Does shape affect pasteurization time when cooking sous vide? Looking at Douglas Baldwin's charts for time to heat a piece of meat sous vide (table 2.2), a cylinder with diameter X heats through much faster than a slab with thickness X. This makes sense to me. The change in time needed can be quite drastic when you get to a larger X, though.

However, when looking at pasteurization times for beef (table 5.1), the shape of the meat doesn't seem to be taken in to account. I don't understand why not. Surely if the meat gets to temperature faster, it must pasteurize faster as well.

From the above tables, a 50mm (thickness) steak takes 3 1/4 hours to pasteurize at 134.5F. If it's a slab, it takes 3 1/2 hours to get to 133.5F through out. If it's a cylinder, it only takes 2 hours. Do I really need that additional 1 1/4 hours for pasteurization?

Can I adjust the pasteurization times for a different shape of meat? If so, how can I calculate what that change is and how much time I really need for pasteurization?

It depends on what is to be pasteurized. If one aims for pasteurizing the surface only, then the shape is more or less unimportant. If however one wants to pasteurize the core, then the shape will affect the times.

To be on the safe size, measure the thickness where the meat is thickest.

Myhrwold writes in http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?/topic/116617-sous-vide-recipes-techniques-equipment-2004-2010/page_st_120_p_982720#entry982720 about cooking times (not pasteurization times):

  This is true for any kind of cooking actually. Most of what we are
  taught about cooking is actually wrong. For example, anytime somebody
  tells you it is “10 minutes per pound” they are saying something that
  cannot possibly be accurate, because this would imply that cooking
  time is proportional to the weight. If you take something like a whole
  bird and scale it up you will find that cooking time is actually
  proportional to something like (weight)^(2/3) – weight to the 2/3
  power. This is because increasing the weight scales up the thickness
  by the cube root. Since most people are not accustomed to taking
  things to fractional powers, people substitute a linear relationship.
  That might work out OK in practice over a small range, but it can’t be
  accurate over a large range. For example, if you double the weight,
  the linear relationship would tell you that you double the cooking
  time. The 2/3 power would tell you to increase it by 59% - that is a
  pretty big difference.

  As a general rule of thumb heat diffusion times go as the square of
  the thickness increase. So, doubling the thickness results in FOUR
  TIMES the cooking time. That is a rough general rule of thumb, which
  is not perfect but it illustrates the nonlinearity of the system. I
  don’t know why this isn’t taught to chefs more often because it is a
  fairly easy thing to grasp and use.

A side note:

If you have an iPad or iPhone then I can recommend SousVideDash. One must enter meat type, shape and size, initial and final temparature. Then graphs are drawn that shows pasteurization times for both surface and core (or more precisely graphs of the reduction of salmonella and listeria).

See the website:

http://www.sousvidedash.com/


Can you make tandoori rotis with chickpea / green pea flour? I would like to know if it is at all possible to make tandoori roti with chick-pea or green pea flour. Also is it just as simple as grinding dry peas into fine dust and using it as a substitute for flour or is there more to it than that. Also, what would you use as binding agent?

You can make a sort of bread with chickpea flour. It's a bit dense compared to a regular chapatti or roti & I'm not sure how much good it would be for picking up your main dish.

By volume, use 50:50 ratio flour to water, add salt to taste. Mix, pour onto baking paper on a flat try & bake at 200 until the sides start to brown. 15 - 20 mins.

Given the choice, I'd make pakora or bhajis instead. The batter fluffs up better deep fried than in the oven.

Chick pea flour is also called gram flour or besan &, at least in the UK, can now be found in any supermarket.
I've never used green pea flour, so can't really comment.


Can I know if lemons are safe to eat whole (peel and all)? Is there any way to tell if lemons contain a residue of something that is harmful to humans?
The last two winters we have been buying oranges in bulk through a website, directly from the farm and i really like it. I would like to buy lemons in bulk too.
They say their lemons are not treated with anything but I would like to have a little more reassurance. The fruit is not certified organic.
When buying in a store I assume the person buying the fruit for the store tests occasionally and consumer organizations and governmental organizations also sometimes test.
But now I will be buying directly from the farm, without the middleman so to speak.
Related:
Lemons and oranges coated with imazalil
EDIT:
The type of answer I am looking for is how can I test, at home, in the kitchen if the fruit is covered with something like fungicides. I know citrus is often waxed, but that can be washed off, and I will wash the fruit anyway before eating.
Alternatively, maybe pesticides and fungicides are so expensive that farmers are likely to avoid it if they can. Remember, these fruits are shipped straight from the farm, only fruit that is in season is sold, so there is no reason to keep them long.

this may be too simple.  But I would think you could ask the owner of the website what chemicals the farmers use. Especially if you are concerned about particular ones.  I haven't seen a web store without a "Contact us:" link
I guess the owners could lie to you, but without knowing a lot about chemical tests, that's the best I've got.


Why didn't my crumpets cook in the middle? I tried to make crumpets today, first time I've used yeast so didn't really know what to expect.

The recipe I followed was:

450g plain flour
1tsp caster sugar
14g instant yeast
350ml skimmed milk
350ml cold water
1tsp salt
½tsp bicarbonate of soda

Basic Instructions:

combine flour + sugar + yeast
warm milk to ~37°C, combine with water
beat watery milk into flour/sugar/water
prove for 2h
beat in salt & bicarb
rest for 10m
cook on pan in crumpet rings

They looked great in the pan, holes formed on the top and they looked like crumpets; they didn't rise, but I'm not sure if they should've done anyway.

The problem is that even after 15 minutes in the pan, the middle was still gooey - completely uncooked. I tried a couple of batches, experimenting with temperature, but I couldn't get a successful crumpet out of it.

The recipe noted the batter would "Double in size and drop back down". While it did double in size and begin to drop down, it did not return to its original volume until I had removed the cling film and beaten in the salt and bicarb. Could this be a sign that I did not prove for long enough, or my kitchen was a bit cool for the proving? That is the only idea I had as to why things didn't work out.

Any and all insight would be appreciated.

Crumpets are tricky. I did not manage to cook one thoroughly or successfully until my third or fourth attempt, and even then they all had very brown bottoms! Even shop-bought sometimes seem to suffer the same fate.

The first issue could be the recipe. You'll find a mix of unbleached plain and bread flour better. My grandmother always made crumpets with water, not milk. Luke warm is finger-warm, so not sure about the temperature of the liquid vs. time it needs to rise, but sounds like the batter was successful. It is good to know what you are doing and want to achieve when making crumpet batter-cum-dough. The protein needs to develop to give the strength for the characteristic crumpet texture, and the gluten to give structure and help them rise. Did your method achieve both?

  they didn't rise, but I'm not sure if they should've done anyway

No, they do not rise during the cooking. You pour a good half inch of batter into the ring. If it leaks out the batter is too thin (add more flour and whisk) and if holes do not appear, whisk in some extra liquid. The bubbles form giving the crumpet texture when cooking the first side. You can speed up the process by popping bubbles as they form with a skewer. When the holes stop filling with batter, the crumpets are cooked and you can carefully turn them over.

I find a very heavy bottomed cast iron pan or iron griddle is essential for successful crumpet making. Direct heat is not helpful, whereas steady, radiant, all-over heat is good. "Moderate" is about right.... moderately hot, not smoking hot. (For what it is worth as a comparison, set around 2/3 on the dial on my stove). Once the texture i.e. the holes are formed and the batter set, you can turn them over, which helps to cook them as well as free up the rings for the next two. I only have two rings, so by the time the first two have cooked, the proper heat quality seems to have been reached. Very much like making pancakes, the first one never is very good (I find).

  The problem is that even after 15 minutes in the pan, the middle was still gooey - completely uncooked

That would indicate the heat was not high enough. My crumpets take no more than +/- 8 minutes each to cook. +/- 7 minutes maximum first side and then 1-2 minutes just to colour-up the holey top.

  Could this be a sign that I did not prove for long enough...

No. The batter falls back when the yeast has done its stuff and is exhausted. Which is what you want, because now the gluten has developed sufficiently to give structure. It will also enable them to rise and hold their shape, while the protein gives the strength. I'd guess the bubbles in your crumpet recipe come from the bicarbonate of soda as much as those made by the yeast.

So all-in-all your batter sounds OK, but the recipe may need tweaking a little and you need to scrutinise the heat and the pan you use. Maybe also how thick they are? Was there too much in each ring? Don't give up! They really are far superior to bought crumpets and will even freeze. When you toast them to serve, this helps dry off any surplus moisture.

For a mighty article on How to Cook Perfect... Crumpets and comparison of recipes and techniques, from Elisabeth David to Gary Rhodes look no further than this Guardian article posted by Felicity Cloake, 21 March 2013. Do notice the appearance of the various examples. I think you will find them most informative and illuminating, not least compared to shop-bought crumpets. There are also several "How to cook a crumpet" videos online. Some are good, such as this one from The Bread Kitchen but others are dire!

Hope this helps. I'm off to find ethically caught tuna fish cans which have a "traditional" top and bottom as well as no ribs around the sides. Feel it's going to be a challenge, but would be great to add to my lonely two crumpet rings. Frugal old Piglet. ;)


Do tomatoes or tomato pastes damage stainless steel cookware? I enjoy making a good ragu, and I often want to let it sit in the stainless steel cookware so I can have leftovers the next day (not a commercial setting).  But I'm concerned about the acid from the tomatoes eating into the pot or pan.

Do tomatoes or tomato pastes harm the finish on stainless steel cookware if it sits overnight?

I have stainless steal pots and pans and I have never had an issue storing food in them in the refrigerator. I make all kinds of stocks for soup and often store the stock in the pot overnight in the refrigerator to remove the fat layer the next day.


New Red Potatoes have pink streaks inside Is it safe to eat new red potatoes fresh out of garden that has pink streaks in them? What are these pink streaks?

According to the picture on this site and the description, it seems as if certain potatoes have a natural streaked coloring inside: http://antiquityoaks.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html (scroll down a lot or press Ctrl+F or Cmd+F and search for "potato" and it should move the focus to the relevant part of the page.

Here's the picture alone: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jAMcel8G5to/S-I7Z4ptCXI/AAAAAAAABpE/3NLj91jFbYc/s320/French+fingerling+potato.jpg

In addition to this particular variety, you may also come across some cross-breeds or deviations from the norm. Plants, like all living things, have recessive genes, and occasionally you may find some showing themselves in one plant but not another (so you could get a bunch of potatoes and find some that have slightly different coloring than other). This is actually not a bad thing. Having crops that are genetically diverse increases the likelihood that more will survive if there are pests, fungi, infections, etc. This is because differences in traits can give certain plants an advantage over others -- a slightly different coloring could make the root less tasty to pests, or a difference in pollen or flower color could attract more pollinating insects, etc. It's actually less natural (and less adaptive, biologically-speaking) to have every single piece of produce you get look the same. The reason that many pieces of produce do look similar is more because people breed them to look more uniform. But, that's more for the sake of people's eyes than it is for the sake of the plant's strength, nutritive qualities, chances for survival, etc.


How to fry an egg without a burnt thin crust around? Sometimes I fry eggs (1-3 pieces). But they are spread out (blurred) on a pan and where thin egg white burn up. The size of my pans average.

Your pan is probably too hot, so the edges burn before the middle. Try turning down the heat some.


Does pouring water on burning charcoal when grilling make the meat more smokey? Does anyone know if pouring water during grilling on the charcoal, which makes the fire smokey, would actually make the taste of the meat being grilled more smokey?

No, as that isn’t creating smoke. It’s creating steam. A steamier cooking environment may actually inhibit desired grilling flavors as it could inhibit browning via the Maillard reaction.


Using parchment paper to bake whoopie pies My recipe for whoopie pies calls to grease and flour a baking sheet.  Can I simply use parchment paper on the baking sheet instead?

Absolutely.
There are only a few cases where parchment and grease/flour are not interchangeable and whoopie pies are not one of them.


How can I tell an eggplant is not bitter and very seedy? Aubergines / Eggplants are sometimes bitter or particularly seedy.
Since this is at the market or supermarket, we can look at it, smell it and carefully touch it, but not poke mushy indentations in it or pierce its skin.
Is there a way to tell whether it is bitter or has many seeds?

Eggplants become bitter as they mature so your best bet is to buy freshly picked eggplants and to use them as soon as you can. Look for a full-size eggplant with a glossy and firm purple. Once an eggplant's color dulls, it becomes more bitter.
The "seediness" of eggplants may also vary depending on what variety of eggplant you've purchased so try a variety of them to see which ones you like best!
If you end up with a bitter eggplant, try slicing it, salting the slices, and allowing them to drain for an hour. Then, remove excess salt and moisture by pressing on the slices with a kitchen towel. This can help the eggplant taste less bitter.
Fun fact: Eggplants are bitter because they contain phenolic compounds, which impart bitterness! Lots more great science about eggplants in that link :)


Can you make a burger from pepperoni? I was just thinking and I love pepperoni. Could you make a whole burger out of pepperoni? I wonder what this would taste like? It wouldn't be cheap of course.
It might be near to incorporate shredded pepperoni in a beef burger using ground beef, but I wonder if you can make a full burger out of pepperoni?

to answer the primary question, yes you could, but pepperoni is already cooked and processed and is hard (dried),it's easy to eat in small thin slices, but not in big chucks.
You could try grinding it down again and find a way to bind it in a patty (egg?breadcrumbs?) but the final texture might be weird,
pepperoni is also usually quite strong in taste and making a whole burger out of it would be overwhelming flavour (IMO).
As someone (SnakeDoc) wrote  in the comment, you could finely chop pepperoni and mix it with your burger meat.
pepperoni is more or less ground pork (or beef or mix of both) with spices and smoked.
As a substitute,
You could make a patty of ground pork and beef, add some pepperoni spices, including smoked paprika (or some liquid smoke) and use that as a burger meat.


Does the nutrition facts label include "packaging"? Does the nutrition facts label include "packaging"?

For example, for "sardines packed in oil", does the label refer to drained sardines, or everything in the container?

Edit: I sometimes forget that other countries exist. I'm mostly interested in U.S. nutritional facts labels. Nothing on the packaging says how it should be interpreted (as far as I can tell).

In the UK, the nutition information (for tinned fish) is given after draining: Tesco sardines.  This is specified on the packaging.

How well drained is another matter, but there's enough information on the packaging - the drained weight is given as 84g while the contents is 120g, so to achieve the stated nutrition values, you'd need to drain off 36g of oil.

You use the term "nutrition facts", which is used in a few countries (not mine); it's up to the authority that writes the labelling regulations, but whether drained or not should be clearly stated if those regulations are fit for purpose.  If yours aren't labelled sufficiently, look for a simliar product that is, such as the one I've linked.


Why was our garlic butter made in France, much nicer than garlic butter in England? We're stumped so we thought we'd come and ask the experts.

Last weekend we were in Paris, and bought what we think was normal unsalted butter (from a marche franprix) and (again as far as we are aware) normal garlic.

We melted the butter on a low heat, cut up 2/3 cloves of garlic, put them in the butter, left it to simmer for 3/4 mins and out came lovely tasting Garlic butter with a strong (but not overpowering) Garlic flavour, almost slightly salty - very similar to Pizza Express Garlic butter if you have ever had that.

We fell in love with the stuff so as soon as we got home bought some garlic and unsalted butter from a UK supermarket. Worked through the same process and it was naff.

There's no strong garlic flavor, the butter looks very yellow and has a strong buttery flavour.

Does anyone know why there would be such a difference? A quick google shows no difference between French & English garlic or butter.

P.s. in Paris we repeated the process 3/4 times so it wasn't a one off fluke

The UK supermarkets have the opinion that British people like milder garlic, so most of the garlic you find in the UK supermarkets, even organic garlics, are of a very mild variety. Also, they are bred for yield, in softer soils, so they produce bigger bulbs but less strong.

Garlic found in most French and Italian stores is much stronger, as that is what people demand. It is usually hardneck, rather than softneck garlic, and hardnecks tend to be much stronger. French garlic is usually grown in stronger soils, so it produces a stronger flavor.

My solution is to grow my own, 3 bulbs planted usually yields a years' worth of garlic for me, and because I have clay soil it has a strong flavor. It's by far the easiest and most rewarding thing I've ever grown.

If that's not your cup of tea then ask a greengrocer to stock a stronger variety of garlic, or order it from an Isle of Wight supplier. Of course, you could just use about 4 times as much to get more flavor.


What to do with an aubergine (eggplant) that has gone brown inside? Sometimes an aubergine that looks fine on the outside has brown meat in the center.
Is the aubergine still edible and will it taste ok? Or should I cut away the brown bits or chuck away the whole aubergine.

If I see a few little brown bits, I'll cut them out and go ahead an use it. If it was, say, 20% brown, I'd throw it out.


What impact does the order of assembly have when making cookies? What is the impact of assembling a cookie batter in a different manner than that described in the recipe?  What's the best general order for combining the creamed fat & sugar, the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients?

For instance, the Toll House Chocolate Chip cookie recipe says to add the eggs to the creamed mixture, and then the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda).  I sometimes add the dry ingredients, and then the eggs.  What problems might this cause with the finished cookies?

Generally with baking you mix all the wet ingredients, then all the dry, then incorporate the latter into the former. This prevents clumping and helps make sure everything is mixed uniformly.

In some recipes, adding the eggs (often un par un, or one by one) also contributes (via the yolk's supply of lecithin) to emulsifying e.g. butter and milk together.

The best way to find out, of course, is to experiment. Next time you're making these cookies, make a double batch. Do one according to the recipe, and the other your way. Honestly with cookies I doubt you'll see much difference; they're basically foolproof (I have, when in a hurry, made chocolate chip cookies by dumping everything in the mixer, whacking it about with the paddle attachment, and then folding in the actual chips. Worked fine, basically). When it comes to baking things that are more finicky--cakes etc--I would follow the recipe directions.


Does Tea Quality Matter For Making Kombucha? For kombucha brewers here, I'm wondering if the kombucha tastes better when you brew it with higher grade teas. Or would making them with simple tea bags from the supermarket taste as good? Let's say I break the raw material quality down in the following categories:

Crushed tea in tea bags
Broken loose leaf tea
Full leaf tea
Full leaf & bud tea
100% bud tea

Do you experience a difference in your brew when brewing with different teas as listed above?

At last, I'm also curious if you've tried other categories of teas besides green and black teas, such as:

Oolong tea
Raw (sheng) pu erh tea
Ripe (sheng) pu erh tea
White tea

Your answers are highly appreciated, as I'm really a beginner in kombucha brewing!

I'm not terribly familiar with the nuances of kombucha, but I suspect the answer lies between "maybe" and "probably".  The key question is, how similar the finished kombucha tastes like the original tea used - the more that is the case, the more the initial tea quality will matter.  The few times I've had kombucha, it has seemed not terribly similar to plain tea - thus I would think the difference between kombuchas made with different grades of teas would be subtle.

Higher quality ingredients do tend to improve the quality of the finished product, however, the more processed or mixed something is, the less any individual ingredient matters. Tea is a major ingredient in kombucha, so changing the grade should make a difference in the final taste.  Kombucha is fermented and sweetened, so I suspect a fair amount of the differences between grades of tea would be smoothed down by that much processing - not all the differences would be lost, but perhaps enough to make the change subtle, rather than overt.  The same would go for different types of tea, the greater the difference, the more change in the final product.  It will also matter how picky you are, in terms of telling the differences between grades of tea leaves - some people find the differences very obvious, others very subtle.  If the grade of tea matters to you a lot in regular tea drinking, you would be more likely to tell the difference in your kombucha than someone like me, who is fairly causal about different grades of tea and is fine with most anything.

I would guess that you can make a perfectly acceptable kombucha from regular tea bags.  Also, the tea doesn't seem to be carefully brewed, just steeped in boiling hot water until all the flavor is extracted - so the differences between whole leaf, broken leaf, and powder (assuming the same grade of tea) will vanish in the brewing - a lot of the differences in processing tend to matter the most with certain methods and timing of brewing, like brewing at lower temperatures or controlling the steep times.  This is more or less the same reason tea grades don't matter very much in preparations like chai tea or milk tea - strongly brewed (overbrewed, most would consider it) and doctored with other flavors, the grade of the tea itself matters much less than a precisely brewed plain cup.

Differences in the grade of tea, high vs low quality or leaf vs bud, and the bigger differences with type of tea, green or black or puer-eh or oolong, will matter a little more (as there are different compounds being extracted, or extracted in different ratios).  I would expect differences in color and taste would be the result of using very different kinds of tea to make kombucha - though I don't know how they would actually come out, without experimenting.


How do I stabilize a lecithin-based foam? I've made quite a few foams using the standard technique of adding powdered lecithin to my flavor base, and then agitating with an immersion blender in a wide, shallow container, with the blender near the surface so it beats in lots of air. This works ok, but I find the foams don't hold as long as I would like, often just a minute or two. Is there anything I can do to make them more stable for service?

I'd look into:

contaminants
the container you use
lecithin ratio
(air) moisture
inert gas use (which implies a different technique.

This link on foams to the food science pages at edinformatics looks good. Perhaps it can help you out further.


Dehydration temperatures for long-term preservation I am dehydrating fruits and vegetables with a home dehydrator. I found in the internet varying recommendations about dehydration temperatures, ranging from 45 to 65 C (113 to 150 F). However, since dehydration is used also for short-term consumption (by raw-food enthusiasts), I am not sure the recommendations are good for long-term preservation.

So, my questions are:

If I dehydrate in 45 C (113 F), for about 24 hours, and keep the dehydrated stuff in tightly closed glass jars - can I expect them to be preserved for about 2 years?
If the answer is no - what is the minimal temperature that I should use in order to guarantee preservation for 2 years?

The temperature varies not by how long you want to keep the item, but by what you are dehydrating. Consider a carrot. A raw carrot will keep for literally months. A cooked one at room temperature will not even keep for days. So, when you're dehydrating carrots (for example to reduce the weight of the food you take camping) you want to be sure not to cook them in the process. Now, consider raw meat such as jerky. This has a LOT of water in it. If you dry it at too low a temperature, it will spoil before you have reduced the water content enough. Same for a fruit puree. But herbs, if you have it too hot you will draw out the flavours and just keep dehydrated dust.

My dehydrator came with a book telling me what temperatures to use for what products. There are also words on the temperature dial. This is a cropped shot of my model on the manufacturer's website:

While you can't read the words, they say "fruit", "vegetables" etc. The coolest temps are for herbs, then it goes raising bread, making yogurt, then dehydrating veg, then fruit, and finally jerky.

And just as you can't choose one temperature to use for dehydrating any and all food, nor can you assume one keeping time for any and all food. My book also tells me which things keep for months, and which for years. I don't think there's anything that will let your dried meat keep for years, but you should do ok with legumes and some vegetables.


Meat curing vs fermenting I got into somewhat of a heated debate with a friend recently. He keeps on talking about fermenting meats. I told him that he should stop using the word fermenting when talking about meat because that would bring forth a big misunderstanding.

I was of the opinion that meat is cured and grapes get fermented. Also that if meat ferments then it spoils and becomes inedible. Am I correct or can you happily ferment meat and still eat it?

This may be just a case of semantics but I would just like to know what the correct culinary terms are.

So...you're both sort of correct, just depending on how you look at the question.

Curing vs Fermentation

First, let's have a quick science primer on food.

All of the food humans consume and utilize for energy can be broadly categorized as differing ratios of protein(remember these are amino acid (AA) chains), carbohydrates(sugars and fiber are types of carbohydrates), water, and fats (lipids). Plants, compared to animal flesh, are composed of different ratios of these classes of nutrients.

The difference between curing and fermentation resides in how these basic nutrient blocks change over time (whether it's in plants or animal flesh), and what chemically active ingredients/microorganisms are added to accomplish this.

What does curing do to these components?

Curing is specifically changing the amount of water that is in the cells of the food in question.  Adding salts (NaCl/nitrates, etc), or sugar to water (called a brine), or directly to the surface of the food tends to decrease the amount of water in the cells. This process exchanges the cellular water in part for the added salts/sugars/etc (also called decreasing the water activity). Decreasing the amount of water in the food inhibits deleterious microorganisms from setting up camp and spoiling the food.

Coming back to a part of the semantics portion of your question... you CAN cure both vegetables and meats.  The ultimate food outcome and success of curing comes down to the amount of curing compounds, water, time, and temperature.  Variations in those components impact the texture, flavors, and edibility of your final product.

OK, so what's the deal with fermentation?

In fermentation, particular microorganisms are either added, or wild-harvested to the food in question.  The goal here is to pre-populate your food with beneficial bacteria so that the bad bacteria (species that can make you sick) do not have a chance to get to any of your food.  Depending on the organism, they utilize the food-substance to manufacture (called metabolism) varying compounds like lactic acid or ethanol. The chemical byproducts of the bacteria contribute to the texture, flavors, water activity (because the bacteria need to use water to live), and pH of the fermented product.  Eventually, through aging, water evaporates  or is converted to alcohols, and is used by the bacteria until there is so little water or food substrate left, there are very few (if any) bacteria left alive (they also go dormant) on the food.

In summary:

Fermentation needs microorganisms, curing is changing the water inside the cells(plant or animal)  So you can both cure and ferment meat (even eggs!).  You can both cure and ferment vegetables, grains, and fruits. Fermentation of proteins does not equal inedible food.  Fermentation by microorganisms like salmonella, listeria, and strains of E.coli on food DOES equal spoilage.

Hope this was helpful.


Do specialty cheese-cutting tools have specific advantages over an ordinary knife? I cut block cheese (mostly cheddar or muenster) into slices or cubes using an ordinary non-serrated stainless steel knife. I used to use a T-shaped slicer that had a wire and an adjustable roller (for slice thickness), but when it fell apart I realized that an ordinary knife worked about as well.

But I keep seeing lots of novelty cheese-cutting gadgets and specialty cheese knives, and I don't understand what gives them an advantage over a regular knife.

Could it be the type of cheese? Are different cheese-cutting implements better suited to different cheeses?

There's a lot of different cheese cutting implements ... so it's probably better to discuss advantages / disadvantages by type.

Wire mounted to a cutting board : Useful for really soft cheeses like chèvre and brie, but I'm not really a fan as you have to clean out the little groove, and it takes up a lot of room for something with only a few uses (it also works for cutting logs of refrigerated cookie dough).  If you're cutting a log of chèvre, you get a similar cut by looping it with dental floss and pulling, and it'll deform the log less.  Also works well with medium firm cheeses.
Wire mounted on a handle with a roller : Works on semi-soft to medium firmness cheeses (or cheese food); anything that'll hold its shape in a block (even Velveta), but not what you'd consider a 'hard' cheese.  There's less drag than a knife, and you can get consistent thickness slices (some are adjustable, some you just change the angle of the handle relative to the block to get a thinner slice) ... but they have the problem that the roller can get gunked up, and if the block's wider than the cutter, you'll have to take a knife to the block first.
Cheese Plane :  (looks kinda spatula-ish, with a slicing slot in it).  Works best for medium firm cheeses; easy to clean, you get consistent thickness slices (although, only one thickness), and it can be a little faster than using a knife if you're trying for really thin slices.  (if you need thicker slices, you'd have to double or triple up, removing any speed advantage).  It actually can be used on something wider than the slot if the cheese isn't too firm.  And, in a pinch, it can also double as a vegetable peeler, as I've learned from a friend.

When we start getting to "cheese knife", there's a few different things that the term might be referring to:

a spreading knife : rounded tip, used for serving soft cheeses, but can still cut firmer stuff.
knives with a fork on the front; may also have holes through the blade so the cheese will release rather than dragging; used for serving medium firm cheeses.
a spade : short, wide, pointed tip (actually looks like the spade on a deck of cards) : used for prying off chunks of hard cheeses.

I've seen other ones that look more like chisels; I've never used them.  I'd assume they'd be best for medium-firm cheeses that aren't in too large of a block.

Personally, I typically use this cheap 'micro-serated' paring knife that I think I got two in a pack at a dollar store about 15 years ago.  It's horrible for cutting just about everything else, but it's amazing for most cheeses; it might be that the teeth aren't really aligned well anymore, but it keeps the cheese from dragging along the blade, so I can get really clean slices quite quickly; it works okay for everything but really hard cheeses (good point, but not wide enough to get a flake off, really soft cheeses (see the dental floss comment above), or really crumbly cheeses.


What can I use in Thai curries instead of cilantro or coriander root? (Allergy) I'm trying to make panang curry from scratch for my sister, who is allergic to cilantro (AKA coriander outside of the US). This is not the gene that causes it to taste bad - she cannot eat any part of the plant even in small amounts.

Many Thai curries call for cilantro root. This isn't something I've tasted by itself (though I hear it's sort of similar to the stems of the plant), and I'm not very good at pinpointing specific flavors to try to come up with alternatives anyway :)

What other herb or seasoning could I use to get a similar flavor?

If you can, please be specific in terms of ratios - many substitutions say "try a little of X with a bit of Y," but I don't know what the flavor I'm going for is so I can't taste-test... I would love to know how much of what substance I could use to replace e.g. 1 tablespoon chopped coriander root.

Just leaving it out is unlikely to result in a disappointing curry - some commercially sold panang pastes omit the coriander root too. What they do not usually omit, though, is the ground coriander seed that is common in all except gaeng kua paste (which is the simplest form of red curry paste, has no dry spices at all, and makes for a great curry still) and some specialty pastes.

Some recipes suggest adding "ginseng" - what they likely mean is krachai/fingerroot, which indeed has a "medicinal" taste that could make a good addition to a coriander-less paste.

Avoid a "broken window" effect to the flavor profile - don't make more "convenient" substitutions (eg using ginger in a red curry paste like this one, using onions for shallots, or using plain lime zest without also adding some kaffir lime leaf.), so the flavor profile is left as intact as you can leave it. Maybe you could also roast your own peanuts freshly. Long cooking time, topping with red bell pepper and chiffonaded kaffir lime leaf - get the other elements done really well.


Baking Electric Fan Oven I have just moved to a kitchen with a electric fan oven and I have always been use to using a gas oven.

I have always done a lot of cake baking and have put a sheet of grease proof paper on top of the cake tin/liner to stop the cake from burning or cooking to much. With the Fan oven this blows off has anyone any suggestions tostop this happening.

Some convection ovens have the ability to turn off the fan -- if yours has one, that would be recommended.

One of the big issues is that the cooking time changes based on the surface area of the item being cooked -- so if you have a thin cake, such as a jelly roll (baked thin, then rolled up), your cooking time will be dramatically reduced ... but it doesn't help with large cakes -- you'll just end up with the top browing faster than the middle sets.

In general, the recommendation for convection ovens is to lower the temperature by about 25F / 15C (some newer ones with digital controls will do this automatically), but some people report problems with cakes being overly dense; I've heard different theories (eg, bernoulli effect lowering the pressure in the oven, causing the air bubbles to come out of the batter).  Adding a tight covering of aluminium foil might help this, but it will cause other issues (eg, steaming the top).

Another recommendation I've seen for baking in a convection oven is to make sure that your oven has had sufficient time to pre-heat, then when putting in your baked goods, turn the oven off, and leave if off for 3-5 minutes before turning it back on.  (this is typically to solve problems with baked goods appearing lopsided, as the fan's blowing so hard it's moving the batter around significantly).


What is this black stuff coming off my George Forman grill? I bought this George Forman Grill with detachable trays that are supposed to be dishwasher safe. I noticed that after the dishwasher there's this black soot on them. What causes this? Is there anyway of preventing it? The drip tray that came with the grill has written on it "wash in top rack only", should the same be done with actual grills? What difference does it make if something is washed in the top or bottom rack?

Most likely your problem is caused by your dishwasher detergent. Many of them will cause aluminum to oxidize creating the issue you are experiencing.

I would suggest that you hand-wash and remove the oxidation as it looks quite extreme. (You don't want any of it to come off in the dishwasher and be deposited on other dishes.)

While it technically may be 'dishwasher safe', to prevent the oxidation from reoccurring I would recommend going forward that you hand-wash. The other option may be to try different dishwasher detergents to see if you can find one that does not cause this reaction.


What are some techniques to cool down a dish so that we can store it in the refrigerator safely? My wife just cooked some 'plof' (an Ashkenazi Jewish recipe). A one pot chicken, rice, onion, carrots dish. All those are in their respective layers.

She just finished cooking it. We're going to go to sleep. She has set her timer to wake up in a few hours to put the whole pot into the fridge.

Is this gradual cooling safe? Especially for a meat dish? Does it matter whether it has meat in it or not?

I don't want to put this hot pot into the fridge because it will raise the temperature of my refrigerator.

There are several things in general that you can do to increase the speed at which food cools down, but two of the most effective are:

Increase the surface area.  Spread it in a wide, shallow pan, like a sheet pan, rather than a deep pot.  This will allow more cooling.
Use an ice water bath.  Place the container with the food into an ice water bath, being careful not to spill the water into the food.  Using a zip style bag to hold the food before putting it into the bath also can help.

A variation of this, especially for hot stocks or stews, is to freeze water in clean water bottles or zip bags, and place those into the food in addition to the ice bath.

For a pilaf, the first method should work very well.

You can also bring physics to the party:

Convection is far more powerful at heat transfer than conduction.  A fan for air cooling will help, or running water for water for water cooling will also help, but these are not always practical in kitchen.


Appropriate way to thaw mushrooms I've put a package of sliced mushrooms in the freezer for few days. I plan to use in a vegetable stir fry. What is the appropriate way to thaw the mushrooms?

Leave them out in a cool place (or even the fridge) for 6 or 7 hours to defrost thoroughly. Nothing special required.


'Espresso' Maker - Base turned dark, is it bad? A few days ago I got an 'Espresso' maker made out of Aluminium (one of these).
At the moment I am experimenting a bit with it, but I noticed something strange. The base (the part where you put the water in) turned dark from the inside. Is this normal or bad, maybe even dangerous? Do I need to clean it? If so: How do I clean it?

What you've got there, is a Moka pot. They are unable to produce the amount of pressure that gives the Espresso its character, in particular the crema.

I have owned several, and all of them have had this happen. That has had no impact on the flavour or mouth feel.


What temperature does "keep refrigerated" mean? The packages of my cheese and hotdogs say "Keep Refrigerated" (see photos below). Does that mean I should put them in the freezer, or the other room of the refrigerator?

Many food products' packages say "Keep Refrigerated", for example, eggs are labeled as such and with temperature at least or at most 45 Fahrenheit.  If not explicitly saying some temperature, how can I know if I should put a product in the freezer or the other room of the refrigerator?

Cheese:

Hotdogs:

I think there's a bit of linguistic confusion here. Although combination fridge-freezers (i.e. two compartments, one above freezing and one below) are common and we often call the entire appliance a refrigerator, that's more just a simplification. We'd never refer to the freezer compartment (or a standalone freezer) as refrigerating things; it freezes them.

So if someone says "put it in the fridge" or "refrigerate that" or "keep refrigerated", they mean the fridge, not the freezer.

It's rare for things to have more specific refrigeration temperature requirements than that. You can't really adjust your fridge much; it needs to be 40F/4C or lower to be safe. In practice that means you aim for more like 35F/2C so that if some parts of the fridge are a bit warmer it's still safe. That means that even if you wanted to keep something slightly warmer, the warmest you could really keep it is 40F/4C. If you really want to store a food at a higher temperature, you need a different solution; this is why people store potatoes in cellars, for example.

As for what things can be frozen if desired... it's hard to generalize a ton. The main issue with freezing is that it can mess with the texture of food. Fresh fruit and vegetables will generally lose their structure when frozen, so if they're subsequently thawed they'll end up mushy and leaking juice, making them only good for cooking. Things with less structure like meat, dairy/cheese, and a lot of cooked food tend to freeze well.

So your cheese and hot dogs will be fine frozen, but if you have a lot of other things you're interested in freezing and you don't have an intuition for what will and won't work, you're probably best off googling each one.


Kiwifruit - slow drying Last year, I accidentally slow dried some yellow kiwifruit in my refrigerator. I had simply forgotten about them. It must have been at least four months before I realized. When I pulled them out, still in their plastic container, they were in no way rotted, moldy or even soft. They seemed to have slowly dehydrated and reminded me of giant raisins. Let me tell you, they were AMAZING. The flavors were so intense! Does anyone know of a system or actual method for this? I want to do try this as a regular thing, but I also do not want to waste kiwifruit...and to have my hopes and dreams dashed upon the rocks because it did not work again.

I think you were just lucky in that they didn't go moldy or rot in your refrigerator.  So, if you want more control, it would be a simple matter of peeling, slicing and dehydrating.  You can do this in an oven set on it's lowest temperature, or more reliably by using a food dehydrator. You can certainly experiment with whole fruit or larger chunks, but I think slices are the way to go for ease of use and storage.


Can Rum-balls be made without alcohol? My wife and I enjoy a recipe for rum-balls that she has made in the past, but we have friends that choose not to consume any alcohol.

Is there any hope for non-alcoholic rum-balls? What could be substituted?

Can you make rum balls without rum?  Well... I suppose you could use rum extract, which has a very intense rum flavor.  You would also want to add some sugar syrup or water to make up for the lost moisture in your recipe.  However, you would not get the exact same outcome due to the lack of the evaporative effect of the alcohol when eating the confection, and due to the lack of alcohol as a flavor carrier.
I surveyed a number of rum ball recipes.  For yields of about two dozen to five dozen, none of them used more than 1/2 cup of rum.   This means that the rum per serving is on the order of a tablespoon teaspoon or so, or less.  You and your friends might feel this is a level of rum consumption that is fine.  I don't drink alcohol myself, and this level would not bother me.
There are many, many, many desserts and confections that you could make.   If your friends are strongly opposed to any alcohol at all, why choose this one, where you are trying to substitute for the key ingredient that gives the dish its identity?


How to Tell if Beef Steak Has Been Dry-Aged I am about to purchase my first dry-aged beef steak. How do I know the steak has been properly dry-aged? How do I know if the vendor is not trying to sell me spoiled meat?

From some photos dry-aged steak seem like meat left in the freezer for too long.

While there's some similarity in looks between aged steak and rotten meat (both usually have a dark color) it's easy to tell the difference. Spoiled meat will smell rotten and very unpleasant, and will probably have a slimy feel to it. I've found that dry aged meat has an intense, rich smell to it. Spoiled meat, or meat past its prime will lose its bounce, if you stick a finger into it the impression will last. Good meat will spring back and the impression will disappear.

Meat that has been frozen too long will look very different from a dry aged steak.

Meat loses moisture in the dry aging process, leaving the meat more concentrated if you will. Put a steak that has been dry aged for a good amount of time next to one which hasn't and you will tell the difference. Buy from a butcher with a good reputation and compare to a supermarket choice steak and you will see what I mean.


Replacement for pumpkin I have a recipe that requires pumpkin, but I would like not to use it.
Are there other vegetables, or combination of vegetables I could use? I would like to get the same consistency; if then the taste is similar, that is a bonus.

I report the list of ingredients used for the recipe:

Tofu (250 gr)
Onion (1)
Pumpkin (200 gr)
Parsley
Pasta (400 gr)

The pumpkin is cut in cubes, cooked covered with few water for 15 minutes, and then the other ingredients are added. All is cooked for 10 minutes more.

The closest in terms of taste an texture would be another winter squash such as butternut, acorn, hubbard, etc. (As has already been mentioned.)

However, anything with a similar texture would work. If you don't care so much about the taste, you could substitute a tuber such as potato, turnip, rutabaga, carrot, parsnip, celery root, or parsley root.

Sweet potatoes or yams would be closer in taste, but might be mushier than you want.

I'd suggest experimenting with any single or combination of the above and see what flavor you like best.


Using anise seed instead of star anise I have wanted to make Vietnamese pho bo for a while, and a simple recipe I found calls for 6 star anise. I couldn't find this, and instead bought some anise seed since I read anise seed is used as a substitute for it, sometimes. I'm wondering if a) the anise seed will work for pho and if so, b) how much anise seed should be added when the recipe called for 6 star anise?

Thanks!

I asked a few friends, and one linked me this website:

http://www.foodsubs.com/SpiceUniv.html

It says 1 tsp. of seeds for every 2 star anise (crushed).


Working with a slack (sticky) sourdough My background is in microbiology and I have fairly recently started making sourdough.

I have been working up my sourdough recipe getting lots of information from friends and the internet.

The recipe I have now put together is a 3 day process; the first 2 days are fermentations, and the 3rd day is the preparation of the dough, resting, kneading (stretch and fold), proofing and baking. I have finally hit the 'nail on the head' except for one thing that I need someone to help me solve. ( I have made 6 previous batches until I got here).

I have started to use a stickier dough (as suggested by 2 friends who make a lot of sourdough) mix which results in a dough which is quite sticky to the hands. I make 3 small loaves from this mix. Before proofing them, I coat the loaves in a light dusting of semolina flour and put them in their proofing baskets. This makes the dough much easier to handle (not sticky which is great). I then proof for 5 hours at about 21C. (my place is warm).

The loaf I get is very nicely risen and soft to the touch. However, when I took the first loaf out of its proofing basket (it came out easily) and put it on the pizza stone, it collapsed quite a lot. I put it in the oven at 500 C for 10 mins and then dropped the temperature to 450 for for 35 mins (golden brown) (also recommended by a friend who works with sticky dough). The loaf that came out had not risen really at all, but the texture of the loaf was perfect (nice air pockets, soft in texture and light, and the crust was great. For me it was the perfect loaf in texture and crust, but the rise I saw at the end of proofing (I wish I had taken a photo), was not seen in the final loaf.

My question is, how do I get around this issue? The previous week I made sourdough dough that was not as sticky. It made loaves that rose very nicely during proofing as well, but they did not collapse as much as the "sticky loaves" prior to going in the oven, and they rose nicely in the oven. However the texture of the baked loaf was more dry and only had lots of tiny airpockets.

I know now that one of the keys to a successful sourdough loaf is the stickiness of the dough, but how do I get a better rise using this dough (as I said, it rose nicely in the proofing baskets but collapsed when moving it to the pizza stone)? I am kind of mystified right now.

As you know, as the bread proves a matrix of bubbles is formed. And just like blowing soap bubbles, the bigger they get the more fragile the bubbles are.

When you bake in pans you can let bread rise a lot as long as you are gentle when you move them into the oven. If you are using bannetons, you can’t let it get so fragile and still survive being turned out. All that happened was that lots of your bubbles broke, and some joined up to make the bigger less structurally robust large holes.

So you got plenty of rise, you just inadvertently knocked the bread back. I’d suggest shortening the final rise.


How do you make peach soda? I was at a local brewpub and they had made a peach soda. I have 5 gallon kegs to carbonate with, but how do you make peach soda?

Torani Peach Syrup!

It's readily available online or at coffee shop supply outlets. Amazon link


Rice has water inside after being cooked I have this Rooster A.A.A. Scented Jasmine Rice that I recently bought and after a few days, water starts forming in the middle for some reason.

A little background, I had a bag of Thai rice that when I leave the rice cooker unplugged (and rice not kept warm), the rice becomes sticky which is what I like. Now with this new Jasmine rice, I do the same thing but instead the water forms.

Am I misinterpreting something where Jasmine rice does not have the same effect as Thai rice?

Do you mean an actual pool of water forms or the rice just does not get sticky like your other rice?

Have you tried different amounts of water to cook it, either more or less?

All rice is different, depending on the variety and where it's grown. You sometimes have to treat a new rice differently than the rice you're used to.


What exactly is "vegetable shortening"? I have not heard about this stuff before.. It is not used in Indian cooking..!
What exactly is shortening?
I read it in a recipe to bake a rose shaped cake and it uses shortening to grease the pan..

In baking, the term "shortening" alone is used to mean any fat; "vegetable shortening" is a fat made from vegetable oil to be solid at room temperature.

Most vegetable oils, such as corn oil, peanut oil, soybean oil and so on are liquid at room temperature because they are unsaturated fats:  their fatty acids do not have hydrogen bound to them.

Vegetable oil is converted into vegetable shortening by hydrogenating it, forcing hydrogen to bind on to the ends of the fatty acids.  This is done by forcing hydrogen to bubble through the oil under pressure, heat, and in the presence of a catalyst.

Compared to vegetable oil, vegetable shortening is solid at room temperature, white in color, and much less prone to rancidity as it is a saturated fat.  It has essentially an unlimited shelf life.

It is also very neutral in flavor, so is often used to grease pans. However, any fat will do for that purpose.

In baking, it performs very well in making North American style pie crusts, where it helps promote a flaky crust, but it has little flavor.  It also performs very well in deep frying.

As a solid fat, like butter, it can also be creamed with sugar to help leaven baked goods, although it does not give the flavor benefits of butter.

Note that margarine is essentially an emulsion of vegetable shortening (about 80%) and water (about 20%) plus colors and flavorings, meant to imitate butter.

See also:

Are there any substitutes for Shortening?


Do dried poblano/ancho chili have an expiration date? I cleaned my kitchen cupboard and found a packet of ancho chili (dried poblano) that I bought a really long time ago (about 10 years?)
Can I still use them in recipes or do they have a "best before date" ?
They still look good, they do not look to be damaged in any way (I don't have bugs or other critters at home)
Thanks.

Dried hot peppers lose flavor and heat over time. At ten years old, your poblano peppers are probably fairly bland. Smell them. If they don't smell bad, taste them. (Taste them cautiously; they may still have some heat.)
If they are completely tasteless, then there's really no point in using them. The wouldn't be harmful, they just won't add anything to your dish.
Worst case scenario, they have picked up some bad flavors from their time in storage. They may bring dusty or musty flavors to your dish. Or they may just taste like a generic mixture of all the things you have in your cupboard. If this is the case, throw them out.
Best case scenario, they still have some good taste, and possibly some spiciness. If this is the case, go ahead and use them. Use more than you normally would; use your judgement to estimate how much more than normal. If you also want the spiciness that your dried peppers are lacking, supplement with some hot pepper flakes or cayenne powder.
When you run out and buy more dried peppers, remember that the new ones will be much spicier. Use the new ones very carefully until you get used to using them, or you will over-spice your dish.


How do I know when my stock is done cooking? I'm making stock from turkey bones and all of the other leftovers hanging around the refrigerator. Since the cooking time varies quite a bit depending on cooking method (I'm doing a slow simmer on the stovetop) and bone type, how can I know when my stock is done cooking so that I can begin to chill it?

Really it's up to you. I generally cook mine for 4 hours, but you can cook it longer or shorter. Cooking it for a short time will lead to a lighter, less flavorful stock, and cooking for longer leads to a darker, richer stock.

Once again, there's no right answer, but I believe 1.5 hours and 6 hours would be best.


What exactly is "Japanese" Salt and Pepper? On a recent trip to Kyoto, I was eating at a Beef Katsu restaurant and one of the spices they made available for seasoning was described as "Japanese salt and pepper".

The spice blend was mostly white/black/gray in color, with no red.

The blend had really excellent flavor (compared to what I would expect for salt + black pepper), and now I'm curious what exactly it was composed of and whether it has a more distinctive name. Does anyone know?

They may have been trying to describe "salt and Japanese pepper". Japanese pepper is unrelated to black pepper, but closely related to Sichuan pepper; its flavor has been described as "lemony" and it has a "numbing" quality. It's also known as "sansho". Mixtures of pre-ground sansho and salt are readily available in Asian grocery stores. This mixture is commonly sprinkled on grilled meats, so this would be my guess.

Of course, it's also possible they meant black and/or white pepper. There's a number of varietals of peppercorn, and how they are roasted, stored, and ground will have a significant effect on the taste.


Replacement for celery with equivalent nutrients? I have this recipe:

2 celery sticks
1 cucumber (large)
2 large handfuls of spinach leaves
1 large handful of lettuce (dark)
1/2 freshly squeezed lemon

But I don't like the "aroma" of celery. So what can I use in place of the celery sticks? The replacement should have similar nutritional values to celery.

The best replacement I have come up with is 2 tomatoes.

Iceberg Lettuce, as it is also very low in vitamins and minerals like celery and has a good crunch.  According to the USDA's "MyPlate", 1 cup of iceberg is 1/2 serving vegetables, and 1 stalk of celery is 1/2 serving vegetables, so to get equivalent nutritional value for 2 stalks would take 2 cups shredded.

You could add more vitamins and minerals by replacing the celery with something more nutrient dense.


Is it possible to make chocolate with cocoa butter and cocoa powder or any two other ingredients only? I'm looking to make chocolate with two ingredients only(and a bit of salt also) however all the recipes seem to have a few ingredients listed.

Is it possible to make it with cocoa butter and cocoa powder only or are there minimum other ingredients required to get it to form properly?
Cannot it be done with cocoa powder and any one other ingredient?
When a chocolate says 70% dark chocolate, does it mean 70% of it is cocoa powder and the other is to make it solid?  What is the maximum percentage of cocoa powder I can add to ensure the chocolate still forms properly?

As discussed in the answer to Making dark chocolate at home (and additional detail on  Is it possible to sweeten chocolate without making it gritty?), making chocolate at home is basically not feasible. You need specialized equipment, because chocolate is not just a mixture of cocoa and other things, it's been ground and mixed in an extremely time-consuming and specific way.

Setting that rather large issue aside...

Sure, chocolate can be made with only cocoa solids and cocoa butter. It's called unsweetened chocolate, and people usually only use it for baking, since it's pretty bitter on its own. The core ingredients are normally cocoa (solids/butter) and sugar. After that, it's mostly about flavor: milk for milk chocolate, salt, maybe even vanilla, and so on. All that can be omitted, but without the sugar, it won't be what most people think of as chocolate for eating.

The percentage is the amount that's from cocoa, whether solids or butter. Unsweetened chocolate with nothing added is 100%, and 70% dark is likely close to 30% sugar (maybe a bit less if other things have been added). I believe that unsweetened chocolate is usually something like 50-55% cocoa butter and 45-50% solids, so I guess that's about the maximum to retain a normal texture if there's nothing else going on.

But again, unless you've got some serious chocolate manufacturing investment plans, all you can do with that information at home is use it to pick what you buy.


Sous-Vide cook out juices I’ve been trying out various styles of thickening the sauce inside the bag while cooking. My focus is creating a marinade style/glaze while cooking my meat, so when it comes out, I can just flame grill.
My sauce keeps splitting (oil separation) - Is there anyone who has been successful in creating a glaze with the end product?

The issue with accomplishing what you want to in the bag is the low temperature typically used in sous vide cooking.  These low temperatures prevent the proteins from coagulating.  This can only happen once you dump the juices into a pan to finish a sauce at higher temperatures. Then, you will probably notice that you get globs of coagulated proteins, which are less than appetizing.  So, you will want to pour the juices into a pot, bring to a simmer, and skim the proteins (or strain them out).  Now you can use the broth as a stock to create a sauce.  Remember though, you will have to build flavor, as these juices are generally not that flavorful.  In your case, you will need to bring to a boil, skim or strain, then reduce significantly to create a glaze.


If a recipe calls for Pectin NH can I use other pectin? I am making this yule log for christmas which requires pectin NH for the glaze.  Can I use any other normal pectin instead of the pectin NH and have the same glossy finish?

No, you can't.

Different pectins set under different conditions. Some require calcium, others require a high percentage of sugar. All have their own optimal pH range.

When a recipe is optimised for one type of pectin, other types won't set properly. Normally, you cannot substitute in any direction.

The linked question from Jolenealaska's comment provides further information.


Does placing a metal spoon in an open bottle of sparkling wine (etc.. .) help keep its fizz? Does placing a metal spoon in an open bottles of bubbles, sparkling wine &  Champagne help keep its fizz ? If so why is this ?

As a beer brewer, I'm pretty concerned with fizz ;)  Since the below may be a little tl;dr, the short answer to your question is, "I don't think so."

This is actually the first time I've heard of the metal spoon "trick", so I can't directly comment on that, but I'll share a little of what I know about carbonation.

Carbonation is carbon dioxide (CO2) that is dissolved in the liquid (beer, champagne, soda).  The fizz is that CO2 coming out of solution and escaping into the air.

Keeping it cold helps keep the fizz, as CO2 dissolves more readily into a cold liquid.  And conversely, comes out of a warm liquid more readily.  Ever pour a glass of warm soda or champagne straight after opening?  It'll foam over everywhere.

The only way to not lose all that CO2 is to seal the container.  Even then, the CO2 will come out of solution and pressurize the headspace (space in the top of the container).  That's why you get a hiss when you first open a bottle.

Again, temperature comes into play.  In a warm bottle, more of the CO2 comes out of solution and pressurizes the headspace.  Chill that same bottle down, and the CO2 can dissolve back into the liquid, giving you a sparkling beverage again.

Now, back to the spoon.  I would think that putting a spoon in the carbonation liquid would produce nucleation points, causing the CO2 to come out of solution faster.  This is why many beer glass manufacturers are coming out with laser-etched designs on the bottom of their glasses - the effervescence caused by the nucleation points helps bring out the hop aromas.


I have a built in deep fryer outside. Is it safe to leave oil in it I have a commercial grade built in deep fryer that I put in my outdoor kitchen.  I have been using it for awhile now and I just leave the oil in the fryer and put a stainless steel cover on it.  The oil looks to be in good shape not dark or anything and the food taste good.  The oil doesn’t smell or anything like that.   I will use the fryer once a week and change the oil every 2-3 months.  Is this a safe and healthy way of storing the oil?  Draining the oil after every use is not ideal as there is a lot of it.   Would like anyone’s input if possible.  Thanks

Assuming that your fryer is protected from the elements, the safety issues for an outdoor fryer are the same as for an indoor one. Fryer oil can be used over and over again. It absolutely does not need to be to be changed every use. Restaurants that use fryers a lot will filter the oil on a daily or near daily basis, but even oil that gets used a lot doesn't get changed daily. Changing the oil is not a matter of safety. While there is some minor long-term health risk associated with eating oil that is past its peak quality, it's not an immediate food safety issue. Since you use your fryer only about once a week, it should be fine for three months perhaps filtering it two or three times. Even the filtering is for quality purposes only, pathogens cannot survive in fryer oil.

The bottom line is that oil that still tastes good is fine to use.


Best way to Store and Rewarm Fried Chicken I'm looking for a good way to store fried chicken, as well as a good way to warm it up without it becoming soggy. I often have to cook a day or 2 in advance and the chicken loses its crunchy crust.

For the record, I usually coat my chicken in flour, dip in eggs, coat in cornflake crumbs, and fry.

Nothing you do will be perfect but here are a few things you can do to help.

When done frying dry well in a dry space.

Sealed spaces will trap the moisture released by the chicken as it cools. Refrigerators are natural moist spaces as well. You will want to do this on a drying rack to prevent the chicken sitting in its own runoff juices. Use of a fan will speed up the process and allow you to get the chicken in the fridge sooner for safety reasons.

Store with a desiccant of some kind.

Can't find a desiccant? Don't want to use those little packs that come with your new shoes that practically screams Don't eat me!? Well I usually just use a paper bag. Add a few paper towels if needed. Rice and salt can be your friend too.

Reheating is easy Fryer or Oven.

I prefer fryer because it will come out closest to the original that way. However it is also easier to break the delicate crusty exterior. The stronger your coating the better chance of succeeding with this (Note: for items that don't have a fragile exterior like French Fries this almost always works great.) One way to ensure your coating is stronger is to have rested it after applying the coating for some time before the actual initial frying. The Oven however works well too and I prefer this method for larger batches for sheer convenience. I go with a lower temperature of 300 degrees F in order to achieve more internal heat before the exterior begins to burn but feel free to adjust for your needs.


Dulce De leche as a macaron filling as a follow up question, I'd use dulce de leche (Slow Cooker Dulce De Leche) for the macaron filling, how do I milden its sweetness? Could I mix it with melted dark chocolate for example, and will it have the desired consistency? Google suggested Dulce de Leche buttercream for the right consistency but it is even sweeter than the Dulce De Leche itself and make the whole cookie cloying! Any suggestion would be appreciated.

I use dulce de leche as a filling or topping as well, but you are right, it is a bit too sweet, so I tone it down... one way to make it milder is to incorporate some cream and a bit of melted dark chocolate, but you cannot just mix it in...

Leave the dulce de leche in the fridge overnight. Pour off any liquid that separates out. Mix in a bowl to smooth out any lumps. In a separate bowl, whip up some double cream (ratio 2:1:0,3, dulce de leche:cream:chocolate) to stiff peaks. Add cream to dulce de leche and beat until combined. Melt the dark chocolate and stir into mixture. Refrigerate for about 30mins so the melted chocolate in the mixture can stiffen up a bit.

It's delicious and not as sweet as pure dulce de leche at all!


How to store live scallops? I bought some really fresh live scallops from the pier today. I was planning on making something with them immediately as it is best when absolutely fresh. However plans change and I wasn't able to cook them. This leaves me with a couple options:

I.)Store live and then prepare them the next day the same way I would have otherwise.

II.)Process them now by taking out muscle and discarding the rest and then keep the muscles in the fridge.

Intuitively it would seem like its best to keep them alive as long as possible. If this is the case then what is the best way to store them?

Note that I am not trying to preserve them very long. Just pushing back my plans by one day.

Bivalves need to be kept alive until you are ready to cook or serve them. Keep them cool on the ride home from the pier.

They are best stored in an airtight container.
Put that container in a bowl of ice.
Keep them in the coldest part of your refrigerator.


Will roasted corn work as soup croutons? How can I can use roasted corn to make a soup more interesting? I was thinking about boiling and then some kind of a heat-blast, but I am not sure how to achieve this kind of effect.

Yes, toasted corn works great as a soup topper, especially for "American" soups, like chili, tortilla soup, or cream-of-tomato.

The difficulty is that, as you surmised, the corn needs to be first cooked and then dried and toasted in the oven.  Also, small corn kernels don't work very well since they become almost microscopic when toasted and dried.  Here's how I've done it:

Bought dried "giant corn", or hominy of some variety from a Mexican
market.
Soaked corn overnight in cold water, then boiled it for 20 minutes.
Drained corn and then roasted it on a cookie sheet at 200F for an
hour or so.

This is a lot of effort, and for that reason I never did it again even though it turned out well.  My easier effort suggestions would be:

Start with canned hominy (have not tried this to see if it toasts well)
Find a natural foods store which will sell you unsalted "corn nuts" in bulk, then toast them briefly in the oven.


Can you develop an immunity to chopping onions causing tears? I just chopped a particularly strong onion, I noticed some slight irritation but no tears. I realized then that onions haven't made me cry for years, decades even. I use all kinds of onions and take no special precaution to prevent tears. I don't refrigerate them, remove the core, use goggles, light a candle, anything like that. Granted, I've gotten better (faster) at it over the years, but I remember hating chopping onions in my youth because of the eye irritation. It doesn't seem that speed alone could account for the difference in my reaction.

Can I chalk it up to a similar phenomenon that gives me asbestos fingers and my tolerance for extremely hot (spicy) food?

Given that the tear-causing effect of onions is due to a straight forward chemical process, it seems highly unlikely that you would develop any kind of actual immunity in terms of the effect.  Scientific American describes it:

  Peeling, cutting or crushing an onion's tissue releases enzymes called
  allinases, which convert these molecules to sulfenic acids. The
  sulfenic acids, in turn, spontaneously rearrange to form
  syn-propanethial-S-oxide, the chemical that triggers the tears. They
  also condense to form odorous thiosulfinates, coincidentally evoking
  the pungent odor associated with chopping onions and eliciting the
  false accusation that it is the odor that causes the weepy eye.
  Incidentally, sulfenic acid in garlic takes a different chemical
  route, sparing the eyes. The formation of syn-propanethial-S-oxide
  peaks at about 30 seconds after mechanical damage to the onion and
  completes its cycle of chemical evolution over about five minutes.

  [ ... ] Free nerve endings [on the cornea] detect
  syn-propanethial-S-oxide on the cornea and drive activity in the
  ciliary nerve--which the central nervous system interprets as a
  burning sensation--in proportion to the compound's concentration. This
  nerve activity reflexively activates the autonomic fibers, which then
  carry a signal back to the eye ordering the lachrymal glands to wash
  the irritant away.

It turns out that newer science indicates the conversion is not spontaneous, but due to an enzyme for this purpose, now named lachrymatory-factor synthase.

What is likely, especially for an experienced cook are:

Improved knife skills and speed, lowering the amount of time in close contact with the irritating gasses produced by chopping onions
Increased tolerance for the specific sensation


How to create fruity or grassy shortbread cookies? I saw a recipe for green tea shortbread cookies with white ganache filling and fell in love with it. But here, it is quite hard to get any matcha, the few Amazon marketplace sellers have very high prices.

Now I want to use this as an inspiration to create a new recipe. I want to have a shortbread cookie which has a light, summery flavor added to the dough. As I can't get matcha, I don't think I can do something else from the grassy corner, but a fruity taste would be good enough.

The problem is that this recipe works because the matcha is a dry powder. I know of other recipes which include a dry powder, such as mandelkipferl, but I can't think of a fruity powder to use. And I am afraid that adding fruit-based ingredients will make the dough too liquid. My current best idea is to proceed like making raspberry leather, but after I have reduced the strained raspberry juice, to add it to the dough instead of letting it dry. I am not sure if it will work.

My questions:

Do you think the raspberry idea will work, and why (or why not)?
If you think that raspberries will work, what is the best form of incorporating them? How to get the product as dry as possible without it hardening?
How much raspberry juice/syrup can I add before it changes the dough too much?
How should I change my dough working methods after the addition of raspberry juice/syrup?
Can you think of any other method which will give me a fruity or grassy tasting cookie dough?

My constraints:

The taste should be incorporated in the dough itself. Not in the filling, and not be present as chunks in the dough (the way scones have raisins, etc.).
The taste should be of summer fruit or herb(s). Not maple, almond, nutmeg, chocolate, etc. - I know these are easy to incorporate, but it is not what I want to do right now.
The taste should come from the plant itself. I know I can get powder intended for flavoring water or milk, consisting of dextrose and synthetic aromas, but I don't want that.
The taste should pair well with the white chocolate ganache.
I don't insist on keeping the texture absolutely the same as a shortbread cookie. After all, I will be adding wet ingredients where there were none. But I still want it to be close enough to be recognized as a shortbread derivative, I don't want to create a baked pancake or a chewy cookie, or something else.

Three things:

-You can flavor the sugar by mixing aromatic herbs into it and leaving it sit for a week or two. Rosemary pairs well with sweet desserts, as would lavender or basil. Sift out the herbs once you're ready to use the sugar.

-You can try replacing the butter in this recipe (or half of it) with some very good olive oil, as in this recipe from the NYT:

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/07/recipe-of-the-day-olive-oil-cookies-with-red-wine-and-rosemary/

That recipe isn't for shortbread cookies, but the technique may still be valid. No guarantees that it will give you the texture you want, but great olive oil has all of the grassy and fruity characteristics that you're after.

-I'm not terribly familiar with matcha, but couldn't you just take some regular green tea leaves and powderize them in a spice grinder?


Benefits for different fats for flour tortillas? There seems to be no standard fat for making flour tortillas.  I've seen recipes using lard, shortening, butter, olive oil, vegetable oil, and canola oil.  Is there a reason I would pick one of these over the other, or can I use them interchangeably?

I use lard or butter, because both are solid at room temp and will bind strongly to make a tortilla that can be moved and handled easily. When I use oils (which I prefer), the tortillas turn out too delicate to handle without special care. If I'm just using the tortillas as a layer in an enchillada casserole or the like, I'll make the delicate ones (I use grapeseed or roasted hazelnut oil), but if I'm making wraps or burritos, I stick to fats that are solid at room temperature. I have a pathological dislike of shortening (too many have hydrogenated ingredients), so I can make no guesses as to how that would work, but I'm guessing that with it being solid at room temp, it will make the same sort of wrap as would lard, suet or butter.


How do I make canned tomato sauce delicious for pouring on top of steamed vegetables? I usually steam mixed vegetables and top it with the following tomato sauce concoction:

canned diced tomato (salt free)
cayenne chili powder
habanero chili powder
dill weed
stevia

There’s no cooking of the tomato sauce. It’s kinda of boring over time and I was wondering if there was a way you could recommend for me to spruce up my tomato sauce in a tastier, but healthy way.

So, let me get this correct. The tomato product is right out of the can?

OK most people notice a distinct metallic taste when consuming (especially acidic) things directly out of a can. It is often less noticeable with sweet things, but I find that I simply can't stomach tomatoes directly out of a can.

Fortunately there is an easy fix, heat.

Simmer the diced tomato with your spices (and perhaps a little S&P) for 30 minutes or so and that may give the spices time to meld and reduce the metallic taste.

You could even try some fresh basil as that goes wonderfully well with tomato sauce.


Why does a mix of condensed milk, cocoa and coconut solidify in the fridge? A common dessert in my family is a mix of crushed biscuit, chopped walnuts, coconut, cocoa, and condensed milk. It's mixed, flattened into a square dish and placed in the fridge for a couple of hours, after which it is quite solid.

I have always wondered what the mechanism was which caused it to go so solid,  since each ingredient on their own doesn't solidify in the fridge. Sometimes you see melted butter in a recipe for this purpose
 but there isn't any in this one. Why does it go hard in the fridge?

Condensed milk may not get hard in the fridge by itself, but it does firm up considerably. It's very pourable at room temperature but it's almost too viscous to pour once chilled. The crushed biscuit absorbs the most liquid components of the condensed milk, leaving those components that do firm up to do so. The cocoa would also do some of that, effectively "binding" those components of the condensed milk that would otherwise remain liquid. So what is left "unbound" solidifies.


Adding lime juice to green curry paste and heating I am trying this recipe which requires preparation of a green curry paste with lime juice as one of the ingredients. Once the paste is prepared, I add it to a pan with hot oil (after which I add coconut milk to the paste)

My doubt is - is it a good idea to add lime juice to a hot mixture because the heat probably destroys the vitamins in it? Or is it better to add lime juice later towards the completion of the preparation of the dish?

Lime juice is one of the components of green curry.  The acid from the lime juice macerates some of the other ingredients and wakens up some other flavors. If you don't add it as part of the paste preparation, then you aren't cooking with Green Curry.

If you add the lime juice in the end, you will have a very different result, mostly that of a dish that tastes like it was sprinkled with lime juice before served.


What is the maximal shelf life of UHT milk? Wikipedia says that the shelf life of UHT milk is "typically" between 6 and 9 months.

Does it mean that UHT milk always falls in this range? Is there UHT milk which has a longer or shorter shelf life? (I am not talking about ESL milk here, just UHT). What determines which milk has 6 months, which has 9 months, and which has more (if more is possible)? Is there a variation in the process used?

I'd never heard of ESL until your question, so I had to look that up.  A local company did a lot of work developing UHT milk; I remember samples when they were first starting up production, and they were trying to find flavors additives which would mask the flavor change from the UHT processing.   Since then a lot of companies have adopted the processing methods for other products, or just adopted the packaging.  So, before I relied on any random box-packed product to be shelf stable, I'd check into how it was produced.

Proper UHT milk doesn't go bad until it's opened.  It's sterile, and in a pretty sturdy container.  Once opened, bacteria will get back into the container, and the milk will go bad as normal.  When the local company started production of UHT milk, they were putting 2 year code dates on packages, and that was just the longest date the government would allow; I've had boxes 3-4 years old, which were fine.


Right way to make cake batter that asks for butter and oil One method says to cream butter, oil, and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in flour mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour.

Another method says to cream the butter, and sugar, add the eggs, and mix. Add buttermilk and oil and mix well. Then add the dry ingredients.

Which should be the more proper or scientific method?

You probably won't like this answer, but:

Do what your recipe tells you to do.

There are various methods to combine a set of ingredients and each will lead to a slightly different outcome. Drier or moister, lighter or denser...
The "right" result will depend on the expectation of the recipe writer and can be the root of an eternal discussion: Compare the cookie lovers that will forever debate about cakey vs. crumbly, soft vs. crisp... and if they should ever agree (highly unlikely!), I'm sure the brownie fraction will fill the gap with a similar debate.

So unless you want to tweak a specific recipe, the best advice I can give you is to stick with your current instructions, as they should also match the ratios of the given ingredients (another factor that should not be ignored). If the results are not to your liking, try perhaps a recipe with another method and/or post a more specific question.

And one anecdote that illustrates how much the "right" method can be misleading:
My mom, experienced baker and all that, kept wondering why one of her cakes came out only half as high as when other family members made them. (And way less experienced bakers to boot!) Once she stopped mixing the ingredients "the right way" - beating the egg whites separately and folding them in at the end - and followed the simpler instructions (which she had ignored before) of using whole eggs, she finally got the desired results.

So in short, there is no "right" method that fits all.


What is the best way to infuse mint into a tomato sauce? I want to create a tomato based mint sauce. I have access to fresh mint. What is the best way or the best time while cooking the sauce to incorporate the mint? Are the flavor components in mint water or fat soluble?

Mint likes oil. And it likes water. And it likes alcohol. Like most complex flavors, mint is complicated.

The greener, vegetal notes are going to be from compounds like chlorophyll, and will be alcohol and very weakly water soluble. The astringent, sharper notes are going to from compounds like menthol, which are oil soluble.

In general, the faster flavors, the ones that hit fast and fade faster, are water soluble, while the ones that linger are oil soluble. Mint flavor is sold both as an extract, in a base of water or alcohol, and as an essential oil, in a base of... oil.

As for cooking, I would skip the tomatoes entirely, and do a mint and parsley pesto with walnuts and olive oil. Why? I like mint.


Difference between burritos, chimichanga, and enchiladas? What is the difference between burritos, enchiladas, and chimichangas?

An enchilada is a corn tortilla wrapped around some filling (often meat and/or cheese), covered in sauce. The sauce is really defining here: the word is derived from a verb meaning "to season with chili". The sauce usually involves chili peppers, but doesn't always, especially for Tex-Mex and American Variants. Since it's covered in sauce, you eat it off a plate presumably with a fork. The tortillas are usually 6-8 inches in diameter - small enough that you can put a few enchiladas in a row on a plate.

 from Homesick Texan

A burrito is a flour tortilla wrapped around filling, with the ends closed. In the US, they're often pretty large and substantial. They're generally just the tortilla-wrapped thing, so you can hold it in your hand and eat it. They are also sometimes served "wet" or "smothered" in sauce, but that's a variant. The tortillas are usually bigger to allow folding around a decent amount of filling. You'll see "burrito size" tortillas that are as small as 10 inches or so in stores, but the kinds you get in restaurants might be easily 13-16 inches. The big ones are also called Mission burritos, and are often wrapped in foil for easier eating. (That's the tortilla diameter; the actual burrito is substantially smaller after the folding to close the ends.)

from Los Altos Taqueria on Yelp

A chimichanga is a deep-fried burrito. It often comes with queso and/or sauce over the top, but that's not a defining characteristic. Usually they're served on a plate, with the idea being to cut into it with a fork and knife.

 first from Wikipedia (completely covered), second from Trudy's in Austin via The Fat Artery (visibly deep-fried)


What's the difference between stroganoff and goulash? I know there are variants of stroganoff and goulash that are quite similar - to a point I could not tell one apart from the other. What are the defining properties of each that set them apart as different dishes?

Traditional goulash is a stew/soup, usually using a cheaper cut of meat suited to slow cooking. It usually contains potatoes and other vegetables, as well as noodles.

A true stroganoff consists of paprika-dusted fillet steak quickly pan fried with mushrooms and onions in a sour cream and brandy sauce. It is usually served with rice.

I understand that in the US stroganoff can also refer to a stew made with similar ingredients as the traditional dish, and is served with noodles. This, coupled with the shared use of paprika, is evidently where the line blurs.


Day 8 of Sourdough Starter, is it still alive? I started my starter 8 days ago. I stopped feeding it after Day 4. It has been left on the counter. It has been stirred but not fed for 4 days.

Is my starter still ok? It's kept in a mixing bowl with a towel over it and a rubberband.

It depends on the temperature of your room, but you may still have enough left alive to save it. Is it still bubbling at all? You should throw most of it away and feed it and see if it changes and bubbles in the next few hours. I'd try keeping just a few tablespoons (maybe 100g of the starter, throwing the rest away) and add 500g of flour and 500g of 75°F water. If your flour is precious right now, you can use 250g and 250g instead.

You probably know this, but keep it in the fridge in the future if you're not going to be able to feed it for a while. Depending on the type of starter it can do well for a couple of weeks.


How can I fix an unpleasant color in a dish? Last night, I made a Peperonato pasta sauce. It was delicious, but when I added the balsamic vinegar at the end of the dish and then cooked it off (leaving a sweet reduction) it left the whole sauce a rather disgusting brown color. It was just me and my wife, so it didn't matter too much, but it wasn't appetizing to look at it, and I'd have balked at serving it to guests, even though it tastes great.

How could I have fixed this dish? More generally, how can I correct unpleasant coloring in dishes?

There are things you can do to tweak the colors, but generally it's easy to move towards brown and dark, and hard to move towards a pure shade and light.

You can use food coloring, spices with a lot of color (like turmeric). You can lighten with cornstarch, flour, and dairy. (thanks satanicpuppy)

If presentation is important to you, you can buy ingredients that make it easier to get the colors you want in the final product. For instance, next time you make the dish you could use white balsamic vinegar and a little more sugar.


Is this moldy vinegar salvageable? I started making apple cider vinegar using the second method listed on http://thehealthyeatingsite.com/apple-cider-vinegar-recipe/
It's been little over 4 months and my mix is looking really weird. There's some white fluff on top of what looks like a vinegar mother. The more was to be expected (it's part of the reason why I went with this method, so I could get a mother for use in future batches). But the white fluff is worrying me a little bit.

Is it mold? If so, are the batch and mother salvageable?

There's also some odd, brown, tree like organism growing in the middle. That one is really throwing me off.

(click for full size)

Is it mold?

It definitely is. Whatever happened to it, it is bad.

  Are the batch and mother salvageable?

I wouldn't think of that for a second. The mold is everywhere. Just get rid of it.


Is there a searchable food catalog of USDA Organic products? Is there a website that I can search for all products certified by USDA with one of the 4 organic labels:

100% Organic
Organic
Made with Organic
Some Organic ingredients

For example, how can I found a list of brands sell sugar that is labelled "100% organic" by USDA?

The USDA Organic Integrity Database people search for Organic certifications and the foods lists the foods they were certified for.

https://apps.ams.usda.gov/Integrity/


How can I cook an egg to win at egg tapping? Easter is coming up, and I was wondering how I should prepare eggs to be as strong as possible for a game of egg tapping?

The egg should still look and feel like a regular egg (although it's probably painted, because, y'know... Easter).

This is a cooking question, so I'm looking for answers about the cooking process, not about modifying the egg afterwards (e.g. coating with something hard).

Bonus points if the egg is still edible after I've beaten all my in-laws!

To keep this on topic, I'll focus on ingredient selection and preparation, any further hints are a physical aspect and have to do with where to hold and how to hit.

Your first goal is to find an egg with a very hard shell:

This means, find an egg from a rather young (max. 6 month old) chicken. The thickness of the shell decreases naturally during the 1-1.5 years a chicken is typically kept for egg production.
Chickens that have access to the outside and that pick up a lot of sand, grit and small stones and have a very diverse feed with a generous access to grains plus supplements like oyster shells, will produce the hardest shells.
And, little known, green eggs (from the so-called Easter Egger breeds) have a thicker and harder shell than white eggs. Bonus: you can skip the coloring step...

All eggs are harder when hard-boiled (compared to raw):

Just avoid anything that weakens the shell, so no vinegar in the cooking water or the colouring liquid. Use natural dyes (as opposed to the commercial products where you dip a cooked egg in a vinegar-water-dye solution). Likewise, do not wash the eggs unless absolutely necessary, the natural protective layer should also prevent weakening the shell.
I would also avoid mechanical stress, so bring your eggs to room temperature and use the cooking method where you put the eggs in cool water, bring them gently to a (near) boil and let stand in the covered pot off the heat for fifteen minutes or so. In this case, I'd probably rather have the green ring around the yolk than a semi-soft egg.


Is all lactose-free milk sweet? I recently decided to try lactose-free milk to see if I might have a problem with lactose.  I was happy to see Organic Valley has a lactose-free milk.  I bought the 2% and it has a sweet taste to it.  It tastes like cereal milk - that slightly sweet milk left in the bottom of the cereal bowl.  I didn't buy vanilla flavored milk and the ingredients don't have any sweetener that I can see.  Is the chemical or process they use to remove the lactose from the milk sweet?  The sweetness of the milk doesn't make the tea sweet, but it does give the tea a different taste (I can't place it, but maybe nuttier).  Do other lactose-free milks have a similar slightly sweet taste?

When making lactose free milk, the lactose isn't actually removed. Instead, lactase is added to the milk. This breaks down the lactose into its component sugars, glucose and galactose. Lactose is one of the least sweet sugars, relative to sucrose (table sugar). Both glucose and galactose are significantly sweeter than the original lactose, hence why lactose free milk tastes much sweeter.

Here is a chart showing the sweetness of different sugars.
Video and description of process of making lactose-free milk.


How to prepare shirataki noodles to more closely resemble classic pasta? I've tried shirataki in spaghetti with meat sauce but the noodles' texture and flavor didn't fit with the sauce very well. Perhaps there's a way to make it work that I'm not aware of?

I'd like to figure out how to prep and use shirataki noodles so that they take on a texture of classic pasta which would open many culinary possibilities. Any hints and ideas?

After a bunch of Googling and reading I found that there are several ways to improve the noodles:

Rinse and drain them very, very well
Boil them for an extended amount of time to reduce the crunch
Dry them out in a pan (they'll shrivel a bit) before adding them to recipes where they either remain crunchy (in dryer dishes) or absorb sauce and flavor (saucier dishes)

Here are some my sources:

Shrimp Scampi
List with many recipes
Various suggestions


Substitution of applesauce for eggs in a boxed brownie mix was a failure. Did I do something wrong? Has anyone been successful in replacing eggs with applesauce in a box brownies recipe? I'm trying to stick with a boxed brownie mix but has an egg and we have someone with an egg allergy in the house. When I tried it (1/4cup of applesauce per egg) the brownies came out oily, runny, and wouldn't bake. I am hoping to get a fudgy, chewy final product and not to dry out at all. Has anyone had any luck doing so?

Egg yokes contain molecules called lecithins that act as an emulsifier (something that helps oils to mix with water). I'm guessing the brownie mix calls for canola oil to be added, which is what is causing it to come out oily. You can address this in a couple ways.

Substitute the oil with butter. Butter is already an emulsion itself, and so will tend to separate less from the liquid ingredients. This will make the brownies thicker when cooled, so the mouthfeel will be less moist.
Substitute 1 Tbsp soy lecithin (available from Amazon) per egg yolk. This is the most direct way to compensate.

Egg whites also have useful material properties for baking. They act as a leavening agent and also help provide a set texture when the protein denatures at high temperatures. These are harder to compensate for but also less critical than emulsification. Try these next ideas if you are still unsatisfied with the texture.

Add baking powder if you want the brownies fluffier.
I've never tried this personally, but apparently substituting 1/4 cup pureed silken tofu per egg will help your batter set as though it had egg whites. It makes sense since both are basically networks of hydrophilic proteins.


Is it safe to store hot tea in PET bottles? Every morning I bring with me a small PETE (from some searches it seems to be the same as PET plastic) bottle (an ex coke bottle) containing hot tea.

Is it safe to store hot liquids, especially, tea in this type of container?
Is possible, under these conditions, that the bottle releases some harmful substances?

Thanks in advance.

Live and learn, I was writing about PET causing cancer, but that's a hoax, apparently.

Some plastics can stand heat better than others, so try to be on the safe side, and let the liquid cool to 50°C (122°F) before storing it.

No, it won't release any harmful substances.