Achieving 'glossy', ultra smooth pudding texture I recently made New Best Recipe's chocolate pudding recipe. It's very good, but I was expecting that sort of 'glossy' texture you get with store bought pudding cups (at least in the U.S.) whereas this isn't quite as smooth. It's definitely not grainy or anything - as far as I can tell, I made the recipe correctly and it came out properly - it's just not that extra little bit of smooth, I suppose (kind of hard to describe the texture I'm looking for).

Is the texture in a store bought pudding cup something that is achieved because of whatever impossible-to-pronounce stuff they throw in there, or is it something I can modify the recipe to achieve? (I can provide the original recipe if necessary.)

Without the actual recipe to work with it's hard to suggest precise modifications (I don't have the cookbook you mention), but it's quite possible that store-bought puddings have more gelatin and/or gum-like ingredients. Gelatin can be added to a ganache (normally some combination of chocolate and cream, with a low-gloss finish) to achieve a "mirror glaze", which has a very smooth, consistent, high-gloss surface. Perhaps adding a bit more gelatin (and liquid?) to your recipe will get you there.


Bread dough doesn't keep its shape I've just made some 50/50 loaves using a biga. The taste is quite good but I'd like the crumb to be more open.

The biggest issue is that while raising the dough tends to "spread" rather than rise. What did I do wrong?

Here is my recipe:

For the biga:
500g  manitoba flour (extra strong)
300ml water
8g    active dry yeast

After 24h I add:
500g  wholemeal flour
300ml water
1tbsp vanilla paste
1tsp  sugar

I've shaped the loaves straight away as I know wholemeal bread doesn't like long proofing. I've let the dough raise 1 hour at room temperature and 10 hours in the fridge.
This morning I found the dough slightly raised and evenly spread in the pan (more like a focaccia than 3 loaves :-) ). I've reshaped a bit, just separating the three loaves.

In the oven the size hasn't changed much (180 C, with a bit of water to keep humidity right).

I'm trying to get soft, open crumb loaves, like this one http://www.thefreshloaf.com/files/u5218/proth5_baguette_crumb.JPG

Edit: by mistake, as often happens in the kitchen, I've found the right recipe:

For the biga:
500g  manitoba flour (extra strong)
300ml water
8g    active dry yeast

After 24h I add:
500g  wholemeal flour
**600ml** water
1tbsp vanilla paste
1tsp  honey

And that is the result

If your crumb is not open you likely either underproofed, your dough is too dry, or you have not opened the dough up by cutting across the top. There are many very good questions about crumb on this site already so I won't go more into that in detail, instead I'll move onto shaping.

Bread will spread out and not up unless it's restrained, it's natural for it to do so as it's the path of least resistance. If you want it to prove in a certain shape you need to use a tin or a basket in the shape you want. Bread can be baked in a tin, however if you use a basket you'll need to turn it out onto a sheet before baking.


Is Erythritol acid or alkaline and what is it's pH compared to brown sugar? Is Erythritol acid or alkaline and what is it's pH compared to brown sugar?

In many baking recipes, baking soda is added together with acidic ingredients, such as brown sugar.

Also, this way, the possibly metallic taste of baking soda is neutralized.

Does this applies to Erythritol ?
Edit: Sugar alcohols generally are not measured with pH directly, but with pKa indirectly. So in a nutshell, I'd like to know if it would behave more like an acid or as alkaline. For example 180g pure Erythritol (pka 13.903@18degreeC), in 100 ml H2O with 1.2g baking soda.

Some people bake with it and baking soda, some with baking powder (with the rest of ingredients being about the same). In the end it's hard to know which one will give better cooking yield and flavor(based on how it reacts with baking soda) without wasting ingredients... please help!

As a 4 carbon sugar alcohol, erythritol lacks both strongly acid and strongly basic groups.  pH of a 1 molar solution will run around 7. It is not going to affect the pH of a solution when you add erythritol. It will affect osmolarity, and water activity but those are different properties.


How Long To Brine Boneless Chicken I have read a lot about how tender and juicy brining makes turkey, pork, chicken, etc. so I am currently attempting to brine a boneless chicken breast.  I have found a-lot of different methods for brining boneless chicken, but they all differ in ingredients and time.  I decided to do a basic brine (water, salt, and sugar), but I have no idea how long to brine it for.  Some people say 30 minutes and some people say it's okay to brine for 4 hours to overnight.

Any advice on how long to brine boneless chicken for would be great!

It depends upon the strength of your brine, for boneless chicken breasts I recommend a 5% brine for 30 minutes to an hour.

Ideally, salt for brining should be measured by weight, especially since volumetric measurements for the same weight of salt will vary depending upon the coarseness of the salt. A 5% salt solution means you should use 20 times by weight the amount of water to salt. That's easy and foolproof if you have a scale. If you must use spoons or cups to measure salt, Morton's Kosher salt is very close to two tablespoons equaling an ounce, so 20 ounces (2.5 cups) of water to 2 Tablespoons of Morton's Kosher Salt would be a 5% solution. Use about 65% of the volume measurement if you must use table salt and measure by volume.

Incidentally, for larger, bone in pieces brine in a 5% solution for 3-5 hours, a whole chicken for 12-16 hours (roughly).

Also, be sure that your chicken does not have water added, as many frozen, bulk pieces do. In effect, those chicken pieces are already brined.


How to make frozen pizza taste good? As a college student, I eat a lot of frozen pizza. Unfortunately,  the brand of frozen pizza that I eat has very little taste.

Recently, I started adding Parmesan cheese, basil and garlic powered to the pizza before putting it in the toaster oven.

Can I do better than that? What can be done with frozen pizza to make it taste better?

We have a pizza stone that makes the finished pizza taste so much better. In addition we add more toppings to the pizza. For instance sliced mushrooms, pineapple, olives, peppers and cheese. The sky is the limit. And this way you can have a 5 topping pizza for the price of the toppings and a cheap frozen pizza.

For the pizza stone you don't want it to make a drastic change in temperature otherwise the stone would break. So for the oven I put the stone in the oven then preheat it. So the stone heats up with the oven. During this time I prepare the toppings. When the oven is hot enough you take out the stone, careful it is hot, put the pizza on, throw the toppings on then put back in oven and cook.


What is the difference between boiled vegetables and stewed vegetables? I would like to know what the difference is between boiled vegetable and stewed vegetables? Are the methods for preparing these different? How do these differ? My understanding is that with boiling nothing is mixed with the vegetables, whereas with stewing something is added to the water (powders, vegetable cubes, etc.), so that such flavors may enter the vegetables and make them more tasty.

Is this the only difference, or am I missing something else?

The distinction is not so much what you add as what you do with the liquid. If I am making boiled carrots, when they're done I drain them, throwing the water away or possibly saving it to make soup with some other time, and serve the carrots. If I am making a vegetable stew then not only do I add things to the liquid (to flavour or thicken it, or both) but I keep the liquid, and serve the vegetables and liquid together in a bowl.


What are recommendable coffee roast types for Aeropress? Many tutorials on brewing coffee with the aeropress cover the optimal water temperature, water volume/weight, grind, for making a decent cup of coffee.

What none of them seem to cover is what type of roast is recommendable (dark roast/light roast) or what coffee bean type (Arabica or Robusta/Arabica mixture) is well suited for the Aeropress.

For example, the compression of the result suggests that Espresso beans/powder may be suitable, which are fairly darkly roasted, but fine ground when bought as powder. Then there is the standard coffee powder, which is medium ground and medium roasted. And finally there are also special Mokka coffee powders available, which are coarse ground but dark roasted.

What I can tell so far is that a medium/coarse ground, medium/light organic roast coffee powder tastes not so well in the Aeropress despite the fact that filter coffee made with it is actually quite OK.

Note that concrete brands listed here probably would not help (me), unless they are available in central Europe. Others may find them useful, though.

Coffee taste is indeed subjective.  However, there are some things you can look for since the added pressure (versus drip) can force extraction of flavours you don't like.  Below are some of the drivers (Disclaimer, I don't use the Aeropress):

Oily beans: Towards the end of the roasting process the coffee oil can seep out (sweat) and you end up with beans that look wet.  This may turn out ok taste with drip coffee, not so much for espresso types.
Roast Colour: Drip coffee roasts tend to actually be darker and most espresso roasts are usually lighter in colour (see illy or LaVazza Oro). This may be to compensate for the forces of added pressure extracting deeper and more into the bean.  There are exceptions to this (Bar Mexico in Naples uses dark roast but on a manual lever machine).
Bean Type: Aeropress might handle some robusta (similar to Muka) as opposed to pure Arabica.  More than 40% and imo your coffee will taste like earth.
Grind Size: Each bean type and locale and roast level will require minute grinder setting changes.  You can make the best roasted beans taste awful with the wrong grind.  Try varying your grind from fine to super fine and experiment.  Usually the higher pressure requires finer grind with the exception of turkish coffee.
Dosage: To the get right extraction, a balance of pressure, grind size, and dosage is required.  Good cafes measure their dosage to ~0.1gram when setting their grinder.  If you find the coffee starting to clear up too fast in your extraction try increasing the dose.


Meaning of 'sift together' What is the exact meaning of the phrase 'sift together'? If I need to 'sift together' flour, baking power, baking soda, and salt, does that mean put each one into the sifter sequentially, operating the sifter until is is empty before adding the next one?

Or maybe I'm supposed to dump all these things into the sifter at once and then sift until it's empty? Perhaps I should dump all the ingredients into  a bowl, mix them with a spoon, then sift the resulting mixture?

Bonus points if you can tell me if I still need to stir ingredients which I have 'sifted together' in order to mix them. Thank you!

Or maybe I'm supposed to dump all these things into the sifter at once and then sift until it's empty?

Bingo.

  Bonus points if you can tell me if I still need to stir ingredients which I have 'sifted together' in order to mix them.

Nope. The sifting process and subsequent stirring in of other ingredients should do the job just fine.


Does this still count as "scrambled eggs"? Being Chinese-American, I grew up on this stuff. The English name "Chinese steamed eggs" comes from the fact that it comes from Chinese cuisine, and that "steamed" comes from the word 蒸 in 蒸鸡蛋. The word 鸡蛋 refers to "chicken eggs", but the word 鸡 may refer to chicken or turkey. The word 蛋 refers to "eggs". The Chinese language has no singular/plural distinction, but contextually, we know it's eggs, not an egg, because we often use two or more eggs.

During the food prep, the eggs must be beaten. Afterwards, some water is added to increase volume. Salt may be added for flavor. Then, the eggs are set in the steamer to be steamed.

In Chinese cuisine, there is also a separate dish called 番茄炒鸡蛋, which involves tomatoes and scrambled eggs. 炒 refers to a cooking process. The Chinese definition of this cooking process is: "把东西放在锅里搅拌着弄熟". Basically, you put something in the wok and mix until ready or fully cooked. Often in Chinese-American restaurants, 炒 may refer to the process of stir-frying. In this dish, 番茄炒鸡蛋, the eggs are stir-fried, but I think the process and the finished result look indistinguishable from scrambled eggs. I mean, you really do scramble the eggs, dump the eggs in the wok, and then stir-fry the eggs until fully cooked.

Here's the tricky thing. The English word "scramble" seems to refer to the process of beating the eggs. If that is the case, then wouldn't Chinese steamed eggs be considered and classified as a form of "scrambled eggs"? Or should Chinese steamed eggs be considered/classified as "steamed eggs"? Or should this recipe fall under both categories - "steamed" and "scrambled"?

I would think the definition of 'scrambled' comes from being constantly stirred as they set, which gives the final texture; not that they start as beaten eggs.

I've heard of an egg simply dropped into shallow oil [just as you would to make a regular fried egg] then stirred in the pan to produce a similar if less homogenous result, also called 'scrambled'.

I think the letting out of the egg mixture with water, milk or cream is just to produce a fluffier result, sofer texture. I don't think they change the definition of 'scrambled'.

From your two examples, I would call the first - beaten then left to steam, closer to an omelette rather than scrambled. 'Steamed' covers the cooking method, but it doesn't tell anyone what the end result will be like. An egg poacher will steam an egg, but the result is a whole cooked egg, not a beaten one.
The second, stirred as it's cooking, you could consider a type of scrambled.
I don't think the definitions are firm enough to really quantify much further. Call them a Chinese omelette & Chinese scrambled eggs, then a 'western' audience would be expecting something similar but not identical to what they would normally have for breakfast.

The definition of the word scramble, if you scroll down to transitive verb, 2a & b, is

  to toss or mix together in confusion : to throw into disorder

and more clearly

  to prepare (eggs) by stirring during frying

I consider that to be the defining distinction for scrambled eggs, separate from whether it is initially beaten or whole - the scrambling is what takes place at the time of cooking.

Having read the Wikipedia page, I'd be concerned that a British audience would be very confused if that was referred to as a 'custard'. Even qualifying it as an 'egg custard' a UK audience would still expect it to be sweet. Brits, almost without fail, think Bird's custard is custard.

Late thought: If it's already known in the US as "Chinese steamed eggs", then that's what people will have come to expect.
A rose by any other name...


Are the bake and broil elements in my Frigidaire oven interchangeable? We ordered a replacement element and realized after installing it that we installed what appears to be the bake element in the broiler element location.
Will this be a problem as in a fire hazard?

You do not list any product model so there is no way to provide a definitive answer.

All I can say is that the majority of bake heating elements are a single large loop around the bottom of the oven, while the broil element is usually densely looped back and forth with support struts holding the loops together.

There is likely no overheating safety hazard as the shorter length bake element is going to be of lower wattage than the longer broiler element.

The main concern I would have is if the bake element has any support hanging from the top vs setting in the bottom. It was not designed to hang from the top, so if it is unsupported except at the back, over time the metal may droop down into the oven cavity and create a contact burn hazard.

,

For cooking purposes, the lower wattage bake element will fail to be an effective broiler element because of the large empty area in the center of the single loop.

Broiler elements are used for browning and so you will get browning only in the area where the bake loop passes close, but everything else far from the loop will not brown. It will be an annoying experience requiring food to be constantly shifted to be near the bake loop.

Just buy the correct broiler element and do it right.


Should I add baking soda if the yeast in bread dough is not working? So I’m trying to make Hawaii bread rolls, I already know my yeast is probably dead and so far the dough hasn’t risen the question is : is it a bad idea to add baking soda?

Adding baking soda won't help you at this point, for a variety of reasons.

First, it won't have any acid to react with. Technically, baking powder clears that bar, but since it fails at the next ones, it is not a reasonable alternative.

Second, you won't be able to mix in the powder properly in already-kneaded dough. If you really attempted to use it, you would have had to mix it in wiht the flour from the beginning, now you will get an irregular sprinkling of crystals (which may not even dissolve, seeing that the water is already bound by the flour).

Third, you won't be able to create the physical structure for a chemical leavening agent to create its work. Chemical leavening requires a very soft dough (actually it is meant for batters, I don't even know if it can work in doughs), and ideally also some amount of pre-existing bubbles which it can expand (that's why, for optimal chemical leavening, you either use a creaming process, or combine it with a physical leavening such as whipped eggwhites). The action of your baking powder will be minimal in a bread dough meant for yeast leavening.

Fourth, if you manage to get any chemical leavening going on somehow (which is almost impossible to do ad-hoc, I guess you would get some if you add baking powder instead of yeast in the beginning and overhydrate), it might just be enough for the inside of the rolls to bake through instead of remaining a wet clump, but it will be nowhere near a yeast bread in texture. It won't even be like a properly designed soda bread.

Fifth, maybe your yeast is not as dead as you think. If you give it time to work more (and this can mean a whole day), you may be able to scavenge the batch and get something edible, even if it's not great - but if you muck with the pH of the recipe by adding chemical leavening, the little action you may otherwise get from your underactive yeast will not happen.

So, bottom line, either leave the dough alone for a day and see if it does get a bit of rise instead of getting moldy, or throw it out. You can't revive it with baking soda or other chemical leaveners.


How can I recreate canned whipped cream from scratch? I tried by using two quarts of heavy cream, two cups of sugar and a spoon of honey and mixed it all together but I feel like it's missing something to the flavor.

I'm trying to create something similar to what you get out of a can of whipped cream. Reddi-whip to be exact.

These are the ingredients: Nonfat milk, cream, sugar, corn syrup, maltodextrin, inulin (chicory extract), cellulose, mono- and diglycerides polysorbate 80, artificial flavors, carrageenan.

Can someone explain what these are: (maltodextrin, inulin (chicory extract), cellulose, mono- and diglycerides polysorbate 80, artificial flavors, carrageenan)

Sigh, I was trying to avoid answering this, but feel compelled to provide some information after all your revisions.  I'm answering only this part of the question:

  Can someone explain what these are: (maltodextrin, inulin (chicory
  extract), cellulose, mono- and diglycerides polysorbate 80, artificial
  flavors, carrageenan)

Let's break that down:

maltodextrin is a sweetener
inulin is also a sweetener
cellulose is a fiber (wood, basically) used as a stabilizer
mono- and diglycerides are emulsifiers, that make the cream smoother
polysorbate 80 another emulsifier
carrageenan algae, also a stabilizer

Now, "artificial flavors" could literally mean anything, which is a big challenge for your recreation experiment.  Not only does it not say which flavors they've added, the formula may be a trade secret.


How good a substitute is callaloo for spinach? I have seen some good recipes using spinach and have heard over and over that callaloo (amaranth) can be used in place of it.

There is confusion about callaloo the plant and callaloo the dish I am refering to the plant amaranth.

I have never tasted spinach and I can not get it to buy where I am from, callaloo is easy to come by, I am hoping that someone here who have tasted both can tell me if this is true that callaloo can be used as a substitute for spinach. If i can get an answer here it would be a bit better than experimenting.

I have seen some substitutes for spinach on the Internet but unfortunately all fall in the hard to get category for me.

I've only had red amaranth, so apologies if that is distinct from the type you have access to. As I recall, spinach is a bit sweeter and the leaves are a bit softer so they break down more readily. Also I believe the stem on spinach is less fibrous.

That said, they are both leafy greens and I've yet to find a recipe so touchy that one leafy green can't be substituted for another.


What would happen if I add wine to yeast bread? Lately I've been making a lot of no-knead bread, not out of laziness, just love the crustiness and rich flavor.

I was thinking about trying to make a loaf but use wine for some of the liquid because I'm interested to see how it would flavor it. But I'm worried that the wine will do something to the yeast. Too acidic, maybe? I'm not really sure. Would it ruin everything? What do you suggest?

The wine will bring several things to the breadmaking party:

Acidity
Alcohol
Water
Flavoring
Color (especially if it is red wine)

The biggest of these is the alcohol which is a yeast byproduct--they don't like it in their environment, and it inhibits their growth.    The acidity can do the same.  Proofing will be retarded, and you may need a larger starting quantity of yeast than for a wineless loaf.

You would also have to adjust the amount of liquid in the formula to account for that from the wine.  Your bread would probably take on a strange mauve color, after being baked, and may have some hint of winey flavor.

I think the lack of well known wine-loaves in the world's baking traditions indicates this does not generally work out very well, although there are some recipes for yeast raise breads containing wine such as Sourdough Cranberry Wine Bread from The Fresh Loaf.


The three Cs - spices with chicken I watched a TV programme that was talking about a particular combination of three spices which are often used together, especially with chicken.

The TV presenter said that they were used together so often that they were referred to as 'the three Cs'.

I know one of them is cumin, but I can't remember the other two.

Does anyone know what they might be?

Generally, it depends on the sort of cuisine you're talking about.

However, there is a very common "chord" of three spices, which is popular in Greece, Turkey, Arab cultures, Indian cooking genres and even China.

That "chord" is Cumin, Coriander seed and Cardamom. It's definitely used with chicken, but is also applied to plenty of vegetarian dishes as well.


Can liqueurs be reduced? I'm thinking specifically about Frangelico, but Kahlua is another one that I use quite a bit. I don't care about alcohol content, but I would like stronger flavor and less liquid.

Many of the aromatic qualities of liqueurs are due to volatile substances that will likely evaporate while reducing the liqueur. So it really depends on how volatile the substances are that you want to keep.

I performed a simple experiment with Frangelico. So, what I did is (over low heat for 20 minutes) I reduced 1/4 cup of store bought Frangelico to cca. 1/8 cup hazelnut and caramel flavored sugar water/syrup. It tastes pleasant, but the hazelnut aroma is a bit weaker - which might suggest that some of the hazelnut aroma evaporated together with the alcohol and water (wouldn't be surprising) or that the alcohol helped with distributing (hence perceiving) the aroma better or that the sweetness and other flavors now overpower it.

Anyway, as stated above in many cases the aromatic substances in mixtures are aromatic because they are highly volatile - we can smell them cause they escape from the mixture.

So, what can you do? Some techniques that I have used in the past come to mind:

Distillation. Where you separate aromatic substances depending on their boiling points and catch them after condensation. However, the heat might not be good for some substances.
Rotary evaporation. Which became a "hot" technique in molecular cooking =) Here the idea is similar to distillation, but the method is gentler in terms of temperature as it operates under reduced pressure - however it requires special equipment - a rotary evaporator. I successfully used it to separate the aroma from walnut liqueur and to make whiskey syrup.
Freeze distillation. It has been suggested for separating menthol and other stuff from the alcohol medium (you might find suggestions for similar techniques by searching the internet for "homemade [whatever] essence/extract").
Making your own liqueurs/alcohol extracts - with more concentrated aroma than the commercial ones - so you have less volume for the same amount of the aromatic substance. This might be possible as the amount of alcohol in the solution might be able to accept more of the aromatic substance than there is in the commercial liqueur. However, it is very likely they are adding a concentrated/distilled essence, which gives a more clean and stronger flavor than what you can get from  just extracting it (from say hazelnuts) with alcohol.

However, as perviously suggested by @TFD you can just want to avoid all the hassle and buy commercially available essences/extracts or use some alternative flavorings as @razumny suggests. Or simply try the reduction technique if you don't mind loosing some of the volatile substances - and if the result is satisfying enough.

That said, I made very tasty reductions of some liqueurs with very strong flavors (homemade wild blueberry liqueur and Terrano liqueur) to pour over deserts, where I mostly just wanted to get rid of the alcohol taste and to thicken it a bit. So, the results will vary from liqueur to liqueur and your best bet would be to just try it out with small quantities to see how it goes.


Removing turmeric colour from mortar and pestle We have a large granite (I think) mortar and pestle, and while keeping it clean generally doesn't seem too difficult, I have absolutely no idea how to avoid it staining when it's used with turmeric powder when cooking curries.

Generally, we'll ground the spices then add garlic and a little water to create a paste which is then fried; the only solution I can think of to avoid the yellow stain is to add the turmeric separately to the pan and leave it out of the mortar entirely. Would this work satisfactorily, or is there a way to get the colour from the mortar?

Turmeric is an intense stain. I would use a little bit of bleach, let it sit until the stain disappears, then wash the mortar very thoroughly. Another option is just to accept that the mortar may develop colors over time, and think of it as character.


How can I get chewy chocolate chip cookies? My chocolate chips cookies are always too crisp. How can I get chewy cookies, like those of Starbucks?

Thank you to everyone who has answered. So far the tip that had the biggest impact was to chill and rest the dough, however I also increased the brown sugar ratio and increased a bit the butter. Also adding maple syrup helped.

I like my chocolate chip cookies chewy too and I do it all the time. Here is what I do:

Flour: I use a higher gluten flour instead of AP, such as Bread flour.
Eggs: An additional egg yolk will help
Sugar: A bigger Brown Sugar to Sugar ratio helps but not vital if you do not have brown sugar at hand.
Butter: Butter should be melted. I think this is the key to chewiness.

The recipe is straightforward: cream butter with sugar, add wet ingredients, incorporate dry ingredients slowly and lastly add the chips.

Be sure to chill the dough for at least 30 min. The more you rest, the better. See this NY Times Article for effects of resting the dough.


How do I reverse my cake-like brownies to chewy? I'm making brownies for the first time, so I went with cake-like but everyone wants chewy. I agreed but realized it was too late. They're already in the oven, how do I fix it to chewy?

Take them out a bit before they are completely cooked through, just short of done. They will collapse a bit but the result will be denser and chewier.


Is it safe to eat butter that have mold on the surface? I have got a large chunk of butter, with some green molds growing on one surface only, with spots that are 1cm in diameter, and only like 3~4 of them total.

the butter itself tastes and smells fine, once i cut off the mold parts.

it is unsalted butter.

It has been sitting in the fridge for few weaks.

so is it safe to eat butter after completely removing the mold parts ?

You could theoretically salvage the butter, but it really boils down to mold type. Melting and filtrating the butter will get rid of the mold and create ghee. But filtration will not remove aflatoxins that some types of molds produce.


Why is a roux necessary? A classic bechamel sauce is a roux and milk. Why can’t I just add the flour directly to the milk and cook till thickened, stirring vigorously to keep it from clumping?

You do not need to make a roux. While your proposed technique of adding flour directly to milk will almost certainly lead to clumps, there are other ways to incorporate flour, butter, and milk: namely, a beurre manié.
First, let's explore why flour clumps in hot liquid. As explained in this Seattle Times cooking advice column, flour will immediately gelatinize when added -- forming a sort of gel-like barrier that encases clumps of flour. No amount of stirring will break up these clumps. A simple fix is to use Wondra or a similar product. This flour is specially formulated to avoid clumping; I am not familiar with the details of their process, but I know that the product can be directly whisked into a sauce without clumping. It is fairly popular in America for making gravies.
But, with standard flour, the best fix is to work in fat: it works as a lubricant, keeping particles of flour separated for long enough to incorporate into the sauce. As you know, one method to accomplish this is to make a roux: flour is added to hot fat and stirred until incorporated. Only then is liquid slowly added. An alternative is to make a beurre manié: a mix of cold butter and flour that is added, uncooked, to the sauce.
Both a roux and a beurre manié provide sufficient lubrication to prevent clumps; however, many chefs prefer roux for a variety of reasons.

Making a roux requires less mechanical action. Working cold flour and butter requires a lot of stirring or kneading. A roux, on the other hand, can be quickly whisked together with less resistance. This is ultimately a personal preferences: you may find one or the other workflow easier.

Some people think a beurre manié tastes "floury". The hot butter in a roux lets you "cook out" the floury taste, some say. Not everyone agrees: this cook tried both methods, and in a taste test, saw no discernible difference. If a sauce thickened with beurre manié tastes good to you, go for it.

In the same vein, a roux lets you toast the flour. Dishes that use "dark roux" (like gumbos, etouffée, or Japanese curry) rely on this toasty flavor for depth, color, and balance. In this case, you cannot substitute a beurre manié without losing flavor.

The beurre manié has a bit of a bad reputation as a "shortcut" or inferior option to the roux. But, if you are struggling with roux, or just want to try a different process, I encourage you to give it a shot. If you do get some clumps, you can always just strain the sauce through a fine sieve.


How can you recognize cold milk that has gone bad or is about to? The methods that I know to test cold milk is to either boil it and look for the break, taste it (yuk!), or hope it smells bad enough to know it's bad.

Is there an easy and scientific way to know whether milk is still good?  and for how much longer it's likely to stay good?

The expiry date alone is not a good indicator since it assumes some conditions about the storage temperature and we've all seen good milk past expiry and bad milk before expiry.

I'm also curious about the particular moment beyond which we consider milk 'goes bad'.  Can one tell how far away it is from the current seemingly healthy condition of milk?

Looks like FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) publishes a formal testing handbook here.

One of the easier methods:

  2.4.5.3. The Alcohol Test

  The test is quick and simple. It is besed on instability of the
  proteins when the levels of acid and/or rennet are increased and acted
  upon by the alcohol. Also increased levels of albumen (colostrum milk)
  and salt concentrates (mastitis) results in a positive test.

  Procedure:

  The test is done by mixing equal amounts of milk and 68% of ethanol solution in a small bottle or test tube. (68 % Ethanol
  solution is prepared from 68 mls 96%(absolute) alcohol and 23 mls
  distilled water). If the tested milk is of good quality, there will be
  no coagulation, clotting or precipitation, but it is necessary to look
  for small lumps. The first clotting due to acid development can first
  be seen at 0.21-0.23% Lactic acid. For routine testing 2 mls milk is
  mixed with 2 mls 68% alcohol.

Simplified for home use:

This test is likely to be adaptable to household alcohol drinks such as vodka or similar beverages.  For example the number of teaspoons of Vodka an ounce or two of milk can hold before it clots.


How can I make the crust of my chicken pot pie crunchy? I was wondering how to make the breading/crust on the top of a chicken pot pie really crunchy, not flaky, but crunchy and crispy.

I know all the ingredients to make the topping in the first place. I just don't know what to add to give it that extra crunch. I don't know if anyone has had the pot pie from KFC, but I want my topping and sides to be that crunchy.

Can anyone help me?

Just a thought, you might like to swap your normal breadcrumbs for "Panko" Japanese crumbs, (available in most supermarkets)
these crisp up more efficiently with tiny dots of butter on top. The other trick I often do for crispy breadcrumb toppings, is to add a small amount of dry couscous to the mix, before baking.

I also roll wet potatoes in dry couscous, to make roast potatoes really crispy, The extra texture and crunch is great.


Can baked savory pastries with ham or bacon be left at room temperature? I am going to be traveling with pastries that will be served the next day. I will not have a good way to keep them cold. I was wondering if ham and/or bacon are okay at room temperature (for 24 hours) if they are cooked then baked inside a pastry?

That would depend on the source of the meats and the proportion of fat. Bacon I would advise against keeping at room temperature for 24 hours. Been there, done that, and it wasn't pretty.

I regularly take the chance on ham, but I am picky about safety, so I am picky about my meats. One encounter with antibiotic-resistant e-coli (from a restaurant) was enough to teach me that pickiness is much more favorable than a failure in food safety.

The only way I keep ham at room temperature for 24 hours is if it is a) very lean, with all possible fat trimmed before it is finished cooking, and b) if purchased from a supermarket, gently boiled for two hours before use, even if it is being cooked again. This is assuming that you used a large ham of 11 lbs/5 kg or larger; reduce boiling time for smaller hams. I never, ever use a toupee ham, because one never knows whether meat glue is used in it, and in my experience, a ham with meat glue in it does not last as well as a whole ham.


Should I skin the common sole for pan? I have already cooked a common sole once before, and have skinned only the upper side (the dark side). The result was quite tasty. However, some people say that there's no need to skin it. For what recipes would you pan-dress a sole by skinning it, and for what recipes would you leave the skin on, and why?

I would say it's totally up to you.

I prefer it with the skin still on, it get's really juicy inside. However it's a bit more difficult to eat. So perhaps if you were making it for kids (although, you could just skin them after they are fried), you could skin it.

One opportunity I really think is better without skin is when you serve it with sauce. Having to fiddle around with the skin covered in sauce is not really handy nor fun.


Can I make a pineapple upside down cheesecake in a springform pan? I'm making a pineapple upside down cheesecake in a springform pan. Will it leak out? I haven't found a recipe for this. Any suggestion I'm going to put a crust just around the edge of the spring pan to possible stop leakage.

It depends on the pan. If you assemble your pan and put some water in it, does the water leak out? If not, you're certainly fine. If it leaks slowly, then you're probably fine (but put some foil under it when you bake it). If it leaks quickly, then you've got a problem.


Egg freshness--stale eggs at market? What's  the best way to tell if eggs are fresh when you don't have access to a glass of water (I.e at farmers market)? The teaching has been eggs from the farmers market are fresher than those at the store. I recently hard boiled eggs from both the farmers market and the store. The farmers market eggs had a big air pocket at the bottom ( conveniently making them easier to peel). I was always told that this is a sign they are not as fresh. I fed my baby the ones from the store instead.

Individual eggs may have large air cells and still be fresh, but in general large air cells equate to old eggs, and possibly eggs that were stored at too high of temperatures.  At higher temps, the air cell grows faster.

To test, use a small flashlight and shine it through the egg, and you can find the outline of the air cell.  It is a bit more difficult with colored eggs, and you may have to use shadows to see the air cell in bright conditions.

For the record, eggs are often stored incorrectly.  Properly stored eggs should be placed with the air cell up, not down.  The rounder side of the egg should have the air cell, the more pointed side should be placed down.  The reason is, the air cell breaths through the porous shell as nature designed.  Putting the air cell down, slows this breathing.  Not only does this slow the growth of the air cell, sometimes making the egg look fresher than it really is, it also increases the chance of the egg trapping gases and going bad.  Stored flat is also fine as again, the egg can breath, it is in cartons and such that orientation matters, and for some reason many believe the pointed side goes up and that seems to me the more common orientation when put in randomly.


Why is my freshly ground coffee watery? In order to get a more gourmet coffee drinking experience I have recently been getting whole beans and freshly grinding them before brewing coffee using an automatic drip coffee maker. Coffee connoisseurs say that freshly ground beans are the only way to go, or so I've herad. However, the results are disappointing and the coffee is always weaker and more watery than the coffee I have been drinking for years.

For reference, I am used to Folgers coffee, or Chock full o'Nuts coffee. These two are both store-bought, pre-ground coffee and produce the results I know. It seems like I need at least 2 extra Tbsp of freshly ground beans to match the strength of pre-ground Folgers, which is counterintuitive.

I have tried three different bags of fresh beans from two sources, so I don't think the problem is the beans. I have heard that if the coffee is too old then it can be much weaker, but the most recent bag was marked that it was roasted a week prior to my getting it.

I am grinding the coffee with a Krups blade grinder and I know that a Burr grinder is more consistent and preferable, but I don't have one (and don't want to invest in one right now, especially if I'm not sure that the blade grinder is the problem)

I have tried a variety of different granularities but try to match the pre-ground as closely as possible. More fine is slightly stronger but also much, much more bitter. The last time, my ground beans looked like this:

I normally measure by both volume and by weight and there was no significant change. When measured by volume, I use the same ratio as I use for pre-ground coffee: 5/8 of a cup (10 Tbsp) to ~2.5 cups water.

I am brewing using a rather high-end Bonavita Connoisseur one-touch brewer. I have tried both "pre-infusion" mode and normal mode and the results are the same.

Is there anything I am clearly doing wrong? From what I've described, is there a reason why my freshly ground coffee is more watery than pre-ground?

Your grind is way too coarse. Finely ground coffee not only has more surface area exposed to let out flavor, it also forms a barrier, making the water go slower through the coffee, so you get even more flavor. A burr grinder isn't needed for a drip feed, you can get perfectly good results with a blade grinder, you just need to use it longer, and perhaps in smaller batches depending on the size of the grinder and how many cups you are trying to make.


Gas Grill vs. Burner for Paella I'll soon be making paella outdoors, in a 15" stainless steel paella pan.  I have two choices of how to heat this pan:

Weber Genesis II 3-burner gas grill
Iwatani 35FW portable butane stove

Which would be the better choice, and why?

(It will be a cod, shrimp, and Valencia green bean paella, using Bomba rice and a hybrid of two of the paella recipes from SpainOnAFork.com)

I make paella regularly.  I am either using a paella pan that fits into the top of my Big Green Egg, or a slightly smaller paella pan that I can use on my indoor gas range.  Given your two choices, I would say that both would work just fine.  You may have more direct control over the heat with the Iwatani, since the flame will be directly on the bottom of the pan, but that control (vs. the Weber) might not be that critical. If convenience is a factor, let that be your guide.  Which one is easier?  Otherwise, you could also build a brick or stone fire pit and cook directly over wood coals.  I find the smoke and the spectacle of an outdoor fire add nicely to the festivities of paella.


How to make a Jim Lahey's No-Knead Bread in time for breakfast The problem with Jim Lahey's No-Knead Bread is that it almost takes 3 hours to complete.

So unless I get up very early in the morning, I cant make it in time for breakfast.

Is it possible to freeze the bread half baked? or make the bread the evening before and just heat it the next morning?

Other suggestions are welcome.

I have developed the following method for "no knead" bread, it works EVERY time and is scrumptious.

Mix 650gm strong white flour in a bowl, pinch of salt, slug of olive oil, 440 mls warm water and 5 (yes 5) teaspoons of dried yeast.
Mix with food mixer for 4 -5 minutes.
Place in oiled plastic bowl, and cover bowl with oiled clingfilm.
Fill a stainless sink with very warm water. Float the bowl with the dough in the water. Leave the bowl to proof for 1 hour (don't touch it).
The dough will have doubled in size. Remove the dough and place in a greased baking tin. Turn on the oven and pull out oven shelf as far as it will go. Place the baking tin with the dough inside on the extended shelf of oven for 30 minutes.
Place a metal pot of water in bottom of oven. Put bread now into a fairly warm fan-forced oven (220°-230° C).
Bake until you can smell aroma (approx 25 -30 mins). To test for being done, the loaf should sound hollow when knocked. You now have stunning "artisan type bread" and you haven't had to knead anything or get your hands dirty.

This works well during the summer and winter and can be made in time for breakfast, i.e. 2 hrs start to finish and needs no help from you.


need to convert US recipe calling for tomato sauce to equivilant in UK I have a wonderful chili recipe that calls for 16 oz. of tomato sauce and need help finding an equivilant for my dear friend in the UK who wants to make this recipe. Is there a way she could delute a tube of tomato puree (similar to our tomato paste) to get the proper consistency and flavor? I'd appreciate any help with this. Thanks!!!

Tell your friend to buy around a 450g jar of passata. This is finely crushed, sieved tomatoes. It comes plain, or most supermarkets carry versions with onions, basil etc.

Tomato puree is an entirely different thing and I wouldn't go down that route.

There are also various pre-made tomato sauce jars available from the likes of brands like Dolmio that have various flavour combinations. Depending on the ingredients in the tomato sauce you use, one of those may be more appropriate. They tend to be thicker and more heavily seasoned and flavoured than straightforward passata.


Why does a vegetable soup turn sour? I made a vegetable soup with peas, onion, garlic, potatoes, celery, cubed chicken stock, salt, and olive oil. I put it in two containers, one open and the other airtight, and in the fridge. After 6 days, the soup in the open container had turned sour and had a vinegar taste, while the one in the airtight container had a normal taste. So I presume that oxidation plays a role in the vinegar taste.

Why does a vegetable soup turn sour?

A lot of types of bacteria (and sometimes other microbes) produce waste products that can taste "sour."  And soup/stock is a good growth medium for microbes, which is why most food safety organizations recommend only keeping soup for 3-4 days in the fridge.  Six days is past the point where the soup is still likely to be "fresh"; the sour taste is most likely spoilage of some sort.

As for the question of why the airtight container was different from the open one: it could be that the open container absorbed more microbes that were floating around in the air, or it could be that the open container allowed more oxygen for certain types of microbes to grow better, or both.

Bottom line: when soup turns "sour" unexpectedly, it's probably time to throw it out.


Cause of foam in fried chicken pan? I made chicken katsu tonight following this recipe. I added peanut oil to the pan, let it get hot, then threw in my semi-frozen breaded chicken thighs. As you can see, I cooked them longer than called for because they hadn't totally defrosted yet. Surprisingly, they came out very moist and delicious!

Anyway, I noticed a foam forming in the pan about midway through cooking. I took the picture below at the very end when I was taking out the chicken, and the foam was still there. What's the cause of this?

Further editing about other causes of oil foaming

It never occurred to me to add reasons other than lecithin leaching into oil as a cause of foaming. I hope most people don't re-use their oil for frying more than a few times since it's harmful to a person's health which I'll explain a little. Since this site isn't about health but cooking, it'll be brief.

Frying, in itself, chemically changes oil. Water, plus other components in the food (what they are isn't listed), can cause 'soaps' to form, which causes foaming.

A second effect is oxidation leading to saponification. From Surfactant Science and Technology, page 261

  ...polyunsaturated acids such as linoleic and linolenic acids are particularly susceptible to oxidation, introducing peroxide and hydroxyl groups that enhance the amphiphilic character of the materials with the observed results.

(Amphiphilic means a molecule having one end that can attach to water and the other end to fats like soap does.)

Another contributing factor is oil polymerization. When fats are subjected to frying temperatures, they'll become polymerized. (Good for seasoning cast irons pans but but for our health.) Fats that at present high in polyunsaturated fatty acids are more prone to this. Polymerized fats are thicker (more viscous) and will tend to form more stable foams during frying. The more the same fat's been used for frying, the more polymerized it will be and therefore foam more.

I remember reading why food particles can also increase foaming but can't find it now. (Doesn't help I've had a headache for 2 days.)

While the saponification of frying oil (formation of 'soaps' though it's not the same type as soaps used in cleaning) might seem unpalatable, what's important is that using old oil that's been subjected to frying temperatures repeatedly causes free radicals to form. Most people understand their harmful effects. I'd suggest if your oil starts foaming and you didn't add lecithin to your oil, by intention or through leaching from egg-containing batter, discard it or recycle it at an appropriate depot.

Personal experience

I didn't think to include this but it may be of some value. I use liquid sunflower lecithin in baking and mix a small amount into regular oil specifically for greasing baking pans to allow baked goods to lift easily without sticking. I've occasionally added a little of this oil to a frying pan with regular oil for frying when I want a crispy exterior but absolutely no sticking of food to pan. At such times, the oil will foam if I add a bit too much. It's how I first learned of this. The more lecithin there was, the more the oil foamed. It's easily tested in your own kitchen.

Edited to include links

I actually thought  it was fairly well known that foaming when frying was caused by lecithin in the oil but it seems it isn't. Here are some links about this.

  ...frying a comestible in a frying medium which comprises an oil or fat and an amount of an emulsifier effective to foam the fat or oil during frying. The amount of fat or oil and emulsifier need be present in an amount effective to foam the fat or oil at a level sufficient to cook the comestible in the foaming frying medium. The emulsifier may be incorporated into the frying medium as part of a dry coating mix which is coated onto the comestible prior to frying.

  Appropriate emulsifiers include citric acid esters of mono and diglycerides, phosphated mono and diglycerides, sodium stearyl fumarate and sodium sulfo-acetate derivatives of mono and diglycerides. However, the preferred emulsifier is lecithin (a phospholipid). Lecithin is preferred due to its ability to sustain a desired level of foam for relatively long periods of time while preventing sticking and burning, as well as foaming without substantial splattering.

From Foam frying US 4188410 A

  The leaching of lecithin from egg yolk batters and/or doughnut mixes will cause foaming. Moreover phospholipids (lecithins) may cause darkening of the oil at higher frying temperature.

From the book Frying of Food: Oxidation, Nutrient and Non-Nutrient Antioxidants page 255

I'm also including the link that user110084 listed as it was one of the links I'd previously seen.

  During egg-frying, phospholipids of the egg migrated to the frying oil. As the results an increase of foaming tendency of the oils were observed. The higher the migration of phospholipids was, the higher the foaming tendency of the oil was. Added soya lecithin or egg yolk lecithin promoted the foaming tendency of oil during heating, ...

From Science of Cookery: Foaming Tendency of Frying Oil by Egg-frying

The foaming action is caused by two reactions working together - lecithin from the batter (containing a whole egg) migrating into the oil during frying and the vigorous bubbling of the oil as moisture present in the food is vaporized.

If you fry a piece of potato in oil, the oil also bubbles vigorously but the bubbles break when they reach the surface. Lecithin, found only in the yolk, not the white, serves to stabilize the bubbles of water vapour for a short while although they will break down after you've finished frying.

Vegetable oils all contain a certain amount of lecithin naturally. The amounts vary and I don't know how much. Lecithin helps prevent splattering when frying but very little is needed. I don't do deep-frying but I'd imagine if one were to fry something that contained water in pure mineral oil (not that it would be edible), it would splatter a lot.

Next time, if you were to use egg white only, you wouldn't find it foaming. If you save and strain your oil for frying again, it would still have enough the lecithin from the batter to foam again.


What is that gooey stuff from okra? When cooking okra in a bit of water, the water becomes gooey.  What does the okra release that makes the water slimy?  Would the goo have other culinary uses (as an additive to thicken sauces or improve the texture of ice-creams)?

The slime is called mucilage. It is around the seeds on the inside of the pod. It is made of protein and carbohydrates including fiber.

The mucilage is (as you alluded in your question) used for thickening gumbos and similar stews. Besides this, I've only ever seen it referred to as an annoyance and avoided by leaving the pod whole or dry cooking like frying.

I imagine there could be some creative halloween uses of mucilage but those would be off topic for this site. :)

EDIT

I was embarrassed that this answer was the accepted answer. I don't like answers that are (as mine was) "no that isn't possible because I've never heard of it." I was hoping someone else would shatter my world with some amazing new use of okra slime.

My curiosity piqued I used some of my copious free time while code compiled to do some more research.

I was able to find a couple of non traditional okra recipes that seemed interesting- such as candied okra slices or using the seeds from pickled okra as a caviar-like dish. But none of them took advantage of the mucilage- they all avoided it.

Carbohydrate based mucilage is used in ice cream and for other reasons. I found the following study about food health that did experiments with replacing milk fat with specifically okra mucilage (they refer to it as "okra gum")

Okra gum is acceptable milk-fat ingredient substitute in dessert

Two pertinent quotes:

"Although not currently produced by food manufacturers, previous studies produced fat-free chocolate bar cookies with acceptable sensory characteristics using okra gum as a fat ingredient substitute."

"Specifically, color and smell of frozen dairy desserts containing okra gum replacement for milk fat did not significantly differ from the control product. Texture, flavor, aftertaste, and overall acceptability ratings also averaged five or higher (neutral to like) for all products."

The study was about replacing milk fat where I think it would be more interesting as an enhancer as you asked in your question.

It seems perfectly reasonable that okra mucilage could find a place in more modern recipes.

But I couldn't find anyone doing it.


British equivalent for Cane sugar I have an American recipe that calls for Cane Sugar, is this the same as Demerara or is it Light or Dark brown sugar?

If it only says "cane sugar" without any other qualifier, just use the normal white crystal sugar you have. There is a common attitude that cane sugar is supposedly superior to beet sugar (which is the prevalent sugar in Europe), although this might well be the result of successful advertising campaigns. In any case, if you use beet sugar, I am pretty sure nobody will notice the difference.

If it says something more than just "cane sugar", (e.g. "light brown cane sugar") it could be Demerara or something else. But then your question is not answerable without describing the full term.

See also The difference between beet sugar and cane sugar.


How could I make stuffed french fries? I had an idea a while back to make stuffed french fries. I was thinking specifically about a cheesy, thick, french onion soup sort of a thing inside a crispy french fry (not a steak fry). I can't figure out how to get a hot, liquidy substance inside without it coming out during frying or serving.

So I have a method that I just worked out but it is insanely labor intensive and only suited to small batches.  With that said, here you go. Also, steps will be slightly out of order so make sure you read completely through.

To create filled french fries:

First, you need to cut your potatoes into slightly larger fries than normal. You are looking for about 1/2 to 2/3 of an inch on each side.   You need to preheat your grease to 275. Once your grease has preheated, parcook the french fries.  They should be cooked but not crisped or browned. Lay fries in a layer on a pan and place into fridge. Prepare your injection.  I used sour cream but you can add whatever you want. (I thinned the sour cream down with a little milk till it got to the consistency that I wanted) Load your injection into a syringe and inject into the now cooled but not cold fries. Don't over-inject or you will ruin fries left and right. Inject by running the needle fully in, then slowly removing while slowly deploying the filling. As you inject, lay on a pan in the freezer. This is important because you need to get the fries frozen as quick as possible.

While you wait, prepare your seasoned flour.  I tried some with out the flour and the fries tended to lose the filling.  Your are going to be working the fries in small batches.  It is imperative that the fries be frozen through, if they aren't you will lose your filling.  Toss a handful of fries into the flour and coat thoroughly.  Alternately, you can coat fries in an egg wash then flour, but the results were a little too far from traditional fries for me. Toss the fries into 375 degree oil until fries brown and are crisp on outside.  You need to watch carefully and as soon as they start floating count to ten then remove. You can't over cook them or you will not have any filling remaining.

A couple of extras:
I don't know how a filling that is predominately water will work in these, but I would conjecture very poorly given how fries cook.

Your hole in the potato is only going to be sealed with flour so you might see some leakage. I couldn't figure out a way around that.

You benefit from the freezing with a much improved bite texture over my normal fry prep.

The final result has a high wow factor, and was pretty tasty. I am not sure the results are worth the effort, but I think if you try a high flavor filling it will go a long way to making it worth while.


Why can´t I make a goodlooking napolitan style pizza dough? I know you have to use a oven that can get to at least 800°F, and I am using a home  integrated kitchen oven, but I can´t get any closer to a good-looking pizza than this

It taste delicious but I want something like this

 (or at least something similar).

The ingredients I use are:

450g All purpose flour
230ml water
4g fresh yeast
5g salt
2g sugar

I also use a round metal pizza plate with holes to prepare the pizza because I don´t have palets to move the pizza (like this one ).

I hope someone can tell me how to improve my technice, I am working on a homemade oven that can´t get to 900°F, to take the oven´s lacks of temperature off the equation, so I guess it won´t be an stopper anytime soon.

It does not look baked enough.

Are you using a pizza stone, that might help a little bit.

You could fire up the broiler mode on your oven to crisp up the top of your pizza.

Keep an eye on it so it does not burn.


Milk vs. Dark vs. Semi-sweet vs. Bitter-sweet chocolate? What's the difference between the following chocolates?

Milk
Dark
Semi-sweet
Bitter-sweet

If a chocolate only lists the % cocoa solids used, can I figure out which of the above types it is?

Milk chocolate is unique in that it contains a significant quantity milk, either in the powdered, liquid, or condensed form.

Dark chocolate is a category of chocolate that includes semisweet and bittersweet chocolate. The US FDA actually does classify dark chocolate as anything containing 35% or more cacao (liquor or butter). In practice, semisweet chocolate is typically much sweeter, and contains about 50% sugar. Bittersweet chocolate, on the other hand, typically contains about 33% sugar. Some dark chocolates may contain small amounts of milk, but not enough to be called milk chocolate.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_chocolate


Deep frying - caloric-intake difference in saturated vs. unsaturated oil In one of my previous questions, it was indicated that animal oils (saturated) would have a longer lifetime than unsaturated oils.

However, given good hygiene and properly fresh oil use, what would the difference in caloric intake be, when choosing between these two oils?

The calorie intake is the same; a gram of fat has 9 calories.


When can artificial vanilla extract be used in place of real vanilla extract? There's another question about the difference between artificial and real vanilla extract, saying people can tell the difference, but perhaps not in baked goods. The labeling can also be confusing.

So I am curious, I would like to know when to save some money and use imitation;

What are use cases for using imitation vanilla without it being apparent to the taster, especially in restaurants and the food industry?
What type of use cases will imitation vanilla be apparent?
Are there specific types of applications where the quality of real vanilla is utterly necessary?

Wikipedia has a nice  link explaining a study in which real and artificial vanilla are compared:

It explains why and where it is possible to substitute one for another without losing flavor.

The gist of it is that real vanilla has a lot of flavor notes apart from vanillin, but these begin to bake off at around 280-300 degrees. So cookies with artificial vanilla tasted better than with real vanilla whereas cakes (which rarely exceed 210 degrees) ranked better with real vanilla, as did other uncooked or cold items.

The article also deals with the amount of alcohol present in pure vanilla extract and in artificial vanilla, and explains how that affects flavor.
Based on that, I would suggest artificial vanilla for baking/cooking at high temperatures and real vanilla otherwise.


When and why would one infuse flavor into sugar for baking? Listening to The Splendid Table today, the first caller asked how to infuse flavors into her marshmallows.  The answer provided was essentially to infuse the sugar, by placing herbs, tea, lemon rind, etc, in a sealed container with the sugar for a few days, so that the sugar takes on the desired flavor.

I can see how this would be necessary for flavored marshmallows.

However... around 39:15, the host says:

  It's an old trick. Jerry Traunfeld ... mentioned this business about infusing your sugar when you're baking, with any kind of herb you like.

Why would one choose to infuse sugar with an herb while baking, rather than adding the herb directly to the recipe?

Adding herbs directly to baked goods usually results in very strong flavours. Infusing the sugar with the herbs gives a more subtle overtone rather than a full-on explosion. In some cases, of course, you might want a strong herb flavour, but where you just want a hint, infusing the sugar is great. The classic example is using stripped vanilla pods to make vanilla sugar, which adds subtle vanilla tones to cakes and meringues.


Should i oil my cast iron pan before storage? So, for our wedding someone gave my wife and a cast iron lodge pan. Its a very nice pan and cooks well, but it's started to develop a rust spot after only a few months use. This is gross. I scrub the spot off before use, which is a pain, but Better than eating rust flakes with our hamburger helper. My inner mechanic is screaming "if its rusting, oil it!". Obviously I'd prefer a veggy based oil to my traditional motor oil, but is oiling a cast iron pan before storage sop?

As rumtsho has said oiling will help, but I think you have a more fundamental problem with is learning the care for your cast iron.

There are lots of resources on the web to learn how to prepare, and maintain your cast iron. Some of it works even though it's wrong, some of it is very good and some of it is scientific in nature. However here are the basics.

You want to scrub your pan down once. Oil it all over...every nook and cranny even in the handles .... with a very thin layer of oil. Then wipe this off with a clean towel and bake the sucker at 385 for an hour or more until it looks bone dry.

I recommend you do some good reading however and learn all the different ways to keep it in shape along with all the different fat and oil choices.

I use peanut oil, it has a high smoke point, which means the polymer you create will burn at a higher temperature than those oils with a lower smoke point, and peanut oil makes a hard seasoning.


What method can be used to remove the seed from a peach other than just trying to pull both sides after cutting it? I tried to find an answer to this question in this community but I couldn't find one. Therefore I'm asking it. So far the method I'm using is cutting the top and the bottom with a knife and then carefully cutting a hole in the middle from the bottom to the top. But the result isn't nice. Well, I often get some troubles trying to not cut the seed of the peach. Does it exist a tool or something that I can use other than a knife?. I tried to look for videos, but none have shown improvement over what I'm already doing.

There is this video and this other but they seem to use a technique of unscrewing the fruit and I tried to do the same but I couldn't as it felt as both sides were well sealed. Therefore Is there any trick on this?. I appreciate your suggestions.

If you have the right kind1 of peaches (freestone, ripe), cutting around the stone along the side seam and further on will be enough to let you separate the two halves and lift out the stone. In all other cases, this is where the fun begins.

When working with peaches and nectarines, I always start with that initial once-around cut and try turning the halves.

If that fails, I cut a “wedge” parallel to the first cut and lift out that first slice.

Repeat. Just imagine cutting like meridians on a globe and you get the idea.

As the slices are connected at only a slim strip to the stone, they will either come off with just some pressure from the knife or can be cut off with the tip of your paring knife.

The first one is usually the most difficult one, here I often cut with a slight “slant” to minimize the area on the stone.

This method minimizes the amount of flesh stuck to the stone and gives you neat slices that look good if served like that or can be easily cut into uniform pieces.

The harder or clingier the fruit, the narrower should your slices be to still get them off the stone easily and without breakage.

If you are planning to mash/puree/cook the fruit anyway, you can of course just hack away...

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1 Peaches, like plums, are classified as freestone or clingstone (sometimes a third type, semi-freestone is mentioned), depending on whether the stone separates easily from the flesh or not. Most, but not all cultivars in stores are freestone peaches, but clingstones are sometimes described as more flavourful: They are often sweeter, less juicy, so have a more “concentrated” flavour.

Note that even for freestone peaches, the stone will separate best with ripe fruit. Underripe fruit will also cling.


Why does rye flour dough require more water? Most discussions I have seen on the internet recommend increasing water content when substituting wheat flour with rye flour.
I find this a bit puzzling since I always thought that hydration of the dough should be based on the protein content - more gluten means stronger dough, which means it stretches without tearing even at higher hydration.
Rye flour (at least the one I have) is very high in carbohydrates but low in protein content, so why is more water required?

You are correct that higher-protein flours are capable of absorbing more water.  However, protein is not the only thing that affects water absorption.  In addition, according to Bakerpedia, there are:

starches & pentosans
enzymes
flour grind

Rye flour, while low in protein, is very high in water-absorbing pentosans.  Hence the need and ability to add more water.


Tofu substitute in no bake chocolate cake I recently tried a no bake chocolate cake which used tofu to give it its consistency. It would have been great if it didn't have that slight tofu taste.

What could I uses as a substitute for the tofu to avoid the tofu taste but keep the consistency similar?

The recipe I used:

2 parts butter
3 parts dark chocolate
3 parts soft tofu
2 parts sugar

Melted together and mixed until smooth then set to cool.

This almost sounds like someone converted a classic mousse recipe to use tofu instead of dairy. My suggestion is to simply use any dairy with a consistency similar to your soft tofu, in the same ratio as the tofu. You can use cream cheese, if you are accustomed to the combination with chocolate. If you aren't, you might be unpleasantly surprised - in that case, take a less salty cheese, for example tvorog or ricotta. Fermented products will also work instead of cheese - you can use skyr or drained yogurt, maybe even creme fraiche.


Non stick pan browning milk vs stainless steel We recently purchased a nonstick medium pot but have been encountering problems while making mac & cheese. The milk seems to be browning/toasting with all settings on our induction cooker remaining the same. Previously we utilized a stainless steel pan and encountered no problems.

What is the cause for whole milk browning and needing to be skimmed?

With all other settings being the same, following can possibly cause the milk stick to the bottom:

Pan is not suitable for induction hob
According to Good Housekeeping Institute, the only suitable pans are ones
made with a magnetic material in the base, such as cast iron or stainless
steel. Pure aluminium or copper pans will not work on an induction hob unless
the base is bonded with a magnetic metal.
Non-stick coating is too thin
Non-stick coatings are applied to various types of cookware, from aluminium and
steel to cast iron and stainless steel. If the coating is too thin, it can
cause heat distribution problems causing food to stick and burn.
Bottom of the pan is thin
Thin bottomed pans are also prone to food burning and sticking to the bottom. As you're providing the same amount of heat, it will transfer to the food quickly and cause it to burn at the bottom. As a general rule, heavy-bottom pans are best.


Looking for 10" bamboo steamer that will last! I've owned quite a few different bamboo steamers. First one I bought many years ago and it lasted many years. Last few I have purchased did not. We're talking normal use, hand washing only. Seems like they are made ever more cheaply and none of them hold up well.

Does anyone have any ideas on how I can ensure that the next one purchased will be durable and hold up well? Is there anything in particular I should be looking for/at?

Normally in the trade, we don't "hand wash" the bamboo steamers, we just let it sit in hot water for a bit and rinse it off. Try not to scrub it either.

Obviously, most of us aren't steaming things on a commercial scale, so I recommend placing a sheet of either baking, parchment or butter paper below the food when you steam. The sheet acts as a protective layer, preventing food from sticking to the bottom and prevents the steamer from getting too dirty (stuck bits of food, etc)  which also makes cleaning easier as you only discard the sheet. You don't need to change it after every item steamed, only when you feel its necessary


Eggy cake with less egg is dry: what next? I'm working to a pretty standard recipe for cake (s.r. flour, butter, sugar, egg, flavours, etc), and it comes out too eggy.

I can usually make a sponge without faff but to do that I use a different recipe. But for this cake, for  non-baking reasons I need to use this recipe with minimal tweaks.

I initially thought it was a cooking time/temperature thing but after a few trials it seems like it just has way too much egg in it. Assuming that it was originally written for smaller eggs, I just reduced the amount of egg and it's now too dry. Not remarkably dry, par for the course for, say, a cherry loaf cake, but this one is supposed to be moister than that.

Is there a way I can add the moisture in a less eggy way? I was thinking of just adding milk or water (say 150ml per replaced egg). Is that too naive? I've heard about tricks involving cornstarch but I can't get my head around them. Would such a trick work?

Current base recipe is (I've tried lots of variants around this and various additional flavour ingredients): 1/2lb each: c. sugar, s.r. flour, butter, 4 eggs. Seived and mixed at each step. Flour in last (which is new to me). 160C (fan) until skewer comes out clean. 4 eggs is v eggy; 3 eggs is dry. Running short of half-chickens to try in between!

Substitute oil for some of the butter.

Here is a trick to  reduce dryness that I just learned from The Perfect Cookie.  Omit a tablespoon or 2 of butter and swap in vegetable oil.  I used safflower last but any mild liquid vegetable oil would do.

It is awesome for chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal cookies.  I have gone 50/50 butter and oil in the banana bread that I made lately and the texture was good.


What causes steamed fish to become mushy? I went to a Chinese seafood restaurant for dinner and ordered steamed grouper. I repeatedly confirmed that the fish must be live "swimming fish".

The fish came out and the flesh was mushy.

Guests who are experienced (self-proclaimed) insisted the fish was dead for quite some time already, hence the protein became mushy, instead of having a succulent texture. However, the manager insisted the fish was live the whole day, until they cooked it for us.

If the manager was not lying, what could have caused the mushy texture?

Assuming that the fish is fresh to begin with...the answer is quite simple, overcooking! Fish cooks far faster than beef, chicken or pork. A great way to steam your fish is to wrap it in parchment paper
cut and paste the following web address to see how EASY it is to get perfectly steamed fish every time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52wYn99cL2I


Storing rice krispie treats Do rice krispie treats need to be refrigerated, or can they be stored at room temperature? I'd like to know both whether leaving them out is safe, and whether refrigeration will affect their flavor and/or texture.

I don't know about the safety standpoint, but from a texture standpoint -- don't refrigerate them.

The problem is that they turn into an brick when cold -- rather than being a nice dessert, it's something that you have to gnaw at and fear that you're going to chip a tooth.

You might be able to get around this by warming them back up before serving, but I'm not sure what the best way to do that would be.  (microwave?  low oven?)


Does abalone have any unique nutritional value that justifies its lofty prices? I read that wild abalone's illegal to sell and unsustainable, but abalone is still  expensive to farm as they grow slowly and the algae and kelp for their diet are expensive.

I read https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/finfish-and-shellfish-products/4178/2 and https://www.eatthismuch.com/food/nutrition/abalone,3405/, but I don't know enough science to judge: are there nutrients unique to abalone that justifies its lofty prices? Or is abalone pricey only because of abalone's expensive production costs?
Is there any cheaper (combination of) foods that can yield the same nutrition?

Short answer: no.

Long answer: People eat abalone because of its taste, texture, and potential for gourmet preparation.  Nutritional value isn't under consideration.


How to make Menthol crystal from mint leaves? I have peppermint/mint growing in my garden backyard. I want to make mint candies for children and in one of the YouTube videos they have menthol crystal as one of the ingredients for mint candies so I am wondering how to make Menthol Crystal from
fresh mint leaves ?

Every recipe I’ve seen asks for mint extract, which is mint that has had the flavors removed by steam distillation. This is not very difficult to do if you purchase some glass distillation equipment from a science supply company. There would be no need to further process it to pure menthol and crystallize. There are plenty of videos on YouTube which demonstrate essential oil distillation. Making crystalline menthol would likely involve solvent extraction, and could produce a toxic finished product if the menthol were not sufficiently dried.

There was a really good answer to the version of the question you asked last week.


How is baby bok choy cooked in Shanghai? During many business trips to Shanghai I often had baby bok choy that was served in a thin (unthickened), pale yellow sauce or broth - common in restaurants in Shangai.  Very delicious!  What kind of sauce would this be?  It had a nice flavor, but not distinctly lemony or chicken-brothy or anything I could identify. And how can I cook it this way?    Thanks!

I've never cooked or eaten in Shanghai, however, based on a rudimentary knowledge of Chinese cooking, cooking it at home, and with the support of Google, I would guess the following:

Bok choy is blanched for a short time in boiling water, and then refreshed in an ice bath.

It is stir fried in a very hot wok, probably with some garlic.

A slurry of cornstarch is added. It is made with water, soy, perhaps some sesame oil. This produces the light sauce.

I suspect that sometimes, fermented black bean might be added.


What vegan substitutes are available for cheese? Suppose I want a cheesy-tasting sauce that is vegan. How could I obtain this flavor (or something close to it) without using any actual milk or cheese?

Many vegans use nutritional yeast as a cheese substitute.

There are also "vegan cheeses" that are available.  However, check the ingredients closely as many fake cheeses contain casein and thus are not vegan.  Some vegan cheeses will melt and some will not.  I've never tried them in a sauce.

Here's a link to The Vegetarian Resource Group that has more information about vegetarian and vegan cheeses.


What parameter is best to increase - time or temperature? I'm heating frozen eggplant parmesan in a toaster oven at 400 degrees for 40 minutes, as specified, but it's not coming out hot enough. Which parameter - time or temp - should I try to increase first to retain the most moistness? Or does it matter? Or should I try nudging both up?

When you reheat something, the heat from the oven is usually just penetrating the outside layers of the food. Conduction within the food is what carries the heat into the center. To demonstrate this, you can try putting something cold (not frozen), and thick in the microwave on high for about 30-45 seconds. Take it out, then cut it in half. The outside 1/4-1/2 inch will have warmed up while the core will remain very cold.

What this means is that in order to get the center hotter, usually you need more time, not more heat. While more heat will accomplish it (more heat conduction because of a greater heat gradient), it will also overcook the outer layers and leave them dry or burnt. Since you want to retain moisture, increase the time, not the temperature.

You could actually try decreasing the temperature and increasing the time. Trying it at 350 degrees for an hour may actually work better than 400 for 45-50 minutes. It will cook the outer layers more slowly, so you lose less moisture, AND give the heat more time to penetrate into the center of the dish.

This is going to be true for pretty much any frozen/chilled food, not just eggplant, and in any cooking method (oven, microwave, sous vide, etc.). Note that frozen food in the microwave presents its own challenge, because ice is not a good absorber of microwaves, but water is quite good, so you can end up with part of the dish being really hot and part of it being still frozen, depending on your microwave's hot spots.


Possible Pumpkin Flavors I am hoping to try out cooking with pumpkin this year and only know a) not to buy jack-o-lantern varieties for cooking,  and b) about making it into sweeter things like pies, cakes, cookies et cetera. I have seen recipes for roasting seeds and flavoring them to make them spicy (add red pepper, who'd have thought?), but I don't know what options I have as far as using the flesh/ground pumpkin to head more toward a savory dish. [Please note, I am particularly interested in vegan approaches, though all methods are welcome.]

Are there particular varieties better
for making savory dishes?
What flavor spectrum does the pumpkin
(raw, roasted...) lend itself toward
naturally or without much force? How do you coax those out?

There are terrific Thai pumpkin curries; the flavor profile would be garlic, ginger, lemongrass, coriander seed, cilantro, chiles, Thai basil. Here is one I did with Delicata squash that would work equally well with pumpkin: http://www.herbivoracious.com/2009/10/red-curry-delicata-squash-and-tofu-recipe.html .


How to make store bought whole multi grain bread softer? I normally don't like sandwiches in the first place, but if I eat sandwiches, I find sandwiches made with white bread to be more appetizing, since the bread is soft and smooth

When I tried whole grain bread instead, the bread is highly textured and hard. Is there something I can do to make the texture of whole grain bread more palatable?

What I've done in the past is mist some water on both sides of the bread slices, then put them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds (alternatively, an oven set at 300F/150C for 5-10 minutes will do it too).

Experiment with the amount of water (but keep it low) and cooking times. You should get much softer (and warm) bread slices out of it.


How to make Cafe Gram bouncy pancakes? (Fluffiest pancakes in the world) I have read this question on making thick and fluffy pancakes but I think that the Japanese Cafe Gram goes beyond the normal "fluffy pancake". See video of the pancake here

Cafe Gram Pancakes

Are there any additional steps or substitutions that this cafe has taken to create these insanely fluffy and bouncy pancakes that have been dubbed the fluffiest pancakes in the world?

Rather than simply poured onto a griddle, Japanese pancakes are molded using a paper collar, almost like a soufflé.

The batter needs to be very tender to keep it from becoming tough. The easiest way to do this is to make a well in the dry ingredients, then add the liquid.

Buttermilk is key to the flavor of pancakes - lemon juice or vinegar doesn't taste right.

To blend the egg and oil with minimum stirring, one recipe I saw called for a small (1 Tbsp) of Japanese style mayo, which they claimed helped emulsify the ingredients, leading to a smooth texture with less stirring. Kewpie brand is the most popular, and has a distinct taste from American Mayo that helps it blend into a pancake more easily.


Looking for an Italian cheese similar/identical to the French Brie I am looking for a an Italian cheese that I can use as substitute to Brie.
It should have the same consistency and creaminess, as well as delicate flavour.

Any suggestion?

EDIT: This question could benefit by defining how Brie is made, so I could go in an Italian diary shop and ask for something made with a similar process

The most similar, of course, the one you could easily find in any supermarket, is the "Camoscio d'Oro". This is not similar but the same, since is made by Bongrain SA, a French food group.

As semi-industrial cheese made in Italy, we have the "Alpino", better or similar to "paglietta", both of Osella, which is sited in Piemonte (Turin), region on the border with France.

But all over the region there are many small firms dairy, which produce the "tomini". Tomini are a tipical regional cheese, smaller but very similar to brie, both as flavor, as texture and as aging. some news

You can find tomini freshly made, very sweet and tender, and, day by day, more and more seasoned tomini. The last ones can be done on the grill.

If you switch to production typical, you can find a variety of high-quality productions of tomini and similar products in many farms in the region. Like "Montebore" or "Bra", or very similar products that, if you are lucky, you can find among the reserved ones from some kind local farmer.

We share a border, mountains, traditions, people. We even have a whole region half Italian and half French, the Val d'Aosta. Incidentally also some cheese!


How do I avoid rice cookers emitting strange goo on my counter? With my rice cooker, I always have to put a paper towel underneath it before I start it, because it tends to make a mess. It creates piles of white watery starch goo. I don't really know how else to describe it other than the title. It's not really overflowing, since it occurs even when the rice cooker only has a small amount of rice in it - it looks like it's condensing from the air or something.

I usually just measure in rice and water, then turn it on and leave. Is this a common problem? Am I doing something wrong in the cooking process? Perhaps I have a bad rice cooker or cheap rice? What are some good rice cookers and/or cooking methods?

Some rice cookers have a vent on the side, and there's a little cup with it that clips in there to catch the starchy moisture that might escape during cooking.

If your rice cooker came with a small plastic cup (I say 'cup' as it's a container, but it's usually pretty flat so it doesn't stick out very far) that you couldn't figure out what it was for, this is likely your problem.  It usually attaches near the hinge.

Not all rice cookers have them, though.  My 10 cup does, but the little 2 cup that I got at a thrift store doesn't.  (it vents from the top, and the lid lifts off completely)


What can I use instead of paddle attachment for a stand mixer? I only have this machine.

and it has only two type of attachment not the paddle. Can I use one of these two? or I need to buy a new one that has paddle?

For some brands of stand mixer, the paddle attachment is the sort of default attachment for basic mixing, and for creaming.  It does not excel at whipping egg whites, or stiff bread doughs, but these brands come with a separate whisk attachment for that purpose.

Of the two sets of beaters pictured in the image you have shared, the ones in the machine are your standard beaters.  You would use them for almost every task--they are general purpose, although perhaps not ideal for everything.  This includes mixing, creaming, and whipping egg whites or whipped cream.

The kind of corkscrew shaped ones are intended for kneading stiffer bread doughs.


Vegan Alternative for Pecorino Romano in Pesto Title says it all, I'm looking for vegan alternatives to pecorino romano for when I want to make pesto for vegan guests. Not striving for authenticity, and yes pesto is serviceable without the cheese, but it's missing a little something something. If it was just parmesan I could get by with liquid aminos or something, but it seems much harder to emulate sheep's milk cheese. And no, vegan cheeses don't work!

The most important part for me is the taste, as I get most of my texture from how I process the nuts and basil.

I've used vegan shredded cheese products manufactured by a company named Daiya and have had quite a bit of success. You can find them on Amazon, but products with similar ingredients and labeling might work.

I would recommend a mixture of their parmesan and mozzarella products to get something sort of close to the creamy consistency of pecorino, then add a tiny bit of porcini powder to give it a bit more subtle flavor (a good aged pecorino has a slight tartness to it).

You'll need to experiment, but I've used their 'cheeses' and they melt / blitz rather well.

In a pesto where everything is shredded and blitzed, texture is actually less of an issue. I know you could use the above two types to get the taste; you could probably make something that most people wouldn't even think to question.

But, as with all substitutions, some experimentation will be needed.


How to maintain my knife? What am I missing, and what am I doing wrong? I've been cooking for a long time now, and I've been the proud owner of entry level chef knives for the better part of a decade now.

Last month I've ordered a new knife, a KAI Saki Magoroku Redwood, which is not their cheapest knives, but also not their Shun series. I figured, it was better than what I had, its steel is harder, and angle is steeper, and it will hold out better.

Nevertheless, I use my knife a lot (about twice over three days on average, maybe a bit more), cutting a lot of salads, meat, chopping garlic, etc. So you'd expect that the edge will lose its sharpness at some point.

And indeed, after four weeks, the knife no longer slices tomatoes. It started out great with tomatoes, then slowly it became an easy task depending on the point of ingress (so I'd run the knife gently, and it would eventually slice). But now the knife just can't break the skin. This is not only frustrating (who wants crushed tomatoes in their salad?), but it's also dangerous.

Everything else gets chopped very nicely. I don't have any problem with scallions, cucumbers, spinach, garlic, or any other thing I'd normally chop.

I tried my sharpening rod, but to no avail. It made an effect, but not enough to keep me from fearing for my fingertips. My sharpener is a pull-through "Victorinox Sharpy", and I fear that I will mess something up with the knife if I use it.

  What can I do better to maintain an edge for longer?

I'm cutting on a decent wooden board, nothing frozen, no bones, washing my knife immediately after use, and storing in its KAI blade guard in the drawer (in a way that also minimizes movement, just in case).

  How do I make it sharper?

The sharpening steel is a bust. Maybe it's because it's two years old, and wasn't the best quality to begin with. But maybe it's something else. I'm not sure if using the Victorinox gadget will solve this, because pull-through are normally set to a specific angle, and it might not be the right one.

The KAI manual website says to sharpen (on a whetstone) at a 15 degrees angle, but they don't specify the series of the knives. I couldn't find the angle information on any website, except one which said, oddly enough, 22 degrees. (This despite the KAI Wasabi series having 15 degrees angled edge. So I'm not sure if that site was right.)

My current line of thought is to buy a whetstone and learn how to use it with my old knife, and then sharpen the KAI. But that seems like a lot of work that I should be able to avoid.

Any advice?

I would suggest professionally sharpening your knife and then buy a new steel (steel or ceramic — some manufacturers recommend one over the other for their knives) and use the steel every time either before or after using your knife to keep the edge aligned which will keep it sharp much longer.


Will lowfat cream cheese keep filling from setting? I made a cream pie filling out of 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 1 block cream cheese and 1 large cool whip. While it tasted fantastic, it did not set. I did use lowfat cream cheese and wonder if that is the culprit?

Yes, using lowfat cream cheese could be the reason.
Most of the fat content in cream cheese is saturated. Using the right amount of saturated fat in fillings or baking helps them to set or solidify better. If you use Lowfat cream cheese which has about half the fat of regular cream cheese, you are lessening from the solidifying agent of the formula.


Can silicone moulds be used for making cupcakes in electric tandoor I am preparing cupcakes as I have bought new electric tandoor. Now I am confused,  can silicone moulds be used in electric tandoor or not?

SilPat, a brand of silicone baking pads, is certified to 480°F. I don’t know about “electric” tandoors, but traditional tandoors, even the DIY kind, generally are much hotter than this.

So, If your tandoor can’t cook at considerably reduced temperatures, your silicone cupcake molds will not be effective. I don’t think your cupcakes would stand that kind of heat either, as a commenter already pointed out!y


How do I properly cut a bell pepper into strips? I often cut bell peppers up for uses in chili, stir-fry, salsas, salads, or any other similar use. What type of knife should I use and how should I cut it? I'm most interested in the techniques associated with efficiency and safety.

Here is an example of what I'm trying to achieve:

For efficiency, I cut planks off of the outside of the pepper, then slice those planks into strips.

I've seen cooking shows where they take the top & bottom off to make a tube, and then slice it on one side, and slice that up ... and you do end up with straighter sticks that way.  (no curved ends, other then when you cut up the bottom ... and maybe slice what you can off the top) ... but I find it slower overall.

The way I learned growing up was to but around the green bit on the stem end, and then pull the seeds out, and then start cutting -- but you waste way too much time dealing with the seeds that way.

update: for safety, it's better to cut the planks individually, and with the skin down.


Why is the skimmed milk fizzy? I put bananas, honey, almonds and skimmed milk in the blender and blended it. When it was all blended the surface had a layer of tiny bubbles and there was a audible fizzing sound, like from a soft drink, both of which remained for several minutes.

Normally I'd assume the milk had turned. However this has happened enough times to rule that out. And it never happens with whole milk.

Does anyone know why this happens?

During blending, air is put into the milk mixture. Once you switch it off, not all air is kept inside the milk but makes it's way to the surface. These are the bubbles that make you think your milk is fizzy.

Without being a chemist I assume full fat milk has more fat, therefore the emulsion is somewhat "thicker" and thus can hold the air better. There are also bubbles with full fat milk, but less than with skimmed milk. Sort of.


How to bake croissant? Last week, I made croissants. Everything was working properly until I reached the baking step.

First, I used convection settings and it was too hot, the butter was oozing and almost caught on fire.
Then, I used regular settings. While the temperature was better, the butter was still oozing and the dough was swimming in a pool of melted butter.

Is the oozing to be expected?
Is there something to do to avoid that?
What settings are more appropriated for croissants?

Edit:
I don't know if the rule of thirds applies in my recipe. Here it is:

Ingredients:

15g of yeast
15cL of water
15cL of lukewarm milk
500g of flour
10g of salt
40g of sugar
250g of butter

I set the temperature to 220°C on my oven. First in convection mode then in regular mode.

@droidnation mentioned that I should wait for 30 minutes between folding steps and to put the dough in the fridge during that period. I skipped since my recipe does not mention it. I probably need a better recipe.

As a regular croissant maker, and reading lots of croissant recipes from different french chefs, they all say the same information: the butter quantity should be the third of the doughs weight.

So if your dough measure about 900 grams. The butter used should be 300 grams.

I think you added a lots of butter into your dough and you didn't rest the dough enough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes between each folding step.

UPDATE

As a personal experience, to prevent butter from melting even before baking, let the shaped croissant rest at room temperature for couple of hours. Pop it up into the fridge for 30 minutes, then bake it.

This will prevent the butter from quickly melting and ruining the croissant layers. Usually, you should use European butter as it contain less amount of water. Try some french AOP butter (if you can find it), and the result would be different than using the commercial butter.


What is an 8.5 x 4.5in bread pan in UK lb based pan sizes? An American relative has asked for an 8.5x4.5in bread pan for Christmas, but UK pan sizes are by weight: 1lb loaf, 2lb loaf, etc.

How much dough would you put into an 8x4 (or 8.5x4.5) pan?

Unfortunately sorting bread pans by loaf weight is very vague. A 1lb light and fluffy white sandwich bread might have about the same size as a 2lb heavy, dense wholegrain or rye bread. Also, do you expect your bread to rise really high over the rim or should that be more of a limit? In short, the size of "a 1lb bread" depends a lot on the kind of bread you have in mind.

A quick Internet check of pan dimensions from various manufactureres confirms that there is no standard size, it seems they vary by up to 50% in volume.

So if your relative's wish list states a pan of a certain size, I suggets you go shopping equipped with a meassuring tape instead of looking for a certain "pound value".

Side note: Most 2lb pans are a tad bigger that the requested size and 1lb ones a bit smaller, but I found one sold in the UK by Williams Sonoma (what a coincidence!) that seems to have exactly the sought-for dimensions.


Three different-colored Thai curry pastes, how are they different? Three different-colored Thai curry pastes that are readily available (plus Panang curry), green,yellow, and red. How do they differ in taste and heat? I’m pretty sure that it’s not green for “mild,” yellow for “medium,” and red for “scorch your mouth.” As I age, my tolerance for spicy foods is, alas, diminishing.

Thai curry pastes can have a variety of ingredients, depending on the style and region. Some of the most common components, however, are shallots, garlic, chiles, lemongrass, galangal, fermented fish/shrimp. The chiles give the color: a red paste is made with dark red (dried) chiles. Green is made with fresh green chiles, and yellow with light red (dried) chiles. The only other pigmented ingredient in curry pastes is fresh turmeric, which gives a brighter color, and makes the paste yellow when combined with bright red chiles.

Green is usually the hottest.