Are gas stoves preferred in a commercial kitchen due to having a constant heat source I'm a home cook and have never been inside a commercial kitchen - I believe though, in a commercial kitchen, gas stoves are preferable due to having a constant heat in contrast to an induction or halogen hob which 'pulses'.

I live off the gas grid (meaning I have no gas), and I was wondering, other than gas, does any other type of cooking "technology" (that is suitable for an indoor kitchen) offer constant heat or anything that can heat to as high a temperature as gas can?

Commercial burners generally have a high power output. A commercial kitchen doesn't have to be large to have 12 burners, all capable of 3kW, in a small space, plus ovens, and running near constantly. By this point the cost saving of gas over electricity becomes significant (in the UK, electricity is about 3x more per kWh). In addition many premises wouldn't have sufficient electricity supply to support that in addition to all their other consumption, and running a fatter cable is very costly.

Only induction gets the pan up to cooking temperature as fast as gas, and although it's getting cheaper, it's still expensive to install. I've seen induction wok stations used for food that's cooked to order; one advantage is that they need less extraction than gas (but still some).

The pulsing you mention isn't really an issue. The fairly thick aluminium pans used in many commercial kitchens, and the large thermal mass of food being cooked would tend to minimise fluctuations in the temperature of the actual dish

Many of these reasons don't apply at home, but many of us prefer gas anyway for its controllability (at least compared to mostelectric stoves, I've only cooked on induction a few times and fairly simple stuff).


How to peel peaches? What is the best/easiest method to peel peaches?

By far the easiest method is to use a pan of hot water and a bowl of ice water. Essentially, bring a pan of water (enough water to cover the peach to a boil. Meanwhile, with a sharp knife, make a small 'X' shaped incision in the top and bottom of each peach.

When the water is boiling gently place a few of the peaches into the water and simmer for around 20 seconds, just until the skin can be seen coming away. At this point use a slotted spoon to remove the fruit from the boiling water and place them in the ice water. After 20 or 30 seconds you should be able to remove the skin with your fingers.

The same technique is used with tomatoes


Is it okay to leave cooked octopus in water till next morning? I've cooked octopus in a boiling water (well, more like in own juice to be more precise) like I usually do and than I've realized that I'm too tired and going to eat it tomorrow morning. My question is: what would be the better option - to take it out of water or to keep it there?

I don't now what happens with cooked octopus left in a water for about 8-10 hours.

Just to clarify - it's question about keeping it in water and not about room temp. In my experience nothing happens with a hot pot slowly boiling down till morning - however I am actually going to put it to refrigerator after all.

I've realized that the price of mistake is not the high anyways so I've just divided cooked octopus to two parts: one left in water, another one not. This morning I finally have an answer!

It's better to take cooked octopus out of water but it won't be a tragedy if you didn't.

While both meals were tasty, octopus left in water was slightly slimy - it was a very subtle difference however noticeable.


How to substitute canned Apricots with fresh when cooking My recipe calls for canned apricots, but I have fresh.  What do I need to co to make sure the recipe is successful.

If the apricots are just a topping or mix-in, you might actually like it better with fresh than with canned, no need to change anything. Won't be the same, but that's not a bad thing! If they were supposed to have been canned with syrup, you'd want to add sugar to compensate.

If it seems like it's important for them to be a little softened, then you could cook them briefly in water, to do basically what canning does to them. (There's no need to actually can them in order to get that effect.) Something like 30 seconds to a couple minutes in boiling water, depending how soft you want them, and you can always add sugar afterwards to get them to the sweetness you want.

As an in-between option, you could also macerate them: toss them with sugar and let them sit for a while. That'll soften them and draw a lot of the juices out.


can you can in a instant pot pressure cooker? is so is there specifics I have an instant pot and would like to know if you can can in it and if so is there things you should NOT can in it. thank you  Tera

No, you cannot can in the Instant pot. They have been trying to bring out a new model which is also usable for canning, but last time I heard about it, they had trouble getting it to work for that. If you want to do pressure canning, you need an actual pressure canner.


How can I restart my kombucha liquid? I thoughtlessly threw out the liquid of my kombuca/scoby while I was cleaning the container.

I don't believe the scoby is dead. It's not black or moldy.

The latest brew I've done, after a week, tastes like... cold tea.

Is there a way to restart the scoby/kombucha?

The SCOBY should act in the presence of fresh sugar, so if you are getting cold tea, then it isn't working, assuming all the conditions of time, temperature and clean vessel are met.

You can try again, dosing with a little more sugar, but if it isn't turning tea into booch then it is probably dead.

Not sure if you cultured that SCOBY or bought it, so you might need to make a new one with good booch and tea.

Also, I've heard that decaf tea is a no-no, so not sure if that entered the picture?


Flambe, alcohol percentage and water residue In Norway, the strongest liquor allowed to buy is 60% (120proof?). I try to flambé my Crème Brûlée as suggested in Can I make Crème Brûlée using a flambé?.

Problem is that my tests on a pre-made chocolate pudding with the 60% alcohol still leaves too much water.

So for a newbie in flambé, is there a way to prevent all this water?
Do I use too much alcohol ?

Or might the access water come from seeping from the pudding in addition to what is coming from the alcohol residues, meaning it wont be a problem when doing it with a properly made Crème Brûlée?

It's been a long time since I actually did this, but my recollection is that the result will leave some residual water. It's not an ideal environment for a flambé, but that's OK because you're not actually trying to cook with it, it's more of a show technique that generates just enough heat to produce a caramel-like texture from ground-up caramelized sugar.

Some pointers that might help you here:

Don't overdo it with the alcohol. You want to use a very small amount - just a splash.
Make sure the alcohol is hot enough before you try to ignite it. Make sure that it is a uniform temperature, and that you're not just igniting the surface.
Work quickly. If too much of the alcohol burns up while you're working, then you are essentially dumping water in, and there might not be enough heat to melt the sugar powder.
Consider serving the crème brûlée closer to room temperature, or at least not as cold as fridge temperature. The colder it is, the quicker the fire will get doused and the more liquid will (probably) remain behind.
Custards are firmer than pudding to begin with, so "watering it down" shouldn't be a huge concern.
It's a bit of a cop-out, but I want to say, don't worry. If it's good alcohol then nobody's going to mind a bit of a film on the surface - it's part of the attraction!

I remember this taking me several tries to get right, and probably wouldn't use the technique at all if I were serving to a particularly critical audience. It's more about getting a passable crème brûlée with some cool visual effects than getting a perfect crème brûlée with an impossible technique.


What are good resources to learn food chemistry? Does anyone know of some good resources to start learning about food chemistry?
I am thinking specifically about a description of the chemical processes involved e.g. in cooking/preparing the different foods and their relation with changes in flavor etc.

Also: do you know a reliable source to understand what is the purpose of all food additives used by the industry? Here I am not thinking about colorant/preservatives and the like, but more about the "strange supernumerary" ingredients we can see on industrial food's labels.

McGee on Food and Cooking: An Encyclopedia of Kitchen Science, History and Culture will answer most questions on what the chemistry is behind most cooking processes, without being too academic.


Do I put the pot roast above or below the vegetables in my crock pot? When cooking a pot roast in a crock pot, do I put the meat above or below the vegetables? And does cooking it on hi or low have effect on this?

Either way should work, though the results might depend on your crockpot's cooking temperatures.  ("High" and "low" can create different temperatures on different models.)

It comes down to your personal preferences about:

How well-done or "mushy" you want the vegetables to be
Whether you want the vegetables to cook in the meat juices and get the full "meaty" flavor
Whether you want the meat to be "basted" by the flavor of some vegetables

In general, if you place vegetables on the bottom, hard vegetables like carrots and potatoes will get softer faster, both due to the heat and ultimately being submerged in any juices from the roast.  If you cook them very long, they may get quite mushy, which some people like and others don't.

If you place the vegetables on top, some of them may stay firmer, but they often won't absorb as much of the juices from the meat (and any flavors that go with it).  On the other hand, aromatic vegetables on top will contribute their own juice to the roast's flavor, so (for example) putting onion slices or quarters on top will allow some of the flavor to seep down gradually onto the meat as it cooks.

Some people find that even with the vegetables on top or on the sides, they still get too mushy for their tastes.  In that case, you may want to add the vegetables for the last few hours of cooking only.  On the other hand, some people really prefer the mushy texture, and in some crockpots that cook at a lower temperature the steam will not be enough to soften some of the hard vegetables (like carrots) even over many hours on top.


Are red lentils and split red lentils the same? I have a recipe for vegetarian Moussaka which calls for red lentils, but it doesn't specify whether these are split red lentils. Is there such a thing as whole red lentils (I have only ever bought split ones) and will using split red lentils instead, confuse the measurements in the recipe?

They are not the same, there is a difference.  Red lentils can be purchased whole or split. Most red varieties are skinless, those that do have skin don't appear very red.

The measurements aren't going to be affected much, you'll get slightly more lentil in a cup of split lentils than a cup of whole lentils. The cooking time will be more dramatically different. Split lentils with the outer skin removed will cook faster than whole lentils, particularly those that still have the outer skin.

I looked at a few recipes for Moussaka with lentils, and they all called for cooked lentils. So whatever lentils you choose, follow the instructions on the package or your knowledge of the product.

Whole lentils will maintain their shape more (although the red varieties won't stay whole), split lentils will break up more. Which you choose should be a matter of personal preference.


Should ciabatta sandwich rolls be dry and dense? I found a recipe calling for ciabatta sandwich rolls. My supermarket sells these, baked in their bakery, however, I found this bread dry and dense, which I do not find appealing. Should this kind of bread have this quality?

Ciabatta should be crusty, with a chewy crumb and big air pockets. Neither "dry" nor "dense" would be adjectives one would associate with good ciabatta.

This is what good ciabatta should look like:

Source: Michael Ruhlman (highly respected recipe and author)

Sometimes the loaves may be flatter, but the chewiness, big air pockets, and crustiness are what define good ciabatta.

Source: Brown Eyed Baker

If you can't find good ciabatta at your store, would you consider making your own? Both of the above links have highly regarded recipes. The Brown Eyed Baker link will lead you to the same recipe as in the video I'm about to mention.

I have had great luck with America's Test Kitchen's ciabatta recipe and video, but it only shows the forming of loaves, not rolls. This recipe describes a method for shaping ciabatta rolls. I really appreciated the video since I had never before dealt with a dough so "wet" (80% hydration, nearly pourable). ATK offers a 14 day free trial, so I'd recommend trying it and checking out that video. These pictures are from my first ciabatta from ATK's recipe:

I was very pleased, I followed every little fussy step in the video. That broke it down into manageable chunks, and made it seem easy.


Why does white vinegar taste better when at restaurants? Just got back from dinner, where I had some decent fish and chips with white vinegar, and a thought came to me: At restaurants, I've found the white vinegar there helps to accentuate the flavour of the dish, mainly French fries. But when trying to do the same thing at home, the taste is more like I had just thrown on water as opposed to vinegar.

Barring that I'm imagining things (and it's entirely possible), I wonder if anyone else can shed some light on this at all?

According to a quick search on Google, there are two other types of vinegar served in fish and chips shops along with malt vinegar.

The first (and my best guess) is onion vinegar -- which is white vinegar that has been used to pickle onions. This is clear, but at minimum contains onions and salt, and perhaps sugar and other pickling spices. (I should note that the recipe I linked to uses malt vinegar to pickle the onions, but you could certainly achieve the same result with white vinegar.)

The second vinegar is actually called non brewed condiment, and isn't actually vinegar. It's ascetic acid, water, and a bit of caramel coloring. The coloring would make it brown, but it wouldn't have the malt flavor.


Lodge Dutch Oven seasoning fail (My first cast iron experience) I bought this.

It was a little rusty. I cleaned the rust with salt. I wanted to remove preseasoning but I don't have requirements for that process.

Washed the dutch oven with soap and cold water.
Heated it to 100 C.
Applied flaxseed oil.
Wiped again with paper towel for excess oil.
Putted it to 250 C oven for 1 hour.
Waited 2 hours for cooling.

Problems:
1. Paper towel is not good for that because there are a lot of residue and dust on dutch oven when I use it.
  2. It seems 1st seasoning failed, because there is no change. Where I am wrong?

Rust:

Before seasoning:

After seasoning:

I always let some oil remain on the pan and as it burns off it leaves an almost non stick surface. Perhaps the paper towel is removing too much of the oil.


What time is needed for overnight oats I want to know what is the minimum time required to soak oats to make them overnight oats. Now a days it’s Ramadan and I have very tight schedule on which I get 2-3 hours to eat.
I wanted to know how much time is minimum required for overnight oats?

2 hours would be pretty tight,but doable. The problem is you'd get not very much nutrition--the soaking helps you digest. Better off preparing for the next day to whether you're thinking of


Are there accurate meat scales which interface easily with a computer? I raise duck and sell to the local restaurants.  I have a digital scale that I use that does not interface well with computers. The only way to interface with it is via an RS-232 port.  I would like a scale that I can connect to a computer, preferably via network (wireless card or Cat 5 (LAN)) but bluetooth would be great, or even USB.  Does anyone know of an accurate scale that I can use for such a purpose?

If you are wondering I am also a software engineer.  Please advise if this is an inappropriate forum for this type of question.

What would a network-attached scale even do?  You'd have to configure it to report to something, or have something else poll for it (and then you'd still have to configure it, either via DHCP, BOOTP or similar to set its IP address).  It'd be a security nightmare, as it'd be like a network attached medical device (or old printer) that never gets updates to deal with security vulnerabilities.  Some sort of a serial connection like RS-232 or USB is just plain safer in this situation.

... and there are plenty of USB digital scales, as they're used by companies to weight packages & print out postage.

The only reason to not go with USB might be distance limitations (5m for USB 2), but you can get USB over Cat5 'extenders'.  (which would then meet your 'cat5' cable requirement ... but you can also get DB9 (or DB25) to RJ45 adaptors, if you just want to run 232 over cat5)

(I'm a programmer/sysadmin at a US government agency so it's possible that my security concerns are a little higher than most other people's.  Even if you keep it on an isolated network to only talk to the terminal, odds are that the terminal is going to need to be updated at some point, and you risk it getting infected.  Even if they exist, it's just not worth the trouble.  And yes, I do know about the attacks via USB devices)


Is designating knives to avoid cross-contamination necessary? I have a friend who assigns one knife for cutting raw meat, another knife for cutting fruits and vegetables, another for cutting cooked meat, etc. Is washing one knife after each specific use not sufficient to avoid cross-contamination? (Note: different cutting boards are assigned for different food types as well)

Using separate cutting boards is advisable, but separate knives are unnecessary. 90% of my cutting is done with my chef's knife. I don't own two of these, nor would I use a subpar knife for the job.

I almost always find it most convenient to start my preparation by cutting the veggies, fruit, etc. first and then finally cutting the meat last. Then you can wash your knife once and be done with it.


A thinner béarnaise? I've been using Julia Child's béarnaise recipe---2 tbl reduction, 3 egg
yolks, 4 oz clarified butter---, which produces a very thick sauce.  Is
this just how it's supposed to be, or is there a non-heretic way of
making it thinner?

The thickness is coming from the ratio of oil to water. Like mayonnaise, bearnaise is an oil-in-water emulsion, and will get thinner the more water is in it. (Consider the relative thickness of moist sand and mud; the butter in the bearnaise is like the sand.) Adding a bit of hot water will work well to thin it, but do so a bit at a time, stirring well afterwards, as a little bit of water will go a long way.


Clarified Butter for Hot Sauce? Would there be an advantage or disadvantage to using clarified butter to making hot sauce? Often, a recipe calls for butter to be mixed in with some pepper sauce. I'm wondering if clarified butter would give a richer taste?

Assuming you mean something like a wing-sauce when you say hot sauce (where butter is added to pepper sauce near the end of the recipe):
It would make only a slight difference, and many tasters will find no flavor difference. A clarified butter is a butter with milk solids and water removed---it changes the richness to some extent, but this will be mostly masked by the pepper sauce. The hotter and sharper the pepper sauce, the less the flavor of rich butter comes through.

If the recipe calls for a mild pepper sauce and large amounts of butter, then it may boost the flavor of the final sauce.


Replacement for the ring seal or gasket in a blender I have a Moulinex blender and the seal ring or gasket is torn. I have searched everywhere to get a replacement. is there a replacement or is Oster the only seal rings I can get. Is there a DIY solution.
Thanks

You could cut one from an appropriately sized piece of rubber.  I have a couple of palm-sized pieces of rubber for gripping jars that would probably do the trick.


breaking off chocolate from a block of chocolate We buy  a block of callebaut chocolate that is five Kg. We are not commercial. I'm looking for a easier way to break off the amount we need it's a block around 40 cm X 20 cm, thick around 5cm. There are indentations on the chocolate for pieces of 500g. If anyone can give an idea?

One option is to make sure it's well wrapped (preferably loosely), place it on a soft surface, couch or bed, and bring your weight to bear on it - pressing with something like a knee will be easier than using your hands.  As the surface yields under your weight, it puts upward pressure increasing towards the edges of the block while your weight places a downward pressure in the center, and the chocolate will tend to snap between the forces.

Using force like this, it usually breaks along the indented lines, not always precisely but pretty close - they are weak points in the chocolate's structure.  It works best with the pressure held at the middle of the chocolate piece, and it will also tend to snap in halves, so to further break down the chocolate you may be able to move the pressure to the middle of the new pieces.  There will come a point where the pieces are too small, there's not enough space within the wrappings to let it bend, or the pressure is to spread out to keep it snapping - but you can break it down into pretty manageable chunks like this.

I have a pound chocolate bar that's pretty thick, and quite sturdy - more so than I'd like to snap by hand - and this is the method I used to break it down to size pretty quickly.  I found it wouldn't easily break smaller than a two-square rectangle, but that's already much easier to work with.

If you want smaller pieces, or more control, you can take a knife (I used a cleaver) and use it to chisel the block apart.  An actual chisel would also work here.  You would set the blade exactly where you want it to break, and tap the back of the blade with something heavy, using increasing force until it splits.  This works with even pretty small pieces and with much more precision than other ways - for example you can use the smooth back of the chocolate block to position the knife, so the indentations won't interfere as much, to make half-squares, or long slivers or wedges, or clip off corners or whatever.

It is much more controllable to use multiple, almost gentle taps (using the weight of the hammer) to weaken it and let it crack apart rather than use force of muscle which can go awry.  I used the pestle from my large granite mortar & pestle, but you could use a hammer, a rolling pin, or any other decently sturdy object.

Last option would be to position the chocolate with just about the amount you want overhanging the edge of a hard surface (like a table or counter), and knock it off with a sharp blow.  It really works best if the amount you want is enough to hang over the edge by, at least, more than the thickness of the bar. The chocolate will fall from the table or counter as it breaks, so make sure it's wrapped (loosely enough to give it room to break or the wrapper will break with it) or else have something in place to catch it.  You can strike with a hammer, rolling pin, or other decently sturdy object.  This is less controlled, and it can end up with your chocolate on the floor, but it does work in a pinch.


Do I need to boil kidneys? I was just speaking to someone in the sci-fi chat today when the subject of kidneys came up:

  Kidneys aren't "bad" in that they have the consistency and taste of muscle/meat... but they're very bitter even after having been prepared. I think you're supposed to boil them.

I've never had boiled kidneys before, nor do I intend to. But the poster of that comment also mentioned that I should Think about what's in kidneys for a moment.

So here I am to ask, should I be boiling them to get rid of their previous contents or are they safe to fry etc?

It's perfectly safe to eat kidneys unwashed. But almost nobody enjoys smelling ammonia, urea or nitrogenous wastes in general when eating food.

You can boil them to remove that taste.

But a better alternative is to leave them covered with salt in a colander (so what everybody thinks there's in kidneys for a moment  will fall off). Leave there for about two hours, and then rinse them with water with vinegar.

Source: I asked a nephrologyst who prepares one of the best Riñones al Jerez (in English kidneys in Sherry) I've ever tasted.


Why does bread soften after heating it up? Usually when bread or other dough stuff gets harder after few days, I use microwave to heat it up and it softens.

Why is that so?

The taste is not that good anymore, but better then eating it hard.

Bread is mostly flour and water.  Flour comprises a small amount of protein (gluten, which is responsible for the bread's elasticity or chewiness) and a large amount of starch (specifically two molecules called amylose and amylopectin).

The process involved in bread baking - in massively oversimplified terms - accomplishes two things:

Development of additional gluten; and
Gelatinization of the starch.

The latter - starch gelatinization - is the important part in the context of this question.  In order for the starch to gelatinize, it needs to be completely dissolved in water and then heated, which breaks up its original crystalline structure.  This process cannot be reversed... except, it sort of can.

Gelatinized starch undergoes another process called retrogradation.  At lower temperatures, these starch molecules will actually start to realign themselves back into their original crystalline structure or something similar, and during the process they will force out water.  That is why refrigerated bread often appears to have a soggy exterior, and frozen bread may develop a layer of frost on the top.

This process doesn't happen on a large scale, but it is enough to make the bread go stale.

But remember that bread is mostly water.  When you heat it again, as in the microwave, you are significantly improving the solubility of these reformed crystalline molecules, which causes them to dissolve again.  Essentially you are re-hydrating the dehydrated (stale) bread with its own water.

As you've noticed, the taste isn't great.  You can't change the fact that the bread has lost water, and a non-trivial amount of great protein and other flavour in the process.  The reheated bread is kind of limp and soggy and fragile because the protein (gluten) is what was holding it together.  But it's softer.

If you've got very stale bread, another trick you can use is to wrap it in a cloth dampened with hot water for a few minutes, or use a paper towel and microwave the whole thing for a short time.  That will do a lot more to hydrate the retrograded starches instead of relying on whatever water is left in the super stale bread.


Can I use Star San "no rinse" for sanitizing canning tools and utensils? I've been brewing beer (totally amateur) for a few years as a hobby. I now want to get into canning my own garden-grown veggies.
I've bought several books and watched several videos (like this one from Ball) which recommend:

Using hot soapy water to clean all jars, lids and bands/rings; as well as all other utensils (ladles, jar funnels, jar lifters, cutting boards, etc.)
Keeping the lids in hot water (not boiling) until ready to be used

In brewing there is a product called Star San that is a "no rinse" sanitation solution. You basically dip your utensils into a tub of it, take them out and they are ready to be used.
I'm wondering if this product would be safe and effective for use in canning. Any thoughts?

No rinse sanitizer like Star San works great for sanitizing canning tools & jars. The sanitary considerations for canning and beer have quite a bit in common, so for the most part, if you sanitize things like you're bottling, you'll be in great shape.
Except...
You'll still want to follow the instructions to simmer your flat lids. The rubber seal on the lid needs the heat to "activate" in order for it to be appropriately soft to create a good seal between the lid & jar.
Edit
I just grabbed a package of lids to check the instructions, and they appear to have changed to no longer recommend / require the hot water simmering prep. A quick internet suggests this changed about 5 years ago. Who knew?!
I've been  continuing to simmer the lids for about 5 minutes before canning--and probably will keep doing so out of habit. However, it would seem that based on the package directions, you just need to sanitize, not heat. So Star San should do the trick for the lids as well!


Can you cook cut potatoes in a nonstick frying pan without oil? Will it still cook properly this way?

That would depend on the cut of the potatoes, the heat and whether or not you put a lid on your frying pan.

If big cuts without a lid: They'll still be raw
If cut into small dice, heat not too high, with a lid on, you'd basically steam the potatoes in their own moisture and that would work.
if cut into small dice, high heat, no lid, you'll end up with charcoal on the outside and raw on the inside.

So yes, it's possible, but it's going to be finicky so if you don't want to use fat, what's wrong with:

boiling them
parboiling them and then putting them for a short while in a convection oven?


What's this off-white particulate stuff on my pickled asparagus? I just opened a new jar of Foster's pickled asparagus and discovered off-white particulate matter on the stalks:

The stuff can be scraped off with a fingernail, but doesn't come off effortlessly to the touch.
The jar was opened just moments ago, and was thoroughly airtight prior to opening (I had a hell of a time getting the lid off).  Is this mold that grew prior to pickling?  Is this salt that has settled out of the brine for some reason?  Something else?

From luv2garden.com:

Powdery Mildew “appears as a dusty white to gray coating over leaf surfaces or other plant parts. In most cases this fungal growth can be partially removed by rubbing the leaves. It might be identified incorrectly as dust that has accumulated on the leaves.

So it appears to be powdery mildew on your asparagus...
From Ask an Expert:

Soaking leaves in hydrogen peroxide will kill powdery mildew. However, I would not recommend eating leaves with powdery mildew on them. Powdery mildew is not toxic to humans, but fungi cause allergic reactions in some people.

But hold up! Since the asparagus is pickled, powdery mildew just might not be the case.
From reddit:

The flecks are actually a protein buildup called rutin, a natural flavonoid in asparagus that sometimes reacts harmlessly with the vinegar. Rutin is created within pickled asparagus when asparagus is heated within an acid such as vinegar in the pickling process. Through this process, rutin is drawn out of the asparagus.

So the white specks on your asparagus should be rutin.


Blue garlic during pickling How do I make the garlic not come out blue during pickling? I know it is safe to eat, I just do not like how it looks. I have used minced garlic but sometimes I prefer cloves. There has to be a way, you can buy pickled garlic in the store and it is not blue!

Yes, I also got pickled garlic that got blue after I got it from market. What I always do is as soon  as I get them from a market,  I insert few cloves in it for a short duration of time because I don't want the flavour of cloves and blanching it does help. The heat in blanching will destroy the pigments for coloration.

How to blanch:
- Dip garlic in cold water
- Heat it
- Repeat again and again (Preferably 4 times)

The blue color is mainly due to the enzyme (sulphur and amino acids) and is harmless.

Hope this helps....


Drying Picked Beans (Scarlet Runners) My wife just harvested our first batch of beans and is wanting to dry them, so that we may use them for cooking goodness.  How can we dry the beans once they have been picked?

Most of what I've found online talk about waiting and letting them dry on the vine.  Good to know for the future, but we have a bag full of picked beans to deal with now.

I found one site that talked about putting them in the oven at 120F for and hour, turning it up to 150F until they are "almost dry" and then turning it down to 130F... until they are dry, I'm guessing (the instructions didn't tell me what the end condition was).  Does this jive with what other are familiar with?

Thank you for any advice!

Some of the situation depends on how dry the climate you live in is (and how dry your house is). The temps suggested sound OK, if you are in a hurry.  If you don't live in a really humid climate, you could probably just shell the beans, and then dry them in a single layer on a sheet pan over a few days, giving them a stir, to flip the beans over, and redistribute the moist sides vs. drier sides.  How long it would take depends a lot on how warm and how humid your air is.  You could also try using a dehydrator, which uses a fan to speed the process up.


Food dye to simulate stained glass I have a recipe for stained glass crepes, now my question is this:what food coloring could be used to simulate stained glass for said crepes?
READY IN: 1hr 10mins
SERVES: 4-7
YIELD: 7 crepes
UNITS: US
INGREDIENTS
Nutrition
1
cup flour
1
cup sugar
1
egg
1
cup milk
1
teaspoon vanilla
12
lolly pops, crushed
DIRECTIONS
Mix the dough according to taste by muffin method. (The muffin method is when you put the wet stuff on top of the dry stuff and mix it together with as little stirring as possible fyi).
Form dough into the shape you want the crepe to be.
Add the crushed lollipops into the spaces between the dough spaces that are open.
Bake for 30 minutes to a hour or until the lollipop pieces are molten.
Wait until they are cool enough to touch and then remove with spatula.
These are the directions for my recipe in question. Can food dye be used to substitute for the crushed lollipops?

The lollipops are the glass, so you couldn't substitute food dye alone. The sugar in them provides the bulk, and nothing else is comparably transparent. You'd either get dyed pancake (painting rather than stained glass) or just a stain on the pan. You could substitute home-made coloured sugar/hard candy, for which you'd need any (water-soluble, i.e. common) food dye.  But this would be a lot of work to make several colours so buying lollipops or some other boiled sweets/hard candy would make more sense unless you specifically wanted unflavoured glass.


Are non-brisket cuts suitable for corned beef? I was about to make corned beef brisket again, but I just realized that perhaps brisket is traditionally used only because it used to be the cheapest cut available.
Eye of round for instance is currently half the price of brisket, but it has far less fat and that might significantly change the resulting product.
I'd hate to waste it experimenting, so how should I expect the result to compare with brisket if other cuts are used instead?

I successfully sous vided two 2kg inside rounds:

One I cooked for 36 hours at 160°F, and the other for 10 hours at 180°F.
Slow cooking lost 28% of the weight, while fast cooking lost 36% and made the meat much denser and dryer.
(This demonstrates that it's temperature that forces out the juices, not cooking time.)
Because the fat content was much less, even the slow cooked version was much more solid and dryer in texture than with brisket.
They were still flaky and delicious though, but definitely needed to be served with mustard, mashed potatoes, or other lubricant.
When cold, it was easy to slice them very thinly for sandwiches without their falling apart.
I'll definitely do this again (slow method only), perhaps with some other cut.


How do I make restaurant-quality white wine sauce? When I have made white wine sauce at home, I have been unable to replicate the classic 'round' taste, with the 'long' aftertaste. The taste I'm looking for is typical for restaurants serving it with white fish, like cod.

I have a theory that this particular quality has something to do with the preparation of butter, e.g. caramelization.

How do I make restaurant-quality white wine sauce?

What kind of sauce are you making ? a simple "beurre blanc" ? a gravy (with a roux) or a cream sauce ?

Can you describe the recipe you are using (ingredients, technique) ?

What I do (for beurre blanc):

Cook down the schallots slowly in wine; add a little bit of water and white vinegar, it should not be dry.
Use cold unsalted butter cut in small chunks
Mix in the butter with a whisk until the butter is well integrated.
Pass the mix through (sp) a fine mesh to remove the schallots.
Adjust seasonings.
...


How can I prevent tea stored in a thermos from oversteeping? I would like to brew a pot of tea and store in it a thermos to keep it hot overnight so I can drink it before getting out of bed.

I've tried this approach and found that although the tea tasted fine freshly brewed, by morning the tea is extremely astringent, as though it had been boiling with the leaves the whole time.

My assumption is that, although I had made some attempt to strain the tea before adding to the thermos, enough of the tea dust became suspended that it continued brewing, releasing tannins, and turning the drink very dry.

What are some ways I can cut down on this effect? I've thought of brewing loose leaves instead of bags, although I know there will be dust there too. Perhaps I could strain through a more effective means than the tea bags or tea strainer? Or maybe I should cool the tea somewhat before adding to the thermos?

As posted in comments by members of the community (and adding my own), several tips can help you get good warm tea in your thermos at wake-up:

Choose loose leaves instead of tea bags to avoid tea dust that would overinfuse your tea in the thermos. The small amount there is in tea bags, is heavy enough to sink to the bottom very quickly, so if you pour the tea slowly into your thermos, you can discard it. You can also rinse the tea before brewing with cold water to help expel any excess dust, or (as done in many tea-drinking countries) throw out the first cup of tea made with new tea leaves.
If you're just using tea bags, why not just keep the thermos bedside and then toss the tea bag in in the morning?
You could try heating cold-infused and strained tea in the evening and put it into the thermos; it has a brewing time of 8 to 12 hours, so you'd have to start this around noon. If you have a microwave close enough to your bed, you could also use cold infusion to make your tea during the night and then give it a blast in the microwave in the morning.


Why did my oil-only seitan fail? I tried to make seitan last night using oil and gluten, and after it was done it had a grainy consistency and didn't hold together at all. Is there some sort of magic done by the water? How much water do I need?

I've never made seitan, but just like when making bread, gluten needs water to activate. I don't know the precise amount. Oil, if anything, has the opposite effect, coating the gluten molecules and keeping them from linking up, which is why we use fat in pastries to keep them from getting tough.


Difference between butter and olive oil? Generally when I cook I use extra virgin olive oil for both meat and vegetables. While watching a cooking show they mentioned using butter instead of oil to grease the pan when they were cooking steak.

What is the end result different between using butter rather than olive oil and does it after vegetables and meat?

The only reason to use butter instead of olive oil would be for the butter flavor. In restaurant cooking the steak is finished off with butter for flavor. If you do cook with butter you need to remember butter has a much lower burn point than olive oil.


How much does a cup of Nutella weigh? I want to make Nutella cookies. I've found a recipe for it, but it's in volume measurements. It asks for a cup of Nutella and I don't own a cup.

I tried searching my regular converters, but the only one with a hit was Wolfram-Alpha and I've noticed this result can be quite wrong.

Is anybody kind enough to weigh a cup of Nutella? Or do you use a converter that knows the weight of a cup of Nutella?

Note: I do own a tablespoon measure, so if nobody knows, I'll just scoop out some and calculate it myself. And post it as an answer of course.

According to the nutella nutritional fact label, 1 tbsp = 19g.

There are 16 tbsp in a cup so 16 * 19g = 304g


How to avoid juice flowing out of meatloaf when puncturing it with a thermometer? When baking meatloaf an related dishes, I've noticed that sometimes a large amount of liquid will flow out after I puncture the meatloaf with a thermometer. I imagine it would be better if the juice stayed in while letting the meatloaf cool down, to give a more moist meatloaf. What would you suggest to avoid this issue, while still being safe?
Note: I do sometimes supplement bread crumbs with coconut flour to reduce the carbs in the meatloaf, rather than just using bread crumbs, so this might partially be responsible. I also tend to use 2:1 ratio of ground poultry to beef.

If you have the ability to do so, cook the meatloaf with a probe or thermometer in it. That is certainly the approach I take when I have to cook a pork or poultry meatloaf or something of the like.
Otherwise, I would recommend a high angle of attack (think 30-45 degrees) from outer corner towards center of mass and you may get away with some plain-ole physics of the juices not having an efficient exit.
Good luck!


Post-marinade (Seasoning?) Has anyone experienced with post-marinade (or seasonings?) meat in the following way?

1) Cook meat in sous vide just with salt. Goal here is allow saltiness to spread through the entire meat and avoid adding any acidic ingredients.

2) Once the meat is cooked, cool it in ice water bath and then marinate the meat for a few hours (Not just a few minutes)

3) Then, sear it.

I tried making meat in sous vide with marinade a couple of times but the acidity denatured the proteins to an uncontrollable extent that the texture got too mushy.

Any thoughts on this?

This is something of a complex question, but to be short: I think the sous-vide cook before marinading is denaturing too many proteins up front, and the intense marinade is just damaging those further.

What you're doing in the first step could be considered a form of brining: using salt to season the meat, and to denature some proteins in an attempt to get the meat to retain more water later.  By sealing the bag, you've done this without adding any additional water, which is fine.  You're also cooking it at the same time, denaturing further proteins.

The only problem is that acidic marinades also denature proteins, so when you add the acidic marinade, you're repeating that action yet again and breaking them down even further.  It's not entirely surprising that by the end of this process, your meat has broken down so much that the texture is unpalatable.

My suggestion is to back off.  In a sense, this does work "better" than a traditional marinade, but it's working too well.  Reduce the amount of acid and salt that you're using.  You can do this by quite a lot because the flavors will pair with one another and strengthen both in the finished dish.  Additionally, I see no reason to separate these steps.  If your goal is to season using the salt and add flavor using the marinade, do that at the same time, during the sous-vide step.  Keeping them separate does nothing more than add time and complexity.  It's the overall amount of action on the meat proteins, not the order of events.

EDIT: After thinking on this a bit further, I realized that something else was probably going on too.  Cooking the meat sous vide with salt is also a little bit like braising: the combination of temperature, moisture and salt is breaking down and dissolving some of the connective tissues and collagen too (also a lot like making stock).  So that's even more you're doing to your poor meat.  I think my original conclusion stands but I would add a further caveat that you probably shouldn't even attempt this for relatively tender cuts (like beef tenderloin) as it's just too much.  Maybe a tougher cut with a lot of connective tissue could stand up to all this treatment, but it's a lot to ask..


What are the key ingredients in Worcester Sauce? I fully understand that there is no absolutes in names, but would you expect anything sold today as Worcester sauce to contain at least the key original ingredients?

I figure them to be:

Malt vinegar
Anchovies (or similar fish)
Tamarind

I accidentally brought a bulk new supply of Worcester sauce only to discover it only contained

Apple juice
Food acid
Flavouring

And sugar, salt, spices etc. as well

I am sending this lot back of course :-(

Note: In some countries the generic sauce is called Worcestershire, but this is really the L&P name

Edit: I can read Wikipedia, and know the previous and current ingredients, I am looking for the key ingredients that defines this sauce

DO I has to? Nobody learned it?

Garum, a fermented sauce made with anchovies as the principal ingredient, was the Romans' legacy to Britain when they left GB for home. They put the stuff in everything - Roman Fricassee of Dormouse would be naturally adorned with garum, Roman asparagus would have to be served with garum ...

There was a sauce, Worcester sauce, that had disputed origins - but was obviously based on an English version of garum,. So there was a historic Dickensian precedent a la Jarndyce v Jarndyce between Lea and Perrins, who sold Worcestershire sauce to avoid argument, and Hammonds of Bradford who sold something very similar marked "Yorkshire Relish", which they acquired when they bought Goodall, Backhouse of Leeds.

What happened was that Hammonds won, in that for a brief period they sold WORCESTER sauce without dispute about the name, instead of calling it Yorkshire Relish. Just after that they were taken over by some multinational who didn't give a tinker's cuss about that valuable TM, just the market share. Some brands, including Yorkshire Relish, were sold to an Irish company who are still making the "thick" Yorkshire Relish brown sauce in Ireland, but not the "thin" version we are discussing here.

Lea and Perrins are still selling Worcestershire sauce. The Hammonds Sauceworks brass band are still performing, although the factory produces no Yorkshire Relish. There is a factory somewhere producing Henderson's Relish, which is very similar to Worcester sauce, but made in Sheffield with no Garum - never seen an anchovy.

At least Lea and Perrins still produce the closest thing to a traditional product which goes back 2,000 years.  Whatever they do with the anchovies, that component is said to be left for three years to mature.


Do percentages on ingredient lists of cookies refer to pre- or post-baking weight? Using Fox's Dark Chocolate Chunkie Cookies' ingredients as an example, per https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=273949462,

Dark Chocolate Chunks (28%)

refers to the weight before the baking, or is it the weight after the baking?

This is on the list of ingredients, so it is the pre-cooked formula weight, to demonstrate to the buyer just how much chocolate chunks to expect. Post cooking, the chocolate has changed, as have the other ingredients.

The ingredients also list:

  Raising Agents: Ammonium Bicarbonate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Disodium Diphosphate,

These are NOT present in this form in the baked product. They have chemically reacted. The ingredient list is what is used to MAKE the product, not what is left after. That is for the nutritional information.

So, unless this is a US/UK thing, the FDA labeling requirements are clear on the difference between ingredient list and Nutritional information. This is basically (before/ after)

FDA labeling guidelines

This is not unlike ground beef that is customarily sold in the US as 10% fat (very lean) to 20-25% fat (high fat) This is a pre-cooked percentage.

The maker would be hard pressed to do post-baking analysis on the finished biscwit for actual chocolate percentage. Analysis is done for fat, sugar, etc... based on calorimetry and other chemical analysis methods, but cannot determine chocolate percentage after cooking.


Flan recipe calls for a blender; how can I make it in a mixer instead? Cream cheese flan recipes seem to all call for a blender: you just put all the ingredients (possibly minus the evaporated milk) into the blender, kind of willy-nilly, and whizz it up.

Problem is, I don't own a blender. Obviously, wildly throwing together all the ingredients ain't gonna work in a mixer. But what will? For reference, the ingredients I'm working with are 1 package cream cheese, 5 eggs, 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 1 can evaporated milk, and vanilla.

I know (from experience) that the cream cheese must be fully softened — otherwise you end up with a curdled mess.
Should I beat the eggs separately?
What order should I mix things in? If this were cheesecake, I'd cream the cheese and sugar, but here the sugar is already dissolved in the condensed milk.

In this particular case, you'll be fine using a mixer instead of a blender. You are absolutely right about having the cream cheese at room temperature. Start your mixer at low speed and gradually increase to high. It might take a bit longer - other than that, just do what the recipe says.

Using a mixer instead of a blender would really only make a difference if you were expecting the blades to "cut" an ingredient, like making pesto from basil. Here, you are really only mixing, that's what mixers do best.


Why can't one reheat wok noodles? Most packages of ready noodles contain the information not to reheat them, for example: https://groceries.asda.com/product/noodles/asda-straight-to-wok-noodles/910002208900. It's safe to reheat rice, pasta etc., so I'm confused why reheating wok noodles would be different.

The "do not reheat" is standard text on food that's already cooked (like these noodles) with the expectation you'll cook it again. So they expect you to reheat once by stir-frying, then not again. You don't need to heat them before adding to a wok, but that's not what they're referring to.

The reasoning is usually about total time at  temperatures ideal for bacteria to grow - if food is cooked, cooled, heated, cooled and heated again the total can get close to the limits. I routinely ignore that text on the basis that I cool my leftovers quickly (and reheat them quickly from chilled), but I can't really recommend you do the same. It's not just that they're covering themselves against other people's behaviour, but there is an element of that.


How can I bake these cheese and pimento rolls so they're not gummy inside? I'm using a recipe for rough puff/quick puff pastry as the dough. The filling is cheddar cheese and pimentos. After baking at 350 degrees F for about 35 minutes, they are a little over done on the outside and gummy on the inside. I've baked these before with different fillings without this trouble. Is the cheese the culprit? Is there too much fat involved? Any suggestions on how to make this work with some modification?

One picture shows the outside of the rolls. The other picture shows the inside when it's cut in half.

When you did different filings before, I suspect they took less heating up, and that your cheesy filling is stopping the internal temperature getting as high as it should. This could be because the cheese goes on fridge cold and has a higher heat capacity than whatever you used before. The water content of the pimentos and cheese may also not help.

In terms of a solution you need longer for the heat to reach the middle. I doubt just starting with the cheese at room temperature would be enough. To avoid browning too much you'll need to reduce the oven temperature, but not by too much or the pastry will be too pale and again not cooked through. This will take a little experimenting, especially if you take the approach of preheating the oven to the current recommended temperature and reducing the temperature when you put the food in (which can work well but depends on how well your oven is insulated). I work in Celsius but rounding my guess you might turn it down to 320F when you put them in.


How long to bake matzah, butter and sugar at a lower temperature I'm making matzah brittle and the recipe call for 5 mins at 450.  My brisket is baking at 350.  How long should I bake the matzah at 350?

I found some recipes that bake the matzah at 350º or 375º:

https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/chocolate-toffee-matzo-crack.html
https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-chocolate-caramel-matzo-brittle-recipes-from-the-kitchn-47589
https://www.chowhound.com/recipes/matzo-brittle-28236
https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Dark-Chocolate-Matzo-Brittle

They call for a baking time between 5 and 15 minutes. All those recipes are fairly similar and maybe similar enough to yours that they'll work for you.


Do Eggs Need to be Refrigerated? Do eggs really need to be refrigerated? If so, how long can they last without refrigeration? Obviously eggs come out of the chicken at body temperature, so there must be some amount of time they can survive without spoilage.

I once attended a catering school in Hungary, and families there store eggs at room temperature for days with no (apparent) ill-effects, particularly in rural areas. But the idea seems anathema to almost everyone in the US.

As an American living in Europe, I understand the horror associated with non-refrigerated eggs.

However, I can assure you from my own experience, that if the eggs are fresh from a farm, unwashed, and stored in a cool location, they can last up to a month. (This is my preference, as the eggs taste far fresher.)

It is common practice here to find eggs simply sitting on the shelves of grocery stores without the benefits of refrigeration and the majority are unwashed eggs. I have used such eggs up to 10 days past the expiration date with no ill effects.

Best of luck.


Why can food be left out to cool (140F to 40F in < 6h) but not to defrost? Local government food safety guidelines for storing foods (p26) which have already been cooked stipulate food internal temperature must be brought from above 140F (serving temperature) to 70F in less than 2 hours and from 70F to 40F in less than four hours.

Why then do the rules for defrosting (p23) (the reverse) say food should be at room temperature "for very short periods during preparation" and foods can only be defrosted in one of three ways: in refrigerator, under running water, or in the microwave provided there is no interruption in the cooking process (ie. partially in the microwave then cooked or all in microwave). If its just time and temperature, why is the cook trusted to watch the clock for cooling and not defrosting?

Previous posts have asked for guidelines and best practices; however, my question accepts the practical advise and hopes to discover the political (creating effective guidelines) and biological (does warming from 40F generate more/more harmful bacteria than cooling from >140F?) reasons. I have my own theories but what are yours?

The very document you link to clearly explains the reason:

  It is important to use methods that will allow the entire mass to thaw evenly. Any method that allows one part, for example, the outside surface, to defrost before the inner portion is not acceptable, because the portion that thaws out first will be in the danger zone before the other portion is thawed.

Bacteria grow and produce toxins while in the danger zone. If you thaw on the counter then the exterior will be crawling with them long before the interior is thawed.

The other methods are acceptable because:

Keeping the food refrigerated never permits any part of the food to enter the danger zone.
Very cold water keeps the exterior cold, which is close enough to refrigeration as long as the food will be cooked immediately.
Microwaves partially penetrate the interior and cook the entire portion very quickly; the food will be in the danger zone but for too short a time period to matter.

It's also very important to note that the cooling rules are not about simply "watching the clock". If it were that simple, they wouldn't bother with rules, because room temperature is in a pretty consistent range no matter where you are. Cooling hot, potentially-dangerous food on a countertop is every bit as inappropriate as defrosting it there.  Food service professionals will hold the food above 140° F until it is ready to serve or store, and if storing, they'll cool it very quickly by dividing into smaller portions and/or using an ice water bath or even specialized equipment (e.g. flash freezing).

There's really no practical difference here. The extra 1 hour permitted to cool from 140° F to 70° F is really only because you've just cooked it, so (a) it's been pasteurized and (b) temperatures very close to 140° F are not very hospitable for bacteria should the food become contaminated again. When defrosting from frozen, it's assumed that the food (cooked or raw) is already contaminated either from factory handling or from prior cooling in the danger zone, so you need to strictly follow the 2-hour rule.


How to find/substitute dry corn with shell removed for stews? In Cape Verde, this kind of corn is easy to find: dry yellow or white corn kernels. Years ago people had to pound it themselves to remove the shell; nowadays you can buy it at the store without any pounding necessary. It's definitely not the same as sweet corn.

This corn is used to make cachupa, a stew that's often considered the "national dish".

How can I find this in the northeast U.S.? What's it called? Or, if it's truly difficult to find here, what would be a good substitute?

When it's imported into Cape Verde, it usually comes from Brazil. Yoki is the brand I've seen most often, but their site doesn't list it. Sinhá does list it, as for "canjica" (according to Wikipedia, that's canjica a.k.a. mugunzá, not canjica a.k.a. curau.)

Wikipedia's article for cachupa says it's made with hominy, but I think someone was confused... hominy seems to be strictly from Central and North America, from what I've researched. There's "hominy" at my local store, but it's in a can, reinforcing my idea that this is not the same thing.

The closest thing you are likely to find in the US is posole which may also be labeled as "nixtamal" or "mote pelado".  Posole can be found dried, canned, or frozen in most latin grocery stores or online.  Look specifically for ones that say they contain corn processed with some alkali such as lime, cal (sodium hydroxide), lye, or sodium carbonate.

The problem in the US is that the term hominy has many meanings, as the Anson Mills website explains:

  In America we know hominy as dried whole kernel corn that has been first steeped and then cooked in a culinary lime solution to remove the outer clear coating of the corn kernel, or pericarp, and also to work a miraculous nutrition and flavor transformation within the kernel in a process called nixtamalization. Fresh hominy can be used as is for stews (posole in Spanish), or it can be ground, still wet, to masa or chopped into fresh hominy grits (an extinct foodway). Or it can be dried to make whole hominy (also known as posole or hominy). Dried hominy can then be milled to grits or cornmeal (both are extinct in the United States), or to flour (called “instant masa”). This next definition of hominy is arcane: hominy grist (not “grits”) is any fresh-milled corn grits that comes out of a stone mill. The last statement about hominy is a classic Southern take on confusing terms: the popular Southern term for a dish of freshly prepared coarse grits is “hominy.” In New Orleans and now fading in other Southern ports, whole hominy is called “big hominy” and freshly prepared coarse grits is called “little hominy.”

Additionally, many canned hominy product's available in the US, such as Manning's (and even some claiming to be "Mexican Style" like Juanita's) are steam peeled rather than by soaking in an alkali solution like most traditional hominy and posole.  These will often try to turn this into a positive by claiming "never processed with lye".


Making espresso correctly - rerunning hot water several times through an espresso puck to fill an Americano I just bought a Delonghi espresso machine from Target.  It came with a "single-shot" filter and a "double-shot" filter.  The double-shot filter holds 11 grams of tampered grounds.

I read somewhere that coffee shops typically use 20 grams of grounds for a single shot - how accurate is this?
Last question - when I make a Caffe Americano (a Starbucks drink - where you take 2, 3, or 4 espresso shots, pour them into a cup and fill the remaining difference with hot water), sometimes when I make my espresso shots, I just keep running the hot water through the grounds (instead of using plain, hot water to fill the difference in my cup).  I find when I do this, my drink tastes stronger (obviously, right?) rather than making a "true" Americano drink, where it tastes a little watered down.  Is it okay that I reuse the coffee grounds like I've been doing when I'm making my espresso shots, even though subsequent shots are obviously a lot clearer (but darker than plain old water)?  Or will I get maybe unwanted flavor if I reuse my grounds a few times instead of using just water to fill the rest of my cup?

Most coffee shops use about 20 grams (18-24 grams in my experience) for a double shot of coffee, and 12-16 grams for a single shot. If you see a cafe using 20 grams for a single shot, its only because they are using double ristrettos (2 half-shots of espresso) instead of a single shot. Some people prefer the flavor profile of a double ristretto.
As you pull hot water through your shots, you extract different compounds from the coffee. Most people stop their shots when they've extracted all the tasty compounds, and I'll usually try to stop my shots before the coffee starts to taste bitter.

If you prefer your coffee a bit more bitter and full-bodied, as well as with whatever other flavors you're extracting at the end feel free to pull extra shots from the same coffee, however I would normally reccomend just adding extra shots to the americano instead.

All that being said, Barista Champion Matt Perger reccomended during his world barista run a process similar to what you're doing. He reccomended using a coarser grind and running the shots for way longer to achieve a coffee similar to a filter coffee or americano. However he also has the benefit of expensive professional machines that are highly tuned, so your experience may vary.

Summary

My reccomendation if you are going to pull the shots more than once is to use a coarser grind for your coffee. Otherwise feel free to pull the shots as long as you like until you dont like the taste. You could also try pulling the separate shots into separate cups to taste them before mixing them together.


Why are there caraway seeds in rye bread? I love rye bread, so something I have always wondered about is why there are caraway seeds in it. It seems to be some kind of tradition.

Caraway seeds in rye bread is - in some parts of the world - a tradition.

Generally speaking, certain flavour profiles are traditional in different cuisines, not ubiquitous (see your baguette counter example), for many types of food. For rye bread, taking European areas into account where there is a "rye bread tradition", Northern Europe (Scandinavia, Northern Germany) uses caraway, Central Europe is undecided and Southern Tyrol (the German-speaking parts of Italy) would use blue fenugreek instead, other regional cuisines leave their rye breads plain.

The reason why particularly rye breads tend to be "spiced" - as opposed to wheat-dominant breads - is that rye breads can be harder to digest and needs a sourdough step to be baked into proper bread. And seeds like caraway, fennel seeds or the blue fenugreek mentioned above have traditionally been used to aid digestion.

If you are buying rye bread in other parts of the world, especially the US, the predominant group of immigrants from Europe may as well have brought their specific "rye bread flavour profile" with them.


What's the best way to cook fall-off-the-bone baby-back ribs What's the best way to cook fall-off-the-bone baby-back ribs?

I rarely ever recommend boiling the heck out of meat.  You are washing away all of the flavor.  Remember water is a solvent and remove everything from the meat if it is left to boil long enough.  For the most tender ribs I would recommend a braise.  The slow, low, moist cooking of a braise is perfect for breaking down connective tissue in the ribs without drying them out or washing away natural flavor.  Even in smokers I haven't had great luck with baby back ribs as they have a tendency to dry out.

Here is a easy to follow braise for ribs by Alton Brown video, 1, 2.  It's a decent place to start and work on your preferred methods from there.

Please avoid boiling your meats, you will be so happy with other methods, even if they do take a bit longer.


How do I remove bitterness from bitter melon We use bitter melon/bitter gourd for making curry. We boil bitter gourd in water couple of times to remove bitterness which is very time consuming.

Is there any better way to remove bitterness?

Some people claim you can reduce the bitterness of eggplant by slicing it then salting the slices, wrapping in a clean cloth, and putting some weight on it.  The salt draws out moisture.  It's possible a similar technique would work with your bitter melon, although I had never heard of it before your question.  It might not save much time, but you wouldn't have to watch them while doing the salt treatment.


Tiramisu mixture not firm I have tried to make Tiramisu chocolate mousse from this video many times. The chocolate mixture turns out great. With the egg yolks I add grape juice instead of wine and soft cheese instead of marcarponi - which seems to turn out great as well.

What I fail to make is the whipped creme. I use Dano sterilized creme that is modified with vegetable oil (so it says on the can), fat 23%, made from skimmed cows milk and it says the milk fat is replaced by veg fat. I put the bowl and the whisk in the refrigerator, as well as the creme, but when I whisk it, it becomes more watery than fluffy.

So today I got Fostered Clark's Powder Whip Wonder Whip Topping; that turned out nice and frothy, but when I combined it with the chocolate-egg mixture, it did not turn out to be the way it looks in the video. I had to put it into the refrigerator so the mixture became a little more firm; I could barely hold a shape in the martini glasses.

What am I doing wrong?

If you are insistent upon substituting something for the cream, you are probably going to need to experiment with adding some soy lecithin (to make sure that the substitute fats don't separate), maybe some cold-soluble gelatin too for added stabilization (regular gelatin that has been bloomed and added when the mixture is hot might also work), and possibly a few other gelling or thickening agents.


What is this waxed root vegetable? I recently ordered a grocery delivery from Whole Foods, and as I was ordering I noticed they had rutabagas, which I've never had before, so I decided to try them. What I got was this:

They don't look anything like any picture I can find online of rutabagas, which are supposed to look like a large turnip. Instead, these appear to be some sort of yam. (That is, an actual yam, not a sweet potato, which for some reason is commonly called a yam in the US!)

Adding to the confusion, they appear to be coated with a thick layer of wax. I googled vegetables covered with wax, and all that shows up is lots of pages about rutabagas! Rutabagas, it turns out, are commonly waxed to keep them from drying out. I can't find any information about waxed yams, though. So, what are these things?

It looks like it could be yuca/cassava, based on the appearance alone. (Note: this is not the same as or related to yucca.) The picture on Wikipedia even shows a waxed version.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava


Use of sour milk for bread making - how long after the expiration date is it safe? My mother uses (and my grandmothers used to use) sour milk in the baking of homemade bread. This was generally  whole raw milk that had soured.

I'm not so lucky as to be able to get whole raw milk from a source I trust any more but occasionally a carton escapes the thirsty horde at home and goes past its expiration date. If it's only a day or so gone then I'll use it as normal given that I exercise a healthy degree of scepticism anyway about BB dates but if it's any longer then my idea would be that I'd use it in a bread recipe.

To clarify: the carton is unopened and has been refrigerated since purchase. It is not UHT milk as that's relatively rare here with HTST (72C for 15 seconds) pasteurisation the norm (probably owing to the relatively low ambient temperatures here)

The question is how long after the expiry date is it safe to use milk in this manner?

I'm not so lucky as to be able to get whole raw milk…

Wait, then there's a flaw in your premise. Check the label. Any milk treated using high-heat processes like UHT, pasteurization or ultra-pasteurized milk doesn't sour like it used to in your grandmother's days; it spoils… goes rotten.
Spoiled milk is not the same as soured milk.
The ultra-pasturized milk sold in the supermarket is essentially a dead product, with little to no live bacteria. When it goes bad, it rots and should be thrown out (or you can make plastic with it). Modern industrial pasteurization kills the “good” bacteria that once made sour milk a wonderful thing for cooking and making bread and cheese.
Substituting "Sour Milk"
If you have a recipe calling for sour milk, put a teaspoon of vinegar in a cup of fresh milk and let it sit for a few minutes. That's about the best you can do if you do not have access to raw milk.


How to fry eggplant with less oil? Frying eggplant is somewhat tricky, as it absorbs oil like a sponge. I read some tricks like brushing egg white or flour on the eggplant slices before frying. None of these tricks are good enough to avoid oil soaking into the eggplant body.

Is there any practical way to fry eggplant using minimal oil?

I had the same problem before, but I learned this great trick from Larousse:

Try sprinkling slices of your eggplant with plenty of salt on both sides and let rest for about fifteen minutes. The salt will draw out a lot of water from the vegetable, making it less spongy.

Then, dry off the slices before adding them to very hot oil in a frying pan. The hot oil should help make a nice sear, sealing off the eggplant, so it doesn't soak up anymore oil. If you need to, turn down the heat after the eggplant is browned to let it finish cooking.


What might cause a tangy flavor in hummus? I'm pretty sure that this is an intended flavor; there's a great and authentic middle eastern restaurant nearby and their hummus tastes noticeably tangy.  Others in the Yelp reviews have commented on the same flavor, so it's not a bad batch.  It's almost as if there's a fermented ingredient that has the same kind of "tang" as kimchi.  Their babaganoush doesn't have this same tang.

Is there a secret fermented ingredient in some hummus recipes that might give off this flavor?

[not a definitive answer]

Making good hummus is non-trivial.  I think roasting sesame seeds is as volatile as roasting coffee beans with a few seconds or degrees changing the flavour drastically.

It's quite possible the tangy flavour comes from the way they process their sesame seeds.  I've had Israeli hummus (from Jerusalem) and it tasted very different from the stuff you get elsewhere.  Much smoother and more 'settled' flavour, and likely similar to the tang you describe (almost umami).  The ingredients didn't have anything specific listed that could do that.  It also could be the lemons or the zest.

Anecdotally, a local hummus manufacturer told me he gets his sesame seeds from that part of middle east because they lead to better tasting hummus.

Next time you're there, please ask the chef.  most of the time, they'll share something new with you. (I've been curious as well ever since tasting that particular hummus).


What is the difference between making French baguettes and US style baguettes? I have noticed that there is a large difference between French baguettes with chewy crust and consistent airy and chewy inside.

Baguettes in the US are a different type. I am referring to the ones I find in serious bakeries (not mass production ones). They're often fluffy inside like a sandwich loaf, and the crust is either crispy or totally soft.

What are the differences in the production process which determine that a baguette will be of the French type as opposed to the US type? How are French baguettes made?

If you buy a French baguette in the morning, you can use it as weapon or vehicle jack in the evening. It is no surprise that a Frenchman, Jean-Baptiste Boussingault, tried 1852 to prevent this by hermetically sealing the bread, as he thought the problem is merely the loss of moisture - and who then learned, that his lovely baguette would still go stale hermetically sealed and so discovered starch retrogradation at the same time.

Anyway, bread that is stale the very same day is not what the average customer wants. They want their bread to last for a week - the tradition of buying fresh bread every single day these days can be mostly seen in France and Italy, not even in Germany any longer. And in France it is easy to maintain this tradition, as the next boulangerie is just around the corner. And they usually bake in two shifts, a morning and an evening shift.

It is rather easy for a real baker to choose how the baguette has to be (if he makes the dough), all the processes are well-known since more than 50 years, but there is always a trade-off and that is the problem. The biggest trade-off is the shelf/kitchen life. You get the best shelf life without traditional yeast, without much leavening and with emulsifiers that delay the staleness. This will produce bread with a soft, cake-like interior, an uncrusty crust and uncharacteristic flavor.

Here you can see the difference in comparison:

(The lack of natural yeast and traditional rising leads to this huge difference of the inner texture, the color difference is due to the flour. Note that bleached flour is an US invention. I don't think you can get bleached flour anywhere in France or Germany.)

This is how a lot of industrial doughs are still optimized. The more shelf life you are willing to sacrifice, the closer you get to the French baguette. This is the core problem. Of course, it is possible that one bakery uses a more appropriate flour than the other bakery, but there is no magic involved that only a handful of French bakers know - if the US baker would want to mimic the French baguette perfectly, it would take him less than a week to adjust the recipe to the local circumstances. But then again, how many US bakers ever flew to France to get a baguette for comparison? And how many US bakers actually make their own dough instead of buying the French baguette dough?

It is not possible to determine afterwards why the bread is different as customer. You can make a non-industrial baguette with a terrible crust but great shelf life f.e. by incorporating buttermilk or egg yolks, but it could also have be an artificial industrial emulsifier or an industrial dough in the first place.

Let's come to the ingredients and techniques:

French baguette is flour, water, yeast and salt. That's it. The very moment you add anything else, so it lasts longer or can be better kneaded by machines, you lose.

The most important technique is time - from ingredient to baguette takes at least 3 hours and the best result is obtained by kneading it as human, because what is desirable for bread, a consistent interior by kneading over and over, is not desirable for baguette. So the big difference between the US and France is:

Regarding the steam:
The steam prevents the building of the crust as it prevents the drying out. With steam you get a larger and lighter loaf, with a thinner, but nicely glossy crust. Here you can see the glossy crust of a baguette with steam:

This is not a particular trait of French baguettes.


How to avoid getting the pizza all watery? When I cook pizza it gets all watery. There's literarily water formed on top of the dough. I believe it's released by the mozzarella, but I'm not totally sure.
Any ideas how to avoid this?

Some more information: I'm cooking at around 230C (according to the oven, who knows!) with an electric oven. No stone, just the metal tray. The pizza has exactly the same shape as the metal tray (which is a rectangle, just as the oven).

According to my last experiments, the source of the water is definitely the cheese. I'm cooking the dough, then adding the tomato sauce, then adding the cheese and the water doesn't appear until the cheese-phase. I tried all the possible mozzarellas that I can get at the supermarket with the same result.

There are a number of factors that can contribute to a watery pizza:

Cheese If you think the cheese is the culprit, you can try using a "low moisture" mozzarella (these are dry to the touch on the outside).  If you are using a "fresh" mozzarella (these usually are sold in a brine), e.g., classic mozzarella di bufala or mozzarella fior di latte, I recommend slicing the cheese as opposed to grating the cheese.  The idea is that slicing the cheese will produce less surface area, and thereby reduce the amount of water that leeches out.  Also, I recommend dabbing the cheese slices with a kitchen towel to remove any surface moisture.  If you use this method, it will also help to cut the cheese in very thin slices, since that will release more moisture before it touches the pizza and it will also reduce the amount of cooking time.
Tomato Sauce I recommend making the sauce yourself.  As opposed to simmering the tomatoes/sauce on the stove for a long time, I prefer making a light tomato sauce that actually cooks on the pizza itself.  I quickly purée the tomatoes (canned are fine) in a food processor and then let them strain in a fine mesh colander for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.  That gets rid of a lot of water (the tomatoes lose about half of their volume).  Throw in some minced garlic, chopped basil, and season and it is ready to go on the pizza.
The Cooking Method Since my home oven doesn't get as hot as a traditional pizza oven, I always "blind" cook my pizza without the cheese.  In other words, I throw the dough, add the sauce, and then cook it with just the sauce for 4 or 5 minutes.  This allows any extra moisture in the sauce to cook off.  I then remove the pizza, add the cheese, and then broil it until the cheese is melted and browned.
The Dough If the dough ends up becoming soggy, you can always compensate by making it a bit thicker.


Egg nog recommendation diabetic friendly How would you fine people make egg nog diabetic friendly? I’m inquiring as I’m diabetic myself & I have always liked the non-alcoholic version of egg nog during the holidays myself.

Eggnog can be easily adjusted for diabetics by removing as many carbs as possible. I recommend using heavy whipping cream and unsweetened almond milk, both of which have 1 or fewer net grams of carbs per serving. For a sweetener, I recommend using erythritol (or the brand name Swerve), as that is the only sweetener that I have come across that has no effects on insulin, blood sugar, or digestion. Here's a low carb eggnog recipe that only amounts to <0.5 g net carbs per serving (2/3 cup).


What is the Best Way to Keep Digestive Biscuits Fresh I bought a bunch of biscuit packets (ginger nut, digestives, bourbon biscuits) and couldn't resist opening a pack or two to try them. Now I'm afraid they'll go stale if I just leave them half opened. I have Tupperware but not super airtight or high quality. Nor do I have any dedicated biscuit tins. Should I keep them in the packet or transfer them somewhere? Can I use a glass pickle jar?

What is the best way to keep biscuits fresh? Any tips on making a DIY tin?

You're thinking along the right lines. Airtight is what you're aiming for. Old fashioned biscuit tins were probably less airtight than a lot of modern plastic boxes anyway, so just use the smallest tupperware box you can fit them in (all types in together is fine). I'd leave them in their wrappers, but it doesn't matter.

If you don't have any container at all, they keep for a few days with the end of the wrapper twisted round and clipped shut; that's enough of a seal.


How should baking soda be used to tenderize meat? At some Chinese restaurants, I've had beef dishes where the meat was unusually tender.  It also has a somewhat unusual texture, which is hard to describe.  I understand that this is a result of using baking soda to tenderize the meat.

How should one use baking soda to tenderize meat?  And can the technique be applied to other tough meats like chicken or pork?

I  once worked in a Chinese restaurant and we used it for beef only, It was always the same, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda per lb of meat (lean meat, we used top round), tablespoon ShaoXing wine, pinch of salt and clove of garlic mashed. Marinated about 15-20 minutes, then "blanched" in hot oil for about 30 seconds, meat will look horrible after this last step, grey and ugly but when added your stir fry it will be tender and juicy. You can also use the egg white marinade with cornstarch, Shaoxing wine, white pepper, soy sauce...marinade 1/2 hour...blanch in hot oil. We used that marinade on chicken and didn't use that on beef as it does leave a slight coating that was not wanted in beef. As far as the baking soda leaving a taste....I never noticed it as it was not that much. Also when using the baking soda marinade, you should throw the meat into the bowl with force and manipulate it with your hands for a few minutes to activate the process faster, we used to slam it into a large bowl with as much force as we could. The meat will feel slimy, that is normal. Try it and let me know.


Why do you need raw milk to make butter? I was reading about making butter at home and all the recipes called for raw (I presume this means unpasteurised) milk. Why is this?

They also said to wait for the cream to separate from the milk. I've never seen this happen - is there something about pasteurisation that stabilises the emulsion?

You don't need raw milk (or more precisely, raw cream). I've made butter from cream many times, but never from unpasteurized cream -- I prefer locally sourced organic cream for reasons, but the actual butter-making process is exactly the same with a pint of store-bought.

If you are starting from milk rather than from cream, you will need to get non-homogenized (or unhomogenized) milk. Homogenization and pasteurization are separate processes (even though both are typically performed on milk): pasteurization uses heat to kill bacteria and other pathogens, while homogenization breaks up milk fat particles so they stay mixed into the milk instead of rising to the top.

If you want to buy pasteurized, non-homogenized milk to skim your own cream, it may be labeled as cream-top or creamline milk. Raw milk is both unpasteurized and non-homogenized, but I personally like the increased safety that comes with pasteurization.

Personal anecdote: I once bought cream-top milk to try to skim it for butter, and the amount of cream a half-gallon produced was about a tablespoon. For me, that wasn't nearly enough to justify the extra work -- my family doesn't drink nearly enough milk in a week to salvage the necessary cream for butter-making. I personally recommend skipping straight to cream :)


Defrosting meat/fish in warm water I have found warm water to be a great way to quickly defrost meat and fish as opposed to just letting it sit outside the freezer, which is what my mom does.

But I wonder if there are any negative side effects to the method, as in, for example, compromised taste or compromised food safety.  I do understand that the water shouldn't be too hot as to avoid actually cooking the frozen food.

This in general can be unsafe, because the temperature of the warm water will be in the danger zone. That means that you'll be holding the surface of the food in the danger zone for the duration of the defrosting. Since you don't want to hold food in the danger zone for more than a couple hours, and that's cumulative over the whole process from fridge to eating, this additional time can easily take you from safe to unsafe.

If it's a really small piece like a thin filet it might only take 15 minutes, so it'd be fine, still easy not to go over two hours in the danger zone. If it's very big, though, it could start to be an issue. You can mitigate this some with warm running water or a circulator, but that only goes so far. And in either case you have to be very careful to keep track and make sure the defrosting is fast enough.

Cool running water, on the other hand, is a recommended method. It still works quite quickly, and if the food does enter the danger zone it's at least on the low end of it, so it's not quite so risky.


What if I microwave Beyond Meat? I have a bag of Beyond Meat crumbles. Before reading the bag, I microwaved the crumbles in a bowl until they were thoroughly heated.
...Then I noticed that the bag says "DO NOT MICROWAVE". Is there a health concern with microwaving the product, or are the directions intended to ensure that the product is as enjoyable as it can be?

There are no health concerns with microwaving food. Microwaves excite water molecules to heat food, they don't change food or make it dangerous. When a product says do not microwave it means one of 3 things:

The packaging is not meant to be microwaved: heating some types of packaging can cause bad tastes or smells in food, or cause the packaging to release unhealthy chemicals. Putting the food in a microwave safe dish solves this problem
Microwave heating causes undesirable texture changes in the food. Microwaving can sometimes cause a rubbery texture, or make it soggy
As @fraxinus rightly points out some foods can explode in the microwave,  especially food with a shell or airtight covering of some sort like eggs and potatoes. Heat causes pressure to build until the shell or covering fails, causing a 'rapid unscheduled disassembly' as they say in the aerospace industry when something blows up

Number 2 is the most likely reason the package said do not microwave.


Can I substitute vodka for rum in tiramisu? Specifically in this recipe: Tiramisu-II

The reason why I'm asking this is I only have vodka at home, and I rarely drink. So I don't want to buy any kind of liquor just for three tablespoons of it. Plus, alcohol is very expensive where I live.

Rum used in tiramisu is mainly for flavor. It's not a fundamental ingredient that will completely change the outcome of the recipe.

That being said if you wish, you can omit the rum without adding the vodka. The vodka will add nothing to the tiramisu recipe since vodka is made to be flavorless.

As Jefromi mentioned in the comment, there are plenty of other better substitution in terms of flavor you can use. Kahlua is a very common liquor found in tiramisu as it's coffee based. Chocolate porters might also add a nice touch.


Using Soy Meat in Lasagna I made some vegan lasagna today, despite initial doubts it turned out pretty good.

However the soy meat I used was a bit tasteless. I am not expecting it to taste like meat, I am completely happy with it having its own taste. However I think I could have gotten a bit more out of it.

How I prepared it:
I soaked the soy meat in water, I didn't completely fill the bowl but dredged it until most of the water was soaked in.
Then I heated olive oil in a pot and added chopped red onions.
Then I added the soy meat and some salt.
After that I added the other ingredients of the tomato sauce (strained and chopped tomatoes, spices etc).

The sauce itself was pleasing, just the meat missed something, maybe it was too soggy, maybe not enough salt. Maybe I should have separately fried it, adding it to the sauce after cooking?
So how do I correctly prepare soy meat for lasagna?

Assuming TVP is what you used... it is essentially a byproduct of the production of tofu, and as such is largely tasteless on its own. Generally, to use it you first rehydrate it with a 1:1-1.5 ratio of TVP to liquid. The liquid can be pretty much anything, from water, to broth, mustard, ketchup, liquid smoke, etc. Very similar to tofu, it will absorb the taste of whatever you prepare it with. When cooking it for vegans I usually use vegetable broth, water, vegan worcestershire sauce, a dash of liquid smoke and Bragg's Liquid Aminos (the liquid aminos and worcesershire sauce add some of the savory that you REALLY need to simulate beef). A small amount of sherry works well here too.

Stir the liquids, and add them to the TVP and allow to rehydrate for about 10 minutes. Check about 5 minutes in and ensure you have enough liquid. It's usually better to have too much than too little as you can pour off the excess. You'll have to play around with what flavors you use in the liquid - as mentioned, TVP is more or less a blank palette. This is actually both a boon and a burden compared to store bought "meat crumbles" which are already seasoned.

After rehydrating, it is ready to eat. You just need to warm it. So in the future, you can sweat your onions while it is rehydrating, add the sauce, and add the TVP last (just to bring it to heat). You'll have to play around with flavors that work best here. Sorry I can't be more specific, I usually don't use TVP for lasagne.

HTH


What can replace vegetable butter? I am making a dairy- and gluten-free cake. What can I use to replace vegetable butter?

Look for the kosher symbol on different types of butter.  You will need to find a substitute with the word "Parve" on it.  Parve means no dairy products.  From there just check the labels to make sure it is gluten free.  Other things that I have used to replace butter have been olive oil or applesauce (works great in brownies).

Here is a chart if you would like to substitute olive oil for the butter.  http://www.amazingoliveoil.com/substitute-olive-oil-for-butter.html


What technique should I use to make latkes for a party so that I don't have to stay in the kitchen? What usually happens is that I fry up fresh latkes during a party and I end up in the kitchen for the majority of the party.

Is there a way for me to precook the latkes and then still have them taste fresh and crispy when the guests arrive?

Here are some options that I'm thinking of but don't know if it will work well:

Fry them up as usual and keep them on a rack in a warm oven before the guests arrive
Do a quick fry and keep them in the oven...when the guests arrive refry them (hopefully this will take less time).
Get other to take turn to fry up the latkes.  :)

Number 3 will give you the best results. There simply is nothing as great in this world as a latke crisp from the frying pan, having spent but a couple seconds on a paper towel receiving the blessing of a few flakes of good sea salt.

I've never tried number 2. If you do, please report back.

Number 1 will not give you crisp latkes. They will still have the delicious taste of homemade latkes, but they will be soft, not crunchy.


Does a GRILL in a UK recipe refer to a BROILER in US? In a recipe from the UK it says to turn the GRILL to high and place food on baking sheet as close to grill as possible. This sounds like a Broiler in US. Am i correct?

Yes, a grill in the UK is essentially the same thing as a top broiler. In the UK, and most of western Europe, ovens are electric and have no separate drawer - the grill is a heating element at the top of the oven. Ovens come with a tray that slots in at the top, similar to a broiler pan.


Does squid ink pasta bleed? Will the black color from squid ink spaghetti bleed onto other ingredients?

I was recently given a package of squid ink spaghetti. I haven't used it before and I want to try something creative.

I was thinking of separately cooking some regular spaghetti and mixing the white and black together after they are cooked separately. This won't look good if the black bleeds onto the white. It would just turn everything gray.

No, as far as I know pasta made with squid ink, often called nero di seppia, should be stable, and the ink doesn't normally bleed into the water.

From my experience after boiling black pasta, even the fresh kind, the water comes out clear like with regular one, with just a bit of clear starch being left behind.

If you boil regular and black pasta mixed together the white pasta should not get significantly tainted with black color, just like when you boil tricolore type of colored pasta (those multi colored green, red and white mixes) the colors don't bleed.

You can (faintly) see in this cooking video that both the boiling water and the rinse water are not darkened.

Black ink also doesn't bleed into sauces after boiling, so you can use light colored sauces without negatively affecting it's appearance, nor does it stain containers like white ceramic of dishes or bowls.

Only situation where you should get bleeding black is for dishes where the squid ink is added to the pasta after boiling, either while stirring in the sauce or along with other ingredients, rather than being mixed into the flour.


How can one determine if a potato is suitable for French fries? I often make French fries by cutting potatoes into long strips, adding a bit of oil and spices, then baking them in the oven. Sometimes, this tastes very good. Unfortunately, most of the time, it tastes terrible. After baking the potatoes, I often discover that the potatoes have a very strange flavor and texture. They are somewhat sweet and the color after baking is bright yellow. I have tried baking without spices, and have found they are not to blame for the strange flavor.

Am I encountering a different variety of potato or a different kind of vegetable that on the outside looks like a potato?
Is it possible these potatoes were harvested at the wrong time, but the outside color is nearly the same?
How can I identify which potatoes make French fries?

Good Eats(Alton Brown) has some good descriptions of the various difference's between potatos. He has an episode dedicated to potatoes. Main thing is the starch content in them. He has an example of each of the three groups (High, Medium, Low), includign a brief description and sample application. He mentions mentions frying in the High Starch content group, specifically Russets. He then has another episode simply about frying, where he actually talks about French Fries and again mentions the Russet (High Starch).

While you can make fries out of different types of potatoes (some of the more "all purpose" potatoes), if you want a really good classic french fry, you're going to want to look for a Russet, with a similar starch content.

Here's a page that lists some of the more common varieties. Maybe you can look to see what you bought? The age will probably affect it. A younger potato will in fact be sweeter

So, to answer your specific questions. I'm betting you did in fact buy a potato. It's probably just a sweeter variety. If it doesn't say at the market where you bought it what kind they are, I'd ask the people who work there. Also, look at the third link I have above, it does have a few pictures as well as good descriptions on what they look like.


I have an unopened package of mozzeralla cheese that is a month past it's "Best By" date, is it safe to eat? Possible Duplicate:
  What is the sign of mozzarella being old?

It's vacuum sealed, and the cheese looks fresh. Is a month a big deal?

Mozzarella costs what, $4 tops? Weigh up that cost versus food poisoning and you have your answer. As always, if in doubt, throw it out.


Does different percentage chocolate set differently? My glaze did not come out as expected. Will chocolate set differently if I start with, say 60% vs 70% chocolate? If so, is there a suggestion as to how to adjust the recipe so a lower or higher percentage chocolate will work best in a glaze?

For glazing the best is to use a couverture chocolate which is richer in cocoa butter than the standard chocolat (more than 31% for dark chocolate): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couverture_chocolate
But generally you can't find it in supermarket and you will need to buy or order in from a specialized shop. And when you check the nutritional informations, a lot of chocolates we find supermarkets will also have a cocoa butter percentage higher than 31%! The problem with these is that they are often the low quality chocolates, and their taste won't be so great and have a negative impact on the final taste of your cake...
So the best way is to try different types, ideally with the same recipe, and see which one works the best! Be patient, it took me forever to find an acceptable one... Also, make sure that your glazing recipe is good!


Do the improvements touted by the ZPM Nocturn (PID-controlled espresso machine) sound sensible? I have previously struggled with coffee equipment. I don't know anything about the technical side of making coffee. The ZPM Nocturn claims to have solved a number of technical issues, making better equipment more affordable.

I feel convinced, but I'm not an expert. Is it possible to tell (based on what they are describing before production starts) if the approach they are taking is sensible? If so, please point out what does/does not convince you.

I'm not looking for an endorsement, just to confirm that they aren't talking nonsense.

An answer before the Kickstarter deadline ends would be best :)

Speaking as someone who's built a few control systems, sure, a PID controller is almost always better than a simpler control system, but it's not a magic gizmo that automatically solves all problems.  I'm not familiar enough with how commercial machines are made, so I can't judge from their pictures and writeup how much difference their "improved thermoblock" is going to make.

Looking at your previous "troubles," I'd say the first step is to find a way to get good, fairly freshly roasted beans, grind them right before making espresso, and maybe get a slightly better machine.  No temperature control algorithm is going to make up for lousy beans.