How should chuck roast be grilled to maximize tenderness?

Your best method of making chuck tender is to cook it low and slow, as per traditional barbecue.

The reason for this is that chuck is a relatively tough meat, full of connective tissue (the protein collagen, among others).

By cooking low and slow for a long time, you raise the internal temperature of the meat to about 170 F to 180 F for an extended period, at which temperatures over time, in the presence of moisture (either part of the meat itself, or external) the collagen will convert to gelatin, converting from a touch to a succulent and tender product.  This is the principal employed in both braising and barbecue (as opposed to grilling, which is a high heat technique normally).

Note that the collagen to gelatin conversion creates the tenderness, it is not preserving tenderness, since it was not a tender cut to start with.

At this point, since you have already sliced the meat, I believe your best approach would be to create an indirect fire or flame.  Place the meat in a disposable pan layered together to minimize drying, away from the fire, and allow to cook slowly for at a low temperature (say 250 F to 300 F air temperature as measured in the grill with its lid on) for several hours, at least about 4 hours and up to 8 to 12 hours, until it is fall apart tender.

You may also do this in the oven rather than on the grill.  It will also be amenable to braising techniques, as opposed to dry roasting/barbecuing.

While it is too late for this particular chuck, in the future you may have better success not slicing it prior to barbecuing.

If you are thinking of grilling as a high temperature technique and do not want to do the low and slow methods, I am afraid this will not work out well with chuck.  It is naturally not tender, and these high temperature grilling will not facilitate enhancing the tenderness.  If you are time constrained, you would be better off freezing your marinated chuck for another time, and cooking something else that does respond well to the fast, intense heat of grilling, like steaks or pork chops.


How to declog coffee maker clogged by milk

When you ran milk though the machine you cooked a lot of fat and protein into the components, which isn't good. The only "easy" thing I could recommend is to try to run some clear vinegar through it, the acidity may break down the milk residue and clear the machine.

The only other way to get it working isn't as easy as it requires manually removing the residue using brushes. Inter-dental brushes are thin and bendable, you should be able to get them into those holes on the top picture. If you can get at the heating element with an old toothbrush that would be good too. Other than that the only thing I could think to try is a complete tear-down of the coffee machine, which may or may not be something within your skills or worth your time. Just remember to unplug it before you attempt any invasive repairs!


How much carrot is too much when baking carrot cake?

There is no exact limit, it's a subjective/linguistic question. With every carrot you add, the proportion of people who recognize your result as "cake" will go down and those who recognize it as something else will go up.
That being said, I now checked my preferred books for recipes that do quickbreads and muffins by the volume, and they tend to have a spread between 0.5 and 1.5 cups of add-in per cup of flour, with Ruhlmann's ratio also containing a fritter (not quickbread!) recipe at 2 cups of zucchini to 1 cup of flour. This means that, for typical tastes, your recipe is already on the high side of carrot. If you want to add more than that, do so incrementally, and don't be surprised when others dismiss it as not being a cake any more.
As mentioned in comments, you will be able to have a stronger carrot taste with a better texture if you would replace the whole fresh carrots for something more concentrated, e.g. partially dehydrated carrots, macerated carrots, or you can search for prepared carrot flavoring (some molecular gastronomy shops carry all kinds of flavoring) or also use something that is strongly reminiscent of carrots, such as a small drop of nigella oil.


In my experience, tomatoes last longer in the fridge, in the sense of not getting molds and rotten, but the quality decreases a bit. Tomatoes seem to like the last bit of ripening outside of the fridge. Than you get the most flavor and the best texture.

When I eat tomatoes directly from the fridge, the tomatoes are too hard and tend to be a bit more sour. If they are softer because they are already older, the texture is more wattery and often there isn't much flavor left.

So if you have too much tomatoes to consume in a week, I would advice storing some tomatoes in the fridge for later. The ones that you are going to eat, I would always put them in room temperature a few days before.


Will botulism growing in my home-canned vegetables pop the lid?

One reason botulism is so scary is that you can's see, smell, or taste the bacteria growing in there. The only way to know for sure if botulism is growing in food is to have it tested by a laboratory.

Fortunately, though, you can see its evidence.

Yes, a puffed-up can or a jar w/ the lid popped up means something's growing in there. Discard the material; do not consume it.

Discard a metal can if there's any visible opening, no matter how small, if the ends are bulging, if the seam doesn't look intact, or if there's a leak.

Discard a jar if the jar appears cracked at all, if the pop-top doesn't pop when opened (meaning there's no longer a vacuum inside), or if the seal appears damaged.

As for how long it takes for a problem to arise, I'm not sure; I've had the same question.


How can I minimize crumbliness in agar based candies?

I took a look here http://blog.khymos.org/recipe-collection/ but i see no recipe that fixes agar's crumbliness. All the candy recipes use gelatin or cornstarch.


Is the mixing order important when substituting white sugar + molasses for brown sugar?

As you probably know, the creaming step is important.

Sugar crystals cut up the fat and make a lot of air pockets.

If liquid is added early then the sugars dissolve and creaming doesn't happen.
If there is too little sugar it is less effective.
If there is too much sugar the fat is reduced to a crumbly mass and is not fluffy.

Your recipe calls for a certain amount of white and brown sugar to be creamed and then more molasses to be added with the wet ingredients.

The safest method would be to thoroughly mix your white sugar and the white sugar + molasses to approximate the original recipe and then cream- adding the additional molasses later. Beyond this substitution you are creating your own recipe and it will require some experimentation.

Try adding all the molasses in the initial mix and see if that doesn't dissolve your sugar too much.
Try leaving all the molasses until after creaming.
In both cases- the creaming is successful if the butter is creamy and fluffy. Not a batter and not crumbly sugar.

Obviously I would do these experiments on a smaller portion and not risk a huge batch.

I doubt anyone could tell you exactly how this will turn out without experimenting. I've never seen a table that lists the water concentrations at which creaming is effective.


What are the (most common) different ways to thicken sauces and gravies?

Major ways of thickening a sauce -- or, for that matter, some other liquid:

Starch (e.g., flour, cornstarch, tapioca, arrowroot)
Emulsion (e.g., butter, cream, yolk, mustard, blending in lecithin-and-fat)
Coagulated protein (e.g., blood, egg, pureed seafood)
Gels/polysaccharides (gelatin, alginate, xanthan, pectin, agar agar, guar gum)
Suspension (general puree of solids)

Note that some of the examples of one category can also fit into another.


Switching out butter for vegetable oil (like canola) when making caramels

There are some vegan caramel recipes that use coconut oil and/or various nut butters to achieve something similar to normal caramel. I haven't tried making them myself, but a vegan friend has used them for various desserts. I personally find that they can be slightly grainy compared to normal caramel, but the flavour is fine. So, it's certainly possible to make a caramel with vegetable oils. I would look up a few recipes for vegan caramel to get an idea of the correct amounts.

Side note: taste would not be my main concern if I replaced butter with oil for cookies. I would expect the cookies to just not set properly when they cooled down.


how to store a chicken sandwich overnight for lunch the next day

I would personally wait with assembling it until right before eating. Put the bread in a bag, the sliced chicken in a bag, and find a small container to keep the pesto in. Then you can assemble and heat on "grill" for a minute or so when you're ready to eat it. That should prevent any sogginess.


Butter serves multiple purposes.  Butter does = flavor, particularly when the milk solids are caramelized.  Butter is also used as an emulsifier.  Butter + water or stock, can easily become a delicious sauce.  An emulsifier is also the role it plays in your example of a chocolate sauce.  It contributes to the smoothness of the chocolate sauce.  Butter plays many other roles as well.  For example in laminated dough (the dough that a croissant is made from) the butter plays the role of keeping layers of dough separate and trapping steam during baking, making a flaky pastry.


How can I marinate meatballs without making them "mushy"?

I would crispen the outside a bit by frying or baking them first. To improve the outer crust, you might dust with flour and corn starch before frying. Typically I have not previously had problems with meat balls in sauce becoming mushy using minimally breaded mix, spices, and lean -ish (90%) ground meat. Here are some additional points to consider;

If you use bread in your meatball mix, you might tilt the ratio more in favor of the meat
If you are not using egg or some other binder, you might try doing so to create a tighter bond inside the ball
If you are cooking the sauce at too high a heat (I normally have mine set as low as possible when doing a long cook) it may come to a simmer, making the sauce likelier to disrupt the meatballs. Maintain a lower heat or use a heavier pot
If you are using ground meat, there is more room for the sauce to creep in. Make sure that they are packed sufficiently tightly when rolling them

Short of leaving the sauce and meat overnight, flavors will transfer more quickly in warmer temperatures. I am having trouble locating definitive resources to back this claim up, so I am speaking mainly from experience. However, one caveat exists particular to collagen and connective tissues in meat; here it is explaining why stews and other foods taste better the next day. Mixing water and strong acids is an exothermic process (gives off heat, does not benefit from warmth). However, this process is about mixing strong acids and fats. I would also mention that you are supposed to store tomatoes at room temp as the cold does not preserve their flavor and inhibits ripening, though I'm not sure this is relevant.


Are there any techniques to "cheat" at cooking a risotto?

Actually I've found that constant stirring has little to no affect on the final product. You can simply stir rigorously at the last minute and achieve similar results. Don't believe me? Try it for yourself and you'll see.

Another trick is pre-cooking your rice. Just follow a standard risotto recipe but stop cooking the rice about half way through the process (about 10 minutes in or just before aldente). Strain the stock from the rice and pour it out onto a baking sheet to cool quickly. You can refrigerate it for up to a day. To finish it, just pick up where you left off and - presto - you've just cut out half the cooking time.

Cheers!


When can I use coconut oil as a substitution for other fats?

It depends on the application: coconut oil is highly saturated compared to most vegetable oils, so it is more solid at room temperature.

If you are using it as a medium to saute or fry, this is not going to matter very much.

If you are using it a baked item, it may or may not depending on the item.  Most of the time in baked goods, you can substitute fats pretty freely, but you will get some change the in ultimate texture if you use a much more saturated fat.

In recipes which expect the oil to be liquid, you either have to melt the coconut oil before using it (if that is reasonably possible, for example in a muffin recipe), or not use it.

And of course, coconut oil may carry a slight flavor or aroma of coconuts.


How to get instant pudding to come out smooth?

I like to put the pudding mix in the bowl first and add the milk a little at a time, stirring or beating well after each addition, until you have smooth emulsion. Once the pudding mixture is smooth, add the rest of the milk and beat with your whisk as usual. Of course an electic mixer will help smooth it out as well.


I have a frozen fish head. What should I do with it?

I guess you could look into making your own fermented fish sauce, but for that you are really supposed to use whole small fish. And a single head will not get you very far.

If you had heads from larger fish you could cut out the cheeks and cook something with those. I had a pasta dish once where the sauce was made with cod cheeks and that was delicious. Having said that though, it is still just fish meat. The cheek meat is not that different from cod fillet.

As for your single dorade head, your best bet is probably still to use it for stock or soup. I usually keep two boxes in the freezer, one for meat and one for fish, where I just toss anything that will work in a stock. Fish heads, prawn shells, chicken carcasses, meat trimmings, it all goes in there. Even vegetables, like carrots that have gone soft, leek greens etc. Once the boxes are filled up I make the stock and start the box over again.


Removing macaron paper template under silicone mat

Yeah, don't. Either don't use guides at all (you shouldn't need them after the third or so batch), or use good ones, like this. Macarons are difficult and fussy anyway - you don't need to add to the fussiness. Eventually, you'll either thank me or curse the very idea of those wretched cookies.

I've tried to remove paper templates from under the silpat. It's an impossible headache.

One thing that does work is to draw the little circles on parchment paper. You can pipe the macarons directly on the paper, or if your silpat is transparent enough, you can just leave the paper under the silpat. I've done both of those things with some success, so it is with experience that I recommend you don't.

Caveat: If you draw little circles on parchment paper to help you pipe your macarons, flip the paper so that you pipe on the non-drawn side. Unfortunately, I speak from experience here. I used a Sharpie to draw perfect circles for my These Will Be Perfect macarons. They were perfect, except for the damn lines that baked in, transferred from the paper.


Custard does not freeze well, it has a tendency to separate. If you do freeze it, freeze it right away, leave it frozen for as little time as possible, and defrost it in the refrigerator. I wouldn't leave it in the freezer for more than a month.

One way to freeze custard and get great results is to make ice cream! If you have an ice cream maker, great. If not, that's OK too. Custard based ice creams get less icy than other types of ice cream when made without churning. Just thoroughly stir every half an hour while freezing for at least three hours.


How long can frosting with butter, powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, and milk, that is covered with fondant be left out of the refrigerator?

Because of the dairy in your frosting, it really ought to be chilled overnight.  It could warm up on to room temperature for a few hours.

Also, do cover the cake, so dust and stuff doesn't get on it.


Using left over pickle juice to make more pickles

I tried it once. They just spoiled in a few days. I think you need to go through the whole pickle-making process rather than just adding cucumbers to a jar of brine. There's a sterilization that you're not getting, I think.

I have seen recipes and pre-packaged "refrigerator pickle" mixes, ("Mrs." somebody... comes to mind) but haven't made any. I've eaten them, and they were pretty tasty.


How to transport fresh ravioli to office potluck?

I take the question to mean how you can best preserve the fresh-made texture with microwaving?

I would make, cool and store ravioli in single layers on parchment/waxpaper in a container for transport. Separately,  the sauce transported in largest microve-safe container that will fit in office micowave.
Heat sauce to boiling then gently add in ravioli and continue to reheat on defrost if stirring would damage ravioli, or higher setting if you  can stir halfway through time.


Is it possible to make burger buns pans made with paper tape?

If by "paper tape" you mean "strips of (food safe) paper or parchment" then yes, it's possible.

But before we talk about the how, let's have a quick look at the why first:
Most cooks want to match the size of the bun to the size of the patty or vice versa. Unfortunately, some recipes can be a bit unpredictable as far as the rising and expansion of the buns are concerned, and so are the abilities of the various bakers when it comes to proper shaping. A burger bun pan limits the sideways expansion, thus determining a maximum diameter. And if the bun can't expand sideways, it will go up.

Now, how you achieve that is up to you.
The aforementioned hamburger bun pans (aka mini pie pans, btw.) are but one solution. Others are baking rings, the tops of canning jars, strips of tinfoil, strips of parchment, a parchment collar inside a tin, parchment around a tin. (The latter two are probably overkill for your case.)

In short, for tinfoil or parchment you take a strip that's an inch or two longer than your desired diameter and a few times as wide as your desired height. You fold it lengthwise a few times for increased stability, then secure the overlapping ends - a stapler comes to mind. Tape will probably not stick to parchment (depends on the brand) and is not supposed to go in the hot oven. In a pinch, a piece of string (cotton, not plastic!) can work as well. The tinfoil link above has also step-by step instructions.

I personally use neither - I shape my buns until the surface is taut and usually they turn out nice enough. So in addition to crafting rings, you should also read up on how to properly shape buns.


Special coffee served in Malaysia (or India)

There's a very specific coffee culture to singapore and malaysia with a ton of varients.

Lets start with the basics

This is a kopi o

By default, any drink you order is hot. This is plain black coffee and any coffee order you make at a kopi tiam will likely be a varient on this.

You might note that its somewhat darker than your example I'd assume this means it has some condensed milk added to it. A quick google search suggested two varients.

kopi 'c' - or coffee with (evaporated) milk

kopi nai (with condensed milk and sugar) -

The former looks a bit too light, though exact mixes vary. Chances are its one of these.

That said, there's two distinct regional styles of roasting - typical coffee roasting is done with a hint of sugar and margarine, and roasted VERY dark. There's also a style called white coffee that just uses margarine that's supposed to be famous in ipoh.


Many cake batters call for mayonnaise. It makes for moister cakes. Using mayonnaise instead of its constituent ingredients adds convenience as well as extra emulsifiers. It is true that mayonnaise doesn't handle high heat on its own but it doesn't have to. It is part of a batter that will set.

If you really don't trust the recipe- the mayonnaise can be replaced with egg yolks that have oil whipped into them to form an emulsion. You can add a little vinegar for flavor. :)


With a properly non-stick springform pan, the cake should shrink and pull slightly away from the edges as it cools. Don't do anything to it until it's fully cooled (to refrigerator temperature). At that point a spatula might help release, but probably wouldn't be necessary.

I would expect parchment paper to be counterproductive. It would absorb some liquid during cooking and become more adhesive than your non-stick pan. Also, it would make forming the crust against the sides trickier.


Are potatoes ever used in Mexican or Tex-Mex dishes?

Potatoes are very popular in some parts of Mexico.  When I lived in Guadalajara, potato tacos were common, usually deep-fried.  Diced (and possibly pre-cooked) potatoes with some seasoning added to a soft taco shell, then the entire thing fried together until crispy.  After frying, such tacos (whether with potatoes or other filling) were cracked open to add lettuce or salsa or whatever other toppings/fillings might be desired, or salsa might be poured over the top, and eaten with a fork.

One of my favorite local dishes was gorditas, which are basically a double-thick tortilla split at the middle (like pita bread) and stuffed with a filling of choice, and grilled.  Diced and cooked potatoes were a common choice, often with beans or cheese as well.

Potatoes are also common in Mexico prepared much the same as they are in the U.S.: Baked, or as french fries, or the ever-popular potato chip.  Always with a Mexican flair, usually in the form of extra spicy seasoning or sauces added.

I also had a "Breakfast taco" in Austin, Texas a couple months ago, which had potatoes.  So there is some tex-mex food with potatoes, but I think this is probably not as common as it is in true Mexican cuisine.  But then, Tex-Mex has never been a very close substitute for true Mexican food :)

My best guess as for why potatoes are not common in Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants in the U.S. is that potatoes are not considered an exotic/exciting enough food/flavor to be considered "special" by most people who frequent such places.


Frozen Octopus or fresh Octopus for recipes?

This is my favorite reference for octopus.  Near the end, Harold McGee considers the fresh v. frozen octopus debate.  His results are not exactly conclusive. McGee found fresh octopus, lightly blanched, to be "sweetly scallop-like and not too chewy.  But cooking it turned it bouncier than ever." His conclusion: "Freshness isn't the key to relevatory octopus."  So, based on my reading, if your preparation only requires a light blanching and thin slices, go with fresh.  Otherwise, you are better off considering the cooking technique as the most important variable.


Woodfire oven how to get crust soft and tasty

Italian pizza crumb must be soft (morbida, as Italians say) in its inner part (the one below the tomato sauce), and its outer rim can be more or less crispy.

You can check the requisite for being soft at this link from the Vera Pizza Napolitana association (check the "Description of the product"):

  The consistency of the " Verace Pizza Napoletana " - (Vera Pizza Napoletana) should be
  soft, elastic, easy to manipulate and fold. The centre should be particularly soft to the
  touch and taste,

  ...

  The crust should deliver the flavour of well-prepared, baked bread.

The outer part can be crunchier or softer, depending on your taste. It will depend on the strength (W value) of the flour. You can check it in this Italian pizza flour manufacturer.

Using a longer fermentation time will extract more taste from the flour. That's why a crunchier outer rim is usually associated with tastier pizzas.

That long fermentation also helps the dough been extensible and not stretching back, which is desirable when you are shaping the pizza. I wrote more details on it in this answer on pizza flours.

In order to achieve a soft center, the pizza is done in a very little time (from 60 to 90 seconds). To get this, you need a very hot oven (over 450ºC / 900ºF).

It is difficult to get a thermometer that measures that temperature (most infrared ones usually can't measure over 350ºC). You can check if the oven is too hot throwing flour in it. If it catches fire (in less than 5 seconds) then it's too hot. If it just gets dark, then it's ok. After using this method, remember to remove the burnt flour, or it will give a bitter taste to the pizzas you'll later put on it.

To get the outer rim of the pizza rise like bread, you should have some flames in the oven. They will radiate a lot of heat, so you have to rotate the pizza 180º during its baking, so it will get done equally in all the border.

The flames should be in one side of the oven, never at the back. This way the air that enters to feed the flame will induce a rotating whirpool that helps the air in the oven to be hotter.

As the floor surface of the oven is very hot (>400ºC), the pizza you put in it won't actually be touching it: it will be floating on its own steam. That's why the bottom of the pizzas are not burnt.

You are asking about adding sugar or not.

Sugar is the food yeasts eat.

Flour has no sugar. But it has starches, which are molecules made of many sugar molecules together. Flour also has enzymes that can break the starches in sugar molecules. That happens when you add water to the flour, and the enzymes can move easily to do their work. But they need time to do so.

When you add flour, water and yeasts, the late ones have to wait a bit for their food. If you add sugar, they'll have food since the beginning (the sugar you added) to the end (the sugar from broken starches): sugar is added to make the dough fermentation in less time.

So, if you want a quick risen dough, add (a small quantity of) sugar. If you want a tasty one, don't.


I'm specifically answering your question "Is it okay to use a microwave in convection mode without the turntable?" -- Yes.

Your own answer points out the reality that if a pan is too large then the turn table will simply hit the sides of the microwave oven and then stop turning. There is nothing wrong with this. There is nothing wrong or damaging to have a metal tin touch the metal sides of your oven.

How was your baked items bottom? If you can sit your tin up so there is air flow under your tin, then you will improve the baking efficiency and it will bake more evenly.

CAUTION: If anyone else is reading this question and wondering about their own machine, then you really need to take caution about the "convention only" mode. You have to make sure there are NO microwaves in this mode or else your metal will conduct and you could have a serious explosion or break your microwave oven.


If salt dehydrates the meat, then why would brining make it more juicy as a whole?

Actually, it's a popular misconception that brining works because of osmosis. If it was really osmosis at work, plain water would work better than salted water. Kenji over at The Food Lab went into this a few months ago: http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/11/the-food-lab-the-truth-about-brining-turkey-thanksgiving.html
Here's the relevant bit:

To understand what's really happening, you have to look at the structure of turkey muscles. Muscles are made up of long, bundled fibers, each one housed in a tough protein sheath. As the turkey heats, the proteins that make up this sheath will contract. Just like a squeezing a tube of toothpaste, this causes juices to be forced out of the bird. Heat them to much above 150°F or so, and you end up with dry, stringy meat.
Salt helps mitigate this shrinkage by dissolving some of the muscle proteins (mainly myosin). The muscle fibers loosen up, allowing them to absorb more moisture, and more importantly, they don't contract as much when they cook, making sure that more of that moisture stays in-place as the turkey cooks.

In the article he discusses the downsides (flavor dilution) and alternatives to brining (salting). I'd check it out, it's a good read.


That is actually correct - depending on the fruit you may be looking at different sugar component ratios (fructose/glucose), but ultimately, fruit is sweet because it contains sugar.
If you looking at dried fruit, the loss of water means a lot of concentrated sugar remains - and if you remember how sugar is made, it’s to be expected.


We metropolitan French distinguish "levure chimique" and "levure organique" (also called "levure de boulanger"). The first one is baking powder (the carbonated molecule), the latter is yeast (the fungi).

If there is only "levure" written, it generally means "levure chimique" (baking powder), as it is more readily available, rises faster, and doesn't need to be carefully kept alive.


Any jar sold for home canning will work for what you want. They are designed to handle temperatures higher than 212°F/100°C.

What you want to avoid is thermal shock - a large and rapid change of temperature. Don't put cool/cold jar(s) in boiling water, don't put hot jar(s) directly on cool counter or in refrigerator/freezer. Don't fill cold jar(s) with hot contents and vice-versa.


Is it safe to let prosciutto and parmesan rise in bread dough overnight?

Parmigiano and Prosciutto are made to be stored for long times. 24 hours out of the fridge are ok, and if you have any doubt, remember you're still cooking them in a very hot oven.

BTW cover them somehow in order to avoid any contamination from insects or similar.


Do you need more yogurt starter for more milk?

Recipes call for a certain amount of starter to maximize the chances that your starter bacteria will crowd out undesirable wild bacteria.

If you use too little starter you will increase the chances that some random bacteria will win the incubation war. Since you don't know what you will get this can be actually dangerous.

I would recommend making an initial batch with the ratio the starter recommends and then using that finished yogurt as a starter for a second, larger batch. Since you would then have the entire first batch to use as a starter you can scale up your recipe for larger batches.


Pressure canning tomatoes without added acid

According to Putting Foods By, 25th ed. (1982), you can fill tomato jars with just hot boiled tomato juice rather than requiring additional acid, and then pressure-can them:

10lbs pressure / 40 minutes for skinned whole tomatoes
10lbs pressure / 15 minutes for sliced or diced tomatoes

... with some adjustments depending on jar size.

However, their extensive (11 large pages) section on tomatoes notes that whether or not acid should be added when pressure canning is controversial.


What cooking/grilling applications are more suitable for smokers than standard BBQ's?

While it would be helpful to know:

What kind of grill you currently have.
What kind of smoker you're talking about acquiring.

I think I can still give you some decent feedback.  Generally speaking, a smoker is better suited for cooking foods for a long time at a low temperature -- which is the traditional definition of "barbecue" in America -- than a grill would be. Conversely, a grill is better suited than a smoker for cooking foods at high temperatures over high, direct heat.  This is not to say you can't cook on indirect heat using a grill, nor is it to say that some smokers can't be adapted for grilling. It's just which is the more suitable tool for what job.

For barbecue, a smoker offers the advantages of better heat control at lower temperatures, and greater food capacity in the cooking chamber.

I would suggest that if you want to do a lot of barbecue, particularly things that require really long cooking times (a pork butt or brisket can go as long as 14 hours), it would be worthwhile to get a smoker.  If not, it would make more sense to adapt your grill for barbecue on the occasions that you would need it.  Actually, I'd recommend you do that first, anyway, to see if you like doing that kind of cooking. An entry-level Weber smoker can run you $300, and I would not recommend going on the cheap with your smoker.  The ones on the low end of the market do not work very well, and they will sour you on the concept.


The best way I have found is to soak the ears in husk for several hours before grilling. This lets the husk soak lots of water. Then place the corn, still in husk, on a hot grill for about 10 minutes, ~1/4 turn, 10 minutes, turn... until the husk gets brown, even burnt.

You should be able to tell when the corn is cooked by the smell. The sugars in the corn will start to caramelize and brown in the husk and it will give off a delicious caramel smell. You can check them by peeling down the husk to make sure that they are cooking well.

Times will depend on your grill and how much patience you have. In general, it is difficult to overcook. You want to watch out for drying, but that usually takes a while if you soak the ears beforehand.

Foil is a poor substitute for the natural wrapper. The husk both protects the cob from too much direct heat as well as holding water close to the cob to gently steam the kernels. And its just prettier with the browned and burnt husk, au natural.


Does store bought barbecue sauce need to be heated/cooked before consumption?

These products are generally made to be shelf stable and do not require heating.  Once opened, you should keep in the refrigerator.


Cooking is not as effective at removing alcohol as many people think; the alcohol and water evaporate or boil together. At a simmer, it might only take 10-15 minutes to get rid of half of the alcohol, but getting rid of 90% of it takes more like two hours. See this previous question on cooking away alcohol for more detail.

In any case, a microwave can certainly simmer or boil liquids, and the alcohol/water evaporation doesn't care about what equipment you used to cook it, so you certainly could do use a microwave to reduce the amount of alcohol in wine.

However, it doesn't give you nearly as much control as a stove; even if you use a reduced power, it'll tend to boil on and off as it cycles the power. And microwaving for extended time periods is a pretty awkward method.

So in general, I'd suggest doing this kind of thing with conventional cooking methods, especially if it's as part of a dish. You can use the cooking time of a stew to help reduce the alcohol, for example. And even if you want to remove more alcohol than the cooking time of your dish permits, a pot on the stove gives you much better control.


What are the advantages and disadvantages to using a griddle instead of a cast-iron skillet?

Yes, you don't have the edge of a pan in the way when going to flip things, but it also means that you don't have a mass of metal there to add as a heat sink, which can help dramatically when pre-heating your pans, as they'll be evenly heated across their bottom more quickly (at least, compared to something of the same material, such as a cast iron skillet)

More importantly, in my opinion, is that without the sides, you don't hold in moist air, so when cooking things like hash browns, you can get a better crust on 'em without steaming them.


Unless you are getting your beef directly from a farm or butcher's truck, most blood will long have vacated the muscle. As the muscle enters rigor mortis and is (this is true for America and Europe, traditions and techniques are different in some parts of Asia and Africa) hung for the prescribed seven to ten days it loses almost all of its capillary blood.

Dry aged (not as common) beef has this effect even more, if you purchased a supermarket filet with a "sanitary pad" in the bottom, the moisture you see there is juices, water and some protein, from collapsing cells, not blood. The same is true for any beef not cooked to shoe-leather consistency, the reddish "juice" is intra-cellular and not from blood vessels.

As far as flavors go, soaking your meat for any period of time below, let's say, two days, has very little effect. It was traditionally done to apply some osmotic power to the cut in order to dilute and remove salt left over from the drying process (this was before cooling was widely available, still done in many countries outside of Europe and America), but isn't usually necessary for meat you get in the meat aisle or from your local butcher.

As far as tenderizing goes, no. Enzymatic tenderizing (that is the stuff that happens when you age beef) goes on, of course, but you won't be able to tell much of a difference between the time you bought the muscle and the time you consume it. Water itself does not tenderize. Minutes to hours do nothing.


Effect of wine used for deglazing on dish

Unless the recipe calls for a fortified or sweet wine (e.g. madeira, sherry) use a dry or very dry wine, usually white, but not always. You can easily ruin a dish using a sweeter wine, as I once did with risotto.

Whether or not the flavor of the wine comes through depends entirely on the wine used and the quantity. If the recipe calls for a cup of wine, then you will probably notice it in the final dish. If used just to deglaze a pan, then you probably won't notice it at all.

Old wine is fine as long as it's palatable and/or hasn't soured. Beer works great as well.


Is it possible to make taste of raw oily salmon less pronounced?

My suggestion would be if you don't like the taste don't buy the fish in the first place, however if you have bought fish and then found out it's too strong a flavor there are a few things you can do:

A squeeze of lemon: acidity is a well known and frequently used way to cut fatty, oily flavors
Sugar rub: coating the flesh with some sugar and letting it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour draws out moisture and the sugar will impart some flavor, just get rid of the excess before you eat it
Salt rub: similar to sugar you can do the same thing with salt, I do a mix

You could do a full cure as well but it seems overkill and isn't likely to do more than a shorter rub. I'd suggest starting with lemon and seeing if that helps, if it doesn't I'd be tempted to cook it instead of spending a lot of time and effort making it more palatable raw.


Why do red onions turn blue or green when cooking sometimes?

The pigments that give onions the colour behave like a litmus test. They are red in the naturally acidic onion. They turn green/blue in an alkaline environment. It sounds like when you cooked the beans it created that alkaline environment to cause the colour change.

See Here.


How many different varieties of 'pancake' are there?

I'm not going to accept this as an answer, but as Community has decided to give it a nudge.

I wrote up my little 'experiment' after I did it.

Although culinarily, a pancake would be something from a batter that is self-leveling, there seem to be a few other categories that many people may not consider 'pancakes' based on their upbringing :

Items made from shredded vegetables, with starch or an egg as a binder : latkes (Jewish; aka 'potato pancakes'), okonomiyaki (Japan), jeon (Korea), kartoffelpuffer (Germany)
Dough that is rolled out very thin and then cooked on a griddle or in a pan: roti (India), some varieties of bing (China, eg. 'scallion pancakes' (cong you bing) and 'mandarin pancakes' (bao bing)).  Note that this would also include South American tortillas and many flatbreads.  (although not classic preparations of naan (India) which is made in a tandoor)
Batter or gruel that is spread out, rather than self-leveling: crêpes (France), dosa (India), matafan (France), some styles of jonnycakes (USA), some styles of hoecakes (USA)

For the self-leveling batter-based pancakes, we can still divide them up into a few categories, as not everyone considered all of them pancakes:

large, thin, and unleavened: pancakes (England), pannekoeken (Netherlands), pannkakor (Sweden), pannekaken (Norway), pfannkuchen (Germany)
Leavened, cooked in a depression (not a flat griddle or pan), may be rotated during cooking: poffertjes (Netherlands), æbleskiver (Denmark), takoyaki (Japan)
Unleavened (other than whipped air & steam) cooked in a vessel in the oven: Dutch babies (USA), pannukakku (Finland), Yorkshire pudding (England).  May include other popovers.
Leavened, cooked on a pan or griddle: drop scone (UK), pancakes (USA; aka flapjacks, griddlecakes), pancakes (Scotland; aka 'Scotch pancake'), pikelet (Australia), some styles of jonnycakes (USA), some styles of hoecakes (USA)

I'm not sure how to classify the following:

injera (Ethiopia); might be self-leveling, but is poured in a spiral (so either pancake variety 4 or non-pancake variety 3).  Also not flipped, which is abnormal for griddle-cooked pancakes.
kanom krok (Thailand); cooked in a depression like pancake variety 3, but assembled like a sandwich rather than being individually flipped.
kaiserschmarrn (Austria); either mixed during cooking or cut up after making a pancake of variety 4.


I'm a bit of a coffee nut, having bought my own espresso machine & grinder and have been pulling my own shots and learning how to create different coffee drinks for some years now. I am by no means an expert, however:

What you're seeing when the barista is swirling/tapping the milk jug is called "polishing". It's the step after they've steamed it and does two things

1) The swirling "polishes" the milk/foam to give it a nice "shine" (best described as looking like paint).

2) The tapping removes any larger bubbles - your aim for steamed milk for coffee drinks is generally to get a "micro foam" which as it sounds, has micro bubbles.

Bit of extra info:

To control how much foam you get is right at the start, when you initially start the steaming - you have the steam wand just under the surface of the milk so it introduces as much air as you need. Similar idea to whipping cream really. After introducing the air, you submerge the steam wand and use the steam to "spin" the milk - this mixes the foam with the milk to increase it's volume (and also starts the "polishing" process).

To control where the foam goes, you adjust how quickly you pour. Just dumping it all in the cup will churn the milk and foam together. Pouring with a spout in a more controlled fashion will pour the milk in first, then the foam after (same idea as helium balloons rising, the foam is lighter than the milk)

Hope this helps :)


How does the quantity of salt change after the steaming stage when cooking pulao?

Dum is the steaming stage of the cooking. This is the stage where rice absorb water and the flavor. From my experience and what all our generations have been told on how to cook pulao/rice, you taste the water/broth just after adding rice. It should be a bit saltier than what you would normally like. This way the saltiness in rice will be just right when you finish the cooking.

EDIT (with the comments from Stephie):

Rice absorbs water and with the water, some of the salt.

In the beginning, you are tasting the water : salt ratio. After cooking, you are tasting the (water + rice) : salt ratio which means you are getting something that tastes less salty.


Do I add salt to my sunny side up eggs before, during, or after cooking?

(1)  Taste.  When you salt your eggs DOES affect taste because it affects the way your tongue comes into contact with the salt.  If you salt your eggs before or during cooking, some of all of the salt dissolves in the water that is in the eggs (raw eggs, overall, are roughly 75% water) and is dispersed over the surface of your eggs while they cook. When you salt your eggs after cooking, crystals of salt remain on the egg and, when these crystals come into contact with your tongue directly, they produce a brighter salty taste.  So basically, the way your tongue registers saltiness depends on concentration, not just amount.  Think about how differently a pinch of salt tastes directly on the tongue as opposed to the way that same pinch would taste if dissolved in a drop of water.

So...the tongue registers a brighter salt taste when it comes in contact with salt directly.  That doesn't mean that salting eggs after cooking is better - it means that it affects perception of salt differently.  Go with whichever you prefer personally.

(2) Texture.  Whenever I have a question about food science, I consult Harold McGee's book "On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen."  He states unequivocally that salt DOES NOT toughen eggs.  According to McGee, the only egg preparation that is harmed by the addition of salt is and egg white foam (whipped egg whites).

So from the standpoint of texture, salt whenever you feel called to do so.

Controlling the heat when you fry an egg is the single more important factor in determining the texture of your cooked eggs.


Hot water vs warm water for hot chocolate

There are two good reasons to use boiling water in hot chocoolate.

The first reason is that boiling water helps drive off chlorine which is added to the water supply. This won't work with some chlorine treatment, and of course isn't necessary with bottled or other unchlorinated water, but for standard free-chlorine treatment it can make a big difference. As a rule of thumb, if your boiling water has a distinct (possibly pool-like) smell, it's from the chlorine. (The smell is the chlorine leaving the water. It's still there in unboiled water, but more evident through taste than through smell.)

The second is that cocoa powder may need to be "bloomed" to fully release its flavor. Cocoa powder is a very fine powder, but it's still tiny bits of dried plant matter. Boiling water hydrates these particles much better than hot water, allowing flavor components to disperse into the mixture. The importance of this method varies with the type of cocoa powder you use, and from my anecdotal experience is not as important with European cocoa as it is with North American cocoa.) Failing to do this won't directly lead to bitterness, but the underextracted flavor may make bitterness in the drink more directly evident.

As an experiment, I suggest that you try making "cold chocolate" both ways. Use boiling water as normal, and refrigerate the result to refrigerator temperature. In a separate mug, try making it with cold water. (Add the cold water a bit at a time while stirring, and make sure to scrape the sides thoroughly as you add it; it will not be as easy to mix everything up as it is with hot water. If you end up with a bunch of bubbly, granular mud floating on water, toss it out and try again.) The difference between the two will be evident, and should help you pin down the difference between warm and boiling water.


Is it possible to make fudgy brownies without oil?

If you have a recipe that already produces a dense fudgy brownie and you're looking to do it without oil, you're just out of luck.

If you're looking to produce a dense fudgy brownie and wondered if, while you were at it, you might cut back on the oil...NO, but here are some suggestions for making a cakey brownie more dense and "fudgey":

Follow Tim's advice above on using butter instead of oil.  It's not doing anything as far as calories but it will produce better flavor vs. a neutral oil.  However, particularly if you're planning to put nuts in them, you could replace a portion of the vegetable oil with walnut or hazelnut oil for enhanced nutty flavor.
Replace half of the whole eggs with egg yolks.  Cakiness in brownies is partly due to the use of whole eggs.  Egg whites have a drying effect on baked goods.  In converting a brownie recipe I did, I used 2 egg yolks for each whole egg.
Replace part of the granulated sugar with corn syrup. They hygroscopic nature(ability to absorb moisture and retain it) of the corn syrup will create a more dense moist result.  I think I replaced about half the sugar with corn syrup.  The added moisture of the corn syrup will help to off-set the loss of moisture from removing the egg whites.

Method/Technique:

Heat chocolate, butter, cocoa powder over a hot water bath until chocolate is melted.  Stir to blend to a smooth consistency.  Set aside to cool slightly.

Beat egg yolks/whole egg with sugar and corn syrup until thick, light in color, and mixture forms a "ribbon".

Combine dry ingredients and make a well in the center.

Temper chocolate into egg/sugar mixture.  Mix to blend well.  Add to dry ingredients and fold together just until moistened.  Pour into greased pan and bake until set.


Romano cheese is nearly identical to Parmesan, as in you almost certainly will not tell the difference between the two, either in texture or in taste. You could probably also get away with an Asiago. While it has a different flavor and melting properties, it does share a similar nuttiness with Parmesan.


Materials you can put in the dishwasher

Glass, both traditional and borax
Glazed ceramic
Vitreous ceramic (Luminarc)
Silicone
Stainless steel, if you don't leave it in there for days either before or after running the dishwasher.

Materials you shouldn't put in the dishwasher

anything with a non-stick coating
aluminium and other reactive metals such as copper and cast iron. Not any kind of "tin" either, or black ?
wood
bamboo
unglazed ceramic like earthenware

Border cases
In general, you can put enameled metal in the dishwasher, but if you splurged on a LeCreuset and expect it to last for a lifetime, it is better to do it per hand too.
Another border case are plastics. There are some which will deform in the dishwasher and others which will be fine. Generally, the ones used in food vessels (such as tupperware food containers) and in utensils (such as high-melting-point nylon spatulas) are fine in the dishwasher.


Michelin Three Star Restaurant; but if the chef is not there

3 star restaurants are a business (*); for (probably bad) example, if I was to buy a Tesla car, I would not expect Elon Musk to build my car or even be at the auto-dealer.

Chefs will rarely cook; they will create the dishes, they might cook the prototypes and do trial plating to show his staff how the dish should cooked and presented; and the team will do the cooking day-to-day.

Chefs do high-level business management (human resources, produce handling and buying, do PR,...) and that takes time, they are not superman, they need to sleep and rest.

If they have to cook or be in the kitchen, then they need to be there early in the day for lunch preparation, they need to be there in the evening up to late because client will usually leave dinner at around midnight-ish; it is impossible to keep that schedule.

They will even be traveling to their other restaurants or do special appearances at food festivals around the world.

For example Pascal Barbot of the 3 star L'Astrance in Paris will be in Montréal for the Omnivore festival this week-end, so he will not be in Paris to "cook" or handle vip clients (in that case, maybe the restaurant is closed in august, I  don't know).

(*) All restaurants are business, but 3 star michelin are the top of the pyramid.


What should I look for when buying a pasta roller?

There are a few consideratons that I can think of:

How durable the device is.  Generally, this is going to mean that you want something metal & heavy, but I'd really look at reviews of any model that you plan to buy online, particularly from something like Amazon which lets you see those 1 star ratings, and you can see why people rated them so poorly.
How it clamps down to the work surface.  I don't care how heavy it is, if it's a hand-crank, it's going to walk all over the place unless it's well secured to your counter.  If you don't have a counter that's got a lip that you can clamp to, and you don't have a table that you're willing to possibly mar from the clamps, you might have to look for something else (or bolt/screw it down to a large board)
Size (width) of the feed.  There are some that are larger, which might be useful for making some pastries as well as pasta.  (and then there's dough sheeters, which are huge and expensive, but are 18" or wider, typically).
How many different thickneses the dial has, and what the min/max thickness is.  Again, a thicker one can be used for other pastry applications, but it also makes it easier to work the ball through that first time.  (I've only ever used one where the thickest size was a pain ... so it's not a common problem.  All I remember was it was a friend's, and it wasn't an Italian company)
Hand crank vs. motorized -- almost every hand crank roller can be converted (as the handle detaches for storage, so the motor just connects there), but the difference in cost is significant.  (~$50 vs. ~$150.  If you already have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, they sell an roller kit, but it's in that $150 range.)  Even if you got a motorized roller, I'd look to make sure that the motor detaches and it had a hand crank ... as it lets you keep working should the motor go into thermal shutdown, but it also means typically means that the company sells the roller and motor individually should one part die down the road.  (you should try to verify that, though)
Accessories -- so, other than an add-on motor, the two main accessories you'll see are cutters (fettucini and something thinner are typical), and ravioli stuffers.  Personally, I'd say the raviolli stuffers aren't worth it.  If you want consistently sized ones, get one of those little forms that you run a rolling pin over to cut, as the cleaning of the attachment ones means it's not worth it unless you're making a huge batch.  (which you can do, then freeze 'em, but I never have).  I think the cutters are worth it (and are typically included in even the $40-60 models) if you're going to make fettucini.  For the thinner strand pastas, I actually prefer extrusion over rolling.  (although, I think capellini/angel hair may need to be rolled vs. extruded, but I'm not a fan of that size of pasta).  For wider noodles, it's generally not a big deal to hand-cut 'em.

As for the question on price ... not really.  There are a few major price bands for the good motorized vs. non-motorized, and most stores keep 'em in those ranges.  The really cheap ones are going to break, or jam, as they just have a lower build quality.  If you see something much over $150, I'd question it.  Unless it had an exceptionally wide roller (and that was a feature you wanted), I can't think of a reason to shell out that much.

I'd try to stick with a model that I could find well reviewed  (with at least a dozen people having reviewed it if it's purchaser-submitted vs. something like Consumer Reports or America's Test Kitchen), and preferably, a model that's been on the market for years, as there's very little innovation -- a brand new model was likely made to trim costs, or because it's something the company never made before (and thus, untested).


How do I remove my KitchenAid attachment?

It is usually stuck because of fresh or old food particles getting into the socket or release mechanism

The simplest way is to drizzle boiling water onto the release mechanism. A few large pours over some minutes may be required to soften and remove the food particles

A quick spray of silicone oil may be required after this as the boiling water removes all factory lubrication too

Unplug the machine first! and take great care not to get water into the motor or electronic parts. Position the device over a sink or bucket so that water will flow away from the motor and electronic parts


Yorkshire Pudding Batter -- Letting it "Rest"

I previously addressed this on a related question here. I cited Kenji Lopez-Alt's great article about Yorkshire puddings based on his testing a variety of recipes. For the full thing, you can find it on Serious Eats. As to resting and batter temperature, this is what he says:

Resting Batter:

This was what the tester determined made the largest difference in the quality of the finished product:

  I'm going to say this: Resting your batter is the single most important step you can take to improving Yorkshire pudding and popovers. Not only do they come out taller, they also come out much tastier, with a more complex, toasty flavor. Non-rested-batter puddings taste positively flat (literally and figuratively) next to rested-batter puddings.

  I'd go so far as to say that resting at least overnight is essential if you are really after the best.

Batter temperature:

  Warmer batter will create taller, crisper puddings with a more hollow core
  Colder batter will create denser puddings with a more distinct cup.

So, definitely rest your batter (in the fridge!) and pick the batter temperature that matches the outcome you'd prefer.


Some asian cultures clean meats with flour and/or cornstarch to remove the game-y smell from it. Since it's being washed off, I don't think it for the velveting.


Why did my oatmeal and raisin cookies end up tasting soapy?

Soap is effectively a base (eg baking soda) reacted with a fat (eg oil). Also, heating baking soda can cause it to convert into sodium carbonate, which is a much stronger base.
I would suspect you're on the mark with suspecting the baking soda. The recipe calls for only a quarter of a teaspoon, so it would be very easy too add too much.


How long can I marinade/brine a tenderloin?

There is a difference between brining and marinating.  Brines are salt based solutions that work to make meat jucier.  It works by osmosis.  First water leaves the meat, then returns with the salt from the brine.  Because the meat cells now contain more salt, water remains during cooking.  Brining means juicy meat, but it is also salted.  This impacts flavor and texture.  In my experience some folks like this, other don't.  Marinades can add flavor.  Some marinades break down proteins and impact texture (depending on ingredients).  Marinades don't add moisture.  Marinades (as opposed to brines) only impact the surface (or slightly below...maybe 1/4 inch).

Proteins can be brined for hours to days depending on the process and desired impact.

Marinades are usually recommended for 1 - 12 hours.

So, to fully answer your question you would need to specify the impact you are looking for, but in general, given the short cooking time, pork tenderloin is not brined.  You probably want to marinate, and I would suggest a maximum of overnight.  Because there is little penetration, longer is not better.


Fish balls aren't bouncy and fall apart easily

The most likely cause was this part:

  slammed it probably around 100 times in there, then added a tablespoon of corn starch (with a little water), mixed it in, shaped a fishball, and put it into some very lightly boiling water.

You need to blend the water with the fish paste thoroughly. What I do is I dump all ingredients into the food processor and blend for about eight to ten minutes, excluding the time taken to scrape down the sides, or until the paste becomes a little elastic. When you push it with a finger tip and release, there is a little resistance.

There is no need to slam the fish paste at all.

For bounciness, add either baking powder or egg white. In my case, I add 1g of baking powder per 100g of fish. Alternatively, 0.4g of baking powder and 5g of egg white.

Also, add at least 44-50g of ice-cold water and 1g of potato starch. Commercial fish balls contain even more water for more bounciness.


What is the difference between crepes and Swedish pancakes?

Looking at individual recipes, there is a great deal of overlap between Crêpes and Swedish pancakes. If, however, you compare hundreds of recipes, some clear differences emerge. There are also differences between the English interpretations of these recipes and those written in French or Swedish.

In the chart above, each cohort consists of at least 100 distinct recipe ratios, except for Ruhlman's Crêpes ratio which is provided for comparison.

A taste test of the Swedish recipe Pannkakor with French recipe Crêpes revealed the following differences:

Batter: The increased liquid content of the Swedish pancakes made the batter much thinner than the Crêpes batter. Swedish pancakes are made in a pan with a raised lip around the edge. This allows the thin batter to be sloshed around, evenly coating the pan surface without running over the edge.

Crêpes, on the other hand, are made on a Crêpe maker. The batter must be thick enough that it will not run over the edge. A T-shaped spreader is used to evenly coat the crêpe maker surface in a perfect disk shape.

Frying: Crêpes fried up extremely easily, unsticking themselves from the skillet (I had neither a pancake pan, nor a crêpe maker available at the time) making it possible to toss the Crêpes instead of flipping with a spatula. Swedish pancakes, on the other hand, require a bit of fiddling with a spatula to flip them.

Crêpes had a slight tendency to curl up at the sides after flipping so they cooked less evenly than the pancakes which stayed perfectly flat after flipping.

 Flip side of a Crêpe (French recipe)

 Flip side of a Swedish pancake (Swedish recipe)

I also tested Michael Ruhlman's Crêpes ratio. These curled up to a much greater extent than French recipe Crêpes after flipping and were, consequently, quite unevenly browned on one side.

 Flip side of a Ruhlman's Crêpe

Taste and consistency: Both French recipe Crêpes and Swedish recipe pancakes hit caramel and butterscotch notes. In short, they both tasted great. The Crêpe consistency was a little tough together with traditional Swedish accompaniments (Whipped cream and Strawberry jam) whereas the Swedish pancakes were light and fluffy; this worked perfectly with the filling. I tested again with lemon juice and sugar and this time the Crêpes won through, holding up well to the additional liquid while the Swedish pancakes became a bit soggy. Ruhlman's Crêpe recipe didn't perform nearly as well. The caramel flavour was much less pronounced, they had a dry mouth-feel and they were tougher than French recipe Crêpes.

For anyone who wants to form their own opinion, here are the ratios and ingredients I used in the tests:

Swedish Pancakes (based on 200 Swedish recipes with distinct ingredient proportions)

Ingredient weight ratios: 1:3.5:1:0.16 (all purpose flour:milk:medium egg:butter)

79g or 150ml all purpose flour
278g or 278ml milk
80g, 68ml or 2 medium egg(s) where each medium egg is 53g
13g or 13ml butter
1/4 tsp salt

Crêpes (based on 119 French recipes with distinct ingredient proportions)

Ingredient weight ratios: 1:1.97:0.75:0.17 (all purpose flour:milk:medium egg:butter)

116g or 219ml all purpose flour
228g or 228ml milk
86g, 73ml or 2 medium egg(s) where each medium egg is 53g
20g or 20ml unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt

Update:

Joe's comment prompted me to chart the ingredient proportions as a Baker's Percentage.


You may want to run a knife gently through the batter to pop any large air bubbles before baking. While not included in all chiffon/angle food cake recipes, directions to remove large air pockets by running a knife through the batter in the pan before baking is not that unusual.


Food to bring to work and heat with a microwave

Pretty much everything.

Pasta and Rice dishes are the easiest to bring to work

Vegetable dishes can also be fun (either cooked or raw (salads)

Cooked chicken is also very easy to prepare in advance and can be eaten cold or hot; other meat.

Fish/seafood is maybe an exception, I tend to prepare and under cook a portion the night before to finish cooking the the office microwave.

If you have a fridge at the office it make things easier (and safer); and if allowed, you can keep things like condiments, sauces for a few days.


3 grams (contingent on the relative weight of the rest of the recipe) is not a big deal.

But, since egg whites are such a pain to measure, it's very simple in recipes like this. Beat your egg whites slightly, then weigh and remove three grams. Much easier.


If you microwave leftover egg shells is the salmonella dead on the shells

Yes or no - it depends.

We need to look at the question from two different angles.

Microwaves don't kill pathogens, they create heat that can kill pathogens.
While it seems basically the same, the important difference is that microwaves heat water, not dry substances. If your egshells are dry, you can microwave them for a long time and they will remain cool. Now add to this the fact that while many salmonella bacteria die after a few hours on dry surfaces, some go into a "hibernating" form that remains viable for weeks, your microwaved dry shells remain mostly unchanged with regards to their infectious potential.
Microwaves do not heat evenly.
Microwaves are notorious for heating unevenly. They can create hot spots and cool spots during normal use. The former is one of the reasons why baby food manufacturers typically discourage parents to warm baby food in the microwave, the latter is actually linked to various salmonella outbreaks when users heated chicken meat or other leftovers in the microwave without making sure adequate temperatures were reached. [1], [2], [3]

So the conclusion:

You need to make sure there is enough water and enough time involved to kill your salmonella in a microwave. Consider the techniques used for pacifiers and similar baby items: A closed, microwave-safe container and a few tablespoons of water to generate plenty of steam, a minimum time of three minutes once the water boils. What's considered safe for a newborn should suffice for your eggshells, too.

Personally would probably dump the shells in a pot of boiling water instead, if I wanted to be very sure. Or pop them in a hot oven after using it anyway, e.g. after baking bread or cake.


Can I make sourdough starter with raw potatoes?

Yes!
I'm currently attending Le Cordon Bleu for Baking and Patisserie.  I'm in the breads class right now, and my text book has a recipe for a potato sour with raw potato.  Here..

8 oz Bread Flour
6.5 oz Warm Water
.16 oz (1 tsp) Salt
.16 oz (1 tsp) Sugar
1 Large Potato, peeled

Mix together the flour, water, salt, and sugar into a smooth soft dough.  Add potato.
Place in sterilized bowl. Cover tightly with muslin or other clean fabric so the starter can breathe.  Let rest in a warm place for up to 24 hours, until the mixture becomes frothy.
Stir well and cover with plastic film.  Leave to stand 2-3 days in a warm place, until the mixture becomes light and foamy.  Stir thoroughly each day.
Pour the fermented starter to a glass jar and store in the refrigerator for approximately 3 days, or until a clear liquid collects on top of the mixture.  This indicates the mixture is ripened enough for use.Carefully pour all the liquid collected on the surface into a measuring jug, discarding the solid mixture that remains on the bottom.  The weight of the liquid should be greater than the weight of the water used, because some of the flour will be poured off with the liquid.


Is it ok to use sour cream as substitute of sour yogurt?

Depending on the specific application, you may (and probably will) get good results, but the flavor and texture will be may be slightly different when you substitute sour cream for unsweetened, unflavored yogurt.

Consider that both of these products are fermented dairy.  The main differences are going to be the level of fat (based on the specific dairy item from which the product was fermented), and the level of acid.

In many applications, because the characteristics are very similar, the outcomes will be very similar.

In some uncooked sauces like tzatziki, you will probably get a delicious result, but it will be different since sour cream tastes slightly different.

In cooked sauces like stroghanoff or some curries, again, the result will be similar but different.  The one specific issue you may face is whether the sauce breaks, which will be dependent on the level of dairy fat in the sour cream or yogurt, not which one is being used.  So you may wish to use a full-fat sour cream for cooked sauces.

The one place where they are nearly freely substitute is baking, especially quick breads, where they perform nearly identically.  The flavor differences are not dominant.


What exact temperature allows me to store frozen products really long?

-24°C will usually be chest freezers, not uprights.

-18°C seems to be generally considered to be cold enough that even new-old-stock mammoth would still be safe, albeit a little dry. The only caveat is auto-defrosting systems in some freezers, they raise the temperature periodically (check the documentation for your model of freezer).


Why does frozen food seem to have lost its original taste and texture after reheating?

There are a variety of factors at work here:

Freezing foods "improperly" (i.e. not flash-frozen, not vacuum-sealed) causes ice crystals to form within the food, damaging the molecular structures. This is what causes many frozen leftovers to become "mushy" or change in texture.
Again due to the formation of ice and the movement of water when the food is reheated, tiny particles such as spices can be lost in steam and/or runoff water.
Extreme temperatures (both hot and cold) can denature enzymes in the food, changing their flavor, texture, etc.
As food sits, flavors in the food may blend together in different ways, causing the food to have less distinct flavors.
If your freezer isn't especially clean and your food not well-sealed, your food may be absorbing other odors which are again "masking" the original flavor of your food.

Hope that gives you some ideas.


Executive summary

Buy the shortest pepper mill you can comfortably use and only fill it with two or three weeks worth of peppercorns. The colour should be light and if you buy more than one similarly shaped mill, be sure to buy contrasting colours if they are not otherwise easily distinguishable from one another. You should not chose a transparent mill for pepper unless the mill will be kept in the dark.

Length

With regards to convenience it is tempting to choose a pepper mill that is as large as you have space for to avoid having to refill. But pepper mills are not the best way to store your peppercorns. According to McGee's On Food and Cooking,

  Even whole peppercorns lose much of their aroma after a month in a
  grinder. (p. 428)

So if you care more about the quality of your pepper than the convenience of having a combined grinding/storage device, it's worth considering how much pepper you use per month.

One grind of pepper from my own pepper mill weighs about 90mg. This will obviously change from mill to mill, but I'll assume for simplicity that people use roughly the same amount of pepper regardless of how efficiently their mill grinds.

I estimate that I use, on average, about 5 grinds of black pepper per day. That brings me to about 13.5g (roughly half and ounce) of pepper per month.

The shortest pepper mill I've seen on the market is 3.5" (~9cm) and has a capacity of 0.4oz (11g). The next largest at 5" (13cm) holds about 1.7oz (48g), or more than three months worth of pepper for my own usage.

For me a 3.5" mill is a bit awkward to operate and a 5.5" mill feels about right. I suggest you buy the shortest mill that feels right for you and fill it only with enough peppercorns to last you two to three weeks.

Color

I have three mills, one for black pepper, one for salt and one for white pepper. The salt and black pepper mills are near enough identical except for the letters P and S printed on the top. Consequently I reach for the wrong mill about 50% of the time. I would certainly recommend choosing different colours if you purchase more than one mill.

One answer here suggests choosing a mill with a transparent casing to solve this problem. This may not be a good idea unless you keep your pepper mill in a closed cupboard. To quote the peerless McGee once more,

  Pepper is best stored tightly sealed in the cold and dark. If exposed
  to light during storage, it loses its pungency because the light
  energy rearranges piperine to form a nearly tasteless molecule
  (isochavicine).

I would also recommend light colours. I'm often guilty of reaching for the pepper mill with my hands dirty from some food-preparation stage. It would be good, when this happens, to later have a visual reminder that the pepper mill is now also dirty. With a dark coloured mill this is difficult to see.


Why would a recipe call for bone-in, skin-on chicken and then never use the bone/skin?

Bone in = the breast plate is still there.  The ribs would typically be removed because in slow cooking the rib bones often have a habit of coming loose and being an annoyance or even a choking hazard while adding little or nothing to the taste.  Leaving the breast plate however is referred to by many as cooking on the crown.  Cooking on the crown is considered by many to give a better flavor, be it poultry, beef, pork, or whatever.  Additional, with slow cooking, the cartilage and bone may add some thickening effect to your broth.


Using a ceramic honing rod for Global knives?

I can't speak to Global knives specifically, but my local knife sharpening specialist recommends maintaining newly sharpened knives with a ceramic honing tool instead of stainless, saying "A metal steel may be too aggressive in the first couple of months after I've sharpened your knives and can cause more harm than good." I haven't tried it, but basically I just don't seem to need to use the conventional honing steel that I have much until it's been a couple of months anyway. Ceramic should be somewhat less hard than steel, and it may be less likely that you'll apply so much force as to bend the edge too extremely if you're using something that is slightly less hard than the material of your knife.

The one that my local knife sharpener offers has a rubber tip on one end, which I could see providing stability if you keep the edge on the counter; a wet cloth could stand in for that. I'm not sure what other differentiating features a typical ceramic steel offers, but I didn't see many with the rubber tip feature. Why is Global's more expensive than others you looked at? If there are no features with obvious value, then the answer to why they charge more is probably "because they can."


What dishes don't stain with heavy spices?

Anything is breakable, but Corelle/Vitrelle, a laminated tempered glass, is plenty tough. I've never seen it take a stain other than rust, which can be removed w acid. Turmeric shouldn't be a problem.


How to remove alcohol taste from vanilla extract?

If you have not tried mixing it into drinks yet then I'd encourage you give it a shot. Although the alcohol smell is strong in the bottle the vanilla flavor is much more concentrated, once you dilute it in something else the alcohol should be unnoticeable.

There's no way to get the alcohol out of the extract without destroying the vanilla itself, heating is just going to evaporate the vanilla with the alcohol. If you still have a problem with the alcohol your alternatives are to use artificial vanilla flavor (a poor substitute IMO) or real vanilla from vanilla pods. You can open a vanilla pod and scrape off a bit of the inside into a drink, then mix. One option would be to put some sugar and a whole vanilla pod into a food processor and whiz it all together, you could then add the vanilla sugar.

You could try vanilla paste as well if it's available in your area. It's more expensive than extract and doesn't mix as quickly, but it's less alcohol-y and has great flavor.


Cooking at, or below, the boil. Is there any impact that the actual boil has?

The usual difference comes because there are foods which have to reach certain temperature to get done. For example, the collagen in beef needs to be held at above 68C to transform. But I don't know of any food for which the turning point occurs between 98 and 100 C. So, in theory, if a recipe calls for boiling food for a prolonged time, you could also cook it at 98 C and nothing too terrible will happen. You might have to wait a little longer.

In practice, it is quite difficult to hold water at exactly 98 C for a long period of time. So, unless you have a reason to use a temperature controler at this exact temperature, you will just use your stove at a temperature which brings the water to a boil.

You have to make a difference between boiling and blanching though. Some recipes will direct you to put a small amount of vegetables in a large amount of boiling water and hold them there for a minute or less, or just use the word "blanch". There, you want the vegetable heat-shocked. It will still work at a lower temperature, but you will get the best quality at a roiling boil. Some starches like pasta are also important to mention here, they also profit from a quick heating. In principle, you could change them to another, colder pot after the surface has gelatinized - even 85-ish C will do - but there is no point to such acrobatics, so people boil it until ready.

There are more cases where the other direction is important, usually because 100 C is too high a temperature. In these cases, you want to simmer your food at 90ish. The only case where the fact of boiling itself is important is in stock. Boiling distributes the protein scum from the meat into the stock, so people don't let it boil if they want a clear stock.


How can I avoid cakes to turn into jelly?

It could either be a problem of heat transfer or leavening.

Heat Transfer

Probably the bottom "jelly" potion of the cake is not getting enough heat. I can imagine some possibile causes.

Ovens that are not fan assisted are generally warmer at the top than at the bottom. Generally you should have the cake in the middle of the oven, but for some ovens you may need to move the cake higher.
Plastic bakeware (or silicone if that's what you have) typically conducts heat less efficiently than glass. And glass has poorer heat transfer than metal, so try using a metal cake form.
The oven temperature might be wrong; oven dials are often wrong by a few degrees (I once had an oven that was out by ten degrees C). Get an oven thermometer and put it on the same shelf as the cake.

Another possibility is that you just need to leave the cake in longer, but from what you say it sounds like the upper portion of the cake would then be overcooked and dry.

Leavening

In your ingredient list you didn't mention a leavening agent. That could be a problem in itself if you are expecting air bubbles. Typically you would use baking soda or baking powder, or a combination of those two (depending on the acidity of the batter) to introduce air.

It is possible to introduce air without a chemical leavening agent by, for example, folding whipped egg whites carefully into the batter.

In either case, air does not "flow into the cake". It needs to be introduced either before baking or by a leavening agent during baking.


is Doubanjiang (Szechuan hot bean paste) an acceptable substitute in recipes calling for Doenjang (Korean fermented bean paste)?

The two have almost nothing in common, beyond being fermented and pastes (though doubanjiang is only sort of paste-like). The ingredients (broad beans and chilies versus soybeans) and the taste are very different.
That’s not to say that you’re not allowed to make a sauce for your ssam with doubanjiang, of course. But one is not a straightforward substitute for the other.


Why do you need eggs when making icecream?

There are two main base recipes for ice cream. French style ice cream contains egg yolks, which help make it soft, rich, smooth, creamy, custardy. Philadelphia style ice cream (sometimes called American style) has no eggs, and relies on the fat in the cream to keep it soft, but will still never be as rich and smooth as French style, and will still tend to freeze harder.

You can make pretty much any ice cream in either style, including the pistachio-almond you want to make. You can look around for recipes without eggs; I wouldn't be surprised if you manage to find one one. Or you can simply use a Philadelphia style base, and look at one of the recipes you found to see how to add the pistachio and almond. Depending on how rich you want it, you'll want 2-3 cups of heavy cream for each 1 cup of milk; about 3/4 cup of sugar should work, depending on how sweet you want it. If that's not rich enough for you, you can even replace the milk with cream. (You could also just go find a recipe for Philadelphia style vanilla ice cream and use that as a base - it doesn't get much simpler than that.)

(P.S. You could also try gelato, something like this recipe - it uses corn starch as a stabilizer instead.)


Ingredient Identification: Hong Kong restaurant spicy spice

It's possible it was a combination called 麻辣 (ma-la,) literally "numbing and spicy", a mix of hot chilies and Sichuan peppercorns (which are called Huā jiāo [花椒].)


Garlic clove has turned to a firm jelly texture

This is called waxy breakdown.  It's a defect rather than a disease, so you don't have to worry about a microbe or parasite.  My neighbors have used affected cloves and they're still alive, though I've never been able to make myself use them because of the texture.


How to make crackle top chocolate chip cookies?

The crackled texture on top of cookies is more common on softer, moister, cake like cookies such as chocolate crinkles or ginger bread cookies.  Here, in this image, it is accentuated because the raw dough was rolled in powdered sugar:

This affect is achieved by balancing the baking temperature and amount of moisture in the recipe so that the outside of the cookie will set firmly enough that it cannot expand before the inside of the cookie heats through.

When the inside of the cookie heats gets hot enough to activate its leavening and it expands, the outer shell cannot expand with it, and so it cracks.  The fissures are from where the inner cookie shows that the broken shell of the inner surface.

A second, different phenomenon occurs in other types of cookies.  In one of your other questions, you linked to a recipe with this image:

This is achieved by allowing the cookie to over-rise, and then collapse back upon itself.  There are two ways to do this:

Over-leaven the cookie with baking powder.   They will rise up and then collapse in the oven.  This requires a moderate baking temperature so that they don't set before collapsing.
Under-bake the cookies, so that they are not fully set when they come out of the oven, and then collapse under their own weight as they cool.


Eventually, yes...  but it does have a fairly long shelf life.

According to Eat by date, you should expect 1 to 2 weeks after the date on the package.  They say:

  You can tell if sour cream has gone bad if you notice dark mold on
  its surface, bright bacterial marks, pockets of watery liquid and a
  sharp, bitter flavor. First the liquid will begin to separate, at
  which point it can still be used but within a week you will need to
  throw it out when you notice mold on the inside of the lid and then in
  the product.


why didn't the brownie bake when cheesecake was put on top?

One thing that can matter is that darker pans often absorb more heat (from  radiative heating). So if your 9x13 pan is dark-bottomed (e.g., nonstick, or darkened from years of use) it'll run hotter than a shiny foil pan. I'd be surprised for that to result in raw, though, normally its just more or less browning.

If you put a baking sheet under the foil pan, that could also function as an insulator, especially if its a steel pan instead of aluminum.

I'd guess instead some other "human error" thing happened: measured and ingredient incorrectly, left something out, added something twice, set the oven temperature (or mode!) wrong, etc.


Does resting the dough for a long time reduce the need to knead the bread?

Allowing the bread dough to rest for the 18 hours will allow the bread to develop the gluten which gives the bread the chewy texture.
This will reduce the need for kneading.

Personally I have experimented with this method but with a shorter resting time (8 hours) and have achieved crusty, chewy-textured bread.

Note though that the crustiness of the bread is due to the use of an oven-proof pot and not the resting period.


having problem with chicken pot pie crust

You started out great with cold cold butter and water and then you beat the livin crap out of em for 30 min.

You are making a pie crust.  The thing that makes pie crust flaky is  that the small little pieces of butter, shortening, lard remain intact and then are gently  flattened when you roll out the dough.

  ( good quality lard is best but a combination of butter and shortening will do ).

The butter, shortening, lard  are not mixed into the flour, they are coated with flour and when you GENTLY roll your dough out you squish them so that you have little layers of lard and flour. When you bake them the lard steams between the layers of flour creating a flaky crust.

Butter has low melting point so it should be nearly frozen, If you insist on butter cut it into very small pieces and the put it in the freezer. it is best to chill shortening and lard as well.

Cut your butter into your flour/salt mix with a pastry blender cut it together until the lard is in small little pieces about half the size of small peas. Add ICE water ( water with ice cubes in it but you just spoon out the amount you need ) in small increments until it a shaggy dough. (You want it so you can grab a little in your hand a squeeze and it will just hold together.)

You do not need a mixer but if you use one use it just enough to bring the dough together to the shaggy state.

Divide the dough into portions appropriate for your pie plate. gently form it into a ball, gently press it flat. Wrap it in plastic and chill it in the fridge before rolling it out. Roll it gently , do not over work it.

Use the egg wash, cut it with a little water or milk. If you find it is browning to much brush it on part way through the baking time. Do not brush the edges.

Once you do it a few times it will not be a "tonne of work" and you can make enough to keep some in the fridge for a while or freeze some.


Why does my chopped beef come out too tough?

As Raditz_35 mentioned in his comment you prepare the meat in different way than you want to. Yes, in curry and stew/gulash you use low quality (it's not actually low quality per se, it's just more dense and more chewy onto itself) meat. And then you STEW the meat for few hours.

You try to fry it for few minutes.

If you want to have a stir-fry you need to cut the meat even thinner. Think paper thin. Then you fry on very high heat with high smoking point fat.
If you want to make a stew/curry you need to follow the recipe. Almost all recipes I've encountered counted the time of in hours or stated "simmer until beef is tender".

Browning the meat on pan before stewing is important part as it keep all moisture inside the meat so it' not come out dry.


Troubleshooting a soggy baklava with torn sheets

1- To work with phyllo or yufka sheets the key is to keep them from drying out. A damp, but not dripping, towel laid over the sheets is essential. Cover it after each time you take out a sheet. They dry out very fast and then just disintegrate.

2- The butter should be melted but not hot. Many recipes call for it to be clarified as well but I don't personally notice a difference in baklava so I skip that step. Its main purpose, besides flavor, is to keep the layers separate during baking. You don't have to spread it or work it in. Just brush it on gently.

3- The baklava is cut into diamonds, almost all the way through, before baking it. It can't be cut after it is baked and crisped. If it is cut all the way through before baking then it will pull itself apart. Pouring the syrup evenly over the whole thing will help. The top layers will soak up some but will definitely be drier than the bottom. It is supposed to be sticky and syrupy on the bottom- that's pretty much the whole point. The soaked pastry should still be chewy and distinct. Not crisp necessarily but candied. If it is too soggy then you might not have baked it long enough.

4- You can get faster at it with practice but not too much faster. It is a long process but it is fun to do with help. We make it as a family.


Which baking dish is best to bake a banana bread?

"Best" is subjective.

The different choices of baking pans will effect texture and baking time. The more surface area the more crust and the faster the baking time.

Recipes call for a bread pan simply because then it looks like bread and is easier to slice. As you noticed, it does require longer to bake.

Muffin pans are also very popular because of the convenient shape and faster baking time.

If you like the shape and texture of your bread in a baking dish then by all means keep using it. I won't criticize you for it.


How to Avoid Soggy Chopped Nuts in Baked Goods

Relating to your second question: toast, then chop. When you chop first, it is too easy for the smaller pieces to burn.


How to bake 3 large pans of lasagna in a regular size oven

Stack them, like this:

Rotate them 1/3 and 2/3 the way through cooking, figuring perhaps 25% longer cooking time than each would call for separately. Use an instant read thermometer, look for about 165F (74C). Also look for a bit of browning and bubbliness. It may be that they won't be done at exactly the same time, but they'll be close enough that they can be served at the same time.

I figure you might as well stack all three, and remove a shelf from the oven, but to do two and one (rotating each third the way through baking time) would accomplish pretty much the same thing.

If you can fit 2 pans on one shelf and one on another (like normal), that would be fine too, but you might have to rotate even more often. Swap shelves and front to back.


Food Identification: Restaurant outside Batu Caves in Malaysia, what did we eat?

What you have on your plate is the most eaten pancake in the world - Dosa. This is a South Indian dish and since there are many South Indians living in Malayasia, I don't think finding this there is an extreme coincidence. There are many varieties of Dosa and the one on your plate definitely looks like Rava Dosa(a variety of Dosa cooked with more semolina in the regular Dosa batter).

For more insight into Dosa, you can have a look at this Wiki page:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dosa

Dosa is served usually with Sambhar(the liquid yellow thing on your plate) which is like a lentil stew made with some vegetables and seasoned with mustard seeds and other Indian spices, coconut chutney(the white sauce) and takkali chutney(the orange sauce). Takkali in tamil means tomato so this chutney has tomato as its base seasoned with roasted lentils, onion and spices.


I find a pair of basic Crocs to be very efficient as kitchen clogs. (As does Mr. Batali, though the orange color may be in questionable taste). They are well cushioned, reasonably priced, and easily cleaned. They won't provide a ton of protection against dropping something heavy, sharp or hot, though they do sell some upscale models that provide more.

If you really want a mat, these Wellness Mats are superbly cushioned.


Typically the plastic used for vacuum packed food is polyethylene, which has a low melting point, depending on the plastic it could be as low as 110°C, or 230°F. Once it melts you have liquid plastic on your food with the nasty flavors and potential health concerns.
The big thing here is microwaving can very quickly cause the plastic to reach that temperature (actually it raises the food to that temperature which heats the plastic), but explaining the dos and don'ts is complex so they just make a blanket statement so they can't be blamed if something goes wrong. In reality you can safely thaw fish in the plastic using any method you want as long as you are careful not to reach that temperature. If you microwave thaw do it on low and check it often to make sure you aren't overheating it.
Regarding re-freezing I won't cover it here as there's already a very good question and answer on this site here. The short answer is refreezing can be done safely as long as it's within certain parameters.


Ingredients vs. Temperature Control in Chocolate Fudge

I think you may well be over thinking this just a little.

Water boils at 100c at sea level, sugar raises this temperature to around 110c depending on sugar content.

  Specifically, adding 1 gram molecular weight of nonionizing solute (like sugar) to 1 liter of water increases the boiling point by 0.52 degree Celsius (C). 1 gram molecular weight nonionizing solute per liter =0.52 degree C increase in boiling point.

So when you boil your sugar syrup to soft ball 116c you've essentially, boiled all the water away and your left with sugar. Heating it to this temperature changes the shape and direction of the crystals. Adding fat to this generally allows it to set (plus flavour). Just as butter would.

The reason you don't add chocolate as it's warming is water plus chocolate ends badly. You also don't add it at 116c as you will burn your chocolate. Again not a good thing.

  Make sure the temperature of the chocolate rises to between 104° F. and 113° F. when melting. Do not heat above 115° F. (milk and white chocolate) and 120° F. for dark chocolate, otherwise it will burn.

The reason you add water to sugar is to allow more control over the heating. If you have no water you'll find the bottom part will burn while the top part is still solid crystals. Which considering you only need 116c, is again... Bad.

Try boiling 1000ml water with 100g sugar and see how quickly it takes for the mixture to reach 110c (5min?) and then see how long it'll stay at that temperature before hitting 116 (30-40mins I guess). Then leave it and watch how within moments of hitting 116c it's suddenly hit 176c and then your pan turn black and your kitchen full of thick yellow smoke :-).


How to prevent Orecchiette from sticking to each other while cooking? How to separate in water?

Adding your pasta to cold water before boiling it may help. You will need to stir more often overall, but the shells won't initially stick together as soon as you add them to the water, and then you can stir to prevent the sticking as they become softer.

Harold McGee in a New York Times column wrote this:

  I prefer starting with cold water, because the noodles don’t stick together at all as they go into the pot, and because I don’t notice a difference in flavor once they’re drained and sauced.

What happens is that the starch on the noodles gets rinsed off in the water before it can gelatinize and stick to everything. So you will have to stir even before the water gets warm.


What is this old "lemon-squeezer" shaped pan

What you have appears to be a vintage or possibly antique cast iron grill pan.

The pan would be used on the stovetop and could be used for steaks, chops, burgers, bacon, certain vegetables, etc. The ridges can provide grill marks, and the channels allow grease to drain away. The shape allows the grease to drain to the outside channel where the pour spout will allow the grease to be poured out of the pan.

As with the grill pans of today, the pan would be pre-heated and the meats or veggies would be cooked at a medium high or high heat, much like outdoor grilling in the US. Also, it would be good for camp-type cooking over an open flame.

Re rendering fat, I suppose it could work but with a low or slow heat.

Update: As per @Sneftel's comment, these grills can have many different uses. @Falken's answer addresses one of these, but certainly not all. In addition to the uses mentioned previously, see this snippet from WebstaurantStore:

  An all-around convenient stovetop grilling solution, this 10 1/4" round heavy-duty cast iron barbecue plate is perfect for making a variety of delicious items including Korean barbecue, pita bread, naan, grilled tortillas, and roasted vegetables.

Similar pans can easily be found online by searching for Mongolian bbq grills.


Is rice vinegar bad for my non-stick rice cooker?

It should be fine.  The acidity of the vinegar would be an issue if it were to come into contact and react with bare metal.  Non-stick cookware is fine for, say, making tomato sauces, etc, which means the coating in not especially reactive to acidity, which makes rice vinegar okay.

As a confirming point, when I was walking through Costco yesterday, I saw the latest generation of automated rice cooker/food steamer, and it had a sushi rice setting on the new ones, so they are clearly okay for that purpose.


This depends on the type of juicer and how well it extracts the juice from the fruit. The best juicers leave a relatively flavourless pulp (which is, however, very high in fiber). If you're curious about the flavour, try tasting it! (I've heard of the pulp being used to make muffins, but other flavouring agents are definitely required).

I am not sure about the vitamins, I am willing to guess that they exist primarily suspended within liquid (water for the water-soluble vitamins, oil for the fat-soluble ones) and a good juicer will leave only trace amounts of either type in the pulp.


Why is my first polenta not easy to cut?

As your question stands, the possible answers are essentially:

You used too much liquid or too little cornmeal.
You didn't cook it long enough.
You didn't cool it enough for it to firm up.

Polenta is the sort of food that you should make by trusting your senses over a recipe. You should be able to tell, with a little bit of experience, whether it's too thin and wet after cooking for it to set once it cools. If it is, you can cook it a bit longer on low heat to get more water out of it, and the next time you can compensate with more cornmeal or less liquid.

Also, since I don't know what recipe you used, do note that there are also recipes out there for soft polenta (usually described as such), which is intended to be served soft, not cut.