What's the best way to warm a baguette? I baked French bread recently. They were crusty outside and moist inside. Delicious! I froze a few. How should I heat them so they're as good as when they were freshly baked?

I spray mine with a little water and then put it in my toaster-oven at 400 (F) for a few minutes.  Won't be as good as fresh baked, but it does improve the smell and texture.


Cooking chicken breasts in Buffalo sauce, cast iron I really like to cook chicken in my cast iron skillet and I cook it down with butter and Texas Pete Sauce (my mother does the same, but in Teflon).

My issue is that it takes about 20 minutes to cook the chicken and after about 8-10 the sauce begins to dry up and I have to pour more sauce in to keep the chicken soaked the way I would like (spicy). By the end my chicken is perfect, but I've used a ton more sauce than I believe I need, the kitchen smells like a cayenne pepper farm, and there's a thick layer of dried sauce on my pan.

Any ideas on how to save on sauce or to keep it from drying so quickly?

Lower temperature?
More butter?
Not possible?

I would prefer to continue using the cast iron, thank you.

Update:

Used a smaller skillet (8 in), turned to medium heat, added red wine vinegar for extra liquid.

You could just add water instead of extra sauce. The water will cook off just as much as the sauce would have, leaving you with essentially just sauce by the end. If that's not spicy/saucy enough for you, then it means you did actually need some of that extra sauce you've been adding.

Alternatively, you could try lower temperature. If it's all cooking down and drying, you're presumably boiling it, but it only needs to be simmering to cook the chicken. If you're trying to get some browning, you can always increase the temperature at the end. It will probably take a bit longer to cook this way, though.

All that said, I know you said you want to use this pan, but it also kind of sounds like the pan might be too big. Extra surface area means liquid boils off faster. If it were crowded with chicken and sauce in the gaps, then it wouldn't boil off as quickly, and there wouldn't be room for sauce to dry onto the pan.


Are insects bought as pet food safe for human consumption? I want to try some cooking with insects. So far I found no shop in my town selling insects for human consumption, and online shops I found (so far) where really expensive (10-40€/100g!).

So I'm thinking of buying some pet food insects (most likey cickets or grasshoppers). Are these safe for human consumption?

I'm in Germany, I assume regulations for pet food would apply to these insects (is this so?).

I'm mostly concerned about antibiotics and whatever harmful stuff they might get via their food.

I am unaware of regulations in Germany with regard to edible insects, but in North America, insects must be raised/farmed rather than wildsourced, and they must be specifically raised for human consumption. Everything that the insects are fed, treated with, moisturized with or housed in must be logged. While there are currently no regulations for edible insects as such, producers are advised to adhere to the FDA's regulations regarding the production of seafood. Because standards for pet foods are usually less stringent, it is not advised that humans use insects produced for that purpose.


creme patissiere too solid I made a try of creme patissiere with 250 ml UHT milk at 1.5% fat (yes, hence I called it a try), two egg yolks, 22g corn starch, 70g sugar and vanilla. Direction as classic. Beat yolks with vanilla seeds and sugar, add starch. Meanwhile warm the milk and the vanilla bean and just before boiling add a part of it to the yolk mixture and stir; add more and then move everything back to the heat and stir until thick. Cool down in an ice bain marie. Let it sit at room temp with either film on the surface or a sprinkle of granulated sugar.

After less than an hour at room temp, I notice that the product is no longer creamy, became too solid and took the shape of the container. Far away from a cream. Can it be due to the lack of fat in the milk, it being UHT or too much time on the heat?

The starch was superfluous. Traditional creme patisserie is made without it. Some people do make custards which combine starch and yolks, but they are actually more difficult to work with. Also, from your ratios, the starch alone (without the yolks) would suffice to make the shape-holding pudding you described.

You can repeat the whole cream without any starch, and as long as you use the right temperatures, it will give you a nice pastry cream. The UHT and the milkfat content are not a problem, you can do this with anything from pure water to conditor cream, and while you will get a large difference in texture between these two extremes, it will be a difference in "butteriness", you won't get a firm result.


How do choose apple type in store? It's hard for me to decide what apple I want to buy from all the different choices in a store. I can look at the colour, the size and maybe carefully feel if it's hard or soft, but that's it.

This page (archive) gives quite some information about apple types, but it's difficult to search (for example a Google search for "sour site:orangepippin.com/apples" results in nothing useful) and it's more about apple identification than about apple choice.

How can I find out how sweet/sour an apple is, how hard/soft, how durable it is, maybe even how much of which vitamin is in it, just by conducting non-destructive tests on apples in a store? A website that's easier to search would also be acceptable, although that wouldn't work if I'm offline.

Tl;dr: If you know what kind of apple you're looking at, you don't need to test the apple.

I don't think you can tell any of those things about an unidentified apple without destroying it somehow.  You can tell how hard/soft it is by pressing firmly, but this will leave a dent in the apple, so that may or may not count as destroyed for you.

However, if you know what variety of apple you're looking at, you can know these types of things without even touching the apple, as each variety has its own characteristics regarding sweetness, crispness, juiciness, and other qualities.  For instance, Honeycrisp apples are typically very sweet and crisp (as the name implies) and are excellent for eating out of hand.  You can find more information about different varieties of apples here.  Grocery stores (at least in the USA) typically label their apples by variety.  If you shop at a farmers market and the varieties aren't labeled, the farmer/seller can usually tell you (if he can't, I probably wouldn't buy from him anyways, but that's just me).

As far as durability goes, that is largely dependent on how you store your apples.  Refrigerated apples last longest, as they do not continue to ripen in the cooler temperatures of the fridge.  They will if left on the counter, though, leading to mushy, rotting apples in just a week or two.  (I have successfully kept apples in my refrigerator for several months, though those were fresh-from-the-orchard apples, so your results may vary.)

Nutritional content varies by variety as well, though I was only able to find a single source focusing on vitamin C.  However, as vitamin C and potassium the main nutrients in apples, that may be sufficient as far as varietal differences go.  You can find some more general nutritional information for apples here.


Red beans and rice with salt pork Does salt pork have to be fully cooked before you put it in your dish?

I am cooking red beans and rice, and the dish calls for a ham hock. I don't have one of those, so I opted to use salt pork instead.

No it does not; you can put it in raw and it will cook with the red beans.

I prepare it every year by:

Soak red beans in cold water over night;

fry off the diced salt pork, onion, green pepper, celery and garlic in the pot I will use to make the red beans;

add the beans and liquid and cook till tender & serve over rice.

Your could also prepare this dish without frying the salt pork first, just stick it in the pot with the beans.

One warning:  Salt pork is salty, really really salty.  If your recipe tells you to use two pounds of smoked hock, don't use that much salt pork - would advise using 1/8 or less as much salt pork as you would use smoked pork.


Mixing liquid ingredients to "just combine" to dry ingredients for muffins When baking muffins and adding the liquid ingredients to the "well" in the dry ingredients, the recipe says "to just combine".  Does this mean not to add the whole liquid mixture, only enough to wet the dry ingredients?

As Adele suggested in the comments, this is a common instruction to guard against overmixing. You mix everything in, and mix it until it's just barely combined. You just want to make sure there aren't any big pockets of dry ingredients; once all the wet and dry is combined, you're done.

If you're curious why you don't want to overmix, see a previous question: Over-stirring muffin mixtures.


should new cast iron have flat smooth bottom New cast iron pan is very rough on bottom, slightly raised fine yet sharp rings will probably damage my induction hob.

should it be flat, should I season the bottom, grind/sand it down or return to shop

If it's new, return it. New cast iron is uniformly awful, and your pan sounds dangerous to boot.

Look for a vintage/antique cast iron pan on ebay or Etsy or a local flea market or yard sale. You're not going to make a sow's ear into a silk purse, so start with the main ingredient you need: an older pan. If you opt to buy an older pan that is rusty and crusty, it will likely be cheap and, at the same time, your best kitchen investment ever.

Buy some heavy-duty Easy-Off oven spray (make sure it's the heavy-duty formula), put the pan in a black plastic bag, and spray every surface of it while it's inside the bag. Seal the bag and put it in a warm place for a week. Take the pan out (wear gloves) at the end of the week, wash it down to get rid of the caked-on seasoning, and scrub it. After drying, survey what hasn't been stripped to a clean surface. Spray those areas heavy, the other areas lightly, and repeat the process.

Old cast irons were finished by hand, and the cooking surface is amazingly smooth. Once you have stripped the pan with the oven cleaner and seasoned it, you should have a lovely cast iron pan that your great-grandchildren will inherit.


Sourdough starter issues I've been trying unsuccessfully to create my sourdough starter. First of all it starts off well, i combine 100g of bread flour with 100g of water (bottled) mix well and leave it in my jar covered with cloth for 24 hours. Next day i always have a bit of action in my jar, so i feed it another 100g both of my water and flour and leave for another 24 hours. So on day 3 my starter has gone crazy doubling or even more in size and shrinking again by the time the 24 hour period is up. Next step is where my starter dies every time, I discard half and add another 100g of flour and 100g of water. After a further 24 hours there are slight bubbles but not much life at all, so i continue the process but never get anywhere close to action i was getting on day 2 and 3. Can anyone tell me why my starter is dying when i do the "discard and feed" process?

Thanks

I would suggest you to keep feeding the starter a few more days before starting the 'discard and feed'. Fermentation is a process that requires a LOT of patience, as everything else in baking.

On the other hand I tried and could successfully make a starter following these instructions. I love The Kitchn and Emma Christensen. Her baking tutorials are among the best.

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-your-own-sourdough-starter-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-47337


What are these little balls in my sardines? I opened a container of sardines and found loads of little round balls  in what appears to be its belly.

What are these things? Are they eggs the sardine was going to lay (or whatever it's called for a fish) or something it ate? Are they good to eat, or should I throw it out?

Yes, that is sardine roe. In Portugal it is considered a delicacy on a par with caviar.


Devil's food cake turned out dry and dense I tried this recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/devils-food-cake-recipe.html

However, when I did it, the cake came out dry and dense and not very tasty. According to many other comments, it should not be this way.

Now, perhaps, there is a problem with the recipe...but Alton Brown's recipes (while not 100%) are usually pretty good.

What are the probable causes for dry and dense in this case? What can I improve next time?

For this recipe, the most likely issues are:

overbaking and wrong oven temperature
Simply put, removing too much humidity during the baking process. Wrong oven temperature can aggravate this problem, especially if it is too low (to hot = burned edges and wet center).
over-mixing
This recipe is very sensitive to overmixing, which means forming gluten strands that make your cake dense. Alton Brown specifies the mixing time in seconds for a reason. As a beginner, you could use a whisk instead of a mixer and stir just until the "just combined" or "no more lumps" stage, not more.
Technically it uses the same technique as muffins, not the beat eggs / butter / sugar until fluffy technique known from cupcakes
waiting before baking
This recipe gets its "lift" almost exclusively from baking powder. It is activated the moment it gets wet and then even more when heated. So if you don't bake the batter right away, it may "fizz out" somewhat, leaving you with a dense cake. This will take longer to fully bake and again be dry.
wrong measurements
The recipe states "ounces", which is a weight unit. I other words, you need a scale to measure your flour and cocoa. While a (US) fluid ounce is two tablespoons or 30 ml, an ounce is 28.3 grams. So for water, you can roughly exchange one for the other, but never, ever for other materials, especially light and dry stuff like flour.
(Yes, I have seen this happen.)

From your comments, overbaking might be the main problem here, possibly combined with overmixing.


How should pomegranates be stored? What is the proper way to store a pomegranate? How long can they be stored for at room temperature?

Would refrigerating pomegranates cause any problems (I'm a little worried about the fridge getting slightly to cold, freezing the seeds and ruining the fruit).

According to this page:

Whole fruits can be stored for a month in a cool, dry area, or refrigerated up to two months. The seed pips can be frozen in an airtight bag up to one year. Fresh juice should be refrigerated and used within two to three days.

In my experience in a very dry climate (Colorado) after a couple weeks the skins become desiccated and very hard—you need to saw through them with a serrated knife—but the seeds are still mostly unaffected. They will shrink somewhat, but still remain unspoiled and flavorful.
However, if you refrigerate them, ensure that you do not let them get too cold. According to this page:

[…] exposure to temperatures below 5°C (41°F) during storage and transport for longer than 4 weeks is a major cause of deterioration […]
The minimum safe storage temperature is 5°C (41°F) for up to 8 weeks, if decay is not a problem. For longer storage, the temperature should be at 7°C (45°F) to avoid chilling injury, but decay […] and weight loss may become a limitation.

Sorry that the photo is not better quality.


What job is the fat doing when I prepare bread dough, and what to expect if I use the wrong amount? I've been baking bread for years and no longer really measure the ingredients. But I'm no expert on the science of what I'm doing. I add fat (lard) because I've always added fat.

What job does the fat do? And if I have long been using too little or too much fat how would this affect my loaf?

And then, writing this up, I'm also wondering about yeast. I guess if I use too little yeast I am going to get a loaf which rises insufficiently. But what would be the consequences of using too much yeast?

Amongst other things, fats help moderate/impede gluten development, by not allowing water to activate the proteins.

Too much yeast and your dough will be flabby and over-risen.


Can I store a fresh turkey in my garage for a few days? I have a 25 lb. fresh turkey and would like to store it in my garage if possible. It's 43F during the day, and 33F at night - will it be safe to do that?

As setek said in the comments, 43F is too warm. Anything above 40F and you only have a couple hours before it's unsafe (has the potential to make people sick, even if unlikely). And your garage is attached to a house that's well over 40F, so it'll probably be well above 43F in there.

So you really need to keep it chilled. If you don't have space in your fridge, you might be able to make do with an ice chest; if it's really at most 43F, the ice will last a long time.


Homemade ice cream texture gritty, sandy? Made my own ice cream today using one of the Cuisnart ice cream machines. Followed the recipe down to a T and after trying out the ice cream it had this disgusting sandy, gritty texture to it.

Recipe:

  1½     cups whole milk
  1    cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
       pinch table salt
  3    cups heavy cream
  1½   tablespoons pure vanilla extract

  In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer on low speed or whisk to
  combine the milk, sugar and salt until the sugar is dissolved. Stir
  in the heavy cream and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate 1 to 2
  hours, or overnight.

  Turn the Cuisinart® Ice Cream Maker on; pour the mixture into
  the frozen freezer bowl and let mix until thickened, about 30 to
  35 minutes. The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture. If
  a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the ice cream to an airtight
  container and place in freezer for about 2 hours. Remove
  from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.

Did I do something wrong?

It sounds very much like you didn't manage to completely dissolve the sugar. It's also possible to get a bad texture from ice crystals in your ice cream, but I don't think you'd describe it as gritty or sandy, just icy.

It can be rather difficult to dissolve that much sugar in liquid, especially if it's cold straight from the fridge. You might want to try heating it gently and stirring, and being careful to go until there's no undissolved sugar hiding at the bottom. That does make the chilling take a bit longer, probably more like 4-8 hours or overnight, not just 1-2 hours. But in my experience heating to dissolve is pretty much standard in ice cream recipes, presumably because it's about the only way to do it easily.

Note that if you do heat it, using only part of the liquid (say one cup out of a total of three cups) is probably best. That way there's still plenty of liquid for it to dissolve quickly, but you aren't heating it all, so you can add in two more cups of cold liquid and cool it back off so it'll be chilled enough to freeze sooner.


What are the hallmarks of a traditional alfredo sauce? There are many recipes for alfredo sauce, using ingredients from pesto and soy milk to low-fat milk and cream cheese.  What is the gold standard for alfredo?  What properties indicate a traditional Italian-style alfredo sauce?  What type of pasta is it traditionally paired with?

According to Cooking The Roman Way by David Downie, Fettucine Alfredo is a traditional Roman recipe called "pasta del cornuti" (cuckold's pasta).  What either Alfredo Di Lelio III, or Mario Mozzetti, depending on whom you believe, invented in 1914, was the dramatic tableside preparation of Fettuccine Alfredo, which is what made the dish a hit with visiting Americans in the 20's and 30's.

The tableside preparation is really what makes Fettuccine Alfredo what it is: the hot pasta is tossed with the butter and cheese in front of the diner, and then served to them immediately.

Again, according to Downie, the only ingredients of Fettuccine Alfredo are egg fettuccine, lots of butter, lots of Parmegiano-Reggiano, and (if necessary) a little salt.

Recipes which add cream or milk are Americanized recipes designed to allow restaurants to hold orders of Alfredo for a long time under heat lamps (and turn it into a gooey pasty mess).  Italians, from my experience visiting Italy, rarely put cream or milk on pasta (a real Italian could speak up here).

Downie has a fun 3-page digression about the ongoing lawsuits between the Roman families who claim to own the name.  It's worth a read.

Alan Davidson, predictably, says nothing about Fettuccine Alfredo.  The Glorious Pasta of Italy likewise does not cover the dish.

Wikipedia supports Downie's story, except only attributing Di Lelio, and adding the tidbit that Di Lelio apparently called it "Fettuccine al burro" (fettuccine with butter), and the Alfredo name was appended later when it was copied in the USA.  Wikipedia also says butter and cheese only, on fettuccine pasta.

So, to answer your question and the questions asked in the comments:

Fettuccine Alfredo is an Italian dish, if more popular in the USA than in Italy.
It is a variation of a traditional Italian dish.
In its traditional form, it has only egg pasta, butter, and cheese.
The pasta for Alfredo is egg fettuccine.


How to make a pie crust out of plantains? I had heard of plantains, but never eaten them (or seen them). Today, there were green plantains available at the local supermarket, and I seized the chance and got a bunch.

While various Internet sources agree that they can be cooked any old way, nearly all recipes I found include fried plantains. I don't like fried vegetables much, so I thought that I could just modify a recipe. As I have never cooked a plantain, I cannot decide which would be the proper technique to use.

I found a recipe which sounds nice. It uses fried plantain slices to create a kind of pie crust, and then the crust is filled with cheese and spices and baked (it is a savory dish).

For crust:
Heat oil in heavy large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, add
plantain slices and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Using slotted
spoon, transfer slices to sheet of foil. Pat plantains with paper towels and cool. Reserve
2 tablespoons oil from skillet for filling.

Line 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish with single layer of cooled plantains; reserve
remaining for garnish. Using fingers, firmly press slices together to seal any gaps.

I thought of either roasting the slices in the oven without fat, or boiling them and mashing them, then smearing the mash on the pan (thickened with starch or flour if necessary) and maybe blind baking it. Do you think these techniques would work, or do you have better ideas how to achieve something sufficiently crustlike?

Edit: The conclusion.
First, I was ill some days, and the plantains ripened in this time. Seems to have had a positive effect in taste.
Second, I made a pie crust with fried plantains and a jibarito (with a non-traditional filling) with roasted plantains. Both tasted quite good, and actually very similar. The roasted ones were, of course, not as greasy and much easier to make (the ones in the pan burned on the surface in seconds, despite the moderate temperature). This will be my prefered plantains cooking method from now on, provided I can find them. Just put them on a rack in the 200°C oven and roast until they get a bit golden. Very tasty.

This seems like a fun adventure. I'll say upfront that I've never tried what I'm about to suggest.

When I read your question title the first thing that came to mind is a Puerto Rican sandwich that is very popular in Chicago, the jibarito. It's a sandwich in which the bread has been replaced by flattened and fried plantains. I think doing something similar could yield nice results for a pie crust. You just press the peeled plantains between two cutting boards to get your desired thickness.

As far as not frying, you should also be aware that fried plantains are damn good. I've never eaten a plantain that wasn't fried. That said, if you are committed to not frying I have suggestions as well.

First, the boiling and mashing is right out. I don't think the processing you'll be doing will result in a crust that holds up at all.

Roasting, or better yet, pan frying in butter I think is the way to go. I suggest just greasing a large frying pan with butter and pan-frying the plantain over medium-low heat until done.

If pan-frying is not your thing either, I'd suggest just brushing them with melted butter and tossing in a 400 F (200 C) oven for 10-15 minutes (complete SWAG - never oven roasted plantain). With either the roasting or pan-frying method you may wish to sprinkle each buttered side with a little sugar to add a little sweetness and a nice carmelization.


sherbet: adding a base or not? When you hear sherbet (powder) described by the "science is fun" camp, it's made of three components: a sugar, an acid, and a base (almost always bicarb). I also think this is the kind of sherbet that's in kids sweets.

I prefer the taste without bicarb, as I'm sensitive to the "soap" taste of bicarb, and it lingers in the mouth longer than the acid and sweet tastes.

I've tried decreasing the bicarb to the point where I find it undetectable (which is way below stoichiometry) and, to be honest, I may as well put none in at all.

Without a base, the taste is much closer to what sherbet tastes like to me in "grown up" food (for example, as a coating on a dessert).

Do professional chefs omit the base entirely? Do they use another base (but, to be honest all bases taste soapy, but maybe some are "faster" the taste can be masked in the other flavours)? Or do they process the base in some way to a similar effect (grinding, etc)? Or an addition to mask it?

TIL Sherbet powder...

According to Wikipedia, you mix and match other carbonates

"...And the base may be sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate, magnesium carbonate,or a mixture of these and/or other similar carbonates..."

Maybe a mix of those will help in making that taste less.


Non-stick griddle frustration I like to make pancakes. I like to make them on a nonstick surface.

I know that nonstick surfaces don't last forever, but my specific experiences with griddles, both electric and stovetop, has been ridiculous. A few sets of pancakes, even with careful plastic utensil usage, and the sticking commences.

Can anyone suggest either (a) a brand of griddle with a half-life of over a year, (b) anything I may be doing wrong in managing the object, or (c) some alternative approach to cooking pancakes that requires neither a nonstick surface or a lake of lubricant?

Your question doesn't indicate that you are using any fats when making your pancakes. Many people make the mistake of thinking that just because it's nonstick that you can get away with not greasing the griddle. This is just wrong.

I always run a stick of butter over the heated griddle a few times, then rub it in with a paper towel. You want a really thin layer of butter on your griddle. After cooking a few pancakes you will need to do this again.

I've used really cheap electric griddles just fine with this method, the problem you usually have with a cheap electric griddle is hot spots, not sticking.


What are the main flavours/aroma compounds of the Scottish soft drink "Irn-Bru" (Iron Brew)? Those familiar with the Scottish soft drink Irn-Bru may be familiar with the marketing slogan: "made from girders." This is due to the drink's taste which some describe as having a metallic edge.
The actual recipe remains a secret, however there is a large range of imitation drinks and unbranded "iron brew" flavoured products (e.g. syrups, confectionery, etc.) with the same taste, so the general flavour recipe must be fairly widespread knowledge within the flavouring industry.
I've searched but unlike cola-flavoured beverages, whose flavours have been scientifically studied and for which recipes exist, there is no information about the makeup of iron brew.
So does anyone know... what are the flavours or aroma compounds which go into making an iron brew taste?

AG Barr answered that a while back in releasing the fact the Ammonium Ferric Citrate was a key ingredient in flavouring the drink. That, however, is not the full story.
If my memory serves me correctly, UK food labelling regulations allow the catch-all term "Flavourings" to allow a manufacturer to maintain intellectual property rights for their recipe.
Other than that, the ingredients most-to-least (apart from the actual percentages which are protected under the same legislation) are as follows:

Carbonated Water
Sugar Acid (Citric Acid)
Flavourings (Including
Caffeine, Ammonium Ferric Citrate & Quinine)
Sweeteners (Aspartame, Acesulfame K)
Preservative (E211) Colours (Sunset Yellow FCF, Ponceau 4R)

(Contains a source of Phenylalanine. Sunset Yellow & Ponceau 4R)
https://www.agbarr.co.uk/our-brands/irn-bru/#:~:text=Each%20Serving%20Contains-,Ingredients,Contains%20a%20source%20of%20Phenylalanine.


Can I un-seal canned tomato sauce, and re-seal after further cooking? If I canned tomato sauce and all the jars sealed perfectly, can I open them, cook the sauce a little more, and do the process over again?

I had some of the sauce today and I think it needed a little more cooking.

We make a lot of sauces every year. I wouldn't try to do it over. If you know what its lacking just add it to your sauce as you use it. Sometimes bland sauce can be a good thing and offers you an open door to add what you want. If you're missing some flavors you like or don't have enough of it just add it for now with seasonings. Make a mental or written note for next year to try and zero in on what exactly you want to produce.


Turkish substitute for Mascarpone? I often make this simple recipe - [fresh] tagliatelle with spinach & mascarpone.

Garlic, sautéed in butter & olive oil, wilt the spinach, a dash of nutmeg, very generous dollop of mascarpone, bit of seasoning; then mix in the tagliatelle & loosen with reserved pasta water. Done in 10 minutes, start to finish. Lovely.

Due to the current lockdown, my source for the cream cheese will be my local Turkish 'mini-mart'. The guys there are great, they are well-stocked, but have unsurprisingly a great number of products directly imported from Turkey.
They will always try their best to find me something close to what I need, but sometimes we get lost in translation or there is no direct equivalent. They're also shopkeepers, not cooks, so sometimes just don't know which might be best/closest.
They have about 8ft of fridge space for cheese/dairy, floor to above head height, so there is a lot to choose from, not more than half a dozen of which will be British products labelled in English.

A bit of research online tells me I should be looking for perhaps taze krem peynir or labne. The first I understand to mean fresh cream cheese, the second I'm not sure. I've also been warned that some are like 'Dairylea' or 'Laughing Cow' processed cheese, which I'm keen to avoid.

Is anyone well-versed enough in Turkish food to give me a reasonable guide to what I may actually be looking for? Bear in mind, I really won't be able to read the labels in any meaningful way, so I need the big clues to identification.

I've seen What is a substitute for mascarpone cheese? but even to substitute 'cream cheese' I've first to correctly identify the right cream cheese, so I'm back to square one ;)

The closest Turkish equivalent is kaymak (prononunced like guy-mac but with a k, accent on the second syllable). It is reasonably well available in Turkish mini-marts, although the only available brand may use gums or other thickeners.

It is not a perfect substitute, and may not whip well if you mix it with cream for pastry-making. But for mixing into a pasta sauce, it will work very well and give you that fat-rich mouthfeel from real mascarpone.

By the way, I have seen many variants of this sauce. I make mine most commonly with German quark as the dairy component (if you want to try that, ask the Turks for kesmik, but make sure you are getting a wet kind, not a dry kind). So feel free to experiment with any kind of fresh cheese or high-fat fermented dairy, all of them are likely to produce something good, but slightly different in texture and flavor notes. Also, a small tip beside the dairy: instead of all-spinach, try half spinach, half chard (both wilted).


Can I use pumpkin for spaghetti squash? I live in Singapore and there seems to be no squashes, of the type that I typically see in Spaghetti Squash recipes, sold here.

Can I use pumpkin as a substitute? If I put it in an oven and use fork to make the spaghetti strands, will it work and have the same texture?

No, pumpkin will not shred the way spaghetti squash does. That's pretty much distinctive to the spaghetti squash, and I don't know of any substitute.

The flavor is generically squashy, so if you were to serve a sauce on top of a slice of pumpkin or cubed pumpkin it would taste just fine. Not the same, but similar enough to be edible. The texture will be different, and to really get the dish the way the recipe designer intended, you'd need to lay your hands on a spaghetti squash.

So, if the sauce has a really interesting flavor you want to try, go ahead and prepare it, then serve it with pumpkin prepared any way you like. (The easiest way is to cut it into slices or chunks and roast at 350F/170C until soft; there are lots and lots of variations on that basic idea.) If you like it enough to try again, maybe you'll locate a spaghetti squash; they're easy to grow and you may be able to push your local grocer into carrying them.


Mastrad Orka pancake spatula Where can I purchase the
Mastrad Orka pancake spatula?  It has a curved silicone blade about 8" long and 1" to 1 1/2" wide with a nice silicone handle. Some websites indicate this item is discontinued. Does anyone know why that might be?

Search google for this term and you'll find lots of suppliers.

ob210101

Buy several so you have a supply if and when they finally run out.


How to enhance sweetness of a baked chocolate brownie? I am not sure if it is even possible or not. I baked a almond and walnut chocolate brownie. While I was preparing the mixture I added extra cocoa powder, I though it will give the brownie a perfect chocolate color. This resulted in bit bitter brownie. The brownie is perfectly baked. I have never ever baked some thing so perfect and consistent like this brownie. Can I some how enhance  sweetness of this brownie?

You could always frost the brownies, or you could also sprinkle powdered sugar with a sieve over the top to add a little extra sweetness.


Can I keep mulled wine on the stove for longer I'll be making mulled wine for the very first time.  I'll be preparing it an hour in advance, more or less.

Once I've completed the recipe can I keep it on the stove on low or low-mid setting for another hour or two without risking any unpleasant taste to it ? If not, how can I keep it warm to hot for that long at home ?

Yes, you absolutely can do it. This is how it is done at Christmas parties and commercial Christmas markets in Germany. Just keep it warm and it will be OK. You won't get much alcohol or taste loss.


Cooking a large pork roast in a slow cooker I need to cook a 9 pound pork roast in a crock pot/slow cooker. How long do I need to cook it? I have a recipe for a 3-4 pound roast; is there any way to adjust it for a larger roast?

If you cut the nine pound roast into three equal three-pound sections, each should heat to recipe specs.


What would you use to wash pretzel hot dog buns? I was inspired after seeing a hot dog with a pretzel bun. I have the recipe pretty close to where I want it, but I'm not sure what to use as a wash. I tried egg whites so far and wasn't very happy.

I'm open to all suggestions as I'm not sure what I want or what the expectation of a pretzel hot dog bun should be. Also would you doing anything special with the boil?  I'm just using the standard baking soda and water at the moment.

If you want the hardcore, traditional pretzel flavor and crust, lye is really the only way to get it. You can dip it in a boiling bath of baking soda or washing soda for a minute or so. This can have the downside of giving the bun a really thick, leathery crust like a bagel. Alternately, to do a lye dip, you add one ounce of lye to one liter of water (add the lye to the water, not the water to the lye), stir and give it a few minutes to dissolve. The dough can be dipped in or brushed with the cold lye solution then baked. This will give you the really dark, thin, papery crust with that distinct pretzel flavor.

While the lye certainly isn't a chemical to be careless with, if you obey proper precautions (keep it off your skin, don't splash it, etc) it's nothing to be afraid of either.


What is the meaning of "cream of X" in a soup? I have often had "cream of tomato" or "cream of mushroom" soup. But I still have no idea how the recipe or preparation differs from "normal" soup.

What is the difference? Is it a specific ingredient or a specific process? I tried a few searches online, but they all show recipes instead of an answer.

'Cream of' originally meant not only pureed, but cream added, regardless of other ingredients - most modern shop bought versions will either have cream or a product of dairy origin added, which is why there are often warnings about lactose intolerance on 'cream of' soups.


How do I keep leftover tomato sauce from spoiling? I made pizza today.  The last time I did this I had some leftover tomato sauce; when I opened that it went POP and smoke came out of the jar.  Tasted really bad, too, so I threw it away and opened a new jar.

I keep having to do this.  I close the jar tight and put it directly in the refrigerator, but it still goes bad.

What can I do to prevent this?  Is there some sort of preservative I could add to the remaining sauce to keep it from spoiling?

Put leftover sauce in a zip-style freezer bag.  Seal most of the way.  Lay on counter and gently remove air, sealing the rest of the way at the last moment.  Freeze flat.  Freezing will extend the shelf life.  Freezing flat will allow for easier storage, and faster thawing.


Are all the processing steps of tofu harmless? Tofu is considered as a processed food. After watching a couple videos on YouTube. I am only concerned about two points specifically:

Is heating the soaked and crushed beans so that they become a paste harmful? As sometimes high heat can harm a food product.
I don't know about the coagulant they add, which is magnesium chloride. I see that they sometimes add calcium chloride/sulfate too. Are these safe coagulants?

Nothing else I watched in the process made me think they could be harmful.

Making tofu for mass production and consumption and making tofu at home generally follow the same procedures.  Soybeans are soaked, ground, and cooked.  The resulting "milk" is separated from the soilds. Then a coagulant is added (either salts, acids, or enzymes depending on producer and type of tofu). Finally, the tofu is pressed.  The one difference between tofu you purchase in a package and tofu made at home is that the mass-produced variety likely goes through a pasteurization step.  In general, this is a process that has been used for centuries (other than the pasteurization, of course, which is more recent technology). Given the history of tofu production, and the number of people who consume it, any health concerns would have been identified by now.


How to mix parmessan (or any hard cheese) into oil sauce When making sauces from a roux or starchy water (like cacio e pepe), I find it's quite easy to infuse hard cheese like Parmesan into it.

However, is there anything I can do when working with oil-based sauces?

In particular, I'm looking at this recipe.  To sum it up, his sauce is made of:

Olive oil
Butter
White wine
Lemon juice & zest
Parmesan cheese
Reduce by ~half

The recipe was wonderful... but when I added the Parmesan (after the other sauce ingredients and before the pasta is added) as done in the video, it immediately just gunked up and started grouping in a ball the more I agitated it.  After seeing this, I just added the rest of the Parmesan after I plated the dish.

The guy did another weird thing... and that is leaving his shrimp in the sauce while reducing it.  I understand this surly overcooks the shrimp and makes them really shrink and tougher than they should be... so I'm kind of thinking it's maybe best to not exactly follow his steps.

To sum it up... my question is:

Can I add Parmesan directly to this sauce while cooking it... and how?  Will this make my sauce richer, like adding a Parmesan rind to a soup?
Or should I just add the Parmesan to the plated dish after?

It's not traditional to add cheese to fish dishes in much of Italian cuisine. Historically, this may be more closely connected to economics and religious beliefs than for any culinary reason.  As far as flavor development goes, if you like parmesean cheese with your fish based pasta dishes, by all means, use it.

Getting the cheese to emulsify into the sauce is quite tricky.  Even though it is an oil based sauce, you will typically need to add a bit of the pasta cooking water to help with the emulsification.  Also, you will want to remove the sauce from the heat before the addition of the water and cheese.

When the pasta is about 1 to 2 minutes from being completely cooked, remove from boiling water directly to the pan with the condiment.  Add a few splashes of cooking water and stir vigorously to emulsify.  Remove from heat.  Add a bit of cheese, stir vigorously...and a splash or two of pasta water.  Continue until you have added all of the cheese, but a little at a time.

Sometimes, if it's too hot, or I don't have room in the pan to really stir and toss, it clumps.  It takes some practice and patience.


How can I put a hot dog in a bun without splitting the bun? I have some store-bought, pre-slit hot dog buns. They are a little brittle, and if I open the slit wide enough to take the hot dog, the bun splits in two.

I've tried using my toaster oven to warm the buns. They taste nice that way, but it they don't soften much.

Any other tricks?

Steaming them will soften them up for your dogs. The quick-and-easy way to do that would be to microwave (as another user suggested), or just over a pot of water briefly until they're soft enough


Flour for sauce: In the broth or in the oil? I am an amateur cook. While I have been making a couple different sauce recipes, I have been using flour to thicken it. To deal with lumping, I have been try several methods. One successful one has been to mix the flour into the cold broth. I simply add the flour to the broth and whisk out any dry lumps. This method works because the gluten globules don't form without heat.

However, I don't see this method referenced in any method. Instead I have been told to only mix the flour in oil or knead it into butter.

Is there a reason why the flour + broth method isn't recommendable?

Does the method to make a roux not work if there is liquid in the mix?

Thank you.

If you add the flour to the broth you don't have an opportunity to cook the flour separately.

Roux is described by its color. Even the lightest whites or blonds are cooked a bit to remove some of the raw "cereal-y" flavor of the flour. Toasting it just a little removes this and it's generally considered an unpleasant taste.

Darker preparations bring out a nutty quality that is sought after for dishes like gumbo.

You're basically making a slurry, which is a normal thickening technique (you mentioned the other two). Generally the starch is mixed with a small amount of cold liquid and then added to the sauce to thicken

If you don't notice the raw flour flavor in your sauces, I'd say your technique is a fine solution. Probably due to the relative amount of flour you are using. You may notice it's not ideal for a thicker sauce.


How to make a good tasting pepper cream sauce without using premade fabricated stuff When I buy a premade pepper cream sauce at the grocery store it tastes good enough. It is peppery, creamy and salty. But when I try to make this myself I can't get it to taste at least neutral salty or peppery. Either the taste is really weak or too strong.
I use this recipe:

Put dairy butter in pan (low heat)
Put some flour in it (give it a stir)
Put some water from the pan with vegetables in it
Add grinded pepper (all seasons)
Add peppercorns
Add salt

Now I could experiment, but I've done so a lot. The nice peppery creamy taste comes in very late when I make it myself. When I buy it premade it always tastes salty and creamy immediately and then the peppery kicks in. How do they do this? How can I make the taste better; what am I missing?

I haven't made peppercorn sauce for many years, but from recollection, how you combine the pepper and the fat is the key.  Many sauces use cream, but it's not completely necessary.  The pepper flavour is staying in the peppercorns, which is why it doesn't come on early.
I suspect you need to cook the pepper in the butter before making the roux.  This will extract the flavour into the sauce better, as piperine (the most important component of the flavour) isn't really soluble in water.
Some recipes use alcohol, which also dissolves piperine, e.g. this one (in French) makes a reduction using cognac and adds the butter later.
White pepper is also quite common; I can't instantly find a recipe but some use ground white pepper in a cream-based sauce, with whole black or green peppercorns.  If you're using ground white pepper, buy it fresh; it doesn't keep its flavour very well.
As for the  saltiness, are you adding as much as the commercial sauce? Commercial sauces often use shocking amounts of salt, but you might not need as much once the pepper flavour is dealt with.


what size foil squares to wrap chocolate truffles? So much leftover chocolate truffle base that I better package nicely and get out of the house:

Is there some ratio or rule of thumb to spare me from experimenting on the right size and shape of bon bon to fit either a 3, 4 or 6" square foil?
Closest answer I find is from foil ordering site stating 3" is for small, 4" medium size candy etc. Whatever that may mean.

Cube, ball or flat-bottomed egg are all fine by me; typically my portioning is not more than an inch thick.

Sorry if this post is more geometry than cooking but appearances count too

Some basic math, assuming spherical candy and the type of foil that fits snugly w.o. twisting the ends (like thin aluminum foil):

3" foil -> covers 0.95" candy w.o. overlap -> aim for scant 3/4" balls
4" foil -> covers 1.27" candy w.o. overlap -> aim for 1" balls
6" foil -> covers 1.91" candy w.o. overlap -> aim for 1.5" balls

I figured 3.14 for Pi would be precise enough, and the formula is:

  circumference = diameter * Pi

For cubic candy:

  circumference = 4 * side

For other blocks (or close enough, e.g. egg-shaped):

  circumference 1 = 2* (height + lenght)
  circumference 2 = 2* (height + width) -> use the bigger value for square foil

Of course, you'll want to have a foil slightly larger that the circumference, as you need some overlap - just add 1/4" - 1/2", depending on how precise you wrap.

If you are using the plasticy type of stiff foil that is to be twisted, add at least 1-2" per twist, up to 3" for a more "flashy" effect.


How to transport several pies? I want to bring 6 pies to work. Last month, I thought I found a solution - a 3-tiered plastic pie carrier. Now I can't find it online anywhere, though I could swear it was on Target.com. Anyone have any ideas? I live in NYC and don't have a car. I'm thinking I'll take a cab, but getting them in and out in one trip (stacked somehow) would be nice.

Note: I have found double pie carriers, but am looking for triple since I have 6 and only two hands.

I may not get a vote for this (hell, possibly a downvote), but....

Can't you just buy some bamboo steamer baskets from a chinese grocery and figure a way to stabilize them while they are stacked together? They are available in many sizes, and I am sure this little hack would work just fine.

Also, having checked google, there are very few inexpensive options.

PS I like your name, it's spelled the cool way, just like my wife.


Is this dark muscovado sugar safe to use? I've got a batch of dark muscovado sugar that I rarely use, sitting in an airtight ziploc bag. Upon opening it today, I noticed that is gone very hard and some of the lumps are white inside. There's also a few darker ones.

Is this natural for this kind of sugar or has something happened to it (could be a fungus for all I know)?

Muscovado sugar is a partially refined sugar.  Hence, it has a lot of what is essentially molasses contained in it.  The molasses can migrate, leaving whiter areas; also scraping with a spoon, e.g., can leave whiter areas.

To reconsitute, place in a jar with a piece of bread or covered with a damp cloth (what I do).  Within a few hours, it should be nice and soft as sugar is quite hygroscopic.  If you use bread, it (the bread) will probably be hard.


When to use glass vs. metal vs. stoneware baking dish? I've recently started to do more baking. I have metal baking sheets, metal bakeware, glass bakeware and I also know that there is stoneware baking dish, like this casserole. How do I decide which to use?

Before I say anything further, if you are beginning to bake, I'd suggest investing in a basic introductory cookbook, which can provide more detail than I will here.  Also, you'll find that recipes will generally the type of pan to use.  (And when no material is specified, metal is a pretty good default for most applications.  Recipes designed for glass will often say so, and those which require stoneware will say so or recommend a "heavy casserole dish" or similar.)

Here are a few very general observations, though:

Metal baking sheets: generally have large surface area and are good for things you need to spread out while baking/roasting, e.g., cookies, individual pastries like croissants, etc, as well as things like roasted vegetables.  Baking sheets are also useful in some circumstances where you don't have a pan with a specific shape/size for whatever you're baking (freeform loaves, strudel, galettes, etc.)
Other Metal bakeware: generally made in specific shapes and sizes which will determine what they can be used for (round vs. square cakes, deeper loaf pans, shallow pie plates, muffin tins, etc.).  There are many special metal pans too which have specific purposes and unique construction, e.g., angel food cake pans, tart pans, popover pans, springform pans, etc.

Generally speaking, metal pans are more responsive to changes in heat.  Metal pans are probably the standard for most "baked goods," particularly for things that bake for a short time frame (less than an hour, and especially for things which cook for less than 30 minutes or so).  Metal pans will often promote surface drying and browning too, though the effect depends on the color of the pan.

Glass and stoneware will take longer to warm up and are probably more commonly used for roasting, braising, casseroles, etc. rather than what we generally refer to as "baking."  (Relatively few recipes for baked goods tend to request glass or stoneware too, so you may need to be ready to adjust time/temperature a bit to use them for baked goods.)  Glass and stoneware often perform similarly, though with a few differences:

Glass is transparent, which can increase radiative heat and in some cases promote more browning.  (It also allows you to see the bottom and sides of your food during cooking, which can be helpful.)
Stoneware is sometimes porous, in which case you may want to be careful about what you put into it (since it can leave stains and sometimes off flavors).  If fully glazed, it basically performs somewhat similar to glass without the transparency.

Because glass and stoneware heat slowly, they're most appropriate for applications that will bake for a long time.  Glass and (glazed) stoneware also tend to be used in circumstances where the food may be more reactive with metal, e.g., if you're making a fruit cobbler with acidic fruit, some metal pans may leave a metallic flavor in the dish (though stainless pans and metal coated pans generally don't have that problem).

Glass and stoneware also aren't generally a good choice if you require rapid changes in temperature and/or direct heating of the pan -- such as stovetop cooking (browning something before roasting, cooking a gravy after roasting, etc.) or broiling.  Rapid temperature changes could crack or shatter glass and stoneware dishes.

Finally, since glass and stoneware change temperature slowly, they're better for situations where you want to keep food warm during serving for a longer time.


For how long should I cook onion paste? I followed a recipe the other day that involved cooking "Onion Paste" till Golden Brown. There were no details on how to make it so I assumed it was just "Take the onions and make a puree".

I cooked it for like 10 minutes but it did not change color. I continued on with the recipe as I was afraid that if I cook it longer, it may turn bitter. Usually when I cook chopped onions, they become golden brown in 10 minutes.

I am wondering if I did something wrong? Please note that I also added some water in the mixer while making the puree.

Pureeing onions makes them release a lot more of their water than just chopping them, and if you added extra water on top of that, you probably had a very wet paste. That makes it take a lot longer to cook - while you're just boiling away water, it's not hot enough to brown much.

So cook it as long as it takes - it's not going to become bitter. (If anything, it'll get sweeter!)  And if you want it to cook faster, don't add extra water. If you watch carefully, you can also turn the stove up hotter at the beginning to boil off water faster, then reduce the heat once it's drying out enough to avoid burning it.

If whatever you used to make the puree doesn't work well without the extra water, you can still use it; just know that it'll make it take longer to cook. Otherwise, you could try grating the whole onion on a cheese grater, which does a surprisingly good job - it'll still be really juicy though!


Why did my thai curry have a bitter aftertaste? I'm on the low fodmap diet so i tried making my own thai curry paste (without shallots or garlic). Here are the ingredients that i used:

1/4 cup coriander leaves, stems and roots
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 large stalk lemon grass
6 red chillies
1.5 tbsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1/4 spring onions
3 tsp garlic infused sesame oil
1 tsp lime juice

I'm guessing it's either the lemon grass or the lime juice which made it bitter

Disclaimer: I have no experience with low FODMAP diets. But it seems quite a challenge to make a Thai curry without garlic or shallots in any case!

In Thai cooking, you typically want to have very strong flavours, and a balance of the basic flavours: bitter, sweet, salt, sour, and umami. So perhaps your problem isn't so much having a strong bitter taste (which isn't appreciated as much in western cuisine as it is in Thai cuisine), as a relative lack of the other basic tastes?

I would suggest that you may be missing out especially on salt and umami, because you haven't used any fermented fish sauce (which is typically very salty) for seasoning, nor fermented shrimp paste ("gapi", which is very umami) in the curry paste. One teaspoon of salt is not very much; in commercial curry pastes you may find as much as 25% salt.

Other things that come to mind (which may or may not be relevant to your issue):

Don't use lime juice in the curry paste; but do use a bit of lime zest. It's fine to use lime juice for seasoning while cooking the curry, though. I typically use a bit more than one teaspoon, perhaps two or three. But it all depends on the balance of the dish: as a rule of thumb, add (palm) sugar for sweetness, fish sauce for saltiness, and lime juice for sourness, until you can taste all basic tastes, without any one overwhelming the others.
Don't include the coriander leaves and top part of the stems in the curry paste, only the roots and lower part (about an inch) of the stems. You can use the leaves to garnish the dish.
Don't use spring onions in the paste, as they make a poor substitute for shallots; they're also better used for garnishing the dish.
Use galangal instead of ginger, if you can find it (if I can't get fresh galangal, I won't even bother trying to make my own curry paste).

Hope this helps!


How to know how many tablespoons of seeds correspond to 1 table spoon of its ground form? Please point out a conversion method or the Google keywords which would result in a trusted measuring chart for converting seeds to powder or paste form or vice versa.

Example:
1 tablespoon of powdered Coriander seeds correspond to how many tablespoons of raw Coriander seeds.

It depends on how accurate you want, but based upon the book On Food And Cooking: The Science And Lore Of The Kitchen by Harold McGee, this is not possible to be 100% accurate. This is probably too accurate for your needs, but as you didn't state how accurate you want, I'll only explain why it can't be 100% accurate.

Measuring by tablespoons or the like doesn't take into consideration the size of the food on the spoon (the seed in this case). For example, not every seed has the same shape, size or mass. So when grinding to a powder, you're not working with consistent seeds.

This means, if you take 1tbs (or ever better, a cup) or seeds and then weight it, and then take another measure you'll have different results.

The problem with powder, is it depends on how fine you're going. The finer will allow you have more powder in the same space compared to something 'grated' a little thicker. There is also the issue of air which gets into the powders which will have some factor.


Sous vide chuck roast or chuck steaks? I've never cooked sous vide before, but am now equipped to try thanks to the holidays.

We have a 3 pound chuck roast -- I'm not sure what the exact cut shape is, but it's vaguely cube shaped. If we cut the roast into steaks (1-2 inches thick) before bagging and cooking, what effect would this have on the cooking time and/or quality?

That's the first thing I did with my Anova circulator.

It turns chuck into ribeye! (so to speak) Notice no grey border? And the perfect medium rare?!

I don't know about sous-vide cooking chuck as a roast (although I do have a recipe), because I haven't done it (yet). It turned out so great as a steak that I'll probably do at least one more as steaks before I do a roast. I live alone so I'd rather have 5 steaks vacuum packed in the freezer than 1 beautifully cooked roast.

That is chuck, circulated for 60 hours (no joke, although I did one for 36 hours that was almost as good) at 131F. The long time is necessary to break down all of that delicious connective tissue.

Then I seared in a NASA hot cast iron skillet.

It was so good! I sprinkled with salt and pepper just before I seared, that was all the seasoning I used. Great steak for the price of hamburger :)

Good luck! Enjoy!


Refrigerate after opening, but why? When I open a jar or a bottle of...well, anything (but especially juices or sauces), I have to put leftovers in the fridge if I want to finish it later.  What makes this food okay to leave on the shelf until I open it for the first time?

The canning process makes food safe: existing bacteria and fungi are killed, the intrusion of new pathogens is prevented by sealing the container. (More e.g. here.)

As soon as you open the can or jar, its contents are exposed to the surrounding air which will contain bacteria and fungal spores. Some of those will happily grow feeding on the food they land on. Refrigerating slows down their metabolism, meaning they can't reach dangerous numbers within the recommended storage time after opening. For more info on storing food, see our canonical posts on food storage and on how long quickly-spoiling food can be left at room temperature.


What are the advantages and disadvantages of various sugars/substitutes? Such as:

Splenda
Artificial Sweeteners
Sugar "In the Raw"
Honey
Stevia
Molasses

Can they be used interchangeably in recipes or do they have to be used at different proportions?Aside from nutritional differences, can I expect drastically different flavors?

I can tell you a few things about artificial sweeteners!

Alot of artificial sweeteners look nothing like sugar (in terms of their chemical makeup) and have very different properties. Most are also sweeter than sugar (sometimes by a factor of hundreds) so in the packets, you will find that they come along with alot of other, inert ingredients.

I found this link for you that lists various artificial sweeteners and their properties. Since most of them are nothing like sugar, you can't do certain things to them: such as heating to high temperatures or for example caramelizing.

The link I gave you mentions which artificial sweeteners are safe for eg. baking and includes some natural subsitutes as well.

I'm not really familiar with their health aspects, but I found this link that discusses health issues with artificial sweeteners.

Hope this is useful to you!


Can I freeze beef bones and use them to make a broth later on? I am interested in making my own beef broth from bones left over from chuck roasts, t-bone steaks, etc. However I currently do not have enough bones to make a batch with.
Can I get a big ziplock "bag o' bones" going and keep it in the freezer, adding to it as I get more bones, and finally thaw + use all the bones once I have enough?
Or do bones "go bad" in the freezer, freezer burn easily, or cause other problems when accumulating the bones slowly over time?

Yes, you can.  The advantage, as you point out, is that you can collect the bones until you have enough to make a flavorful stock.  They freeze well, but will last even longer (avoiding freezer burn) if you can remove as much air as possible from the package.  I often do with with chicken bones, necks, and skin until I accumulate a decent amount for a stock.


Refrigerating fudge v leaving it out Fudge shops don't seem to refrigerate their fudge they leave it out - is that what gives it is firm texture and how long should it be left out?

Fudge doesn't need to be refrigerated. It is candy and nothing can grow in such a high concentration of sugar.

The ambient humidity can mess with your fudge a bit if it isn't sealed. Too dry and the fudge will dry out and get crumbly on the outside. Too humid and the fudge will absorb enough water out of the air to melt. It is simple enough to tightly wrap the fudge or seal it in a container to prevent this from happening.

The firmness of fudge is not due to being left out. It is a factor of the temperature at which the fudge was cooked and the resulting sugar concentration. I imagine you could make a softer fudge and leave it uncovered in low humidity to harden it. It seems easier to simply cook it to the right temperature to begin with.


What is the cellular activity behind massaged greens? Most recipes I have seen and used call for greens (kale, chard, collard, turnip, beet, etc) to be massaged in salt and/or lemon juice (or other acidic liquid) for 3-5 minutes, resulting in a dense leafy salad. The preparation is fantastic as it takes away the sharpness of raw greens while keeping them raw, and in a fraction of the time.

As the textural and taste characteristics are more akin to cooked greens (less strong in flavor, crisp but not tough to the tooth) than eating them raw, I would like to know how massaging greens works at a cellular level to achieve these results.

What happens to the greens to affect this change?
Is the physical manipulation what causes the change?
Does the addition of salt or vinegar or lemon juice actually have a chemical or physical effect, or are these elements to benefit the flavor?

The physical massaging of the greens starts to break down the cell walls (made of mainly cellulose in plants), rendering the greens more tender. The addition of salt could be to help draw our more moisture from the greens, or it could just be for seasoning like vinegar or lemon juice.


How long to preheat an OTG? I have an Oven Toaster Grill by Oster in 10 litres capacity. I am new to baking and every recipe for egg muffin says you have to preheat the oven but none of them say for how long. This is very confusing baking jargon. So if any recipe calls for preheating, how long should I preheat?

P.S: I know there are similar questions posted but none of them seem to answer in general, they are specific to a recipe (bread/cake et al).

When you set the oven to the required temperature and then close the door and turn it on, pretty soon you will probably see the heating element begin to glow orange from the heat. When the oven is up to the selected temperature, the power to the element should then switch off for a while, and you should be able to see the orange glow diminish and start to fade. That is when the oven is considered "pre-heated". My "big" electric oven (regular size, really) takes about 10 minutes to pre-heat, so your little OTG should be quicker -- maybe 3 to 5 min.(?), but watch the element, or, as Jolenealaska mentions, the indicator light. If it has an indicator light, when the light goes out for a while, it's pre-heated.


Coffee in a rattlesnake recipe? Why? WARNING - IF YOU HAVE A PET SNAKE LOOK AWAY NOW!

The quest continues!  The back story to this question is:  My friend is competing in a competition, the main ingredient should be lizard, however I pointed out to her that some people didn't like talking about lizard.  I suggested snake, yes, she can cook snake, and be judged on that, as there will be other snake dishes being offered.

Now, I've eaten snake, and found it quite palatable, but I have never personally cooked one.

I asked what equipment they will have access to: BBQ grill, oven, broiler, hot plate for pans. I asked if there were any other requirements as per the ingredients - no she can use what ever she like.

I found this recipe for fried rattlesnake with ham gravy particularly interesting, but am struggling with the coffee bit in it.  Not quite sure why it calls for that, and to my mind sounds wrong - so the question is:  what can she substitute for coffee in this recipe and what does the coffee achieve?

It's not a mistake. It's there because people like the taste of coffee in meat dishes. It adds some richness to the flavor, definitely something that works well with meat, and I doubt rattlesnake is any exception. I've had chili with coffee in it, and plenty of barbecue rubs with coffee. (I don't remember a specific recipe I've had, but for example these ribs look good.) You can find recipes for all sorts of other things, e.g. beef roast with coffee, pork tenderloin with coffee, or coffee beef jerky. You'll see dark chocolate or cocoa powder used in a lot of similar ways.

Unless you have a coffee allergy or can't get coffee, I'd try the recipe as written before you write it off. You could use instant if it's just that brewing real coffee is a pain. If you really can't use coffee, I'd try cocoa powder and water, in a ratio like hot chocolate, minus the sugar. You could also substitute milk or water or stock or any appealing liquid if you don't want to use coffee, I suppose. You'd still get a gravy, just not the same gravy, not the one the recipe author intended.

And of course, I'd give the same answer about any meat recipe with coffee in it, not just this specific snake recipe. It might be surprising if you haven't seen it before, and I guess it might not be as common outside southern US cuisine, but it's a good idea.


Do grains sold as animal feed meet the safety standards for human food? I don't know if the safety standards for human and animal food crops are different or equivalent. Also, if they are different, by what magnitude do the limits for toxins and the like differ?

As for laws, this is for Germany/Europe

What is animal feed in one country is human food in another (E.g. "Polenta") but that's just one example, so:

Is all animal feed safe to eat raw? Definitely not!
Is all animal feed safe to eat cooked? Definitely not!
Is some animal feed safe to eat raw? Probably not!
Is most animal feed safe to eat cooked? Probably yes.
Is it legal to serve this food to other people? No in most countries, including Germany

However, that is just some and most and probably and the quality control between  maize for animal consumption and maize used for human consumption is different, so the quality of the food you'll be cooking out of chicken feed will be much lower than the one rated for human consumption.

I mean: I once made a stew out of dog food by adding pepper, allspice, nutmeg and some nice dark monk beer, but that was a drunken bet and the two other drunks absolutely loved it the night itself until we realised the next day it was mostly horse meat...


Pot sticking to induction cooktop? I recently bought a Max Burton 6400 induction cooktop.  I used it a few times with some pans I already own and had to problem.  Today I wanted to heat some milk up quickly, and I used a cheap Ikea sauce pan.  The milk heated up fine, but when I tried to remove the pot, it had become stuck to the surface.  I turned the cooktop off, but it was still stuck.  I finally was able to slide it to the edge and pull it off, throwing hot milk all over my kitchen.

Has anyone experienced this with an induction cooktop before?  Is it considered a malfunction?  And should I blame the pot or the cooktop?

I am guessing you had a bit of fluid either on the bottom of the pan or on the top of your stove. It could have been almost any fluid including water. Even though your pans can get really hot, water trapped under a pan doesn't seem to boil away very quickly, and the longer the pot sits on top of the fluid, the thinner it is pressed, thus turning into a suction problem because there is no effective fluid surface (thickness) for air to slurp in under the pot.

I cook mostly with cast iron, so the irregularity of the surface minimizes this effect a great deal.

Make sure your pot bottoms and stove surface are dry and clean. Obviously they'll still get greasy, especially during heavy cooking sessions, but try to keep the grease level to a minimum, and wipe down the stove between the burners as you go.


Simple stone ground flour bread I'm aiming to make a simple bread from as few ingredients as possible; ideally only stone ground whole wheat flour, water, and yeast. I'm having a hard time finding a recipe like that specifically for stone ground flour.

So far this recipe seems closest to what I'm looking for. However, I would prefer to avoid using honey (and sugar) if possible.

How would I go about modifying this recipe to account for the lack of honey? I'm not even quite sure what the honey is providing in this recipe.

If it's flavor, I'm fine with the bread having no sweetness.

If it's for the yeast to eat, I don't quite know how much flour I would want to substitute to make up for the loss of the honey.

If it improves the texture of the dough or finished bread, I have no idea how to make modifications to the recipe. I've read that with this kind of flour, people have better luck with texture by allowing the flour to soak for longer.

How can I remove the honey from this recipe and end up with a decent bread?

Edit: oops, I just noticed the comments on the page suggest removing the honey. Could I get a second opinion on that, I guess?

Stone ground flour is simply whole wheat flour. It is differentiated from whole wheat flour that has been ground with rollers or impact grinders in that the grinding with stones does not heat the flour as much. It is thought that this leaves more nutrition.

You can look for any whole wheat bread recipe.

Whole wheat is a little trickier to bake good bread with for a couple reasons:

It has much stronger flavor than white flour.
Honey is often used to
compensate for the bitterness. Using flour from hard white wheat will be
milder than from hard red wheat.
It goes bad fast.
It is full of oils
that will quickly go rancid. I recommend either using it quickly or
storing your flour in the freezer. Of course, the best option is to
grind it yourself on demand. Whole wheat flour stored outside of the
freezer will taste noticeably less fresh after just a couple days although it will still be edible for longer.
It makes dense bread
Whole wheat flour has less gluten than refined bread flour. The shards of bran in whole wheat cut up gluten and result in denser
loaves. One way to combat this is to use flour ground as finely as
possible. I've read this is sometimes worse with stone ground flour. Another option is to add gluten or some bread flour.

I bake often with whole wheat but only rarely with 100% whole wheat. 100% whole wheat can be bitter and is very difficult to keep from being very dense. I use 50% bread flour and 50% whole wheat and that produces my preferred combination of hearty flavor and lightness.

The honey in your recipe, besides improving the flavor, will make the bread a little more tender. I second that you can leave it out.

Also, while not in your short list, one ingredient that you cannot omit: Salt.


Why are home canning jars made of glass and not metal? I was hoping to can some food to take backpacking and looking for metal canning jars for home canning, but as far as I can see, they don't exist. Is there any reason why canning jars are made of glass? Metal seems like it would be lighter and sturdier.

Metal may be lighter and sturdier, but glass is nicely non-reactive and easily cleaned for re-use. It's also easier to see what it looks like inside without breaking the seal, to see if there is something that doesn't look right. It's a lot easier to do safely in home environments.

I'm not sure if the difference in the thermal properties of the metal ring vs the glass lip are important in water bath canning (e.g., the ring expanding more than the glass).


Can deglazing a cast iron skillet remove the seasoning? I would love to combine two of the best things in cooking, deglazing with a fonds or wine and my cast iron skillet, which I have been seasoning for a couple of months now. My concern is that the seasoning might remove the seasoning from the skillet. Could this happen?

If it's properly seasoned, and affixed well to the pan, there shouldn't be any problem.

In fact, it's what I typically use to clean my pans even if I'm not making a sauce.

If you're reducing a sauce that's highly acidic, you might have cause for concern, as you don't want to have acids in the pan for long periods.


Achieving viscosity when making cocoa spread, without butter or coconut oil, with colza oil, without nuts I've found several recipes to make cocoa spread (meaning without nuts of any kind), but none really satisfy what I'm looking for.
I've tested a combination of

chocolate, usually 50% cocoa
cocoa powder
concentrated milk (sweetened condensed milk)
Colza oil or sunflower oil
a bit of corn starch (might be a bad idea)
a small bit of guar gum

The result was not really what I wanted, so I'm still looking for advice. I still don't have a good idea of the quantities.
It seems that the cocoa spread I like doesn't use coconut oil or butter, it's often colza or sunflower oil, so I'm still curious how they're able to get this viscosity.
In the ingredient of a cocoa spread I like, I've seen there is soy lecithine, which is something I still don't have.
Is there a temperature I should cook this at? Should I stir more?

I would say that the "thicker milk" advice of the other answer is not bad. Instead of using evaporated milk, it might be mich easier to make it with powdered milk.
Beyond that, I wouldn't try to do whatever a commercial producer is doing. Their recipes tend to be very precisely tuned, created with a lot of effort and know-how, and require steps and technologies that are impossible at home. If, for example, they are hydrogenating their oil, or maybe using only done fraction of it, you will never be able to replicate that.


Tips for cooked chicken to stay juicy half a day A little background: I'm going to build a chicken congee business.

In my country, generally, it's a coconut rice congee poured with turmeric chicken broth. (The chicken breast from the broth will be taken, shredded and placed in a different container and will be used as topping for the congee. If you want to know, the name of the dish is Bubur Ayam.)

My main differentiation will be additional spices for the broth, like star anise and oregano and another things (might be a fusion, but that's too fancy).

My main question is: After being cooked in broth, generally the chicken will be put in a small container, just sitting there for half a day or until sold out (the opening hours will be 6 in the morning to 11.).
(Without the broth, it's in different container, and the white plain congee is in a third container, on a stove that always has a small fire so the congee is always warm.)

Any tips so the texture and taste won't deteriorate during that time? Should I fry the chicken beforehand?

Oh yeah, the general recipe for the broth: coriander seeds, ginger, lemongrass, shallot, garlic, salt and soysauce. Any other tips will be appreciated .

Brining the chicken in salt will help it maintain it's moisture as well as making it less bio-friendly. It has the side effect of making the chicken taste really good when just plain chicken. If you do this, remove your other salt components from you recipe.


Safe to use pressure cooker for beer stew? I was thinking of using a pressure cooker to prepare the Flemish rabbit. This requires stewing the rabbit legs in beer.

Is it safe?

It is perfectly safe to add beer to any recipe in a pressure cooker. (well, any recipe you might use beer for outside a pressure cooker). While I've not done this with rabbit I have with venison (for chili), beef and chicken for various stews.

Assuming your concern is adding a 'carbonated' beverage, this question has been answered here: Carbonated Beverage in Pressure Cooker

Indeed one may easily find a plethora of beer in a pressure cooker recipes like these.


What could I use for this Yakisoba dish instead of cabbage? While planning out our meals for the week, I found this delicious-looking Yakisoba recipe that I would like to try.  The recipe looks good, but one thing concerns me.

  cabbage (~2 leaves) chopped

It seems like a waste to purchase one whole head of cabbage for just a single recipe.  So I'd like to use something else.

It can have a similar flavor, or be complimentary to the rest of the dish, but my main goal here is to use something other than cabbage for this recipe.

I know that I could re-use the cabbage in another recipe, but I've already picked out the rest of our meals for the week, and my wife's already bought some of the groceries, so it's either find another ingredient, find another meal, or waste most of a cabbage head.

So, what can I use in this dish that would work for a Yakisoba dish?

From a purist perspective, cabbage is fairly important to the recognizability of the dish by that name (as well as the pickled matchstick-cut ginger). Additional ingredients beyond those two are far more substitutable (at least from common Japanese perspective); the cabbage actually contributes a fair amount of flavor to an otherwise unremarkable dish. In fact, the presence of a mere two leaves suggests to me this is a pretty small portion.

So here's a "how to avoid substituting" answer, followed by a how to substitute answer.

Cabbage tends to survive a good 2 weeks in the refrigerator, so I wouldn't fret about it too much. It also makes a good garnish, shredded; additionally, it was super trendy for a few years for izakaya in Japan to serve raw cabbage with miso paste (sometimes sweetened). I know many shops that will even sell a half a head (in Japan it's easy to buy even a quarter head of cabbage), or you may find a small package of pre-chopped, unseasoned coleslaw mix, which typically contains cabbage and carrots. Finally, cabbage makes an excellent foundation for a vegetarian soup stock, so it's great way of making sure any surplus doesn't go to waste.

The only substitutes somewhat consistent with the style of the dish are other variations of cabbage (bok choy, napa cabbage, possibly kimchi) or certain crispy roots like kohlrabi. But frankly, those steer the dish into a non-Japanese style of pan-fried noodles. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but the texture and flavor differences are fairly pronounced. In a pinch, we've made these substitutions in my home, but in that case it was more about using up available ingredients, rather than trying to find an alternative.


How to make extra crispy and crunchy breading like KFC? I'm wondering how I would go about making extra crispy chicken breading like they do at many places like KFC and the like. Is there a certain ingredient that makes the breading like that?

Any assistance would be very much appreciated, and feel free to share any of your own recipes for crispy chicken breading if you have them. I'll be sure to put them to good use!

Thanks!

First, use self-rising flour or use 1 teaspoon of baking powder added to each cup of all-purpose flour that you're using for the dredging and coating mixture.  The carbon dioxide produced during frying will cause the coating to expand and become more flaky.

If you want more tender and flavorful chicken, first brine the pieces in buttermilk that has been mixed with several tablespoons of salt, some black pepper and whatever other seasonings you like.  Otherwise just dip the chiken in buttermilk seasoned with salt and pepper.

Before dredging the chicken, sprinkle a little milk or water over your seasoned flour mixture.   Shake the flour mixture around so that it asborbs the liquid, this will help create small crunch bits that will later adhere when you dredge the chicken.  Dredge the chicken and then return to the milk and then dredge again to get a thicker coating of flour.  Deep fry in enough oil to submerge, or pan-fry in enough oil to come about 2/3 up the chicken and turn a couple times to promote even browning.  Alternatively, after pan frying until evenly brown all around, remove from oil and place on a baking rack on a sheet pan and finish cooking in the oven until the chicken is done.


Fried pies lose their shape Family recipe for Vollinas.

4-5 cups flour
4 egg yolks
1 cup milk
1 pkg yeast
1 stick sweet cream butter
1/2 cup sugar.

After mixing & kneading & rising overnight, golf ball size pieces are pulled off, rolled out into an oval shape, filled with nuts, & folded over into a pie shape. The edges are sealed. When fried in oil they tend to increase in size & lose their fried pie shape. Any thoughts why they increase in size & how to remedy that?

"Filled with nuts" and "edges are sealed" - this is normal to happen with such a food. The filling produces steam, which blows up the pie. You should use less filling and pierce it in a place or two before frying, so you'll have less steam, and what is in there will escape.


Could you use other liquors than vodka in pie dough? Cook's Illustrated has developed a recipe for pie dough that substitutes vodka for some of the water, making dough mixable but developing less gluten (tough pastry). It works! Has anyone tried using rum or whiskey in place of vodka, in hopes of getting a flavored crust, for perhaps a pecan or banana cream pie? If so did it work out for you?

Yes.  We use apple jack in apple pie crust, which is a hard liquor with a sweet apple flavor.  (As I recall, we took this idea from Alton Brown in an Apple Pie episode.)  The apple jack provides the same benefit for flaky crust, and more apple flavor.


Will washing a certain part of my blender in the dishwasher ruin it? I just bought a new "smoothie-blender" from Russel Hobbs, and in the manual I read that you can wash the parts not connected to the motor in the dishwasher.

There is one part though, that I'm not sure of. It is basically the base where the blade is attached.

I think that washing this piece in the sink will be a major pain, but I don't know if I can do otherwise. Would you say it's safe to put it into the dishwasher?

Many blenders can be decently cleaned by just blending a couple changes of water, sometimes with detergent added in the first change, in them.

If the manufacturer says the part is dishwasher safe (adhere strictly to instructions about temperatures, detergents, and racks to be used!) and it degrades, get a warranty replacement.

There are two potentially problematic spots in a blender jar where a dishwasher could ruin things:

Seals.
Blades.

Some blender designs use sharp blades made like knife blades - such are sensitive to:

mechanical  edge damage (if the blade is allowed to bang against anything else in the dishwasher!),
thermal degradation (prolonged heating even at 70/80°C can mess up the temper of a blade in the long run),
corrosion (almost all hardenable knife steel, even if called stainless, is more corrosion sensitive than pot&pan type nickel austenitic stainless steel. If the manufacturer used an extraordinarily corrosion proof blade material like SM-100 alloy or H1 steel, they would for sure advertise it and ask for quite a markup.

Other blender designs work with rather blunt blades that rely on sheer collision force, such designs could be expected to hardly suffer from the abovementioned effects.


How do I optimize my chicken stock for the best flavor at the lowest cost? I want to make amazing chicken stock, but I want to spend less doing it than I have in the past while still buying "natural" or "organic" chicken parts.

I have made stock in the past following America's Test Kitchen's recipes, which call for cleaved up legs. While legs are among the cheapest cuts of chicken meat, I know this can be done for cheaper and with less wastage (I don't want to toss meat nor make chicken salad).

Using just legs makes for a thin flavor. Just chicken backs taste like Campbell's. My favorite so far was half backs and half necks. I also try to sauté everything beforehand to add some roasted flavor.

What combinations work best for you? Wing tips? Backs? Necks? Is it worth it to include a more expensive cut in the mix? And can you qualify the differences?

NOTE: I'm not looking for recipes so much as which cuts to use.

Chicken stock (or any stock) is made from bones; that generally means backs, necks, and carcasses - which are generally the cheapest "cuts" because they have almost no meat and aren't useful for much else. Sometimes, if you approach a butcher with high turnaround, you can get them at a steep discount, well under $0.50/kg, because they just end up throwing most of it out.

If you add any meat whatsoever then you are essentially making a broth, not a stock. I repeat, stock is just bones, simmered long enough to denature all or most of the collagen, usually no less than 8 hours.

I find that most people (myself included) prefer brown stocks, so roast them first. You can sauté, but it's not as effective as a slower roast because the heat doesn't really penetrate far inside the bones. It also helps to cleave the bones before simmering (after roasting) to expose the marrow; it makes for easier extraction, although some people don't like the marrow flavour as much.

The least expensive way to add more flavour is probably to add the dry stock mix or bouillon cubes filled with salt, MSG, and other flavour enhancers. Of course it won't really taste like a homemade stock if you do that. If you want a good stock then the traditional way to flavour it, which is also very inexpensive, is to use a mirepoix, which is just a 2:1:1 ratio of chopped onions, carrots, and celery. You add this about 1-2 hours before the stock is done and remove it before clarifying.

Going up the cost/taste scale is a bouquet garni, which, although the herbs that go into it can get fairly pricey, the amount you use is minuscule, so it costs practically nothing if you have other uses for the remainder of the herbs.

Don't even think about trying to put "expensive cuts" of meat into a stock to improve its flavour. You'll just be wasting the meat, which loses most of its flavour when boiled/simmered, and turning your stock into an unsalted broth, which makes it less versatile and generally perceived as blander.

Now if you want to make a soup with better cuts of meat, that's great; in that case, the texture matters, and I'll occasionally poach some boneless thigh or breast meat to use in a chicken soup (made from the aforementioned stock) for the sake of convenience. But I emphasize that this is done after the stock is made. The soup will also have other ingredients added such as chopped vegetables and of course plenty of salt.

Stock isn't supposed to have an exceptionally complex flavour, that's why it's called "stock" - it forms the base of other dishes such as soups, broths, or anything that calls for flavourful liquid (like a risotto). Focus on making a good clear stock from just bones and mirepoix; it gives the best result because you tweak it later according to how you use it, and it costs you almost nothing besides the energy it takes to keep the pot heated.


Why dry steak/meat/chicken/fish before cooking on a stove? For most recipes the instructions for cooking a steak on a stove say "pat the steak dry" then cook on the stove.

The drying instructions I have also seen for chicken and fish.

Why dry steak/meat/chicken/fish before cooking on a stove?

(I saw another question that was asking about how to dry the meat but not why.)

Because any moisture left on the surface will turn into steam upon touching the hot pan.

The steam will cause a lot of oil splatters (which is not only a huge mess, but can also hurt you), and if it can't evaporate fast enough, will interfere with proper browning, especially if you are overcrowding your pan or if your meat exudes a lot of moisture.


Baking a cheesecake at 325 instead of 350 I have a cheesecake recipe that I have used for years, It is as close to perfect as I need it to be...except, sometimes it cracks (maybe 1 of 5). I have never used a water bath and I don't want to start.
I was thinking if I lower the temperature from 350 to 325, it might stop occasional cracking. If I bake for 41 minutes at 350, how much time should I add if I bake at 325?
It has also been suggested that I add a tablespoon of cornstarch to the recipe...any thoughts on cornstarch.
Thanks

The best way to prevent cracking is to use a water bath. It will give you consistently perfect results every time. The payoff is worth the extra effort.

A cheesecake is a baked custard and controlling the temperature is an important component in uniform cooking. Especially in a thick cheesecake, it is hard to finish cooking the center without the perimeter areas overcooking unless you use a water bath.

Having said that, the second best way to avoid cracking is to use an instant read thermometer to test the internal temperature at the center of the cheesecake. Most sources are pretty clear that if the internal temperature rises above 160 °F, the cheesecake will crack so you should either turn the oven off or remove the cheesecake from the oven—depending on your recipe—when the cheesecake registers just over 150 °F.

Unfortunately, although the temperature of the cheesecake at its center should be a foolproof way of preventing a side-to-side crack along the top of the cheesecake, without a water bath it is still possible that there might be cracks along the outer regions of top of the cheesecake if those areas overcook from being unprotected.

Lowering the temperature might give you more control over the consistency of cooking, but it won't eradicate the risk of having the exterior of the cheesecake cook-through before the interior is sufficiently set.

Ultimately, to get back to your specific question, there is no reliable time-for-temperature adjustment that can be recommended. You will enjoy much more reliable results using internal temperature to tell when your cheesecake needs to stop baking. And I can assure you that using a water bath would revolutionize your cheesecakes.


Is it possible to make breads using cake techniques? Is it possible to make bread using similar batters/techniques as cakes? Or why isn't is possible to make breads using similar techniques or batters as a cake?

I'm assuming you mean yeast breads, not quick breads like cornbread and banana bread which are actually types of cakes. Cakes and yeast breads are fundamentally different, which is why the techniques are so different. Breads are supposed to be somewhat stretchy and denser then cakes, which is why they are a dough rather than a batter, and why they are kneaded by hand or dough hook. Cakes are supposed to be light and crumbly requiring them to be thinner and have air beaten into them (for some cakes). The recipes and techniques are very different for the two.

There are a few exceptions, for example brioche is typically made in a mixer with a paddle blade, and is closer to a batter than a dough, this is only possible because it has so much butter in it and the texture is supposed to be more crumbly. There are also some no-knead bread recipes out there which are mixed more like cake batters.

So on the whole no, you cannot use the same techniques.


Making Roux when Flour is Missing I like making sauces from scratch, starting with a roux.  Today, I discovered there's no flour in the kitchen.  A quick trip to the store is not possible.

What could I use instead?

(Note that my question is similar to but not the same as Flour alternatives for roux. I have no reason to avoid wheat flour; I just don't have any around.)

Technically, you can make roux with any starch and any fat, per Harold McGee.

So use cornstarch or arrowroot or whatever you have.  Just avoid something with strong flavor like cornmeal.

Of course, the flavor and thickening properties will be those of the starch you use... And you probably don't want to make a brown roux with anything but flour because of the flavor difference.


Why did my salsa go bitter? Recently I made 2 separate batches of salsa from the same ingredients:
1x Red Capsicum
1x Brown Onion
3x Green chilis
Half a head of garlic
Salt
Sugar
Lime Juice

The first batch was great. I dirced all ingredients to smaller than 2mm pieces, mixed it all together and it was lovely. For the second batch I decided that I didn't have the time to dice everything by hand (I am not very fast with a knife) and so I threw everything in the blender and blended until it was a frothy brown liquid.

The second batch was very bitter despite being made from the same quantities of each ingredient, all of which had been purchased on the day and everything was fresh.

Is there something about the liquifying my ingredients that caused my second batch to be bitter that would not have been caused by dicing them?

While I haven't heard of it happening for the specific ingredients you list, yes, the blender can make stuff really bitter.

There are two ways this can happen. First, a chemical reaction. A blender really churns the stuff through, driving lots of air bubbles into the mixture with some force. It also causes friction heat, especially professional grade blenders like vitamix. The heat, force and large reaction surface can cause the oxygen in the air to enter a reaction with the ingredients which doesn't happen when using a milder method for cutting up. Olive oil is a known culprit here, it usually turns bitter when blended, but it can happen with other stuff too.

Besides oxygen, a chemical reaction can also happen between two ingredients coming from two different vegetables, which would not have been mixed well enough in the knife scenario to produce noticeable amounts of reaction product.

The second possibility is releasing stuff which would have stayed "packed" without the blender. A knife will only damage the plant cells at the cut surfaces, and a blunt knife, if used with a somewhat inefficient technique, might even break very ripe vegetables along the cell walls instead of cutting through the cells. If there are mini-droplets of something bitter within the plant cells, it is possible that the blender (which really cuts cells into pieces) released these things. On a more macro level, it is also possible that we are not talking mini-droplets, but just plant parts which didn't get cut with the knife. Stray pepper seeds come in mind: you probably didn't cut any with the knife, they tend to be pushed by a knife instead of cut when you are cutting the pepper. The blender pulverizes everything that hits the blades, including these seeds.

I cannot know which of these is the most probable source, or which plant contained the bitter matter exposed/created by the blender. But the different methods of mincing vegetables are not equivalent, and can have very noticeable effects on taste and texture beyond the obvious chunk size. The bitterness you encountered is only one example. In general, use the method specified in a recipe. If you are not working from a written recipe, try out a few and see which works best.


Does salt interfere with the yeast in the dough swelling process? I was told by a friend that, when making pizza dough, I should add the salt at a later stage than the yeast, because it might disturbe the yeast from doing its thing...

I apologize for not having anymore concrete information, I just wanted to check this...

Salt in high concentrations can kill yeast yes. So can sugar, though salt is so much better at it. You see both are hygroscopic, meaning that they suck water out of stuff. This induces osmotic stress to the yeast cells leading eventually to cell breakdown (aka death).

On lower concentrations salt will throttle the yeast fermentation producing a richer and more uniform crumb.

Adding the salt early or later in the process will have a big effect on your dough, but that won't be because of the way it messes up with the yeast. Salt is supposed to coagulate gluten proteins, in a sense it "stiffens" the dough. On various situations this should happen late in the process (e.g. see the "Delayed salt method" used for sourdoughs).

For pizza dough I'd add the salt early.


How to prevent the lasagne filling from sliding out? When I cook lasagne most of the filling slides out between the pages. How do you make the filling stay in its place?

Time...lasagna needs to allowed to rest for a while before serving. At least an hour. If you try to serve it straight out of the oven it will slide all over on you. Time will allow the cheeses and other filling to firm a bit to give you the distinct 'layers' that you want to see out of a traditional lasagna. I would even recommend making your lasagna the day before you plan to serve it and chilling it over night and reheating just before service.