemon juice. Then I could probably try to solve sugar in maple syrup, which will also introduce a new flavor and also keep it sweet.

Probably the closest thing to real corn syrup sold in the supermarket here is beet sugar syrup. But it isn't high on my list, because I probably won't use the rest up.

I also plan to use walnuts instead of pecans, if it makes any difference (pecans are quite rare here too).

The substitution shouldn't be too adventurous, I am baking this for guests (if I were alone and the filling got too thin or too thick to call it a pie, I'd still eat it as long as the taste is OK).

I did a little research and found this page which has a modified sugar syrup recipe for a substitute.

In case the link breaks:

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
3/4 cup water
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar (spelling corrected by me)
dash of salt

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a heavy, large pan. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and put a cover on for 3 minutes to get sugar crystals off the sides of the pan. Uncover and cook until it reaches soft ball stage. Stir often.

Cool syrup and store in a covered container at room temperature. It will keep 2 months. Yield: almost 2 cups. For dark corn syrup add 1/4 cup molasses to the above recipe.


Pressure cooked stock out overnight, still safe? I see a question here about stock out overnight, but in my case it's a bit different in that I used a pressure cooker.

My question is, is there anything that could possibly have survived an hour of high pressure cooking?  I've essentially gone far beyond what's done in pressure canning, and never opened the cooker.

Is it really possible that anything survived that inferno?  Pressure cookers by definition have an air tight seal, so I can't see how anything would crawl in after the deed.

Safe to eat?

No, it is not safe.  As soon as a pressure cooker loses pressure it is not hermetically sealed. Stock, in particular, is often used as a culture medium in petri dishes to GROW bacteria.  They love the stuff.

Pressure cooking or pressure cookers do not confer magical powers to food - once the pressure is gone all the regular food handling rules apply:

Always refrigerate perishable food within 2 hours (1 hour when the temperature is above 90 °F).
When in doubt, throw it out.

Here's a little story about Bending the Rules on Bacteria and Food Safety, wherein a cookbook author feeds lethal week-old stock to his family - and the expert opinion on why this is NOT ok.


How long will soaked chia seeds last? I was just wondering how long you could keep chia seeds in the refrigerator after they have already soaked in the water. I know dry chia seeds have an extremely long life if stored properly but I can't find anything online about once they are already soaked.

Thanks.

Chia seeds have been known to harbor salmonella, and considering their high fat content, high carbohydrate content, and their physical/chemical reaction to being soaked in water, they are an ideal growing medium for any number of hazards.

The USDA does not have a published opinion on the topic.

The EFSA has approved them as an ingredient in all forms,including uncooked, but has only researched cooked form (which is typical for seeds and nuts)

Give the lack of guidence from a credible organization, and the wildly varying ranges of unauthoritative sources, I would treat soaked chia seeds as most akin to leftovers of a salad that has dressing applied, which is to say even in the refrigerator, no more than a day and "when in doubt throw it out".


Brand new - never been used stainless steel briage pot pitted with one 6 minute water boil on my gas range I had pitting in an All-Clad pot and figured I had done something wrong ( no salt added at all just water boiled).  The new pot ( received yesterday) .. washed with hot water and soap, cleaned, dried and commenced to heating.. it's already pitting.. I live near Carlsbad, CA and I do believe the water here is quite "hard".. ( chlorine, calcium)..    any suggestions appreciated.
Kevin

This is not pitting, this is scale. You can't prevent it, no matter what kind of pot you buy.
Washing/scrubbing won't really help. Get a descaling agent - no need to go for the expensive ones, maybe just get some citric acid in bulk - and descale whenever it builds up enough to bother you.


Coloring colored ice-cream I would like to buy strawberry ice-cream for my friend, and most of the strawberry-flavored ice-cream is pink in color. However, I am thinking of serving the ice-cream green color instead. Is there any way to color the ice-cream as such? Thank you.

If you make homemade strawberry ice cream, the color is likely to be very, very pale, approaching white.  Green food coloring in your mix should do the trick.

It would be very difficult to retroactively turn commercial ice cream a different color.  The pink is almost certainly from food coloring, and mixing in another coloring would be very difficult without adversely affecting the texture of the ice cream--essentially you would end up having to melt and rechurn, to get any kind of decent result, in which case you might as well simply make homemade ice cream.

You can get recipes very easily by googling.  You will, of course, need an ice cream maker.  The frozeen barrel kind can be had readily and for a reasonable price.


Cast iron pan has black residue on it I have a small cast iron pan which I am working with, trying to make sure I understand seasoning/cleaning before moving on to a larger one. I seasoned with flaxseed oil (4 light coats, hour in the oven), and have cooked a few things - I made some Ghee, fried some onions, stuff like that. After each I washed with hot water (no soap), heated until dry on the stove and coated with a thin layer of canola oil.

Now, when I take a dry paper towel and rub it on the pan, a black residue shows up on the paper towel. I can't feel anything with my fingers and I haven't noticed anything cooking with it. I'm fairly confident this occurred after the initial seasoning - although I'm not sure I did this exact test with the paper towel.

Is this a) normal, or b) what is wrong and c) how can I fix it?

There are quite a few questions (and good answers!) regarding cast iron cookware on this site but I haven't been able to find one that deals with this specific issue.

You may notice the black residue if you fry eggs in the pan as well.

Most likely, the black residue is charred (greasy) food sticking to the seasoned oil.  Since Flaxseed oil has low heat tolerance, it could be that disintegrating, too.  Otherwise it could be related to the iron in the cast iron which isn't bad for you (some say even good).

a) Is it normal: Yes if you keep with the same regiment (recommend you don't).

b) What is Wrong:  Water won't perfectly wash non-polar chemicals such as burnt solids in grease (milk solids while making ghee), so the hot water no-soap routine leaves the stuff in pan.

c) How can I fix it: Try the following going forward:

After you finished cooking and while the pan is somewhat hot, put a heap of salt in the middle and with a paper-towel spread and lightly scrub the pan.  The salt will pick up the would-be black stuff, largely disinfect the pan, and the abrasive properties of the salt helps with the cleaning.
Wipe off the now brown salt from the pan and rub-in the coat of oil as you normally do. The new coat will stick better to through the salt's abrasive effect.

This routine won't eliminate residue altogether.  But it seems to work great long term.

Note on oils:
Flaxseed oil is best consumed cold and within three weeks.  I haven't heard of a credible source promoting seasoning the pan with flaxseed oil as it has one of the lowest smoke points in the oils.  Use a more heat tolerant oil like light (not extra-virgin) olive oil or canola.


Need chewiness and density added to blondies no carbs I want chewy and dense blondies. The recipe I'm currently using is:
2 cups almond flour
1 cup xylitol sweetener
2 eggs
½ cup butter
vanilla extract

I've tried adding ground flaxseed, corn syrup and corn starch. No xanthan gum please, as it's too expensive!

Try powdered gelatin. Using these two recipes as reference (1, 2) I recommend you start with a tablespoon.
In candy making, gelatin is a very common way to create chewy textures, like in gummy candy or marshmallow. It turns out it can do just the same in baking. While candy recipes generally require you to "bloom" the gelatin powder to avoid clumping, this can be avoided in our case: you can simply whisk the powdered gelatin in with the rest of your dry ingredients.
Gelatin is a protein, so it definitely meets your zero carb requirement. It is also inexpensive when purchased in bulk (the tubs are usually cheaper than the packets).


Why did my Zwilling Aluminium pan cookware surface corrode just after 1 month? On March 3 2021, I bought this Zwilling 33 cm / 13 inch Aluminium deep saute pan with lid. Please review pictures below, inside my red circle. The coating on the surface appears to have corroded! Why? What went wrong?
I was careful not to scratch or corrode the coating! I used sponges to clean. I used plastic heat resistant Turners.

This is not corrosion, this is damage to the non-stick surface.
Overheating the pan can damage non-stick coatings. As these marks are in the centre of the pan I suspect that there are two possibilities:

The pan was heated too hot and damaged the coating
The "corrosion" is actually damage to a layer of polymerized oils/fats analogous to seasoning on a cast-iron pan.


What does "rap" mean for brownies recipe? I just made Ina Garten's Outrageous Brownies last weekend and I omitted the "rap" step: "Bake for 20 minutes, then rap the baking sheet against the oven shelf to force the air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough."

What did they want me to do, push the pan against the back of the oven? Thanks.

The oven shelf is not the back of the oven. Basically what you would do is lift one side a little (maybe an inch or so) and let it drop. Then you can do the other side. This will give you a more fudgy and less cake-like crumb, as the cake-like finish comes from trapped air bubbles. If you rap the pan to help the air escape then you have less trapped air and thus a denser, more fudge-like crumb.


What’s the difference between cracked and coarse rounded black peppercorns? I saw a video of cracked peppercorns where the cook was cracking them with the bottom of a pan.  Coarse grounded is obviously done by grinding coarsly.

Assuming both are done freshly what is the difference between the two?  It seems the only difference is how they have been broken? Are there any implications for taste, digestion, aesthetics, why did the cook/why would you use cracked black peppercorns over coarse grounded ones?

When I have seen this done, the resulting product is in one of two states:

1) The peppercorn is broken down even less than a coarse grind (mostly intact)
  2) The peppercorn is broken down into rough pieces, the same as a coarse grind

In some ethnic dishes, I have cracked peppercorns just enough to allow the flavor strengthen.  This has given a suble to distinct flavor, in my experience.  This is method 1.

In other dishes, such as a nice steak or a curry, I basically gave the peppercorns a coarse grind -- this leaves pieces you can still eat easily, but gives a much more pronounced flavor.  This is method 2.

In the end, I think the recipe and the instructions will help to determine whether the method is being used to accomplish a coarse grind, or merely exposing more surface area to give a subtler flavor.

YMMV


If a chicken has released a lot of moisture due to freezing, will these cause soup water to flow back in due to pore enlargement? If you have slow freezed chicken and noticed a lot of water has come out, you then cook a soup, would the freezing have caused pores to enlarge and will the soup water/marinade move into the areas of the chicken?

Have you ever tried this and what where the results like?

Thanks

That release of moisture is due to breakage of chicken's cell structure, and further moisturing will not repair it - so it's not about the pores, and there's no "going back" from that state.
Still, if You cook Your chicken in a liquid with agents that affect osmotic pressure (salt, for example), it will lead to release of liquid through membranes, and further cooling will cause the reverse effect (chcken absurbing released liquid).
That's why stew/soup-like dishes often taste better after cooling/reheating.

Hope I got the point)


What is the external operating temperature range for a Crock-Pot or other slow cooker? Some quick online searches define an operating temperature for slow cookers: the minimum internal temperature is A, the simmering point is B, you have certain options depending on heat setting, etc., and of course you should avoid prolonged time in the danger zone from C to D.

What I haven't been able to find, either in webpages or published product manuals, is what the range of external ambient temperatures a Crock-Pot or other slow-cooker are appropriate usage. I'd imagine that the normal operating cooker's range includes at least most reasonable room temperature for some culture's or economies' opinions about suitable room temperature, and I'd expect immediate, total destruction from attempted Crock-Pot use while the Crock-Pot is bathed in liquid helium or magma.

What I haven't found, however, is a tighter and more useful estimate. The range of temperatures where people are willing to pursue their lives amounts to a pretty broad range, and the range is presumably narrower for people that act on a live option of cooking with a Crock-Pot.

Do Crock-Pots work at most ambient temperatures that at least some people tolerate? If not, what would a more accurate range be?

On the high side, it would be impossible for the pot to cool the contents below external temperatures, but most components (obvious weak point being the power cord insulation) will stand temperatures far above what humans will tolerate. The "classic" crock pot has no temperature-sensistive "smarts" to it, some of the more "modern" options might be more easily defeated than an old fashioned crockery/heating element/switch (possibly with thermostat, possibly not, in neither case "smart") / insulation/shell construction.

On the low side, there will eventually be a point where the power input on low won't keep the temperature above 140°F due to the level of insulation and wattage of the elements. Anecdotally, many long-boiled things were boiled (probably on high, not low) in our unheated shed to keep them out of the heated kitchen at temperatures ranging down to 0°F (no wind, being inside) and they boiled. Less anecdotally, you could run experiments with a crock-pot and water and a thermometer to see what that specific unit could do at a specific outside temperature, but it would only be valid for that specific unit.


How can I tell if a fish can safely be prepared "crudo"? Is there something you can look for? Am I left to the seller's word and my own discernment?

Well, your discernment is indeed what you are looking for. You want really fresh fish. The usual advice for detecting really fresh fish apply. It can't hurt to have a fish source that you have good reason to trust.


Anyone ever seen a "wok adapter" for induction cooktops? In theory a cheap pressed steel wok would work on an induction cooktop, but the "contact patch" for a traditional round bottomed wok would be so small it would be ineffective.

Has anyone seen a steel or cast-iron "wok adapter" with a flat bottom and a concave "bowl" on top to sit the wok in, serving dual purposes of supporting the wok on the stovetop and transferring the induction heat to the wok?

Could anyone speculate if this would this even work? Or wouldn't you be able to get the wok hot enough?

I've never seen one of these and I don't think they would work. You could shape a piece of metal to fit the wok base and it would heat up, however you'd run into trouble with the heat transfer. Air is a lousy conductor of heat, you would need direct metal to metal contact - any imperfections in the shape of either the adapter or the wok would reduce heat transfer dramatically. Even a bit of dirt could make a big difference.

EDIT: responding to the comment about extending the induction effect

Electrical fields follow the inverse square law, so they weaken at a rate determined by the square of the distance from the source. The magnetic field will be significantly less the farther away the metal is, the field at 4cm will be 1/16th of the power then it would be at 1cm, which is why induction pans need as much contact as possible. If the metal of the ring were to extend the magnetic field to the parts of the wok out of contact then that field would not be able to heat it well. But the magnetic field isn't going to get extended as the energy is going to be absorbed by the contact ring.


Slow Cooker & Fat - Blend it back in? I have a layer of grease on the top of my slow cooker. The recipie is a sausage & bean hotpot with smoked paprika and red wine. My issue is that I added a little too much liquid and now the fat has separated and risen to the top. As any good cook knows, much of the flavour is in the fat, plus the fat absorbs a lot of the spices.

I'm a believer in healthy food, but don't believe that all food should be healthy. As such, I'd like to blend everything back together and see how it goes. My thinking at this point is along two avenues:

Add something starchy (Cornstarch, Lentils, Mashed Potato...) to allow the oil and water to bond.
Add an emulsifier (Mustard, Egg Yolk, etc)
Separate the liquids from the solids, transfer the liquids to a pan, and reduce. This should concentrate the flavour while allowing the solids already in the sauce to do technique #1 for me.

Right now I'm leaning towards egg yolks, a few lentils certainly wouldn't harm the flavour I'm going for either. Has anyone tried the above techniques, specifically with regards to a slow cooker? How did it turn out?

If you wish to continue down the road of a singular dish I would recommend the emulsifier. Incorporating the fat through blending it with some of the liquid in a side pan or pot with ground mustard would be easiest and most complete. You should be able to continue cooking without further separation.

However, if you are cooking the dish too hot you may be forcing some of the fat from the meat or otherwise loosing it from too much agitation and you will want to make any adjustments necessary.


homemade coconut flavoured yogurt? I love there store bought coconut flavoured yogurts. I usually make my own but i cant find any type of coconut aromas around (even synthetics). Is there some way to do some similar yogurts?  I use powdered milk, whey and casein in my yogurts so the only missing ingredient is the aroma.

Use coconut milk powder. It is very fine and dissolves easy and tastes great, better than artificial essence. Also it is pure white and does not alter the texture or color. I found it in an Indian store, what a find. I also use it in coconut custard pies dissolved in regular milk instead of the canned coconut milk, and to change basic cake recipes into coconut cake.


What does "contains 2% or less of" mean? In the US, food labels are required to provide an ingredients list.  One common phrase on labels is "contains 2% or less of."  For example: "Pork, water, contains 2% or less of: salt, spices, sodium phosphates, dextrose, autolyzed yeast extract, caramel color."  (Bonus points for identifying what that ingredient list is for.)  Does the 2% apply to each item in the list individually, or do all the items sum up to being less than 2%?

This is sort of academic, I suppose, but I like to know what goes into the ingredients I use.

(ǝƃɐsnɐs :ɹǝʍsuɐ)

The US Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR 101.4) states that ingredients must be listed in descending order of predominance based on weight. The following exception is made in 21 CFR 101.4(2):

  The descending order of predominance requirements of paragraph (a)(1) of this section do not apply to ingredients present in amounts of 2 percent or less by weight when a listing of these ingredients is placed at the end of the ingredient statement following an appropriate quantifying statement, e.g., "Contains __ percent or less of _" or "Less than _ percent of __." The blank percentage within the quantifying statement shall be filled in with a threshold level of 2 percent, or, if desired, 1.5 percent, 1.0 percent, or 0.5 percent, as appropriate. No ingredient to which the quantifying phrase applies may be present in an amount greater than the stated threshold.

Thus, each ingredient is 2% or less of the total weight. They are also exempt from the order by weight requirement. The manufacturer is free to order the subset of < 2% ingredients however they please.

Source: 21 CFR 101.4


What went wrong with my yuzu cheesecake? Having seen an episode of The Great British Bake Off, I decided to bite off more than I could chew and made a yuzu cheesecake. As yuzu was described, on the program, as having a taste somewhere between mango and kiwi I was expecting a nice, fruity cheesecake. What I got was something like a not-quite-ginger, but bitter.

The recipe I used was a very basic cheesecake, with the yuzu added once the primary cream cheese, mascarpone and sugar were mixed.

Can anyone suggest what I should do - specifically for yuzu flavouring - or what might have gone wrong and perhaps what yuzu should taste like when used correctly?

Given that you were using bottled 100% yuzu juice (assuming this is what you bought), which although not as flavorsome as fresh yuzu, still tastes generally similar, I would say the 'disappointment' comes from how it was used.

When I have had yuzu based desserts they have nearly always used a yuzu syrup or jam or yuzu honey, giving a more jammy, sweet taste akin to marmalade but with a the indescribable, heady complexity of yuzu.

Try mixing the juice with an equal quantity of sugar, and simmering until you have a runny syrup. I believe this will have the flavour you are looking for.

You can then use this syrup in many different ways e.g. cocktails, added to a cup of hot water to make yuzu tea, over ice cream etc.


Why are avocados so expensive? Avocados are in my opinion one the most loved fruit in the world. I live in South Africa, for a ready ripe avocado you would easily pay between R25 (1.61 usd) and R40 (2.58 usd). For a South African this is ridiculously expensive. We are experiencing one of the worst droughts in our county’s history. But even before the drought they we in the price range they are in now.

We probably import most of our avocados seeing that the drought did not shoot up the price with that much.  Which led me thinking what does affect the price of an avocado? Why are they so expensive?

Supply and demand.

Supplies of avocados are declining due to droughts and unusual weather patterns. Not only drought can reduce crops, but unusual cool weather patterns can as well. Avocados dislike temperatures lower than 10°C and have absolutely no frost tolerance.

Demand for avocados is going steadily upward as more people enjoy cuisines in which they are popular, such as Mexican and many South American dishes. Avocado oil is becoming more in demand as people consume it for its healthy omegas, and cooks use it due to its high smoke-point.

Declining supply + rising demand = high prices.