How does rub or marinade actually seep into meat? This morning I began crockpotting my first (ever) pork butt in an attempt to make pulled pork. In preparation of this, two days ago I smeared the meat with a spice rub and put it in a large sealed bag in the fridge. I did this because the recipe I was following stated that giving the rub a few days to "sink in" to the meat was crucial. This got me wondering:

  Does rub/marinade actually penetrate into meat, if so, how?

The animal is dead, so I would imagine anything along the lines of "osmosis" or "capillary action", etc. would no longer be functioning.

To me, it doesn't seem feasible that rub/marinade would actually penetrate into a (dead) piece of meat. If it does, I'd like to know how, and how deep the rub/marinade actually travels.

Some of this has already been said briefly in comments and the previous answer, but since the question is interested specifically in chemical mechanisms, here are a few more details.

The general process to think about first is diffusion.  This is part of a general physical property of systems to move to a state of equilibrium.  Suppose you had a container with a wall in the middle and filled the one side with plain water and the other side with brine.  If you remove the wall, you'd expect the solutions to mix -- the salt would diffuse into the plain water, and eventually the whole solution would be equally mixed.

When you place food into a solution which has higher concentrations of additives than the food itself, the additives migrate into the food to attain equilibrium.  In porous food and meats, these additives may move far into the meat due to simple diffusion.  For example, if you marinate fish, the larger openings between the muscle fiber will allow the marinade to seep deep into the meat.  To a much lesser extent, this same process also happens in the outer layers of other kinds of meats (beef, pork, chicken), though the muscle fibers are so dense that this simple diffusion doesn't generally get very far.

Marinades can make a limited use of osmosis.  Going back to our container example with two sides, osmosis is like replacing the wall with a barrier that has very tiny holes in it (technically known as a "semipermeable membrane").  Cell membranes (and for vegetable matter, cell walls) allow only certain small molecules to cross the membranes.  (The reference in the question to living processes is only applicable to so-called active transport processes in cells, which require energy from the cell to power them.  Osmosis, on the other hand, is a simple physical process of molecules moving through pores from higher concentration to lower concentration.)

Technically, osmosis is about a membrane equalizing concentration by allowing a solvent to cross the membrane while other (usually larger) molecules don't, and the most common solvent is water.  As Jolene's experiment in comments shows, this process is mostly effective with small molecules that can "piggy-back" on this water motion, like salt.  It's a little more complicated than that, since cell membranes also can selectively permit or deny travel based on water or fat solubility or whether a molecule is polar or not.

With both simple diffusion and osmosis processes, for deep penetration into the meat, tiny molecules will move much faster.  It's not that some larger molecules can't penetrate the meat -- many of them do get into the surface layers.  However, diffusion works through the random motion of vibrating molecules, and with all molecules at the same temperature, large molecules vibrate and move much more slowly.  So it may take days, weeks, or even longer for large molecules to move an appreciable distance, and the meat would spoil and break down long before you get appreciable penetration.

(Note that besides size, another reason for slow penetration of other flavors is the low concentrations of these molecules.  Whereas salt and sometimes other things like sugar can be highly concentrated in a brine or marinade, a concentrated solution of most other flavor components would be incredibly powerful and unpalatable.  Without high concentrations, any diffusion or osmosis processes will be much slower.)

In terms of typical food additives, salt is the fastest traveling, but other less common additives (e.g., certain phosphates) also move relatively quickly.  Sugar, once it is broken down into its simple components like glucose, will also move deeper into the meat, but more slowly than salt.  (Note that some more complex sugars like table sugar, sucrose, can naturally break down in an acidic solution, but it's a slow process at room temperature or lower.)

But even when we say salt travels "fast," it will typically only go somewhere around 1" in 24 hours (depending on type of meat and concentration of brine).  If you have a very large hunk of meat, you're unlikely to get full penetration even over the course of a couple days, so if you want full salt flavor throughout, your best bet is to cut up the meat into smaller chunks.

A dry rub with salt works in a similar way to a brine.  (Some people actually call it "dry brining.")  The only difference is that salt -- which is hydrophilic -- will initially attract molecules of water from the cell and even the air to dissolve on the surface.  At that point, it becomes mobile and will use diffusion and osmosis to move into the meat just as above, just as it would in a brine or a marinade.

Aside from salt and a few other small molecules (e.g., simple sugars), most of the flavoring elements stay near the surface of the meat, typically the outer millimeter or two.  In this outermost layer, certain elements in marinades may help to break down the outer cells and denature/dissolve proteins.  Ingredients like acid, alcohol, and various natural enzymes (which can come from fruit juices or purees) will help to break down this outer layer.  This process will allow deeper penetration of other flavors than would happen without such ingredients.  So, instead of the flavors only going a fraction of a millimeter, some might get in as much as 1/8" or so.  Acids and alcohols are also small molecules and can penetrate more deeply over time, but they will be more destructive to the cells as they move, leaving the outer layer of the meat mushy.  For stewed meat or something like that, this is not an issue (and may actually be desirable); for meat that is meant to be roasted or grilled, long marinades in strong acid and/or alcohol may breakdown the meat too much.

It should be noted that some molecules (such as alcohols) can navigate the world between water-soluble and fat-soluble flavors, which may be helpful in some marinades.  While water readily diffuses through into the outer layer of meat and can carry some larger flavor molecules with it, the same is not as true of oils and fat-soluble flavors.  Essentially, part of a good marinade mix is choosing molecules that can "piggy-back" on each other to help move the flavors into the outer layer of the meat.

One final thing -- some people hold to a rigid division between "brining" (with salt) vs. "marinating" (which, to some people, by definition contains no salt).  This arbitrary distinction has probably led to more ineffective marinating than anything else.  It probably comes from the observation that salt will "dry out" meat, as in long-term meat preservation.

But when the meat is fresh (as most people who practice brining know), after the first hour or so, salt will actually draw water into meat.  Yes, salt is hydrophilic and will draw some water out of meat initially, but as the salt diffuses into the meat, it disrupts proteins in the muscle fibers and causes some of the to dissolve.  These changes then cause the cells to want to dissolve more water, so any water that may have left initially is then reabsorbed.  In a brine or salty marinade, the weight of meat may increase by 10% or more due to brine moving into the meat (which leads to the well-known "juiciness" of brined meat).  Along the way, many dissolved flavor components in the brine can "piggy-back" on this water moving into the meat, increasing the effectiveness and penetration of the marinade.  Again, most of the bigger flavor components will remain in the surface layers, but you'll absorb more of them faster (and slightly deeper) with salt than without it.

To summarize for the specific case of a rub mentioned in the question: Especially if it contains salt, letting the rub sit for a day or two will allow much better penetration of the salt (and perhaps sugar and a few other small molecules).  The other flavors won't move much more beyond the surface whether you wait an hour or a couple days.  Without salt or another hydrophilic compound (like sugar) to get the "water flowing" and move dissolved compounds around, the dry rub is truly a surface feature, and you might as well apply it just before you cook the meat.


Glucose in sweet bread? I see glucose being used in cake to make them soft and moist. Now I'm wondering if glucose could have the same effect in bread.

Can glucose be used in a brioche type bread? Perhaps as part of complete substitution for the recipe's sugar. If so, is there a difference in using powder vs syrup?

The answer is yes, sugars (including glucose) will affect the crumb of your bread. It will diminish the gluten formation and make the bread softer, it will cause the yeast to be more active since the yeast eats sugar (so the bread may rise more and/or faster), it will help the crust brown (the Maillard reaction is the browning of sugar and proteins), and it will sweeten the bread.

Dry sugar vs syrup makes no difference in terms of the effect of the sugar, but keep in mind that with syrup you're also adding liquid. This small addition of liquid probably makes little or no difference as it won't substantially change the hydration. Also, syrup (depending on when and how added) will probably absorb more easily than granulated sugar, depending on the size of the sugar granules (e.g. table sugar vs caster sugar vs. confectioner's sugar).


How can I thicken whipping cream? I used to live in Britain and I'm familiar with using Double Cream (48%+ fat) in all my recipes. However I moved to Canada a year ago and double cream doesn't seem to exist in North America. This has resulted in many of my recipes failing with the 35% heavy whipping cream as it doesn't whip quite thick enough; it won't hold up my cake tiers, and it goes oddly foamy in my pastries. Yet I've seen strongly thickened cream in stores and bakeries, so how are they thickening it?

I've tried googling this and have tried a few things, such as boiling the cream, and I've also tried adding corn starch (unless you want dry floury cream, never do this). I've also seen a couple of mentions of gelatin and stabilizers but don't know if that's the correct direction.

I'm starting to think I should buy my own cow. Any cream experts out there who can help?

Corn starch only thickens when heated to 180 F, so it probably is not helping at all with your whipped cream.

I live in the US, so I cannot compare to whipped cream in the UK.    Whipped cream for cake fillings is often beaten almost to the breaking point to make the foam as thick as possible.  I assume you are whipping the cream sufficiently, and it still isn't getting as thick as you would like.

If that is the case, you might try stabilizing the whipped cream with gelatin.  The link is one of many I have found on a quick search, and it specifically calls for 35% cream.

This long chowhound thread also has some interesting thoughts and advise.

This ochef link also provides an interesting method of using creme fraiche.


Why won't my potatoes crisp? I live in a country where there is no chemical engineering done on the plants, so everything is completly organic. But i noticed the biggest difference in the potatoes here vs. in America is that the ones here will never crisp. They become rubbery and very wiggly. That's very difficult to deal with when you're from America and you love french fries and hashbrowns.

I fry them the same way as i usually do, i deep fry them in a pan. The potatoes are different, the ones i used to use were dark brown idaho potatoes, the ones here are  light colered with a very thin peel.

What's the reason behind this? I've heard theories of the potatoes being too starchy; is this true? And if so, is there a way to get them to crisp?

It's almost certanly a variety/potato age thing.

There are thousands of varieties of potato and different countries grow different ones based on climate and local taste. You can group potatoes in to two sets:

Thicker skinned potatoes that spend longer in the ground as they grow slowly. Varieties sold this way tend to be be a colder weather crop.
The other sort are thin skinned, waxier varieties which include 'new' potatoes. Varieties suited to this grow faster and tend to grow better than the other sort in warmer weather.

There are 'waxy' firm varieties of the first group but most would be termed 'floury'. These are dryer potatoes and make great mash and chips and roasts and fluffy baked potatoes.

Waxy potatoes are better for holding together in dishes and salads. These just don't crisp up as well. I assume you're just getting these varieties.


Raw Eggs, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough...And Freezing I have often heard the warning that one should not eat raw chocolate chip cookie dough which contains raw eggs, due to the risk (however slight) of salmonella. (I should also say I have not always headed that warning...)

Recently I had made a batch of dough and didn't bake off all of it, but rather froze some of the dough for later use. When I pulled it of the freezer (and, of course, ate some of the yummy dough) I occurred to me that such freezing might kill any potential salmonella. I was able to find a couple of reference that suggest this may be the case, but nothing I would call 'authoritative'.

Will freezing chocolate chip cookie dough (made with raw eggs) reduce or eliminate the risk of salmonella from eating the raw, mixed, frozen, then thawed eggs?

As quoted in the New York Times:

  Freezing does not kill the bacteria in food, as can be seen from the
  recent outbreak of salmonella poisoning involving an ice cream
  product, said Dr. Robert Gravani, professor of food science at Cornell
  University in Ithaca, N.Y., and a food safety expert.


What factors do I need to consider to figure out if a particular set of toppings will work well on risotto? Sometimes, I like to experiment with the ingredients to use as toppings for risotto.

In order to avoid bad results, what should I consider when I choose the ingredients to use as toppings for risotto?

So risotto is pretty much a blank canvas, much like say rice or pasta.

So your first concern is simply to pick ingredients that go with each other. For example: tomato & corn risotto, good. Tomato and chocolate risotto: bad.

Second, you may want to choose a broth, cheese, and optional wine that goes well with your choice of main ingredients.

Third, because risotto is Italian in origin, the most certain combinations will be those classic Mediterranean flavors. You aren't going to go wrong with say asparagus and olives, or artichokes, peas and lemon. When you start making Thai risottos, you are farther out on a limb.

Finally, much of the pleasure of a risotto is in the rice itself, when properly prepared. That pleasure is fairly delicate in nature, so for maximum enjoyment you should choose reasonably delicate ingredients and/or use them in relatively small quantities.


Which measuring scale should I buy? I am trying to buy a measuring scale so that I can stop using cups and start measuring by weight. I’m personally not sure which to buy. Here are two options:

Can some experienced bakers out there tell me which would be more convenient (in terms of time, dirty dishes, durability etc.)? If you prefer neither, is there one that you really do prefer?
Note: I’m currently deciding about the “type” of scale, haven’t decided on models or brands yet.

Get a flat one.
You can put a bowl on the flat one & use tare weights*, or even negative weights (put a full pack of something on it then spoon out -150g etc.
The one that's got a built-in bowl has you locked into that system.
It also takes up a whole lot more space.
Personally, I like the completely flat, single surface, glass-topped ones. The glass can be scratched if you're not careful with rough ceramic bases etc, but it's pretty tough & very easy to wipe clean. The more 'fiddly' the top is, the harder it is to keep clean.
From comments
Some cheaper scales apparently cannot do negative weights - which is something I would very much miss. Apparently all modern Salter scales can do this - & as their entry-level is about $£€ 12 & even an expensive one is only about $£€ 30-40 I'd pick one of theirs at whatever suits your price-point. Not expensive for what is essentially a lifetime purchase.
*For sake of completeness, tare weight means you can re-zero the scales at any time - so you can put a bowl on, then zero. Add 50g flour, re-zero… saves you having to keep a running total in your head if you've a complex recipe.
To do negative weights you put a full pack on the scale, zero it then remove the required weight, which will then show as minus figures down from zero - again avoiding any complicated calculation.
Another very neat trick with the tare function is you can weigh 50g flour, then add 'an egg' re-tare & add 140ml water or even 'half a pint', just by swapping units after you press tare. It makes the whole structure very flexible.
Late edit
There is some debate as to whether you want totally flat, or with a sloped display so you can put a bigger bowl on it & still see the numbers. Also, whether you can read the display in low light.
Mine is large enough for every bowl I own. Until this cropped up I'd never even thought of ever putting a plate on it, but yes, that might be an issue.
Mine has a large LED display, so room lighting is not a factor.
Of course, you want one you can always reach the buttons even when loaded.
I suppose, TL:DR
You want anything except one that forces you into always using their bowl ;)
Last note - the 'flat' one in your picture looks like it curves away at front and back. Avoid that too - it makes the useable surface much smaller than it looks.


Expensive or cheap olive oil for pesto? Usually if I'm sauteeing some veggies or cooking with olive oil I will use a cheaper bottle, but if I am making a dressing or a dish where the oil really stands out I will go with a bottle from a specialty shop.  I am making pesto for the first time and wondering which way I should go.

It doesn't need to be "expensive," but it should be extra virgin olive oil, not just regular olive oil. You don't cook a pesto, so the flavor of the olive oil will definitely stand out. Also, when buying/storing extra virgin olive oil, always go for a dark bottle and store in a cool dark place, as the oil is sensitive to light (just like beer or wine).


Should I add flour to dough if I already weighed the amount? I am using this recipe for pizza dough, and I received some seasoned advice from other members of this site to use a precise kitchen scale for weighing the flour and water. The question is, if I already precisely measured for weight ie 1LB flour and 11 oz water - do I forgo following the direction to add more flour as needed?

  As you knead, add more flour or water as needed to produce a ball of dough that is smooth, supple, and fairly tacky but not sticky.

Once you have learned to recognize good dough consistency by feel, you might decide to add more flour. This is because even when you weigh, your texture can be influenced by small changes in the gluten content in your brand and batch of flour (it is a natural product after all, and the difference between 11 and 11.5% is already noticeable) and by the humidity of your storage room. Before you have learned to recognize the perfect texture by feel, only use additional flour to prevent sticking to utensils, unless it feels terribly wet and flows everywhere (but then you probably measured wrong).


How do you freeze fresh pineapple? Can you? I cut the up a fresh pineapple and wanted to freeze a portion, will it last and retain flavor/consistency? Also: is there anything that can be done with the Core - the hard part in the middle?

I usually cut the pineapple into bite size pieces before freezing them.

IF i'm at my mom's restaurant, I usually put it in the super chiller, and then into the freezer.
At home, I usually drain it, for 20 -30 minutes in a sieve and then put them in air tight freezer bags.


My whipped cream can has run out of nitrous. I want what's inside anyway. What's the least destructive method of doing so? I have a circular saw meant for cutting metal, I have pliers, I even have a can opener, but I'm not certain others encountering this problem and looking it up on DDG/Google may have these. So, what's the solution to a commercial can of whipped cream being unable to empty on its own? Assume that I want the cream edible but don't care anymore that it won't be foamy.
EDIT: There is concern that this might not be safe. Ensure that your answer, therefore, is safe.

Circular saw will fill it with metal filings - not great for the mouthfeel, I'd think.
Pliers aren't sharp enough to puncture.
Can opener will have no lip to grab.
Your first issue will be the container skidding out of your control - with potential for finger-loss & furniture damage. You're not going to easily find any implement you can squeeze slowly to make the first cut, you're going to have to hit it with something sharp.
Your second will be how much gas is actually left in the container & what that results in.
Messy but possible, grip it in a vice & puncture with a hammer & fine wood chisel. Then use something like aluminium sheet cutters (they're like big, tough scissors) to finish cutting around the perimeter.
Cons:-

Spray/spatter on your first puncture, assuming you can hit it hard enough to penetrate the top face without going straight through & pouring the rest on the floor.
Sanitising the tools.

I'd just bin it.


Why is my Pizza Dough always too sticky to knead? I have tried to make pizza dough by hand a couple of times now but every time after mixing the ingredients the dough is far too sticky to knead, it is more like a batter than dough.  I have watched videos on youtube of people making it and it is nothing like how mine turns out.

The ingredients I am using are:

225g Bread Flour
140ml Water
1 tsp Dried Active Yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp olive oil

I have tried just mixing everything together at once, and I have also tried mixing the water, yeast and sugar together first then adding.

Can anyone see anything wrong with the quantities I am using in this recipe or is there something else that I should be doing to actually get dough that I can knead?  As I said, it is so sticky that it will just stick to everything it touches unless I constantly add flour (on my hands and board).

I am an Indian and we make dough for everyday bread at home. It's easy to knead dough; you just have to take care while adding water. Do not add all the water you have, and add water slowly and steadily. For pizza dough I follow these steps:

Mix yeast in warm water, add sugar to this water. Observe this mixture - as soon as you see bubbles, it is ready to be used for kneading dough.
Add oil and salt to flour along with the yeast you have prepared.
I use a spoon to keep mixing the flour and add spoonfuls of water, I keep some flour handy in case I have accidentally added too much water.

I keep kneading the dough gently and add water or flour as needed. This does require some practice.


What is the proper way to eat lychees? Not long ago, my parents purchased a tin of lychees. They tasted ok when eaten straight out of the tin, but I was wondering: Is there a proper way to eat them (like rhubarb needs to be eaten in a crumble with custard) ?

No special way.

You can eat them right from the can; they should be already peeled and without the big seed.

You can add them up to a salsa, or a fruit salad; or even cooked dishes (curries).


preservation of uncooked dill pickles I have used an old German dill pickle receipe forever that doesn't use a water bath. I make brine and boil, pour over prepared jars, put on heated lids and leave them to seal on their own. These are yummy and SO crisp (because of no water bath). I have 2 that didn't seal this time. I did the usual 'push down' on the lids after they set overnight, and one of them stayed down and the other came up after several hours. Are they OK? If not, can they be kept in the refidge? How long are they good for?

In general, you shouldn't trust anything with a poor seal to last outside the fridge. In the fridge, they'll last just as long as a well-sealed jar that you've just opened. Commercially processed pickles can last a year in the fridge. I wouldn't expect homemade ones to last as long but they should still be good for long enough to eat them all, at least months!
The solution in the future is simply to switch to a different canning method, for example this lower temperature one or a boiling water bath one. Here's an example recipe - you could certainly adjust the spices to match the recipe you like, but it's of course safest to stick to that trusted recipe for the bulk ingredients.
Your problem is that this canning method doesn't reliably produce good seals. The similar inversion method, mentioned by Martin in the comments (turning the jar over after filling and closing) does work better, but even that doesn't always make a good seal! See for example this USDA source, which says:

Some other methods of sealing jars call for inverting a closed, filled jar of hot product for anywhere from thirty seconds to one hour. (Inverting is turning the filled jar upside down on its lid.) While this inversion process can be successful in producing a sealed jar, it works best with very hot product. Individual variation in practicing this procedure or unexpected interruptions can result in delays between filling jars, getting lids screwed on, and inverting the jars. If the product cools down too much, the temperature of the product can become low enough to no longer be effective in sealing jars or preventing spoilage.
When the inversion process does work, the vacuum seals of filled jars still tend to be
weaker than those produced by a short boiling water canning process. A larger amount of
retained oxygen in the headspace may allow some mold growth if airborne molds contaminated
the surface of the product as the jar was filled and closed. More complete removal of oxygen
from the headspace also offers some longer protection from undesirable color and flavor changes with some types of fruit products. A weak seal may be more likely to fail during storage.


How do I trim fat down to an even layer? Say I have something like a pork shoulder that I want to serve whole, with the layer of fat nicely browned under the broiler, but the fat is much thicker than I'd actually like to serve. How can I trim it down to a layer of the desired thickness without leaving it obviously uneven, so that it'll cook evenly and look good? I know to use a good sharp knife, but beyond that are there techniques that'll help out?

This may sound ridiculous, but I cook the meat to about half-done before I trim it. Then just use a filleting knife, the same one I use for fish, and I insert toothpicks to the depth where they encounter solid meat, so I can judge how thick the fat is. Then I just fillet the fat off, using the toothpicks as a depth guide and removing them as i go, and I peel the sliced fat back with a fork. You should be able to get it all off in one sheet.


Why do my shallots keep turning blue? Title sums it up, every now and then I'll notice that shallots sometimes take on a pronounced blue (or purple) tinge after cooking. I've noticed it when they're sauteed or roasted, seemingly independent of other ingredients. I'm aware of a similar, more common phenomenon with garlic, but that involves some source of acidity and copper, which hasn't always been present (eg. just shallots and olive oil in a nonstick pan). As such, I'm assuming there's another cause at work.

Vegetables with a naturally blueish-red color - red cabbage, beets, red onions, shallots, blueberries, red grapes (wine too) - usually have that color due to anthocyanin content.

Anthocyanin behaves like litmus paper, and takes on a different hue depending on pH value. If food containing it turns blue, it is too alkaline - and might also be at less than optimal flavor because of that. Add acidity to make it red.

Specifically with shallots, though, do make sure that it is not actually blueish mold getting washed into the cooking liquid. Unpalatable at any pH.


How to choose appropriate drinkware for cocktails? How do I choose the appropriate drinkware for cocktails?

Is there really a difference between something served in a highball or shaker glass, and something served in a hurricane or Martini glass?

How does the drinkware selection affect the taste, flavor or other properties of the cocktail?

The most obvious difference is that a highball glass is much larger: 8 to 12 ounces as opposed to 4.5 ounces for a martini glass. Cocktails served traditionally in a larger glass usually include a large quantity of mixers, such as a Tom Collins (served traditionally in a Collins glass, 10-14 oz, though a highball would be appropriate), which only contains about 2oz of gin and is topped off with a large quantity of soda water, or a Cuba Libre (traditionally served in a highball glass), which contains mostly Coca-Cola with a small amount of rum. On the other hand, cocktails served traditionally in smaller stemware, such as the Martini, may contain nothing but the alcoholic ingredients (gin and vermouth). Therefore, they require smaller quantities before one would be inebriated, and thus are served in smaller glasses. Furthermore, stemmed glasses keep your hand further from the (presumably cold) drink, thus keeping it colder longer, important for drinks traditionally served neat (whereas a highball would have room for ice).

If you ask an enthusiast, the shape of the stemware used can be crucial; for example, red wine apparently tastes better after oxidation, so red wine glasses maximize surface area to increase the amount of wine that oxidizes, while white wines do not oxidize well. Champagne needs to stay bubbly, so a champagne flute tries to minimize the amount of bubbles that escape, while some alcohols have a pleasant aroma and thus benefit from wider glasses like a sherry glass that maximize the amount of aroma that escapes.

However, for many average consumers, stemware is stemware is stemware. The differences may or may not be enough to be noticeable to people who are not wine enthusiasts. I would say, if you're looking to stock a kitchen, get a couple types of stemware you find attractive and improvise rather than trying to make every drink in its own special glass.


How to convert grilled Beer Can Burger recipe to oven baked I've been looking at Beer Can Burger recipes where you make a big burger and push a beer can in it to make a hole and then fill the whole with veggies, cheese etc and wrap bacon around the burger.  The instructions say to grill on indirect heat for 1 hour.  How long and at what temp would I make these at in the oven?  Thanks for responses.

Putting the oven at a lower to warm setting like 200 to 250 Fahrenheit (93 to 121 Celsius) is a good approximation for long, slow indirect cooking on a grill.


Can Calcium Chloride be Used to Prevent Lentils from Bursting? In Modernist Cuisine, they recommend using calcium chloride when cooking beans to help preventing them from bursting:

  Beans often burst after being cooked in ordinary tap water. To avoid this...[a]dd 1g of calcium chloride for every 100g of water to gently firm the outside of the beans, which prevents them from splitting without making them tough.

My question is whether or not this would work for lentils too? I am specifically referring to varieties intended to stay intact such as green or brown lentils rather than the various hulled or split ones used in Indian cooking for dals.

That's a good question, and I have no direct experience in using calcium chloride, however looking at the ingredients for many canned lentil products shows calcium chloride being a very common ingredient, so I would suspect it may work. It's got a very salty flavor though, so don't go overboard.

As a counterpoint adding salt to lentils during cooking is discouraged as it makes them tough, it's quite likely calcium chloride will have the same effect.

If you do try it please post your experience, I'd really like to hear how it works out.


Rust in salt, is it safe? I bought a small tin of Jacobsen Sea Salt which is all the rage in Portland, Oregon. I left it in my back pack for a few weeks and when I took it out and opened it up I am noticing some rust from the tin on the top of the salt flakes around the edges.

Is it still safe? It's not that much but its still concerning.

Rust is iron oxide.  The body needs some iron.  We all drink some rust from pipes.

To be toxic the only number I found is 200 milligrams per kilogram is lethal. But I have a degree in chemical engineering and I am not sure what they mean by that.

As for iron the lethal dose is about 45 mg / day.

Just saw the picture - not enough to hurt you.


Steak pie filling thickener for all bakers out there, which pie thickener do you use? I have tried to use Modified starch which smell bad when making slurry then pour in hot gravy liquid and I have noticed it changes its taste a bit but thicken very nicely.
I would like to know which thickening do you guys use. I have googled and cornstarch is always come up and i have tried it. While hot, it thicken to the right consistency i want but when cool over night in the chiller, it becomes like hard gelly i can pick and break into pieces. I am not sure if i use the cornflour too much or whatever but while it's hot, the thicken consistency is just right for steak and cheese pie but for some reasons, when cooled, it becomes like hard gelly. Oh the taste is no good too.
Please help!

Normally, I aim to have very little liquid in my filling before it goes in a pie, rather than thicken it a lot. It just seems to keep the pastry better & saves me having to blind bake the base. I use what I've drained off to make gravy for serving.
I do thicken what liquid remains, I don't drain it all, & my preferred method is with a roux.
Just use plain [all-purpose] flour, made as a roux or just mixed with water & stirred in.
For a roux, I'd make that up in a separate pan. Let your pie mixture cool for a while first. Equal parts butter & flour. Melt the butter, stir in the flour a few minutes, then add the meat/gravy mix. Get some of the gravy in first, until the overall mixture becomes manageable; it will start off by transforming to one lump, but if you keep adding gravy slowly & keep stirring it will never come out lumpy, guaranteed. Gradually add your meat/gravy mix to it until it's all in.
If you mix flour with cold water then add to your hot mixture, you will need to be carful not to get lumps, pour in slowly, stir constantly. I'd also then let it simmer for a while, otherwise you get a bit of a raw edge to the taste. The thickness will be the same as with a roux, but the flavour isn't as good, imho.
Made this way it won't go gelatinous like cornflour would. Making it as a roux will also keep a bit of 'shine' to the sauce, more than the cold water method.


Can I do anything to make my gas oven better? I have an old gas oven at home which is generally pretty rubbish at most things.  The temperature in the oven is wildly off compared to what the dial says it should be; there are hot/cold spots throughout; the top temperature is adequate for most of my needs, but on occasion I've wanted a really hot oven and it's never been able to get there.

Is there anything I can do to make my oven better? How can I hack it?   I've just bought a probe to use with my digital thermometer and the oven, but I was wondering if anyone could recommend anything else?  I've considered the following options, but unsure if they are good ideas or not:

Putting a fan in the over to help circulate the air around.
Getting a pizza stone to put in the bottom of the over to keep heat when opening the door

** edit **

I would replace the thing but my kitchen is really small so I'm stuck with having to buy a very narrow oven which severely reduces the selection I can choose from.

I would suggest adding some mass to your oven but not in the form of a pizza stone but rather in the form of a 1/4inch thick piece of steel. This not only will hold the heat well but you can make killer pizza that way too.

Also, does your oven have a broiler? If so I would say see if that can help heat it further. On some models you have independent control of the broiler and can run the oven and the broiler at the same time.


Use the back of a granite chopping board as a pizza stone? We've got a 40x30cm granite chopping board that I never use (it's more decorative than useful), and I've wondered for a while if it might work as a pizza stone.

The top and sides of the board are either very polished or possibly coated, I'm not sure - it's very smooth anyway - but the underside is clearly not prepared and is comparitively rough.

If I can successfully remove the feet it's got on the bottom, do you think using the underside would work (and be safe?) as a pizza stone?
Would I need to prepare/season/etc it before use?

Jamie Oliver has previously recommened the use of a simple granite slab as a Pizza stone so provided there are no coatings etc. it is feasible.

You will need to be careful to start with though. Granite could shatter under thermal stress or due to trapped water and when it does so, it could do so in an explosive way damaging your cooker. You need to be sure that the board is granite as other stones may not be strong enough under thermal stress. You need to be careful of reconstituted stone as well because this will not necesserily perform the same as natural stone. Make sure that there are no signs of weakness in the board such as cracks or natural weaknesses. Make sure that the stone is thick enough to avoid issues with stress changes as the stone heats up.

If you are going to go for it, I would recommend initially do it slowly, start out with the over cold and heat it up to a lowish temperature a leave it for a while, then turn the over off and let it cool. Inspect the stone, check it for cracks or other signs of distress and give it a few light taps. It should 'ring'. Dull sounds are indiciative of cracks. Then go to a higher temperatures.


Should I retire my scratched non-stick rice cooker? I am the lucky owner of a George Foreman Multicooker which is essentially a fancy rice cooker with a removable steaming basket. It has a non-stick cooking surface they call "George-Tough" coating. Right. I googled around a bit. I didn't see any definitive identification on this stuff but I figure it's probably Teflon.

I left the cooker with a friend for a month or so while I was out of town. I brought it out to cook up some rice this evening and it appears that the non-stick surface has been badly damaged. After fumbling around with it, it appears that somebody tilted the lid at an angle and set it down inside the cooker. Presumably while it was still turned on.

Should I kick George to the curb or is there some way to salvage my favorite lazy man's kitchen tool?

There is no way to salvage it, no. The Teflon will stay scratched and flake into your food. Even after you remove the large flakes, it will continue shedding microscopic ones.

We cannot tell you anything about "should" or make decisions for you. If the risk of eating Teflon is acceptable to you, keep it. If it isn't, throw it out. Discussions on the long-term health effects of consuming Teflon in tiny amounts fall into the "is it healthy" category, which is unanswerable for us. As always, there are the people who say it's terrible, and the ones who say it's no big deal. You have to find other sources and decide whether you want to believe them.


Does leavened bread made with yeast require gluten to rise? I want to understand which flours can and can't be used with yeast to get a rise for baking bread. From what I understand, yeast consumes sugar and produces carbon dioxide, which gets trapped inside the dough and causes it to expand during proving.

Does gluten have any special properties for trapping carbon dioxide that make it uniquely capable of trapping CO2 or can I perform this process with a variety of flours?

Flours I'm interested in are soy flour, defatted peanut flour, brown rice flour,
dark rye flour, chickpea flour, sorghum flour, oat flour, and several varieties of corn flour.

Yes, rising is very dependent on gluten. In almost all cases, you won't get any rising without a gluten-rich flour. Even if you use wheat flour, but one that has the wrong proportion of gluten, you will get a disappointing rise. If you were to try making a bread recipe calling for AP flour (8-10% gluten) with bagel flour (14-15% gluten) or a recipe for bread flour (12ish percent gluten) with pastry flour (6% gluten), one prominent problem will be very little rising.

I said "in almost all cases" and not "in all", because some clever people have found limited ways to get rising without gluten. The limitations of such baking are:

you can't achieve most traditional bread textures with this kind of baking. You only get bread that resembles the cottony, light bread with soft crust that is the prototypical bread in an American supermarket.
you can't use any gluten-free flour. What you need is a flour that is almost pure starch. Rice flour can be used to make a gluten free bread recipe, defatted peanut flour won't work well.
You have to use something to replace the gluten, typically a combination of thickeners like guar gum.
It is a very finicky process. Making up your own recipes by experimentation will have an immense failure rate. Instead, you should follow existing recipes to the letter, and live with the fact that you will need quite some exercise to learn to execute them well, if the recipe was any good to start with.

So, if you manage your expectations and invest some time in choosing and learning a good recipe, you can get risen gluten-free bread of a certain type. In that sense, yeast bread doesn't strictly "require" gluten to rise, but for most practical purposes, the answer is quite close to "yes it does".


Which cherries do I use for cherry pie When making a cherry pie is it best to use frozen cherries or canned cherry pie filling when you don't have access to fresh cherries.

The frozen ones are just like fresh, only softer and they drip their juice out - but that's OK when you are going to bake them anyway. Canned cherry pie filling is sweetened and spiced, so it is going to taste the way the canner made it, not like homemade. If I go to the trouble of baking a pie, I always go all the way and make my own filling, not using the premade stuff - then I could just go out and buy the whole pie.


Using a wooden spoon to prevent pots from boiling over? Someone recently told me that placing a wooden spoon across the top of a pot will prevent boilovers.

Could somebody explain to me why this is the case?

There is an excellent answer to this question on the Physics SE: https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/31029/how-can-a-wooden-spoon-be-used-to-prevent-water-from-over-boiling

I will summarise what I think is the most cogent part here.

This does work up to a point. The bubbles formed by boiling water are filled with steam, so if anything colder than the steam (ie <100°C) touches a bubble the steam will immediately condense and the bubble will collapse.

Therefore provided the surface of your spoon is cold, it will help to prevent boiling over. If it's a long boil and the spoon heats up to 100°C it will no longer work. This is why a wooden spoon is recommended: metal would heat up too quickly.


Any tips for ways to cook chicken breast for recipes that call for shredded chicken? I've got several recipes that call for shredded chicken, so any help would be appreciated.

I keep both shredded/chopped chicken and pork in my freezer as kind of a "staple". For both, I tend to use the crock pot.

The easiest way (but certainly not the cheapest) is to toss boneless, skinless chicken breasts into the crock pot with a flavorful liquid. I tend to use most of my shredded meats in things with either a Southwest/TexMex or BBQ bent to them, so I often will use beer for the liquid and toss in some chili powder/onion powder/garlic powder or one of those taco seasoning packets.

If you're looking for more wide-ranging purposes, you may want to go with something more like chicken broth as your liquid. In that case, I'd also avoid seasoning it all that much as the destination dish might clash with or, for instance, if you add salt, might result in WAY too much salt in the final dish.

I usually fill the crock pot all the way with chicken and about half way with liquid.

Set the crock pot on low and let it cook all day until the meat is completely cooked and tender. I only make it this way when I can be around all day or at least can check in half way through the day because you want to "rotate" which meat is sitting in the liquid at least once in the process.

To shred, pull out the chicken and, using 2 forks, pull apart the fibers of the meat.

To chop, just toss it on a cutting board and cut into tiny bits.

I usually take the results and put them in a large bowl. Then, using a turkey baster, I add some of the liquid from the crock pot back into the shredded meat. You'll be surprised how much liquid it absorbs without getting "drippy".

I freeze mine in 1 pound portions in vacuum sealed bags and it works great.


Can I scald milk in the microwave? I've scalded milk on the stove before, but it takes a bit of time and is a little touchy. Is it possible to scald milk in the microwave instead (and, if so... how)?

Yes, you can. Adjust the power to medium-high, pour the milk into a Pyrex measuring cup (or similar), and drop a wooden implement (a disposable chopstick is ideal) into the cup.

Keeping the heat lower than maximum will give you more time to react when the milk threatens to boil over. The chopstick will prevent the rare but possible occurrence of superheating.

Or, you can just do it in any microwave-safe container, throwing caution to the wind. To scald milk, you want to bring it to just below the boiling point (82C, 180F). Watch it carefully, milk loves to go from still to boiling over in a nanosecond. When it first starts to bubble, it's done.

The microwave is actually an excellent way to scald milk. It is much easier to burn it on the stove.


My butterscotch pie filling curdled? I was making a butterscotch pie for the weekend, by following a recipe from the net. The ingredient list was

  1 cup dark brown sugar
  1/4 cup cornstarch
  1/4 teaspoon salt
  4 cups half-and-half cream -- (used UK double cream)
  5 egg yolks , seperated slightly beaten save whites for Meringue
  1/4 cup butter , sliced up
  2 teaspoons vanilla extract

I followed the instructions (I think correctly).

  In saucepan combine brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk in half & half.
  Whisk constantly over medium heat till mix is thick and bubbly.
  Cook an additional 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
  Gradually whisk about 1 cup of the hot mix into the egg yolks, whisking all the time.
  Add this back into the rest of what is in the pan.
  Bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat and cook and whisk for an additional 2 minutes.
  Remove from heat and whisk in butter and vanilla till well mixed.
  Let cool a bit, whisk and pour into pie shell and set aside.

Just after the last remove from heat and just before whisking in the butter, I needed a call of nature. When I got back the mixture had separated into what looked like curdled milk and an oily fat like substance. I tried just whisking the lot, but it refused to recombine, so I poured off the oil. The remaining substance (with a little oil) whisked fine when reheated slightly, so I added the butter and vanilla and carried on.

The pie came out tasting fine. But after the pies had been topped and cooled, there was a slight layer of oil onto of the set butterscotch, but beneath the meringue. Pouring the oil off the pies gently, got rid of that problem.

This is the first time that I have had such a monumental departure from a recipe I have been following (probably luck so far). But can anyone see anything wrong with either the recipe / instructions or suggest what I have did wrong.

I would think the likely problem is that you used double cream, so the butterfat content was too high. Half and half cream is more like UK single cream.


Is it possible to overmarinade a steak? I know it won't spoil; the spoil by date is next week. I'm cooking it in 48 hours (Friday Evening).

It'll rest in the lowest part of my fridge as well.

My marinade consists of vinegar and salt.

Thus the questions:

Is it possible to over marinade (New York Strip) steaks?
Is it possible for vinegar to chemically break down the steak too long?
What is the optimal amount of time for vinegar to breakdown the steak?

Yes, the problem will be the vinegar.
Vinegar is acidic and you'll end up with mushy meat. 48 hours is almost certainly too long.  For a vinegar base, I try not to push it over 8 hours and that's only if really necessary. A few hours is typically fine.

Right now, you've got to consider how to save the meat. I'd freeze the meat right now.  Freeze the meat with the marinade (which seems like such a waste for 40'ish hours, but better that than mushy steak). When ready to cook, take it out and let the marinade do its business as it thaws. I'd thaw it in ziplock under running water (quicker than the fridge) and let it marinade a short time and go on the grill. If you let it sit in any unfrozen stage too long, you'll get mushy steak with a vinegar marinade.


Lentils and barley used together In Polish Sausage Lentil soup, can I use some barley to replace some lentils - can I mix the two? Same question only opposite - in Turkey, Tomato, Barley soup, can I also use some lentils?

Yes to both questions. Lentils and barley can go together quite well in a soup. Here's a recipe for a lentil and barley soup as an example. Compare it to your soup recipe to see if there are any major differences (especially in cooking time or liquid to barley/lentil ratios). My hunch is that the barley will absorb more liquid than the lentils, so you may need to increase the water a bit. Just keep an eye on the soup as it simmers, and add more water as needed.
There's one caveat about your turkey, tomato, barley and lentil soup idea. Legumes take longer to cook when the cooking liquid is acidic. Tomatoes are acidic. Lentils cook quickly enough that they will get fully cooked even in an acidic broth, but it takes longer. (If you were using a slower-cooking legume, such as beans and chickpeas, I would recommend pre-cooking the beans.) Here's a recipe for a tomato, lentil and barley soup as an example. Notice that it simmers for an hour to get the lentils fully cooked, whereas the soup without tomatoes only has to simmer for 40 minutes. If you want the faster cook time, simmer the soup for about half an hour before adding the tomatoes. That will give the lentils time to get nearly done before increasing the acidity of the broth.


Strong Yeast Taste on Japanese Milk Bread I've recently started baking Japanese Milk Bread. However, each time I bake them they've always had a strong yeast taste and a 'wet' undone taste to the buns. How can I get them to be more fluffier and less yeasty?
This is the recipe I use:
350 grams all purpose flour,
12.5 grams sugar,
7 grams (1 packet) dry yeast,
4 grams salt,
200 grams warm milk,
30 grams butter.
I hand knead them for about 15 minutes each. For the first rise, I wait 2 hours and then shaped them and waited for another 30 minutes. Then I pop them in the oven for 18 minutes at 176 Celsius.
Could it be that I'm not leaving enough space for the buns to grow? Or bake? Because the buns are placed quite closely to each other.
Thank you so much!

If your buns are doughy they are probably underbaked. While 18 minutes sounds reasonable for small buns, you should be flexible about baking time. Ovens run slightly too hot or cold, different pans heat up faster and slower, and your buns may be slightly larger or smaller than the ones in the recipe.
The best way to check for doneness of bread is by temperature. After 18 minutes, use an instant-read thermometer to make sure the interior of your buns reaches at least 88°C (190°F). If they have not reached this temperature, simply return them to the oven for a few minutes longer.
It is also essential to let bread cool almost completely before cutting it open. As it cools down, it continues to set a little; if you cut too soon, steam will escape and leave a gummy texture. I recommend cooling 30 minutes on a wire rack.
Proper baking and cooling will make a huge difference for your buns, but you bring up two other issues we can address. In terms of the yeasty flavor, I think fixing the underbaking problem should remedy this as well. Raw dough can certainly have a yeasty note to it, but fully baked dough should smell and taste better. (It is possible to get off notes from overfermented bread, even fully cooked, but this should not be an issue with your relatively short rising times.)
For the issue of leaving space to grow, I suspect this is at most an aesthetic issue, but it is hard to tell how big a problem it is without a photo. As long you bake long enough your bread will cook. Using a correctly-sized pan effects shape more than anything else: closely packed together, you will get a batch bake where adjacent buns stick together; more spaced out you will get individual buns which are not connected and brown on all sides. Either format is suitable for milk buns.


Do older apples contain more or less pectin in the skins/cores? In order to make apple jelly and not use pectin, just fresh (not frozen) apples skins and cores:  Do older, stored apples have more concentrated pectin in their skins and cores or does it degrade?  should I boil more? add more sugar, less water?

Older apples should have less pectin, probably:

  The chemistry of pectins is a vast and complex subject ... all these enzymes work together to degrade the pectin and eliminate is sticky effect. They exist naturally in plant tissues ... after harvest, during apple storage, the protopectins within cell walls are naturally broken down ... During that process, the apples get softer ... as the apples become overripe and mealy, the soluble pectins are degraded into nonpectic substances.

Quoted from "The New Cider Maker's Handbook" chapter 12 "The Pectic Substances" by Claude Jolicoeur. (There's also apparently an entire book on this called "The Pectic Substances" by Z. I. Kertesz.)


Culinary Uses for Wheat Grass Sprouts Typically the only way I've found people consuming wheat grass sprouts is through juicing. Can this item be used in cooking, preferably as a main ingredient?

(Please keep in mind that I'm vegan.)

One has to juice wheat grass and consume raw if you want to get any health benefits and nutrients out of the superfood. Smoothies, ice creams and other beverages are good places to start consuming wheat grass juice. Freezing any plant or animal food will cause the cells in the food to expand and burst so it is best to drink any fresh juice right away before oxidation takes place and to not freeze or keep left overs.


Is there a difference in the taste/seeds of egg-sized eggplants, and long and slim eggplants? Is there a difference in the taste/seeds of egg sized eggplants or brinjals, and long and slim eggplants or brinjals?

They are different in shapes. Is there any other "known/visible" difference?

The varieties of the 2 eggplants shown in the pictures are not actually given, but to me the long variety looks like the Japanese/Chinese eggplant and the round variety looks like The Indian eggplant. By the way, there are many different eggplants out there. If you want to have a look, check out this: website.

The Chinese eggplant has a thinner skin, more delicate flavour (I think sweeter) and less bitter seeds, although most modern varieties have bred these out anyway.

The Japanese eggplant is very similar and again has a thin delicate skin and sweet flavour.

The Indian eggplant is similar to the American eggplant with a thicker skin, more seeds and a stronger flavour.


How do you know if your starter is powered mainly by yeast or bacteria? One quick follow-up question to this postMy sourdough starter is bubbling but not rising, suggestions?: How do you know if your starter is bubbling because of yeast (and not bacteria)?

I've been feeding my starter at 100% hydration (35g spring water + 23g all-purpose unbleached + 12g whole wheat) as recommended by In Search of the Perfect Loaf for 17 days now. It bubbles nicely, but doesn't rise. A spoon full of it sinks in warm water, while flecks rise to the top (though all of them fizz).

Based on the popular answer here, I changed the hydration in an offshoot to make a stiffer mix (20g non-rising starter + 35g water + 30g flour). It rose by nearly double in a 28 celsius room in 8 hours. How do I know that this isn't because of bacteria?

Thanks!

Unfortunately many kinds of fermentation produce CO2 as a byproduct, so the presence of bubbles hardly give you more information than 'it is alive'.

If what you want is a precise identification of what strain of yeast and bacteria are present in your starter, I see no easier way than looking under a microscope or making a laboratory analysis.

If you just want to heuristically determine if yeast or bacteria is present, the easier way is to guess from the taste and smell profile of your starter. The guess can be more or less polite depending on your training, just like in wine tasting.

For example:

alcohol smell hints for the presence of yeasts, the most common agents responsible for the alcoholic fermentation.
vinagre smell is associated to acetic acid, which is the subproduct of the fermentation of glucose by bacteria of the AAB (acetic acid) family.
acetone (nail polisher) smell is usually associated to the presence of ethyl acetate, the esterification of ethanol + acetic acid. Thus my guess here would be the presence of both bacteria from the AAB family and yeast, which produces the ethanol via the usual alcoholic fermentation.
sour taste / smell (like yoghurt) is usually associated to lactic acid, byproduct of lactic fermentation which hints the presence of bacteria from the LAB family.

These are the most obvious examples, but you could go fancier and try also to identify more subtle notes like specific fruits tones associated to some esters, etc. A good place to learn about those things are the ressources in brewing websites, specially in what concerns wild beer (lambic) - a process somehow similar to cultivating a sourdough starter. See for example this thread or this wiki.

Note that it is very likely that what you actually have is a combination of these processes. And as the acetone smell example shows, the combination of two processes can lead to more than the simple sum of their byproducts. It is also important to keep in mind that some of these molecules can produced by both bacterias and yeasts (like ethanol, although yeasts are usually more efficient). This is what makes a sourdough culture complex and unique. Changing the hydration of your culture, you also change the balance of bacterias and yeasts, since certain strains are more or less hydrophilic.


Creating differing temperature fluid gels that stay separate At the Fat Duck they serve a mug of hot and iced tea. The drink is served in a single cup yet the two different temperature drinks stay separate side by side with no barrier between them.

I believe this is done by using fluid gels rather than liquids but how do you actually make this. What gelling agent would you use and in what quantities? How would you actually get it into the cup maintaining separation?

This is done, and explained in the Big Fat Duck cook book, by creating a hot fluid gel and a cold fluid gel and then fitting a tight divider down the centre of the glass.  Fill both sides equally, remove the divider, serve immediately.

you can follow the link and 'look inside' to see the page which has the recipe for this on to see exactly how to do it.  search inside for 'hot and cold tea', then its on pages 274 and 275, so just follow those links.

The gelling agent used is gellan F, and making the gels requires making two parts for each and mixing them together.  The details of the recipies are not availabale at the amazon.com site, only amazon.co.uk, although you can access it from outside the uk


Eggs smelled bad but not anymore when I put them in the ref I recently bought a dozen eggs. But when I cracked them, they smelled bad, though they didn't float on water (which means they're good). When checking closely, I found out that even the unopened eggs smell bad but I put them in the ref anyway.

When I checked again, 1-2 days later, the smell was gone (i didn't wash them or anything).

why did they smell bad and were they safe?

Based on the circumstances and your comments, I'd have to guess that the eggs probably just taken out of the crates they were stored in, and therefore the egg smell built up in the cellulose carton.


Bleach white shrimp, different species? Recently I had some shrimp scampi from a restaurant and the shrimp were unnaturally white, a very bright white, and the skin of the shrimp was a bright red, not the usual dull orange. The meat of the shrimp was quite tough, more like a lobster than a shrimp.

Is this some special species of shrimp, or was the shrimp treated by some chemical process to make it that way?

Shrimp skin color depends on the presence of several pigments, the main ones are blue and pink carotenoids. That make shrimps to have a wide variety of shades depending on the subspecies, feeding, location, etc.

When cooked, blue carotenoids dissapear, leaving just the pink pigments wich transform to orange shades.

The final color of the cooked shrimps depend on the original pigments.


Why did my ginger simple syrup develop such a disgusting consistency? I made a ginger simple syrup. I took a large amount of ginger, simmered it in water to cover for an hour, drained it (reserving the water), and repeated the process with fresh water. I did this three times. I took the reserved ginger water added a bit of sugar and reduced to maybe 1/3rd. Let it cool and stuck it in the fridge. It was cloudy and clearly had some fine ginger particulate floating around in it. It was very strong and tasted great.

I used it for a couple of weeks to make ginger based drinks, and then it got stuck behind something in the fridge to be rediscovered this morning. I made it 43 days ago, and it's probably been untouched in the fridge for 28 days. I checked to see if it was still good and it smelled ok, however, it had the consistency of mucus. It was really, really disgusting. I did not taste it. My wife tried to throw it out but started gagging as it oozed out of the jar. Naturally, I got a camera (unfortunately it's acting up and I can't upload the photos, hopefully they'll follow).

What on earth caused this to happen?

My guess is that:

 1) The syrup wasn't acdic enough

and

 2) The sugar concentration wasn't high enough.

If the sugar concentration is high enough, the sugar so-to-speak draws the water out of bacteria by osmosis thus killing them. If you don't like the syrup to be too sweet, try adding lemon juice.


Calculate baking time for bread I have a standard long-raising bread I use to make and bake in a cassarole. During this holiday I wanted to bake a double-sized bread. However,I ended up only giving it 150% baking time, and not 200%.

Are the sources that can help you calculate how long approximately your bread needs to be baked given size, floor and water composition, etc. ?

Example-recipee:

400 g flour
300 ml water
1 small ball of yeast
Raise for 18 hours
Baked for 30 minutes in 250 celcius closed heated cassarole.
Baked 10 minutes without lid.

Double up:

800 g flour
600 ml water
2 small balls of yeast
Raise for 18 hours
Baked for **45 minutes** in 250 celcius closed heated cassarole
Baked for 10-15 minutes without lid.

No, I cannot guess a time. What works is temperature. Bread is done at an internal temperature of 195F to 205F (90.5-96.1C).


Why do light and dark roux have different effects when thickening sauces? When you are using a roux, the darker it is, the less it acts as a thickening agent in a sauce and, vice versa, if the roux is quite light, it has more of a thickening effect.

Why is this?

You can visualise it like this: starch is the way that plants store energy, you can see it like long chains of glucose molecules. If you have these long chains, they lock in water at high temps (gelatinisation), and so they bind sauces. If you burn them, what you do is break those chains into glucose (or maltose), and that glucose you caramelise..that is what makes it brown...and the proteins are in the Maillard reaction..that is "caramelising" of proteins instead of sugars, but that is less relevant for the binding power of starches. So, you are  breaking and burning the chains that you need to catch water, basically. (and please do not correct this text from UK to US spelling, thanks...)


How to make my chicken taste more tender? I have been trying out Korean Ginseng Soup recipe but the chicken meat usually turns out dry. Is this to do with the heat and the time taken to cook? I use an induction cooker for all my dishes. Thanks a lot!

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
5 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup glutinous rice
2 ginseng

I bring the water to boil on high heat before switching down to medium fire and let the chicken cook for about 80min. Thighs and wings mostly taste ok, but other parts are drier. Is this normal?

This is normal. Chicken breasts are leaner than legs, thighs and wings, so they dry out faster. I often make a similar dish, but I use pre-cut pieces and dark meat for this very reason. 80 minutes sounds like a long time to me, you could probably reduce that and get a better result. You could also cut the breasts off and take them out early to avoid overcooking them.


Top of my sourdough starter has gone grey I started my first sourdough starter about three weeks ago and after one week put it in refrigerator and the next week fed if 3 times in 12hours intervals an then put it back into fridge , but now there is some greyness on its surface which seems part of the starter itself and is not like fungal mould but i'm worried if it's safe to use or not ?

Gray discoloration is normal and nothing to worry about. If you see orange or pink then your starter should be thrown away.


How long can uncooked brisket be refrigerated after defrosting? I purchased a vac packed piece of brisket from Aldi a week ago. I froze it a day after buying, then thawed it in the fridge 2 days ago until it felt soft to touch. I opened the pack, washed it under faucet, patted it dry with paper towel and covered in rich crust of spices.  I don`t really feel anymore like cooking it today, and would prefer to do it tomorrow. Am I running a risk here of having this piece of meat spoil or develop something nasty while it sits in the fridge (not vac packed anymore, but still) for the 3rd day in a row?

I believe 3-5 days is the basic guidance for keeping raw, defrosted whole cuts of meat in the refrigerator (See FoodSafety.gov).  Packaging has nothing to do with this.  Temperature is critical (below 40F...and colder is always better). I would say you are fine.


Sodastream loses carbonation when adding syrup I have a sodastream, and for the most part it makes great carbonated water. However, any time I try to use the flavoring syrups, my drink becomes completely flat. I do follow the instructions and only carbonate water (no pumping bubbles with the syrup already mixed in).

I've tried all techniques I could think of: stirring syrup into fizzy water, pouring fizzy water over syrup, pumping syrup into fizzy water without mixing. Basically, if I don't stir, all the syrup goes to the bottom of the glass, and if I do stir, the bubbles are gone. I've tried refrigerating the syrup, room temp, warming it. The best technique I have come up with so far is to add a little bit of carbonated water, pour in the syrup, mix that up, and then add the rest of the carbonated water. I like to believe this "loosens" the syrup so it mixes into cold water a bit better. However, even with this technique, the drink is flat.

Does anyone else experience this? Anyone have suggestions?

The solubility of carbon dioxide in water is a function of several factors. The most important are time, temperature, pressure, and composition.

In order to maximize your carbonation, ensure everything is as cold as possible. The colder the liquid, the more CO2 you can dissolve in the liquid.
Secondly, you will need high pressure. The higher the pressure the more CO2. For example, if you leave an open bottle of carbonated water on your table, it will go flat. If you cap the bottle, it will maintain carbonation, but also build up pressure in the bottle. The higher the pressure, the higher the carbonation. Any "other gasses", like atmospheric oxygen and nitrogen in the bottle will effectively reduce the "partial pressure" of CO2, so you should remove that.
Pure water is easy to carbonate. Once you start adding "stuff" to it, it becomes more difficult. Soda concentrate contains flavors and sugar, all of which hinder the ability of CO2 to dissolve into the the liquid.
It takes time for the system to reach equilibrium. If one just pressurizes a bottle with CO2, it can take quite a while for it to actually dissolve into the liquid. Increasing the contact between liquid and gas (the surface area) speeds up the dissolution.

I don't know how a sodastream works, so if my suggestions can't be exactly duplicated, let me know. Can you add CO2 to the bottle without opening up to the atmosphere?
The best process would be to, first, ensure everything is cold, and mix everything together. Pressurize the bottle with CO2. Cap it to maintain pressure and shake...a lot. Purge the pressure to remove any oxygen and nitrogen, and repressureize. Close the bottle and shake again and you'll notice the pressure decrease as the CO2 dissolves (squeeze the bottle). Top off the pressure and keep shaking and squeezing and repeat until it stays pressurized. Allow any foam to subside, and make sure there are no bubbles on the wall of the bottle before opening.

I make a lot of soda, but use a large cylinder of CO2 and Carbonator Caps, which screw on standard plastic soda bottles. With this I can make anything from 12 ounce to 2 liters at a time.


Dairy-free bechamel? My toddler recently developed a bit of intolerance to lactose. However, some of his favorite meals are moussaka and lasagna, not the least because the bubbly intensely flavored bechamel topping that roasts up in the oven. Typically for these recipes, I make a traditional white sauce or bechamel by melting butter and mixing in flour and cooking it out with very little color, then progressively whisk in milk until the sauce coats a spoon, then the final result is tempered with 3 eggs and shredded parm so that the baked product solidifies.
I can't find any suggestions on the internet for replacing the milk, butter, and cheese. Would olive oil in lieu of butter, and water or a nut milk (walnut or pine nut) instead of cow's milk, and omitting cheese suffice as a replacement? Is there any reason to believe the ratios would be out-of-balance using these substitutes?

Butter:  Butter is an emulsion of fat and water (more or less)—it is typically around 80-82% fat (European butters tend to have a little more fat, American butters tend to have a bit less)—and this fat is solid at room temperature.  This suggests that a good substitute for butter would be another solid-at-room temperature fat (such as coconut oil, lard, bacon grease, etc), plus a little bit of water.
Personally, I have had luck with coconut oil and a splash of coconut milk when cooking for vegan friends, but this leaves the sauce tasting a little coconutty.  Lard or bacon grease will similarly flavour the sauce, but this may not be a negative—macaroni and cheese with bacon, for example, is a great combination.  Olive, canola, and peanut oils have also worked for me in the past, but result in a slightly different texture at the end of the day (which you likely wouldn't even notice in a casserole like moussaka or lasagne).
That being said, butter has very little lactose in it.  A lot of people who are lactose intolerant do not have difficulty with butter.  It might be worth experimenting with your child to determine whether or not butter is a problem (e.g. go through the process of an elimination diet, and add butter back into the diet in a controlled manner to see if is tolerated).

Milk:  As noted above, I have had good luck with coconut milk.  Because the phrase "coconut milk" can be ambiguous, I specifically mean something like Thai Kitchen's unsweetened coconut milk.  It should be noted that this has a much higher fat content than dairy milk, so you may want to water it down a bit.  Nut milks, soy milk, or oat milk should also work well—you are really just looking to get something that is mostly water with a bit of fat in it.
You could also consider lactose-free milk.  There are a number of commercially available brands of lactose-free dairy milk, which are made by treating milk with with the lactase enzyme (this is an enzyme which breaks down lactose, and is produced naturally by most people—lactose intolerance is generally the result of a person's inability to produce lactase).
Another alternative would be to consider the milk of another animal—my understanding is that there is some anecdotal evidence that goat's milk is often better tolerated by people with mild lactose intolerance.  Goat's milk has about as much lactose as cow's milk, but is apparently otherwise easier to digest.  Again, experimentation with an elimination diet might prove fruitful.  On the other hand, goat's milk has a rather distinctive flavor which many people find off-putting, so maybe not.

Cheese:  I have never found a non-dairy cheese which I thought was any good.  There do exist vegan cheeses, some of which even seem to melt like dairy cheese, but I (personally) find them all to be quite bland and unappealing.  They compare favorably to Kraft singles, but that seems to be damning with faint praise.  That being said, taste is personal, and your milage may vary.  Vegan cheeses are meant to replace dairy cheese in a one-to-one manner, so if you find a vegan cheese you like, it should
On the other hand, cheese often has far less lactose than milk, and the longer a cheese has fermented and aged, the less lactose it is likely to contain.  I am not sure what to do about the ricotta in a lasagne (assuming that you use ricotta in your lasagne), but the parmesan should be well-tolerated as it typically contains almost no lactose.  For other cheeses, as a rough rule of thumb, the older and harder a cheese is, the more likely it is that it will be well-tolerated by a person with lactose intolerance.
Again, an elimination diet might be in order.


Are garbage cans food safe, or made of food grade plastic? At Mann Lake you can buy two kinds of honey extractors:

Stainless steel

Plastic

The first is more expensive than the second, and the second is waaay more expensive than the third option:

Plastic garbage can

I can add the necessary fittings to make the garbage can look and function like the plastic honey extractor, but would like to know whether there are any garbage cans to avoid? Note that the can won't be used for storage, just processing of honey during the extraction process. Does this make a difference?

Other beekeepers have done this.

A heavy assumption may be that plastic container manufacturers produce both food grade and non-food grade plastic products. The process of switching between these plastics may be expensive to produce the different products may be expensive. As such, it's typically just easier to make all plastics food-grade quality.

What you want is something that is listed as NSF rated for food storage. I know both Huskie and Rubbermaid Brute containers (10 gal, 20 gal, 32 gal, 55 gal) that are gray, yellow or white have that rating. If you have a restaurant supply store in your area, you could go look around for "ingredient bins" and commercial garbage cans. Just remember, a white Brute bin with lid that slides open and is sold as an "Ingredient Bin" will probably run $85 while the same white Brute bin with a flat lid and sold as a "Garbage Can" will run you closer to $45.


Do you know of any good rectangular spice storage solutions? Currently I'm storing most of my spices in a cabinet next to the stove. That's the best place for them. However, because of the way the shelves are spaced, I generally need to stack containers, leading to a pretty huge mess in our spice cabinet.

I'd like to get some containers that are relatively uniform in size so they can be stacked on top of each other without falling all over the place. And I'd like them to be rectangular or some other non-circular shape so they can be placed in rows easily. And, for the tricky part, I'd like containers that have some sort of shaker part so I can shake the spices in if I want to. Any suggestions?

I've seen some very expensive things out there and am wondering whether there are other options. I can store spices that don't fit in the containers on the second shelf of the cabinet, so I don't mind the size  quite as much.

My solution to this is to use the containers I already have and put them on this:

It's called a double decker lazy susan. I've had mine about 30 years but I'm sure they are still sold. It spins to make it easy to access anything. You put some spices on the top shelf and some on the bottom.


Is there any difference between chopped and crushed garlic in cooking? Often recipes say to chop garlic, but I usually cheat and just crush it as it's quicker. Is there any difference in doing this? Will it have much of an effect on the flavour of the dish?

Chopped and crushed garlic have different flavors in dishes. The smaller the pieces the garlic is made into (with crushed being super small), the more pungent and bitter the flavors.  Several food bloggers have reported their experiments on testing the differences.

This sounds surprising, but members of the Allium genus (which includes garlic, onion, leek ...) are booby trapped: around the cells there is a liquid that when combined with a chemical from the cell's interior creates a series of nasty sulfur compounds.  The more the cells are damaged and exposed to oxygen by cutting or crushing, the more of these sulfur compounds are generated.

If the garlic is fried, the size of the pieces also determines how much of it browns.  For crushed garlic this can happen before one has a chance to add more liquid to the dish, essentially burning the garlic and imparting a bitter taste to the dish.


How to remove brownies cleanly from silicone molds? I've recently started looking into making brownies inside silicone molds (in particular, this guy) and I've noticed that it doesn't seem to matter whether I grease, grease & flour, use pam, use parchment paper (with and without grease) or do nothing: the brownies are never guaranteed to come out cleanly. Each method yields some brownies that cleanly separate, with others that lose varying degrees of their bottoms to the pan.

Note: with parchment paper, the problem of a clean release just gets kicked down the road to the stage when I peel the paper off the brownie. Most of the time, the paper pulls a non-trivial amount of crumb off with it.

What's the best way to insure a perfect removal of the brownies from silicon bakeware?

Freeze the brownies in the mold. They'll release cleanly.


What is the shelf life of a garlic bulb, with the "skin" still on, left in the fridge? I purchased a head of garlic and I have 2/3's of it left over, I am storing it in the fridge in a ceramic covered dish (made specifically for garlic :) a gift from my mother) and I would like to know how long I can continue to expect fresh flavor from it. What would the garlic look like if it had indeed spoiled?

Garlic will spoil faster in the fridge actually. I don't know how long it will last in the fridge, but I understand that it lasts longer if you leave it in a cool, dark, dry storage. I believe one reason is that your fridge is generally too humid. In my experience, garlic kept in the fridge is also more likely to develop mould (goes soft, and dark discolouration).

I keep mine in a ceramic thing in one of my cupboards. It lasts anywhere from a few weeks to a few months depending on the garlic (probably how long it sat before getting to my kitchen). If you store it like that, garlic that goes "bad" will usually start to sprout (green shoots, will come through the top.


What is the best method of storage for condiments? I have read a fair few articles about storing condiments like Siracha, Ketchup, and BBQ Sause, but they all seem to contradict themselves; some say that storing them in a fridge is bad since it has preservatives and other says it is bad to store at room temperature.

So, just wondering if anyone has advice on storing condiments preferably with reasoning since I am confused about how I should be taking care of them. (Though any help is appreciated!)

To a certain extent, it depends on the condiment.

For things like oil or vinegar, where germs generally can't really survive anyway, there is no need for refrigeration. On the other hand, things like ketchup, mayonnaise, or any other emulsions (tahini for instance) should be kept in the fridge.
It also depends on whether the pack is sealed or has come into contact with air already. For example, sealed packs of mayonnaise can be kept at room temperature, though an open jar must be refrigerated.

Aside from that, it's always a good idea to keep things in sealed containers, and away from direct sunlight.


Frying with Induction Stovetop My electric oven died about six weeks ago and, in the meantime, I've been using a 1500 W single burner hot plate.  I have proper pans for induction but I can't get certain things to fry properly.   For example shrimps or scallops in olive oil. I like them to become crusted golden on the outside but all I seem to get are droopy wet shrimps.  The juices that normally cling to the seafood stick to the pans (I've tried many) instead of to the fried food.

It's hard for me to believe that I haven't the right tools or the right temperature.  I'm suspecting that induction somehow works differently than electric in terms of how the heated pan acts on the food.  (I have a basic understanding of how induction burners work.)

Any information about this would be appreciated.

BTW, in all other respects, I find induction cooking faster and more convenient (no need to remove the pot from the stove when cooking ends; simply turn off the unit).

Induction just heats the pan using magnetism. Aside from very high efficiency, it isn't so different from any other method, and how hot the oil gets is an issue of power output and heat transfer/conductivity of the pan itself. There isn't an appreciable difference in how the physics work inside the pan.

Clearly your oil is not hot enough for frying/sautéeing. Most induction cooktops say they draw at least 1000 W to produce temperatures in the 350-400° F range, which is a somewhat typical frying temperature, being just at or below the smoke points of most oils. However, that number is based on a lot of assumptions, and 1500 W is not necessarily a generous margin of error for a portable hot plate. A lot of things could prevent you from reaching even a modest 400° F:

The pan is too dense. Are you using cast iron? It responds well to induction but the thermal resistance is also a lot higher.
The pan is very large and/or you're stuffing a lot of food into it, a result of which could be that the heat is escaping faster than the hot plate can pump it out.
The pan does not actually have the right amount of magnetic permeability for high-heat cooking. A magnet may stick to it, but how hard does it stick? If there isn't a very strong attraction - i.e. you have to put some effort into pulling off a permanent magnet - then you're not getting anywhere near the efficiency the unit was designed for, and even the full 1500 W may not be enough to reach the desired temperatures.
The cooktop is not really pulling in the full 1500 W, either due to a poor power source or simply poor design. Some manufacturers might quote 1500 W as a peak in order to sell more units, knowing full well that they can't sustain more than about 60% of that. If you've got a power meter (e.g. Kill-A-Watt), plug it in and see how much it's really drawing.

There are some portable induction cookers that go up to 1800 or even 2000 W, which is the bare minimum for the large element on an electric or induction stove (2500 W is typical for those). If you want to use a portable hot plate for high-heat cooking, check your pans very carefully, don't overcrowd them, and if all else fails, you might just need a better hot plate.


What are "B/E-inch slices"? What does the phrase "B/E- inch slices" refer to in a recipe? I'm working on a recipe that calls for chicken breasts and that statement is used when telling how to slice the meat.

It seems that B/E is a corruption of ¼ (as MaxW has suggested in a comment).

A Google search for "B/E- inch slices" finds https://www.drperlmutter.com/recipe/zucchini-yogurt-gazpacho-saffron-marinated-chicken-breast/ (which I guess is what you are trying to follow), but it also finds the PDF file http://www.fasttracktohealth.net/members-only/grainfreerecipes.pdf (which contains exactly the same recipe). If you download that PDF file, you’ll find that the text actually says "¼-inch slices" - but copying and pasting that piece of text gives "B/ E" instead of "¼" (due to some peculiarity of the font encoding).


What is this part of the mushroom? Is it safe to eat? Is the part I indicated in the picture safe to eat? It looks like mold? Sometimes the mushrooms I buy have it, sometimes they don't. I wonder what it is!

And what about this one?

This part of the mushroom is perfectly edible. It's a structure called a partial veil which protects the spore-producing gills on the underside of the mushroom cap, usually while the mushroom is still immature. They open as the cap grows larger, exposing the gills and releasing the spores which produce new mushrooms.

It's pretty common to see these on white and brown common mushrooms (which have a huge number of other names) since they are actually an immature form of the "portobello". Since it's a delicate structure, it's a pretty good indicator for how well the mushrooms have been handled and transported; intact veils will usually indicate a recently-harvested mushroom that has been kept well hydrated. If the veil is a little ragged or partially open, that's fine too.

Note that this applies only to the common mushroom; other varieties may or may not have veils.


Cooking sliced ham to make it tender I am preparing sandwiches that have only really soft ingredients, like gouda cheese, cream cheese, etc.

But I would like them to have meat in them, I've decided to use sliced ham for that but the problem is that the sinews or tendons or whatever the little hard bits left in the meat are called in English are harder than the rest of the sandwich which gives an unpleasant feeling.

I want to tenderize the ham, while preserving the texture and moisture, so I was thinking of putting it in a pan of water to boil slowly.

What would be the best method to remove any "hard bits" (sinews, tendons?) from the ham, in order to make it tender and almost "creamy"?
Are there any alternative meats I can use that would offer no resistance to biting?

You could use pâté or rilette or cretons or similar (spreadable meat pastes).

Alternatively, Cook's Ham has a recipe for "ham pâté" (Basically throw the ham in a food processor, then mix in some mayo and stuff to make a spread).

If you're using a city ham (rather than a country ham), it is likely pre-cooked (see the package directions) and all you need to do is re-heat it. If you do this gently (low and slow), you should be able to get better texture. For example, put it in the oven for the lowest oven setting possible until it comes up to temperature (you can add some water / use a turkey roasting bag as well to help), or stick it in a sous vide water bath.


Can one get quality whipped cream by putting only 250 ml (1 cup) whipping cream into a half litre (1 pint) NO2 whipper? I just bought a 500 ml whipper (Mosa), which is designed to take up to 500 ml whipping cream and a single NO2 cartridge. I'm not sure I want that much whipped cream available to my family at all times; too tempting! Will the whipper work just as effectively with 250 ml (1 cup) of whipping cream or should I consider getting a smaller whipper designed for 250 ml maximum?

I've done it lots of times and never needed a second cartridge. It helps to shake the unit while the gas is going in, to distribute it better, and to use very fine sugar.


From regular fresh yeast to sourdough I know that there are formulas for switching from and to sourdough and or preferments, but even though my library grows I haven't found such a formula.
I have a general idea of the fact that a sourdough bread usually requires around 40% of sourdough and a regular yeasted bread requires something from .1% to a stunning value of 2% of yeast.
Other that this general idea I have not found anything in the literature I have at home since most of the books usually treat these subjects separately.

Is there a formula that transforms a recipe from fresh yeast to sourdough and vice versa?
What about preferments?

EDIT: The question is under the assumption that a started is intended as a 100% hytration one, if you know of a conversion for a 50% hydration starter or pasta madre feel free to pitch in.

I've seen numbers ranging between 3x to 20x for going between Madre or starter to yeast.

That said, as @Chris H noted, there are multiple other variables and factors involved here that would make such a formula completely moot.  Here are some of the factors:

The actual strain of yeast in the starter
Relative age of the starter and last feed time
Temperature of the starter
Length of desired rise/fermentation time
Percentage of yeast

In either case of yeast or starter, what you are trying to do is give an environment to the yeast to digest the sugars and produce CO2 to lift the dough for a given time span.

A starting point:

Have a look at the sour dough's recipe's timeline and try to match that with a yeast based recipe of similar time-line.

If it's a few (8-10) hour rise type of bread, then you'll need a good amount of starter (e.g. 80-125g for 600g flour). See other factors above.

If it's a multi-day yeast based recipe, it'll call for 1/10th or 1/20th of the yeast by comparison (.1% to 2%), but if you go with 1/20th of the starter (e.g. 4g), you may not get much activity in the dough.  So you're probably better off erring on the high side in those cases.

make sure you adjust for the hydration present in the starter (count the water in it as a part of the water you need for your hydration percentage)


What do I do with this spice mix? We've had these spice mixes for a while, one is for "Meat Masala" and one for fish. The ingredients and directions for the meat masala powder can be found here. The instructions are rather cryptic, though. "Required" salt? Curd?

The directions don't look like any recipe for Tikka Masala that I've ever seen, though perhaps this is some other dish? I'm not really familiar with Indian cooking.

I've made this recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala before, but I'd like to be able to use these spices with it. How should I modify that recipe to use these spices?

"Mix with...required salt" is just a kind of awkward way of saying to mix in salt to taste. Might make more sense if you read it as "the salt required to make it taste how you want".

Curd is basically a thick yogurt.

As for how to use it... I certainly might try their recipe and see if you like it (whether it's canonical chicken tikka masala or not).

But if you want to a variation of your existing recipe, just omit all the spices from that recipe and use this spice mix instead, probably starting with the same quantity as the total ground spices from the original recipe. Since the spice mix already contains salt, I might also omit the salt from your recipe and then add salt to taste once you've added enough spice.


Does proofing time affect the density of bread? I made some dinner rolls yesterday and it was underproofed, the result was a dense dinner rolls and it is heavy, does proofing time affect the density of the finished product?

Yes, under-proofing is an excellent way to ensure a dense loaf.

  When we bake too soon after shaping (i.e. under-proof our loaf), our gluten network has not had sufficient time to relax. As a result, rather than stretch as its internal gases expand, the gluten simply tears. Under these conditions, gases don't escape in a controlled manner like they should; they burst out at random weak points in the crust, resulting in bread that is over-expanded around the edges, but dense and gummy in the center. Improper scoring (or forgetting to score entirely) can lead to similar end results as the dough desperately tries to find avenues of expansion.

-Max Bernstein Serious Eats

That whole article is a good read, especially in ways to avoid proofing problems. The poke test is your friend. Using your finger (some bakers insist on a floured finger), poke an indentation in the loaf just shy of about a centimeter deep. In a fully proofed loaf, the indentation will stay and you are ready to bake (the indentation will fill as the loaf bakes). In an under-proofed loaf, the hole will bounce back pretty quickly.


What is a good way to cook Turkey Chops? How should turkey chops be cooked so they are tasty? Is a cast iron pan needed or benefitial?

These are sections of turkey leg (drumstick) cut as to appear like a non-halal/kosher bone-in cut of meat, like a pork chop. The flesh is turkey, and hence not as robust as pork - treat more like a veal or lamb chop in terms of cooking technique, but season like pork or poultry. Here is a thread on Chowhound discussing various ways to prepare and serve.


Can ricotta be made from powdered whey? 1. There are many recipes for making ricotta cheese from fresh whey leftover after cheese. Although I searched Google trying to find making ricotta from powdered whey, I couldn't find anything. A soft cheese, paneer, can be made from powdered milk (much improved with adding a little butter to the hot milk first) which makes me wonder about using powdered whey.

I didn't want to make the question title too long but since my question is still about making ricotta from whey.

2. Could ricotta be made from the whey left after making paneer since I make paneer?

Traditional cheeses are made from milk curdled by the addition of rennet. Paneer is made from milk curdled by adding vinegar or citric acid (lemon juice). I'm not certain if the whey from these methods are different enough to affect outcomes where one would work and the other wouldn't. Does anyone know or tried either method?

Disclaimer- I haven't tested either so this is guesswork. I have made ricotta with the whey of a variety of cheeses but never these particular combinations. If someone has already tried these their answer would carry more weight.

Ricotta works because some of the water soluble proteins in milk don't bind up with the cheese (of whatever type) unless they are heated almost to boiling first.
Bringing the whey to a boil forces those extra proteins to coagulate and they are strained out.

1. I imagine it might vary from product to product. If the whey was produced just from drying regular whey then rehydrating and boiling should be enough to curdle its proteins. I suspect that its processing includes heating steps that alter the proteins. I would be surprised if this was possible.

2. Many cheeses use rennet but most also rely on acidification of some sort, either bacteria or acid added directly. As with #1 it depends how the paneer was made. If it was made with warm milk and acid then there will be protein left. If it was made with boiled milk and acid then there will not.


How to replicate golden brown color of McDonalds chicken nuggets? Does McDonalds use any food color in their chicken nuggets to get the golden brown color? How do they ensure that all the pieces are of same color and would it be possible to replicate the same at home using a deep fryer?

It is not "food color" in the conventional sense. McDonald's techniques are based on something the 'home cook' can rarely achieve, consistency. Their friers are designed to maintain exactly the same temperature (375F, if I recall correctly). The typical home frier drops 20-30F as soon as food is added, the McMachines have the kind of heating elements that don't do that. The coating is milled and applied to create a consistent coating and they are cooked for EXACTLY the right amount of time, every time. It is interesting to actually sit and listen to what is going on in McKitchen, military drill teams lack the precision that McD's instills into their burger flippers.


How does the carrot in deep fryer trick work? So I just heard about putting a carrot in the deep fryer so as to pick up the burnt junk and keep the oil clean for longer. I tried it. It works! Now I'm wondering how it works, and what other veggies or whatnot can be substituted in place of the carrot?

As to the science behind why this works, I can only guess.

However, as to other things you can try for this trick, I managed to find some references from old cookbooks about using slices of potato for clarifying their deep-fryer oil. Other suggestions were a slice of bread or lemon peel. Weird — but interesting.

The Young Woman's Journal, Volume 12 (1901)

Mrs. De Graf's Cook Book (1922)

Olive Oil: From Tree to Table (2007)

  When you have finished frying, clarify the oil by frying a piece of bread, a strip of lemon peel, or a slice of potato in it.