How do you bring ingredients to room temperature when its winter? It's freezing in here and it takes forever for butter or eggs to come to room temperature. My questions are:

1) How to bring ingredients to room temperature quickly when its winter?

2) How do you know they are room temperature?

3) Why should ingredients be at room temperature?

As long as you have the heat on in your house, it shouldn't be an issue really. But for butter and eggs, here are some answers:

Microwave the butter for a few seconds to soften it up; put the eggs in warm water until they come up to temperature.
Room temperature for butter just means relatively soft (spreadable, like it is when you don't refrigerate it). For eggs it just means not cold.
Not sure what the recipe is, but, as I just mentioned, room temperature butter is more malleable than cold butter. Eggs fluff better when they're warm (e.g. its more difficult to get peaks when whipping eggs if they're cold).


How do I prevent crust formation when proofing pizza dough? While proofing, the crust can appear on the dough balls if in contact with air (oxygen). I tried preventing by damp cloth but it still happens. The only thing that works 100% is plastic foil wrap, but that would prevent the dough from rising. I'd like to proof for long time this time, so it is even more important to get that technique right.

If you insist on using a damp cloth, you have to make it wet again and again, so this is quite cumbersome especially with long proofing times.

Much easier is plastic wrap, which doesn't prevent the dough from rising if you use it to cover a sufficiently large bowl. Tightly wrapping the dough itself obviously won't work.

My prefered method for these very long raises is a large food-safe plastic container with a lid. It doesn't have to be super-airtight and as I usually do a round of "stretch and fold" or quick punchdown every 12-24 hours I never had a problem with dried or overflowing dough.


Should "Magic Mousse" be grainy? For a treat for my lunch, having bought a bunch of Jell-o brand instant flavored gelatin mixes, my husband decided to follow a recipe for "magic mousse", as printed here, involving "Cool-whip" whipped topping and Jell-o mix (gelatin, not a pudding mix). The final product came out fairly grainy, however, a texture I found somewhat offputting. Is this expected due to the ingredients in the recipe (clearly chosen for convenience rather than quality), or is this some problem with his technique?

It could just be that it wasn't mixed thoroughly - little droplets of dissolved gelatin intermingled with the cool whip would certainly give you a grainy texture. Whisking thoroughly, or even using a hand mixer, could avoid some of this.

But failing that, it's possible that it's simply prone to separation. Cool whip is a sort of fake cream, emulsified fats and water, and the dissolved jello is pretty much water. They might tend to separate a little before the gelatin makes it all set up. If that's the case, you probably have to work a little harder for your mousse; if the gelatin is added straight to the creamy/custardy base, there's no water-gelatin mixture to separate out.


Can steam from my rice cooker's steam vent sanitize sponges? My rice cooker will vent steam at the red arrow, when the rice is almost cooked. I've been holding my sponges and toothbrush heads over, but not blocking, the steam exhaust to try to sanitize them. Does this work?
I thought about microwaving my sponges, but "Stop Microwaving Your Sponges, Immediately"!

If boiling, microwaving or washing sponges in the dishwasher or cloth washer does not disinfect them, steaming them will not, especially in a rice cooker vent where the steam quickly loses temperature.
Throw them away and replace them regularly or, if feeling ecologically conscious, don't use sponges.


Substitutions for greek yogurt? Are there any available substitutes for greek yogurt?

I don't have any in the fridge. Looking for a substitution besides regular yogurt or any yogurt based substitution. Looking to make a creamy like cold sauce for fish tacos.

Sour cream could work.  It has a similar flavor to plain greek yogurt, although the consistency is somewhat different.  In fact, My fiance and I have switched to using greek yogurt in place of sour cream because of this since sour cream is higher in calories.  I think it would be just fine for a sauce.


How do I make sprouted bread myself? There are a few companies out there that offer sprouted bread (e.g. Food for Life).

I am interesting in making bread myself. I have purchased some sprouting containers. Once sprouted the grain obviously is soft and holds a lot of moisture.

Do I have to dry the sprouts and mill them after the drying process or are the grains usually mashed?

You can do either, but personally I have experience with drying and milling.  To dry the sprouts, make sure that you keep them at a low temperature.  You could do this using a dehydrator or in the oven at the lowest possible temperature.  The claim from sprouted grain companies and proponents is that this keeps beneficial enzymes alive.  After this you can mill your grain.  I made the mistake of attempting to mill before fully drying one time - this may clog your machine.  Make sure your sprouts are fully dry before grinding.


Why all that sauce just sitting in the dish in these stuffed bell peppers recipes? The recipes here and here each call for dumping a lot of a tomato & broth (+ onion) sauce in the baking dish. Like around .75 cup per bell pepper.

That's way (way, way) too much to want to spoon over the peppers at the end, so is this stuff just meant for pouring into a cup (or tipping a corner of the dish over your soup hole if you have no cups nor time for fancy "table manners") to slurp down alongside your pepper? Seems weird, so wondering if it serves an indirect yet essential purpose like adding flavor and moisture (these recipes call for covering the baking dish) to the stuffed peppers themselves.

I don't know if this is common in similar recipies. Both of the cited recipes are by the same guy, so maybe it's just his quirk...

These recipes seem to be a misunderstanding how stuffed pepper recipes typically work. At least when we are looking at the Balkan tradition, where the dish originated - this answer focuses on it only. If there is by now a changed form in US recipes, it is not included in my use of the word "traditional".

Traditionally, stuffed peppers are made with sivriyas or other peppers with at least one small dimension, not the monstrous spherical things available in Western supermarkets nowadays. The rice is prepared in the pilaf way - it is fried in oil, then it can be slightly parcooked or just be used at that stage. It is mixed with the other filling ingredients (much more rice than meat) and stuffed into the peppers after they have been punctured in multiple places with a fork. They are placed in the baking dish and the liquid is added.

When you do it that way, the rice cookes in the oven. The liquid you mention is needed to cook the rice. The holes are needed for the liquid to penetrate into the peppers, the small dimensions are needed so that the liquid reaches even the middle, and the "small pieces of meat embedded in rice" texture is again needed for the liquid to get throughout the rice.

When the peppers are ready, they will still have some liquid left over in the baking dish. But after an hour or so, the rice will soak up the rest of the liquid, and you'll only serve the dish after it has rested.

Beside that, it is pretty common to eat the prepared peppers with an additional liquid - mostly yogurt, but I have also seen tomato sauces, but never something as thin as broth. These sauces are added at serving time, traditionally. For eating, you don't spoon the sauce, you break off parts of the stuffed pepper and mix the rice into the sauce before scooping it up. It is possible that the people who made the recipes in your link are using the liquid in that way.

It is also possible that they are just taking the peppers out of the sauce before serving and discarding it. Note that one of the recipes mentions as a last step "drizzle with a spoon of pan juices" - this suggests that you are only using a small part of it.


How do espresso machines hold pressure at all? Kind of a science question: I've been hacking the electronics of a cheap espresso machine a bit to see if I can get better results, and was wondering - espresso is recommended to be brewed at around 130 psi of pressure. That's a lot. My machine is a single-boiler steam pressure machine, and from what I can tell it barely manages 5 psi when pushing water through the puck.

When I use compressed air to step up the pressure to 60psi, the water shoots through in about 1 second - a tiny bit less than the recommended 25 sec :). So how is this supposed to work in a "real" high-end machine? Seems to me the tamped coffee is never going to be able to offer up that much resistance, to where 130 psi of back pressure could be sustained.

I can't speak for the new high end machines that provide pressure profiling, or the cheap domestic machines, which work who knows how, but the standard system for distributing pressure on the coffee is the e61 group head, and most machine group heads are based off the original design.

The e61 group is pretty much just a system of 3 pressure valves that allows the pressure to slowly ramp up 9 bars and then maintains that 9 bars of pressure while the pump continues to work. Some versions include other steps such as pre-infusion, or on newer high-end machines the ability to create pressure profiles which adjust the pressure at any point during the espresso shot.

Also note that all the resistance HAS to come from the coffee puck, so you may be grinding too coarse or not tamping hard enough. If you need to measure the pressure from the grouphead, espresso machine techs use a device like this.

You could probably make your own at home if you are so inclined.


Why use baking powder instead of yeast? I am asking the converse of the question "Why use yeast instead of baking powder?"

For example, can banana bread be made with yeast instead of baking powder? It seems it would rise better, but perhaps people like baking powder because they like banana bread denser or wetter or something?

The main reasons are speed and convenience.  Yeast takes longer (even "instant" yeast) and requires more maintenance: waiting for dough to rise, etc.

But those are the historical reasons for the adoption for baking powder.  Since it became common, another reason emerged: that is, it's very difficult if not impossible to get some kinds of texture and crumb that you get with baking powder by using yeast.

Why?  As dough sits (necessary for yeast to rise), gluten chains begin to form.  The longer the dough sits, the more gluten chains you get.  Even with pastry or cake flour, the dough will get tougher over time (though obviously not as much as with all-purpose or bread flour).

So, yes, you can make banana bread with yeast.  But by the time your dough has risen, it will have become more "bread-like," with a chewier crumb, rather than the tender "crumbly" texture most people are used to in modern quick breads.  That is even more true if you de-gas the dough and let it rise a second time, which is generally necessary (1) to get maximum rise, and (2) to even out the gas bubbles so you don't end up with large holes in the final product.

There are entire genres of "yeasted cake" recipes, which used to be quite common in Europe.  Even with a lot of sugar, they are often "bread-like," sort of like sweet brioche.  They can have a fine crumb, but they won't have the tenderness of a cake made with baking powder (or a quick bread like banana bread, for that matter, which is really like a cake/muffin).

There are entire genres of modern cakes (and quick breads) that only became possible with the use of baking powder (or at least baking soda with an acid).  Before chemical leavening, you were limited in tender cakes to a few genres that depended on whipped eggs or egg whites (e.g., angel food cake), creamed butter/sugar (e.g., pound cake), etc.

Aside from texture, there's also a flavor issue.  Generally most people like the added flavor from yeast, but it also can add a "bread-like" or "yeasty" aspect to the flavor, which may not be desirable in some cakes.  Modern baker's yeast is better than historical yeasts in this regard.  Baking powder can add a different (more "chemical") flavor, but with proper proportions and/or with acid in the batter to ensure a complete reaction, it is often barely noticeable.

EDIT: SgtStens makes a great point in another answer, which I was thinking about in my final paragraph with flavor, but didn't note clearly.  High sugar content in doughs/batters will inhibit yeast activity.  That's why most traditional yeasted cake recipes end up using a relatively low-sugar batter and then add more sweetness through a glaze, filling, streusel topping, etc.  A low-sugar dough can still rise within a reasonable amount of time (a couple hours).  On the other hand, high-sugar cake batters generally take a much longer time to rise.  (Many recipes require an overnight rise for the yeast to initially develop and multiply.)  Depending on the type of yeast and temperature, this can sometimes result in an overly "yeasty" flavor to the final product (though the high-sugar content will cover it up partially).

However, the higher sugar amount can perhaps allow you to obtain a crumb and texture closer to a "normal cake."  On the other hand, without adequate gluten support (with lower flour content relatively), it's difficult to obtain a very light cake this way.  It's fine to create a product with the texture of pound cake or maybe a quick bread, but for something lighter, you may need to resort to baking powder.  One reason in this case is that baking powder can continue to react and produce gas until the gluten structure sets, whereas yeast will die a little earlier in the baking process.  Very light cakes often depend on a careful balance between continuous gas production inside the dough and the gradual migration of gas bubbling out the top.  The cake has to set while gas production is still going on, or else the gas will bubble out and the cake will fall.  If the dough rises too high and then the yeast stop producing gas when they die, the cake could collapse before the structure sets.


Are scratched glass bowls safe to use? I'll be changing my dinnerware soon and I'm looking for something durable and non-toxic. Are glass bowls/plates more susceptible to spoon and fork scratches? Are scratched glass bowls/plates safe to use? Am I supposed to eat with wooden cutlery? The reason I ask this is that, I've got heatresistant cookware for oven and microwave and its user's guide says "don't use fractured,cracked or scratched products".

The reason not to use scratched glass bakeware is because the internal stresses encountered during heating can (rarely) cause the bakeware to violently fracture along the scratches. That doesn't really apply to glass tableware, which doesn't encounter the same temperatures (though cracked tableware, of multiple materials, will occasionally break from thermal stress in the dishwasher).

Incidentally, glass bakeware and tableware should be made from borosilicate glass, which cannot be scratched by steel cutlery.

EDIT: Also: Don't use glass tableware for hot food. Irrespective of safety issues, the thermal density and thermal conductivity of glass means that it will quickly wick away heat from any food which is placed on it. Glass plates are fine for salads and stuff, but they don't make good general-use dinner plates.


Difference between Rajasthani "sev tamatar nu shak" and Gujrati "sev tamatar nu shak" What is the difference between Rajasthani "sev tamatar nu shak" and Gujrati "sev tamatar nu shak". Do they use different spices or ingredients or method of cooking?

Rajasthani is typically spicier (red and green chillies), and/or sour with green tomatoes

Gujarati is typically sweeter (Look for jaggery in recipe)

Otherwise it's a very generic Indian reciepe


Heating ham/cooking hashbrown potato casserole in same oven I have to heat my spiral sliced ham at 275 for 2 hours. My hashbrown potato casserole needs to cook for 45 minutes at 350. I only have 1 oven--what is the best way to cook these 2 items so they are ready to eat at the same time?

This is what I would do.

Wait until the ham has 30 minutes left, then move it to the bottom shelf, put the hash browns on the top shelf, baste the ham well and set the oven for 350. Pull the ham out after 30 minutes so it has time to rest, and leave the hash browns in until they are done.


Does beating hot oil into eggs before cooking an omelette make a difference? Usually, when I prepare an omelette, I pour oil in a cast iron pan and heat it.
In the meantime, I prepare the eggs and I beat them fluffy. When the oil is pretty hot, I pour it in the eggs while beating them and finally I cook it in the pan.

As long as I can remember, I've done that following my mom's example. I assumed that it makes a difference but today my wife asked me why I was doing that.
I couldn't find an answer other than "I always do like that".

I'd like to know if this process have any value on the end result. If so, I could give her a better answer. If not, I will change my habits.

Not tried or heard of this before. I can only arm-chair experiment in my head until I try this out. This seems to be an encapsulation/spherification method.

I can see a thin "shell" of cooked eggs coagulating around the hot oil droplets, trapping them and preventing separation. With many tiny beads of egg encased oil (effective oil buoyancy reduced) in suspension and thus more fats locked in the eggs there is likely a richer mouth-feel. This would not be achievable otherwise. Pretty neat trick. Your mom sounds like a modernist cook!


Are lebkuchenherzen made from the same mixture as Lebkuchen? I'd like to know how lebkuchenherzen are made.
Round iced Lebkuchen can have a soft cakey texture which I would imagine wouldn't be strong enough to hold the shape of a large lebkuchenherzen.

Are lebkuchenherzen made from the same mix and the structural strength comes from a thinner shape and harder bake or are there different ingredients or method?

The Lebkuchenherzen in your second picture are quite different from the cakey Elisenlebkuchen in your first photo.
To be blunt, they are not primarily designed for consumption, but focus on being a novelty item with witty or cute decoration. They are marketed as “decorative sweets” by a wholesale supplier, others offer customization like for other advertising objects.
If you want to make them yourself, aim for a rather stiff and dry dough, with lots of sweetener (often recipes have both sugar and honey) that gets kneaded quickly and contains no leavener like baking powder. Recipes that whip eggs and sugar and result in a spreadable batter will give you something in the Elisenlebkuchen family. Other good choices for sturdy Lebkuchenherzen are those for gingerbread houses - I have read rave reviews about the gingerbread house recipe by bravetart.


Can poulet noir be prepared as standard chicken, or is there anything special to consider? I got "poulet noir" or "black feathered chicken" for Christmas, but I couldn't find much information about it or how to prepare it.

Is it safe to assume, that it can be prepared like any other chicken, or are there considerations to take into account for this particular race of chicken?

The only information I found about this chicken is, that it is low in fat, lives semi-wild, whatever that means and is maybe gamier than normal chicken.

Should I just follow standard chicken recipes?

Depending on how much fitness it did space it had to run around in, this type of chicken is best used in a stew, so depending on your personal chicken recipes, yes, use the standard ones but do not:

BBQ
Fry
Roast
Bake it in an open container (A closed closed container with moisture-releasing veggies is still OK)

¯\_(ツ)_/¯


How to cook bison burgers (a.k.a. buffalo burgers)? I'm wondering how to cook frozen bison burgers (also known as buffalo burgers). The package (Carmen Creek) says "cook slightly less than regular hamburgers" - but since I'm not a cook, and have no real idea how to cook hamburgers, that's not so useful :) It also says, "cook 3 minutes per side at 160 degrees".

I have a Tappan electric stove with dials that have settings of 2-6/hi/low/, and a Calphalon 12'' pan of some sort (the edges are angled).

So, how exactly do you determine which number is 160 degrees? :) I've tried various settings, and have yet to get burgers that look right, they're either too rare, or mushy and fall apart when I remove them from the pan. Or maybe that's how bison burgers just are? How can I tell when they are cooked correctly?

The temperature is 160 F (71 C) is not referring to the setting of your stove but to the internal temperature that the meat should reach. You measure this using an instant read thermometer. Just put your oven on medium to medium-high heat and shoot for 3 minutes per side and see what temperature it has reached at that time. It will depend on how thick the patties are.

It's also important to let the meat thaw before using. Don't try to cook any meat frozen. Your burgers should be first thawed in your refrigerator and then brought to room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour prior to cooking.

In case you aren't aware, bison is a much leaner meat than beef and thus benefits greatly from not being cooked well-done. If you trust the quality of your bison shoot for rare to medium-rare.


What are the pros and cons of storing bread in various locations? Why should/shouldn't I store my bread in the fridge/freezer/breadbox/plastic bag/etc?

Storing bread in the freezer you can store for several days and keep it soft.

To eat, remove from the freezer and put in the oven.


Cleaning habanero oils off of tools I made some habanero salsa last night for the first time (my god, was it delicious) and took care to clean everything that was used.  I figured I was good when I had no problems taking my contacts out afterwards.  So, fast forward to this morning.  The slap chop was still out to dry (stop having a boring pepper, stop having a boring life!) so I put it all away aand then found out the hard way when I went to put my contacts in that I did not in fact clean the tools well enough.

So, I've now got a slap chop, 2 knives and a cutting board which all need to be cleaned of the oils.  What's the best way to do this?  I can throw them all into the dishwasher at once if needed, none of the plastics should melt.

You have a few options, including what should have worked. Capsaicin will dissolve in high-proof alcohol, so if you have a bottle of 151 you might have a go with that. Vinegar can also be used to dissolve the oils. These are probably more effort and expenditure than they're worth though.

  You were on the right track; soap should have worked. In all likelihood, due to the concentration of the oils you simply did not wash it sufficiently. It requires quite a few passes (especially if the cutting board is porous) of hot, hot water and suds. As it is fat soluble you can try cleaning more thoroughly with most any soap with a de-greasing agent.

Moving forward, I have heard tell of spraying with non-stick spray to ward away the oils. I haven't felt some inordinate compulsion to do this and cannot attest to its efficacy, however with a slap chop and its nook and crannies you may find it a suitable use case.


Can I boil pasta in a pasta sauce? Is it ok to boil pasta in pan with a pasta sauce?

Is there any reason to boil pasta separately (and then add the sauce)?

For the best of both methods, cook the pasta most of the way in water, then strain and dump into the sauce to let it finish the last few minutes of cooking.


Stainless steel vs ceramic Enamel microwave ovens I want to buy a convection microwave oven. I plan to buy either from LG or from samsung .Almost all LG products have stainless steel cavity and Samsung comes with ceramic enamel cavity. What is the difference between stainless steel vs ceramic enamel in terms of:

Durability
Ease of cleaning

none
none

Both are durable and easy to clean, the factors I would look at instead are power, features, and user experience. Use a testing service like consumer reports in the US or Which? in the UK as a buying guide, they generally provide good information.


Sweet Potatoes going black when peeled When I peel sweet potatoes for a meal, why do some go black? I peel them about 1 hour or half an hour before I cook them

Potatoes of all kinds will blacken after peeling.  Try putting each potato in cold water while you peel the rest.  I do this with both whole and cut potatoes.  You can add some acid to the water if you like, but it's not really necessary.


What exactly are dried anchovies? As the question states.  Have these been cooked in any way or just dry cured with salt etc?

If I want to make my own dried anchovies, how do I do it?

Dried anchovies are common as snacks in Japan and Korea. As a snacks, there must be preprocessing (heating and drying in big machines) to make them soft and dry, so we can eat the bone.:P

And dried anchovies as snacks are also quite easy to find as snacks and with many flavours:
http://www.maangchi.com/ingredient/dried-anchovies-myulchi

There are also kind of Salted fish common in South China, or Hong Kong, which is sun-dried for weeks or month after salting them. Large fish would be used and would cook before serving/ eating, and is usually used to boost the taste of another dish, and seldom just eat it alone cause it is too salty. While these Salted fish could be self made, and cook it after salted.
Different from dried anchovies, which should be cooked and dried as a snacks


Can I substitute cornstarch for commercially prepared clear glaze? One of the Dr. Oetker products is a fruit glaze, which sets to a clear gelatin, and which the ingredients list indicates to be principally tapioca starch. Can I just use an equal quantity of cornstarch to do the same job instead? Do the two starches behave similarly enough to be a straight substitute, or are there differences which will make for a noticeably different result?

Unfortunately no. Cornstarch will cook up white while tapioca starch cooks up remarkably clear.
You may be able to find tapioca starch at your local Asian market or if your grocery store has a decent organic or gluten-free section.
That said, if you speifically need to avoid tapioca for some reason, you could try arrowroot powder. I haven't seen it myself, but I've read that it also cooks up clear, but maybe not as thick as tapioca.


What are some effective tips for cooking bacon in the microwave? I typically cook my bacon in the oven or stove top. A relative of mine saw me do this and recommended using the microwave instead. I have two questions on this:

Is this food safe--does using a microwave kill the bacteria/pathogens in pork?
What are some effective methods to ensuring I get the same results as I would in an oven or on the stove top?

You can cook bacon that is safe-to-eat using a microwave. The USDA even lists microwaving bacon as a safe way to cook it:

The three main ways to cook bacon are in a skillet or pan on the
stove, in a conventional oven, or in the microwave. The length of time
to cook bacon depends upon the type and thickness of the bacon, the
heat used, and the desired crispness.

That said, I wouldn't expect the same (or even similar) results as cooking bacon in an oven or on a stovetop. Microwaved bacon usually ends up rubbery instead of crispy and brown. You also can't collect the rendered fat and reuse it since you usually microwave bacon on a paper towel.
Serious Eats wrote a great piece on how to cook bacon and advised against microwaving bacon due to the texture, but try it for yourself! Microwaved bacon is perfectly safe to eat and, at the end of the day, only you can decide whether you like it or not :)


How best to store cheese long term? I like cheese. It's delicious. Sometimes it goes on a huge sale and it's a lot cheaper than normal. I want to be able to stock up in these times.

I am wondering what the best way to store cheese is of different types (the 8oz blocks of softer cheeses or hard blocks of fancier cheeses).

It seems like I could freeze them, but I've had bad luck with cheeses becoming crumbly. Harder cheeses feel like you could refrigerate them forever without them going bad, assuming you either don't touch them or they stay unopened.

Is there a good way to store cheese without it going bad? And how long does it stay good if you store it?

Sealed hard cheeses will indeed keep forever at 15 Celsius and below, unsealed they can go mouldy or so dry you can't cut them.

Soft cheeses can't be stored past their expiration date, they are a perishable product. (As always, the "freezer stops the clock" rule applies, but you already said you don't like the resulting texture).

In short, unless you have a dedicated cheese cellar, you can't do better than your fridge.


specific temperature vs "medium heat" on an induction cooker? Some recipes call for "medium heat". . .What is the SPECIFIC temperature range for "medium heat" on an induction cooker?

Low, Medium, Medium-low, Medium-high and High are weasel-words so that manufacturers/recipe writers cannot be blamed for misuse of equipment/recipes, so a specific temperature range for medium heat cannot be given for just any cooker out there.

For an oven, I use as a rule of thumb: 50-100°C (100-200°F) Low heat, 100-150°C (200-300°F) Medium low, 150-200°C (300-400°F) Medium high and 200+°C (400+°F) for High...

For an induction cooker, my personal rule of thumb would be:

Low, Medium, High: 1/3 strength, 2/3 and just below boost respectively
Low, Medium-low, Medium-high and High: 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and just below boost respectively

As I've seen induction cookers go from "〰" to "15" (excluding boost), above rule of thumb should be taken with a shovel of salt...


Should the oven temperature be the same for smaller batch? Im making the no knead ciabatta bread and it calls for 4 cups of flour but i used 2 cups. It says to throw it in a 425 degree F oven for 35-45 minutes but i did that before and it would cook quickly. before 30 min. Should it remain the same temperature or should i alter it?

Keep the oven temperature the same, as a good hot oven is necessary for the loaf to 'spring' (ie inflate somewhat). Just reduce the cooking time accordingly.


What is a clove of garlic? If a recipe calls for 8 whole cloves of garlic, does it mean 8 whole garlics? Or does it mean 8 of the wedges?

Each "wedge" is a clove.  The entire garlic is called a "head".


Help for thin flavorless jam I made a blackberry/blueberry jam about 3 1/2 weeks ago.  Due to work and school, I lost track of time.  The jam came out a little thin (and flavorless).  Is it too late to reprocess the jars?  It was a double batch so I have about 13 jars.  I haven't found anything that says how long you can (or have to) wait before reprocessing.  Most articles say wait two weeks to see if it sets up and then reprocess if needed but doesn't say the max "wait" time.  The recipe I used was simple:  X cups of fruit, X cups of sugar,  and 2 pkgs low sugar pectin (since it was a double batch).

Any help is appreciated!  :)

Brooke

As long as the jars sealed, and the product is safely canned, you can open and recan if you desire.


Why should I put a whole onion in the turkey fryer? Happy Thanksgiving! I am getting ready to fry a turkey and the instructions say that I should put a whole onion in with the turkey and oil.

What would be the purpose of this?

Thanks!

Having done this several times in the past - it is to make the oil flavoured. Like the comments have said that one onion doesn't seem to be enough, and frankly it isn't. I typically use 2, and remove the skins as well as score them allowing the juices to weep out a bit. Additionally, I know some people who toss a de-seeded bell pepper or two in as well, and it turns out well.


How to check whether the Olive oil is fit for consumption or not? How to check whether the Olive oil is fit for consumption or not?
The oil is in a bottle and doesn't have any froth.

EDIT 1:

The oil is about 1 and a half years old. I kept it in a capped bottle. I didn't do anything to the oil. Haven't eaten it for quite a long time now.

Adding references to the answers will be more helpful.

Olive oil doesn't suddenly go rancid (unlike butter in which this process is pretty quick), but its taste deteriorates with time.  AFAIK it happens primarily due to oxidation, not bacteria or fungi, and there are no dangerous/poisonous byproducts.

I have a bottle of olive oil which I opened about a year ago and it tastes noticeably different from fresh oil (not too pungent to throw it out though).


How to properly sauté mushrooms so that they don't release water? Every time I try to sauté mushrooms, they release so much water I end up with a puddle. This, from what I gather, is not the intended effect - they should be slightly browned but dry. Any tips on how to avoid this happening? I tried a bit of everything - I heat up my frying pan for quite a bit first to ensure it's very hot, I use lots of olive oil, but all to no avail.

Maybe I'm cooking too many at a time, i.e., should I cook them in small batches instead? Am I cooking them for too long?

There's a great experiment on Cooking Issues that deals with this very problem. The general advice is to not crowd the pan because of the concomitant release of water; however, the guys found that doing this is actually beneficial because, although a lot of water is initially released, by the time the liquid has eventually evaporated the mushrooms have collapsed and cook far better in the oil that's left. Here's the full explanation:

To make the test really severe, I decided to cook the soaked mushrooms in one batch in an extremely crowded pan, and the dry mushrooms in 3 batches with plenty of room. We weighed out identical amounts of salt and oil (this is the crucial part) and began cooking.
As we expected, the soaked crowded mushrooms formed a soupy mess in the pan. The dry mushrooms didn’t stew and cooked quickly. Here is where it got weird. The dry mushrooms ended up absorbing all the oil. In fact, I had underestimated the amount of oil they needed. They wanted more. I couldn’t add any more oil, however, because it would have ruined the experiment. When the soaked and crowded mushrooms had finally evaporated all their extra water and stated to sauté, they didn’t absorb all the oil. When they were finished, a significant amount of oil was left in the pan. They looked as good and tasted better and less oily than their dry cousins –by a lot.
Our explanation: While the mushrooms are boiling off their water, they aren’t absorbing oil. By the time the boiling stops they have already collapsed, so they aren’t as porous as a raw mushroom and don’t want to absorb oil. The dry mushrooms start absorbing oil from the get-go.

What I do now is this:

Add the all the chopped mushrooms to a pan over a medium heat with some salt
and water and cover.

The mushrooms steam and release and ton of their own water: allow to cook
for a good 5-10 minutes.

Drain the mushrooms - reserving the released mushroom water -  and
dry the pan before returning it to a high heat.

When the pan is very hot, add  a few tablespoons of oil (depending on
the volume of cooked mushrooms) and throw in the mushrooms.

When they are nicely browned, deglaze the pan with the mushroom water

The reason for the two stage process is that I found if you wait for the water to evaporate naturally the residue from the dissolved solids in the water can stick to the pan and burn while the mushrooms are frying. By covering the pan initially, the water doesn't evaporate and can be siphoned off with any dissolved solids (that now can't get stuck to the bottom of the pan) and then reintroduced right at the end. As the pan is so hot it only takes a minute or two for all the water to evaporate and any new fond created by actually sauteeing the mushrooms gets used as well.


What makes a moist steak (or roast)? When cooking steak on my grill it seems that even at a steady temp of 350 Degrees F and for 20 minutes the steak seems to change in the way of texture. I get my meat from the same Hanaford and I always get the 1 Inch cut. So what makes a moist steak. Does it have to do with the weather outside when I'm grilling?

There is no single answer to this question.  Instead, a number of factors (not including the weather) affect the perceived tenderness or moistness of a steak or other cut of meat.

Overview

There are two major factors that effect the perceived moistness of a steak or other cut of meat:

The amount of connective tissue.  The more connective tissue the meat has, the tougher and chewier it will be, at least until the collagen that composes the connective tissue is converted to gelatin
The temperature to which the cut is cooked.  The higher the temperature, up to about 165 F, the more different types of proteins are denatured and coagulated, squeezing out moisture, leading to a dryer, tougher mouth feel.

Additionally, some minor factors contribute to or enhance perceived tenderness or moistness:

Cutting the meat against the grain enhances the perception of tenderness.
Marinating in an acid or enzymatically active marinade may enhance tenderness
Mechanically processing, cutting, or pounding the meat (as in a cube steak) to disrupt its fibers can enhance tenderness.

Connective Tissue

The more an animal uses a muscle, the more connective tissue that muscle will contain.  For example, the shoulder of the animal is usually worked very hard (it has to keep the animal standing up) for pigs and cows, so it has a lot of connective tissue.

Other muscles are used rarely, such as the tenderloin, and don't develop very much connective tissue.

The connective tissue is composed of a protein called collagen, which is tough and rubbery, and makes cuts high in it seem much tougher than those which are not.

However, with certain types of cooking, collagen can be converted to gelatin, and convert from being tough to being unctuous and soft.

Temperature

As the temperature in the steak rises, more and more proteins tighten and denature, squeezing out moisture, resulting in a drier, tougher mouth feel.

Various groups of proteins denature at different temperatures, so the higher the internal temperature, the more moistness will be squeezed out, and the drier and tougher the steak will seem.

By the time the cut reaches about 165 F, all of the proteins are denatured, and it is fully well done, and as tough as it will be.

According to Amazing Ribs:

  122°F - Myosin protein in mammal meat begins to denature.

  130-135°F - Target temp for medium rare lamb chops and beef steaks,
  the temperature at which they are at optimum tenderness, flavor, and
  juiciness.

  130-140°F - Fats begin to melt and render (liquefy). This is a slow
  process and can take hours.

  140°F - Collagens begin to contract and squeeze juice from within
  muscle fibers into the spaces between the fibers and out to the
  surface.

  140°F - Myoglobin denatures rapidly and red or pink juices begin to
  turn clear or tan and bead up on the surface.

  150°F - Actin protein begins to denature making meat tougher and
  drier.

  155°F - Well done for most meats. Most (but not all) bacteria killed
  in less than 30 seconds but spores can survive to much higher temps.

High Connective Tissue Cuts

When cuts are high in connective tissue, the same toughening and drying that occurs in low connective cuts happens as the internal temperature rises to about 165 F.

However, starting at about 170-180 F, a new process begins to engage:  the collagen (the very protein that made these cuts tougher to start with) begins to transform in the presense of water into gelatin, a different protein.

The gelatin lubricates the meat, and gives it a newly unctuous and moist mouth-feel, despite being very well done.

It takes time for gelatin conversion to occur:  it is not enough to simply bring the internal temperature to 180 F.  It has to stay there for several hours for the conversion to have enough time to take place.

This gelatin conversion is what makes slow cooking methods like braising and barbecuing so effective for tough cuts of meat.  They are cooked until quite well done (when they would be extremely tough), but then the conversion of the collagen to gelatin makes them much softer, and unctuous, so that they are again perceived as moist and tender.

Sadly, it will not work on cuts that were fairly tender to begin with, as there is little collagen to convert to gelatin.

Slicing Against the Grain

Additionally, while a minor factor, the way the meat is cut into bite sized portions also effects the perception of toughness.

Muscles are bundles of cells that are aligned in the same direction, like a bundle of straws.  They are very, very strong in the direction that the fibers align (along the straws), but not as strong against that direction (across the straws).

If sliced against the direction of the grain of the meat, so that the straws are cut in half, the the impression is that the meat is more tender.

For example, in fajitas, the traditional flank steak or skirt steak is cooked to no more than medium rare to medium (to minimize the toughness from cooking), and then sliced across the grain to make it seem more tender.

Marinades

Some marinades, if they have strong acids and are used long enough, or if they have active enzymes that can break down proteins (such as from pineapples or papaya or kiwi) can soften meat.

If over done, this can leave them mushy and unpalatable.

Mechanical Processing

Using a meat mallet or jacquard to help break down connective tissue and the structure of the muscle (as in a cube steak, or as is often done for chicken fried steak) can help make some tough cuts more tender.

Resting

For many years, common and accepted wisdom was that after cooking, you needed to let a steak rest for several minutes before cutting into it, so that its juices would be retained.

There is some evidence that this may not be completely true.

For the argument that resting is not required, and considerable details regarding the arguments for and against resting, see the article at Amazing Ribs.

Weather

Not a factor.


Why does my caramel sauce fail? Every now and then I make caramel sauce for this recipe by caramelizing sugar, but sometimes it either:

Hardens
Burns
Doesn't have that nice caramel colour

What are some tips to avoid the above situations?

The recipe states to:

  Add the sugar to a hot pan over medium heat and caramelize. Slice bananas add to pan, and coat them in the caramel. Add butter and allow to melt. Add the finely sliced chili if you like it hot, and stir. Pour in the rum, and flambe (set it on fire – carefully). Add coconut milk and twirl.

It sounds like you may be having temperature control issues.  If it's not dark enough, keep it over low heat for a bit longer.  If it's hardening/burning, it's probably caused by one of the following:

1) your stovetop (if burner isn't turned low enough or burner is too large and overheats sides of pan)

2) your pan (easy to burn things if your pan isn't sufficiently thick-bottomed)

3) lack of attention during the carmelization process (you need to move the sugar towards the center once carmelization begins to prevent burning at the edges, but not stir it too much).

You might find these extremely detailed directions helpful for troubleshooting.


How long can hard cheeses last in a refrigerator? I had chunks of various hard cheeses, mostly parmesan, in my refrigerator for varying lengths of time.  Some as long as 3+ months.

I've never seen any obvious signs of spoilage and have never been struck down by food poisoning after using said cheese.  But my wife is very suspicious when using any food that has been in the fridge for longer than a week.

Is there a generally accepted length of time to keep these types of hard cheese?

Hard cheeses (e.g. parmesan) will typically last several months in the refrigerator once removed from the packaging.  The larger the chunk, the longer it will last.  If mold forms on the outside, simply cut it off and continue using.  There is no reason to throw-away good parmesan.


Celeriac (aka: Celery Root) Skin - Edible or Not? I have recently become extremely fond of cooking - I have no idea why! - and I recently discovered celeriac (celery root), too.

Following a Jamie Oliver recipe called Zombie Brain, I roasted a whole celeriac (after cleaning and washing) with the skin on and it was delicious; however, my question is this:

Is it "better" - in terms of eating experience, I guess - to remove the skin of a celeriac before cooking or is it just as nice to cook the celeriac with the skin on?

Personally, I have only ever cooked celeriac the once and found the resulting meal to be quite delicious.  However, I have also read a lot of other recipes which almost conclusively advice that the skin is removed before cooking (I am now thinking that perhaps I'd read the recipe wrong, but it hasn't done me or my wife any harm, so I'm not too worried about that for the time being).

Many thanks

I too have that Jamie Oliver book (try the roast beef then make the Rendang, amazing), and you are reading the recipe correctly. There is no problem leaving the skin on providing you've washed all the soil off. In this recipe it adds to the 'zombie brain' look, but if you cooking something a bit more refined you might want to take it off so it looks better.

Also, many celeriac recipes involved mashing it, in which case taking the skin off aids that process.


When cooking 2 Honey Baked Ham frozen sides, how do I need to change temp or time? I have two frozen sides from the Honey Baked Ham store that I want to cook simultaneously - they are the Au Gratin Potatoes and the Sweet Potato Souffle. The first should cook at 375 Degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes, covered, then 13-15 minutes uncovered and sit for 2-3 minutes after removed.  The second, should cook at 375 Degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes, covered, then 27-30 minutes uncovered and sit for 2-3 minutes.  If I want them to be done at the same time and put the Sweet Potatoes in first (since they need to cook longer) the temp will obviously drop when I add the frozen Au Gratin Potatoes....  any help would be greatly appreciated!

The second item needs to be in the oven for 15 minutes more than the first item.  Just put that item in the oven, then put the second item in 15 minutes later.  Follow all other procedures as indicated in the instructions. The required cooking temperature is the same for both. I am assuming that cooking from frozen is built into the instructions, so that will not really matter for your question. The temperature will drop a bit when you open the oven door, but your oven will catch up in a reasonable amount of time and will not impact the final cooking.  Just make sure there is a bit of space between your products when they are both in the oven.


How can I keep my waffle iron relatively clean when making waffles? I do not make waffles overly frequently, but when I do I tend to make a mess of my waffle iron. I use a ladle to place waffle batter in the middle of my waffle iron. On accident I occasionally overfill the iron so that when it is closed batter runs out the sides. The obvious answer is use less batter, but then I tend to use too little. To complicate matters I rarely use the same waffle batter recipe and some tend to make a larger mess than others.

Aside from eyeballing is there a good ratio of batter amount to iron size I should be using? Is there a way to easily cleanup a waffle iron after use that does not take a long time?

Replace your ladle with an ice cream scoop.

You will be able to control the amount of dough for each waffle much easier.
For my waffle iron and scoop I use two scoops.

An additional advantage over a ladle, is that the dough releases much easier
from a scoop, which reduces the probability of making a mess.


Lobster Death! Freezer vs. Alcohol I love lobster but I must admit I am not very good at cooking it.  I want to make this easier on my self by just adding the lobster to a flavorful broth.  I've heard in the past that if you are going to boil lobster for best results you should purchase the lobster alive and keep it alive until you are ready to toss the lobster into the vessel of hot liquid.

Now the question at hand.  I've been told that if you just toss the lobster into the hot liquid, the lobster suffers and tenses up making the meat chewy.  Is this really true?

The two methods I've heard of prevent this.

First: Get the lobster drunk with alcohol.

Second:  Throw the lobster into the freezer for 30 to 45 minutes before I throw the lobster into the hot liquid.

If these methods actually work, which one is better and why?

If the alcohol method is better, which alcohol should I use?

Revision:

Oh yea, I want to keep the lobster whole and intact for presentation reasons.

The way fish (shelfish included) is dispatched impacts both its flavor and texture.  The Japanese have a long history of this knowledge.  This type of fish killing is called ike jime.

Dave Arnold did some interesting research on this.  You'll find it here: http://www.cookingissues.com/index.html%3Fp=5731.html

Bottom line:  How you kill a lobster does impact its flavor.


What are the advantages and disadvantages to using a griddle instead of a cast-iron skillet? I have moved into a house with a nice Wolf-range griddle, and I would like to know what the primary advantages of the griddle are over a cast-iron skillet, including, is there anything I can do with a griddle that can not be done with a skillet?

I have found that the primary downside to using the griddle is the time it takes to heat up, so when cooking for one, I would choose the skillet. The primary advantage of the griddle is that it provides a larger, easier cooking space.

Am I missing other major advantages of having a griddle?

Yes, you don't have the edge of a pan in the way when going to flip things, but it also means that you don't have a mass of metal there to add as a heat sink, which can help dramatically when pre-heating your pans, as they'll be evenly heated across their bottom more quickly (at least, compared to something of the same material, such as a cast iron skillet)

More importantly, in my opinion, is that without the sides, you don't hold in moist air, so when cooking things like hash browns, you can get a better crust on 'em without steaming them.


Mysterious bitter taste from tropical fruits and coconut I cook every day, and today I had an experience I am at a total loss to explain. I am hoping the combined knowledge of the Internet can help.

Today, I decided to make a  tropical fruit custard. Being as it's passover, it contained matzoh meal. I blended the ingredients together, and it tasted fine--a little bland, but fine. I sprayed a casserole dish with canola oil, and poured in the mixture. 30 minutes later, I test it for doneness with my finger, then taste the batter on my finger. It was BITTER! Not curdled milk, not sour, not anything but overwhelming bitterness, like I was chewing on the pith of a grapefruit.

I ate some raisins to cleanse my palette, drank a glass of water, and tried again with a spoon. BITTER. I called down my fiance, who loves this sort of thing. (I was making it for her.) She made a face and said "bitter!" In three letters, WTH? Any help would be very welcome.

2 cups Goya frozen coconut
1 cup frozen mango
1 cup frozen pineapple
1/2 tsp Vanns Spices coconut extract (propylene glycol base)
1 tsp homemade vanilla (Madagascar beans, vodka base)
1 cup matzo meal
1 cup Breakstones lowfat cottage cheese
1 cup Wegman's egg white
1/2 cup Fage 0% greek yogurt
1/2 cup Breakstone's lowfat sour cream
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp molasses

These are all ingredients that I use routinely, with the exception of the Vanns. None of them are particularly bitter. (Molasses is slightly bitter, of course, but nothing like this.)

I had cleaned the casserole dish two days earlier, dried it by hand, and put it on the shelf. I washed the pan with soap and a scrubbing pad. Its preceding use was in roasting tomatoes. Burnt tomatoes can be bitter, but not like this, and anyways, it was pretty clean. It definitely didn't taste like soap.

Does propylene glycol have some kind of reaction where it can turn into hell bitter juice? What else can it be?

The culprit is the pineapple.

Raw pineapple contains bromelain, an enzyme that breaks down the protein in your milk, making it bitter. The same principle is applied when bromelain is used as meat tenderizer, either as powdered additive or as fruit-based brine.

This process takes a short while, so if you used pineapple in your cereal and eat it right away, it will not be bitter (unless the enzyme content in your fruit is excepitonally high), but after 30 minutes it will be noticeable.

Bromelaine will also keeping gelatine from firming up. Heating destroys the enzyme, so canned pineapple is perfectly "safe".

Other fruit with similar properties are papaya (papain) and kiwifruit (actinidin).

This article explains it a bit more in detail.


How does foil protect a sandwich in the [toaster] oven? If I wrap a sandwich in foil and toast it, the entire sandwich seems to warm more evenly, so I don't get burnt edges of bread.

Can someone explain what is going on here?

I assume it has something to do with the ambient temperature cooking the sandwich instead of direct heat.

I don't think it's just one thing:

The foil reflects radiant heat, meaning that the only remaining way to propogate heat is through conduction and convection.
The foil is an impermeable barrier which helps to keep the moist air (created by boiling off the moisture in the surface of the bread) near the sandwich, which reduces the rate at which the bread dries out, and we need dry items for them to burn.

It's possible that retention of the moisture within the foil slows the heating of the enclosed system as there's less loss of thermal mass, but I doubt that's a significant factor in most situations.

You might be able to test which of the other two is the more significant factor by running a test with foil that's been perforated such that it's not a good barrier but would still be reflective, and see how that compares.


Sweet rice recipe help? Panama cook book recipe This is from my vague Panama cookbook for "Sweet Rice." It's a side dish, not dessert.
Ingredients:
- 4 or 5 coconuts (Google says 1 coconut is 1 or 2 cups of coconut milk)
- 1/2 pound of ginger (?)
- 1 box of raisins (my guess is 2 cups since I'll be making 4 cups of rice)
- 1 pound of rice (Google says 2 cups uncooked)
- Cinnamon to taste (?)
- Clove to taste (?)
- Salt to taste
- Light brown sugar (?)
- White sugar (?)

Please help me with "to taste" directions. I can't cook, I need specifics.
1/2 pound of ground ginger? How many thumbs would you use?
Cinnamon and clove to taste? How many ml?
And what's your guess on the amounts of sugar?
These directions sound so easy but I can't guess on these amounts myself. Appreciate any help, thanks.

Can I start by saying... You need a new cook book...

Regarding the question.
For my taste

1tsp cloves
2tsp cinnamon
2tbsp brown sugar
1tbsp white sugar
3 Inches of Ginger

How many people are you cooking for because as a "Side Dish" this seems to make a huge amount of product.
As I said this is how I would do it to my taste but It's not something I've ever eaten before and I HATE the taste of cloves.


How should I prepare this smoked ham? I just got a frozen ham. I have never dealt with a ham before.

If I don't need to eat it now, should I put it in the freezer or refrigerator? The package says "keep refrigerated". Does it mean it can be stored in the refrigerator at a temperature higher than 0°C?
If I want to eat it now, should I thaw the ham first by putting it in the refrigerator or outside at the room temperature?
After it is thawed, is it easy to use a regular knife to cut it into pieces? Note that the ham weighs about 4 lbs.
Since it is smoked, does it mean it is already cooked thoroughly or is it still raw? Do I need to cook it, and if yes, how?

Hams are either ready-to-eat or not, thus spoke the USDA. And, by its regulations, a ham that must be cooked has to show cooking and safe handling instructions.

  Hams that are not ready-to-eat, but have the appearance of ready-to-eat products, will bear a prominent statement on the principal display panel (label) indicating the product needs cooking, e.g., "cook thoroughly." In addition, the label must bear cooking directions

The 'cured with' portion tells you that you have a wet-cured ham, one that was either injected or soaked in a solution of water and salt, sugar, etc. According to the label, it was smoked after curing.

Yes, you can keep it in the freezer, frozen; in the refrigerator section, it will gradually come to the same temperature as that area, which is how you would want to thaw before use. It will slice like other proteins, such as chicken or beef, using a regular knife. It is ready to consume, sliced, diced, or chopped into a ham salad. It can be fried up as a breakfast steak or heated, either as is, or glazed and oven-baked to 140°F internal temperature (safe because it is cured and pre-cooked).


What can I use instead of powdered milk to turn dark chocolate into milk chocolate? I am a chocolate lover and recently figured out I have to completely remove milk from my diet (due to problems with casein). I figured I can make my own milkless milk chocolate from dark chocolate by adding soy milk and... thickening it all the way back to solid form.

Now the problem is normally the way I'd approach it would be adding parts of liquid milk and parts of powdered milk to end up with good enough consistency for a chocolate block.

But I can't use powdered milk for the same reason I can't use liquid milk. I realize there are vegan alternatives to powdered milk like soy powder or coconut powder but those are really hard and expensive to get in Poland.

What can I use or do to create my own milk chocolate from dark chocolate with easily purchasable ingredients?

Milk chocolate is made with powdered milk; adding a liquid will make it break or it'll be unable to set. If you add something with enough fat to keep it from breaking, like coconut milk, you'll end up with a delicious chocolate ganache, but it won't set like a chocolate bar. I would instead look for a vegan milk chocolate; some companies are making them with coconut milk solids. You may have to order them online.


Roasting meat at low temperatures I have a 4lbs boneless leg of lamb I intend to roast in an oven this weekend.

I am thinking of trying very low temperature roasting. I was inspired by Alton Brown roast beef episode where he cooked a (6 lbs?) roast beef in a 200 F oven and then acquired brown skin by finishing it in a 500 F oven.

I am going to follow the same strategy, put the leg of lamb in a 200 F oven (just to stay under boiling temperature) until I reach my internal target temperature of 118-120 F which will carry over to medium rare when rested, hopefully, then finish with 500 F for 15 minutes to brown the skin.

For those who have tried both methods, I am curious to know how the result compares to roasting at a higher heat.

Also, how long (ballpark time) does it take to roast 4 lbs at a low temperature such as 200 F?

I can't comment on how long it takes but I can comment on the difference I've noticed between each method.  To start out I could never explain the how and why better than J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, over at The Food Lab, so here is what he has to say about high vs low temp roasting:
    http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/12/the-food-lab-how-to-cook-roast-a-perfect-prime-rib.html

If you still want to read here is my take on it.

To me the results were almost identical for the final outcome of the meat.  However the difficulty in achieving the right level of done-ness is what differed the most.  With the low temperature method, you have a fairly large window of time where the meat is in your 118-120F range.  Contrast this to the high temperature method where it is easy to miss by only a few minutes and quickly overshoot your correct temperature.

Another benefit of the low temperature method is that you can pull the roast from the oven, and let it rest while you finish preparing the rest of the meal (in case timing everything isn't your forte).  Then when it comes time to serve, you put the roast back into a screaming hot oven, you get the nice brown crust on the outside, warm the meat up again, and can immediately carve the roast right out of the oven since the interior has already had a chance to rest.


How can I make a "lighter" cheese sauce? I am looking to make some cheese-sauce filled choux pastry balls as an appetizer.

I was considering making a classical mornay sauce for the filling. But when it goes cold, I find it tends to be quite heavy, and I want to avoid it becoming nausiating.

Here is my Mornay sauce recipe:

125g roux (half butter, half flour)
1 litre milk
300g cheddar cheese
salt, pepper and nutmeg, to taste

Here is what I've thought of to make it lighter:

1) Egg whites, beaten to peaks, to make a kinda soufflé-esque filling. But I would have liked to avoid re-cooking to pastry balls after filling, and don't really like the idea of raw egg whites.

2) Whipped cream, folding it into the cold mornay sauce.

3) Cream cheese, folding it into the cold mornal sauce.

Has anyone tried anything like this to make a lighter mornay sauce? Any other suggestions?

I see two options for you.

The author of this Q How would I produce (stable) foamy bechamel sauce? reports success using gelatin. That Q is Bechamel sauce, which is the base of Mornay.

or

Use of an immersion blender to incorporate air into the sauce, making it a lighter texture. You can immersion blend at two points in the process: after the milk was thickened by the roux and/or after melting the cheese in. (I believe this is where @Pat Summer's answer was leading to)

(immersion blender)


What is the inside texture of a Japanese croquette? I made croquettes the other day using http://www.japanesecooking101.com/potato-korokke-recipe/ recipe
but it was really dry inside. I'm not sure where I made the mistake.
Is it expected to be dry or if it is supposed to be moist, How do I make it moist?

There are two common categories of Japanese korokke, one made with potato or another starchy vegetable (kabocha, a Japanese squash, is also common), and the other made with a roux, typically with corn and/or crab, called a cream korokke.

In a vegetable-based one, which may have additions like ground beef, sesame seeds, certain pickled vegetables, or other seasonings, the basic texture is the same as any other vegetable puree or mash. The cream korokke should have a texture of a thick bechamel, but when hot, will be "almost" melted, and should come across as creamy.

For the vegetable ones, the texture is trickier to master than it may appear. Mashed potatoes are deceptively simple; mash at too high a temperature, and you may end up with a gluelike texture that isn't pleasant. Mash at too low a temperature, and you'll end up with hard, dry chunks instead. There's a magic temperature range, which if I remember right is around 160F, at which mashing produces a very nice texture. I may add salt and pepper while mashing, but usually not other ingredients. I prefer to use a potato ricer for this now, though I have done ok with a fork in the past. Once mashed, I'll integrate the other fillings.

If the texture of the potato mash seems too dry when you've prepared it, you may consider adding an egg yolk to the puree, which I've done on occasion. Too much may make the dough hard to form into balls, so be conservative about it.

Although it doesn't appear to be the specific case you're concerned with, for the cream korokke, the ideal balance of the thickness of the bechamel is probably subject to some debate, but basically you want to balance the illusion of liquid creaminess with the ability to work the chilled bechamel into a shape that's sturdy enough to bread and not prone to exploding in the fryer.

For reference, there are also variations with boiled eggs in the middle, and there are some made from okara (soy mash leftover from tofu making) but that's another story.


Crockpot recipes using soda pop Can diet soda be substituted for regular soda in recipes such as BBQ ribs, pork roasts, etc?

I do not know if different results will occur when heating diet pop for any length of time.  I do know that regular soda pop works.

Aspartame is not heat stable.

  Aspartame is less suitable for baking than other sweeteners, because it breaks down when heated and loses much of its sweetness.

Some sodas use other artificial sweeteners.
 You'll need to look up the particular sweetener that's in your diet pop of choice, and see if it's heat stable.


Are British curd, Cottage Cheese, Indian Chena the same thing? Are these the same thing ?

British Curd - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curd
Cottage Cheese - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottage_cheese
Indian Chena - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chhena

Short answer: no.

'Curd' is the generic name for the solids obtained from coagulating milk.

Cottage cheese is a type of curd cheese that is unpressed, and not entirely removed of whey, so it stays creamy and wet, with soft lumps

Chhena is a curd cheese that is strained to (almost) completely remove the whey, and gently pressed to firm it up and form a more coherent mass of curd


Why sweat but not brown? Many recipes require that you sweat vegetables (celery, onions, etc). Why not saute them and brown them a little instead? Would not that develop the flavors even more? Why would you not want that?

Onions
The more you cook an onion, the sweeter it is going to get; heat breaks down the volatiles and complex starches and converts them to sugars.
When an onion is completely brown then it is basically caramelized.  The point of sweating onions is to draw out some of the pungency, but not all.  If you cook them 'til they're brown (caramelized) then they will be very sweet, and not really retain any of that sulfurous "onion-y" flavour at all.
So it's not really a question of how much you're developing the flavours, it's a question of which flavours you're developing.  The more sweetness you develop, the more of the original onion flavour you lose.
In my experience, caramelized onions are rarely used as an "ingredient" - they're more of a garnish or side dish, since they wouldn't really impart any significant flavour to the main dish.
Celery and other aromatics
These don't undergo the same drastic flavour changes that onions do, but the principle is the same:  You sweat them to draw out moisture and aromas without starting a Maillard or caramelization reaction.
The key is that sweating is a preparation step.  Yes, frying/sautéing these for longer would develop more flavour (or at least more of a certain kind of flavour), but you don't want to do that too early, since they're going to sit in the pan for a while longer; sweating means softening them up slightly without eliminating all of the aromas or the natural crunchy texture.
You generally don't brown vegetables during the preparation of a recipe; you only do that if you plan to eat them by themselves without any further cooking.  If you brown them, then continue to cook, you will turn them into mush and possibly burn them, and there's no way to fix it after that happens.


Pickled onion cider instead of pickled onions I have been making pickled onions for years with no problems.  I have recently bought pre peeled onions and find that in the pickle, these onions fizz in the jar.

Why is this - the onions look fresh and healthy?

The situation you describe sounds like natural Lacto-fermentation.

There are many airborne yeast around us all the time. Every culture on earth (no pun intended) has a some tradition of fermentation for storage purposes. It would seem that you have just the right conditions for that to occur.

This can be a good thing. It creates a product with properties than many find healthful. A few resources are here:

Red Onions

More Red Onions

Same principle for white onions. If you submerged the onion goodness you have going on with a clean disc of some sort you can finish the fermentation and have a yummy condiment !


Slow cooking with diet coke I really want to make the SW coke gammon in the slow cooker, but I'm going to be out of the house for around 6 hours is it safe to leave it unattended?

We've slow cooked gammon in (full sugar) coke before, and what happens is that all the CO2 comes out in the first few minutes as it comes up to temperature. So if you start (as we do and most recipes suggest) by bringing the cooking liquid to the boil the foaming will happen while you're standing over it.

This makes sense as gases are less soluble in hot liquids than cold; in fact I've used heating in the lab to drive off dissolved gas.

Most of the sugar is poured away in the cooking liquid, so there's not much benefit (in terms of calories) from using diet. If you plan to finish the gammon off with direct heat for browning, sugary coke is likely to give a nicer finished item (colour, flavour and smell). Some sweeteners go bitter when cooked too hot (and the reaction products may not be good to eat), while sugar caramelises.


Warming up soup in crockpot I have to take a soup to a party but my kids only like the Pacific brand of tomato soup. I am wondering if it's safe to put in the crock pot to heat up and take it with me. Thanks,
Kay

Short answer: yes - the crockpot will heat it sufficiently.

You might find it easier to transport in a sealed container and just use the crockpot to heat/maintain temperature at the party.

However, the time taken for a crockpot to heat up is substantial compared to using a stove-top pan or even a microwave. Crockpots are really designed to slow cook foods, and maintain temperatures for keeping foods warm.


What is the difference between wildflower honey and Acacia honey? I've read that Acacia honey is the best. How should I know which one to purchase if both are being sold at the same price?

What are the differences between raw wildflower honey (apparently sometimes called wild honey) and raw Acacia honey?

Different types of honey come from bees gathering nectar (and some incidental pollen) from different types of flowers. Acacia honey comes from acacia flowers, clover honey from clover. Wildflower honey comes from bees gathering from an unknown mix of flowers, when the supplier doesn't have control over or knowledge of what flowers contributed to the honey -- assume a variety of species local to wherever the honey comes from.

Truly "wild" honey comes from bees that are not kept in a hive, and is an unreliable source at best since you have to find a wild swarm; it's unusual to find that sold commercially.

Raw honey isn't heated or pasteurized.

Which one is "best" is really a matter of personal taste and preference. The different flowers result in different flavor profiles. (An amateur beekeeper friend of mine feeds his bees sugar water to help them live through the winter, and the "honey" resulting from that was extremely bland. The flowers are really key to get flavor.)

Tasting different varieties is the best way to see what you like!


Sugar alternative when beating eggs and sugar together If I wouldn't want to use refined white sugar in recipes warranting sugar and eggs beaten fluffy, what would be the best alternative to use? Would the result be very different?

I find that the chemical and mechanical reactions between egg-white, egg-yolk and sugar is quite an delicate and complex one. I find that there is even a difference in using white refined cane sugar and white refined beet sugars when baking and the amount of effort of creaming eggs and sugar. Sugar substitutes that claim that they "behave" the same as sugar also don't seem to react in a manner that you'd expect.

I would suggest that you try a range of sugars... The worse of them seems to be corn based sugars. The eggs just don't behave at all...


Keeping meat safe all day? I would like to be able to take meat (e.g. a whole chicken) out of the fridge in the morning (6am) and put it in a oven that is set to turn on approximately 10 hours later, so its ready (or mostly ready) when I arrive home from work (4/5pm).

This is obviously not safe to do without some sort of chilling.  Is it possible to use something like ice in or around the meat to keep it cool during the day?

I was thinking of using stock ice cubes (frozen stock), inside the cavity of the bird.  Hoping it would melt during the day, keeping it safely cold but not impairing the flavour.  My alternative idea is a block of ice under the (metal) baking tray but this would be harder to arrange.

Is this (or similar) a safe idea?

In simple terms, meat is safe either at fridge temperatures or cooking temperatures. You cannot leave meat out all day in a switched-off oven, which is essentially room temperature: 2 hours at room temp is the maximum recommended time throughout the meat's lifetime.

Your various suggested methods of cooling involving ice are impractical at best and unsafe at worst. You might keep the inside of the chicken cool if you put ice inside, but what about the outer parts? Also, what would happen to all the water left behind by the ice as it melts?

Seeing as you can't keep the meat at room temperature and you can't practicably keep it cool, I suggest you instead cook it: get a slow cooker (they are very inexpensive), use joints suitable for slow cooking (such as thigh), put it on in the morning, and your chicken will be fall-off-the-bone tender, and safe, when you get back from work.

If you want to have both white and dark meat, joint the chicken (really not that hard - or your butcher could do it), cook the legs/thighs as above, and keep the breasts in the fridge. When you get home, roast the breasts in the oven while you are preparing vegetables or getting changed or whatever, and you have a whole bird cooked and ready to go.


Crock Pot to Enameled Cast Iron Pot Cooking Times and Temperatures I have an enameled cast iron pot, but no 'crockpot' slow cooker.

I am reading A LOT of conflicting information online about how to adjust electric crock pot slow cooker recipe cooking times (and 'low', 'medium', 'high' temperature settings) to a cast iron pot.

I prefer to cook something closer to  the 'low' setting of a crockpot. A lot of conversions (but not nearly all) just throw everything to 325 and cook in 1/4 or less the time. I really would prefer to cook it slower in the oven.

I am planning on cooking a 4 lb chuck roast. (Recipe 'Charley's Slow Cooker Mexican Style Meat') and hope to cook it as slow as possible in my cast iron dutch oven in the oven, but don't want to overcook it.

Does anyone have experience with this?

You don't need to convert, because you can't overcook it.

Very briefly, because it has been discussed in many other places: there are types of meat which can be overcooked and types which can't. All recipes for crockpots are made from the type of meat which can't be overcooked. So you don't have to worry about cooking it too long. You just cook it for as many hours as you have time to wait for it. If you want to, you can leave it in for the same time as in the crock pot.

As for the temperature, you choose one which will allow for a slight simmer. It will be different depending on your oven (they are never accurate) and the amount and shape of the thermal mass inside (dutch oven + food). The first time, set it rather high (maybe try the 325 you saw in recommendations), and check on it every 20-30 minutes. Once it has reached 80 Celsius internal or above (or look for a slight simmer if you don't have a thermometer), turn the heat down by 50 F. Continue until simmer has stopped, then go back up 50 F. Next time set this temp from the beginning. You might want to heat the stew quickly on the stove first, then put it in the oven at the optimum temperature, else it will take ages just warming up in the oven.


Does liquid temperature matter when making bread in a bread maker? Let me start by saying this is my first attempt at using a bread maker. I just wanted to know if the temperature of the liquid used in the bread recipe matters? Cold vs room temp or warm?

With a bread maker, it's important to follow the recipe closely, at least until you've got a reliable result , when you can start experimenting.

Mine, for example, expects "tepid" water for most programs, which the book defines as 20-25°C. The super rapid program requires 46-51°C. Cooler and there won't be time for the yeast to get going, much hotter and the yeast will be killed before it starts to work.  This also means the super-rapid program can't be used with a delayed start, as the water would cool.

As a very general rule, slower programs will be more forgiving on temperature if you don't have a suitable thermometer and don't trust your estimation.

You can get a very good idea of the temperature of the water if you mix boiling with room temperature, in known proportions, taking a weighted average. For example that super rapid program could use 2 parts room temperature to one part boiling, mixed before it reaches the yeast. If room temp is 20°C and you mix it with actually boiling water, the resulting temperature will be (2×20+1×100)/3 = 140/3 = 47°C. Ths is at the bottom of the acceptable range for my super rapid program, so I use a little over 1/3 boiling (handily it wants 260ml, so 90ml boiling made up with cold is good).


If you need to keep ground coffee for a long time, will keeping it in the freezer help? Ok, so yes - the best way to keep your coffee fresh is to just buy fresh coffee regularly, and not use it two weeks after the roasting date.

However, some people don't drink a lot of a coffee (or don't drink coffee at all!), but want to keep some 'nice coffee' in the house for when guests arrive.

In this situation, will keeping ground coffee in the freezer help retain freshness/flavour?

Yes, buying fresh coffee is better and grinding right before using is optimal. I think we mostly agree on that. That said, it IS possible to freeze coffee without completely destroying it. There are a number of variables that you want to account for. Here is a short summary:

It should sealed very tightly, a mason jar would work well for example. Even better is to freeze the unopened bag (with the valve taped shut), but that defeats your goal I think of consuming slowly.
If at all possible, put into the freezer once, remove once. NO refreezing. Taking the whole batch  in and out of the freezer every time you use it could cause condensation which will damage your beans.
Freeze the coffee whole. Grind right before use.
Take the coffee out of the bag, let it come to room temperature before grinding it.
Once it comes out of the freezer, it's back to being optimally consumed in a couple weeks.

There is a limit to how long you can freeze it. I wouldn't leave it more than a few months? Here's a good, but long read on the subject, including some taste test results. If you're really seriously interested, I'd give that a good read.

If you're not a big coffee drinker, and your guests aren't picky either, you might not care about all those variables. I'd do some testing to see what works for you (don't test with the expensive stuff of course...). If you and your guests can't taste the difference, the extra precautions are kind of for naught. I have certain family members who claim to prefer the crappy, flavourless stuff for example. :-P sigh

Last note. Never store coffee in the fridge. Why not? Quoted from here:

  "The Starbucks web site says: "Think of coffee as fresh produce. The enemies of coffee are oxygen, light, heat, and moisture. To keep coffee fresh, store it in an opaque, airtight container at room temperature. Storing coffee in the refrigerator or freezer for daily use can damage the coffee as warm, moist air condenses to the beans whenever the container is opened."


How to keep bags from floating in a sous vide supreme I have had a few items float a little in my sous vide supreme machine. Mostly veggies. How do I keep them from floating up and stay submerged?

Two things cause bags to fill with air during low temp cooking.  The expansion of air that already exists in a product (typical in vegetable cookery), and gas that results in bacterial growth (a problem with some cuts of meat).  For vegetable cookery weighting helps, but this is almost always an issue unless you compress a really hard vacuum with a commercial machine.  For most home cooks, the best solution is to use zip lock bags, monitor, and then release the air and reseal as it builds up.  For meat cookery, try pre-searing for 20 - 30 seconds per side...or dipping in boiling water to kill off any surface bacteria prior to bagging and cooking low temp.  Also the sous vide supreme comes with a rack to aid in keeping items submerged.  That can help too.


How much white chocolate should I use in a white chocolate cake? I am trying to develop a white chocolate cake formula. The recipes that we tried were dry or did not have the right flavor or consistency. I found no guide line as to how much white chocolate to use. Can any one help?  I am concerned that the white chocolate contains sugar, fat and emulsifiers. What I do not know is what percentage should white chocolate be in this recipe that I created?

Here is what I have so far: I have not tried this recipe yet. All I did was the math!

15 oz. cake flour,
2 oz oil,
4 oz butter,
15 oz. sugar,
7 oz. of eggs,
4 oz. milk (hot to dissolve white chocolate),
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder,
1 teaspoon salt,
1 tablespoon vanilla extract,
4 oz. white chocolate (real chocolate containing cocoa butter),

I plan to use creaming method, pre sifting dry ingredients and adding the white chocolate and hot milk just before adding eggs, and bake at 350F.

Is that a good amount of white chocolate?

Looking at your recipe, there's not enough butter or eggs for the amount of flour and sugar. I'm saying this because I'm assuming the the oz measurements are weights. You could also increase the amount of white chocolate to 6 oz.

Since white chocolate doesn't have much of a presence in a cake - the primary flavour is vanilla - you may want to make a good white or yellow cake and save the white chocolate for a spectacular icing.


Refreezing stock after boiling Can I safely refreeze stock that I have brought to the boiling point?

If so, should I boil it or bring it above a certain temperature for a certain length of time to ensure food safety?

Is the presence of fats or oils a point of concern for rancidity or food safety?

Finally, are there some kinds of stock (vegetable/fish/meat/poultry) that need to be handled differently? Or will boiling suffice for any liquid preparation (soups, reductions, gastrique)?

If the stock has safely been held (under refrigeration for less than 3 days, less than 2 hours cumulative in the "danger zone" [40F - 140F, 4.5C - 60C]), then it would be considered safe before freezing or refreezing. It is always safe to freeze food that was safe to begin with.

Freezing, and especially refreezing, can sometime negatively affect quality, but I wouldn't expect a noticeable effect on broth. Freeze away, as soon as possible after making it or getting it home.

Some people freeze broth in ice trays, then store the cubes in the freezer. That way, you only pull out of the freezer what you need that day. Food that was safe when frozen and stays frozen (at 0F, -17C, normal home freezer temperature or lower), will stay safe indefinitely.


Can flavoring extracts be added to inverted sugar? I'd like to try doing a recipe with inverted sugar (hand pulled cotton candy), but am entirely new to candy making. I have the instructions to create inverted sugar, but would like to add a flavoring (as opposed to just the dye used in the video). I've tried googling it, but can't find too much information.

I've read the Honey is very similar to inverted sugar, but has some impurities that give it it's color and distinctive flavor, so I know chemically inverted sugar is entirely possible, but I don't have the time or resources to figure out how to make bees produce blue raspberry honey.

I've considered using jello, but I imagine with the gelatin the end result wouldn't be anywhere near the texture I'm looking for. Is there any way I can manage to impart more than just "raw pure sugar" into this recipe?

It should work, but the notion is that the flavoring should be intense so that just a little would need to be used. You don't want to substantially dilute the syrup. So a teaspoon to the two cups of water used to make the syrup would be fine.

The other thing is that the flavoring must either be a liquid or completely dissolve in the sugar solution. What you don't want is any solid particulate matter in the cooked syrup since particles will be nucleation points upon which crystals would form.

It is just some sugar you'd be wasting if it doesn't work. Experiment...


Wax paper sticking to homemade taffy - what to use for wrapping? I am developing a recipe for a taffy, and the candy itself is turning out perfectly. The major problem that I'm encountering is that the wax paper squares I am using seem to stick to the taffy after about 2-3 days of being wrapped. This may be a function of humidity (we're in mid-atlantic states).

To make the squares I simply took storebought wax paper, cut into 4x4 squares, take 1" taffy pieces and twist the ends. Every recipe I have found has supported using this. For the first few days, this worked fine. However, soon after I noticed that the paper was starting to stick at spots. Now, on several of the taffies, you simply can't remove the paper, it has adhered completely to the candy.

I'm contemplating using edible rice paper, and then a wax paper around it, but I was hoping there may be some other suggestions such as rolling the taffy in powdered sugar, starch, or flour. Any advice would be appreciated.

I have a similar issue with caramel coated nuts that I have been making. What I have found works well is to place the nut clusters in a large bowl (which has a lid) containing a mixture of powdered sugar and cinnamon, seal the bowl and shake 'vigorously', remove the remaining powder and shake again.

In your case you may not wish to use the cinnamon, and perhaps only cornstarch rather than powdered sugar. The powder coat will provide a non-stick barrier to your taffy, which should be only slightly sweet (powdered sugar) to neutral (cornstarch) and dissolve in the mouth very quickly. Depending on the flavor of your taffy you may find that adding a touch of cinnamon (or perhaps powdered ginger) might provide a bit of 'extra flavor'.


What is a thorough way to clean my dish rack? I have a Simple Human Dishrack. It was kind of a splurge when I bought it. We were swayed by the good reviews. The rack does not have the typical open wire design, as you can see in the link above. The dishes drain on a wired rack onto a sloped catch tray which then empties into the sink.

We've had it for about 6 months now and I'm noticing pink mold(?) where water pools/evaporates. (On the DIY Stack Exchange an answer to one of my questions there suggests that the pink stuff could be due to fluoride that's been added by the water company.)  Potentially food particles could have built up over time, too.

How should I clean this dish rack to get rid of and or prevent more of this pink stuff that's building up?

CLARIFICATION
It has stainless walls, plastic bottom (which is the drip tray) and a coated metal rack (I'm not sure what the coating is).

Bleach is your best bet.  Scrub it with a long-handled scrub brush and either liquid bleach or Ajax and water.  Let it soak a bit before rinsing it out.  Since it's stainless steel, the bleach won't do it any harm and will kill off any organics growing on it.

In my experience, the pink stuff is a mold, not flouride.


Should good prosciutto be refrigerated? I recently bought a whole bunch of really good, freshly-cut prosciutto in Italy, and I plan to eat it in about a week or two. However, I'm reluctant to stick it in the fridge until that time. In my experience, when I put deli meats or cheese in the fridge, they start to lose their flavor and texture pretty quickly, even if carefully wrapped in butcher paper. Also, in the past, I've carried around a vacuuum-sealed packet of freshly cut jamon iberico for about two weeks without refrigeration, and it did not suffer at all for it. (My current prosciutto bundle is vacuum-sealed as well.) This makes sense to me because it's a cured meat after all, but maybe it was a fluke and I'm totally off.

Is it OK to play it safe and avoid the refrigerator? Or should I stick it in the fridge ASAP? (It's already been out for a few days.) It's my utmost priority that the prosciutto feel and taste as close to fresh as possible! If I take it out and it's stiff and flavorless, I'm going to cry.

In addition to the prosciutto, I also have some mortadella. My understanding is that it's not "cured" like prosciutto is. Should it be treated differently?

Mortadella does need to be refrigerated.

As for the proscuitto ... if it's real cured ham (and not the fake 'cured' stuff you get in the US) and was trimmed with a clean knife and wasn't otherwise contaminated when being cut, and it's not the middle of the summer where you are, it's likely fine being stored in a cool area of your kitchen.

Mind you, the US FDA would't agree, and you would get cited for health code violations if you were a restaurant.  You may also want to be more cautious if you're going to be serving the meat to people with compromised or otherwise weak immune systems (eg, small children or the infirm).


Sourdough teacakes/hot cross buns? I've made sourdough before and I'm just making my sponge and I wondered if it was possible to make sourdough hot cross buns/tea cakes? Would it be to heavy too rise or would it not taste right?

Thanks in advance!

NB: don't know whether you have tea cakes in the US but in the UK they are small buns containing currants and/or sultanas and peel eaten at tea or breakfast (toasted with butter).

I've added sourdough starter to things like pancakes and waffles, but never hot cross buns. However I believe it would be very tasty as the sourdough would take some of the sweetness of the buns. I found this link about sourdough hot cross buns and thought it might be along the lines of what you were looking for https://sourdough.com/recipes/one-penny-two-penny


Avoiding grittiness with sichuan pepper I've got a big bag of Sichuan pepper but I've often found that when I cook with them it's difficult to avoid grittiness from the outer kernel. I don't have this problem when I visit Sichuan Chinese restaurants and the pepper was bought from a big Asian supermarket.

What do I need to do to prepare them to avoid the grittiness? Is it really as fiddly as picking out the peppercorn from each kernel or is there something simpler that I need to do?

Grind your peppercorns in a spice grinder, then put them in a large, fine meshed sieve and tap them over a large bowl. The spice will fall through and the husks will stay in the sieve. Should take about 5 minutes max.

Alternatively, buy them pre-ground.


Substituting stevia for erythritol in recipes I use stevia as a sweetener now. I have seen a couple of sweets recipes that use erythritol. I have stomach issues with any sweetener that ends in "tol."

I am wondering if I can substitute stevia as the sweetener in these recipes?

No, you can't. If you're talking about pure stevia it needs to be mixed with another sweetener to add bulk and texture, as well as to minimise its bitter after-taste. For a cake, I use erythritol + 1 tsp pure stevia at most, depending on other ingredients in the mix. You could try an allulose blend instead of erythritol, but it isn't available in the UK.


Tips for reheating food in the microwave I often want to buy more than a meals-worth of fast-food (or other food you buy hot) to save multiple trips, but the reduction in taste that comes from reheating it makes me not want to.

What can I do to reheat food in the microwave and have it taste more like it did originally?

The best advice I can give is that you're not going to want to use full power very often.  I find that food tastes much better if you cook it for longer at 60 or 70% power then if you blast it quickly at 100%.  This is especially true for proteins like chicken.  I guess this allows for slightly slower, more even heating without destroying all the water in the food.  The extra minute or two of time is worth the huge difference in the final texture.

I find that pretty much any vegetable or rice-based dish will reheat "ok" in the microwave, because of the nature of the microwave itself, which works very well for steaming.  When reheating stuff like this, throw a tsp or Tbsp of water in the container, and place a lid on it (but do not seal the lid, you want it vented slightly).  Again, stick with less than full-power.

I know someone who swears by boiling a glass of water in the microwave first to fill it with moist, warm air.  Supposedly it helps with evenness and faster cooking, and reduces drying out the food; I don't know if I buy it but thought I'd mention it so you and the community can comment/decide.  I understand the idea, but feel like you'd lose so much of that just opening the door to swap the water for your food.  If you do go this route, it's very important that you understand superheating water, which is dangerous.  Don't try to boil water in the microwave without reading that link.

If you're adventurous, there's a line of Corningware Microwave Browning products (scroll about halfway down the page where it mentions browning) - I was given one a half a year ago and was surprised at how well it works.  There's a lining of microwave-safe metal (I believe tin oxide) inside the bottom of the casserole/skillet, and you heat the casserole by itself for a minute or two first which gets that blazing hot.  When you drop food on it, it actually sizzles, so now you're using a combination of normal microwave cooking and direct, skillet-like heat.  I've had a lot of good luck reheating things like pork chops and keeping/adding a crust to them.

Also, there's a book, Microwave Cooking For One, and an accompanying website, that are both supposed to be really useful.  I don't own the book but have heard from friends who do own it that you can learn a lot about general microwave use from it - even if you don't plan on cooking from "scratch" and are just reheating leftovers.

All that said, I completely agree with Jefromi's comment.  90% of the food I reheat is reheated in the toaster oven, either preheated like a regular oven, or under the broiler depending on what the food is.  You might take an extra 5 or even 15 minutes to reheat this way, but the difference is unbelievable, and the convenience is still the same - I just put whatever I want to reheat into a casserole dish and throw it in, sometimes covered, sometimes not.  So, cleanup still only involves one dish, and you can eat directly out of it (though it will be very hot, so be careful!) Once you get into the habit of using the toaster oven, you'll find a way to make up for the small amount of extra time - for example I often I empty the drainboard while it preheats, and wash dishes or something similar while the food heats up.


How much do dry beans expand when soaked? I've got four cups of dry pinto beans. What will be their volume after I let them soak overnight?

Typically dry beans expand 2-3 times their original volume when soaked, depending on their age (fresher beans have more moisture left than older ones and expand less).
I usually put them in a large pot and cover them with at least 5-6cm of water above.