What can I cure at 15c and 50% humidity? I have a basement that stays at a pretty regular 15c and 50% humidity. I dont want to set up a chamber for curing, Id rather just use the conditions I have.

The issue is I cant seem to find products that fit these environments. Is there anything? Whole muscle needs less humidity and more warmth whilst sausage needs more humidity.

Any ideas out there?

This is pretty close to the temperature and humidity of the closet where I store wine and hang salumi to cure.  I've had the most success with pancetta, lomo, and brasola. I've had some successes and some failures with dried sausages and salami, usually related to undesirable mold that I didn't catch in time.  I probably wouldn't hang an entire pork leg, in an effort to make something like a prosciutto.  Generally, because of the cost and labor involved, I would want the conditions to be more precise and less variable.  In my wine closet, the temp and humidity does change.  However, for the smaller items I am playing with, and given the time necessary, the conditions are just fine.  It sounds like a reasonable place to experiment.  One final note, be sure your space is insect and rodent-free.  That could be a potential issue.


Whole chicken roasting time I have a 1.2kg whole chicken that I wish to roast, on the packet it says it'll take 1h 28m at 200°C.

The New Best Recipe book recommends cooking a 1.8kg chicken for just 60m, with temperature of 190°C for 30m and 230°C for about 30 more. Nigel Slator's Real Cooking recommends a similar 60m time for a 2kg bird, with a variation on the cooking temperatures. And Delia says to cook a 1.6kg chicken for around 60m too.

Why are the times so radically different? Accounting for the weight, it would seem that the packaging recommends almost twice the cooking time that the reliable professionals recommend. Is the shop just being overly safe?

The shops are likely going out of their way not to get sued by sticking to safety guidelines rigidly. The packet instructions usually result in a dry and overcooked bird. The various other times and temperatures are all attempts to get a safely cooked, attractively browned bird without overcooking.

However, roasting meat based on oven temperature and the weight of the joint is the wrong way to go about things, because ovens are rarely calibrated correctly (the temperature is often wildly at variance to that set on the dial) and the weight of the meat is rarely nicely rounded.

If you really want to cook any meat (and many other foods) properly, you'll invest in a digital probe thermometer. Then you can simply cook the meat until it reaches a safe internal temperature and no more. They aren't expensive, you can get them from Amazon, and once you've got one you won't know how you did without it.


How to prepare eggs in shape suited for bagel? I often buy an egg bagel from the local coffee shop. The egg is cooked to a shape that is perfect for the bagel. From my observation it is a scrambled mixture that goes into a small glass bowl, and then into the microwave.

Any more specific advice would be awesome on how to do this.

It's actually quite simple; you just use a circular cookie cutter like this one:

You can find these at any cookware store.  It's easier to work with the ones that don't have handles, for what I hope are obvious reasons.  If you buy a whole set then you can almost certainly find one that's exactly the right size for your bagel.

Just put the cookie cutter into your fry pan and crack the egg into them for a fried egg, or beat them separately and pour them in for scrambled.  Generally you won't actually want to scramble them because you're aiming for something that holds together, so just let it set on one side and then flip it, or make it like a granny omelette (lift up the set edges and tilt the pan to get the un-set egg over to the edge of the ring).

The whole microwaving thing you see at coffee shops is just because they have a hundred of them in storage and don't have time to actually cook them to order.  They're just heating an already-cooked egg, not actually cooking it in the microwave.  You shouldn't need to use the microwave at home.


Why is 180 degrees C so common in recipes? Is there any particular reason 180 degrees Celsius is so commonly called for in baking, roasting, deep frying?

Ovens are by their nature a high-heat cooking method, and thus create a temperature gradient in the food.  The outside of the item is the hottest, because it is in contact with the hot air, and exposed to the radiant (infrared) heat coming from the oven walls, ceiling and floor.

Heat from the outside then conducts into the inside overtime.  The effect of this is that the surface of the food will be the hottest, and the center the coolest.,

180 C (350 F) is a moderate oven.  It balances:

Cooking the food through
Overcooking the outside

It is suitable for a wide range of baked goods and other dishes, although often within limits (especially for non-baked goods) you can trade temperature and time off.

Note that a single oven can only have one temperature, and a moderate oven is good for many cakes and cookies; for baking and heating through casseroles; for roasting root vegetables; for maintaining a braise; and for roasting many meats; and many other tasks.  If you want to have multiple items in the oven at the same time, it is a good temperature to choose that will give good results for a wide variety of items, even if it is not ideal for every item.

Still, it is not ideal for every cooking technique and food item.  Low and slow roasting (for tremendously succulent pulled pork, brisket, and so on) is done as low as 200 F (93 C); some people favor high temperature roasting of certain meats to get a crispy exterior while maintaining a rare interior with temperatures of 450 F (232 C), or even higher.

Many breads are baked at higher temperatures--and of course, pizza infamously is ideally done at temperatures home ovens cannot even achieve, so at home they are often baked at the maximum oven setting around 550 F (280 C).

Deep frying is a separate matter, and it is a complete coincidence that the ideal temperature for deep frying matches that of roasting.

The way deep frying works is that the heat of the oil heats the outside of the food, but it is hot enough to nearly instantly vaporize the water at the surface of the food.  This water creates a small pocket of vapor around the food, preventing the oil from entering and making the item completely oily.   In order for this effect to happen, the oil must be sufficiently hot which starts around 180 C / 350 F.

On the other hand, again, you don't want the food to burn on the outside before it cooks through, but more importantly, you don't want the oil smoking, and developing off flavors (many culinary fats have a smoke point starting not too far above these temperatures).   For these reasons, frying much above this temperature is generally not a good idea.  Most ideal frying temperatures are somewhere in the 350 F - 365 F (180 C 0 185 C) range.

I suspect many recipes indicate 350 F simply because it has become common and conventional.


How do you figure out how much oil to use for pan frying? How do you go about figuring how much oil to use for frying? Off the top of my head, I can think of a number of factors such as the type of food, how well you want to cook it, the type of oil, the size of the pan and how much food you are trying to cook. Which of these factors should I worry about the most and does anyone have any general rules for figuring out how much oil to use?

As you suggest, there are a number of factors, but the best rule of thumb I've found for pan-frying is to use just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan by swirling it around.  In general, you don't want puddles (you'll get splashed with hot oil), but if the pan isn't covered then your food might not get cooked evenly.

These days I mostly just eyeball it, and err on the generous side.  Using slightly too much isn't likely to hurt your dish - unused oil just won't get absorbed - but using too little will result in under-cooked or inconsistently-cooked food and probably a lot of gunk stuck to the bottom of your pan.  So if you're not sure, just add a little more than you think you absolutely need.


Low Salt Indian Food Indian recipes tastes awful with reduced salt. Can anything be done to make them more palatable? Are there dishes that taste OK even with low salt?

Indian recipes taste fine with reduced salt, as long as you haven't trained your palate to enjoy salty food. This is no different to any other regional cuisine.

I personally cook curries with no added salt at all, a quarter-teaspoon of salt per portion of boiled rice, and minimal salt in breads.

Try reducing saltiness gradually, until your palate no longer demands it.

In the meantime you could use salt substitutes - there are products made with potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride which may be better for you than salt.


Browning Beef in Beef Stew? So im going to be making beef stew again, and most recipes call for it to be browned.
(This is going in a cast iron OLD dutch oven, so maximum season!)

That being said the Dutch oven itself is....narrowish on the inside. So browning a bunch of meat is tedious.

So I guess my main concern is obviously safety. I believe it's brought to a boil them simmered for 2 hours, or somewhere along those lines. Is it still safe for the beef if I don't brown it?

I know the Myth if browning sealing in the juices, but would I be able to maybe....half-brown it, as in not brown every-side but just kinda put it in and let it brown for a little bit and stir it around to make it still taste ok? Because Browning every single cube of beef is kinda a PITA.

Thanks!

Making a stew without browning is relatively safe since the prolonged cooking should kill off most pathogens. This is especially true if you are careful about your kitchen cleanliness and cut the meat down from a larger piece yourself instead of buying pre-cut "stew meat" or ground meat. Whole cuts of meat such as steaks or roasts usually only have E. coli on the surface, which makes the E. coli easier to kill by cooking. When the meat is ground or mechanically tenderized, E. coli on the surface can be transferred to the inside of the meat. This is why ground meat and mechanically tenderized meat are more likely to cause illness than whole cuts of meat. Like ground meats, prepackaged "stew meat" can contain tissues from multiple individual animals, thereby increasing the chance that there is E. coli present in the package. Each additional surface is another place for E. coli to grow while that package is sitting at the store or in your fridge.
Browning, however contributes a significant amount of flavor to the stew, which will be lost.  The good news is that you don't have to brown every single piece... One alternative that I use is to buy the quantity of meat I plan to use as a whole roast (instead of pre-cut "stew meat") then sear the entire roast before cutting it down to stew-size chunks.  You get the flavor benefit of the Maillard browning with less time spent browning little pieces and less overcooked meat.  If you use a lidless, oven braise technique, as suggested in Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking, you will get further browning on any pieces that aren't totally submerged as well as flavor concentration from evaporation.
Check out these previous posts on similar topics:

Should I brown meat for stew?

Can I put raw ground beef in the crockpot when making chili?

Chili/Stew - Is it necessary to cook all the meat before adding to the rest of the ingredients?

http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthfiles/hfile02.stm


How to keep a meatball round? After seeing this question I started to think more about my meatballs and wonder how can I keep them round?

I have always been under the impression that you should first brown the outside and then cook them through.  Problem is during the browning in the frying pan I end up with flat sides.

What can I do?  Help my meatballs!

I saw a recommendation on 30 Minute Meals to place each one in a muffin tin (they were sized so they stuck out the top), and then bake them.  You'd have to find the right sized tray for your size of meatballs, though.

I'm guessing you'd also want a large tray underneath, though, or you risk dripping grease inside the oven.

... you could probably also just put 'em on a sheet tray and bake 'em, and you'd only get one flat side, rather than from each time you turned them in the pan.


How does the meat in Weisswurst get so white? I have looked for the answer online, but no luck so far.

Does the ice "burn" the meat and it gets white?

How does it work?

The real question should be "what makes sausages pink" - but more later.

All meat turns greyish-white or brown when cooked. This is due to the myoglobin, which makes raw meat look pink or red, being not heat stable. When cooked it denaturates to metmyoglobin, which is grey-brown.

For pinkish sausages, curing salts are used. They contain sodium nitrite, which transforms the myoglobin to a more stable form nitrosomyoglobin, that becomes Nitrosomyochromogen when heated - and is red.

For Weisswurst, simple table salt is used in a sausage mixture that contains light coloured meats (veal, sometimes pork), fat and water, hence the whiteish-grey colour. Curing salts have a preserving effect that simple table salt does not have. Traditionally, Weisswurst was therefore supposed to eaten before noon. Modern refrigerators have made this former necessity obsolete, yet the custom remains.


My pasta keeps sticking together I make my own pasta and love the recipe I use, it tastes delicious and is very versatile. It makes awesome ravioli but whenever I do just plain noodles they all clump together when cooked. I had this issue when just using a large pot of boiling salted water so I bought some pasta baskets hoping that would help and it doesn't. My pasta usually rests anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes after cutting it before cooking. I keep the noodles dusted with flour and tap the excess flour off before cooking, I've even tried not knocking the flour off or not dusting with as much flour. I've even tried different amounts in the baskets and it still sticks. Am I missing a step?

If it is keeps sticking together that probably means you are over cooking it. Might mean for your pasta recipe you need to use a lower cooking temperature. Go back to the original recipe and then start messing with the cooking temperature. Here are some helpful tips as well: http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/09/tips-for-better-easier-pasta.html


Is raffinose broken down into its component sugars when cooked? Raffinose is a sugar found in legumes that is indigestible by humans. Which is great, because I'm looking for a sweetener that 1) won't raise blood sugar and 2) doesn't have a bitter aftertaste and isn't carcinogenic or whatever else. The question I have is: Does raffinose break down during cooking? If heat can decompose it into other sugars then it's useless for my purposes.

For a few years between around 2004 and 2007, a number of Korean and Japanese companies started started emphasizing products sweetened with various industrially isolated oligosaccharides, which is the family of sugars that raffinose belongs to. I believe the sources commonly extracted from included soybeans and other beans, based on the information from Chinese, Korean and Japanese manufacturers I was in contact with at the time. I even ran into one Korean beverage producer that went so far as to switch from sucrose to oligosaccharides in all of their products, although I recently spotted their products at Trader Joe's and that made me realize they've since either liberalized or backtracked on that decision.

http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Novel-oligosaccharides-as-sweeteners-for-food-beverages (which has a couple of annoying interstitial and/or intrusive ads; I don't have any influence over their content, but my apologies nonetheless) seems to indicate that certain new commercially produced oligosaccharides are stable in a fairly narrow temperature and PH range, so I suspect the answer to your question is "it depends." Raffinose is apparently still a frequent subject of study, though it seems like the question you have should be reasonably well answered by now; I'm not a chemist, so I can't parse much from the research summaries I'm able to locate. But I suspect that whatever happened, the isolate oligosaccharide products turned out not to be a panacea, or at least the marketing story turned out to be inadequate to sufficiently drive sales.

http://www.jafra.gr.jp/eng/origo.html indicates that raffinose can be extracted from (some form of) beets for use as a sweetener.

In any event, there's a chance you may be able to find oligosaccharide syrup or maybe even a crystalline form if you look hard enough, and it appears, from what little I'm able to glean, that it's fairly stable, and probably not going to break down in cooking. But I suspect that, like most sugar substitutes, simply replacing your sugar consumption with an alternative sweetener won't bring about meaningful health benefits; nearly every "healthy" sweetener has some undesirable side effects when consumed in large quantities.

Personally, I have a strong bias against any attempt to treat food as some sort of medicine, and my experience is that food manufacturers have little interest in making you healthier (but they do have interest in profiting based on your motivation to be healthy), so I wouldn't put too much stock in the idea that oligosaccharides, or anything else, are a meaningfully healthier alternative to sucrose. There are probably better ways to improve your health than by relying on food technology, and consuming moderate amounts of sweeteners of any type is probably more beneficial than replacing heavy consumption of sucrose with heavy consumption of the alternative sweetener of the month. But there certainly have been efforts to commercialize oligosaccharides for the health food market, and it's probable that there's at least some data to support the notion that oligosaccharides have some health benefits of some kind.


If cooking doesn't kill all the nutrients in tomatoes, why are none in sauce labels, even the nice ones made direct by an organic farm? I've had this question in my head since forever, it's kind of a food sciencey question. I understand that cooking changes the properties of food including their nutritional value, sometimes positively, sometimes negatively. It appears per this link (https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/health-benefits-eating-cooked-tomato-products-4444.html) that cooking does not affect Vitamin C and lycopene (but it does affect Vitamin A).
But every time I go to buy a tomato sauce (see important note below***), the nutritional label shows literally no vitamins, why? Is it a labeling problem? Like lycopene doesn't show up on labels. Maybe Vitamin C becomes some new form that's not label-able?? Or is it that cooking doesn't kill vitamins but the high pressure canning process does? (implying that if I make homemade tomato sauce, I won't have this problem)
My motivation for this is that I like healthy eating and am just trying to understand how to healthily consume tomatoes.
***A note on the tomato sauce I'm talking about
I'm talking specifically about the kinds of tomato sauce that vendors at farmer's markets make using their own products. I can't speak for all farms, but having worked at one that did sell our products, I know exactly how this gets made. We harvest tomatoes, we cook & process everything in our own kitchen, we hire a contracted nutritionist to analyze the product & write the label, then we print the label and off it goes. Like, the process is basically exactly like a home cook's. It's not over-processed, over-salted like some industrial makers' products would be. I imagine this process is similar for some other local, premium organic brands that you find at small grocers (except they don't grow their own tomatoes). So given this is so similar to a home cook's process, why are there no nutritional points?
I know what you're thinking... yes I am an idiot that I didn't think to ask our nutritionist this question. But I didn't and now I don't have a person to talk to.

I would swear that there was already an answer about this on SA, but I can't find it.
Pressure canning destroys a lot of the vitamin C value of tomatoes:

The heating process during canning destroys from one-third to one-half of vitamins A and C, thiamin, and riboflavin. Once canned, additional losses of these sensitive vitamins are from 5 to 20 percent each year.

(there are other papers with more scientific information, but they're all behind paywalls)
This means that the finished jarred tomatoes in a year-old jar might have only 30% of the original vitamin C content -- and that will vary according to a lot of circumstances that are hard to predict.  So, unless you test ascorbic acid content of the finished product over a lot of batches, you really don't know how much C you have, on average.
While the US FDA does want you to list C content on the label, you are unlikely to be punished for under-reporting the amount of C ... whereas overreporting is a lot more likely to get you an unwelcome phone call.  So many canners simply leave it out.
For that matter, many commercial canneries report zero vitamin C as well.  I have several cans of Muir Glen tomatoes in my pantry, and none of them report C content.


What can be substitution of maple syrup for pancakes? I live in India and maple syrup isn't available in my town. I don't like honey over my pancakes.

What could be the substitutes ?

I think sweetened cream would be good. Also, having it with ice cream seems like a good idea.

Maple syrup on pancakes is just a condiment, much like ketchup on a hamburger.

You can use any topping you like, or no topping at all.

Among the popular ones are:

Butter
Whipped cream
Fruit, berries, or applesauce
Jam or jelly
Peanut butter


How to Sous Vide Dried Beans Safely I would like to try to cook some dried, red kidney beans via sous vide but am having difficulty finding anything authoritative on how to do this safely.

If you google "cooking beans safely" most articles point to this PDF from the FDA where on page 255 they say beans must be boiled for a minimum of 10 minutes but that 30 minutes is the recommended amount of time, otherwise the beans are not safe to eat.

I cannot find any chart that measures the amount of Phytohaemagglutinin against time and temperature. With such a chart it would be convenient to determine how long and at what temperature one must sous vide beans.

Most sous vide recipes online for beans I have seen recommend 6 hours at 190F, but I have not seen any data backing this as safe.

Given the temperature, it sounds like advice from slow cooking should apply - it's not far short of boiling. You can actually increase the (bioavailability of) phytohaemaglutinin by cooking at that sort of temperature  for long periods unless you boil properly first. Only a few varieties of beans are an issue, mainly red kidney beans.

When slow cooking mixed bean chilli (for example), I soak the kidney beans separately from the other beans, then rinse them and bring them to the boil in plenty of new water for more than 10 minutes, discarding that water as well. You should do something similar. It's not all that convenient, but it is necessary.

The chart you'd like would be difficult to produce because each bean isn't at a uniform temperature - 10 minutes becomes 30 to ensure the low of each bean gets hot enough. The amount in a particular batch of beans will be quite variable as well.


What is the best way to store ground coffee? I know it's better to use freshly ground beans and not store it ground at all, but if I have no other choice, how can I best preserve ground coffee?

This question sort of asks the same thing, but the answers focus on storing whole beans, and the answers addressing ground coffee make it pretty unclear whether a cool cabinet, the fridge, or the freezer is the best place.

The two main issues with ground coffee are:

The coffee losing its aroma. The aroma/flavor of coffee is quite volatile, and will evaporate very easily. The solution to this is an airtight container, with as little head room in it as possible.
The coffee soaking up moisture from the air. This makes the coffee... unpleasant. The best solution I've found (in a hot humid climate) is to put it in the freezer. It is the nature of refrigeration to leech all of the moisture from the freezer compartment.

In summary, the best I've found is a small airtight box in the freezer.


How does produce grading in the US work? The US has a lot of standards about grading produce. Is everything graded on the same scale (with the same labels)? What characteristics do the grades generally depend on, and what characteristics do they ignore?

And is all produce graded, so that for example I can go to the store and find out what grade their supply of a given fruit is?

Is everything graded on the same scale (with the same labels)?

No.  Grading is specific to every kind of fruit or vegetable, and often grading can be different depending on the form of the produce (fresh vs. canned vs. frozen vs. juice vs. headed for further processing, etc.).

Also, different nomenclature is used for different produce: some use "Grade A," "Grade B," etc.  Some use "No. 1," "No. 2," etc.  The number of grades can vary.  And some use other nomenclature like "Fancy Grade" or "Commercial Grade," either by themselves or in combination with the numerical/letter grade system.

And is all produce graded, so that for example I can go to the store and find out what grade their supply of a given fruit is?

Grading is voluntary, and it generally costs producers to do it.  Unless there is a complaint about quality, many domestic producers won't bother, particularly if they are selling at a local market or something.  For marketing agreements, they are often required, though.  And international shipments are required to be graded, but only small samples from a given shipment are generally inspected.

What characteristics do the grades generally depend on, and what characteristics do they ignore?

You really can only tell by reading the individual grading policies for specific produce (there are guidelines for well over 100 different types/forms of fruits and vegetables).  The guidelines for fruits are here and for vegetables are here.  Also, note that these are only national USDA guidelines.  States and regional markets can also set their own grading policies, so a "medium" tomato sold at a state farmers market might be the same as an "X-large" tomato on the USDA grading scale.

But in general, grading often covers things like:

Size (sometimes specifying different size grades or minimum size for grading)
Appearance (color, shape, "mature" enough to ensure proper ripening if not ripe already, proper trimming if applicable, extraneous pieces like stems on small fruit, etc.)
Texture (firmness, smoothness, general "ripe" characteristics, etc.)
Defects (blemishes, dirt, decay/spoilage, pest damage/disease, damage from sun/heat or cold, foreign material, etc.)
Allowable tolerances (allowed deviation levels in above characteristics or percentage of pieces allowed to be non-compliant in various characteristics)

Characteristics generally NOT covered by grading:

Flavor/taste
Interior of produce (since grading generally focuses on exterior inspection unless there is suspicion of unseen rot, disease, etc.)
Packaging (beyond some note of packing that is likely to damage produce)


How long will live lobsters last in the fridge? My parents just got back from Boston. Since we were looking after their dog, they bought us 2 live lobsters as a "thank you". We've named them Pinchy and James. They were bought Saturday afternoon and flew home in styrofoam with ice and wet newspaper over them. The guy that sold them to my parents said they would last till Monday night if they were kept in the fridge and covered with wet newspaper. Is that right? When should we cook them? We have dinner plans already for Sunday night. What can we do to make sure they stay alive / fresh?

They should be fine until Monday.  Do just as he said...keep them in the fridge covered with damp newspaper.  Cook them tomorrow or Monday.

If you can't/don't for some reason have time to cook them then just stick them in the freezer alive.  They'll freeze and you can then cook them another time in the future.


What causes the crown of the bread to crack during baking? What causes the crown of a bread loaf to crack as it bakes? I would like to prevent it.

Disclaimer: I'm not too familiar with the english technical terms, but I'll try and explain what's happening without them.

Watch a shaped bread during the final rise:

Right after shaping, the interior is still dense because the co2 bubbles from the yeast haven't developed yet. The surface is firm and the shape round(-ish), if you poke gently with a finger, the indentation springs back instantly.
If you'd bake the bread now, it would be dense, heavy and probably a bit soggy. This is called "under-proofed". Your top will most likely not crack as the bread won't expand much in the oven, but the results are far from optimal.
After while, your bread will have risen, expanded and the interior texture is filled wit small bubbles. The surface has become a bit softer and the loaf might have flattened a bit in comparison to height. If you poke the loaf, the indentation slowly fills back until almost to the top. The yeast will still be active and could expand the loaf more if the loaf is left to rise.
If you bake the bread now, it has the potential for a maximum of "oven spring", which is an increase in volume during baking. Steam in the oven or baking in a dutch oven will allow your bread to do so even better. Your bread is basically guaranteed to crack unless you direct the expansion via controlled weaknesses in the outer layer, either by slashing the loaf or by having already (during final shaping) folded your loaf with a seam for ripping and then baking with the seam up.
If you continue to proof your bread, it will reach a point from which it will start do deflate again. If poked, the indentation remains. During baking, it will not rise (much) more and will tend to "flow" outwards and collapse. If you puncture or slash your over-proofed loaf, you will make this worse, rather like a punctured balloon.

If your goal is to get a non-cracked bread, you can put the loaf in the oven once it's fully proofed, just before over-proofed. This requires a lot of practise as you will basically have to monitor the bread towards the end of the final rising. You will also need to make sure that the loaf remains humid and pliable, you want as little of a dried skin as possible to allow for expansion without cracking. Poke the loaf all over with a chopstick or a paring knife to catch larger air bubbles that may cause the crown to burst locally and brush the bread with water before placing it in the oven.

Much easier is to bake at the second stage and plan for the expansion. There is a post here that discusses the influence of different cut patterns on the final shape and a bit more on the reasons for slashing here. Rule of thumb: the closer you are to "fully proofed" and the less oven spring you expect, the shallower your cuts should be. For a lot of oven spring, you need deeper cuts, usually made almost horizontally up to an inch in depth.

Should you be talking about a different kind of cracking, namely lots of small cracks that resemble the cracks on some glazed pottery and that appear during cooling: That is considered a sign of quality for some recipes.


What can I do if I didn't process my salsa long enough? I made salsa last week, and processed the jars (quarts) for 20 minutes (may have been 25, I forgot to note exactly when the water started to boil).  I got my times mixed up for the salsa and some applesauce that I was preparing to can also, so I didn't process the salsa long enough.

Can I reprocess the salsa?  Do I need to open the jars, reheat salsa and re-can it all, or can I just reprocess without redoing anything?  Or is it too late because it's been 5-6 days until I realized what I did?

In general, if jars are improperly processed or don't seal, you reprocess them exactly the same way you did the first time. This doesn't depend on the original recipe; you just have to do the exact same thing over again. In your case, since it sounds like your original process was hot pack, you would have to open the jars, dump out the salsa and reheat it, resterilize the jars, and reprocess.

But in your case, unfortunately, it's too late. If you didn't process it long enough the first time, you have to assume that it wasn't sterile, and treat it as equivalent to not canning it at all. Yes, probability-wise, your situation is safer than that, but you have to plan for the worst case, because you have no way to tell. Something may have grown in there. Canning just isn't a good place to mess around with safety.

And before someone chimes in and says it, yes, if you're the kind of person who eats things that have been left out way longer than is reliably safe, you could save it. It'll work out some fraction of the time, so there are plenty of people out there who can truthfully say "I've done this and never had a problem." But it could also get you sick, so I can't recommend it.


Has the storage duration of packaged "fresh" dairy products increased in the last 30 yrs? Has the general shelf life / storage duration / packaging hygiene / of pasteurized milk, cream or yogurt significantly increased in the last 30 years in western Europe (or the US)?

Or has there been any trend in reducing the best-before date?

Background:

I live in Austria, a developed country, and I like to think it was a developed country even 30 yrs ago when I was a kid :-)

Still, I distinctly remember supermarket milk (we mostly have tetrapak style milk here) or liquid cream, or yogurt to be "off" from time to time, even one day prior or at the best before date.

However, in the last 8 years (2010-2018) I cannot recollect one single instance where milk went bad in the fridge (and, given my kids, I do consciously check this) even a few days over the best-before date.

Note that this is for "normal" pasteurized milk, not what they call ESL milk.

You have to make an important difference here - standard "shelf life" (counted before opening) and the time you have to consume it after opening.

Shelf life (before opening, recognizable by expiration date) has increased.

First, if you are a purist and only talking about traditionally pasteurized milk, there are two technology advances which have contributed to longer shelf life:

The whole production cycle is now done under sterile conditions. That is, the milk does not meet any microbes after sterilization.
Microfiltration. This not only stabilizes the milk (prevents the separation of cream) but also improves shelf life by removing bacterial spores

Second, there is also ESL, which is a pasteurization process that sits in the middle between traditional pasteurization (30 minutes at 72 Celsius) and UHT processing (seconds at 140+ Celsius). which become very popular, and at least in Germany, it is difficult to find non-ESL milk nowadays. This milk has a shelf life of several weeks (before opening!), as opposed to the several days for traditionally pasteurized milk.

The safe consumption time after opening has not increased, but the signs of spoilage are gone

Your observation of it never going "off" is related to ESL products. One of their drawbacks is that, when they spoil, they don't go sour and thick like raw or traditionally pasteurized milk. They still have the same safe consumption time after opening (3-5 days), and once exposed to air, bacteria grow in them at the same speed as in traditionally pasteurized milk. Since the colony no longer contains significant numbers of lactobacteria though, it doesn't have the traditional appearance of soured milk. It just gets faintly bitter, but if you are not paying much attention, you can mistake it for milk which is still OK and drink it.


What cut of beef to use for Indian curries? I am wondering what part/cut of the animal is best to make Indian/Pakistani dishes like curries, Biryani, fry etc.
This post says Chuck steak. But wanted to get more opinions.
Which cut of beef should I use in a curry?
Edit: I come from India and I know for a fact that any meat dish (even fish sometimes) is cooked atleast for 30 mins unless pressure cooked. There are very few exceptions. The problem arises because the wide variety of cuts available in the westerm parlance is simply not used in those countries, you just go to the butcher and ask for meat. So the question is more about buying beef in the western context, where you can only buy a specific cut and what you choose might affect how the curry turns out. Also its a misconception that beef is not preferred in these countries, especially Pakistan, Bangladesh, and many parts/cultures of India(ex:southern, eastern states) etc. I updated my wording in the above question to make it more clear. Thanks!

Supermarkets often just quote braising or stewing steak without detailing which cut. Any of those will work. Don't bother to trim the fat, it will disappear during the cooking.
The idea is to start with the opposite end of the scale from what you would consider a good quick-fry steak. You want the 'stringy' stuff, lots of collagen, something that will improve over 4 hours or so of gentle simmering [or 10 hours in a slow cooker]. Any meat that is good for a quick fry will be like dry bullets, tough as old boots after so long at a simmer. A coarse stewing meat will be just coming to its best. Don't let it bother you that these are the cheapest cuts you can get, it's what works best for any long-cook dish. By the same token you'd use chicken thighs not breast for a long cook.
See also What is the best cut of beef to use for stews? - which comes to the same conclusions.


How to chill and reheat three layer pork properly Usually, I put the three layer pork on the table and let it cool before putting it in the fridge to store for later cooking if I could not finish all of them in a meal. (Wonder if I am doing is correct?)

However, when I took them out to cook again, I notice that the there is a layer of oil (that looks like rubber). Should I remove this oil or should I wait until it reaches room temperature? Or should I simply just heat it up or how should I reheat them?

Three Layer Pork

It's hard to say from the picture, but pork fat when cooled in a refrigerator does not have the texture of rubber. It is firm but stays deformed when you squish it. What does have the texture of rubber and could have come from the pork is gelatin. When you cool certain cuts of beef, pork, or other meats you break down the connective tissue and dissolve the gelatin in the cooking liquid or meat juices. If you cooked it, cut it, and then chilled the cut pieces they likely let out some of their juices and those juices then set (gelled) in the refrigerator due to the gelatin.

I would just heat it up, and the gelatinized juices will become liquid again.


What's the name of this slow cooking technique? I just discovered the joy of slow cooking meat, separating the juice, then boiling it to a reduction, then simmering the meat in its own concentrated juices (with some other tasty ingredients added).

So is there a name for simmering slow cooked meat in its concentrated juices?

Sounds like braising, though while it's traditional to concentrate the juices afterward, it's optionally delicious to throw everything back in to simmer in them.

Braising is a pretty general term though: it also applies to slow cooking in any concentrated juices, or even un-concentrated juices (though this is not recommended for best results).


Why and when does a skin form on heated milk and how can I prevent it? When I heat milk, sometimes a skin forms on it, which I'd like to avoid. I originally thought that this happens above some specific temperature, but after paying attention more closely, it seems to me that the skin forms while the milk is already cooling down again. Also, it does not happen every time, though I don't know what I do differently.

I think I found the exact answer somewhere on the net. From my experience, I know frequent stirring and also adding cold milk when it cools down will prevent it.

Also, I notice this also happens for soy milk and the layer from soy milk is used to create lots of different soy products

http://www.wisegeek.com/why-does-milk-form-a-skin-when-it-is-heated.htm

After you’ve heated a glass of milk or hot chocolate, sometimes the milk forms a skin on top of the liquid. The skin is comprised of solid proteins that combine with the milk’s fat molecules, which begin to evaporate as the milk is heated. These proteins, casein and beta, clump together when the liquid reaches a temperature of around 113 to 122 degrees Fahrenheit (45 to 50 Celsius). As the heating continues, the soft protein layer begins to dry out, which is why the milk forms a skin on the liquid’s surface. This layer of skin forms a hard barrier, causing steam to build up beneath it and increase the liquid’s temperature. When left alone, this often causes the milk to boil over.
Though milk forms a skin when heated in most cases, there are several ways to prevent this skin from forming. If you plan to heat the milk over the stovetop, frequent stirring will break up the protein and fat molecules, so that the membrane will not develop. If you are heating milk in a microwave, you can place a wax paper lid known as a “cartouche” on top of the container, which will slow the evaporation process and maintain the milk’s liquid form.
The milk forms a skin only on heated milk that contains fat. If you are heating skim milk, there is no danger of a skin forming on top. Because skim milk contains no fat, the protein molecules have nothing to bond with, and are unable to coagulate.
When made with full-fat, unpasteurized milk, the milk forms a skin that is thicker than the skin on top of low fat milk. The layer of film that develops after heating whole milk can result in a traditional English delicacy called “clotted cream,” which is spread on scones for afternoon tea. To make your own version of clotted cream at home, you can combine two parts whole milk with one part heavy cream, warming the mixture on low heat until the milk forms a skin. Leave the mixture alone overnight, and in the morning, the milk combination will be covered with a rich, creamy layer that can be spooned onto scones or muffins.


Is it safe to refreeze a tuna sandwich? I made a sandwich two days ago that consists of white bread and canned tuna. I put it in my freezer immediately after making it and it stayed there until today. This morning I took it to work, planning to eat it for lunch, but am now going out for lunch instead. I'd rather not waste the sandwich, so is it safe to refreeze it until tomorrow? It has been out of the freezer for 5 hours and sitting in my desk drawer.

The larger issue is the storage time that the sandwich has already been subjected to. 5 hours at room temperature is enough time for at least some of the tuna to spend significant time in the "danger zone" (the temperature range from 40 to 140 degrees F where bacteria grow most quickly).

At this point I would not consider the sandwich safe, regardless whether you refreeze it. Refreezing will not render it safe again and I would recommend tossing it.


How can I salvage burned apple crumble? I made apple crumble in small ramekins earlier today. I tasted one and the crumble felt a bit dry and not sweet enough, so I added white sugar on top and put it in the oven on broil, hoping to melt the sugar and make it better.

Naturally, I made the mistake of forgetting how fast and hot of a setting broil really is...

How can I salvage these apple crumbles? (remove the burned appearance and taste)

That is such a shame, they looked wonderful.

You may well be able to save the not-so-burnt ones. But you'll have to check the burnt taste hasn't tainted the apple base.

I'd start by carefully removing the burnt bits, (as Dorothy suggested above) and inspecting / tasting the base.

To repair the crumble topping. Mix up a new batch and bake it on it's own. Then when it has cooled enough to handle brake it up and re-top the crumbles.

Rather than grilling/broiling you can get a small blow torch like the ones plumbers use. They are great for this and Creme Brulee. You have much more control.


Making Sour Dough from Starter I've been working on a starter and feeding it daily for a while now and it really seems active, smells yeasty vinegary and generates plenty of bubbles.

I am trying to test out my starter by making a small loaf of sour dough. I came across this article, which says to use one part starter, two parts water and three parts flour as a general rule.

Following this example, my dough is wayyy too sticky and not really workable at all. How come I am getting this result? did I do anything wrong? should I just keep adding flour until the dough is less sticky and I am able to knead it?

Also, I recently bough a baking stone which I plan to use for baking the bread, I appreciate any advice and getting the best result possible.

It sounds like you're making something closer to a barm. In "The Bread Baker's Apprentice", Peter Reinhart recommends making a 'Barm' using by weight, 7oz starter, 1# each water and flour. His starter is .5 cup water and 1 cup flour daily and discard half.

He uses the barm to make a firm starter ( 4oz barm, 4.5 oz flour, 1-2 oz water). Let this rise for 4 hours and refrigerate overnight. Add 20.25 oz flour, .5 oz salt, and 12-14 oz water. Kneed together and let rise for 3-4 hr, proof and bake.

You could just add more flour and you'll be fine though, or reduce the water some AND add flour. It wouldn't hurt to increase the percentage of the starter in your final dough to closer to half the weight of the flour.

One thing to know is that the ratio of water to flour in your starter will affect the ratio of acetic acid bacteria and lactic acid bacteria. Acetic acid bacteria prefer firm starters, so if you prefer that flavor, adjust the hydration of your starter.


Why is my boneless beef tough and unedible? I've been baking some meat (either lamb chops or boneless beef - not sure of cut).

I coat it in oil, rub some salt on it and them immediately put it in the oven for 30 minutes at about 150f. Apparently, the oven is quick for a home oven.

What I find is after about 20 minutes the meat feels soft and tender (like I want it) however some of the inner meat still seems pinkish so I continue to cook for another 10 minutes. However, after 30-35 minutes it becomes too tough and not edible.

It seems I'm cooking for too long. How can I ensure the pink from the center of the meat is gone?  Can you see what I'm doing wrong?

I have to do it with either frying, baking, or grilling.

Is it the case that I need to cook it on a much higher heat for 20 minutes?

Without knowing the cut of meat, thickness, etc. it is very difficult to fully answer, but take a look at this chart for steaks:  http://chicolockersausage.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/cook-a-steak-blue-rare-medium-welldone.jpg (Putting link, not pic in case of copyright issues.)  To summarize though, a medium steak is about 135F and still has about 25% pink in it.  Med-well is about 150F and still has a hint of pink.  That is the highest you should be able to reach in a 150F oven and for many cuts would definitely be too tough for many people's tastes.  No pink at all is 160F plus, is not reachable in a 150F oven, and is almost always going to be dry and tough for most cuts.  Lamb chops number will be roughly the same.

Their comment on well done as being a waste of a quality steak is their statement, but one I and many others would share, and definitely towards a lamb chop.  I would never, ever intentionally cook one to no pink through, and certainly not without expecting it to come out dry, tough, and chewy.  I would also almost always sear before putting in the oven if at all possible to form a nice crust and help hold in some juices.

Now, as to your temp stated, a well done cut of meat, one with no pink through, is one that is 160F or more.  If you are really cooking at 150, this should not be possible.  The only way at that low of temp to get all pink out would be to cook so long that all liquids drain except possibly rendered fat.  If cooked for hours that way, something like a pulled pork or a pot roast might be tender, but only because most connective tissue has broken down.  A far more typical practice would be to sear-seal the meat first and the finish in a heated, higher temp oven to allow the meat to get to your desired temperature/doneness without cooking away all the precious fluids that allow it to stay tender.  You normally are cooking working muscle groups and they will very much have a tendency to become tougher the more you cook them unless using a method like braising that will start to break down the connective tissue with time.


How to keep a high hydration bread loaf from becoming flat Yesterday, I made a sourdough loaf with a high hydration (80%) and as usual, when I turned it out of its banneton, it simply couldn't hold its shape and became very flat; only about 1 1/2 inches at the highest point.

The recipe follows:
Sponge:
50g water
50g spelt flour
100g starter (100% hydration)

Sponge
344g water
230g whole meal spelt flour
230g strong white flour

Mix together ingredients for sponge; ferment overnight in fridge.
Mix water, flours and sponge together and knead until elastic.
Rise until it becomes 1 1/2 its original size.
Shape into a boule (for surface tension) and place in floured banneton.
Rise until doubled; turn out and bake.

Although I made the recipe up there is nothing unusual about it and this happens with other high hydration loaves. I know it is a high hydration but others have formed lovely boules. How can I also achieve these high boules?

Hydration numbers aren't that meaningful by themselves -- whether an 80% hydration level can produce a high-rising free-form loaf will depend on a lot on the types of flours or grains that are used.  (Usually, 80% hydration is most appropriate for flatter or roughly shaped breads: ciabatta, focaccia, pizza dough, rustic baguettes, etc.)  With the specific mixture of spelt and "strong white flour" (high protein) you mention, it should be possible to get a loaf with a little more lift.  But it's hard to say for certain -- the flour itself will affect whether it's actually possible to do what you want.

Frankly, there are a lot of variables that could be creating problems beyond the ingredients.  A sourdough culture that produces a lot of acid quickly can make it quite difficult to get a tall loaf.  Or, if your sourdough yeast is weak and takes more than a couple hours for each rise, you might be producing too much acid.  The acidic environment will tend to weaken the gluten, and you'll inevitably get a loaf that spreads.  If this is the problem, you'll need to refresh the starter with a few closely spaced builds that really dilute the starter (e.g., dilute your starter 1:4 or even more with new flour/water in each build).  That will strengthen the yeast but cut down on the early development of acidity.  Unless you're a sourdough expert, I might actually suggest trying to get good results with regular baker's yeast in your recipe before doing the sourdough conversion, since the sourdough may be contributing more than anything else to the spreading.

If the starter isn't the problem and the ingredients can hold up the loaf, the next options are alterations to technique.  The best suggestion I can give is to introduce "stretch-and-fold" maneuvers into the first rise.  After you mix the final dough (which doesn't necessarily need to be heavily kneaded), come back every 30-45 minutes or so and stretch the dough from each side at a time.  Pull out, lift up, and fold on top of the rest of the dough.  Do this from each of the four sides of the dough.  Let rest for 30-45 minutes again and repeat as often as you need until you feel the dough strengthen significantly.

If you adopt stretch-and-folds, you may not see the same amount of rise you saw without them, so you need to just keep your eye on the clock and use the same amount of time you did before for the first rise.  By the time you reach the shaping phase, the dough should be much more taught and elastic.

The other significant issue is shaping.  Do you do a pre-shape and bench rest before the final shaping?  That can also help.  Preshape by pulling the dough taught, folding in upon itself a number of times, then let rest for 15 minutes or so before doing final shaping.  Basically, the more times you stretch the gluten and let it rest, the stronger the dough will get -- whether you do that in folding during the first rise or in a preshaping before bench rest, it will help.  The shaping technique itself can also significantly affect the stability of the final loaf (but that's hard to explain in a text response).

Also, you may be waiting too long in the final proof if you wait to fully double in size.  Unless the sourdough culture is very strong, you might have better results by waiting for only a 1.5 or 1.75 rise.  If you do that, you may want to be somewhat gentle during the final shaping to preserve some of the gas from the first proof.

In fact -- if all of this sounds way too fussy for you, another option may be to skip all the stretching, folding, shaping, etc. and avoid the final rise almost altogether.  Let the dough roughly double in size during the first rise, then shape very gently into a rough ball, rest just a short time until it starts to expand again (no more than an hour or so), and then throw it in to bake.

Lastly, the baking method could change things.  If you're baking on a flat stone, the dough can just spread significantly during baking itself.  I've sometimes seen this with high hydration sourdough -- I load it on a peel, and it looks okay before it goes in the oven, but during the oven spring phase, it just becomes wider instead of taller.  Baking in a pot or round pan could help to restrain that spreading a bit without making it look too much like bread from a pan.  And, if you cover a pre-heated pot for the first 15 minutes or so of the bake, it will help the oven spring and crust development.

It's hard to know which of these options will work best for you, since there are a large number of issues that could be at fault in this case.  In my experience, however, the two most likely causes for spreading are a weak sourdough starter or inadequate strengthening of the gluten during shaping.


How to make a Lamb Seekh Kebab more juicy and soft? What are some secret ingredients used to make a Lamb Seekh Kebab so soft and juicy? These is one of the best kebab to taste.

There are no "secret ingredients" in making soft and juicy kebab. Much like sausage, meatballs, or meatloaf, this ground meat based food relies on salt, fat, and proper cooking to remain juicy. I recommend Chapter 5 of J. Kenji Lopez-Alt's The Food Lab for an explanation of how these elements interact (though I do not believe the book has a kebab recipe).

With this in mind, find a recipe and follow it! Make sure to include the proper amount of salt (preferably measuring by weight) and to use a sufficiently fatty cut of lamb. Then take care to not overcook the kebab, using a thermometer to check the internal temperature.


Would it be a bad idea to electroplate a knife? I'm curious, I haven't seen any electroplated kitchen knives before so I'm not sure if they exist. And if not, why?

Pictured below is the Ginsu Shoku Series Anodized Cutlery.

But this sort of thing is largely gimmicky, the kind of thing you see on knives at roving Gun & Knife Shows.

If there were legitimate and truly competitive reasons, not cosmetic ones, to employ anodization we can pretty well bet this is something all major cutlery concerns would have already adopted as among viable options.

There is however a new technology known as Low Temperature Plasma Nitriding which appears to have promise. It's covered here and with good pictures here.


How should I cook skate wings I was in the fish section at the local supermarket this morning.  There was a pile of fish that looked really delicious.  So I asked the attendant what it was.  He told me it's skate wings.  Having never had it before I asked him for a piece.  It was really cheap.  Cheaper even than the hake.  When I asked him why he said it's that people don't know how to cook it, so they don't like it, so it does not sell well.

Being the first time I cook this fish, I really don't want to mess it up.  What's the best way to cook it?

skate benefits from very, very fast cooking and perhaps a very light breading--flour or cornmeal only, not breadcrumbs. classic accompaniments are lemon, brown butter, and capers.

beyond that, I'd google for recipes. Delia Smith had a particularly lovely one in her Summer Collection book, released in the late 80's.


What is this spiky-leaved Mexican plant with large seed pods? Is this plant edible? Location: Mexico

It seems to be some sort of Agave genus of succulent plants, like Sisal or Blue Agave from which Tequila is distilled. Not sure which species exactly, perhaps Agave Lechuguilla

The fruit bearing trunk visible in the photo appears to be a blooming stalk.

Source

Parts of some plants are edible, like leaves, flowers and stalks, but the fruit doesn't seem to be suited for human consumption, as far as I know.

From what I gather around the internet they mostly seems like bean pods and contains little more than what appear to be seeds.

Source

Source


How do I get rid of smells and tastes leaching into other cookies when stored together for gifts? how to prevent cookies picking up the smell and taste of other cookies when storing together - Like Mint or Peanu Butter that makes all the other cookies taste like them.

The only way you're going to accomplish that is to (shrink)-wrap them individually or to put small hermetically sealed tin or plastic boxes inside a larger box...

Mint is just too powerful not to leach into everything and that's why the professionals:

shrink-wrap them individually or per type
sell a box per type ("Chocolate cookies", "fruit cookies" , ...)

Sorry: probably not what you wanted to hear...


When trying to fry onions, the edges burn instead of the onions frying up When I fry onions, the edges burn and the onion never crisps up when I am using my fry pan.
Looks similar to this:

What am I doing wrong? New cook here. Thanks!!

This depends on the result you are looking for.  I'm not sure if you want onions that are crispy or caramelized. You describe wanting them to be crispy, but it looks like the attempt pictured was aiming for caramelized.
For onion crisps, you need to deep fry in plenty of oil, as the comments suggest. You should take care that your onion slices of pieces are the same size.  Deep fry until golden, then remove from oil and drain well.  You should be able to crisp onions in a few minutes.
However, deeply and evenly caramelized onions take quite a while...40 to 45 minutes.  The heat needs to be medium or lower.  Also, slice evenly.  Pieces of different size will cook differently.  You do not need an excess amount of fat, in this case.  2 - 3 tablespoons of butter is fine for 3 - 4 large onions.  Melt the butter, add onions and stir to coat.  Then leave them alone for about 5 minutes. Stir and scrape up the fond.  Repeat this every 5 minutes or so, reducing the heat if they are cooking too fast. They will not become fully caramelized and jammy until the 30 to 40 minute mark.  You should also deglaze the pan at the end, to release the remaining fond. You can add 1/4 cup water, balsamic vinegar, wine, broth...really anything here.
If you just want an evenly browned, pan-fried onion.  Begin the caramelization process described above, and stop when the onions are browned to your liking.  In general, from the picture you post, I would say your heat is too high.


How to preserve tea taste for 6-7 hours? I am new to this site and I hope my question is clear to everyone.

I prepare 4 cups of black tea in the morning by bringing water and tea powder to boiling.
Then I pour this into flask by filtering tea powder.
Whenever I feel like drinking tea, I pour black tea from flask, add sugar and milk and heat it for 1 minute in microwave.

I noticed that tea taste is changing from fresh prepared tea to 5 hours after.

Is there anyway to keep the same taste? I don't want to prepare tea every time I want to drink.

Have you considered investing in a good (read: expensive) insulated flask that is rated for 6+ hours and hot liquids? As long as you only open it long enough to pour your cup out, it should keep it at a drinkable temperature and (hopefully) not spoil the taste like reheating does.

If you do this, you should heat your milk separately so it doesn't cool down the poured tea.


How best to pan-fry tofu? I love fried tofu, but I don't want to have a deep fryer in my home (I'll use it too much!).

I've tried a few different techniques for pan-frying tofu, but it always comes out unsatisfying - too dry, too thin, too wet; I'll admit, I'm not a genius when it comes to tofu, but I'd imagine there is some way to prepare it that will give me decent results consistently.

Note: I do have a large wok, but I generally fry my tofu in a frying pan. I've had poor results in my wok.

For pan frying you probably want to start with a firm tofu. It's a good idea to press the tofu to remove excess water: wrap the tofu in a cloth and place it between two cutting boards, weighting the top cutting board with a heavy book or other similar object. Wait at least twenty minutes (you can prepare the rest of the vegetables/onions for the stir fry at this point.

Once the tofu has been pressed, cut it into the desired pieces. It's a good idea to fry it at medium-high heat in only oil first, then add sauces (soy sauce, vinegar, whatever) only after the tofu begins to brown slightly.

Note: the above won't simulate deep-fried tofu. For deep fried tofu, you may want to use a softer tofu, still press it before using, and coat the cubes in corn starch before frying. Of course you probably know you can deep-fry at home with just a large pot of oil.

For a different texture you can freeze the tofu before frying.

Although not fried, I would also recommend that you try baked (marinaded) tofu to see if you like that texture/flavor better. You would still want to press the tofu, then slice it rather thinly. You can reapply the marinade during baking for more flavor.


Adding moisture to gluten free muffins I am using the following list of ingredients in trying to make gluten free, grain free, egg free, sugar free muffins. The texture turned out a bit too dry. Increasing which ingredient would give a moister texture? Bananas or date puree?

1/2 cup Buckwheat flour
1/2 cup Potato starch
1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup melted butter
1/3 cup date puree
1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas

1/4 cup yogurt
Pinch of cinnamon

Increasing the amount of yogurt and/or banana mash should work best, the former having a more noticeable difference. You might have to experiment to get the amount right, but I'd suggest starting with an additional 1/4 cup of yogurt or banana mash. You could try more date puree as well but that might make the muffins too thick.


Could rice or pasta be cooked without hot water? I moved in a brand new house. I have no stove, microwaves or hot water for a week or two.

I'm vegetarian and I've already prepared fresh veggies wrap, salad, hummus, sandwichs, .. but I'm wondering if you could cook any kind of pasta or rice without hot water.

A long time ago I read pasta could be softened in cold water before boiling it to cook it quicker.

Wetted starch is not the same thing as cooked starch. If you want to see the difference in a simple experiment, make two starch slurries, boil one into a pudding, and leave the other one cold. Starch only gelates at high temperatures (I think it starts around 70°C, but needs even more to complete the process).

When you have a grain of rice, you have the problem that the starch is very closely packed together, and water can't penetrate into the center of the grain too well - the outside layers soak all the water they come in contact with, and so water only seeps into the center of the rice after the outer part has been hydrated. It is similar for pasta. In the worst case, when you cook rice, the time needed for cooking will be enough to heat the whole grain to the gelating temperature, but not enough for the water to hydrate the innermost part of the corn. This is fine if you want hardish-cooked rice, but if you want soft, mushy rice, you should presoak it so the inside is already hydrated when you start cooking it. I suppose you can do the same with pasta. This is the reason why some sources will advice you to presoak.

But, as I said, this is not the same as cooking. Yes, the rice or pasta will get soft, so you won't break your teeth if you try to eat it. But it will still be raw starch. I don't know if it is unhealthy to eat raw starch (my mother certainly told me so, but it could have been a myth; I asked a question about that and got no conclusive answers). But it will probably taste unpleasant, similar to raw potatoes or raw flour. I would try to get other sources of food for this time period. Or, as @justkt's comment suggests, it is easy to get an electric kettle in a brand new house before the kitchen is installed. You can use it to pour cooking water over "instant" versions of pasta and rice. These have been pregelated and then dehydrated, so don't need a prologned cooking. They are usually available as instant hot soup or rice meals in sachets and cardboard boxes, I haven't seen them as pure ingredients.


How do I make a "baking powder" substitute in a pinch? Every once in while we run out of "Baking powder".

What would be a good recipe for a substitute that you have used that works well?

On the off-chance that you have no baking powder, but you do have baking soda and cream of tartar, you can make your own baking powder:

1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon corn starch (optional)

Mix it all together and use it immediately.

Reference: http://frugalliving.about.com/od/condimentsandspices/r/Baking_Powder.htm


bleach cleaning on chopping board.... dangerous? I had used bleach on a sponge to clean a floor of paint. My boyfriend, then used said sponge to clean our wooden chopping boards. I remembered this today and decided to clean the board with soap and water.

I understand that cleaning a chopping board with watered down bleach is a thing. but how much bleach in this process is toxic levels. The chopping board had plenty of time to dry. I then washed it with soap and water, But I don't want to risk poisoning myself or him as i imagine the aubergine I just sliced sucking in the bleach!

If i now cook the vegetables I prepared on the chopping board harm us? I'd appreciate an answer before I have to cook this food or explain my neuroses to him embarrassing!

Clarification:

It was cream bleach (i think, something similar to 'cif') used to de grease sinks/hobs, although to add to the total ridiculousness of the situation, I'm in Italy and cant read Italian, it was just what was available with a picture of hob/sink on the cover and a texture similar to 'cif'. The paint was oil paint, I can recommend cream bleach to remove this from tiles and sinks based on frequent past usage.

I have swilled the vegetables in water they don't smell of chemicals. The aubergine, I have washed it, but I'm worried it's still not okay because it's porous.

The ever lovely cleanipedia actually reccomend using chlorine bleach solution to sanitise chopping boards

https://www.cleanipedia.com/gb/kitchen-cleaning/kitchen-cleaning-how-to-clean-your-chopping-boards

The comments under the question also offer some very good advice.

My personal thoughts are that it should be perfectly safe. When on survival training we used bleach to purify water to drink (in small quantities!)

I would suggest that you could now wash the boards in plain boiling water just to ensure no residue remains.


How to Replace Icing Sugar in a No-Bake Cheesecake Are there any good substitutes for sugar in Cheesecakes? I am not interested in synthetic sugar like Aspartame. I want to use natural sugar substitute like honey. But if mix honey into the cheese (e.g: Philadelphia cheese), will it ruin the cheese cake. I don't mind getting the honey taste in the cake, but will I get the same consistency in the cheese compare to if I mix sugar into the cheese?

This is the recipe. I got it from www.recipify.com:

250 gr of digestive biscuit/biscotti

80 gr butter

80 gr Philadelphia cheese

5 table spoon of Nutella

4 tablespoon of icing sugar

400 gr of creme

Melt the butter in the sauce pan.
Crumble the biscuit, and pour the melted button onto it. Cool it in the fridge for half an hour.
Mix the Philadelphia cheese with the icing sugar. Once you have done that, mix the Nutella.
Whisk the creme. Combine it with Nutella and Philadelphia mixture.
Put everything onto the crumbed biscuit. Leave it in the fridge overnight.

Thanks

Can you make cheesecake with honey instead of sugar? Sure!

Is it as simple as just replacing it 1:1? Not quite, there's increased moisture, but check the top answer here.

You'll need to reduce any liquid you might be adding a bit.  Without seeing your exact recipe, I can't give you an exact answer there.

Whoa. Whoa. Whoa....thats not cheesecake, thats no-bake 'cheesecake'. And that's not normal sugar, that's icing sugar.

No bake 'cheesecake' is much more forgiving about the ingredients - you'd not trying to set a custard like, you just want a thick, flavored, semi-firm pie filling.  Add the honey, but leave off a touch of the creme, maybe 20-30 g overall?  Icing sugar will actually thicken it a bit as its not only not a liquid, but its also got cornstarch in it.  There's about 1/4 tsp of cornstarch in that much icing sugar, so I'd add that.  If you're against cornstarch, I don't think it'd be the end of the world to leave it off.

I'd add the honey and then add 350 g of creme and see how the consistency is. You'll probably end up adding another 20g or so, but I'd wait and see.


Where can I buy Salsify in the UK? I like the look and taste of salsify, and have had it in restaurants.  However, I cannot find anywhere to buy it.  I don't even mind how it comes - tinned, frozen, fresh.

Where did you look?
Here in Belgium we can find in the supermarket (in cans or frozen). We also have it fresh on some markets.

Maybe this can help you.
Here is a similar thread.

If you really can't find it, you can always buy seeds and put them in your garden.


Short term storage of bechamel How far in advance can I make a bechamel sauce before using it without having to cool, refrigerate and reheat.

For instance if I'm making a creamed spinach dish for a dinner party can I make the sauce right before my guests arrive, leave it on very low heat or in a warm oven unattended while I visit with everyone before dinner, and then assemble the final dish an hour later? How long could I push the timing? Also should I leave the sauce in a heated environment, or just on the counter and then rewarm it? Will there be a noticeable drop in quality?

You could make it beforehand, store it in the fridge, and warm it up in the microwave when you want it. You'll only get problems if you add cream - then it may split.

It really is not worth the risks of having it sitting around. The alternative is to have your roux prepared, and work the sauce up quickly.


Can salted butter be used for yellow cake recipe? I need help D:
I'm making 300 yellow cupcakes for prom in 2 days and I've purchase salted butter instead of unsalted .
- Can I use the salted butter instead of using unsalted and just not add in salt ?

Yes, you should be able to get away with it, but it does depend on how salty the butter is. Might be worth making one batch and seeing how it turns out.


Can you beat eggs inside their own shell? A random thought: can you shake an egg vigorously enough to beat it inside its own shell?
Aside from this patent I can find nothing about this. Any thoughts, recipes?

Someone made an instructable on how to make what they call a Japanese Golden Egg (although a search for that just gave me lots of hits on Angry Birds); they spin the egg quickly, breaking up the internal structure, and then boil it to get a scrambled-egg-colored boiled egg.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Scrambled-Eggs-still-in-the-Shell-/


Mesh size for straining yogurt? Usually, I strain small batches of yogurt through a cheesecloth, but cleaning the cloth afterward is cumbersome. I'm thinking to buy an industrial stainless strainer (40cm / 16" diameter, 10cm / 4" tall) with a mesh, akin to a flour sieve.

What's the best mesh size that would work for full-fat yogurt? The factory has all the sizes from 12.5mm to 0.003mm (3µm).

Have you seen this piece and the Bouillon strainer mentioned in it? There is no information on mesh size unfortunately.


What are the (dis-)advantages of cooking vegetables in alkaline water? Chee Kei 池記 @ CWB – live2makan

蠔油芥蘭 Chinese kale with oyster sauce
Chinese kale is also referred to as Hong Kong kailan. The greens are blanched in the same boiling water that they used to blanch the noodles. The alkalinity has kept the kale really green. Here, it’s just a simple dash of oyster sauce and the dish is done. You can taste the sweet taste and crunchy texture.

Is the embolded proposition true? Why would alkalinity keep vegetables really green?

Does the embolded proposition suggest cooking vegetables with alkaline water? If so, what pH is best?

Is the embolded proposition true?

Yes, the statement is true. Cooking vegetables in an alkaline liquid keeps them bright green.

Why would alkalinity keep vegetables really green?

The reason behind it has something to do with the chemistry of chlorophyl, I don't remember it too exactly, but generally, the chlorophyl molecule doesn't undergo the same changes when heated under alkaline conditions as when heated under neutral or mildly acidic conditions.

Does the embolded proposition suggest cooking vegetables with alkaline water?

I'm not sure what you want to know here, are you asking whether the author used a statement with the intention to induce readers to use the technique? Analysing this would be off-topic.

If so, what pH is best?

Just about any you can create. Slight alkalinity already has an effect (e.g. a pinch of baking soda when blanching), and obviously you can't get into a high pH anyway.
Also, your title asked for disadvantages. The disadvantages are that your vegetables will be softer and mushier, and that they will have an alkaline taste.


When making bechamel, why does the roux need to be room temperature? Most detailed bechamel recipes call for the roux to be brought to room temperature before adding the warm milk. What is the difference between that and pouring in the milk while the roux is still hot?

Also should the roux be a liquidy creamy texture or more of a grainy coarse texture?

It doesn't need to be room temperature. All combinations of cold, warm or hot roux with cold, warm or hot milk work.

The problem is that the whole process is somewhat finicky, and cooks need some experience until they reach a good match between the speed of pouring and the speed and area-coverage of whisking, so that the sauce does not lump. Once they have it, it only works for a given combination of temperatures - if they were to change the temperature, their usual way would stop working.

This is why most cooks believe that making roux is temperature dependent. Once they have perfectioned their own process, they start prescribing its parameters in recipes when they pass them along. And that's how requirements like "the roux must be room temperature" get embedded in recipes. But if you prefer to learn doing it at a different temperature combination, you can - the only problem is that, if you already learned one combination, your first sauces at a different one will fail until you have relearned. Also, the colder processes are somewhat more forgiving than the warmer ones, as you have more time to react before lumps solidify.

The roux itself is typically smooth, I am not sure how you would end up with grainy roux, especially for the lighter kinds. As I don't remember using grainy roux, I cannot say with certainty it won't work - if yours turns out grainy, try it and see what happens.


Can you use pre peeled garlic to make black garlic? Is it possible to make black garlic from pre peeled garlic or is the fresh bulb imperative?

You could experiment, but documented recipes for black garlic require a whole bulb.  There's also some disagreement on whether you an make your own black garlic at home, at all.


Making extra thick stew How does one make a thick soup, like Campbell's Chunky brand beef stew?
I have already tried flour*, but it didn't work the way I was hoping.  I'm cooking home-made beef bone brothers based stews.
Any suggestions?

* I added a whole cup and a half of flour slurry to about 2.5 gallons of stew, but it didn't have the thickness I was looking for. It also made the soup (borsch) look like greenish sewage water when it shpuld have just made it pink if anything

The method that I learned from an Irish co-worker is to add instant potato flakes.  You're basically making really runny mashed potatoes.  As stew is often thickened by the starch from the outside of whatever potatoes are in there, it won't throw off the flavor.

I've found that I can hold back a potato from the stew that I shred directly into the pot after everything else is cooked to the degree that I want, but while it's still near a simmer.  It will break down in minutes and thicken the stew.  You might need to try it to find out how much potato you need for the viscosity that you like.

I suspect that the amount will change with the type of potato.  I typically use yellow (medium starch) potatoes.  I suspect that russet (starchy/floury) potatoes would work well, but that red (waxy) potatoes may require more and longer cooking to break down.


What's the ideal coffee to water ratio for a French press? What's the ideal amount of coffee to use per cup of water in a French press?

I've looked at various online resources, which all gave me a different amount. Some call for 2 tablespoons per 6 oz of water, others per 4 oz. Others said to use one or the other, and add water after brewing if it's too strong.

So what's the ideal blend for extracting the best flavor?

There's a whole, whole lot than can go into it, but a great starting place is a ratio of 17.21:1 water to coffee.  That is, if you have 500 g of water, you should use 29 g of ground coffee.  What the ratio really does is specify how concentrated the coffee should be.  Once you've set your ratio, there are many other variables to play with to make the coffee taste wonderful including grind size and consistency, bloom time, brew time, filter type, pour method, etc.

I wish I could post hyperlinks to all the individual videos of different french press techniques, but you can find them all at the wonderful site http://brewmethods.com   Specifically, please check out:

James Hoffmann's French Press technique
Mark Prince of CoffeeGeek demonstrates the Press Pot

Lastly, and please tell me if this isn't kosher, but I've made an iPhone app that will handle the coffee and water weight conversions automatically, as well as timing the brew and detailing a couple guidelines for different brew methods.  It's available on the app store as Brew Control.


Yeast amounts unsure My recipe calls for .25 ounce package of active dry yeast, and the package of active dry yeast that I purchased from the store is 1/4 ounce packages is this the same amount of active dry yeast that I need for the recipe ??

1 divided by 4 is 0.25, so yes. 4 times 0.25 is also 1, so yes again.


What is different about "sprouted barley"? I have two bags of barley in my pantry. One is labeled "hulless barley," which I take to be regular barley, and the other is labeled "sprouted barley." But they appear identical. My idea of "sprouted barley" would be a grain that opens up with a shoot coming out. I've encountered the same thing with rice - so-called "sprouted rice" appears identical to regular rice. So what is the difference between sprouted and non-sprouted barley, rice, etc.?

What does "sprouted" mean?

germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or similar structure while sprouting is the process by which seeds are induced to sprout or germinate for commercial purposes.

In the case of sprouted food grains such as barley and rice the seeds are allowed to start the growing process (germination). It won't have a shoot because the process is usually stopped early, but it's enough to change the nutritional value of the seeds.
As explained here,

Recent studies have shown that if we actually allow those seeds to begin their growing process and then bring that to a halt before eating, their nutritional punch is multiplied significantly.

So sprouted or germinated grains will be easier to digest, therefore higher nutritional value than the regular (non-sprouted) variety.


How to eat Rambutan? I am having trouble separating the pit, or seed like thing, in a Rambutan.  It easily comes out, but leaves a sticky layer of "bark" on the white part of the fruit.  This bark-like substance is really hard to separate from the fruit without wasting a lot of it.

Are there any special techniques I can use?

Below is a picture for reference:

Wether or not the stone of a rambutan comes out cleanly depends on the specific variety of rambutan:

There's freestone and clingstone ones. The stone of the freestone just pops out, the clingstone ones, well, cling to the fruit. The only option for those is to either try to clean it, make a mess, waste fruit, and fail, or to just pop them in your mouth, suck and chew of the flesh, and spit out the stone.

In other words:
If you want to clean them nicely buy the freestone ones. Problem is: I've never seen rambutans actually labeled as such, at least not where I live, and they're not often available (lychees are more easy to obtain). Maybe it's different in other countries, but over here, it's impossible to tell which variety you have, without trying one.


Prep before breaking down chicken When I buy whole chicken from the supermarket, it usually comes sealed in liquid. As I break the chicken down, it is unpleasant to work with, slimy, and wet. I keep the broken down chicken parts in my refrigerator throughout the week to cook incrementally, and I save the carcass in the freezer for stock.

Is there an accepted way to prep a chicken so that it's dryer and more pleasant to work with when breaking it down?
Is it a good idea to remove the chicken from the package, pat dry, and dry brine for a day or so in the refrigerator before breaking the meat down? My concern is that this might bring unwanted salt into the carcass and hence the stock.

Unwrapping the chicken and leaving it uncovered in the refrigerator for a few hours should dry it out a lot. You may want to sponge out the cavity with a paper towel before doing this. If possible, support the chicken on a wire rack above a plate in the refrigerator, rather than placing it directly on the plate. Otherwise, put the chicken breast-down on the plate (so less of it is in contact).

I'm not sure what the effect of dry brining on the saltiness of stock would be, but it's unlikely to be wildly different than the effect on the meat. If you're worried, though, you should break it down before dry brining, and don't salt the back.


Freezing things like Fettuccine Alfredo I don't have a lot of time to cook during the week, sadly, so I've been taking things like this for lunch http://www.eatyourbest.com/sitecore/content/Home/products/classic-favorites/fettucini-alfredo.aspx . It's simple and tasty, but I would prefer to make things like this at home on the weekends and freeze it for a later date.

I know freezing a cream sauce can be kind of complicated/impossible, so if I were to try and freeze some portioned home-made Fettuccine Alfredo what are some things I need to do to help it come out of the microwave and not be awful?

Edit: I wasn't 100% specific in my query originally - I also want to prevent as much damage as possible to the sauce, since I know milk based products don't always freeze very well. Will the reheating process be affected by any damage to the sauce, or would the steps I take to ensure the sauce doesn't separate during reheating also protect it from freezer damage?

The best way to freeze something is to do it fast.  Chill the food first in the refrigerator before putting it in the freezer.  Keeping the food thin/flat rather than thick will help the center to chill faster. Loading up a sheet pan with individual portions works well for this - just be sure you have room for it in the refrigerator and freezer.

However, the larger problem with this type of sauce is re-heating of it - the sauce tends to split into its constituent ingredients.  Reheating the sauce very slowly on low heat is the best way to prevent the splitting.  You can also consider adding some lecithin to the sauce during cooking, which will help stabilize it.  See How can I reheat a roux-based (alfredo) sauce in the microwave without separation? and Keeping A Sauce From Separating for details.


bread made with egg safe to leave outside? I have some bread that has egg in it.  Safe to leave the bread at room temp after baking?  Im asking because I wouldn't leave scrambled eggs at room temp but is bread ok?

Food safety categorizes each food on its own. You cannot take the categories of the ingredients that went in ("flour is shelf stable, eggs need refrigeration...") and decide on the shelf stability of the product based on the ingredients. For detailed information on the basics of how food safety works, read our tag wiki on food safety, https://cooking.stackexchange.com/tags/food-safety/info.

Breads can be stored on the counter, no matter what they were made with.


Recommendations for making ice cream with milk and corn starch (corn flour) I started off making ice cream in the French style with cream and egg yolks. I've mostly been using David Lebovitz's web site and his fantastic book the Perfect Scoop. I've recently been experimenting with using a milk/corn starch base which isn't really covered in his book. As a technique it has several advantages:

Lower fat content
Lighter flavour than cream and egg yolks so the flavours come through more vividly and the ice cream is less rich.
Easier to thicken corn starch base without overcooking or under cooking.
Doesn't need cream which we don't buy as a household staple
Ingredients have longer shelf life.
Easier to make ice cream on impulse without going shopping first.

I'm looking for web site, book or general technique recommendations for this style of base. Looking to achieve similar quality of texture and scoopability as cream/egg bases.

For non-cream bases so far I've tried:

Milk with 3 egg yolks per litre
Milk with 3tbsp corn starch per litre
Milk with 2tbsp of corn starch per litre + 2tsp liquid pectin (recommended in Cuisinart ICE-100 recipe instructions)

To my taste the pectin version has the best texture. Is it likely to be hard to digest for people with dietary intolerances or delicate stomachs?

Any another base ingredient recommendations to try? e.g. Dried milk powder, Xantham gum etc.

Any general tips for adapting recipes that are designed for different bases e.g David Lebovitz's brilliantly balanced cream+egg base recipes?

The recipe below seemed to work very well with corn starch + liquid pectin base. It's even possible to make caramel sauce with milk rather than cream if added slowly and carefully.

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/10/better-than-snickers-chocolate-peanut-butter-caramel-ice-cream-recipe.html

Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer has a (somewhat) similar base to this, in that it has no eggs, and uses a mix of milk and cream - along with a tiny bit of cream cheese to provide the requisite proteins, and corn starch to thicken.

In my opinion, it's one of the best ice cream bases out there.

I also have the Perfect Scoop, and have had no trouble switching the recipes I've tried from it over to Jeni's base.


Does cooking with solar cookers preserve the nutrients in food? Reading on google I found that cooking with solar cookers preserves nutrients. But if the solar cooker reaches high temperatures, I don't know if that's true.

Also does solar cooking make the food more nutritious?

Also does it modify or make the food more nutritious with solar cooker.

Not more than any other kind of similar cooking by radiant heat, like baking. There is simply no mechanism by which that could happen. Let's examine some claims I found from Google:

from http://www.greenbuild.org/uncategorized/3-reasons-solar-cooking-is-good-for-you-and-the-environment/

  Solar cooking doesn’t use smoke that can contain carcinogens or microwaves that expose your food to potentially dangerous radio waves.

An electric stove produces no smoke (if you don't burn the food), and natural gas produces very little smoke. Were there smoke emitted by the stove, the area around it would be covered in soot, and the flame would be yellow from the carbon (the main component of soot and smoke) heated to incandescence in the flame. Further, the biggest cancer risk from smoked foods is not the smoke, but the nitrates frequently used to cure them.

If microwaves emit dangerous radio waves, the sun emits far more. That's why it's so bright, and so hot. I suppose you could be harmed by the microwave's radio waves if you manage to turn it on without shutting the door. Then again, you can cook your hand in a solar cooker, too. Or a stove. Come to think of it, cooking involves potentially dangerous heat. Huh.

Also: Does microwaving destroy nutrients in food? (summary: no more than any other cooking)

  Plus, when you cook in a solar appliance, the nutrients stay in the food and don’t leach out. That’s because you don’t use water in solar cooking. And, the temperatures in a solar oven are moderate – around 325 F – so nutrients aren’t destroyed during cooking at a high temperature like on a grill or over an open flame.

This is also true of many other methods of preparing foods: baking, grilling, microwaving, frying and, don't involve water. 325 F is not an unusual temperature for baking, and most other methods can be performed gently, if desired.

To summarize: there may be benefits of solar cooking (a big one: it requires no fuel), but nutrition is not one of them. There's no way sunlight can add more nutrition to food that wasn't there to begin. Any nutritional benefits are not as much from solar cooking specifically as they are from not cooking by some less nutritional method. For example, any cooking method that is not boiling will not have the possibility of dissolving some of the food's nutrition.


What temperature, in degrees, should I set my slow cooker to for a 5-pound pork shoulder? I'm making pulled pork with a 5-pound pork shoulder in my slow cooker. My cooker has a temperature control that ranges from 200 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. I hope to have it done in 6 to 8 hours. What temperature should I set for it?

I'm pretty sure that no matter what you do, it's going to end up braising, so it doesn't really matter exactly what temperature you set it at.
The manual does have suggestions for this:

Start with 1 1/2 to 3 pounds of beef or pork... [various cuts]
Preheat multi-cooker at 375˚. Brown roast in... [various oils]
Add 2 cups... [liquid]
Turn heat control down until pilot light goes out. Cover and simmer 1 to 3 hours or until tender.

So you can do it like that, and presumably that'll help get things going quickly and maybe get you some nice browning.
But the meat is going to release water and fat, and at that point it's basically like any slow cooker: you'll have liquid in the bottom, and steam held inside by the lid. As long as there's liquid left, it can't really go above 212F/100C.
The suggested 2 cups of additional liquid is presumably to avoid sticking to the bottom and burning; you can probably get away with way less, likely even what the meat releases naturally. But until you figure out exactly what works in that particular cooker, you'll probably want to check in on it after a while, and add more if it seems like it's sticking.
And yes, a braise should have a pork shoulder done within 6-8 hours.


How to prevent beef muscle meat losing water during storage in the refridgerator? I am storing raw beef muscle meat (for example tenderloin), in the refrigerator (just above freezing 0°C / 32°F), just for several days. I put the raw meat in a canning mason glass jar and screw the metal lid tightly so its leak-proof. Then submerge the jars in a bath of water and ice in a chest freezer set to not freeze, but just keep around 0°C.
By confirming there is both water and ice in the ice bath, I can be sure the beef is around 0°C all the time, the lowest temperature I can get before ice crystals start forming which would cause meat cells to rupture and lose water.
Yet, after I take the meat out of the jar, there is a considerable amount of liquid - red-coloured water with myoglobin, in the jar (about 50 mL in a 1 L jar which was packed with about 1 kg of beef tenderloin). So I am losing about 5% of meat mass to liquid during a few days of storage. Note that no liquid was dripping from the meat when it was being put in the jar, and the jar was empty and dry.
How can I minimize this loss of liquid?

You can't prevent it, that's how it works. It will always lose some liquid, no matter what. This is why supermarkets sell packaged meat with "diapers" on the bottom.
As mentioned in comments, you can buy dry aged beef. It has already lost that moisture, so you won't have the liquid to deal with, if that bothers you. This doesn't mean, of course, that you will somehow "save" the liquid, it will still have flown out.
Another theoretical option is to buy better quality meat. Mass-produced meat from young animals who don't exercise tends to lose more moisture than the meat from traditionally raised animals, especially if you are looking not at tenderloin but at stewing meat from old cows. I am including this information here more for completeness' sake. If you find a supplier for this type of meat (which is difficult in itself), you will save part of your 5% weight loss, but you will pay 4-5 times more per kg, if not more, so it doesn't give you an economic advantage.


How to preserve ground spices? As soon as you grind a spice, it gets exposed to air and starts to lose its potency.  I'm trying to figure out how I can grind them and reduce/prevent this from happening.
I guess you could put them in an airtight jar, but wouldn't the air in the jar cause oxidation?
Would putting the powder in capsules help, like medical tablets?
Are there plastic bags or any bags where you can suck the air out?
I can't do a fresh one daily, but need potency after time.  What methods are there to preserve powder from getting oxidized?
Just to note the spices in question are black pepper, long pepper and dried ginger.  I guess the former two can be finely ground daily however I couldn't additionally dehydrate and grind ginger daily.

If you have a chamber vacuum sealer, you could vacuum seal your spices and extend the shelf life. Oxidation is the problem here.  Ground spices are just limited by surface area exposure.  Whole spices, ground as needed, will always be superior.  Your best solutions are to purchase (or grind) small amounts, and use them relatively quickly...or, use a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle to grind whole spices as needed.


What are the tradeoffs replacing sucrose / table sugar with pure granulater dextrose / glucose? All,

I'm researching a substitute for fructose-bearing table sugar.  Glucose is potentially interesting from a health standpoint.  Glucose is only 70% as sweet as table sugar (sucrose) which is a mix of glucose and fructose, so one tradeoff is to use a larger quantity or resolve to a less sweet taste.

What are the other tradeoffs when using glucose instead of table sugar?  Does it caramelize the same?  Does it bake the same?

Thanks!

JDelage

Table sugar, ie sucrose, is not "a mixture of glucose and fructose", but rather a disaccharide made by combining one molecule of glucose with one of fructose. In the body, the sucrose is metabolised into glucose and fructose; the fructose is further modified into glucose. I'm sure that you don't want to know about the tricarboxylic acid cycle which is how the glucose gets turned into carbon dioxide, water and energy as you are interested in the physical aspects.

Using a larger quantity of glucose (as opposed to sucrose) causes the proportions of all the ingredients to change, causing a change in taste and consistency - in the same way that diabetic foods, using sorbitol, have different consistencies.

Glucose is probably more reactive than sucrose in terms of the Maillard reaction (browning).


Is it necessary to thaw bones before roasting for stock? I have some frozen lamb bones that I want to make a lamb stock with. The recipe I'm using roasts the bones in the oven before making the stock - is it necessary to thaw the bones before roasting them, or can they be roasted straight from the freezer?

It isn't necessary to even thaw bones before tossing them in the water, so long as you're cooking long enough.

With that said, to roast first and then toss in the stock, the goal is to get some browning going (I'm assuming your recipe says to roast at a relatively high temp like 400) to add some flavor, much like browning the meat at the bottom of a pot for a stew.  Tossing them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 30-45 minutes will brown them for you and you're not too worried about getting the insides cooked (the core reason to why people don't try to roast frozen meat).

Stocks in general is as far from an exact thing as any recipe can go.  There was this interesting article talking about all the differences in schools... http://www.sfgate.com/food/article/STOCK-TIPS-3237449.php#page-1

So in conclusion... it isn't necessary.  If you're a stickler for recipes or you're trying to duplicate something as close as you can, thaw the bones.