How much sauce do you need per person? When I'm cooking, the thing that usually has the most leftovers, is the sauce. Most recipes always assume too much. This isn't a problem if you're cooking for just a handful of people, but it is a bigger issue if you're cooking for 20 people or more.

So, how much sauce does one person normally use? I'd prefer an estimate in milliliters.

To be clear, I'm asking for regular sauce, not pasta sauce. Especially about creamy sauces (mushroom, peppercorn, ...) that you can put on steak, chicken breast etc.

There are a few factors that could effect this:

1) How the meat is cooked and how lean or fatty it is. If you overcook the meat (although I doubt that you would!) or if it's leaner or fattier. If its a fattier meat add say an extra 2 tbsps or so of sauce and if it's leaner (or overcooked) I would add a tbsp or so less of sauce.

2) The viscosity and composition of the sauce. If it's a white wine sauce (thinner, less rich) you would want to add more, however if it's a hollondaise sauce (thicker, richer) you may want less.

3) Opinion, some people like more sauce, some people like less. It may depend on the type of sauce which you may want more or less of.

Saying this I would say around 4 tbsp of sauce, then account for the additions and your own personal preference. Any more sauce and it may become swamped, any less and you will not have enough sauce to taste or keep the meat moist. It is a very subjective subject so do keep that in mind.


poaching an egg in frying canola oil Last night I was doing some fried schnitzels with canola oil at 130-140C (they were very good).

After serving them, I felt adventurous and wondered what would happen if I tried to poach an egg in that oil. The result: a hell-spawn mutation of an egg.

The question(s):

did I do something wrong?
is there a right way of poaching an egg in oil?
are there other fluids where the poaching yields something more pleasant?

The only thing you did wrong was to try to poach an egg in oil, at least hot oil. Dropping an egg into really hot oil is going to cause all the water in the egg to turn to steam very quickly, hence the nuclear mutant effect you no doubt got.

If you want to poach in oil then you need to keep the temperature way down. I don't see any reason you couldn't poach eggs in oil as long as it's below the boiling point of water. I could see both benefits and drawbacks to that method, if you try it please post the result. The viscosity of oil may help keep the egg together, then again the result is likely to be greasy, which defeats the purpose of poaching.

As for other fluids where poaching yields something more pleasant, why not water? It's what eggs are typically poached in, it works well, and it's cheap. As for other things I've poached with, the best result was salmon poached in Champagne. I made that for my girlfriend and she ended up marrying me. It can't be me, so it must be my cooking.


What is cumin good for? I would like input from anyone that uses cumin in their food. I inherited a jar of the seasoning when my mom moved out of state. Better to give it away than throw it away. Unfortunately, I have no clue what to do with it. I've had this jar for a while. And I'd like to use it before it goes bad.

I was wondering what it's used for?

Cumin is the spice that, to me, makes taco meat taste like taco meat.  Whenever I make ground beef tacos I use lots of it.  It also tastes really good with sautéed potatoes.


Do coffee and tea need to be agitated while brewing? Do they need to be agitated in order to let the solution come into contact with every little particle of coffee/tea, or does it work the same without agitation? If not, can you explain why with physics?

Tea and Coffee contain a spectrum of flavour compounds and most certainly, not all are pleasant.

If you've ever had an over steeped tea or over brewed coffee you'll know that the optimum extraction point is long before maximum extraction. Where you are no longer extracting just pleasant compounds and picking up higher concentrations of things like caffeine, bitters, etc.

Agitating tea or coffee runs the risk of (or facilitate) reducing the time it takes to extract the unpleasant part.  On that front, experiment with not yo-yo dunking tea bags and squeezing the tea-bag with the back of the spoon (mild forms of agitation) to see the taste difference.


Smoke after cooking = grease? I really really really hate grease. I have a small house, my kitchen is next to my living room separated by a tiny hallway. I close the doors when I cook and generally don't have a problem. But when I do a steak, I like high heat to fry the outside well.

Its not on for long as I like the inside rare and I've followed advice to keep the smoke down which has helped a lot but... there is still smoke.

If there is smoke floating around, is that grease? Like, will it eventually settle down as grease?

I only ask because I have ocd about grease on electronics...and I hate the feel of it. To be fair, it doesn't feel like grease after the smoke has gone but I'm paranoid. Even thought about getting a tiny BBQ to use for just the steak but...maybe thats a little extreme

Scientifically speaking, smoke is a solid mixed with a gas, so no, smoke is not grease.

However, the smoke that gets generated by the decomposition of cooking oils (called the "smoke point") at a certain temperature (T°) is mixed with grease molecules and yes, they settle down somewhere.

To explain further let's take an analogy with water at 1 ATM

1L of water boils at 100°C
At 75°C it evaporates rather quickly
at 50°C it evaporates quicker than at room T°
at 25°C it will eventually evaporate (Room T°)
at 0°C it will sublimate rather slowly

Now, with cooking oils, the smoke point is way below the boiling point for most, but as you can see from the above analogy they will evaporate though more slowly than water as an oil molecule is heavier so takes more energy to get "kicked" out of the liquid.

Note 1: I tried finding a list of cooking oils with both their boiling and smoke points but couldn't find a decent list with both, but it's irrelevant to the question as any liquid does evaporate at room T° eventually...
Note 2: The best way to ensure the grease molecules don't settle down inside is to ensure there is excellent ventilation or invest in a high-volume extractor


Cook boneless skinless chicken thigh portions to taste like drumsticks? Can I cook boneless skinless chicken thigh portions to taste like drumsticks?

My store doesn't have IQF (individually quick frozen) drumsticks, so I
bought IQF boneless skinless chicken thigh portions, on the theory
that they're both dark meat.

Unfortunately, the thighs have a LOT more fat and actually made me a
little naseous.

Is there any way to cook thighs to taste more like drumsticks? For
example, somehow draining more fat out of them or something?

Prick holes in the skin, rub salt, lemon juice, garlic/pepper/chilli etc. into the skins and cook under a grill (US = 'broiler', I think) for a tasty, crispy-skinned treat. If you cut the 'flap' of meat off the thigh and cook separately the bit with the bone makes a v. good drumstick substitute. In fact I prefer them.

Incidentally, if the thighs you get are really fatty, perhaps you could switch to a different butcher/supermarket/brand? Organic, free-range chicken is leaner (because the birds get to move around more) and sweeter because they haven't been fed rubbish.

Your karma and tastebuds will thank you for it ;-)

Bon Appetit!


What is the purpose of sugar in baking plain bread? My recipe says 1 tablespoon of sugar per loaf.

This seems like too small an amount for flavor.

The recipe is as follows:

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons active-dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons oil
1 cup water
knead, wait 1 hr, knead again, wait 1.25 hr, bake for 30min @ 350

Is this for flavor, or is there another purpose?

Sugar has a few effects in bread:

It helps make it soft and tender by absorbing some of the water and slowing down the formation of gluten strands.
It feeds the yeast, resulting in a faster rise.
Via caramelisation, it aids in the browning of the crust.
It acts as a preservative, keeping the bread fresher for longer (though 1tbsp probably doesn't make a lot of difference).
It does have some effect on the flavour.


Can sarsaparilla and sassafras be substituted with licorice root? I am trying to make root beer using natural ingredients, but sarsaparilla and sassafras root are difficult to get in my area.

I found root beer recipes that used licorice root as an ingredient, and I was able to order some online. However, right from opening the package, it did not smell in any way like licorice or anything remotely evocative of root beer. I tried to boil it as instructed in the recipe, but the aroma did not improve. It actually smells kind of earthy and, in my opinion, kind of gross.

The resulting drink was weak and largely flavourless. So I'm wondering, did I get possibly the wrong type of licorice root, or perhaps a bad batch? Or is licorice root a different thing than the kind of high intensity licorice one might get in a candy?

I did see this other question about making licorice extract, which leads me to believe that licorice root might be inappropriate for making root beer, but then I have to wonder why any online recipes might use it as a main ingredient for root beer.

Is licorice root suitable for making a root beer like drink? If so, are there any special processing or source considerations?

liquorice root is suitable for making a root beer drink. It is important to note that most liquorice candy is actually flavoured with aniseed, which is the source of the intense flavour. however in answer to your question the following link will provide you with a natural, healthy recipe that uses liquorice root to create a root beer. http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/licorice-root-beer-recipe-zmaz04djzsel.aspx#axzz3QBIpu06t


How can goat milk be prepared to reduce the 'hairy' after taste it has? I have bought goat milk as an alternative to cow milk. Others and myself say that there is a strong 'hairy' after taste which makes it less pleasant. Adding sugar does not dilute/reduce that taste. Is there any way of preparing it or adding something to it to make this after taste softer?

I think I understand what you mean about "hairy" taste; I think of it as a "goaty" taste. Unfortunately, the diet of the goat contributes much more to the flavor of the milk, than sheep or cow diets/milk. This is one of the reasons that goat milk is a favorite when it comes to cheese making. It adds a little funkiness to the cheese.

Now all that said, how are you drinking your milk? I love goat yogurt and cheese, but I'm not crazy about goat milk in my coffee. Part of this has to do with the temperature at which your consuming the milk. I usually eat my yogurt cold, and the goatiness is noticeable, but not as much as when I try to drink it in my coffee. Warm/hot foods tend to "taste" stronger, while cold foods kind of numb your taste buds.

I know that I haven't answered your question. I think if you drank it for a while (say two weeks), you'd notice it less and less. Kind of like moving from whole milk to skim milk.


How can I keep samosa pastry crispy longer? I am making samosa (a triangular savoury pastry fried in ghee or oil, containing spiced vegetables or meat). To make outer cover I am making dough using the following:

All purpose flour (100 gram)
Ghee               (25 gram)
ajwain (carom).
salt
water

To fill the cover I am using potato filling. After deep frying samosas they are nice and crispy, but after some time they become soft. What can we do to make them crispy for a longer time?

Allow the samosas to cool on a rack. If you put the warm samosas on a plate, moisture will build up and create steam. Steam makes fried foods soggy.


How do you sterilize a non-metal canning funnel? Non-metal canning funnels exist, but how can you use them safely? (For example, Ball makes one)
Specifically, is it possible to sterilize them safely, without damaging the product?

You can sterilize using a chemical agent that is used to sterilize baby bottles.
https://www.milton-tm.com/en


Using parsley and thyme in a brine I have a recipe for a brine that says to include a bunch of parsley when adding the ingredients to the boil. My question is, do I add the parsley whole, with the stems, or should I still separate the leaves?

It also includes thyme so the same question for that, too.

In a brine, I would simply toss in the whole thing, stem and leaves, for parsley. In fact, parsley stems are quite flavorful. Thyme benefits from a bit of bruising to release the aroma and flavor.  So, I would roughly strip the leaves, not worrying too much if some stem was included.


Identifying a type of Pizza Topping I was looking at the tiny nation of Brunei on Google Maps, and I noticed they have a Pizza-Hut there, not too many details but a few photos were attached and there was a Pizza that I didn't recognise, although I must say it looked rather intriguing!
If I'm totally honest, I don't even know if it is savoury or some kind of dessert, so I have attached a copy.
I did attempt a reverse image search but I couldn't seem to see a very similar match, so I hope that the experts here might know?

.
I will be very grateful if someone can identify this, or even perhaps have a recipe?
Yours, Humbly!
Hungry from Heanor :)

I can understand your confusion, but this is assuredly not a dessert pizza. The white circles of sauce, while they look like icing in appearance, are actually Ranch Dressing.
For comparison, here is a pizza that someone made themselves on Reddit. While I wouldn't say it is common to put ranch on pizza, it is definitely something that people do, for better or for worse.  (See Edit)
The rest of the pizza is a bit more difficult to identify. I can see that there are chunks of lean meat, which I initially assumed were tomatoes, but I believe the texturing and crisp edges indicate meat more than tomato. It's hard at the moment to know which, specifically.
It might be the end of the answer here. However, the piece of information that this is specific to the Brunei pizza hut allowed me to finetune my search a bit, and I found this:

There are higher res images of this available on Google, if you want to look into it. This Pizza is a Brunei specialty, "Honey Garlic Chicken Pizza." Looking at the various sample images, I feel fairly confident that this is the pizza in question. The biggest difference is how much less green the flecks of green are in your image, but it wouldn't surprise me that a real Pizza Hut would use slightly less ideal-looking ingredients than their marketing images would suggest.
While it does not seem to come with ranch by default, Pizza Hut allows for customization of orders, so probably this pizza had Ranch added to it, whether by the restaurant or by the customer afterwards.
If you'd like more pictures of the pizza in question, minus ranch, you can search for "pizza hut brunei honey garlic chicken".
Let me know if anything doesn't quite check out.
Edit: Pulling this into the answer from comments below, for posterity.
I found this near the end of my investigating as well: pizzahut.com.bn/upload/images/pizza/ButterChickenMasala.jpg the image is labeled 'Butter chicken Masala' and has the trademark swirl, which I originally thought was ranch, but actually might be milk or cream.
Essentially, I have very little confidence in my original answer at this point. I would give 70-30 odds that your pizza is actually a Butter Chicken Masala pizza rather than the Honey Garlic that I initially thought, and odds are good that the white topping isn't even ranch like I originally assumed.


How can I mellow the taste of this goat cheese Two days ago, I bought a goat cheese. It looked white and rectangular, it didn't had a particular name, and because it was in plastic I couldn't smell it. I got home, opened it, and wrapped it in paper.

Some time after, I took a bite, and the cheese's texture was already not as expected; not creamy, kinda hard, and without a layer around. I took a bite and it felt like licking a ram. I tried to mitigate it with bread, and left it alone. Later, I gave it another round; this time on toasted bread, hoping cooking it would get the stench out of it. It didn't work. Now, i tried to crush it and mix it with olive oil and rosemary; it didn't work.

I want to know what I can do to mellow out the taste of the cheese to a level I can enjoy.

Have you tried anything involving cooking the cheese?

I have a feeling that some of the goatiest (not a word but it should be) goat's cheese is mellowed a little by heat. You could try thin slices on (part of) a pizza, or warming it, pressing it onto toast and finishing under a grill or with a blowtorch. The usual accompaniment to that would be a green salad including some strongly flavoured (peppery or bitter) leaves, which would also compete with the flavour.


How can brown stains be removed from pots and pans? I haven't been cooking for long — recent college grad — so I'm doing a lot of experimentation and making a lot of rookie mistakes.  One of them is shown here for your viewing pleasure:

My mom gifted me this pan less than a year ago.  She used it for over 15 years and kept it spotless the entire time, so I'm more than a little embarassed.  I suspect that these stains were caused by stray drops of oil getting onto the bottom of the pan and getting burned on.  Is that right, or were they caused by something else?  I use an electric stove with resistive heating coils, if it makes a difference.  And more importantly, how can I get this pan clean again?

Bar Keeper's Friend in powdered form and some elbow grease will solve this problem. The first time you tackle it, it can be a real pain to get the pan cleaned up, but if you keep up with it regularly after that, it's not to bad. Great cleaning supply.


How to prevent Italian style rice pasta from sticking to the pot? Every time I cook Italian style rice pasta the whole pot becomes "starchy" and some of the pasta always gets stuck to the pot. Is there a way to prevent this from happening?

Many of the Italian style gluten-free pastas are made of rice, most of the rest are made of corn or a combination of both. America's Test Kitchen did a taste testing of gluten-free pastas and a brown rice version was the clear winner:

So, my first piece of advice is to choose the pasta carefully, if you don't like a brand try another brand next time. For what it is worth, ATK disliked all of the corn-based pastas.

I looked at a few articles about cooking gluten-free pasta, a few points were repeated in every article. First, start with a big pot of generously salted water. Bring the water to a hard boil before you add the pasta, stir the pasta frequently as it boils, and absolutely do not overcook. You should taste the pasta frequently; it will turn to mush on a dime.

More articles say to not rinse the pasta than call for rinsing the pasta assuming that it is to be served hot. The same goes for regular pasta, you shouldn't rinse pasta except for use cold as in for salads. While I don't have a citation that specifies finishing gluten-free pasta in the sauce, it absolutely makes sense to me to put the not-quite-done pasta in the sauce to finish cooking. Again, taste often, gluten-free pasta overcooks very easily. Reserve some of the cooking water, just like as is recommended for regular pasta, in case you need to loosen the sauce.

Don't be tempted to add oil to the water. It doesn't work to keep regular pasta from sticking, nor does it work for gluten-free pasta.


What are the factors that affect the chewiness, softness, moisture of bread based desserts like cinnamon rolls? I made some cinnamon rolls the other day but the outside of the rolls are firm rather than soft after baking. What are the factors that affect the chewiness, softness, moisture of bread based desserts like cinnamon rolls?

I'll try to be specific without getting into too much detail here:

The chewiness (AKA elasticity) - of dough is due to the formation of gluten.  This is affected by:

The amount of flour used (gluten is the result of water and various proteins in flour, specifically glutenin and gliadin);
Type of flour used (high-gluten flour such as bread flour gives means a chewier result);
Fat content (fat insulates the proteins from the water, slowing gluten formation);
Sugar content (in order for gluten to form, it must be dissolved; a high sugar content saturates the water and prevents dissolution of the proteins);
Baking time (up to a certain point, until all of the available proteins have been used up).

The crust (I assume this is what you're referring to by "softness") - is primarily the result of the Maillard reaction, which requires an amino acid and a sugar as well as heat.  The longer and more quickly the reaction carries on, the crispier and browner the crust will be.  The factors are:

Baking temperature (higher = crispier);
Baking time (longer = crispier);
Moisture (less = crispier).  This has an effect because the evaporation temperature of water (100° C / 212° F) is lower than that required for the Maillard reaction (154° C / 310° F), so the reaction can only take place once all water has evaporated or been converted to gluten.
Acidity (pH) also inhibits the Maillard reaction but this is not normally a concern in bread.

Finally, the moistness of the bread is essentially a combination of the first two:

Higher fat content means less gluten is formed and more of the moisture is preserved, as long as it doesn't evaporate.  The fat itself also adds a certain amount of moisture as far as mouth-feel is concerned.
Higher sugar content also preserves more of the moisture and using a wetter sugar (i.e. brown or muscovado) provides some moisture of its own - although the latter can easily evaporate with over-baking.
Longer baking times cause more of the water to evaporate, which reduces the final level of moisture in the finished bread.
Higher baking temperatures also cause more water to evaporate.  However, it's usually a trade-off between higher temperatures or longer baking.  A good recipe tends to be optimized to provide a slightly crispy crust without over-developing gluten or drying out the bread.

If your bread (or similar baked product) ended up too dry, it's probably because you over-baked it or baked at too high a temperature.  If it came out too chewy (glutinous), you might have used too strong a flour or not enough fat/sugar.


Should I cook in the old carbon steel skillets I just bought at a flea market? And can I use them for campfire cooking? I just bought two carbon steel old pans, numbers 43 and either 6 or 9 (orientation?), at a flea market. One of the skillets has a lot of burned on flaky black very hard something - outside, mostly, on sides and bottom, and some around the top edge of the inside sides. I need to clean them, but they appear to be seasoned okay. The super hard stuff on the outside and inside has me worried. How can I clean that off and start out well?

Also, I bought them to use over a campfire, on a grill grate, so they won't rest on coals or wood. Is this acceptable for carbon steel, and if so, are there any parameters for heat or closeness to the fire?

At home, I cook almost completely on cast iron and coated cast iron. Are cast iron and carbon steel skillets the same basically in regards to seasoning and cooking on electric, or should I use them more like stainless steel?

You can season these pans by heating with salt in the pan until it is extremely hot. The salt is abrasive and will remove any particles when you rub it around the pan with a dry cloth. Be very careful as the salt is very hot! This opens up the pores in the steel. Remove the hot salt and ad some veg oil, olive oil or what ever you have and let it season the pan. The pan should now be non stick and the heat has sanitized the pan. Remove the oil and wipe with a paper towel.


How to make home-made butter? Has anyone tried it before and how was the result?

What are the steps and what ingredients and kitchen tools do I need?

Take double cream (you want a 48% milk fat, which is hard to get in the U.S. outside of a specialty market; heavy cream has a 30-40% milk fat content) and shake it. Forever. To be more specific, after sealing your double cream in, say, a jam jar, shake it until you hear the sloshing sound of butter forming (which will take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour); drain the liquid off and then rinse the butter until the water runs clearly over it. Squeeze your butter (I use cheese cloth or a linen napkin for this) to rid it of excess liquid (excess liquid can lead to rancidity), shape it into a block, and wrap it with wax paper.


Buying my first set of pots and pans I have NO idea what I'm doing :). I'm looking to buy some pots/pans for my appartment (just moved out). Considering these:

http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-MCP-12-MultiClad-Stainless-12-Piece/dp/B0007KQZWU/ref=lh_ni_t

I want to spend under $250 and this seems like a good value for my money. Wanted to check with some experts before I take the plunge.

I'd ideally like to be able to washing machine whatever I buy...

Thanks!

Syrion has already provided some good advice, but I think I can expand it. Note: I live alone and cook for one. And there are a few pieces I use every time. I have more, but I only use them when the primary tool for a task is busy because I am making an involved recipe consisting of multiple components. Beginning cooks seldom make such recipes. So here the list of the minimal setup which will get you through most cooking.

Pans The minimum is one ceramic coated pan. They are non-stick and can be heated to 400°C, so they are usable for everything you'll fry. The downside is that they are expensive and lose their non-stickiness over time. So you might want to go with two pans: one standard non-stick (PTFE) for eggs (can't be heated too much) and one normal pan for everything else - cast iron if you are willing to take care of it, else stainless steel. Invest in the thickest bottom you can find, 8 mm is a good starting point. As for size, I don't see why you'd need a big pan if you cook small amounts, my primary pan is 8 inch.
Pots Don't buy any. Buy an enameled dutch oven for everything you will boil and simmer. If you live in the USA, you can get a decent size for $50, in Europe the situation is worse, only the expensive brand name stuff is available. An OK size for a single household is 3 liters. If you find yourself often cooking dishes which need two pots (e.g. pasta with a cooked sauce), get additionally a deep sauce pan, SS needs the least maintenance. Again, look for a thick bottom.
Oven pan It is for casseroles, roasts, moussakas, lasagnes etc. You can also bake in it - savory things like quiches and filled breads, but also sweet pastries, pies and cake layers. Round is the most versatile shape. A size around 22 to 26 cm diameter and 4-5 cm depth is good for almost everything. As for the material, I prefer porcelain, it ensures a slower, more even baking. It can also be used in the microwave. If you get metal, you can first brown your onions and meat in it in stovetop, then add the veggies and shove it into the oven.
Pizza stone A good investment even if you only bake frozen pizza. Great if you ever start making your own pizza and bread. Look out for a massive one, not the thin stuff you get for nothing.
Bowls Two are the minimum I've been able to live on. A smaller one which fits on the dutch oven, preferably glass, can also be used as a double boiler. It is also good for whipping small amounts of yolks, cream, etc. You can make 1-2 portions of salad in it. The bigger one is for doughs and batters, but also for salads. If you add a third very small one (3-4 inch rim diameter), you can whip small things even better, but also eat soup out of it, serve nuts and gummi bears to guests, etc.
Strainer Very important. It is used for such basic recipes as pasta, stock, etc. You can also wash fruit, veggies and leafy greens in it. Get one which can be hanged over your sink. You can also buy a colander for pasta and washing, but if you only get one of them, it should be the strainer.

If you don't bake, that's about it. If you bake, add a springform pan, muffin cups, a silicon mat and a piping bag with tips. (I assume that your oven came with a cookie sheet). You'll also need 2 knives (chef's and a small one), a cutting board (wood, bamboo or plastic, anything harder blunts your knives) and some things to stir/serve with (ladles, sauce spoon, big spoons, tongs, etc). I consider a digital scale and thermometers also essential for a kitchen, but many people go by without them. You're then set up for cooking in a minimal kitchen.

If you can get what I listed above as a set, go ahead and buy it. I have never seen such a set, so I think it is better to buy them separately. Later, if you notice that you miss something, you can always buy it as a separate piece.


chef knives and cutting surfaces I recently acquired a chef knife.
Alton Brown says I should never use a glass surface to cut, but when I need to cut chicken I don't want to use the wood block because it will be contaminated.

how do I go around this conundrum?
What should I use to cut chicken with my new knife?

I believe that there are two major options:

Wood cutting boards
Plastic cutting boards

Either of these will provide a perfectly appropriate surface for you to use your knives against.

From a food safety point of view, both can be excellent, although they have different pros and cons.

There is some evidence that wood cutting boards actually inhibit pathogen growth.  They can be sanded down for maintenance, and sanitized with a light bleach solution, but should not be placed into the dishwasher, which may be an inconvenience for your lifestyle.  Some larger wood cutting blocks are also a very nice aesthetic statement.

Plastic cutting boards can be very effective, and can be placed in the dishwasher, and are easy to sanitize.  Some people are concerned that once they get deep cuts within them, this can harbor pathogens even through cleaning cycles, so they have a limited lifetime.  They also are not as pretty as wood, although often far lower in cost.

Most sanitation guides will recommend that you reserve one cutting board for meat (or in a large kitchen, one for meat, one for poultry, and one for fish), and another for vegetables.  This is often easiest with color coded cutting boards, which plastic makes easy.

My personal preference is for the very thin, flexible plastic cutting boards.  They are inexpensive, easy to move around, dishwasher safe, and can be rolled up to easily dump the product into a pot or container.   They may not have an infinite lifespan, but they are very inexpensive.

Since you do not wish to use your good cutting block for chicken, I recommend the thin, flexible style of cutting board--you can use your block for vegetables, bread, and so on.


Good uses for leftover Bechamel? I guess it's technically a Mornay, it has Parmesan and Fontina. I've got about 1 1/2 cups in my fridge. Refrigerated it's solid enough to hold a knife vertically, when it was warm it was just barely pourable and self spreading. It's a darn good sauce, I'd hate to waste it, but after all my adventures lately making an 'ultimate' lasagna, I won't end up using it for pasta. I'd like to put it to use in an entirely different way, preferably with a totally different flavor profile.

Any ideas?

Bonus points if it would make a nice lunch for the day after the extreme lasagna dinner.

Crouque-Monsier or the similar "Hot Brown" sandwich is perfect for my needs. That will use up the sauce in a completely different way. It will also make a great lunch. Thanks SAJ14SAJ for the tip.


What is the difference between 100% whole wheat pasta and 100% whole wheat couscous? I google the ingredients list and one says 100% durum wheat the other says 100% whole wheat. I still don't see any difference? Does anyone else?
If they are the same then couscous is just pasta?

Other than the shape, obviously, not that much in the grand scheme of life.
the couscous grain is coarse wheat semolina; when wanting to eat it, it is usually boiled (boiling water added to couscous) or steamed (using a couscoussière)
Pasta is a dough made from finer semolina, it is made with water or eggs.
From the pasta dough, you can make many different type of pasta.
Some small pasta shape can look like couscous, for example Kushku or Fregola (larger than normal couscous) ...
As to know which came first, I would venture to say Couscous as it is easier to prepare.


How does butter remain edible for so long without refrigeration? My wife and I keep a stick of butter in the cupboard rather than the refrigerator.  Even with just the two of us, it rarely lasts very long, but I'd say it may go as long as a week without refrigeration before it's all gone.  There have been times when I have told friends about this and they express concern due to the fact that butter is a dairy product.  They cannot comprehend not refrigerating it at all times.

What allows butter to stay perfectly tasty and edible, even after a week outside of the refrigerator, where milk, sour cream, or cheese would be foul in a day or less?

Actually, the question should be "why do other dairy products spoil so fast?"

If I remember correctly, the spoilage of milk is caused primarily by lactose, which breaks down into lactic acid over time due to the presence of Lactobacillus bacteria, which thrive in that environment.

Butter is mostly fat, and fat does not go bad (it does eventually, but not in the same way or at the same rate - see below) - lactose and sugars together, on the other hand, go bad quite fast.  That is also why cream lasts longer than whole milk, and whole milk lasts longer than skim milk.  It is also the reason why lactose-free milk seems to last forever - there's nothing to break down, nothing for the bacteria to feed on.

When butter does go bad, it's generally not even for the same reason - it's simply due to oxidation which causes rancidity, similar to a typical vegetable oil.

In short, butter lasts so long with or without refrigeration because proportionally speaking, it doesn't have as much of the lactose that causes other dairy products to go bad.


How does FPC compare to mammalian rennet? How does fermentation-produced chymosin (bio-chemically engineered rennet) compare to real mammalian rennet? Does it affect the flavor of the cheese?

it’s also known as recombinant chymosin. Per wikipedia:

FPC contains the identical chymosin as the animal source, but produced in a more efficient way.

Since it’s essentially produced by the same genes, the molecular structures of both products should be identical, thus the results.


Why do uncooked frostings that contain milk not need to be refrigerated? I have seen (and used) recipes for icing and glaze that use uncooked milk in them, yet they do not need to be refrigerated. (For example, one with powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and butter or shortening.) If I just left out a cup of milk, it would spoil. Is the sugar chemically changing the milk in some way so it does not spoil?

Microbes need available water to grow, and sugar reduces the availability of water to them. In addition, spread as a thin layer on cake, water evaporates (further reducing water availability).

You can find out more about factors influencing microbial growth in the FDA's Bad Bug Book.

As the book notes, generally, you can only know from experiment if a particular recipe is safe, and also that often they're just slowed not stopped. So it'd probably be prudent to minimize the amount of time you store your icing/glaze.


What will happen if i remove seeds from a chilli pepper before cooking? Will it remove or reduce the capsaicin content?

Is there a part of the chilli I can remove to reduce or remove the capsaicin content?

Btw I know that you can use less chilli, use milder ones or bell peppers, however I'm wondering what part of the pepper the capsaicin lies in and if we can move it from a hotter pepper.

You remove the seeds for texture. You remove the white pith to reduce the capsaicin content. That way you can get the benefit of the flavour of various peppers while managing the heat.

From the "Wiki page" on Capsacin:

  Capsaicin is present in large quantities in the placental tissue (which holds the seeds), the internal membranes and, to a lesser extent, the other fleshy parts of the fruits of plants in the genus Capsicum. The seeds themselves do not produce any capsaicin, although the highest concentration of capsaicin can be found in the white pith of the inner wall, where the seeds are attached.[5]


How long does hot chocolate stay good? My resource for food shelf life is usually stilltasty.com . However, I can't find hot chocolate on the list. I'm talking about a small pot of hot chocolate - milk, cocoa, sugar, water. Is the guideline the expiration date of the milk? Or will it last longer/shorter?

It is a common misconception that the shelf life of a cooked food (= mix of ingredients) is the same as the shelf life of the shortest-lived ingredient. I cannot stress enough how wrong this assumption is.

As with any cooked food, the shelf life of hot chocolate should be about 3 to 5 days in the fridge, with a cumulative stay in the danger zone of no longer than 2 hours.

An explanation of why the assumption is wrong: Food spoils when bacteria (or sometimes other organisms like mold) create a colony in it. For this to happen, the food has to offer all the conditions an organism needs for survival. Most cooked foods are nutritious enough to ensure the survival of simple organisms.

There are single ingredients which hold for longer. Bar chocolate is a good example. The reason for that is that they are not a complete medium. Chocolate does not have enough moisture for bacteria to grow in it. But as soon as you mix any ingredient with something else, you cannot know if the other ingredients have not added the factor the bacteria have been missing. So, if you mix for example water (practically indefinite shelf life because it has no calories) and flour (practically indefinite shelf life because it has no moisture), you get dough, which will have large bacterial colonies within 3 days.

Exceptions in the other direction (food that spoils sooner than 3 days) are foods which decompose on their own. For example fish - it goes bad quickly even at fridge temperature, but the reason is the fish's own enzymes, not bacteria. That's why it is normally held on ice, if not frozen outright.

As a side note, you cannot rely on the expiration date of milk anyway. It is OK for traditionally pasteurized milk. But the expiration date of ESL and UHT milk is only valid as long as the packaging has not been broken. Once you open it, it is again good for about 5 days.

Conclusion: For anything cooked, up to 5 days in the fridge is a good assumption. Make it less for food which is known for high risk of contamination (e.g. food containing raw eggs), but never longer, even if the expiration date of the ingredients is longer than that.


hand cranked ceramic conical burr coffee grinder? I would very much like a recommendation for a manual ceramic burr grinder for turkish coffee. The grinder must be able to do fine powder consistently. Effort is no problem.

Thank you.

As much as your question in its current form might be off-topic, I like this grinder so much as to answer the question anyway. :) Hopefully not too much shame on me...?

Hario is a brand with many good manual and ceramic burr grinders. I like this one. You say effort is okay, but it will take a lot of effort to get beans down to Turkish-level powder.

That said, a web-search for "manual ceramic burr coffee grinder" returns many results. We're you not happy with those, or wanted reviews? For my cost-benefit equation, I'd buy the tin of pre-ground.


How to make a pepper crusted steak I'm looking for the best method to keep the peppercorns attached to the steak, in order to make a pepper crusted steak.

Very often when making this steak by merely rubbing in the peppercorns, the peppercorns fall off when searing it.

One method I've heard of was to baste the meat with an egg white and then rub it in the pepper. Just curious if there are any other better ways.

Any ideas?

Most recipes I am aware of simply press crushed pepper onto the steak. It is true that some will fall off, but these recipes apply pepper generously with that in mind. I have not come across the egg white method (not sure I want egg white on my steak), but I did see a recipe that adds crushed pepper to melted butter, then coating the steak with the mixture, then chilling before cooking.  Regardless of the approach, I think allowing the meat to chill with the pepper will help.


Vietnamese Sandwiches - Spread Identification? A short while ago, I was on vacation, and ate several times at a Vietnamese sandwich shop (in North America) that served what were presented as traditional Vietnamese style sandwiches.

While most of the ingredients were self-explanatory, one of them was something I've never tasted or seen anywhere else: it was a sandwich spread with a light(?) grey color, and a slight texture similar to a thin sort of pate. The pate was a bit sweet to taste, but otherwise didn't taste familiar (not obviously fishy/beefy/chickeny, etc.).

From what I understand, pate and similar spreads are common in Vietnamese cuisine, but I'm having a hard time narrowing the possibilities down further to ones that match the above description.

Pate can vary in color depending on what you put in it, so I'd say what you were eating was pate!

Here's a pate recipe with a resultant gray hue: http://berriesandspice.com/vietnamese-banh-mi-pate/


how can I save banana milk shake from being black? We often see that when we make banana milk shake and keep in refrigerator after some hours it getting black.why it do so and how we can save it for a long time from being black?

Bananas, just like for example apples, oxidise when exposed to air. The precise reaction is between oxygen in the air and a chemical called polyphenol oxidase in the fruit. Within a few hours they will start browning. This cannot be fixed by simply putting them in the refrigerator. The reaction will slow slightly, but not stop. What you can do is add an acid, such as lemon juice, as well as do your best to store it in an airtight container. These measures should slow the browning.

Note that something like a smoothie should really be consumed within 24 hours of making it. You should not be storing it for longer than that in the refrigerator, even if it doesn't turn black.


what is a required temperature of water for foaming of yeast?? What is the exact temperature of water for the foaming of yeast while baking because when i use cold it is does not activated similarly on hot water.

Lukewarm-- which is warm enough so that you can dip your hand into it without damage, but not so warm that you put your hand in and immediately have to yank it back out again. On my thermometer, when I use one, that's about 110 degrees Fahrenheit.


Difficulty with frozen bread dough My favorite yeast bread dough yields more rolls then my family can eat. I usually freeze it in quart-size Ziploc freezer bags. When I'm ready to bake a few rolls, I take a bag out, let it defrost enough to shape the rolls, let them rise, and bake them.

Sometimes this worked really well, yielding delicious fresh fluffy rolls. Other times it flops into a sticky flatbread that doesn't bake through.

I'm not sure why sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Is it a problem with the yeast? The defrosting process? The storage?

I've had better luck freezing bread dough before it rises, or at least right after punching it down.  At normal household freezer temperatures, the yeast may keep growing very slowly.  If you freeze the already-risen bread, you risk getting a yeasty-tasting flat pancake :-).

And of course you're right to look at the defrosting process too.  If you try to push this too fast, you could end up killing the yeast entirely.


How can food cooked 1-2 hours ago be effectively reheated in a microwave? I cater and cook foods for clients. Recently I have a new client and I deliver the food all precooked and ready to eat. They may not eat for another hour or more after I deliver the food.

Example of one meal: Herb-roasted new potatoes, roasted asparagus, and baked/roasted salmon.

What is the best way to reheat or warm up these dishes in a microwave?

(I ask this because they are in their late 80's and early 90's and trying to use the oven hasn't proved successful without either overcooking the food or not getting it hot enought to enjoy.)

For me, I use the microwave's power setting. This is sometimes a misunderstood feature. When you don't set the power level, then it is 100%. This means during 100% of the cook time the magnetron inside the microwave is active and radiating your food. If you set the power level to 10, then during the cook time, the magnetron will not be active the entire cook time, instead it will be active during 10% of the time. "Power" is a bad term because it does not effect the power level of the magnetron. It affects the amount of time it is active.

This is helpful to know if you also understand that microwave energy does not penetrate very deeply into your food. It enters about 1 to 2 inches. This mean the surface of your food gets really hot when the magnetron is on, but the deeper parts are not getting hot. You use this to your advantage by setting a lower power level which allows the heat to conduct through your food naturally when the magnetron is not active. It is a way to warm the entire product without blasting the outside of it.

If you are microwaving something thick, then reduce the power and increase the time.

If you have a microwave safe shelf, then use it! That allows more microwave energy to come in conduct with more of your food's surface. The waves "bounce" inside the box, so being on a shelf lets some wave bounce under it and hit the bottom of your food.


Why does curry flavor improve overnight (beyond the effects of permeation and infusion)? The flavor of a curry usually improves overnight. Harsh overtones mellow and disparate elements combine for a richer, more coherent result. Some people think this is just because the flavors from whole spices have more time to infuse (and larger chunks of vegetables and meat exchange flavors with the sauce base).

However, I think there's more to it than that. Even with a curry without large chunks of food or whole spices, the flavor still seems to improve over time. Is this really so, and if so, why?

It's down to oxidation reactions that are remarkably similar to those that cause meat and fats to go rancid. From Modernist Cuisine (2-98):

  ...[B]raised and pot roasted meats often develop a richer, more complex flavour if they have been cooled and aged after cooking, then later reheated for service. Surprisingly, the oxidation reactions that cause this flavour-enhancing phenomenon are similar to those that cause meats and fats to go rancid. Although too much oxidation in meat is repulsive, a hint of slowly oxidised aromatic compounds can be quite pleasant.

Also, certain herbs such as thyme and rosemary contain antioxidants that moderate the rate of oxidation thus helping to achieve the right amount of aged flavour, it's reasonable to infer that certain herbs and spices used in Asian cuisine perform a similar function.


Why are mushrooms safe for everyone to touch at the supermarket? Food safety laws generally apply to most food you can touch with your hands at supermarkets - such as loose leaf spinach, bread rolls in the bakery, and anything at the deli. When handling these foods, you need to use tongs (or wear food safety gloves).

But mushrooms seem to be 'safe' for everyone to touch with their hands. There are never tongs near them (at least at any supermarket I've seen) and everyone uses their hands.

Why is this? What makes mushrooms special?

A major reason produce can be sold loose without tongs is that you're supposed to wash it just before preparing it anyway.  You couldn't wash your baked goods. How effective this washing is, is of course another matter now we don't have to wash the mud off and a token rinse is probably typical.

Some produce, including mushrooms but also strawberries etc., could easily be damaged by tongs anyway.


How to make Frozen french fries I'm a takeaway owner and for the past two weeks I have been trying to make my own frozen french fries. But the results are very bad, my fries either stick along like lumps or they get too soggy when i fry them in the shop.
is there any ingredient that i am missing to make them crispy and perfect shape?

cheers

Here, check this out. This is an article explaining at length how to make perfect French fries.

How to make perfect McDonald's style French Fries

So basically, you have to cut your fries so that they are 1/4 inch thick an then blanch them in boiling vinegared water (1 tablespoon per quart of water) for about 10 minutes. This has to be done to keep the balance between pectin, starch and simple sugars. Potato cells are held together by pectin (a form of sugar) and contain starch granules. When the cells come in contact with heat and water, pectin starts to decompose into simple sugars, which exposes the starch granules, which in turn release the starch they contain. Too much sugars and the fries become to brown, to less starch and your fries won't have a decent crust, and so on. Therefore balance is important. Now, putting the fries into hot water serves two purposes: rinse off excess sugars and activate an enzyme that strengthens the pectin, giving the fries a firmer and more intact structure. Problem is, this enzyme woks better the higher the water temperature, but stops working altogether above ~170 degrees Fahrenheit. But here comes the vinegar: acid slows the breakdown of pectin.

Step two is deep-frying the fries in 360 degrees Fahrenheit vegetable oil for 50 seconds.

Step three: freezing the fries overnight or longer. This helps make the interior of the fries all the more fluffier. By freezing, all the excess water inside the fries gets converted into ice crystals which damage the potato cells and make it easier to then become expelled as steam in the last frying step which is...

Step four: deep-fry the French fries in 360 degrees Fahrenheit vegetable oil for 3 1/2 minutes, drain them, season them and serve them immediately.


Vinegar and battered chicken? I made a recipe for crispy shallow-fried battered chicken. The recipe called for a little vinegar to be added to the chicken after drying and seasoning. This dish did not work, the batter (just flour and water) slipped off the chicken in the oil because the meat was too wet. What is the reason for the vinegar here? Is there a trick to this or do I just have a bad recipe?

Adding vinegar 'to the chicken' might give it a slight tanginess, but its certainly going to cause issues with the  batter adhesion.  Sounds like a bad recipe (especially if your batter was just flour and water too!).

Every time I've seen vinegar in batter dipped chicken, its because there's also baking soda and it helps produce a lighter, airier batter.  And you put it in the batter, not on the chicken.


How can I make my Oreos crispy again? Someone1 didn't re-close the Oreo bag properly, and now the remaining cookies are kinda... not-quite-crispy. They're not soft, but they have this chewy side to their crunch.

If these were ordinary cookies, I'd pop them in the oven for a few minutes, but I have this thing where I like my creme filling to be inside my cookies, not melted all over the baking sheet. I'm funny that way.

Is there any way to make these cookies crispy again, or do I make the offending party2 eat this bag and get a new bag for, um, the non-offending parties?

If it makes any difference, these are peanut butter Oreos.

1: //shamefaced It was probably me.
2: hanging head in shame

Put the bag in front of an air conditioner for a few minutes. Worked like a champ for Oreos and chips that went stale over a humid weekend in a desk drawer.

This was a window unit- I arranged to blow the cold air into the bag. Was amazed with the results.


Cocktail infused Creme Brulee? I am making crème brulee for 60, I intend to sous vide them (thinking 180 degrees F, roughly 83C?), and I would like to create an "old fashioned" flavored crème brulee. To accomplish this, I intend to add brandy and bitters to the base. Does anyone know if there is a point where too much alcohol could cause problems with brulee? Any advice for appropriate amounts or ratios of alcohol to base?

The alcohol does indeed change the coagulation of the egg yolks, so you have to be wary. Small amounts are not problematic (I have made orange crème brûlée with a tablespoon or two of orange liqueur to a full batch), but if you want more for taste reasons, you should look closer at the recipe. I tried looking this up, but couldn't find an upper limit on the alcohol amount - although note that eggnog can be made without curdling, so there is quite some tolerance in eggs.
For the maximum alcohol that is usable, I would look at sabayon recipes. Pick a recipe that is meant to make a firm enough version, and look at the total amount of pure ethanol. Since marsala has less ABV than brandy, you will be able to add more of the brandy - for practical purposes, you may want to fill up the cocktail with enough milk (or cream) until you are around 17% alcohol, then use this as a substitute in the sabayon recipe. There is a very good chance that this goes well - while the fats in the cream will interfere a bit with setting, the mixture should have less acidity, which will again give you a good overall mixture. It is not predictable how further components in the bitters may interfere, you will have to watch the first few batches and adjust the temperature or ratios if needed.
Once that version turns out well, you will have established a good upper range of alcohol for your crème brûlée, and from there, you can adjust downwards for the taste you like.


What is the purpose of adding baking powder to a recipe that contains yeast? Example, this recipe: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/recipes/recipe-traditional-cypriot-tahini-pies/article25201735/
In addition to yeast it calls for a small amount of baking powder. What is the purpose of that?
I found this thread, from which I basically concluded that there is no real leavening effect of using baking powder and yeast together because if you bake it quickly, the yeast fails to leaven as it does not have time to work, and if you bake it after resting, the baking powder would fail to leaven because it is already spent by the time baking starts.
So is there any other reason one would add baking powder to a yeast-leavened dessert? One of the answers in the link above talks about a possible reason for adding baking soda to yeast but nothing on baking powder.

Most baking powder available today is double-acting baking powder. The "first" action is when it gets wet. The "second" action is when it gets hot (above 140°F/60°C).
Generally speaking, the yeast would provide the pre-bake rise, and then the baking powder would assist with additional spring once it's in the oven.
Interesting about this recipe that you link to is that the yeast gets a very short amount of time for the yeast to proof before baking. The recipe calls for a 5 minute rest after mixing, but no additional proofing time after shaping. I'm not familiar with these particular cypriot pies at all, but my first impression is actually that because there isn't a step to let the pies rise after they are shaped, the baking powder is likely somewhat necessary to ensure a decent lift.


What is the substitution ratio for mini marshmallows to large marshmallows? I have a recipe calling for 12 large marshmallows, but I only have minis. How many should I use?

Kraft's Jet-Puffed brand claims the following conversion factor:

  1 Regular Marshmallow = 13 Mini Marshmallows

That puts you at around 156 Mini Marshmallows for 12 Regulars.


What determines the shape-holding ability of cookies? What things can you vary to make cookies hold their shape better during cooking, and not spread out like a pancake?  From my experimenting, the initial temperature of the dough before cooking seems to make a difference - refrigerated dough spreads less than room temperature.  What else can I do without making the cookies too dry? (Obviously if I add enough flour, the cookies will hold their shape, but at the cost of ending up with hard, dry bricks).

Does trying different fats like butter/shortening/margarine make a big difference?  Is it worth buying heavier pans?

Cookies really only spread out because of their fat content: when it gets warm it flows, and if it flows too much before the glutens start binding to give it structure, you get flat cookie. So, in this case, if the dough is colder at the start the fat stays stable longer, and lets the cookie set up.

You can try experimenting with your fats: maybe butter instead of crisco, or vice versa. Lot of vegan types will roll in some banana to counteract the lack of eggs and animal fats. Or you could maybe add some more egg?


Brining Pork Turns Meat Grey I brined a boneless pork chop in

4 cups water
1/4 cup Kosher Salt
1/4 cup Sugar

for 18 hours. When I pulled the meat out there were some spots that looked slightly off color and grey.  I was wondering if this is common and if not what might be the problem causing the off color spots.

Yes, that's normal.  You just left it WAY too long in the brine.  The salt denatures (unwinds) the proteins, which is the same process that happens when the proteins are exposed to heat or acid.  Over brining will cause the exterior of the meat to become gray and mushy.

But you don't have to take my word for it: http://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/5804-brining-meat

The relevant references are:

4 bone-in rib loin pork chops, 12 ounces each, 1.5 inches thick: 1
hour
Pork roast, 3-6 pounds: 1.5 - 2 hours


Cooking own pizza in a microwave Can I make my own pizza dough and cook it in the microwave? Is there any chance that I could reach acceptable results?

Pure microwave: no way
Microwave with combo/grill functions: maybe.

I bake cakes in a combo microwave oven and results are pretty good, using manufacturer suggested pans and specific recipes.


Gas grill compared to regular (high end) oven I've always been a charcoal guy, but as I'm thinking about buying a new grill I've looked at gas grills, with the convenience of cleaning, speed etc.

But I still can't help to think a modern oven would be able to fulfill a lot of what a gas grill can do (oven broiler plus convection at maximum temperature).

There is no flame, and the heat is from below - but how much does matter?

Disregarding any non-food aspects (pollution, being outdoor, having a beer while grilling), how big are the differences?

Edit: Commenter moscafj below wanted some things clarified, he was spot on.
My initial thought was to buy a charcoal grill, and for most other stuff use oven. I've had some thoughts about gas, but I always feel that it's just an "outdoor oven with an open flame".

Thus, I'm now comparing a standard outdoor gas grill to a new indoor domestic oven (with all the bells and whistles I can get).

The "drippings landing on hot bars" I've heard about, but that's basically the only thing.

While you are correct about the basics - both a grill and an oven can roast and sear, and it doesn't really matter if the heat comes from above or below.

However, there's some subtle details:

An oven will have fine temperature control (via a thermostat).
With an outdoor grill you can impart smoke-flavors (either via
smoldering hardwood, or by burning drippings). While that's possible
with an oven, unless you have one SERIOUSLY good ventilation-system,
you shouldn't even try it.
Grills also have the advantage of being outside - cookouts are much
less fun when you and your friends are standing in your kitchen,
staring at your oven.


Where can I buy a transparent frying pan? Where could I find a transparent frying pan?

Corning made a Visions pan - I had a set and used it for years. You might find them on eBay or at a garage sale. I didn't really like it as a pan - took a long time to heat up and then stayed hot, thus making a gas stove into an electric and making an electric even less responsive. It's not completely clear, it's kind of brownish.


I would really like to go to bed, but the slow cooker isn't done I've got a 6.5qt slow cooker going, with about 7lbs of corned beef in it.  I had put it on HIGH around 4:30pm, figuring that it would take six to eight hours to cook.  Well, it's half-past midnight, and it's not done: the meat is chewy in exactly the way corned beef shouldn't be, due to an abundance of insufficiently cooked connective tissue.

What do I do now?

If I put it on LOW and go to sleep, it will be eight more hours of cooking, which seems like rather a lot.

I'd been planning on cooking the cabbage in the broth, after the meat was done, overnight.  I could fish the meat out, put it in the fridge, and go ahead and cook the cabbage, then tomorrow morning, swap out the cabbage and continue cooking the meat.  Since I have a commitment tomorrow, that means I'm still going to be stuck leaving the meat in the cooking for an additional 5hrs minimum.

Should I leave the meat in there on WARM overnight?  Will that (1) be safe, and (2) be sufficient to cook it?

No, I don't have a slow cooker with a timer; no, I am not waking up in the middle of the night; no, I can't take the ceramic liner out and park it in the fridge (it's bigger than my fridge.)

Warm isn't guaranteed to be safe. On some cookers it might be, but unless you've checked yours already, you can't say for sure. I suppose you could try it and check the temperature in the morning, and if it's above 140F everywhere, it's okay, but I'm not sure you want to risk that.

So I think you're stuck either cooking it overnight (on low, not warm) or moving it to the fridge and cooking more tomorrow.


Good techniques for stirring dough Is there any particular technique for stirring dough (particularly cake dough) that is to be recommended? When I stir dough, I find that I develop too much gluten (i.e. it gets too chewy) and don't get all of the flour mixed in.

Any suggestions?

edit: Reference to cake.

You generally don't stir cake batter at all.

Where I learned to bake, we were taught that if you want a light and fluffy cake, as is generally the case, then you should fold in the dry ingredients (including flour).  That means using a flat surface - a silicone spatula works great but you could even use your hand in a pinch - sliding it down the edge of the bowl, and using a turning motion (i.e. folding) to incorporate the flour, repeating several times until there are no longer any large clumps of dry ingredients.

When you fold, it's very difficult to over-mix.  And particularly with cakes and quick breads, under-mixing a little is actually OK, because the batter tends to be quite moist and eventually the moisture will seep through to any unincorporated flour - and if it doesn't, you'll get a nice spongy texture.

Commercial mixers actually have paddle attachments for folding large amounts of batter.  You don't need a special mixer, though; you just need to be gentle and conservative with your mixing.

Not every cake is the same, and some recipes may specifically call for you to whisk the batter (for which you should use a balloon whisk, not a spoon or spatula) instead of folding, but if it just says to "mix" the batter then I would using the folding technique.


Washing fruit after cutting? Today, I cut up some pineapple. On the bare fruit that was left after cutting, there was residual pieces of the skin, so I washed the pineapple. To me, it seemed like I was washing off juice from the pineapple, which seems negative. However, I also didn't want to eat random pieces of skin.

First, how much of the juice am I washing off when I rinse after cutting, and is it enough for me to be able to taste a difference? Second, when cutting pineapple or fruit in general, how can I avoid having small leftover particles on the bare fruit?

Short answer is - you can't avoid the little particles like the hairs from the flower bits when you cut a pineapple. Washing is the quickest way to get these residual pieces off the fruit - and yes, you do wash a little of the juice away, but this will be generally replaced by more juice in a short period of time, from where you cut the fruit (assuming the fruit is a juicy one and ripe).

Other options : a gentle scrape of the pieces off with a knife or other edged implement - but this requires you to closely observe the whole fruit and generally to pick them off a few at a time. You can also pat down with a paper towel, but this often doesn't work very well.


Troubleshooting braised turkey legs dry and tough I've tried twice to follow the instructions for braised turkey legs in "The Food Lab" by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. It is very similar to this recipe:
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/11/red-wine-braised-turkey-legs.html

The main differences are that the book calls for a covered pot (I assumed he meant left ajar) and for browning both sides, not just one side of the legs.

So here's what I did, and the legs came out pretty tough and a little dry.

The first time I used all the broth which mostly submerged the legs and I didn't keep an eye on the thermometer which got to 180º internal before I pulled them. I know that is too hot.

The second time I seared the skin side of the legs, removed them, added chunked carrot, onion & celery and 6 c. of stock, and put the legs in and brought to just a simmer, then put in a 275º oven.
Within 30 min they were already 150º! They're supposed to cook for 2-3 hours and that seemed like it would get too hot for too long. The stock was nearly 180º. So I pulled out the legs and the pan and cooled it while I figured out what to do. I removed most of the stock so the legs were sitting on the vegetables and not submerged, and put it back in with the lid ajar. It took an hour to get back up to 150º, then 30 min to get to 160º and then only 12 min to get to 169º which is when I pulled them out to let them rest under a tinfoil tent for 30 min. I left the thermometer probe in and saw that it did not get any higher, no carryover cooking.
According to the book dark meat's collagen will melt between 160º and 170º leaving you with fork tender meat.

Any ideas about what I'm going wrong? I even tested my thermometer and room temp seems right and boiling water is 208º which is appropriate for my elevation of 2300'.

Thanks,

Monty

So apparently the problem is that I didn't let the legs cook long enough to break down the collagen. Just getting to the target temperature isn't enough, it has to stay there for a significant amount of time. The liquid of the braise regulates the temperature in the pot so it won't get too hot, but it's ok for the legs to get up to 180º in a braise.


White foam when cooking chickpeas, what to do with it? When cooking chickpeas, what should one do with the white foam?

I've heard that some remove it as it comes. But is this really necessary, since the water is filtered from the chickpeas when they are done?

Thanks in advance!

The white foam is a 'scum' that is formed as protein is released from the chickpeas. Yes, that is the term that is used. Scum.

This can be skimmed for aesthetic reasons - it sticks to the pot, or overboils, etc...

You are absolutely right, though, that if the chickpeas are rinsed after, then this is washed away.

If you are draining and pureeing, it will just incorporate into the dish.

Totally an aesthetic choice in my experience.

Similar to meat protein scum, referenced (What is this in the beef stew?)


Using fat as a preservative, I want to make big batches of Boerewors (A traditional South African fresh sausage) and was wondering if I could immerse it in fat or lard and then preserve it this way?

Can fat be used to seal the meat and keep it from spoiling or is this a bad idea? Does it still need to be refrigerated? The idea is to not have to freeze and then wait for it to thaw. Sometimes I just need a quick pick-me-up and a little sausage with some bread looks like it should do the trick.

Refrigerate them.
When it comes down to meat, you should play it safe. Spoiled meat can develop salmonella and other forms of bacteria. Read more about it on the CDC website.
That said...
I believe the method of preserving you are referring to is confit:

In chilly European kitchens before refrigeration, it was common to salt meat, usually duck, goose or pork, and then to cook it slowly in the animal's own fat. The rendered fat was then poured over the meat in a crock, completely covering it and sealing it off from the air. In an oxygen-free environment, the meat would keep a long time without spoiling.

While confit is a real thing, people from back when it was popular had lower standards for food safety, and access to safer meat. There are probably current recipes for safe confit, but a homebrew experiment of "just cover with fat" cannot be considered safe if canned - it should be handled like any other unpreserved dish.

I'm not sure that there is a way to do that with sausages. I would suggest to make smaller batches more often instead, and keep them refrigerated or frozen. If you package them in small portions, say 1 or 2 sausages, it won't take very long to thaw them in the microwave.


How does one remove the "fishy flavor" from seafood? My sister really doesn't like a strong fish flavor and is very picky.  Are there any effective ways to prepare the seafood in such a manner that reduces the fishy flavor/taste?  If "seafood" is too broad, then please limit your answer to include fish and prawn.

Thanks!

Fresh seafood shouldn't be overly "fishy".  It's generally older seafood that will get a stronger "fishy" smell and flavour.

That said, there are 3 approaches to a "less fishy" result:

Absorb/reduce fishiness:  you can always try something like soaking it in milk (which you can then save to use for a fishy bechamel when your sister isn't dining with you).  You could then rinse it off and cook it however you want.  This should help "absorb" some of the fishiness and make it milder.
Disguise fishiness: The other angle is to "cover up" the flavour with lots of spicy glaze or garlic/lemon flavours instead.
Pick mild seafood: The other thing to try is to pick a more mildly flavoured fish (e.g. a white fish instead of something like tuna or salmon).  Avoid oily fish as they tend to have a stronger flavour.  Choosing something really fresh also falls into this category.


Why did my hummus go bad? I make hummus about once a week, and make it essentially the same way each time. This week, my hummus tasted as it usually does immediately after I made it. However, I put it in the fridge for three days without eating any, and it tasted and smelled off when I tried to eat it today. It didn't smell rotten or anything, just extremely bland. Normally, it smells pretty garlicky. There was also basically no taste.

I used the same ingredients that I normally do except for a different brand of tahini, but the tahini smells fine. I am in a new apartment, so I am using a different fridge than I used to. This fridge was set to be much colder than my previous one, and I found ice chips in my hummus. Could this be the reason my hummus went bad? I also soak the chickpeas in the fridge overnight before I cook them. Are there any other things that could have contributed?

Maybe just not enough salt? Perhaps you forgot to add salt, or you switched from tahini with salt to without. Lack of salt, to most people, will make something otherwise well-seasoned taste bland.

Beyond that, since you're saying it also smells less garlicky, perhaps you used garlic that wasn't as strong as usual, or less of it.

The fact that it partially froze probably didn't matter, unless it was perhaps still partially frozen when you ate it. This is more in the domain of frozen desserts usually, but cold does numb the senses a bit, and the things you normally smell aren't as volatile at lower temperatures. We can make guesses about compromised texture and separation from freezing, but really, none of this is going to make something go from flavorful to completely bland.


Pasta rolling machine Apologies in advance if this is a question that has been asked before but I can't see anything.

I have a past rolling machine and I am comfortable with the pasta dough making. My problem sits with the machine itself. The first couple of runs through it with the dough are fine. I start by running it through on the widest setting, folding in thirds and running it through again. Once I have repeated a couple of times I gradually start turning the notches on the machine. This is where the trouble usually starts.

When I get to some of the middle settings, I start running the sheet through. However it doesn't run through perfectly and is pulled over to one side of the rollers and ends up being folded back on itself. This has the effect of thinning the sheet that is being rolled in the machine.

My questions are thus:

1) Is it me or my machine that is making this happen

2) any machine rolling tips?

Thanks to all in advance

Primary advice: use shorter lengths. Also, make sure the dough is the right consistency, not too wet.  Make sure you are aligning correctly. Allow it to drape over so that you are not inadvertently pulling it toward you when you are feeding it.


Baking 'Master' Recipes I have a question for the seasoned bakers out there. In a nutshell, I'm wondering if there are 'master' recipes for cakes, muffins, etc. Perhaps it's a little bit complicated, but here goes the explanation...

In bread baking, as I understand it, it's all about the hydration when it comes to the actual recipe.

Basic White Bread:
Flour | 100
Water | 66
Salt  | 2
Yeast | 1

Varying the amount of water in the recipe (along with some other factors, of course--in preparation, for instance) will yield different types of bread. Now, my question really stems from the idea that this 'master' formula for bread has existed for a long, long, time and yet it doesn't really exist for other things. I got to thinking, though, that perhaps there are recipes for cakes and whatnot that are 'master' recipes. Cakes have some general guidelines, for instance.

I'm not talking about necessarily with specific ingredients, because sometimes the bakers prefer shortening, real butter, oil, etc. What I really want to know is if anyone has any ideas about whether or not these recipes really exist.

Sponge cakes and pound cakes do, bread does (sort of), things like carrot cake do.

Does anyone know about anything else?

It sounds like you're essentially looking for Ratio by Michael Ruhlman. It has plenty of what you call master recipes - ratios of ingredients for various recipes. It's not just baked goods - also batters, stocks, meats, sauces, and custards. And it doesn't stop with the ratios; there's a lot of additional discussion of actual recipes to make on top of the plain base, as well as discussion of how varying the ratio will affect the result.

There are of course plenty of reviews on Amazon and elsewhere online, but if you like perspective from members of this site, yossarian also reviewed it in a blog post a while back. I also own it and think it's pretty great.

There's also an app based on the book for Android and iOS (thanks, Stefano). I haven't tried it but it looks like the reviews are mixed to positive - not the shiniest app but it does contain a lot of the basic information.


Problem Rolling Out Rough Puff Pastry I'm familiar with the proper steps in making rough puff pastry but I have difficulty rolling out the dough. I'm hoping someone can make suggestions or explain how to do it better.

I find it easy rolling out softer doughs - pastry dough or yeast doughs. Rolling out chilled rough puff pastry dough is very difficult though as the butter is hard, making the dough hard too. It takes a lot to push on the rolling pin to roll to size each time. Raising the my height to apply more pressure helps some but not enough.

I'm pretty new to making rough puff pastry so maybe I'm doing something wrong? It's not something I plan to make that often but it would be nice as a dough for Guinness Irish stew.

To 'roll out' laminated dough, you generally need to flatten out the dough first.

One technique can be to repeatedly press a rolling pin across sections of the dough to spread/soften the dough.  Until the dough is pliable or near the required thickness.  This method is usually started along the center line (as if dividing the dough in half), continuing to each quarter (halving again).  Rotate the dough, or the rolling pin if you need to keep a specific shape.

Another technique is to roll the dough out to almost or the required thickness before chilling.  This is probably more suited when using grated frozen fats.

PS: Depending on the climate, dough can be rested in as little as 20 minutes in a refrigerator/freezer.  As it's only to stop the fat melting into the flour.


Why is herbal tea brewed at boiling temperature? I commonly see charts that recommend brewing green and white teas at lower (140-180 F) temperatures, black and oolong and pu-erh teas at higher temperatures (170-200) and herbal teas at full boil (208+).

I always just kind of took this as gospel, and one time accidentally brewed some green tea at too high a temperature and it tasted terrible so that reaffirmed my faith.

But I was making an herbal tea recently and used the temperature setting for green tea, and it tasted just fine.  Great, actually.  And that made me wonder, why is herbal tea recommended at such a high temperature?  Is it to bring out more of the flavor?

The problem is that "herbal tea" is a very broad category. Some herbs, like woody stems or roots, require a bit more "decocting," which the higher temperature helps with. Ginger or ginseng root, pine needles, rose hips, sarsaparilla, and similar plant bits all fit this bill, and some of those I'd honestly go ahead and boil for some time, not just steep. But there are other herbs that are much more delicate and benefit from lower temperatures. Lemon balm, for example. It makes the most incredible tea, but it's best to treat it like green tea with a longer steeping time. With boiling water it loses a lot of its fresh lemony taste.

Some more common herbal teas like chamomile and mint are a bit more middle-of-the road with this regard and probably respond well to a boiled steep, but you might find them better in a gentler infusion.

It's possible that two main factors are that manufacturers figure consumers can't be bothered to sort this all out and probably don't consume herbal teas consistently enough to work out these subtleties (at least relative to tea), and that the traditions surrounding most of these teas were oriented towards their use as medicine. Freshly gathered or home-dried herbs are usually clean and safe enough for a healthy person to consume without sterilizing them, but if you're trying to treat someone who's already sick and vulnerable, boiling your materials may be wise. Our modern culture and economy tend to radically simplify such traditions to make them sellable, and then even those less capitalistically inclined wind up repeating the same lines they've seen on the sides of chamomile tea boxes, and before you know it everyone's referring to using a single steeping method for a very broad range of very different plant bits.

I'd recommend experimenting to figure out what works best for any given herb, with the caveat that certain things like dried elderberries quite possibly should be boiled regardless. I'll nibble a few raw myself on occasion but sensitivities differ.


What is the difference between cheesecake and NY cheesecake? I believe it's density but I'm not sure. What make cheesecake a NY style? Is there different ingredients. Some people call their recipe NY Cheesecake and they are not.

New York-style cheesecake, made famous by Lindy's and Junior's Deli, relies upon heavy cream, cream cheese, eggs and egg yolks to add a richness and a smooth consistency. Also called Jewish-style, it is baked in a special 5- to 6-inch tall springform pan in many restaurants. Some recipes use cottage cheese and lemon for distinct texture and flavor or add chocolate or strawberry to the basic recipe.

New York style cheesecakes are cream cheese mixtures baked without a water bath and are unique because the baking starts at a high temperature (that's quickly dropped down) producing a rich interior and light brown exterior. A NY cheesecake is high, dense, and firm.

or refer this link : http://www.crumblycookie.net/2010/09/12/cheesecake-comparison/


Is this a good way to grind beans for espresso? I use a Hamilton Beach grinder.  It's a rotating blade type.  I want the best possible grind.  Here's how I do it: after placing 1 tbs of beans in the grinder I begin grinding to a count of 5 (approximately five seconds), then I turn the grinder upside down, I then grind for 4 counts, again I turn the grinder upside down, and then grind for 3 counts.

Does that sound about right?

If you're trying to actually make espresso in an espresso machine, a blade grinder won't do it, regardless of your method. It's simply too inconsistent. You'll get some small bits, some big bits and some dust.

Espresso needs to be ground fine - more fine than drip or French press or cold brew. You need a purpose-built grinder for this. You might get away with a high-quality burr grinder but for really great quality espresso, you need a specialty grinder.

Now, if you're just using espresso beans in your normal coffee maker, that's not espresso but your grind doesn't need to be as fine.

Info about grind taken from here and there's a lot more in-depth there, too.


How to make a frothy icing? I bought a tin of ready-made chocolate icing from the super market. But it's very dense and viscous while I prefer the more airy kind of icing the cakes from the bakery have. Can I do something to turn my icing into something like that?

Just to summarise the comments into an answer:

To lighten the icing, you can add air to it by whipping, either by hand or with an electric mixer. It will probably be easier to do that if you loosen it a little with some milk or cream.


What do I do with mildly fermented maple syrup? Our organic grade A maple syrup, bought in bulk, has gone slightly fermented in the fridge. If I were still in college, this would be great, but I am a bit older. What do I do with this stuff? Can I assume it is fine in baked goods? How can I accelerate my usage of it?

Yeah, syrup can ferment + convert sugar to alcohol. It has more of a tendency to do so if the sugar content is lower -- I tend to err on the side of overconcentrating my syrup.

You can try boiling it for a while to see if the alcohol boils off + if the flavor is OK then use it... but I'd boil down a bit more first, to make sure the sugar content is back up to standards. Either boil until the boiling point is 7 degrees F higher than the boiling point of water at your altitude, or boil until the syrup "aprons" (e.g. starts to drip in a sheet rather than discrete drops; a flat edge of a metal spatula works well), with the former being more accurate if you have a good thermometer.

If the flavor remains after boiling, then try using in recipes -- perhaps in brownies/blondies or with ice cream.


Will agar filtration remove proteases from fruits such as fig, ginger root, guava, kiwi fruit, mango, papaya or pineapple? I'd like to make a fresh fig gelatin, but of course the proteases in fig make this difficult.  If I make an agar clarification of the fresh fig puree, will the proteases be removed?

So, there are 2 problems with the possible solution of agar clarification:

1) Agar clarification (as far as I know) does involve heat to melt the agar and keep it melted - and usually you dissolve the agar IN the juice without any solvent, so, if you're going to heat up your juice enough for it to clarify, you're going to heat it up enough to break the proteases down. Bottom line, just boil the juice for the proteins to denaturate and save the money from the agar.

2) Proteases are very small protein chains and are unlikely to be completely removed by agar clarification. This process works because the agar "drags" the large molecules (like cellulose, etc.) and solids from the juice during the solidification process. You might remove some of the ficin, but not much. Also, issue #1 makes this answer redundant if you're not liking the idea of boiling your fruit...

Although, since your objective is to make some kind of solid from the fruit puree, why don't you use the agar itself to make the gel? You can use a small portion of the fruit juice/puree and then add the remainder later.


Can I use 3 jalapenos in place of 1 habanero? I once got from the library this big book of Mexican recipes. A lot of them called for habaneros and a few of them called for red habaneros.

My mother suggested that if I see a recipe calling for habaneros that I should use jalapenos instead and even suggested a ratio, 3 jalapenos to 1 habanero.

The reason? Jalapenos have more fruity flavor than habaneros (a lot more) so if I use jalapenos for something with the same amount of heat as habaneros then I will get more fruity flavor for the same amount of heat.

But can I really get the same amount of heat that is in 1 habanero from 3 jalapenos? Or should I change the ratio?

Yes, you can usually make that substitution without a problem. The key thing in substituting peppers is that you like the substitution. So, experimentation is necessary to find what is ideal for you.

Personally, I like the flavor (separate from the heat) of habanero peppers more than I like the flavor of jalapenos, but I usually have jalapenos on hand. So I often make that substitution and then just add crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne to make up the difference in heat because I'm a big-time chili-head. Doing it that way, you don't need to use more jalapenos than you would habaneros, but you can. After all, it's your dish.


Can I freeze undercooked (pink) chicken to finish cooking later on? Cooked chicken breasts, thermometer was not working properly, so I thought they were done. Took out, let sit few minutes, cut open to discover most of the meat was slightly pink. I cut it up and froze it in small batches to use in the the next week or two. I had second thoughts about freezing in the first place but could not find any answers. Can you help?

It is entirely fine! The only thing I would worry about is when you are re-cooking them. Let them come down to room temperature before you throw them on the heat, otherwise, you'll get overcooked/burnt edges and a barely cooked centre. I would just be wary about keeping them in the freezer for over two weeks, not for health and safety, but just for taste and culinary standards.

For when you take them out for your meal; enjoy!


Is using commercially available yeast to create a sourdough starter effective? Numerous starter recipes talk about capturing wild yeast from the environment.

Many recipes, as well as questions and answers here, directly say or imply wild yeast is better and that deliberately added yeast is counter productive, but the explanations (if offered) seem to be vague handwaving more than fact.

The most reasonable sounding argument against (to me as a lay-person) is that the yeast will not live long, but that seems specious to me. After all, that commercially available yeast was just grown somewhere a few weeks before it made it to the shelves.

It frankly makes little sense to me to gamble on the contents of the local environment at the point in time of trying to make a starter, when known safe and effective yeast exists that could be introduced.

(The question is not about safety or efficacy of wild yeast, not about substitution of yeast for a starter, and not about mixing yeast and starter at baking time; the point is to predictably, safely, and effectively make a starter.)

Don't do this. A sourdough starter contains several strains of yeast and bacteria in a fairly delicate balance. These consume sugars and produce CO2 and a range of byproducts. Commercial yeast is a different species of yeast, engineered to eat and reproduce much faster than any of the wild yeasts in your starter. Adding commercial  yeast to a starter will lead to the commercial yeast outperforming the wild yeasts and gradually replacing them. You will end up with a commercial yeast culture, rather than a sourdough culture.

Edit I realise I have somewhat misunderstood your question. The answer still holds, though: you cannot start with commercial yeast and expect to create a sourdough starter. The commercial yeast would prevent any wild yeasts and bacteria from colonising the starter. You can keep a culture of wild yeast (to some extent), but as @Chris H's comment states, it won't be sourdough.

If you want a better guarantee of success, your best bet is to somehow obtain an offshoot of someone else's starter. Some bakeries will be happy to give/sell you some, or you can try buying a starter online.


Risotto and a complementing/contrasting broth corresponding to the meat In most recipes I've found, risotto calls for a chicken broth, but if I'm making a seared halibut on top of risotto, for example, or a seared scallop risotto, shouldn't the broth be a seafood broth to complement the seafood meat atop the risotto, or is chicken broth the standard because of some reason that I don't know about?

Would the chicken broth contrast with a halibut or other seafood food in a positive way?

Does it even make a difference?

I have never seen a recipe for seafood risotto that used chicken broth. Commonly, clam juice or seafood stock is used. To me, chicken broth would clash. That seafood stock or clam juice is more common in seafood risotto recipes is confirmed by a Google search.

Personally, I would never use chicken broth to make seafood risotto.

If I wanted a risotto to compliment seafood not actually in the risotto, I would also use a seafood based liquid.


What ingredients can be used to prevent rapid ice cream melting? I added Guar gum and xanthane gum when I made ice cream, but 15% of it still melted before I put the ice cream in the fridge.

What ingredients can I use to prevent my ice cream from melting this fast?

Hydrocolloids like Guar and Xanthan gum don't prevent the ice cream from melting, rather they change the texture (more like jello).  There are other ice cream additives. Instead, I'd recommend optimizing the physics before enlisting chemical help.

What happens is that the ice cream batter mixture warms up during the churning process and loses consistency (melts).  The best defence against melting ice cream is working in lower temperatures:

Make sure the ice cream maker bowl/machine is properly cold (-16°C, or 0°F minimum).  Get it as cold as you can get it.
Put your ice cream batter in the freezer for half an hour to an hour before making the ice cream to keep it just above the freezing point.
Working in a colder room helps as well.

You should be able to get great results using these simple steps, however, if it still looks like a losing battle, you can also try pre-cooling your churing bowl with dry ice. (if you throw the dry ice in the ice cream batter, you may get a tangy ice cream).

Afterwards, put the remainder of the dry ice in a container next to your machine and cover them both loosely with a tarp (keep the place ventilated) to keep the air around the ice cream batter and machine cold.


Which type of onion for homemade onion rings? I've seen some recipes, like this one, but they don't specify which type of onion to use.

What kind of onion is good for onion rings? E.g. is it better to use yellow or red, sweet or tart etc?

You can use any onion variety you want; it depends on your tastes (and availability). White onions have a shaper, more pungent flavor, while yellow onions have a nice balance of sharp and sweet (and become sweeter the longer they're cooked). Sweet onions (Vidalia, Texas, Maui, Walla Walla) are not as astringent and have a softer and, well, sweet taste. As for reds, they're similar to yellow flavor-wise, but slightly milder.


What does North American mixed dried fruit contain? I have a recipe for a fruit cake that uses 2lb of mixed fruit plus 11oz currants and 15oz raisins

In the UK, mixed dried fruit is usually a mixture of sultanas, raisins, currants, and chopped candied peel, with little variation. If it is the same in America then I don't understand the addition of more currants and raisins, which would work only to halve the proportion of candied peel and sultanas

Is mixed dried fruit composed differently in the US?

From a Google search, I found several brands of mixed dry fruits available in the US. Some do contain raisins and/or currants, but not most. Typically, they contain apricots, apples, peaches, plums, pears and sometimes nectarines. Like This


How to select a drain rack for pots and pans? I use a dish rack for air drying pots and pans. Unfortunately all of the dish racks I have ever purchased do not stand up to the abuse of pots and pans. Eventually the dish rack begins to break down or doesn't effectively drain water drips because the weight of the pots and pans is not equivalent to that of dishes.

How do I go about selecting a drain rack which will hold up to pots and pans?

Go to a restaurant supply store and get a dish machine rack. They're ugly, but they're built to take a beating.


How do I avoid my food becoming brownish/dark while cooking? I recently encountered a few recipes where food is not allowed to 'get colour', or become brownish while baking.
A few examples of what I mean:

Chicken turns a golden-brown colour.
Burgers get a very dark crust.
Onions turn brown.

How do I avoid my food becoming this colour when cooking? Is there a way that works in general or if not, a way to find out how to do this for the food I am cooking today?

Specifically, in this recipe for white asparagus panna cotta, a brown colour is undesired.

  Bak de asperges een minuutje of 5; ze mogen niet kleuren!
  Cook the asparagus for less than 5 minutes; ensure they don't change colour!

The "browning" or "coloring" of food during cooking and baking1 is a reaction of temperature and/or time. As a rule of thumb, the hotter your pan or oven, the faster the food will brown.

There are two chemical reactions (or rather chains of reactions) that play a significant role in cooking:

The Maillard reaction, which affects proteins (-> browning a steak)and
Caramelization, which affects the carbohydrates, i.e. sugars (-> baking a cake).

Both require temperatures well over 100°C (212°F), so one of the easiest preventative measures is to add water to the food you are cooking, which should keep the food at 100°C (212°F) until all water is evaporated - for example blanching or steaming vegetables instead of stir-frying them or poaching a piece of fish or chicken breast vs. pan-frying or grilling. For "dry" preparations, just don’t heat up your pan too much - often 25% or so of the maximum power will suffice- and simply stop cooking before you see browning. You may have to finish cooking it by a low-temperature method, if it's not done at that point.

In your sample recipe, this happens when you add the cream and simmer the asparagus for another ten minutes or until soft.

1 Browning as oxidizing (e.g. leaving a cut apple exposed to air) is not part of your question, hence ignored.


What can I do about excessive lime flavor in a pork roast? I marinated a pork roast in lime, garlic, oregano and a little olive oil.  The flavor of lime is over-bearing.  Is there anything I can do to counter the lime taste?

Since I assume it is too late to do anything to take the lime away, undermine excess flavor of lime with roasted peppers. They will bear a pleasant complement to the tartness while adding rich, smoky notes. Hotter peppers will further distract from the excess lime. A sweet corn salsa would also add sweetness to anchor the lime.


Dutch vegetable cordon-bleu I am looking for the name of a dish that I used to eat a few years ago in The Hague, Netherlands. It looked like a cordon-bleu stuffed with chopped vegetables (carrots, onions, fennel, and maybe millet) for what I remember. The outer part was kind of a fried breaded crust.

It was served as the main course at the vegetarian desk of the cafeteria, and now I blame myself for not paying attention to its name.

Does someone have a clue of the name of that dish ?

EDIT : As requested, here are some precisions about the shape. It was half-oval shaped : one side was straight and the other side was rounded (like on this picture)

The Dutch make a few dishes similar to what you describe.  (note: I'm assuming that your 'like a cordon-bleu' doesn't mean it's breaded stuffed chicken, as you mentioned it was vegetarian)

If they're smaller (one or two bites), they'd be bitterballen.  They're normally meat-filled, but they can be filled with vegetables, too.

If they were larger, they'd be kroketten

update: to clarify, I am not Dutch, and moved from the Netherlands 30 years ago.  As a non-native Dutch speaker, I had (possibly incorrectly) assumed that 'kroketten' was a class of food / style of preparation.  From Marc Luxen's answer and Cerberus's comments, I'm going to assume that the term is similar to American 'burger'.  If someone ordered a 'burger' and you gave them a veggie burger, it'd not be what they expected.  (and similarly, we have 'cheeseburger', 'veggieburger' and other compound words that are more specific)

(and there hadn't been complaints about people answering in comments, I wouldn't have made this an answer ... as I had to make an assumption about what made it 'cordon bleu'-like.  I assumed something stuffed, then breaded & fried, possibly with cheese or other dairy).

... and I'm making this community wiki so that any native Dutch person can correct it, as I don't know how to undo it being marked as correct.